We shall now turn to the chapter which we read together, Philippians chapter 1, and our text for this evening is verse 27. Philippians 1 and verse 27. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Christians are to be different. We claim to be born again. Do we live as born-again Christians? If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Are we new creatures? Old things have passed away. Behold, all things are made new. Is that true with us? Have the old things passed? Are we new men, new women in Christ Jesus? We ought to be different. Now this verse says, let your conversation Now we tend to think, modern terms, conversation is the way you speak, but in the old English, conversation was your lifestyle, your conduct. And the word becometh, it's used here in an old-fashioned way too. Becometh means appropriate to. So, putting this into modern English, we would say, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. Well, that's a great verse for us tonight, isn't it? Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, conduct yourself in a way that's worthy of the gospel. in such a way as Christians should live? We claim to be saved. Are we living saved lives? We claim to be pilgrims on the way to heaven. Are we pilgrims? As pilgrims, we're told to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Are we strangers on this earth, pressing on toward heaven? Are we heavenly-minded or earthly-minded? So Paul here is challenging the Philippians. He had a special relationship to them, very loving relationship, but here he says, let your conduct, let your conduct be. appropriate for the gospel, worthy of the gospel, worthy of Christians. So what I'd like to do then tonight is to describe a conduct worthy of a Christian. And I'd like us to to look at 20 brief points which describe the Christian life. I know you won't remember them all, but if you remember one or two, and if one or two stick with you that are relevant to you, that's a blessing. So let's think then about living worthy lives as Christians. And the first point I'd like to make is that if you're going to live as a worthy Christian in this world, you need to fear God. Give God his place. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Have a big idea of God. God's eye upon you, God watching you, aware of you, God holy, just, pure, yes loving and gracious too. So we've got to be reverent. We've got to have an awe before God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom is putting knowledge into practice. So a wise life is a life according to God's Word. And if we're going to be living wise lives, it starts with giving God his place. Give God his place. Live a God-centered life. Think of the description that's given to us of that holy man, Job, in the Old Testament. He was, we're told, a man who feared God and eschewed evil, abstained from evil. So Job, he was a perfect and an upright man, one that feared God. Christians used to be called God-fearers. Not fear in the sense of slavish fear, running away and hiding from God, but fearing God in the sense of honouring Him, worshipping Him, serving Him, living a God-centred life. Does that describe you then? One time you lived a life for yourself and for the world. But now you're God-centred, you're born again. The second thing that I would mention is the importance of righteousness, living a righteous life. Jesus said in his great Sermon on the Mount, accept your righteousness, exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven. So you must be more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees. Now the scribes and the Pharisees boasted of their righteousness. They thought of themselves as very good people. Outwardly, they were very impressive, very much involved with the church of the day and taking a leading role in that church. But they weren't so careful about their hearts. They were hypocrites. I was reading today about hypocrites. It's like a woman wears jewellery so as to be seen, the jewellery to be seen. And the hypocrite wears his righteousness to be seen, to impress others. But that's not real righteousness. Righteousness is from the heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Christ says, he didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfill. If you love me, keep my commandments. So don't be wallowing in sin as you used to do in your unconverted days. Be different, be converted, be new people, hate sin, repent of sin, and be righteous. keeping God's commandments. So that's a second point then, righteousness. A third point is that we've got to be Christ-centered. Paul talks about it here in verse 21. He says, for me to live as Christ. Christ's everything to me. My whole life revolves around Christ. What do I preach? Christ and then crucified, says Paul. The cross is everything to us. Christ crucified in my room and place. I was a sinner on the way to hell till I met Christ. And now all my sins are forgiven. I've got pardon. I've got forgiveness only for the sake of Christ. He loved me and he gave himself for me on that cross. And now I live for him. Can we say Christ is the centre? He's everything to me. My Lord and my God. That's what Thomas said about Christ. My Lord and my God. Faith in the blood. Not faith in ourselves, not faith in our good works, not faith in our church going, not faith in our prayers, or our Bible reading, or things we don't do or things we do do, but faith in the Lamb of God, the great sacrifice that was offered for us. So a Christ-centered life, faith in Christ and Him crucified. A fourth point is moderation. That's very important. Moderation in all things. Not getting carried away with music, or film, or football, or tennis, or rugby, or work, or even your family. It's so easy to be Carried away by all these sort of things. But moderation, restraint. Restraint is very important. Not infatuated with the things of this world. Some people are infatuated with drink. Others with drugs. Others with pornography. Others with gambling. But a Christian is infatuated with Christ. addicted to the Lord Jesus. So moderation in everything that belongs to this world. The Lord is at hand. Soon we're leaving this world. We're going to stand before the judge. The great everlasting eternity stretches before us. Why are we so bothered about the things of this life? It should be so small in comparison to the things of eternity. Moderation. Enjoy God's providence, nothing wrong with that. Enjoy the good things that come our way, yes. Interests in all sorts of things, but moderation. Not getting carried away with things. The big issue in our lives is serving the Lord Jesus. not the things of this world. A fifth point, a distinctive of the real Christian, is joyfulness. Rejoice in the Lord always. Some people think that the best Christians are the ones with the most miserable face and the ones who are always grumbling and controlling and sad and talking away about... how terrible they are and all the rest of it, and they're always so down and depressed. No, rejoice in the Lord. