Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on April 26, 2015

Open your Bible to Philippians 4:1. Today we are going to examine only one verse. However, as many of you know, you can never really only examine one verse; for to understand that one verse you must, in a sense, examine the entire Bible.

What I find fascinating, is the mighty hand of God guiding our Church. Some of you will recognize that what are doing today is reinforcing what we are doing on Wednesday nights at our ACTS 242 Adult Bible study. This last Wednesday we were encouraged to meditate on the Word of God; to think about it; to contemplate it; to soak in it. As I have said before, reading the Bible is not a race. Our deepest desire is to know the one true God. If that means that we do it one verse at a time, then so be it. Therefore let us read our text, pray that God would give us understanding, and then meditate on God’s Word.

• Philippians 4:1 – “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.”
  
  

Therefore

This last week I read a blog article by Jackson WU who was posting on a website named Training Leaders International. The title of his blog was “The Most Important Words in the Bible.” Can you guess what he believed to be the most important words? Perhaps you would guess Jesus...God…grace…cross…faith…hope…love. Those are all good words, but Jackson claimed that the most important words in the Bible were conjunctions. Do you know what conjunctions are? Conjunctions are words such as because, however, for, so, and therefore. These he claimed were the most important words in the entire Bible. Why? One reason is because conjunctions, many times, connect the command with the promise. Without conjunctions commands lack power, lack strength, they lack foundation. We can see this in our text today.

The first word that starts chapter 4 of Philippians is “Therefore.” This word is really in the Greek manuscript. They are not just throwing in that word to make it more readable. The Greek word is hóste. This is a conjunction. It joins two thoughts. It is somewhat unfortunate that these thoughts are separated by a chapter shift. So let us look at both sides of the conjunction. First let us look at the thought in verse 1.

Stand Firm

• Philippians 4:1 – “Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.”
  
  

The thought in this verse is a command, to “stand firm thus in the Lord.” Paul is telling the Christians in Philippi that they need to stand firm in the Lord. What does this mean or look like to stand firm in the Lord?

The Greek word for stand firm is “stékó.” This word can be translated into English as stand firm, stand fast, persevere. As some of you have learned recently, when attempting to figure out what words mean in the Bible, we should use the Bible. So what we do is we conduct a word study on steko. We find other places that this word has been used. To do this you can use a concordance. If you are old school, you can use a concordance that is in book form, or if you are comfortable with the Computer then there are plenty of online concordances. I use Biblehub.com and on that site I use what is called Strong’s Concordance. Paul actually uses this word somewhat frequently in his letters. In fact, he has a used this word earlier in Philippians.

• Philippians 1:27 – “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,“
  
  

Here are some other examples of how Paul has used it in his other writings.

• Galatians 5:1 – “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”
  
  
• 2 Thessalonians 2:15 – “So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.”
  
  
• 1 Corinthians 16:13 – “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.”
  
  

It is through using these versus that we can get into the mind of Paul to get a fuller picture of what Paul means, and what do we see? We see a picture of a person not relenting, holding position, and being strong. Peter O’Brien describes Paul's use of “stékó” this way, “they are admonished to remain steadfast, as a solider stands firmly in battle.” This is a good illustration for us, because as we saw earlier in the book of Philippians, Paul used the term “fellow solider” when referring to his good friend Epaphroditus.

In the Lord

This leads to the question, don't relent, hold position, be strong in what? Paul's command is for the church to stand firm in the Lord. What does it mean to be in the Lord? First, I think we need to understand that to be in the Lord is a statement of position. It is a description of location. If I ask, where is the car? And someone answers, “it is in the garage.” This is a description of location.

This is exactly what Paul is speaking to. He is speaking of the Christian location. This is something I think so many people don't get, and by so many people I mean religious people, who think they are saved but are not saved. They view being a Christian, not as a location but as an activity. They see Christianity as something that is scheduled. This is not what it means to be a Christian. To be a Christian is to place your life entirely in the hands of Jesus Christ. To fully and completely abide in him. This is a radical repositioning of your life.

• Colossians 3:3 - “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.“
  
  

Perhaps a good Biblical picture of being in the Lord is Noah and his family. Once the Ark was completed and the rain was about to fall, they had a choice to make. They could either get in the Ark, or remain in the World. Their was no middle ground, and their position determined their destiny. It was all about location.

So the question we must all ask ourselves is, are you in the Lord, are you hidden in Christ, do you abide in Jesus, are you in the Ark of God's Grace, with the door shut behind you? Or are you playing church? If you are playing Church, the game you are actually playing is Russian roulette with your soul, for at any moment that door could shut in your face. And when God says time is up, then time is up. It is too late. Time is truly of the essence. The rain could start falling at any moment. Chose today to leave this world behind you and enter into a union with Jesus Christ.

Now for those who are in the Lord, does that mean being in the Ark is like a ride on the love boat? That being in Christ is like riding a pleasure boat in the Caribbean? Absolutely not, it is, in fact, more like a ride on battleship.

