Untitled Sermon

Turn to Philippians, if you would. Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians chapter 1. I'm going to begin reading at verse 21 through the end of the chapter. So follow along if you would. Philippians chapter 1, verse 21. Paul says, For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And 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 am torn between the two.

I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it's 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.

And 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. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved, and that by God. For it's 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.

Last week we began asking the question or talking about the area of being able to say to God whatever's necessary. Whatever's necessary, Lord, to do in my life, to bring glory to your name, to reach others, for your sake, do it. And in our study in Philippians, in chapter 1, we have progressed to this point, beginning with who we are and what we are and where we are, a bond slave of Christ, verse 1, set apart unto him, hagios, a saint in Christ. We've progressed to the point where we see Paul presenting to us the attitude of being able to say to God, whatever's necessary, whatever you have to do, Lord, do it in my life.

And last time we, in verses 22 through 26. We saw the first of two requirements, I guess you could say, or two things that we need to see before we can come to that point in our own lives of being able to say to the Lord, whatever's necessary, whatever you have to do. There are two needs that we have to recognize. The first need is found in verses 22 through 26, and it's the need to see that you need to remain here.

Let me say that again. It's the need to see that we need to remain here. You see? When you and I say to Jesus, whatever's necessary, Lord, do it. In our own minds, it's, you know, if you have to smite me, Lord, smite me. And that's good, because maybe you will. If I have to be hit by a bus, and there's no buses in Arc City, if I have to be, except the ones that travel through, you know, maybe one of those will get you.

Who knows? Whatever. We tend to think of the idea of being struck down, and maybe that will be necessary. And we'll talk about that today more than we did last time. But the first need is to see when you and I are in a situation where we need to be hit And when I say that to God, whatever's necessary for you to do, Lord, do it, that the first and primary and most likely thing He'll do is leave you here.

And you need to see that there's a need to remain here. And last time we saw in verses 22 through 26 that as a result of seeing that need, we understand that we are called to labor. Verse 22, Paul says, if I'm to go on living in the body, it will mean fruitful labor for me. You and I are called as laborers. We are not called as enjoyers. I mean, who can't enjoy the blessing of God when you're in relationship with Him?

But that's not why you're here. You and I are called to be laborers. We are co-laborers with Paul. We are laborers in the harvest. We've been sent out into the harvest fields to labor for Christ, to labor for the souls with the gospel, to bring people Jesus so they can see and believe and come to Christ. That's why we're here. We are laborers. We saw that last time.

And with Paul, as he said, he's been called to labor. He says, since, more or less, if I'm to go on living, in other words, if I'm still alive, then it's to labor. And so you and I see that. If we're still alive. If you're still alive. If you're still breathing. And if you're here, so far, you still are. I don't see anybody Christ out yet. Then you are to labor.

While you're here, that's your call. That's what you are to do, is to labor. Verse 21, it's based upon Paul's philosophy that for me to live, Christ. If I'm to live, Christ, to die again, I go to be with the Lord. But if I'm alive, since I'm alive, I am a laborer for Christ. And to die is left up to Him. It's His choice. Verses 22 and 23. You know, I'm in a straight between the two.

And we saw last time that meant I'm held together. I'm torn between it. I'm torn. I'm totally pressed together. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. But it's more necessary for you that I remain in the body. He gives God the choice. He doesn't take it upon Himself to say, it's time for me to die. The choice is left up to the Lord. While I'm here, since He's given me life, since I'm still breathing, I'm a laborer.

I'm to labor. That's my call. That's what brings glory to the Lord. And that's each and every one of us. So whatever you are, i.e., professional, housewife, mother, father, is secondary to the fact that you're a laborer for Christ. The primary reason. You are alive and breathing is that you are a laborer for Him. That's it. Period. Everything else is secondary.

Verses 24 through 26. Even though He says, my desire is to depart, to loosen up, to go be with the Lord. It's more necessary for you that I stay here. It's more necessary for those around you that you're here. That's why we come together in the body of Christ is to fellowship with one another, to worship God together, to hear His word. But there's a special moving of the Spirit that happens among us when we gather in His name.

As you interact with the people that come here, there's a change. There's a chance that you have an opportunity to encourage them, to help each one of us progress in joy in the faith, He says. You see, many people are here and they're in the bondage of sin or under the pressure of the circumstances of life. And they need that encouragement, which comes from the word of God taught and from the gifts of the people enacted.

