I'll read a few verses here from
the third chapter of the book of Philippians. Let us thank the Lord together. Merciful Father, full of grace
and truth, we're so happy in our souls. that we have need to lean upon,
who understand our thoughts and our ways and directs our path. We thank You for this hour that
Thy people might band themselves together and be bonded in Thee. How we thank You, Father. with
a blessed Lord Jesus who stood in our stead and in
our place and paid what was demanded, suffering our shame and guilt
and taking our sins and removing them from us forever. We gladly
make a feeble attempt to honor and glorify Thee in Him. Bless the Word as it is preached
to us this day. Remember our brethren, and we
do In particular, Father, remember Bob and Margaret here. I pray
that you'll assist them and help them and comfort them. In his
name, Amen. Here in this third chapter, Paul says in the eighth verse
of the third chapter, Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for
the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dumb that
I may win Christ and be found in him. You know, he says there
in the book of Ephesians that he put us in him before
the foundation of the world. Our righteousness is not in us. Our righteousness is that we're
in Him. Now, the question arises, when
did this transpire? It took place before the world
began. God put us in Christ. Those who are believers, who
know who God is in Christ, who knows what the gospel is. You and I were chosen and put
in the Lord Jesus Christ before the world began. Paul said that
he would be found in Him Not having his own righteousness. Many people, I don't know that I should say
many, but there is some folks who believe that it is their
personal righteousness that they have confidence in. But the righteousness that Paul
talks about and the righteousness of the
believer is because God put him in Christ. Now listen to me. Where God put him, God keeps
him. If he put us in Christ, he'll
keep us in Christ, and his righteousness The righteousness of God is in Christ and is wrought unto
us, imputed unto us. We stand in him. We live and
die in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not according to anything that
we have done, but according to his mercy, and His grace given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. And being found
in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Let's take our Bibles. Turn back a page in Philippians. I was thinking of the comments
Bo Scott was just making. We have sat for so long and heard
such truth proclaimed for so long. It's almost like when we
hear the truth, because of the frailty of our flesh, we almost, and we have to remind
ourselves, come to take this almost for granted that we're
able to hear. such truth as was proclaimed
in the last few statements by our pastor. By and large, this world never
hears, never heard it. It is a miracle of God's grace
that the Lord would allow us to hear it and to rejoice in
it. I would like to speak this morning
for a few moments on the subject, the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ. In Philippians 2.5 the scripture
says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Let this mind Before we look at that verse
in particular, Paul the Apostle had given the
church at Philippi some hearty instruction. In Philippians 1.27,
he says, Only let your conversation be
as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and
see you or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you
stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for
the faith of the gospel. Only. It's one thing needful,
he said. One thing needful. Let your conversation,
this is what he's saying, conduct yourselves worthily of the gospel. Let your citizenship be known. Let your citizenship, let your
manner of life reflect the kingdom to which you belong. How? How do you do that? Well, verse 27 says that we just
read, ìStand fast, stand fast in one spirit with one mind. Persevere. Persist in the Spirit
of God in and with an agreeable mind concerning Christ. That's what it is. Stand fast. Now this is instruction,
yes. But what Paul is doing is he's
giving the evidence of a believer. Stand fast in the gospel. Stand
fast with one mind. Strive together for the faith
of the gospel. Wrestle in company is what that
means. You know, this church is made
up individuals. And we do different things and
we come from different places. But when it comes to the gospel,
I can tell you having, as the Scripture says about Barnabas
when he went to Antioch, he saw the grace of God. This is the
thing that I can truthfully say. Now, I'm not trying to sugarcoat
it. I'm just telling you. By the
grace of God, this church strives together after the gospel. They strive, they wrestle together,
wrestle in company, seeking jointly for the persuasion, the conviction,
the preaching of the gospel, the good message. We're together. We strive together. Well, that's
a good thing. to behold the hearty love for
the gospel is present. Oh, I'd be the first one to admit,
I mean, we all stand here and say, you know, but, oh, you don't
