Philippians 2:1-4 "Not Good, But Great"

Last Sunday, as we gathered together amongst all the sirens, horns, whistles, and even that one random trumpet playing outside; we looked at the fact that it is a great privilege to be part of the body of Christ. We also noted that with that great privilege, comes with it great responsibilities. We talked about how the Apostle Paul had laid out for us some very practical steps to fulfilling our responsibilities as Christians. We stand firm in one spirit for the faith while seeking the advancement of the gospel. Do you remember those things? Well, I know that last Sunday I felt a little overwhelmed with what Paul has called us to do thus far. During our study of chapter 1 alone Paul has already told us to proclaim the word always, to rejoice in our sufferings, to not be divisive, and the list goes on-and-on. After stepping back and realizing all that the Apostle had said to do just in these first 30 verses, I was feeling a little exhausted, and I can imagine that the Philippians were feeling that way too. I mean, they were probably expecting something from Paul about his imprisonment, but that isn’t really the letter they got. Sure he makes brief mention about his imprisonment, but he quickly pulls an “enough about that now back to the task at hand” maneuver. So, Paul, having a good idea that we might feel this way, offers some much needed words of encouragement. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, and participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy.”
Now I want to stop right there for a moment, because this statement just grabs at me so pointedly. Why does he say complete my joy? What does it mean? I understand phrases like, “be joyful” or “have joy among you”, but complete my joy? Well, it isn’t as if the Apostle is saying that he is upset with the Philippians and he wants them to fix whatever is wrong. No, in fact, he is quite happy with them. Remember, his reason for writing to them was to express his joy for them. So what he’s saying is “I’m happy and joyful for you, but you are still capable of more.” He’s letting them know that even though they are a great church and they have accomplished so much, there is still more to be done. There is still work to be done for the sake of the gospel.
I love having discussions about the difference between good and great. I particularly love having these types of discussions when it comes to sports. You never hear these types of discussions more than you do when it comes time for hall of fame voting. It’s often said that it’s the hall of fame, not the hall of really good. So the problem for voters comes in distinguishing between what’s good and what’s great. They have to decide who should be forever memorialized with a bronze bust and who should be keep out and possibly forgotten years after their career is done. Sometimes the difference between two individuals is miniscule, but one is remembered as an all-time great, while the other is remembered as just a really nice player.
And to me, that distinction between good and great is exactly what Paul is dealing with here. The church at Philippi is a really good church, but they could be great. And isn’t greatness what we should always strive for when it comes to our faith and our God. Paul is telling them that even though they have done some good things, that have given him great joy, he wants them to complete that joy. He wants them to increase that joy even more by becoming an even greater congregation. And Paul gives the Philippian Christians, and us too, some guidelines for taking this next step. He tells us just how his joy can be made complete.
The first thing that Paul tells us needs to be done to complete his joy is something so strong that he doesn’t use just one word to convey his thoughts. “Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” In other words, Paul is calling for unity. He is calling for us to work together, not against one another. You may notice, that in almost every text that we have looked at over the last month and a half that there is at least some hint of Paul calling for unity among Christians. That unity comes in the task of proclaiming the gospel. And it makes sense when you think about it in common sense terms. How many different sayings do we hear on a regular basis about the importance of teamwork and unity? “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” “Two heads are better than one.” We could keep going with such phrases, but you get the idea.
Another phrase that flows out of this idea is the old sports adage of “there’s no i in team.” You see, Paul is calling us to work for the good of others. The popular movie “The Book of Eli” is about a man who is given a task by God in a world that is 30 years removed from a nuclear apocalypse. That task is to take a copy of the Bible, the last copy, across the country to a place where it can be reproduced and reprinted. Eli, played by Denzel Washington, reads this copy of the Bible every day. At the end of his journey, he sums up his notions of Scripture as being, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Well, I wouldn’t say that Eli has the central message of the Bible down pat, the primary message of Scripture is the story of how a loving God redeemed a fallen people. But one of the primary principles within Scripture is this very notion. Paul calls us to serve.
