Good morning. The privilege to be looking at the scripture this morning, Philippians 1, verse 27, you can open the Bibles, please, or follow the text in the bullet in print and for you, page 3. Paul had established this church in Greece in Philippi, ancient Macedonia, about 10 or 12 years roughly, they suggest the scholars. He had visited there five or six years earlier from this writing and had been now in prison. And what's he going to say to a church that he started and hadn't seen in the last five or six years? What would he say to them? See, he writes from prison. Please stand as we investigate together. Philippians 1, 27 and following from the ESP translation. Hear the inspired word of God. Saint Paul says, quote, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. So that whether I come 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. This is clear, a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for His sake. Engage in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. The word of Christ. May He put it deeply into our hearts and lives. Please be seated. So, if you are living in the Midwest or some other town, and a heavy tornado rips through your community, and the world starts to see photographs on Facebook and YouTube, video footage. What would we expect to see should a tornado sweep through a town, roofs ripped off of homes, boards and piles of rubble, you'd see all sorts of debris lying around, evidence that things had been touched in a significant way by a tornado. In the same way, let's turn it right side up. Paul had been to Greece, ancient Macedonia. He had spoken to a crowd of people some 10 or 12 years earlier. God opened Lydia's heart as he spoke to her about Christ and His forgiveness. Ten years or so had passed when that tornado struck down upon Lydia and her family and others in the community. And now what is Paul expecting to see as the tornado of the gospel touches down upon a community, upon a life, upon a home, upon a place called Philippine, and now a church. What does He want to see in this church that had been established some 10 or 12 years ago? So years earlier. As we see from the text, He's looking for something that's been turned right side up. Look at it in the 27th verse. He says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent remaining in prison, I may hear of you that you are standing firm. What is Paul expecting and wanting to see in this established community called the church of Jesus Christ and Philippine? He wants to see a community that is walking worthy. That is literally, he says, standing firm upon the gospel of Jesus Christ. For those of you who find grammar interesting. This is a present tense. He wants it now to be standing firm now. It's imperative. It's a command. When I look at you, when I hear about your reputation, I want to hear that you are standing firm. But it's also in the middle or past the voice. It's basically, it gives the thrust of this. That the gospel has come upon you and has gripped your life and you are allowing your life to be surrendered to God. You're allowing God to have his way in your life. Does that characterize you? Does that characterize our community? That we are, passively, if you will, available for God to be used. And the way we do that is we just stand upon firmly upon Christ and His gospel. Here I am, Lord. What do you want to do with me today? I'm not going anywhere except right here upon Jesus Christ. His finished work, His perfect life, His resurrection. And I know He's watching over me now and I'm trusting in Him. And I'm not going anywhere except here, firmly rooted in Him. So I ask, as those of us who claim a connection with Jesus Christ as the tornado of the gospel has come upon your life, is there evidence that people look at you in your community, families, neighbors? Would you be, if you were put in court, there would be enough evidence to convict you of being a Christian, who believes in Jesus Christ, trusting in Him? Or do people have no clue of your relationship with the Savior of the world? It's a question not only you have to deal with, but the Philippians had to deal with, and ministers have to deal with, everyone who professes the name of Christ. He says, I want to find you living worthy. Look at what He says. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, verse 27. What He is not saying is when I come to hear about your reputation, or if I come to visit you, if I'm released from prison, I am not looking for perfect people. Glorification is in the next life, you know that, don't you? But what I am looking for is a person who is worthy of Christ. And what He means by that is that first of all, you're standing firm. Do you have any doubts about Jesus Christ? Are you resting your total life and your future upon Him? Standing firm on the gospel of Christ. There's a familiar quote attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. You know, it says, quote, I may not be the man I want to be. I may not be the man I ought to be. I may not be the man I could be. I may not be the man I truly can be, but praise God. I am not the man I once was. What does it mean to live a life worthy, or to walk in a manner worthy? Initially, primarily and always, it means at least that we're firmly standing. Standing firm upon the gospel of Christ. And the concept there is your persevering. You began 10, 