And we come again to the second chapter of Paul's letter to the Philippians Let's turn there in our Bibles to Philippians chapter 2 Last week, we began to consider Christian unity in verse one. And this morning, we're going to continue on in that as we look at verses two through four. But I'm gonna begin reading in verse one and read through verse 11. So follow along as I read Philippians chapter two, verses one through 11. 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. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this 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, but emptied himself by taking on 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 at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. As we saw last week, Paul is really continuing to develop something that he started back in chapter one. In verse 27 of chapter one, he told the Philippians. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel. That is, only let your manner of life be consistent with or in accord with the gospel of Christ. Make sure that the way you live your life is in keeping with the goals and the purpose of the gospel. And then, a few verses later, in the first verse of chapter two, Paul begins with, so. And that's usually translated, therefore. It points us back to the point that Paul just made. Therefore, based on the instruction to let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel, Do this. The things that Paul instructs in chapter two build directly on this instruction from chapter one. To let your manner of life be consistent with the gospel of Christ. And he opens up in verse one by giving us four conditional statements. Four ifs. if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any comfort in love, if there's any participation in the Spirit and any affection and sympathy. Now, some of that may sound rather subjective to us, these conditions, encouragement, comfort, affection, sympathy. Those are kind of warm, fuzzy words that we often use to talk about our feelings. But that's not how Paul uses them. He is talking about objective, Benefit and as we saw last week, he's really referring to the gospel He's saying in verse 1 if you've experienced the gospel by the grace of the Lord Jesus and the Father and the Spirit If you've been born again, if your sins are forgiven, if you've been redeemed from the bondage of sin, if you have been adopted as God's sons, if the Holy Spirit is active in your life, sanctifying you, convicting you of the sin that remains, equipping you and applying the finished work of Christ in your life. If you've experienced the gospel and are experiencing the gospel and all the blessings that come with it, then this instruction is for you. So Paul began by saying, live your life in a way that's consistent with the gospel, and that is, by the way, the only command that we have in all of chapter one. Then he continues by saying, essentially, so if the gospel is, in fact, a reality in your life, then here's what you do. He says, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. We touched on this last week, how these two verses break down. In the first verse, which we just talked about, we have gospel. In the second verse, we have Paul's call for unity. And Paul wraps it all around his joy. Paul's joy is completed by the unity that is produced by the gospel. So this morning, we are going to focus on that unity. There are a couple of points that we want to make about unity right up front, about this unity that Paul is talking about. The first is something we just said, and that is that this unity comes from the gospel. So that's number one. This unity comes from the gospel. And there are a few implications to that. For instance, this is not a call to unity with everyone. With those who haven't experienced the gospel, who haven't received God's free gift of salvation, there is no basis for this unity. Now, that's not to say that we should not attempt to live in peace with them. Paul says in Romans 12, 18, if possible, as much as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. But this is talking about something much greater than that. And this unity is only possible with other believers because it comes from the gospel. The other implication of this unity coming from the gospel is that it's not something that we can conjure up ourselves. When you were a kid, and you were fighting with one of your siblings or with a classmate, and your parent or teacher said, you two just work it out. Well, that doesn't apply here. This isn't about working it out. You can't just figure this out. This kind of unity is only possible as the Holy Spirit applies the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life. The things that we're gonna talk about this morning, they are the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. They are the gospel being applied in your relationship with other believers. The next two points that I wanna make here both come from the fact that this kind of unity is an element of living your life in a manner worthy of the gospel. Any attempt at unity that is not worthy of the gospel, or that is in any way inconsistent with the gospel, is not the unity that God desires for us. So our second point is that this unity will not compromise holiness. The goal of the gospel is for you to be holy and blameless and above reproach before God. Paul says that explicitly in Colossians 1 verse 22. It says, He, that is Jesus, has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, that is, he died to redeem you. And the reason why he died to redeem you, according to this verse, is in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. Any call to unity that is not grounded in holiness or that is not blameless and above reproach is not the kind of unity that we are called to. That would not be a unity that is consistent with the goals of the gospel. We see this in Philippians chapter 1 as well. After telling us to let our life be worthy of the gospel, Paul goes on to say that this includes standing firm. Standing firm against