Alright, well, once again, good evening, Philippians chapter number two, so we're going to continue
studying through the letter from Paul to the Philippians.
We took the first week, did an introduction, kind of talked about how Paul on a second
missionary journey actually started the church of the Philippians.
We talked about some of the adversities along the way about how Paul and Silas met resistance,
wound up going to jail, but a good thing came of it.
They were able to get the jailer saved, get his family saved, and then a few years later,
we get to see what actually transpired, what happened, how the word of God grew, and how
people were saved, and now they have bishops, they have deacons, and there's a lot going
on.
Remember, we've talked about how this is the most personal letter that Paul writes to these
believers.
They were a proactive group of people.
They were all about helping, and they'd help Paul financially, they'd help Paul as he was
on his way to Rome.
And so tonight, what we're going to talk about and what the title of the sermon is, is called
the mindset.
It's basically what this chapter centers on, what it focuses on, the mindset that a believer
should have.
What's the big deal about a mindset?
Well, a mindset is a set of beliefs that basically shape how you view yourself in the world.
That mindset is what controls our behaviors.
Like we talked about this morning, as the sons of God, we have a specific role, and
our role is to help preserve truth, to push truth, and to preach the gospel, to preach
righteousness.
And in the process of doing that, we actually slow down the decay of the world.
But before all that, there's a certain mindset that a person must have if you're going to
be successful at actually doing this.
And so let's dive right into this.
Look at verse number one of chapter two.
Paul says, if there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, and if any bowels and mercies.
Now, that's a mouthful there.
It's a pretty deep statement there, although definitely a lot to break down.
But he's kind of saying this as he already knows that this mindset, this consolation
in Christ, this comfort of love, the fellowship of the Spirit, what is that?
Well, it's the fellowship of believers.
We have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
You see that there, the Spirit.
He says any bowels and mercies.
If there's anybody there that meets this criteria, I have something that I want you
guys to really wholeheartedly understand.
And then he says this in verse number two.
Fulfill ye my joy that ye be like minded, having the same love being of one accord of
one mind.
I don't know about you guys, I've been to several churches in my life, and I can remember
going to some of these Calvary type churches, you know, just whatever brand of Christianity
you can imagine.
And I'll tell you from experience, I've even been to Baptist churches that are like this,
where there's not a church of one mind, you know, and that's what's special about a church
like this, a church like ours, is that we do have one mind.
Our mindset is on truth and getting the gospel outside of these walls.
Not just talking about it, but actually doing that.
And Paul saying here, you know, that if you guys would, you have all the ingredients,
you have the consolation in Christ, you have that comfort, that assurance, you have the
bowels and mercies, meaning you have this deep seated love for truth.
He says, if you have that, and obviously you can tell he's implying that he knows they
already do.
He says, fulfill you my joy that ye be like minded, having one mindset, okay, being single
minded.
You see, why is that important?
Well, at the end of this chapter here, you're going to see that he actually, Paul actually
tells us that he lacks people with these qualities in his everyday life.
Now look at verse three.
He says, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves.
Okay, so that's the mandate there.
That is what Paul is trying to get across.
And you'll see later on, there are two people in this church.
We're not going to talk about it tonight, but there are two that do not get along and
he's kind of building up to that problem.
See, every church has problems.
The Corinthians had a lot of problems.
The Galatians had a lot of problems.
There were problems in Colossae.
These guys didn't have all those types of problems, but there were still some budding
of heads and things of that nature.
And so he's trying to lay the foundation before he goes off into that in a couple of
chapters from today.
But he says, let nothing be done through strife or what?
Vain glory.
Okay.
We're here to serve Christ.
We're here to work with each other.
We're here to put each other above our own needs.
And when we do that, that is when we have success.
That is when we take truth out to the community and take things literally to the next level.
That is how the word of God gets multiplied is by a group of people who put others before
themselves.
People who are just set on the things of God, not this vain glory.
For example, I've been doing this soul winning challenge where I go soul winning every day.
I've been doing it for the last four months.
And it would be pretty arrogant of me to look at people and be like, oh, you don't do that?
You're weak.
