OK. Well, it's good to see everybody
out this morning. Next week's the last Sunday of
the month, so we'll be having a large table and dinner and
no afternoon service next week. So remember that on your calendars.
Remember those who requested prayer. Linda Husky has been
reminded that she has cancer, right? Remember her in your prayers. Julie, did she get to come home?
Yes. She's real weak. Well, that's
understandable. So continue to remember Julie
in your prayers. Fred's still feeling some of the after effects
of the chemotherapy, makes him a little weak. But other than
that, we're thankful he's up and about. And remember the others
who requested prayer. Dee Parks, I got a call from
Sandy, his mom. And she said that he's a candidate
for some type of new Experimental drug for this cancer, so I don't
know whether when that's going to happen or not, but Remember
they continue remember them in your prayers He has to get over
the after-effects of the last bout of chemotherapy, which was
a real strong chemotherapy Which didn't do any good, but it was
real strong So we have to get off the that has to get completely
out of his system before they can do this next thing so sounds
to me like it's probably immunotherapy which is the latest thing they're
using in cancers and So, uh, but do remember deep walks in
your prayer and seek the Lord's help for them. Okay, let's begin
our worshipers. Yes? Uh, remember my aunt Shirley? She, uh, she just lost her third
child. They're all dying before she
does. She's mom's older sister. Shirley? Step. Step. S-T-A-M-P? S-T-A-M-P, yeah. Step. Okay. Shirley Step. And she's a how was the person
that died Okay Was a son, okay That's Shirley
step. Is that right? lost her son,
so remember Her in your prayer nothing. There's no word to define
what it is to lose a child. I man loses wife he's a widower
for woman loser and she's a widow there's no word for every bridge
out because so against what we consider being a natural to bring
children for you that they spoke for you so uh... remember them in person said
time him number one two hundred thirty six amazing grace after
last verse will sing it wasn't it Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
am found. Was blind, but now am found. It was grace that taught my heart
to fear, and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear,
the hour I first believed. already come. His grace hath brought me safe
thus far and grace will bring me home. When we in We've no less days to sing God's
praise than when we first begun. After scripture reading and prayer,
we'll sing hymn number six. If you have your Bibles, turn with
me to Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. I'm
going to read verses 1 through 5. If there be, therefore, any consolation
in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfill ye my joy that ye be
like-minded Having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind,
let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness
of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look
not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things
of others. Let this mind be in you. which
was also in Christ Jesus. Let us pray. Our Father, we shrink as we read the admonitions
of the scripture and realize our own frailties and weaknesses
in the performance thereof. We are driven to the feet of
the Savior for help and strength, knowing that what he required
of us, he accomplished for us in his life and in his death.
We praise you that we have that to stand upon, that sure, solid
rock foundation. Forgive us our sin and our weakness. We know you have and will because
you are just to do so because of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Father, we pray this morning for those who are sick, those
who've lost loved ones. Mrs. Stebb has lost this son,
Dee Parks, of her being prepared for this chemotherapy. Pray continually
for Brother Fred as you administer to him and heal him. The others
who requested prayer, Miss Husky as she's dealing with this cancer. Pray for our shut-ins that you'd
be with them and watch over them. And pray for ourselves this hour
that you might be pleased to give us worship. Speak to our
hearts and move our hearts, Father, Seek to do that which is right
in the sight of the Lord concerning these things. Help us, Lord,
to be gracious and merciful people, loving people. It's so difficult,
it seems, to love as we ought, to love forgivingly, fully, freely,
and unconditionally. Father, we know that we fail
on these things. we thank you that you did not.
Father, help us through this day bring glory and honor to
your name. We pray in the precious name
and through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Amen. Hymn number six. ? Of the Almighty King, help us
I aim to see ? ? Come and reign over us to praise
? ? Father all glorious for all victorious ? ? Come and reign
over us ancient of days ? ? Come thou incarnate word ? ? Come and thy people bless and
give thy word success ? ? Spirit of holiness on us descend ? ?
