Would you turn to the book of
Philippians? Chapter two. Verse five. Let this mind. be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus. I want to attempt to preach on
this subject, the mind of Christ, in you. Let this mind be in you. Which was also in Christ Jesus. Is this hyperbole? Is this religious
speech that sounds good, but is in reality unattainable? To actually have the mind of
Jesus Christ in me. Is this possible? And this is not a higher plane
to attain. And something that we are to
strive for. If I'm a believer, it's something
I already possess. I just read that passage of scripture
from First Corinthians, chapter two, verse 16, Paul said, we
have the mind of Christ. Now, he doesn't mean we think
like he does, although we do. He said, we have his mind. We have the mind of Christ. So, yes, when he says, let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, it's certainly
attainable. You already have it if you're
a believer. If we already have his mind,
why does Paul say, let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus? Is that not being redundant if
we already have his mind? No, it's the precise same thing
Paul meant in Galatians chapter 5, verse 25, when he said, if
we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Walk as though we live in the
spirit. Walk as though we are men and
women who truly possess the mind of Jesus Christ. Now, I really
want to do that, don't you? I want to have the mind of Christ. I want to walk as one who has
the mind of Christ. Let's go back to verse 1 of Philippians
chapter 2 and see what led him to say this. And I sure want
this. I want to be somebody who walks
as one who has the mind of Jesus Christ, not just one who thinks
like Him, but one who actually possesses His mind. And if I'm a believer, I do possess
His mind. Paul said, We have. And when
he said, We, he meant every believer. He wasn't talking just about
a select few. He was talking about every believer. We have
the mind of Christ. Now look back up in verse 1.
Paul says, If there be therefore any consolation, comfort, encouragement. If there be, therefore, any consolation
in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any bowels and mercies. Now, another way to say this
is, if the Lord God really has done a work of grace in your
heart, That's what he's talking about. If you know anything about
consolation in Christ, if this is real to you, if you know anything
about comfort from His love, if you know anything about genuine
fellowship in the Spirit, if you have any bowels of deep affection
and mercy, if that's really, if the Lord has in fact done
a work of grace in your heart. Now, let's consider these individually. If there be any consolation,
any true genuine comfort and encouragement in Christ. Now,
first thing that I got to understand is what is he talking about when
he talks about in Christ? That's one of the most important
phrases in the scripture, in Christ. Turn back to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Now, do you hear what
he says? He hath blessed us. That means we already got it.
He's given us all spiritual blessings, every single one of them. He
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Now
he goes on to enumerate what these are. Look in verse 4. According
as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
Now he's talking about election. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Now do you find consolation in
that? Is that something that comforts you? I'm not talking
about something you can argue for or debate about, but is it
something you find comforting that God chose you? Not because
He foresaw any goodness in you or because He foresaw anything
that you do. He did it as an act of His will.
He chose you in Christ before time began. Now, do you find
consolation in that? If there be any consolation in
Christ, let's go and read it. According as He has chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy. That's sanctification. He chose
me to be holy. And if He chose me to be holy,
I am holy. Do you find consolation in that?
Genuine encouragement. And next He says, and without
blame before Him. Being without blame. That's justification. Being justified before God. Being
not guilty before God. Right now, while I'm talking
to you, before the thrice holy God, I have no sin. I have no
blame. Now, as true of every believer,
do you find consolation in that? If there be any consolation in
Christ. He goes on to say, in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
himself, according to the good pleasure of his will. Now, do
you find consolation in being predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ? It's all predestinated by God. If God predestinates something,
is it going to happen? Beloved, it's already happened. His will
is as good as it's done. Are you comforted by that? He says in verse 6, He's done
this to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He hath
made us, accepted, graced us in the Beloved. Do you find comfort
in the fact that you are right now presently accepted by God? You know the question, won't
you accept Jesus? That's ridiculous. That's not
the issue in any way. Where do you find that in the
Bible? It's not, will you accept him? Will he accept you? Will
he have made us accepted? Is that comforting to you? He's
accepted me. With that reference to my good
works, with that reference to my bad works, he's made me accepted
in the beloved. He says in verse 7, In whom? Now remember, this is in Christ.
