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While we turn our thoughts to the series that we've been in for the last month or so, which we've entitled
Deep Joy, Deep Joy, The Message of Philippians.
And this afternoon, if you have a copy of God's Word, and I hope you do, take it and turn with me to Philippians chapter two.
Philippians chapter two, we are slowly but surely making progress in our study of this wonderful letter.
So when we come to chapter two this afternoon, Philippians chapter two, and verses one through 11, if you grabbed one of the red hardback
Bibles that we give away, that's on page 1040. Page 1040,
Philippians chapter two, and we're going to be reading verses one through 11. That's going to be our text this afternoon.
So Philippians chapter two, and verses one through 11.
Philippians chapter two, verses one through 11. Brothers and sisters, these are God's words. And as you read them, can I invite you to stand with me out of reverence for them?
In this moment, God is speaking to us directly from his word. And so we want to honor that even with the posture of our bodies.
Philippians chapter two then, beginning in verse one. Brothers and sisters, these are
God's words. If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete by thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose, do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves.
Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, by taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by being obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross.
For this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the
Father. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God will abide forever.
Join with me as I pray, ask for the Spirit's help, and we launch into this passage this afternoon.
Let's pray together. Well, Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your word.
We thank you that we have this opportunity to come and to be equipped once again, to be encouraged, to be challenged, to be exhorted, to be edified by your word.
And we pray that as we spend time in this portion of the scripture this afternoon, that you would open our eyes to see wonderful things out of your law.
May your Spirit be at work, opening the eyes of our understanding so that we can be enlightened, so that we would know the hope to which you've called us, and we would know the glorious inheritance that we have in you.
Father, we take a moment every Sunday to pray for other area churches. And this afternoon, we pray for our friends just down the street over at Table Rock Fellowship.
Thank you for the good news of their new senior pastor, Pastor Ryan Laden, who started last week. Pray for this new chapter in the life of their church, that this would be a chapter of growing in love for you, growing in the knowledge of you through your word, that they would be faithful in evangelism and outreach and seeing others reach for Christ.
And that, Father, you would use that church, as I pray, you would use all the churches in our valley to raise up faithful men who trust your word and seek to see
Christ preached to a valley that so desperately needs it. So, Father, we pray for your blessing on them.
We pray for your blessing on us now as you open your word. We ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.
Amen. Please be seated. I've given our passage this afternoon just a very simple title.
It's the joy of humility, the joy of humility. That's really the big theme of this section as we come to Philippians in chapter number two.
Well, as we get started this afternoon, I wanna start with a question.
I'll start with a question that I think might be of benefit to us as we think through it. What would you say is the biggest threat to any church?
Take a moment and think about that. What would you say is the biggest threat to any church?
As you can imagine, in the role that I occupy, I think about that question and related questions a lot.
What is the biggest threat to a church's health and to a church's vitality?
What would we say is the biggest threat to a church? Is it false teaching?
I think we can all agree that's a pretty big one. Is it a rapidly growing secular culture?
I think there's something to be said for that one. Let's think about some of the things that Christians usually fight about.
Is it musical choices? Let's be clear, there are some musical choices you should not make, but that's a sermon from another time.
But is it musical choices? Is it the wrong Bible translation? Is it government overreach, as we all discovered the last couple of years?
Is it the ever -increasing breakdown in our culture's understanding of gender and sexuality?
Or even in the church, the seeming confusion about that teaching? Is that the biggest threat?
I mean, let's be clear, those are all big threats. But think about this with me for a moment.
What do all of those threats have in common? Okay, someone says pride.
All right. I think on a more fundamental level, all of those things happen out there.
Those are things from outside that can become a problem in here, but those are external.
They're all outside forces. And again, legitimate threats to be sure, but again, all of those threats are outside.
You have to, as it were, open the door, and often it's just ever so slightly. You just have to let them in even a little bit for them to wreak havoc, but you still have to let them in.
Yes, they are real threats, but again, let's continue this thought experiment for just a moment. What if the biggest threat to the church isn't out there?
And when I say the church, at this point, I'm thinking big C, church as a whole. But now let's get focused.
What is the biggest problem a local church, our church, any church, what if the biggest problem isn't out there?
What if the biggest problem a church faces is way closer to home?
What if the biggest threat to the health of a church isn't some massive problem? What if the biggest threat starts off pretty small, pretty unseen, pretty invisible, but before long, it grows and metastasizes into an incurable disease?
You didn't ask me, but for what it's worth, I think the biggest threat to a church has only one letter in it.
It's of course the letter I. The biggest threat to any church is not some huge, massive, complex thing.
It's really just, it boils down to one letter, the letter I. Pride and its non -identical twin, self -censoredness, might be the biggest threat to the health and the vitality of any church.
I have lost track as a pastor's kid who is now a pastor himself.
I have lost track of how many times I have heard of churches that were doing fine, seemed to be doing well, and then all of a sudden, as my dad used to say, the syndrome of the big
I and the small you crept in. You know what I mean when I say that? I is big, you is small.
Bad grammar, but gets my point across. I put it to you that that might be the biggest threat to the health of any church.
