Christian Commands

Growing up my mom taught piano lessons to about 30 students in our home on a weekly basis on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from the early afternoon to the early evening. Because of this, in the summer time my mom would be able to not only watch myself but also some of my friends whose parents had to work while their kids were out of school in the summer. I’ll always remember those sweet summer months as a kid playing with friends, going to the pool, throwing the baseball around, and going on trips to Springfield. One summer day in particular a friend and I were hungry and looking through what we had in the kitchen to make a quick sandwich so that we could go back outside to play. We’re looking through the lunch meat options and see the usual turkey, ham, and bologna… We look in the pantry and see that there’s peanut butter, jelly, and honey. Now, some food combinations of things just naturally go together… Baseball and hot dogs. Peanut butter and chocolate. Popcorn and butter. Burgers and fries. Biscuits and gravy. Peanut butter and jelly. Zach and I are in the kitchen trying to think of something out of the box that would be a good combination. Turkey and peanut butter… Not a success. Ham and honey… Not a success. Bologna and peanut butter? 10/10. Maybe that combination doesn’t sound particularly appealing to you, but to a couple of 10 year old hungry boys, that sandwich hit the spot and has been a running joke ever since. Our world has other combinations that people think go together: Hard work and success. Bonfires and the fall.

In the Bible we find a different combination that characterizes God’s people: Courageousness and Compassion. We read in the Bible how we are called to stand unapologetically on God’s Word and how we are called to demonstrate compassion toward people who might disagree with us. This combination might not make sense in the eyes of the world, but to God’s people these are two things that must go together. The Gospel must be proclaimed faithfully and courageously. As we proclaim the Gospel, we must stay humble and always remember our need for Jesus and never think that we have it all figured out or that we are good enough on our own.

Paul longs for his brothers and sisters in Christ to grow in their walk, stand on the Gospel, and to look out for others. As Philippians 1 concludes, we find a terrible chapter break as Philippians 2:1-4 go hand in hand with Paul’s concluding thought here. How can you and I fulfill our calling and do these Christian Commands? The only way is by living a life worthy of the Gospel and living on earth as citizens of heaven. Let’s read how we can stand strong and stay humble because of the Gospel.

Philippians 1:27–2:4 CSB

27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have. 1 If, then, there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

Stand Strong in the Gospel (1:27-30)

Live a life worthy of the Gospel. The Gospel cost Jesus His life! The Gospel will change true believers so deeply that they are willing to suffer rejection, slander, and shame for the cross of Christ. Further, the Gospel will change the way that we live our life so that we walk in a worthy manner. This means that everything about our lives changes because of the Gospel. Paul talks about this type of “walk” at other places in his letters. He says the same in Ephesians 4:1 as he says this

Ephesians 4:1 CSB

1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,

Paul says that we are citizens of heaven and that there are certain things that we are supposed to do. Think of the responsibilities of citizens of countries or kingdoms. You are supposed to look out for the general welfare of other citizens

Your Christian life doesn’t end whenever the Holy Spirit seals you… That’s when your Christian life begins. The Christian life is one of obedience to God’s Word.

Stand firm in verse 27 is in reference to standing in a fixed position with those to your left and right… This is a picture of the church in battle position. Greek phalanx was formidable as the hoplites would work as a mobile unit with one another. Some hoplites on the front lines would hold their shields in the front to block the enemies attack and the hoplites behind would hold their shields in any gaps, while other hoplites would be ready to thrust their spears into would be attackers. The Greek phalanx created a nearly impenetrable wall that the enemy couldn’t defeat because of the strength, training, and solid materials used by the Greeks. However, the phalanx had one potential weakness. All it took was one soldier to not do their job and the entire group of soldiers would pay the price. If one hoplite didn’t keep their shield where it was supposed to be, or if one hoplite wasn’t ready to attack whenever their friend pulled their shield away, the enemy could capitalize and bring about destruction. Philippi is a Roman colony made up of a good number of retired Roman soldiers. Roman soldiers didn’t fight in a phalanx formation, they fought in a formation called a testudo - kind of like a tortoise - but it served a similar purpose of allowing the soldiers to be united and stand firm against their opponent.

