3-16-2025
“STAND FIRM IN THE TRUTH”
Text: PHILIPPIANS 3:17-4:1
Sunday March 16, 2025 – Lent 2
Trinity – Creston
Grace, mercy, and peace is yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Our text for this Second Sunday in Lent the Epistle Lesson from Philippians 3-4 that was just proclaimed.
Let Us Pray: Dearest Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to remind us that we may be comforted and confident in your clear word of truth for our faith and salvation rather than misled into doubt by the false claims of the world. Amen.
Dear Fellow Redeemed in Christ:
We live in a world where the pursuit of pleasure is seen as a human right and where instant gratification is regarded as a necessity. It is hard to imagine that suffering for the sake of the Gospel would be seen as a positive thing.
A soldier who suffers for his country is only a hero if people love their country and understand the grave dangers of losing the war. A suffering Christian is only a hero if Christians love their heavenly country and understand the dangers of losing the Gospel.
The apostle Paul in our text is calling upon all Christians to love the free and unmerited grace of God—the gift of Christ’s righteousness—so much that we remain discerning and steadfast in the faith when faced with false teachers and false gospels who present real dangers to our faith—even if it means suffering or forfeiting certain worldly pleasures.
And in order that we stand firm, he calls upon us to model our lives after true servants of the Gospel of our Lord who have remained steadfast and unmoved in their faith. In our evil, pleasure-seeking day especially, this is critical.
Christians Need to Stand Firm, Steadfast, in Their Devotion to the Gospel of Jesus and His Grace.
I. It will be difficult to stand firm, steadfast, in the faith.
A. Our standing firm, steadfast, is endangered by weak faith when it is faced with tribulations on account of God’s Word and with life’s worries and wealth.
1. Recall the parable of the sower (Mt 13:1–9, 18–23). Some hear the Word with joy but have no root, so when trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they fall away. Others hear the Word, but worries and wealth choke it.
2. We rejoice in God’s Word, for it assures us that Jesus has earned heaven for us by his death and resurrection. But we also worry, and material things are always tempting. These are dangerous to our faith!
B. Our standing firm, steadfast, is endangered by false teachers who pridefully promote obedience to the Law as a way of meriting heaven (3:18–19).
1. Paul had every reason to boast in his past spiritual life: his circumcision, his lineage, a model Hebrew, a Pharisee’s zeal for the law, even persecuting those he thought opposed it (3:4–6).
2. But he found something far greater: Christ. Everything else he counted as loss, even garbage, compared to knowing Jesus and the righteousness he gives through faith. Paul was willing to share Jesus’ sufferings, even death, in order to share in Jesus’ resurrection (3:7–11).
3. Many were the teachers of the law who hated Paul for robbing them of their so-called glory.
4. Many are the false teachers today who boast in their own works and deeds and spiritual accomplishments, always seeking disciples to emulate them and follow their example. Theirs is a pretense of holiness that is not acceptable to God.
5. We should not allow our Gospel to be confused with their teachings of works-righteousness, and we should not compromise the Gospel for the sake of peace.
C. Our standing firm, steadfast, is endangered by false teachers who promote sexual deviance and immorality as Christian liberty (3:19).
1. The Philippians faced false teachers who promised to give them the liberty of indulging their sinful natures, whether it was in materialism and greed or sexual seductions.
2. Times have not changed. Today we see many denominations claiming to be Christian literally advocating deviant sexuality, as they are indifferent to all other violations of the commandments of God.
3. We must not allow ourselves to be drawn into their web, for by keeping faith in Christ, we have eternal salvation, but if we allow any of these dangers to destroy our faith, we lose eternal life.
II. The good news is that our standing firm, steadfast, in the faith is God overcoming each of the dangers (4:1).
A. When faith stands firm in the face of tribulation for the sake of the Gospel, God makes weak faith stronger and deeper.
1. We see that other things we’ve been depending on—our smarts, our goodness, our possessions—can’t help us. All we can count on is that Jesus’ cross has made us God’s children again—with all the promises that come from being his.
