Alright. Take your Bibles, if you would, turn to Philippians chapter one. So Philippians chapter one. Alright. And we'll begin reading in a moment in verse 27 from Philippians chapter one.

The priority of unity in the church. Is the unity of God's people important to him? The answer to that is yes, it is. Okay? Now, there's more to it than just saying unity, unity, unity.

Okay? That unity has some things attached to it that are vitally important not only to its success and true unity, but so that we don't get, kind of led down the wrong path as well. We wanna be united around that which is right and true, not united around that which is false. Okay? There is no glory in unifying around the false, only in unifying around the the truth.

Okay? And and so we'll look at that here in in a few minutes. But Psalm one thirty three one, we begin. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. Let's go to the Lord in prayer once more.

Lord, thank you for this time we could be here together today to worship you. We pray, Lord, that you would watch over us today, that your hand would be upon us, that the spirit would move within us, Lord, as your word is preached. We pray for your direction, and we pray that you would challenge our hearts as we look into your word and to your son, Jesus Christ. May he be magnified in this service, in this place today. In Jesus name, we do pray.

Amen. Whether it be in work or sport or war or in the home, unity is vital. God talks about it quite a bit. Paul talks about about it in almost every letter he wrote to churches. Among the other needs that these churches had was a need for unity, harmony, and like mindedness.

Those were important. If you would, look in Philippians chapter one and verse 27. Only let your conversation only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, That whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel. And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake.

Having the same conflict which he saw in me and now here to be in me. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that you be like minded. Having the same love being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in loneliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That is a mind of humility in accordance with the will of the father that led Christ to come to this earth, to die on the cross, to be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, not only has Christ been exalted, but all those who come to faith in Christ will also be exalted with him one day. What a wonderful story. We could just read the rest of the book of Philippians, but for the sake of time, we won't do that today.

What is unity? Unity is defined as a state of oneness or quality defined by a movement toward oneness, a condition of harmony between members, uses the word accord here in this passage, or continuity without deviation. We're looking specifically here in scripture at a condition of harmony between members of a body. That body that Paul is addressing here is the what? Is the church.

That body is made up again of born again believers in Jesus Christ among whom there should be harmony. There should be unity. There should be like mindedness as we serve our savior. Think of unity in the case of a soccer team, which works together toward a goal. Well, quite literally, a goal that they kick the ball in.

In which separate players work in harmony towards that goal by responsibly doing their part in conjunction with their fellow team members. You have those that are are are forwards and strikers and you have your middle fielders and you have your defenders back in front of the goal and then, of course, you have the the goalie back there and the goal. The goalie doesn't run to the other end of the field and try to kick the ball in. The, defenders kinda stay back. The strikers, they stay up front, and they have their own specific attributes and talents and abilities and goals, and responsibilities as part of the soccer team.

When the team works together, they often win or succeed in reaching their collective goal. This is also true in the workplace. This is also true as well in war. A lack of unity will likely result in failure. A true unity will often result in success.

Consider a machine that makes widgets. Now, all know what widgets are. Well, that's a word that's a placeholder for whatever. Okay? That's what a widget is.

Alright. So, is there a machine that makes whatever? We call them widgets. So, this machine makes widgets but one of the mechanisms doesn't work in accordance with all the others. Maybe maybe nine out of 10 mechanisms in the machine works like it should, but but one mechanism doesn't work in accordance with the others.

The timing is off. It's not set up right. And so, when the widget comes out, guess what? It's not right. It doesn't work.

Because in order for the machine to succeed in pushing out something that works, every piece has to do its what? Every part has to work together in unity towards the same goal to produce that that piece, and then it comes out beautifully and it works wonderfully. Unity within a group formed to accomplish a goal is key or else it is all for naught, at least in regarding the goals of the group or the machine or the workplace or the team or should stakes be higher and more? In the church, therefore, which is a group, a called out group, that's what the word church means, a called out assembly of people. Okay?

The children of God. We have been called out of the world by Jesus Christ to serve him and to bring glory to his name in this world. We have a purpose. We have a goal. In order to accomplish that goal more effectively, it is important that we have something called unity.

The increase of the body there there are three goals I'll mention here. We could probably come up with more goals. We'll look at three goals that we have that God gives, specifies to the church. First is the increase of the body. That is the addition of new members through evangelism and discipleship.