This church was familiar with the idea that they are stronger together than apart. In a battle, soldiers would struggle side by side, but they’d be stronger side by side than they would be by themselves. This is the same principle with the church. The only way that we as individuals will survive the attacks of the enemy and of our society will be by standing side by side with our brothers and sisters in arms and standing firm on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We do this by being of one accord, contending for the faith together, and not being frightened by our opponents. Notice, there have always been opponents for Christians and there will always be opponents for Christians.

Suffering - As we stand strong for the Gospel, we can reasonably expect to experience suffering as a result. We see in Paul’s life that whenever he preached the Gospel, he experienced suffering more often than not. Suffering stinks, we don’t want to spend more time suffering than we have to usually, but suffering serves a purpose. See, our God is big enough to where suffering isn’t the end - suffering can and is used to glorify God and make us more like Jesus. Paul shares that this church has been granted the ability not only to believe in Jesus but to suffer for Christ! Our salvation is a gift from God that we could never deserve or earn by ourselves. It’s only by God’s amazing grace that we are saved. Paul says that suffering is the same way. How can this be the case? We understand that salvation is a gift… but how can suffering be a gift? Look at these 4 verses. For people who don’t stand firm in opposition, they will be destroyed… But for those who do stand firm in opposition, it’s a sign of our salvation. It’s our assurance that we belong to God. Whenever you suffer and the song in your soul is “It Is Well with My Soul” that’s nothing but God’s divine grace that has completely changed your heart and your desires. Who in their right mind views suffering as a net positive? No one other than the Christian! Yet this is common for followers of Jesus. Suffering for Jesus is an honor.

In the book of Acts we see the birth of the New Testament church as they are filled with the Holy Spirit after Jesus’ ascended back to heaven and they went out to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples. As they did this there was an incredible revival that broke out as the Holy Spirit convicted thousands and thousands of people in Jerusalem initially and eventually the surrounding areas. Again, Philippians 1:29, it’s granted on Christ’s behalf for us to believe in Him… It was the same in Acts as the Holy Spirit convicted thousands of people at a time. But what followed these dramatic experiences? Moments of suffering. Peter and John and others would be imprisoned numerous times in Acts and in Acts 5 we read that the disciples are healing people left and right through the power of the Holy Spirit and are imprisoned because people from other towns are traveling to Jerusalem just to see what’s happening. The rulers are panicking about the power and influence and decide to do something… We read in Acts 5:17-18 this

Acts 5:17–18 CSB

17 Then the high priest rose up. He and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 So they arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

This should be the end of the story, right? The apostles are in jail and they are finally suffering for following Jesus. This should be where things stop… But the Bible continues with God’s providence

Acts 5:19–20 CSB

19 But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple, and tell the people all about this life.”

The Jewish leaders are trying to figure out what happened and how on earth they escaped the prison. They discover that they’re teaching in the temple and round them up once again threatening to put them back into prison. This cycle happens throughout the book of Acts. Followers of Jesus would preach the Gospel, lives would be changed, and Christians would be punished for their actions. Each time, though, the Christians who suffer rejoice. Look at what we find in Acts 5:41

Acts 5:41 CSB

41 Then they went out from the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be treated shamefully on behalf of the Name.

These Christians thought that it was a privilege to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ. Paul viewed it as a privilege to suffer for the name of Jesus. The only way that you and I will view suffering for Jesus to be a privilege is to stand upon the Gospel. The only way that we will have the right perspective during difficult times with people who are not Christians is to know what we believe and to stand upon His Word without apology.

