Philippians 1:27–2:4 — United In Christ

This sermon is from Philippians 1:27-2:4 and is entitled "United in Christ."

Philippians 1:27–2:4

It was delivered to Ekklesia Churches on Sunday, February 15, 2026.

We're about two sections into Paul's letter to the Philippians, and we're about to dive

into the third today.

started with a kind of restating what he and the church believed to be true about how God works

and our part in participating in that work. Then Paul gave us some examples from his own situation

in life about how God was working. Even when Paul was in chains, the gospel was not, and God was

using all circumstances for his glory and for our good. It has all been encouragement for the church,

And in today's passage, Paul starts to address a concern that he has for the church.

And while Paul begins by addressing the pressure that they're facing from the outside, his

real concern is for their unity on the inside in the midst of that pressure.

And I think this is a very timely passage for us as we start to feel the social pressure

to choose sides heat up.

Whether you want to see it or not, the truth is that we are living in an increasingly pagan

culture that is at war with the things of God.

And America in particular has come a long way from being one nation under God and is

an increasingly fractured nation with many gods.

And I can really think of no better example than the recent performances that were assembled

for the Super Bowl halftime shows this year, plural performances.

One had an artist that was singing about how women are disposable to him, making a joke of commitment and all that God intended for sex, and saying this in unfiltered words that for some reason are acceptable to broadcast because they weren't in English.

The alternative show did actually mention the name of Jesus several times, but in a way that seemed to confuse being an American patriot with being a Christian or being a conservative person with being a Christian.

It's a version of Jesus that is somehow so blurred with American culture that you can't differentiate between Jesus and a country singer claiming to follow him one day a week from the front pew.

In the same way that Christians in Paul's day felt pulled between the religious Jews,

the cultural Jewishness of the day that was of value, and the pagan Romans and what was

valued by being a part of Roman culture, we can really identify with this feeling that

they had of being pulled in a few directions.

We can even identify with the kind of internal tension that it would cause as we face pressure

to fracture and pressure from outside to conform. And so I think this passage will be welcome to

people like me who are desiring to follow Jesus and live a life that is worthy of his name and of

the good news of the gospel. And for people who want to unify around Christ, even when everything

else is falling away around us. So let's begin by reading this passage together, and then we'll go

through it one piece at a time. This is Philippians chapter 1 verse 27 through chapter 2 verse 4.

Philippians 1:27

Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see

you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind,

striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened of anything by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God.

For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him,

but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear

that I still have.

So, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort in love, any participation in the Spirit,

any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love,

being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility

count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests,

but also to the interests of others.

The first word of verse 27 is our cue that Paul is changing direction from talking about

his personal circumstances to his concern for the church in Philippi. It's like that moment in a

conversation when the doctor you're talking to has finished kind of taking your vitals and talking

and interest. They've shared everything that looks good on the chart, and they conclude with,

now, let's talk about your cholesterol. This is Paul's, let's talk about your cholesterol moment.

This is Paul's pivot to talk about the struggles facing the church and some of the reasons for

requesting him or Timothy to come. And he says, whether I am able to come to you soon or not,

Keep living for Jesus. Verse 27, let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.

What a charge, right? To live your life in such a way that the power of the God who has saved you

and is transforming you into the image of Christ is on display. He's saying live a life that

testifies to the reality of the gospel and does not compromise in any way. And he goes into three

kind of areas here that he wants to see this worthy life on display in the church. He wants

to see them standing with a purpose, standing without fear, and standing in suffering.

So let's look at those one by one. The first one is standing with a purpose. He wants them

to be standing firm in one spirit and with one mind, but doing what? Striving side by side for

what? The faith of the gospel. A church that is busy doing the work of the gospel, sharing the

good news of Jesus, has a really hard time getting caught up in the little things because there just

isn't time. A church that is busy doing the work of discipleship with one another has a much harder

time getting distracted by things that matter less because their hands are full of better things.

