Persevering Faith

A life worthy of the Gospel.

Please open your Bibles to

Read .

We live in the United States of America.

The United States of America is home to unique attractions and customs.

When someone comes here to the US, we try and share these unique experiences.

A couple months ago, a few families of Southwest hosted some high school students from Japan to their homes.

We wanted them to experience something unique, something truly American.

Their first meal with us was Sizzler.

Nothing says America, quite like the Sizzler.

We got them steak, and then took them to the salad bar.

Isn’t that American.

Eat, and eat till you fill sick.

If you’ve ever hosted someone to Southern California, you’ve probably shared with them some of our unique destinations.

You’ve taken them to Disneyland.

The beach.

Hollywood.

Being an American, has an attitude that comes with it.

We are patriotic.

We honor those that are in the military.

America is nicknamed the land of opportunities.

We are a capitalistic nation, that celebrates free enterprise.

Someone can come here, start a business, and build an empire.

These are things that define our nation and our culture.

Paul is writing to the Philippians.

Philippi was a city that was adopted by Rome.

Around 40 bc, Philippi became a Roman colony.

Becoming a Roman colony, meant that the people of Philippi became Roman citizens.

They were far from Rome, but the Roman customs and culture were adopted by the Philippians.

And they were very proud of their new citizenship.

They eagerly adopted Roman traditions, and law.

And they didn’t want anything to ruin the good thing they had going.

You can see how much they enjoyed their Roman peace, by their response to Paul in .

In Paul’s first visit to Philippi, he met a demon possessed slave girl.

He commanded the demon to leave the girl.

Her owners, were upset because they were making money off of her.

They had Paul arrested, and brought before the authorities.

Here’s what they said, and you can hear their loyalty to Rome in their accusations against Paul,

“These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city. They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

Though they were Philippians, they considered themselves Romans.

Those in Philippi knew what it meant to be a citizen and how a citizen ought to live.

Meanwhile, back to our text in Philippians, Paul is writing to the Christians in the city, who now are citizens of God’s kingdom.

He’s trying to help them understand how citizen of God’s kingdom lives.

Later on in this book, he will say, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”

All this to say, the Philippian Christians, know how a citizen of any nation should live.

They were proud of Roman citizenship, and knew how to live as Romans.

And now he is calling for them to be equally proud of their Christian citizenship, their citizenship in heaven.

So coming out of that Paul gives his one command in our passage, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

Where you see “manner of life”, that word is related to politics, to being a citizen.

So Paul is saying, “Just as you were eager to be Roman citizens, be eager to live a life worthy of the Gospel, of Christian citizenship.”

I couldn’t tell you how important that is for us today.

More and more, I meet people who think they are Christians.

They use the right language; they say the right words.

They say Jesus died for sins.

They say they are blessed.

They say they pray.

But they aren’t Christians.

They aren’t living a life worthy of the Gospel.

They do not live as citizens of the kingdom of God.

They use the language, but they don’t live it.

says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

They may use new language, but the old life hasn’t passed away.

Living a life worthy of the Gospel needed to be true and authentic, whether or not Paul was there.

Just as Philippi was eager to obey their new emperor, even if he was seated in Rome.

The church was to be eager to live for the Gospel, regardless of where Paul was, or whether he was alive.

I’ve been the pastor here for almost 9 years, and in those 9 years, I’ve only missed a handful of Sundays.

When I’m not here on Sundays … it’s weird.

There’s that old saying, “when the cat’s away, the mice come out to play.”

And I wonder what will happen here.

Will you start on time?

Will the power work?

Will whoever is preaching show up?

I worry about these things.

Maybe I’m proud, but there’s a part of me that says, if I’m not here, nothing will happen.

Amanda and I have 2 basset hounds, while we like our dogs … they’re bad dogs.

We used to keep them in the house when we were gone.

And then we’d come home ...

We found:

The carpet pulled up.

The sofa cushions chewed up.

Kitchen rugs pulled outside and destroyed.

Our dogs are only about 18 inches off the ground, but they’re long.

This past week, one of the dogs pulled Amanda’s purse off the counter, and made sure to check out it’s durability in the backyard.

And no, her purse wasn’t durable.

What’s funny is when we are home and with them, they don’t do any of this stuff.

It’s when we aren’t watching.

I’d love to have dogs that are good when I’m there, and when I’m gone.

And that’s what Paul is shooting for here.

May they live a life that is worthy of the Gospel, regardless of his presence.

He shouldn’t have to babysit them.