know the struggles of my heart. Well, yes, I do. Why? Because I have the same ones
as you do. Paul the Apostle says, there is in me, there is in my
flesh, there dwells no good thing. There is not in my flesh and
none in yours either. He says, with the flesh I serve
the law of sin and so do you and so do I. But I will tell
you this, for God's people, with their mind, they serve the law
of God. They love it. They strive together. Christianity
is to the believer. It is not dead ritual. We're
not just going through the motions. You're here because you want
to be and you love it and you're thankful for it. You desire it. You hunger after it. Christ. Christ is your life. Christ is
your hope. Christ is your peace. Christ
is your comfort. If a man loves me, he says, keep
my commandments. By faith, he says, remain in
the faith. And God's people do. Not by their
own power. By the grace of God, they do
what Christ commanded them to do. This is the will of God. This
is the work. What must we do? That fellow
asked the Lord, what must I do to work the works of God? The
Lord said, this is the work of God. This is it. This is it right
here. Believe on Him. whom God has sent. And that's
not something that a believer drums up, just works up. He just, by the grace of God,
he realizes, I am what I am. By God's grace. Verse 28, and
in nothing, Philippians 1.28, in nothing terrified by your
adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition. That is to say, the adversaries of the gospel that
hate the gospel, those that you know, those that you work with,
those that are of your family that argue against you concerning
the gospel, it is in their arguments, in
their resistance, that is an evident token of perdition. That they despise what you love. That your adversaries stand against
you is an evident token. It's a proof of ruin. A proof
of destruction. A proof of loss. All but to you. But to you. To you that believe. Salvation. Rescue. That's what that was. Rescue.
Deliverance. Safety. But to you that believe,
it's an evident token that God Almighty has called you out of
darkness into the glorious light of His blessed Son. And look at this. And that of
God. Salvation is of the Lord. Like
Brother Scott just said, God separated to Himself in His eternal
electing grace. God chose a people to set His
affection on. Not because they were any different
than anybody else. He was pleased to show you mercy. He was pleased to set His affection. Why? Because he did it after
the counsel of his own will. Why did he choose one and pass
by another one? He said he chose to. And that
just ends it. That ends it. That Almighty God
would call out of the same lump one vessel and make that one
a vessel of honor and leave another one in destruction is the absolute
setting forth of God's right to do so. That verse that I've
quoted so many times, 2 Thessalonians 2.13, Paul says we are bound,
we're bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. Because God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the truth,
setting you apart unto the truth. Almighty God showed mercy and
grace to you. Salvation is of the Lord. God has graciously granted His
people Two things. Not only, verse 29
says, is it given to you in behalf of Christ, not only to believe
on Him. That's what it says unto you.
It's given in the behalf of Christ. Graciously given unto you. Not only to believe on Him, but
also to suffer. for His sake. Suffer. Now, I
do understand that in this life we have persecutions and trials. Like I said, we don't go looking
for trouble. But when trouble does come, when
trials do come, we're not surprised. Why? Because the Lord said it
would be like that. But this suffering for His sake,
Actually, the fullness of that truth there is to experience
by faith the fellowship of His suffering for me. It's given
unto you, not only to believe, but to suffer. Like I said, I
know that God's people suffer persecution. I understand that.
And that's true, absolutely true. But this gift to the heart of
God's people, that causes them to be sensitive to the truth
of what He's done for me. If I can this morning enter in
by the grace of God that what Almighty God in His Lamb, by
His Lamb, by His substitute, did for me, He bore my guilt,
made sin, that I might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
That's what Brother Scott said. When Almighty God looks at His
Son, and in Him He's well-pleased, all in Him, God's well-pleased
with. He's well-pleased with me for
Christ's sake. Paul says in Philippians 3.10,
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death. Oh, that I might know Him. That I might know Him. Perceive it. Believe it. What? That Christ died? Yeah, but that He died for me. Ben, see, died for me. See, that's
unbelievers. Men stand and preach that Christ
came into this world, that He was born, that He walked this
earth, that He went to the cross, that He died, that He was buried,
that He was raised. You know, they preach that. But
that He did it for me. That He put away my guilt. Now,
that's grace. That God give me a heart to believe
that. Paul says in verse 30, "...having
the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear to be in me."