See, the gifts are for one another. And so you are here to labor in the fields, to harvest souls, but to also encourage and exhort. And admonish and uphold and uplift one another. And so Paul says, it's more necessary for you that I remain here, talking to the church at Philippi. You need to see the need to remain, to labor for the Lord, to be an encouragement to those around you, to help them progress in the joy in the faith.

So it's necessary for us to learn so we can know more about Him, so we can encourage one another. You see, it's not just I'm needing to learn so I can build myself up so I'm not discouraged in circumstances. No. What I know about the Lord, I'll tell you, a way to get out of being discouraged in circumstances is to seek to encourage somebody else, seek to minister to somebody else.

As you have that and keep that focus in mind, you will progress in your joy in the faith. And that's what Paul saw as his calling. And that's what he's seeking to teach the church at Philippi. And that's what he's seeking to teach us as we read the word today. So whatever's necessary, Lord, first of all, you have to see the need to remain here. There's a need to remain here.

You're a laborer for Christ. Seeking to encourage, seeking to build up, seeking to bring in the harvest for the Lord. Secondly, the second thing we need to realize is that there's a need. If we're going to say whatever, whatever's necessary, Lord, in my life, there's a need. Now follow me on this one because this one's one that nobody likes. There's a need to face suffering and opposition.

There's a need for that. I don't like to hear that. I don't say that at my seeker services. At my seeker services, I seek to entertain the people. I seek to... I know there's non-believers out there who don't know the Lord or young Christians, and I don't want to scare them off. I mean, they've come to church, and I want to snag them for the Lord, of course.

So I present a big concert, an elaborate event to hopefully let them know that there can be fun in the Lord. And maybe when you came to Christ, that's how it was presented to you. Come to Jesus. You know, it's like Lotto America, you know, Powerball. You come to Jesus, you get the red ball. Everything's going to work out great. He's going to give you perfect health.

You're going to prosper as a result of coming to the Lord because of the faith that you can have in Christ. And too often, people, when they come to Christ, aren't presented with the fact that there's a need to face suffering and opposition. I don't know how many of you take the little daily breads that we have, but we... Let's see. I think it's June, July, and August, so the next one won't be out until the last week in August.

But we try to provide for you as a service, as a blessing to you, the little daily bread devotionals, which are just a little one-day reading. You know, you can read through the Bible. If you follow through the Bible in a year reading, it gives you a little verse and just a little reading. I mean, just a quickie, you know, if you want to have... Oh, I'm such a busy person and I don't have time to spend with the Lord.

You can get up and take and read this through in just a couple minutes and have spent some time in the Word. And this last week, on the 2nd of July, the title of that one was called The Mystery of Tragedy. And it really spoke to my heart because of where we are in our study of the book of Philippians. And specifically for this week's study on the need to see that we need to face opposition and suffering, or conflicts and suffering, however you want to say it.

Whatever the word translated can mean, either conflict, those who oppose you, those who... In verse 28, those who oppose you or those who bring conflict to you. And anyhow, it deals with that. And I just want to share this little story that they mentioned in here. W.A. Shelton, who is the former pastor of the First Methodist Church in Gadsden, Alabama, lost his wife, whom he dearly loved.

Yet he could honestly say to his friend, Denson Franklin, quote, I miss her greatly, but I'm on God's team, and he's the quarterback. He calls the plays, and I run where he tells me. He has called the play. I do not understand it, but I shall continue to play on his team. You see, it's not a complaining to God as to why did you do this, Lord? Or why is this something that had to come into my life?

It's an understanding that this was something that was necessary. You knew it was, Lord. You called the play. I go with it. And if I'm going to be able to say to God, whatever's necessary, Lord, you do it, then that's one of the two needs I need to see, is that there's a need for me to face conflict or opposition and suffering. And there's a purpose in that.

And when I come to Jesus and I give my life to him, yes, he is the answer to my life, but he doesn't remove me from the trial. He brings me through the trial. He doesn't remove the opposition from me. He brings me through. He brings me through that time of opposition. You see, there's a couple of things that I think in the lives of the church today that there's a failure in not teaching through the word.

If we don't teach through the word, but if we just teach our little pet doctrines, then we fail to get a respect for the strength of the enemy that we face. We fail to see and respect the strength of the enemy that we face. Now, I'm not giving glory to Satan in this. I'm just speaking a truth. You see, too often in the church today, we're hearing this attitude of victory over the enemy, and we have that.

