In this sermon, the speaker discusses the concept of unity among God's people. He emphasizes that unity should be based on four things: exaltation in Christ, consolation of love, fellowship in the spirit, and tender-heartedness and compassion. However, the speaker points out that despite having these qualities, the church in Philippi was still divided. He suggests that the human mind is in captivity and the enemy builds strongholds in our minds to stand against God. The speaker concludes by highlighting the importance of having the same mind and thinking the same thing in order to experience true unity and fill the joy of the Lord.

Will you please turn to the letter to the Philippines. Letter to the Philippines chapter 2. We'll read the first 11 verses. Philippines chapter 2 verse 1. If then there be any comfort in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and compassions 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 vainglory, 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. For 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 repine to be on 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, humble 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. Let us look to the Lord in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee, that Thou hast opened that way for us, to enter into the holiest of all, that we may stand in Thy very presence. It is all because of the blood of our Lord Jesus. It is all because of that body of His that is rent for us, to open a new and living way for us to enter in. And how we praise and thank Thee that even now, Thou our Lord Jesus is our High Priest, making intercession for us. So Lord, we just come to Thee this morning with boldness, because this is what Thou hast given to us. We want to touch Thy throne of grace, and we want to look to Thee to bless us as we study Thy word. We pray that a spirit of wisdom and revelation may be granted to us. We ask that we may be illumined in the heart of our mind, that we may truly understand and we may enter in by the power of Thy Holy Spirit. So we just open ourselves to Thee this morning for Thy working, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. In these morning sessions we have been considering together before the Lord on this very important matter of Christian unity. Again and again we say that it is the will of God that we who are the Lord's should be one. It is the burden, it is the prayer of our Lord Jesus, both while He was on earth and now He is in heaven. But His prayer is centered upon this matter, that we who believe in Him must be one. And it is the work of the Holy Spirit among God's people today. He is touching our hearts, exercising our hearts towards this matter of the oneness of the body of Christ. Wherever there is not that unity, wherever there is not that oneness, we do sense deep down within our heart that something is wrong. No matter how we try to reason it, no matter how we try to defend our divisions, and yet deep down in our heart we are all conscious of the fact that we are made to be one. God has called us to be one. But for this unity among God's people to become a reality, it has to begin with the unity of the Spirit, which God has already given to us. The Holy Spirit has given us a unity, a unity in the Godhead, a unity in God, a unity in Christ, a unity in the Spirit. And in this unity we are one. And we are exhorted to diligently keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. The problem today is not that there is no unity, that it is something we have to try to make up. We do thank the Lord that the unity has already been given. It is the unity of the Spirit. One body, one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God who is father of us all, who is over all, through us all, and in us all. And in God we have already been given that unity. We are one. And what is needed is that we must keep this unity. And we must exercise diligence to keep it. Why? Because it can be easily lost. How the enemy is trying every way to move us away from that ground of the unity of the Spirit. He will try every way to get us off that unity, to break that unity, to bring in divisions. And when that happens, the testimony of the Lord's people is gone. So dear brothers and sisters, it is the responsibility of every child of God. It is not just the responsibility of the leaders in the church. As a matter of fact, probably the leaders of the church are mostly responsible for the disunity among God's people. But it is the responsibility of every child of God to keep diligently the unity of the Spirit. Do not just look at other people, but look at yourself, whether you have kept the unity of the Spirit. And even if everybody else is not keeping that unity, this is no excuse for you not to keep the unity of the Spirit. It is the responsibility, it is a sacred responsibility of every child of God to keep the unity of the Spirit. And it is on that ground that we receive the ministries that God gave to the church. Through these