Matthew twenty eight eighteen and eighteen through 20. Jesus came and spake unto them saying, who are they? They are the disciples. They are the founding members of the church, okay? So, he's speaking to the church through its founding members here.

Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. That word power is exousia in Greek. It means authority, okay? Christ says, all authority is given to me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you all way even into the end of the world. Amen. Jesus said to his disciples, to the church before he went back to heaven, he says, I have all authority based on my authority. I therefore tell you to what? Command you to go.

To go and make disciples. That's what that first word teach means, to make disciples, converts from all nations. And then baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy ghost, and then teaching them what I have taught you. That was been the responsibility of every generation of the church from that day forward is the increase of the body, of the family of God through the preaching of the gospel, making of new converts to Christ, and then their inclusion in a local body and their discipleship by that local body. So they will in turn grow up to be mature, to be Christians who will then be able to do the same.

And the church grows. And guess what? Because others obeyed that command and other churches were unified around that goal, here we are. Here we are. Without the obedience and the unity of believers in Christ, sharing the good news of the gospel and training one another to do the same again and again and again, we wouldn't be here.

It is a responsibility that God has given to the church. It is an important one. It is an important one that requires a certain amount of unity. Another goal that God has given us the church is the edification of the body. That is the advancement of the individual members by preaching, teaching, and exhortation from the word of God.

If you're in Philippians, just turn back a page or two to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four, and we'll begin, in, verse 11. Ephesians four eleven. And he, that is Christ, gave some apostles and some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting or the maturing of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the building up of the body of Christ. What is that?

That's the church, believers. Till we all come in the unity, there's that word, the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slide of men and the cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Children are easily deceived. They're easily led astray. They don't have a lot of knowledge, therefore, they're vulnerable.

So are newborn again Christians who especially those who haven't grown up in the church and don't know a lot. They need to be taught and it's our responsibility to help each other to edify one another so that verse verse 15, but speaking the truth in love may grow up unto him in all things which is the head even Christ from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply it according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. What is another goal that God has given this body, this this group? He's given us the responsibility to help build up one another. Build up.

Not only bring numbers into the church, but to encourage and edify and exhort each other through the preaching of the word, the teaching of the word, and through personal exhortation and encouragement. In Hebrews chapter 10, the writer of Hebrews says, not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. What day is that? The return of Christ. And it is approaching.

Somebody mentioned to me, in a text this morning, to look at Isaiah 17. Isaiah 17 is about a city, a city that's in the news. That city in the news is a city of Damascus. It was taken by a group of rebels from the other anyway, not not neither of those groups are particularly, wonderful, groups, that are fighting over there. But Damascus is in the news, and Damascus has been there for a very long time, and God has had several things to say about that city.

And it just seems like God keeps drawing our attention back to the Middle East. Why? Well, that's has a lot to do with the second coming of Christ. It's coming. The Lord is coming soon.

But we need to be edifying, encouraging one another. That is one of the goals of the church. And then, number three, the glorification of the head. And who is the head of the church? Jesus Christ.

He's mentioned here as the head. He is the authority as he mentioned in Matthew chapter 28. He is our leader. He is our savior. He is our king.

We are to glorify the head, Jesus Christ, and our father in heaven through the testimony of the membership of this body before the world. It is a wonderful privilege we have been given to bring glory to our father which which is in heaven, to our savior Jesus Christ. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven. First Corinthians ten thirty one, where therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the what? To the glory of God.

We should be thinking as we live in this world, as we as we go out into the world, we should remember that we reflect on who? On Jesus. As we name the name of Christ, our behavior reflects on him and others judge him by who? By us. So, whether we're preaching or whether we're sitting in a service or whether we're staying home with our family or whether we're out having fun with our friends, we need to remember, we we represent Jesus Christ.

And we have a wonderful privilege to do so. And so three goals, and I'm sure we could come up with more, but three, the increase of the body, the edification of the body, and the glorifying of the head who is Jesus Christ. How do we accomplish this? We accomplish this best when we do it in what? Unity.

Okay? Having the same goal. If we don't have the same goals, we have different goals, then that tends to not work as well, does it? No, it doesn't. Those goals are important and it's important that we work together.