And this striving is importantly side by side, meaning this work of Jesus is meant to be done

in community with one another. We need each other. The second thing that Paul says is a hallmark of

this worthy life is to stand without fear. When we face opponents of the gospel and whatever false

God they bow to, we do not bow to them. We do not bow before the God of secularism that demands we

conform or be left out. We know that the God of self that they offer offers us no life and

ultimately no fulfillment either. It is a hollow promise for both of those things. We also do not

bow to those who would promote a false Jesus, whatever the flavor, as an alternative, because

we know that the only real Jesus, the fully man, fully God, Messiah, as he is described in scripture,

is the only way, truth, and life. There is no substitute for him. It can be easy to feel

especially when it feels like we don't securely fit into the available options on the cultural

or political shelves of the day. When it feels like the world is against you, with our limited

perspective, it can feel like God is against you too, that all these things are conspiring against

us. But Paul says the opposite is actually the case when it feels like everything is conspiring

against you. He says, for Christians who are able to stand unafraid with certainty in spite of the

opposition, that it is actually evidence to our opponents that their destruction is coming,

but our salvation has already come. Finally, Paul returns to the theme of God using suffering

for his glory and our ultimate good. He even uses the language of being granted or given

suffering as an opportunity to stand with Christ. And I just want you to think about that for a

moment as we consider this worthy life of the gospel that Paul just described. This is a life

that is dedicated to a purpose and that is lived out in close community with similar purpose-driven

people. This is a person who is completely unafraid of opponents because their allegiance

is to a king who has defeated death. This person, this Christian, is someone who endures suffering

with grace and with an unwavering faith that their God will use even this for their ultimate good.

That is a worthy life. That is a witness to the excellence of Christ. And if you're like me,

you simultaneously feel like there's nothing you'd rather have than what I just described.

And also feel a little discouraged by just the enormity of the task at hand.

Because no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I want that,

I do not have what it takes to live that life, at least not on my own.

Because the person that I just described and the only one who did that perfectly

is Jesus. So in order to live a worthy life, I'm going to need his perfection where mine is lacking.

I'm going to need his power because I am weak. And so that is exactly where Paul turns next.

If we are going to live a worthy life as disciples, as the church, we are going to need to

unite around Christ. So, lest we feel discouraged, Paul writes in verse 1 and 2 of chapter 2,

so if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit,

any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind,

having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

you can hear Paul's passion for his people coming through here. And the theologian in me wants to

pick this apart and to kind of look at every phrase in these two verses and how each of the

words might encourage us differently. Because Paul knew and God knows that we need all the

encouragement that we can get. But to take it apart too much would actually be the opposite of

how Paul intended this statement, I think. This is a passionate plea with his audience for them to

find their encouragement and their strength for the mission and their love and affection for one

another in Christ. He knows that Christ is the source of all the things we find lacking in

ourselves. All of the things that we hunger for are found in the provision of Christ. And the way

Paul says this is almost by listing off a recipe of ingredients. Don't you need encouragement and

comfort and the work of the Spirit and affection and sympathy? I do. And Paul says, aren't all of

those things available to you in Christ? The church unifying around this central truth,

coming to Jesus to satisfy their every need is the only thing that Paul says would make his joy

complete. And I think the only way for me to express this passionately, the way that Paul

was trying to express it, is for me to tell you a little about someone in my life who shared that

same joy. And that's my grandma, Arlene. And there were a lot of things that we knew my grandma

liked. Among them was anything bird related. She loved gardening. She really loved the color yellow

or yellow, as she would say in her Pennsylvanian accent. She loved the Dallas Cowboys for some

reason. She loved my grandpa a whole lot. But the greatest joy of her life came from her love for

Jesus and her love of her five kids and their families, and really specifically seeing them

serving the Lord. Her love of Jesus was secure and satisfied her through many seasons of life,

including war, the Great Depression, 68 years of marriage to my grandpa, multiple kids and

grandkids. And the only thing remaining was to see her family together in her tiny house

for holiday meals. That was what she looked forward to. Seeing her family together,

loving one another, that completed her joy. And so when she turned 90,

our family knew that the only thing that we could really give her for her birthday was a gathering

of her family. And we didn't fit in her house anymore, and so we had to gather in a banquet

room instead. And I'd just like to try, at least, to read you what she said before we cut the cake

that day. She said, I want to thank each and every one of you for coming to help me celebrate this

day. I thank God for each and every one of you. You have all brought so much joy to my life

over all these years. I appreciate all that you do for me, and I'm glad that you could come

share this day with me. It's the best birthday I ever had.

