Sermon — September 27, 2026

The unbelievable news is that he has never stopped. He's never stopped. Hebrews 7:25—he ever lives to make intercession. Let me tell you something else. As our high priest, he'll never stop praying for you for all eternity. Interceding is not done. That's the love of Christ for his own.

We're here this morning to worship and to celebrate with him. We cannot thank you enough, though we will all the days. We thank you for such a wonderful gift—your son, the one who has identified with us from eternity past, prayed for us in the upper room and in the heavenly upper room at this very moment, in Christ for us as well. And will forever. What love, what devotion, that he has for his people.

Father, I pray this morning that deep within our hearts we would offer him the worship that he deserves, and we would express our loving devotion for such a great and glorious Savior. We thank you in his blessed name. Amen.

Exodus 33

Reading from Exodus 33: Then the Lord spoke to Moses, "Depart, go up from here, you and all the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way."

When the people heard this sad word, they went into mourning, and none of them put on his ornaments. But the Lord had said to Moses, "Say to the sons of Israel, 'You are an obstinate people. Should I go up in your midst for one moment, I would destroy you. Now therefore, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what I will do with you.'" So the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, at a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. Everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses.

Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

God's Desire to Dwell Among His People

This is a remarkable passage of scripture. This shows what has God been—majestic and holy dawn. We were reminded this morning in Sunday school that we are your bond servants, created to serve you and to worship you, much like we see the people here in this passage did back in the day.

What we know from the word of God: Isaiah 57 tells us that you are high and exalted. You live forever, and you are holy. The place where you dwell is high and holy. Yet the same words tell us that you regard those who are humble and lowly of spirit. You do that to remind them, to revive the spirit and hearts of those who are contrite. As your bond servants, we want to present ourselves with such hearts before you—not based on anything we have done or put into it, but only out of your mercy and the gift of your son, Jesus Christ in the lives of those whom you have saved. We stand before you, sit before you, and bow before you in worship and adoration.

That is such a contrast with the wicked, about whom it is written that they are like the tossing sea. They have no peace. But we, your people, have access to your presence. Lord, it's remarkable that such a majestic God has the desire to dwell and listen to his people, to dwell among his people and listen to them.

We read just now in Exodus 33 how this high and exalted God and his presence came down to the tent of meeting, and Moses would communicate with God. All the people would stand before expectantly, perhaps in worship. It must have been wondrous for them, that this exalted and holy God would choose to dwell and communicate with them through that tent of meeting in their campsite.

Today in the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 tells us that the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, in our bodies, for those who you have redeemed—again, evidence of your desire to dwell among us, to communicate with us, to invite those who are contrite. In the future, we know that is your desire too. Revelation 21 says that when all is done and there is new creation and new earth, it is written that God will dwell among his people, and that's where his tabernacle will be.

We see across scripture your desire to dwell among all you have created, even though we're not worthy of it. Our response is to bow before you and worship you, to glory in you, Lord. We ask, like the Psalmist, "What is man that you consider him? The son of man that you take thought of him?" Yet you dwell with us. You listen to our cries. We respond to you by worshiping you and glorying in you, Lord.

We also examine ourselves, much like the example of Mary that was brought to us this morning, Lord. We would like to be your servants and act like your bond servants, so that when you communicate to us, we want to be quick and obedient, not think of the cost, but obey you.

Father, make us a church of such people. We pray that you will wrap your Spirit and your desires and your sanctification in our midst in increasing measure, so that we can continue to grow and become more like Christ. Continue to bless and prosper our church for spiritual fruit, for praise, for bringing glory to your name—not just on Sunday morning when we gather and sing, but even through our lives in everyday transactions and choices that will be pleasing to you.

Prayer Requests

We pray this morning for the missionary who will be remembered this month. I pray that you will be with this brother and his family as they transition from their mission field back to the States. Prepare them for the ministry ahead. Continue to make him fruitful for your glory.

Pray for those in our congregation who have difficulties, who are going through pressure in their lives. Pray that you will keep them strong and encourage them.