You suck.
You can't hang.
I'm doing it just to motivate people.
And actually at this point, I don't even know why I'm doing it.
It's just like part of my everyday life now.
I'm like, how do I not do this?
You know what I mean?
It's just become a thing that I do.
But one thing is I'm not doing it to strive and I'm not doing it for vain glory.
It's just something that I've learned to really love.
And I can't really imagine not doing that anymore.
Although there will come a season later on because I'm going to get busy doing other
things.
As winter comes, it'll be harder, but I'm definitely going to keep this pace up every
single year.
I like it.
I love it.
It's def, look, let me tell you, it is not for everyone.
It is hard.
There are times when I don't get home till 730 and I have a lot going on.
And I mean, I'm taking courses, I'm doing all sorts of stuff.
And I'm just like, there are some days where I'm like, why did I do this?
Why did I snare myself with this challenge?
I just want to quit.
But you know, those of you who've been praying for me, I appreciate it cause I haven't quit.
So it's going well.
The point being, okay, things like that are meant to motivate.
Things like that are just, just meant to be a help, not to puff up, not to, to foment
the mouth and definitely not to, to, to strive with people or to claim I'm better than anybody's
or anything like that.
Keep your place here, but go to first Corinthians chapter number three, first Corinthians chapter
number three.
And I'll show you the reason for this.
I'll show you the opposite of what Paul's talking about here.
Okay.
He's saying, Hey, make sure guys that you don't do anything for, you know, for with
strife, having fightings and vainglory and all this stuff that just doesn't add up to
much.
And the reason why he can say that is because he's seen it.
Okay.
And he's actually dealing with it and have, he's, he's dealt with this with the Corinthian
church.
So if you look at first Corinthians three, look at verse number one.
So the Bible says, and this is Paul speaking here.
He says, and I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,
even as unto babes in Christ.
Okay.
So he's letting these guys know, Hey, I would like to share with you guys some deep truths,
but I can't.
And let me show you the reason why I can't do that.
Verse two, I have fed you with milk and not with meat for hitherto you were not able to
bear it neither yet now are ye able.
And then he says, for ye are yet carnal, whereas there is among you envying and strife and
divisions.
Are ye not carnal and walk as men?
So why aren't they men?
Yes, they are men.
But what am you saying?
Well, what are you, what are you talking about here?
Well, what I want you to notice here is all the stuff that we just read in Philippians
chapter two, the consolation in Christ, the bowels and mercies, you know, this mindset
being of one mind can't happen.
Okay.
It can't happen if there's division, if there's strife, if there's vain glory and what's the
by-product of that?
Well, the by-product of that is that we can't learn as much.
Okay.
And here's what this looks like.
Look at verse four for a while one saith, I am of Paul and another, I am of Apollos,
are ye not carnal?
So you see how, how they're operating, they're operating in strife and vain glory and they're
bickering amongst themselves.
Well, Paul got me saved.
One guy's like, well, yeah, well, Apollos got me saved.
And you probably had people saying, well, Paul got me saved, but Apollos got me baptized
and another person, well, Apollos got me saved and Paul got me baptized and it's just fighting
and bickering.
It'd be like today if people were like, oh, well, pastor Anderson got me saved and pastor
Bennett's got you saved, you know, and people are just bickering over these, over the pastors
and you hear about it every once in a while, not too often, okay, not too often, but it
does happen occasionally, but it was happening on a large scale here to where Paul had to
address it and he's letting them know this is why you're not growing.
This is why everything's falling apart because you're carnal and you're doing all of these
things in strife.
You have divisions.
Look at verse five.
He says, who then is Paul?
Okay.
Think about that for a second.
Who then is Paul?
What's the mindset here?
What's the mind that Paul has?
Well, Paul has the mind of Christ because he's putting himself as low in Christ as high.
He says, who then is Paul and who is Apollos?
But ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man.
So he's saying, hey, look here, you know, why are you guys fighting about this?
What's the problem?
What's your issue here?
He's like Paul and you know, he's like myself, Paul and Apollos.
We're not bickering.
We're not fighting.
