shine like lights

Phil. 2:14  “Do all things without grumbling or disputing;  15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,   16  holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”

As we consider today’s passage in our ongoing study of Philippians, it is a good idea to review the previous doctrine that Paul has presented thus far, in order to understand correctly what we are looking at today and be sure to keep it in the proper context. 

This section of scripture really begins when Paul tells us that Christ’s example of a servant’s attitude is to be our attitude as well.   He said in vs. 5, have this same mind,  have this same attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.  So as Jesus humbled himself to be our servant and serve God, not seeking his own glory, so our attitude should be one of humility and service, as we present our bodies as a living sacrifice to God, which Romans 12 tells us is our reasonable service.

And furthermore, Paul says, not only did Christ have this attitude of humility and servitude, he says Christ was obedient to the will of God.  Again, Christ is our example.  We need to be obedient to the things God shows us in His Word.  That should indicate the necessity of knowing God’s Word.  How can we know the true God and know what He requires of us if we don’t know His Word?  Without that absolute truth, we end up fashioning a god in our own image, making an idol of our own creation, as we determine what we think God should be like, rather than learning what God actually is like.  The Word is the only authority for absolute truth.

In regards to this obedience, Paul reminds us in vs. 10 that one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  And we discussed in great detail last time what the word Lord signified, not only to the Gentile, but also to the Jew.  In both cases, it meant that to confess Jesus as Lord meant being exiled in most cases from either the Jewish or Gentile communities.  It quite possibly meant the loss of one’s property, the loss of one’s job, the loss of one’s family, and even at times the loss of one’s life.  That’s why Paul makes the correlation in vs. 8  that Jesus was obedient  unto death, even the shame of a cross.  And again, Jesus is our example for us that would claim to be His disciples.  We go where He goes.  We pattern our lives after His life.  And as we confess Him as Lord, we bow our knees to His will and His purpose, not just in lip service, but in life service.

This life service is what vs. 12 is talking about, to work out, or live out our salvation, to live out the righteousness that God has put in us, and he adds the phrase, with fear and trembling.  Once again this idea of fearing God is a foreign concept to the modern day Christian.  After all, no one is afraid of Santa Claus. You may remember that during the Iraq War they had a phrase we heard on the news every night which was “shock and awe.”  And in some ways, this phrase fear and trembling makes me think of shock and awe.   During the Iraq War it meant that the army of Iraq trembled in fear of the overwhelming power and might of the United States military.  And I think to some degree that is what Paul is getting at here.  As we consider our salvation, as we consider the extent of Christ’s suffering and shame, as we consider the depths that Christ lowered himself to in order to serve as our substitute and sacrifice, then we should live out our salvation with an awe and reverence for the grace and mercy that has been bestowed on us.  We should consider our responsibility and stewardship that God has entrusted us with, with a healthy measure of fear and trembling. 

An illustration might be of a young man who had been given an apprenticeship with a well respected jeweler in NYC.  And this apprentice considered himself very fortunate to have obtained this job, for many people sought his employer’s expertise and craftsmanship, and his reputation was well known.  One day his employer called him into the office and showed him a special diamond, a gem of the greatest rarity which was worth a great fortune.  His employer had been called upon to cut and polish this very expensive diamond for a wealthy client and now that it was finished, he wanted the apprentice to carry it across town to a gold smith’s shop where it was to be mounted.  And so very carefully they wrapped up the stone, put it in a satchel and with a severe warning to be extremely careful, to not turn to the right or to the left but go straight and quickly to the destination, the young apprentice was sent out into the busy NYC streets.  And as he carefully yet quickly walked through the bustling streets and sidewalks of NYC, the young apprentice trembled in fear knowing the great value of what he carried, and the responsibility of what had been placed in his care. His journey took him past street vendors hawking all kinds of wares, but he wouldn’t turn aside to look at their merchandise.  He passed by restaurants emitting the appetizing aroma of tantalizing cuisine, but he kept pressing ahead.  He pushed through oppressive traffic and crowds and walked swiftly through the seedier areas of town where all sorts of temptations lurked on every street corner, calling out to him seductively, some even reaching out to him trying to pull him aside.  But the young man shrugged them off and hurried resolutely ahead. When he finally reached his destination and was able to safely deposit it in the waiting hands of the goldsmith, he felt a great sense of relief to have successfully carried out his duty.

Like the young apprentice, we too are given a treasure of great value, which was purchased at an incalculable price.  And the responsibility that we have been tasked with is a stewardship of this salvation, to take it out into the streets of this world, and live it out, to be the emissary of Jesus Christ himself.  We should fear lest we fail in this great commission, that somehow we become distracted by the amusements and the vendors on the streets.  We should fear we might not fulfill our sacred duty which  has been entrusted to us.  We tremble at the thought of failing in our mission.

The other night after everyone left our house at Bible study, I was talking to my wife and somehow we got on the topic of people who once were a part of our fellowship and now have fallen away.  They once were faithful.  They once were eager to hear the Word.  They once were learning and growing in their faith.  And yet today they are no longer with us.  Many of them no longer have anything to do with the Lord.  They became distracted by the enticements of the world.  They became distracted perhaps by a girlfriend or a boyfriend.  They became enticed by the desire for a career.  They were turned away by drugs or alcohol.  And they strayed away from the fellowship, strayed from God’s word, and eventually rejected the preaching of the truth and turned to an amusement, an enticement.  They turned away from the priceless treasure of salvation for a cheap bauble offered by a street vendor.  Jesus said in Mark 8:36  "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” 

This great stewardship of salvation should fill us with fear and trembling as we recognize that God has chosen us to be the vessels of His mercy, that He has entrusted us with the message of the gospel, that He has filled these jars of clay with nothing less than the treasure of the Spirit of God Himself, which now lives in us, working in us, conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ, as it says in vs. 13, His Spirit is now working in us to do HIS will, and to perform what pleases HIM.  That God would choose to do this in us is an amazing thing, and it should be a humbling thing, and it should fill us with fear and trembling at the awesome responsibility that we have been given to live out this great salvation.

Now having that understanding of the preceding verses, we now come to our text which follows logically upon the prior verses.  Having then this great responsibility, this awesome stewardship, having been entrusted with such a great salvation, Paul says in verse 14, “do all things without grumbling or disputing...”  Which begs the question, do what things?  And it simply refers back to those righteous responsibilities that are part of living out your salvation, of working your salvation out to the world.  It says, all the things that God has entrusted you with, as you work them out, do them without grumbling or disputing. 

And those are a couple of interesting words.   Grumbling can also be interpreted as murmuring.  Whispering.  Muttering under your breath.  It was a word that was often used in reference to the tribe of Israel when Moses brought them out of the land of Egypt.  They hadn’t  even crossed the Red Sea when they started complaining sarcastically to Moses that maybe there hadn’t been any graves in Egypt, so he had taken them into the wilderness to die.  Then once God had opened up the Red Sea for them and destroyed the following Egyptian army, they quickly forgot that and started complaining and murmuring and grumbling again against God and Moses.  It was the pattern of their life.  They grumbled about the food God provided, they murmured they were thirsty, they complained about Moses leadership, and even whined to Aaron that Moses was spending too much time on the mountain with God.  And Numbers 21:5 tells us that God called this murmuring sin and eventually punished them for it by sending fiery serpents among them. So then murmuring is a sinful, emotional, gut level complaint about the circumstances God has chosen for your life and the requirements He has for your conduct.

We need to remember that sometimes God allows difficulties to come into our lives for His purposes.  Verse 13 just finished telling us that God is working in you for His will and His purposes, and now when He does so, who are we to complain that everything is not working out like we would like? 1Peter 4:12 tells us;            “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”

 We need to remember that Romans 8:28 tells us that God uses all things, good and bad, for His purposes, and ultimately for our good.  It may not always be fun or enjoyable at the moment, but we need to remember that God is working  out His will in our life.  He is in control and we shouldn’t grumble against that.

And the second word is disputing which comes from the Greek word dialogismos.  It is the root of our word dialogue.  It means to argue, debate, discuss with God the reasoning behind His will.  Arguing with God over what He has given us to do.  Trying to debate with Him to get Him to change His mind or His will.  It means a questioning of God’s will and purposes in your life.  Why do I have to be single?  Why do I have to endure this hardship?  Why have you allowed me to go through this difficulty?  It’s an attitude of discontentment.  Hardly the attitude that Christ had as He considered the cross, is it?  Jesus prayed, “not my will, but your will be done.”

