Unity Through Humility: Part 1

Redeeming Grace Church

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November 26, 2023

Unity Through Humility: Part 2

00:00: Like to speak to you this morning about unity through humility unity through humility
00:09: Taking us a small break from the gospel of John as we've been traveling together through that wonderful gospel and We're right at chapter 3 and actually
00:23: The next section the next section in John's gospel as we have already finished all the way to John 3 16 17 verse 18 the next section is
00:39: Jesus gives a little bit more commentary to Nicodemus and then we see the section of John the
00:46: Baptist as his humility as the Transition takes place between his ministry and the
00:53: Lord's ministry and speaks about actually about humility, so this is going to Fit exactly right in but the reason
01:00: I'm bringing this before you today is this has been heavy upon my heart a
01:08: Burden upon my heart, and I think it's very timely And we're going to take several
01:15: Lord's days to go through Philippians chapter 2 verse 1 all the way to verse 13 and it's very fitting it speaks about humility and There's unity
01:35: And if we're going to have unity in Truth just not for unity unity's sake as brother
01:41: Keith has mentioned. It's always in truth We never sacrifice the truth for the sake of peace and unity truth is paramount but the
01:50: Apostle Paul says much about unity and this is going to be the strength of the church and It is a burden upon my heart and and it's as always
02:01: It I like to share it with you. I believe there's a lot here, and we're going to break this down with God's help
02:09: Now before we get started Let's bow Just for a moment prayer, and let's ask the blessing of God upon this hour as we look into his word as We hear from heaven our
02:27: Father and our great God we Come before you now in the name of the
02:32: Lord Jesus Christ your beloved Son We come Lord with grateful hearts as the hymn
02:38: Has well said Lord our hearts must be prepared and Lord we're so thankful for the privilege this morning
02:51: That you have given For us to gather together and to ask of your hand and your blessing and your smile
03:03: Upon us as the old hymn says Lord you chasten and hasten your will to make known and we would ask
03:13: Lord as We open up the word Now we pray that your blessed.
03:21: Holy Spirit the spirit of truth the real teacher Would guide us sanctify us in heart soul and mind and Help us.
03:31: I pray Lord that We would truly understand and grasp and apply this great truth that is found in Philippians chapter 2
03:39: To our personal lives and Lord we need your grace and help in this We ask this in the name of the
03:45: Lord Jesus Christ Amen, well if you have it already turned there, please turn with me
03:54: To the book of Philippians Philippians chapter 2 Very quickly this book of Philippians is was written by the
04:04: Apostle Paul in a dungeon It's known as the epistle of joy the epistle of joy
04:12: Apostle Paul suffered much for the gospel sake and he gladly suffered for it
04:18: He writes to the church of Philippi that actually there was some issues with tension conflicts divisions among them
04:28: Overall, they were a very good strong church, but here he's sharing his deep affection for them and He is bringing an encouraging word to them as he writes this letter to them to live a life that is worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ so in Philippians chapter 2
04:48: Beginning at verse 1. I'd like to read to verse 13 Paul here is emphasizing the great importance of humility and unity and the
04:56: Awesome example of Jesus Christ who humbled himself for our sake Hear the word of the
05:04: Living God therefore If there is any consolation in Jesus Christ in Christ If any comfort of love if any fellowship of the
05:19: Spirit if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like -minded
05:28: Having the same love being of one accord and of one mind
05:34: Let nothing be done through a selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind
05:41: Let each esteem others better than himself Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others and let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to Be equal with God But made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and Being found in appearance as a man.
06:13: He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross therefore
06:21: God also has highly exalted him and given him a name the name which is above every name and that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth and That every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
06:40: Lord to the glory of God the Father in verse 12 therefore my beloved as You have always obeyed
06:49: Not as my in my presence only But now much more in my absence
06:57: Work out Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
07:05: For it is God who works in you Both to will and to do for his good pleasure
07:16: We'll stop right there. Praise God. That is a Very loaded passage and it's going to take us
07:25: Several Lord's days to go through this but I believe the Lord would have something for us to say something to us here about What is taking place here?
