“United We Stand”
Philippians 1:27-30

INTRO:
Good Morning. We are continuing our study of Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi.

The text for today in the last part of chapter 1 starting at verse 27 with a brief look at the first part of chapter 2. We saw last time that the Philippians were concerned about how Paul was doing, but Paul was also concerned about how the Philippians were doing. Last time we heard Paul explain why he could say “To live is Christ and to die is gain”.

Paul had heard that there were some tensions in the church, that were causing friction and disunity. Today we are going to start the section of the letter where Paul begins to address those concerns, and give them encouragement on how they could be more like Christ. What I would like us to look at is information about how the church is to stand strong and firm for Jesus Christ.

Those of us who served in the military or have some knowledge of how an army works will have no trouble understanding that if an army cannot communicate or work together it ceases to be a threat. History is full of examples of failures in both communications and cooperation which resulted in the inevatable failure of a military campaign. We know that dicipline is necessary to avoid these failings. An army must be a unified organism to be successful.

If unity is essential for mortal combat, it is absolutely indispensable in spiritual warfare. This is the point that Paul is going to make today, not just to the church in Philippi but to the congregation meeting here. We need to hear these words, just as much as they did.

Please turn your bibles to the Book of Philippians. Let’s start reading in chapter 1:27-30. Remember, Paul has just told them he’s not sure if he is going to live or die. We looked at that last week. He tells the church some things he wants them to know in case he never sees them again. Paul says: “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, 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, 28. and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. 29. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30. having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.”

