Our Gospel lesson text this morning is from Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 that's found on page 831 in the Bibles that are in your seats. Please turn there and follow along as I will give you a moment to get there. Paul is writing to the Philippians from prison, most likely in Rome. And he doesn't care so much about the fact that he's imprisoned as much as he cares about the Gospel and about those that have been affected by the Gospel. And as long as the Gospel is going out and as long as the Gospel is having its effect with non-believers and with believers, he's happy and he's content and he's comforted. He writes in this passage about how the Philippians can be of even greater comfort to him. This is God's word, eternally true, Philippians 2 beginning in verse 1. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with his 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. Herein's our reading in your bulletin at the bottom of the left hand page there. You have a response of thankfulness to the Lord for his word. Let us respond in thankfulness. The word of the Lord, let us pray, our Father, you are good to us by assigning that we would have your word. Your word is given to us as a special treasure as we read in Psalm 147 this morning at the end of it. You have pointed out for us that no other nation has your word but ours and that nation is not. In the United States or any other nation but the Holy Nation, the church, you have given Lord your church, your word, the Bible. In these words we read and we read them and we hear from you, we hear about who you are, and we hear about how we are to order our lives for our good and for your glory. We ask that you would do that now by Jesus preaching to us by your word, by you spirit illuminating this text, granting us understanding, giving us life. We ask this in Christ's name. Sometimes in life we can have something we are very excited about, something that gets us juiced. Perhaps something that we want to have and we don't have, sometimes the things can be appropriate, sometimes it can be inappropriate. I've found that when I've wanted something very badly, a lot of times I get it and the glow wears off and I'm disappointed. Paul here talks about something that he is excited about. That gets him juiced, that gets him going, but it's not something about which the glow will wear off. But it's something about which Paul is very, very urgent. Paul is sitting in a jail and he's told the Philippians in chapter one, I don't care if I'm in jail. Especially since me being in jail has caused the gospel to go out and the gospel to have a greater and greater effect in the lives of believers that know I'm in jail, in the lives of unbelievers that know I'm in jail because they know I'm in jail for the cause of the gospel. And Paul writes to the Philippians here and reminds them of what he is very focused upon, especially in their midst. And this thing that Paul longs for is unity. If you'd like to fill out a bulletin and fill out blanks, you're welcome to do so. There are pencils below your seat. If you don't want to do so, that's fine too. But if you like doing that, there's your first blank. Paul longs for unity. He longs for unity for the church. Later in this letter, we'll see that there was this unity going on in the church at least among these two women in the church that Paul mentions. But it seems like maybe that was more of a widespread problem. And so Paul spends a lot of time throughout the Philippians showing why they should be unified, why they should have unity, why they should have harmony among them. Paul longs for unity for the church and he says, if you have this, I will be comforted. If you have this, I will be encouraged. If you have this, my joy in the gospel will be complete. This joy that I've told you about in chapter 1. But make it complete. Take the next step. And in the midst of my imprisonment, my joy will be complete. If you have this, if you have unity. And this is not only a message, of course, for the Philippian church. It's the message for the church. Capital C. It's the message for us. And we are to see that Paul puts great, great, great priority. The Spirit of God, at the direction of God the Father, has us put great priority on unity in the church. Paul discusses this when he mentions and repeats himself. It talks about in verse 1 being united with Christ. It talks about in verse 2 being like-minded. Unity of mind. Having the same love, unity of love. Being one, unified in spirit and purpose, verse 2. But he mentions a couple of enemies to unity. Names two things that are enemies to unity in the church. Two things that are anti-gospel. Two things that are contrary to gospel-like action in us, believers. And these two things are one, your a point, selfish, selfish ambition. And b, vain conceit. Selfish ambition and vain conceit. Both of these ideas, selfish ambition and vain conceit. Major on consideration of self. Consideration of self. We've heard from the Lord in chapter 1 and Philippians about this. That being a part of the gospel and sharing in the gospel means that self gets put down, gets put to the side. Because Jesus put self to the side in what He did and coming to earth to save us from our sins. We don't want a major on consideration of ourselves. Because that is the enemy of unity in the church. Let me put this another way. Here's the enemy of the church, you and me. You and me are the enemies of the church when we're considering ourselves at the expense of others. One of the first words I heard from one of my first professors in seminary when I was training to become a pastor and we were taking a class called introduction to pastoral and theological studies. It was an intro course and we all thought, oh great, an intro course. Blah blah blah. And it ended up if you talked to anybody that went to the same place as probably the best course we had. It gave us the tools by which we could do what we do. It was a fantastic course. But one of the first words that this professor told us is he said, I have been assigned to give you this course to teach this course for you to save the church from you guys. You're the future pastors of the church and I am here to save the church from you. Because you will go out and damage the church with truth. You will go out and you will be schismatic. You will divide the church with truth. You will argue with people over the truth and in selfish