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; Philippians 1:27
Paul had a heart for the
Philippians. He had a desire in his
heart to see them grow spiritually, to progress in their faith and confidence
in the Lord. In Philippians
1:27-30 he gave them some principles on how a Christian should be a
Christian. The first principle from
yesterday was:
·
There Is
A Conduct Expected Of A Christian
The second principle Paul
gave them was:
·
There Is
A Co-Operation Exhibited As A Christian - I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one
spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel
Paul speaks of a unity
that is important to the Christian body. This unity is to be exhibited and
shown as a Christian.
There Is An Undivided People - Christians are to stand fast in one
spirit and with one mind. Christians are not to be characterized by division
and disunity.
In the Priestly prayer of
Jesus, He prayed in John 17: 21, " that they may all be
one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us,
so that the world may believe that You sent Me.."
Legendary New York Yankees
and Mets manager Casey Stengel once gave what he believed was the secret to
managing a ball team. He said, "The
secret of managing a club is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the
five who are undecided."
Christians should not have to be kept apart, but should be pulled
together. They should be in one spirit
and one mind.
There Is A United Purpose - Christians should not only stand
together, but also strive together. Paul said, "striving
together for the faith of the gospel." He said we
have a common goal - the same purpose and cause and we should be united around
that goal - the faith of the gospel.
The word
"strive" is an athletic term that describes a team. It is like a football team consisting of 11
men. It is not 11 men doing their own
thing, but 11 men working together as a team. One man may be an all-star, but he'll not win
the game alone. He needs the other 10
men to block and pass.
One of Aesop's fables is
about a father who had seven sons. To
each son he gave a stick. Each was asked
to break his stick, which was easily done. Then the father took seven other sticks and
bound them together. He then asks the
seven sons to break the sticks. Not one
of the sons could break the sticks that had been bound together as one.
Herman Ostry's barn floor
was under twenty-nine inches of water because of a rising creek. The Bruno, Nebraska, farmer invited a few
friends to a barn raising. He needed to
move his entire 17,000-pound barn to a new foundation more than 143 feet away. His son Mike devised a lattice work of steel
tubing, and nailed, bolted, and welded it on the inside and the outside of the
barn. Hundreds of handles were attached. After one practice lift, 344 volunteers slowly
walked the barn up a slight incline, each supporting less than fifty pounds. In just three minutes, the barn was on its new
foundation.
The strength of our work
is our unity as a people and our being united around a purpose. We should be drawn together and bound together
around a common purpose. In doing so we
find strength. The body of Christ can
accomplish great things when we work together. As Christians we should be a team and not a
one man show.
Scripture to Claim:
…so
that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all
respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of
God; Colossian 1:10