Jesus Christ, Our Great Example: Part 2

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Jesus Christ, Our Great Example: Part 3

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Looking at what we're going through this Christmas season, for this whole month, from Philippians chapter 2, looking at Jesus Christ as our great example, and this chapter 2 of Philippians, this little book, this epistle of joy to the letter to the
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Philippians, in chapter 2, deals with unity through humility. Unity through humility.
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So as you turn there, please stand with me in honor of God's word, as we read the first 11 verses, the first 11 verses of this little epistle.
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Again, it's a small epistle, but oh, is it packed with so much deep theology concerning our
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Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we're leading up to. The theme,
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I actually can say, is humility. Humility. But he speaks about unity as well.
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And that's what we're going to continue looking at in this second part of a four -part series.
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Beginning at verse 1 through 11, verse 1 through 11, and I'm reading from the
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NASB. So hear the word of the living God. Therefore, if there's any encouragement in Christ, if there's any consolation of love, if there's any fellowship of the spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
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Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. But with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.
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Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others.
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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.
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But he emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in an appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on a cross.
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For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name.
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So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth.
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And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the
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Father. Let us bow in prayer. Our Father, we seek your face this morning as David said.
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Lord, this is your holy word. It endures forever. Our words will pass away.
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Our words are nothing. Lord, this morning we lean hard on your word, for it is everlasting.
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It is forever settled in heaven, and nothing can take that away. It's preserved there.
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Heaven and earth will pass away, but your words will never pass away.
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Father, when kingdoms of this earth will fade and pass and fall, your words endure forever.
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Lord, we thank you for this word. May we not take it for granted that it's in our own language this morning.
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So Father, we should tremble before it. That should be our attitude. We receive it with joy, but Lord, may we tremble in your presence.
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That is as if we read it audibly, you are speaking yourself. Father, speak to us.
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Open our hearts and our minds to perceive of thy word. Father, we trust in your blessed
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Holy Spirit now to anoint each and every one of us and hide us behind the cross. Hide me behind the cross.
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And Lord, may Jesus Christ be glorified and seen. Oh, may we see
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Jesus. Change us forever. May we not leave this place the same as we came.
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We ask this in Jesus' name for your glory. Amen and amen. Thank you, you may be seated. Speaking about humility, there are many examples of men and women throughout history that lived humble lives.
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Let me begin by pointing out just in a historical view, leading up to the biblical view, but a historical examples of people who lived humble lives.
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There's a man by the name of Samuel Morse, you may know him by his name,
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Samuel Morse, who was born into a preacher's home in New England just two years after George Washington was elected first president of the
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United States. After finishing his education at Yale, he went to England to learn his painting skills.
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Upon his return to America, he was recognized as a very gifted artist and as soon in much demand in his time frame.
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Morse' first wife died while he was away from home painting in Washington, D .C.,
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and he did not receive the news until it was way too late. In his heartbreak, he turned away from painting, which was something he very much loved, and he began trying to try to develop a means of rapid communication over great distances.
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This eventually led to his discovering of the telegraph, as you well know. Despite his fame, he became very well known, and the many honors that came to him in his way,
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Morse wasn't proud or boastful about what he accomplished.
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As a matter of fact, in a letter to his second wife, this is what he wrote. Quote, the more
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I contemplate this great undertaking, the more I feel my own littleness. And the more
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I perceive the hand of God in it, and how he has assigned the various persons their duties.
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He being the great controller, all others are honored instruments. And hence, he says, our dependence, first of all on God, then on each other, end quote.
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Truly a humble man is hard to find nowadays. Yet God delights in the honor of selfless people.
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There's another one that came to mind in history past. He was a very humble man, his name was
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Booker T. Washington. You may well know him. He was a renowned black educator, and he was an outstanding example of humility.
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Shortly after he took over the presidency in Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, he was walking in an exclusive section of town where he was stopped by a wealthy white woman.
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This woman was very wealthy, but she did not know that the fame of Mr.
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Washington by sight. She asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her.
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Now listen to what he did here. Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, proceeded to do a humble chore she had requested of him.
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When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace.
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A little girl recognized him, and later revealed his identity to this lady. And the next morning, the embarrassed woman, now she's embarrassed, went to see
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Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute, and she apologized profusely, not realizing that it was
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Booker T. Washington. This is what she said. She said,
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I apologize, I'm sorry. And this is what Booker T. Washington said. It's perfectly all right, madam.
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Occasionally, I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it's always a delight to do something for a friend.
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End quote. She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart.
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Then it says, not longer afterwards, she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join in donating thousands of dollars to the
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Tuscadee Institute. What a great example of humility this man was. A humble servant, and a man that made a difference in history.
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It's another story in history. I go now to the missionary, to the mission field.
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Another story of humility is told of two women in Shanghai, Shanghai, China, who were discussing the topic of pride and began to wonder about this missionary by the name of Hudson Taylor, that if he was ever tempted to be prideful because of his many accomplishments that he made.
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And by the way, he translated into other dialects of Chinese language over 27 different dialects.
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One of the women decided to ask Hudson Taylor's wife, Maria, about it.
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Maria promised the woman that I'll do what I can that she would find out from her husband.
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So when Mrs. Taylor asked her husband when she got home, if he was ever tempted to be proud, he was quite surprised.
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Proud about what? He asked, about the things you've done, because there's a list of things.
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Much more than just translating Chinese into different dialects, he did so much on the mission field.
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This man gave his whole life to the Lord in his service.
