The Mind of Christ
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Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[c] will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
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Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.Do Everything Without Grumbling
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
Introduction
Letters are important, they reveal the writers character, emotion, soul. The reason we know much about Paul is cause he left us so many letters. The church in Philippai had supported him through his first missionary journey (they seemed to understand how a church should be: sharing burdens, sending gifts & encouraging letters to Paul).
In 52AD Paul on his second missionary journey, came to Philippi (Acts 16 centres round three people who converted to Christianity: Lydia (the purple seller) who was Asian; the demon-possessed girl, who was Greek. She was abused by her masters and thirdly, the Roman Jailer.
It’s a picture of the different nationalities being drawn into Christianity. Mission was vital to Paul and that is an important context as we read this letter to the Philippians which was probably hand delivered by Church member Epaphroditus.
Now Paul is in prison writing to the Philippians. Paul could have been depressed, wallowing in self-pity – but this letter is full of joy. Paul rises above the misery, remembers them and prays for them, and prays with joy [Phil 1:3]. In this letter Paul opened his heart to people he loved, people he wanted to nurture.
Paul ends Philippians 1 by referring to struggles that they were having – probably persecution for their faith. Paul wants them to know their response to struggles is a powerful witness to the Gospel. He also wants them to know that their unity and love one for one another is part of their witness too.
So he begins Chapter 2 with this appeal for unity by a four-fold Statement of Faith. Unity is a powerful visible witness of the church, disunity destroys the witness, and destroys the church (Phil 2:3&4), still a real danger today.
He presents in this part of the epistle a…..
Statement of Faith
Hymn of Praise
Assurance of Salvation
Statement of Faith
The Statement of Faith structured on 4 if’s and 4 responses.
4 if’s (best translated as ‘since’ - they are not questions but statements).
Since you have received encouragement.
Since you found comfort in His love.
Since you enjoyed the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.
Since you have experienced the tenderness & compassion of God.
Since you have received any of these things, Paul says to the Philippian church…
1. Then be like-minded – give encouragement, share the comfort and love of Christ and fellowship of the Holy Spirit, share the tenderness and compassion of God.
2. Then love one another,
3. Then do nothing from selfish ambition,
4. Then consider others as more important than yourselves.
Paul, appealing for unity, asks them to give up personal ambition & desire for prominence to have humble hearts, a servant heart like Jesus.
Illustration: I was sat preparing for this message yesterday, and Rufus pinged 35 pictures onto the church WhatsApp group. Each pic was a demonstration of what our Faith means to us. I saw unity, serving together, humble hearts – cleaning the church, not because we love the church but because we love each-other and we love the Lord
Unity is so important as a witness to non-Christians, to the communities in which we live.
Moving on to …………..
Hymn of Praise
Look again at the passage and notice in most Bibles that Philippians 2:6-11 are indented. The typeset is different from the rest of the letter of Philippians because it is a song.
Phil 2:5-11 is probably the earliest known hymn of the Christian church, written a short time after the cross, no more than 20 yrs after the resurrection.
The hymn proclaims: Jesus, being in very nature God, decided not to hold onto his equality with God, but emptied himself… Becoming a servant in human likeness. (Incarnation).
He humbled himself, became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
He took upon himself the very nature of a servant. The invincible became vulnerable, the immortal tasted death and not just any death a CURSED death, Galatians 3v13 & Deut 21v23 Condemned so that we could be pardoned – hallelujah
Let’s look at the next few verses…
V6 Being in nature, God. He was by nature in the very form of God - the words ‘being,’ haparchein (greek). Meaning, the very essence of a person which can’t be changed. Paul teaching that Jesus is unalterably and essentially God. ‘In nature or the form of God’ Greek word, Morphe, means never alters, never changes.
v6 Paul says Jesus, having the very nature of God , did not consider equality something to be grasped = harpagmos ie Held on to is a better translation than grasped. It means he did not hold on to equality which implies he had that nature and equality already. Same substance and being as God but willingly laid it down for our sakes. He was not acting a part like Spock in Star Trek who took on our form but was an alien. ‘Made in the likeness of men; he became (Gk gignesthai) – completely real like men.’ Jesus, Paul says, is all man and all God.
v7 ‘he emptied himself.’ God emptied Himself. It's a provocative thought. How can God who made everything empty himself. The Hymn of course isn't saying that God became less divine but this is a poetic way of expressing how in the world God-the-son changed his nature in being solely divine to become fully human, the man Jesus the divine Christ.
v7 He emptied himself...of reputation. Here Paul is explaining the cost of the incarnation. From the glory of divinity to become man. Emptied himself of heavenly glory for human poverty; The mighty God, king of kings, prince of peace – gave up his home in heaven to take human likeness; Emmanuel God with us; ‘hallelujah what a Saviour!’
In Philippians 2:6-8, this short passage sets out the divinity and humanity of Jesus: God in flesh paid for our pardon so that we can have eternity written on our hearts.
Assurance of Salvation
There isa crescendo of the hymn in Philippians 2:9 - the self-emptying of Jesus resulted in God giving Jesus the name above every name (Probably Lord – kurios).
And what follows is such a simple assurance of our salvation, Phil 2:11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. FOUR simple words which became the 1st creed of early Church, If you say it, sing it, pray it, proclaim it, from the heart, you are a believer.
[Polycarp] ‘For 86 years I have served him & he never did me any harm, how can I blaspheme my king and my Saviour – Jesus Christ is Lord.’ Polycarp was martyred, burnt at the stake in AD 156
All the assurance we need for our salvation is in those 4 words, ‘Jesus Christ is Lord.’
Jesus a person we know and love is Lord of all. Is he your Lord of All?
(Romans 10:9 says, if you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved).
Let us conclude with Paul’s three responses of the true Christian [Philippians 2:12-13] -
1) Action, ongoing daily walk with the Lord Jesus, that includes, prayer, reading and meditation on the scriptures, worship and active Christian service. In other words, ‘working out’ salvation. Working out is like exercising in a gym,. it takes total comittment, not holding back, seeig it through to the end. We are not to be ‘couch Christians.’
2) Fear and trembling: The fear of grieving God. When you love someone, you do not fear that they will harm you; you fear that you may harm them by being unloving and wayward.
3) Philippians 2:13 - God is at work in you, enabling you to will and to work for his good pleasure. God is actively at work inside us, giving us the inner desire ("to will") and the outward strength ("to work") to do what pleases Him
Jesus is the supreme example of pleasing God. Humble, obedient, servant heart.
Paul is encouraging the Philippians to focus their eyes on Jesus despite their struggles.
We need to be prepared to set aside our rights & status for the Heavenly Fathers’ purposes (that usually involves serving others – like cleaning church or being a good neighbour, or a good witness in our workplace). In that way the Lord can shine through us in our everyday lives – this is our witness, this is the outworking of our salvation.
Conclude with this chorus -
I rejoice in my Redeemer, Greatest treasure ,
Wellspring of my soul, I will trust in Him, no other,
My soul is satisfied in Him alone.