men, some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. And these men are given by the head to the body for the perfecting, the maturing of the saints. And dear brothers and sisters, if we really keep the unity of the Spirit, we will be open to all the ministries that God has given to the church. We will not choose this ministry against another ministry, if all these ministries come from God. And because we are open to these ministries, all these ministers that minister to us, to the body, for the perfecting of the saints, the result will be that as we grow up in life, in grace, in truth, we are able to minister one to another. And through fellowship, through sharing, we are able to share with one another the Christ that we know, the Christ that we experience. And how it will enrich the body and build up the body. And eventually we will all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Dear brothers and sisters, we have already had the unity of the Spirit. And we are reaching out to attain, to arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. And if we want to arrive at the full grown man, at the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ, this is what we must do. We must be open to the ministries that God has given to the church. And we must be open to the fellowship of all the saints. We must not only receive what the Lord will give to us through these ministers of the word, but we must also function according to the gift and grace that God has given to each, to share with one another, so that we may arrive at the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. As we look into the situation among God's people today, you know what we see today actually is not something new. There is actually nothing new under the sun. Because even in the days of the apostles, you find that they had the same problem as we have. So yesterday morning we fellowshiped together on this matter of, is Christ divided? We all know that Christ is not divided. And that's strange to say, we find that Christians are divided. Even though in the time of Paul, in the church in Corinth, they had not divided into open divisions. There were party spirits among them. But if these party spirits were not dealt with, they would eventually come into open divisions. Some say I'm of Paul, some say I'm of Apollos, some say I'm of Severs, some say I am in a very exclusive way of Christ. And if this kind of party spirit is not dealt with, eventually you will find the church in Corinth will be split into four, at least. There will be a Pauline church, there will be a Petrine church, there will be an Apollonian church, there will be a Christ church. But is Christ divided? Has Paul been crucified for you? Are you baptized in the name of Paul? Dear brothers and sisters, we are the Lord's. We are baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus. We belong to Him. He is ours. Do not limit Christ. Do not make Christ small, as if Christ is only Paul's Christ, as if He is only Peter's Christ. But our Christ is Peter's, is Paul's, is Apollo's. Our Christ is such a big Christ. We must receive Christ in His totality. From whatever source or channel, we receive Christ. In whatever aspect of Christ, we are able to receive from God's servants. Remember, this is just a part of what Christ is. We have to receive Christ in His totality. And if we do, then we will not be divided. Now yesterday morning we mentioned a number of reasons why God's people are divided. If we are man-centered instead of Christ-centered. If we are doctrine-centered instead of Christ-centered. If we are form-centered instead of Christ-centered. Or if we are experience-centered instead of Christ-centered. Or if we are tradition-centered instead of Christ-centered, and you can multiply it with many others, you will find we will be divided, but when you really look into all these courses of division, you come to a common ground, and that is self. The reason why God's people are divided is because of the presence of self. As long as the self-life is not dealt by the cross, why? Because the cross is where the self is crucified. As our brother mentioned, some people think if he has a headache or if he has an affliction, he is bearing the cross. Not so. Even though the cross is painful, there is suffering in the cross, but dear brothers and sisters, unless the self is crucified, it is not the cross. Sometimes we may sacrifice something, sometimes we may give of something. We think that by doing that we take of the cross, but by sacrificing something, by doing something, instead of self being crucified, self is being boosted. That is not the cross. The cross is where the life of self is crucified. Christ unites us, but self divides us. If the self-life is not dealt with by the cross, then the works of the flesh are manifest, and among the works of the flesh, as you find in Galatians chapter 5, you find a number of the works of the flesh are related to this matter of disunity. So dear brothers and sisters, how it is necessary, essential, that our flesh be crucified, with its passions and