Worthy Lives

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 68:19-35

Psalm 68:19–35 ESV

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. Selah Our God is a God of salvation, and to God, the Lord, belong deliverances from death. But God will strike the heads of his enemies, the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways. The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan, I will bring them back from the depths of the sea, that you may strike your feet in their blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.” Your procession is seen, O God, the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary— the singers in front, the musicians last, between them virgins playing tambourines: “Bless God in the great congregation, the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!” There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead, the princes of Judah in their throng, the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us. Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bear gifts to you. Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples. Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute; scatter the peoples who delight in war. Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God. O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praises to the Lord, Selah to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice. Ascribe power to God, whose majesty is over Israel, and whose power is in the skies. Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 61:5-7

Isaiah 61:5–7 ESV

Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.

Sermon:

Good morning Church! I was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

Well, this morning, we are finishing chapter one of the book of Philippians, we'll be looking at Philippians 1. Four whole verses 27 through 30. And before we dive in and even before we read it, I want to start getting our mind thinking through what Paul is wrestling through.

When I was in college, most of, you know, some of you might not, I got my degree in philosophy. So, sitting around and thinking is what I got my degree in. And one of the things as you study philosophy — in particular, as you study ancient, Greek philosophy — One of the things that they wrestle with extensively it's, this is sort of the whole heart behind Socrates in many ways. But at the center of their philosophy, was this question which was “what is a good life”? How do you live a good life? What defines a good life? What makes one life good and another one… not so good. And they sort of wrestle through and think through this is it is it being moral? Is it pleasure? Is it? What is it? That makes a life good.

In fact, as we went through Ecclesiastes in our last series, Solomon wrestled with this idea too. Right? What makes a life good? Well it's not wisdom. It's not pleasure. It's not working hard, it's not any of these things Solomon, wrestled through those.

And Paul in our passage for today, he doesn't wrestle through this. Rather, he exhorts us That we must live A good life. But he doesn't use the word “good” as we will see in our passage. He calls us to live a “worthy life”. And so today what I want us to to see and understand is What Paul is expecting of the Philippian church and by extension, therefore, us is for them to live lives That are “worthy”… Good… pleasing to God… that that have certain markers… that are lived in such a way that the truth of who God is and what he's done shines through in our lives.

In terms of practical application, it doesn't get much more than this passage. Paul is very direct and explicit in what he calls us to and seeing and understanding that helps us I believe live these worthy lives So what does this look like in Philippians? chapter 1, starting in verse 27.

Philippians 1:27–30 ESV

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning. Let's open. With the word of prayer.

Our Father in heaven. We thank you for today. For your grace and your mercy for the goodness that you show to us. For the grace that you so freely bestow upon us. For life and love and all that you give to us, we are eternally grateful. We thank you, especially for the gift of your son. Jesus Christ, Our Lord, the word made flesh. And thank you for your word given to us in the form of the scriptures. WE pray that you would reveal yourself to us. Open our eyes to see. Give us ears to hear. Help us to be a people who are changed by your work. Empower us to Live lives. Worthy of the gospel of Christ. It's in his name that we pray. Amen. And amen.

So again, we're looking at worthy lives.

A Worthy life is…

But what is a worthy life? And I think if we read and understand, Paul's instructions, and Paul's directions to us, it will reveal what that life looks like. And it's much deeper and more Rich. What many people might want to call it, you know, you know, a good life's just being a good person. It's being a good dad, worker, whatever. Retiring with a lot of money and then spending the rest of your years relaxing. That's a good life, a worthy life. Or, or maybe it's a life in in service, right. Public Service. It maybe used to be politicians, but those guys are all crooks… so now maybe it is police or nursing, teaching. Maybe it is being a pastor, that is a WORTHY life… There are a lot of ways but here is a my test, having worked with high school kids for a long time.

Here is my test, listen to what people say, Specifically, you hear them talk to their kids. What do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do? When you grow up and you try to form and fashion and mold them into those things? And so what you are right? I think this is one of the best tests. What do you think a worthy life is? If you could tell a kid, exactly what they should do for the rest of their life? What would you say?