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And that's what the wife asked. And then he said, this is what he said in her response. He said,
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I never knew I had done anything. I never knew that I've done anything.
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Another one comes to mind that I'm sure you're very familiar with. He was the great evangelist in the late 1800s.
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His name was D .L. Moody. D .L. Moody was one of the most famous evangelists in the world in the late 1800s.
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People came from around the whole world to attend his Bible conferences in Northfield, Massachusetts.
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One year, a large group of pastors came from Europe among the attendees.
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And they were given rooms in the dormitory of the Bible school. And as was the custom in Europe, this was their custom, the men would always put their shoes outside of the door of the room, expecting them to be cleaned and polished by the servants during the night.
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They expected that. It was their culture and their custom. And of course, there were no servants in America, and especially in that dormitory where Moody placed them.
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But Moody was walking through the halls. He happened to pass by the halls where the pastors were staying.
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And he saw the shoes, and this is what he was doing. He was praying for them as he was going through the hallway.
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And he saw all these shoes lined up. And he realized what had happened here.
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He mentioned this problem to a few of the students, but none of them actually offered any help and paid any attention to him.
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You'd think they would, you know, being D .O. Moody. And without another word,
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Moody didn't want to bother anybody with this, so the great evangelist gathered up all those shoes.
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And I don't know if he did it. Pairs at the time, no one were to place them back. I'm sure he had an order in which he did, but Moody told no one about what he'd done here.
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Well, what did he do? Well, a friend who interrupted him in the middle of the shining of the shoes, and this is what he did.
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He began to take all those shoes. He cleaned them and polished each, every pair of them while these men were sleeping.
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First he was praying for him, now he's being a servant. He took up all their shoes, takes it to his room, begins to polish them, and actually they said, the story said that he would have never ever said anything unless this one particular friend of his helped
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Moody finish up the job in polishing all those shoes. Despite the praise and the fame that he received because of God's blessing in his life in ministry,
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Moody remained a humble man. And by the way, when he met Charles Spurgeon in England, he offered to shine and polish
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Spurgeon's shoes as well. The period in John Bunyan is so right.
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When he speaks about humility, he says this, He that is down needs fear no fall, and he that is low, no pride, and he that is humble ever shall have
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God to be his guide. Solomon says it in Proverbs 334,
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Surely he scorneth the scorners, but giveth grace unto the lowly. Beloved, time would fail me this morning in this message to go through the entire
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Bible to tell you to look in through those 66 books of the pages of Holy Writ of God -fearing men and women that were used of God that were humble and lowly.
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And by the way, those are the ones that God chooses to use. It's the humble.
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If you look into the pages of inspired Scripture, every man and woman that God used were lowly and afflicted and humble people.
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Let me just name a few. I wish I had time. You could just take one of these characters and preach a series of sermons.
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Abel is one of them. Go back to the early time period in the garden.
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You have Job, the patriarch that suffered with so much upon him, but yet he was a lowly, humble servant of God that he feared the
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Lord and shunned evil. You have Moses, the prophet that was known as the meekest man on the face of the earth at his time.
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You have Abraham that said he was dust and ashes before God. You have
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Isaac. You have even Jacob after he was transformed from deceiver to prince with God.
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That's just to name a few. Then you got some godly women such as Hannah, the mother of Samuel, that was so lowly in heart and praying for a baby.
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And God blessed her with Samuel. You have the godly woman that became queen.
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Her name was Esther that was used of God in a mighty ways. You see that she was a humble, lowly servant of God.
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You have Ruth. You have Sarah. And yes, you even have a prostitute by the name of Rahab who was in the lineage of Jesus Christ that God used.
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There's many more. We could speak of Gideon. And even Samson before he got lifted up in his pride.
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Samson began a good race by being lowly. And God used him in a mighty way as the Spirit of the
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Lord would come upon him and give him such power as a judge over the Philistines.
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Then we have David. King David that was afflicted time and time again.
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Lowly in heart. Crying out to God. A man after God's own heart. The sweet singer of Israel.
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Then you have the prophets. As I mentioned on Moses, you have Elijah. Elisha. You have
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Daniel the prophet. You have Jeremiah the weeping prophet. You have Isaiah. The godly righteous
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Isaiah. You have Ezekiel. You have Samuel as I already mentioned. God feared men such as Israel.
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Nehemiah. These are just a few from the Old Testament. Then we go to the New Testament.
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And we see the apostles such as Peter, James, and John. And all of the rest of the apostles that were named after them and their order.
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And then you have the apostle Paul. Then you have John the Baptist. Who is one of the meekest and lowliest.
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The forerunner of Jesus Christ. And Jesus said of him that out of all men that's been born of women, there's none that's greater than John the
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Baptist. Could you imagine having Jesus himself speak that of you? He was put in the background as Jesus came on the scene.
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And by naming all these, I've just named just a few by the way. And there's many, many other characters in the scriptures that's named.
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But beloved, out of all the God -feared men and women, and out of all the godly saints that ever lived in history, and all the prophets and the apostles, can
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I say this? None of them can compare to the Lord Jesus Christ and his humility.
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They all pale in insignificance to Jesus Christ of his great humility.
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Now, let me give you a scripture that Jesus spoke of himself. You don't have to turn there. But it's a verse
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I know you're well acquainted with. And it speaks about Jesus' humility that he says,
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I am meek and lowly in heart. Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 through 30 says this.
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As Jesus invites poor wretched sinners to come to himself, and all that are weary and heavy laden.
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This is what he says. Come unto me, all that you are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
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Just not physical rest, but soul rest. Notice what
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Jesus says. Take my yoke upon you and what?
