Philippians 1:27-2:4 Gospel-Worthy Conduct WC McCarter
Introduction
Many
of you come to worship services on Sundays looking to fulfill some kind of “religious”
duty; some of you come because you have been guilted into coming (by your own
conscience or by someone in your family); and some of you come because you long
to be “spiritual.” Now, some of the
reasons for attending a worship time are not necessarily wrong or bad. Yet, what may be wrong in your life is that
you are disconnected from the church.
You may sit in the “church building,” hold down a pew, open your mouth
to sing, and close your eyes when we pray—all while never actually being
connected with the church. Here’s the
question: Are you involved in the life of the church?
We
are all called as Christians to be “plugged in” to the church. We are to be bound to our brothers and
sisters in Christ; accountable to and responsible for one another. We are to be united. In doing so, we reflect well the Lord Jesus
and His Gospel. Disunity is a great
enemy of the church. Many of the New
Testament letters were written to combat disharmony among the churches. Some of them were divided because of sin;
others because of false doctrine and false teachers; some (believe it or not)
over racial issues, and others because of personality clashes. But the apostles were never content to allow
congregations to splinter and divide.
Never. They were always battling,
warring against strife and division.
Now,
we have discussed that the Philippian church was a strong church, healthy,
vibrant, and spiritually vibrant one.
Why did the apostle need to write about this subject? I will tell you the reason and why we need to
discuss it here at the Rural Hall Church: Disunity is constantly a threat
against any and every Christian church.
Even during the seasons when the church is strong and healthy, we must
fight against strife and for unity.
READ Scripture- This is the Word of God
Gospel-Worthy Conduct (27-28)
The
very first phrase of verse 27 is profound.
There is no greater motivation for holy living than the point of this
phrase: “Let your conduct be worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” We do not follow rules and regulations simply
to be “religious.” We pursue godliness
because of the great gift that God has given us—His Son. We have all other blessings because of
Him. We do not pursue holy living to
earned these things—they are already ours.
We want to live lives that are worthy of the graciousness that we have
received.
Paul,
the apostle, is in prison. He hoped to
be released and go back to the churches, including Philippi, but whether he was
able to or not, he wanted to hear that the church was three things related to
unity:
#1
Stand Fast (We should have the same essence, thinking the same things)
In One Spirit
With One Mind/Soul
#2
Striving Together (Not to earn salvation, but to defend the way of salvation,
the true Gospel message. It is almost
too easy—believe and receive—too many people are afraid that they will not be
saved, so they work, work, work. We must
fight against the urge to try to earn salvation.)
For the Faith
Of the Gospel
#3
Not Terrified (You are going to have opponents in the Christian life)
By Adversaries
Them = Sign of Destruction
You = Sign of Salvation
From God
Gifts from God (29-30)
You
have been granted on behalf of Christ:
#1 To Believe in Him
#2 To Suffer for Him
The Philippians were
suffering like Paul (they were Christians)
We
have the opportunity to believe in Christ, that is, for salvation and every
other spiritual blessing. Yet, we also
have been given the opportunity to suffer for the sake of Christ. This is one of the greatest questions of our
day: What do we do with the issue of suffering?
God allows for adversaries. He
grants to His people the opportunity to suffer with, like, and for Christ. Our Savior and Lord was crucified. Paul was beaten, mocked, imprisoned, and
more. While some people believe that
suffering is a sign that God does not exist and even some Christians believe
that suffering is a sign that God is displeased with them, the truth of the
matter is that suffering is a sign that God approves of them. Suffering is an opportunity to be united with
Christ, to be a witness to the Good News of Christ, and to make a Christian
stronger in their faith. Suffering is a
gift of God.
Therefore (1-4)
#1 If
any Consolation/Encouragement in Christ
#2 If
any Comfort of Love
#3 If
any Fellowship of the Spirit
#4 If
any [Deep] Affection and Mercy (compassions)
àFulfill my Joy:
#1 Being like-minded (that you might
be of the same mind)
#2 Having the same love
#3 Being of one accord (united in soul/same
soul/same essence?)
#4 Being of one mind (same thinking)
àLet nothing be done through
selfish ambition or conceit
#5 In lowliness of mind, let each
esteem others better than himself
#6 Let each look out not only
for his own interest, but for others
The
language introduced in v27 of “one spirit/one soul” now becomes an entire
paragraph. It appears to have a poetic
structure; there is a rhythmic consistency, short clauses, and repeated
parallelism. The summary found in this
paragraph reverts back not to the suffering issue, but to the “conduct worthy
of the Gospel of Christ.” Paul exhorts
the Philippians to live worthy of their calling by being united in the midst of
adversity. Out of the suffering
conversation, he flows into the verses filled with encouragement and comfort
that is found in Christ. Then he comes
back to his main point—unity.
Paul
appeals to the Philippian’s common experience of the blessing of comfort in
Christ. This joyous relationship that
they had with Christ came through Paul and was shared with him. Just like they shared the same suffering, they
also shared the same enjoyments. That is
why Paul can then say “fulfill my joy.” His joy which is theirs also comes by “being
like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, [and being] of one
mind.” I think we get the point. Paul says the same thing four times in four
different ways. He wants the Philippians
to be united and so does Christ!
Conclusion and Christian
Application
God
does not expect us to have a low self-esteem, but He does expect us to think
more highly of others. We should look
out for ourselves and our families, but remember that our Christian brothers
and sisters are family too. We must
think about the church. This is the
essence of Christian unity. This is what
Christ wants for His church. This kind
of attitude and effort for unity is the type of conduct that is worthy of the
Gospel of Christ. He bought us with His
own blood, so we ought to live in a way that will reflect His graciousness and
His glory.