Living is Christ: Unity and Humility

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Intro

Good morning. If you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab those and turn with me to Philippians chapter 2.
How are all of you doing this morning? Good? Today we have landed in an incredible passage in our sermon series through ’m really excited to be teaching this morning because of this.
If you are joining us for the first time let me just catch you up to speed before we jump into our text this morning.
The title of this sermon series is Living is Christ. We are looking at how for the life of a disciple of Jesus… Jesus is their life. We get this title from last week’s text where Paul says in chapter 1 verse 21,

21 For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

If you were with us last week for house church we unpacked this a little bit. If we are Jesus’s then we win whether we live or we die. If you remember, Paul is in prison and he is using his imprisonment as an opportunity to share the gospel and disciple the guards who are literally chained to him.
Paul says that if we remain on this earth then that means that we are able to live on mission and see people changed by Jesus. We are able to see God do incredible things through the most unlikely people.
We talked about this last week. Paul is chained to Roman guards and at the end of the book we learn that some of them may have believed in Jesus. When Paul closes this letter to the Philippian church he says...

22 All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household

God can and does save the people that we least expect him to. If we were with us last week we considered the question: Who in you sphere of influence do you believe, either consciously or subconsciously, is too far gone that they will never believe the gospel? And then we talked about how God is the one who does the saving so we can trust him to do great things through the preaching of his gospel.
Paul says in 1:21 that not only is living with Christ a win for a believer but so is dying because that means that we will be with the Lord forever.
When Jesus’ friend Lazarus died, he said to Martha,

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.

Even when we die we will live! How great is that?
So this morning we are in Philippians chapter 2 verses 1-11. And we are talking about two incredibly important topics for the life of the church and this is so necessary for our own church because we are so young. We are looking at the themes of Unity within the body… the church… and Humility.
We are going to see why unity is important and how humility is directly related to that. and then we will talk about Jesus our ultimate example of humility.
So if you have your Bibles open to look with me starting at verse 1. And I am reading from the Christian Standard Bible...

2 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

CHRIST’S HUMILITY AND EXALTATION

5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.

7 Instead he emptied himself

by assuming the form of a servant,

taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man,

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—

even to death on a cross.

9 For this reason God highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow—

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth—

11 and every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

Prayer
10,000 Sermon Illustrations Five Fingers Make a United Fist

In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”

​
I know this isn’t the first time that I used Charlie Brown for an illustration but they are so good.
In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn’t. “What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?” asks Linus. “These five fingers,” says Lucy. “Individually they’re nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold.” “Which channel do you want?” asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, “Why can’t you guys get organized like that?”
​
Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).
If we want to be effective in our context and if we want to be pleasing to Lord Jesus then we must be united as a church.
I don’t know if any of you guys have ever experienced a church split.You guys would not believe the things that churches fight over and people will cause division over.
Thom Rainer works with a lot of churches around the country. On his website he gives a list of 25 crazy things that churches fight over and some even split over. Listen to a couple of these...
1. Argument over the appropriate length of the worship pastor’s beard (I think I saw a verse in Scripture that indicated it is to be no more than 1.5 inches longer than the pastor’s beard.).
2. Fight over whether or not to build a children’s playground or to use the land for a cemetery (I’m dying to know the resolution of this one.).
3. A deacon accusing another deacon of sending an anonymous letter, and deciding to settle the matter in the parking lot (The church could have sold tickets to this event and raised a lot of money.).
4. A church dispute of whether or not to install restroom stall dividers in the women’s restroom (I’m calling unfair on this one. The men should have their stall dividers too.).
5. A church argument and vote to decide if a clock in the worship center should be removed (I think this one is a timely argument.)
6. A 45-minute heated argument over the type of filing cabinet to purchase: black or brown; 2, 3, or 4 drawers (This one is an official cabinet meeting of the church leadership.).
7. A fight over which picture of Jesus to put in the foyer (I just want to know who took the pictures.).
8.A petition to have all church staff clean shaven (No church planters are allowed.).
These stories are funny but they are real. When I was a little kid I was apart of a small church over on the westside. This church has experienced so much disunity that they have split multiple times. It’s a wonder that they are still there.
And this is where we are in our text. If you remember Epaphroditus came to see Paul and Paul writes this letter to the Philippian church to be delivered by Epaphroditus.
Paul was concerned when he learned from Epaphroditus that the Philippian church was showing signs of disunity. So we are going to look at Paul’s response to him hearing about the church in Philippi showing signs of disunity.
Why is unity so important for the church?

1. Unity keeps Christ at the center.

Ephesian 1:10b, Paul says,

to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

None of this is about you or me. It’s all about Christ. My plans, my desires, my preferences, my agenda, and my feelings are nothing compared to the gospel. When we become unified around that mission it changes everything and makes our churches more effective in fulfilling God’s mission for our lives.

