The Church at Philippi, Part 2

As we mentioned last time as we went into the book of Philippians and Paul's letter to the Church of Philippi, during the time of Paul's first imprisonment in Rome, when he was in prison there in his own rented house for two years, as it tells us in Acts 28, verse 30, during that time around 61 AD Paul wrote this letter we have today as the... he wrote the Church of Philippi, the book of Philippians.

The Church which he had founded probably about 10 or 11, 12 years prior to that, probably founded shortly after the Jerusalem Conference in 49 AD, probably founded the Church at Philippi around 50-51 AD.

And he wrote this letter to them as a friend writing to his friends. Very endearing letter. He was very endearing to them, very close to them, because he was right in there on the ground floor of the founding of that particular congregation.

And he opened the letters I mentioned last time, not as an apostle of Jesus Christ as he does most of his letters, but he opened his letter with he and Timothy as bondservants or slaves of Jesus Christ.

And he addressed his letter not only to all the saints in Philippi, but also to the deacons and bishops and deacons. He addressed it to the leadership as well. And as I mentioned last time, there's no indication there in that letter whatsoever of any huge personal problems or sins or anything like that. No indication if there are any doctrinal issues involved, misunderstanding people had or false teaching. But there was one major problem when you look between the lines. The Church of Philippi did not have unity. They weren't unified. There were things causing contention and division within the Church of Philippi. And there was some complaining and disputing division. As I mentioned last time, selfish ambition is emissions a couple of times there in the opening two chapters. There was a problem there that was kind of eating away at the fabric of the Church of Philippi when he wrote this letter. It was probably undoubtedly causing some members to be confused, maybe as to who to align themselves with or whatever, who to believe. Which led Paul to say this, where we left off last time, if we want to open to Philippians 2. It was the last verse I used in the sermon two weeks ago. Philippians 2.12 caused Paul to eventually write this letter to them. Make this statement to them as it recorded in chapter 2, verse 12.

Philippians 2.12, Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, he says, I can't be right there. I can't be there to address these problems and try to do it personally, myself. I'm imprisoned. I'm confined. But you're going to have to address them. He tries to give them principles in here on how they can do that.

But now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So today, then, I want to pick it up from there. Again, we'll look at the cause of the disunity. You'll mention that a little bit as we go into the solution. But the main thing is, what is Paul's solution to the disunity that was disrupting the Church of Philippi?

We wrote this letter. And what did Paul mean here? Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. So today, those are some of the questions that we will address in Part 2 of this two-part sermon. And I'll conclude today on this series, at least. The title of the day will be, The Church of Philippi, Part 2. The Church of Philippi, Part 2, Disunity, The Solution. I want to look at the last question I used to address here first. What did Paul mean, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?

So first of all, this disunity, a contention that was taking place within the Church of Philippi. You know, if you look between the lines, you think about it. We don't know a lot of the facts behind it, but probably have been brewing for a long time. In fact, I dare say it had probably been brewing behind the scenes, especially within some of the leaders, going all the way back to the Jerusalem Conference of 40 A.D. And of course, as we know, in Acts 15, the ruling was made that non-Israelites, non-Jews, do not have to be circumcised in order to become members of God's Church in order to be saved.

And I'm sure that even though a decision was made by the elders at that time, in 49 A.D., I'm sure there were some had a difficult time accepting that decision and still wrestling with it, especially Jewish leaders who are of the circumcision. I can just imagine that a lot of them had a hard time, difficulty, really, dealing with and accepting that particular decision.

So that fact is strongly alluded to by Paul in chapter 3, verses 2 through 6, which I covered last time, so I won't go over that again. But number one, then, in working out our own salvation, we have to come to fully understand and accept overall decisions the Church makes. Sometimes the Church has to wrestle with tough decisions and they have to make decisions.

And sometimes we have to finally resolve that and we have to be able to support those decisions and understand them as we can. At least to the point where there are no longer major issues in our own mind, because we basically then have faith that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, and as the head of the Church, He can correct any wrong decisions we make in His own due time in the long run, and have faith that He will do that.

It's interesting that the Greek word Paul used for work, and work out your own salvation here in Philippians 2, 12, the word he uses here conveys the meaning of bringing to completion. In other words, stay on the road that God initially put you on.

