Conducting in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ? (1)
“Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
Don’t you have some expectations when you pray for your beloved children? I am sure one of the expectations is that perhaps you want your children to love each other and to be in peace with each other. I am sure no parents want to see their children fighting before their death. All the parents want to see their children live in peace and harmony. Especially as a father of three children, when I pray for my three children, I expect them to grow up in faith in Jesus Christ, working together in the Lord’s church for His glory. I hope and pray that my three children work together in one church as they help each other and do the work of the Lord. But if I they get married later and serve in different churches and do the work of the Lord, I hope that they will help each other indirectly. Someday I will tell my children this.
In today's text Philippians 1:27, Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the saints in Philippian church while he was in the Rome jail, saying to them, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” and he wanted to hear that they were standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. There are four things we should think about:
The first is "stand firm".
When I think about what retired pastor Kim of our church who has been doing mission for many years wants to hear, I think he wants to hear that all our church members are standing firm in faith. Especially, when he hears those church members who are standing firm without being shaken in their difficulties and hardships, I am sure he will be thankful to God and happy. When we look at Philippians 1:27, Paul wanted to hear from the saints of the Philippian church that they were standing firm (v. 27). Especially, Paul wanted to hear that they stand firm in the midst of suffering from their opponents (vv. 27-30). That was why Paul said to the saints of the Philippian church: “Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.”
The Bible says “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13) and “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (15:58). How can we stand firm in the midst of trouble? We can stand firm by faith (2 Cor. 1:24). We can stand firm in our faith when we hold to the traditions which we were taught (2 Thess. 2:15). In this way, it is God who makes us stand firm in Christ (2 Cor. 1:21).
The second is "one spirit".
Do you think that your church members work together for the Lord and His church in one spirit as they help each other? Maybe it is not easy for some people to answer this question entirely "yes." In fact, it is so difficult to have one spirit even in a family such as in a couple relationship, parent-children relationship and sibling relationship. If so, then I doubt that the church members can have one spirit and work together for the Lord and His church. In today's text Philippians 1:27, when Apostle Paul said to the saints of the Philippian church "one spirit," the meaning of the word is “understanding” (Park Yun-sun). If this interpretation is correct, Paul told the Philippian church saints to understand one another. When you look at your church, do you understand that church members are different from each other? Do you have fellowship in the Lord as you understand each other? I am sure we can meet people whom we cannot understand. Since the married couples are different from each other, I am sure the church members are very different from each other. However, the Scripture Philippians 1:27 tells us to stand firm in one spirit and to strive together with one mind for the faith of the gospel. In particular, Paul exhorted Euodia and Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord (4:2). It was because these two women didn’t have one spirit in serving the Philippian church.
How can we work together in one spirit? I looked up the answer in Philippians 2:2-3: “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.” In order for the members of the church to cooperate together in faith for the sake of the gospel, we must all have a humble heart. Only when we all have the humble heart of Jesus can we work together in one spirit, understanding each other and doing the Lord's work. But if there is an arrogant heart in us, we can never work together in unity to do the Lord's work. If we think that "I am better than him/her" then we can never work together in unity to accomplish the work of the Lord. Therefore, if we want to work together with one spirit and to help each other, we must guard our hearts from pride. In particular, we must guard against spiritual superiority. I hope and pray that we imitate Jesus' humble heart so that we can stand firm and work together for the Lord and His church.
The third is "one mind".
Here the word “one mind” refers to “will and desire” (Calvin). Apostle Paul wrote to the saints of the Philippian Church that he wanted to hear that they were standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel (v. 27). In other words, he wanted to hear that they were doing the Lord's work with the same will and desire in the humble heart of the Lord and in fulfilling His will. That was why Paul spoke to the saints of the Philippian church to be "one in purpose" (2:2). How can we have one in purpose and help each other and do the work of the Lord? If we do everything according to our own thoughts and wills, we cannot serve the Lord’s church in one mind and one will. We will do our own work according to our own minds and thoughts. But if we all lay down our mind and our will and pursue the Lord's mind and will together, we will be able to cooperate with the Lord's work in one mind and one will. Therefore, all of us must lay down our will and pursue the Lord's will together. To do so, we must pray to God: “yet not as I will, but as You will” (Mt. 26:39).
The fourth and the last is "for the faith of the gospel".
What does this mean? What does "the faith of the gospel" mean? In order to understand its meaning, we must look at Philippians 1:20, which we have already meditated on. Apostle Paul confessed that “Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (1:20). When we think of this confession, we can say that the faith of the gospel is the Christ-centered life. In other words, the Christ-centered life is thoroughly the gospel center life. ‘The gospel is all for Paul. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is everything for Paul’s life. This shows how he was captured by the gospel of Christ. For the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul jumped in without thinking what he was getting into. 'Faith of the gospel' means the gospel-centered life. ... Faith is the gospel and the gospel is faith. Faith is revealed by the gospel and the gospel is revealed by faith. Paul has professed his gospel-centered life as the faith of the gospel’ (Internet). Apostle Paul exhorted all the saints of the Philippian church to stand firm in one mind and one will for the sake of this faith of the gospel. That is because it was conducting in the manner worthy of the gospel of Christ (v. 27).
Conducting in the manner worthy of the gospel of Christ is to stand in unity and work together for the faith of the gospel. We must listen to this word of Paul and must work together. We all need to stand firm in one spirit. And with one mind we must strive together for the faith of the gospel. We all need to help each other and join forces. We must lay down our pride and imitate Jesus’ humble heart. By doing so, we must live Christ-centered life. All of us should diligently lay down our will before the cross and pursue only the Lord’s will. We must live or die in order to fulfill the Lord’s will alone.