SPEAKER_01: Hear the word of the Lord, Philippians 1:27 through 30.
SPEAKER_01: Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
SPEAKER_01: This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of our salvation, and that from God.
SPEAKER_01: For it has been granted to you that for Christ, for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.
SPEAKER_01: Engaged in the same conflict that you saw ahead, and now hear that I still have.
SPEAKER_01: This is the word of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, church.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray over the word this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Father God, thank you for the opportunity, the privilege we have to gather and open your word.
SPEAKER_00: I pray for Robert this morning for clarity of mind, uh, for boldness to speak the truth that you've given him.
SPEAKER_00: To speak this morning to those to this prompting of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray as we open your word this morning, we will see our brother Paul as he encourages us and challenges us to be obedient to the manner of the calling of the gospel that we uh humbly received and that we uh uh admit that we did nothing uh to receive that gospel, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: But I pray that through the through the uh calling this morning, we'd be obedient and then maybe spark encouraging uh encouragement and and obedience from other brothers and sisters as they see we walk uh in a manner worthy of the calling of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: I pray for open ears and soft hearts this morning, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In your name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, brothers.
SPEAKER_02: You guys can be seated.
SPEAKER_02: If you haven't already done so, let me invite you to open your copy of scripture to Philippians chapter one.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna be finishing up, Lord willing, chapter one, this morning, as as Bobby read for us.
SPEAKER_02: We're in verses 27 through 30.
SPEAKER_02: And I this isn't in my notes, but I was thinking about this, and my wife mentioned this as we were singing that last song.
SPEAKER_02: Like, you don't even need to preach, just sing that song, right?
SPEAKER_02: Just sing that song.
SPEAKER_02: It's beautiful and so true to what we see in the text this morning.
SPEAKER_02: As we begin, I I want to pose some questions for you, and you can either jot your answers down on the piece of paper.
SPEAKER_02: At the very least, I would encourage you to put them in your mind.
SPEAKER_02: Questions like, Who are you?
SPEAKER_02: Who are you?
SPEAKER_02: How would you define yourself?
SPEAKER_02: How would people around you define you?
SPEAKER_02: Are you a lone ranger in your faith?
SPEAKER_02: What does church membership look like in your life?
SPEAKER_02: And perhaps the most important question and the one that is most pertinent to our sermon text this morning, does the testimony of your life match the gospel proclamation of your lips?
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if you have noticed, if you were here last week and then this week, or if you've just read through Philippians 1, there's pretty significant shift of language that takes place in verse 27.
SPEAKER_02: Paul shifts to say, watch your conduct and be on guard about your character, of your character.
SPEAKER_02: See, the main thrust of what we see in verses 27 through 30 is Paul exhorting the Philippians to live in a manner that communicates the gospel is worthy.
SPEAKER_02: And he's doing that from two standpoints, and we can't miss this.
SPEAKER_02: He is doing that to them and towards them, both individually and corporately.
SPEAKER_02: So you are to live in this way as a follower of Jesus, and you're to live this way together as the church.
SPEAKER_02: So we're going to see that later on as we work our way through the text.
SPEAKER_02: He's challenging them to ensure that their lives and the testimony of their personal lives and the church at Philippi is the beauty of the gospel, and that they should do that together.
SPEAKER_02: It's absolutely essential that the character of the church and the character of followers of Jesus, individual Christians, matches their message.
SPEAKER_02: That doesn't mean that we are to be perfect and without any hiccups or sin, because we all know that is impossible in this life.
SPEAKER_02: But it does mean that the overall character of our lives and testimony of our actions should point people to the glory and the beauty of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: And may I say this?
SPEAKER_02: Like Paul is saying this to the church at Philippi some 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_02: Christians and the church still face the very same challenges that they faced 2,000 years ago.
SPEAKER_02: Otherwise, Paul wouldn't be saying this to them, right?
SPEAKER_02: So it's so beautiful to read this and know he is writing this not to us, but to the church at Philippi.
