A Hospital Prayer Room Tension

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Well, I just want to greet every one of you in Jesus' name this morning. It is it's been really good to be here this morning so far. Um I invite you all to open your Bibles to Philippians chapter one. Philippians chapter one. I started preaching through Paul's letter to the Philippian church uh several months ago, and uh we are good. I'm gonna continue that series this morning. And I'd like to start by sharing a story of something that happened to me here a few weeks ago. So we were in Columbus uh several weekends at the uh OSU uh Wexner Medical Center uh while Christy's dad, Gaylord, was in the hospital. And we took turns spending the night there with him. And uh the one morning I was uh leaving his room and went downstairs to the to the main floor and was just feeling discouraged, uh, hadn't slept well, um, was feeling pretty worried uh just about the the decline of his health. And I saw off to the to the side uh close to the cafeteria a sign that said uh prayer, I think it was called a prayer room. And so I said, I'm gonna just step inside this prayer room and have a time of solitude and and uh spend some time in in prayer, spend some time with God. So I walk into this room, it's just a small room, maybe the size of the uh the kitchen, and I saw uh I saw the to the to the side there was a whole a whole stack of um Muslim prayer mats, and there was a bookshelf with uh religious texts from a whole wide variety of of religions, and uh including a Bible. Um but this this prayer room was clearly uh set aside for multiple different kinds of religions. And I just stood in there and just sort of observed it a little bit, but I felt this tension in my heart that just felt like this is I don't feel like I can truly worship my God in here. That tension is a tension that uh most of our postmodern secular society uh would probably agree that that that tension shouldn't exist. That there should be a sense of harmony amongst all of these different religions. There should be no tension, there should be uh

Why “Coexist” Feels So Compelling

SPEAKER_00 2:40

unity amongst these different religions. Uh I just the uh last week I saw a bumper sticker, and it's a very common bumper sticker that sort of encapsulates this whole idea uh of religious tolerance and global unity. And it's uh the sticker that has one word on it, and it's it's a word that is made up of a bunch of different symbols, and the word is coexist. How many of you have seen that sticker? Okay. So next time you see it, uh most of you probably know what this is already, but uh each letter of that word is a symbol of a different type of religion. And the religions or faith traditions or uh spiritual practices in that word, represented in that word are Islam, there's a peace symbol, uh, there's a Hindu symbol, there's a Jewish Star of David, there's a witch's pentacle, there's a yin and yin yang symbol, which is very common in. Oh, thank you, Chris. Dude, you're fast back there. I didn't even have that pulled up, but yeah, there you got it right there. Uh, and then the last one is a is a Christian cross. This is a very modern, sort of postmodern Western um ideal, that all of these different types of religion should be able to uh have unity and harmony together. Um it's a misguided, uh it's a mis it's a misguided means. A desire for this harmony is is a good desire. I think the the desire for anybody who has that bumper sticker, I would like to think is is coming from a uh a genuine desire for peace in the world. Whoever has this probably uh desires a world in which there's no war, probably once a world where there is uh no religious fighting, um where all religions are equally valid, and where we basically just all get along. I think that's a human desire, but that the means by which they are going about this is a misguided means, and I would say is is frankly just naive, unfortunately.

