Conduct Worthy of the Church

Paul has reduced his exhortation to one thing. This is the bottom line in Christian experience. This is the essential of worthy behavior. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

That is the sum and circumference and substance of all that is required of you. What effect would your church have on its community if everyone was of the same mind, completely united in a desire to glorify Christ? And how can you help your local congregation achieve that kind of harmony? Consider that today on Grace to You, as John MacArthur begins his study called A Plea for Unity.

Well, John, this series is a continuation of our multi-week theme of strengthening relationships. The last couple of weeks we looked at building a strong marriage, and today we turn to the church, how to foster unity in the local fellowship of believers, and really perhaps nowhere is unity more essential and the absence of unity more destructive than in the church. So basically, Phil, this is the bottom line issue with the testimony of the church in the world.

Jesus in John 13 says, by this shall all men know you're my disciples if you have love for one another. Scripture is clear in saying as well that when we are one body in Christ and when we have unity in the church, it declares that the Father sent the Son into the world. In other words, a united church is evidence of divine involvement, divine transformation. As true as that is, as essential as that is, and as genuine as that is spiritually, because we are all one in Christ, it just is so hard to sustain manifest evident unity in the church.

We get divided over just about anything and everything. And consequently, we want to do a series to call us back to this critical unity. Simple title, A Plea for Unity. And we're going to be looking at really the most important passage on this, as far as church life is concerned, Philippians 1 27 through chapter 2, verse 8. This is a plea from us to you to hear the plea from God through Scripture to pursue unity in the church. We're instructed to pursue in the book of Philippians the bond of peace, unity in the bond of peace. You would assume that we would work so hard at this because of its impact in terms of our testimony, but it just seems that churches and even Christian people are more likely to be divisive in their relationships than they are to pursue unity and peace. So we need this series. We're going to offer it up, the plea for unity, conduct worthy of the church, the motives of spiritual unity, the marks of spiritual unity, how to receive spiritual unity, and the model, the Lord Christ himself.

Important day. Stay with us. Yes, and friend, perhaps you have questions about how your church can grow in love for the Lord and for one another, and how it can be a shining testimony for Christ.

This series will answer those questions, and it starts right now. Here's John with a plea for unity. Philippians chapter 1. We'll look together at the last four verses, verses 27 through 30. This rich little section hits at the very heart of the need for the church to behave itself in the way God has designed. It's a section on the behavior of the church. We could have entitled it the church behaving itself. As we come to verse 27, the previous autobiographical tone of this first chapter disappears, and Paul turns away from looking at himself and talking about his own joy in the ministry to pleading with the church.

He is no longer concerned about himself. He is concerned about them, and he wants them to look into their own hearts and see if there's real spiritual integrity there, and he wants us today to do the very same thing. Verse 27, only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, in no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them but of salvation for you and that too from God.

For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake, experiencing the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. You'll notice the first word is only, and that is very, very important. The first word only is in the crucial emphatic position in the Greek sentence.

That is, it is first in Greek as it is in English, and it stands for one essential issue. Paul has reduced his exhortation to one thing. This is the bottom line in Christian experience. This is the bottom line in church life. This is the essential of worthy behavior. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

That is the sum and circumference and substance of all that is required of you. Paul says, I want your life, I want your behavior as a church, as a Christian community in a pagan culture to be worthy of the gospel that you believe and the gospel that you proclaim. In chapter 2, he reiterates similarly in verse 15 that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world holding fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may have caused a glory because I didn't run in vain nor toil in vain. You are to be above reproach, to hold fast the word of life. You are to conduct yourselves in a worthy way.

Now his choice of words is most rich. The verb there conduct, the phrase conduct yourselves is a very interesting verb. It literally at its root and its original meaning meant to behave as a citizen of a polis from which we get the word political, a city state, a free state. You're to conduct yourselves in a manner that would be proper behavior for a citizen. And he's not talking about a citizen of earth, he's talking about a citizen of heaven, a citizen of the kingdom of God. But choosing this word was judicious on his part because of the culture in which he was involved.

Let me tell you why. The Roman world had of course very strong political formations. Some cities like Philippi were known as Roman colonies.

