WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.060 Today's text is Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:06.459 So if you'll join me there in your copy of God's Word. 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:13.120 And while you get yourself there, I'll remind you that last week we studied the last four verses of chapter 1, 00:00:13.620 --> 00:00:21.400 where Paul tells us that the gospel demands a consistent conduct and it affords a togetherness. 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:30.179 He concludes that section by telling Christians that suffering has been given to them and to us as a gift. 00:00:30.179 --> 00:00:34.439 It's been granted to us that we would suffer. 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:40.480 And so we need to be careful not to lose sight of this as we begin our study of chapter 2. 00:00:41.379 --> 00:00:43.739 Now I also want to say, just as a precursory comment, 00:00:44.579 --> 00:00:48.359 what we often do when we study through books of the Bible together this way, 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:51.579 is we borrow an outline from someone else. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:54.880 So typically a good commentary will find their outline and their breakdown. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:00:58.879 And we decided this time around to do a more condensed outline. 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:04.340 The scheduling just worked out really, really well for when Easter falls and some things like that. 00:01:06.180 --> 00:01:11.260 I regretted a little bit to cover these 11 verses this morning. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:14.840 There's a lot packed into these 11 verses. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:17.480 Now I think the commentator that we borrowed this outline from was doing so 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:19.299 because Paul is driving a primary point. 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:22.460 And so this needs to be the focus of our time together. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:25.100 But as I was working and studying this week, 00:01:25.120 --> 00:01:29.400 I really think I could have done this in three weeks instead of in one week. 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:32.200 And so if you at any point feel like, 00:01:32.300 --> 00:01:34.100 wow, he really didn't spend much time on that. 00:01:34.180 --> 00:01:35.200 I know, I know. 00:01:36.300 --> 00:01:40.100 I would encourage you to continue to study these verses in the future. 00:01:40.100 --> 00:01:42.200 So Philippians chapter 2, verse 1 through 11. 00:01:42.320 --> 00:01:46.219 Before I read, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us. 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:49.299 It was written for his glory and our good. 00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:54.640 So we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands. 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:58.439 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, 00:01:58.700 --> 00:02:00.019 any comfort from love, 00:02:00.500 --> 00:02:02.280 any participation in the Spirit, 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:04.319 any affection and sympathy, 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:07.659 complete my joy by being of the same mind, 00:02:07.799 --> 00:02:09.180 having the same love, 00:02:09.560 --> 00:02:12.259 being in full accord and of one mind. 00:02:13.120 --> 00:02:15.639 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, 00:02:16.039 --> 00:02:19.360 but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 00:02:20.060 --> 00:02:22.360 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:24.219 but also to the interests of others. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:26.759 Have this mind among yourselves, 00:02:26.919 --> 00:02:28.459 which is yours in Christ Jesus, 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:30.879 who, though he was in the form of God, 00:02:31.199 --> 00:02:34.619 did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 00:02:34.959 --> 00:02:37.659 but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, 00:02:37.799 --> 00:02:39.699 being born in the likeness of men. 00:02:40.579 --> 00:02:42.119 And being found in human form, 00:02:42.879 --> 00:02:46.099 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 00:02:46.459 --> 00:02:48.299 even death on a cross. 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:49.540 Therefore, 00:02:49.540 --> 00:02:54.920 God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:56.740 So the name of Jesus, 00:02:56.900 --> 00:03:00.100 every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. 00:03:00.320 --> 00:03:05.900 And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:06.280 the father. 00:03:06.280 --> 00:03:07.539 Now, 00:03:07.539 --> 00:03:11.240 this morning's sermon will have only two prominent points. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:11.680 And of course, 00:03:11.719 --> 00:03:12.680 we'll work them out. 00:03:12.740 --> 00:03:14.539 And there's some sub points to be found, 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:16.080 but they are number one, 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.300 a call to a lowly life. 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:21.520 And number two, 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:25.879 a perfect pattern for a lowly life. 00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:30.860 So we see first a call to a lowly life in the first four verses. 00:03:30.860 --> 00:03:36.160 The lowly life is a humble life. 00:03:36.820 --> 00:03:39.580 Many of your Bibles have likely subtitled this portion, 00:03:39.860 --> 00:03:42.460 Christ's example of humility. 00:03:42.460 --> 00:03:46.540 And we will find the exhortion to humility in verse three. 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:54.480 Humility is foundational to the Christian faith as in thinking rightly about ourselves. 00:03:54.820 --> 00:03:58.040 It's understanding who we are. 00:03:58.039 --> 00:03:58.439 However, 00:03:58.439 --> 00:04:01.919 the humble person has a proper view of who they are. 00:04:02.060 --> 00:04:09.079 And one can only have a clear vision of who they are when viewed in the light of their creator. 00:04:09.379 --> 00:04:15.859 The creation cannot understand itself apart from a revelation from the creator. 00:04:16.740 --> 00:04:20.180 This is why Jesus says in Matthew chapter five and verse three, 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:27.079 blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:29.759 He's talking there about humility. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:37.240 Those who recognize that they have nothing to offer to gain their admittance into the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:42.180 It's those people who are given the kingdom of heaven. 00:04:42.379 --> 00:04:45.799 People who recognize that we are created in the image of God. 00:04:45.919 --> 00:04:48.079 We have an intrinsic value in that way, 00:04:48.180 --> 00:04:52.199 but nothing to offer God for the salvation of our souls. 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:56.000 This is the very beginning of humility, 00:04:56.199 --> 00:04:58.620 rightly understanding ourselves. 00:04:58.719 --> 00:05:00.319 This is why Paul wrote Romans chapter 12, 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:01.199 the beginning of verse three, 00:05:01.899 --> 00:05:02.860 for by the grace given to me, 00:05:02.939 --> 00:05:04.560 I say to everyone among you, 00:05:04.719 --> 00:05:09.259 not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, 00:05:09.379 --> 00:05:14.079 but to think with sober or serious judgment, 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:18.439 to really understand who you are. 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:23.500 Now the Greeks had no value for a posture of humility, 00:05:23.639 --> 00:05:24.740 none whatsoever. 00:05:25.000 --> 00:05:31.879 They despised the idea of a lowly life to the degree that they had no word for humility. 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:36.539 The word that we see here in the Greek is not found in other Greek texts. 00:05:36.540 --> 00:05:44.939 Many believe that the word was created by the church and possibly by Paul in the very writing of this text. 