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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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0:00 Today, we're going to study the book of Philippians. We're going to be in chapter 2, sorry, chapter 1 verses 27 all the way to chapter 2 and verse 4. And I've titled this0:12 sermon, Jesus, Others, and You. And the reason for this is because Paul in this episode is sharing with us a joyful letter. And as we are0:23 examining his attitude of joy, how come his heart is so filled with joy in the midst of the circumstances that he is facing? In my previous sermon, I already listed 3 things he was facing. He was0:35 facing critics, he was facing chains, and he was also facing the crisis of death. But even in the midst of all of that, Paul still found joy in the gospel. And0:47 today, we're gonna ask ourselves this question, how do we live a gospel centered life? How do we live a gospel centered life in the midst of opposition0:59 from outside? In the midst of competition from within the church? So this is a key question for us to ask because this could be the main reason why Paul wrote the book of1:10 Philippians. The reason he wrote is probably because he heard from Epaphroditus that there are disunity, there is at least 2 ladies whose names are mentioned in chapter 41:22 that are maybe not agreeing together in the Lord. And so Paul is writing this that this is vital because what starts with a personality clash can end up becoming a1:34 division within the church. So he addresses that issue here but here in chapter 1 and verse 27, it takes the turn to talk about unity and I want to1:46 ask ourselves this question, how are we to live a gospel centered life? Story was told of a soldier in the army of Alexander the Great. This1:58 soldier was misbehaving so they brought him into the presence of Alexander the Great. So Alexander the Great asked him, what is your name? With a trembling voice, the2:09 soldier replied, my name is Alexander, sir. And Alexander the Great asked him again, what is your name? And again with a trembling voice, replied, my name is2:21 Alexander, the same as yours. To that, Alexander the Great shouted at him and said, either change your name or change your ways.2:33 I want you to pay attention to this poignant story. You and I, when we walk in a manner that is unworthy of the gospel, do you know who gets the blame?2:45 Christ gets the blame. That is why you and I are held to a higher standard in the New Testament. You and I when we truly give our life to Christ, God calls us to live a life that is2:57 worthy of the gospel. And that worthy of the gospel will be a witness to the people around us. It will be contrary to the culture. So you and I, we need to pay attention to this. We are called to3:09 be not only be converted people, we are called to be countercultural people. And not only countercultural people, but we are called to be consecrated people. That3:20 indeed our purposes, our our our everything is yielded to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I shared with you earlier what it means to believe in the gospel. What is the gospel? The gospel is3:32 3 things. In my previous sermon, I addressed this to you. Number 1, gospel is a message to believe. It is a message about Christ that we need to believe, that he came3:44 to die for us, that he took our place so we can take his place. Because he became sin, we become righteousness of God. That God punished him on our behalf and today we are blessed because3:56 we are in him. That is the gospel. It's a message that Christ has accomplished the work on the cross permanently, eternally for us. And that is the message we believe. Secondly, the gospel is not only a4:08 message to believe, it is a person to receive. Gospel is acknowledging that Jesus Christ is not only our savior but He is also the rightful owner of our lives. That is what means to4:20 say Jesus Christ is Lord. That we acknowledge that Jesus is our king, that this invisible king living within us through his spirit will now lead us and rule over us.4:31 And that is the gospel. That we now have a king in our lives. Not only it's a message to believe, not only it's a person to receive, but it's also a life to live. In other words, we are4:43 called to live a gospel centered life. We are called to live a life that is worthy of the gospel. So in chapter 1 verses 27 to verses 30, Paul4:55 gives us the understanding of the call of the gospel is to live a worthy life. Then from chapter 2 verses 1 to 4, Paul gives us the challenge of the gospel5:07 which is to live others focused life. So you and I, we need to capture these 2 things. How do we live a gospel centered life in the midst of opposition that comes from outside and5:19 in the midst of competition that may happen or may arise within the church? How do we live a gospel centered life? So firstly, he says, we ought to live, the call of the5:31 gospel is to live a worthy life. Go with me to verse 27. And I want you to pay attention to verse 27 because it begins with the word only. Only5:43 let the manner of your life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Only. Now whenever the first word in the in the