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Learn from me. We need to learn from Jesus. Now, what do we need to learn?
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He tells us. For I am gentle, I am meek and humble, lowly in heart, and I will give you rest for your souls.
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And then he says, for my yoke is easy. That means pleasant. My yoke is pleasant. And my burden is light.
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I want you to think about that scripture for a minute. Has any of the prophets said that of themselves?
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Only Jesus Christ invites people to come to him and say, learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart.
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So, where do we go? When we truly want to see meekness and lowliness and humility, we go to Jesus.
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Now, I mentioned, like I said, God used men through history and women through history, and we read, they were examples.
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But the greatest example is Jesus. He is the one that's meek and lowly in heart.
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And only the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, can say this and give an invitation to come to himself and to learn from him and find that he alone is meek and lowly.
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Well, beloved, can I say this? Philippians chapter 2 is all about humility. This is what this is about.
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Now, Paul starts with humility in the church. If there's ever a virtue that is missing among the church today, it is the virtue of humility.
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And by the way, it is a virtue and it is a grace. It's not something I don't think anyone can do within themselves.
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It's a grace from God. J .C. Rowe says, Pride is the oldest and most common of sins, but humility is the rarest and most beautiful of graces.
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I cannot help but say this, that the Philippian church had a lot of problems with unity. And can
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I say this as well? There's a lot of problems still in the church about unity. The Philippian church had a problem with unity and the
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Apostle Paul never gave us the great letter of the Philippians by the
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Holy Spirit unless there was a problem. So God uses this. And it's written down for us.
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It's inspired from God Himself. And the problem within the church in Philippi, then the root problem was pride.
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They had a problem with understanding and demonstrating and living out in attitude, beloved, humility.
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The Apostle Paul exhorts this little church. But what does he exhort them to? There's unity through humility.
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That's what he's talking about. There's unity through humility. Our churches, beloved, today are in great need of unity.
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But the reason why there's no unity is because there's a lack of humility. I thought about this.
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We see it everywhere. We need to understand that following Jesus Christ means to follow
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Him as a servant. I've spoken to pastors before and one particular pastor told me one time when
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I was riding with him in a car, I mentioned about being a servant leader. He said, yeah, but there's another side.
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You must be a leader first. And he told me why.
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He told me actually, he said, you'd have a disrespect among yourself. I said, you know,
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I said, you got it opposite. I disagree with you. Jesus was first of all a servant.
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And He was leader. Put the word servant first. Then you put leadership there.
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Because a great leader will not be a great leader in first unless he's a servant. And that's the reason why
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I gave you those examples of humility, especially Booker T. Washington, because notice his servanthood.
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He demonstrated being a servant. He could have easily said, Madame, don't you know who I am?
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I'm Booker T. Washington. He didn't say that, did he? He kept his mouth shut.
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He chopped the wood. And he even went a mile further. Jesus said, go the extra mile. He even took the wood and stacked it and carried it and did a chore.
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Supposedly a chore, but he did it unto the Lord. And he said, I delight in doing that. I wanted to do that.
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What a servant. What a servant. Well, can I say that Jesus demonstrated servanthood more than any other?
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And by the way, everything that Jesus taught, he demonstrated it. He lived it out.
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Now, if Jesus taught his disciples on the Sermon on the Mount to love your enemies, Jesus loved his enemies when on the cross he prayed for his enemies, right?
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If Jesus talked about being a servant, about in humility, in which he did, he washed feet, right?
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Well, the Apostle Paul was a servant himself. You know, actually, that's the heart of the gospel, isn't it?
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Whatever happened to hearing that what it takes to follow Jesus, and by the way, what it takes to follow
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Jesus is a command that Jesus said. He says, if you are to be my disciple, you are to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me.
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In other words, we are to put ourselves on the back burner of the self, the self must go and die, and we are to serve others for the
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Lord. And by the way, we are to do it unto Jesus. Everything that we do, even as servanthood to others, it's unto
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Jesus first and foremost. So following him as a servant who humbles himself, we will never really understand and know
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Jesus the way we should according to God's will unless we become a servant and humble ourselves.
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So as we looked at some of the issues that Paul addressed in the first four verses last week,
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I want to continue, I want to pick up on that a little bit more, and then the next two Lord's Day, we're going to focus in on the life and the attitude of Jesus Christ Himself during this
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Christmas season and look at what true humility looks like. Because if we really want to know what true humility looks like, it is found in the person and the life of Jesus Christ and His death.
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Well, the Apostle Paul gives us four important points we need not to forget. Let me reiterate these.
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Number one is the motives of spiritual unity in verse 1 and 2, the marks of spiritual unity, verse 2, the means of spiritual unity in verse 3 and 4, the model of spiritual unity in verse 5 through 11, who is
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Jesus Christ, and the motives of unity, and I got this from John MacArthur, I like this, the motives of spiritual unity answers the question, why?
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The marks of spiritual unity answers the questions, what? The means of spiritual unity answers the question, how?
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Then last, and I love this one, the model of spiritual unity answers the question, who?
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And that is Jesus Christ. Well, let's look at it again and look at these verses and make sure we get it.
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You know, I cannot get enough of this. When I was writing my notes to help me to stay on track on this, and I was going over this again as we looked at it last
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Lord's Day, I said, I cannot get enough of this. Because within our hearts is a pride that hangs on to us like a dead corpse.
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And we must constantly be mortifying it by the Spirit and putting it to death.