The Battle

Implicit in these statements of standing firm is the existence of a force that is pushing against you, a force that is attempting to make you not stand, attempting to cause you to fall, attempting to knock you over, attempting to take the hill that you have secured.

What is Paul referring to? Paul is referring to the attacks that he just got speaking about in Chapter 3. The dogs, the evildoers, the mutilators of the flesh, enemies of the cross, whose God is their belly, glory in their shame, and set their minds on earthly things. This is the force that Paul is speaking of. It is the force of the World. The World that lies in the hands of Satan.

When you align yourself with Jesus Christ, and choose to follow Him and to be found in Him, you no longer walk as an enemy of the cross, but an enemy of the World. When we bear the image of Jesus Christ we are guaranteed to be treated the exact same way as our Savior. Jesus tells us this.

• John 15:18-20 - ““If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.“
  
  

Because you are not of the World, but you are of Christ. The world hates you. Let that sink in. Jesus says that placing your faith in Him will cause the world to hate you. And this hate will not be a silent hate. This hate for you will manifest itself in persecution. What type of persecution? All kinds, for Jesus is was murder. For all the disciples except for John it was murder. For Christians since the Church age began it has been murder. That is the last straw for Satan. I tell you this to remind you that ISIS is nothing new, and also to remind you that we should not expect the world to care all that much.

However, we must also be aware that persecution is not just murder it is also the threat of murder. This type persecution is becoming more and more prevalent. For those who participated in the Secret Church gathering on Friday night you are already aware of this, but the Church in which the live event was being broadcast, the Church at Brooks Hills, the Church we are going to be partnering with in our Guatemala Mission trip, received a threat. The threat was legitimate enough that they moved the taping to an undisclosed location.

But it is not just large events like Secret Church, with well known pastors speaking, it is also Christian businesses. I am sure you are familiar with Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana. After speaking out that they were a Christian business that would not cater a gay wedding, they immediately started to receive threats, no not from ISIS, but from average Americans. One was a female high school coach, we tweeted, “Who is going to Walkerton, Indiana with me to burn down Memories Pizza.”

This is the America in which we live in. If you place your faith in Christ stand upon the inerrant Word of God, you will be persecuted. It won't just be from ISIS. It will be nice little high school volleyball coach that lives next door. In fact for many of you, it may come from even closer to home.

• Matthew 10:35-36 - “For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.“
  
  

Destruction or Glory

The question is, will you stand firm? Will you remain strong? Will you hold to what you are taught in God's Word? Will you persevere? Will you endure? Or will you fall? Will you sell your soul to gain favor with the World?

God has commanded us to stand firm in Christ, but how are we to do this when all the World seems to be chanting for our heads on a platter. This is were the word “therefore” is so crucial. For “therefore” points back to the foundation of the command. So what does the therefore point back to?

• Philippians 3:18-21 - “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ.19Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
  
  Their are two destinies waiting for all humanity. One end is described as destruction and the other end is described as glorious. Every person on this planet is moving closer to one of these two destinies. You will either end up in Hell, or you will end up in Heaven. If you choose to set your mind on earthly things and make this your home, to submit to the yoke of slavery, to fall into the sinfulness of this world, then prepare yourself to spend eternity in utter torment paying for every last sin against an infinitely Holy God.
  
  However, if you chose to count this world as garbage and let go of its sinful ways so that you can grab hold of Christ and be found in Him your end is not destruction. Instead your reward for standing in Christ is the reward of glory. These are the words of God. God does not lie, and it is these words that give us the strength o persevere when all the world gives way. When our family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors line up against us, this is what we cling to, the promises of God.
  
  This is how we fight the fight of faith. This is how we stand against the schemes of the devil, we pull out the the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and we go to battle. We remember what God has promised to those who are in Christ and what he has warned of to those who are not.
  
  

So next time you here the world knocking on the door of your heart, asking for you to come out and play, I want you to hear your Father say:

• “many...walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction... 20But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body...therefore stand firm...in the Lord.”
  
  

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on February 22, 2015

Turn with me to Philippians 2:12-13. Today we will be looking at only two verses, and it will take as all of 45 minutes to do it. So we are going to get right to work this morning.

• Philippians 2:12-13 – “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
  
  

There are times when reading God’s Word you come up against apparent paradoxes. These paradoxes are only paradoxes because we are not God. By that I mean that our finite understanding does not always allow us to see the union of two truths that appear to be mutually exclusive. For example, the Trinity. God is one, yet He is also three persons. To us, this is a paradox. Our understanding of space/time limits our ability to accept the proposition that a being can be one and separate simultaneously. Having said that, just because we can’t connect the dots, doesn’t mean it isn’t so. It just means that we are not God, and we need to work a little harder and grasping it.

So with that said, if you run into an apparent paradox in the Bible do not reject it. Instead, recognize that the Bible is not the problem. You are, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you mine the depths of God’s truth. When you do this, you will most likely find that the deeper you dig, the greater the treasure you will find.

