Preacher: Jeremy Herbert
Theme: Satan Attacks the Church Through Unresolved Personal Conflict
Texts: Philippians 4:1-2, Philippians 2
Notes:
- Paul entreats Euodia and Syntyche to get along together–publicly
- He entreats members of the church of Philippi to help them
Why must we resolve interpersonal conflict?
- It hurts our gospel joy
- Philippians 2, “fulfill my joy by being likeminded”
- Likemindedness is not agreement in all things–it is agreement on the main gospel issues, and agreeing to let cover the rest
- The Christian life flows out of our joy in Christ
- It hurts our gospel witness
- Philippians 2, “do all things without complaining or disputing”
- It hurts our witness when we can’t love those outside the church
- It hurts our witness even more when we can’t love those inside the church
- How can we preach a gospel of reconciliation and yet not reconcile with those united to us in Christ?
- We are supposed to be known by our love
- Christ is supposed to be known by our love
- Christ calls us to love our neighbors and our enemies
- How can we love those unlike us if we can’t even love those like us?
- It hurts our gospel effectiveness
- It’s hard to be effective fighting the enemy when we treat one another as the enemy
- Many ancient empires only succumbed to outside invaders after they rotted from the inside
Practical Application
- We must see Satan is the real enemy
- Not co-laborers in Christ
- We must see the bigger picture
- This is about Christ, our king, who desires to redeem people for their good and His glory
- We should seek help from our church family
- Not just in confrontation, but in assistance and advisement
- We should seek Christ
- Christ calls us to kindness, patience, and gentleness–especially with those we are in conflict with
- Christ calls us to treat others as He treats us
- We must meditate on Christ and His goodness, not meditate on the conflict
- We must grow in love and humility, Philippians 2:5-11
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