Philippians 1: Be Bold! Be Prepared! Are you Ready?

Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Corps on January 6, 2008
Presented to Swift Current Corps on November 18, 2012
By Captain Michael Ramsay

To read the 2012 version click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2012/11/philippians-1-be-bold-for-gospel.html

Last week Susan walked us through the heart of Philippians: Philippians Chapter 3. She let us know about the real significance of dying to self. It is impossible to put both yourself first AND to put Christ first. You have to choose. It is like after the recent provincial election. With only two parties having any seats in the house, you won’t have both of them ruling. It wouldn’t work – so Susan last week – in very different words - encouraged us to send the old party, in this case, the Self party packing and to just serve the NCP, New Creation Party. We have to serve someone, let’s serve God.

Today, before we get into Chapter 1 a little bit, I thought that we would look at some of background information to Philippians. I have a little quiz for you that those who attend our Bible studies should be able to get through easily enough.

1) Who is the city of Philippi named after? (Philip of Macedon; Macedonia is one of the northern most Greek provinces)
2) Who was Phillip? (Alexander the Great’s father; he laid the ground work for the Greek Empire and when he took over Philippi he really encouraged Greek immigration to the Area)
3) What other famous battle took there? (The Battle of Philippi which was around 300 years later; this was an important battle in the Roman civil war in which Caesar Augustus[1] won.)
4) Does anyone remember, where in the Bible – just recently would we have read about Caesar Augustus? (The Christmas story, remember, “In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that the entire Roman world should be taxed (Luke 2:1).”

Very good, so this battle of Philippi that Augustus fought in is less than 100 years before this letter to the Philippians was written; there may even still be some veterans around; it would be like us reflecting on WWI. It is still in our general consciousness and just like the world changed after the World Wars in our time, it changed significantly by the Apostle Paul’s time as well.

The world does change very quickly, doesn’t it? I remember when I was kid in the 1970s. I lived in a semi-rural area of Victoria. All behind my house cornfields and beside us were Farmer Wild’s potato fields and we had a very small orchard of our own in our back yard. And the Vantreights, they had Daffodil fields everywhere. Between Farmer Wild and the Vantreights there was no end to seasonal employment for the kids. In the Spring some of us would even cut school in order to go earn a couple bucks cutting daffodils.

Now, of course, my parents home has been completely swallowed up by my hometown, Victoria, which is now a city of 300 000 people or so. It is Canada’s 13th largest city.[2] Things change.

But in those days life was different. The area was semi-rural and dogs could even roam free without being on a leash or without even their owners. They would often stroll along by themselves or together in pairs or packs and then they would meet up with another pack of dogs and start to investigate each other.

Of course, every once and a while there would be an aggressive dog or two and I certainly saw more than one dog fight growing up. (Some of these could be quite scary actually).

We had a dog. His name was Tuffy. Tuffy was a little border collie/sheltie cross and he was a smart dog but every once in a while, of course, he would get into one of these scraps himself.

I remember more than once, Tuffy would see some dog on our block that doesn’t belong there. He would charge them. It wouldn’t matter how big is the dog. It doesn’t matter how fierce is the dog; Tuffy runs at them. He’s not afraid of them. He growls at them. He, completely without any fear, engages the intruder.

Now sometimes, like I said, the dogs are a lot bigger than Tuffy. Still Tuffy charges, teeth bared- no fear – he charges the giant intruder with full confidence and then when the large dog strikes back…He runs away.

The other dog inevitably chases him and Tuffy runs right toward home. Tuffy runs faster and faster. As the dog gets closer, Tuffy – never afraid – runs to our next door neighbour’s house. He bounds up the stairs to his deck. The dog comes flying after Tuffy and arrives on the deck where he is seemingly trapped and … there is Goldie.[3] Goldie is by far the biggest dog you have ever seen and Goldie and Tuffy are quite a pair. They really are the best of friends.

So now the pursuing dog, the dog chasing Tuffy – which until this moment seemed quite large - is all of a sudden dwarfed by the giant Goldie, surrounded, and trapped on our neighbour’s deck.

So after a couple of very noisy minutes, the intruding dog finds a way out and runs away as fast as it can never to come back again, and there is little Tuffy standing at the top of the stairs –(if dogs could smile)- this little collie-sheltie cross was telling the much bigger dog, I’m sure, never to come back!

When Tuffy saw the intruder, he wasn’t worried, he engaged him; he did not avoid a conflict. He was prepared; he was not afraid. He didn’t worry about what could happen to him. His goal was to encourage his opposition toward Goldie and have Goldie take care of the rest.

This is actually the same sort of thing that is happening in Paul’s life as he writes this letter to the Christians in Philippi.

Paul has been openly engaging the non- and pre-Christian world. He has met with some strong resistance and it is just as if he is Tuffy up against a bigger dog.