The Paradox

So let us start with the paradox. In verse 12 we see Paul telling the Church in Philippi to “work out your own salvation.” This is a command. Paul is telling them to work, to do something. He places the obligation, the responsibility on the people. Then in verse 13, in the same sentence, Paul says, “it is God who works in you.” Paul is saying that God does the work.

Is Paul schizophrenic? He starts his sentence with us doing the work, and ends the sentence with God doing the work. Which is it? Is it us, or is it God? At first glance, we believe that these positions are mutually exclusive. We believe that they cannot both be true. It has to be one or the other, but not both.

Why? Because when we read the Bible we wrongly superimpose our finite, our limited knowledge over the Bible. We wrongly have a tendency to Lord over God’s word. We wrongly approach the Bible as if we are god, and we therefore then attempt to shape God’s word to match our view of reality. This is not the way you read the Bible. We should not twist the Bible to match our metanarrative, the Bible that should shape us to match God’s redemptive narrative. For it is the Bible that is the revelation of true reality. We must humble ourselves beneath the Word of God and allow it to refine us. We must be willing to accept difficult truths, even if we don’t understand it initially.

So today I encourage you, to start from that position, as position of humility as we attempt to mine the depths of the reality that we work out our salvation, and God works out our salvation.

Foundation

Next, lets us talk about the foundation of this text. We are focusing on only two verses, and there is a risk that when you do this, you read it with blinders on. We must recognize that these verses are not on an island. They are a part of a letter. They are part of a flow of thought. Verses 12 and 13 have a foundation under them, so let us spend some time looking at that foundation. The foundation begins in Philippians 1:3.

• Philippians 1:3-6 – “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,5because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.“
  
  

Paul begins by recognizing that God is the one who first began the work in the hearts of the Philippians. If you recall, the first person who was saved in the Philippians church was Lydia. We examined her conversion in Acts 16:14 when we are told, “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” This is why Paul thanks God, for it was God who initiated the relationship. Lydia was a passive recipient of God’s Grace. Paul was sent by God, to proclaim God’s Word, and God opened up Lydia’s heart. In that moment, God made Jesus irresistible to Lydia and she did the only rational thing, she accepted Christ as her Savior and her Lord.

At that moment, Lydia is saved. Salvation has come into her heart. She is eternally secure in the arms of Jesus. On the cross, Jesus paid for all her sin; past, present, and future, and she has been given the righteousness of Christ. This is the great substitution. Christ takes our sin, and we take his righteousness. This is why Paul says in Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” For those who are in Christ, the gift of salvation is received at the moment of faith. This is why Paul can confidently say in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

It is a guarantee that all who are in Christ will be brought to completion. We will all reach the end. We will endure. We will persevere. If you don’t persevere, that means that you were never in Christ. That God never began a work in you, but you were just fooling yourself.

However, for a true follower of Jesus, in between the beginning and the end is the Christian walk. And this is what Paul starts to discuss in Philippians 1:27.

• Philippians 1:27 – “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.” 
  
  

Paul encourages their Christian walk, their Christian life to match, to fit, to be consistent, with the gospel reality in their life. Their lives should reflect their faith in the gospel. Meaning that when the world watches how you live, there should be no question that you trust in Jesus. This is why verse 28 says, their life should be a “clear sign” “of your salvation.” What you do in life is evidence of your already secured salvation. Your life is an outward display of an inward reality.

And it is this foundation that Paul lays out before he says in verse 12, where he says, “work out your own salvation.” Why is this important? Because Satan would love for you to read verse 12 as saying, “work for your salvation.” Satan would love for you to think that your salvation is dependent upon what you do, as if salvation is something to be earned. But we all know that salvation is a gift of God’s Amazing Grace, not a wage.

So what does verse 12 say? It says we are to “work out your salvation” not “work for your salvation.” To work out your salvation means that you already have salvation. God, at the moment of conversion has taken out your heart of stone and given you a heart of flesh. At the moment of conversion God has birthed you into spiritual existence. At the moment of conversion God has made you a new creation. At the moment of conversion God has adopted you into his family. And this is who you are at your core. However, this does not mean that immediately upon conversion that you will perfectly, without sin, outwardly display this inward reality.

In between justification and glorification, there is sanctification. Meaning, that in between you being declared not guilty through Christ and being perfectly like Christ in Heaven, there is a life of transformation that occurs. We call this transformation sanctification, and this is the Christian walk. This Christian walk has two sides to the coin, your role and God's role.

Work Out Your Salvation

Let us begin by talking about our role. This text makes many grace based Christians flinch. They see work and think there must be a typo, but rest assured it is not. This word work is an active word, not a passive. Paul is telling us that we play a substantial part in becoming who we already are. Becoming like Christ in obedience is not something that just happens, but something that we make happen. And this is not the only place we see text like this in the Bible. In fact later in this letter Paul says this:

• Philippians 3:13-14 - “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
  
  

Paul sees his Christian walk as one that involves straining, pressing forward. This gives us a picture of a force that is pushing against him and his actively pushing back. Paul's following of Jesus is not passive, it is engaged. Paul is working out his salvation. Likewise, in Paul's letter to young Timothy, his apprentice, listen to what he says,

• 1 Timothy 6:11-12 - “But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith.
  