I pray for those who may have had or continue to have health challenges. I pray that you will be very clear to them, comfort them, revive them, and strengthen them.

In particular, Lord, this morning I want to pray before you for Evelyn Castro, Lord, as she goes through this procedure tomorrow, which I believe is a little complicated. I pray that your hand will be upon her, and that you will, through this process, Lord, heal her and give the surgeons what they need. I pray that Josh and Joy, Lord, through this and during these coming few days, will have a certain confidence and trust in the Lord Most High, and that this will be an incident that accomplishes good in their lives and in the life of your church here for your glory.

We thank you for hearing our prayers. We thank you for this opportunity to worship. We pray that you will communicate with us what you have to say to us as we listen to your word. Your name be exalted. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

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We have the privilege this morning to hear another testimony of God's saving grace. Richard Capone, can you come, please?

Testimony of Richard Capone

Good morning. I'd like to start my testimony with a great truth that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Church of Ephesus. He wrote: Ephesians 2:4-5—"God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."

This passage of scripture is very meaningful to me because it summarizes my spiritual journey. I was once spiritually dead, lost, and blind, but now I am alive in Christ.

My Spiritual Blindness

What did it mean for me to be spiritually lost? I was tossed around by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. Why did this happen to me? Well, I grew up in the Catholic Church, and the Catholic Church was good to me in some ways. It introduced me to the name of Jesus. It correctly taught me that God is Trinitarian. But the Catholic Church never taught me or encouraged me to read the Bible. Therefore, by the time I was an adult, I was biblically illiterate and never developed a firm foundation in Christ. I did not know the Scriptures, and I did not know God.

My Search for Spiritual Truth

When I was in my early twenties, I started to look elsewhere for answers. I wanted to know how to be successful and feel happy. I wanted to know the deep meaning of life. I wanted to climb the mountain of spiritual fulfillment. I was confident that there were many paths. Where did I start my search? None other than the Barnes and Noble bookstore.

I started in the self-help section, graduated to the New Age religion section, and then quickly slid into the Eastern religion section. It was a very slippery slope. I devoured these types of spiritual books and pursued this type of knowledge and instruction.

I was once attending a certain yoga class near Atlanta, Georgia, attempting to get the kundalini energy, also known as the serpentine energy, to rise from my sacrum to my head. Thank the Lord I did not succeed. I also took many Buddhist classes and read many Buddhist books. I was looking for enlightenment. I was looking to create my own reality. I was trying to merge with the universal force, sometimes called "the force." I was looking to discover the god that was inside me.

Disillusionment and Awakening

After many years of searching, I didn't find the god that I thought was inside me. Instead, I found confusion and disillusionment, and I grew weary of spiritual things. But during that time of my life, I eventually came across a book written by a Christian author that clearly contrasted the New Age worldview with the worldview of biblical Christianity. Learning about the biblical worldview started to open my eyes, and slowly but surely, I started to reconsider my worldview and my perspective on reality.

About that same time, I met a bunch of men on my graduate college campus who called themselves the Navigators. They represented a Christian ministry and personally shared the true biblical gospel with me—something that I had never really heard before, even growing up in the Catholic Church. In the ones that followed, I met with these men often to discuss the teachings of Christ in the Bible. Then I started reading the Bible for myself, and I really felt that it spoke to my innermost being. And soon I started to lose interest in my former spiritual practices.

Eventually, after I got married and started a family, by the grace of God, we found our way to a nearby evangelical church that taught the Bible, encouraged us to attend Bible study, and exposed us to excellent sermons. And about that time, I suddenly came to my senses and grasped the truth.

Coming to Repentance

After growing up in the Catholic Church and after reading countless New Age and Eastern religious books and after practicing all those special meditations and attending all those seminars, I realized that I had not attained any level of enlightenment. I was actually spiritually bankrupt. The Bible was right all along. I was a sinner in need of salvation. I was headed for eternal separation from the true and living God.

