Let's pray. Oh great God of highest heaven, you have in your gospel promised to occupy our lowly hearts. We praise you that you are meeting us here, Lord, in all of your transcendence. You are imminent, you are here, and we ask, God, that you would make us sense that and enjoy your presence today. God bless us as we open your word. Open our hearts to you as we open your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Kiddos can be dismissed to children's ministry, and as you're grabbing your seat, you can open your Bibles if you would to the book of Philippians, and we'll be looking to begin with at verse 27. Philippians 1, verse 27. That was an unusually vocal departure of the kids today. Something was going on, I don't know what, but love our kids. So I want to ask this morning, I want to solve a problem with you this morning and just start by asking a question. What do Christians do? What do Christians do?
I think if you were to just go out and ask the average income poop in the world, they would probably tell you that, you know, what Christians don't do is what preeminently reigns in their mind, all the things that Christians don't do. But I think if you were to ask a smart person, a person with some kind of historical awareness, they might be able to say, even if they themselves were not Christians, they might be able to list things that Christians traditionally do, things that Christians do, not simply don't do. Back in the 1940s, C.S. Lewis was asked to write a letter or an essay for a medical, for a hospital in Ireland. And one of the things he says in this essay, it's called 'Some Thoughts,' that's the name of the essay. One of the things he says in this essay is that he supposes that in some respects, a hospital is the most naturally Christian structure, the most naturally Christian building. That one could build, because it's just so— the idea of medical care is so consistent, congruent with the idea of what we're called to do as Christians. And he went on in that essay to talk about all of the various things you could talk about related to what Christians do. He says that Christianity, the church rather, has been an agent which preserved secular civilization as it survived the fall of the Roman Empire. I don't know if you know that, but, you know, it was really the church that kept civilization intact as the Roman Empire dissolved. He says that it is really to Christianity that Europe owes its cultural or civilizational salvation, and he says that in those perilous ages of civilized agriculture and architecture and laws and even literacy itself were preserved by the church. The same religion has always been healing and caring for the sick and the poor, And it has blessed marriage more than any other institution. And art and philosophy tend to flourish in its neighborhood. He goes on and lists all of these things that Christians do, that Christians have done historically.
I want to think a little deeper and just ask, what's the root behavior that goes even deeper than that? What's the thing that we must do in order to do all these great things? We are, as I say often, rich kids. We get so many privileges. We get to do so many things, so many exciting and wonderful things. Our involvement with men in other countries sharing the gospel in very hostile places, that's a privilege. It's a privilege for us to do that. You know, there's so many privileges, so many opportunities. But I want to talk today about the thing we must do in order to be able to do those things, and that's found in Philippians Chapter 1, verse 27.
Just as a reminder, Paul's writing this letter in prison. This is considered to be one of his most personal, familiar letters. I would say that it's not a stretch to say that Paul had a relationship with the Philippian church he did not have with any other church, that this was in some respects, in Paul's heart anyway, his sort of home church. Somehow in his affections, this church is special. This is what we must do in order to be able to do all of these amazing things. Verse 27, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God.
So what we must do in order to do all these other things is we must live a life worthy of the gospel, and we must stand firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. If we don't do that, we can't do anything else. If we don't walk in this way together, We can't do anything else. One of the basic realities we've all got to accept is that our culture is more individualistic and that we are wired more individualistically than any other people in, I think, the history of the world. I don't think it would be a stretch to say that we are more individualistically wired than any other people in the history of the world. And the core contribution of Christianity to the world has has come through people locked arms, walking side by side for long periods of time. So the biggest dents, and dents is the wrong word because they've been great things, the greatest gardens the church has planted in the world over the last 2,000 years have come because people did not have that individualistic instinct. Rather, they locked arms and walked side by side moving forward. And that the more we listen to this individualistic sense ability that comes from our culture right now, the less good we will do. Simple as that. The less we will accomplish, the less good we will do.
