To live is Christ

This morning we are beginning a new sermon series based on the book of Philippians called worthy of the Gospel. The apostle Paul is writing a letter to the Philippian church to encourage, instruct, and commend the believers. In this letter to the Church Paul is not addressing any crisis or major issues within the church. He is simply pointing people to Christ.

Over the next few week we are going to study our way through the Book of Philippians to see Pauls encouragement to the Church and its application to our lives. One thing that is important to know about Paul as He is writing this letter is that He is imprisoned while writing it.

He begins by conveying his thankfulness for their partnership in the advancement of the Gospel. Open your bibles to Philippians 1.

Philippians 1:3–8 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.”

One of the key verses in that passage that sticks out to me is Philippians 1:6 which says, “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;”

Many times I have shared with you about embracing the process of maturity through discipleship. This verse brings into context and clarity the ability to embrace the process of renewal through the Holy Spirit, because we understand that not only has Jesus has begun a good work in us, he will also complete it.

In this process of maturing Paul identifies the benchmarks of our progression. Philippians 1:9–11.

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Love abounding in knowledge and discernment, proving the excellence of the Gospel with sincerity and without offense, while producing kingdom fruit.

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Submit:

Philippians 1:12–18 “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”

As we jump into the principle of the message I want to challenge you.

In life don’t allow the obstacle in front of you to reposition your focus. Set your eyes on Christ. Often when we encounter trials or hardship our immediate pursuit is to get out of it. While understandable it is not always the right thing to do.

Let me explain: Here are a few things Paul endured in His life.

Being blinded on the road to Damascus. Acts 9:1-19.

He was stoned and left for dead. Acts 14.

Five times He received 39 lashes from the Jews. 2 Corinthians 11:24.

Buffeted by a messenger of satan 2 Corinthians 12:7 “And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.”

He was chained and imprisoned. Philippians 1.

I want you to see what He says about the things that have happened to him in his life. Philippians 1:12 “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel,”

The suffering that he endured, the chains of imprisonment became the very tools God used to advance the Gospel through His life.

The chains Paul faced at the time He wrote the letter gave evidence to the whole palace guard about His faith in Christ, and God used it to embolden other believers to speak the word without fear.

We learned in our last series that we are to count it all joy when we fall into various trials, because they develop perseverance. I think it is important to understand that the word from God in our life that has not been tested is not as readily trusted.

We actually need the trials during the maturing process to help us recognize the power and potency of the word.

The beauty in trials is that we never know who is watching. Paul’s testimony of faith during his imprisonment became an opportunity to the advance the gospel among the palace guard. He even had people with wrong motivation preach against him while he was imprisoned, and yet he looked at it with gratitude that people were preaching the gospel.

There is purpose in the difficulties and obstacles we face in life. The enduring of pain in the moment is leading to the fulfillment of the promise of God in your life. When we put our trust in the Lord in the midst of the problems we face we find that His word becomes the anchor of our souls. Psalm 57:1-3.

Psalm 57:1–3 “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. He shall send from heaven and save me; He reproaches the one who would swallow me up. Selah God shall send forth His mercy and His truth.”

In hard times Jesus prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemy. Satan wants our focus on the enemies, and the hardship. If we don’t recognize that Jesus has positioned us for intimacy and encounter with Him we will miss it.

Psalm 23:4–5 “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.”

Intimacy with God in the middle of hardship is where the anointing comes from. It comes in the moment when you feel like your being crushed, and yet you remain faithful to His word. Instead of fleeing from him, you draw near and sit at the table. While at the table your still in the presence of your enemies, but you are dining with the King of kings and your cup is going to run over.

In life, You may be led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, but its because there is a promise land on the other side. The word of the Lord is the comfort in the wilderness. It may feel like the valley of the shadow of death, but He in the midst of it He has prepared a table for you. He has prepared anointing for your assignment and breakthrough.