Isaiah 53 says, "All we like sheep have gone astray, and they turned everyone to his own way." Psalm 14 puts it this way: "There is none who does good, not even one." I felt foolish before God. I knew I deserved God's judgment. Why did I go my own way for all these years and keep Jesus out of my life?

With this realization, I knew the Holy Spirit brought me to confess my sins to the Lord and turn to Christ for forgiveness of my sins. I was truly repentant. At the same time, in prayer, while I was pleading with God, I remembered that God is a merciful and forgiving God. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I knew this to be true, and I knew that Jesus was willing and able to forgive my sins—all of them.

A sense of relief and gratefulness overwhelmed me. In that moment, I knew I was his child. From that moment onward, God put a desire in me to read and study the Bible and to know him and serve him in a meaningful way, and that desire has been with me to this very day. That was about ten years ago.

My Life Now in Christ

So what is my life like now after coming to Christ? Well, I learned some very important things:

• I know that according to the Bible, there are not multiple paths to God and heaven, but only one. Jesus said about himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
• I also know that good works are very important for Christians, but we are not saved by good works. We are saved by the grace of God through faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "We are not saved by works."
• I also know what the true gospel is. It is this: We are all sinners in our sinful ways. Almost half the time we broke the Ten Commandments. Almost half we lied. All of these sins bring physical and spiritual death and eternal separation from God. The prophet Isaiah put it like this: "Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear."

The Gospel: God's Solution

But the good news is that God provides a way for us to reconcile our broken relationship with him. How? God the Father sent his son, Jesus Christ, to take on human flesh and to live a perfect, sinless life that we could never live. He died an entire, brutal, sacrificial death on the cross, bearing the sins of the world upon himself. He arose from the dead, overcoming the power of sin and death.

The prophet Isaiah describes Christ's crucifixion in great detail, seven hundred years before it actually happened. He wrote: "He, as Christ, was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, and with his wounds we are healed. He bore the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors."

That is us. We are the transgressors. In other words, Jesus was burdened with our sin and took upon himself the punishment that we sinners deserve, so we can go free. This is the great exchange: Jesus took our sin while we are credited with his perfect righteousness—not because we deserve it or earned it, but because of the grace of our savior God.

And trust in Christ, you may have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life with him. That is good news for me. So what is my life like now that I've decided to follow Jesus? I'd like to tell you that everything in my life is perfect, that my family and I need no help, wealth, and prosperity, and no problems. But the truth is that still happens. Many working problems just as many as anyone else, perhaps more. But I would tell you this: that underneath all the certain circumstances of my life, in my mind and in my heart, I have a hope. And that hope shines like a light through any darkness. And that hope is in Christ, and that hope is from the farthest.

What does Christ promise to his sheep? He promises us eternal life. "He sends my sheep and my voice, but I know them. They follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one shall snatch them out of my hand." Thomas was also heavily owned. He says, "In my father's house were many rooms." And he promises us a future resurrected body. Paul said in the book of Philippians that Jesus Christ will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body, and this new glorious spine will be imperishable. It can never be subject to cancer or heart disease or anxiety or depression or any other physical or spiritual ailment that's plagued mankind. What did Jesus say? "I am the resurrection of the life. When the release of me, though he died, he actually shall he live." But best of all, above all these things, beyond these gifts, Jesus promises us himself—that he will be with us now and in return. The book of revelation. John writes of his future vision: "I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, behold, dwell in place that God is with men. He will be with them as their God." These promises give me so much hope—open Jesus Christ, the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the hope of the world. Jesus invites us so much to talk today. He says, "Come to me, all who labor and have been waiting, that I will give you rest." That is rest for your soul, and that is salvation for your soul. So come to him, come to him once.

My prayer is that anyone in this testament will come to know Jesus Christ in a deep and meaningful way. Thank you for listening to my testimony.

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It's pretty no bindings to Philippians chapter two. We finally make it to the first chapter. But that three instrument that the living body that you have set us so that you might grow us in the faith, so that we might have the privilege to gather and worship you in court, so that we might know real the money and demonstrate so that we might also and hear from heaven. We should come. Lord, I pray this morning spirit of God at work in each and every part, and conform us to the image of your dear son, over Jesus. For it's in his name we Amen.

