Preached Sunday, April 15, 2012
from
Philippians 1:27-30
Theme: As citizens of heaven—living on earth—we’re called to stand together in unity for the cause of our King.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
Humanly speaking, the city of Philippi was among the world’s most honored and distinguished cities of its day. The citizens of that ancient city held their heads a little higher than the citizens of other cities; and they walked its streets with a stride that was a bit more proud than most. It was because the city of Philippi—even though it was situated far away from Rome—had been officially declared by Caesar himself to be a Roman colony.
After Julius Caesar had been assassinated, a decisive battle had been fought on the plains of Philippi by Mark Antony and Octavius against the assassins. The veteran soldiers of this victorious war were colonized in Philippi; and in gratitude, Octavius—who was later made emperor and renamed Augustus—honored the city by declaring it to be a Roman colony. What that meant was that its citizens were to consider themselves full citizens of Rome; and were to live as if they were living in the imperial city itself! “Citizenship” was a matter of great pride for the people of Philippi.
But living in the midst of this proud city were a small band of Christians. They often felt intimidated while living there. Important public events in Philippi were usually accompanied by formal worship of the caesar; and these Christians frequently had to endure severe public pressure to be unfaithful to God and bow in worship to a mere man. It was also a city that was favorable to paganism and the occult. Perhaps you’ll remember what happened when Paul first brought the gospel to them. Back in Acts 16, we’re told of how a fortune-telling slave girl—who had brought a great deal of money to her masters—was delivered by Paul from an unclean spirit. She was no longer profitable to her owners; and the whole city went into an uproar as a result. They beat Paul for this, and violently threw him in prison. These believers in Philippi learned at the very beginning the truth of what Paul had once said, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
Well; as we open our Bibles this morning to Paul’s New Testament letter to these Philippian believers, we find that he is writing to them while once again sitting in prison—this time in the city of Rome itself. But as we have been discovering from our study of this letter, he wrote with an attitude of prevailing joy. He let them know early on in this letter how God was at work through the trial of his imprisonment. He told them;
But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice (Philippians 1:12-18).
Paul couldn’t say for certain what might happen next—whether he might be released from prison and allowed to go on and serve God’s people, or be executed and sent on to the Lord. He felt relatively sure he would be released. But either way, he was confident that—one way or the other—he would be “delivered” and brought into a state of joyful victory. He went on to tell them;
For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell. For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith, that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again (vv. 19-26).
What an example Paul was to these Christian brothers and sisters in Philippi! But it’s then in our passage this morning that he turns his attention away from himself and on to them. And what’s remarkable is that—sitting in a prison cell in Rome and writing to these Christians living in a city that took pride in its Roman citizenship—he reminds them that they are the citizens of an even greater kingdom, and urges them to follow his example and live as good citizens of heaven! He tells them;
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. 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 hear is in me (vv. 27-30).
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; I believe that what Paul is saying in this passage is among the most needful things we could ever hear. So often, our great problem as a community of believers is that we live as if we have forgotten our true citizenship.
As I’ve shared many times before, I believe that Paul’s letter to the Philippians is the New Testament instruction book on how to have prevailing and pervasive joy in life—even in the midst of the difficult trials of life. Paul exemplified that joy for us. He said, “I press toward the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14); and then urged his readers to “have this mind” (v. 15). He lived on earth for the cause of another kingdom; and so, nothing in this earthly kingdom could rob him of his joy. And he tells us much in this letter about how we ourselves can also have that joy.
But we must never forget that it’s an experience that God means for us to have in community with one another—as a group of people who have their true citizenship in a heavenly kingdom and who serve the cause of a divine and wonderful King named Jesus. And so often, we forget who we as a group truly are; and live on earth as if we’re not the citizens of heaven. We forget our true citizenship. We fail to encourage each other about our true destiny; and uphold each other in our trials in the light of our future glory; and forget to call each other to live like what we truly are! No wonder we so easily lose our joy!
In this morning’s passage, the Holy Spirit—through His servant Paul—reminds us that we have an even greater ‘citizenship’ than that of the Philippians. The citizens of Philippi lived in a city in far-away Macedonia, but walked the streets of that city as full citizens of Rome. We live on earth as temporary citizens of an earthly city; but we walk its streets as citizens of heaven! And as citizens together of heaven—living on earth—we’re called to stand together in unity for the cause of our King.
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Look a little closer at this passage with me; and note, first of all . . .
1. WHAT IT IS THAT WE’RE CALLED TO LIVE AS (v. 27a).
Paul had told them that he hoped to come to them soon. But whether he was able to or not, he wanted something from them. He wrote, ” Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ . . .” (v. 27a).
Now; if you have the old King James translation, this verse has probably been a bit confusing to you. The King James translates this verse “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the the gospel of Christ . . .” We only think of that word “conversation” as having to do with our speech. But other translations are helpful when they translate it “conduct” or “manner of life”.