Greek, it's always the emphasis, isn't it? So here he brings5:54 the only. In other words, if he says if you forget everything else I'm gonna say to you, if there is 1 thing that is critical for you to understand and apply, if there is 1 thing for you to grasp and lay hold of, it is6:06 this 1 thing. What is it? What is the central thing that he's trying to teach the Philippians through this letter? He says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. I love6:18 that word worthy. What is that word worthy? It is the word that describes, you know if you visit a construction site and you find them carrying beams in a crane, isn't6:30 it? To the top level and as they are lifting up these heavy beams, large beams, you know what they have to do? They have to create a kind of a triangle, isn't it? They have to cry a6:42 pulley in that sense to carry it and it has to be balanced so that the beam won't fall off. In other words, that's the balance he is talking about. Be worthy. In other words, there has to be a balance. How do you6:54 balance it? The balance between the position of who you are in Christ and the practice of how you live as Christian in this world. There has to be the worthiness. The worthiness is you are7:05 positionally right with God. But practically every single day we repent and we walk in simple obedience before God. And that is the worthiness he's talking about. So he says only let your manner of7:17 life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. I want you to pay attention to that word manner of life. It is that word in in the Greek, it is the word. This7:29 word, the word politeo polis is the word for city and politeomai is a verb that comes from the word that you in the noun form, it is used as7:41 citizenship. I want you to go with me to Philippians chapter 3 and verse 20 and here Paul uses that same word and he says, our citizenship is in heaven7:53 and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The word citizenship is the noun word here of that same word polityomai And that polityomai means this, that he is8:04 coming back to us to say, only let your manner of life. In other words, you got to live a life that is worthy of the gospel. As how? As gospel citizens. As citizens of8:16 the kingdom of God, as colony of heaven on earth. You and I we need to live a life that represents the kingdom of heaven. Listen to me carefully. He is writing to8:28 the Philippian church. Where is the city of Philippi? You know in Acts chapter 16 we read this in verse 12 when he reached, when Paul reached Philippi, Luke when he writes this,8:40 Doctor. Luke he says which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. So people who live in Philippi, people who live in this city already know what it means to be a8:51 colony. What is the word colony? Colony is Rome has now captured the city and Rome has established a colony of Rome here in Philippi. In other words,9:03 people in Philippi follow the customs, the traditions, the language, they even have the same cuisine, what they do, the way they talk, the way they behave. It's very similar to9:15 Rome. In the same manner, Paul is using that same, same, idea here and he says, you and I are citizens of the gospel. You are citizens of the kingdom of God. That means you and I9:27 have to live a manner that represents that gospel to the world. So live in a manner that is worthy. In other words, live as citizens of the kingdom of God. You know,9:38 when when the British ruled India, Indians, especially in the South India, we are from the Dravidian heritage. Right? So the Dravidians9:50 started to dress up like the British. So when we used to have a different kind of clothing, now we wear the western clothing. We used to speak in our regional mother tongues and10:01 languages, now we speak English. What happened? What happened is that we embrace the culture of the colony. We became a colony of Britain and therefore we started to do what British10:13 people did. The same thing. Here he says, you are citizens of heaven. You are citizens of the kingdom of God. Therefore, live like those citizens. Only this is the call of the gospel.10:25 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. This is why Paul writes and he says, we are the ambassadors for Christ. Again, it's a it's a language of citizenship10:36 and representing your kingdom. We are ambassadors of Christ. When he writes to second Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20 and then in second Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 2, he says, you are the letter that is going to10:48 be read by all. Other words, the way you live your life is the gospel for many people. That's when they will know that there is a king in your life. That's when they know that you belong to a kingdom. Your10:59 citizenship is not that you belong to this earthly world. Even though you are in the world, you are not of the world, that your citizenship is in heaven. Hallelujah. And this is what Paul has in mind11:11 when he says the call of the gospel is to live a life that is worthy. A life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, hallelujah.11:23 And then in verse 27, the second part he says, so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you and that you are standing firm in 1 spirit with 111:35 mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and verse 28, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. You know here he mentions 3 things that I want you to pay attention to.11:47 The reason why he is calling us to live a life that is worthy of the gospel is this. There are 3 things. 