This is Monday morning, June the 18th, 1973,
in Richmond, Virginia.
Ministry is being given through Brother Stephen Kahn.
Thank God for another time together.
May we read from the Letter to the
Philippians, Chapter 2.
We'll read from verse 1.
If then there be any comfort in Christ,
if any consolation of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and compassion,
fulfill my joy, that ye may think the
same thing, having the same love, join in
soul, thinking one thing.
Let nothing be in the spirit of strife
or vain glory, but in loneliness of mind,
each esteeming the other as more excellent than
themselves, regarding not each his own qualities, but
each those of others also.
So let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, subsisting in
the form of God, did not esteem it
an object of the time to be on
an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking
abominable form, taking his place in the likeness
of man, and having been found in figure
as a man, humbled himself, becoming obedient even
unto death, and that the death of the
cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted him and granted
him a name that which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of heavenly and earthly and
infernal beings, and every tongue confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord, to God the Father's glory.
We will just read.
We mentioned last night that this letter to
the Philippines, written by the Apostle Paul, is
a love letter.
In this letter you do not find much
presentation of doctrine or teaching, even though you
do find teaching and doctrine there.
In this letter you find Paul is not
trying to answer questions, solving problems, even though
problems are solved.
This letter is mainly a love letter.
Paul was writing this letter to the Church
that he loved very dearly.
He was pouring out his heart to them.
He was trying to share his very life
with them.
He was seeking for their very best.
It is a love letter.
And in this letter you'll find Paul is
sharing with them and with us today the
secret of life.
How can we live on this earth as
Christians?
How can we live as Christ lived on
this earth?
Not by ourselves, not by our strong will,
not by our determination, resolution, not by our
own strength and effort, but by the life
of Christ that lives in us.
In other words, the secret of Christian life
is Christ.
It's not us.
It is Christ.
Because Paul said, For me to live is...
It is not Paul who is living the
life of a Christian.
It is not Paul who tries to live
as Christ.
It is Christ who is reliving his life
in Paul.
In and through Paul.
And today, in and through every one of
us.
This is the secret.
For me to live is...
This morning we would like to proceed a
little further.
And that is, we have the life of
Christ in us.
And if only we would let Christ live.
If we let Christ live, or if we
live by Christ, then we will be marked
by a certain spirit or a certain mind.
And that is the mind.
Not only the life of Christ, but the
mind.
Oftentimes we do not have the spirit of
Christ.
In other words, I do not mean that
we do not have his spirit.
We do.
But oftentimes we do not manifest his spirit.
We do not seem to extract his mind.
Even though in 1 Corinthians you will find
Paul said, We have the mind of Christ.
So far as our position is concerned.
So far as his redemption is concerned.
Because we already have the life of Christ
in us, therefore we have the spirit of
Christ in us.
We have the mind of Christ in us.
Positionally this is true.
But oftentimes you will find this is not
being manifested.
Why?
Because we do not really live by the
life of Christ.
If we should live by the life of
Christ, then his spirit will be our spirit.
Then his mind will surely be expressed as
our mind.
And this is very important, because the
manner of life that we live is regulated
mainly by our mind.
As we think, so shall we walk.
Our mind sets the direction, sets the course
for us.
If we set our mind on a certain
thing, then we will proceed in that direction.
We will be seeking for that thing.
And that will become our living, our manner
of life.
So you find in Romans chapter 8 it
says, The mind, if we mind the things
of the flesh, we are fleshless.
If we mind the things of the spirit,
we are spiritual.
In other words, if you set your mind,
set your thoughts, set your thinking, if you
are thinking all the time of the things
of the flesh, how can you be spiritual?
You are thinking of the things of the
flesh throughout the week, and then on the
Lord's Day you come and you try to
be spiritual, that's impossible.
Because if you set your mind on the
things of the flesh, you are fleshless, you
are carnal.
But if you set your mind on the
things of the spirit, you are spiritual.
The minding of the flesh is death.