And one of the slogans of Las Vegas is “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

Paul gives 5 ways to live when he’s not there, or 5 ways to live a life that is worthy of the Gospel.

You stand firm in the Gospel.

Many movies have taken those words to the extreme.

You are partners with Christians for the Gospel.

Bachelors doing things they’d never do if their fiance was there.

You are not frightened by opposition to the Gospel.

You can rest in being chosen for the Gospel.

People gambling away money, that back home they’d hold tightly onto.

And you suffer for the Gospel.

For many people, they go to Las Vegas, and suddenly, what they believe is thrown out the window.

They do things they’d never do at home.

They become almost different people.

How about this phrase, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

And in the same way, when people are outside their normal surroundings, they will do as the Romans do.

They will compromise in their values, and do things just to fit in.

The people of Philippi were a people well aware with do as the Romans do.

They were a Roman province.

They proudly under Roman rule, and very proud of their Roman citizenship.

They were nicknamed Little Rome.

Being a proud member of the Roman Empire, they wanted to live the complete Roman life.

The first thing Paul says is A life worthy of the Gospel, stands firm in the Gospel.

You can find this in the middle of verse 27, “I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit ...”

The Philippian church was a good church.

It was a mature church.

It had good leadership.

But like every church, it wasn’t without it’s problems.

It’s sad, but a church can quickly become divided.

And in this instance, there were two women, Euodia, and Syntyche.

They were two women who had served with Paul.

They had worked hard with Paul.

They were good Christian women.

Unfortunately, these two women were in a feud.

And this fight was affecting the church.

In the last chapter, , Paul will say, “entreat [these women] to agree in the Lord.”

A life worthy of the Gospel is one in which it stands united upon truth.

That means a life that is worthy of the Gospel must believe something.

When the Philippian city was made a Roman territory, they believed in Rome.

They believed in the leadership of the emperor.

They believed in the traditions.

Their unity was based on these things.

When we are converted to Christ, we believe something.

says you believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord.

says that whoever believes will receive eternal life.

Understand our unity cannot come from personal preference.

It can’t come from style of music, style of clothing, or common interests.

Jason and Randy unfortunately like the Dodgers, I like the Padres.

Our fellowship can’t be founded on sports.

There are some who are good at fixing cars, or working with wood, and I’m bad at both those things.

Our fellowship can’t be founded on our hobbies or abilities.

Our unity must be from the Gospel and it must be what we stand on.

And this unity must be protected.

In , Paul says that if anyone preaches another Gospel he is accursed.

says that if there is someone who causes divisions and believes contrary doctrines, he is to be avoided.

If we are not standing firm in the truth together, we will fall.

We will be fractured.

We will not live lives that are worthy of the Gospel.

A life worthy of the Gospel, partners with Christians for the Gospel.

Look at the end of verse 27.

We stand firm in one spirit and with one mind we strive side by side for the faith of the Gospel

So together we stand firm in the Gospel.

And when we are together on what we stand for, we have a common foundation, and then we can work for the same things.

A couple years ago, I was reading a series of books on Vikings and their influence upon the development of England.

When the vikings went into battle, they would form a shield wall.

They’d each group and form a single cell of people.

Their shields would interlock over one another, so that they formed a single unit.

They looked almost like a turtle or a tank they way their shields protected each person inside the shield wall.

The people at the front would use short swords or long daggers.

And when the shield wall would attack another shield wall or group of people, those with the short swords and daggers would stab those outside the wall.

They became a single force.

And one shield wall could do great damage to a large number of people because of they were striving together.

In a battle, you don’t want to be the one person on your own.

You want in that shield wall.

We stand firm in one spirit and with one mind we strive side by side for the faith of the Gospel

Philippi had a problem.

It had a couple women, who were great servants of the Lord, but they were fractured and they were fighting.

And Paul is stressing for them to be united in the Lord.

And the same goes for us.

You may be a strong man, but you aren’t as affective outside the shield wall.

We need to be with others who we are in one spirit and one mind with.

And in the church, we shouldn’t be on our own.

We need to be with others who we are in one spirit and one mind with.

And then we strive for the faith of the Gospel.

It’s as if we are in a 3-legged race.

You ever seen a 3-legged race, or been in one.

You take two people, and give them a gunny sack, or a potato sack.

They each put one foot in the bag, and together they are in a race against a group of other couples who are doing the same thing.

It’s hard to run this way.

And there will be people who fall.

But the winner is the couple who make it to the end together.

If you separate, you are disqualified.

You must finish the race together.

