Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore

Philippians 1:27

“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.”

Imagine a big, unjust enemy nation attacking to take over our country, occupying it state by state. We see this on the news, and some of us want to join the army and go with zeal to fight for our country. Our great mission is to protect our country. We go to the battlefield and expect to see soldiers fighting and defending the country’s borders. But instead, we see the enemy taking our borders while most of the soldiers are at the army clubhouse, in pajamas. Some are playing football, volleyball, and ping pong; some are relaxing in swimming pools, sipping drinks, with no weapons anywhere in sight.

We talk to them, and they tell us that since no one was joining the army, they were told, “If you join, you can get a nice salary, benefits, quarters, free food, and have a good time. You can even play games for exercise and hang out in the swimming pool.” They say that is why they joined, and no one told them about any fighting. They didn’t join to fight the enemy or defend the nation, only for the benefits. What would you think of this army? With such an army, a nation would completely perish.

This is a picture of today’s church. Everywhere, people are gathered in the name of Christians, telling others about the benefits of coming to Christ: “Come to Christ, and He will give you peace and happiness. He will help you overcome your problems. He will give you a happy marriage and family.” To an extent, that is true; several good consequences come from coming to Christ. So many poor people and people with problems have joined and are enjoying the benefits, but no one preaches about the primary work of a Christian and the church.

What is one primary mission of the church? The mission of the church is to fight and defend the purity of the gospel and spread the pure gospel. Remember the great command of Jesus at the end of Matthew: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” The primary work of the church and its members is to fight against all false religions and teachings and to spread the gospel. That is the main goal.

But so many false preachers don’t preach that; they only preach about the benefits of coming to Christ. They have gathered crowds everywhere in the name of Christians, with outward religious conversions for benefits. The church has become an entertainment center, making people feel good and enjoy the blessings of Christ. When we call Christians “onward Christian soldiers,” we should preach the gospel, defend the gospel’s purity, and learn how to preach. They are completely not interested; they don’t want to hear about gospel preaching. They say, “Oh, I came to church with so many problems. Please tell me comforting things—peaceful, ear-tickling blessings. What benefits will I get? How can I get more blessings? How can I feel comfort in my current problems?” Just as a country is in great danger with such soldiers, the gospel today is in danger in any society with these selfish Christians.

This is what we see in our country. Christ said, “You are the salt of the world.” Your gospel preaching and life should influence society, but there is no influence today. In our country, Christianity was less than 2.6% in the 2000s and less than 2.2% in the 2010s. From 2014, many estimate that in the last ten years, it has gone down to less than 2%. I’m talking about all Christians: Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Church of South India, and Evangelical Christians; they are a very, very small number. No one realizes this sad state. The enemy is conquering, but Christians go to churches only for enjoyment, dancing, and singing, like those soldiers playing and enjoying the swimming pool. They say, “Oh, let us celebrate Merry Christmas; let’s go to church. The pastor talks about things that make us happy.” What about fighting for the gospel? They respond, “Ah, I didn’t join to fight for the gospel, only to enjoy comforting benefits.”

It is because of such dead Christianity that society rots. We see this today with our own eyes: crimes are increasing, injustices are widespread, and there is no justice or order. Millions upon millions of people in cities and villages have never even heard the basic gospel message.

Pastor, what can I, as one individual, do? What can we, as a small church, do in the face of such a big task? What can I do; I am a sinner! In our passage today, Paul tells us what we can do. Instead of just superficially praying, he lays down practical things you and I can do for the gospel that will have a lasting impact on our society. May God give us the will not to just hear and leave but to transform our lives.

Now, we come to a new section in Philippians. After greeting them in verses 1-2, Paul, in verses 3-26, spoke about himself, his prayer, his joy, and his hope for the future. It was all about Paul, his prayer, and how he felt so far. But there is a sudden and radical shift in verse 27. Paul now turns from the things pertaining to himself, and for the first time, he directly addresses the Philippian church with an explicit command. What is the first command he gives them? What is the one thing Paul wanted the church to primarily focus on?

