Fellowship in the Gospel
Fellowship in the Gospel (Phil. 1:3-11)
Fellowship has a great tradition among us Baptists. Follow along with me as I read Philippians 1:3-11.
The word “fellowship” gathers up into a unified whole every aspect of Christian experience. Paul thanked his brothers and sisters for their fellowship in the gospel. I want to thank you for the fellowship in the gospel we’ve shared from the first day I became your pastor until now.
Every single aspect of our fellowship as Christians is based on God’s call for us to serve Him in the gospel. If you’re here for any other reason than that, you’re here for the wrong reason. Burgaw Baptist has a great location in this town. I know it’s convenient for you to come here. But location shouldn’t be the reason you’re here. I know there are mighty fine cooks in this church. Claudette and I have enjoyed tremendously the dinners each evening. But if you’re a part of this church because they have the best cooks of any church around, you’re here for the wrong reason. Every church and every Christian throughout the world is bound together for one supreme reason: to serve Christ through the gospel. Every one of the reasons for being part of this church fellowship we’ve mentioned are useful in promoting our fellowship in the gospel, but they must always be subservient to it, and not a substitution for it.
Let’s let the apostle Paul help us see this truth even more clearly. These verses are rather simple to outline.
(I) In vv. 3-6, Paul thanks God for the relationship he has with the Philippian Christians. Claudette’s and my return to Burgaw for these services has given us a great opportunity to express our thanks to God for you all.
(II) In vv. 7-8, Paul speaks of his present relationship with those in the church at Philippi.
(III) And in vv. 9-11, he prays for the Philippians’ future with a prayer that has a very specific focus: that they might continue to grow as disciples.
Paul adds various depths of meaning to this simple outline when he adds, in v. 4, that all of his prayers for them are filled with joy. These services have provided us with a great opportunity to activate our memories of the past we shared together in our journey to God’s kingdom, with a deep sense of joy. That joy no doubt will remain as we pray for each other in the future.
He adds another level of meaning when he writes, “I have you in my heart.” (v. 7) That's Paul’s way of saying he loved them.
Paul places another, and fina,l level of meaning to his words when he prayed, in vv. 9-11, that they would continue to grow in Christian virtue, letting the Holy Spirit produce in them the fruits of all righteousness, to the glory of God.
Now, can you think of anything better to pray for than that?
Let’s look more closely at the first of these three levels of meaning Paul gave to his expression of thanks to God for the past, present, and future relationship he had with the Christians at Philippi.
PAUL REMEMBERED THE PHILIPPIANS WITH JOY. Fred Craddock has said that, “. . .being a believer is to a large extent an act of memory.” Who of us could ever forget what Christ did for us on the cross? How then could we forget our brothers for whom Christ died? We could no more do that than a mother could forget her child.
Yet memories come in black and white. They can be good or bad; and there are, I suppose, those that fall somewhere in between. But memories, even if bad, can serve a good purpose.
Konrad Adenauer was the first premier of what was formerly known as West Germany, serving from 1949 to 1963. He opposed Nazism, and helped found the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to help control Soviet expansion. He died at age 91.
Adenauer had a lot of bitter memories of Nazi Germany. He had sworn to do all he could to steer Germany in a new direction for good. After World War II, he seized a golden candlestick from the basement of Gestapo headquarters in Cologne. Until the day he died he kept that candlestick on his shaving table, so that every morning as he was preparing for another day he could see the candlestick and remember his commitment. So an object that brought bad memories to Adenauer inspired him to work for the good of his beloved Germany.
Church, like people, have memories that come in both white and black. You’ve experienced some black ones over the past few years. I’m sure that even thinking of them still pains you. Even such black memories can inspire us.
Jeremy wore inch thick, coke bottle glasses, and a perfect bowl haircut. He knew the answers to everything, and was the teacher’s pet. This really ticked off all of the other children.
One day, after an uncharacteristic absence from school, Jeremy showed up in class with a big grin on his face, wearing a Mickey Mouse hat. The teacher asked Jeremy where he got his hat.
“I went to Disneyland yesterday!” he said excitedly. “Oh really,” said the teacher. “Why don't you tell us about your day-trip to Disneyland.” “Okay!” said Jeremy. “Well, I went to Disneyland, and the first thing I saw was the parking lot. That parking lot must hold a million cars. I got on a tram that carried me around the parking lot until I got to the place where you buy the tickets. So I got off and stood in line. I bought a ticket and I also bought this cool hat!”
“And then what did you do?” as the teacher.
“Well, I got back on the tram and rode around the parking lot some more,” said Jeremy. “That was really fun! I rode that tram all day!”
