 We're going to be looking at having a conduct that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so beginning here in Philippians chapter 1 verse 27, I'll read to verse 30, Paul writes, Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. Having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me. Now as we begin, I want to do a review. I want to remind you of something we've already seen in chapter 1, verse 23. And I want to start there doing a review and moving up to verse 27. Remember that Paul is now anxious to depart and be with Christ. He had made that very clear when he had said in verse 23, I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which he said is far better. That word depart, I didn't mention this to you last time, that word depart means to unloose a ship from its moorings. It can also be used when you're speaking of breaking camp. So Paul is desiring to leave this world behind because there's something greater, something better, and that is being with the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this is his desire. And yet though he has a great desire to leave to be with Christ, which he says is far better, the bottom line is it's more needful for him to remain with the church. Now Paul has been enduring struggles. We need to remember that there have been a lot of pain, a lot of persecution, a lot of tribulation in the life of the Apostle Paul. When he was writing to the church of Corinth, and you see this in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, he began to share just in his letter some of the things that he'd gone through. It's found in 2 Corinthians 11 verses 23 through 28. Let me read to you some of the things that Paul was dealing with. Now he was speaking concerning some false teachers who were creeping in to the church there in Corinth and was beginning to, they were beginning to influence these believers. And Paul was concerned about them. They were referring to themselves basically as the eminent ones or the super apostles. And so he began to speak concerning these false teachers who referred to themselves were likened unto super apostles. He said, Are they ministers of Christ? Then he goes on to say, I speak as a fool. I am more in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I've been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of water, perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches. So Paul could have a desire to depart for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he went through great struggles and great pain. He would have a great desire to leave, to be with the Lord, which he says is far better. Even as he's writing, he's in jail, he's chained to a Roman guard. So the thought of departing and being with the Lord would be great. But he says, I prefer not to depart, because it's to your advantage that I remain with you. Now, what is the benefit of doing so well? In verse 25, he said, being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith. I want to be a benefit to you because I want you to grow. That word progress speaks of an advancement in the faith. It speaks about their quality of life as well as the molding of their character. He speaks of the joy of faith. That's what they will personally experience as they work out their own salvation. And so with this advancement and joy, well, it's going to be greater when Paul comes to them after his release. So their cause is going to be greater because they're going to rejoice together in what the Lord has done, and that reveals his belief that he's going to be released and not executed. So as we get into verse 27, he's continuing. And that's why he says, only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. So Paul remains greatly concerned that their lives reflect the grace of God in everything that they do. He had already prayed that their love would abound in knowledge and discernment, that they would approve excellent things, that they'd be sincere without offense until the day of Christ, and that they would be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus to the glory of God. So now what he's going to do, and this is what we're going to be looking at tonight, is he's exhorting them to godly living. Notice in verse 27 how he says, let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. Now when he says, let your conduct be worthy of the gospel, this is what is called an imperative. He's actually appealing to their wills. This is something they can choose to do or not to do. You can make a choice. You can choose to live worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ or to rebel against that. So he's saying, I'm appealing to your will. I want you to live a godly life and though you could choose to live an ungodly one. So determine in yourself that you're going to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, that you're going to live up to the claims of the gospel. In chapter 1 in Colossians in verse 10 he had said this. He said, we pray this in order that you might live a life worthy of the Lord. They may please him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. So having a way of life that is worthy of the gospel is evidence of the reality of salvation. I was reading something just this morning about the different ways that the Hebrews, that the Jews would read scripture and think, versus how the Greeks would think. And the Greeks had a tendency of equating knowledge with simply the accumulation of facts and information. So if they spent time studying and started growing in knowledge, they equated that with spiritual maturity. And there are a lot