the book of Philippians only has four little chapters,
and today we finish chapter one, about a quarter of the book.
I have to admit, this is a favorite for me, this little book.
What a joy it's been to just to watch God do what he does,
you know, take his living, active word
and let it cut our hearts day after day, week after week.
So I'm very encouraged once again today
by seeing your faces, seeing us back here together
under God's word and the time in Sunday school
and now to study his word together.
So I'm gonna read our sermon text for today.
It's Philippians chapter one, verses 27 through 30.
And I read this believing it's God's inspired,
inerrant, infallible, clear and sufficient word.
It's God's very own word for you.
When I'm done reading, I'll say,
this is the word of the Lord.
If you believe that, you can respond.
Thanks be to God.
Philippians 1, 27.
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ,
so that whether I come and see you or am absent,
I may hear of your affairs,
that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind,
striving together for the faith of the gospel.
And not in any way terrified by your adversaries,
which is to them a proof of perdition,
but to you of salvation and that from God.
Verse 29.
For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ,
not only to believe in him,
but also to suffer for his sake,
having the same conflict which you saw in me,
and now here is in me.
The word of the Lord.
You may be seated.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of the Lord stands forever.
Let's pray.
God, we ask that your Holy Spirit
will illumine your word to your people today.
We praise you for this active, ongoing ministry
of the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of Christ,
the living God,
who dwells in your people,
who breathed out every word of the Bible,
and who now in a special way,
mysteriously,
illumines the meaning
in a way that builds up,
that edifies your body
for your glory and for our good.
You are so faithful, Lord.
We ask that by your grace,
you'll do this once again,
out of love for your people.
For Christ's sake we ask.
Amen.
If you'll let your imagination
travel with me to World War I,
there's a soldier in the trench,
bullets flying above his head.
He's tired.
He's hungry.
I don't know how many more days
I can go on like this,
seeing people getting picked off
to the right and to the left.
And in that trench,
he ducks down one more time,
pulls out the letter
from his family,
and just reads those words
one more time,
holds the letter back up,
puts it in his pocket,
pops up,
and he has strength
to keep on in the fight.
Not because he hates
what's in front of him,
but because he loves
who he's fighting to defend.
Well, Paul is one such warrior.
And if you caught it,
that very last verse,
verse 30,
he says,
you church now,
about 10 years later,
after Acts 16,
about 10 years later,
you church,
you're in that same conflict
which you saw in me.
When you saw me get arrested,
thrown in prison,
being persecuted
for the name of Christ,
you're in that now.
So I think this last little section
of the first chapter
is an overflow of Paul's prayers
for the church,
and he's understanding
what's really going on.
Look back in Philippians 1,
starting at verse 3.
You remember how the first verses,
from about verse 3 to verse 11,
is how he's praying.
He's been praying for them,
interceding on behalf of the church.
And just think for a moment,
what is prayer?
Prayer is when the Holy Spirit
is uniting you on earth.
Here you are.
I've left you on the earth,
but you're united spiritually
to Christ,
who's at the right hand
of God the Father Almighty.
And from there,
he's going to come
with the host of angel army
and all the saints
to usher in the eternal state,
the new heavens and the new earth.
But in prayer,
you're still in the earth,
and you're praying.
You're united to Christ.
And what is Christ doing
at the right hand of the Father
right now?
He lives to intercede
for his people.
So out of that overflow
of Paul's prayers,
his union to Christ,
praying for the church,
joining his prayers
to what Christ is praying,
he gives these exhortations.
I think that's what
these verses are.
So what did Christ
teach Paul
through prayer in heaven?
Well, he's giving him
battle language.
Verse 27,
stand fast.
That's battle language.
Keep striving together.
You'll see in a moment
how that's battle language.
He says,
do not be in any way
terrified
by your adversaries.
Why would you be terrified
unless you're in a battle
taking shots?
Verse 29,
you are suffering.
You have the same conflict
as I had
when I was with you
and as what I'm in right now.
