WEBVTT 00:00:00.840 --> 00:00:04.459 So Philippians chapter 2, and we'll read there the first 11 verses. 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:10.099 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, 00:00:10.640 --> 00:00:14.759 if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:21.359 if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, 00:00:21.859 --> 00:00:25.260 having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:29.879 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:34.020 but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 00:00:34.820 --> 00:00:38.740 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, 00:00:39.219 --> 00:00:40.880 but also to the interests of others. 00:00:41.399 --> 00:00:44.659 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:51.799 who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:56.659 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, 00:00:56.659 --> 00:01:01.199 being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man. 00:01:01.819 --> 00:01:07.159 He humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:12.140 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:15.359 that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:17.900 in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 00:01:17.900 --> 00:01:23.879 And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:32.140 Well, let's turn back to that passage in Philippians 2 and spend a few moments considering it together. 00:01:36.399 --> 00:01:40.319 Humility is central to the Christian life. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:45.459 Without humility, nobody will ever see their need of a savior. 00:01:45.459 --> 00:01:49.239 Without humility, no one will ever come to God. 00:01:50.399 --> 00:01:55.239 And without humility, none of us will ever grow in grace and realize that we need to be more like Jesus. 00:01:56.699 --> 00:02:01.079 Both becoming and living as a Christian requires humility. 00:02:02.219 --> 00:02:08.500 In James 4, verse 6, it says that God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble. 00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:13.139 Quoting from that psalm that we sung earlier in Psalm 138. 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:19.400 Now, I know this intellectually, and I'm sure many of you do as well. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:21.180 We know that we're not perfect. 00:02:21.320 --> 00:02:22.820 We know that we fail Jesus daily. 00:02:23.100 --> 00:02:25.719 We know that we constantly need to come back to Jesus. 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:29.659 And yet my pride gets in the way. 00:02:30.100 --> 00:02:35.180 So often I rely on my own strength, my own abilities, rather than trusting and relying in God. 00:02:36.980 --> 00:02:38.439 Isn't this what we often find? 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:43.520 There's this disconnect between the way we know we ought to live and the way we actually live day by day. 00:02:45.460 --> 00:02:54.120 Well, one passage that I think really helps me when wrestling with these issues of pride and how I should live is Philippians 2, verses 1 to 11. 00:02:55.219 --> 00:03:00.860 This is a passage I was first introduced to as a trainee leader at a scripture union camp. 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:14.020 The team leader used this passage as his way of teaching the team members how he wanted the camp to be led, what he wanted people to have as their attitude throughout the week. 00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:20.040 He wanted to teach us not to simply be there for our own enjoyment, but actually be there to serve God and to serve the campers. 00:03:20.039 --> 00:03:25.500 But what I remember more is not his teaching on the passage. 00:03:26.299 --> 00:03:35.900 What I remember is the way he actually demonstrated this attitude in the way he led the camp, in the way he didn't just delegate to others the lowly tasks, in the way that he mucked in and helped. 00:03:37.019 --> 00:03:41.840 He told me once that he had become a Christian at an SU camp when he was a teenager. 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:53.319 Because of the influence of one particular leader, his group leader who had been this amazing guy that he'd really looked up to, someone who was very good at football and he loved football, and they got on really well together. 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:59.020 And then one day he'd walked into the toilets at the camp and he'd seen this leader cleaning the toilets. 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:03.400 He couldn't understand why this amazing guy would be cleaning the toilets. 00:04:03.400 --> 00:04:10.580 And that got them talking about various things to why that camp leader was at the camp, what he wanted out of the camp. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:14.680 And it got that camp leader to be able to point him to Jesus. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.579 And that's one of the massive impacts in his life in becoming a Christian. 00:04:19.800 --> 00:04:25.680 Now the part of the story that he didn't tell us, but I got to see over many years of going to a camp with this team leader, 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:32.019 was that on the last day of every camp, when all of the team have to go around cleaning up the campsite 00:04:32.019 --> 00:04:39.319 and getting everything ready for people who come next, this team leader would always make sure he was meant to clean the toilets. 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:43.279 It was his way of remembering the influence that this person had had on him, 00:04:43.539 --> 00:04:48.879 and also his way of serving and showing that he wasn't above serving and cleaning the camp with the rest of us. 00:04:49.979 --> 00:04:54.639 So that team leader took the words of Philippians 2, verse 1 to 11, and he didn't just talk about it. 00:04:54.839 --> 00:04:56.620 He put it into practice. 00:04:57.099 --> 00:04:59.120 The words made a difference in his day-to-day life. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.819 And that's the challenge for each of us this morning. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:07.060 Can we take the words of this passage and actually put them into practice in our life? 00:05:07.720 --> 00:05:13.120 So I want to spend a few moments talking with you about this passage and seeing what's in it and showing you things. 00:05:14.019 --> 00:05:15.579 I want to look at it under three headings. 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.199 We're going to first of all look at the importance of humility. 00:05:19.620 --> 00:05:22.319 We're then going to look at the illustration of humility. 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:25.379 And finally, the implications of humility. 00:05:26.019 --> 00:05:28.379 So let's start with the importance of humility. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:34.959 In Philippians 2, verse 1 and going into verse 2, 00:05:35.360 --> 00:05:40.540 we have what is perhaps one of Paul's most passionate appeals that he makes in any of his letters. 00:05:41.399 --> 00:05:44.360 If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, 00:05:44.680 --> 00:05:49.360 if any comfort from his love of any fellowship with the spirit of any tenderness and compassion, 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:51.199 then make my joy complete. 