As we will see today, unity among believers in the church is critical to effective representation and proclamation of the gospel. Yesterday I pointed to Paul’s confronting Corinth for their divisions. They were “people of the flesh, as infants in Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:1). This type of behavior is what hinders the gospel being proclaimed and seen in the way we live.
The Philippian letter was written by Paul to promote single-mindedness in the gospel. He asked these saints to “complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind” (Philippians 2:2). The following verse shows how the mind of Christ is the gospel. Toward the end of this letter, Paul “entreat(s) Euodia and…entreat(s) Syntyche to agree in the Lord” (4:2). They had worked with Paul in proclaiming the gospel (4:3), but something between them was now hindering this progress and they were not unified “in the Lord.” Division and disunity among believers hinder the spread of the gospel! We often think that small disagreements and arguments are insignificant in the larger scheme of the Church’s work. But they are like small termites that eat away at God’s purpose and plan for the Church and the gospel reaching every tribe, tongue, and nation. They must be addressed quickly and with humility.
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Unity in the Body of Christ was a major focus in Paul’s ministry. From confronting Peter to his face about his hypocrisy with the Jewish and Gentile believers to confronting divisions in Corinth, he was bold in calling them out for misrepresenting the gospel. Sadly, most churches tolerate this type of disunity.
What caused Paul to be so strong on this issue? Unity in itself was not the point. Because our flesh gets in the way of God’s work, Paul exhorts us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). The word “eager” means to “work hard at this with zeal.” I think we are far too casual about this characteristic of the Spirit. There is glory attached to unity of the Spirit in the Church. “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:22). What an exalted standard and glorious reason to be “eager” about this matter. Tomorrow I will address specific times where Paul called out individuals because their conduct created disunity in the Church. It is easy to make doctrinal differences the reason the Church is not unified but looking at God’s purpose for the Church as a reflection of the Godhead, there is no excuse for tolerating a lower standard among us than Jesus prayed for. Paul stirs my heart in Philippians 3 with renewed determination. It does not matter how many times I read these verses, they unsettle my status quo and make me take a careful look at my objectives and priorities.
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14). Paul was not settling for the status quo. nor does he claim to have arrived at perfection in Christ. Another statement that arrests my attention is Paul’s “one thing I do.” It was not that this process was done once in his life and he never had to repeat it again, but it was his perpetual attitude to “forget, or not recall”things in his former life that would hinder his pursuit of Christ Jesus his Lord. Though he does recall his early life in Judaism (3:4-6), he determined not to allow them to hinder the goal and prize of final victory in Christ. Distractions are everywhere, but we must learn to disregard them and narrow down our pursuits in life to “one thing I do.” The reason this is so important is that if we fail to remove unnecessary pursuits, we will expend time, energy and resources that have no value. God has put an amazing eternal goal in front of you. “Strain forward…press on toward” being filled with Christ and with a single mind pursue Him and His glory. It is a wonderful blessing to receive news directly from someone who attended the training in Sweden. When medical issues and decision prevented Tim from going at the last minute, Randy and Joseph went in his place. Here is an email from one of the attendees.
“I hope you are doing well and your health is improving? Just to say that it was a blessing having our brothers Randy and Joseph with us. We were richly blessed and encouraged by their coming and ministering unto us. Thanks for all the training materials we received, and we hope to print more of them here in Sweden by His grace. The Almighty bless you and all members of your team, for the great work you are doing across the nations, even to the unreached people and places. Let's keep each other in prayer.” Randy sent this note: “Please thank God for our time here in Sweden. In some ways, it has been very challenging. We have worked hard to lay the foundation of returning to the Scriptures, the only true way this church will flourish in the days ahead. Pastor Elijah is humble and gracious, and open to being led. I believe we have begun a good work here, and a visit in November should tell if they have completed GPHD. Please pray for this small group of 12 committed Christ-followers.” This is cause for much thanksgiving, but also calls us to pray for the work ahead. You may have read these verses below many times, but I ask you to read them again and then consider the questions after the quote.
“Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7–8). QUESTION:
Your answers and the decisions you make now will make an eternal difference. We often look at Scripture, particularly Paul’s letters, as spiritual instruction without a personal connection. Philippians 2:19-30 proves the point. There is a weaving of both in these verses, so we have the example of how to take spiritual principles and apply them to ordinary relationships.
While Paul was very concerned about the spiritual welfare of the Philippians, they were very concerned about his time in prison and Paul’s “fellow worker and fellow soldier” Epaphroditus. He could not overlook this personal relationship. We are not given the details but he “nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me” (Philippians 2:19-30). They needed to see this brother face-to-face in order to understand Epaphroditus’ passion for the gospel, for Paul and for the Philippians. As we think about how this translates into our day, the question we must ask ourselves is whether this personal component marks our walk with the Lord and our ministry to others. Building up the body of Christ is never without concern for the individuals. So often preachers and pastors end their sermon, the last hymn is sung, and they march to the back of the building and stand at the door to receive human praise as people walk out. There is no interaction between the preacher and people’s souls. I know there is the exception, but in general this is how church services end. What will we do differently to be an Epaphroditus or Timothy? Two years ago, Tim introduced our training materials to a brother in Oslo, Norway, who is from Vietnam. We have not heard anything from him until just now. Here is an update from him:
“Our church in Oslo began to work through the two books: GPHC and GPHD. Churches in our network like these two books very much. We have not yet completed the books. Upon finishing we will inform you of a celebration date to hand out the certificates for those who have successfully completed the study.” This is a spontaneous expansion of God’s work as it moved from Vietnam to Europe and perhaps back to Vietnam. It is amazing what God is doing in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese around the world. Many who came to the US and Europe and are going back to their homeland to share the gospel, Vietnamese to Vietnamese, are much more effective and productive in reaching their own. This reminds us of Jesus’ words to the demon possessed man who “begged” to go with Jesus after being set free; ““Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him” (Luke 8:39). Let us encourage nationals who have the gospel to share it with their own people. It is time that we said something about the many translators around the world who work closely with us in this ministry. We have requirements when selecting these special people, but in the process, we discover that God is making the connection and developing a much deeper commitment in them than what they had at the start. Here are some of these characteristics:
What is so thrilling in this process is the relationships that are built along the journey. Some have become faithful “Timothys” who are now training others with our resources. Others testify that they have learned so much just by doing the translation work and want to see that spread. We deeply appreciate these brothers and sisters! While skill levels are different and equipment often makes their work very challenging, we work together for the sake of the gospel. If you know a people/language group that needs our training resources, please let us know. Another subject that had been crossing Paul’s mind while he sat in prison writing this letter to the Philippians, was the end of his life. What if he should die while in a damp dark cell? That would be gain to Paul and “far better.” He also knew there was work that needed to be finished among the Philippians before his death, as well as in other places. Rome and Spain were on his heart.
Remaining here had some very important reasons that determined how he looked at the present and the future.
All these points should make us ask the question; ‘if we are left here on earth, what will we do with our time on earth and how will it contribute to God’s plan to spread the gospel and build up the church?’ Imprisonment for Paul was not a problem. In fact, it was God’s way of spreading the gospel even further than what Paul could have done on His own. It appears that some who heard Paul was in prison took it on themselves to preach in his place, but not all had the right motive in doing this. “Some…preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will” (Philippians 1:15). After reading Galatians 1, you can imagine how particular Paul was about the truth of the gospel and how that truth was presented.
There was another benefit from Paul being in prison. It caused others to “become confident in the Lord…[and] much more bold to speak the word without fear” (14). This statement is important for us to consider carefully since confidence in the Lord is much different than self-confidence. Education, degrees and church association tend to foster a false sense of ability rather than what the Spirit produces from a close walk with Him. That produces boldness. Confidence or boldness in preaching is not generated by human determination but by a relationship with the Author. There is another point that Paul makes which we must consider. His evaluation of these persons stemmed from knowing why he is in prison; “I am put here for the defense of the gospel” (16). There was no idle time for Paul, even in prison. This should make us evaluate why we are where God has placed us and make sure we living for that purpose. |
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