The Single Mind

Introduction

Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and 7, written by the Apostle Paul is a statement that to some seems rather difficult, in fact, for some maybe impossible to truly understand and to have. One translation says, Don’t worry. The King James says in Philippians 4 and verse 6, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. How is it possible to not worry or not be anxious in anything? How is it possible to really have a peace that surpasseth understanding? A peace that really comes from God. That no matter what storms or troubles may be on the surface, yet there is an inner calm and a sense of joy.

I think it’s true that everyone seeks happiness and joy in life. However, some have given up on finding it. To some, life is little more than simply a miserable existence through which they plod day after day.

And only adding to their troubles, yet they think by this way they can cover their troubles and not have to face them. Indeed, there are those who get so despondent they’ve taken their own life. They see no purpose to life, no joy in living. Therefore, the question is real, it’s applicable, it’s relevant. What is the key to happiness? Why is it that some find, like the Apostle Paul, an inner feast that, as he said, surpasseth understanding, that others never seem to acquire. What is the key? As we study through the book of Philippians, the answer certainly lies in the attitude that one develops. Indeed, it is not a shallow self-help book that says, don’t worry, everything’s going to turn out all right. It isn’t that at all.

In fact, uh, the circumstances at which this book, the time in which this book was written were not the kind of circumstances anyone would desire physically. For the Apostle Paul was a prisoner. He was in Rome in jail. That’s not what anybody would redesire. Yet if you have your Bible still open at chapter 4 and in verse 4, you notice he did exhort, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. You know, for some people, they think that happiness blindly depends upon circumstances of life. Oh, if I just had enough money, I could be happy. Or oh, if if I had better health, I would be happy. If I had real talent or ability to be a great musician or maybe a great athlete, I I could I could be happy.

Indeed, if happiness depends on the circumstances being ideal, then most people will be miserable most of the time. Paul is an example of one who found joy, although the circumstances were undesirable. Indeed, we can learn great lessons from this. Those of you who were here last Lord’s Day, you know that I stated at that time I was going to begin a series of lessons from the book of Philippians, in which we talk about the attitudes that bring about the peace of God that surpasseth understanding. And as you analyze each of the chapters, they fall really into different uh different thoughts concerning our attitudes. You see, one of the key words of this book is the word joy. It’s found some six different times, but the word rejoice eleven times.

And when you add to it the word thanksgiving and peace are total of some 20 times in these four chapters as an attitude of joy or rejoicing. But another key word of the book is the word mind. Appears some ten times. The word think another five times and remember one time, altogether a total of some sixteen times. What is your attitude? What are you thinking about? As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he, that Solomon wrote in Proverbs 23. And so as we go through the book of Philippians, we’re going to talk about the mind or the attitude that brings about the peace that surpasseth understanding. From chapter one, we’ll talk about the single mind. Lord willing, next Sunday from chapter two, we’re going to talk about the what is called the submissive mind.

And then from chapter three, we’re going to talk about the spiritual mind, and from chapter four, the secure mind. And I hope you can be with us from each of these lessons. Really, the book of Philippians is one of those grand little books that never seems to run out of lessons. When you start back in chapter 1, verses 1 and 2, you notice that it is written by the Apostle Paul and Timothy, the servants of Jesus Christ, addressed to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons. Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. This little book has been analyzed from various viewpoints, all with needed applications, and we’ll not be able, of course, to talk about every different application as we go through.

But I think right off it’s interesting to note that as the apostle addressed this book while a prison in Rome, probably about 62 A.D., 63, something along there. Some eleven years ago he had been at Philippi and helped establish the church there. Recorded in Acts 16, there was there was Lydia, the cellar purple, with whom Paul met on the Sabbath day, and she attended the word of the Lord and was baptized. And also the jailer, the Philippian jailer, who was also baptized at Philippi, and perhaps with that beginning. But now, some 11 years later, he could address a church that is at Philippi. And you notice that he says in the last part of verse 1, with the bishops and deacons. We’ve analyzed that verse and talked about it in earlier lessons, who were talking about the organization of the Lord’s church.

