Well, we, as I said, are back in Philippians, and it's been a little bit. So let me help dust off the cobwebs and get you back to speed. Let me give you a quick refresher in where we've been thus far in the book of Philippians, only in chapter one. Verses one to 11, two key words that summarize that section, partnership and perfection. Partnership and perfection. Paul says, I am joyful that you are partnering me with me Philippians in the gospel. I'm joyful that you are working with me in this ministry for Christ. And I'm praying for you. I am praying for your spiritual protection, namely, rather your perfection, namely that you will be mature in your faith, that he will complete in you anything that is lacking, So that you will be all that you're meant to be as a saint. That brings us to verses 12 to 18. Two key words are progress and proclamation. Progress and proclamation. Paul says, Dear Philippians, even though I'm a prisoner in Rome, the gospel is progressing. The gospel is advancing even now. And many more are proclaiming the gospel than they used to. Some, to be sure, do it out of envy because they don't like me. But others do it for the right motive. In any case, what makes me joyful is that Christ is being proclaimed. That brings us to verses 19 to 26, passion and preference. Those are the two key words for verses 19 to 26, passion and preference. Paul says, listen, if you wanna know what my passion in life is, it is to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ. To live is Christ, to die is gain. Whether I live, whether I die, I wanna make Christ look good. You wanna know my preference? I prefer to go home and be with Christ. I prefer that He just take me right now. But if He wants me to stay and help you mature in the faith, I will do that. And that brings us to our passage, Philippians 1, 27 to 30. And here, Paul does something of an about face. He shifts from talking about him to talking about them. It's kind of like he leans across the table and utters those words that all of us secretly hope to hear. Enough about me. Let's talk about you. And as Paul begins to talk about them, his pastor's heart comes bleeding through the page. Look at verse 27 again. 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. Listen, Philippian church, I have no assurance that I will in fact see you again. But what matters more than me seeing you again, what is of ultimate and chief importance, is that you walk worthy. Is that you, your words and your deeds match the glories of the gospel you profess. And as your pastor, even though I'm absent, I dearly wanna know that you are walking in the worthy way. That's why he uses the word only to signify chief importance. And what is of chief importance is that they, verse 27, let your manner of life be worthy. I'm just going to stop there for a moment. Verb translated, let your manner of life. You could also render that live as a citizen. Well, that sounds a little bit strange for us. What do you mean, live as a citizen? Well, that doesn't sound strange to Philippians. They know precisely what Paul means. See, Philippi was a Roman colony, which meant they enjoyed Roman citizenship. They enjoyed the privileges of Rome, the protection of Rome, the culture of Rome, the dress of Rome, the language of Rome. They were Roman citizens, and by golly, they're proud of that. We are Romans. And so Paul says, yes, you are, but you are more than just Romans. You see, you're a citizen of another kingdom. Which kingdom is that, you say? Well, Paul says it in Philippians 3.20, but our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And in effect, he's saying, Philippians, your citizenship is not below, it's above. You have a greater, a higher, a more wonderful citizenship. Lift your gaze above, there you have a greater land. There you have a greater law. There you have a greater Lord. And he sits not in Rome, he sits in heaven. You are a citizen of heaven. So you must represent the interests of that king and that kingdom. That's why it is so imperative that you let your manner of life be worthy. And in order to summon them to the highest level of conduct, he qualifies the manner in which they are to live. They are meant to live worthy of the gospel of Christ. Which is to say, your profession and your walk ought to be equivalent. The glories of the gospel you preach ought to be matched only by the righteousness of the lives that you live. My Philippian believers. Let me pause for a moment, because Paul is introduced for the fifth time in this short chapter, the fifth time he's mentioned the gospel. So let's just make sure we understand what he's talking about when Paul talks about the gospel of Christ. The gospel is the best news you've ever heard in your life. It is the news that our righteous God sent his sinless son to die on a cross for sorry sinners so that wonder of wonders, they will repent and believe. He will wash away their sins and he will clothe them with the very righteousness of Jesus Christ. That is the gospel of Christ. Have you ever heard better news than the gospel of Christ? That's all the motivation we need right there to live worthy. But what we may lack is the instruction. How do we walk worthy? And Paul provides the instructions for the worthy walk in the form of three exhortations to the church. Three bold exhortations to the church. Exhortation number one, stand together. Exhortation number two, strive together. Exhortation number three, suffer together. Redeemer, I would ask you, do you desire in your heart, chief above all, to live worthy of the gospel? Do you want to live as