Are You Living in a Manner Worthy of the Gospel? - Philippians 1:27-30 (Feb 21, 2021)

thank you music team for leading us oh great is thy faithfulness never has there been a day in history when god has not been faithful and he continues and he is faithful here and he is faithful with our brothers and sisters all around the world we can be so thankful i uh i have to say that i i'm very uncomfortable when people stand up and and clap and so i realized that that was an expression of your love for the lord jesus christ and we can be so thankful that we can be here this morning tens of thousands of people have been praying for us i have absolutely no doubt about that we've heard from congregation after congregation across canada throughout this province we know that many have decided that they're going to open their churches and we pray that that would continue we pray that that the church would see its faithful response to open because of what the lord jesus christ has done for us i want to also welcome those on live stream i realize that we probably have a number of uh of people tuning in not only from from grace life here but also from across canada around alberta and and certainly around the world and you've tuned in to again support us but you've also come to come under the teaching of god's word this morning and this morning will be in philippians chapter one philippians chapter 1 and specifically the last four verses of philippians chapter 1. now i have to say that prior to attending seminary in los angeles i had been watching the senior testimonials that the master seminary puts out so these are men in their graduating year and they testify to the faithfulness of god god how god brought them to the master seminary from all around the world from virtually every nation around the world how god then took them and delivered them through their time in seminary and then even as they would anticipate what the lord would have in store for them next they would testify to the goodness and faithfulness of god and it was in listening to these senior testimonies that there was one thing and you may find this to be uh a little bit odd but there was there was one thing that really resonated with me one one one thing that several men said that i i really desired specifically in when i was looking for a seminary and many of the men said that the lord had provided a brother in seminary to come to them and to rebuke them when they saw sin in their lives in seminary and i thought this is remarkable that they would be so thankful for that and i i thought that certainly and that really appealed to me to to know that i would be among brothers that would hold me accountable that would urge me to continue to live faithfully for christ who is worthy and so i desperately wanted to attend tms and the lord made that happen now i say that because i know that in scripture the lord has commanded that exact action that we are to be teaching and admonishing one another and we read about that in colossians chapter 1 verse 28 where we see we pre proclaim him admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in christ and this is the work of the church this is a part of our fellowship and it's a vital part of church life it's it's certainly not an easy task but it is a necessary one and the reason why i bring that up is because just as pastor james addressed the government and laid out the duties of government last week i want to shift the focus here a little bit because he he he pointed out several deficiencies in theology and he pointed out that he believed that there were churches that were missing implications that we find in the word of god and as a result it's taking them in a in a different direction and a direction that we would say is is not faithful and so my purpose this morning is to shift the focus from government to the church to the local churches to the church that has been purchased by the blood of christ acts 20 28. and there's a truth that there are fundamental attitudes and behaviors characteristic to the christian and certainly evident in the christian church certainly these fundamental attitudes and behaviors must be present then among local churches and i would say that if a church is not adorned with the gospel then she is an unfaithful church and she is in need of repentance and now i i know it's certainly true in our generation we've entered into a most difficult time for those of us here i i don't think that we know of a time when the church has faced a greater more divisive issue than the one that we've seen in her proper response what her proper response should be to government encroachment and our beloved pastor has clearly exegeted romans 13 to help us understand this government overreach and those sermons and our position are posted on our website and you can certainly feel free to visit there the word of god has been clearly explained our theological positions are are clear as our as is our desire to be citizens here in in alberta certainly and be responsible with that and we feel a responsible response is to love our neighbors by making sure that the gospel goes forward to make sure that those who are the ambassadors of jesus christ are constantly being fed so that they can go out continually week by week into the world and testify to christ so as we've journeyed through these 11 months for me certainly and i'm sure for for you as well god's word has consistently been bringing clarity to the stand that we've been taking and affirmation after affirmation from god's word has come certainly it's not just one argument it's not just based on the authority of christ as head of his church although that is prime our primary stand but there are so many other details that have that have been made clear and it's also been interesting to see some of the parallels that we can draw from scripture the church has seen many a pharaoh around the world reject god's messengers and at the same time increase the burden on god's people to ensure that they would serve him and not god and pharaoh has certainly sent his task masters we've had ahs and rcmp officers in our in our building here virtually every sunday we've been videotaped and shortly after each service there's a