2, and we'll look briefly at verses 1 to 4. The Apostle writes, Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Now, we want to see at least three things in this little section. We'll see that there is a call to unity. And then secondly, that we can learn something about developing unity. And then thirdly, that the Apostle gives us some motivations for unity. And we want to take each of these in turn. And we'll see first that there is a call to unity. And Paul says in verses one and two that if there is any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, then fulfill my joy by being like-minded. have the same love, be of one accord and of one mind. Now, if there was any problem in the Philippian church, then it was probably this matter of unity. This was a very encouraging church, and there is a real note of joy in the epistle, as you will surely have noticed. But the need for unity is something that is touched on in every chapter. In verse 27 of chapter 1, Paul says, only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Chapter 2 and verse 3 we have looked at. Chapter 3 and verse 16. The apostle says, nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind. And then you have the situation in chapter four, in verse two, I implore Yodiah and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And so Paul seems to have a particular concern with regard to this area and urges this upon them. And so I say that if there is any problem in Philippi, if there is any potential issue, then it is this matter of unity. And Paul then urges this upon them. He says, now things are going well, and there is much that I can be thankful for, and you folk are a delight to me. But make sure that you keep standing fast in one mind. Make sure that nothing divides you. Make sure that no particular problem rises in significance and in prominence so as to divide you asunder and therefore hinder your fellowship and hinder your work. Now, a lack of unity, the lack of oneness is almost a given when you look at the world. When you consider society around us, we're not surprised to see conflict, not surprised to see animosity of one sort or another. Conflict is almost the order of the day. We just have to look at our own country. One of the newspapers yesterday dubbed 2005 the year of the gun. And we hear of people shooting one another and murdering one another. And then we look at the world around us and we see people doing terrible things to one another. And then, extraordinarily, they fight amongst themselves to claim credit for those dastardly deeds. And you think, what kind of sickness is it that grips the human heart? And, of course, the Bible makes it clear what the fundamental problem was. And I don't know if it's ever occurred to me in the past, It struck me this week as I was thinking about the American Revolution that the first real battle of the American Revolution when they rebelled against England, the very first battle took place at a place called Concord. And Concord, as you know, means peace and means harmony. And so the first gunshot is fired, the first real battle is fought at that place. And it strikes you that there is something of a picture in that. And man has hopes for all kinds of things and man has aspirations about unity and becoming one and a brotherhood of man. And Lennon sings about, imagine this, a brotherhood of man. And it all comes crashing down in a blaze of gunfire. And we won't find unity like this in the world. We won't find real brotherhood. And so we're not surprised to see conflict in the world. But the sad thing is that we often find it in the church. We often find it amongst the people of God. And you don't have to go any further than the Scriptures. You don't have to read past Corinthians to know that there within the body of Christ you have conflict. There amongst the people a blood-bought children of God. You have division and you have strife, and you have people saying, well, I belong to this group, and I belong to that group, and I'm part of the special group that is above and beyond these other groups, and proud as peacocks about who they represent and who they are. And it's sad to see that kind of strife, and Paul's concerned about that. He doesn't want to see that kind of thing happening in Corinth, to be sure, and he doesn't want it here either. And there's so much wonderful going on here. And he wants to warn them about this. He wants to encourage them. That's what exhortation is. He wants to exhort them in a particular direction. And he says, now you make sure that you're of one mind. You make sure that you're together and that you're not being divided by anything. The Lord has put you together in the body. Stay together. He says, for instance, They're to make sure that they're of one mind. Fulfill my joy by being like minded. And they notice at the end of that verse, it says of one mind. That's the same word. It's phrased a little differently because the grammatical structure is a little different, but it's the same word. And so you can see how earnest he is about this. Make sure you're of one mind. He's not saying, of course, that we need to become clones, that we need to be identical in terms of how we think about absolutely everything. We are not supposed to be computers who just have one program and we all spit out the same thing all the time. That's not what he's talking about. He's not talking about robots, but he's talking about the fact that as Christians, we're really on the same page. About the important things, and the fundamental things, and about truth, we're really on the same page. We think about these things along biblical lines, because you see, what's happening in the church is that the Word of God is being taught, and it is being studied, and as we teach it and preach it, and as we seek to absorb it and be influenced by it, we are, as some writers have said, trying to think God's thoughts after Him. And