Developing the mind of Christ is essential for believers, contrasting it with fleshly confidence, conversation, and contention. It emphasizes that true Christian living involves a heavenly citizenship, which brings privileges, responsibilities, and confidence, rather than an earthly one focused on material things. The examples highlight that a heavenly mindset leads to praise and prayer, peace and purity in the heart, and ultimately, power and philanthropy in one's life, urging listeners to cultivate these qualities by focusing on what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and of good report.
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Bind of Christ. I've suggested to you that there are three of them in this third chapter that spills over, for three verses, into the fourth chapter. The first we talked about last night, fleshly confidence, and we noted that it was certain that manifest it, that Paul could have been guilty of it, but that he refused to have anything to do with it. confidence in the flesh. There are two others, one is fleshly conversation and the other fleshly contention. Let's read again from verse seventeen, verse seventeen.
Brethren be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example, for many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things. For our conversation, that is, in contrast to this, our conversation is in heaven. From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, or this body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able, even to subdue all things unto himself.
Would you go back again to chapter one for the other mention of that word conversation? Now these both have the same root. in the Greek. Chapter one and verse twenty seven, only let your conversation be as it becomeeth the gospel of Christ. And the Greek word that we have here is the word from which we get our word politics. The thought is that we are citizens of heaven and that we should walk correspondingly with our citizenship. Now this is the thought.
And not doing this is the opposite of developing the mind of Christ. The writer here says that our citizenship is a heavenly citizenship, while those outside of Christ have an earthly citizenship. Now what does citizenship involve? In the first place, it involves privilege. When you're in a foreign country and you have your American passport, the American embassy in that country becomes responsible for your well-being.
Now, we've had it demonstrated for us in Iran. It doesn't matter how sincerely a country may want to help its citizens Sometimes it seems to be utterly powerless, so to do. Now I'm glad that being citizens of heaven, our privilege is such that we are never likely to be let down by our heavenly country or to be faced with any kind of a crisis or dilemma that cannot be adequately taken care of because we are citizens of heaven. So citizenship involves privilege.
It also involves responsibility. If I'm a citizen of the United States, then I am expected in a foreign country to let those know who represent me that I am there, so that they are in a better position to look after my welfare. Also, if I am an American on another continent, in another country, then I should certainly behave myself in a way that is not going to bring discredit upon America. Everybody's heard of that book, The Ugly American.
And when Americans have read it, they have been very disturbed. And there are too many, not only Americans in other countries who don't behave like they should, But Englishmen too, and Irishmen also, and why there are always citizens of other countries who, when they're abroad, forget that what they do reflects upon their country. Now we are citizens of heaven, and how we live among earthly citizens reflects upon our heavenly country. That's why the writer in chapter one says, Only let your manner of life, that which comes of your citizenship, correspond with the citizenship of which it comes.
And again, citizenship involves confidence. Living in a land like this, it's citizens when they go abroad generally because of the stability of this government. have a fair amount of confidence that everything is going to be all right, even though they put miles between this country and where they are. Now again, what has happened across the sea indicates to us that sometimes this confidence can be shaken. Sometimes it can become misplaced. only because the countries of this world are limited and finite and inadequate sometimes in various areas.
But again, if we are privileged to be citizens of heaven, and if we carry that responsibility as citizens of heaven, we can have a confidence that doesn't, under any circumstances, have to be shaken. Now I know that phrase under the circumstances is not really a very good phrase, for I've told some of you before about the two Christians who met on the street corner. One said to the other one, how are you today? The other one said, I'm all right under the circumstances. The first fellow wanted to know, what are you doing there? No believer has any right being under the circumstances.
Why? Because we are citizens of heaven. And heaven is no mean country, and it matters not what circumstances may come into our lives, what vicissitudes may surround us. We can have the utmost confidence in the country to which we belong, because unlike earthly countries, it cannot fail to look after our interests. Now did you notice in verse fifteen in our chapter three the word thus-minded and in the same verse the phrase otherwise-minded? Now here you have the opposite, the opposites.
The heavenly citizen is thus-minded. The earthly citizen is otherwise-minded. I hope you know which minded you are. You'll also notice A little further down it says, verse sixteen, Nevertheless where too we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same things. Now there is the heavenly mind, there is being heavenly minded. But when we come to verse nineteen we read of the others, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, whom mind earthly things.
