Stand Firm, Dear Laborers
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Well good morning my name is Chad I'm one of the pastors here grab a Bible and head to Philippians chapter 4 we are working our way through the book of Philippians and we are studying it section by section together and what we're going to look at today is uh something beautiful that has been granted to the Church that we all long for something that we all ache for this desire to belong this desire to have people who truly know us and people that we truly know that we love and care.
For and that we have depth of relationship with that there's something in us that craves this that we were built for this that we were built for family and we were built to exist in stable healthy relationships and this is why some of the reasons why some of the TV shows that we love so much like cheers and friends and some of these things that have done so well over time is because it's just an example of that it's a madeup example of people who really know each other really belong to each other and it's something that we're designed.
For and what we're going to see today is this beautiful picture of it we're going to see how it goes wrong what messes it up and then we're going to be helped by Paul in how we ought to think so that we might um fix what is broken here that we might be able to remedy where it goes wrong so that's what we're looking at this morning as we get into Philippians chapter 4 um so let's go we'll Jump Right In verse one.
Therefore my brothers whom I love and long for my joy and Crown stand firm thus in the Lord my beloved okay so Paul overdoes it a little bit in this sentence it feels like I'm going to read it again therefore my brothers whom I love and long for my joy and Crown stand firm thus in the Lord my beloved like this is dripping with love and sweetness like I I'm not a real like affectionate person naturally I'm not much of a hugger.
But this feels like this sentence wants to hug you like it's coming with its arms out like get in here like that's the way this feels it's one command stand firm that's it everything else is just modifying this stand firm it's who he's talking to whatever the first thing we need to see before we can kind of get into what we're looking at today is the word therefore and the word thus therefore means look back at what he'd already talked about it's a transition.
But it always means look back it's therefore because of all the things I've said therefore and then he says stand firm thus which just means in this way but we don't in what way and that's because both thus and therefore are pointing back so what is he talking about well he's talking about all the things he's been saying that he had told them that those who are mature ought to think the way that he thinks where he is forgetting what lies behind he's striving forward he's pressing on towards the up the prize of the upward call in Christ that he's pressing on towards what is good and glorious in.
Jesus that there is a way that leads to destruction and that there's a way that leads towards being citizens in heaven that we have a hope that is set eternally secure and so that we ought to live as people who press forward towards the Gospel who trust in Jesus who believe in him Above All Things who aren't chasing after our own desires it's all the things he's been saying and so I'd like to begin this sermon by saying that what f chapter uh 4 verse one is reminding you is hey do the stuff we've been talking about we just spent three weeks talking about just do it stand firm in it.
Okay that's how this sermon Starts Now I I want us to observe the way this is written as we move into the next part so we're just going to go Section by section to to get a glimpse at Paul's relationship and ultimately something that we get together in our relationship with each other because of Jesus he says therefore my brothers the primary picture given in the New Testament of the Church is family and it's it's not just a picture it's a reality that we believe that we've been adopted into a family that.
Now God the Father who sent his son that Jesus is the firstborn among many brothers and that we've been adopted into the family and we get to call God our Father we get to cry to him ABA father we get to belong to this family and so it's not just something we say that's nice it's not just a cute little phrasing it's not like the cultural thing where people are calling each other fam now it's a it's a reality it's an eternal reality that we belong to each other.
Because of the work of Jesus so when he says Brothers it it's it's a reality it's something that's true about the Church because of what Christ has done and that word Brothers there in Greek it it's literally is the word Brothers but the way they use it it could easily be siblings or brothers and sisters and everywhere that it's translated Brothers in the New Testament and these letters it could be siblings it could be brothers and sisters it works kind of the way that like ninos or Amigos Works in Spanish.
If you're familiar with Spanish it's the same kind of thing it's an inclusive term and he's about to talk to two ladies in the Church and so we're to understand this as brothers and sisters and so Paul is saying that we belong to each other as family and I say this all the time the wonderful thing about the Church being family is that we can't get rid of you if you belong to Jesus you belong to the Church you're in now the the bad thing about the Church being family is that you can't get rid of us that we belong to each other.
