Turn back to Philippians chapter
2. Philippians chapter 2. I titled this message, Let this mind be in you. Let this mind, this attitude,
let this be said of us. He made himself of no reputation. You know, the Scriptures set
forth the Lord Jesus Christ to be all in all. He's everything. By Him that God made the world. By Him and through Him and for
Him. That's what it says over in Colossians. All things were
made by Him and for Him. He's all in all. He's all in
all to the believer. He's all in all to the angels.
He's all in all to the Father. He's all in all. He's our substitute,
took our place, died in our stead, took the hell I deserve. He's
the high priest. He's our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. He's our comfort. The scripture
says, our Lord said in the gospel, the comforter will come. The
comforter is the Holy Spirit. The Comforter is the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said He'll take the things
of mine and show it to you. The Comforter is the Holy Spirit.
The Comfort is Christ. I read that today. You think
I come up with that? No, that was Spurgeon. That was
good. That's good. The Comforter is
the Holy Spirit and the Comfort is Christ. That's who He is. He's our brother. He's our counselor. And I could go on and on. I mean,
I could fill up the hour and not touch the subject with what
He is to us. But here, He's the perfect example
of walking through this life. He's the perfect example. And
we are told to walk even as he walked. He who owns reputation. He owns reputation. You know,
we try to get one. We try to get a reputation. You
know, it's natural. It's so natural to men and women
to want to have a reputation. When you walk in the room, people
kind of go, oh, he's here. And you know that. That feeds the flesh. that feeds
the flesh. But he came and made himself
of no reputation. He who owns reputation made himself
of no reputation and he became a servant. Never was an office
so highly exalted as when the Lord of Glory became a servant. And he became a servant and in
serving he became obedient unto death. We fight against death. We struggle against it. We do
everything we can to live. We do. He did everything he could
to die, because that's what he came to do. He became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. And not one time did
he turn or flinch or try to quit serving because it was too hard It was too long. It was too difficult. In one place it says, he set
his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. I'm going there to
Jerusalem and I'm going to die. Peter tried to stop him. He said,
get out of the way, Satan. I'm going to die. Death. When he spoke of death to Elijah
and Moses, You know how he spoke of it? As an accomplishment. It was an accomplishment for
him. Oh, he didn't shrink back at
all. Now it says here in verse 1, let's start it in verse 1
here. If you have any real comfort
in the Lord Jesus Christ, do you? I sat back today and thought
about this. Where do you really find comfort
at? When things are going well, when
things are going bad, where do you find your comfort? If you
have any real comfort in Christ and any real hope in His righteousness
and any real hope and comfort in His blood and His resurrection,
if you have a real comfort in His love for you and any real comfort and joy
in the fellowship of His Spirit, Paul said, then I rejoice. Because
it's evident my labor was not in vain. I don't know of anything,
and I've just been a pastor here for a short while, I don't know
of anything that could be more disappointing than to preach
to people time and time and time and time again, and they wind up finding no comfort
in these things. That'd be hard. That'd be tough. Paul says, if
you find real comfort and consolation in Christ, then I rejoice. I've not labored in vain. I rejoice. When a person enjoys these things,
when he finds his joy in the Lord Jesus Christ, it's evident
that God has done a work in him. God has done something in him.
And that his spirit is present in that person. You cannot enjoy
Christ, the gospel of Christ, all that belongs to Christ, unless
you're born of God. The flesh cannot enjoy God. The
flesh enjoys darkness. It enjoys sin and pleasure and
lust, but not God. But if you do enjoy these, it's
evident Christ is in you, who is your joy. And he gives us
here the evidence of this grace in the soul. Having the same
mind, like-mindedness. Isn't it great when people have
the same mind? You know, some of you, you work in these plants
and stuff, you get to have those meetings. Isn't it great when
you have the same people on the same page and you're like-minded? Of course, I've never been in
a meeting like that that happened. But it's great if it does happen.
I'm sure it would be great. Never been one, but like-minded. Like-mindedness. Meetings wouldn't
last five minutes, would they? These hour, two hour meetings.
Five minutes and all get to go back and get a whole lot done. Having the same mind, having
the same love. Same love. We both love the same
Lord. We love the same master. The scripture says there's one
Lord, one faith, and one baptism. We love the same gospel. We love
it. We don't just agree with it.
I don't just agree with it. I love it. I love it. And being of one accord. That's the reason I read Psalm
133, how good it is when brethren dwell together in unity. God's
among them. Now he says, don't do anything
through strife or vainglory because they do not promote love, joy,
and peace. Don't do anything. It's a shame
we have to be reminded of that, isn't it? It's evidence that
the flesh is still with us. That old nature is still there.