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Early in my Christian life, I became very leery of church business meetings. I mean, over and over again, I saw my home church, which normally was so blessed and warm and so encouraging, turned into something entirely different during church business days. I watched as those who were looked upon as some of the most mature men in the church—men who would disciple me early in my Christian life—turned stubborn and angry and unreasonable once the business meeting started. In fact, it became so bad in my home church, and they were doing their business meetings during the Sunday night service, that they put a moratorium stopping time on distance meetings at midnight. You see, some issues were never going to be resolved by some people.

Now for some reason, early in my Christian life, I don't just wish you deep to my home church, these kind of knockdown drag out business meetings. I'm looking at right side, and I started to hear similar stories from others. And there were so many. I've shared this one with you before: It was a church business meeting where they were deciding what kind of roof they were gonna put on the church sanctuary. Now they had already allocated the money for the roof so they could put one on. The problem came in deciding what color shingles were going to go on the roof. And as the story goes, the church was split right down the middle. After most debate on both sides, after several votes, nothing changed and it was an equal vote between two colors. In other words, no one would budge on the matter of the color of the shingles.

So with no hope of any progress, after several hours of debating and, as I said, voting a few times, the church assembly decided this: They would put one color shingle on one side of the sanctuary and a different color shingle on the other side. But that is not the end of the story. You see, and that must have been bad enough. Once the roof was done, the define was so strong in the church that those who voted for this color sat on this side of the sanctuary. Those who proved for that color ended sitting on that side. Say what you ordered, sitting. I mean, who has ever imagined that the issue of the color of shingles could be such a flash point for disunity among the people of God?

Now the truth of the matter is almost always the issue is not the real issue. But here's the point: Anything that destroys unity in the church is to be feared like a deadly cancer that could consume the confirmation. In fact, this journey was so deadly in the church that after all that he'd been through, it still was one of the apostle Paul's greatest fears. Listen to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 in verse 20. The apostle Paul says this: "I am afraid. The opposites fall. I am afraid. I am afraid that when I come to visit you, I am to find what I don't want to find. Perhaps I may find strife, jealousy, anger, tempers, disputes, slanders, gossip, arrogance, disunity, and even more."

Paul was deeply concerned about what was going on in the church at Corinth. He was concerned that the incarnation didn't degenerate to division and disunity. You see, division is always the deadly danger in the church. I wanna show you this. So turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter one—maybe five or six books to your left of Philippians. Let me remind you of the situation there. This was a church that in many ways was absolutely killed with the blessing of God. You wouldn't think that. Look at what Paul said in verse seven: "You are not lacking in any gift." This was a gifted church. They have all of the spiritual giftedness bells and whistles, but there were deep seated problems in the church of Corinth. They were actually tolerating open sexual immorality in the church. The elders were doing nothing about it. And get this, there was drunkenness and fighting at the Lord's table. They were gonna have these love luncheons much like what we do. And those who had would bring in a feast of food and those who didn't have would hardly be able to bring anything, but those who had it would refuse to share it with those who didn't. There were people at the church suing one another. So many problems.

And if you read 1 Corinthians, Paul is gonna deal with those problems one by one by one by one. You want to know where he begins? He doesn't begin with the immorality. He'll get there. He doesn't begin with Christians suing one another in the church. He'll get there. He doesn't begin with drunkenness and fighting at the Lord's table. He begins with the issue of disunity. Notice after some introductory matters, Paul says in verse 10:

"Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and there be no divisions among you. But that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same discernment. He tried to inform concerning you, my brethren. I promised people that there are quarrels among you. Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, 'Oh, I am appalled. Oh, I am appalled. Oh, I'm the follower of Cephas and Eater. Oh, I'm a follower of Christ.' Has Christ been denied? Was Paul then crucified for you? Were we baptized in the name of Paul?"

