Thankfulness Unites Believers

Transcript

GR 618
10/24/1982
Thankfulness Unites Believers
Philippians 1:3-8
Gil Rugh

We began our study of the actual text of the Epistle to the Philippians last week with looking at the first two verses where Paul just gives some of the basic background in greetings, identifying himself and Timothy as they send greetings to this church writing to the saints in Christ Jesus; those who have been set apart by God for himself as his own special possession. You note that word saint, same word basically as holy and sanctified, one who has been set apart by God for himself and his purposes. They are saints in Christ Jesus, every person who has placed their faith in Jesus Christ as personal savior, trusted his death and resurrection as the payment for their sin is in Christ and by virtue of that fact is a saint one set apart by God.

He included in that greeting the overseers and deacons those who have the spiritual oversight, the congregation at Philippi and he asks for special grace and peace to be provided for them. We noted this emphasis on grace and peace focuses on provision for our daily lives, the grace of God; that favor of his upon us as his saints that makes provision for every area of our lives as his children, so crucial to have that ever before us that God saved us by his grace. He has cleansed and forgiven us by grace but he is also in the process of providing for us every step of every moment of every day by his grace also.

So my ability to live a life that is pleasing to him, a life that is pleasing to myself as his child, a life that is truly a reflection of the character Jesus Christ, is a testimony to the grace of God at work in my life, that is true for all of us as believers and with that comes the provision of peace. The initial peace is the peace we have with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, that the enmity that existed, that we are those who are hostile in mind, the enemies of God have been brought into a relationship of harmony and peace with him but then there is the provision of daily peace as we are in the midst of a world that is opposed to God and the saints of God.

That we are under the pressures and difficulties of our daily lives, God’s intention is that we experience his peace within, that provision moment by moment of his presence of the security that we have in him, of the tranquility within that is a result of his work in our lives, tremendous reminder of what we have in Jesus Christ. Now Paul is ready to move into the heart or the burden of the letter, the greetings have been given, the introductory comments, with verse 3 he moves into comments about his prayer life for the Philippians and again remember that the thrust in this Epistle is on joy and rejoicing. I think of no more needful or important theme than the subject of joy and rejoicing.

We live in a world that is beset with problems and so often we as believers feel the burden of the problems, the trials, the difficulties and even Christians fail to experience the joy that God intends for us to have. Must admit, working in this Epistle again has been a reminder to me, I stop and ask myself; Gill does joy characterize you in all that you do, does the rejoicing of heart really characterize you in every area of your life through all the circumstances of your life. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t pressures, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t times when you weep and are sorrowful but even in that sorrow, even in that time of turmoil you have the joy of Jesus Christ within.

That sounds like a terrible contradiction; the joy in sorrow but that is exactly what we have as believers. We can be moved to tears to weep but within there is the tranquility of God’s peace, the joy that he produces of his presence. I trust our study of the Book of Philippians will be a reminder and an encouragement to us that we as God’s children have every reason and every cause to be rejoicing and full of joy in every circumstance, in every situation in every moment of every day. Verse 3; Paul launches right in, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.

Right to the point Paul says I’m full of thanks in all my remembrance, the sum total of my memory of you Philippians causes me to give thanks to God, it has been some ten years since Acts Chapter 16; where Paul founded that the church of Philippi and over those ten years as Paul reflects upon the gracious work of God in the lives of the Philippians, he says; all my memories of you cause me to thank my God, I was impressed as I thought upon this, I thank my God. How Paul viewed thanks in regard to other believers, we talked about this subject not too long ago on being thankful for one another as Christians.

And I took sometime just to look through how Paul used this word thanks in his writing about other Christians, been impressed again how we take one another for granted, how easy it is for me to center in on your shortcoming, on your problem, how easy for us as Christians to begin to focus on the criticisms we have for one another, rather than to stop and appreciate one another. Stop and think how many times this week have you thanked God for the believers in this local body, how much time you have spent rejoicing and praising God for the Christian that you are privileged to be involved with in this local body and compare that with how much time you have spent thinking of the things that were wrong; the criticisms, the difficulties.

