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e e e e e e e e e e e e when you get there you can turn to verse 153 Psalm 11953 the word of God consider my Affliction and deliver me for I do not forget your law leave my cause and Redeem Me revive me according to your word salvation is far from the wicked for they do not seek your statutes great are your Tender Mercies oh Lord revive me according to to your judgments many are my persecutors and my enemies yet I do not turn from your testimonies I see the treacherous and am disgusted because they do not keep your word consider how I love your precepts revive me oh Lord according to your loving kindness the entirety of your word is truth and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever amen let's stand and sing together as a church the first him that we're going to sing is 244 244 let's stand and [Music] sing mighty of moral for still our ancient the SE to work his and power are great and AR through on Earth is our strength ouring would be Lo not the right on our of God Cho that Christ [Music] Jesus all his to the and he must [Music] with to we will not for True to Tri through the Prince of Darkness we TR for him his can for all Earth to them [Music] the spirit and the gifts are [Music] through and moral the might they make him the for let's go to our God In Prayer let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this Lord's Day evening you rejoice in the fact that we can gather together this the second time on your Lord's Day Sabbath to worship our great god father Son and Holy Spirit we thank you that we have this blessed opportunity that we uh have this Freedom the reality that we can gather together freely that we can have whole Bibles in our hands to open up to to read from your word to to follow along in the act of preaching we pray that we would not take these things for granted but just counted a high honor that we have these things and that we can come into the presence of God and worship worship you a right we pray that we would do so we pray Lord God that you would once once again let this up by your holy spirit that you would be the recipient of much much Thanksgiving gratitude worship and praise here this evening we thank you for that promise the Blessed truth that Christ gave in in the Book of Revelation that the the ascended Christ walks amongst his lampstands and we do pray that we would reflect with joy upon Christ this evening as we engage in worship as we engage in in the active preaching as um we have come together as the Saints of Christ we pray that we would dwell with great thoughts upon his righteousness forgiveness of sins that we would dwell as we heard this morning on both the work and the person of our Lord Jesus Christ we rejoice in the Perfection of his saving work we rejoice in the fact that he is very God and very man yet one Christ and the only mediator between God and man we just pray for for much rejoicing in this place tonight from the lips of your people we pray that the the act of worship and the the power of the Holy Spirit tonight would be unto the edification of Saints and the salvation of sinners in all the praise of your name we pray that you would once again be with Pastor Butler as he opens your word we do not presume upon the giving of the spirit but would pray for that giving that our pastor would know the uh the strength in the Pulpit that the spirit provides to to preach well the things of Christ and things of your holy word we do pray as well Lord God that you would be with us as we receive the word once again we uh we want to honor you and rejoice in you in in the act of preaching and so we pray for attentive years in receptive hearts that we might not have wandering thoughts but that we would be focused that we would take in your word that we would oriented and and seek to in this upcoming week conduct ourselves in a man worthy of the gospel of Christ we do just pray that uh you'd be with uh with other churches near to us on on this West Coast that are gathering for worship we think of the church in sui and and many others down through down to California who are gathering for evening worship we just pray that we be with our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and be with those ministers in the pul strengthen them and cause them to know that the same grace of God that we know in this place unto a proper worship we do just pray God as we uh finish this evening's service tonight that that you would go with us uh might your name be still upon our lips and Upon Our Hearts as we go to our various homes and uh we pray that you would cause us to rest this night resting and leaning upon the trium god of Heaven and Earth and resting with with great faith upon the Lord Jesus Christ and that we would rise again in the morning for a work of week and for a work of various other responsibilities um that you would just cause us Lord God to to know your presence throughout the week as well that we would come to you in prayer that we would exercise the faith throughout the week knowing that there is one at your right hand who does ever live to intercede for us and we are the the blessed but certainly the undeserved recipients of of much Saving Grace and much saving perfection so be with us now help us to worship a right and might you be the recipient of all honor and praise in this house we pray in Christ's name amen this time we're going to stand and sing a Psalm 34 C 34 C as in Charlie let's stand and sing together [Music] will all the my ex with ex his to to my res all Tri his [Music] ser turn your Bibles with me to Joshua 19 Joshua 19 we read the first portion of that last Lord's Day evening so we'll continue at verse 24 Joshua 19 beginning at verse 24 once again the word of God the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families and their territory included H hoe beton AA ALC Amad and Michel it reached to Mount Carmel Westward along the brook Shor Li now it turned toward the sunrise to bethon and it reached to zeul and to the valley of jel then northward beyond bethe and Neil bypassing cab which was on the left including Eon re Rahab Hammon and Cana as far as greater sidon and the Border turned to Rama and to the Fortified city of Ty then the Border turned to HOSA and ended at the Sea by the region of ax also AAC and reab were included 22 cities with their Villages this was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families these cities with their Villages the sixth lot came out to the children of napali and uh for the children of napali according to their families and their border began at hel enclosing the territory from the ter Tree in zanine uh ad NE and jabel as far as Lum it ended at the Jordan from HF the Border extended Westward to azoth Tabor and went out from there toward HOV it had joined zebulin on the south side and Asher on the west side it ended at Judah by the Jordan toward the sunrise and the Fortified cities are Zid Z HTH Rath chin Adama Rama raath