So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any
comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy
Philippians 2:1
“Flatter
me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me,
and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you.” William
Arthur Ward (an often quoted writer of inspirational maxims)
Back
in verse 27, the Apostle Paul has made this point: that we are to live a life
that fits the gospel. That's what he means when he says that he is urging us to
conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, and the whole
center section of this book is about that.
Paul
in Philippians 2:1-4 gives us four motives for spiritual unity, he gives us one
exhortation, and then he gives us three specific aims (or ends, or purposes) to
shoot for as we seek to follow out the exhortation. We
deal with the first of the four motives today.
The first one is encouragement
in Christ. The word “encouragement,” paraklsis, means “to come alongside and
help” somebody. The Holy Spirit is
called the Paraclete, the One who comes alongside and helps. It has the idea of coming alongside someone
to encourage them, to counsel them, to help them, to exhort them.
And
what he is saying is, “You who are in Christ have experienced His help. He has come alongside you. You who are in Christ have benefited from the
union with Christ through the intended encouragement, exhortation, counsel, and
help that you have received.”
And
what he is saying here is, “Because Christ has so consistently and faithfully
helped you, this is how you ought to respond, by being of the same mind. If the great blessing, encouragement of
Christ, if the great blessing of His constant forgiveness and constant strength
in your life means anything, certainly you should respond by endeavoring to be
of the same mind.” Why?
Because
that was Christ's great prayer. In John
17 He said, "Father, I pray that they may be one that the world may know
that You and I are one." In John
13:35 He said, "By this shall all men know that you're My disciples, if
you have love one for another." The
great passion of the heart of Christ was the unity of His people.
And
so what is Paul saying? He's saying
this: “Because you have received such continual, gentle encouragement,
exhortation, counsel, and help from Christ since the moment of your salvation,
since you have been given so much, does not that spur you on to give back to
Christ that which is precious to His heart?
Does the influence of Christ in your life move you to obedience? Or are you so ungrateful that you will take,
take, take, take but never give?” That's
the issue.
By
the way, this is a very powerful point and a very far- reaching spiritual
principle because it focuses on obedience as a very personal response to a very personal relationship. You see, when you sin it is not so much that
you are violating a system of religion; it is not that you are violating a system
of theology; it is not that you are violating a creedal structure; it is not
that you are going against the organization of the church. When you sin you are literally violating the
intimacy of a relationship between yourself and Christ.
If
you have received, and you have, constant encouragement, counsel,
exhortation, wisdom from Christ, is not that motive that you should give back
to Him what is precious to His heart? He
has constantly, by grace, given you everything precious to you. Can you not give
Him back what is precious to Him? Mark
it, when you bring discord into His church you violate not so much the church
and not so much the doctrine of unity as the relationship with Christ.
Dear
Friends, the gracious blessing, the gentle encouragement of Christ has so
generously been poured out to us. His exhortations to us are so clear and
compelling, including His exhortations to unity, that we should respond
stimulated to pursue the harmony He desires in His church at least for the sake
of gratitude and love, if for nothing else.
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