Where Do You Seek Your Consolation?

Where Do You Seek Your Consolation?

“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any compassion and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” Phil. 2:1-2.

Many people seek all these things outside of Christ, which is also why they are not of one mind, resulting in division and strife. How can we seek all these things in Christ? We can do it just like the apostles did. By reading further, we see that Paul directs us to the consolation we have in Christ instead of finding our consolation by seeking our own and being the greatest. He points out the result Jesus came to by renouncing His greatness and taking on the form of a servant, and that by being found in appearance as a man while going this way, He received a name that is above every name.

Peter shows us the consolation in Christ with the following words: “Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin . . . .” 1 Pet. 4:1. Can you receive a greater consolation than being finished with sin?

When the apostle exhorts us to run with patience the race that has been set before us, he points to the consolation in Christ with the following words: “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:1-2. Think of the result He achieved through suffering! We could continue like this. However, you cannot find any consolation in all of this if you believe that Jesus was like an angel or like Adam before the fall, because then, in spite of everything, His situation would have been different than yours. This difference would cause you not to find any consolation in Him or have any fellowship of the Spirit with Him. But if you believe that He partook of flesh and blood like the children and was made like His brethren in all things and that He suffered and was tempted, then you will find consolation and fellowship of the Spirit. Heb. 2:14-18.

This knowledge concerning Christ was exceedingly precious to Paul. He considered all things loss when compared to being able to follow Jesus and to know this comfort and this fellowship of the Spirit. He continues to write in his letter to the Philippians: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death . . . .”

Now Paul had received faith to follow Jesus. The same opportunities were available to him. He pursued perfection. There was no longer anything that was called “impossible.” When he renounced his greatness, he knew he had fellowship in the Spirit with Jesus. When he was tempted and suffered in the flesh, he had his consolation in Christ who had gone the way before Him and who knew what it meant to suffer in the flesh. He was met by Jesus with compassion, mercy, and the comfort of love.

Compared to this, Paul had no need for the honor of man; neither could he find any comfort in being the greatest. He did not need to argue about anything. Paul said to the Philippians that if this had become true for them, they should show it by having the same mind, by working out their own salvation, and by going into the death of Christ with all that was theirs. Then they would have perfect fellowship with Jesus and all the saints on resurrection ground. They were not to complain about all kinds of things, but enter into the fellowship of His sufferings with Jesus and become one with Him in His death; then they would possess everything with Him in the resurrection. They would be happy men and women who would not lack anything.

Why did Paul include “having the same mind” with “the consolation in Christ”? Couldn’t he just as well have said, “So you are generous and hospitable”? Yes, it may have been fitting for him to say that, but it is possible to be both generous and hospitable without having the same mind. Where is the glory in all that? Many people find comfort in doing these things, and then they compare themselves to others. In those days some of them even found comfort in driving out evil spirits and performing many powerful works in Jesus’ name. Then they imagined they were on safe ground. Matt. 7:22-23.

We see that nothing of all they had done helped them; and of what advantage is it, regardless of what you boast of, if there is envy and division? Only those who enter into the death of Christ can receive the same mind—the mind of Christ—and thus the glory of Christ. Only this is true consolation, and only on this way will you find fellowship of the Spirit with Christ and true mercy and compassion.