So whatever circumstances I find myself in, as a Christian I need to recognize that God has in His sovereign will put me in this place of duty, in this position of service and I must bear up under the burden of hardship or difficulty or trial and trust God to work it out and work in me that which is pleasing to Him.  For instance, perhaps God has chosen you to be single.  It’s not something that is easy, especially in this modern culture.  It is a difficult place where God has put you.  It’s lonely, it’s painful.  And yet God has placed you there for His purpose.  For His pleasure.  And as a consequence you are perhaps more devoted to Him than you would be if you were married.  You provide a special service to Him that others cannot provide.  So what a shame to spend your life murmuring or complaining against God’s will for you to be single.  What a shame to waste your life in disputing God’s will and try to get Him to change His mind.  And you can substitute any number of other circumstances in place of the word single.  Like sick, like cancer, like poor, like jobless, or wherever God has placed you, don’t complain.  God has His purpose, and thank God that He has considered you worthy to suffer if necessary for His name sake.

I am ashamed to confess that I am guilty of the sin of grumbling and disputing with God about this place that He has put me in to serve.  I complain about everything, from the snail’s pace traffic on 26, to the climate, to the way the wind changes on a whim, to the lack of consistent surf, to the lack of commitment to the fellowship, to the lack of appreciation for the preaching of the  Word of God.  I grumble and complain all the time.  And lately I have found that it has affected my attitude, and I am often disgruntled.  I realize that I am grateful that God has even chosen me for service in any measure.  I don’t deserve to be chosen for service for God.  But He has given me a very great honor in giving me the opportunity to serve him, no matter how small the congregation, no matter what the cost of service.  I should be honored to serve Him.  God has convicted me to stop complaining and start conforming to the attitude of Jesus Christ and follow the pattern of His service.

As hard as it might be for us to see at the moment, many times God allows us to suffer so that we might be a greater testimony for Christ.  Vs. 15 tells us that this is “so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.”  Even though our circumstances may be difficult, we endure them without sinning in murmuring or disputing God, but submitting to His will, so that we might be a testimony to the world.  I said last Wednesday that as Christians we are either being an example or an excuse.  An example of Christ that others can follow or  an excuse, an excuse not to take Christianity so seriously.  An excuse that we’re all just a bunch of hypocrites.  You’re either an example or excuse.

And just look quickly at how Paul uses three different words to describe basically the same thing.  He says in our example we are to be “blameless, innocent, and above reproach.”  I think the idea is that of the sacrificial lamb in the OT.  It was to be spotless, without blemish.  Now the lamb was a picture of Jesus Christ; the sinless, blameless, above reproach, sacrificial lamb that takes away the sins of the world.  But as Christ was, so are we to be.  “Have the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  He is our example and we are to follow his pattern.

Now concerning this testimony to the world.  Paul describes the world as “a crooked and perverse generation.”  And I don’t think that there was ever a time when this statement was more true than it is today.  Even an unbeliever must see that the world is a perverse place, a place where right is called wrong, and light is called darkness.  It seems the world is completely upside down lately.  I can’t help but believe that Christ is coming back soon. Isaiah 5:20 “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!”

And that is the state of the world.  The world is in darkness.  2 Tim.2:26  says the world is in the snare of the devil, and they are enslaved by him to do his will.   But for those that are Christians, Paul says we are to shine like lights in the darkness.  This is our testimony to the lost world.  As Christ was the light of the world, so we are to reflect that light to the world as well.  You know, the most effective witness to the world is our changed lives.  Our testimony, how we live and how we act, speaks much more loudly than our words do. 

Jesus said in Mat 5:14  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Listen, it’s a whole lot easier to make converts than it is to make disciples.  Making disciples means that someone has to follow you around at work, or follow you around on the weekend, or whatever.  A disciple watches you, and sees what you’re doing and how you do it.  And folks, that is what we are commissioned to do.  Not just have great big altar calls and see a bunch of people come forward swept along on an emotional tide, but to individually disciple people to become followers of us, and in the process become followers of Christ.  Now that’s a tall order, but that’s our orders.

Then finally the last verse,  vs. 16 tells us in this process of being a shining light to the world by living out our salvation to the world, Paul says in that process to “hold fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”  Now why does Paul throw that in there?  I believe it is because we need to keep a strong grip on the Word of God.  It is the absolute truth in a world without absolutes.  It is the key to being obedient to God’s will.  It is the power of God unto salvation for the world.  And more and more, as it has always been, it is the thing most under attack by the enemy.  

In our Wednesday evening study of 1 Timothy, Paul warned Timothy in chapter one of false teachers who would stray from the truth and end up suffering shipwreck in their lives.  And this is a constant concern of the Apostle Paul for the Christian.  If Satan can get you to stray away from God’s word, then he can get you to stray away from the truth, and the omission of that small, seemingly insignificant detail of our busy Christian lives has the effect of a ship’s captain that sets a course just one degree of his course.  At first, he may not see a big change of direction, but eventually it leads to destruction.  They soon find their lives on the rocks, shipwrecked in regards to their faith, and especially in regards to their testimony. 

Satan would love to see you suffer shipwreck in your faith, ladies and gentlemen.  And his first strategy is always to get you to abandon the Word of God.  Paul says “Hold fast the Word of God.”  Hold fast is a term that means tie your ship securely, to set your anchor in a way that it will not move.  Hold fast.  Stand firm in your commitment to keep the Word of God the main thing in your Christian walk.  So that in the day that Jesus Christ returns, the day when Christ will judge the living and the dead, the righteous and the unrighteous, in that day, we will be found not to have run in vain or toil in vain.

Yes, the place where God has placed you to serve may be tough. You may not see a lot of earthly rewards now.  But Jesus is coming back.  And one day, whether we are alive or dead, we will be raised incorruptible.  And we will all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.  In that day, I hope that I will find that I have not run in vain or toiled in vain.  That Jesus might say to me on that day, “'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”  I pray that you will find Him saying that to you as well.  That you were faithful to perform your service to him in a way that brought glory and honor to Jesus Christ. 

One of the things I’ve always liked most about the Christmas season is around Christmas Eve we go for a drive in the car and look at Christmas lights.  Something about the lights on a dark sky look beautiful.  And I think it’s cool how even the humblest little house or trailer can look really beautiful when they decorate it all up with lights.   This world is a dark place, but God has given us the job of being a light to the world, shining as an example of Jesus Christ.  This season, let your light so shine before men in such a way as to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.  Live in such a way so that others will be drawn by your light to Christ.

salvation workout

Phil. 2:5   “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,    7  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  10  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  11  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12  So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  13  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”

In our culture today, we are constantly hearing about some new workout that is being touted as the latest surefire way to get in shape.  There is the Pilates workout, the Zumba workout, the Crossfit workout.  For about 6 months earlier this year I was trying to do the Navy Seal workout.  Unfortunately, it didn’t really work out.  Rather than getting stronger I just wore myself out.  But we are increasingly recognizing as a culture that while we may have been given relatively healthy bodies when we were born, but if we want to stay healthy we need to exercise them.  And a similar principle is true in our Christian life as well.  We must be born again into a new life, but God’s intention is for us to grow and mature and become useful.  So today we’re going to be looking at what I have titled the Salvation Workout.

In our ongoing study of Philippians we have been looking at this passage which contains one of the premiere portraits of Christ in the Bible.  Last week we looked specifically as Christ as our Sovereign, as the Son of God, as a Servant, and our Savior.  And today I would like to continue with an emphasis on Christ as our Example.  Christ is presented in vs. 5 as our example for us to pattern our lives after.  Christ is not just our substitute, which indeed He was, but He also is the pattern for us to live our lives even as He lived His. 1Pet. 2:21 confirms this; “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.”

And the key to how  we  accomplish that is found in vs. 8 in the word obedient.  It says that Christ humbled Himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death.  And though Christ being obedient may sound strange to us, we need to understand that Christ was obedient to the Father for our sake, for the sake of our salvation, and also for our example.  Hebrews 5:8 confirms this point.  “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

So even though Christ was equal with God, yet while in the flesh He humbled Himself to be obedient to the predetermined will of the Father.  Hebrews 10:7 "THEN I SAID, 'BEHOLD, I HAVE COME (IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME) TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.'"  Jesus himself said in John 12:49 "For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.”