so all of us together are being influenced by the Scriptures, and we're starting to think like God. We're starting to think God's thoughts after Him. And our minds, and our perspective, and our priorities are being influenced by biblical truth. So increasingly, we are of one mind. We're increasingly starting to think from God's perspective. We're increasingly thinking from a biblical vantage point. We're increasingly Bibline. in our perspective. That's the kind of thing that Paul is talking about. We're starting to think alike on these key and fundamental issues of life and of biblical perspective. And so we say, now, fulfill my joy. That's the kind of thing I want to see, to see you of one mind. John says that he has no greater joy than to see his children walking in the truth. That's the same kind of thing. to see the children of God, you and I, walking in the truth. Our lives and our perspectives all being increasingly conformed to the truth. So he says, be of one mind. He wants you to have one mind. He wants us to have one love. Fulfilling my joy by being like-minded and having the same love, the same holy passion filling our souls and moving us forward. and directing us onward, and captivating us, and moving us to do whatever God sets before us in His strength and for His glory. You see, what that passion is and what that love is, is a love for the Lord. What binds us together is one love. We love the Lord. You see, Christianity is not just Do's and don'ts. Sometimes young people think that Christianity is just a massive drag because it's do's and don'ts and it's miserable. And my friends, you don't understand it if that's what you think about Christianity. Those of us who are Christians know that what Christianity is about is the fact that we now, by the grace of God, have come to absolutely love Him. And that's what drives us and that's what moves us. And it's the love of Christ that constrains us to live for Him and to serve Him. That's why we do what we do. That's why we gather together. That's why we serve. That's why we teach in the Sunday school class. That's why these people work in clubs. That's why we do all kinds of things in this church, much of which is unseen by human eyes. But we do it because we love the Lord. And it's that passion that binds us together. It is that passion to see Him glorified. Why do we live? Well, it's to glorify the Lord. Why do we serve? It's to glorify Him. We want in our lives and in the lives of those to whom we minister, we want to see the Lord honored and glorified. Some of you are not Christians. We want to see you saved. We want to see you saved because, well, that's for your good, but also and especially because in that way you'll glorify God. And that's our great concern as well. And so it's that passion, Paul says, let that grip every one of you. One love. And then one soul. You see, be of one accord, verse 2. Be of one accord. It's talking about having one soul, really. Being one at the level of the soul. Being of one accord. One writer says, acting as if one soul actuated them. So the different individuals in the church, they're acting as if there was one soul guiding them and moving them. Perhaps you've seen a movie called Awakenings. I know some of the young people have. And you remember Robert De Niro, who has, there are some problems that he has. And as a result, he walks in such a way that he doesn't have control over his body. And so different parts of the body are moving at different times and in different ways. And you realize what a problem that is. And it's sad to see. And so the different parts are moving almost independently. When there is not a problem, then you see people moving and the different parts of the body moving in harmony and moving properly and well-coordinated. That's how the church ought to move. as if there is one soul actuating them, moving the different parts. That's what Paul's talking about. Not the different parts of the body moving independently and unconcerned about everybody else and disregarding what everybody else is doing. No, working together, working in harmony, and working together for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he says, make my joy complete by having one mind, by having one love and by having one soul actuating all that goes on in the context of the church. And so Paul says, let that be the case amongst you. Oh, that God would so work that you are, wow, you're working like a well-oiled machine. May that be the case. May that be the case that you're not only a well-oiled machine, but you're a peaceful family. May that be the case. And may there be a harmonious and peaceful working relationship amongst the people of God in this place. So, what we have here then, first of all, is a call to unity. Secondly, we have some guidance as to developing unity. And if we're going to develop unity and know unity, then there are things that we must avoid and there are things that we must have. Well, what must we avoid? First of all, avoid selfish ambition, verse 3. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. So avoid selfish ambition. It means contention. It means strife. It means someone who is motivated by self-interest. He is mercenary. You know, people who approach things and it's in a mercenary fashion. We always joke about people who buy something, buy a Christmas present for somebody else because they're hoping that That's something that they could use. And we say that there's something mercenary about that, because they're always thinking about themselves. That's the kind of thing Paul's talking about there. Avoid selfish ambition. So you look at someone who's always blowing his own horn. And that's the kind of thing that he's talking about. Because in this word, it has the idea of someone who is promoting himself so that other people will vote for him. He talks about people in a public office. They're running for public office