Fellowship of the Spirit (Series Phil. 2:1-5- Part 4)

Q: What does the Bible say about fellowship of the Spirit?

Fellowship of the Spirit refers to the shared life and connection believers have with Christ and each other through the Holy Spirit. Fellowship of the Spirit is foundational to understanding the unity and connection believers share because of the Holy Spirit's work in their lives. In Philippians 2:1, the Apostle Paul highlights that if there is any fellowship of the Spirit among believers, it is a call to live in harmony and love, reflecting the unity believers have in Christ. This fellowship is not merely a social bond but a spiritual connection that comes from being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who reveals Christ to us, enabling us to experience His wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Q: How do we know if we have fellowship of the Spirit?

We know we have fellowship of the Spirit if we perceive ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior and look to Christ for our righteousness. To discern if one has fellowship with the Spirit, one must reflect on their understanding of their sinful nature and their reliance on Christ. A true understanding of being a 'dead dog sinner' is a work of the Holy Spirit within us; it is not something we can conjure on our own. If we recognize our innate sinfulness and acknowledge that we can do nothing to attain righteousness, we are enabled to turn toward Christ, who becomes our all in wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. This shift in our perspective—from reliance on self to trust in Christ—is a clear evidence of the fellowship of the Spirit.

Q: Why is understanding our sinful nature important for Christians?

Understanding our sinful nature helps Christians appreciate the need for grace and the sufficiency of Christ for salvation. Recognizing our sinful nature is crucial in the Christian faith as it lays the groundwork for understanding the necessity of grace. The more we see ourselves as wretched sinners unable to redeem ourselves, the more we appreciate Christ's sacrifice. It shifts our focus away from trying to earn favor with God through good deeds and directs us to rely solely on Christ's finished work. Scripture teaches that we cannot escape our sinfulness through our efforts (Romans 3:23); understanding this truth brings us closer to grasping the depth of God’s love and the breadth of His grace toward us, affirming that our salvation is entirely of the Lord.

Q: How can I experience comfort in Christ?

Comfort in Christ comes through looking to Him in faith and recognizing all that He has accomplished for us. Experiencing comfort in Christ is deeply connected to acknowledging and trusting in what He has done for us. Throughout the New Testament, particularly in Philippians 2, believers are encouraged to find reassurance in their relationship with Christ. This comfort is not based on external circumstances but is a profound inner peace that is given by the Holy Spirit. By claiming the promises found in Scripture and pressing into the truth of the Gospel, we find solace and strength despite life’s challenges. Our comfort is rooted in the knowledge that we are fully accepted in Christ and that his grace is sufficient for all our needs.

with me in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. We are doing a series on the first five verses and today we're going to be looking at parts number four and number five. Notice the first four words in this verse one, if, there, be, therefore.

Anytime we see therefore, we have to ask, what is the therefore there for? So it's always a progression of what was being discussed prior. And so now he's saying, if there be any of these things in you, because of what I've already said, and so he gives them four ifs. In verse one, four ifs, and we've looked at all of them but two.

Last week we looked at in Christ, that wasn't really the if because the consolation in Christ is what we looked at the week before that. But these ifs are not for us to examine ourselves and start wondering how how I acquire these particular traits, or I acquire these particular feelings, if you want to call them that, comfort of love. I mean, all these things that the Lord has to give. We can't look and examine ourself and see if I have that or not based upon what I do. All of these are attained, or I guess I could say, all of these are First of all, they're given of grace. But if we are to have these, if we are to, Paul is saying strive for these. So how do I strive for these? Well, it's not doing, it's not going, it's not you need to do this and do this.

No, it's looking to Christ. That's how it's accomplished. In looking to Christ, you'll have comfort of love. In looking to Christ, you'll have consolation in Christ. We'll have all these things. Just looking to Him alone. Now it might sound pretty simple, but that's an impossible task. The Lord has to be the one to give us the ability to look to Him. The Lord has to be the one to give us the opportunity to look to Him. If He doesn't give that opportunity, we'll never look to Him. The most beautiful part of our Lord's gospel is not that we do, it's that we strive, not by moving, but by looking to Christ. Paul said, press towards the mark of the high calling. What is the mark? That's Christ. That's Christ. He said, run the race with patience. Well, we're not really running. What does he mean? Look to Christ. Patience. Let's read this together.

