Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
HomeSermonsLiving a Worthy Life

Living a Worthy Life

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Philippians 1:27–30

Book of Philippians. You all there? All right, we’re starting in Philippians chapter 1, verse 27.

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, and 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.

(Philippians 1:27–30)

Opening Prayer

Let’s pray. Father, we do thank you for your mercy and grace to us. We thank you that you are ever present with us in our sufferings and afflictions. We continue to lift up the families in Texas that lost children. God, what a tragedy. Continue to minister to them. We pray that your light would shine bright in their hearts, that you would be gracious to them, that you would use something like this, God, to bring many people to know you. We pray for wisdom for the pastors down there, that they would be bold in the proclamation of the gospel. Lord, we thank you that you are merciful to us, that all of us are deserving of your righteous judgment, and you stay your hand for years and years from many, many people, God, and you give them opportunities to repent and turn time and time again, God. And I pray people would take the opportunity and do so, Lord. They would hear the word to repent and turn to you, and they would do so. Thank you, Father, that you’ve been gracious to save many, many people. Lord, you have many, many more to save, so we pray that you’d continue to bring in the harvest. Let us be your harvesters that are faithful about your business. We pray, God, that that would occur even this Friday and Saturday with the different family members and friends that are going to be here. That as the gospel is shared at the end, it would go out in fullness and power and display of your glory. And that you would speak to many people’s hearts that don’t know you, and that they would come to know you, Father. We do pray for the play practice, that everything would go well this week, the lines would be memorized, and that you would be glorified, God. Continue to bless their time. Continue to bless our time as well, Father. Thank you for our children. We continue to pray for the ladies that have babies coming, that you’d be with them, let those babies be healthy. Let them grow up to know you and serve you, fear you and love you, Father. And we thank you for the recent births that we have as well, God. I pray the same for those kids. Lord, children are a blessing. We thank you for them. We pray that you continue to bless this church with many more children and that the generations to come would love you and serve you. All for your glory. Amen.

The First Command: Only

All right. We’re in Philippians 1, verse 27. We’re going to look at the first word for a moment there. What’s the first word that you guys have in your Bibles? “Only.” Good. You got a good version today. No, I’m just kidding. Mine says “only” as well. I think most of them do. What we’re going to look at here is the first command that we find in the book of Philippians. So we’ve had 26 verses up to this point. There’s not been a single command given. So he starts it with “only.” Why? Well, because he’s kind of making a transition here. The intro’s done. Paul’s updated them to what’s going on. Now it’s time to address some issues going on in Philippi. So he takes a little turn from the previous info. And the point is really like, hey, focus on this now. It’s your turn, Philippians, and you’re going to hear something from me. And I want you to act on it. So put your attention here: only. Now, sometimes we don’t like when the attention has turned on us, especially if we’re being told to do something, right? But that’s what’s happening here. “Only,” he says, and then here’s the command: “Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

