Thanks to my co-pastor’s wife, Traci, for posting this John MacArthur Commentary excerpt.  How crucial is the unity of Christ’s body?  How do we address division that can tear down the good that is taking place?  Paul addresses this very issue in the book of Philippians.  If you want to see more of John MacArthur’s commentaries or download sermons from him follow these links: Commentaries   Sermons.  I have found MacArthur’s Commentaries to be a helpful resource with a pastoral flavor, rather than a strictly scholarly approach.   

“I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.” (Philippians 4:2–3)

Since conflict between influential people in a church will generate instability throughout the congregation, the two quarreling women at Philippi posed a danger to the entire church’s stability. There was a real possibility that the Philippians would become critical, bitter, vengeful, hostile, unforgiving, and proud. Paul knew that unless decisive action was taken quickly, the Philippian church could dissolve into divisive, hostile factions. It was imperative that the Philippians be “diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3; cf. Col. 3:14).

The twice repeated phrase I urge … I urge shows Paul to be in a pleading, begging, encouraging mode as he addressed the issue of the divisive women. The apostle’s mention of such a seemingly mundane matter after the lofty doctrinal material of chapter 2 and the warnings against dangerous false teachers in chapter 3 may seem surprising. But Paul understood that discord and divisiveness pose an equally crippling threat to the church. Even if its doctrine is sound, disunity robs a church of its power and destroys its testimony. And a church facing hostile external enemies cannot afford to have its members fighting among themselves. Such infighting frequently gives the enemies of the Cross an avenue of attack. The resulting discord, disunity, and conflict could have devastated the integrity of the Philippian church’s testimony.

There are hints earlier in this epistle of Paul’s concern for the Philippian church’s unity. In 1:27 he urged them, “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” He pled with them in 2:2 to “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” That Paul’s joy was not complete implies that there was some discord in the Philippian congregation. A further hint of discord among the Philippians was the apostle’s exhortation to “do all things without grumbling or disputing” (2:14).

What he had earlier hinted at, Paul now addressed directly. Little is known about Euodia and Syntyche, but several facts about the situation are evident. First, they were church members, not troublemakers from outside the congregation. Second, their dispute was evidently not over a doctrinal issue. If it had been, Paul would have resolved it by siding with the one who was correct and rebuking the one who was in error. Third, they were prominent women, well respected by the Philippian congregation. They may even have heard Paul preach on the banks of the Gangites River when he first came to Philippi (Acts 16:13). Already the dispute between these women was causing significant dissension in the Philippian fellowship.

Paul’s solution to the quarrel was simple and direct: he commanded the two women involved to live in harmony in the Lord. There is a time when conflict is acceptable, namely when truth is at stake. Paul even confronted Peter when the latter was in error: “When Cephas [Peter] came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned” (Gal. 2:11).

But mere personal conflicts must be resolved and harmony restored, so Paul commanded Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony. The Greek text literally reads, “to be of the same mind”—an essential prerequisite if Christians are to live in harmony. To the quarreling, faction-ridden Corinthian church Paul wrote, “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10). Peter also urged his readers, “All of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit” (1 Peter 3:8). Agreement between Euodia and Syntyche was essential, and the sphere in which they had to find their harmony was in the Lord. Paul knew that if they both got right with the Lord, they would be right with each other.

“Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.  Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord.” Deut 9:6-7

Okay…I get it.  It is clear.  The Lord doesn’t want me to come near robbing His glory in my salvation.  He doesn’t want me to take credit for spiritual accomplishments in my life.  He doesn’t want me to forget my sinfulness and unworthiness, which draws me back to consider the riches of His grace.  In short, I am never…never…never to infringe upon His glory. 

“For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be glory forever. Amen.” Rom 11:36

Reading through the requirements of the various sacrifices, the consecration of the priests and items of furniture for the Tabernacle, along with various prescriptions for dealing with unclean things, it is clear that the Judeo-Christian faith is a bloody religion.  In Exodus and Leviticus the word “blood” is used 114 times and the words “sprinkle” or “sprinkled” are used 29 times.  Sprinkling something or someone with blood is not a pleasant thought, but offensive at first consideration.  Yet this is the prescription God gives over and over for covering sin, setting apart for service, or cleansing the unclean.  Beyond the theological implications of blood atonement…we must, once again, realize that God has designed redemption to affect man’s senses and emotions. 

In the New Testament, we see the fulfillment of this Bloody Religion in Christ:

To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:  May grace and peace be multiplied to you.  1 Pet 1:1-2

Let us rejoice that Christ’s blood has been sprinkled over us to accomplish our redemption.

Sometimes images from the Bible just floor me!  If I take a moment to place myself in the time and envision the rigors of life and the requirements of the Law, I can be easily overwhelmed.  Consider for a moment this picture of the consecration of the priests for service in Exodus:

““Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. m Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, 12 and n shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the o horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of [1] the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. 13 And you shall take all p the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire q outside the camp; r it is a sin offering.” Exod 29:10-14

I envisioned myself cutting out parts of the animals to sacrifice, let alone spilling the blood itself.  I am no skilled hunter, so the idea of separating out the “long lobe of the liver” and “the two kidneys”, is a bit gruesome to me.  It does more than bring back memories of Biology lab in high school and college.  It reminds me of the messiness of sin.  It reminds me of the offense to God of our rebellion.  It reminds me that the clean-up job is messy itself.  Exodus goes on to describe blood being thrown on the various pieces of furniture to consecrate them.  Can you imagine what the priests would have been thinking during this process of slaughtering animals and handling their various parts?  How did they keep their beautiful vestments clean from the mess?  These were spiritual butchers.  They had daily sacrifices to deal with.  They were constantly dealing in blood.  All because of our sin against God and guilt of judgment! 