This is the second idea that Paul is trying to convey to us here is that we are here to serve. And our service is not one that should be done out of some sense of obligation, but out of a sense of love. “Do nothing from rivalry, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” In one of the men’s Sunday school classes we talked briefly about this principle. We were talking about tithing and being a cheerful giver and saying that our giving ought to be out of love and not out of obligation. Well, much in the same sense, I don’t think there is really anything wrong with doing something simply because it is what we know we are supposed to do. The issue comes in our attitude. When we give, when we do for others, what is our attitude? Do we feel like we have some inflated self-worth? Do we view ourselves as being any better after the act than we did before? Well, the truth of the matter is, that we ought to view it as us being servants, and faithful servants at that. You see, it’s not about us. It’s not about how we feel. It’s about fulfilling our responsibilities as members of the body of Christ; those same responsibilities that we spoke of last Sunday, as well as all other commands that Christ has given to us. We are to humble ourselves before our God. That’s what Christian service is all about. We don’t have time to talk completely about the issue of humility this week, I hope that you can join us next Sunday as we dive into Christ’s model of humility in much greater depth. Just a little advertisement of what’s to come next Sunday, and hopefully an encouragement for you to be back here next week.
A third thing that Paul mentions here that will take a church from good to great is being helpful. Perhaps an even better way to phrase this would be a call to be selflessness; a call to be giving of ourselves. Now this could be connected with serving, but it goes a little deeper. We are all part of the Church, we are all part of the body of Christ. We ought to be concerned with the welfare of others. Now I’m not saying that we take care of those who refuse to take care of themselves. I’m talking about getting away from our self-serving desires that so often creep into our minds without us even being aware of it. We live in a self-centered world, and it is self-centered by philosophy, but it’s also self-centered sociologically. There is stuff that tempts us to self-centeredness that we don’t even realize is tempting us towards such a mindset. You know, parents wanting to give to their children and wanting to give the best to their children is a noble thing. It’s what my parents desire for me and what I in turn desire for my children. It can’t tell you how many times the phrase has been said to Amy and I, “Well, when you have grandchildren and great-grandchildren of your own, then you can spoil them, but until then it’s our turn.” I’ll give you one guess who we’ve heard that from. But this desire to give so much to our children can often unwittingly create people that think that the world is built around them. We laugh at these folks when their kids, but then they grow up. These people get married, and they enter into a marriage with another person who thinks that the world is built around him or her. And you know what happens? It’s not very pretty. Because two people who think that the world is centered around them are offended morally by that other person, who doesn’t think that the world is built around him or her. And that’s not even getting into the notion that Christ ought to be at the center of their universe instead of themselves or anything else.
We are all blessed beyond measure. God has, out of his mercy and loving-kindness, bestowed upon us more than we could ever imagine. It is our responsibility now, to give to others. It is our task to share our blessings with those around us, and to place their needs above our wants. It’s a tough task. So many times it feels like everyone is penalizing us for our successes in life and asking for more. I understand, but I just want to ask you one simple question about this, “Do you really deserve all that you have been given?” I know I don’t. No one is calling you to take a vow of poverty and give up all that you have in this world, but we are called to be faithful stewards of what God has given to us. We are called to use the blessings and the gifts that we have been given to glorify God.
As we prepare our hearts to receive the Lord’s Supper today, I want us to ask ourselves one fundamental question: “Are we settling for good when we should be striving for great?” We’re called to examine our hearts before taking part in this sacrament. So in your examining of yourself, can you say that you have done all that you can do for the sake of the gospel? Have you given all that you have for Christ’s sake? Or have you simply let yourself be content with giving only what was required by man? Having you settled for giving your faith the bare minimum? As we receive these elements here in just a moment, I encourage you to commit yourself to taking that next step. I encourage you, as your pastor, your friend, your brother in Christ, to grow your faith. Take your faith from good to great. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Philippians 1:27-30 "Christian Responsibilities"

Amy and I enjoy taking in a concert whenever we get the chance to do so. We especially like it when that concert is fairly cheap and close by. While we were living in Mississippi we had the good fortune to live not too far from the largest rodeo held in the state of Mississippi and one of the largest in the world. Every year, the rodeo came to town and it brought with it some of the biggest and best names in country music. We heard Charlie Daniels, Lady Antebellum, and many other famous country artists over the years. One of our first years to attend we saw a singer by the name of Dierks Bentley. If you’re a country music fan you have probably heard of him. We saw him sing his hit song, “My Last Name”. Now this is a song about the proud heritage that his last name carries for him. He talks about defending his last name against a bully during his childhood. He references the presence of this name on some dog tags that his grandfather wore during the war. He talks about how that name above all else is what has been passed down through the generations in his family. The final two verses read, “Daddy always told me, far back as I recall, son you're part of something, you represent us all. So keep it how you got it, as solid as it came, it's my last name. So darlin’ if you're wonderin’, why I've got you here tonight, I wanna be your husband, I want you to be my wife. Ain't got much to give you, but what I've got means, everything, it's my last name.” The song ends with this man’s proposal to his girlfriend where he tells her that of all the gifts that he could give her, his last name is the most precious thing in this world to him and what an honor it would be for her to take it as her own.