He said, this do in remembrance of me. We would forget. That's why he
said, this do in remembrance. Because you would forget. And he says here, don't do anything
through strife or vainglory. Some of them were doing something
like this. Over here in chapter 4. Paul says in verse 2, I beseech
you odious and beseech sensitive that they be of the same mind
in the Lord. Apparently they were at odds with each other.
He said, I beseech them to be of the same mind in the Lord. Don't let pride and passion destroy
our walk and talk. Because that old nature is still
there. I wish it wasn't. One day it won't be. But it'll
raise its ugly head. I guarantee you it'll raise its
ugly head. It will. Don't become what God
saved you from. He says don't allow it to rule
the day. God saved you from those things. That's what Paul said
to those Corinthians. He mentioned this list of sins.
And he said as such were some of you. But you are washed You're
not that way anymore. You don't live that way anymore.
But here, he says, be this way, in lowliness of mind. That's of God. I've lived long enough to know
my own self, talk about my own self, that it takes God to give
lowliness of mind. You ever seen people, I've met
people that are poor, don't have anything. Proud as can be. Proud of what? Pride. Pride is a trait of that old
nature. It doesn't matter if you're born
in abject poverty. It takes God to bring about this
lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better
than themselves. I mean, this is something here
that's real. Let him esteem others having better gifts, better talents. Believe in it. I mean, believe
in it. More intelligent. It's usually the reverse. Human
nature reverses that. It does. Be more severe. on your own faults. This is what Paul is saying.
Be more severe on your own faults and your own shortcomings than
on somebody else's. Be more harsh on yourself. Well,
if you do that, you won't have time for anybody else. You really
won't. No. Be more kind and gentle on others
than you are yourself. Recognize your own defects. The
Lord said, pull the beam out of your own eye. Then you might
be able to pull the splinter out of your brother's eye. Be
more favorable to others. Esteem others better than yourself. That takes
the work of God to do that. But not only do we do this inwardly,
because he was talking here about inwardly. In our hearts, our
minds, let this mind be in you. This attitude, these are your
thoughts, but demonstrate this also outwardly. Because I tell you this, what's
inwardly comes out. Sooner or later it gets out. Look not every
man on his own things, but every man on the things of others.
I said this to Vicki, driving down the interstate, going somewhere
last week. I said, you realize, and this
hit me while I was studying something in the study. I said, most of
my life, our life, we spend on ourselves. I said, we truly spend
almost all of our time on ourselves, either directly or indirectly.
Christ didn't spend one minute on himself. Not one. Not one. second was spent on
himself. He spent every ounce of his life,
he breathed for me. Everything he did was for his
people. And I told her, I said, most of what I do and what I'm
trying to do, I said, when I sit back and I examine it, I said
it's for myself. Look not every man on his own
things, taking care of himself. You know, that's what he's saying
there, looking on your own, constantly trying to take care of yourself. I saw a program on TV the other
day. I was watching it. I don't remember
what it was. But this doctor had retired.
He was an old man, an old, old man. And he had moved to Florida.
retirement state. And he had moved down to Florida.
And he decided to give his services. He looked
at his blessings. He said he was blessed. He had a great retirement,
had a great life, you know, he made a lot of money. And he looked
at these people down there, poor people. And so he said one day
a week he gave his time. free to people, just came and
he'd give them doctoring. And he got some other doctors
on board that was down and retired. Now they've got a clinic down
there that's totally free to the poor. But look how long it
took. Look how long it took. I mean,
I commend that. But we ought to do that all of
our life. All of our life, that's the way
we ought to do it. That's the way we ought to live it. Now, we can't do everything
free. We know that. We've got to pay for things. But look not every man on his
own things, but every man on the things of others. What a
world it would be to live in if that happened. Well, that would be like heaven
on earth, wouldn't it? If that happened. Christ said,
I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me
drink. I was sick and you took me in. They said, Lord, when
did we see this? When did we see you like this?
As much as you've done it to the least of these, my brethren,
you've done it to me. See to it that each one has enough.
Don't keep all the marvels. And your brethren have none.
That's typical of human nature, isn't it? That's typical of human
nature. My youngest brother, I know he
won't hear this, My youngest brother, we would sit down to
the table, if it was family of seven, mom and dad made nine,
and he would try to hoard up all the potatoes, you know, the
food that he wanted and he liked, he would try to take it all.
And then what was left over, you could have some, if there
was anything left over. That's the way mom was, she had to stop
it. No, don't you keep it all for
yourself. That's what he's teaching here. I'm glad our Lord wasn't
like that. The air I breathe today was God-given.
The intelligence I was able to sit down and read with, God-given. And then he gets to verse 5. He has told us to do these things.
