Our world is full of divisions; men divide themselves by religion, color, language, nation, and principles. Most news is driven by division. Whatever unity we find in the world is all superficial and temporary. In this divided world, our Lord has called his church out of the world to be different in exactly this way. He wills to reveal his glory to the world through the church’s unity.
While no church in the world is perfect—all have their weaknesses—the Philippian church, though one of the best in the New Testament in many ways, also had a weakness and a deficiency in the area of spiritual oneness and practical church unity. In chapter 2, Paul, through the Holy Spirit’s wisdom, reveals a comprehensive truth about spiritual unity. We can say it’s the most brief and practical passage on unity in the Bible. It answers basic questions: Why should we be spiritually united? What is spiritual unity? And how do we become spiritually united?
We answered the first question last week: Why we should be spiritually united. Paul gives five strong, heart-melting pleas. Firstly, if you have experienced any consolation from Christ in your life. Secondly, if you have experienced anything of the unconditional love of Christ, His grace, forgiveness, sympathy, and infinite patience. It is a pathetic plea to the believer who swims in the rivers of Christ’s consolations and is amazed by the infinite ocean waves of Christ that keep coming to him every minute. Paul says that if you are truly grateful for even one of these and desire to return that gratitude, you should not out of compulsion but voluntarily and willingly do everything for the church to grow in unity, because Christ’s greatest desire and prayer is the unity of the church. If you have any spiritual sense, your debt of gratitude will make you leave your comfort zone and do something for church unity.
Thirdly, he brings up the fellowship of the Spirit and the affection and mercy of the Spirit, and all that the Spirit is doing for you every minute of your life, like a mother who regenerated you, saved you, enables you, intercedes for you, fills you, makes you fruitful, strengthens you in the inner man to resist temptation, provides power for witness, gifts you for service, sanctifies you, and seals you as a guarantee of eternal salvation. He is not doing all that with gritted teeth, but with infinite affection and compassion and sympathetic kindness. Paul kindles an infinite depth of debt that we owe the Holy Spirit. It’s like we read in stories where someone has been invisibly doing good things for us since childhood, protecting us from birth and providing all our needs, and one day he comes before us. How we would melt with gratitude, and when he asks us for one thing, how we would do it with joy and as a privilege, not as a burden. Paul touches a very sensitive nerve of a believer and says that if you have any gratitude for all the Holy Spirit has done, you should express that by striving for the unity of the church, because not only is it Christ’s desire, but the Spirit also longs for the unity of the church.
The opposite of this is that when you don’t do anything for unity, but instead live with divisions, a bitter spirit, and selfish pride toward one another, you are not only sinning against the church, you are sinning against this great relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is a base ingratitude for all that Christ and the Holy Spirit have done in your life. Unless you see that sin in that light, there will be no true repentance and no change in your behavior, and you won’t do anything for the unity of the church. It is a sin against Christ and a quenching of the Holy Spirit.
Fifthly, Paul is like a father saying his last words to his children: “Philippians, you want to make me joyful?” They loved their pastor and would do anything for that. Paul’s joy would be filled to the brim, not if he got out of prison, but if he heard that the Philippians were living in harmony. He says, “Make my joy complete by being a united church.”
After kindling our deep motivations, assuming that true believers will be fully shaken, filled with determination, and intensely emotional, we might say, “Don’t speak like that, Paul, tell us what you want! We are ready for any sacrifice, any change, any difficulty! Tell us what we should do to show our gratitude to our Lord and the Holy Spirit! Clearly tell us, what is this unity?”
That is what Paul tells us next. Having called for unity, he now clearly explains it. What does it look like? That is what we have in verse 2. He will explain unity in four words in verse 2, all connected to one another. All of this makes a church united.
Four Aspects of Spiritual Unity
Notice verse 2: “fulfill my joy by (1) being like-minded, (2) having the same love, (3) being of one accord, and (4) of one mind.” There are four great truths and four aspects of spiritual unity. Wherever you see a united church, you will see these four things. We have to understand each of them and their sum carefully. If this is so very important today, we will try to clearly understand what spiritual unity is. These are not only the secrets of unity in the church, but also in families. So many families are destroyed because of a lack of unity. These principles are even applicable to family unity, husband-wife relationships, and parent-child relationships.