Paul encourages these believers because he sees and perceives
the grace of God in them. You know, when a believer meets
another believer and they hear each other, they hear that conversation,
close-knit, that bond of Christ. Buddy, I'm telling you, they're
together. They're together. They have never
seen each other before, but when they speak of Him and they're
together on Christ, having the same conflict which you saw in
me, they perceived that same sense of conflict of the race,
the conflict of the flesh that dwelt within, they saw in Paul
the same conflict that they had within. Almighty God had graciously
granted both of them a heart of appreciation for what he had
done for his people. A saint perceives the suffering
of Christ for him. He's thankful. But when he sees
in the Scriptures the revelation of the suffering that he feels
within himself, that struggle within the flesh, he's thankful
that God would tell him, this is the way it is. You see it,
you know it, you realize it, you hate it, but it's a comfort. Are you not comforted by those
that you have some confidence in when you realize they struggle
just like you do? You know, we try to, in our minds,
put aged believers, taught, wise believers on a pedestal where
they never have any struggles. You talk to that aged, wise believer
and you're going to find out the struggles are greater The
older they get, the greater the struggle they have. And the Lord
God is teaching them that this earth has no peace, no comfort. They see the struggles. They
know the struggles. You think they're getting better.
I always used to think that grandmothers always got better. I don't know
why I thought grandmothers. They're always wiser and they're
always better or something like that. A believer realizes the
longer he's in this world, the greater struggle he has. Paul
says, having the same conflict which you saw in me, and now
here to be in me. Then he says in Philippians 2.1,
he said, if there be therefore any consolation, if there's any
exhortation, if there's any admonition or persuasion or discourse by
the Spirit of God through the gospel concerning how Christ
has put away your guilt. If there's any consolation, if
there's any peace, if there's any hope in Christ, if there's
any comfort of love, if there's any consoling, that the Father
has eternally loved you. If there's any comfort of God's
love for me, any comfort of love, God is love. Paul says, if there's
any comfort of love, if there's any fellowship of the Spirit,
That is, if there's any agreement with what the Spirit of God reveals
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. You know that the Spirit of God
is going to speak to him. You know that. The Lord said
that. I'll send you another comforter.
I won't leave you comfortless. I'll send you another comforter.
And he'll speak of me. If there's any fellowship of
the Spirit, if Almighty God has taught you by His Spirit, concerning
the person, the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. If there's
any vows in mercy, if there's any depth to you, any spiritual
concern, any compassion, affection for God's honor, for the salvation
of God's elect, if you have any hope of peace that Almighty God
is going to call out His people through the gospel. Paul says
in verse 2, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having
the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, cherish the same
views. That's what he says. Psalm 133.1, I quoted this a
while ago, Behold, how good, how pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together. in unity. He says, fulfill ye
my joy, being like-minded, having the same love. Christ, that's
your love. You love Him. Why? Because He
loved you first. If that love be in you, being
of one accord, in one spirit, one mind. He says, verse 3, "...let nothing
be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind
let each esteem other better than themselves." Let nothing be done through strife.
What does it mean? It means don't seek. to gather
followers after your cause. Don't try to go and start strife
within the congregation. Try to get people to come over
to your side and see it your way. Let nothing be done through
conceit, vain glory, but in lowliness of mind. That is, with a mind
concerning your littleness. your littleness, your puniness. Let each esteem other better
than themselves. Suppose one another to be more
precious than you are. You know, we're not all the same. I understand we're all out of
the same lump But there's a different part in the body that every believer
is made to be. We're not all eyes and we're
not all ears and we're not all toes or mouths or something.