And the lyrics to this song are very indicative of how many of us feel about our name. No matter who we are or what we do, we represent our family and we represent that last name. I can still remember my grandmother lecturing me when I was a little boy. After I got into trouble, which was quite frequent, she would go on-and-on about how it affected her. I didn’t really understand it at the time, but it seemed important to her so I knew I needed to act sorry for what I had done. As I got older, and began to study my family history a little more, I began to take pride in my last name and in all of the last names of my family. I began to see us as a unified bunch. We were a family, and family is stronger than any other bond I can think of.
Well, that’s exactly what the Apostle Paul is telling us here. He’s telling us that as part of a family we have a great responsibility. But you see, in this family there aren’t different last names that have come about as a result of marriage. There aren’t two sides of the family. No, in this family, there is one side, with one last name; and that last name is Christian. You see, we are all part of the Christian family if we claim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Verse 27 tells us, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Now I have to tell you that there is a feel and a sense to this verse in the original Greek that we don’t quite get in our modern English translations. You see the phrase that we have translated for us as “let your manner of life be worthy” is actually only one word in the Greek text. It is a word taken from the Greek word for city. This word that we have in the Greek text carries with it the idea of what it means to be part of a community. It’s possible to live in a city or a state without being engaged, but when you are part of a community, then there is a sense of unity and togetherness that comes with it. And that is the exact sense that Paul wants us to have when it comes to our being Christians. He wants us know that we are part of the Church universal; we are part of the body of Christ. The Church is the body and Jesus Christ is the head.
Just like being part of any family carries with it certain expectations, being part of the Church and the body of Christ carries with it even greater expectations. A phrase that I saw over and over again as I studied this text is, “Privilege implies responsibilities.” The greater the privilege the greater the responsibility. The level of responsibility required for being a Christian is greater than the level required by your dad when he gave you the speech before the first time you got to drive with no one else in the car. The privilege of being a Christian carries with it the greatest of responsibilities. And lucky for us, Paul never just throws something out there and leaves us confused. He always takes care to explain exactly how we are to go about achieving the goals that we are to strive for. And that’s exactly what he does for us in the rest of our text today. Now, as we discussed Wednesday morning at the men’s Bible study, there are many things that we could put into this category, but in our text today Paul lays out 3 specific responsibilities that we have as part of this privilege of bearing the name Christian. We must stand firm in one spirit, strive for the advancement of the gospel, and stand up for our faith.
The first responsibility, standing firm in one spirit and one mind, is something that we are both really good at, but we’re also terrible at this at the same time. You see, we are good at taking a stand. We are good at standing up for what we believe in and for our faith. Why, I bet there isn’t a one of you in this room who hasn’t lost friends because of your stance when it comes to your faith. I know I have. Some of you may even be in a situation where you have lost family members because of your faith. Every one of us in this room, I pray, knows that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We know exactly what he has accomplished for us out of his own free will. Unfortunately, many in today’s world don’t see things that way. They see the Bible as a list of rules that must be obeyed and they see it as a book of judgment on their particular lifestyle. Well, the Bible is our guide for life, but it isn’t all about that, it’s about Jesus Christ and what God has done to save a fallen people. Some out there have decided that if we are going to hold God’s Word in such high regard then they will not associate with us. That’s just something that we have to come to terms with and take a stand.
So we know good-and-well that we can stand, the problem comes in doing it in one spirit and one mind. We have a hard time with this. We seem to stubble “keeping the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” as Paul says in Ephesians 4:3. You see, Christians are not to divide along doctrinal or sociological lines. They are to be one. We evangelical churches, sadly, are not known so much for our standing united. We are known for dividing, giving ourselves denominations and guidelines and things of that nature. Now, I want to stop and say that I love being a part of the EPC. I truly hold that the Presbyterian form of government is biblical and of all the Presbyterian churches I believe that the EPC is the closest of all to resembling what the Church ought to look like. Do I think it’s perfect? Absolutely not. Do I think that we are better than other denomination in a sense that we are holier than they are? Absolutely not. Very rarely, if ever, will you see me stand in this pulpit and preach doctrines and principles that are denominational and not biblical. I have just as much love for my new friend Father Craig down the street at St. Matthews as I do for my brother Rev. Bill Crawford at First EPC in Thibodaux. We are all laboring for Christ. Just as we saw Paul say a few weeks ago, it isn’t about keeping score, it’s about proclaiming the gospel regardless of who is doing so or what their motives might be. So we need to stand side-by-side as Christians in our stand for the gospel; period.
