Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
As parents, if we want our children to behave in a certain way, we can use different methods based on their maturity and our relationship with them. One method, which is really the final resort, is to be firm and say, “We’ve told you many times that you shouldn’t trample God’s law underfoot by regularly dishonoring your parents. As a family, we want to serve the Lord and be a witness to Him, so you must behave properly from now on. If you don’t want to live by these good rules and want to live a sinful life, you can leave this house. I’m serious. If you live here, you must follow these rules.” That is one level—in fact, the final level.
A less severe approach could be, “Look, what you’re doing is wrong. We’ve told you many times, but you don’t seem to learn the lesson. As a good father, I have to punish you. Let’s take the stick and give you two or three lashes that you won’t forget for a month, or we can cut your pocket money and take away your TV and mobile phone.” We may have to use such methods to correct senseless children and make them take things seriously. Tomorrow, they will thank us for it. I have scars on my hand and leg that my father gave me when I did something wrong. At the time, I was very upset, but whenever I see those scars today, I still thank him. If he hadn’t corrected me, I would have gone very wrong and destroyed my life.
But if the child is responsible and understanding, and knows the value of the relationship, you don’t have to use threats or rods. Instead, you can call the child aside and say, “Son/Daughter, you know how much we love you in this family, right? Have your mother and father loved you faithfully? When you were hungry, have we provided food for you? Have we clothed you? Given you a bed to sleep in, a room to live in? Put you in a good school and given you an education? Have we nurtured you as you grew from a little child? Have we provided all the medical care you needed to live a healthy life? When something happens to you, we immediately take care of it. Have we given you a warm environment in which to live? When you were down and sad, have we comforted and encouraged you? To provide for your needs now and in the future, do you see us working day and night, sacrificially, for you? When you have been disobedient and rebellious, have we been patient and gracious to you, understanding your age? When you have been doing wrong things, did we forgive you and love you and restore you? Have we been patient with you while you were learning how to do things right and often did them wrong? Have you experienced our goodness to you? Son, since all those things are true, isn’t it reasonable that we ask you to live in such a way that would bring us joy? It’s pretty reasonable, isn’t it? Behave in a way that doesn’t bring us dishonor before others, so people won’t insult us by saying, ‘Look at how they brought him up.’ Shouldn’t you do what pleases your parents?” If a child is a little bit thoughtful and sensible, it would be pretty hard for them to hear that appeal and disobey.
Paul’s Appeal to the Philippians
Now, as we come to Philippians 2, Paul, after telling the Philippians about his situation in prison and giving a clarion call to live worthy of the Gospel, begins Chapter 2 by treating them like responsible children who don’t have to be beaten. He doesn’t do this with the Corinthians; he rebukes them, threatens them, and even tells them, “I will bring a rod.” They are like a church of stubborn children who never change, no matter what their pastor or God tells them. But the Philippians are a good church; they understand the relationship and the value of a pastor, and they know they are called to live for the Gospel.
Remember in 1:3, Paul says, “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.” They make him thankful. They are not like, “I’m saved, thank you Paul, you do the Gospel work, and we will enjoy life.” No, from the first day they heard the Gospel until now, they have partnered with Paul in the Gospel work. They regularly supported every initiative he took and stood with him. They didn’t keep saying, “Paul, this is a Roman colony. This won’t work here. That won’t work. You don’t know our temptations and trials,” always discouraging the pastor instead of upholding him. They are not like some who just show “first love” and then all their zeal fades, making us wonder what happened to them. They have stood with him from the first day, and even now that he is in prison, they are very concerned about their pastor and the future of the Gospel, so they send help.
Paul says in 2:12 that they always obeyed him. They didn’t fall for any major false teachings and were faithful to the truth. He doesn’t have to correct any false doctrines. They believed the right things and practiced them in their lifestyle. There were no big sins like immorality, lusts, or worldliness. They were living holy lives. This is a quality group of people. This is truly a devoted, consistent, and doctrinally sound church. The Philippians had a special place in his heart and he in theirs. Remember what he said in 1:8, “I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” There was a genuine bond of love between the apostle and this church.
But in spite of all this, there were some problems in the church. There was one major problem, a terrible disease of disunity, discord, and conflict, which has poisoned so many churches. They were not individually united to one another in Gospel love, and this was hindering them from living a life worthy of the Gospel. Think of a church in a Roman colony with different backgrounds: Lydia, a Jew; the Roman jailer, a Gentile; and the demon-possessed girl. They had different cultures and backgrounds, and they were not united. In 4:2, Paul urges Euodia and Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. So Paul addresses that here, starting from the previous chapter, verse 27, when he says, “I want you to stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel.”