I'm not belittling that at all. There's a victory over the enemy. You and I, through Jesus Christ, are victors over what Satan is and does. But there's a tendency today to think that as a believer, then I use this command of the word of God to just command the enemy. And I can command these things to leave. And I can command and demand health and prosperity.

And that those are mine because after all, by his stripes, we have been healed. And there's a failure to read that text in context and realize it is dealing specifically with a sin that has kept us in bondage and separated from God. And there's a real tendency to lose an understanding of the strength and respect the strength of the enemy. And then all of a sudden, we're out here doing these things that I don't see, the example in the word of God.

Oh, I see occasionally the disciples dealing with someone demon-possessed and commanding the spirit to come out. I don't see that as a norm. I mean, Paul knew that the girl that was harassing him was weird and demon-possessed. But it was after several days that the Lord spoke to his heart and had him command the demon to come out of her. So rather than that being a norm in the church, it is something that happens occasionally.

But today, you have the church running rampant, stomping on Satan and calling him down. When I see in Scripture when it says, James tells us to draw near to God and he will draw near to you and resist the devil and he will flee. And the idea of the word resist means in your drawing near to God, you will be resisting him by your drawing near to God. You'll be drawing near to the Lord and being obedient to God.

And as you are obedient to God, your obedience to the Lord is a resistance to the enemy and he will flee because Satan wants you to do the things that are contrary to what God wants you to do. So as you're drawing near to God, you're obedient to the Lord, you're resisting Satan by that and he'll flee. One of the things that the false teachers are bringing forth today as far as faith and our faith is to keep us from suffering and our faith is to cause us to have this victory over the enemy is that there's bringing railing accusations against the enemy. And you read in Jude verse 9 where Michael the archangel in disputing over the body of Moses didn't bring a railing accusation against Satan.

He didn't say, I bind you in the name of Jesus or get out of here, slew foot, you know. He said, the Lord rebuke you, the Lord rebuke you. And then in Jude right there in that section and also in 2 Peter, it gives one of the marks of the false teachers is that they have no respect for the heavenly authorities. They abuse or they falsely malign the heavenly realm, the heavenly authorities.

There's no understanding of the power of the enemy. And so we think in some way, we speak these commands that the enemy has to flee rather than just using the word of God as Jesus did, just the word of God. And so false teachers have tied in this area of suffering is if you're suffering, then it's number one, it's only from the enemy. And number two, it's a result of your lack of faith.

Because if you're really a strong believer, you won't suffer. You won't be sick and you'll continue to prosper. Well, I think Paul's teaching us here that if you're going to be able to rejoice in the Lord and say to God, whatever's necessary, Lord, whatever's necessary in my life, you do it, then you better understand the need to suffer. There's a need to suffer and a need to face opposition.

Or you're going to be caught up in a conflict one of these days. It's going to overwhelm you and you're going to be crying out to the Lord. You're going to be trying to pump up the faith muscle and you're going to be trying to draw on the faith. And it's just not going to be there. And the thing's still going to be there. And you're going to just wonder why.

And it's going to be a real struggle and it's going to be a real weakening of your walk. God prepared Paul that he would have to suffer. Paul is preparing us that there will be suffering. And it's nothing to glorify and it's nothing to demean. It's something just to realize. And that's all we're doing here is you realize it. You're prepared for it. And when it comes, you realize it's part of the cross.

It's part of the load you bear. Jesus didn't say, come to me, deny yourself, pick up your cross and you won't have any sufferings. And this cross is gold and it's nice and it's pretty. And you're going to have prosperity and health and everything else. No, he said, pick up the cross. The same kind of cross that I carried with the same kind of sufferings and the same kind of trials and follow me.

That's the cost of discipleship. That's the cost of following me. And if you don't understand it, then when it hits, you're going to be dismayed and discouraged and you're going to fall away. You're going to wilt when the pressure hits. So there's a need to see that there's a need for suffering and opposition. If you're going to say whatever's necessary to the Lord.

I want to show you this in two ways in these verses, verses 27 through 30. Two things that we have to realize. First, we have to realize a balance. And second, the benefit. There's a balance to be seen in this as well as a benefit. I'm not saying we just are saying, you know, come on, Lord, squash me like a bug. I want to suffer for Jesus. I'm not saying that at all.

That's masochism. That's sadistic. That's the opposite extreme. Just like Peter, when Jesus came and said, I'm going to wash your feet. And Peter said, no, all of me, Lord, wash all of me. And Jesus said, I don't need to do that. I just got to wash your feet. You've already been cleansed. But your feet are dirty. The same thing is saying, well, just squash me like a bug, Lord.

