FMA singing and we would often sing acapella on that last stanza and what a joy to sing that great hymn together this morning. Philippians chapter number one, Philippians 1 and verses 19 through 26 were our scripture reading, but really with the Lord's help, we'd like to be able to finish this chapter, which means I'll probably get done about halftime of the Purdue game this afternoon. And so just hang with me. But they already have the Big Ten Championship wrapped up, right? So anyway, Philippians chapter number one. I say that with joking. I do hope to get us out on time. But we know that Philippians 1 and verse, oh, I need to turn on my microphone, don't I? Changed the batteries and forgot to turn it back on. Sorry about that. There we go. All right. Thank you, Drew. He was giving me hand signals back there. That usually doesn't mean still second. That means turn on my microphone. All right, Philippians 1 in verses 19 through 26, really the theme of this passage of this context is to live is Christ and to die is gain. We sang not I but Christ just a few moments ago and we see in verse 21 a verse that we know very well, we know by memory probably for to me to live is Christ. and to die is gain. We see Paul's heart, verse 22, but if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose I will not, for I'm in a straight betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Paul was in prison. He was facing a prospect of death, of martyrdom. It was real, it was clear and plain to him that if the wheels of Roman justice turned, that they would crush him and he would become a martyr for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yet at the same time, we see that he has this great desire to continue to minister. He has this passion for preaching the gospel, for ministering to God's people, that though he desires to go to heaven, which would be far better, and of course it would be, yet he wanted to have the opportunity, should the Lord give him the privilege and the opportunity, to continue to minister, to continue to preach the gospel, to minister to God's people, and even, hopefully, Lord willing, to see the people of Philippi again. We see Paul's heart. maybe sometimes find ourselves in the same kind of predicament, where we want to go to heaven, but at the same time, we see the opportunities ahead that God would give us, especially when we are witnessing to lost loved ones, and we want to see them trust Christ as their savior. So we see, first of all, in this passage, we see Paul's confidence in God for his deliverance. Paul's confidence was in the Lord. He desired to be delivered, and yet at the same time, desired to continue to minister. Excuse me, he desired to be delivered, at the same time, he desired to go to heaven. He desired to be delivered, he had confidence in his salvation, which we'll talk about here in this passage. He had confidence that God was working out his perfect will and he wanted to ultimately rest in that will of God and trust God for whatever he desired, for whatever God's perfect plan would be. But he had confidence in God for deliverance. Let's look down in verse 19, for I know that this shall turn to my salvation. That word salvation, is really, in the context, speaking of deliverance. Paul is a saved man. He's not unsaved and seeking salvation, clearly, obviously, so we can rule that out. He has not lost his salvation, and he's hoping to gain it back. That's not at all what he's talking about. We believe very firmly in Scripture's teaching regarding assurance of salvation, and of course, Paul, Here is a faithful man of God now in prison for preaching the gospel. He's not talking about a hope to get saved. He's not talking about a hope to gain his salvation back. So what is he talking about? Well, this word salvation, again, we could use the word deliverance here. And commentators will be back and forth, but basically there's four possible ways in which Paul is speaking of this word salvation or deliverance. First of all, he could be referring to glorification, his ultimate salvation deliverance from the presence of sin, from the flesh, and into glory, into heaven. And that would be a proper interpretation, because of course, Paul desires to go to heaven. He desires to be released from this sin-cursed body and to be in the presence of the Lord. awaiting that great resurrection day." So, clearly, there could be a proper interpretation of Paul referencing his glorification, that future, full salvation, deliverance from the very presence of sin. But Paul could also be referring to a deliverance from execution, knowing that he very well could be executed that if the Roman justice system were to declare that he was guilty of, of course, we know that he was not guilty in the sense of having committed any kind of crime. He was simply in prison for preaching the gospel. He was unjustly, unfairly arrested and persecuted and now in prison. But he could be speaking of his deliverance from execution, that he would be exonerated by the Roman