I'll ask you to turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Philippians chapter two. We've been working through the book of Philippians here as a church, and it has been a great encouragement to my soul to study this book. It's always a blessing to get the word deeper into your heart when you study it. And so we are looking at Philippians chapter two verses 14 through 18 for this morning. So I'll ask you to turn with me to Philippians two verses 14 through 18 being the text that we will be looking at. Philippians 2 verses 14 through 18. Let's hear the word of the Lord. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. Let's pray. Father, as we look into your word, we are reminded as we work through this book of those things that are deeply important to you. Things that may be in our own estimation would seem to be small or light matters. But are important and essential in your sight and into the building of your church, unto the glory of Christ. Lord, help us to be faithful, to examine our own hearts in the light of this text as we consider our own lives. as we have been committed to your local church throughout the course of our walk with you, to see how we have walked before you and if we have had the kind of spirit described here as a grumbling and disputing spirit. Lord, if we have been the proponents of schism or division in your church in any way, we ask that you would forgive us. We ask that you would sanctify us and help us to be those who unify, who unify in truth, who bring together, who encourage, exhort and rebuke in love and do not cause unnecessary dissension. Father, please meet with us now again. We ask for your Holy Spirit to fill us, to help us to examine our own hearts in the light of your word. and to be ready to submit to that which your spirit would bring to our consciences. We pray in Christ's name. Amen. The apostle has exhorted the Philippian brethren to pursue biblical unity by humbling themselves and considering one another as more significant than themselves. And he has further lovingly brought forth the sobering command to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, with great diligence and conscious, focused attention, always remembering that it is God who is at work in them to will and to do according to His good pleasure. Well, moving into verse 14, then this morning, we will find Paul building on this charge to work out our salvation by addressing two very specific and common sins that constantly threaten the unity and peace of Christ Church. And Brethren, it would do us all well in the light of the sobering command given in verses 12 and 13 that we've considered last time. to take special notice of these particular sins as they spring right out of the immediate context that we considered last week. So often we read these texts, we memorize portions and we neglect the context within which they are given to us. And so we neglect to see some of the relevant applications that are given right there and use it in other areas. And I'm not saying it's inappropriate to do that at all, but we don't want to lose the context. In other words, while the command is general and suited to address all matters of Christian obedience and holiness, the command to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, we certainly don't want to cast aside those sins that are brought out right in the immediate context. Let us always be diligent to give special attention to that which God means to highlight in any given context, even when the broader principle is far-reaching. And so we begin by looking at this command of the Apostle Paul, the beginning of the command, do all things without grumbling or disputing, in verse 14. And as we seek to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, brethren, here we find that we ought to do all things without grumbling and disputing. And brethren, if we're honest, These are not two of the sins that are naturally on our list of sins that we believe would be most offensive to God. Certainly from a political standpoint, you have Republicans and Democrats and all their arguments and Republicans may claim to be righteous, but they're as sinful as anybody else and they need a grace. These are not the kind of sins that they would see as important. And even in the church standpoint, from the standpoint of those who walk with Christ, how many of us think about grumbling and disputing as those sins which are serious in the sight of God? We tend to think of homosexuality, which is serious, adultery, fornication, which are serious, but you don't generally hear about these kinds of things. And yet nothing says, Lord, I am ungrateful for your infinite kindness and mercy toward me than grumbling. And nothing jeopardizes the unity of the body, which Christ calls for, more than disputing." Well, let's begin by asking the question, what then is grumbling? What does he mean by this? Grumbling is something that is also called, you may have heard the term murmuring. We kind of have the idea of mumbling under your breath, kind of idea of complaining, silently complaining, being discontent in some way with one's present lot in life or in the church. It can be directed toward God, it can be directed toward others, but inevitably it is always directed toward God, even when it is directed toward others. It brings into question the goodness and fairness of God. When expectations