Be Of The Same Mind
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Philippians 4:2; 2:2
I. Agree
4:2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
"…be of the same mind", or agree. Note that he adds "…in the Lord."
Human nature being what it is,
the only way we can agree is in the Lord.
He is our common bond. He is the only thing most of the 12 disciples had in common. When you
think of the vast differences just in that little group, it is truly amazing they could work together. At
least 4 were uneducated fishermen, one or two (Judas and maybe Nathaniel) were fairly educated;
one was a tax collector, another a political rebel (Simon the Zealot); one was a skeptic, another would
readily believe almost anything.
If these men could work together, anybody should be able to.
Euodias and Syntyche were two workers in the Philippian church. They had both helped Paul greatly,
and were apparently good Christian women. But, they couldn’t get along with each other.
The work of the gospel would fare much better if the workers could just get along.
Churches have split, work has been hindered or stopped, souls have been lost - all because the
saints couldn’t get along.
Remember what Jesus said would be our distinguishing mark - that we love one another.
What a shame we can’t seem to do that.
To agree with each other requires effort and hard work. It means we will negotiate and come to some
workable compromise. Compromise is not a bad word, unless you compromise the integrity of the
gospel message - unless you compromise the holiness of God and your own personal holiness.
Unless there is a sin problem, we need to compromise, that is, we need to meet each other half way
for the sake of the work.
Now, there are a few essential doctrinal matters we cannot compromise and we must agree on:
· the sovereignty of God
· the inerrancy of the scriptures
· the Lordship of Christ
· the necessity of salvation through His death for us on the cross.
Outside of these, we can have friendly debate and disagree, as long as we continue to love. I am
certain that
in church at Jerusalem, not every saint was in perfect harmony all the time. BUT, the emphasis was
on Jesus and His work, and all these side issues remained minor. They just were not worth fighting
over. Paul had disagreement with Mark and Barnabas, but it did not stop the work or split the church.
It separated two good workers for a time (Mark rejoined him later), but no significant damage was
done.
II. Like-Minded
2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Make me happy by being likeminded, having the same love, one purpose, and one mind.
Paul would be tickled if the church would just learn to get along with each other. Wouldn’t we all.
But it will take all of us working together to make it happen.
We say, "oh, if this one would just try harder to work things out with that one." But then we say, "but I
just can’t get along with the other one." And we don’t try. Why do we always excuse ourselves? We’ll
never get where we should be as a church until we stop excusing our disagreements and
work together.
· Be like-minded.
We may not think the same exactly, but we can think on the same things. Ch 4:8 gives us a list of
things to think on.
Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of
good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Now look at 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take
hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what
is behind and straining towards what is ahead,
14 I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ
Jesus.
15. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think
differently, that too God will make clear to you.
16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Paul indicates that he is stretching himself - he is not perfect (fully grown, or complete) yet, but he is
striving for it. He is reaching forth.
The Christian life in one of continually reaching forth and pressing forward.
He says the mature (perfect) believer will have this attitude of pressing forward.
Then he says that those who have attained to maturity, or have ‘grown up’ should "mind the same
thing", or ‘be like-minded’.
If we would follow that counsel, we would find ourselves in much agreement. We are going to think on
the Word - on the Gospel - on worship and prayer and praise and thanksgiving.
When we channel our energies into those matters, we will be like-minded.
· Have the same love.
If you love me as much as I love you, and we both have our hearts full of the love of Christ, and we
both try to practice the 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 kind of love, and we both let Christ’s love flow through us,
we will be okay.
· Be in one accord, or of the same purpose.
If we agree that our purpose is to serve God, honor Him and preach Christ, then we can walk together
and go the same direction - even if we speak different languages, have different colored skin, are
from totally opposite backgrounds, prefer different types of worship services and have differing
opinions of how the gospel should be presented. It just really doesn’t matter that much whether we
use the brightly colored tract or the subtle tract, the direct approach or the sneak attack, the
Christmas or the Thanksgiving theme, the KJV or the NIV. Technique is negotiable and diversity is
tolerable. The message
is the principal thing. The how-to’s and personal preferences are just extras.