12 years ago whenever it was. And you know what, you're there today. And for the people I know, many of them, you're happier there. And you're not going anywhere because you know you found something. And someone has found you, and you're glad you are where you are. And you only want to know it better. Standing firm, Jesus said in Matthew 24-11, He says, and many false teachers will appear and deceive many because of the increase of morality, because of the increase of immorality, and the love of most will grow cold. But the one who stands firm, that is who endures to the end will be saved. The only way we get final relief, final salvation, what we're looking for, is if we keep standing firm, you know, imagine if you will, you're standing on a rock next to the water, and you're standing firmly. And then you see, there's this boat that says, I'm staying out to see, there's some beautiful things out there. Why don't you come on aboard, you know? And you realize that if you get in that boat, that might not be quite as beautiful as it was offered to you. But you know, it sounds attractive. And so you decide, what I'm going to do, I'll just put one foot in the boat. I got one on the rock and one in the boat. You know what kind of position I put you in, right? That is not standing firm. It's a very precarious and dangerous position to be in. I hope that does not describe you in your base relationship with Jesus Christ in this world. Colossians 2.6, therefore as you receive Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him, root it, and build up in Him, and established in the faith just as you were taught. Hebrews 2.1 says this, we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it, drifting away. You know, those of us who know a little bit about history in America, we know that you go to the ballgame, and we do the YMCA, right? YMCA is fun to play, especially when the orcs are winning. They want to do that. They're killing some time and they're all happy. Well, the YMCA, you know what that is, right? Young men's Christian association. It was established as, quote, a refuge of Bible study in prayer for young men seeking escape from the hazards of life on the streets and clubs. You go to the, you go to the YMCA today. It's nice to go there and get a workout and go for a swim. You're not going to get any Bible study or prayer meetings. What happened? Somebody's drifted away. That whole organization drifted away from its mission. What was Harvard and Yale and Princeton and 106 of 108 institutions, universities, colleges, colleges, what were they about? You know what they were about? When our forefathers moved to America, they had good ministers, and that's one of the reasons they came to America. They were being taught the word of God and they wanted to free them to worship God. When they got here, they were worried about the next generation, and so what they want to do. We need to raise up ministers who would tell us about Jesus Christ and to keep us connected with God so we don't lose the gospel. And 106 out of 108 of those institutions were Christ-centered, including Yale, Harvard, Princeton. And their mission was basically to pass along their faith to the next generation, which is a major part of our own mission here in this church. What happened? Some people have tried to research and figured it out, and the best they've come up with is little by little, small compromises, changing the board member, just softening around the edges. The next thing you know, hey, you know, we're losing our mission. We've lost our mission. Now we're becoming something entirely different. We must pay closer attention to what we have heard unless we drift away from it. How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? If we drift away from the gospel of Jesus Christ and our need for Him, God in the flesh who's come to live a perfect life because you can't do it, who's come to fulfill everything that God requires for you to be acceptable, if we drift away from the only way to be accepted by God, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? And so we stand firm. You know, some people would think that having Christ is optional. I mean, we hear things in Supreme Court which just came out, I mean, so mixed up about marriage. And who knows whatever else is going in the country. But especially about the gospel of Jesus Christ, if we're mixed up about that, it's not just about being confused about marriage. It's about being confused about what's going to happen to you when you die and have to face God. Well, you'll be in good standing or not. And if you're mixed up about that, we're in terrible shape. 