Think about this for a moment. Remember Philippi, it’s a Roman colony. It’s actually a leading city, according to Paul. He says in Acts 16, a leading city of the district of Macedonia. Well, if it’s a Roman colony, guess what? That means the people at Philippi are Roman citizens. So they have much pride from this. Like, hey, we’re Romans. Pride in their nationality, pride of their nation, and a Roman citizen had many rights because of his citizenship. He had the right to vote in assemblies. He had the right to hold public office. He could own property. He could enter into legal contracts. He was protected from harsh penalties like torture, had the right to a trial. In fact, Paul actually uses his Roman citizenship in Acts, right? He appeals to that. You know, they got him stretched out. They’re ready to torture him. And he’s like, oh, by the way, I’m a Roman citizen. And what happens? Like the guards freak out because they’re like, ah, we shouldn’t be doing this. Why? Because he had rights as a Roman citizen. He has the right to appeal. Does he do that? Yeah, he appeals in the book of Acts. I appeal to whom? Caesar, right? So he used, and God uses that, right, to advance the gospel. So Roman citizens had certain rights that other non-Romans, even if they’re living in those cities, they don’t get those rights. So the Philippians, they were actually proud of their citizenship. There’s actually nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with being proud of being a citizen of a particular country. If you think about it even like, you’re proud of your kids, right? Right, right? Okay, one person is, okay, it’s all right. We’ve got counseling for the kids in here afterwards. No, I’m just kidding. But if you say to your kid like, hey, I’m really proud of you, does that mean you have endorsed every single sin that kid has ever committed? Well, no. I mean, so what are you saying when you’re proud of them? I mean, you might be focusing on a particular thing. Maybe some achievement that they’ve gotten, just their life in general, they’ve been doing really well. You’re proud of them and you say that, but it’s not an overall endorsement of their life. So the same thing is with your country. Like you can be proud of your country, but not necessarily agree with everything in your country or what your country has done or is doing, right? I’m not proud of the fact that in many states you can get abortion. I think that’s horrendous, an abomination, right? But I’m very proud of my country and for many things that it’s done. It’s done many things. It’s allowed the gospel to flourish in a way that it can’t actually flourish in other countries. So it’s okay to be proud of your country.

Heavenly Citizenship

And I’m going to draw this around so you can see my point. Paul’s driving at a point here regarding their citizenship. One, if you just read this straightforward in the Greek, the verb actually comes at the end. Now Greek word order in one sense doesn’t matter. It kind of follows a normal pattern, but when the pattern’s not followed, it’s because the author is wanting to bring your attention to something. So if you were just reading this in the Greek, it would really just say, “only worthy of the gospel of Christ.” That’s how the sentence begins. Why? Because Paul wants the focus on the gospel. “Only worthy of the gospel of Christ.” Listen, the gospel is first and foremost. That’s why he puts it there. It’s first and foremost. It is the focus. It’s the only, only. Only the gospel of Christ. So the gospel has to be front and center. And this is what Paul is driving at. It’s at the forefront. This imperative or command that we get, the first part of the verb is poli—that’s how you’d pronounce it—well, that’s where we get our word politics or polity or polis. So the word has overtones of what conduct would be expected by a citizen living in his state. So we get our word, like, politics from it. Paul is going to draw on this same idea. And later in Philippians 3:20, he says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior.” So our citizenship is in heaven. So this use of the term here and in 3:20 suggests—this is what it suggests—that he’s appealing to the Philippians’ sense of civic duty, but to remind them of a higher allegiance. The idea is just as you have an allegiance to your state, and you have certain civic duties to the state, like each of us, we’re citizens, and we have responsibilities to the state, some of those like pay taxes, do what the state requires as long as it is in accord with the Word, but you do what the state asks. We have certain responsibilities to the state. Well, Paul is saying that is true for you Philippians, but you also have certain responsibilities as citizens of a higher state or a higher citizenship. Where is that? Heaven. It’s the heavenly realm. So really what he’s saying is, hey, that’s okay to be proud of your Roman citizenship, but that’s not where your focus should be. I mean, the Romans, they conquered, and they conquered, and they conquered. They had great power. They were like the superpower of the time. If there was a problem, Rome took care of it. They didn’t like rebellion. If there was rebellion, what did they do? They’d stamp it out. They’d leave no questions asked and leave no questions unanswered regarding the power and the authority that Rome had. So Paul’s point here is like, hey, you know you’re a citizen of Rome. That’s okay to be proud of that. But you’re a citizen of a higher kingdom. And you have a higher allegiance because of that. Your citizenship is of a heavenly realm, which has a king, and his name is Jesus. That’s where your highest allegiance needs to lay. So really, you could translate this, live out your heavenly citizenship. Live out your heavenly citizenship. Your focus isn’t your great status as a Roman citizen. It’s about your great status as a heavenly citizen. Your earthly king might be Nero, but your heavenly king is Jesus. And the power of the kingdom is not vested in earthly things, but in heavenly things. And so since that’s the case, your life should look like that of a heavenly citizen. So most of our versions translated something like I just read, “Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” So let your manner of life be, that’s really what is there. Let your manner of life be, be what? Be worthy of what? The gospel. Let it be worthy of the gospel. Worthy of the gospel of Christ.