there's a report that is issued to us but it's also to equip the courts with a with ammunition for an affidavit against us and this has been in an effort to try to bring us into compliance with the burden that pharaoh wants to place on us i would say that the church has also seen ahabs and jezebels as as as god's men have cowered right like elijah did in in scripture when he was threatened by jezebel and yet certainly this week but long before this week we also have been reminded that god has his seven thousand and they have remained faithful and they have not bowed their knee to another and we can be thankful for that we are strengthened by that certainly i've been reminded of of jesus's trial and even the trials of the apostles as false charges were placed in as evidence against them and certainly we've seen that take place as well hearing that her pastor just simply doing what he has done for faithfully for the last decade of his ministry and now to be deemed as a danger to the public and to this province to be seen as a threat for doing nothing different than he's done for 10 years plus it it baffles the mind we've seen our premier and a bureaucrat behave like pilate and wash their hands of the injustice but most troubling for me has been the response of professing christians who have handed over the headship of the church to the province's premiers and unelected chief medical officers heard church leaders ask i've heard church leaders in this province ask our premier and the chief medical officer will you allow us to sing would you be willing to give us 30 percent will you allow us to teach our children in sunday school it's shocking to hear church leaders first praise these people for what they're doing and then to ask allowances of them and perhaps it's more shocking to see that they have the audacity to answer those questions that they think that they can give those allowances i'm reminded of acts chapter 12 and herod god wasn't so patient with herod was he and disunity and division in the church continues many of us have experienced brother betray brother many of us have been chastised by other professing believers i've heard many a professing christian read this online as well say that pastor james is simply encounter encountering some self-afflicted self-inflicted suffering and that this is certainly not persecution and some of those same people i'm certain that if it was another political party in office in this province their tune would change i'm here this morning to say christian you need to check your allegiance and paul writing from prison in rome provides believers he provides the church with the litmus test now one of paul's reasons for writing the church in philippi is to exhort the body of a joyful to exhort the body to a joyful and unified life in christ and he does this he encourages this pursuit despite the threats of persecution as we see in the letter despite pride and ambition despite false teachers that are applying pressure against the church and despite even their own material needs and so our text this morning in verses 27 through 30 of philippians chapter one this this appears as one long sentence really it's one imperative in the greek that paul is giving to us and it's an imperative that he places on believers while explaining exactly what fulfilling that obligation should look like and so just to lead our way up to the text here let me just give you just a simple and short outline of of paul's letter here we see in the first 26 verses that paul urges joy and persecution and also he stresses that christ is our life christ is our life and then in the next section he he commands unity he commands unity and ministry and he points to christ as our example and he does that from chapter 1 and verse 27 where we find ourselves all the way to chapter 2 and verse 30. and i would say at the same time that paul's command in this paragraph results also in a sharp plea for unity among those who say they belong to christ and so let's read the text here please follow along in your bible starting with verse 27 of philippians chapter 1. and paul writes only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of christ so that whether i come and see you or remain absent i will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and in no way alarmed by your opponents which is a sign of destruction for them but of salvation for you and that too from god for to you it has been granted for christ's sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me in our text here paul using an imperative instructs christians to live in a certain way which will be clearly manifested in their attitudes and behaviors and we shouldn't say in their individual attitudes and behaviors but in their collective attitude and behavior and i've titled this sermon are you living in a manner worthy of the gospel so my outline will be simple three parts first we'll see the demand of living in a manner worthy of the gospel we'll see this in the first part of verse 27. there's one simple command there for us and then secondly we'll see the description of the manner worthy of the gospel of christ and there we'll see the life characterized by a certain traits and we'll see that in the latter part of verse 27 all the way through to the end of verse 29 and then finally we'll see the difficulty of gospel living and we'll see that in verse 30 where we'll we'll see that this is while it's a gifted life that we've been given even to suffer it's a life marked not marked with ease it's a life marked with hardship and so first the demand of the living with of gospel living the demand of a gospel life only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of christ so that whether i come and see you or remain absent i will hear of you and so paul is stressing something of singular importance here right we see that in the word only he really wants us to focus on one thing in this paragraph how are you as the one saved by the gospel of christ to conduct your life how are you to lead the christian life well paul uses a the main verb here which the nasb renders as conduct yourselves right this word is a derivative from the word polis meaning city it even can refer to one's citizenship