Alright brethren, Philippians
chapter 2. I want to read the first two
verses again. Paul here says, Be therefore
any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any inward affections and mercies. Fulfill
ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord and of one mind." You know, when we study the Scripture,
we have this benefit of looking ahead and we know where Paul
is going. We know why he is saying what
he is saying here. And we can see where he is leading
to. He is coming to verse 5 where
He says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus. And everything He is going to
say from verse 1 all the way down to that verse has to do
with being of the same mind with Christ and the mind that was
in Christ. You know, Epaphroditus had come
there and brought a gift from the church. And I'm sure Paul
asked how the brethren were doing, and Epaphroditus informed him
about Euodias and Syntyche, that these two women were not of one
mind. They were not of one mind. And
so Paul writes this letter. And the Spirit of God moved Paul
to write this letter. And he begins it here, and we
have a lesson in how Paul spoke of what we have due to Christ. And that's what he's reminding
them of, is of what we have due to our Lord Jesus Christ and
what He's done for us. That's what he's using as the
motive. That's what he's using as the constraint. It's Christ
and what He's done for us. Paul's an aged believer at this
point. And he'd experienced some division
before. And he knew, without even asking,
he knew what the cause was. What the cause of contention
was. It's always the same, brethren. Proverbs 13.10 says, only by
pride cometh contention. Only by pride cometh contention. And Paul knew that the only way
that contention would be put away and their minds would be
one and they would be of one heart and one spirit and be humbled
would be hearing Christ and what Christ has accomplished for His
people here in the Gospel. And so, Paul is reminding them
of the mind of Christ. This is the greatest motive believers
have for being one. This is the constraint right
here. Because our Lord's made us one. He's made us one. He begins in verse 1 and He says,
If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love. Christ is the consolation of
Israel. Simeon was waiting for the consolation
of Israel. And the scripture says, when
he's beheld the Lord Jesus, that's when he said, he said, Lord,
now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Christ is
salvation, He's the comfort, the consolation of love in the
hearts of His people. Because of what He's done for
us, when the Spirit gives us faith, Christ is our consolation. We see our sin, we see just how
desperately wicked we are. And the only thing that comforts
and consoles is beholding Christ and beholding our completion
in Him. And He's the consolation because
of what He's done for His people. We have peace with God because
of what He's done. Paul said in Romans 5.1, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. And it's by Christ
we have access into this grace wherein we stand. And so we rejoice
in the hope of the glory of God. We have a good hope. 2 Corinthians
1.5 says, As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation
abounds by Christ. You're going to be rejected because
of Christ. You're going to be rejected because
of Christ. Our Lord Jesus said, a man's
members of his own house will be his enemies. Where are you
going to find comfort? Where are you going to have consolation?
It's going to be in Christ. He's going to give that in the
hearts and does give that in the hearts of His people. 2 Thessalonians
2.16 says, Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God, even our Father,
hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and
good hope through grace. So Paul says, if there be any,
any, And I think the key word here is any. If there be any. If He's given you even the least
comfort, the least consolation. showing you His great love for
His people. If you behold in your brother
or your sister any consolation of Christ, any comfort of love,
if you behold in them just a glimmer of Christ and the comfort and
consolation He's given to His people, Then he says, fulfill ye my joy. This is what would fulfill Paul's
joy. This is what would fulfill the
pastor's joy, is that those he ministers to be like-minded,
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. And Paul said, if there be any
fellowship of the Spirit, And the second phrase tells you what
it means. If there's any tender affection
and mercies, fellowship of the Spirit. The Spirit of God makes
us know we're children of God. He makes you know you're a child
of God. And He gives you fellowship with
the Father and with the Son and with your brethren. You know
you're a child of God because of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit,
the fellowship of the Spirit. He gives you inward affection
for Christ and for your brethren. And He fills you with mercies
because you see all the mercies that He's shown to you. God the
Father has shown you mercies for Christ's sake. Paul said,
you've not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. We
didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear. We received
the spirit of adoption so that we cry, Father, Father. We cry
out to our Heavenly Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God. Fellowship of
the Spirit. And it's of the Lord's mercies.
