Philippians 1:27-28: Not Frightened

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If you would please turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 1 verses we're gonna read verses 18 through 30

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I think it's a little different in the bulletin with a concentration on verses 27 and 28 beginning at verse 18 here now

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God's inspired word what then only that in every way whether in pretense or in truth

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Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice yes and I will rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help of the

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Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed but that with full courage now and as always

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Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or death for to me for to me to live is

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Christ and to die is gain if I am to live in the flesh that means fruitful labor for me yet which shall

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I choose I cannot tell I am hard -pressed between the two my desire is to depart and be with Christ for that is far better but to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account convinced of this

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I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus because of my coming to you again only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or am absent

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I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened alarmed in the

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NASB in anything by your opponents this is a clear sign to them of their destruction but of your salvation and that from God let's pray father in heaven

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I pray for the presence of your spirit right now Lord to take over my mind and my mouth we pray

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Lord that we would hear directly from you not my ideas not my opinions but directly from your word we pray

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Lord that you bless the preaching of your word that you would enjoin it that it would not just be information but revelation leading leading to transformation it's in Jesus name

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I pray please be seated you know throughout my life

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I've met some pretty crazy people and I'm sure you guys have as well people who have lived crazy hectic lives but the life of Howard Hughes can be described he's the weirdest person

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I've ever read about his his life is described as dark mysterious bizarre to say the least even his birth is shrouded in mystery no one knows exactly when he was born because of his birth certificate it was doctored however

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Howard Hughes went on to become one of the most influential and richest men in the world he was a prominent film producer an aerospace engineer a businessman a real estate tycoon a pilot and a philanthropist his accomplishments are numerous he set world airspeed records with his plane the h1 racer he also built the airplane with the largest wingspan at the time the spruce goose in 1947 which couldn't be matched until 2019 that's how long this this this plane was first of its kind he was inducted into the

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National Aviation Hall of Fame and was on the top the list of the top 50 heroes of aviation later in life he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle oddities that were caused in part by his worsening

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OCD obsessive -compulsive disorder his chronic pain from a near -fatal plane crash and increasing deafness oddly he completely disappeared from public life as his phobia of germs prevented him from leaving his residence fear of germs and most everything else gripped his mind and completely distorted his behavior leaving him paranoid of everything incredible before we get into the text today

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I want to go through a little bit of the background on the book of Philippians now Philippians the city

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Philippi sounds a lot like a name Philip Philip Philippi is named after Philip of Macedonia who was the father of Alexander the

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Great and it's a unique city with a rich history it became a strategic

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Roman military outpost inhabited by retired soldiers who received land and all the privileges of Roman citizenship such as exemption from property tax free land and exemption from property tax how would you feel if one of your government officials said listen we're going to give you land and you don't have to pay tax wonderful you might end up liking him right now these were ex -soldiers so they were a proud rowdy and now privileged bunch of people and since their rights were given to them by Caesar Augustus it led to Emperor worship understanding the historical context of this letter is critical in interpreting the cultural and societal background against which

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Paul is writing this letter to the Philippians the book of Philippians is all about encouragement and unity in this letter

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Paul aims to inspire the Philippians to live as citizens of a heavenly colony fostering commitment to serving

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God and one another in opposition to those who were proud of their

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Roman citizenship and serving Caesar as Lord that's the dichotomy the letter to Philippi is significant because it's where Paul founded his first church in Europe with Lydia as the first convert

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Paul's imprisonment in Rome also plays a crucial role as he sees it as an opportunity to advance the gospel and encourage the

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Philippian Christians to live single -minded lives in unity to Christ even while behind bars the overriding word that would define the theme of this letter is rejoice

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Paul uses the word rejoice 23 times in this letter all from within a prison so now let's take a look at verse 27

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Paul writes only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ there's that word gospel what does the word gospel mean now

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I'm sure many of you have been who've been here for a while know what the word gospel means it means good news good news for the