Biblical Unity Versus Church Disunity

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Unity is a major theme that runs throughout the New Testament, and I should preface that by saying biblical unity. And this is the idea I want to look at this morning, found in uh in the text here in the letter to the to the Philippian church. Unfortunately, too often uh the church is marked by the opposite of unity, it's marked by disunity. Many of you here have probably experienced uh what disunity within church can feel like, the reality of disunity. Maybe it's been a church split, uh, maybe it's been uh fighting amongst brothers or sisters, maybe it's been irr-irreconcilable disagreements. The scars of disunity mark the landscape of church history. Uh, if you look throughout church history, it's it's pretty horrific what disunity in the body of Christ looks like. So this is the apparent experience of so many believers today within the church. Is unity really possible? You might be sitting here thinking uh that it's it's it's a naive idea. It sounds nice, it's cute, it's uh it's sort of pie in the sky, but it's in practice not really possible. We're just too different and uh we're we're too diverse in our various worldviews and ideas that we cannot actually have this picture of unity. I want to look at what Paul uh lays out here's exhortation to the church for unity. Uh we looked at last time, we looked at uh Paul's uh struggle, this struggle in his heart as he's awaiting trial uh under house arrest, and he's not sure which way this trial is gonna go. On the one hand, he could be released and let go to be united back again with the church. On the other hand, he could be executed. And uh he says, whichever way this goes, uh essentially Jesus is gonna win. He's gonna receive the glory. For me to live is Christ. But if I die, that's not a loss, it's actually a gain because I get to be with Christ and he receives glory in that way. That's a bit of the context that the verses that we're gonna look at this morning is is coming from. He's writing from prison uh to a church that is in a city that is essentially a mini Rome. It's a it's a colony of the Roman Empire. Uh, and if you could sum up this letter to the Philippians in one phrase, it would it would be learning to live as citizens of heaven. Learning to live as citizens of heaven. Uh I mean they're all Roman citizens, but they're learning what it means to be a follower of Jesus and how to live as citizens of heaven. So it's in this context that we're gonna pick up, we're gonna read through the text, and then I'm gonna make some general observations, and then I'd like to lay out uh what biblical unity is, three reasons why unity matters, and then answer uh several uh common questions that come with this idea, this theme of unity. I realize I'm uh time is already uh um getting ahead of me. And so I'm gonna I'm gonna cut out uh some of this stuff, but I just pray, I might just pray again real quick and just ask God that his spirit work in my heart and in your hearts, and that ultimately his Holy Spirit could could uh produce the change that is uh possible as we look at his word. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are so dependent on on you and on your spirit to work in our hearts. Uh we can we can read, we can, we can uh we can share ideas, we can think about ideas, but ultimately it is your spirit that will produce life in us. And so we ask you to do that right now in Jesus' name, amen. All right, I'm gonna ask you guys to stand again. You guys have been sitting for a while. We're gonna read down through this, and if you have a pencil or a pen, I want you to uh underline uh every time you you we come across the word one or same. Um and those are sort of the ideas that we're gonna we're gonna dive into a bit more.

Philippians Reading One Mind One Love

SPEAKER_00 9:50

All right, verse 27, and we're gonna go down through uh verse four of chapter two. So uh starting in chapter one, verse 27. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake. And how I wish that phrase wasn't in there. Um we'll get into that a little bit later, but uh it's a reality for us as believers. Verse 30, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. I'm gonna stop there, and it feels like a sort of a tough place to stop, but the next uh portion, next several verses is essentially the uh the Christ, the the Christ hymn, and we'll cover that uh next next time. You guys can be seated. Thank you for that. All right, so we're I'm just gonna work my way through the through the text and make some general observations and and

Citizenship Language And Standing Firm

SPEAKER_00 11:55

uh and then uh go from there. So the first uh the first phrase there in verse 27, he says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel. And this here you might call a motivation for unity. This is a motivation for unity. He says, Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. The phrase there, let your manner of life is in Greek, is one word, and it's the word uh polyteomai. Probably butchered that, but uh it essentially means to live in accordance with the civic duties of one's state or body politic. And it comes from the root word uh the polit, P-O-L-I-T. That word is a Greek word for city or city-state. And uh polyteomai basically means it's this idea that has to do with the duties and obligations of the citizen. As a Roman citizen, this is what is expected of you. There were expectations, and the success of the empire, the stability of the empire, depended almost more on the average citizen's duties and obligations, you upholding those duties than it did on the power and might of the of the emperor. Um if there was not, if if the average citizen in Rome was not performing his duties, uh, the empire would collapse. It doesn't matter how how great uh the power and might of the emperor is. There was expectations. We're gonna look at later uh in a later sermon this idea of being citizens of heaven. These believers are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, and they have expectations and obligations as citizens of heaven. They have a new identity as citizens of heaven, and with that new identity comes a new list of obligations that are to be performed. He says, uh, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Essentially, this is what your identity is like now is now act like it, live like it. Um I remember when my dad became a citizen, uh a U.S. citizen in uh, I think it was the year 2000, and I have these faint map faint memories of him, you know, spending hours uh reading through English textbooks and and like civic textbooks, uh studying the laws of the nation, uh understanding the history of the country, and uh and then practicing proficiency in writing and reading the English language. And with his identity change as a U.S. citizen, that identity change came with a set of expectations, a commitment to perform the duties of the citizen. That's what uh Paul is laying out here for us. Let your manner of life be worthy. So that whether I come or see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. This is a little description of what unity looks like. What unity looks like. The first phrase there that I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit. Standing firm, uh the Greek word there is actually a military term, uh stikete, and it means to hold one's ground, to maintain a position, or to be steadfast or upright. Now remember, this is a colony that is made up of uh many, many veterans of the Roman Civil Wars came and settled in the city of Philippi. When they heard this language, they knew from experience in the military what it meant to stand your ground, to maintain a position. Josephus uh wrote about the um the final assault on Jerusalem, and he writes about Roman soldiers who uh who stood their ground, and he uses the same Greek word uh in uh almost like a tight phalanx-like uh formation. And it was this type of uh standing firm in one spirit that allowed them to uh to withstand the attack of the enemy. He says, with one mind, striving side by side. And again, a picture of unity here, uh, striving side by side. If you if if you uh this is such a common idea in sports world. So if you're a Buckeyes fan, uh and you watch the watch the uh the offensive line or the defensive line, they're they're lined up and they're they're each man is lined up on the opposite of his of his opponent. And when the play uh goes, they uh basically there's a conflict there, and you are standing, you're basically in striving side by side for a common cause of your team. It's a picture of what unity looks like for the church. It's a team effort. He says, I want to drill down in this idea of the one one mind and one spirit. This is such a common phrase in the in the New Testament. Uh he goes on in in verse two of chapter two, he says, Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, in full accord, and of one mind. We're gonna expand on this a little bit a little bit later, uh, this idea of one mind, but it's essentially being so unified in your purpose, being so unified in your um your motivations and your loves that you're basically acting as one mind, one spirit, one unit. And it's almost like think of it like uh like an old married couple that's been married for years, and uh they I know some of your parents uh act like this, where the husband will start saying something, we'll forget, uh maybe the time or the place, and the wife will just like quietly just uh finish his sentence for him. It's a picture of having one