Now we realize we have to be realistic, usually we cover over our critical spirit with the idea of being realistic but we will see before we have done with the letter to the Philippians that Paul is realistic, there are problems in the church of Philippi. It is not a perfect church but yet he says; all of my memories of you cause me to give thanks to God, we are just going to look quickly at some passages where Paul offers his thanks for other believers. Romans Chapter 1 verse 8; and how just the repetitiveness will cause us to stop and think are we following in the same pattern.

Romans Chapter 1 verse 8 and we won’t have time to develop each of the areas but you might write these areas down and then it will be a good study for you on your own to go back and analyze each of the reasons Paul gives for his thanks for these believers. He is thankful for believers and he will pick out different reasons that he is thankful, different aspects of the believer’s life and what God is doing in them that motivate him to thanks. To the Roman’s in Chapter 1 verse 8; first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

He has given thanks for the testimony of the Romans; I thank my God for you all, every single one of you Romans fill my heart with appreciation to God. It is not to cause pride to them, you notice thanks is to God because he realizes; behind it all it is the work of God in the life of a believer that makes the difference. That is why it ought to be true of all us that we are thankful for other believers because if they are believers; they are people in whose life God is working and that is a cause of thanks. Look over in First Corinthians Chapter 1 and here is a church that not only is not a perfect church, it is a church beset and riddled with problems and yet in First Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 4 Paul says; I thank my God always, you have to underline that because that is specially significant when you remember he is writing to the Corinthians under the inspiration of the spirit of God.

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus that in everything you work, enriched in him. Note, as I read the book of the Corinthians what do you think of when you think of the letter to the Corinthians, the Church at Corinth is the church we always use as an example for a carnal church, a baby church. Paul will say that in Chapter 3 and yet here even at this church and these believers he says; I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.

There is no such thing as a believer to whom the grace of God was not given because if they are a believer in Jesus Christ they are one to whom the grace of God was given, you know what that means. There is no such thing as a believer that I can’t give, thanks to God for the way he has enriched them, for the riches that he has brought to their life, for the manifold grace of God displayed in them. So easy for me to look at a believer, a child of God, a saint of his and pick them apart piece by piece, become so negative that I become discouraged and depressed instead of being caused to give God thanks for what he is doing in their life.

Look over in Ephesians Chapter 1 verse 15; for this reason I too having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exist among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers. Every time Paul came to pray to the Ephesians he offered God thanks for them because they had believed in Jesus Christ that caused him to be thankful to God for them. Look over in the Book of Colossians Chapter 1 verse 3; we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the Love which you have for all the saints which is a thanks to God for your faith in Christ and the manifestation of that faith in your Love for other believers.

First Thessalonians Chapter 1 verse 2; we give thanks to God always, for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers. Over in Chapter 2 verse 13 of First Thessalonians; for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you receive from us the word of God’s message; you accepted it not as the word of man but for what it really is, the word of God which also performs its work in you who believes. Second Thessalonians Chapter 1 verse 3; we ought always, note this, we ought always to give thanks to God for you brethren as is fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged and the love of each one of you toward one another grows greater.

We ought always to give thanks to God. Paul views himself as a debtor to be offering thanks to God for what he has done and is doing in the lives of these believers. Look in Chapter 2 of Second Thessalonians verse 13; but we should always give thanks to God for you brethren, beloved by the Lord, note that, if they are brethren beloved by the Lord should not we be giving thanks to God for them because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the spirit and faith in the truth, key verse. In our context in Philippians we will be talking about the work of God in our lives.

He has chosen us from the beginning and the means of that salvation is twofold, sanctification by the spirit and faith in the truth. Now Paul says; we ought always to give thanks to God because of what God has done in that way. Philemon verse 4 says the same thing, Paul again offers thanks to God; I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers repeatedly. Now you stop and think; does that characterize your attitude as a believer, does that characterize my attitude as a believer. You know what I find quite frankly; it is so easy to become mired down in the difficulties, so easy to become focused in on the problems and trials that are being experienced in a body of believers and to lose sight of the great work of grace that God is doing in your life.