Check your attitude to see if it's right, aligns the mind with the mind of Christ, with the attitude of God, and allow God to complete His work of salvation that He began with you and you when He called you, which Paul alluded to in chapter 1, verse 6, where he says, "...being confident is very thing, that He has begun a good work in you." We'll complete it until a day of Christ. That is, if we keep our mind right, and our attitude right, and keep our things on track, and don't allow someone to get us off track, so to speak.

Now, when it comes to working out your own salvation, what does that mean? I want to briefly make a statement that there are two overall aspects of salvation. I mean, first and foremost, salvation is of God. Salvation is only through Jesus Christ, and even there, God is the one who drew us to Christ, as it plainly tells us in Scripture. You know, in reality, we didn't find God. God found us. And God began our process of salvation when He called us and opened up our mind, and drew us to Jesus Christ, led us to repentance. Then that process of growth and so on, leading to becoming spiritually mature, that is also through God, and God's Spirit working in us, and is dependent on God.

And then, of course, actually salvation will be born into God's kingdom as Spirit beings. That's totally of God. We cannot do anything to make ourselves be transformed from physical human beings who are mortal into spiritual beings who have eternal life in God's kingdom. So only God can save us and give us the gift of eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ. So first and foremost, then, salvation is of God. But there's also another side to salvation He brings out here.

We play a part, we play a role as well. Salvation is also of man, to a certain extent. It's dependent on us. Many aspects of it are dependent on us. It's dependent on our relationship with God, based on our personal prayer, our Bible study, our fasting, meditation, how much we yield ourselves to God and God's Spirit working through us, and how much we do that on a daily basis.

It's based on a relationship to one another, and the love of God that we display toward one another, and how we exercise that. It's based on whether or not we forgive one another, as God has forgiven us.

Christ made it very plain, if you do not forgive others, I will not forgive you. And that's up to us, to be able to work that out, to ask for God for the help. But we have to come to that point, work through things that we can learn to forgive people, as God has forgiven us. And it's based on what we learn through our trials, and how we handle our trials. Because our trials are meant for us to learn what we need to learn, so we can be made into Jesus Christ's immediate likeness and likeness of the Father.

So all those things are also matters of salvation, and all those things depend to a large degree on us.

Interesting what William Barkley says in his remarks on Philippians 2.12, he says, Without man's cooperation, even God is helpless. Now, I wouldn't say helpless. I think God can go to an altar plan and bring on more trials, so hopefully we can get people to learn what they need to learn. But certainly we can limit God at a certain particular time, if we don't yield to God and yield to God's Spirit working in us in certain ways. What signs does Paul give to the Church of Philippi, which indicates who is on the right road to working out their own salvation? Let's continue. Philippians 2, verse 13, he says, For it is God who works in you, both to will and to do, for his good pleasure. It is God who works in us, but we also have to allow God to work in us. We can resist that, and we can put a flux towards that. What signs of salvation does Paul give here that indicate that God is working in us? See, what is God's will and God's good pleasure that he wants to see displayed in our lives that would indicate that we are on the road to working out our own salvation with fear and trembling, where we are yielding to God in a way that God can work in us, to get us where he wants to get us. Well, verse 14, this is some of the signs that we are on that right road to working out our own salvation with fear and trembling and yielding to God in the process. He says, Do all things without complaining and disputing. Now, the old King James Version says, Do all things without murmurings and disputings.