system and be delivered and be allowed to go back into ministry. And he hoped that he would eventually be able to go back to Philippi. He even had a strong confidence, as we'll see later in verse 25, that that was his great hope and even had a confidence that he might get to do that. Thirdly, his deliverance could just simply mean a deliverance from the injustice of a guilty verdict, that there would not be a declaration of being guilty. And then a fourth possible interpretation is that he was simply referring to his eventual release from prison, that he just desired to be released, and he was confident of that. Really, we could look at this verse, we could look at this passage, and we could see, ultimately, that Paul was confident in God delivering him. Whether it be through death into glory, or whether it be from Roman imprisonment and into further ministry, Paul was confident that God was going to deliver him. He was not worried about what would happen to him next. His deliverance would come through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, as he says there in verse 19. through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. One of the things that Paul was confident in and was joyful in is the fact that the church at Philippi was praying for him. And the prayers of the saints were sustaining him in his imprisonment and could be used of God in his deliverance from the imprisonment into further ministry or simply sustain him by the grace of God for his deliverance into glory. into heaven. He is emphasizing the prayer of the saints, the church at Philippi, through your prayer, and ultimately it's the supply of the Holy Spirit. It's the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We see the Trinity. I know we are not specifically referencing God the Father here in verse 19, but we see, again, the person of the Holy Spirit and the person of Jesus Christ equated. So we have the doctrine of the Trinity here. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Three persons, one essence, one God. Spirit of Jesus Christ. Paul recognized that it was the prayers of the saints and the work of the Holy Spirit that was sustaining him, that was giving him confidence, that was giving him assurance, that whether he died in a Roman prison and was executed, murdered, or whether he was delivered into glory, Christ would be exalted. Christ would be magnified. The gospel would be furthered. We see here, going down in verse number 20, according to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death." Paul uses this phrase, earnest expectation, to refer to his eager anticipation of the future. Literally, it has the idea of straining to see what lies ahead. A runner straining to cross the finish line. A person who, we do this, we're guilty of rubbernecking, right? When there's an accident or something on the side of the road and we turn and all the traffic behind us slows down and then we get upset about the person up in front who's rubbernecking, right? The straining to look to see We do that in various ways. It's that idea, and there's an eagerness. He says, according to my earnest expectation with eagerness and with hope, he says in verse 20, he is not ashamed. This to me, it's so convicting because he's in a Roman prison. No cable TV, no Serta mattress, probably a dungeon floor that's wet and stinky and cold. He's not getting any kind of four-course meals with steak and mashed potatoes and a Coke Zero. He might be getting some bread and water and some basic sustenance. Eventually, he would have some house arrest and be given a little bit more liberty and be able to have visitors. But Paul is saying, I have an eager anticipation. He says, with hope. He says, I'm not ashamed. He refers to boldness. And he says, why? That Christ be magnified. He says, whether I'm in prison or I'm continuing in the ministry in freedom to go about the known world there in Europe and Asia and proclaim the gospel, or whether it be taken into glory, he wants Christ to be magnified. And he says, in my body, whether it be by life or by death. Can I just focus us for a minute on that phrase, in my body? A lot of talk about the body today, right? The body is just the shell that we can take and we can metamorphosize and through surgeries and various therapies, we can make our body conform to the inner identity of the authentic self. It's baloney. Costs about $1.50 at Payless. We used to be 99 cents, but you know, with inflation. That's the garbage of this world's thinking, of this unsaved world's thinking. Paul says my body is part of who I am in Christ. Whether you're a trichotomist or a dichotomist, we used to argue in seminary, are you a trichotomist or a dichotomist? Body, soul, and spirit, that's not the argument. We're body, soul, and spirit. We have a mind, we have a will, we have emotions. The inner man, we have a soul, we have an eternal being. Paul is saying that that's not separated from his body. Now, there will be a day when he, if he dies, he will be magnified in that he