Christ Our Mind

Today we continue our study of Philippians, beginning in chapter 2, as we look at Christ's example of humility.

Please follow along in your bulletin as we read.

The Apostle Paul writes this,

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

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

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

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

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

who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

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

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

so that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence,

work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,

for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent,

children of God without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,

among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life,

so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the circumferential offering of your faith,

I am glad and rejoice with you all.

Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

This is the reading of God's word.

My name is Alistair.

If I haven't met you before, I'm one of the pastors here at Watermark,

so I'd like to welcome you here if you're new.

Last week we looked at the first chapter of the book of Philippians,

and now we're on the second chapter.

And as Aldrin said, Eric, who spoke last week,

talked about that famous line of Paul's,

to live is Christ and to die is gain.

And for those of you who were here last week,

you'll remember that we each got a sheet of paper as well,

where the words Christ and die were blanked out.

So we had to think about what it was that we lived for

and what it was that we sought after that we felt would give our lives gain.

And so I thought about that during the week.

And for me, I think the answer would be something like this.

To live is success.

And approval is gain.

I think that might be the case for many people.

But for me, certainly, that was the case.

And I didn't even realize this was the case until quite recently.

Because in ministry, as you're serving as a pastor,

this is a trap that they say that many pastors can fall into.

But of course, nobody thinks it will happen to them.

And yet, as you're pastoring, as you're doing ministry,

you think of ministry success

as something that is the most important thing to you.

And then when you achieve it,

then that's really living.

And, yeah, it's like you can't see yourself

until you see kind of the...

Well, until you fall.

And then you see what happens.

Or you see kind of your inner being is uncovered.

We're going to be looking today at the chapter 2 of Philippians,

which talks a lot about what it means to live in Christ.

And Paul is challenging his readers, the Philippians,

to actually live out that life in Christ

in community amongst each other.

And so he appeals to them

based on whether they have encouragement in Christ,

any love, if they've known this life in Christ.

And if they have,

then they should express that.

They should express that

in love for one another.

And so that's why he says in verse 2,

complete my joy by being of the same mind,

having the same love,

being in full accord and of one mind.

He wants them to be of one mind together.

And that mind that he wants them to have together

in their community

is none other than the mind of Christ.

We'll get to that in a second.

But what that looks like,

he tells us in verses 3 and 4,

if you've got it in front of you.

He says,

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit,

but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests,

but also to the interests of others.

See, Paul calls for unity,

a spiritual oneness amongst the church that's there,

suggesting perhaps that there was some tension or disagreement there.

But he also says that humility is the key to unity.

A call to unity is a call to humility.

And what does humility look like?

Well, Paul defines humility as

counting others as more significant than yourselves.

In Australia, for quite a long time,

probably maybe nearly a decade,

one of the biggest banks ran a commercial with this line,

for the most important person in the world,

you.

And this was run through the kind of the 90s

and past that as well.

And it's encapsulated the feel of,

I guess, a people, a nation.

Yes, that's right.

The most important person in the world is me.

And so everything, including the banks,

should be there to serve me.

And this kind of tagline continued unquestioned for all this time

because it just spoke to where people were at

and what people were thinking in their inner being.

To look to the interests of others

and not to the interests of yourselves

requires that you think of others

as more important than you

rather than yourself as the most important person

in the room

or in your family

or in your world.

The problem is that

often we are only interested in our own interests.

And we are only interested then in other people

as far as they can further our own interests.

How often have you heard the complaint,

why aren't you interested in what I'm talking about?

This is the complaint of a world full of people

who are only interested in themselves

and in their own good.

A famous writer has said,

most people do not listen with the intent to understand.

They listen with the intent to reply.

I don't know if you've ever done that

where you're listening to somebody

or you're in an argument with somebody

and you're not actually listening to them

to hear what they're saying.

You're actually listening to them

and at the same time formulating something in your head

so that you can reply back to them.

Actually listening to someone,

giving them your full attention

means to consider their words to be important.

It means to really listen.

But for many of us, we like to talk.

I like to talk.

And sometimes I find myself talking

in several conversations all at once.

Some online and some in real life and so on.

And I just wonder whether I and you

have ever given the impression to somebody

or to the person in front of you

that they're just a distraction

from the more important thing that you are doing.

You know, Jesus never multitasked people.

He never gave people...

He always gave people his full attention.

Whenever he was speaking to somebody,

he was engaged with them.

And they were never, for him,

a means to some other end.

As he spoke to them, he ministered to them,

he loved them,

and he wasn't busy doing something else.