and they're promoting themselves and they're blowing their own horn so that other people will vote for them. Selfish ambition. And Paul says that kind of thing has nothing to do with the church. It has no place in the church. You don't promote yourself. If you come to the Scriptures and you look at someone like Diotrephes, John talks about Diotrephes, what's he like? Well, he loves the preeminence. He wants the spotlight on him. And if you look at Diotrephes, you see selfish ambition embodied. And Paul says, let that not be named even among you. That has no place in your fellowship. So avoid that. And then avoid conceit. Avoid conceit. This is boasting. And really, it's empty pride, because here's someone who is proud, and he's boasting, and he's blowing his own horn, and really, he has absolutely no reason. And there's really nothing in him or her to be proud about, but there they are, and they're puffing themselves up, and they're sticking their chest out, and thinking themselves to be such wonderful individuals. And Paul says, well, that has no place in the church either. And if you want to see that kind of thing lived out, you go back to Matthew chapter six. And Jesus says there, take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them. Otherwise, you have no reward from your father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. That's conceit. That's the kind of thing Paul's talking about. And what they want is they want to win praise from people for their religiosity, that is, for their good deeds. And Paul says that kind of thing has no place in the church. And then they want to win the praise of men for their spirituality. He says that later on in Matthew chapter 6, because what did the Pharisees do? Well, they not only did charitable deeds to get glory, but they fasted and they prayed. to get glory. And so people want praise for their religiosity, for the things they do. And then they want praise for their spirituality. They want to be seen as pious, as godly. And Paul says that kind of thing has no place in the church. So avoid selfish ambition and avoid conceit. And these things must be avoided because imagine You go over to chapter 4 and verse 2. Imagine selfish ambition and conceit in this situation. There you have Jodiah and Syntyche, and there is something that is troubling these two people. And Paul in verse 3 says, help these women who labored with me. But he says to them that you ought to be of the same mind in the Lord. But imagine selfish ambition and conceit brought to bear on this situation manifested in this circumstance. Imagine your dire and syntyche and imagine that both of them refused to see any fault in themselves. Or they refused to forgive sins that had been committed against them. Or they refused to forget what has been done to them. Or they refused to yield. Or there's a desire to be vindicated and to be proven right, and a desire to get people on their side and build a party spirit. And there's a forgetfulness about Ephesians chapter 4 and how that malice and bitterness will grieve the spirit and that it will affect the body. And so you see selfish ambition and conceit in a situation like that, and how it can have such a terrible effect on a church. The Wonder Paul says, look, I call you to be of one mind, of one soul, one heart, one love, so get rid of selfish ambition, get rid of conceit. So there are things to be avoided. And then there are things that we must have if we're going to cultivate unity. We have to have, first of all, a common allegiance. Verse 2, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and one mind. Well, we have to have a common allegiance. Dr. Lloyd-Jones in his commentary in this section talks about the war, talks about World War II, and talks about people in the bomb shelters, you know, when the bombs would be raining down upon London town and people would be gathering together in the shelters, and they're from all kinds of different backgrounds, from different classes, because remember how firmly entrenched the classes were. And there they are in those situations, and there they are helping one another, regardless of background. There they are protecting one another. There they are giving a cup of water to someone in need. Those types of things. And they're working together because The great concern is that we're in this war together. There is a common enemy, and there is a battle in which we are engaged, and we are on one side, and so we're helping one another. And all these differences that perhaps in the 30s would have been significant, and perhaps then in the 50s also would be significant, but in the time of battle, we put them aside. And there is a common allegiance. Well, you and I, we're not protecting a little island. And our enemy really is a spiritual enemy. And we're fighting a spiritual battle. But the point is that that's what we're doing. We have a common allegiance. We are serving the Lord Christ. We are soldiers in the Lord's army. We are concerned to win souls. We're concerned together in this battle to glorify the Lord. We have a common cause. We have a common goal. And so, whatever differences there might be with us and between us, well, we put that aside. They really have no great importance, no great significance at all. Here we are, and what our concern is, is to see our church built up numerically. We want to see sinners saved. And we want to see the church built up spiritually. We want to see the saints edified. That's the mandate that's given to us by the Scriptures. That's the job God gave us. And in that way, to glorify Him, to praise His name and to live for His honor. That's why we're here. We're not here to promote myself and you're not here to promote yourself. We're here to honor Christ. We're here to do His Word and do His work. And we're here so that in every aspect of our life together as Christians, God will be glorified. So we have a common