The minding of the spirit is life and
peace.
So you find that our mind is very,
very important.
Because it affects our very manner of living.
As you read this letter, we know that
the church in Philippi was a church
that seemed to be very mature.
It had a marvelous beginning, as we mentioned
last night.
And it continued on very well.
And Paul said, from the very first day
up to the time Paul was in prison
in Rome, the church in Philippi was in
constant fellowship with him in the gospel.
It was a church that grew very well.
It was a church that was quite mature.
There seemed to be no problem in that
church.
Not like the church in Corinth, full of
problems.
But this church in Philippi seemed to be
a good one.
There wasn't much problem among them.
And yes, they had some problems.
You notice when Paul wrote this letter, especially
in the first chapter, one word is repeated
many times.
Now as we say, if you find something
being repeated many times, you know there is
something there.
There is one word that is repeated many
times in the first chapter.
Strange to say, you know, the real problem
with the church in Philippi, Paul didn't point
that out until you come to the last
chapter.
And as a matter of fact, the last
chapter seemed to be added on.
Because in chapter 3, he already said, for
the rest.
In other words, he was concluding his letter.
And when he was concluding that letter, he
didn't even mention what their problem was.
Until after he had seen that he had
concluded the letter, he put a footnote, P
.S., and said, now, you have a problem
here.
And he pointed it out in such a
nice way, gentle way.
But when you read this letter, even in
the first chapter you'll find he repeated one
word again and again.
There was some hint there.
And what is that word?
That word is all, A-L-L, all.
Chapter 1, verse 1.
Paul and Timotheus, born men of Jesus Christ,
to all the saints in Christ Jesus who
are in Philippi.
He was not writing this letter to some
of the saints in Philippi.
He was writing this letter to all the
saints in Philippi.
Verse 4.
Constantly in my every supplication, making the supplication
for you all with joy.
Paul was not praying just for a few,
either the majority or the minority.
He was making supplication for all of them
with joy.
And then in verse 7.
As it is righteous for me to think
this as to you all, because ye have
meaning in your hearts, and that goes in
my bonds and in the defense and confirmation
of the glad tidings.
To think this as to you all.
He made no distinction.
All of you.
All of you in the church in Philippi.
And then he said, you're all participators in
my grace.
No one was left out.
Every one of you, all of you were
participators in my grace.
Verse 8.
For God is my witness, how I long
after you all in the bowels of Jesus
Christ.
Paul longed for them all.
No matter who that person was.
All of them.
And then again in verse 25.
And having confidence of this, I know that
I shall remain and abide along with you
all for your progress and joy in faith.
Paul knew that God would have him live
on for the sake of the saints in
Philippi.
For you all.
For your progress and joy in faith.
So here you'll find in the very beginning
he mentions again and again this, this, this.
All.
All of you.
All.
And then you'll find he continues with this.
Verse 27.
Only conduct yourselves worthily of the glad tidings
of the Christ.
In order that where the coming and seeing
you are absent I may hear of what
concerns you that ye stand firm in one
spirit with one soul laboring together in the
same conflict with the faith of the glad
tidings.
One spirit, one soul laboring together in the
same and in chastity.
If there be any comfort in Christ.
If any consolation of love if any bowels
and compassion fulfill my joy that ye may
think the same thing having the same love
joining souls thinking one thing.
Now the church in Philippi certainly had confidence
in Christ.
They had consolation of love.
They had fellowship of spirit.
In sending Epaphroditus with a gift to Paul
even when Paul was in Rome that showed
how much they have that consolation of love,
comfort in Christ and also fellowship of the
spirit.
And yet Paul said if you want to
fulfill my joy think your thinking of me.
Now if you want to fulfill my joy
then you must be think the same thing
having the same love joining souls thinking one
thing.
In other words you will find the whole
atmosphere the whole approach the whole thought behind
it all is Paul was thinking of them
all.
And Paul desired that they be one.
One in spirit one in love one in
soul they will think of the same thing
in such unity in such wonder.