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:48.240 They had to frame it and communicate it in a way, 00:05:48.340 --> 00:05:54.180 and so many think that the church actually made the word up to help us understand this, 00:05:54.220 --> 00:06:02.060 because the Greeks fully and flatly rejected the idea of the type of humility that Christians are called to have. 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:09.379 Perhaps that is why Paul takes some time to explain what he means by in humility, 00:06:09.560 --> 00:06:12.480 count others more significant than yourselves, right? 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:15.840 He's bearing out this idea at length. 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:21.000 Just inserting the word humility didn't quite cover the gamut of what he meant. 00:06:21.660 --> 00:06:23.740 He begins this section saying, 00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:27.399 so if there is any encouragement in Christ, 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:28.899 any comfort from love, 00:06:29.340 --> 00:06:30.860 any participation in the spirit, 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:33.439 any affection and sympathy. 00:06:34.100 --> 00:06:38.580 And he is not suggesting that there may or may not be encouragement in Christ, 00:06:38.699 --> 00:06:39.819 or comfort from love, 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:41.220 or participation in the spirit, 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:42.840 or affection and sympathy. 00:06:43.460 --> 00:06:44.600 What he is saying is, 00:06:44.939 --> 00:06:48.560 because there is encouragement in Christ, 00:06:48.939 --> 00:06:52.520 because there is comfort from love, 00:06:52.780 --> 00:06:55.639 because there is participation in the spirit, 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:59.180 because there is affection and sympathy, 00:06:59.599 --> 00:07:02.259 live this way, right? 00:07:02.319 --> 00:07:07.360 This way that he's about to expound for their benefit and for ours. 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:09.599 But before we get there, 00:07:09.659 --> 00:07:16.439 let's consider for a moment the things that Paul says are ours in Christ. 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:17.959 For the very part of verse 1, 00:07:18.019 --> 00:07:18.259 he says, 00:07:18.339 --> 00:07:21.160 if there's any encouragement in Christ, 00:07:21.279 --> 00:07:25.160 and I think it's right to say that we can also add that phrase, 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:25.860 in Christ, 00:07:25.920 --> 00:07:27.139 to the end of any of these things. 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:28.800 Any comfort from love, 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:29.899 in Christ. 00:07:30.019 --> 00:07:31.379 Any participation in the spirit, 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:32.740 in Christ. 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:34.180 Any affection and sympathy, 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:35.939 in Christ. 00:07:36.180 --> 00:07:40.620 This is what he's developing and bearing out in the text for us. 00:07:40.620 --> 00:07:44.060 What is it that is ours in Christ? 00:07:44.280 --> 00:07:45.759 Having believed in him, 00:07:45.819 --> 00:07:49.620 and having been positionally moved from an enemy of God to a friend, 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:51.840 clothed in Jesus' righteousness. 00:07:52.220 --> 00:07:54.939 What is it that's granted to us? 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:58.439 I don't think that Paul means for this to be an exhaustive list. 00:07:58.899 --> 00:07:59.019 I mean, 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:01.220 you think about the way we speak to one another all the time. 00:08:01.340 --> 00:08:03.680 We give examples a lot as we're talking. 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:04.899 I think this is what he's doing. 00:08:05.019 --> 00:08:06.379 These are things that are ours. 00:08:06.740 --> 00:08:07.060 So, 00:08:07.660 --> 00:08:09.840 live this way. 00:08:10.620 --> 00:08:10.959 So, 00:08:11.019 --> 00:08:14.240 because there's encouragement in Christ, 00:08:14.500 --> 00:08:18.600 this word means to come alongside and to help, 00:08:18.740 --> 00:08:18.899 right? 00:08:18.980 --> 00:08:21.800 To prod on toward holiness. 00:08:21.959 --> 00:08:24.240 And we do this by the gift of the spirit, 00:08:24.420 --> 00:08:24.540 right? 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:25.980 He works in us holiness. 00:08:26.259 --> 00:08:29.720 He moves us in the way that we are to go. 00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:33.759 There's comfort from love, 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:34.320 right? 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:36.080 This is a synonym for encouragement. 00:08:36.259 --> 00:08:39.980 It's bearing out this idea a bit more because of the great love that we've been shown 00:08:39.980 --> 00:08:41.120 in Christ. 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:45.139 We ought to experience great comfort. 00:08:45.860 --> 00:08:49.580 If there is participation in the spirit, 00:08:49.820 --> 00:08:52.820 this word for participation is the word for partnership. 00:08:52.820 --> 00:09:02.000 The spirit is given to us as a gift that we might be empowered by him to do the things that we are meant to do, 00:09:02.160 --> 00:09:02.400 right? 00:09:02.460 --> 00:09:06.080 He's going to specifically tell us some of those things momentarily. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:07.540 And then finally, 00:09:07.540 --> 00:09:10.259 affection and sympathy. 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:10.920 Think here, 00:09:11.340 --> 00:09:11.900 love, 00:09:12.060 --> 00:09:12.180 right? 00:09:12.540 --> 00:09:15.600 Care and compassion. 00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:18.320 This is ours in Christ. 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.540 Jesus has loved us in this way. 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:21.100 And therefore, 00:09:21.220 --> 00:09:26.320 we are to then turn and love and have compassion in a particular way. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:30.800 And we could spend our entire morning considering this first, 00:09:30.920 --> 00:09:31.040 right? 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.780 We could have spent the whole Sunday on this first. 00:09:33.300 --> 00:09:38.420 We're going to spend a life trying to understand all that is ours in Christ. 00:09:38.500 --> 00:09:41.180 And I'd even suggest to you that we're going to spend eternity doing that. 00:09:41.260 --> 00:09:46.500 Just this unfolding of who God is to us in Christ forever, 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:47.220 right? 00:09:47.620 --> 00:09:51.800 But Paul is driving us to a point. 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:53.380 There's a point he's making here. 00:09:53.379 --> 00:09:56.240 He goes on in verse two to say, 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:00.360 complete my joy by being of the same mind, 00:10:00.460 --> 00:10:01.919 having the same love, 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:05.700 being in full accord and of one mind. 00:10:06.779 --> 00:10:09.879 Paul states that what will complete his joy, 00:10:09.980 --> 00:10:16.340 fill him up with joy is to see these Christians living in unity. 00:10:17.820 --> 00:10:21.759 Let's let that sink in for a moment in our current day. 00:10:23.379 --> 00:10:28.340 Paul would have been so grieved by the Christians of our day, 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:29.919 at least American Christians, 00:10:30.019 --> 00:10:32.019 our context of our day, 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:34.100 because these people, 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:37.559 us having received encouragement, 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:38.639 comfort from love, 00:10:38.820 --> 00:10:43.639 participation in the spirit and affection and sympathy in Christ, 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:47.200 we are not united as we should be. 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:51.240 We are too often divisive. 00:10:51.800 --> 00:10:56.000 We want everyone to know how smart and superior we are. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:11:00.320 We are too often haughty and not humble. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:04.300 Paul warned the Galatian believers in Galatians chapter five, 00:11:04.379 --> 00:11:06.460 verse 13 and following, 00:11:06.660 --> 00:11:07.879 for you were called to freedom, 00:11:08.060 --> 00:11:08.480 brothers, 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:12.120 only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:13.360 but through love, 00:11:13.539 --> 00:11:19.039 serve one another for the whole loss of filled in one word. 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.820 You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 00:11:22.379 --> 00:11:25.399 But if you bite and devour one another, 00:11:25.620 --> 00:11:30.360 watch out that you are not consumed by one another. 00:11:30.360 --> 00:11:30.960 Yeah, 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.980 you can feel like right now American Christianity is consuming itself. 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:36.200 Just real. 00:11:36.279 --> 00:11:36.399 I mean, 00:11:36.419 --> 00:11:37.460 I'm just really, 00:11:37.779 --> 00:11:40.139 really worried about the church today. 00:11:40.800 --> 00:11:44.279 I've been worried about the church across the past couple of decades for many, 00:11:44.399 --> 00:11:44.960 many reasons, 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:51.600 but all the more right now for the way we are so disunified. 00:11:52.340 --> 00:11:56.879 And I really don't want our church to be part of that, 00:11:56.980 --> 00:11:58.060 be part of that problem. 00:11:58.059 --> 00:12:02.859 I want us to be unified and I want us to be working for unification amongst churches, 00:12:02.859 --> 00:12:05.959 people who profess the name of Christ everywhere. 00:12:06.679 --> 00:12:08.559 I think this is the right thing. 00:12:08.619 --> 00:12:12.419 I think this is the proper response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:16.979 Paul exhorts the Philippians to be of the same mind, 00:12:17.219 --> 00:12:19.079 having the same love. 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:28.039 He's referring to this love that Christ has shown being in full accord or agreement and of one mind. 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:29.299 Like what? 00:12:29.699 --> 00:12:30.779 And how, 00:12:30.939 --> 00:12:34.959 how are we to do this work? 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:35.299 Right? 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.259 Is he encouraging group think? 00:12:39.859 --> 00:12:46.559 Does he want all of us to come in together and pleated khakis and white polo shirts, 00:12:46.639 --> 00:12:47.219 button to the top? 00:12:47.220 --> 00:12:50.580 I don't think he's asking us to be a cult. 00:12:50.700 --> 00:12:53.660 I don't think this is what he's doing at all here. 00:12:54.840 --> 00:12:59.100 Is he suggesting that there can be no variance in our convictions? 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:01.320 I don't think so. 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:05.019 I don't think this is what he's driving at at all. 00:13:05.680 --> 00:13:08.139 But we are really apt to want that. 00:13:08.139 --> 00:13:13.299 We are really apt to want to enter into an echo chamber, 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:13.639 right? 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:19.939 Where everything we say and think is agreed upon by everyone we say or think it to. 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:21.939 And first, 00:13:22.100 --> 00:13:29.039 note that he exhorts us to show one another the same kind of love that has been shown us in Christ. 00:13:29.319 --> 00:13:29.460 Right? 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:30.720 He's going to elaborate on that. 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:36.180 The kind of love that Jesus showed us in just a bit in the following verses. 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:40.540 If we love one another the way that Jesus Christ loves us, 00:13:40.840 --> 00:13:45.660 we will do all that we can to maintain unity in the church. 00:13:46.540 --> 00:13:49.379 You just take a moment and think about your own life. 00:13:50.019 --> 00:13:51.580 Across this past week, 00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:53.480 maybe just this morning, 00:13:54.200 --> 00:13:58.740 you have not agreed with the Lord Jesus Christ on something. 00:13:58.740 --> 00:14:00.039 And yet, 00:14:00.580 --> 00:14:01.399 he loves you. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:03.159 He bears with you. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.820 He helps you to grow up into him. 00:14:07.799 --> 00:14:11.200 We expect things of others that Jesus doesn't expect of us. 00:14:12.299 --> 00:14:13.180 How dare we? 00:14:14.159 --> 00:14:15.080 So last week, 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:18.899 I kind of skipped a stone off the idea of theological triage. 00:14:18.980 --> 00:14:21.500 I'm going to take a little bit more time this morning to talk about it. 00:14:22.019 --> 00:14:25.899 I hope that you'll find its setting in what we're talking about together. 00:14:25.899 --> 00:14:31.919 But I think this is going to be so important for us to understand together as a church. 00:14:32.019 --> 00:14:34.360 And you may be a visitor this morning and go off elsewhere. 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:36.740 You may be a member here for a short time and go elsewhere. 00:14:36.840 --> 00:14:38.279 Wherever we go as Christians, 00:14:38.379 --> 00:14:45.340 we're going to have to think clearly about what things should we hang on to with a closed fist. 00:14:45.439 --> 00:14:45.559 Like, 00:14:45.620 --> 00:14:48.000 don't even try to take this out of my hand. 00:14:48.459 --> 00:14:50.759 And the things that we should hold with an open hand, 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.639 and maybe some things we shouldn't hold on to at all. 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:57.120 Some stuff that just doesn't matter a bit. 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:00.659 This is not a terribly easy thing. 00:15:00.740 --> 00:15:02.039 So I'm going to explain it to you a bit, 00:15:02.139 --> 00:15:03.519 give you a couple of examples. 00:15:04.419 --> 00:15:05.360 And I'm going to give you, 00:15:05.460 --> 00:15:05.819 I think, 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:07.960 I'll give you one complication. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:10.299 It's a thing that needs to be practiced. 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:12.879 It's a thing that needs to be exercised. 00:15:13.100 --> 00:15:13.240 Right? 00:15:13.620 --> 00:15:16.480 We ought to be able to do this and do this quickly. 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:16.720 Now, 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:17.039 quickly, 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:17.680 triage, 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:18.419 I explained it last week. 00:15:18.480 --> 00:15:19.279 If you don't know what triage is, 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:19.879 just in case, 00:15:19.980 --> 00:15:24.539 if you were a emergency room doctor and a bus had gotten in a terrible accident 00:15:24.539 --> 00:15:26.960 and they were rushing in lots of patients, 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:33.700 triage would be prioritizing those who need care the most and those who don't need care so much. 00:15:33.899 --> 00:15:34.060 Okay? 00:15:34.060 --> 00:15:36.259 So if you've ever been to an emergency room with a broken arm, 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:38.600 that's why you sat for hours and hours and hours and hours. 00:15:38.820 --> 00:15:41.340 That's why the urgent care exists in the world. 00:15:41.519 --> 00:15:41.680 Right? 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:44.679 Because people didn't want to go to the emergency room and sit for hours and hours. 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:44.959 Right? 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:49.659 But if you go to the emergency room with a cardiac arrest, 00:15:50.219 --> 00:15:51.559 you get whisked into the back. 00:15:51.620 --> 00:15:53.979 They don't make you fill out forms and wait for that to happen. 