Now he sets forth a great example. Now he sets our minds, our hearts,
our affection on the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one that did
this. There is one. Let this mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus. This mind of humility,
this mind of fervent love, sacrificial love, this mind of kindness,
This mind of giving, sacrificially, giving of ourselves. Not just
money, but giving of ourselves. He did nothing through strife
or vainglory. How many times did he hear someone
say, don't tell anybody? Don't tell anybody. Everything
he did was out of love to God, God the Father, his Father, our
Father. and to us his brethren. And we are to be like minded. And then he points out here the
greatness, the glory of this one who is like this and this
one who did this. In verse 6, who that is Christ
being in the form of God, he did not imitate God, he is God. He's in the form of God. He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. And what he's saying here
is this one whom I'm talking about, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who had this mind, this true humility, this love, is God. This one I'm telling you to walk,
even as he walked, is God. That's who he is. Our Lord said,
I and my Father are one, equal with the Father. There's only
one God, isn't there? Only one God. There's three distinct
persons in the Godhead. You know, the Father chose us.
The Son redeemed us. The Holy Spirit regenerates us.
But it's only one God that did it all. Only one God. And we give them the honor that's
due to their name in their office, in their work. For any man to put himself on
the same footing as God is to rob him of his Godhead. Adam
tried to do it. Satan tried to do it. I will
ascend the throne of God. I'll be God. But Jesus Christ can do it. He can do this and
it not be robbery. It not be robbery. God said,
let all the angels of God worship him. If he were not God, he would
have never said that. Only God's to be worshipped. But this one who is God, this
one who was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God, made himself of no reputation. He could have,
couldn't he? Oh boy, he could have. He said,
I can call was twelve legions of angels and wiped you out.
I could really get a reputation here. Everything he did was truly in
lowliness of mind. He was meek and lowly. Who have ever thought God was
like that? No, God said you thought I was altogether like yourself,
proud and arrogant. That's why they missed him. When
He came, they were not expecting a lonely and a meek God. I'm glad He's that way. I'm glad He's that way. Because He'll receive men and
women like you and me. If He was proud and arrogant, you and
I wouldn't be here. Or we'd probably be worshiping something and carrying
on, but no. He wouldn't have anything to do with this lot.
He wouldn't do it. No. He's God. He's the Creator. He's the Everlasting. The scripture
says He's called the Everlasting Father. There in Isaiah. But He showed contempt. He demonstrated
His contempt for the riches and honor of this fallen world. He didn't associate with it.
He had no place to lay his head. He could have taken over the
palace. He could have taken Pilate, kicked
him off the throne, taken his house over and slept in his bed. But he had no place to lay his
head. I have a very comfortable place to lay mine because of
Him. Because of Him I do. How could such a one as God The
Lord Jesus Christ. How could such a one be impressed
with these things? You and I, I'm serious, we're
easily impressed, aren't we? Easily impressed. I can teach
my dog a couple tricks and I feel like I'm somebody. I say, Vic,
come here. Oh, you see what this dog can
do? I taught her to do this. She can sit. I'm serious. We're so easily
impressed. He was impressed with none of
this. He's impressed with his father and all that he is. He took upon himself the form
of a servant. He became a man, a man who served. He said this, I am among you
as one who serves. You would have thought that as
a man, as the God-man, he would appear as a prince. But he appears as one who serves.
How lowly and meek is that? He served God and he ministered
to his brethren. He ministered to us. You ever
take care of anybody? Vicki and I took care of John
Halston for four years. We know a little bit about what
it is to serve someone that needed us. I mean, it's no comparison to
this. He said, I came not to be ministered unto at this time. I came to minister, came to serve,
and to give my life a ransom for many. And he was not embarrassed. He
was not embarrassed to serve. We have a generation of people
that's embarrassed to serve. Embarrassed to get their elbows
dirty, their hands dirty, greasy. They don't think I'm very intelligent
with this grease on my hands. He wasn't embarrassed to get
his hands dirty. If he were, he wouldn't have
anything to do with me. He'd have to get his hands dirty to
deal with me. He said, I came not to be ministered
unto, but to minister. And he did this willingly and
lovingly. He was not embarrassed to do
it. You know, Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over John Mark.
You know what it was about. He didn't like to serve. He didn't
like to serve. And Paul said, he's not coming
with us. Of course, later on they patched
that thing up. He didn't like to serve. And
it says here, He was made in the likeness of men. Though He
were God, infinite, holy, can't comprehend Him. He became
a man. God manifested, He became us. He who was holy, harmless, undefiled
became us. Would you become a dog? Would you go live a dog's life? Well, he became a lot less than
that. He became us. He became us. And being found in fashion, habits,
as a man, subject to all the infirmities of the flesh, subject
to the law, he humbled himself You know, anything I do in this
life should not be humbling. Or should it? There shouldn't
be anything beneath me. I remember the first time John
Halston asked me to wash his feet or clip his toenails. I felt just a little twinge like,
I did. I did. You live there, you know. I felt just a little bit, I did
it. And I needed it. But he humbled himself. For him
to look down from heaven. For God to look down from heaven
is to humble himself. How much more to come down here
and become us? Can't comprehend that. Can't do it. If the Almighty
God will humble himself in such a fashion, we should have no
problem humbling ourselves. Who ought to be humble? And he became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. He didn't fight it. He didn't
kick and scream. He didn't wallow around and say,
I can't do this. He went as a sheep to the slaughter.