ambition and vain conceit. You will hold to your guns and divide the church. You will hold to your guns and destroy the individuals in your church. We all can be the enemies of the church when we consider ourselves first. I was talking with some brothers yesterday and last Sunday was what is celebrated by many. Reformation Sunday where we celebrate that the gospel message of Christ and salvation by grace alone through faith. And by merit of Christ alone was rediscovered in a wide sense throughout the church universal. It was rediscovered during this time of reformation. But as we were discussing this, I was telling these brothers that I have great ambivalence about this. I have good feelings about it and bad feelings about the reformation. I love the truth that the reformation talked about and brought to light and brought to the forefront of the church. It is truth properly at the forefront of the church. However, I talked to them also about my emotional tearing in this because it was really the reformation that marked the disunity in a visible form of the church. Denomations were started with the reformation and Lutherans went the Lutheran way and the Catholics stayed the Catholic way and Calvinists went the Calvinists way. And then it just multiplied from there and there is great harm in so many denominations. And as I have been in discussions and thought about this kind of thing, we get posed with this question as believers. Why are there so many denominations? So why should I believe you? If you are in this one local church or you are in this one local denomination, I can go to some other local church or other denomination and they will say something different. Why should I believe you? And we are best at that point to just admit our sin and say there are denominations because we are sinful. The church is full of sinful people like me. The church is full of sinful people who are more worried about themselves and being right. Who are conceded. They can see wanting others to think that they are right. The church is full of leaders that have selfish ambition. Who would rather be right than unified with their brothers and sisters in Christ. And so the church has gone in separate ways into many denominations and rather than forbearing with each other in love as we have had differences about how we believe particular verses of Scripture. We have been selfishly ambitious and vain in conceit. Paul knew this by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that any local church that the church universal could be split. If men and women in the church were more concerned about themselves and about being esteemed by others for their opinions then they were about their brothers and sisters in Christ and they were about the fact that the gospel is the substance which unites us in him. Here is the remedy that Paul comes up with in this passage. A couple of things. One, there is an external remedy, something that comes from without us to us. And there are two things. One, Paul alerts us to the fact in Philippians 1 and 2. And it is throughout the Philippians that we are united because we are sharers in the gospel. We are united by a common sharing in the gospel. And secondly, along with the gospel as we came to share in the gospel we came to share in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes upon us, gives us life, resurrects us, the spiritual life and it is then when we see the Kingdom of God. When it makes sense to us, when we understand it. And we all share in this and Paul points us to this. It talks about being one in spirit but also in verse 1 he says we are united with Christ. We have comfort in his love. We have fellowship with the Spirit. Paul writes about this elsewhere in 1 Corinthians in chapter 6 verse 19. He says each individual believer in Christ has the Spirit of God and it is a temple of the Holy Spirit. And he also says in 1 Corinthians 3, 16 that we together collectively are the temple of God because we have the Spirit of God within us. And as sharers of the gospel, Paul argues, people who share in the gospel as sharers of God's spirit having the Spirit of God in us, we should be unified. This is the objective truth. This is the condition that is really true regardless of our being disunified into denominations and splits and that kind of thing that we are nonetheless united because we share in his spirit. But we should seek to be visibly united and united in truth and united in practice as well because we share in the gospel, we share in God's spirit with all other believers. So that is God's part, so to speak. But there is also a part, a responsibility of us that I put in quotes is our part. I put in quotes because it is not disconnected from God having a part in it, from God's strength in us by his spirit working in us this particular thing. But Paul's remedy, besides being our sharing together, our fellowship in the gospel and the spirit, he talks about that we are to have a shared attitude, a shared attitude, where to be of one mind about things. There should be a shared attitude in believers. This attitude is made up of three things that Paul discusses in these verses. The first thing, a, is humility, humility. God says to you, be humble. You who share in the gospel, who share in the spirit of God, be humble. This involves remembering a couple of things. First thing, you need to remember that all that you have, spiritual and just regular old stuff that you can do is a gift. Everything that you have, everything about you is a gift. Your life itself is a gift. The next breath you're about to take is a gift from God. The next beat of your heart is a gift from God. Abilities that you have physically, emotionally, in your mind, spiritually, they are all from God. We owe our complete existence. We are completely dependent upon God, sustaining us second by second in his providence. So if you're good at this and that and this, it's because God has given you gifts, not because you're great. Now you may have developed great skill. You may be great at something, but God calls us here to remember that the only reason we're great at something is because God has gifted us in that area or those areas. So we're to remember that and that gives us humility. Remember the sin of Nebuchadnezzar in the days of Daniel when he has stripped of his crown and turned into a lunatic for who knows how long? The reason that happens to him is because he's on his roof and he looks