within the polis within the city and so literally he's saying here and the philippians would understand this he's saying live as a citizen live as a citizen now paul is is calling the church to practice responsible and loyal citizenship but there's more to what he's implying here he understands that those in philippi are closely connected to rome and there's even a bit of a pride in them ingrained in them because they're roman citizens it's a privileged status that they enjoy and christians would be able to make this connection as they hear him say this but also understanding what he has already instructed them and we for our own sake we gain clarity to this in chapter 3 and verse 20 of philippians where we read for our citizenship is in heaven so there's a connection that we need to make here we need to understand that he's really telling them that they need to apply the values their lifestyle even as they were proud of their roman citizenship that they need to view themselves as a citizen of heaven this is the imperative so you live as a citizen of heaven and not only that but then live in a manner worthy in a worthwhile manner of that citizenship paul uses the same term in in his letters to the churches in colosse and also in thessalonica and he he uses this term right in a manner worthy he often is talking about the walk right the christian walk and so he uses it to describe the acceptable walk of the believer and now we can we we need to understand that we are being commanded to conduct ourselves in a certain way and so there's an implication here that there's actually manners that would be unworthy of the gospel that we could walk in and that's what he's warning about here that's what he wants to bring to the surface how how does this life a life that is conducted in a manner worthy of the gospel what does that look like well paul certainly has an objective standard in his mind and this is a this is a standard that cannot be tampered with we don't mess around with what paul is saying here we don't we don't change anything here we need to understand that although he has referenced he's made reference of dogs and evil doers and those of the false circumcision these are false teachers and pseudo shepherds that he describes early in chapter three these are these are those that are trying to encourage philip those in philippi to walk in that unworthy manner but he's calling them to walk in the worthy manner and so for us it's critical to understand to fully comprehend what is this worthy manner that paul is talking about and it results from this worthy manner results from and is fashioned after the gospel of christ he's telling us to live according to the good news found only in the lord jesus christ only in the gospel a manner worthy of the gospel so we need to take a moment here and just understand what is this gospel that he's talking about right it's this gospel that has brought us here this morning it's this gospel that fuels our soul it's god's good news to man and we see this this gospel described even in jesus ministry in luke chapter 4 and verse 18 i invite you to turn there luke chapter 4. and verse 18. now jesus has entered into the synagogue he's picked up a scroll and he's reading from the prophet isaiah and he he reads these these words which are found in isaiah 61 and isaiah 58 respectively so starting in verse 17 we read and the book of the prophet isaiah was handed to him and he opened the book and found the place where it was written the spirit of the lord is upon me because he appointed me to preach the gospel to the poor he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set free those who are oppressed to proclaim the favorable year of the lord what a glorious passage this is describing jesus's ministry this is the reason why he came it's the fulfiller reading about what he is about to fulfill it's about christ's accomplished work it has everything to do with the father's redemptive plan which is the greatest news you can go and click on any website that you want you will not find greater news you can open up any newspaper you will not find greater news you can turn to any media channel and listen to hours and hours you will not hear greater news than the news that jesus has just read from isaiah and immediately we're confronted with some realities here immediately we're confronted with a realization that man has a need we see in these verses that there's poverty there's captivity there's blindness and there's oppression and at the same time we see that the spirit has anointed the work of our lord jesus christ to address each of these needs he is sent to preach sent to proclaim release to give recovery and to set free friends god sent his son to save sinners plain and simple isn't it interesting that our pastor sits in captivity in a jail north of edmonton and yet he's set free and then those that are free those that have placed restrictions on us are in essence those who remain in captivity this is a wonderful truth that god would send his son to set the captives free and we pray for those who remain in that captivity we desire that the lord would give us an opportunity to present the gospel even as i saw some of the pictures yesterday from the rally and seeing some of the brothers proclaiming the truth this is our desire that others would come to this realization but they can only come to this realization if they hear the gospel proclaimed they need to hear the gospel proclaimed this is a gospel about the spotless lamb of god the perfect sacrifice to take away the sin of the world according to john 1 29 and yet we we know that this same lamb was despised and forsaken of men a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief according to isaiah 53 3 and so we see that god sent a suffering servant and yet he gave of himself he was determined to give of himself determined to give us his affection and he healed the sick in fact he came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many mark 10 45 and it's in our lord jesus christ that god demonstrates his love his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners christ died for us so we see the needs of man being addressed in only one way and that is through sending