what? For Paul, standing firm means standing firm against the schemes of the devil. standing firm against the bondage of sin, standing firm in the evil day. We must never relax our stand against sin, not even for the sake of what we imagine to be unity. And the third point regarding this unity is similar to the second. Paul says that this manner of life includes not only standing firm, but also striving for the faith of the gospel. Now, faith, in the way that Paul uses it here, doesn't mean belief in the gospel, although Paul would certainly advocate for that. But here, it means the truth of the gospel, the substance of the gospel. Paul is using faith in the same way that Jude used it when Jude wrote, the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. It means doctrine or the teaching, the truth about Jesus and the gospel. So the third point is this unity will not compromise doctrine. Now, that doesn't mean that we can only be unified in Christ with those that we agree with on every last point of doctrine. but it does mean that we should never abandon doctrine on any level for the sake of unity. We can disagree and yet remain committed to striving together toward truth, even on the issue that we currently disagree about, or perhaps especially on the issue that we disagree about. Those points of doctrine that may tend to divide don't need to always be the center of attention every time we gather. We may be able to table them for a time in order to focus on other truths for our edification and for God's glory, but we must never agree to disagree on some revealed truth about God. Now this is important, these three truths about the unity that Paul calls us to, really that God calls us to. It is a unity that comes from the gospel. It will not compromise on holiness and it will not compromise on doctrine. Many of the calls for unity that we hear today, calls for unity for the church, or at least for the so-called church, they come from the liberal ecumenical types. They say that they want everybody included, but in order to accomplish that, They try to eliminate everything that could possibly offend anybody. But look at who they are and what they do. They reject the gospel, at least the true gospel, the gospel that deals with man's sin, because the idea that we're guilty of anything is offensive to a lot of people. And then they replace that true gospel with a social gospel. A false gospel that seeks to solve societal problems without addressing the real fundamental problem of man's fallen nature. Of man's alienation from God based on man's sin. And when it comes to holiness, they don't just compromise, they embrace and even champion some of the most unholy practices imaginable. Things that are an affront to God. And, of course, they advocate a complete abandonment of any kind of doctrinal distinctives. They continue to cast a wider and wider doctrinal net to the point where they have completely rejected any concept of objective truth. And so those calls for unity have nothing in common with what Paul calls us to here. So recognizing that, let's dig into our text and find out what Paul does call us to. In verse one, Paul gave us those four conditional statements, those four ifs. Here in verse two, he gives us four responses. If you've experienced Christ's objective blessing, the Father's love, the Spirit's fellowship, all by the grace and mercy of God, Then Paul says, do these four things, or perhaps be these four things. And the first one is being of the same mind. Now, it might be tempting here, in light of some of the things that we've just considered regarding gospel and doctrine, to think that what Paul is saying to the Philippians is that they need to agree on the doctrine that he taught them. Well, that certainly would have been Paul's position, but that's not what he's saying here. For one thing, the Philippians already accepted Paul's teaching. They were doctrinally sound. That is not the issue that Paul is trying to correct or prevent here. The word mind. It's the same word that Paul uses a few verses later in verse 5. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. or perhaps a better translation is, which is also in Christ Jesus. Now, other versions of the Bible translate mind attitude. Complete my joy by having the same attitude. Have this attitude among yourselves, which is also in Christ Jesus. Now, I'm not gonna go into a lot of detail here, because that's next week's message. In the verses following, verse five, Paul holds up Jesus as the ultimate example of this attitude. Jesus, who was God and is God, humbled himself, making himself a servant, a man, and was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. That is the attitude that Paul wants us to have. He's not saying, here, hold certain beliefs. He's saying, have this mentality, this way of thinking, this attitude. The second response to the gospel in our lives, as it relates to our relationship with others, is to have the same love. It's clear that the kind of unity that Paul desires for the Philippians, and really for all believers, is not merely cold theological agreement. That's not what Paul was calling them to hear. John Calvin, in his commentary on this passage, he wrote, the beginning of love is harmony of views. But that is not sufficient unless men's hearts are, at the same time, joined together in mutual affection. The Philippians had a harmony of views. They believed the same things. But there were rivalries starting to form. Later on in the letter, Paul addressed two women who were having a hard time getting along. Not because of doctrine, but because they weren't loving each other in the way that they needed to. The word love here is agape, as you probably guessed. It's a love that is not just about having warm feelings for each other. This love is a commitment to the well-being of another person, and it manifests itself in action. The third response to the gospel in our lives that we are called to is full accord, being in full accord. Other translations, like the legacy standard, have it united in spirit. It's just one word in the original, but it's a compound word. The prefix is sim, which means together or united. And then the word psyche, which in Greek means soul or spirit. So united in spirit makes a lot more sense here than in full accord. But to really understand what Paul is saying, look a little further down in the chapter to verses 19 and 20. This is also in the legacy standard because I think it conveys the meaning a bit better. Paul writes, but I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly so that I also may be in good spirits when I learn of your circumstances. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned about your circumstances. The phrase kindred spirit translates a similar word here. Once again, the root is psyche. It has a little bit different prefix this time, but it captures what Paul is saying in verse 2. Paul and Timothy are kindred spirits, in that they share the same concerns, but on a deep, soul-anchored level. And Paul is telling the Philippians that they should be kindred spirits with each other. So think about Paul and Timothy. Why are they kindred spirits? Are they just two guys that happened to click? Or maybe it's that they both just happened to be genuinely concerned about the Philippians, and that that is the basis of their spirits being united. No, it's the gospel. It's the gospel that knits together their spirits. The gospel is the key. Both Paul and Timothy have experienced the gospel, and they partner together in it. And Timothy's specific concern for the Philippian church arises from his relationship with Paul, not the other way around. I think it's similar to the relationship that I have, and I know many of you have, with Gary and Mary. A year ago, I had no particular concern, or even awareness really, of the area and the people that they've been involved with, and that they're going to be traveling to, to minister next month. They just weren't on my radar at all. But Gary's a brother in Christ. And he and I and a few more of you men get together every Tuesday morning and we study God's word together. And it is the gospel that binds us together. And more and more we become kindred spirits. And the burdens that God lays on one heart, in this case for a particular people, become the burdens of all our hearts. And I know it's not just the men in that Bible study. It's many of the rest of you as well. We've become genuinely concerned about their circumstances, these people in this other part of the world, and especially their spiritual circumstances. So now I pray for those people, and I'm delighted that we, as a body here, can partner with Gary and Mary in their ministry to those people. But we, the rest of us, we didn't come to this concern independent of them. It's because we are kindred spirits, together partakers of God's grace in the gospel. That is what Paul is describing here. That's what he wants for the Philippians. That's what we all need to have among all of us. That's the thing. That the thing that concerns you also concerns me because it concerns you. And we're knit together in spirit because of the gospel. The term full accord just doesn't quite capture that. Now it makes sense that Paul prefaced this back in verse one with his appeal to the gospel. If you've experienced the gospel expressed in these various ways that Paul presented it there. Those of you who've experienced the gospel should have this attitude. You should have a love for one another and you should be kindred spirits who share each other's concerns. And one more response that Paul lists here, that we should be of one mind. Now this may sound pretty similar to the first response, being of the same mind, and it is, it's similar. It's the same word in a slightly different form. But where same mind focused on your attitude, one mind has more a sense of purpose. These other responses, attitude, love, kindred spirits, they should produce common goals. We share the same purpose. The things that are important to one of us are important to the rest of us, and we act on it. So, only let your manner of life be worthy of or consistent with the gospel of Christ. And that must play out in your relationships with other believers, with those who belong to Christ. So if you've experienced the gospel, then have this attitude and love each other and be kindred spirits sharing the same concerns and join each other in purpose. This is the response to the gospel that we are called to as it relates to our relationship with other believers. This is what it means to be worthy of the gospel of Christ. So in the next two verses, Paul elaborates. In verse three, he says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. The word for selfish ambition wasn't a common word before it was used in the New Testament. In fact, the only place that we find it written before the New Testament was in Aristotle, and that was a few hundred years earlier. Aristotle used this word to describe a dishonest politician who used unfair means to gain a political office and then abused that office for his own illegitimate profit. Well, when Paul uses it here, he's broadened the meaning beyond just the political sense. But the essence is still trying to gain something that you don't deserve. Trying to take for yourself more than you are due. The ambition itself isn't the problem. It's not wrong to seek something, or even to be in competition for something. It's not wrong to work towards some end, or some reward. If you're an athlete, if you're turning out for football, and you hope to be the starting quarterback, or you're being considered for a promotion at work, along with several other candidates. It's not selfish ambition to work hard to try to win those positions, even if you'd have to beat somebody else out in order to do it. as long as you earn what you get. It's not selfish ambition to work hard in order to achieve success. At whatever vocation or avocation you apply yourself to. become selfish ambition when you start taking shortcuts, particularly at someone else's expense, or when you seek