This is William Barkley's words, and now there's this commentary, so you can take it that way. But here's what William Barkley says in regards to the Greek word that's translated, murmurings or complainings, here in verse 14. The word Paul uses for murmurings is unusual. In the Greek of the sacred writers, it has a special connection. It is the word used of the rebellious murmurings of the children of Israel on their desert journey. They came out of Israel. They were complying in murmurings. The people murmured against Moses. It describes the low-threatening, discontented muttering of a mob who distrust their leaders and are on the verge of an uprising. That's William Barkley's words. Those aren't my words, but there's William Barkley's words. I found them interesting. That's the connotation of that word that's translated here, complaining or murmuring. So it appears then that such was beginning to happen at the church of Philippi. And a sign of those who were working out their own salvation with fear and trembling was that they were doing all things without any murmurings or complainings. Or disputing. They were trusting God to work things out. And striving to live by faith and patience, looking to Christ as the head of the church. Paul goes on here in Philippians 2, verse 15. He says, He says, holding fast the word of life. And you think of that and you analyze it. There's really two aspects to that. We hold fast to the word of God, God's word, and the teaching of Jesus Christ, because God's words are words of life. And the teaching of Jesus Christ are words of life, so we hold fast to that teaching. And number two, we hold fast to living by every word of God. Because that's really the whole point of God's word and the teaching of Christ is for us to apply those in our own life. So if we need to live God's word, live the teaching of Christ in our daily lives continually, no matter what we go through, and no matter what we experience, whether it's fair or unfair. This world is Satan's world. Satan is the God of this world. A lot of things are going to be fair. They're not going to be right. So it means we always have to check our own attitudes, our thoughts, our feelings, our reactions, so that we are always trying to be in tune with the mind of Christ. Ask ourselves, my thoughts, my actions, my attitudes that I have right now, are they from God's Spirit working in me? Are they going to attribute them to the mind of Christ or are they more stemmed from my own way of thinking, my own carnal mind? Are they my thoughts or the God's thoughts? We have to always be analyzing that in our own mind. A number of years later, the Apostle John wrote this. I want to go to 1 John for a moment. 1 John 4. I think this is a part of the aspect of working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. 1 John 4, verse 1, where John was probably written about 20, 25, maybe even 30 years after Paul's letter to the Church of Philippi, probably late 80s or around 90 AD, someone, when he wrote 1 John, when John did. He said, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God. I would take that principle and say, you have to test attitudes. Look at attitudes, examine attitudes. We have to examine our own attitude and examine the attitudes of others. Test what people say. Test what they display towards one another.

Now, Paul was addressing one thing in his letter, that was written probably close to 30 years before this one. John's addressing something else in his letter here, but the principle still applies. Today we have other issues that we have to address and face, but the principle still applies. Test the spirits. Test attitudes to see if they are the mind of Christ.

We all have to come to that kind of discernment in ourselves and maybe in others as well. That can become a very important aspect of working out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Understanding our own way of thinking, our own minds. Are they in tune with the mind of Christ? What other people at a Tuesday display are those in tune with the mind of Christ?

Now, moving on, what is Paul's solution to the disunity that was developing within the church at Philippi? See, what is the solution for all disunity, wherever it may occur, and with whomever it may occur? What's the solution? What is the cure, if you will? Well, Paul makes the solution very plain within his solution. He also gives further indication as to what the underlying causes of disunity were.

Paul knows there is a deep conflict brewing within the church of Philippi. It's been going on probably for some time below the surface, which was being demonstrated by their conduct toward one another, that he was becoming aware of. So, in leading up to the solution, he begins by saying this. Let's go back to the book of Philippians again. Let's go to Philippians 1 and let's pick it up in verse 27 of Philippians 1, where Paul says this. Philippians 1, verse 27. He said, only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Let your conduct that other people can see in your life, and how you relate to others, and how you relate to one another. Let that conduct be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So that whether I come and see you, or I'm absent, I'm the here of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Obviously, you read between the lines. That was not always the case in Philippi at that time. They were not all of one mind, in one spirit, and so on. But in order to stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, in order to maintain unity, it goes, excuse me, I'm getting ahead of myself. I just read 27. Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ. Stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, and so on. Then he goes on to say in verse 28, And not in any way be terrified by your adversaries. Paul realized that there was kind of an adversarial position that was taking place, and people were coming polarized somewhat within the church of Philippi. And that adversarial position probably had developed, had been developing for some time. But the Living Bible, I want to use the Living Bible a little bit here, because I realize it's just a paraphrase, but it makes it very understandable. And it's correctly paraphrasing what Paul is bringing out. Here's what the Living Bible paraphrases verses 27 and 28 of Philippians chapter 1. It says, Then going on to verse 29, here reading from the New King James, It says, So in order to stand fast in one spirit with one mind, we normally have to believe on Jesus Christ, but we also have to be willing to suffer wrongfully for His sake, it says here. Even as Christ also suffered wrongfully for all of us. So going on to verse 30, it says, So Paul was, in verse 30 here, he was suffering wrongful imprisonment at that time in Rome. And for the sake of unity, should not all of us be willing to maybe go do that, to suffer wrongfully sometimes for the sake of unity. That's what Paul is getting at here. The Living Bible paraphrases verse 30 this way, it's very interesting how the Living Bible paraphrases chapter 1, verse 30 of Philippians. It says, You have seen me suffer for Him in the past, and I'm still in the midst of a great and terrible struggle now, as you know so well. Continuing on in chapter 2 of Philippians, in the New King James, Paul says, Now, if Christ is living in us, and we have the mind of Christ in us, we should be able to fulfill this admonition. And he gives us here in verse 2. If we can't, then there's something missing in our lives. There's something lacking. You know, as the Living Bible says here, we should all be willing to want to help one another and cheer each other up.

