Open your Bible please to Philippians chapter 1. I want to begin reading in verse 27, and I want to read down through verse 4 of chapter 2. Philippians chapter 1, beginning with verse 27, down through chapter 2 and verse 4. 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 together for the faith of the gospel. and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now here to be in me. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfilled ye my joy, that ye be like-minded having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. The subject before us is standing fast in one spirit, and that spirit is a spirit of unity and humility. The Apostle Paul is in prison in Rome. The year is AD 62, some 10 years after he'd gotten locked up in Philippi and we saw the Philippian jailer converted and the beginning of that church. So now he's writing to that church. on his second missionary journey with Silas is when that church began. He uses the time in prison profitably by writing four letters, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and the little personal letter to Philemon. These are called the prison epistles because he's in jail in Rome. One of the themes of the book is joy and rejoicing. That just is sprinkled all the way through these four chapters. But another theme is partnering in the gospel. Partnering in the gospel. Ryrie's notes on this passage sets the stage for us. I'm quoting now. Philippi prided itself on being a Roman colony. offering the honor and privilege of Roman citizenship. Paul reminds the congregation that they should look to Christ, not Caesar, for their model of behavior, since their primary allegiance is to God and His kingdom. And then he says this, Philippian Christians need to stand together with one another and with Paul in striving for the gospel." Look at verse 27 again. 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 together for the faith of the gospel. Now, I ask myself this question, what does this verse say? and I came up with three answers. Number one, as citizens of heaven, and we see that in chapter 3 and verse 20 where Paul says, your conversation, your citizenship is in heaven. As citizens of heaven, Paul urges the Philippian Christians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Number two, the conduct of the church at Philippi must be characterized by standing firm in one spirit with one mind. And the idea is unity and humility. And number three, the Philippian church is admonished as an assembly to labor as a team. striving together. So let's just look at the verse and take it apart this morning. In the first place, as citizens of heaven, Paul urges the Philippian Christians to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. Now, note that word, conversation. There are actually three nouns in the Greek text that are translated by our English word conversation. One of them suggests our behavior. The other speaks of our manner. And the third one is the one that is used here and it's the meaning for the Philippian Christians is that they need to focus on their citizenship. They were members of Philippi. They grew up in, they lived in Philippi. It was a Roman colony. Citizenship was a very serious matter for Romans. They just gloried in their citizenship. Both the verb and the noun are found in the book of Philippians. The verb is in our verse, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, and the noun is found in chapter 3 and verse 20. Our conversation, our citizenship is in heaven. Warren Wearsby says this, he says, the church of Jesus Christ is a colony of heaven on earth. A colony of heaven on earth. He goes on to say, we ought to behave like citizens of heaven. So, a colony of heaven on earth. That's Warren Wiersbe's description of the local church. We are colonizing here today at Grace Baptist Church. And this congregation ought to be a picture of what it is like for citizens who have as their ultimate home Heaven itself. Our conversation is in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven. We have dual citizenship, if you will. We have citizens of the United States here in this assembly. We also have a citizen of Canada in our assembly. So people are citizens of countries from where they originated. A colony. a citizenry, a focus on the local church as a microcosm of what heaven is going to be like. That's what we ought to be. Some of you have been to New York City. It's known as the Big Apple. It is one of the most diverse cities in the nation. It's one of the few American cities to have a substantial population of almost every ethnic group. New Yorkers self-identify. In the census, 33% identify as white, 26% as black, 24% as Hispanic, and 13% identify as Asian or Pacific Islander. So it's a very diverse place, New York City, historically. Ethnic populations have a tendency to congregate together. They want to live in an enclave, if you will. They want to be around others who speak the same language as they do. Ethnic neighborhoods, it's a place where they find communal support and the ability to recreate some traditions of their home countries. That's what enclaves do. That's what ethnic groups do as they congregate together. Now, that's just not peculiar to New York City. It's pandemic is worldwide. Henderson County, right here in North Carolina, 10% Hispanic. right here. When I learned this, my burden was for the Hispanic people. And so now we have Iglesia Bautista de la Gracia, Grace Baptist Church, our Spanish congregation meeting up here on Shepherd Street. 