Losing Your Mind...to Gain Christ's

The Apostle Matthew reports that toward the end of Jesus’ ministry an ugly, competitive spirit developed among the apostles when James and John and their mother attempted to get Jesus to promise them privileged thrones in the kingdom. “When the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers” (20:24). Harsh words and angry gestures were exchanged among the Twelve. Tempers flared! So Jesus called them together and said:

Matthew 20:24–28 ESV

24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

PHILIPPIANS 2.5-11

Philippians 2:5–11 ESV

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 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.

OBSERVATION OF THE TEXT

We all have favorite worship songs…books of the Bible that speak to us. Paul must have the loved the Messiah song from Isaiah 45, 52, 53. The Holy Spirit had him repeat some of that language as He penned this letter to the Philippians. Paul was a worshiper now. Verses 6-11 are referred to as the Christ Hymn of the New Testament.

One writer, pointing to Christ as our example, hovers above this text and observes these 3 notions here:

THE CALL to have the mind of Christ (2:5)

THE EXAMPLE of Christ making Himself low (2:6-8)

THE RESPONSE of God raising Him High (2:9-11)

THE RESULT of Christ as Lord of All (2:10-11) All people, everywhere are adoring and confessing Him as Lord.

It’s a good division of the text…I would further suggest that the language pivots the song on v9.

Think of it like a V-Formation

Suffering, Humility, Obedience, Death

(v9) Then God exalts HIM

every body adores…every tongue confesses

Isn’t it beautiful?

1. THE CALL

Verse 5 looks back to the 1 mind that we’ve just been encouraged to possess…our responsibilities of our citizenship

2. THE EXAMPLE: Christ making himself low

First, before we rush to make this text supremely applicable let’s just focus on Jesus...

This Christ Jesus who had always existed:

John 1:1–2 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

Though He came to Earth in the form of virgin-born baby, Christ has always been...

Before Abraham was, He was still the “I Am”

He is Alpha and Omega

Beginning and the End (He was before the beginning and He’ll be after the end)

First and the Last

Root and the Offspring of David

And when time has surrendered and Earth is no more, He will still be the eternally existent, Second person of the triune God of this Bible…the Messiah, the Anointed one, the LORD Jesus Christ.

I know “we get it”! But every generation has had to to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints - regarding the nature of Jesus Christ:

In AD 325, the Council of Nicea, Arius believed that Jesus was the first and greatest created being, but Athanasius won the day, defending the biblical position that Jesus is fully God, being of the same essence as the Father.

Today we still confess the magnificent creed adopted in this historic debate:

[We believe] in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Christ’s Humiliation

Didn’t count equality with God as something to be held on to: didn’t “take advantage” of his divinity in a way that betrayed his coming as a lamb

Wasn’t born in a palace to nobility

Wasn’t really distinct in any way

Isaiah 53:1–2 ESV

1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

Emptied Himself (Not of His divinity…but of His privilege)

“Emptied” (kenoō) here does not mean the Son of God emptied himself of his deity in some kind of theological subtraction.

How did the Son of God divest himself of position and prestige? Through the incarnation.

He “emptied himself”: (1) by taking the form (morphē) of a servant and (2) by being born in the likeness of men. These two phrases are mutually interpreting.

The only way for the Son of God to take on the form of a slave was to enter this world and be born as a man.

...he is not by subtracting deity but by adding humanity and becoming the God-man, both fully God and fully man.

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.

Form of a Servant, entered the earth born like a man, fully human form

The verb “humbled” (tapeinoō) is striking because it was frequently used in reference to slaves and their loss of “prestige or status.”

Proud people protest that some low position is “beneath” him or her. Jesus displayed his humility by not regarding anything as beneath him.

Obedient to death - displaying His humility and model for all to see...

He didn’t say, “You don’t really want me to do this do you, Father?”

He didn’t say, “Lord, Here I am, send somebody else.

We cannot pass by this text without reflecting on the cross

D. A. Carson points out that the cross can be viewed from five perspectives.

1. From God’s perspective, Jesus died as a propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:2). He absorbed God’s wrath and turned away God’s anger from us.

1 John 2:2 ESV

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

2. From Christ’s perspective, Jesus obeyed His Father perfectly, saying, “Not My will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). He carried out His assignment to “give His life—a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). This text in Philippians highlights Christ’s perfect obedience (also a major theme in John’s Gospel). He became “obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross” (2:8).

Luke 22:42 ESV

42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

3. From Satan’s perspective, the cross means the accuser’s defeat (see Rev 12:11).

Revelation 12:11 ESV

11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.