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But what does Paul speak of, what does he speak of in verse 1? It's an appeal to Christ's blessings and benefits, as Brother Keith brought out this morning from Psalm 103.
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He speaks of actually the blessings and the benefits that come from Jesus Christ.
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Notice what he says. Therefore if, notice the ifs, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the
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Spirit, if any affection and compassion. So what is he saying?
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Paul is saying if Christ has benefited you in any way, and He has, hasn't He? Look at all that He's done for us.
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All. That brings us to a point of worship. All that He has given, isn't that what the
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Christmas gift is about? It's about Jesus. It's not about us giving our heart.
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It's about Christ giving Himself. It's about God's giving, not us giving.
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God gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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It's Him giving, and we've benefited from it. So as we have received from Christ, we are to give to others.
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See, that's what he's talking about. So, Paul is basically saying if, if, if, and that word can be replaced with the word since.
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Let me read it. That helps us understand what Paul is saying through the Spirit. Therefore, since there is an encouragement in Christ, since there is a consolation of love, since there is a fellowship in the
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Spirit, since any affection and compassion make my joy complete by being of, what?
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The same mind. It's a mindset. It's an attitude.
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Beloved, isn't that the problem with the world today? People do not have the mindset of Jesus.
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They do not have the mind of Christ. They do not have the mind, it's all about self. What I can get out of it.
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What you can give me. What you owe me. But when we come to Jesus, we realize we don't have any rights of our own.
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As a matter of fact, when He buys you with His precious blood, and He purchases you and redeems you, you are
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His. You are God's possession. And you have no rights. We have no rights.
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I have no rights. It has come to the cross of Jesus Christ and Jesus says, you are mine and I am
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His. Praise God. You see, Paul is saying, you make my joy complete by being the same mind.
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And then, here's a word we don't need to miss. Maintaining the same love.
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So, you know what that word maintaining means? There's got to be work behind it. It has to be maintained.
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We cannot be idle about it, can we? As Christians, we cannot be idle about our sanctification.
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We must maintain that love in loving one another. In other words, it has action to it.
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It has obedience to it. I must do something. And then he says, united in spirit intent on one purpose.
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One purpose. And that purpose is to glorify God. Now, Paul was tied to the concern of unity here.
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And that's why he says, think the same. Think the same. This is a command, by the way.
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It's not a suggestion. We need to remember this. You know, in 1
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Corinthians chapter 12, Paul basically recognizes that people are different in the body of Christ.
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Each one has a different gift by the grace of God. He recognized that. He basically said, you have different gifts, but you're one body.
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You're one in Jesus Christ. Christ is the head. You are the body of Christ. But you are different.
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Each one of you are different and special to God. And unique, isn't it great? They even say that snowflakes differ from one another.
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Could you imagine when snow falls from the sky, that each and every flake, if you were to take it and put it underneath the microscope, each has a different pattern?
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And that's the way God has made us. You're special. We're a pattern different. But yet, you're one.
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And you know, when the snow falls, it's all like one clump of snow. Together. And that's the way the body of Christ is.
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We should be like that snow. We're all together in oneness. But each one is special and different.
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Pattern different. Unique. Isn't that the great wisdom of God? Well, Paul calls them to be in the same attitude, the same mind, the same humility, the same way of thinking.
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The same, the same, the same. About life. About others.
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The same kind of selflessness. To think the same when it comes to selfless humility.
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To think biblical. To think truth. To think the way Jesus would think. And then what does he do?
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He does. He exhorts them to have the same attitude and mind. And I love that word attitude, don't you?
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Attitude's everything. Attitude is the motive. Attitude is the same love.
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The same spirit. The same purpose. The same goals. And this is at the heart of his exhortation, verse 2.
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He says, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same unity. These are the marks, beloved.
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These are the marks of Christian unity. The same love. United in spirit. Intent and one purpose.
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And by the way, believers are to think the same way. And they are to think biblically. And I don't think
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I can say this enough. If you turn to Philippians 4, he tells us exactly. He ends the epistle by how you should think.
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And what you should think on. How do we know this? Well, notice in verse 4.
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This is the heart of the epistle, by the way. And he says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. There's to be rejoicing.
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But notice the balance he gives. Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. There's humility.
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The Lord is near. That's the reason why. God's near.
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The coming of Christ is coming soon. We're to be gentle to all. Be anxious for nothing.
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But in everything by prayer and supplication. That means crying out. With thanksgiving.
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With thanksgiving. We give thanks to God. Let your request be made known to God. And then he says, the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension.
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Will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. There it is, you notice. Your minds will be guarded.
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While you are praying. And going to God. And then he tells us what to meditate on.
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This is what to think on. Finally, brethren. Whatever is true. Whatever is honorable.
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Whatever is right. Whatever is pure. Whatever is lovely. Whatever is of good repute.
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If there's any excellence. And if there's anything worthy of praise. Think. You know what that word think means in the
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Greek? Dwell. You are to meditate on it. You are to dwell on it. You are to chew it up.
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You are to converse it. As brother Keith mentioned this morning. You are to talk to yourself about it.
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Dwell on these things. Selah. Meditate on these things.
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The things you have learned. And received and heard and seen and made. Practice these things. And the
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God of peace will be with you. That's what he talks about. Believers are to love others in the body of Christ equally.
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By the way. According to the apostle James. Without respect to persons.
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Without partiality. Regardless of the color. Their background. Their language. Regardless of their caste.
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Whether rich or poor. We are to love them as Christ loved. Praise God. That's a command.
