Will you please turn to the letter to the Philippians, chapter 2? We will read the first eleven verses.
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions,
Make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
Doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;
Not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
But emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted Him, and gave unto Him the name which is above every name;
That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth,
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Let us look to the Lord in prayer.
O holy Father, how we praise and thank Thee that Thou hast opened the way for us to enter into the holiest of all, that we may stand in Thy very presence. It is all because of the blood of our Lord Jesus. It is all because of His body that was rent for us, to open a new and living way for us to enter in.
And how we praise and thank Thee that even now Thou, our Lord Jesus, art our High Priest, making intercession for us. So, Lord, we just come to Thee this morning with boldness, because this is what Thou hast given to us. We want to touch Thy throne of grace, and we want to look to Thee to bless us as we study Thy Word.
We pray that a spirit of wisdom and revelation may be granted to us. We ask that we may be illumined in the heart of our mind, that we may truly understand and may enter in by the power of Thy Holy Spirit. So we just open ourselves to Thee this morning for Thy Word. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
In these morning sessions, we have been considering together before the Lord this very important matter of Christian unity.
Again and again, we say that it is the will of God that we who are the Lord’s should be one. It is the burden; it is the prayer of our Lord Jesus. While He was on earth, and now that He is in heaven, His prayer is centered upon this matter: that we who believe in Him must be one.
And it is the work of the Holy Spirit among God’s people today. He is touching our hearts and exercising our hearts toward this matter of the oneness of the Body of Christ. Wherever there is not that unity, wherever there is not that oneness, we sense deep down within our hearts that something is wrong.
No matter how we try to reason it, no matter how we try to defend our divisions, yet deep down in our hearts we are conscious of the fact that we are made to be one. God has called us to be one.
But for this unity among God’s people to become a reality, it has to begin with the unity of the Spirit, which God has already given to us. The Holy Spirit has given us a unity: a unity in the Godhead, a unity in God, a unity in Christ, and a unity in the Spirit.
In this unity we are all one, and we are exhorted to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace.
The problem today is not that there is no unity, as though it were something we have to make up. We do thank the Lord that the unity has already been given. It is the unity of the Spirit:
One body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, Who is over all, and through all, and in all.
In God, we have already been given that unity. We are one. What is needed is that we must keep this unity, and we must exercise diligence to keep it. Why? Because it can be easily lost.
How the enemy is trying every way to move us away from the ground of the unity of the Spirit. He will try every way to get us off that unity, to break that unity, and to bring in divisions. When that happens, the testimony of the Lord’s people is gone.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is the responsibility of every child of God. It is not just the responsibility of the leaders in the church.
As a matter of fact, probably the leaders of the church are mostly responsible for the disunity among God’s people. But it is the responsibility of every child of God to keep diligently the unity of the Spirit.
Do not just look at other people, but look at yourself: whether you have kept the unity of the Spirit. Even if everybody else is not keeping that unity, this is no excuse for you not to keep the unity of the Spirit.
It is a responsibility. It is a sacred responsibility of every child of God to keep the unity of the Spirit.
It is on this ground that we receive the ministries that God gave to the church through men: some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. These men are given by the Head to the Body for the perfecting, the maturing, of the saints.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we really keep the unity of the Spirit, we will be open to all the ministries that God has given to the church. We will not choose one ministry against another ministry. If all these ministries come from God, we should be open to them.
Because we are open to these ministries, and to all these ministers who minister to us—to the Body, for the perfecting of the saints—the result will be that, as we grow up in life, in grace, and in truth, we are able to minister one to another.
Through fellowship, through sharing, we are able to share with one another the Christ whom we know and the Christ whom we experience. How that will enrich the Body and build up the Body. Eventually, we will all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
Dear brothers and sisters, we already have the unity of the Spirit, and we are reaching out to attain, to arrive at, the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
If we want to arrive at a full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, this is what we must do: we must be open to the ministries that God has given to the church, and we must be open to the fellowship of all the saints.
We must not only receive what the Lord gives to us through these ministers of the Word, but we must also function according to the gift and grace that God has given to each, to share with one another, so that we may arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
As we look into the situation among God’s people today, you know what we see today is actually not something new. There is nothing new under the sun. Even in the days of the apostles, you find that they had the same problem that we have.