I need to suffer. Squash me like a bug. God says, no, I don't need to do that. There's a reason for what I'm doing. And so there's a balance that we have to see. Look at verse 27. Paul says, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. The word for conduct, conduct yourselves, is a word in the Greek from which we get our word, political.

And it doesn't mean that he wants you to be politically correct. Whatever happens, be politically correct. In a sense, he does. Because that word that we get the word political from means to be as a good citizen. So he's saying, whatever happens, be as a good citizen. Act like good citizens. Now, he's not meaning good citizens of Rome or good citizens of Israel.

He means good citizens of the kingdom of God. This place is not our home. So whatever happens, conduct yourselves. Act like good citizens of the kingdom of God. Act like good citizens of the kingdom to which you belong. So whatever happens, first of all, first of all, don't focus on the happening yet. Focus on how you're to act when whatever happens, happens.

Conduct yourselves. Act like good citizens of the kingdom of God in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. The word manner there means, it comes from a word meaning balance or having the weight of. In the marketplace in Paul's day, they bartered according to the weights of something. You know, this is worth so much of that. And so they would then get their old balance scales out and they'd put it out.

And when the scales balanced, they had a deal. That was a trade. This is so much of these and we trade for that. And so Paul is saying, whatever happens, live as good citizen. Conduct yourself in the balance worthy of Christ. Conduct yourself in the balance of however Christ would act. Conduct yourself in the balance of the gospel of Christ. In other words, whatever happens in those circumstances,

conduct, let your actions be balanced as the gospel is. Somebody reviles you, your tendencies want to just punch them out. Well, balance it. Whatever happens as a citizen of God with the gospel of Christ. Our lives have to be balanced. Make sure our conduct balances that of the gospel of Christ. He says, whatever happens, whatever happens, whether Paul gets to come to them or not.

He says, whether the circumstances work out like we want them to work out. Live your lives balanced. Live your lives balanced with the gospel of Christ. From the context here, it appears that Paul's referring to their attitude regarding the suffering. Because the Philippians are already going through a time of suffering. And especially the suffering at the hands of those who oppose the gospel.

Now in our country, we're not coming into much of that yet. We're coming into some. If you're in school and as a student you're taking a stand and you're carrying your Bible and you're praying and all, you're coming into some hassle and some opposition. If you are taking a stand for life, and you're a pro-life advocate and you're doing something other than saying you are, but you're involving yourself in the pro-life activities.

Or if you're involving yourself in the political scene, you're taking some flak. You are the far-right, extreme religious conservatives. Minority. Associated with militias and those who burn down buildings and all of that stuff. If you work in a factory and the general attitude of the factory is to just slow down, but you're working honestly with integrity and all of that stuff,

you're taking flak from those around you because you're working with integrity and honesty rather than conforming to the mindset of the world. And you're receiving some opposition there. But we receive very little opposition in this country to this point. The longer the Lord tarries, the longer we're here, we're going to face more. I'm convinced of it. We're being prepared for that.

But Paul says whatever happens, whatever happens, whether things seem to work out the way that we want them to or not, whatever happens, live your life. Product yourselves as citizens of the kingdom of God, balanced according to the gospel of Christ. Then he says in the last half of verse 27, Then whatever happens, then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence. Whether I come and see you or whether I only hear about you in my absence.

Paul wanted to go be with them because he knew it would benefit them. They wanted him to come because they knew they'd be benefited by his coming. But Paul said if you understand whatever is necessary, then you just need to conduct yourselves as good citizens of the kingdom of God, balanced with the gospel of Christ, then whatever happens. We've talked about this before, but there is a real tendency for us to have an idea of what a normal life is in our minds.

I mean, I think we all have that. And for most of us, we are living outside of that norm but struggling to make that norm. The norm is, especially as Americans, having a nice family with two point whatever kids and a nice house where everything works and having enough vehicles to get all of us around and having our kids enrolled in all the soccer and all the extra sports and the drama and the dancing and all the things that are necessary for our kids to have and working a satisfactory job that we enjoy that pays the wages that are necessary for us to have all of this stuff and to build up a retirement so that when we hit 60 or 65 or even 55, we can retire and enjoy vacationing in our condo down at the beach somewhere. That's normal.