  

Paul commands Timothy to flee bad things, and pursue good things. He sees this running from and running to as an act of War. He sees it as a battle that Timothy will find himself in the midst of. Once again, Paul instructs Timothy to be active in his Christian walk, not passive. Timothy plays a substantial role in being obedient to God. The author of Hebrews speaks to the same thing.

• Hebrews 12:14 - “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”
  
  We are to strive for holiness. Striving is not passive, it is active. If you are not striving, then you won't see the Lord. This should cause of to fear and tremble, should it not. And this is exactly what verse 12 says, “Work our your salvation with fear and trembling.”
  
  Does this describe your Christian walk? Are you working out your salvation, are you straining and pressing forward, are you striving, are you fleeing and pursuing, are you fighting the fight of faith? Or are you coasting? We need to do a quick inventory of our lives in Christ. Do you look more like Jesus today then you did one year ago? How about 5 years ago? How about since you have been saved? If you cannot say confidently, yes, then you may be deceived.
  
  How can I say this, if I believe that we are saved by Grace? How can I put so much emphasis on works when we know that it is not works that save, but grace that saves. It is because of verse 13.
  
  

For It is God Who Works

• Philippians 2:13 - “ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
  
  

If God has begun a work in you, meaning that you have been born again, then God comes into your heart and dwells inside of you.

• 1 Corinthians 3:16 - “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”
  
  

Think about this. God, who is Holy, Holy, Holy. God who created the heavens and the earth. God who makes the mountains melt like wax, lives in you. Think about this the next time you want to lie, or lust, or hate. It is not just that God is watching, he is in you and you sin. This is the reason that we should obey with fear and trembling.

And why does God come and reside in us? What is His reason? What is His purpose? What does verse 13 say? He lives in us “to will and to work for his good pleasure.” This is amazing. God is in your heart making you will and work. Are you tracking? God is changing your desires. He is changing your delights. He is changing your loves. He is changing you from the inside out.

So how does this look practically? It looks like Bryan and Amy Speed waking up at 4:00 a.m. every morning to read the Bible and pray. It looks like James donating over a $1000 so others can go on a mission trip. It looks like Freddie willing to travel to the other side of the planet and risk his safety so to encourage his brothers and sisters in Christ. It looks like 30 people cramming the front of our Church on Wednesday night equipping themselves to make disciples. It looks like Paul sitting chained to a Romans guard and preaching Jesus Christ to the entire imperial guard.

All of these actions are evidences of the salvation that we have already received. When Christ truly comes and takes up residence in your heart he changes you. You want to pray, you want to read the Bible, you want to share the Gospel, you want to go on mission trips, you want to wash each others feet, you want to cut off your right hand if it causes you to sin. You want to strive, press on, strain, work out, and fight the fight of faith to be like our King. Our King who obeyed to the point of death on a cross.

Over the years I have heard people say, slow down, don't take on too much, you are going to burn out. I have even had people tell me that they believe I am trying to earn my way to Heaven. When I hear those things I want to say, get behind me Satan. Because what I see in the Bible is verse like 1 Corinthians 15:10.

• 1 Corinthians 15:10 - “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.”
  
  

I do not want the Grace of God to be vanity in my life. With all my being I want to be like Jesus, my greatest treasure. And I pray for all of that you will join me in this fight of faith.

 

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on January 25, 2015

Open your Bibles to Philippians 1:18-30. Today, I am preaching on my favorite verse in the Bible, Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” I believe this simple statement should be the heartbeat of every Christian, in every moment.

• Philippians 1:18-26 – “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. 27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.“
  
  

Continuous Joy

To begin today, I want to start where we left off last week, joy. Last week we discussed the joy found in the Gospel. Once again, the gospel being the good news that we are saved from God’s wrath and receive eternal life if we place our faith in Christ alone. Paul, despite being imprisoned, was rejoicing because the name of Jesus was being proclaimed and preached. Despite Paul’s chains, the gospel was advancing, in fact Paul being chained was giving people courage to speak Christ more boldly. And this made Paul rejoice. Why? Because Paul was loved Jesus more than anything in all the Universe. The mention of his name brought him joy.

We see this expression of joy in our first verse today, verse 18, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” However, Paul does not stop there, and neither will we.

Paul continues to express his joy by saying, “Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”

With this statement Paul continues to express his joy, but transitions to another source of his joy and that is living and dying for Christ. And this is what I am going to be talking about today. The title of my sermon is “The Joy of Living and Dying for Christ.” This sermon may be difficult for some of you, not because it is theologically difficult, but because it is radically counter cultural.