In the kingdom when a word is spoken over your life it attracts conflict. If you don’t understand that you will think you have done something wrong, if you do you will seek vindication from the Lord. Mark 4:17 tells us that tribulation and persecution come because of the word. We have to develop the depth and strength to hold fast to the word spoken. When the enemy resist the word over your life it’s because he is afraid of your destiny.

The word is opposed for two basic reasons:

We need to discover the strength of the word. That no matter what, I can stand on the word in any situation. When God gives an anointing and you pray for someone and they get healed, and you pray for someone else and they die. It causes you to question the strength of the word. We have to learn to press into the word when we face opposition.

We are not all knowing. We are not always certain why things turn out the way that they do. We simply have to trust the word and obey it.

Numbers 23:19 ““God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

We can place our anchor in Jesus because He is the rock of our salvation. We can trust that He will bring us through.

A word must be opposed to discover reward. In Matthew 4 Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. He went in filled with the Spirit after being baptized by John in the Jordan but He came out of the wilderness with power. Sometimes conflict brings to the surface what God has put in you. Sometimes he will lead you into a conflict so that you discover what is In You.

Authority comes in the commission, power comes through encounter.

We have been commissioned with authority to go into all the world and preach the gospel. The demonstration of power will come only from the place of encounter. We have to learn to sit down with Jesus at the table in the presence of our enemies.

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Apply:

The deliverance of Paul’s life came through prayer and the supply of the Spirit. I love that verse 19 starts with the words FOR I KNOW. Philippians 1:19-20.

Philippians 1:19–20 “For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death.”

Two things I see here:

1. There comes a point in our lives when we must make the decision to walk by faith. Even though we can accomplish much in our own strength, we ultimately need to trust in Christ.

Psalm 20:7 “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” Jeremiah 17:7 ““Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord.”

When we live life in the spirit through relationship with Christ there is a God confidence that arises in our lives.

Proverbs 3:26 “For the Lord will be your confidence, And will keep your foot from being caught.” 1 John 5:14 “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Paul had an earnest expectation (an intensely desired expectation with a high confidence of fulfillment) and hope that in nothing he would be ashamed. He had confidence that all things God was working in His life would turn out. Paul with all boldness determined to glorify Christ in his body, whether by life or death.

Paul had come to such a place of trust in Jesus that whether He lived or died he trusted the working of the Lord in his life.

2. Deliverance was supplied through prayer and the Spirit. When I read this it reminded me of Zechariah 4:6 “So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.”

This is the place and outflow of intimacy with Christ. The place of prayer and intimacy with Jesus is the catalyst to power. We go into it commissioned, but we come out anointed with power for our purpose.

Paul saw the big picture of His life. Philippians 1:21-26.

In Philippians 1:21–26 he says, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.”

Paul’s singular aim was to bring glory to Jesus. He knew that if He departed from this life that it would certainly be more beneficial personally, but it would leave those He was serving at a disadvantage. His maturity in the faith recognized that it was more needed for Him to remain and produce fruit.

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Closing:

Paul wrestled between the idea of being with Christ vs. continuing his labor for the Lord. His personal desire was to be with Jesus, but He knew his assignment was to reveal and preach Jesus. He was willing to put aside His personal desires to meet the needs of others.

This is maturity in the faith. Realizing that our life is about service to others. We labor so that Jesus gets the glory and souls are added to the kingdom. Our goal is to imitate the example of Christ in all we do. To do this we pursue the knowledge of Christ not just to obtain a set of facts, but to know Christ himself.

This means that Christ is our focus, our goal, and our chief desire. Christ is the center point of our mind, heart, body and soul. Everything that we do, we do for Christ’s glory. Hebrews 12:1-2. Philippians 1:27-30.

Hebrews 12:1–2 “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The chapter finishes with an encouragement to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. That we would stand fast in unity.

Philippians 1:27–30 “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.”

If we will look unto Jesus, and walk in unity with one another we will see the purposes of God fulfilled in our lives.

Let’s Pray!

Lord lead us to the secret place to be with you. Help us to keep our eyes on you and the obstacles of life.