SPEAKER_02: But the application is very similar because our tendencies are the same as was the brothers and sisters in Philippi.
SPEAKER_02: And Paul gives what I believe to be three broad evidences.
SPEAKER_02: So he challenges them and he gives them three broad evidences of a life worthy of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: And with within each one, uh have I sent Michael, I believe it's going to be on the screen.
SPEAKER_02: Within each one, he within each of the three broad categories, there's some specific distinctions between living a life worthy of the gospel and and not living a life worthy of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: I started this week to go systematically through each of the three main points and then also through each of the subpoints, and I just ran out of word count and we were going to be here for like two hours.
SPEAKER_02: So I decided not to go systematically through each of the subpoints, but they're going to be on the screen for your benefit and for your convenience.
SPEAKER_02: So what we're going to see, verse 27, faithful labor, verse 28, fearless obedience, and verse 29 and 30 is fervent suffering.
SPEAKER_02: Let's begin by looking at faithful labor.
SPEAKER_02: There's so much packed into these three verses.
SPEAKER_02: I found myself wanting to press pause and say, hey, let's make this three different sermons.
SPEAKER_02: And then as I dug into it more, you could have three sermons on verse 27 alone.
SPEAKER_02: So there's so much rich truth in here.
SPEAKER_02: You might remember from our uh time thus far in Philippians that Paul loved the people in Philippi.
SPEAKER_02: He loved the church, he had deep affection for the church.
SPEAKER_02: He talked about the church being on his mind, having this desire to be with them.
SPEAKER_02: He prayed for them, he loved the Philippians.
SPEAKER_02: And in verse 27, which is where we see the main thrust of today's sermon text, he reminds them that they are to live their lives in a way that gives testimony, testimony to the beauty of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Anyone remember Matthew 7, right?
SPEAKER_02: The narrow path and the wide path.
SPEAKER_02: In essence, he's saying, You are to live your life in a way that gives testimony that you are walking down the narrow path.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: I'm married to a beautiful woman.
SPEAKER_02: I say that all the time.
SPEAKER_02: I say that to her.
SPEAKER_02: I say that to my little girl.
SPEAKER_02: I'll say, Hey, beautiful, good morning.
SPEAKER_02: She's over there smiling, melting my heart.
SPEAKER_02: Hey, beautiful, good morning, beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: I say that all the time.
SPEAKER_02: I would venture to say that many of us say that to our kids or to our spouses.
SPEAKER_02: We describe people in that way.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we see things with our eyes.
SPEAKER_02: We're like, man, that is a beautiful picture.
SPEAKER_02: That is a beautiful sunset, right?
SPEAKER_02: That is the beauty of God's glory in what I see in creation.
SPEAKER_02: We say that often.
SPEAKER_02: Do we say that about the gospel?
SPEAKER_02: Do we say use that same descriptor about the gospel?
SPEAKER_02: Further, and this is probably a harder one to answer.
SPEAKER_02: Do we live in a manner that communicates the beauty of the gospel?
SPEAKER_02: So not only do we say that it is beautiful, do we live in a way that communicates that it is beautiful?
SPEAKER_02: A life worthy of the gospel of Christ is what we see in the text.
SPEAKER_02: A life worthy of the gospel of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: That is a life that treasures Christ above all.
SPEAKER_02: A life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ is a life being lived out that treasures Christ above all else.
SPEAKER_02: We know that Jesus Christ, the Son, I say this and I have to remind myself to slow down and not speed up because I say it so often and we can hear it and grow callous to it.
SPEAKER_02: But the impact of it is beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to this earth when he didn't have to.
SPEAKER_02: And he died a death that we couldn't die because he provided atonement for our sins.
SPEAKER_02: We couldn't provide atonement for our own sins, but he could provide it for us.
SPEAKER_02: He rose three days later.
SPEAKER_02: He ascended into heaven and he is sitting at the right hand of the Father right now, interceding for you and I.
SPEAKER_02: And we get so used to that that, oh, here we go.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the gospel again.
