Philippians. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2. The title of the message this morning is, The Same Mind. The Same Mind. I trust we all strive to have the same mind. We want to have the mind of Christ. We find out what the mind of Christ is by studying, by reading, by meditating upon His Word. And the book of Philippians will encourage us to do just that. It will give us some direction about how we can do that. All Scripture, all Scripture is profitable for this. Looking at the Bible in its entirety, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, we will be able to see what God wants us to do. And in some cases, what God doesn't want us to do. Quite often there are things in the scripture that God will bring to our mind, bring to our remembrance. When we look at the scripture, we understand there are things that we are omitting, things that we are committing that have to be stopped. Scripture is there for encouragement. Scripture is there to build us up and to edify us. And the point of it is to change our lives. God wants us to have the same mind. In verse 1 of chapter 2, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, what consolation do we have in Christ? There's tremendous consolation we could have in Christ. The idea of consolation, and this is not consolation in something else. It's consolation in Christ, in Christ alone. we do have consolation in Christ? The answer to the statement is yes, since we have consolation in Christ. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, and indeed there is, there is consolation in Christ. The idea of consolation. Consolation, I believe, occurs about 15 times in the King James Bible. but consolation. In Luke 2, verse 25, we know that the Hebrews, the Jewish people, were waiting for the consolation of Israel, a special promise, a special event that would take place, the coming of the Messiah. In Luke 2, verse 25, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, And the same was a just and devout waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him." See, Simeon was waiting for the consolation. The consolation came. The Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth. He became a man. He became flesh. The second person of the Trinity. The God of eternity. God the Son became flesh. We're reminded that people were waiting for the consolation of Israel. Simeon was waiting for Christ, the birth of the Messiah. We're reminded by reading this letter to the Church of Philippi, if there be any consolation in Christ. Why was it so important for the Messiah to come? It was so important because He was the only means whereby humanity could be redeemed. Now, the Jews today have their eyes closed to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is their Messiah. But Simeon was waiting for the consolation of Israel. And yes, there is consolation in Christ. There is consolation in Christ. If you think, in the New Testament account, in the book of Acts, when Barnabas, he's known as... his name is the Son of Consolation. He was there to be an encouragement. to Paul, to Silas, to others in the Church. There is consolation. And that was all based upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the promise of the consolation of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ. There is consolation in Christ. In 2 Corinthians 7, the Bible says, Nevertheless, the God, the Comfort of those that are cast down, comforteth us by the coming of Titus, and not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told you your earnest desire, your mourning, and your fervent mind toward me, so that I rejoiced the more." You see, people that are filled and developed with the Holy Spirit can be a comfort, can be a consolation to others. And there is consolation in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is consolation in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 6, verse 18, we are reminded from the Word of God about another verse that discusses consolation. Hebrews 6, verse 18. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 6, verse 18, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we may have a strong consolation who have fled for a refuge to let hold upon the hope set before us. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into the veil. The anchor of our faith is based upon the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Certainly, there is consolation in Christ. People today in the world, they have no consolation whatsoever. If they're not trusting in Christ, they have nothing whatsoever to base their life upon. They're just being very existential in the way they live. They have no absolute standard in their life. They want to live by what society says is right, by the standard of society, and they do not want to live by the standard of the Scripture, by the standard of the Word of God. if there be any consolation in Christ. Think of the benefit that we have today living in the United States of America where the gospel was freely preached and is freely preached. There are people in countries around the world that have never heard of the gospel before. People in darkest parts of the world, spiritually speaking, that have never heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are people in the United States are to close their ears, close their minds to anything whatsoever that pertains to spirituality. They have no interest. But there is consolation in Christ. The idea of consolation in the scripture has the idea of a solace, an exhortation, a comfort, All these things all these aspects