What it means to look to the interests of others,

not just our own interests,

means to...

Well, superficially, it means, firstly,

paying attention in a conversation

and not being, say, on a smartphone

while you're talking and listening to somebody.

And I'm as guilty as this as anyone.

But more deeply, it means

to stop seeing people

as a means to your self-fulfillment.

This applies to many areas of life,

not least to spouses

or the marriage relationship.

Tim Keller, who is a pastor in New York,

writes,

a marriage based not on self-denial

but on self-fulfillment

will require a no-maintenance partner

who meets your needs

while making almost no claims on you.

Simply put, today,

people are asking far too much

in search for the marriage partner.

And for years now,

marriage researchers have been saying

and arguing that

a strong network of friends

is the best way to keep a marriage strong.

They say,

today we put much more emphasis

or we expect more intimacy

and support from our partners

than in the past,

but much less from everybody else.

And this puts a huge strain

on the institution of marriage.

Often the marriage buckles

under the weight of partners' expectations

that they will fill every one

of each other's needs.

Using others in the quest

for our own self-fulfillment

will ruin any relationship.

And that applies for co-workers

or bosses or friends,

siblings,

your pastor,

one another in the church.

You see, this is the path

of selfish ambition,

what Paul talks about there

in verses 3 and 4.

And selfish ambition

means to take your interests,

to place them

as your highest priority,

and then to turn others

into tools or means

in order to achieve

that highest priority

that you have.

It is the opposite

of what Paul describes

as humility.

It is to only think about

and look out for yourself.

Selfish ambition

would never put anyone's thoughts

or needs above itself.

Selfish ambition

would do or say

whatever was necessary

in order to make

him or herself

look better in front of others

in order to advance

their own cause.

By contrast,

to put other people's interests

ahead of your own

means to put your own interests

on hold.

This is what children

find so hard to do.

How they can't have

what they want

and have it now.

My four-year-old niece

is a firstborn

and, like many four-year-olds,

considers herself

to be the center

of her world.

And she has this

kind of habit

that when

she feels like

she's being ignored

by the important

adults in her life,

she will repeat

what she wants

to say

louder

and louder

and louder

until she's yelling

at the top of her voice.

And we say to her

that that's not right.

She needs to wait.

That it's rude

to interrupt and yell.

And she can't have

everything she wants

straight away.

Unless, say,

it's an emergency,

like,

Mommy, I need to go

to the toilet right now.

Then, yes,

okay, we stop everything

and help her out.

But, see,

what she needs to learn

is that she's not

the center

of her family

or her world,

of the world.

And yet,

sadly,

it seems that

even adults

have grown up

or some adults

have grown up

not understanding

this reality.

And we see

that self-centeredness

is the biggest obstacle

to unity,

harmony,

to good relationship

in our lives.

And even secular researchers

have caught on to this.

There's a researcher

in Australia

called Hugh Mackay

and he's spent

the last 40 years

researching,

asking questions

about people's lives,

their loves,

their hopes,

their ambitions,

their fears

and their passions,

measuring people's

happiness levels.

And what he's discovered

in that time

is that

the quest

for personal happiness

and fulfillment

actually doesn't make

people happy

at all.

Rather,

true happiness,

he says,

or he's found,

is found

in losing oneself

in service

to another.

And so,

after 40 years

of this research,

he actually wrote

a book about it

called The Good Life.

And in it,

as it says,

he asks the ultimate question,

what makes a life

worth living?

His conclusion,

drawn from his research,

is this.

A good life

is not measured

by security,

wealth,

status,

achievement,

or levels of happiness.

A good life

is determined

by our capacity

for selflessness

and our willingness

to connect

with those around us

in a meaningful

and useful way.

Hugh looks at

the numerous ways

we get distracted

from this purpose.

He examines

what he calls

the utopian complex,

which describes

our dangerous desire

for perfection

and the false expectation

that life will unfold

according to our

carefully laid plans.

He highlights

the things that lead us

along paths

to pain and confusion,

particularly

our willingness

to sacrifice

others

on the altar

of our own

personal desires

and ambitions.

There it is,

selfish ambition.

And what he says,

of course,

is that it is the life

that is lived

for others

that is the one

that is worth living.

And to argue

his point,

Hugh draws heavily

on the golden rule

that is to do

unto others

as you would have

them do to you

that Jesus spoke about.

But at the same time,

he doesn't want

to have any kind

of picture of God

in his world view.

And so,

is it possible then

for society to live

by the golden rule

when it's been cut off

from the person

who taught it?