an unfair advantage, or when you use dishonest means, when you try to take more than what is rightfully yours. Selfish ambition never asks what's right or what's fair. Selfish ambition only asks, how much can I get for myself by any means that I can? Conceit is an elevated sense of self-worth. If selfish ambition wants more for myself than I deserve, conceit thinks that I actually do deserve it. And selfish ambition and conceit often go together, where the conceit then is the justification that people give themselves for their selfish ambition. even though I had to cheat to get it, it's okay, because I really deserved it in the first place. The word is often translated empty conceit. The word is actually a compound word that literally means empty glory. In fact, the King James Version translates it vainglory. The sense is that it insists upon glory and honor for itself. But the claim is empty. There's no substance to it. Paul says, do nothing from these motivations. But he provides an alternative that is the opposite of selfish ambition and conceit. Humility. Now next week, if the Lord wills, we're going to look at the Lord's example of humility. So I'm not going to go into a lot of depth here. I believe the best way for us to understand true humility is to look at the Lord's example. But I will say that humility Biblical humility is not the aw shucks routine that it often gets made out to be It's not merely saying the right things when somebody compliments you or restraining from bragging or boasting that may be part of what a humble person does but it's just Scratching the surface and we'll leave it at that for now. I Paul continues on. He says, count others more significant than yourselves. There are two words that we really need to look at here in order to parse what Paul is saying. First, Count. Now this is sometimes translated regard, but count is probably better here, because the word has a sense of being an accurate assessment, and count suggests that. Paul is not telling you to blindly believe something that isn't plausible. Now earlier, I used being up for a promotion at work as an example. If you truly and objectively believe that you're the best person for the job, Paul is not telling you to think differently or to act otherwise. That is not what it means to count others more significant than yourselves. And the word significant? This is the same word that Paul uses later in the letter, in chapter 3, verse 8. There he says, indeed, I count everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Surpassing worth is the same word as significant in chapter two. Now, we have a tendency to magnify the things that we consider to be meaningful that we do or noteworthy that we do And at the same time, we tend to be dismissive of the things that others do. We're quick to add up our own contributions, but we're slower to do so with those of others. Paul is saying, do the opposite of that. Be quick to credit something to someone else's account. Give them the benefit of the doubt, the benefit that you usually reserve for yourself. He's not saying be unrealistic, but be generous. Celebrate their accomplishments as quickly or even more so than you do your own. Be quick to point out what others do well and spend more time focusing on those things. And finally, just briefly, verse four, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Look to the interest of others. The word for look here is not the typical word for looking or seeing. In fact, this is the only time that this word appears in the New Testament. But it is in the Old Testament, at least in the Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint. And it has the idea, not just of seeing, but of watching for something, of looking out for something. It's often used in its noun form as someone who watches, or a watchman, as in Ezekiel 33. Starting in verse 2, God says to Ezekiel, Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, if I bring the sword upon the land and the people of the land take a man from among them and make him their watchman, that's the word right there or a form of it, the watchman. And then God goes on to say how the watchman watches for danger and sounds the alarm when it comes. He watches out for the interests of other people. This is essentially the church's neighborhood watch program. We are as concerned about our neighbor's interests as we are our own. It's what Jesus said when he was asked, who is my neighbor? And then Jesus responded with the parable of the Good Samaritan. When your neighbor has a need, as the man in the parable did, when he was attacked by robbers, you respond to that need just as you would to your own need. That is what it should look like, to look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interest of others. But it really comes back to this. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. In all that you do, including in your relationships with other believers, nothing is more important than living in such a way that is consistent with the gospel. Adopt an attitude consistent with the gospel. The attitude that Jesus modeled for us. Love each other with the love that was manifested in the gospel. Be knit together in your spirits by the gospel. And be united in purpose. The purpose determined by the gospel. And may it be that when people look at Trinity Bible Church, they see a body of believers who are of the same mind, who have the same love, who are of full accord and the same mind for the sake of the gospel and the glory of God. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, make it so we recognize that we are completely incapable of doing this. Left to our own devices, we are sinful people. But in Christ, Father, in Christ, by your Holy Spirit applying His finished work in our lives, we have hope to be the people that you've called us to be, to be holy and blameless and above reproach before you. So Father, make that true. And this morning, make it especially true in our relationships with each other. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.