We started our consideration of the book of Philippians a few months ago, and we've traveled through the first chapter. And this morning we're going to pick up our reading at chapter 1, verse 27, and read through that beautiful portion through verse 11 of chapter 2. And you remember, of course, I trust that in the first chapter, Paul is rejoicing about many things. He is rejoicing about the Philippian believers' partnership with him in the Gospel. He is rejoicing as well that his chains, being a prisoner for the sake of Jesus Christ, brings glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And he makes some powerful declarations in that first chapter as well, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion. And then verse 21, For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. And he goes on to encourage the Philippian believers in the faith to remind them of what they have in the Lord Jesus Christ. But then to encourage them, as verse 27 begins, to conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. We're going to consider the first four verses of chapter 2. We're going to read beginning at verse 27 of chapter 1 through verse 11. Hear now the word of God. Whatever happens, and Paul is talking now, whatever happens with him with regard to his imprisonment, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved, and that by God. For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had and now hear that I still have. The next four verses are the words of the text. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded. having the same love being one in spirit and purpose do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit but in humility consider others better than yourselves each of you should look not only to your own interests but also to the interests of others your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Let's bow in prayer, asking God's blessing upon His Word. Indeed, O Lord, we confess that Your Word is nothing but words on a page apart from the illuminating power of Your Holy Spirit. And we pray, Holy Spirit, for Jesus' sake, that You would make Your Word come alive to us today, for it is Your Word. That You would show us the beautiful, wonderful truths that You have there stored for us. That indeed, You would work in our hearts and lives in the most powerful way as we have prayed. And build us up, we pray, in the unity of faith and in that most holy faith for Jesus' sake. In His name alone we pray. Amen. Beloved in Christ the Lord, pride, envy, Selfishness, hatred, bitterness, blame-shifting. Do you recognize those things? Do any of you struggle with any of those vices? I trust each one of us recognizes that those vices characterize the nature of the man lost in sin. Those things characterize the heart of one who is lost in sin. These vices divide people. These vices attack and break down unity. These vices are the very opposite of the nature of the new life of the one who has been born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. These vices, and we could add many more to them, are the very opposite of the conduct worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul talks about. Yet we must also confess that in this life, even true Christians still struggle with some of these as we struggle with the old man of sin. We must confess that we know the fact that Satan is busy in the life of the church. Where else would he be busy? He doesn't have to worry about unbelievers, does he? but he wants to attack you and me. And therefore, he is busy in the life of the visible church causing division among God's people. Causing division that serves to weaken the visible church and to cause God's people to be distracted from her real work, which is ministering the Word of God to a lost world and encouraging one another and seeking first God's kingdom. We know that Jesus said in Mark 3 that if a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. If there is not unity in the house, it is weak. It has no strength. And the same thing is true in business. We know that if the partners of a business do not agree on the direction of a company, that weakens the whole company. And with regard to the church, the visible church, divisions weaken the church's witness to the world. But united in one faith, One hope, one Lord, the church stands strong against the forces of evil, especially in the face of persecution and suffering. As Paul says, the Philippian believers were called upon to suffer for Jesus. And therefore, in this text, verses 1-4 of chapter 2, Paul is calling for church unity in the Philippian church. Again, the immediate context begins in verse 27 of chapter 1. Whatever happens to me in my imprisonment, we might add, whatever happens, you, he says, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Live as those who are saved, he says. And then right after that again, he calls for unity among the Philippian believers in the face of the suffering that they are called upon to suffer for the faith. Stand strong. There is strength in numbers. And now in this text, he calls for unity. He calls for harmony at home in the family of God in the daily life of the church. And then he follows this up again with that unfailing example that we are to follow, Jesus Christ, verses 5-11, which we hope to consider next time. You may recall from a few months ago that we said at the beginning of our consideration that the Philippian church was not struggling with major problems at this time. They weren't struggling with adultery per se, major