SPEAKER_02: He says that every week, or they say that all the time.
SPEAKER_02: Here we go.
SPEAKER_02: It is beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: I don't care how many times we hear it, it shouldn't lose its impact because it is gorgeous.
SPEAKER_02: It is beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: And a life that treasures Christ is a life that communicates that that message that I just said is infinitely beautiful.
SPEAKER_02: Without getting into the specifics of the Greek language, verse 27, there's a statement, manner of life, right?
SPEAKER_02: Manner of life, it should make us think about, again, without getting into all the specifics of the original language, it should make us think about this word citizenship, right?
SPEAKER_02: Live as citizens, right?
SPEAKER_02: Live as citizens worthy of the gospel of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Live as citizens of heaven, not earth.
SPEAKER_02: And that's not just some flippant thing to be tossed around.
SPEAKER_02: The only capacity and reason we have or ability we have to live as citizens of heaven is because of the benefit and privilege of the cross.
SPEAKER_02: That's the only way.
SPEAKER_02: Living as citizens of heaven doesn't mean what so many people think it means, right?
SPEAKER_02: It's not that we have this arrogance or ignorance on earth, or that we look at other people who don't have that as being less than us because they don't have what we have.
SPEAKER_02: From a biblical standpoint, it means that we live as sojourners.
SPEAKER_02: You guys have probably heard me use that word before.
SPEAKER_02: We live as sojourners here because we're not permanent citizens here.
SPEAKER_02: Our permanent citizenship is not here, it's in heaven.
SPEAKER_02: I am a post, right?
SPEAKER_02: You can make all kinds of jokes: fence post, post office, whatever you want to make.
SPEAKER_02: Ashley's maiden name is Brown.
SPEAKER_02: She didn't say Ashley Brown Post because she didn't want to be called a Brown Post all the time, right?
SPEAKER_02: I am a post.
SPEAKER_02: I'm a native Tennessee and I'm currently a Mississippian.
SPEAKER_02: I am an American, but praise God, I'm heavens first.
SPEAKER_02: Praise God, I'm I'm not a Mississippian first.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not an American first.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not a post first.
SPEAKER_02: I am heavens first.
SPEAKER_02: You see, if we live as citizens here first, we are not living a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: The treasure of the gospel most primarily is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: That is what we are to treasure.
SPEAKER_02: And if we treasure something more than that, we are not living a life worthy of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Which begs us to ask the question what in our lives or in your life do you treasure more than Christ?
SPEAKER_02: That can be a hard question to answer.
SPEAKER_02: What do you treasure more than Christ?
SPEAKER_02: We are called to treasure Christ above all.
SPEAKER_02: But do we do that?
SPEAKER_02: He goes on to say that we are to stand firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for for the faith.
SPEAKER_02: One spirit, one mind side by side.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't unity for the sake of unity.
SPEAKER_02: We toss that unity a word around a lot.
SPEAKER_02: And I think sometimes it just gets confused with uh being nice to everybody and oh yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_02: Let's let me smile at that person, they'll smile back at me, and we're in unity.
SPEAKER_02: We're we're good.
SPEAKER_02: No, this is not that type of unity.
SPEAKER_02: One spirit, one mind, side by side.
SPEAKER_02: This is unity that is rooted in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: I read one commentator say it this way, and I love the way he phrased it.
SPEAKER_02: We are more like magnets than marbles.
SPEAKER_02: Our unity is internal, it is spiritual, it's not external.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: We're more like magnets than marbles.
SPEAKER_02: This is a funny story that I think expresses this truth.
SPEAKER_02: This past summer we were traveling back to Tennessee and we had gone into some fast food restaurant that my kids wanted to go to, but I certainly didn't want to go to.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not a big fast food fan, but we went into this fast food restaurant.
SPEAKER_02: Marcus, all the kids had ordered their food.
SPEAKER_02: Marcus had already gotten his.
SPEAKER_02: I hugged him.
SPEAKER_02: I'm talking to him for a minute.