are not met, or when we're called to live within God's parameters, which don't line up with ours. For the Christian in particular, this sin is great because it takes for granted all that God has freely and graciously done for us in Christ. It takes it for granted. as if it's no big deal. Well, this salvation thing, I've made a profession of faith, I've come to Christ, on to the next thing, and we lose sight of the impact of the gospel, as if that's just the beginning of the faith fight thing, and we begin to grumble and complain and treat it as if what Christ has done for us is not really that weighty of a deal. We are never in a position to complain, brethren, under any circumstance. But all the more when we consider the fact that we are heaven-bound and that the blood of the Son of God was shed for our redemption, we never have warrant to complain about a single thing in life. And rather we ought to be grateful in whatever position God has us in life, In our families, at our jobs, in the church, at any given time, seeing ourselves entirely as unprofitable servants. Isn't that what we are? God owes us nothing, really, but hellfire. And the fact that we are set on the course for eternal glory and that we are presently, presently beloved children of God should compel us to have the most cheerful and content disposition in all of creation. And so grumbling would be the very opposite of having a grateful, cheerful and willing disposition. Furthermore, grumbling is particularly destructive to the church, which is in this context, I believe, emphasized because it serves as a foundation for gossip and slander, doesn't it? There's grumbling that goes on in the church and it starts out maybe somewhat privately, just just in your own heart. But then there's a couple of other people and you begin to grumble to them and maybe they grumble a bit. And things begin to be passed around and suddenly there's slander in the church. And then there's gossip in the church. And before you know it, the church is divided. Schism takes place and the body is separated. Now, how many of us have experienced that experience? I've experienced it on more than one occasion. To this end, again, while all grumbling is ultimately directed toward God, it is often directed toward others in the church. and especially toward the elders. Unhindered grumbling in the church will destroy the church. Unhindered grumbling in the church will destroy the church. Now, I want to just add an application here. It's not immediately in the context, but I thought this would be something important, something to take out for our young people here, for our children and young people. I want you to think about something here based on that principle about grumbling and what that says about the heart and an unwilling disposition, not being grateful. Let me add for the moment a critical application for the younger folk here. It's interesting to note that the fifth commandment of God's moral law, which we believe to be valid for today, amen, The fifth commandment does not simply command children to obey their parents in the mere active sense of doing whatever they command you to do. You notice that? The commandment doesn't just deal with the actions of obedience. It's actually written in quite a unique way. It actually commands children to honor your father and your mother. Honor. You see, actively obeying your parents, that's an assumption, that's a given. But honoring them means doing so with a willful and cheerful disposition without grumbling. It means to obey them without grumbling and to ensure that your heart and motives are actually lined up with your actions. There's a consistency with what you're doing with that which is in your heart and only God can see and not your parents. You can obey your parents by actively doing whatever they command you while failing to honor them by complaining or cursing them in your heart. That kind of obedience is hypocritical and displeasing to God. And God sees the heart. And I want to challenge you young people to think about that because many times, especially in the Christian household, you can have very obedient children in the active sense, but in the heart, There's defilement and corruption and complaining and grumbling. And if you see that, know that God is after that. And the desire is that you would come to Christ to be saved from that. Because you can say, well, I will obey my parents and my parents are always seeing that and they even they even commend me for it. But on the inside, they don't see mom and dad are just doing this for the wrong reasons. Why do I have to do this? See that's in the heart. That's something that needs to be brought to the cross. That's something that needs to be, you need to be delivered from and saved from. Well secondly then, we're told to do all things without grumbling or disputing. Now that word disputing can mean different things in different contexts. But in this particular context, I believe it involves petty arguments about matters that are irrelevant to the kingdom of God. It's in the context of working out your salvation, in the context of putting others before yourselves and considering them as more significant, not only looking out for your own interests, but the interests of others and pursuing unity in the body and walking in a manner worthy of the Lord. It's the context of unity in the church. And so this