CHAPTER 2

1 If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any bowels and mercies,
2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better
than themselves.
4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Dija ever wonder why pizzas are round and come in a square box?
Dija ever wonder if you can cry real tears while under water?

Well, didja ever wonder how someone can write a "thank you note," or a "well done"
letter, and STILL be INSTRUCTIONAL?!

This chapter contains instruction to handle life like Jesus did.
We all have ambitions.
In these first 4 verses, the Scripture explains how to CONTROL ambitions, by BEING
what Jesus calls us to be.

Christians actually fulfill the joy of Christ by having the consolation in our hearts that
Christ is WITH us by His Holy Spirit.

By HIS power, we can have "likemindedness" in Christ!
We become of "one mind" by studying the Bible and applying the principles
that we learn.

When I first started as pastor, the words from vs 3 were on my business card.
The word "esteem" is translated from the Greek <>hegeomai.
It means to account others as better than ourselves.
When we are thinking of others in that manner, we are having "lowliness of mind."

People aren't necessarily impressed by what you KNOW;
They are impressed by how you CARE!

And, that is why vs 4 is there.
Each of us care about our own things and thoughts.
But we should also care about OTHERS!

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and
things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is the PURPOSE of the Christian life: To be as much like Jesus as we can in our daily life!

Vs 5 -- BE like Jesus! Vss 6-8 -- THIS is how Jesus was!
First, He was GOD!
God is a triune, self-existent, omniscient, omnipotent and omni-present God!!
God the FATHER, God the SON, and God the HOLY SPIRIT!
Jesus is the ONLY physical manifestation of God!
In Him is contained the FULLNESS of God! (Col. 2:9)

Instead of boasting of equality with God, Jesus stepped out of His glory and became
"flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14)
When Jesus became flesh, He became a SERVANT to all that God IS!

As our God-Man, Jesus became OBEDIENT to all that God SAID!
And, He even went to the cross willingly, in order to take away the sins of the world.
(((John 1:29)))
In taking them away, He became the ONLY "anointed One" Who can OFFER
eternal salvation from the condemnation of the world!
THEREFORE, the WHOLE God has "exalted" the Name of Jesus "above
EVERY name!"
And, Jesus is presiding over ALL creation and humanity because He is SEATED
"on the right hand of God"!
(The right hand exemplifies the place of power.)

One day, a glad day for those who are saved, and a sad day for those who are not saved,
"EVERY knee will BOW" and "EVERY tongue" will CONFESS that
Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father!"

"For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we MUST
be saved!" (Acts 4:12)

This is called the kenosis passage of Scripture.
The Greek word here means EMPTYING of self and becoming what God wants!

We should all LEARN this Scripture, because it teaches us HOW to live like God WANTS!
Jesus emptied Himself and became a man -- a "SERVANT"!
THAT, my friends is what true Christianity is!
BECOMING what God WANTS!
It is a PROCESS, and doesn't end until death!!
We are to be "...speaking the truth in love," so we "may GROW UP INTO HIM
in ALL things, which is the HEAD!" (Eph. 4:15)

Jesus is the PERFECT EXAMPLE of a person SURRENDERED to God's WILL!
Even Solomon recognized that!
"Let us hear the conclusion of the matter, fear God and keep His commandments,
for this is the WHOLE DUTY of man!" (Ecc. 12:13)

EMPTYING self when being with others causes us to:
LOVE one another, even when we are UNlovely!
AND, causes us to CARE FOR one another, even when the other doesn't care for
themselves!

Bible STUDY is IMPERATIVE for us to know what God WANTS, and for us to be a
SERVANT to Him and a SOLDIER in His army of TRUTH!

12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye 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.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of
a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain,
neither laboured in vain.
17 Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all.
18 For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.