will, excuse me, that Christ will be magnified in that he will go into the presence of God separated from that body for a short period of time, temporarily, until the rapture, until the resurrection day, when the body will be reunited and obviously it'll be a glorified body. But I just can't help but notice that he says, in my body. I'm physically here in this prison, he says, but I want God to be glorified, even as this physical body is decaying in a Roman prison, not getting good care, literally facing execution, which would not be by some humanitarian means, according to the laws of the Geneva Convention. His execution could be through torture and various inhumane Roman means. We know Christ, our Savior, was inhumanely tortured and murdered cruelly, a violent death for us on the cross. The cross being a place of public embarrassment and shame for the Romans to put that person on a cross and to show everybody around that they're the ones in charge. Rome was not known for their kindness, their niceness. They would fall into more of the categories of a Hamas or a Hezbollah or a ISIS or a Taliban. Cruel, terroristic toward those who did not agree and submit to them. And Paul says, I'm willing to face all that. God is going to be glorified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. And then he says in verse 21, as we summarize all of this really in the title of today's message and this entire passage, for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Galatians chapter two and verse number 20 really summarizes Paul's statement here in Philippians one. Galatians chapter two and verse number 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. To live, for to me to live, is Christ. Christ is everything. He is our all in all. Christ is not just added to our life, Christ is not just some life coach or therapeutic counselor. Christ is to be our all, he is to be our everything. And Paul said, for to me to live is Christ. We just sang the song, 469, not I but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted, not I but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard, not I but Christ, in every look and action, not I but Christ, in every thought and word. Not I, but Christ, to gently soothe in sorrow. Not I, but Christ, to wipe the falling tear. Not I, but Christ, to lift the heavy burden. Not I, but Christ, to hush away all fear. Christ, only Christ, ere long will fill my vision. Glory excelling soon, full soon I'll see. Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling. Christ only Christ, my all in all to be. That phrase, my every wish fulfilling. Is that a Disney wish? Is that, oh, you can be anything you want to be. Just dream it and speak it and it will come to pass. And then you'll marry the knight in shining armor and drive off on a pumpkin carriage and live happily ever after. Is that the promise? Every wish fulfilling is every wish in Christ, according to Christ, according to His perfect will, as we delight in Him. Christ, only Christ, my every wish fulfilling. Christ, only Christ, my all in all to be. Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord. Boy, that's a prayer I have to pray on a regular basis, and when I don't pray it, I get myself in trouble. Oh, to be saved from myself. I remember when Pastor Bob Taylor was interviewed by the Indianapolis Star many years ago in a series they were doing on pastors in the Indianapolis area. And I remember his answer when they asked him what was his biggest problem, trouble, enemy, what was his number one issue. And I appreciated Bob Taylor, who I got saved under his ministry as a young boy. down at Pensacola Christian College where he was the pastor of the campus church. He was on my ordination council. I love Dr. Taylor. I don't know where he's at today, but I love his answer in that interview when they asked him, what is his number one issue, number one problem in the ministry? He said, me. He said, I am my number one enemy, my number one problem. That really stood out to me. Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord. Oh, to be lost in Thee. Oh, that it may be no more I, dear Lord, but Christ that lives in me." I thought that hymn well summarized what Paul is saying from Galatians 2 and verse 20 and in the statement in Philippians 1 and verse 21. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And then he goes on in verse 22, but if I live in the flesh, He's not saying in the flesh in the sense of some sort of sinful carnality. He's just saying, if I remain in this body, this is the fruit of my labor. He has fruits for his labor. He has served the Lord really with no regrets. He's living to fulfill all the will of God. Yet what I shall choose, I want not. He's saying, Again, I would love to go to heaven. That would be far better. To die is gain. But at the same time, I would love to continue to minister the gospel. It's such a privilege. It's a calling. It's a passion. And it's a burden on his heart. And he wants to see his soul saved and lives changed. And he wants to even go back and visit this wonderful church at Philippi. And he says, I'm struggling with what I shall choose. But then he says in verse 23, he takes it even further. He says, for I'm in a straight bitch wicks to having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. I don't know if any of you have ever been to Mammoth Cave, but there's a tour that we took years ago with the kids in Mammoth Cave, going down into Mammoth Cave and We started down, and we got to a very narrow section of the cave, and it's called Fat Man's Misery. I don't know how many inches wide it is, but I'm thankful I was not a fat man. That was then. I don't know about now, but I fit. I was like, yes, I made it. I made it through. And then you got to another place, and it was Tall Man's Agony. because the ceiling of the cave was so low. And I was thankful, again, that I was short, that I never made it to six foot, never could dunk a basketball, even though that was my dream in high school. Paul's saying he was in a straight betwixt two, two hard places, so to speak. He wants to continue to minister, to preach the gospel, to visit the Church of Philippi, to help the people of the church, to minister to believers, to see the unsaved come to Christ. At the same time, he wants to go to glory. And we see that heart of Paul and we find ourselves many times and maybe we've seen loved ones in that place where they were at that point where they knew that God was probably going to take them. And there was that peace that God gave them for to me to live as Christ and to die is gain. We go on in verse 25, excuse me, verse 26, that you're rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. He desired to see God's people grow in their faith and mature as believers and was willing to remain and be a part of that while also desiring to go to be with his Savior. And he said in verse 26, that you're rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. In Paul, a joy and a rejoicing in seeing believers grow, mature in their faith. From a pastor's perspective, I'll have to empathize with Paul, agree with Paul, relate to Paul. There is a tremendous joy in the ministry to see God's people grow and to see them make decisions in the fear of God. to see them turn from sin, and to see them mature in their faith, and to see parents raising their children to nurture and admonition of the Lord, and to see God's people take a stand for what is right in their workplaces, and to be able to come into a men's meeting like yesterday, and to be able to bear our hearts and to share with one another. What a joy that brings to a pastor's heart, and what is it like for us as parents and grandparents to see our children walk in truth, There's no greater joy John talks about. That's the heart of Paul in verse 26, and he says that if I can come, and with confidence, he hopes to, if that be the Lord's will, in the confidence of the Lord's will, verse 25, and down to verse 26, that his coming to them would be abundant in Christ Jesus, that he would see the fruit of their, he wants to see the fruit of their lives, the spiritual fruit. He wants to be there, he wants to see it, he wants to minister, he wants to shake their hands, he wants to hug their necks. He wants to see them living out the principles, the commands, the truths, and obedience to God's Word and the maturity of their faith. And that would bring great rejoicing, and there would be rejoicing in return from them to Him, and them being able to see Him again, and ultimately, ultimately there is, in verse 25, that word furtherance again. Continue with you all for your furtherance, for your progress, for your advancement, in your joy of faith, in your walk with God, in the joy of living a faithful life, a life of faith. There'd be great joy in seeing their progress and their advancement, their spiritual growth and their maturity. So we see Paul's confidence, his confidence in God for deliverance. But we also see, as we come down to verses 27 through 30, we see that a Christian's conduct A Christian's conduct should not be a distraction to the gospel of Jesus Christ. There seems to be a little bit of a shift here from verse 26 to verse 27. Paul is now saying, only let your conversation, your lifestyle, your manner of life, your way of life, your way of living, only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ. There's great joy in seeing their growth. There's great joy in seeing their maturity. He longs to be with them, to see them again, and to continue to minister to them, and to see that fruit firsthand, to see that growth. He's already seen, obviously, evidences of that in their giving, in the sending of Epaphroditus, in the gift, the offering that they brought, and the words that he had heard, and the things that he had heard about them. He was joyful. overflowing with gratitude for their growth and their progress, and yet Paul doesn't say, okay, you've made it, you got there, now we can all just kind of coast. As a matter of fact, I might be going to