Yesterday morning, we fellowshipped together on this matter: Is Christ divided? We all know that Christ is not divided, and yet, strange to say, we find that Christians are divided.
Even in the time of Paul, in the church in Corinth, they had not divided into open divisions, but there were party spirits among them. If these party spirits were not dealt with, they would eventually come into open divisions.
Some said, “I am of Paul”; some said, “I am of Apollos”; some said, “I am of Cephas”; and some said, in a very exclusive way, “I am of Christ.”
If this kind of party spirit is not dealt with, eventually you will find that the church in Corinth will be split into four, at least. There will be a Pauline church, there will be a Petrine church, there will be an Apollonian church, and there will be a Christ church.
But is Christ divided? Has Paul been crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
Dear brothers and sisters, we are the Lord’s. We are baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus. We belong to Him. He is ours. Do not limit Christ. Do not make Christ small, as if Christ were only Paul’s Christ, or only Peter’s Christ, or only Apollos’s Christ.
Our Christ is such a great Christ. We must receive Christ in His totality.
From whatever source or channel we receive Christ, and in whatever aspect of Christ we are able to receive from God’s servants, remember: this is only a part of what Christ is. We have to receive Christ in His totality. If we do, then we will not be divided.
Yesterday morning we mentioned a number of reasons why God’s people are divided. If we are name-centered instead of Christ-centered, doctrine-centered instead of Christ-centered, form-centered instead of Christ-centered, experience-centered instead of Christ-centered, or tradition-centered instead of Christ-centered, we will be divided.
But when you really look into all these causes of division, you come to a common ground, and that is self.
The reason why God’s people are divided is because of the presence of self. As long as the self-life is not dealt with by the cross, division remains. Why? Because the cross is where self is crucified.
As our brother mentioned, some people think that if they have a headache or an affliction, they are bearing the cross. Not so. Even though the cross is painful, and there is suffering in the cross, dear brothers and sisters, unless self is crucified, it is not the cross.
Sometimes we may sacrifice something. Sometimes we may give up something. We think that by doing that we take up the cross. But by sacrificing something or doing something, instead of self being crucified, self may be boosted.
That is not the cross. The cross is where the life of self is crucified.
Christ unites us, but self divides us.
If the self-life is not dealt with by the cross, then the works of the flesh are manifest. Among the works of the flesh, as you find in Galatians 5, a number are related to this matter of disunity.
So, dear brothers and sisters, how necessary—how essential—that our flesh be crucified with its passions and its lusts. Get self out of the way by the cross, and you will find that you are united with your brothers and sisters.
Now this morning we would like to go on into the letter to the Philippians. It is very strange, because there are two books in the New Testament that deal with this matter of unity and disunity. These two books are 1 Corinthians and Philippians.
We have already considered 1 Corinthians. We find that among the Corinthian believers there were divisions, contentions, quarrels, and party spirit.
Now, of course, this is not a surprise to us. Why? Because the spiritual and moral condition of the Corinthian church was very, very low.
Even though these people were saved, and even though these people were rich in gifts, we know that their lives were very immature. They were babes in Christ. Their spiritual condition was very, very low.
With such a low spiritual and moral condition, it was no surprise to us that they were fleshly and carnal, that they would break into party spirits. You could expect even something worse than all these things. Everything could happen in their midst.
But with the church in Philippi, it is a different story. Everybody knows that the church in Philippi can be considered a model church.
It had a glorious beginning. If you go back to Acts 16, you will find that when Paul and his companions were called to cross over from Asia into Europe, the church in Philippi was the first church established in Europe.
When it was established, it was established through the mighty hand of God and through the mighty Word of God. You find a glorious beginning in the church in Philippi, and not only that, but it continued gloriously. It was an established church.
Most likely, beloved physician Luke remained behind at Philippi to help build up the church there.
When Paul wrote the letter to the Philippians, he wrote to the saints, to the bishops, and to the deacons. In other words, it was a well-established church.
Not only was it well-established, but you find that they labored with Paul in the gospel of Jesus Christ from the very first day until that time. They were even willing to suffer for the gospel’s sake.
