Living Life Worthy

With great privilege comes great responsibility.

And oddly enough The Princess Diaries starring a young Anne Hathaway is a good illustration of this.

Mia Thermopolis starts as an ordinary teenager, unaware that she is actually the heir to the royal throne of Genovia.

Overnight, she becomes wealthy and influential. But with that privilege comes responsibility. She must learn to act with dignity, make wise choices, and learn to lead with wisdom.

At first, Mia struggles. She wants the perks of being a princess without the obligations, and she makes mistakes.

But as she grows into her role, she realizes that her privilege isn’t just for personal comfort; it’s for serving her kingdom, representing her family, and making a positive difference.

It’s strange to say—but The Princess Diaries and the call on the Christian’s life share a lot of parallels. Oftentimes we too want the perks of belonging to Jesus without the obligations.

Our text today calls us to live as citizens worthy of the kingdom we belong to. In Christ we are given great privilege and with it comes great joy AND great responsibility.

We are continuing our series in Philippians: Pursuing Christ Together. Today our text is Philippians 1:27-30. And as we move into our text today we move into a shift from the call to gospel partnership into understanding that gospel partnership in Christ church means unity and humility.

Hear God’s Word for you today.

Philippians 1:27–30 “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.”

First, our text tells us…

Christians are citizens of God’s kingdom and should live like it. (27)

Philippians 1:27 “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ,

You might have a note in your Bible after the word worthy, letting you know that the word for worthy in the Greek means to live “as worthy citizens”. The word has it’s root in the noun polis which refers to a Greek city-state.

But the picture is not a city as we understand it. In an American city we can be a part of it and have no attachment to it—be under it’s laws and pay it’s taxes and benefit from its services but feel no allegiance to it.

But for the Greek who belonged to a polis this was not possible. The polis was his life. It’s laws and customs were a part of his life. Belonging to a polis was a matter of loyalty.

And there is an extra layer of city pride for the Philippians—after the great Roman civil war where Octavian defeated Anthony many Roman heroes of that war settled in Phillipi. Because of this Philippi was given special treatment and was made a part of Rome. Philippian citizens were now Roman citizens—which in the ancient world was a great honor and privilege.

In Acts 16 we see the Philippians identify themselves as Romans. Acts 16:20–21 “These men are disturbing our city. With customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.””

Paul calling the Philippians to live as worthy citizens would have carried significance for the Philippians—in a way that it doesn’t for us. So we have to understand what Paul is calling them to because God’s Word is calling us to the same obedience—to the same calling.

Paul is saying to them, “You know what it means to belong to a city that you are proud of—to live loyally to that calling. And I’m saying to you Philippians—that you belong to a state greater than Rome, you belong to the Kingdom of Heaven—the Kingdom of the Gospel. So you must live your life in a manner that is worthy of your citizenship in that kingdom.”

And this is Paul’s call to us— “Christian, you are a citizen of the kingdom of Heaven—you have a great King who rules over you, Jesus your savior is also your king.”

Especially for Americans—this idea of a king is so muted in our minds. Our heritage is rooted in toppling monarchies and swearing fealty to no king. “We the people—we are the rulers.”

But for the Christian while we may have no earthly king now—we do have a a heavenly king whose kingdom is greater than any that has ever existed. And someday soon that heavenly kingdom will become an earthly kingdom.

Revelation 21:1 The old heaven and earth will pass away and the new heaven and earth will come—our future eternity is in a physical place—a coming kingdom—and you and I are citizens of that kingdom now—and Jesus Christ is our king. So citizen of heaven know that…

With great privilege comes great responsibility.

I’m serious. Don’t just let these words pass over you—I know you’ve heard them before but hear them again and heed them. You belong to Jesus—you are a citizen of the kingdom of the gospel—and how you live in this world, representing the Kingdom of Jesus, really, really matters.

And as we continue in the text, Paul gives us some insight into what living as a worthy citizen of the gospel of Christ looks like. Look at the rest of verse 27.

Philippians 1:27 “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,”

Paul says there are two main ways: First, we are to stand firm in one spirit. Second, we are to strive together for the advancement of the gospel with one mind. Let’s explore these.

Living worthy of the gospel means…

Standing Firm in One Spirit

What does it mean to “stand firm in one spirit”

Ephesians 4:3 says we are to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

Christians are not to divide along doctrinal, sociological, or in today’s world I must add, political lines.

We are to be one people united together—a diverse group of people united in the gospel.

And we have a hard time with this—we have a hard time partnering with other Christ honoring denominations that believe differently than us which is not a surprise because we have trouble partnering together within our own churches when we disagree about some doctrine, or how we should do something.

It reminds me of this story I heard about two men on a bridge.

One man saw another man standing on a bridge, ready to jump. He cried out, “Don’t do it!”