Do you find consolation in Christ? in whom we have redemption through
his blood. I've been redeemed. My sins are
washed away. The forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace. Now, do you find that comforting?
Are you consoled by that? I am. I am. And he says, if there
be any consolation in Christ. Next, he says in our text, if
there be any comfort of his love. Now, that word comfort means
to speak closely. You can come into his very presence
and speak closely and have him hear you and you hear his words. Now, can you draw any comfort
from his love to where you can speak closely? I think of the
love of God to be. Nothing shall separate us from
the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Does
that comfort you? I mean true comfort. You can
draw near when you see the freeness of His love. His love to me. Now, understand this. Everybody
says, I want to be loved unconditionally. There's no such thing as unconditional
love. He doesn't love anybody unconditionally. He loves me
as I am in Christ. I deserve His love. I'm worthy
of His love. I'm lovely to Him in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He has to love me. He can't help
but love me because of what I am in Christ. Have you found comfort
in that? And then when he says again,
Philippians chapter two, verse one. If any fellowship of the spirit. The word means literally a sharing
in common. You have that which is in common
with the spirit of God. And if you've been born again,
you do have that which is in common with the Spirit of God,
because you've been born of God. You have a new nature, a holy
nature. And you have, it's not just thinking the way he does.
You do have something in common with the Spirit of God. You've
been born of the Spirit. Our Lord said that which is born
of the Spirit is spirit. And that which is born of the
flesh is flesh. Now, every believer has something
in common, and that's where this fellowship is. Fellowship in
the Spirit of God. And then he says, if any bowels
and mercies, the bowels are the affections deep within your heart,
that is affection for Christ and the things of Christ. There's
a deep affection. Mercy is compassion. It's sympathy
because of the affection you have for Christ. This word characterizes your
life Sympathy toward the things of the kingdom of heaven. Mercies,
compassion, compassion, knowing Christ. Now listen to me. This
is absolutely necessary that you and I understand this. If
I know Christ, I'm going to be a merciful person. I'm going
to be, you can't know his mercy and not be a merciful person. If I'm a harsh Hardliner, holding
people's feet to the fire, holding them under the law. I've never
experienced anything with the grace of God. Vows, deep affection
and compassion and mercy. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Now what he's talking about is
a real work of grace. Now if God's done this for you,
if He's made it to where you're actually consoled and find consolation
in Christ, if you're comforted by His love, If you have fellowship
in the Spirit, if you have bowels, deep affection for the things
of Christ and the things of God and compassion, you're a merciful
person. And if God's done something for
you, you are. Now, if this is real, it's so. Verse two, fulfill
ye my joy that you be like minded, having the same love being of
one accord and of one mind. Now, if these things are real
in you, and they are, if you're a believer, they're real in me
if I'm a believer. Now, he says, if they are, here's
what I want you to do. Fulfill my joy that you be like-minded. Having the very mind of Christ,
having the same love, love to Him, that causes you to be of
one soul with one another, like-minded of the same soul, one mind. Now, this is what true Christian
unity is. You know, people talk about unity. We all like to have
unity. Now, let me tell you this about unity. If you're a believer,
it's there. It's not something you've got
to work for. And unity is not overlooking differences. Unity
is believing the same thing. That's what unity is. When I
say Christ is all in salvation, you say, amen. When I say His
blood completely purges our sins, you say, amen. You believe that.
We believe the same thing. If I say my only ground of acceptance
before God is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, you say, yep,
that's what I believe. That's what I rejoice in. If
I say the only purpose for living is the glory of Christ, you say,
yes, that's so. That's the only reason to live.