Well, this afternoon, Paul is going to, as it were, take us to school on the subject of humility.
The subject of humility, which is pride's great nemesis. You see, the reality is a gospel church, the kind of church that we talked about in chapter one, the kind of church that Philippi was and the kind of church we and every local church should want to be, a gospel church, the reality is, won't thrive without humility.
It simply won't. You can have the best teaching, the best music, the best programs, you can have the best everything, but if pride is present, like undetected cancer in a body, it will end up killing anything that is healthy in a local body.
And if that reality is true, then we need some help in thinking about humility, don't we?
Thankfully, this passage that we have in front of us is loaded with so much helpful truth when it comes to the subject of humility.
And let's be clear, without humility, not only will there be an absence of joy, which is what we're thinking about in this series as we march our way through Philippians, without humility, not only will there be an absence of joy, let's just be honest, there won't be the presence of pretty much anything else healthy in the life of a local body.
And so that makes this subject of humility super important. Can we agree? Well, the question for the day becomes, well, how do we pursue humility as a people being shaped by the gospel?
If we are, as we saw in chapter one, the people who have heard the gospel and the gospel is impacting us in partnership and in advance and in spiritual progress, well, if that's the case, how can we pursue humility as a people shaped by the gospel?
Well, that kind of leads to my big idea for this afternoon. My big idea in this sermon is very simple.
Beloved, true joy cannot be found in seeking our own glory, but in following Christ's example of humility.
Allow me to say that again. True joy cannot be found in seeking our own glory, but in following Christ's example of humility.
If as we're marching our way through Philippians and we're seeking to discover how it is that we can find true joy, true supernatural delight in the people, plans, purposes, and pursuits of God.
If we're going to seek that kind of joy, true joy can't be found if you're chasing your own glory, but it can be found in following Christ's example of humility.
For the rest of our time this afternoon, I want to consider three principles for pursuing and finding the joy of humility.
I think as we come to this passage, Paul has much to teach us about how it is that we find, we pursue and we find the joy of humility.
If you, if I, if we are going to pursue, if we are going to find humility, then it's going to start as we, first of all, we remember
God's incentives. We remember God's incentives.
Remember God's incentives. As with so much in life, half the battle is knowing the right stuff.
It's not the entirety of the battle, but more often than not what you don't know is often what's the problem.
Or let me put it this way, not so much what you don't know, what you may have forgotten. Paul starts by calling us to the pursuits of humility and he starts by reminding us of some basic truths that make humility not just a good idea, it makes it impossible to argue.
You'll notice in verse one that he uses this language of if four times. We want to be slightly careful here.
If in the English language kind of denotes this idea of maybe, maybe not for the most part.
That's not how Paul is using it here. Paul is using it here in the sense of if and it is, or if and this is true.
That's why the Christian standard Bible picks up this nuance slightly and adds the word if then, because these things he's about to describe, these are indeed true.
You see Christian, because of Jesus and his work for us, God has given us some wonderful privileges.
In fact, Paul lists four of them in verse one and each of these wonderful privileges make for strong incentives for pursuing humility.
If you need some motivation for pursuing humility, here are four really good, already true motivations.
Firstly, know that Paul says, do you see it there in verse one? He says, if there is any encouragement in Christ, the first of these incentives, you've got encouragement that only
Christ can give. You've got encouragement that only Christ can give.
The word for encouragement here carries this idea of assistance. It's coming alongside someone.
It's the noun form of the verb that's used to describe the Holy Spirit. Back in John chapter,
I believe it's 14, where Jesus says, it's to your benefit that I leave, but if I don't, the comforter, some of your translations say.
Comfort is not the greatest translation for 21st century readers. That's a whole other sermon for another time. That's why some translations say the helper, because that gets more to it.
The person who comes alongside. Paul says that if then, there is any encouragement in Christ.
Not again, he says that this is found in Christ. Anything that the
Christian enjoys, the Christian enjoys because the Christian has been united to Christ.
In fact, the reality is in the pursuit of humility, we are not starting behind the line. We are starting well ahead of the line exactly because we have been joined to Christ.
So what is it that Jesus says in John chapter 15? John chapter 15, as he is giving some final instructions and some final words of encouragement to his disciples.
John chapter 15 and verse five, Jesus said, the one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit because you can do nothing without me.
Paul will pick up on this theme in Romans chapter six. He starts his discussion of sanctification, how it is that the people of God are being made progressively righteous through the work of Christ.
And in Romans chapter six, he says, after saying, well, can we continue in sin just so grace may abound?
After he's talked about justification, he says, no. He says, how can we who die to sin still live in it?
And then he says, verse three, or are you unaware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
Therefore, we were buried with him by baptism, Romans chapter six, verse four, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, so we too may walk in newness of life.
The reality is that because we have been baptized into, we have been united with Christ, just as he died, we have died to sin.
And just as he was raised, we have been raised, Paul says, so that we too may walk in newness of life.
You see, the reality is pride comes naturally to human nature. You do not need to teach people to become proud.
