Beneath His Wings Part 3 Series

Beneath His Wings Part 3

Scriptures: Philippians 2:5-8; Matthew Chapters 5, 6, 7

Introduction:

This is part three of my series “Beneath His Wings.” In part one I focused on how as Christians we are under the wings of Christ. Our foundational Scripture came from Psalm 91 where the writer talked about God providing a refuge for us and covering us with His wings. In part two I focused on how as children we were under the wings of our parents. In that message I focused on the things we learned from our parents that enabled us to come into the knowledge of Christ and to walk on this earth as His. This morning I will conclude this series. As I shared with you in part one, the time has come for each of us to spread our wings to help someone else. So many times we take, and take and take of the benefits of Christ but we do little to share what we have received spiritually with others. What we have received through our parents and our relationship with Christ positioned us to be able to help others in this world. So this morning I will be focusing on how we must start spreading our wings in order to accomplish the mission that Christ has lain out before us.

Our foundational Scripture this morning is found in Philippians 2:5-8. It reads: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 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.” Throughout this message I ask that you think about your mind; how you think and process: and if you have the same mindset as Jesus Christ. “Let this mind be in you…..” Let Jesus’ mindset be in you! This morning we will focus on what is actually in Christ’s mind. The first point from this Scripture that I would like to point out is that Jesus’ mindset did not cause Him to think it was wrong to be equal with God. Even though He could easily have done it, He did not set out to make Himself a reputation. He did not seek to shine the light on Himself, but to always focus everyone on God the Father. The next thing that He did was humble Himself and became obedient, obedient enough that He went to the cross for us. This was the mindset that Jesus had. So is this our mindset? Are we willing to do what Jesus did and do it the way that He did it? What Jesus did throughout His life was to spread His wings to allow others to come to Him for safety. This was the life that He lived. If we are to fully spread our wings to help others, we must begin by taking on the mindset of Christ.

This morning we will examine some select Scriptures from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. I am only taking a few verses that I think speaks directly to our spreading our wings.

I. Is This Mind In You?

Matthew 5:13-14, 16: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden….Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” This first reference speaks to our purpose. Jesus walked this earth with a focus on His purpose for being here. He understood that His walk here on the earth was temporary and that while He was here there were specific things He had to do. Everything that He did had a purpose to it and that purpose was to point people to His Father. His actions were measured and controlled when He taught on our influence on others. In Matthew 5:13-14; 16 Jesus speaks of our influence on the earth. Our mindset should be that we are here for a purpose and that purpose is to provide something that the world needs. We are the salt and the light that is needed in the world. Salt provides flavor but it is also used as a preservative. Light of course is used to shine through darkness so that we may see our way. Both of these missions are ours in the world. We are here for a purpose and our lives are not by mistake. We are here to provide what is missing from the world – Jesus Christ. When our lives are so blended in with the world that we lose our flavor (saltiness) or our light can no longer be seen; then we become useless. Jesus’ mindset was one about purpose and accomplishing a mission. He was here to do His Father’s business. His mindset was focused on the Father? To spread our wings effectively we must do so with the sole purpose of pointing others to Christ through our actions. Through the spreading of our wings they see Christ. You have a purpose on this earth and it is much greater than just going to work and owning material things. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…” Is this mindset in you?