And it is easy for me to spend more time praying that God will change you than thanking God for what he has already done and is already doing in your life. Do you ask yourself; how much time have I spent this week thanking God for these believers, are they a key element in our life? Back up to Philippians Chapter 1; I think it is key, Paul felt a bond, recognized the bond that he had both with God and with other believers. He was so thankful for them, he was so appreciative of the work that God had done in their life, that helps stir the love; an emotion that he had for them.

Both the love in it is agape sense and it is a love in phileo sense, the love in his sacrifice for them and also the love in the emotional attachment he had. Jump down to verse 8 of Philippians 1; for God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. I think that is significant, this section we are going to look at, bracketed by verse 3 and verse 8. Verse 3; I offer thanks to God, in verse 8; I long for you all. Paul was so thankful for them that the natural outflowing of that was; he had a desire to be with them.

He desired their fellowship, I was interested, I spent a little bit of time looking at the things that believers are to desire using this word and I was interested how many times; this word used nine times in the New Testament. In verse 8, that word I long for you; you note an eagerness, an intensity of desire and in one, two, three, four, five, six of those times, six of the nine; he is talking about longing for other believers, having an intense desire to be with other believers and that is what happens with Paul here. He is so thankful to God for them, he so appreciates what God is doing in their life that he desires to be with them, to enjoy their presence, to enjoy their fellowship.

Back up to Romans Chapter 1 verse 11; for I long to see you, narrow that word; I long, I have this eager desire to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift that you may be established, that is that I may be encouraged together with you, among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine, I’m thankful to God for you Romans, O I have a desire to be with you so that we can mutually be built up in our relationship before God. Look over to Second Corinthians Chapter 9, Second Corinthians Chapter 9 verse 14; Paul here talks as a result of the faithfulness in the Corinthians in giving up their material things. Believers will long for them, who have benefited from it.

Verse 13; because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience, your confession of the gospel of Christ, for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all while they also by prayer on your behalf yearn for you and here that word is translated; yearn, have an intense longing or desire for you because of the surpassing greatness of God in you and you note they are thankful. You see a pattern that Paul manifest in Philippians, the thanks he offers in prayer leads to a desire to be with other believers, if you are thankful for them, pray for them, you desire to be with them.

I take it, one of the marks of a true believer is he desires to be with other believers and if you don’t have that desire something is wrong, either you are not a believer or you are a believer out of step with what the spirit of God wants to produce in your life. Paul is going to get to that in a very direct way in Philippians in just a moment. First Thessalonians Chapter 3 verse 6; but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news, I thank my God for you all, every single one of you Romans fill my heart with appreciation to God.

It is not to cause pride to them, you notice thanks is to God because he realizes; behind it all it is the work of God in the life of a believer that makes the difference. That is why it ought to be true of all us that we are thankful for other believers because if they are believers; they are people in whose life God is working and that is a cause of thanks. Look over in First Corinthians Chapter 1; and here is a church that not only is not a perfect church, it is a church beset and riddled with problems and yet in First Corinthians Chapter 1 verse 4 Paul says; I thank my God always, you have to underline that because that is specially significant when you remember he is writing to the Corinthians under the inspiration of the spirit of God.

I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus that in everything you work, enriched in him. Note, as I read the book of the Corinthians what do you think of when you think of the letter to the Corinthians, the Church at Corinth is the church we always use as an example for a carnal church, a baby church. Paul will say that in Chapter 3 and yet here even at this church and these believers he says; I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus.

There is no such thing as a believer to whom the grace of God was not given because if they are a believer in Jesus Christ they are one to whom the grace of God was given, you know what that means. There is no such thing as a believer that I can’t give, thanks to God for the way he has enriched them, for the riches that he has brought to their life, for the manifold grace of God displayed in them. So easy for me to look at a believer, a child of God, a saint of his and pick them apart piece by piece, become so negative that I become discouraged and depressed instead of being caused to give God thanks for what he is doing in their life.

