The Mind of Christ

Jeff Newcomer

What is the Church • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

Acts 2:42–47

Ephesians 4:1–16

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The Mind of Christ

Scripture reading after 1st song

John 13:1, 3-5, 12-17

Scripture-Paul speaking to church in Philippi

Philippians 1:27-2:11

27 Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, 28 and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, 30 engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

1 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.

Introduction

· 2nd fundamental function of church-why it exists as a gathered community.

· For discipleship-Help each other grow and mature in our faith, our walk with Jesus, and to build each other up.

· We have learned that to be an effective disciple of others requires us to be a committed and obedient disciple of Jesus first.

Title: “The Mind of Christ”

· We’re looking at what discipleship looks like as Christ’s disciples as we gather as a community of believers, the church.

· When we come into a saving faith in Jesus, we are incorporated into both the local church and the universal church.

· God made men and woman to be relational people.

· So as a church body, we meet together often.

· We are members of one another and are dependent upon each other.

· This relationship as a community of believers and our fellowship with each other is actually a picture of the unity and fellowship of the Triune God.

· The core or foundation of a church who glorify’s God is love.

· Love for God and love for each other.

· This love represents God’s character because God is love.

· Now the only way we can live together in unity and fellowship is to have the “Mind of Christ.”

· Thankfully we have been gifted this mind through the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Exegesis

· Let’s now turn back to passage I read earlier from Philippians.

· The Scripture Beth read in Matthew regarding Jesus humbling Himself to wash the disciple’s feet ties in with our text, only to a lesser degree.

· The interpretation and meaning of our text really gives us the application on how to live as a member of the church and how we can disciple each other.

· So as we study, we can ask ourselves if, as a disciple of Jesus, we reflect and exhibit what Paul is teaching.

· As we study the text, I will be using some Greek words for better understanding of the text.

Context

· Philippi was a Roman colony.

· Being a Roman citizen was highly esteemed and they gave their allegiance to Ceasor.

· These citizens were also opponent to the Christians living there.

· In contrast, these Christians were citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven just as we are and we give our allegiance to God.

· Now Paul is the author of this letter to the church.

· He wrote it from prison.

· Paul anticipated being released from prison and wanted to meet with the church in person.

· But while he was absent, he instructed the members of the church to “Let their manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” The Greek verb polit-you-amay used here means to live as citizen’s of Heaven that are saved by faith in the Gospel.

· This manner or conduct of life is the main theme of the entire letter.

· Everything else builds upon this way of life.

· So what does Paul envision in living in a manner worthy of the Gospel?

· The answer lies in VS 1:27-30.

· To live steadfast in the faith amidst suffering.

VS 1:27

Living worthy of the Gospel is to “Stand firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel.”

· Standing firm in one spirit means we stand united as a church as we are all united to one Savior, Jesus Christ.

· We also live in harmony together with a common purpose.

· Spirit here means “of one soul” or “as one person.”

Essentially, “With one mind”

· Paul isn’t saying that all believers should have the same opinions and thoughts on every subject.

· It is to be in agreement on the truth of the Gospel message and our position in Jesus.

· Paul had in mind athletic events when writing here.

· A team all works together for a common purpose.

“Striving side by side (again in unity) for the faith of the Gospel”

· A better way to put it is “Striving side by side for the advance of the Gospel.”

· Paul is referring to the spread the Gospel message to unbelievers-Evangelism.

VS 1:28-30

Walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel involves standing firm in suffering.

· Paul exhorts his readers to not be frightened or alarmed by opponents of the Gospel and Christians, instead stand firm.

· A sign – Greek: Endikesis which means evident proof.

· Walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel from vs 27 is this sign.

· Christians who stand firm during persecution, trusting in the Lord while receiving strength from the Holy Spirit is a clear proof of saving faith in Jesus that leads to eternal salvation.

A good cross reference is from 1 Peter 6-7

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

· But for the opponents who reject Christ, it is a sign of their destruction.

· God grants believers suffering for the sake of Christ.

· As for our adversity, suffering is a privilege for disciples of Jesus to experience.