SPEAKER_02: He's we're talking back and forth.
SPEAKER_02: He's like, all right, Dad, can I go back to the car?
SPEAKER_02: So I it will, I the car was running, so I didn't send my kid to a hot car.
SPEAKER_02: Let me just clarify.
SPEAKER_02: So I was like, yeah, son, you can go back to the car.
SPEAKER_02: So we walked out.
SPEAKER_02: I could see the car from inside.
SPEAKER_02: So I also just didn't send him outside by himself.
SPEAKER_02: Just making sure you guys know that.
SPEAKER_02: There was a lady who can't, I noticed that her and her family just kept looking at me.
SPEAKER_02: And I was like, Man, that's that's not uncommon, right?
SPEAKER_02: For for our family sometimes, that's not uncommon.
SPEAKER_02: And when I was hugging Marcus and talking to him, she just was looking, like, what's going on over there?
SPEAKER_02: After Marcus walked out and I saw him get in the car, I heard a hey hun, hey honey, honey.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like looking around, like, you talking to me?
SPEAKER_02: Hey, sir.
SPEAKER_02: And I finally walked over the table and I was like, Yes, yes, ma'am.
SPEAKER_02: And she said, Was that boy your baby?
SPEAKER_02: I said, Yes, ma'am, that boy is my baby.
SPEAKER_02: That boy is my baby.
SPEAKER_02: And her reply, and I love this.
SPEAKER_02: I could tell that baby looks just like you.
SPEAKER_02: So sweet.
SPEAKER_02: And of course, uh, tell my story in the car with Marcus, and I can see him in the background, like in the mirror.
SPEAKER_02: And he, as soon as I'm in the middle of the story, and he, as soon as I say looks just like you, I can see this little grin come like this mischievous grin.
SPEAKER_02: You're if you're a parent, you know what I'm talking about, just smiling back at me.
SPEAKER_02: And I said, I told him the whole story, and he like waited for me to stop talking in a polite way, like he always does.
SPEAKER_02: And he said, Daddy, you must have been looking real good today.
SPEAKER_02: But what a beautiful, uh silly and it's a beautiful picture, right, on this earth.
SPEAKER_02: But what a beautiful picture of what we see in verse 27.
SPEAKER_02: Marcus is my son without a doubt, and I'll go into that all the time.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not ashamed of that, and I'll fight for that.
SPEAKER_02: But what is even more unifying than the fact that he is my little boy is that he is my brother in Christ.
SPEAKER_02: He is my brother in Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And our unity as co-laborers for the gospel isn't some worldly reality of something that we have in common.
SPEAKER_02: We all like the same sports teams.
SPEAKER_02: We all like the same color, we all like the same colored chairs, we all like the same types of lights, we all look like the same looking building.
SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
SPEAKER_02: That's not what unity is.
SPEAKER_02: Our unity is that we stand firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the same gospel.
SPEAKER_02: That is what unity is.
SPEAKER_02: I've said this before.
SPEAKER_02: We should have more in common with a brother or sister in Christ that lives 7,000 miles from us, that speaks a different language, that comes from a different culture, that has different parents, than we do with some people in our own family who are not followers of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: That is the reality of biblical unity.
SPEAKER_02: One spirit, one mind, side by side, striving for the same gospel.
SPEAKER_02: There is no greater unity than that.
SPEAKER_02: Period.
SPEAKER_02: Nothing is greater than that.
SPEAKER_02: We are in this together, not alone.
SPEAKER_02: And Paul is exhorting the Philippine, Philippians saying, Hey, you are standing side by side and you are standing firm on the only true gospel that exists.
SPEAKER_02: But sometimes we see the Great Commission in the Christian life as something that is individualistic when in reality it's corporate.
SPEAKER_02: It's corporate in nature, it's not individual individualistic.
SPEAKER_02: And in the same way, in verse 27, we also see, in addition to citizenship, we see him point to athletics and to military by emphasizing standing with one another.
SPEAKER_02: In other words, we as a church, we can seek the same direction.
