Well, good morning. I invite you to open your copy of God's Word with me this morning to the book of Philippians, to the book of Philippians. And if you're here today and you don't happen to have a copy of God's Word with you, we have extra copies under the chairs in front of you, and you'll need to turn to page 1174 in those chair Bibles to find the book of Philippians. And I want to add my greeting to you as well as my desire for you to continue to have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. It's been a very special weekend in many regards, tender for me and I know for many of you as well. And I look forward to this evening going through some slides and some observations about my trip to Indonesia, a trip that you as a church and as our missions committee has sent me on. And I look forward to telling you about God's grace at work around that part of the world. Perhaps what happened around our Thanksgiving table this past Thursday happened around the table you were sitting at as well. After the meal, we all read Psalm 34, and then we went around the table and told what we're thankful for, something we do every year, and perhaps you do that as well. What are you thankful for? What brings joy to you? And I just love listening. I always have a ready answer for that, but I always like hearing from other people. What makes you happy? For what are you thankful? So, on Thanksgiving Eve this past week, before I went home from the office, I sent out an email to several of you. And I simply asked the question, what makes you happy? In other words, what are you thankful for? And all of you replied to my email. I appreciate that. Austin Jesse got that email. And he said, what makes me happy is working on the Yankee Air Museum B-25. Yes, one of our teens works on the B-25 that flies over your house and my house. And he also said, what makes me happy is building scale models of airplanes from kits and then seeing the completed product. And another thing that makes Austin happy is just flying in any type of airplane. So mom and dad, I hope you're listening. There's his Christmas list, right? I sent this email to Carrie. Shock. And she just was real quick and to the point with her reply. Number one, what makes her happy? Hot coffee. And all God's people said, amen, right? Yeah, that is a spiritual amen. It's part of the day of creation when he made plants, right? And it was good. It was good. But Carrie also said, you want to know what makes me happy? An electric blanket, I imagine, with that hot coffee. And then thirdly, what makes her happy with her hot blanket and coffee is her dogs. Keith is nowhere on her list. I love that. Good dogs, though. No, I'm giving her a hard time. I sent this email to Pastor Ernie. I took the risk. And he said, you know what? Number one, spending time with my wife. Well, that's a good answer, right? Number two, having a project to work on. Number three, playing sports. But of course, he had to put a little note. I haven't figured out how to combine them all yet, but if I ever do, that will be the best day ever. I sent the email on a serious note, of course, moving over to Shirley Cropsey. Shirley, what makes you happy? She was actually the first one to reply to my email. She said, a sweet and ongoing growing relationship with my Lord and Savior as the Holy Spirit helps me learn and discern truth from the Word so that I end in worship. Number two, Shirley says, enjoying time with husband and family as well as CBC family. And I love opportunities for discipleship and serving. And then she calls out the Puggles, Wednesday night ministry, as well as her side-by-side ministry with the ladies over at the university, medical students. And just when you thought she was only going to be serious and spiritual, she says, and number three, how about some fried ice cream, right? That makes her happy. I sent this email to Mark Meredith, he responded in all caps. I asked for three, he gave me six, but that's okay, he's bigger than I am. Number one, waking up every morning next to my bride. Wow, Mark's a little mushy. Number two, talking to my parents and they say to me on the phone, thanks for calling, you made our day. Love that. Number three, watching the sun come up and seeing God's creation. Number four, what makes me happy is knowing that God loves me and chose me to be one of his own. Number five, God knows what is best for me even when I don't like it. And then Mark said, number six, what makes him happy, knowing that all my kids are saved and walking with and serving the Lord and they're training their kids to do the same. I sent one more note out. This one to Mary Lou Moore. And she too has five things that make her happy. Number one, knowing I will see my husband more again someday, and he's with the Lord right now. Number two, that the Lord loves me and provides for me daily, even though I'm undeserving. Number three, what makes me happy, I have children and grandchildren who want to spend time with me. Number four, I'm thankful and it gives me joy that I'm still young at heart and I like to cut up while having lunch with my friends. Mary, I know that's true because the manager from Denny's calls me on Thursday afternoon and gives me a report on the ladies there. Whoever stands up on the table at the end of the meal, that's not funny with the manager. And then in all seriousness, number five, that I'm able to go shopping and read a good book when I'm at home. But then Mary put this little note, Mary Lou put this note. I don't know if these things make me happy, but maybe contented is a better word. I love doing little interviews like that. Don't you like to hear what is on the hearts of others? What brings them joy? What makes them happy, contented, and thankful? Why is it that we like to lean in and listen to stuff like that? It's because you can tell a whole lot about someone and what makes them happy and joyful. Even more, there's a lot of things in our lives that make us happy or joyful, if you will, but then there's even those things that will put us over the edge and kind of cap it off. In other words, yes, this makes me happy, yes, this makes me thankful, this brings joy to me, but even after having all that, if something happens, if I get something, and what is that something? Then I'm over the top happy. He tells so much about someone with how they cap off their joy. We would all agree as we come to the book of Philippians this morning that Paul is a very joyful person. Paul was not a guy that kind of slouched down, humped over, walked in the room with a limp, and he was the grump in the room. He was not the melancholy guy that the glass was always half empty. No, Paul was a man of joy. You even see it here, for example, in the book of Philippians. In chapter 1, verse 4, we see that he has a joy just partnering with the Philippian believers in the gospel. Look at verse 4 of chapter 1. Or go back to verse 3. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. Look at this. Always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all. He not only was joyful over his partnership with them, but he was even joyful in his suffering if it moved the Philippian believers forward in their Christ-likeness. He suffered for them and with them. Chapter 2, verse 17, Paul says, Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and I share my joy with you all. And you too, I urge, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. He found great joy in his partnership with them. He found great joy even in suffering with them. And in chapter 4, verse 1, he found great joy just in his association with them. Chapter 4, verse 1, Therefore, my beloved brethren, whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved. All these things made Paul happy just with regards to the church at Philippi. But there's one thing, as much joy as that other stuff brought, there's one thing that really just capped off his joy. It kind of finished it off with him, with the church there at Philippi. And I'd like to direct your attention to this very reality, chapter 2. Look at verse 1. If 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, and look at this, 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, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus." You say, what capped off Paul's joy? What was the ultimate in his mind? You see it there at the beginning of verse 2. Make my joy complete by being of the same mind. this concept of being complete literally means to bring to completion, to fullness. This word was used to talk about finally arriving at a final destination of a long journey. I sure can relate to that. I sure can relate to getting on the plane tired after almost two weeks in Singapore, knowing that I had an eight-hour plane flight to Qatar, up on the Arabian Peninsula, and after that I had a layover, and then I had the 14-hour trip to Boston. And then after that and that layover, I had the trip from Boston to Detroit. You know what? I was excited when I got to Qatar. I was excited a little bit when I got to Boston. But I couldn't wait to get to Detroit. At that point, my journey was complete. I didn't have to go any farther. That's the word and the concept that Paul says, you want to see my joy get to a point with regards to you as a local church where it can go no further? My joy can go no further. Here it is. Have unity as believers in your local church. That capped off his personal joy. The great reformer and theologian John Calvin just kind of steps away from his desk a little bit at this point as he observes. He doesn't get too technical here. He just marvels at Paul. John Calvin writes, how little anxiety Paul had as to himself, provided only it went well with the church. You see, before Paul's view were tortures. Near at hand was the executioner. Yet all these things do not prevent his experiencing unmingled joy, provided he sees that the churches are in good condition." End quote. You know, as I think about all this, as I come to this text and I hear what capped off Paul's joy, I think we as a church family agree. I think we really agree that what brings us ultimate joy at Calvary Baptist Church of Ypsilanti, whether we've been here just a few months or several decades, what caps off our joy is not our property. We're thankful. We're thankful for all these renovations. We're thankful for the beauty on the outside and the function and the beauty on the inside. And I guess you can say there's happiness tied to that, but that's not the ultimate. We would even say that it's not the programs that we offer. We're thankful for Awana. We're thankful for 40 men. We're