Sermon — September 20, 2026

First Speaker's Testimony

Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Without really thinking about it, I found myself looking for a church right soon as I arrived. Through my first year here, I had a hard time understanding English, but understanding the Sunday sermons was no problem. It felt clear, thoughtful, and right.

At the same time, I met other friends here. Those friends weren't believers, and I started making choices, going places, and doing things I knew were wrong. I was raised to be strong in my convictions and to make good choices, but just as 1 Corinthians 15:33 says, "Do not be deceived. Bad companions corrupt good morals." It didn't feel that way at the time. According to my new friends, I must simply experience life to understand it. Living that life for a few years was painful for my heart and felt like carrying a heavy weight.

What was meant to be a two-year experience became my home when I married. I wasn't going to church as often anymore, and life was moving very fast. Peter and I moved to Pennsylvania and worked on weekends. I remember being at work on Sunday morning, looking at the clock and feeling out of place. Eventually, I asked to stop working on Sunday so I could attend a church nearby. Once again, I saw God taking care of me.

The very first day I walked into that church, I met a family that had served as missionaries in Brazil for twenty-six years, and they had three of their four children there. It was like finding part of my family that had been lost for a long time. They became an enormous part of my life and cared for me not just physically and emotionally, but also spiritually. Life began to happen again, and a job opportunity took us to Connecticut.

After a while, I found a church that taught God's word instead of simply saying nice things during the Sunday service. I was pregnant with my son when I found Trinity Church. There, Peter and I were blessed as a family and strengthened in our faith. Joshua 24:15 says, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." That's something I've always prayed to be true in my life. At that church, we learned, served, and built strong, blessed relationships.

But work eventually brought us back to Long Island. Over the past few years, so much has happened that I have lost count of how many times I have experienced God's care, mercy, and grace in my life and in my family's life. He always placed godly people to help us walk the right path and grow in our relationship with God.

Today, I share my testimony with you, and I will be back because I truly understand and believe that I'm a sinner, that Jesus is my savior, and He is the only way to eternal life.

Second Speaker's Testimony

Hello. My name is Pete. I am a sinner. I also know the only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, and I am a father of three. This is the path that took quite a bit of my life to start down. I want to give my testimony about that journey and God's grace.

I grew up in a Roman Catholic house where church was a regular part of life. School was part of that as well. That's what we did to go on with the rest of the day and into the new day. As I grew older and learned more, I began to have questions. Often those questions were answered by telling me to just trust, come to church, and not ask for more back. I often felt that many people placed the institution of the Catholic church above their faith and frequently mourned their faith.

Then when the scandal involving abuse around the cathedral became public, I found myself deeply troubled. I struggled to understand how a church that proclaimed the divinity of Jesus couldn't have had leaders who fled from those parables. My questions were answered. Eventually, I found myself believing in God, but no longer identifying with any body. While I lived a good life, I spent my time volunteering at my local food bank and served others well, thinking those actions would somehow earn my salvation. Clearly, I did not understand what it means to walk in faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Even my daily actions and getting paid along the way didn't matter. As the years passed, I lived the worst of myself and forgot God. Rather than pursuing a life that glorifies Him and focuses on eternity, I pursued desires of the flesh and plans of this world. I drank, engaged promiscuously, and pursued the filming of temporary pleasures. I stopped walking through God's possessions. I justified my choices by convincing myself that enough good deeds would eventually outweigh my sins. And the fact is, I was just trying to justify myself while choosing to live in sin.

Then God brought them into my life. My wife's calling. One day, she asked me to attend church, whether I believed or simply because it was important to her. A new program was not picked up on Sundays, so I went with her. Through her and through the church we attended, I was introduced to a part of Christianity that I had never really known before. In that evangelical church, I met people who genuinely celebrated their faith and had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ—people I wanted to be like.

