Unity is a Cheat Code

So if you've got your Bible, please open it up. We're gonna go to Philippians chapter 2 We kicked off a brand new sermon collection last Sunday We're studying all throughout the summer. We did this last year as well. We call it our our summer school It's just a study that we do throughout the summer and we pick one book of the Bible and we read Every single word in that book the Bible So this summer it is Philippians and last week we hit on Philippians chapter 1 and this week We're gonna cruise along to Philippians chapter 2 So if you've got your Bible open to Philippians chapter 2 with me, please stand to your feet for the reading of the Word of God We're gonna read out loud all together as a big family Philippians Chapter 2 today. Now. I just want to remind you of a little bit of context here The Apostle Paul is writing a letter to the very first church that he planted in Europe And they're in the city of Philippi Paul is in Rome where he has been arrested. He's being Persecuted for preaching that Jesus is Lord, which is what we preach Is it that right Christians? Jesus is Lord. Y'all say it with me. Jesus is Lord. Amen but in Philippi they declare something different which is Caesar is Lord and That's what has got their church in a whole lot of trouble But they hear of Paul's arrest and they send a man with the funny name named Epaphroditus with a financial gift for Paul to care for his needs So Epaphroditus shows up Paul begins to ask questions about the church in Philippi He understands that they're suffering persecution. So he says when you go back I'm gonna send you with a letter and I'm gonna let everybody know What kind of mindset that they need to have to suffer this persecution and survive? So that's where we pick up and we're gonna hit on Philippians chapter 2 So let's read together. The Bible says this 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 Let's read that one more time verse to complete my joy By being of the same mind everybody say unity Having the same love everybody say unity Being in full accord everybody say unity and one more time of one mind everybody say Y'all got it verse 3 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 interest, but also to the interest of others Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus here It is again Paul appealing to their mindset and he's saying I want you to think like Jesus Because the mind of Christ is your inheritance That's mine Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus Who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross therefore God has Highly exalted him and bestowed on him. That is a the name that is above every name Come on, we got to preach this so that at the name of Jesus Every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess what? What To the glory of God the Father That's the mindset that Jesus had in the mindset that we must have he goes on verse 12 Therefore my beloved as you have always obeyed So now not only as in my presence but much more in my absence Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Have you ever read that and wondered what it meant? Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling first thing. We need to emphasize is the word work

You don't just get saved and retire You don't just get saved and immediately go to heaven nope, there's some work to be done and There is a process called sanctification that the Christian experiences as we follow Jesus as his disciple. So Paul's telling them, don't resign, don't retire, continue to work. And as you endure this process called sanctification, I want you to do so in awe of the one who has saved you. Don't neglect the fear of the Lord, but respect the Lord. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. So that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain as your pastor, even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering. He's talking about being killed now. Upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, he's saying, I'm already martyred for my people. I am glad and rejoiced with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. Now this last part, I'm not going to get into as I teach, but nonetheless, it's important and we're going to read every word. I hope in the Lord Jesus Christ to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interest, not those of Jesus Christ. Now he's talking about other leaders, other preachers and teachers seeking their own interest, not those of Jesus. But Timothy, on the other hand, has a proven worth. How as a son with a father, he has served with me in the gospel. I have a feeling that Paul's come to a point in his ministry life where he has stopped trying to father his nephews. He said, no, I'm going to pour into sons. I'm going to pour into daughters. Not people who are opposing as sons and daughters, who are actually fueled by selfish ambition. He says, no, you know, Timothy is a proven, he's got proven worth. He's a son. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me. And I trust

in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. I've thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my needs. See, Epaphroditus had come from Philippi with money to support Paul. For he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was healed. Indeed, he was healed near to death, but God had mercy on him. And not only on him, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again and that I may be less anxious. I know you thought that being an apostle means you could never suffer with anxiety, but Paul says otherwise. I know you thought because you're anointed, you're not supposed to ever have any anxiety, but Paul says otherwise. So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men. That's what we're supposed to do, church. We're supposed to honor the men and women of God who are willing to risk their life for the gospel. For he nearly died in the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me. That's Philippians chapter two. I really want to hit on really the bulk of the initial part of Philippians chapter two, as Paul emphasizes a very important principle for the church, and that is unity. One more time, everybody say unity. Title of the message is unity is a cheat code. All right? Unity is a cheat code. Let's pray. Lord, we say thank you for your word and your spirit. We receive your prayers from the Garden of Gethsemane in John chapter 17 today when you said, I pray that they might be one. Lord, you declared and you asked the Father for unity here in your church on the earth as it is in heaven. So today, God, we receive your prayers and their answers, and we say thank you, God, for giving us a renewed spirit today that we might be unified with your body in the way that you have designed. In Jesus name we pray, and everybody said amen. Amen. On your way to your seat, just say happy birthday to Brother Will. HPD. Love you, man. Happy birthday. Thank you for going three for three today. Worship team has been crushing it in spite of our first-world persecution. No lights, but we're doing all right. So as I reminded you a moment ago of the context, Paul is writing this letter to a persecuted

