Philippians 2:1; Gospel Comfort ~ 20231022 ~ Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org

10/22 Philippians 2:1; Gospel Comfort; Audio available at: http://www.ephraimbible.org/Sermons/20231022_philippians-2_1.mp3

Therefore [οὖν]

Paul begins chapter 2 (remember, there were no chapter breaks in the original); with ‘therefore’, this connects back to his main exhortation in chapter 1:27 that they live as citizens in full unity;

Philippians 1:27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,

We know this is his connection because picks up this same exhortation to unity in verse 2; be of the same mind, have the same love; he exhorts them to full Christian unity. But he starts by grounding their unity in a reflection on the gospel. He invites them to contemplate the benefits of the gospel, to savor together the good news which binds them together.

If Any [Εἴ τις]

He uses four ‘if’ statements, not implying that there is any doubt about the truth of the statements, but inviting them (and us) to reflect on our experience of these truths. It will be well worth our time to reflect on the benefits we have in Christ.

‘If any encouragement in Christ.’ These statements lack any verb; they are rapid-fire compressed statements each of which ought to elicit a response of joy from every believer, but the cumulative effect of all of them cascading together compels us to worship.

Encouragement [παράκλησις]

If any encouragement in Christ; the word translated ‘encouragement’ is [παράκλησις], from the root ‘to call alongside’; it can mean comfort, encouragement, or exhortation. In John 14-16, Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as another Comforter or Helper, the Exhorter or Encourager. Jesus himself had been with them to exhort and encourage them, and he promises the Spirit will be with you, whose job it is to teach and to remind of the truth about Jesus.

Jesus himself is called the Helper or Advocate in 1 John 2 in the sense of a legal defense with the Father, the one who satisfies the wrath of God against our sins.

In Acts 9:31 the church was built up and multiplied because it was walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. They were listening to the exhortation and encouragement of the Spirit. Paul in Romans 15 points us to the encouragement of the Scritpures.

Romans 15:4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6 that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God’s encouragement throught the Spirit and through the Scriptures results in unity and harmony in the body with the goal of glorifying God together.

2 Corinthians tells us that the God of all comfort comforts us in all our affliction. God himself comes alongside us in our sufferings as we abound in Christ’s sufferings.

2 Thessalonians pairs comfort with hope, and being comforted with being established;

2 Thessalonians 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

Comfort or exhortation to stand firm rooted in God’s love; permanent comfort paired with the good hope that comes from grace; comfort that results in good works and good words.

The author of Hebrews anchors strong encouragement in the objective truth of God’s word.

Hebrews 6:17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.

This is no fuzzy intangible emotional support that makes us feel nice inside; this is real rock solid truth to stand on, objective encouragement and comfort to fortify and support us.

In Christ [ἐν Χριστῷ]

Where do we find this encouragement? It is located in a person. Do you find any encouragement, any comfort in Christ? Is there any specific comfort that you find in Christ?

Let me encourage you with some of the truths that are in Christ:

-Redemption is in Christ Jesus (Rom.3:24)

-We are alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom.6:11)

-Eternal life is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom.6:23)

-There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom.8:1)

-We are set free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death (Rom.8:2)

-The inseparable love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom.8:39)

-We are one body in Christ (Rom.12:5)

-We are sanctified in Christ Jesus (1Cor.1:2)

-Grace is given to us in Christ Jesus (1Cor.1:4)

-Because of God’s choice we are in Christ Jesus; Christ is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption (1Cor.1:30)

-We are a new creation in Christ (2Cor.5:17)

-We are reconciled to God in Christ (2Cor.5:19)

-We have freedom in Christ Jesus (Gal.2:4)

-We are justified in Christ (Gal.2:17)

-We are sons of God in Christ Jesus (Gal.3:26)

-We are one in Christ (Gal.3:28)

-We are faithful in Christ Jesus (Eph.1:1)

-We are blessed in Christ with every blessing (Eph.1:3)

-The immeasurable riches of God’s grace in kindness are toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph.2:7)

-We are God’s masterpiece created in Christ Jesus (Eph.2:10)

-We have been brought near in Christ Jesus (Eph.2:13)

-We are fellow heirs, partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph.3:6)

-God forgave us in Christ (Eph.4:32)

-We are saints in Christ Jesus (Phil.1:1; 4:21)

-God’s peace guards us in Christ Jesus (Phil.4:7)

-God’s supply of his riches in glory come to us in Christ Jesus (Phil.4:19)

-Our maturity is in Christ (Col.1:28)

-Grace, faith and love are in Christ Jesus (1Tim.1:14; 2Tim.1:13; 2:1)

-The promise of life is in Christ Jesus (2Tim.1:1)

-God’s purpose and grace have been given to us in Christ Jesus (2Tim.1:9)

-Salvation is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory (2Tim.2:10)
These are some of the benefits we have in Christ. How do we come to be in Christ? In chapter 3, Paul says knowing Christ, gaining Christ, being found in Christ means counting his own righteousness as worthless and receiving God’s righteousness by believing in Christ, trusting in Christ (Phil.3:7-9).