This is how Jesus  could say “I and the Father are One.”  Not only were they equal in position, but they were united in purpose, in word and in deed.  But lest  we think this is just some theological treatise that Paul is propounding here, we need to remember the context of the passage, and realize that Paul is using the example of Jesus’ obedience to the Father as an illustration for how we are supposed to live.  Too often in our selfish, human nature, we are more than content to let Christ be our sacrifice, to let Him be our substitute, to let Him pay the price so we can live our lives any way we want.  But what Paul is really saying here is that even as Christ humbled Himself, so we too are to humble ourselves.  Even as Christ offered Himself as a sacrifice, we to must offer our lives as a sacrifice in service to Christ.  Even as Christ was unified with the Father in purpose, word and deed, so we are to be unified to Christ in purpose, word and deed.  “Have the same attitude, the same understanding, the same mindset as Jesus Christ.”  That is what Paul is saying here.

Now Paul goes on to show Christ’s reward for this sacrifice, for this humiliation that He suffered.  And again the same principle of Christ as our example applies to us in this passage as well.  As it was for Him, so it will be for His followers. Romans 8:17 tells us that if we are children of God, then we are “heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”  But notice the order.  Sacrifice comes first, then exaltation comes afterward.

So then in vs. 9, it says, “For this reason…”  For what reason?  The reason just previously stated, that Christ humbled himself, became a servant, was obedient unto death, for this reason, “God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Because Christ was obedient even unto death, God raised Him from the dead, He ascended into heaven, and He took His seat at the right hand of the Father above all principalities, above all rule and authority. Eph. 1:20 says God “raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,  which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

So God exalted Christ by giving Him it says, a “name that is above every name”.  And what is that name above every name?  It’s not Jesus.  Note it doesn't say that at the name Jesus. But it says that at the name OF Jesus. And what is the name of Jesus? The name of Jesus is Lord.  In the Greek it is kurios, interpreted Lord, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord.  

This is the confession that every creature in the universe will give one day.  And this is the confession that Romans 10:9 says is necessary for salvation today; “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”

Unfortunately, in our society today the word Lord has come to mean just another name for God which has little significance for us.  But when Paul wrote to the Romans, as well as to the Philippians which was also a Roman colony,  that they must confess Jesus as Lord, the full significance of these words meant a lot to those Roman citizens because Caesar had been declared to be god.  And men and women were eventually forced to swear an oath of allegiance to Caesar as Lord and Savior of the world.  The early Christians saw this as idolatry and refused to bow the knee to Caesar as Lord and consequently many of them lost their lives.  So when Paul says to the 1st century Gentile that they must confess Jesus as Lord, they knew that this required absolute surrender and submission to Jesus Christ as Lord and King of all, and they knew that it would cost them everything to make that confession.

And for the 1st century Jew it had a special significance as well. Because Paul is quoting  these words from Is. 45: 23  “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”  And for the Jew, they knew that the One speaking in Isaiah was Yahweh, the most sacred name of God which they refused to even say, so instead it was translated LORD.  So Paul is making a direct quotation here from the OT saying that you must confess Jesus Christ as Yahweh, and every knee will bow to Him.    For the Jew then, to confess Jesus Christ is Lord was to recognize that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, God in the flesh, the promised King of Kings from the line of David, the One in whom all their blessings resided in, and whom they had crucified.

This confession that Jesus is Lord Romans 10:9 tells us results in our righteousness.  This is the way man becomes saved.  By faith in Christ, that is believing all that He was, all that He came to do, that He was God in the flesh, that He was our substitute, that His atonement on the cross was sufficient for our salvation, but also confessing Jesus as Lord.  Confessing Him as King of our lives, ruler of our lives, and surrendering our will, our purpose and our lives to Him, willing to be changed by Him, and willing to be used by Him.

Not just to say I’m sorry for the mess I’ve made of my life.  I’m sorry that I haven’t been all that I could be.  Or to wish that God would change the circumstances of my life.  Or to wish that God would bless my finances.  Or to say I want to go to heaven when I die, because the alternative sounds a little dreadful.  None of those things are confessing Jesus as Lord.    But a total capitulation of all that I hold dear, surrendering everything for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ and being found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own, but having His righteousness. Phil. 3:8 Paul said, “More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things [all he once counted as gain], and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

This confession is more than just a mere acknowledgement that Jesus lived, or even exists, for the devils also believe and tremble. But salvation, righteousness realized, depends upon a broken and contrite heart, that is wholly dependent upon grace, and fully cognizant of my own unworthiness and inability to be righteous.  A willingness to bow my knee before Christ in repentance, a willingness to turn over all of my heart to Him.  To come to the end of yourself and a willingness to become all that God would have me to be, and follow the example of Jesus Christ.

I’m afraid that isn’t the kind of salvation that is being espoused in modern Christianity today.  I’m afraid that there is a desire to be ok with God, but keep the world and all that comes with it as well.  We want to be in the ballpark, but not in the game.  We want to be somehow on the sidelines and let others do the playing and we remain spectators.  But real Christianity isn’t like that.  IF we are willing to suffer with Him, then we get the right to reign with Him. 2Tim. 2:11 “It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; If we endure, we will also reign with Him.  “And the things that you must be willing to suffer is the loss of this world and the pleasures and profits of this world for the sake of following Jesus Christ.  And for those who are willing to suffer the loss of those things which are dear to them here, God promises to exalt those people to rule and reign with Christ in the world to come.

The problem for most of us  is that the world seems so appealing, so promising, that we have no appetite for heaven.  Heaven is not enough of a motivation for us to sacrifice everything that we see here for a future we can’t see there.  So Paul gives us an allusion to another motivation.  If the positive motivation of heaven is not enough, then perhaps the negative motivation of a judgment to come will suffice.  He says, “at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

Some have wrongfully concluded from this verse that somehow at the end of the ages everyone will have a chance of being saved, of  confessing Jesus is Lord.  But that would render salvation worthless wouldn’t it?  That would discount the priceless sacrifice of Jesus to the value of a yard sale leftover, the stuff that they leave on the side of the road for free.  No, what it means is that on this side of Christ’s coming again salvation is obtained through faith, faith in what isn’t seen.  But one day, every eye will see Him come again not as a baby in Bethlehem, not as an ordinary looking man, but every eye will see Him coming in the clouds with fire and all His angels with Him, and Matthew 24 tells us then that the whole earth will mourn, because it will be too late for confession resulting in righteousness, it will be a confession that results in condemnation and a sentence of eternal damnation for rejecting the Lord of all creation when He gave His life for our reconciliation.

Mat 24:30 "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.” But on that day, it will be too late for salvation.  Christ comes on that day not to save, but to judge the world.

Paul says, “those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”  Those who are in heaven refers to the angels of heaven, 10,000 times 10,000, or untold millions of angels. Revelation 12 refers to angels as stars of heaven, and I think that the number of the angels in heaven may approximate the number of the stars.  The estimated number of the stars is between 10 sextillion and 1 septillion stars. That’s a one with 21 zeros after it.   They comprise and are organized into about 80 billion galaxies.  So it’s possible that God created angels of that number as well as they are often referenced in the scripture as stars.  All this innumerable multitude of heavenly creatures worshipping Christ as Lord.  And one day, the Bible says, those of us who reign with Christ will judge angels.

And in the earth obviously refers to living humans in the earth at the time of Christ’s return.  And under the earth refers to the dead, those that are dead in Christ and those that are dead in their sins, that exist in the subterranean abode which the Bible calls Hades, which Christ referred to in His story of Lazarus and the rich man who both died and the rich man was in torment, while Lazarus was being comforted in Abraham’s bosum.  

So, there is a negative motivation for surrendering to Christ now, and that is that there is coming a day of judgment, when Christ will judge the living and the dead, when He will separate the sheep from the goats as spoken of throughout the Bible.

And then finally, Paul gives an exhortation for us to continue in Christ’s example.  Vs. 12  “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;  for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” There is that principle of obedience again, not only for Christ, but for us.

So then, Paul says, since God has shown us the example of Christ that we are to follow, work out your salvation with fear and trembling.  Now, Paul isn’t contradicting all the gospel that he has previously given regarding salvation as a work of grace.   For instance, Paul says in Gal. 2:16  “nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.”