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:55.620 Now, Philippi was a church that Paul knew well. 00:05:56.019 --> 00:05:57.740 This is a church that he'd actually planted. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.439 He'd met the first converts there. 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.959 Lydia, the wealthy purple merchant that we read about in Acts, 00:06:04.199 --> 00:06:08.740 had put Paul up in her house for many years where he worked in Philippi. 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:13.300 Even when Paul had left this church to go travel elsewhere, 00:06:13.939 --> 00:06:19.519 Epaphrodites had been sent by the church to comfort and to provide support to him when he was in prison. 00:06:20.460 --> 00:06:23.120 Now, Epaphrodites had almost died making this journey. 00:06:23.400 --> 00:06:26.240 That's how much this church and the people of this church cared about Paul. 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:33.240 And throughout the letter, his concern and his care and his love of this church come out so clearly. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:41.160 And yet, with every letter of Paul in the New Testament, there's an issue in this church. 00:06:41.400 --> 00:06:43.199 There's something that isn't quite right. 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:45.920 What's the issue in Philippians? 00:06:46.259 --> 00:06:52.819 Well, the main issue is this lack of unity that we see hinted at in chapter 4, verse 2, 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:59.159 when he pleads with Eudea and Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:03.560 But this seems to be a general issue in this church, that the church is disunited. 00:07:03.899 --> 00:07:06.219 That they're not all coming at it from the same place. 00:07:06.300 --> 00:07:09.100 They have their own ideas of what's best for the church. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.659 Now, disunity can destroy the work of the gospel. 00:07:14.680 --> 00:07:19.259 People look on a church that's disunified, and they're not interested in what that church is doing. 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:23.939 In fact, one of the things Jesus said is that people would know us by our love of one another. 00:07:24.699 --> 00:07:26.719 So disunity can destroy the work of the gospel. 00:07:26.980 --> 00:07:30.399 But Paul's concern in this letter is to call the church to unity. 00:07:30.980 --> 00:07:34.719 And in fact, in chapter 1, verse 27, we see this. 00:07:34.860 --> 00:07:35.240 He says, 00:07:35.240 --> 00:08:01.160 So Paul's great concern in this letter is that the people would be united, contending together in one spirit, one mind, for the faith of the gospel. 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:07.080 The gospel was meant to unite them together, and they were meant to work together in proclaiming that gospel to others. 00:08:08.020 --> 00:08:09.720 And that's what leads into chapter 2. 00:08:10.520 --> 00:08:24.040 As Paul begins chapter 2, in the first verse there, he gives four reasons why the church should make his joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 00:08:24.340 --> 00:08:26.280 So he gives four reasons there in verse 1. 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:27.920 And so let's just look at these briefly. 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:33.200 First of all, any encouragement from being united with Christ. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.200 Now, Paul knows these people. 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:39.779 He knows that they do have this encouragement. 00:08:39.960 --> 00:08:43.460 He isn't saying if in the sense of, do you really have this? 00:08:43.860 --> 00:08:45.039 He knows these people. 00:08:45.100 --> 00:08:46.580 And so he's really saying, wake up. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:51.920 You know you have encouragement from being united with Christ, so you should be united to one another. 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:59.039 After all, if we are all united to Christ as Christians, how can we be disunited from one another? 00:08:59.339 --> 00:09:01.599 There's only one Christ for us to be united to. 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:05.599 He continues, if any comfort from his love. 00:09:06.339 --> 00:09:10.839 Now, the word his there isn't actually there in the underlying Greek. 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:13.579 It really just says, if any comfort from love. 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:17.080 And I actually think that his suggests it's about Christ. 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:19.960 I think it's really about God, the Father. 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:22.879 So if any comfort from the Father's love. 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:25.520 Because Paul constantly talks about the love of the Father. 00:09:26.500 --> 00:09:28.040 Any comfort from the Father's love. 00:09:28.180 --> 00:09:32.540 Because the Father was the one who sent Jesus to save us. 00:09:32.539 --> 00:09:38.439 So if any comfort from all that God has done to show his love for us, we should be united. 00:09:39.399 --> 00:09:41.539 If any fellowship from the Spirit. 00:09:42.519 --> 00:09:44.959 Now, this is another reason why I think it was Father in the last one. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:47.879 Because this is now the Son, the Father, and the Spirit. 00:09:48.179 --> 00:09:49.779 All three persons of the Trinity. 00:09:50.620 --> 00:09:52.419 Any fellowship from the Spirit. 00:09:53.019 --> 00:09:55.759 The Spirit's the one that works amongst us as God's people. 00:09:55.939 --> 00:09:56.939 And unites us together. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:00.139 As we have fellowship with him, we have fellowship with one another. 00:10:00.139 --> 00:10:04.120 So what's Paul saying in these first three reasons? 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:08.019 He's saying that if on the basis of all that God has done for you. 00:10:08.580 --> 00:10:09.980 Of all that the Son has done for you. 00:10:10.039 --> 00:10:11.199 Of all that the Father has done for you. 00:10:11.220 --> 00:10:12.519 Of all that the Spirit's done for you. 00:10:12.939 --> 00:10:13.879 Be united. 00:10:14.559 --> 00:10:17.299 Basically, on the basis of all of the gospel. 00:10:18.139 --> 00:10:20.879 We don't have to put ourselves first. 00:10:21.500 --> 00:10:23.919 Because Christ put us first in coming. 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:27.600 We don't have to love ourselves. 00:10:27.939 --> 00:10:30.120 Because God has loved us perfectly. 00:10:31.139 --> 00:10:34.659 And we don't have to vie for positions of importance within the church. 00:10:34.659 --> 00:10:37.519 Because we all share in that same fellowship of the Spirit. 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:43.419 Any advantage given to any of us is ultimately attributable to God. 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:46.299 Now, the fourth reason is slightly different. 00:10:46.439 --> 00:10:48.559 The fourth reason, if any, tenderness and compassion. 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:52.139 Is really the fruit of the gospel in the Christian's life. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:54.319 It's that new creation. 00:10:54.519 --> 00:10:55.220 That new heart. 00:10:55.319 --> 00:10:56.159 That new attitude. 