9.3 - Finding Joy in the Gospel, Pt 3

As we move from chapter 1 to chapter 2, we observe how the apostle Paul admonishes his readers to live worthy of the gospel by working together, united in Christ.

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Paul and Noah both preach and teach with the Cedar Park church of Christ in Cedar Park, TX. You can visit our site at: https://www.cedarparkchurchofchrist.org/

Transcript

Noah: 0:30

Well, welcome back to the Stand Strong podcast. We're here and we're now ankle deep in season nine. As we weighed our way into the letter that Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi we haven't made it through. Chapter one yet. That's why I said ankle deep. We're, we're taking our time and I think that's the right thing to do when we're reading this rich text. And so we're looking to wrap up chapter one today and, and move into chapter two as we continue to follow Paul's train of thought. We just came from you know, Paul's demonstrable priority of the gospel. We, we looked at last episode some of the ways that we can see how Paul prioritizes Christ and the good news of Christ, and whether that means that there are those out there who are teaching and it's specifically despite Paul or to some other, in some other way, afflict Paul. Paul says, Hey. I rejoice that Christ is proclaimed. And then he goes on to talk about how, you know what? I would rather die and, and be in glory with Christ. But I'm convinced that that's not gonna happen because I'm still needed to serve you speaking to the Philippians. And so we just see we got a really good picture of Paul prioritizing the gospel, putting that first. And now he's gonna turn the lens onto the Philippians and he's gonna give them an admonition beginning in verse 27. Let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ. And that is a challenging admonition, to say the least.

Paul: 2:04

Yeah. You know, it's when, when you're talking about how people live and you, you connect the they way they would think as a citizen. Mm-hmm. Like for us, a citizen of the United States, which I am, but I'm a citizen of heaven. Right. And so that, that language there would resonate with them. Think, think about, you know, your influence and, and, and how you live. Make it be worthy of the gospel. And I, I love that Noah, because he starts with the gospel and he keeps coming back to the concept of the gospel. While that's a message, it's something we preach. It is also something that we live.

Noah: 2:46

Yes.

Paul: 2:46

And sometimes Christians forget that people can't come to faith without hearing somebody's gotta preach. So when you're talking about gospel, it's gotta be preached. It has to be lived to,

Noah: 2:57

yeah. The, the gospel that Paul preached and the gospel that we ought to be preaching. It inherently calls for a changed life. Mm-hmm. There, there, it calls for response. It calls for action. It calls for it to be lived out in everyday life. It's not simply, simply something to be, you know, intellectually agreed to. And that's definitely clear. In Paul's example that he's already set out, right? And now he's, he says to the Philippians, your life needs to be worthy of the gospel. And these are really, really beautiful verses here at the end of chapter one. I want to take a moment to read a couple of these because I think it's just worthwhile to to hear what Paul is encouraging these Christians to do. He says, to live worthy of the gospel of Christ. So that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you now. Pause there for a moment. So Paul wants to hear of their reputation. Now there's all sorts of things we could fill in the blank, right? What would you want to hear about maybe the, the church that you grew up as a part of, and then you, you know, you moved away. Years later, what do you want to hear about that church? Or maybe there's a church that you, that you worked with for a long time, and again, work took you elsewhere and you hear about that church. What do you want to hear? What do you want their reputation to be? And that's what what we're gonna hear here is that Paul wants to hear that the Philippians 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. And then he goes on to comment a little bit on what that means. But I, I think that's just a beautiful verse. He says, with one mind, one spirit, striving side by side. There's a word that comes to mind when I read that.

Paul: 4:58

What is it?

Noah: 4:59

United.

Paul: 5:00

Oh,

Noah: 5:01

love it. I mean, he, he's saying that they're supposed to be one. And that they're supposed to be working together. And. I don't know. I, I think that that's particularly impactful when we can look around in our, you know, in our lives, whether it be in our families or a church that we're a part of, or, you know, I don't, I'm not gonna speak for those who are listening, but for any, anyone out there, I'm sure that you've experienced this, where even good people can be against one another. Mm-hmm. And Paul's saying, that's not what I want for you. I want you to be side by side. Striving together.

Paul: 5:42

Yeah. We've talked about this in the last podcast, Paul's, Paul's tender affection, the way Paul felt about these, these Christians. I have you in my heart. Mm-hmm. I mean, he had a relationship with the church at Philippi. Paul loved all people, but he has special relationship with this church and we'll, we'll talk about that as we get later in the letter. Some reasons perhaps for that. But you can't do any better, Noah, as as a writer writing to a church than to say what Paul says here in verse 27. That ought to be central to every leader in every church. Figure out a way. How to clearly and consistently communicate to your sheep that this is what you want as well. And he says, I want you to stand fast. Striving together. Now, I like what you said about the one spirit with one mind, and that'll come up probably early on in chapter two about the, like-mindedness, the unity.