Maybe there is, many would say, well, I don't think I could do
what you do or Brother Scott does. Well, if God gave you a
heart for that, you would. I can truthfully tell you, I
can remember a time in my life when the very thought of somebody
coming to a church and sitting there during the day and taking
a Bible or some books or something like that all day long and sitting
there and studying was the most unappealing thing I'd ever heard
of in my life. But you know what? If God gives you a heart to do
that, you will. And you'll do it gladly. You're
thankful to do it. But there are things that people
in this congregation do. that are absolutely the most
precious and the most needful things that no one else can do
but them. And do you know how you know
when God has given them a heart to do it? They do it. They just do it. You don't have
to call them up and try to get them to prod them. They just
do it. They do it. I know by nature We look at each
other and that old flesh, you cannot help but somehow think. You look at others and you think,
you know what, I think I am smarter than you. I think I've got this
talent. Paul says, don't let anything
be done through strife, vainglory, and lowliness of mind Let each
esteem other better than themselves. You're worthy, you're worthy
to be thanked for Christ's sake, for that which God has called
you to do. And I do. I thank God for all
that the Lord has given a heart, whatever that part is. I thank God for the unity of
this body. Look not, verse 4, every man
on his own things, But every man also on the things of others."
Don't fix your attention on yourself. Well, it's all about me. And
buddy, don't let me fail to say this. Don't think that that nature
is not there. Striving against it. Let the welfare of others. Lie
near to your heart and govern your actions according to their
good and their need. Now, buddy, we can stop right
here. You talk about a picture of the
grace of Almighty God. Now, you think of this concerning
God Almighty sending Christ into this world. And that's what Paul's
getting ready to deal with right now. Let the welfare of others
lie near to your heart. and governed your actions according
to their good and their need." Did the Lord Jesus Christ come
into this world? For God so loved the world, He
gave. He gave His only begotten Son. We're going to expound that just
a moment here. That's when Paul says, Now let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. I'm going to say a couple of
things about the verses after that and come back in conclusion
on that verse right there. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. The next few verses are written
not as just some mere tokens of good advice or some attitude. This mind that Paul spoke of
was the mind of Christ. Here's the mind. Here's the advice
that Paul gives instruction to each of us that was also the
mind of Christ. Verse 6, "...who being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." The Lord
Jesus Christ being in the form of God, the nature of God Himself,
is what he means. Bought it not robbery to be equal
with God. This is the literal of that verse. With whom it was no robbery to
be equal with God. Why? Because He is God. That's
what they accused him of. They came here and they said,
well, he said, for what good deed do you stone me? They said,
oh, we're not stoning you for anything you did. We're stoning
you for what you're saying. You make yourself out to be God.
He is God. Thought it not, Bobbery? Deity
was never relinquished. Never. Never. God never changes. So when the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world, He condescended to be made in the likeness of
sinful flesh. Assumed our nature, but he took
it without the taint of sin or corruption. He knew no sin. He made, verse 7, himself of
no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was
made in the likeness of men. himself, listen, of the appearance
of the heavenlies. Now, on the Mount of Transfiguration,
he just removed that veil just a little bit. And the writer
says that he shined as the noonday sun. If he would have removed
the veil completely, they couldn't have looked on him. They couldn't
have seen him. They couldn't have beheld Him.