of what consolation means is related to our salvation there is consolation in our salvation God has given us eternal life God has given us People in the world today some of them their consolation is is in other things. It's in what they possess. It's in their world of possessions. In the Gospel of Luke, in Luke chapter 6, verse 24, the Bible says, But woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation. There are people today that console themselves in what they have. They have all they need, or they're pursuing to have more things that they don't have, and they're making consolation in those things. As a Christian, if you were a born-again Christian today, our consolation can be in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. If there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ. And we know, because the Lord Jesus Christ was indwelling the early Christians. O Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells in all of us. The promise of the Comforter has come. That they, early in the early church, Barnabas, we could keep on listing various different saints of past years gone by until this present age, can and will be an encouragement to others. Because we have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Barnabas, as I said before, was considered the son of consolation. If any comfort of love. So first we have, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ. If any comfort of love. By the way, consolation, the same root, you've heard the word about the Holy Spirit being the Paraclete, the Paracletos. Consolation is a very similar, the Greek word behind the English word consolation is very similar to that word comforter. And the word comfort in this verse here is slightly different. It's close, but slightly different. If there be any comfort, a comfort, the idea of comfort of love, in Philippians 2 verse 1, which we're looking at here, if there's any comfort of love. This is all based upon what work has been done on Calvary's cross, what's been done in our salvation. The greatest love, the greatest love that God has demonstrated to us is to provide us with salvation in the redemptive work that was on Calvary's cross. And it is in His death on the cross, putting trust in His death on the cross, His death, His burial, His resurrection alone, that will allow us to obtain salvation. Everyone that turns to Christ for salvation and believes on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Paul and Silas told the Flipping Jailer when he asked the question, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved in thy house. But it's a personal thing. Each individual must turn to Christ and Christ alone for their salvation. We have this comfort of love. This great love wherewith the Lord Jesus Christ loved us. It's a comfort of love. Yes, we have consolation of Christ. We have comfort of love. We have fellowship of the Spirit. The idea of fellowship, having something in common, a commonality, all based upon, not based upon something that's external, as far as a love for sports, a love for certain type of activities, it's based upon the work of Christ. It's all focused around the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what fellowship has to do with. Koinonia. Something in common. We have things that are in common. We have this fellowship. In the early church, in Acts chapter 4, rather, Acts chapter 2, we are reminded of what and how they related to each other in the early church. And we are still in the church age today. We're no longer under law, we are under grace. But in the early church, in Acts 2, verse 42, the Bible says, "...and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." You see, they were focusing their fellowship around these different things. that pertain to spirituality. That's what they have in common. There's this fellowship of the spirit that we read about here in Philippians chapter 2. The fellowship of the spirit. Having something in common. What we have in common is the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are a born again Christian, If you're a born-again Christian, and all Christians are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God, all born-again Christians are indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God, that's what we have in common. That's what we have in common. We have consolation in Christ. First of all, we have fellowship of the Spirit. And this fellowship, this fellowship, every time that we partake and observe the Lord's table, We have that fellowship. We have the communion of the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 10, 16, the Bible says, The cup of blessing which we bless is not the communion of the blood of Christ. The bread which we break is not the communion of the body of Christ. So we have this fellowship. We have fellowship of the Spirit. We have the comfort of love. And we must understand that we must maintain a fellowship, maintain with other believers. We don't want to necessarily have, which we can't, we cannot have genuine fellowship with someone that's not a genuine believer. As you know, in 2 Corinthians 6, part of this verse, part of this chapter, written on the wall in the sanctuary, 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14. The Bible reminds us, Be ye not unequally known together with unbelievers, for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? The idea, fellowship of the Spirit, the comfort of love, if there's fellowship of the Spirit. Now, if there's not any fellowship of the Spirit, then we have to stop and think about