So our congregation tonight is divided into two. Those who are heavenly minded, those who are earthly minded, those who are thus minded, those who are otherwise minded. Now for those of us who are heavenly minded, let's remember the word of the sage who said, let's not be so heavenly minded as to be no earthly use. You know, some of us are so taken up with what we imagine to be heavenly things that we forget that our responsibility to God and as citizens of heaven to heaven and heavenly things does not absolve us of responsibility toward those with whom we rub shoulders who though they may be otherwise minded and though they might be earthly minded, yet we have a definite responsibility toward them also.
Now, fleshly conversation is a fleshly manner of life. When the citizen of heaven forgets his citizenship and becomes enamored of the things that bespeak the earth and that which is material, a fleshly manner of life Living after earthly and fleshly things and maybe even sinful things is certainly going to interfere with the development of the mind of Christ in the believer. So the second enemy of the Christ mind is fleshly conversation or manner of life.
God demands that we have a manner of life that corresponds with our heavenly citizenship. Now we come to verses one, two, and three in chapter four, and the thought of fleshly contention. Of course, the story is in verse two. And notice how careful the Apostle Paul is. He doesn't say simply, I beseech you, O deus, and syndicate, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. because Sintakey might have said, well, he was just a little more strongly when he referred to you because he said, I beseech you odious.
And he only mentioned me. Paul by the Spirit says, I beseech you odious, and I beseech Sintakey that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Now I wonder, is there enough said about these two ladies for us to have an idea what kind of people they were. Were they always quarrelsome? Were they always hard to get along with? I don't think so. And I think it does, it is interesting to observe that the name Eudias means fragrant.
Do you know what the name Siddiqui means? It means fortunate. But in the condition in which we meet these two women, there isn't much of fragrance or good fortune here. In fact, somebody has corrupted their names under these conditions and said, one was odious and the other was soon touchy. Well, maybe that was the problem, I don't know. But there's enough said for us here to be able to know a little at least about their past history. about their present folly and about their future course. What about their past history?
Well, in the first place we know that they were both converted. How do we know that? Because it says here their names are in the book of life. So there must have been a moment when those two women for each for herself came to know the Lord Jesus as Savior. Somewhere in the past for both of them was the experience of conversion. We also know something about their conduct in the past, because they are described as women which labored with me in the Gospel with Clement also and with other my fellow laborers.
So we know something of their conduct in the past. They labored. Do you remember in an earlier study this week, I mentioned the Greek word sonathlio, striving together for the faith of the gospel, striving, a very strong word, it's exactly the same word here, which is translated labor. These two women not only worked, they not only labored, but they strove together with Paul and other of the servants of the Lord. So we know something of their conduct in the past, and it was very commendable. And we know something of their cooperation in the past, because they worked together, and they worked together amicably with Paul and with others who were named here, Clement, and others, my fellow laborers.
So we know they were converted. We know that their conduct in the past was very commendable, and we know that in the past they were extremely cooperative, not only able to work with one another, but able to work with Paul and Clement and other of his fellow laborers. But something has happened. What shall we say about their present falling? Well, in the first place they were out of tune with one another. They were not of the same mind. I beseech you, Odeous, and I beseech Cintake that they be of the same mind in the Lord.
Why the beseeching? Because they were not in the same mind in the Lord, not of the same mind. They had fallen out. They had quarreled, and they had sundered. So they were out of tune with each other. Now do you know what being out of tune with each other did? It put them out of touch with God. Now we're all of us human, though we believe us, we all of us know of times in our lives when things happen to disturb us, somebody says something that we don't like, does something that doesn't please us, or maybe does something that hurts us.
And to that we react. Now the question is, do we react as these two women reacted and fall out? Christians do fall out, you know. Christians do quarrel. But it's always a puzzle to me how two believers can sit together at the Lord's table in the same worship meeting and not be speaking to each other. But it happens. And it happens more often than we are willing to admit. But it's something that grieves God at his heart. And the Apostle Paul, having the mind of Christ, was very disturbed about it.