I. Opposition - Paul knew that he wasn’t the only one that would be suffering for the gospel of Christ. The Philippian church was going through the same struggle he was going through. That raises a point that needs to be put on the table, “The church is going to be opposed.”
A. Jesus was very blunt about this, you can read all through the gospels that He promised people, if you follow me, you’re going to get opposition. People will try to intimidate you; people will try to embarrass you. They will ridicule you and laugh at you. He was very up front about it. We read about how that happened all through the New Testament. We also read that the 1st century Christians had a rather unique way to deal with opposition and an amazing response to persecution... They were thankful for it.
B. Remember in Matthew 5:11 – when Jesus said; “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake.”
C. Jesus says, “Listen, when people embarrass and humiliate and intimidate you because you’re a Christian, you will receive a blessing from God because of it.” The early Christians remembered what Jesus said... and they lived that way.
D. For example, there is a story in the book of Acts, when the apostles were brought in front of the Sanhedrin, because they kept preaching Jesus after they had been told not to. The Bible says, “when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus”. Now what was the apostles reaction?
E. Acts 5:41 - says, “So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.” They rejoyced that they could suffer for Jesus Christ.
II. Joy - You see the same principal in 1 Peter 4:13-14 – “13. but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 14. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified” This doesn’t mean that Christians are to go out and look for suffering. To do that would be to tempt God. It means that if suffering comes, we should count it an honor to endure it for the sake of Christ. Do you know why? Because when we get opposed, we can conclude that the world is seeing Jesus in our lives.
A. Jesus says, “if they hit you, it’s because they really want to hit me. If they curse you, it’s because they really want to curse me. If they hate you, it’s because they hated me 1st.” When the 1st century Christians were persecuted and opposed, they rejoiced because they knew that meant the world was seeing Jesus in their lives.
B. Look at verse 29 of our text and see what Paul says about suffering, “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” You might ask yourself, what is weird about that verse? That word “granted” in your Bible, “ecarisqh”, in the Greek means “graced”. It is a gift of God. It is the grace of God when you get a chance to be embarrassed or humiliated or insulted because you are a Christian.
C. Lets think on that for a bit. In your work place when people complain to you because you don’t do what they want to do. In your neighborhood, when they call you the strange family because you don’t tell the off-color jokes or go drinking and partying with them. When you have a chance to suffer and be insulted for Jesus Christ, the Bible says, “It is a gift of grace from God”
D. Now people like gifts fon’t they? People want this gift, or that gift. This gift is better than that gift. But I have never heard anybody argue for this particular gift. I have never heard anybody saying, “I wish I had the gift of suffering for Jesus Christ.”
E. Do you know what? Hardly any other gift impacts the world as when Christians suffer with dignity because they won’t back up or back down for what they believe about Jesus. Here in the context of the letter to the Philippians we learn that the life which we live cannot be a sheltered experience. We are going to stand up for Jesus. And in doing so, we are going to be opposed and what we need is a strategy so that we can handle the opposition in the best possible way.
III. Our reaction - Paul has a strategy to give the church on how we can handle opposition—how we can suffer for Jesus in a way that gives Him glory. First of all what is the aim of this strategy? Paul says, “The aim is fidelity, loyalty, and faithfulness”.
A. He says in Philippians 1:27-28 – “27. Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, 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, 28. and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.”
B. The world is full of people that claim to be Christians yet don’t stand firm. Christians who play down their faith when things get difficult. What Paul says here is, “If you’re going to put on the uniform, wear it proudly.” “Understand that your faithfulness, loyalty and fidelity to Christ, packs a punch in this world.”
C. That’s what he means, when he says, “That when we stand firm, it is a sign to them, that they are going to be destroyed and we are going to be saved.” In other words, what Paul says is, “When we stand up for what we believe about Jesus Christ, it is a sign to the unbeliever. When we don’t back up one step from what we stand for, it is a sign to them that they are an ultimate failure.”
D. That’s what Paul said in verse 28 “you are not intimidated by your opponents in any way”[ISV] , “Don’t be afraid of your enemies” he is saying, “This is evidence that they will be destroyed and that you will be saved-and all because of God.”[ISV] In other words, “always be courageous and this will prove to them, that they will lose and you will win, because it is God who gives you the victory.” I’ll say it again folks, there is nothing that so impacts an unbelieving world, like the refusal of the church to back up or back down from where we stand for Jesus Christ. We are going to be opposed. The world is going to take its shots at us, but we’ve got be faithful. That’s our aim.
E. It is important when Paul is telling us, “Our faithfulness needs to be corporate”. In verse 30 Paul equates the struggles they experience with those he has, “We are in this fight together”. In verse 27 Paul tells the Philippians, “I want to hear that you are standing firm with one common purpose, and that your only desire is you are fighting together for the faith of the gospel.”
IV. Unity - If the Christians in Philippi were going to stand strong against their foes, they were going to have to stand together. This is so critical because if our aim is fidelity, if we want to stand firm for Jesus Christ, the key Paul says, “Is unity”.
A. Why is that? Paul knew the real threat wasn’t from the outside. The real threat was from the inside. Divide and conquer is a strategy that Satan knows very, very well. Paul connects the struggle for the gospel with the eternal unity of the church.