00:10:56.700 --> 00:10:59.819 That means that we, because of all that God has done for us. 00:11:00.139 --> 00:11:04.480 We show tenderness and compassion to one another in the church. 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.259 So it's on the basis of all of this. 00:11:07.399 --> 00:11:08.120 All of the gospel. 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:11.920 That Paul is calling the people to be united. 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:14.159 He's calling the people in Philippi to be united. 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:15.539 And he's calling us to be united. 00:11:15.539 --> 00:11:17.960 As another church of Christ. 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:18.860 Many years later. 00:11:20.440 --> 00:11:24.180 Unity is vital for the gospel. 00:11:24.179 --> 00:11:26.319 It's vital for the work of the gospel. 00:11:26.739 --> 00:11:32.639 How can we work together to promote the gospel and to tell us what Jesus has done. 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:34.599 If we don't agree on what that is. 00:11:34.739 --> 00:11:37.939 If we don't agree on who God is and what's been going on. 00:11:38.099 --> 00:11:40.579 So unity is vital for the work of the gospel. 00:11:42.779 --> 00:11:47.139 And it's at this point that we start to ask the question. 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:49.740 What's causing disunity? 00:11:50.460 --> 00:11:53.620 What's causing the church not to be united? 00:11:55.360 --> 00:12:02.639 Well, the root of so much disunity in our churches is human pride and selfishness. 00:12:03.139 --> 00:12:09.539 It's the fact that our own preferences we put above the good of God and the good of others in the church. 00:12:09.539 --> 00:12:13.259 We become more concerned about how we think the church should be run. 00:12:13.319 --> 00:12:14.899 About how we think things should happen. 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:18.500 And less concerned about the purpose of the church. 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:21.480 Less concerned about glorifying our God. 00:12:21.879 --> 00:12:23.360 Of building one another up. 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:27.480 And of reaching out to others who don't know Jesus. 00:12:28.599 --> 00:12:31.899 Pride and selfishness say that we are more important than God. 00:12:31.980 --> 00:12:33.559 And we are more important than others. 00:12:34.699 --> 00:12:36.860 And that causes disunity within the church. 00:12:37.139 --> 00:12:39.179 As people vie for positions of importance. 00:12:39.539 --> 00:12:43.240 As they compete over their own ideas of what the church should look like. 00:12:44.679 --> 00:12:47.879 As they do things out of what Paul calls in verse 3. 00:12:48.879 --> 00:12:52.120 Selfish ambition and vain conceit. 00:12:53.980 --> 00:12:58.519 So if this disunity is caused by pride. 00:12:58.679 --> 00:12:59.899 Is caused by selfishness. 00:13:00.419 --> 00:13:05.000 What is Paul's antidote to this infection that has infected the body of Christ? 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:06.799 Humility. 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:07.399 Humility. 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:07.799 Humility. 00:13:07.799 --> 00:13:09.120 That's why in verse. 00:13:09.359 --> 00:13:11.019 At the end of verse 3 he says. 00:13:11.139 --> 00:13:14.620 But in humility consider others better than yourselves. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:16.319 And then in verse 4. 00:13:16.419 --> 00:13:18.799 Each of you should look not only to his own interests. 00:13:19.079 --> 00:13:21.359 But also to the interests of others. 00:13:22.939 --> 00:13:26.859 So humility is Paul's antidote to the infection of pride. 00:13:27.019 --> 00:13:27.539 Selfishness. 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:28.699 Disunity in the church. 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:31.200 So what is humility? 00:13:32.280 --> 00:13:34.800 At the time that Paul was writing. 00:13:35.280 --> 00:13:37.640 Humility was not a virtue among the Greeks. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:40.440 It wasn't something that they really valued and thought was important. 00:13:41.280 --> 00:13:46.120 Some people even suggest that Paul invented the word humility in this passage. 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:47.640 Or elsewhere where it's used. 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:48.639 Humility in the church. 00:13:48.639 --> 00:13:55.199 Because he needed to give a word in Greek to a concept that Jesus had taught when he was washing the disciples' feet. 00:13:55.299 --> 00:13:57.759 When he was doing other acts of service. 00:13:58.199 --> 00:14:00.960 But also to an Old Testament concept. 00:14:01.460 --> 00:14:04.799 Because the idea of humility actually comes from the Old Testament. 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:09.539 It comes from places like those Psalms that we have sung together this morning. 00:14:09.539 --> 00:14:12.539 It's the idea of lowliness. 00:14:13.319 --> 00:14:15.939 Of comparing yourself not to one another. 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:18.179 But comparing yourself to God. 00:14:18.419 --> 00:14:19.839 And when we look to create a God. 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:21.360 When we compare ourselves to God. 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:25.059 We realize how low we truly are. 00:14:25.819 --> 00:14:28.559 And that allows us to rest in God's care. 00:14:28.959 --> 00:14:30.199 To not rely on our own abilities. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:35.839 And it also allows us to recognize that every other human being is made in the image of God. 00:14:36.500 --> 00:14:39.199 And so we don't have the right to big ourselves up over them. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:42.439 Now this is not some kind of religious facade. 00:14:42.740 --> 00:14:47.039 Or some kind of false modesty that so often we encounter amongst people. 00:14:47.759 --> 00:14:49.620 In reality, false modesty. 00:14:50.079 --> 00:14:52.379 Where someone says, I'm nothing. 00:14:52.579 --> 00:14:53.519 I'm rubbish at this. 00:14:54.240 --> 00:14:56.419 Is really just pride in a different form. 00:14:56.599 --> 00:14:57.699 Because people say that. 00:14:57.819 --> 00:14:59.519 So that you'll turn around and say, no, no, no. 00:14:59.559 --> 00:15:00.480 You're great at this. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:01.620 And build them up. 00:15:02.039 --> 00:15:03.299 So it's not false modesty. 00:15:03.419 --> 00:15:04.620 It's not a religious facade. 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:08.399 It's a proper estimation of who you are. 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:10.860 It's realizing that you're not God. 00:15:11.299 --> 00:15:14.120 That you don't have the abilities as God. 00:15:14.459 --> 00:15:15.840 That you need to rely on Him. 00:15:16.579 --> 00:15:19.500 It's a recognition that your gifts come from God ultimately. 00:15:19.819 --> 00:15:21.899 That you are who you are only because of what He has done. 00:15:21.899 --> 00:15:29.720 And that your weaknesses are there almost in many ways to actually point you to your need of God. 00:15:29.939 --> 00:15:32.279 So it's a recognition of your gifts, your weaknesses. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.439 It's not thinking too much of yourself. 00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:36.439 And it's also not thinking too little of yourself. 