Jan 2, 2010

Series on Philippians #6

You Are Worthy
Philippians 1:27-30


Let's pray...

New Year's is coming up and I don't know about you, but I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. I think it's a waste of time.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have goals. Goals are good, setting benchmarks to reach, and bringing in accountability partners to make sure you are keeping track is wonderful. It's great in every arena of life.

Goals are good for your spiritual growth – developing a discipline for individual and group Bible study, for prayer and meditation times.

Goals are good for your health, for your job performance, for your relationships, for your investments. Goals are great!

My problem with resolutions set to January 1 stem from the fact that discipline doesn't come from a specific date on a calender. It comes from a heart that is truly ready for a change.

Setting a future date from today says, “my heart's not ready, maybe on that day later on I'll feel up to doing this.

My heart's not ready, maybe on that future date I will make the change that I've know all along that I need to make.

My heart's not ready, maybe I can have some more fun doing what I know I shouldn't do if I promise myself, or promise someone else that I'll stop next week, or next month or whenever.
Listen, if you want to eat healthier, or pay off debts, or watch less T.V., or join a gym (or actually GO to the gym that you've joined), or stop smoking, or stop drinking, or stop cussing, or whatever; just start tonight, don't wait.

Your not even guaranteed that you have until New Year's.
Tonight's passage sums up the main points of the letter to the Philippians so far, but it also fits in well this week by giving us one of the best goals or “resolutions” that we can have in our lives.

A goal that I am going to take seriously and charge you to make in your own life starting NOW. It's an ongoing goal that you will never do perfectly in this life, but I'm telling you STRIVE FOR PERFECTION. Don't let imperfection be an excuse.

Let's read. Paul says:

Conduct in the Greek is politeuomai (Poly-two-o-my): and means to “to behave as a citizen: to conduct one's self as pledged to some law of life”

Just as a citizen of the United States must conform to a set of rules and behaviors to remain a free person and consider him or herself an American, so to should we AS CITIZENS OF HEAVEN live within the boundaries of God's Law. Which is summed up best by loving God and loving others as we love ourselves.

You may ask, how does a “citizen worthy of the Gospel of Christ” make us “Citizens of Heaven”? To answer that, I'll read from Ephesians 2:18-19

That verse sums up the Gospel of Christ, that through Him, despite our sins and in faith of God's grace and Jesus' righteousness alone, we get to the Father. And...


And, latter in this letter, in Philippians 3:20, Paul actually tells us:

So here, at the end of Paul's first chapter of this letter, he tells the Philippians and – I'm charging you – to live your life as though you are a citizen of Heaven already.

And Paul says: 27

We've been gathering together with the Church in the Grass for almost a year now. And if there is any one message that I've tried to get across to the Christians in the crowd

It's the message for us to live as proper reflections of Jesus Christ in every place and in every situation. When you are at church or at work, whether you are on top of the world or the world seems to be crashing down around you – LIVE BY FAITH and Don't hinder the Gospel.

You, and you, and you, and I – WE have all been placed in the positions, and relationships, and in the time that we live in, for the purpose of glorifying God and drawing others to His light.

And I'm just trying to echo Paul is saying, which is an echo of what Jesus said.

So IF you are a Christian, set this as your resolution, not to start on January 1st - Set it in your heart, mind, words and action tonight, that
Whatever happens, from this point on, you will conduct your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Brothers and sisters start behaving like the citizens of Heaven that you are.

And I mean, start doing this in every aspect of your life, even the one's you've been holding onto.

The time is now to let go
- Let go of the baggage of un-forgiveness,
- Let go of the arrogance,
- Let go of the self-pity,
- Let go of the temptations that you have yielded to again and again,
- Let go of all the distractions, to all the crap and turn it over to Jesus tonight so that we can start tonight to be FULLY devoted to the mission He's called us to.

Let's move on in the text:

Quick note here, Paul was the one who established the church in Philippi, we've talked about that before. Here he reminds them in a subtle way that he may never see them face to face again.
But, he still hopes to hear that they have been faithful to the cause.