The other man said, “Nobody loves me.”

The first man says, “God loves you! Do you believe in God?”

He said yes. “Me too! Are you Reformed?” He said yes. “Me too! Presbyterian or Congregationalist?” He said Presbyterian. “Me too! Old Side or New Side?” He said Old Side. “Me too! Old School or New School?” He said Old School. “Me too! Northern or Southern?” He said Southern. “Me too! PCUS or continuing Presbyterians?” He said continuing Presbyterians. “Me too! PCA or OPC?” He said PCA. “Me too! Full Subscriptionist or Good Faith?” He said Full Subscriptionist. “Me too! 1789 American Westminster Confession or 1647 original text?” He said 1647.

At that the first man shouted, “Die, heretic!”—and pushed him off the bridge.

And we laugh but our churches can often be like that—we agree on so much but as soon as we find something we disagree on it becomes a battle in the church and ruins the unity in Christ that we are called to have.

I want to encourage you church, to pray often for the unity of this church. And pray also for your own heart—when praying for unity in our church—we do best to pray for our own hearts that we would not be divisive and contentious but instead that we would contribute to our church “standing firm in one spirit”. Unity starts with getting the log out of our own eye first.

Disrupting the unity of the body of Christ is a scandal and dishonors Christ.

Instead we should be known for a visible unity that has practical results. And standing firm in unity together leads us to be able to pursue the second mark of living as worthy citizens of Christ’ kingdom.

A unified church is better able…

To strive together for the advancement of the gospel.

Brothers and sisters we must be a church that strives together for the advancement of the gospel. If we aren’t then why would God grow our church?

Friends, do you want to see this church grow? Do you want to see these pews filled with new families and children and teenagers? Do you want to see new life and excitement breathed into our church?

I know you do—then we must be a church that is primarily about advancing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We all know that the “Hay Day” of West Hopewell was under the tenure of Tim Keller but this church didn’t grow because Tim Keller was great, this church grew because Jesus Christ is great and pastor Keller held high the message of the gospel. And Tim would have told you that himself—and those of you that personally knew him, know he would have said so.

Hopewell needs us to be a church with an aggressive Christianity. The glory of God demands that we be a church with an aggressive Christianity.

What do I mean by that? I don’t mean use the name of Jesus as a license to be a jerk.

We need to be men and women with right doctrine and full hearts.

I had a conversation this week with a friend—who is seeking the Lord. She is in the church but has questions about God’s Word, about sin, and about how to love people well. And she said something that breaks my heart— “I don’t have anyone I can talk to about these things. I have to be silent because the Christians around me have attacked me for asking questions.”

If your theology is so weak that you can’t handle a different viewpoint than yours you need to study more.

That’s not what I mean by aggressive Christianity—the world doesn’t need anymore of that. Jesus had right doctrine and a full heart and we need to be like Jesus.

Aggressive Christianity seeks to claim the world for Christ. Aggressive Christianity sees Hopewell and wants to claim Hopewell for Jesus Christ. Aggressive Christianity sees the neighbor hoods we live and wants to claim them for Jesus Christ.

I’m moving to a new neighborhood—I want my neighbors to know Jesus. I want them to honor Jesus. How about you?

Too often, Christians in America retreat from advancing the gospel. We have given up the public square, we have stopped fighting for the hearts of our neighbors, we have stopped seeing the cities and universities and the workplace as opportunities for gospel advancement but instead we have retreated—waiting for someone else to go and do the work we’ve been called to do there.

Pastor, how do you know I’ve been called to do the work in these places? Because our God is sovereign and he has placed you there on purpose with the only message that can save people in your heart.

E. Stanley Jones wrote, “The early Christians did not say in dismay: ‘Look what the world has come to,’ but in delight, ‘Look what has come to the world!’”

Brother—sister—in Christ, you are what has come to the world—the message we carry in us, the new creations that we are in Christ, is for the world to see.

The world needs to see you and I living as citizens of a better kingdom. They need to be drawn to our great King because of the way that we live and the message in our mouths.

The world needs Christians living as worthy citizens of the Kingdom of God—convinced that the gospel message of Christ is effective to turn lost and dead people to the only one that can save them.

And we must walk in unity and strive together for the advancement of Christ’ kingdom.

Also, as our text continues this morning we see that living as worthy citizens of Christ’ Kingdom means…

To face the world in this calling without fear.

As we continue preaching through Philippians—Paul will pick up Christian conduct again in chapter 2. But this call to live worthy lives for Christ has brought Paul to address the unalterable sequence of Christian faithfulness being followed by Christian persecution.

2 Timothy 3:12 “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,”

If we live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel—as God calls us to—then we will experience persecution of some kind.