jth Adama RMA Azor Kadesh Ed and hazor iron MD mdal L horm Beth anath and Beth shth 19 cities and with their Villages this was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of naali according to their families and cities and their Villages the seventh block came out for the tribe of the children of Dan to their families and the territory of their inheritance was Zora ashth shalin aelon jetha Alon timma erron El Ela gieron bath je Ben bar G Raman may may Jaron and Ron with the region near japa and the border of the children of Dan went beond because the children of Dan went up to fight against leem and took it and they Struck it with the edge of a sword took possession of it and dwelt in they called leem Dan after the name of Dan their father this is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families these cities with their Villages when they had made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their orders the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of n according to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked for Timnath Sarah in the mountains of Ephraim and he built the city uh he built the city and dwelt in these were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest Joshua the son of nun and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the Lord at the door of the Tabernacle of meaning so they made an end of dividing the country amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word we thank you for this Revelation uh As It ultimately discloses your faithfulness and following through with your Covenant promises we thank you also that it does point forward to the blessed inheritances that we have by virtue of the Lord Jesus Christ and uh being in air with him we thank you that we have such an inheritance that is Incorruptible and undev reserved in heaven for us and this by virtue of the perfect doing dying and Rising again at the Son of God incarnate we do pray that you help us as that we reflect upon your word to see in these things the the blessedness of a God who uh who is faithful who follows through with his promises who is the the perfect God of Covenant condescension and that we would reflect with great joy upon that champion of the Covenant even Jesus Christ Our Savior now as we continue in worship do help us as we've already prayed to uh reflect with great Joy upon all of the spiritual blessings we have in the Lord Jesus Christ to to to dwell with Christian Minds upon the uh the infiniteness of your various Perfections and the as we heard this morning that the fact that you are most loving that you are most absolute and that you are perfect in all things and we do just pray as we now engage in the preaching of the word after another Su himym that you would be with us and cause us to be focused upon the worship of our great God we pray in Christ's name amen amen our final hymn before the preaching is 543 if you'll stand with me and sing 543 all my Christ is my Christ my shall be by joy and ground [Music] Eternal the gra gra LIF up my eyes and see his [Music] his Christ is the [Music] Christ and his Mercy will proide we and the try Soul shall Christ ISR fear his arms are near he Chang th de thou sh see that Christ is [Music] all well you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Philippians as we work our way through Paul's letter to the church in Philippi our Focus tonight will be vers verses 27 to 30 but I'll read beginning in verse 19 Philippians chapter 1 beginning in verse 19 for I know that this will turn out for my Deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ according to my Earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but with all boldness as always so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by Death for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain but if I live on in the flesh this will mean fruit for my labor yet what I shall choose I cannot tell for I am hard pressed between the two having a desire to depart and be with Christ Which is far better nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you and being confident of this I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or am absent I may hear of your Affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them a proof of predition but to you of Salvation And that from God for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me amen well let us pray Our Father we thank you for this time that we can gather together for corporate worship we thank you that you have saved us by your grace you have shown us the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ you've granted us The Graces of faith and repentance and with Paul we are confident that you who began this good work in us will complete it unto that day of our beloved savior we look forward to his return again and glory to judge the living and the dead we pray father for all those that we know and love that are outside of Christ that they by Grace would believe on him that they would be cleansed in his blood and clothed in his righteousness and ready to meet him on that day look with favor Upon Us strengthen us cause us to take seriously what what our brother writes in this particular epistle May we receive these things with Thanksgiving and with a desire to give all glory to you in the lives that we live forgive us now for all of our sins cleanse Us in the blood of the lamb and send forth your Holy Spirit and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well as we have seen thus far in our studies in the book of Philippians we see an introduction in chapter 1: 1 to2 the Gratitude of the Apostle expressed in verses 3 to8 and then the content of his intercessory prayer for the church in Philippi in verses 9 to1 in verses 12 to 18 he gives something of a progress report he is presently at the time of his writing in a prison in Rome we see that in the book of Acts acts 28 the years ad. 60-62 he writes the prison Epistles Ephesians Philippians Colossians and philimon so that progress report in verses 12 to 18 is Paul's present situation he says that the things that have happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel in that I am able to share the truth with those in the palace guard and as well the church who has gotten wind of this are more bold now to stand fast in the face of the opposition he then moves to his future Prospect he understands that he could die under Nero at that particular time as he's in that prison cell he's confident of that in second Timothy here it's possible uh the weight on the balance seems to go with the idea that he's going to be released but the future Prospect is summarized in verses 19 to 26 now he comes to exhort the people of God in Philippi very specifically and that will pretty much uh sustain throughout chapters 1 2 3 and 4 so tonight we'll look at the conduct of the believer in verse 27 just a general conduct and then secondly the courage of the believer in verses 28 to 30 but note first with