This is similar
as to what
Christ gave
to the church
in Ephesus,
which was
Ephesians 6, 11,
put on
the whole armor
of God
that you may be able
to stand
against
the schemes
of the devil.
So here's the church
at war,
the church militant.
Beloved congregation
of our Lord Jesus Christ,
I want to
give you this same strength.
I want to pass it on to you.
I think these verses
are strength
for gospel-gripped
soldiers.
These verses
are strength
for you and me
as part of the church
today as well.
I don't always do this
and it wasn't even
on purpose
until I got done.
I realized
there are five B's here.
So I looked up
really quickly
this morning,
what does vitamin B
even do in us?
And it helps your nerves.
Well, that's fitting.
He says,
don't be frightened
in any way.
It gives you energy
and it makes
your immune system
strong
so you can keep going.
So here are five
doses
of vitamin B
for the church.
Number one,
be citizens.
Be citizens.
And this is so,
so beautiful
of the gospel.
It's an exhortation
for you to do something.
What is it you have to do?
You have to be a citizen.
It's something God does
to you.
He makes you a citizen.
So number one,
live out
who you truly are
no matter who's watching.
Be a citizen.
Live out
who you truly are
no matter who's watching.
Look at verse 27.
It says,
only let your conduct
be worthy
of the gospel of Christ
so that whether
I come to see you
or am absent,
I may hear
of your affairs
that you stand fast.
Philippi,
it had belonged
to Macedon
and it had been named
after Philip II
who was the father
of Alexander the Great.
So it's got this
rich Greek history
and now it's called
Little Rome.
It had been built back up
by the Romans.
But it was a city
much like
Vanity Fair
and Pilgrim's Progress,
much like Denver.
Every distortion
known to mankind
of a good desire
that God gave
is available
and it's calling
for your attention,
your time,
your energy,
your money.
And the exhortation
is be a different
kind of citizen
within Philippi.
Be a different
kind of citizen
within Denver,
within the USA.
the Christian Standard
Bible translates
that phrase
as citizens of heaven.
That's what he's getting at.
As believers
who were called out
of the world
into Christ
but left in the world.
Be that.
That's who you truly are.
Be a gospel colony,
so to speak.
The church is a gospel colony.
And that command,
let your conduct
be worthy of.
Six words.
But in Greek
it's just one word.
I don't need to say
what it is in Greek.
You need to know
that the root
of that one word
in Greek
is polis.
Polis.
Like a city-state
in the ancient world
that belongs
to an empire
or a kingdom.
So if you belong
to a city-state,
you know the laws,
you know the manners,
the values,
the customs,
the traditions
of this city
or this kingdom
to which you belong.
And in the ancient world
to belong
and to truly be a citizen,
that was the best thing
you had going
for your life.
It really defined you.
And Paul says,
you be a gospel citizen.
You be a citizen
of heaven.
This collective mentality
of all of us together,
we are known
by what we value,
by the laws we hold to,
by our customs.
It rallies the troops
and it incites action.
It's such an ironic twist
because in Acts 16.21,
and Acts 16 is the whole chapter
about how this church
got started,
read these words,
Acts 16.21.
Paul and his company
were arrested
because,
quote,
they teach customs
that are not lawful
for us,
being Romans,
to receive or observe.
This was the opposition
that Paul
and his team
of missionaries
received.
They were disrupting
the order
of this Roman city.
And now he's using it
as an encouragement,
as strength
for the church
within the city.
I love how the King James
puts it.
So we say,
you or ye,
what's the difference
in that old English?
Well, ye is plural.
So it says,
be ye being.
That would be the word
for word translation.
Be all of you together
collectively,
being citizens.
It's in the second person,
passive.
Again,
it's an exhortation,
but it's passive.
God is the one
who makes you a citizen.
You are the one
who keeps being
what he made you.
He's reminding them
of who they are.