out on his kingdom and he thinks of all the kingdoms that he dominates besides Babylon and he says it's all because of me in my greatness. And when he says that, when he comes to that place in his heart where he has decided it is because I am so great that the kingdom of Babylon extends so greatly. The God humbles him and he goes out and he jumps strict when you remember that that that term that psychological condition where you bark at the moon? Yeah, like a dog. What's that? Yeah, like cancer. I've said that before in John. I forgot what it was like cancer. It's a psychological condition where you bark at the moon like a dog. And we don't see these people because they're in Dorothy of Dicks hospital now, but people used to see people like this out just running around and Nebuchadnezzar has that in his own life. And when he comes and Daniel tells him when you come to the place where you say I have been king and God has given my kingdom glory because God has placed me here and nothing else. Not because I am great, but because the God of Daniel's great, then God will return you to your throne and sure enough that happens. We remember that everything we have is a gift, but secondly to attain the humility needed for unity in the church, we must remember our own weaknesses and let's remember our own weaknesses. So when you think about yourself, the things that God has gifted you in, do those things and do them greatly to God's glory. We do them well for the sake of those who are around you, but don't think about how great you are. Think about your weaknesses and your needs and how you need others and how in the church you need your other brothers and sisters in Christ because you can't do it all. Paul talks about us as the church being a body and some of us are elbows and some of us are knuckles and some of us are knees and some of us are feet and some of us are heads and some of us are noses and we can't look at each other and say I have no need of you. Where would a nose be if he had no body beyond the ground, breathing for nothing? So when we think of ourselves, we remind ourselves I'm a weak person. I'm a person who sins. And so it makes no sense for me to be prideful. Secondly, this attitude is made up not only of humility, but it's made up of having regard for others. Having regard for others. That's your viewpoint there. God says to you this morning, regard others. Look out for their interests, as Paul says here in verse 4, not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. Consider others. This involves a couple of things. One involves considering others first. Before you do something, before you say something, before you take some action, consider how it's going to affect those that are around you. You know, I could do this and it could be a great result for me, but it would really harm this person and that person. God calls us to say, well, it's going to harm this person and that person, but don't do it. Consider others first. Not your own needs, not your own advantages, but others first. Secondly, it involves honoring others' strengths. So when we think about ourselves, we think about and remind ourselves of our weaknesses, but when we think about others, we think about their strengths. We think about how we need them. We highlight their strengths, before others, and to them. We delight in their strengths. We thank God for their strengths. Once, through the years, when I was in a church with a particular pastor, and every pastor has things that they do that they do very well, and things that they do that they're not so great at. But I remember thinking about this pastor in an area of strength that I had, he was not strong, and I had opportunity to criticize him, if I wanted to, but God doesn't call us to that. God calls us to highlight that person's strengths, and so when people even today ask me about this pastor, that's what I talk about. I say, so-and-so is the most compassionate, caring pastor I've ever met. And people know it, and people will stand in line 20 minutes after the service is over, so they can stand in his line, so they can talk to him. And when people go up to him, he kneels down and he talks with their children, and he knows all their children, 400 people in the church, he knows all the kids' names, and the kids hug them in all this. And that's his strength. And so we highlight those things, and that's exactly what we're supposed to do with each other. If we looked at each other's weaknesses, we could destroy each other right quick. It wouldn't take long. We've all got them. But what God calls us to in this passage, what He calls us to in the gospel, what He calls us to in all scripture, is to highlight the focus upon other people's strengths. To build them up to themselves, to build them up before others. Regarding for others, considering others first, kids, this involves considering how my actions, how my words will affect my parents. If I do this, how will my parents be affected? What will people think of my parents if I do this particular thing, if I say this particular thing? Parents, vice versa. What if I do this or say this, how will this affect my children? We think about this as well at work. How will this action, how will doing this task or not doing this task in this certain way affect those that are around me? So we think of others first, and when we think of them, we honor their strengths. Thirdly, Paul talks about in the spirit of God says to us here, to love and have compassion for other believers. This attitude that we're to have, this being of one mind, is to involve love and compassion for other believers. The scripture tells us, first Peter 4, love covers the multitude of sins. And I became aware of this when I was in my last year of being on staff with campus crusade for Christ. And I had a director that I in large part enjoyed and liked, but I saw some weaknesses. Of course, you can see weaknesses in everybody. And he even did some things against me, and I forget that worked serious things, and I forgave those things, but then he did something like the next week that just hit my button. And from then on out, in my mind, I was obliterating this guy and everything he said and did, and criticizing this guy in every weakness that he had. What went on there? I was no longer loving this guy was I. If I were loving this guy, that love I had for him would have covered a multitude of sins. I would have let him pass on his weaknesses. And