You find that the church in Philippi was a good church, a model church. I wonder if we can find such a church anywhere in the world.
Yet, strange to say, it is to this church that this matter of unity was addressed. Why? Because they had that problem.
In the best of the churches, you will find this problem of disunity.
There happened to be two sisters in that church: Euodia and Syntyche. These two sisters were not ordinary sisters. These two sisters were leading sisters.
These two sisters labored with Paul in the gospel. They helped in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were so-called spiritual sisters.
Yet you find that between these two sisters there was a rivalry, a competition.
It was not over a matter of doctrine. You do not find that the problem was a doctrinal controversy. No.
It was not even a matter of practical differences. There was no such practical issue there. It was simply a clash of personalities.
You had two strong personalities in these two sisters. They both loved the Lord very much. They both were very active in the gospel, and they both were used by the Lord. They were real help to Paul, and the other sisters were helped by these two sisters.
In every respect, you find that these were good sisters, leading sisters, spiritual sisters. Actually, they had no quarrel over doctrine, nor did they have trouble over any practical matter. It was just a clash of personalities.
Two strong personalities clashed with one another. Somehow they competed with each other. Somehow they tried to be the greater among the two, all in this matter of spirituality and service.
Now, brothers and sisters, probably you will say, “How can this be?” For people who love the Lord, probably love the Lord to the extent of spending themselves for the work of the Lord—how could it be that they were competing with each other?
How could it be that there would be such rivalry that it began to influence the whole church? It began to influence the brothers and sisters into taking sides.
But you know, this is not a new thing. Even when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He chose twelve to follow Him. As a matter of fact, none of the twelve were of high caliber from the viewpoint of the world.
But the Lord chose these men to be His apostles. If you look at these men—Judas excepted—you will find that all these men really loved the Lord.
Again and again, you find that they expressed their desire and willingness to die with the Lord. Not only did Peter express that desire, but even Thomas did the same thing.
All of them loved the Lord very much. All of them left everything to follow the Lord. Even when the Lord said, “Others are leaving Me. You may leave too, if you want,” they would not leave the Lord.
You cannot doubt their love for the Lord, and you cannot doubt their zeal for the Lord. The two brothers, the sons of Zebedee, James and John, were so devoted to the Lord that when the Samaritans would not receive the Lord, they came to Him and said, “Do You want us to call fire down from heaven to burn them up?”
With these twelve men, naturally not of noble birth, nor of high education, nor with very excellent backgrounds, there was one thing that they all had: they loved the Lord with all their hearts. They were very zealous. They were willing to forsake everything to follow the Lord.
But there was a problem in their midst all the time. If you read the records of the Gospels, you will find that this problem among them continued on even to the very last day of our Lord on earth.
You cannot imagine how this problem persisted. How among the twelve they were always competing with one another, always trying to prevail over the other. They maneuvered and tried to outmaneuver one another, seeking to take a higher position with the Lord.
“Who is the greater among us?” Peter may have said, “Of course, I am the spokesman in their midst.” John may have said, “No, it is I. I can even lay my head upon the breast of our Lord. I am the closest to Him.”
Every one of them had a reason to say that he was the greater. Even when our Lord Jesus began to share with them how He must go to Jerusalem, be rejected, be crucified, and on the third day be raised from the dead, at that very moment they were arguing among themselves who was the greater.
The Lord tried to teach them a lesson of humility. He brought a child into their midst and said that the kingdom of heaven was like this little child. Yet they never learned.
Even to the very last day, the very last night, they were still quarreling among themselves about who was the greater. No wonder no one washed the others’ feet, but each was waiting for the other to wash his feet.
There was rivalry and competition among the disciples, all in the name of spirituality and service.
It is not a new problem. It is an ancient, old problem.
Here, in the letter to the Philippians, you find that they had this problem. With the church in Corinth, the disunity can be traced to the flesh. Because they were carnal and fleshly, they were not walking according to the Spirit; they were walking according to the flesh.
Therefore, they acted like men of this world. They were living in the flesh, and because of fleshly lusts and passions, they began to form groups, parties, and factions.
