It's good that we sang that song this morning and it talks about us dwelling in his house. We're going to talk about that just a little bit, but turn to Philippians, please. Chapter one, our text is verses twenty seven through. Chapter two and verse four, principally, we will be looking at the one verse in verse twenty seven that says only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel. This word conversation, by the way, doesn't mean just to talk. Most of the time when we say conversation, we're thinking of verbally talking to one another. It does include the idea of talking, but it means our behavior. It refers to our talk and our walk. It is the whole course of our life that is being spoken of. The word conversation comes from the Greek word meaning citizenship. And the idea is that if we are citizens of a certain city and enjoying the various privileges and benefits of that city, then we are to live according to the rules and regulations of that city. If you live in the city of Memphis, and most of you do, there is a certain standard of conduct that you are expected to live up to. And if you don't live up to that standard, they may lock you up. and take your privileges away. As Christians, we are citizens of another city. It is a wonderful city. It is a city with foundations, the Bible says. That is, it is a permanent city. It is a great walled city. It is a city where only the saints are allowed to enter in. Only those who have been saved and changed by the grace of God live in this city. It is a city with great and awesome benefits. There are golden streets, if you can imagine such a thing. Structures are made with precious jewels. A river of crystal clear water runs through the middle of the city. Great and prominent people live there. Hebrews chapter 11 tells us of many who live in this city. Abel, who offered a better sacrifice, lives there. Enoch, who was translated, lives there. Noah, who prepared an ark, lives there. Abraham, who obeyed God when he was called out to a new country, lives there. Isaac and Jacob live there. This great city is the home of Sarah, Abraham's wife. Joseph, who was thrown in a dungeon in Egypt, is a citizen there. Moses, who chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, is there. Joshua fought the battle of Jericho, and he is there. Rahab hung a scarlet thread out of her window, and she became a citizen of this city. Many other prominent people live in this city. There is Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah of the Judges period. King David has a place in this city. Samuel is there. The prophets of God have their citizenship there. Many, many martyrs have their citizenship there. Some of these were stoned. Some were sawn asunder, the Bible says. Many were slain. with the sword. And so you see that the population of this city is a veritable who's who of the Christian faith. But there are also many there of whom we have never heard. Hebrews puts it like this. Many were destitute, afflicted and tormented. Many wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. And by faith, they are citizens. of this great city. Most Christians serve Christ in relative obscurity. They are not wealthy nor famous among men, but they are famous in the eyes of God and they have a place there. I am hoping that there will even be a few preachers there by the grace of God. But this great city is great for another reason. It is the place where God resides. When you come to this city, Hebrews says, you are come unto Mount Sion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And this city is the place where our Savior, Jesus Christ, resides forevermore in His resurrected human body. We will see Him and touch Him and talk to Him there. And we will be citizens with Him. in this great city. Now, one of the great things about this city is that the wicked will be excluded from there. Won't it be nice when the tares are separated out from the wheat, when the blasphemers are removed from the worshipers of God? The wicked will have their own place, but they will not enter the gates of this great city. Take a look at 1 Corinthians 6, if you will. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 through 11. And there it says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God." That has some of us worried there. But look at the next statement. It says, and such were some of you, but ye are washed. But ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God." That's 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 through 11. This city has walls to keep the wicked out. Angels ceremonially guard the gates. And this city is reserved for all those who have been made righteous. by the blood of Jesus Christ, there will be no unwashed souls there, no hypocrites, no mere professors, only the regenerate will live in this city. Brother Dana, stand up just a second. I didn't tell him I was going to do this, but reach in your right pocket and see what you have in your right pocket. Anything? Nothing. All right. What about your left pocket? Bring them out, let me see them. Shake them around. Keys. How do I know that? Go ahead and be seated. Keys. Keys are evidence that we live in a fallen world. Have you ever thought about that? You have to have keys in this world because you have to lock everything, don't you, Brother Dana? If you don't lock it, then soon it will be gone. Now you won't need keys in your pocket there for no one will steal from you. You will walk the streets safely there for no one will harm you. There is no bad news there like there is here. The evening report will be nothing but pleasantness and goodness there. No more tears, no more sorrow. No more regret. All the news is nothing but good continually in this city. Now, when you turn on the news in that day, it may sound something like like this. Once again, there is no night here. The whole city is lit continually by the light of Jesus Christ. The weather is absolutely beautiful, just as it has been every day for the last thousand years. There are no crimes to report today. There are no accidents and no injuries. No one got sick today. There is still no reason to build hospitals here. No one died today. There are no domestic squabbles to tell you about. No one applied for a restraining order. There were no orders of protection. No one filed a lawsuit in our city today. That keeps the city's perfect record intact. We checked the archives and not one lawsuit has ever been filed in this eternal city. The complaint department again had nothing to report today. Not one citizen registered a complaint. And now for the economic