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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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2012 GBC THEME REVIEW - 1: “HAVING THE SAME MIND, LOVE, UNITY, AND PURPOSE AS CHRIST” (Phil 2:1-2) (12/30/12) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. INTRODUCTION A. GBC 2012 Theme: “Having the Same Mind,
Love, Unity, and Purpose as Christ (Phil 2:1-2)” B. Why a theme? To keep our
focus on a particular section of Scripture throughout the year in order that
our lives and church are conformed to Christ in a particular area. II. CONTEXT OF PHILIPPIANS 2 A. This is one of Paul’s most joyous epistles
even though he was writing from prison (Phil 1:7). He had joy in the
furtherance of the gospel (Phil 1:18) and spiritual growth of the church
(Phil 1:25; 4:1). He had joy in the mature believers at Philippi (Phil 1:4).
He appealed that they would always rejoice in the Lord (Phil 3:1; 4:4). B. However, there appears to be at least one
problem between two ladies within the church, Euodia
(“happy journey”) and Syntyche (“happy event”) (Phil 4:2).
There was some sort of disagreement between them to which Paul encourages them
to live in “harmony” (pres. inf. of phrone,ō
- thinking or mindset) together in the Lord. Both of them were godly
women who had helped Paul in the ministry (Phil 4:3). III. OUTLINE OF PHILIPPIANS 2:1-2 (1-11) A. A Condition Of Encouragement (1) B. A Corporate Mindset (2) 1. The Same Mind (2b) 2. The Same Love (2c) 3. The Same Unity (2d) 4. The Same Purpose (2e) 5. The Same Example (5) C. A Crucial Admonition (3-4) D. A Chief Example (5-8) E. A Conclusion of Exaltation (9-11) xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx I. CHRIST’S CONDITIONS OF ENCOURAGEMENT
(Phil 2:1) A. Chapter 2 begins with a rhetorical
conditional clause in order to admonish the Philippians to strive together
for unity and service for the Lord. The conditional clause (“if” ei) of vs. 1 was rhetorical in that the answer to
the condition was obvious to all. This could be one of those cases that the
“if” could be translated “since.” In other words it
could have been, “Since there is encouragement in Christ etc. (1)…(then) complete my joy (2).” B. What were the grounds of Paul’s condition
in order to admonish the Philippians? The first condition was, “if there is
any encouragement in Christ.” What a question! Is there any encouragement in
Christ? One might just as well ask, “Is there anything that doesn’t encourage
us in Christ?” The word “encouragement” (para,klesis) means “one called alongside to give aid
and comfort.” 1. Christ encourages the believer by coming
alongside side to give depraved sinners the aid of forgiveness of sin and
eternal life (2Th 2:16 cp. Ep 4:32). 2. The Holy Spirit (The Paraklete)
encourages the believer by coming alongside (indwelling) to give aid in
living the Christian life (Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7). 3. Other believers encourage the believer by
coming alongside to give aid and comfort in times of trouble and
discouragement (Ac 15:32; Ro 1:12; 1Th 5:11). C. The next
condition was, “if there is any
consolation of love.”
“Consolation” is the Greek word parmuthian
and literally means to come alongside (para)
and console another through speaking (muthe,omai)
(Jn 11:19, 31). This is the essence of Christian love (aga,pê
- sacrificial love). 1. The Scriptures console the believer by
revealing God’s truth, protection, promises, and future plans (1Co 14:3; cp.
1Co 14:14; cp. 2Co 1:4; 1Th 4:18) 2. Other believers console one another with
the truth and wisdom of
Scripture (1Th 2:11; 5:14;
cp. 1Th 3:2). D. Paul adds another condition, “if there is any fellowship of the Spirit.” This phrase carries some translation
possibilities. First, “spirit” (pneumatos
without the article) could refer to the Holy Spirit or to a kindred human
spirit (i.e. team spirit). Secondly, if it refers to the Holy Spirit it could
be translated “fellowship with the Spirit” (genitive of
association) or “fellowship produced by the Spirit” (genitive
of source or production). 1. Though pneumatos
has no article (anarthrous), it can refer to the Holy Spirit (Ga 3:3;
5:16; 2Th 2:13; He 6:4; 1Pe 1:2, 21). 2. It seems best to follow most English
translations as the Spirit (i.e Holy
Spirit) and a similar thought is made plain in 2Co 13:14. Paul will refer
to a kindred spirit in Php 2:2 with a different word (sumpsuchos
“unity in spirit”). 3. If it is “fellowship produced by
the Spirit,” it is indeed based upon “fellowship with
the Spirit.” In other words, any fellowship that believers in Christ, they
have because the Holy Spirit placed them into the body of Christ (1Co 12:13)
and the family of God (Ro 8:14-16). 4. Fellowship (koinōnia)
literally means “common.” Believers definitely have the same spiritual
blessings in common. a) First believers have Christ in common as
head of the church and the Lord and Savior of the body (Ep 5:23b). b) Believers have fellowship with the Father
and the Son through the death of Christ (1Jn 1:3b; 1Co 1:9). c) Believers have fellowship with the Holy
Spirit (2Co 13:14) who guides (Jn 16:13), teaches (1Jn 2:27), empowers (Ga
5:25), and intercedes (Ro 8:27) for the believer. d) Because believers have fellowship with
God, they have fellowship with all those who are the children of God (1Jn
1:3a; Ac 2:42). E. The last condition Paul gave was “if any affections and compassions.” “Affections” is splagchna and means
inner organs (heart, lungs, Ac 1:18 “intestines”) but figuratively
refers to innermost emotions or feelings (Eng. i.e. “heart,” also
sometimes translated “compassion”). “Compassions” is oiktirmoi
is similar but implies pity and mercy. 1. The Lord deals with compassion (polu,splagchnos - “full of compassion”) and
mercy (oikti,rmōn) toward His children, which includes times of testing and
suffering (Jm 5:10-11). The Lord also has “tender mercies” toward His people
(Lk 1:78). 2. Believers do receive affection and
compassion from other believers (2Co 7:15) to which they are even admonished to
do so (Php 1:8; Col 3:12 (both
words, “heart of compassion”); 1Jn 3:17). II. BELIEVER’S CONDITIONS OF ENCOURAGEMENT A. Do you need encouragement? Beloved
believer, it is found in Christ. We must know Christ
as our Savior and we must open our minds and hearts to His spiritual
blessings. If you have Christ, then you have His encouragement, however, you
must avail yourself of it. B. Do you need joy? Beloved believer, it is found in Christ. We must have and perform the things,
which consist of real joy, that is, spiritual joy. If we are
not engulfed in these things, we will lack joy because true joy only
comes from pursuing the things of Christ. 1. We have joy when we immerse ourselves in
all of our spiritual blessings, which the believer possessed at the moment of salvation (Ep 1:1-3; Php 4:12-13). 2. We have joy when we fully surrender to
live or die for Christ (Php 1:21; 3:10). 3. We have joy when furthering the gospel is
our first priority (Php 1:18). 4. We have joy when we pursue spiritual
growth for ourselves and others (Php 1:25; 4:1). 5. We have joy when we know that God does
have a purpose for us and we are actively fulfilling it (Php 1:22). 6. We have joy when we have the mind of
Christ and use it to think through everything in our lives (Php 2:2-5). 7. We have joy when we rejoice in Christ
regardless of anything else we are experiencing (Php 1:7; 4:4). |
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