Alright, if you will, turn with
me to the book of Philippians chapter 2. The lesson this morning is the mind
of Christ. Having talked about his confidence
that God had begun a good work in them. That's how Paul opened
his letter. He thanked God. for them. And he told them that he was
confident that God had begun a good work in him and that God
who began that work was able to finish that work and would
finish that work unto the day of Jesus Christ. And he talked
about their love for one another and their love for him as he
sat down in that Roman prison. And he assured them that his
imprisonment was not due to anything that he did. It wasn't due to
a weak character or some kind of a flaw in him or some kind
of unwillingness on his part to serve the Lord, some bad fall
that he had endured. But that he was there as a prisoner.
for the glory of God, and that God was using him even while
in bonds to further his gospel. And then he encouraged them even
in these times of trials by that. He used his own imprisonment
and trials that he was going through to comfort them and teach
them about their going through trials. And then having talked about
the real evidence of a godly life and what it truly means
to be identified with Christ and to have fellowship with Him,
and now he tells them in chapter 2. Let's begin reading here in
verse 1. "...if there be therefore..."
That is based on the things that he'd already said. "...if there
be therefore any consolation in Christ..." any comfort of love, any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any vows of mercies, fulfill ye my joy that
you be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord
and one mind." Will you hear me this morning?
Everybody that professes religion, professes faith, And Professor
Salvation is not born of God. Just because a man says... I
had one pull in the parking lot up at the new church yesterday.
He informed me that he was a preacher. And that I really needed to have
him come down and preach for me. And I knew in 20 seconds
of our conversation, that man didn't know anything about the
Lord. But he did have a religious experience. And this man did profess religion. But not everybody that professes
religion knows the Lord. Paul had confidence in these
people that they knew the Lord. They made their professions of
faith just like everybody else does. But he had confidence in
them. He had confidence in them. The entire nation of Israel professed
to be the children of God. But we're told in the Scriptures,
for they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children. They which are the
children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.
But the children of the promise are counted for the seed. God
does have children. He does have an elect people.
He does have men and women that He has chosen to be with Him
in eternity through that redemptive work of Christ and through that
effectual work of the Holy Spirit of God. There are children out
here, but not all of them are. God has a people He chose in
Christ, and by Him He made covenant promise and provision by His
Son, and He blessed them with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus, according as He had chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world. And these blessings include such
things as predestination. immediately upon telling us that
the Father had blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, that He chose us in Him before the foundation
of the world. Then He moves on in the book
of Ephesians and lays this foundation. He includes this promise being
predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself. Being accepted, he goes on, being
accepted in the blood, being redeemed through His blood, having
the forgiveness of sins, and being called by His gospel in
the power of the Holy Ghost to repentance and faith. And they,
every one, experience His mercy and grace through the washing
of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. And a man
without a debt, will you hear me? A man without a debt cannot
experience what it is to have that debt settled. He has to
first be in that situation. He has to first owe that debt.
He has to see himself the debtor. He has to stand before the judge
being called out from among men. And here he stands before the
judge and he owes this great debt, this great debt. And then he receives forgiveness.
That man knows what it is. That man knows what it is. But
somebody that read about that, somebody who just heard about
that and said, boy, that sounds good. That sounds great. I like
that. I agree with that. That man's
not yet experienced these things because he's never been a debtor.
He's never been a debtor. A man who's never been convicted
of sin knows nothing in his heart about what it is to be forgiven
his sin. He don't know what sin is. He
can't perceive forgiveness. He don't know what sin is. He
don't know what that guilt is. And a man who's never experienced
being dead in trespasses and sins cannot conceive what it
is to be raised from the dead. He don't know he's dead. He don't
know what dead is. He don't know that his every
walk, his every thought, his every affection testifies of
that deadness. Boys, listen to what I'm saying. The faith and life of a believer
is not just an intellectual faith. It's not something you learn
in a book like you learn science. It's something that God causes
you to experience. You experience these things.