One Sunday, the pastor preached a message about salvation. He explained that Jesus Christ is the only path to salvation. What struck me most was when he said, "Your resume is zero. Not good enough for going to heaven." For years, I had been trying to build a resume in good works, believing that somehow it would save me. In that moment, God brought my sin to light in a way I'd never experienced. For the first time, I understood that I could never earn salvation through my own efforts. It was also the moment I opened my heart to Jesus Christ and placed my faith in Him.

I finally understood that salvation is not something I need to earn through good works and changed behaviors, but a gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. I'm someone who adhered to this point through the Catholic church and Catholic school, and this is the first time I understood John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Still being a new believer, I needed more guidance. I accepted Jesus, but what do I do with this newfound love in my heart?

Truly, truly enough, a few years later, another pastor helped with a simple statement: "Sitting in a church makes you no more Christian, and sitting in a garage makes you a car." This statement was for me a call to action to put God first in my life. I do not expect a life free of trials and difficulty. However, I know that He will see me through them. John 16:33 says, "In the world you will have tribulation, but they take heart. I have overcome the world."

These trials and difficulties come in many forms—from being a believer in a modern world to fighting my own sinful nature. But it's during these trials, every day, I can feel and see the mercy of Christ as He lightens my life.

These are clear testimonies of God's grace and salvation.

Baptism Announcement

Well, Peter and Cecilia, you'll be getting baptized after the service. We're going to vote for their membership. So I make the motion that we vote to the hearing facility membership. Do I have a second?

Philippians 1:3-4

It's been five weeks. We worship You in majesty and all the glory of the almighty. We give You praise. We look forward to that day when that praise will be perfect and full in every way as we stand in Your presence on heaven's shore. Oh, Lord, we are ever so grateful for the privilege to taste some of that blessing and more in Your church. Lord, as we discuss the subject that most of us would like to avoid this morning, I pray that You would give us a biblical perspective and encourage our hearts. I pray in Jesus' name.

A Story from West Virginia

It was several years ago I went to the hills of West Virginia to visit an old military friend of mine. I mean, we are talking genuine hillbilly country. I've never experienced anything like it. I've never seen people like this before. As much as I could during my visit, I tried to blend in. I mean, they didn't take too well to the city folk up in the hills.

One day while walking through that little town, we came across a man who, for reasons that I can't explain, had regulated himself to taking pictures with tourists as a way to make a living. But like I said, I tried my best not to kind of stick out like a sore thumb when I was there. And just to prove to my friends back home that I actually came to this kind of town, I stood for this man and had him take a picture. We chatted for a few moments. He spit enough tobacco juice on the ground to get these words out of his mouth. He said, "You're not from these parts, are you?" "No." "In fact, you're one of those city boys, aren't you? I can tell you about the crush. The little town that you were from."

Now my point is this: it's really hard to pretend to be what we aren't and fool people who really are. On the other hand, it should be evident to all who know us and see us who we really are. It should show. That's the point Paul's making in our verses in Philippians 1. He wants those who name the name of Christ to know that our lives should match our profession of faith. In other words, we should live like who we really claim to be. It should be apparent to those who know us that we follow the living God.

So let me read one more time the verses that we have been studying. Philippians 1, beginning in verse 27. Paul says:

> Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that when I come and see you or remain, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and 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 on Him, but also to suffer for His sake, experiencing the same conflict which He saw in me and down here to begin.

I mentioned to you five weeks ago this is one long sentence in the Greek language. The sentence theme is given to us by the first two Greek words. The first Greek word is translated in our English as "only." It has the idea of this one essential thing, this most important matter. Paul says, until I'm able to come and visit you, I want you to give your attention to this one critical matter.

Now the second Greek word fills out the theme, translated for us in five English words: "Conduct yourselves in a manner." One Greek verb. The verb is often used by Greek and Roman soldiers of someone who was taking an active part. The Greek word is "polis"—in the affairs of the city state in which they live. We might say, being a good citizen. Live as citizens worthy of the gospel which you claim to believe.