And to whatever extent you think that that's normal, that's the extent to which you strive to make that happen, to make that a reality. Let me say something to you. That's bogus. That is bogus. If you're striving for that, that's bogus. And you will spend your life in frustration because there is no time at all in your life where all of those pieces are going to fit in that puzzle

the way you'd like for them to fit. And if that's your goal, if that's what you're struggling for, you are going to live in a constant state of despair because as soon as you get the house, something's going to start to go wrong with it. And as soon as you seek to have 2.3 kids, you can end up with 4.5 kids and you're not going to have enough funds for that and both mom and dad are going to have to go to work and sell one of the cars that they had that they desperately need for this and then one of the kids is going to play soccer and break his leg and he's going to be laid up in the hospital and you're going to keep thinking, well, as soon as I get this taken care of, then I can get to the point where I can start putting back for college.

And not that those things are wrong. Don't get me wrong.

It's not the hold of the harvest which is what you are called to do. This is as God blesses you, receive it from Him and say thank you Lord, bless you God, but my calling is to labor in the harvest, not to build a dream. Now they had a dream. Their dream was Paul needed to be there. This is a tough time. Paul needs to be here. He needs to help us. And Paul's saying no, you see,

you've got your eyes focused on the temporal. You need to get to the point that you can say, whatever is necessary, Lord. I can live as a citizen under You, to you balancing my life with the gospel of Christ because of what you've already done for me so that whether he comes or not, it's not going to make any difference. That's what Paul's saying here. Whether I come and see you or only hear about you, we've come so to depend on certain

things in this area of building the picture of normal. We come to depend on the temporal things, the house or the material things or the people. We come to depend upon spouses or kids. And see, I'm not saying don't get me wrong. Receive those with open hands from the Lord and say, thank you, God, but they are temporal. Thank you for my family. But sometimes somebody's going to

die, me or them. Sometimes somebody's going to go get married and they won't be here anymore. See, hold them with an open hand. Hold your job with an open hand. Hold this fellowship with an open hand. We get people coming out that come out from Costa Mesa, Mecca, you know, for Calvary Chapel. And they go, wow, it's just not like it. It was out there and I'm going to die. We have people that leave here and go to other places

and they say, I'm going to die. You got the same God we do. That's what Chuck always says. You got the same God I do. He'll do the same things for you that he's done for me. Look to him and not to me. See, they were looking to Paul. Paul was their strength. Paul was their spiritual tower. What in your life is that way? What's your strength? What's your tower of strength in your life right now?

Listen, if it's anything other than the Lord, it will crumble. If it's anything other than the Lord, there will be a time it won't be there. And it has to be so because otherwise you depend more upon it than upon the Lord. And Paul is letting the Philippians know whether I come to you or not is immaterial. If God decrees it, if he allows it, I'll be there. That's not the thing. The thing you

need to do is stand. And that's what he says in the very next verse. I will know that you stand firm or the last half of verse 27. I will know that you stand firm in one spirit. And that is in the present tense in the Greek, that you are standing firm. And that idea of to stand means not to change your position. You're not moving. It has a twofold meaning, really. It means that

you're not moving your position, but it also means that you're resisting something. To not change your position, but also that you're resisting, that you're standing firm. That's the idea of Ephesians chapter six and putting on the armor of God. You're not changing your position. In other words, you're not giving up ground to the enemy. What ground? Well, specifically,

number one, the ground of your own mind and your own attitude and your own actions in the world. You're not giving up that ground, but you're also resisting. You also realize there's an enemy there and you respect his strength and that he knows your buttons. He knows the ones to push. He knows your weaknesses. He knows how to use your strengths against you. And so you are resisting

him. You're standing against the opposition in the power of God. Paul says you need to do that, whether I'm there or not. That needs to be something that you do, whether I'm there or not, that you are standing firm in one spirit. That phrase in the Greek that's rendered in English in one spirit means in one soul or one mind. It's a single mindedness as opposed to a double mindedness that we read about in James. Double mindedness means

I trust you, Lord. I think, you know, I trust you, Lord, except in this. I trust you, Lord. I believe you, God, that you have all things in control, except this situation over here. I just don't see how you have that in control. That's double minded. When you're double, when you're double minded, you're unstable. Why? Because you're afraid to move your position. You're afraid to move your

