Perform Your Duties as Citizens of Heaven

Imagine you arrive at work at school only to meet ssomeonenew there.  It's their first day, and as you begin to talk, you ask them where they are from.  

"Beverly Hills", they say.  Does that change the way that you expect them to act?  

What if they say somewhere else?  "Toad Suck, AR"  Ravia, Milburn, OKC, Dallas, London.  We expect people from certain places to act a certain way.  Being from a certain place comes with certain habits, patterns, and more.

What if the person you met said they were a Christian?  How then would you expect them to act? 

In the book of Philippians, Paul says that it's our duty as Christians, our right, our responsibility to act in a certain way.  He says we are to act worthy of the Gospel.

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents--which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, - Phl 1:27-29 NASB

How should you act as Christian?  Live lives that are worthy of the Gospel.  LIve as citizens of heaven.  

To Live is Christ

Where do you go to find joy in life?  We often think that if circumstances changed, if things were different that we would be more happy.  We think a different life would be better than ours.  If anyone had reason to think that it was the Apostle Paul!  He wrote the letter to the church at Philippi from prison, yet reminds us that for him nothing was more important than Christ.

Undoubtedly Paul had things he still wished to do, and places he wanted to go.  But stuck in prison and facing death, He shows what a life based on the most important thing looks like.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Phil 1:21

Paul is saying "Nothing I leave on earth undone is more important than being with Christ"

Can you say that with him?

The Most Important Thing

If I were to ask you to name the most important thing in your life, most of our minds jump immediately to a person.  A name or a face fills our mind, and probably takes most of our time during the day.  We all have important things that take our time.  Family, jobs, hobbies, duties and more pull at us from every direction.  But we constantly have to choose, to prioritize, what the most important thing is.

The Apostle Paul had many important things in his life, but he knew that undoubtedly that the Gospel was more important than all the others.  He tells these people who are facing suffering that they must focus on the most important thing:  the Gospel!

The gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is the one thing that will not will not change in this world.  All other things will rust, rot, or fade, but the glorious news of Christ's death and resurrection will never disappoint.

 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel, so that my imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else, and that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear.  Phil 1:12-14

Why do bad things happen?

Everyone like to have the answer when asked a question.  It makes us feel smart, and wise, and in charge to have all the answers. But often life throws things at us that we don't have the answers for.  And no question perhaps goes unanswered more than the age old one:

Why do bad things happen?

Paul wrote to the church at Philippi from prison, and was faced with addressing this question.  He assures them that his suffering would be used to further the Gospel.

Whatever the case is, we must know that God loves us.  Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones summed it up this way.

"Whatever else may or may not be explanation of all these things that are happening to me, they are not in any way to be explained by the fact that God does not love me, or that God is acting in a manner that is inconsistent with love.  That is the thing that matters"  D Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Philippians 1:12 -Now then I want you to know brethren, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel.  

Love and Knowledge

Love is blind, or so the world tells us.  If you really love someone, you become blind to their faults and foibles, and cannot see them for who they really are.

But when Paul prays for the church at Philippi, he prays for their love to grow in knowledge and discernment for God, and for each other.

God knows us fully, and still loves us!  There is nothing you have done that has made God regret giving His Son for you!  And as we grow in love towards God, we grow in discernment.  Discernment is the act of thinking biblically about life, and putting everything in our life up to the test of scripture.  As we love someone, we learn to act in ways that please them.  This is Pauls prayer for the church, and for ours as well.

For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. - Phl 1:8-11 NASB