sins. They weren't struggling with violating the Lord's Supper like the church in Corinth. They weren't struggling with the problems that the church in Galatia had. They didn't seem to have Judaizers or false teachers in the congregation. They were all, no doubt, being affected from outside, but not from within. And therefore, Paul rejoices in their partnership in the Gospel. Yet, we do know that the Philippian church was not perfect. It did struggle with internal division of some sort. In chapter 4, verse 2, Paul pleads with the women, Euodia and Syntyche, to agree in the Lord. There was some sort of division. Some call it maybe a sort of a posturing for position. Some wanted a higher position maybe in the church than others had. We don't know the exact nature of the internal struggle. Maybe some of the wealthy who gave more money to the general fund thought that their ideas and their plans should be implemented and taken more seriously than the plans and ideas of some of those who didn't give as much. Maybe some of those who were more highly educated thought that their wisdom and their intellect, And again, their ideas ought to be taken more seriously and given more weight than those who didn't have such a high education. We don't know the exact nature of the internal struggles, but whatever they were, Paul calls for unity. Harmony. Get rid of those things. There is to be unity and harmony among believers in the church, and first of all, because of the Gospel. And secondly, with a common focus. And third, in selfless practice. First of all, there is to be unity among the believers in the Philippian church, and this includes us today, we know, because of the Gospel. What other reason do you need? Well, what is the Gospel? There are many ways that we could talk about and describe the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Many things that we could say about it, But Paul gives a broad summary, if you will, in verse 1. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion. Those four things are what we might call a broad summary of the Gospel. Of the good news of Jesus Christ and His saving love. And what that means for you and me. And it includes being united to Christ by faith. It includes being the object of God's perfect, unfailing love. It includes being the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. It includes being the recipients of the tenderness and the compassion of God. Ultimately, it includes being rescued from the eternal punishment of hell and having been freely given the glorious presence, the eternal life and the glorious presence of God. we might call these four things the benefits of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And even as Paul lists these things, we can see that these things point to the transforming power of the Gospel. And I trust that there's no doubt among any of us here that there is a need for the transforming power of the Gospel. Because as Paul says in another place, For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no, not one. And he says in Ephesians 2 that we were dead. We were dead, lifeless in our transgressions and sins. There is a need. Because by nature, all mankind is sinful, selfish, and unsatisfied sinners that hate God and their neighbor. There's an urgent need for the transforming power of the Gospel. And Paul then outlines the accomplishment of Christ's Gospel work in the portion that follows that we read, verses 6-11. And to summarize that, Jesus Christ humbled Himself. He became like us in order to make us like Him. And as Paul makes clear, our assurance is that Jesus Christ is victorious even at this moment, and we with Him. And that even now, He lives and reigns today and will come again in all of His glory. And we know that the Holy Spirit witnesses all of this to our born-again hearts. And you see, beloved, Paul teaches here in our text. He teaches that what we have in Christ, these Gospel benefits, this Gospel truth, is the basis for unity. We need no other basis. It's the basis for seeking harmony in the church. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion. And what he is saying here is that these benefits belong to the child of God, every one. You see, in reality, the idea here behind the word if... Now, first of all, the NIV leaves out an important word. It should start with the word therefore. After coming off of chapter 1, it should say therefore if you have any encouragement from being united and so forth. And that refers back to the previous context. But then starting with the word if here, that word if in reality does not mean doubt of some sort. Paul is not saying that these things may or may not be true. But in the Greek construction, the way Paul says it here, it points to a fulfilled condition. It points to a fact. It's not a hypothetical situation. It's as if Paul is saying, if these things are true, and then big capital bold letters, and they are for all who truly believe. So therefore, Paul could just as well, he could have also said, since you have encouragement, since you have comfort, since you have fellowship and tenderness and compassion. And Paul's point, beloved, is that believers are to recognize the truth of these gospel benefits Number one. And number two, to recognize that these are true for them. And to also recognize in the third place the fact that all of these things are undeserved. That's what he's trying to point our attention to by starting out in this way. These gospel benefits are yours. And you didn't deserve them. And the beauty here