of people who are pretty much like Greeks. They know a lot of scripture and they equate the amount of scripture that they're able to quote with spiritual maturity. But that's not necessarily true. The Hebrews didn't think that way and didn't teach that way. The Hebrews believed that that knowledge was not simply the accumulation of information, but that it was the application of that information that brought a transformation in a person's life. And so when you not only hear it, but when you do it, that's why Jesus said, you're not only to hear, but you're also to do. Don't be like James said, a forgetful hearer, somebody who receives but never applies it. Remember that James was writing to Jews. And so he was saying, don't be forgetful. You need to take what the Lord has said, put it into practice, because it's in the application that you understand the depth of what God is communicating. So it's one thing, and some of you have seen this, it's one thing to have a pastor who's like me when I started this church, I was 30 years old. I can go beyond that. I can say, when I started teaching Bible studies, I was 23. How much did I really know about life at the age of 23? Not a whole lot, not an awful lot at all. How much do you know at 23? Now 23-year-old in here say, what do you want me to tell you? I know plenty. No, well, you may have information, but it takes time for transformation. The Jews didn't even consider you to be a mature individual until you were over 30 years of age. You were still just a youth. That's why Paul would say, let no one despise your youth when he spoke to Timothy. You're supposed to be an example of the believer, because the older members of your community will look at you as a snotty nose kid, knowing nothing because you're inexperienced in life. And so what you need to do is you need to be an example of what a believer really is. You're a believer by example, you're a believer demonstrating that you know God by the conduct of your life. And so I've never been impressed as long as I can remember with somebody who's able to quote a scripture. I think that's a good thing and every believer ought to be able to. What I'm really impressed by is the person who lives out that scripture, because that tells me that they understand the things of the Lord. They're putting into practice what they know. And so to walk worthy of the gospel is to live a life that's appropriate. To walk worthy of the gospel is to know that the Word of God has certain demands. He has even commands to us and that those commands as we obey them simply because we are commanded to do so, as we do so and apply faith to those things and trust the Lord and obey his commands because he has given those commands. We actually are transformed. We actually grow as a result of that. There are so many people who say, well, I don't want to be a hypocrite. If I just do that without the motivation being proper, then I'm a hypocrite. Well, I believe that if you really want to know the things of the Lord and you do them even if you don't feel like doing them, that you're actually going to grow. You're going to be transformed because in obedience, God manifests himself and he can show you the joy of doing those things and mature you as you do so if your motivation is correct. And so walking appropriately, walking worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, having a way of life that is worthy evidence is the reality of your salvation. And so Paul is simply saying to the Philippians, I want you to live out your Christian life in a tangible way. And the evidence of your new life is going to be the way that you live. It's going to be your conduct, your way of life, your manner of life should be the evidence of the power of the gospel, the power of the gospel which is able to change a human being's life. It's one thing to answer an altar call. It's another thing to walk away from that altar call and have an altered life. Sometimes people walk up for a variety of reasons. It's not always because they were convicted. Sometimes they're simply guilty. Sometimes they're being made to do that. I gave an invitation, I'll never forget the invitation, there were these two young people up there. And as I looked down at these two young people, they were probably 20, 21 years old. Standing directly behind them was an older woman. And these two young people had scowls on their face. They were not happy at all. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that mom grabbed all of them and dragged them up there and made them go forward. I've seen that more than once. But they're up there, but there's no heart of repentance. They're being forced to do that. So when you get saved and you're right with God, it's going to be demonstrated by a transformed life. It's called walking worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that's what Paul is saying here. And when you're walking worthy of the gospel, there's going to be an evidence that God really is alive working in you. And there's going to be an evidence that you become a citizen of another land, a citizen of another kingdom. I've traveled a bit in my years. I've gone to a lot of countries. And some of you have too. And you know what I'm about to say is true. You can spot an American anywhere. You can go into Europe and bingo, there's an American. Just the way we dress, the way we speak, the way we act. And you don't even have to say that you're an American. They'll look at you and they'll know. They know that you're an American simply by the way that you act. The way that you dress, the way that you speak, just the way