God's Word comes to us again this evening from Paul's letter to the Philippians, the first chapter. Our text is verses 27 through 30, but it would be well for us to hear again the text that we heard this morning that leads into this passage, a text in which Paul first sums up his own present experience of imprisonment in Rome and then the prospect of either life or death that awaits him depending on what Christ has decided, Caesar will decide, as we saw this morning. And then in verse 27, our text, he begins to turn the spotlight away from his situation in Rome to the situation of his Philippian friends, the believers in Christ in that city in northern Greece, what was then known and is now again known as Macedonia. So let us hear again God's word beginning at verse 12 and then we'll give special attention in the message to verses 27 through 30. Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached, and because of this, I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, What has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now, as always, Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know. I'm torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far, but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again, your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you, or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved, and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. So what do Christians of 21st Escondido have in common with Christians of 1st century Philippi? Well, many things, obviously. The triune God and his love for us. But I'm thinking of a specific thing about their situation and ours. I'm thinking of the fact that both they, long ago, and we today belong to marginalized minorities who find ourselves in societies that are increasingly driven by forces that contradict our deepest commitments as followers of Jesus. Now, we don't have it as bad as maybe the Philippians had it, and as many other believers around the world have, but we do begin to sense that we're being marginalized. I'm not an instinctively pessimistic person, but I've lived enough decades to feel that things are falling apart in a way they weren't when I was younger. Maybe I wasn't aware of the news as much when I was younger, but I wonder sometimes. I wonder whether the societies and the countries in the West, North America, Western Europe, have the stamina, have the spine to resist international terrorism, especially when that terrorism is driven by a religious passion, whereas so often in the West and in our cultures and our societies we seem to be drifting away from any conviction and wasting ourselves, in a sense, in pleasure and entertainment. I wonder even domestically if we would ever have the will as a nation, as a society, to say no to the escalating violence and sensuality in our own entertainment media, even as we see violence invading schools and shopping malls and sexual exploitation invading homes through the Internet. I wonder whether the social atmosphere will become even more coercively controlled by moral, ideological, relativism, the greatest of all virtues, tolerance, to the point where the only subgroup that will be intolerable is a subgroup that stands for something. I wonder about that sometimes. Well, that was much like Philippi in the first century. certainly the pursuit of pleasure, even the relativism, the pluralism, the whole idea that we should tolerate everybody, that it was offensive for Christians to confess Jesus alone is Lord. It's not so different. Now, if we lift our eyes beyond North America and Western Europe, we can see some hopeful signs where the church is growing vibrantly, often in the face of persecution. Maybe because of the persecution, the church has the spine to grow vibrantly. But still, sometimes where the church is growing numerically, not only elsewhere, but here, the numeric growth is a bit shallow and a bit deformed in itself. So it's easy to start getting pessimistic. You can start to think that people who are serious about following Jesus are now or will soon be a beleaguered, misunderstood, despised minority surrounded by a society that's indifferent at best and hostile at worst to the Lord whom we trust and serve. I have good news for you. This is not the first time this has happened. I know that sounds like cold comfort, but think about first century Philippi now. The church in Philippi is founded in a city, as I said, in the northern part of Greece, but it was a city that loved the city of Rome. In fact, Philippi was a Roman colony which had little different associations than when we think of the British Empire once upon a time with its colonies. To be a colony city meant that every true citizen of Philippi, which didn't mean it was every resident, but everyone who was a citizen of Philippi had the status and the standing of being a citizen of Rome, the capital city in Italy as well. And that had some special perks to it. Among the perks were exemption from taxation. Doesn't that appeal to you? Any American citizens here? A few perhaps? Wouldn't that be nice to be exempted from taxation? If you were a Roman citizen, no taxes for you. Everybody else had to pay taxes, but not you. Roman citizens also had access to due process in the Roman law courts. And the Philippians were pretty proud of their Roman citizenship. It had been conferred by Octavian and Mark Antony. Octavian would become Caesar Augustus. As the Republic was just morphing into the empire, it was a great and privileged city. They even used Latin in that Greek-speaking territory because they were so proud of it. They even copied their buildings, half of the buildings in Rome, in Italy. And they worshipped departed deceased emperors. They had a great temple to Caesar Augustus and Empress Livia, his empress. And recently, they had completed, when Paul and Silas reached Philippi, we read about that in Acts 16, but recently, as far as we can tell the dating, They