You see, through the gospel, those of us who have received forgiveness of sins through turning from those sins and following Christ, through that message, believing that message, we have become citizens in heaven. We've entered into a partnership, a spiritual fellowship, not only with each other, but with our Lord. We become members of a new community, and that community is the church of Jesus Christ. And what Paul is saying is we're to live worthy of that. We're going to live worthy of the citizenship that we now have in Jesus Christ. And what Paul's going to do is use the rest of the sentence to explain to us what it actually means to live as citizens of heaven.

Paul is saying, whether I come to visit you first, and I'm released, I want to see or hear that you are living in a way that is worthy of your heavenly citizenship. So the question is, how can we do that? How can you and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, live lives that are worthy of the gospel that we've come to enjoy? What does that actually mean?

Well, you make a remembrance. The rest of the passage, Paul is going to give us four specific responsibilities that those of us who belong to Christ have if we're going to live lives worthy of our citizenship. Now we've already been through the first three. I'm just going to briefly remind you of that.

Four Responsibilities of Heavenly Citizens

Number one: If we're going to live as citizens of heaven, our first duty is to stand for the truth. Notice what Paul says in verse 27. "I want to hear that you're standing firm, standing immovable. Don't leave your post." It's a military term. Whenever Paul uses it in the New Testament, he ties it into standing for the truth. I want to hear that you're standing firm for the truth.

You see, being citizens of heaven means that we love this book, that we are learning this book, and we are learning this book so we can live on and obey this book. And we are willing to pass the truth of this book onto others so that they could love it as well. So if your citizenship is in heaven, then you are to live according to the constitution of heaven, which is the word of God, and you're to stand firm upon it.

Number two: If we're going to live like citizens of heaven, we need to seek for unity in Christ's church. Paul says, "I want to hear that you're standing firm in one spirit with one soul. One spirit—common attitude. How many communities have spirit, school spirit, esprit de corps, you might say, a common attitude and mindset together as a church. One mind means one soul." The word occurs frequently in the New Testament when it's speaking of the unity that we as brothers and sisters enjoy in Christ. If we are going to live worthy of our citizenship of heaven, then we need to always be pursuing unity in the church.

Number three: If we're going to live like citizens of heaven, we need to strive together for the gospel. Paul says at the end of verse 27, "I want to hear that you're striving together for the faith in the gospel." I love that little word striving together. It's the Greek term that we get our English word "athletics" from. It's talking about engaging in a competition not with each other, but side by side, not against each other, but side by side with each other as we seek to advance the gospel in our community and around the world. Paul says, "I want to hear that you're competing with each other, but you're competing together alongside of each other for the advancement of the gospel."

Remember, we discovered last time, by the way, Paul's not talking about some sort of pick-up basketball game here. The word is used in the forum when gladiators would fight against each other. Paul is communicating to his believers that in a sinful world we are in a life and death struggle, and we are to advance side by side for the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul wants to hear that we are fighting together to advance the good news of the gospel, fighting alongside each other. That's our mission, both corporately and individually.

Now that brings me to where we left off last time.

Our Final Duty as Citizens of Heaven

Not only do we stand for the truth, not only do we see security, not only do we strive together to advance the gospel, this final one is the most difficult one. Paul says we are to suffer for Christ's sake. If we're gonna live worthy as citizens of heaven, then we need to be willing to suffer for the cause of Christ.

There are some topics that I am sure you know how I'm gonna preach—you might have planned to avoid them. There are topics we would soon ignore, maybe pretend that they don't even exist. Beloved, you know that persecution and suffering for the cause of Christ exist throughout our world, and it has since Jesus Christ went to the cross. In fact, very often we're not aware here in America. More believers were murdered for the faith than all the previous centuries combined. Just as long as a scholar on these matters who wrote this about thirty years ago, and I quote: "During this century, the twentieth century, we have documented cases in excess of 27,000,000 martyrs. And then from AD thirty three to 1900, we have documented 14,000,000 martyrs." Now he goes on to give us a bit of good news. He says since the fall of the Soviet Union when the wall came down, the average number of Christian martyrs has fallen each and every year.

