Title: Christian Unity Script: Philippians 2:1-13
Type: Expository Where: GNBC 9-23-18/6-5-22
Intro: In one of Aesop’s Fables he describes an old man who had several sons, who were always falling out with one another. He had often, but to no purpose, exhorted them to live together in harmony. One day he called them together, and he gathered a bundle of sticks and tied them together and asked each one of them to try to break them. Each one tried as hard as they cold but none of them could break the bundle of sticks. Then the father cut the cord that he tied them together with and told his sons to break them separately. This was done with the greatest ease. “See, my sons,” the old man said “the power of unity!” Bound together by brotherly love, you may defy almost every mortal danger, but divided, you will fall prey to your enemies. “A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” (Eccl.4:12) It is easy to “fall out” in the church. Can be a mortal danger. Need to realize how important Christ says that unity is in the body.
Prop: Examining Phil.2 we’ll better understand the need for Christian unity.
BG: 1. Written by the Apostle Paul during period of arrest.
2. Paul was writing to stem possible discord and disunity that centered around 2 key women: Euodia and Syntyche.
3. Today: communion Sunday. Always important to be reminded of need for church’s unity.
Prop: Phil. 2 will give us three insights into Christian Unity.
I. Motivation for Christian Unity. Vv.1-4
A. The Right Motives for Christian Unity vv. 1-2 a
1. Paul gives us a couple of very important lists that we need to consider in relation to Unity.
a. Illust: I find lists to be very helpful, especially the older I get. I tend to forget…and often the most important item. Now actually, it is a ploy of mine so I can get Carol to let me go to Menards more often! Ha! Unless I write down and think about the list, I forget an important item.
b. Paul has a list here: There are 4 “ifs” in v1. This passage is conditional. We could understand Paul’s writing to be read: “IF this condition is true, and it is, then…” Thus, the “therefore” means “because”. In this passage the “Therefore” looks back and the “if” looks forward to our divinely bestowed realities that we are enjoying as believers in Christ: consolation of love, encouragement in Xst, fellowship of the Spirit, affection and compassion. These are all realities we experience daily in Jesus.
2. What are these Spiritual Realities that Paul claims should motivate us?
a. “encouragement in Christ” – paralesis – Same root for the Holy Spirit in Jn. 14:16, paracleton – to come alongside of and offer help and encouragement. This we have in Christ. Illust – When’s the last time you took time to encourage parents of a special needs child? When’s the last time you talked to an elderly person? When’s the last time introduced self to an immigrant family or asked them to share a meal with you?
b. consolation of love – The Greek word used means to speak closely with someone. As when someone is giving solace and comfort. Illust: You see a young couple in love – one has suffered some disappointment and the other is very close and intent and speaking softly. Consoling. Friend, the consoling love of Christ offers salvation to sinners! Romans 5:5 “And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
c. Fellowship of the Spirit – koinonia – Mutual partnership and sharing. All believers share in the HS. Every believer is a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to be united in Christ because the HS dwells in each one of us. If you are out of fellowship w/another believer must deal with.
d. Affection and compassion – 4th reality that Paul mentions that motivates us to unity. In some ways this refers to our emotions. Illust: Just as every marriage will break down without affection, so will churches! I want you to think about one person or family you can show love to this week.
B. Now notice the Correct Marks of Spiritual Unity – v. 2b
1. Paul lists 4 Essential Marks of Spiritual Unity.
a. “being of same mind” – like minded. Means to strive to understand one another and be in genuine agreement. (Illust- Will Danaher in The Quiet Man, “Write his name in my book. Strike a line through it!” Ever notice how some people simply write other folks off? They cross them once…they disappoint them once, they look, act or talk differently…write them off. If you name the name of Christ you do NOT have that option! Person Christ died for.