report. The poverty rate is zero. As far as we could tell, every single person in the city has a well-furnished house. It appears that when Jesus ascended after His resurrection that He came to this city and prepared a place for all of His people. And sure enough, as we look around the city, there are many mansions here. Our on-the-scene reporter strolled up and down Redemption Boulevard today and he found no one begging on the street corners. Food and provisions are so plenteous in this city that there is enough for all. Now there is nothing to report from the financial markets because in this city everything is free. The motto here seems to be, as recorded in Isaiah 55-1, Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. We do have one event to report. At noon today there was a great gathering of all the citizens in the center of the city. And there was great and joyous singing heard in the streets. Some sang, Amazing Grace. Others sang, Great is Thy Faithfulness. On one corner could be heard a beautiful duet. They were singing, The Lord is my Shepherd. And the whole city was filled with beautiful and worshipful music. And then the trumpet sounded, and the king of the city appeared, and he sat down on his throne in the midst of all the people, and he taught the people great things about his gospel. And when he had taught them many things, he blessed them, and all the people said, Amen, and they went home singing." We are happy to report that all is well in the city today, just as it has been every other day. in this fair city. We hope you will tune in again tomorrow for our next good news report. So that is probably the type of news report that you will have in that great city that we are looking forward to. It is a great privilege to be a citizen of this city. We are not personally there yet, but our name is written down there. We are on the city rolls. Our name is written down in what the Bible calls the Lamb's Book of Life and Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us. Our text for this morning is designed to instruct us on how we are to live in this earthly world in light of the fact that we are citizens of that great heavenly city. And it says in our text, only let your conversation be as it becometh. the gospel of Christ. I want you to notice, first of all, that it is important how you live in this world. Some people think that salvation is merely reciting a prayer or walking an aisle or performing some ritual. And once they have done that, they see no particular advantage to a change of life in this world. And they will be sadly mistaken. Salvation is not a ritual, but salvation is a change of heart and a change of heart will manifest itself in a change of life. Salvation is initiated in this life when the Holy Spirit moves upon your soul, the Holy Spirit comes to the center and he finds a dead soul and he makes that soul alive. Theologians call this miraculous act of God regeneration and regeneration changes the center. He is born spiritually. The Bible says he is a new creature, and because he is a new creature, he will have a new life. He will have a new way of life and his conversation will be changed. When you find a mere professing Christian, you will find ultimately that there is no real change in his behavior. Oh, he may make some outward changes in order to make his profession seem more real. He may dress up a little bit to try to fool you, but there will be no real inward change. And in the end, there is no real outward change in his behavior. Mere professors of Christ will never adopt the principles of Christ. They may put on a tie and come to church, but they will not love their enemies. They may attend the Bible studies, but when they are slapped, they will not turn the other cheek. They may partake of the Lord's table, but they will not forgive those who offend them. They will submit to the waters of baptism, but they will not submit to one another. But those that have been born again will learn and adopt the principles of the gospel of Christ, and they will live in this world according to the principles of the gospel. And this is what Paul encourages when he says, let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Now, I want you also to see this morning that it is important to recognize grace in the commands of Christ. Isn't it amazing that after you catch a glimpse of the doctrines of grace, that you then see them everywhere in the scriptures? It seems to me that every word of the Bible speaks of the grace of God. I even find the grace of God in the commands of the Bible. Where others find the law, I find grace. Where the legalist finds occasion to glory in his own righteousness, I find occasion to glory in the sheer grace of God. And I find the grace of God shining through in our text for this morning. Now, one of the characteristics of the Old Testament was that the law was imposed on the people without a change of heart for the most part. The law was imposed on sinners, and the Bible says, but sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. The law put sinners under compulsion, you see. It compelled them, under the penalty of death, to outwardly conform, even though they didn't want to in their heart. And in the end, they couldn't do it because of their sinful condition. But the gospel does just the opposite. The gospel changes the inner man and then asked him to conform willingly. See the grace of God in the gospel. Take the grace of God out of the gospel and you have no gospel. Grace is the heart and soul. of the gospel and you find grace in our text this morning, it says, let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. I want you to notice here which comes first. You are a partaker of the gospel and then you are asked to change your behavior. It doesn't say let your conversation be such that you might lay hold of the gospel of Christ. Rather, it says, now that you have laid hold of the gospel of Christ, let your conversation be such and such. You see, God comes to the sinner and says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. To the sinner, God says, I save you freely. I give you eternal life, for by grace are you saved, the Bible says. The sinner says, I have nothing to offer, and God says nothing is required. Here it is a free gift, and God saves the sinner according to the gospel. He gives him everything. He gives him forgiveness of sins. He gives him a wife. He gives him a house in that heavenly city. He gives him citizenship. in that glorious place. And all of this is by sheer grace. And then he says to the sinner, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Do