Having the Mind of Christ
Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 3 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning!
If you have your Bibles this morning, turn to the book of Philippians. (We will go there to chapter 2 in just a moment).
But I want you to put on your “thinking caps” this morning. (Quite literally, because we need to THINK about our THINKING). :)
When you became a Christian, you began the life-long process of TRANSFORMING your thinking patterns, which leads to a transforming of ACTIONS.
That’s exactly what we read about in Romans 12:1-2, which talks about our reasonable service, not being conformed to the world, but being TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING OF OUR MIND …
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
What kind of mind are we to have as Christians?
Well, the answer is in the word CHRIST-IAN.
We are to have the mind of CHRIST!
So what does Christ’s mindset look like?
It looks like a mind of humility, a mind of joy, a mind of love, a mind of selflessness, and one of like-mindedness, among other things.
And we’re going to see that in the sermon this morning.
Our title is simply this — “Having the Mind of Christ.”
And that should be ALL of our goals this morning.
One of the things that should jump out at you as you read the book of Philippians is that the word “mind” appears SEVERAL times in the book. (7x to be exact)
If the Lord and His CHURCH are the main two words you should think of when you read the book of Ephesians that we just got through studying, then the word MIND is certainly one of the main words that you should think of when you read Philippians …
The mind of a Christian! (Which reflects the mind of Christ!)
Not only does the book of Philippians deal with the concept of the Christian mind, but MUCH of the New Testament does as well!
So I would encourage you to do a simple search of the word “mind,” in a concordance, or Logos, or E-Sword, etc., and do a word study on this from what comes up!
The word “mind” appears 56 times in the New Testament, and you can learn a lot from how a Christian is supposed to think by doing this study!
You’re going to find several different concepts of what our minds are supposed to look like, but one of the most common is the concept of “ONE mind,” of the “SAME mind,” or “HUMILITY of mind.”
There’s a reason for that! (And we’re going to talk about that this morning).
Lindsey and the kids and I were watching a movie the other night, a sports movie (baseball).
And in this movie, there were first two (and eventually three) kids on the team who were having some problems with being of the same mind, shall we say!
And so guess what? Those kids had to learn the hard way how to be of the same mind.
The coach tied them together and made them stand up together and watch while the rest of the team got to play! (and it was quite comical!)
But you better believe they had to learn to be of the same mind when they were literally ATTACHED at the hip, so to speak!
And surprise, surprise, as the team learned how to “gel” properly after that, low and behold, they started winning again!
Christians, we need to remember the concept of being on the same team and being of the same mind.
In Philippians, you will find the following:
“... Stand fast in ONE SPIRIT, with ONE MIND striving TOGETHER for the faith of the gospel.” (Php. 1:27)
“Fulfill my joy by being LIKE-MINDED, having the SAME LOVE, being of ONE ACCORD, of ONE MIND.” (Php. 2:2)
“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in LOWLINESS OF MIND let each esteem others better than himself.” (Php. 2:3)
“Let this mind be in YOU which was also in CHRIST JESUS.” (Php. 2:5)
“Let us walk by the SAME RULE, let us be of the SAME MIND.” (Php. 3:16)
(We must not be like those) “who set their mind on EARTHLY things.” (Php. 3:19)
And finally, Paul calls out a couple of people by name who it is apparently implied had not been getting along, when he says, “I implore Euodia and Syntyche to be of the SAME MIND in the Lord.” (Php. 4:2)
Let’s take a look at the …
Text - Philippians 2:1-11:
Text - Philippians 2:1-11:
Php. 2:1
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy,
You can look at the previous chapter, and especially verses 27-30 of the previous chapter, for the reason for the “therefore!”
But essentially, it has to do with the fact that there are EXPECTATIONS for Christian conduct (It has to be worthy of the Gospel of Christ - verse 27), and that there is to be expected some suffering that goes with the territory of being a Christian (verses 28-30).
So with that said, Paul in chapter 2 embarks on a treatise of CONSOLATION (or ENCOURAGEMENT) for suffering Christians, and this shouldn’t surprise us at all, but …
Paul is going to teach that if we are to be encouraged in the midst of our suffering for Christ, we have to have the MIND of Christ!
What does that look like?
Before he gets into that in the subsequent verses, just notice some of these other key words in verse one:
Consolation in Christ (we’ve already mentioned),
Comfort of love,
Fellowship of the Spirit,
And Affection and Mercy.
These things HAVE to characterize our lives as we live out our faith!
Php. 2:2
fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
This is not a novel concept. It should make perfect sense, but …
It isn’t always easy to put into practice.
In fact, sometimes it’s very difficult to put into practice because …
Any time you get two or more people into the same room, you’re going to have differences of opinion, different personalities, different dispositions, etc.
