Our message this morning is the
mind of Christ, the mind of Christ. If the Lord should be pleased
to make the message of this passage real and effectual in some heart
this morning, it would change that person's life forever. There would be a clear understanding
and attitude that I don't belong to this world and this world
don't belong to me. Oh, that God would grant that
to some heart this morning. You're not here by accident.
You're here by appointment. The Lord has us here to get our
attention and all that it might be so. The chapter begins where we began
reading verse one with the word if, if. And it's not used in
the ordinary sense that we use the word if. There's no question
mark. It is used rather to state a
condition. And it's, it's often translated
since, since, since our consolation is in Christ. And since we have
the comfort of love and since we have the fellowship of the
spirit. Verse two, fulfill ye my joy. My joy, he says. We're in the season of the year
when the emphasis is on Christ's birth. And there is a great deal
recorded in scripture concerning Christ's birth, especially in
Matthew and Luke that we've heard about in our Bible class this
morning, also in Psalms, Isaiah, Numbers, Genesis, all these places. And we love those scriptures
and we preach from them about every year, but to emphasize
Christ's birth alone, without any consideration of why he came,
why he was born. That's not worthwhile at all.
But he came for a reason. He came to suffer and to die a sacrifice for the sin of his
people. There is great emphasis in going into this chapter on
the mind. Notice in verse 2 he talks about
that you be like-minded. The end of verse 2, of one mind. In verse 3 he mentions lowliness
of mind. And then on down in verse 5,
let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. What is Paul referring to in
this verse? Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. What is he talking about? He
is referring to the fact that Christ Jesus was in this world
on business. He was born to live and to die
exactly as He lived and died for the glory of God. And by
the same token, that's why you were born. That's why I was born. To live and to die to the glory
of God. In Christ, from eternity, we're
here on business, just like our Redeemer was. Christ was not
in this world on a pleasure trip or a vacation. He was here on
business and his mind was fixed on that business. It did not matter what this world
thought of him, what they said about him or what they did to
him. He could not be shaken from the
business he was in this world to accomplish. Oh, what a country
to live in. for you and I this morning, if
we could really lay hold on the business of God's purpose for
our being here, for our being born, don't you think the world
would have been just about the same without you? But God has included you, different
from anybody else, you. or to think as Christ thought.
It does not matter what the world thinks of me, says about me,
or does to me. I'm here on business. I'm here
on business. The mind of Christ. Now the Apostle
Paul had a pretty good hold on this mindset, far more than most. Back in chapter one, let me show
you three verses, back in that one page of chapter one. First
in verse 12, Paul understood and fully believed that everything
that happened to him was of God and was for the furtherance of
the gospel. Look what he said, but I would,
you should understand brethren, that the things which happened
unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. He's writing this from a prison
cell at Rome. He's been thrown in jail. And he says this had a purpose.
This was not something that surprised God. This is not something that
slipped up on God. It had a purpose. You and I think
when we stomp our toe and it hurts, or somebody stomps it
and it hurts, we think, well, surely this is not God's will. Surely He didn't want this to
happen to me. Well, if He didn't want it to happen, not only it
wouldn't have happened, it couldn't have happened. That's how big
He is. You see, we forget that God controls
circumstances. Circumstances don't control God. And the reason we forget and
like to forget is that we choose to credit God only for the pleasant
things in life and credit the devil with the unpleasant. Oh
no, don't credit the devil with anything. Over and over and over
we read that all things are of God. If you ask me, we can come up
with about 20-something places the scripture says that. That
all things are of God. Now Paul understood that. Look
in chapter 1 on down to verse 19. Paul believed that everything was contributing to the good
of his soul. Everything was part of God's
providence and purpose to do to him, with him, and in him,
conforming him to the image of Jesus Christ. Verse 19, chapter
1 says this, For I know that this, he's talking about his
being thrown in prison for preaching the gospel, shall turn to my
salvation, my conforming, my being made like unto Christ through
your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. You see the world and the devil
can do nothing to a child of God without that God himself
in that very thing is doing something for that child of God. The devil
does it to us, God's doing it for us. See? Now here's a third
verse in chapter 1 verse 29 where he says basically the same thing.