2. It’s like the seed planted in good soil with roots down deep into the soil of God’s Word. The Christian’s life becomes fruitful (Mt 13:8, 23).
B. When faith stands firmly on the righteousness of Christ, God is showing us the error of teachers of works-righteousness, and we can avoid them.
1. Jesus’ perfect life and sinless death, a righteousness that is not our own but a gift given to us, is the only truth by which we can be saved.
2. Confidence in this righteousness of Christ saves us from sin and death.
3. Any teacher who sends us looking at our works for assurance of or doubt about our salvation we know is false.
C. When faith in Christ stands firm, God is leading us to grasp and appreciate how much more wonderful is living as citizens of the kingdom of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, than wallowing in the appetites and immoralities of this world (3:20–21).
1. We are citizens of an eternal city and kingdom, far greater than anything this world has to offer.
2. Just as Paul was given the gift of Roman citizenship, we have received citizenship in the eternal kingdom of Christ.
3. Knowing this helps us to reject life’s materialistic and sensual temptations.
III. Why not, then, model our lives after our Lord and those who stood firm, steadfast, on behalf of the Gospel (3:17)? What they received we also will receive!
A. Why not model after the steadfastness of Jesus, who was rejected by men (Heb 12:1–3)?
1. He left the joy of heaven and endured the cross with all its shame.
2. But then he was seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3. He is our greatest encouragement not to grow weary and lose heart.
B. Why not model after the courage and perseverance of the apostle Paul and his fellow missionaries as they sacrificed everything for the sake of the pure Gospel (2 Tim 4:2–8)?
1. Paul preached the Word, pure doctrine, in and out of season, with great patience, even to those whose itching ears wanted something entirely different.
2. He endured hardship and eventually was poured out like a drink offering, killed.
3. Yet he fought the good fight, finished the race, kept the faith, and finally received the crown of righteousness.
4. That crown is for us too—for all who love the Lord’s appearing.
C. Why not model our life after those in our own history and in our present world who have remained steadfast in the Christian faith?
1. Saints of the early church, of the Reformation, and even today face persecution on account of Christ.
2. We may not think that what we do matters, but when we are steadfast in the face of suffering or persecution, even in the smallest of ways, we will be models for those who are around us and those who will come after us.
Conclusion: I have a story for you about someone who suffered greatly for his country. It is about a man who demonstrated incredible fortitude, which resembles the fortitude of a Christian refusing to be captured by a false gospel.
There’s a World War II movie, based on a true story, that exemplifies what steadfastness and grit look like. It’s about a Norwegian commando named Jan Sigurd Baalsrud, and the movie is called The 12th Man.
After escaping from Nazi-occupied Norway, Baalsrud is sent from England back to Norway in a covert operation of twelve soldiers. When their boat is attacked by the Germans, one solder is killed and ten others are arrested. Only Baalsrud escapes.
Thereafter begins a story of horrific suffering. He’s shot in the foot; escapes by swimming across a subfreezing fjord; endures avalanches, self-surgery, fever, and hallucinations, all the while being pursued by the Nazis.
He hides under a rock for ten days with nothing but a sleeping bag. Eventually, over the course of sixty-three days of brutal pain and suffering, constantly fleeing, he finally escapes to neutral Sweden. And all this for what reason?
To defy the enemy of his people, to set his people free, yes. But through his perseverance, he becomes a hero, a model, an example for all in any country who would be willing to carry on and sacrifice for their country and its freedom.
Christians are called to remain steadfast in the faith as we must be willing to endure hardship for the sake of the Gospel. There are many times when our citizenship in the kingdom of God calls upon us to endure hardship and suffering.
Suffering for the sake of the Gospel is a noble thing when it is intended to liberate us from all who would rob us of the freedom and faith Christ Jesus has given us. Heroes are those who serve as models, as examples, of such steadfastness in the face of suffering.
We are all called by God to imitate those who have endured such hardships for the sake of the Gospel. Stand firm in the faith, Christians! Stand firm in the faith of Christ our Lord (Phil 3:17–4:1). Amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. Amen.