The Gospel Is the Standard

The gospel, listen to me, the gospel is the standard by which we live. Now, he could have given many different commands here. Think about that. Many different commands. How does he start? Just one is given. And what’s the heading for it? The gospel of Christ. There’s not a long list of rules that he’s going to go through here. Really, in fact, this is the only command that really oversees this section. But what is his point? Not a long list of rules. So what’s there? Jesus. Right? And that’s what’s there. The gospel. Well, who is the gospel about? It’s about Jesus. It’s not about you. It’s about Jesus and what he did for you. The good news of Jesus Christ, right? That he came down, laid down his life, that in that you can have life. You have life. I mean, we all got the bios life, like biology, but do you have the psychē life, the soul life, the eternal life, this zōē life that comes from God himself? That’s the life that we want. But you have this zōē life. You need the eternal life. That’s only through the gospel of Jesus Christ. So everyone has a gospel that they follow, and they probably don’t call it a gospel, but everyone has a gospel they follow. A lot of people have the gospel of self. Right? I mean, it’s the good news about who? Oh, them, surprise. It’s all about them, the gospel of self. Or you might have the gospel of money. You might have the gospel of power. You might have the gospel of sex. Listen to me, that gospel defines them. It really does. And the gospel of Jesus Christ—those others are false gospels. And what do they do? They fail, and they fail, and they fail, and they fail. You have that gospel, you’re going to end up disappointed. You’re going to end up let down. You’re going to end up in a bad way. You have the gospel of Christ, then you have that zōē life, that eternal life that God grants you to be with him and live forever. The gospel of Christ proclaims that Jesus is Lord over all. Listen to me, brothers and sisters, information is not enough. You need not just information, you need illumination. So information doesn’t save. If salvation was simply a knowledge issue, there’d be a lot more people saved, if it was just a knowledge issue. If you just had to know something, like sometimes you have to learn facts in a class and you’re really not interested in taking that class. I don’t know what class that was for you—mine was geology. It doesn’t rock, okay? I’m just telling you. Did not like it, but I had to learn information. Learn the information, pass the class. Information alone doesn’t save. It takes more than knowledge. You need illumination, not just information. So people can know all sorts of things about the Bible. They can even know the gospel, but knowing the gospel isn’t enough. You have to believe the gospel. You have to trust in Christ. Knowing about Christ, that’s great, that’s fine. A lot of people know that. Like the percent of people that at least don’t believe that Jesus was a person—like even atheists believe there was a man named Jesus of Nazareth. He died on a cross. Like, it’s like less than 1% of people would doubt the historicity of Jesus. So people believe in Jesus in that sense, they know about him. They know about him, but do they believe in him? A lot of people don’t. Well, that’s where the gospel comes in. You have to have the gospel, the good news, of what Jesus did for them. So information alone is not enough. We need illumination. And Paul is saying here, if we’re calling ourselves citizens of the heavenly kingdom, then there is going to be a difference between us and other people. And he spells it out in three ways.