00:15:37.579 --> 00:15:44.100 True humility though, actually moves the question away from looking to us to looking at other people. 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:46.100 And isn't that what Paul says here? 00:15:46.720 --> 00:15:50.920 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 00:15:51.820 --> 00:16:03.100 So true humility, because we recognize our state before God, because we recognize how low we are, moves us to look at other people and God rather than focusing on ourselves. 00:16:03.100 --> 00:16:06.899 It's not focused on us, it's to appeal to the interests of others. 00:16:07.259 --> 00:16:16.620 Now the Bible teacher John Piper, looking at verse 4, points out that the word interests in verse 4 isn't here in the underlying language. 00:16:17.139 --> 00:16:25.860 All it actually says is each of you should look not only to your own something, but also to the something of others. 00:16:25.860 --> 00:16:30.860 The word interest is put in by many translators to try and cover this idea. 00:16:31.560 --> 00:16:38.180 But Piper says to truly understand this concept, we need to understand interests is much broader. 00:16:39.180 --> 00:16:45.300 Usually what happens, you see, is that we tend to be quite happy to look to the interests of others in certain areas in our lives. 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:47.820 We're happy to give over certain things to God. 00:16:48.340 --> 00:16:50.120 But there's a few things we like to hang on to. 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:53.460 So he puts it like this in order to drive home the message. 00:16:53.460 --> 00:17:04.600 Let each of you look not only to your own financial affairs or your own property or your own family or your own health or your own reputation or your own education or your own success or your own happiness. 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:06.519 Don't just think about that. 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:08.140 Don't just have desires about that. 00:17:08.220 --> 00:17:09.500 Don't just strategize about that. 00:17:09.600 --> 00:17:10.940 Don't just work towards that. 00:17:11.500 --> 00:17:18.880 But look to the financial affairs and property and family and health and reputation and education and success and happiness of others. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:18.980 Don't just work towards others. 00:17:20.760 --> 00:17:29.040 So this is a very strong calling on each of us to look to the interests of others in every area of our lives. 00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:34.240 That means we have to be alert to the needs of one another within the church. 00:17:34.760 --> 00:17:37.840 It means we have to know one another and know where we can help one another. 00:17:38.840 --> 00:17:43.860 And as it says in Galatians, we have to do good to all, especially to the household of faith. 00:17:43.859 --> 00:17:49.000 So we have to be doing this not just to ourselves within the church, but also outwith the church. 00:17:49.479 --> 00:17:51.919 We have to serve the community and serve the people in the church. 00:17:52.259 --> 00:17:55.059 We have to be alert to their interests, their needs. 00:17:56.679 --> 00:17:59.859 And this is what leads to true unity in the church. 00:18:00.279 --> 00:18:03.679 Because as we are aware of one another's needs, as we're looking out for one another, 00:18:04.000 --> 00:18:06.059 and they're looking out for us and everyone else in the church, 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:08.359 that's what leads to the church working together. 00:18:08.879 --> 00:18:10.799 That everyone is caring for one another. 00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:15.440 So humility leads to unity in the church. 00:18:16.619 --> 00:18:18.259 And Paul could have just stopped there. 00:18:19.200 --> 00:18:21.599 He's the first pastor of this church. 00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:22.919 He knows the people well. 00:18:23.099 --> 00:18:25.059 He could have just stopped his message at this point. 00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:27.899 He's made his point that they must be unified. 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:30.899 He's made their point that they must look out for the interests of others. 00:18:32.159 --> 00:18:33.579 But Paul knows his people. 00:18:34.339 --> 00:18:37.299 He knows the way in which pride infects their hearts. 00:18:37.619 --> 00:18:39.700 He knows in which the way they know this intellectually, 00:18:39.700 --> 00:18:41.120 but they still don't put it into practice. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:44.460 He knows how we think as well. 00:18:45.340 --> 00:18:46.039 So what does he do? 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:49.319 He gives us the ultimate sermon illustration. 00:18:51.059 --> 00:18:56.740 He points us to Jesus Christ as the ultimate illustration of humility. 00:18:56.740 --> 00:19:03.120 So that takes us to our second point, the illustration of humility. 00:19:05.440 --> 00:19:10.880 Now, many of you know Bob Aykroyd, the systematic theology professor at Edinburgh Theological Seminary. 00:19:11.299 --> 00:19:15.880 Now, he's obsessed with telling us as students that all theology is practical, 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:21.259 that all theology should change the way we think, should make us worship God more. 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:29.099 And so there shouldn't be any kind of academic or kind of theology just for the sake of theology. 00:19:29.259 --> 00:19:34.079 We always are doing theology to love God more, to learn more about who God is. 00:19:34.900 --> 00:19:39.559 And all theology should change the way we relate to God and the way we relate to one another. 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:45.720 And in this next section of Paul's letter, I think we have the ultimate example of that. 00:19:46.519 --> 00:19:52.399 What we have here is some of the richest, deepest theological grounds. 00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:57.919 The incarnation, God becoming man, being expounded by Paul. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:02.500 And he uses that to show how our lives should be changed. 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:07.759 How we should, in a practical way, put this into practice in our life by being humble. 00:20:09.480 --> 00:20:13.660 It's an amazing example of the way in which all theology is practical. 00:20:13.980 --> 00:20:15.840 So he calls us, in verse 5, 00:20:16.060 --> 00:20:19.400 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. 00:20:20.180 --> 00:20:25.660 Who being in very nature God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. 00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:29.279 Jesus is God. 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:34.460 That's what it means when he says being in the very nature God and didn't consider equality with God. 00:20:35.460 --> 00:20:37.140 Jesus is God. 00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:39.980 All of the majesty of deity is his. 00:20:40.700 --> 00:20:43.080 All of the functions of being God are his. 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:45.560 All of the privileges of being God are his. 00:20:46.759 --> 00:20:48.840 He was loved by the Father from all eternity. 00:20:49.000 --> 00:20:50.259 He was worshipped by the angels. 00:20:51.580 --> 00:20:54.220 He was invulnerable to pain, frustration and embarrassment. 