reference to the conduct of the believer in verse 27 only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ we notice something of the comprehensiveness of this notice he says only and I think the idea is is that if you get this down if you receive this exhortation if you march according to what the Apostle writes here it will have an effect upon every part of your life both individually and corporately it covers all other specific areas of the Christian life so it's sort of a general overarching exhortation only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ the specific word that he uses here is citizenship its definition is to be a citizen to have one's citizenship or home to conduct one's life to live to lead one's life you see a similar use in chapter 3 at verse 20 where he says for our citizenship is in heaven from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ so he uses it here to encourage them while citizens in the temporal sphere of the Roman Empire in the colon or the city rather of Philippi they are to maintain faithfulness as citizens of that Heavenly Kingdom they are to live as citizens of God's kingdom while you live as Citizens in this Roman Empire now of course the biggest and the bestest of that citizen ship is the kingdom of God to be sure and simply what he means is your manner of Life your walk or as the King James has it your conversation we've seen this go back with me to chapter 4 of the book of Ephesians in our study in the book of Ephesians notice in chapter 4 practical section of the epistle begins and in verse one he says I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called there had been a radical shift there had been a fundamental change there had been a transition with reference to the Believers in Ephesus if you go back to chapter 2 specifically at verse one he says in you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit who now works in the sons of Disobedience your conversation your conduct your manner of life the life that you live the way that you uh Express who you are so that radical change had come as a result of chapter 2: 8 to 10 which is predicated on chapter 1: 3-4 so in 41 he says walk in a manner that is consistent with your new life in our lord Jesus notice in 4:17 this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk chapter 5 verse 2 and walk in love chapter 5:8 walk as children of light chapter 5:1 15 walk circumspect late not as fools but as wise so the same sense obtains here in Philippians 1 and verse 27 it's not confined here you see it in Colossians 1:10 1 Thessalonians 2:12 1 Peter 4:3 and of course third John 4 the Apostle there writes my little children walk in the truth I have no Greater Joy Joy than to hear that my CH uh my children walk in the truth and so that's Paul's emphasis with reference to this statement let your conduct let your life be worthy of the gospel and by worthy of the Gospel I think he means as a consequence to justification by faith God in his grace chose you unto salvation Christ came assumed our Humanity lived died and was raised again the spirit has granted you New Life granted The Graces of faith and repentance you have closed with Christ now in light of that blessedness let your conduct be worthy of that saving power of God that has been manifested in your life and then notice the constancy involved he goes on in verse 27 to say so that whether I come and see you or am absent I may hear of your Affairs and then we'll continue on in just a moment should have stopped there a little bit more naturally so that whether I come and see you or am absent I may hear of your Affairs so the emphasis there is on accountability and I don't think Paul is trying to frame himself as an ecclesiastical Big Brother they didn't have posters of Paul in the churches in Philippi that said big brother is watching you now the idea of accountability is good but you see the gist of what he's saying so that whether I come and see you which is a real possibility based on verses 24 to 27 or am absent I may hear of your Affairs in other words I may know that by the grace of God your conduct is worthy of the gospel Paul was not an ecclesiastical big brother in fact turn back to the book of 2 Corinthians in chapter 1 pastors are not supposed to be ecclesiastical Big Brothers now by that I'm referring to George Orwell's novel we are big brothers if we happen to be a bit heavier or a bit taller we could be assumed to be Big Brothers I mean the orwellian version of being under some sort of a a scrutiny notice the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1 at verse 23 moreover I call God as witness against my soul that to spare you I came no more to Corinth not that we have dominion over your faith not that we are Lords of your conscience not that we are your ecclesiastical orwellian big breth and all the nightmare that that entails no notice but our fellow workers for your joy for by faith you stand that's the function of an effective pastoral Ministry fellow workers for your joy not domineering not Lords I love our confession at chapter 21 paragraph 2 it's of Christian Liberty and Liberty of conscience Christian Liberty is in paragraph one what we've been freed from by the power of God's grace through faith in Jesus and then Liberty of conscience and the confession stresses that God Alone is Lord of the conscience he has left it free from the Commandments of men those things that would bind you whether it be religious do goody and legalism or whether it be civil tyranny both of which those Brothers had to contend with in their particular historical context so back to our text Paul is not suggesting that I'm always watching you and I'm going to drop the ham on you should you get out of line I think the overarching concern in that portion of the verse is constancy it's on constancy this is always to be the case that your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ they're not supposed to get notice that Paul is freed from prison that he's going to make a special trip to Philippi and then say Let's Get Busy let's shape up the Apostle is going to come and he's going to scrutinize us no the idea being is that You Are by the grace of God and the presence of the spirit to pursue this as a manner of life this is your consequence or rather the consequence of justification namely sanctification he'll later say in Chapter 2 work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God who is at work in you both to Will and to do according to his good pleasure and in that statement we can only work out what God has graciously put in he's not suggesting that we work for our salvation but rather in the life of sanctification pursue those things that are pleasing to the most high so that's the general exhortation in verse 27 but in the second part of verse 27 he gives a concrete application of it in corporate life in corporate conduct we might say with reference to the individual let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ make sure you're reading your Bible make sure you're praying make sure you're attending to the corporate means of Grace make sure you're resisting ual sin make sure you're pursuing those things that are pleasing all those are legit all those are in the new New Testament but here the emphasis upon the church in Philippi and notice what he says that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel this is going to be a recurring theme in this epistle notice in chap 2: 1 to 5 a the emphasis there is on self less giving vent to others and their particular situation note the summary statement in verse four Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus and he gives this glorious wondrous bit of christology as the impetus or as an example not a lot of exemplary passages relative to the Cross I've often said we preach Christ and him crucified not him as an example so that you can dig down deep and just be a better you but here there is an example of Our Lord again lofty glorious christology but for the good of the conscience of the people that they would emide that mindset of verse four Let each of you look out not only for his own interest but also for the interest of others I think Timothy functions as an example in verses 19 to 23 notice Paul in verse 20 for I have no one likeminded who will sincerely care for your state I believe aitis functions in a like manner as an example to bring home that point that Unity with reference to the church is absolutely crucial notice in 42 one of the issues that are present in the church Paul addresses I implore uoda and I implore CI to be of the same mind in the Lord he wouldn't have implored them if they were already of the same mind there was a breach with these two par particulars and Paul addresses it so when we come to this section in 27b that I may hear of your Affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel the conduct worthy of the Gospel or the conduct consequent to justification by faith is expressed or seen in corporate Unity as well the conduct of the of the gosp conduct cond worthy of the Gospel it's not uniformity in everything right we can think our own thoughts we must think our own thoughts but it is solidarity in the main things we need to be on board with reference to the nature of God we need to be on board with justification by faith we need to be on board with those things most surely believed Among Us and lo and behold we have a helpful summary document that gives vent or expression to that so again it's not absolute uniformity that's in view I think a healthy church has some place for dispute and debate not dispute you know to blows if so I'm going to hide behind my fellow Elder cim and let's go let's you and him go ahead and fight um but it's not uniformity but it is solidarity as well the conduct worthy of the Gospel is prayed for by our Lord Jesus Christ Christ we enter into 2025 we're going to move out of the upper room discourse which I've got to confess kind of pains me I've really enjoyed going through that Upper Room discourse it's sort of an in inner sanctum in John's gospel which is an inner sanctum in in the Bible but we're going to get into the high Priestly prayer and in 17711 and in 1720 to 23 what do you think Jesus is praying for I want them to be divided I want chaos I want all kinds of uh uh of of division no I want want Unity is what our Lord prayed for the conduct worthy of the Gospel is demonstrated by the early church acts 1:14 acts 4:32 acts 5:12 you'll see them continuing in one Accord again not uniformity but solidarity in those things most surely believed Among Us it's not confined there we see it in Romans 12:16 1 Corinthians 1:10 2 Corinthians 13:11 and 1 Peter 3:8 so this emphasis on Unity in fact go back again to Ephesians 4 see a very similar pattern between Ephesians and Philippians after his statement or the exhortation to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called 41 in Ephesians he then highlights with all loneliness and gentleness with longsuffering bearing with one another in love endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace I think the emphasis is simple it's hard to preach the go gospel hard to minister to the flock when the flock is at odds with the flock a a presence of chaos and disorderliness and disunity and all manner of division makes the ministry of the Gospel a very difficult thing and it certainly cannot please God when the Lord Jesus taught us when we get to the Altar and we remember there that our brother has ought with us to First go be Rec reconciled with our brother and then present our offering to God how can we worship the god of heaven and earth when there's disunity in our midst and again not on our eschatology not on you know some of the particulars that everybody likes to fight over but if there's division undal with it makes it a very difficult situation to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of Peace notice the theological grounding that he G gives to that admonition verse four there is one body and one Spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling one Lord One Faith one baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all so back to Philippians the same emphasis so stand fast in one spirit with one mind so that would be the emphasis on Unity but note the expression on Unity as we look at this application a bit further he says striving together for the faith of the Gospel the unity of the church is seen in their conduct that is consequential of the gospel and it has to do with that gospel striving together that means what it says it doesn't mean lay on the couch doesn't I'm not saying Paul would be mad at you to lay on your couch I plan on laying on my couch tonight God willing the church corporately needs to be striving needs to be fighting not physically not armed to the to the teeth as church but with reference to the activity of the people of God the unity of the church is seen in their propagation of the Gospel note again that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel now I doubt that means your subjective grasp on Jes us I think rather it means the objective content of Christianity striving for the faith of the Gospel so that's going to be demonstrated in the proclamation of that message it's going to be demonstrated in our prayer lives corporately what are we praying for it's good to pray for the Salvation of Sinners it's good to pray that our blessed savior from the right hand of the father would send the spirit in such a way as to bring conviction so that Sinners can hear and Sinners by Grace can live but as well the unity of the church is seen in their defense of the Gospel so in this particular instance we're going to note in just a moment there they had adversaries who are those adversaries we'll deal with that question in a moment the presence of aders adversaries and the confirmation of Paul that or by Paul that in verse 29 they had had some conflict what's a Temptation