heaven soon, so you can just stick it in neutral, put it on autopilot, cruise control, and the Christian life will just be 55 miles an hour of smooth sailing the rest of the way. Is that what he says? Not at all. Paul says, if God takes me into glory, or whether I come to you again, only let your conversation be as it become at the gospel of Christ. He says, this has to continue. There's great progress and advancement, but we can't stop here. That whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Here is Paul calling upon them, encouraging them to continue in a Christ-like life with a conduct that would not be a distraction to the gospel. This verse, in verse 27, is similar to what we read in Ephesians 4, in verse number one, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. Walk worthy of the calling wherewith ye are called. Similar also, Paul wrote to the Colossians in chapter one in verse 10, that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. So we must walk worthy of our calling. Our life must model what a Christian's life should be. Our lives must be Christ-like. We must live with integrity, with godly character. In Titus 2, in verse number 10, as Paul wrote to Titus in that context, referring to servants of God, he says that servants of God, that their life should adorn the doctrine of Christ. not purloining, but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Most women, some men, I know some men, they like the bling. They like the drip. They have a Mr. T starter kit. I realize that that's where some men are at. I'm not a big fan of jewelry on men, except for a wedding ring and a few relatively minor things, not gonna get into all that, but men are not particularly, all right, men are not particularly known for or should be known for their outward adornments, okay? But women, I know women can go too far with this, but a woman, it enhances her beauty to have necklaces, to have earrings, to have various, types of jewelry. And I know there's an excess even for women. I think that line is a little bit further than it is with men. I think men, again, I don't want to get into that. I'm going to get myself in some really knee-deep, muddy water here, all right? And I'm not trying to be legalistic. But the point is, women are known for, historically speaking, really, they're known for adorning themselves with jewelry to enhance and to highlight their beauty. I mean, we have to admit, guys, women are much prettier than us. We get uglier a lot sooner, okay? All right? But the idea is that our lives as believers, is the gospel not beautiful? It is beautiful. And beautiful are the feet of them who share the gospel, who take the gospel. Christ is beautiful. The gospel is beautiful. Truth is beautiful. We're to adorn that like jewelry, in a sense, to highlight, to enhance the beauty of the gospel. By how? By our godly living, by our obedient living, by our faithful living. by walking worthy of the vocation of the calling wherewith we are called, by walking worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, letting our conversation be as it become at the gospel of Christ. We see in verse 27 at the second part of the verse that in this adorning In letting our conversation be as we come at the gospel of Christ, there is the absence of division and strife. He mentions unity. That I may hear of your affairs that ye stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. The faith. The faith. The faith once delivered unto the saints, Jude would write in verse number one. the body of truth, divinely revealed by God in what would eventually become the 66 books of the Bible. I know when Paul wrote this, there weren't all 66, but there would be the completed written revelation of God soon. In the very coming decades, as John would pen those last words of the book of Revelation by the inspiration of God, and Paul is already speaking to the faith, that body of truth, the gospel, And he says there ought to be unity. There ought to be a standing fast in one spirit. He's concerned for the church. The church, Philippi, has very little negative at all. But we do know later in chapter four that there were a couple of women who were involved in some sort of dispute or discord in Philippians four and verse number three. So there apparently were some who were needing to be warned about the possible disunity that they were causing. But also Paul knows human nature. He knows our carnal, sinful nature. He has it, he's fighting it. And what happens in churches too often, it becomes a time of disunity if we're not careful. Arguing over little things, getting all bent out of shape and taking things too far and wanting things to be our own and wanting to win arguments wanting to have our way pushed and our agenda, and sometimes we have to give and take, and I'm not here to be a tyrant, I'm not a dictator, I'm a shepherd. Are there times that I have to have executive privilege, so to speak, as a pastor, and say, this is what we're gonna do, yes, but I don't ever want it to come