Well, I would say

the answer would be no.

And in fact,

the very reason

this book is written,

as Mackay himself says,

is because he sees

that more and more

in our society,

people are living

for themselves.

The early Christians

were known

for their care

for others,

for one another,

their love

for one another,

and their care

for the poor,

the weak,

the marginalized,

the despised.

And you know,

there was only one reason

they lived that way.

They believed

that the one

who was crucified

and rose again

called them

into that life.

You see,

when Paul calls

for the Philippians

to live

not for themselves

but for others,

on what basis

does he do so?

Is he saying

that it's just

like a self-evident ethic?

No.

The self-evident ethic

to most of us,

actually,

is to live

in selfish ambition.

In seeking

to put ourselves

ahead of others.

No.

What Paul argues on,

on the basis of,

is the humility,

the humiliation

of God.

So in verses 5 to 11,

we have this,

some call it a poem

or hymn to Christ.

And it's the ultimate

example of humility.

humility.

See,

the ultimate example

of humility

is God himself.

Which sounds strange

until you think about

what he did

in Christ.

And so Paul says,

we should have

this mind

amongst ourselves,

this mind

of Christ.

And what he means

by that

is that we should

apply what we think

about Christ

to our lives

together.

we should think

about Jesus

and what he did

and our relationship

with him.

And we should

live that out

amongst one another

in our community.

So when Paul says,

have this mind,

he means adopt it,

take it on,

internalize it

within yourself,

among yourselves,

in your community.

and he says,

Jesus,

who is in the form

of God,

didn't consider

equality with God

something to be grasped,

but made himself

nothing

or emptied himself.

What does it mean

to say that Jesus

is in the form

of God?

Is it just saying

that Jesus

looked like God,

but was just,

like an external

appearance?

Well,

in the Old Testament,

the form of God

manifested itself

as the glory

of God.

You might remember

in the book of Exodus,

Moses is shown

the form of God

and he sees

all his glory

pass him by.

Here we are told

that Jesus

has the very form

of God.

And the form

of God

in classical Greek

refers to

the characteristic

attributes

of God.

That is,

who God is

inside of him,

that is who

Jesus is.

And in the very

same verse,

the form of God

is equated

with being

equal with God.

That's the way

that Paul sees it,

that Jesus

is equated

with God.

And yet,

being somebody

who was equal

in divinity

with God,

he refused

to use his divinity

selfishly.

he didn't say,

I'm going to look

after the most

important person

in the world,

me.

Even though

he had the power

to do so.

He had the right

to do so.

See,

Jesus didn't stay

safe

in heaven

or grasp

for equality

with God.

you could say

that he didn't

exert his rights

or assert

his rights.

And the language

of rights

was originally

used to protect

the weak

and the powerless,

to say that

all humans

have an equality

here on earth

so that we

shouldn't mistreat

anyone.

But we've turned

the language of rights

today into

a selfish plea

to say,

give me my rights.

we want to assert

our own rights.

But Jesus

emptied himself

and humbled himself.

He didn't remain

in perfect communion

with his Father

in heaven,

but instead

emptied himself

of his glory

and became

flesh,

a human.

And he humbled

himself,

not coming as a

prince or an

emperor,

but an ordinary

man,

walking a path

that led to death.

Why?

It wasn't for

the fun of it.

It wasn't fun,

not the dying

part anyway.

Jesus came

and he died

and he became

nothing

so that we

could become

something.

Romans 5

Romans 5:8

verse 8

tells us

that God

showed his

love for us

in that while

we were still

sinners,

Christ died

for us.

So Paul

is reminding

his readers

here that it

is only through

the death of

Christ,

that they are

here at all,

able to be

in relationship

with one another,

to be in

relationship with

God.

And one of the

things about

selfishness is

that it fails

to see the

bigger picture.

Your world

shrinks down

to just you

and your

concerns.

And particularly

when we have

arguments and

fights and we're

trying to prevail

over another,

our concerns

seem to

engulf us

and become

our world.

I don't know

if you've ever

experienced that.

I have.

But Paul is

saying there's

something bigger

than your fights

and your disputes,

your grumbling

and your selfish

ambition.

And that

something,

that someone

bigger,

came and

died for you.

and to bring

home just how

much bigger

that is,

Paul then

talks about

God's future

plans for his

son.

That Jesus

will be given

the name

above every

name.

And that at

that name,

every knee

shall bow

and tongue

will confess

that Jesus

is Lord.

