Sermons
The Mind of Christ - part 2
Sun, Aug 26, 2018
Teacher: Tom Blackford Series: Sunday Sermons PM - 2018 Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11
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The Mind of Christ – Part 2
INTRO:
Good evening. Most of us have seen something like this on TV. Someone has experienced a life-changing or even traumatic event. Maybe they survive a tornado that just swept away their mobile home, or maybe they survived a plane crash. Or maybe they just had a great human experience, they just caught the winning pass in the Super Bowl, or they saved someone from drowning. When these sorts of things happen the news crews are on the scene. The cameras are rolling as the immaculate news reporter walks up to the person and sticks the microphone in their face and asks... What was going through your head when that happened? What were you thinking?
That really is not a bad question though it is often asked. It is about the unknown factor. We might be able to put together what happened to the person, but how can we know what they were thinking unless they tells us? The person’s thoughts might also be the most fascinating element of the story.
Thinking about that in terms of the Bible, would you like to know what Noah was thinking when God told him to build an ark? What about Daniel when he was thrown to the lions; Joshua when the walls of Jericho fell down flat? If you could ask that question where would you take your microphone in biblical history? How about to the cross? If you could be there;
• Would you ask Jesus what ran through His mind when He was unjustly arrested in the garden in the middle of the night?
• What He was thinking about on the road to Golgotha carrying His own cross?
• What was on His mind when the nails were being driven into His hands?
• If you could take that question to the cross would you ask what was Jesus thinking? I believe the bible answers that question for us. The Bible says He was thinking about you and He was thinking about me! Let that sink in as you turn to again Philippians chapter 2.
Philippians 2:5-8 – “5. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6. who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7. but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
In tracing these steps of Jesus’ humiliation, Paul traces the voluntary descent of Jesus from heaven to earth. I’m convinced that though we often read this and study it, we can’t really contemplate, fully understand, what Jesus did when He came to this earth.
• Although equal with God (existing in the form of God), He did not seek to hold on to the privileges of divinity (He did not consider it something to be grasped.)
• So He became fully a human being, with all its weaknesses (made Himself of no reputation),
• He became not just any man, but the lowest of men, He became a servant (taking the form of a servant.)
• He experienced the full measure of human frailty (likeness of man), He was viewed by others to be just a human (found in the appearance as a man.)
When Paul describes the incarnation of Jesus he is talking about humility. He humbled Himself... It is impossible for us to comprehend or relate to Jesus’ journey of humiliation. When Jesus came to this earth it was a self-humiliation, a humbling. We can never fully understand this.
• We certainly cannot begin where he began or claim to ever own what He was willing to lay aside. We can not start where Jesus started. Most of us can not complicate being where He ended up.
• From God, the Creator... to man, the slave.
• From Sin-free heaven... to sin-filled earth.
• From the praise and adoration of angels... to the reviling and hatred of men.
• From the elevated throne of the Ruler of the universe... to a life of a bondservant
• From the position of the holy God, Who cannot be tempted with evil... to a body of human flesh that provides access to all of the schemes and seductions of Satan.
That is what Jesus became for you and me. Jesus opens Himself up to everything that influences us for bad. He came to this world to live as we live, to provide for us an example of what it means to be a human... living the human experience successfully. More then that, Jesus came to die. None of us in this room have been there yet. Some are closer then others and we all perceive it as the end of our human existence. But none of us knowingly came here to die. We never chose to become a human for the very purpose of experiencing death. It is one of those things that comes with the package.
Up to this point, all that Paul has catalogued in these verses concerning the descent of Jesus depicts a decent... But the apostle is not finished. How far does Jesus go in this journey of self-humiliation? – He “became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” (v. 8) That is where Jesus was going from that lowly birth in Bethlehem.