But that's this first picture is that we're family that this is granted to us in Jesus and then he says my brothers whom I love and long for and then he finishes with my beloved yeah he he loves them he Longs for them he misses them and he should that's actually some of how we are meant to relate to one another as Christians We're Meant To Love One Another We're Meant to enjoy one another we're meant to long for one another we're meant to miss each other.
When we're not around like if you really are belonging to your Church family the way you're supposed to then there should be times when you go on vacation and you enjoy your vacation but you feel a little bit off it's like I don't know I just kind of feel out of rhythm I'm not seeing my Church family like I usually am I kind of miss them if you're gone for a while you should miss people one of the things I tell uh my our community group we're going to meet this this week.
And then the next week we'll be two groups we're launching a new group we're excited about that but always when we're talking about group multiplication I say it's sad and it is if your group multiplies and you look at half the people in your group and you're like bye deuces glad you're gone like then you're not doing this right you're supposed to miss them you're supposed to enjoy them you're not supposed to just have this animosity towards them they like I you know could care less I I I don't have any relationship to you or whatever it's supposed to be something where we love one another we long.
For one another we Delight in one another we have this Joy together because we're family this is actually commanded it's a part of who we are as a Church we studied through first John and John says it over and over again I'm going to read three of the places 1 John 51 it says everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God so if you're a Christian if you trust in Jesus you've been born of God and everyone who loves the.
Father loves Whoever has been born of him so it's part of belonging to the Lord is that we're born into and we've been born of God and we love him but we also love our Church family 1 John 3:10 by this it is evident who are the children children of God and who are the children of the devil which if you're new to this and you're picking which child of who you want to be a child of pick God trust Jesus.
But it says this is evident who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God okay that makes sense so we follow obedience so we walk in Holiness that's what we would say and then it says nor is the one who does not love his brother it's not just walk walking in in Holiness and repentance and following Jesus and being obedient but it's also that we love each other we're built.
For it he says this in uh verse 23 of the same chapter and this is his Commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and love one another just as he has commanded us this is the way the Church is supposed to work and if you have not ever participated in that if you're saying I'm a Christian but I've never really belong to a Church or I'm a Christian I love Jesus but I don't really love the Church or I don't know those people are all Hypocrites or whatever you you need to repent and you also need to accept this invitation.
Because this gets to be wonderful when we talk about hey you should join a community group it's not it's not us just being like we think they're neat we think we're supposed to do this we think you're supposed to know people and they're supposed to know you they're supposed to know the good about you and the bad about you y'all supposed to have real depth of relationship you're supposed to to miss one another be in life enough that that you notice.
When they're out of the loop and not connected that you love one another this is a glorious beautiful thing given to the Church it's something that we long for as humans and it's something that's granted to us in the work of Christ and we should not say no to that we should fully participate in that then Paul says this my joy and Crown okay so when I first started studying this I immediately wanted to blow a whistle and throw a flag I'm reading this and I'm like no you you're not allowed to say that Paul.
Now I know he is because it's in the Bible so I realized I was wrong but I was very uncomfortable with this statement how is the Church his joy and Crown like we would say rightly so Jesus is our joy Jesus Is Our Hope Jesus is our Delight Jesus is where our good things are not to say anything mean about the Church but I don't think you can call the Church your joy and Crown feels wrong so I spent some time trying to.
Look into this and I think the person who was most helpful in my study was John Piper what John Piper points out and I thought very helpfully was that anything that competes with Jesus for our love and our joy we know we ought to get rid of or at least it's in the wrong spot if it's competing with Jesus it's in the wrong spot if it's something that would draw our affection away from Jesus it's in the wrong spot spot but he says that's not what the Church does.
For the Church to be your joy is not competing with Jesus it's completing what Jesus has accomplished for us it's a gift given to us by Jesus it's actually he's the head of the body the Church that some of the way that we love Jesus is we love each other and some of the way that we are loved by Jesus is that we're loved in the Church that's some of what John's getting at that this is a part of our love.
