THE MIND OF JESUS “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”
The exhortation is from the fifth verse of Philippians two. Paul goes on in the next few verses to show the reasonableness of it by setting before us the blessed example of Christ Himself; “Who being in the form of God…” that is God of God, not illegally assumed, but rightly and justly owned, for He was and is truly God. He voluntarily “made Himself of no reputation…” He willingly “took upon Himself the form of a servant…” He gladly subjected Himself and was “…made in the likeness of men…” sin only being excepted. He joyfully “…humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” My dear fellow readers let me impose a question. Since the holy and infinitely blessed Son of God has most willingly and voluntarily humbled Himself to such a depth of humiliation, what vengeance and hell would not our pride deserve, if after His example, we who are but miserable worms in a sin-cursed world, should still find it difficult to humble ourselves. “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time” (I Peter 5:6). It is a blessed thing whenever you can come to God wondering that you are allowed to come. Wondering that you have been led to come, marveling at divine election, that the Lord should ever have chosen you to come; wondering at divine redemption, astonished that such a price should have been paid that you might be brought nigh to God. It is well to draw near to God weighed down with gratitude that ever the Holy Spirit should have deigned to work effectual calling upon you. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of divine grace which has brought you into the family of love, and constantly say, “Why me, Lord; why me?” A grateful walk is a gracious walk and there is no gratitude where there is no humility. Let us never credit the difference between ourselves and others to our own free will, nor to any superiority of our natural disposition, but entirely to the mercy and grace of God, which have been freely bestowed on us. Let grace be magnified by a grateful heart. When we are doing this let us be very humble before God, because we have not made more improvement of the grace that He has given us. You are chosen, but you are not as choice as you ought to be; you are redeemed, but you are not so much your Lord’s as you ought to be; you are called, but you are still too deaf to the divine call. We are blessed, enriched, instructed, adopted, comforted, with heaven before us and everything prepared on the road there. But what a poor return have we made? Always feel thus humbled in reference to the infinitely Holy God and His grace.
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