citizens of heaven on earth? Then here are your marching orders. The first step down the road to the worthy walk is to stand together. To stand together. Verse 27, Paul says, He wants to hear that they are standing firm in one spirit. Well, stand firm simply means hold your ground. The imagery is that of a soldier. He has been assigned to his post by his commanding officer. And now he is unswervingly, unrelentingly, unyieldingly going to maintain his position even if the enemy approaches. No matter how fierce the battle becomes, this soldier will hold his ground. He will not turn tail and run. He's gonna hold his ground. That's what it means to stand firm. And Paul says to the Philippians and by extension to us, stand together as a unified body. And that idea of unity is built in there, in the phrase, in one spirit. And Paul is saying, listen, unity is here, is key here. We ought to have a common cause as Christians, a common purpose and pursuit as Christians. We are to be unified, not fragmented, unified. And we are to be unified in standing together. We are a platoon of soldiers. It's no longer one, it's many. We're a platoon of soldiers. We've been assigned to a remote outpost, but now the enemy is coming. And the onslaught is coming. The attack is advancing. And what are we to do? We are to hold our ground as a unit. Stand firm. Stand together. And you may wonder, what does it look like to stand together? What did Paul have in mind for the Philippians when he says, stand together? Looks like standing together in the gospel. Galatians 5.1, for freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore, same word, stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. So one way we stand together is we stand together in the gospel. That means no compromise, no capitulation, no retreat from the bold truths of the gospel. The gospel was under attack in Galatia. It was under attack in Philippi. The gospel is under attack in our country as well. Maybe you've heard of the Thomas Jefferson Bible. He took a razor to the four gospel accounts and everything that had the sniff of the supernatural, everything with a whiff of miraculous, he just cut right out of his Bible. And his thinking was, if I remove this material, it will be easier for the people to believe. And the spirit of Thomas Jefferson pervades our land because many run around with gospel shears and they are snip, snip, snipping away at the gospel. Does the notion that you're a sinner offend you? Fear not. I can just cut that out of the gospel. Now you're no longer a sinner in need of a savior. You're a good person on his way to heaven. Does the notion of a God of perfect justice and wrath offend your sensibilities? If you're not little one, I can banish him with a word. I'll just cut him right out of the gospel and no longer Does the gospel have anything to do with punishment? It is only good news for all mankind, and we will all be in heaven together. See, the gospel has been compromised, and redefined, and readjusted, and softened. And Paul says, no. No, church. You stand together in the gospel. Don't budge an inch. Standing together also looks like standing together in sound doctrine. Also from Paul, 2 Thessalonians 2.15, so then brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter. In other words, don't you compromise on sound doctrine. Don't you compromise on sound doctrine. We live in a culture that says science is chief and the Bible does not agree with science. So Genesis 1 clearly was not talking about a real creation account. And so some in the church say, of course. Of course, yeah, it must be a myth. It's legend, it's poetry, but it's not literal history, don't worry. Or the culture is offended because Christians say, no, no, this book, that's the only inspired revelation by God. It's inspired, it's infallible, it's inerrant, and it is authoritative. Then the culture says, no, we don't accept that. And so some in the church says, okay, I'll step back. Maybe it was just written by men. Maybe it just has some beautiful ideals in it, but it's not divine, and your book is as good as our book. And so sound doctrine, left and right, is being compromised. And Paul says, no. Stand together in sound doctrine. Church, if we are to walk worthy, it must include standing together in the gospel and in sound doctrine. And we must be unyielding there. We must refuse to budge even an inch. So when the enemy approaches, and they will. And when the attacks commence, and they will. then we as a church will link arms, and we will grip our swords, and clutch our shields, and we will dig our heels into the dirt, and we will say, no further back do we go. We hold the line here, and it stops with this line of truth. We will not go backwards. We will stand together. That is the first essential step in the worthy walk. We stand together. The second critical step down the path of the worthy walk is to strive together. We strive together. Look at the latter half of verse 27. With one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. Again, let me just point out Paul's emphasis on unity. With one mind. As if he were saying, we are believers, are we not? We have a common heart and soul, a common purpose, pursuit and passion, and it is Christ, it is his revelation. So we will work together and we will strive side by side. With that metaphor, Paul takes us out of the battlefield and we walk into the sports arena. Because the phrase strive side by side comes from a verb in Greek that has to do with an athletic team. Actually in English, our word athletics derives from that very word. So Paul is