07:38: I? Really have a quote by CH Spurgeon and I like to set the precedent with Spurgeon's quote here
07:56: About humility and He speaks about this passage
08:05: This is what Spurgeon said the Apostle knew that the that to create unity and harmony you need first to have humility of mind
08:16: People do not quarrel when and their ambitions have come to an end When everyone is willing to be leased
08:25: When everyone desires to place others higher than themselves There's an end to contentious clicks
08:35: Factions and divisions pass away Now in order to create lowliness of mind he says
08:43: Paul under the teaching of the Spirit of God spoke about lowliness of the lowliness of Christ he would have us become low and So he takes us to see our master becoming low
08:59: He leads us to those steep stairs down which the
09:05: Lord of Glory took his lowly way and Paul bids us stop
09:12: While he points us to the lowly Christ unquote it's well said by CH Spurgeon because this is actually what this whole passage is speaking of and how
09:28: We can have lowliness of mind and humility and this is what binds us together is true humility in the
09:40: Lord Jesus Christ and if we're all honest, we should confess that We not as we're not as humble as we should be or we ought to be
09:51: Because only Jesus said come unto me all you labor and heavy laden. I'll give you rest for I am lowly and heart
10:01: Meek and hard. I don't think no no one in the church no matter how sanctified or holy they may profess to be
10:08: There's no one like the lowly Jesus and by his example, he set that for us and Proved it and didn't demonstrated it in his life his life was a life of total perfection and If we're honest once again, not a one of us no matter how sanctified or holy we may
10:30: Profess to be we don't even come close. Do we? Well, we're going to explore this great passage together and discover how we can follow in the footsteps of our
10:41: Lord Jesus Christ to be pure as he is pure and to walk as he walked as The Apostle John says in the epistle first John so in this section
10:57: The Apostle Paul calls upon the Philippian believers to embrace unity in truth
11:05: Christ's likeness and like -mindedness What does he do it?
11:11: He's echoing Actually the same call to us today just as it was in the early church
11:18: That they demonstrated the early church that faced various challenges and divisions marred by discord and strife as well
11:30: And we as the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ are urged and commanded to be of one mind as Scripture says one mind not two, but one
11:41: Maintaining the same love toward one another Being united in spirit as scripture says
11:50: And beloved is doing so we reflect the very essence of the Lord Jesus Christ Who humbly gave himself for us and he stooped to serve others now want you to think of that And this is
12:03: God in flesh the God man Who served and washed feet?
12:10: He washed his disciples feet Constantly his life was a life of perfect humility now.
12:20: He humbly gave of himself So in this first section, I'd like to give an overview here very quickly of what we're going to be looking at and then
12:30: I like for us to just go through a couple points and Then we'll see an application that the
12:36: Lord has for us So as overview takes place, this is the first section in Philippians chapter 2 we see how unity of like -minded believers looks like You know, it's more than just doctrine even though doctrine is paramount the
12:54: Apostle Paul always sets doctrine before First and foremost before his people before God's people and Then he brings it to a practical application of how we should live this out
13:09: So it would be he would show us how humility like -mindedness among believers actually looks like in flesh and blood then we see the motives and The marks of spiritual unity the motives and the marks and that as far as we're going to go today
13:27: But there's many other points. I'd like to point out but the motives of unity Answers the question why?
13:34: the marks of spiritual unity answers the question what The second part of this section of this passage the
13:42: Apostle Paul reminds us the ultimate example of Christus humility we see this in verse 5 to verse 8 and Jesus willingly sets aside his divine rights and his privileges to become a bond slave
14:00: He became flesh and then he was he came among us and lived among us
14:07: He who created all things the second person of the Trinity came and to He was that was not his beginning he always existed
14:17: That's what John 1 chapter 1 basically begins in the beginning was the Word the
14:22: Word was with God and the Word was God And he came and he tabernacled among us and he pitched his tent among us scripture says that he gave up his divine rights and his privileges and He became a bond servant the bond slave and ultimately
14:38: His mission was to die on the cross of Calvary for our sins for your sins and as The Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world so he may redeem the people to himself
14:49: And then a world we live in a world beloved That we're self promotion and pride is paramount and often take center stage.
14:58: Don't you see it? I see it everywhere and it's even within myself at times I say
15:03: Lord is ugly pride the sin of pride is There and it crops up and I hate it so much and I said
15:10: Lord help me to put it to death and crucify But in the world in which we live, that's all that matters.
15:17: Actually the world in which we live and just echo late and praises people that are very prideful in this world and It's opposite with God's people and as you well know scripture says so much about pride and if you think of it pride is what?
15:36: Lurked in was in the heart of an archangel by the name of Lucifer that made him into a devil
15:43: Pride not adultery not other sins, but pride He exalted himself up against God Well in this world of self -promotion and pride it often takes center stage as we as Believers are called to imitate
16:00: Christ as humility and in order to do that. We must consider others more important than ourselves
16:08: Now that takes sacrifice and obedience to live out that takes some sanctification. We're going to look at that and Also to serve one another with genuine a copy love the love of God because the love of God's been shed abroad in our hearts by the
16:24: Holy Spirit and This love is brought out. It's I like the like what
16:29: Luther says. He actually says that God does not need my good works, but my neighbor does and that love is
16:38: Demonstrated out and that's you read in first John the epistle first John how that is spoken of It's just doesn't speak or say
16:45: God bless you is in shoe leather faith It it does something and that's why
16:51: Jesus gave the the wonderful story about the Good Samaritan To actually say this is how loving your neighbor looks like and this is what this is about It's about loving our neighbor loving one another then in first in verse 9 to verse 11
17:08: God Exalted Jesus Christ his son and bestowed upon him the name that is above every name the glorious exaltation of Jesus reminds us that God faithfully rewards obedience and Humility, he always rewards it.