6 · Argues that the church's future cultural witness depends on resisting individualism and maintaining unity, which is the distinguishing mark of Christianity—uncommon unity producing uncommon good
So that you might— if we continue on the trajectory of individualism that we see set right now and ask a smart person 2,000 years from now, what do Christians do? They may not be able to point to hospitals or literacy or caring for the poor. Or sending people into other countries, because you can't do those things unless you do this thing, unless you walk side by side in one spirit, in one mind, for the sake of the gospel. So this is a pretty significant question about our core commitment to be— whether we will be historically Christian or not. Whether we will continue in what is some remarkable contributions we've seen— certainly not perfect, but remarkable contributions we've seen— the core of what it means to be Christian, the basic Christian thing, the thing that is distinct about Christians, is they have an uncommon unity that leads to uncommon good. The secret recipe to this whole Christianity thing is unity of heart, mind, and purpose, walking together and accomplishing more than we could ever accomplish on our own. That's the fundamental action of a Christ follower, is to find other Christ followers and pursue harmony through humility and change the world. We've got to be focused on this idea of living a life.
7 · Explains that Philippians 1:27 functions as Paul's summary definition of Christian faithfulness: living worthy of the gospel means standing firm in unity with other believers over time
And that's the other piece of this. Sometimes when someone writes a very long blog post, they'll put at the end, 'Too long, didn't read,' and then they'll just create a summary for people who don't like to read the whole thing. Or maybe they put it at the beginning, I forget. If you wanted to see the 'too long, didn't read' version of what does it mean to be a Christian, you could look at verse 27. As Paul is saying here, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. He's saying this is the way to live your life. Live a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then he defines what it means to live a life worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says this is what it looks like: whether I am with you or am absent, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. This is his too-long-didn't-read version of what faithful Christianity looks like. We can see other definitions in other places, and they all lead to the same idea: that in Christian community, God changes us and he changes the world. And if you were to ask what singular commitment could you make to ensure both your own growth and the good of the world, it would be I need to make the commitment to walk side by side with other believers over a prolonged period of time. If you were just narrowing down what is the thing to do, it would be that thing.
8 · Acknowledges the difficulty of pursuing church unity in a post-Christian culture where social benefits have evaporated, leaving only one legitimate reason for showing up: conviction that Scripture commands walking together despite our sinfulness
Now, the problem with that is that it's a really hard thing to do. It's actually much more difficult today for good reasons than it was in the past. In the past, when Christianity had a a more culturally appreciated part of our culture, there were all sorts of benefits for coming to church. You know, there were all sorts of social benefits for coming to church, there were all sorts of career benefits, et cetera. But a lot of that's passed away now, and now we kind of live in this kind of question of, why are you here? Why do you keep coming back? What's the point of this? And it becomes much more difficult because you can really only have one point anymore. Because all of those additional benefits are offered elsewhere in other places. And that one point is I want to live for Jesus, and I'm convinced through careful study of his word that the way to do that is to find other believers and walk side by side with them into the Christian future. That's difficult because we're sinners and because the very people that we would want to walk with are sinners. We are just not by nature prone to this sort of harmony that requires this level of humility.
9 · Signals the sermon's expositional strategy: Paul models in Philippians 1:1-26 the very behaviors he commands in 1:27, so tracing those modeled behaviors reveals how to walk side by side
So how do we do this? How do we walk side by side? How do we strive together in faith, in the faith of the gospel? Well, Paul is— I mean, just naturally— naturally is not the right word— but Paul just exudes good leadership. It's amazing how this whole idea of the leadership of Paul is something that's just a wealth of— a treasure trove of study, a treasure trove of insights. And what you realize is that as he calls them to do this in verse 27, he's been modeling all of the behaviors you need to engage in throughout the letter. So that the introduction of the letter all the way through verse 27, all the way to verse 27, he's doing the stuff that we need to do in order to strive together side by side. He's modeling these behaviors. So really all we need to do when we ask, well, how do we do this? How do we actually strive side by side? Is we just need to go to the beginning of the letter, work our way through, and we'll see some things that Paul's doing and realize, well, these are the behaviors in which we must engage in order to walk side by side.
