Living the Gospel Life
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning CV First! It, as always, is a privilege to stand before you and preach the Word of God. I pray this morning that the Holy Spirit shines brightly and that God, the creator and sustainer of all is glorified.
We must continually give thanks to God through the trials of life.
We must continually give thanks to God through the trials of life.
As we begin our time this morning, lets remember back to last week.
The thankfulness that Paul expresses for this church that he was instrumental in building up.
The circumstances that Paul finds himself while praising God and giving thanks.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Things looked incredibly bleak for Paul. Paul was on house arrest in Rome, awaiting trial before Nero, who could be considered, arguably the cruelest emperor of Rome.
Nero had begun persecuting and torturing Christians after being accused of setting the city on fire by the people and used the Christians as his scape goat.
Christians, in Rome, were rounded up and arrested and tried with treason for not worshiping the emperor. This would eventually spread to other areas of the Roman empire.
Neros anger and hate filled spirit spilled over into extreme measures of torture.....setting Christians on fire, feeding them alive to wild animals, such as lions, and crucifying them on crosses.
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And all amongst this, Paul had been sharing the Gospel and now finds himself in the epicenter of it all waiting to face charges from Nero.
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For most of us, if we found ourselves in this situation, our handling of it probably wouldn’t be the greatest. Fear would consume us, maybe even shame and rejection of what we hold as truth...... for our own self preservation.
But, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, writes this letter to the Philippians and seeks to encourage them as faithful servants and to continue spreading the Gospel.
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Hear that! Knowing of the horrible and atrocious things happening, Paul calls out to continue the Gospel mission. Philippians is a call to action and is a letter of Paul’s that brings great joy even though it was written under and surrounded by such doom and gloom.
So....we must ask ourselves....
When have we found ourselves in truly dire circumstances?
And if not dire, what about bad circumstances?
And they don’t even have to be so extreme or life threatening.
How did you respond?
Like Paul here, we have a call upon us. And instead of being distracted by the things around him, Paul remained steadfast in carrying out the mission of the Gospel in the midst of his own suffering.
He suffered for the cause of Christ and yet wore that as a badge of honor because of who He served.
Likewise we must do the same. The Christian life is not suffer free. It will probably be full of it. And through it our suffering should produce fruitfulness, not self loathing. So that others will know who we serve and the gaze is always directed to Christ.
But the key here is our suffering should be a result of whom we serve, not our circumstances, so that the focus can be turned to Christ as we share in His sacrifice by living our lives as daily sacrifices.
Paul reminds us of this major truth-
Jesus must be our only focus in this life!
Jesus must be our only focus in this life!
Read
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually advanced the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard, and to everyone else, that my imprisonment is because I am in Christ. 14 Most of the brothers have gained confidence in the Lord from my imprisonment and dare even more to speak the word fearlessly. 15 To be sure, some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of good will. 16 These preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, thinking that they will cause me trouble in my imprisonment. 18 What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is proclaimed, and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice 19 because I know this will lead to my salvation through your prayers and help from the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 20 My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all courage, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for me; and I don’t know which one I should choose. 23 I am torn between the two. I long to depart and be with Christ—which is far better—24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Since I am persuaded of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that, because of my coming to you again, your boasting in Christ Jesus may abound. 27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.
Pray
As we begin looking at our passage today, the first truth we can take away is this:
We must be Advancers of the Gospel
We must be Advancers of the Gospel
As Paul changes the focus here in verse 12.... from showing his appreciation and thankfulness for the Philippian believers....... to letting them into what was happening in his life so to encourage and cheer them on from afar.
We see this continual call from Paul, even in the midst of his circumstances, to be Gospel minded in all that we do.
J. Alec Motyer in his commentary on Philippians has this to say about Paul here:
The Message of Philippians Chapter 5. Yesterday, Today and for Ever (1:12–26)
this is an example of true Christian living; this is a statement of principle for the guidance of the saints.
Paul is literally giving an account of what has been happening with him, not so that it’s all about him, but so that they see what the Lord has been doing and can be encouraged by it.
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up as you are already doing.
That is exactly what we are seeing from Paul here. And it’s important to realize why. This is just not encouragement because someones not feeling well or had a bad day.....but encouragement and a testimony to bring Christ front and center for them. This reminder that salvation is given to us through Christ.
And because of that....
Our main concern in this life must be for the advancement of the Gospel.
Our main concern in this life must be for the advancement of the Gospel.
That is an example we continually see in the life of Paul and the other apostles.
Paul isn’t sharing and dwelling on the terrible things he’s gone through, which I’m sure he had or the stress and anxiety that probably was setting in.
We see here his excitement to share with them that God has used him and his circumstances to advance the gospel. So much so, the whole palace guard and even the common people knew of his imprisonment and why he was imprisoned.
Now, this surely happened because Paul was on mission, but also because God will use our circumstances. But we must be faithful to Him and commited to the message of the Gospel.