1. Being Like-Minded
The first aspect is “being like-minded,” which means “to think the same way.” The first key to unity starts with the mind and how we think. He says we have to think the same way. This is the foundation and most essential for true spiritual unity. This is not just one isolated statement. This is a command in most of the epistles. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, Paul says, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.” It means “agree, speak the same thing, have no divisions, be of the same mind, and have the same judgment.” We are to think the same way. This is the first step of spiritual unity: the same mind.
What does it mean to have the same thoughts? How can we ever have such unity? We are from different backgrounds, different cultures, and different upbringings. Think of the diversity in the Philippian church. We know Lydia, who was a Jewish proselyte, knew the Old Testament, and was influenced by the Jewish religion and the worship of Jehovah. This is directly opposite to the worldly, idolatrous Philippian jailer and his household, and then, as if from another world, a poor demon-possessed pagan slave girl. What a broad spectrum of cultural, religious, and sociological attitudes and perspectives! How can they all have the same mind?
What is this? Obviously, Paul doesn’t mean that we all must see every matter exactly the same. It’s not that we should have the same thoughts on politics, food, dress, or worldly things. “Oh, that brother likes pasta, so to be united, I will also talk about pasta.” Nor does he mean that we’re supposed to set aside essential truth for the sake of unity. As we saw in 1:27, we must strive and stand firm for the faith of the Gospel. Paul is not talking about superficial, external, worldly, or physical unity. We are talking about spiritual unity. It is the inner attitude of agreeing with one another. It’s a big challenge, and it does not come by human means. It is impossible by human means. That is, it cannot be engineered; it cannot be orchestrated. It is a spiritual unity that comes to the church when the church strives to have the mind of Christ and doesn’t walk in the flesh, but walks in the Spirit.
The key to understanding this one-mindedness is in the context. We might ask, “Paul, you are calling us to have one mind, but whose mind is it? Is it brother Prakash’s mind or my mind? We cannot have two minds.” See what verse 5 says: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.” It’s the same word. We should all strive not to have our own mind, what we think is correct. We have to have the same mind that Christ had and the thought patterns of Christ. That same thought should give all of you the same inner attitude of agreeing with one another. That attitude will lead to activities that will help you grow in unity. We can call it an identical perspective of reality.
This unity comes when we have the mind of Christ and are led by the Spirit. Firstly, how can we have the mind of Christ? Colossians 3:1-2 tells us, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” We may feel like asking, “That’s so easy to say! How can we set our mind on things above? I am wallowing in the gutter of the world. How do I climb to that level?” See, isn’t this a daily problem? Think about it. Paul goes on in the passage to call them to unity as a church with that mindset. In Colossians 3:12-15, he says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Every one of these things talks about relationships in the church. It’s all about unity, every bit of it. All the right attitudes for unity are there.
You say, “Well, how do you get to that?” How can I, an egoist, selfish, vain, and proud person, climb to that level of thinking like Christ and display all these attributes to my brothers and sisters? Think about it; isn’t this our daily problem? We keep wallowing in the low gutter of the selfish world. Our thoughts are all low thoughts. If you just take time to see why we are having so many troubles and confusions, most of our thoughts are worldly, and most of the time, it’s all selfish, self-pity, and self-worries. “Bitterness against what that person said,” “what this person is doing,” and “how can they do that?” Negative thoughts lead to stress, worry, and depression, which impact our overall mood. It has a physical impact, causing discouragement, weakening the immune system, and bringing hopelessness. It is so important that even worldly people say a positive, healthy thought life is the secret to a happier, more fulfilling life. We don’t realize that we grieve the Holy Spirit with that kind of thinking. We live a completely sinful thought life. Our thoughts shape how we interpret the world around us, and most of the time, it’s wrong. It is that thought life that influences our words and actions. We are nothing but what we think. How you behave with people is directly related to what you think. If you have been having all the wrong, negative thoughts about them, or if you are filled with selfishness, you will behave with them in a certain way. If you have positive thoughts, you will behave differently.
If there has to be any change and progress, our thought life has to change. We should have the mind of Christ instead of a selfish, pathetic mind. “Oh, Pastor, so how can I change my thought life? What is one practical suggestion?”