You just don't. Pride might come naturally to the human nature, but humility can only come through the divine nature.
And that's a nature that we partake of because of our union with Christ. And that serves as encouragement, that serves as power for us to pursue humility.
So the reality is, as Christians, we have an encouragement that only Christ can give because we've been united to him.
But there's a second incentive for pursuing humility. Not only have we received encouragement that only
Christ can give, Paul also says you've got a consolation that only
Christ's love can give. So you see that second phrase in verse one, if then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love.
It's interesting, the word used for consolation here is only used here in the New Testament. It's a very rare word.
It wasn't used very often. We know from other Greek texts from the day that it carried this idea of speaking to somebody in a friendly way, in a way that is welcoming, in a way that is warm.
What Paul is getting at here is very simple. He's simply saying that for those who are in Christ, we know what it is for God to speak well of us because we are in Christ.
See, Christ's love for the believer is not theoretical. It's not purely intellectual. No, Christ's love for the believer is experiential.
It actually ministers to the very heart and being of God's people. The reality of Christ's love for you,
Christian, is one of the most valuable realities in all the world. As I was preparing this passage, my thoughts went to a verse.
This is John chapter 13. John chapter 13 and verse one. Before the
Passover festival, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father. This is the part of the verse that came to mind.
John 13 one. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
The reason that this verse came to mind was I was rearranging some stuff in my office, as I'm often doing, and I picked up a
Puritan paperback, those wonderful books published by the Banner of Truth, and I picked it up and it was called
The Heart of Christ Towards Sinners on Earth. I think the banner title just says
The Heart of Christ. They shortened the really long Puritan title. It's by an author called
Thomas Goodwin. I highly recommend reading it. It's really, really good. And so I got curious.
I was like, I'd love to see what he says about this verse. So I picked up the book and I started to read it. And I picked up this.
It's a slightly longer quote than I generally like to read, but I want you to read it with me.
I want you to hear me as I read it. And for a moment, think about how he speaks about Christ's love for his own.
He's commenting on this verse, John chapter 13, verse one, when he says, quote, the elect are
Christ's own, a piece of himself, not as goods. The word that he uses reckons them his own, not as goods, but as persons.
His own by a nearer propriety, that is has his own children, his own members, his own wife, his own flesh.
And he considers that though he was to go out of the world, yet they were to be in the world.
And therefore it is added on purpose, which were in the world, quoting John 13, one, that is to remain in this world.
He had others who were in that world onto which he was going. Even the spirit of just men made perfect, whom as yet he had never seen.
One would think that when he was meditating upon his going out of the world, that his heart should be on all, this is interesting, on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom he was going to, to those who had already passed on.
No, he takes more care for his own who were to remain here in this world.
This is it which draws out his bowels towards them. Even at that time when his heart was full of the thoughts of his own glory, having loved his own, he loved them unto the end.
Goodwin's point, which might get lost in the very verbose way the Puritans wrote, is really simple. Jesus is about to leave this world.
His thoughts are not on those already in glory. The text says, John 31, it's a clever observation he makes, that Jesus' heart is not for those out there, those who've already made it.
His thoughts were for those he was leaving behind. Guess what, by the way?
Since you are not in heaven, guess what? You are one of the ones he was thinking about in this moment. And I read that because I want you to think about this with me for a moment.
How often do you think about this love? This love that Christ has for you?
How often do you sit with an open Bible and with an open heart and just meditate on the reality of the love of Christ for you?
When's the last time that, as it were, you pointed your heart and mind towards heaven and reflected on it? This hit me this week as I was preparing in a massive way.
Think about this. Right now in heaven, there is a glorified man. Yes, he is God, but he's also a man. A glorified man who sits in heaven and you know who is on his mind and on his heart all the time?
You. That that man sits in glory, the universe at his disposal.
And what is he thinking about? You and I. If I can borrow the words from the prophet
Jeremiah, he loves you and I with an everlasting love.
Paul's point is very simple. He doesn't have to say it because it's true. If this is true, if this is the comfort of Christ's love for those of us who know him, how can we not pursue humility in light of that?
So he says, you've got encouragement that only Christ can give. You've got consolation that only Christ's love can give. Thirdly, he says, you've got a partnership that only the
Spirit can produce. See that third one thing there in verse one? If any fellowship with the
Spirit, the reality is that the Spirit produces fellowship.
We talked about this partnership in the last, well, about three weeks ago now. We talked about this idea of the fact that those who are in Christ are made partners together around the gospel.
But Paul picks up on another nuance of this here. Not only are we partners around the mission, important as that is, no, the fellowship he's talking about here is fellowship with one another in the
Spirit. The fellowship doesn't, the Spirit, excuse me, doesn't just produce fellowship around the mission.
No, he also produces fellowship with one another. That's what
Paul can say in Ephesians chapter four, verse three, after talking about the fact that we should walk in a manner that is worthy of the calling that we've received.
When we use that language of worthy, it means in line with, up to the standard of the calling that we've received.
He says that, oh, but by the way, verse two, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love.