We should never look to an earthly leader as anything more than a person positioned by the sovereign hand of God for a set time and a set mission and as one who POINTS US TO CHRIST.

Any pastor, elder, deacon, trustee or anyone else is replaceable and expendable according to God's will. We must never look to a person as an intermediary between us to God.

And in the same way as parents, or husbands, the same is true. We are to show our families that we are here for them and that we take our position as servant leaders very seriously.

We must build our families up and let them know that we will do everything in our power to be with them.

But at the end of the day, and at the start of every new day, we must instill in their hearts a dependence on God alone for their ultimate security and well being.

And back to the church, this church; I pray that God would not only bring churchgoers to the Church in the Grass, but that He would send the next wave of church leaders.

And if you later find out by a call in your spirit into pastoring or the like, I want you to always guard against letting others look to you as irreplaceable.

I've heard of too many churches that were devastated when their pastor left. Remember we don't follow a person, we follow – depend on and find our hope – in the Savior. Amen?

And with all that said, Paul does still want to hear that the Philippians are standing firm. And I can relate.

In other words. I'm not your priest, but I am with you and fully invested in this mission, so, just as Paul exhorts the Philippians, don't let my work be in vein.

If you have been called to lead something in the Gospel mission, but you wouldn't be hurt if it fell apart, I would question how much of your heart, mind, soul and strength you have out into the mission.
If God calls you to something, then for His sake and the sake of the people He's called you to help, pour your life out for that mission.

Don't waste your life, The gospel is all there is in the end.

Moving on...

How do we continue on without being frightened by those who oppose us (v 28 a)?

In your world, you are going to face all kinds of opposition.

Your faith and the Great Commandment are going to force you to make decisions that may affect your job, are going to force you to say things in situations that may make for awkward moments or that might bring ridicule, are going to force you to walk away from relationships that turning you away from the faith and others will walk away from you because there are aspects of the Christian walk that are repugnant to the non-believer. They may love what the Bible says about social justice and stewarding the earth, but they will hate the Christian understanding of sex and marriage and submission to authority. They will love the biblical mandate of forgiveness, until they are asked to forgive. They will love the biblical teaching on justice, until they are called to the carpet.

If you follow this word of God. If you don't pick the parts you like and throw out the rest, than you will have opposition.

In the world outside of this little town, opposition means more than problems with jobs, and relationships. Opposition means loss of life or freedom. Let me read a few recent news articles:

“In September 2007, the Chinese government closed Alimujiang Yimiti’s business and accused him of using it as a cover up for “preaching Christianity among people of Uyghur ethnicity.” He was later arrested in January 2008 and accused of “subversion of the national government and endangering national security,” a crime punishable by death.
Yimiti, a former Muslim, became a Christian more than 10 years ago and has been an active Christian in the growing Uyghur church.
After having his charges changed over and again, On Nov. 7, Yimiti was sentenced to 15 years in prison for “providing state secrets to overseas organizations.”” http://www.persecution.com/public/newsroom.aspx?story_ID=MjEw
“On Nov. 14, the body of a 23-year-old Christian convert, Mumin Abdikarim Yusuf, was discovered in Mogadishu's Yaqshid district, according to Compass Direct News.
On Oct. 28, members of al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group, detained Yusuf and searched his home for Christian materials. A 15-year-old Muslim boy had accused Yusuf of trying to convert him to Christianity...the extremists knocked out all of Yusuf's front teeth and broke several of his fingers. They then shot him twice in the head and dumped his body on an empty residential street.”



This story actually had a happy ending:

Those stories all come from www.persecution.com, a Web site that acts as a clearing house for news about martyrs and persecution against Christians today. Just a few of the other headlines were:
Russia: Pastors fined for Worship
Colombia: Pastor Martyred
India: Pastor Attacked
Somalia: Christian Leader Killed
Nigeria: Pastors Beheaded
Bangladesh: Pastor Tortured by Police

So, with all of the opposition, which comes in all varieties,
Even if it doesn't mean loss of limb or life, if it means losing your job, it can still deter us from the Gospel Mission – How do we keep going?

