Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
[1] So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from
love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, [2]
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind. [3] Do nothing from selfish
ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant
than yourselves. [4] Let each of you look not only to his own
interests, but also to the interests of others. [5] Have this mind
among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, [6] who, though
he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing
to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a
servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in
human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point
of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly
exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every
name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Our unity as a church is of utmost importance to our Lord.
Phil 2:1-11
Last week, we saw this priority of our Lord’s… that our unity also happens to be a cause for the unbelievers in this world to become aware of their guilt and to become fearful of pending eternal judgment. Our unity is a testimony to them of the power and truth of the gospel message that unites us. And in the unregenerate heart, that unity produces fearful anticipation of the coming judgment for them. Always, we hope that they would see it and fear, and also that the fear would yield repentance unto salvation.
So our unity, which is precious to God, is essential for our gospel witness.
It is also essential to our Joy.
Paul wants to teach us about joy, and he can’t stop talking about joy through this whole letter to the Philippians. Paul himself is full of joy… if some come against him or even against the church, it doesn’t matter – in fact, it becomes the occasion for greater joy for Paul. Because as the envious preach the Gospel with malicious motives, the gospel is preached.
And in these, and so many other ways, Paul sees his suffering not as a curse but as a blessing, as a gift that has been given to him, because in that suffering the gospel advances, and if the gospel advances, his joy grows.
As we begin Chapter 2, Paul writes in hope and anticipation that God would reproduce that same hope and contentment and fruitfulness in his readers. And not only that, but we see in Chapter 2, Verse 2, that Paul’s joy is actually incomplete.
And that, in order for his joy to be complete, we must have unity. Which, of course, is exactly what this passage is about.
Our outline this morning traces the road to unity that Paul lays out:
We…
(1)Draw motivation from God’s love for us (v1)
to
(2) Prioritize others above ourselves in our thinking (v2-5)
which makes us more like Christ as we
(3) Meditate on Christ’s humility (v5-11)
First, we draw motivation from God’s love for us (v1)
Paul begins with ‘So if’
The ‘So’ refers back to… vs 27 of chapter one, where he gave the admonition:
“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ…”
And Paul is continuing here to explain what it means to live worthy of our salvation.
And then ‘If’ – IF here could also be translated from Greek as ‘because’ – because we perceive these things, it ought to drive us to action.
What are the things that we should see?
Here Paul calls out 5 realities that are the motivation for our unity:
- Encouragement in Christ.
- Comfort from love.
- Participation in the Spirit.
- Affection.
- Sympathy.
Now each of these 5 realities focuses on God’s work and character revealed to us in his love for us.
We know that these refer to God’s work because the Greek words Paul uses for encouragement, comfort, participation, and sympathy are elsewhere virtually exclusively described as what God, and not any human, is doing. And so a fifth word, affection, which can be used of God or man, in this context is also best understood to refer to God’s affection.
Which means that Paul here is giving us a list of the benefits we as Christians have from God as a result of His love for us.
Let’s look at each reality a bit closer.
“Encouragement in Christ”:
– This word encouragement could also rightly be translated as salvation. This is a reference to the encouragement that you and I should feel if we have confidence in Christ’s saving work on the cross on our behalf, to take away the punishment we deserved, and to forever secure for us a relationship with God. And on any given day, if we sin, we have encouragement knowing that our sin doesn’t lead us to despair. Instead, we can take heart in Christ’s work. We are loved as His children, Christ’s friend, and eternally beloved servants.
-This truth never becomes inert. It stays alive in us, grows. And as we are mindful of Christ’s work, it drives us forward in faithfulness.
Next, “Comfort from Love”:
This word comfort also carries the broader idea of encouragement. And God’s love here broadly refers to all of His good works toward us. This includes our salvation but also includes everything else, big and small, in our lives. God’s love for us is evident in the blessing we have together in fellowship as a church, in the fact that we have food to eat, and in the fact that He gives special help to His servants. Stay observant in that, stay thankful, let it drive you forward, says Paul.