That's why he can say in verse three, making every effort to keep, by the way, he says keep, or some of your translations will say maintain, to keep, not create, not build, to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace. The reality is where the Spirit of God is, he already creates unity among God's people.
The question is, are we going to maintain? Are we going to help that thing flourish?
Or are we just gonna leave it alone, kind of like when we have house plants in the edible and household? We do our best to look after them, but they all end up dying anyway.
No, the reality is where the Spirit of God is, he produces fellowship, true partnership among God's people.
He produces the kind of fellowship that you can't manufacture, you can't fake. Let's be clear, you can fake being nice to people.
I won't tell you if I've done it, but I'm sure you've encountered somebody at some point who you can tell, this person's being nice to me, but they don't like the first thing about me.
You can fake that, but you can't fake genuine, gospel -powered fellowship, you can't fake that.
And where a body of believers is either lacking in that kind of fellowship, or you constantly need to exhort from the outside to make that happen, we would do well to remember that one of the great benefits that is given to us by Christ is his
Spirit who creates unity and fellowship with God's people. You've got the kind of encouragement only
God can give. You've got the kind of consolation only Christ's love can give. You've got a partnership only the
Spirit can produce. And fourthly, do you see what he says there? He says, you've been shown affection and mercy.
You've been shown affection and mercy. Ultimately, it's our experience of being a loved and a forgiven people that should fuel the pursuit of humility.
It is in our recognition of the fact that God has shown us both affection, a tender heart, and mercy, not giving us that we deserve.
It's because we have experienced that, that's why we should pursue humility.
It's like what Jesus said, I believe it's John, oh, not John, excuse me, it's Luke, Luke chapter seven. Remember the story of the woman who comes, breaks open the alabaster box, and then pours out the perfume on Jesus, wipes his feet with tears, so on and so forth?
Remember people's response to that? Like Judas, who only cares about money, is there like, oh, this is a money problem.
You know, how much money is gonna get lost because of this? And Jesus is like, can we like not worry about that?
Remember what Jesus said, Luke chapter seven, verse 47? He said, therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven.
That's why she loved much. It was her experience as a forgiven woman that caused her to show that kind of love for Christ.
You see, the reality is pride creeps in often, where forgetfulness creeps in.
You ever thought about that? There's a strong relationship between pride and forgetfulness.
If you forget that you are somebody who has had mercy shown to them, here's what's gonna happen.
When it comes time for you to show mercy to others, you're gonna act like you haven't been shown any mercy.
This is a point that Jesus makes over and over and over again when you read his teaching, that it is the person who has been forgiven much who understands the need to forgive others.
Isn't it all too easy for us to forget the mercy that has been shown to us? Isn't it all too easy for us to forget that we were the recipients of God's tender heart in Christ, of God's mercy, and as a result, doesn't it become all too easy for us to treat each other with little to no mercy?
Isn't it the case that we can so quickly forget that we weren't always saints, that once upon a time we were once estranged from God?
Isn't it all too easy for us to actually forget that we are a forgiven people and that we should, if I can use this language, pay that forward in the way in which we deal with one another?
And by the way, when I say this, I don't mean what has become so popular and is even put in Christian books and what have you, this sort of what everybody sins, no big deal.
We'll just show grace to people which really isn't the biblical kind of grace. It's more just a,
I'll give you a pass and we won't really address the issue. No, no, no, what I'm talking about here, the kind of forgiveness, the kind of grace that we should show to others,
I'm referring to a recognition that even where there is genuine weakness and failure, we both confront it and remember that it is covered by the blood of Christ.
And since it's covered by his blood, the least we can do is then be a little more genuinely gracious with one another.
I love how the New Living Translation renders these two words in verse one, affection and mercy. It says, it ought to make, it says, shouldn't your hearts be tender and compassionate?
I think that's a good way to put that. Can we agree?
I've spent most of my time so far, half an hour. Pray for the rest of the sermon. I've spent time hammering this one point, why?
Because these are pretty strong incentives to pursue humility. And please know that none of these have anything to do with you.
That's why I titled this point, remember God's incentives. They're not incentives that come from us.
I can't make you do these things. I can't make these things true, neither can you. These are things that God has done for us in Christ.
And with those incentives firmly embedded in our minds, we're then in a position to remember that it's not about you.
Remember that it's not about you. I mean, this should make some sense, given all those wonderful realities we just talked about.
If this is all God's work, then it's not about you. It's worth noting just how personal
Paul is in this section. Did you catch that? Paul doesn't just say, do this.
Look again at verse two. If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the
Spirit, if any affection and mercy, make my joy complete. Now, this is not emotional blackmail on the part of Paul.
He's not saying, guys, this would make me really happy if you did this. No, Paul appeals to the joyful remembrance.
Remember he said back in chapter one how he remembers them often in his prayers and he's thankful for them. Paul is appealing to that joyful remembrance that he already had and saying, guys, this is a way you can make that joy complete.
You can make it full. By pursuing humility, the
Philippian Christians would bring the joy that Paul already felt to its full experience.
Well, the question is, well, how? Well, Paul's not just talking about his joy in this life because remember,
Paul's a vocation, if you want to use that language. He is a, in a very, very real sense, called and set apart servant of God.