We should all share the same spirit, the same attitude. We're all spiritual brothers and sisters. We should all have tender hearts towards one another, reciprocity towards one another, at least to some degree. We should all be truly happy, happy with being in fellowship with one another, and be agreeing with one another, wholeheartedly with the things that are really important, pertaining to eternal life and the Kingdom of God, those things we should all be able to agree on. That's what we should be focused on. Other things are not all that important. They should be able to work out. Christ can work them out in the long run. But if we all had that right kind of a mind and attitude, we could all work together with one heart, one mind, and one purpose. Then Paul gives the clear solution to disunity beginning in verse 3 of Philippians 2, where he says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition, and obviously that was the problem with some that he was addressing here in this letter, or conceit. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition. Well, selfish ambition stands from an attitude of pride and vanity, and pride and vanity and selfish ambition really have no place within the true Church of God. That should not be there, because they're really the antithesis of mind to Christ. They're not in harmony with the mind to Christ. Those particular attitudes.

It's an attitude that's contrary to Christ. It's, in effect, as you could say, it's an anti-Christ attitude. Let's hold your place here for a minute and turn to 1 John again, back to 1 John. This time let's go to 1 John 2. 1 John 2, and we'll begin in verse 15, where John writes this.

1 John 2, verse 15. Do not love the world. Are there things in the world? If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, and of course all those things lead to the pride of life that leads to pursuing selfish ambitions, that is not of the world, excuse me, that is not of the Father, but it is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he who does the will of God abides forever. Now then this leads to the Scripture, which backs up what I just did a little while ago, the pride, vanity, and selfish ambition. Really, those are an attitude and approaches that are anti-Christ, anti the mind of Christ. Verse 18, he says, Little children, this is written again about 90 AD or so, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that the anti-Christ is coming, even now, he says, many anti-Christ have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. I mean, nearly 2,000 years have passed since he wrote this letter. At that time, I mean, obviously with what they were dealing with and what was happening, they did think, and John obviously thought that it was the last hour, which is probably Christ's return was not going to be too far off, but we're now 2,000 miles, 2,000 years past that. But in a very real sense, this Scripture really does apply to all people that God calls at all times down through history, because as we know, our lives are very fragile, they're very temporary. We can die at any given moment in time. Therefore, it's always potentially the last hour for each and every one of us. Want to look at it spiritually in that sense? Little children is the last hour, and as you already heard, that the anti-Christ is coming, even now, many anti-Christ have come. Now, the anti-Christ he refers to here would be the end-time individual who puts himself in the place of Christ, maybe even calling himself Christ. But this is, even now, many anti-Christ have come, by which we know it is the last hour. So again, one of the signs for the time of the end here is that many are going to have an attitude that is an anti-Christ. It's not going to be in tune with the mind of Christ and the thinking of Christ. It's going to be contrary to the mind of Christ. Obviously, John was seeing that within some of the churches that he was working with and some of the people he was working with. He was seeing that and dealing with that at that time, and we can kind of see that today as well. But Christ indicated that that would be the case, in the time leading up to his return, as he says in Matthew 24.5, and I'll just quote it, which said, "...many will come in my name, saying that I'm Christ, proclaiming that he is the Christ. And so doing, they're going to be deceiving many. And some of the reasons they'll be deceiving is because they're not going to really have a mind that's totally in tune with and in harmony with the mind of Christ." So John adds here to that, what Christ said in Matthew 24.5, he says, "...even now many anti-Christ have come." So it happened in John's day, and it seems to be becoming more prevalent now.