had just completed a shrine to the divine Claudius, who was the predecessor of Nero, now on the throne. And along with worshipping Rome's departed emperors, the Philippians worshipped Greek gods, Asian gods, local Macedonian gods. They worshipped almost every god except the true and living god. When Paul and Silas got there, there was no synagogue. It was a barren field full of all kinds of religious weeds, but not even the first plow of the biblical faith had been ever put into Philippi. They found a group of women praying by the river outside the city gate, and that became the nucleus of the church. But this is a culture and a city that was quite hostile to the gospel. So when Paul says here in Philippians 1.30, You saw I had struggle. The Philippians sitting in the congregation would have thought back, at least a few of them perhaps. Maybe the jailer who threw Paul and Silas into the jail on the orders from the city magistrates without even washing their wounds. Maybe the jailer and his family who had come to faith that earth-shaking night was now sitting there and saying, yes, I saw your struggle. I did indeed. Maybe Lydia, That businesswoman from Thyatira was still sitting in the congregation. They saw struggle. And now Paul writes to them, as we see in verse 28, and he says, you're going through struggle as well. You have opponents that are still opposing the gospel. And you're sharing, as he says in verse 30, you're sharing in the sufferings that I have. We don't know what that suffering was exactly. He compares their sufferings to his. I think it's probably safe to say that they were going through some sort of hardship or harassment that is more severe than the mild ways typically that we experience some marginalizing in America today, probably more akin to the kinds of oppression that is endured today by believers in North Africa or South Asia or the Middle East or Southeast Asia. But they were going through problems, troubles, because they belonged to Christ. They had opponents, Paul says. Now, when the world's against you, and you're a small group, there are several different ways that we might respond to that. Sometimes when people are backed into the corner as a little minority, they tend to react by getting feisty, by lashing out like a cornered coyote. Or they may get timid and kind of pull back into their shells like a turtle. Or they may get sneaky and try to blend in like a chameleon. Or they may do a combination of things, timid toward the outside but turning on each other in frustration because you don't dare to oppose your opponents. So you attack one another. And some of those things may have been going on in the church at Philippi. Paul warns them about selfishness, self-centeredness, rivalry, competition. But he also calls them to courage, not to hold back. He calls them to a very rare combination. Courageous humility. Sometimes we can be courageous and abrasive. Sometimes we can be humble but timid. sometimes we can be timid toward people outside and kind of harsh toward one another. But Paul says to the Philippians, he says to us too, the Spirit says to us, what I want is courage and compassionate humility. And that's what he's calling them to. And he says this befits your standing as citizens of heaven. Now if you're looking at your text, you're saying, where in the world is the word citizen? And that's a good question. If you're reading the NIV, you won't find it. Some of you are reading the ESV. I'm told the Bibles are on their way. It says so in the bulletin. You won't find it in the ESV either. It's there in that word, verse 27, conduct yourselves. Behind that word is a word that Paul uses there that is really hard to translate in one English word. It has actually the word politics embedded in it. It's polituo. A Greek city was a polis. We engage in politics. This is a word that had that built into it. Only time that Paul ever uses this term in any of his letters. Typically, when he talks about the pattern of behavior that befits who we are in Christ, he uses the Old Testament metaphor, the picture of walking. Walk in a way that is worthy. Here he uses this odd word, unusual word, rare word, Act of citizens in a way that's worthy of the gospel. Why? Because the Philippians were attuned to citizenship. In the third chapter, Paul is going to remind us where our citizenship is. We'll get there in a moment. But they knew citizenship. So he's using this picture that they knew very well from their sense of a privileged city. Not all probably the members of the church were citizens of Philippi, but they knew what it meant. if you're a citizen of Philippi, if you have those civil rights, then you have civil rights in Rome itself. But he gives us another picture also. And it's the picture of soldiering. It's a military picture. And you see that in such expressions in verse 27 toward the end of the verse as standing firm in one's spirit and contending as one man for the faith of the gospel. So appropriate that we sang at the beginning of the service in the grace of Christ, I stand. And we heard that again as we were giving our offerings. That stand firm calling is soldiering language. Paul issues it again in the fourth chapter, in the first verse. stand as soldiers, battle together as one man for the sake of the gospel. That would resonate with the Philippians as well, actually, because Philippi was a big military town. Like San Diego is a Navy town, and we've got Marines, of course, at Pendleton. Well, Philippi was a town that had a lot of retired veterans in it, and both active duty and retired from the Roman legions, and soldiers would resonate with that term, that military terminology. So if you said citizen in Philippi, a lot of people would stand up tall. You'd see their chests kind of swell a bit. We're citizens, not just Philippi. We're citizens of Rome because we're citizens of Philippi. Say soldier, and some of them would stand even a little bit straighter, recalling