Scripture: Philippians 2:5-11
Theme: Mindset of Christ
Paul instructs us to have the Mindset of Christ
1. The Mindset of Servanthood (Humble and Agape Filled)
2. The Mindset of Living in the Supernatural
3. The Mindset Birthed and Bathed in Prayer
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus who came to take away the sin of the world!
Growing up in the state of Kentucky I was able to see my share of basketball games. Basketball is a major part of Kentucky culture. And over the years I have heard more than once a coach or an interested fan yell out to some basketball player - "Hey, Get Your Mind in the Game."
"Hey, Get Your Mind in the Game" could also have been yelled out by the Apostle Paul. When it came to living out the life of a follower of Jesus, the Apostle Paul was intense. He was an all in or nothing type of guy. And when it came to Jesus the Apostle Paul was all in. He challenged everyone he knew to surrender their heart, mind and soul to Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul also had a deep love for the disciples living in and near the city of Philippi. They were his first Europeans converts that had received and accepted the message that Jesus was the Savior of the World. They were also one of the most loving and giving congregations. As soon as the Church at Philippi heard about Paul's imprisonment they send Epaphroditus to him with a rather large gift in order that his basic needs would be met. For you see, while Paul was under arrest it would have been almost impossible for him to get any work and the Temple back in Jerusalem had labeled him as a blasphemer and so he would not be getting any help from them.
However, upon arriving with the Church's gift Epaphroditus fell deathly ill. It was only Paul tells us by the grace of God he recovered. Now, the Apostle was sending Epaphroditus back to his friends at Philippi along with this letter to thank them and to challenge them to be unified in heart, mind and soul. Paul further challenges them to stay true in the midst of some intense persecution from both inside and outside of the church. He encourages them to hold fast to the true teachings of Jesus and not to allow any false teachers to come in and steal away their joy and freedom.
And then in chapter 2:5-11 Paul shares seven little verses that have become some of the most loved and important verses in all of his writings. They deal with having the right mind - that is to say - to having the mind of Christ. Paul is wanting to make sure that at all times they are to have the right mindset when it came to how to live their lives for Christ in the here and now. Paul wanted in effect to make sure that they "Got their Mind(s) in the most important thing of all - LIFE".
So, for a few moments this morning let's look at what it means to have the Mind of Christ.
I. It means to have the Mind of a Servant
- The Mind of a Servant which is Born out of Heart of Humility and Agape Love
It doesn't take long in reading this section of scripture to know that Paul's overall theme is centered on servanthood, on humility and on agape love.
For that is what true Christian servanthood is - it is love - it is agape love. It is a love that displays itself in the form of:
+Humility - Jesus did not come to be served but to serve (Mark 10:45). Jesus came to earth and took on the form of humanity in order to experience what it means to be human. That is what Incarnation means. It ultimately means the oneness of God and humanity. God came down and become one of us. 100% God and yet 100% man. Man who had to be born, who had to live off the land, who had to work by the sweat of his brow so that he could have food, shelter and clothing, man who had to suffer temptations, trials and suffering. Jesus did not come to have others serve him but instead as John 13 spells out so vividly, Jesus came to pick up a towel and serve others.
Throughout His life here on earth, Jesus showed us how to focus on others. He did his best to show us that it is through loving others that life has meaning. Without loving others everything really becomes meaningless. Jesus showed us that true living is when we learn how to give without expecting anything in return.
Paul wanted us to understand this very important aspect of Jesus' life. This aspect of love, of humility and servanthood. It is how the Apostle himself lived and it is how he knows that we should live as well. It is how Paul wanted his congregations to live.
Today, we live in a time of slick advertisement, cosmetic solutions and corporate business models that sadly too often the Church has adopted and implemented. These methods are usually based on the goal of reaching out to large groups of people to get them to grab a hold of some corporate "CHURCH VISION or GOAL". In and of themselves a lot of them do have some good things to say. But most of them fail when it comes to promoting a true mindset of Christ - the mindset of humility, agape love and servanthood.
On the surface it seems like Jesus had a horrible business model. He spent way too much time on individuals rather than on blocks or groups of people. It seems like every time you read a story you see this picture of Jesus sitting down with one person or at most sitting down with just a few people at a time.