Look over in Ephesians Chapter 1 verse 15; for this reason I too having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exist among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you while making mention of you in my prayers. Every time Paul came to pray to the Ephesians he offered God thanks for them because they had believed in Jesus Christ that caused him to be thankful to God for them. Look over in Colossians Chapter 1, just after the Book of Philippians, the Book of Colossians Chapter 1 verse 3; we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the Love which you have for all the saints which is a thanks to God for your faith in Christ and the manifestation of that faith in your Love for other believers.

First Thessalonians just after Colossians, First Thessalonians Chapter 1 verse 2; we give thanks to God always, for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers. Over in Chapter 2 verse 13 of First Thessalonians; for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you receive from us the word of God’s message; you accepted it not as the word of man but for what it really is, the word of God which also performs its work in you who believes. Second Thessalonians Chapter 1 verse 3; we ought always, note this, we ought always to give thanks to God for you brethren as is fitting because your faith is greatly enlarged and the love of each one of you toward one another grows greater.

We ought always to give thanks to God. Paul views himself as a debtor to be offering thanks to God for what he has done and is doing in the lives of these believers. Look in Chapter 2 of Second Thessalonians verse 13; but we should always give thanks to God for you brethren, beloved by the Lord, note that, if they are brethren beloved by the Lord should not we be giving thanks to God for them because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the spirit and faith in the truth, key verse. In our context in Philippians we will be talking about the work of God in our lives.

He has chosen us from the beginning and the means of that salvation is twofold, sanctification by the spirit and faith in the truth. Paul says; we ought always to give thanks to God because of what God has done in that way. Philemon verse 4 says the same thing, Paul again offers thanks to God; I thank my God always, making mention of you in my prayers repeatedly. Now you stop and think; does that characterize your attitude as a believer, does that characterize my attitude as a believer. You know what I find quite frankly; it is so easy to become mired down in the difficulties, so easy to become focused in on the problems and trials that are being experienced in a body of believers and to lose sight of the great work of grace that God is doing in your life.

And it is easy for me to spend more time praying that God will change you than thanking God for what he has already done and is already doing in your life. You ask yourself; how much time have I spent this week thanking God for these believers, are they a key element in our life? Back up to Philippians Chapter 1; I think it is key, Paul felt a bond, recognized the bond that he had both with God and with other believers. He was so thankful for them, he was so appreciative of the work that God had done in their life, that helps stir the love; an emotion that he had for them.

Also loved and it is agape sense and it is love in phileo sense, thinking of the love in his sacrifice for them and also the love in the emotional attachment he had. Jump down to verse 8 of Philippians 1; for God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus and I think that is significant, this section we are going to look at, bracketed by verse 3 and verse 8. Verse 3; I offer thanks to God, in verse 8; I long for you all. Paul was so thankful for them that the natural outflowing of that was; he had a desire to be with them.

He desired their fellowship, I was interested, I spent a little bit of time looking at the things that believers are to desire using this word and I was interested how many times; this word used nine times in the New Testament. In verse 8, that word I long for you; you note an eagerness, an intensity of desire and in one, two, three, four, five, six of those times, six of the nine; he is talking about longing for other believers, having an intense desire to be with other believers and that is what happens with Paul here. He is so thankful to God for them, he so appreciates what God is doing in their life that he desires to be with them, to enjoy their presence, to enjoy their fellowship.

Back up to Romans Chapter 1 verse 11; for I long to see you, narrow that word; I long, I have this eager desire to see you in order that I may impart some spiritual gift that you may be established, that is that I may be encouraged together with you, among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. I’m thankful to God for you Romans, O I have a desire to be with you so that we can mutually be built up in our relationship before God. Look over to Second Corinthians Chapter 9 verse 14; Paul here talks as a result of the faithfulness in the Corinthians in giving up their material things. Believers will long for them, who have benefited from it.

Verse 13; because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience, your confession of the gospel of Christ, for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all while they also by prayer on your behalf yearn for you and here that word is translated; yearn, have an intense longing or desire for you because of the surpassing greatness of God in you and you note they are thankful. You see a pattern that Paul manifest in Philippians, the thanks he offers in prayer leads to a desire to be with other believers, if you are thankful for them, pray for them, you desire to be with them.

