Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

The Philippian church was a generous and loving church.

They cared for Paul and others well.

They gave much money and service for the Lord.

They were committed.

Paul had told them about his sufferings and that they would suffer too.

That death was coming but it is okay because you will be with the Lord when that happens.

But he tells them the best way for them to complete his joy is to be of one mind and together.

They were to love and serve one another and not seek their own good above others.

In Phil 2:2 Paul says that they to be “of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

What we see in these next six verses is how they accomplish this aspect.

What we see in these next six verses is a plan for life together as believers.

This is the path of maturity in life together.

All of us have been taught from childhood to share with others.

We scold our children for being stingy and not sharing.

Yet, we tend to fail at this in many areas in our lives.

We tend to live somewhat selfish lives.

I would be willing to bet that most everyone here lives a selfish life.

You may be thinking “wait a minute preacher, I give money to this church, I also give to the schools and other fundraisers.

I give time to others, I help many people, so how am I selfish?”

Those are all great things to do and I believe that no doubt many of you do this regularly.

But that is not the selfishness I am talking about.

I am talking about the selfishness of not sharing the greatest thing that has ever happened to you with as many people as possible.

That is your salvation through Jesus Christ.

How often do we give away this freely given gift that never runs out?

Probably not that often and because of that we are selfish people.

We should be like the lyrics of a song that repeatedly say, “Give it away, Give it away, Give it away now.”

We would shout from the rooftops if we had the cure for cancer, alzheimers, diabetes, or any other debilitating disease.

Yet, we have the cure for everlasting damnation, and we hold that back.

In this we are not counting others as “more significant than ourselves.”

We are thinking more highly of ourselves than others when we fail to share Christ.

To have one mind and to live in full accord, we are to give away this amazing gift we have we are to love others more.

We are to live an unselfish life.

That is the title of the message today, Living the Unselfish Life.

For us to do this we need to have an others first attitude, have the mind of Christ, lay aside our desires, and have a heart for people.

Paul lays this out for us in Phil 2:3-8

What an amazing life the church and all of the members of it could have if we lived our lives every day like this text says.

Man we could be unstoppable if we only had an...

Others First Attitude

In these two verses Paul lets us know that we need to do all things in humility and not in conceit or selfish ambition but to put others before ourselves.

We look at what can better benefit them and seek to help them above ourselves.

Now, we do not neglect ourselves as many think.

Many think that Christians are to be poor and living in poverty because we are to give everything away.

This is wrongheaded.

Paul says to look out for not only our interests but those of others too.

That means we take care of our affairs too but what this also means is that we are not to be so consumed in our interests that we never help others.

So caught up that we only look at what will benefit us always and never look at what will help another.

We willingly lay aside authority if necessary to better reach another, we lay aside work so we can better serve in the church.

In other words we do not only seek the almighty dollar over everything else.

We live a life that is against what many think.

“Many people–even Christians–live only to make a good impression on others or to please themselves.

But self-centered living, selfish ambition, or conceit brings discord.

Paul therefore stressed spiritual unity, asking the Philippians to love one another and to be one in spirit and purpose.

When we work together, caring for the problems of others as if they were our problems, we demonstrate Christ’s example of putting others first, and we experience unity.

Don’t be so concerned about making a good impression or meeting your own needs that you strain relationships in God’s family.

Let the Spirit of God work through you to attract others to himself.”

(Bruce B. Barton and Philip Wesley Comfort, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Life Application Bible Commentary, 54.)

When we place others first we will see changes.

I can’t tell you how many times I have seen when someone opens a door for another and then the person who the door was opened for tells the one who opened it to go ahead.

Kindness and compassion for others goes a long way for unity and impressions.

Like the old saying, ‘No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

That is what Paul is saying here.

He also tells us to...

Have the Mind of Christ

What this means in verse 5 is that we are to think and act like Jesus.

You may be thinking that you cannot do that but you can because in this verse Paul says, “have this mind among you which is YOURS in Christ Jesus.”

This mindest of putting others over our selfish ambitions is ours in Christ.

We have this mind in us once we have believed in Christ.

When you begin to get caught up in your interests to the point of ignoring others and avoiding church or sharing Christ, stop and think about the mind that you have now.

You can control your mood and attitude because you are not a slave to those attitudes or moods.

You are now a new creation in Christ and you now have the power of the Holy Spirit in you.

You can move past selfish desires and to an others first mentality because the mind of Christ is in you.

Imagine Jesus as a grump, so negative by midday that people cross the street to avoid eye contact.

Or imagine Jesus waking in the morning and making statements like, “What a dull day.

I’m sleeping in.”

If Jesus doesn’t fit these scenes, neither should you.

In the morning, get up with the zest Jesus had, sure that God the Father will guide each hour.

As dusk approaches, refresh yourself in the tender mercies of the Lord, and don’t let the day’s pressures make you a grump.

Live your day like Jesus lived his.

(Barton and Comfort, 56.)

That is the mind of Christ.

He faced every day with a zeal to reach people.

He willingly laid aside His comfort for others.

He did not claim anything above others but served others.

He wanted nothing more than to lift them up and out of the mire they were in.

That is the mind you can have through the power of the Lord when you continually focus on Him above your desires.

We can be like that in our spiritual growth and maturity when we...

Lay Aside Desires

In verses 6-7 we see that Jesus emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant.

He was and is God but He willingly laid aside the honor and privileges that are His and came here to this planet for us.

He came and served.

He said Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

He laid aside any desire that He may have had and he came down to our level like one of His creations.

He gave up much as God the Son and came here.

He did not have to do this but He chose to do this.

Jesus stepped out of heaven and came to earth.

He came into the mire for you and me.

Charles Wesley wrote a grand hymn many years ago called “And Can It Be.”

In this hymn we find this stanza, “He left His Father’s throne above, So Free, so infinite His grace; Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s helpless race...” and the chorus goes, “Amazing love how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me.”

This song gives me chills every time I hear it.