As he begins Chapter 2, there is a plea for unity of love. The unity Paul is talking about is not just outward, where we say, “Oh, we are all one church, not fighting with one another.” It is not externally controlled. It is an inward, heartfelt unity. It comes when people are very humble, unselfish, and love one another, and their hearts and minds are united in a common cause. This will not happen automatically; it can break easily if we are not careful. In Ephesians 4:3, Paul says to “endeavor,” meaning to “make every constant effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” It takes tremendous effort. The greatest task of spiritual oversight and pastoral leadership is to bring about and maintain this unity.
This is so very important that he talks about it in every one of his epistles: Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. It is absolutely vital for our church. No church can do anything for the Gospel without this unity.
“Oh, if we are a reformed church and have good truths, unity will be there automatically.” No, sometimes there may be more disunity in a truth-believing church than in other churches. For example, in some churches that don’t stand for anything, all views are “okay,” but there can still be more fights in them. But here, people who are zealous for what they believe to be right can become divided and collide with one another. So even though the Philippian church is a wonderful church, there is discord, and that is weakening the church. Paul pleads with them to do all they can to correct that.
The Formula for Spiritual Unity
Chapter 2 is a tremendous section on the formula for spiritual unity. It tells us three things in verses 1-4 about unity: Why we should be united, what unity is, and how to be united. Paul will explain that this unity can only come from love, humility, and unselfishness. He will bring the great example of our Lord Himself for love, humility, and unselfishness in verses 5-11.
He starts with “therefore,” which connects to the previous chapter, 1:27, “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the Gospel.”
If you’re sitting here thinking, “Pastor, your job is to preach, and my job is to listen and go on as usual. Don’t expect me to change. All this ‘loving unity with one another’ will not work in this church and will not suit my personality. I will be like I always am. You do whatever you want; you can teach about love and unity, invite us to your house, and tell us to invite others to ours. You can try to create men’s groups, women’s groups, and youth groups, and after all that tiring work in the midst of your family responsibilities, set up daily calls to teach the truth to each group, even arranging men’s fellowship breakfasts and dinners for the groups. You have tried all that, but did we change and become one? We are from different castes, different cultures, and have different mindsets. We cannot be one.”
“Now this year, you have created small discipleship groups and want to develop spiritual unity with at least three people in a group. You can keep doing whatever you want, but I will never move. I will not move from my comfort zone. We will not lift a finger to grow in unity with one another. You created a WhatsApp group with three people; did you see anything happen from that? No. We will eat, drink, sleep, and live our own lives, and not even bother to see how other brothers are doing. Am I my brother’s keeper? We will not make any attempt to even send some messages to others in the group or encourage one or two. I am set and swallowed up with me, my family, my world, my life, and one day the end.”
“Moreover, you don’t understand the personality conflicts with one another and how difficult it is to deal with conflicts. You know what they said to me and how they behaved with me. They are from a different culture and background; it will not fit. I cannot get along with people. This is a church; that’s why I’m quiet. Otherwise, something else would have happened. Let them quietly come and go. I will come and go. Don’t talk about spiritual unity coming from love and humility. It won’t work.”
If you are like this, let me join with the apostle Paul and plead and motivate you for spiritual unity. May the Holy Spirit alone melt your heart and renew your mind from this plea.
Five Motivations for Unity
Paul gives five pleas for spiritual unity, five motivations for why you should make every effort, striving together to grow in spiritual unity. Why is it so important?
1. Consolation in Christ
The first plea is “if there is any consolation in Christ.” What does he mean? He is not talking about something you read and understood. He is talking about your present experience. Have you experienced any comfort from Christ? The word consolation means “to come alongside and help” when you are discouraged, confused, or weak. It’s the idea of coming alongside someone to encourage, counsel, and help them. As you live your Christian life and face problems, have you tasted and experienced any comfort in Christ? Are you experiencing any comfort from your union with Christ? What will you say?
It’s a pathetic appeal. “Oh, what are you asking, Paul? We have thousands of comforts daily in Christ. From the day I was saved until this day, I have lived on comforts. In the midst of so many difficulties, it’s the comforts I live on. When we are guilty and miserable, Christ comes through His Word and forgives us, speaks peace to our conscience, encourages us when we’re discouraged, gives us guidance when we’re confused, and strengthens us when we’re weak. There are thousands of comforts, like a river flowing in my life.”
