The following message is brought to you by George Lawson, Jr., pastor and Bible teacher with Baltimore Bible Church. We'll be reading from the New American Standard Bible. For more information about this ministry, please visit us online at www.baltimorebiblechurch.org. So let's now open our Bibles and follow along with Pastor George as we loose the scriptures and let them speak. We're gonna stand for the reading of the book of Titus. You'll find Titus in the New Testament, kind of towards the back of your Bible. The chapters are the big numbers and the verses are the small numbers, but we're gonna read through the whole book of Titus, starting at Titus chapter one. If you have any problem, you can look to your neighbor, all right? Titus chapter one. Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth, which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested even his word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior. To Titus, my true child in a common faith, grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior, For this reason, I left you in Crete that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you. Namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion, for the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled. which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons. This testimony is true. For this reason, reprove them severely so that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. But both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. But as for you, speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine. Older men are to be temperate, dignified, sensible, sound in faith and love and perseverance. Older women, likewise, are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands so that the word of God will not be dishonored. Likewise, urge the young men to be sensible. In all things, show yourself to be an example of good deeds with purity and doctrine, dignified, Sound and speech which is beyond reproach so that the opponent will be put to shame having nothing bad to say about us Urge bond slaves to be subject to their own masters and everything to be well pleasing not argumentative not pilfering not but showing all good faith so that they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires, and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, to purify for himself a people for his own possession, zealous for good deeds. These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men. For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hating, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us. not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace, we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement, and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed in God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men, but avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. Reject the factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned. When I send Artemis or Tychicus to you, make every effort to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Diligently help Zenas, the lawyer, and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them. Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds, to meet pressing needs so that they will not be unfruitful. All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen. And you can be seated as we pray together. Heavenly Father, we do thank You for this wonderful book of Titus and it's a book that's near to my heart as it's been the book that this group of people that are now known as Baltimore Bible Church have been studying over the last year. Father, we pray that we would see healthy churches as Paul here instructed Titus to start and establish. Father, we want to see faithful elders, leaders that would be appointed to direct the church. Father, we pray for qualified leadership. Lord, we know that there are many churches without qualified leadership and men that have failed in ministry for one reason or another. Father, we pray that you would protect this church. Father, not because of anything that we've done, Lord, we're unworthy of that blessing. It's all because of you and because of your grace that we would ask that. Father, we pray that you would provide for Baltimore Bible Church, the people that we would need to serve in ministry together. And Father, the goal of all this service is to build up one another in love and to exalt our head, Jesus Christ, to glorify you. Father, you're the one that's called us. to your name, to your kingdom. And Father, we pray that we would be those that are found faithful, as Titus reminds us to be engaged in good deeds, Lord. Father, that we would make the gospel attractive by the lives that we live. Father, I pray that you would protect our people from falling into sin and error. Father, we just pray that you would guard through your Holy Spirit those who you would call to this place. Father, we pray for our nation. We pray for a lot of the decisions that are being made that really go against your word. Father, there's a widespread move to move this nation to homosexual marriages and different things like that. Father, we would pray for those in authority. Father, we pray that you would help them to make decisions that are wise for our nation that we would be subject to those that are in authority over us as we are reminded again in Titus to be subject to those authorities to be obedient and to be ready for every good deed but we're also instructed in Timothy to pray for our leaders and father we do pray for our president and all those in office father we pray that you would allow them to come to the knowledge of the truth, all those that lead us, knowing that we ourselves are at one time foolish, as Titus reminds us again, and disobedient, and deceived, and enslaved to various lusts. Father, we pray for some of the unrest that's going on across the world, even in Egypt today. Father, we pray for those believers that are in that land and country, Lord, that you would raise them up, Lord, that they would be ready with the gospel of peace. Father, that they would be able to proclaim the truth of God's Word and see men and women come to You. Father, we pray for Baltimore Bible Church here, and Father, we pray for just witness in this community. Father, it would be our desire that we would be a bright light here for many years to come and that you, Father, would use us as you would see fit. Father, I pray that we would be holy