The Means to Spiritual Unity

And that's where you have to start getting rid of that that consuming and destructive pride that is rooted deep in our fallen/that makes us want to push our own way and our own course personal ambition with the idea, focusing mostly on our own agenda. It's hard to justify calling a professional sports team bad after all these players are the world's best as are the coaches so what is it that makes one team better than another. Often it has to do with a selfless attitude among the players a fervent commitment to a common goal rather than just personal glory. In a word, great teams have unity well today on grace to you. John MacArthur considers the unity God calls for in his church. It's the next installment of John series a plea for unity and out with today's lesson. Here's John MacArthur. Paul writes, if therefore there is any encouragement in Christ. If there is any consolation of love. If there is any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion make my joy complete by being of the same mind maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Now in verse one we remember in this passage the apostle Paul in speaking on the formula for spiritual unity gives us the motives for unity answers the question why why unity and he says because Christ has given us so much encouragement because Christ has given us the comfort of love, because the Holy Spirit has come to fellowship with us because the Holy Spirit has dispensed to us affection and compassion for those for surpassing reasons we ought to honor Christ and the Holy Spirit, by fulfilling a very deep desire of their heart and that is the unity of the church Christ prayed for that unity. The spirit produces that unity because of all the Christ in the spirit of done for us. We certainly should be of the same mind maintaining that same love, united in spirit and intent on one purpose. We should manifest unity motivated by the goodness of Christ in the goodness of the Holy Spirit in our behalf and then he adds that other motive verse to make my joy complete not only for the sake of Christ in the spirit but for the joy of the shepherd, the pastor who is given so much of his life to them. That's the motive then last time we looked at the marks. What are the defining characteristics of unity he says them in verse two. Being of the same mind thinking alike being spiritually minded, knowing the mind of Christ, the mind of God the mind of the spirit is revealed in the word and then he says, maintaining the same is not just what we know is how we conduct ourselves with one another and having the same love means equals sacrificial service to those in need, no matter who they are and no matter what personal human emotion. We might have toward them or not have.

We are to love each other the same. Then he says we are to be united in spirit. One sold. That means having one compelling driving desire and passion. We are to live for the kingdom. We are to be consumed by the kingdom and the Lord of the kingdom, and then intent on one purpose and that is that God would fulfill his will and be glorified, and where we think alike and love each other the same and have that one driving passion, intending to fill a fulfill that one great purpose of glorifying God. We will have the marks of unity.

That's the question what that describes what unity is. Now we come to the third point in verses three and four and the question is how how do we get that unity. What is the means of unity. The motives that marks and the means. What is the means to unity. How does it practically come about. There are five practical principles given here. They are interrelated and intricately connected, but we can sort of pull out five points, three of them are negative and two of them are positive. There are some things to exclude and some to include obedience always has a negative and a positive side. What we must not do and what we must do, and here's what we can do personal inventory in our lives. Here's where we examine our internal process of thinking and motivation. All right, let's look at these five number one. And these are the means to unity first one.

Do nothing from selfishness stop at that point.

Do nothing from selfishness eliminate that from your motives.

Do nothing from selfishness. There is no verb here in the original but nonetheless the form of it takes the force of a negative command. He saying never act out everything on now that word means selfish ambition, selfish ambition, it refers so in some uses to strife because that's tied in as soon as you become selfish you are literally at war with everybody else. It can be used to refer to a party spirit factions rivalry partisanship. That's the idea. It's the kind of self-seeking that leads to quarreling, hassling, haggling, fighting, arguing, contending, and by the way it is listed in Galatians 520 is a work of the flesh. It is not a work of the Spirit is a work of the flesh is egotism. Egotism that is intent on advancing itself egotism driven by personal desire which is always destructive and disruptive and that's where you have to start with slaying the giant of selfishness.

Getting rid of that that consuming and destructive pride that is rooted deep in our fallen flesh that makes us want to push our own way and our own course personal ambition with the idea, focusing mostly on our own agenda. The next word focus a little more on self than this one. This is my cause my faction, my group, my objective it can be such a disruptive thing.

It happened in Corinth. First Corinthians 1, verse 10, Paul exhorts the Corinthian brother in the by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to all agree and says there should be no divisions among you, now there was division among them. Then it was basically over. This kind of faction orientation.

He says each one of you is saying in verse 12.

I am of Paul. I have a policy, I have Cephas I have Christ they divided themselves a little factions well where the Paul Gruber the Peter group now aware that Apollo's group well where the Christ group. I don't know particularly what divided them up. You could speculate on what the significant issues in the teaching of Paul, Peter, a policy and Christ were on which they sort of camped with their isolationist mentality, but the point is that divided the little factions. He says to them in chapter 3, your your mentor flesh I have to speak to you as to men of flesh are not spiritual. As I said in Galatians 520. This is one of the works of the flesh, your flesh, she and it all stems out of the flesh and the says in verse three.

Jealousy and strife and that's why you're saying I'm a Paul and I am of Apollo's and so for the flesh produces selfishness and one becomes consumed with his own little enterprise.