Remember, our fellowship is in the Lord. We don’t come together as a church because we have so
much in common. We come together because we have one thing in common - Christ.
· Of the same Spirit.
There is only one Holy Spirit.
There is not Assembly of God Holy Spirit, and a Baptist Holy Spirit (who doesn’t speak in tongues),
and a Catholic Holy Spirit (who does everything with formal liturgy), and a Methodist Holy Spirit (who is
quiet). There is just one Holy Spirit, and He can get along with all of us.
He binds us all together regardless of our preferences.
He uses us according to our individuality, but He is the same Spirit. Personality issues. These should
never interfere with the gospel.
Be of the same mind. That is, join your minds together under the headship of Christ, and have the
mind of Christ. Our diversity is what makes us a whole body. We complete one another, for each has
a distinct function and purpose in the body of Christ and in the scheme of things.
Our differences should be an advantage, not a problem. We have the mind of Christ. That is the
same mind that we should be of. Is Christ divided? No! (1Co 1:13)
III. The Early Church.
The believers in Acts were in one accord. That is why the dynamite of the Holy Spirit went off. They
were not all just alike - they did not talk the same or think the same.
These people were about as diverse as they could be. But they had purposed in their hearts to do
one thing
- to wait upon the Lord - to seek the Lord - to serve the Lord. Nothing else was to come before this.
No man’s way was to prevail, but the Lord’s way was to prevail. When the church gets to moving in
the same direction again, then we’ll see things happen. Some churches are having revival.
Some people don’t like the way the revival is going, but God doesn’t care whether they like it or not. It’
s His show. Once we stop judging one another and picking each other’s fruit, we will get going with
God.
Be of the same mind. Let’s find out our areas of agreement and focus on those rather than on the
areas where we differ. I knew a lady who wanted to travel to a revival service in another city far away,
but she didn’t want to have to ride with some of the people who were going on the church bus to the
revival. (I think she needed that revival more than she realized.)
Until we get in one accord, we will never see the move of God we want.
I. Agree
4:2 I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
"…be of the same mind", or agree. Note that he adds "…in the Lord."
Human nature being what it is,
the only way we can agree is in the Lord.
He is our common bond. He is the only thing most of the 12 disciples had in common. When you
think of the vast differences just in that little group, it is truly amazing they could work together. At
least 4 were uneducated fishermen, one or two (Judas and maybe Nathaniel) were fairly educated;
one was a tax collector, another a political rebel (Simon the Zealot); one was a skeptic, another would
readily believe almost anything.
If these men could work together, anybody should be able to.
Euodias and Syntyche were two workers in the Philippian church. They had both helped Paul greatly,
and were apparently good Christian women. But, they couldn’t get along with each other.
The work of the gospel would fare much better if the workers could just get along.
Churches have split, work has been hindered or stopped, souls have been lost - all because the
saints couldn’t get along.
Remember what Jesus said would be our distinguishing mark - that we love one another.
What a shame we can’t seem to do that.
To agree with each other requires effort and hard work. It means we will negotiate and come to some
workable compromise. Compromise is not a bad word, unless you compromise the integrity of the
gospel message - unless you compromise the holiness of God and your own personal holiness.
Unless there is a sin problem, we need to compromise, that is, we need to meet each other half way
for the sake of the work.
Now, there are a few essential doctrinal matters we cannot compromise and we must agree on:
· the sovereignty of God
· the inerrancy of the scriptures
· the Lordship of Christ
· the necessity of salvation through His death for us on the cross.
Outside of these, we can have friendly debate and disagree, as long as we continue to love. I am
certain that
in church at Jerusalem, not every saint was in perfect harmony all the time. BUT, the emphasis was
on Jesus and His work, and all these side issues remained minor. They just were not worth fighting
over. Paul had disagreement with Mark and Barnabas, but it did not stop the work or split the church.
It separated two good workers for a time (Mark rejoined him later), but no significant damage was
done.
II. Like-Minded
2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same
love, being of one accord, of one mind.