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Christian this is the best news you could ever possibly hear so let me ask you something what does someone who receives good news look like what would their face or their demeanor tell you about themselves well they'll probably be smiling they'll be calm they'll be relaxed right they'll probably also want to share and tell the good news to someone else their countenance would be vastly different than if they heard bad news we know what people who've heard bad news look like it's not pleasant think about how the retired soldiers who were citizens of Philippi carried themselves they had all the benefits of Roman citizenship they had free land no land taxes access to ample natural resources and Caesar as Lord they had nothing to fear they were bold to them that was good news conversely what

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Paul was telling the Christians who lived in Philippi about was how they should live the day the day look like someone who's heard good news like gospel good news news like Jesus is

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Lord and that your sins have been paid for that you won't be judged for them ever that you have land in heaven reserved that they will receive a reward and live in the presence of Almighty God and Jesus for all eternity experiencing endless joy bliss never sick or in pain never crying never complaining never having to worry about provision not having to pay taxes land tax or otherwise never worrying what they would eat never worrying what they would wear never wondering where they would live living like it was

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Christmas Day every day how should someone who's received that kind of good news look

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Paul wanted the Philippians to know that they needed to be living a life worthy representative suitable expressive of a citizen of heaven while on earth what should they or us look like after hearing the gospel should we look happy or not so happy kind of like some of you today why do some of us look not so happy after receiving the greatest news you could ever hear and I bet

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I can tell you and it's not because I'm prophetic it's because I can read look at verse 28 and not frightened or alarmed in anything by your opponents here's my question for you has fear crept into your mind are you afraid of opening your mouth because you're going to be canceled are you afraid of sharing the good news with somebody thinking oh they're gonna think different of me they're not gonna like me

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I could get fired if I open my mouth let me read the verse this way so that you'll understand it a little bit more clearly starting in verse 27 and leaving out the translators comma it would read like this only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ and not frightened in anything by your opponents not frightened in anything by your opponents the distinction is set between living like you know the gospel joyful and living like you're scared like you're afraid personally

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I think most people are afraid and includes myself the contrast in the matter in which you live your life is either one of believing the good news and being joyful or one of fear this is

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Paul's point and he's telling us from the inside of a prison chain to a Roman guard and his refrain over and over again is rejoice he didn't let his circumstances dictate his mood in fact earlier he would say yes

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I will rejoice for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus this will turn out for my deliverance as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not at all be ashamed but that with full courage now as always

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Christ will be honored in my body whether by life or by death that doesn't sound like Paul's afraid he don't care if he dies or not what does our manner of life our appearance reflect to the world around us is our manner of life projecting the worthiness of the good news or are we afraid now

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I'll be honest my life does not always reflect the worthiness the goodness of the good news and I know that I'm the guy who stands up here every

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Sunday and tells you rejoice Jesus is Lord and Long Island is Christ's Island Anthony why do you say that every week if that doesn't reflect your attitude

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I say this every week to remind you and to remind me that it's true because God said it and if God said it it's true if God says it's true we can confidently believe it we should confidently believe it but here's the problem the dark spiritual forces of evil the cosmic powers want you to be afraid and walk in fear just like the serpent did to Eve make you question

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God did he really say that you won't certainly die he got

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Eve to become more afraid of him than of God and reject his word fear is a powerful and rousing emotion your actions the way you live your life will reflect whatever you fear most people who are afraid step back people who are bold step forward fear can get you to do things you shouldn't do and not do things that you should do we as Christians recipients of the good news the greatest news ever need to fear

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God more than man ask yourself what is it that I fear most on a regular basis your fears will reveal what you hold most dear you have to examine your heart especially now fear of man is a snare but whoever trusts in the

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Lord is safe and we read Genesis 15 this morning and in that account

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God comes to Abram in a vision while he's in his tent and tells him his reward will be very great and actually right before that he says don't be afraid right

