Jesus Christ, Our Great Example: Part 2

Philippians 2 and the Theme of Humility and Unity

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 Philippians in chapter 2, deals with unity through humility, unity through humility.

So as you turn there, please stand with me in honor of God's Word as we read the first 11 verses of this little epistle. Again, it's a small epistle, but oh, is it packed with so much deep theology concerning our Lord Jesus Christ.

And that's what we're leading up to. The theme, I actually can say, is humility, humility. But He speaks about unity as well. And that's what we're going to continue looking at in this second part of a four-part series, beginning at verse 1 through 11.

Verse 1 through 11, and I'm reading from the 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.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. But with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others.

Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But 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.

For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Permanence of God's Word and a Prayer for Humility

Let us bow in prayer. Our Father, we seek Your face this morning as David said. Lord, this is Your holy word. It endures forever. Our words will pass away. Our words are nothing. Lord, this morning we lean hard on Your word, for it is everlasting.

It is forever settled in heaven, and nothing can take that away. It's preserved there. Heaven and earth will pass away, but Your words will never pass away. Father, when kingdoms of this earth will fade, and pass and fall, Your words endure forever.

Lord, we thank You for this word. May we not take it for granted that it's in our own language this morning. So Father, we should tremble before it. That should be our attitude. We receive it with joy, but oh Lord, may we tremble in Your presence.

That is as if we read it audibly, You are speaking Yourself. Father, speak to us. Open our hearts and our minds to perceive of Thy word. Father, we trust in Your blessed Holy Spirit now to anoint each and every one of us and hide us behind the cross.

Hide me behind the cross. And Lord, may Jesus Christ be glorified and seen. Oh, may we see Jesus. Change us forever. May we not leave this place the same as we came. 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. Let me begin by pointing out just in a historical view, leading up to the biblical view, but historical examples of people who lived humble lives.

There's a man by the name of Samuel Morse. You may know him by his name, 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 United States.

After finishing his education at Yale, he went to England to learn his painting skills. Upon his return to America, he was recognized as a very gifted artist and as soon in much demand in his time frame.

Morse's first wife died while he was away from home painting in Washington, D .C., 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 develop a means of rapid communication over great distances.

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, Morse wasn't proud or boastful about what he accomplished.

As a matter of fact, in a letter to his second wife, this is what he wrote,.

Quote,.

The more I contemplate this great undertaking, the more I feel my own littleness, and the more I perceive the hand of God in it, and how He has assigned the various persons their duties. 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.

Truly a humble man is hard to find nowadays, yet God delights in the honor of selfless people. There's another one that came to mind in history past, he was a very humble man. His name was Booker T. Washington.

You may well know him. He was a renowned black educator, and he was an outstanding example.

Of humility.

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. This woman was very wealthy, but she did not know that the fame of Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her.

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. When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace.

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 Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and she apologized profusely, not realizing that it was Booker T. Washington.

This is what she said,.

She said, I apologize, I'm sorry, and this is what Booker T. Washington said. It's perfectly alright, madam. Occasionally, I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it's always a delight to do something for a friend.

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.

Then, it says, not longer afterwards, she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuscadee Institute. What a great example of humility this man was.

A humble servant and a man that made a difference in history. That's another story in history. I go now to the missionary, to the mission field. 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 was ever, that if he was ever tempted to be prideful because of his many accomplishments that he made.

And by the way, he translated into other dialects of Chinese language over 27 different dialects. One of the women decided to ask Hudson Taylor's wife, Maria, about it. Maria promised the woman that, I'll do what I can that she would find out from her husband.

So when Mrs. Taylor asked her husband when she got.

Home if he.

Was ever tempted to be proud, he was quite surprised.

Proud about what?

He asked.

About the things you've done.

Because there's a list.

Of things. I didn't, much more than just translating Chinese into different dialects. He did so much on the mission field. This man gave his whole life.

To the Lord.

In his service. That's what the wife asked. And then.

He said, this is what he said.

In her response. He said, I never knew I had done anything. I never knew that I've done.

