Conduct Worthy of the Church B

Your agenda is an important in my agenda is an important what is important is unity and that's what Paul says about the bottom line is your behavior church behave yourself. I wasn't mean that means you behave yourself in these ways. First of all you stand firm North Holland in error and sin. Secondly, share one spirit challenges that Christians are faced in every age and every location. As Solomon said there is nothing new under the sun.

Thankfully, the solutions to those challenges are also timeless. As you'll see today on grace to you.

John MacArthur is continuing his series a plea for unity with a look at how you and your church can overcome Satan's devices and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and so with today's lesson.

Here's John, Philippians, chapter 1 will look together at the last four versus verses 27 through 30. This rich little section gets at the very heart of the need for the church to behave itself in the way God has designed. It's a section on the behavior of the church we could've entitled it the church behaving itself. Verse 27, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you and that too from God for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me, and now here to be in me. He says I want you to stand firm in one spirit, with one mind I saw suggested one spirit means the Holy Spirit based on prescriptive, 12, 13, we've all been made partakers of the same Holy Spirit so forth and I would agree that the Holy Spirit is the source and power of our unity. Ephesians chapter 4 talks about the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. But it is best to see this not as the Holy Spirit, but small ass as it is in the new American Standard hour human spirits or our attitude simply a spirit of unity or an attitude of unity in a godly congregation.

One translator called inner compactness is good, good phrase inner compactness. Paul says my prayer for you is that you would share that you would have an attitude of unity, harmony, your agenda is an important in my agenda is an important what is important is unity and that's what Paul says let the bottom line is your behavior church behave yourself and what is that mean that means you behave yourself in these ways. First of all you stand firm. You don't fall into error and sin. Secondly, you share in one spirit, with one mind. I don't think we need to dissect those two phrases if they mean something different spirit Numa T mind Sue K. Could best be translated soul, spirit and soul are the same thing.

The immaterial part is simply saying your inner partner attitude must be one of sharing and humility and oneness. I plead with you to work for unity but it's unity with a purpose that brings us to the third word, striving its unity with a purpose.

It's not just unity, or unity say monetary some folks if you want to get in an exercise in futility. You just try to build great unity without some objective, you can't do it sure what I mean. Paul introduces a magnificent term in verse 27, he says, striving to gather for the faith of the gospel great term. User soon after. Let hello we get the word athletics from it.

Athlete it means to struggle along with someone it's talking about team sports.

Great word struggle along with someone as a team of athletes struggling against the opposition to win the victory and now he moves from the metaphor of a military soldier standing at his post which was bound up in the word standing firm to a team of athletes struggling together against a common opponent to win the victory nonutility assembly. You will never maintain a real unity in a static situation. If a church just stands around and tries to have unity it'll never have unity.

The only way to maintain unity get it. The only way to keep an internal oneness to share common life is to be engaged in a common struggle basic basic why is that true when everyone's focus is on the common goal and the common objective in the common victory and there's a desperation about winning. Nobody really cares about the internal issues we have all read through the years about athletic teams like this that fought quarreled and argued even had fighting matches in the dugout or in the locker room terrible discord until the championship game was on the line and then they came out and they were like one well oiled machine.

Why, because all is forgotten in a common objective gain through a common struggle any general in the face of the earth knows that that which motivates unity among the troops is the sense of victory any coach knows that which makes unity a reality on a team is when you stop being concerned about the internal discord and you focus on the objective and the only thing that concerns you is how you want to get there, not who gets the credit, not whether you like the guy next to. I remember when I was in college. We had a guy in our college basketball team. The first year I played who was easily the finest basketball player. We had to maybe one of the finest in the history the school.

I think it was the opening game of the season.

He scored about 36 points. He cared about 30+ average for about 10 games into the season and then he was kicked off the team by the coach. The reason was we couldn't win within. He scored a lot of points but we couldn't win because he didn't understand what was to be on a team was a sad thing I'll never forget it because the kid had a tremendous amount of talent, but it was a total detriment to the accomplishment of the goals of the team and the same thing is true in the spiritual arena when everyone sees the common goal and moves to the common goal.