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Abram responds with but I don't have any offspring I don't have anyone to leave the inheritance to so next the word of the

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Lord comes to him directly and says your son your very own son shall be your heir so God promises him a son and to approve it he walks

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Abram outside of his tent to look at the stars and number them that's how many kids you're gonna have and I looked and I said that's a diapers now it's here if that God walks him out the tent

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Abraham believes what God says and that's what was credited to him as righteousness this is the doctrine of justification by faith alone you trust

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God and he puts you in right relationship with him in fact Paul would quote this event in Romans chapter 4 going through that doctrine you're not saved by work you're saved you're justified by faith in Christ so now could you imagine how many stars

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Abram saw that night in the Middle East without all of the light pollution you can see so much more than we do here in New York it had to be like millions of stars like the

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Milky Way and that's exactly what I believed until I got up to verse 12 verse 12 as the sun was going down a deep sleep fell on Abram the sun was going down so when

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God brought Abram out of the tent the sun was up you know what that means it was in broad daylight that God brought

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Abram outside the tent to count the stars why would God do that you can't see the stars in the daylight why would

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God choose to do it that way I believe God was showing Abram and us that Abram can count more on what

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God said than what he saw with his own eyes Abraham knew that there were stars there every night he saw them every night

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God wanted Abram to trust what he heard rather than what he saw and Paul reinforces up this for us when he says we walk by faith not by sight faith comes by what hearing our lives must reflect what we hear in God's Word and not what we see on TV God's Word becomes the insight we need when our eyes tell us a different story

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God is telling us my word takes precedent over your eyes how many times do we get shaken by what we see on the news on the internet social media everywhere fear fear is a motivating factor the enemy knows that if he can make you fear something and give you a different solution you'll take it don't be manipulated but Paul is telling us do not be frightened in anything by your opponents

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Lord if we would only get as shaken by what we reading your word as what we see with our eyes shake us bring us to a point of absolute trust in your word over and above everything we see in our eyes may your word richly dwell in us and move us to faith the fear of the

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Lord is the beginning of wisdom knowledge and understanding comes from his lips not your eyes

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Paul did not want the fear of man to hinder the gospel in the witness in the

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Church of Philippi he wanted them to live lives worthy of the good news that they received and were saved by where the

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Philippian soldiers were living lives faithful to Caesar and secure in their Roman citizenship

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Paul wants the church to live faithful to Jesus Christ as Lord and secure in their heavenly citizenship he did not want them to be frightened by anything in their opponents now if you've been a

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Christian for any length of time you've probably heard and maybe even repeated like I did oh there are 365 fear nots in the

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Bible one for every day of the year that's not true we need to research these things when people tell us that right before you end up repeating something that could be bearing false witness now you might be sincere but you might also be sincerely wrong so when somebody tells you something look it up there are not 365 fear nots in the

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Bible but that does not mean that God doesn't desire you to not fear man in just the

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Psalms from King David we alone hear this Psalm 3 I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side tens of thousands no fear

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Psalm 23 even though I walked through the valley of shadow of death I will fear no evil you're with me

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Psalm 27 the Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear the

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Lord is the stronghold of my life of whom shall I be afraid Psalm 27 though an army besiege me my heart will not fear the war break out against me even then

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I'll be confident Psalm 46 therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea

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Psalm 56 in God I trust and not be afraid what can man do to me Psalm 118 the

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Lord is with me I will not be afraid what can mere mortals do to me get the point it seems like David was not only talking to us he was talking to himself reminding his soul not to be afraid and I think we all need to be reminding ourselves of the gospel and to not be afraid guess what it's a sign that we're living in a manner worthy of the good news if you heard the good news and you believe the good news you are called to behave like it walk in a manner worthy of the gospel and not be frightened in anything by your opponents why

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God said sometimes that's hard you have to remind yourself over and over about what

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God says so that you don't confuse what you see with what he said remember