Paul is even in jail right now as he writes this letter. Paul is in a jail and jails then, like now, really are not the best places in the world to be and not only that, Paul is facing a capital charge[4]. Paul, if convicted, is facing execution.

Paul is seemingly cornered by a larger and an aggressive part of the pre- and non-Christian world of his day but he is not afraid of this dog nor is he even apparently concerned for himself.

Look at our text today…well…actually wait a minute…imagine with me first, that you are in prison. I don’t know how many of you have ever seen the inside of a prison. I’ve seen a couple. I can tell you that they themselves can be more than a little intimidating – even when you aren’t confined there.

Now imagine that you aren’t just in any prison. Imagine that you are in an off shores American prison – the Super Power of our day – imagine that you are in Guatanamo or something and they’ve actually charged you OR even imagine that you are in Afghanistan or Pakistan and in the hands of the Taliban or another such group and imagine that you are facing a capital charge. Imagine that you are facing execution if you are convicted…

What would you write in your letters home? If you could make a video tape or leave a phone message, what would it say? I imagine that we would be more than a little afraid. I imagine that we would ask for everyone to pray for us. We would try to activate a prayer chain on our behalf and …we would get everyone that we could to pray for our safe return, right? We would send up the prayer alert and ask everyone to pray for our deliverance…

Now this is interesting because, this isn’t what Paul does here at all. Paul mentions that he is in prison but it is not with his own state that he is concerned (1:18b-26).[5] He is bold and he is concerned with how well the Philippians are doing at standing firm in preparing to meet Christ (cf. 1:11) on the balcony as it were, on the ‘Day of the Lord’.

He is encouraging them to not be afraid and to be prepared for this ‘Day of the Lord’ by living in a manner worthy of the Gospel (1:27) by being united in purpose (1:18; 2:1-8; 3:15-16), staying the course, fighting the foe, and he is even now rejoicing (cf. 1:3, 6) in the Lord’s accomplishments through them;[6] he is encouraging them to be bold in making preparations for the day of the Lord’s return. Are they ready for Christ’s return?

Look with me at Chapter One. Instead of ‘Please pray for me…Paul writes in verse 3, I thank my God every time I remember you. Paul is not concerned about himself. He is thinking about others and about their participation in the Gospel and Kingdom of the Messiah; and Paul goes on, verse 6, he tells them how confident he is, that God will complete the good work in them that God has already started. Verses 9 and 10: he speaks of his desire that their love may overflow with wisdom and knowledge to help them determine what is best so that we are prepared when day of the Lord does arrive – and he’s coming soon – when everyone meets Goldie on the balcony, Paul wants the Philippians to be prepared; we should be prepared.

Paul is not worried about his own self. Paul is concerned about others’ standing firm, being prepared for the Kingdom of God. This is a man in chains writing here. This is a man facing a death sentence. This is a man who has put his life on the line for the Gospel and right now is in jail awaiting appeal.

He is in jail and we don’t read in his letter any “Oh why is this happening to me, Lord”, do we? We don’t read any of the, “What have I done to deserve this?” or “How could this be happening to me?” Talk. Do we? NO, we don’t. Rather he is bold because he is prepared; he says to live or die, both are good. Death is gain (because of the resurrection) and life, life, is Christ.

We don’t hear him whining and complaining (cf. Romans 8:19). We don’t hear accusations about his captors. We don’t hear him calling down curses upon Caesar. We don’t read of complaints about even the food or his fellow inmates. What do we hear? We hear that his captors are hearing the Gospel and we hear Paul encouraging others to be bold and be prepared to share the Gospel in Philippi.

Paul is in jail and he is concerned about the Philippians and their courage to fully participate in the Messianic Kingdom of Jesus when Jesus returns.

Now Philippi, which was once a predominately Greek city, is now a small Roman Colony with special status and many Romans citizens.[7] It is a city of privilege[8]. Paul has visited it before, and now he, imprisoned by the Romans, is writing to encourage them who are free and in this privileged city to be bold. He is writing encouraging them how to live – being united in purpose, with their love overflowing – so that they will be prepared for the coming ‘Day of The Lord’.[9] Interesting.

The one imprisoned is writing to encourage those who are free. Paul is imprisoned for his defence of Christ. In our world today, people are still imprisoned for defence of the Gospel. Missionaries are still martyred but lest we think ourselves better than we are, let us not forget that there are Canadians who struggle against our own government for the Kingdom of God.

Now in Saskatchewan do we have it good. I spoke about Christ in the public Remembrance Day ceremonies here. The schools put on Christian plays at Christmas and there was even reference to Christ in Rebecca’s homework. There is still a certain amount of freedom of religion here. But let’s not be mistaken about what is happening in this country. Today people are suffering for the Gospel and we do need to be bold and prepared to stand for Christ because the ‘Day of the Lord’ is coming.