allegiance and we have a humble attitude. We have a humble attitude. He says, fulfill my joy by being like-minded and of one mind, but then let nothing be done through selfish ambition, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Each of you looking out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others. Well, this is modesty. This is humility. This is willing to take second place. This is a refusal to promote yourself. It's the very opposite of the kinds of things he mentioned earlier on. It's the very opposite of the selfish ambition and the conceit. Here is someone who is willing to be out of the spotlight, willing to do whatever needs to be done for the glory of God. I ran across this little piece of poetic doggerel that said, it takes more grace than I can tell to play the second fiddle well. Well, the fellow who is lowly of mind, he can do that. He doesn't care as long as it honors Christ, as long as it's useful for the kingdom. Let me do whatever I can do for the honor of my Savior. And as a result, he sees himself in a humble state. He sees himself before God. God is exalted and he humbles himself before the Lord. Let each esteem others better than themselves. It's not to say that we ignore the ways in which God has gifted others and the way in which God has gifted ourselves. No, but we're always looking at what is prominent in someone else, and we're always thankful for the gifts that God has given somebody else. We're not promoting ourselves. We're looking at other people and thankful for the ways in which the Lord has blessed them and uses them and gifted them. And then we're concerned not just about ourselves, There are legitimate concerns we need to take care of in our own situation, but we're concerned about the interests of others. You see, when there's selfish ambition and when there's conceit, you're all just turned inward, aren't you? You're self-absorbed. It's always navel-gazing, looking at yourself. But the one who is lowly of mind, well, he's concerned about God's glory, and he's looking out for other people. That's the great focus. And we're going to see that embodied and exemplified in the example of Christ. And so Paul says, this is the way it ought to be. You ought to be people really who are living for others. You're concerned to appreciate the giftedness of other people, and you're concerned to minister to the interests of other people. You're really living for other people. You see the contrast, the selfish ambition and the conceit. It's self-absorbed. But the way it ought to be is to be concerned about others and thankful for their gifts and concerned about their needs. And so Paul says, cultivate that kind of thing. And there ought to be this common allegiance and there ought to be this humble attitude. And where you have this, where you have the putting to death of pride and where you have a concern for the glory of God and where that's the common attitude of the people. Well, that's what you have. You have unity. I'm deeply thankful to God. I do believe that He has blessed us with that type of unity over the years. I think we ought to be very thankful for that. And from time to time in the Christian life, you see situations in churches where that just is not the case. And folks, to see To see Christian churches absolutely torn apart is grievous. And to see Christians wounded and recovering years later because of the strife and the conflict in the context of local churches is grievous. And so if we have a real measure of this unity, we ought to be so profoundly thankful to God. and we ought to be so fervently prayerful to God that He will preserve this, and that He will give us these kinds of graces in an ongoing way, helping us to put aside those things and avoid the selfish ambition and conceit, and cultivate this lowliness of mind and this concern for others, and ultimately this concern for the glory of God, so that these graces will be present in our fellowship, that it might be useful for the preserving of the unity of the Spirit, in the bond of peace. So there you see something about developing unity. We want to pray that the Lord will bless us to that end. And then lastly, the motivation toward unity. What is it that motivates us to strive for unity? Well, notice what Paul says in verse 1. Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, If any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like-minded." So you see all the ifs there in verse 1. If you have experienced these things, then make sure you live in light of it. As Dr. Carson says, the argument in brief is this. If you have experienced a number of important and delightful Christian blessings, then this is the entailment. you must act in such and such a manner. So, if you have experienced these things in verse 1, then live accordingly. If you have experienced and been blessed by these things, then live accordingly. Live in light of what Paul is talking about in verse 1. If you have experienced the consolation in Christ. Is there any consolation in Christ? Is there any comfort, any exhortation, anything that consoles you because you're in Christ? Well, the answer is, of course. Imagine you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are united to Him. Imagine that when God thinks of you, He thinks of Christ. When God looks upon you, He sees Christ. When he considers you, he recognizes someone who is clothed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. You are someone who was chosen in Christ. You were united to Christ. You died with Christ. You were buried with Him. You rose with Him. And you will be glorified in Him. And you will be with Him forever. You are someone who is in Christ. And so Paul says, look, if there's any consolation in Christ, is there any benefit to you because you're in Christ? There's infinite benefit. What about comfort of love? Have you experienced, as a Christian, any comfort of love? Are you gripped by the fact that you've been loved with an everlasting love? That God in eternity placed His affections upon you? That you've been chosen and predestinated in love? And that God's love has been gracious and generous to overflowing So much so that He sends His Son. So much so that the Son dies for us. Even the death of the cross, Philippians chapter 2. And then that love of God poured out into the hearts of His people overflows into the lives of those around them. And so you and I have experienced the love of Christ through His people as well. We don't just look at the cross. We know that there ultimately is the great demonstration of love. but we see it in our relationships one with another. Is there then any comfort of love? Well, absolutely. What about fellowship of the Spirit? 