We're just people who gave you the gospel and you believed by and you've turned this
into something that it shouldn't be.
Verse six, I have planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.
Then he says in verse seven, so then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that
watereth but God that giveth the increase.
So if you're going to glorify in anything, make it be in Christ and what he's done through
you.
Okay.
Verse number eight.
Now he that planteth and he that waterth are one and every man shall receive his own reward
according to his own labor.
In verse nine, he says, for we are laborers together with God.
Ye are God's husbandry.
Ye are God's building.
And I go back to Philippians chapter two, we'll continue on here.
So obviously very clear at the end there what Paul says, you know, we ought to do everything
for the glory of God because that's going to help us with this mindset that he's talking
about.
So again, verse three, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness
of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves.
And so this is Paul's agenda here.
He wants to make sure that the Philippians who are definitely near and dear to his heart,
that this is the mindset that they have and you say, well, why does he keep pressing this?
Because he knows that they have the capability to do great things for God because they're
already there.
They already have all the ingredients.
And so he says, if you want to go to the next level, this is what you're going to have to
do.
And then he says this in verse number four, look not every man on his own things, but
every man also on the things of others.
Definitely not something that's very popular in today's culture, is it?
We live in a culture where I read something earlier today that said there was like almost,
I don't know, I forgot the exact number.
It was like 95 billion selfies are taken and actually posted to social media every single
day.
You know, you say, is there anything wrong with selfies?
No, but there's something wrong if you're self-absorbed in taking those things.
That's the issue.
You know, we take pictures all the time.
That's not a problem.
But again, that number that I read earlier does reflect society today.
You know, most people are after their own gain and what they can gain.
Most people, unfortunately, walk into churches today and they walk into those churches looking
for how that church can serve them and make their life better.
As opposed to what Paul's saying here, you know, you should walk in to your church every
day like, hey, what can I do to make things better?
What can I do to help?
What can I do to serve my fellow brother or sister in Christ?
That's how we grow.
That is how we take care of business.
And so this is the mindset that he's talking about.
Now look at verse five.
He says, let this mind.
Well, what mind?
Well that you esteem others better than yourself.
Okay, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Now some people might think, well, you know, but I've had a rough life and I look, I have
to, I can sympathize with you.
I understand that.
But here's the thing, you can change your mindset.
Why else would Paul put this in the Bible if it wasn't possible?
So he says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
So he's saying, hey, look to Christ for the example of how to live your life.
You want to know what the mindset should be of a believer?
It should be how Jesus lived.
And this is exactly what he did.
He's God Almighty.
God was manifested in the flesh.
But yet he still put others above himself.
He put the father's agenda above everything.
Okay, now let's look at verse number six.
Look at what this says.
It says, who being, talking about Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God.
That is what the King James Bible says.
Now if you would go to John chapter number, no, actually, I'm sorry, stay right here.
And let's just do this now, get this over with.
So I have the book of false Bible versions here.
Philippians chapter two, verse six is grossly abused by the new evangelical Christian community.
And most new Bible versions have sought to pervert the deity of Christ and who he is.
And since we're here in this chapter, I definitely want to bring this up.
So let's take a look at the verse in the King James one more time.
Look at what this says.
It says about Christ, being in the form of God, thought it what?
Not robbery to be equal with God.
So while Jesus was on this earth conducting his ministry, he did not think it robbery
to be equal with God.
So when he was challenged constantly by the Pharisees and by the Sadducees and the scribes
and you know, they would question him and, oh, only God can forgive sins.
And he'd be like, here I am.
You know, he would be trying to show them the truth.
He did not think that that was robbery.
He did not think that that was an issue.
He did not think that that was something that he wasn't entitled to or that he had to hide.
But let's see what the modern Bible perversion say.
How do they translate, trans obliterate is probably a better word.
Ephesians chapter two, verse six, here's what the amplified version says, who although being
essentially one with God and in the form of God, possessing the fullness of the attributes
which make God God, that's what it says, did not think this equality with God was a thing
to be eagerly grasped or retained.
What?
That is blasphemy.
That is literally saying that Jesus did not think that the Godhead was possible or that
he could hold onto it, grasp.