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You know why? Because that's the way God sees them. Without a respect to persons.
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They are made in the image of God. Demonstrating that same kind of love.
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This selfless, sacrificial love and services. Our Lord and Jesus demonstrated to us.
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And then he says. United in spirit. You know what that means? Being of one soul. One soul.
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That's the Greek. Like one soul. United in spirit. This describes people that are like closely knitted together.
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You ever take a knit and you knit. You know how people does the crochets. I can't do it.
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Some of you have done it. You see the crochet. You wind it one to another.
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And even though it's separate strings. But the two strings become one.
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They are wound up strong with cords. And they are wound up together. You take a rope.
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A rope is like that. No matter how thick it is. It's several cords of rope.
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And the more of those different cords that you wrap around each other. Makes it thicker.
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And by the way. What does it do? It strengthens it. It makes it stronger. And that's what Paul is saying.
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As you are corded together. And wounded together. And knit together.
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The more you are the stronger you are. And the more the enemy would have to take.
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To tear you apart. By the way. He can't tear you apart if you knit together.
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In harmony. Being of the same mind. Same passions. And same ambitions.
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That is in Jesus Christ. And by the way. That is what it's about. It's being Christ centered. Now I don't know about you.
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That's the way I want my personal life to be. I want to be Christ centered. I want this church. As God's church.
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To be Christ centered. I want to be part of that. You are part of it. But we need to be
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Jesus centered. Beloved. We are all about Jesus. And His gospel. And His works.
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And His purpose. Beloved. If we get lost in Jesus. People are going to see something different.
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They are not going to see a religion. They are not going to see Pharisees. They are not going to see a performance system.
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They are going to see Christ. And they are going to see grace. And they are going to say. You know. That's something I need.
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You don't have to tell them they are going to hell. Now I am not saying there is not a time to tell people the law.
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And the gospel. You need to tell people about their sin. And love. But you know a lot of times.
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When you tell them about the goodness of God. And the love of God. What happens? It draws them.
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It brings them to repentance. You don't have to tell them to repent. They feel so good. That's the way
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I was. When my uncle witnessed to me. I thought I was a good person. When he told me about the love of God.
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And he warned me about the dangers of hell. He didn't have to tell me I was going to hell. I knew it. Then I started crying out.
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I said. Oh God. How do I repent? And then I read the words of Jesus.
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And He says. If you ask you will receive. You knock. The door will be opened.
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Praise God. But Paul gives to us a warning. Against selfishness.
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That's the next verse. Notice verse 3. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.
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But with what? Humility of mind. Regarding one another as more important than yourselves.
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Boy. Did you get that? More important than yourselves. How many people place themselves as important?
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And the word of God says. You are to think of others as more important than yourselves.
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That's convicting. That's a warning. Paul calls them to unity with a positive exhortation.
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Now he calls them to be careful. The warnings that it is against. These are the negatives.
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That destroys the unity within the body. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit.
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But in humility of mind. Regard one another as more important than yourselves. What are the false motives that destroy unity within the church?
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This is what he talks about. There are two. Don't forget these. Selfishness or selfish ambition.
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And conceit. And you want to read about conceit? Go to the book of Ecclesiastes. You know what that word is?
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Vanity of vanities. All is vanity. And Solomon knew that.
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All that is underneath the sun. Is vanity. Life is vain.
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All rooted in what? That one great rooted sin that hangs on to us.
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And that is the sin of pride. God help us and have mercy upon us on this.
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Because it's so much in us. And we may say today, no, no, I don't have no pride. Look, when you think that, you're in trouble.
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There's pride in that. I want to repent. Well, there's pride in that.
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It hangs on to us, beloved. Now think of Jesus. He had none of this.
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It was not in Him. Totally free and sinless.
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A perfect man. Paul later goes to the example of the model of Jesus.
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But right now, he deals with this. He said, this is the root. This is your problem. It's called self.
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That's the problem. You know, you have the gospel of self -esteem, don't you?
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How you pamper yourself. There's even false teachers out there telling you how to love yourself.
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Beloved, that's the problem. The problem is, you love yourself too much.
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Jesus said, deny yourself. As MacArthur says, the call to Jesus is not self -fulfillment, it's self -denial.
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It's all rooted in self, and that's pride. Sometimes it's rendered as strife. This is another word, strife.
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Because it refers to factionism and rivalry and partisanship. But all this speaks of pride that's within the hearts of man.
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That prompts us to push for our own way. Have it my way. That's the theme of Burger King, right?
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Have it your way. Well, okay, in the business world, they can serve and say, have it your way.
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We're going to take care of you people. But that's pragmatic. That's not supposed to be within the church, beloved.
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Because it's not our way, it's whose way? God's way. God's way. Matter of fact, that was
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Cain's problem. He was a religious man. God says, you bring a sacrifice.
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And it's like he speaks both to Abel and Cain. They both sacrificed. But one brought a sacrifice that was pleasing to God.
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That was a blood offering. God rejected Cain's. Cain became angry.
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Killed his brother. You know the story. God marked him. God cursed him.
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Because he did not do the sacrifice God's way. That's still the problem today, isn't it?
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We want to do everything our own way. You know, if you've been around the church very long, and some of you have, even if it's five years, ten years, twenty years.
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I've been in it for thirty -eight plus years. Miss Lillian, I'm sure you've been in it for...
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You don't have to say it. But long enough to know, huh,
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Sister Lillian? You've seen the power brokers, haven't you?
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Now you know where I'm going. I'm going to meddle a little bit. Can I meddle? I call these kind of people...