For Jesus and that word Crown when we think Crown we usually think royalty it's most likely here that Paul has in mind the crowns that you win in a competition so it would translate more to us if we use the word like gold medal or trophy um I'll show you a few examples of that second Timothy 25 he says an athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules that's the same word as Stephanos and that's stepanos that's not how you say in Greek.
But that's what it means that's crowned 1 Corinthians 9:25 says every athlete exercises self-control in all things they do it to receive a perishable wreath the same word Stephanos but we an imperishable meaning this is something you compete for and you're given as a a trophy well I think that's a beautiful way to think about the Church the the trophy is not the thing you win really it represents the thing you win like if if I came to your house and you showed me trophies your trophies you like maybe you had one you were real proud of and I don't know what it was like a bowling trophy or like a taek kond do trophy.
Or like fastest spreadsheets at your job or whatever whatever you got a trophy for and if I like while I was looking at it got jealous so I went to the store and I bought myself a trophy that was about this big and then I seem like I'm being nice but I invite you to my house and I'm like oh you had a little trophy I remember come look at my trophy and if I showed it to you and you said wow cuz you were impressed.
Look at how big it is and you said wow what is that a trophy for and I said I bought it it means nothing and if you're like well that that's not a this what it mean and I'm like well look at how big it's it the trophy itself is only good in as far as it is representing something worthwhile and so if the Church gets to be a crown it's like the trophy that represents what Jesus has done that we belong that we're in a family that we have a.
Father that we are reconciled that we get to enjoy one another and so what this means is you're supposed to in your worship to Jesus love each other and enjoy each other we're supposed to enjoy each other we're supposed to have fun together we're supposed to have Delight together we're supposed to in a way display like a trophy the goodness of what Jesus has done that's wonderful that's so encouraging that's something that we get to belong to that's something where it doesn't Rob us of our love.
For Jesus to love one another it enhances it it's part of it like if you went to a family reunion if you're ever at one and you see sometimes like The Matriarch the great great grandmother is sitting somewhere by herself and nobody's talking to her but she's just soaking it in because all of this love is hers all of this enjoyment is hers all of this relationship is hers and that in some ways is what the Church gets to be our love.
For each other is all Jesus's as we love one another we're empowered to love one another we receive love from one another we show love to one another and it's all Jesus and this how it works it's the body of Christ this is why you you'll sometimes describe you'll say yeah I was going through this tough season but Jesus he just showed up and he stopped me I was going through this tough season and Jesus just showed up and he showed.
So much care for me but if we started really asking you questions how did Jesus stop you you might say something along the lines of well this person in my group showed up at my house and I had to let him in because I realized they weren't going to leave and I thought it would look bad if I called the cops and they said these things to me but while they were talking to you you realize it wasn't just them it was.
Jesus because Jesus is at work in his Church to love you or there's a time when you were comforted or cared for or whatever and at the end of it you go Jesus showed me so much love and how did he do it well he did it through his Church because that's how this works that we love one another we long for one another we have joy with one another and all of that belongs to Jesus and that's what that's supposed to be like.
And if you haven't gotten to partake in that if you haven't participated in that come on get in if you're like I've been hanging out with a group and I don't know if it's like that yet what I would say is I don't know if you've been loving the way you're supposed to be loving yet I don't know if you've been sacrificing the way you're supposed to be sacrificing yet I don't know if you've really plunged in yet if you've shown up and said all right I'm here love me I don't know.
If you've set yourself well up well to be loved honestly if you're in a situation where you're walking around evaluating the whole time how good they're doing I don't think you're going to judge them very well like if I walk into my house this the best way to be miserable absolute best best way to be miserable is to walk into my house and just try to see how well the people are doing it understanding how awesome I am and showing me love like.
