[INTRODUCTION AND RECAP]
We’re doing a series on ‘why Christians gather together.’ We’re emerging from the Covid pandemic and the various lockdowns and we’ve started to meet together in person so it seems a good time to ask why we gather together.
I am loosely following a sermon series I found on a website called SermonCentral. The series is called ‘We are gathered here.’
The first reason the series suggested for Christians to gather together is for ENCOURAGEMENT. In the first talk I focused on a verse in Hebrews which urges us to ‘run with endurance the race that is set before us.’ We need encouragement because the Christian life is like an endurance race. It’s tough and testing. We may feel like giving up at some points. It’s possible to give up but it’s absolutely worth keeping going. But we need encouragement – and because we need encouragement we need to meet together. We can’t encourage people if we don’t meet them – and we won’t get much encouragement either!
The second reason the series suggested for Christians to gather together is for rhythm. I was a bit surprised by this idea! The word rhythm doesn’t come once in most Bibles! But as I looked into it, I saw that God is very interested in rhythm. For example, God established the rhythm of day and night and the rhythm of the seasons. God also established the rhythm of a week by making the seventh day holy. Meeting on Sundays helps us establish that God-ordained rhythm in our lives. Giving this talk helped me to recognize that I haven’t been very good at observing this rhythm and Priscilla [my wife] and I have decided to make some changes.
The third reason that the series suggested for Christians to gather together is for strength. That’s what we’re going to look at today. Almost everyone agrees that people are ‘stronger together’. It’s a Biblical idea too. Paul describes the church as a body. An eye or an ear on its own can’t do much but when they combine with the hand and leg and other parts of the body then the body can do a great deal. The parts of a body are stronger together and that’s true for the church too.
I read SermonCentral’s outline for the talk on ‘gathering for strength’. It makes a number of good points. It observes that working together can be difficult and even messy but it brings great reward. It also notes that if we’re on our own we’re more vulnerable to attack. These things are certainly true.
However I’ve decided to take a different approach in my talk. I’m going to focus on something which Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians. We find it in Philippians 1:27 – my text for today. Paul wrote:
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, 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…”
Paul doesn’t use words like ‘strong’ or ‘strength’ but he talks about ‘standing firm’ and ‘striving’. Both of those things demand strength. He also says ‘in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side’. There’s clearly the idea here of unity. So this verse is talking about strength based on unity. It fits with the theme of ‘gathering for strength’. But how does it work?
[THE CONTEXT]
As always, it’s a good idea to zoom out, to set our verse in context. So let’s do that and see what’s going on. After that, we’ll come back to our text.
In chapter 1 Paul mentions four times that he is in prison. The traditional view is that Paul was in prison in Ephesus. A popular view now is that he was in Rome. But the significant fact from our point of view is that Paul wasn't in Philippi. It means that the church in Philippi was reaching out to help someone IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.
Look at verses 29-30. Paul says:
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him BUT ALSO SUFFER FOR HIS SAKE, ENGAGED IN THE SAME CONFLICT THAT YOU SAW I HAD AND NOW HEAR THAT I STILL HAVE.
Paul is in prison. I have no doubt that prison was unpleasant and Paul was suffering. But in these verses Paul doesn’t mention his own suffering. He only mentions the Philippians’ suffering and the fact that they’re in the same conflict as he is.
So the context – or at least part of it – is suffering and conflict. That’s important to notice! In a situation of suffering and conflict God’s people will certainly need strength.
But there’s something else we find in chapter 1.
In chapter 1 Paul mentions the gospel six times. Although Paul is in prison, suffering, he’s still passionate about the gospel! In fact, Paul sees a connection between his suffering and the advance of the gospel! So another part of the context is the proclamation of the gospel, the Good News about Jesus. If God’s people want to proclaim the gospel, they will certainly need strength.
LET’S NOW GO BACK TO OUR VERSE.
Paul wants to hear news of the Philippians.
He wants to know that they are STANDING FIRM and STRIVING. They need to stand firm because there’s opposition, and they need to strive because there’s a gospel to proclaim.
He wants to know that they are standing firm IN ONE SPIRIT and with ONE MIND striving SIDE BY SIDE. The Philippians’ UNITY is clearly the basis for them to stand firm and to strive.
And Paul wants to know that they are striving for THE GOSPEL. Strength is good, provided it is directed towards a good purpose!
I said a moment ago that the Philippians’ UNITY is clearly the basis for them to STAND FIRM and to STRIVE. The verse doesn’t tell us HOW these things connect but we can find some strong clues in the first part of the chapter. The relationship between Paul and the Philippians and Christians who knew Paul illustrates what Paul is describing.
[A SIDETRACK]
But before we look at these examples, I’m going to take a side-track and think about strength generally.
There are lots of kinds of strength: military strength, economic strength, physical strength and so on. In the Bible, one kind of strength which is often needed is courage and determination. God told Joshua ‘Be strong and courageous’ [Deuteronomy 31:23]. David told his son Solomon ‘Be strong and courageous’ [1 Chronicles 28:20]. In prison, Paul needs courage. He hopes for courage to honour Christ in his body [Philippians 1:20].