vessels that you can use for your service. Father, we're just grateful for this day. We pray for all of our visitors and guests. We're so thankful for them being here with us to just join in the celebration. Father, just of celebrating your goodness and kindness to us. Father, it's all because of you that we give you the honor and praise on this day. We also pray for Hope Bible Church, our mother church, I say a special prayer for Ross Levin there, who's actually going to be going through surgery. I believe it might be even today or tomorrow for his gallbladder. Father, we just pray that you'd touch the doctor's hands and allow them to perform a successful surgery, Lord, and that he would be restored quickly. Father, we leave all these things in your hands, knowing that your hands are the most capable hands that we could leave anything in. We give you all the praise and honor in Jesus' name. We praise you and give you thanks. Amen. Just thank God for them and the group of people who will officially be known as Baltimore Bible Church. Just thank God for you guys and it's been a long time. We've been praying for it, we've been planning for it, we've been preparing for it, and finally the Lord said we can go for it. So here we are as a church meeting on a Sunday. And this is a day, like I said, that's been greatly anticipated. But as we begin, I want to let you know that it's not the most important time in our church. Even though it's an important time, it's not the most important time because the true test of our church is not about how we begin, but it's about how we end. And our goal is not to be faithful for the next five years, ten years, fifteen years. Our goal is to be faithful until the Lord calls us home, or comes and returns. And we would like to pass on a healthy church on to the next generation. Not a perfect church, because we're not perfect people, right? But we want to pass on a healthy church to the next generation. And by the time the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation, and I found this interesting, it's seven churches there in Asia Minor. Within 60 years of church history, you have one church that lost its first love, two that tolerated false teaching, one that was considered dead, and one that was just plain nauseating, lukewarm, and Christ said, I'll spit you out of my mouth. Within 60 years of church history, a lot of these people were eyewitnesses of the Lord and of the apostles. And the question that I had for us today is, where will we be in 60 years? Where are we going to be in 60 years if the Lord doesn't return? And my prayer is that we, Baltimore Bible Church, will be right here in Baltimore doing the same thing that we're doing today, reading the Word, praying the Word. Seeing the Word, singing the Word, preaching the Word, doing the same thing that we're doing today. That's the prayer that I have for this church. So like I said, while I'm excited about the beginning, I'm much more interested in seeing what the end is going to look like. And personally, I want my own ministry to be like that of the Apostle Paul, where at the end of his ministry, He could say, I fought the good fight, I finished the course, I've kept the faith. It's all about the final quarter, right? It's all about the end. I remember during my first year at the Master's Seminar, I talked to one of my fellow students there, and one of the things that I encouraged him with and also encouraged my own heart with were the words, no regrets. And basically what I wanted to communicate with that to him and to myself was that we don't have to become a statistic. We don't have to go through seminary and destroy our families. We don't have to fall into sexual temptation. We can get through this time in seminary and come out the other end still standing with our lives intact. And basically, that's the same thing that I want to say to Baltimore Bible Church. We don't have to become a statistic. You know, after 50, 60 years, we can still have a faithful ministry that's right here in Baltimore and that's only by the grace of God as we depend on Him. We don't have to abandon our first love. We don't have to tolerate false teaching. We don't have to be considered dead. We can be a church that's thriving. We don't have to be a church that's nauseating to the Lord. So the title for our first series that we're going to have here is just Standing Firm. What I really want to encourage you guys with is that we can be a church that can stand firm, and for that I want to bring our attention to the book of Philippians, Philippians chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1. Eventually we're going to get to an exposition of the Gospel of Matthew, that's my desire to do that within the next couple of months. But I want to spend a couple of weeks just talking to all of us about what are the foundational attitudes, beliefs and practices that define Baltimore Bible Church? What are those foundational attitudes, beliefs and practices that would define our church? And like I said, for that we're going to turn our attention to the book of Philippians chapter 1. And I'll read verses 27 down to 30, Philippians chapter 1. It says, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear to be in me." The Philippian church at this point in their history was only around 10 to 12 years old, 10 to 12 year old church. When the Apostle Paul wrote this letter, Paul saw the first convert in Philippi around 50 A.D., that was Lydia in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 16, and he writes this letter to this young church sometime between 59 and 62 A.D. So at most, this church was 10 to 12 years old at this time. And overall, this is a church that's doing well. The Philippian church was a solid church, as Paul says in chapter 1 and verse 6, if you flip your eyes up there, it says, for I am confident of this very thing that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. The Philippian church didn't give Paul a lot of cause for worry. They were not steeped in immorality as the Corinthian church was. They were not embroiled in serious doctrinal controversy, as you find the church at Colossae was. They didn't struggle with the gospel, understanding what the gospel was, like the Galatian church. They weren't confused about theology, like the church in Thessalonica. Overall, this church was a church that was on the right track. They were doing well. And you can tell Paul has a lot of joy over this church just based on some of the words