is that no matter what social class or distinction one may have in this life, whether one is the highest form of royalty or the lowest homeless person on the street, it doesn't matter. All who believe in Jesus Christ have these things in common. These Gospel benefits unite them as one. And then Paul is saying that the believer's conduct is to be shaped by these Gospel benefits. These things unite God's people. This is the basis for unity. And the first detail then is encouragement from being united with Christ. Being united with Christ. I hope that doesn't just fly over our heads. Being united with Christ. Paul is calling us as believers to recognize and then reflect on what we have in Christ. Salvation. With all that it means. And it means that we are no longer God's enemies. We were His enemies. We are no longer God's enemies. But we now have peace with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ, as Paul says in Romans 5. We have been made His children. again we call him father he says my child and there is to be encouragement in that for you and me there is no greater encouragement beloved than to know that once I was lost and now I am found and it's no thanks to me whatsoever it's only because of my Lord Jesus Christ the second benefit the second detail in this basis for unity is comfort from his love and I believe that what Paul is saying there is that each one of us again as believers we must come to the grand realization that that divine love of God that I hated, that I rejected that I wanted absolutely no part of in spite of all of that it reached down and rescued me from the horrible pit of hell it saved me in spite of what I wanted. Such wondrous love. Love so amazing. So divine. It sustains me each and every moment of this life and it demands my soul, my life, my all. The third benefit, the third detail in this basis is fellowship with the Spirit. Fellowship with the Spirit. Now that word fellowship comes from the Greek word koinonia. We met with that back in verse 5 of chapter 1 where Paul says, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now. Partnership, fellowship from the same Greek word. And again, it's more than just sharing a cup of tea or coffee and a piece of cake. But it has the idea of active participation in a common commitment, in a shared vision that binds us together. In verse 5 of chapter 1, Paul says it's a Gospel. Now here he says it's the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who binds us to the Gospel. We have an active participation in that. The Holy Spirit, through new birth and through the gift of faith in Jesus Christ, binds believers to Jesus Christ. He brings us into an understanding of and agreement of and commitment to the things of God. So that as God's people, we enjoy an active participation in that new life in Christ. By the power of the Spirit, we enjoy enlightened hearts and minds that see and understand the truth and know and believe the ways of God. An active participation. Paul puts it this way in 1 Corinthians 3, verse 9, for we are God's fellow workers. co-laborers with our God in His kingdom work. And then the fourth benefit, the fourth detail, tenderness and compassion. And again, very simply, what I believe Paul is talking about there is that believers are the recipients of God's tender thoughts which result in His acts of compassion poured out upon us. That greatest act, again, of rescuing us from the torment of hell from darkness bringing us into His wonderful light. But His tender thoughts that continue to be with you and me each and every day, and as He continues to pour out His compassion, His mercies are new every morning. Beloved, these four gospel benefits which summarize the good news of Jesus Christ, these are the benefits of the gospel and these are benefits that all believers have in common. And there is no greater tie that can bind the hearts of believers together in Christian love than the gospel benefits of Jesus Christ. And therefore, because of the gospel of Jesus Christ and what that means then, Paul calls for unity in this church with a common focus. Now he gets more to the point of their conduct. The conduct that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In verse 2 he says, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Now notice, first of all, Paul's pastoral heart. Make my joy complete. And that's the desire of every faithful pastor, including yours. It's the desire of every faithful pastor to see the evidence of the gospel promises at work in and among the congregation. Now, Paul had joy. He says that all throughout chapter 1. And only God can truly increase our joy. But he does it through his people. And Paul calls for unity. He calls for unity of mind. Unity of affections. Unity of spirit. Unity of purpose. He calls for agreement and shared focus in the things of God and in living the Christian life and in doing battle against the forces of evil. He calls for unity of mind. Be like-minded. Think the same things. Understand the Word of God and its authority in the same way. Submit with one heart and soul and mind and will to the Word of God. And then the other things somewhat describe what being like-minded is all about as He calls for unity of affections. He calls for the same love. First of all, as a body of believers have one and the same love for God above all, but also for each other. That divine love which has been poured out on individual believers is to cause you and me to love each other with self-sacrificing love. As someone has said, love begins