In BC, in previous sermons and articles[10] I have mentioned the religious persecution that has already begun in the public school system. In the 80s or early 90s, we were told not even to refer to Christmas in the schools. We were told rather to call it a ‘Winter Festival.’ I heard of Christian student teachers taking a stand at this time and I heard of some of these Christians not successfully completing their degree or suffering even worse consequences.

Not too long ago as well, a Surrey school board decided not to have a book in their libraries entitled, “One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads Blue Dads.”[11] It promoted a different world view than the one held by the those who elected the school board. The people of Surrey did not want that book to be read to their children.[12] The Supreme Court and the federal politicians[13] continue to fail in standing up for these concerned citizens and the school board members they elected.

Even more recently, it was decided in BC’s lower mainland that Christian parents were not allowed to protect their children from courses –vetted by outsiders who are not even their regular school teachers - that they feel encourage counter-Biblical teachings[14]. So not only are Christians not allowed to try to protect others from what some consider very dangerous things, but they are forced to subject their own children to this worldview/religion (unless they are able to pay the not inexpensive costs of a private school education). Is it no wonder that since this Atheistic religious indoctrination has begun in the schools that Atheism has become the fastest growing religion in BC and with its growth, this persecution of others.[15]

Persecution for serving Christ is not confined to the Roman Empire of the 1st Century or the third world of today; so, are we prepared to be bold in defence of the Gospel?

In Nova Scotia, after the Swissair crash, the Christian clergy was told not to mention the name of Jesus and after 9/11, and even though the federal government apologized for the Swiss Air incident, the only world view represented in the Canadian ceremonies was that of the Secular Atheists: God was not invited; He was to be was excluded from the ceremonies.

So, although, in Saskatchewan, I have heard a local politician, encouraging others to write letters to the editor defending our freedom to proclaim Christ in the public arena, in Ontario the Secular-Atheists are calling for the police to step-in when politicians dare to pray in even small meetings.[16]

Persecution for serving Christ is real and it is not confined to the Roman Empire of the 1st Century or the third world of today. It is happening more and more here in Canada of the 21st Century. As it comes here, are we prepared to be bold in defence of the Gospel? This letter address to the Philippians, is for us.

After all, we here in Canada and Saskatchewan have it pretty good, just like the citizens of Philippi did. Canada is one of the richest countries of the world and a close ally of the Super Power of our day.

Philippi had a privileged status within the Empire of its day; people had it pretty good by comparison but even in Philippi persecution had begun and even now in Canada persecution has begun.

But let’s not just lament the acts of our aggressors. Paul didn’t. Let us not run away and hide. The Philippians were not to. Let us not cry out whoa is me. Let us not let our predecessors preaching be in vain. Let us not let those who are hauled before the courts in this country for our faith today do so in vain. Let us rather stand firm in proclaiming the Gospel. Let us be bold in our preparations for the ‘Day of the Lord.’

Paul is encouraging us, thousands of years later; Paul is encouraging us, since we have the same struggles that he had (cf. 1:30), to be bold in our proclamation and our preparation for the Day of the Lord so that our love may overflow and so that indeed the harvest of holiness, the harvest of righteousness may be produced in our own lives as the Kingdom of Christ will certainly be established through Jesus and to the glory and praise of God (1:11; cf. 1:27,28).[17]

Let us not be mistaken, in our world today, as we walk along we, like Tuffy, will run into dogs, who attack us for the truth of the Gospel of Christ. We will run into big, aggressive beasts. We must stand firm in proclaiming and living a life worthy of the gospel (1:27,28). Like Tuffy did not back down from his adversaries but rather let them to the balcony to meet Goldie, we should be prepared to be bold and not back down, and in the process lead even our aggressors to Jesus Christ - because it is only through Him that our Salvation comes.

Let us pray.