some of the battles and the courage of the past. I read this and I think of a video that came out just a few years ago, 2008 now, almost four years ago, in view of our recent military activity and the Allies' military activities in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Recruiting video came out from a rock group, three doors down, entitled Citizen Soldier. You may have seen it on TV or elsewhere. with the video images. It's recruiting for the U.S. National Guard, actually. And the lyrics talk about those who are citizens living in ordinary life and regular pursuits, but also serving their country and serving elsewhere, starting with the Minutemen in Lexington and going right up to the present wars and disaster release efforts around the world. It's that combination, citizen-soldier, that that video has. that Paul's presenting here to the Philippians. He says, you're citizens, and that entails privileges, but also responsibility. Now, I said that Paul is thinking not of citizenship, first of all, in Rome. He's just using that as an illustration. He's really saying to the Philippians, whether you are a citizen of your city on this earth, which would make you a citizen of Rome, or not, if you belong to Jesus, You are a citizen of a much greater city. And so he uses a term related to the term we have here over in the third chapter, verse 20, where he says, Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our citizenship is in heaven because our Savior is there, because our King is there. Our identity is defined by that city in which we have not put a foot and yet we belong there. Just as belonging to the citizenry of Philippi meant you were a citizen in Rome, even if you'd never set foot in the capital hundreds of miles to the west, still you had those privileges. Paul says you haven't reached heaven yet, but that's where you really belong. Heaven is the place that defines who you are because Christ is there and you belong to him. He is your head. As the Heidelberg Catechism says under Lord's Day 19, answer 50, the creed, when it says that Christ sits at the right hand of God, teaches us that Christ ascended into heaven there to show that he is the head of his church and that the Father rules all things through him. Christ ascended to heaven as the head of his church, which means that we're connected to heaven because Christ, our head, is already there. So Paul's, in effect, saying to his Christian friends at Philippi and to us, some of you may have felt some patriotic pride in your status of citizenship in an earthly kingdom, but let me tell you, you have a much greater citizenship bestowed by grace because Christ has entered on your behalf into heaven because he's the ruler of the whole universe and thrown there and he's your head. So conduct yourselves in an appropriate way. Now what is that appropriate way? He says conduct yourselves in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ. He's going to unpack that in the soldiering imagery. And he's calling soldiers who are citizens to stick together through selfless humility, but also through courageous confidence. So he calls them to stand, he calls us to stand arm in arm in solidarity through selfless humility. You see the emphasis on unity here toward the end of verse 28 in particular. I want to know that you stand firm in one spirit contending as one man for the faith of the gospel. Many of our English versions, including the one we're using tonight and the one you'll get soon, don't capitalize that word spirit. I think they should, actually. They may take it to mean just sort of esprit de corps, loyalty, have the same mindset. But when Paul uses the term one spirit, as he does over in Ephesians a couple of times and once in 1 Corinthians. Every time he uses one Spirit, in effect, he's using it with a capital S. It's a reference to the Holy Spirit. Stand in the one Holy Spirit. And actually, just a few verses later, in chapter 2, verse 1, he's going to talk about our fellowship with the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit unites us, then we can also contend as one man for the faith of the Gospel. Paul's presenting a picture that, again, some of those retired soldiers, maybe the jailer was a retired soldier, we're not sure, but he could have been, would have thought of the advancing Roman legionnaires with their long shields forming a seamless wall in front of them and a seamless roof over their head against all the arrows of the enemy. Paul says, stick together, hold together in unity. And in the text beyond our text, He's going to unpack how that works. How do you stay together? How do you stand as one man? Well, it's by resisting our natural temptation to become self-centered. Our natural temptation to concern ourselves only with our own problems. You see that in verses 3 and 4 of chapter 2. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Unity is maintained by a humility that is more concerned for others than it is for ourselves. Isn't that what Paul showed us in the text just before? If Paul were going to make a choice between life and death for himself, he would choose quick martyrdom that would bring him into the presence of Christ. But Paul's choice is to stay in this sin cursed world this sadness filled world for the sake of others so he's modeling that and now he's calling us to that kind of unity not competing as rivals not withdrawing into our own little pity parties but more concern for others needs than we are for our own and that's Paul's calling to us that's hard isn't it that's difficult It's not the way we're wired to be in the midst of pressure, in the midst of troubles, to be more concerned about others than we are for ourselves. Where do we get that heart-changing power that will turn our hearts inside out rather than leaving us sort of bent in on ourselves? Well, Paul tells us where. He tells us by speaking of the Gospel. Actually, twice in verse 27, right? Conduct