Fighting for Joy, Growing in Humility, Knowing Christ and the Peace that Passes Understanding: A Study of Philippians (13): Living In a Manner Worthy of the Gospel (2)


Sermon by J. Ligon Duncan on August 5, 2007 Philippians 1:27-28

Download Audio

The Lord’s Day
Morning

August 5, 2007

Philippians 1:27-28

“Living In a Manner Worthy of the Gospel (2)”

Dr. J. Ligon
Duncan III

Amen. If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with
me to Philippians, chapter one, as we continue to work our way through this
great letter of the Apostle Paul. The last time we were together in this book, a
couple of weeks ago, we were looking at verses 27-28. That’s where we’re going
to be today. In fact, the last time we were together, we didn’t get past the
first phrase in verse 27…and today we’re not going to get past the first phrase
of 27! The last time we were together, all we did was try and spell out the
meaning of the Apostle Paul’s exhortation when he said, “Only conduct yourselves
in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” And what we said when we were
together was that Paul’s big point is that he wants the Philippians to live
lives that fit the gospel, lives which are befitting of the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, lives that are consistent with the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, lives that adorn our profession of the gospel so that we do not appear
to be hypocrites to the world around us, but indeed are those who have been
transformed by the grace of Christ. In short, the Apostle Paul is calling on the
Philippians, and on you and me, to live lives worthy of the gospel.

One modern paraphrase of this verse puts it this way:

“Live in such a way that you are a credit to
the message of Christ.”

Now, when we were together the last time, we said the
minute that that thought hits home to us that what Paul is actually exhorting us
to do here is to live up to the gospel, to live lives that are consistent with
the glorious grace of God in the gospel, which is the greatest story in all the
world….it’s the greatest act of redemption…it’s the greatest manifestation of
grace and mercy… the minute that he tells us to live lives that are a credit to
that, lives that are consistent with that, lives that live up to that, lives
that are worthy of that, we ought to be on our knees…on our knees begging God
for help and grace to do that, because “who is sufficient to these things?” And
indeed, Paul’s encouragement (and we saw him give two encouragements even in the
exhortation) help us somewhat in understanding that the grace of God given to us
in Christ Jesus equips us to respond dependent upon His grace to this
exhortation.

We saw it in two parts. If you’ll remember, we said
the first part of this exhortation is that we needed to live as citizens of a
different kingdom — a new kingdom, a heavenly kingdom, the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now again, if you’re looking at your pew Bibles or if you’re
looking at your own translation, chances are when you see words like conduct
yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel
, you’re wondering (legitimately),
“What do you mean, live as a citizen of the kingdom? I don’t see anything about
citizenship. I don’t see anything about a kingdom there.” That’s a good
question. I’m going to remind you again of the answer that we gave to that
question today.

But the second part of Paul’s message in that phrase
is that we are to live in a manner which is consistent with (or in a manner
which is worthy of) the gospel. And we said that both of those things, realizing
that we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom and realizing that we are the
undeserving but overjoyed recipients of an undeserved but overwhelming mercy in
the gospel of Jesus Christ, has a controlling motivation on our life, and helps
us to respond to this great challenge. So what we’re going to do today is come
right back to that phrase, simply with a view to applying it.

Let’s look to God in prayer before we read His word.

Lord, this is Your word. Your word is truth, and
Your word is meant for sanctification; that is, Your word is meant to make us
more like Christ, to make us to live more in accordance with Your eternal
character and duty, to make us to be more like the image of God that You created
us to be, to make us more like that which Christ exhorted His disciples to be.
And so we ask for Your Holy Spirit, that we would have a desire to be like
Christ, that we would grow in that desire to be like Christ, and that we would
grow in the Christ-likeness that we desire. We ask that the Spirit would cause
the word to so shine in our hearts that we would be both convicted and
encouraged and exhorted by these words, which are not merely the Apostle Paul’s
words or the church’s words, but God’s words. This we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hear the word of the living God:

“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that
whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are
standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of
the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents–which is a sign of destruction
for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.”

Amen. And thus ends this reading of God’s holy, inspired,
and inerrant word. May He write its eternal truth upon our hearts.

There are two things that the Apostle Paul wants
the Philippians and you and me to get from this one-phrase exhortation: “Only
conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ….” He wants us to
see that we are to live as citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and second, that we
are to live in consistency with the gospel. And I want to look at those two
things with you today as we seek to apply God’s word.

