Phil 2:1-4

Philippians 2:1-4

Yellow highlight: Scripture 

Red highlight: Slides & Sermon Notes

Title: The Interest of Others

What’s the one point? Harmony and Humility - brings Unity!

Memory: 2:3

First time preaching at Grace

20 years min; I live and traveled to over 40 countries for business, pleasure and missionary trips.

June 8, 2002

2004: 1 Bear

Once in a lifetime: Praying for a “Gold Medal Moose”

2025: 2 Moose

Grandma Philippians

Entire book

Philippians 4

The Interest of Others - title

Harmony and Humility – is my pain point from the passage!

When we think of the interest of others, it creates a spirit of harmony and humility.

Stand: Read Philippians 2:1-4 ESV 1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my  joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full  accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let  each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 4:1-4 ESV

4. “O Lord it’s hard to be humble, when you’re so perfect in every way”

Who sang that?

Most think it’s Janis Joplin (1970), but it was Mac Davis 1980

5. “Does she know how selfish you are?”

Sister

Diamond ring - 2009

Single to being a husband and then a father: Buddy Rich - you genuinely care for others

Are you single now? something to think about

Are you in a marital relationship? How does this look to you?

Successful relationships and marriages are when you consider others’ interests higher than your own.

6. Paul writes as a missionary, a church planter, a pastor, and a theologian.

3 Map of Paul’s Journey

4 Map of Philippi

7. Would you like to see the Greek/English interlinear [transliteration] from Greek?

5 Greek Passage 1-4

This is how Greek sounds, interlinear translation {transliterated]

Greek word placement vs English

Written in all caps

6 Strongs Number

Explanation of different word(s) used

We can trust the English

I am not a Greek or Hebrew scholar

8. V1

7 “If” Greek Phil 2:1-2

Comparison between passages with two different versions:

1So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort  from love, | any participation in the Spirit, any affection and 

sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.   Phil. 4:1-2 ESV

Therefore 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, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Phil. 4:1-2 NASB 95

c. ESV vs NASB

“If” is a conjunction: “If this, then that.” It’s problematic translating it from Greek to English. The EVS removed the word “if” making it flow better in English. NASB kept the original word “if”

d. 8 Bowls vs affection

the gut (heart)/ bowels -deep feelings, affection [I have a gut feeling]

were thought of in the ancient world as the seat of one’s deep feelings such as “affection” (rsv), “tenderness”, “compassion”, (nrsv), and “kindness”

Western thought – the heart is where we look to [They used to look toward the “gut” or “stomach” area.

Paul is focusing on two distinct parts in verse one: Humanity and the Divinity . Paul’s encouragement and love is the Humanity side and the unity is focused on the Divinity component. v1

Paul probably has in mind God’s or Christ’s warmth of affection and tenderness toward the Philippians:

Thus the four clauses divide into two distinct parts. The first focuses on the human side of things:

Paul’s encouragement of and love for the Philippians, or, alternatively, God’s love for them.

The second focuses on the divine:

the unity among the Philippians created by or based on a common share in the Holy Spirit, and leading to a strengthened sense of community life

9. V2 to think, love alike, be of one soul, and think alike

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 

“to think”

Strive for unity or like-mindedness coupled with humility

Paul was writing to the church in Philippi in hopes of bringing unity or like-mindedness. What two physical areas was he focusing on: Intellectually  and Emotionally .

“to think the same” ESV uses “being of the same mind” means not only intellectually and emotionally as well.

“to think the same,” is common in Paul’s writings:

Rom 15:5

2 Cor 13:11

“5May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 15:5-6 NIV 1984

“11Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” 2 Corinthians 13:11 NIV 1984

The verb “to think” (used ten times in Philippians, twenty-three times in Paul, twenty-six times in the NT) means “to think”

Also means:

in the intellectual sense

It equally involves one’s emotions, attitudes, and will - complete surrender that produces Harmony and Humility

That represents a person’s ❤️ and Mind . v2

Love Alike

Having the same love” stresses the mutuality of love that is to pervade the Christian community, identical with the self-sacrificing love of Christ for the church

Paul writes about this when He tells husbands to love their wives, as Christ did the church- that type of love – Ephesians 5:25

“25Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” Ephesians 5:25 ESV

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.  Phil. 4:2 ESV

Paul repeats himself 4 times!

repeats the same idea over and over again,

hoping that the Philippians will get the point.