It gives us an illustration that a local congregation can exist, and it has as its overseers bishops, plural, plurality. And with deacons who are special servants. We never read of any other kind of organization of God’s people than simply a local church under the headship of Jesus Christ. There was no centralized headquarters on earth. We are an independent congregation here, no headquarters on earth. We have elders or bishops as our overseers and deacons as special servants, and with the saints, we make up a congregation of God’s people. A very valid and an important lesson, even from Philippians 1, isn’t it? But in verses 3 through 8, we also notice that he addresses this as you might say a thank you letter. The Church of Philippi had sent once and again to the need of Paul as he’d gone on in preaching the gospel even in other places.

And he gives thanks to them in verse 4. He said, Always in every prayer of mine, for you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. The word fellowship simply means the sharing together. A common sharing, sharing with one another. Fellowship involves a whole lot more than just having your name on a church roll. It involves a whole lot more than just being present in some kind of meeting like this. You know, you can be physically close to one another, but miles apart spiritually. But they had fellowship with Paul. Indeed, they sent with him and encouraged and supporting him, no doubt by prayers, but also even by monetary assistance to his needs. He talks in chapter 2 and verse 25, he even named Epaphroditus, their special servant, who’d come and help to take care of him, even endangering his own life.

And in chapter 4, how that once and again they’d send into his need more than all than once. Often, evidently, the church of Philippi had had joint participation with him. But also there was Paul with them. You notice where he says, even in verse 7 and 8, that I have you in my heart. And in verses 9 and 10 through 11, he here utters a prayer in their behalf. He believes in them and talks about their faith, their love of the Lord, and their love for saints. They were filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ. But while these are valid lessons and worthy of much time in our study, I’ve already said that I really want to talk about the mind that you see the apostle develops and that he has himself, as described in chapter 1.

How did he have a peace that surpasseth understanding? Because in chapter 1 and verse 21, he made this statement. For to me to live is Christ. And to die is gained. What does it mean? The single mind. To live is Christ, and to die is gained. It’s literally to be able to say, it really makes no difference what happens to me, Paul would write. So long as Christ is glorified. So long as the gospel is shared with others. Is that your attitude of mine? You truly want to find the joy, the peace of which Paul could write. That must be the kind of mind or attitude that we develop. Indeed, it’s reasonable to raise the question, though, how could Paul have peace? I want you to notice in these in this chapter three different things that you might say would be negatives in his life.

1. Paul’s Chains

I want you to consider Paul’s chains, first of all. We’ll talk about Paul’s critics also, and we’ll talk about the crisis that Paul faced. We might say with any one of these circumstances were not ideal. First of all, to talk about his chains. In verses 12 through 14, rather than complaining and saying, Oh, I’m a prisoner here, and you know things have been unfair to me. Why would a good God let this happen to me? Instead, he says in verses 12 through 14, I would you should understand, brethren, that the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather under the furtherance of the gospel. So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and in all other places. And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Paul had wanted to go to Rome. He had written about that, even in Romans chapter 1, verses 10 through 12 and verse 15, he said, So much is in me is.

Paul had been illegally arrested by the Jews when he had returned on his third preaching journey with his contribution for the poor saints. And he had become the focal point, both political and religious plotting. Some had sought his life. If they had been able, they would have assassinated him, but only you might say, by the providence of God, his life had been spared. But he had remained in prison in Caesarea for some two years. Finally, when he made his appeal to Caesar, because he was a Roman citizen, he was sent to Rome. He goes there as a prisoner. Here he’s already been in prison, altogether illegally. And yet, you do not find him grumbling and complaining how unfair life was to him. You don’t find him saying, Lord, why did you let this happen?