Unity Rooted In The Gospel Reality

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mind, unified. He says, What exactly are we unifying around? He says, for the faith of the gospel, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. And this is the reality that we are unified by. We're not this idea of unity isn't just something that we're pulling out of thin air, it's not self-administered, it's not um, it's not um self-proclaimed or something that we're just trying to trying to get along. Our unity is found, is, is, is based on the reality of the gospel. So when Christ died on the cross, God reconciled us lost sinners who were who were broken, our our relationship was broken, was fragmented, separated from God. And when Christ died on the cross and rose again and his blood uh covered our sins, he unified us, our broken selves back to him. And that relationship was restored. He restored that. So the gospel not only restores us to God, it restores a brokenness within human relationships. So when we enter the family of God, uh it's not like we're entering uh a body that is fragmented and and disunified, and now we have to strive towards unity. When you were born again, you entered a family that was already unified. The reality is the church is one, the church is unified, and you enter that when you are saved by uh the gospel of Jesus. So this is a theme that runs throughout the New Testament, the oneness of the church, the oneness of the church. Turn to uh 1 Corinthians 12. Actually, don't even worry about turning to that just for the sake of time. I'm gonna read through some of these verses to bring out this idea, the oneness of the church. 1 Corinthians 12, 13. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves or free. There's a picture of diversity coming together into one body, and all were made to drink of one spirit. So it's salvation in one Christ, one Father, one spirit, the Trinity. That salvation gives us unity within the body of Christ. Verse uh chapter 10 of 1 Corinthians because there's one bread, talking about communion, we who are one body, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. So when we when we come together for communion next time and we partake of that bread and the cup, we're partaking of one body, not 60 different pieces of different parts of God. It's one body, and we share in that. Ephesians 4, this is a very common one. I urge you to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, the Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. So, in a sense, you could define biblical unity as uh spiritual union of the redeemed through the indwelling of the spirit, which manifests in the visible gathering of the faithful. Many different parts, many different different uh parts coming together and making one body. So that's that's the idea and that's the reality that we're part of. In practice, which we'll get to soon, it can prove to be a little more difficult and a little more challenging. So we looked at a little bit at what unity