You can't take a step because I think I trust God. No, I really don't. So you're stymied and the enemy has you. And a double minded man is unstable in all of his ways. But Paul says, whether I come or not, if you are being good citizens of the kingdom of God, standing in the balance of the gospel of Christ, responding in those situations, according to the gospel of Christ, and whether I

come or not, I can know that you are standing firm. You're standing and not moving. You're not giving up this position and you're resisting the opposition. You're single minded, knowing that God has a purpose. And that's what overrides you. Everything else is that God has a purpose. God is dealing in this. I will know that you stand firm in one spirit contending, he says, as one man for the faith of the gospel. That word contending

is a word from which we get our English word athlete or athletics. And it has to do with an idea of the athletes contending together in the games or in the contest. And specifically, it pictures the wrestling match. Now, the wrestling here is not the wrestling where, you know, freestyle or Greco, where they come out and grab each other or, you know, get down and all this stuff and throw each other on the ground. But when I was growing up, we had a plate of game

that we called Indian wrestling. And you'd draw a line and you'd put your feet up against each other's foot and you'd grab each, you know, you just opposite each other, you grab each other's arms like this. And then at go, your whole object was just to get them to move off the line. You know, get your opponent to move off the line first. You're standing there and you can move this foot,

but you can't move this one. And you push and there's a struggle in there and a strength. And you try and pull the guy this way and then pushing that way just to get his foot off the line. That's the idea of this. Contending for the faith doesn't mean we come out here and grab the enemy and we're going to wrestle him and throw him to the ground and stomp on his head. All he's wanting to do is to get you to take your foot off

the line. All he's wanting you to do is just to move your focus just off the line. That's it. He wins. If he gets your focus on building the norm, he's got you. If he gets your focus on measuring everything in life by the normal instead of by the word of God, he's got you. If he's got you so focused on the circumstances that you're in rather than on the Lord and his

purpose in that, that there's a need for me to face this opposition and this suffering, there's a need for that. I don't understand it, but like this pastor, God's the quarterback. He's called to play and I'm going to run with it. If he take your eyes off of that and onto the circumstances and you're considering yourself and you're seeking self-fulfillment and self-exaltation and being all that you can be, he's got you. You're off the line and we wrestle with that.

And Paul says, whether I come or not, I want to know that you're standing firm, that you're not giving ground, that you're conducting yourselves as good citizens of the kingdom of God, balancing the attacks of the enemy by the gospel of Jesus Christ, living in that balance, contending for the faith, wrestling as one man for the faith of the gospel. Without, he says, verse 28, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. Now, all of this is in regards to the opposition and suffering in context that he's talking about here. So there are those that are going to oppose you.

There's suffering that's coming, but I want you to live a balanced life. I want you to recognize that that's necessary, but don't just go overboard and say, beat me to a pulp, Lord, nor go overboard the other way and say, I'm not called to suffer. I'm not called to do this, but live the balanced life. Good citizens of the kingdom of God, balancing my actions according to the gospel of Christ, and now not being afraid, not being frightened, contending for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. Literally, that is rendered

not being scared in anything, and it has the idea of a horse that's skittish because of a trail that's unfamiliar or because of a wolf that may have come out in front of it, and it's skittish and it's jumping and it's backing up and it's going to bolt and take off in the other direction in just a minute. It's amazing in my own life how I can read this and I can teach it, and then I come out and I face something. And I have that tendency of the horse, I want to go somewhere else, you know? I want to get out of here. I don't want to have to face that. I don't want to have to go through that particular

thing. Those kind of times of facing opposition can tend to make you skittish, can tend to make you afraid. But if you know they're coming, if you know that they're necessary, and if you know that you've just been called to stand, be a good citizen of the kingdom of God, balancing everything out with the gospel of Christ, it's part of your walk. It's part of what's necessary. I can trust

you, Lord. It doesn't make any difference. I'm standing on what God's called me to do. Whether it's standing for pro-life, whether it's taking a stand in the government, despite all opposition, whether it's taking a stand at school, whether it's standing up to the teacher who's... My girls have been coming through some interesting classes at college, and they've been taking a stand, and it's in the face of some pretty heavy opposition.