that you act gives away your citizenship. They can look at you and they'll say that that is an American. And sometimes Americans can be really obnoxious. We can. We can be. I have to admit that. That's true. We really expect things. I mean, we're Burger King people. We want it our way. And that's kind of the way that we are. And we're that way everywhere. If we don't get our order just right, if it doesn't come just in time, go to an Italian restaurant in Italy. How many of you have done that so I know who I'm talking to? You go to an Italian restaurant. How long does it take to get your food? It takes forever because they actually enjoy their meals. For us, a meal is let's get it down because I got things to do. What's up? But with them, that's not how it is at all. You'll be sitting there and they'll walk by. They kind of figure that you're in that restaurant because you want to be with the people you're with. They figure you actually want to spend time with those people. How novel is that? And then they'll bring your food when they feel like it. And then you eat it for a while. Then you look around. Where's the rest? Then they'll bring something. You can be in a restaurant for two hours, two and a half hours. And it's very typical. It's not abnormal at all. You'll see that in various places. You do that here in the United States and the waiter or the waitress are, you know, they're not happy at all. Why? Because you're taking up space that could be occupied by another person who will leave them a tip and make their time worthwhile. We as Americans see things that way, but people in foreign lands don't. They have a different way of doing things. So American gets all frustrated going into a restaurant, go into England and sit down at the restaurant and expect to get water. You don't get water unless you ask for it. And when you ask for it, it's always tap water. It's all lukewarm. So you have to say, can you please put ice in it? Now we're used to them coming, filling up our glass. It's just different in the different countries that I've been in. You'll see that to be true. And you go to China and they serve you your dog. If you say, I want a hot dog, watch out. You will get one right off the street. It's just different in different countries. It's true. It's what you expect and it's the way it is. And sometimes Americans just really aren't people that you are really proud of being associated with. And sometimes when you'll walk up to some people and you'll ask them, do you speak English? They'll look at you for a second. Then they'll go a little, which you really don't know what that means. I was in a train station back in 75. And there was an American who was kind of like just, she walks up to me and you know, I'm looking at her and she says, excuse me, do you speak English? I looked at her and I go, a little. I became European for just a moment. Sometimes just by the way that you act, the way that you speak, you are just totally identifiable. Well, the bottom line is, as Christians, our behavior reveals our citizenship. In 1 Peter in chapter two, verses 11 and 12, the apostle said, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires, which were against your soul. He said, live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. You are aliens and you are strangers. So as we look at this passage here, we need to realize first who Paul is addressing. He's writing to believers and so that would pertain to us because we too are believers. So he says again, let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Now what does he mean? Well, he's saying that this applies to all believers because every Christian should live properly. He's not writing to some super dedicated, very spiritual saint. He's writing to everyone. So he gives us insight into what it means to walk worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And let me give you a few things that give us qualities of walking worthy of the gospel. First, walking worthy would mean that they had a good reputation. Notice what he says in verse 27 when he says, whether I come or see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit. One, he's saying, you're going to have a good reputation. I am going to hear of the way that you live. I'm going to hear of your affairs. This gives us insight that Paul is anticipating or receiving a report of how they're doing. And he's going to receive that from Timothy. Chapter 2 verse 19 reveals that he's going to be sending Timothy to them. And when Timothy returns, he's going to tell Paul about them. So he's anticipating hearing a good report of them from Timothy. So the first quality, the quality that we would have walking worthy of the gospel is one of a good reputation, having a good name. When you walk worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you're going to have a good reputation amongst men. You're going to have what would be called and has been called in the past. You're going to have a good name. Proverbs 22 verse 1 says, a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and loving favor rather than silver and gold. A good name, a great reputation should be chosen rather than riches. Ecclesiastes chapter 7 verse 1 says a good name is better than fine perfume. So the spiritual moral excellence of their lives produces what is called an excellent reputation. And even though he's in prison, Paul will hear about that. Now something some don't consider it's how their behavior affects their pastor. Some people never even realize that their behavior, their reputation in the community, the way that they live actually affects the people