Listen to Hebrews 13:3: "Remember the prisoners, as though you were in prison with them, and those who had been ill treated, as you, because you yourselves are one body with them in crucifixion."

There are so many stories, and I've shared stories with you in the past. Let me give you the story of January 1999. Missionary Graham Stains and his two sons were arriving in their car one evening in the city of Odisha, India. Now Graham and his family had been in India—he and his wife for over thirty years. He was a medical minister. He administered to lepers, working to help them in their leprosy in impoverished towns and cities, and also giving them the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That evening, they arrived in the city of Odisha. He and his sons, Paul and Timothy, six and ten years old, would sleep in the car that night, and in the morning they would begin their ongoing ministry with various lepers of the city. It was that night that a mob with axes surrounded their car. They set the car on fire. When the father tried to get out of the car with his sons, they refused to let him out of the car, and they watched him burn to death.

When the court of India heard the case, the ring leader of this mob—Mending Doris Stang—he'd accused Graham of working with lepers. But not just working with lepers, but I quote: "converting Hindus to Christianity." In other words, they were killed for their faith in Jesus Christ.

Now remarkably—this might surprise you—the wife of Graham, her name is Gladys, she stayed another twenty years with her daughter in India, continuing the work of ministry and led commissions through the very lepers and through the same privilege that she and her husband had for thirty years.

You see, in American Christianity, we really know nothing about this kind of persecution. And because of that, we lose out on the rich promises and blessings that come to those, the Bible says, that are persecuted. In other words, we miss the joy that scripture promises to us because we tend to think that persecution is only what happens over there, somewhere else. The people bring stands and his sons faced physical harm, prison, and even martyrdom. But the truth of the matter is—and this is what I wanna communicate to you this morning—the truth is that many of us in this room suffer for the sake of Christ. Persecution comes in many different forms, and I wanna show you this.

Turn back in your Bibles to Ezra chapter 4. Go to the book of Psalms, which is about the middle of your Bible, and go left—five books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. Ezra chapter 4. Now let me catch you up as we go to Ezra 4. We're going back to about 500 BC. This is during the time of what we call the Babylonian captivity. The Jews and the exiles have been out of the land. The nations tried to destroy them. But a new king has arisen and released the Jewish people who go back to Israel to rebuild the city of Jerusalem, specifically the temple, under the leader of the man named Zerubbabel.

Now look at verse 1, and that's where we are. "Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of exile were building the temple to the Lord God of Israel," these enemies are what we call the Samaritans. You really don't know the origin of the Samaritans? Back in 722 BC, it was the pagan, brutal Medes who aged eighteen and above took all the Jewish men. They took all the women and children captive back to Assyria. They then intermarried the Assyrian men with the Jewish women and they produced an offspring that later became known as the Samaritans. Now it was over time as those Samaritans began to filter back to Northern Israel that they became the constant enemies of the Jewish people, with that pagan Assyrian background.

Now what you have to see is a summary—a summary strategy suggested by the Samaritan people to stop the Jewish people from rebuilding the temple of God. What we're gonna see in this chapter here are the various forms of opposition that can come against the people of God, the various forms of persecution that are common for all time. So they're true for many of us, by the way, sitting here this morning.

The First Opposition: An Invitation to Compromise

Let's begin. The first opposition that often comes against the work of God is an invitation to compromise. Look at verse 2. "They, the Samaritans, approached Zerubbabel, the Jewish leader come back to rebuild the temple. The Samaritans approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the Jewish fathers' households, and they said to them, 'Let us come and help build with you.'" Now this is an invitation to compromise. They're saying, "Oh, listen, we are like you. We seek your God. We've been sacrificing to him since the days of Asheradon, the king of Assyria, who brought us up here."

