In his sermon titled 'A Worthy Gospel,' Jason Dohm explores the message of Philippians 1:27-30, emphasizing that it's not about living a life that deserves applause, but about living in a way that reflects the worthiness of the Gospel of Christ. Dohm explains that Christians are called to live lives that match the Gospel they profess, highlighting that conduct worthy of the Gospel is a priority for all believers. He identifies two patterns of conduct that Paul emphasizes: Christian unity and Christian fearlessness. Unity is described as standing fast together in one spirit and mind, striving for the faith of the Gospel. Fearlessness involves not being terrified by adversaries, as this fearlessness and unity serve as signs to both believers and non-believers. The sermon also discusses two gifts of grace: the gift of belief in Christ and the gift of suffering for His sake. Dohm underscores that suffering for Christ is a privilege and a means by which God shapes believers into the image of His Son. The sermon concludes by urging believers to evaluate their lives for consistency with the Gospel, to strive for unity and steadfastness, and to embrace suffering as a gift that produces spiritual growth.

Today's sermon text is from the end of Philippians verses 27 through 30. I'm going to read Philippians 1. Please listen to the word of our great Lord. Paul and Timothy, bond servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the overseers and deacons, grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine, making requests for you all with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

Just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart. Inasmuch as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. For God is my witness how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ. In this I pray that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may 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. But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ.

And most of the brethren the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill. The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense, or in truth, Christ is preached.

And in this I will rejoice, yes, and will rejoice. For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness as always. So now also Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my labor.

Yet what shall I choose I cannot tell. For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you. And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of the faith. That you're rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ by my coming to you again.

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, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me, and now here is in me." The title of the sermon this morning is A Worthy Gospel. Don't get caught up thinking about this is primarily about our lives. It is about the pattern of our lives and our conduct. This is primarily about the worth of the Gospel.

It's not that we're somehow supposed to order our lives in a way that deserves applause, it's that the Gospel deserves the applause of our lives. The Gospel is worthy that we would order our lives in a way that applauds God for His mercy. So this is really about the great value of the Gospel, not somehow becoming worth the applause of men. Last week, the title of the sermon was Paul's No-Lose proposition. And we get Paul's reflection on his future.

He's thinking about his future from a prison cell. So this is not Paul laying on his back in a meadow on a late spring day, you know, it's warm, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and he's thinking about his future. No, Paul is in a prison cell, probably chained to a centurion. But what does he think about his future? He says, well, I could go one of two ways.

I could stay alive, and in that case I'll have the liberty to labor for the Lord's people, and labor fruitfully for the glory of Jesus Christ, and that is a very pleasant thought to me. Or, or I'll die and that's even better. I'll die, I'll be free of this body of corruption, I'll be free from the warfare against sin, I'll be face to face with Jesus Christ. No more of this looking through a glass darkly, but I'll just be face to face with Christ which is far better. So even from a prison cell, this is Paul's perspective when he thinks about the two options about what his future will be like.

This week, having spoken of the advance of the gospel coming from his circumstances, in other words he reflects on what's been happening to him. He says the things that man has meant for evil, God has actually meant for good and is using to advance the gospel in a number of ways. One of which is to make the church bold. Having spoken of the advancement of the Gospel through his circumstances, he now turns to speaking of the Philippians standing in the Gospel. Are they unified in the gospel?

Are they steadfast in the gospel? Is their conduct worthy of the gospel? Paul is now changing to exhorting the Philippians about these things and this is actually beginning a section that will continue all the way through chapter 2 verse 18. So there's going to be a number of weeks where the theme is going to be conduct worthy of the gospel. We'll just keep coming back to that phrase over and over and over again.

He's developing this and showing us bit by bit what conduct worthy of the Gospel looks like. So as we go to the text, let's go to the text in prayer. God, we thank You for the good news that because of Your great mercy, you take enemies and you make them into sons and daughters. You glorify the name of your son Jesus Christ by pouring out your mercy on sinners, those who deserve condemnation. And you don't even make them slaves in your house, you make them heirs, sons and daughters under your daily, hourly, minutely Care.