Anything. Another one comes.

To mind that I'm sure you're very familiar with. He was the great evangelist in the late 1800s. His name was D .L. Moody. D .L. Moody was one of the most famous evangelists in the world in the late 1800s.

People came from around the whole world to attend his Bible conferences in Northfield, Massachusetts. One year, a large group of pastors came from Europe among the attendees. 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 the door of the room expecting them to be cleaned.

And polished by the.

Servants during the night. 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, but Moody was.

Walking through the halls. He happened to pass by the halls where the pastors were staying and he saw the shoes and this is what he was doing. He was praying for them as he was going through the hallway and he saw all these shoes lined up and he realized what had happened here.

He mentioned this problem to a few of the students but none of them actually offered any help and paid any attention to them. You'd think they would being D .O. Moody but another.

And without.

Another word, Moody didn't want to bother anybody with this so the great evangelist gathered up all those.

Shoes.

I don't know if he did it. Pairs at a 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.

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. He began to take all those shoes he cleaned them and polished each every pair of them with that while these men were sleeping.

First he was praying for them 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 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, Moody remained a humble man and by the way when he met Charles Spurgeon in England he offered to shine and polish Spurgeon's shoes as well.

The period in John Bunyan is so right. 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 God to be his guide.

Solomon says it in Proverbs 3 .34 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 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. And by the way, those are the ones that God chooses to use. It's the humble. If you look into the pages of inspired scripture every man and woman that God used were lowly and afflicted and humble people.

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. Abel is one of them.

Go back to the.

Early time period in the garden. 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 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. You have Abraham that said he was dust and ashes before God.

You have Isaac.

You have even Jacob after he was transformed from deceiver to prince with God.

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.

And God.

Blessed her with Samuel. You have the godly woman that became queen. Her name was Esther.

That was.

Used of God in a mighty way. You see that she was a humble, lowly servant of God. 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.

With as many more, we could speak of Gideon and even Samson before he got lifted up in his pride. Samson began a good race by being lowly and God used him in a mighty way as the Spirit of the Lord would come upon him and give him such power as a judge over the Philistines.

Then we have David. King David.

That was afflicted.

Time and time again. Lowly in heart, crying out to God. A man after God's own heart, the sweet singer of Israel. Then you have the prophets. As I mentioned on Moses, you have Elijah, Elisha, you have Daniel the prophet, you have Jeremiah the weeping prophet,.

You have Isaiah,.

The godly, righteous Isaiah. You have Ezekiel, you have Samuel as I already mentioned. God feared men such as Israel. Nehemiah. These are just a few from the Old Testament. Then we go to the New Testament 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.

And then you have the apostle Paul. Then you have John the Baptist who was one of the meekest.

And lowliest,.

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 Baptist. Could you imagine having Jesus himself.

Speak that of you?

He was put in the background as Jesus came on the scene. 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. 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 I say this?

None of them can compare.

To the Lord Jesus Christ and his humility. They all pale in insignificance to Jesus Christ of his great humility. Now let me give you a scripture that Jesus spoke of himself. You don't have to turn there, but it's a verse I know you're well acquainted with and it speaks about Jesus' humility that he says I am meek and lowly in heart.

Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 through 30.

Says this.

As Jesus invites poor wretched sinners to come to himself and all that are weary.

And heavy laden.

This is what he says. Come unto me.

All that.

You who are weary and heavy laden. And I will give you rest. Just not physical rest, but soul rest. Notice what Jesus says. Take my yoke upon you. And what? Learn from me. We need to learn from.

Jesus. Now what.

Do we need to learn? He tells us for I am gentle, I am meek and humble, lowly in heart and I will give you rest for your souls. And then he says for my yoke is easy. That means pleasant.

My yoke is pleasant.

And my burden.

Is light. I want you to think.

About that scripture for a minute. Has any of the prophets said that of themselves? Only Jesus Christ invites people to come to him and say learn from me for I am meek and lowly in heart. So where do we go when we truly want to see meekness and lowliness and humility?

