Philippians 2:1+2 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 
	In this evening’s text, we have a portrait that has been painted into our hearts by the loving hand of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has delivered unto us, through this letter, written by the Apostle Paul, the very heart of the Church on this earth. Who we are, and why we are here together, finds complete expression in the brilliant, spiritual colors of the canvas of the church as prepared by the Holy Spirit. Apart from the very essence of the truth inherent in our beings, through the effective ministry of the Holy Spirit, there is no reason for us to be sojourners in this realm that surrounds us.
	Who we are, what we are, and how we are to conduct ourselves as the Church of God, is laid out in crystal clarity, in the like-mindedness of the Church and her Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us spend a few moments in consideration of what is before us, as the Lord’s People, His Body of Believers, His Church on this earth.
	Initially, we have the element of the earthly existence of the Church. There is a set fact in place, as we walk on this earth. We live in this realm, but the life we live is through the Lord Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are in dire need of far more than we can ever find on the face of this planetary globe, which anchors our feet in the dust and muck of this world age. As the world hated Christ, yes, did everything it could to rid itself of the living light of God, which illuminated the darkest recesses of the human mind, heart, and condition, so also will it be desirous to be rid of us, His witnesses. It is a fact that we are hated by this realm and we are targets at every juncture of the wrath of this world age. Those who would try to sell Christianity as the cessation of every problem, have no real knowledge of the true course of the Christian life. The true Church, knows the anguish of the suffering of Christ for the sake of the inhabitants of this earthly territory, and knows a little of the full brunt of the weight of hatred that was launched against Christ. The true church is the remnant of the light that shines forth in the darkness of this world age, to show forth, in vibrant beauty, the life that is ours in Christ Jesus. 
	There is no simple aspect of never again having any problems in this world age which we are traversing. Rather, we are more and more pummeled with the hopelessness and the frustration that exists apart from Christ. That is not to say that we are hopeless and filled with frustration, but, rather, that we are enabled to see the all encompassing futility of the lives that are lived apart from Christ. We see, we uphold, and we allow the Holy Spirit to place us into the lives of those in so much need as they are trying to find a lifeline through the gap of their despondency.
	This is a key as to why we are on this earth, rather than having been removed from the strife and stress of this world age. We are to be the beacons of the light of Christ in the deepest, darkest recesses of the human being’s vile and shrouded imaginations and fears. Even as this world wallows in its darkest hours, we are to become the transparent vessels through whom the light of God’s Love can be fully illuminated in all His brilliance. As the world witnesses its greatest efforts to extinguish the light of Christ utterly fail, and shatter in the glory of God revealed in Christ, so will it have to admit, and face the reality that God is the only sovereign Lord of all creation and that He is the only One worthy of all praise and adoration.
	What does this mean in terms of you and me, the church, the living Body of Christ? It means that we are the ones who are to be the prime examples of the very life of Christ. As our daily lives are facing severe trials and tribulations, this world will be watching and ready to snatch away any faltering step or lack of faith to promote it as the failure of God. Surely we have seen the extraordinary efforts put upon those in the lime-light of Christianity. Any miscue, any misjudgment, any error is immediately broadcast as a stain upon the whole of the Body of Christ. This world is anxious to cast any aspersion upon the name of Christ and to create any illusion that His Work was less than perfect. We are vilified and crucified with the same hatred that nailed Christ to the cross.
	But, in the same aspect, we are the ones who have been raised with Christ in His glorious victory over death. We are the ones who have been given the appointed task of being unto Him all that He desires as the expression of His Love to those who persecuted Him. As quick as this world is to deny His very existence, so also are there those in this world who are anxiously waiting for the light to shine into their hearts. The Holy Spirit is effectively leading those in need of the Lord into the lives of those who live by Christ Jesus. 
These are the ones who are very keenly watching the work of the Lord in action. They are truly yearning to see if what we say matches how we live, not for the sake of destroying us and our witness of Christ, but rather for the hope that we are valid expressions of a greater power than what they have in this world. They are yearning and searching and trying to find the fulfillment of the emptiness that is being exposed by the wondrous working of the Holy Spirit.
These are the ones for whom our lives make a difference. They see how we struggle with the weight of this age, and yet neither flounder, nor drift away from our anchor in Christ. These are the ones to whom our walk means life or death. If we show forth the vivid illumination of Our Lord Jesus Christ, these are the ones who will respond and receive and honor Him for the light that they see in our difficulties. 
It is so easy to complain and to struggle in the pits of dilemmas and disappointments, when we look at our selves in the chaotic elements of this age. But, when we are looking to the Lord, all the strife and struggles, even though increased in complexity and severity, become seen as simply another avenue through which God can prove Himself. Do we masochistically rejoice in those tribulations? Never! However, we do rejoice in the loving, merciful, and comforting power of the Lord to see us through every trial and difficulty. That is what is being watched in our lives on this earth. How do we handle the heartaches, the anguish, the disasters, and the calamities that are part of our walk on this earth? It is in the comfort of the Love of God, in Christ Jesus.