I. Live as citizens of heaven.

When Paul says, “Conduct yourselves in a manner
worthy of the gospel of Christ,” he is actually bringing to the Philippians’
minds the category of citizenship. You say, “How do you get citizenship out of
Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy?” Well, because as we noted the
last time we were together, the term that Paul uses when he uses that verb
conduct yourself
is a term that would have been commonly used in social or
communal or political discourse in Rome and in Philippi. Philippi was a Roman
colony, and the term conduct yourself was the normal term that would have
been used when a civil leader or an upstanding elder in the community or state
would have said to the rest of people in the Philippian colony, “Act like good
Romans. Be good Roman citizens. Remember that you’re a citizen of Rome, and act
accordingly. Realize your privileges and your responsibilities.” And the Apostle
Paul is apparently deliberately using this terminology because the Philippians
were Romans. They were a Roman colony, and they were proud of it, but he wants
them to remember that they are actually citizens of a greater state and empire
than Rome. They have by grace become citizens of the kingdom of heaven and they
should conduct their lives accordingly, and so he says continue to exercise your
citizenship in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

As we said the last time we were looking at this
passage, Moises Silva translates this phrase, “What really matters is that you
behave as citizens of heaven.” In other words, Paul is saying to the Philippians
(and of course it applies directly to us) this: “You are Roman citizens,” he’s
saying to the Philippians, “and you’re proud of it. You recognize that you have
privileges that few in this world have. But you also have responsibilities, and
those responsibilities are very important. The future of this state depends upon
it. Remember, then, Philippian Christians, that as believers you have a higher
citizenship even than the citizenship that you hold from Rome. You are citizens
of the kingdom of heaven, and you have the greatest privileges and
responsibilities in the world.”

And you see how that directly applies to us. We have
the privilege of living in what is surely the most prosperous nation that has
ever lived on earth, a nation that has enjoyed unparalleled freedom and
privileges, and that brings with it responsibilities. For instance, on Tuesday
you’ll have the opportunity to exercise one of your very important
responsibilities as a citizen of the County of Hinds, or Madison, or Rankin, or
wherever you’re from…Simpson, or Warren, or somewhere else. And as a citizen of
the State of Mississippi and as a citizen of the United States, you will be able
to vote in an election for elected officials. The Apostle Paul is reminding us
that we may have great privileges as American citizens, as residents of the
State of Mississippi, as citizens who are a part of this community, but that we
in fact are at the same time citizens of a greater kingdom — a heavenly kingdom
— and it is from that kingdom that we ought to get our marching orders.

However appropriately involved we are in the life of
this community, and as Christians we should be; however devoted we are to the
general welfare of this whole community and state and nation, and we ought to
be, as Christians; however ready we are to lay down our lives to protect the
freedoms of others who are fellow citizens in this land, and we ought to be, we
must also remember that as Christians we are citizens of a greater kingdom, a
heavenly kingdom, a kingdom that’s never going to pass away. And so the Apostle
Paul is saying that in all our dealings public and private, personal and social,
we are to manifest a realization that we are not ultimately simply citizens of
this earthly city; we are citizens of a heavenly city, and therefore we have a
different set of standards, we have a different expectation of conduct and of
desires that are placed upon us by a different king in a higher and an
everlasting kingdom. And the Apostle Paul wants that to come home with a
dramatic impact upon us.

Think of it. Whatever your theory is about the fall
of Rome, certainly one of the aspects of the fall of Rome has to have been a
major contributing factor was the loss of the sense of responsibility on the
part of the Roman citizens. They got to the point where they would hire people
to go fight their wars for them. They didn’t realize the privileges that were
theirs as Romans, and it’s not surprising that not long after that that they
lost the privileges and the empire crumbled.

Well, as Christians there is also a threat. There
is a threat to our well-being.
Ultimately, not to God’s plan, not to God’s
church, because the church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord, and the
gates of hell will not prevail against it, but there is always a challenge for
us: will we live in such a way which is consistent with being citizens of this
heavenly kingdom, or will we be conformed to the world around us? And that
challenge is before us at all times. And the Apostle Paul is reminding us here
that we as Christians have a permanent responsibility to a joint struggle that
produces unanimity in the body of believers as we together struggle against the
world, the flesh, and the devil, and seek to walk in accordance with the gospel
of grace. The world is not walking in accordance with the gospel of grace. The
world is not part of the kingdom of the gospel of Christ. But we as Christians
are to be citizens of that kingdom and live in a way that is consistent with
citizenship in that kingdom. And when we do not, our unity, our growth, and our
witness are at stake. So the Apostle Paul is urging us to realize that because
we’re citizens of the heavenly kingdom we’re supposed to be different from the
world around us. That difference produces in us a unity in our difference, which
in and of itself shows our difference to the world and bears witness to the
gospel. So the Apostle Paul is calling us to recognition that we have as
believers a permanent responsibility, a permanent obligation to march to the
beat of a different drum.