There's a true union of soul, a union of spirit. We are like-minded,
aren't we? I'm looking at some people that
believe the same thing I do. Believe the Word of God. Believe
the Gospel. Believe Jesus Christ. And that
produces a true like-mindedness, doesn't it? And that's why this
thing of fellowship with a believer, grace is thicker than blood.
It really is. I mean, there's a like-minded.
You believe the Gospel. You rejoice in the Gospel. Now,
let's go on reading. He says, Fulfill ye my joy that
ye be like-minded, having the same love, love for Christ, love
for His Gospel, being of one accord, one soul, of one mind. Verse 3, Let nothing be done
through strife, or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. Now, strife is personal
ambition that creates competition and rivalry. That's not the mind
of Christ. If I'm competing with you, if
I'm trying to get one up on you, I don't have the mind of Christ.
That kind of thinking is absolute. We're all, that's against fellowship.
We're one, we're brethren in Christ. Not one trying to get
up over the other one. Not one trying to be competitive
about whether I'm the nearest to the Lord or I'm the one he
uses the most and so on. That kind of thinking, strike
it out. Your flesh will think that way,
but he says, no, let this mind be in you which is in Christ
Jesus. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. I like
that word vain glory. There's the glory of Christ.
And what's everything else? Vainglory. I mean, that just
puts the glory of Christ and vainglory. He says, let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, in
humility, let each esteem other as better than themselves. Lowliness of mind. Now, here's
the mind of Christ. This is, to me, this is There's
a lot of things that are amazing in Scripture, but one of the
things that's amazing to me about the Lord Jesus Christ is He's
lowly in mind. He's God. He's the God-Man. He's the Creator
of the universe, yet listen to how He describes His own heart.
He says, Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden,
and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, not learn about me. Learn of me, for I am me, and
lowly in heart. And you'll find rest for your
souls. You know, there's nobody like the Lord Jesus Christ. If
you came up to me and disclosed to me what was really in your
heart, I'd be disgusted. Now, is that hypocritical? Absolutely. Absolutely. It's amazing. We
can really be hard on somebody what's in them that we can kind
of, you know, be easy on ourselves. Of course it would be, but there's
nobody that you can come into their presence and really disclose
what you really are. And they'll turn away from you,
but not the Lord. Isn't that amazing? He's meek
and lowly in heart. Sinners felt comfortable around
him. They didn't feel threatened.
They didn't feel judged. And he's the only truly holy
man to ever live. And yet, sinners like me, like
you, could come into his very presence and not feel threatened,
not feel judged, not feel like he's looking you over with his
microscope. That's his character. Now, he
says to all of his people, let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. Now, let's be honest. Is it hard
to esteem the other as better than you? I don't care who it is. I don't
care how bad they've been. You know your own heart. You
know a little bit about your heart. And is there ever been
a heart as black and evil as yours? Is it hard? Is it difficult for you to esteem
that other person? You know, you've not seen it.
There are you seeing a little bit in your own, but you've not
seen their heart. But is it difficult? I can look at you. As God is my witness, and I say
that very carefully, I say that fearfully, but I esteem you better
than me. I know what's in me. And if you
all, well, I'm glad y'all don't. I'm glad you don't. Don't want
you to. Don't want you to. But it's easy for any believer
to esteem the other person, not as equal, but as better. better than themselves. You know, Paul, the apostle,
could say at the same time, he could say, I'm not a wit behind
the chiefest apostle. And mean it and not say it with
arrogance, but he could also say I'm less than the least of
all the saints. And he could go on to say right
before he died, I'm the very chief of sinners. Paul, the apostle,
would have looked at you And he would have said, you're better
than me. And he would have meant it. He wouldn't just be using
the language he knew he ought to use. He would have meant it.
Now, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem the other as better
than themselves. Verse four, look not every man
on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Now, as long as being happy is
my goal, I'm going to be miserable. But he said, don't look things.
That's a recipe for disaster for yourselves. Don't look on
your own things, but look every man on the things of others.