17:24: God is the God of the humble He's not the God of the pride matter of fact the
17:30: Apostle James says God Resists the proud but it gives more grace to the humble
17:37: So today as we live in a society that so often prioritizes personal gain personal achievements and Recognition as we as believers.
17:49: We must remember that true Exaltation always comes through humble obedience to the will of God and Jesus said this as well
17:56: He said he that exalts himself will be humbled Will be abased and he that Abases himself shall be exalted
18:05: It's right opposite of the world and that's the way and what he's saying is the way up is down and the way down is up It's those wonderful paradoxes that the
18:16: Lord gives Then in the final portion of verse 12 and 13 is
18:23: The application to everything that Paul is basically telling the church at Philippi He encourages the
18:30: Philippian believers as well as us To work out our own salvation with what fear and Trembling, you know what he's saying examine yourselves
18:45: To see if you're in the faith make your calling an election sure
18:52: We must do that as as God's people and even if you're not in the kingdom of God and you don't have that assurance
18:59: The scripture says judge yourself least you be judged We must have self -examination to see if we are in the faith
19:07: So he calls for sanctification. It's it's interesting Even though Satan has a hand in discord and all that is going on Paul Applies of unity through humility and then he goes and points to the example the ultimate example
19:22: Jesus Christ but really the application is Search me
19:29: Oh God and see if there be any wicked way in me It's the heart
19:35: That we must each and every one of us must search and allow God to search us out to make sure
19:42: That if we're not the cause of discord or cause and disunity among the brethren
19:49: Because God hates those that discord. That's what scripture says in in Proverbs that he hates those that Causes discord among the brethren
19:59: Well, there's much here So we're gonna look at that and get it
20:05: Let me briefly say about working out your own salvation with fear and children. That does not mean by no means We earn our salvation in case there's a misunderstanding here through works
20:17: We cannot even come close of working for salvation it says work out
20:24: Work it out what has already been placed in you by regeneration. So it's talking about sanctification not salvation and by the way
20:35: Sanctification is always active Active it's constantly active and it's not passive It's not this saying
20:46: Let go and let God know. It's something that God has done in me and it's something
20:53: I do by the Spirit of God as I cooperate with God in sanctification and The transforming power of God that works within us
21:03: God is at work in us Born -again believers both to will and to work for his good pleasure
21:11: So that's what he's talking about in the context So in sanctification by the power and the strength of the
21:16: Spirit and it's by the way Sanctification is not never by our own efforts. It's never by our own strength
21:23: Even though we are cooperating with God and allowing the Lord to work in us, but it's the
21:29: Spirit of God That's doing the work within us that we may work it out.
21:35: That's what he's talking about So we'll look more about that later on but God's ongoing process of spiritual growth is through sanctification
21:44: Now that's a brief overview And that's my introduction to this message today so what we're going to look at is just a couple of topics here a couple of Points as in the course of time
21:58: God willing we will look at the rest but today we're going to look at verse 1 and verse 2 and we'll close it down with application on verse 3 and the first is the motive of spiritual unity the motive of Spiritual unity then later we will and also
22:17: I like to look at the marks of spiritual unity and by the way, I'd like to give pastor John MacArthur the credit for the that outline of the motive the marks the means later on we will look at And just using his wonderful outline there
22:34: So what does he say? What is the motive? What is the motive of spiritual unity? Let's look at it.
22:40: Therefore verse 1 Therefore if there is any consolation that means encouragement
22:47: Encouragement in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any affection and mercy verse 2 fulfill my joy
22:57: Being like -minded Having the same love being of one accord in one mind now
23:05: The very heart of this passage is the phrase That is found in verse 2 notice with me by being
23:15: Like -minded that is actually The thrust that is
23:22: Paul is actually saying I desire you to be like -minded Like -minded and what he's talking about like -minded
23:30: He's talking about being like -minded in the gospel like -minded in the truth
23:35: The truth that is found in the gospel. It is basically the very same thing that he expressed in chapter 1 verse 27
23:43: Just look over at a page and chapter 1 look at verse 27 He says this only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ Wow, listen to that conduct the way we conduct ourself the way we live our
24:00: Conduct must be worthy of the gospel of Christ So that whether I come and see you or I'm absent
24:08: I may hear of your affairs The personal affairs and that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind
24:21: Striving Listen to that word striving together for the faith of the gospel
24:31: Striving together And that word striving when we look at it's a powerful word
24:37: But so believers in Christ are to have integrity here that integrity is to live consistent with what?