“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…”

If there is a verse to remember and live by as a Christian, not just for the new year but for your whole life, it is this one. This is the top priority; this is the canopy, the umbrella verse for the entire epistle. He will give three immediate practical applications in verses 28-30, but the entire rest of Philippians is an expansion of this verse. We can say it is Paul’s clarion call, a call with a loud trumpet sound. Sometimes when a call is given so dramatically, we should never forget it for our entire lives. It should be deeply imprinted in our hearts like a stone carving. That is how this is given.

Oh, if you and I could just realize what the apostle felt when he said this. He uses all his writing skills to make us sense the importance of this. My concern today is to make you realize the great importance of this call. May the Holy Spirit make this clarion trumpet call an indelible imprint in our hearts. This is our mission. If we miss this as Christians, our lives will be without any focus.

Two headings: four ways he emphasizes the importance of this call, and the meaning of the call.

Four Ways He Emphasizes the Importance of This Call

1. Context. Now remember the flow of thought. Why was this man so happy looking at the past, present, and future? What was the one thing for which his heart was beating? Every minute it was “gos pel, gos pel, gos pel,” that was his heartbeat. He said that whether by life or death, he wanted to glorify Christ. The greatest means of glorifying God is through the preaching of the gospel. So, seeing that the gospel has spread through all his difficult circumstances and his arrest, he is joyful. People are preaching with the wrong motives and saying the wrong things about him, but as long as the gospel is preached, he is happy. He says that in the future, whether by life or death, the gospel will spread, so he will rejoice. His great mission in life is the furtherance of the gospel. He sees the main purpose of the church’s existence as the furtherance of the gospel. The whole context and heart passion of this man make us realize the importance of this command. If such a man with such a passion for the gospel says this, how intense it must be: “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”
2. Supreme Importance. The small word “only” is a very important word. The word carries the weight of underscoring that which is of supreme, crucial importance. That is, it is first in Greek as it is in English. This is the one thing needful for Paul; this is the top command; this is central for a Christian and a church. The word “only” is used to highlight great importance. Paul uses it in this way in Galatians 2:10, 5:13, and in other parts of his epistles. The flow of thought is that he is in a dilemma about whether to go to heaven or remain, and then he resolves to stay and come to them, and then he says, “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…”

Whatever happens to me, don’t worry about all that, whether I live or whether I die. Don’t let that be your concern. Let this thing be the point of your concentration. Don’t focus on anything else; this is the matter of supreme importance. For example, remember when parents leave kids home alone, they tell them to do this and that, then say, “See, whatever happens, do not open the door.” Our boss says, “No, whatever happens, only do this.” We are to understand that the point is of supreme importance. Whatever we forget, we shouldn’t forget that. That is how Paul emphasizes its importance. This is the sum of all your duties as a Christian and a church. If you fail here, you fail in everything.

When this letter was read in the Philippian church on a Sunday morning, the moment they heard these words, they would see great importance not only by context but also by the use of the word “only.” Thirdly, the great importance is highlighted as these words come in the form of a divine imperative.

3. Divine Imperative. When Paul is speaking here, he is not pleading with them or exhorting them, but he turns to them in the full consciousness of his unique authority as an apostle of Christ. He commands them to walk worthy of the gospel. This is a command of an apostle. Paul was binding their consciences with these words, even with the authority of the living God. This is a command coming to that church and to our church today as if it were coming straight from heaven. If you are confused about what one focus of your life should be, it is this.
4. Consistency. And fourthly and finally, the command comes in the language of consistency—continuous and persevering. Paul knows our problem and the problem of most Christians: they will hear about this and focus on it for a week, and then forget and run after useless, trivial goals. So he hammers into our minds and consciences that this command must be consistently followed. He does this in three ways.