00:20:54.220 --> 00:20:58.400 John 1 verse 3 tells us that through him all things were made. 00:20:58.759 --> 00:21:00.759 Without him nothing was made that has been made. 00:21:01.660 --> 00:21:03.220 So Jesus made the universe. 00:21:04.180 --> 00:21:07.980 He is the one who is worthy of all glory, all reverence, all worship. 00:21:09.000 --> 00:21:11.759 All of the power of God is his. 00:21:13.339 --> 00:21:14.600 He is fully God. 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:18.640 Now as humans, we long for power so often. 00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:21.299 We seek to dominate and to rule over others. 00:21:21.299 --> 00:21:28.579 We love to delegate the lowly tasks to somebody else and take all the credit for ourselves. 00:21:29.339 --> 00:21:32.539 I'm sure many of you have worked for bosses just like that. 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:37.039 Or to your shame at times when we have had a little bit of power. 00:21:37.379 --> 00:21:39.240 That's the way we behave to other people. 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:45.659 Human leaders often act out of selfish ambition and vain conceit. 00:21:45.660 --> 00:21:49.600 We try to grab onto power and to hold onto it at all costs. 00:21:51.440 --> 00:21:57.820 Jesus, the one person who has all the power as entitled to all the worship and glory, 00:21:58.820 --> 00:22:00.500 was radically different from that. 00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:05.420 Even though all the power, all the glory, all the majesty of God is his, 00:22:06.120 --> 00:22:08.640 he didn't consider that as something to be grabbed, 00:22:09.040 --> 00:22:11.380 something to be grasped onto and held tight. 00:22:11.380 --> 00:22:15.420 Instead, what did he do? 00:22:16.320 --> 00:22:17.000 Verse 7, 00:22:17.380 --> 00:22:19.340 But made himself nothing, 00:22:20.520 --> 00:22:24.100 taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 00:22:25.800 --> 00:22:27.500 This is the mystery of the incarnation. 00:22:28.340 --> 00:22:30.440 That God became man. 00:22:32.040 --> 00:22:33.720 It is a great mystery. 00:22:33.840 --> 00:22:36.280 We don't fully understand how God became man, 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:42.059 but we hold onto the fact that the Bible tells us that Jesus was fully God and fully man. 00:22:43.379 --> 00:22:46.079 We have here that he made himself nothing. 00:22:46.279 --> 00:22:49.220 Some translations translate this as he emptied himself. 00:22:50.019 --> 00:22:53.039 And some people use that verse, that phrase, 00:22:53.220 --> 00:22:58.200 to suggest that Jesus somehow became less God when he came to be a man. 00:22:58.480 --> 00:23:00.259 That he somehow gave up some of his deity. 00:23:01.220 --> 00:23:02.279 But that's a complete misunderstanding, 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:05.119 because that's missing what this verse actually says. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:06.279 What does it say? 00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:11.439 It says he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. 00:23:11.739 --> 00:23:15.000 He made himself nothing by taking our humanity. 00:23:15.459 --> 00:23:20.019 By taking it with all its weakness, with all its problems and frailty, 00:23:20.139 --> 00:23:21.979 he took it to himself. 00:23:23.179 --> 00:23:25.479 So he didn't become less God. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:28.759 He took to himself humanity. 00:23:29.639 --> 00:23:31.639 He grew weary and was tired. 00:23:32.299 --> 00:23:33.759 He hungered and thirsted. 00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:36.039 He felt the throbbing pain of a human body. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:40.559 He subjected himself basically to everything that this messed up world has. 00:23:40.879 --> 00:23:42.980 All of its temptations, all of its sufferings. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:46.660 I don't know if you've seen the TV show, The Undercover Boss, 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:53.160 where basically the manager of a company goes and works on the shop floor 00:23:53.160 --> 00:23:56.160 in order to find out what's really going on in the company. 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:59.320 And nobody knows that he is the manager or the CEO. 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:01.920 This is like Jesus. 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:03.120 He veiled his glory. 00:24:03.259 --> 00:24:04.400 He hid his identity. 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:06.340 He walked among us. 00:24:07.160 --> 00:24:09.060 And he allowed other people to mistreat him. 00:24:09.059 --> 00:24:15.139 We saw how he allowed himself to be mistreated throughout his life. 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:17.419 He washed the disciples' feet. 00:24:17.480 --> 00:24:19.480 He allowed himself to be subject to that mess. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:25.440 And then ultimately in this passage, we learn in verse 8, 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:27.259 being found in the appearance as a man, 00:24:27.660 --> 00:24:31.480 he humbled himself and became obedient even to death, 00:24:32.320 --> 00:24:33.720 even death on a cross. 00:24:35.799 --> 00:24:40.460 Crucifixion was the worst form of execution in the ancient world. 00:24:41.460 --> 00:24:45.380 Paul, who wrote this letter, would never be subject to execution, 00:24:46.700 --> 00:24:47.660 to crucifixion. 00:24:48.059 --> 00:24:50.160 He might be subject to execution, not to crucifixion, 00:24:50.160 --> 00:24:52.759 because he was a Roman citizen. 00:24:53.340 --> 00:24:55.480 He had rights and a status and privilege. 00:24:56.759 --> 00:25:00.980 Jesus took on himself the death of the lowest of the low, 00:25:01.480 --> 00:25:03.560 the death that was reserved for the lowest of the low, 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:05.900 even death on a cross. 00:25:07.600 --> 00:25:11.160 Nobody has ever humbled themselves so much. 00:25:12.120 --> 00:25:15.220 Nobody ever started so high and went so low, 00:25:15.800 --> 00:25:18.180 even to the point of death on a cross. 00:25:18.180 --> 00:25:21.460 God becoming man and dying for us. 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:26.700 A hymn that I think recently you've been starting to learn, 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:29.500 the hymn The Author of Creation or Across the Lands, 00:25:29.660 --> 00:25:31.779 has a wonderful verse that really illustrates this. 00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:32.660 It says, 00:25:33.120 --> 00:25:35.259 Yet you left the gaze of angels, 00:25:35.900 --> 00:25:38.200 came to seek and save the lost, 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:40.700 and exchanged the joy of heaven 00:25:40.700 --> 00:25:43.460 for the anguish of a cross. 00:25:44.120 --> 00:25:48.000 That great exchange is the humility of Christ. 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:50.759 Mark 10, verse 45 says, 00:25:50.860 --> 00:25:53.060 For even the Son of Man did not come to serve, 00:25:53.320 --> 00:25:55.060 to be served, but to serve, 00:25:55.860 --> 00:25:58.660 and to give us life as a ransom for many. 00:25:59.980 --> 00:26:01.700 2 Corinthians 8, verse 9 says, 00:26:01.779 --> 00:26:04.240 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:05.880 that though he was rich, 00:26:06.560 --> 00:26:08.180 yet for your sake he became poor, 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:10.400 so that you through his poverty 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:12.039 might become rich. 