Here is a practical way, from Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” What is “the word of Christ”? It’s the Scripture. “I know the Scripture.” Notice that it’s not that you hear the Bible once a week in church and go, knowing it in a generic way. It says, “let the Scripture”—what?—”richly” and fully—what?—”dwell in you.” You should read it so much and so regularly that it becomes a part of your being and your mind, so that it richly and fully dwells in you. “Let it be the residing presence, the dominant occupant, the energizing force of thought.” That’s the idea. Not knowing the Bible superficially, but “let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.”
Why? Because 1 Corinthians 2:16 says the mind of Christ is the Scripture. The more we soak ourselves in the mind of Christ, the more we will have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus. Our instincts become spiritual, so that our involuntary reactions will be like Christ’s, because we are dominated by the Word of Christ. Our thought patterns will become Christ-thinking, which will lead to an inner attitude of agreeing with one another and actions that will help us grow in unity. This doesn’t come from knowing the Scriptures once in a while or just from Sunday reading. It comes from regular use and reading, so that it occupies the reigning and compelling area of your life. It’s a matter of letting the Word of Christ dominate you, and it becomes the controlling force in your life that pushes you ever upward, out of this earth, and out of yourself.
This is the way to be filled with the Spirit. Notice that if the Word of Christ dwells in you richly, what will your lifestyle be? “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” This is the same lifestyle he describes in Ephesians 5: “be filled with the Spirit.” In both of those passages, the results are the same. If you’re filled with the Spirit, you’ll “speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; you’ll sing, make melody in your heart.” Therefore, they must be the same thing. So, on the one hand, “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” and on the other hand, “be filled with the Spirit.” The controlling influence in your life is the Word of God by the Spirit of God. Second Corinthians 10:5 says this will help us to take every negative, wrong thought captive and make it obedient to Christ’s Word. This is how GRBC as a church can realize oneness and the same mind—when the Word of God dwells richly in us.
Growing unity in the church is a great sign of a maturing and growing church. If there is disunity, what does it show? He rebukes them in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?” Divisions in the church, small bitterness, envy, strife, and divisions all display that we are not walking by the Spirit, but walking in the flesh. Romans 8:5 says, “For those who are according to the flesh set their mind on the things of the flesh.” This is the same word we saw in Philippians 2. “But those who are according to the Spirit”—it is implied—”set their mind on the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace.” You can either think with the Spirit or you can think with the flesh. Fleshly thinking will lead to divisions. It’s our own fleshly, selfish, prideful, comfort-seeking, and personal ambition to maintain and defend our own little fortress. When our own ego and pride are touched, we don’t tolerate it. There is no spiritual thinking, no thinking of forgiving, sacrificing, or bearing with one another like Christ. It’s immature, fleshly thinking. No church can find spiritual unity until they change that.
We have to be one-minded. We have to ascend beyond our own selfish world, ego, realm, and our own flesh. We have to learn to kill our flesh, and mortify our remaining sin with all its timidity, ego, and pride. If we are to think the same, then we must all think in harmony with the Holy Spirit. This oneness of mind can only be found when people set their mind on things of the Spirit, not on the flesh.
It’s easy to say, “My fleshly thoughts attack me so much; I am daily victimized by my flesh. It beats me daily. Please tell me one practical way to be led by the Spirit and to have the mind of Christ.” Here are two practical steps. Realize that if you live by the flesh, you will die, but if you put to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. So, we need to mortify our remaining sin on one side and, on the other side, strive to have the mind of Christ by “letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.” That is the first step for spiritual unity.
2. Having the Same Love
So, the first one is “being like-minded,” and the second is “having the same love.” The second one flows from the first. If you have the mind of Christ, are walking by the Spirit, and have the same mind, you will maintain the same love. That is also a mark of spiritual unity. What does it mean “to maintain the same love”? It means to love everybody the same. Not to love only those who are like me or in my comfort group, but to love all brothers and sisters with the same love. That itself should tell us it is not about emotional likes or dislikes, because I can’t be emotionally attracted to everybody.