Now, it comes through the head. It's not going to come apart
from the head. You're not going to sit in a closet and have a
good feeling and call that salvation. You're going to have to hear
and understand the truth. You're going to have to hear
it, think about it, understand it. And all that's given to you
of God. But when it's given to you, you'll
understand it just like you understand anything else. It'll make sense
to you. It'll make sense to you. But
He also with that shows you who you are. Who you are and what
you are. And He brings you down and makes
that sin to bear upon your heart and you bear that guilt. You
understand that. The faith and life of a believer
is not just an intellectual faith. It does pass through the head.
There is an act of intellect involved. But it surpasses that,
and it includes his mind and his heart, and it affects the
whole man. And therefore, Paul uses this
word, if, four times in this first verse. Look at it there. It ought to jump off the page
there. If. If, he says. If there be any consolation in
Christ. Well, what's that mean? What
does that mean, that consolation? Well, consolation means an instance
of consoling. It means the state of being consoled. It means someone or something
that comforts and consoles me. So that what he's saying is this.
Can you be consoled in Christ? In your times of trouble? In
your times of sickness? In your times of weakness? Can
you be consoled in Christ? Is that sufficient? Is Christ
sufficient for that? If there be any consolation in
Christ. And then look at this, if any
comfort of love. Does the love of God in Christ
Jesus comfort you? Does that love have any impact
on your life? Think about this. Here's the
love of God. The love of God is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
That's where it's at. Now you say, do you know anything
about that? Does that love have any impact on you? Does it have any impact on your
life? Is it sufficient to motivate you? Is it sufficient to constrain
you? Paul said, if any, any comfort
of love. And then listen to this, if any
fellowship of the Spirit. What's he talking about there?
Well, first it means we're in harmony with the Spirit of God.
We're not out of sync with the Spirit of God. If we have fellowship
with the Spirit of God, then we're in harmony with all of
the things of the Spirit. What are these things? Well,
these things are the Word of God. You can't have an interest
in God and have it contrary to the Word of God. You can't have
a hope and have it contrary to the Word of God, because all
of these things come through the effects of work of the Holy
Spirit, and the Holy Spirit inspired this book. He doesn't teach things
contrary to this book. He teaches things in harmony
with this book. He's the author of this book.
So we're in harmony with the Spirit of God. We believe what
He teaches. We receive the things of the
Spirit of God and we're taught by Him. And we're made teachable
by Him. You can't teach a natural man
anything. I couldn't even get that fellow to shut up long enough
to say hello to him. He was just jabbering on 90 miles
a minute. The Holy Spirit of God makes
us teachable. And He causes us to receive such
things as He gives us. And then secondly, it means we
have His presence with us. Brethren, to be born of God,
to be born of God means that you are indwelt by the Spirit
of God. Indwelt by the Spirit of God. And to have Him dwelling within
us makes us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of enlightened
saints. He enables us to rejoice and
to receive what others who are enlightened have received. He
causes us to be identified in their number, in that number
with Moses and Elijah and Jacob and all of these children of
God. He makes us meet to become partakers
of the inheritance of these enlightened saints. He enables us to hear. He enables us to trust and to
love and to embrace the truth. And then over in 1 John 4, verse
6, listen to this. He said, We are of God. He that
knoweth God knoweth us. How'd that come about? Because
the Spirit of God dwells in him. That's why. That's why. I had
a nephew ask me one time. He asked me four really good
questions. And I went back that following
Sunday and I used those four questions and preached the Gospel. But one of those questions was
this. He said, you grew up in church and you've been reading
the Bible and things and hearing people talk about the Bible since
you was a little kid. He said, I didn't do that. Now
he said, I was just a John Doe. He said, I'm John Doe. How does
John Doe out here, who don't own a Bible, don't know anything
about it? How does he know when he selects
a church and goes in there and sits down if this man is sin
of God or if he's just playing religion? He said, I mean, outside
of something ridiculous that the man's doing, he said, how
do I know the difference? How can you know the difference?
