Turning your Bibles to Philippians chapter 4, we'll be reading verses 1-3. Philippians 4 verses 1-3, this is not man's word, this is the very word of the living God. Therefore my beloved brethren, whom I long to see, my joy and crown, So stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. I urge Yodia, I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are written in the book of life. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen. Be seated, please, and let's go again to prayer to seek God's blessing on the hearing and preaching of his word. Lord, your word is truth itself. You are truth, O God. And you've given us a word of truth, the revelation of Holy Scripture. So we ask now that you would, once again, by your Spirit's ministry in our hearts, enable us to hear your word with prophet. And would you cause its preaching to go forth in the demonstration of the Holy Spirit's power? We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. There have been occasions in my pulpit ministry to this congregation. Over the last nearly 20 years. When the spirit has led me to preach sermons on the matter of Christian unity. Because of the presence of disunity. In this local body. Thankfully, that's not the occasion for this sermon. The Lord has given a sweet spirit of unity to this congregation for a good season now. We should pray that the Lord would continue that season of unity. But there are other times when the Lord, by His Spirit, has led me to preach what we might call preemptive sermons on the importance of unity as a way of reminding the church of the danger of disunity. If you've been in the corporate prayer meetings of our congregation, you don't have to guess what prompted this sermon. There are several churches in our presbytery where matters of disunity are looming large and threatening to disrupt the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of those congregations. Is very near and dear. To our hearts. The Apostle Paul isn't. addressing the matter of disunity preemptively in his letter to the church at Philippi, but because disunity was indeed a very clear and present danger in the life of that congregation. When he writes the therefore of chapter 4 and verse 1, he has in mind the contrast that he's just laid out in chapter 3, verses 17 to 21, between the like-mindedness, rather the earthly-mindedness of false teachers who were threatening the church and the heavenly character of the saints' citizenship. And so in view in chapter 3, verse 17 to 4, verse 3 are two looming threats to the unity of the church of Jesus Christ. False teaching. and disunity, division in the church. Both are threats to the heavenly character of the church of Jesus Christ. Now, it may seem that disunity would be the least of these two given threats in the church. After all, what harm could possibly come from a squabble between two women in the congregation at Philippi. Sometimes I think we view the preservation of the unity of the church, the seriousness of that preservation, the seriousness, the urgency of the unity, not in theory, but in practice. I think we sometimes view it like those pieces of junk mail that we get in in our mailboxes that have the word urgence stamped across it in large red letters. I don't know about you, but I don't pay any attention at all to those go straight into the recycle file. One Prominent theologian has written, Christian fellowships are often at their worst when dealing with differences. In some ways, biblical based churches find it easier to deal with false teaching than they do with differences in the local body of Christ. Deregard threats against the unity of the church. as being just as serious as false teaching in the church of Jesus Christ. Paul's point What we can glean from these three verses in chapter four of Philippians is that reconciliation in the church is urgent because of the dramatic impact this unity has on the body of Christ and the ministry of the gospel. Reconciliation in the church is urgent because of the dramatic impact that disunity has on the body of Christ and the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul stresses the urgency of unity in the church in at least six ways in our text. We're gonna look at those sways. I'm not going to pre-announce these points, but I will use points at the end of each section. And obviously we're not gonna be able to spend a lot of time on each point. But number one, number one reason for urgency in the unity of the church is by Paul's repeat appeals in the letter. Now, if you know the book of Philippians, you know that in chapter 2, verse 1 to 4, he makes an appeal to the church of Philippi with regard to their unity. If therefore there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintain the same spirit, united maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Now, whether there were other parties in the church that needed to be reconciled is unknown, but the necessity for this exhortation in chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 becomes apparent in our text. There was an ongoing dispute between two women in the congregation, and it was affecting the unity of the church at Philippi. And judging by the repeated appeals to unity, there's been a serious breakdown in the congregation, perhaps as it so often is. Members of the congregation were siding with one of these women or the other lining up behind them, and it had created division in the Church of Jesus Christ. And while the apostle gives us no details as to the nature of this