Thank you, God, for the Gospel, this good news that has captivated us, captured our hearts. Pray that it would be on display as a worthy gospel, worthy of the applause of our lives. Okay, so we have four verses before us. Let's break it up and look at each part. The first part I want to look at is just the first part of verse 27.

I don't even want to go to the end of verse 27, but follow along as I read. Philippians chapter 1, first part of verse 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, and we're stopping there. Right in the middle of the phrase, right in the middle of the sentence. So here in this part of the verse we have a priority for all Christians, conduct that is worthy of the Gospel.

So if you are filling in blanks on the handout, the blanks are priority worthy. A priority for all Christians conduct that is worthy of the Gospel. Here we have the start of an important section from an important letter. How do we know it's an important letter because it's in Scripture? And this is an important section where there is a repeated exhortation about what it means to have conduct that is worthy of the Gospel and thereby it is made a priority for all Christians that our lives look like this.

Professing Christians have attached themselves to the gospel through their profession. In other words, they say, I am Christ's and Christ is mine. So there's an attachment. When I say, I am a Christian, I have attached myself to the Gospel through that profession. So there's me, and I have conduct, I have a pattern of life, and there's the gospel that I've attached myself to.

And they're supposed to match. This is what Paul is teaching us here. Me, my conduct, my pattern of life, when I profess to be a Christian, this pattern of life is supposed to match the gospel. It's supposed to go together with the gospel. It's supposed to be consistent with the gospel so that the things that I say are closely related to the things that I do.

There's no disharmony between the profession of my now and the pattern of my life. But we know that there's no problem with the gospel, so then it means that my life has to come up to the gospel. In other words, we have a gospel without imperfections. And so it then becomes our task to strive towards a life, a pattern of life that is consistent with this perfect spotless good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So Paul in essence is saying, whether I'm able to come and see it for myself or whether I get it from a report from afar, this is what must be true of you as professing Christians." That's what we have before us in these verses.

Hopefully I can come and see it with my own two eyes, but if I can't, if I'm just getting a report, either way, this is what must be true of you when you take the name of Christ upon yourself. When you make a profession that says, Christ is mine, and I am Christ. Then that means certain things must be true of you. That you, and then there's going to be this list of things we'll be studying for several weeks now, But there are things that reflect conduct that is worthy of the Gospel of Christ. Now this is an important phrase, the Gospel of Christ.

We have sort of an explanation of what the Gospel is. The Gospel is just a word that means good news, right? We all know that. So, the Gospel of Christ means that the good news is wrapped up in Christ. The person and work of Jesus as the Christ.

Christ isn't his last name. Christ is his identity. He is Jesus the Christ. So the Gospel is all wrapped up in the person and work of this God-man, who He is, His person, and what He did, His work. Well, who is He?

As Christ, He's the Redeemer that God promised ever since sin came into the world in Genesis chapter 3. In Genesis chapter 3, sin and the curse comes with a promise that The seed will bruise the head of the serpent. The seed will come and even overthrow sin that has come into the world. This is Christ. This is who He is.

He is the one that God promised to send and to do His work to become the one mediator between God and man. He has to be fully God or else He can't be undefiled and acceptable as a sacrifice. And yet, he has to be fully manned, or else he can't stand in our place, because we are part of mankind. He must be fully manned to be undefiled. He must be fully God to be undefiled.

He must be fully man to be accepted as a sacrifice on our behalf. That's His person and what is His work? What did He do? Of course He went to the cross to shed His blood because the wages of sin is death. So if you're not going to die for your own sins, there must be one who dies in your place.