SPEAKER_02: Listen, because this can be complicated if I don't word it right.
SPEAKER_02: We can seek the same direction with one another, excuse me, with one another, but not do it together.
SPEAKER_02: We can seek the same direction with one another, but not do it together.
SPEAKER_02: It would be like a basketball team.
SPEAKER_02: You have five players on the court, they're all seeking to score points for the team, but they're not working together to get it done.
SPEAKER_02: You see the difference?
SPEAKER_02: There is a difference than striving for the same goal and striving for the same goal, standing side by side together.
SPEAKER_02: Something I hit all I think about often is about getting hit by a bus.
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: If I get hit by a bus and I'm gone tomorrow, if the other brothers that are elders here who are faithfully called to shepherd you, if you guys as a church lose your direction, then I was a pretty terrible shepherd.
SPEAKER_02: I was building something on me, and that's not what I'm called to do.
SPEAKER_02: I'm called to stand firm with one another for the sake of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Paul is emphasizing in these verses.
SPEAKER_02: This is one of the beautiful things I I love about these four verses.
SPEAKER_02: Paul is saying, Hey, Philippians, as much as I have been helpful for you, you don't need me.
SPEAKER_02: You need the gospel and you need to do it together.
SPEAKER_02: You need the gospel, not Paul.
SPEAKER_02: He's saying, labor together, labor together, work together for the same purpose.
SPEAKER_02: And that purpose is what we see in the text for the faith of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: See, striving side by side for faith of the gospel is to say this: your goals are my goals, your treasure is my treasure, and that treasure is Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And whatever we do, whatever we need to do together to help one another strive towards Christ and to help reach the nations together, we will do it.
SPEAKER_02: Whatever it is, pain and suffering, bring it on.
SPEAKER_02: Giving up everything for the cause of Christ, bring it on.
SPEAKER_02: Show me where to sign up.
SPEAKER_02: Where is the dotted line?
SPEAKER_02: Unity is more than agreeing, it is the willingness to lay down your life for your fellow believer as you strive in unity for the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Which brings us to verse 28.
SPEAKER_02: Fearless obedience.
SPEAKER_02: Notice the statement in the text.
SPEAKER_02: It says, not frightened in anything by your opponents.
SPEAKER_02: Sit with that for a second.
SPEAKER_02: Not frightened by anything.
SPEAKER_02: Paul was in prison, right?
SPEAKER_02: Which puts a different perspective and a different level of emphasis on those words.
SPEAKER_02: Not frightened in anything by your opponents.
SPEAKER_02: Further, it also gives us some kind of inclination that Paul, obviously, Paul said this with reason, right?
SPEAKER_02: He said it with reason, which means the Philippian church had to have faced something, right?
SPEAKER_02: We don't know the specifics of what that is.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe multiple things that they were facing that were instilling fear.
SPEAKER_02: I'm sure the fact that the person who shared the gospel with them that planted the church being in prison instilled some sort of fear, but they were going through something that instilled fear, had the potential to instill fear.
SPEAKER_02: And whatever it was that was causing the fear or had the potential to cause the fear, he is saying push through with courageous persistence and not cowardice.
SPEAKER_02: Push through.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know about you guys, but often maybe I don't need to admit this from a platform, but I'm gonna do it anyways.
SPEAKER_02: But often the easy thing to do in in life, even even in our walk with Christ, in our labor for the gospel, is to simply say, you know what?
SPEAKER_02: What the heck with this?
SPEAKER_02: The heck with it.
SPEAKER_02: I'm out.
SPEAKER_02: I'm so tired.
SPEAKER_02: This is getting really old.
SPEAKER_02: I am tired of being tired.
SPEAKER_02: Can I get an amen to that, right?
SPEAKER_02: I am tired of being tired.
SPEAKER_02: I am tired of having to constantly battle.
SPEAKER_02: I am done.
SPEAKER_02: But brothers and sisters, don't miss this in the text.