Paul recognized that one day he was going to stand before God and give an account for the people to whom he ministered.
And Paul essentially says, listen, you can make my joy complete both in this life and on that day when
I stand before the Savior. Essentially, Paul says, you can do that by living in the kind of way he's about to describe.
Essentially, Paul says, I want to be able to say on that day, Lord, here are the people I ministered to and Lord, here is the fruit of your spirit's work in their lives.
In this sense, Paul is echoing what I think was very well known to the apostolic church because also the
Hebrews use a similar language. Hebrews 13, 17, obey your leaders and submit to them. Since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so they can do this, both keep watch over your souls and give the account with joy and not with grief for that would be unprofitable.
For you, Paul says, my brothers and sisters, you can make my joy complete, both in this life and in the life to come.
You can make my joy complete by pursuing these things. Well, what things? What would completing
Paul's joy look like? Well, for Paul and for us, completing his joy would look like, first of all, understanding that we have to work to share a united outlook, work to share a united outlook.
So he says, make my joy complete by thinking the same way. Now, this might be a struggle for us as 21st century
Westerners, wait, thinking the same way. Like, is that even humanly possible?
You know the saying, where you put 10 people in a room, ask them a question and you'll get 50 different opinions. But Paul says here, make my joy complete by thinking the same way.
In case you're wondering what the original language says, it literally says having the same mind.
That doesn't sound any easier than thinking the same way. But notice something with me, notice something with me.
Paul doesn't say, make my joy complete by having the same opinions.
He doesn't say that. Let's be honest, we all have opinions and we should treat our opinions with the value that they deserve.
Yes, we don't ignore people's opinions, but let's be honest, you should not have a higher view of your opinion than you should.
No, Paul says not have the same opinions, he says have the same mind, the same way of thinking.
Oh, and then he tells you what the way of thinking is. He says our English translations don't, we don't have a way in English to kind of show this, but in the original language, those next few words, where he says having the same love, united in spirit, intent to one purpose, those are explaining how you think the same way.
So you think the same way by having the same love, a mutual love for one another, grounded in our mutual love for God in Christ.
But not only do we have the same love, we are united in spirit. This word is interesting, it's one word, literally carries the idea of being same -souled, same -souled, it's almost as though, yes, we are different people, yet the different people all live as one people.
Having the same love, united in spirit, intent on, how does he describe it?
Intent on one purpose. Not only do we share the same affection, not only do we share the same mind, but we also share the same mission.
Thankfully, God has taken this out of our hands, because the reality is, if we all had to share the same mission, and then we all had to agree what the mission was, none of us are gonna agree 100 % on what we think the mission should be.
Which is why we can be thankful that God in his word tells us what the mission is. What's the mission of God's people?
Worshiping the Savior, equipping the saved, and witnessing to the lost.
That's the mission of the church. And Paul's point is essentially, listen, you can make my joy complete by being about the same mission.
As one writer puts it, instead of having petty squabbles and rivalries, Paul wishes that they could get their heads on straight and remember their identity and common mission.
And the reality is a united outlook doesn't diminish individuality, it doesn't diminish different perspectives, it doesn't diminish the different personalities
God has made us with. What it means is that we subject individuality, we subject individual perspectives, we submit our different personality types to the main things.
The realities of our life in Christ, those things we saw in verse one, and our mission in light of these realities.
I don't have the time, but I would, I think in the study, I'd actually put the references in there. Paul talks about this a lot, he's constantly referring to this reality that God's people are to live in harmony, live with one mind with each other.
I'll pick just one because of time. First Corinthians 1 .10. First Corinthians 1 .10, he says, "'Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, "'in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, "'that all of you agree in what you say, "'that there be no divisions among you, "'and that you be united with the same understanding "'and the same conviction.'"
For Paul, the reality of a united people was not a gold -tier, top -shelf kind of Christianity that only the really super -spiritual people could attain to.
Now, Paul's understanding was this is, we used to have a phrase back home, when somebody would do something and people would kind of flip out about it, like it was the most amazing thing and they didn't think that, they'd just be like, that's
Tuesday. This is how Christianity is supposed to operate.
Not only should we work to share a united outlook, we should also work for the good of others, not just our own.
We should work for the good of others, not just our own. Paul presents in verses three and four, two contrasting mindsets.
So in verse three, he describes one mindset, really you can summarize it as the mindset driven by self.
Verse three, he says, "'Do nothing.'" Oh, by the way, this is still in the original or continuation of his thought. "'Doing nothing,' you could say, "'out of,'' note what he says, "'selfish ambition or conceit.'"
Verse four, "'Everyone should look out "'not only for his own interests.'"
That's the mindset that's driven by self. Selfish ambition. Remember we saw this word back in chapter one?
It was that word that was used for political campaigning. Conceits, literally two words, vain or empty glory.
In fact, I don't think anyone here has the King James Version on them. The King James Version just translates it that way.
Vain glory, that's one word. Made up a word because that's the best way to describe it. Seeking glory that looks good but has no substance.