or a tendency during conflict it's to go along to get along it's to say well you know I didn't sign up for that I I like this Jesus religion in so far as I come to church and I don't get any effect or pressure from the civil government or unbelieving Jews i i i quite like it when you know there's no harm no foul but now that persecutions here I I'm not sure that that's what I've signed up for the unity of the church is seen in their defense of the Gospel propagation of or proclamation of and its defense remember Jude 3 Breen contend earnestly for the faith again not your subjective Hold On Christ but the objective content of the Gospel of Jesus contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the Saints listen to John gil on that passage and just be alert it's a bit lengthy but but no he he speaks of even being willing to die he says and this contention he's commenting on Jude 3 I think it's appropriate here includes a care and solicitude for it to have it own it and hold it fast and Adorn it so the first operating principle is that you believe this you're not going to strive together with one mind and unity for something you're not invested in for something that you have no saving interest in if that's true of you if you hear this you say well I don't think I want to strive for the gospel' I don't want to you know have that much skin in the game then your first order of business is to look onto the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved look unto him the one in whom alone there is forgiveness and a righteousness that avails with God that's the first priority so Paul's assuming that the audience to whom he's writing the church in Philippi is Blood Bought they have a vested interest in it already the exhortation is to let your conduct be worthy of it and here specifically striving together for the faith of the Gospel so back to Gil this contention includes a care and solicitude for it to have it own it and hold it fast and Adorn it and for the preservation of it and for the spread of it and that it might be transmitted to posterity I love that emphasis right it's not just about us we got children we got grandchildren God willing they're going to have grandchildren and we want a church that Bound by and committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they can bring up their families and the training and admonition of the Lord shlepping them to free Grace Baptist every Sunday he goes on to say and it denotes a conflict this contend earnestly for the faith as does striving together here it denotes a conflict a combat or a fighting for it a striving even to to an Agony the persons to be contended with on account of it are such who deny or depreciate any of the persons in the godhead the asserts of the Purity and power of human nature and the deniers of sovereign efficacious and uh preserving uh persevering Grace the persons who are to contend with them are all the saints in general that's specific in Jude 3 Brethren not pastors not Elders not deacons not Seminary professors but Brethren he says to whom it is delivered which they may do by bearing an experimental testimony to it by praying for the continuance and success of it by standing fast in one spirit in it and by dying for it and particularly the Ministers of the Gospel by preaching it boldly openly fully and Faithfully by disputing for it and writing in the defense of it and by laying down their lives when called for that's what New Covenant Christianity is supposed to look like and when you look at the book of Acts you see that Jesus was not kidding in John 16: 1:4 he says there's a Time coming when they're going to put you out of the synagogue there's a Time coming when they're going to kill you thinking they're doing service for God you trace the 20 centuries of Christ's power from the right hand of the father and you look at the church it has not been without trial without tribulation without Affliction without hardship and without difficulty it's it's common for Paul to refer to ministerial companions as soldier it's very commonplace for him to invoke martial language because of the nature of the Warfare in fact he tells Timothy wage the good Warfare Samuel Miller an 18 he lived in the 1800s he taught at Princeton he was a presbyterian he says the church has to fight for every inch of of ground and whenever she ceases to contend for the truth she ceases to advance there's no stagnation should be no moss growing on us no stagnation that's no buo the church has to fight for every inch of ground and whenever she ceases to contend for the truth she ceases to advance wise Presbyterian Minister that he was makes this observation she may contend with an improper Spirit guilty right we may contend with an improper Spirit we can be jks for Jesus I I can I shouldn't speak for all of you but if the shoe fits then you know put it on with me and we'll confess it to God and ask for Grace not to be jerks for Jesus he says she may contend with an improper Spirit if she does this it is her mistake in her sin but to contend no more is to disregard the command of her master in heaven and betray his cause to the enemy I think that's powerful and I think it's Jude three and I think it's Philippians 1:27 striving together for the faith of the gospel and that brings us to the courage of the believer in verses 28 to30 I mean I think that's a very good followup after saying to the corporate Body of Christ you need to be striving together for the faith of the Gospel that seems to underscore some degree of resistance to the furtherance of the Gospel it seems to underscore something of the present situation of the Apostle Paul sitting in a Roman prison because unbelieving Israel gave him gave him up to them it says something about the nature of the combat that there will be enemies how are we to face them so that's the courage of the believer in verses 28 to30 first there's an exhortation and then secondly there's an assumption note the exhortation there is a necessity of Courage verse 28a and not in any way terrified by your adversaries not in any way terrified by your adversaries if we ask the question who are their adversaries certainly judaizers would be an adversary Paul addresses that in Philippians 3: 1-1 but when Paul first arrives in Philippi there's not a synagogue or if there is the text is silent they go by the Riverside and they meet a group of women there remember the Lord opened Lydia's heart there at the Riverside so the the supposition is there wasn't a huge Jewish population there in Philippi so probably Pagan religionists probably your garden variety worldling that was opposed to to the god of Heaven and Earth into his Christ about ad 60 to 62 there's increasing tension 64 that Rome Burns and that's when Nero blames the Christians so there's sort of a buildup going on and so the adversaries would be pagans heathens religious pagans religious Heathen whatever the case may be so that's the identification but as well note verse 