Having The Mind Of Christ
by
Becky Rene
"1Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, 2make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. 3Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:1-11 NASBR)
Introduction
1. When I read this passage, I thought, “Hmm! Maybe those brethren were not all of the same mind.” So that is why Paul is writing to them about it.
2. So there must have been some problems in that church and so Paul is showing them how they can sort those problems out. So this is what he does:
a. Paul reminds them of the encouragement, consolation, fellowship, affection and compassion that they have in Christ – 2.1. With all these things they have in Christ, Paul admonishes them to be of the same mind, maintain love, united in spirit, and work with the same purpose – 2.2.
b. Then he talks about the attitude they must have about themselves and others – 2.3-4.
c. Then he holds up Jesus as the example of what he is talking about – 2.5-8.
d. Then he shows how God exalted Him because He was so humble – 2.9-11.
I. Paul appeals for Christians to be united – 2.1-2
A. Why we should be united and of one mind – 2.1:
1. Encouragement in Christ. Read Ephesians 1.3-14. Think about all the spiritual blessings you have in Christ… that should make you feel very happy, yes. Now think about the great and precious promises that we have – we will be resurrected from the dead - John 5.21-29, we will be given new spiritual bodies – 1 Corinthians 15.42-44, and we will be with God in heaven forever – 1 Thessalonians 4.15-18. We all have the same blessings and the same hope and so that should encourage us to be united.
2. Consolation of love. Read Romans 5.6-11. God has shown us how much He loves us in sending His only Son to die for us. John says we need to think about God’s love for us – 1 John 3.1. Now when we think about God’s love for us, it makes us feel very happy and so if we have that in our brains, then we can cope with all kinds of bad things that happen to us, like being tempted and persecuted Matthew 5.10-12. Whatever happens to us in this life, nothing can separate us from the love of God – Romans 8.33-39. Now that is a great encouragement to love one another and be united because we all share the same faith – Titus 1.4 - and the same trials – 1 Peter 5.9 - and temptations – 1 Corinthians 10.13. It is because God loves us that we love one another – 1 John 4.19.
3. Fellowship of the Spirit. Read 1 Corinthians 12.12-16. All Christians have been brought into fellowship by the Holy Spirit and so we are all united and we have to make sure we maintain that unity – Ephesians 4.1-6.
4. Affection and compassion. If we have a heart of compassion – Colossians 3.12, then we will listen to what Paul is saying and make sure we are united.
B. So you can see that in Christ there is all the motivation we need to be of the same mind, maintain the same love, united in purpose, and have the same purpose in mind - 2.2.
II. How we should think of ourselves and others – 2.3-4
A. I think we are very selfish sometimes and we just think about what we want all the time, yes. But Paul says that we should not be selfish or conceited.
1. When we are selfish, then that makes us an ugly person and it cause all kinds of trouble, like arguments, envy, and divisions. Selfishness is when you only care about yourself and you do not care about anyone else or if you hurt their feelings or anything like that.
2. When we are conceited it means we are doing things because we are very proud and we think we are special and we want everyone to give us their attention.
B. Instead of being so selfish and all puffed up, we should have humility…
"You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE" (1 Peter 5:5 NASB)
1. We have to think of others as more important than ourselves. When we look at people and we see them behaving in a way that is not very Christian, we think, “Well, I am not behaving like that and so I am better than them, yes.” But that means we are forgetting to look into our own hearts where we can see all kinds of bad things, like selfishness, covetousness, pride, vanity and things like that. Now you cannot see into that other person’s heart can you? So maybe they are better than you? Remember, God looks at what we do, that is true, but He looks into the heart as well – Jeremiah 20.12; Proverbs 16.2. So that other person might not be behaving like a Christian but maybe they are better in their heart and so that is what you should be thinking.
2. We have to look out for the interests of others. Now Paul is not saying we must not look out for our own interests; we have to buy food and clothes and take care of ourselves, yes. But we must make sure we are looking out for the interests of others as well – James 2.14-19.
III. Jesus is our example – 2.5-8
A. Now in case you are wondering how humble you should be, then just look at how humble Jesus was…
1. Jesus existed in the form of God. Now is there anything better than that? Now think about how you are living now – I bet you live in a nice house and you have nice clothes and nice things, don’t you? Now would you like to give that all up and wear dirty horrible clothes and live on the streets like some people do? So now you can see how humble Jesus is because He gave up existing in the form of God and left His home in heaven to become a man and live on the earth. But Jesus did not come and live like a King in a palace did He? No, He was very poor and He did not have a proper home like we do – Luke 9.58.
2. So why did Jesus come to earth? – Matthew 18.11; 20.28; John 10.10. Was He thinking about Himself, was He looking for fame and fortune? No, He was thinking of others because He came to save us from our sins, didn’t He? – 1 Timothy 1.15.
B. So you can see that Jesus gave up everything to come and save us from our sins, and He was very, very humble, yes. So if you want to be humble, then you must imitate Jesus – 1 Corinthians 11.1.
IV. Our reward is in heaven – 2.9-11
"For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 14:11 NASB)
A. Jesus humbled Himself and was obedient to God and even died a horrible death on the cross for us. So now God has exalted Him.
B. So if you are very humble, then God will exalt you as well - 1 Peter 5.6.
Summary & Application
1. We all need to be of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, and intent on one purpose. But we cannot do this if we are selfish and proud, no. So we have to learn to put on humility and think of each other as more important than ourselves, and we need to look out for one another’s interests.
2. If you need to know what true humility is all about, then you need to look at Jesus and then you will know. Now Jesus was filled with humility and so God highly exalted Him and so God will exalt you as well.
3. So make sure you have a humble opinion of yourself, think of others as more important than you, and that the way you speak and behave shows that you are humble. If we all do this, then we will be of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, and intent on one purpose.
Articles by Becky Rene Bible Study with Harley