24:45: we believe What we believe to stand fast in one spirit and one mind
24:52: So his call for genuine unity is at the very heart and mind that is based on these
25:02: Motives, what's the motives? First of all is the necessity of oneness to win the spiritual battle for faith
25:11: Second for the love of others and the fellowship third for genuine humility and self -sacrifice and obedience
25:19: Forth the example that Jesus Christ gave who would prove the sacrifice produces eternal glory
25:27: Ultimately and it's those who obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ Persevering to the end
25:34: So this is what the believer in Christ is to stand fast in one spirit one mind one spirit one mind and again
25:42: Let's look at this word striving together Striving together. Don't you love that?
25:49: We strive together. We're not in competition to one another we are in humility and Truth to one another for one great cause and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ His person his works what he has accomplished through his life
26:07: Through his death through his burial through his resurrection and all that he has done
26:13: So Paul changed what he did here. He's talking about striving the Greek word literally means to struggle alongside with To struggle alongside with someone together brothers and sisters in Christ So Paul he's changed the metaphor the metaphor here actually from that of a soldier
26:33: That is literally standing at his post Unmovable steadfast
26:40: For the gospel sake and then he said that has been steadfast and that is what as of one team
26:47: That stands together for the same purpose and that purpose is as one unit
26:53: Struggling for the victory against the enemy of our souls the devil for the faith of the gospel
27:00: Always that is the purpose that is the goal So that's the reason that we're united together in Jesus Christ is
27:09: For the sake of the gospel for the faith of the gospel For the faith of the gospel so Paul speaks to us about motives, doesn't he?
27:18: Now I'm gonna tell you this right up from the get -go when it starts talking about motives this this can get very convicting to all of us because it searches my heart and it searches your heart and Please allow the
27:32: Holy Spirit to do that because it's good Conviction is always your friend to always bring us nearer to God Even if there's continual repentance in the child of God's life, which should be
27:44: To bring us closer to the Lord that we may know to do his will together together
27:52: So again, Paul speaks to us the motives and that speaks of why? Why?
27:59: Why he desires them to be of one mind Why is it important for us as a church and a body of believers to be like -minded?
28:09: Why? Good question. Why is it important for us to be striving together for the faith of the gospel?
28:16: Did you ever think of that? Why? Some say may say to eliminate conflict
28:24: Yes To eliminate any discord among the brethren
28:31: Yes, but I want you to think of this I would say yes and amen again and again to that Because God hates discord among the brethren and Conflict has to be worked out in wisdom at times
28:46: Even among those that are brothers and sisters in Christ because we're one family one army together for the cause of the gospel
28:54: But think of this that's the negative answer. That's the negative side that must be dealt with and yes
29:00: It must be dealt with but what the Apostle Paul does here. He begins with the positive side
29:06: He begins with an exhortation He begins by giving them strength to encourage them what a leader
29:17: What a leader that's what leaders do. That's what godly leaders do. They always begin with solutions and not to disdain or Demean and to bring down because you think of this he the
29:33: Apostle could have done that he could say well You're not as holy as I am. I'm suffering for the sake of the gospel
29:38: I'm in chains and I'm in this dungeon and I'm suffering for Jesus Christ and there was no complaints there
29:44: He thanked God that he had the privilege of being chained up for Jesus Christ in the
29:50: Word of God And then here he is in this dungeon in this cell Keep that in back in your in your mind in the background there and he's suffering for the sake of the gospel gladly
30:01: With no complaints and murmuring and then he gives this exhortation to the believers of Philippi This is what you do to maintain the unity of the truth.
30:13: And why does he do this? He's a father of the faith He's like a father to him. He has such a concern and an affection for the people of God to maintain that unity because he believes that Jesus Christ is building the church and he had a part with that and there was a privilege as an
30:31: Apostle And he suffered gladly Think of that There's great affection in this in this letter beloved.
30:42: The positive side is that the Lord desires to see his people together in truth and Unified in truth and how's that done through humility?
30:57: through humility Humility Four motives, let's look at it in verse 1 verse 1 gives us the first one therefore there's any
31:17: Consolation your translation may see encouragement means the same thing any consolation or encouragement in Christ if any comfort of love
31:26: If any fellowship of the Spirit if any affection and mercy the first one is The consolation in Christ consolation in Christ now the
31:38: Philippian believers biggest battle again was not with their external circumstances as We so often
31:46: Say there is there we do have battles on the outside and and the Apostle Peter Wrote first Peter because of that same situation
31:55: He was encouraging the believers because they suffered for Christ and it was external suffering, but then he goes in in Second Peter and he addresses the internal struggles within which was false teachers.