Next, “Participation in the Spirit”:
This is another broad term Paul uses, but here the emphasis is on the work that God does through us. God lives and works within us. But the full benefit of our participation in the Spirit is only realized as we serve each other within the church. So this participation is the fellowship we experience when we are helped by the Spirit working through others or when we are able to help others through the Spirit’s work in us. It’s not a solo act… it’s a community display. God doesn’t leave us as we had been… He changes us and makes us useful for His loving purpose. We should look for that work, and seeing that work, it should motivate us toward faithfulness.
Next, “Affection”:
I love this word. It’s good in English, but in Greek, the word is splahnkhnois, which refers to the guts of a person… the intestines, the bowels. A parallel in our day would be how we refer to the heart being the seat of emotion and affection – I give you my heart, I love you with all my heart. Well, in Paul’s day, the lower abdomen was understood similarly. If you had deep affection for someone, you’d have an intense, yearning feeling in your gut. And talking about that would be the strongest way to express affection for another person. Young men… if you’re still looking for a spouse, and you happen upon a worthy young woman, I suggest wooing her by saying you love her with all your bowels. If she knows her Biblical Greek, she’ll be flattered. But in seriousness, what this points to is the reality of God’s yearning affection for us. God is high and holy, but we badly mischaracterize His love for us if we take Him to be distant, aloof, or mechanical. He has genuine, felt affection for us… and we see that in His word as well as the blessings He gives. So we pay attention… and let that too motivate us.
Lastly, “Sympathy”:
This word carries the idea of mercy. Mercy, as you know, is us not getting the bad thing that you deserve, such as not getting a ticket when pulled over for speeding. However, this word also indicates a desire on God’s part to show mercy to us. He doesn’t give it grudgingly. And this mercy is shown to us day by day. Hebrews chapter 12 speaks of the discipline that God gives us as a loving Father. He often allows us to feel painful consequences for our faithless actions… in that, the correction He gives is an expression of His love for us. But many times He shows us mercy in the moment… we may have a bad day, get overwhelmed, say things we regret. And though we know we deserve it, God does not discipline us with chastising… certainly not in proportion to what we deserve. In fact, many times the discipline He gives is to respond to our wickedness with kindness that shames us into repenting and trusting Him. And it’s the kindness of God then, rather than guilt or shame, that we see and that fuels our motivation.
Now, taking a step back, Paul’s entire argument in verse 1 is driven from our seeing God’s goodness. It is entirely a positive motivation. We’re not compelled by shame or guilt. Guilt is an evil and ineffective overseer. Guilt and shame alone will never lead you to a lasting, affectionate, sacrificial love toward others, such as Paul is calling us to here.
So Paul implores us to consider an alternative motivation: the sweet and energizing love of our Lord and Savior for us. And as for guilt and shame, while Paul doesn’t explicitly say it here, they can be good when we allow them to function as God intended. So not as our masters or our source of motivation, but rather as signposts, pointing us back to the goodness of God. When we lose our drive and stumble in serving God, when we sin or experience conviction under preaching, we remember that the shame is just a signpost pointing us back into the sweetness of God’s love. It’s our awareness of God’s love that fuels our desire to be faithful. That’s where we go, that’s where Paul takes us. If we see any of that love, which of course we do, we allow that to propel us to do what he states next, starting in verse 2.
We…
- Draw motivation from God’s love for us (v1)
to - Prioritize others above ourselves in our thoughts (v2-5)
In verse two, Paul urges us to be unified with each other. This encapsulates the central command and encouragement that Paul gives to the Philippians. It’s important to recognize that Paul here very directly channels the heart of Jesus Christ himself.
In John chapter 17, Jesus prays that His disciples would be one even as He and the Father are one. We are all called to be one. Not in some superficial, symbolic way. No, we are called to true “oneness,” intensely and effectively. We are to be so unified with our Christian brothers and sisters that our unity starts to look like what? The Holy Trinity itself.
That is what Jesus prayed for us. That’s God’s heart.
He wants us to have a character of unity so strong that it could even make that difficult-to-understand doctrine – the doctrine of the Trinity – God three in one – not just comprehensible but believable! We become a picture giving evidence to the greater divine unity.