Stand Firm in One Spirit

First, look back at the text. He says that I may hear of you that you, verse 27, that you are standing firm in one spirit. That’s the first part. These are the three qualities or aspects of what it looks like to follow Jesus. You’re like, I claim to follow Jesus. Well, Paul kind of spells it out here, what three aspects are of following Jesus. One is standing firm in one spirit. Okay, standing together in unity flows from being well-grounded in a relationship with Jesus. You need to stand firm when? Well, when the attack from the outside comes. There’s going to be attack from the outside. You need to stand firm when? When the attack from the inside comes. What do I mean by that? Well, you know, there’s wolves outside, but there can be wolves inside. And when you think about it, when do wolves attack? Once they’re in the sheep pen, right? Right? So once they’re in the sheep pen, wolves come into the sheep pen before attacking. Listen, it’s really interesting. All the different animals in the Bible, there’s a lot of animals in the Bible, listed. All these different animals in the Bible, they’re mentioned. But whenever the word wolves appear, it actually just refers to a false teacher. Someone who’s bringing in heresy, someone who’s there to divide. It’s never actually used of like an actual animal. Any metaphor of using wolf in the Bible is never used of the animal itself. You know, you read the Old Testament, it’s listing all these different animals. Sometimes in the New Testament, it mentions different things. Now you’ll never see wolves mentioned, except when it specifically is using it as an analogy or reference to false teachers. Here’s what Paul says in Acts 20 verse 29: “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.” I mean, you think he’s talking about animals there? Of course not. All right. No, what is he talking about? The false teachers, right? People who come in. He even says it: “And from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” Here’s what one theologian said: “Christians must not flee, compromise, give in, back down, or be divided when they face hostile opposition. The command to stand firm was used to indicate the duty of the soldier in battle, or to describe the taking of a position vis-à-vis that of an adversary. Like soldiers on a battlefield, they must not yield an inch of ground, no matter how hard their adversaries press against them.” The importance of standing firm is stressed by Paul’s repetition of his demand to stand firm at the end of the letter, which he does in chapter 4. What’s the idea? Hold the line. Hold the line. There’s a lot of pressures from the outside. You’ve got to hold the line. Sometimes, pressures from the inside. No, you’ve got to hold the line. Don’t feed the wolves. So wolves attack within, but it’s interesting. We’re actually told we’re not told to just stay here, right? We’re actually told to go out. And when we go out, what are we told we’re going to encounter? More wolves. Right? Matthew 10:16: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” And Luke 10, same similar idea: “Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” Well, what happens [audio unclear] slaughtered. True? True? He’s not going [audio unclear] and end up slaughtered on the side of the road.