And so he is addressing a man named Thysigus. And do you know what his name means? It means yoke-fellow. And the Apostle Paul has a play on his name here. He says, I intrigue thee, that is, Sisygus also, the true yoke fellow. You are what your name calls you. You are what your name says you are. A true yoke fellow. Now, please, help these two ladies. They were out of tune with each other.
They were out of touch with God, and so necessarily they were out of circulation. The moment we fall out with one another, the moment we get out of tune with one another, God cannot use us, and he has to put us on the shelf. And many believers today have been laid aside not being used of God because of disagreements among themselves. I know that sometimes we feel very justified at feeling bitter. There's never any true justification for bitterness. We sometimes feel that maybe it's a safe thing to keep that believer at a distance and not speak to him or not speak to her.
But you know, while we do it, God cannot bless us and God cannot use us, and we become a hindrance to blessing in the church. Because where the brethren dwell together in unity, it's there that the Lord commandeth a blessing, even life forevermore. If you belong to an assembly, and we have many, many local churches represented here, and when I use that word assembly, I'm speaking about the local church. I don't know what label your local church back home may carry, but it doesn't matter. We are all one in Christ Jesus.
But remember, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. In the little gospel chapel to which I used to belong in New Jersey years ago, under the clock and over the door, there was a little motto that we saw every time we went out of the prayer meeting or the meeting, and this is what it said. What sort of church... Would my church be if all its members were just like me? I think that's a good question for us to ask ourselves tonight. And if maybe you have a quarrel with anybody, or you may feel that they're to blame, this unity among believers is so important to God, it may be even somebody way back home that you're not going to see for weeks and weeks yet.
Sit down and write a letter. And see if you can't put this thing right. Don't hesitate if needs be to take the place where you admit the fault. Even though you don't feel that the fault is yours, it's worth it. It is really worth it. It's worth it because you're taking that place in order to try to put things right is very, very pleasing to God. And it certainly is God-honoring. If the person that you're not in agreement with is handy, well, see if you can't make an appointment and meet them and talk to them, even if you haven't talked to them for a long, long time.
What am I talking to you like this for? Nobody here ever falls out with anybody else. You know, it's very interesting that Paul should be writing to these two women. I wish we knew a little more about them. But do you realize that the church... to which the Apostle Paul is writing, the Church of the Philippians began among the women. It's kind of sad that blessing is now coming to a halt because of these two ladies. I wonder whether they were in at the start. I wonder whether they got in at the ground level.
I wonder whether these were some of those women that used to come together to pray the beginning of the church at Philippi. Paul says to Sisygus, help these women. And their future course, and I hope it was the one that they pursued, the future course that Paul had in mind for them, because God had it in mind for them, was that they should be of the same mind. in the Lord. And what mind was that? Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It was the mind that is our topic, the mind of Christ.
Now we have twelve minutes to finish with the effects of the Christ mind. We've talked about four evidences of the Christ mind. We've talked about four examples of the Christ mind. We've talked about three enemies of the Christ mind, and now I want to talk about several effects of the Christ mind. There is, when a man develops the mind of Christ, when a woman comes to be characterized by the mind of Christ, that developed in them that affects their lips, that affects their hearts, and that affects their lives.
Let's read on from verse four of chapter four. Rejoice in the Lord all the way, and again I say rejoice. Now here's a double exhortation. Rejoice and rejoice. My wife is named Joyce. Of course she gets joy more often than Joyce. My favorite chorus is, Joy, Joy, My Heart is Full of Joy, and we haven't sung it for a long, long time. But I remember there was another Joyce, and they used to call them Joyce and Rejoice. Well, here it's not Joyce and Rejoice, it's Rejoice and Rejoice.
And God is saying it to us because we're living in a world that's calculated if we allow it to destroy our joy. And Paul says, Rejoice. And again I say unto you, Rejoice, why? because there is no testimony that's as powerful as the look on the face of a happy Christian. You remember that man? He was long and lanky, very thin, standing on a street corner, with a glum look on his face, giving away gospel tracts. And a man refused one, he said, no, thank you, I've enough trouble for my own. One look at that fellow, and he was sure he was looking for a shoulder to cry on. Now the Christian who carries that kind of air around with him is a Christian that's not a very good advertisement for Christianity.