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries why do you think he gives this admonition for the same reason the entirety of the Bible God tells us not to fear do not fear do not fear do not fear what what do you think that means God knows our frame he p sees us he knows we're but dust and he knows this proclivity or tendency to fear and this whole idea of striving for the faith of the Gospel in the presence of enemies especially enemies that have a real acts to grind against us may promote or may provoke fear in our hearts so Paul's going to head that off at the pass I want you to strive and I want you to strive for the gospel in terms of its propagation and in terms of its defense but I want to make sure that you're in no way terrified by those adversaries I think he addresses it because it's the tendency toward fear I think he addresses it because the tendency as I mentioned before to go along to get along we may not be terrified by the adversaries but we might just go along with the adversaries to sort of relieve the heat turn back to the Book of Judges Judges chapter 13 this passage most of you here are familiar with judges 13 if you're familiar with the Book of Judges you know that it Cycles it's cyclical there's God's the sin of the people God sends oppressors foreign Nations to oppress the people they call out for deliverance and then God raises up a judge and delivers them now in a lot of the places we see that cycle obtained and they do they they cry out for Relief they're not crying out in Repentance they're not crying out God be merciful to us the sinner they're crying out because it hurts the circumstances are hard so so they cry out and God infinitely gracious even answers those prayers by raising up judges and sending them but by the time you get to Judges 13 which Begins the Samson narrative notice in verse one and again or again the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years there's no mention that they cry out now if you say well that's an argument by silence I believe it's a very loud argument by silence especially when we compare chapter 15 look at judges 15 remember the scene Philistines want Samson Philistines want to destroy Samson Samson has made an impact upon the Philistine economy he has made an impact upon the Philistine Army and as far as they're concerned there's only one good thing that we can do with Samson and that's to rid the world of him so notice 159 now the Philistines went up encamped in Judah and deployed themselves against Lehi and the men of Judah said why have you come up against us so they answered we have come up to arrest Samson to do to him as he has done to us then 3,000 men of Judah they knew something of what they were're dealing with if if I knew there was some foe down the road I'd probably grab the biggest and the strongest among us three or four not 3,000 but notice it's the men of Judah then 3,000 men of Judah went down to the Clift of the rock of eom and said to Samson not make sure you're ready to go cuz the Philistines are here and we want to win this exchange that should have been the response from Judah had they been striving together for the faith of the old Covenant that would have been their response Samson the Philistines are here and we want to beat them but that's not what they say do you not know that the Philistines rule over us what is this you have done to us not only do they not cry out because of the oppression they embrace the oppressors now we know how the story goes Samson ends up killing a thousand Philistines with the Jawbone of an ass and then he piles them in a mass it is a most glorious story with reference to the spirit of the Lord coming mightily upon him but note the cowardice note the lackluster of Judah judges begins with Judah as the first tribe going about conquering by the time we get to chapter 13 they lackluster Nancy boys that want nothing to do with defending their leader Samson over and against the Philistine Invaders now all that to say Brethren not in any way terrified by your adversaries we may not run and hide in a closet but if we go along to get along well we're not going to preach against the sins of the day because we don't want to get in any trouble you know the modern prevailing opinion is is that you can't speak against homosexuality because after all it's just an alternate lifestyle Brethren the Bible says it's wrong for a man to lie with a man do we skip those passages do do we skip those passages that say God made man male and female do do we skip those passages which insist upon righteous rule on the part of civil government well well you don't want to upset the apple cart brother I don't think we're supposed to go out and necessarily entice and invite you know pressure but we should never be restrained from proclamation of the truth the whole Council of God so Paul says that we need to displace fear with courage I think that's Jesus emphasis in Matthew 10 when he sends the disciples to the lost sheep of the House of Israel do not do not fear men what does he suppose that tendency is in your heart to fear men he says in 10:28 don't fear those who can kill the body but rather kill him who or fear Him who can kill both body and soul in Hell other words displace the fear of man with the fear of God that's a thoroughly go a thoroughly biblical concept there needs to be a recovery of what the old boys spoke of in terms of the church militant again militant doesn't mean we arm up and we saddle up and we go downtown and start shooting government officials or start shooting the bad guys that's not what it means it's not what it means we're not supposed to be terrified of the adversaries and reduced to whining babies or reduced to cowards that do not Step Into The Fray cry aloud spare not lift up their voice like a trumpet and make Jerusalem know her sins Brethren that's what Paul is saying here not uh uh not in any way terrified by your adversaries the necessity for the church to embrace this a wartime mindset again wage the good Warfare Paul tells Timothy not physical but spiritual Paul says in uh 2 Corinthians the weapons of our Warfare are not carnal but they're Mighty for the pulling down of strongholds so then note he gives us this sort of result of not being terrified by our adversaries and not in any way ter ified by your adversaries notice what he goes on to say which is to them a proof of predition but to you of Salvation And that from God the proof is to them but it's not necessarily recognized by them other words when you withstand the adversary and you're not terrified it's not an automatic equation that they're going to be convicted and then they're going to repent no their action their conduct against the Lord's people is a proof of Pi it's similar to what Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 1 you can turn there 2 Thessalonians 1 the rightness of our God to punish those who who mess with the people of God 2 Thessalonians 1 verse six