disagreement between these two women, It was serious enough that he heard about it while he was in prison and that he took the time to address this problem of disunity from his prison cell at Rome. So it's apparent in the first place by Paul's repeated appeals for unity in the letter. Secondly, it's apparent by the tone and the language of Paul's appeal. If it wasn't already clear how much Paul regarded the church at Philippi, how much he loved this congregation by what he'd written earlier in the letter, it becomes abundantly clear by the time we reach chapter four and verse one. My beloved brethren, he calls them. I long to see you, he says. He refers to them as his crown and joy. And then he addressed them again, my beloved. Those two references are bookends to the great affection that Paul had for the church at Philippi. And the address that follows, the appeal that follows comes then out of the depth of his affection for this local congregation, his dearly beloved. And do you sense the urgency in his language? I urge you, Eorea, I urge you, Syntyche, He spoke to these two sisters in Christ. He's using language that he uses throughout his epistles, Ephesians chapter four. I, therefore, the prison of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit. In the bond of peace and another congregation that that that dealt with disunity. Struggles within it, the church at Corinth, Corinth to that church, he wrote, now exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and there be no divisions among you. But that you be made complete in the same mind and the same judgments. These are appeals. These are the kinds of appeals. These are the kinds of urgings. And this time, there's a twofold repetition of these urgings. And he puts names on faces in the congregation at Philippi. And so the urgency of unity in the church is apparent, first, by Paul's repeated appeals in the letter, secondly, by tone and the language of Paul's appeal. Thirdly, the urgency of unity in the church is apparent by the public nature of Paul's appeal. Now, the conflict between these two women, Iodia and Syntyche, was apparently already public. It was already well-known in the church. The reconciliation that should have taken place between these two women hadn't taken place. We get the sense that it was a protracted dispute, this was something that had been going on for quite some time and and there'd been no reconciliation. And Paul does something that's quite striking. If you stop and think about it for a moment. He risks airing the dirty laundry. of these two women, so to speak, in the public assembly of the church in a letter that would have come to the church, that would have been read in the public worship of the church, and it would have circulated to be read in public worship in other churches. Can you imagine what these two women would have felt like sitting in that congregation? hearing this letter read, and I wonder if they had any forewarning that Paul was going to address them, or if they were as shocked as the rest of the congregation was that Paul addressed them in this letter. Paul saw the unity of the church as so important that he didn't hesitate to address it in He didn't hesitate to use these women as an example to other congregations of Jesus Christ. He gives no details about these two women, but his appeal to them applies that they had a prominent place in the congregation. You remember the Church of Philippi was established. When the Apostle Paul came to Philippi, there was no local church meeting at that time, and so he went to the river, and there were some women gathering at the river to pray, and Paul preached to them. I wonder if these two women were among that core group of women meeting by the riverside to pray. I wonder if they were mature believers in the church. I wonder if they were wives, perhaps, of elders or deacons that Paul mentions that the Lord had supplied to the church at Philippi in chapter one and verse one. If so, a division between two such women would have far-reaching consequences. Whatever the case, the division between them was obviously infecting the entire church, and it was urgent enough to warrant this public appeal. So the importance of the urgency of unity in the church is apparent, we've said, by Paul's repeated appeals in the letter, by the tone and language of Paul's appeal, by the public nature of Paul's appeal, and then, fourthly, It's apparent by the substance of Paul's appeal. He urges them to be of the same mind, to have the same mind. The meaning of this word translated to live in harmony, to be of the same mind, to agree with each other, it's translated in various ways. The meaning of that word is to think the same way. It's surprising how often the writers of Scripture use this word, urging Christians to think the same way. Imagine someone saying such a thing in the public university setting today. Imagine the kind of response that they would get from such a person, urging people to think the same way. But that's what that's what the writers of Scripture do, they tell Christians to learn to think. The same way. Same word. Meaning to think the same appears in Chapter two in verse five, have this same thing in yourselves, which was also Christ Jesus. You see what Paul's doing. He's setting the pattern of Christ before them. He said, think in the same way Christ thinks. Have this in yourselves. Have the mind of Christ in yourselves. And why is that? Because it's incompatible for two parties to insist on their own way in the church. When the example that they're called to emulate is Christ who didn't insist on his own. Even though he had the right to do so. Have this attitude in yourselves. Have this same way of thinking in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, though he existed before God, Paul writes in chapter 2, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but ended himself, taking the form of a servant and being made In the likeness of men, that's Patterson. Paul is calling upon these believers, emulate, think the same way for he urged them to think the same way in the Lord. Fill your action is it in the Lord in Christ Paul always refer to Christians as being in Christ or in the Lord. And the reason for that is obvious as well. Two people who are thinking differently can be brought to the same point of thinking by remembering that they're both in the Lord. They belong to him. They're not their own. They've been bought with a great price. It's incompatible, therefore, for either one. It would have been incompatible after Paul's exhortation for Euodia in Synthice. to insist on their own way, since both of them belong to the Lord, that they belong to the Savior. You're on the same team, Paul says. You belong to the same unit. You're in the same family. Isn't that the way we sometimes appeal to our children when they're squabbling? You're flesh and blood. You belong to the same family. How much more is that true spiritually? If we belong to the same Lord, how much deeper do spiritual ties run than blood ties? How do you learn to think the same way as your brothers and sisters? Where's the mind of Christ found? It's found at his word, isn't it? It's found in the scriptures. It's found in the word of Christ. And the implication is obvious that when two believers disagree, they must agree to submit their thinking to the teaching of scripture. That's the yardstick by which your viewpoint, your thinking, your attitude are to be measured. The secret to reconciliation, Paul says, is to submit yourself to the scriptures and to emulate the Lord Jesus Christ. And if we were careful as Christians to apply this, it would have a dramatic impact on the way we deal with reconciliation in our marriages, in our families, between parents and children, in the church of Jesus Christ, Between brother and brother, sister and sister, sister and brother, whatever the case might be. And we would never walk away from a dispute with a brother or sister in Jesus Christ. Being I've been vindicated. I was right for my brother, my sister had to admit that I was right. You would walk away and say, the Lord has taught both of us. from His Word. The Lord has worked in both of us by His Spirit, by the very Spirit of Christ. So we've said that the urgency of unity in the church is apparent by Paul's repeated appeals in the letter, apparent by the tone and language of Paul's appeal, apparent by the public nature of that appeal, apparent by the substance of Paul's appeal, and fifthly, It's apparent by the fact that Paul appeals to a mediator. Now, we don't know who this mediator is. He calls him a comrade. That's really the extent of our knowledge. True comrade, true companion, two versions in the English habit. It's a figurative rendering of the descriptive term true and another term literally translated yoked together. And so other versions, the old King James have true or the NIV loyal yoke fellow. And Paul is addressing someone. He's addressing an individual in the church. And he's calling upon him to serve as a mediator between these two women. Some interpreters think this was a pastor, perhaps the pastor of the church at Philippi. Others think it's an elder. We don't know who it was. The point is that Paul saw the reconciliation of these two women as so important that he appoints a mediator. between them, whatever it takes to reconcile the differences. And you note the progression that's implied by the text. He urged these two women to work out their problems with one another. I urge Yodi, I urge Sintike to live in harmony in the Lord. He's telling them, figure it out. Work out your problems, deal with them. The Bible lays the responsibility for reconciliation on both those who are offended, on the offending party, and the offended party. Matthew 18, we're told, if your brother sins against you, go and reprove him. Matthew 5, we're told, If you're going to the altar, if you're on your way to worship, and you remember that your brother has something against you, you go to him. So they're urged to work it out together. But if they can't work it out, then there's the necessity of a mediator. It's that critical. So the apostle is pointing us to the urgency of unity in the church by his repeated appeals in the letter, by the tone and the language of the letter, by the public nature of that appeal, by the substance of his appeals. And then finally, it's apparent by the implications of disunity for gospel ministry and eternal matters. Paul says, these two women have shared in my struggle for the cause of the gospel. These two women had toiled alongside this individual named Clement and other fellow workers. Note the dignity attached to the role of women in the church. Though they weren't officers, they had an important role in the ministry of the gospel. And the implication is that the work of the gospel will be hindered if they remain unreconciled. But then the apostle comes back to the matter that had prompted this exhortation in the first place. He mentioned that their names are in the book of life. And