B. In verse 1 of chapter 2 some translations leave out an important word. It is the conjunction “οὖν” or “oun” which is translated as “therefore”. In other words, what Paul says next in chapter 2 about relationships and unity is there because Paul knows that unless we keep our unity, unless we practice love, we are not going to be able to stand strong when we are opposed and when we suffer. We need to be together.
C. Let’s look ahead for a moment at chapter 2:1-2 and remember Paul has just talked about standing firm and suffering for Jesus Christ. “Therefore” Paul says, “if 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, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.”[NAS]
V. Our resource – I wonder, if we were in prison, what would make our joy complete? Well, we might say; “if I was in prison, what would make my joy complete would be if somebody would let me out! If somebody would drop the charges and let me go home, that would make my joy complete.”
A. Paul says, “I get joy out of the fact that you beleive in Jesus, I get joy out of the fact that you are praying for me, and I get joy out of the fact that you sent Epaphroditus with this money to help me.” Do you know what will make my joy complete? “Let me hear, that you love each other. It’s not enough if you have the right attitude about me, if as yet you do not have the right attitude about each other.” My joy can’t be complete until I hear that your fellowship is complete”.
B. Paul tells them about the resources they have for fellowship. He says, “Think about it. We all have our common unity in Jesus Christ. We’ve all been united in Jesus Christ. We’ve all put Him on in baptism. We’re all united with His death and resurrection. We’ve all been washed in his blood. This we share.”
C. Secondly Paul tells us, “We all have the comfort of his love, we all know the love of Jesus Christ poured into our hearts, we all felt that.”
D. He says that third, “We all have the fellowship of the Spirit. We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, we are all partakers of the empowering of the Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us.”
E. Fourth Paul says, “We all have the compassion that comes from being saved by the mercies of God.”
F. Paul tells them, “Because of all these resources that we have in Christ, make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."
VI. What it is not - Now we need to be clear in our understanding. When Paul says, “I want you to be alike, I want you to be like-minded. He’s not urging, conformity for conformity sake. He’s not saying, “You all need to dress alike, you all have to think alike.”
A. There’s no way you can get a crowd of people into this room and get them to all think alike, I can promise you that. That’s just not going to happen, and that’s not what Paul is saying.
B. He’s saying even though we are never going to all think alike, “We can all think the same way about each other”. We can all be likeminded in the way we think and treat each other.
C. There is a special kind of mind set that Christians practice. We strive to have the mind of Christ. We have a way of looking at each other, even when we’re having problems, even when we disagree - and that is very special.
D. I am aware the call for unity is very much misunderstood, not just now but in the past.
1. Charles H. Spurgeon wrote this many years ago: “"To remain divided is sinful! Did not our Lord pray, that they may be one, even as we are one"? (John 17:22).—A chorus of ecumenical voices keep harping this unity tune. What they are saying is, "Christians of all doctrinal shades and beliefs must come together in one visible organization, regardless... Unite, unite they shout!"
2. Such teaching is false, reckless and dangerous. And here is the reason. Truth alone must determine our alignments. Truth comes before unity. Unity without truth is hazardous. Our Lord's prayer in John chapter 17 must be read in its full context. Look at verse 17: "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." Only those sanctified through the Word can be one in Christ. To teach otherwise is to betray the Gospel.”
E. Let us look at another example of what unity is and is not. Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos, all tuned to the same tuning fork, are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard. So it is, that one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God in an effort to strive for closer fellowship.
VII. Our thinking - How do we think about brothers and sisters in Christ especially if we’re having tension with them? Let’s look at what was happening in Philippi, Two women, Euodia and Syntyche, in chapter 4, were having a fuss and it was upsetting the church.
A. Paul says, “Have all of you forgotten how you are supposed to think in Christ, have you forgotten that even if you don’t always think the same way about things, you could think the same way about each other”? That’s what Paul is saying to us.
B. Let me tell you a story I heard about George Wittfield and John Westely who were two of the most influencial preachers in England in the 1700&1800s. They did not always see eye to eye and had a couple of serious disagreements about different thoughts of theology.
C. Somebody asked Whitfield one time, “Do you think you will see John Wesley in heaven?” They were trying to trip him up you see. Whitfield responded and said, “I’m not sure I’ll see Wesley in heaven.” The person asking the quesion was excited because they thought he was going to say something negative about Wesley. Then Whitfield went on to say, “Because you see, no doubt Wesley will be so close to the throne of God and no doubt, I will be so far away from it, I’m not sure if I’ll get a glimpse of him in heaven or not.”
D. That’s thinking with the mind of Christ. People say, “You know the problem the church has today is dealing with all those drugs, all the pornography, all the crime, and all the immorality in the world”. Listen, the greatest thing impacting our influence in the world is when the relationships within the church aren’t right. Our greatest threat is not on the outside; it’s on the inside.
VIII. Our passion - I strongly suspect that the single greatest thing that could happen to the church of Jesus Christ in the world today, would be if we could rediscover the passion of the doctrine in the Bible of the unity of believers. If we could rediscover a passion for what the Bible says. We are going to need that if we are going to stand firm.
A. Romans 15:5-6 says, 5. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6. that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement, give you a spirit of unity among yourselves, as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
B. If we don’t have oneness of heart, can we truly glorify God? How can we do what we were meant to do if we don’t have unity?