1, he says standing firm in the gospel. Secondly, standing firm in 111:59 spirit. And secondly, striving side by side with 1 mind and then thirdly, he says, not frightened in anything by your opponents. So all these 3 things he says12:11 that we are to do. 1, let's look at each 1 today. Firstly, it is a call to have consistency in our walk. Look at that standing firm12:22 in our walk. Standing firm together in 1 spirit. So it's a consistency in our walk. What is standing firm? That means you take a stand without12:34 compromise. You know, story was told of Hudson Taylor when he lived in China. A man was hired as a spy to spy him out day and night. And so this man was recording all12:46 the activities that Hudson Taylor carried out each day. At the end of 3 months, this man who was supposed to be a spy on Hudson Taylor ended up becoming a Christian. The reason was because he12:57 said, I could not find anything negative in this man's life and he lived for the cause of Jesus Christ. See, that is what it means to live a life that is consistent, to live a life that is worthy of the gospel.13:10 You know, if you and I were arrested today, if you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence in your life to convict you? That's a key question that you and I we need to ask. Does the world can13:22 truly say he's not just a citizen of Australia, but he's actually a citizen of the kingdom of God? The way he lives his life is counter cultural. And that is exactly what Paul is arriving13:34 at. The consistency in our walk. And Paul writes and he says, want to see this in you. I want to hear this in you and this you is not singular. This you13:45 is plural. And he says, this you, I want to see this in you that you're standing firm together in 1 spirit, that you're striving side by side in with 113:57 mind and you're not afraid of any opposition in your life. Why? Because you're defending the faith of the gospel. So there needs to be a consistency in our own walk.14:10 A story was told of a young boy who was struggling to consistently walk with God. So this is what his father did. 1 day, the father brought him into the kitchen and he14:21 put 3 pots of water to boil. And then he took 3 items from the kitchen pantry and he said to the boy, I want you to observe this and let me know what you see. So14:33 when the 3 pots of water are boiling, the father took 1 piece of carrot. So the carrot, and then he put the carrot into the hot water, boiling water. Then he took an egg and he put the14:45 egg in the hot boiling water. And then he took the tea bag and he put the tea bag in the third pot of water. And after some time, he asked the boy to take each of them14:57 out and then asked him, what do you see in each? And this is what the boy replied, I see a carrot, I see an egg, and I see a tea bag. So you don't see anything else? No, don't see anything15:09 else. So the father then went on to explain this. Look, the carrot is seemingly hard. It is very strong, very resilient, but the moment it goes through a15:21 hot water, boiling water, pressure point in life, it becomes very weak. It loses its resilience. It loses its hardness. That's how many people are15:33 when they go through hot water, when they go through a crisis in their life. They are very resilient when they're in good times, but when they're going through a crisis, they crumble like a 2 dollar suitcase. They15:45 become weak. The same thing happens to an egg. Look at the egg. The egg is soft on the inside. It is very tender and soft, but the moment it goes into the hot water situation,15:57 when you take it out, what is inside, what used to be soft has now become hardened. This is how many people are, that when they when they are soft and tender towards God, but when they go through16:08 hardship in life, when they go through suffering in life, they become hard hearted. They become hardened towards God. Third thing, he said, look at the tea. The teabag went in as a16:20 teabag, and when it came out of the hot water, it came out a little bit wet, but it still remained as a teabag. But I want you to observe what happened to the water. The water has changed its constitution. In other16:32 words, the water has now become a tea. In other words, the tea has now infiltrated the water and changed the atmosphere, changed what it used to be. In other words, this is how a Christian should live.16:44 That when you go through hot water, you're a tea bag, when you go through boiling hot water, you're still a tea bag but you change the atmosphere because you'd know that your circumstances don't dictate16:56 how you respond to God. You come before God and you give your life. You are consistent in your walk with God and that's the point. You and I, we need to recognize that we need to stand firm17:07 together without compromise because there will be