Admiral Richard Byrd, the famous polar explorer, had
adventures of being lost and then found that are amazing. In his
book Alone, he tells of being alone for six months in his little shack
in 1934 living through a long Antartic winter. Every day he would
take a walk, but he would take a bundle of sticks with him which he
would push into the snow every 30 yards so he would have a guide to
get back to his shack. He would then pick them up as he returned.
One day he was out for a long walk and did not notice the drifting
that was taking place behind him. When he finally decided to return
he looked back and could not see his line of sticks. He knew
immediately he was in big trouble. He knew his life depended on
finding one of those bamboo sticks. He put up a pile of crusted snow
chunks to give him a point of reference. As he backtracked he kept
his flashlight on his reference point. But he cam to a point where he
could no longer see it. If he lost that and did not find a stick he was
doomed. He decided to take 30 more steps in the direction he was
going. On the 29th he found his first stick and his line. He was all
alone, but he was filled with joy and encouragement, for that
discovery meant he would live and not die.
Most of us do not experience that kind of dramatic rescue and
feel overwhelming joy at being spared a tragic death. But the fact is,
when we trust Christ we go from being lost and dying with no
direction to being found of God and saved with a destiny of heaven.
This ought to be the most joyous and encouraging fact in our lives as
Christians, and so Paul begins this second chapter of Philippians by
appealing to that encouraging reality of being united to Christ. He
writes, "If you have any encouragement from being united with
Christ...." Paul's if here is not the if of doubt, as if they might not be
encouraged at all by their being saved in Christ. It is an if-then
sentence he is writing. If such and such is so, then it follows that
such and such shall also be so. For example: If you love your
country, then you should vote. If you love your mate, then you
should be kind. Paul has a series of 4 if phrases here that set the tone
for Christians to have the right attitude that leads them to be truly
Christlike.
The if phrases are equivalent to, if there is any water in the sea,
or if there is any light in the sun. In other words, it is obvious that
each of these things are true. Paul is simply reminding Christians as
to why they are to make an effort to be Christians in their attitudes.
It is because of these values which we can easily take for granted,
but when we think of them, compel us to move toward Christlike
goals. When a Christian is being self-centered, demanding his own
way, and not contributing to the unity of the body, it is because he is
neglecting to consider these values that Paul says are the foundation
for a Christian attitude. Lets look at them and learn to think about
them so we can develop a Christian spirit.
I. ENCOURAGEMENT.
This word, paraklesis, is used 29 times in the New Testament.
What we learn from a study of this word is that an encouraged
Christian is a positive functioning member of the body, but that a
discouraged Christian is a malfunctioning member of the body.
Encouragement is like oil. It makes things run smoothly. The
encouraged Christian is the one who can give of self and foster unity
and harmony in the body. The discouraged Christian is looking to
take and not give. The one running on empty and needing the flow
to come from others to them is not bad. This is a part of the purpose
of the body. But they are takers in that state of mind and not able to
look beyond themselves to the interest of others. When self-need is
high one becomes a care-receiver and not a care-giver. This will be a
part of everyone's experience at some point, but the goal is to be a
healthy care-giver. This can only be when we are encouraged about
who we are in Christ.
Paul likes to use this word in a context of unity. Encouraged
Christians are united, but discouraged Christians tend to be divided.
From the frequent references in the New Testament, we know that
one of the hardest tasks of the church is to keep Christians united.
They have so many different personalities and perspectives that
division is the constant tendency, and Paul is fighting it everywhere.
This gift of encouragement is a big factor in unity. In Rom. 15:5-6
Paul uses this word in the same way he does here. "May the God
who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity
among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart
and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ."
Encouragement is a gift of God, and when you have it you are a
blessing to the rest of the body, for this gift leads you to be a force
for unity. We cannot go through all 29 uses of this word, which is a
vast study in itself, but let me share on more strong passage of Paul.
In IITim. 2:16-17 Paul writes, "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself
and God our Father, who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal
encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and
strengthen you in every good deed and word." Again we see
encouragement as a gift of God and when we have it we are more
useful tools to do his will.
We could study another whole aspect of this subject which is the
encouragement we get from one another, but this is not the issue
that Paul is dealing with here. He is dealing with a source of
encouragement that comes from God and what he has done for us in
Christ, and what he continues to do for us in Christ. The reason
Paul is specializing in this aspect of encouragement is that it is
certain, and what we get from man is uncertain. If we are going to
be Christlike, we cannot depend on what we get from men-even
Christian men. This source can dry up just as it did for Jesus. His
people rejected him, and his disciples forsook him. If all he had was
that one well, Jesus would have been running on empty, but he was
able to do the will of God and lay down his life for lthe very people
who rejected him because he had another well of encouragement.