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Abram God has a lot to say about fear Psalm 37 jot that down you're gonna want to read that when you get home fret not because of evildoers be not envious of wrongdoers they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb for the evildoers shall be cut off but those who wait for the

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Lord shall inherit the land the wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth in him but the

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Lord laughs at the wicked for he sees their day coming Proverbs 24 fret not yourself because of evildoers and be not envious of the wicked for the evil man has no future the lamp of the wicked will be put out that's

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Old Testament New Testament Matthew 10 do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather fear him who can destroy both body and soul in hell the hairs on your head are numbered fear not therefore you are of more value than many sparrows second

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Timothy 1 7 God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power love and a sound mind over and over we're told not to be afraid which tells me something humans have the propensity to be fearful to be afraid we need to continually wash that away with God's Word there is no biblical warrant for fearing mankind in their opposition to God's Church in the scriptures we have ample scriptures to make the case to not be afraid so the question becomes do we actually believe the good news or are we looking for stars in the sky to verify in fact check

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God's Word will we trust him will we take him at his word as we read in the scriptures when we don't we got to say forgive my unbelief

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Lord Paul will go on to tell us why this is important look at verse 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents this is a clear sign to them of their destruction but of your salvation and that from God our fear of God over and above any man will testify to their judgment by God and their destruction at his hands and of our salvation it's evidence that we're believing

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God that I can be confident that I won't be afraid in the midst of God's enemies our boldness for God our lack of fear will speak to society

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God doesn't take lightly nor hold anything back when speaking about those who oppose his church it's serious psalm 34 the face of the

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Lord is against those who do evil to cut the memory of them from the earth you'll never hear of them again

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Psalm 21 the Lord will swallow them up in his wrath and fire will consume them though they plan evil against you though they devise mischief they will not succeed listen for you will put them to flight and you will aim at their faces your bows that's the

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Word of God aiming at their face with bows this is not a

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God to play or trifle with the consequences of not being on the Lord's side are horrifying so the

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Philippian church was told not to fear their opponents and live in a manner worthy of the gospel but just how were they expected to carry out that plan was there a plan yes thankfully

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Paul gives them that instruction right between the two exhortations to live worthily and not be frightened he tells them in verse 27 may

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I hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel they are to stand firm and strive one mind with one mind and side -by -side standing and striving in unity of mind and effort in other words they were to be united in their standing and striving together against their opponents as a unit as a cohesive body no

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Lone Rangers no Rambos no John wick and certainly not frightened by anything in their opponents at the men's breakfast yesterday

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I spoke about the Holy Spirit who he is what he does and one of the roles of the

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Holy Spirit as per the King James Version is the Father shall give you another comforter that he may abide with you forever

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John 14 the Holy Spirit is called the comforter or helper as other versions say now the word comfort suggests thoughts of warmth coziness relief soothe chicken soup and that's fine but the word actually means with strength comfort to strengthen it's the

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Holy Spirit that will help strengthen the Philippian Church to stand firm in the face of adversity it's the

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Holy Spirit that will strengthen hope reform Baptist Church to stand firm in the face of adversity they are to stand firm in one spirit we are to stand firm in one spirit it's the presence of the

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Holy Spirit in each one of them which identifies them as God's people if you don't have the

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Spirit of God you are none of his Paul would say in Romans 8 it's the Holy Spirit that unites binds us together as God's body the body of Christ they are currently empowered the

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Philippines are currently empowered to do what God calls them to with the strength of the

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Holy Spirit you know the Holy Spirit the spirit that brings life out of death the spirit that brings order out of chaos the spirit that creates out of nothing the

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Holy Spirit is not like a mere pneumatic wrench with the power to tighten or loosen lug bolts so you can put your tires on your car he's the third person of the

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Trinity with the power to create the universe and he lives inside you if you could ask for the most powerful thing you would ever need to accomplish a task the