You all,
saints of the church
at Philippi,
with elders and deacons,
that's his audience.
That's who he's been
talking to.
Be,
being,
citizens,
whose loyalty belongs
not to Caesar,
but to Christ,
not to Rome,
but to heaven,
whose eyes are set
not on the troubles
of this world,
but on the joy
of the next.
Be,
being,
that.
That's who you are.
And he wants them
to do this
because it's who they are,
not for man's approval.
That simple statement,
whether I come to see you
or am absent.
Well, here's this little battalion,
this little congregation,
an outpost of the kingdom
of heaven.
Wouldn't it be wonderful
if they could see Paul,
you know,
one of the great commanders
under Christ,
calling them,
rallying them up,
sending them to fight.
Wouldn't that be encouraging?
Paul says,
you're doing this for Christ.
Whether I'm with you
to see it or not,
don't do it for me.
But that's who you are.
Keep being who God made you.
Here's why I think
this is God-breathed
strength for you and me
also,
for the church.
We are to live out
who we truly are,
no matter who's watching.
To be a gospel-gripped soldier
means we keep being
who God made us to be,
no matter who's watching.
What comes to mind
with an illustration for this
is there was this story,
I never got to meet them,
but there's a brother and sister
from a tribe in Africa.
And they had the opportunity
because they were of a high class,
educated class in Africa
and they came to college
in the USA.
And I was still hearing stories
about them from this old couple,
like grandparents,
that opened their home
for college students
who wanted to pray
for missionaries.
And they described these
wonderful,
beautiful people
as just conducting
themselves differently,
not even in a spiritual sense,
just how they carried themselves,
how they walked
with their shoulders back,
their heads held high,
the courtesy they showed
and how they,
you know,
served one another
and helped.
And they told me later
that they were humble about this,
but they came to find out
in getting to know them,
their father was considered
a prince of this tribe.
They were noble,
noble,
you know,
royalty.
And so they acted
like a prince and a princess,
even though they're in America,
totally different culture.
That's who they are,
that's how they were,
were born into
and that's how they wanted
to live
and conduct themselves
no matter where they were,
whether or not
their royal father and mother
were watching them.
Isn't that a beautiful picture
for us as Christians
who Christ has left
in the world?
We are royalty.
Our father is the king of kings.
We belong to him.
And he's saying,
be being who you are.
In English,
we can put it that way,
though it's different.
It's let your conduct
be worthy of the gospel.
You are gospel citizens.
Live this way.
When you're gospel gripped,
your conduct does not depend
on man's observation.
The reason we read
John 17 earlier
as part of our liturgy
is because what I hear here
are these echoes.
John 17 is Christ's
high priestly prayer,
his prayer for the church.
And when we're told
he's praying now
at the right hand of God,
the Father Almighty,
that's a little picture
into how Christ prays
for his church.
And listen to the similarity
of how Christ prays
in John 17, 9
with these first words
of our sermon text today.
Jesus said,
I do not pray for the world,
but for those
whom you have given me,
for they are yours.
There is a people
in the world
that belong to God
that are separated
for him.
All mine are yours,
and yours are mine,
and I am glorified
in them.
It's the reputation,
the name of God,
the glory of Christ
that's being revealed
through his gospel colony,
his people,
the church.
So number one,
be citizens.
Live out who you truly are
no matter who's watching.
Number two,
be one.
Be one.
From the harmony
of your shared faith,
fight aggressively
as one soldier.
Be one.
From the harmony
of your shared faith,
fight aggressively
as one soldier.
I really believe
that's the picture.
Verse 27,
he says,
you stand fast,
he says,
in one spirit,
with one mind,
striving together
for the faith
of the gospel.
We can infer here
there's a challenge
against this little
congregation in Philippi.
Potential disunity
or division
within the body.
In Paul's tactical mind,
this would be
a spiritual loss.
Sinclair Ferguson,
who has so much experience
with churches
and laboring toward churches
to be biblical
and healthy
and thriving,
he made this observation
with this passage in mind.