who we are associating with and what we are doing. There must be fellowship of the Spirit. Yes, there's consolation in Christ. Yes, There's comfort in love. And there also must be that fellowship of the Spirit. There must be fellowship of the Spirit. Later on, in the same, in verse 5 of Philippians, the next verse, chapter 1, verse 5, for your fellowship of the gospel from the first day until now. You see, the fellowship is based upon things pertaining to spiritual life, about the Word of God, about the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what fellowship is based upon. Those things that people can have, that people have in common, is what our fellowship needs to be based upon. It doesn't need to be based upon anything else. Yes, people may have like interests. Maybe cooking, maybe sports, maybe gardening. But that's not what our fellowship needs to be based upon. It needs to be based upon the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, there is consolation in Christ. There's comfort of love. And there's fellowship of the Spirit. Now, many times, as Christians, we suffer different types of persecution. We suffer different types of heartaches. In chapter 3 of the same book, chapter 3 of Philippians, Philippians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul says, that I may know Him, meaning the Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering being made conformable unto His death. The fellowship of His suffering. Knowing the Lord Jesus Christ better, that should be our primary objective. Yes, there is consolation in Christ. And we should want to have the comfort of love. And this fellowship of the Spirit, and this idea of fellowship, that being something in common, we want to be able to relate ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. If any vows of mercy, if you've seen this word vows, the Greek word behind the English word vows, we get the word spleen. It's derived from this Greek word, the spleen. Of course, the spleen is inside our ribcage here, some place, I guess, on our left side, maybe between the ninth and twelfth rib. I suppose that's where it's at. I haven't seen my spleen, but that's where they tell me it's at. But the spleen, it has a purpose. It's inside of us. It helps our immune system. It helps us purify different things. It helps with the balance of red blood cells. It does different things. The function of the spleen, I mean, it doesn't matter too much. It matters a whole lot for our bodies, but for this idea of the balance of mercy, something that is internal, an internal factor. When we talk about the bowels of mercy, the bowels, it's inside of us. And there is consolation in Christ. There's comfort of love. There's the fellowship of suffering. And there's these bowels inside our mercy. It's our innermost personality when we speak of the bowels. The bowels of mercy. There are two different things there, but it's what's on the inside of us. It's on the inside of us. And, earlier on in the book of Philippians, in chapter 1, verse 8, Paul states, For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. See, everything relates back to how we identify ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul, in his life, He was heading in one direction, persecuting Christians. He was persecuting Christians, killing them, bringing them back to Jerusalem for them to be tried and to be slain. But God got a hold of him. God stopped him in his tracks on the Damascus Road. He temporarily blinded him physically so that he could heal him of his spiritual blindness, and to save his soul, and to redirect his path from killing Christians, to go out there and serving the Lord Jesus Christ, and it only is because of what God did for him. It's only because of Christ did this for him. Christ made the change. Christ made the change in his life. And Christ can make the change in our lives. If we are saved, yes, he's made a change. But the process of continuing to become more and more like Jesus Christ is sanctification. And God wants us to continue on pursuing the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, we have robes of flesh. We will fail, we will sin, We will disobey what God tells us to do. But God doesn't want us to stay there. God wants us to change. He wants us to say, I understand what I did was wrong. He wants us to repent of what we did was wrong and begin doing what's right. We have this consolation in Christ. The comfort of love. The fellowship of the Spirit. The vows and mercy. The idea of the mercy is the pity. The idea of having some type of pity, some type of sympathy, some type of mercy. In Romans 12, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service. By the mercies of God. You know, mercy, is not receiving something that is deserved. That's mercy, as opposed to grace receiving something that is... Grace is receiving something that is not deserved. Mercy is not receiving something that is deserved. God is merciful. God is gracious. The mercy of God You know, remember that sinner, a republican, in the temple? He said, God, God be merciful to me, a sinner. He wasn't being self-righteous, like the Pharisee. He understood what he deserved. What we are worthy of, when we were in Eden, when we sinned, when we disregarded God's command, we were worthy of death. But because of the mercy of God, we did not receive death. That's for those of us that are born again and saved. We did not receive death because of His mercy. Because of God's grace, we received eternal life based solely upon the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ upon Calvary's cross. In Colossians 3, verse 12, the Bible tells us what we must put on. Colossians 3, 12. Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if having any manner of quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. The idea of putting on the elect of God, holy, and beloved vows of mercy. The idea of forbearing one another, which later on in this passage we'll see that we have to forbear, we have to forgive, we have to think of others first and put ourselves not ahead of others, put ourselves second. Christ comes first. Others should come next, and put ourselves third. Verse 2. Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. The fulfillment kind of to make replete, to fill up. When we think of fulfill my joy, you think of a hole in the ground. You want to fill that hole, backfill that hole with dirt. The idea of filling something, of fulfilling. Paul was reminding the Church of Philippi that he was in need of something. He wanted to have his joy be fulfilled. Fulfill ye my joy. And what would give the Apostle Paul greater joy than to have the saints at the Church of Philippi be like-minded? Sadly, as Christians, we may have disagreements with one another. Sometimes those disagreements are about nothing. Quite often they're about nothing. I'm not sure what disagreements that the Church of Philippi had, but Paul wanted his joy fulfilled, and he was going to have that, he was requesting that they be like-minded. Remember in verse 1, as far as the fellowship of the Spirit, I think when people stop having biblical fellowship, perhaps that's when they begin to stop being like-minded. The fellowship is based on something common, a commonality in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ about the work of redemption. Like-mindedness. Paul was encouraging them to be like-minded. In verse 16, later on in this chapter, "...holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. He wants to rejoice in the day of Christ. The idea of fulfill his joy. Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like minded. Rejoice him in the day of Christ. Paul talks about, early on in chapter 1, chapter 1 verse 4, he talks about rejoicing and having joy. Always, in every prayer of mine, for you all making requests with joy. Paul wanted his joy to be fulfilled. He desired that the saints at Philippi were and would be like-minded. Having the same love Interesting that this word love Is the love that God has for man You've heard the word agape before Phileo Eris fly Agape Phileo and Eris those words from love and And this word here, the Greek word behind this English word love, is agape, having the same love. Now, we are imperfect people. Christ is a perfect God. So, His love is perfect. There's consolation in Christ. And it's the love of Christ, that Agape love for Christ, that he's desiring the church, the saints, there at Philippi, having the same love. The love based around Christ. Not based upon anything else, but based upon Christ's love. He wants this joy. He wants a great amount of joy. He wants his joy fulfilled. It's like the Apostle John in his epistle, 3 John 1 verse 4, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. See, Paul wanted to have his joy fulfilled. John was testifying that his joy was fulfilled because his children, his spiritual children, walked in truth. They walked in truth. The idea of joy, a gladness, a cheerfulness, a calm delight. Later on in the previous chapter, verse 27, Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and see you or else be absent, I may hear of your faith, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel." The idea that he wanted to hear, he wants his joy fulfilled. He wants them to be like-minded. Like-minded. to have a certain particular direction, a like-mindedness. He didn't want them to be scatterbrained. He wanted them to be like-minded. He wanted them having the same mind. Later on, and I'll make sure I mention this before, verse 20 of chapter 2, For I had no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state. Like-mindedness. They wanted, Paul's desire was that they would have one mind. Not two minds, not three minds, not four minds. Paul's desire, the Lord Jesus Christ's desire for us today, is to have one mind. One mind that's geared to doing what is right, that is geared to doing what is going to glorify God. Not going in the opposite direction. How is our mind working today? Individually, and how is our mind working today corporately? When we have fellowship, are we able to fellowship with each other based upon our true objective of the Church? In chapter 3, this is the same book, chapter 3, verses 15 and following. Let's start at verse 14. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us, therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded, and if anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereunto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things." Our mindedness needs to be pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling that's only found in Christ Jesus. Let's move over to chapter four for a moment. Chapter four. Verses one and two here. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown, so it stands fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech the Odious and beseech Syntychus that ye be of the same mind in the Lord. being in the same mind. The Apostle Paul, in writing to the Church of Philippi, he told them, through the Holy Spirit, he's telling us too, fulfilling my joy, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, and of one mind. They're having, holding on to something, something that's sticking together, that's staying together. Having the same love. A love that's at the level of God's love, that agape love, that unconditional love. Being of one accord. The idea of accord, which is made up of I guess, it's two words, it's a compound word, one, I mean, in the language behind our English here, it has the word for psychos and the word seen, kind of together, the mind being one, again, the core has the idea of being a one-mindedness, of being one-mindedness, having a co-spirit, having the idea of being together. That's what the born-again believers can have. It must be based upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It cannot be based upon anything else. It has to be based upon what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, and there has to be a clear objective with our fellowship. That's the basis, the focus of our fellowship. That's the consolation we have in Christ Jesus. That's the comfort we can have. Having this one accord, of one mind. And then you remind, he tells us, he tells the Church of Philippi, because Paul knows people, just like we know people. He says, let nothing be done through strife. Sometimes there's strife. unnecessarily strife. Sometimes strife, contention, we must contend for the faith. But in one-mindedness, when we have that unity, when there's agreement on the fundamental doctrines of Scripture, of the death, the burial, the resurrection of Christ, when fellow saints are together, they want to have fellowship, genuine Christian fellowship, and have one mind, have the consolation of Christ without compromise, Paul tells them here in verse 3, he says, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. Again, we as Christians, not that we have to be reminded of this, there's strife that we have sometimes with other Christians. It's one thing that we have strife and conflict with someone that's a lost pagan, person. But sometimes we have strife with each other, for whatever reason. But the Holy Spirit here in Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 reminds us, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. In verse 14 of this chapter, do all things without murmurings and disputings. See, perhaps they were doing things, murmuring, they were disputing, the idea of disputing. Look at that word disputing. See, when you dispute, if it wasn't over a doctrinal issue, if it wasn't over some type of heresy that would have crept into the church, which we want to help our brothers and sisters in the Lord, if they misunderstand something, They generally misunderstand something or misapply something. We want to help them understand the scripture properly. There are times, perhaps, when interpretations of different pathologies are not definitely absolute. But if it's a clear thing, we want to do it in love. But as far as other things, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. Getting back to the idea of that having the same love, in verse two, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. See, when things are on strife and vainglory, the mind is getting, things are getting separated. And our mind is all compacted up on our head here. But the Apostle Paul is coming to the Church of Philippi, do nothing through strife or vain glory. In Romans chapter 13, verse 13, the Bible, Paul is writing his letter, his epistle to the Church of Rome, to the saints of Rome, but in Romans chapter 13, verse 13, the scripture tells us Let us walk honestly, as in the day, not rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof." Now, walking honestly, as far as, you don't want to riot, you don't want to fight, that's the tactics of the world. We want to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. In Church Philippi here, is being reminded, and we're being reminded too, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. Nothing needs to be done through strife. As far as in the context of our fellowship, in the context of those things which we have in common, in the consolation of Christ, in the comfort of love, nothing should be done through strife, or vain glory. James, in his epistle, tells us, in James chapter 3, verse 14 and following, he says, But if ye have bitter, envying, and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth, This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envy and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. The strife. So often, the strife that we have is of the devil. There are times the scripture does talk to contend for the faith, contending for the faith that was once delivered to the saints. Not to have strife with fellow believers who we have, are supposed to have fellowship with, have the comfort of love with, have the consolation, show the consolation of Christ with. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. But let but in low ways of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves." The idea of esteeming other better than themselves. In Romans chapter 12, we quoted verse 1 previously, but in Romans chapter 12, verse 10, The Bible says, Be kindly and affectionate one toward another, with brotherly love, in honor of preferring one another. And see, again, we get things out of place in our lives. We start putting ourselves ahead of others. We may even put others ahead of Christ. And this is what perhaps can cause some strife. Sometimes it's just your own sinful flesh that causes strife. But let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but it's in lowliness of mind. The idea of having a mind and having it be low. In lowliness of mind, quite often we, in our minds, the opposite of lowliness of mind is the haughtiness of mind. But in lowliness of mind, we're to esteem other better than themselves. So, this brother and sister over here, you know, they're someone that I have something in common with. If they're a born-again Christian, if they've been washed in the blood of Christ, The scripture says, esteem other, other better than themselves. Which, as humans, that's challenging to do. It was challenging for the church at Philippi to do this. Because in verse 4, there is something called a present prohibition. And what that means, in verse 4, is that they were doing exactly this. He wasn't telling them, don't begin to do it. He was telling them to stop doing it, in verse 4. He says, look not every man on his own thing. Well, that's what they were doing. They were looking at every man in his own thing. And when that was happening, when that was occurring, they were losing their consolation, they were losing their comfort, they were losing their fellowship. They were losing the bowels and mercies. And they were robbing Paul of his joy. Because they were looking, instead of the scripture says, look not every man in his own things. I mentioned the present prohibition. That's the present meaning in the sense of the language behind the English Bible here, the Greek language. There's an eras prohibition and a present prohibition. If it was an eras prohibition, which it's not, it would mean don't begin to do it. But since it's the present prohibition, it's actually conveying the fact, stop doing it. Look not every man in his own things, but every man also on the things of others. So, he's basically reiterating the last part of chapter, verse 3 there. In Romans 12, verse 15, the Bible says, Rejoice with them that you rejoice, and weep with them that weep. In Romans 15, verse 1, the Bible says, We then that are strong are to bear the affirmatives of the weak. Bearing the affirmatives of the weak. Look not every man on his own things, but on every man also the things of others. Be concerned about other people. Not that we ignore our own needs, not that we ignore what is happening with us. But we have to have the knowledge and be aware of the fact that we cannot be continually just focused on ourself. We must be looking at someone else's needs, someone else's desires, and assisting when we can, even if it's just with prayer support. You may know somebody that's having a rough time. Even if you just pray for that individual, God can still work. You may not have any way of helping them physically, emotionally, but all they may need is some spiritual help, some spiritual encouragement. Now in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 8, we know of this passage, it's familiar to many of us. 1 Corinthians chapter 8, 1 Corinthians chapter 8, verses 9, let's just look at verse 12 for a moment. But when ye sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ. Wherefore, if meet make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh, while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. As far as we want to be considerate I mean, the pastor of Philippians, perhaps, is not directly talking about the so-called liberty that we have in Christ. But still, it's talking about how we are relating to other people. Relating to their needs. We don't want to have any schism in the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12, in any divisions whatsoever, 1 Corinthians 12, verse 25, 1 Corinthians 12, 25, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care one for another, and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. The principle of having people looking after others and not looking after themselves. The love passage in chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 13 verse 4. Charity suffereth long and is kind. charity ambieth not, charity boneth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil." Of course, you know, in 1 Corinthians 13 verse 4, that word for charity, the Greek word behind the word for charity is the same Greek word that's behind the word for love in verse 2 of Philippians chapter 2. They're both talking about this God's love, unsacrificial love. And in the passage in 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 6, the Bible says, 2 Corinthians 6, in verse 3, giving no offense that the ministry be not blamed. And then going back to James one more time. We were over there earlier today, but back to James, James chapter 2. In verse 8, "...if ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself ye do well." So when we think of this passage here in Philippians, God wants us to have the same mind. He wants us to have the same mind. When we think about the passage, And what God wants us to do, He wants us to understand, yes, there is consolation in Christ. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies, to fill you, my joy, that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in loneliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Father, we want to thank Thee this morning, this afternoon, that Thou dost care for us, Thou hast died for us, and sent the redemption of Calvary's cross to us. Father, allow us to have the same mind. Father, we do ask that thou would give us comfort, encouragement from thy word. Give us the wisdom that we need to properly understand the scripture. Help us to build up and to edify and encourage each other in the faith. Allow us not to become sidetracked or distracted from this world. In Jesus' name, amen.