That's probably what you think. Deep down a worthy life. Is. But what is Paul exhort them and how to live a worthy life and the first? It's, it's in what Paul says here, but then he gives some greater detail. We can just start by saying a worthy. Life is a gospel life.

… a GOSPEL life

He calls us verse 27, to let your manner of life. Be worthy of the Gospel. So there's a little bit. I'll admit of circular reasoning that a life worthy of the Gospel is a life, lived out in the gospel, which makes a life worthy of the Gospel, which is, then lived out in the gospel. So I'll admit there's some circularity in this reasoning but stay with me here.

A worthy life is a life marked changed by and then lived out according to the gospel. And so a gospel life is a life lived in the gospel but what does that look like in particular? Paul gives us a whole bunch of examples that are worthy of our time and attention.

Only let the manner of your life? Be worthy of the Gospel. That's all you got to do, OK Paul, easy peasy, live worthy of the beauty and strength and goodness and grace of the Gospel… But Paul doesn't let up, he continues… . So that Whether I come and see you or an absent. I, That you are standing firm in one Spirit, a

gospel life is a life marked in unity with one another in the spirit.

Standing firm in that one Spirit with one another. With one mind striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel. So it is a steadfast life, a gospel life is a life rooted and planted in the truth of who Jesus is what he did and what that earned for us. It's a life-lived. In some sense, in a good way, in the shadow of the Cross. And we stand firm in who Jesus is in his righteousness, in his goodness, in what he has given to us. A gospel life is a life where we stand firm and say we Are IN Christ.

right? We sing this song: on Christ The solid rock I stand! That's it. It's in his work in his person. What he's called us to what he's moved us to what he has changed inside of us. A life lived in the gospel, a gospel life. Is a life that is centered on focused on. Entirely devoted to Jesus. That's how we stand firm. And that then becomes our one mind together. Note, the Philippian Church isn't called to live a gospel life by themselves. This has been the theme of Philippians, right? If if you were to come and say David, what is your argument against me selling everything....

We have this. If you look, if you were to ever go up, Towards the mountains here, by dripping springs, there's a little cave out there where some Friar years ago. Lived, he mysteriously died. It's rather interesting, right? but Why shouldn't we all do that? Why shouldn't all Christians? Just go move out into the desert and live nomadic lives. My argument against that would be the entire book of Philippians really.

Note here, We stand firm with one Spirit striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel. A gospel life is lived together together rooted and established in Christ. I've been harping on now for a few maybe more than a month. Now the relaunch of grace groups that we're going to Endeavor to relaunch these be in each other's houses, be in each other's lives. Why do I think that's so important? Because you must live lives worthy of the gospel of Christ. That looks like whether I come to see you in absent. And I just hear of you that you are standing firm in one. And that you are striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel.

And This idea of striving side by side, we need each other. We need to be in each. Other's lives, encouraging lifting, one another up, pushing one another to good works. Pushing one another to live lives. Worthy of the way, he would say this in Ephesians, Paul is worthy of the calling you have received.

And so we stand firm in one Spirit. That's the gospel. We strive side by side in the faith of the Gospel. Verse 28, not frightened of anything by your opponents.

A gospel life is a life lived. With no fear. This is a hard one. If we're being Frank and honest, It's difficult. To live side by side… throw on top of that this call to Not be frightened by ANYTHING anything. By your opponents.

But before we dive into our lives, let's think of Paul's We've gone through the this laundry list before. We've covered this before, but I want us to, I want to read for us, Paul's own account of the difficulties of his life.

Before we dive into our lives, lets let Paul stand on his own merits… This is what I want to do here. Paul tells us don't be afraid of anything. They may threaten you with Yeah, but Paul you don't know what they're threatening with. Let's just hear what Paul himself faced. Second Corinthians, if you have your Bibles you can flip here. Second Corinthians chapter 11 We'll start in verse 21,

For some context here… Paul writing the church in Corinth. There's been some difficulties the church in Corinth, okay? Paul loved and the church in the Philippian church is doing a lot of great things… the church in Corinth, well, Paul also loved, but they were a horrible church, right? They did a lot of things wrong. They had a lot of mistakes they were doing. Thankfully because of their mistakes. We, as a church have learned a lot, but they weren't doing a lot of things right.