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Let us be joyful Christians. We've got a great God in heaven. He adopted us into his family. We're children of God. Rejoice! We've got a great Lord Jesus Christ, our beloved Saviour. We're betrothed to him, engaged to him. We're looking forward to the wedding day. And we've got the Comforter in our hearts. He's always comforting us. And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, Peace, long-suffering, joy. So joy should be a big thing. We should be happy Christians. Radiant faces. So let's not be going around with sad faces. Be radiant and let the world see that we've got something. Something they don't have. Something wonderful. It's great to be a Christian. You're on the winning side. We're more than conquerors. through him who loved us. A sixth point is to be loving. We're to love God first, of course. We're to love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and strength and mind, loving God. But we're also to love our neighbor as ourself. We're to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another. That shows that you're the people of God, you're loving one another, you're bound together in love. And we're even to love our enemies. Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, pray for them that persecute you and despitefully use you. Be like your Father in heaven, who causes the sun to shine upon the righteous and the wicked, causes this rain to fall upon the just and the unjust. Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect. Be loving, loving and forgiving, forgiving those who hurt you, ready to forgive, ready to pass over, ready to forget, ready to move on, loving. Loving to all, the unloving people. There's something so attractive in a loving person. Let's be loving. The fruit of the Spirit is love. The Spirit's in your heart. You're a Spirit-filled person. You've been baptized with the Spirit. Let love fill your heart. The seventh point is contentment. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Be content with your job, content with your house, content with your home, content with your circumstances, content with your health. Be content. It's great to be content. Don't be covetous of others. That's the 10th commandment. Thou shalt not covet. You're not to be jealous or greedy, but content. Be content. The world around us is very far from content. I want more money. I want more pay. I want more of this and more of that. Why have other people got this and that and I don't have it? Don't let that be the Christian. You're different. Be content. Godliness with contentment is great gain. It's wonderful to be content. Remember my dad. was one of the things I appreciated about him. He would say, I never saw another job I'd rather have than my own. He was a dock labourer. I never saw another house I'd rather have than this house that I'm living in. Everything he seemed to be so content with, the Lord has provided. been specially good to me. Goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. It's great to be content. And the eighth point is long-suffering. Long-suffering. In this world you shall have tribulation. We all have our aches and our pains. We all have problems and difficulties and troubles from time to time. But it's wonderful to see someone who's long-suffering, keeps going, keeps a smile on their face, who knows and believes that all things work together for good. To those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, long-suffering When these disappointments come, when these pains come, when weakness comes, bearing up. God has put that in the cup for me. The God who loves me has put it in the cup for me. I know it's for my good. It must be for my good. Can't but be for my good because God never tells lies. All works together for good. So, let's not be grumbling. moaning and groaning and complaining. I always remember in the first congregation I was in, there was a woman, an old woman there. She professed to be a Christian for some 60 years. She was always grumbling. Grumbling! Remember, her daughter said to me, it's no wonder we're not Christians. There's her mother. See how she grumbles. See how she's always complaining. What has Christianity done for her? Well, maybe she wasn't a Christian. She made that profession, but what a poor witness. Let's not be grumblers, but let's be long-suffering. A ninth point is thankfulness. In everything give thanks. Always thankful. Thankful for the little things. Thankful for a cup of water given to us to refresh us. Thankful for a kind word. Thankful for a kind smile. Always giving thanks. Thankful to God. for his providence, thankful to man for his kindness and his tolerating us with all our faults. Be thankful. It's great to be thankful always. A 10th point is sexual purity. Very important. We live in a very immoral world. Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church has been beset with scandals. But it's not just the Roman Catholic Church. From time to time we hear of evangelicals too. The temptation is there. Watch and pray lest you enter into temptation. Paul said, flee from fornication. Run for your life from it. Be careful. Watch. Don't flirt. Don't play with sin. Treat members of the opposite sex with love and respect. Rejoice in your own marriage, if you are married. and in God's gift of singleness if you are single. But beware of fornication and uncleanness. We've got to be different. We've got to have pure hearts. Turn thou away my sight and eyes from viewing vanity. Then thy good and holy law be pleased to quicken me. Beware of all pornography, all filthiness, all Impropriety. Sexual purity. And the eleventh point is prayerfulness and faith. Faith and prayer going together. Whatever troubles come, whatever difficulties, whatever challenges, pray about it. Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come to the Lord with it. Be careful, be anxious for nothing but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Be a prayerful person, always praying, praying in secret, Somebody that others can recognize. You know the Lord. You're a praying man, a praying woman. You have that relationship with the Lord. Talking to Him. Like Enoch, he walked with God. What did that mean? He walked along the road talking to God. It was as if his hand was in God's hand. Let us have that kind of relationship, always talking, talking to the Lord, full of faith and prayer, trusting, casting our burdens upon the Lord. Twelfth point. Be helpful and caring. Be looking out for others. Look for opportunities to help, to encourage, to comfort, to support. We're to love one another and love is practical. It's not just a sort of warm, fuzzy feeling. If we really love, We do, we care, we share. Be helpful, be caring. Don't be selfish. Don't be asking all the time for people to be doing things for you. But what can I do for others? How can I serve the church? How can I serve my neighbours? How can I be more helpful in the family? There's so much we can be doing. And we shouldn't be selfish, but helpful and caring, doing what we can. Thirteen, be humble. Be the opposite of arrogant, proud, showing off, boasting, looking around for praise, thinking you're something great. What are we? Worms. Worms of the dust. Sinners against God, the best of us. Hail to serving. But God had mercy on us. And God has exalted us. But no glory to us. It's all God did it. Jesus died for me. The Spirit has come to live in my heart. God did it all. All glory to God. Paul said, prefer others rather than yourself. Think of the good points of others. And instead of measuring yourself favorably with others, measure others favorably with you. Think more highly of them. when you think of yourself. God hates pride, and there's nothing so horrible as the show-off. Let us be real Christians, humble. Fourteen, be different in your speech. Be careful what you say. Be kind. Don't be a gossip. Don't be backbiting. Don't be slandering. Don't swear, don't use bad language, bad tempered language. But be someone who's restrained in speech. Someone who's honest. Don't tell lies. Make your word be your bond. so that people think of you as somebody they can really trust. You say it and you do it. You carry it out. What you say, what you promise, you do. Your speech is different. Let your speech, as Christ said, be always seasoned with salt, something of a sprinkling of the salt of heaven about your speech, so that you're different. You don't speak like the world, you speak differently. God has converted your tongue as well as your heart. Different speech. And then, be a witness. 15. Be a witness. Never be ashamed to stand up for God. Speak a word for the Saviour whenever you can. Look out for opportunities to challenge sinners. Lovingly point men and women to Christ. Witness for the Lord. You are the light of the world. When Christ said that, he was saying to his disciples, if you're not witnessing, this world will be in darkness. You're the light and there's no other light. You are the light and partake. Are you shining? Are you shining on your street? Are you shining amongst your friends and neighbors in your workplace? The Lord will light my candle so that it shall shine full bright. Has that happened? Are you shining or are you hiding your light? So, let's witness for the Lord. 16. Love your Bible. Love your Bible, love the church, love the means of grace, be hungry for the truth, feed on God's word, search the scriptures. These are they that That's where you find eternal life, in the scriptures. That's how you get to know God more and more, and Jesus Christ, and what the will of God is, what we should believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man. Love the Bible. Be reading it every day, meditating upon it, reading books about it, talking about it, coming to church as often as you can to hear God's word expounded. Love the Bible and the church. 17. Be enthusiastic for Christ and his Church and the Gospel. Don't be a half-hearted Christian. Don't be just tagging along. But be enthusiastic, excited. It's great to be a Christian. And let that show forth. Our brother in his prayer was quoting these words, I joyed when to the house of God, go up they said to me, you come to church and you're coming joyfully, this is great, this is the best time in the week, we're coming together to worship God. There's nothing so wonderful as worshipping God, be enthusiastic, be joyful, be for Christ, not half-hearted, but excited. 18, be optimistic. Don't be despairing. Be optimistic. God reigns. Things might look dark, and maybe things are getting worse and worse, but no, things are actually getting better and better all the time. God's working out his purposes. He's opening out his plan. He's gathering in his elect. He's saving his people. He's sanctifying his church. Everything is working towards a climax. the second coming of Christ, the glory of the Lamb of God, and all heaven and earth, angels and saints singing the praises of the Savior. So let's be optimistic, not despairing. 19, be holy, be godly, be heavenly. Don't be earthly, sensual, devilish. Be ye holy, for I am holy. Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord. Be positively holy, striving after holiness. Christians in the New Testament were called saints, sanctified ones. Be a saint. Be beautiful with the beauty of holiness. And one final point. Look forward to heaven. Set your heart upon heaven. Paul says here, he says, for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. I live for Christ. My death is going to be gain. And then he says, verse 23, for I'm in a straight betwixt two. Difficult place. I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. But I have to remain in the flesh because you need me at this time, you Philippians. So you see how he's pulled in two directions. But his great desire was to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Absent from the body, present with the Lord. Looking forward to heaven. Are you heavenly minded? So then friends, 20 points. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Let your conduct be as is appropriate for the Christian gospel and Christ. He saved you. Be different. Be new men and new women. Be God's men and God's women. Be Christ-centered. Be heavenly-minded. Let us pray.