Philippians 2:1-4 – Making the Preacher Happy – Bible study

Philippians 2:1-11 Making the Preacher Happy Notice that the title came from verse 2. The Apostle Paul knew little of earthy joy, being persecuted, beaten, and even stoned. But he told the church at Philippi would make them happen. Interestingly, Paul did not tell them that he would be joyful if they won souls, achieved some financial goal, or accomplished some community task as a church. What was his request? I. \#1\ The Precursor – Paul listed some things ahead of telling us what would make him happy. These are precursors, elements that Paul supposed would be so in the church at Philippi. A. \#1\ "If" 1. The word is used four times in verse 1. 2. Often the word "if" is used in a conditional statement; that is, IF this condition is true, THEN this result will happen. 2Chron 7:14 IF my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; THEN will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 3. However, in our text, it is used as an argumentative statement. a. That sounds a little harsh so we will call it a "building" statement. b. Paul was building a case with these four Ifs. c. We could swap the word SINCE for each IF and we would see the how Paul meant it. d. SINCE four things are true, the Philippian church could do something to make him extremely joyful. B. What are the four precursors? 1. "If there be any consolation in Christ" a. What is consolation? (1) We dont use the word a lot but we do "console" from time to time. (2) Most often, consolation is offered when someone has lost someone through death. (3) That lost has drained them of hope, of joy, of courage, and of others emotions. (4) They need an emotional infusion. They need to be consoled. b. Where does that consolation come from? (1) From Christ, from Jesus. (2) Jesus gives us an emotional infusion when we are emotional drained and in need. c. Notice Paul was saying "since" you have experienced the consolation of Christ (1) That means Paul expected that the entire church had been drained and experienced the power of Jesus Christ infusing them. (a) The word is a tough place and it does drain us. (b) The disappointments, the heartaches, the betrayals, the grind, the tiresome repetitions. (c) All have experienced this. All have needed an emotional infusion. (2) Paul also expected that the entire church had know what it was to have Jesus console them! 2. "if there be any comfort of love" a. While consolation is what we need when we are emotionally drained, comfort is what we need when we are emotionally stirred. b. In the middle of a crisis we are stirred. (1) Someone is sick dying missing some wrong is being committed. (2) Fear, worry, anger have taken hold. (3) We need someone to comfort us, to calm our stirred emotions. c. What gives comfort in a time when we are stirred? (1) Love does. (2) But whose love? The Bible does not say. (3) I know God lovesalways. (4) But God has made us to have His arms, His shoulder, His love. (5) When someone is hurt or hurting, it sure helps to have someone come sit with them and comfort them. (6) That is part of the ministry of the preacher but is all of our parts too. d. SINCE there is comfort of love. Paul again supposes everyone has experienced this. 3. "If any fellowship of the Spirit" a. Since there is – Paul again assumes every believer knows what it is to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit. b. To have fellowship with the Spirit means: (1) The Holy Spirit is a Person. I cant have fellowship with someone who isnt there, isnt a person. (2) The Holy Spirit is personable. He must come to me. He must be present so that I can fellowship with Him. (3) The Holy Spirit communicates with me. He must communicate with me and I must be able to communicate with Him. (a) Job had 3 friends who were supposed to comfort him, but for seven days all they did was stare at him. (b) That would have been no comfort or fellowship! 4. "if any bowels and mercies" a. The word bowels throws us. (1) We do not use the word as the source and seat of our emotions but the ancients did. (2) We would speak of our heart as the seat of our emotions. (3) We might say, "Since you have experience the heart and mercies" or perhaps even better for our understanding "love and mercies." b. Paul supposed the church had experienced love and mercy, but from whom? He does not say. c. He had already mentioned two Members of the Trinity, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. d. Let us suppose the third Member, God the Father, is being mentioned here. For example: John 3:16 For GOD so LOVED the world that HE GAVE. C. Now SINCE these people had experienced this in Christ, they should be able to do that which would make Paul extremely joyful. What is it? II. \#2\ The Prescription Phi 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded. A. That which would make Paul joyful was for the church to be "same minded;" that is to have the same mind. B. We will not get to the verses where Paul explains what kind of mind that he wanted everyone to have. 1. I assure you, it would not have made Paul joyful if all the church had a carnal mind. a. It was not just unity that Paul was seeking. b. It was unity moving in the correct direction! 2. Neither would it have pleased Paul if the church all had the same worldly mind. 3. Paul set forth the kind of mind that would make him joyful in \#Phi 2:5-11\. a. It was the sacrificial mind of Jesus Christ. b. That mind that did the Fathers will above everything else. c. The mind that humbled Him, caused Him to leave the glory of heaven, to put on the form of a man, and to die the cruelest of all deaths. d. Never has anyone given so much for so little! C. To make certain we understand what being "likeminded" meant, Paul gave us three definitions. 1. "having the same love" or having one love. a. Loving everyone with the same love, whether they be rich or poor, white or black, gay or straight. b. We love them because God loves them. 2. "being of one accord" a. Accord is two Greek words combined. (1) One means united with, together, combined. (2) The other is the word for soul or the place of our emotions. b. The idea is that we would all "feel" the same. c. This has nothing to do with how we think but how we feel. d. You can go into a church that has the same doctrine as yours but you do not get the same feeling. e. All should feel the same about the lost, about God, about our priority in service, and so forth. f. This feeling is unique and is produced by all the members of the body gathered. 3. "of one mind" a. This is the phrase that tells us to think the same way about God, about service, about the lost. b. If we are reading the same Bible and listening to the same Holy Ghost, we should think a lot alike! D. All of this helps us to fulfill Pauls prescriptionto be likeminded. III. \#3-4\ The Practice – Paul gives us three ways to practice this new mindset. A. \#3\ "Let nothing be done through strife" 1. Strife is personal argument. 2. We are not trying to get "our own way." 3. We are attempting to follow Jesus way! B. "of vain glory" 1. Nor should we be seeking personal glory. 2. Our glory is vain. Our goal is give glory to God. C. \#4\ "Look not every man on his own things" 1. Nor personal profit. 2. The mind of Christ was not on Himself but on others, on us! In closing, let us ask why this would have made Paul joyful. Are there not many souls that need to be won? Were there not many needs that could have been met? Yes, but if a church gets the correct mindset, all of the OTHER things will take care of themselves. Let us seek this mind of Christ!