And one of the things that the Corinthian Church was dealing with, is there were these guys that we call the “super Apostles” --- who weren't really Apostles — they were coming in, like, trying to say, they were better than Paul, they preached better. They were more eloquent, which I find hard to believe, but the Corinthian Church sort of fell prey to their false teaching. And so in second Corinthians after he's already written in First Corinthians, he has to write a second letter to this church, that's messing up. He's like, hey Trust me, you want to listen to me and not them.

2 Corinthians 11:21–28 (ESV)

But whatever anyone else dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they offspring of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—

So there these people claim to be Servants of Christ. Paul's like, I'm better than them. But then, look at why he says he's better. This is not Pride. Paul says, I'm speaking in human terms. I want you to get this point. I am a better servant of Christ. Why? Verse 23 of second Corinthians 11.

I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.

Why is Paul a better servant of Christ because he got beat up more and almost died more than they did.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.

They ripped the flesh from his back. With a whip. Five times. Paul says,

Three times I was beaten with rods.

they beat him to almost death with sticks. Like hard, heavy Oak sticks. Not like little whips.

Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

Paul says, don't be afraid of anything after facing all of this, he continues...

And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

That's what Paul faced.

And Paul says here. To the Philippian Church. Don't be frightened by anything from your opponents. It's as if you can hear him saying. I mean, what's the worst they can do? Flog, you Whip, you 40, minus one 39 times with a whip, each whip digging deeper into your back, ripping the flesh off of it, don't worry. They might hurl stones at you and leave you for dead. They might ship you off to Exile. And while you are on that boat, it will Shipwreck and you will be a drift at Sea for a day and a night. Don't be afraid of anything.

How can Paul say this? Because the gospel removes all fear. There's a whole bunch of ways. I could say this, here's the easy one. He who gave us his own son? Will he not with him graciously? Give us all things. Jesus, who rose from the dead? That's the hope of the Gospel. Has promised to be with us, sustain us and we like him will arise. The worst thing that your enemies could do to you.... The WORST thing they could do to you is to kill you. And Paul has just said. To live as Christ and die is gain.

So, the worst thing they can do to you is help you go see Jesus soon. So, don't be afraid.

For us. Very, very few of us... I would wager to say in this room, none of us… Will face the same sort of persecutions and trials that Paul did. So how can Paul say don't be afraid? But, but what about my boss? What about my work? What about what I might face? What about what I might lose? What about what it might cost me? Don't be afraid.

A gospel life is a Fearless life live together standing firm in the faith in Jesus Christ who he is and what he's done Is a worthy life. That's a life. That we can look at and say that's a good life. And we go back to, to what I said. How do I think one of the ways you can know you live a good life? What do you tell kids? This is what you should do in life. Are you telling them to live out the gospel? With no fear. And confidence and standing firm in the faith. It's a good life.

There's more to this, but that's the heart. Is your life worthy of the Gospel? Because the things that begin to follow, I believe. Become a fruit of this first one. This becomes the central. The gospel is Central to everything. And then the rest of life, then flows out of it. So, it's a gospel life that then becomes A visible life.

… a VISIBLE life

So, we live our lives worthy of the Gospel. This is the gospel life. That we're standing firm in one spirit that we are striving side by side for Faith that we are not frightened, right? Those are all a gospel life. Because the second half of verse 28, This is a clear sign to them of their destruction. But of your salvation. And that from God,

The lives. We live ought to be visible. To everyone around us. Here's the point of a gospel life. And this becomes the natural flow, right? Paul's writing is like, live a life worthy gospel, stand firm, Labor for the faith of the Gospel. Don't be afraid of anything anyone will do to you.

And you might want to stop and think. Well, Paul, why should I be afraid of what people doing? This is my private life. They don't need to know. One of the reasons you need to not be afraid is because of gospel life and a life worthy is one that shines to everyone around them. But why would they persecute you? It's because your life lived out in the gospel is a sign to those around them of their destruction. But also of your salvation

Here's the point and this is something we often miss. Why do people hate Christians So much? Do you ever think that?