Pathetically, Paul is implying that the way you are living and behaving as a church is as if there is rarely any comfort in Christ. It’s a very pathetic appeal. He’s saying, “If there is even one comfort you have tasted, just like a father would say, ‘If there was one time when you were so hungry and we gave you food for your satisfaction, if you have any gratitude for that, if there is any wetness in your heart, then do this.'” The son melts and says, “Oh no, Father, for these twenty years, you have fed us with good food, taken care of us, comforted me, and taken care of me innumerable times.”
In the same way, Paul is trying to melt our hearts: “Is there any comfort you’ve experienced? If what He has done means anything to you, if you have any value, any true respect for that, if there is any wetness in your heart for this without the hardness of sin, this should compel and motivate you for what is said in verse 2: ‘fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.'”
When you are filled with overflowing gratitude for what Christ has done and you wonder, “Lord, what can I do for all you have done?” When Peter, after denying Christ, said, “Lord, I love you,” Christ replied, “Peter, the only way you can do anything to show your love for me is to feed my flock.” Why? Because for the Good Shepherd, there is nothing more important, nothing He loves in the entire universe more than His church, which He purchased with His precious blood. This is His flock; for one sheep, He will leave everything and search for it.
The greatest command the Lord gave after the Last Supper and before the cross was to “love one another as I have loved you.” This was the Lord’s greatest desire for His church before He went to the cross, and He even prays for it now. In John 17, He said, “Father, I pray that they may be one.” Why? So that by their oneness, when the world sees them as one church united in love for one another, “the world may know that You and I are one.” The world, fallen in sin since Cain and Abel, is full of people hating one another, divided by caste, color, land, education, and economy. There is one place they should see spiritual unity, and that is the church. When they see such unity, they will know Jesus is God. This is an important witness. It’s not how much we know and preach, but our practical unity and oneness that is a clear witness to the world that Jesus is God. In John 13:35, He said, “By this shall all men know that you’re My disciples, if you have love one for another.” The great passion of the heart of Christ was the unity of His people.
Paul is saying, “Because you have received such continual consolations from Christ since the moment of your salvation, how much He has done for your salvation—He poured out His soul in death, was counted among transgressors, bore your sins on His own body, and even today intercedes for you, watches over you as Prophet, Priest, and King—since you have been given so much, does not that spur you on to give back to Christ that which is precious to His heart? Does the influence of Christ in your life move you to obedience? Or are you so ungrateful that you will take, take, take, take but never give?”
Notice that this cannot be compelled after a point, because it is a very personal response to a very personal relationship. When you don’t change yourself and don’t make any effort for unity with brothers, to grow in relationship with other brothers and sisters, and instead live your own selfish life, saying, “Why should I go to all this trouble? I will just come and go,” you are disobeying this command. When you sin like this, you are violating the intimacy of your relationship with Christ. If in your personal relationship you have received such constant comfort, encouragement, counsel, exhortation, and wisdom from Christ, shouldn’t that motivate you to give back to Him what is precious to His heart? His sheep are around me. Should I give back at least one percent of what I have received from Him? How can we ever live every week as if we have not even one comfort from Christ? Ask your conscience, “Is this how I show my gratitude for all of Christ’s mercies?” He has constantly given you everything precious. Can you not give Him back what is precious to Him?
If you won’t and keep saying, “Pastor, do whatever you want; we will not take the initiative to disciple or help other believers,” realize what category you should place this sin in. This is not just a sin against a church or a pastor. It is a sin against your relationship with Christ. It is an act of great ingratitude and injustice against all the comforts you have received, and you don’t have any care for His personal desire for His church. So see your sin for what it is—how horrible it is. Correct it if you have received even one comfort from Christ. You are saying, in effect, “Christ, I take everything You give. I want everything I need. I will take all that You supply, but do not ask anything in return. Do not ask me to give back to You that which is precious to You.” It is the ultimate act of ingratitude to the One who has unceasingly poured comfort into your life since the moment you were saved. It is a sin against your intimate, personal relationship with Christ. So look at your defiance for what it is: it is gross ingratitude of the worst kind. Like David, you should cry, “Against You, You alone, have I sinned.”
Here, for the Philippian church, even though they may be sinning like this, Paul is appealing in an attitude of love and making them see what horrible wrong they are doing. He is not rebuking them with judgment. There are no threats or fear of punishment that he uses. He asks them to look at the love of Christ and at the constant, gentle, cheering consolations of Christ in their life, the constant outpouring of grace, and then realize that this same Christ’s great desire and prayer was for unity. “Can you take all of this from Christ and not at least give Him back that which is most precious to His heart? Because if you can’t, you have violated the relationship—the most severe of all acts of treachery. You eat bread at His table and kick Him in the chest. Don’t do that.”