you see the grace in that verse? I have given all of this to you by my gospel. I have raised you up to sit in heavenly places I have made you a citizen of the very city where Jesus Christ Himself lives. I have reserved a place for you where there are no tears and no sorrow, and where there is an abundance of all good things. I have done this not because you loved Me, but because I loved you, and I have given you a new heart. And now, let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. And so we see the great grace of Christ in giving us heaven first and then asking us to live according to the principles of heaven. As far as I know, all of you have professed Christ, but let me ask you this this morning. Will you now order your life according to the principles of the gospel? Will you consider the gospel of your Savior? Will you make the gospel your rule of life? Now, be careful before you answer, because the gospel may ask you to sacrifice, you see. The gospel may ask you to suffer, as we've seen in previous messages. The gospel may ask you to love someone that you hate. The gospel may ask you to forgive someone that you despise. The gospel may ask you to give away that which you cling to. The gospel may ask you to humble yourselves. The gospel may ask you to esteem others better than yourselves. And the question is, will you do it? If your religion is a matter of compulsion, you will never do it. If you are a legalist, you will never do it. You will be just like the Israelites who, when they heard the law, they said, we will surely do it. And then they died in the wilderness in unbelief and they would not do it. You can no more change your heart than a leopard can change his spots, the Bible says. But if your religion is a matter of grace, if God has freely changed your heart, then you can do it. If you see your salvation as a matter of grace, then out of sheer love and gratefulness you will let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. But then I want you to see this morning that it is seemingly important to live according to the gospel. You'll notice in verse 27 that it says only. See that word only? Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. You notice this word only. This only, Paul says, would I lay upon you. I lay no other weight, no other strange requirements, no other religion, no other way of life, but this only I ask of you. I don't ask you to revert to Judaism. I don't ask you to adopt pagan philosophies. I don't ask you to study the doctrines of men. I only ask you to behave in a way that becomes the gospel. You see, if a person honors the gospel in his behavior, he has pleased God. There is nothing more that he must do. The gospel is the highest standard of conduct ever known to man. The gospel is the Mount Everest of moral codes. It is the legislation of God's infinite holiness. It is God's requirements for man, and the gospel is the sum total of God's requirements for us. This only, he says, would I lay on you. Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. We have a lofty, lofty calling by the gospel. The gospel has called us to a heavenly inheritance. It has called us to share in the glories of Christ, and it has called us to an earthly way of life that conforms to that calling. Now, Jesus once summed up the law by one commandment, didn't he? And he said, Love thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul and with all thy mind. And here Paul sums up the Christian duty. by saying, let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. What I would like for our church, for our little family here, for each one of you is that when you are walking through this life, think high. Think very, very high. You are a child of the King by grace. You are a product of the gospel of the King Let your behavior always reflect your high position in Christ. Do away with pettiness that comes with self-centeredness and latch on to the lofty principles of the gospel of Christ. But I want you to see also that the gospel way of life is the only way, it says, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. We live in a day in which it is fashionable to hold hands with all other religions. We are all right, they say. In one way or another, we are all serving God, they say. Let us not quarrel with one another. Let us lay aside our differences and accept one another. Let us lay aside sectarianism, as it's called, and let's meet together in the spirit of ecumenicalism. And so they try to induce us to lay aside a part of what we believe. We don't believe in the inerrancy of scripture, they say, so please be so kind to give that up in the spirit of charity. We believe in baptizing babies, so please don't be so harsh on us as to demand the necessity of regeneration and faith before baptism. And also, we don't believe in the deity of Christ, so in the spirit of kindness, please take that out of your doctrinal statement and don't demand that of us. Oh, and we don't believe God really created the world, and we certainly don't believe he created it in six days. We don't really believe that Adam and Eve were real people. And oh, yes, we don't believe that God could really send someone to an eternal hell. But we would really like to get along with you, so if you will just withhold a part of what you believe, I think we can get along quite well. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul said only. This is the only thing. The gospel is the only standard. And therefore, conform your behavior to it when it comes to the gospel of Christ, we are strict sectarians. We will not give up even little bits and pieces of the truth. If we see something in God's word, then we hold on to it with an even tighter grasp and we will not give it up. No, not even to get along with those who reject the gospel. Now, this has made Baptist and Baptist forerunners the most persecuted of all men. Any group that compromises the gospel is not persecuted, but demands strict adherence to the word of God and persecution will follow. It has been proven throughout history. Even today, Baptists are often considered rigid and unbending. And it is true. We will not give up one piece of the truth for the sake of getting along with anyone. This kind of charity is unknown to the gospel. Listen to what Paul said in Galatians chapter 1, verses 7 and 8. He said, There are some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, Let him be what? Accursed. Now, some would take that and they would say, let him be excused. If he bends the gospel a little here and there, but Paul says, let him be accursed. There is