Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Well, Good morning!

If you have your Bible’s, go ahead and open them up to Philippians chapter one.

We’re gonna be continuing our sermon series “Bridge Builders,” looking at the letter Paul wrote to the church of Philippi while he was on house arrest in Roman custody.

And so far in our series, we’ve really done our best to break down the first 26 verses where Paul kind of gave the Philippians an update on his circumstances and of course his outlook on how everything that’s happened to him has happened because it all served to advance the gospel, right?

His heart, as we’ve seen is focused on Jesus and making Him known in all the places he’s called to.

And listen, what we’ve kind of seen throughout this first chapter so far is all the things we’re unified around as believers and followers of Jesus Christ.

That’s why our series title is “Bridge Builders.”

Jesus, through His work on the cross, He’s bridged the gap between us and God.

And as believers, as those called to Himself, we’re called to bridge the gaps that exist between us, all for the purposes of advancing the gospel…we’re to mirror Paul’s motivation, right?

Because in the same way Paul was changed by the Spirit of God, as His children, those that have repented and believed in Jesus, we’re changed as well.

And we’re changed to be reoriented to the Son of Man…to Jesus.

Pastor Tim Keller said this, “Because the gospel is endlessly rich, it can handle the burden of being the one ‘main thing’ of a church.”

Meaning, because it’s such great news…because it so radically and drastically saves us and changes us....it can handle being the only thing we care about here at First Baptist Church.

The gospel can be our singular focus because it’s enough.

It’s all we need.

And listen, that’s been Paul’s message.

He believed that the gospel was enough.

That it was worth everything…even his life.

And just this far in, we’ve seen his joy through this partnership between him and these Philippians.

We’ve seen his desire to wanna defend and confirm the gospel.

We’ve seen how his suffering was used as a means to advance the gospel and how it was used as a platform from which the gospel was boldly preached.

And listen, as we continue in his letter, he shifts his focus back onto the Philippians and he charges them to do the same.

He charges the church to live a life worthy of the gospel and to strive and contend, side by side, for the faith of the gospel.

He charges them almost as if he’s a general sending his troops out to battle.

And what’s interesting as we continue in this series, we’re gonna see two main things our unity with each other should display…courage and compassion.

The next two weeks, these passages, it’s what I’ll call the John Wayne passage to Paul’s charge…For those of you that know what I’m talking about, “The Duke,” he was known for being tough and tender, right?

In the first section of this passage, what we’ll look at today, verses 27 through 30, Paul really emphasizes the need for the Philippian believers to be tough or courageous as they stand against opposition…as they fight this fight we’ve all been called to.

And then, next week, Kyler’s gonna walk us through the first couple verses in chapter two, where Paul emphasizes the need to be affectionate or tender in their humble love toward one another.

And listen, both of these paragraphs, they emphasize unity and togetherness.

And when we look back in history, we see that faithful Christians have always displayed this combination of courage and tenacity mingled with humility and compassion.

These virtues are the results of living out the gospel.

It’s what happens when we make the gospel the main thing in the church.

We’re made these things by God’s grace.

Guys, when sin entered the world through our first parents, Adam was told by God that he’d be tempted to drift…he’d be tempted to drift towards either passivity or abuse.

And listen, sadly, these traits, these things, they define many men today, right?

But listen, the gospel, it makes us both courageous (not passive) and it makes us humble (not abusive)…all at the same time.

It liberates us to live in the freedom of the gospel, fearing nothing and it reminds us that we’re all unworthy of this grace we’ve received.

And because of that, we extend this tender love to everyone but at the same time, heeding to the authority of Scripture and pursuing courageous service together as God’s people.

And so, if you’re there with me…let’s stand together as we read verses 27 through 30.

Paul says this, “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.”

Listen, the thesis of Paul’s letter here, his main point, its that the church, these believers that he’s writing too, they live live’s worthy of the gospel.

That’s why he starts with the word ‘only’.

I love how the CSB translation puts it…Paul says, “Just one thing.”

Paul’s making one very important and serious point to the church of Philippi here and I think it’s important that we pay attention to what follows that statement, “Just one thing....Just one thing, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel.”

Paul’s saying, it’s this one thing…this only thing that’s necessary.

This is our objective.

Live lives worthy of the gospel.

And listen, in order to understand what Paul’s saying here we have to understand what he doesn’t mean first.

Paul doesn’t mean that we should try and do things to merit grace from God.