I. The Destination of Jesus’ Self-Humiliation – The point of death. We know the gospel story, the central event of which was Jesus’ death on a Roman cross. What Paul tells us and we should know from studying the scriptures is that the death of Jesus on the cross was not just a human injustice. It was not even an honorable martyrdom. It was more then all of that... What the bible tells us is that the cross was the completion of a divine plan.
A. John 19:30 – “So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!'' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.” That is how John describes the event of Jesus’ death on the cross. John gives us two interesting insights into this event in this one verse.
1. First, it tells us that Jesus gave up His spirit – no one took it from Him. He died when He was ready to die. When a human dies they fight to keep the spirit within. Humans do not usually die because they voluntarily give their spirit up.
2. When Jesus died He was ready to die and then we are told when He died something was finished. – completed. Jesus death was part of a plan. His death did not cut short his plans (like ours will) but it completed His plan. When Jesus died on the cross it was at His own time, and it was for His purpose.
B. God foretold through His prophet this specific crucifixion in Isaiah 53:7-9– “7. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not his mouth. 8. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9. And they made His grave with the wicked but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”
1. The messiah would die a sacrificial death as a “lamb” on an altar, led to the slaughter. But the O.T. description went beyond just the fact of His death. It not only tells that the messiah would die but it revealed the purpose of God in that death. Isaiah 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Later on in V. 10 – “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief...” Then he says in V. 12 – “...because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Here in Isaiah we again see the image of a voluntary giving up of the spirit unto death. “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him” Why? For our iniquities, it was a part of God’s plan. The idea here is that the mind of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were together, one and the same about what would happen.
2. Despite this prophetic picture of the coming Messiah, those that were closest to him, Jesus’ own disciples did not expect Him to die. In fact they curled back at the words Jesus uttered in: Matthew 16:21 – “21. From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. They did not understand and could not envision this happening. Going on in V. 22 - 22. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!'' Then Jesus says in V. 23 - 23... "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.''”
3. Jesus was telling Peter you are thinking about this all wrong. It is the things of God that I am telling you when I’m telling you I must suffer and die. Satan attempted to sidetrack Jesus from His journey of humiliation and death.
i. We can look at Matthew chapter 4 when Satan approached Jesus to tempt Him and we realize that Satan is attempting to sidetrack Jesus from the plan. Jesus humbled himself and as much as I am sure Satan would gleefully accept this humbling he wanted more. The Devil came to Him in the midst of His human experience and tempted Him to use His divine prerogative to satisfy His own needs rather then stay focused on what He was going to do for others. Satan comes to Him in His hunger, His human need and says – turn these stones into bread; Jesus refused. Jesus would not use His divine prerogative to feed Himself but choosing instead to live by the words of God.
ii. Then Satan tempted Him to compel His Father to use the divine prerogative to come to His aid – throw yourself down, Satan says, He will lift you up. Jesus chose to submit to the plan and not tempt God.
iii. Lastly, probably in desperation, Satan tempted Jesus to rebel outright and worship him and He would give Him all he saw. You can have it now, no need to suffer! Jesus drove Satan away with the words of an obedient servant – “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” Jesus never wavered from the divine appointment. He remained focused on where He was going, on whose will He was obeying. His mind was turned to being humble, looking to the needs of others rather then the needs of himself. Jesus did not spend His time contemplating his cross apart from its spiritual significance.
iv. John 12:27-33 – “27. "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28. "Father, glorify Your name.'' Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.'' 29. Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him.'' 30. Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. 31. "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. 32. "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.'' 33. This He said, signifying by what death He would die.” Jesus says I’m troubled but I am not going to ask God to rescue me because this is why I have come. Jesus was troubled about the events unfolding before Him which were extremely ugly and tragic, not simply for Himself, but also in the profound implications for the chosen people.
v. Just prior to this we read in John 12:20-22 - “20. Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21. Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus.'' 22. Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.” The total rejection and casting off of Israel loomed ominously in this visit of Gentiles who sought Jesus, contrasting so tragically with the stubbornness of the Jews.
