Change Our Minds. Perfectly One. Servants of All.

When we've become followers of Christ, becoming loyal to the King and the Kingdom, and doing whatever God requires, even if we don't understand it, Paul and Jesus call us to change our mind, to repent, to turn away from evil, and to do what God wants—to be sorry enough about our sins to do something about it. But this concept of changing the mind is the very meaning of the word repentance, and it is important and something we must do. We are to be a new creation, a new man, getting rid of the old and becoming new, created for many good works in the service of the King. Paul tells us to make every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and he also urges us, in the view of God's mercy, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, as a spiritual act of worship, and to not conform to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of our mind.

Then we'll be able to test and approve what God's will is—his pleasing and good and perfect will. The whole idea behind this message is how Paul in the book of Philippians gives us the keys to unlock the power of how to have this changed mind, to put off the old self which belongs to the former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in spirit of our minds and to put on the new self created after God's likeness and true righteousness and holiness.

We are going to be focusing on the keys to unity and a changed mind, to the importance of loving and forgiving our brothers and sisters, and a host of other things that are intertwined. Paul gives us such a practical way to overcome disunity. If we do what he says, we will be filled with optimism and joy. Paul will show us the way to live over our circumstances and actually establish the unity Jesus prayed that we, the church, have. Before we get to the solution found in Philippians, we need to first establish the severity of the problem of disunity and unforgiveness. Let us begin in 1 John 1:6-7.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaimed to you, that God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him, while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

In summary, God is light, and if we walk in darkness, we are not in the light or in God, and we do not have fellowship with him. If we walk in the light, we have fellowship with God, and Jesus' blood cleanses us from all sin.

This verse is not the focus of this message, but it is essential to keep in mind to understand the severity of what John means when he mentions darkness in 1 John 2:9-11. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.

But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. Just remember the verse we just read a minute ago. If we walk in darkness, we do not have fellowship with God.

And if we say we have fellowship with God and that we're in the light while we're walking in darkness, we're lying to ourselves. Now let's read 1 John 3:10. By this it is evident who are the children of God. Listen, guys, this is what makes it evident that we're children of God and who are the children of the devil. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

So if we don't love our brother, we're not of God and we're of the devil. 1 John 3:14. We know that we have passed out of death into life because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. So we can know we've passed from death to life when we love our brothers in Christ.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. You know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know we love him, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 1 John 4:20. If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother, who he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

And this commandment we have from him. Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Hate is the opposite of love. And after reading these verses in 1 John, it seems that by not loving your brother, it is the equivalent of hating your brother. This is so important. If we do not love our brothers and sisters but loathe them, we are in the darkness and are not of God. But if we love them, we abide in God, and there is no cause for stumbling. Because you mentioned love and hate, we must do a quick look at the contrast between love and hate. As we all know, love is patient, it is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, and it keeps no records of wrong.

If we find it difficult to be patient and kind with our brothers, and we don't naturally rejoice at their success, but we kind of envy it and loathe their success, or if a brother stumbles, we actually find joy in it, we are walking in the darkness. If our brother stumbles, we should hurt with them and have mercy on them and help them find the way to the right path. And when our brothers have success and are walking the truth, we should rejoice with them.

And if our brothers have wronged us and we have a list of records of wrong that we haven't forgiven them, our sins won't be forgiven either. We're going to see what Jesus says about that in a minute. But first, we're going to see what Jesus says about anger.

On the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder,' and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. Whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to the hell of fire." We must ask ourselves, are we angry with our brothers? Are we insulting our brothers?

Moving on to forgiveness, keeping records of wrong is not forgiving. Let's take a quick look at what the King says about not forgiving others. Jesus says in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." And on that same note, we need to look at Matthew 21-34. "Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?' Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents, worth millions upon millions of dollars. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold with his wife and his children and all that he had, and the payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him, the master of the servant released him and forgave him his debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, around $8,000 today. And seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.'

So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay his debt. When his fellow servants had saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to the master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant, I forgave you all the debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I have had mercy on you?' And in anger, his master delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.

Are you starting to see the severity in all of this? If we do not forgive and keep records of wrong, we too will not be forgiven of our debt. We are telling God that that person that we have not forgiven has done more to us than we have done to God. Our debt cost God the torture of his perfect Son and his death. We owe an unpayable debt that he has forgiven us, but we must do likewise or our debt will return.

Let us take a look at Jesus' prayer for us before we get to the keys that Paul gives us to change our mind. In John 17:20-23, "I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. That they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me, I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.

I in them and you in me. That they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me." Jesus desires for us to be perfectly one, and this is probably our greatest form of evangelism. When the world sees the church fractured in every way, universally and locally, they want nothing to do with it. They think it's a joke. We make it a joke to them.