Now why is it Paul should emphasize this
so much in this letter?
Because the church in Philippi had a problem.
That was the only serious problem in the
church there.
Dear brothers and sisters as a matter of
fact you cannot find a perfect church on
earth.
There isn't any.
You cannot find a church without any problem.
Problems are good if they are rightly met.
Because problems if you meet a problem with
the right attitude and in the right way
it will mean problems.
So in the church in Philippi even though
it was such a mature church they had
a serious problem.
And this serious problem seemed to cast a
shadow over the whole church.
What was their problem?
Their problem was there were two sisters in
the church in Philippi.
Two leading sisters.
Two strong spiritual sisters.
Euodia and Syntaxi.
And they helped Paul in the work.
And yet these two sisters could not get
along with each other.
You know the church in Philippi began with
a sister.
Lydia.
She was the first one who came to
the Lord.
And it seemed as if in the church
in Philippi the sisters were really strong.
Really strong.
Because even at the time when Paul wrote
the letter you'll find two sisters.
Very strong spiritual sisters.
Two leading sisters.
And yet they were at odds with each
other.
Not in the sense that they could not
speak to each other.
But in the sense that there was a
rivalry between these two.
Now brothers and sisters you know the trouble
in the church in Philippi is not over
the matter of truth.
Sometimes you know because people have different emphasis
or different opinions on truth.
And that would divide God's people.
Which it shouldn't be.
But with the church in Philippi there wasn't
any problem of truth.
Any problem of teaching.
It was mainly a problem of personality.
It was a clash of personalities.
It was not a clash of truth.
You know if it comes to the matter
of truth you know where you should stand.
Of course you stand with the truth of
God.
But when you come to a matter of
personality now that is a problem.
Where should you stand?
Should you take sides?
And that was the problem.
Here it was a matter of personality.
These two sisters were all strong personalities.
And they clashed.
And because they clashed not over any teaching
or any truth they believed the same thing.
And yet somehow their personalities did not seem
to merge but they clashed.
Each of them desired to be the great
one.
And then the whole church was under a
shadow.
Because the brothers and sisters did not know
where they should stand.
If they should stand with the Odious or
if they should stand with Hypocrite.
Because it was not a matter of truth.
They were lost.
They were puzzled.
And because of that a shadow was cast
over the whole church.
They lost their joy.
Now that was their problem.
Brothers and sisters I have seen lots of
illiterate among God's people which are supposed to
be for the truth but actually it is
personality.
Lots of people use the truth as a
banner.
I cannot give in because it is a
matter of truth.
But if you dig a little deeper you'll
find they are only using truth as a
banner.
But the real problem is personality.
If it is truth, it's worthwhile.
But if it's personality it doesn't work.
Doesn't work anything.
I wonder if the problem in the church
in Corinth is the same problem.
I don't know.
Some say I'm of Paul.
Some say I'm of Apollo.
Some say I'm of Hebrews.
Now, is it because of the truth?
There might be a different shade different emphasis
in the truth that Paul presents Peter presents
and Apollo presents.
Now that's possible.
And yet is it because of truth?
I wonder.
When people begin to take sides are they
guided by truth?
Or is it just a matter of personality?
I'm afraid.
Lots of personality problems.
Not truth problems.
Even probably with the church in Corinth.
It's just that some people like Paul, that's
all.
Some people like Peter and some people like
Apollo.
It was personality.
Not because of essentially of the truth that
they present.
It is the same truth with different shades.
And we ought to be able to receive
all the truth with all the shades.
And yet personality is a problem.
There was rivalry between these people.
And each one wanted to be the greater.
This is an old problem.
Even when the top disciples went with our
Lord Jesus you know, that was their constant
problem.
They always argued among themselves who was the
greater.
Everyone wanted to be the greater.
Now, that was a matter of personality.
Not a matter of truth.
And because of this you'll find our Lord
Jesus had to solve, had to try to
calm them down all the time.
All the time.
It's an age long problem.