The internal stuff becomes absolutely inconsequential and if the church can get its focus on the fact that it's engaged in an incredible spiritual warfare and it doesn't matter all that petty stuff that is sucking up so much time and energy. What matters is to communicate the saving gospel to a lost world. What matters is the sole impact the society for Christ that the elect receive the truth and are redeemed through the instrumentality of our fellowship.

That's what matters. With no opponent with no conflict with no contest unity will be lost. That's why generals through the years and coaches undirected strawmen to get people to fight an artificial enemy, rather than no enemy and when a church begins to see itself as an end in itself. It is a disaster this when you come here that is in the end that's the beginning you're here to be trained to go and reach the world. We face a hostile world we face a a world that rejects God and rejects Christ and it's time for us to stand up and fight that battle will tell you right now the Army that faces death doesn't have any internal quarrels. It does, it's only concerned about defeating death. Petty internal conflicts are lost in a battle for real issues and what is our battle back to verse 27 for the faith of the gospel for the faith of the gospel was to be in the Christian faith, the truth in Christ.

The once for all delivered to the saints. Faith Jude 3. We are in a conflict to preserve and protect the faith from those who attack and destroy. We are in a conflict to proclaim and preach the faith of those who reject the loser perspective, folks, you have a twofold striving.

We are a team, we are athletes together and our common goal is to preserve the word against hostility and to proclaim the word to the very hostile people who attack tough, but the loser perspective so many churches spend all their time fussing and fuming about piddly internal stuff that doesn't even matter when they need to be lost in the preservation of an proclamation of the word of God. So standing was a military analogy striving is an athletic analogy calls for teamwork against an opponent who threatens to defeat us. All personal matters aside all personal matters aside, we must proclaim the truth we talk about evangelism proclamation.

We've got to do that we gotta strive as a team to win the victory. Take the message to this world.

It's gonna be tough to reach this age were going to have to really go after the folks I read a book called amusing ourselves to death. I want to share a little with you by Neil postman hundred and 70 pages of great insight. He writes today, we must look at the city of Las Vegas, Nevada as a metaphor of our national character and aspiration and interesting. It symbols a 30 foot high cardboard picture of a slot machine and a chorus girl for Las Vegas is a city entirely devoted to the idea of entertainment and as such proclaims the spirit of a culture in which all public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertainment are religion, politics, news, athletics, education and commerce have been transformed into congenial adjuncts of show business.

The result is that we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death and he further writes the media of communication available to a culture are a dominant influence on the formation of the cultures, intellectual and social preoccupations, what he saying is that we been shaped by television writing. He says freezes speech and in so doing gives birth to the grommet grammarian the logician the rhetorician story and the scientists, as you put something in writing has to be logical.

It has to be something can study with depth.

It has to have evidence and proof in substantiation and content is the issue and it it produces thinking intellectualizing cognition makes the point that a typographic society that deals with print creates cognitive intellectual culture where you, for example, have massive people to go sit stand for seven hours and listen to the Lincoln Douglas debates three hours by Lincoln, three hours by Douglas and 1/2 in our rebuttal by each you show me a crowd in America that it stand and listen to a seven hour debate between two men on political issues about Nehemiah 8 stood up and read the Scriptures all day long. The people stood from dawn till sunset and listen to the Bible being read.

Try that. Try that now they want through a 30 minute sermon it's for Christian it's with histrionics and jokes from beginning in why we shifted to a telegraphic photographic society is shaped our culture with the result of the content of much of our public discourse has become dangerous nonsense. You can listen to the typical TV preacher and maybe he says something profound once in 30 minutes and maybe he never says it in 30 weeks. There's no reason rhetoric profound logic exposition is turned off in favor of the explosion, sex murderers, crashing cars while compare he says modern preaching with George Whitfield Jonathan Edwards and Charles G. Finney, if you want to know the difference between the mindset of people today absolutely unbelievable. Jonathan Edwards wrote a treatise concerning religious affections. In 1746 is one of the most profound works in American history and he would stand and read out of off of the page's message with no intonation and people would cry to God for mercy. Why because they had been trained to think now you stand up and give them a reasoned approach to Scripture there asleep in three minutes because nobody has been shot. Nothing is blown up. Nothing has exploded and know what is said. Now this and a cartoon character bounced through McDonald's store they can deal with today's preaching is contentless and TV trivializes everything, absolutely everything is trivialized by television even religion is trivialized.

