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In Philippians 2 .5, the Apostle Paul says have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. That's been the subject of everything that we have talked about over the course of the week.
And today we want to do some review so we might know more how to have the mind of Christ when we understand the text. Welcome to When We Understand The Text. My name is Pastor Gabe Hughes and we are that much closer to overthrowing Joel Esteen as the number one most listened to spiritual podcast on iTunes.
We are nowhere close to number one, I'm sure. But I'm also sure we're that much closer than we were the week before. Anyway, I bring that up just to ask of you. If you do listen to this broadcast on iTunes podcast, if you download the podcast through iTunes, be sure to star it and give us a review.
It helps to attract some more listeners to the program. I sure appreciate you participating in this with us, reading through the scriptures with us. I mean, it's me. But anyway, I have other folks that help out with the When We Understand The Text ministry.
Reading through these scriptures together as you've been studying through Philippians with me, I learn best when I read the word of God out loud. That is just the way that it works for me. I spend some time studying the scriptures.
Then I open up the microphone and talk through it out loud. And so you're kind of part of that study with me. I learn more about this every time that we do this. And so it is so great to be able to go through the word of God together.
I hope we can overthrow Joel Esteen as the number one podcast because it would put some sound doctrine on that list. There is sound doctrine on that list. Tim Keller and Matt Chandler and John Piper as well happen to be three of those ministers that are in the top ten most listened to spiritual podcasts.
So I'm sure glad there is some sound doctrine that is getting out in social media outlets just like this. Today we are doing our five-point review. We are going over a review of everything that we've looked at over the course of the week.
And it's not been contained in one chapter. We've actually been in several different places. Philippians 1 starting in verse 27 through chapter 2. And I think we finished up in about verse 13. So next week on Monday we'll be starting in verse 14.
So we'll kind of go back over some of this and do our five-point review considering that it is five-point Friday. Instead of going back to chapter 1 though, I'm actually going to start in chapter 2.
And we're going to read through verse 13 together. So why don't we start there and then we will pray. Philippians chapter 2 starting in verse 1. 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.
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. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
And then we get to that beautiful hymn of Christ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, 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.
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only in my presence, but much more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Our great God, as we come to these scriptures, I pray that you continue to teach us more and more what it means to have the mind of Christ. Help us to be unified in these things as the body of Christ, no matter what denomination we're a part of, what church congregation we attend and who we worship with.
These things are still helping to bring the body of Christ together more and more. We're unified in your word because we have been justified in Christ Jesus and are being sanctified through his words.
So teach us these things more and more, what it means to have the mind of Christ. And I ask this in the name of Christ, we pray. Amen. All right, I'm going to jump back now, even though we started in Philippians chapter two, I'm going to skip back to Philippians chapter one, verse 27.
Let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let the way that we live display that we are recipients of this gospel. It has changed us and is changing us to be more like Christ. We've been justified.
We're being sanctified. So let our lifestyle show that we're worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, Paul says to the Philippians, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel and not frightened in anything by your opponents.
This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation and that from God. And so here's where we're going to draw our first point today in verse 29. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had.
And now here that I still have. So the first point that we draw out today, summarizing what we've talked about this week, number one, point number one, suffering is a blessing. It is a blessing to suffer, Paul says here, verse 29, for it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake.
It's been granted by God that you believe in him. It's been granted that you also suffer for his sake. We read from James chapter one, verses two and four, two through four. Count it all joy. My brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, count it all joy for, you know, that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
We also considered first Peter 4, 12 through 14. Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. I want to read that again just because it's such a an important instruction. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. It is a blessing to suffer for Christ because the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
As I was kind of going back over these things again, I was reminded of an exchange that Paul and Jesus had in second Corinthians chapter 12. A spirit of Satan was sent to Paul, a thorn in his flesh to torment him.
And he pleaded with God three times to take that thorn from his flesh. But Christ responded to him, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, Paul says, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
For the sake of Christ, then I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong because our strength doesn't have anything to do with us and our ability to be strong.
It is relying entirely upon Christ. It is through this experience that Jesus is communicating to us. How much do you trust me? Do you trust me so much just so that you would have comfortable living? Or do you trust me so much that you would say to me, God, I am willing to give up my comfortable living for your glory.
And as I said earlier in the week, I believe this was Monday when I said this. Do we pray to have a comfortable life or are we praying that we might suffer for the cause of Christ? Because in suffering with Christ, we are blessed.
It is a blessing to suffer with Jesus. That is point number one. Point number two, we need to count others more significant than ourselves. Or more directly, count others more significant than yourself.
We read in Philippians 2 that we need to continue to let love blossom among us in the body of Christ being in full accord and in one mind. Having the same love. Paul goes on, verse three, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, humbling yourselves, count others more significant than yourselves.
In humility, count others more significant than yourselves. I believe it was C .S. Lewis that said humility doesn't mean thinking less of yourself. It means thinking of yourself less. So in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.