And for us in the church, God has a special future purpose for our unity. You may recall that a wedding is coming. And a marriage, that most fundamental and intimate of human relationships. The human institution of marriage, wonderful a gift as it is, is only a picture of the coming full display of the reality of marriage. Paul elsewhere speaks of marriage in Ephesians chapter 5, and he makes it clear that what we experience in earthly marriage is but a shadow of the coming and more glorious reality. And any husband’s attempts to care for his wife… These attempts point to a more glorious reality: that Christ Himself is at this moment actively working to purify His bride for the day of marriage.
You see, you and I, and everyone else who bows the knee to Christ in faith, we are, together, the bride of Christ. We are already one body in a true sense. You and I are one organism, one whole person, one bride being made up in splendor for a coming joy and intimacy and partnership and love wherein we together will delight in our Lord.
Now, how that will all work, I don’t know. As Paul indicates in Ephesians chapter 5, this is a great mystery.
But what is crystal clear in this glorious truth is that Christ Himself is passionate for and protective of the unity of His body. He has joined us together. Let none of us ever presume on His tender protection to tear us apart.
And yet, disunity is a great risk for Christ’s Church. If you have been around churches for a while, you probably already know this. Even a healthy church, doctrinally solid, active and engaging in ministry, proclaiming the gospel – even such a church, amidst all its great strengths, is still vulnerable to disunity. We know that because the church in Philippi, to whom Paul was writing, was such a church. Paul loved this church. They were rich in love, giving sacrificially to advance the gospel, to support him personally in his ministry. They were tender. They were thoughtful. They held strong to the truths of God amidst hot persecution. They were fiercely loyal to Paul, not flinching at the shame of his imprisonment. And yet, Paul’s main exhortation for them in his letter is this call to unity.
This appears to have been his one worry for them, and the one thing keeping his joy from being complete as he wrote this letter, as we see at the beginning of verse two. “Complete my joy,” then, he says… how? “By being of the same mind, having the same love, being of full accord and of one mind.”
He gives a brief and effective description of what it looks like to “have unity.” Breaking down the four parts…
First, we are to be one in mind, sharing a soul, having an organic and natural consideration for each other.
Second, one in love, having genuine affection for each other, being ready to sacrificially and joyfully care for each other. I might add here, being eager to forgive, passing over others’ sins, eager to forget them – sometimes when asked but more often when not – and to be diligent instead to think well of others, remembering the good.
Third, being in full accord… doesn’t mean we never see things differently or engage in peaceful, edifying discussion. But it does mean we embrace each other in a spirit of mutual trust, faithfully and kindly giving respect to each other and listening carefully, so as to ever be progressing toward agreement. In fact, it means to have the same internal dynamics as if we all shared a common soul.
And lastly, being of one mind. This is slightly different than the “same mind” statement at the beginning of the verse. This here means having the same purpose. We exist for Christ’s glory. Unity does not exist for its own sake, and it’s not its own final goal. Churches that attempt unity for unity’s sake and lose Christ’s glory as their common shared purpose… such churches quickly turn inward and narcissistic, focusing on internal ministry only. Ironically, that’s when the inner substance crumbles, and for lack of a shared external purpose, any true sense of organic divine unity is replaced with a brittle formal unity similar to what you can commonly find anywhere. On the other hand, the bond of friendship, sharing of souls that happens when you work side by side with others in gospel ministry… that bond is strong and hard to break.
These four things together are Paul’s working definition for Christian unity. Essential for that true unity, a unity that befits the splendid bride, made ready for the Groom, the one true king. Such unity greatly pleases the heart of God, as it does Paul. And to violate that unity is to violate God’s great love for us… let us not violate that love by neglecting this call.
There is, however, significant work for us to do in our own hearts if we are to heed this call. In verse 3, Paul charges us to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit…” He doesn’t go after any specific external behaviors… instead, he continues to focus on our thinking, what drives our decisions. We need to recognize when selfish ambition or conceit are the drivers.
These terms – selfish ambition and conceit – work together to describe the wholeness of our selfishness. Selfish ambition is that compulsion to make ourselves greater than we ought to be, and conceit is the belief that we are greater and thus more deserving of honor or the service of others or ourselves than we are.