And being human beings, we are open to
that.
We are open to that.
It's a matter of...
Now, how are you going to solve that
problem?
Paul wasn't going to touch it superficially.
He was going to reach down to the
very root and try.
So that's the reason why you'll find he
knew their problem.
He knew there was rivalry.
He knew that it was a clash of
personalities.
He knew the subtlety of the flesh.
These two sisters were all spiritual sisters.
And they were striving for spiritual ascendancy.
It was just a spiritual flesh, if we
may say that.
Very subtle, very subtle.
And how was Paul going to solve that
problem?
He mentioned one thing.
And that is the mind of Christ.
The mind of Christ.
Something was basically wrong.
Where?
In the mind.
They had the life of Christ.
And if they lived by this life they
shouldn't have this strife and vainglory.
There should be the lowliness of mind in
them.
And if they had the lowliness of mind
in them there would be no problem with
personality.
What is the mind?
Let this mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus who, subsisting in the
form of God did not esteem it an
object or a prime to be unequal.
Think of Christ.
He subsists in the form of God.
And those who understand Greek theology the word
form here in Greek means that which he
always is.
It never changes.
It is forever true.
In other words, our Lord Jesus subsists in
the form of God.
He is God.
That is what he originally is.
And that is what he always is.
And that is what he will never change.
Even when he became a man he is
still God.
It never changes.
Because he subsists in the form of God.
He is the Son of God eternally.
He is in the form of God forever.
And no matter what becomes of him he
is still that form.
He is still God.
That is our Lord Jesus.
And as God he is on equality with
God.
Because he is God, the Son of God.
That is what he is.
And forever will be.
It is not subject to change.
It cannot be changed.
That is the meaning in Greek.
The form of God.
And yet he ended himself.
Not because he was not equal with God.
In essence he was one with God.
But in the Godhead, humanly, using human way
of expression, before eternity, in eternity, before there
was time, in the Godhead there was a
concept.
The Father and the Son and the Spirit.
There was a concept.
As it were, they were talking things over.
And the Father had a plan, a purpose.
But for that purpose to be fulfilled, the
Godhead needed someone to carry that out.
So the Son offered it.
Not because he was not on equality with
the Father.
In essence, in life, they were the same.
And yet he was willing to empty himself.
Brothers and sisters, remember, when our Lord Jesus,
when the Son of God emptied himself, it
doesn't mean that he emptied himself of the
form of God.
He couldn't empty that.
Because that form is eternal.
It is not subject to change.
What he emptied was, he emptied himself of
the glory, the honor, the position he had
in the Godhead.
That he emptied.
He could not empty himself of his deity.
He couldn't.
Even when he was a man, he was
still God.
But he emptied himself of the glory and
honor and position and authority and power that
was connected with God.
That he could empty.
In other words, he was willing to take
a lower place.
For the purpose of God to be fulfilled,
he was willing to take a lower place.
You know, actually, Trinity must be explained in
terms of operation, not in terms of essence,
of substance.
That is the only way to see Trinity.
Because the three are equal, are one.
It is only, they are only seen to
be differentiated in the sense of operation.
The Father plans everything.
And the Son comes to carry it out,
to carry the plane out.
And in order to carry the plane out,
he has to lower himself, to be subject
to God.
So he came, emptied his glory, emptied his
honor, and he became, in verse 8,
becoming obedient even unto death.
The word becoming there is a different word.
It means that he became what he was
not before.
As equal with God, the question of obedience
didn't come in.
Because one with God.
But when he took the form, the likeness
of a man, then he became unto the
Father, even unto death.
That means he wasn't, he became what he
wasn't before.
He was because of carrying out the purpose
of God the Father, he became obedient as
the Son.
And even unto death, the death.
So brothers and sisters, here you'll find the
mind of Christ or the spirit of Christ.
Because the mind here actually is the mental
attitude.
We may say it is the spirit of
the mind.
And here you'll find the spirit of the
mind of Christ is the mind of humility.
