laws of their city but also their so cial and daily conduct. How much more should they be proud of their citizenship in heaven. Such was inestimably far greater. They were to extend the influence of this spiritual commonwealth, even in the midst of a pagan and hos tile environment, even as we must do today. We are all servants of our Saviour. Like Abraham, a foreigner in a distant land, Cod has called us to be citizens of heaven. We are now living in the spiritual land of prom ise, waiting for the day when he will be in that city which has foun dations, whose builder and maker is God Himself. Because of this, we are to stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the advance ment of the Gospel (verse 27). Let us keep the unity of the faith in the bonds of peace. It is danger ous to become divided on issues of trivial matters. We are to be one in Christ. The church is no place for social or economic distinctions. Let us strive together to advance the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ! Even while there are many fast changing circumstances and expe riences of life today, we do not need to fear, for we have the prom ise of Scripture, the assurance of strength and overcoming power through God's Holy Spirit (Philip- pians 1:28-30). This was Paul's mes sage of joy to the Philippian be lievers. They were not promised escape from their problems but victory over them. There are certain sequences which apply to spiritual truths which have an order that cannot generally be altered. Sin always brings death, while blessing follows
obedience to God. Faithfulness in little things leads to opportunities for faithfulness in big things. Paul has been urging in his Phil ippian letter the need for proper Christian conduct. Our pattern is to be like Jesus Christ. He points out that wherever Christians live down here they must expect to have varying degrees of persecu tion. This is true for all believers. There are always those who will resist you. You may not always be physically persecuted, as it was in Paul's day, but a different type of hardship could present itself. It is not infrequent, when one comes to Christ, that some of his friends turn him off. There are those who will have nothing to do with you if you really give a wit ness for Christ. One of the greatest testimonies in all the world is that of the person who lives consis tently for the Lord, despite the constant attacks and slurs of those who work and live alongside of him. Yes, if you are really witness ing for Christ as you should be, then you can expect to find people turning you off. The greatest example of perse cution, suffering for the sake of righteousness, is in the life of the Saviour Himself. He came into the world as the true Light. The earth was submerged in darkness. Men's hearts, filled with sin, did not want their deeds to be brought to the light; they knew they were evil. Jesus, being pure in every re spect, cut like a knife across man's conscience. The Lord exposed their hypocrisy without even saying any thing at all. They hated Him for it. People could get away with pride, dishonesty, sexual perversion, le galism and all manner of things
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