John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. The Lord Jesus Christ comforted His disciples with this admonition, which should ring forth in our hearts unto others. We are to be the expressed examples of a people who believe so completely in the Lord, per His Word, that our hearts are not troubled, even in the worst of situations. Our lives should show forth the reality of the established knowledge that our God is in control of everything in our lives, in the lives of our loved ones, in the lives of our acquaintances, in the lives and affairs of all the inhabitants of this earth and all of creation. Nothing is outside the realm of His sovereignty. In that, we take comfort. He has all things well in hand and is working to the inevitable revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the universe of His created Hands.
As our lives give forth this reality in our interactions with others, family, friend, or foe, so will they have to marvel at what is different in our lives during these times of tremendous upheaval and stress. They will not help but notice that, in some very incredible aspect, we are not being destroyed, but rather uplifted and supported throughout the strains and the overburdening pressures that would utterly demolish the soul and spirit of anyone apart from Christ. They might vocally criticize and defame us, but they cannot help but recognize that, were they in our place, the results would be horribly different. There is a longing, a serious desire to see what it is that keeps us afloat in the turbulent storms of this age, and that something is the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
As a marvelous part of that grace of God, we are again brought back to the passage of our consideration, If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 
The Lord has given us an earnest expression of His Grace in our lives through at least three major avenues; the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit; the abundant treasures of His Word; and the fellowship of His people, the Church. None of these can be separated from the other, because of the vital link that they are in Christ Jesus. The focus, in our current context, is what others witness as we are going through the gristmill of this age’s assaults upon us.
The Holy Spirit has knitted us together, one with and in each other, just as we are one together in Christ. That is what was so evident in the past months in our lives. Through the tears and the losses, we have become more bonded in the love that we share in Christ and that is being seen by many elements of this world. 
There has been a tremendous witness of the Love of God shed forth through every member of this fellowship, because we are so vitally joined in the desire that God be glorified on this earth. That is the one mind that the Apostle Paul herein identifies. It is that one element that is the reason that we are on this earth for the world to witness the difference that is a life hid in Christ and a life apart from Christ. There should be a vast and distinct contrast between the two with the dissimilarity unmistakably evident. It is only in suffering through the dilemmas of this age that those distinctions can be evidenced. 
John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. The Lord, through His Word, prepared us beyond measure to face the elements of this world with the knowledge that we are not alone, that we have each other, in Him, in His victory. His was not a message of doom and gloom, with which many have branded Christians because, in their eyes, we seem to delight in persecution. Not by any measure is that the case! The reality is that we face the trials with a confident knowledge that He will see us through, and we are there to encourage and to uplift each other with His promise and His merciful grace, as each one faces that which would drive any other into the pits of depraved annihilation. There should be no greater longing in the heart of a member of the Body of Christ than to see our Lord receive the full measure of the glory due unto Him; even if that means that we must travel roads that take us through the valley of the shadow of death, as described by the Psalmist. No matter what road we are called upon to traverse, we trod that path with the confident assurance that God will see us through to the victory of Christ being established in the lives of others. That makes the tears and the anguish of our physical nature pale in comparison to the weight of the glory of God that will be in evidence. 
Is. 51:3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. This is a marvelous passage to take to heart. Here again, we have the complete compassion of God in evidence as He even considers us in this element, we label time. To think that God, the Almighty One, would work to such an extent on our behalf, to bring us into the promise of His Joy, is beyond comprehension. From the desert of human despair, He will form a garden of joy and thanksgiving. This is an important element that we sometimes fail to recognize, even as we are on the road of desolation with our hearts yearning for the Lord to be established. It is very true that there are those of us who are learning to rejoice in the reality that our sufferings are bringing glory to God, and we are content in that. We trudge along the path of desolation, knowing that He will be glorified and we think not about the current circumstances as being to our undoing. This, of itself, is a tremendous testimony, but, there is more that God has in mind on our part. 
Our faces are to be enlivened unto God for His sake and for His incredible love to find expression through the dust-stained trails of tears that mark our cheeks, and redden our eyes. Our beings are to be the living expression of the garden of God’s Love, blooming forth in praise and worship, in song and in thanksgiving. It is there, when we are truly thankful to the Lord for every factor that enters our lives, that we will find the peace of God which passes all understanding. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, did not limit the understanding to merely human beings. He stated “all understanding”. 
What we are on this earth has consequences far beyond what we see or even what we can imagine. The angelic hosts are watching to see what God has created in the form of humanity. They are in wonderment that God should take so great a concern for the seemingly puny inhabitants of this earth. They are in awe of the fact that God would send forth the Son to die a terrible death on the cross and then raise Him and us up on the third day together into His glory. This whole plan and purpose of God is baffling to more than our family, our neighbors, and our work mates. It is the universal evidence of the glory of God in Christ Jesus to even the angelic hosts. All creation is yearning to see the evidence of what God has done, and we are that verification on this earth.
Let us, in this knowledge, reevaluate our hearts before the Lord. Let us desire to show forth, in increasing clarity, just how much God has done through the Lord Jesus Christ. Let our hearts be so attuned to the Holy Spirit that we are bonded together in His loving guidance of one mind in Him, one heart in Him, one desire in Him, to bring glory unto Him in every avenue of our lives; individually, as a family, as the corporate body, all we are unto Christ. 
In line with this, and as an encouragement, we leave this evening with the benediction of the Apostle Paul in II Thes 2:16+17, Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.