If I walk in my house and my boys don't immediately just show great love and respect for me I get mad about it my wife doesn't immediately respond to how awesome I am and I get mad about it versus coming in and seeing my boys and saying hey put that down come over here and give me a hug and training them and being able to partake in it and participate in it and show my wife love that's what pours love into the situation.
If you haven't fully participated in joining in with your Church and trying to create joy and love and longing I'd say come on what Paul's talking about is beautiful let's have that let's have that here let's look at let's look like a place that's a trophy that displays the love of Christ let's have that here all right you want to see what messes that up verse two I entreat Yoda and I entreat cinti to agree in the Lord so there's a disagreement I yes I ask you also True Companion help these women who have labored side by side with me in the Gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names.
Are in the Book of Life okay so they've labored with Paul they've served alongside of him they're mature he says their names in The Book of Life they're Christians so what messes this up what causes us to not have the joy and the delight and the love with our Church family our Church family they mess it up we mess it up I mess it up you mess it up Yoda messes it up ciny they they have such good names to say with contempt like you can almost.
See them meeting each other and being like you odia ciny but that's what happens is the people that we have to relate to mess it up cuz I don't know if y'all know this but like when I'm by myself I'm awesome I'm very agreeable everybody thinks I'm smart it's when I get around other people and start having problems can't be my fault but that's the way this feels and so we've got all this Joy granted to us in Christ and then we have conflict that happens in the midst of having real relationships and we're going to.
See that as Paul responds to this he doesn't he tells him to agree agree that's his only bit of a command and he does it as an in treaty it's not even a command he doesn't command them he entreats them he's pleading with them but he says agree that's it he doesn't tell them what to do doesn't tell them how to go about it doesn't none of that but we're going to see that the way he thinks about it if we would believe the same things we'd be.
Well set up to handle conflict in the Church the way he talks about it which just reveals it exposes how he thinks about it it exposes what he believes if we believe the same thing so in some ways what Paul's going to do is he's going to furnish the room that we should have the conversation in he's not going to tell us how to have the conversation but he's going to put all the things in place that help us be set up.
Well to have the conversation and the work this stuff out and it's going to be based off of what he believes so as we walk through this all I'm going to say is do you believe in the middle of conflict do you believe and that's what we're going to talk through is these five things that Paul shows us that he believes and we're just going to ask do you believe and y'all we need to pay attention because if you don't currently have a a Yodo or a Cy.
If you don't currently have someone that you're at odds with or that you're frustrated by or that you're hurt by or that you're aggravated with if you don't currently have that situation you will that's the mil City guarantee stick around we'll find someone to get on your nerves somebody's going to sin against you you're going to you're going to be at odds with someone at some point if you're really trying to have depth of relationship and love and and this type of family that we're meant to have in Christ.
Then absolutely as we do that walking alongside of Sinners we're going to we're going to run into this that's actually in our membership commitment you actually have to Comm commit to I fully expect to have relational conflict with other Sinners saved by grace like I'm getting ready for it we make you say that you're going to join the team get ready people are about to be real aggravated because that's what it that's part of what comes along with getting to belong to each other this way.
But Paul's going to help us out so pay attention because this is going to help us in these situations all right the first thing I want us to see is this he says I entreat Yoda and I entreat ctii to agree that's the first thing he says and you can feel the tension first of all y'all these were to be read the letters Paul wrote the Church would gather and someone would read and I love that he just in the middle of it starts just calling people out by name and since he's done that I've got a list of names just kidding would be fun though all right no he just starts calling them out.
Because they knew there was conflict they knew there was this stuff going on they're going to have to sort out and so he starts talking to them specifically but you can hear by the tone how far away they are from each other because he says I entreat Yoda he doesn't say I entreat Yoda and cin he says I entreat Yoda and I entreat cin it's almost like he can tell they're not sitting anywhere near each other at this Gathering like they're they're not close to one another separate from one another and he's specifically trying to make eye contact with one of them.