For instance, Jesus takes time out to speak to the Woman at the Well. He reaches down and focuses on the woman caught in adultery. Jesus leaves the crowd and goes off with the Tabitha's father. He walks outside the city with the blind man. Even on the day Jesus was raised from the dead he spend a great portion of that day walking with two men as they walked the six or seven miles from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
Jesus seemed content to focus on individuals and to meet individual's needs. He didn't avoid large crowds or sharing his message with thousands but most of his time was spent in small groups and with individuals. Jesus just loved to share life with people. He loved getting to know them, to hear their story and to share his life with them. The only way he could do that was to spend quality time with individuals and with small groups.
But today we are told we don't have time to do such things. We must do all we can to grab all we can and whomever we can. But the truth is for all our slick advertisement, cosmetic solutions and corporate business models we are not seeing more people's lives being transformed. In fact, we are seeing less. The truth is the Church's strength has never been in having a great marketing program or having up to date technology. The Church's strength has been that of having a humble mentality, a servant mentality and an agape love mentality.
As a child that is how our little church back in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky won our family to the LORD. They didn't go out trying to promote some big program or even get us to come to some big event. They didn't try to woo us with a light show or with some entertainment event. They merely reached out to our mom who was needing some friends, some help and some prayers. They reached out to her with hearts of love and they were willing to do anything they could to help her find Jesus and live a better life.
Financially, socially and emotionally mom had nothing to give to them. She didn't have a job and her and dad barely made enough to feed our family, pay for our home and provide for us some clothes. Dad worked six and seven days a week sometimes 9 - 10 hours a day for us to make it. Mom didn't know a great deal about the Bible nor at that time was she even interested.
In fact, mom was really just a young woman who had lost her way. By the time she was 21, my mother had already been divorced once and had one baby out of wedlock. Tragically, that baby died of SIDS three months after it was born. It's a miracle that the man who she had the baby with later married her and they ended up having five more children and being married over fifty years. My dad was also not raised in church and was not interested at all in going to church or living for the LORD for most of his life.
It would have been easy for all of us to have never gone to church and for our family to have drifted off into a very evil life style. But some ladies at the little church near our house began to visit mom and do everything they could to love her and her children. They humbled themselves and served her. Others because of her past might have avoided her but not these ladies. You see, they had the mindset of Christ. They reached out in humility. They became servants to our family and they shared hearts that were overwhelmingly filled with agape love.
In no time mom was going to church. It wasn't long after that she gave her heart to the LORD and later on quit smoking. In a few months she became a worker in the church and was taking her children to church each time the church doors were open. We only lived about a quarter of a mile to that little church but regardless if it were raining, snowing, hot or cold all of us walked to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and every night when we had Revival. Mom didn't drive so we walked. The only time we would miss is when one of us was sick and even then we had to have a temperature of well over 100 degrees.
Most of this happened years before I was even born. By the time I knew what was going on all I knew is that church was one of the most important things in our lives. All I knew was that I was surrounded each Sunday by people who took the time to talk to me, who were interested in me and who loved me. I could not have asked for a better church family.
Some of those people I later found out were movers and shakers in our town. One of them was a millionaire. But what did he do? Did he lord his power and money over the church? No, instead he gave me my first Bible. He helped me get one of my first jobs and always had time to talk and encourage me, my family and the rest of the people who went to our church.
My family was not won through technology or entertainment or because of some church growth model. We were won because people in the Church took an interest in our family even though we had nothing to offer them. For years they taught us, helped us and worked with us all because they had the mindset of Jesus. A mindset that was humble and that served us through a heart of agape love.
In some ways all the new stuff - the church growth movement, the technology, the business models, the entertainment - all of that is okay as long as it doesn't drive the cart. Humility, servanthood and agape love must drive the heart of the Church. People have to love one another as individuals and not as potential people groups. People have to have time to look one another in the eye, sit down and share their stories and invest their lives in one another. Otherwise all we are doing in getting together in some building once or twice a week, singing a few songs, listening to a few words and going our own way. That is not being the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ makes time for people regardless if there are 10 in the building or 500 or 5,000.