They say it's because we're hypocritical. We are. But everyone in the universe is a hypocrite. So guilty is charged. But why do you hate my hypocritical-ness more than anyone else's? It is because I take the Name of Christ, okay? But but why is that so offensive? Really, Why do people hate Christians? Well, because they're just goody two shoes

and we're getting.... We're getting warmer here. Why do people hate Christians? Well, they just think you have to live a certain way and do a certain thing. Okay, I do, yes. But everyone has opinions on right and wrong, and they are not always the same… so why? Why do people hate Christians?

It's because we claim. And proclaim the truth. That is to be a part from Christ is to be destined for hell. And to be in Christ means to live a life worthy of Christ. It means to live a life worthy of the Gospel refraining from Evil standing for what's good? And when people see that, they hate that because who wants to be told they're going to hell?

So why do people hate the Christians because Christians should live lives That remind them, that they are saved. The person who's living it is saved. And the person who is not saved is destined for Destruction. and No one likes to be Told that,

So why do people hate Christians? because Our lives should be a reminder before we even open our mouth— and we must open our mouth— But before we even open our mouth, our lives should be a testimony to what serving God looks like feels like and moves like and as people see that, and most importantly it is for them, a visible sign, a clear sign to them of their destruction and also your salvation

We need to be careful here. Hear my heart in this one. The job, the goal is not to feel better about myself and make everyone else feel horrible. The goal of this passage is not for me to get a sense of entitlement and goodness, right? It is to live out the gospel.

This thought became clear in my life in college and I've shared this story a thousand times and I will share it a thousand more. I remember my sophomore year at New Mexico, State University walking around campus. And having this air and feeling of entitlement. Because you'd see people in class and you talk to people and you'd see people walking around and you do this stuff and you think, you know, “these people” … any phrase that starts “these people” is probably not good. “these people”, If they would jkust Hear and respond to the gospel, like I did their life would be so much better. But instead they're just awful wretched, Sinners. And you get this sense of entitlement.

And then I was reading. Through my scripture, not out of love of God's word, but because that's what good Christians do. And I just wanted to check off my box that day. But God is faithful to use his word even when our heart's not in the right place, he led me to the Book of Luke. And I was reading Jesus, parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Where Jesus says, suppose there are two men who have gone to the temple. To pray the first a Pharisee, And his prayer goes something like this. Your God. Thank you that. I'm so righteous… Thank you that. I have to use some Pauline language here for a second. Thank you that I have such visible signs of my salvation. I tithe of mint. And Dill and cumin. I honor my father and mother I follow the law. I am so good. Thank you that I am not like this. Tax collector over here.

And then we get to hear the tax collector's prayer.

It's very simple. Very profound. If you can only pray, one prayer for the rest of your life. I would encourage it to be this one. The prayer in this Parable of the tax collector is this “God have mercy on me. A sinner.” And then Jesus asked the question, which of these two do you think went home Justified? It's a tax collector.

Like when we read this that is assigned to them of your salvation but also of their destruction, you must have the heart of the tax collector as you think this. It is a sign, the life. I live is assigned to the world but also to me That God has touched me and changed me and shaped me and moved me and worked in me and he's taking care of me and he will continue to take care of me. It's assigned to me, but also the world, but that is earned through the gospel, which is a free gift, right?

Let's remember what we're building off of here, this is built on the gospel. A free gift to anyone who calls upon Jesus. So, our message, when they say, well, I'm being driven for Destruction and you are claiming salvation, our answer should be salvation is available to all who call upon the name of Jesus. But our lives have to be visible to get there. And here's my point. Our lives should be visible signs of the Gospel that is at work within us. That's a worthy life. People should know. That you are a Christian.

When Desiree and I do premarital counseling, we have a form that we send out to all of the people they have to fill it out individually. You have the wife has to fill it out. The husband has to fill it out separately. They're not allowed to talk about it, no cheating and then they bring it back to us and that's what we end up working through. As we do. Premature pre-marital counseling. And one of the questions we ask on that form, I think it's a wonderful question. Is we ask each spouse? Do your fiance's friends know that they are a Christian?

