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.
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