Now, my friends, that call to us as believers is
pervasive. From the time that you make your profession of faith at First
Presbyterian Church (however old or young you are) until the time that the Lord
calls you home, if you are a professing believer and a part of this fellowship
you are called to be different from the world…to live like a citizen of the
heavenly kingdom. And that difference begins even on the playground at recess
when you’re a child in school.

Young people, have you ever been on the playground at
recess and seen children doing things that their teacher, or their parents, or
even Mr. Herring might have told them not to do? And yet, because many young
people are doing them, you join in and do the same thing. Have you ever been
caught doing something that you shouldn’t have been doing…that your parents or
your teachers or Mr. Herring told you you shouldn’t do? And you’ve been called
to give an account: “Why were you doing that?” And have you ever said something
like this? “But everybody was doing it! They were doing it, too!” You know, I
used to try that on my parents when I was a boy. And my father had two things
that he would say to me when I said, “But Dad, everybody’s doing it!” One thing
he would say is this: “Son, if everybody was jumping off a cliff, would you go
jump off a cliff, too?” The other thing he would say is: “Son, you’re a Duncan,
and Duncan’s don’t do that.”

Well, this is what the Apostle Paul is exhorting you
— to live in light of the fact that you are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
Your name is Christian. If you are resting and trusting in Jesus Christ alone
for salvation, your name is Christian and you are a citizen of a heavenly
kingdom; and you are not to do things because everybody else is doing them. Now
we can laugh at that little playground illustration, and we can laugh at those
kinds of exchanges that we have with our children, but have you ever thought
about it? That fundamental exchange that starts — how young? — is actually a
battle that we continue to wage until we die, because what do we want to do? We
want to fit in, and we want to conform to the people around us. And when your
parents say, “No, we’re not going to do things in our family because other
people do them. We’re going to do things in our family because that’s what
Christ would want us to do, that’s what the Bible says we ought to do, that’s
what citizens of the kingdom of heaven ought to do,” they’re not just telling
you something that they’re taught in “Parent School.” They’re telling you
something that is part and parcel of the Christian life: We are to be different
from the world, because we’re in a different kingdom. We are citizens of a
permanent land that will never pass away, and we’re not to be like those who are
around us just to fit in with them…to give in with their wrong way of thinking,
to give in with their wrong way of living, to give in to the wrong actions that
they do. We are to be different.

And think of how this plays out in absolutely every
arena of life. Again, young people, what you do on Friday and Saturday nights is
a witness either to the fact that you are a citizen of a different kingdom, a
heavenly kingdom, or that you long to fit more into this world than you do to
enjoy your citizenship in the heavenly kingdom. When you are tempted to do
certain things and to go certain places that you know in the back of your mind
you ought not to do and you ought not to go, you are being confronted with this
very issue: Will I try and be a citizen of this world and be conformed to the
world, the flesh, and the devil? Or will I live as a citizen of the kingdom of
heaven? The Apostle Paul is exhorting us to live differently.

But again, this plays out in every area of life,
and the Apostle Paul knows that as a congregation we have to do this together,
and that not doing it together undermines our unity.
Think of this. If you
have people who are all part of one congregation, and that congregation is
called to be different from the world — not to buy into its ambitions, its
desires, its way of conduct, but to live as citizens of a heavenly kingdom — and
you have some in that congregation that are trying to do that and you have some
that are doing their best to try and fit in with the world, what’s going to
happen in that congregation? First of all, there’s going to be division. Second
of all, either the whole congregation is going to sink to the lowest common
denominator or there is going to be a final break as some attempt to be faithful
to the call to be citizens of a heavenly kingdom, and the others go merrily on
their way conforming themselves to the world around them.

My friends, that battle is with us 24/7, whether it’s
in the realm of sexual purity…whether you will be sexually faithful in your
marriage, whether you will be modest in the way you dress or in the way you
encourage your children to dress, whether you will be careful when you are alone
at your computer…that battle (will I conform to this world, or will I walk as a
citizen of the kingdom of heaven) is always with us. It can even come up when
we’re talking with friends over a cup of coffee, and the conversation turns to
gossip. Will we conform ourselves to the ways of this world in order to fit in,
or will we be different?

You remember the Apostle Paul addresses this with the
Corinthians. The Corinthians, when he The Apostle Paul is calling us to a
radical difference, but not so that we can cut off all interaction with the
world around us.
called them to be different from the world of Corinth
around them, accused him, ‘Well, you’re just telling us that we’ve got to leave
the world.’ And the Apostle Paul says, ‘Absolutely not. No, you’re to be right
there witnessing to them, but you’re to be different from them. You’re to know
them and love them and care about them, but you are not to conform your lives to
them.’

