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Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from

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His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make

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my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of

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one mind.

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Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

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Rather in humility, value others above yourselves.

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Start looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.

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In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being

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in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God, something to be used to

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his own advantage.

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Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of the servant, being made

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in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man.

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He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

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Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above

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every name.

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That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

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And every tongue acknowledged that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

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Good morning, everyone.

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It's great to be together on this wonderful Sunday morning.

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I don't know what kind of weeks that you have had.

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We've all had varying kind of weeks, I presume, but it is a wonderful thing to be around the

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words of eternal life this morning.

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And these are not just words that man has written.

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These are the words that God has breathed out through the apostle Paul to us this morning.

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So why don't we join together in prayer and ask our heavenly Father to help us understand

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these words.

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Father, we thank you so much that we are able to be together this morning.

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Father, we need you more than anything.

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And so we ask as we come around your word, would you hold Jesus central in everything

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being said?

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By your spirit, would you lead us to our Lord Jesus Christ and help us this morning, Father,

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to know your beauty, to know your awesomeness, Lord.

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We ask for this in Jesus' name.

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Amen.

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There's a word that I get really excited about whenever we approach a passage as a church,

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and that is the word therefore.

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Now I get excited about that word because whenever we see it, we want to ask the question,

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why is therefore, therefore, that's right.

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Well that word is there because it introduces a thought or a statement resulting from or

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caused by what has immediately come before it.

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So before we get into the text that we have before us this morning, we want to have a

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quick think about what has immediately come before.

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You see, last week we saw a switch in this letter, a switch from how Paul was going and

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how God was using him in his chains to Paul commanding the church in how we are to act

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as Christians in our neck of the woods, or as Paul put it, how we are to conduct ourselves

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in a manner that's worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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That's what we saw last week.

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Paul went from encouraging his friends in Philippi, in his and their situations, to

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commanding the church in how we are to act out our faith in this world.

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And that's in a way that exalts Christ in every and any situation.

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Now remember the original recipients situation, the church in Philippi was under some sort

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of persecution to give up on the gospel.

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Yet Paul reminded them that because they had been saved and because God had started a good

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work in them, which he intended to finish, that they could stand firm and actively strive

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together as one in the faith of the gospel.

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And that's important to remember.

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Paul could give his friends apostolic commands that he knew that they could obey because

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they were in no way alone.

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No, the grace of God and the spirit of Christ was with them all in the battle.

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And so Paul made it clear, they were to actively strive in the power and grace of God because

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it's as they did that, that they would actually function as a sign to those who were opposing

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them.

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And that sign was that those who oppose God's people and by implication the gospel, which

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is the power unto salvation, well, they're actually setting themselves up as enemies

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of God and their end will be nothing but utter destruction.

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They are sobering words.

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Those that oppose the church, will they have the one who put the church together, who paid

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for the church in the blood of Jesus, will they have him to answer to?

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And he won't let injustice prevail forever.

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All this to say Paul has been saying to the church that we are to live in a way that glorifies

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what God has done in our life and that he wants us to do it together, united for the

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sake of the gospel.

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But this is a thing that's really interesting.

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Paul has been saying to do all that and that the church's obedience means something in

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the scheme of things, but then notice how we ended our time last week.

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It was with Paul saying, you know, in the same way that God has granted us salvation,

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well, he's actually granted us to suffer as well, verses 29 through to 30.

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Well, you can imagine the questions running through the Philippians minds.

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The opposition, the oppression, the hardship that they've all been facing, well, that was

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all under the sovereign hand of God and for all intents and purposes, it didn't look like

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it was going to alleviate anytime soon.

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And that's the thing about the church.

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We will go through hardship and opposition from external and also internal pressures.

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And we're going to have a look at that a little bit more detail in the coming weeks.

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But through it all, we are called to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.

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And as we'll see this morning, that will only come about by our uniting, not just with Christ,

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but with each other as well, which means there's going to have to be some humility in our lives,

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both towards God and each other.

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So with that said, let's have a look at chapter two, verse one.

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These are the words of God.

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Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from

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his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion.