Paul's focus is on that heavenly well because he knows all other
wells can go dry. He has been there more than once himself.
Christians need an unfailing source of encouragement, and so
Paul's focus here is on the encouragement that comes from being
united to Christ. You can be robbed of all other encouragements,
but the only way you can be robbed of this is by your own neglect to
consider it. At the end of this sentence Paul deals with the
encouragement we give each other in the body by tenderness and
compassion, but here at the start it is the encouragement which is
ours by being united to Christ. The next two are also values that
come directly from our relationship to God, and they are the
comfort of His love, and the fellowship with the Spirit.
The implication is clear that Christians often try to get more out
of the human level than it can provide. Our greatest resources come
from God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. But because we focus on the
human level, which is good, but not not the best, we have a hard
time living up to the level that Paul describes as God's will for us.
The only way you and I are going to be able to be more Christlike is
to have more of a focus on the encouragement of Christ and the
fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The focus of the vast majority of
literature for the Christian is on the encouragement to be gained
from the body. This is a valid and vital subject to be sure, but it is
not the priority of Paul. That is second place to the resources that
come directly from our relationship to Christ.
The result is that Christians are not united. They do operate out
of selfish ambition or vain conceit, and they do not consider others
better than themselves, and they do not have the attitude of Christ
who humbled Himself to lift others. If you do not have the right
foundation, you cannot build the right building. If you build on a
purely human foundation, you will have what humans can produce.
If you build on a divine foundation you can have what God can
produce. Thus, we see why Paul's focus is on the values gained by
direct relation to God. If I am focused on the encouragement I have
by being united with Christ, and the comfort I have in His love, and
the fellowship I have with the spirit of God, I have a degree of
satisfaction in life that enables me to let go of selfish interest, and
take on the interests of others.
When you feel empty and deprived of love, encouragement, and
fellowship, you are like a starving man, and nobody else's needs
mean a thing to you. It's every man for himself, and you are totally
self-centered. But when you are content and full of encouragement
because of what is yours in Christ, you feel generous and have a
sharing spirit, and are ready to give to others in tenderness and
compassion. The most encouraging people are those who have been
most encouraged by Christ. They see the value of little things they
can do to encourage others.
The late Frank Crane said: "It takes so little to make people
happy. Just a touch if we know how to give it; just a word fitly
spoken; just a trick, a knack, a slight readjustment of some bolt or
pin or bearing in the delicate machinery of the soul-it takes little, so
little, to make people happy." Stopford Brooke wrote:
A little sun, a little rain,
A soft wind blowing from the West,
And woods and fields are sweet again,
And warmth within the mountain's breast.
A little love, a little trust,
A soft impulse, a sudden dream,
And life as dry as desert dust
Is fresher than a mountain stream.
Our own cup has to be full if we are to fill the cup of others. That
is the point of Paul in his focus on the personal spiritual life. Ivan
Panin said, "The art of living consists in keeping earthly step to
heavenly music." This is Paul's point. Listen to the beautiful tunes
of your heavenly relationship, and you will then be able to take
earthly steps in harmony with those tunes. The great comforters of
history were people who were passing on the comfort they had
received from God.
"One day in the winter of 1864 an old Quaker lady visited Lincoln
at the White House and took the hand of that harassed man.
"Friend Abraham," she said, "Thee must not think thee stands
alone. Back where I live we are all praying for thee. The hearts of
all the people are behind thee, and thee cannot fail. The Lord has
appointed thee; the Lord will sustain thee and the people love thee.
Yea, as no other man was ever loved before, does this people love
thee. Take comfort, friend Abraham. God is with thee. The people
are behind thee." Those who were present and witnessed the scene
remembered for long years afterward the relief and glad radiance
that came to Lincoln's face. The great man straigthened his body,
and with tears in his voice, as well as in his eyes, he said, "You have
given a cup of water to a very thirsty and grateful man. You have
done me a great kindness."
Even a cup of cold water given in his name will not go
unrewarded Jesus said, for the gift of encouragement is one of the
most needed gifts in life. But sometimes we do not get if from the
body as we ought, and that is why we need to get it directly fro our
relationship to Christ. Jesus went through this lack of
encouragement from men and found it in his Father. He then called
his disciples to look to him for encouragement in a world of trouble.