First, the command comes in the form of a continuous present imperative. This duty is not something you do temporarily and then forget, or one that is to be taken up spasmodically. “Ah, okay… gospel fix…” Whenever you hear a moving sermon about gospel preaching or a burden for souls, you think, “Oh, a burden for souls… gospel, gospel…” so this week you will do something: share a gospel video, hand out tracts, and pray for souls. And then you slowly slide back or do it sporadically once in a while, when the situation is good or you feel like doing it. Paul knows that is our problem, so he gives this command as a present continuous imperative. He is not only binding our consciences with a divine command; he is binding our consciences with a divine imperative that is perpetual and unchanging. Until we go to heaven, this should be our focus.

Secondly, he emphasizes unchanging consistency in the way he introduces it. “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…” He says, “See, I may die or I may come, but whatever else you Philippians do, don’t be overly concerned about my state. Whether I come and see you or whether I’m absent and whether I die, that is not important.” What is he saying by that? He is emphasizing the consistency of a life. The desired pattern of obedience to this command has to be consistent and unchanging. Your life should be consistently lived worthy of the gospel. It is a consistent pattern of life. Whatever happens in your daily life, with different situations coming and going, you will face various sets of trials and temptations. Your own peculiar little world of moods and mindsets, emotions, and thoughts—amidst the full spectrum of all the things that make up life—above all else, you must live a consistent, unchanging life worthy of the gospel. Let nothing outside change this focus. That is how the devil is deceiving all of Christianity today.

Whether this government comes or that government comes, whether a new year comes or goes, whether you get married and have children, whether you have a big workload or no workload, whether you have a new job or an old job, whether you are going to live for 30 years or just 3 years, whatever big or small things are happening… “only” let this be the top priority of your life. He emphasizes consistency firstly by the command form, secondly by the way he introduces it, and then by the vivid metaphor.

Third, he uses a vivid metaphor: “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Paul normally uses the word “walk” in Ephesians and other epistles. He uses that word to describe a Christian’s lifestyle. The word he uses here, “conduct,” is stronger than that; it originally means “live as citizens.” Some translations say, “Live out your life as citizens in a manner worthy of the Gospel.” Remember that the Philippians were living in a Roman colony, as Roman citizens, with all the privileges and dignity attached thereto. In this text, he is using vivid imagery, not just telling them to live out their general lifestyle in an ordinary sense, but to live out their lives as special citizens, citizens of the greatest kingdom. Whatever pride and privileges you have in living in a Roman colony, faithful to Roman culture, rules, and the emperor, you have a citizenship that is far more glorious. You have a citizenship that is eternal and abiding. But with it come tremendous responsibilities. God has not only saved you but made you citizens of His eternal kingdom. Live out your life as citizens worthy of that kingdom.

So, he emphasizes the importance of this call in four ways: by context, by the word “only,” by giving it as a command, and by highlighting that it has to be consistent in three ways: by the form of the command, how he introduces it, and by using the vivid metaphor of living as citizens.

The Meaning of the Call

We will see that he will give specific examples in the next verses of how to live like this as a church. But in general, to “live worthy of the gospel” certainly cannot mean to live so as to earn the blessings of the gospel. That would negate the message of the gospel. The gospel message is good news to unworthy, guilty, and helpless sinners who can do nothing for their own salvation; it is that God in Christ has done everything necessary for their salvation.

What Paul is saying is this: live out your life as citizens of the kingdom of God consistently in such a way that it will reflect the gospel message in your life. Let your manner of life reflect that the gospel is not just a message spoken at the mouth level that you share with others, but that the power of the gospel has impacted your lifestyle.

Why? Because that is a life that glorifies God. God’s glory is in its fullest display not in creation or providence but in His redemptive work of the gospel. All of God’s glorious attributes, like the rays that go forth from the sun, shine in their purest and brightest form. God’s love, God’s justice, God’s wisdom, God’s mercy, God’s power—all that God is—are brightly revealed in the gospel.