10 · Introduces the first main point from Philippians 1:3—Paul's gratitude for the Philippians—and explains that Paul's every memory of the church is characterized by thankfulness
So the first point is this. The first thing we see Paul doing is point number 1: be grateful for your church. Be grateful for your church. Philippians 1:3, I thank my God in all remembrance of you 'in all my remembrance of you.' What he's saying there in verse 3, 'I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,' is that every thought he has about his brothers and sisters in Christ in this church are seasoned, flavored with gratitude. He doesn't have any thoughts about them— every time they come to his mind, gratitude is a part of what he feels when when they come to his mind.
11 · Contrasts natural responses to difficult people—elevated heart rate at their name—with Paul's choice to remember the Philippians with gratitude, identifying four sub-practices: frequent remembrance, frequent prayer, affectionate response, gratitude for loyalty
Now, if you've lived long enough, some people have done you wrong, and just the mere mention of their name can create an elevated heart rate, right? I mean, there's just people that it's just like, ugh! There are people in the local church that maybe you find it difficult to live with and to walk with. You know, Paul is just a church member at some level in this letter. He never even addresses himself as an apostle uniquely in this letter. He says that every time he thinks about these people, he feels gratitude. Every time he thinks about these people, he feels gratitude. So, and he's thinking about them often. He's praying for them often. Look at verse 3 again. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you, all making my prayer with joy. Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. So there's a few things he's doing here under this heading of he's being grateful for his church. He's remembering them often, he's praying for them often, he's moved in his affections for them, and he's being grateful for their loyalty.
12 · Explains that despite Paul's overwhelming mental load—memorized Scripture, apostolic visions, multiple church plants—he deliberately fills his mind with thoughts of the Philippian church
So let's just go through these a little bit one by one. First, this idea of him remembering them. Paul has a lot going on. And he has a particularly busy mind. I mean, imagine, you know, seeing— having the Torah memorized, having most of the Old Testament memorized, seeing the third heaven, being a church planner of multiple churches in the area. Paul's got a lot in his brain. He's got more on his mind than you do. Okay, he's got more on his mind than I do, even during tax season or whatever. Now, but Paul is making it a point to fill his busy mind with thoughts of his church. He is making it a point to bring his people, his brothers and sisters, to his busy mind.
13 · Asserts from pastoral observation that a critical mass of people obeying Hebrews 3:12-13 and 10:24—daily mutual exhortation and consideration—creates a cultural pivot point where the church gains momentum and accomplishes more
I've been doing this for a while, and I have seen one of the basic pivots in a church culture comes when a critical mass of individuals begin to obey Hebrews 3 12 through 13. Something changes when a critical number, critical mass of people begin to obey Hebrews 3:12 through 13, which says, take care, brothers, lest there be any of you with an evil unbelieving heart leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day as long as it is called today, that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. A companion verse would be Hebrews 10:24, and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. This essential element of walking side by side, one of the things that begins to contribute to that, and we get to get to some momentum and we're actually starting to do good things and we're not slowed down by a lack of resources and we're not slowed down by a lack of people contributing themselves is that there's this sense where people begin to bring the church into their daily mind, and they begin to think about one another on a daily basis and consider how to stir one another up to faith and good deeds.
14 · Explains that Philippians 1:4's prayer practice creates a two-way integration: bringing private Scripture reading to church (via contribution mic) and bringing the church into private prayer—making quiet time corporate in both directions
Part of that is praying for them. Verse 4, and he says that I'm praying for you always in every prayer of mine for you A few weeks ago, we just— we talked about the contribution mic, and it's this idea, more or less, I was gonna summarize that about what are we asking you to do with the contribution mic. We would say this: we want you to bring your quiet time to church with you, right? We want you to be mindful as you're spending your time reading the Word throughout the week that some of what you read may be of benefit for all of us. We want you to bring your quiet time with you. Into church. And what we're seeing in verse 4 is the exact flip side of that— is we want you to bring the church into your quiet time, right? So, so we want you to bring your quiet time— we want to bring your scripture reading to church and share. And we want you to bring your church family into your private prayer time and pray for them so that there's a corporate element of your quiet time. Every time you get alone to be with God, You are with your church in heart in two respects. You're praying for people in your church, and you're also thinking about what you might bring as you mine the Scriptures, as you spend time with the Lord, about what you might bring to the church. So we bring our quiet time to church, and we bring our church into our quiet time.