Now this unity, this partnership is not just so we can be a big I love you fest together, or some big kumbaya party.

There’s a purpose behind it, the progress of the Gospel.

And we need each other for the progress of the Gospel.

The language of the Bible is that we are a body.

And within this body are different members, and each of these members have a different job.

We compliment each other.

Therefore, a life that lives worthy of the Gospel, or demonstrates citizenship in the kingdom of God, is one that fulfills it’s job within the kingdom for the Gospel.

This might be obvious, but in order to continue to strive together, we need to be together.

says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Paul expects the church to be together not just when he’s in town, but when he’s out of town.

The church is to continue meeting together and being together.

This is why church attendance is so important.

Being a part of the body is the sign of your citizenship in God’s kingdom.

It’s a part of living a life that is worthy of the Gospel.

Together we strive for the Gospel.

Where are you serving within the Kingdom?

And

Where are you striving?

Next, a life worthy of the Gospel, is not frightened by opposition to the Gospel.

Paul knows that there are opponents to the Gospel.

Back in verse 7 he says that he is in prison for the Gospel.

In Philippi there were opponents to the Gospel.

When he commanded the demon to leave the poor slave girl, he was beaten and thrown into prison.

And even today, there are opponents to the Gospel.

Some are violent.

Some are passive aggressive.

But they exist.

And Paul says not to be frightened by them.

Why shouldn’t we be frightened by them?

First, Paul’s already told us why.

Back in verse 21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

If he dies … he gets to be with the Lord.

It’s a gain.

, “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”

When I go away on a trip, there’s one place I want to be … home.

And every step, every stage of the trip, is just one step closer to getting there.

Paul doesn’t fear death, because death means he gets to go home, he gets to be with the Lord.

, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

No matter what is thrown at us, we have a confidence, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

The second reason not to fear our enemies is because God is just.

And those who oppose the Gospel … can only expect destruction.

In Jesus said, “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!”

Enemies of the Cross think that because they can kill or harm the body that this means they have some kind of power over the believer.

But true authority is being able to cast someone into Hell for an eternity.

And that is reserved for God alone.

So don’t fear men, because they have no power over the soul.

Fear God

As we are talking about how to know if you are living life worthy of the Gospel, or living as a citizen of God, here we even have a test.

You either stand firm in the Gospel, and strive side by side with believers, or … you are an opponent of the Gospel.

And if someone lacks these qualities, then it is a clear sign that they are not in Christ.

Regular fellowship with the saints, regular involvement in the church is a sign that a person is converted.

Any time a person stops attending church, or their attendance becomes irregular, I can guarantee you, that there is some kind of spiritual illness.

says, “If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

There are a lot of people out there who think they can be a Christian … but just not go to church.

But that line of thought, is to use the language from , “a clear sign to them of their destruction ...”

Opposition to the body is actually a sign that a person is not a Christian.

They may say the right words.

But failure to participate, is not worthy of the Gospel, it not how a citizen of the kingdom of God lives.

A life worthy of the Gospel, rests in being chosen by God for the Gospel.

As we are going through this, maybe there’s a word that I’ve been using over and over again that makes you uncomfortable, and that word is worthy.

We are talking about living a life that is worthy of the Gospel.

But there’s this one thing, we aren’t worthy.

Sin has made us unworthy.

says that no one one does good.

says that sin is engraved on our heart.

We are not worthy.

We are not deserving of God’s grace.

We have not done anything that makes us good enough to receive it.

Therefore, as I talk about living a life that is worthy of the Gospel, there are many who see their sin, and absolutely hate themselves.

They fall into a pit of despair and depression.

They beat themselves up.

In fact they beat themselves up so bad, it’s detrimental to their growth and service.

They refuse to serve.

They refuse to evangelize.

They refuse to have joy.

They refuse to praise God.

Why? Because they hate themselves so much.

But here’s what’s awesome.

You’re not worthy.

But God makes you worthy.

Look at verse 29, “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,”

It says that we are granted to believe.

That word for granted is a gracious granting.

In fact it’s related to grace.

We see there that it is granted to us that we should believe in Christ.

God didn’t look down from heaven and say, “There’s a really good believer. He looks worthy. I’ll send him to heaven.”

It’s actually, the other way around.

He says, “That one doesn’t believe, I’ll grant him belief.”

says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,”

That verse mentions a gift from God.

The gift is grace and faith.

If my worthiness was based on my behavior … I’d always be questioning myself.

Am I good enough?

Did I do enough?

And this is the trap that every false religion out there lives in.