Now listen to the response. Verse 3: "But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of the fathers' households of Israel said to them, 'You have nothing in common with us in building the house of our God because we ourselves together will build to the Lord God of Israel.'"

Now I tell you, Christian churches have to be careful about this. I've seen this sort of temptation and opposition personally. Very often it comes in the form of political alliances. Churches become involved with groups that are opposed to the gospel. They become involved with groups that are opposed to Christ. They'll form alliances with Mormons or alliances with some pseudo-Christian-type churches, and they'll get together over some political cause that they can all agree on. And all of a sudden, they are linked together, doing the work of God with some organization that rejects Christ and rejects his gospel. Let us help you. Let us build together. And all of a sudden, you have a church that's more focused on political causes than on the gospel of Christ. And then the church all of a sudden has to be careful about how they package the gospel and present the gospel lest they offend those they partnered or got together with in political alliance.

Zerubbabel says, listen: "You have nothing in common with us." Not gonna buy into that form of persecution.

The Second Form: Mocking and Ridicule

The second form of persecution takes is through mocking and ridicule. Look at verse 4: "Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah."

By the way, let me tell you something before we move forward. All of this is in one story, but it's several stories that Ezra was pulling together over about a hundred and twenty-five year period, his lifetime of miracles. Stories of his lifetime of various illustrations the verse that he is presenting to us so we understand the different forms of persecution. Literally, here it's saying the Samaritans weakened the hands of the people of Judah. Now you say, "How did they do it?" They did it through ridicule. They did it through insult. They did it through mocking. I wanna show you this.

Turn over two books to the right after the book of Ezra—Nehemiah chapter 4. This is actually the story in Ezra played out in real life here at Nehemiah chapter 4. This is how they weakened the hands of the people of God. Notice verse 1 through 3: "Now it came about that when Sanballat heard that we, the Jews, were called to rebuild the wall, he became furious and very angry. He began to mock the Jewish people themselves. 'Are they gonna offer sacrifices? Given to each of them in a day? Can they provide the stones of the dusty rubble, even the burned ones?' Then to Tobiah the Ammonite, these are all enemies of the people of God, was near and said, 'Even if they build, if a fox should jump on it, he would break down the stone wall.'"

Notice Nehemiah's response to this mocking and ridicule. Verse 4 here: "Oh, our God, how we are despised by these people. Return their reproach upon their own heads."

You see how the people of God were weakened? Their resolve was being diminished. They became discouraged. It was through the ridicule of the Samaritan people who were mocking them while they were working, trying to rebuild the temple. This is a form of persecution—mocking, ridicule.

Now they could be the coworker who kinda rolls his eyes when you're gonna speak up about your devotion to Christ. They could be a fellow student who makes fun of you before other students when you speak of your faith in Christ. They could be as impersonal as a news statement that comes over some new station about all of these Bible-believing Christians—"They're such weak people, and, you know, they need a crutch to live on." Or it could be this intensely personal as the verbal wounds of an unsafe parent or the verbal wounds of an unsafe spouse over your faith in Christ. But ridicule is another form of persecution.

The Third Form: Intimidation and Threats

Go back to Ezra 4. A third form is intimidation and threats. Look at the end of verse 4. They begin to frighten the people of God from building.

Early in my Christian life, I desired to travel all over the country, and I did, to tell all of my old friends about Christ. Surprised with that? These weren't very nice people. I was with a very nice person before I met Christ. I probably shouldn't have taken Shirley. We went up. We met with them. Started to share the gospel. They began to pull up every vulgar, perverse curse they possibly could come up with. They not only screamed at us, they chased us off the property, and they threatened us: "If you come back here and bring this word again of Jesus Christ..."

Not many years ago, there was a man who called our house here several times. He would call and I would get on the phone and he says, "I'm gonna come and kill your wife. I'm gonna kill your children." He left messages on our answering machine. I had been given the gospel to a part of his family, and he was so upset that he was threatening us. We had to actually call the police. So we had to go and see him.