You have some guy out there trying to preach and as soon as he is done on comes a commercial cartoon. Even the news is trivialized well today at airliner was shot out of the sky at 290 people perish. Now this and on comes up. The trivialization of everything. Yes the question does postman in the book. When's the last time you heard something on the news that changed anything in your life answer is never what we do with all that trivia that we can use.

We invent games like Trivial Pursuit, so we can use it we got it we must all use it. It has no relation to life, devastating to gospel presentation where is the Jonathan Edwards of our day people are into emotional gratification there in the popularity they want to feel they don't want to think Christian church platforms look like Las Vegas stages.

Vaudeville has replaced the Scripture, no context, no content I don't think Christianity can work on television because the medium of TV trivializes how serious can you get when you're watching it and some guy starts to talk about Christ and if you want you can flip to stop mouse and see somebody shot her chest or thrown over a cliff when you flip back trivializes everything you say.

Why tell us because this challenges us folks. We have a tremendous task. This is the mindset of our day is like a was 20 years ago. We will want to read books and want to think will have a tough time in this culture struggling together to preserve the sacred serious truths of God may not be a battle against outsiders only. It may be a battle against inside struggle against the shallow churches that want to trivialize the truth and reduce it to amusement struggle to proclaim may not just be a contest for men's hearts. It may be a contest for men's minds and working to have a mindless generation with already got one. They just want entertainment nothing more in each new one will be worse and then you stand up like I do for 50 minutes and try to communicate the word of God to these people and except for the Holy Spirit somehow allowing it to sink in and it just does not compute. What a challenge we better be aggressive. Listen better, be aggressive when a dangerous time in our church history received in the mail and interesting letter out laying out courses being taught on March 22. Very briefly it charted the history of churches and churches. Their peak period of growth in it.

Great ministry was 20 to 25 years right where we are, since I've come. That was the apex.

From then on, everything went downhill when the church is born.

They said it takes one person to reach one so the ratios one to wonder excited. They're enthused there thrilled are blessed and we said we saw this church double every two years. The first almost 10 years 1 to 1 to 1 to 1 were doubling the one to reach one they said usually by the third year takes three people to reach one of the process of outreach is slowing down as the church gets more internally complex by 10 years. It takes eight persons to reach 115 to 20 years.

Some somewhere between eight and 15.

Perhaps by the time a church is 50 years old.

It takes 89 people to reach one why the early years, concentrate on evangelism that evangelism takes the church to a peak, then the church becomes preoccupied with pastoral care preoccupied with shepherding preoccupied with budget preoccupied with internal systems and eats itself. It can't maintain its unity anymore because it doesn't have a common enemy that it's fighting. It's narcissistic. Evangelism isn't the reason to exist, fellowship, teaching, carrying, socializing, interacting, counseling, it stops confronting the world. It shrivels with a great challenge. We had a great struggle. Verse 28 he says in the struggle.

Don't be alarmed by your opponents is good news and it that's a word use that word alarm use.

Never other place in the Bible's own place ever used, but its use in classical Greek to refer to startling horses don't be startled, don't be bolted or jolted by your adversaries your enemies.

Why because it's a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you and that too from God was you meet their hostility toward you is a sign that they're going to be destroyed and it's a sign that your should be saved in the me if they're attacking you that prove suicide there on that producer side you're on right so don't be worried about your opponents.

Just do it.

Be bold and courageous and their hostility is a sign of destruction on them, and of ultimate salvation for you. Your little win in both of those things are the work of God. That's what he says the universe 20. They're both the work last word and I'll just mention times suffering.

Suffering what is he say expected if the church is what ought to be. It won't be easy. You will suffer for you.

It has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. It is a gift of grace uses the word are related to Cara's grace, God has chosen you not only for salvation is chosen you for suffering and he's chosen you experience. Paul says the very same conflict which you saw in me you saw when I was at Philippi acts 16 and you now hear about it in me here in Rome.

It goes with the territory suffering. Suffering. I love that verse 29.

He has granted you at Cara's day from Cara's grace. He has graciously gifted. You not only with faith but with suffering, you know, suffering is a gift from God. Say give me a gift of suffering is a gracious gift. All the health, wealth, prosperity, teachers need to look at this again.