Three Reasons Unity Truly Matters

SPEAKER_00 23:25

uh is from a biblical perspective. And now I'm gonna look at three reasons why unity matters. Why does why does this matter? Um this this ideal, this reality. Number one, unity sustains a suffering church. Unity sustains a suffering church. If you look at verse 29 and 30, Paul has this really encouraging news for them. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had, and now hear that I still have. Suffering is inevitable for the Christian. We don't always feel the uh an experience of suffering for Christ's sake here in America. And I believe that's a blessing, and that's that's a gift that we have, but it's something that we can uh we can sometimes uh get dolled to this idea. Suffering is inevitable for the Christian. And he words it like it's almost a gift to us, it's been granted to you, it's been given to you that you get you get to experience suffering for the sake of Christ. Now, suffering is is not uh from from God, it's part of of sin and it's part of part of the fallenness. But I believe there's a redemptive uh there's a redemptive experience that can come through suffering, that through Christ we can have fellowship in his suffering, we can, in a sense, identify with him and be one with him through that. The church is in a state of war against the powers of darkness, uh, versus like the devil prowls about like a roaring lying, seeking whom he may devour. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities, authorities, against cosmic powers, against spiritual forces of evil. And our unity as a church is a shield against the attack from the enemy. Chris, I'm gonna have you pull up that that first picture, the shield wall. So this is uh an illustration of a Roman, um, a Roman umation called the the uh tessudo. And it's uh it's a word that where we get um tortoise from or turtle. And this was a formation that they would practice when they were uh uh trying to uh push towards an enemy line while at the same time defending themselves against the attacks from the enemy. And it was a group of 27 soldiers that would uh interlock their shields. And Plutarch, who he's a Roman historian, he writes about this in in uh he describes this formation that's used by Mark Anthony during an invasion in 36 BC. And he says this Then the shield-bearers wheeled around and enclosed the light armed troops within their ranks, dropped down to one knee and held their shields out as a defensive barrier. The men behind them held their shields over the heads of the first rank, while the third rank did the same for the second rank. The resulting shape, which is a remarkable sight, looks very like a roof and is the surest protection against arrows, which just glance off of it. Which just glance off of it. I just think this is such a awesome picture of what a unified body looks like. And the purpose for unity, unity sustains a suffering church. We are going to experience attack from dark from from the powers of darkness. And when there is disunity in the body of Christ, it's almost like that that that shield wall opening up, gaps opening up within in that shield wall and making us vulnerable to the to the arrows of the enemy. Dunity opens up gaps in that shield wall. So that's uh one reason why unity matters is that it can help sustain a church under attack from the enemy, which we will experience a lot. I over the past several weeks, Christy and I uh felt this reality through the body here at Grace Point. We were um we were suffering. I I don't know if I should go as far as to say we were suffering for the sake of Christ. We were suffering the reality of loss uh at the death of her father, and we felt the church at Grace Point come together and I would say almost surround us like a shield wall and uh bless us in some really amazing ways while we were in our vulnerable, vulnerable place, vulnerable position. So I'm gonna just bless you all for that. All right, you can pull that down, Chris. The second reason why you unity matters is unity displays God's love to the world. This is one of God's greatest desires, is that the unity of the church will showcase his love to a lost world. Jesus prayed this in the high priestly prayer. He said, The glory that you've given me, I have given to them that they may be one. There's that word one again, which is so common. One, even as we are one. So there's unity between the Son and the Father. There's there's oneness there. I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know. This is the reason, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Such a beautiful, beautiful prayer. Uh that just I think reveals God's heart for the loss. Unity displays God's love to the world. We're a varied bunch here. We come from from we might not be as varied as what we think, but we are pretty varied in where we come from. Many of many of us grew up in this area, but not all of us. Some of us uh were born in different countries, come from different different worldviews, different backgrounds. Some of us have different um preferences and leanings in in like styles of worship, um different loves. Some of us are we're just a varied bunch of people. And so this idea of of loving each other and being unified is not a natural thing, it's not something that just happens, it's a supernatural act, and it displays God's love. Um Francis Chan says when believe unbelievers look at the church, they shouldn't see a political party, a country club, or a debater's guild. They should see supernatural love. Supernatural love. Unity displays God's love to the world. Thirdly, unity lays the groundwork for worship. Unity lays the groundwork for for worship. In Romans 15, Paul says, May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accordance with in accord with Jesus Christ, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So he's saying that the the reason behind this harmony and unity is that you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Worship is is the goal of unity. It's it's and unity sets the stage for worship to happen. How many of you have sung in a group, uh a group of people where one person, usually a male, is just like a half step off-key or like maybe like like three steps off-key. It just ruins it. You can't sing. It just completely defeats the purpose. And that off-key singing is what disunity is like in worship. Maybe you've experienced disunity in the church and come here on a Sunday morning, hopefully not here, but gotten together to worship with this group of people that were maybe in there's some disunity there, and you try to worship, and in your heart it just feels like that off, something's off-key, something's off. It's just not right. God says, I think God feels the same way. It just feels it feels off. He says, if you're offering your gift at the altar, if you're going to worship, and your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift at the altar, go and first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. If you're gonna offer your gift of sacrifice for worship before you've reconciled with your brother, you're just like the dude who's singing, you know, a couple couple steps off key, and it's just it's just it's noise and it's it's gross to me.