And here's what I told him. And you might be upset about
this, but this is what I told him. You never will, apart from
an intervention of God in your heart, you never will. You'll
never know the difference. You'll just find what suits your
old nature. You'll find whatever it is that
you like about religion, whatever it is that appeals to that old
sorry heart of yours, that's what you're going to find. And
you're going to sit there and you're going to amen. And you'll
just bubble over and cry. You know exactly what I'm talking
about. Some of you have relatives who do that. Oh, I just thank
God. They don't even know God. Wouldn't
know him if he stood in the middle of the street. That's the way
those old Pharisees were. They taught God. They lived God. They made broad their philanthropies. They prided themselves on how
much they knew about God. And he said, but I tell you,
you've seen me, and you don't know me. You don't know me. You never will. apart from an
intervention of God. And I'm going to tell you something.
This is why I called these young boys' attention to what I'm telling
you here this morning. When God does, when He does intervene,
He's going to do it through a preacher. You're going to hear what that
man is saying. And it's not just going to be
words anymore. It's going to go home to your
heart. That's how God calls sinners. When that preacher stands up
and talks about sin, all of a sudden, you're the sinner. Oh, he's talking about me. This is the dead owl. Oh, he's
talking about my death. I'm the sinner. I'm the sinner. And then those doctrines of grace
are not just intellectual anymore. Then them doctrines of grace
become your experience. The Spirit of God gives us an
unction. He enables us to know who is
sin of God and who isn't. He enables us to hear, enables
us to trust and love and embrace the truth. The Spirit of the living God
is the same and He changes not. And so it is with the things
of the Spirit, the Word of God. the gospel of Christ, the preaching
of the gospel, the new birth, faith, repentance, and all the
fruit of the Spirit of God. And those who have fellowship
with the Spirit enjoy fellowship with others who have that Spirit. And that's why he says here,
if any fellowship of Spirit, and then fourthly, if any vows
of mercy, Vows is an archaic word. That's not a word we use
anymore in this application. And what it means is the very
seat of your emotions. And what he's telling them is
this, if there be that new heart of God. If He's taken from you
that stony heart and put within you that heart of flesh, that
very sheet of emotions, if there be any bowels of mercy. Oh, He said over in Ezekiel 11,
verse 19, I'll give them one heart. And I'll put a new spirit
within you, and I'll take that stony heart of their flesh, and
I'll give them a heart of flesh." So because of the experience
of grace, God's people, to one degree or another, are merciful,
they're kind, they're gracious, they're tender-hearted. And then
he says in verse 2, if you have these things, If this is your
experience, if I'm right as I look at this evidence that God has
given of His work in you, if my confidence is right, He said,
if all of these things, then fulfill you, my joy. That you
be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and
one mind. The Church of the Living God
has one Father, one Lord, one Spirit, one faith, one baptism. They are all taught and indwelt
by the same Spirit, and they should function having one mind
and being in one accord. Verse 3, Let nothing that you
do be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness
of mind. What in the world is he talking
about there? Lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other better
than themselves. Strife and vainglory are the
very opposite of like-mindedness and humility. Now, like-minded
does not mean that we're always in agreement about everything.
We're not. My wife and I disagree about
a lot of things. It just simply means that we
all have the same experience of grace and the same basic principles
of grace applied to our hearts. That's what it means. We're like-minded. And it's lowliness of mind. Where does that come from? That
comes through this washing of regeneration. I remember a fellow said it.
At the conference up in Ashland one year, he said, you're going
to lose that strut before you get to glory. You're going to
lose it. You're not going to strut in
there. And if you're one of his, you're going to lose that strut.
Natural man is full of pride. He has nothing of which to be
proud of, yet he's proud of everything. He's proud of everything. He's
never performed a righteous act in his life, and yet he's proud
of his behavior. If any man were capable of keeping
the whole law, he would have only done what he was supposed
to do. That's all he was. Oh, we put him on a pedestal.