The solution to their problem is the cross. The cross has to deal with the flesh. The self-life has to be crucified, and the flesh must be crucified with its lusts and passions. Through the cross, they will be delivered out of themselves and enter into the oneness in Christ.
Now, with the Philippian believers, you find that they also had this disunity in their midst, but it was of a different kind. It was not the ugly flesh. It seemed to be spiritual flesh, if flesh can be spiritual.
They seemed to want the Lord so much. They seemed to want to please the Lord so much. They seemed to be so ambitious for the Lord, so desirous to be used by the Lord, that somehow a strong vainglory entered into their minds.
So their problem was in the mind. That is the reason why, in the letter to the Philippians, you find the Holy Spirit deals a great deal with this matter of the mind. Something was wrong with the mind.
It was not a matter of fleshly acts, lusts, and passions, but there was something wrong with the mind. As long as that mind was not completely renewed, the situation would continue. The competition and rivalry would continue, and through the competition the result would be divisions among God’s people.
That is the reason why you find the exhortation to Euodia and Syntyche: that they may be of the same mind. Their minds were not one.
But this exhortation is not just for these two sisters. These two sisters were especially marked out, that is true, because it seemed as if the whole thing began with them. But if you read the letter to the Philippians, you will find that the exhortation is to the whole church.
Having the same mind, having the same love, being of one soul, thinking the same thing—mind, mind, mind. This is something that all believers must learn: a renewing of the mind.
Dear brothers and sisters, we may have our hearts all for the Lord, yet if our minds are not renewed, you will find that even in the very center of our love and zeal for the Lord, there can be strife and contention, disunity instead of unity.
What is the mind? The mind is nous. It is the seat of conscious reflection, understanding, perception, feeling, judging, and deciding.
It is a tremendous faculty that God has given to man. God is the greatest Mind in the whole universe, and when He created man, He created man with a sound mind.
Dear brothers and sisters, we must understand that, so far as the mind is concerned as an organ, it is created by God. It is one of the great gifts that God gave to mankind. We thank God for giving us a good mind.
If you read Romans 1, how do we know that there is God? God is invisible. How can we know the invisible God? Through the visible things.
Even if you look at the physical things, if you do not have a mind, you will not be able to move from the physical and visible to the spiritual and invisible. You will not have that faculty.
If you see a mountain, you just see a mountain; you do not see God. But because God has given us a mind, when we see a mountain, we can reason through the mountain and see the invisible God.
The mind is a tremendous faculty that God has given to man. We thank God for our mind. So if anyone should preach and tell you that God does not want the mind, that is not scriptural.
God created the mind. It is His gift, and God means that this gift should not be abused. This gift should be used rightly, developed in the right direction, and brought under the right control. Certainly, it is not the will of God that He does not want our minds.
People say, “Never mind. No matter.” But unfortunately, it is also through the mind that mankind falls into sin.
In the Garden of Eden, you find that it is through the mind that the enemy is able to catch the will of man. Our will is like a citadel, but our mind is a battlefield. The battle is fought in the mind.
If the enemy can penetrate into your mind, he is able to lay siege to your will. If he gets your will, he gets you.
In the Garden of Eden, you find that the enemy came into the garden and threw out a question for the mind to take and brood over.
After the mind received a suggestion from the enemy and began to ponder over it outside of the life of God, the will of God, and the Word of God, the result was that it seemed to be good. Why not?
Brothers and sisters, the human mind is in captivity. Since the Garden of Eden, the human mind has been in captivity.
Through all these centuries, the enemy has been building strongholds in the human mind. This is where he makes his defense, to stand against God.
You find this is exactly what Paul is saying to us:
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds;
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God,
And bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.
You find strongholds that the enemy has built in human minds—fortresses, reasonings.
How men pride themselves that we are rational beings, that we are people who can reason. But remember: human reasoning is in captivity. That is the reason why the more you reason, the more you may find yourself away from God.
Every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God—whether it is custom, tradition, habits, or prejudices—these things have been created and built by the enemy in your mind as strongholds to hold against the knowledge of God.
It is true that when we are saved, there is a change of mind, because the very word repentance means a change of mind.
Formerly, your mind was set on things below. That was what you wanted. You were heading toward hell. But there was a change of mind. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, and He convinces us of the work of Christ, the love of God, and the grace of Jesus Christ.