b. maintaining the same love – means to love others equally. Illust: Let’s face it, humanly speaking this is impossible. It is, humanly speaking impossible to love everyone the same. Some people are more and some people are less, in our opinions, lovable. However, when we attempt to “maintain the same love” we are attempting to give preference to another over my own desires or wants. Illust: I knew Sydney Callaghan as a retired pastor in East Belfast in the 1980’s and early 1990’s. Sydney was born into a prominent Dublin family in 1925 but made his lasting impact as pastor in inner city Belfast in 1960’s-1980’s. Lived by the motto, “No person is insignificant.” Any person was welcome at his house…homeless, drunks, men of violence. Literally would give coat off his back…homeless, etc. More than one funeral or service would see Sydney without a coat in the rain…having just given it away.
c. united in spirit – Listen up to this one young people. Literally, this phrase means to be “one souled”. Illust: People talk about finding their “soul mate” and go to a bar to find him or her! DON’T DO IT! Find your “soul mate” in Christ in the Church because it comes naturally for us to be “soul mates” when our souls have been redeemed by the same Redeemer and renewed and indwelled by the same Spirit!
d. “intent on one purpose” – To think on one thing! One purpose. One job to do.
2. Now, we have to ask: “How is this achieved?” – vv.3-4
a. Super easy, all of us can do it with no problem whatsoever: “Reject selfishness and conceit!” Our lives are so frequently filled with what the Bible calls “vain glory” or empty conceit. Let’s be honest, Muhammad Ali wasn’t the only one who ever though he was “The Greatest”! Yet here is the crux of the matter: The Mission of the Church is bigger than your or my agenda or personality!
b. Illust: “None are as empty as those who are full of themselves.” - Benjamin Whichcote
Have you ever met a prideful, arrogant person? Prideful people are always telling you about themselves, their accomplishments, and how smart and wonderful they are. Then they look at you to continue the conversation about them and to affirm their magnificence. Which of us could not name at least one person we know who acts like that? So what is humility, and what makes humble people different? Humility is the absence of self in all we think, do or say. You know when you encounter humility because you are irresistibly drawn to and awestruck by its presence.
People with the quality of humility are interested in everyone else. (Billy Graham).
C. Applic: Paul gives us several power motivators for unity in vv. 1-4.
II. The Means of Attaining Christian Unity. Vv.5-11
A. Jesus Christ is the Central Means by which we may attain Unity.
1. The Incarnation is the Central Miracle of Christianity.
a. Illust: Take a moment and consider with me some of the great miracles recorded in Holy Writ: The Creation, Birth of Isaac, Deliverance from Egypt, Cross the Red Sea, Feeding the Hebrews for years, making the sun stand still, Walls of Jericho. Deliverance of the 3 Hebrew Children in the Fiery Furnace, Widows son raised, widows oil continues, sun goes backwards, Daniel in the lion’s den… Jonah in the belly of the fish, and host of others. Friend, let me tell you, NOT A ONE of these held a candle to the INCARNATION of Christ where God took on flesh! It is the most grand and glorious and wonderful thing God has ever done!
b. This passage of Paul’s is arguably the greatest statement on the Incarnation. The passage concerns itself with the deity of Christ prior to His taking on of flesh as well as during His sojourn on earth as the Divine God/man.
2. Yet, Paul, ever the practical theologian, speaks of the incarnation as not only a great theological truth but also as a great motivator of Christian action towards humility!
a. “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ.” – the Incarnation calls believers to follow Jesus’ incomparable example of humble self denial, self sacrifice, and selfless love.
b. Illust: When we say that someone “Really had an attitude!” IS that usually positive or negative? Is it a compliment or a criticism? 99% criticism. Paul tells the Church : “Have an attitude! The attitude of Christ!” Wouldn’t that be transformational? Illust: All too often performers, pro athletes, politicians, rich and famous…attitude and swagger! NO! NO! NO!