So if Paul isn’t talking about working for your salvation, then what does he mean?  I think a good illustration of what he is talking about is when David was brought before King Saul because he had volunteered to go out and fight Goliath.  And Saul gave David his own armor to wear.  And David said, “I cannot wear this, because I have not proven it.”  And what he meant by that was he had not proven it in battle.  He had not worn it in battle.  The armor had not been tested in the trials of war.

And this is what Paul is getting at here.  He is saying your salvation which was won for you is not to put on a shelf. It’s not for sitting on the sidelines.  But exercise your faith.  Live out your faith.  Take your Christianity into the field of battle and use it and wear it and prove it to be worthy.  It’s a command to exercise your salvation.  You were saved too live out the righteousness that God granted to us by doing deeds of righteousness within the sphere of the world that we exist in.

So we could say the first aspect of it then is to work out or exercise in daily conduct what God has put in.  Day-to-day holy living, that's the idea. I am to be committed to the process of my salvation coming to fruition in the sense that it's manifest in my conduct, my behavior.  We are to pattern our lives in the same pattern that Jesus laid for us, to be obedient to God’s word, to be a servant to the church, to live like a child of God, to be concerned with the salvation of men and women.  This is working out our salvation.  In Jam 2:22, speaking of Abraham it says, “You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected, completed.

And then vs. 13 gives us the other half of the equation for sanctification: “for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  Just as Jesus didn’t do anything that wasn’t the Father’s will, didn’t say anything that the Father did not tell Him to say, so it is also to be with us.  Now that we’ve been made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives within us.  We become temples of God.  And God lives in this temple to do His will, to work for His purposes, His good pleasure, and not to be diverted to do our pleasure.  This is the purpose of God, to sanctify us, to use us to live for Christ, for His glory. 1Cor. 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

The purpose of the Holy Spirit is not to give us goose bumps, or to enable us to talk in some unknown language, or to make us laugh and fall down drunk as if that was evidence that God lived in us or overwhelm us into service.  But God in the presence of the Holy Spirit lives in us so that we might live as Christ lived.  Our obedience is evidence that God lives in us. The Holy Spirit dwells in us so that we might do the works of righteousness that which God has prepared us for.  So that God might use this once sinful, selfish body for His glory.

So what is Paul’s message here for us this morning?  One is that salvation and righteousness, in other words acceptance by God, is only possible when we come to a place where we are willing to confess Jesus is Lord.  Jesus as our Savior, our Substitute and our Sovereign.  And God promises to grant us the full measure of Christ’s righteousness to those who have faith in Jesus Christ and confess Him as their Lord.  But then secondly, the next essential part of our salvation is our sanctification, wherein we follow His example and in obedience to His will, follow Christ in humility, in obedience, in servitude and sacrifice and even if necessary suffering for His sake, working out this great salvation that we have received with fear and trembling, full of reverence and awe for the great responsibility and stewardship that God has entrusted us with.   And finally, the message is that if we suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him.  That as God exalted Jesus Christ and gave Him a name above every name, He has also reserved an inheritance for us, that one day we will be fellow heirs with Christ and sit on thrones with Him in glory and share in all that the Father has planned for those that love Him.

an attitude of servitude

 Philippians 2: 5-11

The text we are looking at today is one of the premiere portraits of Christ, and essential doctrinal statements in all  of Scripture.  It is such a rich passage, that it is possible to spend a month of Sundays in it and still not plum the depths of this passage.   In studying this passage, I had a difficult time trying to determine which direction to go with it.  It presents so many possibilities.

But I think that the direction that is most apparent, that is most intended by the Holy Spirit and in the context of the passage, is clearly presented in verse 5.  And I believe as much as possible we should always endeavor to stay in context to receive the greatest benefit from an exegetic study.

Verses 6-11 are often preached and presented as a great portrait of Christ and a doctrinal statement about Christ, but in context with verse 5 we learn what our response is to this example of Christ.  Vs. 5 says, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…”  And this is so important to recognize that Paul is giving us a directive here to be like Jesus Christ.  To have the same attitude as Christ.  Not just to recognize the characteristics of Christ, but since we are disciples we should respond in obedience by following the pattern of Christ.

This concept is missing today in Christianity.  We present Christ from His glory to His suffering, as our Savior and our Substitute, but we fail to teach what our proper response is to the gospel.  We teach that we just need to have a relationship to Christ, we need to praise Him, to recognize His sacrifice for us, but then we basically want to end our responsibility with just saying the sinner’s prayer and maybe walking an aisle in church during an invitation.  But just as Romans 12 told us that following salvation we now were to begin our reasonable service in response to our salvation by presenting our lives to be living sacrifices for the kingdom, so Paul here in Philippians tells us that now that we are saved we are to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being servants of the kingdom of God.  This is our purpose in life, to now glorify Christ in our lives, by everything we do.

And Paul is not alone in this message.  Jesus himself said “You are my disciples IF you continue in my word.”  In another place He says, “if you love Me you will keep my commandments.”  And “a true disciple bears much fruit.”  And also Peter said in 1Pe 2:21 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,”  The  Greek word for example there is hypogrammos: which literally meant a writing copy, including all the letters of the alphabet, given to beginners as an aid in learning to draw them.  What that meant is that when you were learning to write, you would trace your line over the lines on the hypogrammos, and thereby you would learn how the letters were to be written.  And in the same way, Jesus Christ is our example, and we are to live our lives as He lived His life, tracing our lines over the lines that He made.  We have his pattern for our lives and we are instructed to follow Him, to live as He lived, to be Christ Jesus to the world.  That’s what it means to be a disciple.

Now then verse 5 is the preamble to this great doctrinal statement about Christ.  And so it should prompt us to ask,  who is Christ Jesus?  If we are to be like him, to follow his attitude and example, then we must know who He is.  And Paul gives us four pictures of Christ here in this passage;  that of a Sovereign, a Son, a Servant, and a Savior.  And we will look in detail at each one so that we might know what Christ’s attitude was that we might be able to copy it.

First of all, Christ is Sovereign.  Still in verse 5 we note that the usual order of Christ’s name is reversed.  Instead of the usual Jesus Christ, Paul turns it around to Christ Jesus, to emphasis the Messianic title of Christ.  This was the preferred order for Paul when referred to Jesus, because it emphasizes not the humanity of Christ, as the other apostles who had known Jesus as a man first, but the divine nature of the risen Christ, as Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus long after Jesus had risen from the dead and been exalted to heaven. 

The Messianic title of Christ was the Greek word for Messiah, who was foretold by the Old Testament prophets.  The One who was to come from the seed of David, a King that would sit forever on the throne and rule over the nations as promised to Abraham.  As Isaiah prophesied in Isa 9:6            “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.”

But who Paul presents to us here in verse 6 is so much more than merely a human sovereign, but a divine Sovereign.  Paul says in vs. 6, “who, although He existed in the form of God…”  Paul is establishing the deity of Jesus Christ.  That Jesus Christ is God, existing in the form or the nature or essential essence of God.  This principle is critical to Christianity.  You cannot be a Christian and not believe in the deity of Christ. 

In the first book of  John, the very first verse, the apostle John establishes the deity of Christ this way;  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  The same was in the beginning with God.  All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made which was made.”  I find it awesome that John uses the title, “the Word” to describe Jesus.  He goes onto say in verse 14 of the same chapter, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  It not only reveals the deity of Christ, but the paramount importance of the Word of God, existing in Spirit, in Soul, that is the mind of God articulated in word, and then becoming flesh.

Both the deity of Christ and Christ as the Word of God is presented in Hebrews chapter 1, the very first verse as well.  “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.  And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.”  So we see that Christ is the Word, He is the Creator, He is the Sovereign over all the world, the King of Glory.  In His very nature God. 

Then secondly, Paul presents Jesus as the Son.  Vs. 6; “who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

The word for “form” used in this verse is from the Greek word “morphe”.  We get words like metamorphosis from this root.  And we already looked at what it meant when Paul used it in vs. 6 in relation to God.  He possessed all the essential nature and essence of God.  He was in the form of God.   And then Paul uses the same word “morphe” to describe His incarnation.  “He took the form of a servant.”  It’s the same word. Paul juxtaposes the form of God with the form of a servant.   Christ emptied Himself of His rights and privileges and glory that was His as God, and took on the clothing of a servant.  He never stopped being God, to having the nature of God, but put on the clothing of humanity, to become a servant.  Christ was fully God, existing before creation with God, then laying aside His glory to become one of His creation, to become one of us, to become a servant. 