· God has specific reasons for our suffering and the benefitit brings us.

· I’ll leave finding these benefits as your homework this week.

· In VS 29, Paul sums it up by saying both our faith and our suffering are gifts from God.

· Think of it as a nice little packaged bundle.

VS 2:1-11

· Paul now turns from steadfast in faith amid suffering to specific attitudes and actions to live worthy as a citizen of Heaven.

· VS 2:1 lays the foundation for believers living in unity.

· These are the Gospel blessings experienced by the church.

· By using “IF”, it sounds like Paul is wondering if these blessings are a reality in the church.

· However, this isn’t the case.

· Every church of Christ experience these blessings as we have in common, our faith in the Gospel.

· Add “YES” to the end of each statement.

· In using “IF”, Paul wants each member of the church to evaluate whether or not they are exhibiting these blessings individually.

“Any encouragement in Christ”

· The Greek word for encouragement is “Paraklesis” which means “Comfort.”

· The encouragement or comfort we receive comes from us being a new creation in Christ when we came into a saving faith in Him.

“Any comfort in love”

· This is the comfort we have from the love of Jesus that was poured into us when He died for the forgiveness of our sin and was resurrected giving us eternal life.

· We also feel comfort as members of the church show love to each other.

“Any participation (fellowship) in the Spirit”

· In Greek it translates to “If there is any participation brought on by the Holy Spirit.”

· The Holy Spirit is the source of our unity, our fellowship with each other.

“Any affection and sympathy”- Other translations use affection and compassion.

· This affection and compassion come from the mercy and grace we have received from Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

· We deserved to be on that cross, but He took our place redeeming us from sin and receiving eternal life.

· Again, these are the Gospel blessings we all experience as the church.

VS 2:2-4 – Shows the expression, or character of our unity, love, fellowship, and harmony

1. Read it in the NASB - Better translation. Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

· These are the same characteristics we found in VS 1:27 so to save time I won’t go through these again.

2. VS 2:3 - The expression of humility – Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.”

· This phrase in Greek is even stronger, “Don’t even think any thoughts motivated by selfish ambition or conceit.”

· I think we all understand selfish ambition: Personal gain, glory, advancement.

· A “Me first” attitude.

· These selfish ambitions lead to being conceited which is the sin of pride.

· We can start to have a “Better than” attitude.

· That many people or tasks are beneath us.

· But isn’t this the American way?

· We put ourselves 1st.

· Look for ways to climb the corporate ladder.

· Obtain status and wealth.

· Selfish ambition and pride contradict the teaching of the Bible.

Paul continues with the expression of humility in VS 2:3b-4

· “… But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to your own interests (or don’t merely look at your own interests), but also to the interests of others.”

· Our expression of humility as disciples of Jesus puts aside our own wants, needs, desires, and ambitions to serve others in these areas.

· We also build each other up rather than building ourselves up.

· Paul calls for humility to live out the Christian life.

· But how does one become humble?

Quote

Someone asked the great preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones this question. This was his answer:

A friend was asking me the other day, “How can I be humble?” He felt there was pride in him, and he wanted to know how to get rid of it. He seemed to think that I had some patent remedy and could tell him, “Do this, that, and the other and you will be humble.” I said, “I have no method or technique. I can’t tell you to get down on your knees and believe in prayer because I know you will soon be proud of that. There’s only one way to be humble, and that is to look into the face of Jesus Christ; you cannot be anything else when you see him.” That is the only way. Humility is not something you can create within yourself; rather, you look at him, you realize who he is and what he has done, and you are humbled.

So VS 2:1-4

· Reveal the Gospel blessings of the church

· And the mindset and actions we exhibit to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To live in unity and harmony and exhibit humility.

In other words, to have the “Mind of Christ”

VS 2:5-11

· The climax of our text are in VS 2:5-11.

· They reveal “This Mind of Christ.”

· All of what Paul has written about in VS 1:27-2:4 regarding our attitudes and actions are born from “The Mind of Christ.”

· In these versus, Paul drives his teaching home with the powerful example of Jesus.

VS 2:5- “Have this mind among yourselves..”

