Life Worthy Of The Gospel

*Philippians 1:1-11:

Philippians 1

 ¹ Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
   To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
 ² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

 ³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
 ⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

*Affection Paul has for His people
*They were concern if Paul was going to be executed
*Knowing his good friends cared for Paul, he shifted the focus towards Jesus 
*Philippians 1:12-26:

Paul’s Chains Advance the Gospel

 ¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. ¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. ¹⁴ And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.  ¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
   Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, ¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

*Paul related to his close friends that he was fine
*v13: ¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

*Paul had the opportunity to preach to the guards. Paul sees it in that way
*v14: ¹⁴ And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.

*v15:  ¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

*Gave Paul the opportunity to correct the misunderstanding
*Paul was not complaining or accusing other people for preaching the gospel out of selfish ambition
*Jesus did not say much about His suffering
*Instead of becoming depress on rumours and hard times. Paul's deep heart says it is alright because the gospel is preached at the end of the day even though it comes from selfish ambition
*Paul was single mindedly occupied with Jesus
*For me to live is Christ, to die is gain
*Death is not something to be feared, but to be rejoiced
*To die is to relive
*v24: ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body - remain with you

*We may boast in Jesus Christ through Paul
*This is an example to be passionate for Jesus Christ
*When we do church, is Christ still proclaimed?
*Requires debts for insight and sermon
*More important than health we should see for knowledge and gaps of insight for sermon
*v27-30:

Life Worthy of the Gospel

 ²⁷ Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,striving together as one for the faith of the gospel ²⁸ without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. ²⁹ For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, ³⁰ since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

*They were anxious if they would ever see Paul again
*Paul reassured them that whatever happened, conduct in a manner worthy of Christ
*Paul was addressing concern of the church. that was affected
*We may have differences but can we stand together and stand by what we believe in?
*We will be saved not by our doing but by God
*Suffer for and to Christ
*Are you doing your job today?
*For Christians, it is not God's will for you to be poor or ill but Christians need to suffer for God
*We live in an age so informed by the media
*We should then feel good about it
*If we say we believe in Christ, we should be ready to suffer for Christ
*Leaders and Pastors suppose to conduct them well but in a manner worthy of the gospel
*When this situation comes, we should be ready for it
*We must ask ourselves if we have shared Christ to our workplace, family etc
*Will Jesus Christ be preached?
*We are called to follow Christ
*If our live is filled with passion of Christ, the world will change
*Ministry motivated by the passion of Christ



**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**