What that meant was that Philippi was a little room. It was a small scale version of Rome. They were very proud about that. To be a Roman citizen was the epitome of a human dignity.

And though Philippi was nearly 800 miles from Rome, it was very near in mindset, lifestyle and attitude. There was great pride about the fact that they were a Roman city state. It spoke of their protection. It spoke of their high esteem in the eyes of Rome. It spoke of their culture. You will remember that even when the Apostle Paul initially went to Philippi in Acts chapter 16, Roman citizenship was an issue.

In 1620, these men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe being Romans, they said. Being Romans. In other words, here are the Philippians claiming to be Romans, even though they don't live in Rome. But they had all the rights and privileges of Roman citizenship. And in the Roman colonies, the Roman citizens never forgot who they really belonged to. Rome was their mother, if you will. They spoke the Latin language in Philippi. They wore the Latin or Roman dress.

They called their magistrates by the Latin or Roman names. They insisted on being stubbornly Roman. And they were deeply into Roman citizenship with all that it meant. Now what did it mean?

Well, let me simplify it. To the ancient Greeks, the polis, p-o-l-i-s, or state, free state, was not just a place to live. There was tremendous pride in that. And whatever your place was, you were proud of, and particularly if it was a Roman colony. The people viewed their polis, their city-state, as they've been called, as a partnership with other people to obtain the highest good for all society.

There was very little living for oneself. The good of the city, the good of the state, was in the minds of the people. The individual citizen, for example, developed his abilities, his talents, his skills, his successes, not for his own sake, but for the community and the sake of all.

Mutuality, interdependence, the pride of the state was the issue. To live as a citizen, then, would ring the bell in the minds of the Philippians. Paul, using that word that we have translated, conduct yourselves, was really saying, live as a citizen of a free state.

And that was so full of meaning, they would know exactly what that meant. Live for the good of others, not for yourselves. Live being proud about what state it is you're identified with.

Live consistent with the values of that state and the goals of that state and the expressions of that state and the culture of that state. And that is exactly what he wants to say. And when he says to the church, conduct yourselves, he is saying to the church, live as a citizen of heaven. Chapter 3, verse 20 of Philippians, he says, our citizenship is in heaven.

That is what he has in mind here. And he is saying, live according to the values and customs and culture of the heavenly kingdom. Live for the good of others, not for yourself.

May all your talents, abilities, endeavors, successes be directed at the community rather than yourself. Believers are called on to live in partnership with others, to live as a member of a spiritual kingdom, namely the church, to live as citizens governed by the law of God, by righteousness, faith, love, service, worship. The Bible is very clear that through the gospel we have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son, Colossians says. We have been made citizens of a new community, a spiritual fellowship, the heavenly church, Hebrews 12, 22 and 23.

That's Paul's point. We are to live as citizens. Now listen folks, it is absolutely essential that you understand that is the bottom line in the Christian life. You must conduct yourself as a citizen of heaven, not of this world, not of this passing world.

Now how does a citizen of heaven conduct himself? Follow verse 27, in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, consistent with what we know, consistent with what we teach, consistent with what we preach, consistent with what we believe. That is integrity.

That is integrity. You see the thing that is stripping the church today of all of its credibility is that it says one thing and does another thing. That it lives one way and preaches another way. It is only when the church lives true to its message, and by the church I mean you and me, it is only when it's embodying in its behavior its beliefs that it has integrity.

And only when it has integrity is the message clear and believable. The greatest weapon the church has is its integrity. And when the church does not conduct itself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, it cuts itself up in terms of its ability to be a whole person representing the body and person of Christ. The church cannot live beneath its theology, it cannot live beneath its message. Paul insists on this highest standard. People look at the church, they hear you preach the gospel, they see lives that don't reflect holiness, virtue, and salvation from sin and they say that gospel doesn't do anything.

That's not good news. They see pastors in immorality, they see church members in immorality, they see people cheat on the job, they see people lie. And the world says what message do you offer? And we say deliverance from sin. And they say oh really?

You don't look very delivered. When he mentions the gospel of Christ here, what he refers to is the good news of salvation, the good news of eternal life which God has sent into the world, that men can be saved from sin unto holiness. And the church has to live that out, that we have been delivered from darkness to light, from death to life, from sin to righteousness.