You see, Paul is deeply concerned about the issue of disunity in the church. And of course, we ask the question, where does this kind of division of this human being come from? The answer always is safety. You can always trace it back to Satan, because Satan will like nothing better than to thwart the unity in the church of Jesus Christ. But if you would ask on a human level, where this discord comes from, it always grows in the soil of sinful fleshly nature.

Look over at chapter three of 1 Corinthians where Paul says, coming back to his issue of unity. Chapter three and verse one:

"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh. I've given you milk to drink, not solid food. For you are not yet ready to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet unable. In other words, I can't even teach you the deep things of God. Why? You are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly? Are you not working, walking like you're best in other words like unbelievers?"

So here you have an immature, sinfully inclement church, and they are filled with disunity. But here's what I want you to get: You can turn back to Philippians chapter one. It's not merely an infantial oracle fleshly churches that there is the danger of dishealing. Listen to what the writer wrote concerning the church at Philippi. In the church, one nature which struck the Philippian church was the danger of disunity. There is a sense in which that danger—the danger of every healthy church—is disunity. It's when people who are really earnest about what they believe, when their beliefs really matter to them, that they have to give up against each other. You see, the greater the enthusiasm, greater the danger that they may collide. It's against that danger that Paul wished to safeguard his friends into the Repatha.

You see, the bottom line was this: For those who love Christ, for those who love the beauty and the wonder of the church and Jesus Christ, there is always a concern that that kind of furtherancy, that kind of could create discipiente, because we're unwilling to let go of the people we lead and our personal preferences. God says he will absolutely not tolerate those who seek to divide your brethren. And there are so many frightening passages. I'll give you one from the Old Testament. You're familiar with Proverbs chapter six, verse 16 through 19. Solomon writes:

"There are six things that the Lord hates. There are seven. Kind of a shorthand by saying, I'm not give you an exhaustive list of the things the Lord hates, but let me give you seven towards the top of his list. Number seven, the one who spreads among the brothers."

You see, God hates that. Solomon writes, it is an abomination in the presence of God for those who cause division among his people.

Now understand me. I'm gonna get into this in weeks to come. I am not saying that in the interest of preserving unity, we should ignore sin or we should ignore serious doctrinal disagreements on significant issues. But that's not the issue with the church in Philippians. And honestly, it's not the issue with most churches. In most churches, it's the color of the shingle or the light. Job had more for this in his commentary. Paul's concern here is not about doctorates or ideas or practices that are clearly unbiblical. Excuse me. It's about personal interest and preference of your life that are largely matters of personal choice. Such issues should never be allowed to incite controversy within the body of Christ. To insist on one's own way in such things is sinful because it senselessly divides believers. It reflects a prideful desire to promote one's personal view, style, or agenda.

Excuse me. Your phone says this: I'm usually we can't compromise on—okay, let me get a drink. Obviously, we can't compromise. I'm clear on doctrine, on biblical issues. But to humbly defer to one another on secondary issues—again, this is not a matter of weakness but a matter of maturity. To humbly defer to one another on secondary issues is not a matter of weakness but a matter of maturity.

Understand this: When there are people in the church who are either strongly for something or strongly against something, and again, we're talking about personal issues—dinner, what we're gonna serve, where we're gonna put different classes—when it comes to issues of personal preference, personal issues, those things do not matter. And if those people in a subtle way seek to gain a following to turn others against the church, against the elders, against fellow believers, then they are not according to Paul, spiritual people. They may come across as spiritual people, and usually they try to, but they are fleshly.

You see, the way spiritual people handle disagreements over secondary issues, over personal preference issues, is always in a way that protects the unity of the church. You see, there's always concern not to be the source of division because division destroys the church of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord illustrated this tragic end of division. Matthew chapter 12 and verse 25, he said this: "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste. Any city or house divided against its own will not stand." Now that's true of church as well. A house divided against itself cannot stand. That's the tragic end of division in the church. It starts small, but it grows greatly.

Now since his age is unity, Paul is going to bring to our table as we enter the second chapter of the book of Philippians. So let me read to you the next section, which is the first five verses. Paul says:

"Therefore, if there's any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the spirit, if there is affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness any good instinct. But with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look up for your own personal interest. But also for the interest of others. Who in the world could ever do that? Right? First off, have this attitude in yourselves in his."