That's why it is described here as the Gospel of Christ. It is the person and work of Jesus Christ that paves the way for sinners. It will only be cleaned one way. It's good news, but the good news is wrapped up in this person and his work for Jesus Christ. There's one more thing to say about this section of verse 27 and it needs to be said because we don't know Greek and we'll miss it in the English.

It's not there in the English. When Paul speaks of the walk, the conduct of the Christian. If you look across all his writings, he's speaking of our walk or our conduct here in this verse, but if you just look across all of his writings, In the 32 other cases, he uses a different Greek word that is rendered conduct here. Often he speaks of the walk of the Christian. But Only here does he use this Greek word.

He's talking about the same thing. He's talking about our conduct. He is talking about our pattern of life. But he uses a different Greek word here that literally means behavior as a citizen. Behavior as a citizen.

And this would have been very, very meaningful to the Philippians who lived in Philippi which was a Roman colony. Your behavior as a citizen mattered in Philippi because Philippi as a Roman colony enjoyed special rights and privileges and thereby had special obligations. It meant something to live in Philippi. Generally speaking, it was wonderful and meant you were taxed a lot less. Along with other benefits, By virtue of just being a Philippian, you were special in the Roman Empire.

You had special rights. You had special privileges. And that meant you had special obligations as a citizen to live up to your rights and privileges. So Paul, in choosing the word that he chooses here that's rendered conduct, but could rightly be rendered behavior as a citizen, is drawing on that and he's going to further develop it later in the letter in chapter 3 verse 20. Paul is going to say, for our citizenship is in heaven.

Philippians, enjoy your status as a Roman colony, enjoy your rights and your privileges, but like that, like your status as Philippians, know that in the same way Christians are citizens And there is certain behavior that is expected of that citizenship too. That's really what's being said here by the word choice that Paul is using for our citizenship is in heaven. Chapter 3 verse 1, we're headed there. We'll be talking more about this. But there's conduct that's worthy of the gospel.

And it's because there's a behavior as a citizen that is expected when you've entered into the gospel. You get that? We have a king when we enter into the gospel. And it's Jesus Christ. And so we have special rights and privileges.

And with those rights and privileges come special obligations to the King who has brought us into this kingdom. That's all wrapped up in what we have here. Now let's continue in the text. So follow along. I'm going to pick up right there in the middle of verse 27 where I left off and read through 28.

Follow along. That you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. And not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation and that from God." Here in this verse and a half, we have two patterns of conduct that are worthy of the Gospel. So if you're taking notes on the handout, filling in blanks, it's patterns. Conducts.

Two patterns of conduct that are worthy of the Gospel. So in the first half of verse 27, Paul is exhorting us to conduct that is worthy of the Gospel. Now he begins the explanation of that. In other words, what does that look like? To have a pattern of life that applauds God who has been merciful by giving us the good news of the Gospel of Christ.

Here in the second half of verse 27 and verse 28 we are given two patterns of conduct. That is to explain what a pattern of life worthy of the gospel looks like. First, Christian unity. This is the first pattern of a Christian's life that is worthy of the Gospel. Christian unity.

One spirit, one mind, together. These are all phrases and words from this verse and a half, we're to be together. There is a corporate nature to being part of this kingdom, having King Jesus. There is a corporate nature to that. We are to be together in spirit and mind.

Meaning we have a common disposition. We're together in spirit. We're one in spirit. A common disposition towards each other and towards everything in life. And this disposition is found and experienced as we embrace what the book says.

God has a book. And when we embrace what the book says, we gain a common disposition towards each other. It's a disposition of love. And actually, we're headed next week and in the weeks coming to talk about corporate love. But it's expressed in different ways.

We're not the corporate love quite yet. That's really next week. How we love each other well. But right now we're talking about one spirit, a common disposition that we gained by having King Jesus as our King. And then taking the laws of the land and embracing them.

And we have one mind. We think the same. We believe the same things. The faith is actually, There is content to the faith. There is content to the Gospel.