Here's what the new American standard says, who although he existed in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.
Now, what does that mean?
That he couldn't understand who he was?
That he didn't believe himself to be equal with God?
Because that's kind of what that sounds like.
Here's what the NIV says, who being in very nature God did not consider equality with
God something to be grasped.
That's probably the clearest out of all of them.
They're saying in the NIV that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, meaning he did not consider himself equal to God.
He did not consider himself God.
He didn't know who he was.
He's like, oh, I wound up here and I could do these miracles and I'm glad I can, but
I don't know what's going on.
That's the way I take it.
He couldn't, they're basically saying he could not grasp who he was.
I like what this says.
This is clear in the King James, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery
to be equal with God.
He wasn't ashamed of it.
He obviously knew who he was and what does that mean?
That means it was a thing to be grasped.
That's ridiculous what these other Bible perversions teach.
Now go to John chapter 17, John chapter number 17, we'll look here at verse number five.
So the Bible says this, this is Jesus here and what he's doing is he's praying for the
disciples as be right before he's going to get delivered up here and go to the garden
of Gethsemane, be turned over by betrayed by Judas.
So he says this in verse five, he says, as he's praying, he says, and now Oh father glorify
thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Okay, let's play this game one more time.
One more time here.
So John chapter 17 verse number five, we get the words of Christ and he's praying and he
says, and now Oh father glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was.
So before the world came into existence, where was Jesus?
With God.
Why?
Because he is God.
Okay.
What does the NIV say?
It says who being in very nature, God did not consider equality with God, something
to be grasped.
It sounds to me like in the King James, he can grasp equality with God because he's saying
in verse five and now Oh father glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was.
It sounds to me like he has a pretty good grasp on being equal with God.
I don't know about the translators there.
It sounds like they don't have a grasp on salvation to me.
That's what that sounds like.
Go back to John chapter number one real quick.
So you see how the King James harmonizes, okay?
Whereas these other perversions of the Bible don't.
And you say, why are you bringing this up?
Just to get a chance to bash these modern versions?
Yes, that's part of the reason.
I'll take any opportunity I can get to do that because I'm a defender of truth, but
more so what are we talking about?
We're talking about the mind of Christ.
Can you ever wonder why people that go to a lot of these other churches don't have the
mind of Christ?
It's because they don't have the word of Christ.
John chapter one, verse one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God.
The word was God, the same was in the beginning with God.
What does it say in verse number three?
It says all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
Talking about Jesus Christ.
So I mean, I could spend all night on this.
I'm not going to go back to Philippians chapter two and we'll get moving on here.
But the point is, it sounds to me like he has a pretty good grasp on being equal with
God.
So you know, that's one that I often will bring up out so many if people have questions,
I don't get all agitated at them like I do here when I'm preaching, but if I give somebody
this truth and they resist it and they fight it and they're like, no, but you don't have
the original languages.
I just have a nice day, man.
I'm done.
I am not wasting any more time with you.
I'm out of here.
I'm going to go find somebody who I can actually preach the gospel to and they'll listen.
Because I mean, you're literally to deny this verse is to deny Christ.
To say he couldn't grasp being equal with God that is just that shouldn't compete with
anybody.
Okay.
So let's look at it now in the context of this mindset.
So verse five back up to verse five says, let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
Okay.
So he obviously understood who he was.
He knew he was equal with God, but look at verse seven, but made himself of no reputation.
And took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
Okay.
So Paul is saying, Hey, think about Christ.
He is God.
God was manifest in the flesh.
And even though he could call down legions of angels at any time and do anything he wants.
Okay.
He still decided to humble himself and set the stage, set the example for us.
Look at verse eight says, and being found in fashion as a man, here it is.
He humbled himself and became obedient unto death.
Even the death of the cross, you see, why does it kind of read like that?
Well, the, I mean, to die, uh, according to crucifixion is a very painful, slow, horrendous
way to die.
Christ knew that was going to be, um, something he had to go through.
He allowed that to happen and he was obedient all the way through.
Okay.
Verse nine, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name, which is
above every name.
Verse 10 that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow with the things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth.
