Unity In Christ

Philippians 4:1-3

Introduction:

Recap the last 3 chapters of Philippians and why this passage of Scripture should matter to the members. Today’s Title is Unity In Christ.

In today’s text, Paul deals head-on with a conflict between two women in the Philippian church. He knows that when believers clash, the mission suffers. That’s why he calls them to unity—to stand firm together in Christ, not apart in division.

Prayer:

Read The Text:

Philippians 4:1-3

Walk Through The Text:

POINT ONE: Unified In Partnership

Read Verse 1

Paul is finishing up his letter here and starts with Therefore. You have to go back to understand why he is transitioning here with Therefore.

Paul just invited the Philippians to imitate his life as he imitates Christ. Because there are many false teachers out there and they need to know the difference between them and what they profess and what Jesus Christ taught, how Paul taught them to live.

He then transitions to describing his genuine affection for the Philippians in multiple ways:

Whom I Love- Personal relationship with them that was formed over their fellowship of the Gospel. Philippians 1:5 “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

Long For- Philippians 1:8 “For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.”

My Joy and Crown: The Philippians' spiritual success in Philippi against Roman opposition would be his joy and crown. His encouragement to stay the course and that they would not waver is his joy and crown.

My Beloved- Dear friends. The Greek word for beloved is agapētos. AGAPE! This was a special, unconditional love he had for the Philippians. Being brothers and sisters in Christ during this time period meant more than it does in most churches today.

He tells them to STAND FIRM THUS IN THE LORD- meaning persevere or persist in the Lord. DON’T GIVE UP!!

We will see in the coming verses why Paul is challenging them to stand firm in THE LORD! Not standing firm in their traditions, not their methodologies, not their personal preferences, in THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Application: A church united and standing firm in the Lord Jesus can be an unstoppable force in a community of lost people that are in need of a Savior!

We have too many churches closing their doors. I pray Geer Memorial will step up and be the kind of church Paul is challenging the Philippians to be.

POINT TWO: Unified In The Lord

Read Verse 2

Who are Euodia and Syntyche? Other than this verse here, we have no background, context, or understanding of who these women are, other than they are part of the Philippian church and as we will see in verse 3, Paul labored side by side with them in the Gospel together. Their names are not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible.

Paul is entreating or pleading with them to agree in the Lord. This shows there was something going on that they were not agreeing about. We have no idea what it was about but we do know it must have been a big enough issue for Paul to address it in this letter.

Read Philippians 2:2 “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” -This is what Paul is asking these ladies to do!

Examples of churches not agreeing:

Arguments over what type of green beans the church should serve

Two different churches reported fights over the type of coffee. In one of the churches, they moved from Folgers to a stronger Starbucks brand. In the other church, they simply moved to a stronger blend. Members left the church in the latter example

Major conflict when the youth borrowed a crockpot that had not been used for years

An argument on whether the church should allow deviled eggs at the church meal (because it had the word devil in it)

An argument over who has the authority to buy postage stamps for the church

A disagreement over using the term “potluck” instead of “pot blessing”

When church members become more concerned with personal preferences and traditions than with advancing the Gospel, making disciples, and serving one another in love, why in the world should God keep blessing that church??

Pastor Skip Heitzig says this about this verse: “Paul knew, however, that any unresolved division in the church could give satan a foothold by which to destroy it, so he told them to sort it out.”

POINT Three: Unified Around The Gospel

Read Verse 3

Paul is asking for help from a true companion or true yokefellow as other translations have. Similar to Euodia and Syntyche, we are not sure who the true companion or yokefellow is, but it's someone Paul knows and trusts to help with this situation.

When it comes to reconciliation, many times a trusted third party is invited in to help mediate. This is no different.

Paul asks this true companion to help these women who have labored side by side with me in the Gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers. This passage of Scripture has several names that we today know nothing about but when this letter was read aloud in Philippi for the first time 2000 years ago, the Philippians would have known EXACTLY who Paul was talking about. These names had significance to this church.

Reminder: There are no perfect churches but there is a perfect Savior and His name is Jesus!

Whose names are in the book of life:

God’s record of those who belong to Him!

This is significant for Paul to make it clear that the names he mentioned and the fellow workers are all saved!

Paul is making his point clear: Do not let ANYTHING get in the way of Jesus Christ being the focus of the church and your life.

Application: Do not let ANYTHING get in the way of Jesus Christ being the MAIN focus of Geer Memorial and your own personal life.

Applications:

Pray For Unity

Live In Unity

Where Do We Go From Here:

Spend the next few minutes in prayer. God may be calling you to repent. God may be calling you to draw closer to Jesus this morning if you have strayed. God may be calling you to surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and start your relationship with Him today. If you do not have a relationship with Jesus, if he truly is not your Lord and Savior, I would love to talk to you right now about how you can leave here with a relationship with Jesus Christ today!

However God has spoken to you this morning to respond, do it!