writing from the prison cell, and he says, we're here, you're
here, in whatever circumstance you're in, as a gift from God. We seldom see that, but it's
so anyhow. Look what he says, for unto you
it is given. Now that's a gift. It is given. It's a gift. Unto you it is given
in the behalf of Christ, Not only to believe on Him, if you
can believe on Him this morning, that's a gift from Him. You see,
this business of being a Christian is not just you telling somebody
about Jesus and asking them to believe on Jesus. They can't
do it if God don't put it in their heart. It's a gift. Not only to believe, but also
to suffer for His sake. Having the same conflict that's
happening to you, what you saw in me and now hear it to be in
me. Oh my, it's a gift, suffering,
suffering, a gift. The mind of Christ and the exhortation
given to us is that Christ our Redeemer was here on business. Paul clearly understood that
in his life. I'm here on business. And he
says, this is for all God's children. Let this mind or mindset be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus. When football season is
over, when hunting season is over,
When Christmas is over, thank goodness, his business will still
be here. See, we're here on business. When that career is over, you
retire, the children are grown, grandchildren grow up, God's
business will still be here. Where will you be at? See? Paul
is saying, make God's business, your main business. Now he says
in verse 6, what was Christ's mind? What was his mindset? What was
his business? Who, being in the form of God,
thought it not robbery to be equal with God? Now that being
in the form of God, it is impossible to be in the form of God and
not be God. Hebrews 1.3 says this concerning
Christ, who being the brightness of his father's glory and the
express image of his person, that he is one in the same. He
was everything God was because he was God. And the word form
here is the essential form with all the same qualities and attributes
as God the Father. He's God the Son. He was no ordinary man. Jehovah's Witnesses deny this.
More than one have said to me, He's the Son of God, but He's
not God. Well, now this Bible teaches
that Jesus Christ is both the Son of God and God the Son. Deity. Isaiah 9, 6, His name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God. Why would Christ
be called the Mighty God? As the Holy Spirit penned down
in this book, if He's not the Mighty God. Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Matthew 1.23, Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and be with child, and shall bring forth a son,
and they shall call His name Immanuel. What does that mean? which being interpreted is God
with us. John 1.1, In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus Christ, who walked this
earth, is God in human flesh. Immanuel, God with us. I'm telling you, the Holy Spirit,
who penned down this book, who inspired this book, did not make
mistakes in all this. Jesus Christ is God. 1 Timothy
3.16, Paul wrote to Timothy, and without controversy, great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. Jesus Christ was God. manifest in human flesh. Therefore, his mind was pure
and sinless and holy. Every thought that went through
his mind was a healthy thought, a wholesome thought, a holy thought,
A heavenly thought, a sinless thought. He was locked in on
the business he was here to accomplish. And Paul said that's to be our
pursuit. Locked in on God's business,
God's glory, God's will, God's purpose in our lives. Let this mind be
in you. which was also in Christ Jesus.
Now our society is geared to make you forget God and just
embrace the mindset, you don't have time for God, you're too
busy. You don't really need God. You
can do fine on your own. Paul exhorts us in how needful
this is. continually think like Christ
thought. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Now, though Christ is God, he
was made flesh. He was born a babe in Bethlehem. The creator becomes one with
his creation. John said, John 114, He was made
flesh and dwelt among us. God became man without ceasing
to be God. I don't understand that and neither
do you. You just believe it or you don't
believe it. That's the deal. Believing is
not by effort. Believing is gift. Believing
is a gift from God. I don't understand electricity,
but I'm not going to sit in the dark until I do. I don't understand lightning
and friction and energy produced that makes electricity, but I
do believe in it. I felt it a time or two and had
a jolt. So if you don't understand it,
sure believe in it. being manifest in the flesh,
in the person of God the Son, was a great condescension. He came down. He came down. Now, going up the ladder is our
game. That's what we do. We want to
get up the ladder. But God said, I'm coming down. I'm coming down. Adam lost everything
by grasping to be and seeking to be equal with God and be his
own God and glorious as God. But Christ our Lord won everything
Adam lost for his people by consenting to lay aside his equality. It says in this verse here, he
thought it not robbery, or the literal rendering is he thought
it not something to be grasped. He thought it not something to
hold on to, to be always identified as deity, with equality, with
deity. But he was willing to lay aside
his glory and be considered an ordinary man, and even called
a sinner, and even called a devil. and even die a death of shame,
He was willing to do that. He never laid aside His deity.
He's God while He's here, but He laid aside His glory. Verse 7, But made Himself of
no reputation, born in the insignificant town of Bethlehem, born to a
Virgin from the despised village of Nazareth. Born to the poor in society. Born a king, but lived a servant. The verse goes on, took upon
him the form of a servant. Note that word form again. In
verse 6, it was being in the form of God. He was made flesh.