thankful for the ladies ministry. We're thankful for youth ministry. We're thankful for Caleb Club. But at the end of the day, as much as those programs bring us happiness, they don't bring us the ultimate happiness as a church family. You know, it's not an issue of potluck dinners. It's not an issue of having all the right personnel, paid or volunteer, plugged into the right place that brings us our ultimate joy. What brings us ultimate joy, and every generation that's preceded us here at this church, has been the unity that the gospel produces. Where we have people with all different experiences, all different appearances, all different cultures and histories, and preferences, yet we can all come together as a family and be one. That's what caps off our joy. We agree. We agree with Paul. So as I said last week, in light of our recent growth as a church family, in light of the fact that we are really trying to dial into our mission statement as a church, which is glorifying God by making disciples in a community of grace. And based on the fact that we are learning as a church family that community is not talking about the churches around a parking lot. Community is not just a matter of coming and sitting and facing forward according to scheduled services. Community is facing each other and providing an accountability for each other and discipleship for each other, all against the backdrop of unity that only the gospel could produce. Because these three realities are present here in our church family, I believe it has been a good time for us to take these three weeks and take a biblical reminder that our local church is to be a haven of unity. You say, well, how do we do that? How do we do that? And I've chosen to allow what Paul has said to the Philippian church to be our guide. We saw last week in chapter 1, verses 27 to 30, that Paul makes a plea for this unity in the local church. Not only there, but here. Look at verse 27 of chapter 1. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will 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." Paul's saying, listen, I'm making a plea for unity to you as a church family. The gospel has saved you. The enemies of the gospel are attacking you. We must stick together. Even though different, we're one. So he makes this plea for unity, and then as we cross over into chapter 2, verse 1, as we saw last week, he also expresses the very possibility of this unity that he's pleading for. Chapter 2, verse 1, therefore, if, and we saw last week, this is first class condition, you can read it this way, for since there is encouragement in Christ, since there is consolation or counsel of love, since there is fellowship of the Spirit, and since affection and compassion. These are the possibilities for unity. They are a real possibility. Unity is the will of Christ for us, unity is the fruit of God's love in us, unity is the result of the Spirit's work in us, and unity is the whole atmosphere of a gospel community. So we have the possibility preceded by the plea, but this brings us to chapter 2 verses 2-5 where you see the pursuit or the plan for this unity to be a reality in our assembly. It's the plan. And I'll word it this way if you're taking notes on that sheet. I think that Paul gives to us in verses 2-5 His plan or his keys for biblical unity, and there are four of them, I want to direct your attention to this morning. What's the first key to biblical unity according to Paul in a church like Philippi or in a church like this one in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 2019? Key number one is this, face the same direction. Face the same direction. Look at chapter 2, verse 2 again. Make my joy complete. Tell us how, Paul. By being of the same mind. Being of the same mind. What is this being of the same mind? Some of your translations translate this like-minded. Being of the same mind. It's a short, powerful little Greek word that means you think or hold an opinion to be disposed in the same way as others. I mean, there's nothing hidden there. But it's meaning simply this. Face the same direction. How unified could a church like ours be if everyone had their own little pet projects? If anyone had, as the business world says, your own little silo. And you only are concerned about the people that are working in your little corner of the solar system of that local church. and you might only be concerned not only that that ministry get done, but you're only concerned about the spiritual growth of those people who are immediately around you in your claustrophobic ministry. I say that with the utmost love. No, we face the same direction. Paul didn't just give this very clear admonition to the believers at Philippi, he did to the believers at Rome as well in Romans 15 verses 5 through 6. Listen. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he looked over at Corinth, and he says the same thing, 1 Corinthians 1, verse 10. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. I mean, this was big on his priority list for the local church. So what does it look like to be of the same mind? I mean, it makes a great screensaver or bumper sticker, but how do we know if we're doing it? I'm glad you asked Paul. He's going to answer us. He's actually going to use three pictures, if you will, to describe what facing the same direction looks like. Picture number one is this. Have a common love for each other. common love for each other look at chapter 2 verse 2 and he says this here's how you do it how do you have the same mind here it is maintaining the same love now I've checked it out in the Greek I've checked it out in the English I've checked it out with scholars no one is going to allow me or give me the right to change the word love here There's nothing hidden here and no one's trying to insert here merely an area of preference. No one's going to let me substitute that word love, which is an unconditional, unilateral, moving towards someone else's benefit. No one's going to say, only if they're like you. I can't find that in the Greek. There is a love that's the same coming out from you in absolutely every direction to every person, even those that are different from you. The gospel frees you to do that. That's a common love for each other. That's one picture of what it means to face the same direction. St. Augustine put it this way, what does love look like? It has hands to help others. Feet to hasten to the poor and needy. Eyes to see misery and need. Ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like. Augustine got it right. You see, this love that the gospel allows you to demonstrate is a love that is equal to all. We don't grade people worthy of this kind of love coming from us based on how much they're like us, or how much they like us. No. We spray this love in every direction. It's a common love for each other. You say, why? Because you and I have experienced this same love in the gospel. Listen to me. Were you attractive to God before He saved you? No, if I'm reading Romans 5.8 correctly, it says, but God demonstrates his love toward us in that, listen, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I read in Habakkuk chapter one that God is of more pure eyes than to behold evil. When we were the least lovable to a holy God, listen, he loved us, he loved you the most. We've tasted that love. And if you're here this morning and you've never accepted Jesus as your Savior and your Lord, you don't have forgiveness from your sin, you haven't tasted this love I'm describing to you, it truly is amazing. And here's the best news, it's available to you right now this morning. You just have to call out to Christ. And this Gospel that takes hold of us, starts bearing its fruit through us, And part of that fruit, the fruit of the Spirit is love, agape. And John even says, you know what? Loving other believers with this fullness of love is a sign of whether or not you're even regenerated. John says in 1 John 3.14, we know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. So what does it look like to face the same direction? It's having a common love for each other. But there's a second picture. And here it is. It's having a common effort towards one goal. Having a common effort towards one goal. If you look back at verse 2 again, it says, united in spirit. This is an interesting Greek word. It's to be literally one-souled about a mission. You know, as a church family, and we've opened our Bibles, and we believe that we have written on our wall in the lobby a mission, a ministry statement for our church that captures what Jesus is doing through the local church in this age. It's bringing glory to God by making disciples in a community of grace. We firmly believe that. And we firmly believe that as a church family, we are to disciple others and to grow as a disciple by increasing our understanding of what it means and what it looks like to be a worshiper. So that this week we're a little bit more mature worshiper than even last week. And worship's not something that just happens during a corporate gathering. We could even argue it happens more so between our corporate gatherings. And we as a church family realize that if someone's growing as a worshiper, they're going to grow as a servant towards all men. And as you grow as a servant towards all men, you understand that you're serving saved and unsaved people, and the best way you can serve an unsaved person is to live and to share the nouns and the verbs of the gospel. And then as we grow as worshipers and servants and also witnesses, God's going to bring certain people into our lives that we can invest in and disciple and we will. We believe that. That gives us one accord. That gives us a common cause, if you will. A common effort towards a goal. Those of you who remember Sunday Comics, remember the Peanuts, Charlie Brown, And you might remember the classic planes where there is a fight going on between Lucy and Linus, and it's over who gets to choose what's on the TV. And finally, Linus says to Lucy, what gives you the right to tell us what we're going to watch on TV? And Lucy holds up her fist and says, these five fingers. And then in the last pane of the cartoon, it's Linus speaking, and he's looking at his own hand. He says, why can't you guys get organized like that? I love that. But in all seriousness, as a church family, as we read our Bibles, we are on mission. And we know what that mission is. And we understand our mission shouldn't just impact Washtenaw County, but it needs to be felt in the nations. That's a common effort towards one goal, but there's a third picture that he uses