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:16.220 This is so important to grasp. 00:26:16.639 --> 00:26:19.539 Nobody ever humbled himself so much. 00:26:20.740 --> 00:26:24.259 We said Jesus had the full power of God at his disposal, 00:26:25.259 --> 00:26:27.200 but he didn't use it for his own advantage. 00:26:27.980 --> 00:26:30.180 He poured himself out for us. 00:26:30.180 --> 00:26:33.259 As Jesus is dying on the cross, 00:26:33.820 --> 00:26:36.180 there are people who come and are taunting him. 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:38.840 They say to him that if you are truly God, 00:26:39.380 --> 00:26:41.640 step down from that cross and prove it to us. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:43.820 Show that power. 00:26:44.380 --> 00:26:45.200 Show that you are God. 00:26:45.500 --> 00:26:46.539 Tell us all that you are God. 00:26:48.120 --> 00:26:50.200 Now Jesus would have been utterly entitled 00:26:50.200 --> 00:26:52.360 to step down off that cross. 00:26:52.359 --> 00:26:54.119 But he doesn't. 00:26:54.479 --> 00:26:55.779 He chooses to remain there. 00:26:56.799 --> 00:27:00.159 He chooses to suffer, to die, to be humiliated. 00:27:01.619 --> 00:27:03.559 Why does he endure all that? 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:06.339 For our salvation. 00:27:07.059 --> 00:27:09.799 There is no other way in which we can be saved. 00:27:10.439 --> 00:27:11.899 He knows that on the cross, 00:27:12.139 --> 00:27:14.659 that we are the ones who rebelled against him. 00:27:14.879 --> 00:27:16.179 We are the ones who went our own way 00:27:16.179 --> 00:27:17.679 and are worthy of God's wrath. 00:27:18.719 --> 00:27:21.659 And he knows that we cannot pay the punishment ourself. 00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:23.899 He knows there is no other way 00:27:23.899 --> 00:27:25.459 for us to come to salvation 00:27:25.459 --> 00:27:27.839 than by him using the full power of God 00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:29.919 to remain on that cross 00:27:29.919 --> 00:27:32.500 and to die freely for us. 00:27:33.579 --> 00:27:35.839 To experience the loss of the father's love, 00:27:35.939 --> 00:27:36.979 the anguish of the wrath. 00:27:38.579 --> 00:27:40.579 He knew it was the only way. 00:27:41.479 --> 00:27:43.240 And so he willingly went to the cross. 00:27:44.599 --> 00:27:46.000 This is the ultimate demonstration 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.539 of who God is, his character. 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:50.119 His love and his grace 00:27:50.119 --> 00:27:51.559 that he went to the cross 00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:53.500 as the only way to save us. 00:27:55.299 --> 00:27:57.519 In Philippi, there were people in the church 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:59.220 who wanted to make a name for themselves, 00:27:59.599 --> 00:28:01.460 who were anxious that people would understand 00:28:01.460 --> 00:28:03.659 that they were someone who really mattered. 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:06.099 That's what pride does. 00:28:06.099 --> 00:28:12.319 By contrast, the person who really was somebody, 00:28:12.759 --> 00:28:14.759 the person who was God in all his glory, 00:28:15.899 --> 00:28:17.959 chose to make himself nothing, 00:28:19.059 --> 00:28:20.859 chose to be mistreated and even to die 00:28:20.859 --> 00:28:23.039 to save us all. 00:28:25.639 --> 00:28:27.359 Paul's intention in this passage 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:30.219 is that we would gaze upon this illustration, 00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:31.539 this example of Jesus, 00:28:31.539 --> 00:28:33.899 and it would stir our hearts. 00:28:34.279 --> 00:28:38.000 It would cause us to realize just who we are 00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:40.299 and what God has done for us. 00:28:40.899 --> 00:28:42.480 And in gratitude for that, 00:28:42.759 --> 00:28:44.359 we would realize there is nothing 00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:45.579 we can withhold from him. 00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:48.659 And then to cap it off in verse nine, 00:28:48.879 --> 00:28:50.779 we read what happens after that death, 00:28:50.940 --> 00:28:53.059 that God exalted him to the highest place 00:28:53.059 --> 00:28:54.740 and gave him the name that is above every name. 00:28:55.740 --> 00:28:57.779 God vindicated his son. 00:28:57.779 --> 00:29:01.059 The resurrection proved that the sacrifice was acceptable 00:29:01.059 --> 00:29:02.480 and that we too can be raised. 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:04.240 That yes, we might face death. 00:29:04.599 --> 00:29:06.220 We might face all the horrors of that, 00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:08.639 but there is a promise of a resurrection 00:29:08.639 --> 00:29:10.220 to be with our God. 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:13.299 And then the consequences of that, 00:29:13.420 --> 00:29:14.759 that at the name of Jesus, 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:17.420 every knee should bow in heaven and on earth 00:29:17.420 --> 00:29:18.039 and under the earth, 00:29:18.240 --> 00:29:20.740 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord 00:29:20.740 --> 00:29:22.399 to the glory of God the Father. 00:29:24.420 --> 00:29:25.799 And there's the real challenge. 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:28.779 Because the consequences of all that Christ has done 00:29:28.779 --> 00:29:31.279 is that everyone will bow. 00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:34.259 Every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. 00:29:35.579 --> 00:29:37.779 Which leads us to the implications of humility, 00:29:37.859 --> 00:29:38.919 our final point this morning. 00:29:39.740 --> 00:29:41.700 And the question of will we do this now 00:29:41.700 --> 00:29:43.419 or will we do this later? 00:29:44.619 --> 00:29:46.919 The promise in this verse is that one day 00:29:46.919 --> 00:29:48.359 every knee will bow, 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:50.279 no matter who you are. 00:29:51.000 --> 00:29:52.899 Even the most hardened of atheists now 00:29:52.900 --> 00:29:56.120 who will never claim that there would be a time 00:29:56.120 --> 00:29:57.100 when they would bow before God. 00:29:57.180 --> 00:29:58.759 The promise is that one day they will bow. 00:30:00.759 --> 00:30:01.880 But for some people, 00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:03.820 when this happens, 00:30:04.080 --> 00:30:05.700 when they stand before God, 00:30:05.780 --> 00:30:06.320 when they bow, 00:30:07.640 --> 00:30:08.480 it'll be too late. 00:30:09.700 --> 00:30:11.900 The hour of salvation will have passed them by 00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:15.420 and they'll face the eternal judgment of hell. 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:19.720 The people who refuse to humble themselves now, 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:21.920 who refuse to trust in Jesus now, 00:30:22.900 --> 00:30:24.620 in the end there'll be no salvation for them. 00:30:26.360 --> 00:30:28.160 So the challenge for each of us is, 00:30:28.279 --> 00:30:30.759 are we going to bow now and confess now? 00:30:31.360 --> 00:30:32.220 Or are we going to wait? 00:30:33.519 --> 00:30:34.820 Are we going to respond humbly 00:30:34.820 --> 00:30:37.500 to all that God in Christ has done for us? 