Both come from the same grasping, clenching sinful animal desire to make much of ourselves rather than humbly bowing the knee to Christ.
And both are disastrous when in operation within a church.
This is easiest to see when that honor is stress tested. Consider… How do you respond when someone in the church misrepresents something you’ve said? Puts words in your mouth? What’s your first impulse if your agenda is self-honor? Is it to forgive immediately and remember no more? Or perhaps to go to the person in love, seeking to understand how you might have communicated better? Or do you make them pay the price, having offended so great a one as yourself, withdrawing in bitterness or confronting them with indignant anger in your heart?
In fact, every interaction we have with others, we are confronted with similar micro – or sometimes macro – opportunities to make much of ourselves. Whether we choose to do so will reveal the inner reality of where our heart is at.
Paul gives us an alternative to prioritizing our own honor… It’s to “… in humility count others more significant than yourself.”
Meaning that as a Christian, my inward compass ought to point toward honoring others, not honoring myself. That’s where I direct my creativity, hope, energy, and ambitions – honoring others. Counting them more significant. In humility, desiring that they be given more consideration, be counted worthy of being heard, be given more attention and support.
This inward alignment reverses the polarity of the natural alignment of the sinful mind.
The natural mind honors itself first, others second, and God not at all.
We, however, are to honor God first, others next, and ourselves last, if at all.
And when you reverse that polarity, your thinking is no longer dominated by your own interests. Verse 4 says, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.” It makes sense, right? If you are honoring others, that means counting them more significant. That’s going to mean you start caring about their well-being. That means you need to know what’s going on in their lives, and what’s more, you want to know, you want to help, and you want to be a friend.
A mind that is consumed with its own honor and its own interests has little room for that kind of thinking. When you are consumed with honoring yourself, you become full to the brim and bursting with your own interests – your own list of to-dos, your projects, your problems, your dreams, your disappointments, your anxieties, your hopes. And with that overfull list, you don’t even have time or energy to take care of all your own stuff! Self-honor is hard work. It’s a hard thing to make up a sinner to be more than you are! And when you’ve done one thing for yourself, reached one level, there’s always another level after that. Got a nice car? There’s always a better one to buy. Nice paycheck? Time to make it bigger. Nice vacation? Make it longer next time. Got some followers on your handle? Time to go get yourself.
If you are oriented toward honoring yourself, you’re going to have a tough time doing even that.
Now, add on to that looking to anyone else’s interests, and it’s lights out. You’ll have no capacity to love others. When you live in that way of thinking, in that mind, when someone else comes to you, has a need, and you need to help them… at best, that’s going to feel like a burden to you. Very likely, you’ll even see that person as a direct impediment to your happiness and fulfillment, and you will be full of bitterness and resentment. That’s not the way to do Christian ministry. That’s not how we honor our Lord and fellowship with Him. We can’t have that mind.
But when your heart is set on honoring others, it’s different. It’s a joy to see them helped, to see them grow. And it is possible to delight in honoring others!
You may not know this about me, but I love trees. In the spring this year, I was eager each day to get out into our backyard and see what each tree looked like as the buds emerged and broke forth into leaves. Each stage of this process is different and amazing. We have this oak tree right in the middle of the yard. And for a little less than a week each year, as the tiny tissue-thin leaves emerge from the buds, they are this pale creamy color with outlines of pink and scarlet. And when you step back, these new leaves make it look like the whole tree is full of blossoms… this gnarly oak… as if it were a cherry tree. Then, just a week or two later, everything is green, but you have these perfectly formed, little miniature-sized oak leaves with the characteristic nooks and crannies. I could go on and on here… I love the beauty that God has put into trees, and I enjoy the process of caring for them as they grow.
How much more, then, ought I, as a Christian, to be able to see the beauty of God working in the hearts and lives of each of you, my Christian brothers and sisters? The amazing, surprising, excellent work He does through all of you? And how much more, then, ought I to be eager to have a part in that, to honor that, to support that, as God blesses me with the occasion and ability to tend to your interests, to pray for you, to come alongside you?
And what about you for me? I hope you see some of the same in what God is doing in me… I won’t pretend it’s easy! And what about each of you for each other?
