All of the sermons from the 2017 SBC Pastors’ Conference are available here. Over the next few weeks we will be posting the video from each sermon here at SBC Voices along with the text for that sermon from the CSB and some notable quotes from the sermon. Let us know in the comments what you most enjoyed and appreciated from each sermon.
Philippians 1:27-30
Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.
For Paul, the worthy life is displayed in two indicators found in our life together.
Indicator #1: Unity in the gospel.
“When Paul told the Philippians their citizenship was in heaven he was making a political statement.”
“The church you serve is a colony of heaven in America.”
“Our American citizenship is not parallel to our heavenly citizenship. Christ’s Lordship supersedes!”
“We are not a voting bloc. We are not a demographic. We are the people of God. We are a family of sinners made saints by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!”
Indicator #2: Courage through suffering.
“Even if all the fear-mongering is true we must not be spooked.”
“The sounds coming out of Paul in prison weren’t complaining about his rights violated but sounds of praises to God.”
“If the threat of political disempowerment frightens us like jumpy horses and causes us to turn on one another and split our unity, the message that sends to our opponents is that all this talk about resurrection, eternity, heaven, and hell is just talk. It’s not real to them, if this is all it takes to split them up and frighten them. But if we, like Paul, in the face of suffering, orient ourselves to heaven and eternity and say, ‘To live is Christ, and to die is gain,’ then we become a sign to our opponents.”
“Stephen was a sign to Paul. He could hunt down all the Christians. He could silence all the Christians. He could marginalize or imprison all the Christians he wanted. But nothing he did could change the reality that Jesus is the resurrected Messiah and the only way to eternal life with God.”
“The anthem of our courage through suffering is found in Paul’s simple words ‘this is from God. ‘ “