It continues to be an issue
where personal agendas
creep in
and ends up costing
the church
an incredible
and unhealthy amount
of energy
that could have otherwise
been spent
on advancement.
And so he says,
stand fast
in one spirit
with one mind
striving together
for the faith
of the gospel.
That phrase,
striving together,
it's in the plural,
present active,
meaning all of you together
continuously
working at this
right now.
Do it.
Advancing the cause.
Labor toward the goal.
Striving together.
It's most often used
in secular literature
for competing.
Like in the Greek Olympics,
striving together
toward the prize.
I don't know what image
you have of the Apostle Paul,
but through him,
through the personality
and the background
God gave him
and through all of his travels
around the Roman Empire,
he loves these images
from the Roman world.
Racing,
boxing,
wrestling matches.
In 1 Corinthians 9.26,
he says,
I don't shadow box.
I'm here beating my body.
I'm not just a guy,
you know,
theorizing about theology.
I'm in the MMA.
I've taken black eyes.
I lost a tooth,
you know.
My leg,
I walk with a limp.
He's in it.
He's in the fight.
And he says,
you church,
strive together.
One mind.
One spirit.
Like one soldier
aggressively fighting
this spiritual battle.
What does it look like
to do that?
To aggressively
go to battle
as a church?
I think we have
a wonderful example
in a man named Epaphras.
In the letter
to the Colossians
by the inspiration
of the Spirit,
Colossians 4.12,
we read this.
Epaphras,
who is one of you,
a servant of Jesus Christ,
he is always striving
or struggling
on your behalf
in his prayers.
That you may stand
mature
and fully assured
in all the will
of God.
He uses that same phrase,
striving for you,
to describe Epaphras
praying,
interceding.
So if you know someone
who prays on behalf
of others aggressively,
you know a true
prayer warrior.
And he says,
do this together,
at the same place,
at the same time,
in concert.
So interwoven
should your prayers
be fighting
for the advancement
of the kingdom
that it's like
a singular prayer.
Do this together,
one spirit,
one mind.
I think this gets
at the same description
of the early church,
Acts 4, 32.
Now the multitude
of those who were
believing were of
one heart
and one soul.
See, the way that God
started the early church,
Acts 4,
the pouring out
of the Spirit,
the same thing continues
now from city
to city
to city.
Decades pass,
and God is still
working in the same way.
So it's possible,
no,
it's biblical,
and to be expected
that we as a church
would be able
to be described
that same way,
so full of the Holy Spirit,
that His mind,
the mind of Christ
is working its way
into all of us,
and to the extent
that we share
the mind of Christ,
we are sharing one mind.
To the extent
that we are praying together
for the advancement
of God's kingdom
and doing those simple,
ordinary things
He's told us to do,
we are such a church as well.
We're fighting aggressively
as if we were just
one soldier.
What about the phrase
for the faith
of the gospel?
I think in this meaning here
it's a singular article,
so the faith
of the gospel.
This means
like what Jude said
in Jude 1, 3,
contend for the faith
that was once for all
delivered to the saints.
It's the body of teaching
about Christ,
it's the faith
that we received
from Christ
through the apostles
breathed out
into the New Testament.
Contend for this truth.
Contend for the doctrines
about God
and salvation in Christ
alone
by grace
through faith in Him.
2 Thessalonians 2, 15
gives a similar instruction.
He says,
stand firm
and hold to the traditions
that you were taught by us,
either by our spoken word
or by our letter.
So we're not holding on
to these Jewish traditions
or traditions of man,
but we're holding on
to what has been handed down
within the church.
That's why it's very appropriate
for a congregation
now, 2024,
to still read
the Apostles' Creed,
the Nicene Creed,
from our confessions
and we share
this rich heritage
that's been handed down
through the church
and preserved
by the Holy Spirit.
Ferguson again commented,
any distortion
to the faith handed down
will result in failure
to live as citizens of heaven.
