Cross Centered Unity

Introduction

It’s by the grace of God that my wonderful, beautiful, sweet wife has put up with me for the past 12 years.

I want to share a story from early on in mine and Katherine’s dating years.

To set the story up, one thing you have to know about me is that I am very protective of my food. I do not like to share and I go beast mode on someone that tries and takes my food.

Don’t be surprised if we were eating together and you try and take something from my plate that you get a fork jabbed in your hand.

I am extremely protective. So back to our dating days, Katherine and I were watching a movie and I decide to make myself a bowl of ice cream. I ask her nicely if she wanted one and she said no.

So I make this giant bowl of ice cream, chocolate syrup, and toppings all for myself.

We are watching the movie and Katherine decides to take a spoon and dig into my wonderful bowl of ice cream. I kid you not, that I jerked back that bowl of ice cream and yelled the words “My Icecream!!!!”

Katherine can still tell you that story today and it’s pretty hilarious looking back on it, but looking back at our relationship and marriage, I had to learn something really quick in order to make it work.

I had to learn to put Katherine’s needs above my own. I was being extremely selfish and I should have shared my ice cream without hesitation.

By God’s grace, we are happily married and I have since learned to share food with my lovely wife.

Not just in a marriage, but life in general is full of opportunities for us to look out to other’s interests for the sake of unity and peace.

I want us to look at this morning and dive deep into the topic of Unity and what God desires for the church when it comes to unity.

Philippians 1:27–2:11 ESV

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. 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 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 Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

We took last week off from Philippians due to Dr. Danny Akin being with us and I want to say how appreciative I am of Dr. Akin coming and being with us all weekend for the marriage retreat and for the Sunday morning worship gathering.

So far in this letter, we have studied two main things.

Paul’s current situation which was prison but he encouraged the Church at Phillipi that he was being used to share the Gospel in his difficult situation.

Paul’s outlook on the future and we looked at the famous words “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” and we discussed the importance of understanding that phrase because for a believer, we have hope and we gain everything in Christ Jesus when we leave this earth.

Paul transitions his letter in 1:27 into a section that urges believers to have a Christ-like character and for the next two weeks we are going to look specifically at what Paul urges the church to strive for and how that affects our lives’

As we read and study 1:27-2:11, the main theme we see is Unity.

There are a couple important things to understand about Unity as we read it 1:27-1:31. The unity Paul writes about to this church is unity in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul also answers the question as to why unity is so important. Without unity, the church is in major trouble. So Paul gives some clear truths about how to maintain unity and how to grow in unity.

So when Paul begins this section in V. 27, Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, he is setting the stage for what the next part of his letter will address and that is the truth that living out one’s faith in Christ means walking in unity with other believers and modeling humility.

There are three main ideas we see in these verses about Unity and I want us to look at them today.

Paul begins in V. 27-30 by giving the necessity for unity

The Necessity for Unity: V 27-30

So it’s clear that Paul is urging the church to stand unified but the question we need to answer is why?

V. 28 gives that reason why the church should stand in unity because as God’s word tells us “not frightened in anything by your opponents. “

The word frightened in 1:28 doesn’t appear anywhere else in Scripture and Paul uses this word to compare the way horses were frightened on the battle field and would throw the soldier off due to being agitated and the soldier would normally not make it in battle at that point.

So Paul encourages these believers to stand firm and stand unified against the opposition and the threat of persecution.

We already know that Paul stood up for his faith and was thrown into prison, now he is encouraging these believers to have the same fearlessness and they have the advantage of standing together as believers.

Look back at V. 27 with me because Paul provides two word pictures of how to stand against opposition:

1. Stand firm in one spirit - The word stand here is a military term and referred to a soldier standing post and not giving up an inch. Paul uses this picture to encourage the church at Philippi to stand firm in the Lord.

As we strive for Unity as believers and as a church one of the things we must prioritize is standing firm in the Lord. It doesn’t matter what culture tells us or even what other churches are doing. First Baptist Alcoa must stand firm in the Lord or we have nothing to stand on.