Strive Side by Side

What’s the next point? Look what he says again in verse 27. So we’re standing, and we’re also striving, but we’re also striving side by side for the faith of the gospel with one mind. I mean, think about sports teams. What sports teams are the most successful? They strive together with one mind. You can have like some of the greatest talent on a team. You see this every year in professional sports. Like the team, it looks on paper, it looks stacked, they should dominate. And what happens many times, they don’t. And what happens? Oh, a team that has the right chemistry. They’re clicking together. What happened? They’re the team that wins the championship. Usually the best teams don’t always win the championship. It’s the team that’s working. They’re focused. They have one mind. They know the goal. Yesterday, my high school, the cross-country team had decided to do an alumni run. So I was like, you know, I ran cross-country in high school. We actually were a pretty decent team. Finished fifth in the state back in 1993. I know that goes back a ways. But they’re like doing an alumni run. I’m like, that’s going to be cool. Like I’m still running. That’d be fun. Like, you know, running with people that, you know, ran 30 years ago and 25 years ago and 20 years ago and 15 years ago. This year’s team was even better than our team. They finished second in the state. That’s pretty impressive. Just a side note, this is just interesting. There was 157 guys in the race. Missouri does it by classes, 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A. Now it’s 5A, but 4A was the top. We were 4A. So there’s 157 guys in the race. So, guess how many of those guys would have beat the championship girl winner? 154 of the 157 would have been the winner. Now, why is that? God made women and men different. And that’s okay to say. Women have many great and amazing giftings that us men don’t. And men have many great giftings and abilities that women just don’t. Is there some crossover? Sure. Women can run. Men can run. So this team this year was great. They finished second. So we’re all there together and the cross-country coach is like, go around and say your name and the year you graduated. So the first guy is like, 2025. Like, wait, you graduated last month? Like, really? And the next person’s like, 2024, 2022, 2020. I’m like, okay, are we going to at least get into the teens here? They’re going around. They get to me, I’m like, 1994. There’s like a collective groan from everybody. They’re like, oh. I was the second oldest person there. And from 2021 to 1990-whatever, five, there’s nobody. So it went from like young 20-something to me. There was one other guy. He didn’t run in the race. He just showed up. He graduated in 1971. So me and two of my classmates were there. We were literally only the only people over the age of 25. Okay. I was just treating this like a fun run. All right. I’ve told somebody before, like if I get into competition mode, I just, with running at least, I get pretty serious. So I was like, I’m just going to treat this as a fun run. I’m just going to treat it as a fun run. I’m just going to treat it as a fun run. Because I was like, two weeks out, I’m like, okay, if I’m going to treat it as anything else as a fun run, I probably should train a bit. I’m just going to treat it as a fun run. We’re just running 3K. [audio unclear] So, all that fun went out the window when he said, “Go.” I’m just telling you. I’m just telling you. All right. And I’d like to tell you, I beat every single one of them. I’d like to tell you that, but I can’t, because I didn’t. But I did okay. So my friend that actually was on the team with me, he’s like, hey, what’s kind of pace do you run? [audio unclear] So I’m like, okay, I’m just going to keep him in the distance, sort of keep people—like that kind of jacks you up on adrenaline so that you just take off too fast. So I’m like, okay, I’m not going out too fast. Well, I hit the first mile and they’re reading the times, like they’re treating this like a serious race. Like they got people along the course and telling us where to go and everything. And he tells the time, oh my goodness, I went out way too fast. So anyway, just side note, I did beat some of the—not the varsity runners, I know that, but I beat some of the guys on the team and I beat some of those alums. But there was this one young lady who was actually, either she was really fast or I was really slow. I don’t know what, but we were pretty close to each other. The boys’ cross-country coach, he was actually really nice. But the girls’ cross-country coach, this dude had to be a UFC fighter previously. He’s like screaming his head off. So I’ve got just like 50 feet on this girl. They’re like 50 feet on her, and he’s like screaming, “Catch that guy!” I’m like, dude, I’m in my 40s. Come on. And like every, you know, if you’ve never been to a cross-country race, like if you know how the course is laid out, you can like take little shortcuts and get to different parts of the race real easily. So I mean, it’s like he was my best friend essentially, because he’s there the whole time, why? He’s trying to coach his top runner, her, right, and I’m just like, what in the world? I mean, just screaming the whole time. My coach didn’t scream. My coach was amazing. He was not a screamer. This guy’s a screamer, okay? So we’re running and he’s like, catch, you know, catch him, catch him. I’m like, you know, maybe I should just let her beat me. I was like, no. I was like, sorry. I told you the fun went out once he said go, okay, so it was on. You going to bring the team there? It’s a race. Anyway, we ended up having a good time. She didn’t beat me, by the way. That is important to the story. I actually did enjoy going. I wasn’t sure if I should go. I was concerned maybe I’d be like the oldest person there.