In times of trial and hardship, God will empower us in confidence and fearlessness.
In times of trial and hardship, God will empower us in confidence and fearlessness.
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9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.
When we are struggling, fearful, weak.....we must diminish so that Christ can increase in us. The power of the Gospel fuels us and empowers us for Him.
We see in verse 14, that with Paul in chains and unable to move among the people proclaiming Christ, others had taken up the mantle to advance the Gospel.
Realizing that Paul’s confidence and fearlessness landed him in chains, they could have easily retracted and hid, but instead they were empowered by God with great confidence to share and speak the truth without fear.
Remember, the world they are living in at this point. They could easily find themselves in the same position as Paul. But the Gospel is too important and Paul’s example and testimony encouraged them. And i’m sure likewise encouraged the Philippian church to do the same.
We must asked ourselves....
Are we speaking confidently and fearlessly for the sake of the Gospel?
Is our main motivation each day for the advancement of the cause of Christ?
Or do we find ourselves distracted by the things of this world?
Church, we must remember our purpose and be reminded of that purpose each and every day.
We are new creations, the old is gone, the new is here. This world is not our home. Christ has gone to prepare a place for us and he will return and in the interim we must make disciples through advancing the kingdom.
And Church, I believe the days that lay ahead of us as believers will begin to be more difficult, more persecution for the truths that we cling to and in those moments we will have to start being confident and fearless with the proclamation of the Gospel and the truth that is found in God’s Word. We must be steadfast in our faith and not allow ourselves to be manipulated by the things of this world.
4 I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with arguments that sound reasonable.
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Are you ready for that time?
Are you prepared to fearlessly defend your faith?
But the reality is, we should have confidence and should not be afraid because of who our God is and what He gives to us.
10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
3 When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
We must in all confidence proclaim the Gospel. And make each days mission to advance it.
And as we advance the Gospel.....
We must be Defenders of the Gospel
We must be Defenders of the Gospel
We see in verses 15 through 18 that though Paul was seeking to encourage the people things were still not completely perfect as sin has that effect. And because of sin, Paul shows us that we must defend the truth of the Gospel at every turn.
For Paul, some were seeing his Gospel work and allowed themselves to become jealous. So, instead of seeking to speak the truth out of love for Christ, they began preaching and teaching out of envy and jealousy.
When proclaiming the Gospel, our motives must be about others knowing Christ crucified!
When proclaiming the Gospel, our motives must be about others knowing Christ crucified!
Now to be fair, Paul clearly shows us that many were sharing the gospel with the correct motives because they were doing it out of love as they saw Paul as a defender of the gospel and a fellow laborer in the Lord, not competition.
If we are putting on an act to be better liked or keeping up with others for more acclaim, our hearts are conflicted and we must repent. Especially, when teaching and proclaiming the truth. Because this is not about us.
10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Likewise, 2 Corinthians 4:5 says:
5 For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake.
Our motives have to be pure when proclaiming Christ!
But, here is the kicker......
Through Pauls suffering, they thought they could add to that suffering by throwing more fuel on the fire....but the reality was Paul’s motives was solely for the Gospel.
So whether they preached with correct motives or not(which is on them), Christ’s name was shared and His message was getting to people. Which is something worth rejoicing in and Paul did. He didn’t get stuck in the mud on this, but saw it for what it is. Calling out the wrong motives, but rejoicing in that God was still using it.
Now to be clear here, this wasn’t a case of them preaching a false Gospel. We see in other places where Paul always calls that out. It was evident that they were teaching the true Gospel, just wrong motives behind it.
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Paul was in chains, but the Gospel was still being proclaimed to people and that was encouraging for Him.
This great news of the Gospel gave Paul hope that something good would soon happen for him. And as he continued to be a defender of the gospel he prayed that he would not be ashamed and be courageous whatever may come in his future as he literally looked towards being released or being executed.
Verse 19 is this great reminder for us in that we have this great need for salvation and what it means of us. The greek word used here is Soteria(So-ter-ia), which means deliverance, so we see Paul’s intention wasn’t about his spiritual salvation but it was looking towards the future of his release from prison but in doing so Paul was also encouraging us to look at our own salvation and how it has many facets. Paul tells us to reflect on that salvation and later in this book, he exhorts them to work out their salvation as something present in their lives. The big take away here and the joy for us.... is with our spiritual salvation. As we look toward the future, as great as our salvation’s is..... it’s full reward.... is to come.
We too must live our lives without shame for what we believe in and in truly courageous ways. Reflecting on that fullness of the reward that awaits us.
It’s easy to say we won’t be ashamed or that we will be courageous until we are in a position that tests that. We must prepare ourselves for such a day.
Remember, as one of his closest earthly companions and disciples, Peter also said he would never deny Christ and then did so three times.
But the difference is we have the full scope of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. So, we must call upon Him to empower us through the strength he gives as Paul did here asking for courage that Christ would be honored in his life or by his death.