yourselves as citizens. Whether I live or die, whatever happens, conduct yourselves as citizens in a way that's worthy of the gospel of Christ. Stand as one man for the faith of the gospel. See, Paul focuses on the gospel. Now, in the next couple chapters, I'd love to preach the whole book tonight, but we have to get home before midnight. In the next couple chapters, Paul is just going to gradually remind us of the Gospel. In the second chapter, he'll speak of the ultimate model of selfless humility and compassion. Of Christ Himself, who though He is in very nature God, became our human brother. Took the calling and the role of a slave. Became obedient even to the death of the cross. And then was exalted by the Father. In the following chapter, in the third chapter, He's going to point out that because of what Christ has done for us in his suffering, in his obedience, in his exaltation, our joy, Paul's joy, again he's setting the model for us, is to throw away all those things that we might have otherwise trusted in, all of our credentials, all of our achievements, all of our accomplishments, all of our good intentions, regard it all as garbage, and savor the one treasure, the righteousness that is God's gift because we're found in Christ. So he's talking about the Gospel. He's leading them to the Gospel. And he says that's what's going to change your hearts. It's knowing how greatly Christ has loved you in such a costly way that will transform your hearts and turn you inside out so that you will stand together in selfless humility. And it's also the Gospel that strengthens us to stand when the opposition comes from outside. Not only to care for one another, but also as we are faced by opponents. As Paul says, you have opponents. Those opponents, as he says in verse 28, might frighten you. Interesting word he uses there. It's not the normal word he uses for fear elsewhere in his writings. It's a word that describes a kind of a scene of out-of-control terror. Spooked horses stampeding heedlessly. An army breaking ranks and fleeing pell-mell in retreat. Paul says, not you, because you belong to Christ. Don't let the opponents make you run in terror away because you belong to Christ. You don't need to be afraid of them. You don't need to fear them. Again, we face mild, mild opposition. On the whole, I suppose, I put in my text that we're all wimps, but I'll speak for myself and not you, okay? Complain about little things, little slights that come to the church from those who think that they're more sophisticated. As we keep being reminded by the news, there are far greater sufferings endured by brothers and sisters around the world even today. But Paul's point is that we find courage to endure whatever comes our way. It may not be loss of life. It may not be loss of freedom. It might be loss of income. It might be loss of reputation. Whatever comes our way because we belong to Christ, we find courage in the reality that by grace We are citizens of heaven through the death and the resurrection of Christ. Our great champion, Jesus, is already on the throne of heaven as the catechism goes on to talk about how his ascension, how his heavenly session at the Father's right hand benefits us today. First, through his Holy Spirit, he pours out his gifts from heaven upon us, his members. And second, by his power, he defends us and keeps us safe from all enemies. He defends us and keeps us safe from all enemies. The Philippians had enemies. Believers around the world have enemies. You and I have enemies. They may not express it in violent, physical ways, but we have enemies. Jesus keeps us safe. Now, that's not a promise to say there aren't martyrs in the world. Paul himself knew the prospect of possible execution. That's not to say that people are not imprisoned or beaten for their faith or fired from a job or passed over for a promotion or ridiculed on campus. What it does mean is that the worst that the gospel's enemies can do to us can never separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In that sense, our Savior defends us. He defends us from all enemies. And when he returns, as Paul says also in Philippians 3, he will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious bodies. Even though it may seem now that the church's opponents have the upper hand, Paul says in our text here that their very opposition to us is a sign that God is going to rescue us ultimately and completely from all the sorrow and suffering of this world and at the same time God is going to bring them to their day of reckoning. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed but that you will be saved and that by God. The second coming of Christ is our great hope. As the catechism reminds us, That great comfort that we receive from the second coming is that in all my distress and persecution, I turn my eyes to the heavens and confidently await, that's Philippians 3 language, confidently await as judge, the very one who has already stood trial in my place before God and so has removed the whole curse from me, All his enemies and mine he will condemn to everlasting punishment. This is exactly what Paul's talking about in our text. That day is coming when Christ will avenge the blood of his martyrs. All his enemies and mine he will condemn to everlasting punishment. But me and all his chosen ones he will take along with him into the joy and the glory of heaven. You will be saved, the apostle says. And that from God. Now that hope, that encouragement, gives us great comfort. But it shouldn't make us smug. Remember what Paul says. That from God. It's God's gift. It's not your achievement. It reminds us that our eventual victory is not something we can take any credit for. Paul had said earlier to the Philippians, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion in the day of Jesus Christ. He wrote to Titus, Remember that at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating each other. But God, because