2. Unity keeps the church growing.

says,
​

12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

When we are united to the mission of Jesus we will move forward and see the gospel advance. And we will grow in maturity as we live in community with one another centered around the Bible.

3. Jesus prayed for unity.

Did you know that unity within his church is important to Jesus. In , we get to see Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer.
Listen to what he says in vs. 23.

23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me

23 I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me
It’s important to Jesus, it should be important to us.As we grow in unity with each other, we grow in unity with Jesus. How cool is that?
Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), Jn 17:23.
There are many other reasons to strive for unity but I want to get into our text.
And this is the first point that we will see this morning...

Paul’s Motivations for Unity (vs.1).

Jeffrey E. Miller, Study, Apply, Share: Philippians, ed. Elliot Ritzema, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, n.d.), .
Verse 1, Paul says...

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,

Paul gives the church four motivations. What he is actually doing is he is reminding them of things that they have already experienced as believers.

Paul hoped these sweet recollections of the supernatural in their lives would move them to do what was necessary to ensure their unity and mutuality.

The first thing that he tells them is...
​

If then there is any encouragement in Christ

What he is reminding them of is their own conversions. He wanted them to remember their experience of when the Holy Spirit came alongside them and comforted them and strengthened them
Do you feel encouraged knowing that you have Christ within you. That the Holy Spirit is their to console you and give you the ability to fight sin. He gives us so much more than mere “atta boys.” He gives us life!
Paul then says,

if any consolation of love

​
I like how the ESV puts it in this case. It says...
​

any comfort from love

Here he’s reminding them of Christ’s love for them. Every child of God knows and understands this love. This unconditional love of Christ who gave his life for us.
The next thing that Paul brings up is...

if any fellowship with the Spirit

This word is koinon.

the fellowship word that is so embedded in the argument of Philippians, first appearing in 1:5 where Paul celebrated the Philippians’ “partnership [fellowship] in the gospel.” This fellowship in the Spirit came when, as Paul explained, “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:13)

So if we are in partnership with the Spirit… live in unity with one another.
And finally Paul says,

if any affection and mercy,

is more exactly the divine compassion and mercy that came from Christ himself to us at salvation and now passes through us to others. As Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “ ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy’ ” (Matthew 5:7), indicating that a merciful heart is a sign of having received mercy. Compassion and mercy flow in the lives of those who have experienced them.

​
Paul uses these recollections to motivate these Philippians to live in unity among one another.

Paul is not questioning whether the Philippians have these things; he is using a rhetorical expression to say that, since the believers do in fact have these things, they should complete his joy by demonstrating unity.

R. Kent Hughes, Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007), 75.
the fellowship word that is so embedded in the argument of Philippians, first appearing in 1:5 where Paul celebrated the Philippians’ “partnership [fellowship] in the gospel.” This fellowship in the Spirit came when, as Paul explained, “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” ()
​
This is the second thing that we will see this morning.
the fellowship word that is so embedded in the argument of Philippians, first appearing in 1:5 where Paul celebrated the Philippians’ “partnership [fellowship] in the gospel.” This fellowship in the Spirit came when, as Paul explained, “in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit” ()
R. Kent Hughes, Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007), 75.
R. Kent Hughes, Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007), 75.

Unity through Humility (vs.2-4).

So we have motivations for unity. Our past conversion, our partnership with the Holy Spirit, the love and mercy we have experienced from Christ.. these are our motivations for living in unity. Look at vs. 2-4...
R. Kent Hughes, Philippians: The Fellowship of the Gospel, Preaching the Word (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2007), 75.

2 make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. 4 Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

I want to spend some time talking about verses 3 and 4.
What Paul is essentially saying is that without humility, it is impossible to live in unity. Without humility we can’t be united in the mission of Jesus.
C.S. Lewis defines humility in this way: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.”
Unity is not uniformity. Unity is different; it simply means conforming to one purpose without sacrificing individuality. Unity is only possible where humility exists.
Have any of you heard of George Whitfield and John Wesley. Both of these dudes were gospel preachers back in the 1700’s and they had some major theological disagreements. Whitfield was a Calvinist and Wesley was the founder of Methodism.
Although George Whitefield disagreed with John Wesley on some theological matters, he was careful not to create problems in public that could be used to hinder the preaching of the gospel. When someone asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven, Whitefield replied, “I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”
Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations (Biblical Studies Press, 2002).
That is humility.
Rivalry and conceit are unity killers. All of those silly reasons churches fight that I shared earlier are a result of rivalry and conceit. Of selfishness.
In verse 27 of chapter 1, Paul says to live worthy of the gospel because we are citizens of heaven. This is who we are. And the way that we do this is we strive to live in unity with other believer by humbling ourselves… by putting the needs of others over our own.