In verse 7, being king, He took upon Him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men. What great condescension that our Lord was willing to
come down. Come down. This world did not know who He
was. They didn't know that he was
not the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier. They did not know that
he wasn't born of fornication and they threw that at him, John
8, 41. They accused him of being a bastard. They did not know
he was not demon possessed. They threw that at him, John
8, 48. He's got a devil. They did not know he was not
a sinner. They threw that at him. John
9, 24. We know that this man is a sinner. They knew nothing
of the kind. But the Lord Jesus Christ, here
in verse 8, being found in fashion as a man. Being found. This word being,
both in verse 6 Being in the form of God, in verse 8, being
found in fashion as a man. This word being, the Greek word,
is not the common word for being, but it describes what a person
is in essence. Being in the form of God, he
actually was God. And being fashioned in the form
of a servant, being fashioned as a man, he actually was that. The word here means what a person
is in essence, that which cannot be changed, the innate, unchangeable
characteristics of a person. Through all changes and circumstances,
this being or essence remains the same. This is simply saying
that Christ Jesus, in becoming man, did not cease to be God. It's saying that being found
in fashion as a man, he did not cease to be God. Being found in fashion as a man,
he did not defend himself. His business in this world was
not to prove to everybody and convince everybody of who he
was. No. There's no way he came. He
convinced who he wanted to. But he's here on a business trip.
And He let the world think what they would of Him, say what they
would about Him, and do what they would to Him. He was being obedient to His Father. He said, I came
not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. He made Himself of no reputation.
He emptied Himself. of the glory of heaven. He emptied
himself of the prerogative of a king. He emptied himself of rank and privilege
and rights. We spend all our life fighting
for our rights. He became a servant, a slave,
the lowest of the low. Talking about Christ our Lord,
how he came, why he came. Paul says to us, you need to
think like that. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. It's not what the world thinks
of you, says about you, or does to you. You're here on business. the business of obedience to
your Heavenly Father. Now we see that when Christ submits
and submits and submits until among men He says, I am a worm
and no man. Our text goes on here to say
even to the death of the cross. He was crucified with the lowest
of the low. And the world looked and said,
it's over. Finally, we're rid of him. That's what they thought. But
that's not all the story. This world is not all there is.
And the same is true for God's children. This world is but the
proving ground of what you are and whose you are. There's another
day. beyond this veil of tears. It's life's eternal day and as
God's children here we're supposed to be turning loose of what we
cannot keep in exchange for what we cannot lose. That's our business
here. The unregenerate world lives
to keep what they cannot keep and to die without what cannot
be lost, salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not
something apart from He who came. Salvation is in He who came. And He invites every weary and
guilt-laden sinner, you and I, with a load too heavy to carry,
When the devil says you've been too bad, you've been too sorry,
you've struck out too many times, you've failed too many months,
too much, you've shamed the Lord too often, there's no hope for
you. This is a very crowd our Lord
invited coming to me. All ye that labor and are heavy
laden, And he wasn't talking about labor and chopping wood
or working over at the factory or anything like that. He didn't
talk about you that labor under the guilt and the load of your
sin. There's rest for you coming to
me and I'll give you rest. This is what
Paul is teaching. the reason for so much of our
struggles. He's teaching us here. We're
learning of Christ and how He lived in this world. He was here
on business for the glory of God. I already said this verse.
I came not to do mine own will. Not as a man to try to fight
and fuss and cuss and get ahead and outdo like other men do. But I came here not to do my
will, but the will of Him that sent me. It's God's will. It's deity in the driver's seat. And of course, Christ couldn't
have done the will of God if He wasn't God. You say, well, I want to do the
will of God, but I'm not God. Well, wait a minute. The only
part of you that really wants to do the will of God is Christ in you. The new creation. Everything else about you wants
to live like a dog and do as you please. And be like the rest of this
heathen society. Dog eat dog. hurt people, use people, slander
people, kill, steal, do whatever it takes to outdo. And on the religious end, do
whatever it takes, worrying about what people think. Paul says don't dwell on all
that mess, trying to fit in. Trying to be what you're not.
Trying to be what people call normal. What is that? What is
that? That old preacher, David Ring,
that had the cerebral palsy, said one time that somebody asked
him, does he ever feel strange being around normal people?
You know what he said? He said, I've never been around
any normal people. Didn't know there was any. I think he's right. I think he's right. God's children are abnormal.
