continue our meditation in the
Epistle of Paul to the Philippians. This evening we'll turn to the
last two verses in the first chapter. That's verses 29 and
30 in the first chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians
and they read as follows. For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer
for his sake, having the same conflict which he saw in me,
and now here to be in me." Well the Apostle directs the
Philippians, directs us as the Church of God, in the day and
age in which we live, to consider this great and important truth
for unto you, It is given in the behalf of Christ, not only
to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. Really what that means, it is,
of course, for the sake of the gospel of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, and for the glory of his great and glorious name. And so may we ponder these important
issues for unto you it is direct as it was to the Philippian church
and is direct today to you and me if we are part of the true
church of God the word speaks to us for unto you it is given
what a blessing it is if the Lord has given to us his grace
and has given to us the knowledge of him as our only and all-sufficient
and glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that he truly
may be lifted up in our estimation as indeed the one thing needful
and to be blessed with that grace to believe on him and also to
be willing to suffer for his sake. It really means to believe
in him Faith is God's gift on the behalf of Christ, who purchased
for us not only the blessedness, which is the object of faith,
but the grace of faith itself. The ability or disposition to
believe comes of course from Almighty God. How needful, how
necessary, how important it is that all of us possess the wonderful
favour and blessing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then you see the Apostle
then reminds the Philippians and tells them that if they are
blessed with this glorious grace to believe on him, then there
is also this further consideration, but also to suffer for his sake. The tendency for us of course
is to desire to believe but also not to suffer. And yet you see
the Lord Jesus Christ laid this very clearly before the disciples
and indeed the multitudes. In the Sermon on the Mount, in
the Gospel of Matthew, in the fifth chapter, verses 11 and
12 are very clear Let us just read those two verses, Matthew
5, 11 and 12. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Surely that is indeed suffering
for his sake. That's not something that we
naturally want, naturally like, but it's a great blessing if
the Lord gives us grace to realize the profit and the benefit through
such a condition and such a situation because the Lord goes on to tell
us but the grace of self itself and he says rejoice and be exceedingly
glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they
the prophets which were before you. So really we have these
two evidences of being a true believer. Those who are given
that grace to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and to those
who are called to suffer for his sake. Both the blessings
of God And therefore the Lord tells us so in his word. And the apostle Paul knew the
truth of this so clearly. That's why he directs the Philippians
to this word. But also he spoke similar words
to his son in the faith Timothy. And in his second letter to Timothy
in the second chapter and twelfth verse we're told If we suffer,
we shall also reign with him. We might say if we suffer, of
course, for his sake. It doesn't just mean suffering
naturally. If we suffer for his sake, we
shall also reign with him. But if we deny him, he also will
deny us. A very straight statement, isn't
it? a very important statement and may God indeed speak such
words into our heart so that we realize that in the course
of suffering on this earth we have a wonderful and glorious
prospect before us of reigning with him where there is no suffering,
where there is peace and joy and rejoicing eternally. So really we can see there's
no comparison because suffering is just for a short time and
yet reigning is eternally. So may our concern be that we
are found amongst those who suffer for his sake to recognize that
if that is so, by his grace and favor, we shall eternally reign
with him. But on the other hand, If we
deny him, it's a very sad and a very solemn thing to think
of and just ponder it. Because we can deny him in word,
we can deny him in thought, we can deny him in action. There are so many ways that you
and I can deny the Lord. And yet the solemn statement
is, if we deny him, He also will deny us. Well, these words are
written then for our benefit and for our instruction. And
then moving on to the second part of this statement, verse
30, he says, having the same conflict which ye saw in me,
and now here to be in me. The apostle knew that the Philippians
were familiar with what he had been called upon to endure. The same conflict, he says, and
surely it seems that the Philippians therefore were now under persecution
themselves for the gospel of Christ. The apostle Paul had
been, hadn't he? When the spirit told him to go
into Macedonia and he came to Philippi, And he was willing
to do so. The Lord indeed was with him. And so the Philippians now were
under this persecution for the gospel of Christ. And this was
no new or strange thing, because it was the same that the apostle
indeed was formerly under. Of course, what happened, we're
told in the 16th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. And it's
a very simple statement, but it's a very necessary statement
for us to appreciate. And in the 16th chapter, and
from verses 19 to 24, we're told, and when her masters, this was
the woman who had the devils cast out of her, saw that the
hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and
drew them into the marketplace, unto the rulers, and brought
them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly
trouble our city. Well, that was their view. Of
course, they were made a great blessing to the city, but not
in their view. And teach customs which are not
lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. The
multitude rose up together against them. magistrates rent off their
clothes and commanded to beat them when they laid many stripes
upon them and cast them into prison charging the jailer to
keep them safely who having received such a charge thrust them into
the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks all this
because they were obedient to the heavenly vision So we should
not think that just because we are obedient to God's Word that
life will suddenly become smooth and easy. It was the very opposite
in the Apostle's life. And yet he proved the Lord was
with him. And what a mercy that will be
for us today to prove that Lord indeed is with us. And so having
the same conflict, we today sometimes think, well of course we live
in the year 2021, very different from the time in which the apostle
Paul lived. No, we still live in time, we
still find we have a great adversary the devil, we still find we have
a kind and gracious God, and we still find the Lord has called
us to be his witnesses in the dark world in which we live. so that our light might shine
forth for his honour and for his glory and for the strengthening
of our soul and the strengthening perhaps of many people's souls. And so may we be able to ponder
these words tonight and may there be a strength to us to realise
that the path that the Apostle walked, the path that the Philippians
walked, the path that the Church of God walks and the path that
you and I walk for his honour and glory. For unto you it is
given, in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but
also to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which
he saw in me, and now here to be in me." Before we sing our
next hymn, I thought I might just tell you that I was listening
to an account this week of the wonderful revival that occurred
in Wales in 1904 and 1905. It was a time of peculiar blessing
and a wonderful favor. And it's very interesting and
salient for us to realize that really it commenced by the blessed
Holy Spirit coming upon a young man called Evan Roberts, who
had burden to pray and yet he didn't find he had the access
in prayer that he wanted and he prayed and he prayed this
wasn't just for one day it was for some considerable time and
he prayed to God for the blessing but in due time the Lord graciously
came and blessed him and enabled him to make himself to be found
willing in the day of God's power to bend himself and his life
to the eternal will of Almighty God. And although this revival
started quite slowly, yet it gathered speed and it was a time
of great blessing. And what was the great feature
of that? Really it was prayer. The people
met. The people prayed. And they prayed. And they prayed. Not just a short time, but sometimes
virtually all night. And God graciously blessed those
prayers. And it was the work of the Holy
Spirit. And the preaching of the gospel,
not only by Evan Roberts, but by others, but particularly by
him, and the preaching centered upon really Calvary and Gethsemane,
which surely that is the central theme of the gospel, and may
we ever be concerned that we rejoice to hear the word. So in that day, whereas the chapels
were almost empty and the pubs were almost full the reverse
occurred the pubs were empty and the chapels were full how great strength is that we
have a God who is the same today and maybe therefore Be blessed
with prevailing prayer tonight.