Humility is required to consider others more important than ourselves. Paul instructed the Philippians to prioritize others’ needs, knowing that we naturally tend to seek our own interests first. Do you treat others the way you would like to be treated (Luke 2:31)? Let us serve Christ by humbly rendering service to other believers in our congregation.

​
This is counter-cultural because we live in a time where everything is me-centered. Selfishness is abundant in our country, and sadly, it’s abundant in the Body of Christ as well.
Do you do everything you can to meet the needs of your brothers and sisters? Do you remember what Jesus said in ? When asked what the greatest commandment was Jesus brilliantly summed up the Law by saying,

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.,d 38 This is the greatest and most important command. 39 The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.,e 40 All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Paul says to count others as better than yourself. The point isn’t are they or aren’t they better than you. The point is what you count them to be. It doesn’t matter who is better at whatever… or who has what gifts. What matters is that you count your brothers and sisters better than yourself.
Not only does vs. 1 contain motivations for unity but these motivations are also resources. If we are in Christ… if we have experienced encouragement from Christ, if we have experienced the unconditional love from God, if we have experienced fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and love and mercy… then we can be able to live in unity.
In fact, I would argue that we can not truly be selfless. We cannot truly be exemplify this type of humility apart from the help of God.
And this leads us to the final thing this morning. and that is...

Jesus is our example of unity and humility (vs.5-11).

Look down with me at verse 5...

5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,

6 who, existing in the form of God,

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.

7 Instead he emptied himself

by assuming the form of a servant,

taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man,

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—

even to death on a cross.

9 For this reason God highly exalted him

and gave him the name

that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow—

in heaven and on earth

and under the earth—

11 and every tongue will confess

that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.

​
Many commentators believe that this passage could have been apart of the liturgy of the early church. They think that it could have been a hymn or a confession of faith.
What it shows us is the divinity and humility of Jesus.
The first thing that Paul says is he instructs us to have the same attitude that Christ had. In other words, we need to have the mind of Christ.
Christ is our example of how to live humbly and in unity. Just look at this a minute with me...
He “existing in the form of God.”
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
Jesus is fully God. Jesus has always existed. He was never created. He was there when the earth was created. In fact, Jesus is the creator. Listen to what Paul says in …
10,000 Sermon Illustrations Whitfield and Wesley

Although George Whitefield disagreed with John Wesley on some theological matters, he was careful not to create problems in public that could be used to hinder the preaching of the gospel. When someone asked Whitefield if he thought he would see Wesley in heaven, Whitefield replied, “I fear not, for he will be so near the eternal throne and we at such a distance, we shall hardly get sight of him.”

​

15 He is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn over all creation.

16 For everything was created by him,

in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities—

all things have been created through him and for him.

17 He is before all things,

and by him all things hold together.

​
Not only was everything created by Jesus but everything was created for Jesus.
If anyone had the right to not be humble it was Jesus. But although he existed in the form of God he...

did not consider equality with God

as something to be exploited.

7 Instead he emptied himself

Christ did not consider equality with God, which He already possessed, something to be exploited for selfish gain.
Christ did not consider equality with God, which He already possessed, something to be exploited for selfish gain.
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), .

by assuming the form of a servant,

taking on the likeness of humanity.

And when he had come as a man,

​

Jesus laid aside His rights as God in order to become the world’s servant.

Do you remember what he told his disciples in ?

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”,t

He takes his humility to the next level when he...

8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to the point of death—

even to death on a cross.

Jesus, the King of the universe became a servant and died for us. We didn’t deserve any of this. In fact, we were enemies of God when he came to save us. We are saved through the death and life of Jesus.
is one of my favorite verses in all the Bible. It says...

10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, then how much more, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life

We were wicked, depraved, God-haters… when Jesus came to serve by living the perfect life that God required of us to live. You see, God’s standards aren’t pretty good or try hard. We can’t do it. We can’t make ourselves right with God.
So Jesus came lived out God’s standard for us and the paid for our penalty for our sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB
He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

21 He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

And...
​
Philippians 2:9–11 CSB
For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:
Because Jesus humbled himself to save his people and to glorify God… Jesus is forever exalted by God. Every knee (whether voluntarily or with broken knees) will bow before Jesus. Everyone on earth, in heaven, and even in hell will bow to Jesus.
Everyone who has ever lived will confess that he is lord.
Do you guys see the magnificence of Jesus in this text?
Christ loved us and died for us and forgave us and accepted us and justified us and gave us eternal life and made us heirs of the world when he owed us nothing. He treated us as worthy of his service when we were not worthy of his service. He took thought not only for his own interests but for ours. He counted us as greater than himself.
If King Jesus can humble himself from the point of being God… how can we not humble ourselves by counting our own brothers and sisters as more important? Only when we do this will we be a united church that matures in the gospel and see more lives changed by the gospel.
Let’s pray.
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