So as we embrace the Gospel, we're embracing common thinking. We're embracing common beliefs. So we have one spirit, a common disposition towards each other and towards everything that comes from the book. And we're of one mind. We have embraced.

We think the same way. We believe the same way. Now Jesus prayed for this. So Paul is exhorting the Philippians and us to the things that Jesus prayed for in John 17. So turn to John 17.

Let's see Jesus praying. In John 17. John 17 is known as the great high priestly prayer. Jesus, on the verge of offering himself up as a sacrifice, stands in the place of the high priest to pray for the people. And he prays immediately for his disciples, but then his prayers turn towards all who are far off, who would believe through the teaching of the disciples.

And that's what I want to look at in John chapter 17. John chapter 17. And I'll be reading 20 through 23. Hopefully you're there. Follow along.

John 17, beginning of verse 20. Jesus says, I do not pray for these alone, I don't pray for the twelve alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as we are one, I in them and you in me. That they may be made perfect in one and that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.

This is the oneness in spirit and in mind that Paul is exhorting the Philippians and us too. And see how this is woven in with the advancement of the gospel. In other words, the world sees that we're one and it communicates something. It communicates something. It communicates that there is a great God who does this.

Because this doesn't happen naturally. In other words, if you put a bunch of people in their natural state together, you don't get this. You don't get relationships from people who really wouldn't know each other otherwise, but now they're closer than blood family. You get this in the body of Christ, you don't get this out there. So Jesus is praying for this, and it is intended to be a grand witness of the Gospel in the world.

It is intended to be magnetic in the world. People of the world say this. What is this? They're closer than family. It's a family closer than family.

And we might not understand the doctrine, but we can't replicate that. That is what Jesus is praying for and Paul is exhorting us to. This is oneness in Christ. Now just wait until next week. We're going to be just waiting in these same waters next week.

Or maybe hopefully drowning in them. Hopefully we'll be over our heads in these waters next week. This is unity. It's Christian unity. And it bears a couple of marks that were given in the text.

This Christian unity, this one spirit, one mind together, is given a couple of marks in our text. First, it is a unity of standing fast together. So these are things that characterize this unity. It is a unity of standing fast together. Sometimes people make compromises that they shouldn't make, but it's under the banner of unity.

You've seen this many, many times, right? They say, It's for the sake of unity. We're talking about people abandoning truth, abandoning important principles, but saying it's for the sake of unity. What Paul is describing here in our test is exactly the opposite of that. It is a unity based on standing fast in truth.

So this is a million miles away of saying we'll play nice, we'll abandon truth to play nice. For the sake of unity. Under the banner of unity. This is an entirely different kind of unity that is actually based on standing for truth together. It's holding the line together.

Holding the line is military language. Meaning that in warfare, the enemy is always trying to breach your lines. They are always trying to crash through your lines so that then they are in front of you and behind you and can attack you from every side. So if you're not going to lose you have to hold the line. You have to keep the enemy from penetrating the line.

You have to stand fast together. So you lock your shoulder to shoulder and you lock arms and your life depends on not letting the enemy breach that line. This is standing fast together. This is what we're talking about. We're talking about an enemy who wants to break through the lines so that he can attack you from every side.

The Lord's people must stand fast together. Our Unity is to stand shoulder to shoulder on the truth. Not saying truth doesn't matter and for the sake of unity we'll give it up. No! That's exactly what you're contending for together.

This is why we stand fast. So this Christian unity is a unity of standing fast together, and it is a unity of striving together for the faith of the Gospel. It's a unity of standing fast together, and it is a unity of striving together for the faith of the Gospel. Think of tug of war. How does it work?

Your team is in a line. You have your spot on the rope. And when you hear the word go, every muscle is used. Every one of you is using every one of your muscles to pull in the same direction. If you don't, you're going to get wet or muddy.