So, are you living courageously for the Gospel?
Is he being honored by your words and actions?
And that leads us to our last big point-
We must be living out the Gospel
We must be living out the Gospel
What is the source of your life?
What motivates you and keeps you going?
How would you define living?
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Many will say family, kids, spouses, work, hobbies.....
The problem is when we use those as our source for life, they will at some point change, let us down, fail us.....
Shane and Shane Song
“I wish that I could be your everything
Be the one who gives you all the things you need
Sometimes I am gonna let you down
But there is a way if you just believe
He'll be your hero like He's always been for me
Daughter Jesus is the one you need.”
The point is people and things can’t sustain us, nor should we put that expectation on them.
Paul shows us clearly and definitively in verses 20 and 21 who the source of his living was. It was Christ.
Christ was so impactful his life and transformed him from the inside out that Paul couldn’t help but live his life completely for Him.
Paul was a brutal persecutor of Christians before that moment on the Damascus road, where Jesus appeared to Him. Paul placed His trust... in that Jesus, God incarnate, the living sacrifice, the Messiah, came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died a horrendous death-taking on the sins of humanity so we didn’t have to and defeating that death by rising from the dead. Paul knew who Jesus was and what He represented. Life eternal for all who believe. And Paul didn’t strive to live that life because of fear of death but because He sought to bring honor to the one who deserves it.
And so....here is verse 21. Arguably the most important verse in this book. And one that will be echoed in chapter 3.
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Paul’s definition for living was Christ.
And if he died, that was his reward because salvation would meet it’s fulfillment.
Oh, for us to live with such faith.
And you can see how conflicted Paul was in that because He sought to serve but His heart yearned to be with His Savior.
Do you have that level of faith where your heart yearns to be with Jesus?
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I pray you that we all strive for that. And like Paul and his struggle...
Are we willing to die for the message of the Gospel?
Likewise, Are we truly living for the message of the Gospel?
This past week, I have being doing a lot of reflection on this topic.....And have had to fight and argue with the flesh.
I can say and pray, I hope for us as believers that we are not so actively trying to keep ourselves here on this planet that we are forsaking the mission of living our lives for Jesus. We must be content to stay or go based on what His will desires. Seeing it as a win win either way.
And we see where Paul lands, not based on his desire but based on the need of others.
And I hope that Paul’s statement here brings you great joy. That his desire for death should bring about comfort of what is to come as he is so confident in what is to come. At that moment, all the bad and uncertainties and failures and hurts will be in the past. Paul knew the truth of this great reward and we should rejoice in that day to come....... when God wills it for each of us.
But living still brings motive to our lives. Paul knew there was still much to be done and the Lord was going to use Him.
Fruitfulness is a major aspect of the Christian life and that was Paul’s motivation. To continue ministering to the people discipling them and encouraging them to rejoice in Christ.
We too must either be coming alongside others in their faith walk and encouraging them to be joyful because of who Christ is or allowing others to do the same for us.
I would encourage you today, if you aren’t involved in a bible study or a life group to get in one. And if you aren’t actively serving, get involved. With that said, you must also allow the body of Christ in your life.
4 they begged us earnestly for the privilege of sharing in the ministry to the saints,
This should be our heart. Begging to minister to others and allowing others to minister to us. All while giving glory to Christ Jesus!
Take Away
Take Away
Paul sums all of this up for us in these final three verses.
Our goal in life must be to live our lives in such a way that it brings glory to the Gospel.
That’s why he words it the way he does in verse 27. Our lives should be a beacon of light for the lost world. Not lives that are torn between the world and the eternity that awaits......Or lives that are zero reflection at all.
Because when our lives reflect Jesus it is a clear sign of victory over those that oppose the Gospel.
He reminds us that this faith is also accompanied by suffering, as Christ himself suffered on our behalf.
We are reminded.....
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Closing
Closing
Our lives must be about living lives that are worthy of the Gospel. Not just knowing or saying it or tweeting it…but living it because of the magnitude it represents.
And living your life in the capacity will be a sacrifice. Not everyone will like you. You will be persecuted but we must always be reminded that our great reward is not in this life, but in in the life to come.
And how we live that out is to grow in our relationship with Him through discipleship, by proclaiming the truth of the Gospel and looking towards the day when our salvation becomes a reality.
We must be Advancers of the Gospel, Defenders of the Gospel and a people that live openly the Gospel life.
We must live boldly and unapologetically for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, always remembering, no matter what is happening around us, our God is in complete control. Whether there is suffering or not, the future reward for believing in Christ Jesus will eclipse any level of suffering we experience now.
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In the grand scheme, nothing else even comes close to the magnitude of the Gospel and nothing will ever compare.
We must live our lives worthy of this message and be united in our efforts to do so, standing firm because of who we have guiding us.
As we close, let us be reminded of Paul’s words from verse 6.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
Pray