I take it, one of the marks of a true believer is he desires to be with other believers and if you don’t have that desire something is wrong, either you are not a believer or you are a believer out of step with what the spirit of God wants to produce in your life. Paul is going to get to that in a very direct way in Philippians in just a moment. Look over to First Thessalonians, jump past Philippians, First Thessalonians Chapter 3 verse 6; but now that Timothy has come to us from you and has brought us good news of your faith and love that you always think kindly of us longing to see us just as we long to see you.

See there is a mutual desire and eagerness to see one another. Now these weren’t just Paul’s close friends, obviously as we jump from church to church and place to place Paul was unable to spend extended periods of time with all of these people but they were believers in whom Paul could see the grace of God at work for which he thanked God in all his prayers concerning them. And when you are thanking God for people and praying for them you will have the desire to be with them. You will have the desire to share together in what God is doing in their lives.

One other passage on this, Second Timothy Chapter 1 verse 4. Pick up verse 3; I thank my God whom I served with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day longing to see you. You will see that constant connection with that desire in the praying. If you don’t like to be with other Christians and yet you are sure you are a believer, have you been praying for other believers? Have you been offering thanks to God for these other believers and that expresses why you don’t have any desire to be with them. Have you really been upholding them, offering your thanks to God for them in a genuine way.

Maybe we have to stop and think, maybe I have to make a list and say let me list ten things I can be thankful for in the lives of these believers in this body. Look through these passages where Paul offers thanks, maybe they will help you if have odd times thinking of ten things, five things and just take time to thank God for that. Do that every day, not just in a rote way but think on it, meditate on it and offer thanks to God for it and see if over a period of time you don’t begin to develop an eagerness to be with these people, a desire for them, any personal relationship with them, mutual contact.

Have to note two other things; this word is used mostly of the intense longing that one believer has for another believer but there are two other ways that is used also. Look over in First Peter Chapter 2, will give you some of the idea of the intensity of the idea. It is used of the kind of desire we ought to have for the word of God, we ought to be those as God’s children who have an intense desire and longing for the pure word of God. In First Peter Chapter 2 verse 2; like new born babies long, have an intense desire for the pure milk of the word that you might grow in respect to salvation. So the same kind of intense desire I’m to have for you, I’m to have for the word of God.

The same kind of intense desire I’m to have for the word of God and to have for other believers. Some believers develop a coldness, they say O I can’t get enough of the word of God but they will live in isolation from other believers. No, I’m to have the same intense desire for the word that I have for other believers and vice versa. Another one that I like, back in Second Corinthians Chapter 5, Second Corinthians Chapter 5; are heavenly body, the glorified body, if you have an intense desire for the glorified body, well this one gets wracked a little bit, it will be around a little bit that reminds us, we go through a sickness or a illness, some suffering and it helps to sharpen our desire.

And in Second Corinthians Chapter 5 verse 2; for indeed in this house we grow this present physical body, the longing; there is our word longing, an intense desire to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, I want to be glorious and I’m privileged to be clothed with the heavenly body he has prepared for me. That intense desire, so ask other things, what are the things that you really, eagerly look for, you eagerly seek after, are they things that God says we ought to, so easy to become absorbed in the world and we are so intense in pursuing this or that. Do you have that intense desire for the glorified body; have intense desire for the word of God, yet that intense desire for the fellowship, the relationships with other believers.

How do you view coming together with other believers, you say O boy here we go again and good to get home and get away. You look forward to being with those believers, there is no need to back up, thank God for them, pray for them, you find the desire will be growing. Come back to Philippians Chapter 1; there is a reference to using that word, # is the word, some of you who will be tracing it down that way. In James Chapter 4 verse 5 you can just jot it down so you have all the references. It is also used in Philippians Chapter 2 verse 26 where Epaphroditus; he was longing for you all, here is our word longing because he was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. Epaphroditus was sick and he had an intense desire for the Philippians because he knew that they were concerned about him, mutual concern and care.

