2010 BBC Preach-A-Thon - Chuck Miller

When Joey was up a little earlier, he mentioned that when you become a Christian, the old man follows you around. I'm the old man that's following Joey. The title of my sermon today is Humanity, Humility, and Harmony, Five Means for Spiritual Unity.

My goal this morning is to encourage you to vigilantly pursue Christlikeness in his humility for the sake of unity in the church. The book of Philippians is an awesome book. In this Bible, it is only three pages.

I can read this entire book in 13 minutes at a normal cadence, and I am amazed at how much is packed into these three pages. Just as a refresher, and I know Paul Moran touched on some of this, it is a prison epistle.

It was written to the church in Philippi. Philippi was a colony of Rome. These were Roman citizens. You may recall in Acts 16, where Paul and Silas were involved in a riot, and they were locked up in the prison, and the earthquake freed them from prison.

And they converted the jailer as he was about to commit suicide. This is the same Philippi. This is the same place where this wonderful church was founded. Now Paul's overall theme for this book is joy.

He is rejoicing. Even in his affliction, he is rejoicing. He is imprisoned for the sake of Christ, and he is rejoicing. He's rejoicing because the Philippians have embraced the gospel, and the Philippians are living the gospel.

And for this he rejoices. This short book doesn't have a lot of theology in it, though there is an incredible nugget regarding who Christ is in verses 2, 5 through 11. But most of this book is a letter which basically addresses Christian living, as exampled by Paul's sermon a few moments ago.

And we'll be touching base on more of that in my preaching today. Now this book is so rich, we find ourselves, many people extract parts of this book as key verses or favorite verses. And some as a sampling.

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. We hear these verses all the time, and there's so many, many more, and we're going to touch base on some of these.

But this book kind of reminds me of when I was a kid, and I used to buy greatest hits albums. You would wait for the artist to come out with a greatest hits album so you didn't get the fluff. You got all the meat.

You got the best stuff. And what we're going to have here is by the time we're done, you will have added to your playlist of greatest hits from Philippians. Because every verse in here will rise up to that level as you go through it.

Now part of the challenge that we have doing this type of thing is we're being dropped in the middle of a book. Typically our pastors will lead us chapter one, verse one, and by the time we get into the middle of the book, we all have the foundation for what has been laid out in that book.

We understand the audience, we understand the authorial intent. We understand the historic situations, et cetera. But being dropped in here, we don't always have that. So what I found was, as I was going to preach on verse two, five, and following, I found out that I was out of context, taking it without understanding what went before it.

I was out of context. So I actually went back. I'm going to preach from verse one. Chapter two, verse one. But verse five continues to be the pivoting point in this because we're going to be looking forward to Christ and we're going to be looking backward to ourselves.

But let's start with verse five because that's where I'm going to, kind of like a flight pattern where you're circling the airfield. Well, verse five is what we're going to be circling around today. Verse five, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who those in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

When I was originally going to preach on this, I wanted to preach on Christ's condescension, Christ's humiliation in coming on and taking human flesh. But I found that the context wasn't right. I didn't understand it properly.

And that's what I'm going to talk about today. So let's go back a little bit. When you read verse five, have this in mind among yourselves, have what in mind among yourselves. I had to think that through.

And what I found was I was going back. So let's go back to verse three. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Do nothing from rivalry. Well, I've been reading this book every day for a month.

And when I say do not do anything from rivalry, I look at verse 15 through 17 in chapter one. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The former proclaimed Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. Paul is in prison for the sake of Christ. And there are those who capitalize on it for their own gain.

Amazing rivalry, rivalry in the ministry. And we see that rivalry in churches. And Paul also mentioned chapter four, verse two, where you have Yodi and Syntyche, two women who were wonderful in various ministry capacities, though we do not understand what they were.

And now, sometime later, they're at odds with one another. These types of things factionalize churches. They destroy churches. So we're on guard for that. If we look at verse 127, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or I'm absent, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

We see here external opponents. We have internal opponents and external opponents challenging the gospel. Rivalry. We'll continue. But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Humility.

So do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Verse 4, let each of you look not to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this in mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

What we're beginning to see here is this wonderful portrayal of Christ as the God-man, this kenosis passage that we have in verses 5 through 11. Aren't there solely to illustrate the majesty of Christ?

They're there to contrast how our pride is in direct conflict with the humility of Christ. So we need to understand how this affects our church. And that's what we're going to be talking about. Paul is calling this church to unity.