The only way that you and I here at FBC Salem will be able to stand firm as a congregation against the avalanche of selfishness, idolatry, and evilness of our secular society is to stand firm upon the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel doesn’t change, folks. God’s Word doesn’t mean one thing today and something different tomorrow… That’s what newspaper headlines do… not the Word of God. This week at Camp Joy we talked a lot about what truth is. Something isn’t true just because someone says that it is right. Something isn’t true just because they were taught it their entire lives. There was a period of time where people thought that it would be impossible to run a mile in under 4 minutes. There was a period of time where people were taught that the universe revolved around the earth. Just because society says that something is true it doesn’t mean that it’s true! What makes truth truth? Does truth change? The Bible tells us that truth isn’t something subjective and something that changes from day to day depending on our feelings and emotions. The Bible shares with us that truth is objective and that truth doesn’t change depending on how we feel. The Bible says that God’s Word is truth. John 17:17 says this. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that God’s Word is inspired by God and literally breathed out by Him! What is it that Paul wants this church to stand on? To stand firm on the Word of the living God. What must we stand on in a sea of confusion today? The Word of the living God. Citizens of this earth will sing a different tune based on the things going on. One day the truth will be this and the next day it will change. One day wrong will be wrong and the next day wrong will be right. Some people will give way the minute that they experience suffering or opposition. But for citizens of heaven, Paul’s encouragement and challenge is for us to simply stand on the Word of God. Never be ashamed to say, “The Bible says ______.”

As we stand on the Word of God, we do so united with one another in Christ and we simply remember that we’re all in this battle together. Our response to outside challenges is to be united in the Gospel. But what about issues that can arise within the body of Christ? How do we handle these types of problems and stresses?

Stay Humble Because of the Gospel (2:1-4)

What unites us? The Gospel. So many people are looking for unity but they’re not looking for unity in truth. They’re looking for the same opinions and traditions… But opinions and traditions will change. Feelings will come and go. What will remain and not change? God’s Word. God’s Word must be the thing that unites us together. Spurgeon once shared this, “Truth alone must determine our alignments. Truth comes before unity. Unity without truth is hazardous.” John 17:17 tells us that God’s Word is truth - the basis of our unity as a body of Christians must be the Word of God and specifically the truth of the Gospel! As we think about our unity within the body of Christ we have to think about what holds us together. It’s not feelings and traditions and opinions… It’s the presence of the Holy Spirit and His guiding in our lives. It’s the Word of the living God. Unity within the church is not an option - it’s an imperative command. Christ didn’t save us so that we could enjoy rivalries and squabbles within the church. He saved us so that we could be a beacon of light into the darkness and allow our lights to shine together.

As you think about the importance of unity within the church, it’s easy to think about all of the things that we’re not united on. We have different jobs and different hobbies. We are different ages and have different backgrounds. We have different interests and different places of service within the church. Thinking even about the Bible, we have different translations that we prefer to read from and we have different opinions about things that we read in Scripture. How on earth can there be unity within a body of 300 people who are simply different from one another? Unity in the church requires 2 things: It requires us to stand together on the truth of God’s Word and it requires us to be humble. Steve Lawson shares that everything in our Christian life is designed to humble us: The Word of God sanctifies us to be more like Jesus. The cross reminds us that all we contribute to our salvation is our sin that made Jesus’ sacrifice necessary. Prayer puts us on our knees before God. Worship causes us to look up to God. Trials humble us and force us to trust in God. And even though all of these things are true, our heart still craves the ability to boast in itself. All it takes to harm the unity within the church is 5 letters: PRIDE!

Our pride tells us that we have it all figured out. Our pride tells us that if someone disagrees with us then they’re wrong and we’re right. Our pride tells us that we shouldn’t have to do anything that gets us out of our comfort zone. Our pride tells us that the way that we’ve always done things is right and that we should never change. Our pride says that everyone should look at us and that we should look out for our own interests. But the Bible gives us a different command. The Bible says that we should look out for the good of others, not the good of ourselves. The Bible tells us that we should consider others as more important than ourselves. Why on earth should we do this?

Because that’s what Jesus did for us. The same Jesus who came from the throne room of heaven to the tree on Golgotha. From the heights of glory to the depths of shame. From worship to wrath. From the glory place to the gory place… Jesus came. Why did He come? The Gospel message reminds us of the good news of Jesus dying a substitutionary death in our place and imputing to us His perfect righteousness before our holy God but why was His death necessary in the first place? The Bible tells us that the wages of our sin is death. What we deserve is separation from God. Yet, Jesus came and humbled Himself, as we’ll look at next week in Philippians 2:5-11, and died in our place. He who knew no sin became sin. Why should you and I look out for the good of others instead of the good of ourselves? Because that’s what Jesus did for us! Why should we consider others as more important than ourselves? Because that’s what Jesus did for us!