1 John 5, 12 says, whoever has the Son has life. You have the Son? You have life. Because I want to say whoever does not have the Son of God, guess what? You do not have life. And that's why Christ came into the world to give you life. And so many people are mixed up about Jesus Christ. He's all about coming to give you life forgiveness and mercy. And that's where you find it. If you don't find it there, you're going to have to find some other way. And the scriptures say, he who has the Son has life, and he who does not have the Son of God does not have it. And the one who endures to the end will be saved. Secondly, Paul, as he wants to find this, as he writes to the flipping church, he wants to find a standing firm. You know what else he wants to find? He wants some standing together. Standing together. Isn't that what he says? He says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whatever I come and see you are absent. I may hear that you're standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side, striving side by side. It's interesting, break word. The prefect, it's the word is soon-athloss. Soon's the idea of together, and half-loss is athletic. It's from the word athlete. It's athletes together. Really, it's competing or contending together. We're not competing against each other. But we are competing together against spiritual forces that are around us. As Ephesians 6-11 says, put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against devil schemes for our struggle is not against flesh and blood. It's not against flesh and blood. It's not against people. It's against bad ideas that are stuck in people's minds to understand. That's what our struggle is against. It's about things that masquerade as truth that are really false, especially as it cuts in our relationship toward God. And so we're told that we are to be striving together, competing together. And I find it interesting that you put a church of people together here or anywhere, you would never pick these people to sit next to each other. I mean, you looked around and you said, I would never pick her for my best friend or whatever, so forth, or him, or all that stuff. Some people would like more than others. But you know what, God's brought us all here together, hasn't He? And you know what's brought you here? You're interest in Jesus Christ. At least those viewers keep coming back and staying here. He's our unite union, isn't He? There's one church, one Lord. It's just one way to be forgiven as found in Christ. And He is our unity in relationships, you know, it's hard to have a relationship. Anybody who's married knows that, right? Two imperfect people living together. But you know what? You are to compete together in that marriage. And so it is in the church. We are co-athletes. You know what I mean? We're fellow athletes. We're on the same team in the church. And so we need to be careful, especially how we criticize other Christians who are claiming allegiance to Jesus Christ. There's room for much discussion. But it's got to be in such a way that we are united about our need for Jesus Christ. Because there's a watching world. And it's a powerful impact. You can do so much more by staying united in our minds and hearts, and supporting one another together. There's a certain power in working together that we can form a strong influence. Form a strong and powerful testimony to the world. There was a peanuts cartoon that I was reading. And Lucy is demanding that Linus change the TV channels. Change the TV channels. Linus? I want to watch something else. Linus says, what makes you think that you can blast people around? Lucy says he's five fingers. She says individually they aren't very much. However, when these fingers close together upon themselves, she says they form a weapon that is terrible to behold. Terrible to behold. And so Linus says, which channel would you like? And he turns away and looks at his own fingers. And he says, why can't you guys get organized like that? There's something we can accomplish together that we cannot do alone. I give a powerful testimony as the world sees us somehow with our imperfection, standing upon Jesus Christ, learning to love one another through thick and thin, because Christ has loved us with all our imperfections. And we can knock down some pretty bad ideas and people's hearts and minds. As they see us loving to palm one another and loving to palm them. And maybe some of this faulty thinking will just drift away about people thinking that Jesus is optional or that they don't need them at all, because without Christ we're lost. And how are we going to beat down these ideas if we aren't standing firm ourselves and standing together on the Lord Jesus Christ, working together as athletes on the same team? Hebrews 10, 24 and following you know it. Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward loving good deeds, not giving up meeting together as summer in their habit of doing, but encourage you one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. And finally, as Paul writes to these Philippine believers, hopefully he'll be freed from prison when he comes to see them. He wants to see them not only standing firm, standing together for the gospel, striving together, but you know what? He wants to see them standing tall, standing tall. Unashamed, unembarrassed, thankful to be associated with Jesus Christ. Isn't that what he says in this text as we read on? He says in verse 28, And not frightened in anything by your opponents, not frightened in anything by your opponents. So as we think of that, I can't help but think of the text in Romans chapter 1, which some people think it's really about the whole book of Romans, Romans 1, 16, where Paul says, what? For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. He says, I'm not ashamed to be of the gospel. You know what the gospel is, don't you? The gospel is Jesus Christ. He is the good news. And he says, I'm not ashamed of him. Because he is the power of God. When I talk about him, God in the flesh, God perfect, God punished for our sins. God died in the