The mindset driven by self, verse three, is looking out for one's own interests alone. So my needs, my wants, my priorities, my program.
We might get clever and say, well, we, but the we we're referring to is not God's people. The we is my people who are close to me.
But it's still the same thing. It's a mindset that is driven by self. It just happens to be those who are connected to us.
In contrast to the mindset that is driven by self, there is the mindset that is driven by a very important belief.
The belief that says that others are, how does Paul describe it in verse three? More important than yourselves.
If the first mindset is summarized by that one letter I, the second mindset is summarized by two letters,
W -E, we. In contrast to our mindset that says
I, those who are pursuing humility say we, and they actually mean it. This might get lost on us as 21st century readers, but in, let me for a moment,
I want to take you back to the world of the first century. The world of the first century hated the idea of humility.
No, literally, I'm not exaggerating when I say that. Humility was considered a slave's mindset. In fact, you can read writer after writer after writer from the ancient world, the day of the
New Testament, and they have nothing kind to say about people who were humble. One anecdote
I read this week just in kind of trying to understand this mindset in the New Testament. It's a story of a, it's not a story, it's basically a journal entry from a soldier, and he's mocking a fellow soldier, and he's mocking the fellow soldier for being humble because the fellow soldier apparently was really good at being a soldier, but for whatever reason, he was a really humble person, and this author couldn't stand it.
His language actually gets quite colorful in his depiction of just how much he couldn't stand that this guy who was that accomplished was being humble.
In fact, the word that's used for humility here in verse three was considered almost a cuss word. It's the New Testament church who pick up this word and elevate it to a virtue.
This is what was expected of slaves. They were the underclass of the ancient world. You can picture those, especially in a
Roman colony like Philippi, who on earth would willingly choose to be humble?
And Paul, you can almost kind of picture the smile on his face as he writes this and says, Christians, Christians choose to be humble.
Those who have come to know the almighty and sovereign God in the person of Christ rightly recognize just how small they are when they are compared to almighty
God. Think about it. How can there be a big
I and small you when all of us are like ants compared to the God who made us? You ever thought about that?
I wonder pride doesn't, I've often thought about this. Pride makes no sense among Christians. I understand people in the world who have all their accolades and all their achievements.
I understand them being prideful. That's all they've got. Make it make sense that people who say, especially people who say they believe in a sovereign
God, make it make sense that they are often some of the most prideful.
Now, once you recognize just how small you are in comparison to the greatness of God, it shifts the value you place on your brother and sister.
That's what Paul can say. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, consider others as more important than yourself.
Everyone should look at not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
Paul is not saying, you know what, neglect your family, neglect work. He's not saying neglect all of that, but he's saying the same, if I can borrow a language from the kids these days,
I'm not one of them anymore, but if I can borrow their language for a moment, that same energy, keep that energy when it comes to your brother and your sister, the same intensity you devote to your own concerns and your own needs, apply that energy, keep that same energy when it comes to your brother and your sister.
Does that sound like a lot? Does that sound like a big ask? It should sound like a big ask.
And I have to be careful even as I'm preaching this, because there's a way that I can say this that makes it sound as though, pull up your bootstraps, try harder and do better, which only ever leads to one or two responses, either pride, look at me, how good
I am. You know, it's the ironic person who says, look how humble I am. Or to despair, oh, heavens,
I'm a really arrogant person. I really can't do anything about that. Yes, it sounds like a lot.
Actually, you need an example. What the biggest need you need in this moment is an example. Because think about it, we've already been given the empowerment to do this.
We read that in verse one. We've been given all of these great incentives, but just in case, just in case, just in case you say, this can't be done.
Again, put yourself in the shoes of the Philippian Christians. Paul wants us to what?
Here? You need an example.
You need proof that this can be done and proof that it is for your good. So Paul being the master theologian that he is, he points us to the ultimate example.
You can argue all other kinds of examples. Well, I'm not that person. That person's extremely this, extremely that.
So he says, okay, let's just cut all of that. You see, if we're going to pursue and find humility, we would do well to remember gospel incentives.
Remember it's not about you. And most important of all, remember the Lord Jesus. Remember the
Lord Jesus. Now, full disclosure. Verses five through 11,
I need three sermons minimum. We don't have three sermons minimum.
I've got 15 minutes. I need three sermons just to get all the meat out of this.
Since I don't have three minutes, can I recommend a couple of resources for some of the more weightier theological issues here?
I'll touch on them, but I need to kind of keep it moving. First resource I recommend is a full length book.
It's called the Person of Christ, an Introduction. Here it is. Not a big book. Person of Christ, an
Introduction by Stephen J. Wellam. I listed it in the Minding the
Message page this week. So no rush, try and write it all down. It should be in there. This week,
I've had this book for a while and I finally cracked it open this week. It was incredibly helpful. So I highly recommend this.
If you think, okay, Kofi, some of us don't have time to read books that size. Can you make this a little simpler?
I have included in this week's study guide what I think is one of the best summaries of the
Bible's teaching on the person of Christ, at least the theology of it all, from the Second London Baptist Confession.