A couple of years ago there was a pastor in India who received a message from a member of his congregation that simply said, “I need to talk with you first thing Monday morning. Shouldn’t take long.” Now, just a friendly statement, please don’t be this type of person - if you’re going to send that message at least give a heads up about what you want to talk about! The pastor was ready and sure enough, first thing Monday morning this guy walks into his office and begins to make untrue accusations about the pastor and slam him for all of the things that this man thinks the pastor should be doing better. The man eventually says all that he wanted to say and asks the pastor what is response is. The pastor, without missing a beat, stood up and went to the bathroom. The man thought that’s strange… But the pastor returned a second later with a large bowl of water. The man asks what the water is for and the pastor replied: Everything that you have said is untrue… But it’s clear that you are upset and I want to apologize to you and ask for your forgiveness. I would like to wash your feet.

The man immediately began to cry and prayed with the pastor asking God change his heart and forgive him. The pastor demonstrated humility in this situation. He could have fought fire with fire and immediately made the situation much more hostile than it previously was. He could have asked for another staff member or member of the congregation to come into the meeting to serve as a witness or moderator figure for a debate of sorts. He could have defended his honor… But instead he humbled himself and was prepared to was the feet of his accuser. Do you know who else washed the feet of his accuser? Jesus.

Within the body of Christ there will undoubtedly be differences of opinions and hurt feelings. But if we truly are united by the Holy Spirit and if we are going to stand faithfully on God’s Word, there should be unity within the church. This is what Paul shares with these believers. This is our call to action - you have to have humility for there to be Gospel-centered unity. The basis for our humility isn’t due to some person being better than another… It’s because of the Gospel. It’s because of Romans 5:8

Romans 5:8 CSB

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

When you look at the cross, boasting goes out the window and humility is the only option left for you and I to choose. While we won’t always agree, you and I can always choose to encourage others and put their interests and needs above our own. You never lose whenever you act like Jesus.

Conclusion

In order for you and I to live as citizens of heaven while on earth, we must live a Gospel-centered life. A life that is focused on proclaiming the Gospel and giving all of the glory to our God.

Live for Jesus Fearlessly

Standing up for Jesus is not for the faint at heart… Today so many people are backing down rather than standing up. In Philippians we see a call to stand firm. The only way that you and I will live for Jesus fearlessly is if we stand firm on God’s Word. Where is your foundation today? If it’s not built on God’s Word, your foundation will let you down. A scared world needs a fearless church - our neighbors need us to fearlessly stand up and live a life that points them to Jesus Christ.

Endure Suffering Fruitfully

Whenever you and I go through difficult moments, we have a choice to make. Will we simply get through the difficulty or will we work while we wait? Paul is experiencing suffering and he tells this church that they will too. It has been granted on Christ’s behalf for them to suffer! To those who say that suffering is never God’s will for our lives, Paul would like a word. God routinely uses suffering to make us more like Jesus as we trust in Him to provide. God routinely uses suffering to expand His Kingdom. Don’t waste your wilderness moment and wait for things to get better before you praise God. Praise God in the middle of the storm of suffering and produce fruit. Point people to Jesus, just as Paul does from prison!

Encourage Others Faithfully

While we won’t always agree and see eye to eye, we can always encourage those around us to pursue Jesus. We can always look out for the good of others. We can always encourage those who are hurting and suffering by being present. We can always choose to be the hands and feet of Jesus and be salt in light to those who are lost and in need.

Spurgeon said it best, “If you sincerely drink poison, it will kill you. If you sincerely cut your throat, you will die. If you sincerely believe a lie, you will suffer the consequences. You must not only be sincere, but you must be right.” The only way to be right in this life is to live as a citizen of heaven. Your eternity is worth too much to not care about being right. Look to your life today, are you following Jesus? Are you living out His commands? Are you standing firm on His Word and staying humble for His glory? Let us be a group of people marked by our obedience to Scripture and our love for others - for the glory of Christ and the good of others.

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