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Hey, look, they're power brokers. But I've seen deacons like this. Officers in the church.
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I've seen some pastors. That's some of the world's worst. By the way,
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I've seen people with a lot of money that kept a lock hold, a grip on the church because they figured they could buy something, a partnership, a part of the church.
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And they did it for the reason to control the church. When I first became pastor,
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I'm going to share some things. I'm not going to call no names. Don't worry about that. You wouldn't know them anyway, but it's best for me not to call names.
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God knows who they are. And I remember who they are. And I prayed for these people.
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And I come to find out they were not born again. It just came that simple. When I was first installed as a pastor personally within the
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Christian Missionary Alliance Church, it was two men I remember specifically. And they were older men.
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It was always older guys always trying to intimidate me. I was in my 30s, but these guys with my age now, they're like in their 50s and up.
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And they tried to intimidate me because I was a young pastor. And they gave tons of money to the church.
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And it made me feel like I need to take a back seat even though I'm the pastor. They're the ones that's giving to the church where they can pull the strings and make the calls.
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So they would come to me and say, now, look here, I'm one of your best donors. I pay your salary.
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That's what they were basically saying. Well, they didn't know that they were not talking to just a regular ordinary little preacher.
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I didn't fear men. I feared God. And I was not serving God for the money.
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Like Balaam. And I didn't care for preeminence either.
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I could care less. I was there to preach Christ. It wasn't long until this one particular guy that came to me and he tried to push me around because he gave so much money.
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This was right when I was first installed. And I stood up to him lovingly. And I said, sir, we're going to do things a little different.
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And I was basically obeying the elders of the Christian Missionary Alliance. They gave me the authority at that time to be pastor.
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And I had to do this carefully because I could not just come in and I had to be careful in the attitude
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I did it. I had to do it in a humble way. And I said, God, help me with this because how can
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I be respected as a leader but yet this person's trying to push me around and intimidate me because he's giving so much money.
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It wasn't long. He left and boy, he left in a huff. He cussed me out. Folks, this was a guy that was a deacon in the church.
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He was using elf words and four -letter words and mocking God. And I said, there's the door.
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I said, we don't need the money. God can grow His church without your money. Amen. Well, no longer
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I got rid of that guy which was a relief to this pastor. Another one came in.
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Oh, he had more money. Oh, he'd done and seen everything. I'm here to tell you what.
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You sit down and talk to this guy. He was so reeking with pride. He'd been everywhere, met everybody. He had been at this.
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Oh, he was special. And oh, did he give a lot of money. Aren't you glad?
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Teresa, I'm not calling names. God knows. I had a time with him.
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I even went to a conference, a Christian missionary conference in Tennessee. He was with, it was just me and him.
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And the church paid for it. We went to hear Robbie Zacharias. And Robbie, oh my goodness.
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He preached Jesus Christ and he was crucified. And we left there and we was in the car and then this guy started spitting out elf words.
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And I thought, how can you do this after being in the presence of God and seeing
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Jesus Christ and him crucified? And I said, you know friend, he said, I apologize to you.
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I said, don't apologize to me. You apologize to God. God's being mocked. Well, he tried to tell me, well, you know,
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I give this and I give that and I basically pay your salary. I said, look friend, I'm not bought. I said,
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I'm here as a servant of God. I'm here to do God's bidding and God's work. But I said, friend, if you're going to throw money in my face,
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I said, there's the door. Well, guess what? He left. And him and his family took about five other families with them.
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I said, goodbye. God can grow his church without your money. He don't need your dirty money.
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Amen. The people too. I'm telling you folks, my honeymoon was over when
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I was installed as a pastor there. And then I realized for the first time, I said, wow, is this what pastors go through?
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See, the pastors that want to keep people like that, they appease them and give them, they tell them what they want to hear because they got itching ears.
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But friend, when you start preaching the gospel and that's what happened, a lot of them left for other reasons, not only him trying to pull strings with the money, but I preached from Ephesians 1.
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They didn't like the doctrine of election. Now folks, I'm not saying this because it was something I did.
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It was God working through me, but it was God's Word that convicted them. It was the Word of God that came to their hearts that convicted them.
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Had nothing to do about Pastor David. I was just there doing what
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God has told me to do, okay? But they went and I said, praise
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God, they're gone. We would dwindle down to almost nothing, but God, I said,
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Lord, you take the little things, it's still little. And I said, fine, Lord. I said, I'm okay with that.
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You know, I feel like sometimes I'm a Gideon because I said, you know, if God wants to be glorified because we're small,
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I said, that's okay. Little is much when God's in it. Because when I answer to God, if there's one or a thousand here,
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I'm going to do it unto the Lord. Praise God, I know you're with me. Praise God, I know you're with me.
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Beloved, these attitudes that should be in us, should dwell within us, and it unifies the church strong.
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This is the reason that Jesus, through the apostles, mainly Peter, gave restorative church discipline.
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Church discipline must be set in motion. You read that in Matthew 16, 19, after Peter's great confession, the first instruction that Jesus gives to the church is church discipline.
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Why? I'll tell you why. Because above everything in the church, the motive of God and the motive of Jesus, who is
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God in the flesh, is the purity of His church. God cares more for the purity of His church more than anything else.
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Now, He gives grace. He gives strike one, strike two, strike three, yowt. But there's grace.
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And by the way, it's to restore people. If they fall in sin, and by the way, these people that sinned against God in the church when
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I was installed as pastor there, this was a church plant and a restructure.