So the study guide might've felt a little thicker this week is because I added a couple of extra pages.
I'd encourage you to read that section because it's one of the best treatments I've read of how Jesus' humanity and deity all work together.
All of the stuff that we might struggle to get our heads around naturally. I can't cover all of that, but what
I can do is just focus very briefly on how Paul uses that information to encourage greater humility.
How exactly are we supposed to remember the Lord Jesus? Well, look at verse five.
Look what he says. Verse five. He says, we are to adopt the same attitude.
Oh, by the way, that language of the same attitude is the exact same phrase for thinking the same way. See, how we think the same way isn't left to us.
I told you that. If you want to know what this looks like, look no further than our own
Lord Jesus. How exactly does the attitude of Jesus, how is that supposed to spare us on the pursuit of humility?
Real quick. First of all, you need to remember just how low
Jesus got. Remember just how low
Jesus got. So verses five and six, adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who existing in the form of God did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited, literally to be grasped, to be held onto for your own benefit.
Now, you've got to be careful here. When he uses this language of Jesus existing in the form of God, this is not a reference to the divine nature.
And let me be clear about that. The word for form here is that which hits the eye, that which you can see.
Actually, it was used for kings when kings would wear their sort of royal robes, the sort of resplendence of that.
That's the word that was used here. The reference here is to the majesty that Jesus had as God.
Think about this. Jesus talks about this. John 17 is one passage where he talks about this again and again and again. This glory that he had with the
Father before the world was. He existed in the form of God.
He had that very glory that God had. I mean, think about it. You and I might have a little something to brag about every now and again, but imagine if you were almighty
God. Calvin explains that Christ then, before the creation of the world, was in the form of God because from the beginning, he had his glory with the
Father. There was a majesty.
There was a glory that Christ had. And what does Paul say? Paul says he didn't consider equality with God, the fact that he shares the divine nature fully and perfectly.
He didn't consider that something to be held onto. How exactly did he live?
Verse seven. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death.
To death on a cross. Now, if I need you to tread carefully earlier,
I really need you to tread carefully here. There are some, and I'm gonna add even otherwise orthodox people.
I know it because I was taught this by people who were otherwise really orthodox who teach that this passage is saying that Jesus gave up his divine attributes in the incarnation.
And they're saying that, no, he didn't stop being God, but the exercise of those attributes, he laid them aside.
At least for the time that he was here. Now, there are also really heretical groups who push that to his logical conclusion.
But please note that that's not what Paul says here. Like I said, I don't have time to get into all the theology of this. I'll simply have you know, verse seven, it says that Christ emptied himself.
Now, if he stopped there, I'd understand all the speculation, but the text, and I saw this this week really for the first time, the text tells you what the emptying was.
So what does it say? Verse seven, instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, by taking on the likeness of humanity.
The emptying was not Jesus gave up being God. The emptying was that though he had the divine nature, he added to that divine nature, a full and real human nature.
I gave you the 1689 in the study guide this week. This is what it says about this quote, two whole perfect and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person without converting one into the other.
So it's not Jesus cashed in his divinity and took in humanity, or without mixing them together to produce a different or blended nature.
It's not that Jesus, in fact, there was an ancient church heresy that taught this, that when Jesus became a human, he didn't have a human nature, he didn't have a divine nature.
It was something kind of a mixture of the two. No, that's not what the
Bible teaches either. This person referring to Christ is truly God and truly man, yet one
Christ, the only mediator between God and man. The human nature and the divine nature weren't mixed, but they exist together in the same person.
I wish I could tell you I understand how all that works. I don't, but praise God, I don't have to understand that at worst.
I just have to believe it, amen. I do recognize this is complicated though, so allow me to pull the illustration.
A little bit of levity for just a moment. Anybody here seen the show Undercover Boss before? If you haven't, you're missing out.
It's a great show. I recommend it. In the show Undercover Boss, if you've seen this show, if you've watched it, you know the premise.
You have a CEO or COO of a company, sometimes even the founder of the company, depending how far back you're watching the show, and they decide that they are going to, for a week or however long, become an employee in their company.
In the early seasons, it was hilarious. It was a little contrived because it's kind of reality
TV, so you know what to expect with that. But in the early seasons, you have this scene where you see him about his business as a
CEO and all of the trappings of luxury because he's a CEO, and then he goes into his boardroom and tells the people in the boardroom, so I'm leaving my role as CEO for a week to go work in this company.
If you want my advice on the best episode, watch the one about 7 -Eleven. It was fascinating for multiple reasons.
I gained a lot of respect for 7 -Eleven after that. But when the boss, this is where my illustration's going.
When the boss leaves the boardroom to become an employee, does he stop being the boss? Come on, talk to me.
Does he stop being the boss? No, he continues to be the boss. But for a season, what has he done?
He has left, if you will, the glory of being the boss to become an employee.
He has taken a temporary but very real step down for this particular purpose.
But does he stop being the boss? No, in fact, some of my favorite episodes are the ones where there are problems so bad, he has to make a phone call and he has to find a way to do this in secret because something is really bad and he still has all the authority of the boss and needs to fix it.