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:39.980 All that Christ secured for us on the cross? 00:30:39.980 --> 00:30:43.640 Or are we going to continue to go our own way? 00:30:45.299 --> 00:30:46.480 Remember I said at the beginning, 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:49.240 humility is essential for the Christian life. 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:52.759 You don't come to God unless you humble yourself. 00:30:53.980 --> 00:30:56.339 So if you're not yet a Christian here today, 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:00.420 you need to ask God to humble you, 00:31:01.180 --> 00:31:02.640 to bring you to the place 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:03.920 where you will bow the knee now. 00:31:05.140 --> 00:31:07.420 You need to realize that Jesus has done the work, 00:31:07.420 --> 00:31:10.440 that he waits with outstretched arms to welcome you, 00:31:11.140 --> 00:31:13.360 but he needs you to stop trusting in yourself 00:31:13.360 --> 00:31:15.220 and to look to him. 00:31:16.380 --> 00:31:19.259 You should be glad that you have the opportunity now to bow, 00:31:19.900 --> 00:31:23.019 to confess and to avoid the judgment to come. 00:31:24.680 --> 00:31:25.880 And if you are a Christian, 00:31:25.980 --> 00:31:26.820 you need to ask yourself, 00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:29.019 are you humbling yourself now day by day? 00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:32.320 Are you continuing to humble yourself before your God? 00:31:32.940 --> 00:31:34.779 Are you continuing to grow in grace 00:31:34.779 --> 00:31:36.340 as you humble yourself before your God? 00:31:36.339 --> 00:31:40.019 The church is meant to be a community 00:31:40.019 --> 00:31:41.720 of humble believers 00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:43.879 who seek to serve one another 00:31:43.879 --> 00:31:46.459 and to seek to worship their God together. 00:31:47.519 --> 00:31:48.619 And yet, as we said at the beginning, 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:49.399 there's this disconnect 00:31:49.399 --> 00:31:50.659 between how we know we ought to live 00:31:50.659 --> 00:31:51.740 and how we actually live. 00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:54.439 So how can we practically curb 00:31:54.439 --> 00:31:56.959 those temptations towards pride in our life? 00:31:58.419 --> 00:32:00.259 Well, first of all, we do need to be praying. 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:02.039 We do need to be asking God 00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:03.299 to help us with this enterprise. 00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:06.980 But we also need to take practical steps ourselves. 00:32:06.980 --> 00:32:09.779 We can't just say that it's nothing to do with us. 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:11.339 We just pray and God will sort us out. 00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:15.039 We're called in the Bible to be humble. 00:32:15.359 --> 00:32:16.919 We're called to act humbly. 00:32:17.940 --> 00:32:20.419 One book that I found particularly helpful in this area 00:32:20.419 --> 00:32:22.180 is Bonhoeffer's Life Together, 00:32:22.879 --> 00:32:25.319 in which he presents seven practical principles 00:32:25.319 --> 00:32:28.019 for eradicating selfish ambition 00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:29.579 from Christian communities. 00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:32.220 So as we come to a close this morning, 00:32:32.379 --> 00:32:35.099 I just want to go through briefly these seven areas. 00:32:35.980 --> 00:32:38.339 Some of these might not apply to you, 00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:40.960 but hopefully in one or two of these areas, 00:32:41.019 --> 00:32:42.359 you'll see an area in your life 00:32:42.359 --> 00:32:44.980 where you can work at being more humble, 00:32:45.359 --> 00:32:47.079 that you can ask God to help you 00:32:47.079 --> 00:32:48.539 to be more humble in this area 00:32:48.539 --> 00:32:50.379 and try and put this into practice. 00:32:51.259 --> 00:32:52.799 First of all, he says that Christians 00:32:52.799 --> 00:32:54.220 should hold their tongues, 00:32:54.699 --> 00:32:56.639 refusing to speak uncharitably 00:32:56.640 --> 00:32:59.060 about a Christian brother or sister. 00:33:00.620 --> 00:33:03.580 Essentially, don't gossip about Christians. 00:33:04.380 --> 00:33:05.040 That's what he's saying. 00:33:05.920 --> 00:33:09.360 Because, so be humble by not gossiping 00:33:09.360 --> 00:33:11.180 and putting yourself above your brother 00:33:11.180 --> 00:33:12.160 and sister in Christ. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:15.759 Second of all, cultivate the humility 00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:17.360 that comes from understanding 00:33:17.360 --> 00:33:19.140 that they, like Paul, are the greatest of sinners 00:33:19.140 --> 00:33:21.460 and can only live in God's sight by his grace. 00:33:22.540 --> 00:33:24.280 All that we've been thinking about in this passage, 00:33:24.279 --> 00:33:24.799 is the gospel. 00:33:25.500 --> 00:33:28.099 As we gaze upon this, as we focus upon this, 00:33:28.559 --> 00:33:30.700 realize that we are only standing here today 00:33:30.700 --> 00:33:32.139 because of what God has done. 00:33:32.539 --> 00:33:33.599 And that should humble us. 00:33:34.139 --> 00:33:34.899 And that should, therefore, 00:33:35.039 --> 00:33:36.139 cause us to look to others 00:33:36.139 --> 00:33:37.480 and realize that they're only here as well 00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:38.460 because of what God has done. 00:33:39.240 --> 00:33:40.440 So we shouldn't think of ourselves 00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:41.859 as better than them. 00:33:43.819 --> 00:33:46.299 Thirdly, we have to listen long and patiently 00:33:46.299 --> 00:33:48.000 so that they will understand 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:49.079 their fellow Christians' need. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:50.420 As we said earlier, 00:33:50.500 --> 00:33:52.319 we need to know one another in the church. 00:33:52.399 --> 00:33:53.359 We need to know what's going on 00:33:53.359 --> 00:33:54.819 and we need to know where we can help one another. 00:33:55.059 --> 00:33:55.799 So we need to listen. 00:33:57.699 --> 00:33:59.019 We need to, fourthly, 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:01.819 refuse to consider their time and calling 00:34:01.819 --> 00:34:03.699 so valuable that they cannot be interrupted 00:34:03.699 --> 00:34:05.599 to help with the unexpected needs, 00:34:05.959 --> 00:34:07.699 no matter how small or menial. 00:34:08.779 --> 00:34:10.000 We need to not think that 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:11.139 whatever we're involved in 00:34:11.139 --> 00:34:12.639 is the most important thing in the world, 00:34:12.940 --> 00:34:14.460 that something can't come along 00:34:14.460 --> 00:34:16.839 and cause us to stop what we're doing 00:34:16.839 --> 00:34:17.920 and do something else 00:34:17.920 --> 00:34:19.539 to serve someone or to serve God. 00:34:19.539 --> 00:34:22.159 There's a famous example of this 00:34:22.159 --> 00:34:25.500 with a former prime minister, Gladstone, 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:27.840 who was preparing one of his speeches 00:34:27.840 --> 00:34:29.219 that he was going to deliver in parliament 00:34:29.219 --> 00:34:31.639 and he was working late into the night 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:33.860 and a mother comes and asks him 00:34:33.860 --> 00:34:36.619 if he will come and comfort her crippled son 00:34:36.619 --> 00:34:37.239 who is dying. 