How could a good Lord happen? Let this happen. And do, in fact, you could say that Paul, his mind was such that he viewed his circumstances through the Lord, not the Lord through his circumstances. I think that’s a key. Sometimes there are people who say, How can a good God do this or that? And they blame God. And they, instead of viewing their circumstances through the Lord, they say, all these circumstances were caused by the Lord. How could he let that happen? Ephesians 3 and verse 1, Paul expressed an attitude, he said he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ. What’d that mean? Oh, he was imprisoned, all right. But because of his desire to glorify the Lord, because of his preaching of the gospel, yes, he had been falsely accused.

He was persecuted indeed. But the apostle indeed was a man who saw the highest honor of all to bring honor unto Jesus Christ. You were to count in this chapter one, eighteen times you’ll find Christ referred to. And the gospel another six times. You know what the focal point of his life is. It had to do with Christ. What Paul said in even these few verses, he did not think of himself confined. He said, What’s happened to me has happened unto the furtherance of the gospel. He turned what looked to be a bad thing into what he said was an opportunity. Why can you find an opportunity out of being a prisoner? You might say, first of all, it is the same God that used the rod of Moses to part the waters of the Red Sea.

It is the same Lord who used the pictures of Gideon’s army with 300 men as they broke the pictures and shouted that defeated an enemy so vast in number they could not be numbered, the Midianites. It’s the same Lord who took David’s sling and defeated the giant Goliath. That indeed uses Paul’s chains. Paul could say in 2 Timothy 2 in verse 9, wherein I suffered trouble as an even doer, even under bonds. But the word of God is not bound. Listen, the word of God is not bound. What are you saying, Paul? Indeed, think about it. Furtherance of the gospel. Here he was, probably chained two soldiers every six hours. Can you imagine having a chained audience? I sometimes wish I could get some people to stand by me.

I got them chained for six hours. You’ve got to listen to what I’m going to say. I remember some years ago when we lived in Texas, had a call late one night. I don’t know if I think it was a New Year’s Eve, cold, Wednesday night. We’d had services, gone home, phone rings, and it was a man coming through town, car broken down. He had this long story, as some do. He was trying to get on down another 150 miles. Had a job.

Nothing opened. So anyway, he had children. I told him meeting at such and such a motel. And we went there and went in and I gave him a little lecture. I said, now you know, if you were really a faithful servant of God, I wouldn’t have given you all this third degree. There are a lot of professional beggars out here and so on, you know. But but I’m willing to try to help you. And I talked to him about serving the Lord, putting him first, and no matter what his problems were, that’d be sorted out and so forth. I got back in the car, and our youngest daughter Anne was about nine or ten years old then. She said, Daddy, what were you saying to him so long?

And I said, Well, anybody for whose motel bill I’ve got to pay, he’s gonna have to hear me preach one sermon. Wouldn’t you like to be have someone tied up to you for six hours? I mean, Paul through the day. Every six hours is a change. Falling out to the furtherance of the gospel. Not only those soldiers who had to be at his side, but how about the officials in Caesar’s court? He’s undergoing a trial. They have to determine whether this was another sect of the Jews, or whether this was some treasonous movement, or whether it was an innocent man worthy of release. Indeed, it fell to the furtherance of the gospel. Not only did he preach in the palace, but also notice in verse 14 when he says, Many of the brethren of the Lord are made confident by my bonds.

When you see someone else standing strong, does it not encourage you? Or when you see someone who is just so shallow in faith that they’re undependable, does it not discourage you? You make an influence one way or the other. Paul’s influence could say, even though I’m strong, even though I’m a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ, it’s encouraging others to wax confident or to be confident, to be more bold, to speak the word without fear. Indeed, the Apostle Paul could say this is falling out of the furtherance of the gospel. You see, with a single mind, he wasn’t looking at Paul, he was looking at Jesus Christ. He looked upon life’s circumstances as God given opportunities for the furtherance of the gospel. And read and he rejoiced at what God is going to do instead of complaining about what God did not do.

2. Paul’s Critics

We need to learn a lesson. How could Paul, how could Paul have peace even though he was in chain? But look further. Even though he had some critics, even his own brethren. Read with me verses 15 through 19, where he said, some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife, some of goodwill. The one preached Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds. But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

You think it’d be enough to be opposed by the Jews?