4. From sin’s perspective, the cross is the means by which our debt is paid.

5. Finally, from our perspective, while acknowledging all of these truths, treasuring the love and justice of God as well as the substitutionary life and death of Jesus—His victory over Satan and sin—we must also note that the cross serves “as the supreme standard of behavior” (Carson, Basics, 42).

Philippians 2:9 ESV

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

And then we pivot...”Pivot! Pivot!”

We move from this cruel Roman instrument of torture past the empty garden tomb, past the ascension from the Mount of Olives to the Resurrected, Glorified (Eternally Existent) Christ seated on the throne of majesty to the Right Hand of the Father!

God does 2 distinct things here in tandem:

God Exalts Him - makes perfect sense. Jesus made Himself so low in His obedience; the Father will lift Him up.

God Gave/Bestowed a new dimension to His name (same word - charizomai / hah-ree-zoe-meh - as when God gave us the gifts of belief and suffering in 1:29)

The new name likely isn’t Jesus (alone), He already had that…but it’s likely the fact that God is synonymously attaching the name Jesus to Lord, Master, Yahweh, etc.

Very similar to how God changes us when we are saved.

When you and I obey God’s Word and get low as we recognize our need for a Savior and God’s gift of that in Christ. When we get low and humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God as the we catch a glimpse of the crushing weight of our sin poured out on Christ…and we come to Jesus on His terms — God lifts us up out of the muck and mire and puts our feed on the Rock of His Word, on the Rock Christ Jesus.

He also makes us new. There’s a beautiful similarity to what we experience as we die to ourselves and come alive to Jesus…but we will not be exalted!

NOTE: If you’re constantly reading yourself as the good guy/hero into the Bible’s heroic accounts, you’re doing it wrong.

Have you experienced that? Have you been made new? Have you been lifted from darkness into His marvelous light yet?

You can be today if you know it’s time to do something about it.

Philippians 2:10–11 ESV

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.

All of this results in adoration and confession

Jesus is worshiped. He is the object of our affecton

EVERY KNEE, EVERYWHERE WILL BOW

EVERY TONGUE, EVERYWHERE WILL CONFESS

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD TO THE GLORY OF THE FATHER...

This is our aim as individuals

Psalm 19:14 ESV

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

This is our aim in our workplaces and spheres of influences...

Acts 4:20 ESV

20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

This is our aim, as a body, in our worship gatherings...

Have you lost your mind?

I’m not asking for you to disengage your mind (we are commanded to use all of our mind at our disposal to love the LORD)

I, of course, mean have you lost this world’s, this culture’s mindset that has exalted itself AGAINST Jesus that creeps in to our lives like a fog.

APPLICATION /

1. Lose Your Mind: RESIST / SEIZE - Gain His Mind of SURRENDER

John 3:30 ESV

30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”

This runs completely counter to the American dream. Better education, better house, better car, newer this, latest that. Bigger barns.

We trade…our right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness for

dying to self, serving as a bondservant for our King, trading momentary happiness for lifelong joy (unspeakable and full of glory)

2. Lose Your Mind: REFUSE / CONSUME and Gain His Mind to SERVE

Matthew 23:12 ESV

12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

3. Lose Your Mind: RESERVE, RETAIN / SIT BACK and Gain His Mind to SACRIFICE

Luke 12:15 ESV

15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

1 Timothy 6:6–9 ESV

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

Losing Your Mind and Gaining His Mind Results in Christ being exalted and God the Father being glorified! It takes the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit to remake us in this way.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Tony Merida gives some fantastic advice for us related to this passage:

Memorize this Passage. It’s a beautiful and theologically rich hymn. It’s worth memorizing.

Believe this Passage. You either believe that Christ is Lord or you do not believe that He is Lord. That belief not only impacts your thoughts and deeds…it has eternal consequences.

Live this Passage. Live in such a way that people see Jesus…think of Jesus…hear of Jesus when they encounter you.

Tell others about the message of this Passage. How will they hear, unless we tell them? (Refer to Benediction)

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BENEDICTION

Luke 10:2 ESV

2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.

How can we pray for the lost friends and family that we know?

How can we pray for the people in SouthEnd who may not have a living relationship with you?

The Lord commanded us, in view of the eternal needs of the people around us, to pray earnestly that He would send out laborers into the harvest fields.

PRAYER:

Lord, we’re asking you to do that this week…send us out to do the work of ministry - sharing the Gospel and making Disciples.

Help us as we shake off the old mindset which convinces us that the world revolves around us. Help us to take on the mind of Christ as we surrender, serve, and sacrifice in a way that you get all the glory and honor.

Lord, as you do this it will testify to an unbelieving world, that you are changing us!

Be glorified as we are sensitive to open doors to be witnesses for you to others - across the street and around the world.We ask all of this for the sake of your Great Name! Amen.