You know how that is? Quietly. Obediently. A sheep going to the slaughter.
Doesn't fight the one leading it. It just follows along. Going
to the slaughterhouse. He laid down his life willingly.
And we should lay down our life willingly to one another. That's
the truth. It takes a lifetime to learn
it, but it's the truth. Even the death of the cross,
the meanest of all deaths, the most embarrassing of all deaths. He did not die the death of a
martyr. He died the death of a criminal.
We sing the praises of martyrs who died. He died the death of
a criminal. He died a death of shame. He
died a death of great sufferings. He bowed to it that we might
go free. And I know this, I know that
we would like to choose our way of death, wouldn't we? Would
you like to choose the way you die? Not the time. I know nobody wants to choose
the time. Most of them put way out there. We would like to choose our way
of death. I could be fast, wouldn't you?
Fast. Over with. But he chooses. He chooses our
way. He chooses the way every one
of us will die. And it will be a way in which
He will get the glory. It will be a way in which He
will get the most glory. And in time, we'll become obedient
to it. It takes time. When He gives
us dying grace, but He'll pick our death. He chooses our death.
And it will be a way in which our God gets the most glory.
The death of Christ on the cross gives him the most glory, and
that's the way he died. Now look what happened to him,
and what happened to him happens to us. God has highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name. His name
is so high and so honored in heaven that we are commanded
to come to God in his name. We are commanded to ask for forgiveness
in His name, for pardon in His name. Heaven is ours. The presence of God is ours in
His name. Not because I straightened up. In
His name. If we receive any blessing from
above, it will be in His name. At His name, sinners are saved. God-hating rebels are saved in
His name. Angels stand at attention in
His name. I have this image in my mind. You see when a general walks
in the room, everybody stands and salutes. The captain of our
salvation has taken over glory. And we have it in His name. All
the angels stand at attention at His name. Demons run. Demons obey His name. They know that name. Who are
those knuckleheads that was going to cast out those demons? And
those demons said, Paul we know. Jesus we know, but who are you?
Who are you? They knew that name. Not one
time, you read the Gospels, not one time did any demon say, I
ain't coming out of here. I'm not going to do it. I'm going
to stay right here. No, do you know what they started doing?
They started begging. They started begging, don't run us out of
the country. Put us over in a swine. They started begging him. But
they never refused him. You don't even see a hint of
refusal. We read the Gospels. When He
tells a demon to come out, you don't even hear a hint of refusal. They come out at His Word. At His name. At His name, heaven
is open. Heaven. The gates. Open up the
gates. Lift up the gates. That's what
it says over there in Psalm... I think it's Psalm 24. Lift up
your gates. The Everlasting Lord and the
King of Glory coming in. At His name, the Father hears.
At His name. At His name, every knee is going
to bow in heaven, earth and hell. There will be no place where
His name does not rule. You get outside this place and
nobody knows my name. It means nothing. I don't know
what it means here, but it means nothing outside of this place.
There's not a place His name doesn't mean everything. They just don't know it yet.
But every tongue, every language is going to confess that He's
Lord. Everyone. Everyone that is living,
everyone that has lived, everyone that shall ever live. is going
to confess that the man who made himself of no reputation, who
came as a servant and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross, is Lord to the glory of God the Father,
to the glory of His person, the glory of His grace, the glory
of His wisdom, and the glory of His power. Now he says in verse 12, and
I'll wind this down, wherefore brethren, be obedient servants
of God. Give diligence to these things
that I've mentioned and I've written about. To love one another
and be of one mind and one accord, he says, if we give diligence
to these things, it'll keep strifing division from us. It will. It'll do it. And know this, to
love and be of one mind is of God. It's evident God's among
you. It's evident God is among you.
For it is God which worketh in you both the will and do of His
good pleasure. You have His leadership. He's
working in you. Not just collectively, but individually.
Always. God is always working in you. Always. Pay attention. Listen. Listen. Don't just shrug things
off. He's working in you, both the will and do of His good pleasure.
And everything you do, do it without murmuring and disputing, as our Lord did, as our Lord
did. He says in verse 15, I'll wind
this down, that you may be blameless and
harmless, the sons of God. You are the sons of God. You
are light. You are light shining in a dark
world. You're the light of the world,
our Lord said. Ambassadors of Christ. And hold forth the word
of life. Hold it forth. Preach it. Witness it. Tell it. And walk, even as he walked.