We have to live that reality. We have to live as if we were proud citizens of a great state, only vastly more significant than any earthly state. We are to be true to the citizenship in the heavenly kingdom where Christ reigns and where His Word is law. And what is the essence of living according to the gospel? If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new. And what does the gospel tell us?

The gospel tells us that men are transformed into new life and we must live that new life or we deny the gospel in our behavior. And then Paul adds, so that whether I come to see you or remain absent, I may hear about you. My presence is not the issue. Don't depend on me. And I say that to you from my heart. Don't depend on me. There's no reason, Paul says, to wait for me to show up to begin a new level of commitment in the church.

There's no reason for that. Any pastor wants to know that his people will go on living consistent with the gospel, that the holy truth will be revealed in their lives whether he's there or not. And Paul had reasonable fears about this. He said to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, I know that when I leave, wolves are going to rise up, evil men are going to come in, and it happens. He wrote to the Galatians and says, really more than one church was involved in Galatia, that was a whole area. There were many churches and he says, how can you be so soon removed from what I taught you? That's the pain of ministry. So Paul is saying, look, I call you to worthy behavior whether I'm there or not. Now what is that worthy behavior? How am I to understand it? Four ways. Paul gives us four characteristics of a church that is behaving itself.

Four characteristics of a church that is behaving itself. He's very much like a parent who's saying, I'm going away. I'm leaving you in the care of these other people. Now I want you to behave yourself.

And you've given that speech many times. And here are the four elements of your behavior that concern the Holy Spirit. Standing, sharing, striving, and suffering. And that takes us through the flow of this text. First of all, a church that is behaving itself is standing. Verse 27, I want to hear of you that you are standing firm. Stop at that point.

We need to make a whole point out of just that because it's so basic. That you are standing firm. From steco, which literally means to be at post in a war.

The word is used to refer to a soldier who will not budge from his post. That you will be at your post and not move. No compromise with error. No compromise with sin.

An unyielding maintenance of their testimony for the word of God and the Christ of God. Stand firm. Don't move doctrinally.

Don't move in terms of conduct from where you are to stand. He says it again in chapter 4 verse 1. Therefore my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, so stand firm in the Lord my beloved.

Using the same verb in an imperative form, stecate. Stand firm. He's calling beloved for loyalty to the Lord.

Loyalty in life is the issue here. To stand firm in Paul's mind has to do with spiritual character. Has to do with godliness, purity, virtue, holiness, obedience. And you find that particularly if you just go back a page or so into the last chapter of Ephesians. You'll notice in verse 11 he says, you are to stand firm, and that's the same term, against the schemes of the devil. Verse 13 at the end of the verse, having done everything to stand firm. And again he says, it is a matter of resisting. Resisting the devil in the day when he comes to do evil.

Now mark this will you please. When he talks about standing firm then, he has in mind resisting the devil. Resisting temptation, corruption.

Both doctrinally and in behavior, because they go hand in hand. He has to, in mind, the matters of resisting temptation. And the military metaphor is that of holding a critical position while under tremendous attack. You're standing, you're holding a position under tremendous attack. Now in order to stand firm, he says in Ephesians 6, you have to have the full armor of God. Because you're standing not against flesh and blood, verse 12, but rulers, powers, world forces, spiritual forces of wickedness, demonic hosts, demonic hosts, seducing spirits, he called them in Paul's letter to Timothy. So we are standing against Satan and demons. And you have to have your loins girded with truthfulness, that spiritual commitment.

You have to have a breastplate of righteousness or holiness or purity. Your feet need to be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. That is you know that God is at peace with you. You are at peace with God. God is on your side and you stand your ground knowing he will defend you. You take the shield of faith, you believe God. The helmet of salvation, your confidence in his glorious ability to keep you until the day when he takes you to heaven. And you have in your hand the sword of the spirit which is the word of God. That's how you stand firm. A second word that Paul brings up is implied in the next section.

That's the word sharing. In our standing firm, there must be a sharing. These flow into one another as is obvious since they're in the same sentence. So he says, I want to hear that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind. Those two beautiful phrases expressed to us, Paul's desire for mutuality. It's not just standing firm alone. It's standing firm together in unity, supporting one another. Purity first, unity second. Purity and unity. Believe me, friends, the battle for unity has gone on in the church since its inception.

