Following Jesus as our example. That's the title of our chapter for today. Following Jesus as our example. Chapter 2 of Philippians. I don't think we could have, if we'd been trying, I don't think we could have come up with a more appropriate lesson for today than is contained in this portion of the Bible. We were going through some very trying and heart-rending times. I mentioned to Linda a while ago, last year about this time I guess it was, it seemed like there was more sickness and more deaths than I could remember. I mean so close together. It started out that way again, seemingly. We've had three to pass from us in the last two weeks that are very special, very special to my heart. Brother Red, Brother Pat Wyndham and Brother Pat Wyndham's wife, Sister Janice Wyndham, all passed away within the last two weeks. You know, you can take a lot if you have to, but it's beginning to catch up with me. So I desire your prayers that I could contain and do what I need to do. I really appreciate this chapter in the Bible. I've read it, studied it many times. And each time I go over it, I find something that I had not found before. And it just keeps building. What a blessing it is. I want to say this before we get into it. We have a chapter break here. A chapter break in the Bible does not necessarily mean that we're jumping from one subject to a different subject. We might be studying the same subject in two chapters in a row. And I don't know why they divide the chapters in the way that they did. I can show you probably two or three places in the Bible where they divide the chapter even before they complete the sentence. I've always wondered why they did that, but they had a reason for doing it, I'm sure. When you look at chapter 1 and chapter 2 of this book of Philippians, you're at least part of the way in chapter 2. You're dealing with the same subject you're dealing with in chapter 1. There's been a lot of emphasis put on having the same mind. or the oneness. And it has to do with being united as one person. And so we have some of that in chapter 2 also. We'll start reading in verse 1. I probably will discuss to some extent some of these words. But he says, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, the word therefore is connecting what he's about to say with what He's already said in chapter 1. So, that makes you understand that we're dealing with the same subject for a while. So, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ. I want us to think about that word consolation. And I think there's several things that we can talk about concerning this word, but I want to zero in on two thoughts mostly. The word consolation has some meanings to it that ought to interest us this morning. One meaning is to ask or plead for something. One meaning is to intrigue. And that has in it the idea to invite. Another meaning is to exhort. And a real good meaning of exhort means to call near. How do you like that? Now God has given us the privilege, at least some of us, He's given us the privilege of calling near. Calling others near to God. Now, I think that the Apostle Paul is emphasizing the fact that he's needing some consolation. I think he's emphasizing the fact that he's needing some comfort of love. I think he's emphasizing the fact that he needs some fellowship of the Spirit. I think he's emphasizing the fact that he needs some vows of mercies. And we can go on with some other things. I want us to think about this consolation. Paul says, if there be any consolation. Now, I want to think about it not only in relation to the Apostle Paul. That's part of it, no doubt, in my way of thinking. But I want us to think about this morning of us. We're not living in the days of Paul. And He's not needing that consolation that He was talking about back then. He's not needing that kind of consolation now. He has it all in Christ where He is. But I want us to think this morning about us as a local church having these graces that he's speaking about here toward one another. Now, somebody in this setting ought to have the consolation of pleading for others. Now, just about always in a local church, you'll find someone that's hurting over something. And they need someone that's able to plead on their behalf to help them along with the suffering that they're going through. Got that? And so, We need to figure out. Maybe we don't have all these graces, not one person. But if you've got a few people, surely somebody has got one of these graces that they can share. And so, the grace of pleading for others that need it. I believe the Lord would want us to kind of check up on ourselves and find out where we fit in this situation. I think all of us should be fitting one of these areas of need. Now most of the time, all of these needs are probably present in a local church. And so, the need for pleading. You know, I've seen along the way that there's some people that'll just sit down with you and get right down to where you are. And they're good at it. And when they get done, you feel so much better than when they started. And that's what it's all about. And I find that what we're having to go through, what we've gone through the last couple of years, I feel that there's a lot of this needed. All right? And so, consolation in Christ. And I think the idea is consolation in our communion with Christ, our oneness with Christ. In other words, Christ is the one that's making these things that bring consolation. He's the one that's the author of it and helping us do it. All right, so the pleading, but there is also the entreating. Entreating or inviting, we can use either one and I think it'll get the point across. There are always somebody that's good at inviting others to experience the consolation that we can have in our relationship with Christ. And it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Folks, I'll tell you what, when you put all of these things together, you've got completeness. Think about that. How sweet it is when you have the completeness of a church doing what can be done for this and in this consolation. Sometimes we need one area of