The ultimate clean-up of sin was quite messy, as well.  The movie Passion of Christ gave us a glimpse into the horrific nature of flogging and crucifixion.  Such violence in a movie is horrific.  But 2,000 years ago our Lord, the High Priest Himself, did not deal in another’s blood, but His own.  He didn’t put His hands on another, but allowed the hands of others to be placed on Him.  The sin that we so easily commit required a “messy clean-up” indeed.  Gratitude ought to be rich at such a thought.  Humility ought to be profound at such contemplations.  Zeal for the Lord almight ought to be kindled at such amazing love.

Later in Exodus we learn of the Bronze Basin that the priests used to cleanse themselves before coming near the altar: “When they go in the tent of meeting, or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die.” Exod 30:20  Many other passages like this remind us of the extreme holiness of our God.  He is not a God to be trifled with.  Salvation from sin required a messy clean-up.  But let’s not forget before we lightly enter into yet more sin, that God is not to be trifled with.  He is a consuming fire.  God forbid that we make Him so familiar that we forget who He really is.  He is more than just a friend.  But praise God, that through the messy clean-up of the atoning sacrifice of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, we are spared from His final wrath.

Consider this song as you meditate on God’s holiness, and be humbled: God Forbid.

I am enjoying reading a book our local Pastor Fellowship has agreed to read together.  The book is The Church and the Surprising Offense of God’s Love: Reintroducing the Doctrines of Church Membership and Discipline, by Jonathan Leeman.  Here are a few excerpts from the Introduction and First Chapter.  In this section Leeman deals with the gross misunderstanding of the concept of love in the culture and in the church.  He then deals with the resulting problem of a commitment-less attitude among churches today, where churches with defined boundaries are viewed as unloving.  Thus the church, in general, has forsaken biblical ideas of membership and discipline, in order to avoid offending and increase the ranks in the pews.  Leeman contends that this flows from a cultural attitude of individualism.  But he goes further to identify that underneath the problem of individualism is an anti-authority attitude that is more deeply rooted in a hatred for God’s glory, who is the One who has established authority structures in the church, in the family, and in society.  Enjoy!

“Let me sum up the matter like this: the argument for church membership and discipline is an argument for a clear line between church and world, as clear as the line between the inside of Eden and the outside of Eden, the inside of the ark and the outside of the ark, the inside of the Israelite camp and the outside of the camp, the inside of Jerusalem’s walls and the outside of its walls.  Yet what stands in the way of our ability–as Christians and churches in the post-modern West–to embrace the biblical call for such a line are our distorted and holy-less, truth-less, wisdom-less conceptions of God and his love.”

“If a church understands love to be a matter of self-expression and self-fulfillment, Sunday school classes, small groups, and other ministries will divide demographically because Christians become more intent on finding people who share their life experiences than on finding older people to learn from and younger people to disciple.”

“As evangelical and post-evangelical leaders call the church to realign its emphases, tragically, they are calling for the church to capitulate to the worst perversions and prostitutions of love devised by the secular West over the last several centuries: love as self-expression, love as consumer satisfaction, love as ’size matters,’ love as commitment-lessness, love as whatever works for you.  Earlier I asked what happens when humans use idols to justify their actions and relationships.  The answer is that they choose their own lifestyle, call it ‘loving,’ and then place God’s stamp of approval upon it.  Furthermore, any Christian institution that seeks to enforce its boundaries and policies becomes the target of criticism.”

“Perhaps more than any other cultural theme we have discussed, the question of authority is relevant to the discussion of local church membership and discipline, because membership and discipline involve a life of submission.  Church membership is, among other things, submission to the discipline of a particular congregation.”

“The language and literature about individualism can help us to see and describe some of the symptoms of the problem: people are reluctant to make commitments to others and to be held accountable…But when we treat ‘individualism’ as the root problem, we have prepared the way for what I believe is, if not a misdiagnosis, at least an insufficient diagnosis, because our analysis either excludes God or involves only a greatly diminished God.”

“When we pull off the somewhat secularized mask of individualism, what we find behind it is a fear of, nay, a hatred of, authority.”

“The despising of authority…is finally a despising of his glory.  In other words, identifying the real problem as anti-authority-ism and just individualism doesn’t even push us far enough.  The real problem, finally, is a hatred of God’s majesty and worth.”

I would recommend following a series Thabiti Anyabwile is doing on women in the church.  The first part is listed below.  I recommend this without being sure I will agree with everything Thabiti is going to say, but recognizing the importance of having a dialogue about these issues.  Thabiti makes a statement that resonates with me: “I’m a complementarian, but I don’t like the way I sometimes feel when I hear the issue discussed, and, more importantly, when I see shabby application and practice.”  Let’s consider this issue together biblically and seek to be biblical in our application of it.  The post is below:

I’m a Complementarian, But…

Posted By Thabiti Anyabwile On January 3, 2011 @ 9:20 am In Gender Roles,men and women | 12 Comments

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Article printed from Pure Church by Thabiti Anyabwile: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile