Living as Citizens of Heaven in a Divided World
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As we prepare ourselves for the scriptures this morning, I invite you to hear these are the words from John 17. This is from Jesus's high priestly prayer in the garden on the night of his arrest. He's praying for you and for me. He prays this to the Father. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [00:00:00]
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel not frightened in anything by your opponents this is a clear sign to them of their destruction but of your salvation and that from God for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. [00:02:51] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
He's in prison for defense of the gospel, and this is how that experience has played out in his life. Now he's trying to apply that to the citizens of the kingdom of God who are living as citizens of Philippi, and he says to them, you also are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and you live as citizens of Philippi, and that tension between those two, this is how it played out for me. It's going to play out for you too. So what I'm writing to you as citizens do it in a way that is worthy of the gospel of christ and then he explains he uses these four phrases to explain exactly what he is talking about. [00:08:40] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
And evidently, this may have been an issue for the church in Philippi. Well, we know it was. The Philippian letter is unique in that it's one of the few letters of Paul where he doesn't have a whole lot of critical things to say about the church. He doesn't confront their, like, gross immorality. He doesn't confront false teachings or doctrinal issues. It's almost just a lovey -dovey all the way through until you get to chapter 4. He actually calls out these two ladies by name, Judea and Syntyche, I think that's how you pronounce that name, and he urges them to agree in the Lord. [00:12:59] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
The third thing he says is not being afraid of your opponents, which I think is a very interesting phrase. Paul knew opponents very well. I mean, in Philippi, he was beaten with rods. He was in prison. He's pretty much run out of every city he ever went to. He has a constant long list of opponents, but he says don't be afraid of them, and then he uses this really weird phrase. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation. [00:14:50] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
The second thing the Lord reminded me of this week was John 17. John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Jesus. We just finished going through John, and going through that prayer, I've latched on to that. It really helps me to pray for myself and to pray for others, so I pray through our church directory and pray over you as a family, and if I know something specific to pray for, I'll do that, but if not, I just pray John 17 for you and your family. John 17, Jesus praying for us that you would receive the Word and you'd hear the Word, that the Father would keep the evil one away from you, that the Father would keep you in His name, that the Father would sanctify you in truth, that the Father would send you out into the world, but the thing that Jesus prays in that prayer repeatedly, that passage that we just read, is that we would be one, and because, and He says it twice, that they would be one, that the world may believe that the Father has sent the Son. He says that twice. [00:20:09] (65 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
I mean, the ones that we know are in the church in Philippi. There's Lydia. She was a very successful businesswoman, a woman of means, a woman of influence. The marketplace was her realm. She was probably well known there. Then there's the jailer who's dealing with the whole other part of the city with the criminals and the legal system and everything. There's no reason that those two people would cross paths. If this lady who had the demon spirit that was cast out, if she was part of the church, if she was part of the church, if she was part of the church, a whole other side of the church. None of those people would have crossed paths together. But because of the gospel and because of God's vision of the church, which is we are fellow citizens of the kingdom of God, we are members of God's household, we are children of the same God, we are indwelled by the one Holy Spirit. Because of God's vision of the church, these people came together, and the gospel is what brought them together. And that gospel community is so unique in the world today. [00:22:18] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
I mean, could it be that the single greatest hope to a nation that is experiencing greater and greater divisions — I'm not sure if that's the right word for it, but I think it's a great word for it — is for the church to be standing together as this incredibly diverse body, but standing firm in one Holy Spirit, striving side by side for the gospel, but doing it in the mind of Christ and projecting to the world, this is God's vision for eternity, is that we come together as one. [00:25:24] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel not frightened in anything by your opponents this is a clear sign to them of their destruction but of your salvation and that from God for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. [00:02:51] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
He's in prison for defense of the gospel, and this is how that experience has played out in his life. Now he's trying to apply that to the citizens of the kingdom of God who are living as citizens of Philippi, and he says to them, you also are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and you live as citizens of Philippi, and that tension between those two, this is how it played out for me. It's going to play out for you too. So what I'm writing to you as citizens do it in a way that is worthy of the gospel of christ and then he explains he uses these four phrases to explain exactly what he is talking about. [00:08:40] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
And evidently, this may have been an issue for the church in Philippi. Well, we know it was. The Philippian letter is unique in that it's one of the few letters of Paul where he doesn't have a whole lot of critical things to say about the church. He doesn't confront their, like, gross immorality. He doesn't confront false teachings or doctrinal issues. It's almost just a lovey -dovey all the way through until you get to chapter 4. He actually calls out these two ladies by name, Judea and Syntyche, I think that's how you pronounce that name, and he urges them to agree in the Lord. [00:12:59] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
The third thing he says is not being afraid of your opponents, which I think is a very interesting phrase. Paul knew opponents very well. I mean, in Philippi, he was beaten with rods. He was in prison. He's pretty much run out of every city he ever went to. He has a constant long list of opponents, but he says don't be afraid of them, and then he uses this really weird phrase. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation. [00:14:50] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
The second thing the Lord reminded me of this week was John 17. John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Jesus. We just finished going through John, and going through that prayer, I've latched on to that. It really helps me to pray for myself and to pray for others, so I pray through our church directory and pray over you as a family, and if I know something specific to pray for, I'll do that, but if not, I just pray John 17 for you and your family. John 17, Jesus praying for us that you would receive the Word and you'd hear the Word, that the Father would keep the evil one away from you, that the Father would keep you in His name, that the Father would sanctify you in truth, that the Father would send you out into the world, but the thing that Jesus prays in that prayer repeatedly, that passage that we just read, is that we would be one, and because, and He says it twice, that they would be one, that the world may believe that the Father has sent the Son. He says that twice. [00:20:09] (65 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
I mean, the ones that we know are in the church in Philippi. There's Lydia. She was a very successful businesswoman, a woman of means, a woman of influence. The marketplace was her realm. She was probably well known there. Then there's the jailer who's dealing with the whole other part of the city with the criminals and the legal system and everything. There's no reason that those two people would cross paths. If this lady who had the demon spirit that was cast out, if she was part of the church, if she was part of the church, if she was part of the church, a whole other side of the church. None of those people would have crossed paths together. But because of the gospel and because of God's vision of the church, which is we are fellow citizens of the kingdom of God, we are members of God's household, we are children of the same God, we are indwelled by the one Holy Spirit. Because of God's vision of the church, these people came together, and the gospel is what brought them together. And that gospel community is so unique in the world today. [00:22:18] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
I mean, could it be that the single greatest hope to a nation that is experiencing greater and greater divisions — I'm not sure if that's the right word for it, but I think it's a great word for it — is for the church to be standing together as this incredibly diverse body, but standing firm in one Holy Spirit, striving side by side for the gospel, but doing it in the mind of Christ and projecting to the world, this is God's vision for eternity, is that we come together as one. [00:25:24] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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