Alright brethren, let's turn
in our Bibles to Philippians chapter 1. We'll pick up here
in verse 27. Paul says, only let your conversation And that word is citizenship,
your whole conduct as a citizen. Let it be as it becometh the
gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be
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,
and in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them
an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that
of God. For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer
for his sake. having the same conflict which
you saw in me." They saw Paul beaten and thrown in prison when
he was at Philippi. And now you're here to be in
me, now that he's in prison at Rome. Now, with this passage,
the Lord has given Paul the words to really get to the purpose
of this letter and the heart of this letter. Throughout this
epistle, Paul speaks a great deal about being of one mind,
brethren being of one mind, striving together for the faith of the
gospel, and there's a reason. Paul had been informed that two
women in the church at Philippi were not of the same mind. Now,
we don't know whether they were at variance
with each other or whether they were at variance with other members
of the church. But these were Paul's sisters
in Christ and he knew them, he loved them, they had helped him
as he was there ministering, preaching the gospel. But Paul
was given wisdom from the Lord, true judgment, true spiritual
discernment in the way that he dealt with this. It doesn't appear
Paul knew the details or even sought to find them out. We know
with the church at Corinth, Paul said, I determine not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. But
Paul didn't have to know because Christ knew. Paul is being given the words
to write by the Spirit of God. These are the inspired word of
God and so this is Christ giving Paul the words to write to meet
the need of these sisters that the Lord knew. He knew what their
need was. That was for their benefit. It was for the benefit of the
rest of the brethren at Philippi. It's for our benefit. The Lord's
preachers today are not inspired by the Spirit of God like Paul
was. But the Lord lays passages on your heart. Or as you're going
through the Scriptures, verse by verse, He gives you messages
to preach. And you don't know why, you just
preach them. But the Lord knows. And the Lord
blesses the Word to the hearts of His people to meet the need
of His people. Now turn with me over to chapter 3, and I want
to show you this, where He mentions their name. But I want to show
you a little bit leading up to where He mentions their name.
And everything He's writing here, Christ is teaching us to trust
that He's able to save, that He's able to subdue, He's able
to make His people stand. Paul had said that he wanted
to be conformed to Christ's death. And he said, I haven't attained,
I'm not perfect, he said. But verse 13, Philippians 3.13,
he says, brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended. But
this one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind,
all those former things he put his confidence in. He said, forgetting
those things that are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark of the high calling
of God in Christ. He said, I'm running the race
looking to Christ. I'm looking for Him to appear. I'm looking for that high calling
to call me home to glory. And he says in verse 15, let
us therefore as many as be perfect, that word is mature, let us be
thus minded. There's a lot in this epistle
about being of one mind. Let us be thus minded. And if
in anything you be otherwise minded, now here's an important
word, God shall reveal even this unto you. That's what Paul had
confidence in. If there was anything that the
brethren didn't know or needed to be taught, he trusted Christ
would reveal it to them. He'd teach them. Verse 16, nevertheless
whereto we've already attained, let us walk by the same rule,
let us mind the same thing. Let us each walk by the same
rule of faith in Christ, trusting Christ is able to make us stand.
Let us be of the same mind to run the race, looking to Christ
above. Look down at verse 20. For our
conversation, that's the same word, citizenship. Our citizenship is in heaven.
From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is
able, even to subdue all things unto himself. My brethren, dearly beloved and
longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my
dearly beloved. Now here's where he mentions
these two ladies. I beseech Iodius and I beseech
Syntyche that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat the also true yoke
fellow, this was somebody else, maybe it was Epiphaeditus, somebody
else that had served with Paul. He said, help those women which
labored with me in the gospel. Paul entreated them and he asked
this person, you help them, help them, point them to Christ, speak
of Christ to them, speak of the things that Paul says here. And
then look what he says here, with Clement also and with other
my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. Their names are in the Book of
Life, the Lamb's Book of Life. Let's read a little further.