across as some big bullying tyrant and dictator, but I do believe that God has blessed us by his grace with good unity, and I don't want anything to get in the way of that. Sadly, one of the number one ways that churches are planted in America today is by church splits. That's a shame. And we don't want anything to disrupt the unity that God has blessed us with here. And Paul's saying similar to the church of Philippi. Keep that unity. It's in Christ. It's in the gospel. In a lack of unity, division and strife, he said, it will bring a reproach upon the name of Christ. It will cause a bad testimony. It will not adorn the doctrine of Christ. It will not adorn the gospel to have strife and disunity, to have backbiting and gossiping and fighting among one another. As a matter of fact, in Philippians 2 and verse 1, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same loving of one accord, of one mind. That theme continues, doesn't it? I used to tell students, as I would have to deal with controversy among students, and they would come and end up in my office, or I would end up down the hallway, or I'd end up in the gym, or outside, and there would be some sort of argument. Sometimes I'd have to sit two, particularly two young men, it would sometimes be girls as well, I'd sit them down, and I'd say, you guys are on the same team. You're on the second grade team. You're on the third grade team. You're on the sixth grade team. God put you here. I know you didn't have any choice in so and so being in your class, but God put you here. You're on the same team. You don't have to be BFFs. You don't have to be besties, whatever the vernacular is today. You don't have to be best friends, but you at least ought to be able to get along. You're on the same team. And as believers, as a local body, we're on the same team. We're on the same team in that we're in Christ, but we're also on the same team in that we are Berean Baptist Church by the calling of God, by his grace. And Paul is saying to the church of Philippi, in a sense, you're on the same team. As a matter of fact, if we go down in Philippians chapter number one, he says in verse 27 there, striving together. That is literally the word that we get our word athletics from. We love athletics. I enjoy sports. I was never much of an athlete. I'm even less of an athlete now, but I enjoy sports. God had to teach me lessons, and I have to fight it even to this day. But I could get so consumed with sports. And now, I mean, back in the day, I had to wait for ESPN to have the Giants on at 9.30 at night, on a Friday night, because we didn't have the internet. Now I can subscribe to the MLB network, and I can watch the Giants almost any game, any time, from April to hopefully October. That's a temptation for me. I have had to tell myself no when a sale comes across. First of all, am I gonna spend that kind of money? Secondly, do I need to be distracted by that? But athletics is an example. Paul even uses the term, striving together, to speak of teamwork. How many times have we seen athletic teams with superstars Great ballplayers, and they have no teamwork. They have no team chemistry. I've been on basketball teams where there was one guy who thought he had to get all the glory. And it didn't matter if there were four guys in the lane. He was going to charge right through. And he was going to knock all four of those guys over like bowling pins in order to make the basket. How often did that work? Not very often. And we've been like that where you Have the ball hog, and you have the guy who thinks that he's the reincarnation of whatever superstar, and he's out there chucking threes from the cheap seats and hardly passes the ball. And what does that do? Sometimes it's in the clubhouse, it's in the dugout, and there's a lack of team chemistry, and there's infighting, and there's mutiny against the coaches. Shame on us if we, as a local body of believers, are known more for our gossiping, and our backbiting, and our infighting, and our division, and our strife. And Paul is saying, you have a good thing going on there, Philippi. The church of Philippi, you are rejoicing to my heart. You bring great joy. And I long to see you again. And should the Lord allow me to come. May I be blessed to see the unity and not let disunity, strife, division come and ruin the good thing that God has given you by his grace. Selfishness is most often the root cause of strife, but when our focus is truly on pleasing Christ, then envy and jealousy are set aside for the greater goal of advancing God's kingdom. You know, the world wants no part of a fractured church. They see no hope in the life of a bitter and angry Christian. What kind of a testimony do we have if we're an angry, bitter Christian, if we're an angry and bitter church with strife and division? He goes on in verse 28, and he says that this adorning, this letting our conversation be as it become at the gospel of Christ, It not only includes an absence of division and strife, but it also includes an