How do we continue on, as Paul says, without being frightened by those who oppose us (v28a)?

We do so together in fellowship by faith (contending as one man for the faith of the gospel {v 27 b})

In Ephesians 6:16 Paul says it like this:
Paul is transparent throughout this letter that the Gospel Mission, to bring the message of salvation to every nation, tongue and tribe, is HARD WORK.

There will be persecution (vs. 7,12-14) , there will be infighting (v. 15, 17). There will be the possibility of death (v. 20).

But, Paul points to his fellowship with them, with other believers, with other co-laborers in the faith, and says that through that fellowship and faith, that he will stand fast, that he will remain courageous and that he will see his mission through to the end.
He states it beautifully in verses 19 and 20, which we studied a few weeks back. Listen to it again:


We are called to be strong and courageous as believers, but courage doesn't come from self-reliance, courage comes from reliance on God and the encouragement and strength of the body of believers.

If you are a believer, but have written off joining a local church, then I would suggest that you have never truly read this book, or that you are in outright rebellion, which is foolish at best or is a sign of a lack of saving faith at worst.

We absolutely need one another. If you've been betrayed or let down or in some other way – hurt by a local church in the past, than don't let that stop you from looking for another.

The church needs your particular Spiritual giftings and you need the church. Join here or find another local body, but do it right away.

And if you are a member of a church and are not doing your part. I would say today's the day you get up and get to work. The mission is to vital, the lives to precious, the alternative to horrifying for those who don't hear the Good News, that your inaction is unacceptable.

Get to work so that YOUR church, which ever church that may be, can be the most powerful force for change that it can be in it's sphere of influence.
Don't be a parasite.

We must be on mission with a clear objective and with others in line for the same goal. And we can do nothing apart from the power of the Spirit of God guiding and ordaining our steps.
Moving on...

Another quick note, Don't make the mistake of thinking that being opposed by others, in and of itself, saves you. It doesn't. Even if they are in opposition to the Gospel message. As Paul quickly reiterates, Salvation comes from God. Alright? Back to the text, we're almost done:


Continuing with his theme, Paul reminds us that God's grace provides us with faith and the ability to suffer for that faith. As John Calvin says, I'm paraphrasing, our adoption into Christ's family cannot be accepted without the cross any more than Christ can be separated from Himself.

And, do not forget the words of Jesus:
Matthew 5:10 -11

I'm afraid that we as a church in America and in the West have become more and more irrelevant as we have become more and more comfortable.

Comfort breeds cowardice.
I am asking myself this week,
“Am I a Christian by name or association, but a coward in demonstration?”

How about you?
In my own life and in the churches around this area, is see that most of us (myself included).

Most of us, instead of running to Jesus and running to pick up our cross, I am afraid that many of us instead run to easy messages of love and harmony and away from any hints of discomfort, any chances of real heart change that mean repentance and cutting away unrighteous behavior.

I'm preaching that to myself tonight. Anyone else there?
Paul ends the chapter in verses 29-30 by reemphasizing once again, that


Let me end it this way tonight. One way or another, whether you are a Christian or not, Or whether you are a Christian walking boldly in your faith or a Christian that hides only by association and church attendance and little else
Whatever your status, and whoever you are, you are going to have struggles.

People will die, others will betray you and you will be opposed at different times in your life because your principles or ideals will go against the principles or ideals of another human being.

That is life. That is inevitable. BUT, Paul says if you are suffering under the same struggle that he had, namely the struggle to proclaim the Gospel in season and out of season, then your sufferings will not be in vein.

They will be like – not equal to – but like the sufferings of our Lord, and as Scriptures say in Romans 8:


Keep that truth in your hearts. That our present sufferings – no matter how great or how relatively trivial our suffering may seem – our present sufferings are NOT WORTH COMPARING to the GLORY that will be revealed to us.

Keep that truth closer to your heart than your love for others, than your desire for comfort or a worldly concept of security. And let the promise of the coming Glory enable you to stride boldly into whatever the Lord is calling you to do this year.

And by all means, behave as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Let's pray...
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