So the theme of this passage is spiritual, and I would say that the church is maybe the most concise, the most direct, most practical instruction on unity that you find anywhere in all of the scripture. Now you may remember Acts chapter one and verse 27, which is really the beginning of a much longer section. Paul begins to teach us how we can live in light of our heavenly citizenship. And part of living in light of our heavenly citizenship, he says in verse 27, is standing firm in one spirit with one mind. So we live in light of our—

therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if there is any affection and compassion, make my joy complete. These are four glorious spiritual truths that serve as the foundation for the community that we have as brothers and sisters in Christ. These are the things that unite us.

Now, I want to clear this up. Each of those phrases begins with the word "if." In the English language, we look at the word "if" and we say, "Well, it seems like Paul's not really certain about these realities that he's presenting to us." But in the Greek language, they have what's called conditional sentences. A conditional sentence, when it's given to us in English, when you see the word "if," you want to translate it as "since." In other words, Paul is not saying, "If these realities are true," he is claiming, "Since these realities are true, then this ought to be the result." The worst statements are supernatural objective realities that every Christian has already experienced. Paul's arguing on the basis of new Christian experience. He said, "If you were any prize, you enjoy these four foundational truths," and because we as believers are united in these realities, we should then strive for unity. In other words, we must be united in modeling that and must be pursuing unity because of these realities.

The Foundation of Our Unity

Number One: We've Experienced Personal Comfort in Christ

Therefore, if there is any encouragement—whenever you see this Greek word "encouragement," in the New Testament it is almost always translated "comfort." You remember in John 14:15, Jesus was talking about the coming of the Holy Spirit, and he uses this word and calls him the Comforter. Who will come, the Encourager will come. So the word speaks of comfort. Each one of us who is in Christ has experienced the comfort of being in Christ. We have experienced comfort in Christ.

Now, the question is, what is this comfort, and when did it happen? Well, Paul's referring to our salvation. He brings this up in a similar way in Second Thessalonians 2:16. He says, "Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who has given us eternal comfort by his grace." Now, if you think about that, it makes it a reality. We have been comforted—believers eternally—by God's grace through Jesus Christ.

So here's what Paul is saying. He's taking this fact to the time when we first trusted in Christ. It was at that moment when it began to dawn on you—Paul is saying that each of us experienced this amazing comfort of heart, that our sins were forgiven, that we've become children of God. I only ask you, do you remember that? Do you remember that overwhelming sense of comfort and peace that just flooded your soul? In Christ, at the time of our salvation, we experience comfort of our soul then, now, and forever.

It reminds us of Isaiah 12:1. The Lord says this to the Jewish people, and the reality is to the Jewish people. He says, "One day, you will give thanks to me. For though you were angry with me, one day your anger will be turned away and I will comfort you."

Maybe you heard the gospel many times. Maybe you didn't understand it. Maybe you just flat out rejected it. But one day the Spirit of God opens your eyes. He revealed the depth of your sinfulness to you. You understood for the first time that Christ died for you personally, and this amazing grace overcame you. You always knew your sins were forgiven. And there was this incredible comfort in your heart.

All of us who've repented of our sins and raised Jesus as our Lord and Savior have come to enjoy this comfort of our souls. Listen to the way the ancient great theologian Augustine put it. He says, "We were made for you. And our souls are restless until we find our rest in you." We're comforted. And the fact that we all share in that—that that's a common experience for all of us that are in Christ—Paul said serves as a foundation for unity all the time within the body. Because we've all had that same experience.

So the first fear of spiritual reality that not only makes unity possible but incites us to greater unity is the eternal comfort that we once experienced in our souls that continues to stay.