that's the way we operate with people, isn't it? People that you really like if they make you late for something, or they show up late, or if they do something that has a negative effect on you, if you really like him, you don't care, do you? It's okay. You know, it's just, it's just Randy here. I can pick on Randy. Randy doesn't do anything that puts me out. But you overlook those things. Love covers a multitude of sins. And that's what we're to be doing, you're checking ourselves with in our day to day lines. If we start feeling critical about somebody, we're to stop right there and say, you know what, I'm not loving this person. Because if I were, love would be covering all these weaknesses here and there. But if I start criticizing this person, I know that love has gone. So Paul, by inspiration, the Holy Spirit brings love to the forefront. He says, have the same love, verse two, have the same love. Because he knows that if you love each other, Philippians, you will have unity. Because when you overstep each other or you transgress and you sin against each other, love will cover the multitude of sins. Whether the person asks for forgiveness or not. Now thirdly, this morning, this attitude, this attitude of humility, of regard for others and of love, which propels us, which brings us to unity, the attitude stems from a mature understanding of the gospel. Where do we get these things like humility? That's the most unnatural thing for us to have. We are not geared toward that. I'm not geared toward that. I remember going up to Thornow Road Elementary School, driving up, there's this big driveway where I was in fourth grade. And I was saying something and my sister said, you're really conceited. And I said, that's because I'm so great. And I meant it. That's the scary part. It's not natural for us. We've all seen a poster or heard that heard the saying, it's hard to be humble. What's the country saw? It's hard to be humble when you're as good as I am, something like that. That means we need to understand something that's very contrary to our nature. And that thing that's very contrary to our nature is the gospel. The gospel and understanding of that is what brings us to humility and understanding the gospel is what brings us to regard for others. And understanding of the gospel is what brings us to love and compassion for those that are around us, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. There are two tracks that this can follow. We've been talking in Philippians about two tracks. The gospel follows and how it aids us in our life. Track is on looking at what Christ did to accomplish the gospel for us. And we see the humility of Christ in emptying himself. We'll talk about this next week coming down from heaven and living as a man and allowing others to think that he's just a man. That's humility. We see this in Christ when it comes to earth and he regards others above his own needs and interests. Fasting, praying, even as just coming to earth was for the needs, not of himself, but because we needed a Savior. That's why I came to earth. He was regarding the needs of others before himself. And thirdly, there was the love of God that sent Christ in the first place. And in this attitude of love for us, Christ comes and obedience to his Father and rescues us from our sin. That's the example for us. That's the example of this attitude. What Christ did in coming to this earth was exemplary to us of humility, regard for others in love and compassion. But the gospel message also leads us in this direction of this attitude that we're to have. Because the gospel message declares all our sinful and separated from God. And so in embracing the gospel, we have to embrace humble pie. We have to say, I do not merit God's favor. I do not merit God's favor. God does not look down upon me and say, oh, that John, he's a good guy. Boy, if I could only have him on my team, that's not what God says. It's not what God has said. God has said, oh, that John, he is really sinful. And we embrace that about ourselves in the gospel. And this brings us humility, a recognition of our sin. The only reason I'm a Christian is because I have recognized my sin and even God brought about that recognition. Secondly, regarding others, we recognize that we've been regarded by God in the gospel. God looked down upon us when we didn't deserve it and who regarded us. That's the message of the gospel, a God who's regarding you who's considering your interest and your well-being. That's the message of the gospel. And so we look around us and we consider the well-being of others. That's a gospel thing to do. And then thirdly, loving compassion. The gospel is a declaration of God's love for us despite our sin in the midst of our sin. Therefore, we look around us. And all the sinful people around us who are sinning just like we are and we love them as God loved us in the gospel. I think Paul and the Holy Spirit do a great job here. Boy, what a treatise on unity. You want unity? You're not going to have it if people are concerned about themselves. Selfish ambition and vain conceit. If you have that when push comes to shove and someone has an opportunity to be honored and esteemed in front of everybody at the expense of somebody else putting somebody else under heal, that is going to happen with vain conceit and selfish ambition. But if you really want unity, you need humility, you need regard for others, you need love and compassion. And beyond all this, we recognize as we look at these things that this all makes sense because we are united in fact in the gospel. We are sharers in the gospel and we are sharers of the Spirit of God so it makes no sense whatsoever for us to be in disunity with each other. Let's pray. Our God and our Father, you are wise and stand and sit here in amazement at your wisdom as to how unity comes about. And this is unity that you long for us to have in the practical sense of this in our day-to-day lives in the church. You want the church to be unified because we are unified in the gospel and by your Spirit. Help us to show that in practical ways as we are united to each other through granting preference to each other, through being loving and compassionate to each other and through being humble in our own hearts, by your strength, by your Spirit. Bring this about in us and grant in us in our minds and our hearts a fervency for unity in the church. We ask this in Christ name. Amen.