The Philippians also need courage and determination to stand firm against opposition and to strive for the gospel. I believe that’s the kind of strength that Paul wants the Philippians to have. Where can that strength come from?
Whenever Christians need strength, the first place – or rather, the first person – they should go to is of course, God. Paul wrote to the Ephesians: ‘Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might’ [Ephesians 6:10]. Do you know the children’s song, ‘My God is so big, my God is so mighty, there’s nothing he cannot do’? God is the source of strength! We have this so well ingrained in us that when Paul describes another source of strength it comes as a surprise. The source of strength Paul is talking about in our text isn't strength from God but the support of fellow Christians.
A Christian could, in theory, say, ‘God is my strength; I don’t need other people.’ She could be an independent, lone-wolf, lone-ranger kind of person, saying to herself, ‘She travels the fastest who travels alone.’ But there’s no striving side-by-side in that. It doesn’t correspond with what Paul is describing in our text.
A Christian could, in theory, feel so well supported by their Christian friends that he completely neglects to spend time with God and fails to draw strength from him.
Both are quite possible and I suspect, quite common. Neither is correct. We need to find our strength in God AND in the Christian community we’re part of.
[BACK TO OUR VERSE AGAIN!]
I hope that by now we’ve got the general idea of what this verse is saying. What we’re missing is what it looks like in practice and how the principle could work for us. But we have at least part of an answer in the first part of the chapter. There are three things we see in Paul’s relationship with the Philippians and with the Christians around him which illustrate what ‘standing firm in one spirit and with one mind striving side by side’ looks like.
FIRST, PRAYER
Look at verses 3 and 4. Paul writes:
“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy…”
Virtually the first thing Paul talks about in this letter is prayer. He prays for the Philippians and he tells them that he’s praying for them. We aren't supposed to trumpet our good works, but telling people that you're praying for them can encourage them. Only, make sure you really are praying for them!
Further on, Paul tells the Philippians what he is praying for them – very nice things. I'll use verses 9-11 as our blessing at the end of the service. And a little bit further on, Paul thanks the Philippians for praying for him.
So Paul and the Philippians prayed for each other. Praying for each other is the first step on the road of ‘striving side by side.’ We can pray for each other individually or we can pray with others. In many ways it’s much easier to pray with others. At present five or six of us meet twice a week online to pray. It doesn’t take very long. You'd be welcome to join us. But however we pray, we need to do it. We need support and we need to give support.
SECOND, PRACTICAL SUPPORT
Can you look at verse 7? Paul writes:
“It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel.”
Paul is REALLY attached to the Philippians. I went to one commentary when I was preparing this talk. The commentator, someone called Frank Thielman, wrote this about Paul’s feelings towards the Philippians:
“He feels this way about them because of their consistent partnership in his ministry through thick and thin … Whether he is in chains or persuading hearers of the truth of the gospel outside prison walls, Paul says the Philippians have stood with him.”
The Philippians certainly had stood with Paul. In the middle of Paul’s letter we learn that the Philippians had sent someone called Epaphroditus to help him while he was in prison [Philippians 2:25]. And towards the end of his letter, Paul mentions that the Philippians had sent him a financial gift – the only church to do so [Philippians 4:15]. The Philippians were also ‘partakers’ – some versions say ‘shared with me’ – in the defence and confirmation of the gospel.
It’s another great example of what Paul is talking about, of ‘standing firm in one spirit’.
Imagine you’re a small church in a place where there's a lot of opposition and persecution and a church in another country stood with you as the Philippians stood with Paul. Would you feel strengthened? Of course you would!
THIRD, INSPIRATION
The third example of what Paul is talking about comes in verse 14. This doesn’t relate to the Philippians but to the Christians in the city where Paul was in prison - Ephesus or Rome or wherever it was. Paul writes:
“And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.”
Because Paul has stood firm other Christians have been encouraged to stand firm. Paul’s willingness to suffer has strengthened them.
APPLICATION
We’ve been thinking about gathering together for strength. We get together Sunday by Sunday and attend services. We stay for a tea or a coffee and a chat afterwards. No doubt that strengthens us to some extent. But in this letter Paul doesn’t mention tea, coffee or a chat.
Paul is writing to people who are facing opposition and who are passionate for the gospel. They need strength to stand against the opposition and they need strength to proclaim the gospel. We must go to God for strength. That’s a given. But Paul doesn’t talk about that here. He writes about the strength we find in each other. His own life illustrates the points he makes.
Paul has a deep relationship with the church in Philippi. He is passionate in prayer for them and they pray for him. They’re involved in his ministry. They’re concerned about his imprisonment. They give him practical support: they send someone to help him and they give him a financial gift.
Paul’s courage also encourages others in the city where he is a prisoner.
It's clear that ‘striving side by side’ goes far, far beyond gathering for a cup of coffee and a chat.
One small church can’t show this level of commitment to everyone. But we at this church could, if we wished, identify one church – perhaps a church in Mozambique or Nigeria or Hong Kong – that’s facing opposition and stand by it as the Philippians stood by Paul. I believe that’s what love looks like and is what Jesus asks of us.
Talk given at Rosebery Park Baptist Church, Bournemouth, UK, 29th August 2021, a.m. service