its lust. Get the self out of the way by the cross, and you will find you are united with your brothers and sisters. Now this morning we would like to go on into the letter to the Philippines. You know it is very strange, because there are two books in the New Testament, that deals with this matter of disunity, unity of disunity. And these two books are 1 Corinthians and Philippians. We have already considered 1 Corinthians. We find that among the Corinthian believers, there were divisions, contentions, quarrelings. Now of course, this is not a surprise to us. Why? Because the spiritual and moral conditions of the Corinthian church was very, very low. Even though these people were saved. Even though these people were rich in gifts. But we know that their lives were very immature. They were beliefs in Christ. Their spiritual conditions were very, very low. And with such low spiritual and moral conditions. Now it was no surprise to us that they were fleshly, they were carnal, that they were breaking to party spirits, and you could expect even something worse than all these things. Everything could happen in their midst. So as a matter of fact, it was no surprise to us. But with the church in Philippi, it is a different story. Everybody knows that the church in Philippi can be considered as a model church. It had a glorious beginning. If you go back to Acts chapter 16, you will find when Paul and his companions were called to cross over the Aegean Sea from Asia into Europe, the church in Philippi was the first church established in Europe. And when it was established, it was established through the mighty hand of God, through the mighty word of God, and you find a glorious beginning in the church in Philippi. And not only that, but it continued on gloriously. It was an established church. Most likely after Paul left Philippi, that beloved physician Luke remained behind to help build up the church in Philippi. When Paul wrote a letter to the Philippines, he wrote to the saints, to the bishops, and to the deacons. In other words, it was a well-established church. Not only it was well-established, but you find they labored with Paul in the gospel of Jesus Christ from the very first day until that time. And they were even willing to suffer for the gospel's sake. You find the church in Philippi was a good church, a model church, and I wonder if we can find such a church anywhere in the world. And yet strange to say, it is to this church that this matter of unity was addressed. Why? Because they had that problem. In the best of the churches, you find this problem on unity. It so happened there were two sisters in that church. Eudea and Syntaxia. These two sisters were not common sisters. These two sisters were leading sisters. These two sisters labored with Paul in the gospel. They helped Paul in the gospel of Jesus Christ. They were so-called spiritual sisters. And yet you find with these two sisters there was a rivalry, a competition. It was not over the matter of any doctrine. You do not find the problem there is a doctrinal controversy. No. It was not even a matter of any differences in practical issues. There wasn't such practical issue there. It was just a matter of a clash of personalities. You have two strong personalities in these two sisters. They all loved the Lord very much. They all were very active in the gospel. And they were all used by the Lord. They were real help to Paul. And many sisters were helped by these two sisters. In every respect you find these were good sisters, leading sisters, spiritual sisters. And actually they had no quarrel over any doctrines. Nor had there any trouble over any practical matter. It was just a clash of personalities. Two strong personalities clashed with one each other. Somehow they competed with each other. Somehow they tried to be the greater among the two. And all in this matter of spirituality. All in this matter of service. Now brothers and sisters, probably you will say, how can this be? Two people who love the Lord, probably love the Lord to the extent of spending themselves for the work of the Lord. How could it be that they will compete with each other? How could it be that there will be such rivalry that it began to influence the whole church? It began to influence the brothers and sisters into taking sides. But you know this is not a new thing. Even when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He chose twelve to follow Him. As a matter of fact, none of the twelve were of high caliber from the viewpoint of the world. But the Lord chose these men to be His apostles. And if you look at these men with Judas accepted, you will find that all these men really loved the Lord. Again and again you will find they expressed their desire and willingness to die with the Lord. Not only Peter expressed that desire, but even Thomas did the same thing. All of them loved the Lord very much. All of them left everything to follow the Lord. Even when the Lord said, others are leaving me, you may leave too if you want. But they will not leave the Lord. You cannot