But to do that, to know that it's coming, you don't have to be afraid. You don't have to be afraid of it. Without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. And look at what he says. This, when you stand that way, see, when you take a stand, when you're realizing that you are a laborer for Christ, and that's your primary calling, your primary responsibility, it's going to be

visible to those around you. When you take a stand that way, and you face some opposition, and you don't get skittish, but you just continue to stand on your faith, it scares those who are opposing you. They get nervous. They freak. That's when they start name-calling and doing all those things, because they're scared to death. You are a testimony to them, a sign to them of the

destruction that's coming. That's what it says here. Verse 28. You're frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed. You see, they're standing against the truth. They're standing against the gospel. And you don't win. They know you're right. Deep in their hearts, they know you're right. And when you do it gently, as a good citizen, they melt. And it's a sign to them of the destruction that's

coming as they continue to oppose and resist the truth of the gospel. But it's also a sign to you, it says, that you will be or are being saved. It's evidence or proof, of the fact that you're saved, because you are doing what God's called you to do. You're laboring for Him. You're taking the stand in the field that He's called you to do, realizing that there's a need to face opposition. Oh boy, that's the balance. Is there any benefit

to this? Absolutely. This is the benefit. This is exciting. Look at the benefit. Verses 29 and 30. And you need to realize the benefit. You need to realize the balance of this, and you need to realize the benefit. And this is the benefit. Verse 29.

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. Whoa, wait a minute. This is a benefit. Absolutely. Let's look at the words. Let's look at what he's saying. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ. The word for there in the Greek means specifically because. Here comes the reason for the conflict.

Here comes the reason for the opposition. Here comes the reason for the suffering. That's what that word means in context with what he's talking about here in this. Here comes the reason. For it has been granted unto you. That word granted literally comes from a word meaning grace. It's part of the word charis. I can't remember for sure what the word is. Echacharis. I can't remember. But it literally means graced. Graced. Let me read it in that

term then. For it was graced to you on behalf of Christ. It's been privileged to you. It's a gift to you. Here's the gift. The gift of grace. God's graced you with this. It's a privilege that Christ has given to you. What's the privilege? It's been graced unto you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him. Now, that's the point at which this gracing happens. Okay? Because or for. Here comes the reason why

all the opposition and all the suffering. For it has been graced to you, not only to believe on him. That's the point. It happens. If you're out here and you're an unbeliever today, let me tell you the truth. The moment you accept Christ, you receive the grace of God. The grace of God has been poured out for you. And that's exactly what you receive is God's grace. You have been forgiven based on the work of Christ on the

cross. And by his grace, he forgives you because you believe in what he's done. You have been graced to believe in him. But I'm not going to cut you short either. I'm not going to say things are going to go hunky-dory. I'm not going to say things are going to go hunky-dory. I'm not going to say things are going to go hunky-dory. Because at that point, you have also been graced, it says here,

to suffer for him. You see? That's part of the same grace. He is gracing you. He has gifted you with the grace of believing on Christ. But at the same point, at that very instant, you fall into the grace of being graced with suffering. Gifted with the suffering for him. God uses that to build maturity into your life. Graces you with it. That means he doesn't just dump on you. Suffering time

for Mark. No. He graces you with it. Just as he knew the grace and the gentleness that would be necessary to bring you to Christ. It's your loving kindness that leads us to repentance, O Lord, the Bible says. And he knew just the grace to pour out to bring you to him so that you could see that. He knows the same grace to grace you with the sufferings that are necessary to grow you up in

him, to bring maturity in him. You see, if you think about taking an eight-year-old and giving them control of the house, you run the home. It's scary. Why? Because they haven't learned what's necessary. They haven't matured to learn what's necessary to run a home. Well, do you mean they have to be more years older? No, that's not necessarily the truth either. They just, as they mature, maturity comes through suffering. You see, your trust in

the Lord, faith comes by hearing a message about Jesus Christ. Your trust in him grows as you experience that, as you experience the grace of the suffering that he brings. And you trust him through that. You see, you see, you mature. The grace grows as you experience the grace of the Lord. The grace comes in those times as a parent when you put your child on the gurney and they

wheel them through those doors into surgery and you can't go. And you have to trust them to the hands of the Lord. And there's a suffering that's there because, you know, they're going through a pain and you want to take that pain and you don't want them to have to experience that pain. And your heart is reaching out in anguish and you're just aching in that. And there's a suffering

because there's a growing that comes in the midst of that. Because at that point, you're trusting the Lord. It's beyond you. And God knew you needed that. Brought that into your life. He graced you with that. Something you can't understand. It's something only he knows. And you have to come to a point where you say in your life, whatever's necessary, God, whatever's necessary. Now, if you suffer for doing something stupid, Peter says,

that's dumb. You know, I mean, if you suffer for your own foolishness, that's that's stupid. I mean, that's just the consequence of sin. You do something dumb and foolish and it's sin. You reap the consequences. But if you suffer for doing good, if you're doing good and these things happen, if you're seeking the Lord and these things happen, the suffering comes. You realize