idea of disputing is being argumentative about things that are not overly relevant or that are secondary in nature to the kingdom of God. In Luke chapter 946, we see the same term used. And it's describing the argument, that's the word there, that the disciples had about who was greatest among them. You remember that? Well, that's the term. There we are told an argument, the same Greek word there, arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. Interestingly enough, this is right after the Lord had just said to them, again, that he was going to be put to death and given over by the religious leaders or the Jews to the Romans, and right after that, They're arguing over who's greatest in the kingdom of God. Are they not like us in many ways? Let's not look down at them. Clearly, this dispute was baseless. It was divisive. It was counterproductive to the work of the kingdom of God. And if not dealt with by the Lord, it could have been a foothold for Satan to sift them, separate them like wheat. And brethren, there are no small number of petty disputes that have rocked the church throughout all the ages. Everything from the color of the curtains, to whether or not it's okay to use instruments in a worship service, to preferences about some of the more incidental things in the order of the worship. Maybe the time. How many hymns or things like that? But brethren, we ought rather to go out of our way, as we've seen in this context, to accommodate the needs and preferences of others. Isn't that the context of putting others before yourself, of having the mind of Christ, the humility of Christ? We ought rather to accommodate the needs and preferences of others than die on a hill of our own preferences unless we are dealing with matters that we are clearly certain are prescribed by scripture. Again, this is in keeping with humbling ourselves and considering one another as more significant than ourselves. Same context. There is a bigger, much bigger mission at stake. All that is temporal and material in this world will melt at the coming of the Lord. And when the smoke clears, all that pertains to his glory and his kingdom will remain and nothing more. And so we are sternly charged here by the Apostle Paul to do all things without grumbling or disputing. Not some things, not even most things, but all things. To this end, brethren, to this end, as the Apostle commanded the Ephesians, we must strive to preserve the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace. This is right in line with Ephesians, right in line with Colossians, right in line with the letters in general, some of the main themes of these letters. Remember when Paul said in Ephesians chapter four, verses one through three, getting to the to the the command aspect of scripture, getting to the commands after he's just done a lot of didactic, just just teaching and laying down what God has done for us. He gets to the commands. And what does he say there? He says, I, therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've been called with all humility and gentleness. with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. Do you see that? And endeavoring, taking pains to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. We need patience. We need humility. We need bearing with one another. We all have big feet, different preferences. Different ideals to what we would like to see happen in the life of the church. But we have to learn to work together, to come to the scriptures, to take those things that are scriptural and to apply them and then beyond that to work together on that and to follow leadership as well, obviously. And so if the apostle has been very forward about positively maintaining unity up to this point, which he has, here he hits the negative then. Do you see that? By commanding the brethren not to grumble or dispute, both of which are instigators of schism. But then notice what he says further in verses 14 to 16 of our main text here in Philippians 2. Notice what he says further, what he straps onto this. It really helps open it up further for us. He says, do all things without grumbling or disputing. that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. I want to break this section down with you before summarizing the whole picture here. Notice first, he says, do all things without grumbling or complaining that, or in order that, you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish. Let's stop there for a moment. From the outset, here we find that grumbling and disputing are avenues that can lead us to be blamable and guilty and with blemish if we simply follow the logic here. Do you see that? It's right there with the logic. In other words, if we are commanded to do all things without grumbling and disputing so that we may be blameless and innocent without blemish, then the assumption is that if we are grumbling and disputing, then we are bringing guilt and defilement upon us in some way or other. Now, I only say this to highlight how important this matter is to God. Adopting a regular pattern of these types of behaviors is deeply offensive to God. It is harmful to his church, and it's injurious to our own character and witness. That's what he's gonna get to right now. Well, what then are we to make of these terms? Blameless. and innocent, and without blemish. That's an interesting array of terms. You see, all three of these