Paul and the Jail House Ministry (2)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning everyone, so blessed to see you this day. I pray you are well and blessed.
I hope you had a good week.
I can tell you I did, you know why? No matter the circumstance, Jesus was there!
Amen…
Last week be looked at Paul in the book of Philippians, in this letter we examined why Paul would say “…to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Jesus my friends is our everything and we must be all in as we live for Him, there is no room for another, especially self as we walk with Jesus. and the greater blessing above that, heaven awaits all those in Christ Jesus.
What a joy it will be when my Jesus i shall see.... as the old hymn goes...
Today we move forward to the last passage of Philippians chapter 1.
and lets read chapter 1, verses 27 through 30
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, 28 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. 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, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
Remember where Paul is, He is in Rome, he is under house arrest, most likely on the palace grounds since the Imperial guard is mentioned early on, and the fact that he has witnessed to them all.
How powerful my friends, nothing will keep Paul from ministering, witnessing and even reaching out to help those churches he has helped to establish in years gone by… Paul loves the people of God and will work until his dying breath to see them increase in faith and wisdom.
His heart for the church is a reflection of Jesus own heart for you and I. He loves us and desires the best for you. We must follow Him
So this morning I want us to consider these thoughts…
1.) Live Worthy of the Gospel, 2.) Stand in Unity and 3.) Keep the Faith.
So lets begin with this first thought today...
1. Live worthy of the Gospel....
1. Live worthy of the Gospel....
As we open the text there is the charge that Paul lays at the feet of those at the church in Philippi, and also it is for anyone who would read this text....
Go back and look at verse 27
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’s charge is plain… Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ...
Now this is an important phrase, one for us to pay attention too as Paul has a kinda of play on words here to help those in Philippi understand the magnitude of what he is speaking to them about...
You see the city of Philippi was a Roman colony, and that was something they were very proud of… Settled originally by Roman veterans, they worked hard, and served Rome well. So they were a cherished Roman city with privilege on the far eastern areas of the kingdom.
Now by Paul saying let your manner of life be worthy… Paul is telling them something they had heard their whole life........
Be a good citizen..but this time instead of Rome… he is telling them to be a good citizen of where their true citizenship lay.... in heaven. Paul will say this later where pointedly in chapter 3, verse 20.
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
So Paul says… be a good citizen of Heaven.
So think of this… for the citizens of Rome,(remember Paul himself was a true Roman citizen having been raised in Tarsus.) Paul knew for all Romans they looked too and cherished Caesar… They cherished the privilege they enjoyed and the life they were given… it was great to be a Roman citizen
But Paul reminds them of this truth, as a Christian, they had a different Lord, the True Lord and God.. Jesus. Thus their citizenship was above…
Thus just as they acted well according to Roman law, they had a calling that was greater, to act like a citizen of heaven and obey all that the Lord taught them.
They were thus called to look to Jesus the author and finisher of their faith in all things...
My friends in all things, in our world today especially Christ must be first. He must be first in our actions, our speech and in our thoughts, the very secrets of our heart.
Consider this:
Is Jesus Lord of our actions? Think about the course of our day, 7 days in a given week, does He occupy your thoughts in a way that everything about you is given to Him first.
You see to be a good citizen of heaven, He must be Lord in every area of your life.
As a Christian we cannot stand by and allow abortion to be OK, yet I hear people who confess Christ say… it’s a right to choose.
As a Christian we must have a desire for the church, (remember that isn’t a building, that is us, the called out ones) to gather, to worship corporately and to serve the Lord and help His kingdom advance in this world.
As a Christian, how is our speech? Is it seasoned with grace, is it blessed with love and mercy, is it pure and does it conveys the truth...
As a Christian we recognize Jesus gave His all for us… Will we give our all to Him.
Oh my friends, Jesus is either Lord of us or He is not at all… Which is it and what does the world see....
I pray the world sees such a difference in us that they realize the truth that Jesus loves them just like He loves us.
And then secondly....
2. Stand in Unity....
2. Stand in Unity....
With this small phrase; “Stand in Unity,” we can see that Paul had a desire to see the church united in all their intentions, especially to see God glorified and the body of Christ grow.
Look back at what Paul says next in verse 27...
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,
Why is Paul concerned about Unity?
It may very well be possible that the church at Philippi was suffering from a lack of unity in some ways… That is a possible reason for Paul’s mention to this thought..
Yet this truth remains, the church must stand in unity if they are going to serve and please God.
So as we just looked at, Paul encourages them to act in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus, He desires to come to them again… but whether he is able or not to visit his brothers and sisters in Philippi, the call comes for them to be unified
So He says
A. Standing Firm in One spirit, with one mind; … The point that Paul is making here is that the church should be of one spirit and one mind, they would be without division...