Rejoice in the Lord, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation,
your calm, patient trust in the Lord. Let it be known unto all
men the Lord is at hand. I've marked that. I'm going to
show you something here in our text. This issue had something
to do probably with persecution. Because Paul is saying here,
he's reminding them, that the Lord's at hand. The Lord's near.
The Lord's near, He's ruling all things. So let your moderation
be known. And the next word's kind of the
same. Be careful, be anxious for nothing. But in everything
by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth
all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus. See that, the Lord, the Spirit
of the Lord He gave Paul the words here, true wisdom, true
discernment, and this is all he did. He entreated them to
be of the same mind. That's it. He entreated them
to be of the same mind in the Lord, to stand fast in the Lord,
and he reminded them they were one in Christ. Their names are
written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Now that's instructive
in how Paul did that. And you know, it's not just Paul
himself, it's the Lord giving him the words. And this is how
the Lord would have dealt with it if he was on this earth. But
he's doing it through his minister, through Paul. Now, the way he
began this epistle, you know, before he ever gets to this point,
he began, he told them how much he loved them, how much he thanked
God for their fellowship from the first day up until now. He
informed them that he was confident that the Lord that had begun
to work in them would continue it until the end, until the day
of the Lord Jesus. He told them he prayed for them
that their love might abound more and more in knowledge and
true judgment. And then he gets to our text
here. And he begins to get to the purpose. He's entreating
them to be of one mind in the Lord. And not just them, but
the whole church at Philippi. And the way the Lord ministered
to them, he's still ministering to us today. Now, first of all,
I want you to notice, Paul does not use law as the motive for
this entreaty. He doesn't use the law. He uses
the gospel of Christ. The gospel of Christ. And what
is the gospel of Christ? What is the gospel of God? It's
the good news of reconciliation. It's the good news of atonement,
at-one-ment of how the Lord Jesus has made us one with God our
Father, his people and God. Christ Jesus is the mediator.
He's the God-man mediator. In 1 Timothy 2.5 it says, there
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Look over at 2 Corinthians 5.18. In this passage here, I said to
you Thursday night, I had a few things I wanted to point out
to you here. In verse 12, 2 Corinthians 5.12,
Paul says, we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you
occasion to glory on our behalf, that you may have somewhat to
answer them which glory in appearance and not in heart. He's saying
to the Corinthian brethren, we're giving you something here so
you can take up for us, so you can speak to those that are glorying
in just what they see, rather than using spiritual discernment
and glory in heart. He said, whether we be beside
ourselves, it's to God, or whether we be sober, it's for your cause. For the love of Christ constraineth
us, because we thus judge, if one died for all, then we're
all dead, and that he died for all, that they which live should
not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them
and rose again. Wherefore, henceforth, know we
no man after the flesh. We're not judging by carnal sense
and carnal sight and carnal reason, but we're using a spiritual judgment.
He said, yea, though we've known Christ after the flesh, yet now
henceforth know we Him no more after the flesh. He's talking,
you know, he's talking about people who are glorying in appearance.
And he said, we don't glory in appearance. We're not, we don't
know men after the flesh now. Therefore, if any be in Christ,
he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And that's one of the new things,
is the new discernment we have. Now watch. And all things are
of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ. and hath given to us the ministry
of reconciliation, to wit, God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself. not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the word or the gospel
of reconciliation. And now then, we're ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you
in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him
sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. Go with me to Ephesians chapter
two. Our gospel is the gospel of oneness. It's the gospel of being made
one with God in Christ and made one with each other. Paul in
Ephesians 2, he's reminding us how that by our fall in Adam,
you and I who are Gentiles, we were aliens and foreigners. We
weren't even of Israel, period. But just like all men falling
in Adam, even those in Israel, who were God's elect, they were
fallen. But he said, verse 11, Wherefore remember, you being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world. And here's the
sad thing, brethren, is that the Jews who didn't know God
were using the law to exalt themselves over the Gentiles who didn't
know God. And the Gentiles were using whatever
they could glory in appearance to exalt themselves over the
Jews. And yet the law declared every one of them, and us included,
guilty. Just flat out guilty. And look
here, but now, verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken
down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished
in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained
in ordinances, for to make in Him and Himself of two one new
man, so making peace, and that He might reconcile He might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby. That's what Christ accomplished.