terms, while they're not identical, they contain a lot of overlap, and they're meant to reinforce each other while giving a full-orbed picture of what the apostle intends by the whole of his statement. So they're very much similar, but they're meant to have some difference so that you bring the whole thing together and you get a fuller picture. Blameless. But what is blameless? Blameless takes us to the standpoint of those who view us, indicating that as we avoid grumbling and disputing in this context, we will avoid being able to be accused of any wrongdoing by those who observe us. That's what blameless is. In other words, you're not leaving yourself open for reproach, for blame or fault to be cast upon you by others. Blameless. Innocent. Now, we think of innocent in a certain way, but in this context, it's a similar concept to blameless. But from the biblical standpoint, it means simple. And it really is meant to convey the idea of being unmixed or pure. In other words, there is no mixture of evil with your good behavior. You present a consistent testimony through and through in your life. Now, we're not talking about here and again when you fall short and you sin. We're talking about consistency of testimony. There's a consistency in your testimony. The term is used to describe pure, unmixed wine or metals. In other words, if I have a pure silver ring, when it's burnt or melted down, there will be no impurities mixed in with it. There aren't many pure rings to that extent. Some of them are 0.99, right? But it's pure. There's nothing mixed in there that's a contaminant of some sort. The wine is not watered down, but it's pure. It's undiluted. You're not one thing on some occasions. And another thing on other occasions. It has to do with consistency of character and virtue and the determination to be obedient in all points and not just some. Isn't that how we are sometimes? Well, look at how great I do these things. But then we completely lose it in all these other areas. This should be a consistency. We're not perfect, but across the board, there's a full orbed obedience to all that God commands. And then finally, We have the word unblemished, what a precious word. See, Paul is doing something intentional here with this word. It shares some overlap with the other terms. It does mean to be without fault or blame, but it's especially, Paul is especially trying to bring to mind the spotless sacrifices of the Old Testament offerings, and even more so, the spotless sacrifice of Christ himself. Recall that the sacrificial animals in the Old Covenant, remember, they were not to have any physical defects or blemishes. They couldn't have marks on them. They couldn't have an eye that was deformed or out of shape or missing an ear or one leg longer than the other. It had to be perfect, as it were, from the outside when you look at it. if they were to be acceptable offerings to the Lord. And of course, this was to foreshadow, we know, the necessary inward moral perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, like our Savior, brethren, we are called to strive to live a life that is consistently without blemish and undefiled. And so the three of these terms, combined provide us with a picture of a life that is genuinely, consistently striving to pursue purity, being above reproach in the eyes of all. It's not a matter of being sinless. because none of us are sinners in this life, but it is to strive to faithfully, consistently preserve one's testimony before others, which in fact is vital to the effectiveness of our ministry unto Christ. Our testimony matters, and that's the context that we're getting into. You'll see it lines right up with it. Consider then, brethren, how sad it is to see how easily, think about this, how easily we can tarnish our witness to Christ and the gospel, not simply by fornication and adultery, not simply by stealing or committing those types of sins. Yes, that will mar your testimony, but also by these means of grumbling and disputing, especially within the context of the local church, which by her unity serves to affirm the very gospel that we proclaim, which alone brings salvation to lost, condemned sinners. Unity presents the amen to the message that we preach. And we notice as well, I don't want to skip this, that Paul adds the term, children of God. Do you see that here in the text? Children of God. He adds that here to the equation. Notice, looking back to verse, starting 14. Do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent. Children of God without blemish. See, he's reminding us that when we walk in a blameless, innocent, and unblemished manner, most of all, we are reflecting the fact that we are God's children. And in that sense, we act and are like our Heavenly Father, who is, of course, blameless, innocent, and without blemish. To this end, We can clearly say that we are walking contrary to the will, desire, and heart of our beloved God and Father when we grumble and dispute. And if we're not walking as children of God, then I want to ask you, who are we emulating or serving when we act in such an ungodly fashion? Who are we emulating when we commit to a pattern of grumbling? and disputing. Now, I don't have to answer that for you. Well, secondly, then moving on, we've looked at some of the basic definitions of these terms, grumbling, disputing, unblemished, right, blameless. But I want you to