· A more literal translation is – “Think this among yourselves.”

· Paul instructs the church to think properly as Christians, as those who are in Christ.

· And this Mind of Christ is ours because of our union with Christ.

· It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that reveals His mind to us.

VS 2:6-11 is known as the “Hymn of Christ.”

· Christ’s perfect example of humble service and self-sacrifice.

I want to read VS 2:6-11 again as a whole before interpreting it because they encompass the Gospel message, God’s saving work through Jesus.

Philippians 2:5-11

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.

We’ll start by establishing a theological foundation of the text and then apply it to the context of believers walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel.

In these verses, Paul takes us through three stages of our Lord’s experience.

The 1st stage

· The glory of Jesus as the 2ndperson of the Trinity, God the Son before He came to earth as both God and man.

· “In the form of God” Or literally, “Being already in the form of God.”

The 2nd Stage – His humility of coming to earth in VS 2:6b-8

· “Jesus did not count His equality with God a thing to be grasped or held on to.”

· This does not mean He quit being God to become man.

· Becoming man was added to Him. He was both God and man.

· So, we can think of these versus this way, Jesus did not hold onto His equality with God as something to use to His own advantage.

VS 2:7

· The focus now turns from Christ’s mind-set or attitude to His actions.

· “But Jesus emptied Himself, or made Himself nothing, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man.”

· This servanthood was also displayed in our earlier reading in John 13, Jesus washing the disciple’s feet.

· Born in the likeness of man.

· Yes, He became a man. The hymn uses the term “Likeness” because unlike man, He never sinned.

VS 2:8- “And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

· Here, Jesus takes His humility even further.

· The ultimate humility becoming the suffering servant who was crucified for the forgiveness of sin.

· This is also the ultimate example of VS 3, “In humility count others more significant than yourself.”

The 3rd Stage – God’s response to Christ’s obedience– Jesus’ exaltation in VS 9-11

VS 9 - Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

· Jesus was exalted when he ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of God.

· Jesus now is the head of all rule and authority in Heaven and on Earth.

· All the angels, authorities, and powers are under His control.

· His name is above all names.

What is this name?

· It is the personal name of God.

· In Hebrew it’s “Yahweh”, the everlasting God of eternity.

· In Greek it is “Kyrios” or “Lord.”

· My favorite way God names Himself synonymous to Yahweh and Lord comes from Exodus 3:13-14

Exodus 3:13-14

13 Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”

· “I AM” – Encompasses everything.

· Self-existent

· Eternal

· Creator

· Sustainer

· All sovereign

· All knowing

· Ever present

· He has immutable character that never changes

· VS 2:10-11 - 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.

· Notice that the name above all names remains Jesus.

· The name Jesus is now synonymous with Yahweh and Lord.

· The name Jesus is kept because of His divine work on the cross, being obedient to God’s overarching plan of redemption and salvation.

· Every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord in Heaven, earth, and under the earth.

· This includes all believers who do so willingly and joyfully receiving eternal life.

· It includes the angels in Heaven.

· It also includes unbelievers, those who reject Jesus who are defeated receiving eternity separated from God.

Charles Wesley puts it this way,

“Angels and man before His name fall, and the devil and his demons fear and fly.”

· Let’s see what this looks like from the throne room of God.

Revelation 5:6-14

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sanga new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation,

10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,

and they shall reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Well, this was the theological foundation of the text.

Let’s now apply it to the context of believers walking in a manner worthy of the Gospel.

· The Hymn of Christ is the Gospel message that we walk in a manner worthy of.

· Here, Jesus is our perfect example of humility, self-sacrifice, and putting other’s needs above Himself.

· This is “The mind of Christ”

· As disciples of Jesus, we are called to have this same mind, the same attitudes and actions of Jesus as a gathered community of believers who disciple each other.

· We are called to stand firm, steadfast in the faith in the face of suffering and persecution as Jesus did.

· As I taught earlier, we have the ability to live this way and to have the “Mind of Christ” because of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us that gives us all power to do so.

In 2 weeks we will learn general applications of discipleship based on what we’ve learned today.