doubt their love for the Lord. And you cannot doubt their zeal for the Lord. The two brothers, the sons of Flinders, James and John, they were so devoted to the Lord that when the Samaritans would not receive the Lord, they came to the Lord and said, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to burn them up? With these twelve men, naturally not of noble birth, nor of high education, nor with very excellent background, and yet there is one thing that they all had, and that is they do love the Lord with all their hearts. And they were very zealous. They were willing to forsake everything to follow the Lord. But there was a problem in their midst all the time. If you read the records of the gospel you will find this problem among them continued on even to the very last day of our Lord on earth. You cannot imagine how this problem persisted. How among the twelve they were always competing with one another. Always trying to prevail over the other. They maneuvered and tried to outmaneuver one another, taking into a higher position with the Lord. Who is the greater among us? Peter would say, of course, he is. He is the spokesman in their midst. And John said, no, it is I, because I even lay my head upon the breast of our Lord. I am the closest to him. And everyone will have a reason to tell that he is the greater. And even when our Lord Jesus began to share with them how he must go to Jerusalem, he will be rejected, he will be crucified, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead. And in that very moment you will find they were arguing among themselves who was the greater. The Lord tried to teach them a lesson of humility, bring a child to their midst and said, well, the kingdom of heaven is like this little child. And yet they never learned. Even to the very last day, the very last night, they were still quarreling among themselves who was the greater. No wonder no one will wash the other's feet, but waiting for the other to wash his feet. There was rivalry, competition among the disciples. All in the name of spirituality and service. It is not a new problem, it is an ancient old problem. So here you will find in the letter to the Philippines, they had this with the church in Corinth. The disunity can be traced to the flesh. Because they were carnal, fleshly. They were not walking according to the spirit. They were walking according to the flesh. Therefore they acted like man of this world. They were baptized in Christ. And because of that fleshly lust and passion, they began to form groups and form parties. And the solution to that problem is the cross. The cross has to deal with the flesh. Has to have the self like crucified. And the flesh being crucified with its lust and passions on the cross. And through the cross they will be delivered out of themselves and enter into the oneness in Christ. Now with the Philippine believers, you find they have disunity, dissension in their midst. But it was of a different kind. It is not in the ugly flesh. It seems to be spiritual flesh. If flesh can be spiritual. They seem to want the Lord so much. They seem to want to please the Lord so much. They seem to be so ambitious for the Lord. So desire to be used by the Lord. That somehow strife, vain glory entered into their mind. So their problem is in the mind. That is the reason why in the letter to the Philippines you find the Holy Spirit deals a great deal on this matter of the mind. Something is wrong with the mind. It is not a matter of the fleshly acts, lust and passions. But there is something wrong with the mind. And as long as that mind is not completely renewed, the situation will continue. The competition, the rivalry will continue. And through the competition the result will be division among God's people. That is the reason why you find the exhortation of Paul to Jodea and Sympathia is that they may be of the same mind. That they may be of the one mind. It shows that their minds are at odds. But this exhortation is not just for these two sisters. These two sisters were especially mocked out. That's true. Because it seems as if this whole thing began with these two sisters. But if you read the letter to the Philippines, you find the exhortation is to the whole church. Having the same mind. Be of the same love. Of one soul. Speaking the same thing. Mind, mind, mind. This is something that all the believers must learn. A renewing of the mind. Dear brothers and sisters, we may have our hearts all for the Lord. And yet if our minds are not renewed, you will find even in the very center of our love and zeal for the Lord, there can be strife and contagions. Disunity instead of unity. What is the mind? The mind is the noose. It is the seat of conscious reflection, of understanding, of perception, of feeling, judging, deciding. It is a tremendous faculty that God has given to man. God is the greatest mind in the whole universe. And when he created man, he created man with a sound mind. Dear brothers and sisters, we must understand that so far as the mind is concerned as an organ, it is created by God. It is one of the great gifts that God gave to mankind. We thank God for giving us a good mind. You know, if you read Romans chapter one, how do we know that there is God? God is invisible. How can we know the invisible God? Through the visible things. But even if you look at the physical things, if you do not have a mind, you will not be able to translate from the physical, the visible, and penetrate into the spiritual and the invisible. You will not have that facility. If you see a mountain, you just see a mountain. You do not see God. But because God has given us a mind, therefore when we see a mountain, we can reason through the mountain and we see the invisible God. Mind is a tremendous faculty that God has given to man. We thank God for our mind. So if anyone should preach and tell you that God does not want a mind, it is not scriptural. God creates the mind, it is His gift, and God means that this gift should not be abused. This gift should be used rightly, should be developed in the right direction, under the right control. But certainly it is not the will of God that He does not want our mind. Like people say, never mind, no matter. But unfortunately, it is also through this mind that mankind falls into sin. In the Garden of Eden you will find, it is through the mind that the enemy is able to catch the will of man. Our will is like a citadel, but our mind is a battlefield. The battle is fought in the mind. If the enemy can penetrate into your mind, he is able to lay siege to your will and get your will. And if he gets your will, he gets you. So in the Garden of Eden you will find the enemy comes into the garden and throws out a question. For the mind to take and to brood over it. And after the mind receives a suggestion from the enemy, and begins to ponder over it, outside of the life of God, of the will of God, of the word of God, the result is, it seems to be good. Why not? Brothers and sisters, the human mind is in captivity. Since the Garden of Eden, human mind has been in captivity. And through all these centuries, the enemy is building strongholds after strongholds in human mind. This is where he will make his defense. To stand against God. You find this is exactly what Paul was saying to us. There he said, For the arms of a warfare are not fleshly, but powerful according to God, to the overthrow of strongholds. Overthrowing reasonings and every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God, and leading captive every thought into the obedience of the Christ. You find strongholds that the enemy has built in human minds. Fortresses. Reasonings. Now how many are proud of themselves that we are rational beings. We are people who can reason. But remember, human reasonings is in captivity. That is the reason why the more you reason, the more you are away from God. And every high thing that lifts itself up against the knowledge of God. Whether it is custom, tradition, habits, all these prejudices. You find all these things are created or built by the enemy in your mind as strongholds. To hold against the knowledge of God. It is true when we are saved, there was a change of mind. Because the very word repentance means a change of mind. Formerly your mind is set on sins. That is what you want. You are heading towards hell. But there was a change of mind. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. And He convinces us of the work of Christ. The love of God. The grace of Jesus Christ. And there was a change of mind. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. No one can repent by himself. We can feel remorse about something. But we cannot repent. Repentance is the gift of God. When the Holy Spirit works in your life, then He so convicts you and convinces you that He is able to turn your mind 180 degrees. Away from sin. Towards God. That is repentance. But even though at the time when we are saved, there was some change of mind. But if our understanding of the scripture is correct, you will find that our mind is still yet needed to be renewed. There was a change, but the change was not a total change. You still need a renewing of your mind. And in your mind, there are still many strongholds of the enemy there. Many prejudices. Many preconceived ideas. Many customs. Many conditions. You will find all these things are still large there. And rose up as strongholds. So wherever the knowledge of God is presented to you, you will find there is a kind of resistance there within your mind. And all these strongholds have to be overturned. This is our power before God. To overthrow every stronghold and to bring every thought into the obedience of Christ. But this is not my topic this morning, so I will not go into that too much. But anyway, you will find that the problem with many Christians today is the mind. In Romans 8, verses 5 and 6. They that are walking according to the flesh, mind the things of the flesh. They who are walking according to the Spirit, mind the things of the Spirit. For the minding, in the original it should be minding, not just mind. For the minding