Paul goes on, do nothing from selfish and I'm sorry, I'm reading verse three again. Verse four, let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. See, in our selfishness, we have a tendency to look toward our own interests and Paul challenges the Philippians.
Take that tendency that you have to look at yourself and instead flip it around and look toward the interests of others. This is the same thing that Jesus said when he was quoting Leviticus 19, 18 and saying that we need to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
In other words, we're naturally inclined to love ourselves. Turn that around and love your neighbor instead. The two greatest commands are to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.
All of the law and the prophets hinge on these two commands, Jesus said. And that leads us into our third point. OK, so the first point is suffering is a blessing. The second point is count others more significant than yourselves.
And number three, Christ is the ultimate example of the two greatest commands. To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. Christ is our ultimate example on how to do those two things.
And we see this in the hymn of Christ that Paul gives in Philippians chapter two, verses six through eleven. Christ, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped.
But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant. He went from the form of God, emptying himself and becoming the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form.
He humbled himself even more by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. A very humiliating way to die, excruciating way to die. He went from God in his heaven, king of kings and lord of lords, deserving of all worship and glory.
And yet he did not consider that that position a thing to honor himself by. But he took on the form of a servant. He took on the form of a human. He became obedient to the will of the father, even to the point of death, death on a cross.
Therefore, God, the father whom he glorified, 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. In his divinity, in his human life, in his human death, in his resurrection, in his ascension to heaven. And even now, where he is there seated at the right hand of God, in all of these things, Christ, the son glorified the father.
So through him, we have the example of how we love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He is the ultimate example of obedience in that command. Furthermore, he is the ultimate example of what it means to love our neighbor as ourself.
Because Christ emptied himself, took on the form of a servant and being born in the likeness of men, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. His loss is our gain. Because he gave up his life, we gain his life.
And live forever with God through our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. I love this. How beautiful is that? It is Tim Keller who said, this is a quote that I posted on Twitter earlier this week. It is Tim Keller who said, the only reason a three-person God would have had for creating us was not to get cosmic love and joy of relationship, but to share it.
God did not need anything from us. He does not need anything from us. He created us to share his love with us. And we see that through the person and the work of Christ who shows us exactly what it means to love your neighbor as yourself.
So it is in Christ that we have the ultimate example of what it means to obey the two greatest commands. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. You will love your neighbor as yourself.
Point number four. It is through this, the hymn of Christ that we just read that we can see and understand that Christ verifies and sanctifies every part of life from conception to natural death. Because Christ experienced it all.
We see in the hymn of Christ, it being explained here, the deep theology that Paul is giving us in just these few verses. We see Christ's pre-existence, his incarnation, his death, his resurrection and his ascension to the right hand of God.
Because Christ came into this world in the form of a baby, conception by the Holy Spirit, all the way to the point of natural death. Jesus Christ sanctifies that entire process from conception to natural death.
So therefore there is no part of that life process that we can say doesn't count or isn't worth protecting. Because Christ experienced all of it and sanctifies all of it. He even sanctifies suffering because he suffered.
Going back to point number one, right? Suffering is a blessing because Christ suffered and died. He didn't just die, he suffered and died. Sanctifying suffering itself. So we should never get to a point where we say, oh, it is a person shouldn't have to suffer.
They shouldn't have to suffer before they die. No, no, no, no, no. We should we should take their life or euthanize them and legalize euthanasia so that they don't have to suffer before they die. We even go through suffering because Christ suffered.
He sanctifies the process of suffering itself so that even through that we might give glory to God because Christ did. He suffered and gave glory to God. So we should also. So that is point number four.
Christ verifies and sanctifies every part of life from conception to natural death. We should protect and preserve all of it. Point number five. It is God who works in you. God is working in you in all of your experiences, blessings, sufferings, which are the same.
OK, I don't mean to separate those two because it is a blessing to suffer. But whether things are going well for us or we think things are going bad, it is in all of these things, all all walks of life that God is working through both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
That is Philippians chapter two, verse 13. It is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. I quoted from Charles Spurgeon when we talked about that, who said, if I find taught in one part of the Bible that everything is foreordained, that is true.
And if I find taught in another scripture that man is responsible for all his actions, that is true. And it is only my folly that leads me to imagine that these two truths can ever contradict each other.
Christ has chosen those who will be saved and those who will be the objects of his wrath. We read that in Romans chapter nine. But though God has chosen those who will be saved by Christ Jesus, we read in Romans 14, 12, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
So we still will be judged according to our works. Therefore, we must be faithful to obey the commands of Christ Jesus. And by the way, everything that we just talked about here related to election being predestined, that happens to be the subject of the question that I'm going to answer here in just a couple of minutes.
But first of all, going through our review, point number one, suffering is a blessing. Point number two, count others more significant than yourselves. Point number three, Christ is the ultimate example of how to do that, of how to obey the two greatest commandments to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself.