Remember, the motivation for this love is the love of Christ. If we have tasted any of Christ’s unconditional love, in which He sacrificially gave Himself for our salvation, we will have a taste of His supreme love, “not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son.” He took the initiative. If we have tasted anything of that, we will take the initiative, not out of compulsion, but voluntarily, to express a self-giving love by giving our time, efforts, prayers, and facilities to meet the needs of other brothers. This divine love, without any selfishness, seeks the good of its object, even at personal cost. Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.” Oh, the unifying power of that kind of selfless love is amazing. It’s a mutual sacrificial service; that’s how the New Testament defines love. Again, see how this is so important for unity. When there is a collision between brothers, it arises out of a failure to maintain love. Collision very often comes because someone has a grudge against someone else. It comes because somebody feels something other than love in their heart for someone else. Bitterness, envy, jealousy, anger, murmurings, ego, and pride in the heart show themselves in conflicts.
So how can we maintain the same mind and love? It all goes back to our lifestyle and our thought life. If our lifestyle is not killing sin, subduing our thoughts, bringing them into subjection to Christ, walking in the Spirit, and allowing God’s Word to richly dwell in us, we cannot have the mind of Christ. We can never have this kind of one-mindedness, and we can never have this kind of love for one another. The reason for a divided church, a church without one love, is because all the members are living a fleshly lifestyle. It shows they don’t read the Scriptures, they are not living holy lives, they are not killing sin; they just gather as a group weekly, but there is no true love or fellowship. The problem is the smell of a rat in their personal lives. When you have the mind of Christ and are walking in the Spirit, Christ and the Spirit will be loving through you, and love for one another will be the outflow. We may not have a natural love for one another, but when we have the mind of Christ and the Spirit of Christ, His love will overflow. As Paul says, “I long with the affection of Jesus Christ.” If we don’t have that, it all shows how low we are spiritually.
So, firstly, “being like-minded,” and secondly, “having the same love.”
3. Being of One Accord
Thirdly, “being of one accord.” This is a beautiful phrase that means “united in soul.” The word is used only one time in the whole New Testament. Paul probably made it up. It means “one-souled.” We say “two bodies, one life.” Paul says, “You are 100 people, and you should all be united into one soul.” In the last chapter, 1:27, he says, “I want you to stand firm and fight with one spirit.” Now he says, “I want you to be one-souled.” I love the word “soul-brother,” and that’s this idea: “knit deeply down in the harmony of the soul.” A great example of this is in Acts 4:32: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul.” Imagine so many thousands of people who believed were of one heart and of one soul. Thousands of them were experiencing soul togetherness. The invisible Spirit of God and the mind of Christ were knitting all their souls together, and they were all one soul. “As a result of that unity, they had power, and great grace was upon them all.” It is their unity that the Holy Spirit used to turn the world upside down through them. Power and blessing in the church are related to unity. Oh, how far we are from that!
What again was the secret of their unity? They were not one group just thinking Sunday worship was enough for them. Acts 2 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” You see, it is only when the people of God devote themselves to growing in scriptural knowledge, walking by the Spirit, and developing the mind and attitude of Christ that we will all have the same thought, same love, same passion, same determination, and same desire. We are going to be “united in soul.” The problem is when one group of brothers has the desire and passion of the Spirit, and another group is all fleshly and selfish. There is a collision and no unity. Someone, like a pastor or a deacon or a brother, whose heart burns with Jesus’ desire to see the church grow and be united, while others are all worldly and set their minds only on things on earth, on their comfort, and they don’t want to move or progress. Then whatever the pastor does, they will complain and grumble and see it as a burden, saying, “Why are we stuck here?” You have a collision. They don’t even realize why the pastor is doing this. He wants me to grow in Christ and be blessed. It is my flesh that is resisting. The flesh is a liar, and the flesh will deceive you, and it will conjure things in your minds that aren’t even true, and it will destroy the unity of the church. We have to resist the flesh and be determined that we will not give room to the flesh. It is Satan who dreads a united church. He will do everything to stop that. He will sow envy, bitterness, pride, offense, and discouragement. He will work through you and your flesh to hinder the church’s unity. So, these are three things: being like-minded (unity of thought and disposition), having the same love (unity of selfless affection), and being of one accord (unity of the entire soul).
4. Of One Mind
Fourthly, “of one mind,” which means “intent on one purpose,” or “minding one thing.” When you have one thought, one love, and one soul, you move and progress with one goal. If we all have one passion, we’re going to have one purpose. There is not only one mind, the internal unifying power of love, and the felt oneness of one soul, but there are objective goals to which we are together, pressing as one person. We are to strive toward one goal.