10% Hispanic population in Henderson County. But where do they live? Did you know that Edneyville is 45% Hispanic? Did you know that East Flat Rock is 30% Hispanic? You can go to neighborhoods right here in East Flat Rock where you find House after house after house of people who speak another language. They speak Spanish. You see, they kind of congregate together because they want to be around others who have the same cultural background that they have. And that ought to be instructive for you and for me. That's what our church ought to be. It is a place where God's people can congregate together, people of like precious faith. It's like a colony of heaven on earth, a Christian enclave, if you will, a place where we find communal support, the ability to recreate some of the traditions of our home country, which is heaven. So, Paul is addressing this group. What should they be doing as citizens? And Paul's answer comes to us from the confines of a Roman prison. He says to the church at Philippi, live like citizens of heaven. Do you have that mentality? Do you look upon the local church as a place where you can congregate with others of like precious faith, where you can meet together on the Lord's Day and have fellowship one with another? I mean, that's one of the four reasons that the early church met. They met for fellowship. It's just critical and important for God's people to meet together on the Lord's Day. The notion of a Christian who is not a member of a local church and actively involved, that's an oxymoron. I mean, it just doesn't compute. When you become a Christian, God places within you a desire to belong, to be a part of a group, to be a member of a local church. As citizens of heaven, we congregate together. But more than just that, we need to develop a pilgrim mentality. You see, we may be citizens of a country here on earth, but as believers, we're also citizens of heaven. We have dual citizenship. We have a home here, and we have a home in heaven. That just needs to register with us, folks. We are citizens of a heavenly colony. Pilgrim's Progress has Christian leaving the city of destruction and leaving there to go to the celestial city. And he's described as a pilgrim. It's Pilgrim's Progress. He's a stranger on earth, just like the heroes of the faith in Hebrews chapter 11. We need to be looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. That is our home. That is where we're going to live for eternity. We're going to spend a thousand years during the millennium in our home here on earth, but we're citizens of heaven, and when eternity arrives, That's going to be our home forever and forever. The writer of Hebrews says that these pilgrims, these strangers, all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off. and were persuaded, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth. A pilgrim mentality. We put our roots down someplace. And believe me, I understand. We have a little house, but we love our little house. And when we're away from it, we long to be back. As you know, Judy and I served for the last six years as special assignment missionaries with GFA. Out of the last four years, we've been home for two. We noticed that, was it this spring, that we noticed the flowers blooming because we were gone. The last spring, we didn't get to see the flowers coming up. I didn't get to tell Judy, go out and work in the flower bed. She can do that. I can't do that. These thumbs are not green. A pilgrim mentality. We love our home. But you know what? It's not our final destination. One of these days, there's going to be a great getting up morning, like the old spiritual says. The dead in Christ shall rise first. we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And the text says, and we shall forever be with the Lord. That's ahead. Here's how the unsaved people, including those of us who at one time in our lives were unsaved, here's how Paul describes them in Ephesians chapter 2. At that time, ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But one day, I'm sure you can share this testimony. If I were to ask you to just pop up and give me a testimony of salvation, all of you, hopefully, would be able to do that. to get up and say, here's how I got saved. Verse 19 of chapter 2 goes on to say, now, now that you've gotten saved, now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints. and of the household of God. What a blessing that ought to be to us. As strangers and pilgrims, with a pilgrim mentality, we are fellow citizens with the saints and it is a world-wide fellowship. God has his people everywhere. Dual citizenship. Our dual citizenship demands that as strangers and foreigners we must live lives that are consistent with what we say we believe. To the church at Ephesus, Paul said this, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. To the church at Colossae, Paul said this, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. To the church at Thessalonica, Paul said this, as ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. Peter says it this way, seeing then that all these things, these earthly things, this building, our homes, everything, all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be? in all holy conversation and godliness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. Folks, we have before us the obligation to walk a worthy walk. We are to have our conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. That is the mandate. for the Philippian Church and I believe that is the mandate for the Grace Baptist Church in East Flat Rock as well. Kenneth West puts it this way, they were a heavenly people with a heavenly origin, a heavenly citizenship, a heavenly destiny to live heavenly lives in a foreign land. telling others of a heavenly father who offered them salvation through faith in his son. What was true of the Philippian saints then is true of all the saints. We are a heavenly people with the obligation and privilege of living a heavenly life on earth." End of quote. What about you? Do you have that pilgrim mentality? You understand that it's all going to burn up someday. Everything that we possess that is of a material nature is going to go up in flames. But that's not something that we should dwell on. We should focus on our heavenly home, a new heaven and a new earth that will be created someday that will be our home forever. Many of you know that I was born in Oklahoma. There's a little town in Oklahoma called Spiro, Oklahoma. It only has about 2,700 people. population. Their one claim to fame is that they have some Indian mounds that have been preserved and you can go and see them. But it's a very little place. And not many people of note have come out of Spiro, Oklahoma. But some have. And we wouldn't know this guy by name, but we might know him by