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[1] Octavius, as he was called at this time, was allied with Antonius (Mark Antony) and Lepedus against the republicans, led by Cassius and Brutus. Octavius later defeated Mark Antony as well which led to the famous story of Cleopatra’s suicide by Asp. Octavius / Augustus, after securing power, and thanks to Julius Caesar’s wrestling power from the Senate and placing it instead in the leader’s hands, would turn out to be arguably the most powerful Roman Emperor ever.
[2] 2006 Census. Canadian’s largest urban area:. www.stascan.ca
[3] I can’t remember her real name.
[4] He may or may not actually be in a jail as we think of it today. He is still awaiting trial so he could be in a cave, a secured room, a house, or a barracks. (Fred B. Craddock, Philippians, Interpretation Series, 1985, p. 19). Regardless, he is in the hands of the Super Power of his day, the Roman authority (Paul, of course, is himself a Roman citizen) and we should not assume that his imprisonment is necessarily easy. In some of our contemporary Canadian minimum security facilities, which are undoubtedly more comfortable than Paul’s arrangements, outsiders have greatly underestimated the effects of confinement upon people. Imprisonment is not a pleasant experience. Let’s not forget as well that he is awaiting trial for a crime that is punishable by death. This fact itself does not tend to gain oneself favour from one’s captors. See also DW Palmer, “To Die is Gain.” Novum Testamentum 17. 1975. pp. 203-208, re: release from imprisonment via death (and later resurrection, of course).
[5] This segment (1:18b-26) serves to clarify to readers that even if Paul does die, it doesn’t matter and they (we) should still be encouraged. After all if he does die, the next thing he knows will be the resurrection, when the Kingdom to come has indeed been established and gained and if he does live, he can continue to rally the troops to be prepared for the coming ‘Day of the Lord.’
[6] Paul’s reference to “Joy” is repeated numerous times throughout the letter.
[7] This is particularly interesting in the context of this letter because it doesn’t appear that there was much of a Jewish population in the tiny city of 10 000 people at all. This is interesting because Paul usually first evangelised the Jewish communities in the towns. Here there is no such evidence of such a segment even existing.
[8] There was however persecution of the Christians in this city. Cf. Philippians 1:28-29.
[9] It is interesting that there is some debate as to the theme of the letter itself. One thing, however, that is evident regardless of the primary theme (if there need be one at all) is that Paul is indeed encouraging the readers how to act in accordance in relationship to our theological understanding. Cf. Morna D. Hooker, The Letter to the Philippians, NIB XI, 476. Cf., also, R.C.H. Lenski, St. Paul’s Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians, p. 695.
[10] Full citations for the references in this list are in other sermons and papers of mine, most of which are available on-line at http://www.sheepspeak.com/.
[11] cf: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1040356828066_95
///?hub=TopStories

cf. also Christianity Today: Parents Flee Public Schools: "Christians in British Columbia, Canada, are worried that courts are undermining their religious rights in the classroom."http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/march/12.23.html

cf. also the Atheist website, nodeity.com: http://nodeity.com/chamberlain_v_SD36.html re 'One Dad, Two Dads, Brown Dads, Blue Dads'

You can read the Supreme Court Decision: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/index.html - The following phrase is interesting - 'The School Act's insistence on secularism;' this begs the question why must our be subjected to the secularist Worldview; neither BC not Canada were settled or founded upon that mythology.

There were other problems with the books as well. CBC.ca: "This story has problems with punctuation and grammar throughout. The spelling of 'favourite' is inconsistent, switching from the Canadian to the American," said board chair Mary Polak about Asha's Mums. The board also criticized the book's depiction of men. (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/06/13/samesex_books030613.html).
It is serious that even though the book is unsatisfactory for education young people, that it was deemed necessary for our children to be exposed to it. The courts it appears are more interested in promoting a secular-atheist worldview than they are about providing a quality education for our children.

[12] There was, I believe, even an election in the interim between when the offer of the book was declined by the school board and when it was forced upon them by the courts and parliament.

[13] The federal government has the jurisdiction to make laws to protect its citizens. The Supreme Court is only allowed to interpret the laws in theory.
[14] Cf. The National Post: ‘Gay couple gets input into school curriculum’, http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=80dd8007-ef56-40a7-809d-37936b9d4179&k=51593&p=1

cf. also ‘Secular-Atheist's religion secures making the promotion of Homosexuality mandatory in the BC school system.’ Lifesite.net: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06060101.html

cf. also 'Documents Reveal Government Signed Over Control of Education to Homosexual Activists': http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/jun/06061907.html

cf. also: Peter Corren (né Cook) and Murray Corren (né Warren) — 'Corren is a combination of their former names — are LGBT-rights activists from Vancouver, British Columbia whose complaint before the BC Human Rights Tribunal led to an agreement by which the provincial Ministry of Education will consult them on how gays are presented in the school curriculum': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_and_Murray_Corren

[15] No religion / Atheism is now the largest religion / World View in BC: StatsCan: http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census01/Products/Analytic/companion/rel/bc.cfm
[16] cf. a letter from a former mayor: http://www.secularontario.ca/peterbexam06dec13.html, CBC.ca: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/01/26/prayer.html, Canadian Christianity.com: http://www.canadianchristianity.com/cgi-bin/na.cgi?nationalupdates/070201prayer
[17] Paul is encouraging us not to fight amongst ourselves (cf. 1:18: How it is that we proclaim the gospel doesn’t matter; what matters is that it is proclaimed).[17]He is encouraging us to proper actions, ethics, and to have love overflowing.