Philippians two, verse one through five. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship, of the spirit, if any bowels and mercies. Fulfill you my joy, that you may be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not on every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. I've titled this message from our first verse. The next one that he's mentioning, we'll just go through these real quick. First one was consolation in Christ. And then we looked at in Christ and we looked at comfort of love.

And today we're going to look at the fellowship of the spirit. If there be the fellowship of the spirit, what does that mean? How do I know if I have the fellowship of the Spirit? Because what he's describing is all of the Lord's people, all of the Lord's elect. These are the things that the Lord gives to His people. So how do I know if I have this?

I need to know. Well, first of all, you see yourself as a dead dog sinner. That's not something that you can come up with on your own. That's not something that I can come up with on my own. I can't one day decide I am vile, I'm wretched, I'm undone, I'm unclean. Our nature says no, we're just fine. I'm just fine the way that I am. There's nothing wrong with me. I don't have any needs. The natural man receiveth not the things of God. They're foolishness to the natural man. He can't. Can't mind them. So the Lord has to give the grace to say, you're a sinner and you need a savior. And that's exactly what he does by giving repentance. Then he reveals the savior by faith. The Lord Jesus Christ causes us to believe on him. Understand something.

We're not just a little bit bad. Not just a little bit bad, we're rotten to the core, aren't we? Rotten to the core. Someone told me this week, I was talking to them about the gospel, and they said, well, when I do something, he said, I strive really hard to do good. Everything that I do, I strive really hard to do good. But if I mess up and do something bad, I make sure to do something good to make up for what I did bad.

I said, man, here's the problem. All we can do is sin. We're not sinners because of what we do. We're sinners because of what we are. I've used the dog example many times. A dog doesn't bark to become a dog. It's a dog, so it barks. It's the same thing.

We're sinners by nature. We're sinners by practice. We choose sin, and we hate doing it because it grieves our Heavenly Father. It's a grievous thing to our Heavenly Father. You can't erase a bad deed because the sin has to be paid for. Anytime the law is broken, there has to be the penalty for it. It's just not possible to do enough good in order to erase the bad. The more good that we try to do as part of our salvation is called iniquity, and the Lord, Psalm 5 says, I hate all workers of iniquity.

How do I know if I have fellowship of the spirit? Well, I realize I'm a dead dog sinner. The Lord has made me know I am a sinner in need of a savior. I had this written down and it's true. To ask the question, are you breathing? Am I breathing? Then we're sinning. It's that simple. What about preaching? Is a preacher sinning as he's preaching?

If the Lord doesn't take this right here and wash it in his blood, then it's vanity. It's altogether vanity. But the problem is, is my depraved heart, my wicked mind, my imaginations on evil continually. So the Lord has to give his spirit and cause us to seek his face and to see him.

Otherwise, we'll just, we can't help it. We can't help but sin. So the fix for this, most think, and most mankind has made the law of God into thinking it's their way to attain righteousness. They go to the law thinking, okay, I can fix this if I do this and I do that. And that's the lie. There's no fixing this by man. God had to fix this. God had to be the one to fix this. And this is what the Lord shows us when he shows us that we're a sinner, is we can't fix it. I can't change what I am. The scripture says, can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? It's not possible. It's not possible.

The law entered, brethren, that the offense might abound. It cannot save, it only can condemn. Whether the moral, civil, or ceremonial law, doesn't matter which ones we're keeping, it only will condemn us if we try to keep it. It will only prove us worse and worse and worse, not better and better.

Somebody said, well, I used to do this, but I don't do that anymore. I do this now. I'm getting better. Yeah, but what about all the horrible thoughts we have? We don't even mean to. What about all the, what about our heart? Let's just start there. Deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. This isn't what I'm saying. This is what the Lord said. My heart's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I need a new heart.

The good news of the gospel is the Lord said, I will put in you, I'll take out the heart of stone, I'll put in a heart of flesh, one that looks unto me. Keeping the law does not bring about peace, but here's the good news, brethren, even though we know that we're sinners, where sin doth abound, grace did much more abound. That's the good news. That's the good news.

How do I know if I have the fellowship of the Spirit? Because I am not running to the law seeking righteousness no more. I am running to Christ. I am fleeing to him by faith. I believe the Lord Jesus Christ successfully redeemed his people. This is the gift of faith that the Lord has to give.