At the end of chapter 1 he said that their courage in the face of persecution was a sign of their salvation. They had courage because they were en-couraged in Christ.

Do you find any encouragement in Christ?

If Any Comfort of Love [εἴ τι παραμύθιον ἀγάπης]

Any comfort of love? This word ‘comfort’ is similar to the word translated ‘encouragement’ and they overlap in meaning; in fact they are found several times together. In John 11, after Lazarus’ death, the Jews sought to console Mary and Martha.

In 1 Thessalonians we find the two words together;

1 Thessalonians 2:12 we exhorted [παρακαλοῦντες] each one of you and encouraged [παραμυθούμενοι] you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

Exhort translates the word for encouragement; encourage translates this word for comfort or consolation. Encouragement or exhortation, comfort or consolation, and charging were different means of spurring the believers on to walk worth of God, to live lives consistent with the gospel. Both these words show up again in 1 Thessalonians 5;

1 Thessalonians 5:14 And we urge [παρακαλοῦμεν] you, brothers, admonish [νουθετεῖτε] the idle, encourage [παραμυθεῖσθε] the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.

Paul is urging or encouraging (that’s the first word - encourage) the believers to encourage (that’s the second word -comfort or console). It is the fainthearted who need comfort and consolation.

These two things are two of the goals of prophetic gifting. In 1 Corinthians 14, prophecy is defined as ‘speaking to people for their upbuilding and encouragement (or exhortation -that’s our first word) and consolation’ (that’s our second word).

Both of these words have a strengthening role, and both have an element of coming alongside to help.

Do you find any comfort or consolation from love? Whose love?

1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ...19 We love because he first loved us.

Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Galatians 2:20 ...I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Have you received any consolation or comfort from God’s love?

If Any Fellowship of Spirit [εἴ τις κοινωνία πνεύματος]

Any fellowship of Spirit? Paul used this word ‘fellowship’ back in 1:5 when he expressed his gratitude for their partnership in the gospel. As we saw there, this koinonia fellowship is a rich relational word that can mean fellowship, communion, participation, partnership. Fellowship means having things in common;

1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ... 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

It is the Holy Spirit who makes us one, creates fellowship with God and with one another.

1 Corinthians 12:13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body— Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Have you experienced any fellowship with the Holy Spirit, any fellowship with God and with others created by the Spirit?

If Any Affection and Sympathy? [εἴ τις σπλάγχνα καὶ οἰκτιρμοί]

Any affections and sympathies? Paul had used this first word already:

Philippians 1:8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

This is a visceral emotionally potent word; it literally refers to guts or bowels, a gut-wrenching emotion in the pit of your stomach. Paul expresses his own emotions as a longing with the affections of Jesus. We see this word several times in the gospels when Jesus was moved with compassion or pity;

Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion [εσπλαγχνισθη] for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Bowels of mercies. Paul exhorts the believers in Colossae:

Colossians 3:12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts [σπλαγχνα οικτιρμου], kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

Put on compassionate hearts; literally bowels of mercy. Mercy or pity is something God extends to sinners who deserve only his wrath. Paul invites us to respond appropriately to the good news of the multiplied mercies of God.

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

In 2 Corinthians he points to God as the origin of all mercy;

2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort [παρακλησεως],

A Plea for Unity

Are you a recipient of God’s tender mercies? Do you enjoy fellowship from the Holy Spirit? Have you received comfort from God’s love? Do you find any encouragement in Christ?

He specifically mentions Christ and the Spirit; he doesn’t mention the Father, however we know that love is from God (1Jn.4:7), that God is love (1Jn.4:16), that God loved in this way, that he gave his only Son (Jn.3:16). We know that YHWH is “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex.34:6).

When you are reminded of these truths, what does this do in your soul? Paul’s desire is in line with Jesus’ own desire

John 17:11 ...Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. ...21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you… 22 ...that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

Philippians 2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Meditate on these gospel truths and allow them to shape in you a heart for gospel unity.

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2023.10.22 Sermon Notes

Philippians 2:1; Gospel Comfort

Therefore; pursue gospel unity

Philippians 1:27; 2:2

If any encouragement in Christ

John 14:16-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 1 John 2:1-2

Acts 9:31; Romans 15:4-6; 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17; Hebrews 6:17-18

If any comfort of love

John 11:19,31; 1 Thessalonians 2:12; 5:14; 1 Corinthians 14:3

1 John 4:8-10, 16-19; Romans 5:8; Galatians 2:20; John 3:16

If any fellowship of Spirit

Philippians 1:5; 1 John 1:3, 7; 1 Corinthians 1:9; 12:13

If any bowels and mercies

Philippians 1:8; Matthew 9:36; Colossians 3:12

Romans 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:3

A plea for unity

John 17:11, 21-23; Philippians 2:2

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Pastor Rodney Zedicher ~ Ephraim Church of the Bible ~ www.ephraimbible.org