4th June 2025

4th June 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Philippians 2:1-4 focus v2)


Message (Alan Burke)


There is an obvious outcome to some things, like put petrol in your diesel car and it’s not going to run, or put diesel in your petrol car and it’s not going to run, put no fuel in your car and expect it to go forever without filling it up again and it’s going to conk out on you, those are all obvious outcomes that are simple enough to understand. Some people struggle to understand the obvious outcomes, a friend of mine who is a GP couldn’t get a patient to understand that his heart palpitations, insomnia and headaches were caused by the fact that he only drank a high energy soft drink and no other liquids all day, he was drinking the equivalent of thirty strong cups of coffee each day with no other liquids. I hope you understand that drinking thirty strong cups of coffee a day that wouldn’t be wise and understand that the obvious outcome would be heart palpitations, insomnia and headaches. We could spend some time thinking of other things, but I’ll get to the point. Paul has taken the church through their union with Christ, how they are united with him, have comfort from his love, fellowship with the Spirit, tenderness and compassion as a result of that then the obvious outcome leads to them having union with one another. 


Paul had focused on their union with Christ because he knew that not all things were rosy in the church in Philippi, it wasn’t that there was all out war which can sadly happen when you put sinful people together, nor was what was happening in Philippi enough for Paul to rebuke them like he did to the church in Corinth. Instead Paul’s hope and prayer is that the church would be untied and that his joy would be complete as they had the same mind, the same love and being in one spirit and purpose. This isn’t that they all need to act like automatons, like the Borg in Star Trek who are assimilated into acting like drones and not thinking for themselves, no what Paul has in mind here is that despite the differences amongst the church that because of our union with Christ that we put differences aside over things that are of no eternal importance and we show love for one another.


So that we would be one in spirit and purpose, ie that we would live lives in union with one another. We are only able to do this from our union with Christ and it leads to union with one another. This union with Christ, this union with one another means that we will stand for the truth of the gospel, we will keep the main thing the main thing and that is the ordinary means of grace, the basic formula as laid down in Scripture: preaching, prayer and sacraments this is what God uses to build his church. Sadly though I’ve seen a great deal of disunity in my past, there are some who just like being heard, there are those who are always finding something to be grumpy about, to disagree with others, in Titus Paul says for such people who are divisive; 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. 11 You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned. (Tit 3:10-11).


Let us not be those who are like that, if you are then repent, but if there are those amongst us who are divisive over things of no eternal significance. For the believer though the obvious outcome of our union with Christ should be that we have union with one another, not over Tayto Cheese and Onion (they are the best just incase you didn’t know) but that we would be untied, having the same mind, the same love and being in one spirit and purpose for the gospel in this place. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q101 What do we pray for in the first petition?
A. In the first petition, which is, Hallowed be thy name,” we pray, that God would enable us, and others, to glorify him in all that whereby he maketh himself known, and that he would dispose all things to his own glory.