here he shows us the matters you see in church intersect with eternal matters, heavenly matters, the matters that he's spoken of earlier in the context that we read in chapter three. And so reconciliation isn't merely important so that relationships can be resolved. So that relationships can be what they should be in the church. So that we can live at peace with one another. They're critical. Unity is critical, relationships are critical in the church because the success of gospel ministry is at stake and because eternal matters are on the line. Did false teachers pose a serious threat to the church at Philippi? You can believe that they did. But personal matters. Can be equally. If not more dangerous. And deadly. to the life of the church of Jesus Christ. They sow seeds of bitterness in the church. They divide the fellowship of believers. They divert the attention from the central issues of the gospel and the ministry of the church over what sometimes turns out to be very petty in the grand scheme of eternity. They drain the energy that should be given to building up believers and reaching out to the community with the gospel. Someone has said how effectively we handle these differences. They say more about the biblical character of our church life and how we handle heresy. Reconciliation in the church is urgent. because of the dramatic impact that disunity has upon the body of Christ and the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Several things that I think we should walk away from this text with this being in the first place. Remember, God's reconciliation of his people in Christ is the pattern for our reconciliation to one another. You may be reconciled with your brother or with your sister because you've been reconciled to God in Christ. And you are to be reconciled to your brother and sister because you've been reconciled to God in Christ. And if God reconciled you to Himself at the expense of His only beloved Son, even though you'd committed great offense, infinite offense against Him, how much more should you be reconciled to one another? Secondly, not only ought we remember that God's Reconciling work in Christ is a pattern for our reconciliation. But secondly, learn to look past your differences. Learn to look past differences in personality. Sometimes Christians tend to rub other Christians the wrong way. Sometimes people get under our skin because of the way they talk, the way they act. The Bible teaches us that we're to look beyond these differences, these personal differences, these quirks we might call them. We're to look to Christ. We're to see that brother or that sister as one who's been reconciled by the blood of Jesus Christ. We're exhorted by Peter to let love cover a multitude of sins. Doesn't mean we're to ignore sins. It doesn't mean we're to look past sins if they're serious offenses and they can't be looked past. But we're told by him that if we can, if it's possible, if God gives us grace, that we're to let love cover a multitude of sins. And if that's not possible, then you must learn to go to your brother or your sister and be reconciled. And if you go to your brother and sister and you follow the pattern given to us in Scripture to go and confront your brother or sister, if they hear you, wonderful. If they don't, bring witnesses. If they hear you, wonderful. If they don't, take it to the church. Take it to the elders of the church. It's that critical, dear Christians, because it's the little things. It's the tiny speck, the tiny grit, the sand in a fine timepiece that eventually causes that timepiece to stop functioning altogether. So often it's the little things that separate us. But then, Be diligent to pray for the congregations of our presbytery that are being threatened by this unity. Because remember, it's not just a matter of reconciling personal differences. It's not just a matter that these congregations reside in peace. But we're being taught here by what Paul says concerning these two women in the church at Philippi. that the gospel of Jesus Christ and its success and its progress is on the line and that these very matters involving reconciliation, that these very matters involving the unity of the church intersect with the weighty eternal matters that reside in the heavenlies themselves. Let's pray. Glorious and gracious God, we look to you and to you, O Christ, and the humility that you have expressed, even though you existed in the form of God. The reconciliation that you have made with us, O Lord, in spite of infinite, the infinite offense of our sin, and we pray that you would teach us these weighty lessons. We pray, Lord, that you would preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace In this congregation, we thank you for the season of peace that you have given us. We pray that you would enable us to peacefully work side by side, shoulder to shoulder in the cause of the gospel in this region of our Presbytery. But we do pray for those churches in our Presbytery who are dealing with matters of disunity. Matters that threaten the very fabric of these congregations and the very progress of the gospel in these areas. We ask, O Lord, that you would be merciful. And that you would teach those who are offended, those who are at odds with one another, to see one another as being in the Lord, in Christ. and that you would bring reconciliation. Would you hear our prayer, O Lord, for these vital matters in the church and bring unity in the church? We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.