that he uses 16 times in four chapters, only four chapters. Sixteen times he mentions the word joy or rejoicing. He's happy about this church. He speaks fondly of this church in chapter 1 verse 8. He says, for God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. In chapter 4 verse 1 he says, therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see my joy and crown. He's happy about this church. This church was a delight to Paul's heart, as this church, Baltimore Bible Church, really is to mine. But his great concern for them was that they would remain and that they would stand firm. He says, you're doing well, but my concern for you is that you would stand firm. He mentions that in chapter 1 verse 27, whether I come and see you or remain absent, that I may hear of you, that you are standing firm. Also, it says the same thing, it repeats the same thing in chapter 4 in verse 1 at the end of that verse that we just referred to. Therefore, my beloved brethren, whom I long to see my joy and crown in this way, stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. And the message is you're off to a great start, but you need to stick with it. You need to stick with it. There were already a church that was a loving church. Paul said that in chapter 1 verse 9, and this, I pray that your love may abound still more and more. He says you're loving, but I'm praying that your love would abound even more than what it's doing now in real knowledge and discernment. They were already a church that was obedient. Chapter 2 verse 12, he says, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence work out your salvation. He says, you're already obedient, but he says, I'd ask that you even work it out even more, become more obedient. They need to hold their ground and the message for them is that they need to press on. And that word for stand, it's the Greek word stēko. It's very similar in meaning to our own English word for stand. When we use that word stand, we use it literally for standing, but we also use it metaphorically for being firm, for being resolute. for being steadfast and the force of the verb that's used here is a continuous or ongoing type of stand, that you're to continually stand firm, never give in. And the idea of standing firm here is not an isolated exhortation in the Scripture, it actually permeates the Scriptures. You don't have to turn here, but let me just read these for you, you might want to jot these down. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 13. To the Corinthians, Paul wrote, be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. To the Galatian church, Galatians chapter 5 verse 1, he says, it was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. In the book of 2 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 15, he says, so then brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. In the book of Ephesians, Ephesians chapter 6 verses 11, 13, and 14, three times he says it, having done everything to stand firm, do what? Stand firm. Having done everything to stand, you keep standing. Stand firm and in your spiritual walk there needs to be this kind of firmness to your spiritual walk, a permanence, a consistency, a resistance to change, or as I like to call it, a spiritual backbone. You need to have some kind of spiritual backbone to your spiritual life. And that's the issue that Paul wants to deal with. That's going to be the focus of our attention for the next couple of weeks because in these passages, chapter 1, Philippians chapter 1, 27. 30 as well as in chapter 4 verses 1 and following, he deals with this issue of standing firm, being able to pass off that baton of ministry to the next generation, and that's what we want to do. We're in it for the long haul, right? This isn't a sprint. I've told you guys that before. This isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. You know, you just keep going, you keep going. And how are we to do this? Look back at Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 there, Philippians chapter 1 verse 27. It says, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. According to this verse, what it means to stand firm is to conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. And how would Paul know that they were standing firm? The answer is that they're conducting themselves in a manner worthy. You know, those two are really equated in this verse. If he knew that they were standing firm, he'd know that they were conducting themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. The first command, you know, standing in a manner worthy, that's the command, and the second is just a statement. You know, stand firm. This is what I want you to do, to stand firm. The first says to do it, the second says to keep it up, right? Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy and keep standing in that manner that's worthy. And Paul really emphasizes how important this responsibility is by choosing his words carefully. This is really a heavy verse. This is a heavy verse. When Paul speaks of the kind of conduct that we are to have here, he departs from his normal word for conduct. The normal word for conduct is just a way of life. It's actually a word that means to walk around. It's just like how you live. But when he uses this word for conduct here in Philippians chapter 1 verse 27, he picks a special word. It's a rare word. It's politumoi in the Greek. And we get our English word politics from it. We also get our word police from it. You know, those that govern a city or those that would enforce the law within a city. This word politumoi is a word which means to conduct oneself as a citizen. to conduct oneself as a citizen, to behave as a citizen. And the Philippian church would have been familiar with citizenship. The city of Philippi was actually underneath the Roman authority. They were considered citizens of Rome. Even though they didn't live in Rome, they were considered citizens of Rome. It was a highly esteemed and privileged position. If you remember the Apostle Paul himself, you know, was a Roman. You know, he had rights that belonged to him as a Roman. And this city of Philippi, they knew what having rights looked like. You know, we're citizens of Rome. We have rights. And what he tells them here is you need to conduct yourselves as a citizen of a far greater city. And really what he does in Philippians chapter 3, if you look at verse 20, He lets them know what that citizenship belongs to. Philippians chapter 3 verse 20, for our citizenship is in where? It's in heaven. Our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where our true home is. That's where our true citizenship is. It's in heaven. And what Paul tells this church is, you need to conduct yourself as if you know that you belong in heaven. You need to conduct yourself as if you know that your true city, your true citizenship is in heaven. We belong to a great and holy city. And the next thing that Paul does to kind of raise the bar, like I said, this is a heavy verse, the next thing that he does to raise the bar is he uses this other word, it's the word worthy. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. That word worthy, it's the word axios. It literally means to bring into balance. to bring into balance or bring into equivalence. And often in ancient times when things were compared, when you wanted to check the value of something, you'd measure it. They used that to measure goods or even money. They'd weigh it out to see, you know, how much money is this really worth, right? And here's the picture. On one side is the gospel of Jesus Christ, and on the other side is your life. And he says, live in a manner that understands what's on the other side of that scale. This gospel that you say that you believe in, how do you live to reflect that you say, I really truly believe in this gospel? What kind of life do you live? That's the word that he uses. And what he says here is not suggesting that we could live in a way that would earn the gospel or that our lives would actually be worthy of the gospel. What he's saying is that if you really grasped the staggering value of this gospel of Jesus Christ. If you really understand the gospel that you've been given, this gospel that has saved your soul from hell, right? If you really understand how great of a gospel this is, what kind of life should that promote you to live? What kind of life should you live now knowing the gospel that you've been given, knowing what's on the other side of that scale? What kind of life now should you live? This was to be the case whether Paul was there or not. He says, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm. He says it really doesn't matter if I'm there or not. That's not the issue. It's not about my personal presence that should motivate you to be like this. It's about the gospel. Whether I'm there or not, you should live in this kind of way. Once the question was asked, would there be a Baltimore Bible Church if George Lawson, you know, wasn't around? And my answer is, yeah, that's the plan. That's the plan. I'm not preparing to stay, I'm preparing to go, right? This is who we need to be whether I'm here or not, or whether any one of us are here or not. This is the kind of model that we're supposed to follow. Jerry Ragg, in his book, Exemplary Spiritual Leadership, he said this, I thought this was just a great illustration, pay attention to this one. He says, while participating in a defense military exercise some years ago, my job was to provide radar air traffic support to combat pilots as they engaged bogeys. Basically, I guided them toward enemy aircraft during a modern-day dogfight. During this particular exercise, the scenario called for the simulation of a badly damaged fighter, low on fuel and carrying one remaining weapon. To radio my post, looking for instructions back to the base, I began to give him coordinates to get home, but was interrupted by the battle commander on my frequency, telling the pilot to turn around and to drop his remaining weapon on enemy targets. Excuse me? Say again, sir?" The pilot replied with confusion. The commander radioed back with the same order. Emphatically, I might add. Needless to say, because of the pilot's low fuel, he couldn't get home. He obeyed the order, simulating an ejection somewhere very close to enemy territory. At the debriefing, I'll never forget the colonel's answer when I asked him, why we would risk a pilot just to deliver one more weapon. Pilots are expendable. He said it so abruptly and without hesitation. The point was very clear. The good of the whole always trumps individual interest. Applied to the spiritual realm, good leaders realize that their usefulness is in the hands of God, and they never see themselves as indispensable to the work. This is the first of the raw materials necessary for developing good leadership skills. Let me tell you this. The mission that we've been given as a church is so important. It's so essential. It's so grand. It's so majestic that it can't be aborted for one individual. You understand what I'm saying? It's not dependent on any one individual. The mission has to carry on. The mission is that important. It has to be carried out. Whether I'm here or not, the mission has to keep going, right? The mission has to keep going. The mission is what's most important. And there are two ways that Paul instructs us to stand firm and walk in a manner worthy. In verse 27, he says we're to preserve the unity in the church. And verse 27, in one spirit, with one mind, striving together, all speak of the church's internal struggle to preserve the unity in the church. And the second is we're to persevere against opposition outside of the church. And verses 28 to 30, not being alarmed by opponents and suffering for a sake, experiencing the same conflict, all speak of the church's external struggles. And those are really the two fronts that the church is constantly waging war on. We're attempting to proclaim a gospel that the world is hostile towards. And we have to be strong in the face of that kind of opposition. But while we might experience persecution from the outside, we also have to be concerned about what's going on on the inside, right? Protecting and preserving the unity that's within the church, because within the church, discord is stowed among the brethren, right? So outside, we're persevering against the opposition. Inside, we're preserving the unity. And we have to be doing both at the same time. First of all, preserving the unity within the church. Look at verse 27. He says, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. So whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. striving together or preserving the unity within the church. One mind, one spirit, together, right? It's talking about this unity that we're to have. And really, when you look out in the world, there's so much superficial unity. There's so much superficial unity that exists in so many arenas. I was going through