No man can look upon God and live. Take the noonday sun and just
tell me how talented you are just to stand there, just to
stare into the noonday sun. I hear that they say it will
affect your eyesight or something like that. God said no man can
look on Me and live. No man. He laid aside The Scripture
says, ìThe form of the heavenlies that men could never look on,
but never did he lay aside his deity.î Never! Almighty God took
on Himself, He took on Him the form of a servant. Same word
ìformî as verse 6. ìWho being in the form of God,
the nature, the being, He procured for himself that form that would
answer to the demand, the will, and the purpose of Almighty God
for the redemption of his people. He made himself of no reputation,
took on him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men,
made What he was not before. Same word made right here. Made
in the likeness of men. Same word in 2 Corinthians 5.21. He was made sin. He was made
sin. He was made what he was not before. He was made here in the likeness
of men. What he was not before, he became. Verse 8, "...in being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross." God Almighty found a ransom. Here it says,
"...being found in fashion as a man." Job 33. You've read this
so many times. Let's just look at it. I'll read
it. If you don't turn there, that's
okay. Job 33, verse 24. Job 33, 24.
And He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver him. from going down to the pit, I
found a ransom." Was it that God had not seen a ransom before? No. He's always seen the ransom. The Lord Jesus Christ was God's
found ransom, being found in fashion as a man. He humbled himself. He made himself
to be under the judgment of God. God Almighty. God himself. God. He who is of pure eyes and behold
iniquity. He who will not look upon sin. Almighty God, this wasn't a farce,
this wasn't a joke, it wasn't a pretend. He was found in the
fashion of a man, made himself of no reputation, humble himself,
and actually placed himself as a substitute of his people. In
their place, that's what substitute means. Being there as if they
themselves are there. That's what that means. A substitute.
You know? A substitute. He humbled himself. And became obedient. The word obedient there, became
obedient. Became obedient. It's the same
word made. Made sin. He became obedient. became submissive unto death,
even the death of the cross. Not that he just died. A lot
of them died. A lot of men died. But here is
Christ dying a curse for many. For all God's elect, here is
All of the guilt, all of the sin, the nature, all of it, of
all that God is everlasting love, all that the elect ever owed,
all of it. I'm lost in the magnitude of
this. We speak of the substitutionary
death of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we, out of our mouths, speak
something that we cannot even began to imagine. All that was
ever owed was found in one man. One man. Humble himself. And the Scripture says, became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now the significance
of that last statement, Deuteronomy 21-23. Deuteronomy 21-23, Cain obedient
unto death. That's what I'm saying. You could
say, well, a lot of people died, but he became unto death even
the death of the cross. Deuteronomy 21-23 says this,
or 22 and 23, If any man hath committed a sin worthy of death,
and he be to be put to death, Hang him on a tree. His body
shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any
wise bury him that day, for he that is hanged is accursed of
God. That thy land be not defiled,
which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." Now,
hanging on a tree was setting forth. God's curse. Any man who commits a sin is
worthy unto death. Now remember this, he knew no
sin of himself. He committed no sin. But as we
read in Psalm 40, he spoke of the guilt of his people as his
guilt. Mine iniquities have taken a
hold upon me. It was not that they were actually
just placed upon Him and God just dealt with the sins and
stuff. He was made the guiltiness. That's what sin means. The guiltiness. He was made sin. And when He was made sin, the
Scripture says His Father forsook Him. My God, my God. Why? Has thou forsaken me?" I'll
tell you why. He was made sin. Upon that cross
hung sin. Hung sin. I told you about me
asking Brother Scott about that statement. I said, I know how
careful we all want to be when we make that statement. I said,
we don't want to say anything disrespectful. And he said this,
yes, but you never want to say anything that takes away from
the glory of what Almighty God did for His people either. And
that's so. If you have any hope, you have
this hope right here. Christ put away your guilt and
imputed to you His righteousness. In closing, On verse 5, I said
I wanted to make a couple of statements. Let this mind be
in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. We just looked at what
He did. Let this mind be in you. You
say, but how in the world can I have the mind of Christ? The Apostle, under the inspiration
of the Spirit of God, says let this mind be in you. His mind
was resigned to His Father's will. Luke 22, 42, saying, Father,
