"A Life Worthy of the Gospel!" (part 2)
Captivated by Christ: An expositional sermon series on Paul's Letter to the Church in Philippi (message #11)
Pastor Jerry Ingalls
June 27, 2010
This morning we are in the second part of a message called "A Life Worthy of the Gospel!" We started last week and spent a lot of time in the first few verses of this passage. Today, we are going to highlight a couple key points that I did not get to last week in verses 27-28 and then jump into the last two verses 29-30.
The word of God from Philippians 1:27-30 (NIV): 27Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. [Prayer]
Last week I covered the historical context to Paul's exhortation and allowed that context to then challenge us in our own context today. God did an amazing work in our hearts to set us free to live for Him.
Through Paul's words, the Holy spirit is calling us to respond to grace by living a worthy life not so that we can earn it, but because it was lavished upon us! What does a worthy life look like? First, OUR LIVES ARE WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST WHEN WE STAND FIRM IN UNITY!
Paul tells us that a worthy life is when we have unity with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ because that unity then becomes an omen or sign both to the unbelieving world of their destruction apart from the gospel and to Christ-followers of the power of God to save. This power over life and death; salvation or destruction is God's alone! And the testimony of God's power in this life is made visible by the unity we have together because of the gospel!
Paul stated in our Scripture lesson that the worthy life is when we "stand firm in one spirit [pneuma], contending [synathlountes] as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you." (1:27b).
Once again, Paul is very clear in his writing that just like our citizenship [politeuesthe] is not by our own making neither is our unity through our own power. It is by us standing firm in one Spirit, the pneuma which is the Greek word Paul uses to reference the Holy Spirit. Listen to 1 Corinthians 12:13 where Paul explains, "For we were all baptized by one Spirit [pneumati] into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink."
This is key: our unity is found in the one person that truly brings us together! That is the indwelling presence of God in our lives as Christ-followers. Who is this person? He is the 3rd person of the Trinity, the triune God! He is not an 'it', He is God!
If we lose sight that the great Architect of salvation sent His Son to accomplish our salvation and then sent His Spirit to give us the benefits which He planned beforehand and the Son actualized, then we lose sight of how we can have unity! The gospel gives us unity and our unity witnesses to the gospel!
This unity then must manifest in our human relationships: we must stand firm in the Holy Spirit and be willing to go to battle together—arm and arm, like the Band of Brothers! This is the only way we can contend as one man (not gender bias, but rather an image of unity!).
The Greek word synathlountes translated "contending" is rooted in the verb "athleo" which means to engage in an athletic contest. The preposition syn adds a depth of meaning that is to engage in an athletic contest side by side. We are to stand side by side together in the athletic arena. My imagination immediately goes to the ancient Roman gladiator arena where two gladiators fight off great opposition by guarding each other's blind side. They are side by side, back to back against all the opposition without fear.
The Philippians were dealing with both internal squabbles and external opposition. Paul is teaching the Philippians that whether the enemy attacks from within the body or from without, Christ-followers must stand together as one person in the one Spirit. This is the great exhortation of the missionary apostle and this is the call of the Holy Spirit to us as the church. Let us stand firm as one person for the gospel of Christ then the world around us (including those in the faith!) will visibly see a first-hand witness or God's power and glory through each of us taking up our cross by swallowing our pride and being unified for a purpose greater than ourselves!
That leads us to our second point because this kind of unity takes intentionality of personal sacrifice: OUR LIVES ARE WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST WHEN WE MAKE A HABIT OF COSTLY DISCIPLESHIP!
The worthy life is not one of personal preference and comfort. It is a life that accepts the sacrifice of Jesus Christ not just for me, but also for you! For me to accept grace beyond my own personal salvation, I must be willing to bear the cost of this extravagant gospel love so others many know of God's indescribable gift…that requires me to put myself aside for others!
Paul continues in Philippians 1:29-30, "For it has been granted [echaristhe] to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have."
The key to understanding these verses are the words, "it has been granted". The Koine Greek word is "echaristhe" which is rooted in one of the deepest theological words in all of Christianity…a word and concept that separates Christianity from all other world religions. The word is "charis" which translates "grace". This verb literally means "to be graciously given".
Paul classically teaches us about grace in Romans 2:8 "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."