But to be able to enjoy and worship God in our support of others’ interests, we can’t cling so tightly to our own. When we do, we are overfull, and any thoughts of anyone else become burdensome, and any possibility of love in humility is canceled.
The fact is, we were not put on this earth to fulfill every last one of our desires. Now granted, there are good ambitions for us to have, responsibilities that God Himself has given us in ministry and caring for families. These are good things to do!
But by no means should these things crowd out our ability, our capacity, to also take an interest in our Christian brothers and sisters.
God did not put us on this earth to solve all our own problems, nor did He leave us on this earth after we were saved for the primary purpose of working through all of our challenges and fulfilling our desires before we die.
To put it another way: if you are to live a faithful, God-honoring life, you will leave much of your own business unfinished. The people who have peace when they die and pass into glory do so because they understand that success in life isn’t measured by how many of their own problems they were able to solve for themselves. We need to be ready to die with some of our business unfinished. Only then can it be that we don’t leave the Lord’s intended work for us unfinished.
Now, that is a hard way to think. It is a seismic shift in our understanding. And given how far this mode of thinking is from how we are conditioned to think not only in our culture but also in our churches, one might be excused for asking: Is this even possible? Is it possible for you and me to think this way?
Paul had an answer to that. Verse five says, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.”
What does that mean? If you are a believer, then you can have that mind because you do have that mind.
Sound enigmatic? It isn’t. Having that mind is impossible for unbelievers. But having that mind is possible for believers, and in fact, we do have that mind. But the question becomes: how do we use that mind? And how do we allow that divine motivation, that sublime, tender love of our God, to lead us to a place of trust where we can put aside our own interests and genuinely get involved in the success of others’ interests?
Which brings us to our third and final point:
We draw motivation from God’s love for us (verse 1) to prioritize others above ourselves in our thoughts (verses 2-5), which makes us more like Christ as we meditate on Christ’s humility (verses 5-11).
Now we come to the last glorious part of this section of scripture.
Verses six through eleven point us to the superlative example of humility: our Lord. These verses are special because they are a hymn. Almost certainly, these would have been sung and thus easily remembered by those in the church.
It just so happens that these verses draw much of their content directly from the last part of the book of Isaiah.
From Isaiah chapter 40 onward, there is a section of scripture that is very often referred to as the fifth gospel. This is because this section of the Old Testament is without parallel in the accuracy and specificity with which it describes the character and person of our Lord Jesus Christ. But while it’s sometimes called the fifth gospel, it’s probably more accurate to call it the first gospel. Because for a few decades after our Lord’s death and resurrection, before the church had the four New Testament gospels as they came to be, they did have Isaiah.
In fact, every Jewish town would have a synagogue, and every synagogue would have a set of scrolls, and among that set would be the scroll for Isaiah. And this book would be a favorite for the very early church, as it had so much to say about Christ. You might remember that in Acts 8, providentially, it’s from a later chapter in Isaish, ch 53, from which the Ethiopian eunuch is reading when Phillip comes to him. And, from that same text Phillip is able to adequately explain enough of the gospel for the eunuch to be converted and baptized. And so it’s no surprise that in the early church, a hymn – maybe many hymns – would’ve been written based on that section of scripture. And such hymns, like this one, would have been useful for both worship and memory, so that those without scrolls might still remember important details about who Jesus Christ is.
Now, what is the significance of that here?
You may remember this from the book of Acts… when Paul entered any new city during his missionary journeys, where would he go first to preach? The synagogue.
That is, if they had a synagogue. Interesting fact about Phillipi is that they seemed to not have one… despite it being a prominent Roman city. How do we know this? When Paul gets there, in Acts 16, there’s no synagogue for him to go to. Instead what does he do? He has to go down by the river where there are some women worshiping.
You see, in Jewish culture, you needed to have a minimum of 10 men to form a synagogue. Apparently, there weren’t 10 faithful Jewish men in Philippi. No men means no synagogue. No synagogue means no public scrolls read from and likely no easy access to this book of Isaiah. So, if you are Paul the missionary, how do you help a church with no synagogue and limited access to any scrolls of scripture to nonetheless have access to Scripture?