Noah: 6:43

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 6:43

Cooperation, participation together. But don't miss that he connects. Stand fast with striving together. Here's what I've seen in some churches, you can have one without the other. And that's not what Paul's asking for. You can have very committed people who will stand fast. Nobody else stands with them. They're gonna stand fast. That's just who they are. They're committed to Christ. If they have to stand alone, they will stand alone, right? But then sometimes you can have people standing together. So it's more than just one or a few.

Noah: 7:24

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 7:25

But they're not standing fast.

Noah: 7:27

Yeah.

Paul: 7:28

Paul says, I want you to stand fast and stand together.

Noah: 7:31

Yeah.

Paul: 7:32

And, and what makes that possible? I think he gives the key, the gospel or the faith of the gospel. I'm gonna speak as one man and I acknowledge, depending on who's listening today my experience could be less. Than yours. But I can tell you, I, I think one of the reasons that churches do not have a standing fast in the standing together is because the root issue sometimes is there's not the appreciation for the gospel that you thought was there. I'm not saying we don't believe it,

Noah: 8:12

right?

Paul: 8:12

I'm not saying we didn't obey it, but. If a church understands that its mission is to connect everything to Jesus and to share Jesus by sharing the gospel, then we don't deviate from that. That's, that's the core concept of who we are and what makes us stand fast and stand together is we realize that we have a message and a faith. That has to be shared and this is who we are.

Noah: 8:45

Right? Right. We talked just a moment ago about how the gospel that Paul preached calls for action. It calls for living that out, and that's what we're seeing here in this, is that there is a mission. You used that word just a moment ago. There is, there's a mission that comes with this news and it's a mission. We're all called to. And we're called to stand firm in. And so something that I think is so helpful about what Paul does here is, yeah, he puts all of these pieces together. We are to stand firm. Mm-hmm. But we are to strive side by side. Those two things are not. Counter to each other. They're complimentary to one another. Mm-hmm. And what does striving, you know, imply that implies that this is gonna be, there's gonna be labor, there's gonna be work to be done. It's not necessarily going to be easy, just like it's not easy to stand firm. But we're supposed to do it together. And so if, if you remove one of the pieces, if you, if you remove the uni, the unity aspect of being of one mind and one spirit or side by side, well, yeah. That's not gonna work. Mm-hmm. If you, if you remove the standing firm part. Well, that's not gonna work. You might be together, but you'll be drifting around doing whatever you know the wind tells you to do, right? If you remove the striving part, okay, well, maybe you feel like you're standing firm in the truth, and maybe you're doing it together, but there's no effort going in, in, in other words, you could describe it as stagnant, right? Mm-hmm. Well, we're here and we're here together. Now what? You're not doing anything right? So if you try to remove any of those pieces, you don't get the full picture of what Paul is really wanting for this church, which is that they live the gospel. Truthfully, and they live the gospel together.

Paul: 10:37

Mm-hmm. Don't, don't be afraid of your adversaries. He doesn't get into specifics of who and how many and to what extent. They had enemies. They had the enemies that were against the gospel. They were against those who would share the gospel. They were against Paul. Whereas Paul, when he's writing this, and it's interesting as you, as you read, Paul's thought through the end of chapter one when he says, I want to hear this about you. Then he says, don't be afraid of your adversaries. Oh, and, and it's be granted to you. Mm-hmm. By Christ. To not just believe that. Yeah. Connects it back to the gospel. What a wonderful privilege. But he's saying it's a privilege to suffer. And then he says, Hey, others are suffering too. Yeah. Look at Paul and that, that would, that would encourage their faith to want to do the very thing that Paul says. I want to hear that you're doing. Yeah. You're standing fast driving together for like gladiators against the common foe. We have real enemies.

Noah: 11:33

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 11:33

Our enemies know in 2025 in Western America, these United States, let's bring it down to Texas are not the same.

Noah: 11:42

Yeah.

Paul: 11:43

But we have'em. And you know, I'm not a prophet, but you know, kinda like what Paul says to Timothy, evil people are gonna get worse. Mm-hmm. And worse, the deception is only gonna intensify the, the persecution, the assault is gonna come, it is there.

Noah: 12:01

Yeah.

Paul: 12:02

Will you stand together and will you see the, the standing together and even the suffering that for Christ? Will you, will you consider it a privilege? Yeah. I mean, Peter talks about that to his audience. Paul's talked about that before.