We go to Jesus. Now I mentioned like I said, God used men through history and women through history and we read they were examples. But the greatest example is Jesus. He is the one that's meek and lowly in heart.

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. Well beloved can I say this? Philippians chapter 2 is all about humility.

This is what this.

Is about.

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. 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.

It's a grace from God. J .C. Ryle says pride is the oldest and most common of sins, but humility is the rarest and most beautiful of graces. I cannot help but say this, that the Philippian church had a lot of problems with unity.

And can 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 apostle Paul would have never gave us the great letter of the Philippians by the Holy Spirit unless there was a problem. So God uses this and it's written down for us.

It's inspired from God himself. And the problem within the church at Philippi, then the root problem.

Was pride.

They had a problem with understanding and demonstrating and living out in attitude, beloved, humility. The apostle Paul exhorts this little church. But what does he exhort them to? There's unity through humility.

That's what he's talking.

About. There's unity through humility. Our churches, beloved, today are in great need of unity. But the reason why there's no unity is because there's a lack of humility. I thought about this. We see it everywhere.

We need to understand that following Jesus Christ means to follow him as a servant. I've spoken to pastors before and one particular pastor told me one time when I was riding with him in a car, I mentioned about being a servant leader.

He said, yeah, but there's another side. You must be a leader first. And he told me why. He told me actually he said you'd have a disrespect among.

Yourself. I said, you know,.

I said, you got it opposite. I disagree with you.

Jesus was first of all a servant.

And he was leader. Put the word servant first. Then you put leadership there. Because a great leader will not be a great leader unless he's a servant. That's the reason why I gave you those examples of humility, especially Booker T. Washington because notice his servanthood.

He demonstrated being a servant.

He could have easily said,.

Don't you know who I am? I'm Booker T. Washington. He didn't say that, did he? He kept his mouth shut. 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.

Supposedly a chore, but he did it unto the Lord. And he said, I delight in doing that. I wanted to do that. What a servant. What a servant. What can I say that Jesus demonstrated servanthood more than any other?

And by the way, everything that Jesus taught, he demonstrated it. He lived it out. 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?

If Jesus talked about being a servant, about inhumility, in which he did, he washed feet.

Right?

Well, the Apostle Paul.

Was a servant himself. You know, actually, that's the heart of the gospel, isn't it? Whatever happened to hearing.

That what it.

Takes to follow Jesus, and by the way, what it takes to follow 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.

In other words, we are to put ourselves on the back burner of the self, must go and die, and we are to serve others.

For the Lord.

And by the way, we are to do it unto Jesus. Everything that we do, even as servanthood to others, it's unto Jesus first and foremost.

So following him.

As a servant who humbles himself, we will never really understand and know.

Jesus.

The way we should according to God's will unless we become a servant and humble ourselves.

The Marks, Means, and Model of Spiritual Unity

So as we looked at some of the issues.

That Paul addressed in the first four verses last week, 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 Christmas season and look at what true humility looks like.

Because if we really want to know what true humility looks like is found in the person and the life of Jesus Christ and his death.

Well, the Apostle Paul gives us.

Four important points we need to not to forget. Let me reiterate these. 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 Jesus Christ, and the motives of unity, and I got this from John McArthur, I like this, the motives of spiritual unity answers the question why?

The marks of spiritual unity answers the questions what? The means of spiritual unity answers the question how? Then last, and I love this one, the model of spiritual unity answers the question.

Who?

And that is Jesus Christ. Well, let's look at it again and look at these verses and make sure we get it. 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 Lord's Day, I said, I cannot get enough of this because within our heart is a pride that hangs on to us like a dead corpse.

And we must constantly be mortifying it by the Spirit and putting it to.

Death. 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. He speaks of actually the blessings and the benefits that come from Jesus Christ.

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 Spirit, if any affection and compassion. So what is he saying? 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.

All.

That brings us to a point of worship.

All that.