temptations for us to compromise. There will be in the last days, there will be itching years and people will walk away from the truth. There will be heretics. There will17:18 be heretical teachers pulling away people. There will be false teachers that will arise. There will be doctrines that will that will give people the what they want to hear. But I want you to listen to be careful. You and17:27 I are called to live a consistent life. How do we do that? By standing firm together. And here Paul is writing to the whole church and he says, together I ask that you stand firm together.17:39 The only way you and I can do this is because you and I can go back to the scriptures and examine our life in how we are living. Are we living a life that is worthy of the gospel of Christ? Every single17:51 day. And a story was told of doctor Evan Kane of Pennsylvania in the year 19 21 on February the fifteenth, he he did a self18:03 surgery at the age of 60. He wanted to prove to the medical world that local anesthetics is better than general anesthetics for surgery, for some surgeries. And so what he did, he put himself18:15 on a local anesthetic and he performed on himself the removal of an appendix. And he recovered much faster than people who normally recover under general anesthetics. And this18:26 became a medical breakthrough. But a point I want you to capture is self surgery. Sometimes you and I, we need to sit down and ask ourselves and evaluate our own life. Am I living a life that is consistent to the18:38 gospel that I believe in? So the first thing he says is consistency in our walk. The second thing he says is cooperation in our work. In the second part of that verse he18:49 says, striving together side by side, striving side by side with 1 mind. The first thing is Paul gives us a picture here,19:02 he talked about citizenship, which is the politics, now he moves into the language of a team, athletics. And here he says, you are striving and that word striving is in19:13 the in the Greek, it's the word, and this is like the word from where you get the athletics. It's like they are synced together. They are fighting19:25 together. They are laboring together. And that is exactly what he's saying. It's a picture of a team in a relay match or in a in a tennis match, the doubles playing together. And he is saying, you're playing together,19:36 you're working together, you're striving together, you're laboring together side by side with 1 mind. And I love that word mind here because it's not the normal word that he uses for mind, it's the word for soul.19:48 It's the word psuche in Greek. He says strive together as 1 soul. In other words, it's the joy of becoming 1 soul. You know if you put a group of people together, there are so many20:00 personalities, there are so many preferences in the way they will do things, but they need to come back together to be aligned together. Imagine the joy that when in a20:12 married couple, the couple becomes 1. I always say in a marriage that the problem starts at the end of the wedding ceremony. When the pastor pronounces the 2 shall become 1. The fight is which20:24 1? We always quarrel over which 1. In other words, the 2 hasn't become 1. Imagine a team coming together and working in a church environment. Have they become 1 soul? Imagine what they can what they can20:36 do. Imagine the synergy that it will create. And that is exactly what Paul was saying, worthy of the gospel is that you stand firm together, not only stand firm together, you also strive side by side together20:48 because you become 1 soul. You know Henry Ford, he's the 1 who came up with this. He said this coming together is a beginning, keeping together is a progress but working together is a20:59 success. And why did Paul write about this? He's writing about this and because in chapter 4, he will address 2 names specifically. In chapter 4 and verse 2, he says, I entreat Euodia and21:12 and Syntyche to agree in the Lord. I want you to circle that word to agree in the Lord. The word to agree here is the word phroneo. The word phroneo is actually the word for21:24 mindset. The way you are thinking about things, your perspective and your attitude towards things. And he says, I entreat and to agree to have the same attitude in21:36 the Lord, to have the same mindset in the Lord. In other words, what he is saying is, I want you guys not to have disunity. Maybe that is the reason, the whole reason why this letter is being written. Or maybe partly21:48 is because he wants to say thank you to them for their support, but he also wants to address that this issue doesn't become a huge division in the church because you and I know that unity in the body22:00 of Christ is very elusive thing. It takes years to build unity but all it takes is 1 personal 1 person with a with a with a selfish ambition or a conceit22:12 or a deception to ruin everything. So that's why you and I, we need to pay attention to this. Says, side by side, striving together. And he says to these ladies in verse 2, in verse 3 of chapter 4,22:24 he says, I ask you also true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life. Who are22:35 these 2 ladies? These 2 ladies labored side by side with Paul in the