32:09: So that's in the similar situation Paul is Addressing the
32:15: Philippian believers that their biggest battle was not their external circumstances, but the internal attitudes
32:22: Mainly within their own hearts first, but also within the body of Christ that causes the division see
32:30: So in verse 1 chapter 2, he says this therefore there therefore if There is any consolation in Christ the word therefore is one of my
32:45: Mentor said to me many years ago. Therefore is therefore for a reason Therefore draws back to what
32:54: Paul has built on in Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 through 30 Telling the
32:59: Philippians the believers how to stand strong for the Lord as we looked at against External conflict, but now here he tells them how to act against internal conflicts within the body of Christ So notice that little word by the way, if you know how many times if is put within those four times amen if if if if Why is that little word if important I'll tell you why
33:33: These are clauses These are clauses that indicate certainties not maybes
33:41: Don't you love that? It's certainties here. And if each if here expresses the idea of sense you can put the word sense there
33:51: Same thing since each following clause may be considered to be true and absolute true and absolute no, no maybes and The first one is beautiful.
34:06: He begins by saying this if there's any Encouragement, don't you love that?
34:12: Encouragement consolation in Christ keep in mind Paul's not speaking of doctrinal abstractions here.
34:18: He's not speaking He's he's not speaking of this high Doctrine which he adorned the gospel of God and doctrine is very important, but he brings it down to practical levels
34:30: He's speaking of the present practical spiritual spiritual experiences in the faith
34:38: Now we could read it this way since or because there's consolation in Christ Encouragement in Christ because there's fellowship of the
34:47: Spirit because There's affection and compassion make my joy complete and be in at the same mind.
34:53: That's basically what he's saying But because of all these things there there's these are driving motives.
35:00: These are the driving motives So these are the truths that should compel us to unity and truth beloved
35:06: And this is what should motivate us to unity in other words. These are the things in Which he's about to unpack that should motivate us to spiritual unity within the church
35:23: And what would it be the consolation in Christ is the first one? That's a great.
35:28: That's a great great truth the consolation in Christ Luke 2 25 says this it gives one of the titles of Jesus as the
35:39: Messiah is the anointed one that Jesus himself is the consolation of Israel He's the consolation of Israel the encouragement of Israel Paul could say in 2nd
35:55: Corinthians 1 5 4 as the sufferings of Christ abound in us. So our consolation also abounds through Christ Our consolation is always in Christ And if we try to draw
36:10: Encouragement from people you're gonna be very disappointed. And even though we are to encourage one another But ultimately our encouragement comes from God David even said this he says
36:21: I encourage myself in the Lord I Encourage myself in God, don't you find yourself doing that in this dark world?
36:31: And which we live in as a believer and that's why we come together It is to hear the
36:37: Word of God to encourage our souls that convicts us. It corrects us It rebukes us, but ultimately it builds us up It encourages us to go on in Jesus Christ 2nd
36:50: Thessalonians 2 16 Paul says this God has loved us and given us an everlasting
36:57: Consolation and good hope by grace. Did you get that? This encouragement in Christ is not
37:04: Passing or just here and now it is forever. It is Everlasting it's an everlasting consolation
37:14: Spurgeon once again says it like this and he talks about the consolation of Christ and I love Spurgeon You hear me quote him quite often.
37:20: He says quote the Holy Spirit consoles us But Christ is the consolation
37:27: If I may use the figure and I love this the Holy Spirit is the physician
37:33: But Christ is the medicine oh, isn't that beautiful and Jesus told the
37:40: Pharisees about the sinners that were seeking salvation and Jesus was a friend of sinners and he called them to repent by the way but the
37:51: Pharisees murmured against him and says you eat with sinners and Jesus said Gave a beautiful metaphor, you know
37:59: He says it like this. He says I'm like the physician Physician someone that is sick needs a physician they come to me because they're sick and they realize their sickness and Jesus is the healer of the soul.
38:15: That's what he's saying And that consolation is in Christ and he is that medicine as Spurgeon says and the
38:22: Holy Spirit applies Christ to our heart if there's any consolation in Christ The next phrase is if any comfort of love any comfort of love now
38:33: Paul gives affirmation of the great Comfort of agape love. This is not like our love beloved
38:40: We should never measure our love with God's love as we should met as we should measure Our righteousness with God's righteousness because it's on a completely different level
38:51: Because God's righteousness is a perfect righteousness and by the way, God's love is a perfect love and that love is a
39:00: Perfect love it is agape love and it's a love that gives and gives and gives with great sacrifice
39:09: Every child of God should know what it means to be loved of God to know
39:15: God to experience the love of God The love of God that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the
39:22: Holy Spirit. He loved us with an everlasting love
39:28: Second Corinthians 1 3 says this That God is the God of all comfort and there's no circumstances by the way beloved
39:37: That's so bad If you're going through a very terrible time today that there's no circumstance that is so bad that you can be overcome by it
39:46: Beyond the love of God in the comfort of God You know why because God cares
39:53: God cares Especially for his own, but God cares Peter says casting all your care upon him for he cares for you.