And then turning and trying to make eye contact with the other one he's like hey no no no I'm talking to both of y'all then he says agree now what's the disagreement we don't know we don't know at all he doesn't step into that at all he doesn't he doesn't engage with that at all we don't know if this is a constant conflict with them and they just disagree over everything if it's one big thing and so the first thing I got to we got to ask ask is in these kind of conflict situations do you like Paul believe that the person matters more than the problem.
Because when we get into these things we get to where we care very little about the person and we care a whole lot about the problem I'm actually willing to get rid of the person because I I'll then get what I want I'll get my way I I won't have to try to sort anything out like I I don't care about them at all I don't want something bad to happen but I would love for their job to transfer them to Tulsa.
And then I can say we're going to miss you but we quit caring about the person but Paul steps in and he doesn't go into the disagreement at all he just looks at the people and says hey I need y'all I need y'all to sort this out I need you to agree and he's acting as if he believes that the people matter more than the problem do you believe that the person that you're at odds with do you see them as a person or do you think that the problem matters more the disagreement matters more.
And if they won't get on your side then they can just go on somewhere that you can be done with them and we say things like it's fine no it's fine we don't agree but that's fine I just don't have to talk to them that's fine I just I will just never interact with them ever again and that'll be fine and you can tell usually how fine something is by how many times you feel you need to use the word fine in the sentence it's fine I'm fine we're fine it'll be fine.
But what you've done as you've stated they don't matter I can be done with them forever and what I would say is not if they're your brother or sister in Christ not if you belong to each other not if you're supposed to love and long for each other not if we're supposed to be a crown a trophy to the glory of Christ that work in us no this person matters immensely so do we believe that the person matters more than the problem.
Second thing he says is I entreat yod I entreat CI to agree but not just to Agree to Agree in the Lord Do You Believe like Paul believes that in the middle of your conflict Jesus is Lord I think it's a helpful question Paul does this on purpose he puts in the Lord in a lot of places and he's constantly reminding them that they belong to Jesus that they're Christians and it's helpful it reorients our mind like if someone someone in your group looked at you and said how do you think about money you might just start talking.
But if they said as a Christian how do you think about money you immediately go Oh as a Christian like you should have answered some other way the first time but it reorients it for us how do you think about marriage as a Christian how do you think about marriage how do you think about Politics As a Christian how do you think about politics and suddenly we have different answers which we shouldn't we should always be responding as a we should always be thinking in light of the Gospel.
But Paul intentionally is saying hey I need you to agree but not just agree not just Earthly agree not just y'all get on the same page I need you to agree in the Lord I need you to be of one mind that's that phrase he's been using over and over again it's the exact same thing he's talked about this the whole letter that they would be of one mind that we would be have the Mind Among Us that is what we have in Christ.
Jesus where he who was uh had equality with God didn't count equality with God a thing to be grasp but lowered himself and walked in humility that we should be these type of people and so he's pressing it in into and one of the things that you need to realize in the middle of these conflict situations is you aren't the authority you're under Authority and so often we act as if I'll just handle this however I want to they're just going to have to deal with how Chad handles this no.
Jesus is in charge you have a Lord and that's helpful to remember that's helpful to remember across the board in your marriage with your money with your time all these things that you have a Lord that you're you're not just free agent on your own that you're going to be be held accountable but he's in this middle of the situation saying hey as y'all disagree I need you to agree in the Lord I need you to know that you're under Authority you can't just treat this person however you want to.
Because you have a king but it's not just that we're under Authority but we're granted ability he's not just over us he's also in us so that we're given the ability to work this out because Jesus is at work in us so that when we get to agree we get to agree in the Lord that he empowers us to walk this stuff out that he's at work in us we're not just on our own in our Flesh on our own ability trying to sort this stuff out that no we get to navigate these things in the.
Lord and so first question do you believe the person matters more than the problem the second one is do you believe that Jesus is Lord here's the third one yes I ask you also True Companion help these women okay so True Companion uh it it's yoke fellow true yoke fellow it could be a name companion or yoke fellow could be a name it's an odd name it's an uncommon name but it could it could be a name it'd be like if you were really good friends with Baker Mayfield who's a quarterback.