Jesus said in John 16:32-33, "But a time is coming, and has come,
when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me
all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with Me. I have told
you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you
will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Jesus had the gift of encouragement from God, and He passed it
on to His disciples, for He knew it would be the key to survival and
ministry in a hostile world. It always has been, and it is amazing to
see how God's people fail or succeed depending on whether they
listen to encouragers or discouragers. Something can be clearly the
will of God, but if the majority is lacking in the gift of
encouragement, God's will is not done. Poor Joshua and Caleb, they
were the encouragers of God's people. Caleb said in Num. 13:30,
"We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can
certainly do it." But the majority rules, even if they are fools, and in
spite of the fact that it was clearly God's will, we read in the next
two verses, "But the men who had gone up with him said, we can't
attack those people; they are stronger than we are, and they spread
among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had
explored."
These discouragers led God's people into a judgment of God, and
they had to wander for 40 years in the wilderness until all the
discouragers were dead. Joshua and Caleb alone survived of their
generation, and eventually these encouragers led God's people to
victory. But a tragedy when the majority of God's people lacked the
gift of encouragement. That is why Paul is always urging Christians
to focus on their gift and build on it, for it is the only way Christians
can live the Christian life in a way that is truly Christlike.
It is contrary to our nature to consider others better than
ourselves, and to be so selfless that we put the interest of others
before our own. There is not a lot of this going around, and the
reason is, Christians do not often reflect enough on the
encouragement and comfort they have in Christ, even though they
are so unworthy of it. We are loved by Christ and united with Him
as part of the family of God. It is not by any merit or works of our
own, but solely because of His love and sacrifice. As soon as we take
our eyes off this truth we revert back to people of pride who feel
better than others, and so we are unwilling to stoop as Jesus did to
lift the lowly.
It hard to be Christlike if your eyes are not always on Christ. Get
your eyes off Him and His encouragement and you will soon cease to
be a channel of encouragement to others. But keep your eyes on
Him, and be aware of the encouraging reality of being united with
Christ, and you can be a channel of encouragement to everyone in
your life. Listen to this testimony of William Lyon Phelps, the
famous Christian professor of Yale.
"I never go into a hotel or a barbershop or a store without saying
something agreeable to everyone I meet. I try to say something that
treats each one as an individual, not merely a cog in the machine. I
will ask a barber how he came to take up barbering, how long he
has been at it and how many heads of hair he has cut. I frequently
shake hands with a redcap who has carried my grip.
"One extremely hot summer day, I went into a railroad dining
car to have lunch. The crowed car was almost like a furnace and the
service was slow. When the steward finally got around to handing
me the menu, I said, 'The boys back there cooking in that hot
kitchen certainly must be suffering today!' The steward began to
curse, 'Good God Almighty!' he exclaimed. 'People come in here
and complain about the food. They kick about the slow service and
growl about the heat and the prices. I have listened to their
criticisms for 19 years, and you are the first person that has every
expressed any sympathy for the cooks back there in the broiling
kitchen. I wish we had more passengers like you.'
"He was astounded because I had thought of the cooks not merely as
cogs in the organization of a great railway. What people want is a
little attention as human beings."
This testimony convicted me, for I have done this on occasion and
felt good about it, but I usually get so caught up in my own agenda
that I do not consider others better than myself and take on their
interests. The reason is the very thing I am pointing out in this text.
I have taken my eyes off Christ and the encouragement of being
accepted and loved by Him, and the result is I am not a channel of
that love and acceptance to others. It is hard to be a Christian all
the time, but the more we are the more we will be encouragers to all
who come across our path, both within and without the body of
Christ.
Now, what about this phrase, "If any fellowship with the Spirit."
We think of this even less than we do the encouragement we have in
Christ. The word for fellowship is koinonia, and is a basic New
Testament word for relationships where two or more persons have
something in common. Business partners have fellowship; friends
have fellowship; mates have fellowship, and the more people have in
common the deeper the fellowship. To have fellowship with the
Spirit of God is the same idea as, "Let this mind be in you which was
also in Christ Jesus." Be of one mind with the Spirit, and you have
fellowship with the Spirit and with Christ.
It is amazing, but we, as fallen creatures with all our weaknesses
and sins, can have much in common with the Holy Spirit. We can
love what He loves and hate what He hates, and feel great peace and
comfort in His presence. Like a friend who accepts us just as we
are, so we do not need to be fake and hypocritical, but can be real,
for we know we have the same basic values and goals. So we can be
comforted by the Comforter, and be encouraged by our fellowship.
Someone wrote, "Oh, the comfort-the inexpressible comfort of
feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts or
measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are,
chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take an sift
them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness
blow the rest away."
This is what we have in the fellowship of the Spirit, and having
that is to compel us to be that kind of friend to others, and help them
experience the same level of love and acceptance. The essense of
Paul's message here is this: If you would think more about what you
have in Christ and the Holy Spirit, you would be better tools by
which they could communicate the same blessings to others. If you
would get all the encouragement they offer you, you would be a
greater encourager of them. Encouragement encourages
encouragers.