When you read, He reconciled the world, God was in Christ
reconciling the world. Here's how you determine who
the world is. Everybody Christ died for, He reconciled them
to God. They have peace with God by what
He did. And God's at peace with them.
And so here's the result of that, verse 17, and He came and preached
peace to you, which were far off and to them that were nigh.
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the
Father. And now therefore, you're no
more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens. That's what
the word is in our text. Now you're fellow citizens with
the saints and of the household of God. The Hebrew writer said
you come to Mount Zion to the city of the living God, to Jesus
Christ the mediator of the new covenant. We've been reconciled
to God and we've been made citizens of God's holy city. And so the
Spirit says, adorn this gospel by being one. That's what He's
telling us. Only let your conversation, your
whole life from now on, as citizens of heavenly Jerusalem, of God's
city, let your whole life be as it becometh the gospel of
Christ. Now, what's more becoming to the gospel of reconciliation
than that God's people be of one mind? What more adorns the
gospel than that year of one mind? To look to Christ and trust
Christ and speak of Christ and help one another look to Christ.
That's one mind. Standing fast. One mind. What better to adorn the gospel
of atonement, of being made at one, than that we be of one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel. not against each
other, but together for the gospel, faith of the gospel. God's city
and His people is His people, just like the church is His people.
The city, when the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven at
Jonso, that's His people, adorned by everything Christ did for
us, His righteousness, His holiness. And that city's compacted together. Listen to this from Psalm 122.3. Jerusalem, and we're not talking
about that city over there. We're talking about God's city.
We're talking about His people. Jerusalem is built as a city
that is compacted together. And I can show you that in Ephesians
4. Remember what the Lord said in
Ephesians 4? He said this. It's just a page
or two back there from Philippians. Ephesians 4.16, He says, From
Christ our head, the whole body is fitly joined together and
compacted. but that which every joint supplieth,
according to the effectual working of Christ and the measure of
every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love." Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6.17, he that's
joined unto the Lord is one spirit. He said in 1 Corinthians 12,
13, by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether
we be Jew or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have
been all made a drink of one spirit. This is the gospel of
oneness. This is the gospel of reconciliation,
of being made at one with God and with brethren. Look over
at Psalm 133. This is why This is by the anointing
of the Lord, by the Holy Spirit. It was pictured in that oral
on Aaron. Look here, Psalm 133, 1. Behold, how good and how pleasant. It's becoming the gospel. How good and how pleasant it
is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It's like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard that went down to the skirts of his garments. That's how he
was anointed to be the priest. And when the Spirit of God's
poured out on us and we're regenerated, it's like the oil of the Spirit,
like it went from his head all the way down all over him. And he said, verse 3, as the
dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains
of Zion, for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life forevermore. And that's what He does when
He's called you, when He's anointed you, when He's made you one,
and made you see that by His blood, by His righteousness,
by His holiness, we've been made one with God our Father. And
He makes you one with all those that are born of Him. And so
Paul says, now, as citizens of this holy city come packed together,
he says, adorn this gospel by being of one mind, being steadfast,
striving together for the faith of the gospel. Now here's another
way that we adorn this gospel. And here in the Spirit of the
Lord says that we adorn the gospel of Christ by not being afraid
of our adversaries. He says in Philippians 1.28,
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them
an evident token of perdition, that is, hopeless ruin, but to
you it's a token of salvation and that of God. For unto you
it's given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but
also to suffer for His sake. having the same conflict which
you saw in me and now here to be in me." They saw Paul, the
reaction of men who hated Christ, who hated God, they hated Paul
when he preached that salvation is entirely of the Lord. They
beat Paul, they put him in chains and threw him in the jail at
Philippi. They saw that conflict happen,
that agony that he went through. And now they heard about him
bearing the same agony at Rome. because of men's hatred for the
gospel of Christ. But the Holy Spirit declares
here through Paul, He says, unto you, it's given in the behalf
of Christ for His sake, not only to believe on Him, but also to
suffer for His sake. The same way, brethren, that
faith is a gift of God, and God gave you faith to believe Christ,
It's also given to us to suffer for the sake of Christ. And not
only is it given to us that we shall suffer for the sake of
Christ, He gives you the power, the strength to bear up when
you are persecuted for preaching the gospel of Christ. Both. It's given on the behalf of Christ.