B. Look to the Humility of Christ as Your Model for living a life that emphasizes Christian Unity
1. Christ is the Ultimate Model of Humility and Service.
a. emptied – kenosis – What did Christ empty Himself of? Deity? No. Still fully God and fully man. There is a true and biblical doctrine of kenosis, but the Greek used by Paul in Philippians 2:7 has been wrenched out of its New Testament context to make it mean what it does not. It does not mean that Christ divested Himself of His divine attributes, but only that He veiled them and laid aside the voluntary use of those attributes when He took the form of true humanity. They were still His and He still possessed them, for as God the Son who is immutable (unchangeable) and eternal, He could never cease to be God. One of the attributes of God is immutability from the standpoint of His divine essence. Deity cannot stop being deity or He would never have been truly God.
b. However, what does it mean that Christ “emptied” Himself? That is the real question with the “kenosis” doctrine. Did He empty himself of some or of all aspects of deity? If He did, He ceased to be fully God. If He did not, what does “emptied” mean' “Emptied” may be a misleading translation. The New International Version translates the passage, “he made himself nothing.” When we look only at these words, we might have difficulty understanding what they mean. However, reading on, the passage itself clarifies the word. It means, first, that He took on the form of a servant. Jesus did not come as a pompous tyrant, but rather as humble servant. Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” So the first thing “emptied” Himself means is that, as God, He came to earth as a servant even though He had every right to come as a sovereign. Second, in “being made in likeness as a man,” He did not come to earth in a human rent-a-body that He used for thirty some years and then discarded, He did not come as the Angel of the Lord, He did not come as some unique celestial being. But He became a man, born of a woman, with a permanent, fully human body. Finally, He humbled Himself and played out the role which God the Father chose for Him.
Jesus, then, gave up nothing of His deity. He just took on humanity. Often, those who water down His deity say that He was not omniscient (all-knowing), or omnipotent (all-powerful) or omnipresent (everywhere present), yet the Bible makes it clear that He possessed these attributes during the time of His life on earth (Matthew 18:20; 28:18; Mark 2:8). How? Because He is able to do things which humans can’t. In fact, He is able to do things that humans can’t even understand.
2. Christ lived a life of Choosing to Deny Pride, Self, and Position in order to save us.
a. In the Incarnation, Jesus voluntarily accepted human limitations for a period of time. Look at the passage. Our Lord laid aside position, possession, and privilege for a purpose: To do the Father’s will so as to secure our Redemption! Praise the Lord! The "kenosis" of our Lord had application in those areas of our lives in what we have a position of authority--a higher position than others. The kenosis principle instructs us that leadership is not exempt from the servant spirit. In point of fact it is the ideal place to manifest it. After all, who had a greater position of authority than our Lord? Our Lord's disciples continually sought for the position of power and prestige. Our Lord taught that the way to greatness was through service and self-sacrifice. In our relationship to others we should see Jesus and respond in humble love towards others!
b. Illust: Pride and arrogance are all about self, they are always looking down at everyone else. Humility looks up. One Saturday night in April, a friend stopped in at a Denny’s Restaurant in Dallas for coffee. The waiter was a tall man with a South African accent. He watched him as he hurried about between tables working hard to serve the many customers in his area that night. There was a refined quality about him as he spoke and my friend wondered how this gentle, intelligent soul had ended up waiting tables in a family restaurant in Dallas. Asked what kind of work he had done previously in his own country, he replied he had run several large companies and it was clear he had been in executive management. I was awestruck that he could do such menial work with such a wonderful attitude toward even the rude and drunken patrons, which were many that particular evening. “But,” he replied, “I now have the privilege of serving others.” And with that he bowed his head, laid our check on the table and walked off to assist other diners.
C. Applic: The Son of God: Retained what He had always been, God. Became what He had never been, Man. Retained what He voluntarily assumed, Humanity. Regained what He had not lost, Paradise.