Number Two: We've Experienced Consolation in the Father's Love

Look again at verse one. "If there is any consolation of love." Now, the Greek word for consolation simply means to come alongside of someone in a warm and kind and friendly way and seek to encourage them as they have experienced some difficulties in their lives. And then we get the related word, "to console"—from this word. That's the sense in which it's used here: to console those who are hurting. It is what's used in John 11 when Mary and Martha were hurting over the death of their brother, and Jesus comes to the village near Bethany, and he consoles them. It's to console someone in the midst of trouble. To come along, stand alongside them and say, "Here, I'm with you. I will be with you. It's going to be okay."

Now notice this, because this is a picture of the triune God here. The phrase before refers to Christ. The phrase after refers to the Spirit of God. So the best guess here—in fact, the best educated guess here—is this is referring to God the Father. In fact, in the New Testament, almost always when you see the term "God," it refers to the Father.

Paul uses a similar statement, by the way, in Second Corinthians 13:13. He said, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ," and then he says, "and the love of God," and then he says, "and the fellowship of the Spirit be with you all." Son, the Spirit, in the middle, the Father.

But what does Paul actually mean here? It means that we who are in Christ have been consoled in the midst of life's sufferings, life's trials, by our heavenly Father's great love for us. Here in Christ, you've experienced this. You've gone through some dark times in your life. You've gone through some difficult times, but there's this one constant: the Father's love for you.

Paul makes the same point in Romans 8:35. "Who will separate us from the love of Christ? In tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword." Listen, all of those are awful things. All of those are things that ultimately bring death. And then Paul would say the one constant that takes us through all of those, if you're a believer, is the heavenly Father's love for you. Your heavenly Father's love never changes. He goes on to say in verse 37, "In all those things, we are overwhelmingly comforted through him who loved us." Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God the Father.

What comforted Paul in the midst of all of the difficulties—read Second Corinthians 11—all of the trials, all of the imprisonments, all of the beatings—what comforted Paul was his heavenly Father's love for him, and it never wavered. And you and I who've experienced dark moments, if you are in Christ, in the middle of those dark moments, it's like the Spirit of God comes. He puts his arm around you. And he reminds you in the depths of your soul that the love of your heavenly Father is with you, that he is in control, and his love has not wavered.

If we have come to benefit from God's love, if we've been consoled by God's love, Paul is making the argument here that we need to show that same love and be united to others who also experience that same love. John says this in First John 3:16, "We know love by this, that Christ laid down his life for us. Therefore, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." By the way, notice—all of a sudden, because of the cross of Jesus Christ, we have that in common. Paul and John say, "Dear brethren, you're in the family. We're united by God's love for us."

He goes on to say in verse 17, "Therefore, whosoever has this world's goods, and sees a brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God dwell in him?" It doesn't. It can't. Because if God has shown us love, then he has united us together with others when he has shown the same love—those he has loved as well. And if we have come to benefit from God's love, if we have been comforted and consoled by God in the darkest times of our lives, then we are responsible to show that love and be united with others who experience that same love.

So the basis of our unity, number one, is we've experienced internal recovery. Number two is that we've experienced consolation from the Father's love.

Number Three: We've Experienced Fellowship with the Spirit

Notice verse one: "If there is any fellowship of the Spirit." Now we're familiar with the Greek word "fellowship." It's the word Paul loves. He uses it in pretty much all of his epistles. He uses it six times here in the book of Philippians. Here's what it is. It refers to people who share something in common. In other words, they participate together in something in common. They are partners. And the word includes two ideas: association and participation.

You remember back in Chapter 1, Verse 5, called into fellowship of the gospel. We are united together in the gospel and we participate together in the advancement of the gospel. First Corinthians 12:13, Paul says, "By one Spirit, we were all baptized into Christ's body, one body, whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, but we've been all made to drink one Spirit."

Listen, if you were in front, that is the work of the Spirit of God in your life. And he has—John tells us, First John 1:3, "John says, 'What we, the apostles, have seen, what we, the apostles, have heard—he's talking about their following Christ with three and years—we proclaim to you also so that you may have fellowship with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son.'" So listen, they're in the fellowship—guess who your partners are with? Number one, the Father, and the Son. You enjoy rich communion with the Father, rich communion with the Son. And because of that, John writes, that we must also have fellowship with one another.