00:34:38.320 --> 00:34:40.279 And he leaves what he's doing, 00:34:40.579 --> 00:34:41.559 he goes to the house, 00:34:42.320 --> 00:34:43.920 he shares the gospel with that son 00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:46.239 and helps lead that son to Christ 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:47.259 on his deathbed 00:34:47.259 --> 00:34:50.439 because that work was more important to him 00:34:50.439 --> 00:34:52.439 than the speech that he was doing 00:34:52.439 --> 00:34:53.759 and going to be delivering in parliament 00:34:53.759 --> 00:34:54.500 as prime minister. 00:34:55.339 --> 00:34:56.459 We need to recognize 00:34:56.459 --> 00:34:58.979 that our plans for our day, 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:00.799 what we have decided that we are going to do 00:35:00.799 --> 00:35:02.359 might not be what God wants us to do. 00:35:02.879 --> 00:35:03.899 There might be something better 00:35:03.899 --> 00:35:04.939 that he has for us to do 00:35:04.939 --> 00:35:06.319 and it might interrupt us 00:35:06.319 --> 00:35:09.679 and we shouldn't feel kind of frustrated 00:35:09.679 --> 00:35:11.199 that our time has been interrupted. 00:35:11.519 --> 00:35:12.399 We should be thankful 00:35:12.399 --> 00:35:14.259 that we have an opportunity to serve our God. 00:35:14.260 --> 00:35:17.480 Next, we have to bear the burdens 00:35:17.480 --> 00:35:19.040 of our brothers and sisters in the Lord 00:35:19.040 --> 00:35:20.300 both by preserving their freedom 00:35:20.300 --> 00:35:21.920 and by forgiving their sinful abuse 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:22.460 of that freedom. 00:35:23.880 --> 00:35:25.680 We will let one another down, 00:35:25.980 --> 00:35:27.040 we'll sin against one another 00:35:27.040 --> 00:35:28.920 but we have to forgive one another 00:35:28.920 --> 00:35:31.140 in recognizing that none of us are perfect. 00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:34.760 Sixth, we have to declare God's word 00:35:34.760 --> 00:35:35.860 to their fellow believers 00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:36.900 when they need to hear it. 00:35:38.320 --> 00:35:39.940 It's very easy sometimes 00:35:39.940 --> 00:35:41.540 for us to tell God's word to others 00:35:41.540 --> 00:35:43.140 and then when a difficult situation 00:35:43.140 --> 00:35:44.120 comes into our life, 00:35:44.260 --> 00:35:46.020 we struggle to tell it to ourselves. 00:35:46.700 --> 00:35:47.620 Now that's one of the reasons 00:35:47.620 --> 00:35:48.580 the church exists, 00:35:48.720 --> 00:35:50.320 that we are there to share God's word 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:50.800 with one another 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:51.880 and to help one another 00:35:51.880 --> 00:35:53.220 in the difficult times. 00:35:56.060 --> 00:35:57.580 Finally, we need to understand 00:35:57.580 --> 00:35:58.580 that Christian authority 00:35:58.580 --> 00:36:00.540 is characterized by service 00:36:00.540 --> 00:36:02.660 and does not call attention 00:36:02.660 --> 00:36:04.320 to the person who performs it. 00:36:07.180 --> 00:36:09.040 That's perhaps the most challenging 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:10.199 for any who are leaders 00:36:10.199 --> 00:36:11.800 in Christ's church. 00:36:12.679 --> 00:36:13.719 Leaders in the church 00:36:13.719 --> 00:36:14.659 have been given power 00:36:14.659 --> 00:36:15.920 and authority over people. 00:36:16.900 --> 00:36:18.440 They could insist on their rights 00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:19.579 and use it to their own benefits. 00:36:19.659 --> 00:36:21.119 They could delegate the lowly tasks 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:21.739 to other people 00:36:21.739 --> 00:36:24.739 but they must not do that. 00:36:25.480 --> 00:36:26.699 That's the secular model. 00:36:27.500 --> 00:36:28.579 The model of leadership 00:36:28.579 --> 00:36:29.539 that Christ commends 00:36:29.539 --> 00:36:31.659 is pouring ourselves out for others. 00:36:31.659 --> 00:36:33.960 So we should never act 00:36:33.960 --> 00:36:35.279 for our own recognition, 00:36:35.619 --> 00:36:36.659 our own praise. 00:36:37.819 --> 00:36:38.779 We should never ask someone 00:36:38.779 --> 00:36:39.339 to do something 00:36:39.339 --> 00:36:40.159 that we wouldn't be prepared 00:36:40.159 --> 00:36:40.980 to do ourselves. 00:36:42.460 --> 00:36:43.460 And there's another side 00:36:43.460 --> 00:36:44.139 of this as well 00:36:44.139 --> 00:36:45.480 that so often 00:36:45.480 --> 00:36:46.899 we tend to look 00:36:46.899 --> 00:36:47.920 to personalities 00:36:47.920 --> 00:36:49.379 within the church. 00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:50.839 We're so blessed today 00:36:50.839 --> 00:36:51.599 to be able to listen 00:36:51.599 --> 00:36:52.519 to sermons online, 00:36:52.619 --> 00:36:53.159 to read books 00:36:53.159 --> 00:36:55.259 by great Christian personalities. 00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:58.100 Now those people 00:36:58.100 --> 00:36:59.660 should be pointing us 00:36:59.660 --> 00:37:00.540 like Paul does 00:37:00.540 --> 00:37:01.580 to Jesus. 00:37:02.340 --> 00:37:03.140 And that's great 00:37:03.140 --> 00:37:03.840 when they do that. 00:37:04.580 --> 00:37:05.360 But there are times 00:37:05.360 --> 00:37:06.460 when we can idolize 00:37:06.460 --> 00:37:07.060 the people 00:37:07.060 --> 00:37:07.720 that we're reading 00:37:07.720 --> 00:37:08.600 or listening to 00:37:08.600 --> 00:37:10.740 and that's going 00:37:10.740 --> 00:37:11.740 totally against 00:37:11.740 --> 00:37:12.480 the principles 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:13.620 we see in this passage. 00:37:15.600 --> 00:37:16.880 So when you're tempted 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:17.920 by pride, 00:37:18.180 --> 00:37:18.880 when you're tempted 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:19.920 to put yourself first 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:20.720 rather than the interests 00:37:20.720 --> 00:37:21.680 of others in the church, 00:37:23.300 --> 00:37:24.900 remember this passage. 00:37:26.020 --> 00:37:27.320 Remember your God. 00:37:27.920 --> 00:37:28.500 Remember Jesus 00:37:28.500 --> 00:37:29.180 and what he did. 00:37:30.240 --> 00:37:31.280 Remember that the one 00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:33.040 who truly was something, 00:37:33.800 --> 00:37:34.600 the one who had 00:37:34.600 --> 00:37:35.260 every right 00:37:35.260 --> 00:37:36.600 to be worshipped as God, 00:37:37.860 --> 00:37:39.240 chose the humble path, 00:37:40.100 --> 00:37:41.220 chose to walk among us, 00:37:41.720 --> 00:37:42.360 chose to suffer 00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:43.860 and even to die for us. 00:37:44.940 --> 00:37:46.560 Because that was the only way 00:37:46.560 --> 00:37:48.920 he could bring us salvation. 00:37:50.520 --> 00:37:52.300 My sin and your sin 00:37:52.300 --> 00:37:54.000 drove him to that cross. 00:37:55.260 --> 00:37:56.640 That knowledge 00:37:56.640 --> 00:37:58.160 must humble us. 00:37:58.820 --> 00:37:59.280 That knowledge 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:00.700 must motivate us 00:38:00.700 --> 00:38:01.440 in gratitude 00:38:01.440 --> 00:38:02.620 to serve our Lord.