For the Tampa Bay Bucks and you wrote him a letter and 2,000 years later people were reading your letter and they were like wow this person had a wonderful relationship with the guy who made them bread and it's like no Baker he's not a baker that's just his name it's an uncommon name but it's a name it could could be What's Happening Here it also could be a nickname or a term of endearment it is a male and it doesn't actually matter whether it's his name.
Because it functions the same way this person knew who who they were and that they were being talked to Paul knew who it was and they were being talked to the whole Church knew who it was so he calls out one other person and says I want you to help so the third question is do you believe that your Church family can help and sometimes that question is more pointed at the person who's close enough enough to the conflict that you could help you just don't want to he actually looks at a.
Third party and says hey I need you to hop in I need you to help them sort this out now the first rule in working out conflict is that you need to go talk to the person you have conflict with and that if someone comes and talks to you about someone they have conflict with we are assuming Matthew 18 says if some if your brother sins against you go talk to your brother if they repent You've Won your brother that's Matthew 18 He says.
If they won't repent then you go get someone else and you come back so if you come talk to me about another person I'm supposed to assume we're on step two you've already talked to them they've already told you to kick rocks now you've come to talk to me I'm supposed to ask you what did they say when you talk to them so if someone comes to you and says oh my gosh do you know how frustrating you go hey hey what they say.
When you talk to them and you will find that a lot of times someone has just skipped over step one and they've come to you and honestly they're not even trying to do the steps they just want you to know this other person's aggravating which you already knew like if you came to me and said you want to hear how aggravating this person any person I'd be like I bet they're aggravating because you you met people they're aggravating they do things that get on your nerves most of them are going to have something.
So if you're talking to me I'm supposed to say have you talked to them and if you haven't I'm supposed to say hey hey I love you shut up go talk to them you we don't need to be talking but this is past that this is in the they need someone to help them sort this out and there are times where as Church family you're just in the room to help them communicate to help them hear each other to help them be fair you're also your mere presence makes them nicer yeah you ever get in a interaction just you and one other person who really drives you crazy and you do some stuff.
But if there was someone else watching you're like okay let me let me do this well you help them do this in the Lord like if if two kids were trying to work something out and then their dad walks out or their mom walks out and just starts watching them they immediately you know they're going to handle it a little better that's what you're doing you're there to if someone wants to act like a clown they have an audience and you're also there to help them communicate I have someone in our Church family I love dearly we have never once had a clear conversation with each other I've never understood what this person's trying to.
Tell me they've never understood what I'm trying to tell them we have had long nice conversations but never clear ones if we got into a big turned sideways with each other we'd probably need a third party to show up and help us figure it out because we don't know what the other person's trying to say ever and it just has to do with how we think and how we communicate and where we're coming from and so sometimes that's all you're there to do a True Companion shows up that gets to just go hold on a.
Second did you hear what they just said you responded to something else pause real quick do you agree with that or you disagree with that is that fair is that a fear yeah it's fair I don't I don't help clean up after our group meets but I hold on a second hold a second did you hear that they agree with you they also don't think they help clean up we've made progress y'all are on the same page they have a reason why they think that's fine we're going to get to that in just a.
Second all right you had a butt like we're going to move forward we get to work this out we're going to go back and forth but somebody's there to help so do you believe that the person matters more than the problem do you believe that Jesus is a Lord and do you believe that your Church family can help cuz so often what we want to do is just get out of the situation or recruit people to be mad with us rather than recruiting people to help us sort the thing out another way of saying that is.
So often what we want to do is sin instead of sort things out then he says this help these women who have labored side by side with me in the Gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers now that's just a description of these ladies but it also shows you what's in Paul's mind as he's working these things out he says you need to help them because they used to labor together for the Gospel and now they're not.
Now this is the same phrasing from chapter 1 verse 27 he says only let your manner of Life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or an absent I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind that's that agree one- mindedness striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel Paul is saying I want to see that you have been following Jesus that you've been striving side by side.