But here’s the point. Like, there’s still a camaraderie. Like, you take any particular group like that, runners. What do they have in common? Running, right? And there’s a camaraderie there. I even appreciate, you know, I’m finishing the line, and there’s some guys there giving me fist bumps. I thought that was kind of cool, right? There’s a camaraderie with runners. There’s camaraderie with different activities that you do, right? There’s camaraderie there. Because you have something in common. So that, I mean, you have a commonality. So that, you know, like, hey, they’re kind of like me a little bit. There’s a reason that like social clubs exist, and they have, you know, different social clubs that focus on different things, right? These people like to be together with those of the same interests. Nothing wrong with that. Well, what’s our common interest? It’s Jesus, right? I mean, that should supersede anything else that we do. Right. I mean, that’s our commonality, first and foremost. I mean, that’s why the Scriptures over and over again, Ephesians 2 talks about it, Galatians 3 talks about it, right? Neither slave nor free, Jew nor Gentile. Like we’re all one in Christ. And that supersedes all those things. All those things. So we have more in common with someone 30 years older than us, 30 years younger than us, that has different skin and lives in a different country if they’re a follower of Jesus than we do with our neighbor who looks exactly like us. It’s just the truth. That’s how God has set up his citizenship, his heavenly realm. So when we’re talking here about striving together, again, he’s playing on a military image here of soldiers fighting side by side. They’re striving side by side. That’s the image, is soldiers fighting together. Later he’s going to talk about this in Philippians when he says, he’s talking about the two ladies that are fighting, right? And he says, they’ve labored side by side with me in the gospel. But what’s happened now? Well, now, instead of fighting side by side, they’re fighting like face to face, right? So it’s the same word in 1:27 that we’re going to see later in Philippians 4:3. Listen, disunity with two people. Why? I’d hate to be Syntyche or Euodia. I mean, they get called out in the Scripture. That’s a bad place to be because you’re there forever. I mean, you’re just there. You get talked about quite a bit. But why would Paul do that? Because this disunity, just even between two people, is so disruptive it can destroy an entire church. That’s why he calls it out. Because what happens? You have two people, and they’re kind of going at it, but what happens? Well, then the spouses get involved, right? Now you got four people. And then their friends get involved, and now you got eight people. And then they get their friends involved. And now you got 16 people. And pretty soon it multiplies. And then people start taking sides, right? They start taking, whose side are you going to be on? Whose side are you going to support? You’re going to be with Euodia, or you’re going to be on Syntyche’s side? Well, I mean, and that’s Paul’s point. There’s no side really. There’s Jesus’ side, and they’ve got an issue that they need to work out, so he addresses it. So striving side by side, disunity can do so much damage. You can’t take your eyes off the gospel. If you do, you end up fighting instead of for the gospel, you fight against one another. Unity is essential. I’ll probably say more about this in chapter 2 and chapter 4.

Not Frightened by Opponents

Then he goes on, not frightened, still in verse 27, leading into verse 28 here, “not frightened in anything by your opponents.” Listen, you will always have opponents. You’ll always have opponents. If you’re walking with Jesus and you’re living for him, you will always have opponents. There’s going to be times in your life when they’re louder, there may be times in life, maybe they’re not as loud, but you’re always going to have opponents. You just need to get used to it. If you’re going to walk with Jesus, you’re going to walk in his ways, you’re going to have opponents. So get used to it. It’s not going to change. Here, again, in Greek literature, this idea of not frightened was used to describe horses that are startled or frightened on the battlefield. One author said this: Paul’s instruction to stand firm without being frightened calls for Christians not to be agitated and terrified on the battlefield as horses often are. Christians are not to be intimidated in any way. No matter how powerful the opposition is, nothing should shake the resolve of those who stand firm in the one spirit. Lined up side by side as one person, they should not be scared by any threats or any torture. They should not run from any battle, back down from any attack, compromise anything, or concede in any way. If we do those things, if we do those three things, what does it say here? “This is a clear sign to them of their destruction.” Of whose destruction? Well, of the opponents that are just mentioned, right? This is a clear sign to them, verse 28, of their destruction, but it’s also a sign, what? Of your salvation. Okay, it’s a sign of their destruction. It’s a sign of your salvation. That’s the sign. The sign is that you’re living as heavenly citizens and you’re doing those things mentioned. That you’re not frightened. That you’re striving together. You’re standing firm. That is the sign to the unbeliever that their destruction is coming. They’ve got an opportunity. Everywhere you’re going, every time you’re living, every time you’re speaking, you’re speaking truth about Jesus. I mean, hopefully. You’re displaying the gospel in living form. And in a very loose sense, I mean, you’ve got to use words when you’re sharing the gospel, but in a very loose sense, it’s a statement about the gospel to them. I mean, you’re saying, this is what I believe about Jesus. And it’s a call to them. They got to decide, right? No one ever gets saved by not hearing words. You’ve got to hear words to get saved. That’s why sharing the gospel is sharing the gospel is using words. You’ve got to use words. But your manner of life definitely needs to back it up 100%. Otherwise you’re preaching a false gospel. Now your gospel words might be true, but you’re denying it yourself by the way you’re living. So manner has to match up with words. The manner has to match up with words. Otherwise, you’re proclaiming a false gospel to yourself. The words might be true. The gospel, you can falsely live it and truly proclaim it. And that truth is being truthfully proclaimed, but you yourself are denying it. So you’re denying what God is claiming God has done. The manner of life has to match up with actions and words. So the clear sign, well, we get a clear sign too, though. Sometimes you’re like, I don’t know if I’m saved or not. Well, the clear sign of your salvation: what? As you’re walking with Jesus is one of the things. That’s one of the signs. People are struggling with their faith or they’re not sure they’re saved. Well, the first thing you can ask is, am I actually following after the things that my Savior commanded me to do? That doesn’t make it works-based. No, the salvation comes, then the works come. But if the works aren’t there, then you can be like, hmm, maybe the salvation isn’t there. That’s fair. That’s fair. That’s okay to do. But one of the signs that you are saved is what? It’s right here. Again, not frightened by the opponents, standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side. Why? Because you’re heavenly citizens and you’re acting like it. It is clear and apparent from top to bottom, inside and out, you are with Jesus. That’s very important that you’re with Jesus. It should be noticeable. It should be noticeable.