Verse 6 says, He “did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…”  that means that He did not regard that equality with God as something to hold onto.  He was willing to relinquish His glory, His privilege, the honor and homage that was due Him, to become a son of man. The Son of God became the Son of Man so that sons of men might become sons of God.

Look at verse 7: “Being made in the likeness of men.”  Vs. 8 says it another way, “being found in appearance as a man.”  He was still  fully God.  But the Word, John says, became flesh and dwelt among us.”  Yet “John 1:10 says, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.” 

What this means is that when Christ took on flesh and became man, He looked like a man.  He didn’t walk around with a halo over his head.  Other than at the transfiguration, He didn’t have a glow emanating from His person.  He looked just like an ordinary man.  Isaiah 52 tells us, that “He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.  He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”  He looked like a man.  He hurt like a man.  He cried like a man.  He grew tired like a man.  He sweated like a man.  He hungered like a man.  He grew thirsty like a man.  He was both son of man, and Son of God.  And we didn’t recognize Him as God.

Thirdly, He was a Servant.  And I think this characteristic of Christ is at the heart of the message that Paul is saying that we should have; an attitude of servitude. God has by his grace saved us from being condemned, cursed sons of men, to become Sons of God.  God has granted through his grace that we who were enslaved to sin might rule and reign with Christ as kings.  But all of that was made possible by the fact that Christ was willing to lay aside all His glory to become a servant.  And the attitude of a servant is what Paul is saying through the Holy Spirit that we also are to have now that we have been made sons of God.  This is our response to the sacrifice of Christ.  We become servants of Christ, by becoming servants of the body of Christ, the church.  This is the way we will bring about the unity of the church that Paul was speaking of earlier in this chapter. 

So Christ our example as a Servant.  Look at verse 7; He “emptied Himself.”  The KJV says it like this;  “He made himself of no reputation.” He came into the world in a way that people did not recognize him as God.  He did not come in the glory of the Almighty God, the Lord of all the heavens, the Creator of the universe.   He did not even come as even an earthly king, but he came as the lowest form of man; that of a slave.  “But emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

Nothing illustrates that attitude of servitude more than John 13:3; “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, so got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself.  Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.”  The disciples were all fighting and squabbling over who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus laid aside His garments, and washed his disciples feet. What a picture of humility.  Vs. 8 says, “He humbled Himself.” 

How this attitude is so lacking in the church today.  Our theology is so “Me” oriented.  God is little more than a Santa Claus type of genie that exists to make us happy and successful.  We’re like children at Christmas that are so fixated on what we are going to get.  And we don’t understand Christ’s words that it is better to give than to receive.  Christ gave up his throne in heaven for a stable on earth.  He gave up heavenly homage for earthly hatred.  He gave up the riches of heaven for the rejection of the world.  But Hebrews 12:2 says He was willing to do that for our sake, “who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” So we also need to consider the joy set before us, as we endure the hardship of taking up our cross and following Christ, so that one day we too might be welcomed into heaven and sit down on thrones with Christ.  Jesus emptied himself by taking to himself another posture, another personage, another position, that of a servant.

And fourthly, Christ is our Savior. Phil 2:8            “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” What was the point of the cross? 2Cor. 5:21 tells us that            “God made Him who knew no sin (that is Jesus) to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  Way back before creation, God decided to make a special race of creatures, made in His image.  We were made body, soul and spirit.  A triune being like our Father. Man’s body made him world conscious, able to live in a physical world. Man’s soul made him self conscious, aware that he was an individual with a particular personality, nature, responsibilities.   And Man’s spirit made him God conscious, aware that he needed to worship God and initially able to do so.  We had fellowship with God because we were without sin. 

But Satan in his jealous rage seduced Eve to sin against the Word of God, and eat of the fruit and give it to her husband.  And according to the law of God, man died spiritually because of His sin.  Sin entered the human race and death through sin.  When man’s spirit died, God’s order of creation was turned upside down and instead of being governed by the Spirit of God, we were governed by our bodies, the lusts and passions of our bodies ruled our minds which became depraved, selfish and self serving as described in Romans 1, leading to all sorts of depravity.  Man was sinful by nature, thereby sinful in practice and without hope of restoring our relationship with God.  Man’s sin broke our relationship with God who is holy. 

But God’s plan was for man to be reconciled to Him.  “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe on Him might be saved.”  Jesus came to earth to live the perfect life in perfect submission to the Father’s will that we could never live.  Jesus was man the way God always intended man to be.  And by faith in Christ, faith in His deity, faith in His sinlessness, faith that He was the Messiah, faith in His righteousness, faith in His atonement for our sins on the cross, we receive the righteousness of Christ.  “God made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”  That we might become as righteous as Christ.   This is the purpose of the cross, to reconcile us to God, that the order of human creation might be restored right side up.  That having been made holy, righteous by faith in Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit who gives life to our spirit again, (You must be born again.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit) and having been born again we are now Sons of God.  Yes, we’re still sons of men in the flesh, but thank God we are sons of God in the spirit.  And one day Christ will come back to take us home and He promised to remove this body of death and give us a new, glorified body to live forever as kings with God in His kingdom. 

But for now Paul is saying in vs. 5, we are to live like Jesus lived.  In appearance as just men.  Yet as Jesus our example living according to the Spirit of God who lives in us.  Our attitudes are to be ruled by the Holy Spirit.  Our actions are to be  ruled by the Holy Spirit.  Our language is to be ruled by the Holy Spirit.  Our wisdom is from the Holy Spirit.  Our discernment is through the Holy Spirit. Our emotions are under the control of the Holy Spirit.  Christ lives in us and through us. 

Our responsibility to God is to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. Phil. 3:7 says, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” 

Have you become conformed to His death ladies and gentlemen?  Have you considered all things that you once claimed as your reputation, have you claimed it as loss for the sake of knowing Jesus?  Have you emptied yourself, taking on the form of a servant even as Christ served the church and gave himself up for her?  Are you being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ?  Have you been transformed from a son of man to a son of God by faith in the righteousness of Jesus Christ?   

Vs. 11 tells us that one day, “at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”   In the days of the Roman empire when this was written the emperor of Rome, Caesar, was considered deity.  The law of the land was to worship Caesar as god.  They called him Savior and Lord.  He was the Savior of the people of nations that he conquered. He was the Lord of all the known civilized world.  Caesar’s word was absolute authority.  You obeyed the will of Caesar by threat of your life.   So in that day, it meant something to confess Jesus Christ as Lord.  I’m afraid in our culture, words like Lord and Savior have become so common that they have little meaning.  But in that day, one knew the consequences of confessing Jesus Christ is Lord.  It meant absolute obedience to the Sovereign of the universe.  It meant living in accordance to His will.  To forsaking all that living in the Roman world could offer, in exchange for all that the world to come in Christ would bring.  But though the times have changed, the confession has not.  Jesus Christ demands and deserves everything we are.  We are to be completely transformed in His image.  We are to live as He lived, serve as He served.  This is Christianity.  There isn’t any such thing as coming to Christ half way, but we need to follow him all the way, conforming to His death. 

If you’re here today and you don’t know Jesus as Savior, as Sovereign, then perhaps you never understood Jesus as a Servant.  He died for your sin so that you might be called Sons of God.  That you might receive the inheritance of a child of God.  And that inheritance is not a better life here on earth, but eternal life as a son of God, to sit on thrones with God for all eternity to rule and reign with Him.  I pray that you will surrender your life to him, to be conformed to his death on the cross that you might receive the righteousness of God and eternal life through His Spirit. 

attitude of gratitude

Philippians 2:1-5

As you know, we are continuing today in our ongoing study of Philippians.  And it’s rare that our scripture text coincides or fits with the theme of a holiday.  It just so happens that today it does, to a certain degree.  So in keeping with the Thanksgiving spirit, I have titled my message today, “having an attitude of gratitude.”

But more important than trying to preach a topical message about turkeys or pilgrims or giving thanks, I want to show today what the Bible says about the kind of attitude that marks a Christian response to salvation.  As I’ve said before recently, salvation is a two part message.  Unfortunately, we all want to stop at the first half.  The first half is the grace of God that leads to salvation, and then the second part is the response of the believer in sanctification.  The first half is learning that Christ became our sacrifice, and the second part is learning that we also are to become a living sacrifice to God.