see now how this is relevant, particularly to our testimony. That's the context here, how he talks about how we are to shine as lights in the world. Notice further emphasizing on preserving on preserving our testimony. Paul states this. He says that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish. It is in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world. We see, brethren, how the blameless innocence and spotlessness in this particular context serve the purpose of causing the people of God to stand out in a world of darkness. Now, when we look at the American culture, we can see many ways in which our churches in this country have failed. to show a differentiation in how we live, to stand out as holy, right, in many ways, in the culture. And sadly, oftentimes, the church looks like the culture, and therefore, the witness is blunt. But how many times have we stopped to consider that maybe a portion of that is because of the way we grumble and dispute in the church? Our witness is at stake here and whether or not our lives actually serve to accompany and magnify the very gospel that we preach with our lips. You can preach the gospel like a like a fine tuned theologian and add in all the fancy definitions of wonderful, beautiful, in-depth theological words that are great. But if your life doesn't match up with that. You will damage. your testimony, and people will close their eyes and their ears to the message that you so wonderfully have preached. Notice, we are to live this way in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. The unsaved that surround us, being yet blinded by their sins, are a crooked and twisted generation. They're perverse. They're not aligned with the will and desire of God. In fact, the word crooked here is a translation of the Greek word skolios. Does that sound familiar? It's the Greek word skolios. And that's where we get our word skoliosis from. And when one has skoliosis, his or her back is what? It's out of alignment. It's bent. It's distorted from its proper purpose. And if it continues in that direction, it can cause serious problems as the individual gets older. And with relation to God, that is what the world is. It is completely out of alignment with the will of God. It is distorted and crooked. It is desperately in need of correction. And overlapping with that word then is also this word twisted, which implies not only bent and out of shape, but it's distorted, it's corrupted, it's perverse, it's turned aside from the right path. The world is broken and lost and dead in sin and in need of rescue. And the people of God are not to conform to the world, but rather they are to shine as lights among them. We're to provide the way of truth to a bent and distorted generation. We are, by our holy and godly living, to stand out as lights, not arrogantly, but lovingly seeking to expose the true condition of the world so that, upon being convicted of their sins, they might be led to Christ. Light. reveals what is hidden. It shows what really is to those who are lost in darkness. And so not grumbling or disputing helps serve to preserve the necessary unity of the body, which displays the power of the gospel meant to accompany the preaching of the gospel, providing an essential witness to a crooked and perverse generation that is enveloped in darkness. Moving on then, Paul adds, holding fast to the word of life. And what he means by this is as the Philippians fight to work out their salvation with fear and trembling, cooperating with God who is at work in them, and as they strive to preserve the unity of the body, casting off all grumbling and disputing, it will be a clear indication of the fact that they are fervently clinging to the word of life, that is, to the gospel. You see, brethren, notice that word there, to hold fast. to the word of life. You ever think about to hold fast? It implies that whatever you're seeking to hold on to is constantly under the threat of being pulled away from you. You cannot hold it with a loose grip. You can't let your conscious state toward what you're holding drift in some other direction or it will be pulled away. Imagine being armed deep in quicksand. and someone holds out a long, thick branch to you to rescue you. You would not look at that branch and take it as your head is about to go under with a casual or loose hold, would you? Or even with one arm. You would not take a loose hold on that stick. You would cling to it with all of your might until you were safely pulled out of the sand and out of harm's way. You would cling to that branch. Well, working out your salvation takes that kind of focused diligence. You cannot let go or you will get swept into the enemy's grip and you will mar your testimony. And a lot of people, again, in our churches. They just take the Christianity as if they're on a conveyor belt. I said the prayer, I'm saved now. And maybe they have a good, a good thriving beginning for a time and they begin to kind of take it easy. Well, I'm safe in Christ. And they begin to loosen that grip on the word of life. And they begin to compromise, perhaps in some serious doctrinal error. We talked about recently the whole critical race theory and the damage that that's done. or embracing different kinds of false theology out there, and a loose grip on the authority of Scripture, or even our commitment to holiness and unity in the life of the