Paul says in verse one that the Philippians were his joy and crown.  And what he is referring to here with word crown is the crown of achievement, or the wreath that was given to the victor in a race.  This sentiment is the true passion of the pastor.  A pastor is crowned by his congregation.  If he is a true shepherd of the flock then their spiritual well being is his joy and crown.  Their spiritual maturity is what he is working for.  To see them mature, to come to completion, as we looked at last week.  To see

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The other day my wife and I got to see our grandchild for a little bit after not having seen him for almost a week. And it was amazing to see how much he seemed to have changed in just a few days time. He’s standing up on his own now, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until he’s walking.  It’s almost sad to see how quickly he’s growing and maturing. But I know that even though his parents love him as he is now in this infant stage, they are constantly encouraging him to grow, to

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How many times in your life have you heard yourself saying something to the effect…”if I could just have one thing in life, I would like….”  Or maybe it might be “if I could just do one thing in life, I would…”  And this morning, I would ask you to finish the sentence in your own mind.  If you were granted just one wish, if you could name just one thing and it would come to pass,  what would it be? I heard a man say once “Just do one thing right in your life and you’ll be way ahead of

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As we look at this passage today, Paul is giving us a picture of his own personal salvation.  We know the story of his conversion as recorded in Acts, being on the road to Damascus and having the light of the glory of the Lord fall upon him and blinding him, and hearing the voice of Jesus call out, “Paul, Paul, why are you persecuting me?”  And Paul answers, “Who are you?”  And the voice responds, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”  And for Paul in that moment, though he is blind, yet spiritually he now sees.  He believes

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In the previous chapter, Paul has been talking about the Christian life in terms of service and sacrifice.  And he gave us several examples of how we are to do that, starting with following in the footsteps of Christ, and then following the examples of Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus.  But there is an important point in our service and sacrifice that needs to be clarified, and  that is what Paul is emphasizing today.  And the point is that there is a real Christianity which is marked by righteousness accomplished by the Spirit working  through my flesh, and there is a

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We come upon this passage after being introduced by Paul to the principle in verse 5  that we are to have the same attitude, the same mind as Jesus Christ.  That although Jesus is our sacrifice and our substitute, and only He could atone for the sins of the world, yet at the same time, Christ is also supposed to be our example, our pattern for how we are to live.  As Christ humbled himself to be obedient to the Father’s will – so are we to be obedient to God’s will.  As Christ laid down His life on the

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Phil. 2:5   “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,   but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus

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The text we are looking at today is one of the premiere portraits of Christ, and essential doctrinal statements in all  of Scripture.  Verses 6-11 are often presented as a great portrait of Christ and a doctrinal statement about Christ, but in context with verse 5 we learn what our response is to be to this example of Christ.  Vs. 5 says, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus…”  And this is so important to recognize that Paul is giving us a directive here to be like Jesus Christ.  To have the same attitude as Christ. 

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As you know, we are continuing today in our ongoing study of Philippians.  I have titled my message today, “The unity of the church.”  I want to show today what the Bible says about the kind of unity that marks a church that is committed to the gospel of  salvation.  As I’ve said before recently, the gospel of salvation is a two part message.  Unfortunately, a lot of us want to stop at the first half.  The first half is the grace of God that leads to salvation, and then the second part is the response of the believer in

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