He has given. Isn't that what the Christmas gift is about? It's about Jesus. It's not about us giving our heart. It's about Christ giving Himself. It's about God's giving, not us giving. God gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

It's Him.

Giving, and we benefited from it. So as we have received from Christ, we are to give to others. 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. 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 Spirit, since any affection and compassion.

Make.

My joy complete by being of, what? The same mind. It's a mindset. It's an attitude. Beloved, isn't that the problem with the world today? People do not have the mindset of Jesus. They do not have the mind of Christ.

It's all about self.

What I can get out of it.

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. As a matter of fact, when He buys you with His precious blood and He purchases you and redeems.

You,.

You are His. You are God's possession. And you have no rights. We have no rights. I have no rights. It has come to the cross of Jesus Christ and Jesus says, you are mine and I am His.

Praise God.

You see,.

Paul is saying, you make my joy complete by being the same mind. And then, here's a word we don't need to miss. Maintaining the same.

Love. So,.

You know what that word maintaining means? There's got to be work behind it. It has to be maintained. We cannot be idle about it, can we? As Christians, we cannot be idle about our sanctification. We must maintain that love in loving one another.

In other words, it has action to it. It has obedience to it. I must do something. And then he says, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. One purpose. And that purpose is to glorify.

God.

Now, Paul was. Paul was tied to the concern of unity here. And that's why he says, think the same. Think the same. This is a command, by the way. It's not a suggestion. We need to remember this.

You know,.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul basically recognizes that people are different in the body of Christ. 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. You're one in Jesus Christ. Christ is the head. You are the body of Christ. But you are different. 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.

Could you imagine when snow falls from the sky, that each and every flake, if you were to take it and put it underneath a microscope, each has a different pattern? And that's the way God has made us. You're special.

We're a pattern different. But yet, you're one. 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. We should be like that snow. We're all together in oneness, but each one is special and different, patterned 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, the same, the same, the same about life, about others, the same kind of selflessness, to think the same when it comes to selfless humility, to think biblical, to think truth, to think the way Jesus would think.

And then what does he do? He does. He exhorts them to have the same attitude in mind. And I love that word attitude, don't you? Attitude's everything. Attitude is the motive. Attitude.

Is.

The same love, the same spirit, the same purpose, the same.

Goals.

And this is at the heart of his exhortation, verse 2. He says, Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same unity. These are the marks, beloved. These are the marks of Christian unity.

The same love, united in spirit, intent in one purpose. And by the way, believers are to think the same way and they are to think biblically. And I don't think I can say this enough. If you turn to Philippians 4, he tells us exactly he ends the epistle by how you should think and what you should think on.

How do we know this? Well, notice in verse 4, 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. But notice the balance he gives.

Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. There's humility.

The Lord.

Is near.

That's the reason why. God's near. The coming of Christ is coming soon. We're to be gentle to all. Be anxious for nothing. But in everything by prayer and supplication. That means crying out. With thanksgiving.

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 will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

There it is. You notice, your minds will be guarded while you are praying and going to God. And then he tells us what to meditate on. This is what to think on. Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there's any excellence, and if there's anything worthy of praise, think.

You know what that word think means in the Greek? Dwell. You are to meditate on it. You are to dwell on it. You are to chew it up. You are to converse it. As Brother Keith mentioned this morning, you are to talk to yourself about it.

Dwell.

On these things.

Meditate.

On these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. That's what he talks about. Believers are to love others in the body of Christ equally.

By the way, according to the Apostle James, without respect to persons, without partiality, regardless of the color, their background, their language, regardless of their caste, whether rich or poor, we are to love them as Christ loved them.

Praise God. That's a command. You know why? Because that's the way.

God sees them.

Without a respect to persons, they are made in the image of God. Demonstrating that same kind of love, this selfless sacrificial love and services our Lord and Jesus demonstrated to us. And then he says, united in spirit.

You know what that means? Being of one soul. One soul. That's the Greek. Like one soul. United in spirit. This describes people that are closely knitted together. You ever take a knit and you knit? You know how people do the crochets?

I can't do it.