Church. Your usefulness to the Kingdom will be greatly jeopardized. And so you cling to the Gospel and the Word of God with all of your might so that you dare not bring reproach to the blessed Savior who has laid down His very life for you. See, some people would say, oh, well, you're saying that we can lose our salvation. That's not what I'm even saying here. I'm not even dealing with that. I'm saying we should be concerned about losing grip on the word of life and marring our testimony because we will bring reproach to the Savior who has laid down his life for us. And so all of this is tied to the apostles' deep concern for the church, and clearly none of this, none of this comes easy. Unity, faithfulness, consistent obedience, working out one's salvation, putting away all grumbling and disputing, all of these things are interconnected and they do not come easy. We have grumbled, all of us at times, We have disputed all of us at times. And it's very difficult to stay on the path, the consistent path of putting aside those destroyers of the unity of the church, those destroyers of Christian character and testimony and witness, those destroyers of the outreach of the gospel through our testimony. It's not easy. It's a fight. to the end and it takes much prayer, much diligence, constant and consistent focus, and you cannot loosen your grip until you reach heaven's finish line. I don't know about you, but I don't like to constantly be at war. I want to relax. I want to let my guard down and not have to look to the left or the right, particularly in my own heart. But in this lifetime, I can't. I can't. Because there is a troubled nature that still exists in there that needs to be sanctified, that needs to be put to death by the spirit. And so I'm going to be uncomfortable. I'm going to have to give a lot of attention that's going to to hinder the desires I have to have a nice, smooth pathway in life with everything in nice, neat little folders. That's not this life. That's in heaven. It's a fight. And you cannot lose your grip until you cross the finish line. Brethren, again, this is not about losing one's salvation. It's about finishing well and walking in a manner worthy of the gospel for the glory of our blessed Savior. That's the context. How many people do we know who have provided a testimony throughout the course of their life? that you and I would say they put us to shame only to come to the later portion of their life and to go so deeply astray in some way. I don't know about you, but when that happens, I pray for them, but I also pray for myself. Well, brethren, as we come to the end of this section, I want you to see how Paul brings this all full circle here. He comes back to address the concern that the brethren had for him and his prolonged imprisonment in Rome. Remember, that was the beginning of how this all started. Paul has a tendency of going on and on, and it's great and wonderful, but sometimes you don't know where he's starting and getting into the next thing. And here he's now coming full circle to what he began to address about his imprisonment. Remember, he began by going out of his way to do what? To tell them, don't worry about me, as it were. He was showing how the Lord was, in fact, using his imprisonment to advance the cause of the gospel. He's presenting his circumstances as a cup half full, considering that he was in prison for so long. And he didn't absolutely know the outcome of it, although he had a sense of certainty that he would be released. Recall immediately after his revealed prayer, like he does in all the epistles, he has that reveal. He gives that prayer of thanksgiving and then he gives a prayer of supplication and speaks of how he prays on behalf of the people. And then he usually begins to make his way into some of the main themes of the book. And we recall that he began to make his way toward his way is his main theme in verses 12 to 14 of chapter one. When he said these words, he said, I want you to know brothers. And that word is brethren. male and female implied, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. And then he moves in from there and says, but focus on this, on unity, on loving one another and serving one another. See, after going out of his way to ensure them of this glorious work of God through his chains and his joyous expectation of ultimately being with Christ. alleviating any concern they had for him. They were concerned about him. They were growing weary. They were growing concerned by what was happening to him. Well, as we have seen, he then went to great lengths to redirect their attention to focusing on their biblical unity and personal sanctification. Well, now he comes back full circle. Linking all of this once again to his personal joy in seeing them prosper to the end. This man is imprisoned He's under house arrest He's got no freedom. He's gonna stand before Nero for the first time And he's concerned about them and that's where his joy is He wanted them to know that that that is what mattered to him and not his chains. And so we read the remainder of our text in this section. Says, do all things without grumbling or disputing that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life. So that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. And even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. You see the heart of this man? You see how he