The tactic that people will use to stop the advancement of the gospel at times will be threatening.

The Fourth Form: Slander

Number four, another form is slander. Look at verse 4 and 5: "Then the people of the land discouraged the people of Judah. They fought in the middle of the building so they hired counselors"—what have we called that today? Influencers. "They hired influencers against them to frustrate their counsel all the big societies to keep in Persia even to the reign of Darius, the king of Persia." So they fired these lobbies kind of against them. They kinda maligned their name. Anything to make them look bad in front of the authorities.

This is constant in society, by the way. Certainly shows with the Hollywood crowd, the mainstream media crowd. They love to present Christians in a bad light. Sometimes ever so subtly, sometimes not so subtle at all.

The Fifth Form: False Accusations and Legal Maneuvering

Another form of persecution is false accusations, legal maneuvering. Sometimes verse 6 through 23—I'm not gonna go through it. What you have in this extensive passage is the Samaritans writing letters giving false accusations against the people of God to the authorities back in Medo-Persia. Look at verse 11 just for a little taste of that: "This is a copy of the letter which was sent to the king, to king Artaxerxes: 'Your servants, the men in the region beyond the river and now. Let it be known to the king that the Jews who came up from you, you sent them. They have come to Jerusalem. They're rebuilding this rebellious and evil city. They're gonna rebel against you, kings. They're finishing the walls. They're repairing the foundations. Now let it be known to the king that if this city is rebuilt and the walls are finished, they are not gonna pay tribute, custom, or toll, and they will diminish your kingship. They are building to rebel.'"

Always the bottom line, by the way: they're gonna cut your tax base.

Look at verse 14: "Now because we are in the service of the king, the palace, oh king, we love you so much. And isn't that fitting for us to see the king's dishonor? We're standing up for your honor, king. Therefore, we sent this letter to you."

False accusation and legal maneuvering—another form of attack.

The Sixth Form: Physical Persecution

And then number six, all of it eventually gets to physical persecution. Look at verse 23: "Then as soon as a copy of king Artaxerxes' document was read before Rehum and Shimshai, the scribe, they and their colleagues went in haste in to the Jews to stop them by force of arms, if necessary."

Very uncommon in America. Oh, but it may come. It may come on a national level one day where Christians are persecuted for their faith, where they're arrested. Maybe it'll be a little more localized—certain hotspots in our country that are more firmly against Christianity and the gospel truths of the Bible. And maybe the people of those hotspots will persecute Christians and local government authorities will just kinda turn the blind eye to that persecution. I think we're already seeing that in parts of our nation.

Well, here's what I want you to see from the fourth chapter of Ezra: opposition to the work of God takes a variety of forms.

• Compromise
• Ridicule and mocking
• Intimidation and threats
• Slander
• Legal opposition
• Physical persecution

Understanding Persecution

When we tend to think of persecution, we think of physical persecution—what they do to our bodies. They've incarcerated a Christian here. A Christian was beaten there. A Christian church was attacked and burned. That is one form of persecution. But I want you to turn to Matthew 5. Our Lord reflects on this so clearly. If we don't understand what persecution is, then we are missing out on so much of the blessing that God wants us to know.

Maybe you've never been beaten for the cause of Christ. Maybe no one's ever hit you. Maybe you've never been in prison for the cause of Christ. But many of us, most of us have experienced ridicule, accusations, cold names, slander, and threatening.

Look at what our Lord said in Matthew 5:10-12. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who came before you."

Now look at a parallel passage in Luke 6:22-23. Our Lord adds some things. "Blessed are you when men hate you, when they ostracize you. Have you ever been ostracized? Treated like a pariah—maybe with your extended family, maybe in school, maybe at work—set aside and marginalized through your faith in Christ. Look at what Jesus says: 'Blessed are you when men hate you and ostracize you and insult you and scorn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for your reward in heaven is great.'"