a song that he wrote. His name was Albert Edward Brumley. He was born October 29th in 1905 in Spiro, Oklahoma and he died November 15th in 1977. He was a brother in Christ, who was heavily involved in the shape note music industry. Now, some of you don't know what a shape note hymnal is. Some of you do. Estelle, I think, has a shape note hymnal at home. Is that right, sister? That's right. You ought to bring it sometime so people can see what a shape note hymnal looks like. Well, Brumley was heavily involved in the shape note business. And also, he was a composer. owned a music company. He published songs and he was prolific in the genre of what is now known as Southern Gospel. Well, when I got saved 61 years ago, I was 17 years old, at MacArthur Memorial Bible Church in Glendale, California. We had a college group, had about 30 kids from that college group come to school here at Greenville, down in Greenville at Bob Jones. And I didn't grow up in a Christian home. So I had a lot to learn, and these people liked to sing. Well, I didn't know that I liked to sing, but I found out that I did. And so I learned some songs back then that are still with me today. On Sunday evening, on the Lord's Day evening, when Dr. Jack would preach an evangelistic message, invariably, we would sing songs like, Thank You, Lord, for Saving My Soul. You all know that. And then when the college group would get together, invariably, we would sing a song written by Alfred Brumley or Albert Brumley. This world is not my home. C.S. Lewis said this. If we know that we're made for heaven, how then should we live? More specifically, how do we live among the walking dead? Folks, we need to live as citizens of heaven. In the second place. The conduct of the church at Philippi must be characterized by standing firm in one spirit and with one mind, unity and humility. Last part of verse 27, whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit, unity and humility. The theme continues on, as I said, down through verse four of chapter two. John MacArthur comments, quote, His call for genuine unity of heart and mind is based on, one, the necessity of oneness to win the spiritual battles for the faith, the love of others in the fellowship, a genuine humility in self-sacrifice, and the example of Jesus Christ who proved that sacrifice produces eternal glory. And MacArthur's referring there to what we call the kenosis passage. the emptying of self-passage of our Lord Jesus, beginning in verse 5. Lord willing, I get to preach again from this pulpit on the Lord's Day evening on the 19th of August. And my text for that evening will be Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 through 11. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. But how does the passage begin? It begins by illustrating the humility, the infinite humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant. and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross." So Paul is now writing to the church in Philippi, and he says, you need to be of one mind and one spirit, and that needs to be characterized by unity and humility. So Paul tells this church they need to stand fast. In Philippians chapter 4 in verse 1, Therefore my brethren, dearly beloved, and longed for my joy and crown, stand fast in the Lord. Galatians 5 in verse 1, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 8, For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 15, Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. And that brings us to the third part of the message, our striving together for the faith of the gospel. The Church at Philippi has urged to gospel unity and humility, the gospel of Christ, and by the way, If you'll just make a careful reading of Philippians, perhaps this afternoon, it's just four chapters, won't take you long. Read the book and look for the nine times that Paul mentions the gospel. He just refers to the Gospel over and over again, twice in our verse, in verse 27. So just, that's your homework assignment. The Gospel, the Good News, that was preeminent in Paul's mind, and he references the Gospel nine times over in this short chapter. So, We're to be standing fast in one spirit with one mind, unity and humility. Finally the Philippian churches admonish as an assembly to labor as a team. The text says striving together. Now this is A compound word in the Greek text, and it's a very interesting word, it is sunathleto. Athleto. We get some English words from that. Athletics. Athletes. You know, people who work at what they do. in order to succeed. So Paul says, he may have wrestling in mind, I don't know. But in any case, he says we are to fight together against a common foe. We are to be striving together. Now, I want to illustrate that. Some of you may know that today is the last day of the Tour de France. Anybody in here besides me know that? Anybody care? You know, if you want to watch people ride bicycles, you just need to get a life. I mean, I can't think. Golf is not quite as boring. But watching people ride bicycles? Well, if you've ever seen the Tour de France, you'll find that you'll see a group of bicyclists all grouped together. I mean, just hanging in together. Why do they do that? For a purpose. That's called the peloton. P-E-L-O-T-O-N. It's a French word which means platoon. And the idea behind it is that the riders are able to conserve energy if they group themselves together and ride together. They become, it's called slip streaming or something like that. Drafting, they call it sometimes. The reduction drag can be dramatic, up to 40%. You can do that with your car the next time you're on the interstate, if you want to save gas. Pull up behind an 18-wheeler, right on his bumper, and you can just put it in neutral. He'll pull you right along. I am not speaking from experience. Don't do that. That illustrates this idea of striving together. We're working together as a team. Those bicyclists, they want to win, but they are working together because it's easier for them to Right down the road. Now, what's the implication? There was some division in Philippi. There were two women, Euodia and Syntyche. You can read about them in chapter