What is the great purpose of the church? The greatest motive is to glorify God by advancing His kingdom through the Gospel. We are all together for that; that is our one focus, one intent. The problem comes when people join the church with different, selfish purposes, goals, comforts, and ambitions.
So, we see Paul taking us full circle on unity. He tells us the height, depth, breadth, and width of unity. See, it touches our thoughts, our emotions, and our wills. It starts with one mind, and the mind of Christ will lead to one great love. That one great love will unite all our souls together, and as one soul, we are all moving toward one eternal, glorious purpose: the glory of God and the advancement of the kingdom. Paul could have just said, “Be one,” but he says it in four ways to engrave it deeply in our minds and our hearts. He emphasizes the importance of unity and the path to unity. When a group of people is committed to growing and is controlled by a deep knowledge of the Word of Christ and the power of the Spirit, they maintain the same spiritual attitude, the same selfless love, are united as one soul, and pursue with passion one holy, divine goal. There can’t be any collision there. No power in the world can stop the growth and work of that church. It is to such a church that Christ has given amazing promises. Matthew 18:19-20 says, “if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” That is the secret of the first-century church and every powerful church after that.
So we have seen why we should be united and what it means to be united. The next practical question is how we can become so united as a church. We will see that next, very practically, in verses 3-4. Each of us has a part in this. Don’t miss it. The Holy Spirit will speak to you.
Let me finish with some applications. Paul makes us realize that this is an inevitable debt of gratitude to all that Jesus has done and the Holy Spirit has done in our lives. Don’t ever lie to the Holy Spirit and say you love God by not showing your love for the unity and growth of the church. Ephesians 4:1-3 says, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
A Christian walks worthy of their name and calling only when they act this way toward their fellow Christians: humbly, gently, patiently, forbearingly, and lovingly. A Christian does everything he can to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That’s how a Christian is to act. You are called to unity.
Let me remind you how important this is for Christ and the Spirit. His prayer on earth and His prayer in heaven now is “Father, they may be one and by their oneness, the world may know that You and I are one and that You sent Me.” He didn’t only pray for the first-century church; He said, “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
Today, the Church of Jesus Christ is a mockery before the world with all kinds of shameful deception and drama going on. Instead of the world seeing the church and believing that God truly sent Jesus, they are doubting whether Jesus really came and have forgotten about Him being God. All kinds of mythological gods have become gods today. We see the world’s greatest monument is a statue of unity in a divided country; the church has to be the highest statue of unity. Do you have any burden for that? There is no point in simply feeling sad and superficially praying, “Lord, may the church grow, may the nation know You.” If you really have a burden and any gratitude, give yourself for the unity of the church. The Lord earnestly prays this prayer for His church. He has called you and me as a church to be a bright light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
Paul knows that in the midst of all the opposition the Philippians are facing, people would come to them and wish that Caesar was Lord. If they don’t respond, there would be terrible consequences. Just like in Nazi Germany, if a soldier knocked on your door and you didn’t say, “Heil Hitler,” you could lose your property, jobs, and benefits. The Philippians were a Roman colony, and they could even be killed and face all kinds of problems for their faith. If they can stand in unity as a church, there can’t be a greater witness for the Gospel in that society. In that world, a Jew in his self-righteous tower, always looking down on Romans as disgusting idolaters, and Romans hating to even come near Jews, and pagans like the demon-possessed girl, would see all of them united in love as one soul, with the same thought, pressing toward one purpose. This would shock the world. They are gathering in one building, not just tolerating one another, but an invisible bond binds them. Wow, we all talk about unity, but this is truly divine unity. This is humanly impossible. The world can see the power of the Gospel not only in their words but also operating in their church, a unity and a oneness which is utterly unknown to the world. They will fall down, saying, “God is truly in your midst. Jesus is really God who has united such different people.”
What is the application for our church? Yes, we have people with different backgrounds, religions, cultures, and upbringings, but instead of this being an excuse for disunity, it can be a powerful witness of the Gospel. When people come to our church and see each of us in our own world, coming and going, how can we be a witness of the Gospel? How can anyone be motivated when they see us to say, “Truly, this is Christ’s church. The Gospel has done a wonderful work in them. Christ is truly God”?
But instead, even though we are so different from each other in every way, when they see that we are all thinking the same scriptural thoughts, with the same mind as Christ, and not living in our own selfish world, they will sense our self-giving, outgoing love for one another and that we actually delight in one another. We are of one soul, and when goals are set before us from the Word of God, we pursue that one thing.
You have no idea the tremendous power this has upon the conscience of the unconverted. Even though they may not be touched in any way by the preaching of the Gospel, many souls have come to Christ and known Jesus by seeing the unity of the church. They saw something among Christians that they could never see anywhere else in the world. People would just go to church to see this wonder. That is what makes the church special and Gospel-worthy. Are we such a church? We are called for that.
It is not just preaching in the church that will bring souls; the power of the Gospel should be demonstrated by the church after the service through their unity. If you people don’t validate the Gospel preached from this pulpit by your relationship with one another, it will be shorn of its power in great measure. It is upon you as a congregation to validate and to manifest the realities proclaimed from this pulpit in your relationship with each other.
Only then can we be a first-century church, because they were like one soul, and the church was filled with power and grace. And with the apostle, let me plead, “Do you want to fill my joy to the brim? Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
What should I do?
Basic Responsibility:
- Have the mind of Christ. a. Change your thought life. Realize that your current thought life is filling you with selfish, negative thoughts. Earnestly strive to have the same mind that was in Christ Jesus by regularly devoting yourself to reading the Scriptures. b. Secondly, do you see how important our confession is for oneness? All of us can hide, saying we all believe the Bible. But the 1689 Confession, as a summary of the Scriptures, makes us think the same truths. Your duty as a member is to strive to have a thorough understanding of our 1689 Confession. Do you see how important it is to teach people before taking them into membership? How can we have someone with different beliefs influenced by Bakht Singh’s teachings, Zac Poonen’s teachings, Brethren, dispensational views, or Pentecostal views, and have them united with the church? It will just be a club, and we can never see such unity. See how important it is to teach people all these truths before membership. It’s so important that all of us who are members know the 1689 Confession and what we believe. Some of you, as Pastor Bala said, may need to revalidate your membership beliefs to show how much you have grown in that truth. Only then can we have the same mind.
- Have the same love. a. Guard your heart against any bitterness or anger toward any member in the church. That will destroy the church’s unity. The most terrible sin is to allow Satan to plant any bitterness against any church member in your heart. He will always try to do that; he hates church unity. Don’t take those sins lightly. Remove every kind of bitterness, hard feelings, and grudge against any church member. Mortify your sin. It will not only destroy your grace life but also destroy the unity of the church. b. Thus, in any conflict, I must first look at my relationship with Christ: Am I motivated by His love? Is this the same as the mind of Christ? c. As a pastor, I am often tempted to feel bitterness toward those we are trying to lift who never move. When I have wrong thoughts, I confess my thoughts to the Spirit and ask Him to forgive me and fill my heart with a surpassing spiritual love for all who are a part of the body of Christ. I can’t do that in my flesh. My flesh refuses to do that. If I allow those things, the love of Christ will not flow through me. d. Abide in Christ’s comfort, love, and the fellowship of the Spirit. That is what will help you to show that love to others. If you are living a fleshly and worldly lifestyle, you will never be able to have the same love. You are not only hindering your growth but also the whole church’s unity.
- Be of one soul. a. Strive to know one another in the church. Being one soul, knit in a bond, doesn’t come from just talking to people once in a while. Get to know one another and become close friends. That is a great aim. The Lord will richly bless all your efforts and time when you strive for the unity and peace of the church. b. We have a practical plan and many ways to do that. Yes, we cannot be like the first-century church and all gather and live together, leaving our jobs, but can we aim for fellowship in many ways, like with regular dinners and lunches? c. Sisters have planned a get-together next Saturday. This is a wonderful thing. d. We should plan for men and youth. You should visit one another’s houses and build fellowship. We should plan retreats and regular meals. e. A plea to the deacons: please plan and help us grow in unity by planning these things.
- Have one goal. a. Can I remind you that we have seven goals for discipleship, all for the progress of the church? b. I want to remind you that I am not telling you anything new. This is not my goal, but these are membership responsibilities. The goal of all of this is to glorify God and spread the Gospel. c. We will not achieve these goals if I am the only one talking. As one soul, we should move toward this goal this year.
See, when we have the same mind of Christ, love for one another, and are knit as one soul, we can achieve all these goals we set with God’s help.
Grace Reformed Baptist Church, Bangalore 