Noah: 12:16

Yeah. In fact, in this context, Paul even says that them standing firm and continuing in their faith. Even in face of opposition. Mm-hmm. And in the face of persecution, he says, that's actually evidence of God's faithfulness. And in Hi, in this specific context, he says, this is, it's going, it assures your opponent's destruction and your salvation in the end. Right. It's, it's an encouragement to continue participating in the faith and participating, as you pointed out just a moment ago in the grace. Of suffering for Christ. Paul talked about his suffering for Christ as a grace that was given to him. And here he says, you get to you, it's been granted to you to do the same, right? But in the end, the reward will be far greater. There's encouragement in this is one way you could say that, and that's where Paul goes next. When we get into chapter two, this chapter break is probably not the best. If you were to ask me and and Paul says, if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy. By being of the same mind. This is the same sort of admonition that he was just giving towards unity and being united. But he says if there's any encouragement in Christ another way you could say that I think, I think this is a fair interpretation of the passage, is Paul saying, since there is encouragement in Christ mm-hmm. You, in other words, you know, he, he's putting it kind of in an if statement. But the implication is, you know that there's encouragement in Christ. You know that there's comfort from love and participation in the spirit and so on and so forth, and that's coming on the heels of him saying What's been granted to you is that you're gonna suffer just like I'm suffering. And you remaining faithful is a sign that God is faithful. That's encouraging. And he says, in Christ, you can, you can have that encouragement. And based on that is why, based in that truth is when Paul says, complete my joy.

Paul: 14:22

Yeah. Yeah. The new King James has fulfilled my joy. Again, you think about Paul. Paul already said, Hey, I want to hear this about you. This is one I want to hear. I, I would like to see it when I come. But I want to hear this even if I don't get to come. And he connects that to his joy being made complete.

Noah: 14:43

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 14:44

By the fact that they are like-minded.

Noah: 14:47

Yeah.

Paul: 14:48

And the like-mindedness. Noah is not a church agreeing on everything.

Noah: 14:54

Right.

Paul: 14:55

And it's, I am not saying by saying that, I am not saying that, I've said this before. We become a people who agree more and more because we believe less and less.

Noah: 15:06

Right.

Paul: 15:07

But the like-mindedness in the one mind and one spirit, there's attitudes there. There, there is a determination that we will stand together

Noah: 15:17

mm-hmm.

Paul: 15:18

In the faith. Our conviction, our conscience, our commitment is to Christ and we're gonna stand together. Hence, you've heard there is strength in numbers.

Noah: 15:27

Yeah.

Paul: 15:28

Paul said, that's gonna complete my joy, is to find out that you really are like-minded.

Noah: 15:33

Yes. And specifically where he's going with this is that they are like-minded in their motivations and their attitudes for why they do what they do and how they do. What they do. But I, before we talk about that specifically, I do want to notice Paul's expressed joy in this letter several times already. Mm-hmm. In non-exhaustive list here, he mentions at the very beginning of chapter one that he's, he finds joy in their partnership together in the gospel. I think that's in verse four. He rejoices that Christ is proclaimed even if it's proclaimed from wrong motives. That's. Somewhere in the middle of chapter one, verse 18, I think he finds joy in the fact that Christ is the one who's receiving glory from his life and from his suffering. He, he has already expressed a lot of joy by this point, and I think that that brings more meaning and more impact. When he then says to the Philippians, here's how you can increase, how you can fulfill. My joy, how I, I already have all this joy from, from the circumstances that, that glorify Christ and the partnership and relationship I have with you. But now you can bring me even fuller joy, even more joy if you do this, if you have one mind. Mm-hmm. Man, if I were receiving this letter from Paul, who's already, already talked about all the things that bring him joy. I would, I would want to go, okay, that that sounds good. Let's do that. Of course that's easy to say in hindsight, but I just, I think that that's really important for us to notice that that how this letter would've been received is very strong encouragement to do what he says next. And what he means when he says be of the same mind is to have the same love being in full accord and of one mind. Doing nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. And then there's this kind of summary statement in verse four. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Talk about a powerful couple of verses.

Paul: 17:49

Yeah. I mean, okay, so we've got in chapter 1, 27, perfectly joined together in the same mind.

Noah: 17:57

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 17:58

Then we've got here in chapter two in verse two. Of one accord of one mind.

Noah: 18:02

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 18:03

Then he's gonna talk in chapter four, and he's gonna call two names, by the way.

Noah: 18:08

Yep.