Okay.
You get this attitude today where people are like, Oh, you know, I ain't going to worship
no God.
Nobody can make me bow.
I don't bow to anyone.
You know, the attitudes out there.
It's always been out there.
Doesn't matter.
There's coming a day where even that individual will bow to Christ.
And another thing that I take from this when I read this here is you've got a lot of people
today worshiping nature, worshiping the creature more than the creator.
And even the creatures instinctively, they, they know who God is.
If they were to see God, they would bow down.
Jesus said that even the rocks would cry out to him if people didn't bow down.
And so there is all of that.
Now look at verse number 11.
He says, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
God, the father.
And that's where we fit into this.
Okay.
Whether people want to or not now, there's coming a day, no matter what path they take
to where everyone will confess the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is not to say that everyone will be saved, but even these people in hell that hated God,
that hate God, the reprobate, whatever, okay.
At the great white throne judgment, they're going to be forced to confess that he is Christ,
that he was the Messiah, the one that they fought so hard against, that he is King.
So verse number 11 there, actually go to Matthew chapter 23 real quick.
Go back to the Gospel of Matthew, Matthew chapter number 23.
So Matthew chapter 23, look at verse number 12.
So all that to basically say this, I think this verse here, verse 12 is, is really going
to sum up what Paul's trying to communicate to the Philippians.
Look at what it says in verse 12.
So Jesus says, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that shall humble himself
shall be exalted.
Now what better person to get that lesson from than Jesus Christ.
And so go back to Philippians 2.
That's the mindset.
Okay.
That up to, so verse one to 11, that is the mindset.
Christ is the motivation for something.
Okay.
Now what is that something?
What does that all lead to?
We'll look at verse number 12.
Wherefore okay.
So wherefore Paul's coming to a sort of conclusion here.
He says, wherefore my beloved as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only.
So you see what Paul knows about the Philippians.
Okay.
They did right even when he wasn't there and he, he commends them for that.
So he says, wherefore my beloved as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only,
but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
I heard Joyce Meyer a long time ago say that, you know, basically something to the effect
that you have to work out your own salvation, meaning you have to work for your salvation
your whole life.
And that's how, you know, I think it was somebody asked her a question, you know, how do, how
does a person know that they're converted to Christianity?
She's like, well, the Bible says you got to work out your own salvation.
I mean, you got to like exercise it up to the day of death and then you know, you're
saved.
That's not what he's talking about here.
He's already commended them for being believers.
He's already mentioned the spirit, all of this stuff.
This is the problem, man.
People just don't read the Bible.
Or even worse, you have people that aren't saved that are preaching the Bible and do
read it.
Both are horrible.
Okay.
It's absolutely not what he's talking about.
He's saying, hey, if you can have this mindset where you put others above yourself, you got
the motivation of Christ because he was able to humble himself.
A little more pizza.
See, this is what you get for being a church like ours, but hey, whatever.
So anyways, don't let that bother you.
Anyways, what he's talking about here is to exercise your faith, right?
Exercise your salvation.
Take the gospel, take the truth like we talked about and basically what you're going to do
with that is the twofold mission of the church.
You're going to edify the brethren and you're going to evangelize the laws.
That's how I like to put it.
I had a pastor that used to put it like that all the time.
I think it fits in well.
How does a church actually become good at doing that?
Well, you get good at doing that by having the right mindset, putting others above self.
Okay.
Very important.
Verse 13, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
So you don't have to worry about anything.
You already have this inside of you.
You have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
Verse 13, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do his good pleasure.
Okay.
Sometimes people have these great ideas and they'll come to me, hey, what do you think
about this?
And I think about this verse here.
I think God laid that on your heart because that furthers the agenda of the church.
I think it's great.
I think we should do it.
Look at verse 14.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings.
I'm going to pray for that pizza guy to die.
Boy, that is frustrating as I'll get out, but anyways.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings.
Okay.
Now, I can be mad about that because it's frustrating to all of us.
But here, in the context, in the confines of church, we shouldn't just be, oh, they
moved the mailbox.
Oh, they painted the mailbox this color.