He said, if there's any inward affection and mercies, isn't
it of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed? His mercies,
His compassions fail not. He said, as the heaven is high
above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear
Him. How high? Think now, as high
as the heaven is above the earth, that's how great His mercy is
to them that fear Him. He said, as far as the east is
from the west, that's so far has He removed our transgression
from us. And He said, and like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him,
for He knows our frame. He remembereth that where it
does. See, by the Spirit we have fellowship. Fellowship with God
our Father. Fellowship with our Savior, our
Lord Jesus Christ. And fellowship with one another. So Paul says, if there be any
fellowship of the Spirit, if you have any in you, And if your
brethren have any fellowship in them, and you detect any fellowship
of the Spirit in them, any inward affection for Christ and any
rejoicing in the mercies of God, Paul said, if you have any fellowship
of the Spirit toward me, He's saying, then fulfill ye my joy
that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord
and of one mind. Look over at Colossians 3. One book to your right, Colossians
3, and look at verse 12. He's beseeching them, brethren.
You know, beseeching is like begging. And it's by what the Lord's done
for us, what He's done for us. Look here, Colossians 3.12, "...put
on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels,
inward affection, inward mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,
meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving one
another. If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave
you, so also do you." Now when he gets to this point in our
text, and Paul is talking about having the same mind, now he's
going to come to some particulars. And he says in Philippians 2,
3, let nothing be done through strife. Striving, quarreling
and being contentious, that is not of the Spirit of God. It's
just not of the Spirit of God. That's of our sinful nature. That's devilish. Look over with
me at James chapter 3. James chapter 3. James chapter 3. That striving
is all of us. James chapter 3 and verse 14. If you have bitter envying and
strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth.
This wisdom descendeth not from above. but is earthly, sensual,
devilish. For where envying and strife
is, there's confusion and every evil work." Look at James 4 and
verse 1. From whence come wars and fightings
among you? Come they not hence even of your
lusts at war in your members?" Look down at verse 5. Do you think that the Scripture
saith in vain, the Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy,
but He giveth more grace? God giveth, that's what our flesh
is. But we have a new man in us,
but we have that sinful nature, and God gives more grace. Wherefore
he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Let nothing be done through
strife. We don't have to strive, brethren.
We got a sovereign God who's working His will in this world,
and He's working in our brethren. You don't have to strive. You
don't have to strive. Look here now back at Philippians
2.3. Let nothing be done for vain
glory. And these two usually go together. Where they're striving, it's
usually for vain glory. Self-importance, you know, thinking
that things just can't operate without me or without You know,
that's the spirit that's there. And the reason it's called vain
glory is because, man, you don't have anything to glory in. It's
vain for us to glory. It is absolutely vain for us
to glory. Paul said, Who maketh thee to
differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? That word receive means that,
what do you have that wasn't given to you? And he said, now
if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hast
not received it? But contrary to that, now that's
what's in my flesh and your flesh. So if we want to strive, we have
to strive against that, our own sinful nature. And the Spirit
of God will make us do that by subduing our old man by this
gospel. But now look at verse 3. But
here's what he says. Here's what he says, do, but
in lowliness of mind, let each esteem the other better than
themselves. What does that mean? Now, Kalen
can play the piano, she can read music, she studied to learn how
to do that, she can do that. So it would be false humility
to act like you can't do that. You can do that. What's it talking
about here when it says, esteem others better than ourselves. He's talking about in spirit,
in spiritual things. Paul esteemed his brethren better
than himself. He meant it when he said this.
He said in 1 Corinthians 15.9, he said, I am the least of the
apostles. I'm not meet, I'm not fit to
be called an apostle because I persecuted the church. And
as he went a little longer and the Lord grew him in grace and
made him see more of himself in the light of Christ, in the
light of Christ's obedience, Paul said in Ephesians 3.8, I'm
less than the least of all saints. You see how it grew? First it
was, I'm the least of the apostles. I'm not fit to be called an apostle.