my files and I saw this newspaper clipping. It was from the Baltimore Sun. It was titled this, The Spirit Moves Bromwell When Minister Fails to Show. Listen to this. It says, the scheduled clergyman couldn't make it to the Senate. In time for the opening prayer yesterday morning, so the duty fell to Baltimore County Senator Thomas L. Bromwell, a Roman Catholic, proceeded to give what was probably one of the shortest yet most inclusive prayers in the chamber's history. Listen to how he prayed. Let us pray, Bromwell began. Lord, God, Yahweh, whatever your name is, whatever color you are, whatever gender you are, you know these people, you know that they are good, pray for them, thank you. Superficial. Superficial unity. I'm just gonna include everybody. I'll include any and every religion. We'll just include them in the group and, oh, you know they're good, pray for them. And that's what people consider unity. That's not unity. We unite around the truth, right? There's a true unity that exists among Christians, something that we share that's deep, something that connects us at the most fundamental level. We share a unity that's greater and more essential than the unity that we share with our country, or even the unity that we share with friends, or unity even with family. We share a unity of the faith of the gospel. We share a true, deep, and abiding unity. Mark chapter 12 verse 15 says, for whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother and sister and mother. There's a unity that we should have with believers that far exceeds anything else. We've got a true unity. Our union with Christ is the basis for our union with one another. What we believe binds us together as one people. We're a family for eternity. If you meet a true Christian, right? You meet a true believer in Christ, that's somebody you're going to have for all of eternity. You're going to be united to that person for the rest of your life and the afterlife, right? True unity. But even though Christians are unified at the deepest level, we don't act like it, right? We don't act like we're truly unified. And I'm talking about true Christians, not just anybody that would call themselves a Christian. And it's sad because it really hurts the witness of the church. And what Paul is saying here is that in order to walk worthy of the gospel, we must preserve the unity of the church…preserve the unity of the church, and it works its way out in our attitudes and our actions. First of all, let's look at the attitude right there in verse 1. Verse 27, at the end of verse 27, standing firm in one spirit with one mind, one spirit and one mind. To stand in one spirit, some people would understand that as standing in the Holy Spirit, and it's true that the Holy Spirit does create the unity. We're all baptized by one spirit into the body of Christ. It talks about that in 1 Corinthians 12, 13. And that's something that's implied in the words of Paul, but if you look at the close relationship between one spirit and one mind, it's rather referring not to the Holy Spirit, but to the human spirit, that we're to have this unity that exists in the attitude that believers have towards one another. We're to stand firm together as a group. And that understanding of, you know, the human spirit is also understood by the translators who use a lower case S instead of the capital for the Holy Spirit. And what he's talking about here is the attitude that believers are to have, you know, towards one another. Paul uses spirit here to refer to the disposition of our hearts towards each other. In order to walk worthy of the gospel, the church has to have this similar kind of unity as well, unity between one another. He continues to focus on this attitude in the next verse, actually in the same verse with the next word, one mind, the next phrase there. The stand fast in one spirit with one mind. That word mind is psuche. It's where we get our English word psyche from. It means soul. And basically it says that we as a church, we're to have like one soul with one another. Like we're true soul brothers, soul sisters. Truly, you know, not just superficial because we have the same skin color or something like that. You know, we're truly soul brothers and soul sisters if we've been united by Jesus Christ. Paul had the same kind of attitude towards Titus. He says, he's my brother, according to the flesh. Not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. He's my brother. Titus was a Jew. I mean, Paul was a Jew. Titus was a Gentile. But he says, we're one flesh. We belong together. We're one soul. Titus is my brother. And that's the way that we're to be towards one another. One soul, one spirit, one mind. So the Philippians, Paul here just uses these different words to point to the emphasis on this unity that they're to have within the body of Christ, this wholehearted devotion towards one another is his point. So that's the attitude we're to have towards one another. We're of one soul, we're of one mind, we belong together, we're family. The next thing that Paul focuses on is our actions. He continues to emphasize this idea of unity. At the end of 27, he says, Striving together for the faith of the gospel, this talks about what we do. The one was talking about attitude, this talks about our actions. We're striving together for the faith of the gospel. That word, striving together, it's actually one word in Greek, it's sunathleo. Athleo is where we get our English word for athletics, you know, to have a contest. And basically here, it would have kind of brought to their idea the idea of the Greek games, you know, where people contested against one another to see who's the strongest. or the fastest, or whatever. But here, the prefix sunathlao, it means that we do this together. We're not competing against anybody here, okay? We're striving together. We're running in the same direction. We're pulling in the same direction with one another, and that's what Paul wants to communicate, that we strive together for the faith of the gospel. Our competition, like I said, it's not against one another, and our competition is not even against the world. The world is not your enemy. You got that? The world is not your enemy. The world is the mission field. The world isn't the enemy. The world isn't the enemy. The scriptures say in Ephesians 6.12, for we do not wrestle against what? Flesh and blood. My fight isn't against you. It's against Satan who's trying to trap you, right? But my fight isn't against you. We