Philippians 2:1-11

Intro

Students week 4!

Time to move to chapter two of Philippians!

I hope this has been a joy for you like its been for me!

We started the series by looking at Phil 1:1-11 asking the question “Would Paul thank God for me?”

Then we moved to Phil. 1:12-20 where we found out what it looks like to have joy

Last week we looked at Phil 1:21-30 where we saw that we are being challenged to live worthy of the Gospel

Part of being worthy of the Gospel means being unified

But lets take a quick poll

How many of you think its easy to be unified with others?

Now lets be honest — how easy it?

IT’S NOT

It’s difficult to be unified and do what Paul commands in Chapter 1

Thats why he doubles down on the idea of being unified in Chapter 2

To experience the blessings be like-minded

Chapter 2 starts like this:

Philippians 2:1–2 ESV

1 So 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

Paul lays out a series of if/then statements

Essentially saying “if this is true… then do what I am commanding you”

This might sound crazy, so lets rephrase it to yes/no questions:

Is there any encouragement in Christ?

Is there any comfort of love?

Is there any fellowship of the Spirit?

Is there any affection and compassion in Christ?

Obviously for us the answer is “yes” to all of these statements

We know that there is encouragement, we know there is comfort, we know the Spirit is always with us, we know that there is compassion with Christ

So what are we called to do because of these true statements?

We are called to complete Paul’s joy

How?

By being like-minded

This leads to our first point today:

To experience the blessings, be like-minded

As Christians we are called to be like-minded

This isn’t a new point for us — but something we have to be continuously reminded of

We need to constantly be told that we need to be unified and like-minded

Why?

Because otherwise we won’t do it!

We won’t seek unity with one another

It’s so much easier for us to go through life seeking ourself instead of seeking to be unified

Whats crazy though is Paul in verse 1 reminds us of the truth of the Gospel

He reminds us that encouragement, comfort, fellowship, and compassion can all be found in Christ

But if all of that is true why can’t we get along with one another in order to experience these truths?

We would all say we want to experience these things — but why don’t we?

It’s because we have forgotten what it takes to be unified

Many people have bought into the lie that if we love Jesus we will be unified together

That is just not the case

YES we are unified in Christ

But it takes work to be unified

And Paul explains how:

We must do the work

Philippians 2:2–4 ESV

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.

Paul goes on to say that we must be like-minded — thats the goal

Then he lays out how to do this

What’s super cool about this section in Greek is that the only verb here is to be “like-minded”

Everything else in these verses are simply participles that describe what it looks like to be like-minded

We are to:

Have same love

United in Spirit

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit

Count others more important

Not only look to our own interests

But also to those of others

Paul lays out what it will take for us as believers to be unified and like-minded

What does this show us?

IT doesn’t just happen

Instead Paul is telling us the second thing here

To be like-minded, we must do the work

We must do the work in order to be like minded

We must be willing to put in the work

Same love

Paul says we must have the same love

The same love means that we look at everything with the same love that Christ has

Seeking to serve and love sacrificially

United in the Spirit

United in Spirit — literally seeing ourselves as one

Understanding that because of Jesus and the Holy Spirit we are united and connected

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit

Our actions should not come from a place of selfishness

Let that sink in

At all times our actions should not be for our own need

Count others more important

On the contrary Paul says instead of focusing on yourself and being selfish instead count others as more important than you

Ever questioned how to not be selfish?

Have a view where you see others as higher than you

Not only looking to our needs

But I love that Paul includes this here

Because what he is saying is that you are still supposed to look at your needs

What tends to happen is people swing on a pendulum and say

“If I can’t be selfish I just won’t worry about myself at all”

However Paul is telling us its not bad to worry about our needs

Just don’t be selfish about it

Also needs of others

Specifically think about the needs of others

Something that many people don’t do

Hardly ever have I sat down and asked the question

“What does my neighbor need today”

Yet Paul is telling us that we need to do these things

Do the Work

All of these descriptions that Paul laid out are tough

No one just naturally does this

No one just naturally loves others

No one is just naturally united

We don’t just think about others

AND that is why Paul specifically tells us to do these things

To be united and like minded it is going to take work

If we want to experience the blessings Paul described in verse 1

If we want to experience the encouragement, comfort, love, and joy

It takes us doing the work to be like-minded

These things only happen when we are united with one another in Christ

Christ Models the work

But its hard!

Paul knows this

Thats why Paul goes on to show us that what we are called to do — Jesus has done

Philippians 2:5 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

This like-mindedness is something that Christ Jesus did

The description that Paul gave, Christ fulfilled in himself

Here’s the third thing Paul is teaching us:

Jesus modeled the work for us

Paul goes through this great exposition of who Christ with one goal in mind

The model of Jesus’ humility and sacrifice is intended to reinforce Paul’s call to consider others as being more important than ourselves

We are to see that if Jesus can do it — we obviously can do it

I mean look at what Paul says:

Philippians 2:6–7 ESV

6 who, though he was in the form of man, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Think about that

Jesus is fully God

100% deserving of praise, worship, adoration

YET

We see that he didn’t count it as something to be grasped — literally he didn’t hold it over peoples heads

Instead he took on a form of a servant

What’s Paul’s purpose?

If Jesus can set aside His rights for the Father, why can’t we?

I loved this quote:

“Even though Jesus had the Divine clout to do anything He wanted, He chose not to stick up for His rights.”

Jesus was worthy, and yet he took on a form of a servant

Paul then goes on

Philippians 2:8 ESV

8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

What did Jesus do instead of demanding praise — he went to a cross and died

He humbled himself and died

Doing the exact opposite of what everyone of us in this room would have done if we were Jesus

One commentary I read talked about this as Jesus’ superhero moment

It described how every superhero has a “human side” and their “superhero alter ego”

Superman is also Clark Kent

Spider-Man is also Peter Parker

Almost every superhero has this secret identity and what makes them a superhero is what they do with their power

Jesus is the exact same way

He is fully God, yet he becomes human

And what does he do with all His power and authority?

He humbles himself and dies!

Paul is telling us this because it should be a red flag to us!

If we are to be like-minded

If we are to be unified Paul has already laid out that it will take work

And then Paul is saying that what we are called to do is nothing compared to what Jesus did

Jesus was GOD

Yet he humbled himself

We are meant to do the same thing!

Reward — exaltation (Christian blessings)

Then Paul goes on to say:

Philippians 2:9–11 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Paul finishes by showing that because of Christ’s obedience

Because he humbled himself — he ends up being exalted

That everyone will confess Jesus and bow to Him

Here’s the final thing Paul is teaching us:

Obedience leads to reward

This is a call back to the very beginning!

If we are to experience the blessings of Christ

If we are to experience what Paul says in verses 1-2 it takes obedience

Jesus’ example of being exalted by being humble doubles down on our necessity to humble ourselves

It goes full circle!

It takes serving and humility to experience like-mindedness and the blessings of Christ

Conclusion

Students we are called to be like-minded

This isn’t easy

It takes a lot of work

But the payoff is worth it!

So lets go and put in the work to be united so we can experience the blessings of Christ

Discussion Questions

What steps can we take to actively encourage one another in our journey towards being like-minded?

In what ways can we identify and dismantle selfish ambition in our lives?

How can we remind ourselves to look beyond our own interests and consider the needs of others?

What does obedience to God's call for unity look like in your daily interactions?

How can you balance looking out for your own interests while also caring for others?