But then as some years went by it was, I'm less than the least
of all saints." And then, about the time he wrote this epistle
right here, now he's up in years, he's in prison, he's experienced
some things and he's experienced some things about himself. And
he wrote to Timothy and he said, this is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came in the world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Chief. You know, the key
to not striving with one another and the key to not seeking vain
glory, selfish ambition, self-promotion, the key to that is in seeing
that in our flesh dwells nothing good. And the more we see ourselves
sinners, and yet continue to see the grace of God toward us,
and the mercy of God, and the comfort, the consolation we have
in Christ, the fellowship of the Spirit, and how He continues
to bless us because He everlastingly loved us, and those that He loves
He saves. And the more you know this, the
more it makes you just see yourself as the sinner. And the less offended
you'll be when somebody else sins, because you think, well, that's
just me. But you'll esteem your brethren
better than yourself. They're not as bad as I am. Why
is everybody so offended at this brother? They're not near as
bad as I am. And it says here, look not every
man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
And we do this in rejoicing and in sorrow. Paul said rejoice
with them that rejoice. You look on the things of your
brethren, what God's blessed them with, and you rejoice with
them for what God's done for them. Adam, your children. When something good happens to
your children, Are you jealous of them? Do you get envious of
them? Of course not. That's an extension of you. You're
happy for them. You rejoice for them. That's
what brethren are. We're one with each other. And
so when brethren have something good come their way, we rejoice
with them. When they have something that's
heartbreaking, we sorrow with them. Now the Kingdom of God, it's
not meat and drink. Here's another way we esteem
others better and we look on the things of others and the
needs of others. Look over at Romans 14. The Kingdom
of God is not meat and drink. But there were weak brethren
in Paul's day. They didn't know their liberty
from the law. They didn't know it. And they
were weak when it came to things they could eat and drink. They
thought sin was in things, that sin was in what you put in your
mouth. And they were weak. And some brethren today are weak
when it comes to those kinds of things. Listen to what Paul
says here in Romans 14 verse 19. This is how you look on the things
of others and you are considerate of your brother's needs. Look
here, Romans 14, 19. Let us therefore follow after
the things which make for peace and things wherewith one may
edify another. For meat destroy not the work
of God. All things indeed are pure, but
it's evil for that man who eateth with offense. It's good neither
to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother
stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." See that? If there's
a brother that's going to be offended, if you have a glass
of wine, Paul said, don't do it. Look at verse 22. Hast thou
faith? You have faith you can eat whatever
you want to eat, drink whatever you want to drink. You have faith
to do it. He said, have it to thyself before
God. Happy is he that condemneth not
himself in that thing which he alloweth. Sin's not in things,
brethren. Happy is the man that's got the
faith to understand that. And he that doubteth, the man
that doubts, the man that doesn't have that faith, he's damned.
Not that he's condemned, but his conscience will condemn him
if he eat, because he eateth not of faith. for whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. We then that are strong ought
to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself,
but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell
on me." And when Paul got to that, in our text, when he gets
to this part where he talks about looking on the needs of others,
and humility, and then he starts thinking of Christ. And this
is where he's getting to right here. He says in Philippians
2.5, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
All the things he's been saying here, this is the mind of Christ.
Now let's consider the mind of Christ. In lowliness of mind, our Lord
Jesus looked not on His own things. He didn't just look out for Himself,
did He? He looked out for the things of others. He looked on
the things of His Father. His Father had a law that had
to be honored and magnified. His Father chose a people by
grace that His Father would save, and He entrusted them to His
Son. but His Father also is righteous and His righteousness must be
manifest, how God is just and the Justifier, how He's just
to be merciful to His people. He can only be merciful in a
way that's in accord with His justice. And Christ is looking
out for the things of His Father when He came down. And He was
looking out for the things of you and me who were His elect.
He was looking on the things that we needed, wasn't He? We
needed to be justified. We needed to have our sins put
away. We need a righteousness to stand before God. We need
holiness and perfection so that God will receive us and we can
have communion with a holy God. And in everything our Lord Jesus
did, He did it looking on the things of others. And He had
every reason to glory. Paul said, don't seek vain glory.