So chapter 2 starts off with this word therefore, which we always prompts the question, what is it there for?  It references something that was said earlier.  And to answer that question we just need to look back at vs. 27 of the preceding chapter which says: “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.”

Now, I read you the whole preceding paragraph so that you could pick up on the word imagery that Paul is using.  His theme is unity, but with a particular emphasis.  The emphasis can be related for instance to an army on the field of battle.  He uses words like striving, and conflict, opponents, destruction to metaphorically give us a picture of a battle.  He’s talking about a unity that comes from a group of soldiers as they form a unit, bonded against their common enemy, and unified in their purpose.  He says, “Be of one mind.”  You’re in a conflict. Fight together in one spirit, one mind.

And then, starting in chapter 2, (and we have to remember that chapter designations are not in the original manuscripts, so there is not necessarily any break in this message, but rather a continuation) we have this exhortation in vs. 1-4 that not only in the battle, but also in the camp, or the fort, in the church, we are to have this unity among ourselves as well.  

What Paul is talking about is not outward unity, but inward unity in the church. There is a desire today for ecumenicalism at all costs.  But the Bible never teaches that.  The Bible says clearly in 2Cor. 6:14 “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.  "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.  And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.”

God never tells us to abandon doctrinal purity for the sake of ecumenical unity. 1Tim.  4:1 says that “the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.”  This is talking about false doctrine in the church.  They have strayed from the faith, they have strayed from the truth of God’s word, and they are adhering to doctrines that are spawned by demons, not by God, meant to deceive and destroy the flock.  So Jesus said I’m sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, and told us to be wise as serpents, yet as harmless as doves.   In other words, we don’t want to have unity with false doctrine, we want to stay away from people or churches or teachers that are adhering to false doctrine.

So if ecumenical unity is not what Paul is talking about, then what is he talking about?  Well, as I said earlier, he is talking about unity with one another in a local fellowship.  We strive together with the same purpose on the battlefield, and in the home camp, so to speak, or the church, we also need to be unified.  Now what does that mean?

He’s not talking about people that are externally connected by denominational membership, but internally connected.  If you put a bunch of marbles in the same bag, then you may have a certain unity.  But that which binds them together is the container.  It’s something external that holds them.   If the bag is torn open, the marbles are scattered because there is nothing intrinsic to hold them together.

But if you take a bunch of steel nails and put them in a bag, and you also put in a large magnet, if the bag is torn all the nails stay together.  Because they have an inward pull towards the magnet that is stronger than the forces of gravity.

 And that's how the church is to be, it is not a collection of marbles in the same bag, it is people who are drawn together because they're all magnetized by the same force, which is the power of Jesus Christ. That's the internal unity of the church. We are pulled to each other because we are drawn to each other by the power within us, which is Christ.

In 1 Corinthians 12 the church is illustrated as a body.  And it says there are different parts to the body, each of them having different purposes.  But all the parts are under the control of the head, which is Christ.  In fact, they have no purpose, no life at all, without being attached to the rest of the body.  A hand cannot live by itself and it has no purpose or function by itself. It depends upon the rest of the body for life and for control and for purpose.

So individually as members of a local body, the church, a fellowship of believers, we are to function in conjunction with the rest of the body under the headship, the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  This is why we were made a new creation.  This is the purpose of the church.  This is the sanctification part, the second part of our salvation.  And Paul is saying that this unity is essential for our well being, for our survival, and for our effectiveness as a body of believers in the ministry of the gospel. The church has to have this unity to be effective for Christ.

Now the opposite of unity would be everyone going their own way.  Everyone doing their own thing.  Disunity is marked by a selfish pursuit of self gratification.  An army is routed when one soldier says, “I’ve had enough of this, I’m going to save myself,” and deserts his post, and runs away from his duty.  He may be afraid of the sacrifice that he is called upon to make, and he says, “Forget this, I’m going to take care of myself.  I’m going to look after my own interests.”  And that attitude can and does become contagious.  You see people on one side and then the other abandoning their post, abandoning their commitments, and you’re more inclined to throw in the towel as well.  And before you know it, the whole group, the whole church is in a rout.  Soon everyone is off doing their own thing.

Folks, we weren’t saved for that.  We weren’t saved to be given a get out of jail card and then we can go do our own thing whenever we want, or whenever the conflict starts to be a drain on us, or whenever we feel like we aren’t getting everything out of life that we think we deserve or need.  We are called to participate in the conflict. 1Cor. 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

 And then Paul follows the word “therefore” with a series of phrases starting with the word “if”.  Most good commentators and Greek scholars agree that the word “if” would be better interpreted as since or because.  The word was correctly interpreted “if”, but the way it was used in the original Greek did not imply some sort of ambivalence, but rather a certainty that something was so.  And in our English language, we unfortunately only have one way of presenting “if”, and that is to present a questionable alternative.  That is not what Paul means here.  What he is saying is “since” or “because”.

So it’s as if Paul presents a four point summary of our position in vs. 1 and then in vs. 2, he presents the conclusion to each point.  Therefore since there is any encouragement in Christ, since there is any consolation of love, since there is any fellowship of the Spirit, since any affection and compassion… And then in verse 2 the response, point by point, “make my joy complete”, and here are the responses, “by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”

Now here is what Paul is saying in these two verses.  He is saying that in order for us to have unity with each other, we first of all have to have unity with Jesus Christ.  A good example of unity is a godly marriage. The verse I quoted while ago in 2 Cor. 6:14 about being bound together with unbelievers can also be a good verse for people who are contemplating marriage.  And the Bible tells us there and other places  that we should not be bound with an unbeliever in marriage.  The reason is, is that for a believer, the Lord of all their actions, the controlling guide of their lives, is in the headship of Jesus Christ.  And you can’t be joined to two heads.  When you are married you become one flesh.  When I counsel people about marriage, I always say that your loyalty and allegiance has to be first and foremost to God.  And if each person in the relationship is living for God first, then the relationship between each other will be in agreement.  But if one person is living for themselves, and the other is trying to live for God, then there won’t be unity, there will be disharmony. And in the church, if we are right with God first and foremost, then our gratitude for what He has done for us should result in an attitude of love for one another, resulting in a sincere desire to serve one another in humility as unto the Lord.

And that is what Paul is saying here.  As individual members of the body of Christ, we must all first of all be in conformity to Christ.  We must have the right relationship with Christ.  Look at Vs. 1. You’re a believer?  Then since you  have encouragement in Christ.  Encouragement by the way is from the Greek word “paraklēsis.”  It means to come alongside of someone to help them.  Jesus Christ has come alongside us to help us.  Before Christ we were helpless in our sinful state, with no way to reach God or appease Him.  So Christ became our Paraklete.  Our helper.  To make it possible by His substitutionary death to be reconciled to God.

And notice what Paul says our response is to be to that encouragement in verse 2.  We are to be of the same mind with one another in the church as Christ is to us.  What this means is best understood in reference to Christ being our encouragement.  Christ has become out helper, coming alongside us, so much so that He has planted His Spirit in us, to be our Helper. John 16:7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”  So where is the Helper working? In our minds, teaching us, encouraging us, strengthening us.  And Paul says in vs. 2 that in the church, we are to be of the same mind, to come alongside others in the church, being their paraklete, their helper, strengthening them, encouraging them, teaching them.

Secondly, since you are a believer, then you will have vs. 1, the “consolation of love.”  We know the height, the depth, the extent of God’s love to us that never fails, is always faithful.  So then our response to that love is in verse 2; in the church our response is maintaining the same love.  The same love that Christ had for us, the love that brought us to Christ, that love we can depend on no matter what the circumstances or how far we fell  or how bad we stumble, we are to maintain that same love for each other in the church.  As Christ loved the church so much that He laid down His life for her, then so should we respond in gratitude by laying down our lives for the church.  No one is going to ask you to commit hari kari on the altar.  But Romans 12: 1 does say that we are to become living sacrifices, offering to God lives to Him that are holy and acceptable, our reasonable service.  We should be thinking of others more highly than we think of ourselves.  You may be free to go here or there or go on vacation or go fishing or go surfing or whatever, but you ought to be thinking first of your brothers and sisters who are in the trenches and your love for them should cause you to override your selfish considerations, for the sake of putting others first.  (Illustration of Uriah, one of David’s mighty 30)

Third, since you’re a believer, you experience the fellowship of the Spirit.  Vs. 1 Fellowship is from the Greek word “koininea”.  It can also mean communion.  It means sharing.  The Holy Spirit, the Bible says communes with us, praying for us to the Father with groanings too deep for words.   That isn’t talking about speaking in tongues ladies and gentlemen.  That is a reference to groaning with us, weeping with us, suffering with us when words can’t describe what we’re feeling - the Holy Spirit feels and shares in our emotions with us.   And in verse 2, we see our response of gratitude, to respond to the church body by being united in spirit.