There is a change of mind. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. No one can repent by himself. We can feel remorse about something, but we cannot repent. Repentance is the gift of God.
When the Holy Spirit works in your life, He so convicts you and convinces you that He is able to turn your mind one hundred and eighty degrees away from sin and toward God. That is repentance.
But even though, at the time when we are saved, there is some change of mind, if our understanding of Scripture is correct, you will find that our mind still needs to be renewed.
There was a change, but the change was not a total change. You still need a renewing of your mind. In your mind, there are still many strongholds of the enemy—many prejudices, many preconceived ideas, many customs, and many traditions.
You find that all these things are still there, and those are strongholds. Whenever the knowledge of God is presented to you, you find there is a kind of resistance within your mind.
All these strongholds have to be overturned. This is our power before God: to overthrow every stronghold and to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ.
But this is not my topic this morning, so I will not go into that too much.
Anyway, you find that the problem with many Christians today is the mind. In Romans 8:5–6, those who walk according to the flesh mind the things of the flesh; those who walk according to the Spirit mind the things of the Spirit.
In the original, it should be minding, not merely mind. The minding of the flesh is death, but the minding of the Spirit is life and peace.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you know that one of the biggest problems among God’s people is this matter of the mind?
If we set our minds on the things of the flesh, how can we walk spiritually? If you want to walk spiritually, you have to set your mind on the Spirit, on the things of the Spirit.
Our mind affects our walk. We are what we think. The way you think, the way you look at things, the way you measure things, your mental outlook—these things affect our life on this earth.
We all desire to be spiritual, but if our mind is still set on the things of the flesh, you can never be spiritual.
The minding of the flesh is death. We know that. If we set our mind on the flesh, we feel a kind of spiritual death within. But if you set your mind upon the things of the Spirit, you sense life within you; there is peace within you.
This tells us whether we are walking in the Spirit or walking in the flesh. It is very, very practical.
The mind is the battlefield. The mind is where the enemy builds his strongholds, and it is in the mind that these strongholds must be torn down and every thought led into the obedience of Christ.
Come back to Philippians 2. Here you find in verse 1:
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions.
Now, the word if there does not mean that these things may not be there. It does not mean a kind of supposition or possibility. No.
As a matter of fact, people who know Greek tell us that the word if there should be understood as “in view of the fact.” That changes the whole meaning.
In other words, Paul is telling the Philippian believers: “In view of the fact that there is exhortation in Christ, in view of the fact that there is consolation of love, in view of the fact that there is fellowship of the Spirit, in view of the fact that there are tender mercies and compassions.”
The Philippian believers were not lacking in exhortation in Christ. They were not lacking in consolation of love. They were not lacking in fellowship of the Spirit. They were not lacking in tenderheartedness and compassion.
If you know the church in Philippi, you have to acknowledge that certainly there was exhortation in Christ among them. They were not a church in which brothers and sisters did not know how to exhort one another in Christ.
Perhaps in the church in Corinth they could not do that, because they were babes in Christ. They knew so little of Christ that they had nothing with which to exhort. When they tried to exhort, they actually displayed themselves, putting forth themselves, because that was all they had.
But with the Philippian believers it was different. They were grown up and mature. They knew Christ. They had experience of Christ. Because of that, they had much with which to exhort one another.
Dear brothers and sisters, exhortation is very important in the building up of the Body of Christ. I have no time to go over the Scriptures with you, but if you read the Bible, you will find that exhortation occupies a very important place in the building up of the Body of Christ.
We need exhortation. We need encouragement. We need to encourage one another and exhort one another in Christ.
We need to share with one another the Christ that we know, to encourage one another in the Lord. All that will help build up the church. There was exhortation in Christ in the church at Philippi.
Any consolation of love. If you want to comfort anybody, there must be love.
If you try to comfort anyone without love, you are only adding suffering to those who have already suffered.
The love here is not merely human sympathy. The love here is divine love, the love of God. It is only out of divine love that you are able to comfort people.
If you try to comfort people merely out of natural sympathy, you may try to comfort them with the best of intentions, and the result is that you only add to their misery.