We have fellowship with each other, John says, brethren. You say, "I come to this church. I have a serious concern. Now they have a certain that you're not going to publish. That you have yet to turn from your sin and turn in faith to follow Jesus Christ." You see, the fact that we have this vertical relationship with God, that we've been joined together in the fellowship of the Spirit, means not only are we connected to God, but we're connected with each other. And that's the basis for our unity.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:1, "I want you to walk worthy of the calling with which you've been called. How? We conduct all by treating one another with all gentleness, all patience, by showing tolerance for one another in love."

So we are united. What's the life of your heart? We are believers that we are united. I mean, think about those around you—those you had in mind. Think about all those who would be around if we weren't having this kind of event. They are your brothers and sisters in love. You are connected to them in association with them. And you participate with them in the advancement of the kingdom.

Number Four: We've Experienced God's Tender, Perfect Affection and Compassion

Look at the end of verse one: "If there is any affection and compassion." Affection and compassion. Two words. The word "affection" is used in the New Testament to describe a mother's love for her infant child—kind of the tender affection among her for a little child. Jesus, by the way, uses the word "affection" to describe God's response to his penitent sinners. Remember the story of the prodigal son? The prodigal is coming back to the father. He is repentant. The father sees him a long way off. He runs to the son. He kisses the son. He falls over the son. He hugs the son. That's the word "affection." The father's heart is moved with tender, loving affection toward his repentant son.

The word "compassion"—it's used pretty much exclusively for God in Scripture. It's almost always translated "mercy."

The Foundation of Unity in Christ

Familiar with it in Romans 12:2. Paul says, "I urge you, rather, by the mercies of God." He's referring back, by the way, to Romans 1-11, that entire section on salvation—God's saving mercies. So when you put these two words together—affection and compassion—they focus on divine mercy and affection that we enjoy at the time of our salvation, and that is a constant stream ever since.

Paul is saying: if you've ever experienced God's perfection, if you are experiencing God's tender mercies, especially demonstrated in the forgiveness of your sins, then you need to be united with others who have experienced the same thing. You see Paul's point here.

You and I share some incredible spiritual realities. These are the things that make us the richest people we know. And we share them together:

• The comfort that comes with belonging to Christ
• The consolation of knowing the Father is with us and loves us even in the darkest times we endure
• The fellowship that the Spirit brings us with God the Father and God the Son and with each other
• The full forgiveness of our sins that comes through the affections and the mercies of God

To receive and enjoy all those blessings and then to turn around and pursue disunion with others whom God has showed those blessings to—Solomon says that is an abomination.

The Cross as Our Greatest Unifier

Notice that all these spiritual realities in verse one were made possible by the wonderful magnet, and that is the death of our Lord on the cross. In the end, it's the cross that really unites us. It really becomes the basis for our unity. What Jesus accomplished on my behalf and on your behalf on the cross should be our greatest motivation.

We are all very different. We come from many different backgrounds, and there is a sense where we're pursuing many different things in life. But there is a magnet—there is a powerful, powerful magnet that keeps drawing us together, and that's the cross of Jesus Christ and all of the blessings that we have in him.

The Lord's Table as Corporate Worship

Just as a side note, this is one reason that the Lord's table—which is the memorial for our Lord's death—is always celebrated corporately in scripture. It's always celebrated among the church body because it's a sign of our oneness, of our corporateness. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:17: "Since there is one bread, Christ, and we, your many, are one body, for we all partake in one bread. So we are united."

The challenge is going to begin the next few weeks. Let's behave as we monitor how great and magnificent we are in their partners. We could never on our own purchase those riches. We certainly don't deserve them. And we are thankful we could never lose them.

Lord Jesus, you tell us to your new records, and with the apostle Paul, that they are to incite us to you, great Lord. Help us not to be ungrateful for the riches you've given us. But help us to pursue the means for which you do, the end for which you gave them in your Son, your church. We thank you for that privilege. In Jesus' name, I pray.