1 John says that we have fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with the Spirit. Our fellowship is with the Trinity. And then together, all of us who are in Christ with one Father, with one elder brother, with one Spirit who lives within us, We have fellowship one with another and all of us together with Christ. Is there any joy in that? And then what about affection and mercy? In your Christian experience, have you enjoyed the affection and the mercy of God? Indeed, the Lord has reached out to you. He has plucked you up out of the miry clay and he has set your feet upon the rock. He has loved you when there was nothing lovely about you. He shed His blood for you when you were an enemy. The Lord has been kind and He's been gracious to you. And then part of the privilege of being in the body of Christ is that that love, that mercy, that affection, well, there's a faint reflection of it in the body of Christ as well. And there are times when our jaws drop at the kindness and the affection and the compassion of brothers and sisters in Christ. And you see what Paul's saying. He's saying, if you've experienced this, have you known something of it? Have you tasted and seen how good God is? Have you enjoyed this? The consolation in Christ, the comfort of love, the fellowship of the Spirit, the affection, the mercy. Look, you've known that. and be of one mind, and work together, and serve together, and put aside the selfish ambition, and distance yourself from the conceited, and together seek the glory of your God, and together seek the interests of others, and together serve so that Christ might be honored. We look at children, you know, when they're little and they're bickering and they're arguing. And we talk to them and we explain to them who they are. And we tell them that we don't do this in this family. And this is how we do things. And we say, now you go and you play nice. Paul is saying to the Philippians, you go and you play nice. You work nice. You work together. If you've experienced all of these things, what a wonderful thing, what a delight to be in the family of God. Now, if you've known that, you go and you work together, and you serve together in this world in such a manner as is in keeping with who you are, as is in keeping with the grace and the kindness and the love of Christ. And then realize that where this really takes place Paul exhorts these things, realized that where this really becomes a reality is at the foot of the cross. Listen to Dr. Lloyd-Jones. He says, I am told that I am to esteem others better than myself. There's only one thing that can make me do that, and it's this. When I read the Bible, I see the sinful nature that is in me. I see my failures. I see my shortcomings. And even then, there is a tendency in me to defend them. There is only one thing I know of that puts me on the ground. It's to look at the sun and especially to contemplate the cross. When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, my richest gain I count but loss and poor contempt and all my pride. So you see, Paul says, I want you to be one. So put aside the selfish ambition, put aside the conceit, be lowly of mind, concerned about others, and really where that kind of thing happens is at the cross. We see that, we say, Lord, I want to be that kind of person that Paul's talking about there. Where is it going to happen? It happens at the foot of the cross, because when you contemplate the cross, When you gaze upon the Son giving His life for you, there isn't any place for selfish ambition. There isn't any place for conceit. There's every reason for lowliness of mind. And when you see His self-giving, His selflessness, His gracious, sacrificial love, you say, well, that's the kind of love we must have. That's the kind of love we want to have. That's what we want to have characterize us in our dealings one with another and in our service in this world. And so, what are we going to do if we want to put this into practice? Well, we're going to survey the wondrous cross on a regular and constant basis. That's why Paul goes on in verse 5 to say, let this mind be in you. Let me tell you about Jesus. I want you to be this kind of person. Now, let me give you the example. And He comes down from glory and He comes down to the cross. Let that mind be in you. And that's going to be the key. If we're going to continue to know unity and have the graces that will cultivate that, we must never stray from the cross. And we must always contemplate the Christ of that cross. Shall we pray? We thank you, God, our Father, for the exhortation and the command of the Apostle. And we pray, Lord God, that by your grace, we will indeed be those who put aside selfish ambition. We will indeed be those, Lord, who are walking humbly before you and in humble fellowship with you and with your people. concerned and captivated by this one holy passion for the saving of souls and for the sanctifying of your people and for the glory and honor and praise of your holy name. Lord, bless us to this end, we pray, that we might in all things honor and glorify your name. We ask for Jesus' sake. Amen.