people. He's in prison. He's being persecuted. Now he's writing a letter to Philippi, a church that is also being persecuted. And he's doing this for two reasons. Number one, I talked about this last week. He's writing so that they could have the right mindset. And that is a mindset that says, I am willing to suffer for the gospel. Listen, if you do not know this yet, to be a Christian means you are going to suffer for your allegiance to Jesus. One way or the other. You might not be arrested like Paul. You may not be put to death like Peter. But you're going to go through some stuff. If you've been a Christian longer than two weeks, you can say amen. Because you know what I'm telling you right now is the truth. But Paul said, not only do I want you to have a mindset that is willing to suffer, I also want you to have a heart that is willing to cooperate with your brothers and sisters in church. I want to deliver to you a message about mindset, but I also want to talk to you about your interactions with one another. Because you're going through a whole lot. And not only do you need to be willing to suffer, but you need to know how to connect with your spiritual family. How to stay unified with your covenant community. Because if the enemy has it his way, he will put an end to your church as you know it. But if you've got the right mindset and you stay together, you're going to do more than survive. You're going to thrive. Even in the midst of pushback and persecution, we're going to be alright. So here's what Paul tells them. And I'm going to reflect back on chapter one here for a minute. What I see when I read this is the desire of a dad. Any fathers in the room? Any mothers in the room? Two moms. Wow. Okay. We've got a whole lot of dads and a little bit of moms. This is great. Okay. Single dad showing up. Let's go. What I read here is the desire of a dad. Now if you raised your hand and you said, I'm a dad, I'm a mom. Doesn't it just bless your heart when your children live in harmony with one another?

That's a blessing, isn't it? Isn't it? Because that don't really happen at my house. I'm going to be honest. I've got four kids and there's always somebody fussing and fighting. Two of them are getting along. The other two are mad. And Ezra's only eight months, but he's already joined the party. He's bossy. He knows how to say no now. He'll look at you and be like, no, no. No, no. But it blesses the heart of a father for his kids to dwell together in unity. And Paul gives us some insights how we can do that. Let me revisit chapter one real quick. He says this in verse 27, which is the result of having the right mindset. He says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel. That's the first thing. You need to live your life worthy of the gospel. The second thing is this. So that I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit. Somebody say unity. With one mind. Somebody say unity. Striving side by side. Somebody say unity. For the faith in the gospel. And not being frightened. That's the third thing. But what he's going to double down on in chapter two is that second part, which is.

Y'all say it with me. Y'all got it. He says we've got to double down on unity because unity is very important. And yet unity is often overlooked in the body of Christ. Do you believe that? I think that we would say amen when a preacher says we've got to have unity. We're like, amen. But when it comes time to put our boots on the ground and actually do what's required to see unity in the church. We're like, yeah, I'm good. And these are the same people that would tell us that they are extremely spiritually mature. These are the same people that would tell us, yes, I'm very anointed. Yes, I'm called by God. Yes, I've encountered God in a great and significant way. But if you start talking to them about unity, they'll say amen, but do nothing about it. Which is why Paul asked these questions in verse one. Check this out in the NLT. He says, is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the spirit? Now, those first three questions right there, I'm sure we could all emphatically say yes to. Have you ever been encouraged because you belong to Jesus? Have you ever been comforted by the love of God? Do you have fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Amen. I think it's like a setup. It's like an alley-oop. It's like a rope-a-dope. Paul's like, let me get them saying yes to everything. And then I'm going to hit them with this. Are your hearts tender and compassionate towards one another?