Back to Philippians Chapter 1 verse 3, bracketed here, my thanks to God, my intense desire for you, I thank my God, I just want to take a moment here, one of the things that motivated Paul was the personal relationships that he enjoy not only with other believers but with God, he viewed his relationship with God in an intensely personal way. It is not I thank our God but I thank my God, now I realize the Philippians are saints. God is their God too but Paul views his relationship with God in an intensely personal way. When I thank God I’m thanking my God in all my remembrance of you. One passage back in Acts Chapter 27; account of Paul shipwrecked on his voyage to Rome from which imprisonment he writes the letter to the Philippians and Paul had counseled them against making this trip because of the ruin that would come and they get caught in a storm and now Paul counsels them, admonishes them and tells them to take courage.

Verse 22, after telling them they ought to have taken his advice in the first place, in verse 22 he says; now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there shall be no loss of life among you but only of the ship, for this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me. You see how intensely personal Paul makes it. It is the God whom I serve, it is the God to whom I belong because I thought over this. That could be rather awkward situation, here is Paul a prisoner being transported for trial to Rome, little bit embarrassing that you have to stand up and say; let me tell you about the God whom I served, to whom I belong and you think; O boy they are really going to think he is a great buy, you are prisoner, you are being transported for trial if he is such a great God why doesn’t he deliver you.

Paul doesn’t let that influence him, he believed he was going to Rome under the plan of God as a prisoner so that Rome paid the bill perhaps but nonetheless in the plan of God, and intensely personal. It is the God whom I serve, it is the God to whom I belong. I thank my God, how do you view your relationship with God. Do you see yourself walking with him in an intensely personal relationship? The one that you talk about as belonging to you, to whom to belong to, the one whom you serve, he is the one whom you pray, so easy to become general. Yes he is our God, yes for all of us believers. He is the God whom we serve, to whom we belong and that is all true, so important for you, narrow it down and see it in the intensely personal way that it really is.

We all serve him together and I also individually and personally serve him, talk with him. It makes a difference; how I live, how I walk, how I view the situations of life, I’m not just one among many, you know well I’m just one of the crowd here, God’s concerned about the church that meet here but I’m just one. No God is concerned about me, he is my God, I serve him, you personally serve him as his child, privilege of that intense personal relationship. Anyway Paul when he comes to talk about believers there is an intensity about the personal relationship that he enjoyed with other believers.

This is going to come out further on in our study of Philippians, come back to Philippians chapter 1. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. He thought about them he is frank with them, you can underline the word all in these verses. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, all the ways, offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, that word every and all repeated in just these two verses, all encompassing, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all.

This word joy which becomes the theme or key idea pervading the Epistle, we look at each of the uses of this word; it is joy in my every prayer for you all. So it is thanks and there is joy and they go together, an unthankful Christian will be a Christian who lacks the joy of God in his life, who fail to appreciate the joy that God produces in the life of one who is walking in a submissive way to him, because I’m not offering him thanks submitting myself to him with appreciation and I won’t see the fullness of his character being produced in me, joy for you all.

Every one of you, in my prayer when I come up with my supplication, my request, my desires on your behalf so he is going to pray God will work on their life, that God will meet their needs, that God will provide for them but as a background for that and a foundation for it, it is the thanks for what God is doing and will do. Had to jump down to verse 8 one more time, God is my witness, how I long for you all, this attitude of thankfulness, this attitude of joy, this intense desire is not natural to me as a person. It is not natural to me apart from the work of Christ in my life and that comes out so clearly at the end of verse 8; with the affection of Christ Jesus.

For me that is the key, this word affection, the word that denotes the inner parts where the Greeks viewed the center of the emotion, through the heart, the liver, the upward intestines all that area, that is where your feelings are. We narrow it down, we are talking about the heart today and that is fine but it is that feeling in here. We call it in rather less refined; a gut feeling; here it is with the emotions of Christ Jesus. Now important to see that otherwise I look and say well Paul was just a unique character. If Paul was unique, you know what was unique about him, his willingness to be what God wanted him to be without the reservations that some of us have.