should have love in our hearts towards those that are outside of the faith. But we have this common battle together for the faith of the gospel. We're fighting for the truth. We're fighting together to see people rescued out of the clutches of the enemy. And we'll look more at this idea of just this kind of unity that we're supposed to have with one another next week when we get into Philippians chapter 4. But I just want to let you know that this is something that we do together as a group, okay? And we need to be very careful that we nip in the bud whatever, you know, seeds of discord would be sown among this church. And this is something that I'm very concerned about because the Apostle is very concerned about it. And this is something that would bring down a church. As soon as you start to allow this kind of disunity and these personal problems to get in the mix, that's like the recipe for disaster within a church. Later on in Philippians chapter 4, and it's interesting, you have these two ladies, Yodi and Syntyche in Philippians chapter 4, had a personal disagreement with one another. Paul didn't look at their personal disagreement with one another as just a personal problem. Oh, these two ladies, they're bickering in the church. Oh, that's just their personal problem. Let them straighten it out. You know, we've got more important stuff to do. He said, no, that personal disagreement between these two sisters, that's the problem of the church. We need to make sure that this church can stay together. That is the business of the church. And he actually asked the whole church to get involved and help these ladies get together. Your personal problem is not a personal problem, it's a corporate problem. And we together as a family should be able to come together and say, hey, let's get this together. We can't have this kind of arguing and disagreement going on within the body of Christ. We need to be united as one. That's the way that you stand firm. That's the way that the ministry will be able to last for the long haul if you can stand firm together in that way. We need to stand firm. We need to guard our hearts. Seek clarification if you think you misunderstood something. Be quick to forgive. Be slow to take offense. Love one another, right? Love one another. Our ability to stand firm depends on it. But not only must we preserve the unity in the church, we also have to persevere against the opposition outside the church. Like I said, those are the two fronts that we fight against, the disunity within and the opposition from without. Well, look at what it says in verse 28, Philippians chapter 1. He said, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you and that too from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. It's experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me." And here, Paul addresses what's going on without. First, he dealt with what's going on within, now he looks without to the unbelieving world. There's an unbelieving world out there that's not just going to let the Christians remain untouched, okay? And we already understand that, and we'll probably know much better in the days ahead. But the church has adversaries, and the command here is not to be frightened. Not to be frightened of them. In no way, verse 28, in no way alarmed by your opponents. In no way alarmed. So what Paul is saying here is this, is that you can stand firm and give evidence that you're walking worthy of the gospel by not being afraid of your adversaries. By not being afraid of your adversaries. In no way alarmed. The word alarmed, it's a rare word that's found only here in the Bible. It was used for timid horses that would be frightened, even if there was no danger. You know, horses that, you know, would hear a noise and just take off. This is the word that they'd use for those horses, you know, that they're alarmed. You know, this is the specific word that was used. It was spoken of, you know, people that would just flee when there was no danger in sight. And the difference here is that we have a danger that's potentially real, right, with those that would oppose them. And we find out in the life of the Apostle Paul, he was beaten, he was thrown in prison. He had some real dangers to face. But he says, we're not to be alarmed by that. We're not to be frightened by that. We're not to run off because of that. We're just supposed to stand firm. Stand firm. In Philippi, like I said, they witnessed Paul being beaten, being thrown in jail. The Philippian city, they opposed any message that would disrupt the peace that they thought they had. What they thought was peace was, you know, allow every god and any god. You know, we're fine if you want to worship another god, just add them to the list. You know, that was basically their approach. You know, we're fine if you want to worship another god, but don't say it's the only one. You know, we've got our gods. You know, you've got your guys, we'll just kind of have a happy family here." And Paul said, no. It doesn't work like that. You can't add to this guy. This is the only one. It's unique. He's the only guy. But they were not interested in Paul's belief. They ridiculed him. They threw him in prison. And apparently these Philippian believers, you know, they're left behind after Paul leaves and they say, is the same thing going to happen to me? I believe in the same God Paul does. Am I going to go to jail? Am I going to be beaten? What's going to happen to me? Paul writes him this letter and says, don't be worried about that. Don't be worried about the opponents of the faith. Don't keep your mouth quiet because you think that there might be some danger. Paul's word for them is if you wish to stand firm and walk worthy, you can't allow yourself to be intimidated. And in here, it's kind of easy to talk about the gospel, isn't it? In here, it's easy. Everybody, praise the Lord, brother, sister. Oh, we just love the Lord. Praise Him, praise Him, right? But when it comes to the outside, there's people that don't want to hear that man is a sinner, right? I had the opportunity to speak to this one lady a while ago, and as I was trying to share the gospel with her, she said, you're trying to tell me I'm a sinner, aren't I was like, well, you know, yeah, we all are, we're all sinners. She says, well, I may be bad, but I'm not that bad. I was like, what does that mean? You have a lot of people out there that say, you know, I might be bad, but I'm not that bad. I'm not a sinner. I may sin, but