of the flesh is death. And the minding of the Spirit is life and peace. Dear brothers and sisters, do you know that the biggest problem among God's people is this matter of the mind? If we set our mind on the things of the flesh, how can you walk spiritually? If you want to walk spiritually, you have to set your mind on the Spirit, on the things of the Spirit. Our mind affects our walk. We are what we think. The way you think, the way you look at things, the way you measure things, you value things. The way your mental outlook. These things affect our life on this earth. We all desire to be spiritual. But if our mind is still set on the things of the flesh, you can never be spiritual. And the minding of the flesh is death, we know that. If we set our mind on the flesh, you feel a kind of spiritual death within you. But if you set your mind upon the things of the Spirit, you sense life within you. There is peace within you. This tells us whether you are walking in the Spirit or whether you are walking in the flesh. It is very, very practical. Oh, the mind is the battlefield. The mind is where the enemy builds his strongholds. And it is in the mind that these strongholds must be turned down and be led into the obedience of Christ. Go back to Philippians chapter 2. Here you find in 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 compassions. Now the word if there. The word if there does not mean if it is not there. It does not mean a kind of supposition. Probability. No. As a matter of fact, people who know Greek tell us that the word if there actually should be translated sins. In view of the fact. Now that would change the whole meaning of it. In other words, Paul is telling the Philippian believers, Sins there be any comfort in Christ. Sins any consolation of love. In view of the fact of any fellowship of the Spirit. In view of the fact of any bowels and compassion. The Philippian believers are not lacking in exaltation in Christ. The Philippian believers are not lacking in comfort of love. The Philippian believers are not lacking in fellowship of the Spirit. The Philippian believers are not lacking in compassion and bowels, that is tenderness. If you know the church in Philippi. You have to acknowledge that certainly there were exaltations in Christ among them. They were not a church in which the brothers and sisters did not know how to exalt one another in Christ. Now maybe in the church in Corinth they could not do that. Because they were babes in Christ. They knew so little of Christ. They had nothing to exalt. And when they tried to exalt, they actually displayed themselves. Putting forth themselves. Because that is all they had. But with the Philippian believers it is different. They were grown ups. Mature. They knew Christ. They had experience of Christ. And because of that, they had much to exalt one another. Dear brothers and sisters, exaltation is very important in the building up of the body of Christ. I have no time to go over the scripture with you. But if you read the Bible, you will find that exaltation occupies a very important place in the building up of the body of Christ. We need exaltation. We need encouragement. We need to encourage one another. Exalt one another. In Christ. We need to share with one another. With the Christ that we know. To encourage one another in the Lord. All that will help build up the church. And there was exaltation in Christ in the church in Philippi. Any comfort of love. If you want to comfort anybody. There must be love there. If you try to comfort anyone without love. You are only adding sufferings to those who have already suffered. The love here is not just human sympathy. The love here is divine love. The love of God. It is only out of the divine love you are able to comfort people. If you try to comfort people just out of your natural sympathy. Well, you may try to comfort in the best of your intentions. And the result is you only add to the misery. You are just like the three friends of Job. They came to comfort Job, but actually they came to afflict Job. With the best of intentions. They want to relieve the pain, the sufferings of Job. But the more they try, the more Job suffered. It is much better if they did not try to comfort him. But with the Philippian believers there was consolation of love. Wonderful. Fellowship in the spirit. Fellowship. Sharing. Participation. This can only be done in the spirit. If it is not in the spirit, it is just being social, that's all. Now, brothers and sisters, how much do we know of fellowship? Probably, mostly, we are just being social. Why? Because we are sharing one another in ourselves. We are not sharing Christ in the spirit. But the Philippian believers, they have fellowship in the spirit. And he bows in compassion. And these are not natural affections. No, these are the expressions of the grace of God. The grace of God was upon that people. Therefore, they had that tender heartedness. They had that compassion towards one another. But wonderful. A church that had all these things. You will say, what