You are just like the three friends of Job. They came to comfort Job, but actually they came to afflict Job. With the best of intentions, they wanted to relieve the pain and suffering of Job, but the more they tried, the more Job suffered. It would have been much better if they had not tried to comfort him.
But with the Philippian believers, there was consolation of love. Wonderful.
Fellowship in the Spirit: fellowship, sharing, participation. This can only be done in the Spirit. If it is not in the Spirit, it is just being social, that is all.
Now, brothers and sisters, how much do we know of fellowship? Probably, for the most part, we are merely being social. Why? Because we are sharing one another in ourselves; we are not sharing Christ in the Spirit.
But the Philippian believers had fellowship in the Spirit.
Any tender mercies and compassions. These are not natural affections. No, these are expressions of the grace of God.
The grace of God was upon those people. Therefore, they had tenderheartedness and compassion toward one another. Wonderful.
A church that had all these things—you would say, “What more can you expect?” A church that had all these things surely should be one. Surely there should be unity in their midst.
But Paul said, “Make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”
Paul rejoiced in the fact that they had exhortation in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship in the Spirit, and tender mercies and compassions. He rejoiced over these things, yet his joy was not full.
He said, “If you want to fill my joy, then think the same thing, having the same love, being of one soul, thinking one thing.” In other words, having all these things, if you want to make my joy full, then you must be one in unity.
Isn’t that strange? These four things should be the basis for unity. These four things should make unity work: exhortation in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship in the Spirit, and tenderheartedness and compassion.
Certainly, these things should work toward unity and toward the oneness of God’s people. But they did not. Instead of uniting God’s people, they divided God’s people and made the division even stronger.
Isn’t this strange?
H. C. G. Moule, that beloved bishop, when he commented on this section, entitled Philippians 2:1–11, “Unity in Self-Forgetfulness.”
He said that theirs was no lukewarm religion. The church in Philippi abounded in practical benevolence, animated by love to Christ, and was evidently ready for joyful witness to the Lord in the face of opposition, even persecution.
But there was a tendency toward dissension and internal separation in the church, a tendency which, all through the epistle, betrayed its presence by the stress which the apostle everywhere laid upon holy unity—the unity of love, the unity whose secret lies in the individual’s forgetfulness of self.
Such dangers are always present in the Christian church, for everywhere and always saints are still sinners.
It is a sad but undeniable fact of Christian history that a spirit of difference and dissension within the ranks of believers is not least likely to operate where there is genuinely diffused life and vigor in the community.
In other words, when a Christian community exhibits much life and vigor, there may still be this symptom. A state of spiritual chill or lukewarmness may even favor a certain outward tranquility.
A church that is cold and lukewarm may be favored with an appearance of outward tranquility, for when energies and convictions are absent, there will be little energy for discussion and resistance. Even a lukewarm church does not have the energy for dissension.
But where Christian life and thought, and the expression of them, are in power—notice this—unless the church is particularly watchful, the enemy has occasion to put in the seeds of tares amidst the golden grain.
The gospel itself has elevated the disciples’ affections and their intellects. If the gospel is not diligently used as a guide as well as a stimulus, then there will surely be collision.
Almost every great crisis of life and blessing in the church has shown examples of this. It was so in the period of the Reformation.
The moment the law of love was forgotten by powerful minds that had been wonderfully energized and liberated by the rediscovery of eternal truth long forgotten, there was conflict.
You find, in the days of the Reformation, how those who loved the Lord and were revitalized by truth long forgotten fought against each other, even killing each other in the name of truth.
It was thus again in the course of the evangelical revival in the last century, when holy men whose whole natures had been warmed and identified by new insight for themselves into the fullness of Christ were betrayed into discussions of the mysteries of grace, carried on in the spirit rather of self than of love.
Dear brothers and sisters, you will not be surprised if there is disunity among people whose condition is like the church in Corinth. But when you see disunity among people whose condition is like that of the believers in Philippi, you weep over it.
They all love the Lord. They all are strong for the truth of Christ. They all want the Lord so much. They all stand for the truth so firmly. They are all marked with energy and zeal for the Lord.
Yet they can fight against one another and devour one another. Oh, if you read church history!