It may itself be a good one. So nothing with Paul Paulus, Peter Christ, the agenda in itself may be valid but once selfishness takes over the agenda then jealousy rises and out of jealousy comes strife and out of strife comes conflict in the loss of unity so you have to start with selfishness, personal ambition for your cause, your causes and all there is and so he says what. First of all, do nothing with that kind of motive absolutely nothing eliminated from your life. Secondly, he adds to it in there's really is a lot of overlap in the two but he says do nothing from selfishness and then says in the Greek text, nor according to vainglory Canada exit the income according to empty conceit is a good way to translate. By the which used only here it is used in the Greek Old Testament but never in the New Testament. It is a state of mind that seeks personal glory and the first word ambition ties a person in with an enterprise where this is purely personal glory being emphasized. As I said, there's an overlap, but II would just like to draw out the idea here that this seems to focus on personal glory and if you if you look at the word more deeply you see here a person who assertively, arrogantly, claims to have the right opinion, who is in fact in error that's can us. He has erroneous opinion, is an erroneous opinion of himself. He is conceited without reason. He is deluded he seeks self-promotion and self glory. He will fight to prove himself supreme and where you have that kind of attitude you have discord.

This is personal vanity. The first word is the factionalism that comes from an enterprise that is selfishly held in this is that personal self advancement.

Emphasis so you eliminate both those things then the third principle is a positive one, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself.

In a sense this is the corrective for the two -ones. Instead of being personally ambitious and personally vain. On the other hand, rather than being proud which both of those things reflect maintain humility of mind. That's where unity always begins with said it over and over and over again unity is born out of humility. Humility of mind is one word in the Greek and apparently as best we can tell it is not found in any Greek writing before the New Testament, which means that the New Testament really the New Testament writers invent this word. The adjective form topping sores often use to describe the mentality of a slave to convey the idea being base shabby, unfit, low, common, valueless, useless, so it wasn't a virtue with a term of derision.

Humility was never seen in the pre-New Testament pagan world is a virtue was always seen as something ugly never to be sought, certainly never to be admired the Old Testament God did hail the virtue of humility. If you read the Old Testament you find that he chose the insignificant and the humble, for his work. You read that he saved the lowly, and he saved the meek, and he saved the humble, and he heard the prayers of the downcast and he gave grace to the lonely. So it was there all the time in the Old Testament. But paganism never picked it up and in paganism to be humble was to be based, and useless, valueless, worthless, but all of a sudden when you come to the New Testament it gets turned into a virtue and he defines it. Humility of mind here is regarding one another is more important than yourself. That's it very simple. More important, could be translated superior superior say how can I do that how can I think of others superior to myself I will do that very often. In fact, we usually think of others as less than ourselves. We we gloat, don't we. Over talking about other people's failures.

How can you consider for Miguel my how can you consider others superior to yourself. I mean honestly, how can you do that, how can you deal with that issue and give you suggestion do you know the heart of any other person. You know what's in a person's heart.

The no you think you do. Sometimes you may be right.

You may not by me to my wife may say to her husband how I know you're thinking she may be right.

You may not. If she's not. It's very frustrating for him. If she's right, it's even more frustrating but basically we don't know what's in somebody's heart. The only sin that I know in another person is what I can see or hear.

That's all I'm going to know so I can't really know what's in their heart. I can't know what sin torments them. I can't know what graces abound within them, but there is one heart that I do know mine and I know my own heart so very well that I know the sin of my own heart. Now think about it this way you know more soon about your own heart, then you do about anybody else's right so if were talking from the level of first hand information who is the worst sinner you have ever met who is it, be honest, you I'm talking first-hand information was yet the most corrupt reminding you know your honesty to say me because you know it's in somebody else's heart and what I'm saying to you, dear friend is you got enough personal information to put yourself in a position where you can consider others superior to you. You get that that's a pretty practical way to view every man knows his own heart. First, and every man knows his own heart, and every woman who knows her own heart knows what is there and you have enough information to give yourself hello estimate, but what you really are so, so it shouldn't be any major issue for me to look at someone else's superior to myself. We can assume people are superior to us spiritually, for we can see is what's on the outside.

What makes Paul say things that he says you look at Paul and his cell Paul Mueller greatest Christian ever live is what he said I'm the least of all the apostles will not fit to be called an apostle says that false humility. No, that's because the person he knows best. Assume all why does he say this first Timothy is a trustworthy statement. Chapter 1 verse 15 deserving full acceptance of Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am chief for past tense present how the work of Paul say he's the worst sinner in the world from personal information is right and from all that you know personally. So are you. So my now that perspective to help us to look at others with a different view. Problems of discord and problems of division and faction, and when we hold others as more worthy of respect and honor, and a right to be heard and followed. Then we do ourselves and you shouldn't have any problem doing that because of the information you have about your own heart. 1/4 principle verse four.

Do not merely look out for your own personal interests. All what can we say about this.

We live in a society where that's all anybody cares about their own personal interests and Paul says do not merely look out for your own personal interests. The opposite, you need to be responsible for the conditions in matters of your own life. But don't merely be concerned with that but the idea here of that verb.

Look out for is to regard as you are a team or your goal. Don't regard as your aim or goal or purpose in life to take care of only your own personal enterprises.