who love them the most. A lot of people, I can tell you in my ministry experience that a lot of people don't even care how it affects the pastor. They just don't care because there's this attitude, especially today, I am who I am and it really doesn't matter if you like it or not, this is who I am and that's just the way it is. And they don't realize that the way that they live affects the people who love them the most. The way that they live affects their family, the way that they live affects their church, the way that they live affects the reputation of their pastor. And people don't understand that because they'll say, I have people say, oh I saw one of your sheep the other day and they want to give a report about it. One of your sheep. And so it affects you and for Paul it was something important for him to hear that they were doing well. It would cause him to have great joy to hear that. It reminds me of what we see in 3rd John, verse 3, where John said, it gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. It gives me great joy. It gives me as a pastor great joy when people will say to me, I met somebody from the church there and I have to tell you what a blessing they were to me. That really blesses me. And by the way, I should say this very rapidly. I hear more of that than anything else. I hear good reputation. This church has a good reputation. I'm thankful to God for it. A lot of you serve the Lord, not just here. You serve in your community. And that comes back to me. And so John had great joy to hear that his children, if you will, were walking in the truth and Paul would too. So he wants them to live lives that glorify the Lord. Why? Because that safeguards the name of Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus is never to be dragged through the mud. When a believer or somebody who professes to say, I have a relationship with God, lives in an ungodly way, it demeans the name of Jesus Christ. It gives the Gospel the appearance that it's ineffective to change lives. It actually undermines the effectiveness of preaching the Word of God and sharing. I wonder how many in this room have been sharing with somebody about Jesus, to somebody you know or love, a co-worker, a neighbor, maybe somebody in school, family member. And they look at you for a while and then they finally say, well, wait a minute, you know, you're telling me about a gospel, this and that. Well, let me tell you, I have a friend or I was in a church or whatever, a neighbor, my parents. And they profess to be Christians, but they were the worst example of anybody I've ever seen to be somebody who's a Christian. And so to me, that's nothing but hypocrisy. I wonder how many of us have encountered that. I guess every one of us, if you share your faith, have had at least one conversation with somebody who says, no, I've met Christians and they're hypocrites. I've met Christians. They don't do what they say. See, what happens when we go out and live unworthy of the Gospel is we undermine the effectiveness of the message of the Gospel and we ultimately bring the name of Christ into, into disrepute. When David and Bathsheba had their terrible affair and she ended up in the condition that she did, it was said in 2 Samuel chapter 12 verse 14 to David, because by this deed, you have given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blast fiend. The child also who is born to you shall surely die. You gave the enemies of the Lord the opportunity to blast fiend God by the way that you live, David. And as a result of that, the child will die. What God has called us to do instead is to live in such a way that people would see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven, that they would see the way that you live and say, truly there is a God because look at what happened to you. What did happen to you? Because a lot of your friends, your family members know exactly what you've been. They know you. And then they see this transformation. They may not say something by the way quickly. As a matter of fact, they generally don't. They usually watch you for some time. Sometimes they watch you for years. They're just waiting for you to fall because they know you're going to. They know you're going to do something stupid. They're just waiting. They know you. They may even tell you when you're going to give up the act, when you're going to be what you used to be. You haven't changed. I know you. You're my brother. I was raised with you. I've seen you go through this and you're going to come out of that. That's what my brother told me. When I got saved, my brother Frankie told me that. He said, this is just another one of those fads that you've been in. How long is it going to take until you no longer are a Christian? Because your brothers or your sisters can think that way. They can see you that way. And so when you jump back into the world and backslide and all of that, they see it and it brings the gospel to disrepute. So God has said, no, live in such a way that you bring glory to me. A second thing we see in verse 27 here in Philippians chapter one is he says, you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. So walking worthy includes unity. And when you have a heart that desires unity, it makes evangelism possible. Now, unity is not just the absence of disagreement and unity is not just the absence of arguing. Much of what passes for unity today is simply compromise. People don't want to hold fast to something very, very firmly and so they just compromise it. That's not what unity is. What he's saying is, I want you to stand fast together for the faith