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Okay, so first things first, after Paul has talked to the church about providential salvation

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and suffering, he again encourages this church by pointing them back to the truth of the

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gospel.

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I mean, we see it right here in our opening verses, don't we?

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Where does he want us to find the certainty of God's grace in our lives?

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Well, it's not in our circumstances, but in the gospel of Jesus Christ, because hey, both

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Paul and the Philippians circumstances, well, they weren't great.

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But did that mean that God had cast them off and was done with them?

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Certainly not.

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In fact, it's as Paul has said through this letter, they were in a great place to be used

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of God.

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As he, Paul, was getting to share the gospel with influential soldiers in Rome and the

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church in Philippi had the opportunity to act in obedience with his word and as a result,

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become a sign to all those that oppose them and show that God was really at work among

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them.

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So, if we look at our blessed assurance in our circumstances, our compass will be all

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over the place.

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That's why Paul always points Christians not to our circumstances for assurance, but to

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the gospel to know the certainty of God's grace in our lives.

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Hear it again.

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He doesn't say if you have any encouragement from having a great job, if any comfort from

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having a thriving ministry, if any happiness from everything going perfect.

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No, he says, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort

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from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion.

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And he does that because that's good news right there.

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That's great news right there.

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As we can only be united with Christ in the love of God, share in the Holy Spirit and

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have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives if we've been saved from the ways of this

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world and had Jesus embrace us as his beloved.

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Church, we are to look to the gospel, not to our circumstances to find our blessed assurance.

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It's by believing, actively believing, trusting Christ that we can be certain of God's grace

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in our lives.

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Now there is something worth noting here and it has to do with our English translation.

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You see, by using the word if, well it makes us sound a little bit more like a possibility

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rather than a reality.

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If you walk down to the shops, there might be some Mrs Max Pies left.

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If the Eagles train hard, they might win a game.

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Unlikely.

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But that's not the case here in any sense.

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As the Greek that sits under our new international version can also be translated as since or

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because.

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So we could understand this passage as being translated or at the very least understand

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Paul as saying because you're united with Christ, there is encouragement.

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Since there is comfort in his love, since there is a common sharing in the Spirit because

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there is fruit of the Spirit.

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All that to say Paul is redirecting the church from the what ifs of their situation to the

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what is.

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And what is the what is, I hear you ponder.

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Well, because of the work of God on behalf of his people, we have been forgiven.

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We have been washed, cleaned and justified and thus united to Christ for all eternity.

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And it's because of Christ and Christ alone that we walk in the Father's love and have

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the very Spirit of God working in and through us.

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And it's from and only from that gospel work that we can be encouraged and comforted in

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all our circumstances.

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And we'll notice this morning that's where Paul takes it.

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He encourages the church by pointing them to the certainty of God's grace at work in

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the lives of his people.

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He points them to the gospel.

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He points them to the reality of every single Christian to then exhorting us and giving

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us three things to aim for in our walk together.

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We see it in verse two, if you would read with me.

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We read, make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in

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spirit and of one mind.

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Now, Paul, now by Paul saying, make my joy complete, he isn't saying, I'm not happy with

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you, therefore I command you to impress me a little bit more.

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Now, what he's saying is that he already has joy with these people, but they will bring

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him further joy if he hears that they are continuing to walk out their Christian lives

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in obedience to the word.

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Think about it like this.

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Parents, we absolutely adore our children, right?

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And they can't do anything for you to love them anymore or less.

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But isn't it a wonderful thing when you hear from other people that they have beautiful

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manners and good listening ears?

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It's a wonderful thing when you don't see your little ones for a little while, yet hear

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from others, they have taken all the things that you've tried to teach them in the home

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and you hear that they've put them into practice when you're not around them.

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Well, that's what Paul's driving out here.

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He's saying, friends, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel and until I

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see you again, might I be filled with joy more so with the reports of your being like-minded,

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having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

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What's Paul saying here?

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What's he driving us to with this being and having language that we see in verse two?

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Well, it's all got to do with unity, right?

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I mean, let's think about what we had a look at last week, particularly in verse 27.

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Paul said, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

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Then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I'll know that you

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stand firm in one spirit, striving together as one for the faith, the gospel.