God expects us to be happy Christians. In fact, this epistle is the epistle of joy. So you'll expect to read that word and you do. Time and again, rejoice, rejoice. The very first effect of having the mind of Christ is praise. Praise. Here's the exhortation to it. Rejoice. What's the secret of it? Let your moderation be known unto all men. Do you know what that word moderation means? It means let your yieldedness. If you want to be able to rejoice, if you want to be a happy Christian, you've got to be sold out to God.
You've got to be totally yielded to the Lord Jesus. That's the secret of it. And where does the enabling for it come from? Let your moderation, your yieldedness, be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. That doesn't mean he's coming. It means he's right at your side. He is right there at your side so that you can't say, I can't rejoice. Because the Lord's beside you, and he'll give you the ability to do it. If only you'll yield to him and allow him to produce that joy in your life. If you don't, you've come unstuck.
Because the Bible says the joy of the Lord is your strength. The happy Christian is the strong Christian. So the very first effect of the Christ mind is praise. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. I remember being with Jack Worcester in his office. The day he got a telephone call, and I heard him say, Praise the Lord, in everything give thanks. And when he hung up the telephone, I found out that the whole dining room roof at Camp had collapsed with the snow.
And they had a full contingent of... A visitor is coming in for the summer. What to do with no dining room? Well, he started out right. Praise the Lord, he said. Do you know what happened? Just a pilot on the other dining room on the island collapsed the same year. But he still was praising the Lord, and some or other they catered for all of their visitors and didn't have to turn anybody away. The Lord doesn't let you down. Why, yesterday morning at Jolly Sixties, Pastor Hoover was bringing the devotional. And he said, you know, when I suddenly get a flat tire, and I get out of my car and I ruefully look at my flat tire, he didn't say this, but it was all his only flat on the bottom, but that's bad enough.
He said, when I'm changing the tire, I just say to myself, well, the Lord knows everything. Praise the Lord. Maybe I've got to be delayed a little. So I don't meet with an accident way down the turnpike. God doesn't make any mistakes, you know. God orders even the little things in our lives. That's why we are to praise him and to rejoice, even when the going seems to be tough. He knows the end from the beginning. Praise is only the first thing. Now look at verse six. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God.
The man who has the mind of Christ is not only a praising man, he's a praying man. And notice here that there's a reference to prayer generally. There's a reference to supplication specifically. And there's a reference to Thanksgiving particularly, because when we pray, we've got to do it with Thanksgiving. I've told you before that outside my study window, I have a bird bath, and I watch the birds come down and take a drink in the bird bath. They always tilt their beaks. I suppose it's to let the water run down their throats, but it always seems to me that they are saying thank you.
It's always a lesson to me. You know, we receive so much and never look up once. Take so much for granted. Why, if we only compared our lot with a lot of others around the world, we'd realize how favored we are, and we wouldn't be slow in coming back to God and saying, thank you. In praying, there must be no anxiety. Here it is. Be careful for nothing. Remember that little letter? I cut out of, or actually I tore out of Life magazine years ago, from a girl who was writing a letter to the editor thanking him for an article in Life magazine about the rigors of the merchant navy and the dangers that our men at sea face.
She said, I have a brother in the merchant service and I'm glad that you've drawn attention to the dangers and rigors that these men face. Why, she said, every time my brother goes to see, I pray for him and worry till he gets home again. I had to tear that one out. It's so much like us, you know. I remember seeing a wayside pulpit. That's just a motto. They put them outside churches way back in the old country, and this is how it read. Today is the tomorrow I worried about yesterday and all is well. If you trust, you do not worry.
If you worry, you do not trust. Take your choice. The man who has the mind of Christ is a praising man and a praying man. There must be no anxiety. Be careful for nothing. There should be no reserve. In everything. By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Do you pray about the little things in these days of inflation? When you go out shopping, do you pray before you leave home for wisdom in your shopping? If you don't pray about the little things, you may come unstuck when it comes to the big things.