of the gospel. So the church is to be united in its desire to know and to share the gospel of God. It should be unshakable in its desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we may not all be evangelists. Not everybody has the gift of evangelism. You know, Greg Laurie just recently, as we know, you know, once again was out there preaching the gospel and thousands of people, 120 people showed up to hear the message of the gospel. Several thousand people came forward and evangelism. Not everybody is called to be an evangelist. Not everybody has that gift. But all of us are called to be witnesses. All of us can share our faith. We can do it by the way we live. Yes, we're a silent witness. But we also do it in the way that we speak and all of that. And so, the desire should be for us to be witnesses of the things of God. And so, as you study the word of God, all you need to do, if you're reading it, is just be willing to regurgitate it, if you will, just to speak out what you just recently read. A lot of what you get in my Bible studies is simply regurgitation, to be honest with you. It's that I've been reading and looking at and I stand up here and I share what I'm taking in. And I read something about the Hebrews and the way they do things and it finds its way into my Bible studies. That's how that works. And so, if you're stagnant, if you're not in the Word, if you're not studying, if you're not in fellowship, you're basically going to have the same testimony that you give all the time. Same basic message. I say you have a guitar with one string. You're always playing the same tune, always the same thing, because there's nothing fresh. But when you're walking with the Lord and taking in the things of God and you're growing, then you're only going to share what God has given to you. It's like Matthew 12.34 says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak. And as you become a witness and you begin to share and as you stand there for the faith of the gospel, God is going to move through that. Walking worthy of the gospel is having a heart of unity. It's standing fast in the Word of God, sharing it. He says in verse 28, And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God, walking worthy includes being courageous in the face of adversity and opposition. It would seem that the Philippians were undergoing persecution from the Roman citizens at Philippi. The citizens were proud of the Roman rights. They would persecute Christians. Pagans would honor Caesar in public gatherings and Christians would not. So this united rejection of Christians would produce conditions of severe intimidation, they would be terrified. So Paul is encouraging them not to give in to the pressure to be like everybody else. Persecution and rejection is something that they had been prepared for by the Lord and they should be ready when it comes. If I were to have a hand raised here, how many of you want to be persecuted? I don't know, very many people would raise their hands. Oh yeah, please, may I be, I'd like to be today. Most people don't want to be. I don't. It's not like I wake up in the morning and I say, Oh Lord, please, may someone beat me today in Jesus' name. Amen. I cling that promise. Thank you. No, I don't do that. I am like anybody else. I want to avoid as much discomfort as I can. That's just a bottom line truth. But you can't always avoid. There are times that somebody has to stand up and somebody has to say something. And sometimes it's you. Is it easy? No, it isn't easy. It isn't easy. But what you do is you just speak what you know is true. You don't go any further. And when you start to speak, you simply say what God places on your heart and you do it. Now that doesn't mean that you're walking down the street and you see a bunch of hell's angels over here and I think I'll walk up and share the gospel. Hey boys, you're all going to hell. Now when you're beat up, that was not wise. That was not a wise thing to do. You have to be wise. But if you're putting a position where you sense the Holy Spirit is saying you need to open your mouth, I've discovered that there's a great joy in doing that. There really is. You will be surprised. You will be so surprised how God meets you there and how God moves. You be so surprised. I mean, you'll say things that are so wise sometimes that you start thinking, man, I wish I had a tape recorder. I put this on K wave and everybody could hear it. I'd have my own program. There are times that you can say things that you just know it's the Holy Spirit. And you say it in the face of opposition. I used to be in college, in secular school, intimidated by the doctors who were teaching the class. And here I am, a guy who graduated from high school with a D minus average, you know, not a real good student, not very intelligent, but a believer. And I would be in the class and things would be said. And I would, I would get grieved and I'm a new believer two, three years old in the Lord, four years old, a new believer. And inside my heart would just start to race and my body would actually begin to shake sometimes. I would have such and it would a war inside. And I'd be saying, Lord, somebody needs to say something. This is wrong. What's being said is wrong. Somebody ought to say something. I was the somebody, but I was looking. Oh, Jesus, it's got to be somebody else. You know, like Isaiah, you know, when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up and he saw the glory of the Lord and all and the question was asked, who shall I send for us? You know, Isaiah didn't say there he is, Lord, send him, you know, because