Because by default, we're like, yeah. Yep, but if we could review your history and all the fractured familial relationships that you've left behind in your wake as you pursue your high calling in Christ Jesus, would we learn otherwise? Uh-oh, I'm getting in trouble, aren't I? How often have we been willing to sacrifice people in pursuit of a position in ministry? Uh-oh, I can tell I ain't gonna get no amens in the 12 p.m., but we gonna have to go there. How often have we said, ah, that relationship doesn't matter so long as I get to do the thing that God has told me I'm called to do? So long as I get the opportunity that my heart really has a desire for, it's okay. And I think that's what Paul is pointing out because he's talking to people who are really saved. Oh, you have fellowship with the Holy Spirit, amen. You've received comfort from the love of God. That's awesome. You're encouraged because you belong to Jesus, amazing. Are you being compassionate towards one another? Do you have a tender heart toward one another? Because it's very, very important because if you claim union with Christ, then unity should be the byproduct that you have with the church. Your union with Christ should equal unity with his body.

Again, your union with Christ should equal unity with his body. That's why he says this in verse two. Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, somebody say unity. Loving one another, somebody say unity. And working together, somebody say unity. With one mind and purpose, one more time. Y'all got it. Paul says this is supposed to be the byproduct of your union with Jesus. So you have union, you have intimacy, you have fellowship, you have covenant. Well, here's what's supposed to be the byproduct of your union with Jesus, unity with his body. And if you can't have any unity with his body and you can't cultivate connection with other Christians, then you have every reason to call into question how unified you actually are with the Holy Spirit. Because I know people who'd be like, I'm so anointed. I've got so much revelation. I'm so called, I'm so blessed and highly favored. But if you look at their relationships, you won't find much. Because they fuss and they fight with everybody. They gossip and they lie on everybody. They steady post about people on social media every time you turn around. It's like, man, if you're so anointed, why can't you be in any relationships?

I don't believe that God will raise up anointed jerks. I really don't. I think if you are truly anointed, kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. If the anointing can do anything, surely it can help you to do something other than just preach a little bit better. How about being nice to people? How about being kind to people? How about looking people in the eye and hugging their neck and shaking their hand and ask them how they're doing? Is it too much? Unity is a cheat code and Paul understands that because he's writing to this church that he cares for and he says, I wanna see you advance. I wanna see you bring transformation. I wanna see you continue to move forward. So you gotta have unity because unity is a cheat code. And you know who knows this better than us? The devil. Who knows this better than us, y'all, is the devil. The devil fears a unified church. This is why long before attacking our doctrine, he brings division. He's not so much interested in us saying all of the right things, although that carries within it a lot of power to practice sound theology and good doctrine, can I get an amen? But if he can work to divide us,

then we never have the opportunity to be that three-strand cord that Ecclesiastes chapter three talks about that is not easily broken. It's what Leviticus chapter 26, verse eight talks about. You can see it right here. Leviticus 26, verse eight, five of you shall chase a hundred. That's a pretty good ratio. But he goes on further, and a hundred of you shall chase 10,000. And your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. You see, this is why unity is a cheat code church because unity doesn't just add, unity multiplies. A church in unity is a problem for hell. A church in unity is a problem for the devil. dark corners of cities. A church in unity is a problem for the enemy. And that's why I say unity is a cheat code because a lot of people don't realize this. They say amen, oh yeah, we should be unified, but then when it comes time to put our profession into practice, for whatever reason, we find ourselves absent that day. But I wanna show you something. In Acts chapter one, this is something that you see. Unity is a cheat code. You see this in the early church. Acts chapter one, verse 14 says this. All these with one accord. Somebody say unity. They were all in one.

How they all fit in the same Honda, I don't know. But they were all in one accord, devoting themselves to prayer together with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers. So we see the early church learning this lesson real time. They're all in unity. Let's fast forward. Go to Acts chapter two, verse one. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together. Somebody say unity. And in one place, somebody say unity. They're there in unity. Now what happens next in Acts chapter two? We all know it. The baptism of the Holy Spirit. There is an outpouring that comes upon the early church. Now I want you to notice something, and that is this, that unity preceded the outpouring. This is why I say unity is a cheat code. Unity precedes the outpouring. Oftentimes what we think as church folks is this, if we can just experience an outpouring, then the revival will unify the people. And I'm not saying it's not possible for people to gather around and move the Holy Spirit, because certainly it is, but it's unity that precedes outpouring, not unity as byproduct of outpouring. Outpouring doesn't create unity, but unity sets the conditions for outpouring.