15 · Notes that Paul's gratitude for the Philippians produces joy—his affections are not merely dutiful but warm
He says that he's moved in his affections for them. He says, every time I think about you, I'm grateful. And then he says, I'm making my prayers with joy joy. I'm making my prayers with joy. He feels joy when he thinks about them. His heart is warmed.
16 · Addresses listeners who lack warm affections for the church, instructing them to act on their affections rather than from them—practicing gratitude and joy as children practice adulthood, trusting God to eventually supply the feelings
And I want to just say here, that may not happen right away. You may not feel joy as you think about your church. You may not feel anger, but you may just sort of be flat. You just may not feel what you think you ought to feel. Well, I want to remind you that sometimes we act out of our affections, but other times we must act upon our affections. Sometimes we act out of our feelings, but other times we must act on our feelings. You know, that's not hypocritical to say, 'I don't feel what I want to feel, but I'm going to act as if I did.' When you watch children play house, They are pretending. They're not actually parents yet. They're practicing though. Their pretend is practice. They are pretending in a way that is associated with confidence that what they are pretending to be right now will be true of them eventually. And as it relates to your affections and how you feel about other people, seeking godly heart-filled affections for other people. This is how we must do it sometimes. We must say, I don't feel this, but I know what I should feel, and I will practice that. I will act upon my affections, having confidence that God will indeed supply the warm feelings for my church that he needs, that I need.
17 · Explains that Paul's affections for the Philippians are not self-generated but Christ's own affections channeled through Paul (Philippians 1:8), accessible by devotion and practice
These warm feelings are not yours to begin with. In verse 8, Paul lets us know where his affections for the church are coming from. He says they're Christ's affections. He said he's tapped into Christ's affections. For God is my witness how I yearn for you with all the affection of Christ Jesus. He has simply practiced and pushed in and devoted himself to tapping into, to being an instrument of Christ's affections for his brothers and sisters, so that now he enjoys Christ's affections for his brothers and sisters.
18 · Explains that Paul's gratitude for the Philippians' partnership (1:5) is generous given his suffering and their imperfect support—he chooses to maximize their loyalty rather than emphasize their failures or his isolation
So we're still talking about being grateful for the church. We're saying have good affections for them. We're saying remember them throughout your week. We're saying pray for them. But here's a real basic one, verse 5. Because of your partnership, he's saying, I feel all this because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. Friends, That is an exceedingly generous way to view his relationship with the Philippians. He is in prison, will probably die there, is already feeling the sense that he could probably just go to sleep one night if he just sort of gave up and be done. Friends, there's nothing more natural in our sufferings than to make ourselves feel extra alone and extra singled out. And one of the ways we'll do that is by saying no one else understands. No one— God isn't calling anybody else to do this, so on and so forth. What Paul chooses to do instead is maximize what they have done. He's saying, I thank God for your partnership. Are they with him in prison? No. Have they provided every time? No, they haven't. In fact, later in the letter he says, 'Thank you, I'm glad that you've renewed your concern for me.' Back in chapter 4 he talks about this. Paul's making a choice to emphasize the one thing he can clearly see, and that is they are loyal. They are loyal.
19 · Uses the experience of parenting adult children to illustrate how young adults can critique their parents' mistakes without recognizing that those mistakes were only possible because of long-term commitment—if parents had bailed, their record would be cleaner
You know, I know in many respects God's grace to bringing me to Providence, there's just many of them. One of them is I have a group of men and women that are all navigating the 20-year-old children thing, or have already. And there are some pieces of this that are hard, hard. And one of the things I remember now, I see more clearly now, now that my kids are that age, I see this in myself when I was that age. You know, without realizing it, it's just something you do. You are in a position to see things more clearly than you could ever see them before, and you're able to be critical of mistakes your parents have made, so on and so forth. But you fail to thank God for the fact that those mistakes were only possible because they were deeply committed to you over a long course of time. Like, if they had just bailed on you, their record would have been cleaner. Right? Like if they'd just given up— I mean, I'm not just saying like kicked you out. I'm saying like if they just stopped engaging, if they just stopped trying, then many of the things we feel embittered toward would not be there.