It was going on in Philippi. In chapter 2 he says in verse 1, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there's any consolation of love, if there's any fellowship of the spirit, if there's 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. And over in chapter 4 he acknowledges that it was an issue. Verse 2, I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true comrade, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle. Help them get together. We want harmony in the church. The church is still battling that. There's not a day that goes by that we don't discuss. We've got to get those two people together so there can be harmony between the two of them. An endless issue in the church. Discord, disunity, bitterness. It should be noted that the battle for unity still rages today. It is called four over and over.

I won't even take the time to go over it. But particularly is it the passion of Paul, whether it's Romans 12, 5 and 12, 1 Corinthians 1, 10, 1 Corinthians 10, 17, 2 Corinthians 8, 11, Galatians 3, 28, Ephesians 2, 11 to 22, Ephesians 4, verses 3, 4, 13, and on and on and on. He's over and over and over calling for unity. Church must maintain unity.

Why? Well, it was the prayer of Christ that they may be one father as you and I are one, John chapter 17. It was the passion of Christ in John 13 when he said, by this will all men know that you are my disciples, verses 34 and 35, that you have what? Love one for another. Love one for another.

How is that generated? Go back to Philippians 2. Here is the key, verse 3. Here's how to have the same mind, the same love, united in spirit and intent on one purpose.

How does a church get that way? Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. That's the remedy.

Couldn't be more clear. But here's the other side, 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. You know why you have conflict in a church? Because you have at least two people concerned about their own interests. You will never have conflict where you have two people only concerned about one person's interest. There is no conflict. Conflict is always the result of competing interests. Always. And the remedy is that simple.

Stop looking out for yourself. It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what you want.

It doesn't matter what you prefer. What matters is unity. And the question is, who is going to sacrifice?

Who is going to humble himself? You say, well, now wait a minute. I'm right. That's the problem. That's the problem. You have elevated being right over unity. Now, I'm not talking about sacrificing truth. I'm dealing with preferences.

Who's your model? Verse 5, have this attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus. He had every right to be in the form of God, didn't hold onto it, emptied himself, took the form of a bondservant, became a man. And you know that wonderful passage.

Beloved, it is essential that we have unity in the church. And let me put it to you another way. It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what you want. It doesn't matter what you prefer.

It doesn't matter what your idea is. What matters is unity. And if you have to make the sacrifice, God bless you. God will honor the unity. God will honor the unity. You never have discord unless you have more than one person competing for more than one perspective. As soon as people defer to the other, unity is there. So selfishness always breeds disunity. That's what he says.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. This is Grace to You with John MacArthur. Thanks for being with us. And today, you heard John give an urgent plea for the church, a plea for unity.

That's the title of his study. And friend, this study on the characteristics of a truly unified church and how to cultivate those traits in your own congregation would be a great resource to review with your small group like all of John's series. It's free to download from our website. You can download A Plea for Unity, or you can order the five-CD album when you contact us today. Our website address? GTY.org. And remember, at our website, you can download any message from John's 53-year-long pastoral ministry.

That's over 3,500 messages, all free to download in transcript or MP3 format. Or if you'd like to own John's series called A Plea for Unity on CD, you can order that when you call us at 800-55-GRACE, or you can also get it from the website GTY.org. And the sermons are just the beginning of what's available at GTY.org.

You can read blog articles on a host of issues affecting the church. You can watch episodes of Grace to You television. You can follow along with Grace Stream. Grace Stream is a unique way to listen to John's teaching through the New Testament. We started in Matthew and run continuously through Revelation, verse by verse, and then it all starts over again. You just hop in wherever John is teaching at the moment, and you will hear sermon after sermon. It gets you into God's Word fast, and it holds your attention book after book. You can listen to Grace Stream at GTY.org. Now for John MacArthur, I'm Phil Johnson, encouraging you to be here tomorrow when John looks at how your church can avoid the pitfalls that prevent unity. It's another half hour of unleashing God's truth one verse at a time, on Tuesday's Grace to You.