if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me nevertheless. Not
my will, but Thine be done. I know we have struggles. I know
we do. I know this old flesh wars against
the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. I know we do. But
I'll tell you this, a believer desires the will of God. Now,
that's just a fact. Let this mind be in you. It was
also in Christ Jesus. You say, but I never fulfilled
it perfectly as he did. Oh, I understand that, but I'll
tell you this, what he did is imputed to you. And I'll tell
you the evidence of that is evident in God's people. They desire
the will of God. Secondly, he possessed a mind
of devotion. Luke 2.49, Wist not or know not
that I must be about my Father's business. God's people are devoted to Him. They're devoted to Him. John
6, 65. John 6, 65. John 6, 65 through
69 says this. He said, Therefore said I unto
you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto
him of my father. From that time many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the twelve, Would you go away also? Or will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God." God's people have possessed the mind of devotion
to Christ. You cannot drive a believer away
from where the gospel is preached. You don't want to. I know that. But you couldn't. You just couldn't. Where are we going to go? Where
are we going to go? I mean, do you want to have somebody
lie to you? No, you don't. You're devoted
to Christ. Jacob wrestled with the man,
the Scripture says, and the man, the Lord Jesus, said to him,
let me go. Jacob said, no, I can't unless
you bless me. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9.16,
Though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory in, for necessities
lays upon me. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. Scott, you couldn't quit preaching.
You couldn't do that. You can't quit belief. Gary,
you can't do that. Why? The Lord has given you a
heart to. Let this mind be in you. Devotion. A hunger for God's
will. And then lastly, Christ possessed
a mind of meekness. Now, that word is not weakness.
Meekness means submission, submissive to Almighty God. The Lord's people,
they're meek. That is, they bow to what Almighty
God is pleased to do with them. Let me read this last Scripture
and I'll close with this. 2 Samuel. Now, you know there's
not a day that goes by that we don't realize, behold and see
the lack of consistency in ourselves. And you know, whom the Lord loves,
He chastens. You know that. I told you about
my kids. I would tell them, I'm not going
to spank you for a mistake. I won't spank you for a mistake,
but for disobedience, I'm not going to let you off either.
You won't get off. The Lord had forbidden David
to number the people. Why? Because you start counting
how many you've got, you know, and all of a sudden you start
feeling a little bit more powerful. The Lord had told David, don't
number. Well, 2 Samuel 24.10, David's
heart smote him. After that he had numbered the
people, and David said unto the Lord, I have sinned greatly in
that I have done. And now I beseech Thee, O Lord,
take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very
foolishly. But when David was up in the
morning, the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, David's
seer, saying, Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, I
offer thee three things. Choose thee one of them, that
I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David and told
him and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto
thee in thy land? Or wilt thou flee three months
before thine enemies while they pursue thee? Or that there be
three days' pestilence in thy land? Now advise and see what
answer I shall return to him that sent me." Gad told him.
He said, I've come here, the Lord's told me. He said, you've
got three choices, David. pestilence, your enemies pursuing
you, famine. I'm going to let you decide. What do you want? What do you
want, David? What do you want God to do? What
do you want? Listen to David's answer. David
said unto Gad, I'm in a great strait. Let us fall now into
the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great, and let me
not fall into the hand of man. Let me ask you something. Do
you feel that whatever chastening that
Almighty God would send to you, loving chastening, whatever it
is, do you feel as though that whatever comes your way would
be by the mercy of Almighty God? Now I know our flesh wars against
that. I know it does. But I'm going to tell you something
a believer will say. He does all things well. You've
dealt well with me. You've dealt well with me. No
matter what. No matter what. Like I said,
I know that every day we wake up and there's days that we hear
and see and perceive some things that come our way and we think, I'm glad that God didn't give
me the choice to choose that. That's probably not the one I'd
have chosen. I'd have probably tried to choose the least offensive
one. But a believer is meek. He bows to the good providence
of Almighty God. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal to God. of no reputation, humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.