more can you expect? A church that had all these things. Surely they are one. Surely there is unity in their midst. But Paul said, Fulfill my joy. That you may think the same thing, having the same love, joining soul, thinking. Paul rejoiced in the fact that they had exultation in Christ. Consolation of love. Fellowship in the spirit. Bows in compassion. Paul rejoiced over the fact. And yet his joy was not filled. He said, if you want to feel my joy. Then think the same thing. Having the same mind. With one soul. Say the same thing. In other words, having all these things. If you want to have my joy filled. Then you must be one. In unity. Isn't that strange? These four things. Should be the basis for unity. In other words, these four things. Work could make unity work. What could make unity work? Exultation in Christ. Consolation of love. Fellowship in the spirit. Tenderheartedness and compassion. Now certainly these things should work towards unity. Towards oneness of God's people. They did not. Instead of uniting God's people. They divided God's people. And make the division even stronger. Isn't that strange? H. C. G. Moore. That beloved bishop. When he commented on this section. He entitled Philippians chapter 2 verse 1 through 11. With this title. Unity in self-forgetfulness. Unity in self-forgetfulness. And this is what he said. There was no lukewarm religion. That is the church in Philippi. Was no lukewarm religion. It abounds in practical benevolence. Animated by the love to Christ. And it was evidently ready for joyful witness to the Lord. In the face of opposition, even of persecution. But there was a tendency. Towards dissension and internal separation in the mission church. A tendency which all through the epistle. Betrays its presence. By the stressed Christ apostle. I couldn't read my own writing. Everywhere lays upon holy unity. The unity of love. The unity whose secret lies in the individual's forgetfulness of self. Such danger are always present. In the Christian church. For everywhere and always. Saints are still sinners. And it is a sad but undeniable fact of Christian history. That the spirit of difference, dissension. Of Christians. Within the ranks of the believing. Is not least likely to be operative. Where there is genuinely. Diffused life and vigor in the community. In other words. When a Christian community. Exhibits much life and vigor. There is still. Among them. This symptom. A state. Of spiritual chill. Or lukewarmness. May even favor. A certain exterior tranquility. In other words. A church. That is. Chill. And lukewarm. May be favored. With an appearance. Of outward. Tranquility. For when the energies of convictions are absent. There will be little energy. For discussion. And resistance. In matter. Not merely secular. In a lukewarm church. You do not even have the energy. Of dissension. But where Christian life. And thought. And expression of it. Are in power. Notice this. There unless the church is particularly watchful. The enemy has his occasion. To put in the seeds of the pear. Amidst the golden grain. The gospel itself. Has animated the disciples affections. And also their intellects. And if the gospel is not diligently used as guide. As well as stimulation. Stimulus. Then. There will surely be collision. Almost every great crisis of life and blessing in the church. Has shown examples of this. It was thus in the period of the reformation. The moment the law of love was forgotten. By the powerful minds. Which were so wonderfully energized. As well as liberated by the recovery. By the rediscovery of eternal truth. Long forgotten. You find the days of reformation. How those who love the Lord. Who have been vitalized by truth long forgotten. How they fought against each other. Even kill each other in the name of the truth. It was thus again in the course of the evangelical revival. In the last century. When holy men. Whose whole natures had been. Worn and vivified. By new insight for themselves. Into the fullness of Christ. Will be trained into discussion of the mysteries of grace. Carry in the spirit. Rather of self. Than. Of love. Dear brothers and sisters. You will not be surprised. If there is this unity among God's people. Whose conditions are like the church in Corinth. But when you see. This unity. Among God's people. With conditions like. They believers in Philippi. You weep. Over it. They also love the Lord. They all are so strong for the truth of Christ. They all want the Lord so much. They all stand for the truth. So firmly. They are all marked with such energies. For the Lord. Such zeal for the Lord. And yet. They can. Fight against each other. Devour each other. Oh if you read church history. As the Roman Catholic system persecuted the Protestants. So you'll find. Even the Protestants, the Lutherans and the Reformed. How they persecuted the dissenters. Recently. More and more of the history of Anabaptists have been discovered. And you'll find thousands of thousands of Anabaptists. Because they believe in baptism. Water baptism. Immersion. So the result was. The