I've been made to see that the law is just a mirror. A mirror, is a mirror gonna make you prettier? Doesn't work that way, does it? I can stare at a mirror all day long and all it's going to reveal is what's there. But that's what men do ignorantly. They run to the law thinking it can make them better and it doesn't. It just shows them what's there. The law was given to show us we can't keep it.

We need a savior. We're not running to the law for righteousness, but by his grace, we're fleeing to Christ, which brings us to the second point. How do I know if I have fellowship of the spirit? Because the spirit of God has made Christ unto me all my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

I don't boast in my wisdom any longer. I don't boast in my own righteousness any longer. I don't boast in my redemption of making a choice. I don't boast in sanctification, getting better and better. I boast in Christ alone. This is fellowship of the spirit. This is what he gives. And notice what he says. It doesn't say fellowship in the spirit. It says of the spirit. That means it comes from him. Do we see that? Have to have it. He's going to have to give it. That's what he's saying.

How do I know if he has made Christ all my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption? Well, who am I looking to as my righteousness? Who am I looking to as my wisdom? Who am I looking to for my sanctification? Who am I looking to for my redemption? Am I looking to self, any of those, for any of those as any part? Then I'm not looking to Christ as all. And so I know I don't have fellowship of the spirit. The Lord has not revealed himself to me if I'm looking to myself as part of my righteousness.

Faith looks to and rests in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Faith comes from him, faith never works, never looks, faith never looks at works, never looks at self, it always looks to Christ, always looks to Christ. Faith comes from him, it always looks to him and he gets all the glory for it. That's how you know it's saving faith, he gets all the glory for it. Somebody says, you need to put your faith in the Lord. Well, he's got to give me faith before I can ever put it anywhere. But if he's given it to me, that's where it's at already. I don't put it there. That's just where it's at.

The faith of the Lord looks to Christ. Now understand something, brethren, having the fellowship of God's spirit doesn't mean I am living some super spiritual life. That's not what the fellowship of the Spirit is. I'm a super Christian, if you want to put it that way.

I know people that talk that way. That's not what it's saying. That's not what he's saying. Someone, oh, it means you believe this, that in the volume of the book, it's written of him. Fellowship of the Spirit reveals that in the volume of the book it is written to me, told the Pharisee, search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which speak of me. We no longer look at this book and think it's just a storybook. We see Jesus Christ in written form. This is what it is, the Word of God.

Someone told me recently they don't believe, that same person actually I was having a conversation with, they don't believe every word of the Bible because men make mistakes. I said, well that's a logical, thing to think. I get that. If you don't believe God was the one causing them to write it, if you don't believe that the Spirit of God inspired them to do it, if you don't believe that it's really the Word of God, I could totally understand because God don't make mistakes.

It takes faith to believe it, doesn't it? There's so many doubts and uncertainties in salvation, but faith doesn't doubt. It looks to Christ. If the Lord gives you faith, you're not doubting salvation because you know that you're not the one that got it, so you can't lose it.

You can't mess it up. That's good news. That's how you know you have the fellowship of the Spirit, is you're looking unto Christ as all of your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. You're not looking to self. God doesn't make mistakes.

The book is Jesus Christ in written form forever. He said, my word is forever settled in heaven. It's the word of God, the final authority because of the author. Because of the author, it's his word. He has the final say so. How do I know if I have fellowship of the spirit? Because Christ has been revealed in his word unto me and God has made him unto me all my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Thirdly, how do I know if I have fellowship of the spirit?

It means I no longer speak. We no longer speak like we used to. We no longer say the things that we used to say about God, about salvation, about ourself. We've been taught of the Lord, that salvation is of the Lord. Christ is all in salvation, and salvation's all of grace. That's what we've been taught. Before we would say, you have to do this, and you have to do this, and you have to do this, but now we say, salvation's of the Lord, Christ is all in salvation, and salvation's all of grace. We believe that our God is absolutely sovereign over all things, even the salvation of every single person that he chose before time. We believe that they will be saved at his appointed time.

Don't you love the fact that he chose to save some wretched, vile creatures of dust? I don't know if it's in this message or in the next one, so I might say it twice, but he became In the likeness, actually it is in this message, yeah. In the fullness of time, he came in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was made in the same flesh, the same dust as we have. Think about that.