Not that he had a greater capacity for thankfulness, that he had a greater capacity for joy, that he had a greater capacity to long for other believers, but it is longing for them with the affection of Christ Jesus. In other words he says; this is the love of Christ, the affections of Christ that are at work in and through me, to give me this desire for you, it is not mine but it is his, I long for you with the affection, the desire, the emotion, the heart of Christ Jesus.

It is Christ attitude toward you that is being reflected in me. How does Christ view his people, what is his attitude toward them, it is one of love, one of desire, he has gone to prepare place for us so that where he is there we may be also, he has promised never to leave us or forsake us but to be with us always even in the end of the world. It is that intensely personal relationship that Christ has with each one of us, now it is manifesting itself through Paul, why did he want to be with other believers because as Christ work in and through Paul he produced that love, that desire, that longing.

We study the Book of Galatians, back up a few pages to Galatians, just before Philippians, the Book of Ephesians, the Book of Galatians and Galatians devise, in Chapter 5 it tells you about what the works of the flesh are, what comes out of your life apart from the gracious work of God in you and then it talks about what God does in the life submitted to him as the spirit controls. And you note the characteristics in verse 19 of Galatians 5 of the flesh, the works that the flesh produces; they are evident, immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, note these things that are contrary to a desire to be together, enmity, strife, jealousies, outburst of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions just the opposite and how often Christians are driven apart in this way.

But if I have the affections of Christ what room is there for these kinds of things. Rather than wanting to avoid believers I want to be with believers, now when the flesh is in control the result will be divisions and I can see every reason to divide and to be factious and have dissension, to be of a critical spirit but that is the flesh. Jump down to verse 22; the fruit of the spirit, this is what the spirit of God produces in our lives as we submit to him, love, joy, things we are talking about, that intense longing for other believers. Love, joy, Paul makes request for them with joy, peace, remember he had prayed for the grace and peace of God be with them.

Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control and the provision for this verse 24; those who belonged to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires, if we live by the spirit let us also walk by the spirit. Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another, so crucial that I’m saved by the grace of God, through the ministry of the spirit of God in my life and God’s intention is for me to live every moment, every day of my way in the same way, in the realm of his grace in submission to the spirit of God.

The result of that will be he will produce these characteristics mainly; thankfulness, joy, a longing for other believers, would build our relationship in prayer. What is your relationship in Indian Hills like, I mentioned that because this is where we are, these are the believers we are fellowship with. I have no problem having a great relationship with the believers in China, I don’t have anything critical to say about it, you know what the problem is; it is those I live with, it is those we have contact with. So we have to remind ourselves to look and see the work of God and I have to start with me.

I thought I have to start with you, I thought if you changed some I could be more thankful, if you change some I could have more joy, if you change some I could desire to be with you more intensely. You know what I find out, what I really need is to allow the spirit of God to control me so that he produces the affections of Christ in my life. When the spirit of God is controlling me he will produce a thankfulness in my life for you, he will produce a joy in my life, in our relationship together. He will produce in me that intense longing and desire for you that is characteristic of Christ desire for us as his children, as God will make us a church that is thankful, that is joyful, that desire, the communion of a believer with believer that we might truly manifest the affections of Christ in all of our relationships.

Let’s pray together. Father how we pray to you this morning, for your love for us. Lord how remarkable that you should love us so much, Father, that Jesus Christ should have such affections for us, Lord and love as we are. Thank you for the work of redemption, all that has rendered us holy and blameless and beyond reproach in your sight. Lord, with people of such privileged position, how our lives and conduct ought to be there. Lord, make us as a body of believers, those who appreciate one another. Lord, those who are continually offering thanks to you for the greatness of your grace in our lives. Lord, to see the grace that brought us the faith that continues the work of sanctification.

Lord, thank you for the joy that we have as we contemplate with thankfulness one another. Lord, how much we have to praise you for. Lord, pray that that desire for one another might characterize us, we might long for fellowship with one another, with other believers, and to recognize the bond that we have through working in my life. You are working in the lives of other believers. Lord, it’s so good, so helpful to be together with one another that we might be mutually encouraged and built up in the faith. We pray that this might be our experience today as we have the privilege of spending time together as your children, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.