person, the work of Christ, God risen from the dead, the infinite God man. When I speak of him, and those thoughts are honored by God in people's minds, you know what? It's the power of God, the salvation of everyone who would believe. So we need not be embarrassed, instead we need to be happy that we ourselves have discovered the truth about forgiveness, about how to be accepted by God. Instead, I believe at least this minister has been guilty on many occasions of being fearful and fear is not a place in our lives, that belongs in our lives. Someone said courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is just a quiet voice. And I hope we have enough courage to at least have a quiet voice. If we're not ready to yell and shout, someone's also said courage will follow where faith takes the lead. You know, you don't have to be, you can have the sense of fear. But if you allow faith to lead you, you can get through the fear and exercise your courage. If you really believe that you're standing on firm ground and you have other people around you cheering you on, you understand? I think this church, we can all get better. A cheering one or another on with trying to help people come to know Jesus Christ.
Somebody once said sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. I said tiptoe if you must but take a step. I hope we're all at least tiptoe, you understand? When fear grips us because we have what the people around us need. We have the grace of God, the person who work in Jesus Christ in our lives. We have something worthwhile. You know, it's interesting as he goes on with his text, he says don't be frightened verse 28. In anything by your opponents, what he says this, you see it, this is a clear sign to them of their destruction. This is referring to this resistance that we get from time to time. It's a clear sign to them of their destruction. But its resistance you get is also a sign of your salvation that God indeed is doing something in your life. It has provided forgiveness for your sins through Jesus Christ. You know, I was at the UPS the other day to pick up something and I was in there and the guy said, should I put my top down on his convertible? He wants me to tell him whether to put his top down. We see the guys trying to avoid rain. I pulled up my GPS thing and looked at the weather. So you don't know if some days when it's cloudy, you don't know if it's going to rain. But I'm going to tell you one thing. If you know Jesus Christ and your tiptoe and you're saying a few things, you're trying to stand for truth sometimes speaking of truth and love, some days it will rain on you. Other days people will say thank you. I understand something now, I didn't understand before. You know, you put a sea of truth in their hearts and it grows into a flower. And they come back and say thank you that you helped me come to know how to be forgiven. He says here, some people will resist you. That's what he says. We have opponents. But Jesus says, you know, if the world hated me, you know, there are times the world is going to hate you if you stand for what he stands for. The servant's not any greater than his master. So we're going to get some resistance. Let's face it. That's just part of what we're called to do in following Jesus Christ. But you know what? So what? God's going to be with us in the resistance. He predicted that. Remember when Josh was sent into the promised land? It's a picture. Send in the promised land. You know what they're going to call for these nations? What did he say? Be of good courage, right? Don't be afraid. Don't move to the left. Don't move to the right. And guess what? I'll be with you. I will be with you. That's the same thing that Jesus told the disciples. Right before he left the earth and he sent them out. And he says, go and make disciples of all nations, right? Teach them all I've commanded you. And guess what? I'll be with you to the end of the age. I will be with you. And that's our encouragement. And so I asked when a tornado sweeps through a town. What do we expect to see?
Power of rubble, some grooves blowing off, right? Evidence that this town's been turned upside down by something powerful hit it like a tornado. What about the gospel? Let's come upon this community. Upon your life. Let's just touch down upon you. Those are evidence that we've been struck with something powerful. Something good. Something we're standing firm upon. And we're standing together. Something that basically we were glad to stand tall because we come to know the grace of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Let us pray. Father, we pray now that you had grant us continued grace that we may keep standing firm upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And this finished work. Your grant us continued grace that we could stand together despite all our differences and issues in our personal lives. That we could stand together in Christ and encourage you one another. And all the more as we see the day approaching. And Lord especially help us give us courage to keep standing tall, knowing that we ought to be extremely proud of Jesus Christ. For loving us. We have so many problems ourselves that we're unworthy. And so we ask for grace that we might begin to become walking worthy at a worthy way. Grateful for your kindness toward us and your wonderful grace. And we pray amen.