Do you know what this word in the original language is? It’s politeuō—and is the word from which we get our English word “politics”. But this isn’t referring to “politics” as we’re accustomed to using the word. (Believe me!—I wouldn’t want to get up in front of everyone in our church and start talking about what we typically think of when we say “politics”! Half the congregation might start wadding-up their church bulletins and throwing them at me if I did!) Instead, this word has to do with how someone orders and arranges their conduct and manner of living. It has in mind a high standard that’s based on a person’s true identity; and means that they order their life and their conduct in a way that matches up with who they truly are.
And brothers and sisters in Christ; we are citizens of heaven! That’s where our true “politics” belong. Paul uses another form of this same word in Philippians 3:20; when he writes that “our citizenship”—that is to say, our “politics”—“is in heaven”. In that passage, he wrote to the Philippian believers—who were considered citizens of Rome—and told them;
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, beloved (Philippians 3:17-4:1).
In other words, we who are believers on the Lord Jesus are called to live on this earth with a full awareness of our dual citizenship. We live temporarily as citizens of the United States, in a state, and in a city of that state. And to the best of our ability, we’re to live as good citizens of that earthly kingdom. But our “true citizenship”—our true “politics”—are held elsewhere. We are to live on earth—first of all—as good citizens of a heavenly kingdom. And we’re to make sure that, as good citizens of heaven, we live in a way that is “worthy of the gospel of Christ”.
What a tremendous difference it would make in the way we live our personal lives as Christians, and in our corporate life together as a church family, and in terms of the impact we would make in this world, if we were faithful to remember that we are—right now—full citizens of heaven! We need to work together to remind each other of this! And we need to encourage one another to live faithfully as what we are! And we need to do so in a way that matches up with the gospel of Jesus Christ that saves others—and helps them to be come citizens of heaven too!
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Now; Paul wanted his brothers and sisters to be faithful to remember this. He wasn’t sure that he could come to them as soon as he would like. But whether he was there with them or not, he didn’t want them to forget who they were . . . and to live accordingly.
But how are they to do this? What does it look like to ‘let our conduct—our ‘heavenly politics’—be worthy of the gospel of Christ’? And so, as we read on, we find that the Holy Spirit—through Paul—goes on to tell us . . .
2. HOW WE ARE TO LIVE-OUT THIS CITIZENSHIP TOGETHER (v. 27b-28).
Paul tells them to let their 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 (vv. 27b-28).
Whenever he hears about them, he wants to hear a good report. And the report that he wants to hear is that they are doing three things:
First, he wants to hear that they stand fast in one spirit. Now; to say “stand fast” is not exactly the way we’re used to speaking today. Most of us would think that someone only “runs fast”, but that they “stand slow”. But the idea is that we are to stand “firm” or “unmoved”. We’re not to be knocked-off from the place we stand. And that really underscores how much we need each other, doesn’t it? We really need each other’s help in “standing fast” in the conduct of our ‘heavenly citizenship’ while in the midst of this fallen world.
But you’ll notice that Paul says that we’re to stand fast “in one spirit”. And if we’re not careful, we might misunderstand that too. You’ll probably notice that, in most Bible’s, that’s translated as “spirit” with a lower-case “s”. And in that case, we might think of it as speaking of a common attitude—a commitment as a group to a common cause—an esprit de corps. But if that were something that we all came up with on our own, we wouldn’t be acting any longer as citizens of heaven!
I believe what Paul is talking about is the Holy Spirit. In the original language, the word itself can be either “spirit” (lower case “s”), or “Spirit” (upper case “S”); and it seems to me that seeing it as referring to the Holy Spirit best matches what Paul went on to say in 2:1 about the “fellowship of the Spirit”. In Ephesians 4:1-6, he wrote to another group of Christians and said,
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all (Ephesians 4:1-6).
There is but “one body and one Spirit”—that is, the Holy Spirit; and we are to endeavor to keep “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. And I believe that’s what Paul means by calling us to “stand fast in one spirit”. He is speaking of the third Person of the Trinity; the Holy Spirit.
And it’s very important that we “stand fast” in Him! Think, dear brothers and sisters, how it would be if I got fifty guitarists with fifty different guitars, and had them all form a circle. Then, suppose I told each guitarist to tune his or her guitar to the guitarist to his immediate right. And suppose that when all the guitarists were done tuning to the guitar next to them, I asked them—on the count of three—to strum the chord G. Can you imagine the horrible, discordant sound that that would make? They’d all be out of tune to each other! It would be different, however, if I asked them to all tune to the piano. Then, they’d all be tuned the same. And it’s the same when we are all “stand fast” in the one Holy Spirit. When He leads you, and He leads me, and He leads each of the others of us, we’re all being led the same. And the result is unity. We show our true citizenship when we all stand fast in one Spirit!