20 · Applies the parenting illustration to church relationships: we assume others' commitment and then criticize particulars, when we should instead choose gratitude for their presence—loyalty is the foundation Paul prizes above all
Friends, I bring that up because I'm walking through that and trying to help my kids sort through that, and I don't— I really don't have any animosity to them. I see the same thing in me. Here's what I see in me. I look at the people who have chosen to live with me, chosen to walk with me, chosen to stand side by side with me for a long period of time, and I analyze how well they've done instead of appreciating the fact that they're there at all. And this is so much how we evaluate our local churches. We're so good at assuming other people's commitment to us. I mean, why wouldn't they love us? And then upon that assumption, criticizing the particulars. Of course there's plenty of things we do wrong, but the wrong that's done is done on a lattice of commitment and loyalty that has endured for quite some time. What Paul is saying is, is I'm going to choose to look at that. I'm going to choose to look at the fact that you are 'You're loyal to me,' which honestly winds up being a massive currency in Paul's life. This becomes an essential issue for him. As I read Paul's work, I see his heart broken most when people desert him. And so he's stirring up this affection for them that's rooted in, you know what, I'm just glad you're still with me. I'm just glad you're still with me.
21 · Concludes first main point and introduces second: be hopeful for your church
So that's the grateful piece. That's point number 1: be grateful for your church. Point number 2: Be hopeful for your church. Be hopeful for your church.
22 · Reads Philippians 1:6-14, establishing the textual foundation for the second main point: Paul's hope for the Philippians' sanctification and for the mission's advance despite opposition
Look at verse 6: And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart. For you are all partakers with me of grace. Both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness how I yearn for all, for you all, with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
23 · Explains that Paul's hope has two objects—people's sanctification and mission's success—and that hope is confident, not wishful
Be hopeful for your church. We see this broken down into two sections. Paul is hopeful for the people of his church, and he's hopeful for the mission of his church. And I don't mean hopeful in a sense of like, yeah, there's a pretty good chance this might work out. You know, it's not hopeful like you are when you root for the Royals. You know, maybe you're not hopeful, I don't know. But it's the hope, it's a confidence. It's like, this is gonna happen. I am sure of this. That's what he says in verse 6. I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. And what Paul's seeing, what we're seeing in verses 6 and verse 9 and 10 and 11, is that Paul is dealing with unfinished people. He's dealing with unfinished people. Well, unfinished people It's just another way of saying people with rough edges. And you know what happens if you put a bunch of things with rough edges against each other? Like, there's a lot of pain, right? Friends, we will hurt each other. This is a part of being humans. We will do so sometimes in malice and in anger, and we will do so oftentimes in just ineptitude and lack of skill. But we are walking together side by side, but on our sides are all of these sins that poke the person to our right and the person to our left. All right, so that's kind of a hard deal. This is one of the main reasons why people don't stick it out over time in one community of faith for a long period of time.
24 · Vivid image of church unity: locked arms with rough edges—burrs, glass, metal—hurting each other while asking each other to stick it out
So let's picture that, you know, we're all, we're all locked arms, but instead of our soft our soft arms, there's little burrs and shards of glass and pieces of metal, and we're saying to the other person, just stick with me, and they're like, ahh! And that person's saying, just stick with me, and you're ahh! And you're walking side by side.
25 · Explains that enduring the pain of walking with rough-edged people requires confidence in God's sanctifying work—if you stop hoping for people's change, you lose the capacity for forbearance
And what Paul's saying is, I am confident that over time, those things will be worn down, that God will will finish the work He started in you. That this is going to work its way out into your life, and the very things that are difficult now will, in God's timing and in God's way, be dealt with. He isn't highlighting it here, but essentially these unfinished pieces cause pain. We cause each other pain. So how do we do that? How do we do that in marriage? How do we live with people who cause us pain? Well, we have to have confidence. We have to have confidence that he who began a good work will carry that good work out to the day of Christ Jesus. If you stop being hopeful for people's change, it is really hard to walk with them, and it's really hard to live with them. Once you've sort of decided, like, that person isn't going to change. A person can't change. This situation can't change. You're pretty much done with all your forbearance and all your walking side by side. Just can't be done. Once you've written that off entirely, it is just really difficult.