Paul: 18:09

And when he calls the two names of these women, he says, I want you chapter four in verse two, to be of the same mind in the Lord.

Noah: 18:16

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 18:17

Chapter three in verse 16. Let us walk by the same rule. I've got the new King James version. Let us be of the same mind. So again, the Apostle Paul on at least 1, 2, 3, 4. Plus times in this letter, he's connecting the importance of that.

Noah: 18:35

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 18:36

Man, you know, and, and again, it would depend though, like I think of John, it's like Third John, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Noah: 18:45

Right.

Paul: 18:45

There's a sense in which, if that's what. These people need to hear about their manner of life, their walk that's connected to truth. It gives me great joy. Well, Paul said, I'm, I'm gonna let you know what gives me great joy,

Noah: 18:59

right?

Paul: 18:59

That God's people. Know how to get along in the things that matter most.

Noah: 19:06

Yeah.

Paul: 19:06

And again, like you said, what's gonna make that possible? He tells'em, here have the same love. And then he says in verse three, okay, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or concede, but in loneliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. And let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the intro interests of others. Selfishness is a killer.

Noah: 19:31

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 19:32

To being of the same mind, it absolutely will kill it.

Noah: 19:35

Yeah. Yeah. Whenever we, whenever we turn things in on ourselves and begin being first and foremost concerned with how this affects me or how I feel about this, instead of trying to, to put others ahead of ourselves that's a good way to break down any community. Mm-hmm. And certainly that would be true, true of, of a church. This section, I, you know, the more I read it, there's, there's kind of two ways. If you were to just read this section and try to make application of it there's kind of two ways that you could do it. One you could talk about. The, the output, like this is one way of, of summarizing this would be to say, this is how I want you to treat one another. Correct. Right. So there's, that's the output. Mm-hmm. The other side is this is the type of mind or attitude with which I want you to live. And that produces the output.

Paul: 20:29

Yes.

Noah: 20:30

Both are great applications. If, but if you only address the mind mm-hmm. And you never say, this is what it looks like, this is what it achieves. This is. This is what makes us strive side by side with one mind and one you know, one heart well then you're never gonna see the result. But if you only try to teach the result without saying, this comes from a changed heart and a changed attitude. And a changed motivation, well, that's not gonna work either. And I think Paul just masterfully here, combines those two into one.

Paul: 21:01

Yeah. And again, not, not to go back and, Hmm. Bring up the past, but in our, in our podcast back in the start of chapter one, why does Paul say, Hey, I'm praying this for you. I pray that your love may have bound still more and more in knowledge and discernment that you may have approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Noah: 21:32

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 21:33

He's, he hasn't deviated from what he says, he's praying for this church. Yep. And the same love. How do you have the same love, same gospel.

Noah: 21:44

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 21:45

Same Lord. We have our favorites. And that's okay. Jesus had his what? Now, what I mean by Jesus had his favorites, the inner circle. We know that as Bible students, you know, look at Jesus, garden of Gethsemane. Not everybody got to go as far as some others got to go, and he had a special relationship with Peter and John. He just did.

Noah: 22:05

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 22:06

But Jesus had the same love for all the apostles. Jesus had the same love for all people. How do I have the same love for everyone in the community, in the church belonging to Christ? We have the same faith. Mm-hmm. We have the same Lord, so we don't have to agree on everything. We, we can have a lot of differences. I mean, there are some people, and please understand, people are hearing me say this, that I don't, I'm not trying to take a shot. It's, it's a term I grew up hearing, and I've been called this before. I've had people call me a nerd. Or a geek. I mean, I moved here and people said, well, they're com computer geeks. I said, well, be careful who you say that to because those people are very smart. Yeah. And, and you know, we have a lot of good things in life because of their intelligence. But you can look at people. But if, if I view a person a certain way, that creates in me an attitude where I just, you know what? I'm okay if they're not in the community.

Noah: 23:06

Mm-hmm.

Paul: 23:08

We have to be careful. I have to be careful because same love is the result of the same gospel and the same Lord, and you can't be like-minded without the same love.

Noah: 23:17

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think that that's a good reminder to, to wrap up on here as we begin chapter two. We'll, we'll continue chapter two next week when we come back to this study of Philippians. For those who are listening along, thanks for joining us as we study this letter, and we pray that it has been a blessing to you so far, and we'll continue to do so until next week. I want to echo the words of Paul that I would not our Paul. To be clear, the Apostle Paul, I want to echo his words. I want to echo his words. That my desire is that we can stand firm and that we can do so together, striving side by side as we labor in the gospel. Thanks for listening, and we'll see you next week.