Now this phrase “united in spirit”  is made up of two words syn (together with) and psychos (soul, self, inner life, or the seat of the feelings, desires, affections). So the word refers to being 'united in spirit' or harmonious.  And a perfect illustration of that is that the church is  like members of a symphony orchestra.  We all play different instruments, but we are all tuned to the same key.  We all are following the same conductor.  We’re tuned to the same key:  the Word of God.  We are following the commands of the Maestro, our conductor Jesus Christ .

Fourthly, since you’re a believer, you know the compassion of Christ, the affections of Christ.  If you have a KJV Bible, you probably read it as “bowels and mercies”.  And if there was ever a good example of an old English rendering needing to be updated, this would be a good one.  I shudder to think what some people have done with that verse.  But bowels is the original meaning of the word.  In that day, the bowels, or the intestines and organs, were considered the seat or the origins of the emotions.  Today we might say, I love you with all my heart, and everyone knows that we’re not talking about our actual heart muscle, but our emotions, and will, and motives.  Back in Paul’s day, a young man might tell a young lady that he loved her with all of his bowel’s.  It meant the same thing as heart then, but unfortunately it doesn’t translate well in our culture.  Today if you said that your girlfriend would probably ask you if you needed a tissue.

So it means, compassion, affection.  But I think it goes even deeper than that, to our motives, our purposes.  We love them with a true love.  Sometimes we say, with every fiber of our being.  Maybe that’s it.  We’re not holding anything back.  We’re not being coy, or being facetious.  It’s a genuine, non-hypocritical love.  And that is what Paul says in verse 2 that our response should be as well.

Look at the last phrase of vs. 2, our response of gratitude should be “intent on one purpose.”  Intent on one purpose.  And what is that purpose?  Vs. 3; Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”  This is genuine agape love.  This is the mark of a true Christian, a true follower of Christ.  Not just saying I love Jesus, but living out the love of Jesus to the church, to the other members of the local body of Christ.  

This is the second greatest commandment.  The first is love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind.  The second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.  Love your fellow church member the way you used to selfishly love yourself.  Let me tell you something folks, love, real agape love, real marriage love, real love for your children,  real love requires sacrifice.  It requires putting others ahead of yourself.  Putting others needs ahead of your own needs.  Love requires sacrifice.  But if you really love that person, you don’t mind that sacrifice so much do you?  You joyfully sacrifice for your kids because you love them.  A young man joyfully sacrifices and saves for his fiancé because he loves her.  A wife joyfully sacrifices and takes care of her husband or family because she loves them.  And in the church, we joyfully sacrifice for the needs of others because we love Christ.  And when we act out our love for Christ , then we find that we are acting in love for the church.

This week we celebrate Thanksgiving.  And as Christians we have a lot to be thankful for.  We are thankful for Christ’s encouragement, for Christ’s love, we are thankful for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, we are thankful for Christ’s compassion and affections for us.  But how do we show that thankfulness?  By cooking a turkey and eating so much we just about pop?  By just giving thanks?

I believe Paul is saying here that an attitude of thankfulness should produce an attitude of gratitude.  And that gratitude results in a desire to be obedient to the One who sacrificed everything for us, that we might become the sons and daughters of God.  Our attitude should be like that of Christ Jesus, vs. 5, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, being made in the likeness of men.”

Jesus is our example.  He is our pattern.  And Jesus says to us, if any man wishes to follow Me, let him take up his cross.  The Christian life is not about self fulfillment or self gratification.  The Christian life is about self sacrifice.  But Paul says there is true joy in living a life of sacrifice.  Joy isn’t found in our circumstances, but in the inner peace and joy that God gives to those that love Him and are willing to give themselves up for Him. Phil. 2:17 “But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.”

conduct of the church

Philippians 1:27- 30

Well, as I prepared today’s message this week, like many of you I’m sure, I was still affected to some degree over the recent presidential election.  And I think that in many ways today’s passage is a response to that despondency that many Christians felt in the aftermath.  I spoke about this somewhat last Wednesday night and I’ll briefly repeat the gist of my introduction to that lesson in 1 Timothy  again this morning.  And the main point that I made last Wednesday was that while I am frustrated, I am not surprised by the outcome of the election.

However, my frustration is not with the liberals, or the homosexual community, or the abortion rights activists, or any of the other special interests groups that helped reelect this president.  My frustration is with the church.  According to some data I saw the other day, 78% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians.  And yet we have an election which is basically a referendum on abortion rights, homosexual marriage, legalizing marijuana, and legalizing certain forms of gambling, and all the above win the day.  Obviously the results show that the Christian community, the church, has become corrupted by the culture, rather than winning the culture.

Jesus said in Mat 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”  The church is supposed to be the salt, the preservative, against the corruption that is in the world.  But instead, we have become so much like the culture, we have accepted so much of the world’s corruption into the church, that we are no longer salty.  We are just part of the corruption.  It has infiltrated the church.

For instance, homosexuality is now being debated whether or not it is a sin.  It’s being treated like something less than sinful.  And once you cross that line of taking something that God calls evil and you call it good, then there is a hard heartedness that follows that will not be forgiven.  Because forgiveness only  comes after repentance.  And where there is no repentance then there is no forgiveness. If homosexuality is not a sin, then the next step is to put it in the pulpit.  And in many mainline denominations across America that has already happened.

As a church we have stopped calling sin, sin.  We have grown cold.  We have lost our saltiness.  We are no longer the light to a dark world.  Our light has gone out in the church in America.  Jesus warned the seven churches in Revelation that if they did not repent and do the works that they did at first, He would remove their lampstand out of their place.  One of those churches was the church at Ephesus.  The very church Timothy was the pastor of.  And sure enough, a few years later Timothy was martyred, and within another century the church at Ephesus was history.

I believe the church in America has lost it’s saltiness.  And it is about ready to be thrown out and trampled under foot.  If something doesn’t change, God is going to remove our lampstand.  We didn’t exist 400 years ago, and we won’t be here much longer if we continue down this path.  We have lost our way, we have strayed from the truth.  We have replaced the absolute authority of God’s word with a watered down secular relativism that has damned the church and robbed our country of it’s moral compass.

The Old Testament counterpart to the church is the nation of Israel.  There are many, many corollaries and parallels between Israel and the church.  They were the nation of God, we are the kingdom of God.  They were God’s chosen people, we are chosen to become sons and daughters of God.  In the OT temple, Christ dwelled in the Holy of Holies.  In the NT Temple, Christ dwells in us, that we might be holy.  In the OT, the priests offered gifts and sacrifices, in the NT we are priests offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God.

But when the nation of Israel turned back to pagan gods and pagan practices, God sent prophet after prophet to warn them to turn back to God.  Instead, they hardened their hearts. God called them a stiff necked people and warned them that if they did not repent that he would send a nation to war against them and take away their lands, slaughter their armies, and take them into captivity.  Eventually that happened.  And though the judgment of God seems severe, God said it was actually for their salvation, that a remnant might be saved.  That they might turn back to the worship of the one true God and his law. By the time Christ appeared on the scene, there were only two tribes, Benjamin and Judah, left out of the original 12.  And even then most of them rejected their Messiah and so the gospel was given to the Gentiles.

Now 2000 years later I believe that today the church is in a similar place as the nation of Israel was in the days of the minor prophets.  The false prophets are going around proclaiming peace and safety and prosperity for the children of God.  That nothing bad is going to happen, that God doesn’t really care about sin and God has nothing but blessings in store for us.  And the few prophets like myself that are warning of God’s impending judgment, are ridiculed and scorned, and our message is rejected.  People don’t want to hear the truth, and they certainly don’t want to repent from all the pleasures that they enjoy in the world.  But I believe the church is living like Lot in the midst of Sodom and Gomorra and God’s judgment is inevitable.  And the Bible teaches that judgment will begin with the house of God.