the savior to pay the penalty for sin a penalty that we could not pay this is a gospel that's sourced in god if we try and write it we would write a different gospel we would make it simpler we would make it easier on us we might even make it fun but god hasn't done that this is his gospel this is not our gospel and it's a gospel of grace it's a gospel of unmerited favor there's nothing that you could do to earn it your salvation you could walk a hundred old ladies across the street and it would count for nothing for nothing it's by god's grace alone and it's a gospel of power this is a gospel capable of regenerating the dead heart of man for in it the power of god unto salvation to everyone who believes for in it is the power of god unto salvation to everyone who believes is what paul writes to the romans in 1 and verse 16. it's an effectual gospel right it's powerful it's effectual and it results in man's regeneration turn to ephesians chapter 2. let's take a look at ephesians chapter 2. this is an effectual gospel ephesians 2 and verse 1 says and you were dead in your trespasses and sins that does not sound good but take a look at verse 4 but god you were dead but god did something right back to verse 2 in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience but god god did something right to take us out of that we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh but god saved us but god made us alive together in with in christ we indulged in the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature children of wrath but god god effectually saved us ephesians 2 and verse 8 indicates that this is a gift he's gifted us faith and not only has he gifted us faith but then second timothy 2 25 says he's gifted us with repentance as well faith leading to repentance so this is a gospel sourced in god it's a it's an effectual gospel it's a gospel of grace unmerited favor it's a gospel of power it's also an exclusive gospel jesus said i am the way the truth and the life there's no other way it's the biblical jesus that saves right let's not get confused with the historical jesus the historical jesus is is has been manufactured to mean different things to different people we believe in the biblical jesus and the biblical jesus is the jesus that saves and he is the only one that saves he is the only way to the father he is the only way to be reconciled to the father there's no other way and all of this has been accomplished through his death and his resurrection galatians 2 and verse 20 reads i have been crucified with christ and it is no longer i who live but christ lives in me and the life which i now live in the flesh i live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself up for me now it baffles me why would any church why would any church depart from this gospel why would any church rather allow the government to dictate how you're going to conduct yourself no conduct yourself in a worthy manner of the gospel why would you allow the government to hinder the advancement of the gospel we are obligated to proclaim this gospel matthew 28 19 and 20 we see that commission that's been given to us it has to go out it's the only way man is saved nothing should get in the way of that nothing should hinder that nothing should hinder this gospel of love it's the grace of god it's the mercy of god poured out on sinners and we know and hear clearly those of you here those of you on live stream if you confess with your mouth that jesus is lord and believe in your heart that god raised them from the dead there's a promise you will be saved you will be saved but that's the only way and we need to understand that it's this gospel that that talks about the regeneration of heart where we're bought brought into union with christ we're justified our sin placed on him and then there's an exchange that takes place our sin is imputed on him but his righteous life is imputed to our account it's credited to us not only that but we're adopted and as we're adopted we're given an eternal inheritance and from that moment on we are continually being sanctified and at the same time we're simultaneously being preserved ultimately heading toward final glorification why would we not want to preach that why would we why would we try to hinder that in any way why would we actually preach anything else it's this gospel that saves and it's no wonder then that paul says in verse 27 of philippians 1 he says only conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel and you can see where the church might lose some steam if they interpret it this way only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of current ahs health restrictions that's going nowhere that's not something that saves so let's let's not lose our focus here let's not be found dancing around a golden calf let's conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of this gospel and let's proclaim it every opportunity that the lord presents to us and paul tells us to live this way whether he's with the philippians or whether he's absent from them he says it doesn't matter this is the way that you live as a citizen of heaven you live according to conducting yourself in a manner worthy of this gospel now i know grace life delights in this gospel this is a gospel that's proclaimed here sunday after sunday lord's day after lord's day but not only that it's a gospel that's proclaimed in our bible studies it's a gospel that's heard in the fellowship even after we depart from this worship service we we take such great delight in this gospel because we know what is done for us and as we mature in our faith we only take greater delight we only receive greater satisfaction from sharing what the lord has done in our lives but we do know that other churches there are churches that work towards other ends there is the the preaching of themselves there's not preaching christ in him crucified to them it's not a matter of first importance but we need to understand how paul viewed this this was a matter of first importance to paul in fact he says in in for in philippians 1 a little bit earlier a little bit before our text he says to live is christ and to die is gain his life revolved around christ around nothing else