don't call me a sinner. You know, the sinners are the wicked people out there, you know, the people I'm afraid of, not me. People don't want to hear that they're a sinner. People don't want to hear that there's only one true God and that the only way to Him is through Jesus Christ. People don't want to hear that. It's like if you want to add your God to the list, that's fine, but don't try to talk about it being exclusive. Are you that narrow-minded? Only one way, really? What did Jesus say? Enter by the narrow gate for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. Many are those who enter it. It's not accepted message today. We want to tolerate everybody. And what they mean by tolerance isn't just tolerance, it's acceptance. You know, accept everybody is equally valid. All religions is equally true. You know, that's what they really want. And people definitely don't want to hear that they must repent and submit to the Lordship of Christ. People don't want to hear that. Repent, turn from my sins, trust in Christ, flee to Him. I'm okay, I'm good, right? People don't want to hear that word repentance. Just recently I was speaking to one gentleman and he introduced me to his partner and he said, you know, I go to church, I believe in Jesus. I said, well, have you heard of the word repentance? And he said, you know, I appreciated it before, but now you're getting on my nerves. Now you're getting on my nerves. People don't want to hear repent. They don't want to hear that. But God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should what? Repent. Turn from your sins. Turn to me. There's no other way out. There is no other way out. Talk about a message that cuts across the grain of society. People don't want to hear this. But what does Paul say? Don't be intimidated. You keep on speaking the gospel. Don't fear what people are going to do to you because of what you believe. Proclaim Christ. You can't be intimidated, especially when we have a proper understanding of what this message of the gospel is and even what standing firm really does. Look at verse 28 again. In no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them. but of salvation for you and that too from God. When we stand unmoved, when we're able to stand firm for what we believe, it is a sign to the unbeliever. And what does it communicate to the unbeliever? That I'm on the wrong side. If you're able to stand firm whenever they're attacking you, it shows to them that you know what? Something's wrong here. Because they should be afraid, right? They should be intimidated, but they're not. Something's wrong. and really pointing the finger back at themselves. I'm the one that's wrong. It's a sign of destruction. I'm headed to hell. That's what it should do for the unbeliever. When we stand unmoved, it's a sign. It points to something. It proves something. The unbelieving world should know that we have a hope that they don't have. Flip over to 1 Peter, a couple of books over to the right there. 1 Peter chapter 3, and what I find so fascinating here is that What Peter talks about, it's not, you know, believers just trying to give their hope. He's talking about unbelievers asking for it. It's coming the other direction. 1 Peter chapter 3, look at this. It says, but even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed, and do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. What is he saying here? That as unbelievers would see you suffering, and you're not intimidated, that they would say, what kind of hope do you have that I don't have? There's something that you have that I'm unfamiliar with. This is totally foreign to me. This is the kind of message that we need to be giving unbelievers, that there is a difference between me and you, and there's a difference between my destiny and your destiny. Okay? That's the kind of message that we need to be giving the unbelievers. Flip back to Philippians chapter 1 again. So the first thing is that We give a sign of destruction for them, but the second thing is the salvation to us, salvation for you and that too from God. When believers aren't frightened by opposition, it's a proof of our own salvation. Do you know that? It proves to us that we really have the truth. I remember the first time I really thought I was going to die. I used to work construction. I was up on a ladder. I worked with mechanical equipment, air conditioning and all that, commercial air conditioning, and I thought I disconnected all the power to this one unit I was working on, but there was two disconnects and I didn't see the other one. And a shot of electricity just ran through my fingers. I still got the scar on my hand. A shot of electricity ran through. It was 270. They say, like, you know, 115, you can pull away. 460, it'll blow you off. 270, it'll hold you on. I was on the 270. And I'm here, and I feel it going down through my hand, and I can't let go. And I blacked out. And the last thing I remember saying was, Jesus. And I said, this is it. This is the way I'm going to go." In that instant, I wasn't really afraid. I was just like, Lord, this is the way you're going to take me home, I guess. I woke up on the floor, and I was shaking after I got up, but it's like, you know what? I really believe this stuff. I really believe this. I thought I was going to heaven, and I was totally comfortable with that. I thought, hey, Lord, I'm coming home. This is how it's going to be. When you stand up unafraid, it even convinces you that, you know what, I really believe this. This is true. This is absolutely true. When we're able to stand up, in Matthew chapter 13, you don't have to turn here, but in Matthew chapter 13, it talks about this parable of the soils. You know, the sower went out and sowed a seed and different types of soils. It's called the parable of the seeds or the soils. But here he talks about the seed that fell among rocky places. In Matthew chapter 13, verse 21, it says, yet he has, this one that's among the rocky places, he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary. And when affliction or persecution arises because of the Word, immediately he falls away. If you fall away because of persecution and affliction, you should have no confidence about your faith. When you should have confidence about your faith is that I can go through a trial, and at the end, I'm still standing here. That's when you can say, I have confidence in the Lord. It's a sign of salvation for you. It's your sign of salvation that I can stand through a