C. If dying was the plan, Paul is telling us that Jesus followed the plan all the way. He did not stop half-way. He did not amend the plan. I know there are those that try to teach Jesus came to set up His Kingdom but when the Jews put Him on the cross He had to change all of those plans. They put it like the cross was some kind of surprise! That is not what the Bible teaches. Paul says it this way... He became obedient to the point of death. That is what the Bible teaches. It should strike us that Jesus’ choices are described in these words. How can God be obedient? To whom is He subject? Yet that is the point Paul is making, Jesus submitted Himself. Jesus chose to go to Calvary in full obedience to the will of His Father. “Not my will but your will be done” are the words of an obedient servant. John 10:17-18 – “17. "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18. "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.''”
D. The cross was a command. Jesus went to the cross in obedience and submission to the will of the Father. Obedience is not something God has to learn but it is something every human being has to learn.
II. “Even the death of the cross” – Jesus did not die peacefully in His sleep, or drop to the ground with a sudden heart attack. His premature death was at the hands of evil men. Paul’s description of Jesus’ being humble hits bottom here in these words; “Even the death of the cross”. Such a horrible death that even the ruthless Romans did not crucify every criminal; only the worst of the worst. It was the chosen method of executing a rebellious slave or a treasonous rebel.
A. 1 Corinthians 1:21-24 – “21. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23. but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24. but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Paul points out the gospel message is distasteful to many for they view it from a totally unspiritual perspective. But to those of us who believe, when we see the whole story we understand why Jesus dies, we see the cross not only as an integral part but as a very power in our own salvation. Paul is saying that the gospel message has been and always must be the story of a crucifixion. It is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ is not our Savior unless He is crucified. Paul says there are those who have stumbled over that fact that Jesus died on a Roman cross. Let’s think about that for a bit, how would people of that time have seen this event?
1. The word translated “stumbling block” in 1 Corinthians 1 is skandalon, from which we get our English word scandal. When we think of a scandal we often think of a juicy story about some secret someone has been keeping that will damage their reputation. The word denotes something that impedes the progress of a person. To the Jew it was scandalous to think that the messiah would die. Vines says... “In NT skandalon is always used metaphorically, and ordinarily of anything that arouses prejudice, or becomes a hindrance to others, or causes them to fall by the way.” Strong says... “a trap, snare, any impediment placed in the way”. It described an unexpected event (aroused prejudice), and thus tripped over.
2. That is what Paul is saying, Jesus Christ, was so contrary to the expectations of the Jews concerning the Messiah, that they rejected him and by their obstinacy made shipwreck of their salvation. They stumbled.
i. An example: A local preacher is caught in a pornography sting. That is scandalous. It is not just a juicy story, but it goes against what we would expect and certainly will impede his progress. It’s going to be a stumbling block in his way.
ii. We have noted that Jesus’ impending death was not anticipated by even the disciples. But the cross pictures more. Crucifixion was a scandalous way to die. Our perception of a cross is a sanitized version. It is purely a positive religious symbol to us, and people put them on buildings and wear them around their necks. But to the people of Jesus’ day it was an instrument of inhuman torture and a despicable death. We have never seen anyone crucified.
iii. An example of our view of the cross is seen in a true story of the filming of a picture entitled The Handmaiden’s Tale. The filming, in part, took place on the campus of Duke University. There was a particular scene utilizing Duke’s chapel as a backdrop (large gothic style cathedral). One of the scenes involved the use of a gallows. It was set up and remained in front of the cathedral for several weeks. Some students and parishioners complained. It was offensive to them. It conjured up mental images of people being executed. The Director insightfully answered the complainers by asking why they were offended by the presence of a gallows, when there had always been a large cross prominently displayed in front of the Cathedral. People are still hung for their crimes, but there are no crucifixions, so we have been able to sanitize the cross.