Denominations Plus Two Unity Ditches

SPEAKER_00 33:07

I'm gonna skip ahead here a little bit just for the sake of time. Um, just some practical questions. How can we have unity with all of the denominationalism that we that we experience? Chris, you can pull up the little cartoon here. You've maybe seen this before, but there's approximately in on a statistical view, there's around 45,000 plus different church groups slash denominations. And that's that's a statistical view. They yeah, I'm not gonna get into that, but essentially there's there's around six to 10 major church denominations, and then a total of like 20 to 30 subcategories within uh denominations. And what I'm so grateful for is that here at Grace Point, out of all of those different denominations, we found the right one. And and like we just need to pray for all the other ones because they're clearly off track. How can we have unity if there's so much fragmenting of the church on a global scale? I I think the encouragement for us is to is to avoid cynicism that comes with that that that view or that idea. It's easy for for us to be become cynical of the church at large, be like, well, what's the point? We're all just fragmenting. I think what we need to do is um focus on local unity before we try to tackle global unity. So let's just leave the global denominational like fragmenting aside and pay attention to unity on the local level. There's no point in talking about global unity if we can't get unity within our own body right. Now, you can pull that down, Chris, if you don't mind. I think two things that I found helpful to think about with with unity is is two sort of ditches when it comes to unity. And it's essentially two different uh positions of of what unity is not. Two ditches, and we tend to live in one or the other. Um and the first ditch is unity as uniformity, unity as uniformity. So many of us maybe came from from that, and that that can look like you know, dressing in the same color clothes, um, all uh basically wearing uniforms. Um it can have uh that's often how it presents itself, is uniformity in how we look in appearance. Um, unfortunately, that does not produce unity, biblical unity. It doesn't mean that if we practice that, it doesn't mean that unity can't be there, but it does not automatically equal biblical unity. The other ditch, then, which our danger is, uh, is if if we've come from a church like that, is to swing to the other ditch and uh view unity as over-inclusiveness. Um, over-inclusiveness. Unity is not faith that's watered down or that ignores ongoing sin. Ongoing sin. This is more common sort of on a on a big scale, but um one quote by Conrad Conrad um Bewe, he's an African pastor, says, we must guard against an ecumenism that suggests that we should embrace anyone calling himself a Christian or any group calling themselves a church. That would be wrong. The fact that Christian unity is secured in Christ and applied by the Holy Spirit means that only true Christians who have responded to the gospel in genuine repentance and faith should be embraced in this unity. This means that the gospel should be the dividing line for this unity. Where there is serious, defective understanding of the gospel, we cannot with good conscience forge unity. That would betray the Christian faith altogether. Some churches are, in Revelations, he says, synagogues of Satan. So unity as over-inclusiveness. Um, maybe churches that would embrace uh an openly homosexual lifestyle practicing. Um we can go down the list, but uh for the sake of time I won't. The dividing line is the gospel. He says, strive to have one mind, strive for the faith of the gospel. And there's other other questions I'm I'm gonna bring it to a close here, but questions that are maybe we can continue talking about is how can you know, these are practical application questions that I'm struggling with, and I thank God we have the Holy Spirit for. Is can can can I do ministry with a believer who isn't from my own faith tradition, from my own denomination? Uh when should I step away from a church? Uh when when should I step away from a church that is seemingly compromising? Um what are those compromises like? Uh what who defines those things? We have we have personal consciences, um there's also uh Christian freedom, and there's uh the the weighing of those two things that can that can play into this this thing. But in general, Paul wants the local body to stand side by side, striving for unity, to be of one mind, one

Final Charge And Closing Prayer

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spirit, striving together for the faith of the gospel. And that's what we're called to here at Grace Point. Um, and I'm gonna bring it to a close. I invite you all to stand, and then I will just uh uh close with uh closing prayer and you can be dismissed after this. Let's pray, Heavenly Father. Thank you for your grace and your goodness. Uh thank you for um for your spirit that guides us in in all truth. Lord, we are uh a group of people that are seeking to live out the realities of the gospel, and we live in a fallen world. We're broken, we need we need uh we need grace as we we hurt each other in different ways, and uh we want to to learn to forgive and to walk in unity, um, in a biblical unity that showcases your love to the world around us. Please uh help us to do that and help us to live in uh uh this type of of biblical unity. Lord, I pray for everyone who goes from here. I pray that you could bless our week with your grace and your peace. All this pray in Jesus' name. Amen.