and so we should expect to see from someone living in a manner worthy of the gospel we should expect to see certain things and this brings us to our second point so we've just seen the the demand that's been placed on us conduct yourselves worthy of the gospel of christ and now the second point is the description of living a manner worthy of the gospel this is a life characterized by certain traits but what are those traits what are those characteristics what are those qualities that we ought to be seeing now these are the these are the traits that paul was eagerly anticipating to hear from timothy as he sent them out he's waiting for his report back he wants to hear is this going on in in the in the lives of the philippians and the collective life of the church so follow with me in the middle of verse 27 let's let's take a look at the this description remember this is all one imperative okay conduct yourself now he's going to describe what that looks like so that whether i come and see you or remain absent i will hear of you that you are one standing firm in one spirit that two with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and that three in no way alarmed by your opponents which is a sign of destruction for them but of salvation for you and that too from god and then finally fourth for to you it has been granted for christ's sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake so we see four aspects of this life of a life conducted according in a manner according to the manner worthy of the gospel so first paul describes us standing firm and we need to understand that the term here that paul is is using is a plural term okay it's parole he's talking he's not saying stand firm to one person he's saying stand firm church stand firm people okay this is a position this is remaining firmly committed to one's convictions this is being unwavering this is being very principled this isn't open-mindedness rather this is a tenacious steadfastness that he's describing here and it's fueled by the gospel now paul's life most certainly exemplified exactly this manner of living right and he wasn't he wasn't motivated by a pursuit of rights and freedoms no he wanted to proclaim the gospel certainly certainly he appealed to his roman citizenship but that was only for the advancement of the gospel to give him another audience that he could proclaim it to right so we need to understand this that this is this is this is important and this is the the attitude that needs to be prevalent and so it requires our conscious effort and we see this in in first corinthians actually where paul after giving much correction to the corinthian church he exhorts them to to exactly this listen to this in uh first corinthians 16 and verse 13 be on the alert stand firm in the faith act like men that's a whole sermon unto itself right there be strong he finishes with right this is the conduct this is what that conduct in a manner worthy of the gospel looks like but let's not miss the modifier here either right he says stand firm but there's more stand firm in one spirit this is a collective attitude as i've already said and this is no doubt fostered by unity that's only made possible through the holy spirit this is a gospel driven church it's unified in their stance because of christ's saving work and they stand firm they're unanimous in their in their view why why are they unanimous in their view why are they why would they conduct themselves in this way well we already know we've heard the gospel it's because christ is worthy because he is the he's the object of our faith and he is worthy of exactly this conduct and isn't it true christian that the fact that christ is worthy as i've already said increases the delight that we take in him the delight that we have in him as we mature you know angie and i made it guess how many weeks it took us before we yearned fellowship so much back last march when when we were you know essentially told stay home you can't come to church so we went by first sunday seconds third sunday it was excruciating it was over it was done we we couldn't bear it any longer and so i don't i don't have a clue why anyone who's been saved by this gospel would remain content and say it's all right we can wait until the church gathers again we'll just continue on zoom we'll continue to meet virtually i i don't understand i can't wrap my mind around that kind of thinking i want to be with the people of god i want to be in corporate worship i want to be rubbing elbows together with the brothers and sisters i want to be hearing the testimonies of the people and i want to be proclaiming the good news lord there is so many times that we encounter people even on a day-to-day basis if we're not practicing this gospel then how are we proclaiming this gospel and so we need to be unhindered in our corporate worship no restrictions placed on that god has never delegated the government to say your church can only be this size they have no business there and also there should be no restrictions placed in any way that would hinder the church from the great commission let's take a look back at the text here notice notice without i'd like you to notice this right so without standing firm in one spirit we actually can't do the three that follow that okay track with me here how will you strive together how will you strive together if you're not standing firm in one spirit or how will you face opposition if you're not standing firm in one spirit or how are you going to possibly endure the suffering if you're not standing firm in one spirit if you're not taking this on together corporately and so we see a second trait here that that paul is describing he says with one mind strive together for the faith of the gospel and paul uses a compound word here it's pronounced soon atletu and it literally translated means competing together okay competing together when we compete we usually think we're competing against people but here he's saying we're competing together so there's a a teamwork here and this again is a plural a plural word so he's talking about a group obviously this is teamwork this is this is a unified struggle that the church finds itself participating in and it's what the