Friends, do you realize how different the call of
the kingdom of God is to our prevailing culture?
Even in this relatively
traditional part of the United States? Do you realize how many ungodly things
pervade our culture, and are part of what we think of as “normal”? Have you
started to look at the whole of your life, from the way you view money to the
things which are the priorities of your family’s existence, and ask the
question, “Am I being more conformed to the world around me, to the prevailing
norms of the community, or am I living as a citizen of the kingdom of heaven?”
The Apostle Paul is calling us to that kind of radical difference that’s part of
being a citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

II. Live in the light of the
gospel.

There’s another thing that the Apostle Paul says
here. He says that we’re to live in light of the gospel.
Notice his words:
“Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Do you know
what that reminds me of? It reminds me of Romans 12, when Paul is transitioning
from that glorious doctrinal section in the book of Romans, and then he’s
getting ready to exhort you to live as Christians. What does he say?

“Brothers, I implore you [I plead with you, I exhort you] in accordance with the
mercies of Christ that you will live in this way.”

And Paul’s doing the same thing here in Philippians
1:27. He’s calling you to live life in light of the gospel of Christ, and I
think that that means at least four things here. Let me spell those things
out using four words that begin with “U”: Undeserved mercy; Unwavering; Unity;
and, Unfrightened.
[OK, five words! But it’s one phrase and four words.]

Undeserved mercy: First of all, the Apostle Paul
is calling us here to remember that the gospel is not about what we have done.
It’s not about what we’ve earned. It’s not about what we’ve deserved. The
gospel is about what God has done for us in Jesus Christ that we would not and
could not do for ourselves. The gospel is about a gift given to us by God’s
grace at the cost of the death of His Son — a gift that we did not deserve, a
gift that we did not merit, a gift that we could never have earned or paid for.
And so if the gospel is about something that God has done for us that we
couldn’t do for ourselves, if it’s about a mercy given to us that we have not
deserved by our own deeds, then God’s grace and mercy must have a controlling
effect on our conduct. If God has been merciful to us in the gospel, we too must
become merciful persons.

You remember the story that Jesus told about the man
who owed an enormous amount of money to his master, and that master amazingly
forgave the debt that that man owed him. And yet, when a man owed that man who
had been forgiven the debt a comparatively tiny amount of money, the man was
unmerciful to him and refused to give him aid and relief in the face of his
request. Do you remember what Jesus said would happen to that man who was shown
great mercy, but who showed no mercy? He would be cast out into outer darkness.
So also the Apostle Paul is reminding us here that we are to live in light of
the gospel. God’s grace and mercy must have a controlling effect on our conduct.
If God has been merciful to us, it ought to show in the mercy that we manifest
in our lives.

Secondly, to live in a manner worthy of the gospel
of Christ means to live in unwavering commitment to the gospel of Christ.

The gospel is our only hope, and so the Apostle Paul makes it very clear in this
passage we are to cling with it with tenacity.

Look again at verse 27. He says that whether he comes
and sees them or whether he remains absent, he wants to hear something. What is
it that Paul wants to hear? “That you are standing firm in one spirit, with one
mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” The Apostle Paul wants to
hear that they are holding fast to the gospel, they are standing firm in the
gospel, and they are striving together for the faith of the gospel. That is, the
Apostle Paul wants to hear that they are absolutely unwilling to part with the
gospel or to see it compromised. In the context of this passage Paul is probably
warning the Philippians about those Judaisers who were attempting to compromise
the gospel of grace by saying that it’s Christ plus the traditions of Moses. And
in this passage the Apostle Paul is probably saying to the Philippians, ‘I want
to hear that when others come along and offer you a hybrid gospel, that you are
saying ‘No thanks, I gave at the office. I am not compromising the gospel of
grace. I am standing fast with it. I will not allow for any substitutes. I will
not go after any other opinion. I will stay with the pure gospel which Paul
faithfully preached to me in accordance with Jesus’ commands to Paul.’

And so also we, if we are going to live lives worthy
of the gospel, must know the gospel and care about it and cling tenaciously to
that gospel. And yet, my friends, all around us Christians today are having
things taught to them in churches (and especially through the radio and
television waves) which are not in accordance with the purity of the gospel
revealed in the word of God. Will you walk worthy of the gospel and say, ‘No,
thank you, I do not want a man-made substitute,’ and instead hold fast, stand
firm, strive together to cling to that gospel, knowing that it’s your only hope?
That’s what the Apostle Paul is calling you and me to do if we’re going to walk
worthy of the gospel.