It's been designed right. This game of tug of war has been designed right. You're going to be wet or muddy if everyone doesn't pull in exactly the same direction with all of their might. This is what Paul is calling the brothers and sisters to. To take your place on the rope and to strain with every muscle with all your might in exactly the same direction together.

Only one direction. Not pulling in different directions. One single direction. Every muscle of every person on the rope. You've got your spot on the rope and go!

This is what's being described in our text. And we're pulling on the rope together for the faith, the advancement of it, that's evangelism. The teaching of it, that's discipleship. The defense of it, That is contradicting those who assault the tenets of the faith, assault the truth of the faith, so that we're always ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. Striving together for the faith of the gospel.

If this isn't describing the Great Commission, what describes the Great Commission? This is the Great Commission. The corporate nature, togetherness, oneness in striving together for the faith of the gospel to advance it, to teach it, to defend it. Turn to Ephesians 4 verse 6. Ephesians 4 verses 1 through 6.

In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul speaks in such a tender way of this striving together for the faith of the Gospel. I'll be reading verses 1-6. Hopefully you're there. It's not many pages back. Ephesians 4, verses 1-6.

Paul says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called." So you can see we have complete overlap here. We have another prison letter. He's writing from prison and he's calling the Ephesians to walk worthy of their calling. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. With all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. This is oneness in Christ. This is oneness in Christ. Look, look. One Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.

Did you get it? Oneness. This is all of us putting our hands on the one rope. And pulling in exactly the same direction. And it comes with living together in a long suffering way, in a patient way.

Really, Ephesians 4, 1-6 sets the table for next week. So a lot of this I'm just going to touch on, because we'll be spending the whole time talking about it next week. But this is the oneness of striving together for the faith of the Gospel that is being described, both in Philippians and Ephesians. So here, back to Philippians. Here we have two patterns of conduct that are worthy of the Gospel.

The first, which I've just been speaking of, is Christian unity. The second is Christian fearlessness. Christian unity and Christian fearlessness. Not in any way terrified by your adversaries are the words of the text. Christians are to be fearless.

Christians are to be free from fear even in the face of the adversaries of the gospel. There will always be adversaries of the gospel. They will always be aggressive or passive aggressive. They'll be working against us. They're on the other side of the rope pulling with all their might.

Wanting to pull us into the mud. And what will we be in the face of these adversaries? Well Paul tells us what we must be. Fearless. Without fear.

Listen to what John Calvin says about this. John Calvin says, this is the strongest bond of Concord. By Concord he means unity or oneness. This is the strongest bond of Concord. When we have to fight together under the same banner, for this has often been the occasion of reconciling even the greatest enemies.

So again, we're back to the language of warfare. And Calvin's pointing at this and what Paul is saying here, and saying this is how it works in warfare. You drop the little stuff in order to fight together under the same banner. This is what it must be for the Lord's people. The little stuff aside, I think I've already made plain, We're not talking about compromise of significant principles.

That's not what I'm saying. But I am saying, hey, we set aside personality issues. We set aside comfort zones. We set aside minor points in order to fight together under one banner. This is the strongest bond of concord when we have to fight together under the same banner for this has often been the occasion of reconciling even the greatest enemies.

We're talking about corporate fearlessness here. Do you understand that? This is not just having a few daredevils in your midst. This is talking about us together, all facing adversaries, having a team on the other side of the rope that are pulling with every muscle of every person over there, and we match it, and we're not afraid to match it. Calvin then goes on to observe how the wicked unify around their conspiracies.

He says, the wicked do it, we should do it. And that made me think about the Gospels. What do you see in the Gospels? You see the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the Herodians acting like they're on one unified team. You would never know if you just read the Gospel accounts that they hate each other's guts.

You would never know that. You only see it very sparingly in the Gospel accounts. That they are at odds with one another at the most fundamental levels. Well, why is that so? Why do you never see it?