gospel. Wow. That's the same word. In other words, it's the same word to say22:47 that they labored side by side. They strive side by side. So when Paul has this understanding, he is bringing this to them and to say, you and I, we need to work towards unifying the church. You and I22:59 need to work towards unifying the family into 1 unit. It's not parents versus children. It is not, you know, it is not husband versus wife. It is not leader23:11 versus a board or the board versus the staff. It it it has to be united. And when when something comes together and they become 1 soul, wow. That unity will command the23:23 blessing of God and they can do far more greater things and that is what the world needs to see. You know, when I talk about unity, the picture comes to mind is about porcupines.23:35 A story was told that, porcupines, when they are in their colony together, sometimes in the cold night, they want to huddle together. And when they huddle together,23:47 they they they poke each other and they prick each other. And therefore, when they come closer, they prick each other and then they walk apart. And then when they become cold again and then they cuddle together and then23:58 they prick each other and they walk apart. So from a distance, if you watch it, it's almost like an Indian war dance. And that is how sometimes people are. You know, always tell this, you know, people are nice from24:10 far, but they are far from nice. The moment you get close to people, you would see the humanity, the frail, the insecurities, the inadequacies, and you've got to come to the place to24:22 develop that in spite of all of this, how do we come together and strive side by side with 1 mind? And that is what Paul is addressing here. And because you and I, we need to pay attention to24:33 this. Imagine if you're a husband and wife, if you're going through this where you have not become 1 soul, you know the children will pick it up very easily. There is a house that is divided.24:45 That's what Jesus said in Mark chapter 3 and verse 25. A house that is divided against itself. That house will not be able to stand. So hear hear from me. The call of24:57 the gospel is that you live a worthy life. A worthy life of heart. Come back together, standing firm together in 1 spirit and striving side by side together with 1 mind which means25:09 1 soul and that is what Paul was talking about. Number 3, he says having the confidence. The call is for confidence in our warfare. Go with me to verse25:21 28. It says not frightened in anything by your opponents. Right there, circle the word your opponents. In other words, Paul already assumes there will be opposition. See you and I, we25:32 should never never underestimate this. Jesus indeed said that there will be offenses, so watch out. So you and I, we need to pay attention even in the midst of25:44 godly people, saints together. We will have opposition not only from outside but also from within. So not frightened in anything by your opponents. When you're walking in the center of the will of25:56 God, Paul is saying there will be opposition from outside. And this opposition sometimes can come from family members. This opposition can come from sometimes people who are against26:07 Christ. So they are persecuting you for taking a stand in the gospel. But I want you to listen to me. He says, Do not fear. Have confidence in warfare. So the language26:19 of Paul went from politics to athletics and now to warfare. He wants you to understand as a Christian, the moment you became a Christian, you enter into a battleground. And in this battleground, you26:31 and I cannot be frightened. You know the word picture, word not frightened carries this. It is like a horse that is carrying a soldier, but then suddenly the horse sees something26:43 on the on the ground. Maybe it's a snake or and it it it it cannot go forward anymore. It just, tries to retreat. That is the word he carries here. He says, Don't be frightened. Don't be like that host that is26:54 afraid. You can have confidence and you can stay strong and you need to wage this warfare. Then he goes on to give the picture. This is a clear sign to them of their27:06 destruction but of your salvation and that from God. I want you to ask yourself is this, this is a clear sign. What is a clear sign? This is a clear sign to the opponents. What is the clear sign?27:19 The clear sign is the 3 things he talked about that you strive together with 1 mind, that you stand firm together with 1 spirit and not be afraid of anything that your opponents will27:31 do and that is the clear sign. The moment you stand strong against the opponents because you are standing, you are living a life that is worthy of the gospel, guess what happens? That is a clear27:42 sign to the opponents of their destruction but it is also a clear sign to them of your salvation. Hallelujah. And your salvation is from God.27:55 See, I want you to pay attention to this. If you are a Christian and you are living in a country where Christians are being persecuted, do you know the persecution of Christians28:07 has now reached genocidal level? That's what CNN reported recently. But it is not talked about in the mainstream media in most28:18 