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:54.319 Okay? 00:15:54.679 --> 00:15:57.479 They're doing triage when they do that. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:59.839 So theological triage, 00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:00.059 right? 00:16:00.479 --> 00:16:02.000 Theology is the study of God, 00:16:02.459 --> 00:16:05.239 can be broken down into four categories. 00:16:05.979 --> 00:16:09.079 Usually we talk in terms of three and you'll see why in a moment. 00:16:09.080 --> 00:16:12.100 The first are primary doctrines. 00:16:12.900 --> 00:16:13.800 Primary doctrines. 00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:19.680 These doctrines or truths are foundational to the Christian faith. 00:16:20.080 --> 00:16:20.240 Right? 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:26.020 I'd suggest to you that we ought to think of primary doctrines as those things that if you didn't believe them, 00:16:26.580 --> 00:16:28.360 you could not be a Christian. 00:16:28.900 --> 00:16:29.020 Right? 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:30.539 Just the basic things, 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:32.460 the core things that you must believe. 00:16:32.740 --> 00:16:33.639 We talk on Sunday morning, 00:16:33.699 --> 00:16:37.259 and I talk about repenting and believing in the person and work of Christ. 00:16:38.779 --> 00:16:42.919 I'm in a little phrase summing up all those things that you must believe. 00:16:42.919 --> 00:16:46.340 You must believe these things if you're going to be called Christian. 00:16:46.439 --> 00:16:48.139 If you have any hope for the salvation of your soul, 00:16:48.199 --> 00:16:51.579 these are things that you must believe. 00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:52.039 Right? 00:16:52.599 --> 00:16:53.439 These are the things. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.980 These are the things that we live for and we die for. 00:16:57.099 --> 00:16:57.279 I mean, 00:16:57.319 --> 00:16:58.299 these are the serious, 00:16:58.480 --> 00:16:59.240 serious matters. 00:16:59.319 --> 00:17:01.279 Must be defended. 00:17:02.779 --> 00:17:03.179 Men, 00:17:03.379 --> 00:17:05.420 we talked about courage yesterday. 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:08.200 I think these are the things we get angry about. 00:17:09.500 --> 00:17:09.899 Rightly, 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:10.720 appropriately, 00:17:11.079 --> 00:17:15.039 these are the things that we go to war over for the good of people and the glory of God. 00:17:15.460 --> 00:17:15.559 Right? 00:17:15.859 --> 00:17:16.740 So an example. 00:17:17.460 --> 00:17:19.019 We'll talk about it in just a little bit here. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:21.779 The hypostatic union of Jesus Christ. 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:22.279 Right? 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:28.039 That Jesus is both fully God and fully man. 00:17:28.460 --> 00:17:28.619 Right? 00:17:29.099 --> 00:17:33.940 This would be a thing if somebody claims otherwise that warrants being called heretical. 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:34.859 Say, 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:35.059 no, 00:17:35.119 --> 00:17:35.220 no, 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:35.460 no. 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:37.460 This wasn't the state of Jesus. 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:43.899 This is the kinds of things that might bear that label of heresy. 00:17:44.159 --> 00:17:44.920 You'd say to somebody, 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.379 you're a false teacher when they mess with these kinds of doctrines. 00:17:49.380 --> 00:17:51.160 Next, 00:17:51.300 --> 00:17:52.160 secondary doctrines. 00:17:52.460 --> 00:17:52.540 Right? 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:55.680 These form local church agreement. 00:17:56.300 --> 00:17:56.500 Now, 00:17:56.560 --> 00:17:58.480 these are things that we have, 00:17:58.580 --> 00:17:59.100 quite frankly, 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:04.760 the luxury of having some division about. 00:18:04.940 --> 00:18:05.080 Right? 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:06.900 We could be united in Christ and go, 00:18:07.140 --> 00:18:09.480 we believe the church. 00:18:09.620 --> 00:18:10.380 We're baptistic. 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:11.920 We believe in believers baptism. 00:18:12.020 --> 00:18:13.100 That's a really easy one. 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:13.280 Right? 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:16.279 Because you can clearly draw some lines around that. 00:18:17.399 --> 00:18:19.680 That doesn't mean that if I move to a new place, 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:22.700 or let's say the Lord took me to another country, 00:18:22.700 --> 00:18:26.259 and there's one gospel preaching church, 00:18:26.339 --> 00:18:31.019 like one church that you could actually call a church that holds the primary doctrines, 00:18:31.019 --> 00:18:32.200 those things rightly, 00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:34.319 and they baptize infants, 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:35.420 that I wouldn't be there. 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:37.259 I'd have some really uncomfortable moments. 00:18:37.580 --> 00:18:37.680 Right? 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:40.240 I'd have some kind-hearted conversations with the leadership. 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:40.960 Like, 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:42.440 I really think you're confusing everybody. 00:18:43.080 --> 00:18:43.380 Can I, 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:45.420 can I make the case to you from the scripture? 00:18:45.980 --> 00:18:46.240 Um, 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:46.940 right? 00:18:47.039 --> 00:18:47.200 So, 00:18:47.420 --> 00:18:48.680 so we have to figure out where, 00:18:48.840 --> 00:18:49.420 where do we, 00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:49.860 you know, 00:18:49.940 --> 00:18:50.779 but where we are, 00:18:51.240 --> 00:18:52.440 if you believe in believers baptism, 00:18:52.600 --> 00:18:56.059 you have the opportunity to go to a church that also believes these things, 00:18:56.059 --> 00:18:57.259 unites us together, 00:18:57.600 --> 00:19:02.160 helps us to function together in the life of a church. 00:19:03.180 --> 00:19:06.440 I'd suggest to you that these are not things worth dying over. 00:19:06.700 --> 00:19:06.920 Right? 00:19:07.240 --> 00:19:08.819 But they are things worth discussing. 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:09.460 They matter. 00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:10.319 They're important. 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:10.680 Right? 00:19:10.779 --> 00:19:10.940 How, 00:19:11.019 --> 00:19:13.819 how we do the ordinances matters. 00:19:15.180 --> 00:19:17.400 Then we have tertiary doctrines. 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:19.840 And these are personal convictions. 00:19:20.460 --> 00:19:21.160 And I think that the, 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:21.420 the, 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:27.319 the thing people react to this sometimes because it feels like we're making people's convictions unimportant. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:29.480 I'm not saying they're not important. 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:31.319 An example, 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:34.579 what could be your conviction concerning alcohol. 00:19:35.059 --> 00:19:36.039 We can make a Bible case. 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:37.200 You should never be drunk, 00:19:37.379 --> 00:19:41.339 but we really can't make a Bible case that you should not drink. 00:19:41.879 --> 00:19:42.700 But others, 00:19:42.700 --> 00:19:43.519 right? 00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:44.740 Might read some of the texts, 00:19:44.819 --> 00:19:48.019 like some of the proverbs that give warning about strong drink and say, 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:48.439 yeah, 00:19:48.439 --> 00:19:49.200 I don't think so. 00:19:49.200 --> 00:19:51.420 I don't think that I should drink. 