He's calling them to change their attitude. He's calling them to set aside pride, to set aside their egos, to set aside their own privilege, to be Christ-like, as Christ is defined in those following verses.

So let's take a moment to read those verses again. We'll start with verse 6, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that 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. My understanding from commentaries is that this was an ancient hymn in the early church, but it's also the gospel. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, God made man, come to earth, taking on human flesh, living a perfect, sinless life, yet becoming sin for us.

Being obedient to the Father, even to the point of death on the cross. He is exalted by the Father through this resurrection, overcoming sin and death. This is the very gospel that saves us. It's absolutely remarkable.

Such humility, Christ, the second person of the Trinity, descends down to earth to take on a fleshly body. He sets aside, not his deity, but the privilege of his deity. He takes on humanity. He understands your temptation.

He understands your pain. He lives it. Yet he lives it perfectly. One of the other guys said, no sinful anger in Christ. It's remarkable, truly remarkable. So, Jesus demonstrated humility and selflessness, and we are being called to live accordingly in the previous verses that we'll read.

Now, how important is unity in the church? How important is unity to our Lord Jesus? Well let me share with you a verse from John 17, you do not have to turn there, but I'll read it. John 17, this is a prayer from Jesus to the Father.

I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word that they may be one just as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you love me.

One, one, one, one, unity, that's, that's at the Godhead. That's what Christ is expecting from us. We have been saved by his blood. We are obligated to respect that grace and not cheapen it by being obedient.

This is the example that he gives us. So now let's get back to what's going on at the church at Philippi. There obviously is dissent growing. We had some examples of Judea and Syntyche. We had issues in verses 115 through 17 where others were preaching out of rivalry and challenging Paul.

So we have issues here where we see that there is dissent growing. And you may think, well, that was Philippi. That couldn't happen at BBC. You know, we, we are taught things doctrinally, it's not going to happen here.

Well, remember, Paul founded the church in Philippi and it happened there. In fact, this is one of John MacArthur's fears. John MacArthur at Grace Community Church, he loathes apathy in the church, but he fears discontent.

He fears discord. He likens it to a snake that slithers around the conversation and infects people with the venom of conflict. That's the way MacArthur describes discontent. It's a fearful thing. And if this were not an issue, Paul would not have addressed it as frequently as he did.

Many of his epistles address this issue of unity or the inverse of it, division. It is mentioned several times in Romans. It's mentioned in Colossians. It's mentioned in 1 Corinthians. It's mentioned in Thessalonians.

It's mentioned in Galatians. And it's mentioned here in Philippians, and I may have missed one. But this is a prevalent theme in Paul's writings. It's a constant battle. It's a vigilant battle. And we have to be on our guard for it.

And this is what we're going to get to in these verses. Now Philippi was a good church. Philippi was sound doctrinally. We'll contrast that with Galatia where, you know, they will take another gospel, which isn't really a gospel, or Corinth where sexual immorality abounded.

No, Philippi was a very sound church. So when you look at the letters written to Corinth or you look at the letter written to Galatia, they were stern. They were a stern rebuke. They were challenging these people to get their act together.

And he means no words. But Philippi is different. Philippi is a good church. Philippi has an issue that is growing and needs to be dealt with. But Paul in this writing deals with it in a much more gentle and tender approach.

He doesn't take them out to the woodshed like he did the other churches. But it does need to be dealt with. So let's go to verse 2 -1, and we're going to get into that part of the text. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind.

We're touching base here on some of the same points that Paul had regarding the issue of being single-minded and in one accord. That theme runs throughout this wonderful little book. Go back to verse 1.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, this if is not an if of doubt. This is an if of condition. If this is true, then this must happen. If this is true, then this must happen. And that's what we're going to look at.

So let's rephrase that. Because there is encouragement in Christ, because there is comfort from the love of Christ, because there is participation in the Holy Spirit, because there is affection and sympathy, because of these things, you should act accordingly.

And where do these things come from? These aren't things that we made up. These are things which we have been blessed with. God has blessed us with these things. We already possess them. It's incumbent upon us to act upon them.

You possess them, you're obligated to fulfill the expectations of having those blessings. We need to demonstrate. We need to prove by having love for one another and for Christ with the same heart, same mind, the same spirit, this oneness, this accord that we've heard about throughout the morning.

So let's move on to verse 2. Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord with one mind. Complete my joy. Throughout chapter 1, Paul is rejoicing. He is in affliction and yet he is rejoicing.