trial. Suffering is a gift. It's a gift. It's like, Lord, that's a gift I really don't want. I like your other gifts. Suffering, that's one of those you can, Lord, why don't you hold on to that? Give it to that sister over there, Lord. Give that gift of suffering, you know. Suffering is a gift. Look at verse 29 back in Philippians chapter 1. It says, For to you it has been granted. This is a gift. It has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. It's been given to you as a gift to suffer. It's granted, charizomai. It's a gift. Philippians understood that faith was a gift. And that's what he says here, for to you it has been granted, not only to believe, if you believe, it is a gift of God. You get that? For to you it has been granted, not only to believe, if you believe it's God's gift, but also to suffer for His sake. It's been granted to you to suffer for Him. In Acts chapter 5, we find Peter and the apostles, you know, they're proclaiming the gospel. Why don't you flip over there a couple of books to the left here, Acts chapter 5. This is fascinating here because you have Peter and the apostles, they're proclaiming the gospel. They're healing diseases the same way that Jesus Christ was while He walked the earth, proclaiming the gospel, healing diseases. And we find the religious leaders opposing the apostles just like they did Jesus Christ. The same thing that happened to the living tree happened to the dry one, right? That's how Christ kind of talked about it. If they do this to the green tree, what are they going to do to you? If they hate me, what do you think about you, those who are called by my name? But look at Acts chapter 5, verses 17 to 20. And if you need some spiritual backbone, you can park yourself in the book of Acts. This is a fantastic book. Acts 5, verse 17, it says, but the high priest rose up along with his associates, that is the sect of the Sadducees, and they were filled with jealousy. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail, but during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison and taking them out, he said, go stand and speak to the people in the temple and the whole message of this life. Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest and his associates came, they called the council together, even all the senate of the sons of Israel, and sent out orders to the prison house for them to be brought, but the officers who came did not find them in the prison. They returned and reported back saying, we found the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we had opened up, we found no one inside. Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this. But someone came and reported to them, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence, for they were afraid of the people that they might be stoned. When they had brought them, they stood Then before the council, the high priest questioned them, saying, We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men. No fear, right? You've got to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him. Look at verse 41 here. So this is after Gamaliel gives counsel, just let these guys go. You know, if they're right, we're going to bring judgment upon ourselves. Just let them go, okay? In verses 40 and…look at 40 verse 1 in chapter 5. It says, they took his advice, Gamaliel, and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and then released them. So here they are, they've already been thrown in jail once. Now they're brought back a second time, and this time they're beaten. It's like, could you see these apostles just saying, oh Lord, what in the world is going on here? And they left, and they just complain and say, Lord, don't ever do this to us again. But look at what they did. Verse 41, so they went on their way from the presence of the council rejoicing. that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ." You know what they looked at this suffering as? They said, this is a gift. This is a gift. I've been considered worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ. This is a gift to me. Is that how you look at suffering? I know sometimes I don't. I know sometimes I don't. We need to not be intimidated, be unafraid. We need to appreciate the gifts of God. Like I said, there's times when I don't. But this is a sign of destruction for them, a sign of salvation for you, and it is a gift of God. You can rejoice in that. And lastly, what Paul reminds them is that you're not in this struggle alone, verse 30, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. Paul says, I'm not encouraging you to do anything I'm not doing myself. I'm experiencing conflict, I'm asking you to go through it with me. They already saw what he went through at Philippi for the sake of the gospel. They saw that his robe was torn, his back that was bloodied and bruised from being beaten. Paul wasn't a sideline coach, right? You know, just instructing everybody else, you get on the field and you do this. You go get them, boys. Now, that wasn't how Paul was. He says, I'm right in here with you. I'm experiencing the same conflict with you. At this time, Paul was in prison. He was awaiting the result of a trial that could end in his life. His life was on the line at the time that he's writing this. He says, I'm asking you to just join in with me. The same conflict that you've already heard I'm experiencing, I want you to join and suffer hardship with me. And that's to be true of all Christians. So BBC, I just want to let you know, Baltimore Bible Church, we're off to a great start. Off to a great start. But my question is, where are we going to be in the next 10, 15, 50, 60 years from now? Like I said, my desire is that we'd be doing the same thing we're doing today, right? Standing firm for the gospel, preserving the unity within the church, and persevering against the opposition outside the church. And my question to you is, will you be standing firm? Will you stand firm? Will you conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ? You have been listening to George Lawson, Jr. of Baltimore Bible Church. To hear other messages or to find out about upcoming events or where we meet for weekly church services, please visit us online at www.baltimorebiblechurch.org. George Lawson Jr. and Baltimore Bible Church reserve all copyright protection under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available on our website and includes instructions for and limitations on duplicating CDs and all digital files.