I would have, you know, there's got to be somebody else. But I say, I said here, am I Lord? Send me. And that's how it works. And you just say what's the Lord puts on your heart. No more, no less. You don't get belligerent. You don't come off obnoxiously. You don't act arrogantly. You actually have some trembling in your heart. But just speak the truth because it's the truth that sets people free. It isn't easy. It isn't easy to stand up and speak the truth. People will say, you know, pastor, you have a lot of boldness. You have a lot of courage. I speak to a group of people who agree with me most of the time. It's not like I'm standing there on, you know, Gay Pride Day in a soapbox yelling at 100,000 people. You're all going to hell, by the way. I don't do that. I leave that to Raul. I don't do that. But I will take the time if God gives to me the opportunity to explain the love of Jesus Christ to people because you ought to. And there are times that people will disagree and some people do so with anger. You have to have the wisdom to, you know, step back and keep it calm. But you need to speak none the last. And these people here were people who were willing to speak the truth in the face of adversity and they were not terrified of their adversaries. So walking worthy includes being courageous in the face of adversity and opposition. In Matthew chapter 10 verse 22, Jesus said, you will be hated by all for my name's sake. In Psalm 27 verse 10, it says, when my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Now you stand up courageously. It's a part of walking worthy of the gospel. But notice in verse 28 how he says, which is to them a proof of perdition. Your courage, in other words, in the face of adversity will be a sure sign of the futility of opposing the gospel. Just your courage in the face of persecution demonstrates the reality of your faith. I knew a man by the name of Moses Paulos. Moses Paulos is an Indian missionary. And many years ago now, Moses had been given an opportunity, an invitation to go into a village. But in reality, that opportunity was not in good faith. It was with the intent of killing him. And so he and his son, who was very young at the time, went into this village thinking that the elders of the village wanted to hear the claims of Christ. But when they got to the village, the people who had invited him took him into the center of town. And they tied him and his son to the oldest tree in the village. They tied them to the tree and they took out rods and they beat them until they were unconscious. They were beating them literally to death. Then they sent for the village skinner because they have someone in that village who actually skins human beings. And they sent for the man to come and skin Moses and his son. They were going to be skinned alive. Well, he was gone by the providence of God. And after they had beaten Moses, they left him there. And Moses was able to be rescued. And he went back to his own village. It took him a long time to heal. His son took even longer, beaten almost to death. But you know what happened when Moses recovered? Moses Paulos and his son went back to that village, the village that he had been beaten in almost to death. A village where they were going to skin him alive. Because he believed that God had said, you need to be there to bring my word to these people. And he went back. And when he went back into the village, the elders were waiting for him. They actually met him as he entered in. And they said, we have been waiting, hoping that you would come back. Because then they took him to the center square, the tree that he had been tied to had died. And it turns out that that is a tree that they did all their pagan worship under. And so they said, we know that we have offended your God. Because this tree that is our sacred symbol is dead. What shall we do to make your God not angry with us any longer? And so when he entered in, he gave him the gospel. And in that village, Moses planted a church and many villagers came to faith in Jesus Christ. Remaining strong in the face of opposition has a tendency of taking the gospel claims into a new plane. And that's what happened there. When you stand strong in the things of the Lord and you don't back down. Listen, I'm pretty experienced in arguing with people and all of that, but I can't win every argument. I know that. I know there are people out there that are so brilliant. So I don't get into arguments that are beyond my ability to communicate simple things. I just don't. I don't try and act smart. I just know what's true. And I'll just say, listen, whatever you may think, and yeah, it sounds ridiculous. All I know is that God loved us. He sent his son. Jesus died on the cross. I have embraced that, been transformed by that. My life is blessed by that. And we'll leave it there. And you can ask God whether that's true or not, if you'd like. But it is true. See, I'm not going to get into these arguments and all. And sometimes the people don't like, sometimes they write things about me. Sometimes they say things. You know what? That's all right because they're not saying about me. They're really angry at the Lord because all I am is this messenger anyway. So you deliver the message and you stand fast. You just hold strong. You just trust and believe that it's the truth. Now in opposing, the only means by which they can be saved, what he's saying is they're ensuring their own judgment because by rejecting mercy, the only thing left is judgment. In John 3.36, we read, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life. God's wrath remains on