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As we took note, Paul's exhortation to the church to have tenacity, to walk in mutuality,

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to actively strive together in our confession and live out our gospel unity in this world,

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well, it's only possible because God has first done a work in us.

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We live out of that work, we live our obedience out of that work from that new life.

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All that to say, we also noted that Paul's language was in no way promoting individualism

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in the church, was it?

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Just the opposite.

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Individuals in the church actually conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel

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of Christ when we're in fact walking in unity with one another.

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And that's what Paul picks up again here in verse two.

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He's saying, brothers and sisters, live out your oneness, your togetherness in the one

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spirit and give me greater joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit

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and mind.

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What might Paul mean by that?

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Might he mean that we here in the church have to be in such agreement that we agree on absolutely

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everything, on the color of the carpet, the translation of the Bible we use on Sunday

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mornings, the songs that we sing?

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We might be surprised by the answer because I would say no and yes.

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And I've put it in that order so that we might have a think about a couple of things here.

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So first, I would say, no, we don't have to agree on absolutely everything because we're

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told in our Bibles that we are members of a body and not every member of the body has

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the same role, function or gifting.

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Individually, together, we also have different experiences and wisdom to bring to the table.

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And that's actually a beautiful thing.

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It's a wonderful thing.

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And so at the end of the day, we express our great unity in coming at things from different

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angles, yet not cracking and tearing over every little decision that needs to be made.

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That's why we have AGMs and we vote on things.

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We listen, we speak, we have conversations.

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We want to hear from the congregation.

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It's an important thing.

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So no, we don't have to agree on absolutely everything when it comes to things like the

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color of the carpet, the Bible we use, the songs we sing, because different people have

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different opinions, experiences and preferences.

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However, in saying that, I will point out to you what Paul is pushing on here with the

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language that he's employed.

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And that's that we as the church must all approach things in a way that we are to continually

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strive to maintain the unity among us.

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Does that mean we need to agree on absolutely everything so that everything we do is totally

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uniform?

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Well, no.

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But yes, in the way we tackle things as brothers and sisters in Christ.

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That's what Paul is wanting us to get here.

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He's saying strive together as one, be like-minded, have the same love, be one in spirit and in

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mind.

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In other words, have the same spiritual mindset among yourselves.

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Aim to maintain your unity and work together in all things.

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Brothers and sisters, we can have legitimate differences of opinion in the body of Christ.

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That's not the real problem here.

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We can disagree and still love one another and get along great and still work with one

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another.

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However, do you know what the true obstacle to unity is?

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It's self-centeredness.

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It's selfishness.

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And that's exactly what Paul picks up here in verses three to four.

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He says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

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Rather in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each

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of you to the interests of the others.

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Hear what Paul's saying here.

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He's saying friends, maintain the unity that you have in Christ, have the same aim and

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work together in and from that oneness.

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But be aware.

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Be aware of putting your wants above others, your opinions over that of others, your preferences

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before others.

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Church, that's how we, as a Christ-centered community, that's how we should approach everything.

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By together aiming to maintain the unity one for us in Christ.

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And we do that by thinking about how our decisions will affect other people.

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That's not to say that we shouldn't be heard or that our feelings don't matter.

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Now it's saying that Christianity and church life isn't a lone venture.

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It means that we are to do discipleship together, which means other people will be around us

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and they're going to have a plethora of things to say and share on the same matters.

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So as we walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ, sometimes we may have to forego

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our own desires, our own agendas, our own priorities in order to help others around

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us.

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We all have access to the throne of grace to ask for wisdom on these matters.

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That's key to everything that Paul has to say here.

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Unity in Christ is best maintained through humility in us.

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I'll say that again because it's important to catch.

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Unity in Christ is best maintained through humility in us.

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And that's where our apostle has taken things.

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He has taken us from what we already have in Christ to how we work it out and maintain

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it to now what it looks like in the flesh.

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And in typical Pauline fashion, he can't help but take us straight back to the gospel.

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If you would look with me at verses 5 through to 8, Paul says, in your relationships with

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one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God did not

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consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.