You see the connection
between the two.
You distort the doctrine,
you're going to mess up
the way people live.
Any distortion
to the faith handed down
will result in failure
to live as citizens of heaven.
Our Lord Jesus prayed
in John 17, 11,
Now I am no longer
in the world,
but these are in the world.
I come to you,
Holy Father,
and keep through your name
those whom you have given me
that they may be one
as we are one.
Jesus prays for the Father
by the work of the Spirit
to keep his church,
preserve them,
and may they be one,
sharing in the unity
of God himself.
Well, the second command
is to be one
from the harmony
of your shared faith.
Fight aggressively
as one soldier.
Do you have this shared faith?
Do you follow this same Christ?
There's no room
to sit on the sidelines.
Jesus says,
either you're for me,
or you're for the enemy.
If you're not following Christ,
if you're taking a wait and see,
let's see how this all turns out,
there will be no hope
for you in the end.
You follow Christ.
You join his army.
You serve him now.
You don't know
what tomorrow holds for you.
This is the hour, he says.
Today is the day
to follow Jesus.
Don't put it off to tomorrow.
Your flesh wants to have
other excuses.
This is the day
to make your allegiance
to Jesus,
the King of Kings,
certain.
Walter Gentry,
he made a connection
with this command
to strive together
with the church
to an old fable,
Aesop's fable,
probably would have been
familiar to this church
in Philippi as well.
There was a battle
in this fable
between the beasts
and the birds.
Each one had issues
against the other.
Those who were prey of one
were angry at the predators
of the other.
And so they go to war,
the beasts versus the birds.
Well, there were the bats
who fly like a bird,
but they're mammals,
like beasts.
And they didn't pick a side
in the battle.
Whoever was winning
a little bit,
they would drift over
and stay close to that side.
Well, finally,
when the battle was over
and they're deciding
who gets which land,
they had to decide
what do we do
with the bats?
And no one wanted
the bats on their side
because they're not loyal.
They don't pick a side.
They don't fight for either.
So bats were relegated
to the caves.
The moral of this story is
if you're a Christian,
you can't be a bat.
I love how Charles Spurges
pointed out,
every man must serve somebody.
We have no choice
as to that fact.
Those who have no master
are slaves to themselves.
Depend on it.
You will either serve Satan
or Christ,
either self or the Savior.
You will find sin,
self, Satan,
and the world
to be hard masters.
But if you wear
the crest of Christ,
you will find him
so meek
and lowly of heart
that you will find rest
for your souls.
Wear the crest of Christ.
Fight in his army.
And from the harmony
of our shared faith,
we fight aggressively
in a spiritual sense
as one soldier.
Number three,
be unrattled.
Be unrattled.
Paul tells the church next
that to suffer opposition
is proof you are advancing together.
Be unrattled.
To suffer opposition
is proof
that you are advancing together.
Verse 28 reads,
Not in any way,
a double negative there,
not in any way
terrified
by your adversaries,
which is to them
a proof of perdition,
but to you of salvation
and that from God.
Christians in the ancient world,
much like today,
were suspicious.
The world would look at them
and say,
Those people are weird.
You don't want to be like that.
They were considered odd
by the Roman masses,
which made them
an easy target.
There was one thing
that had happened.
It's that
when Paul got converted
in the first decade
or so of his ministry,
Caesar Augustus
was the emperor
of the Roman Empire.
But after the church
in Philippi was planted,
there was a change in power
and Nero came in.
And under Nero,
the persecution
ramped up extremely.
And Christians,
especially in Rome,
who were considered
odd and weird outcasts,
many were arrested,
burned at the stake,
thrown to the wild beasts
or to the gladiators
for show,
desperate attempts
to keep a momentum
going within the Roman Empire,
and others were crucified.
So,
in Philippi,
there's an implied need
that there's opposition,
not only threats
of division
from the inside,
but true adversaries
coming at the church
from the outside as well.