Why is he rejoicing? Because this church holds true to the gospel. And he's saying here, make my joy even sweeter by being of one mind, being in unity. Now we're going to move into the meat. Verses 3 and 4.

These are the two verses that I want you to be adding to your playlist. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. That's verse 3. Do nothing. So what we're going to do here is over these next couple of verses, I'm going to hit you with five points for application.

Under verse 3, do nothing from rivalry. Here's the bullet. For the sake of unity, you must do nothing from selfishness. Selfishness is the root of all sin. You raise yourself above others. You seek to gain at the expense of others.

Think of Adam. Think of verse 6 that we just had here. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Christ himself, the second person of the Trinity, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Yet the first man, Adam, did. And for that, we all suffer. That is selfishness at work. It's all-consuming. It's destructive. It is in every man's heart and mind. The second bullet, do nothing. For the sake of unity, you must do nothing of conceit.

Calvin defines conceit as that which tickles men's minds so that everyone is delighted with his own inventions. It's all about me. It's a highly exaggerated view of yourself. You always are right. You always need to be the center of attention.

I'm sure we've all been to family gatherings where there's someone who always commands the spotlight, and he hasn't walked on the moon, right? Dirty Harry's got a line which fits this guy. You're a legend in your own mind.

That's the ultimate conceit. The next bullet, for the sake of unity, you must develop a mindset of humility. We must be poor in spirit. We hear this from the Beatitudes. Christ makes no bones about it.

We must be humble. We must be lowly of mind. And with humility comes wisdom. God gives grace to the humble. In willing submission, we will be bond servants to another. And this is not natural to man. This is even difficult for believers, but we need to develop a mindset of humility.

Bullet number four comes directly from verse four. Let each of you look not only to your own interests. So verse four, let's read verse four in its entirety. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

So for the sake of unity, you must not look out for your own interests. The verse says specifically, let each of you look not only to his own interests. Some translations say merely to his own interests.

The issue here is not that you are to neglect your interests. You are not to neglect yourself. You still need to take care of yourself, but not only yourself. The issue here is that you do not want to encourage a set of self-destructive behavior like some of the monks used to do in the old days.

You may recall the story of Luther crawling up the steps of the Vatican on his knees. This is not the kind of stuff that we're talking about here. You don't look out for only your own interest. If you want an illustration of the world, look at the polarizing effects of politics in the world today.

There is no civil discourse. It's now all personal attacks. Everything's very destructive because it's either me or you. That's the way the world is working right now, unfortunately. Praise God for places like this where people really do recognize the need to look out for not simply their own interests, but also the interests of the brothers and sisters around them.

Lastly, for the sake of unity, you must give preference to others. The verse four says, but also to the interest of others. We need to observe the people around us. We need to observe what's important to them.

We need to take the time to care, the time to listen, to comfort. We're in a busy time and we all kind of get caught up in our lives and we don't pay attention to those around us who are in need. We need to establish relationships with believers.

We need to be deliberate and persistent in serving others and looking for opportunities to serve others. We must be sincere in this endeavor. And this is a verse which is very easy to understand. But it is very difficult to apply.

So rather than watching TV or surfing the internet, perhaps it's time to call your dad or call your son, invite the guy from across the street over for dinner. Basically take a break from your routine and do something, make some time for someone else.

So in summary here, we've looked at four motives for unity, which come from verse one. We see four points that define church unity in verse two. One mind, one love, one accord, one purpose. And then we see these five points for spiritual unity, which are directly out of verses two, three, and four.

Do nothing from rivalry or selfishness, do nothing from conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but to the interests of others.

Now look to Jesus. Now we're going to look at verse five through 11. Look to Jesus, the God-man as described in verses two, five through 11. Revel in his glory and be convicted of your need to commit your humanity and true humility to the harmony of Christ's church.

When you're recounting verses that joyfully roll off your lips from the book of Philippians, I hope and pray that chapter two, verses three and four, the preface to this great kenosis passage will be amongst your greatest hits.

That'll be on your playlist. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we just thank you for your word. We thank you for the richness of your word. We thank you, Lord, for the fact that every day we open it, you reveal more truth to us.

Every day we open it, you convict us, Lord, of our need to be unified. You convict us of our need to obey. You remind us, Lord, that it is all about you, and without you, Lord, we are nothing. So we thank you, Lord, and we give you praise in the precious name of Jesus.

Amen.