Because God loves to pour out upon a unified church. Think about Psalm 133. How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. There's an oil that's poured out. There's an oil that flows down. There's an alignment that takes place where there's an anointing and there's power. There's power. I don't know about you, but I want our church to witness power. Anybody else in here? I don't know about you, but I want our church to witness grace, great grace resting upon us. Anybody else? Well, you can fast forward again. Let's go to Acts chapter four, because you see this happening, and you see this here. When they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled, it shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now, the full number of those who believed were of one heart, somebody say unity, and one soul, somebody say unity. And with great power, the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord, that's power,

and great grace was upon them all. That's great grace. Power and grace being a byproduct of the outpouring, the outpouring being a byproduct of unity. One plus one equals two. Like, we get it. It's like you plus Jesus equals the church. That's the body. That's the body. And Jesus wants his body to be in unity so that we can carry everything that Jesus has for us. How many of you guys know that God is not wasteful? He's not gonna pour out oil and power and great grace on a people who are so divided they'll ruin it. They'll spoil it. They won't steward it. Because everybody's trying to figure out what part of it is mine so that I can use this to boost my position and my image. No, no, a unified people coming together saying, I don't care who gets the credit, all credit belongs to Jesus. I don't care who gets the glory, all glory belongs to Jesus. I don't care who has the authority, all power goes to Jesus. Unity is a cheat code. And this is why the devil attacks unity in the church because oftentimes he knows this better than us, which is that unity is a cheat code.

And the way that he attacks is through particular archetypes of people. And Paul goes on to talk about that here in verse three whenever he says this. Or verse three, he says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. These are the type of folks who are unity destroyers. Or if you want my version of a WWE tag team intercontinental champions, the body bruisers. The covenant crashers. Or how about this, straight up church splitters. They operate not with the mindset that Paul is talking about in chapter one and two, but they operate with a different mindset, which is this, they are selfishly ambitious and they are filled with conceit. Now, I look this up. from the Greek because I really wanted to be able to teach you well today and here's what that word in the original language has to say about selfish ambition I won't try to pronounce it but here's what it means to work for hire as a missionary to work for excuse me as a mercenary to work for hire as a mercenary now church we are not called by God to be mercenaries we are called to be missionaries that means we're on mission for God to advance the kingdom that means that we're in submission to his mission which is the Great Commission to go make disciples baptize and teach people but whenever you work for hire as a mercenary you don't move like a missionary because everything that you do quote-unquote for God is actually just for you and you work for hire it's not about like I want to advance the kingdom of God it's about like how can I increase my profile or position or my power or my influence what's in it for

me you know most people are tuned into that radio station WIIFM what's in it for me well I would serve but what's in it for me I would help with the kids but what's in it for me I would give but God what's in it for me I would show up early but what's in it for me I would go to serve day but what is in it for me that's mercenary behavior not missionary behavior I was talking to this guy recently he grew a multi-billion dollar company so he is literally a billionaire now and praise God I was able to hang out with him and he gave me some advice he said don't hire mercenaries and I don't even know about this scripture at the time he said don't hire mercenaries hire missionaries hire people who are passionate about the whole not just themselves well yeah I'll do it for you how much does it pay yeah I'll be a part of the ministry but when do I get paid yeah I'll serve but when do I get promoted yeah I'll be a part but WIIFM when it wasn't it for me that's selfish ambition that's what that is and the second thing is this conceit conceit is nothing more than an empty pride that's all it is it is a cheap pride it is a state of pride which is without basis that's what it is it is a cheap pride and you know pride has no eternal value whatsoever we're not gonna need pride not gonna have pride in heaven and neither pride or selfish ambition were a part of the character of our Christ therefore God does not want them to be in us no selfish ambition and no pride because what pride does is it always works to prove a point oftentimes the point that pride tries to prove is that I am worthy of being celebrated I am worthy of being included I am worthy of being loved and that means oftentimes when we operate from pride it's actually born out of a deep-seated root of insecurity so I'm gonna work to prove to you that I'm amazing I'm gonna work to prove to you that I'm anointed I'm gonna work to prove to you that I'm one of the best and then in a process pride will criticize everything that it actually wants it'll criticize pastors because they want to be a pastor or criticize worship leaders because they feel that they were looked over and they're not a worship leader or they'll criticize somebody with the platform because deep down on the inside they've not dealt with the addiction that they