portraying an athletic team and they are endeavoring to win the match and to have an opponent they must overcome. And Paul says we must strive side by side. And you may ask, well, what are we striving for? Well, Paul says we are striving for, the end of verse 27, the faith of the gospel. And that phrase, the faith of the gospel, that's what Jude meant in Jude 3 when he says, the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. In other words, this is the body of divine truth. And the capstone of that would be the gospel. And Paul says, we strive side by side for this. But practically speaking, practically speaking, what does it look like to strive side by side for the faith of the gospel? Although there are many expressions of that, the chief and dominant expression is proclaiming the gospel. It is proclaiming the gospel. Is that not our mission in Mandate Church? Right, Matthew 28, at the very end, Jesus is on the mountain with his disciples, and he says, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And we are to proclaim the gospel. Every one of us bears that on our shoulders, that beautiful privileged responsibility. Have you ever wondered when God saved me, why didn't he just take me right to heaven? He saved me. I'm going there. Why do I have to tarry here? Well, Paul gives you the answer in Second Corinthians 520. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. And what that means is every one of us who's a believer in this room, every one of us is an agent of the King, empowered by his authority, invested with his authority, entrusted with his message, and we are to go out into the world, here, there, and everywhere, and proclaim the good news that a holy God is reconciling sinful man to himself. And we proclaim that message. And just think about what a privilege it is that you as a Christian can bear that gospel message. You can tell men of the Savior, of our champion of the faith, Jesus Christ, the one who was the cross bearer, the sin crusher, the Satan stomper, death defeater, life giver, throne sitter, Jesus Christ. We proclaim him and we go all out into the world and do this. Even last night, some of my friends from the gathering, right after the four o'clock service, they went to downtown Gilbert and they preached Christ. My younger sister is two years younger than me. I could probably say she's my best friend. She's right now in Paris, France. She's been in France for six years. It's kind of hard to maintain that close relationship when she's in France. And I might say, sis, why are you going to go to France? Because I'm going to miss you. Well, she went to France and left her home, left her friends, left me and her five other siblings to preach the gospel to a country swimming in a sea of secular rot. I've got another brother who's two years older than me. In January, he moved his family to Cali, Colombia, his precious wife and his five children. And now they're in Cali, Colombia. And you might say, why would you transplant your family, uproot your children to a foreign country, foreign culture, foreign language? Why would you do that, dad? And he would tell you. because I'm persuaded that I must proclaim the gospel of Christ to a country groping in spiritual darkness. And that is a beautiful reality that we can proclaim the gospel as we strive side by side. We are hand-picked members of Christ's team, and we are striving together for the victory. Because we want to win him glory and honor. But victory can often get lost. Let me tell you how we can lose that game. We lose that game when we forget that we're striving for something. And we start striving against each other. This happens in churches all the time. You ever heard of a church split? There's disunity in churches everywhere. And somebody says something to me and I don't like it, and you offended me. And so now I'm gonna avoid you at church. We're in the same Bible study, see you later, I'm going to a different one. We go to the 1155, no longer, I come to Saturday services, because I'm trying to avoid you. Because you offended me and I'm mad at you. And now I've got a grudge against you. And now I don't wanna talk to you, but I wanna talk about you. And it's called gossip and slander. And that is ripping the church apart, not this church, but churches. And when we do that, the wheels of the gospel get stuck in the mud of petty squabbles. But it doesn't have to be that way. We could instead be quick to forgive, quick to show mercy, quick to love, quick to be patient, quick to bear your burdens, even if you offend me, because you're my teammate, and I need you, and we're looking to win honor for Christ. It's not about me, it's not about you. So we have a victory to obtain here and we've got an opponent to overcome. And that's where Paul takes his thought in verse 28. We have opponents. Don't be frightened in anything by your opponents. Of course, we have opponents. Jesus promised in John 15, 20, Remember the word that I said to you? A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. The Philippians had opposition in their lives. It looked like, in part, unbelieving Gentiles. Maybe even the same Gentiles who opposed Paul when he was in Philippi in Acts chapter 16. But it very likely was also unbelieving Jews. Paul calls them Judaizers. In chapter 3 of Philippians, he says they are dogs, evildoers, and those who mutilate the flesh. Because they were Jewish legalists who were importing another insidious gospel that says if you are to be saved, you must also follow the law of Moses. And they added stipulations to the gospel. So the Philippians had