of his great mercy, came to rescue us. Therefore we must be peaceable and considerate, showing true humility to all men. Even to those who are aggressively opposing the gospel or arrogantly marginalizing the church. The rage of the gospel's enemies makes them people heading for eternal destruction, but there's still time in the patience of God for rescue. Even for one like Saul of Tarsus, who's been rescued by grace when he was opposing Jesus' people and now writes as one who has received such amazing grace. And that's where Paul leads us at the end of our text, to two gifts of grace. He really unpacks what he means by that little phrase at the end of 28, that by God, by saying, God has granted you two wonderful gifts of grace, faith and suffering. Faith and suffering. To you it has been granted on behalf of Christ. Not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him. Faith is God's gift. You have not come to faith in Jesus because you're so intelligent, because you're so holy, because you're so righteous, because your parents did a good job of raising you. No, you've come to faith ultimately. God may use those means of your parents' nurture and the faithful preaching of the Word, but you've come to faith by grace. It is His gift. To enable you to stop resting in your own righteousness and to rest and trust in Christ alone. To rest in that one who loved us and gave himself for us. We've looked at the Heidelberg Catechism appropriately here. The Westminster Confession also has a good word for us, summarizing the teaching of scripture. What is faith? It says, the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life. That's faith. Do you have that faith this evening, trusting in Christ? It's God's gift. Turn to Him. And if you turn, it will be that He is turning you to faith. It is, as Paul says to the Ephesians, even that salvation that you receive by faith is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. A wonderful gift of grace. But did you notice Paul's emphasis is really on the second gift? Not only, but also, well, of course it's faith. God gives faith. We give great gratitude to God for that. But Paul says it's not only that. Here's another good gift. Suffering for Jesus' sake. Suffering. That takes us aback. It's humbling, but it is heartening to be told that our faith is not our independent contribution to our salvation. It's God's gift. That encourages us. Gives us assurance. Evokes our love and our astonishment and our thanks. But is suffering God's gift? Paul says it. It's given by God. The whip's lash, shackles on his ankles, shipwreck, exposure, hunger, the thread of the sword, depending on how Caesar decides to go, how Jesus decides that Caesar will decide, as we saw this morning. That's a gift of God's grace? Paul says, yes, it is. It's God's grace that gives us suffering because it gives us opportunities to find His strength made perfect in our weakness. Opportunities to bring Christ glory, whether by life or by death. Because the grace of Christ has dealt with the great issue of my relationship to God. He set us free from the fear of death. Though death remains the last enemy until Christ comes back in the resurrection, then it will be eliminated. But death's sting has already been removed. nullified when Christ died for us on the cross. Death can do no more now than, as Paul has said, reunite believers with our Savior to depart and be with Christ better by far. And the gospel of God's grace sets us free from the fear of what people think of us. That may be what the Philippians are experiencing here when he says, don't be terrified by your opponents. It may not be physical violence, but the fear of people disapproving, scorning us. Remember, the gospel tells us that the one whose opinion counts, God the judge of all, has already condemned Jesus in our place and vindicated us for the sake of Jesus' righteousness credited to us. That's why Paul says in the third chapter, his longing is to be robed in the righteousness of Christ, not anything of his own doing. So the very grace that silences our fears shatters our pride. It dispels our competitiveness toward one another, our impatience with our fellow soldiers. It teaches us to stand in solidarity together. when we're marginalized by society it may be mild in our experience more severe in Paul's and the Philippians and others we may be tempted to retreat in fear or lash out in retaliation or vent our frustration on each other but Jesus has shown us the better way confidence grounded in God's grace confidence that frees us to face our opponents with courage not with anger and hostility but with courage not intimidated and to bear with each other in our failures in our sins with humility and forgiveness to behave in ways that befit our calling as citizens of heaven and even to invite the very people who oppose us whether harshly or subtly invite them, too, to turn now and share with us in humility, repentance, and faith the gifts of the King's grace to join us in believing in Him and in suffering for His sake. Let us pray. Our God and our Father, we bow before you this evening. We know that all your people throughout the world on this earth are the church militant. Certainly, Satan and his hosts are arrayed against us, but also the world and the culture around us in various ways exerts its pressure. And we ask you for the humility and the courage that comes from the gospel as we realize what Jesus has done for us to transform us more and more into His image so that we react to one another not with self-centered, self-pity or competition but with compassion for one another and we even react to our opponents with calm courage and the patient invitation to them to bow the knee to King Jesus who is at your right hand, ruling in heaven and will return in power and great glory at the end of history. Father, give us the grace to be faithful citizen soldiers of heaven. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.