And we can't change the universal church, and we can't be united with the church as a whole without being united with our local church first. It starts with us here now at the local church level. We have to learn to not be negative and to not complain or argue like we're about to see Paul tells us. Philippians, but let's start with Philippians 1:27-30. "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of the anointed King, so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents.

This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now here I still have." I'm just pointing out that in these first few verses in Philippians that he's talking about unity over and over. In Philippians 2:1-4, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others as more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others."

So here's the beginning of the keys. We need to do everything in one mind, in one spirit. And we need to do it without selfish ambition or conceit. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit. And if we look at others as better than ourselves, then we'll listen to others, we'll submit to others. It'll be easy to get along. And as these things, these truths compound that Paul gives us, you'll see how it's to change our mind. In Philippians 2:5-8, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." And another version that says, "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross." So it says in our relationships, we're not to be selfish or have any selfishness or conceit, that we're supposed to look at others better than ourselves and pay attention to others' interests, not only our own interests.

And that in our relationships with others, we should act like Christ did. He was the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. He knows all the hair, the amount of hair on all of our heads. He knows the amount of sand on the seashore, and he's named all the stars in the sky. He is all-powerful, and yet he humbled himself, becoming a mere man and a servant. He became a servant of all, and he teaches us to be the greatest in the kingdom is to become a servant of all.

And he wants us to do that in the church. Here's another key point that we cannot forget. In Philippians 2:14-16, it says, "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless, innocent children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain." He calls us to not complain or argue about anything.

So imagine this. We're in church, and we don't complain about anything or argue about anything. We look at others all better than ourselves, and we think of others' interests, and we don't have selfish ambition or conceit. The church would be so unified, and it gets even more amazing. Right after, not long after, he says in Philippians 4:4-9, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. Let your reasonableness or gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Here's the kicker. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything excellent, if there's anything worthy of praise, think about these things. So if you take all of these together, we're supposed to have no negative thoughts, only think of what is good and right and true and noble and excellent and praiseworthy, and not worrying about anything, and instead praying about anything that we're worrying about. If we are worrying, we pray about it. We pray about everything anyway. And we ask God for what we need, and he'll give us a peace beyond understanding. But if you compound all these things, not having selfish ambition or conceit, looking at others better than ourselves, not complaining or arguing, not worrying, thinking of what is good and true and right and noble, if we put all of our thoughts as positive toward our brother, we'll think positive things.

If we put all of our thoughts as negative toward our brother, we're going to think negatively about him. We're not going to be able to love him and be kind and be patient with him. And if we can't love and we can't forgive, then we're walking in the darkness and we're not in Christ. We're just the wheat among the wheat in the church.

And one last thing I wanted to mention, well, two things. In Philippians 4:11-13, we read, "For I have learned in whatever situation I am in to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." Paul has figured out the secret of being content. Whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want, he can do all things through Christ who gives him strength. And this secret, I believe he's been giving us the key to it the whole time. He tells us to think of what is true and right and noble and praiseworthy and don't worry about anything and to rejoice always and to think of others as better than ourselves and to not argue or complain.

If we're not arguing and complaining, think about never complaining or arguing and always rejoicing and not worrying. Talk about optimism, thinking about what is true, right, noble, and praiseworthy. He is giving us the keys to be content. If we go into church uncontent and we think of ourselves and we're always thinking selfishly, "Oh, I don't like the music. Oh, I don't like the pastor's preaching. Oh, I don't like this. I don't like that. Oh, this guy's breath stinks. Oh, this." And you just are full with negatives. You are not going to be a person of unity. But if you go into church and you seek unity and you seek to love and encourage everybody and to not say anything negative, not complain or argue or gossip.

When we get not only at church, everywhere we go, we shouldn't be complaining or arguing. This is not just a church thing. But this is also very important. Out of the overflow of our heart, our mouth speaks. And we are supposed to only say things that are good for building up others as fits the occasion. Let no corrupt talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. We're supposed to only build up people, not tear them down. Let's not have corrupt talk. Please don't get me wrong. This is not all just for in church. This is what God expects for us everywhere.

Just thinking about the disunity in church and how the world sees that and how God says if we are united and one, perfectly one as he is one, the whole world will be able to know him, to know that God sent him. And this is a big form of our evangelism. This is a very important thing. And the severity of not loving your brother and not being united is possible. You're walking in darkness and you don't even have fellowship with God and you're in denial and you don't even know it. This is going to change your life. If you can do this, you'll learn the secret of being content, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.

If you change your mind, repent and think of the positive things and don't worry and rejoice always and do everything that Paul says, your life will be changed. It certainly has been changing mine and has changed mine. This secret is no longer a secret. It is yours.

God bless.

If you've enjoyed these videos and been challenged or learned anything, believe it or not, you'll help spread the message by hitting the like button and subscribe. Thanks a lot.