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Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in

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human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient

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to death, even death on a cross.

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Admittedly, we could actually spend weeks and weeks and weeks on these verses because

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there is so much that we can dive into.

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In fact, some of my favourite preachers have spent months on just verses 5 through to 8

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with others having done their PhDs on this very section of scripture and they are big,

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big books.

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However, for our purposes this morning, we're not going to pull everything apart in a microscopic

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way.

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But look at these verses in a more telescopic approach because I want you to see how Christ's

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very life is the greatest example of humility that we are to follow.

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And so after Paul has encouraged, exhorted and given some aims to the church in how we

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are to live out our faith in this world together against all the odds and oppression and hardships,

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he has held togetherness and oneness to be key in how we walk in obedience.

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He has shown that unity among us in the church is essential in order for us to maintain the

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unity that we already have in Christ.

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We must walk in humility towards one another.

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That's a key theme here.

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So in saying that with the assurance of our salvation being the gospel and already having

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unity in Christ, how do we walk in Christ-like humility?

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Well first, we're to embrace the mindset and the attitude of Christ.

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It's what Paul says here in verse 5.

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He says, in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

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What's he mean by that?

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That's exactly what he goes on to explain in the next few verses.

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Paul shows us how we are to adopt Christ's attitude by helping us to understand who Jesus

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is.

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First, he tells us that Jesus is divine.

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He tells us he's God.

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We see that in verse 6, who being in very nature, God.

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Now there's a number of reasons why that is so important for us to understand, but in

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the context of Paul's argument, he's pointing to the divinity of Jesus because he wants

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us to understand just how much Jesus humbled himself.

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I mean, think about what he's saying here.

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He's saying that Jesus was no ordinary man, but God himself.

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I mean, that's a mind blowing thing to think about, right?

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The stature of Jesus wasn't that he was just a prophet or preacher, but God himself.

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However, second, Paul shows us that just because he is God, he did not consider equality with

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God something to be used to his own advantage.

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In other words, when God took flesh and came to dwell among us, when he became man, when

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Jesus walked among his creation, he could have simply commanded the respect he was due.

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I mean, Jesus has every right for his creation to worship him, yet he didn't cling to the

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full exercise of that rightful privilege.

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Rather third, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in

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human likeness.

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I mean, listen to what Paul is telling us here.

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I mean, we're starting to get a picture of unbelievable humility, right?

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This is the God we serve.

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God has every right to be worshiped and adored by his creation, to be served by us.

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Yet he made himself into a human so that what he might serve us.

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Paul goes on to his fourth point saying of our great architect and perfecter of humility

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and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death,

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even death on a cross.

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I want you to think about that for a second church.

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This is absolutely incredible what we're hearing.

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It boggles the mind, the creator of the universe, the maker of you and me and everything that

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was, is and will be became a man so that he might serve his creation.

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And how did he serve us?

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By dying on the cross in shame and humiliation.

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I mean, the gospel is already such great news that it's hard to fathom, but as we lightly

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skim over the details of just what it took for Jesus to serve his people, what else can

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we do than stand in awe of his work on our behalf?

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This is what Paul is doing for the church.

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He's saying, look at our savior.

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Look at what he's done for our redemption.

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Now as you live the Christian life, be like him.

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It's very important that we understand what Paul is doing here.

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He isn't saying be like Jesus, otherwise you're going to hell.

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That's not what's being said here.

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And I say that because that would fly in the face of everything that Paul has been encouraging

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the church in so far.

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Paul and the Philippians both knew the gospel was not based on their works in order to gain

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heaven.

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No, they both knew salvation came completely by faith alone in the work of Christ, with

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works being a result of saving faith.

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So by Paul giving this exhortation to be like Jesus, he intends all believers to strive

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towards the example of Christ.

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However, I want to say this, Paul isn't saying do this and you'll be saved.

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No, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

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That was the saving message to the Philippians and that is the same gospel that we put our

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trust in here in Armidale.

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However, as we've seen, our apostle wants us to endeavor to live as those who are worthy

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of receiving the gospel.

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And so he holds up the great perfecter of our faith before our faces as our example

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of perfect humility.