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Not only are we to stand fast in one Spirit, but we are also to live-out our heavenly citizenship by striving unitedly for the faith. Paul writes, “with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel”.
The way Paul puts this in the original language is that we are to be doing this “with one soul”. Some translations have it that we are to contend “as one”, or “as one man”; but the idea is the same. We’re to stand fast in one Spirit; but we’re to go forward—as it were—into the fields of battle and “strive” or “contend” together in a completely united manner; “with one mind” or “as one man”. And notice carefully what it is that we’re to strive or contend, in a unified way, for: “the faith of the gospel.
There are two possible ways to understand what Paul means by the “faith of the gospel”—and I think both are equally valid. First, it could be understood as the content of that gospel faith. In other words, we are to contend for the gospel and not allow the precious truths of our faith to be lost or distorted or changed from what was given to us by the apostles. This constitutes one of the most important battle-fields on which we contend as Christians today. The apostle Jude wrote about it in Jude 3-4;
Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 3-4).
If that’s the case, then the apostle Paul would be saying that—as a vital expression of our heavenly citizenship—his brothers and sisters were to be faithfully standing up to defend and protect the doctrinal content of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and were fighting to protect the truly biblical faith that enables others to become citizens of heaven.
But it could also be that he wasn’t speaking so much of the content of the gospel, as he was the response to it. In other words, he could be saying that he wants to hear that his precious brothers and sisters are proclaiming that gospel with the goal of others placing their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. It would be as if Paul were saying that he wanted to hear that his Christian brothers and sisters were going out into the world as “ambassadors for Christ”; and saying,
. . . as though God were pleading through us; we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20-21).
I believe that either of those understandings of “the faith of the gospel” are possible. But the thing to note is that we are to contend for that faith together “with one mind”. We must be careful that we don’t allow any other agenda to take a place of prominence in our fellowship together. As we saw before, Paul said,
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind” (Philippians 3:14-16).
We’re to be of one mind in our labors together. I believe Paul would want to see our “heavenly citizenship” expressed together by a singular passion—and a earnest striving together—to both protect the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to urge others to place their faith in it!
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Now; the Philippians were being called to do this in an environment that was hostile to the gospel. And so are we. We live in what is widely recognized as one of the most ‘progressive’ and ‘tolerant’ cities in the nation. But the fact is that there are many forces that stand in opposition to a faithfulness to our heavenly citizenship. And that’s why Paul—thirdly—calls us to live out that citizenship by not allowing any opposition to the faith to intimidate us from our calling. He said, “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.”
We need to understand this carefully. Our heavenly citizenship does not entitle us—in any way—to rebel against our responsibilities as citizens of an earthly kingdom. As Paul wrote elsewhere,
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same (Romans 13:1-3).
To say that we’re not to be, in any way, “terrified” by the adversaries of the faith does not mean we are to be arrogant toward those authorities that God has legitimately set up to rule over us. We’re to honor such authority and be subject to it. In fact, I would suggest that good “heavenly citizenship” should make us stand out as the very best “earthly citizens” of all.
But when we must faithfully make a stand for the faith of the gospel, we’re to do so without fear; and not be intimidated by those who wish to silence us. We’re to remember that
. . . though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
And we’re to know that our fearless, calm, resolute faithfulness to our King’s commission and call on our lives serves as “proof” in this world of a couple of things. First, to those who are “adversaries” to the faith, it is a “proof of perdition” or “destruction”. When we stand faithful and unintimidated into silence—when we calmly and confidently continue to proclaim the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and call people to place their faith in it—when we are even willing to lay down our lives for the cause of that gospel, and suffer whatever someone may do to us—then we are showing the world that we truly are citizens of another kingdom. We’re showing that King Jesus truly is Lord of all; and that every knee must one day bow to Him; and that to reject Him is to embrace judgment.
But it is also proof of our salvation; “and”, as Paul says, “that from God”. We’re behaving like our Lord, who also laid down His life for us, and suffered to bring us salvation. And that leads to a final point . . .
3. WHY WE ARE TO LIVE THIS WAY (vv. 29-30).
Why are we to live-out our heavenly citizenship by standing fast in one Spirit; and by striving in a united way for the faith of the gospel; and by not allowing ourselves to be intimidated from our calling by opposition—even to the point of suffering for His cause? As Paul says, “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 hear is in me.”
Just as it is our privilege to believe on King Jesus, it’s also our privilege to suffer for Him. “A privilege?!!” you may think. Yes! It’s a great privilege! Jesus Himself suffered in this world; and we behave like subjects of our King when we suffer for His cause as He did. And we must always remember that He Himself said;
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:10-12).
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; as citizens of heaven—living as we do on earth—let’s faithfully fulfill our call to stand together in unity for the cause of our King.
Let’s live like what we truly are!