The second responsibility that we have as Christians is to strive for the advancement of the gospel. This, in-as-much-as Paul meant it, is something that we struggle greatly with in practice. Every Christian wants everyone else to become a Christian. I don’t think anyone would argue the validity of that statement. The problem comes in how to accomplish that task. In other words, what is the best way to evangelize? You have those who stand on street corners and yell out the good news, you have those who are in your face about the gospel, you have some who want to sit back and wait to be asked, and you even have some who choose to try and berate you and make you feel so bad about who you are that you have no choice but to turn to Christ; what is the best way? Well, I wish I had an answer for you, I really do. All I can tell you is that my approach has always been that you have to earn the right to witness to someone. Now sure, someone whom we don’t really know can see or hear us and we can witness to them that way, but I’m talking about something more. To be able to openly enter into a conversation with someone about the gospel is a privilege that needs to be earned.
Regardless of preferred evangelism methods, Paul’s remarks here are not about what evangelistic methods we practice, but how we practice them. We must be aggressive; we must always be ready to jump into action. We must be prepared at all times to share the good news of the gospel with all those who we come in contact with. This doesn’t mean that we beat people over the head with a “gospel-stick” so-to-speak, but that we take every chance that we have to share the love of Christ with them. That when we find ourselves in those moments where I know that personally I have stayed quiet when I should have spoken up, that the Holy Spirit will come and give us the courage and the strength to open our mouths and let God speak through us. Maybe you know the types of moments that I’m talking about. Maybe you have had your fair share of them too.
The third and final responsibility that Paul gives us here is to stand up. Now, much in the same way that we are to stand firm in our faith, we are pretty good at taking a stand. But when we talk about standing up for our faith in this sense there is something more that goes with it. Look at the words of Paul here, “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. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” Friends, the Christian life is tough. Make no mistake about it, many times it isn’t easy. In fact, many times it’s quite the opposite of easy. We mentioned briefly the fact that most, if not all, of us have broken relationships between close friends and family because of our faith in Christ and their lack thereof. 2 Timothy 3:12 reads, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” In John’s gospel account the disciple writes, “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light.” These are just some of the passages that promise trials, tribulations, and persecutions. We’ve talked in one of the men’s Sunday school classes that we don’t know if any of us in this country truly understand what persecution is like, but we all know that it’s still very real. Although, persecution may not be something commonly experienced, all of us have faced problems and trials as a result of the actions of those who do not know Christ.
Yeah, there isn’t much doubt about the fact that the Christian life is hard. And there really isn’t much doubt that it’s supposed to be. But take comfort. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus himself said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” If we looked back at a short part of our text for the day we read, “a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.” Now that’s not to say that we are saved by our being persecuted. No, as I’ve said before and you will hear me say over-and-over, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Have faith. As I was reminded during a conversation this week, “God is not going to give you any more than you can handle.” When we are at our weakest, when we allow Christ to take over all that we are; at that point we are actually at our strongest. We must weather the storms of life anchored to our rock, our refuge, our Savior.
So as we stand firm in one faith, striving for the advancement of the gospel, and standing up for our faith, we must keep in mind what a privilege we have. Privilege implies responsibility. I pray that all of us will take our responsibilities to our God and our brothers and sisters in Christ seriously. I pray that we treat the name Christian as our most precious gift. I pray that we will do all we can to preserve that name above all others. And if you are going through trials and find yourself doubting or thinking that you don’t have the ability to fulfill these responsibilities, then I pray that God would give you strength, and that He would send His Holy Spirit to come and speak to your heart so that there may be no doubt in the mind of any who hear His name what a privilege it is to count ourselves part of His body. Glory be to God. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Philippians 1:21-26 "Paul's Dilemma"

Well, as if you needed any reminding from me, it’s Mardi Gras season. You may not be aware of this fact, but I am a Mardi Gras veteran. From years, Amy and I have gone down from Mississippi when we lived there and stayed with some dear friends in New Orleans to enjoy the festivities. The wife of the couple that we stayed with is a life-long NOLA resident and has taken every chance that she has had to educate both Amy and myself on all things Mardi Gras and New Orleans. I remember having a conversation one day about how many people there were that were regular attendees of Mardi Gras balls, parades, and even krewe members that didn’t know what the origins or reasons behind Mardi Gras even were. Well, ultimately, it has to do with Jesus Christ. I know, strange given what public perception is to the Carnival season, but it’s true. Mardi Gras, meaning Fat Tuesday in French, is the day prior to Ash Wednesday, a day in which many Christians begin the season of Lent. All of this is done leading up the Easter Sunday, the day in which we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. So, our text this morning, that deals with death, the enemy conquered by Christ at his resurrection, is in many ways a very fitting text for us today as we have begun the Mardi Gras season in our community this weekend.