Humility.
He was able to humble himself, empty himself,
taking a lower place, obedient to the Father,
even unto death.
And that's the death of the cross.
Now that is the mind.
How different, how opposite, this mind is from
the mind of Lodia and Syntagma.
This mind is different from our mind.
We are rather high-minded.
In other words, we always aim at being
higher than others.
But here you'll find our Lord Jesus Christ
is humbling himself to the lowliness, in order
that he may serve the Father's purpose and
to save us.
That is the mind, humility.
What is humility?
You'll find here, Paul says, but in lowliness
of mind, each esteeming the other as more
excellent than themselves.
Now how can we regard others as more
excellent than ourselves?
You know, in spiritual pursuit, you may come
to a point where the Lord has really
revealed himself to you, and you have learned
a great deal from the Lord.
In other words, there is a spiritual statue
in you.
And having that statue, you, as it were,
cannot help but regarding others as less
excellent than you are.
Now, not because you're false, but because you're
honest.
And yet, Paul says, esteeming the others as
more excellent than you are.
No matter how far you have advanced in
Christ, no matter how much you know Christ,
the more you know Christ, the more you
have Christ, the more you should consider others
as more excellent than you are.
Now how can it be?
And Paul says, regarding not each his own
quality.
When you regard your own quality, you cannot
esteem others more excellent than you are.
Because if you do, it will be false.
You're not honest.
But if you do not regard yourself, and
you only regard others in Christ, then it
is easy to esteem others more excellent than
you are.
For I think it's a humility he says.
Humility is not to think less of yourself.
Humility is to think nothing.
If you try to think less of yourself,
you will act humble, but actually you will
be more proud.
But humility is to think nothing of yourself.
You do not think of yourself at all.
You forget yourself altogether.
And because you forget yourself altogether, and when
you look at your brothers and sisters in
Christ, you see Christ in them, so they
are more excellent than you are.
And that's honest.
Brothers and sisters, hear me.
To solve the problem of personality, there is
only one way to solve that problem.
Personality becomes problem because the person thinks too
much of himself.
That's a problem.
And if everyone thinks too much of himself
or herself, there is a Christ.
It is man.
It is not Christ.
But if we live by the life of
Christ, we will be marked by a spirit
of humility.
We are willing to give up our life.
We are willing to give up our position.
We forget ourselves altogether.
And we will be thinking of our brothers
and sisters.
How can we minister, serve them?
In other words, man disappears.
Christ and Christ's death, that comes.
There is no personality problem.
You can have people with strong personalities.
You can have people with dynamic personalities.
And yet they do not attract their people
to themselves.
They do not think highly of themselves as
more excellent than the others.
And when the other people come in touch
with them, they do not thank them.
They thank Christ.
They are attracted to Christ and not to
them.
And if that's the case, there is no
crush.
There is no crush in person.
In humility, serving, pointing people to Christ, and
not to others.
Not trying to gather people around us, but
pointing people to Christ.
Just like John the Baptist, I may decree,
he must.
There is no personality.
Brothers and sisters, if the spirit of Christ
marks our mind, that is to say, if
we are minding, we are thinking in the
spirit as governed, directed by the spirit of
Christ, we won't see ourselves.
We will not be conscious of ourselves all
the time.
We will not draw people to ourselves.
All we see will be Christ.
And there is no conflict in Christ.
I remember our dear brother Wasserman E.
sometimes told us this.
He said, it doesn't matter really, something like
this, it doesn't matter really if you have
a strong soul.
Some people have very strong souls, that is
very strong personality, dynamic.
He said, if that strong soul is accompanied
with a strong spirit, it is all right.
In other words, the spirit is in control.
The spirit of the mind is being renewed.
And if the spirit of the mind is
being renewed, you will find even though a
person can be very strong in every way,
and yet God can use it and turn
it to Christ instead of...
So Paul gets to the very root of
this question.
And the solution is the spirit, the mind
of Christ, which is cumulative.