II. It means to have a Mind which Lives in the Supernatural
Christianity is essentially a supernatural walk in the Spirit. Christianity is essentially a supernatural faith. Christianity is essentially a supernatural experience.
What do I mean?
God created the Heavens and the Earth - God created mankind and breathed into Him His Own Living Breath. God parted the Red Sea. God wrote the 10 Commandments. God stopped the sun. God is the Lord God Almighty. God is Love. God is Spirit.
Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus was born of a Virgin. Jesus walked on water. Jesus feed the 5,000 with two loaves and five fishes. Jesus gave the blind man his sight. Jesus made the lame to walk again. Jesus cast out demons. Jesus defeated sin, evil and the devil on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus rose again from the dead. Jesus brings about the rescue, redemption and restoration for all mankind. Jesus ascended into Heaven. Jesus sits at the Right Hand of the Father making intercession for us. Jesus sends His Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit comes fully on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit convicts of us sin. The Holy Spirit cleanses us with the His Holy Fire. The Holy Spirit infills us with His Holy Presence - the Presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit empowers us with a new spirit and a new power. The Holy Spirit transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit renews our minds. The Holy Spirit enables us to have certain gifts and gives us the fruit of love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The Holy Spirit breaks the penalty of sin and enables us to have power over sin. The Holy Spirit enables us to walk in the ways of holiness.
All of this is the foundation of what it means to follow Jesus as Messiah, Lord and Savior. We are called to experience and live a supernatural life.
However, today we find a great deal of resistance to such an idea. There seems to be a spirit that seeks to down play the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. There seems to be a spirit that pulls the very power of the Holy Spirit from our lives and our church services. There seems to be a spirit that seeks for us to perhaps know about things of God but not to experience the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This spirit is evil and wants nothing more than to quench and grieve the Holy Spirit.
As a result in many places the Church has become nothing more than a lecture hall or a concert hall. It is a place where we are able to enjoy great music and hear great truths and principles about the Christian faith but it not to be a place where the Spirit comes in and takes over. It is not to be a place where we can relish in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit. It is okay to have a little emotion at times but nothing to be compared to what we read about when the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost or when the Church gather together in prayer and the very ground they were kneeling on was shaken.
No, those events and that type of experience is no longer sought for or wanted in many places.
However, Christianity is not about achieving some intellectual status or secret knowledge by which a few are able to enter into some type of special relationship. Christianity is about New Life. Christianity is about being baptized with water and with fire. Christianity is about becoming a new creation. Christianity is about being infilled with the very Spirit of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY. Christianity is about being Spirit-filled, Spirit-led and Spirit-guided. It is about anointings, miracles and revelation.
Jesus did not die on the cross for us to live a life void of power. Jesus did not rise again for His followers to life a lukewarm life. Jesus did not send His Holy Spirit that our services might become ritualistic, dull and let's be true - boring.
No, Jesus tells Nicodemus that where the Spirit is there is mystery. Where the Spirit is there is freedom, joy and celebrations. Where the Spirit is there is excitement, new life and new power.
Jesus walked on our planet as a human being just as we do today. He had the same limitations that all of us have. The only way Jesus could do a miracle was to do that miracle through the will and power of His heavenly Father.
But it was a power that not only did Jesus enjoy and experience but was one that He made possible for His Apostles and others to experience as well. In Luke 10 we see Jesus sending out the 72 to share the Message of Salvation and to bring healing. When they returned they were amazed at the power that had flowed through them. People had overwhelmingly received God's message. People were healed. Even the demons were subject to those who made up the 72.
In that passage, Jesus' next words are amazing. When Jesus made the statement that he saw Satan fall like lightening it was not in reference to what had happened before the creation of man. Jesus was not referring to that time after Satan's rebellion that he and a host of demonic angels were cast out of Heaven. No, Jesus is making a statement that in the here and now Satan was falling because humans were allowing God's Spirit to infill them and empower them. By surrendering their hearts, minds and souls to the LORD these 72 had been given the power to resist the Devil and defeat the works of darkness.
You see, we are not think that we can use the Holy Spirit like Simon the Magician thought that he could. He wanted to control the Holy Spirit. He wanted to use the Holy Spirit for his own personal gain.