26 · Explains that Paul's hope for sanctification is not passive but expressed in prayer (1:9-11)—he prays specifically for love to abound with knowledge and discernment
So Paul has hope. He has hope for the individual person in that church, is their sanctification. He has hope that God will continue to work in them. He'll continue to do that. One of the ways he talks about this, look at verse 9, is that not only is it just his hope, but look at verse 9, it is my prayer. So he's taking action. He's not simply saying, you know, I think you're gonna be okay, I think it'll be alright. No, you're gonna be fine, and here's what I'm praying. And listen to the way he prays. It's my prayer that your love may abound more and more with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ. Paul's actually taking action. He's saying, I'm going to pray. I'm going to pray specifically that you would begin to love more and more. Your love may abound more and more, and that love would be added with knowledge and discernment. So that you may approve what is excellent.
27 · Transitions from hope for people to hope for mission, explaining that Philippians 1:12-21 addresses mission and that unity requires agreement on a common mission: making Christ known
So he's hopeful for them, but he's also hopeful for the mission. I kind of read over earlier when I was reading, verses 12 through 21, Paul is talking about his hope for the mission. Every group of people that are going to walk side to side have to agree on the direction they're going to walk. We all have to agree on our common mission. Our common mission is to make Christ known in the world. That's it. That's why we're here. We have to have that as a basic agreement.
28 · Argues that the mission must be strong because a group's unity is only as strong as its mission, and the gospel is antifragile—it gets stronger through opposition, making it the strongest possible mission
And I'll tell you why it's so important to make that our basic agreement. Every mission, every group of people builds themselves around a common mission. And that group of people's commitment to each other and their love and ability to relate to one another is only as strong as the mission itself is strong. So it's important that we choose a strong mission. Well, there is no stronger mission than the advancement of the gospel. There's no more antifragile mission than the advancement of the gospel. Have you ever heard the phrase antifragile? There's a statistician— he's not a statistician, I can't think of the word— he's a numbers theorist, and his name's Nassim Taleb, and he wrote a book called Antifragile. He wrote a book that you may have heard of before called Black Swan, where he talks about improbable events. But he wrote this book called Antifragile, and he says there are a few systems in the world that not only endure hard things, but actually get better because of hard things. Right, like there are a few systems, a few organisms, there are a few organisms in the world that not only are really strong and they hold up to the storm, but they actually get stronger because of the storm. And I'm reading this book and he's making this brilliant case, man, you just want to find these antifragile things and invest in them. And he's writing about investments. He said you just need to invest in these things. And I'm screaming in my heart as I'm reading this book, it's the church, it's the church, it's the church. There's no better example in the history of the world of an antifragile organization than the people of Jesus. There's just no better example. He never got there. He writes, 'Some things benefit from shocks. They thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors. These things love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. They build on them. They become stronger because of them.' And that's exactly what we see in this passage.