when someone else's needs are more important than my own. And as Jesus said, through love we show that we are His disciples through our love for one another. And then Paul calls for unity of spirit. Now he's not talking about the Holy Spirit here in verse 2. He's talking about the spirit of man, of the new man, of the believer, the whole person, thoughts, actions, feelings, all united so that there might also be unity of purpose. The same goal, the same thing that we are driving for, being united as one, as a family of God, living as one, as servants of the Most High God, submitting as one to His authority in all obedience to Him, and desiring as one that His kingdom come, not my own. And desiring that His will be done, again, not my own. Well, beloved, imagine, just imagine the harmony and the unity the family of God would enjoy if this was our goal, as it ought to be. If this is what we earnestly sought after. You see, those who have these gospel promises in common are to demonstrate to and among each other that this promise is my very own possession, each of us. We are to demonstrate this promise as our very own possession by imitating Christ among each other. And of course, this doesn't mean that as we work through the life of the church in this place and as we seek to make decisions regarding the life of this church, this doesn't mean that we will always agree on every point. There will be differences of opinion as long as we are in this life. As long as Satan is still roaming. There will be differences of opinion. That it does mean that as a congregation, even as we strive for in the council room and in the consistory room, that as a congregation, it does mean that we deal with each other in a spirit of charity and godly love. And I believe we do. And that our goal always be to be faithful to the Word of God. We as individual believers are to be mindful of our own actions. We are to be mindful and we are to discipline ourselves to seek the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace with each other. And Paul makes clear that that is demonstrated than in selfless practice in the last place. Verses 3 and 4. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Now, we've read those words many times. But I sincerely hope that those words hit each one of us like a slap in the face. I hope they get our attention. You see, the Christian life and the conduct that Paul calls for that is worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that Christian life calls for the very opposite of those things we started with, pride, selfishness, bitterness, hatred, blame-shifting, and so forth. The Christian life and the conduct that is worthy of the Gospel calls for the very opposite of what comes natural for the human nature lost in sin which is governed by me, myself, and I. You see, Paul is saying here, young people, it's not about you. That message has been pressed upon you again and again over these last months and we all need that message pressed upon us. It's not about you. It's not about me. He calls for unity. in selfless practice. And that includes two major things. First of all, denying self. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. And it goes on, each of you should look out not only for your own interests. And very simply and briefly, Paul is warning against promoting yourself. Selfish ambition. And the idea behind selfish ambition is only caring about what's in it for me. What can I get out of it? And the idea of service for others in any way, shape, or form is missing. It's non-existent. It's kind of like the worker again who works only for the paycheck. He doesn't care about the employer. He doesn't care about the product. He doesn't care about the customer. he only wants the money that he believes is due to him. Selfish ambition. And vain conceit. Very simply, that means tooting your own horn. It means thinking highly of yourself. And you and I both know that when you toot your own horn, when you think highly of yourself, you're the only one who does. Nobody else truly does. Denying self. And the second part then is promoting others. But in humility, consider others better than yourself. Look also to the interests of others. Humility, something that doesn't come easy for any one of us, I suspect. But humility is putting others first. Their ideas, their plans, their desires, their needs. Being selfless, giving up yourself, even as Jesus Christ did for you. And we know that humility is a uniquely Christian virtue. It wasn't in the Greco-Roman world, in the Greek world of philosophy, that in the day that Paul lived, humility in that Greek philosophy meant it was a sign of weakness. Humility meant intimidation. It meant being afraid, being a coward. It showed a lack of confidence. And therefore, in that way of thinking, it was a shortcoming. It was a defect. If you were humble, you had a defect. But as a uniquely Christian virtue, it means something far different. It doesn't mean a lack of confidence. It doesn't mean being a doormat. On the other side, it doesn't mean false modesty either, just to get the attention. But humility means to have a proper estimation of oneself and what one truly deserves. And that proper estimation then is demonstrated by considering others better than oneself and considering their interests before your own. And when Paul says consider, he means to consciously focus on others, to look away from yourself. Remember, young people, as Reverend Murphy said at the convention last week, that we were created, God created us biologically