We quickly understand grace when we talk about it in the context of God's unmerited love and favor as expressed through His sacrifice and suffering! Grace is the scandal of God doing everything so that we can be with Him. It's not about us, our worthiness or works; it is all about Jesus Christ and grace! But, we DO NOT quickly comprehend this concept of grace when the tables are turned on us and we must now ponder how God has so graciously given us the right to suffer as Christ suffered! This grace does not compute quite so easily!
Paul is exclaiming that we have been graciously given the ability to believe in Jesus Christ (even our faith is a gift from God!) and with this gift that saves us we are also given the right to suffer. Paul emphasizes this teaching in 2 Timothy 3:12, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."
If we are to live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, then we must embrace the entire gift so graciously lavished upon us.
We are saved by faith and in our faith we must accept that there will be suffering, persecution, discomfort, and pain in this journey. To deny this cost of discipleship is to deny the gift of salvation! They are part of the same gift of grace!
Let's be honest, how do we except to be changed into the image of God if there is not pain? I know that I will refuse to change unless the pain of not changing is overwhelming my perceived pain of changing! In other words, I won't change unless it hurts too much! One of the best tools in God's tool box to sharpen us and refine our character is pain and suffering!
What is your view of pain and suffering? [pause] Personally, I don't like it; I don't want it; and I definitely don't seek after it! But, all circumstances can be used to bring about good when we place ourselves in the hands of the master carpenter!
Let me emphasize to you the words of Jesus Christ from the Gospel of Mark 8:34, "Then he [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"
Friends, there is no such thing as cheap grace! The gift of salvation cost God more than we can possibly imagine. Jesus Christ bore our sin upon Himself on that brutal execution device called the Cross and it was there "… he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5).
When Jesus Christ calls us to deny ourselves and take up our cross in order to follow Him, He is not speaking about expensive ornamental jewelry, decorating décor in our nice comfortable homes, or cool decals for our SUVs. Jesus Christ is telling us that we must be willing to make a daily habit (habitual and intentional lifestyle!) of suffering, pain, discomfort, personal sacrifice, and even death in order to live a life worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
If we run from pain into the seductive arms of comfort than we missed an opportunity to grow! And run we do as a culture…it's one of our highest ideals!
This is some lofty teaching; let's put some meat on the bone to see how it applies. Paul continues with verse 30,"since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have." The biblical evidence to the suffering that Paul says the Philippians witnessed is found in 1 Thessalonians 2:2, where Paul records, "We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition."
Now, let's watch this suffering for ourselves in this video that shows a word for word dramatization of Luke's account of this suffering in Acts 16:16-40. Paul suffered! He is calling us to be willing to suffer in the same way. Are you willing to share in the sufferings of Christ in this life? What does that even look like? Let's look at some first steps…
Are you willing to spend more time to help others than helping yourself? Are you willing to invest more financially in the Kingdom of God and less in your 401k? Are you willing to have your heart broken by actually going into the dark places of missions whether on the east side of New Castle or into an unknown land of the international mission field? Are you willing to risk your reputation by taking head-on an injustice that is happening in our community?
You may state you are willing to lay down your life for Christ, but how do you really know that you can make the big sacrifice if you are not even willing to die in the little ways every day?!? Are you willing to die a social death for Christ; an occupational death for Christ?
Paul's life in modeling Christ's suffering points to daily costly discipleship where we must put the gospel above all other loyalties and stand side by side with one another in unity. Paul teaches how we are to live the life of costly discipleship; it requires the discipline of an athlete. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 Paul teaches us, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever." For me, it took an amazing amount of sacrifice over many years of my life to achieve the level of athletic success that I did. Why wouldn't the same be true in the spiritual life?
This morning God wants you to know that there is an even greater prize to live for than any earthly reward! When I started to really get this, then I started the process of repentance whereas step by step I turned my life around so that my ambition moved from dreams of Olympics and athletic awards, career and resume, fame and glory…
It's the ongoing process of costly discipleship where we are moved from self to Christ…now, it is my sole ambition for Christ to be exalted, rather than sacrifice everything for a medal that ends up in a box—a prize that moths can destroy and thieves can steal (Luke 12:33).
Are you willing to make a habit of costly discipleship? There is a prize that cannot be destroyed nor stolen for those who are willing to live their lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ by making a habit of costly discipleship! We learn from Romans 8:17-18, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."
Surrender and come to Jesus just as you are: He wants all of you! He is waiting for you with arms wide open. He knows your suffering; now come and know His glory!
No comments:
Post a Comment