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Holy Spirit is your answer and as a Christian he dwells in you he lives in you to sanctify you to strengthen you for the task that God has called you to and not be frightened by your opponents you cannot claim a lack of power for the mission that God's given us you can't claim fear either as he is not the spirit of fear but of power love and a sound mind all the things the

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Philippian Church needed to live a life worthy of the gospel and all the things that hope reform

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Baptist Church needs to live a life worthy of the gospel in 1st

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Corinthians 16 Paul would tell them be watchful stand firm in the faith act like men be strong act like men how controversial is that today

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I'm not afraid to say a man is a man they have to be firm in the spirit and he tells them to have one mind be of the same mindset

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Paul's gonna reference that word mine six times in the book of Philippians even even shortly after the discourse in chapter 2 he tells them to be in full accord and of one mind the success of the

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Philippian Church was in part dependent on their unity with one another there needed to be a singleness of purpose to advance the gospel in the face of their opponents and not frightened by anything in their opponents it's the same principle for us today ask yourself what are you afraid of search your heart bring that before the

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Lord and repent of it the advantage of being of one mind are multiple right you've heard the term united we stand divided we fall this is one of the reasons why we are united around a confession of faith the 1689 we need to be united in what we understand the scriptures to be saying and teaching we need to be on the same page of one mind we also need to be united to the worldwide body of Christ and hold to the historic creeds of the church we need to be united in how we elect officers in the church we need to be united in how we elect officials in government we need to be united in how we share the gospel united in how we treat those who oppose us why with common doctrine comes common purpose and a common goal we all now are shooting for the same target just yesterday in God's providence

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I was blocked on social media by a former pastor who was waxing elegant on how there was no verse or teaching in the scriptures that there should be pastors governing over the church that was the lie that he bought into for years according to him now

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I tread lightly on social media but not having pastors would dramatically affect the body of Christ since it was

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God who set up pastors and elders to safeguard the church and it affects me directly since I think

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I'm called to be a pastor if there's no pastorate then I'm delusional to think that I'm called to an office that doesn't exist now

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I was gentle but firm in my response back and I gave a multitude of scriptures to support the position then

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I asked him where is your authority to come from to make such claims well

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I didn't get an answer in the next morning I was blocked so weeding out the wolves in the church is not optional that's how we remain united we weed out the people who are going to make a right -hand turn take a left -hand turn okay who start affirming things that are not biblical

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Paul would tell us via Luke in Acts 20 pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock this is the one time

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Paul directly addresses just the elders that supposedly don't exist right okay so he said pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the

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Holy Spirit has made you overseers to care for the Church of God which he obtained with his own blood

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I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you not sparing the flock and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them the biggest attack on the church comes from inside of it that's why we have to be vigilant in keeping the wolves out thank you to Pastor Chris for what he did two years ago however many years ago that ex - pastor's problem was that he was using his experience of being in a bad church an unhealthy church and using his eyes to experience and determine the truth not what

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God says about the scriptures so his bad experience tainted him so therefore that must not be the right way to do things that's not what

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God says that's why we have to be united around the scriptures that don't change human beings opinions change

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I change you change we all change God doesn't change neither does his word that's why we have to stand on it it is the only absolute rule of truth we can point to that will never change this is why we have to stand in one spirit united on what

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God says not what man says in addition to having one mind with a common purpose purpose we need to strive it's an athletic term it means to labor together struggle together side by side to get the job done again this isn't a one -man show now at this point again

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Paul is writing to them from behind bars he can't be on the outside with them to strive and contend so what does he do he strives in the position that he's at in prison in his own circumstances and he says what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel rejoice right now

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I I get arrested I'm writing a letter to some of you here and ask me do you know anybody from SEAL Team 6 get me out right that's another reason why

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I'm not an apostle or like writing the scriptures I'm a baby right he doesn't say that he says

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I'm here for the sake of the gospel he knew his purpose we need to know our purpose whether free or behind bars he doesn't ask to be sprung from prison he blooms where he's planted he's not afraid of his persecutors he said before this to live is