to talk about this. what it means to be of one mind, like-minded. The third picture is this. There's a common drive in our minds. A common drive in our minds. It says at the end of verse 2, intent on one purpose. Intent on one purpose or one will. I could just imagine what that's supposed to be. I don't have to. If we're talking about, listen, how we are to corporately think. You see, a purpose, that's not an emotion. That's volition. That's action that's informed by thinking. So my question for you, brother and sister, is this. What is supposed to be informing our thinking so that we're thinking the same thing? Let me put it to you this way. It seems to me as I read through these epistles and through the Word of God, that we as a church family are to be reading the same instruction manual. You have one open on your lap right now. This is the only thing that can give us one mind. You know, I so appreciate what I read in Joshua 1.9, this book of the law, just speaking of the Old Testament that they had at that time, and then not even the whole Old Testament. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you will be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success." That's what they had on their lap, just a portion of the Old Testament. What do we have on our lap this morning? The full Old Testament, the full New Testament, and even the maps. There's no reason why a church like ours can't have one mind, because it's informed by the Word of God. So I just got to confess something to you this morning. I just have to confess, this is one of the main reasons why Pastor Ernie and I challenge each of you in every single ministry of Calvary Baptist Church. I'm talking to men's ministry. Oh, I'm talking to men's ministry especially. I'm talking about the ladies' ministry. I'm talking about the youth ministry. I'm talking about the message I'm going to give at the communion table at the end of this month, as I do every year, a challenge for you to read the Bible every day. If you get through it in a year, great. If you don't, but be in the Word every day, not as a legalist. But if you're not reading the instruction manual, and I'm not reading the instruction manual, and those people over there and over there are not reading it, how will we be of one mind? We have one mind, and it's the mind of Christ as revealed in Scripture. You know what? I love going out to a pastor's conference in Los Angeles. I go out every couple of years to that one. I enjoy it. But one thing I hate about that trip is driving on the interstate in Los Angeles. I don't like it at all. It's unfun. I mean, you can go 20 miles and it might take you an hour and a half in rush hour. You literally have 14 lanes of traffic sometimes just packed, but at least seven of those lanes are at least going the same direction. You're going to get there. And I think of the challenges we have as God's people in churches like ours. I mean, there's a lot going on, and there's a lot of different types of people, and sometimes there's a lot of people, but at least we're moving in the same direction. That's what Paul's saying. And Peter agrees. Peter says this in 1 Peter 3, verses 8 and 9, to sum up. I mean, he's summing up something here. Listen to what his conclusion is. All of you are to be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, and humble in spirit, not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead, for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing." So what's the first key here? It's the longer of the four, but I want to be clear to you. The first key is to face the same direction. And when you do, You also will see the same realities. And this leads us to the second key of unity. And it's simply this. Fight the same foes. Fight the same foes. Look at verse 3. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. But with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. You say, all right, I'm up for a good fight. I'm up for a good fight. I'm a Christian, after all. And aren't we supposed to fight, right? So I'm going to come to church, and I'm going to fight. If I'm a Democrat, I'm going to fight the Republicans. If I'm a Republican, I'm going to fight the Democrats. Is that the fight we're called to? You say, well, I'm going to go to church. I'm going to fight those. I'm a homeschooler. I'm going to fight the Christian schoolers or the public school parents. Or I'm public school, I'm going to fight the other two. Is that what we're called to come and fight about? Say, well, I'm going to go to church, and I might be a conservative, so I'm going to fight the progressives, or I might be a progressive, and I'm going to fight the conservatives as far as Christian liberty. Is that what we're supposed to fight about? No, we're supposed to fight. And we need to fight the same foes. What are the same foes? There's two enemies we need to fight. Number one, the first enemy is called, my way. My way. You see in verse 3, do nothing from, and do you see this? Selfishness. Or as some of your translations put it, selfish ambition. These are the people that are minded to come, and they're always in a team-building mode. They're always in a recruiting mode to create teams or factions or rivals. There's a partisan spirit to some Christians. And they like to have the post-service