Brothers and sisters, this is worked out practically
in us through the cross.
Because as we live by the life of
Christ, invariably, you don't need to try to
create it or try to bring it in.
You don't need to.
If you live by the life of Christ,
anything that is not Christ, the Holy Spirit
will bring it to your attention, and that
will mean cross to you.
You don't need to look for a way
to deal with yourself.
You don't need to.
Of our own.
But our personality has to.
It must be Christ.
And because of what Christ had gone through,
he was willing to take the lowest place
in order to fulfill the Father's purpose.
And here you'll find God highly exalted and
had given him a name that is above
everything.
And to this name, every knee shall bow,
every tongue confess, that Jesus is Lord.
Brothers and sisters, if we strive for praise,
even a spiritual praise, among God's people, we
will never reach there.
But if we are willing to lose our
life, lose our soul life for Christ, and
for his sake, we will gain it.
The way of the Lord is so different
from the human way.
The human way is to strive for it.
And if you don't strive, you'll never get
it.
But the divine way is empty, losing it,
giving it up.
And in giving your life in that way,
God will exalt you.
Now Paul, after he had given this principle
to the church in Philippi, he illustrated this
principle with three people.
And that is the rest of the chapter.
Number one, he illustrated it with himself.
He was not just talking to the church
in Philippi and said, now you must empty
yourself and humble yourself in order that this
problem may be solved.
He himself, he knew what he was talking
because it worked in him.
You notice here, Paul says, verse 17, But
if also I am poured out as a
libation on the sacrifice and ministration of your
faith, I rejoice, and rejoice in common with
you all.
Paul considered the church in Philippi as a
sacrifice and offering.
You know, he brought them to the Lord.
He offered them as a sacrifice, as an
offering to God.
But he said, if I am poured out
as a libation, as a wine offering, upon
your offering, I rejoice.
You know, according to the Old Testament, when
people offered an offering, say, a sacrifice, the
sacrifice itself probably was a birth, or a
lamb, or a ram, you know, or even
a pigeon, two pigeons.
But upon the sacrifice, when they offer a
sacrifice, they had to offer with it some
other thing, like the oblation, the meal offering,
the flowers.
And then there was one offering.
When they offer a sacrifice, they pour a
wine offering on the sacrifice.
They pour some wine on the sacrifice.
Now, why?
You know, wine in the Scripture always speaks
of joy.
The wine gladdens the heart.
And the Scripture used that.
In other words, when a sacrifice is offered,
you do not offer it gradually.
You do not offer it just as a
sense of giving.
When you offer it, you offer it with
joy.
And because of that, it is voluntary and
with joy it is accepted by God.
God loves a cheerful giver.
The same principle.
So, you do not just offer a sacrifice
gradually as if, well, because I have to
do that.
God says, no, that is not good enough.
When you are offered as a sacrifice, pour
wine on it.
Make it a joyful offer.
And if your offer is so joyfully and
willingly and cheerfully, God is pleased with you.
So, brothers and sisters, you will find Paul
considered the church in Philippi, the brothers and
sisters in Philippi, as a sacrifice, as an
offering.
Paul offered them not for himself.
God used him to build up that church.
But that church was for God, not for
him.
They were an offering to God.
But Paul said, who am I?
You are the offering.
You are the main offering.
I am but a wine offering to be
accompanied.
How humble he is.
He did not consider the work as his
own work.
He considered it as God.
And he was willing to be poured out,
to add that joyfulness to it.
And he said, I rejoice.
I rejoice with you.
When I see you offer yourself to God,
I am with you.
I am adding that element of joy to
it.
I rejoice with you.
And I hope you will rejoice with me.
How humble you are.
Paul said, I am willing to stand and
be stank for you to the church in
Corinth.
No matter how the church in Corinth treated
him, Paul was still willing to stand and
be stank for them.
The same spirit, the spirit of Christ.
He was not thinking of himself, but rather
he was thinking what would be good for
the church.
If only he could add that they would
be more accepted by God.
