Sunday, December 26, 1999   

Our behavior is to be Christian, it is to bring glory to Christ. As individual believers we are to glorify God and as a local visible body of believers, we are to bring glory to God (Ephesians 3:21). We are to behave ourselves in such a way that our allegiance to the Gospel will not be questioned.

I. Verse 27, Good Conduct

      A. "Only" whether Paul was able to come to the Philippians or not he wanted the to conduct themselves as true believers.

      B. "Let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ..."

            1. "Conversation" has as much to do with walk as it does talk. Our entire manner of life is to be worthy of The Gospel (Ephesians 4:1).

                 a. Our English word conversation is derived from the Latin word conversari which means "to Conduct oneself" this word means walk and talk, the whole behavior.

                  b. The Greek word Paul uses here, politeuesthai means to be a citizen. Christians are to act like citizens of heaven. That is what Paul is reminding the Philippians of. As a Roman colony they were to act culturally like Romans in dress etc., as a colony of heaven they were to act like Christians (Philippians 3:20).

                 c. Philippi was a long way from Rome yet that did not take away the privilege and responsibilities of being a Roman, they must still live and act as a Roman does. Wherever Christians maybe they are to live as becomes a citizen of the kingdom of God.

           2. The word "becometh" means a "life suitable, worthy, in manner, worthy of." Oh the genitive case it means, "having the same weight of (weighing as much as) another thing, of like value, worth as much."

                 a. The manner of life of the Christian is to weigh as much as the Gospel he professes.

                 b. Waist says, "Christians are citizens of heaven, having a heavenly origin, and a heavenly destiny, with the responsibility of living a heavenly life on this earth in the midst of ungodly people and surroundings, telling sinners of a Savior in heaven who will save them from their sins if they but trust Him" (Volume 2, page 50).

                 c. An old poem expresses the meaning of this verse: "You are writing a Gospel a chapter each day, But the deeds that you do And the words that you say, Men read what you write Whether faithful or true: Just what is the Gospel According to you?"

                 d. Christian, if you are in sin get out (Romans 6:1-2, 6-7, 11-14).

      C. The last part of this verse tells us what Paul expects from the Philippians and what God expects of us:

           1. "Stand fast" this means "to stand firm and hold your ground."

                 a. The world is filled with retreating Christians who quit when things get difficult or they don't get their way. The true Christian stands fast unashamed of Christ in any crowd.

                 b. So many are compromising, so many are throwing out doctrinal purity, STAND FAST!!

           2. "In one spirit, with one mind," God expects unity in the local church.

                 a. "Spirit", as used here refers to unity in the local church as members use their God given gifts in the church recognizing the gifts of others and allowing them to exercise them.

                 b. Let the word fight and fuss, we must be one.

           3. "Striving together for the faith of the gospel." God expects us to strive together. The Greek word for "striving" is Athleo, a word used to describe athletic competition. We get our words athlete and athletics from it.

                 a. To the word athleo Paul adds the prefix sun making the word sunathleo referring to an athletic contest in which a group of athletes co-operate as one team working in co-ordination against the opposition.

                 b. Never abandon hope or give up the struggle.

                 c. "Faith of the gospel."

                       1) "Faith" means body of truth. We are to strive for the truth.

                       2) The truth of the Gospel is found in I Corinthians 15:3-4. This is what we are to stand for, live for, strive for.

II. Verses 28-30, Good Courage

      A. Verse 28, God expects Christians to have a calm and cool courage. In times of crisis others may get nervous and be afraid but the Christian is to trust God and stand for truth.

           1. Adversaries are those who deny the Word of God, those who oppose the truth and those who change the truth. Anyone who preaches any other Gospel than salvation by grace is an adversary of truth.

           2. "Evident token" a clear sign or proof that God is at work and that His decrees will not fail.

                 a. The failure of the adversaries to terrify the saints by their antagonism was a clear sign or proof that those heathens were headed to everlasting destruction.

      B. Verse 29, Trusting Christ does not mean the war is over. Paul does not suggest that being a Christian is easy.

           1. There will be many battles for God's children (John 16:13; 2 Timothy 3:12).

           2. Suffering for Jesus is no accident, like believing it is a gift of God's grace. It is a privilege to stand for and suffer for the truth.

      C. Verse 30, What the Philippians are now going through Paul had been through Paul had been through, they were not alone in their struggles, They shared a similar conflict with Paul.

           1. The devil wants us to think we are the only ones with difficulties not so.

           2. As ecumen icism wipes away doctrinal purity and boundaries, those who stand for absolute truth wherever they are in the world, will be in the same struggle.

CONCLUSION: Remember this, a general chooses his best soldiers for the hardest tasks. Remember also that it is an honor to suffer for Christ. There is a story of a veteran French soldier who came upon a young recruit who was trembling with fear in the midst of a terrible battle. The veteran said "Come son, and you and I will do something fine for France" Paul is saying "For you and me the battle is raging, come let us do something fine for Christ!