Come holy comforter, thy sacred witness bear ? Thou who almighty art, now rule
in every heart, and may from us depart, three rings of power,
to the great one in three. ? In sever bore ? His sovereign
majesty ? May we in glory see ? And to eternity love and adore
? May I have Steve and Sam to receive the altar this morning,
please? Let us pray. Father, again, we
approach in the name of Jesus Christ, our magnificent Savior,
that wonderful, unspeakable gift that you have given to all your
people, and with him freely given us all things. We bow to your
greatness, your graciousness, and your mercy. With thankful
hearts of praise for what you've done for us, give us worship
in this portion of the service, we pray in Christ's name. Amen. So, So... I invite your attention back
to Philippians chapter two. I read this portion of scripture
this week again, meditated upon it, thought about it. I was reminded
of all those admonitions that are given to us in the epistles
of Paul and Peter and James. And I'm reminded that often my
heart condemns me as I look at these things and see how unable
it seems I am to fulfill any of them. I'm reminded of the
words of John in 1 John chapter 3, when he said, For if our heart
condemn us, God is greater than our heart,
and He knoweth all things. This passage that I read to you
this morning, as it refers to the manner of life and conversation
of the believer that life is to be becoming or adorning to
the gospel of Christ. It could stand alone as a perfect
example of how brethren can find that unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace. Who are the brethren? Many years
ago I was in the islands preaching, I think it was Tortola, and I
was left in a room with a man who said he was a gospel preacher,
but bragged about the number of people he had in his church,
defined a church by the numbers as to whether it was a strong
church or a weak church, so automatically we had a difficulty in communication. But he kept calling those who
refused the gospel of Jesus Christ as brethren, and I took issue
with him. I tried to be nice and kind in
doing so, So I approached it this way. I said, you say that
we are brethren with those people. How do they describe God, the
Father, who makes us brethren, if we are brethren? How do they
describe God, the Father, as He is compared to as He describes
Himself in the Word of God? Well, their Father, according
to them, has given a salvation that they can lose, but that's
not the God of Scripture. Their father, according to them,
can't do anything unless they let him, and that's certainly
not the God of Scripture. And I says, these are not my
brethren, because we have different fathers. Barney used to say,
if I'm going to introduce you to the true God, first thing
I'm going to have to do is kill your God. That's the first thing
I'm going to have to do. Who are the brethren? Because
that's whom He's speaking to here. Those who are brethren
are those of like precious faith, those who trust their salvation
is wholly conditioned upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
His blood and His righteousness and His obedience, even unto
the death of the cross. Now the brethren are those who
by grace have disowned their own merit and their own work
and their own will as having anything to do with their salvation. This is a brother or this is
a sister. As context defines text, this
passage is an elaboration and illumination of chapter 1 and
verse 27 when it says this, only let your conversation be as becometh
the gospel of Christ, that whether I come to see you or else I be
absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit,
with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel."
For the faith of the gospel. The one mind and one spirit and
being like-minded in verse 2 are finally compared to the very
mind of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is where it all comes to.
This is where it begins in chapter 1 and verse 27 by talking about
your mind. And then it goes on in what I've
read in verses 1 through 4 about your mind. And then it says in
verse 5, Let this mind be in you. The same mind that was in
Jesus Christ. Let this mind be in you. In 1
Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 16 it says the believer has the
mind of Christ and this mind does not suggest that we could
ever join in or instruct him in the reason or execution of
his purpose but rather that we by grace and through the spirit
of truth understand or discern that which is spiritual Our Lord
said in John chapter 15 and verse 15, He says, Henceforth I call
you not servants. For the servant knoweth not what
the Lord doeth, but I have called you friends. For all things that
I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Now here
in our text our mind and the mind of Christ have to do with
a comparative relationship. On the one hand we are shown
the relationship of Christ to the Heavenly Father. It speaks
of it this way in verse 6, Who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be with God, or be equal with God. So Christ, as a human being,
as the Son of the Living God, as very God of very God, and
very man of very man, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God. What does that mean? He is equal with God. In fact,
He IS God, according to John chapter 1. In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God. The
same was in the beginning with God, and all things were made
by Him that were made. And He is the Light of the world,
and we know that speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Colossians,
Paul said, In Him dwelleth the fullness, or the completeness,
of the Godhead bodily. Jesus Christ is Father, He is
Son, He is Holy Spirit, He is the Trinity. He is all those
things. In our text, which speaks in
that comparative sense, the Father and the Son are compared to be
equal. It may seem like an odd admonition,
even impossible to think, that how we are to treat with our
brethren compared to how Christ treats with His Father. But that's
the comparison that's made in this passage of Scripture. As
it is throughout the New Testament, everything that the believer
is admonished to do is to be done with an eye on Jesus Christ.