That's what he was willing to do.
Now that was Paul.
The spirit of Christ, the mind of Christ,
was Paul's mind.
But more than Paul, he mentioned Timothy.
Now Timothy was a young man.
And yet he said, you know Timothy.
You see, Paul was waiting for the trial
before Caesar.
And in the spirit he knew that he
would be released.
He would be able to go back and
visit the church in Philippi.
But before he would be released, as soon
as he knew what would happen, he would
send Timothy first to convey the good news
to the church in Philippi.
Because they were very much concerned about Paul.
And he said, why did I send Timothy?
Because I have no one like-minded who
will care with genuine feeling how you get
on.
Not for all seek their own things, not
the things of Jesus.
Brothers and sisters, think of that.
Even people who are serving the Lord may
be seeking things of their own.
But here was Timothy a young man.
He was not seeking anything of his own.
But he had a genuine feeling for the
things in Philippi.
In other words, he was a person who
had the mind of Christ.
If he could do anything for the church
in Philippi, he was willing to pour himself
out.
And how sad it is to think that
Paul said, I have no one else.
No one else who has such a genuine
feeling for you.
Well, of course.
It doesn't mean that all the others who
were with Paul were seeking their own.
Probably we have to say that because some
who were with Paul, they had no concern
for the church in Philippi.
They might be burning with other churches, but
not the church in Philippi.
But not Timothy.
He was really burdened with the church in
Philippi.
And for that reason, Paul was going to
send him to Philippi because he had a
mind of Christ.
And the third one was Epaphroditus.
Epaphroditus was one of them.
Of the saints in Philippi.
You know, they sent him to Rome to
serve Paul.
And being sent as a representative to Rome
to serve Paul for the church in Philippi,
he must be a person who loved the
Lord very much.
And sure enough, because Paul, in sending Epaphroditus
back, he said, verse 29 and verse 30,
Receiving therefore in the Lord with all joy,
and hold such in honor, because for the
sake of the work, he drew near even
to death, venturing his life that he might
feel of that what lacked in your ministration
to him.
In other words, here was a person who
was willing to risk his life to give
his life in order to feel love what
was lacking in the ministration of love in
the church in Philippi.
Again, the spirit of Christ.
So in other words, this was not just
a theory.
This was proven in the lives of Paul,
of Timothy and Epaphroditus.
And if the church in Philippi had such
people there, the matter of rivalry, of personality
clash will automatically be solved.
In other words, everything is there.
And the church is the body of Christ.
The fullness of Him who fills all and
in all.
So dear brothers and sisters, it is one
thing to have the life of Christ.
We all have the life of Christ.
It is another thing to live the life
of Christ.
It is one thing to have His life.
It is another thing to let Him live
in you and in you.
And if we let the life of Christ
live in us, one sure sign of it
is you will be mocked by the mind.
If we are not mocked by the mind
of Christ, you will find personality clash in
the church.
It is unavoidable.
Unavoidable.
But if we live by the life of
Christ, then we will all be mocked by
the spirit of Christ.
And we will gird ourselves with humility, serving
one another.
And the result is the church will be
dead.
And that is the only way to be
of one spirit, in one soul, in one
love, and in one faith.
So may the Lord use these words to
help us to really in practical life enter
into that unity and harmony that is in
Christ.
And this is very, very important.
Shall we pray?
Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank
You because Thou has given us Christ as
our life.
Oh, we do not need to struggle and
to strive to live.
But we can just let Christ live in
and through us.
Lord, how we praise and thank You because
even though we are individuals, and yet there
is no need for the clash of personality
because it is Christ in all of us.
Lord, may the Spirit of Christ mark each
one of us that we may serve one
another with all humility.
Oh, Lord, we do pray that we truly
may be of one spirit, one mind, one
love, and even thinking one.
May Thy church be built.
We just commit ourselves to Thee and thank
Thee that it is possible.
It is workable.
It is true.
In the name of our Lord Jesus.
Amen.