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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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2012 GBC THEME REVIEW - 2: “HAVING THE SAME MIND, LOVE, UNITY, AND PURPOSE AS CHRIST” (Php 2:1-8) (1/6/12) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. COMPLETE PAUL’S (CHRIST’S) JOY (Php 2:2) 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. Paul commands (aorist imperative -
plêro,ō - make full, fulfill, make come
true, bring to completion; “then
you must complete my joy”) the
Philippians to “complete his joy.” “Joy” being a main theme in this epistle
(Php 1:4, 25; 2:2, 17, 18, 29; 4:1), in spite of his imprisonment, is the
Greek word chara that refers to an inner spirit of spiritual happiness
and contentment. C. Paul desired that they continually grow,
for this would complete his joy for them. To complete Paul’s joy means that
the Philippians would live out their lives having the same mind, love, unity,
and purpose as Christ. II. COMPLETE THE ONE PURPOSE (Php 2:2-5) A. The NASB translates it “having one
purpose.” In the Greek, the phrase to hen phronountes, could literally
be translated, “minding the one thing” or “thinking the one thing.” It is
certainly akin to Paul’s previous phrase, “having the same mind” but he adds
the numeral one (hen). So there is to be “one” particular thing to
which all the Philippians were to have as their thinking. This could be
called “one purpose.” B. The next question would be “what is that
purpose?” The answer would be found in vs. 5, having the same “attitude
(mindset) in Christ.” The one purpose that the Philippians were to
continually have would be to be conformed to Christ and have the same
attitude as He did. C. Paul in fact commands the Philippians to
“you must keep on having the attitude” (present imperative) in you
which was also in Christ Jesus.” D. “Attitude” is from the root Greek word phrone,ō,
the same root used in
Php 2:2 (twice), 3, 5; 3:15 (twice), 19; and 4:2*. It means to have an
attitude, thinking, or mindset. It is the way a person perceives, views, and
thinks about God, themselves (behavior), their ministry, their world, and
their goals. Therefore, they were to have the same mindset that Christ had
and that was their one purpose. III. CONFORM TO CHRIST’S ATTITUDES (Php 2:5-8) A. Having Christ’s Attitude in Mind, Love,
and Unity (Php 2:2-4) 1. The Christian characteristics that Paul
asked of the Philippians were not mentioned randomly. Rather they were
necessary because they emulated the attitudes of Christ Himself. 2. Paul always directed believers to be
conformed to Christ as the ultimate goal in the Christian life. According to
Ro 8:28-29, God’s ultimate goal for the believer is to be “conformed” (summorphos - changed into the similarity of nature,
which would include attitudes) to the image of Christ (Ro 13:14; 2Co 3:18; Ep 4:24). 3. This would include conformity to His mind
and attitudes (1Co 2:16; Phil 2:5), His love (Jn 3:16; Jn 15:12; 1Jn 4:7-8),
and His unity (Jn 17:21-23). B. Having Christ’s Humble Attitude (Php 2:3-4
cp. vs. 8) 1. In order to show Christ’s humility, Paul
first shows Christ’s status as God. He was and always will be fully and
completely God (Php 2:6). Then he shows His humility in that, even though He
was God, He lowered Himself to the status of a man, and took on humanity (Php
2:7). 2. What was the result of Christ emptying
His prerogatives as God? Christ “humbled” (verb tapeino,ō, same root as tapeinos - to lower one’s
place, abase, become submissive) Himself, not grasping on to His actual status as God, but in
lowliness of mind took a lower status, namely man (Php 2:8). 3. Christ did this by not having “selfish
ambition” (eritheia - it originally meant a hired worker but then took on
the idea of selfish interest, selfish ambition, or selfish rivalry) or
having empty conceit” (kenodoxi,a - lit. “empty glory”, i.e. vainglory, vainly looking for
glory and success for oneself or boasting which is without basis) (Php 2:3). 4. This
was accomplished by not looking at His own interests, but at the interest of
sinful man (Php 2:4), in particular, salvation. C. Having Christ’s Servant Attitude (Php
2:7b) 1. A “bond-servant” (dou,los) is one who voluntarily and willingly
forfeits his life to the service of another. 2. The Greek word is doulos which
normally means a slave (or servant), as one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another.
Metaphorically, it is also spoken of in terms of voluntary service and a
religious title. In the OT, a slave who loved his master could become his
lifetime slave (Ex 21:5-6). The meaning was blended into the prestigious term
for those in God’s service called “servants of God” or “bond-servants” (Moses
- Dt 34:5; Joshua - Jos 24:29; Paul - Ro 1:1; 2Co 4:5; Jam - Jm 1:1; Peter -
2Pe 1:1; Christ - Is 42:1; 52:13; Mk 10:45). 3. To have one purpose means every believer
views himself as God’s bond-servant by submitting to God’s will completely
and willingly. It means to realize each believer must willingly serve the
Lord with his God-given talents and gifts. It is more important to be willing
to serve than to know exactly where to serve. D. Having Christ’s Obedient Attitude (Php
2:8b) 1. Christ as the ultimate Servant of the
Lord did what a true servant does, He became obedient. There is an
interesting correlation between the bond-servant and obedience. The
bond-servant would have his ear pierced by awl (Ex 21:6). It perhaps
symbolized as the opening of the ear in order to hear the Master’s commands
(Ps 40:6). The root word for obedience here is hupakou,ō and
is made up of the word akouō (Eng. “accoustics”) which means to
hear and obey the Master’s instructions. 2. How much was Christ willing to obey? He
obeyed “to the point of death” (mechri thanatou - lit. “until death”).
Christ is the ultimate example of a servant who is willing to give all for
all time until there is no more to give. It is the Servant’s greatest example
of love to His master and the greatest act for those who have been benefited
by the ultimate sacrifice (Jn 15:13). 3. To have one purpose means believers obey
God not only in service no matter what God calls him to do, but also in
following God’s Word in all aspects of his life. E. Having Christ’s Redemptive Purpose (Php
2:8c) 1. Christ, as the ultimate Servant, was
willing to do the Father’s will unto death, even to sacrifice Himself in the
death of a cross. Literally it is “death of a cross” (thana,tou de
staurou,) or “a cross
kind of death” 2. But the cross held more meaning and
symbolism in it than just mere pain. It was the symbol or metonymy for man’s
redemption. a) The cross was the joy of the Ultimate
Servant to endure (He 12:2). b) The cross was the Ultimate Servant’s
purpose for life (He 10:5-10). c) The cross reconciled sinful man to God
(Col 1:20). d) The cross had nailed to it the Law and our
violations against it (Col 2:14). e) The cross was where Christ took our sins
in His body (1Pe 2:24). f) The cross is foolishness to the unsaved
(1Co 1:18, 1:23). g) The cross is the message of the believer
(1Co 2:2). 3. To have one purpose means believers are
to be first and foremost concerned with man’s redemption. That is, that the
whole church corporately is to seek to win the lost and see them mature in
Christ. IV. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS…To have one purpose A. …we must all become Christ-like in our
mind, love, unity and purpose. B. …we must all have Christ’s spiritual work
ethic in serving the Lord. C. …we must all have Christ’s attitude in
regard to putting Christ and others before ourselves. D. …we must all have Christ’s attitude in
regard to evangelism and edification. |
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