2. Comfort of Love
So the first motive is comforts from Christ. If that’s not enough, notice the second in verse 1: “if any comfort of love.”
You say, “I cannot love anyone. They are so unlovable, so harsh, so weird. How many times do I have to be patient with them? I keep telling them again and again for years, but they never change. So stubborn. Ay, let them do whatever they want. I will come and do my own thing. Who cares about unity? Pastor, I have relationship conflicts. I have tried many times, and nothing seems to work. They don’t seem to respond.” We can get easily discouraged. Paul reminds us that our union with Christ is a great motivation for continuing our efforts to love.
Have you experienced the unconditional love of Christ? Was that love shown because of anything attractive or worthy in you? Or because you appropriately responded? The love of God was showered on you—loving tenderness starting from regeneration, calling, justification, adoption, and continual sanctification. The love of Christ is regularly shown in forgiving your repeated sins, comforting your conscience, and providing mercy and grace so abundantly. Did you deserve any of that? Again, is there even one time, one mercy you have experienced? “Oh, I am swimming only in that love.” If there is any one thing you truly value and are grateful for, shouldn’t that gratitude compel and constrain you to seek that which is precious to His heart: loving unity among His people?
If you focus on Christ’s love, even if the other person is not responsive initially to your attempts for love and unity, you need to be persevering like Christ. Remember, if there is any love in Christ, I need to live in a Christ-like way in the situation. Since He loved me when I was rebellious and not deserving, I can extend that same love to others, even if they aren’t deserving. When someone sins against Christ, He doesn’t cut them off. Instead, He ups the intensity of His love by going after that person, just as the Good Shepherd went after the one lost sheep. Even so, my love shouldn’t depend on the other person’s response; it depends on the comforting love of Christ for me. I need to allow His love to flow through me to the one who has offended me.
3. Fellowship of the Spirit
In your hard, dry heart, if you dare to say that’s not enough, Paul further melts our hearts by giving the third motive. Okay, not only what Christ comforts and Christ’s love for you in the Gospel and His love in union with Christ, but what about what the Holy Spirit is doing in your life right now? Think of all of verse 1: “if any fellowship of the Spirit.”
The word is koinonia, which means “partnership, communion, sharing.” It is the deepest word for intimate, tender friendship. It is like when we feel very lonely, fully discouraged, and sad. Someone comes very close, hugs us to their chest, comforts us with that fellowship, and whispers comforting things in our ears. That is what the Holy Spirit does. Think about the Holy Spirit and what a fellowship we have, like no other friendship. The Holy Spirit is not just with us, but He indwells our deepest being. He knows our sorrows and pains more than anyone. In how many million different ways is He constantly providing fellowship and friendship to us?
How pathetic when Paul says, “if any fellowship of the Spirit.” Oh Paul, don’t speak like that! I have received the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in a million ways, and received all His benefits. The Spirit has done everything for me. The Holy Spirit has brought about my regeneration and raised me to life when I was dead in transgressions and sins. I was a child of the devil. It is He who enabled us to believe and repent. He gives me the experience of adoption. He is the Spirit of adoption who witnesses with my spirit that I am a child of God. He indwells me, sanctifying me all my days. I am continually being cleansed by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, and empowered and enabled for service by the Spirit. Even though my prayer life is so pathetic, the Spirit is always praying for me “with groanings which cannot be uttered,” in a language that cannot be understood by man but is the language of the Trinity in which He prays unceasingly for you “according to the will of God.” You’ve been sealed by the Spirit. He has become the guarantor of your eternal inheritance. Oh, the Holy Spirit is so precious to me.
Paul again says, “If you have the Holy Spirit, realize that it is not only Christ’s great desire for loving unity in the church. The Holy Spirit’s great desire is the unity of the church. The unity of the church is called the unity of the Spirit.” Paul’s appeal is, “If you have experienced even one instance of the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t you show your gratitude by doing what the Holy Spirit desires most?” What is that? Verse 2: “Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
If you refuse to change and do everything for loving unity, you are saying, “I take all the Spirit gives; I give nothing back.” “I take all You give, but don’t expect me to give You back what You desire.” “I want all the ministry of the Holy Spirit, but I also will resist Your will and do exactly what I want.” Sin is ingratitude in action.