For the Gospel I want to when I show up find out that's what you've been doing and what he's saying right here is we've got two ladies who used to do that who don't anymore so do you believe that the mission matters more it if you were watching a baseball game and the ball's cracked over to Short Stop and he Scoops the ball up and then goes and everybody's yelling throw it the first throw it the first and he goes not until he apologizes it might be one of the only instances where you saw a head coach attack one of their own players we would all be going have you lost your mind we have.
Something more important to do baseball baseball is very important winning is very important we would be livid it would be on all the news everywhere there'd be so many interviews of them talking to them after the game going why would you throw it to First he's a jerk you heard it here first he's a jerk and that's baseball and we'll spend time with an eternal mission about a glorious King who saves sinners from destruction so Paul just said there are so many that are headed into destruction what we read in.
First John where he says there are children of God and there are children of the devil we we there's a kingdom of light and there's a kingdom of darkness there's eternity of Hope and joy and there's an eternity of damnation and destruction and we will spend time arguing over some of the silliest pettiest stuff because we've forgotten that the mission matters and y'all I think that happens so much in the American Church because it's so easy for us to forget about the mission we get real caught up in a whole bunch of other things a whole bunch of preferences a whole bunch of things that we like a whole bunch of ways that we ought.
To be treated a whole bunch of how important than we are a whole bunch of how everything should work out the way I want it to work out and we get in these arguments with people and we we get into this Petty mess and we forget that there are lost people who don't know Jesus and we're supposed to be a trophy that displays his goodness and instead we're arguing with each other about silly mess that doesn't matter and we used to be side by side proclaiming the Gospel.
Now we are't do you believe the mission matters I think sometimes when we get caught up in this stuff we've forgotten that we weren't trying to be missionaries anyway so it doesn't really matter this matters we need to repent we need to go sit with them and say hey it matters that we're on the same page so that we can strive side by side for the Gospel because we can't keep arguing about silly stuff we got to get on the same page.
So that we can keep going and we need to take the least amount of time here is possible and we need to be gracious to one another so that we can can get after seeing more people come to know Jesus do you believe the person matters more than the problem do you believe that Jesus is Lord do you believe that your Church family can help and do you believe that the mission matters more fifth thing Paul says as he's talking about him he says Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life The Book of Life is the book that has every name of every person who belongs.
To Jesus written in it every name of every person who belongs to Jesus we're told it was written before the foundation of the world if you belong to this book This Book of Revelation tells us you won't run away from Jesus you belong to Jesus you won't worship the Beast you won't be tricked you won't be caught up in the stuff and if you belong in this book then in Revelation 20 when there's the Judgment this book is opened there's books opened with deeds.
And then there's a book of Who belongs in the book of life and it says anyone's name not found written in the Book of Life he was thrown in the Lake of Fire so this is those who belong to Jesus it is mentioned One Time by Paul right here that's it otherwise it shows up in the Book of Revelation it's a concept they understood from the Old Testament Paul doesn't talk about it a lot he talks about it here in the middle of trying to help them sort out a conflict he just says all the people whose names are written in the Book of Life y'all he zooms.
So far far out they're in the middle of arguing they're in the middle of scuffling they're in the middle of probably picking people to be on their sides trying to convince the other person how big of a problem ctii is how big of a problem yod is if you just see it my way you'd understand how awful they are and he just zooms out and he says Hey at some point there's going to be a book laid down and the Lord's going to.
Look and he's going to say yoda Cy and we're going to belong to him for eternity the last piece of furniture Paul brings into the room that I would ask us do we believe is do you believe the Gospel do we believe that there's an eternity to come where there is hope in Christ do we believe that we've been forgiven of our sins do we believe that we've been reconciled so that the gap between us and God which was infinite between his Holiness and our wickedness that we were dead in our trespasses and sins that we were his enemies that that has been covered by the work of.