this. Sometimes we need another area of it or one of these graces. And so, entreating. Now, let Christ be our example in this entreating and pleading. He was the best at it that this world has ever had. And He can be our example in doing the like things. What about the book of Matthew, chapter 11, verses 28 through 30, where Jesus said, Come unto Me. You know I like that. Jesus is inviting. He's entreating. And in that entreatment, He said, come to me. Come unto me. And He qualifies it. All ye, plural, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. That's a pretty good mouthful there, isn't it? All ye that labor and are heavy laden. I don't think you'll see a church today that does not have some of that laboring and heavy laden in it at any point in time. And so, now if Jesus is inviting us, entreating to come to Him, He's promising in that entreating to deliver the goods. That's wonderful. Because it goes on to say, Come to me all you that labor and heavy laden, and I will. Now folks, when you see a statement like that spoken of by the Lord, you don't have to question it. You don't have to wonder if He's really going to deliver. If He asks you to come and He offers to give you rest, If you will trust Him to do it, He'll give you what He's promising to give you. Got that? If He's promising you rest, He's got it available to give. And so, if we don't get it, The problem is with us. The problem is not with Christ. The problem would be with us. Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Then he says, Take my yoke upon you. You see, you're yoking up with the Lord Jesus Christ. To begin with, you come to Him for what He has to offer, and then He's offering something else. Take My yoke upon you. Now, that indicates to me that Christ is wearing a yoke. And if He's wearing a yoke, He wants to share it with us. And He'll get some benefit from it if we take that yoke and wear it. But the main thing is He wants to bless us in that relationship. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me. You can't do better than that, folks. Learn of me. The more you learn of Christ, the more you'll want to learn of Christ. Learn of me. Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. And ye shall find rest unto your soul. You see, Jesus is not offering something just to take care of physical issues that we have. He's able to do that. But sometimes it's necessary for us to carry those physical issues with us in this life. But I'm telling you what, He says, Ye shall find rest for your soul. Now, Jesus, in His entreaty, is offering us something that will take care of the spiritual issues of our life. You see, He doesn't just work in the physical realm, He works in the spiritual realm. And we need the spiritual healings that He offers, That he entreats us to come far. We need that much more than we need the physical healing. Because this old body is going to stop some of these days anyway. What we take into eternity is the important issue. And so, entreating, pleading and entreating. So, check up and see if one of these areas might be the area that you'd be good at. You see, we studied the Bible in our Sunday school portion learn to be able to use it for our spiritual benefit. And then, what about exhorting? What I say that one of the good meanings of exhorting is, and there are others, calling near. You see, we're more interested with the spiritual again. I want to emphasize that. We're more interested with the spiritual than we are with the physical. In our calling near, we're not necessarily calling people near to us, although we do get that benefit. a lot of times. But we're calling them near to God. Come in here for the funeral yesterday. We stopped and ate dinner at a place in Logansport. I think Brother James had already gone out to get the car warming up. The lady that took our money when we got done. I just, for some reason, I guess the Lord impressed me, but I wanted to ask her a couple of questions. And one was, to break the ice, I said, y'all got any good Baptists in this area? You know, that'll always get attention. And she said, well, we have the First Baptist Church, and I don't know a thing about them. But they have a good reputation in that part of the country. I did hear their retired pastor, I heard him preach a couple of funeral services a few years ago, and he did a fine job with them. But she said, we've got the First Baptist, I said, where do you go to church? Linda said she had said Magnolia. I didn't understand what she said. I don't even know anything about Magnolia. She said, now listen to this. She said, I used to go there. I think I asked her, well, why are you not going there now? And I had the opportunity to tell her, you really ought to get back in church. You need to get back in church. And of course, we left. But the idea is not trying to get her close to us, but to get her close to God. Get back where the Word is proclaimed. Get back where you can grow in the Lord, where you can get close to God. You know, serving the Lord in a New Testament church is one of the best things you can do for your life. Now you think about that. You think about what it would be like to walk around in this world and never being close to any other Christians. You're out there all alone. That's tough. That's tough going. You can do it, I guess, if you have to. But it's much better to have some loving brothers and sisters around you that can encourage you and help you along the way. And so, check up and see if you might have that ability to call near. That's part of this consolation. Constellation has in it the idea of comforting anyway, and we're going to deal with comforting. But it would be a wonderful thing if we could just get balanced out in these areas we're talking about here. Everybody play their part in it. What a blessing it would be to the church. You know, that kind of thing not only ministers to an individual person, but it will also help the growth of the church. Possibly in number, I know it will help them in spiritual growth, help us in spiritual growth. And don't we want to go... And don't we want and don't we