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Christ and to die is gain if they kill him he wins if he stays alive he wins it's a win -win when you're a

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Christian and what does Paul tell them to strive together for the faith of the gospel the faith of the good news of Jesus Christ that Jesus is ruling and reigning right now that he's redeemed their lives that he is

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King not Caesar that his kingdom will never end but Caesars will and again this is important contextually because legally the citizens of Philippi are

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Roman citizens but as the church living in Philippi they are not standing on Caesar as Lord they are standing firm and striving for the gospel that says

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Jesus is Lord Paul will later tell them that their citizenship is in heaven not earth and not to be frightened by anything in their opponents if you're a

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Christian where's your citizenship are you more concerned about national matters than heavenly matters are you worried about Congress or the heavenly court are you worried about the throne were you worried about an office somewhere suffice it to say there are numerous applications of this directive of Paul to our situation here in the

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US and particularly on Long Island so how do we do this it's the same way they did first we need to fear

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God more than we fear man we need our manner of life to line up with the great price that was paid for our salvation second we're to stand firm in the

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Holy Spirit knowing that we have the strength and the power to accomplish everything God commands us to do he lives inside of us third were to strive side by side for the gospel side by side you me you you every single one of us we who are many form one body and the hand can't say to the foot

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I don't need you everybody is necessary everybody is needed this means all of us you were designed by God with talents gifts and abilities you need to put them to good use while you're here on this side of life join us in prayer on Wednesdays strive side by side with us in prayer it's our most powerful weapon against the enemy if you can't come on Wednesday get involved in the ministries we have here at hope we have a team going out later to Port Jefferson to preach the gospel if you can't preach hand out tracts if you can't hand out tracts just pray if you can't pray just be present watch it same thing with the pro -life outreach just be present you don't have to preach just be present envelopes write out envelopes mail envelopes get involved fourth when we do this together in unity it becomes a clear sign to them of their destruction but of our salvation and that from God right our unity and fearless loyalty to our

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Savior will act as a sign to them our life needs to be worthy of the gospel the good news the good news like Jesus is

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Lord and that our sins have been faith paid for and that we won't be judged by them for them that the enemies of the church will be held accountable and judged that we will receive a reward and inheritance forever and live in the presence of Almighty God and Jesus for all eternity experiencing joy bliss never sick or in pain never crying never complaining never having to worry about provision not having to pay taxes land tax or otherwise never worrying what we will eat never worrying what we will wear never worrying where we will live again we're gonna live like it's

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Christmas Day every day I want to be fearless for God and not fearful of man and in doing so live my life in a manner worthy of the gospel the good news

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I'm sick of the one being scared they are the ones who should be scared

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I want them to know that God behind us is bigger than all the enemies before us because if God before us who could be against us that's what

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God said I pray God have mercy on his opponents we see them come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ and acknowledge him as Lord ultimately

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I believe what God says Jesus is ruling and reigning and through his church he will put all of his enemies under his feet why do

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I believe that why should you believe that God said that's not what man said that's not an opinion that's what

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God said and do not be frightened by anything in your opponents for those of you who don't know

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Jesus as Savior you have very good reason to be frightened by your opponents as your chief opponent is

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God himself God says repent and believe on the

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Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved for about the last 20 years of his life billionaire and business tycoon

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Howard Hughes lived as a recluse moving frequently from one location to another from the

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Bahamas to Nicaragua from Nicaragua to Canada from Canada to New England to Las Vegas to Mexico and on and on and on because of his fear use fear of germs multiplied throughout his years and consumed him in his entire life for example he wrote a staff manual on how to open a can of peaches including directions for removing the label scrubbing the can down till it was bare metal washing it again and pouring the contents through to a bowl without touching the can to the bowl he died living in fear ultimately your fears will reveal what you hold most dear may we never fear man more than we fear