Philippians 2:3-11
The Mind of Christ (2)
I. \\#Phil 1:1-2\\ Introduction
II. \\#Phil 1:3-30\\ Paul’s Heart
III. \\#Phil 2:1-30\\ Paul’s Commands
A. \#Phil 2:1-11\\ Be Likeminded
1. \\#Phil 2:1\\ A Comparison - As God has given us a sweet and helpful
relationship to Him, so we should work to have a sweet and helpful
relationship with each other.
2. \\#Phil 2:2\\ A Command - Be Likeminded
3. \\#Phil 2:3-4\\ A Cure
a. Like mindedness is the only cure for a common problem within
many churches - divisions.
1 Corinthians 1:10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no
divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same
mind and in the same judgment.
1 Corinthians 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you
envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
1 Corinthians 11:18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church,
I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.
b. \\#3\\ Same-minded Christians will not promote themselves over
another but will promote others over themselves.
(1) When believers have the mind of Christ, they become
inoculated from strife and vanity.
(a) Strife is contention.
(b) Vain glory is vanity.
(c) The church should not be a place of contention,
vanity, self promotion.
(d) Church is about Jesus not about self. We defile and
pollute God’s assembly when we make it about
ourselves.
(2) Once a church is filled with contention, there is very
little that can be done for it.
(a) That kind of people seldom change.
(b) If they do change, it will likely be because they
have received Christ.
(c) About the best that a pastor can hope for in a church
like that is to drive the contentious away.
(d) The cure is to treat the problem before it arises.
c. \\#4\\ Same-minded Christians will be selfless.
(1) Paul tells the Philippians not to look after their own
interests but to look after the interests of others.
(a) Dr. Lee Roberson had an acrostic for JOY.
(b) Jesus first; Others second; Yourself Last
(2) What a foreign philosophy in a selfish world!
4. \\#Phil 2:5-8\\ A Case History of Like Mindedness- Jesus Christ
a. How is any of this be possible?
(1) Humans know nothing if it is not selfishness, self-
promotion, and vanity. From birth, it is our nature.
(2) \\#Phil 2:5\\ is the key.
(a) We must have the mind of Jesus abiding within us.
(b) Dr. J. Vernon McGee said that we cannot fulfill the
commands the Apostle Paul is giving here by imitation
alone. We must first have an impartation.
(Thru the Bible, Vol 48, The Epistles (Colossians/Philippians), Introduction to
Philippians chapter 2)
(c) Impartation first
i. We are not good enough actors to imitate
selflessness.
ii. We must first have God give us the mind of Jesus.
iii. Jesus’ mind is imparted to us at salvation.
iv. Without salvation, there is very little mind to
work with.
(d) Imitation second
i. We must then practice using His mind instead of
our own.
ii. I say PRACTICE because it will require a lot of
attempts, a lot of effort, and a lot of failures
to even come close to getting it correct.
b. Paul gives us a case history to study.
(1) In the psychological world, information is often gained
and taught by studying the life history of a person.
(2) The purpose is to try to figure out what a person was
thinking based on his actions.
(3) These studies are called CASE HISTORIES.
(4) In essence, Paul is giving to us a case history of Jesus.
By studying what Jesus did, we learn more about how His
mind worked.
(5) We can then attempt to think like Jesus.
c. In this case history, we see the humility of Jesus in emptying
or reducing Himself. I see five steps of humility.
(1) \\#Phil 2:6\\ We have Jesus in His eternal past state.
(a) This is the starting step.
(b) "in the form of God" - We do not know what APPEARANCE
or SHAPE that was, but we do know He was the eternal,
all powerful, all present, all knowing God.
(c) Yet, in that state, Jesus did not CLING to that form.
i. The word ROBBERY means to SEIZE or HOLD ONTO.
ii. Jesus did not attempt to maintain that EQUALITY
of power and position with the Godhead.
iii. Jesus, being God and having all power, was humble.