Unity is essential for the dispelling of fear

10. V3 Do Nothing out of Selfish Ambition

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 

Paul is addressing what’s happening with the Christians in Philippi and while writing the letter and living out what it means “do nothing out of selfish ambition” - but looking to advance the gospel.

This hits home: My way is the way how to do something…It’s may be hard to believe but my wife has a different way of doing things.

We can look at Philippians 1:12-13

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. Philippians 1:12-13

But unity is impossible if Christians are out for themselves, promoting their own cause, and seeking their own advantage

Rivalry is guaranteed to destroy unity

“Conceit” or “Empty conceit”

It has as its root idea “empty opinion,” “error”

A person, then, who is motivated by “empty conceit,” is a person who assertively, even arrogantly, claims to have the right “opinion,” but who is in fact in error (“empty”). Yet the term has more of a moral connotation.

It refers to a person who is conceited without reason, deluded;

This is a person who will fight to prove that their idea is “right” - I fall into this category too.

“This all-too-human element could be behind the inability of the Philippian Christians to be united.” Was this in fact so? Paul, by asking that Christians do nothing from a cheap desire to boast, is in reality asking that they look to themselves and reflect on this possibility. For where such “empty conceit” is present, unity is absent

Sounds like it’s the indictment to the church in Philippi

Humility is the linchpin that guarantees the health of the Christian community

HUMILITY

the word “humility” was not considered a virtue in the time Paul penned the letter. Humility, humbleness was associated with slaves: the mentality of a slave, It conveyed the ideas of being base, unfit, shabby, mean, of no account. Hence, humility could not have been regarded by the pagan as a virtue to be sought after.

The noun form of the word “humility” was not found in any Greek writings prior to the New Testament

Humble - used to describe the mentality of a slave

Qumran community would have been familiar with the term humility as a virtue. What is the Qumran community: - PAUL IS an heir to these ideas.

You may not know what the Qumran community was?

It’s the community’s responsibility for the caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found in the 1940’s.

It was a Jewish sect.

What word did Paul redefine, creating an attribute instead of a flaw: Humility    ? v3

I. The new contribution that Paul makes to the concept is that he connects this humility to Christ Jesus, to the self-humbling love of the one who existed in the form of God – even more showing the humility of Jesus and changing the meaning of the word – the concept of humility as an attribute.

J. Humility is the antithesis of PRIDE!

i. “I’m Right because I have to be or am always right” type of attitude Paul was addressing in the church.

are you familiar with the saying: I live my life by two statements: 1) I’m always right, 2) If I’m ever wrong, refer to number 1!

11. V4

4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 4:1-4 ESV

Set Others Above Yourselves: I had to learn this with the story I shared about my life and my sister’s commnet

Paul points to a proper evaluation of others and of one’s self in light of the holiness of God, the Christian gospel, and the pattern of Christ. The result, Paul says, will be to set others above yourselves.

If the Philippian church is to Live in Harmony

Selfishness - looking out for one’s own interests or those of one’s special group to the exclusion of the interests of others the Philippians are to keep their eyes fixed on the good points of others rather than to concentrate on their own spiritual endowments.

People or groups of people were selfishly interested only in themselves or their parties.

Unity cannot coexist with individualism or partisanship.

So underneath the negative form in which this warning comes,

Paul in reality, is making the appeal for each to pay concerned attention to the things that interest and deeply concern the other

Harmony and Humility create selflessness and unity. v1-4

12. Conclusion vv1-4

Not asking for uniform or robotic thinking

Paul is asking the church in Philippi to strive for a heart (bowel/affection), of inner sentiment for one another that is full of love, as well as reflecting God’s love

He is asking that they all possess:

a common soul

share a common affection for one another

have a common desire to live together in harmony by renouncing a party spirit that is coupled with empty conceit and self-interest

adopt a humble attitude that estimates others as better than themselves and places their interests ahead of their own

This sounds like a fantastic marriage! but it’s a message to the church in Philippi

The interests of Jesus Christ are held up as a motivating force to check self-centeredness and to spur the readers on to pursue the interests of others

Christians at Philippi have to keep unity together

Their life together would be marked by these things they have in common and what they think of themselves (Phil 2:3–4).

The key is:

their selfless regard for others

active desire for their neighbors’ well-being and interest in preference to their own.

Above all, there is to be humility,/ Harmony

13. Close in Prayer Praying for:

Middleton Grace – would have harmony, unity, and hold the interest of others higher than themselves

Marriages in our church would represent what Paul was writing to the church of Philippi

Students, singles, and young adults would look out for their own interests, but also the interests of others.