You may be ridiculed or cancelled. You may be looked down on by family or co-workers or friends. In other parts of the world—living for Jesus boldly and aggressively advancing the kingdom results in physical persecution or even death.

And when persecution comes your way Paul says in Philippians 1:28 , in addition to living worthy lives for Christ…“do not be frightened in anything by your opponents.” And then gives two results of living for Christ without fear before the world. God’s Word says…

“This is a clear sign to them of their destruction” and “this is a clear sign to you of your salvation, and that from God.”

Doing the right thing, living for God in this sinful world is a sign to the believer of their salvation.

No one likes persecution—none of us like to be ridiculed—none of us like to be thought of as backwards or intolerant or unintelligent. No one enjoys being imprisoned, or tortured. And yet these are things that Christians face because the message of the gospel is true.

If you’ve done any readying on the martyrs of the church then you’ll find what I’ve found to be mind blowing and awe inspiring. When I read about the stories of Christians martyrs who face persecution I always question—how can they stand with such courage before their persecutors? And the next question is…could I do that? Or would I shrink away preferring comfort over Christ.

And in the question is the answer—no Christian stands courageous in the face of persecution simply on their own courage.

Human character can wither away in the face of persecution—life beats it down.

The Christian, standing on the indomitable message of the gospel, can not be moved from their convictions—even in the face of great persecution—because their God is with them holding them up and giving them the words to speak.

When Hannaniah, Mishael, and Azariah stood in the fiery furnace of Daniel 3 there was another man standing with them—their God stood with them in the fires of persecution and they persevered in their witness.

When we stand firm and unafraid in the face of persecution it is proof to us that we are saved. And God promises that He will stand with us.

Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

Matthew 28:20 “ And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

Matthew 10:19–20 “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

John 16:33 “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.””

2 Timothy 4:16–17 “ all deserted me…But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me…”

Hebrews 13:5–6 “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?””

I think sometimes the enemy defeats believers from living for God before they step a foot out of the door—because the enemy tells you a partial truth— “the pursuit of godliness will result in your persecution”, the enemy whispers to you. And that is true.

But it’s not all the truth. Our God reminds us that when that persecution comes He will empower us to persevere and our suffering will be a sweet proof of our salvation.

Not only is courage in the face of persecution a proof to the believer of their salvation but it is also…

Proof to the unbeliever of their destruction

Oh, how unpopular that sentiment is—Oh, how unpalatable to the world is that idea—that destruction awaits all the enemies of the cross.

And this is why the believer’s life will be met with persecution. The life of the believer lived boldly for Jesus will shine a light onto the darkness of the world and condemn them.

John 3:19–20 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”

Persecution often comes to us as believers because our lives lived for Christ expose the works of evil in the lives of those living for the world around us.

But we should not shrink away from shining this light…no one can come to Jesus unless they first know that they are a sinner. Jesus is not a nice addition to a tidy life—he is a rescue from spiritual death.

Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

Friends, let your life stand firm in persecution, do not be afraid of those who oppose the message of the gospel but let the light of Christ in you shine on them and expose their works—preach to them in kindness with your life and your voice so that they may come and be saved.

If there are any here today who have not come to Jesus for salvation, know that today is the day of salvation. Without Christ you stand before God as a sinner condemned by the works of your life. But you can come now and receive forgiveness in Christ. All of your sin which stands as a record of guilt for you can be nailed to the cross and washed in the blood of Jesus. You can be free in Christ today, right now, all you have to do is come.

Friends when we see our persecution this way, as a tool used mightily in the hands of God for His glory then we can see why Paul refers to our suffering for Christ sake as a gift.

In the last two verses of our passage Paul says, Philippians 1:29–30 “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.”

Paul says this suffering has been granted to you—like a gracious gift.

And this harkens back to our previous sermon in Philippians where we saw Paul saying, “Whether it was in earnest or was contributing to his persecution Paul was just glad that Christ was being proclaimed.”

Paul saw his persecution as a gift—that he would be persecuted for the sake of Christ was proof to Paul that he was living his life in a manner worthy of the gospel—and he was grateful.

What about you and I?

What will we do this morning with such a great call on our lives? As children of God—as adopted sons and daughters who are citizens of the Kingdom of Christ—will we stand firm in one spirit together unified in the gospel?

Will we strive together for the advancement of the gospel?

Will we face the persecution that comes with godliness without fear knowing that it calls people to turn away from their sin and turn towards Christ?

Church will we live in a manner worthy of the gospel? Will we live in a manner worthy of our great King Jesus?

Friends, let it be so! Let us walk forward in courage knowing that our God is with us.

Let us walk this day and every other day, until we close our eyes in death living a life worthy of your calling in Christ.

For by so doing God will be honored and His work will be done. Let’s pray.