C. In the letter to the Ephesians 4:3 Paul says we are to be, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” I wonder, how do we do that? How do we endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit? Are we doing everything we could possibly do to make sure that we are keeping the unity of the spirit alive in this congregation? All too often we have seen or heard of churches that are divided over issues that do not rest on as solid and Biblical a foundation as the doctrine of the unity of believers.
D. I read a story about a mother who heard her kids fighting and screaming at each other upstairs in their bedroom. She went up to them and said, “You kids stop that fighting and screaming right now.” They said mom, “Were not fighting, were playing church”.
IX. United we stand, divided we fall. What is the one area in which we need to make the most effort?
A. Let us look at the next 2 verses, Philippians 2:3-4 – “3. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, humility, let each esteem others better than himself. 4. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Remember, Paul says, “The aim is fidelity” We want to stand firm for Jesus. If we are going to stand firm against the opposition on the outside, we’ve got to have unity on the inside. That’s the key for us to remember.
B. We need humility if we’re going to stand strong. Odd sounding isn’t it? The world thinks of humility as a weakness not a strength. Let me tell you this, all the darts that Satan can throw from the outside against this congregation are not nearly as dangerous as the seeds of pride, that he would like to sow on the inside. Most churches that have been divided have had a strong component of pride in that division.
C. The New Century version has an interesting rendering of Verse 3. It says, “When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.”
D. Think about that. That is an incredible verse. How in the world can we not let pride be our guide? Thinking about this of myself, I suspect that pride has an impact on how I think. I don’t want to think that about myself, yet when I get up on Sunday morning, and I pick out something to wear to church, I think, “Will this look nice?” “What will people think if I wear this?” When comb my hair, “Does it look alright?” When I’m preaching, it’s hard not to think, “Are they liking this sermon? Are they listening to this sermon?” “What are they going to say when the sermon is over?” “Am I offending anybody? Did I say the right thing, to the right person?”
E. It almost seems to me that I’m wired to let pride be my guide. Don’t we all do that? Do we really think that the book, “Looking out for No1” by Robert Ringer would have been a best seller if the title was “Looking out for others”? We live in a culture that’s pride orientated, and it seems to me that we have a strong tendency to be pride-orientated ourselves.
X. What do we need to do so that we don’t let pride be our guide? We need to understand this because if we don’t, we can hurt the unity of the congregation. If we hurt the unity of the congregation, we are going to hurt the witness, the example, of the church.
A. Let’s start by remembering what God thinks about pride. Look with me at 1 Peter 5:5 - “... and all of you clothe yourselves with humility towards one another because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”. We know we need God’s grace in our life. If we want God’s grace in our life, we need to get rid of our pride. God opposes pride. We’ve must look at pride the way God looks at pride.
B. It is only when we look at pride the way God wants us to look at it... it’s only then we can start to look at others... like God wants us to look at each other, . Paul says in Philippians 2:3 – “... but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;”[NAS That one verse would stop most church fights. ”... with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” It’s a call to allow others needs to supersede our own. The idea is to consider other people ahead of ourself. Think about them first.
XI. What about humility? What is it? Humility is not beating yourself up and thinking you’re worthless, humility is not saying, “I’m a wretch, I’m no good to anybody”. That sort of thinking is still preoccupation with oneself. Humility is not thinking less of yourself, humility is not thinking of yourself... at all.
A. That’s what Paul means, when he said in verse 4, “Look not only to your own interests but also to the interest of others”[NIV].
B. What would happen in our home, if we practiced that verse? When I was still working, what if on the way home I thought, “You know, I bet Nina has had a tough day, caring for Ben, the bills, running this house, all the things she does at Streetsboro.” “When I get home, I’m going to see if there is something she needs and do it for her.” Maybe Nina would be thinking, “You know, I bet Tom has had a tough day, answering peoples requests all day, and when he walks through that door, I’m going to see if I can find anything he needs and do it.” How would that affect our home? Would it increase the chances for peace and harmony? What if we did that for our neighbors?
C. What if we did that for the people we work with? What if we did that for the people in the church? I wonder next Sunday, when we walk in, instead of thinking, “Are we going to sing the songs I like today, I wonder if things will go the way I want.” What if next Sunday, when we walk in, we look out for others interests and say to ourselves, “What can I do for them before I get in my car and go home? Do you think that would affect the church?

CONCLUSION:
"All your strength is in your union; All your danger in discord; Therefore be at peace henceforward, And as brothers live together."—Henry W. Longfellow

Paul makes the point that we are in a battle, a war, and if we are going to stand strong for Jesus, we’ve got to practice unity. Our greatest weapon as a church is spirit-produced oneness. We’re supposed to gather around the cross, the blood of Jesus, and stand strong for him. That’s what Jesus prayed. Of all the things he could have prayed for on the night before he died, that’s what he prayed for the most. In John 17:21, he prayed for you and me, He prayed, “That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”

Unity is the call of the day, folks, and that’s what we should always be striving for. For those of you who aren’t Christians this morning then you still need to be united with Christ before you can be united with His children. The way to do that is to unite with Christ, in His death, through baptism.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon
Mike Glover