So see the horror of this sin. You not only sin against your relationship with Christ, but you also grieve and act in defiance against the Holy Spirit who regenerated you, sanctifies you your whole life, fills you, produces wonderful fruits in you, teaches you, helps you resist temptation, prays for you, and seals you for eternal glory. He has given you everything pertaining to life and godliness. Will you distort and disrupt that which is most dear to His heart, the unity of the church? See it for what it is. It is a violation of a relationship. It is quenching the blessed Holy Spirit. It is insulting the work of the Holy Spirit in you.
4. Affection and Mercy
Fourthly, verse 1: “if any affection and mercy.” He plunges deeper into the Holy Spirit’s ministry here. Has the Spirit given “affection”? The Hebrew word would mean “gut, viscera.” “Bowels.” It’s a deep word, a gut-melting feeling of love. Did you ever think about that? Did you know the Holy Spirit has affection for you? It’s more than love. Agape love is a cognitive thing, a love of the will; we can show that without affection. But affection is all feeling. It’s a longing. The Holy Spirit has such melting affections for you, like a mother. He desires our greatest good and dwells in you. That is why when you sin, it says, “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit.” He is not angry; He is grieved. It is His deeply felt affections, His longings. We enjoy so many blessings from Him. We have received the longings of the Spirit. What He longs for us, we have received. He prays for us according to the will of God, and God is hearing and answering Him because He’s always praying according to God’s will, and we’re receiving the things the Spirit is asking for us to receive. So he says, “Since you have received the affections of the Spirit.”
Then he adds the word “compassion” or “mercy.” It’s a beautiful word. It’s translated as “the mercies of God” or “the tender mercies of God.” The tender, compassionate sympathy of God through the Spirit. He says He has tender mercies for you like a mother. The Holy Spirit is sympathetic to you. He has a heart of pity toward us, a heart of tenderness toward us. He shows us compassion, tenderness, mercy, sympathy, pity, and tremendous care.
So Paul says, “if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy.” Because you have received all this, shouldn’t you be of the same mind? You are part of the church, and then you think your only duty is just to come on Sunday, show your face, and run away. You don’t do anything to get to know others, to increase the love and unity of the church, or to have fellowship with others. You continue to live in your own selfish world. On top of that, you get upset with small things and maybe cause divisions. Do you realize what a horrible sin it is against Christ who saved you and the Holy Spirit who indwells you with infinite affections? Don’t you realize that, having received all His compassion and tender mercies, I must show the same to other sinners, even if they don’t deserve it?
5. The Pastor’s Joy
Then, with the weight of all this, Paul adds one final motivation for unity, in verse 2: “fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
The motives are not only about your intimate relationship with Christ and your intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. He adds, “As your pastor, if you have any value for all the ministry I have done, will you do this for me?” There’s a lot of pathos here. He doesn’t just lay down the duty on them, saying, “Here’s your duty to one another. Be of one mind.” After talking about Christ and the Holy Spirit, he uses his own relationship with them, like a father with his children around his deathbed. “I may live or die,” he says. “Make full my joy.” He is in prison in Rome. He may die. The Philippians’ hearts were broken, and they wanted to make him happy, so they sent Epaphroditus and gifts to meet all of Paul’s needs. Paul writes this letter, saying, “Don’t worry about me. I’m happy.” They were worried about him, thinking he must be broken-hearted and sad. As a good church, their pastor’s happiness was so important to them. They were ready to do anything to make their pastor happy. He loved them, and they loved him; there was a deep bond between them. He uses that bond and says, “I am joyful, and if you want to make my joy complete, then maintain this unity, maintain this unity.”
This is a pastor’s plea. As an application, can I plead with you like Paul did? Paul doesn’t threaten the Philippians or shame them for their division, like he did with the Corinthians. Like a good father who knows he has responsible children who truly have respect and love for their parents, their conscience will prick them when they hear such motivations, and this will change their conduct. Are we such a sensible church? Will this prick our conscience today?
Do you always want to hear what is important and useful to you—all the blessings for you? This passage tells us what is most important to Christ. It is a plea of Christ. He prays for this regularly, that our church would be united in love. We cannot grow in unity as we have so far; we should consciously take this as our priority and make all efforts to grow in unity, to know each other more, to have more fellowship with each other, and to grow in friendship and love for the church. Does this motivate you? Keep the unity of the church because your relationship with Christ gives you this calling.
This is a plea of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is working to unite us. Your relationship with the Spirit calls for it. “All our present experiences with Christ and the Holy Spirit should motivate us to the same mind.”