If it wasn't Jesus who said this, we would question what insane people might say—be glad and leap for joy. Why? Because your reward is great in heaven. You ever been ridiculed for your faith? Leap for joy. Whether it's in person, face to face, or whether you hear secondhand, behind your back, people describing you in unflattering terms, spreading rumors—Jesus says rejoice and leap for joy. Why? Your reward is great in heaven. They did the same thing to the prophets.

What I want us to see is that persecution takes a variety of forms. There are many ways to experience persecution. And in the face of the gathering storm of persecution coming over the city of Philippi, the apostle Paul is looking to prepare the Philippian believers to face it biblically.

The Opponents

Now let's go back to Philippians 1. This is a fascinating passage. Notice what Paul says in verse 28: "In no way be alarmed by your opponents."

We're not exactly sure who these opponents are. There's a short list:

• The Judaizers. They believed in Jesus and that Christ is the way to salvation, but said, "Don't you also have to follow the law? Don't you also have to go through certain religious rituals? Don't you have to do all the right things?" In other words, faith in Christ plus your good works.
• The Roman government. The Roman government saw Christianity as divided loyalty between Caesar and some other lord called Jesus.
• The pagan population in Philippi.

But in verse 30, Paul identifies specifically who he's referring to. Notice what he says: "You're experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me." He's referring back to when he first came to Philippi in Acts 16, where the population was fed up with this man coming in and preaching the gospel. They beat him and threw him in an inner prison.

Paul is saying your suffering is directly connected to the population of the city of Philippi. Remember, Philippi was a Roman colony established around 42 BC when Rome defeated the North Africans at the battle of Philippi. Caesar made Philippi a special, unique Roman colony and settled many veterans of the Roman army there. They had a specific emperor cult nature in the city. In the first century, the title for the emperor was "lord and savior." Emperor worship was strong, especially in cities like Philippi.

Commentator Gordon Fee writes: "In a city like Philippi, every public event—like we do the national anthem—all the assemblies, all public performances, and much else within the boundaries of the city would have taken place in the context of giving honor to the emperor with the acknowledgement that in this case, Nero was the only lord and savior. This is precisely the place where believers in Christ could no longer join the citizens of Philippi, because their allegiance was to another lord, Jesus Christ."

Now in the face of that kind of persecution, notice what Paul tells them. In verse 28: "In no way be alarmed by your opponents." The word "alarmed" is a Greek word used for horses that were frightened by a snake or wild animal, and they became skittish and ran out of control. Paul is saying, "Listen. When you are up against opposition, when you face persecution, don't become skittish like those horses and just pack up the gospel and run. Don't let a little opposition stop you. Don't let being ostracized or insulted by strangers or someone you love stop you."

Why We Should Never Be Alarmed

How can we keep from being intimidated when we find ourselves in those situations? Paul gives us three reasons we should never be alarmed or intimidated when we suffer for the cause of Christ.

Reason One: What It Demonstrates

Notice what Paul says in verse 28: "Which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too from God." The word "sign" means proof or evidence. When people oppose us for the cause of Christ, when they reject the gospel, that is evidence of their coming destruction. The word "destruction" is used throughout the New Testament of eternal destruction, eternal peril, eternal ruin.

Why? Because that opposition to the gospel is proof of their destruction. They're not setting themselves against us. They're setting themselves against the message of the gospel. When people oppose you, beloved, they're not really opposing you. They're opposing your faith. They're opposing God.

But notice Paul said something else is true. Their opposition is not only evidence of what's going to happen to them, but it's evidence of what's going to happen for you—salvation.

Turn to 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10. Paul says: "Therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you in the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you are enduring. This is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all, it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from His glory and power."

Paul says: Go back to Philippians 1. Does the fact that people oppose you for speaking up for Christ and his gospel? That's evidence that God favors you. When judgment comes, God will spare you. Those who are opposing—that evidence shows they will not be spared from God's judgment because they're opposing God, not you.