We're in this world, but we're not of it. And the only way to
be content in this world is if your heart is not in it. Colossians 3.12, if you then
be risen with Christ, set your affections on things above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things of the earth. Go through this world singing.
This world is not my home. I'm just a passing through. We're
not here for long. Even if you're young this morning,
believe me, you're not here for long. When I was a little boy
growing up in the country down the mountain, lived way out in
the country, I can remember this as a little boy. I hadn't thought
of this in 50 years. Me standing out in the yard bored.
Kids get bored, you know that? Bored. It sometimes would be 20 or 30 minutes,
sometimes an hour before a car would pass our house. It's kind
of unthinkable now, isn't it? But I'd hear one coming. Might
be a mile or two away. Everything quiet. And I'd listen. It'd come closer and the noise
would get louder, sound would get louder. And it would pass. And then the sound would start
getting dim, dim. And finally it would be totally
gone. Silence. It all happened in just
a minute or so, just a little bit. That's how life is. No matter what all you do, what
all you have, how great you are, this world is going to forget
you wherever you are. But you're going to be gone somewhere.
And you're going to be gone to be with what you loved and who
you loved in this life. And if it's the Lord, that love
for him and his people, it'll be forever. And it'll grow sweeter
and sweeter forever. But if it's not the Lord, you're
going where there'll be no love. There'll be nothing or nobody
to love you. They'll all hate you and you'll
hate everybody forever and ever and ever. I'm saying to us, this
life is so very brief. The clock is ticking. Old preacher
Kierkegaard used to say, the clock is ticking. Eternity, eternity,
eternity. Lay awake in the middle of the
night. afraid of going to hell, and the clock is ticking. Eternity. Eternity. Eternity. We're all headed there. It's not far off. Christ says,
come unto me. He's done pass this way before
us. Deity became flesh. Humiliation. on a cross of shame. But the rest of the story, verse
9, wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him. He raised him from the dead after
they crucified him, buried him. God hath highly exalted him and
given him a name which is above every name. Paul is telling us,
you just as well quit trying to make you a name. Quit trying
to win God's approval in your name. Trust Him who has given a name
above every name. He earned it. You can't. That at the name of Jesus, every
knee should bow. things in heaven, things in earth,
and things under the earth, that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I want to
bow to Him now. I want to confess now that Jesus
Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And I want to
live for Him. with this mind that I'm here on business for
the glory of God. How do we do that? This is not
talking about how to be regenerated. That's the Lord's business. This
is the Lord's people Paul is talking to here. But the way
to do all this is to have the mind of Christ, the mindset of
Christ. I'm here on business for my father. Here on business. We miss it so easily. We miss
it so easily. I've told you this little story
before and I'm through. I read this one time. There was a fella after a storm
and the water was up everywhere and he was trying to go down
the river in this canoe or little boat. And he'd gone too far. He was in the middle and the
swiftness of it. He couldn't get off. And he was approaching
a waterfall, big waterfall. And he knew he couldn't survive
that. In his fear and anxiety, the
little boat capsized and went under. And here he is, the water's
too swift, he can't swim, all he can do is tread water. He
can't swim either way, it's too swift. He can just tread water
and float downstream. And he grabs hold of this huge
log that comes by. And that seems to be a measure
of security. He's not sinking now. He's got
something to hold on to. But it's headed toward destruction.
It's headed for the waterfall. And as it got nearer and nearer,
someone on the shore saw the situation and was prepared for
such a thing and had a long rope tied to a tree and grabbed it
up and threw it out and said, grab the rope. And the fellow
did. He grabbed the rope. But he wouldn't let go of the
log. And that couldn't work. He couldn't
hold both. The force was too much. But that log had been so good
to him for a minute or two. It was security for a minute
or two. In his fear, in the suddenness of the moment,
he let go of the rope. He let go of the rope and went
with the log over the waterfall to his destruction. Now what
that's about is this. The rope is Christ. The log is this world. It's all that we've Thought we
could rest in. Have a measure of security in. It's not so. It's headed for
destruction. And the world wants you to go
with it. Hold on to the log. This world is geared to damning
your soul forever. telling you to let go of the
rope. Stay with the log. No. Put both hands and all your strength
onto the rope. Embrace Christ. Let go of the
log. We wouldn't have near the heartache
as God's children we wouldn't have near the hurt if the right
things in this world were important to us and if the wrong things
we'd turn loose of. So what valuable instruction
this is for all God's children from the Apostle Paul in this
verse Philippians 2.5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Thank you for your attention
this morning. Let's stand together.