Now, if you've ever swept before, you know what a dust bunny is. Would you die for a dust bunny? Because that's exactly what the Lord, would you become a dust bunny to die for a dust bunny? I'm not being facetious here. I'm serious. That's what our Lord did. That's the condescension that he, from the highest heavens down to the lowest point, he became a creature of dust. 100% man, 100% God to save a dust bunny. That's incredible, isn't it? That's incredible. That's grace. That's grace. There's no other word for that. Turn with me to Galatians chapter four.

Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father, even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.

But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Now here the rest of this is the fellowship of the Spirit, listen. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. That's the fellowship of the Spirit, to be like-minded of the Lord. I don't think like I used to think. You don't think like you used to think.

The Lord's caused me to know that He is all in salvation. What does that mean? Exactly what it says, He is all. in salvation. We believe God became a man. We believe God became a man. Now I can't explain that to you, but I believe it. As a matter of fact, my only hope of salvation is that God became a man. That's my only hope, because if he didn't, I have no hope. I have no hope.

But by faith, the Lord causes us to believe that. We don't understand everything we believe. We don't understand most of what we believe, but we believe it because God's caused us to believe it. We don't believe it by choice. We believe it because the Lord's given us faith to believe it, and he gets all the glory for that.

As a man, he was and still is our substitute surety. He lived perfectly before God, perfectly, keeping the law that we could not on our behalf, on our behalf, honoring the father in everything that he did perfectly. And the glorious part is we were literally given to Christ before time ever began. We were literally placed in Christ before time ever began. So everything that he did was laid to our account, his people's account, his elects. Everything he did was laid to my, we have a new record. We have a new history. It's his. It's his history.

The Lord no longer sees us. And I guess I, I probably should correct something I said a while ago when I said sin grieves the Lord. That's true. If we're in Christ, he doesn't see our sin any longer. Isn't that right? So I'll make sure I correct that. But our Lord placed us in Christ in so much whatever he did, it was laid to our account. God only sees his people as he sees his son. Think about that. The next time you feel broken, or you feel discouraged, you feel, you ever feel dirty? You know what I'm talking about? That feeling is a bad feeling.

I'll tell you what scripture says, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. That's good news, isn't it? If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if we have that feeling, remember, The father sees Christ in you, the hope of glory. Doesn't see me and my sin any longer, he sees his darling son. So there's no sin there. It's been put away. By the sacrifice of himself on Calvary's cross, it's been put away. He sees his people as he sees his son. And what did he say about his son?

This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. You know what that means? That means he's pleased with you, and he's pleased with me if I'm in Christ. If I'm in Christ. There's rest in that. Because I know he's not gonna be pleased with my flesh. I know that he's not gonna be pleased with what I do, because all I can produce is sin. Let's go back to our text, Philippians 1. Oh two, I'm sorry, Philippians two.

If there be therefore any consolation of Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the spirit. How do I know if I have fellowship of the spirit? Because I believe what God said about his son, about his son. That he went to the cross that had my name on it and your name on it. that he drank of the cup of damnation that was my cup to drink, that he died my death, that I was supposed to die, but I was in him before the world ever began. So we died unto sin and we died unto self on the cross with him, died in him, raised again into a new life with him.

This is what he did for all of his people. Everybody that he loves, he did this for. took, he took our guilt, he took our shame, he took our place, he took our sin, all the bad, you know our love is so, we'll talk about love next hour, but our love is so cold, he took my, he paid the payment for my inability to love him right. That's what I'm trying to say. He paid that payment. He paid the payment for every fault that I've ever had, every action I've ever made, that's my hope. And he put every single one away, every sin away by his sacrifice, by his blood alone. His blood was the required substance to wash them away. And he did, he washed the sin of his elect away. They're gone, they're gone.

He provided everything God required, because I couldn't provide anything God required. Have you ever thought of that before? I can't provide anything God requires. That means if he says you have to believe, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.

Okay. Scripture says, how shall they believe on whom they've not heard? That's not talking about a hearing with this year. That's talking about a hearing in the inward man. Lord has to give hearing. He has to give ears to hear spiritual things because the flesh can't comprehend spiritual things. If I'm going to believe, the Lord's going to have to give me faith. He's got to provide the means for me to believe. Otherwise I'm not going to believe him. I'm not going to, I'm not going to look to him. He provided everything God required for the salvation of his people to be accomplished.

