03 - The Power Of A Renewed Mind 2019 By Pastor Jeff Wickwire Notes

Philippians—The Joyful Letter

Part 3

“Paul’s Amazing Examples”

Last time we closed out chapter 1 talking about the suffering Christians can expect to incur on one level or another as disciples of Jesus Christ. Paul himself is the chief example!

Now as chapter 2 begins we see that there is apparently a problem with strife and division in the Philippian church:

2:1-2 “Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”

One thing that might be on Paul’s mind is what we find him addressing in chapter 4:2 “I implore Euodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.”

These are two women in leadership positions in the church that apparently were at odds and it was affecting the body of believers there.

So Paul begins chapter 2 with several reasons to walk in unity:

“If there is any consolation in Christ.” Consolation is ENCOURAGEMENT. So...if Jesus has encouraged you, encourage one another.

Then, “If any comfort of love.” If Jesus’s love has comforted you, likewise comfort one another.

And “If any fellowship of the Spirit.” If you’ve also had spiritual fellowship with one another in the past, get back to it!

And finally, “If any affection and mercy.” If you’ve had any of these things amongst yourselves, “fulfill my joy” by returning to them, and in so doing, ditch the strife!

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Next, Paul is going to lay out 3 examples of the kind of attitude and mindset they should cultivate. He points to Jesus, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. We’ll deal with Jesus first. He encourages them with the character qualities found in Christ:

2:3 “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.”

The implication is clear. It’s not all about us. It’s about Him, and living out His purpose for us, not chasing our own selfish ambitions.

And then there’s the conceit issue. Rather than harboring conceit that says you’re better than others, have the opposite attitude—esteem others better than yourself.

This does not mean that you deny your own gifts, or constantly run yourself down. This is false humility. The meaning here is to show preferential treatment to others. Seek the good of others first. Think of others rather than just yourself:

2:4 “Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Paul says this is the way Jesus was:

2:5 “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,”

Christians are to strive to think this way, to put on the mind of Christ, to adopt His attitude toward self and others.

It won’t come overnight because we are selfish and self-centered by nature. But Paul says work on it. Let this same mind and attitude be cultivated in you!

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Next, the Apostle launches into the most theologically profound description of Christ’s great condescension toward the human race found anywhere in Scripture:

2:6 “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,”

Jesus was “in the form of God.” This means that the whole nature and essence of deity was in Jesus Christ. He was God the Son come to earth to save us.

John writes in his gospel, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (1:1)

Paul wrote in Colossians, “For in Him (Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (in bodily form).” (2:9)

While Jesus was in bodily form on earth, all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him!

So this next truth is crucial: When Jesus came to earth, He did not leave His deity behind. Not once did Jesus ever cease to be God, as some erroneously teach. Not in His early life in Joseph’s household, not in His ministry, and not on the Cross. He always maintained His deity.

Hence Paul says, “He did not consider it robbery to be equal with God.” He didn’t have to steal equality with God. He already had equality with God!

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Then next, Paul goes further into Jesus’s condescension:

1:7 “but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.”

“Made Himself of no reputation” means He emptied Himself; not of His deity, but in the act of coming to earth and becoming a servant, Jesus deliberately abandoned the glory and majesty He had with the Father before the world began.

And He humbled Himself further to become a servant. But Jesus was not the servant of men, but of the Father. Jesus said that He had come to do only those things that pleased the Father (John 8:29).

And, says Paul, He came “in the likeness of men.” This means Jesus truly became a man. But the kind of man God had intended for all of us before the fall. His spirit was always ruled by the Holy Spirit. His intellect, emotions, will, nature, person, personality, senses and physical powers were all under the control of the Holy Spirit at all times throughout His entire life.

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Next, Paul deals with the passion of Christ.

2:8 “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.”

The most difficult thing about Christianity for Paul when he was still the persecutor Saul was the Cross. He could not wrap his mind around how God’s Messiah could possibly hang on a tree for our sins, because he knew the Bible had said, “Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree” (Deut. 21:23).