Now as Paul writes to the church in Philippi it is important to understand the similarities between the Roman Empire of Paul’s day and our present day.  Philippi was a Roman colony.  It operated as a microcosm of Roman culture and society.  They worshipped many gods.  They were immoral.  They had every immoral sin in practice that we have today.  The citizens had a dependence upon the bread and circuses that were used by the emperors to curry favor from the masses. They prided themselves on belonging to the most powerful, influential empire in the world.  Rome was very comparable to America today in many ways.

But Paul’s message to the church at Philippi is a reminder that they are not citizens of Rome, but citizens of heaven.  And Paul’s message to us today is to remind us that our hope is in heaven and not in the kingdoms of this world. The word Paul uses in verse 27 is interpreted conduct in the NASB, or conversation in the KJV.  But it has as it’s root in the Greek the word polis, from which we get the word political, a city state, a free state.  You might recognize it in the word metropolis.  And he is using this word to say that they are to conduct themselves in a manner that would be proper behavior for a citizen. And he's not talking about a citizen of earth, he's talking about a citizen of heaven, a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Phil. 3:20 “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”  A good example of that kind of citizen is Abraham. Hebrews 11:9 “By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” They were strangers and exiles on the earth. They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

Paul says I want your life, I want your behavior as a church, as a Christian community in a pagan culture, to be worthy of the gospel that you believe and the gospel that you proclaim. In Phil. 2:15 “so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.” You are to conduct yourselves in a worthy way.

Now how does a citizen of heaven conduct himself? Follow verse 27, "In a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ."  In other words, consistent with what we know, consistent with what we teach, consistent with what we preach, consistent with what we believe. That is the integrity of the church.  We have to practice what we preach, and what we preach is the transforming power of the gospel of salvation.  That is the issue in the church today. The church is impotent to have any affect on society, because the church has lost it’s integrity.

When he mentions the gospel of Christ here, what he refers to is the good news of salvation, the good news of eternal life which God has sent into the world, that men can be saved from sin unto holiness. And the church has to live that out, our lives evidence that we have been delivered from darkness to light, from death to life, from sin to righteousness.  As I said last Wednesday night, only half of the gospel story is being taught today at best.  IF they even tell you about salvation in most churches they leave out the second half of salvation.   And the second half is vital.  For instance, when we studied Romans, we learned in the first half of Christ’s sacrifice for us.  But in the second half we learned that we were to become a sacrifice for Christ.  But most of the church today stops at the first half.  We are more than happy to accept God’s grace, but unwilling to sacrifice anything in response.  We have the mentality that we can come to Christ just as we are and stay just as we are.  We don’t have to sacrifice anything for Christ.  But that’s not the truth of the gospel is that salvation and sanctification are inseparable in real Christianity.

Paul said in Romans 12: 1,   “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Salvation results in a transformation.  And that transformation we call sanctification.  That is when we allow the Holy Spirit to live through us as Christ would live, becoming a light to a dark world.  But our self centeredness is keeping us from the life of sanctification that God requires. Hebrews 12:14  talks about “the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”  We are to be transformed.

And then Paul adds, "So that whether I come to see you or remain absent, I may hear about you."  This reminds me of  a definition of character that I heard once.  It said character is defined by what you do when no one is looking.  Not whether you can get away with it or not, whether or not you think anyone cares, but doing right, doing it as unto the Lord, regardless.  Because whether you realize it or not, someone is always looking.  For one, God is watching.  And Hebrews says in 12:1, “since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, [the saints who have gone on before us] let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Now what are the characteristics of a church that is acting worthy of the gospel? How am I understand it? Paul gives us four characteristics of a church that is conducting itself worthy of the gospel:  they are standing, sharing, striving and suffering.

First of all, a church that is behaving itself is standing, verse 27, "I want to hear of you that you are standing firm.” The Greek word is used to refer to a soldier who will not budge from his post, that you will be at your post and not move...no compromise with error, no compromise with sin, an unyielding testimony for the Word of God and the Christ of God. Stand firm, don't move doctrinally, don't move in terms of conduct from where you are to stand.  Don’t abandon your post in defense of the gospel.  Don’t stray from the truth of the word.  Don’t move to the left or right in response to the culture in regards to doctrine.  And stand firm in your personal life, your life of holiness, set apart for a sacrificial life to God.  Satan will try to ruin you doctrinally, try to ruin you financially, try to ruin you in terms of sexual purity, in terms of sobriety, whatever way he can undermine or destroy your testimony.  Stand firm.  Having done everything, stand firm.

A second word that Paul brings up is implied in the next section, that's the word sharing. In our standing firm there must be a sharing.  So he says, "I want to hear that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind."  God calls individuals to salvation, but he wants to bind individuals together into a unit called the church.  A single soldier can be overrun at his post, but a battalion of soldiers can hold the fort. And the church is the weapon he has formed that will prevail over Satan.  Christ said to Peter, “Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”   God wants us to work together in this battle.  You might think you can worship God sitting on your surfboard, or sitting on your fishing boat, or laying out on the beach and you don’t need anyone else.  But God defines worship as service.  And our service is done together through fellowship and serving one another as unto the Lord.  Eccl. 4:12 says, “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”  We need each other, and God needs us to work with each other to be effective.

But the only way to unity is through purity.  That’s why Paul’s order here is so important.  You never sacrifice doctrinal purity for the sake of unity.  God devised the body of Christ to have many parts, and many functions. But for the body of Christ to function properly, they all have to be under the headship of Jesus Christ.  An example is an orchestra.  The only way to have unity in an orchestra, is if everyone is tuned to the same key. And the only key to unity is being conformed to Jesus Christ and His gospel.  I cannot have unity with those that do not hold to the truth of the gospel of salvation just for the purpose of getting along.

Thirdly, Paul says, the purpose of this unity is not just to get along but to “strive together for the faith of the gospel." The term he uses here is synathleō. We get the word "athletics" from it, athlete. It means to struggle along with someone. It's talking about team sports. To struggle along with someone as a team of athletes battling against the opposition to win the victory.   So the church is to operate in community to defend the gospel.  To contend for the faith. Jude1:3 “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.  For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” We need each other to fight the battle.

And the last word, suffering. What does he say? Expect it. If a church is doing what it ought to it won't be easy. It has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe in Him but also to suffer for His sake, it is a gift of grace. He uses the word granted here related to charis; grace, God has chosen you not only for salvation, He's chosen you for suffering and He's chosen you to experience, Paul says, the very same conflict which you saw in me. You saw it when I was at Philippi, Acts 16, and you now hear about it in me here in Rome. It goes with the territory...suffering.

But unfortunately suffering is a foreign concept to evangelical thinking today.  Rather than prophesying suffering, these false prophets are prophesying prosperity and blessing. Jeremiah 14:14  “Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets are prophesying falsehood in My name. I have neither sent them nor commanded them nor spoken to them; they are prophesying to you a false vision, divination, futility and the deception of their own minds.”  Why do they preach this message?  Because it is what people want to hear.  It may be the popular message and it may be what builds congregations, but it’s not from God.

No, Paul says in Phil. 3:10 that  when we are tuned to Jesus Christ, then it is going to mean that we are going to participate in “the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

Listen, the only way that the church is going to be really relevant as salt and light in this culture, is when we can say with Paul in Gal.  2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”  That means we are willing to give up our lives for Christ, even as He gave Himself up for us.  And when our families see us living like that, as men and women who don’t just claim to be followers of Christ but actually do follow the example of Christ, when our neighbors and coworkers see us living like that, then the world will be drawn to our testimony rather than repelled by it.  When our walk matches our talk.

If we live like that, we can expect some suffering to go along with it.  It happened to Paul, it happened to Christ, and we should expect it to happen to us.  But if it results in the furtherance of the gospel, if it results in the furtherance of the kingdom, if it results in the furtherance of Christ’s church, then we should say with Paul, bring it on!   For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  Everything I once counted as gain in this world, I now count as loss for the sake of knowing Jesus Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

This is the triumph of the church.  This is the victory of the church.  Not to see a conservative politician in the White House for a few more years, though that might be nice.  Not to see some laws overturned in this country, though that might be nice.  But to see men’s and women’s hearts changed by the power of the gospel.  To see men and women transformed from citizens of the kingdom of darkness into citizens of the kingdom of heaven.  That is the purpose of this church that Christ has built upon the rock of the gospel, and this church the gates of hell will not overpower.