So many times we hear philosophers or poets speak so eloquently and romantically about death that it makes it seem like such a welcomed released. In fact, the Greeks, in Paul’s time when he was writing this letter, often viewed death as a relief from the hardships of life, and so they thought about death as comforting because it brought an end to the turmoil of this life. Perhaps the most famous quote about death from philosophy comes from Shakespeare’s Hamlet when he says, “To be, or not to be—that is the question. Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep—no more, and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished.” Continuing on he asks, “To die, to sleep—perchance to dream. Aye, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil must give us pause. There’s the respect that makes calamity of so long life.”
Now I’m not a philosopher, so I have had to research this week what exactly Hamlet meant when proposing these questions. The general consensus among those who study Shakespeare is that Hamlet is asking, “What if death is worse than life? What if there are things waiting for us in death that are just as hard or harder than life? And so he’s wrestling with the question, do I want to live or do I want to die? And the Apostle Paul is wrestling with the same question, but in an entirely different framework. Today, I want us to look at Paul’s dilemma and why the Apostle had such trouble deciding which fate was more preferred by him at this point.
We’ve been talking over the last month about how much Paul is on fire for Christ. We’ve talked about how his primary focus in life is the proclamation of God’s Word and nothing else matters. All of this culminated with last week’s message that Christ is everything. So, having that in mind, Paul is now faced with a dilemma. “To die is gain, but if I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.” In other words, Paul knows that death is something that is good. He knows that death is the only way to enter into the presence of Christ. He’s not worried about the things of this life. He isn’t tied to anything in this world that would make his entry into heaven bitter in any way. But it isn’t as if he really wants to die, but that he wants to be with Christ. Unfortunately, death is the only way to accomplish being with Christ. So his problem becomes choosing between these two options. On the one hand, to live allows him to continue in his fruitful ministry of spreading the Gospel. And on the other, his death would bring him into the presence of Christ. So his option aren’t really life vs. death, but Christ vs. Christ. Paul wants his Roman imprisonment to end, but does he want it to be by release or escape, or does he want it to be by execution?
Verses 23 and 24 show us the internal struggle that is taking place within the Apostle. “I am 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.” So to boil this down to the simplest form, Paul is saying, “To die is the best thing for me, but for me to live is the best thing for you.” Now, knowing what we have seen of the Apostle Paul thus far in our study of Philippians, do we really need to read the final two verses of our text for today to know what he chooses. Immediately after realizing that it is necessary for the spread of the Gospel for Paul to live, Paul doesn’t give it a second thought.
At this point we point out the selflessness of Paul, but the Apostle Paul is just reflecting his Savior here, isn’t he? Was it better for Jesus to stay in glory with angels worshiping Him and singing to Him, “Holy, holy, holy!” day and night in the halls of heaven, or to come to earth in our poor flesh and our poor blood to live and die in a fallen world, to be rejected by His own people, to be executed by the religious leaders of His day, to be dead and buried? No, it would have been better for Jesus to stay in the halls of glory, but it was needful for us that He come, and so in His love, He came. And in His love, the Father sent. And so the Apostle Paul is just drawing the same conclusion: “It’s better for me to depart, but it’s better for you that I stay; therefore, I know what God’s going to do in this circumstance. I’ll be seeing you again.” Paul is following in the footsteps of his Savior.