and theologically to look away from ourselves. Our eyes look out, not down, not around at ourselves. Theologically, we were meant to focus on God. Be attentive to others. Pay attention to others. And when Paul says, consider them as better than yourselves, he's not saying that we are to see ourselves as worth less or not as good. He's not saying assign more value to them, like in the sense of riches or worthiness, because we are all equal in the sight of God. But when Paul says consider others as better than yourselves, he means in that we put each other's cares and needs before our own. And boys and girls, as you get ready to go back to school, what that means for you. Humility means, for example, let your classmates go first to the drinking fountain. let them be first in the lunch line let them have the swing first in the playground consider playing the game that they want to play at recess before playing your own game and of course we all know this can have numerous applications for each one of us as young people and as adults but beloved this does not mean that we compromise with others even when what they would like to do violates the Word of God. It does not mean that we never correct or rebuke or exhort. We are to do so in humility, without arrogance, in a spirit of Christian love. Selfless practice. Denying yourself. Promoting others. And Paul says this is to be one for all. and what I mean is this just as Jesus gave himself for all that is to be our practice of humility he says each of you individually each of you should look not only to your own interest but also to the interest of others one for all each of us as individual believers is to consider every other fellow believer this way. I am to consider all of you and all of my brothers and sisters in Christ in this way. Each of you, individually, is to consider me and all of your brothers and sisters in Christ in this way. As individual believers, each one puts every other brother and sister in Christ first. Now imagine again the unity and the harmony that produces. Imagine how pleasing that is to God. Imagine how that promotes His glory. And imagine how strong the church will stand against Satan's attacks when God's people are united in the Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine. But you see, again, unfortunately, we can only imagine, can't we? Because we continue to fight with the selfish nature of the old man. We continue to fight with those things that cause divisions and conflict and turmoil instead of working together in love. Even when we enjoy the greatest unity, there are still those divisions that might rise up in the visible church of Jesus Christ. Yet we have been given that perfect, unfailing example, that pattern of Jesus Christ who humbled Himself completely in order to bring each one of us as believers back into harmony with and to unite us completely with our God. You see, this is the unity that we are called to strive for in this life as a family of God. But our comfort is that one day we will enjoy this unity with each other as we surround our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ before the throne of our Heavenly Father. But it's only for those who believe on Him. If you do not yet believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have not yet submitted your life to Him, then the only thing left for you is confusion and chaos and the conflict of hell. But again, the blessed assurance for all who turn to Jesus Christ in faith is to be fully and completely united with Jesus Christ, with our Father, and with each other. On this side of glory, we as individuals and as a church, we are a work in progress, the Holy Spirit's work of sanctification. And as He builds His church, as He builds this church, may our prayer be, beloved, that He would humble each of us more and more that we might recognize the undeserved blessings we have in Christ. And more and more day by day may He give each one of us the glorious attitude of our Lord Jesus Christ and His love for one another. And more and more may He drive whatever spirit of selflessness and division may be among us, may He drive it far from us and unite us more and more as a family of God. And then may our prayer be that the world would see that we as a church in this place along with all of God's people that we are in Christ Jesus as the world sees not a house divided which only stains our witness for Christ but as they see a house united in Christian love for one another. A people of God, a church united in Jesus Christ. What a wonderful, what a powerful witness to the world. of the amazing love of God. Let's pray together. Father, indeed we pray that through Your Holy Spirit You would continue to sanctify and bless us, O Lord, our hearts, our minds, our wills, our desires, our motives, everything about us. That more and more you would drive away the darkness of selfishness and bitterness and hatred that still once in a while wants to raise its ugly head. That you would bring greater unity day by day among the church in this place and the church in this world. And that as a unified body in Christ Jesus, we might stand firm, stand strong as one in Him on the solid rock of Jesus Christ against the suffering, against the attacks, against the persecution the world may cast against us. Father, we praise You for Your strength. We can only live in Your strength and be merciful and gracious to us and never leave us without Your strong hand to guide us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray these things. Amen.