Now and while individuals work together in unity, that does not mean we lose our individualism either. Paul points out the hand is not the foot and the foot is not the hand. God expects the foot to do the foot's part and the hand to do the what? The hands part. And God needs different individuals with different strengths and different talents and different callings so that together, unified, working towards the same goal, we will accomplish much more than if we all were the foot.

You know, that couldn't accomplish much if your whole body was a foot. Now, could it? You need the hands and the eyes and the ears and and the brain and whatever else. There's several things. So is the body of Christ.

Unity is not a loss of individualism. It is taking the individualism and the variety that God has created in the church and using it together for strength. Thus, you have a team, a basketball team for instance. It has forwards and it has guards and it has a center, each utilizing their unique abilities and personal attributes to help the team win. Each one has their place.

As an aside, cults seek to erase individuality of its members, to control and to control them into disobedience. This is not unity. It is coercion. It is conformity, trying to force everyone into the same mold rather than it happening organically by virtue of a shared faith, a shared faith and purpose and love. Cults tend to try to conform by pressure everybody into the same mold.

Christ transforms us into to be the perfect person that God created us to be. And while that transformation is into the likeness of Christ, it is still unique to you. It is still unique to you because God created you and God loves you and God has a purpose for you in the body. But as we remember that, we also remember the responsibility we have to work together towards a common goal. Thus being like minded, of the same mind, being of one accord in the church.

The membership must share the same goals and believe the same things. Let's take the soccer example again. The common goal is to get the ball in the what? In the goal. Okay?

In accordance with the rules of the game while defending one's own goal from the enemy that's trying to score on you. Now, if a member has the primary goal of showing off rather than everybody working together for the goal to get the ball in the in the, opposing team's goal, you got one person whose goal is to impress everybody with their incredible abilities, and the team is less effective. Even though one one player may have superior skill, the team hurts because they're not working together in what? In harmony, in unity, together towards the same goal. The goal is important, and so is the beliefs and the understanding.

If another member's goal is simply to kick it the furthest or to run the fastest or just to keep from getting hurt, the team suffers because not every member is shooting for the same goal. Let's say another member does not know the rules or does not care about playing by the rules. Does it hurt the team? Yes, it does. Say another member is not willing to follow the commands of the coach.

Is that a problem? Yeah. It doesn't work too well. I was watching football game yesterday, and oddly enough, the team I was cheering for won. That usually doesn't happen.

But strangely, oddly, it did. Why did they win? Because they listened to who? They listened to the coach and they worked together to perform the bidding of the coach on the field and they did a halfway decent job and so guess what? They won the game.

Paul likes to use athletic analogies. He likes to talk about racing in his in his letters to the churches. It is an apt illustration. See how important unity is? But how is this unity acquired?

It is is it acquired simply because the preacher gets up and says, let's be united? No. No. It doesn't doesn't just happen because somebody declares it ought to be. It doesn't happen just because we say it.

It happens by several truths. Number one, knowledge. Knowledge is important. Knowledge acquired by faith because in the church, the knowledge that we need in order to work together to perform the goals that God has given us requires us faith in God and in his what? And in his in his word.

Well, my my okay. Is it gonna wow. There we go. Romans 12 Acts I'm supposed to be at Acts two there we go. Acts two forty two.

And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' what? Doctrine. Doctrine. What's doctrine? It's the word the word means teaching.

It means the truth. The truth that is laid forth in God's word for for us. So that we might have the truth, the knowledge of who God is, about what Jesus did for us and is doing for us, about the goals that God has set before us, about the methods and the means that God has given us to fulfill those goals, it's all found where? In the apostles' doctrine and in the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Most of these New Testament books, they're written by who?

The apostles. It is the doctrine that Jesus taught them and that Jesus shared with them that they've recorded so that we might have the knowledge so that we might be able to know what we're doing together in service to the Lord, which direction we're headed, what pleases him. Is that important? Yeah. It's very important.

Else, you might be united and all go in the wrong direction. And you might be happy about it, but you're not going to end up in the right place. And that unity doesn't count for the cause of Christ. It is important that we're unified around the what? The truth.

And that's why the doctrine is the first thing mentioned here in Acts two forty two that the church continued in the doctrine. Number two, in humility and love. True unity doesn't happen if we're only concerned about who? Ourselves. That's what Paul is saying here back in Philippians chapter two.