countries. What happens in India, in the northern part of India where pastors are beaten up and and people are being women who are Christians are being raped and children are28:30 being murdered. All these things. No 1 talks about. But can I humbly say this? This is a clear sign of their destruction and your salvation. That's what Paul says. In other28:42 words, there are more people dying for the cause of Christ. How how do they how do they face death in the midst of it? They because they recognize my life belongs to God and they are not frightened because their28:54 call is to live a life that is worthy of the gospel and that's what they developed this mindset and the mindset is this, the mindset is for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. So when the Philippian church writes to29:05 Paul and they say, you know, are you okay? Are you being alright? Paul writes back and he says, guess what? Whether I come and see you and I don't see you, what I want to hear from you is this, that you're striving29:16 together in 1 spirit, that you are standing firm together in 1 with 1 mind and you are not frightened by anything that your opponents throw. So does that mean that you just take whatever29:28 happens? You go before God and you recognize this, that to suffer for Christ is a gift that God has given us.29:40 And that is what he writes in verse 28 and 29. Look at this, in verse 29 he says, for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him29:52 but also suffer for his sake. Circle that word granted. It is the word, the root word of it is charis. It's actually the word form which will be30:03 charismai, but it's the charis, it's the word for grace, it's a favor. You know there are popular grace preachers and favor preachers who always say live favor minded but they will never talk about this30:15 favor. I want you to listen to me carefully for it has been granted to you, favored to you that for the sake of Christ you have been given the gift to believe. Not only30:27 the gift to believe, by God's grace you are also given the grace to suffer for his sake. For the faith of the gospel, There are people who go through persecution, even their30:38 family members have have nothing to do with them. They ostracized them, chased them out of the community. You know how many people have lost their inheritance because of their faith in Christ, but all this is because30:51 they come and the Bible says it has been granted to them. Jesus says this in John chapter 15 and verses 18 to verses 20, he says this, if the world hates you, know31:03 that it has hated me before it hated you. That's the thing. Here he he says the world hates you because they hated the master. Then verse 19, he says, if you were of the world, the world would31:15 love you as its own. You would be loved by the world if you belong to them. If you are citizens of the world, if you live like the world, they will love you but because you are not of the world and I chose you out of the31:27 world because you don't belong to the world. In other words, your citizenship is not in the world. Your citizenship is in heaven. Therefore, the world hates you. Next verse. It says in verse 20, remember the word that I31:38 said to you, a servant is not greater than the master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. I want you to listen to me. We are not31:50 supposed to be surprised when persecution arises. Why? Because Jesus already shared it to us and he says, this is a clear sign. Paul says, this is a clear sign of their destruction,32:03 but it's your salvation. So whenever you face opposition, can I ask you to write these 3 things down? Whenever you face opposition, know this, it has been given as a special grace upon my life. That's the first thing.32:14 That means there is a special grace given to you. Number 2, that you are you are truly a believer because it is for your salvation. It's a sign for your salvation. And thirdly, that you are not32:25 alone. You know why you're not alone? Because Paul writes in verse 30 and he says, the same conflict I had and I still have. They saw Paul had a conflict32:37 where? When he was physically in Philippi. What happened when he started the church? He was thrown into prison and he was flogged. He was beaten up in the prison. He was bruised in the prison. Listen, that you saw32:49 how I suffered and I still suffer. That is what Paul is saying, you're not alone, even I'm on the same boat. He says the same conflict. That word conflict is the word for agony. Can I33:01 humbly ask you, what are you agonizing over in these days? You know, in these days of pandemic, people are talking about mental health issues because there's an agony33:13 of mind that is going on. People are agonizing over the loss of loved ones. People are agonizing over the loss of a job or a income or the future. The people are agonizing over33:25 many things. But can I humbly say this, the citizens of heaven should be agonizing over the souls of men that are perishing? And that is what Paul had in his mind. He says, I will give gladly.33:37 I want to be in that prison. Why? Because because I am in chains. The the gospel is now advancing even in the royal court. Listen how Paul has a different