And Paul doubles down on it.
He says,
never in no way
be affrightened.
The words there,
it's don't be affrightened
by your adversaries,
but the word by is under.
Don't be ever in any way
thinking you are under
these adversaries.
These ones who are opposing you
are not above you.
Don't be afraid.
And the word afraid
is often used to describe
a horse when it startles.
So if you're going on a path
and there's a rattlesnake,
the horse will rear up,
buck you off.
It'll get rattled.
But a horse that's
on a military campaign
that's charging forward
and advancing the cause,
it has to be a horse
that's well broken in
that won't be rattled.
It's going to keep putting
one foot in front of the other.
It will not flinch
in the face of opposition
and adversaries.
He says,
be like that Calvary.
You're advancing together.
Don't rear up
and freak out.
Don't get paralyzed
by fear.
No matter how intense it gets,
never stop
charging forward.
When you think of
trembling with fear
in the context
of this church in Philippi,
there's one person
who probably comes
to mind for you.
That's exactly how
the Philippian jailer
was described.
Do you remember that?
The Philippian jailer,
he trembled with fear
in Acts 16
and he fell down
on the ground.
He was ready
to take his own life.
That same word,
affrightened.
And God takes people
like that,
so afraid
of losing their career
and their life,
but he says,
no,
tremble in the fear of God
and believe.
What must I do
to be saved?
That's the only thing
he needed to know now.
And this is good news
for people like you and me
because anyone
who has trembled
in the fear of God
never needs to tremble
out of fear of man again.
When you are opposed
for Christ,
Paul says,
this is proof.
It's a testing fire.
Your suffering
is a sign
of perdition
for the enemies,
that they will be destroyed,
but for you
of your salvation.
That word sign
or proof,
it can be translated
as it's really
a token
or an omen
of their destruction
and living proof
for you
that you will live.
In other words,
a token
or a sign like this,
it's to take
all of the available evidence,
line it all up
on the table,
then arrange it
in a logical order
and come to
a conclusion.
That's a proof.
So he says,
look at this church,
what's happening.
You're advancing.
Christ is praying for you.
I'm praying for you.
You are striving together.
Keep doing that.
And yes,
you're facing opposition.
Let that be proof
that the kingdom of Christ
is advancing
and will not fail.
And if the kingdom
of Christ
is advancing,
you can know
that the Father
will make all
of the enemies
of Christ
crumble
under his feet.
They will be destroyed
and you will be
victorious
with Christ.
your foes
will fail
for sure.
King Jesus prayed
in John 17, 14,
I have given them
your word.
The world
has hated them
because they are
not of this world
just as I am
not of the world.
And I do not pray
that you should take them
out of the world,
but you should keep them
from the evil one.
for they are not
of the world
just as I am
not of the world.
And when your gospel
grips like that
Philippian jailer,
like every true believer,
then you learn
to practice your faith
without the fear
of man.
You don't need
to ever be rattled again
if you're a Christian.
And when we do
face opposition
and most likely
in our lifetimes
we'll feel more
and more of this
ratcheting up,
we need to remind ourselves
you're going to need
to remind me
this is proof
that the kingdom
of God
is advancing.
Well, the fourth
dose of vitamin B
for today
is be kept.
Be unrattled
and now be kept.
It is God
who has gripped you
and he will hold you
by his gospel.
Be kept.
It is God
who has gripped you
and he will hold you
by his gospel.
You can lose
the thread
of the theology.
Why is Paul
anchoring all of
these exhortations?
It's exactly this.
In verse 27
he says
you're going to live
in a manner
worthy of the gospel.
It's the gospel
that defines you.
In verse 28
he reminds them
salvation
is from God.
Don't forget
that church.
In verse 29
he says
for to you
it has been granted
on behalf
of Christ.
It's for Christ's sake
that you're saved.
And it was granted
for you
to believe.
The implied need
here for this church
in Philippi
is that
through the opposition
and the hardships
like us
they can ask
those questions.
