Sermon Tone Analysis

Philippians 1:27-30

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I.     Introduction

I read an article this week in an EFC publication that reported that, “On August 16, Artur Pawlowski was arrested for sharing the Gospel with tarot card readers at the Fringe Festival in Calgary.

Pawlowski told these practisers of "sorcery" that the Bible condemns these practices.

Organizers of the festival asked him not to talk to the vendors and he agreed.

But when he stayed in the park praying and reading the Bible, the organizers called police.

The police arrested Pawlowski for obstruction and he was taken in a police car in handcuffs.

He was also charged with trespassing and causing a disturbance.

Amazingly, Pawlowski's brother videotaped the entire sequence of events.

“On the videotape Pawlowski can be heard explaining to the police that he emigrated from Poland so that he could enjoy rights such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion as guaranteed by the /Charter/.

He was to appear in court on September 7.”

“The CBC and the Winnipeg Free Press broke a story on August 23 that seems to date back to May.

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission appears to have decided to review mission statements from all school boards across the province, after receiving "complaints."

It took on the Garden Valley School Board for its 100 year-old mission statement that referred to the schools as a "partnership with home and church" in promoting Christian principles.

“Janet Baldwin, commission chairwoman, said in an interview with the /Winnipeg Free Press/ that she gave the school board a "little lecture" about human rights law.

And ultimately told them that the reference to church and "Christian principles" creates a "poisoned environment" in the schools.

“This is a bit jaw-dropping.

The language "poisoned environment" was used by the Supreme Court of Canada in a New Brunswick Case where a teacher who was a public holocaust denier created a poisoned atmosphere for Jews in the schools because there was evidence of a burgeoning neo-Nazi movement.

It is also used when there is sexual harassment of a nature that the victim feels afraid to go to work.

It is hard to believe that a mission statement promoting Christian principles could create a poisoned environment.

The school board has responded that "100 percent of parents" have petitioned the school to have opt-in religious exercises before the school day starts.

“The human rights commission has not said that any "complaints" have related to the Garden Valley School Board.

So, is this just a modern day witch hunt (where the "witches" are Christians)?”

These are just a few instances in which Christian perspectives and Christian people have been restricted in their expression of faith.

Is this common?

Is it increasing?

What does it mean for us as Christians in the future?

Will we have to learn to deal with persecution?

In our study of Philippians, we will examine Philippians 1:27-30 this morning.

We have suggested in the last few messages that this letter is a friendship letter written by Paul to the church in Philippi.

We noticed last week that Paul wrote to the Philippians about “what has happened to me.”

In verse 27, the focus changes to what is happening to the Philippians.

In verses 12-26 the dominant pronoun has been “I” and in verses 27 – 30 the dominant pronoun is “you.”

There are three concerns that Paul addresses in the larger section from 1:27-2:18.

The basic concern is “the gospel” as he says in 1:27 and in 2:15 where he reminds them that they “shine like stars in the universe.”

As people who must make the gospel of Christ known Paul indicates, in this section, that there are three things that are important in that responsibility.

They are woven throughout this section.

The first concern is that they be people who live worthy of the gospel, the second that they live in unity with each other and the third that they not be frightened by those who will oppose them.

These three concerns are still critical for any church and any individual who is willing to take up the God-given mandate to make the name of Jesus known.

Over the next four messages, we will examine each of these aspects.

The last one we will examine will be the matter of being worthy.

In the second last one we will take a little side trip to think about how Jesus came and carried out his ministry.

In the next message, we will think together about the matter of unity and today, I would like to speak about how God’s children face opposition.

The particular focus of the message today will be on 1:29 in which we are told that “it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him…”

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II.

The Reality Of Suffering For Christ

!! A.  The Bible Says We Will Suffer

This is a theme that is repeated many times in the Bible.

We are citizens of heaven who are living on earth and, therefore, we will face suffering and persecution.

Jesus himself indicated in John 15:20, “Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”

He said the same thing in other places.

Revelation 12 tells the cosmic story of God and His work in the world and the opposition of Satan.

In the final verse, we read, “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

The war the dragon makes against “the rest of her offspring” refers to the persecution of believers.

In Philippians 1:27, Paul speaks about “contending for the faith of the gospel.”

This is a recognition that as Christians we are in a battle.

The word “contending” is a word that was used to speak of the battle which often took place in the Roman amphitheatre in which gladiators fought with each other or with wild animals.

As Christians, who are citizens of the heavenly kingdom, but live in the earthly kingdom, we are in a battle and sometimes those in the earthly kingdom will oppose us and we will find ourselves in a battle for the faith.

!! B.  The Church Experienced Suffering

In verse 28, Paul encourages them not to be “frightened in any way by those who oppose you,” indicating that there were those who opposed them.

Then in verse 30 he says, “you are going through the same struggle…” The reason he mentions suffering is because it was a reality for the church in Philippi.

This city, although a Greek city, was a Roman colony and, as such, had the special privilege of Roman citizenship.

The display of such citizenship would have been important to the residents there, which included acknowledging that “Caesar is Lord.”

As Christians, they were unable to say this because for them, Christ was Lord and that may be why they were persecuted.

Persecution certainly wasn’t something surprising for Paul.

As we read on in verse 30, he talks about the “struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.”

The church in Philippi was planted by Paul and the story is described in Acts 16.

As soon as the church was planted, there was opposition.

One of the first experiences Paul had in Philippi was being arrested and spending the night in prison.

Now he is in prison again because of Jesus and so is speaking about what he has personally experienced.

For many years, we have ignored these passages and the many verses that speak about persecution and suffering.

We have not suffered.

Life has been pretty easy for us.

We have been aware that in other times in the history of the Christian church such suffering was a reality.

We have been aware that in our own history, in my own family history there have been experiences of suffering for Christ.

We have been aware that in other places in the world suffering is taking place, but it has not touched us and so these passages have been somewhat strange to us.

That was not the case for the church in Philippi.

They were experiencing opposition.

It is beginning to change for us and so we need to recognize that this kind of an experience is not surprising.

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III.

The Reason For Persecution

Why in the world are God’s people opposed?

!! A.  A Sign Of Salvation

One reason is given in verse 28 where Paul says, “This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved – and that by God.”

Persecution is evidence that a line has been drawn in the sand.

It shows that there are two sides and that there are people on both sides.

On the one side, is God and all those who follow him.

On the other side is Satan and those who follow him.

On this earth, we are in Satan’s territory and will, therefore, experience opposition.

Although Romans 12:18 says that we should live at peace as much as we can, when it comes to our relationship with God, there are some things we can’t compromise.

Those are the things that will put us at odds with those who oppose Christ.

Persecution reveals that line.

From the eternal perspective, it affirms that we are on the side of God and will win and that those who persecute us are on the side that will be destroyed.

Thus suffering for Christ serves the purpose of revealing those who belong to him and those who belong to the world.

!! B.  A Gift Of Grace

Philippians 1:29 makes another striking statement about the reason there is persecution when it says “…it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.”

If we dissect this verse a little bit, we can begin to understand the unusual and amazing thing it teaches us.

If we read only part of the verse, namely, “it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ to believe on him,” it makes perfect sense.

It tells us that salvation in Christ is a gift.