him. Now notice in verse 29, he says, for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also, he says, to suffer for his sake. So part of the privilege of faith is the participation in the full life of Christ, which includes persecution. In verse 30, he goes on and says, having the same conflict which you saw in me, and now here is in me. So Paul's in prison, suffering for the sake of Jesus, and they suffer too. Now they've seen him suffer, and they know that even in the time of the writing, he's in prison. Part of the congregation receiving this letter would be the Philippian jailer that he had led to Christ. And so they're aware of the fact that Paul has suffered. And so he goes on and says in verse 1 of chapter 2, therefore, if there's any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord of one mind. Walking worthy. Walking worthy is revealed by compassion, fueled by the love of God. When undergoing persecution, loving consolation is always welcome. God's love to those in pain is seen through comfort and fellowship, through affection and mercy. Christianity is not a faith evidenced by and only the strong, survived mentality. It's fueled by a mentality of coming alongside of the one hurting and caring for them. One of the things that you're walking worthy of the gospel is you have a compassionate heart. There's only one person I know who can say, how long will I put up with you? How long will I suffer with you? And that's Jesus himself. And he has good reason to say that to us sometimes. And how long am I going to put up with you? But some of us have said that to brothers and sisters because they sing the same old song over and over again and you get frustrated and you get tired and you see him coming towards you in church and suddenly you're looking at your feet, like, oh, I hope they don't see me. If I stand still and act like a tree, maybe they'll just walk past me. Compassion. Compassion. The ability to suffer along somebody else and feel their own pain. Feel their pain? Compassion. That's something that's direct from the heart of God. It's something that not everybody has. I think the part of the reason that not everybody has that is because most of us human beings in general are pretty much self-serving. If it doesn't make me feel good, why would I do it for somebody else? It doesn't make sense to me. Compassion. But you can't be a Christian without it. It's the mark of a believer. Jesus said that people will know that you're his disciple by the love you have for one another. And compassion. When somebody is hurting, somebody is crying. When somebody needs an arm around the shoulder. When somebody needs an ear to speak to. When somebody needs human attention. It's a very important thing. When somebody reaches out and touches a person who hasn't been touched. Perhaps all day. And just reaches and holds their hand and prays with them for a minute in church. That's a big thing. Some of us don't understand that. Mike was sharing with me recently. Mike Hollahan was sharing something with me recently about a young man who gets his hair cut every week. He goes to the barber every week. And Mike was saying, you know why he does that? Why he goes every week? That's the only time in the week that anybody ever reaches out and touches that young man. It's the only time another human being ever touches him. And he's willing to spend his money every week to get a haircut. So that the person cutting his hair will actually tenderly touch him. Now, isn't that an amazing thing? I mean, some of you say, oh, I don't believe that. No, that's absolutely true. In this church, there are people who come on a Sunday morning. And when we pray and we hold one another's hands, it's the only time anybody's touched them. I guarantee you. It's the only time anybody has reached out and touched them, guaranteed. Some of you know that I really enjoy my Facebook. I do. It gives me opportunity to minister. And I do a little devotional thoughts every morning. First thing in the morning, I'll write something. But if you're one of my Facebook friends, you know this is true. I was talking to Marie, my wife, and I and I said, you know, there are people in my church who are widows, who for many years in their life woke up every morning to a husband who would when they're awake would look at them and say, good morning, baby. I love you every morning, every morning, sometimes 10, 15, 20, 30 years. That's what they heard every morning. Good morning, baby. I love you. But the man died. And they don't hear that anymore. They don't hear that. They don't hear that. They don't have somebody reaching over him, tapping him on the shoulder. Good morning, baby. I love you. They don't. I'm aware of that. I'm aware of that as a pastor. I'm aware of that as a man who has a mom who's a widow. I'm aware of that. And I know that in my mom's life for over 50 years, her husband would wake up next to her and say, good morning, mom. I love you every morning. I love you and touch. We have people who come to this church who have not heard the words, I love you, who come to this church who haven't had anybody reach over and just touch their hand. They haven't had that. They miss it. We need other people. We need human beings to touch us. We do. I need someone to say, I'm here. I need that. I can't get that by watching TV. I can't get that by turning on the internet and watching church on a screen. It doesn't happen that way. I've got to be around people, the noises and the real. Not the virtual. I have to be with the real because that's what makes me alive. Not just watching things, but being part of