brings everything full circle here? He's addressing his own personal heart again in the matter, emphasizing the importance of their obedience in these regards, over and above their concern for his present imprisonment. Next time, he'll move on to express his desire to send Timothy to them shortly, a very sobering text, by the way, and then he'll get into a preface, but he's going to move on. So he's bringing this portion, as it were, to an end. It's not that it's not connected to the rest of it, but here he's come full circle here. But notice, knowing their love and concern for Paul, once again, he ties his joy to their obedience, as if to say this, please don't be concerned about me. Don't let it shake you. All is well here. The Lord is at work. But please, remember he said this before, make my joy complete. You want me to have joy in my present situation? Make it full by staying the course and remaining focused on completing your race. Run together. with the same united purpose and mind and the same goal, esteeming one another as better than yourselves, not grumbling or disputing, but holding fast the word of life until you make it home. He says, fix your mind there. I'll be fine. That's what he's saying. So that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. On the day of judgment, after Christ returns, when this is all over and Christ's reign is fully realized in the consummation of his glorious kingdom, my former imprisonment will be of no concern to me. But you're standing before Christ. Having remained faithful to him, having stayed the course, overcoming any and all opposition, united together, this is what will matter to me then. I want to be proud, he says, not in a prideful sense, but in other words, he's saying, I want to have reason to glory and rejoice, knowing that my labor among you was not in vain. that my work among you, that all I have invested in you, will come to bear glorious fruit unto Christ. I want to see my work among you brought to completion for the glory of our blessed Savior. And that is what matters to me. As Paul says in other contexts, you are my crown of rejoicing. That's a man who has been deeply affected with the power of the gospel. That's a man who recognizes his unworthiness, as we've seen in other contexts, of Christ. And is zealous, hungering with zealousness to see the church prosper. And even if my life ends, at my upcoming trial and be wrestled with this early on. I believe I'll be released for a time, but even if I should be put to death for my faith, even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. The alleged worst case scenario of my imprisonment, he says, will bring me great joy if my death serves as a drink offering. In other words, if it serves as an accompanying offering, it's likened to the old covenant drink offering. It was that additional offering that was poured out on the sacrifice that was given on the main sacrifice. It was an additional offering. And he says, if it's added to the faithful offering of your sacrifice as you remain faithful to the end, then I will be glad and rejoice. I will be thrilled. to that ends. But then he says, likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me. I heard of your concern. I so appreciate your love for me, but I can rejoice for these reasons. Likewise, rejoice with me. See the greater picture. Stay focused and press on. Make my joy complete by diligently staying the course. Do not worry, but rather rejoice with me, brethren. Let me just conclude then our time by leaving this with you. More of a direct application to us, brethren, from what we've gone over. It's important to understand, brethren, that while our obedience is no replacement for the proclamation of the gospel, no one has ever been saved by merely observing godly behavior. We don't say. Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words. Because if it's just your behavior and actions, nobody will be saved. That is nonsense. You need the gospel. At the same time, though, our active witness serves to affirm the power of the gospel to effectively change lives. What is the gospel if it doesn't change lives? If it doesn't make us new? If it doesn't take what was wrong and fix it, what is it? It provides the clear distinguishing characteristics which highlight the power of God at work through the gospel, the power of the God at work in a group of sinful people who've been taken out of the world, pursuing their selfish ambitions and lusts, and who have learned to lay down their own interests and to serve each other with all their hearts to see Christ glorified. Obedience. shines the light on the power of the gospel to actually change lives, conforming us into the image of the one in whom we profess faith. And to this end, it is absolutely essential to our gospel witness. Christ came to save and he came to save to the uttermost first. reconciling lost sinners to God and then restoring them into his glorious image. And this is what the world needs to see, even as they, of course, need to hear the proclamation of the gospel. The gospel is not simply a message that, by means of a mere profession, saves people from hellfire and brings them to heaven. The gospel is the means by which God exercises real, divine resurrection power to change lost, dead, wretched sinners into holy, obedient, worshiping lovers of God. And at the center of all this, we find the Apostle