no excuse for perversion of the gospel. Now, this is strong language, but the Christian is to be strong in his defense of the gospel. The Christian is to know the gospel, to speak the gospel, and especially in our text, to live the gospel. And the gospel is the only acceptable way of life. But then also let me share with you that the gospel way of life is Christ's way. Look in verse 27, it says, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. The gospel is called the gospel of Christ because he is the gospel. Christ is the author of the gospel. He counseled with the father to make the plan of the gospel. He volunteered to be the worker of redemption in the gospel. He lived the life of the gospel, and he died the death of the gospel, and so to preach the gospel, Paul says, is to preach Christ. To live the gospel is to live like Christ. You remember Paul's statement from last week. He said, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Paul viewed his life as an extension of the life of Christ. His own life, he says, was crucified with Christ. And now the life that he lived was merely Christ living through him. What a lofty standard indeed that is when we are a Christian. We are to mimic Christ in every way. We are to study Christ. See how often Christ prayed See how hard he worked. See how forgiving he was. See how he sacrificed. See how he was willing to lower himself. See how he was willing to die. And Paul says, let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. But I also want to conclude by saying to you this morning that the gospel way of life is to be lived in the church. It says in Philippians 127, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be 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, do you see how that verse is written to a collective group? It's written to the church in Philippi. Our behavior in our homes is to be becoming the gospel and our behavior in the church is to be becoming of the gospel. Now, let me just review briefly from our text how we are to conform our behavior to the gospel of Christ. in our church. Now, we're not Philippi, we're Grace Baptist Church here in Bartlett, but these things are eternal truths and they apply to our little family here. First of all, in our text, the gospel encourages the members of the church to unity. I hope you see that in this context. Let's read it one more time. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one spirit. With one mind striving what? Together for the faith of the gospel. And then in Philippians 2, 2, an extension of this thought, it says, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like minded, that is all of you be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. One of the greatest goals of any church and for our church is unity. Apparently, it is one of the most important things in a church, because that is what Paul is asking for the Philippian church. He is asking that they be in harmony with each other and to be in harmony with the gospel. To be in discord with one another is to be in discord with the gospel. Unity in the body of Christ is a very high priority of the gospel. It is to be sought after. It is worth sacrificing for. It is worth sacrificing your own personal preferences. Now, many churches. Fight over the color of the carpet or the color of the paint on the walls, and when such bickering goes on, it is not behavior that conforms to the gospel. Much fighting goes on because the pastor wants control, or the deacons want control, or someone else wants control. And when there is a fight over control, it is not behavior that conforms to the gospel. When there is a battle over egos, it does not conform to the gospel. When there is a clash of personalities, it does not conform to the gospel. Most of the strife that I've seen in the past in churches is because someone wants to have his way and someone else wants to have his way. And usually it is about something that's not worth spending time and energy debating. There is a surefire way of maintaining unity in the church, and Paul tells us exactly how to do it. It is found in Philippians chapter two and verses three and four of our text. He says, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in what is that next word? Lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things or way of doing things, but every man also on the things of others. Let me say that I am very pleased with our church in this regard. As far as I'm concerned, there is no fighting in our church. There is no stubborn demand for one's own way. No one that I know about is trying to exert control. Nothing is done with strife. Everyone considers the other person's feelings, and this kind of behavior is becoming to the gospel of Christ. Notice in our text that we are to strive. Did you notice that? Look at verse 27. We are to strive together. The work of the church is kind of like a tug of war. It is us against the world. It is us against principalities and powers. It is us against human reasoning and human doctrines. And in this tug of war, for the sake of the gospel, it is crucially important that the church pulls together. The Bible says a house divided against itself cannot stand in Mark 3 25, but a house united can stand. Let me read our text in closing this morning, it says only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be 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. Now, we're going to find in the next message that we are to cultivate the same mindset that was in Christ Jesus. That is, we are to humble ourselves. We are to be lowly. We are to sacrifice for others. And if we emulate Jesus Christ in this, our conversation will become the gospel of Christ. Would you bow with me, please? Our God, we come to you now this morning and we ask that you would answer our prayer and cause us to be lowly and humble. We ask that you would cause us to esteem others better than ourselves. We ask that you would cause us to strive together for the faith of the gospel. We thank you, Lord, that we have a standard out there. We we do have instruction as to how we are to live. We are to live as becoming the gospel of Christ. Lord, may all of our words, may all of our deeds, may all of our thoughts be becoming to your great gospel. Father, we ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we ask that you would make us more like him. Help us to be like Christ day by day, and thereby we will bring honor to the gospel of Christ in our church. Lord, we thank you for your spirit that is with us today. We thank you for your many blessings here. Thank you for Christ. you