But now, follow me from that brilliant display of His glory in the gospel. A direct ray of light can shine and reflect the gospel’s glory in every single part of our lives. Whether it is our personal life, family life, as a father, mother, or child, or our professional work as employees, God’s glorious light of the gospel can be reflected to the dark world from each of them. Do you know that? There is no area in our lives where we cannot reflect the gospel’s light. What a marvelous opportunity when we realize that! So, Paul says, “consistently let every area of your life reflect the gospel light. Let it answer to what the gospel proclaims.”

How? Let me remind you what we learned earlier. What is the gospel? There are five aspects.

1. Foundation: Who God is and who man is. God is our creator, provider, and redeemer. He is a holy, infinite, self-sufficient, eternal, almighty, and just God, to whom each of us has to give an account for all our sins. He has given His law, and those who break it, He will punish eternally in hell. The second foundation is who man is—a fallen, depraved sinner. The cause for all suffering in this world is that man disobeyed and rebelled against God and sinned; all suffering is a result of that sin.
2. Central Substance of the Gospel: It is the reality of God sending His only begotten Son into the world. It focuses on Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He has done.
3. Promises of the Gospel: If we come to Jesus, the blessings of salvation—complete forgiveness, the gift of the Holy Spirit—is a glorious package. All blessings come to us with that: a new heart, a new life, eternal life (which removes the fear of death), justification, the peace of God and peace with God, adoption (God as a father who will take care of all your needs), and that everything in your life will now happen for good.
4. Conditions/Commands: Repent and believe.
5. Entreaties/Exhortations.

Every aspect of that has a direct connection to your life, and you can reflect that in your lifestyle.

Personally, when I wake up tomorrow, if God has saved me through the gospel and blessed me with all eternal, infinite salvation blessings, every day, in the midst of a grumbling generation, we should be people of gratitude and thanksgiving. We recognize the foundation of the gospel, God as a creator, provider, and redeemer. We wake up, praise God, and thank Him for all His creation, providential, and redemption mercies. Through the gospel, God has showered infinite love and given me the Holy Spirit, the first fruit of the Holy Spirit’s love. In a world full of hate, we should have genuine love for all men. Then, in a world full of sadness, we should be people of joy. When we go to the office, when we go shopping, when we talk to people around us, they should see the joy on our faces, not a burden, frowning, heaviness, or downcast eyes. See how maintaining three simple attitudes—gratitude, love, and joy—in our lives will brightly shine the gospel. What spoils these attitudes in a Christian’s life is sin. David sinned, and all his joy was gone. If we believe the gospel, which says sin cost God the greatest sacrifice to redeem us, we will not have a low view of sin as the world has. We will take sin seriously, avoid sin, and mourn and repent for it when we commit it. We will strive to live a holy life consistently. Holiness shines the gospel brightly by filling us with love, joy, and gratitude.

Then, there are other areas of our lives. Remember I gave you the five “F’s.” Think of family. How can we live worthy of the gospel? Husbands, do we know that the way we treat our wives makes the gospel shine brightly, loving them, bearing with them, not being embittered with them when they act so weak and irritate us? Wives, you can shine the gospel light to a dark world when you respect and submit to your husband in a world of a feminist mindset that rebels against God’s creation order—man as the head and woman as the helper. Children in a rebellious generation, you can brightly glorify God and reflect the gospel to the dark world by obeying your parents. If in the Old Testament, God was so pleased that He promised a prosperous life and success, think what a blessing there is in the New Testament if you reflect the gospel light when all other children are rebellious and do not listen. What a great opportunity you have to reflect the gospel through your obedient lifestyle to your parents. One child… the whole school and the whole street will see the light… “oh, this is what will happen when a child believes the gospel…” Parents will be eager to send their children to Sunday school.

We can reflect the gospel light in our work, how we work not for men’s eyes, but everything for God’s glory. Our work product and service will adorn the gospel. We can reflect the gospel light in how we manage personal finances, how we ensure we don’t run after the latest gadgets in the world and keep spending and getting into debt. We are not covetous; God always wants us to have more money. God wants us to work hard, plan, budget, and save. Always operate on a margin. If you are earnest about the gospel work and look for opportunities, God will always keep extra money in your hand because He knows He will use it for His glory.