“All day?” asked the teacher. “Did you go through the turnstiles and under the bridge to Main Street U.S.A., Adventureland, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, and the rest of the park?”
Jeremy thought for a moment and said, “No. Was I suppose to?”
It’s sad that Jeremy rode around Disneyland all day, seeing the people’s happy faces, but never found out what they were smiling about. It’s sad that people come to church and see people with smiling faces, and yet never find out what they’re smiling about. They hear people talk about the joy they’ve found in Jesus, but are clueless as to how to have that joy themselves.
When someone visits here, do they experience joy? Do the smiles on your faces invite them to stay? The really hard question to answer is, “Is our joy real? Does it result from our commitment to the gospel? There’s no true “koinonia” in the church that isn’t centered in the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Many Christians enjoy other aspects of the church they think make up Christian fellowship, and end up missing the real thing.
It seemed easy for Paul to love the believers at Philippi. That’s exactly what he does next. He expresses his love for his fellow believers whose hearts were one with his in the service of the gospel.
PAUL LOVED THE PHILIPPIANS. Much of what is considered love today actually is nothing more than mere sentimentality or emotion. Christian love isn’t based on emotion, even though emotions participate in it.
Paul had emotional ties to the Philippians. He told them, “I have you in my heart.” He also told them, in verse 8, “God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.” The literal meaning of the word “affection” will amuse you. It means “bowels.” Paul’s longing for his brothers in Christ affected his insides.
Still, we must understand that Paul’s love for the Philippians wasn’t based on emotion. What was their mutual participation in the gospel based on? It was based on LOVE. Paul told them , “I have you in my heart.” That’s love. But it’s more than an emotion because it’s based on the reality of the gospel expressed in Jesus’ cross, and, in turn, through our own self-sacrificing love for Jesus.
Love is the core word of the gospel. In English, however, it suffers from abuse and misunderstanding. Our society has so watered down its meaning. We use the same word to express what Greek’s referred to as immoral or sexual passion. Love has been so debased in our language that it can refer to anything from loving Paul’s hotdogs to pornography. Paul and John in their New Testament writings used one word that expressed the kind of love Paul and the Philippians shared with each other. It’s the same word Jesus used to speak of a dad who welcomed home his wayward son, and to speak of a forgiven woman who poured expensive, fragrant oil on our Lord’s feet, and to speak of a shepherd who risks his life to go into the wild to find that one lost sheep.
I like the word “solidarity” to express what Paul expressed in the word “koinonia.” It means so much more than casseroles and potluck dinners, and other types of get-togethers that we’ve come to equate with fellowship. The world saw the same concept in 1980 when Lech Walesa helped found the Polish Trade Union Federation, which promoted a non-violent overthrow of communist control in Poland. They achieved their goal not only in Poland, but other countries as well. Solidarity’s unity and commitment to the overthrow of communism eventually helped change the world. Their impetus may not have been love, as it was for Paul, but it certainly included love for one’s fellow man, fueled by their commitment to freedom.
The gospel wedded Paul’s heart to theirs, and theirs to his; so, verse 7. “It is right for me to feel (emotions!) this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.”
Paul viewed his call to serve Christ, and his fellowship with the believers in Philippi, as all “grace.” He writes further on in his letter how, when he needed help the Philippians sent it to them. They weren’t at all embarrassed by his imprisonment (he was in prison as he wrote this letter), as were the Corinthians. They sent him money to provide for his needs. You see, they knew why Paul was in prison. It was because of his commitment to the gospel. They share his commitment, and showed it through helping him.
We need so badly to regain the true concept of “koinonia” and express that concept in everything we do. And also we need to regain our understanding of church as “grace.” We’re not here because of ourselves, or to serve ourselves – which we have certainly been guilty of doing – but we’re here because of the gospel, for the sake of the gospel, and to support one another as we promote the gospel.
People in Bosnia-Herzegovina know the story of the Malkoc family. Before the Bosnian war, the Malkoc family lived next to the lake in the northwestern village of Jezero. One day in 1990, Smaljo Malkoc returned from a trip to Austria and brought back with him an unusual gift for his teenage sons, Dzevad and Catib: an aquarium and two goldfish.
Two years later, Bosnian Serb forces marched on Jezero. The women and children fled, while the fathers stayed to fight. Smaljo Malkoc was killed. Some time later, his wife, Fehima, returned to salvage what she could of their belongings. When she entered the house, she saw the devastation, and that somehow the goldfish in the aquarium had survived. She took pity on them by letting them go into the nearby lake, saying to herself, “This way, they might be more fortunate than us.”
In 1995, Fehima and her sons returned to Jezero. Nothing remained of their home. Through misty eyes Fehima happened to look toward the lake. She glimpsed something strange, so she walked over to the shore.