that that suffering is graced to you by God to mature you, to bring you along. And Paul says it's been graced to you not only to believe on Christ, but also to suffer for him since you were going through the same struggle. Same word used in verse 27, the same contending, the same wrestling, trying to get you off center, trying to get you off the line that you saw that I had. And now here that I still have verse 30, you see, love and suffering seem to be the two marks of a believer, not prosperity and healing. You go

through scripture, you find that the mark of the believer first is love. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples. If you have love one for another. And secondly, if any man comes after me, let him take up his cross and follow me. The world hated me. They'll hate you. The world despised me and persecuted me. They'll despise you and persecute you for the students, not greater

than the teacher, nor the servant than the master. So those two are the marks of discipleship. Love and the suffering. And he, and this is it. This is what he, but also suffer for him since you're going through the same struggle you saw that I had. You suffer for him. How do you do that? I mean, you think about that. His grace, you not only believe on him, but to suffer for him.

In Colossians, Paul talks about filling up the measure of suffering under the Lord. How, what's he talking about? You see, you and I will never, ever, ever be able to fully understand the suffering of Christ on the cross. We'll never, we'll never be able to fully understand what communion refers to, because there's a lot of things that we don't know. We don't know

there's no way you and I can understand what it would be like to have all the sins of the world placed upon us. I mean, any more sins than my own, and I'm dead already. I couldn't take even one more person's sins on myself. I'd be gone. The weight of that would kill me, let alone everybody. And then to have the entire wrath of God poured out on us for that, we'll never be able to

experience that. But again, this idea of suffering and maturing, God has granted us to be able to understand just a portion of that, just a portion of that as we suffer. You are suffering for him. You are experiencing just a taste of that kind of suffering, just a taste. Romans 8 tells us that if you do that, then you reign with him. See, that's part of the

conditions. Suffering with him, reign with him. It goes with the territory. And if you know that, then when it happens, and you know that he's working through that, it does not overwhelm you. It doesn't move you off center. Paul says, you saw the struggle I had, and now hear that I have. I still have. I still have. I still have. I still have. I still have. I still have. I still have. I still have.

I still have it. The Philippians realized that Paul, the great apostle Paul, the one who is this powerhouse of faith, was suffering. And in spite of their prayers, and in spite of his prayers, it wasn't going away. And they were suffering too. And in spite of their prayers, and his prayers for them, it wasn't going away. But Paul was wanting them to understand the balance

and the benefit. Live as good citizens in the middle of this. There's a need for it. God has a special need. You're his laborer. He's going to get the word out through you, probably through this. Just trust him in this. Let him balance the gospel of Christ through your life as you live for him. Understand that you've been graced with his suffering. Understand that the enemy's going

to try and use it in your life to get you off center. But just, you're going through the same struggle I had. You can do it. You can rejoice in the Lord in the midst of this. And that's the whole key. That's what we're getting at in Philippians. Learning to rejoice in the Lord. Let's stand together. I don't know what you are struggling with, and I don't know the extent

of the suffering that you have. That's not necessary for me to know. What is necessary is that you understand that the Lord knew that. That he's called us to understand and know that there's a need for us to be here. And as we're still here, it's to be laborers for him. And in laboring for him, there's a need to understand that you're going to face opposition and suffering.

But in the midst of that, know that you're going to face opposition and suffering. And in the midst of that, he has graced you with that he's graced you with that for purposes beyond your understanding and he just wants you whether the lord comes for us now or he's tarrying he wants you to just wait upon him and live as good citizens of the kingdom of god balancing out your life activities according to the gospel that you know because he's given you the power to do that through the holy spirit father it's it's easy for us to say at times whatever's necessary in our lives do it but then when the circumstances come it's easy to wince and to complain and to focus on the

picture of normal that we've drawn in our own minds rather than on the calling that you've given to each one of us as believers in christ help us to see that there's a need for us to be here and that's to be laborers for christ to tell others about jesus to bring encouragement to help each other progress in our joy in the faith and that there's a need for us to face opposition and suffering you you we've been graced with that it's to work in our own lives that we might not trust in things seen but in those unseen that we might not trust in temporal and measure our lives by the temporal but by the eternal so god bless each one that's here and in their particular area of struggle

right now strengthen them not to look at the struggle but to look to you and to seek your purposes in the midst of it you are the quarterback you've called the play now we run with it strengthen us in that understanding lord we pray in jesus name and for his sake amen