service, if you know what I mean. You don't want to be labeled selfishness here. It's a Greek word that bears considering. This particular Greek word has gone through a progression in the Greek language. You see, it started off just meaning a day laborer, perhaps a woodcutter or someone who would bind wheat or spin and weave. It started out just a regular word of an employee. They would come and do their job and work hard at it. But through time, this word later denoted an attitude of those who not only worked for wages, but they did it in a self-seeking manner. And then this word moved over into the political world, where you would work hard by unfair means to achieve a political position. And then the word, again through time, graduated even further, and it started to be used to describe party politics, party squabbles, jockeying for position, in order to get close to power and influence. And then, by the time Paul's using this word, it merely meant selfish ambition. An ambition that has no conception of service whatsoever, but only aimed at profit and power. And Paul's saying, don't come to church like that. And as you go through your week, don't be a church member like that. My way. It's got to be my way, or I'm upset. It's got to be my way, or I quit. It's got to be my way, or I'm out. This is something that Paul had to address in Corinth again, 2 Corinthians 12.20, I fear lest when I come to visit you, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish, lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbiting, whisperings, conceits, and tumults. You say, what's that? Those are people who have stopped long ago fighting the enemy, the foe, of my way. In this church, it has to be my way. You say, well, come on, man. Paul, loosen up a bit. Does the Greek give any room for us to translate it this way? Do some things from selfishness. Some things, no. The word nothings is the only option you get there. When you're involved in setting goals in a ministry, setting a trajectory for a program, organizing efforts, none of that can be seasoned with my way. As a matter of fact, he presses a little further there. He says not only selfishness, he says empty conceit. or empty glory. Someone once said, and I think they're right, it's easy to spot a very intelligent, well-informed person because, well, they agree with you. You see, this kind of selfishness, my way, is a unity that's centered on self. But there's a second enemy that we have to fight as we fight a common foe. Not only my way, but the second enemy is me first. Me first. He says, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. It's interesting, this word for humility is not the typical one you're gonna think you're seeing there. It's a Greek word that some believe, I know MacArthur's one of them, and other scholars too, that Paul actually coined this virtue. You see in the Roman world, humility, the concept of humility was a sign of weakness. You were supposed to usurp yourself. And this particular word here is only used by Paul three times, and other than those three times, it's not even in the Greek New Testament. You'll find it in Ephesians 4.2 and Colossians 3.12. It's a humility of mine. It's the total opposite of you and I going through ministry saying, me first. You say, well, how do I escape my way and me first? How do I fight them? Well, He gives us the answer in verse 3. Regard or esteem one another is more important than yourselves. That's how. You weigh the facts and then you make your judgment. But you're weighing the facts about yourself, not others, first. And you're making a judgment about yourself first before others. You see, you and I fight the same foes when we are fighting not each other, but when we are fighting our own hearts. Had an early morning exchange with Dr. Bob Cropsey, and he said how he was praying for the sermon this morning. It was a great encouragement. And then he said, I'm especially interested in this series on unity. And it was just a wonderful, encouraging exchange. And I just said back to him, I said, yeah, I'm really excited about this text and this series. I said, but the enemy will be there this morning, so let's pray and do battle. Meaning, if we're talking like this as a church family, Satan's here. And he's going to work against this because he doesn't want this kind of unity. Because this kind of unity assails his kingdom. But you know what? The greatest enemy that's coming through the door probably isn't the dark one. It's my heart. That whether I'm with the body of Christ, or whether I'm home just in my marriage, I'm not fighting the foe. Me first. in my way. J. Oswald Sanders, the great devotional writer, put it this way, nothing's more distasteful to God than self-conceit. This first and fundamental sin, in essence, aims at enthroning self at the expense of God. If we are honest, he writes, when we measure ourselves by the life of our Lord, who humbled Himself even to death on a cross, we cannot but be overwhelmed with the tawdryness, and shabbiness, and even the vileness of our own hearts." He's right. So, we fight the same foe. And now we have a clear look for the final two short keys. First of all, form the same priority. The third key is form the same priority. Quickly look at verse four. Do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. If