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We didn't have time to set in place church discipline, but if it came down to it, yes.
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Because there's restoration. God wants to see people, even in their sin, come back to restore them back.
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But they've got to repent. Well, amen.
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It is foreign. And it's sad. Because what I'm preaching to you is very rarely put in action and put in motion in churches.
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Because people are so far away from the Word of God. It's sad. Well, my time is almost gone, but let me say this.
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He talks about, beware of selfish ambition, vain conceit, vain glory. The Greek meaning here is vain or exaggerated self -elevation.
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Vanity, conceit, excessive ambition refers to pursuit of personal glory, which is the motivation for selfish ambition, such as deatrophies.
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He desired the preeminence. And by the way, the Apostle John says, when I come, I want to set it straight.
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Now, we don't know what happened, but I can assure you the Apostle set it straight. Paul calls next for the believers of Philippi to humility.
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Let's look at these. In verses 3 -4, I've got to get through these. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.
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Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others. Beloved, the word in Paul's day, humility of mind, was looked down at in the
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Greek world. And it's also looked down at today as well. Humility is looked down as weakness.
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Beloved, meekness is not weakness. Meekness is strength under control. It was considered a sign of weakness, and it looked as if the same as our day as well.
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But for the child of God, you know this as well as I do. Humility is the hallmark and the virtue. It is the crown of virtues in the
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Christian life. I can't say enough about it. Because this is how our Lord, meek and lowly in heart, demonstrated how to wash feet.
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He demonstrated this. He washed the disciples' feet. By the way, He even washed Judas' feet. Beloved, this is
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God in the flesh. This is God tabernacled, incarnate among us.
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God with us. And He stoops down and He washes their feet. And then He says, this is an example for you, and you do the same.
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Now a lot of people, I went to a Pentecostal church years ago, and I'm not trying to blast the Pentecostals by saying this, but they looked at this as an ordinance that you are to literally wash feet.
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That's not what Jesus is meaning. Jesus is actually saying, this is the way you do and act among the brethren.
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You are to serve one another. No matter what it is, if it's cleaning a commode, sweeping a hallway, somebody that's not able to clean, and somebody that's not able to sweep, you do it for them.
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And you do it unto the Lord joyfully. No matter how dirty it is. It's the little things, but the mundane and the little things mean a lot to God.
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Don't ever think that if you've got something small that God does not take notice. Beloved, God takes notice of that.
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Even if it's a cup of water, Jesus said, in His name. We are to do it from our heart in humility, in the strength of the
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Holy Spirit. Actually, to live humble, we need the
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Spirit of God, don't we? I can't be humble within myself. Humility of mine.
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Lowliness of mine. Let me give you a few scriptures. 1 Peter 5, 5. The Apostle Peter says,
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You younger men, likewise be subject to your elders. Isn't it something he starts off by younger men? I thought about that when
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I wrote that down. I said, why does he mention a younger man first? Because usually it's the younger man that has a sense of arrogance.
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They want to be arrogant more. Not to say that we're all free from arrogance. I've seen older men very arrogant.
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But especially those younger men. You know what I'm talking about. He says, you younger men.
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Amen, Sister Lydian. You younger men, likewise be submissive. Be subject to your elders.
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And then get to this. And the Apostle Peter says, All of you.
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He just does not categorize and classify the younger men. He says, all of you.
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Clothe yourselves with humility. You put your clothes on every day, right? Did you know that's the way we should be doing with humility?
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We should clothe ourselves, spiritually speaking, in humility. He says, clothe yourself with humility.
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Toward one another. And then he says this, For God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
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Verse Peter 3a. To sum up, he says, All of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind -hearted, and humble in spirit.
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I already quoted it, but Proverbs 3 .34. Though he scoffs at the scoffers, yet he gives grace to the afflicted.
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And by the way, that word afflicted means humble. And in the
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Hebrew, that word afflicted not only means humble, but it means, literally, he who bends himself low.
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That's what afflicted means. He who bends himself low. Doesn't affliction bring us down low?
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It does. James 4 .6. But he gives a greater grace, therefore it says,
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Again, the Apostle James quotes the same thing as the Apostle Peter says, God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble and beloved.
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This is referring to all Christians, and just not those special Christians. Okay? Do not merely look out for your own interest, but all personal interest.
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Just not your personal interest, but also the interest of others. Live for others.
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That's what he's saying. Live for others. Live for God, but live for others. Love God, but love others.
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Luther said this, he said, God doesn't need your good works, but my neighbor does. That's well said.
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The believer is solely to love and serve God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. The basic biblical definition of true humility is this.
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Jesus Christ. He says, I'm meek and lowly in heart. God chooses the insignificant.
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You can find that in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. He chooses the outcast.
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I remember a missionary at Bible college years ago. He says, a lot of these professors was saying,
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I don't want to mentor this guy, this old missionary, gray haired. He knew 50 years on the mission,
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I take your rejects. I want the rejects. He knew something.
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Those are the ones that God uses. It's the rejects. I said, that man is wise.
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Humility, mind, is regarding one another more important than ourselves. More important than yourself.
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Actually, that word more important can be translated superior. That's where we get the word superior.
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Thinking of others more superior than myself. Not that I'm more superior.
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They should be more important. They should be superior. Wow, could you imagine that would change a church and change a society?
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If people would think more superior of the other person than themselves?
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Well, to be a true servant of Jesus Christ, that's what it means to deny ourselves daily and take up our cross and follow
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Him. Well, in Philippians 2, actually it means to look to, pay careful attention, to look out, to notice.