We, being corrupt and powerless, are filled with
pride.
iv. It is that pride which causes so many contentions
within the church.
(2) \\#Phil 2:7\\ Jesus "made himself of no reputation"
(a) Jesus made Himself VOID, OF NO EFFECT. Jesus
EMPTIED Himself.
(b) At the onset, we must emphasize that although Jesus
does reduce His power and His place, Jesus does not
reduce His person.
i. Jesus was God before the incarnation.
ii. Jesus was God during the incarnation.
iii. Jesus has been God since the incarnation.
iv. Although Jesus took on the form of a man, He was
never less than God.
(c) Some cults use this verse to say that Jesus emptied
Himself of deity; that Jesus was not, always and
at all times, God.
i. Some believe that Jesus was a man who became
god, perhaps at his baptism.
ii. Some believe that Jesus ceased to be god before
he died on the cross.
iii. All of these are heresies.
(d) Jesus emptied Himself of His power and His place.
i. Jesus "was made in the likeness of men."
ii. \\#Phil 2:8\\ He was "in fashion as a man."
iii. Jesus gave up the form of God to take upon Him
the form of a man.
(3) \\#Phil 2:7\\ "and took upon him the form of a servant"
(a) As much of a sacrifice as it was to be made into a
man, Jesus humbled Himself even more.
(b) He took on the role of servant.
i. Some times at Christmas, we note that Jesus was
not born in a palace but a barn.
ii. Jesus was not royalty but a Servant.
(4) \\#Phil 2:8\\ "and became obedient unto death"
(a) And as much as Jesus had humbled Himself, He humbled
Himself even more.
(b) He was God, with no sin. He did not have to die.
(c) Yet, He chose to do so.
(5) \\#Phil 2:8\\ "even the death of the cross"
(a) And yet, He humbles Himself yet again.
(b) Not only what Jesus die, He would die one of the most
painful of all deaths - the crucifixion.
(c) He would die one of the most humiliating of all
deaths. He would die the death of the worst
criminal.
d. Paul is illustrating to us the extreme sacrifices we should
go and would go to that Christ might be glorified and the
body of Christ might be helped IF WE HAD THE MIND OF CHRIST!
(1) If we were truly LIKE MINDED, that is if we all had a mind
LIKE Christ’s.
(2) No personal sacrifice would be too great.
5. \\#Phil 2:9-11\\ A Coronation - then God exalted Jesus.
a. This really does not have anything to do with Paul’s point.
(1) Paul is arguing that we need to have a humble mind as
Christ had to humbled Himself.
(2) However, Paul did not want to leave us with the mental
image of Jesus as a crucified Servant, so he continued
to describe what happened after the cross.
b. Because of who Jesus is and what Jesus did, God exalted Him to
the highest.
(1) \\#9\\ God gave Jesus a name which is above all other
names.
(a) On July 29, 1966, a teen magazine, DATEbook,
published a statement by John Lennon, of the
Beatles. The interview was conducted some four
months earlier.
(b) Lennon said concerning the Beatles, "We are more
popular than Jesus."
(c) Interestingly, that statement did not draw much
attention in Britain, but the article that I
read stated that in America, it was the largest
pop culture/religious scandal in history.
(d) The Beatles formed in 1960, but did not come to exist
as known today until 1962. 1962 was also the year
of their first hit. The statement was made in 1966.
(e) Just three years after making the statement, Sept.
1969, Lennon left the Beatles and the group
disbanded.
(f) The Beatles music is still popular today, but the
group that boasted to be more popular than Jesus
only lasted 9 years and was only popular for 7.
(g) Since that time, both John Lennon and George Harrison
have died.
(h) Long after the Beatles are long forgotten, the name
Jesus was still be worshipped.
(2) \\#10\\ Every tongue shall confess the name of Jesus,
including John Lennon.
(3) \\#11\\ And every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus,
including John Lennon.
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