Stand Firm and Strive

One of the things that has made this past year so difficult, is the things that we are so proud of have been flat out cancelled.

Summer is officially coming to a close.

What things didn’t you do?

No fourth of July.

No youth camp.

No family camp.

No Sierra trip.

No labor day.

The summer brings some of the things that we love most about being an American.

The summer brings out the pride of our nation.

The Expectation

The Philippians were proud of their nation.

They were a retirement community for Roman soldiers and military.

It was a city that took pride in their citizenship.

They knew what was expected to live as a citizen of Rome, and they were proud of that.

Knowing the strong desire to live as Roman citizens, Paul called for the Christians in Philippi to have an equally strong expectation of believers.

Christians are to live boldly as citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

Paul reminds the Philippians of where their true citizenship is.

Never getting caught up in the politics of Rome, or the vain customs of this momentary life.

Paul describes the reality of our true citizenship in this way.

He reminds the Philippians of a ruler who is better than Caesar.

Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Imagine being a proud patriot of Rome.

Having served faithfully in the military.

A man who has sacrificed so much for Rome, the country he loves.

Then hearing Paul say of the Christian citizenship, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, “

The Gospel challenges our fundamental allegiances.

So back to our main text, Paul writes to describe what the Christian, the citizen of heaven is to look like.

Not like the world around us.

But different.

Unique.

“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,”

He calls for them to live a life worthy of the Gospel.

This doesn’t mean life that has earned the Gospel.

That’s not what worthy means.

It’s a life that reflects the implications and the reality of the Gospel within your life.

This is the reality of knowing divine truth.

This is a life that knows that Christ:

Suffered for sin.

Died.

Resurrected.

And now lives in authority.

Where the Roman lives under the authority of Caesar.

The Christian lives under the authority of Christ.

What does a Christian look like who is living worthy of the Gospel?

What does a church look like that is living worthy of the Gospel?

It’s a life that stands firm and strives side by side.

Standing firm

This is a phrase that the soldier will no.

To stand firm means to stand your ground.

The enemy is approaching.

The battle is before you.

And the soldier, fastens his boots, holds his shield and prepares for battle.

Paul is calling for the saints to stand firm.

To prepare for battle.

To be unswerving in the coming threat.

And we stand firm with two resources at our aid.

One Spirit

With the Holy Spirit we stand firm.

God is not sending us into battle unarmed or alone.

The Spirit gifts you.

He gifts you with truth.

He illumines the mind.

He allows you to understand truth.

You can read the Bible, and read of a mighty God, and respond rightly.

Which is fear and obedience.

He gifts you with spiritual gifts.

You are supernaturally given the tools to face what is coming.

We stand firm with one mind.

A big theme of Philippians is unity.

This is unity in mind.

This is unity in thinking and beliefs.

What a concept, people having one mind.

If you’ve ever sat in any kind of brainstorming session, you find out that people think differently.

We all think differently.

We come to the table with unique backgrounds.

You’ve been taught differently.

You’ve been raised in different families.

We have different culture backgrounds.

So how in the world are we supposed to be able to have one mind?

This sounds like an impossible task.

Look forward in Philippians 2:1-8

“So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Our unity must begin with a knowledge of the Cross.

Adopting humility.

Laying down our interests.

Putting others first.

By going to the cross, it brings true unity within the church.

Galatians 5:13 says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

We go back to our calling.

The calling is that Jesus Christ died for sin.

He levels the playing field.

It was the death of Christ that paid for my sins, and that paid for your sins.  

The other way that we stand firm is by Striving Side by Side

I’m reminded of the vikings and how they faced opposing forces.

They would form a shield wall.

The men would huddle close together, so that their shields overlapped.

Each man’s life was dependent upon the others.

If one of them held back, or gave a gap in the shield wall, the entire wall would fall.

One man would get picked off and there would be a hole in the wall.

If we, the church, are going to stand firm, then we must link our shield, we must stand firm by striving side by side.

If we are going to survive, we need each other.

The church is a group event.

If this were a sport, it’d be a team sport.

And together we are pushing, striving and fighting for one goal, the faith of the Gospel.

Many forget what our goal is.

We get sidetracked by:

Good deeds.

By social work.

By humanitarian goals.

Are these important?

Yes.

But they aren’t why we are here.

Paul says that we are here for the faith of the Gospel.

What is this faith?

What is the Gospel?

it is Jesus Christ, delivered by sinful men, to suffer and die for His people.

To die.

Be buried.

And be resurrected.

This is what we are striving for.

We exist as a kingdom of priests.

A people on this earth, with a single purpose and a single vision, to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

This goes back to the Great Commission.

We are here to make disciples.

To baptize.

To teach of Jesus Christ.

Church we’ve been on lockdown for a while.

It’s time to stand firm.

This has been a difficult 7 months.

Church, can we be committed to standing firm.

Standing firm in the faith.

Striving for the Gospel.

Bring others along with you.

We have 2 weeks till we return on Sunday mornings.

This is almost like a fresh start.

Let’s commit to this together.

Listen to Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians.

Ephesians 1:15-23

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

May this be our prayer as well.

Let’s close by reading it together.