Then you can reflect the gospel’s glory in the way you eat, food, and exercise. Don’t overeat like the world as if you won’t get food tomorrow, and don’t have no exercise or activity, making us mentally lazy and unproductive, filling our bodies with toxins, only meat, no vegetables or fruits. People wonder why they aren’t bright like Daniel, energetic, happy, able to think deeply, and not able to achieve anything in life. “I work eight hours… ohhhhhh… where will I do anything for the kingdom?” You can reflect to the world the gospel light: “Food is not everything for me. Man doesn’t live by bread alone; we don’t live to eat, but we eat to live.”

You can reflect the gospel light by keeping the Sabbath. The world lives as if there is no creator and no creation. How do we show this world the creator’s glory? The gospel says God created the world in six days; on the seventh day, He blessed it and rested. So, I will rest from all my work. I will not work for money. Because I respect my creator, I keep the fourth commandment. Remember not to say, “I forgot to keep the Sabbath holy.” When all nominal Christians go to church in the morning and then watch TV and live for the world, you can be different from all of them by keeping the whole day holy, attending morning and evening service. The Sabbath was given that we might keep ourselves “unspotted from the world.”

See, I can go on and on, telling you that every area of our life has an opportunity to reflect the gospel.

So, we saw two headings: four ways he emphasizes the importance of this call and the meaning of the call.

Applications

Let me conclude with a few applications. See how Paul emphasizes this command: supreme importance, “only”… whatever you are thinking, nothing is more important in your life and my life than living worthy of the gospel. Oh, may God make you realize the supreme importance of this command. Just like Paul, as your pastor, I deeply want to emphasize this and make this the great focus of your life. What more appropriate text could we confront at this end of the year and beginning of the new year? How comprehensive is this command? All our duties and responsibilities in the Christian life are to “only let our lives be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

How is your lifestyle? You all come on Sunday, but I don’t know your lifestyle. When I come for a pastoral visitation, I might know something. What will your lifestyle be like if God takes me somewhere else or out of this world? Can I tell you, whether I come for pastoral visitation or not, whether I am here or not, don’t depend on my presence? Let your life be worthy of the gospel; nothing is more important.

This is the only way you will be blessed, and this is the only way the church will be blessed. In the midst of all the false teachings, false churches, and big entertainment churches, you complain that when we call, they don’t come. How will people be attracted to come to our church? Not by attracting them with buildings, music, dance, a stage, our pastor, or a YouTube channel. The only thing that will attract people and that God will use in your life to save souls is your life lived worthy of the gospel. If your life is not worthy of the gospel, even our own children will not listen to our gospel. The credibility lies in you as a congregation living lives in every facet of your lifestyle that answers to the gospel. So that when people hear the gospel preached here, there will be on every side of them people who are manifesting the power of that gospel in their lives. I’m getting the message that the gospel preached does something to change an entire lifestyle. Today, Christians don’t want to live that kind of life, so they decorate the church, bring entertainment into the church, and fill the church with all worldly people.

See, Paul emphasizes this; it is not an option; it is a divine command. This is a command from heaven to every one of you. Conduct your life worthy of the gospel. If you disobey, you are disobeying a heavenly command.

Oh, the consistency is emphasized in the form of the command, the introduction, and the metaphor. It is not once in a while that you jump into a gospel lifestyle; you have to walk consistently. Is this not a major problem? You hear a sermon one week, and then it’s “oh, gospel!” The devil and the world divert us to all useless things.

Oh, is it not because of a failure in consistency here that we don’t achieve anything for the gospel? One day is full of zeal, and the next you are down. What a desperate need there is in our day for a consistent lifestyle for the gospel. We live in a generation of feelings when everyone is blown along by the course winds of feelings. We are cursed by the tyranny of our felt state. If it feels good, we do it. If it feels good, there can be nothing wrong with it. This is a cursed philosophy of a drug-oriented culture. It brings people to live for nothing more or less than their present feelings. So many books are written about a hedonistic thrill. If it feels good to go to church, go. Don’t worry about whether they preach the truth or not; if you feel good, go. Even listening to the sermon has to feel good, or you won’t listen. Anything that feels good is considered good.