Jesus and the blood of Jesus and that we've been reconciled then if we believe that we've been forgiven if we believe that he redeems if we believe that he resurrects if we believe that he reconciles then we absolutely when we get into these situations can believe that I can forgive and be forgiven that if he can reconcile me to himself then we can reconcile here if he can redeem what's broken in my life then he can redeem this and if he can resurrect the dead.
Then he can fix this relationship he can bring it back and that old ultimately we belong to him for eternity so we belong to each other for eternity so we got to get past this stuff you can almost see after reading through this the True Companion being able to pull him in a room and say hey guys y ctii Yia you should care about each other you should love each other and you should love each other more than you love being right of you should love each other more as people to get over this problem we belong to.
Jesus he's our King so we're going to submit to him in this process and we're also going to trust him to empower Us by his Spirit to work this out I'm here to help I'm here to listen I'm here to navigate I'm here to help youall remember that you belong to more than just your own Wants You Belong more to each other but you belong to our Church y'all outside of this room there are people who don't know Jesus so we got to we got to sort it out.
Because we got work to do and one day we're going to be before the king and he's going to read off all our names and all this will be gone and if he can reconcile us to himself he can reconcile you and if he can forgive you of all the sins then you can forgive and he can forgive you of all your sins then you can forgive and y'all can forgive each other and there can be joy and if he can redeem what's broken in our lives he can redeem this.
And if he can resurrect us from the dead on that day if we believe that on that day he will call our name and we will come hurdling out of the dirt then we believe that he can work right now in the middle of this so that we can keep going and we can proclaim the Gospel and that we can be one Church family together and we can restore the love that we have and we can display to the world a trophy of what.
Jesus does among a group of people so the band's going to come back up some of you need to go be a True Companion you got two people that you know in our Church family who are at odds with one another and you need to help them some of you have a ciny someone that you're frustrated with hurt by that you've slowly just let little thing after little thing after little thing chip away at your relationship and help you drift apart.
And so you've gotten to the place now where you're like it's fine we just don't have to talk to each other you need to go talk to them and here's the beautiful thing about belonging to each other in Jesus that first conversation doesn't have to go well it's not all riding on one conversation the second conversation doesn't have to go well the third conversation doesn't have to go well the fourth conversation when you finally brought someone in and you said we don't know how to talk to each other you got to come in the room that one doesn't have to go.
Well we get to slowly walk this out in humility and repentance and forgiveness and we get to do this over time and we get to because of Jesus love one another and have joy together because he empowers it in a moment we're going to take communion where we celebrate that the gap between us and God has been bridged that the blood of Jesus has forgiven us of our sin that his body was broken his blood was shed and that we belong to him and that.
Because of Jesus our names not because of our work not because of our effort not because of our worth but because of him and what he's done our names are written in the book of life that we belong to each other as brothers and sisters that we have a mission we've been sent on we're going to celebrate that through communion but Jesus at one point says if your gift if you go to lay your gift on the Altar and you know that your brother and you have something between you don't go to the altar go to your brother.
So Church family if you know you have something standing between you and someone in our Church family or another Christian brother or sister don't come take communion go get them go talk to them you don't have to sort it that right now you can just set up a time you can say we need to talk I'm sorry I've cared more about the problem than I've cared about you and I I don't know how to get past that right now but we got to talk this out some of you need to step outside make a phone call some of you just need to send a few texts.
And then you can come take communion you can celebrate that everything that needs to be accomplished for us to follow Jesus and to be reconciled and redeemed and to have eternity with him has already been accomplished in him but don't do that while you hold something against you brother let's pray God we need your help you are our Lord we submit to you may we humble ourselves before you may we be empowered by your spirit to do something that is extremely difficult.
For us help us to love one another help us to believe the Gospel help us to care about the mission Lord help us we ask for your grace and your kindness and Lord may your blessing be on this Church that it would be a place of love where we long for one anothers long for each other's company long for each other's enjoyment and Delight together and may this be a place of Joy where we well display what you have purchased for us by your work on the cross and may some of that rebuilding and restoration begin.
Today we ask all this in Jesus name amen when you're ready take communion and then we'll sing together.