“…whether I come to see you, or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel…”
(Phil 1:27)

When the church at Philippi learned of Paul’s imprisonment, they sent Epaphroditus to see him. Apparently Epaphroditus carried an offering to help meet some of Paul’s needs. He also brought Paul news of what was going on in the church.

Paul wanted to go to Philippi and visit with these dear friends…but he knew that might not happen. Why? Paul was not sure that he would ever be released from jail. So, he writes this letter and challenges them. These verses contain one key challenge—keep on living in a manner that is “worthy of the gospel.”

How can we describe that “worthy” (consistent) life?

1. Show the difference that Christ makes in your life
2. Stand firm

The word that Paul uses is a military word. It is a picture of being in formation with other soldiers prepared to hold the ground. They clearly understood the challenge. As representatives of Christ, they had to take a stand!

Do we understand our challenge? Are we in formation—standing up for we believe?

We too are representatives of Christ. We must know what we believe and why we believe it! Since we are ambassadors for Christ, we can not afford to be sleepy, apathetic or indifferent! We must know what we are standing for and:

“Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong!”
(I Cor. 16:13)

As we represent Christ, we walk counter-culture. The world has a self-centered agenda; we have a Christ-centered agenda. The world has a temporal view of existence; we have an eternal view.

We also have an enemy. The people around us? No, they are not the enemy. They may be held in the grip of this world system; they may be entrapped by the devil to do his will; but they are not the enemy.

But, we do have an enemy. The devil would like to make us fall, take away our confidence and shut our mouths. So, we must learn to stand against him.

We must:

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Eph 6:11)