40:02: He cares for you But this is just more there's more here than just mere comfort
40:09: It's the comfort of love You get that it's the comfort of the love of God You know when
40:19: I'm at the lowest at times and I'm struggling within my spiritual wall
40:27: You know, you want the comfort of the Holy Spirit, but the comfort of God's love and read
40:32: Romans 8. Oh my goodness it's a hymn of faith and love and You get nothing shall separate you from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus Had a person one time told me
40:48: This was years ago He was part of a very legalistic
40:54: Church denomination that came to my door and he quoted that Wonderful verse from Romans about nothing shall separate you
41:02: From the love of God though, which is in Christ Jesus and he said except for one thing yourself I said, I don't see that in Scripture friend.
41:10: I Said nothing shall separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus period. I Said you put the clause yourself
41:20: God's love will encourage your soul The word comfort here is a wonderful passage.
41:27: Actually, it comes from the ancient Greek word periclete periclete The idea that is behind this word in the
41:34: New Testament is always more than soothing sympathy, by the way It's the idea of strength
41:42: Strengthening Helping you know what the helping means that's the Holy Spirit he comes alongside us
41:50: Because Jesus says to his disciples. I will not leave you as orphans. I Will go to the father and when
41:58: I go to the father, I will send another helper. You notice that another help Jesus is actually the periclete the helper, but he said
42:07: I want to send another helper the third person of the Trinity for the church to empower the church and To give you courage and make you strong.
42:19: That's what he's saying. The idea behind this word is communicated By the
42:24: Latin word comfort the Latin word is fortis fortis, which also means to be brave to have courage
42:34: The love of God in Christ Jesus makes us courageous the love of God in Christ Jesus makes us strong Don't you see that in the early church that was strong that was so strong they turned the world upside down for Jesus Christ Praise God Excuse me
42:56: Jude this reminds me of Jude 20 and 21 But you beloved building up yourselves
43:03: Upon upon your most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit keep yourselves in the love of God and Looking for the mercy of our
43:14: Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life So the first is consolation in Christ.
43:19: The second is comfort of love. The third is Fellowship of the Spirit fellowship of the Spirit Paul knew the great value of the fellowship of the
43:27: Spirit commentator trap says this this is about the fellowship of the
43:34: Spirit the Lord do it usually and graciously water the Holy fellowship of the of his people with the dues of many sweet and glorious refreshments so that they have
43:47: Very heaven upon earth in quote in that and that's so true. And that's what the church is about It's a little taste of heaven.
43:55: It's a foretaste of heaven on earth I like what pastor John MacArthur said about this.
44:01: He said actually it's the only place you can find heaven on earth is in the body of Christ That loves the
44:08: Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart and loves the Father and the Son the Son and the Holy Spirit His brother
44:15: Keith brought this out Not today but last week was it Psalm 133
44:21: Verse 1 through 3 one of the shortest Psalms. What does it say behold? How good how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in what?
44:32: unity in unity and Then he says it is like the precious oil upon the head running down on the beard
44:41: The beard of Aaron running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon Descending upon the mountains of Zion for there the
44:50: Lord commanded the blessing life forevermore and His brother
44:56: Keith brought this out. I don't you love it. It is always descending Coming down because every good and perfect gift comes from the
45:05: Father of lights. It comes down to us and That's Christianity Christ is
45:12: Condescended down to us to reach us to call us to himself To pull us aside and love us with a special love and everlasting love and set us apart
45:22: And then he puts us back into the world He makes us holy keeps us holy and then we go forward to tell other people about the
45:29: Lord Jesus Christ Wonderful in it The foundation must always be spiritual unity and that source is
45:37: God himself and it descends from him and it comes down from him well
45:43: The next phrase is any affection and mercy any affection and mercy The communicated to us both in a direct spiritual way from our
45:51: Lord Jesus Christ to his people God Has extended his deep affection affection and compassion?
46:00: to every one of his children Compassion to every believer by his grace
46:07: Through the Lord Jesus Christ and it's always founded upon the grace of God because grace is nothing that we deserve or nothing
46:15: We can earn it is freely given to us unmerited No strings attached to it
46:23: Philippians 1 8 Paul says this to the believers for God is my witness how greatly
46:28: I long for you all with the affection Listen to that with the affection of Jesus Christ.