something. Part of the church, part of being part of the church is being amongst a group of people that you don't necessarily choose to be with at a time that you don't necessarily choose to be there. That's the church. We gather together because that's life. That's how it works. And that's how we grow. So you know what I do with my Facebook? You thought I forgot. No, I'll get to it. Every morning I'll give a devotion of thought and every morning I'll say, good morning. We love you because for somebody, that means something. And I know it does. I know it does. Good morning. We love you. They need to know that. Don't you think that? They need to know that. Where did that come from? Where does that compassion come from? It comes from the Lord. It comes from the Lord. It comes, I'm sorry, from hearing broken hearts. That's where it comes from. From putting your arm around somebody who's lost somebody and weeping with them. It's softened me, man. When I was 20, I could care less about anybody else. But as I've grown older, I've heard too much pain. I've seen too much sorrow. I've seen a lot of tears and it's changed my life. That's how it works, compassion. And it comes by being willing to embrace somebody else's pain. That is the mark of a believer. And then finally, I'm going to wrap up now. Walking worthy of the gospel. Well, in verse three, he says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out, not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Walking worthy of the gospel is a heart of humility. Let nothing be done, he says, through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind. Strive vain glory speaks of a party spirit. It's a mentality of striving for human praise. So instead of exalting oneself, we learn to care for others. We learn that the person who's willing to be a servant is really the greatest in the kingdom. So the church isn't to be divided through party spirit and hunger for attention from other people. Those attitudes destroy the unity and will quench the spirit. Distrive, that's in a human heart. Well, the answer to that condition is humility of spirit. It's lowliness. He speaks of lowliness, which is a modest opinion of yourself. It's a meekness, an insight into your own insignificance. And what happens is you begin to see yourself as you truly are and then you have a sacrificial love for other people. You begin, as he says in verse four, to look out for other people's interests. So instead of coming to church to be served, you learn to serve other people. I've shared this with you. It was in this room when our church just moved here back in 92, 93 actually it took place in 93 but we moved here in 92. I gave a Sunday morning service. I stepped down from this platform area and I was standing right here in the front. A visitor approached me and said to me, I'd like you to know, and this is my very first time here in the church. And she said to me, I would like to know what this church has to offer me. I said the door. No, I, as I was, and don't let it hit you. As I, she said I would like to know what this church has to offer me. And I looked at her and smiled. She had just said, this is my first day here. What does this church have to offer me? And I smiled at her. I said, the question isn't what this church has to offer you. The question is what have you brought here to offer to the church? Because we don't come to church just to get. We come to church to be equipped to give. So the real question is not do we, what do we have to give to you? What do you bring here to give to somebody else? She didn't come back. I'm surprised. It was my own mother. I can't believe it. But isn't that the way it is? Isn't that how we think? Isn't that how we select places we go, clubs we want to be part of? What does it have to offer me? That's not the question. The question is, what am I bringing in to offer to somebody else? You know, you have what you used to call potlucks. We don't call them potluck here. We change that to pot faith. No real reason to do that other than I don't believe in luck. So they're pot faith. Doesn't really matter. It's just food. But you're invited to somebody's house for a meal and everybody's supposed to bring something. So you bring a bag of Fritos and other people bring steaks and salads. And you come in with your Frito, yeah, put it down and then you eat everybody else's food. Now that's not how it works. What did you bring to give is the question. And that's really, it really is a sign of whether or not we have understood what it means when Jesus said is more blessed to give than to receive. And when the Lord has called us to follow him, we're not looking after our own interests. You know, how is it going to profit me? What makes me better? How am I going to feel about this? When God is working in your life and you're walking worthy of the gospel, you begin to reverse from it's all about me and it becomes all about him. And when it becomes all about him, it's now going to be how can I serve you? How can I minister to you? Call this church office and listen to what our receptionists say when they answer the phone. Some of you have called here and you can say what they say. You know what they say? Calvary Chapel, Chino Valley, how may I serve you? They were taught that because that's what we're here to do. How may I serve you? How can I be a blessing in your life starts the minute you call the church? Because we have gotten that out of this passage here. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others. Walking worthy is caring about other people and that is what the Lord has called us to do.