Protestant churches. They lay hold of these women and children. And put a stone around their neck. And drowned them in the water. You want baptism. Have it. It is true. Among. Within their small circle. There is. Exaltation. In Christ. Within their small group. There is consolation of love. Within that exclusive club. There is fellowship. In the spirit. There is bowers and compassion. But they limit Christ. The grace of Christ. The love of Christ. The fellowship of the spirit. Within their small circles. They separated. Isolated themselves. From the rest of God's people. Not only that. They even. Persecute. Other children. Of God. In the name. Of Christ. In the name. Of truth. You say. Is it possible? It is fact. Something wrong with the mind. The enemy is able to play tricks with our mind. Somehow. Somehow. We cannot think straight. Somehow our mind is so twisted. We think that we are doing God a service. We think we are standing for the truth. We think we are the people. Oh. Brothers and sisters. To me I feel Paul is more hurt. By what happened in Philippi. Than what happened in Corinth. They ought to know better. How we need the renewing. Of our mind. Oh that we may not be in the spirit of strife. Or vainglory. But in lowliness of mind. Each esteeming. The other. As more excellent. Than themselves. Regarding not each his own qualities. But each those. Of others. It is still self. Spiritual self. Religious self. Self righteousness. We just cannot forget ourselves. We cannot lay down for the brethren. As our brothers say we insist upon our rights. If we are right. We have every right to insist upon it. We are not willing to give in an inch. We are waiting for our brothers and sisters to capitulate. And all. Under the banner. Of truth. That is the reason why. Paul said. Have the mind. Think of Christ. He who was equal with God. And that is not something to be grasped at. It was his right. His birthright. He was one with God. He was God. Equal with God. Not something to be robbed. That was his prerogatives. His rights. But he did not insist. Upon his rights. He gave up his rights. Voluntarily. No one demands from him. To give up his rights. He voluntarily. He emptied himself. Dear brothers and sisters. We have so little. To empty. And yet. We are not willing to empty. Our Lord Jesus has so much to empty. And he emptied it all. It is true that he cannot empty himself of his deity. That is impossible. Even when he was man on earth he was God. But he emptied himself of all the glory and the honor and the majesty. Of. Deity. He emptied all these things. And he took the form. Of a slave. You know the word form there is the same word. As he was in the form of God. The form doesn't refer to the external appearance. The word form there refers to the inward quality. The essence. He in essence. Was God. Not something put on. He was God. But now he emptied himself. Of all the glory that accompanied. The Godhead. And he took upon himself. The form of a slave. Not. In outward appearance. But. In inward reality. He was a slave. A slave that had no right of his own. A slave. Under. His father. That's the reason why he said. The son can do nothing. By himself. The son cannot say anything. A slave. And being in. The figure of a man. Being a man. He took the position. Of man before God. Humble. Himself. Dear brothers and sisters. The position of man. Is. To humble ourselves. Before God. And he humbled himself. And being obedient to the father. Even unto death. And the death. Of the cross. That is the mind. Of Christ. He. Does not think. Less of himself. He does not think. Of himself. At all. Dear brothers and sisters. Let the mind of Christ. Be. Our mind. If our mind is mocked. By the mind of Christ. If by the grace of God we forget ourselves. There will be no. Obstacle. To unity. Let us have. The same mind. The mind. Of Christ. Shall we pray. Our heavenly father. We do praise. And thank thee. For all the mercy. And grace. And love. That thou hast so. Bountifully. Given to us. We are what we are today. It is by. The grace of God. But oh Lord. We do confess. That even though. We have received. So much grace. And yet we are not gracious. We think. We still think. So much of ourselves. We still insist. Upon our own rights. We cannot lay. Down ourselves. For our brethren. As thou dost lay. Down thyself for us. Oh Lord. This is something. That we cannot do. But we do praise. And thank thee. That we. Can have. The mind. Of Christ. Lord we capitulate. Before thee. We ask thee. To overturn. Every stronghold. That is still there. In our mind. And lead. Every thought. Into the obedience. Of Christ. Oh that we may think straight. We may think. As thou thinkest. That we may completely. Forget ourselves. That we may be able. To esteem. The others. As more excellent. Than we are. That there be no strife. Or vainglory. But we may be soul. With soul. And we may. Love one another. As thou hast loved us. Oh Lord. We just look to thee. For thy spirit. To work it out. Among thy people. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.