Now Christ had every reason to glory. Look at verse 6. who being
in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God? He's God. Christ Jesus is God. He didn't stop being God when
He became a man. He's God. When you think about
Christ being a man, and you think about Him being God, you know
whenever they would take the sacrifice and they would put
that sacrifice on the altar, And they would burn that sacrifice. Nothing happened to the altar.
The altar sanctified the sacrifice. Christ Jesus' humanity is the
sacrifice. His deity as the Son of God is
the altar. So that together what he accomplished
is eternal for his people. That's why he had to be a man.
But He had every reason to glory. He's God of every God and yet
He came down and verse 7 says, but He made Himself of no reputation. Why do we want to make ourselves
a reputation? Why do we want to try to be known? Our Lord Jesus didn't make Himself
a reputation. The Lord Jesus was in the midst
of His apostles one day. Now you should think about this.
The Lord of Glory is standing there face to face. They can see the Lord Jesus.
They've walked with Him. They've heard Him. They've heard
His Gospel. They've heard what He said. They
saw how lowly and meek He was. And they start arguing and striving
over which of them are to be counted the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven." Isn't that just like us? Do you see yourself in that? They are arguing over who ought
to be the greatest. Theirs is the one who is the
greatest. And they are arguing over who
ought to be the greatest and have the best reputation in heaven.
And the Lord said, which is greater, he that sits at meat are He that
serves." Now, the Greeks, they would never tell you, don't make
yourself a reputation. The Greeks would have never said,
esteem others better than yourself. That was a foreign thing to the
Greeks. And that's what the Lord said.
He said the Gentiles do things for people, and they're their
benefactors. And so they consider all the
little people ought to serve them for how great they are.
And Christ said, Yet I'm with you as one that serveth. I came
down here to serve you. Christ didn't come to be served.
He came to serve us. He served God for His people. to make us the righteousness
of God in Him. Verse 7, He took upon Him the
form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross." This is the God who
created the angels and He made Himself lower than the angels.
This is God who made man and He comes and takes the likeness
of men. formed in the womb of a virgin,
comes forth into a poor place, not even born in honor, born
in a cow stable, laid in a manger, a feed trough, a carpenter's son, according
to the flesh, and most of his family didn't
believe who he was, And nobody in this world knew him for 30
years until he entered his public ministry. And even then, he would
tell people, don't make me known. He didn't come to make himself
a reputation. He came to serve and establish
the law for his people, magnified and make it honorable for God
his Father, and to save his people from our sin. And he humbled
himself. He took the form of a servant
and He humbled Himself. And He truly, truly, truly made
Himself the least. You know the fulfillment of the
law is love. That's what the Lord said. The
true righteousness of the law is perfect love. And you see that love that fulfilled
the law one place. You see it on Calvary's cross. For God to declare Him His glory
and manifest His attributes, particularly His righteousness,
to magnify His law and honor His law, and for His brethren who He loved,
for His elect who He loved from eternity, who He entered covenant
to save, our Lord Jesus Christ willingly bore, this one who
knew no sin, bore the sin and shame of his people. This one
who was unworthy of the least wrath from God, bore the sin
of his people that God might be just to pour out wrath on
him and he was made a curse for us. He did that for God and for
his brethren because he loved them both with a perfect love. And he laid down his life. He
laid down his life. And that's the positive fulfillment
of the law and the way he fulfilled the negative part of it was bearing
our sin and our curse and putting away our sin and bringing in
an everlasting righteousness for us. And there he is. There's
the righteous fulfillment of the law. The love that fulfilled
the law is a person. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And
how did he do it? He did it by humility. He did
it by making himself the least. And you know what he was doing
by that? He was glorifying God to the highest. I mean, there's
never been anybody glorifying God that high because there's
never been anybody stoop and make themselves that lowly in
love to their father and to their brethren. That's what he was
doing. Wherefore, it says, God also
has highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow of things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and
that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. The Apostle Peter, he said this,
you see there how it says, wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him. He humbled himself unto God's
mighty hand, And when he had fulfilled all righteousness and
brought in everlasting righteousness and justified his people and