The Roman Catholic system persecuted the Protestants. Yet you find that even the Protestants—the Lutherans and the Reformed—persecuted the dissenters.
Read more of the history of the Anabaptists. You will find thousands of Anabaptists who believed in believers’ baptism by immersion. The result was that Protestant churches laid hold of these men, women, and children, put stones around their necks, and drowned them in the water. They wanted that to happen.
It is true that within their small circle there was exhortation in Christ. Within their small group there was consolation of love. Within that exclusive club there was fellowship in the Spirit. There were tender mercies and compassion.
But they limited Christ—the grace of Christ, the love of Christ, and the fellowship of the Spirit—to their small circles. They separated and isolated themselves from the rest of God’s people.
Not only that, they even persecuted other children of God in the name of Christ, in the name of truth. You say, “Is it possible?” It is fact.
Something is wrong with the mind. The enemy is able to play tricks with our mind. Somehow, we cannot think straight. Somehow, our mind is so twisted that we think we are doing God a service.
We think we are standing for the truth. We think we are God’s people.
Oh, brothers and sisters, to me, I feel Paul was more hurt by what happened in Philippi than by what happened in Corinth. They ought to know better.
How we need the renewing of our mind, that we may not be in a spirit of strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, each esteeming the other as more excellent than himself, regarding not each his own things, but also the things of others.
It is still self—spiritual self, religious self, self-righteousness. We just cannot forget ourselves.
We cannot lay down ourselves for the brethren. As our brother said, we insist upon our rights.
If we are right, we think we have every right to insist upon it. We are not willing to give in an inch. We are waiting for our brothers and sisters to capitulate to us, all under the banner of truth.
That is the reason why Paul said, “Have the mind of Christ.” Think of Christ.
He who was equal with God did not consider that equality something to be grasped. It was His right, His birthright. He was one with God. He was God. He was equal with God. It was not something to be robbed or seized.
Those were His prerogatives, His rights. But He did not insist upon His rights. He gave up His rights voluntarily. No one demanded that He give up His rights. He voluntarily emptied Himself.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have so little to empty, and yet we are not willing to empty. Our Lord Jesus had so much to empty, and He emptied it all.
It is true that He could not empty Himself of His deity; that is impossible. Even when He was a man on earth, He was God. But He emptied Himself of all the glory, honor, and majesty that accompanied deity.
He emptied all these things, and He took the form of a slave.
You know, the word form there is the same word as when it says that He was in the form of God. Form does not refer to the outward appearance. The word form refers to the inward quality, the essence.
He, in essence, was God. It was not something put on. He was God. But He emptied Himself of all the glory that accompanied deity, and He took upon Himself the form of a slave—not in outward appearance, but in inward reality. He was a slave.
A slave has no rights of his own, a slave under his father. That is the reason why He said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself.” The Son cannot say anything by Himself.
He was a slave. Being in the figure of a man, being a man, He took the position of man before God. He humbled Himself.
Dear brothers and sisters, the position of man before God is to humble ourselves. He humbled Himself and became obedient to the Father even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
That is the mind of Christ.
He does not think less of Himself. He does not think of Himself at all.
Dear brothers and sisters, let the mind of Christ be our mind. If, by the grace of God, we forget ourselves, there will be no obstacle to unity.
Let us have the same mind, the mind of Christ. Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee for all the mercy, grace, and love that Thou hast so bountifully given to us. We are what we are today; it is Thy grace, the grace of God.
But, O Lord, we do confess that even though we have received so much grace, yet we are not gracious. We still think so much of ourselves. We still insist upon our own rights.
We cannot lay down ourselves for our brethren as Thou didst lay down Thyself for us. O Lord, this is something that we cannot do. But we do praise and thank Thee that we can have the mind of Christ.
Lord, we capitulate before Thee. We ask Thee to overturn every stronghold that is still there, and lead every thought into the obedience of Christ.
O, that we may think straight. May we think as Thou thinkest, that we may completely forget ourselves, that we may be able to esteem others as more excellent than we are, that there may be no strife or vainglory.
May we be soul with soul, and may we love one another as Thou hast loved us. O Lord, we just look to Thee for Thy Spirit to work it out among Thy people. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.