since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking Vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ these shall be punished with Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power Paul says it's a right thing it is a just thing it is a legit thing for God to punish those who have troubled his church Revelation 6 you've got those Souls under the altar crying out to the Lord most high how long to you avenge our blood and the blood of the prophets notice that God doesn't say how dare you take up such a petition before me that's not the response at all or Paul in Romans chap 12 give place or uh belove uh uh Brethren do not avenge yourselves but rather give place to wrath notice he doesn't say don't avenge yourselves because vengeance is terrible no Vengeance in the hand of the individual believer is not his thing but giving place to wrath is to give it to God you see that all throughout this altar the invocation of God's Wrath and curse upon his enemies you see it even in the New Covenant in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ let him be anathema Paul says that makes the Psalms of David the imprecations of David look like a walk in the park or what about second Timothy chapter 4 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm may the Lord repay him I am not talking about some person that cut you off on Wellington Avenue God pour out your wrath and fury upon that Ford that's not the point but there are persons in this world that are so opposed to the most high and his Christ that they will do anything in their power to exterminate the Church of the Living God is it wrong to pray and wrong to give place to wrath and to invoke God to bring that to Bear upon his enemies if it's wrong then you got to get rid of the Bible because you see Godly men do that very thing throughout scripture we need to embrace that we're in a Warfare notice back in our passage so the proof is to them but not necessarily recognized by them the conduct of the adversaries is a proof of their judgment to come now Brethren just by way of a practical application at this point we're going to be closed soon notice not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them a proof of predition what if you are terrified by your adversaries what if you don't do what Paul tells you as he's writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit what if you are a coward what if you are like Judah what if you are saying to Samson you know what we're not going to kill you Samson we wouldn't do that we're just going to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines oh wow well you know that's much better you know that mob of men that really do want to kill you if we allow the adversaries to terrify us guess what it will do to the adversaries it will embolden them they will conclude that these people have no guts these people are not like not their Master what he commanded but but like one of the greater examples in their religion Paul says in Philippians 1:21 for to me to live as Christ and to die is gain he's in a prison he's ready either way if I live on there's going to be fruit from the ministry I get Christ but if I die at the hands of the Civil State I get more Christ I get to enter into his presence absent from the body present with the Lord see we embolden the adversaries of the Christian church when we don't function like the Christian church we embolden the enemies of the Lord Of Glory when we just pass passively take everything they throw at us and again I'm not suggesting Bradley tank surrounding the building you know M60 machine gun nests I'm suggesting a degree of courage and boldness to hold forth the word of God most high to defend it to the death if necessary because that's what Paul is saying this isn't ethereal or theoretical for the Apostle he wants us to put up notice with reference to the believer not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them a proof of predition but to you of Salvation And that from God he's not saying if you're not terrified by adversaries then you will be saved no this not being terrified by adversaries is a demonstrable proof that you're saved and that from God so note that connection the saved man the saved woman has a degree of Courage has a degree of Bravery now please let me qualify this I'm not telling you fly to Ottawa stand up right before whatever it is they do or wherever they are and you know just start proclaiming the gospel to that that that that that's not the point but Brethren why are we afraid to Bow our heads and pray in public what people think we're weird you really fear what this world thinks is weird they can't Define what a woman is honestly I don't care if they think I'm weird and you shouldn't either they think it's okay to murder babies a 100,000 of them a year in Canada they think it's okay to murder old people they think it's okay to murder sick people in a country of 40 million people with a huge land mass that is built by god with great natural resources this ain't no time to be thinning the herd be fruitful and multiply drill baby drill and let's enjoy the riches of God's Bounty why are we afraid of what these people think now I'm not saying don't be courteous I'm not saying don't be gentle the way the Lord mandates I'm not saying be a jerk for Jesus but don't don't be terrified by the adversaries this is a proof that God has conquered your soul that you've been washed in the blood that you have a robe of righteousness that you're ready to to contend for you're ready to defend you're ready to die for the Glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Lord for the adversaries it's proof of their predition but when you're not terrified by those adversaries it's a demonstration of justification by faith alone that God has saved you and notice it's God that saves you and that from God Paul will never let you think that you came into this relationship on your own it doesn't depend upon him who Wills or upon him who runs but upon God who shows Mercy Romans 9:16 God who began this work in you Philippians 1 here that salvation is from God Philippians 2 God at work in you both to Will and to do for his good pleasure uh Philippians 3: 1-1 the anti- judaizer Declaration by Paul in terms of his own religious uh background it's never the case that the Apostle Paul will think that you made a decision for Jesus uned by Sovereign Grace you walked an aisle you signed a card you raised your hand when every eye was closed and every head was bowed no that's salvation from God and then note the Assumption the Assumption in verses 29 to 30 he assumes the sovereignty of God and he assumes their knowledge of Paul note the sovereignty of God in verse 29 for to you it has been granted again the word means to give freely as a favor to give graciously I don't think any of us as Calvinists or reformed people struggle with the first part for you it has been granted it has been graciously or given graciously to believe uh uh not only to believe in him now