I talked to a pastor one time, a Baptist pastor, and he told me he lost half his church because
he moved the mailbox.
People were so offended.
They were like, well, it's been there for 50 years.
It's a historical landmark.
He's like, yeah, but they were doing construction.
They were going to take it down eventually.
So I just decided to move it.
Half the church gone.
Okay.
That's the type of stuff Paul's talking about here.
Hey, do all things without murmurings and disputings.
Look, verse 15, that she may be blameless and harmless.
So notice the context here.
Okay.
He's talking about physical harm and being blameless, not sinless.
Everybody has sin, but he's basically saying, hey, we shouldn't be a people that are just
like the Corinthians for that matter, just fighting and bickering and just being divisive
and oh, I'm from this camp over here.
I'm better than you because I went over here and I learned soul winning from this church
and blah, blah, blah.
No, we need to come together and help each other out and grow so that we can actually
do great things for God.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings.
Look at verse number 15, that she may be blameless and harmless.
We talked about this this morning.
The sons of God without rebuke.
Okay.
We need, we can have disputings, but they gotta be about the right things.
They've gotta be about things like that.
They've gotta be about things that are, that go against righteousness, that go against
the word of God.
Verse 16.
All right, let's finish the verse here.
He says, the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation
among whom ye shine as light in the world.
So again, you know, this area of Macedonia here was founded by King Philip of Macedonia,
who was Alexander the Great's father, probably not a man of morals and statutes here.
And so by the time the Romans take over, you know, this is getting towards the end of the
Roman Empire.
A lot of faggotries, a lot of horrible things going on there.
And Paul acknowledges that, you know, and he says, hey, understand that you guys are
in a perverse and crooked nation.
Hey, that's us today.
We are in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.
Our politics are crooked.
The police are crooked.
I mean, just everywhere you look, the political system's crooked.
The religious system, by and large, is absolutely crooked.
And the people, unfortunately, by and large, are becoming more and more perverse on a daily
basis.
What do we do?
We go to some island and just kind of hunker down and do some sort of Jim Jones thing?
No, absolutely not.
What do we do?
We shine the light of the word of God.
Okay.
You say, yeah, but that, what if we get canceled and what if people get mad and this, look,
it's going to happen.
It happens every single day.
It's all right.
These people can do nothing to us.
They might be able to change our location, but look, there's nothing that you can do
to us at all.
We win.
We've read the rest of the book.
It is what it is.
Verse 16.
And here it is again.
Look at this, the word of God.
He says, holding forth the what?
The word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ.
So hopefully you follow this pattern here.
Okay.
He says in verse one, you know, you've got the consolation, you've got the fellowship,
you have all the ingredients to be of one mind, to have true unity, to have fellowship.
So first you see this unity and then after that comes humility.
And then after that comes preaching the word of God and taking things to the next level.
You've got to have unity.
You've got to have humility.
And then comes what?
The word of life.
And Paul saying that I may rejoice here in verse 16 in the day of Christ that I have
not run in vain, neither labored in vain.
You know, there are times where we're out here knocking doors on like, I think we're
just laboring in vain, but really we're not.
The word of God never returns void.
Look at verse 17.
It says, yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy
and rejoice with you all.
So he's saying no matter how this trial goes, no matter what happens, no matter what my
sentencing is going to be, I joy, I rejoice.
Why?
Because Paul has the right mindset.
He's doing everything that he has done for other people to further the gospel of Christ,
to get people safe.
Start churches.
Look at verse 18.
He says for the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me.
So again, you see that bond there between Paul and the Philippians, okay, what is, what
makes up that bond?
Well, it's the fellowship of the gospel.
He's saying, I already know that you have joy and I know that we're of the same cause.
Now verses 19 on down to verse 30 you're going to see an example, really two examples of
people that meet all these ingredients.
They have the unity, they have the humility, and they have the works to back it up.
They're working out their salvation, they're exercising their faith by preaching, shining
the light, serving, and doing all the things that we're talking about.
Look at verse 19.
He says, but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you that I also
may be of good comfort when I know your state.
Okay, so he desires to send unto them the pastor Timothy.