And what we're trying to get at is, Really, this did they live a visible life? Do you think they do? And I think it's good for us to hear… This is why marriage is is good. Our spouses can be more honest with us than a lot of people can and will be right. It's good for us to hear hey the way you live your life. No one around. You would ever think you're a Christian. Right. You use that word? You say that you're a Christian but all you do is go to church. Your life doesn't really match it.

And it's good for us to hear this because our lives must be visible. Right there is Grace, note. This there's Grace and forgiveness for all sins. The gospel is the hope and you can't be perfect. But my hope and heart is that you hear this, your life ought to be a visible sign of the gospel. It's marked by standing firm in the face. Standing firm in one Spirit striving for the faith and not being frightened. And as you stand firm in this faith, it changes you. You will live differently. And that's good because a worthy. Life is a visible life. In a worthy life. Is a gracious life.

… a GRACIOUS life

This one's maybe the most difficult. For us to wrap our mind around.

So I'm just gonna say it. Just let us all wrestle with it for the next week or so.

What I mean to say that a worthy life is a gracious life. I mean that this is a life that has been touched by the grace of Jesus, right? We should be gracious. And yes, and a good life is one that is shows Grace to people but that's not exactly what I'm talking about here. What I mean here is a worthy life is a life that has been touched by the grace of God.

But note, how Paul describes this? It doesn't look how we might want, verse 29. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe. Let's pause here.

This is an important theological truth. That's hard to wrestle through. So I'm just going to say it.. You're… the very fact that you are empowered to believe is a gracious gift of God because Paul says in Romans, no one is righteous. No, not one, no one seeks. God no one loves God, we are enemies to God and it is the grace of God that first comes and changes us and empowers us to believe. So verse 29, it is God's grace that enables us to believe. For it has been granted to you. This is a gracious gift. It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should believe, right? Hear this? It has been given to you that for the glory of Christ. You believe. praise the Lord for that. But that's not where Grace ends. It has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should NOT ONLY believe, so part of it is you believe But also, Suffer.

It is God's grace. That enables you to suffer for his sake. A worthy life is a life that lives out the gospel. It's being united. It's standing firm. It's it's laboring together for the faith. It's living a bold life, not in fear. That is then seen and witnessed by others. That then becomes for us a sign of our Salvation. But for those around us a sign of their destruction, And then that life as we live, that which has been given to us, it's been granted to us by the grace of God enables us to one, believe in him, but to suffer for him. And that's the grace of God. It is by the grace of God that you are able to suffer for the cause of Christ.

Elsewhere in in the book of Acts, The disciples are drug before the Sanhedrin. And they're like, hey you guys need to stop preaching and the disciples are like yeah we're going to keep preaching and like no, you really need to stop. And then they were like, hey, You can tell us what you want to do and then you have to decide. Do we listen to you or to listen to God? We're going to listen to God. And this is the David version of this.

So, they beat thim. And they tell them. Stop talking about Jesus.

Just to read this quickly, Acts 5:40-41

Acts 5:40–41 ESV

and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.

That's the point. The disciples understood here that to suffer for the cause of Christ is God's grace, to be counted worthy to suffer is an act of GRACE. The Bible is full of this language in these pictures in the Book of Revelation. It's the martyrs who are given the position of honor in heaven. It's, it's considered a blessing and God's grace to be able to suffer for the cause of the Gospel. It's God's grace that we believe, it's God's grace that we suffer. It's God's grace in every moment of Our Lives. That's a gracious life.

A worthy. Life is a difficult life. Because the gospel is the highest calling that we will ever receive. It is to be hid in Christ in his fullness and goodness is to be covered by his blood, but then it's called to live a life worthy of that. To pay a debt. We can never pay out of gratitude and love and service to the high King Of Heaven. And we do this in view of all around us standing firm in the hope of the Gospel. Such that as we live our lives. We are reminded of the goodness of God and everyone else is reminded of the goodness of God, but also the wrath of God. And as we do this, we are called to believe all the more in Jesus Christ. This is the hope of the grace that God grants to us, but also, you may be called to suffer. But this Is God's grace.

Let's pray.