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:52.140 And I say, 00:19:52.420 --> 00:19:53.620 hold that conviction. 00:19:53.980 --> 00:19:54.120 Right? 00:19:54.259 --> 00:20:00.039 If you believe your conscience will be clean before God by wholly participating or not participating, 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:01.680 then you should do that. 00:20:02.180 --> 00:20:06.480 You just shouldn't force everyone else to have it as their conviction. 00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:07.259 Right? 00:20:07.259 --> 00:20:11.240 We need to be careful about tertiary doctrines. 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:16.259 It doesn't mean that it's not a good and God given conviction that you have. 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:24.240 I think that we should appreciate the differences that we have in tertiary doctrine. 00:20:25.240 --> 00:20:25.359 Right? 00:20:25.500 --> 00:20:26.359 It holds us. 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:30.759 It gives us tension as we're working out the gray areas of the Bible. 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:31.139 Right? 00:20:31.359 --> 00:20:35.839 I want to hear your case for X, 00:20:35.919 --> 00:20:36.139 Y, 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:36.659 Z. 00:20:37.259 --> 00:20:38.000 Another example. 00:20:39.299 --> 00:20:39.740 We, 00:20:40.099 --> 00:20:41.740 by conviction as a family, 00:20:41.859 --> 00:20:43.119 are homeschooling right now. 00:20:43.399 --> 00:20:44.500 But not absolutely. 00:20:45.059 --> 00:20:45.519 We're not like, 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:49.740 I can't show you the text that says you must keep your children at home with you and teach them. 00:20:50.419 --> 00:20:51.419 But what I can say is, 00:20:51.479 --> 00:20:55.539 look what the Bible says about whose responsibility it is to educate our children. 00:20:55.539 --> 00:20:58.659 And we think that the best way we can do that, 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:00.379 the most efficient way we can do that, 00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:02.159 is to do it at home. 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:06.159 But we've also agreed that every year we'd have a conversation about that. 00:21:06.420 --> 00:21:07.879 And reassess and think about, 00:21:07.980 --> 00:21:11.099 is this the best way to pull this off? 00:21:12.359 --> 00:21:15.420 My very good friend Wes Shelnut lives in Utah. 00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:17.440 And his children are in public school. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:19.259 And we had a wonderful, 00:21:19.500 --> 00:21:22.779 kind-hearted conversation in which we pushed at each other a little bit. 00:21:22.920 --> 00:21:23.059 Right? 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:24.119 I said to him, 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:24.399 Brother, 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:24.940 how? 00:21:24.940 --> 00:21:27.559 How are you going to help grow your children, 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:28.779 fear and instruction of the Lord, 00:21:29.120 --> 00:21:30.779 when you send them away most of the day? 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:32.340 I knew he had already thought about it. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:36.200 I knew that he had some conviction about doing this. 00:21:36.259 --> 00:21:38.860 And he gave me a wonderfully winsome answer. 00:21:39.299 --> 00:21:41.799 He didn't try to convince me that I should do the thing that they were doing, 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:43.380 but he helped me understand. 00:21:43.779 --> 00:21:44.940 And it was a good answer. 00:21:45.080 --> 00:21:46.140 I appreciated it. 00:21:46.180 --> 00:21:47.100 He's doing a good, 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:48.480 good work there 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:49.880 with his children. 00:21:50.059 --> 00:21:51.680 And we tugged at each other. 00:21:51.740 --> 00:21:53.220 And it was good for us both 00:21:53.220 --> 00:21:54.559 at the end. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:56.220 We ought to appreciate this 00:21:56.220 --> 00:21:58.600 and not run from it. 00:21:59.259 --> 00:22:01.019 So those are tertiary doctrines. 00:22:01.180 --> 00:22:01.240 Right? 00:22:01.299 --> 00:22:01.920 Personal convictions. 00:22:02.100 --> 00:22:02.539 They matter. 00:22:03.339 --> 00:22:05.940 They just aren't the things you should always be convincing everybody else 00:22:05.940 --> 00:22:07.799 that they should be doing. 00:22:07.799 --> 00:22:10.519 And then I learned a word this week. 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:13.480 If you already knew it, 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:14.000 congratulations, 00:22:14.259 --> 00:22:15.359 but I'm going to teach it to you now. 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:18.759 Quaternary doctrines. 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:21.480 And we just wrote up there, 00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:23.180 non-existent and unimportant. 00:22:23.859 --> 00:22:24.960 And we do this. 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:26.839 The example that I thought of 00:22:26.839 --> 00:22:28.240 that people ask me from time to time 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:28.399 is, 00:22:28.480 --> 00:22:29.759 is there life on other planets? 00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:31.319 To, 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:33.859 to which I would respond kindly, 00:22:34.099 --> 00:22:35.299 but inside I'm going, 00:22:35.500 --> 00:22:36.119 who cares? 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:39.000 Who cares? 00:22:39.700 --> 00:22:41.700 These aren't things that we need to pick fights over. 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:42.480 It doesn't really matter. 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:43.259 Have some thoughts. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:43.660 Okay. 00:22:43.779 --> 00:22:44.640 Does the Bible speak to it? 00:22:44.700 --> 00:22:44.960 No. 00:22:46.379 --> 00:22:47.819 I don't think that's much of a problem, 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:49.119 generally speaking, 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:50.960 but that does exist out there. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:52.160 Basically, 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:53.400 there are no quaternary doctrines. 00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:54.980 Just don't think about them at all. 00:22:55.339 --> 00:22:55.420 Right? 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:55.859 So, 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:56.879 okay. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:22:58.020 So you can clean that off there. 00:22:58.520 --> 00:22:59.640 So it doesn't become distracting. 00:22:59.980 --> 00:23:03.220 So at what level is Paul encouraging agreement? 00:23:03.580 --> 00:23:04.000 What level? 00:23:04.120 --> 00:23:04.840 What is he saying? 00:23:05.520 --> 00:23:06.840 Be united in this way. 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:09.160 And I would suggest at the primary level, 00:23:09.560 --> 00:23:09.700 right? 00:23:09.780 --> 00:23:11.340 That very highest level. 00:23:11.520 --> 00:23:14.940 That's what Paul is exhorting them to. 00:23:15.300 --> 00:23:15.440 Right? 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:19.260 And I say that based on Philippians chapter one and verse 27. 00:23:19.820 --> 00:23:20.380 He says, 00:23:20.500 --> 00:23:24.620 only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ. 00:23:24.619 --> 00:23:26.879 So that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, 00:23:26.979 --> 00:23:32.259 I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit with one mind, 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:37.299 striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. 00:23:37.439 --> 00:23:39.399 I think this is what he's talking about. 00:23:39.479 --> 00:23:42.359 Like those things that save. 00:23:42.879 --> 00:23:46.079 He's not minimizing the importance of other truth at all. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:47.220 But he's saying, 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:47.599 boy, 00:23:47.699 --> 00:23:49.799 if we can't be united on this, 00:23:49.960 --> 00:23:57.019 we are in trouble and we're not living in a way that is a response to the gospel of Christ. 00:23:57.379 --> 00:23:57.859 So, 00:23:58.039 --> 00:23:58.220 beloved, 00:23:58.359 --> 00:24:01.039 I don't think for our church, 00:24:01.419 --> 00:24:03.939 the work here is to unite on primary doctrines. 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:05.420 I think, 00:24:05.500 --> 00:24:07.400 I think we're already together on this. 00:24:07.580 --> 00:24:08.259 If you remember here, 00:24:08.340 --> 00:24:08.620 you came, 00:24:08.700 --> 00:24:11.500 you came in under an understanding of a statement of faith, 00:24:11.640 --> 00:24:11.820 right? 00:24:12.120 --> 00:24:13.500 Do we understand these things perfectly? 00:24:14.200 --> 00:24:14.580 No, 00:24:14.860 --> 00:24:16.420 but we're working at it together. 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:20.980 I don't find that there's disagreement in our congregation on primary doctrines. 00:24:21.840 --> 00:24:25.620 I think that we maintain a very workable unity on secondary doctrines. 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:27.360 We don't always know quite, 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:28.519 quite where it fits. 00:24:28.680 --> 00:24:30.080 And is this secondary? 00:24:30.320 --> 00:24:30.880 Is it primary? 00:24:31.000 --> 00:24:31.400 Is it tertiary? 00:24:31.480 --> 00:24:31.920 I don't know. 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:36.900 But I think a very workable unity on those secondary doctrines. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:41.620 I think that we don't busy ourselves with quaternary doctrines. 00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:43.080 In fact, 00:24:43.300 --> 00:24:46.039 I think that that may have been the last time I ever used the word. 00:24:47.160 --> 00:24:49.220 I think it's the thing that we really have to talk about. 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:56.320 The work for us is to be sure that we don't get distracted by tertiary doctrines. 00:24:56.820 --> 00:25:00.640 That we don't take those tertiary doctrines and move them into places, 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.259 move them up levels where they don't belong, 00:25:03.600 --> 00:25:05.520 which causes division. 00:25:06.300 --> 00:25:10.500 And that's going to come in so many forms. 00:25:10.620 --> 00:25:13.100 It is going to come at us. 00:25:13.180 --> 00:25:14.940 And it's hard to know quite where to put. 00:25:15.020 --> 00:25:17.360 Even some topics fit in multiple places. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:20.139 So this is the complicated case I told you I would bring up. 00:25:20.839 --> 00:25:21.319 Music. 00:25:22.219 --> 00:25:24.959 How we do music as a church together. 00:25:25.519 --> 00:25:26.859 I would suggest to you, 00:25:27.359 --> 00:25:29.519 as a primary doctrine, 00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:33.859 the content of our music really, really, really matters. 00:25:34.000 --> 00:25:34.139 Right? 00:25:34.179 --> 00:25:36.539 It must be true. 00:25:36.779 --> 00:25:36.939 Right? 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:41.600 We must have the gospel taught in our singing together. 00:25:41.820 --> 00:25:41.900 Right? 00:25:42.259 --> 00:25:45.320 I could see myself in a place where I'd go, 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:47.100 no, no, absolutely not. 00:25:47.180 --> 00:25:48.080 I'm leaving right now. 00:25:48.180 --> 00:25:48.500 Get up. 00:25:48.559 --> 00:25:50.279 I'm going to take my family out of the room. 00:25:51.500 --> 00:25:53.960 A lot of that music floating around in our days. 00:25:54.100 --> 00:25:54.279 Right? 00:25:54.559 --> 00:25:55.000 Troubling. 00:25:55.400 --> 00:25:55.799 Troubling. 00:25:56.580 --> 00:25:57.100 Stuff. 00:25:57.099 --> 00:26:00.859 But the style of the music? 00:26:02.939 --> 00:26:04.559 Probably not even tertiary. 00:26:05.159 --> 00:26:05.259 Right? 00:26:05.619 --> 00:26:08.259 Probably not even really worth talking about. 00:26:09.599 --> 00:26:10.980 I prefer an organ. 00:26:11.159 --> 00:26:11.579 Good for you. 00:26:11.639 --> 00:26:12.179 That's a preference. 00:26:12.439 --> 00:26:12.819 It's wonderful. 00:26:13.419 --> 00:26:13.899 It's neat. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:18.980 We sang Jesus Paid It All this morning. 00:26:19.639 --> 00:26:21.899 I don't like the additional chorus. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:25.399 I was kind of taking it. 00:26:25.399 --> 00:26:25.659 It's okay. 00:26:26.139 --> 00:26:26.519 It's okay. 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:27.299 It's just a preference. 00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:32.400 But I was kind of taking the temperature of the room, 00:26:32.660 --> 00:26:34.379 and it seems like a lot of you really like it. 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:36.180 Great. 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.379 I would prefer like, you know, like seven verses and no chorus 00:26:41.379 --> 00:26:44.299 with lots of words that I have to look up. 00:26:44.700 --> 00:26:45.420 Like, I'm like, whoa. 00:26:45.839 --> 00:26:46.920 I don't even know this word. 00:26:47.139 --> 00:26:50.339 That's kind of my preference and my style 00:26:50.339 --> 00:26:52.059 and not things that are repetitious. 00:26:52.220 --> 00:26:54.700 But that's okay because it was true, right? 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:55.960 It was good and it was true. 00:26:55.960 --> 00:26:56.920 So there's an issue. 00:26:57.019 --> 00:27:00.019 You can see it kind of spans some of these categories. 00:27:00.019 --> 00:27:02.819 We have to be able to think clearly about this, right? 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:07.039 We have to know what things we're going to die for, right? 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:09.039 Things that should divide us. 00:27:09.240 --> 00:27:11.500 Those things exist, right? 00:27:11.500 --> 00:27:14.339 And not things we should be uniting over, right? 00:27:14.339 --> 00:27:16.079 We should just let go. 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.579 There's so very much of that. 00:27:18.720 --> 00:27:23.940 Things that are, in fact, good for us as we get pushed and pulled 00:27:23.940 --> 00:27:27.299 and walk the tightrope of faithfulness to Christ, 00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:31.460 living in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:27:31.460 --> 00:27:34.240 So he goes on to elaborate in verses 3 and 4. 00:27:34.740 --> 00:27:35.039 Paul says, 00:27:35.120 --> 00:27:37.640 Do nothing from selfless ambition or conceit, 00:27:38.100 --> 00:27:42.579 but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 00:27:43.279 --> 00:27:45.460 That each of you look not only to his own interests, 00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:48.259 but also to the interests of others. 00:27:48.579 --> 00:27:52.360 Paul gives us this call to live a lowly life, 00:27:52.420 --> 00:27:56.819 a life that puts other people in front of us, right? 00:27:56.819 --> 00:28:01.379 Our Lord came not to be served, 00:28:01.500 --> 00:28:05.740 but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. 00:28:06.259 --> 00:28:09.259 Why do we think that it's everybody else's job to serve us, 00:28:09.599 --> 00:28:11.299 to serve our whims? 00:28:11.779 --> 00:28:14.759 We want to put ourself in the prominent place in our life 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:17.220 and everything must revolve around us. 00:28:17.879 --> 00:28:22.619 When Jesus let everything he revolved around, 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:24.220 he came to serve, right? 00:28:24.299 --> 00:28:26.159 He came to give his life. 00:28:26.819 --> 00:28:27.480 For others. 00:28:28.259 --> 00:28:29.819 I said to you last week, 00:28:29.879 --> 00:28:30.879 If Jesus is your Savior, 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:32.639 then he is your Lord, 00:28:32.939 --> 00:28:37.939 and you will most gladly follow him wherever he leads. 00:28:38.539 --> 00:28:42.019 And he leads us to put aside our self-interest, 00:28:42.119 --> 00:28:43.720 to be self-denying, 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.779 to not think that we know better than everybody else, right? 