Family Chapel

In this passage, we arrive at one of the most beautiful descriptions of humility seen in Christ. With this passage, Paul exhorts Christians to have the same humility as Christ, as it is seen in his incarnation and in his crucifixion. Humility is the way of God’s kingdom!

Here in our passage, Paul reminds us of our Christian citizenship. As Christian citizens, we are to live in line with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. WHAT that looks like is standing firm in unity before a hostile world full of tempting compromises. WHY we do that is because we have been called to suffer for Christ's sake in advancing the Gospel. HOW we do that well is by putting on humility. In other words: Christians are to stand together with unity in the face of hostility by putting on humility.

In our passage, we see that though Paul is still in prison, he is supremely confident of his deliverance. While many today may assume the deliverance he speaks of is freedom from prison, we see that true deliverance in Paul's eyes is the ability to live honoring Christ, whether it be in life or in death. As we live in a culture today that is so wrapped up around personal accomplishment, achievement, and success, it is essential that we hear Paul's words to remind us of our ultimate aim, which is to glorify God and lead others to glory in Him as well. We can rejoice in the quagmires of life because our future is clear - whether in life or death, we gain Christ.

In this passage, we see the Gospel advance in an unexpected way while Paul is in prison. Unplanned inconveniences are unexpected opportunities for the unstoppable Gospel to advance. We need to recognize and embrace those life interruptions as God-given means to see his Gospel spread through our lives.

In the final sermon in our Daniel series, we see that we are often placed in situations where we must chose between following God and following the ways of the world. There is opposition in the path of obeying God. What do we do when these opposing forces threaten to throw us in the "lion's den"? The answer starts with acknowledging that God's purposes and plans cannot be thwarted, and that all opposition will one day crumble. Knowing this, we can respond to opposition by seeking to good to all, and by being faithful in walking with the Lord.

In this passage, we see that God is the righteous Judge. And in a world of injustice, the righteous Judge will bring justice. And that is a good thing (God has an answer for evil). But, we also have to recognize that we too are in danger of judgment. But in Christ, we receive rescue from judgment because Christ has been judged on our behalf. In the Gospel, we see the the righteous Judge deal with our injustice in a totally amazing way, which now frees us to pursue justice in this world.

In this passage, we see how God responds to our pride. God's solution to the problem of our pride is found in calling us to repentance, humbling us, and restoring us. And in Christ, we see God's ultimate solution in the true King humbling Himself to bring proud sinners into His Kingdom.

In this Sunday's passage, we see how we are to respond to the pressures of false worship in our world. Instead of giving in to the pressure of false worship, we should worship the true God alone, even if it costs us everything, because God alone is worthy of worship. And in Christ, we see that our costly worship is worth it because our God who paid the cost is worthy.