Point number four, Christ verifies and sanctifies every aspect of life from conception to natural death. It is all important. It is all valuable. We should protect it all. And point number five, it is because it is God who works in you to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Our great God, thank you for guiding us through these things in these scriptures. And I pray that we are storing up this knowledge so that we might know more of what it means to have the mind of Christ.
Help us in this walk to will and to work for your good pleasure. And we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. In Psalm 139, David wrote that every one of his days had been written by God before one of them came to be.
God told Jeremiah that he appointed him to be a prophet before he was even born. The apostle Paul also said that he was set apart by God before he was born. Jesus said to his disciples, you did not choose me.
I chose you. That is the picture that we see throughout scripture. We didn't choose God. It is God who chose us for his glory through the saving power of Christ. We who are Christians were predestined before the world began by no action of our own.
God chose those who would be saved and those who would be the objects of his wrath. Don't dismiss this teaching as some sort of ism. It is what the Bible says. Now, that said, do you still have a choice?
Well, as far as you are concerned, yes. Faith is given to us by God, but you still have to obey. Repentance is also granted by God, but you still have to turn from your sin. No one can come to Christ unless the Father draws them, but you still have to follow.
You choose to be thankful. You choose to help others. You choose to preach the gospel. You choose it. Though it is God who wills and works for his good pleasure, we're still held accountable for the choices that we make.
It's not for us to know now the full picture the way that God sees it. That comes later. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part. Then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
It is not you who chooses God, but God who chose you. Now confirm your calling by being obedient to what he has commanded when we understand the text. And our question today has to do with that video from Robin in Canada.
She says, Dear, what? Thank you for your video on predestination. The idea that God knows in advance who is going to choose him, but that he doesn't make them choose just didn't sit well with me. If he knows what you're going to choose, even before you're born, then how could you have made any other choice?
Isn't that the same as God choosing for you? And didn't Jesus say you didn't choose me? I chose you. Yes, Robin, you are correct. That is a great apologetic deduction that you did there. Good job. There are those out there who will say that God did not predestine who would be saved and who would be the objects of his wrath.
They will deny the doctrine of election, but still concede because Scripture says that God does know who will choose him for. You know, he's he's for it's for knowledge. They'll use that word for knowledge.
He foreknows who will choose him, even though he doesn't make them choose. And that doesn't make any sense, because if God knows who will choose him, clearly a path has been decided that cannot go any other way.
Therefore, a person doesn't actually have a choice. There is no way that they can make any other choice. If God already knows the choice that they will make. It's a ridiculous dance. God doesn't choose, but he knows who will choose.
But he doesn't make them choose, even though they can't choose anything else. That argument commits suicide as far as I'm concerned. Here's what we read in the Scriptures. Romans chapter nine, verses 22 and 23.
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? In order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory.
God is predestined those who will be saved and those who will be the objects of his wrath. And again, as was said before, he does this to show the full range of his glory. It's all for the glory of God.
Do not get caught up in making the argument. Well, what's the point of evangelism then? If God has already chosen, then there's no point in evangelizing anyone. That is a ridiculous argument. You evangelize because God has commanded you to.
And if you are truly in Christ, you will do it. Folks, it is not for us to know who the elect are. We don't know that. God knows that. It is our job to be faithful to what he has commanded. And rejoice, folks, because we are saved.
And now we get to be part of his divine plan. We get to be participants in it, which is one of the reasons why, as was said before, suffering is a blessing. We are participating in God's divine plan. And as participants, he has commanded us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded.
And behold, I am with you always to the very end of the age. Yes, folks, there is nothing that happens outside of the will of God. Nothing, including your salvation. Nothing in the whole universe that God did not ordain.
Lamentation 337. Who has spoken and it has come to pass unless the Lord has commanded it. Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and bad come? Proverbs 16 .4. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.
This is to show the full range of his glory by redeeming for himself a chosen people and removing from himself the wicked. Romans 9. Again, this time starting in verse 16. So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
For the scripture says to Pharaoh, for this very purpose, I have raised you up that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills and he hardens whomever he wills.
Give God the glory for salvation has been given to you in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Preach his gospel for the sake of the faith of God's elect. Amen. Robin, thank you for your question. And thank you for giving me an opportunity to glory and God again in these things, making God big.
God, you are so big. Oh, we love you. And we are so amazed that we get to be participants in this divine plan. Thank you for calling us to this. Thank you that by your spirit, we have answered that call and are now part of the family of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, because of the work that he did on the cross by his blood.
We we have been united. It is it is thicker than a blood that unites us in our DNA. It is the DNA of Christ. And so let us display this in his body. Your glory to the glory of God, the father. We pray.
Amen. You've been listening to when we understand the text of Pastor Gabriel Hughes. Our ministry was born out of a local church, and we rely on the contributions of our viewers and our listeners to keep this ministry going.
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