Make me happy by being likeminded, having the same love, one purpose, and one mind.
Paul would be tickled if the church would just learn to get along with each other. Wouldn’t we all.
But it will take all of us working together to make it happen.
We say, "oh, if this one would just try harder to work things out with that one." But then we say, "but I
just can’t get along with the other one." And we don’t try. Why do we always excuse ourselves? We’ll
never get where we should be as a church until we stop excusing our disagreements and
work together.
· Be like-minded.
We may not think the same exactly, but we can think on the same things. Ch 4:8 gives us a list of
things to think on.
Php 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of
good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Now look at 3:12-16
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take
hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what
is behind and straining towards what is ahead,
14 I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ
Jesus.
15. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think
differently, that too God will make clear to you.
16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
Paul indicates that he is stretching himself - he is not perfect (fully grown, or complete) yet, but he is
striving for it. He is reaching forth.
The Christian life in one of continually reaching forth and pressing forward.
He says the mature (perfect) believer will have this attitude of pressing forward.
Then he says that those who have attained to maturity, or have ‘grown up’ should "mind the same
thing", or ‘be like-minded’.
If we would follow that counsel, we would find ourselves in much agreement. We are going to think on
the Word - on the Gospel - on worship and prayer and praise and thanksgiving.
When we channel our energies into those matters, we will be like-minded.
· Have the same love.
If you love me as much as I love you, and we both have our hearts full of the love of Christ, and we
both try to practice the 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 kind of love, and we both let Christ’s love flow through us,
we will be okay.
· Be in one accord, or of the same purpose.
If we agree that our purpose is to serve God, honor Him and preach Christ, then we can walk together
and go the same direction - even if we speak different languages, have different colored skin, are
from totally opposite backgrounds, prefer different types of worship services and have differing
opinions of how the gospel should be presented. It just really doesn’t matter that much whether we
use the brightly colored tract or the subtle tract, the direct approach or the sneak attack, the
Christmas or the Thanksgiving theme, the KJV or the NIV. Technique is negotiable and diversity is
tolerable. The message
is the principal thing. The how-to’s and personal preferences are just extras.
Remember, our fellowship is in the Lord. We don’t come together as a church because we have so
much in common. We come together because we have one thing in common - Christ.
· Of the same Spirit.
There is only one Holy Spirit.
There is not Assembly of God Holy Spirit, and a Baptist Holy Spirit (who doesn’t speak in tongues),
and a Catholic Holy Spirit (who does everything with formal liturgy), and a Methodist Holy Spirit (who is
quiet). There is just one Holy Spirit, and He can get along with all of us.
He binds us all together regardless of our preferences.
He uses us according to our individuality, but He is the same Spirit. Personality issues. These should
never interfere with the gospel.
Be of the same mind. That is, join your minds together under the headship of Christ, and have the
mind of Christ. Our diversity is what makes us a whole body. We complete one another, for each has
a distinct function and purpose in the body of Christ and in the scheme of things.
Our differences should be an advantage, not a problem. We have the mind of Christ. That is the
same mind that we should be of. Is Christ divided? No! (1Co 1:13)
III. The Early Church.
The believers in Acts were in one accord. That is why the dynamite of the Holy Spirit went off. They
were not all just alike - they did not talk the same or think the same.
These people were about as diverse as they could be. But they had purposed in their hearts to do
one thing
- to wait upon the Lord - to seek the Lord - to serve the Lord. Nothing else was to come before this.
No man’s way was to prevail, but the Lord’s way was to prevail. When the church gets to moving in
the same direction again, then we’ll see things happen. Some churches are having revival.
Some people don’t like the way the revival is going, but God doesn’t care whether they like it or not. It’
s His show. Once we stop judging one another and picking each other’s fruit, we will get going with
God.
Be of the same mind. Let’s find out our areas of agreement and focus on those rather than on the
areas where we differ. I knew a lady who wanted to travel to a revival service in another city far away,
but she didn’t want to have to ride with some of the people who were going on the church bus to the
revival. (I think she needed that revival more than she realized.)
Until we get in one accord, we will never see the move of God we want.