SPEAKER_02: Your courageous persistence in those moments, in the face of the difficulty, in the face of the impossible, the things that should instill fear is a sign from God, according to verse 28.
SPEAKER_02: It's a sign from God.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_02: Your persistence in the gospel, in the impossible, highlights for the watching world, right?
SPEAKER_02: The lost coworker, the lost family member, the lost friend, the lost loved one, that they are destined for destruction because they lack the same saving faith that you have.
SPEAKER_02: Further, the courageous persistence of a believer highlights the eternal damnation of a lost person while at the same time, and this is the further part, while at the same time communicates the saving pace, saving faith of a saved person.
SPEAKER_02: But this can be so hard.
SPEAKER_02: And I I understand, and here's why.
SPEAKER_02: We have this perception that, man, if I'm faithful, if I endure, if I do all the things that I'm supposed to do, if I'm obedient to the commands that I see in God's word, if if I persist, then things should get easier.
SPEAKER_02: They should get easier.
SPEAKER_02: Conflict should subside.
SPEAKER_02: As though we are guaranteed an ease to life that includes the absence of difficulty and the absence of conflict.
SPEAKER_02: But that is so far, that's a good American ideal, but that is so far from the biblical truth that is consistently communicated page after page within God's word.
SPEAKER_02: Rather, what we see in the word is if we are faithful in the gospel and for the gospel, conflict will be the norm, not the exception.
SPEAKER_02: It will be the norm, not the exception.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes we see that within the church, right?
SPEAKER_02: Which is a different sermon for a different day, as this is primarily about conflict or opposition with those who were lost or outside the church.
SPEAKER_02: But I think it's appropriate to do a quick aside here.
SPEAKER_02: Conflict within the church is normal.
SPEAKER_02: It is normal.
SPEAKER_02: That is why the Lord has given us instruction on how to handle conflict.
SPEAKER_02: Do you think there would be passages about handling conflict if the Lord didn't think there was going to be any conflict?
SPEAKER_02: Right?
SPEAKER_02: Things like go to a brother or sister, not go talk about a brother or sister to someone else.
SPEAKER_02: Again, a different sermon for a different day, but there is going to be conflict within the church, and there's going to be conflict outside of the church.
SPEAKER_02: Conflict out of the side of the church, or those who are outside of the faith is to be expected.
SPEAKER_02: It is to be expected.
SPEAKER_02: And that is why we see him hit it on the text here, both in verse 27 and in verse 28.
SPEAKER_02: Those who do not call the name of Jesus are this, they are enemies of the very cross that the follower of Jesus is to treasure.
SPEAKER_02: Those who do not call the name of Jesus are enemies of the very cross that followers of Jesus are called to treasure.
SPEAKER_02: So by simple logic, if Christ and the cross is the great privilege for the believer, it is a great privilege for the believer.
SPEAKER_02: It is beautiful for the believer, and it's the enemy for the non-believer, then there will be no shortage of adversarial conflict.
SPEAKER_02: How do we even begin to face external conflict?
SPEAKER_02: How are we not riddled or handicapped by fear?
SPEAKER_02: Here's how.
SPEAKER_02: Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
SPEAKER_02: Be courageous in your great commission efforts.
SPEAKER_02: And be prepared to be attacked for your great commission efforts.
SPEAKER_02: In my experience, the more obedient a person is to the commands of Christ, the more difficult your life will become, the more conflict that will come your way, and the more hardship that you will face.
SPEAKER_02: Do not ignore difficulty.
SPEAKER_02: Do not ignore conflict in an unbiblical way.
SPEAKER_02: And a quick aside here this I think is important to say, I think sometimes we hide being a jerk behind, oh, I'm just being obedient for Christ.
SPEAKER_02: There's a difference between being obedient and facing difficulty and being a jerk and facing difficulty.
SPEAKER_02: Be obedient to the commands of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: And in the midst of difficulty, be fearless.
SPEAKER_02: And lastly, in verse 29 and 30, fervent suffering.
SPEAKER_02: Fervent suffering.