The person who prays about the little things is the person who cultivates that closeness with the Lord. He's interested in the little things. He's interested in the details in your life, in everything. By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. There should be no reserve. Don't hesitate to pray about anything and everything. I heard about a lady who asked her pastor by a little note one day if he would please pray. Please pray in the public prayer meeting about her floating kidney. He called the lady up and he said, Mrs.
so-and-so, I'll be glad to commend you to the Lord's people for prayer, but I don't think I'll be free to mention your floating kidney. She said, well, I don't see why you should be so partial. The other night I heard you praying in public for the loose livers. We really don't have to hesitate to pray about anything. Get used to bringing the little things to the Lord. Praise and prayer. Those are the things that affect the lips. Now what about the things that affect the heart? Let's go on to verse seven.
And the peace of God. We had praise and prayer, and now we come to peace. And that's what you have in the heart if you have the mind of Christ. And the peace of God which part of all understanding shall keep. And the word there is, keep us a garrison, your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Now, I want you to analyze this and point out four things about this little verse, but I mustn't take the time, because if I'm going to finish, I said, if I'm going to finish at half-past eight, I only have a minute and a half. But there is peace. One of the effects of the Christ mind, we come to verse eight.
And here is purity. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. The clue to purity is how you think, you know. Because basically, you're not what you think you are. But what do you think? You are. As he thinketh in his heart, says the Word of God, so is he.
And some sage from a past generation said, You sow a thought, you reap an action. You sow an action, you reap a habit. You sow a habit, you reap a character. You sow a character. And you reap a destiny. And it all begins. with the way that you think. If you want a life that is pure and commendable to God, watch the way you think. So we have praise and prayer on the lips. We have peace and purity in the heart. And then we come to the life and we read in verse nine, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seemingly do.
Now here is the thought of power. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. How many times do we ring our hands and sort of sniffle a little and say, I can't do it. I'd like to be able to do it, but I can't do it. The word of God says, you can do it. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. The problem is we try to do things in our own strength and not in the strength. of the Lord Jesus. And again there were four things I wanted to point out to you here because it's such an interesting verse. Here you have believers seeing. Here you have believers hearing.
Here you have believers learning. Here you have believers receiving. And here you have believers going out to do the things that they've seen and heard and learned. and been exhorted about. Do them. Somebody has said that the road to hell is paved with good intent. And all too many of us intend to do this, intend to do that, intend to do the other, but we never get around to it. The word is D-O-D.
And the man who has the mind of Christ has a life that he's full of power. He is found to be a doing man. I've gone over time two minutes, and I'm not through yet. But there's one other thing, and that is philanthropy. Now there's a good word, the love of others, the love of others. I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me has flourished again. wherein you were all so careful, but you lacked opportunity. You wanted to help. You didn't have the opportunity to help. But when the opportunity came, you seized it with both hands, and you sent and ministered to my necessity.
Now the effect of their kindness, their love for others on Paul was that he was full. He says, I am full having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you. That was the effect on the Apostle Paul of their philanthropy, of their love for other people. What was the effect on God? It says, To God, these were an odor of a sweet smell. This is verse seventeen. A sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. But you know, when a man is generous, when a man is thoughtful of others, when a man cares for others and gives to others, he not only makes the other full and pleases God, but his generosity has an effect upon himself.
Verse nineteen says, But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. Why, there is that that scattereth and yet increases. There is that withholdeth and intendeth to poverty. If we claim to have given to the Lord, then we shall be found generous toward others. It follows. So there are six things that emerge as effects of the mind of Christ. Two affecting the lips, two affecting the heart, and two affecting the life.
We have praise and prayer. We have peace and purity. We have power and philanthropy. And I think it's good that the... meeting has come to an end because the preacher is not supposed to say too much about giving. Shall we bow in prayer? Our Heavenly Father again we thank you for this lovely epistle. How inadequately we have dealt with it. There is so much more in this letter than we have discovered. or having discovered have been able adequately to pass along.
But we pray thee, Lord, that what has been spoken falteringly, thou wilt by thy Holy Spirit take up and powerfully apply to our individual hearts. Grant that we might not only have learned something a little at least about this epistle, but that we might have learned a little more about ourselves. that we might become more anxious to sing the prayer we've sung night by night and mean it from our hearts. May the mind of Christ my Savior dwell in me from day to day. We ask it again in Jesus' name. Amen.