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By the way, Paul is encouraging us to be busy bodies, by the way. Always prying into other people's affairs.
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That doesn't mean that. Second Thessalonians 3 .11, listen to what he says. Where we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all.
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Work is good. Why? Because if you read the book of Proverbs, it's all in there.
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Being a busy body is sin. Then he says, but acting like busy bodies.
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Now, that's not what he's talking about here. We are to help others within the body of Christ.
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Rather to care about the needs of theirs. To give up sacrificially, to give sacrificially, and to serve them.
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Right? And that's what he's saying in verses 1 -4. To achieve this unity in our own congregation, why would humility be necessary?
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Because humility is necessary to keep unity. So I will ask you today, as I conclude this, what are you doing personally to bring unity at Redeeming Grace Church this morning?
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Or your own church? That's a good question, isn't it?
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Well, verse 5 basically says, Have this attitude in yourself, which was also in Christ Jesus.
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Selfless humility. Let me conclude one, and I'm already out of time, but I've got to go here, okay?
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Go with me to Matthew chapter 18. And Jesus basically gives us the illustration of what to do here.
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Matthew 18, 1 -6. Jesus gives instruction.
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By the way, if Jesus is giving instruction about humility, we should cut our ears off. I say this in conclusion.
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The Word of God says this. Listen to what happens. At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and said,
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Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? You notice
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Jesus didn't answer them right out? What does He do? He called a child to Himself.
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And you know, I actually picture someone about the size of Claire and Felicity. Someone within that time, age frame.
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He called a child to Himself and set Him, it was a Him, it was a male, before them and He said,
01:05:04
Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
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Boy, we better pay attention to that. In other words, you're going to miss heaven if you are not like this.
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And whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in My name receives
01:05:27
Me. But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me, He's talking about believers now, but also children, but believers in Me to stumble because of sin.
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That's what He's talking about. It would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the death of the sea.
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Now let me unpack this very quickly in conclusion. The section, first of all, is the theme.
01:05:53
The theme here in this section is humility. And Jesus is driving, teaching humility. The child -likeness of the believer, not the childishness.
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Paul said that in 1 Corinthians 13, didn't he? When I became a man, I did what?
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I put away childish things. Okay? Jesus is not talking about being childish.
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He's talking about being childlike in faith. And believe.
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That's what He means by you've got to become like this child to be converted and to come into the kingdom of God.
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What's He saying? Jesus is basically telling His disciples, He gives a living example.
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That's the way Jesus taught many times. He just set an example before them and He let them see it.
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It was so, how can I put it, so touchable. It was so like the bread and the wine.
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It was visible. So simple. But with such depth.
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Basically He said to become like children, not childish, as I said. Jesus gives the disciples a living example.
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And this is how our Lord characterized conversion. And He's saying, like the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
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You know what He's saying? This is a picture of faith, a simple faith, a simple trust, a childlike trust in the living
01:07:23
God that comes as helpless and trusting dependence of those who have no resources of their own.
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That's what He's saying. That child has no resources of their own. What is He saying? He said, look at a child.
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Look at any child, any children. The way they are. They have no achievements.
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They have no accomplishments. They're stripped of everything. They have nothing but themselves.
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And their dependence upon their parents. They depend upon their parents. And that's what Jesus is saying. You've got to totally trust in the
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God of heaven and be stripped down to nothing. Strip your pride.
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And come as a poor, wretched sinner. Offer yourselves as nothing.
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Luther said this, God is the God of the humble. He's the
01:08:29
God of the miserable, the afflicted, the oppressed, the desperate, and those who have been brought to nothing.
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Beloved, this is why we look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Lord willing, next week we will begin a two -part series on Jesus, what
01:08:54
He did when He humbled Himself and came to this world, was born in the lowly manger, lived a life of total, complete humility, all the way to the death of a cross for you and me.
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Praise God. Let's pray. Father, we thank
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You. We praise You for Your Word. Oh, how it pierces and pricks our heart because of our pride.
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Lord, I say with a Puritan here, O Thou, terrible meek, gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon Your little child.
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Let not pride swell my heart. My nature is the mire beneath my feet, the dust to which
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I shall return. In body I surpass not the meanest reptile.
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Whatever difference of form and intellect is mine is a free grant of Thy goodness. Every faculty of mind and body is
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Thy undeserved gift. Lord, low as I am as a creature, I am lower as a sinner.
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I've trampled Thy laws times without number. Sin's deformity is stamped upon me, darkens my brow, touches me with corruption.
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How can I flaunt myself proudly? Low as a basement in my due place, for I am less than nothing before Thee.
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Help me to see myself in Thy sight, then pride must wither, decay, die, and perish.
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Father, humble my heart before Thee and replenish it with Thy choicest gifts.
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As water rests not on the barren hill summits, but flows down to fertilize the lowest vales, so make me to the lowest of the lowly, that my spiritual riches may exceedingly abound.
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And when I leave duties undone, my condemning thoughts drip me of my pride.
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Deepen in me devotion to Thy service and quicken me to more watchful care.
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Lord, help us. When I'm tempted to think highly of myself, grant me to see the wily power of my spiritual enemy.
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Help me to stand with weary eye on the watchtower of faith and to cling with determined grasp to my humble
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Lord. Lord, help us. And if I fall, let me hide myself in my
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Redeemer's righteousness. And when I escape, may
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I ascribe all deliverance to Thy grace. Lord Jesus, keep me humble, meek, and lowly.
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We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Praise God.