declared God just, then God highly exalted him. And Peter said,
1 Peter 5.5, he said, take it from somebody who had to learn
this by experience the hard way. He says, all of you, be subject
one to another, and be clothed with humility. Remember how Peter
was like, oh, I won't deny you. He was still thinking, I'm going
to be the greatest in the kingdom. And the way you do that is you
stand strong. And the Lord said, you're going
to be offended, Peter. No, I won't. Peter said, I'll
learn. Submit yourselves to one another
and be clothed in humility. Because God resisted the proud
and He gives grace to the humble. He said, humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God that He makes out you in due
time. How do you humble yourself under
the mighty hand of God? Peter said, cast in all your
care on Christ, for He cares for you. Trust it all into His
hand. Trust Christ to deal with your
brethren. Trust Christ to deal with your
enemies. Trust Christ to deal with your
sins. Trust Christ to deal with God on your behalf. Trust Christ
to be your Savior in every way. Do you get what I'm trying to
show you? Christ submitted Himself, and He was clothed with humility,
and He was highly exalting God by that, and in due time, wherefore
God also highly exalted Him. Peter said, now you be clothed
with humility, and in due time, God will exalt you. You don't
have to exalt yourself. You don't have to make yourself
a reputation. You don't have to strive to get ahead and get
over somebody. Just submit to Christ and trust
Him to work it out. And so Paul said, if there be
any consolation in Christ, if you have any comfort in your
heart from Christ, if you have any fellowship of the Spirit,
any inward affections and mercies for what Christ has done for
you, fulfill you my joy that you are like-minded of the same
love of one accord, of one mind. What mind are you talking about,
Paul? Same love as what, Paul? Let this mind be in you which
was in Christ Jesus. That's the same mind he's talking
about. Have the mind of Christ. This is the love he's talking
about. The love where with Christ loved the Father and loved us.
Have that same love. What does that do? It bears the
sin of your brethren and lays down your life for your brethren.
That's what Christ did for us. Verse 12, let's wind it up. He
says, Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not
as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Let me just say
this every day as I can say it. He is saying, Epaphroditus and
Clement, he said, Now when you all go speak with Euodias and
Syntyche, And you're trying to work this thing out between them,
endeavoring for unity and for peace. He said, do it with fear
and trembling. Why? Verse 13, for it's God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Because
that resurrected One who is your God and your Savior is in your
midst right there in the heart of your brethren and He's working
His will and His good pleasure. You know Christ said in Matthew
18, that's the context of Matthew 18. When Christ said, if you
have to take two or three brethren with you so that they're witnesses,
he said, you go to them. And you're trying to win your
brother, you do it in lowliness of mind, you do it in meekness,
you do it with long-suffering, you do it in love and comfort
and bowels of mercies. And Christ said, and while you
take those two or three with you, He said, where two or three
are gathered, there I am, I'm in your midst. And what Christ
was saying was the same thing Paul is saying here. So do it
with fear and trembling, just like you would if Christ was
standing there, because He is. He is. So do all things without
murmurings and disputings, that you may be blameless and harmless,
the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and
perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world."
Holding forth the Word of Life. What's Paul been doing here to
promote unity and peace between these brethren? He's been holding
forth the Word of Life. He's been preaching Christ. He
said, do that for one another. Hold forth the Word of Life for
one another. In the first hour, That's how
God humbled your heart. That's how He gave you this comfort
of love. That's how He gave you this fellowship
of the Spirit. That's how He's going to do it
every hour. Paul could have held a court, and he could have asked
all the issues, and he could have let each woman make their
case, and there might have been some justice served, but there
wouldn't have been any mercy. But you see, Christ made mercy
and justice meet in harmony. So God's just to have mercy on
you, and you're just to have mercy on your brethren. When
they don't act like a believer and they sin and they fall, you're
just to have mercy on them. Why? Because God said, who's
going to lay anything to their charge? Restore them to Christ. Don't strive with them. Don't
try to make yourself a reputation before them. Humble yourself
and trust Christ to work in their heart and set forth the word
of life to them. and pray to Him to work it out. And remember, do it with fear
and trembling because He's right there. He's right there. He's
right there. Paul knew that's how unity and
peace is made through the gospel of Christ and Him crucified. And that's what he set forth
to Him. I pray the Lord will bless that. Brother Greg,