four. Euodia means prosperous journey. Syntyche means pleasant acquaintance. And here were two sisters in Christ in the church at Philippi who were like this. They were at odds with one another. So Paul gets, when he's writing under the inspiration, he says, I beseech you, Odia, and I beseech you, Syntyche, that they be of the same mind. They need to get this fixed for the sake of the gospel of Christ so that we can be doing what we're supposed to be doing as a body of Christ. There was friction there. We don't know what it was. But these two women were told in verse 3 that they labored together. And that's the very same word that is found in our text, striving together. They were striving together with Clement and others also, and with the Apostle Paul for the sake of the gospel. But is that how we remember them? We think of Euodia, we think of Syntyche, we think of two women who are on the outs with each other. Usually there's some issue between Christians. One of them is the offending party, the other is the offended party. Now how do you handle that? Scripture deals with both in the Gospel of Matthew. The Lord gives explicit instruction for us. If we're the one who's been offended, we're to go to the offender and try to be reconciled. If we're the one doing the offending, then we need to drop everything and go to that brother or sister and ask for forgiveness. In each case, the responsibility lies with you. So, Paul is saying, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Paul says that Paul's, his joy will be full if they'll just do this. Philippians are to be like-minded, having the same love. They're to be united in a spirit of unity and humility and intent on one purpose, which is the gospel. And time is getting away from me. It's all about the gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what's the application this morning? Unity and humility. Do these two words describe us? Do they? If you have an issue with a brother or sister in Christ, you mustn't delay until it gets settled. Judy and I, when we went to Bear Creek, North Carolina, we stopped for breakfast and introduced ourselves to the lady that was helping us. Told her we were Christians, what can we do to pray for you? She said, I'm a Christian too, but I'm on the outs with somebody. Just pray about that. We met her again. She's still on the outs with somebody. Get it settled, folks. If you know of a brother or sister who's out of sorts with you, drop everything. Try to make peace with him or her. That's the application. And then deal with your pride. That's where humility comes in. John Flavel said this, they that know God will be humble and they that know themselves cannot be proud. My friend Wim van Rijn, who was a missionary in Holland for years, says, if you're not Dutch, you're not much. We're all not much. We need to recognize that. How do you be humble? You don't write a book on how I obtained humility. Here's how you live humbly. A guy named William Temple really nailed it. He says, humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about your own self one way or the other at all. You just don't think about yourself. You're busy thinking about others. God is like that. The infinite humility of God. God the Father keeps Himself in the background and puts forth His adorable Son. God the Son keeps Himself in the background and gives the ministry of glorifying Him to the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit keeps Himself in the background and manifests forth the Son. The only three persons in the universe who have the prerogative of putting themselves forward and glorifying themselves do not do so. I mentioned Pilgrim's Progress last week and again this week. The last character in Part 2 of Pilgrim's Progress is Mr. Standfast. Part 1 deals with some real heroes of the faith, faithful, who is martyred in Vanity, the town of Vanity. hopeful, who is Christian's companion on the way to the celestial city, great heroes of the faith. And part two has its share of heroes. There's Mr. Great Heart, Mr. Honest, Mr. Valiant for Truth. But the biggest category that Bunyan gives us is people who have got problems. Mr. Ready to Halt. Mr. Feeble Mind, Mr. Despondency, and his daughter, Miss Much Afraid. But he wraps it all up. He ends the book with Mr. Stand Fast. The allegory ends with the passing of all these believers. Mr. Standfast lived a life of steadfast loyalty to God. When he received his summons from the Lord, here's what Bunyan said about him. He got a summons. It was called the post, you know, like the post office, the post. The contents of the summons thereof were that he must prepare for a change of life, for his master was not willing that he should be so far from him any longer." Isn't that beautiful? His master was not willing that he should be so far from him any longer. Mr. Stanfast, come on home. I want to give you one more Mr. Stanfast from the 15th century, and then I'm done. I promise. It's not... Boy, my eyes are bad. I really can't see that clock very well, but I am done. You ever heard the phrase, we're going to cook your goose? Where'd that come from? Well, it comes from the 15th century. There was a man by the name of Jan Hus. Husa is the Czechoslovakian word for goose. John Hus was known as God's silly goose. He was a forerunner to the Reformation. He was burned at the stake at the Council of Constance in 1415, 102 years before Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. He was sick, physically wasted by long imprisonment. He was ill. He didn't have enough sleep. He protested his innocence and refused to renounce his alleged errors unless he could be shown otherwise from Scripture. To the council he said these words, I would not, for a chapel full of gold, recede from the truth. Mr. Standfast. And he sealed his testimony. with His blood. So, are you on the glory road? Do you have a pilgrim mentality? Are you looking forward to that time when you'll be with Christ? Is God leading you every step of the way? Father in heaven, thank you for our time together this morning. Take this message, suit it to the need of every heart, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.