If my suffering
continues to be
this hard
will I be able
to keep going?
Maybe I never
belonged
to Christ
in the first place.
Maybe God
started this work
in me
but I don't know
if I can finish it.
That's what's
so common
for a flesh
to ask
and that's what
he's been answering
so far in chapter 1.
Christ started this
he will finish it.
And he gives him
the strength
in verse 28
he says
your salvation
is from God.
It was God
who granted
for you to believe
in the first place.
Verse 29
God gives you faith
to receive the gospel
on behalf
of Christ.
You believe
for Christ's sake.
He confirms this
to the church
in Rome as well.
Romans 5
2
Through him
Jesus Christ
we have also
obtained access
by faith
to this grace
in which we stand.
Be citizens.
He who made you
a citizen
will keep you
as a citizen.
See the Roman
citizenship
could be bought
but it was much
better if
you didn't have
to go buy it
or work for it.
If you could simply
have it granted
to you.
And that's the word
he uses.
Your faith
has been granted
to you.
You belong
because God
gave it
as a gift.
Remember in Acts
22-28
the centurion
said with a large
sum I obtained
this citizenship
to be a Roman
and Paul says
but I was born
a citizen.
It was granted
to me.
So God
is the one
who will keep you.
Be kept
church.
Remind yourself
of this.
Well there's that
little boat
in the ocean
being tossed
with big waves.
Even the grown-ups
are afraid
perhaps.
But there's a dad
standing
his feet are
shoulder width
apart
holding the
three-year-old.
the three-year-old
is holding
on to that
dad's neck
as tight
as he can.
But the dad
is holding
on even
tighter.
See we
hold on to
Christ but
it's Christ
who keeps
us.
King Jesus
prayed in
verse 12
of chapter 17
of John.
He said
I kept
them in
your name.
Those who
you gave
me I
have kept
and not
one of
them is
lost.
So church
you too
be kept.
when your
gospel
gripped
you grow
in your
assurance
of salvation
and this
is proof
of his
faithfulness
to you.
Well the
fifth and
final dose
of vitamin
B for us
today is
be
compassionate.
Be
compassionate.
Keep
receiving
Christ
and suffering
upon him
together.
Be
compassionate.
Keep
receiving
Christ
and suffering
upon him
together.
Verse 29
reads
it has been
granted on
behalf of
Christ
for you to
suffer for
his sake.
Verse 30
having the
same conflict
which you
saw in me
and now
here is
in me.
It has
been granted
on behalf
of Christ.
That word
granted could
be translated
graced.
It has been
graced to
you to
believe and
it has been
graced to
you to
suffer.
The word
suffer could
be word
for word
translated as
be
emotioning.
The root
is
like the
passion.
So
compassionate
means to
suffer with.
Be
compassionate.
Keep
suffering
with
Christ.
The
implied need
for Christians
who are
suffering
is to
question
the goodness
of God.
Why did
King Jesus
call me to
him and
to his
church
just to
suffer?
It's so
hard.
Is he a
good king?
Well in
verse 29
and 30
Paul says
that you
believe in
him and
you suffer
for him.
and the
preposition
for could
be upon.
You
suffer
upon
him.
So as
you're going
through a
suffering Christ
is right
there under
you sustaining
you carrying
you through.
That's how much
you are suffering
together with
him.
It says it's
been graciously
given to
you.
Exceedingly
with you
for the
sake of
Christ
to suffer
together.
Jesus warned
every disciple
Matthew 10
39
whoever finds
his life
will lose
it and
whoever loses
his life
for my
sake will
find it.
In John
17 18
he prayed
as you
sent me
into the
world
I have
also sent
them
into the
world.
So to
be a
Christian
is to
lose
your life
for living
for yourself
but to
find eternal
life
living in
Christ.
And just
as Christ
came on a
mission to
lay down
his life
for the
sake of
others and
for his
kingdom
to be a
Christian is
to lay
down your
life and
follow Christ
following him
as he advances
his kingdom
even through
suffering.