Paul placing a very, very very significant amount of weight on biblical Christian unity, recognizing that perhaps more than anything else, Grumbling and disputing and selfish ambition and division and schism are some of the greatest foes that threaten the well-being and prosperity of the church. I have confidence that most of us, hopefully all of us, will not commit adultery. I pray that will not be the case. I have confidence that we will avoid those kinds of things that we tend to see as the most dreadful of sins. My concern is that We are a united people who are laying away our own interests and not grumbling and complaining, but willing to give of ourselves to see the body grow together in Christ. It's to complaining, it's to grumbling, it's to disputing. Let me leave you with one final small example as we close, one example. Back in New York several years ago, for those of you who are visiting, I know you didn't realize it, but I'm not from Tennessee. I'm not from South Texas either. I'm from New York. Well, we had at one point a growing and thriving united group of young adults. It was a wonderful thing to see next generationists, as it were, college age kids, students, young adults, that began to band together. It was a wonderful thing to see, many just 20 or 30. And they would often meet together. And they would seek to encourage one another onward in their faith. It was a joy to my co-pastor and our hearts. And we pastors, we took advantage of that. And we used to meet with them on Sundays after the service at a certain point. We would meet with them and have a study with them and exhort them at a young adult's Bible study. And I can remember looking at this large group around these tables all the way, all the way around, like a big U, going all the way around together, tightly knit. of college-age men and women, seeing a sense of hunger on their faces. But I was compelled to say as I looked at them, listen carefully. What you have here together is really precious and good, but the enemy will seek to get a foothold. He will look for an opening and he will break this all apart if you don't diligently protect this unity. He will break in. Probably within a year, the entire group was dissolved. Varying desires dominated. How much time, if any, do we give over to doing fun things together versus simply spending time in the word of God, debating and arguing and fighting? Focusing on criticizing the weaknesses of other rather than seeking to edify one another became a common practice. Not seeing other weaknesses and saying we all have these weaknesses, let's work together, but but grumbling and disputing about all kinds of things and complaining against one another. And it tore the group to shreds and that ministry ultimately collapsed. I see that as a small picture of what happens in our local churches if we don't proactively, diligently, prayerfully guard our hearts, taking hold of Paul's warnings here. patiently, fervently seeking to preserve the unity that Christ calls for. It is that serious, and those who simply ignore this reality, assuming that this unity cannot be fractured, will be the first to create a breach in the wall. We have had a wonderful, wonderful stirring of God in our congregation in the last few weeks, after some years of severe hurt. Wonderful things are happening. We have visitors coming in who have experienced suffering of their own. And as all this is happening, I'm looking at myself and I'm saying, Lord, I'm not sufficient to know how to bring this together and how to work this because I'm not. But I say this, I don't know where this is all going. But I know that we need to come together with this kind of mindset. To be patient with each other, loving to one another. Seeking to grow together and not forcing the ideals, so to speak, on each other. Striving heavenward, not grumbling and complaining. And I think God will do great things, great things in this body. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful to you for your grace toward us in Christ. We're so thankful for the power of the gospel, not only to redeem us from our sins and to bring us into a relationship with you as your beloved children. But father, also to conform us into the image of Christ, to do the difficult surgical work in our hearts of not leaving us where we've been, but of bringing us more and more into the image of your son, who is the perfect beauty of all perfection in this humanity. Lord, we ask as your people that you would be at work in us. Make us more like Christ, work in this body. We have a way to grow, each and every one of us. But help us to do that together. Lord, we ask that you would be pleased to give us all hearts that are sensitive to grumbling and complaining and disputing. Give us all hearts that are committed to truth and to unity in truth. And we pray that you would direct our paths going forward, that you would bless this church and those who are here with us. And Lord, that we would be a light in the midst of a perverse and twisted generation, that in some way you might reach Greenbrier and Whitehouse and Gallatin and Lebanon, and Portland, and Springfield, and Orlando, all these areas, Lord, and even other places in the state and in the country and the world, take us for yourself, put us on the altar, and use us for your glory, and remove all that is of us, and fill it with Christ, we pray in his name.