But let me remind you of how the church was at the very beginning …
Acts 2:44-45
Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
ALL who believed were TOGETHER, and had ALL things in common, and they did all these things in order to TAKE CARE of one another!
That doesn’t sound like there was any room for division over petty things, or differences of opinion, or personality conflicts, or who had done the baptizing (like in 1 Cor. 1:10ff), etc. does it?
When everybody is on the same team, when everybody is doing their part, all pulling their weight, the church is a force to be reckoned with, let me tell you!
And it starts with the kind of love we’re seeing right here in Acts 2:44-45 at the beginning, and some time later here in Philippians chapter 2!
We are all on the same team, with ONE MIND, striving TOGETHER for the faith of the Gospel.
Php. 2:3
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
I have often said, if people would just learn this and apply it — live by it! — How much better would the world look?
Just like with the Golden Rule, if people would treat others the way that they would like to be treated, and here, if people would esteem OTHERS better than himself, instead of being SELFISH — how much better would the world be?!
I know I talked about a good homework assignment for further study being to do a word study on the word “mind.”
Well, here’s another one!
Do a word study on the word “self,” or “selves,” or “selfish” (NKJV for that one) and you will find some interesting things.
You know what you’ll find?
You’ll find Jesus’ proper view of Himself, you’ll find what the Bible has to say about Christians fully GIVING themselves to the Lord, you’ll find that some people DECEIVE themselves, some people are LOVERS of their own selves …
You’ll find that we are not to have “selfish AMBITION.”
You know what you’re NOT going to find?
The idea of “self-ESTEEM!”
Self worth? Certainly.
But self-esteem? No.
In fact, you’re going to find the exact opposite right here in Php. 2:3, that we are to esteem OTHERS better than ourselves!
Php. 2:4
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Again, we have to esteem others ahead of ourselves.
That’s not to say that we don’t take care of ourselves.
This verse says that it is expected for us to look out for our own interests, but ALSO, we need to look out for the interest of others as well!
Php. 2:5-6
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
This is where we get into the part about “Having the Mind of Christ.”
This isn’t a suggestion; it’s a commandment, that we are to have the mind (the mindset) of Christ!
V. 6 gives us the reason, the authority behind this, being that Christ is EQUAL with God.
This gets into the Deity of Christ as God the Son.
Christ’s equality with God is taught throughout the Bible, including the text in John 5:16-18:
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
Equal in role? Well, if you study the Bible, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit play different ROLES in the Godhead …
But there is a unity of purpose.
An equality of purpose, and God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are equally God — equally Deity.
(I had a couple of podcast episodes on this recently if you would like to study this more).
Php. 2:7-8
but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
This is the DEFINITION of selflessness!
Go with me briefly to Hebrews chapter 1!
Heb. 1:1-3
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Heb. 1:4-5
having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”?
In chapter 2, the Hebrews writer goes on in verses 6-7 and verse 9 to talk about how Christ was made “a little lower than the angels!” (That’s MAN’S place according to Psalm 8:4-5)!
And Christ allowed Himself to be in that same place — a MAN — a little lower than the angels.
We have God the Son coming in the flesh (See John 1:14), suffering in His flesh — characterized in Hebrews as “a little lower than the angels.”
And after Jesus’ resurrection, He ascends to the right hand of the throne of God, which Heb. 1:3-4 says is a place “so much BETTER than the angels!”
Do you see the coming and going of Christ in all of this, and the HUMBLING that took place?!
Verse 7 - When it says He “made Himself of no reputation,” the Greek meaning there is the idea of EMPTYING Himself.
Emptying Himself of WHAT? His Deity?
(NO! Jesus was 100% God in 100% the flesh [man]!)
But He emptied Himself of the PRIVILEGES that He enjoyed in heaven, when He came to live among US!
He took the form of a bondservant, He obeyed the Father’s will (different role)!
And v. 8 says that He “HUMBLED Himself” in so doing!
So much so, that His obedience to the Father’s will was to the point of DEATH, even the death of the cross!
My question for you this morning is does that level of obedience characterize YOUR mindset?!
Does that level of HUMILITY characterize your mindset?!
It SHOULD, if we are going to have the mind of Christ!
Finally …
Php. 2:9-11
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Romans 14:11 says, “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God!”
Romans 14:12 goes on to say, “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.”
We will all answer for our lives on the day of Judgment!
And we will bow! And we will confess Him!
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Oh, but wouldn’t it be better for us if we would go ahead and do those things now?!
Bow before Him, that is, worship HIM in spirit and in truth!
And CONFESS Him, by the manner of life in which we live!
In order to do that, though, you’ve first got to BECOME a Christian!
(Give plan of salvation).
Then, grow and be more like Christ as you grow in your faith.
Have the mind of Christ!
So that one day, you will get to see Him!