You want to find a happy person, it's a giving person. It's someone
who's seeking to look out for the things of others. And then
he says in verse 5, let this mind be in you, which was also
in Christ Jesus. Now this was and is the mind
of Christ And Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
gives us the very mind of Jesus Christ. There is not a more awesome
passage in all the Word of God than the one we're getting ready
to look at, where Christ's heart is opened up to us. And we're
enabled to peek in and see just exactly what His mind is. And remember, He says, let this
mind that we're getting ready to look at be in you. which was
also in Christ Jesus. Now look at this description
of the mind of Christ. Verse 6. 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. Now the nature and essence
of deity was and is He thought it not robbery. He
didn't think it to be a thing to grasp for. He didn't think
it would be a rip-off for him to be equal with God. Now, what if I stood up before
you and said, I'm equal with God. I have the same power He
does. I have the same nature. I'm equal
with God. I'm right there with Him. That
would be so evil. It would be so arrogant. It would
be so presumptuous. Wicked for me to say something
like that. Be wicked for you to say something like that. But
he can say, I'm equal with God. How can he say that? He is God. The Father said to him in Hebrews
1, thy throne, O God, is forever. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Remember what our Lord said?
He that hath seen me hath what? Hath seen the Father. His name
shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. That's what he is. Now, he thought
it not robbery to be equal with God. It was not a thing to be
grasped for. He knew himself to be equal with
God. But look, before we go on, You've all heard that saying,
power corrupts. And haven't you found it's true?
Everybody, give somebody, somebody might be a pretty nice person.
Give them a little authority, see what they do. I mean, they
can turn into monsters real quick. Power corrupts. And you know
that, so you've seen it happen, maybe it's happened to you. Power
corrupts. Now here's the one who truly
has power, but look what he does. He doesn't start throwing his
weight around. Here's what he did, this one who was equal with
God. And remember, let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus. What did he do? He made himself of no reputation. He emptied himself. And he took upon him the form
of a servant, and he was made in the likeness of men. Now he, instead of using this
equality to be served, and that's what I do. You give me that power,
oh boy, this place would be a mess. I do, I just, who knows what. And if you had the power, it'd
be even worse. So, it'd be just insane, you know what I'm saying.
But the point I'm making is, he had this equality with God,
this power, And he didn't use it to be served. He became a
servant. He took upon himself the nature
and essence of a servant. The Son of Man came not to be
ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom
for many. And when he took upon him the
form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men, you think
of the stoop he made. I don't... God! In His infinite fullness became
a man. He took upon Him all the limitations
of being a man. What a stoop! Verse 8, And being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself. Oh, this thing
of humility! The Lord humbled himself. Let's
go on reading. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now what
he was in the eyes of men, his fashion, was nothing more than
a man. And he knew this all the time,
and yet he humbled himself The humbleness, the humility of the
incarnation when he became man. But here it says he became obedient
to death. This is his humility. This is
how he humbled himself before his father. He became obedient
to death, even the death of the cross. The father said, my son, obey
me and your obedience will kill you. And he said, yes, father. He became obedient to death,
and that's not really so much talking just about stopping breathing.
The death of the cross was eternal death. All of the sins of his
people became his. That's why he died. He was made
sin. I was thinking about this scripture
and I don't know how much I know I don't understand a whole lot
about it, but it says, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It's 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That though He was rich, and you think of the
riches of Jesus Christ. Rich in righteousness. Rich in the love of His Father. Rich in the praise of angels.