29 · Shows two instances of the gospel's antifragility in Philippians 1:12-18—Paul's imprisonment advances the gospel, and even malicious preaching serves the mission, prompting Paul's rejoicing
Paul isn't only hopeful for these people saying, You know what? You're all under the Romans 8:28 promise. God's going to finish this. He's going to use everything for your good. But he's also hopeful for the mission of the church. He says in verse 12, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Now here's the first, like, opposition that we see. Well, the first opposition is he's been imprisoned, gospel grows. He's imprisoned, gospel grows. Antifragile. Verse 15, second opposition: Some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel, the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
30 · Applies the antifragile-mission teaching: in a hostile culture, the church cannot afford consumer reasons for membership—only the gospel's advancement justifies pressing into painful community, and that mission guarantees blessing despite opposition
Friends, you may have in the past joined a church because you thought it would be good for your family. Or you may have in the past joined a church because you liked the programs, or because you liked the preaching, or because you liked the music. Those days are gone. That's not how we do it anymore. We can't afford to do it anymore. We live in a hostile enough environment now where we must decide once and for all why we're together, why we're here. Well, the only reason we're here is the advancement of the gospel within and without. That's it. That's why we're here. We're here for the advancement of the gospel within us. We're here for the advancement of the gospel without us. And that's an antifragile mission. It can't, it literally can't be hurt. It can only be helped. No matter what opposition comes, it only furthers that cause. And so in these days, as it becomes more pressing, more important that we push away the individualistic tendencies, and for all the pain that we know is coming and all the hardship that we know is coming, press into community, we have to say we're doing that because we are confident both in our individual sanctification and that the mission of the church itself will prevail against all oncomers. That's what we have to be about. And we have to walk in confidence knowing that if we're about that, we won't not only not fail, we will, in spite of whatever opposition, see God's blessing.
31 · Concludes second main point and introduces third: be faithful to your church
So be hopeful for your church, be hopeful for the people in your church, be hopeful for the mission of your church. Third point: be faithful to your church. Be faithful to your church.
32 · Explains Paul's physical and spiritual condition in Philippians 1:22ff—at the point where he could volitionally let go and die, especially intense for Paul because he knows what heaven is like
Verse 22, Paul is, as I said before, to the point where I think I've, as a pastor, had the privilege of sitting with people as they've passed away. Very often there is some sort of volitional moment where they choose to be done. That doesn't mean they just decide, 'I'm done,' but very often there is a moment of choice. Where the person who is passing says, 'Okay.' Paul, I think, is at that point physically. He's seeing on the horizon this sense of if he just sort of shut down, he could be done. No more prison, no more beatings, no more shipwrecks, no more slander from those darn Corinthians. He could just be done. Now, the thing about Paul is he actually knew what heaven was like, so it was even more intense for him. He could, I think, flip the switch of fight in his inner being, wherever that switch is, and he could just go to sleep. And as the cold settled into the jail cell, He could just pass, and he's really tempted to do that. He's really tempted to just flip the switch and be done with the suffering and to be with Christ. He's thinking about it. He's seriously entertaining, 'What do I do?'
33 · Reads Philippians 1:21-26, where Paul wrestles with the choice between dying (gain) and living (necessary for the church), ultimately deciding to remain for the Philippians' sake
He says, For me to live is Christ, this is verse 21, and to die is gain. If I'm to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which shall I choose, I cannot tell. He's probably— Timothy's probably writing this down for him. Paul used a person to write, an amanuensis. He's probably sorting this out as he's writing Which I will choose I cannot tell. Verse 23: I'm hard-pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again.
34 · Asserts that faithfulness means enduring hardship without giving up, and that suffering is evidence of love
Be grateful for your church. Be hopeful for your church. Be faithful to your church. And what I mean by faithful is when it gets hard, don't give up. Your suffering, your hardship is one of the basic evidences of your love for the church. I want to stick a thought into your head. It's crucial for our church at a number of levels that you get this and believe it and buy into it. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. In this moment for Paul, giving meant not flipping the switch, staying in jail, enduring more hardship, because he knew that his church needed him. He says he was necessary. You know, I don't think he's saying that in some sort of extremely arrogant way, and I don't think he's even saying that in a way that's not applicable to every one of you. I don't think you understand that when it comes to this idea of building gardens in this fallen world, of making this positive way forward, that it is all about side by side, And you're a part of that. And when it's the hardest for you to be a part of it, you're the most helpful by showing up and being a part of it. When it costs you the most, you're the most helpful. You make the most difference. When you're giving the most, you make the most difference. When you're laying it down, you make the most difference.
35 · Confronts the congregation's tendency to minimize their contribution as false humility designed to avoid difficult, high-standard commitments
This is no sort of false humility that says, 'Oh, what am I? I'm nothing. I have nothing to contribute.' You know what? We all do that to get out of holding ourselves to high standards. We all minimize our contribution. We all minimize what we can do to avoid holding ourselves to high standards and doing things that are difficult. And that's just false humility nonsense.