Our Master told us this in John 15, 18. John 15, 18. Our Lord warned us. He just told
us plainly this was going to happen. John 15, 18. We haven't faced much of this
in our life. You know, we live in a free country,
but we very well could face more of this. And according to the
Scriptures, I think we will. It may not be in our lifetime,
But it could be, but John 15, 18, the Lord said, but you do
experience this to some degree. He said, if the world hates you,
you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of
the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not
of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they've
kept my sin, they'll keep yours also. Let's look now at Acts
5. I want you to see this, Acts 5. This was on one occasion when
Peter and the other apostles had The high priest for the Pharisees
and the Sadducees, they didn't like each other. The Pharisees
and the Sadducees didn't like each other. But they came together
in their hatred for the apostles because they hated Christ. They beat them, they threw them
in prison, but the angel of the Lord came and opened the prison
and told them to go preach. And so the officers came back
and told the high priest and the council that those men y'all
put in prison, they're standing in the temple preaching the gospel.
Now they've been beaten. They've been thrown in prison
and commanded not to preach. This is by the highest authority
in the city. Acts 5.28. They brought him again
and they brought him before the council. That's just what Christ
said they would do. And they brought him before the
council and they said, Did we not straightly
command you that you should not teach in this name? And behold,
you filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring
this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles
answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised
up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be a prince and a savior for to give repentance
to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses
of these things, and so is also the Holy Ghost whom God hath
given to them that obey Him. Look at verse 40. Gamaliel told
them, I'm being brief because of time's sake, but Gamaliel
told them, he said, fellows, leave these men alone. He said,
if this is of God, you're fighting against God. That's what Gamaliel
told them. And it says, verse 40, they agreed
and when they had beaten them, They commanded that they should
not speak in the name of Jesus and they let them go. And they
departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they
were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily
in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and
preach Jesus Christ." How could Peter and these other
apostles have such boldness? Paul said back in Philippians
1 verse 19, he said it's by the supply of the Spirit of Jesus
Christ. He said whether it's by life
or death, Christ will be magnified in my body by the supply of the
Spirit of Jesus Christ. And that same Spirit of our Lord
gives you faith to believe and strength and preserves you to
keep believing is the power, Christ the power of God that
supplies you with the strength when you need it to bear up under
what they bore up under and keep preaching the gospel. Paul said,
it's not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything
as of ourselves. They didn't have the strength
in themselves. He said, but our sufficiency is of God. That's
who gave us the strength. Verse 28, Philippians 1.28, he
says, which is to them, to the adversaries, an evident token
of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. That high priest
and the council proved by their rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ,
rejection of the gospel, that they were lost and ruined sons
of perdition. That's what they proved. But
God's grace strengthening Peter and the Apostle was a token of
their salvation, that they had been saved and it was of God.