46:36: This is these people were his affection What a statement such love such great love now
46:44: Affection here is this literally means in the Greek refers to internal organs the internal organs of the body
46:53: Which are the part of the body that reacts to intense emotions? It it's like it became the strongest
47:01: Greek word to express Compassionate love a love so deep and wide that it involves one's entire being
47:09: That wonderful affection the affection of Jesus Christ very quickly go with me to Colossians chapter 3
47:18: And let's look at this Colossians chapter 3 Look at verse beginning at verse 12
47:30: Therefore There's the therefore again, right as the elect of God God's elect
47:41: God's people holy and beloved Put on just like you put your clothes on spiritually you put on tender mercies
47:53: Every day, that's what he's saying. This is the way you should live put on tender mercies kindness humility neatness long -suffering
48:02: Bearing with one another and forgiving one another if anyone has a complaint against one another even as Christ forgave you
48:09: So you also must do Doesn't that just pierce your heart?
48:17: Even if somebody has crossed you bear with them forgive them And if anyone has a complaint against one another even as Christ forgave you so you must also do
48:30: And above all these things put on love there it is the agape love which is the bond of perfection the bond
48:42: And just like our brother Randy Smith spoke of last week look at verse 15 and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you were called in one body and Be thankful and be thankful Be thankful for that Wonderful.
49:03: Well, this tells us how to apply this virtue Now back to Philippians verse 2 through 4 the
49:11: Apostle Through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit gives us in his exhortation and application.
49:16: He tells us how to apply in a very practical way by the help of the Holy Spirit regarding the agape love humility and This love to one another this humility toward one another within the body of Christ We had the marks of spiritual unity
49:34: The marks and I want to go through this very quickly and probably pick up on it later on Lord willing but let me just touch on it the motives of Unity answers the question why but the marks of unity answers the question what?
49:51: What? What does it look like? What does it look like this is good application?
49:58: At this point there would give this application and I got one more application to give right alongside with and then we conclude verse 2
50:07: Paul says fulfill my joy By being like -minded having the same love being of one accord in one mind
50:15: We see this oneness among the early church, don't we? And I got more to say about that later on But the early church demonstrated this so beautifully
50:27: You don't have to turn there, but this is exactly what it says in verse 32 chapter 4
50:33: Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own
50:45: But they had all things in common Now listen to this and with great power the
50:51: Apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all great power great grace and Later on you see in Acts 5 after you had
51:05: Ananias and Sapphira That was trying to copy Barnabas and what he was
51:13: Sacrificing as a child of God if anyone lacked and all who they sold their possessions and their houses and Sold everything that they had to help the others.
51:22: I would say that's a pretty good sacrifice But they did it gladly because they realized all that they had
51:30: Belonged to the Lord And then Ananias and Sapphira tried to do this and they kept back part of the proceeds
51:38: And you know the story God Killed both of them because they lied to the
51:45: Holy Spirit and because of this It says it twice in verse 5
51:54: Then Ananias hearing these words fell down and breathed his last of great fear Came upon all those who heard these things
52:02: Then verse 11. It says so great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things twice great fear
52:15: Was the result of the great grace and the great power. Don't lie to the
52:24: Holy Spirit There's consequences And I've even had people come to me
52:29: But God didn't do that kind of stuff in the in the New Testament. He only killed like Abihu and Uzzah These guys in the
52:41: Old Testament, but God is the same God of the old as the new He hasn't changed
52:50: Christ fulfilled the law Christ came The New Testament came into play because all that was happening that happened in the
52:58: Old Testament was the tithes and shadows and Jesus is the reality, but there was a demonstration of the power and the holiness of God here
53:08: And there was a judgment And these people lied to the Holy Spirit and they were within the church folks
53:15: What has happened to the fear of God? You don't see it anymore. Do you and because there's a lack of great power and great grace
53:25: Lord bring it back right bring it back
53:31: No one's going to escape it Even though God is so gracious today
53:36: There's still a judgment because the Bible says in Hebrews is appointed for once man to die and after that judgment
53:44: So one day every one of us is going to answer before the Lord Those who are outside of Christ will be condemned to condemnation, but those are in Christ We're going to give an account to our works to Christ Well, there's much that's beast to be said about the application here in John 17
54:03: I like to pick up on that later but Jesus actually prays for himself and he prays for his disciples and he also prays for all the believers to be one as the
54:14: Father in him is one and He prays for all the believers that is us and that is those that within the body of Christ to be one
54:24: So the priority is on spiritual unity within the body of Christ and This is the unity of in the church and the spirit
54:32: In truth Which is the key to the church's overall? effectiveness
54:39: Don't you want to be effective? For God don't you want to be useful I do
54:45: Lord take this weak person here and help me to be effective But I must show myself and I must be genuine in my love and my heart
54:54: Toward my brothers and this is how this is demonstrated brother Keith again He mentioned this this morning.