So we have seen what Paul believes, and the dilemma that he now faces because of his very strong belief. And before we look at Paul’s resolution to this dilemma I want to ask a quick question. Do we share the same belief as Paul? That belief being the text that I read both last week and today; that to live is Christ and to die is gain. I think that all of us would say that we do without a doubt, but the problem comes in our implementing this notion into our lives. How greatly would we be benefited if we would allow the words of that verse to penetrate every aspect of our being. Paul was convinced of it, and it changed the way that he looked at life, and death too for that matter. As he faced the prospect of being sentenced to death and executed by the Romans, or the prospect of going back and doing missions work, he could say, “It’s better for me to depart. I would love to be with Christ right now, but it’s better for you that I stay.” And therefore he did not look at life as miserable and fruitless, but as joyful and fruitful; and he could still anticipate death as being full of an even greater joy.
Remember this, the reason that Paul is sharing this struggle with the Philippians is for the increase of their joy. They were troubled by the fact that he was in prison; they were troubled by the fact that he was incapable of doing the mission work that he so much wanted to do; they were troubled by the fact that he was facing the prospect of death. And so he wrote to them to comfort them and to give them joy, and he reiterates that in verse 25. Notice why he says it would be good for him to stay and serve and come to them again, “I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith.” The Apostle Paul knows that it is good for him to remain, because in remaining he can serve the growth, the progress, and the joy of the Philippian Christians, and indeed of all who trust in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul sees his ministry as a joy-giving ministry.
So, having talked about this text fairly in depth, there are so many things that we could take from this passage, but I want us to remember this one thing above all else. The gospel gives us a joy that allows us to be selfless and to seek the joys of others. Paul, more than anyone, was aware of this truth. You see, he used to be a Pharisee named Saul prior to his conversion. He had thought that he could glorify God my persecuting, imprisoning, and killing Jews who followed this person named Jesus. After he was converted while on his way to Damascus, he underwent a radical transformation. Despite the fact that he had always been a religious man, he had been misguided. He went from being one who served himself to being one who was a joyful worshiper of the one true God. He was now filled with the desire that others might enjoy the same joy that God had given him by the gospel. He had experienced the very truth that he speaks of now to the Philippians.
The world that we live in today longs for joy. The people of this world want joy. They want fulfillment. Whether they are religious or not, whether they are Christian or not, they want joy. But so many of them seek that joy and fulfillment at the expense of others. They fit the old cliché of “looking out for number one.” In doing so, they have placed themselves and their own joy at the very center of their lives. And the gospel message has some very specific words for those living like this, and it isn’t “forget about joy; be good and do good to others.” No, that’s not the gospel message. The gospel is actually that God has done something for us in His Son that we could not do ourselves, for ourselves, or for others. That something that He has done in His Son has given to us the joy for which God created us, and so we are freed from seeking our own personal joy to be concerned about the joy of others because we have been given the greatest joy that we could ever have. We have fellowship with the living God through Jesus Christ, through the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have joy. The gospel has given us a joy that allows us to be selfless, but it also causes us to long for others to have this same joy.
In our text here, Paul, in his saying that he will pray for his remaining with the Philippians despite the fact that the best thing for him is to leave and be with Christ, isn’t renouncing joy. In fact, he is proclaiming that he has found joy, the joy that is beyond anything that he could achieve. He has been given the joy of Christ; the same one who told his disciples, “I have come to give you life, and life abundant.” Christ promised his disciples and promises us that in this world we can experience comfort and joy even while we are going through trials and tribulations. Paul knows this better than anyone; and having received that joy by grace from God through Christ in His death on the cross, now he is set free to seek the joy of others.
It would be very easy for us to misunderstand and simply take the message away from this that Paul was selfless and that we ought to be too. Well, that’s true, but it isn’t the heart of this message today. If that were the gospel message, then we would all be in trouble; because none of us are completely selfless. But the gospel is. My father-in-law is the most selfless man that I personally know. He continuously and constantly gives up almost everything that he WANTS for the sake of his family and friends. But even he has a little selfishness that exists within him. He cannot even come close to entering into the same conversation as someone who was selfless for all of us. Someone who gave us a greater joy than we could ever have found in our own seeking. Someone who has set us free from our selfishness to enjoy the selfless pursuit of the joy of others in Christ Jesus. It’s news that liberated Paul from worrying about his current situation, and it’s a news that liberates us from everything and anything that we are facing in our own lives today.
Paul’s thoughts are beautifully summed up for us in the words of the Christian song “In Christ Alone”: In Christ alone my hope is found’ He is my light, my strength, my song; This cornerstone, this solid ground, Firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What height of love, what depths of peace, When fears are stilled, when striving cease! My comforter, my all in all, Here in the love of Christ I stand.” And the 4th stanza of this wonderful song: “No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me; From life’s first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny. No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand; ‘Til He returns or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!”