That's what it was a token of. Brethren, the same as our Lord
Jesus saved us from the wrath of God and reconciled us to God,
He will save us from the wrath of men. It says in Romans 5.10,
if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only so, you know, He
had said we rejoice in tribulation, and not only so, we not only
rejoice in tribulation, we not only rejoice that we're counted
worthy to suffer shame for Christ's sake, but we also enjoy in God
through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we've now received the
atonement, been made one. I want to show you another scripture,
Luke 21. Now this is what our Lord said
would happen. And we see that it happened to
the apostles. The last sheep is called, this
will probably happen again in this world, Luke 21-12, Christ
said, They shall lay their hands on
you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and
into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for My namesake. And it shall turn to you for
a testimony. It will be an evident witness,
an evident token of your salvation and that being of God." That's
what he's saying. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate
before what you shall answer. For I I will give you a mouth
and wisdom. We said this strength came from
the Lord. That's what he said. I'll give
you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not
be able to gainsay nor resist. And you shall be betrayed both
by parents and brethren and kin's folks and friends. And some of
you shall they cause to be put to death. and you shall be hated
of all men for my name's sake, but there shall not a hair of
your head perish. In your patience possess ye your
souls." That's what Paul said to those two sisters in Philippians
4. In your patience possess your
souls. Let your moderation, let your patience be known, your
calm be known, your trust in the Lord. Let it be known to
all men. The Lord is at hand. He's with you. Be careful for
nothing, be anxious for nothing. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy
1.7, he said this, he said, God has
not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and
of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. who has saved us and called us
with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing
of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
Brethren, if you really, when He really gives you the unction
and the strength and the discernment to know You have eternal life. You're immortal. That's what
will give us boldness to speak the gospel when it gets as bad
as it got for them. Paul said, I'm appointed a preacher,
an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, and for the which
cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded he's able to
keep that which I've committed unto him against that day. That's
what he said in the Roman epistle, in Romans 8. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution? Shall famine, or nakedness, or
peril, or sword, as it's written? For Christ's sake, we're killed
all the day long. We're counted as sheep for the
slaughter. No. He said, and all these things
were more than conquerors through Christ Jesus that loved us. So
Peter said, in 1 Peter 4.12, he said, Beloved, think it not
strange concerning the fiery trial. which is to try you, as
though some strange thing happened unto you, but rejoice inasmuch
as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory
should be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy."
Somebody, you know, when I read those things, I think, I couldn't
bear up under that. Well, when you need it, The Lord
gives you strength, He will. He gives you grace for every
hour. You need dying grace, He'll give
you dying grace. You need persecuting grace, He'll
give you persecuting grace. He'll give you grace to bear
it. And it's an evident token that you're saved by the Lord,
by Him. Nothing's going to stop His people
from being of one mind, preaching Christ, trusting Christ, believing
Christ, because it's the Lord working it. It's the Lord working
it. We may get like the two ladies there, but the Lord Jesus will
do just what He's doing through Paul right here. He'll send the
gospel and He'll bring them back together. That's what He'll do
for His people. Trust Him. Trust Him. Let's go
to Him. Our great God and our Father,
we're thankful, Lord, that You're holy. We're thankful, Lord, that
You're so holy that You sent Your Son to make us one with
You, to reconcile us. We're thankful You're holy so
that You'll do what's just and right so that you will never condemn
one for whom Christ died. We thank You, Lord, that You're
holy to send us to Your Gospel, reveal Christ in our hearts,
create us anew, preserve us, keep us. Lord, we're thankful
that You're working everything in this world exactly according
to Your purpose. We're thankful, Lord, that You've saved a sinner like
us, showed us exceedingly great mercy
in what You've done for us. Lord, we pray that You would,
by the same holiness and the same power, we pray, Lord, You
would keep each of our brethren that you'd hedge them about,
that you'd protect them, that you'd guard their steps, that you'd bring them under the
sound of the gospel. And Lord, that you would make
all of your people one, united, one heart, one mind. And Lord, make us stand together When any adversary, especially
our adversary, the devil, tries to destroy this city, we pray,
Lord, that you would keep us compacted together and that you would continue to
draw your people. Fill us with Your Spirit. Give
us faith to see that we need this gospel. We need it more
than we need our daily bread. We need each other because we
need Christ and because we need this gospel. Make us, Lord, willing to just
lay down at Your feet and trust You. You're able to subdue all
things to Yourself. Give us faith, Lord, to believe
you. Lord, forgive us for being so
full of unbelief and doubt and murmuring and sin. Lord, there is nothing about us that
is worthy of a salvation so great. And we're thankful, Lord, you
didn't look to us for worthiness. We're thankful that you did it
for your own namesake, for the glory of your son. And we ask
you for his name, for your glory. We pray, Lord, that you would
hear our prayer. Make us adorn the gospel of being
of one mind and nothing terrified by our adversaries. We pray it,
Lord, in Christ's name, amen.