Because they are unified in their hatred of the Lord Jesus Christ. They can set aside many things in order to pull on the rope with all their might against Jesus Christ. Calvin in his observations is saying, if the enemies of God do that, how much more so the Lord's people? How much more capable of this should we be If the enemies of God do it, if that's what we see in the Gospel accounts. When Christians do this, when Christians stand fearlessly unified, Paul says that this stands as a proof to everyone.

As an evidence to everyone. Or as a sign. The NASB and the ESB and the NIV render it as a sign to everyone. I really like that translation. It's a sign to everyone.

It's a sign to the adversaries who oppose the Lord's people that they're actually opposing the Lord and They're headed, they're on a trajectory for destruction. Perdition is the word used in our technique. They're on the broad road that leads to destruction. And that they oppose the Lord's people, that they oppose the Gospel, is a sign that they actually oppose the Lord of the Lord's people and the Lord of the Gospel and that they are on a track for destruction. And It's a sign to those who remain faithful, who remain steadfast, who remain unafraid.

These are the fruits of a Christian. That when adversity comes, trials come, persecution comes, adversaries join together and pull on the rope together against us when we're able to remain unified and unafraid and faithful. This is the fruit of a Christian. This is a sign of grace in your life. God is saving you.

Why? Because it's unnatural. It's unnatural. What comes unnatural is in the face of adversity to say, I don't want to do that anymore. That's what comes to being very natural.

To be in the face of trial and adversity and persecution and say, I quit. So when the opposite is in our lives, it goes right back to what Paul was saying about himself last week. I know that through your prayers and through the supply of the Spirit, I will be delivered through this thought." That's what he said last week. He's saying the same thing. Of the Philippians, it is a sign to you that through the prayers of the Lord's people and through the supply of the Spirit, you're able to remain steadfast and unafraid in the face of adversaries.

It's a sign of God's grace in your life that God is saving you. That God has saved you and is saving you. And will save you. Here's a note that I think it's appropriate to make. It's not from the text, but from an examination of the author of the text.

Who's that? Paul. Was he always Paul? No. He was Saul.

He was the great persecutor of the church. He was the great adversary of the Gospel. So it's not an irrefutable, irreversible sign of perdition. Was it in Paul's life? No way.

Why is that? Because God is kind. And he's merciful and sometimes he draws insolent, violent glass femurs and makes them sound like he did in the life of Paul. So what we're talking about here is it is a sign, okay, that the adversaries of the gospel and adversaries of the Lord's people have a sign that they are on a trajectory, they are on a broad road that leads to destruction. And without repentance and belief in the Gospel, they'll just continue down that same track and the end of the track is destruction.

And it's a sign, it's a sign to those who are remaining steadfast and unafraid that as they continue on that trajectory that there's life and glory, sharing in the glory of Christ. Back to Philippians chapter 2. Let's look at verses 29 and 30. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict that you saw in Me, and now hear is in me." Here in these two verses we have two gifts of grace coming from the God of the Gospel. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's gifts of grace.

Two gifts of grace coming from the God of the Gospel. If you're filling in blanks on the handout, it's gifts of grace. Two gifts of grace coming from the God of the Gospel. The word granted, It has been granted from the text. It means a gift of grace.

Listen to the Greek lexicon. The Greek lexicon says, to do something pleasant or agreeable to, to do a favor to, to show oneself gracious, kind, benevolent, to give graciously, give freely, bestow. So these two things have been granted, that's what it means granted, if you just kind of explode that word out to the full range of what the Greek word means. You get a gift graciously and freely bestowed. These are two things graciously and freely bestowed on the Lord's people.

So believers, are you ready to claim your gifts? Here they are. First, the first gift of grace is to believe in Him. Belief in Jesus is a gift. And we said that 13 times last quarter, didn't we?

In Ephesians chapter 2, when that was our memory text. By grace you have been saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God so that no one boasts. God gets to boast.

God gets the glory from it. The faith is a gift. The believing is a gift from God. It's being said here again. This was actually demonstrated in a very personal way when Paul was in Philippi.