gospel requires now apathy is not something that characterizes the believer some might say you don't really need to be with others to worship right you don't need to be with them i can worship god with my feet up on the coffee table this is what people say they're apathetic but what does the writer of hebrews say in the context of worship does he say don't worry about forsaking your own assembling together is that what the writer of hebrews says not at all the bible says let us not forsake our own assembling together so contending is necessary stimulating one another to love and good deeds is necessary there's no room for complacency there's no room for lethargy there's no room for slumbering and certainly there's no room for any person that calls themselves a shepherd that would facilitate this we need to think of paul's ministry we've been given so much of paul's ministry in the new testament what did his ministry look like certainly it didn't look like anything that i've just described there we need to be imitators of him he struggled for the gospel he contended earnestly for the gospel he was constantly locked arms together with his brothers in ministry this was the pattern this is what he's describing exactly here now given the implications placed on the local church globally i'm not sure that there's a more critical time in church history for the church to be striving together for the sake of the gospel i've heard it i've heard that it said that it's most difficult to evangelize somebody who professes to believe right they think they're already saved and you see clearly there's no fruit being being born in their life right there's there's clear evidence that something is amiss and they're incredibly difficult to evangelize well i think the same can be said for the church for a church that's gone wayward for a church that's no longer focused on the gospel you know we we read about these churches in revelations what did christ say regarding laodicea and it's lukewarmness he said he'd spit him out so we need to be heeding the words of scripture we need to not fall into just a complacency or even fall asleep and we need to urge our brothers and sisters and that's what we've already done this morning and continue to do we want those churches opened that's the only place where people are going to find salvation they need to hear the gospel proclaimed you need to be a gospel proclaiming church and so paul really is stressing a unity here that revolves around that there is one resolve it's harmonious there's no one out of tune in this okay you don't have one church that's off key everybody together for the gospel and and paul again to the corinthians he writes now i exhort you brethren by the name of our lord jesus christ that you all agree that there be no divisions among you and that you be made complete in the same mind and the same judgment first corinthians 1 10. then in second corinthians when he's defending his ministry he tells that same group be like-minded why is paul calling for harmony why is he's so insistent on this well we see in ephesians 4. he he wants this in order that we would walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called and that we would be then diligent to preserve that unity of the spirit in the bond of peace but but pastor jake but pastor jake you're not being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace you're just not you're speaking against the church you're speaking against local churches i should say we need to pay attention here to the participle that paul is using he's saying competing together competing together what does that look like would the holy spirit lead the believer away from the practical aspects of fellowship for close to a year is that the work of the holy spirit would he urge you to stay away physically from your brothers and sisters in christ it makes no sense and i could find no satisfaction in that as a believer so we need to pay close attention to what paul is describing here let's take a look at the third trait here living in a manner worthy of the gospel now this is where this is where he's saying let's just pick up the verse here again let's go back to verse 28 he says in no way alarmed by your opponents which is a sign of destruction for them but of salvation for you and that to from god so the christian's not alarmed he's not alarmed by those who po oppose him paul here is describing a fortitude that's found in the collective of the church and they display courage amidst pain they remain strong in the face of adversity they're not intimidated by their opponents i've sometimes thought what would the apostles say how what would their response be or what would the martyrs in church history say if they saw the western world and the christians that make up the western world what would they say you know i i think they might say something like this so let me get this straight you're not gathering because of a people a piece of paper that's being threatened that you'll receive you're going to receive a piece of paper that's what's keeping you from really that's what's caused you to stop meeting the threat of government but our church can't afford the fines we'll have to close the doors well there's house churches there's there's very various ways that you can still continue to meet as a church the point here that paul is making is that the believer's response is not controlled by fear but rather by resolve and we can we can say here open and honestly we are not afraid we are not alarmed by our opponents there is no fear in us not in the least and if they take one there will be another that will stand in his place and when he's gone another will stand in his place and will continue again and again and again why because christ is worthy because of this gospel has your life not been changed by this absolutely so we don't we don't suppress this in any way but we have it go forward gospel proclamation continues as long as the church isn't intimidated as soon as the church is intimidated the gospel is hindered not with us not with grace life and not with many other churches and i'm thankful for all those words of encouragement that we've already received many churches are standing and they