He doesn’t mean for us to try and earn anything.

Our living lives worthy of the gospel doesn’t mean we have to figure out how to be worthy of God’s grace by living good enough lives to where we deserve it.

That’s not what Paul’s saying here.

Listen, any of you seen the movie, “Saving Private Ryan?” Well, basically, there’s this group of soldiers that go behind enemy lines in order to rescue this paratrooper whose brothers had all been killed in action.

And long story short, there were a ton of guys that gave their lives to save Private Ryan…and after he’s found, Tom Hank’s character Captain John Miller, just as he’s about to die, he looks at Private Ryan and tells him to “earn this.”

Basically he’s saying to make his life count because of the cost it took to save his one life.

And if you make it all the way to the end of the movie, Private Ryan’s much older self, he’s visiting the graves of the men that gave their lives for his and he asks his wife, “did I earn it?”

He was asking if his life mattered and was shown worthy of the sacrifice that was given to him.

Listen, oftentimes, when we read what Paul wrote here to the church of Philippi, that’s kind of the impression we take away.

But guys, Paul was saying the complete opposite.

Everything he said up this point has shown us that.

Paul was saying we can’t earn favor with God.

We can’t live lives worthy of Jesus on our own.

Again, what Paul’s saying here is that a life that’s changed by the gospel, is a life that can’t help but make much about Jesus.

And it’s the humility that Kyler’s gonna talk about next week that grounds us as believers, understanding that we can only be these people through the power of Christ…and because of that assurance of who we are, it stirs us to boldness all for the glory of God.

And listen, Paul’s message is this....only Jesus and His message of good news is really big enough for us to stake our whole lives on.

It’s only Jesus and the gospel that’s worth everything we can possibly give.

And that’s why Paul reminds these Philippians that what unites them is their charge to stand together as children of God…it’s to strive together for the faith of the gospel…to fight together…and finally to suffer together…all for the gospel and the glory of Christ.

And listen, I know it’s sometimes hard to chew, but that’s what we’ve been called to…a spiritual battle…all for the purpose of winning people to Jesus.

And so, our unity involves us courageously standing for the gospel just as we’ve seen with Paul.

We Stand Together (v.

27)

Look back at verse 27 again.

Paul writes, “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.”

Again, pay attention to that word “Only,” or “Just one thing” that Paul uses to kind of open up this charge.

He’s saying, “You know, there’s a huge chance I don’t make it out of this prison…If I don’t, you need to know this one important thing.”

And he said it’s this, “Whatever happens to me or even you, here’s the one thing that matters: live worthy of the gospel of Christ,” right?

And so, what’s it mean to live worthy of the gospel of Christ, especially if it doesn’t mean earning God’s favor?

Well, he says, “Live a life that’s a living proof that Jesus’s kingdom’s real, no matter what happens…let your life be a testimony that Jesus is on the throne and that He does have authority and that everything is going His way…and you do that by first standing together in one spirit and with one mind.”

That phrase there, “let your manner of life,” it literally means living as citizens of heaven.

John Piper summaries this verse, “Paul is saying, ‘Bring your life into conformity with your true homeland: heaven.”

We do that as a church by standing together in one spirit with one mind.

That word “stand firm,” it comes from a military word that means to hold one’s ground.

It literally means to hold fast.

It’s a word that Paul loved…he used it often…but it’s like a rousing call to hold fast to the gospel, to stand firm in the gospel.

Meaning, the gospel, or the whole counsel of God’s Word is what we allow to guide and direct us.

It’s what we’re willing to die for.

We stand firm, we draw the line with that.

And the scary part of today’s church, this is the one area that’s impacting us the most.

Church’s are just not willing to stand on the whole counsel of God’s Word, and parts of the world is just seeping in.

But listen, he’s speaking to the idea of patriotism or national allegiance here as well.

Again, we know these Philippians enjoyed Roman citizenship and because of that, it gave them a love for Rome and an allegiance to that nation.

In fact, if you know anything about Roman culture, the emperor claimed divinity.

He wanted the people to stand together in one spirit with one mind towards his leadership and rule.

And that’s what united the Roman Empire.

We see this same idea in our country today with patriotism.

Oftentimes, we’re united around being American, right?

I mean, I’ll never forget September 11th.

It rallied our citizens around being American.

But Paul’s point here is that just because we’re citizens of the United States, just as they were citizens of Rome, this isn’t our earthly home.