55:01: How is this demonstrated by our love toward one another the world will see it
55:06: Because they don't know the Bible you are the written epistle That we are to demonstrate and be a living testament and a living
55:15: Bible you are the Bible JC Rao says you your life speaks far more than this sermon and then any sermon preaches and By giving obedience to it is a good way to say amen to the sermon is living that life isn't it
55:36: Our lives is it the people that's outside of Christ. They don't they don't read the Bible They don't know about the
55:42: Bible. You're the Bible. You're the salt of the earth. You're the light of the world You shine you preserve
55:49: Salt preserves light shines in darkness and by the way light up a candle in a dark room and everybody in you
55:56: Everybody sees that light and it lights the whole room even a small candle It's the way we are
56:03: Jesus says you don't put it underneath the bushel. It's like on a hilltop and everybody sees
56:09: And that's the way we're to be let me close with a devotion. I read from Pastor John MacArthur concerning this
56:16: And it's based upon Matthew chapter 10 you could go there very quickly, but Matthew chapter 10 verse 1 through 4 chapter 10 1 through 4
56:34: The speaks about the 12 Apostles and by the way, there's an order here. The order is
56:39: God's order of from the head Apostle to Judas To the one that betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver notice what it says in verse 1 and when he had called his 12 disciples to him
56:51: He gave them power over the unclean spirits to cast him out and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases
56:59: Now the names of the 12 Apostles of these first Simon who is called Peter Andrew his brother
57:06: James the son of Zebedee John his brother Philip and Bartholomew Thomas and Matthew the tax collector
57:13: James the son Alpheus the son of Alpheus and Levinus whose surname was
57:19: Thaddeus Simon the Canaanite and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed notice that Peter is always first.
57:26: He's a head Apostle Judas is always last now this is what MacArthur says from his book draw and near as I close with this, please please
57:38: Be engaged and hear this because this is so important for us as a church He says this unity
57:47: Is a crucial element in the life of the church Especially among its leadership a unified church can accomplish great things for Christ, but But disunity can cripple or destroy it
58:05: But disunity can cripple and destroy but even the most orthodox churches aren't immune to disunity subtle attacks because of its often arises from personality clashes or pride rather than doctrinal issues
58:25: God often brings together and Congregations and ministry teams of people who vastly diff are different have different backgrounds and temperaments
58:36: That mix produces a variety of skills and ministries, but it also produces the potential for disunity and strife
58:48: That was certainly true the disciples which included an impetuous fisherman named
58:54: Peter two passionate and ambitious sons of thunder James and John an analytical pragmatic and pessimistic man by the name of Philip a
59:05: Racially prejudiced man Bartholomew and a despised tax collector
59:12: Matthew and a political zealot Simon and a traitor by the name of Judas who was in it only for the money and eventually sold out for 30 pieces of silver
59:24: He goes on to say this Imagine the potential for that disaster in a group like that Wow Yet their common purpose transcended their individual difference and By his grace the
59:42: Lord accomplished through them what they never could accomplished on their own That's the power of spiritual unity as a
59:53: Christian he says You're part. I'm part of a select team that is accomplishing the world's greatest task
01:00:01: Finishing the work Jesus our Lord began that requires unity of purpose and effort and Satan will try to sow seeds of discord discord, but you must do everything possible to heed
01:00:20: Paul's admonition To be of the same mind Maintaining the same love united in spirit intent on one purpose in quote
01:00:38: Hey, man that all the way how? We're not going to look at it today, but he tells us how in Verse three and four let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself
01:00:59: Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interest of others and then verse 5 says this let this mind
01:01:12: Be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Amen Amen May it be so with us at redeeming grace
01:01:26: Church Please bow with me in prayer our
01:01:35: Father and our great God Lord. This truth is so great
01:01:44: It's beyond any words that I can even utter The greatness how you can use such frail people like us
01:01:57: Lord I think about the Apostles and how you taught them and Developed them and trained them and rebuked them and loved them and poured your life into them.
01:02:09: Oh Lord it shows you there's hope for us and They turned the world upside down in their generation.
01:02:17: Oh God do it again. I pray Use us who are so weak for this great
01:02:26: Great purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank you Lord for your eternal word from everlasting to everlasting
01:02:34: It's forever settled in heaven Lord, we thank you how your word sanctifies us and cleanses us and it admonishes it teaches us it corrects us and How it shows us and demonstrates to us how?
01:02:49: That how we can be more like the Lord Jesus Christ and come and how the Holy Spirit can conform us more into the image his image his beauties his likeness
01:03:01: So father I pray for each and every one of us today That we would apply by your help these great truths to our everyday living
01:03:11: Forgive us Oh God for being so unlike Christ and being selfish
01:03:20: No wonder our Lord Jesus Christ said the first thing in following him is to deny ourself and Take up our cross and follow him.
01:03:31: May it be so Continually with us by your grace Make us more like the master father that this lost world would see his beauties in us and We realize father without Jesus we could do nothing
01:03:51: But through Jesus Christ, we could do all things and that means we can go through the hardest of times and hardships and sufferings for Jesus sake
01:04:02: Help us I pray Lord in this day. We need your grace to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling