Citizen Life as a Colony of Heaven
Notes
Transcript
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,
What does it mean to live worthy of the gospel? What does it mean to live as a colony of heaven? What does day to day life mean?
I. A colony of heaven does not allow itself to be pulled away from the advancement of the gospel
I. A colony of heaven does not allow itself to be pulled away from the advancement of the gospel
Come and see you or am absent- do you know what Paul means here? Where I am released from prison and come to you in person, or am absent! Why would Paul remain absent? Still in prison and probably executed. Look if I die in this jail cell- this is what matters to be- this is what I want to hear about you church-
Stand FIRM!!
What does it mean to stand firm in v. 27?
Parallel Passages:
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
Moses is saying to the people, “Don’t give in to the pull of fear.” There is this invisible force pulling you to run and cower in fear. Don’t give in! Don’t do it! Stand Firm!
13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
Paul commands the Corinthians to stand firm in the faith- don’t deviate or back down from following the doctrine of the Scriptures.
1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
To the Galatians Paul says them must stand firm in freedom from the bondage of sin. Do not yield yourselves in obedience to commit sinful acts, but resist / stand firm / deny yourselves and embrace the grace of God in the liberty of Christ.
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
In chapter 4 of Philippians Paul urges the believers to remember their heavenly citizenship and their future glorification. They are to stand firm against the pull of following the world, of setting their minds of earthly things, of following after the lusts of their corrupted sin nature.
8 For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord.
To the Thessalonians Paul was comforted to discover from Timothy that the believes in Thessalonica had not abandoned the faith, but they were standing fast in the Lord.
15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.
In 2 Thessalonians the believers are urged to stand firm by holding to the traditions of the Apostles- thus the teachings of Jesus. They were not to deviate and obey the teachings of man, but to remain true and obedient to the faith.
to be firmly committed in conviction or belief
Unnamed son firmly convinced that half of 4 was 2.5!
So here in Philippians living citizen life as a colony of heaven ment that the church was not to deviate from having a unified purpose. A true colony of heaven should never loose its unity. Why? because we / church / colony of heaven need to stand fast, we need to resist something. We need to fight against an opposite force pulling us in another direction. And the best way to stand fast is to do so in unity.
There are constant pulls in our lives away from Christ! Illustration: stimulus check.
We need to stand firm together as a church. We are a colony of heaven- we are living for our homeland. We are living for the future Kingdom. We cannot let earthly things pull us away from that!
Jesus said it this way:
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
A Song of Ascents. Of David. 1 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! 2 It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! 3 It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
How do we do that? How do we stand firm together in unity as a colony of heaven so earthly pulls don’t distract us from our WHY?
“I wish there was a way to eliminate those distractions on a daily basis.”
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,
STAND FIRM! In One Spirit
STAND FIRM! In One Spirit
ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι,
in one Spirit,
I believe this is a reference to the Holy Spirit
1). Closest parallel-
1 Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
2). Paul’s use of the word spirit in the immediate context.
19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance,
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
3). Use of the exact same phrase elsewhere in Pauline literature
13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
What does this mean- stand firm in the one Holy Spirit?
We cannot stand firm on our own! We need divine supernatural God-like strength. We all need, together as a church, as a colony of heaven, to be strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit.
We cannot do this on our own! This disciple-making culture that we are trying to create in this church, our efforts at relationship based evangelism, our longing to grow this church and do the Great Commission- we have no hope of standing firm in this resolve on our own. We need Holy Spirit enablement, Holy Spirit filling, we need to all be walking in the Spirit together if we are to live as a proper colony of heaven.
This is absolutely essential! We need the Holy Spirit to blow his wind in our sails, this must be a work of God and not of us! We must all keep walking in step with the Spirit!
Application! We must be people saturated in the Word and in prayer!
STAND FIRM! With One Soul
STAND FIRM! With One Soul
μιᾷ ψυχῇ
with one mind (soul / life)
The Letter to the Philippians A. Stand Firm Together in Suffering (1:27–30)
Aristotle used the phrase “one soul” to portray unanimity in friendship: “Friends have one soul between them; friends’ goods are common property; friendship is equality.” Paul’s image of striving together with one soul conveys the ideal of such unity among Christians that they are no longer striving as separate individuals but striving together as one person.
34 And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
The Letter to the Philippians A. Stand Firm Together in Suffering (1:27–30)
When Christians focus on proclaiming the gospel and living by the truth of the gospel, they will be soul-mates, striving together with one soul.
Application: If every single one of us were to give their lives (their time, resources, and energy) away for the sake of Christ and for the sake of the gospel, imagine how encouraging that would be to stand firm! We are a colony of heaven, we are citizens of heaven- this is what daily citizen life looks like! Standing firm with one soul! Soul-mates!
STAND FIRM! Striving Side-By-Side
STAND FIRM! Striving Side-By-Side
συναθλοῦντες τῇ πίστει τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
striving side by side for the faith of the gospel
to toil together with someone in a struggle
The Letter to the Philippians A. Stand Firm Together in Suffering (1:27–30)
When Christians are fighting against each other, rather than side by side, unity is lost.
3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Unity- when we all follow Jesus together!
If we are standing firm together as a colony of heaven, if we are striving together, toiling together for the faith of the gospel- we won’t have time to get distracted by lesser non-essential things!
God willing- you lead your one to Christ and you begin that life on life mentoring relationship- teaching them everything you know- reproducing yourself in that person. How much work does that take? How much time does that take? But, how fulfilling joyful is that effort? Then imagine we are all doing that together- toiling side by side for the gospel- we are busy doing the main thing!
Hey come join our political “protest”! You do you- I don’t have time for lesser non-essential issues. I’m shepherding another person’s eternal soul for the sake of Jesus. So that this soul, just like my soul- would find their ground of boasting in Christ alone! No thanks- no time.
Hey what side of the auditorium should we put the piano on? What color should the carpet be? It doesn’t really matter- lets quickly make a decision and then get back to what really matters- striving together for the faith of the gospel.
he goes before them (how did Jesus lead by example while He was here on earth?)
and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. (Do you hear Jesus’ voice in this?) If not don’t do it!
What were Jesus last parting words before he left this earth. Often a man’s last words are his most important words?
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
What does it mean to live worthy of the gospel? What does it mean to live as a colony of heaven? What does day to day life mean?
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,
A colony of heaven does not allow itself to be pulled away from the advancement of the gospel
How?
STAND FIRM! In One Spirit
Are we walking in step with the Spirit? Are we saturated with the Word and with prayer?
STAND FIRM! With One Soul
Are we soul-mates in the gospel? Are we spending our lives- giving our lives away for the sake of other people?
STAND FIRM! Striving Side-By-Side
Are we toiling together for the faith of the gospel? Are we following Jesus example and his voice together? Is there unity in our church in this area?
We cannot stand firm with out each other. We need one another. A colony of heaven, if it is divided it will fall. How are we doing this together? What steps can you take to start participating today? Follow one, win one, lead one!