III. The Mark of Christian Unity. Vv. 12-13
A. Live As Though Your Salvation is Completely Up to You.
1. Unity in the Body Requires Personal Obedience
a. Paul begins with a particular compliment to the Philippians: As you have always obeyed in the past, continue to obey! Christians have often been confused over the relationship between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility in the matters of salvation and sanctification. Some have emphasized God’s sovereignty in salvation to the exclusion of human responsibility. For example, when William Carey planned to go to India as a missionary, he was told by one minister, “Young man, sit down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, He will do it without your aid or mine.” On the matter of sanctification, or growth in salvation, some teach that we are to be passive: “Let go and let God.” If you struggle or strive against sin, they say you’re operating in the flesh, because the Christian life is an effortless experience of “not I, but Christ.” Others stress obedience and effort to the exclusion of God’s power, so that people end up trying to live the Christian life in their own strength. Where’s the biblical balance?
b. Christians need to obey the Word of God.
2. Unity in the Body Requires
a. “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” What does this? I have heard many an AWFUL explanation of it! Paul is not telling individual Christians to individually work out their personal salvation, as is often taught. Rather, he is appealing to the church, based on the example of humility seen in Jesus Christ, to work out the practical implications of their salvation in their relationships with one another. Because God Himself is at work in their midst as a church, they need to lay aside personal rights and humbly serve one another, putting others ahead of self. In so doing, they will stand out as lights in this dark, selfish world (2:15
b. So Paul is especially concerned about these dear people (“my beloved”) working out the relational implications of their salvation, with a view to their corporate testimony to the lost. If we talk about salvation but can’t get along with one another, either in the church or in our homes, the world laughs off our message. But when the world sees Christians laying aside selfishness and regarding one another as more important than self (2:3), they will be more inclined to listen to the gospel. That’s Paul’s main message here, that we need to work out the practical implications of our salvation, because God Himself is working in our midst. Paul was not writing to people who lacked salvation, telling them that they needed to work in order to obtain it. Rather, he was writing to people in whom God had begun the good work of salvation (1:6), telling them to work out the practical implications of the salvation they already possessed.
B. Live Confidently & Securely, Knowing Your Salv. is Completely Dependent Upon Christ.
1. We can have bold confidence because of Christ.
a. The reason the Philippians needed to work out their own salvation was that it was God who was at work among them, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. That sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? But the Bible puts both together. We’re not saved because we choose God; we’re saved because God willed to save us. He begins the good work in us (1:6). John 1:12-13 says, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
b. Illust: You were created by a great God to do great things. But without confidence you will never fulfill your destiny. It is important, however, to remember you are to be confident not in yourself but in Christ who dwells in you.
Satan tries to steal your confidence, but you must resist him at all times. If he has tormented you with fears about your worth and abilities, boldly remind him God is with you and you are equal to anything. It is encouraging to know God is able even when you are not. He has His eye on you and is waiting for you to show confidence in Him. Faith opens the door for God’s greatness to be seen through your life, so trust Him and enjoy the peace and power of a confident life.
2.
a. One of the most prevalent errors in Christendom today is the idea that lost people can choose God by their own free will. The fallen human will is bound by sin. Jesus said plainly, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him” (John 6:44). God not only wills our salvation; He works it. Salvation is not through any human effort. It comes from the mighty power of God imparting spiritual life to those who were dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1-5), resulting in a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Not only in its inception, but throughout the whole process, God must be the energizing power of the Christian life (our English word “energy” comes from the Greek word translated “work” in 2:13). Jesus said, “... apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). We cannot live the Christian life in our own strength or effort, but must walk each day in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Salvation, from start to finish, is God’s work.
b. ). Illust: “Salvation” is a theological word we sometimes toss around without thinking much about its implications. It’s a radical word because it points to a situation where someone is in dire straits. The American pilot who was down in Bosnia needed to be saved, because he could not get out of his predicament by himself. The Marines who rescued him saved his life. A person who is drowning needs a life guard, because he is about to perish. Someone who is mortally ill needs a doctor or some medicine to save them, or else they will die.
C. Applic: We have seen the motivation, means and mark of Christian unity. Now, let’s live it!