SPEAKER_02: When you face intense suffering, what comes to mind?
SPEAKER_02: What comes to your mind?
SPEAKER_02: How do you think about your suffering in the path of obedience?
SPEAKER_02: And here's where I'm going with that.
SPEAKER_02: You know, we we have crosses in here.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you I know have tattoos of crosses, we have jewelries of crosses, we have crosses hung up in our houses.
SPEAKER_02: And we look at the cross, and it's easy to think, man, this is a God-given gift.
SPEAKER_02: What beautiful reality is this?
SPEAKER_02: What beauty is the cross?
SPEAKER_02: You know, in a few moments, when I finish, we're going to participate in the Lord's Supper together.
SPEAKER_02: It's easy to look at the cup and look at the bread and say, man, the blood and body of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: What a beautiful God-given gift.
SPEAKER_02: But do you know and comprehend that the suffering that you endure in the path of obedience for Christ is God ordained and it is a God-given gift as well?
SPEAKER_02: That goes back to what we talked about last week.
SPEAKER_02: Our suffering for his sake should be our joy, right?
SPEAKER_02: It is our joy.
SPEAKER_02: We are invited into life with him, which means we also are invited into suffering in him.
SPEAKER_02: We're not only saved by him, but we suffer with him.
SPEAKER_02: This should radically impact the posture in which we face suffering.
SPEAKER_02: We'll really hit on this more in chapter three when we get to that in several weeks.
SPEAKER_02: But I pulled from some stuff from a sermon in Acts that we that I can't remember the date that we went through Acts, but it's been quite some time.
SPEAKER_02: Because people can attempt to suppress the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: People can attempt to suppress your gospel proclamation efforts.
SPEAKER_02: But what we learned then and what we see throughout scripture is if God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: And there's nothing you can do about it.
SPEAKER_02: If God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: People can punish those sharing the gospel, but if God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: People can harass Christians, but if God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: People can financially punish Christians, but if God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: People can blame Christians for their pain and their suffering.
SPEAKER_02: Just read about Nero, but if God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: People can take your freedoms, but if God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: People can take your life, but if God wills it, the gospel will spread.
SPEAKER_02: And I want to read for you a passage out of Acts five, because this should be incredibly encouraging for all of us, specifically for those who are in a season of suffering.
SPEAKER_02: Acts five.
SPEAKER_02: Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
SPEAKER_02: And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: They rejoiced that they even had the opportunity to suffer for the sake of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: This is so important for us in our context.
SPEAKER_02: Because so often in cultures and in situations that are favorable to Christianity or even just simply safe, Christians often lose the biblical reality of the suffering that we are called to.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not saying go self-annihilate yourself, but be prepared when you face difficulty.
SPEAKER_02: Matthew 5 says this Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you, persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
SPEAKER_02: Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
SPEAKER_02: For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
SPEAKER_02: This isn't some new ideal.
SPEAKER_02: This has been a reality since Jesus walked the earth.
SPEAKER_02: And that's what he's saying there.
SPEAKER_02: Be prepared.
SPEAKER_02: It's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_02: Get ready.
SPEAKER_02: I read this week in a commentary, it said this listen carefully.
SPEAKER_02: A man may suffer in a bad cause, and then he suffers justly.
SPEAKER_02: Or he may suffer in a good cause, cause, but with a wrong mind, and then his sufferings lose their value.
SPEAKER_02: Listen to this.
SPEAKER_02: You see, the obedient nature of our suffering is both dependent on the cause of our suffering and the posture of our suffering.
SPEAKER_02: Okay, the cause and the posture both.
SPEAKER_02: If you are suffering because of prideful arrogance, that that jerk nature that I spoke to a minute ago, or suffering for something other than the true gospel, even if you are suffering well, the value of your suffering is minimal.
SPEAKER_02: Minimal.
SPEAKER_02: Suffering for a message that is not the message of the gospel is not suffering for the cause of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Suffering because you're prideful and you're arrogant and people are responding to you harshly is not suffering for the cause of Christ.
