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 verses 27 to 30, but I'll read beginning in verse 19. Philippians chapter one, 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 perdition, 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 have 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 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, verses 1 to 2, the gratitude of the apostle expressed in verses 3 to 8, and then the content of his intercessory prayer for the church in Philippi in verses 9 to 11. 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 to 62. He writes the prison epistles, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. 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 2 Timothy. Here it's possible. 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 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 colony or the city rather of Philippi, they are to maintain faithfulness as citizens of that heavenly kingdom. They're 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 citizenship 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 four of the book of Ephesians in our study in the book of Ephesians. Notice in chapter four, 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 1, he says, 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 express who you are. So the radical change had come as a result of chapter 2, verses 8 to 10, which is predicated on chapter 1, verses 3 to 14. So in 4.1, 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, verse 8, walk as children of light. Chapter 5, verse 15, walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. So the same sense obtains here in Philippians chapter 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 3 John 4. The apostle there writes, my little children walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that 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. No, 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 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 brother and all the nightmare that that entails. 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 1, 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-goodery 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 hammer 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 sexual sin. Make sure you're pursuing those things that are pleasing. All those are legit. All those are in the New Testament. But here the emphasis is 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 chapter 2, verses 1 to 5a, the emphasis there is on selflessness. giving vent to others and their particular situation. Note the summary statement in verse 4, 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 imbibe 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 like-minded who will sincerely care for your state. I believe Epaphroditus 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 4.2, one of the issues that are present in the church, Paul addresses. He wouldn't have implored them if they were already of the same mind. There was a breach with these two 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 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 Venter 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 Cam, and let's you and him go ahead and fight. 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. We enter into 2025. We're going to move out of the upper room discourse, which, I've got to confess, of pains me. I've really enjoyed going through that upper room discourse. It's sort of an inner sanctum in John's gospel, which is an inner sanctum in the Bible. But we're going to get into the high priestly prayer. And in 1711 and in 1720 to 1723, what do you think Jesus is praying for? I want them to be divided. I want chaos. I want all kinds of division. No, I 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 are called, 4.1 in Ephesians, He then highlights, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. I think the emphasis is simple. It's hard to preach the gospel, hard to minister to the flock when the flock is at odds with the flock. 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 aught with us to first go be 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 some of the particulars that everybody likes to fight over. But if there's division undealt with, it makes it a very difficult situation to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Notice the theological grounding that he gives to that admonition. Verse 4, 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. 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 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 Jesus. 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 gonna note in just a moment, they had adversaries. Who are those adversaries? We'll deal with that question in a moment. The presence of 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 like this Jesus religion insofar as I come to church and I don't get any effect or pressure from the civil government or unbelieving Jews. I quite like it when, you know, there's no harm, no foul. But now that the persecution's here, 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? Brethren, 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 Gill on that passage, and just be alert. It's a bit lengthy, but note, 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 and you say, well, I don't think I want to strive for the gospel. I don't want to have that much skin in the game. Then your first order of business is to look on to 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's bound by and committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ, so that they can bring up their families in the training and admonition of the Lord, schlepping 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 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 assertors of the purity and power of human nature, and the deniers of sovereign, efficacious, and 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, verses 1 to 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 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, he lived in the 1800s, he taught at Princeton, he was a Presbyterian. He says, the church has to fight for every inch of ground, and whenever she ceases to contend for the truth, she ceases to advance. No stagnation, should be no moss growing on us. No stagnation, that's no bueno. 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 jerks for Jesus. I can, I shouldn't speak for all of you. But if the shoe fits, then 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 and 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 3, 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 to 30. I mean, I think that's a very good follow-up 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 up to them. It says something about the nature of the combat that there will be enemies. How are we to face that? So that's the courage of the believer in verses 28 to 30. 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 verses 1 to 11. 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 supposition is there wasn't a huge Jewish population there in Philippi. So probably pagan religionists. Probably a garden variety worldling that was opposed to the God of heaven and earth and to 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 do you think that means? God knows our frame, he pities 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 axe 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. It's a 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 for 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 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 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 15.9, now the Philistines went up and camped 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 3000 men of Judah, they knew something of what they were dealing with. 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 cleft of the Rock of Edom and said to Samson, Not, make sure you're ready to go because 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 an ass. It is a most glorious story with reference to the spirit of the Lord coming mightily upon him. But note the cowardice, note the lacklusterness of Judah. Judges begins with Judah as the first tribe going about conquering. By the time we get to chapter 13, they're 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 we skip those passages that say God made man, male and female? Do we skip those passages which insist upon righteous rule on the part of civil government? Well, you don't want to upset the apple cart. Brethren, 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 counsel 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 fear men. What does he suppose? The tendency is in your heart to fear men. He says in 1028, don't fear those who can kill the body, but rather fear him who can kill both body and soul in hell. In other words, displace the fear of man with the fear of God. That's 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 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 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 terrified by your adversaries. Notice what he goes on to say, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God. The proof is to them, but it's not necessarily recognized by them. In other words, when you withstand the adversary and you're not terrified, it's not an automatic equation that they're gonna be convicted and then they're gonna repent. No, their action, Their conduct against the Lord's people is a proof of perdition. 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 mess with the people of God. 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 6, 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 chapter 12, give place or, 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 the Psalter, the invocation of God's wrath and curse upon his enemies. You see it even in the New Covenant in 1 Corinthians 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 2 Timothy 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 gotta 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 gonna be closed soon. Notice, not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition. 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, 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 like one of the greater examples in their religion. Paul says in Philippians 121, fortune me to live is Christ, And to die is gain. He's in a prison. He's ready. Either way, if I live on, there's gonna 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 emboldened 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 passively take everything they throw at us. And again, I'm not suggesting Bradley tanks 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 perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God. Is that 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? 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 just start proclaiming the gospel to them. That's not the point. Brethren, why are we afraid to bow our heads and pray in public? People think we're weird. Do 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, 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 landmass 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 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 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 perdition. 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. Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 to 11, the anti-Judaizer declaration by Paul in terms of his own religious background. It's never the case that the apostle Paul will think that you made a decision for Jesus unaided 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 to you it has been granted, it has been graciously or given graciously to believe, not only to believe in Him. Now, you know the famous parallel passage, Ephesians 2, 8-10. But you see it 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 heaven-bound. 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 because that's godly. 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 541, after they're beaten, and they leave from that place, and they're rejoicing, because they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that suffering that you see at the end of the Beatitudes. Blessed are you when men persecute you, when men say, oh, men are 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 4. In fact, in verse 19, he tells us we're 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 Syntyche and Iodia. 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 is 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, 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 the 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? Philippians 1, verses 12 to 18. His emphasis is upon the brethren in Philippi 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 emboldening them to go out and terrify others. We need to stand fast. We need to withstand the tendency of the Judahites 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 ate freely. But you were slaves. You don't get that? You don't want to be free 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'd 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 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 21.8, 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. Idolaters, 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 problem 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 privilege that we have to receive these things. We ask that You would indeed bring these things to pass in our hearts, 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.