We are given commandments by the Lord Jesus Christ. Many,
many commandments in the New Testament. Many, many commandments. But we are to do them within
our own Christ. Why do we love our brethren? How are we to love
them? As Christ loved us. That's what it says. How are
we to forgive our brethren? As Christ has forgiven us. This
is how we do this. And we fail when we take our
eyes off the Lord Jesus Christ. If any of these exhortations
are to be done to any degree accomplished, they cannot be
done in the flesh. It's impossible to do that in
the flesh. They cannot be done by looking
to ourselves. looking to our lives for some
display of qualities and traits that might produce them, because
in the flesh there is none. As we are born into this world,
born with the flesh, conceived in iniquity, as we come forth
from womb-speaking lies, as our life is one of drinking iniquity-like
water, described as halt and lame and impotent and all these
things as filthy and like maggots on a dunghill. This is the description
of humanity. Would you dare talk about loving
the brethren by going to that pile of manure and trying to
come up with something worthwhile? Of course you wouldn't. Several
principles are necessary to get a grasp of these amazing admonitions
in verses three and four. Let's read them again. Let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory, which is empty glory, which any
glory that man has is empty, but in lowliness of mind, your
mind being low, thinking lowly of yourself and not of others,
that each esteem other better than themselves. That's a tall
order, isn't it? We don't do that very well. That's
the admonition. Let not every man look not every
man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Things of others. The immediate
reaction of our flesh to these things tells us that we can't
go there for assistance. We rebel against these naturally.
The first thing is the mind. Paul said in Romans 5, They who
are of the flesh mind the things of the flesh, and they who are
of the spirit mind the things of the spirit. Generally when
the mind is spoken of in scripture it does not address capacity
or intellectual ability but rather employment of the mind as thinking
about something or meditating upon something. In chapter 4 and verse 8 of this
same book it says this, Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are
true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things
are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, on these things. This is what the mind is to do,
to think on these things. This church here at Philippi
was facing some difficult issues. There were preachers who were
preachers of Christ who Paul gave thanks for, but they had
an edge to them. They had a seemingly rough spirit
They were using methods that were designed to divide, to pit
brother against brother. Now, it's just so. They preached
Christ in contention and envy, but Paul said, nevertheless,
and this is the hard part, nevertheless, Christ is preached, and therein
I do rejoice. Now, he did say that he offered
a prayer for them, that they would be able to sense and grasp
the difference I think that prayer is in chapter 1 in verse 9 and
10 where he said, I pray that you'll be able to discern the
difference and sense what is right and wrong in these things.
That's not to say we discount those who may have a spirit that
we don't actually kind of line up with as far as men go. but Christ is preached. But there
were also Judaizers in this group. Now Judaizer was like those in
Galatia and Colossae who came in to spy out the liberty of
the children of God and bring them back into the bondage of
the law. Paul calls them dogs. That is
what he calls them in chapter 1. He calls them dogs, or Chapter
3, He calls them dogs, He calls them evil workers, and calls
them the concision, or the flesh cutters, speaking of those who
required circumcision, or coming back under the law for righteousness,
Judaizers who appealed to the flesh and naturally guilty conscience,
and also had the same intent to divide. It is obvious that
such were gaining some ground, the natural result of which was
that the brethren began to look down on one another, and considering
themselves in opposition to others. One can see why the admonitions
of verses 3 and 4 are worded the way they are. Esteem other
better than yourselves, and look not only on your own things,
but also on the things of others. Secondly, verse 1 speaks of consolation,
to be consoled, comfort, fellowship, and feelings of mercy. That is
what bowels of mercy are, feelings of mercy. These two apply to
verses 3 and 4. The words, In Christ, qualify
what follows and sets the manner in which the admonitions are
achieved. Before the comparisons of relationships are made, the
believer is to approach them considering the relationship
of Christ toward himself. The believer is a sinner saved
by grace, and though redeemed and accepted before God, he yet
struggles with the old man continually. How often do we choose ourselves
rather than Christ? More often than we want to talk
about. Yet Christ always chooses us, always comforts us, always
consoles and fellowships with us, and is always merciful to
us. This then is the manner in which
we seek to do right by our brethren, even if we have exhibited an
attitude that divides. We are to look to Christ and
consider what he has done for us. He who is forgiven much,
loveth much. Old John Brown used to say, no
matter the situation, no matter the circumstance in which you
find yourself, choose mercy. choose to be merciful. Well,
I sure would like to get a hold of that in my head. I'd like
to think on that. Thirdly, the words in Christ
are how we are to look at our brethren. How am I to view my
brother? What if he just is acting up
all the time, gets out of pocket? How am I to view him? Remember,
there is some relation here to those preachers of Christ who
are envious and contentious and not preaching out of love, and
we find somebody like that, how are we to react? I know my natural
reaction is what it is to them, and I'm embarrassed by it. These
words in Christ are, how are we to look at our brethren? In
Christ is how we are to look at our brothers and sisters.