2. Striving side by side - Paul uses this illustration as a sports illustration to point to the truth that working side by side will help defeat opposition rather than one person doing all the work.

I’d say there’s a good chance that most of you will watch the Super Bowl tonight and I want you to notice the fact that in a football game the team must work together to accomplish the goal in defeating the opposition.

Take a look at the Offensive Line. I played Tight End growing up, so I’m one of those guys that watches the line on most plays.

What you will notice is that the lineman stand side by side to make sure no one gets through to tackle the Quarterback or open the right lanes for the Running back to fun through.

This is a good illustration of the church as Paul lists here. We are standing side by side in our efforts to defeat the opposition and we are not alone in our journey with the Lord.

One of the beautiful things about the church is that we are competing together like a team to take the Gospel to a world that desperately needs Jesus.

God wants us to fight together and not against each other to accomplish the mission of boldly proclaiming Christ.

A team that has internal division and discord will not be effective on the playing field but a team that works out differences will be an effective unit on the playing field.

Paul warns the church at Philippi that their enemy exists and opposition exists but the church should be ready as they stand firm in the Lord and work together side by side.

In reality, we are living in a day where the Church is losing it’s voice in our society. Media paints a horrific picture of Christians and the church every chance it gets. Now more than ever, we must unify as believers so that we can be effective in sharing the hope that only comes through Jesus Christ.

When we stand together as a group of believers and press forward together, I firmly believe that God will use us in a way can never imagine.

It was essential for the church at Philippi and it’s essential for us today because our Christian walk was never meant to be lived out alone but in community with other believers.

So Paul lays out the necessity for Unity, let’s look at how he describes Unity in V 1-4

We see in V. 28

Unity Described: 2:1-4

Philippians 2:1–4 ESV

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.

Unity Described: 2:1-4

These four verses explain exactly how to accomplish Unity as a group of believers and I don’t know about you but I love simplicity and Paul makes it so simple in these verses.

These verses transition more into how the church can strive for unity within as they go out and face opposition and stand firm in the midst of suffering together.

Before Paul exhorts these believers, he gives them encouragement through four statements.

These four things are blessings of being in a Christian Community:

Encouragement in Christ.

Comfort from love

Fellowship with the Spirit.

Affection and sympathy.

The believers that made up the church at Philippi should have experienced these four things as they did life with one another.

So Paul begins this exhortation with this gentle reminder that since the church was experiencing these things and then transitions in V. 2 to a request to complete his joy.

The thing that would bring Paul joy was that the church stood in unity having the same mind, having the same love, and being in full accord and of one mind.

We must remember that Paul under the guidance of God helped spread the gospel to this region and helped the church get off the ground. He was now pouring out his heart to the church and his desire to for the church to come together so that they can be used by God in a powerful way.

If you’ve ever coached or managed, you know how detrimental disunity can be to your team. Paul knows that if the church is not unified that they will not be effective in their context.

Paul continues on and goes into detail on how the church can come together and unify and make his joy complete.

Philippians 2:3–4 ESV

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.

This truth is so simple yet so difficult for us to live out because we are think about ourselves 99.9% of the day.

Time and time again, Scripture warns us against the dangers of being prideful and putting ourselves first and others last.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was he answered in

Matthew 22:37–39 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

In order to live a life pleasing to the Lord and a life that strives for unity with others, we must not look to our needs and wants first but to others.

Back to my ice cream story. There have been many many times in my marriage that I have put myself first and neglected to meet my wife’s needs but for in order to have a marriage that is God-honoring and fruitful, I have had to learn to often my wife’s needs above my own.

Early on in marriage, I remember getting so angry if the sink was full with dirty dishes or there were clothes to be folded, but I learned after a while that dishes didn’t put themselves in the washing machine and clothes didn’t magically fold themselves and hop in the dresser.

I kept waiting on Katherine to do those things and then I realized that marriage is a team effort, it’s not about what I can get out of it but what I can give and sacrifice in order to do my part in creating a healthy teamwork mentality.

I’m in no way saying I have the perfect marriage, but I’ve grown since I made the statement “My Ice Cream.”