So these are the characteristics of a life worthy of the gospel. Do you have these? You don’t have to necessarily right now have them in great abundance, but they should be present. They should be present. They should be present. And you should be tilling the soil. Tilling the soil. Helping that to grow. Listen, the gospel has to be first in your life. The good news of Jesus Christ. He is number one. Otherwise, anything else, you’re following a false gospel. Jesus has to be first. His gospel must be your gospel.

Take the Deal

Listen, if you haven’t made the gospel of Jesus yours, make it yours today. It’s very simple. I mean, over and over the Scriptures say, repent and believe, repent and believe. So, I mean, today, anybody, you can repent and believe. You can do that for the first time. The Bible says, if you turn away, you repent of your sins, you turn towards Christ. One of the beautiful things you see is, he’s right there. He doesn’t make you search and seek and find him out and run around corners and different things. No, there he is. He’s right there. Then you trust in him, for what? What he did for you. Well, what did he do for you? Well, many things. But he lived a life and laid it down for you, so that you could be forgiven, that your sin could be dealt with. And even just as great, I mean he takes your sins and he gives you his righteousness. You don’t have a righteousness of your own. Romans talks about that, Psalms talks about that. You don’t have a righteousness of your own, nobody does. We could wipe away all your sins right now. We could wipe them away. I understand Jesus has already done that. But you could wipe them away. We could get you back to, you know, net zero. We could get you back to neutral. That’s not enough to get you into heaven. You’ve got to have the righteousness of Christ. If you’re just neutral, you’re not righteous or unrighteous, you need a righteousness. And guess what? Even if we wiped away your sins and you’re like, okay, go earn that righteousness, you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t do it. You’d end up sinning again. You’d end up falling short. You’d end up messing it up. Only Christ can earn the righteousness and he earns it for you. He earns it for you. And what does he do? Freely gives it. So he takes your sin. You get his righteousness. Brothers and sisters, that’s an amazing deal. All right, you might not have tomorrow. You might not have next week. You should take the deal. If you have not trusted in Christ, if you have not received the righteousness of him, if you have not had your sins placed upon him, today’s the day. Take the deal. You will find out that God is a very gracious and heavenly Father. He doesn’t turn away any who come to him. He is kind and gracious. So turn to him today. Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, we do thank you that you are gracious, merciful, you abound in steadfast love. You don’t turn any who come to you. And you love us with an everlasting love. So make today, Lord, as your gospel has gone forth here, people hear it, receive it, repent, and believe it. Touch hearts, change lives, Father, by your Spirit. Grant people the gift of salvation today. We pray this for your glory. Amen.