have to influence so it's conceit but how often do we spiritualize our dysfunction bro you got selfish ambition I don't know selfish ambition I just want to go somewhere where my my great anointing is recognized I don't have no pride I don't have no pride I'm just better than everybody that you schedule for worship so I don't understand why you don't schedule me well you got a pride problem and you need to repent and you need to do what Jesus did in this passage that Paul talks about the mindset that you need which is you need to empty yourself you need to consider yourself a servant and you need to humble yourself and go low and this church is how you heal the fractured family this is what he shows us here in verse 3 and 4 whenever he says do nothing at a selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves how hard is that to put into practice y'all I'm gonna subjugate my desires to the desires of somebody else that's difficult but that's what Paul is telling us to do here count others more significant than yourselves, and let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. Have this mind among you, which is yours in Christ Jesus. So here's how you heal a fractured family. Number one, humility. That's how you heal a fractured family. You start with humility. And I'm not saying you wait on somebody else to be humble. I'm saying you, you kick it off and choose the path of humility. The reason in the Bible that God tells us so often to humble ourselves is because he would rather us humble ourselves than he have to humble us. It's better that you fall on the rock rather than the rock fall on you. So God continually says, humble yourself.

And you know how you become humble? By comparing. Oh yeah, I know that's a subversive definition, but this is how you become humble, by comparing. But not comparing yourself to other people because that produces pride, but by comparing yourself to Jesus. Because when you compare yourself to Jesus, you recognize he's so holy. And I'm sinful. He's huge, he's big, I'm small, I'm nobody. He's everything. He's got all the glory and the power and the honor. It all belongs to him and I get none of it. My righteousness is like filthy rags before the Lord. When you compare appropriately, it will produce humility in your life. I remember one time praying like a Pharisee and I was praying, I was saying, oh God, thank you that I'm not like that guy. I'm so much better. And I remember Jesus was like, that's what you wanna do. He's like, how about stop comparing yourself to that guy and start comparing yourself to me? And I'm like, okay God, point taken. The right comparison will produce the right fruit. Whenever a Christian becomes arrogant and selfishly ambitious and conceited, all they're doing is revealing that it's been quite a while since they prayed.

Because when you pray and you see God and you have that revelation, it produces a humility in you. You have a sense of your own smallness. And that's the first thing to do to heal a fractured family. The second thing is this, is that you would practice selflessness. Selflessness, in the city of God, Augustine says this, selflessness is a renouncing of your own interest and ultimately yourself. Where you pray like Jesus prayed, not my will, but your will. And I'm gonna get out of the way and I'm gonna let somebody else shine. I'm gonna let somebody else get the credit. Remember the Lord telling me one time, oh, I'm willing to give you the spotlight so long as you're willing to defer it to somebody else first that deserves it less. Because that's what we do, right? We're like, oh no, it's my turn, I deserve it. I've been fasting, they've been feasting. I've been going to church, they've been skipping out. I've been doing all the right things for so long and they just got saved. You with me? But that's what selflessness is. It's taking a step back so somebody else can take a step forward. And that's what Jesus taught us how to do

and that's exactly what Paul says as he moves on. He says, empty yourself, take the form of a servant and humble yourself because by doing so, you make personal preparation for unity. By humbling yourself, taking the form of a servant, you're doing personal preparation for unity. And as we practice unity, we prepare for outpouring. Unity is a cheat code. Let's stand to our feet, we're gonna pray. Let's do something practical here before we sing out a chorus in closing. Just take a moment, close your eyes. You don't have to bow your head if you don't want to, but I just wanna give you the opportunity to internally reflect. If you're holding a grudge against somebody, you're plotting revenge against somebody, you're holding on to an old wound that you just won't let go because you want God to give you revenge. You're holding on to an old wound that you just won't let go because you want God to give you revenge. I just wanna ask you today to forgive and release that because that could be the very thing that's holding your community back from the unity that God has for us. All right, let's make it right. If you need to text somebody this afternoon and make it right with them, do that.

If you just need to forgive somebody right now, forgive them. If you need to let it go, give it to God, do that. Unity is worth it. The outpouring that's on its way is worth it. So Lord, today I pray you strengthen our hearts and in any way that we need to forgive and release people, we do that now in Jesus' name. And we say thank you, God, for making me an instrument of unity. Will you pray that with me? Say thank you, Jesus. For making me an instrument of unity, in Jesus' name, amen, amen, amen.