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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends… hey, it’s the weekend!
Dawn and I are in northern Wisconsin this weekend and it’s chilly… no, it’s downright COLD up here!
We’re attending a retreat for Pastors & wives and I have the privilege of leading these folks, in a spiritual refreshment weekend of time in God’s Word, prayer, and reflection. I’d be grateful for your prayers that God would meet with all of us, in a very special way. Pastors need refreshment too, did you know that?
This weekend, in our “Walking with Jesus” journey, we’re looking at the end of Philippians 1. Did you know that when the Holy Spirit first led Paul to write this letter, from his prison confinement in Rome, it was a letter, not a book. And when you and I write a letter we don’t have chapters and verses do we…we just write. So Paul’s letter did not have 4 chapters and 104 verses… it was a letter. These chapter and verse divisions were added centuries later, to help people when they were discussing it, so they could easily find a particular passage. So today, we may finish ‘chapter 1’ and just go right on in to ‘chapter 2’.
Look with me at chapter 1 vs 27 “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.”
I think these words could be spoken by parents, as they drop off their College freshman for his or her first few days, away from home at College. Or perhaps by family, who send off their new military recruit to serve their country. Or it could be spoken by a family to a parent, who drives off for several days away, as their job takes them on the road. Or finally, it could be spoken by retirees, moving away from family, heading off to live in a warm place like Arizona or Florida, for their retirement years.
Do you notice Paul wrote almost the same thing to his friends in Ephesus… “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received…” (Eph. 4:1) And Paul also wrote to the Colossian Christians “Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” (Col.3:1-3)
So, my friends, what’s the common theme here?
Could we write two words over these statements… EXPECTATION and COMMISSION? In all three letters, to three distinctively different cities, Paul was challenging the Christians there, to live in a manner WORTHY of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which was their common experience.
These people had trusted Jesus Christ to be their Savior and therefore, they were people who had been changed by Jesus. They were forgiven of their sin by God; they had the Holy Spirit of God living in them, guiding them; they had an appetite for the Word of God, and as they allowed it to permeate their minds, God’s truth was changing them …so Paul was telling them he was expecting, that reports would come to him, that these people were living as Jesus had commissioned them to live… His Ambassadors. (2 Cor. 5:20)
People who represented God in their community, their families, their work places, their schools… Everywhere they lived life, they would live like Jesus! So… let’s ask the question of ourselves. What reputations do we each have? Are we living life like Jesus did? As people eavesdrop on our conversations, do we sound like Jesus when we talk? As people watch us doing our jobs at work, are working as Jesus would? As people watch us in everything we do in life… is it the way Jesus would do it? Is it honoring God in all things, at all times?
You see my friends, ‘walking worthy of the Gospel of Christ’ means, living life in a manner that says YES, the horrible price Jesus paid for our salvation was worth it, because, the result in our transformation is so remarkable, and the people we are becoming are so God honoring! Consider it this way… listen to Psalm 33 “From heaven, the LORD looks down and sees all mankind; from His dwelling place He watches all who live on earth. He who forms the hearts of all, considers everything they do. The eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.”
And in 2 Chronicles 16:9 God says “The eyes of the LORD roam to and fro, across the whole earth. looking to strengthen those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.” So do we see, my friends, that Paul is saying… IF the Gospel of Jesus Christ is really alive and well in us, our lives should be noticeably, distinctively, different from the norm. We should sound like Jesus, even look like Jesus, in every way that we live life, and that should make a big difference, where-ever each of us lives life. And up in heaven, God should be smiling as He watches the profound difference the Holy Spirit is making in our lives as we live more and more under His influence and guidance. Do I hear amen??
Now one more thing in what Paul wrote at the end of Philippians 1. Do you see the phrase “…contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you.”? Do you see Paul is building on what he wrote to the Ephesians… there will always be opposition to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, everywhere in the world. Why? Because of 1 John 5:19 “The whole world is under the control of the evil one…”
No matter where you or I live, no matter what school our kids or grandkids attend, no matter where we shop, or what doctors we have, every part of our society is corrupted by the darkness. As a result, this powerful statement is for us… Jesus said “I am the light of the world, whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness.” (John 8:12) And then He said to His followers “You are the light of the world…let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise God, your Father in heaven.” (Matt. 5:14,16)
Ah… now we get it don’t we? As we ‘walk worthy of the Gospel’ we are shining the light of Jesus into the darkness of the world. But the darkness pushes back, and thus Paul says, ‘contend for the faith’. Stand for what is right and true. Be the light in the darkness. Be the hope in every situation… bring Jesus there! I wonder if you’d agree, that of all things we could teach our kids or grandkids, this is paramount? That they too, can bring Jesus into every conversation, every classroom, every social group, every workplace, every home, every family, every relationship…. and there, Jesus WILL make a difference!
Do you see Paul concludes chapter 1 by talking about the privilege Christians have of suffering on behalf of Jesus? What? The PRIVILEGE of Suffering? I wonder what your philosophy of suffering is?
Have you learned in the journey of your life, that suffering can actually be very helpful?
Athletes understand the value of the suffering in athletic training as they attain their physical goals.
Students understand the value of suffering in study as they achieve their degrees.
Soldiers understand the value of suffering in battle as they win the victory.
Parents understand the value of suffering in parenting, as they watch their children make wise decisions they learned from their parents.
Christians understand the value of suffering as we watch our faith grow trusting God in painful, difficult circumstances. Christians also see the value of their suffering as others are drawn to God as they watch Christians suffer with integrity and God honoring humility and even forgiveness.
Friends, have you yet developed a personal philosophy of the benefits of suffering? An even deeper question… have you developed a “theology of Suffering”? By that I mean… have you developed an understanding of what God accomplishes in the suffering of His people?
In closing may I share one or two things I’ve learned in suffering?
1. My prayer life intensifies and gets very serious when I’m suffering. God and I have long, extended, frequent and sometimes very emotional conversations when I’m suffering.
2. My hunger to dig deeply into God’s Word to find out what God says about my situation or how other people faced times like this, really increases, when I’m suffering.
3. My faith in God grows, really grows, when I’m suffering.
4. My understanding of Jesus’ suffering grows, as I suffer.
5. And finally… when God delivers me in my suffering, my understanding of God, and my profound respect for His majesty really grows. And that normally results in glorious praise and worship flowing from me, to God, as my suffering wanes and ends.
Now how about you my friends? Oh what a great first chapter of Philippians, do you agree? It has positioned us well for some really amazing things the Holy Spirit led Paul to write in chapter 2, which we’ll see tomorrow. For now… a few questions to ponder:
1. What reputation is Jesus receiving through the way you and I are living life as followers of Jesus? What could improve in this matter of “walking worthy of the Gospel” in our lives?
2. How do you and I find ourselves “contending” for the faith of the Gospel?
3. What about this matter of a philosophy of Suffering? We all know the older we get the more suffering we will face… so, what great lessons could you and I learn… about God, about ourselves, about growing our relationship with God, even about helping others know God… as we suffer?
Oh Lord Jesus, we thank you for this great first chapter of Philippians… oh help us grow more and more into the men and women who really are walking worthy of Your Gospel!
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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