141116 Have This Mind in You

Philippians 2:1-11 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The apostle is ministering to the church in Philippi. He had a love relationship with the Philippian church. He wants them to grow in grace in order to more effectively minister to those around them. Paul says, “… complete my joy by being of the same mind,…” Here he is not talking about some kind of church unity but instead he’s talking about a love like that of Jesus. Jesus himself said that we must love one another just as he has loved us. We live in a self-centered world that does not comfort people as much as it confronts people.

The world around us is in great need of the love of God that is shown to us in Christ Jesus. Such love will manifest itself in encouragement, comfort, and sympathy. Moreover, such love will be seen in a selfless life that will call the person who has it to a life of humility enabling the possessor of such love to be able to lift others up.

If there is…

Encouragement. Looking at the example of Christ Jesus we will see the encouragement that he gave. Turn with me to Romans 15:1-7. We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. ² Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. ³ For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” ⁴ For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. ⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, ⁶ that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁷ Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

The spiritually mature person has a responsibility before God to be patient with those who have not “arrived” and are considered to be weak. You see, our place in the kingdom is to be able to lift others up not to push them down. In fact, we are to do everything we possibly can to build up those around us. Christ did not come into the world to condemn the world instead He came to save the world. He did not come to exercise His own will but instead to do the will of the Father.

Many times I have heard believers say that they “sense” the presence of Christ in others at the very first meeting. Since we believe that Christ is in us all we must also recognize that we are all equal – in a spiritual sense. We must never consider ourselves to be better than anyone else. If we recognize the presence of Christ in other people we will find that it’s possible for us to live in harmony with one another. When that day comes God will be glorified in our lives and the world will know that we are His disciples.

If there is any encouragement in Christ there will be…

Comfort. And such comfort will enable us to encourage others with the encouragement Christ. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 1:3-5. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

None of the other world religions offer a compassionate Savior who gives comfort to his followers enabling them to use that comfort to comfort others. This is one of the most encouraging passages of Scripture. God is portrayed here as the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. In order for us to comfort others we must have also experienced comfort. If we have experienced comfort from God we have the responsibility to comfort others with that same comfort we have received. In order to be comforted we must first have suffered but I suppose that’s not a problem since all of us, in one way or another, have suffered affliction.

The kind of comfort we have received from Christ’s encouragement will always lead to…

Love. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. This is probably one of the best-known passages of Scripture. It speaks to us about the kind of love that God has for us and we are able to have for others. Listen while I read. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; ⁶ it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

A love that is encouraging and comforting will be, by its very nature, patient and kind. That love will not be self-centered and filled with envy. Even though the person who has such love might have reason to boast he, or she, will not boast. That person will not be arrogant or rude. He, or she, will never insist on having their own way, as opposed to the desires of other people. That person will never rejoice at wrongdoing. Yet, such rejoicing seems to be a common part of our culture today.

The kind of love reflected here and in Philippians chapter 2 is nothing less than the love of God. We have a beautiful description of such love in the hymn/poem entitled, The Love of God. The first verse and chorus go like this.

The love of God is greater far then tongue or pen can ever tell; it goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell; the guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His Son to win; His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure! How measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure the saints’ and angels’ song!

The encouragement we receive in Christ and comfort found in love will always give us the ability to have…

Sympathy. Turn with me to 1 Peter 3:8-12. Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. ⁹ Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. ¹⁰ For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; ¹¹ let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. ¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Peter would agree with Paul about the need for unity in the body of Christ. The love of Christ always will lead to sympathy. Here, Peter quotes from Psalm 34. In order for one to enjoy the Christian life and experience good days there needs to be a guard placed on our mouth. We must turn away from evil and do good. That’s called “repentance” and should fill our hearts and minds. God is looking for people who are willing, and ready, for His to love draw them into unity and brotherly love. We are never to “get even” with any other person. Instead, we are to let God take care of the problem. God promises that He will repay the wrongdoer on our behalf. Please, leave the revenge to God He knows far better what needs to happen. Instead, we should look on those around us with sympathy. When we see someone spiritually in need the first thing we should say is, “But for the grace of God, there go I”. Then we need to make an effort to bring to them the encouragement of Christ, the comfort we have received from the love of God.

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any unity of purpose then we will…

Avoid selfishness. Turn with me to James 2:8-9. If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. ⁹ But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.

The passage of Scripture that James quotes here comes from Leviticus. It teaches us to love others rather than to focus on ourselves. Now, I recognize that we must have a certain amount of “self-love” in order for this to work. You see, we are to love others as much as we love ourselves. Many people today who have been put down and abused all their life have a hard time loving themselves. But that’s really a selfishness that is hard to defeat. We are to put others forward and love them but we are to also honor and respect what Christ is doing in our own lives. Without Christ our life would be empty. Mylon LeFevre wrote a song about it. Part of it goes like this:

Without Him I could do nothing. Without Him I'd surely fail. Without Him I would be drifting Like a ship without a sail.

Without Him I would be dying. Without Him I'd be enslaved. Without Him life would be worthless But with Jesus thank God I'm saved.

We have nothing to be selfish about. Without Jesus we would be “nothing”!

Since there is encouragement in Christ and we do have comfort from love we are able to avoid selfishness and…

Cultivate humility. Turn with me to Colossians 3:12-17.  Paul is writing to the Colossian church to instruct them in what they are able to do as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen while I read. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, ¹³ bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. ¹⁴ And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Take note that these qualities are something we can “put on”! We are to be compassionate, kind, humble, meek and patient. A truly humble person will be able to put up with others that they have a complaint against because they will forgive that person before he, or she, asks. With that kind of humility we will…

Lift up others. Turn with me to Romans 12:9-18. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. ¹⁰ Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. ¹¹ Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. ¹² Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. ¹³ Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Wow, that’s quite a list of qualities we are called to allow in our life! Many times in our Christian walk it just seems impossible for us to do things, emotionally, that we are called upon to do. As you think over that passage I have just read remember that we are able to…

Exercise the mind of Christ. There are two passages of Scripture that tell us without question that we are able to do this. First, turn with me to. 1 Corinthians 2:16. For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

Here, Paul tells the Corinthians that we have the mind of Christ. Not that we should have the mind of Christ but we do have the mind of Christ! Now turn with me to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5. For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Since we have the mind of Christ we are able to take every thought captive to obey Christ. Salvation means that Christ has come to live in us. By one Spirit we have all been baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13). Since the Spirit of God has come to live in us, and we have the encouragement that comes from Christ, we are able to destroy everything in our life that is raised up against the knowledge of God! Our enemy will try to push us down so we cannot lift others up but we have the mind of Christ in us? We need to exercise it and our viewpoint will change completely!

The words that Paul gives to the Philippian church very much apply to us today. We greatly need the encouragement of Christ and we need it coming from each other. There needs to be genuine love guided by the Holy Spirit. Self-centeredness needs to be put aside. We need to serve one another and in order to serve one another we must know one another! The encouragement we have received should comfort us and strengthen our love for one another. We must remember that when the Spirit of God came to live in us our body and brain remained the same but our mind has been invaded by the Holy Spirit who has released in us the mind of Christ and we can be guided to a life of obedience and peace. Have you surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you obeyed Him and are you willing to follow Him in baptism and church membership? This could be the day for you!

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.