NOW, we will see WHY it is IMPERATIVE to surrender to Christ.
((Two high school students were discussing the meaning of irritation, aggravation, and
frustration. One of them said, "I just don't seem to get the difference."
The other picked up a phone and called a number at random.
When the person answered, he asked, "Is ALfred there?"
The person said, "No Alfred here, you have the wrong number!" and hung up.
The 2nd boy looked at the first and said, "Now that's irritation."
Then, he dialed the number again, and asked, "Is ALfred there?"
The person answered in an angry tone, "NO! and if you call back I will reort you to the police!"
He looked at his friend and said, "THAT'S aggravation!"
The other boy asked, "OK. So what is frustration?
The 2nd boy picked up the phone, dialed the same number and said, "This is Alfred, Have
I had any calls!"))

vs 12 - OBEDIENCE is the KEY to "work out" our salvation in your heart and mind.
When we understand that we DON'T understand, but we're going to do it GOD'S WAY,
THAT's obedience!
And, we work it out with "fear and trembling" because we KNOW how many
times we have sinned, yet God KEEPS us in His salvation!

vs 13 - This is one of my favorite verses!
It's not what I want that counts....it's what GOD wants of me!
When faced with conflict, we SHOULD do what God SAYS!
Should I steal, lie, murder? NO!
Should I GOSSIP? NO!
Lev. 19:16 is a COMMAND: "Thou shalt NOT go up and down as a talebearer...."
(See also: Prov. 25:23, 11:13, 18:8, 26:20-22)

vss 14-15a --- We are to do things for Christ WITHOUT griping and complaining!
That is the way to cause others to see we are "blameless and harmless" in a
"crooked and perverse nation!"
((For instance....A lady stopped at a red light behind another car. When the light turned
green, the first car didn't move. The lady in the car behind blew her horn vigorously, while
pounding on the steering wheel. Just as the light turned red, the 1st car left, and the
2nd car had to wait for another red light. She rolled down her window, yelled and
cursed. But she hadn't noticed the cop behind her. He arrested her and took her to
jail. He went to check her record, and came back in a few moments. She asked, "WHY,
WHY did you arrest ME?" He answered, "Well, Ma'am, I saw a JESUS bumper sticker
on your car. But the way you were acting, I asssumed you had STOLEN the car."))

Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, meekness and temperance are FRUIT of the Spirit
working IN and THROUGH Christians.
Let me emphasize again, The BEST vitamin for a Christian is B1 - BE ONE!

Vss 15b-16 - The WAY in which Christians "shine as lights" in the world is to
"hold forth the WORD of life!"
Doing that will cause our teachers (mentors) and friends to be exceeding joyful!

Vss 17-18 - We must remember here (for context), that Paul was in prison.
The Scripture he writes here basically says, "If I am given the death penalty for having
led others to Christ, then I can rejoice and YOU should rejoice with me; because it
shows I have been OBEDIENT to Christ!"

About 31% of the population of the world calls themselves Christians.
I wonder how many of them would say they could REJOICE at dying for Christ?

vss 19-24 - This tells us that Timothy was WITH Paul at that time, and that Paul
expected to SEND Timothy to them.
His TRUST in Timothy is because Timothy EXEMPLIFIES what Paul has been
writing in this chapter.

Timothy is "likeminded" with Paul because he seeks "the things which
are Jesus Christ's."
And, the people at Philippi know this because Timothy "served" with Paul there.

Paul desires to send Timothy, because he wants Timothy to return and give him
good news about the church there.

Let us remember here, that this is the PURPOSE of Philippians, Chapter 2.
It is to teach us that NO ONE can be trusted more than the person who only
wants Christ's work to be done!

25 And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your
furtherance and joy of faith;
26 That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see
you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel;
28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but
to you of salvation, and that of God.
29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for
his sake;
30 Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Paul also had high regard for Epaphroditus.
He was a man who ministered to Paul.
He was a messenger from the church in Philippi (Ppns. 4:13), and he had become ill while
there ministering to Paul.

The news had come back to Phillipi that Epaphroditus was DANGEROUSLY ill!
Paul assured them that he had been "sick unto death", but had RECOVERED!
It was because of the "work of Christ" that he had become ill.
And, it was the grace of God that gave him health again.

Now, when we work for Christ, it does NOT keep us from the problems of the world.

If we look forward to verse 1 of Philippians, Chapter 4, we see Paul says, "FINALLY.."
BUT - there are still TWO more chapters.

We must remember that God's Spirit is working IN Paul to write, and is using Paul
as a pen in HIS hand!
God will not let him stop until the inspired Scripture is complete.