For Saul, this was impossible. No way did the Messiah prophesied by the prophets hang on an accursed tree. How could that be? It was non-negotiable for him. Until, that is, he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. From then on, what had been the most impossible thing about Christianity became the most impressive thing about Christianity!

After his conversion, Paul’s premier message became the Cross of Christ:

“I have been crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20).

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2).

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18).

So Jesus, writes Paul to the Philippians, humbled Himself and obeyed the Father, all the way to the Cross.

He humbled Himself to leave heaven’s glory for a dark and dirty earth. He humbled Himself to become a man. He humbled Himself to live in Joseph and Mary’s little house and learn the carpentry trade, when it was He Himself that had made the trees that provided the wood for his trade!

He humbled Himself to endure the insults and blasphemies of men as He walked from town to town during His earthly ministry. He humbled Himself in allowing men to beat and torture Him—the very men He had created. And He humbled Himself to stretch out His hands and feet to allow the nails to be driven through them into the Cross.

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But while we thank God that Jesus died on the Cross for us, we can’t leave Him there. God did not leave Jesus subject to His parents. He didn’t leave Him in the hands of wicked men. And He didn’t leave Him on the Cross of shame. Paul writes:

2:9 “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,”

Here we have the Kingdom principle—you must go down in humility before you can step up in promotion. The greater the humility, the higher the promotion.

No one could ever humble themselves to the level Jesus did, and therefore no one will ever be promoted higher than Jesus has.

He isn’t just exalted, He is HIGHLY exalted, with a name greater than all others. How great is His name?

2:10-11 “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, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

First, “things in heaven”—every angel, cherubim, seraphim and archangel, including any other principality or power existing in God’s heavenly abode will bow to Jesus Christ, and confess openly that He is Lord.

Second, “things on earth”—all of the masses of mankind on earth that presently offer Jesus no homage, respect, or affection will bow to Him. Every atheist and agnostic will bow. So will the countless numbers of those that have heard the gospel and rejected it. Also the majority of earth dwellers that never once in any given day even think of Him will bow and confess. What an awesome day that will be!

And finally, “things under the earth”—the unsaved dead—will be raised, summoned to the great white throne, and made to bow the knee. Those who hated Christ will be there. Those who spawned false doctrines with which they destroyed millions of lives will be there. And Satan and his hordes of demons will bow, confessing before all the heavenly hosts that He is Lord!

Bottom line: Bow now or bow then. Confess now or confess then.

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Next, Paul makes practical application of what he’s just said about Christ’s example:

2:12 “Therefore, 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 trembling;”

He says “Therefore”, in light of all you’ve just seen about the humility and obedience of Jesus Christ, how can you do any differently?

But what does he mean by “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling?” If salvation is a gift, why do I have to “work it out?”

It’s like this. If someone were to give you a gold mine complete with the title deed, you would immediately be a rich person! But the gold mine wouldn’t do you much practical good unless you went and began to work it, mining if for gold, digging for the nuggets, putting sweat to bringing the gold out of the ground.

It’s the same way with our salvation. The moment we’re saved we are spiritually rich! But we need to then set to work to mining the spiritual gold of our salvation by digging into the Scriptures, by spending quality time with the Savior, by seeking first the kingdom of God. Jesus put it this way:

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure a man discovered in a field. In his excitement, he sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field—and get the treasure, too!” (Matt. 13:44 LB)

Some people really never put sincere effort into spiritual growth, while others do what Jesus said—they sell everything, put every effort into mining the treasure!

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Paul finishes out this thought with the encouragement that God is working in us to bring about His will:

2:13 “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

Notice how in verse 12 it is OUR responsibility to “work out our salvation,” to mine the spiritual gold.

But in verse 13 we see God also doing his part to ‘WORK IN YOU’ so that you DESIRE to mine the gold, and have the POWER to mine it.

The word for work here is energeo, which is the Greek word for energy. It means God is energizing, enabling us, empowering us, and even giving us the desire to please Him!

So we see here that spiritual growth is a cooperative effort between us and God. He gives to us the power and desire to please Him, and we in turn cooperate with the grace of God by obeying Him.

This is what sanctification is all about. Our cooperation with Him produces a transformation in our conduct and character!