continue to proclaim the good news of christ and so this is a life that's aligned with gospel and it actually serves as a sign twofold right it should cause a warning to the opponents to cause a warning that they are heading for destruction they need to open their eyes they need to understand that there's a danger here there's a warning being given to them and at the same time that strength in us is our assurance it's an assurance of our salvation it's a clear evidence that christ is working powerfully in us and powerfully through us and so brothers and sisters friends churches let us not forsake the diamond that is salvation in christ let us not let us not fear man but rather let us proclaim this gospel now it would seem that those protestant churches that have acquiesced to government actually betray church history and misplace their fear but jesus is clear when he said in matthew 10 do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell and so it's him that we fear it's him that we fear and as a result we have no need to fear any other and then finally there's this fourth trait that we see and it's this belief that's gifted to us that's also then accompanied by suffering and we read that in verse 29 where paul writes for to you it has been granted for christ's sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake paul's explanation here reaches all the way back to the imperative how do we how are we to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel how are we to live as citizens of the gospel of christ well we we do so by receiving these gracious gifts first we we're given belief we believe on the lord jesus christ and here it's it's it's almost like it's assumed right the way it's written it's not only to believe in him but then there's an emphasis place but also to suffer for his sake and so we need to pay close attention here it it allows the believer to identify here with the sufferings of christ and peter writes exactly about this in first peter 4 and verses 12 and onward where he says beloved do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing as though some strange thing were happening to you but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of christ keep on rejoicing so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exaltation if you are reviled for the name of christ you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of god rests on you make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or a thief or evil doer a troublesome meddler but if anyone suffers as a christian he is not to be ashamed but is to glorify god in his name and so just as the grace of god abounded in christ's suffering when believers suffer for his sake when believers suffer for his sake grace then abounds in them as well and so suffering endured successfully then makes faith abundantly visibly obvious and it affirms one's salvation now the western world doesn't know as i've been reading commentaries this week out of philippians a number of commentaries say the western world knows nothing of suffering and persecution i think that they need to rewrite portions of of those commentaries now i think the western world now is starting to see suffering starting to see the persecution and so the western world hasn't really been prepared for what lies ahead it hasn't been prepared to stand firm in the spirit to stand firm in one spirit collectively because we're in a very much an individualistic society right now and so we need to um we need to address the deficiencies that exist in us on how to take a unified stance what does unity in the church really look like unity is not just getting along at all costs that that's not unity unity is being like-minded as a result of christ and so i'm thankful for the unity that we've had as elders and the unity that has been found in grace life we are standing firm in one spirit i believe but there's another another exhortation that's poorly heated and that is to contend for the faith of the gospel as one person well we find ourselves that in a in a time where the gospel is being watered down it's watered down by liberalism it's watered down by materialism and this is encroached into the church and really when that happens it makes it a gospel that's no longer worth contending for right it's been altered so much it's not really a message that we any longer would want to then the church with the local church would want to contend for or you know sometimes there are churches that are so secluded they're so unto themselves that they they really can't contend earnestly for the gospel they have no one else to walk arms with to help in the face of the pagan opposition that surrounds even their local church environment and so these are all things that we need to take and pay close attention to so we've seen the demand of the gospel it demands us to conduct ourselves in a worthy manner of the gospel of christ we've seen the the it's defined or described by these four things and finally i'll just close here briefly we also need to understand that there's a difficulty that comes along with living in a manner worthy of the gospel that difficulty is shown vividly in the life of paul we see him right as even as he's describing how he endured hardships but how those served as a powerful example for the authenticity of his ministry he he writes in ii corinthians this list of things that he endured through he says far more labors far more imprisonments beaten times without number often in danger of death five times i received from the jews 39 lasses three times i was beaten with rods once i was stoned three times i was shipwrecked a night and a day i've spent in the deep and i've been on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers dangers from robbers dangers from my countrymen dangers from gentiles dangers in the city dangers in the wilderness dangers on the sea dangers among false brethren i've been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst often without food and cold and exposure apart from such external things there is the daily pr pressure on me of concern of all the churches he even suffered out of a concern for the churches caused them to suffer it's incredible list how many of those can