Because we are really now nearing the time of the end. At least, I believe we're in that period of time. It's all the other things we can look at going on in the world. Let's go back to the book of Philippians. Let's go back to Philippians 2, verse 3 again. Philippians 2, 3 again, Paul saying, "...let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit." Of course, selfish ambition and conceit stem from pride and vanity, which is an attitude and a mindset that's contrary to the mind of Christ. And whenever we have that kind of a mindset, it's always going to lead to disunity. Now, how can we counter that attitude? What is the solution for disunity? Philippians 2, verse 3, "...let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit." But, here's the solution, "...but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself." Let each of you look out, not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Now, that's why he's saying there, don't just pursue what's best for you, but instead pursue what's best for others, what's in their best interest. Don't just pursue what's in your best interest, pursue what's in the best interest of others. That's God's attitude of love and give. It's the attitude that Christ displayed. So, in the case of the church, then, you would always want to pursue what is in the best interest of the church, what's in the best interest of God's people overall, what's in their best interest, not what you might think would be in your best interest. So, the solution for disunity is humility, which is pursuing what is best for the other people, for others, not for ourselves. Now, the Living Bible, I think, really gets to the heart and core of what this means here. In Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4, I want to read to you what the Living Bible paraphrases. Philippians 2, verses 3 and 4. He says, Don't be selfish. Don't live to make a good impression on others. Don't try to impress others. Just try to impress God and Jesus Christ. Be humble. Thinking of others is better than yourself. And don't just think about your own affairs, but be interested in others too, and in what they are doing and how it's going to affect them. You know, this section of Scripture right here may well be one of the most important sections of Scripture in the entirety of the New Testament. And it's crucially important, especially at this time, to understand the full impact of its meaning. And the Living Bible kind of helps us to do that. I want to read what the Living Bible says in regards...well, let me first re-flip his 2, verses 5-8 in the New King James. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider robbery to be equal with God. Extremely crucially important section of Scripture for us to understand, again, especially at this time.

But he instead, in verse 7, made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, as Paul was addressing this letter as a bondservant, as Paul himself was doing, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Verse 8. How far did that go? See, it's very increasingly important to understand this. And again, I want to read what it says, how this is paraphrased in the Living Bible, because it really puts it in words, it makes it very... I understand the depth of what is being said here in Philippians 2, verses 5-8. The Living Bible paraphrased it this way. Think about this. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God.

Not just dying on the cross, but dying as a criminal, as a convicted criminal. See, how far should humility take us when it comes to pursuing what is in the best interest of others? Well, how far did Christ go? How far did his humility take him? See, to what extent did Christ humble himself to pursue what was in the best interest of the people of the world?

And you think about it, not only just what was in the best interest of the people of the world, but in the best interest of the people who had hated him, who hated him, were instrumental in putting him to death. And he still did what was in the best interest for them. And he laid aside his power to do it.

You know, before he became flesh, Christ had all the rights and privileges and honor and glory of being God. He was God.

And he had eternal life, and he had that right to eternal life.

But for the sake of mankind, you know, he did not demand or cling to his rights to remain as God.

You know, how often do we do that? How often do we tend to, as human beings, in pursuing our own ambitions, demand or cling to what we feel are our rights? And you see that all the time in society today. And we can fall into that trap as well, under Satan's influence. You know, I think we have a certain right to hold a particular leadership position, once we get it, and think we have a right to hold on to that. Maybe we have a right, we might feel, to hold on to an office or a particular title.

Our rights to demand or hold on to a particular salary.

Or, you know, today, of course, a lot of people, they think they have a right to a certain increase in salary.

Well, the situation may not deem it best for the company or whatever.

We might feel we have a right to be recognized and rewarded for what we do for our service.

Yet the thing is, what example did Christ himself set for us to follow?