The answer… teach them scripture in the form of a song. And that appears to be what has happened here.
And I’m inclined to believe that they learned this song from Paul on his first journey to Philippi. Consider – if he knew this hymn at that time it would have been strange for him to not teach it to them.
Moreover, we know he knew hymns – and sang them regularly! How? Because in Acts 16:25 when Paul and his companion Silas had been imprisoned in Philippi on their first trip there… what were they doing? They were singing! And it had gotten late at night… they were very probably singing through every hymn they could remember.
And what happens next, as they are singing? The jail breaks open, and they come to the jailer responsible for them and he is converted. Perhaps the same jailer had heard this same hymn here the very night of his conversion. And that jailer would have told the story, how they had sung the hymns, and how God had provided faithfully for their release.
And so now, years later, here is Paul again, in prison again, and again with a hymn… perhaps even one of the same hymns. The Philippians are worried… is Paul going to get out of prison? Will God break the bonds? Will the gospel message continue to spread? And here’s Paul reminding them in a gentle, loving way… reminding them that God is always faithful. God is always powerful. And the substance of that power is put on glorious display in Christ’s humility: who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, [7] but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. [8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
He humbled himself even further, obediently accepting death on a cross. Can we fathom the depth of his humility and sacrifice? Can we grasp the magnitude of his love for us?
But God did not leave him in death. No, He exalted him, raising him from the grave and giving him the name above every name. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This is the example we are called to follow. This is the mindset we are to have. To humble ourselves, to lay aside our own interests and selfish ambitions, and to prioritize others above ourselves. To serve with love and selflessness, just as Christ did.
As we meditate on the humility of Christ, as we internalize the truth of his sacrifice, may it transform us from within. May it shape our thoughts, our attitudes, and our actions. And may it lead us to unity, to love, and to a deepening relationship with our Lord and Savior.
Let us, then, have the mind of Christ and walk in his footsteps, for it is in this mindset that we truly reflect the beauty and glory of our God.
And then us, is there a position of weakness or indignity that we are unwilling to embrace? Is it further beneath us than the human form was beneath Christ? Is that what is keeping us from minding others’ well-being, others’ interests?
And then Christ humbled himself further, learning obedience to the Father, an obedience that was unbounded and ultimately led him to a humiliating death, stripped now even of the dignity afforded to humans, suffering agony beyond which anyone in the room is likely to know, and with it taking our guilt on himself and having his fellowship with the Father severed. And then us, are there then tasks so unpleasant for us that they are worth even comparing to what Christ has done?
To have Christ’s mind is a high cost.
The cost of humility is high. The cost of unity is high. The cost of becoming like Christ is high. What it means is that anything – and maybe for some everything – could be what is asked for us. God does not ask the same thing of everyone, but he will come for your Isaac, whatever it is. Because he settled for being second in the heart of his children.
But it is worth the full cost.
And if Christ in this hymn is the perfect example for those who would be humble, then the second half of this hymn applies as well. Meditation on the second half allows us to think with the mind of Christ as well.
As a result of Christ’s humility, he is highly exalted. Will God also not graciously, with him, give us all things?
And Christ will get an exalted name… higher than every name. But will the humble not also be given a stone with a new and exalted name on it, as John records in the book of Revelation? And when all bow the knee, the laud Christ receives from every person, believing or not… will not the humble servants also share in the witness? And won’t the humble servants be overcome with joy for the Savior’s well-deserved exaltation? And won’t the humble, victorious Savior look with special kindness on his good and faithful servants?
And when every tongue confesses Christ’s worthiness as Lord, will not the humble, who sacrificed greatly in the name of their dear Lord, will they not share in that triumphant vindication for all eternity?
RVC, I am telling you what you know, not what you don’t know. Our unity as a church is tied up in our faithfulness to continue meditating on what the gospel message says about Christ’s humility. The gospel message is not primarily for unbelievers… it’s for Christ’s bride. That’s us. May God make every last one of us faithful to know what we know, to have the mind of Christ that we already have, that our unity may please our dearest, kindest Savior, and we be found having walked together worthy of our calling on that blessed day of His return.