Suffering is a gracious gift when you suffer for hostility for the faith persecution animosity rejection. So why is it a gift while what's so good about it. It assures you of your salvation doesn't doesn't it. When they attack you. It tells you who side you're on. It produces hope of heaven. It perfects you for usefulness. It provides union with Christ. The fellowship of his sufferings.

It brings joy due to the privilege, like the early church said they counted all joy to suffer for his sake. It leads to eternal reward, it strengthens the church, it wins the lost ball suffering did. He said that in Philippians 112 to 14 ultimately glorifies the Lord expected expected don't feel alone. Verse 30 says you're not alone all the faithful servants of the Lord of suffer.

I just want to say it.

In conclusion, doesn't matter whether I'm here gone. I want to hear that you are behaving yourself that you're living in a manner that is worthy of the gospel that we know and believe and preach and proclaim, and that means your standing firm.

That means you have one spirit, one mind, that means you're struggling like a team to win the victory that means you're suffering the hostility of the world. That's what I want to hear because that is what happens in a church behaving so it's pretty good father, thank you for the straightforward word from Paul to our hearts praise you for inviting Christ. That's John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary continuing his series on how your church can no true spiritual unity and glorify Christ. The series is titled a plea for unity here on grace to you John.

You made the point today that the church should expect to suffer for the sake of Christ and also that's a gift of God's grace. It's a blessing to suffer Jesus said you're blessed when people speak evil of you, but still, that doesn't mean that suffering and persecution are easy for Christians, even when we understand that there is a spiritual benefit to those trials yet on the spiritual benefit comes because they're not easy when we don't have trials we don't have struggles we don't have conflicts we don't have persecutions you know we we tend to take things for granted.

We we we tend to take God for granted. We will have the desperation, the cries out to him to what draws us to God.

What refines us what reorders our priorities is what makes us suffer.

I would go so far as to say in the life of a believer suffering is the most powerful tool God uses he uses a lot of tools but the most dramatic transformations that happened in the life of a believer. This is not only from Scripture, but I can tell you my own personal experience, the most powerful things that ever come into my life come through the means of suffering. I have learned more, develop more faith deep and more of my prayer life trusted more been more confident of the truthfulness of my salvation because it stood the test of time under suffering, then any good thing or a combination of good things that have happened to me.

I have said this for years. You need to embrace suffering because that's where God does his greatest work in your life now along that line.

I've got a book that I wrote some years ago called the power of suffering.

I mean, that sounds a little bit contradictory maybe like an oxymoron. The power of suffering because you feel so weak in the midst of it, but look. The apostle Paul said that even though he had prayed three times that the Lord remove suffering from his life. He said my weakness becomes the very reason for God's power. God's strength is manifest in my weakness. Second Corinthians 12 so we need to know not only how to survive suffering, but how to see in suffering the purifying, strengthening purpose of God unfolding before us. If you accept suffering with the right attitude. God does his greatest work there so and let you know about the book the power of suffering we want to make it available to you affordably priced from grace to you can get a copy today, yes and friend. This is a great book to turn to. During trials, it explains the gracious, good and loving purposes God has for all the pain and hardships in your life.

It also looks at the way Jesus handled suffering and how you can follow his example to order the power of suffering. Contact us today you can pick up your copy when you call us at 855 grace or go to GT Y.org again to order a copy of the power of suffering to order a few copies to give away to friends call us at 855 grace or go to our website. GT Y.org and friend who are benefiting from broadcasts like today's know that we are able to produce these programs and take verse by verse Bible teaching to the spiritually hungry all over the world because people like you support us. So if you benefiting and if you're able to help. I'd encourage you to express your support today you can make a tax-deductible donation by mail right to grace to you, PO Box 4000, panorama city, CA 91412 or call us at 855 grace or make a donation at our website. GT Y.org and thank you especially for your prayers.

We are grateful for every time you bring us before the throne of grace now for John MacArthur and the entire grace to you staff on Phil Johnson. Thanks for tuning in today and join us tomorrow when John looks at God's amazing compassion and how that leads to true spiritual unity in the church. It's another 30 minutes of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time on grace to you