And when the work was complete, When the work was complete, not partly complete, not okay, now do your part, that's not complete. When the work was completely complete, he said, it is finished. It is finished. How do I know I have fellowship of the spirit? I believe it's finished.

The Lord has caused me to believe it is finished and hang the hope of all of my salvation on the finished work of Christ alone. Because we have been justified, he was raised from the dead, he ascended into glory, and now he's seated at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for his people. This is fellowship of the Spirit. To believe these truths, to believe he's seated as the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords, that there is nothing left to be done in salvation, that salvation's of the Lord, it's all of grace, and Christ is all in salvation.

How do I know if I have fellowship of God's Spirit, I've been made to see I'm a wretched, vile sinner. I need a Savior. I need a Savior. Secondly, because God has made Christ into me, all my wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I no longer have my own wisdom, my own righteousness, my own sanctification, nor my own redemption. The Lord's made that. And lastly, Because I've given faith to believe what God says about himself, what God says about me, and what God says about Christ. The Lord's gotta be the one to do that. That's the fellowship of the Spirit.

I'm reminded of all those impotent people in the scripture that, well, specifically the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda. The Lord had to come exactly where he was. He didn't even know who he was, did he? He didn't know that that was Christ. Lord walks up to him, wilt thou be made whole? And so he tells him, well, sir, I have no man for when the pool is troubled to enter in. So what would happen is the angel of the Lord would come down once a year and stir the waters. And the first person that got in it would be healed of their infirmity.

He said, I have no man. Well, that's a confession because you take that, literal in the in the spiritual sense, we have no man to help us spiritually. We have no one in ourself, this man, I can't help myself. And nobody can help me. Ain't that right? I have no man when the water's trouble to put me in. But before I can get in, somebody steps in front of me.

And the Lord, did he say, Well, you need to do this. And you need to do this. And you need to know. No, As he says to so many others, be thou made whole. And he was made whole. He was made whole, no longer impotent. Why? The Word of God. The Word of God came to him and accomplished exactly what Christ had purposed it. The Lord gave him, I mean the Lord saved him as well, gave him repentance and faith. But think about all those other people that he passed by, however many that would have been. You think about, how many people would be sitting at a water fountain if, One time a year, the pool would be stirred and you jump in and you get healed.

How many people would be there? You never knew when it was. You never knew what, it wasn't marked down on the calendar to be noon on such and such day. No, it was, you have to be there when it happens or you're gonna miss it. How many people would be there?

Lord passed by every single one of them to go to this one man. Why? That man was elected before time. Jesus Christ loved that man. And those whom he passes by, He doesn't love them. Doesn't love them. But he loves his bride. He loves his people. And if I have fellowship with the Spirit, I'm made to believe that and hope in his love, not my love. Hope in his love.

We're getting off on the next hour's message. I keep doing that. We're gonna talk about love next hour. How do I know I have fellowship with the Spirit? Because God, has made me, and that's what I keep saying, Lord, make me, Lord, keep me, Lord, cause me.

It's not I decided, it's he made me. He made that man whole. That man didn't decide anything. He just confessed that he had no way of getting there or getting better. And that's what we come confessing, Lord, I can't help myself. We're made to be just like him, see ourself as impotent.

And then we see him as all of our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. That's repentance and faith is what that is. And then we're made to confess salvations of the Lord. Christ is all in salvation. Salvation is all by God's grace freely bestowed to his chosen people. This is the fellowship of the spirit. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would take these words and bless it to our understanding for your glory. In Christ's name, amen. Let's take a break.

Fellowship of the Spirit (Series Phil. 2:1-5- Part 4)

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about fellowship of the Spirit?

How do we know if we have fellowship of the Spirit?

Why is understanding our sinful nature important for Christians?

How can I experience comfort in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Caleb Hickman

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Fellowship of the Spirit (Series Phil. 2:1-5- Part 4)

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about fellowship of the Spirit?

How do we know if we have fellowship of the Spirit?

Why is understanding our sinful nature important for Christians?

How can I experience comfort in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Caleb Hickman

Comments

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