I didn't

realize it

before this

week,

but that

verse is

actually a

quote from

the Old

Testament,

from Isaiah

Isaiah 45 · chapter mention

chapter 45.

Isaiah

Isaiah 45:22

chapter 45

verses 22

and 23

say this,

Turn to me

and be

saved,

all the

ends of

the earth,

for I am

God and

there is

no other.

By myself

I have

sworn,

for my

mouth has

gone out

in righteousness

a word

that shall

not return.

To me

every knee

shall bow,

every tongue

shall swear

allegiance.

To whom

shall the

knee bow

and the

tongue

confess

that is

Lord?

It's

God

himself.

As he

says,

I am

God,

there is

no other.

And so

we see

here early,

early on

in the

New Testament

the idea

that Jesus

is God,

equal with

God,

and yet

there is

only one

God,

is already

placed here

in these

early times

in the

New Testament.

It's

where we

get the

doctrine of

the Trinity,

that there

is only

one God

that we

follow,

but that

Jesus is

fully God,

as well as

fully human,

as we also

saw.

So think

about that

for a second,

that this

is our

God.

This is the

one whom

we Christians

profess to

follow.

If the

character of

God is

one of

humility,

then surely

the character

of the

Christian

church

should also

be one

of

humility.

It makes

sense.

And so

we,

if we are

followers of

Jesus,

ought to

display the

character of

Jesus.

For a

Christian to

act selfishly,

with pride,

is simply not

being true to

our Lord,

who acted

with humility.

humility.

This is what

Paul means

when he says,

have this

mind amongst

yourselves.

He's saying,

adopt this

frame of

mind in

your community.

Don't be

grumbling and

complaining,

filled with

selfish ambition

and conceit.

Have that

same mind

of Christ

in your

interactions

with one

another.

Well,

what does it

mean then to

have the same

mind of

Christ?

Christ?

Well,

it means as

we think of

one another,

of our

relationships

with one

another,

apply that

thinking of

Christ to

one another.

And how

would things

change if we

applied the

mind of

Christ to

our life

together in

community?

Well,

a community

would be

marked with

forgiveness,

selflessness,

humility, as

we've already

talked about,

seeking the

good of

others,

not grumbling

or complaining

and rejoicing.

It's pretty

hard to

rejoice if

you're grumbling

and complaining.

And I want

to talk a

little bit

about maybe

just a couple

of these and

what that

might look

like.

Or maybe

just thinking

about just

how hard

that is

actually in

the Christian

life.

I don't

know if

you guys,

some of

you will

have known

this,

but I've

been working

as a

pastor for

five years.

And before

I came to

Hong Kong,

I was

working in

Sydney.

And I

said before,

didn't I,

that my

answers to

that question,

to blank is

Christ,

was success

is to

live.

Or to

live is

success.

And so

what I was

looking for

was ministry

success and

the approval

that would

come with

it.

And I

didn't even

know that

at the

time.

But what

I found

when I

started in

ministry was

I would

be working

in a place

and the

kind of

things that

I saw

and advice

that I

gave were

not

appreciated.

And

particularly

those who

were in

control of

the ministries

around me

just simply

pushed me

aside and

marginalized

me and

didn't listen

to anything

I had to

say.

And so

as a result,

I was

frustrated

because what

I wanted

to see

change and

transformation

happening in

the church,

the ministry

growing,

was frustrated

by these

leaders who

would not do

anything about

the situation

there.

And I'm not

saying that

the things

that I saw

were wrong.

Even some

of the leaders

agreed with

me in terms

of the things

that I saw,

but they

didn't want

to rock

the boat.

They didn't

want to

make the

hard decisions

that would

be necessary

in order to

help and

to cause

people to

grow.

And I'm

not saying

that what

I wanted

was wrong,

but my

response to

what happened

showed that

I was actually

being driven

by selfish

ambition.

temptation.

Because as

I was being

pushed aside,

what it felt

like to me

was that my

very life was

being crushed

out of me

as I was

continuing to

serve and

yet not

able to

impact people

in the way

that I'd

hoped.

And so

instead of

loving others

and seeking

the best of

others,

I grumbled

and complained

a lot

to people.

And I

found it

hard to

forgive others

as well.

And if

you've ever

been in a

situation where

somebody has

hurt you,

you will know

that it is

hard to

forgive others,

isn't it?

And yet,

if we're

going to be

people of

Christ,

people who

are forgiven,

that's something

we must

do,

isn't it?

I consider

that my

own life and

soul were

being crushed

by the

people that

I was with,

but in a

much more

real way,

I had

crushed the

life of

Christ by

my own

sin.