We're studying the letter to the Philippians. This is 12 years after he actually took the gospel. There's something like 12 years. And when he was there, when the gospel first came to Philippi, the first person we met was Lydia, the seller of purple. Listen to Acts chapter 16, the second part of verse 14.

So Acts 16 verse 14 says of Lydia, The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. How did Lydia believe the Gospel? The Lord opened her heart. Her faith was a gift. Her believing in the Lord Jesus Christ was a gift.

The Lord opened her heart to do it. It was given to her as a gift. So the first gift of grace is to believe in Him, to believe in Jesus. The second gift of grace is to suffer for His sake. Suffering for Jesus' sake is a gift.

It's a gift graciously and freely bestowed. You got to train your mind for this one. Say, Here is a gift of grace for his people to believe in Jesus. All the Lord's people say, Amen! Here is another gift of grace to suffer for Jesus.

Crickets. Crickets. And I'm there too, quietly thinking, yeah, I guess that's true. It is true. Suffering is a gift of grace.

Listen to Matthew chapter 10, verses 24 through the first part of 26. Matthew 10, verses 24 through the first part of 26. Matthew 10 verses 24 through the first part of 26. Jesus says, A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master.

If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, that means prince of demons. If they have called the master of the house prince of demons, how much more will they call those of his household Therefore do not fear them You cannot expect better treatment than your master Now reflect on them in light of the gospel accounts You have no right to expect better treatment than your Master under the sovereign hand of God. We often get better treatment than our Master, but we have no right to expect it. That's what Jesus teaches in Matthew chapter 10. It is enough for a student to be like his master.

They called our master the Prince of Demons. We're going to have adversaries. Now turn to Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5 is a wonderful demonstration that the disciples were paying attention when he was teaching them in Matthew chapter 10. That's always an encouragement to me.

There's some discouragements about how the disciples are slow to learn, but this is an encouragement. They were actually listening in Matthew chapter 10. And they prove it in Acts chapter 5. So if you're with me in Acts chapter 5, I'll be reading verses 40 through 42. The disciples or the apostles have been teaching in the temple.

They're thrown in jail. An angel lets them out of jail. They go right back into the temple courts. It's reported to the council, the Jewish leaders, and they're taken back into custody and brought before the council. This is when Gamaliel intervenes to say, leave these men alone.

If they're from God, there's nothing you can do about it. If it's not from God, there's nothing you have to do about it because it will disperse on its own. And they take His counsel. But this is the end of that account. The very end of Acts chapter 5, 40-42.

And they agreed with Him. They agreed with the mailman. The best course was to let them go. And when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

And daily in the temple and in every house they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. They take these men, they beat them, they release them, and what is their response? And what is their response? They're treating us like our master. We've been counted worthy to be treated like our master.

We've attained to something here. Our Master felt us worthy to be treated in the way He was treated. There's a gladness about the beating that they've just endured. They were paying attention. They learned.

They understood that it was actually a gift of grace. There was a privilege to be treated, mistreated, like Jesus and the prophets before him were mistreated. Rejoice! Be exceedingly glad, for so they treated the prophets who went before you. It is a privilege.

Furthermore, think about why God brings us into these trials and sufferings. Why does God do it? Is it cruelty? No, no, it's not cruelty. It is a tool in His hand to fashion us into the image of His Son.

Do you know how little the Lord's people would look like the Lord unless He brought us into trial and suffering? This is so true. You know this is true. You know if we're to look anything like Jesus, we're going to have to have hardship brought to bear so that we'll learn to trust God. Our remaining corruptions are such that we often make very little progress during times of ease and abundance and comfort.

I'm going to say that again. Our remaining corruptions are such, the flesh, That we often make very little progress in times of ease and abundance and comfort. So here's the question, do we want to grow or do we want ease, abundance and comfort? And our answer is, I want it all. There will probably be stretches of your life where God gives you it all.