Honor Christ in Your Body in Every Moment

The goal for every Christian is to honor Christ in your body in every moment. As a new creation our new orientation is to exult Jesus with every fiber of our being no matter what your circumstances are. Over the last month we have been soaking in this truth. Four weeks ago we examined Romans 12:1 where it says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” The next week we examined Philippians 1:1, and we looked at what it means to be a servant of Christ, which in Greek is doulos, which is actually best translated as a slave of Christ. And then last week we read about Paul’s four year imprisonment and how even his significantly dire circumstances were God ordained means by which Paul was to fulfill his calling. The over-arching theme of today’s text is Paul’s hope to honor Christ in everything he does.

• Philippians 1:20 - “ as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.”
  
  

The word for “honored” in Greek is megalynō. The ESV translates “megalynō” to “honored”, but a better translation is “to make great” or “to magnify.” To help you remember this, think megaphone. A megaphone magnifies your voice. Therefore, Paul’s eager expectation, his hope, is that Christ would be made great or magnified in his body. His body of course refers to his entire being.

As you recall, Paul is imprisoned, and as he sits there chained to a Roman guard, life and death hangs in the balance. There is no guarantee that he will make it out alive. In verse 19, Paul says, “for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.” Many of us assume that deliverance means released from jail and ongoing life, but that is not how Paul is thinking. Paul sees deliverance to include deliverance through death. Paul’s life truly hangs in the balance, the Romans were not known for their mercy, at any moment the command could come down to kill Paul. If you want an example, just think about John the Baptist.

Paul’s mindset as his life hangs in the balance a desire to honor Christ through it. This is his primary concern, to make the name of Christ great, no matter how bad it gets, and it does not get any worse than the threat of death. Is this easy for Paul? Absolutely not, let us not worship Paul, he is flesh and bone just like you and I. He saw himself as wretched and the chief of sinners, recognizing that he was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. He was a person who depended upon the prayers of his brothers and sisters and the power of the Holy Spirit to produce in him the full courage necessary to exult Christ in midst of the valley of the shadow of death. So how does one magnify Christ in their life? Let us start with the statement, to live is Christ.

To Live is Christ

The statement by Paul, “to live is Christ” is, in my opinion, the most profound yet simple reality every to be expressed. You cannot summarize existence more succinctly than this. What is life? Christ. What does it mean to live? Christ. What is my purpose? Christ. What is the point of the Universe? Christ. Paul says the same thing, yet more completely in Colossians 1:16.

• Colossians 1:16 – “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. “
  
  

You, and I, and Paul were created through Christ and for Christ, so for us, to live is Christ. This is why you breathe. Just like we sang today, “It’s Your breath in our lungs, so we pour out of praise.” The question is how does this look? What does living for Jesus look like? How do we magnify Christ by living for Christ? Let’s take a look at verse 27.

• Philippians 1:27 – “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ”
  
  

This is a very interesting verse. For all you Greek lovers, I want to spend some time working through this. “Manner of life” in Greek is politeuomai. This word actually means to behave as a citizen. The Greek word for worthy is axiōs. Another way to translate the word worthy is suitable or fitting. And of course we have already talked about the word gospel, euaggelion, which means the good news of being saved from Hell and destined for Heaven.

So what Paul is saying is that to live is Christ is to live in such a way that everything you do matches the reality you have been saved from Hell and your citizenship is in Heaven. You live as if this is not your home. When people meet you, they think, “You are not from around here are you.” You talk different, you work different, you love your spouse different, you raise your kid different, you spend your money different, you dress different, you respond to problems different, you spend your free time different. Everything about you screams different. Everything about you screams follower of Jesus. This is your new orientation. As the world revolves around self, we revolve around the hope we have in Christ.

And make no mistake that this life that is completely, and entirely oriented around living for Christ is a life of faith. This faith is a backwards and forward faith. It is backwards in that we place our faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. We believe and trust in his completed work on the cross. Our faith is also forward in which we have assurance in our salvation and that on judgment day we will not be sent to Hell, but will be invited into the presence of the living God, where there is abundance of joy and pleasures forevermore. We believe that through the blood of Jesus we are God’s adopted children, and therefore will receive and inheritance that is unfathomable and dwarfs the dust of this world.

To live is Christ is a life of faith. In fact, the greater the faith, the greater the honoring, the magnifying, the making Christ look great in your body. And the more and more and more you truly believe in the reality of what Christ did and what awaits you through Christ the greater your joy.

• Philippians 1:25 – “Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, “
  
  

The more you have faith, believe, trust in Christ, the less this world affects you. What use to give you pleasure is now bland. What use to be an inconvenience is now a God ordained opportunity. What use to scare you to death has now lost its sting. Which leads us into, what I believe to be, Paul’s most radical statement he ever made.

To Die is Gain

Satan hates the gospel. For the gospel is the good news of His defeat. The gospel is the story of Christ crushing his head. It is the gospel that reminds Satan that Christ now has all authority on heaven and on earth and the clock is ticking until the end comes and Satan is thrown into Hell.