The term "to stand” is a military term, it means to hold your ground and do not give up. Thus the church was to stand together, all the members working in harmony for the life of the body.
But we must be careful my friends, why???
Satan can be at work in the church creating strife, pushing people apart, and yes hindering the work of God. It happens, I have seen it over and over again.
Listen you have heard me tell the story of a church that split over the fact that someone moved the piano to the other side of the stage. Why would you allow that to hurt the church? People became divided over it though…
Listen the fine people at Steinway, Kimball and so many others, you know what, they actually put wheels on a piano so that it could roll… how novel...
Friends, the point is, while people in the churches have opinions and ideas, all of which are good.
Our opinions and our work can only be focused in one direction, how to best go out into the highways and hedges… How to best disciple those new believers and to best help them replicate and carry on the work of Jesus
We must be unified, Jesus is the head of the church, He has given us instructions to follow… We must stand
Now, lets move on....what else is Paul saying..
B. Striving Side by Side..... Striving and Contending go hand in hand in meaning.. It is like an athletic game where people are in a struggle to win the game.
So just as the the Romans understood the term stand, so the Greeks speaking world would understand the word “striving and contending..” We struggle together to win the contest...
And the contest, the battle is what we are working toward.... Paul says all this is important for the sake of the gospel.
He says at the end of verse 27.... “…for the faith of the gospel.”
The context would then indicate that people opposed the church and its message. Thus it must be a team effort of those members of the church to take the gospel to the world.
The gospel that changed us, is waiting for us to take that same message to another..
Let me ask you… How have you been taking the gospel to others?
And if you have had no plan… then Lord forgive us and help us change that...
Stand firm, don’t give up who you are in Christ and what He has called and commissioned you to do… Then contend for the faith, wrestle, struggle and push forward for the win is important...
And this my last point for the day....
3. Keep the Faith....
3. Keep the Faith....
If there is a word of encouragement that people must hear over and over again, it is “Keep the Faith” because essentially you are saying… “dont give up”… Don’t allow anything to shake your faith to the point of losing it.
I think my friends about this, I think of my brothers and sisters in Christ who have gone through weary, difficult days, the devil has beat them up, and they found the cost to be to great and they gave up...
Its heart breaking for a Pastor to see people lose their faith… they just walk away from the church, from their brothers and sisters… its sad.
And it happens
That is why we must have the resolve to hold fast to Jesus, to keep the faith no matter what...
lets go back to our text, verses 28-30
28 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. 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, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
So remember Paul has just told the believers at Philippi to stand firm and contend for the faith, strive side by side, working together and let nothing intimidate you.
Listen Rome could be pretty scary as the times of persecution intensified against the church. And along the way, the Gentiles around them or even those Judaizers who held onto the law could make it quite difficult for those Christians at Philippi.
What is the solution… Don’t give up, keep the faith, be steadfast!
And in doing so Paul says it is a clear sign to them of their own destruction,
What does that mean?
A. Unbelievers would see the stand the church was taking and they would know they destruction was coming. They were warned to accept the truth and in their rebellion, they are lost.
Paul says this in 2 Thess 1:5
5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—
Our own suffering at times, and our steadfastness through it, holding to Jesus is proof to the world of a coming judgement, and unless they repent and believe they will stand judged!
B. But just as I have just mentioned, our own suffering, our persecution reminds us of our Salvation.
Its proof if you will, that we are saved that we will suffer with Him.
Listen my friends we do not suffer much in America, not like those in other countries who put their life on the line for confessing Jesus.. but we see it in other ways.
We see bills coming to the floor of our governments that seek to limit the Word of God and what we can say or not say..
We see people who condemn us, calling the Christian narrow minded for their beliefs..
Listen we are a little narrow minded, Jesus said narrow is the road that leads to life but broad is the road that leads to destruction.
There are things the world endorses that we cannot because it violates the truth of Scripture.
We must keep the faith no matter the intention of world against us.
Now I know we do not like suffering, and it is difficult to see it as something good, but Paul does… let me remind you of a passage we will come to later on...
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
It is through all of these things, fellowship, suffering, faithfulness, that our walk with Jesus grows and grows...
Are you keeping the faith regardless of the world around you. Will you dare to stand up and call sin sin, to love with the love of Jesus so that others will have the chance to see Jesus in you, and thus they miss their own destruction.
Amen..
Paul had walked that road fiercely, he was witnessing their engagement in the battle and friends we are beginning to see it as well.
Paul’s jailhouse ministry sought to en-guage the church and encourage them to push forward.
A. Live a life worthy of the Gospel
B. Stand in Unity
C. Keep the faith..
This morning has God spoke to you… has He been at work in your this last hour?
What has he called upon you to do?
Lets pray and then respond to His work in your heart today.