In Christ. We are to see them in Christ,
consider them in Christ, And when we look at them, we are
not to look at their sin, but at their righteousness, because
Christ is their righteousness. If we're looking at them in Christ,
we're looking at righteousness. It says we have the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in you. We consider
things as He considers things. Does He see sin in His people?
No. No, He doesn't. He will remember
their sins no more. He put away their sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. Has He forgiven His chosen? We
are to do the same. Does He see His people as righteous?
Then so must we. This goes back to MINDING THE
THINGS OF THE SPIRIT. The truth is set forth in verse
2. It says this, FULFILL YOU MY JOY, THAT YOU BE LIKE-MINDED,
HAVING THE SAME LOVE, BEING OF ONE ACCORD AND OF ONE MIND. The truth is set forth there.
Now applying these principles, verses 3 and 4, are very reasonable
then. If we then consider them in the
flesh, we reveal nothing but our want and lack of them. They
become words that condemn us rather than comfort or console
us. But seeing them by the Spirit, they become sensible and reasonable. And though we know as we seek
to do them, we will often fail because of our flesh. We know
as we see our brethren in Christ in that moment, these things
will be true of every one of them. We will not seek to fight, which
is strife, which would exacerbate the division. We will not boast
ourselves in our opposition to a brother in order to gain empty
recognition, which is vain glory. which would rob Christ of the
glory of putting away sin and imputing righteousness. Since
He has put away sin, we do not seek to bring those sins up,
to stir up the mess. Rather, we will, as we look at
Christ and see our brethren in Christ in lowliness of mind,
that means toward ourselves, take our place as the most needy
sinner and esteem others better than ourselves. We will not look
to our own things, but also the things of others. Remembering
that Paul is addressing divisions here. This means that when divisions
occur, we are to consider our brother or sister, how? Without
sin, forgiven and perfectly righteous. Tall order, ain't it? Tall order. this cannot be accomplished in
the flesh. It is absolutely impossible. It cannot be accomplished employing
the natural mind or the natural way of thinking. The first phrase
of verse 5 says it all. Let this mind... He's used the word mind about
five times after this point. Your mind. Let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus. Look again at chapter 4 and verse
8. Let's read that one more time. Finally, brethren, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever
things are of good report, if there be any virtue, if there
be any praise, think on these things. Apply that to your brother or
sister in Christ. That's what you do. Who are they? They're true. They're honest. You say, well,
no, they're liars. The Lord says there's no guile
in their mouth. They're an honorable people.
Whatsoever think are just, they are just. The just shall live
by faith. They are justified before God. Whatsoever things
are pure, they are pure in heart. Their hearts are purified by
the grace of God according to 1 Timothy. Whatsoever things
are lovely, they are lovely because they are in Christ. Christ said
of His bride, You are lovely, there is no spot in you, no wrinkle
or any such thing. Whatsoever is of a good report,
do they have a good report? They have an excellent report.
They stand in a world condemned as without sin before a holy
and righteous God. That's a pretty good report.
I don't think you can get a better report. Are they virtuous? Absolutely. By their connection
with Christ. Is there any praise? Can you brag on them? Yeah. And you should. This is what
you ought to think about. think on these things. Look at them in Christ and by
the Spirit say in your heart he or she is true, honest, just,
pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy. They
are in Christ and this is the accurate and true description
of them according to the Word of God. A momentary thought about
perceiving our brethren in this way makes us know one thing. We must look to Christ. We must look to Him and see our
brethren in Him. That's what we find. Father,
bless us to understand and pray in Christ's name. Amen.