SPEAKER_02: There's not much value in your suffering other than the prayerful hope that the Spirit will use that to open your eyes to you being wrong and in sin.
SPEAKER_02: Here's the other.
SPEAKER_02: If you're suffering because of obedience in Christ, right?
SPEAKER_02: And if you're suffering because of obedience in Christ and you are prideful and self-reliant in your suffering, then the value of your suffering is minimal.
SPEAKER_02: It's minimal.
SPEAKER_02: It's about the cause and the posture.
SPEAKER_02: But, and here's what we see in scripture: if you are enduring suffering because of your obedience to the commands of Christ that are laid out for you in his word, and you are enduring through prayerful obedience and reliance on the Lord and your people around you that God has put around you, then the value of your suffering is limitless.
SPEAKER_02: Think about that.
SPEAKER_02: It is limitless.
SPEAKER_02: This takes us all the way back to where we began the sermon.
SPEAKER_02: Who are you?
SPEAKER_02: Are you known for your faithful labor, your fearful obedience, your fervent suffering?
SPEAKER_02: If so, you are living a life worthy of the gospel, as it says in verse 27.
SPEAKER_02: The testimony of the beauty of Christ is your life.
SPEAKER_02: Or are you known for the pursuit of the next earthly pleasure?
SPEAKER_02: Does your life and your actions communicate that something other than Jesus is the eternally important in your life?
SPEAKER_02: Do you treasure something more than He?
SPEAKER_02: Or equally as dangerous, do you communicate to others, not just with your actions, but also with your words, that something is more important than Jesus in your life?
SPEAKER_02: So we conclude this morning the same place we began.
SPEAKER_02: Does the testimony of your life match the gospel proclamation of your lips?
SPEAKER_02: I think sometimes we we get kind of defensive with a question like that.
SPEAKER_02: Of course it does.
SPEAKER_02: Two things about that.
SPEAKER_02: One, I would encourage you to ask someone around you.
SPEAKER_02: And two, if the answer to that is no, I need you to understand that according to scripture, that doesn't just impact you.
SPEAKER_02: That doesn't just impact you.
SPEAKER_02: That impacts the people around you.
SPEAKER_02: That impacts your church family.
SPEAKER_02: That impacts the people you're sharing the gospel with.
SPEAKER_02: Does the testimony of your life match the gospel proclamation of your lips?
SPEAKER_02: Brothers and sisters, I would encourage you to live a life worthy of the gospel, the beautiful gospel that you have put your faith in.
SPEAKER_02: And not to do it alone, but to do it together.
SPEAKER_02: And for the person in the room who's not a follower of Jesus, your suffering right now is in vain.
SPEAKER_02: The things that you endure right now are in vain.
SPEAKER_02: And the only hope that you have is to respond to the gospel that I shared with you earlier so that you too can proclaim with your words and with your actions the testimony of your life may be the beauty of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: Let me pray for us and we're going to respond by participating in the Lord's Supper together.
SPEAKER_02: Father, this morning we come before you and we uh just express adoration for who you are.
SPEAKER_02: God, this week, as I've worked through this passage and prayerfully this morning, as we have worked through it together, I pray uh that something that has stuck out in our minds is this call to treasure Christ above all, to live a life worthy of the gospel.
SPEAKER_02: And that doesn't just mean to say all the right things and and to um talk the right way all the time, but that also means, man, we've got to put our actions on display that match the things that we communicate with our lips.
SPEAKER_02: May the testimony of our life match the testimony of our words.
SPEAKER_02: May that be a definer of us as people here at Heartland.
SPEAKER_02: And God, may we adhere to the same unity we see here, one spirit, one mind, side by side for the same faith.
SPEAKER_02: God, may we not get caught up in trying to be unified for the sake of unity and all these earthly ways and opinions and perceptions and all the things, but may we truly stand side by side, locked arms for one another, because of the beauty of Christ that we have unity in.
SPEAKER_02: We ask all these things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.