Instead, we are to surrender to the LORD and His Holy Spirit. We are to have the same mindset that Jesus had while he was here on earth. He allowed God's Spirit to guide him, teach him, lead him and work through Him.
""Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so too the Spirit gives life to whom he will." - John 5:19b - 21
Far too long to many churches have been grieving the Holy Spirit by not being open to His leadership, His direction and His guidance. Far too long we have not unleash the supernatural transformative power of the Holy Spirit into our services and into our own lives.
More than we need great singing and we need great singing. More than we need great preaching and we need great preaching. We need to experience Jesus in a fresh way. We need to experience the moving of God's Holy Spirit in our lives, in our services and in our world. We need to rely more on the supernatural presence of the LORD than we do our own manmade programs and rituals.
III. Finally, having the Mindset of Christ means to have a Mindset Birthed and Bathed in Prayer
Prayer is not something that we do. Pray is something we are. Prayer is connecting and being in the presence of the Lord God Almighty. Prayer is sharing sacred space with the God of the Universe and becoming one with Him. Prayer is allowing the LORD to transform us to think like Him, act like Him and live an abundant life through Him.
Jesus knew the importance of prayer. The Devil did not. The Devil thought that after 40 days in the wilderness that Jesus could be defeated because of his humanness. He thought just because Jesus was weak in body he would easy prey.
What he didn't count on was the power of prayer. Jesus had spent that 40 day period of time talking and sharing with His Heavenly Father. Jesus had spent that 40 day period of time being bathed in the presence of His Holy Spirit. It really was no battle when you read it in light of that fact. We read it like a battle but if you go back and read it you see that Jesus had the right answer and the right spirit with each temptation. Jesus was far more ready to do battle with the Devil than the Devil ever dreamed.
It is only when we don't pray that we find ourselves in trouble. In Mark chapter nine Jesus' disciples find themselves in some trouble. Jesus has been away with John, James and Peter on a mountain top prayer event. As they return they notice a great deal of commotion going on at the bottom of the mountain. A man had brought his son for some help. A demon had possessed the boy and had caused and was causing the young man to harm himself.
Jesus take charge. In just a matter of minutes Jesus casts out the demon and heals the young boy. Afterwards, the disciples want to know what went wrong. Why were they not able to cast out this demon. They had cast out others and had healed others but suddenly they were without any supernatural power. Jesus told them it all centered around prayer. Prayer was the only way that demons and healing could take place.
Prayer was the key to defeating the Devil in the wilderness. Prayer was the key to healing this young boy. Pray would be the key to bring about Pentecost. Prayer would be the key to getting Peter out of prison. Paul would tell all of his churches that prayer would be the key to them for them to gain new knowledge, experience anointings and receive new revelations. Prayer is what Jesus is doing for all of us right now in heaven. Think about that for a minute. That shows us the extreme importance of prayer.
Prayer is beautiful. Prayer is mysterious. There is no greater privilege that any of us can experience than being able to spend time in the presence of the LORD. There is not an issue that is too difficult or impossible for the LORD to handle.
Abraham walked by faith but lived in prayer. Moses' prayer life was the life of a man who learned how to speak to God "as a man speaks to his friend" (Exodus 33:11) David was known to talk to the LORD "morning, noon and night" (Psalms 55:17). Esther bathed herself in prayer and fasting in order to save her people ( Esther 4:16). Daniel would rather lose his life than to lose his prayer life (Daniel 6:10).
All of the books of the Prophets came out of a life of prayer. It was through prayer that they knew what to say and what to write down. The Apostle Paul begins the majority of his letters sharing his prayers for each of his congregations.
And yet today, many congregations no longer make prayer a central part of their mindset either as individuals or as a corporate body. Many pastors don't make prayer a priority. In a recent article published by a major Christian magazine a pastor was challenging others to make sure that they had their priorities in tack by making sure that they stuck to a detailed schedule. Here are the items on the schedule they thought were vital:
Pastoral care Worship Worship planning. Rehearsals, weddings, and funerals.
Sermon preparation. Christian education Administration Outreach
Study and continuing education Other Denominational obligations. Community activities.