See, it says here, Christ was God, and yet he gave up all of his rights that he had. He did not demand or cling to his rights, even though he was God.

It says, the living Bible then goes on to stay. He humbled himself even further, going so far as actually to die a criminal's death on the cross. To die as a criminal. As a convicted criminal.

You know, as God in the flesh, Christ also had many rights he could have clung to.

He had power and rights, even as God in the flesh, and he knew who he was.

He understood the power and rights that he had access to, that he could have utilized.

Let's just read that and understand that. Go back to John chapter 8 for a moment.

John chapter 8, beginning in verse 53 of John 8, where the Jews were confronting Christ here at this time, and they said, well, are you greater than our Father Abraham who is dead?

And the prophets are dead. Well, who do you make yourself out to be?

Jesus answered verse 54, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing, is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that he is your God, yet you have not known him, but I know him.

Hmm? You know God, personally? Yeah, I know God. I know him. And if I say I do not know him, I shall be a liar like you, but I know him and I keep his word.

Then verse 56 is, And wow, when he said that, they really thought he was nuts. Verse 57, And you've seen Abraham? How could you have seen Abraham?

And Jesus said to them, Before Abraham was, I am.

See, Christ not only knew he was God, he understood his past, relationship with his Father in heaven. He was right side before.

He knew his past history as God.

And he understood the power and rights and privileges that he still possessed, even as God in the flesh. As we can read from Christ's own words that was recorded in Matthew 26. Let's just turn there quickly to Matthew 26.

Matthew 26, and I'll begin in verse 51.

Suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus, as they were resting him on the Mount of Olives on the night of the Passover, suddenly one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear. John 18.10 tells us that that was Peter who did that.

Going on in verse 52 of Matthew 26. But Jesus said to him, Put your sword in his place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.

But then he says this in verse 53. Or do you not know, do you not think that I cannot now, that I am God in the flesh, and I have rights and privileges that I can demand and cling to if I want to?

Do you not think that I cannot now? Pray to my Father, and He will provide me with more than twelve, with more than twelve legions of angels. And I can take care of this problem in a second.

And I would not have to be arrested, and I would not have to be suffered, and I would not have to die.

I have the right to that power. It's at my disposal.

But then how then could Scripture be fulfilled that it must happen thus? He said in verse 54. But even as God in the flesh, Christ still possessed power, rights, and privileges.

He had the power and the right to avoid being crucified, as though chosen.

But He did not demand or claim to His rights.

Instead, He died a criminal's death on a cross.

He died as a convicted criminal, to take on all of our sins upon Himself.

He did that so we could finally come to be at one with Jesus Christ and God the Father, so we could have unity with the Father and with Jesus Christ, become members of their family, and so we could be saved.

What price must be paid? You know, think about it. What price has to be paid? You're going to have unity. Real unity.

The kind of unity that Jesus Christ and God the Father have, that He wants all of us to have, that Christ suffered and died for.

What price must be paid for the sake of unity, for the sake of salvation?

See, to have real unity, we must grow spiritually until we obtain the humility of Christ and the mind of Christ, but that comes at a very high price.

Very high cost to do that.

The cost being that we must not demand or cling to our rights, or to what we may feel are our rights. Sometimes we have to set that aside for the sake of unity, for the sake of what's best for others.

And then we have to sometimes even maybe go further than that at times.

We, like Christ, must be willing to suffer wrongfully, and we must, like Christ, must be willing to take wrong upon ourselves sometimes, and let God work it out and expose the truth in the long run.

Now, even though we may feel or may know we are right, which is our nature, we must be willing to lay that aside and sometimes to suffer wrongfully, for the sake of others, for the sake of unity. That's a price that has to be paid. Sometimes it's a price that Christ paid, that He did for all of us.

And that is a price that must be paid for unity. Let's go, just real quickly here, to 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2, and we begin in verse 17. I like to read this Scripture quite often because it brings it all into perspective. When we go through things that are not fair, or we have to suffer wrongfully, we can think of that Christ already did that for us. But here it says this in the beginning of verse 17 of 1 Peter 2. It says, honor all people. Honor all people. Not just those that agree with you.

Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King. Honor those in authority that God is allowed to be in certain positions of authority or leadership. You may not, in the world, you may not like what they do, but at least honor that position.

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear. Not just to those who are doing things the way you think they should be done. They're doing things right in your eyes. Not just to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. Those that you don't agree with. Don't think they're administering properly. Still, be submissive. Let God take care of it.

That's an attitude of the mind of Christ.

Verse 19, but this is commendable, that because of conscience toward God, one endures grief and suffers wrongfully.

What credit is it if you suffer for your faults and you take it patiently? But when you do good and you suffer wrongfully for it, and if you take it patiently, boy, that's something God really gets God's attention. Because that's exactly what Jesus Christ is. He says, boy, this person is really applying the mind of Christ. They're really making progress. They're becoming like us.

This is commendable before God.

Verse 21, for this, to this you were called. We were called to go through these sayings and to learn this.

Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps. Go through some of the same things that He went through, learning the same things He had to learn.

Who committed no sin, nor was the seat found in His mouth. And when He was reviled, when He was accused and so on, He didn't accuse back or revile back. And when He suffered, when He suffered wrongfully, He didn't try to threaten back or take matters into His own hands. He said, that's it. I'm out of here.

It's not fair. This isn't right. I'm going to leave. Christ didn't do that.

He did not threaten, but He committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. He committed it all to God the Father. He had faith that God could see everything, knows everything, and that God would work things out.

So that all could learn and grow in the process.

And then He goes on, verse 24, Who Himself then bore our sins in His own body on the tree, That we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.

And I could just kind of add here that the only way to heal disunity is to have the humility of Jesus Christ.

A humility that does not demand or cling to His or her own rights. A humility that is willing to suffer wrongfully, that sometimes might even be willing to be counted as being wrong, even though we feel we're right.

Because that is the price that has to be paid to have real unity.

That's the only way of disunity can be healed. It's not easy. It's difficult. But Christ led the way for us. That was an example He said.

Verse 25 of 1 Peter 2, For you are all like sheep going astray, But now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. We've been heard of Jesus Christ to follow His example to have His mind in us.

We have to have that humility that Christ displayed in order to have unity.

Let's go back to Philippians 2 for one last scripture.

Last couple of scriptures here. Philippians 2, and we'll conclude right after this here. Philippians 2, beginning in verse 9, verses 9, 10, and 11. This is the result of what Christ humbled. The community and the sacrifice and suffering, the wrong that He took among Himself, all of that that Christ did for us, the attitude He displayed, the mind He displayed.

The cost He paid. Because of all that, here is what the result is going to be, what it was and is for Jesus Christ. Philippians 2, verse 9, Therefore God has highly exalted Him, and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and those on the earth and those under the earth, those who have died eventually will have to be resurrected and acknowledge this as well.

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So in conclusion, then, what is the only thing any of us really deserve? And we stop and think about it, because people are saying, you know, they deserve certain things? Well, you know, the only thing any of us deserve is death. That's all we deserve. That's the only thing we can earn is death. But God the Father and Jesus Christ want us to be a part of their family. They want us to be one, as they are one.

To have unity and harmony with them, with one another. In order to make that possible, in order to show us the way, Christ did not demand or cling to his rights as God. He gave that up. He sacrificed that. And he instead humbled himself, suffered wrongfully, and took our sins upon himself.

He died a criminal's death on a cross, as the Living Bible puts it. So if we're to have unity, we must follow Christ's example. We have his mind, his attitude, his love, and his humility. Because the cause of disunity is basically selfish ambition, stemmed from pride and vanity, and the cure, of course, is the humility of Christ and the mind of Christ. And to have that, we must not always demand or cling to our rights. But we must be willing to, at times, suffer wrongfully, even as Christ did for all of us. The Church of Philippi was threatened with discord, the disunity because of the attitude of selfish ambition on the part of some.

And Paul, in this letter, the Church of Philippi, gives them the only cure for disunity, having the mind, the attitude, and the love of Jesus Christ, and the humility of Jesus Christ. And to have that unity, we must then have the same mind in us. As Paul says there, Philippians 2.5, Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, and that is the only solution for disunity. And the only way we can come to have unity is to have the mind of Christ.