这篇讲道是英文教会的牧师最近在我们读腓立比书时所讲。保罗劝勉门徒要以基督的心为心， 就是用基督的态度来处理面对的一切问题。 Frank 牧师回顾了耶稣基督以人的身份来到世上如何处理他经历的一切问题，他的心，他的态度。 要我们学习基督的样子去做人，把自己的内心培养成越来越像基督的样子， 有基督的生命， 这才是基督徒一生要追求的目标，一个挑战自己的目标，它需要我们一生的努力。 贴上来激励自己， 常常问问自己我做到了多少。
Pastor Derek Frank
Sermon on 7 March 2010 at CBCG
Philippians 1v27 – 2v11
As ever it’s good to be with you, particularly to share some thoughts with you on the passage from Philippians 1 v27 – 2 v11. It contains some of the most uplifting words of scripture. Words which have inspired Christians through the ages to look beyond all that may be getting them down. Words which speak about what will happen on that final day. On that day every knee will bow. In heaven, on earth and under the earth. No longer will anyone be able to deny the reality of who Jesus is. Whether they like it or not, everyone will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. Everyone will give glory to God the Father. But however inspiring that is, its not what I’m going to preach about today!
Nor am I going to preach about the title that your Bible Study gives for this passage. That is entitled “Unity and Obedience”. There’s much in this passage through which we can consider the topic of unity and obedience. It speaks about “being one in spirit and purpose”. About not doing things out of “selfish ambition or vain conceit”. About humbly “considering others better than yourselves”. About looking not only to your own interests, but to those of others. All of which is important for your personal walk with the Lord. It’s also very important for the life of the church. But I’ll leave that to you to study that together using the questions you’ve been given. Instead I’d like to think with you about verse 5 “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus”.
One of the wonderful things about scripture is that we can look at it from many different angles. From each angle we can learn very different things. But they all connect up to support each other. We’re not like the three blind men who were each asked to describe an elephant from their experience of touching it. One felt its tail and decided that elephants must be made of rope. Another felt its side and decided that elephants were made of stone. Another felt the air swirl as it flapped its ears and decided that elephants were made of wind. Each view reflected the truth as they perceived it. But none remotely reflected the greater truth. This was because they were physically blind. For people who are spiritually blind it’s possible to read bits of scripture without grasping what the greater truth is all about. But as those who are born again, we can use what Ephesians 1 v18 calls “the eyes of our heart”. We can look to see the greater picture that each perspective of scripture points to.
I want to think with you about some specific examples of the attitude Jesus demonstrated in some different situations. Each is a particular story. Each is a particular challenge to how we would react in a similar situation. They help us think more about developing the attitude of Jesus. Not just for what it means in our personal lives. But even more importantly because of that great end-time picture. On that day everyone will bow their knee to Jesus Christ. Then everyone will acknowledge His attitude as the right attitude. The attitude that alone gives glory to God. Our calling is to use the opportunities of today to reflect what will happen on that day. Often that will be in the face of problems. Or frustrations, or dilemmas. To reflect the attitude of Jesus we need to think of how He handled the difficult situations He faced. So we’re going to look very quickly at ten different stories. Our aim is to think about Jesus’ system of values. It’s to get into His ‘mind-set’ of Jesus as it emerged out of His own understanding of the greater picture.
The first of Jesus’ values was that, right from the start, He set everything in the context of His Father’s purposes. We see it in the story of when, as a boy, Joseph and Mary lost Him. They’d taken the 12 year old up to
His second value was to base all His reactions on what God’s word says. We see this especially in the wilderness temptations. He had been fasting for forty days. Three times the devil came at Him with major temptations. Each of them were about not going the way that would eventually lead to the cross. Each were based on a distortion of scripture. And in each case Jesus saw through the temptation to the lie. He resisted temptation by being able to speak out the truth of God’s word. Jesus’ commitment was to stand on the truth of God’s word, however uncomfortable or inconvenient it might be.
His third value was to make time alone with the Father an absolute priority. We see right at the start of Jesus’ public ministry. We’re told that (Mark 1 v35) “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went off to a solitary place to pray”. This was in the midst of huge numbers of people looking for Him because of all His miracles of healing. Right at the end of His public ministry we read in John 17 of His prayer to the Father. It was immediately before His arrest. It was exceedingly intense for Him as He knew what was about to happen. But the feel throughout it is of intimacy with the Father. He clearly drew His strength for ministry out of His prayer life. For Jesus, time alone with the Father was an absolute priority
His fourth value was to not let rejection affect Him. Having to handle rejection was a very big part of Jesus’ experience. As John puts it in the opening words of His gospel “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him” (John 1 v11). It began when He was rejected in His home town of
A fifth value was to be open in the expression of His emotions when it was appropriate. So at the sight of the dead Lazarus in his tomb, we’re told that Jesus wept. But in John 15 v11 Jesus explained that the reason He’d said what He had was that His joy might be in us, so that our joy may be complete. We also see Jesus expressing love, friendship, and compassion. But then when we also see Him expressing anger, like when He turned over the money changers’ tables in the temple. He even made a whip of cords to drive them out. He also told the Pharisees that they were hypocrites, like whitewashed tombs. So Jesus knew how to restrain his reactions. And also to express them when appropriate, freely and fully.