How can we communicate how desperately important it is for us to get passionately involved in the causes of others. That's why we have conflict even in the church because we only own our own little piece of the pie. We don't see the big picture. We only care about someone else's enterprise. All of this flushes out in such pitiable minutia in the church you need to give attention to your own personal interests and the idea here, I'd I believe has to do with legitimate interest ministry interest things it would honor the Lord things that are part of our responsibility as Christians. But don't merely do that but also for the interests of others. The word interest. By the way is things very generic and there's a whole lot page after page of discussion and commentaries about what the things means and if the Lord had to been as generic as he has been here and inspiring Paul that we can assume that he wanted our understanding to be a bit generic to so it leads me to say that he isn't trying to be specific. He is just saying while you're busy attending to the matters which are on your own heart and are your own responsibility.

Be equally concerned about the same matters in the lives of those around you. That's the idea you want to encompass their interests and their enterprises and their needs and their tasks and their goals and their gifts and their spiritual character and their ministries and their qualities and their strengths and their significance to the Lord and the body should be equally important to you as your own point. This is a high standard. You know I our fallenness has a difficult time in literally giving all of its energy. All of our energy to a clause and pouring are swollen to that cause and being equally concerned about everybody else's because that's not easy, but that's a high standard. I mean I look at the Christian community in it is tragic to see all of the conflict and competition really tragic, just unbelievable and I see it every week of my life.

Competition, making sure that you don't horn in on their territory or talk to somebody who's who might be interested in their ministry rather than your ministry and tremendous conflict at the highest levels in all the way down to even personal matters in the church, simple principles, our day high standard.

Eliminate selfishness. That's that personal ambition the ties you into your little piece of turf eliminate empty conceit. That's the driving passion to see your name exalted in your purse and lifted up the corrective for that is the third principal look at others is superior to yourself and that'll allow you to give to them more attention than you give yourself more trust, more confidence and to think more highly of them and then the fourth principle in verse four. Again a negative one. Don't merely look out for your own personal interests. Don't get caught in that particular trap where your life is consumed with your own things. Finally, the fifth, but also be concerned with the interests of others who have every right to your concern and your prayers as I said this is a tremendously high standard, and we would expect it would we expect anything less. If we can live out these things we can eliminate competition and we can eliminate collisions in the church and in the body of Christ is one more point on I close with this.

The model could we look to show us how to do this, verse five. Pulse is what I'm asking for is this attitude that was in Christ Jesus. Christ is our model.

He says have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. He had really yes he did nothing from selfishness everything he did really was fulfilling the father's will and the father's will was being expressed for our sake he did nothing for empty conceit. Not hardly a spit on him and killed him with humility of mind. He regarded others is more important than himself. He say did he really do that yes he did.

He regarded others more important than himself. In what sense were six. Although he existed in the form of God, he didn't regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant being made in the likeness of man being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. He did not look on his own things on his own interest, but on the things of others, and he set aside his own importance and looked at others is superior in the sense that he died to give them life. He is the living model of the principles in verses three and four. He is our model.

So I set the standard is high. The only one who ever lived at the perfection was Jesus Christ, but it is ours to pursue today on grace to you.

John MacArthur, Chancellor of the Masters University in seminary show you how to do your part to build unity as he continued his study called a plea for unity. Jon, I think we understand that it's hard to find a church that is as unified as it should be. Maybe, no such church exists but some people would be grateful simply to find a church that they can call home with a woman named Candace who called our Q&A line with a question along those lines, and so let me have you listen to what Candace says and then you give your response and your family and you have a family where you are talking what you get mad at God alone in way when they have the port. Really nobody to pray for them nobody to care for their so mind that's a painful reality Candace, but I know it's not uncommon to me. I hear your heart on that and and I know there are many like that because we hear that so very frequently.

The obvious response to that is that's one of the reasons grace to you is here.

We don't want to be the church but when there is no alternative. We we will be whatever we need to be in your life and and will be that five days a week and even more than that if you come on the website. The resources are endless. So I would say you need to be able to find.

However, possible some other folks that you can build relationships with, and it may be that there are a few good people in a church that's not everything it should be because that's exactly what you see in the book of Revelation. In this second and third chapter the Lord sends letters to churches and five of those churches were churches in severe decline, but the Lord identifies in those churches even in decline, even unfaithful churches, even churches that he threatened to remove their their witness their lampstand. There were some who had not had their garments sustained.

There were some who were true and faithful, and he commands them. So I think you may find in a church where it's not all that you would want to be. You may find others whose hearts are tight to the truth like yours is and you may flourish in that situation more. If you have that kind of fellowship and if you don't so it comes down to find the best you can. And the Lord understands that even if you're in a church that that he is going to judge those kinds of churches like in the book of Revelation had faithful people and the Lord protected and blessed them in that environment. Thank you, John, and friend. If you have never called our Q&A line.

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I'm Phil Johnson encouraging you to join us tomorrow when John looks at how you can serve your church the way Christ desires. John is continuing his series of plea for unity with another 30 minutes of unleashing God's true one verse at a time on grace to you