you know the famous parallel passage Ephesians 28-10 but you see in the book of Acts all those appointed to eternal life believed the Lord opened Lydia's heart to receive the things that were spoken by the Apostle Paul faith is a gift dead Sinners don't exercise Lively faith in the Savior we must be born again we must be granted The Graces of faith and repentance but that same word that give graciously governs not only the faith but the suffering God graciously gives us suffering yeah he does now the Merit or the benefit isn't suffering as suffering I mean there's no religion in just suffering you know you meet somebody that's a real sufferer well that doesn't mean they're holy it doesn't mean they're righteous it doesn't mean they're heavenbound the suffering that Paul is speaking of in terms of God's gift to his children is that suffering that brings us further into Conformity to our Lord Jesus Christ that Lord Jesus who assumed our humanity and learned obedience through what through suffering Hebrews 5'8 so there's no merit in you know let's hurt ourselves you know let me hit my head on the wall 10 times in a row so I can suffer cuz that's God L that that's not the point of the giving graciously suffering it's the good for me that I was afflicted suffering of the psalmist in Psalm 119 it's the acts 5:41 after they're they're they're beaten and they they leave from them that place and they're rejoicing because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is that suffering you see at the end of the Beatitudes blessed blessed are you when men persecute you when men say all manner of evil against you for my name's sake see it's not just they spoke evil against me man I must be Godly no for my name's sake Peter deals with that in 1 Peter chapter 4 in fact in verse 19 he tells us we to entrust our souls to the faithful Creator who gave us this suffering so Paul says to the people of God acknowledging their suffering strive and do it with one mind do it that Unity because that is what is worthy of the Gospel so notice with reference to the conclusion in verse 30 he says having the same conflict he's acknowledging that there's problems in Philippi not just CI and Yoda there's problems external there's some pressure there's some hardship there's some hurt there's some Affliction he wouldn't write this if there was nothing going on he's writing this and his appealing to this because there's something going on having the same conflict notice which you saw in me they saw it at the founding of the church in Philippians uh excuse me Acts chapter 16 remember Paul and here's the Macedonian call responds to that goes to Philippi and what happens there Riverside heart open with Lydia and then that demon-possessed girl that had that python Spirit Paul casts it out what happens her Masters turn her over to the Civil state what does a civil state do they beat him they hurt him they put him in jail that's what they did so that's what Paul means having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me how do they hear it acts I'm sorry Philippians chap 1: 12- 18 his emphasis is upon the brethren in Philipi to live in such a way that their conduct is worthy of their High Calling in God through Christ and that is to be expressed in the unity marked by the church it is to be expressed in this contending for and striving for the faith of the Gospel which certainly includes Proclamation and it includes defense and it includes up to death if necessary so that we're not terrified by our adversaries further further emboldening them to go out and terrify others we need to stand fast we need to W withstand the the the tendency of the Judah sites there in Judges 13 and 15 to go along to get along what's your problem with us Samson don't you know we've got it pretty good it's an amazing thing that slave mentality we're seeing it in the Book of Numbers in numbers whenever there's a little hard pinch to their flesh what do they do oh we want to go back to Egypt we want to go back to Egypt where we may eat where where we eat freely but you were slaves you don't get that you don't want to be freem men listening Faithfully observing what God has called you to you want to go back to Egypt and the gods of pharaoh and you want to subject yourselves to that so that you can get three Hots and a Cod brethren we need to make sure by God's grace we're taking seriously admonitions like these and pursue Unity strive for the faith of the Gospel that means knowing it preaching it and defending it courage to stand fast before the adversaries and an appreciation for God's Providence whatever my God ordains is right we sing in the hymn whatever happens to us we know in Romans 8:28 that all these things work together for good to those who love God and to those who are the called according to his purpose and then I would suggest the recognition of the value of the Gospel only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ you've heard me say even if you have to die for it striving for it there might be that sort of inkling in your heart is it worth it ask those Brothers in acts 5:41 when they left there rejoicing because they had counted been counted worthy to suffer shame for the name if you would have said to them you know brother was it worth it what do you mean was it worth it of course it was worth it we had to suffer shame for the name of Jesus what about if we ask Paul is it is it worth it for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain yes it's worth it remember those letters to the churches in Asia Minor every one of the seven ends with an admonition or an exhortation to he who overcomes he who overcomes he who overcomes we can do this seven times so when you get to Revelation 218 and you see those in the Lake of Fire typically we understand sexually immoral Lake of Fire murderers Lake of Fire Liars Lake of Fire idolators Lake of Fire the Cowardly Lake of Fire because they didn't overcome it's not cowardly because they were afraid of heights it's not cowardly because they had a with it with with spiders it was cowardly because they did not overcome Brethren may the Lord God most high fortify and strengthen us and fill us with the spirit so that our conduct would be worthy of the Gospel expressed in unity and expressed in striving for the faith of the Gospel well let us pray Our Father in heaven we thank you for your word we thank you for your truth and for the blessed uh privilege that we have to receive these things we ask that you would indeed uh bring these things to pass in our hearts uh bring this to pass in our own congregation may we all Endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace and in this may we glorify the God of Peace go with us now watch over us in this coming week be with all our brothers and sisters who are having struggles and hardships and difficulties we commend them to you and to the word of your grace and we pray in Jesus name amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation e e e