But for that week, does he have the prestige that comes with being the boss? The answer is, of course, no.
And that is Paul's point, that Jesus divested himself of the majesty that came with being
God by becoming a man. And in doing so, he humbled himself all the way to the cross.
Jesus was willing to go all the way in humility to the point of death. Think about this,
God who cannot die took on a nature so that he can die. Now, that's comforting because in one sense, none of us can do what
Jesus did. And notice that Paul doesn't say, do the same thing
Jesus did. Because you can't do the same thing Jesus did. You cannot, well, first of all, you've never had a divine nature and then had to add perfectly a human nature to that without mixing the two or killing one of them.
None of you have died for a single sinner, countless millions. So in that sense, you are not called to do what
Jesus did. Again, look what Paul says, verse five, adopt the same attitude.
Yes, you cannot do what Jesus did, but you are called to follow his example. And the unspoken, and it's unspoken because it's unnecessary.
The unspoken implication from Paul is, go and do likewise in the power of the
Spirit. If Jesus was willing to make that much of a sacrifice to give up the prestige of being eternal
God, to become not just a man, but a servant, and to die the worst kind of death.
That's why he says, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on the cross.
Remember, these are Roman citizens he's writing to. Roman citizens couldn't be killed by crucifixion because it was considered too embarrassing.
But Jesus did. If he was willing to make such great sacrifices, that is on board to fuel us in our pursuit of humility.
It's like what John says, first John chapter three in verse 16, if this is how we know love that he gave his life for us,
John says, we should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Can I put it to you that we cannot say that we have understood
Christ's sacrifice if we haven't understood how it serves as a supreme example for our, let's be clear, imperfect, stumbling, yet Spirit -empowered sacrifice for one another.
And if in your heart of hearts, you kind of feel this tension like, okay, Kofi, if I'm being called to that level of sacrifice, won't people take advantage if I chase this kind of humility?
If I can borrow the language of the hood I grew up in, Kofi, won't folks punk us if we are this soft?
I'd like to say no, but let's just be honest. Yeah, they might. Humility can and will be exploited in a fallen world.
Yes, it can and it might happen, but know that for Jesus, that was not the end of his story. If the story ended with Jesus dying, the death of a slave, the death of a servant, that would be, it would be a little anticlimactic.
No, it wasn't the end for Jesus. Yes, you remember how low Jesus got, but oh, don't forget to remember how high God elevated Jesus.
Don't forget how high God elevated Jesus. Verse nine, for this reason, for the sake of his obedience, for the sake of his humility, for this reason,
God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.
The word name there is referring to a title. It says that God highly exalted, it's one, again, one word in the original language, super exalted.
He exalted him and then he took him even higher than that. He super exalted him and he gave him a name, a title bearing authority.
And he didn't just give him a high ranking title. It's not like when
King Charles, I still haven't watched the coronation, I know, but I understand that not long after that, he conferred upon his son the title that he had had for years, which was
Prince of Wales. Well, that's basically the title you give to the crown prince. It's a high title.
It's a big one, opens doors. But Jesus has a title way above that.
Think of the most splendiferous, I know that's not a word, but go with me for a moment. Think of the most amazing word you can think of, the most amazing title you can think of.
And Jesus towers above that. Verse 10, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Sure, the world might not recognize that now.
It might mock it, it might disrespect it. Even in his death,
Jesus was mocked and disrespected. But a day is coming when all humanity will confess the
Lordship of Christ. A day is coming when the king who became a servant will return to rule and to reign.
And here's the good news for you, Christian. On that day, every act of humility, every sacrifice, every moment of others' focused service will finally make sense.
And that should help you to keep some perspective when it comes to humility. It should help you to keep some perspective because the reality is, and I end with this.
There are two ways that this can go, this pursuit of humility can go. Men will either confess
Jesus is Lord now in repentance and faith to their everlasting joy, or on that day when it's way too late, they will confess his
Lordship and enter into everlasting judgment. But here's the thing, for the Christian, the
Christian has already passed from death to life. And as a result, if bending the knee to Jesus has already happened, while we're down there, think about this.
I close with this. While we're down there, why not pick up a towel in a basin and serve our brothers and sisters?
Because ultimately, that's where true joy is found. True joy isn't found in you kind of getting everything you want.
What's the saying that we have? Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it. No, Paul would have us to understand that one of the ways in which we find true joy is in bending the knee to Christ.
And while we're down there, serving one another. And Father, we thank you for the example of the
Lord Jesus. We thank you that in him, we see a perfect example of what it is to humble ourselves, to lay ourselves low so that you may be exalted, so that your plans and your purposes and your pursuits in and through us will be accomplished.
Father, help us that we would say no to the siren song of pride that seeks to elevate the big
I and lessen the small you. Father, help us that we would be a people marked by humility, not a people marked by confidence in the flesh, not people marked by belief in ourselves, but by belief in you and in confidence in your son,
Jesus. Father, as we come to the Lord's table even now, this reminder of the humility of Christ.
May our hearts be freshly stirred as we remember his sacrifice. We ask these things in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.