00:28:46.779 --> 00:28:51.359 To be humble and count others more significant than us, 00:28:51.419 --> 00:28:55.000 to look toward their interests and serve them. 00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:00.220 And then Paul gives us Jesus as the perfect pattern for a lowly life. 00:29:00.259 --> 00:29:00.480 And again, 00:29:00.500 --> 00:29:01.920 there's so much in here that can be said. 00:29:02.059 --> 00:29:04.319 I just want to unpack it for the next two hours, 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:04.819 but I won't. 00:29:05.099 --> 00:29:05.539 I promise. 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:07.500 But remember, 00:29:07.660 --> 00:29:09.200 he's making this point to them. 00:29:09.259 --> 00:29:11.240 This is the way you ought to be living your lives. 00:29:11.240 --> 00:29:13.339 And it feels to me like he goes, 00:29:13.400 --> 00:29:15.819 he goes like Jesus did for you, 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:18.400 which he's already said up at the beginning of the chapter, 00:29:18.400 --> 00:29:20.859 but it's like he can't help but expounding on it, right? 00:29:20.859 --> 00:29:25.819 He can't help but talking at length about this Jesus 00:29:25.819 --> 00:29:29.799 and the way that he came to love and to serve. 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:30.639 He says, 00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:32.179 have this mind, 00:29:32.460 --> 00:29:33.539 what he's been referring to, 00:29:33.980 --> 00:29:35.019 among yourselves, 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:39.399 which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:41.879 It's been granted to you. 00:29:42.700 --> 00:29:43.620 If you're in Christ, 00:29:44.120 --> 00:29:45.800 you have the spirit of Christ, 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:49.820 and therefore you have the mind of Christ. 00:29:50.620 --> 00:29:51.220 Last week, 00:29:51.280 --> 00:29:51.420 again, 00:29:51.440 --> 00:29:53.400 I read to you quite at length, 00:29:53.600 --> 00:29:55.460 a big part of Ephesians chapter four, 00:29:55.560 --> 00:29:57.120 but just the first three verses say, 00:29:57.680 --> 00:29:58.220 I therefore, 00:29:58.520 --> 00:29:59.300 a prisoner for the Lord, 00:29:59.480 --> 00:30:03.640 urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:09.220 Parallel to here in Philippians chapter one and verse 27. 00:30:09.220 --> 00:30:13.819 He goes on with all humility and gentleness, 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:15.480 with patience, 00:30:15.620 --> 00:30:17.360 bearing with one another in love, 00:30:18.140 --> 00:30:23.740 eager to maintain the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, 00:30:23.920 --> 00:30:24.059 right? 00:30:24.220 --> 00:30:25.000 Maintain it. 00:30:25.220 --> 00:30:27.200 It's been given to us. 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:28.980 Have this mind among yourselves, 00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:32.740 which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:35.000 So this unity, 00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:36.120 this type of humility, 00:30:36.120 --> 00:30:37.559 it is a work, 00:30:37.920 --> 00:30:38.039 right? 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:39.639 It's not a thing that's just going to happen, 00:30:39.639 --> 00:30:44.259 but it is a work that has been purchased and it is empowered. 00:30:45.319 --> 00:30:49.539 We can do the things that are being exhorted to us here. 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:50.980 So have this mind among yourselves, 00:30:51.079 --> 00:30:52.460 which is yours in Christ Jesus, 00:30:52.720 --> 00:30:52.960 who, 00:30:54.000 --> 00:30:56.440 though he was in the form of God, 00:30:56.879 --> 00:30:58.899 did not count equality with God, 00:30:58.940 --> 00:31:00.180 a thing to be grasped, 00:31:00.220 --> 00:31:03.399 but he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, 00:31:03.399 --> 00:31:06.299 being born in the likeness of men. 00:31:06.299 --> 00:31:14.599 The greatest example of humility that the world has ever or ever will witness is the incarnation of Jesus Christ. 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:17.240 From eternity past, 00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.480 Jesus was fully divine. 00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:23.960 And I know we can't really grasp what that means, 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:28.960 but Jesus is God from eternity past. 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:32.599 We view the world through the experience of created. 00:31:32.759 --> 00:31:34.960 It's hard to understand what it is to be the creator. 00:31:35.960 --> 00:31:37.960 This is who Jesus is. 00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:47.460 All of the divine perfections that belong to the father and the spirit also belonged and belong to the son. 00:31:48.460 --> 00:31:51.220 When Jesus came to dwell among us, 00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:51.960 Emmanuel, 00:31:53.160 --> 00:31:53.960 God with us, 00:31:53.960 --> 00:31:55.160 with us, 00:31:55.559 --> 00:31:56.960 he self humiliated. 00:31:56.960 --> 00:32:01.799 He put on human flesh. 00:32:03.100 --> 00:32:04.819 This doctrine, 00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:06.000 the incarnation, 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:07.900 or the hypostatic union of Christ, 00:32:08.620 --> 00:32:12.340 pages upon pages upon pages upon pages have been written about this. 00:32:12.420 --> 00:32:16.140 There is so much great writing out there on this. 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:18.160 So I'm going to read you a little bit of it. 00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:20.539 Because when things like this are tough to understand, 00:32:20.980 --> 00:32:23.599 I've discovered it's good to let smarter people explain it. 00:32:23.799 --> 00:32:23.879 So, 00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:26.099 so first, 00:32:26.659 --> 00:32:28.180 Steve Lawson in the commentary, 00:32:28.619 --> 00:32:29.119 it's his, 00:32:29.259 --> 00:32:31.299 it's his outline that is making me do this this morning, 00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:31.879 these 11 verses. 00:32:33.539 --> 00:32:34.019 Said, 00:32:34.119 --> 00:32:39.879 the son of God added to his person a human nature without surrendering any of his divine attributes. 00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:43.980 This was an act of self-renunciation on the part of the son of God, 00:32:44.059 --> 00:32:49.539 by which he voluntarily chose not to exercise all his rights as God 00:32:49.539 --> 00:32:51.799 during the time of his earthly life. 00:32:52.319 --> 00:32:57.319 But at no time did he rid himself of any divine perfections, 00:32:57.420 --> 00:32:57.579 right? 00:32:57.759 --> 00:32:59.980 So he set off voluntarily, 00:33:00.480 --> 00:33:00.759 said, 00:33:00.859 --> 00:33:04.680 I will not function as God in every way, 00:33:04.799 --> 00:33:06.980 yet he remained God. 00:33:08.019 --> 00:33:08.720 John Calvin, 00:33:08.779 --> 00:33:09.740 this is on your bulletin, 00:33:10.299 --> 00:33:10.500 wrote, 00:33:10.639 --> 00:33:13.339 Jesus had been brought down to the level of mankind 00:33:13.339 --> 00:33:19.519 so that there was in appearance nothing that differed from the common condition of man. 00:33:19.539 --> 00:33:20.099 mankind, 00:33:20.819 --> 00:33:21.039 right? 00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:23.319 He walked this earth, 00:33:23.819 --> 00:33:25.480 a hundred percent a man 00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:29.619 and a hundred percent God. 00:33:30.460 --> 00:33:32.440 One of my pet peeves is like a coach that says, 00:33:32.579 --> 00:33:33.539 give me 110%. 00:33:33.539 --> 00:33:34.319 I hate that. 00:33:34.399 --> 00:33:35.159 You can't do that. 00:33:35.960 --> 00:33:40.319 This is the only place that more than a hundred percent is applicable, 00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:40.879 right? 00:33:41.139 --> 00:33:41.519 Jesus, 00:33:41.740 --> 00:33:42.599 God and man, 00:33:42.599 --> 00:33:44.139 two hundred percent, 00:33:44.659 --> 00:33:45.899 two hundred percent. 00:33:46.859 --> 00:33:47.719 An example of this, 00:33:47.879 --> 00:33:49.339 Clay pointed this out to me last week. 00:33:50.139 --> 00:33:51.019 Acts chapter two, 00:33:51.399 --> 00:33:52.179 this is Peter's sermon, 00:33:52.279 --> 00:33:53.179 verse 22 and following. 