It’s not only for benefits from Christ and benefits from the Holy Spirit. Your relationship with the pastor calls for it. It’s a pastoral plea. Today, I stand here and plead with you, “If you have received any benefit or comfort from my ministry as a pastor, you want to make my ministry a joy and not a burden.” How much more can I teach? These people don’t seem to change, it’s the same old… no improvement. Whatever discipleship, at least with those three people, they will not make efforts to share the love and unity of Christ. We have to push them. No one will take the initiative. Do you know how discouraging it is for a pastor? Why should I keep pushing? Will they not do anything on their own? How are you partnering with your pastor for all his ministry?
Do you want to make my ministry a joy and not a burden, and do you value my ministry as a pastor in any way? Be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. This is a pastor’s plea. The persuasive pressure of a unique, personal relationship. Paul could use this approach with these people because they were a noble church bonded to him. You can’t always take the highest approach because some people aren’t willing to live on the highest plane.
These are the motives for unity. We should be motivated because that’s the desire of Christ, and that’s the desire of the blessed Holy Spirit, and that is the desire of every pastor. Okay, Pastor, we are all motivated. What is this unity? How should we be united? Tell us! Come next week, and we will see.
Lessons
These verses teach two things: one about God and another about true Christians.
We sometimes, in reformed circles, end up seeing God as a cold, hard, indifferent deity who functions like a machine, and if you obey Him, the machine releases good things. These verses tell us that our God engages with us in a deep, emotional relationship. We don’t have a philosophy; we don’t have a religion. We have a relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This relationship encourages, exhorts, and ministers, and gives grace upon grace and comfort and encouragement and cheer and blessing. And when you fall, He picks you up. And when you sin, He forgives you. And when you need strength, He infuses it. And when you need wisdom, He grants it. And it’s that personal thing because He loves you. He loves you as you are, knowing everything about you. And when you sin, you violate that relationship, that intimacy.
The Spirit is not a smoke, an influence, or a force that mystically makes things happen. The Spirit is a person who lives in you. The Spirit longs for you with compassion and love, and desires your greatest good and your blessing. The Spirit longs to pour out benedictions upon you. It is the longings of the Spirit that you have received through the grace of God. Oh, may this make us realize that God is not some abstract thing. He is a person, and He desires a relationship. That relationship grows through means of reading Scripture daily, praying, and using other means of grace.
The second lesson is that a Christian is someone who has experienced consolation in Christ, comfort of love, fellowship of the Spirit, and affection and mercy.
If your religion is only outward things, like words about Bible verses, coming to church, this and that, you have not had a true Christian experience. When we are asked for our testimony, we have to explain what comforts we have experienced and tasted in Christ. This is the true, authentic Christian experience. What comforts have you received from Christ and the Holy Spirit? It’s not about you going to church, getting baptized, or learning the Bible; those are outward things. Only when a person experiences that can they be commanded and pleaded with to live a proper Christian life of unity in the church. Do you see that in this passage? If the Philippians were a bunch of false believers who had not had any salvation experience or experienced any comfort, how could Paul ever call for spiritual unity?
This may expose some of your hearts. Maybe that is the problem with some of you. You become church members, but these motivations and whatever other motivations may not be moving you because you have basically never had a salvation experience. Without that consolation from Christ and fellowship of the Spirit, you can never be like-minded, have the same love, or be of one accord and one mind. We will see in other passages that you will not have humility or love for that, but pride and selfishness, which will never allow you to be united. Do you see what a hindrance such false believers are to the Church of Christ? It is because of them that the unity of the church is spoiled. You’re trying to live a life you don’t possess.
Genuine Christian experience is a prerequisite for true church life. Conduct grows out of the genuineness of Christian experience. Some of you will make no progress until you face the bitter reality that in all likelihood, you are yet unconverted, dead in trespasses and sins. Realize that you have never, in living faith and true repentance, laid hold of Christ as your Savior. Maybe that is why none of these motivations work in your life. I plead with you, if you feel that none of these things motivate you when you hear about the comforts of Christ, the fellowship of the Spirit, and His tender mercies and compassions, if those things are just a bunch of words to you, may God open your eyes to see your condition and turn to Christ.
Those of you who can say, “Pastor, I know the comforts of Christ and the fellowship of the Spirit,” you can overcome any hindrances, and your personal conflicts can transcend culture, race, background, and education, and you can be united with other people. May this melt your heart, kindle all gratitude, and change your behavior. Strive for the unity of the church.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 