He says if there verse one, if there's any therefore, any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any fellowship of the spirit, any vows and mercies, these things ought to certainly be true of the church and of Christians, the things he's listed here. If these things are true or sense these things because these things certainly should be true, fulfill ye my joy being what? Like minded, having the same love. Jesus said in John thirteen thirty five, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples. By your what?

Your love for the brethren. Not yourself, but for others. Being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. That's to lift up who?

Exalt who? Self. But in loneliness or of mind or humility, let's each esteem other better than themselves. Each member of the body is just as important or more important than I am. And we need to esteem them, estimate them to be as important as I am because you are.

You're just as important to the Lord who made you as I am. You have a purpose the same as I do. And we're in this what? Together. Unity happens when we take our eyes off of ourselves and our needs and our wants and begin also to think about the needs and wants of others.

That's when true unity happens, when the team works together for a goal and the and the quarterback isn't only thinking about the quarterback and how he can impress by his his strong-arm, how far he can throw it down the field. But the front line protects the quarterback, and the quarterback does what he's told to be, whether it's simply handing the ball off to a a running back or whether it's throwing it to a guy on a pattern. He puts the ball where it needs to be to make it easy for the guy to what? To catch it and make the first down or score the touchdown. Knowledge, doctrine is important.

Humility and love are vital for unity, whether it be in the church or the home or even the workplace. It should extend there as well. And then diligence and determination are important in reaching the goal. Galatians six nine and ten, and let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Don't give up. Be diligent. Do your part. Don't faint. Don't quit.

Don't get distracted. Keep moving forward. And as each member does that and moves toward the goal, guess what? There's unity. Not for the sake of unity, but just for the sake of doing what your part and your responsibility brings unity.

The same thing of love and humility. And then obedience to the coach. Obedience to the coach. Jesus who is the what? The head.

I'm not the coach. I am a assistant way down the ladder. Okay? I'm I'm the captain and I'm out on the field with who? With you.

Who's the coach? The coach is Jesus Christ. And as we're all doing the bidding of the coach, guess what? There is what? There's unity.

Unity happens when we're all following the same head. Unity happens when we all believe the same thing, have the same doctrine. Unity happens when we're concerned about the other person beside us and behind us and not just about our aspirations or ambition. Unity happens when we are diligent in doing our part and we don't quit and give up. And Jesus Christ is glorified.

And the body is edified. And the body grows. Not because we determine to be unified, but because we are determined to know the truth, because we're determined to love our neighbor, because we're determined to persevere in faith, because we're determined to follow the coach, and unity happens, and God is magnified. Acts two forty six and forty seven, and I'll close. And they, that is the early church, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with the people.

And the Lord added to the church daily such as should or were or were being saved. They continued with what? One accord. One accord. Like mindedness, following the same Lord, believing the same doctrine, having the same love, working together in the power of the same spirit, and the church grew.

And this one will too if we will just keep our eyes on Jesus, and we will follow him together in the truth. God will be magnified. What a powerful force in this world would be the church if there was truly unity. Unity in faith and in purpose and love. And while we cannot fix all the disunity that exists in the church today that has developed as a result of a lack of these things, we have the responsibility particularly to fix them and promote them in our church, on our team, and in our lives.

It begins with examining not others, but who? Ourselves. Our faith, goals, and love to see that they are in line with that of our head who is Christ. So we can promote the cause of Christ and the unity of his body, the church. Let's pray.

Dear heavenly father, thank you, for your word, your example, your sacrifice and provision who's made all of this possible, your word that you've given to us, your spirit that you've given to empower us in this endeavor. Lord, thank you that you have shared this with us, and, that you have empowered us to accomplish it. Lord, I pray that we would learn to follow you more perfectly, and in so doing that we might have unity in our church, in our service, for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I thank you, Lord, that I didn't have to preach this today because of a lack of unity, because I feel that we have unity. But Lord, as an encouragement to grow in that unity and to grow in our service for Christ, as we look to a new year here in just a few weeks and new opportunities that will come down the road for us to be a light and a beacon in this world for Jesus Christ.

Lord, if there's one here today that has never received Christ as savior, I pray that today might be their day of salvation. I pray, Lord, if there's something in our life that's getting in the way of us serving you in unity with other believers, that we would be willing to recognize that and confess it before you today. In Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen. The Lord