Because of this Satan goes to all extents to stop the gospel from being proclaimed. He begins very subtly. Perhaps he will tempt you with the cares of this world. When that doesn’t work he will give you some social persecution, such as glances or jokes at work about your faith. When that doesn’t work he will resort to name calling, intolerant, unloving, bigot, hate monger. When that doesn’t work he gets physical. He may burn down your house or church, lock you up or beat you. However when that doesn’t work, and you still persist to proclaim Christ, he reaches for the last straw and he threatens to take your life. What happens when even that won’t work? What happens when you stare Satan in the eyes and say, make my day, for to live is Christ and to die is gain? What happens when even God takes the wages of sin, which is death, and uses martyrdom to magnify and make great the value of Christ in your life? I’ll tell you what happens, it makes Satan shutter.

• Philippians 1: 28 – “Not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God.”
  
  

When we stare death straight in the face, with a blade held to our neck at the hand of ISIS, and we do not fear, it speaks volumes of our love for Christ and our faith in His words. Your death becomes a megaphone into the deafness of this world. At that moment you are shining more brilliantly than you have ever shined before. And it is a deafening reminder to Satan and all enemies of the cross that their day is coming. The fearful and awesome day of the Lord when the cup of God's wrath will be pour out on them for all eternity.

The song we sang today, “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus” is based upon the last words of a man in northern India who was called to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ. He began to sing “Though no one joins me, still I will follow." His wife was killed, and he was executed while singing, "The cross before me, the world behind me." This is what it looks like to magnify Christ in your death. It is said that the display of this man's faith led to the conversion of the chief and others in the village.

The very last conversation that Peter had with Jesus is found in John 21. The Wednesday night small group discussed this passage last week. In the conversation, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Each time Peter says, “Yes.” Then Jesus ends the conversation by saying this:

• John 21:18-19 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go."19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."
  
  

The question, do you love me, is not just a question for Peter. It is a question for every single one of us, “Do you love Jesus?” The question is not, “are you a good person?” or “Do you go to church?” or “are you a Christian?” The question is do you love Jesus? Can you say with Paul, Peter and the man in northern India, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain?”

If you can't, then you don't know my Jesus, for He is worth it. He is better than anything this world can offer, and I encourage you to know Him more.

Preached at Cornerstone Church in Cascade, IA on November 30, 2014

Today we come to the end of a two month sermon series on the Doctrines of Grace. To end our series I want to review the doctrines, briefly, and then I want to talk more about why understanding these doctrines matter in your day to day Christian walk.

So in review, the Doctrine of Grace are primarily about God's sovereignty in our salvation. Meaning that from beginning to end, it is God who saves. God gets all of credit for for our salvation, and therefore God gets all the glory.

The acronym for the Doctrines of Grace spells TULIP. Let us quickly go over each doctrine. First there is Total Depravity. This doctrine summarizes the Bible's teaching that man is a sinner. That our hearts our desperately sick, that nothing good dwells in us, that every intention of our heart is only evil continually, that all our “righteous deeds” are like filthy rags, that we are wretched; therefore we have no ability in ourselves to save ourselves or come to Christ. Jesus said it very clearly in John 6:44 that , “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

Which leads to the next doctrine we talked about, Irresistible Grace. Irresistible Grace is the drawing of a wretched sinner to Jesus by God. It is the shining of the light of Christ into a sinners heart by God. It is the Holy Spirit blowing into our life, birthing us into spiritual life. It is God circumcising your heart. It is God taking out the heart of stone and giving us a heart of flesh. It is God giving us eyes to see and ears to here. It is God opening our hearts to pay attention to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Without the God's overcoming our resistance to Him by his irresistible grace, we are without Hope to repent and place our faith in Jesus Christ.

This begs the question, how does God decided whose life he will pour out His irresistible grace? He does this by His Unconditional Election. This is the “U” in TULIP. Unconditional Election is the understanding that God, before time began, chose whom would be adopted into his family to be holy and blameless before Him. That God chose whom would receive His grace. This decision is a sovereign decision, meaning that God makes this decision with no outside influence. He is the only truly free decision maker in the Universe. God has mercy on whom he has mercy. This is not based on what we do, it is based on God's free, sovereign will.

Next we examined Limited Atonement. This is the Biblical doctrine that Jesus was sent to rescue the elect, the ones chosen by God. This teaches that Jesus actually saved a specific people. That his death was a particular death, with a personal application. Jesus did not die for an opportunity to be saved, but that actually saved people. Limited atonement is the teaching that Jesus came to die for his sheep and that there is no greater love that to lay down your life for a friend.

Lastly, we looked at the overwhelming passages that point to the wonderful truth that when God begins his work in you, He will complete it to the end. This is the doctrine of Perseverance of the Saints, otherwise known as eternal security. This teaches that when you are adopted into God's family, He doesn't later kick you out. He doesn't give you eternal life and then say, just kidding. He doesn't open your eyes, to close them again. He doesn't love you, then send you to Hell. Perseverance of the Saints is the reality of the forever love of God.