He gives you ease and abundance and comfort. And you grow at the same time. But that won't be the normal pattern. The normal pattern will be him bringing variations of different hardships into your life to conform you into the image of the sun because he's more interested in himself being glorified than he is in you being comfortable. This is just the reality of things.

And under normal circumstances you can't have it all. These things make us lazy and sluggish. Ease and abundance and comfort often make us sluggish and lazy. These gifts of grace, believing in Him, suffering for Him, are granted on behalf of Christ. They are a privilege given to us on behalf of Christ.

Turn finally, this is the last place we're turning, 1 Peter 4. Turn to 1 Peter 4. Peter is talking about sufferance. 1 Peter 4 verses 12 through 16. 1 Peter 4 beginning in 12.

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferance, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, Blessed are you for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a busybody in other people's matters.

Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. Here are some things that Peter is teaching us here about suffering for Christ's sake. First is, it's not a strange thing. Don't act surprised. Do not think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you.

No, no, no. God has promised this to Christians. All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. It is a promise. Second, He says, if you share in His sufferings, you share in His glory.

This might warm us up to this doctrine. If you share in His sufferings, you also get to share in His glory. That sounds better. That does sound more like a privilege. Peter says it's a mark of his spirit.

When we share in his sufferings, it's a mark of his spirit. It's a mark that his spirit is upon us. It's a sign that we're disciples. We're being discipled by the Lord. And He's actively working on us to conform us into the image of the Son.

It's a mark that we're His. And finally, it's a way that He glorifies Himself, but let him glorify God in this matter. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, this is the last verse, 1 Peter 4, 16, yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. It is a way that God chooses to glorify Himself by sending His people to suffer to show that He can sustain them through the suffering. And they maintain their joy and people looking on say, what is that?

What is that? It's a strange thing. A person can enjoy, but they're suffering. God is able to glorify Himself through that. The Philippians were suffering like Paul.

They saw him suffer. In Acts chapter 16 you see him slandered, beaten, and imprisoned. They saw it with their own eyes. He's suffering. And now they hear he's still suffering.

He's in chains. And they've been brought into that suffering as well. Applications 3. First, ask yourself this question, Where is the pattern of my life inconsistent with the Gospel? Not is the pattern of my life inconsistent with the Gospel, because if you think hard, you'll be able to find a lot.

But where is the pattern of my life inconsistent with the gospel? Identify those things and attack them with vigor. Our lives are to be ordered in a way that is applause for the God of the Gospel. So we're supposed to have lives that are worthy of the Gospel for that reason. Identify the gaps and attack them.

Number two, Are the people of Sovereign Redeemer unified in steadfastness and striving? Are we unified that way? So we said a mark of having conduct worthy of The gospel is Christian unity. Are we unified in steadfastness in the gospel? Not moving, shoulder to shoulder, nobody breaks this line.

We stand on truth and defending. Steadfast, standing firm, and striving together for the advance of the Gospel. I answer that question generally, yes, but with a lot of room for improvement, right? Are we here to say we cannot be more steadfast in truth? No, I'm not here to say that.

Are we here to say that we're the ultimate in striving for the Gospel, for the faith in the Gospel? No, I'm not here to say that. Number three. Ask yourself this question, Am I making enough of the gift of suffering? Am I squeezing enough drops of good, the intended drops of good, out of the trials and persecutions and suffering God has brought into my life.

Am I squeezing enough good out of that? Am I losing the benefit of being a little more conformed into the image of Christ because I'm a whiner when I suffer. I know what that feels like to be a whiner when you suffer. God, I thank you for this text. I thank you for bringing us to this book that speaks on one hand of suffering but on the other hand of joy and your ability to sustain your people abundantly in the middle of trials and suffering.

I pray that you would teach us this. You would make us ready for the future and whatever the future holds through these precious truths. We pray in Jesus name.