B. The scandal of Jesus’ cross goes beyond the cruelty. Paul alludes to the stigma of Jesus’ death in Galatians 3:13 – Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”). Jesus was viewed on the cross (hanging on a tree) as a picture of one who was cursed. Cursed by God and man, as one who was getting what He deserved. The OT in Deuteronomy 21:23 called for the removal of the body of an executed criminal before sundown, so as not to defile the land.
1. When we see Jesus on the cross, the image says something about Him. I would like us to consider Isaiah’s statement in Isaiah 53:4 – Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. Even though He was doing this for us (carrying our sorrows), yet we esteemed Him stricken and afflicted by God. How could Jesus hanging on the cross be seen as anything other than the death of someone who has done something wrong? But that image does not hold for Jesus, does it?
2. Even among those who did not have the words of Deuteronomy 21 about the curse of one upon a tree, the cross made no sense. How can one argue that Jesus is God and the Savior of the world while watching Him die on a Roman cross? Yet, the apostles went out to the world and pointed people’s minds to a man who died on a Romans cross, like a criminal, and said this person can save you and give you life. The Greeks scratched their heads and said that’s foolishness.
III. What was Jesus Thinking? We have to wonder “What was Jesus thinking?” He did not defend himself or His honor all the way to His death on that cross. When Jesus was in a position to stand up for himself, he had a different mind. When He was tempted to put His legitimate needs at the front, He had a different mind. So He did not act like we would expect any of us to act. He understood the value of His submission, not for His sake, but ours. He allowed them to arrest Him, to mock Him, and beat Him. He let them drive spikes through His wrists and ankles. He allowed them to kill Him. And we know why. Even though they did not know what was happening on that day, Jesus did. He was serving us, accounting us more important than Himself.
A. Let’s consider then what does the mind of Christ look like among us? It will be noticed today, just as it was then. It is uncompromisingly different than the mind of the world around us.
1. Selfless – First, a Christian with the mind of Christ is no longer consumed with self. Jesus’ mind tells me that it is not all about me. Those who seek to follow God so they can get everything they want are not of the mind of Christ. A Gospel that promotes itself by promising people wealth and prestige is not the Gospel of Jesus.
2. Surrendered – Second, a Christian with the mind of Christ completely surrenders to the will of God. Jesus’ decisive, selfless thinking led Him to surrender to God’s will above all else. His single agenda was to be obedient. Likewise a Christian’s single agenda is to be obedient, not to rationalize, not to argue, not to reason away what God would have us do. Those who claim to have the mind of Christ and balk at obedience to the words of God are fooling themselves.
3. Serving others – A Christian with the mind of Christ will serve the needs of others. We should be very glad that, when it came time for the cross, Jesus was focused on us, He put our concerns before His own. We appreciate Jesus’ mind and choice, but do we make the same one?
CONCLUSION:
How then do we then put on the mind of Christ? First, we need to learn about Christ and how He thought, that much is obvious. Today we learn through the bible, the New Testament, inspired by God and written by the apostles.
Paul had been able to teach the mind of Christ to others, who in turn filled his needs. For example:
Timothy: Philippians 2:19-21 – “But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. 20 For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. 21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.”
Epaphroditus: Phil 2:25-30 – “Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. 27 For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. 29 Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; 30 because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me.”
That’s who God sends out to do His work. Not the ones that have the money and the resources and the power and the position. He sends out people to do His work who have the mind of Christ, the ones who are willing to be selfless, who are willing always to be surrendered and to serve others.
The mind of Christ changes everything. We talk about what changes when a person becomes a Christian and maybe some outside things do change, but what changes the most?
It is the change that takes place in a person when he begins to think like Jesus. It has changed the world that now is, and for those who put it on, it changes the world to come. When we become Christians how do we respond to the sacrifice and love of Christ? Do we study to learn about Him more fully and gain the understanding we need to put on the mind of Christ? Do we learn selflessness, obedience and service? Do we continue to check ourselves to see the mind of Christ is reflected in us?
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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins... If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.
Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to come to Christ and be buried with Him in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.
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Reference Sermon: Dave Schmidt
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