These are the Doctrines of Grace. The question we will now address today is, why does it matter? I would argue that it matters immensely. As I stated before, other than my conversion, there has been no greater revelation in my life than the Sovereignty of God.

In this sermon series I have already spoken of two reasons as to why the Doctrines of Grace matter. First, God receives all the glory in our salvation. When we accept the truth of the Doctrines of Grace in our lives we are left with only one response, to praise God for His glorious grace. The second result we examined last week is that the Sovereignty of God is the catalyst to the Great Commission. Like Christ who was sent to rescue His Bride with victory guaranteed, we as his brothers and sisters, take the baton and go to all nations to bring in the sheep that are scattered abroad, knowing that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation and Jesus' sheep will hear his voice.

Today, I want to continue to discuss why embracing the Doctrines of Grace matter. These doctrines are not academic. They are doctrines you should build your life upon. Today, I have ten reasons why I believe that we should care about these doctrines.

1. The Doctrines of Grace are what the Bible teaches
   
   

As I was studying these doctrines over the last two months, I ran across an author who said that when people ask him, “Do you believe in Calvinism?” His default answer is, “The question is not what I believe, the question is what does the Bible teach?” I love that statement. This must be our default answer. We must embrace these doctrines for no other reason than the Bible teaches us these things.

We must remember that God's Word is His revelation to man. Jesus tells us in Matthew 4:4 that it is God's Word that is bread to our souls. Jesus then tells us that in John 17 that it is God's Word that sanctifies us. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3 that God's word is what equips us and makes us competent for all good works. The Doctrine of Grace is are doctrines of God's Word. The doctrines are not academic, they are much needed rations for this spiritual battle we find ourselves in and we must allow them to have their full effect upon our hearts and minds.

1. The Doctrines of Grace are the Gospel
   
   

Not only are the Doctrines of Grace what the Bible teaches, but these Doctrines are of first importance. These doctrines are the core of redemptive history, for these doctrines are the Gospel. Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preaches, said these words about Calvinism.

“I have my own private opinion that there is no such thing as preaching Christ and Him crucified, unless we preach what nowadays is called Calvinism. It is a nickname to call it Calvinism; Calvinism is the gospel, and nothing else. I do not believe we can preach the gospel, if we do not preach justification by faith, without works; nor unless we preach the sovereignty of God in His dispensation of grace; nor unless we exalt the electing, unchangeable, eternal, immutable, conquering love of Jehovah; nor do I think we can preach the gospel, unless we base it upon the special and particular redemption of His elect and chosen people which Christ wrought out upon the cross; nor can I comprehend a gospel which lets saints fall away after they are called, and suffers the children of God to be burned in the fires of damnation after having once believed in Jesus. Such a gospel I abhor.”

1. The Doctrines of Grace Reveal the Greatest and Most Personal Love of God
   
   

As Christians we love to proclaim the love of God, and rightfully so. For we are told in 1 John 4 that God is love. The understanding of the love of God as directed to us is life changing, but I wonder how many people really understand the width and depth of God's love. The Doctrines of Grace are the fullest expression of the immensity of God's love. For only in these doctrines can we speak of an eternal love of God that began before time, a personal love of Jesus that cause him to die for you, and an enduring love of God that will never forsake us. No other theology, but reformed theology expresses this kind of eternal, specific and unbreakable love.

I did a lot of driving this weekend and we had a cd with Chris Tomlin's new song Waterfall on it. Perhaps you don't know this but Tomlin is a Calvinist, but in this song he says, your love is like a waterfall. And I was dwelling upon this phrase in connection to my sermon today and I thought, yes this is true, if you see the waterfall like Niagra Falls and not the the Cascades of the Maquoketa. It is the overwhelming and powerful love that pummels us and causes us to respond with reciprical and radical love for God and radical love for others.

1. The Doctrines of Grace Give us Assurance of our Salvation
   
   

What is so good about the good news? This is the question that Martin Luther wrestled with before his conversion. He was a Roman Catholic monk that hated his life. Why? Because he was always worried that he was going to lose his salvation, or that he wasn't holy enough to be in God's family. Is this the good news that Jesus proclaimed? Is this the truth that Jesus said will make us free? Absolutely not. The good news of the Gospel is the reality that Salvation is of the Lord. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus came to save his Bride completely. That his sacrifice was entirely sufficient to pay for all your sins past, present and future. The good news of the Gospel is that once Jesus rips you out of the arms of Satan, and does not hand you back over to the enemy after you make a mistake.

I recall one man who told me that he hated the weekends because he was always worried that he would lose his salvation. Whether it be thinking the wrong thought, watching the wrong movie, saying the wrong word, you name it. He never had peace in his heart. Does this seem like freedom? No it sounds like a prison.