You and I have to realize that we are unconsciously deeply impacted by this disease… and that is the reason for poor progress. The pressure to live by your feelings is so impressed upon us that our Christian life is full of inconsistency. The inconsistency is so great that I cannot say for some of you what you will be like next time. There is no consistent, reliable pattern of pressing on. Consistency… one day they say they will be consistent in their commitment… but we don’t know what feeling will change you tomorrow.

You will never grow in godliness if you allow your feelings to rule, doing only what makes you feel good. We need a holy, militaristic resolution: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Having put my hand to the plow, I will not turn back. Every day I need to maintain the spiritual discipline of prayer and reading the Word. Whether he feels like it or not, he goes to pray because he knows he ought to pray and must pray. And his Lord has said, “men ought always to pray,” whether they feel like it or not. A blessed man is not one who feels like reading the Bible but one who reads day and night so he becomes blessed. He comes and sits with God’s people whether he feels like it or not.

That’s Paul’s great passion and concern for the Philippians, that the pattern of their obedience with respect to a lifestyle worthy of the gospel will be a consistent pattern.

Oh, dear men and women, young men and women, fellows and girls, if there is anything that I desire to see in your life, it is not some one-day, thrilling achievement, a tingling spine, or experiences of ecstasy. We want to see consistency. Whether we come or not, you can be counted upon to live a life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

We can live consistently for the gospel if we set our minds on unchanging things. The reason we should live consistently is that all the privileges of the gospel are changeless. All the promises and blessings are unchangeable. If the privileges of the gospel are changeless, if the essential content of the gospel is changeless, if all the gracious provisions in Christ are there and available to His people, and all the obligations coming from the gospel are changeless, then consistency should be the hallmark of people who have truly believed the gospel. I did not say perfection. I did not say such an evenness that has no place for ups and downs and dry periods, periods of arrested growth. But the overall pattern should be, “Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel.” With all the ups and downs in your emotional patterns, all the changes that life brings, may God teach us to be consistent people.

Finally, I believe we can live such a consistent life only when we grow in the fear of God. Think of what will make a man live a consistent life whether pastors see him or not, whether someone notices or not. If consistency describes the obedience in its outward manifestation, the fear of God describes it in its internal mindset, life, and heartbeat. Sometimes the influence of men can have an impact on your life. My influence, my preaching, can have a temporary impact, and it should be used only as a means to grow in the fear of God; otherwise, you are being deceived. You hear a sermon and then you do something temporarily because of my influence, the sermon’s influence. It is good if it is a means, but if it is just because of that sermon, beware of that. God may show your superficiality sometimes by taking me away.

Some of you, when you know I’m coming this week for a family visitation, will have a regular family prayer, and wives will not fight with their husbands; everything is in order. Beware. If I, as your pastor, go away somewhere for months, and your life dramatically changes and becomes more worldly, you have not yet learned to walk in the fear of God. This is a major problem. Consistency can only come when we are walking in the fear of God and consistency in living a life worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Paul was very much aware of the danger that his presence as a man of God might greatly influence the measure of the Philippians’ obedience. People will say that your obedience was simply the fruit of your attachment to Paul’s charismatic personality, that you are all just following a “Paul cult.” If your Christian life is a true work of God, then “Whether I come and see you or be absent, I want to hear that you stand fast.”

The Bible expects we can live a proper life only when we live in the fear of God. So that “whether we eat or drink or whatever we do, we do it to the glory of God” in the presence of God, under the eye of God. We have to learn to live with the power of God’s presence, not man’s.

Your life and my life can be consistently worthy of the gospel only when we learn to live in the fear of God. You forgot the charisma of the glory of a Redeemer who died to save you from sin. You see, that’s the connection between living a life worthy of the gospel, living a consistent life, and living a life in the fear of God.