opposition that they had to strive side by side in order to overcome. And so, by the way, do we do we not face opposition, church? Every Mormon ward whose steeple thrust up into the sky is a symbol of demonic opposition to the gospel of Christ. Every Catholic church, every kingdom's hall of Jehovah's Witness is a bastion of opposition to the gospel of Christ. Mind you, they are not our enemies, they are our mission field. But make no mistake, they are enemies of the gospel. We have opposition. And Paul says we must strive side by side together if we are to overcome and win glory for Christ. But don't be alarmed by your opponents, Paul said. He said, don't be frightened in anything by your opponents. And that word frightened is interesting word. That's the only occasion in the whole New Testament where it appears. In classical Greek literature, what it described was a horse that got startled and spooked and stampeded. It's a bolting horse, you could say. Any of you guys ever been stuck on a bolting horse? Yeah, let me tell you about the one time in my life I got caught on a bolting horse. Well, I am from Arkansas, And even though I may look like a hillbilly, I'm more of a city slicker. But my brother's got horses. So I changed my city slicker clothes for some hillbilly clothes and we rode those horses. And I didn't have proper training. But it's pretty easy, just get on the saddle and you go, right? You hold the reins. Don't let the horse master you. Except something spooked my horse. And when I was probably not properly seated on my saddle, That horse bolted. And I almost pitched right over his head, toppled, I'm sure would have done a wonderful somersault, but I didn't. Because as I fell off that horse, I just grabbed the only thing I could see, which was his ginormous neck. And I was gripping this horse's neck as he was racing down the grass. And I can promise you, I looked not noble nor dignified. I was a desperate man. And after a while that horse realized he'd had enough fun with me and he slowed down. So I will personally attest to you, you do not want to be on a bolting horse. And Paul would say to you, you don't want to be the bolting horse. Don't you get spooked by the opposition and stampede away. Don't you race off. Do you know what it would look like to bolt, to be frightened by your opposition? It doesn't have to mean you apostatize from the gospel and you abandon the faith. No, no, no. There are subtler forms of bolting. Let's roll back the calendar. It's not July, it's June. It's Pride Month. You work at a big firm, large corporation. You're new at the firm. HR representative comes up, she's got a bag of rainbow buttons and pins, the kinds you put on your shirt. And she says, hey, all of the employees are required to wear this pin as we stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ movement. And she gives you that pin and that button, and you dutifully put it right here on your chest. And inwardly, you're caving. It doesn't have to look like apostasy to bolt. But maybe it looks like this. You're a mom in a new neighborhood. You take your little kiddos to the park. They're playing on the swing set. And you're chatting with the other moms who were there. You're making friends. And then one of the ladies starts talking about Roe v. Wade. And then she says, I don't like Christians. They're trying to take away my right to control my body. I don't like Christians. And the other women nod in eager agreement. And then all eyes look at you. And what do you do? Who wants to be ostracized in your own neighborhood? And so in a moment of panic, you say, yeah, I don't like them either. And inwardly, you are shrinking. That's what it can look like to bolt. But Paul says you don't have to. In fact, in no way should you be frightened by your opponents. And the reason why comes in verse 28. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. Which the basic idea is this, listen church, as those opponents of the gospel persecute you, as they mark their doom as enemies of the gospel, they will have their day in God's court and he will vanquish them. They will have eternal destruction awaiting. And that is a sobering, sobering thought. But the good news is, he says, as you, persist in endurance. You endure to the end. You refuse to cower and flee. As you endure, you are validating and verifying the veracity of your Christian faith. And what you are is ensuring your salvation, not because of what you do, but because you're proving that you're truly saved. And salvation awaits you. And that from God. So if we are to walk worthy church, It's not enough to stand together. We must also strive together, and we do it with fearless faith. There's one other exhortation Paul has for us in this passage. The worthy walk looks like standing together, striving together, and then lastly, it looks like suffering together. And that's not happy news to our ears. But the reality of it is, if you want to walk worthy, that is an essential ingredient. You cannot bake this cake without it. Paul says in verse 29, 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. So if you want to walk worthy, you must be prepared to suffer together. And Paul wants to orient our understanding of suffering. So he says, it has been granted to you, which is a verb that has the same root as the word grace in the New Testament, which means you could almost think of it as it has been granted to you, grace to you, as a gift to you to believe and to suffer. And we'd love it if he stopped after the first part to believe. Because all of us would say, I affirm that. I affirm that faith is a gracious gift of God. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you've been saved through faith, and that is not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast, I will plant my stake there, I will preach that gospel, I am all with you, pastor. Believing is a gift, and you're right. But that's not Paul's emphasis here. And I know that because he appends after suffering. He says, for his sake, which tells us that his emphasis is not just the believing, it's actually predominantly the suffering. And so Paul is being exquisitely clear that suffering is actually the gift he's thinking of. Yes, believing, but principally suffering. And if that sounds weird to you, it sounded weird to them too, because no Philippian wanted to suffer. For that matter, no Greek wanted to suffer. Suffering in the Greek mind was something you overcome, not something you embrace. And to suffer on account of the gods, as if it were noble or glorious, no Greek would ever affirm that. And in many ways, we're still thinking the same way. Nobody wants the gift of suffering. How many of you this morning, as you had your personal devotions to the Lord, you were praying and you said, oh Lord, would you increase my suffering? Not one of you probably said that. Because nobody wants suffering. And the suffering Paul has in mind, by the way, is not suffering in and of itself as if suffering is virtuous. He's not talking about suffering for sin as if that was virtuous. No, he says, suffer and look at it for his sake, which qualifies it and it tells you this is a righteous suffering for a righteous Savior. That is noble, that is the gift, that you could suffer for the Savior. There's no glory in suffering for your own misdeeds. But Paul knows that suffering is actually a gift. Because Jesus said it was. Matthew 5, 11, and 12. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. What Paul knows is what Jesus knew is that suffering for the right cause has immense spiritual value, immense spiritual value. Paul knew more than anybody perhaps the sweetness inside the bitterness of suffering. He suffered so much. He says in verse 30, Philippians, you know that I suffered in the past and you know I'm still going through it now. And now you're sharing in it with me. And so Paul wants you to know very much, church, just as he wanted the Philippians to know that suffering is a gift. And though you should not seek it out, you should not go seek to suffer. You should know that when it comes, it comes to you from the hand of a good and gracious master. And in case you need to be persuaded, let me give you five reasons why suffering is a gift. Number one, suffering purifies the believer and energizes obedience. Psalm 119.67, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Number two, suffering produces the sweet fruit of assurance of salvation. 1 Peter 1, 6, and 7, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, and get this, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Number three, suffering propels the gospel forward. Philippians 1.12, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me, a.k.a. my imprisonment, has really served to advance the gospel. Number four, suffering assures us of the personal presence of the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 4.14, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. And number five, so good if it wasn't in scripture, we wouldn't believe it. Suffering stores up riches for us in heaven. 2 Corinthians 4, 17, from the lips of a man who suffered more than any of us combined will ever suffer. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Church, do you need help understanding that suffering, far from being a curse, is actually a divine gift? I know that you shouldn't go looking for suffering, I'm not asking you to, but what I am saying is, when it comes, and it will. When it comes, receive it gladly, because you know it is a gift of God designed to benefit and bless you. We are called church to suffer together. And as the winds of political favor shift and turn hostile to Christians, as we become increasingly marginalized and minimized in society. And as venomous opposition to the gospel arises, you should be prepared for suffering. When the next health crisis arises, and the CDC shows up on our doorstep, and they say, for public safety, this church can no longer meet. Let's meet anyways, and let's pay the fines together, and let's suffer together. And when we're proclaiming the gospel, and in love, we look at someone who's homosexual or lesbian or transgender in the eyes, and in love, we say to them, you must repent of your sins. You must repent lest you faith the wrath of God. I plead with you, repent. And when the police hear that, and they arrest you for hate speech, and they throw you in a jail cell, then let's suffer together, and let's start a jail ministry. The voice of the church never sounds forth so cleanly and clearly. The light of the church never shines forth so brightly or beautifully as when we suffer together for his sake, for his sake. We are called to walk worthy. And we do that by standing together. We do that by striving together. We do that by suffering together. And we do it all for His sake. Let's pray. Empower us, Father, to do that which would otherwise be impossible. We want to walk worthy. We want to please you, we want to honor you, but we need your help because we are weak. All of us are weak and we need your help to walk worthy. So won't you through the indwelling spirit, empower us, equip us to walk worthy for the glory and honor of Jesus Christ, amen.