When it comes to unity in a body of believers. Paul makes it clear that the way to achieve unity is to count others as more significant than ourselves and look out to other’s interests.

Whenever we begin a statement regarding something in the church and we begin with “I”, we need to be careful that we are not giving into a prideful spirit.

I want ________________. Instead we must think

In order to grow as a Church, we must grow in humility.

If the church is full of pride, God will not be honored and the witness of the church will not be effective.

There is no perfect church because there are no perfect people but the church should always be growing in love and growing in humility.

We will always have to battle our fallen nature and the desire to have our needs met and our preferences met, but Paul gives the simple exhortation to put your own needs and preferences aside and look out to the needs of others. When a church grows in that, a church begins to look more like Christ.

When a church begins to look more like Christ, then it starts to become contagious and people will not see Jesus through our actions but hear Jesus through our words.

Which leads right into Paul’s final implication on Unity which we see in V. 6-11

3. Cross-Centered Unity:

Philippians 2:6–11 ESV

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 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 Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Everything builds up to this point where Paul brings the readers of the letter to the beautiful cross of Christ and gives them an example they can look to as they strive for unity.

As a born again Christian, we have the ultimate example of Jesus to look to as we live our life. Jesus was not an arrogant, prideful man but a humble man who gives the ultimate example of humility as he died on a cross to save sinners.

These last verses tell us some important truths about who Jesus is.

1. Jesus did not count equality with God - Although Jesus is fully God and fully man, he didn’t consider being God grounds for getting but giving.

2. Jesus emptied Himself - This refers to Jesus laying aside his heavenly glory to rescue sinners. He is the true King and the true Savior but he emptied Himself in order that sin would be forgiven and we would have an opportunity to be restored back to a Holy God.

3. He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: Jesus followed his father’s will even until he was crucified on a cross.

I think it’s important to look at Jesus’ life and how humility defined every aspect of his life.

Think about his birth. There was nothing special or significant about his coming to earth through a woman from Nazareth and being born near a feeding trough.

Think about his earthly ministry. He was known for loving and serving unlovable people. Most of his dealings were with people considered outcasts and nobody.

Think about his death. He died a horrific, cruel, and painful death in order to save sinners. The worst part is that God his father bore his wrath on him. However, Jesus remained humble and even at the point of his death had other’s interests in mind.

The cross provides us with the ultimate example of humility and we stand united this morning because of Jesus and Him crucified on our behalf.

We may not have much in common, we may come from completely different backgrounds, but we stand united under the cross of Christ.

Living in East Tennessee, I’d say there are many UT fans in this room this morning. I think it’s also safe to say that as a UT fan, you probably have something with a Power T on it, whether it’s a hat or a shirt.

Going to a UT game, you will see thousands of people wearing orange with a Power T. Not only the fans but the players on the field wear the Power T as well. There’s nothing more beautiful on an East TN. Saturday than to see that white helmet with the orange T on the side.

I think we can agree that the players and fan are unified in who they are playing and cheering for.

Take that same concept and apply it to the church. As members of the body of Christ, we don’t represent a symbol but a person and his name is Jesus.

Jesus isn’t some ordinary man, he is fully God and fully man and lived a perfect, sinless life and is the only perfect substitution for our sins.

I want you to look up at the wooden cross that hangs toward the ceiling behind me this morning.

Now, I want you to look at the back wall and see that same cross hanging on the wall.

You may not know this about our worship center, but a former pastor had crosses hung in the front and the back so that no matter where you are in the worship center, you saw the cross.

The cross reminds us who we are and why we stand united.

When we stay focused on the cross, we can unify in a way that brings God honor and glory.

Whether it be in our friendships, marriages, or church family, the cross unites us.

May we be a church that constantly looks to the cross as our source of unity and our source of hope.

A united church will stand firm in the gospel when the members stay focused on Christ and his example of ultimate humility.

Philippians 2:3–4 ESV

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.

Philippians 2:

We can live this out with the help of the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray.

Unity Modeled: 2:5-11