36 · Explains that Paul's commitment to endure hardship precedes his charge in 1:27—he models faithfulness first, then calls the Philippians to it
Paul is— if anybody has a reason to check in, to check out, it's Paul. He says, 'Nope, I'm going to stick it out.' 'Convinced of this, I know I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and your joy in the faith.' It's not about me. 'So that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again.' The interesting thing about this is that Paul makes this overarching statement of, 'I will stay. I will stay with you.' And then after making this statement, this commitment, I will endure hardship, I will go the extra mile, then he is able to issue the charge in verse 27. He says, I'm going to do it, I'm going to stick around, I'm going to stick around, I'm going to endure another night. Only you, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel. Of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened by anything.
37 · Diagnoses the modern church's tepid anemia as mutual low commitment—10% people can't call each other to hard things
He's able to call these people to hard things because he is committed to hard things. As you're looking just at the ineffectual kind of tepid anemia of the local church these days. I think what you've got is you've got a bunch of people who are only 10% in. Actually, actually not even that, right? Because you look at their giving, but like 3% in every other month. You got a group of people who are 10% in. They can't call each other to hard things, and they know it. And so you've got this, this really squishy, kind of lukewarm, kind of club full of people who basically have an agreement. I don't want to commit really hard, so I won't ask you to commit really hard. What happens when it's flipped? What happens when it's flipped? What happens when a group of people are walking together and it's costing them. It's difficult, it's painful. Well, if you've decided that you're gonna stay another night in the cell and you're gonna endure when it gets cold and you're gonna go without the food and so on and so forth, then you say to your people, hey, you, you live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel too. You walk side by side. Now what's the cultural effect of 100 people all saying that to each other for 10 years? What effect does that have on Pakistan? What effect does that have on Johnson County? What's the cultural effect of 100 people saying yes to hard things, saying yes to Christ, saying yes to each other being grateful for one another, being hopeful for one another, being faithful to one another, what's the net effect of that over 10 years? Well, we can ask a smart person in the future, what did Providence Community Church do? And they'll be able to tell us. There would be clear evidence of the work of Christ in the life of a people and in the world that they lived in.
38 · Summary thesis: pursuing harmony through painful humility is the defining Christian action
This pursuing harmony through painful humility is the heart of the Christian faith. It is what Christians do.
39 · Reads Philippians 2:1-11, the Christ hymn, grounding the call to unity and humility in Christ's self-emptying example
Paul Philippians 2. So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
40 · Explains the sermon's structural movement: Philippians 1:27 is sandwiched between Paul's example (1:1-26) and Christ's example (2:1-11), both modeling the call to walk side by side
I've got this verse in verse 27: Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel. Walk side by side with one heart, one mind, not fearing anything And behind it is the example of Paul, verses 1 through 26, example of Paul. And then on the other side of that high moment is the example of Christ, who pursued harmony in humility and who laid down everything he had a right to to build a church full of people who would lay down everything they have a right to.
41 · Closing prayer transitioning into the Lord's Supper, asking God to make the congregation conscious of their connection to the body and to affirm God's plan for the local church
Let me pray for us. Jesus, you stuck with us. You joined us here as a man to walk amongst us. Taking the form of a servant, never taking the easy way out, never walking away from your people, pressing in more and more. Nobody is more grateful for your church than you are. No one is more grateful for this church than you are. And nobody is more hopeful for this church than you are. And nobody is more faithful to this church than you are. Lord, as we take the table today, participate in your ordained table of remembrance. Would you allow us to be conscious of our connection to the body of Christ? Allow us to be conscious of our connection to the people of God. Lord, would you allow us, as we step forward and take the cup and the bread, would you please allow us to make prayers to you saying, it is good, God, it is good. You have the right plan. Your plan for the local church is the right plan. Your plan for me in the local church is the right plan. God, give me gratitude for the people of God. God, give me hope for the people of God. God, give me faithfulness and endurance for the people of God. Give us the faith to do that. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.