Philippians 2:1-2 ESV
“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.”
We are living in some difficult days now. I believe the
signs are everywhere that we are not that far away from Jesus’ return. I know
not everyone agrees with me on this, though. You don’t have to. Still I must
share with you what the Lord lays on my heart to share, because the time is
near.
If you, like me, are on the front lines of this spiritual
battle against our enemy Satan, and if you are exposing his lies, and if you
are proclaiming the truths of God’s word in opposition to the lies of Satan,
then you should also be experiencing Satan’s fierce attacks against you, too.
If you, especially, are exposing the cheap grace gospel for
the lie that it is, and if you are calling people out of that lie, and out of
their lifestyles of sin, and if you are calling them to repentance and to
obedient faith in Jesus Christ, and to submission to Christ as Lord, the enemy
is not going to like you. And, you should be getting that message loud and clear.
But, no matter what God has called you to do in this life –
although we are all called to share the gospel, and to let our lights shine
before men, and to be the salt of the earth – if you are following the Lord
Jesus in obedience to his will for your life, and you are doing what his word
says, Satan is going to come against you in one way or another.
So, if we are followers of Jesus Christ, and members
together in his body, and we know first-hand his love, fellowship, and
encouragement, then we need to be encouraging one another. And, encouragement
is not just the feel-good stuff. Yes, it is to hearten, to cheer and to
reassure, but it is also to urge, to persuade, to help, to admonish, and to
insist on holiness, too.
Being of One Mind
But to encourage one another in the ways of the Lord, and
not in the ways of the flesh, we need to be of one mind with Jesus Christ. We
need to agree with our Lord and with his word, which is evidenced by how we
live our lives. We need to be walking according to the Spirit and not according
to the flesh.
For, we can’t help others to walk faithfully to their Lord
and to stay strong in the Lord and in his word if we are not there ourselves.
And, this unity of mind and of love and heart with our Lord
is also the unity we are to have with one another, and no other. For, this is
not about being unified with a pastor or with a church’s business goals and
marketing schemes. This is about having and living the mind and love of Jesus.
So, if we are to be united with Jesus in his mind and in his
love so that we can also be united with brothers and sisters in Christ who are
also united with him in his mind and in his love, then we also need to know his
mind, and we need to learn his love. And, we gain both by intimate fellowship
with him, by being in his word daily, and by following our Lord in obedience.
Philippians 2:3-4 ESV
“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.”
Yesterday, my husband and I were on our way to the home of a
close friend whose husband died a year ago. We were taking lunch over there to
share with her and her daughter and son-in-law, who is our son. But when I
walked out to the car, immediately I noticed we had a very flat tire. We weren’t
going anywhere.
My husband got out the spare tire and the jack, and he began
to jack up the car and to remove the flat tire so he could replace it with a
spare tire. But he was getting winded. And, then one of our neighbors appeared,
and he offered to help, and he finished the job for him.
I don’t know if our neighbor is a Christian or not, but he
was someone who looked out for the interests of others instead of just thinking
about himself. He asked if we needed help, and then he got in there and he
helped until the job was complete. He didn’t do it for any other reason other
than we needed help. He expected nothing in return.
And, this is what this is talking about. It is about seeing
people in need and reaching out to help meet those needs as we are able.
Obviously we, as followers of Jesus, can’t meet the needs of the whole world,
so we just trust the Lord to put people in our path who need our help and that
he will lay it on our hearts as to how we should help them.
It is about being willing to be inconvenienced. It is about
being willing to have our lives or our schedules interrupted. And, it is
considering the needs of others above our own selves and our own plans. And,
this is love.
Philippians 2:5-11 ESV
“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 the name that is above every name, so that at 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.”
Jesus is our model for this kind of selfless love which
considers others and their legitimate needs above our own interests. If pride
is something we give in to, it is a deterrent that keeps us, as Christians,
from showing this kind of love to others. For, we can’t be prideful and humble
at the same time.
We must see ourselves in the role of servants to one
another. We can’t think of ourselves as superior to anyone in any way. We must all
be guarding our hearts against pride and prejudice, too, which fits here, as
well.
The color of our skin, no matter what our color might be,
does not make us superior or less to anyone who is a different color. And,
color is not who we are anyway. We all need to be color blind, and we need to
see past the outward appearance of people to see as God sees. Who we are is not
defined by what we look like on the outside. It is who we are on the inside
that counts.
And, Jesus, because he loves us so much, humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death on a cross so that we could be delivered from our slavery
to sin and so that we could now become slaves of him and of his righteousness. And,
this is true love.
It isn’t loving to coddle people in their sins. True love
tells the truth about how we can be delivered from our slavery to sin, even if
it costs us our lives and/or our reputations to tell others the truth that will
set them free. We must deny self, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus
Christ with our lives in obedience to his word if we want to be saved and have
eternal life with God (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; Lu. 9:23-26; 1
Jn. 1:5-9).
My
Jesus, I Love Thee
Hymn
lyrics by William R. Featherstone, 1864
Music
by Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876
My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art
mine;
For thee all the follies of sin I
resign.
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art
thou;
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
I love thee because thou hast first
loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary's
tree;
I love thee for wearing the thorns on
thy brow;
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
I’ll love Thee in life, I will love
Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest
me breath;
And say, when the death-dew lies cold
on my brow,
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
In mansions of glory and endless
delight;
I'll ever adore thee in heaven so
bright;
I'll sing with the glittering crown on
my brow;
If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis
now.
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