“The whole lake was shining from the thousands of gold fish in it,” said Fehima. “It made me immediately think of my husband. This was something he had left me that I never hoped for.” While killing had taken place around the lake, life was brimming under the water. Fehima and her sons began caring for the goldfish.
Three years later, in 1998, homes, stores, and coffee shops throughout the region of Jezero boast aquariums containing gold fish from the lake in Jezero. The Malkoc house is now the biggest house in the village. Two new cars are parked in front, and the Malkocs have enough money that they don’t have to worry about the future.
“It was a special kind of gift from our father,” Dzevad Malkoc said.
For Paul, the gospel was a special kind of gift to him, and to the world. He gave his life to share that gift. All churches exist to do the same. Souls won throughout the region of Philippi by the preaching of the gospel were God’s special, enriching gifts, as well as proof of His continued blessings. Souls won by the gospel throughout Burgaw’s existence are God’s special, enriching gifts, and proof of His continued blessings.
I will always thank God that my participation with you in the gospel is all grace. I wish I had time to tell you how my life has been enriched by the love we have shared together through past years in the ministry of the gospel, and on into the present.
It was the Philippians’ participation with Paul in the gospel that convinced Paul that God’s greatest and most glorious blessings were still to come. They had a blessed future ahead of them. And for that future Paul prayed.
PAUL PRAYED FOR THEIR FUTURE. In v. 6 Paul wrote, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” What a positive attitude Paul had! Contrast that with attitudes today, such as John Margolis of the Chicago Tribun,e where he wrote, “I have seen the future; it doesn't work.”
Paul believed this with all his heart that, because of God’s grace expressed in Christ (gospel), the future was bright. Thus, he prayed that four graces would be constantly true for his Philippian brothers.
(1) “. . .that you love would abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight (v. 9). This isn’t sentimental emotion, folks. Contrary to what you’ve been taught , love isn’t blind. Love seeks to know. Love wants to know what your child is doing, who she’s hanging around with, whether she has any goals in life or is just freeloading off of others, including mom and dad. Love looks at life in all of its stark reality, and doesn’t shrink back from telling the truth and getting involved. Love risks being unpopular because it doesn’t excuse sin. Love takes on evil by promoting righteous living. Love warns of the consequences of sin so that people can be saved from the clutches of death.
(2) “. . .so that you will be able to discern what is best” (v. 10). Love not only knows the difference between good and evil, but it discerns the difference between the better and the best. In our postmodern world, where categories between good and evil, decent and indecent, have broken down, and what is best is believed to be what “I” consider best for “me,” we must become more and more discerning. In a day when what the difference between what Christians read, are entertained by, and talk about, and what nonChristians read, are entertained by, and talk about is, statistically speaking, negligible, we dare not become less and less discerning, but more and more discerning.
(3) “may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ (v. 10). Vance Havner used to say that when the white sheep turn a pale shade of gray, it makes the black sheep feel better. Many Christians are stumbling in our day. They’ve forgotten God’s call to purity. Many Christians are living in ways that cause other Christians to stumble and fall, and unbelievers to doubt the truth of what we preach. Friends, our every word and action reflects either positively or negatively on the gospel of Christ. God will hold us accountable for how we live, because of the gospel we possess.
(4) “filled with the fruits of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.” What are the fruits of righteousness? They’re those qualities of life that all people can praise as being good and benefiting life, but which can only be produced in someone who is living by the indwelling power of the Spirit of God. (cf., 4:8)
Burgaw Baptist Church, you who are in my heart, these virtues are worthy of your very best effort. Always strive to improve your fellowship (participation) in the gospel, rather than the taste of your casserole! You can be confident that as you do so your future is secure. Even if you come up short, even if some black memories dot the landscape of your fellowship, we can be confident that God will complete in and through us what He’s started.
If I were to ask each of you, brother and sisters in Christ, where you are now personally in your service through the gospel, how would you answer? Is your love for Christ and each other increasing more and more? Is your fellowship (participation) in the gospel welding you together in an unbreakable union? If you can honestly say that you are not welded together in heart and mind and spirit as Paul and the Philippians Christians were through the gospel, what are you going to do about it?
Where are you, Burgaw Baptist Church, in your quest to achieve your potential in the kingdom of God? What is the state of your participation in the gospel of Christ? Are you committed tooth and nail to the gospel, and to each other as you preach, teach, and live out the gospel before others? If you can honestly say that you know you’re not where you need to be as a church, what do you plan to do about it?
Let me encourage each one of you to search your hearts personally, and as the church (churches have hearts too, you know, good and bad), in order to know whether or not you’re everything you do in service to the gospel, to the praise, honor, and glory of our great God, who has made us His own through the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.