mindset and that is what33:49 he wants you to catch. He wants you to catch the call of the gospel is to live a life that is worthy of the gospel. How? By being consistent in your walk, by being cooperation and by having cooperation34:01 in your work and being confident in the warfare. So when Paul writes and he says, this is the same struggle I'm having, the same agony I'm having. I want you to consider what is the agony34:12 you're having. Go before God. He's a God who knows how to deal with our lives. But if you're being persecuted for Christ, take this chance to rejoice because it is for your34:24 salvation, the Bible says. Hallelujah. You and I, we are citizens of heaven and that is why no matter what happens, you and I come together and we stand firm together34:36 without compromise. We strive together as 1 soul so that we can build the kingdom of God. At the same time, we are not afraid of anything that the opponents throw. This is the34:47 call of the gospel to live a worthy life. Paul goes on to say in chapter 2 verses 1 to 4, he also addresses the challenge of the gospel. The challenge of the gospel is to live34:59 others focused life. Why is this so important? I want you to catch this because Paul is trying to address the Philippian church that don't let petty arguments, don't let35:11 petty differences destroy the unity that is in the church. Because as I said earlier, unity is a a is a elusive thing. It can be it can it can take years to35:23 build, but all it takes is just 1 personal, 1 person with a selfish ambition. 1 person who is conceited or deceived. Just take it upon themselves and they push their agenda, everything35:34 collapses. That is what Paul is trying to address here. He moves this and he is talking about their mindset. He said to them, already work with 1 mind, be 1 soul. That's the same35:46 thought he is going to carry in chapter 2 verses 1 to 4. I want you to go with me to chapter 2 and verse 2 first. Look at this in verse 2. He says, complete my joy being of the same35:58 mind. Circle that. Having the same love, being in full accord and of 1 mind. See, 1 verse, twice it's repeated, have the36:10 same mind. It's that word in the Greek, phroneo. What is this? This this I told you in my first sermon that the word think or the word mind36:22 is repeated 11 times in this short episode. Many times we talk about the book of the epistle of Philippians as a book of joy because joy is repeated numerous times. But you know36:34 what? You can't have the right, you can't have joy without right thinking and that is why mindset is repeated over and over again and here Paul says have the same mind and be of same mind. When he36:46 uses the word it is the same word he uses to that ladies in chapter 4 and verse 2. He says agree in the Lord, in the Lord. So this whole chapter 2 is36:57 about How do you develop that certain mindset? How do you develop the mindset of citizens of heaven? How do you live a gospel worthy life every single day? That mindset, it's a certain way37:09 of thinking. It is a certain perspective of life. It's a certain attitude of how you look at others. And that is why in this whole chapter 2, we're going to deal with that.37:21 And here he says, together. I want you to think about this. I think in the IDMC conference in 1 of my sessions recently, I shared with you that the hardest37:33 thing to do in a church is change, bring change. That's why as a mentor of pastors, sometimes I coach them through to manage change. Change management is very37:44 important because change management, if it's done poorly, it will result in conflict. Then you have to do conflict resolution. So, it it flows from this. It flows from decision making. So as37:56 a leader, we need to know how to put decisions, not decisions based on preferences, but decisions based on principles because decision making will affect the change and the change management needs to be38:08 monitored because the change, if it is done poorly, it will result in conflict. Then you have to do conflict resolution. So here, Paul is addressing the change management. He's wanting to change that38:19 mindset of the people And 1 of the hardest things I shared with you, there are 4 levels of difficulty when it comes to change. The first level is change of knowledge. People do not know, and if they do not38:31 know, they don't want to change. So we got to bring knowledge first. And that knowledge can be acquired. If you're a learner, you have a quest for knowledge, you will adapt new things. You will put into your kitty new38:42 things, and the moment you put in, you will be okay for change. Knowledge. The second 1 is the attitudinal change. Sometimes the attitudes, the prejudices we already38:53 have, this is the upbringing I have, this is how I have always been taught. All these attitudes that we have about certain things, if we are unwilling to change, they will restrict us. That's a change39:05 we need to bring. But the third level of difficulty in change is personal behavior. You've got to bring change in the knowledge, you've got to change in the attitude, but now you have to bring change in the outwardShow more
Paul Jeyachandran
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