When you see those poor mormon missionary boys, riding their bikes in the dead of summer, with a shirt and tie, I feel bad for them, because they’re trying to make themselves worthy.

When the Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on your door, they’re working their way to heaven.

But my worthiness is not based on my efforts; my worthiness is based on God choosing to save me.

When God choose Israel, it wasn’t because they were an obedient and godly nation.

says, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers ...”

Why did God choose to make Israel worthy of being His nation on earth, it says “because God loves them …”

He made them worthy.

And why am I worthy?

Because God chose to love me.

Not because of me, it’s all because of God.

This requires faith.

If you are concerned that you are not worthy, it’s time to stop looking at yourself.

Because that’s what’s holding you up.

You are thinking that you somehow should be smarter, more perfect, more holy.

Instead, you need to look to the Cross.

Because if Jesus died for you … that’s because you are not worthy, then believe that His life and His death make you worthy.

As long as you continue to sit in a swamp of self pity, then you are not trusting in Christ.

A life worthy of the Gospel, rests in God’s sovereign choice to save.

And lastly A life worthy of the Gospel, suffers for the Gospel.

Just as God grants us belief, he also grants us to suffer for his sake.

My first glorious job was Dairy Queen.

There were times I’d be at work, and someone would say, “Luke, do you want to go to the beach tomorrow?”

And I’d say, “I can’t, I have to work tomorrow.”

My boss would over hear me say that, and she’d correct me, “No, you get to work tomorrow.”

And so, a life worthy of the gospel gets to suffer for Christ’s sake.

Perhaps that sounds dumb and foolish to say we get to suffer.

We must rest in the sovereignty of God here and trust that God causes suffering to happen for a reason.

As I look through the Bible, when I see suffering, there is a purpose behind it.

Joseph, was hated by his brothers, sold into slavery, then falsely imprisoned.

But at the end of Genesis we learn why:

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

Joseph got to suffer.

Before Jesus was here, we learn of why he would suffer in .

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

There was a purpose to Christ suffering.

And in we are reminded that God has a purpose behind whatever happens, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”

If we understand that God is sovereign over suffering, that it’s a part of his plan, then we can even rejoice or see it as a privilege that He would honor us with being a part of it.

Let’s go back to Paul.

He’s in prison.

He’s chained to a Roman guard.

At this time he doesn’t know if he will live or die.

At the same time there are some Christians who are bolder in their preaching, but not because they are supporting Paul.

And then in verse 18 he says, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice ...”

Paul rejoices because God’s plan is for him to suffer so that Christ would be proclaimed.

, says, “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

There, we are actually told to rejoice and consider ourselves blessed if we suffer for the Gospel.

A life that is worthy of the Gospel will not only believe, but it will suffer for his sake.

We don’t hear a whole lot about Christians suffering in our culture.

I know that Christians are being persecuted and suffer throughout the world, but within our culture it’s a rare event.

Maybe that’s because most Christians in our culture don’t live any different from the culture.

Many of the sins that we condemn our culture for … are alive and well within the church.

Materialism, divorce, debt, pornography; all are alive in the church.

Division, gossip, slander, racism, hatred; all are alive in the church.

This means it’s time for us to put these sins to rest.

A life that is worthy of the Gospel, will live under the affects of the Gospel.

And when that happens the world notices, and we will suffer.

And when that day comes, we can rejoice that God has granted it to us.

And we can know that we are in good company.

We join men like Paul, Peter, John, Stephen, and the rest of the martyrs.

Are you living a life worthy of the Gospel?

Maybe you have always thought of yourself as a part of the this kingdom, but you’ve never entered it.

Do so today.

Because if you think you know the Gospel, but you aren’t living a life worthy of it, a life that demonstrates the reality of the Gospel … then the brutal truth is that you might not be a Christian.

Jesus once told a story about a narrow door.

In this teaching, there were all sorts of people hanging out, just outside the door.

But then when the Master shut the door, all those outside begged to be let in.

They thought they were close to the door, and therefore good to go, but unfortunately, they never entered it.

There are many people who think they are Christians, because they are near Christ.

They go to church.

They know the answers.

But they have never entered.

Jesus says of these type of people, “Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Because that is not a life worthy of the Gospel, it’s not how a citizen of heaven lives, but as a rebel, guilty of treason lives.

And pastorally, I echo Paul’s words.

May we together be a church that lives a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ.

May we be a church that demonstrates where our citizenship lies.

And individually, may each one of you, live a life worthy of the Gospel of Christ.