we say we've participated in i think we're entering into a season where that's going to become we may very well be checking off things on that list but we can be satisfied in that as well knowing that the lord has brought that about for a purpose in our lives in fact the lord uses our suffering to save other people and we've seen that witnessed here again even as grace life has been caused to suffer people are being saved as they're coming under the proclamation of the word it's no different than the thief on the cross as he viewed christ's suffering and came to saving faith it's no different than the philippian jailer who saw paul and silas suffering in jail and as a result of the testimony that they they gave he asked what must i do to be saved what must i do to be saved well it's this gospel it's this gospel that has caused paul in again in philippians to say that he counts all things as loss everything else is lost and this last week this last week for me and i'm sure for many of us has really been helpful in counting more things as lost than ever before it doesn't matter anymore it's rubbish as paul describes i count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing christ jesus my lord for whom i've suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that i may gain christ let us have that attitude let us have that exact attitude now i realize that there are people on the live stream tuning in maybe they were hoping to see a disaster today today maybe they're just curiosity uh seekers you know they they wanted to see something maybe they're curious what's this church doing in the news maybe there's some of you here that have come for that same reason maybe you want to pound on your rights and freedoms and make sure that you're expressing that maybe you've come here you haven't heard this gospel before i need to tell you you've been conceived in sin you have you right from the time you were born you waited to a moment when you could first sin where you could first commit that first sin it was so ingrained in your in your being already your sin nature and from that time on you've been self-seeking self-serving and have continued in that way and it's an offense to god to live that way because he has created you and he should be the object of your affection not yourself right but he should be in fact coming to christ demands that we count the cost right there's a there's a price to be paid we need to count all things as lost as paul has said and so currently you're sitting here you're online and you don't know this jesus you don't know the savior that god sent into the world to to go to the cross to have the sin of man placed on him because god's god demanded a punishment for sin he demanded death and he's followed through on it death entered into the world and many people the majority of human history has gone to their demise and few are saved but it's not too late for you you can repent you can turn from your wicked ways you can turn from your selfish desires you can rid yourself of the pride but you need to come before the lord jesus christ and say that he will be your lord you need to surrender everything to him your entire life and then you have to believe in him you have to believe in what he has accomplished on the cross that it effectually dealt with your sin that god then has removed that sin from you your his righteous life has now been credited to your account and it's the only way if you don't surrender your life to christ you will die in your sin you will be eternally punished in hell and god is faithful he's faithful to that plan too because he's faithful in everything and so i would i would entreat you turn from your wicked ways confess jesus's lord believe in your heart that he raised him from the dead and you will be saved you will be saved and if that's you i would love to talk to you i would love for you to come and and talk to me i would love to counsel you if you if you're burdened here this morning and you need someone to talk to i would love to talk to you this morning don't leave here if if this morning you've heard the gospel and you're going my life is not right currently something is wrong and i look around here and i see the joy of these people and i see the strength of these people there's something about them i'd like to tell you about that don't leave let's pray father i thank you for the strength that you have given us i thank you for the resolve that you have placed in us and lord it's not of ourselves it couldn't possibly be but we do know that it's sourced in christ lord we are joyful we are joyful that you have saved us it has become our delight and it's become our desire to proclaim christ crucified to proclaim that to the world and not only that but that he was raised from the dead three days later to defeat sin and death and we too know that when we die we will enter into eternal life as a result of what christ has done for us and we praise you god for that we exalt you for that redemptive plan father thank you for philippians 1. we pray for these churches that need to open we pray for these churches that need to return to the gospel i pray that they would father i pray that you would place on the hearts of church leaders across this nation to realize that they need to return to what the bible says they need to stop preaching themselves and start preaching christ he is our only hope and that they cannot have divided loyalties father i pray that they would that they would desire that today and that we would stand together strong standing firm in one spirit that we would be striving together with one mind that we would be um able to not be frightened of whatever would come against us and certainly that we would believe and be able to endure the suffering as a result of that gracious gift that you've given us father thank you for these words we pray that you would help us to even this week conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of this great gospel this gospel of christ and it's in his name we pray [Applause] amen yeah

Channel: GraceLife Church of Edmonton

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Length: 73min 22sec (4402 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 21 2021