I wish you could have been there, but do you see the joy that is coming out of her? Her joy comes

from the same place that Paul is encouraging the church and us to go to, and it continued to come

from that place until she went to be with Jesus when she was 98 years old. We go to Jesus to

partake of a joy and encouragement that is unshakable. And the only other thing that Paul

wanted was to see these people that he loved coming together in unity around Christ.

So my invitation to you in this is the same, to come to Jesus together, to come partake of what

is already yours in Christ Jesus, come to the table set for you, set for us. The table that we

are welcome to in the name of Jesus through his broken body and his shed blood. The same thing

that we pause to remember every single week in our church when we take communion.

We remember and pause together how that was paid for.

And so as we come to the final two verses of our passage, having been encouraged by what we have

and who alone has provided it. Paul moves from having and what we have in Christ to doing.

He moves from the status of being found in Christ to this practical application

of how we live with one another. We all come to Jesus for our everything, but how are we to go

to one another. In verse 3, he says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility

count others more significant than yourselves. So the true obstacle to the church standing in unity

isn't usually the minor differences of opinion. I've heard of churches splitting over things like

the color of the carpet to be placed in the sanctuary, the genre of music to sing to, and

when you're going to sing to that genre of music and many other trivial things. But at the heart of

these disagreements isn't just that they don't agree. It's usually self-centeredness, selfish

ambition, my way or the highway, that how I feel about this thing is paramount or above everything

and everyone else. I am certainly not immune to that way of thinking. I have a certain way that I

prefer and certain things that I like. You can ask my kids. I have certain things that get under my

skin that are not things of primary importance. And Paul says that the antidote to this self-centered

view of the universe is not to recenter everyone else's world to orbit around you, but to take

yourself out of the center of your own. Astronomers had no hope of understanding the way the heavens

functioned while they insisted that the earth was at the center of the universe and everything

revolved around it. It wasn't until they were willing to say, you know, I think the reality

of the heavens is that the earth is rotating and revolving around the sun. If you like analogies,

this one practically writes itself. If we want to understand the reality of the kingdom of heaven,

we need to reorient our lives to center around the glory of the Son of God. And in taking

ourselves out of the center, we begin to understand the nature of our relationship

to others who are doing the same. When we rightly understand that Jesus has given and continues to

provide everything for us, it becomes much easier to consider and serve one another in the same way

that we have been served. Now, lest we take this too far to neglecting our own care entirely,

Paul clarifies in verse 4 that we look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Paul is not saying that we need to ignore our bodily necessities and punish ourselves,

like ignoring things like food and sleep.

We still have to take care of our bodies.

That is a responsibility that comes along with being a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Practically speaking, there are needs that we have.

There's some upkeep that's necessary.

But there is an order in which our desires become secondary to the needs of others.

And we can look to Jesus as our ultimate example.

He stopped to eat food with people.

He needed sleep, sometimes in a boat.

And sometimes he needed to get away and be alone.

Those were needs that he had.

But he certainly prioritized our freedom and needs over his own comfort, both in life,

in the way that he served others, and all the way to the cross.

In the passage next week, we get to look at Jesus even more in focus as our example. We'll be reading

what has been referred to as the Christ hymn in this poetic and passionate description of Jesus

and his work on our behalf, and I'm really excited for that. But until then, I want to encourage those

of you who might be considering the cost and benefit of following Jesus. Maybe you haven't

decided whether to follow Jesus or not. And I believe that there is a desire in each one of us

to love and be loved by another. And many of us can attest to many ways that we've tried to satisfy

that longing to belong. And I want you to know that your greatest longing for love will only

ever be satisfied by the love of Christ. A relationship with Jesus is the missing love

and hope and peace and joy that you have been looking for in everything because he is the source

of every good thing. There are no substitutes for him. And those of us who have been following Jesus

for a long time, but still feel tired, still struggle with relationships, with our words,

with our tone, with a desire for unity that is unmet, with a lack of love for others sometimes,

might I suggest that you are perhaps also looking in the wrong place for those.

So instead of digging deep and trying harder and becoming even more tired as you try to

persevere in your own strength, come to the table that Jesus has set for you. Come partake of his

grace and you will find that it is not only sufficient for you, but that he is the source

of your lacking love for others as well.

Ekklesia is a church of house churches gathering weekly in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in homes

throughout the week.

We are a Bible-centered church

focused on preaching from Scripture

and making disciples of Jesus.

You can learn more about our statement of faith

and contact a pastor

by visiting ecclesiachurches.org.