We have so
much encouragement
in all the
New Testament
that the
Christian church
is a
suffering
church and
God doesn't
waste a
drop of
suffering.
I won't
read these
for today
but I
want to
encourage you
God does
at least
three things
every time
we're going
through seasons
of suffering.
Number one
as you
suffer King
Jesus
refines you
1 Peter 6
and 7
describing the
suffering like
being tested
by fire
to purify
and refine
number two
King Jesus
comforts you
2 Corinthians
1 5
do you
suffer in
Christ
well you
can know
for certain
you will
be comforted
in Christ
to be
comforted
by Christ
himself
is worth
any
suffering
and number
three King
Jesus
enables you
and I
to rejoice
1 Peter 4
12 through
18
that same
letter
see the
suffering
starts and
it feels
like a
refiner's
fire
but on
the far
side of
that
is joy
and rejoicing
you know
Christ on
such a
deeper
level
the
illustration
for me
to sum
up this
last point
of being
compassionate
keep receiving
Christ and
suffering upon
him for his
kingdom together
and summarizing
the theme of
the sermon
of a soldier
aggressively
advancing
the cause
it came
to my mind
about Uriah
I was thinking
about how
you know
David
a man who
God used
so mightily
and through
the line
of David
would come
the great
king
Jesus
but at
the end
of David's
life
he's an
anti-hero
and instead
we have
this foil
this contrast
which is
Uriah
the Hittite
David has
power
Uriah
is a man
under orders
David stays
back in the
palace
Uriah
is on the
battlefield
the front
lines
David takes
what's not
his
Uriah
restrains
himself
from taking
what is
his
when his
nation
was at
war
and his
fellow
soldiers
were in
battle
and David
called him
back to try
to entrap
him
you remember
how Uriah
actually slept
on the hard
floor in the
steps outside
of his
home
and he said
how can I
be enjoying
inside the
comfort and
being with
my wife
when the
army of
God
is fighting
and even
when his
adversary
in this
case
David
intended
evil
Uriah
obeyed
those
orders
went to
those
front
lines
and
fought
to his
death
he suffered
and Uriah
the Hittite
died
as a
citizen
of heaven
so in
this
example
Uriah
is a
shadow
of Christ
he did
not take
the
privileges
that he
was
entitled
for
but for
the sake
of his
mission
for your
life
for your
soul
for eternity
Jesus
Christ
fought for
you to
the very
end
he showed
the greatest
restraint
and he's
victorious
in his
battle
he crushed
the serpent's
head
and he
will come
back
for his
own
when
your
gospel
gripped
you
suffer
with
King
Jesus
with
his
people
in
Christ's
name
Charles
had in
Spurgeon's
last sermon
right before
he died
his last
little paragraph
his last
point reads
like this
King
Jesus
is the
most
magnanimous
of captains
magnanimous
means
great
hearted
there
never
was
his
like
among
the
choices
of
princes
he
is
always
to be
found
in
the
thickest
part
of
the
battle
when
the
wind
blows
cold
he
always
takes
the
bleak
side
of
the
hill
the
heaviest
end
of
the
cross
lies
ever
on
his
shoulders
if
he
bids
us
carry
a
burden
he
carries
it
also
his
service
is
life
peace
joy
I'll
add
my
testimony
to
Spurgeon's
in
40
years
I
know
Christ
to be
nothing
but
love
is that
true
for
you
can
you
say
amen
follow
Jesus
he's
good
Spurgeon
wrote
God
help
you
to
enlist
under
the
banner
of
Jesus
even
this
day
King
Jesus
has
gripped
you
by
his
gospel
Christian
you
follow
as
his
soldier
and
he
promises
he
will
always
be
your
strength
glory
be
to
God
let's
spend
some
moments
in
prayer
responding
to
the
word
that
you've
heard
today
to
pray
maybe