If you are a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I pray that you would be so captivated and so gripped by the power of Paul’s mindset and his words here in Philippians 1. I pray that you will continue to rest upon the joy of Christ. I pray that it will affect every fiber of your being and change you so that you more and more each and every day reflect Christ in your daily life. If you are not a believer or you find yourself doubting, it is my hope and prayer that you would come to know through trusting in Jesus Christ this gospel joy that only Christ can offer. Glory be to God. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Philippians 1:21 "Christ is the Gospel"

To give you some insight into just how I go about selecting the text for each Sunday, I want to tell you about the struggle that I went through internally this week. You see, I practice what is called lectio continua preaching. It is where I carefully and systematically walk through books or at least sections of books of the Bible. It really makes things easier on me because I know what’s coming up next. It makes it easier on the worship team because they can look ahead and see what the tone or theme of the upcoming message might be. It really is the easiest way to go about preaching in my opinion, plus it helps each of you come to a better understanding of Scripture by looking at one thing at a time instead of jumping all over the place. The only thing I really have to decide each week is where I am going to make the division in the text. In other words, where’s my stopping point. Most of the time it is pretty clear where I want to end the text. Sometimes, there is a decision to make as to whether I separate something into two sermons or do I preach it as one. Then there’s this week’s text; verse 21 of chapter 1 of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. A short concise verse that is able to stand on its own. It also would fit quite nicely with the verses that follow, the verses that we will look at next Sunday. It could even have gone with the text from last week. You see, there have been thousands of sermons and papers written on this one little verse. Its power and truth condensed into 12 words in English and only 9 words in the original Greek text. This text, standing alone by itself, is the Christian message.

We live in a world that tries to make religion into a science. As a matter of fact, many major universities try and place religion into one of two categories: philosophy or science. Even those schools who don’t practice such a policy have some history of doing so. They place it in the category of science, or they place it in the category of philosophy. Well, you see, religion may be able to be placed into one of these two categories, but the Gospel cannot. Some of you may be scratching your heads and saying that these two words, religion and Gospel, are in fact the same thing. I’m here today to tell you that they indeed are not the same thing. If you want to tell me that Christianity and the Gospel are the same thing, then I might be more on board with that, but I can’t acknowledge religion and the Gospel as being equal. You see, religion is a set of beliefs and rituals that accompany the worship of some higher power(s); while the Gospel is something so much more. John Stott, in his Christian classic Basic Christianity wrote, “The person and work of Christ are the foundation rock upon which the [Gospel] is built…Take Christ from Christianity, and you disembowel it; there is practically nothing left. Christ is the center of Christianity; all else is circumference.”

You would be surprised how many people miss this aspect of Christianity. We get so caught up in the pageantry of the worship service that many times we forget what’s actually at the heart of it. We worry about having the right clothes, what is the pastor wearing, do I look alright, am I doing everything right, am I saying the right words, am I praying as long as she is, and the list goes on and on and on. There are many people out there, people who firmly look to the Bible as the word of God, people who whole-heartedly know Jesus to be the Son, the second person of the Trinity who came and died for our sins, who are missing the mark. Unfortunately, many Christians out there stop at first contact. By this I mean that they know who God is and that’s as far as it goes. Some may go a little further and try and exemplify Christian character and morals, only worrying what’s on the surface for others to see. Still, there are others who may have the ceremonies down. They may be able to recite the Lord’s Prayer, the Apostles Creed, or even a few verses from Scripture, but they have never taken any of these words to heart. As important as all of these works are, without the Holy Spirit to illumine these words for us, they are just words. They have no meaning. This would cause them to fit quite nicely into that philosophy or science department at some major colleges and universities.

The point that Paul is trying to make here in this text is not something that we find only here. This verse is very similar to Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life that I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” And an interesting note about these two verses is that they come from different times in Paul’s ministry. Galatians being, perhaps, Paul’s earliest letter while Philippians is one of his final epistles. There are at least 13 or 15 years between these two letters. Think about how amazing that is that his view never changed in that timeframe. In fact, it only became stronger. Think about how much our mindset and our opinions about things change over the course of 15 or so years, but not Paul’s. I tell you it’s easy for someone like myself, who is just beginning in pastoral ministry, to “have” all the answers. After all, I have been to seminary and studied Scripture intensely for some years and have learned from some of the brightest Christian minds of our time. Now think about a man who has been in ministry for 15 years or more. He’s had to comfort grieving families, he’s had to grieve himself over his own family situations, he’s had to adjust his views because of his own personal experience. This isn’t true for pastors alone, this is true for all of us in our own daily lives. Many times our experiences can cause us to lose sight of what’s important. Our experiences can cause us to see shades of grey on things that used to be black-and-white. And sometimes that’s a good thing, but other times it isn’t. When it’s good it’s wisdom, when it’s bad then it’s stubbornness. But Paul doesn’t have any of this going on, throughout his ministry he stays fixed upon the person and work of Jesus Christ. No matter what his experiences have done to him, his primary focus is Christ.