I could go on talking about His riches. Though He were rich,
yet for your sakes, He became poor. Now what's this thing of
Him becoming poor? He was rich in righteousness,
but no more. He's made sin. He was rich in love, but now
He feels nothing but the awful frown of His Father. He was rich
in praise, Now all he can say is, my God, my God. He wouldn't
even call him father at this time. He didn't feel like he
could. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was made
to be sin in all of his riches. What does scripture say? He became
poor. He didn't have those things. Who understands this? Nobody
does. You know, I can't explain this. Just believe it. I can't
give you all the mechanics behind it, I just believe it. He became
poor that you, through his poverty, might be rich. He humbled himself and he became
obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, verse 9, Philippians
chapter 2, Now, if you want to have the
mind of Christ, you know what you're going to do? You know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to humble myself. And when I think I've got low
enough, I'm going to have to go a little further down and
I'll get a little bit closer to where I ought to be. And when
I get there, it's a whole lot further down than I thought.
Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt
you in due time. The Lord Jesus Christ humbled
himself. That's the mind of Christ. He
humbled himself. And because of that, verse 9,
wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a
name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now, if I have the mind of Christ,
I'm rejoicing in this. Aren't you glad that God has
given Him a name which is above every name? Isn't it wonderful
to think that in His name, the name of Jesus, every knee is
going to bow and every tongue is going to confess, whether
they like it or not, that He is Lord. to the glory of God
the Father, and beloved, I'm one of those folks who likes
it. I love it. I love thinking of the Lord exalting
Him at the mind of Christ. You know, Christ loves His own
glory, and it's well that He should. He's the only one who
should love His own glory. If I loved my own glory, it'd
be wrong. It'd be evil. But He loves His own glory. I
love His glory. I have the mind of Christ. Now,
verse 12, 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 with trembling. Anything
you see in your mind that's contrary to the mind of Christ, address
that. Work out your salvation. And do so with fear and trembling.
I remember one time hearing a preacher preach, and he used this verse
of scripture, and he used it to prove that salvation is at
least partially by works. Said, work out your own salvation
with fear and trembling. Well, it does say that. And you
give attention to everything that is contrary to the mind
of Christ. Humble yourself. Be a servant to others. Let this
mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. Look what he says next.
He says, for it's God which worketh in you, both to will and to do
His good pleasure." Don't anybody say, this is impossible for me
to have the mind of Christ? It's impossible for me to work
out my salvation the way I ought to? No. Here's why. It's God
that works in you. Both to will. Do you have a will? Do you have a will to know the
Lord? Is that what you want? I know
exactly what Paul meant when he said, to will is present with
me. I want to be perfectly obedient. I want to be without sin. I want
to be exactly like the Lord Jesus Christ. To will is present with
me. It's right there with me. Now,
how to perform? I find not. The will's there. Well, where'd
that will come from? It's God that worketh in you,
both to will and to do His good pleasure. Do you want to do God's
will? Who put that in? He worked in you, both to will
and to do His good pleasure. Verse 14, so do all things without
murmurings and disputings. That's the way the mind of Christ
is, true humility. Yes, Lord. Whatever He brings
my way, I'm not to murmur about it. It kills me because When
I read a passage of scripture like this, because I know how
much murmuring I do. I mean, if you could have seen some of the
thoughts I've had this week about my hard life, and all the difficulty
the Lord brings me through, and all the... just the... Do all
things without murmurings and disputings. You see, the Lord
sent it. It's best. It's best. Be thankful for everything. The scripture says, for this
is The will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, that thing
you're having a hard time being thankful with, is God's will.
It's best, isn't it? It's best. Thank Him for it.
This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, so do all
things without murmurings and disputings, that you may be,
verse 15, blameless and harmless, guileless, not deceitful, that
you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,
in the midst of a crooked and a perverse nation among whom
you shine as lights in the world. Don't you want to be just that? In this crooked and perverse
nation and world that we live in, to hold forth the word of
life, the gospel, to give myself totally to that. Verse 16, holding
forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ
that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Having
the mind of Christ, My one and only purpose in this life is
to hold forth the Word of Christ, shining as a light in this world. His obedience to this, my message,
His obedience to death gave me life. And that's the message
I preach. Now, let this mind be in you. Let this mind be in you. which
was also in Christ Jesus and beloved. If God said, let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That's great.