need to grow spiritually in the Lord? I do. I'm pretty sure I've got a long ways to go yet. I'm pretty sure I'm a pretty good distance from perfection that we're going to read about in this book later on, which means complete maturity, completeness. I've not reached that completeness yet. And you know, I'd just go ahead and confess for you too. You hadn't either. You hadn't either, have you? But think about what it would be like if we were just all grow and grow and grow. I'll tell you what, as you grow in the Lord, and I can tell you this for sure, as you grow in the Lord, you will grow closer to one another. As we grow in the Lord, we grow closer to one another. Jesus is the hub of the church, folks. Now, as we grow in Him, We can't help, if he's a hub, as we grow at him, we can't help it to grow closer to one another. It'll work that way. And we need to do that. You see why I chose this book? It's a good one to start out with, I think. All right? If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, It's all with Christ, isn't it? If there be any comfort of love. Let me just say it this way, and maybe we might understand it a little better. Just, is there any comforting love? In other words, love that comforts. I want to tell you this morning, love is not passive. Love is active. Now there's a lot of difference between passive and active, isn't there? Love is active. You see, he's talking here about love comforting. That's acting. That's love doing something. See? And so, John tells in John chapter 1, I mean chapter 3, in the first epistle of John, Chapter 3 starting in verse 14. I'd like for somebody to read verses 14 through 18. I think it is. 14 through 18, 1 John chapter 3. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? Okay. That's active, isn't it? Huh? That's active. Let us not love in word only, but in deed. In deed. That's acting, that's doing something for somebody else. Word in deed and in truth. And so, Paul says in our text here, if any comfort of love. Love is the greatest spiritual gift. Right? Now by faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these, we're told in 1 Corinthians 13, the greatest of these is love. Now why would love be greater than faith or hope? He says it is, didn't he? Why would it be greater than hope? Well, faith and hope, I mean. Faith, when I think about faith, I think about me. Don't you? When I think about faith, I think about faith doing something for me. When I think about hope, I'm hoping for me, generally. That's the way it usually works, isn't it? But what about when I think about love, I think about somebody else, see? I'm thinking about doing something for somebody else. And so, we're at our very best in the Lord when we're doing something that will benefit and help somebody else. Now, you turn that thing around, somebody else is doing the same thing for me. And so we both get the benefit of that love. Love is acting. So we need to remember that, and we need to practice having an active love. It'll help others. Then he says, if any, fellowship of the Spirit. Now, the Spirit brings about oneness. The Spirit brings about that one mind, that oneness attitude. Paul told the Ephesians in Ephesians 4 and verse 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. And so if the spirit is bringing about that oneness of mind, that oneness of attitude, that oneness of desire, then there is that spirit of fellowship. And so he wants us to experience that fellowship. Now that fellowship actually means a partnership. Did you know that in a church setting, we're partners one with another? Fellow members? Fellow helpers? Fellow soldiers? You know the Bible speaks of all of those things. And so it brings about a sweet relationship. And all of this will help with this idea of consolation. And then it says, if any bowels of mercies and mercies. And so there's two things mentioned here. It's not one, it's two. He says bowels and mercies. There's two things mentioned, but the bowels are important for the mercies to be available. Now why do we say that? Well the vows in the Bible idea, situation, vows is actually dealing with a seed of our affection. And so mercies come out of the seat of affection. See how it works? Now one of the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 says, blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. You give the mercy out of your seed of affection, and God just keeps pumping more mercy in, so you got more mercy to send out to others. Boy, it does something. That blesses my heart, folks. You see why that's important for our day today? Let's go to 2 Corinthians 1. Somebody read starting at verse 3 and read down through verses 3-6. and the God of all comfort, who comforted us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort them which are in many trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounded by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is of your consolation and salvation which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings See how that connects with our lesson today? He's saying just about the same thing that you said in the book of Philippians chapter 2. He's emphasizing that consolation. Now we need that, and we want it, and we can have it if we'll just let the Lord do what He wants to do in our hearts and lives. Okay, we're just about out of time, but I'll read another verse. He says, Let me read these two verses together because it's all one sentence. For there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows of mercies, fulfill ye my joy. That makes me feel that Paul at that time was going through some very tough issues and he was needing some help from his brethren. What are we here for? Aren't we here to help? We ought to be. We need to be, don't we? Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and one mind. Now I want to tell you something. You can't do that by yourself. You've got to have some help outside of you. Christ can help you. He will help us if we all yoke up with Him and let Him work in our hearts and lives. I'm going to close right there. Got any questions or comments?