Thirdly, notice Paul’s concern for unity. You
remember a couple of weeks ago I said that one of Paul’s themes in this larger
section was that gospel humility creates a gospel unity in a local congregation.
(Well, I’m still not going to get to that point yet!) But Paul is talking about
unity here, and here’s what he says. Notice again in the very phrase we just
read — whether he comes or not, he wants to hear what? That they are standing
firm — what? In one spirit, with one mind, striving together. It’s almost a
military picture, isn’t it, of soldiers shoulder to shoulder, arm to arm, all
going about the same thing, in lockstep with one another, faithfully,
steadfastly fulfilling their duty, a total unity of the whole body together
working for the gospel.

You see, the gospel has united us to one body, and
that one body has one struggle, one warfare against the world, the flesh, and
the devil and for gospel truth and blessing. And the Apostle Paul is saying ‘I
want to see unity manifested in that fight. I want to see a harmony in the
congregation because we are in this thing together, and it takes all of us in
order for all of us to stand in unity against the forces of the world, the
flesh, and the devil. And so the Apostle Paul is concerned that there would be a
united understanding in the congregation that we’re all in this together, we’ve
all got the same struggle. And every person has the opportunity either to
encourage the body with his desires, his thinking, his conduct, and his words,
or to break apart the unity of the body by desires, thinking, conduct, or words.

Finally, the Apostle Paul says, and he says this
especially in verse 28, that we’re to be unfrightened.
You remember the
Corinthians not only were going to face people coming in who claimed to know
more than the Apostle Paul about God’s word and God’s plan and God’s gospel [the
Judaisers, who were opposing him everywhere in Asia Minor], but they were
actually going to face Roman citizens who thought of Christians as being
atheists.

Now that’s strange, you may think. Romans were
polytheists. What in the world could they have called Christians atheists for?
Christians believed in God, and the Romans believed in lots of gods. Well, that
was why they called them atheists, because the Roman Christians didn’t believe
in the Roman gods. They believed in the one true God, and therefore the Romans
called them atheists because they didn’t believe in the pantheon of Rome. And so
they faced great opposition. The Philippians themselves would have faced great
pressures and eventually even persecution, especially in the time of Nero,
because of their standing firm in the gospel. They would have been viewed by the
prevailing culture as weird…as superstitious, as irreligious, as… not good
citizens! Because of what they believe and Who they professed, and because of
their embrace of the gospel. And the Apostle Paul is saying to them here ‘Don’t
be intimidated, don’t be daunted, don’t be surprised when you meet these kinds
of adversaries. Instead, be brave and courageous in the face of opposition.’
Listen to what he says (verse 28):

“…In no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them,
but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.”

In other words, when your opponents oppose you
because they oppose the gospel, when your opponents oppose you because they
reject the gospel of the grace of Christ, that is a sign of their ultimate
destruction, and it’s also a sign of your salvation because you are clinging to
the one hope that sinful men and women have — the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when they are fighting against that, they are showing their
rejection of the one hope that men and women have: the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so the Apostle Paul in this passage calls us to live like citizens
of a heavenly kingdom, and to live in accordance with the gospel of Christ. May
the Lord help us to do so.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your word. These
things, as hard as they are to say and to hear, are actually harder to do than
they are to say and hear. So by Your grace we ask that You would help us to live
up to Your word. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

[Congregational Hymn: Love
Divine, All Loves Excelling
]

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirits.
Amen.

This transcribed
message has been lightly edited and formatted for the web page. No attempt has
been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to
produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an
established style template.
Should there be questions regarding grammar or theological content, the
reader should presume any error to be with the transcriber/editor rather than
with the original speaker. For full copyright, reproduction and permissions
information, please visit the

FPC Website, Copyright, Reproduction & Permission
statement.

© 2024 First Presbyterian Church.

This transcribed message has been lightly edited and formatted for the Web site. No attempt has been made, however, to alter the basic extemporaneous delivery style, or to produce a grammatically accurate, publication-ready manuscript conforming to an established style template.

Should there be questions regarding grammar or theological content, the reader should presume any website error to be with the webmaster/transcriber/editor rather than with the original speaker. For full copyright, reproduction and permission information, please visit the First Presbyterian Church Copyright, Reproduction & Permission statement.

To view recordings of our entire services, visit our Facebook page.

caret-downclosedown-arrowenvelopefacebook-squarehamburgerinstagram-squarelinkedin-squarepausephoneplayprocesssearchtwitter-squarevimeo-square