And yet,

Jesus would

turn and

say to

even those

who are

crucifying him,

or to

say to

God,

about those

who are

crucifying him,

Father,

forgive them,

for they do

not know

what they're

doing.

That's what

Jesus says

about us

too.

Father,

forgive them,

you,

me,

because we

didn't know

what we

were doing.

And so

we too

need to

turn and

forgive

others.

But who

can do

this?

Who has

the strength

to be able

to turn

and to

forgive?

To live

in such

a way

as to

actually

place other

people's

priorities

above their

own?

To think

of others

as more

significant

or more

important

than them?

I said

before that

that guy

who wrote

that book

wanted to

see all

this change

happening

in society,

but actually

wasn't seeing

anything of

the sort.

In fact,

he was

seeing the

reverse.

who can

provide

the

inner

moorings

for us

to be able

to live

in this

way?

Only

God.

In the

last part

of our

passage,

we see

that we

are told

to work

out our

salvation

and yet

that the

power and

the motivation

come from

God.

we are

to work

out our

salvation,

but it

is God

who works

in us.

What does

that mean?

Let me

read it

out.

Therefore,

my beloved,

as you have

always obeyed,

so now,

not only in

my presence,

but much more

in my absence,

work out your

own salvation

with fear and

trembling.

Okay,

just stop there

for a second.

What Paul

means by that

is,

as I've

already

said,

to take

what is

of the

mind of

Christ and

to live

it out

amongst us,

to take

the salvation

that we've

received,

the fact that

we know

that Christ

has died

for us,

and to

live it

out amongst

our

community.

Work out

your own

salvation,

the your

there is

plural.

But it

is then

God who

works in

you,

both to

will and

to work

for his

good

pleasure.

You see,

the power

and the

motivation

for us

come from

God.

We can't

try as

we might

pull ourselves

up by our

own bootstraps

to make

self-improvement

the goal of

the Christian

life.

The only

way that

we can

follow in

the way

of Christ

is if we're

actually

following

Christ.

And the

use of

human

effort

in this

is just

what God

commands

for achieving

his saving

purpose.

And we

do not

will and

work on

our own,

but our

wills and

our actions

are the

very areas,

the very

arenas,

where God's

power is

working in

us.

When God

put it like

this,

God's

working in

us is not

suspended

because we

work,

nor is our

working suspended

because God

works.

works.

So in

other words,

just because

we're working

doesn't mean

that God

is not

working in

us.

And just

because God

is working

in us doesn't

mean that we

just stop

working.

Neither is the

relation strictly

one of

cooperation,

but the

relation is

that because

God works,

we work.

Because God

wills and

works within

us,

that this is

what he wants

for us,

and the

way that

he uses

us to

live out

this salvation

amongst us,

because of

that,

we also

work at

it.

We work

out our

own salvation

together.

So the

question is

then,

do you

follow Jesus

or not?

If you

follow Jesus,

then you

need to

follow in

the way

of humility.

Who do

you follow?

Because if

you're not

following Jesus,

then you're

following something

else, or

you're prioritizing

something else

in your life,

whether it is

your own

ambition,

your own

happiness,

your own

self-seeking.

And the

final question

I want to

leave you with

is what are

we known

for?

As a

church of

Christ,

Christ,

we should

be known

for what

God is

known for,

or rather,

we should

actually be

reflecting out

to the

world this

God and

what He

is,

who He

is.

And what

He is,

is a God

of humility,

a God who

humbled Himself

to save

us,

a God who

will be

exalted,

a God who

will be

worshipped

by everybody.

This is the

kind of God

that I'm

happy to

follow,

and I hope

and I pray

that that's the

case for you

as well.

But it

means that we

should also be

a church that

is filled

with humility,

a church

where people

can come

together and

see that we

are a

humble people,

a people who

don't stand

on our own

achievements

and compare

ourselves to

one another,

who don't

grumble and

complain,

but people who

live together

in unity.

Let's pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Father, we

ask that you

would give us

again a vision

of who

Jesus is,

of the way

that he

came into

this earth,

giving up

everything that

he had so

that we could

come to know

you.

And we

ask that we

would adopt

that frame of

mind,

that we

would come

come to know

and experience

and to love

this humility

that Jesus

showed,

so that we

too would be

able to live

like this,

that we

would no longer

live with

ourselves as

number one,

but that we

would be able

to place

other people's

interests ahead

of our own,

that we would

be able to

count others

as more

significant than

us,

and that we

would be able

to rejoice

in these

things.

So we

pray this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.