1. The Doctrines of Grace Produce True Holiness
   
   

We read in Ephesians 1:4, “he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.“ This verse captures all of redemptive history from beginning to end. The end is the destiny of the elect. If you are in Christ than your are guaranteed to be Holy and Blameless before your Creator. This is who you are. This is who you are in Christ. This truth is the looking glass self. Meaning that if you believe that Holiness is your destiny than you will strive for that Holiness right now. Being guaranteed to become like Christ is motivation to become like Christ. I think this is why Paul says this in Philippians 3

• Philippians 3:12-15 - “ Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.“
  
  

This is how we must think. We must realize that our end goal is perfection, holiness. It is what lies ahead, so let us think this way the next time you are tempted by Satan.

1. The Doctrines of Grace Produce True Humility
   
   

The Doctrines of Grace are the only theology that gives God all the credit from beginning to end for our salvation. It is all grace. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing to boast about before God. This is the other side of the coin regarding giving God all the glory. The most humble understanding of our salvation is Calvinism. All other theologies exult man. Other theologies make man sovereign over his destiny and God a servant to us, but once again this is not what the Bible teaches. God repeatedly tells us that He desires a broken and contrite spirit. The Doctrines of Grace provide such contrition.

And it is from this lowly state that God can begin to use us for His purposes. It is this posture of humility that gives us the ability to wash each other's feet, put other's interest before ours, take the log out of our eye, and acts as a guard against our sinful desire to lord over our brothers and sisters in Christ.

1. Doctrines of Grace Produces True Patience
   
   One of the fruits of the Spirit is patience, but what is patience? Patience is waiting on something that is certain to come. I don't believe patience exists if the future is up for grabs. The existence of patience assumes the sovereignty of God.
   
   

• James 5:7 - “Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. “
  
  

This is what the doctrines of Grace promote, the understanding that God will do what pleases Him when it pleases Him. He is the one who brings the early and late rains upon this earth. As a Pastor who so desperately desires this community and surrounding areas to have their eyes open to the faith alone, grace alone, Christ alone, I must patiently trust in God's timing and His pleasure. I must constantly remind myself that we plant and we water, but it is God who gives the growth, and likewise, he will have mercy on whom he has mercy. Without this understanding of God's sovereign plan for the redemption of His people, I worry that I would have already thrown in the towel. For what hope do I have, if salvation is not of the Lord, but it is of man.

1. The Doctrines of Grace Destroys Anxiety
   
   

One of the biggest issues in America, despite our wealth, education, and health is anxiety. We are the riches nation ever to walk this planet, yet simultaneously we are a nation of worriers. Why? Because we see ourselves as ultimately in control of our destiny. The problem with this, is that we know deep down inside that we have no ability to control anything. We place ourselves as our own sovereign, but we know we have no power. This is what free will theology teaches, that you are the captain of your own ship. It is no wonder that we are always worried about running aground. What is the solution to this anxiety? It is the sovereignty of God.

• Matthew 6:25 - “"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?“
  
  

Think about what Jesus said. Worrying does not add a single hour to your life. The Bible tells us that our days are numbered, every one of them. You will die when God wants you to die. You can take every precaution but you cannot change your fate. It is this understanding that has compelled thousands of missionaries into the mission field. The truly believe that there is no safer place than to be in the center of God's will.

1. The Doctrines of Grace Are a Fountain of True Joy
   
   

This Christmas season we will see or hear the word joy several hundred times. You will probably receive at least a dozen Christmas cards with the word joy plastered all over it. How often do you think about the source of this joy? Jesus says this to his disciples:

• Luke 10:19 - “Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
  
  

Jesus tells them that their source of joy should be that there names are written in Heaven. What does that mean? In Heaven there is a book. It is called the Book of Life of the Lamb that was slain. We are told about this book in Philippians and also in Revelation. In this book are names. These names are the people who will not be sent to Hell, but instead will be in the presence of God forever. Here is the interesting part. We are told in Revelation 13 and again in Revelation 17 that these names are written in this book before the foundation of the world and the names will never be blotted out. So Jesus tells his disciples to rejoice because your name was written in my book before the world began and no one will erase it and because your name is in that book you will overcome and your will reign with me in Heaven. This is your source of Joy!

1. The Doctrines of Grace Improve Your Prayer Life
   
   

It is interesting. Since I have been more outspoken about my belief in the Doctrines of Grace, I find myself in more and more discussion. People love to resist Calvinism, which I believe is more evidence that it is true. However, when I do find people resisting it, I usually ask them this question, have you ever prayed for the salvation of someone? Everyone answers yes. Which is good. We should pray this way, but when you pray that God would save someone you are praying for irresistible grace. You are praying for God to be sovereign over their heart.

All Christians pray like a Calvinist. Every single one of you. If you wanted to be consistent with your claimed theology of free will, then you would not pray for peace and comfort and revivals and conversions, because free will claims that God has no control over those things. But something deep inside us knows that this is not true. The Holy Spirit groans inside of us to pray for hearts to break for Jesus, and this is a prayer that we need to pray more often.

As we stated earlier, I want us to be praying about the month of December. I want each of us to pray like a Calvinist. Pray that God would open the eyes of your neighbors. Pray that God would draw them to Jesus. Pray that God would cultivate their hearts and make them good soil to receive the Gospel. And pray like you believe He can do it.