we're supposed to form the same priority, what is that one priority supposed to be? Here it is. You ready for it? If we're supposed to form the same priority, here it is. Have a race to see who can be the greatest servant. Have a competition, if you will, of servanthood. If you remember these kids running around the Iwana circle, I mean, these kids after the marathon run of six laps, I believe it is, I mean, they're just running and running and running, and then they round their team pin after the last lap, and they have one thing in their sights, the bean bag or the pin. I mean, and they don't have football pads on, but they are diving head first. You know, when there's a need, a spiritual need, a physical need, a need for comfort and encouragement, we should have Calvary people diving headfirst and recklessly towards the same thing. Why? Because we form the same priority of regarding others' interests as more important than ours. It's not natural. We're going to have to fight against our flesh. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3.3, you're still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly? And are you not walking like mere men? Oh, we need this grace of the gospel to move us forward. It requires aggression. It requires initiative. It requires having our antennas up. How do I look for needs around me? Here's the answer to that. Just remember last time you were in need, and remember what people did to help, or what people missed. For example, when you were under pressure, what brought you relief? You provide that for someone under pressure. When you were facing a heavy decision, who brought you wisdom and how? Now you take the wisdom of God's Word that way. When you were in a storm of life, And you didn't know when it was going to end. Who was your company whose ministry of presence kept you in the storm? Okay, you be that person and look for storms around you. They're happening. There are people in this room right now that are in storms and you don't have any idea when they're going to end. When you were on a mountaintop, who came to rejoice with you? Now you go be the rejoicer. Look around at the mountaintops around you. When you were in a difficult task, who lent you a hand? You be that hand now. When you had a need, who provided you resources? You be the resource now. Look around. Let's have a contest to see who can serve the most. So you say, okay, what are we supposed to do? What's the plan for unity? Well, what we do is we face the same direction, we fight the same foe, and that's our own heart, And then we form the same priority. We're going to have a contest of servanthood here. You say, but I don't know what that looks like. I need a visual. And that brings us to the fourth key. Follow the same example. Follow the same example. Look at verse five and we're finished. Have this attitude or have this mindset in yourselves as a local church. which was also in Christ, Jesus. You see, if we're following the same example, then we're all agreeing as to what is north on our compass, right? It's Christ. Christ is our true north, verse six, who 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, and being made in the likeness of men, and being found in the appearance of man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And if you keep reading, the whole universe and creation and all the cosmos itself are not worthy of this Christ, that God will ascend above all as Lord. You say, what does it look like to face the same direction, fight the same foe and form the same priority? It looks like Jesus Christ. Even Jesus said to his disciples then and now in Matthew 20, 28, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. Get that? He came to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So yeah, the local church, a church like ours, is to be a haven of unity, literally heaven on earth. You say, well, how do we do that? We face same direction, fight same foes, form the same priority, and we follow the same example. You say, well, who's responsible for this? The pastor? The deacons? Let's put this one on the trustees. Who's responsible for this? You already know the answer, don't you? You are. It's not your Sunday school teacher, or pastor, or youth pastor, or associate pastor, or deacon, or your friend, or even your foe. Paul says in Romans 12, 17, and 18, respect what's right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. So here's your homework. Here's our homework this week, both sides of this desk. Ready? Just four words. Turn. Declare. Prioritize and refocus. Those are our homework assignments for this week. Turn, declare, prioritize and refocus. And they correspond with the keys. We need to turn and face the same direction. We need to declare war on the right enemy, our own flesh. We need to prioritize servanthood and we need to refocus on Christ all by His grace and only because we've tasted His gospel. You must believe that Calvary Baptist Church can be a haven of unity, and this would cap off your joy. Because a unified church is the one who sees God's blessing in his presence. Because Paul said this in 2 Corinthians 13, 11 through 12, finally, brethren, rejoice. Be made complete. Be comforted. Be like-minded and listen to this, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.