When we say that Christianity is Christ, what we are actually saying is that Christianity is faith in Jesus Christ. Our salvation, our entering into heaven and being brought to glory, is not dependent upon our works here on earth. Our salvation is through our being justified through faith alone in Christ alone. In other words, our sins are pardoned not because of our work, but because of our faith in Christ’s work Are you trusting in Christ for your salvation? Or are you trusting in your character, your works, your remembering of Christian creeds and doctrine. Or do you find yourself having faith in relics, phrases, or even the sacraments. None of these things will save you. Many of them are good and useful, but not one of them will save you. They have no value in reconciling you to God. You must let God strip them away like worn out clothing. Christianity is faith in Christ, and in Christ alone.

So we must have faith in Christ, we must also have fellowship with Him as well. A.W. Tozer once wrote, “The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His world; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of his Word. We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can.” Also, look at the words of 1 John 1:3, “We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.” We must get to know Jesus Christ. You see, that’s one of the beautiful things about the Christian faith that no religion can claim, our God is a personal God. He is a relational God. He wants to have a relationship with us. It isn’t just a servant and master relationship, but a caring and loving one. It’s sad how many Christians go through life with mere facts. They know facts about the Christian faith, they trust Jesus Christ for their salvation, but there is no joy. There is nothing that gives them comfort or joy in their trials and their tribulations.

James Boice points out the biblical example of Mary and Martha. Two sisters, who were both friends of Jesus, and both were dedicated followers of Christ. When their brother Lazarus died, Martha even acknowledged that Jesus had the power to heal him. “Lord…If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21). But when Jesus was in their house, it was Mary who sat attentively like a small child listening to her father tell a story. Martha, however, trying to be a faithful servant, would not sit down and listen to Jesus for there was work to be done. Jesus then tells her, “Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42).

So we have faith in Christ, we fellowship with Christ, and we follow him. No one in this room would doubt the reality of the statement that God is in control. This is the Christian doctrine of the sovereignty of God. No one in here for one instant doubts the power of God. In fact, most of us in this room, myself included, have actually blamed God for something that He didn’t do. We have been like Martha whom we referenced earlier and said, “God, if only you had done something different, then this wouldn’t have happened.” This may be true. Maybe God could have done something different, but God didn’t cause something bad to happen in your life. God doesn’t want to see us hurt. As we said a few weeks ago, God doesn’t like to see us hurt even though he uses our suffering for something good. It pains God to see us endure pain and suffering even when it helps us to gain wisdom.

Throughout the gospel accounts, Jesus’ simplest command was the words, “follow me.” It was the call given to his disciples. It was the call given to the rich young ruler. It was the call given to all the crowds that came to hear him preach. It’s the same command for us today. The problem for us is that we can’t truly follow him until we forsake all those things that keep us from him. Peter and Andrew left their nets. James and John left their father. Matthew left his money. We must leave our sin, our own sinful aspirations, and our own concepts of ourselves. But this isn’t just a one-time thing, it is something that must be done continuously along our Christian walk. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, the disciples followed him everywhere. They followed him to weddings, festivals, through crowds, and in front of enemies. Everywhere he went they followed behind him. Christ’s final steps, his last steps on this earth, they led to the cross. They led up a steep ascent on a mountain just outside of Jerusalem and stopped at the foot of the cross. What must have seemed to the disciples like 3 years of labor washed away, was actually Christ providing access for all believers to come into God’s presence. Christ’s ascension is his final journey, and one day we all shall follow in the footsteps of our master as we enter our eternal home.

So you see, this verse; these 12 words, mean everything to us. These words are what separate us as children of God from what the world considers as a religious group. The Gospel is Jesus Christ. Religion is something that we have created, that man has done. When we go out into the world and spread the gospel, we must point others to Christ and to the cross. We must also continuously point ourselves back to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Apart from him we have nothing else. “For me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.” We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.