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That in the power and grace of the Lord, we are to strive towards on this side of eternity.

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That's the example he points to.

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And it's important for us to understand that in the context of what he's doing here.

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And it goes back to verse five.

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Paul started this whole section by saying in your relationships with who?

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With one another.

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Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

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And so we must understand this exhortation to be like Christ, not just in an individual

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sense, but also in a communal sense as well.

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That's what Paul is driving home to us again this morning.

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We're to act like Christ towards one another.

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Brothers and sisters, this means that our obedience in working out this command means

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that we have to live out our Christian lives together.

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As I've said before, Paul is in no way fostering individualism in the church.

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We've seen it every step of the way.

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He's been showing us that unity is incredibly important in the church.

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And so our expression of this reality is utterly dependent upon every single one of us, upon

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every member of the body of Christ.

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We must strive together in our one faith, in the power and the grace of God.

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So as we end our time this morning in this phenomenal passage of scripture, it's an incredible

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thing to think about, isn't it, church?

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Paul is pointing to the ultimate example of humility.

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No one has ever humbled themselves more than our Lord Jesus Christ.

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No one has started ever so high and then descended so low.

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No one gave up so much as our Lord Jesus did for us.

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So on this basis, our apostle exhorts every believer to be like Christ and follow his

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example when it comes to each other.

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And let me say this, the spirit of Christ is at work in us.

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The spirit of Christ through the Holy Spirit is at work in his people.

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And if that is how Jesus lived his life, what right do we have to refuse his example and

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do things our own way?

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The work of the spirit in us is one that is leading us to more and more humility.

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And we must make whatever sacrifice is necessary for the good of others.

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Given this example, none of us can ever humble ourselves too much.

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None of us will ever be able to surpass the humility that Christ has demonstrated towards

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us.

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But as we've seen this morning, this is our calling and it is our wonderful privilege

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to live our lives in humble servitude and obedience to the one who gave everything to

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humbly serve us.

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Because there's a result.

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There is a result and that is joy.

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Paul goes on in verses 9 through to 11, therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave

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him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow

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in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ

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is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

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What is the result of following the Lord Jesus Christ?

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It's humility.

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Humility in us and in the congregation.

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What's the result?

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Well, as we see in the life of Jesus, his obedience led to exaltation, glory and ultimate

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joy.

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That's the result of our obedience.

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If we reject this, it's going the wrong way.

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If we embrace this, if we follow after the example of our Lord in the grace and the power

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of the Spirit, if we follow this example of humility together in this congregation here

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at Grace Christian Church, then joy will be the result.

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We might not walk it out perfectly.

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We might make mistakes.

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We might have to spend some time on our knees confessing where we got it so wrong again.

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But we don't work out our salvation in our own strength, but in the grace and the power

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of God himself, whose Holy Spirit is continually working in us to conform us into the image

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of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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It's our great privilege church to be in this together.

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So this morning, let's just take the next few moments to come to our Heavenly Father

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in prayer and ask him to help us in this endeavor, to help us in our obedience, both individually

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and corporately as the body.

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Would you pray with me?

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Father God, we asked this morning that you would hold Christ high in our midst.

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And Father, this passage holds our Lord in such a phenomenal way.

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And Father, as we've skimmed over the words that we have before us this morning, there

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is such comfort in the gospel knowing that you sent Jesus to save that which was lost.

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Father, it's an incredible, awesome standard.

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And so we ask, we know where we fall so far short.

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We know where we have gone skewiff in this.

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But we ask with your tender mercy, with your tender grace, would you please give us the

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wisdom in how to walk this out?

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Father, we ask that we are not a congregation that casts these things aside into the too

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hard pile.

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We ask that we would be a congregation that is changed by your word.

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And that grace, Christian church here in the city of Armidale would be known not just as

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a city set on a hill, not just as a place that loves you and makes disciples, but that

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it is a place of humility, Lord.

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Where we serve one another, not in a sense of duty, but in a sense of love and genuine

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affection for each other and the people that walk through the doors.

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We ask for this in Jesus' name and for your glory.

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Amen.