absence of fear, an absence of fear. Verse 28, and in nothing terrified by your adversaries. That word terrified has to do with being fearful, being intimidated. A Christian's cowardice in a time of persecution is a sign of weakness, shame, or immaturity. Paul said, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. He has already said in this passage down in verse 20, or back up in verse 20, that in nothing I shall be ashamed. It is a poor testimony when we are ashamed of the gospel of Christ. When we are a fearful, cowardice group of believers, or individual Christians, compromised with sin out of fear, Compromise with sin often comes as a result of fear. Fear of what? Fear of the world, fear of the adversaries. We talked about this yesterday in the men's meeting with Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, specifically those three young men who refused to bow to the emperor of the known world, Nebuchadnezzar, to his idol, his 90-foot statue that was built in mocking of the dream that God had given. Nebuchadnezzar, to humble him. And now he's making a 90-foot statue, mocking the statue that God had revealed to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream that Daniel had interpreted. And there they are, facing that statue, and told to bow, facing a fiery furnace. And they refused to bow. We talked with the men yesterday about the fear of rejection, the fear of not being accepted. How many times Do we see pastors, do we see churches compromise on sin because of fear? We're gonna be irrelevant. We're not gonna be accepted by the unsaved world. And I believe it was R.C. Sproul, before he died, he talked about our fundamentalist betters in an article I read. And he said, we compromised years ago in New Evangelicalism. And I'm not here to be a critic of R.C. Sproul. There's a lot of things that I respect about his ministry and his teaching. But R.C. Sproul, he said, we wanted to be called an academic. And so in order to get that title from the unsaved world, from the unorthodox, in order to get that title of academic, then we would call you evangelical. We would call you a Christian. And R.C. Sproul wrote, and he said, I'm thankful for the fundamentalists who took the stand back in the 20s and the 30s, in the early days of the 20th century, who stood firm like J. Gresham Machen, and others like him, who stood firm on the foundational, fundamental doctrines, and refused, even though there was pressure. Oh, call us, there were people standing, men standing in the ministry with J. Gresham Machen, who were willing to say, yeah, call us academics. Come on, we want that label. Yeah, we'll be happy to call you a Christian, even though they denied the foundational, fundamental doctrines of the faith. And R.C. Sproul brought that up before he died, and he wrote that article, and I appreciated what he said. And here is Paul saying, in nothing terrified by your adversaries. Continue to take a stand for what is right. Continue to stand for the truth. and don't be compromisers. Compromising with sin, compromising in the way that would then cause strife and division within the church, that would then tear apart the good unity that God has given you by his grace, that would essentially ruin the church and ruin the church's testimony. He wanted to come and there'd be great joy and rejoicing. So don't let our conversation be a distraction. Don't let our lifestyle, excuse me, don't let our conduct, our manner of life be a distraction to the gospel of Jesus Christ. May there be an absence of division and strife and be an absence of fear. And may we continue to strive together. and adorn the gospel, adorn the doctrines, the good doctrines of Jesus Christ, the holy doctrines of the word of God, adorn them with our lives by our good conduct, by a spirit of unity. And may we, like Paul wrote to Timothy, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. May we be known as a people of power and of love and of a sound mind in the Lord, not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for the truth of your word. Thank you for Paul's burden for the church. Lord, may we have the same burden for the truth that Paul had for the truth and for the church to continue to stand have good unity, and be a good testimony, and to adorn the doctrine of Christ, to let their conversation be as the gospel of Christ, and highlight and exalt the beauty of the truth of the gospel, the beauty of Christ. Lord, may our lives not distract from the beauty of the gospel. Lord, help us to have the confidence that Paul had, that for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Lord, do your work in our hearts as we close this service, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Derek is going to come and lead us in our closing hymn. We'll sing 497, 497 if we'll stand to our feet and find Search Me, O God in our hymn books. Hymn number 497. We'll sing just the first stanza as Derek comes and leads us. If God has spoken to your heart, you can do business with the Lord even as