Reason Two: Who It's For

Now there's another reason Paul says you should never be frightened by your opponents. Never be alarmed when we suffer for Christ—not only because of what it demonstrates, but also because of who the persecution is really intended for.

Look at verse 29: "For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe on Christ, but also to suffer for His sake."

You and I should rejoice in the midst of suffering for Christ because of what it demonstrates, but also because of who this persecution is intended for—which is Christ. Notice the word "granted." It comes from the Greek word for grace—to give graciously, freely. Paul is saying God has given you two gifts together. The first is the gift of faith—you only believe because Christ has granted you the gift of faith, as we see in Ephesians 2. But there's a gift right alongside the gift of faith: the gift to suffer for the sake of Christ. Both come to us equally.

Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:12: "All those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." The suffering here in Philippians 1 is not that you got a flat tire on the way to church. It's true suffering for the cause of the gospel—speaking the gospel, living the gospel.

Christ gave us the faith to believe, but verse 29 also gives us another gift of grace at the same time. The privilege of being His people brings with it the privilege of suffering for Him, just like He suffered for us two thousand years ago.

Jesus told us this. Look at John 15:18-20. This is the night before our Lord's death. He's about twelve hours from the cross. He tells His 11 apostles: "If the world hates you, just know it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: 'A slave is not greater than his master.' Thus, if they persecuted Me, your Master, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours as well."

Jesus said we're to be expected to be treated the same way by the world that they treated Him. Even so, sinners can't get to God. They can't strike out at God. So they strike out at those who are living in His image, who bear His image. We shouldn't be alarmed by our opponents. It's part of our faith. Suffering is part of a gift that we got at salvation. Suffering should be no surprise to anyone who names the name of Christ. Rather, it's evidence that we are favored by God.

We don't look at it that way. That's the problem. When we think about it, we focus on the suffering. This hurts. Those words sting. They're talking about me. But God says, what a privilege to be persecuted for my sake, for the gospel. Paul says, think about what it proves. Think about who it's for. Don't think about the physical, the verbal, the ridicule. Think about what it proves. Think about who it's for.

When we're persecuted for the cause of Christ, we join a very unique group throughout history. In Philippians 3:10, Paul identifies that group as those who are involved in the fellowship of His sufferings. We shouldn't be upset by persecution as if God has forgotten about us or is angry with us. We should see every bit of persecution as a gift of His grace.

Reason Three: Who It's With

Now there's one more reason Paul gives us that we should not fear suffering. Not only what it demonstrates, not only who it's for, but number three, who it's with.

Look at verse 30: "You are experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me back when I visited you in Acts 16 and now hear of me in Rome."

Paul concludes his encouragement to the Philippians as they face this coming persecution by telling them they're in the company of others. He uses the word "conflict." It's a Greek word meaning a heroic struggle. He uses it in 2 Timothy 4 when he sums up his ministry for Christ. He says, "I have fought a good agon, a heroic struggle."

And Paul was saying to the Philippians in verse 30, "You know that you were there. You saw them arrest me, beat me, string me up, lift me, throw me in prison. You know now I'm in a Roman prison. You know all about this struggle."

You see, when we finish suffering, when we face persecution, we feel isolated. We feel like they're picking on me. I'm the only one. Persecution ought to remind us that we are in this thing together. And with all of those who have ever stood for the gospel—going all the way back to the apostles and the prophets and all through church history—hundreds of thousands and millions of names, and only God knows. We are in company with them. We are partners in one great heroic struggle.

The obstacle that Jesus promised in Luke 6:23: "Be glad when they persecute you, when they insult you, when they ostracize you. Leap for joy, for your reward in heaven is great."

We are grateful that you have given us the gift of salvation, that we have this stage. And part of it is suffering for the sake of your Son. Help us to be mindful that these are based on your grace. Help us to think biblically when we come across persecution. Help us not to run. Help us to stand together for the cause of the gospel, encouraging one another until you return. We are so grateful that you ministered to us this day in this way. We thank you for Jesus and for his father's care.