Verse 20, he says, for I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state.
You see that?
How did Paul open up the letter?
By saying, hey, I want you guys to be of one mind.
I want you all to be like-minded and then he tells them, I really have no man that's
like-minded who will naturally care for your state.
He's got Timothy, he's got Epaphroditus, we'll see here in a moment, but he doesn't have
an abundance of people that he can pull from to go help all these churches out.
Look at verse 21, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ.
Again, that's Genesis chapter six.
That attitude right there is what brought on the flood on this world and that is what
ultimately is going to lead to the Antichrist being able to come in here, take power in
Christ coming back to destroy him and his armies and basically redo everything.
It's because the salt is losing its savor.
Verse 21, again, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ.
Verse 22, but ye know the proof of him, that as a son with a father, he hath served me
in the gospel.
So again, Paul speaking very highly of Timothy here and he's basically saying, you know,
you know his reputation.
He served with me as I was a, his father basically, you know, Paul would say anything, anything
I gave Timothy to do, any responsibility, he would do it and run with it and get it
done right without murmurings, without disputings, any of that stuff.
Verse 23, he says him therefore I hope to send presently so soon as I shall see how
it will go with me.
So again, at this point he doesn't know what's going to happen, but also understand he's
not filled with anxiety.
Okay.
He doesn't know how it's going to turn out, but he still has joy.
He's still rejoicing.
Verse 24, but I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly, yet I suppose it
necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labor and fellow
soldier, but your messenger and he that ministered to my wants.
So again, Timothy has all the ingredients here that Paul's mentioning and so does Epaphroditus.
Verse 26, for he longed after you all and was full of heaviness because that ye had
heard that he had been sick.
So again, this is why I said that this church is proactive in the beginning.
Okay.
They heard Epaphroditus were sick and they weren't just like, oh, you know what?
That's just terrible.
Oh man.
Well, you know, pray for him.
Hope he gets better.
No, they actually cared in their bowels of mercies.
Okay.
They actually cared for him.
Look at verse 27.
It says for indeed he was sick, nigh unto death, but God had mercy on him and not on
him only, but also, or I'm sorry, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
So what is something that would bring sorrow to Paul?
Well, the loss of a good fellow soldier because they're few and far in between.
They're hard to find.
It's hard to find good people.
28, he says, I sent him therefore the more carefully that when you see him again, he
may rejoice and that I may be the less sorrowful.
Verse 29, he says, receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such in
reputation.
So he's going to bat for these guys because they have the mind of Christ.
Epaphroditus loved nothing more than to go here and serve these people.
He cares about the Philippians, cares about the gospel, cares about preserving truth.
And then last but not least, we're going to end right here.
Verse number 30 says, because for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death, not regarding
his life to supply your lack of service toward me.
So again, what was the mindset of Epaphroditus?
Others before himself.
Okay.
And that is what the mindset is.
The mind of Christ.
Paul says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
And by doing that, you know, when you adopt that mindset, when we adopt that mindset,
and I believe everybody in here does for sure have that, you know, understand that that's
a precious thing.
That's a rare thing.
And understand that that mindset is going to help you understand deeper truths of the
Bible.
Because Paul told the Corinthians, you know, I couldn't even speak to you guys as normal.
I had to talk to you in baby language and baby talk.
You know, you couldn't receive anything.
I had to communicate to you guys in milk.
Okay.
So again, when we have the selfish attitude, it blocks our ability to learn because you're
quenching the spirit and we need that spirit to enlighten us as we're reading the word
of God and teaching.
So you say, I want to grow.
I want to get smarter in the Bible, put other people above themselves.
You know, that's what this guy's doing.
He's trying to put a pizza above himself.
No, I'm just kidding.
I don't know.
But yeah, anyways, let's stop right here before I say something I'm going to regret and have
a word of prayer.
Thank you so much, Lord, for this church and for everything that you do for us.
I do pray, Lord, that you would destroy this individual that's harassing churches with
constant pizza orders.
I just pray that you'd be found out and that you would deal with him as you see fit.
And I just pray that you bless the fellowship after the service in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Amen.