A sixth value was to not condemn those who were truly repentant, but to build them up. Think of the story of the woman who had been caught in adultery. The Pharisees were using her to trap Jesus. The law said that such a woman should be stoned to death. Instead Jesus turned it back on her accusers. He said that anyone who was without sin should throw the first stone. One by one her accusers went away. Then Jesus told her that He did not condemn her. Simply that she should repent of her life of sin and turn from it. Jesus did not come into the world to condemn people. He came into the world to save people. Especially the least, the last and the lost. To save them and to restore their dignity. This value shaped all His interactions with others.
A seventh value was humility. Not just in His overall willingness to enter this world in human form. But also in His practical actions. He declared that He had come into this world not to be served, but to serve. We see it so clear in His washing of the disciples’ feet. It was directly before He was handed over to be crucified. He simply took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel round His waist. Then He washed each of the disciples’ feet. After which He dried them with the towel. It was so impacting to see Jesus do this that Peter refused to let Jesus do it. Jesus had to explain to Him why it was necessary. It was to communicate the humility that He wanted all His disciples to continue to express. Not just in principle, but in practice.
An eighth value was to place spiritual life ahead of physical life. This is what Jesus said “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8 v20). The lack of anywhere that was His own was just part of the suffering Jesus faced. He was the Lord of all glory. Through Him all creation had taken place. He had given up His place in heaven to come to earth for our sake. Even during His physical life He suffered. Then came the crucifixion. But this is why He did it. Hebrews 12 v2 says it was “for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross”. For Jesus spiritual life always came before physical life. That’s why He told the parable of the merchant looking for fine pearls. When the merchant found one of great value, He sold everything he had to buy it. It’s what the missionary Jim Elliot meant when he wrote these words shortly before he was martyred for his faith. “He is no fool who trades what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose”. That’s why Jesus valued spiritual life ahead of physical life.
A ninth value was faithfulness to the last. We see it supremely in
A tenth value we can see in Jesus life was that of total forgiveness. When Jesus was dying in agony on the cross, this is what He said “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23 34). Jesus was utterly committed to total forgiveness. That’s why He had come into this world. At the last supper, as He took the cup, this is what He said “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26 v28). Jesus extended forgiveness which was both very general and very specific. His teaching about extending forgiveness was quite uncompromising. He said “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you” (Matthew 6 v14). Jesus’ commitment was to total forgiveness.
So here’s ten values we can put together to form a picture of the mindset of Jesus.
- He set everything in the context of His Father’s purposes
- He based all His reactions on what God’s word says
- He made time alone with the Father in prayer a top priority
- He did not let rejection affect Him
- He gave open expression to His emotions when it was appropriate
- He did not condemn those who were truly repentant, but built them up
- He was committed to expressing humility in practical ways
- He put spiritual life ahead of physical life
- He was committed to faithfulness to the last
- He was committed to total forgiveness
There are many more values that Jesus had. But even these ten are enough to expand our understanding of the “attitude” of Jesus we are called to have. Every one of them can challenge us about our own attitudes. Let alone the picture you get when you put them all together. It can seem like an overwhelming assignment to think that this is the attitude we should have. However do we do it? Is it even possible? Well of course we will never be fully like Jesus in His attitude. But we can grow into it a bit more. Here’s how. In Matthew 11 v28, Jesus said this “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The yoke Jesus was referring to was a wooden harness put onto an ox. It’s about our choice to be harnessed by Jesus for His purposes. That means letting Him lead us the way He wants to. It means letting go of the way we would have gone. The more we learn to go His way rather than ours, the more our attitude will be renewed. What seems so different at first can become a better and better fit. We find ourselves growing more and more into the attitude of Jesus. His values and mindset increasingly ours. We start to think like Him more and more.
This is what makes those opening words of our passage possible. They speak about conducting ourselves “in a manner worthy of the gospel” (1v27). In our own strength that sounds very burdensome. But it’s not intended to be! That’s why Jesus told all those who felt weary and burdened to come to Him. It’s very hard to live a life that honours God if all we’ve got is our own natural attitude. But if we come to Him wanting Him to change our attitude He will. It involves submitting to His leading. He will most likely lead us in ways we would not have gone. He will take us to our limits. But He is gentle. He knows our limits. And in allowing Him to renew our thinking, we will learn from Him. He will teach us about how His attitude can shape our reactions to difficult situations. How it can change our priorities. How it can prompt us to take initiatives in ways we would not otherwise have done. The more we do it, the more comfortable the harness we have taken from Him then feels.
And when this happens, we honour in advance the great end-time picture when every knee shall bow. However small the issue, it’s all about bowing the knee of our inner-self ahead of that final day. It’s about giving glory to the Father. And there is nothing we can be more united in than doing this together.
End.----