No, all he did was what he was supposed to do. We're even proud of things we
have nothing to do with. Did you know that? God restrains
men. He keeps some men from being
as evil as they could be. And they get proud of that. Well,
they didn't do it. He did it. But they take pride
in it. Pride in it. Man or woman is
born with a fair complexion. They're proud of it. Well, here's
the thing that has nothing to do with it. I might be born with
a big thing on my face and come out and look like the elephant
man or something. I have nothing to do with that. I have nothing
to do with that. I have nothing to do with the
color of my hair, the fairness of my skin, or the color of my
eyes, or any of those things. But here's one It looks this
way. Here's another one over here
that looks another way. And this one over here that's fair takes
pride in it. Well, you cannot do it. Man or woman lives a sheltered
life, never partaking of drugs or alcohol. And they're proud
of it. Proud of it. Paul asked this
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He said, what have
you gotten that you haven't received? And if you've received it, why
do you glory like you did? Every man in the kingdom of God
ought to be convinced that he's the worst of the lot. He's the worst of the lot. That
God found him at the very bottom of the barrel. That's where He
found him. He didn't skim him off the top. He wasn't borderline. He got him on the bottom. But he's the very chief of sinners. Let my estimate of myself always,
always be below my brothers and sisters. And let me be concerned with their needs and not just
mine. Let me inventory his pantry first
and then check mine out. Let me see to his needs first
and then my own. How much time do you spend looking
on the needs of your brothers and sisters? Do we even look? Do we even ask? Do we even care? Truth be known, we don't spend
any time. Paul is talking to us here in
these verses about the mind of the believer, how he thinks,
what he cares about, how he arrives at his daily schedule and his
daily walk, what motivates him, what moves him, how he thinks
and feels. Oh, but you say, now wait a minute,
preacher. I worked hard for what I've got.
I labored hard for what I've got. I saved up for years. And
this fellow over here, he played the grasshopper. Everybody in
here knows the story of the ant and the grasshopper. He played
the grasshopper. He went out and run. He wasted
all that he had. And I did this and I labored
hard for it so I could have some security. And he wanted to play
the grasshopper. He didn't plan ahead. He wasted
his living. He did this. He did that. And
now you want me to help him? Now you want me to be concerned
about his needs? Or here's another man or woman
and Providence has moved contrary for him and he's having a hard
time now. You want me to help him too?
Or here's a man or woman who's gone through a divorce And they
are struggling to make a clean start. You mean you want me to
give what I worked hard for and to share those things with Him?
Listen to what Paul says here. Let this mind be in you. You see it there in verse 5?
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and 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 become obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Every son of Adam has foolishly
ignored that which could provide him with a security for his soul. Every son of Adam is a bankrupt
beggar. Every last one of them. No son
of Adam is worthy of anything. Everything he is, is his fault. It's his fault. He's to be blamed
for his own lack. And even worse, he is an enemy
of God, he is ungodly, none that seeketh after God, no fear of
God before their eyes. None good, none righteous, none
that understandeth, unclean, unholy, unconcerned. And the
Son of God laid aside His royal robes and clothed Himself with
the flesh and bones of that ungodly man. That man who wasted everything. That man who ignored that which
could have brought security to his soul. And he did that to
see to his needs. In order to save him, preserve
him, and make him to inherit the throne of glory, Read Hannah's
prayer back there in 1 Samuel 3, I think, or long in there. Hannah's got a prayer. He lifted
him up. He lifted that beggar up off
the dunghill to make him inherit the throne of glory. This is
the experience of grace. It's to know where it all came
from, and how it came, and by whom it came, and why. And knowing
these things, we're to have the mind of Christ. That's what this
mind of Christ is. It's this experiential knowledge
of how this grace came into my soul. The King of Glory built
a fire. Think about this. The Lord of
Glory, the Creator of the universe, went out on the lakeside and
built a fire and put some rocks around there. and put some fishes
on it and called His disciples in to eat. Oh my soul. Those disciples were out there
because they abandoned Him. They said, we go fishing. Oh
my soul. And we are going to hoard up
what little bit we got because we think we worked so hard for
it. My friends, everything you have is a gift of God. Even the
energy and the tenacity to get out there and work for it, that's
the gift of God. Share it. Love it. Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus our Lord. God give
us an understanding of these verses. Thank you.