As you heard all those did you hear the one not mentioned? Unless of course it is included in "Other" or in "Worship". What at one time was the #1 job of any minister has fallen off the list of what most ministers think is important. Prayer is limited to less than five to seven minutes of the average worship service today in most evangelical churches.
Over my life time I have witnessed a definitive shift in the area of prayer. As a child I watched as my church would spend a great deal of time in intercessory prayer during the service. It was called Pastoral Prayer Time but in reality everyone prayed. You could hear a holy hum as people would lift up their prayers before the LORD. Many times people would gather around the front of the church as they prayed.
As I grew up the thought was that such prayer time created too much noise and made certain visitors uncomfortable. So the time of prayer was shortened with the understanding that on Sunday nights or Wednesday nights more time would be dedicated to prayer. After all it might make people uncomfortable seeing people pour out their hearts to the LORD in prayer and with more and more things happening on Sunday it was important to keep things to around an hour.
Soon however, Sunday nights became a mere shadow of themselves with people having things to do on Sunday afternoon and night. Slowly Sundays became a night to "Dive Deeper" or to have a simple devotion as only the most faithful would show up.
Wednesday nights became the night to gear up for Children and Teens along with the idea of having adult small group sessions either at the church or in someone's home. The emphasis was on fellowship and community. No one really had a prayer list and once again people were uncomfortable in pouring out their hearts to the LORD.
In the last few years we have seen the drop off of Sunday night service and Wednesday night prayer meeting. Even though some churches have a special night every so often for prayer it is usually so poorly attended because no one believes very much will happen.
Could this be the reason why even though we have had more Christian books published than ever before and more conferences on growth than ever before that here at least in the United States we see Church attendance going down year after year? While we treasure teaching is the same true about prayer? While we enjoy praise and worship can the same be said about our times of prayer? While we all enjoy sitting down and eating together can we say the same about kneeling down and praying together?
Is it just a fact that we no longer truly believe that God answers prayer or that prayer has a major place in our worship services? If our children do not hear us pray how will they learn to pray? If our teens don't hear us calling out to the LORD how will they learn to call out to the LORD? Would it not do our visitors good to know what being a true believer is all about is Praise, Worship, reading our Bibles and Prayer?
Some time back I attended a church that the only prayer time they had was pastoral prayer time. They did not start the service off with prayer nor did they have a space for prayer at the end. In fact, the majority of them didn't even bring a Bible.
I thought about that service. I wondered what would have happened in someone new had asked them what they should do after they came to Christ. No doubt someone would have said - "Well, you need to read your Bible and you need to pray."
However, by their own actions they would have shared a very different message. They did not make prayer a priority and by not bringing their Bible they were not making the Bible a priority as well.
I believe we have to wake up and get in the game. We have to get our minds back into the game. We have to ask the LORD to forgive us and to renew our minds. We have to ask the LORD to help us have the mind of Christ:
1. The mind of Christ that compels us to be a Servant - A servant humble and focused on the needs of others. A servant filled with Agape Love that is dedicated to putting aside their own personal agenda to spend time with those that need help the most. A servant filled with Agape Love that is dedicated to sharing their time, talents and resources for the Kingdom of the LORD.
2. The mind of Christ which lives and breathes the Supernatural. For us to be a people who believes with God nothing is impossible. Who believes that the same Jesus who was born of a virgin is the same one who can forgive us of our sins and fill us with His Holy Spirit. Who believes that in the Spirit we can not only be free from the penalty of sin we can possess power over sin. Who believes that we can walk in the Spirit, be led by the Spirit and be empowered by God's Holy Spirit.
3. The mind of Christ that believes in prayer and bathes itself and others in prayer. Who believes as the Apostles did that prayer is the #1 joy of the LORD. That prayer, spending time in God's Presence is more vital than anything else.
And why not? God so loved us that He sent His Only Son so that we could be rescued, redeemed and restored into His Image. God so loves us that He did everything He could to enable us to be in His Presence - Enjoying Oneness with Him - that is what prayer is all about.
This morning as we close what is your mindset? Is it the mindset of Jesus?
Is it the mindset of being a servant of Jesus?
Is it the mindset of living in the Supernatural?
Is it the mindset of prayer?
As we close the altar is open for any who would like to come and pray. Let's allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us today.
Closing song/open altar/prayer/benediction