00:33:53.500 --> 00:33:53.799 He says, 00:33:53.799 --> 00:33:54.579 men of Israel, 00:33:54.759 --> 00:33:55.480 hear these words, 00:33:55.699 --> 00:33:56.559 Jesus of Nazareth, 00:33:56.699 --> 00:34:07.279 a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. 00:34:08.059 --> 00:34:08.159 Now, 00:34:08.199 --> 00:34:08.920 Peter understood, 00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:10.119 Jesus, 00:34:10.460 --> 00:34:11.059 fully divine, 00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:11.920 fully human, 00:34:12.059 --> 00:34:17.659 that it was the power of God working in him as a man that accomplished all of those mighty works. 00:34:17.759 --> 00:34:19.800 He self-humiliated, 00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:24.579 was a self-renunciation that he didn't use his own power to accomplish these things, 00:34:24.619 --> 00:34:25.360 but the power of God, 00:34:25.820 --> 00:34:27.679 the father working in him. 00:34:27.759 --> 00:34:29.399 And I know that that's a mind trip. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:29.819 I know, 00:34:29.940 --> 00:34:31.799 fully aware that it is. 00:34:31.899 --> 00:34:35.500 Our triune God is a difficult thing to grasp. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:35.960 And again, 00:34:36.419 --> 00:34:42.679 I think we're going to learn and learn and learn and learn about the nature of God for all of eternity. 00:34:43.719 --> 00:34:47.519 Wayne Grudem in his systematic theology defines the hypostatic union this way. 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:53.379 Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man in one person and will be so forever. 00:34:54.039 --> 00:34:55.659 And Grudem is helpful in that way, 00:34:55.659 --> 00:35:00.000 giving you a sentence to help you wrap your mind around such a thing. 00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:01.819 John frames, 00:35:01.940 --> 00:35:05.019 contemporary theologian also wrote systematic theology. 00:35:05.219 --> 00:35:06.519 If you ever write a systematic theology, 00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:08.579 maybe some of you will take on that endeavor. 00:35:08.980 --> 00:35:12.159 I think you must title it systematic theology and nothing else. 00:35:12.339 --> 00:35:13.920 There's a lot of them out there. 00:35:14.239 --> 00:35:14.980 He wrote this though. 00:35:15.440 --> 00:35:18.159 How can one person be both divine and human, 00:35:18.379 --> 00:35:19.339 infinite and finite, 00:35:19.539 --> 00:35:20.699 invisible and visible, 00:35:21.139 --> 00:35:22.299 eternal and temporal, 00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:23.779 omnipotent and suffering, 00:35:23.980 --> 00:35:25.179 omniscient and limited, 00:35:25.179 --> 00:35:26.119 in knowledge. 00:35:27.019 --> 00:35:28.639 Try to imagine the psychology, 00:35:28.799 --> 00:35:32.899 the feeling or experience of such a person is baffling. 00:35:33.779 --> 00:35:34.519 The general pattern, 00:35:34.639 --> 00:35:37.159 I think is that while on earth in the state of humiliation, 00:35:37.899 --> 00:35:40.659 Jesus often limited his specially divine attributes. 00:35:40.779 --> 00:35:41.899 For as we have seen, 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:44.619 the specific purpose of the incarnation 00:35:44.619 --> 00:35:47.179 was that God should live our life 00:35:47.179 --> 00:35:55.279 and feel our sufferings in order to be a perfect substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. 00:35:56.279 --> 00:35:57.359 This is a wonderful, 00:35:57.599 --> 00:35:58.500 wonderful truth. 00:35:59.059 --> 00:36:00.919 And that's what Paul goes on to say in verse eight. 00:36:00.920 --> 00:36:03.260 And being found in human form, 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:07.460 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, 00:36:07.980 --> 00:36:10.440 even death on a cross. 00:36:10.440 --> 00:36:10.940 Right? 00:36:11.159 --> 00:36:13.220 Not only did Jesus humble himself, 00:36:13.500 --> 00:36:14.380 came and served, 00:36:14.500 --> 00:36:15.920 give his life as a ransom for many, 00:36:16.280 --> 00:36:17.980 to become obedient to the point of death, 00:36:18.159 --> 00:36:22.000 but even death on a cross. 00:36:22.780 --> 00:36:23.280 Again, 00:36:23.500 --> 00:36:24.320 we've, 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:25.440 we've heard things, 00:36:25.659 --> 00:36:25.900 right? 00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:26.099 We, 00:36:26.200 --> 00:36:27.059 we know the facts, 00:36:27.139 --> 00:36:30.220 many of us do about what death on a cross was like. 00:36:30.579 --> 00:36:31.920 We've never witnessed it. 00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:36.340 I don't think anybody's witnessed what this was like. 00:36:36.780 --> 00:36:36.800 Paul, 00:36:36.880 --> 00:36:37.360 Paul knew, 00:36:37.480 --> 00:36:41.639 Paul knew how horrid death on a cross was. 00:36:42.059 --> 00:36:46.460 It's the most horrific form of corporal punishment ever devised by a government. 00:36:47.240 --> 00:36:52.039 It was so terrible that Roman law forbade Roman citizens from being crucified. 00:36:52.440 --> 00:36:56.380 They wouldn't allow their own citizens to be put to death in this way. 00:36:57.420 --> 00:37:00.519 Jesus suffered greatly physically 00:37:00.519 --> 00:37:04.039 as he hung on the cross on the hill called Golgotha. 00:37:04.460 --> 00:37:07.179 We ought not minimize the physical suffering of Christ. 00:37:07.360 --> 00:37:08.320 It was a horrible, 00:37:08.619 --> 00:37:10.199 horrible death. 00:37:11.199 --> 00:37:12.559 But more than that, 00:37:13.019 --> 00:37:15.500 so much more than that, 00:37:15.619 --> 00:37:15.880 beloved, 00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:21.139 he bore God's wrath for all the sins of those who would believe in him. 00:37:21.199 --> 00:37:23.579 This was the much greater suffering, 00:37:24.119 --> 00:37:24.940 what was going on. 00:37:25.579 --> 00:37:27.400 Praise God that if you're in Christ this morning, 00:37:27.480 --> 00:37:29.780 that's a suffering you will never understand. 00:37:29.780 --> 00:37:34.680 You'll never taste the suffering that Jesus suffered. 00:37:35.160 --> 00:37:40.660 That infinite wrath being poured out on him for the sins of those who would believe in him. 00:37:41.380 --> 00:37:41.860 Now, 00:37:42.340 --> 00:37:43.320 Jesus was aware. 00:37:43.640 --> 00:37:46.519 He understood when he became incarnate, 00:37:46.580 --> 00:37:47.820 when he self-humiliated, 00:37:47.900 --> 00:37:51.180 he understood what he had come to do. 00:37:51.280 --> 00:37:56.320 He was aware of all of the Old Testament texts that spoke of God's wrath. 00:37:56.320 --> 00:37:57.539 One example, 00:37:57.700 --> 00:37:58.460 Psalm 75, 00:37:59.460 --> 00:38:00.620 verse 6 and following, 00:38:00.619 --> 00:38:04.679 for not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:07.339 but it is God who executes judgment, 00:38:08.299 --> 00:38:10.779 putting down one and lifting up another. 00:38:11.420 --> 00:38:12.819 For in the hand of the Lord, 00:38:12.900 --> 00:38:15.219 there is a cup with foaming wine, 00:38:15.319 --> 00:38:16.259 well mixed, 00:38:16.679 --> 00:38:18.119 and he pours out from it, 00:38:18.119 --> 00:38:23.299 and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. 00:38:24.019 --> 00:38:28.119 Drink all of God's wrath. 00:38:28.819 --> 00:38:34.719 The debt that we owe God for our sin is an infinite debt. 00:38:34.719 --> 00:38:39.000 It's due infinite wrath. 00:38:39.639 --> 00:38:43.699 And that's why it had to be bore by an infinite Savior. 00:38:44.139 --> 00:38:48.419 That's why we needed Jesus Christ to become a man and come and die in our stead, 00:38:48.519 --> 00:38:51.879 to be a propitiation for our sin. 00:38:52.839 --> 00:38:55.779 It was this aspect of the crucifixion that Jesus, 00:38:56.359 --> 00:38:57.099 the man, 00:38:57.219 --> 00:39:01.699 was vexed by in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his murder. 00:39:01.699 --> 00:39:05.460 Let me say this to you with humility. 00:39:06.419 --> 00:39:09.919 If there would be some great benefit to any of your lives 00:39:09.919 --> 00:39:12.619 for me to be crucified physically, 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:14.960 I would do that for you. 00:39:15.699 --> 00:39:18.759 I would lay my life down for you in that way. 00:39:19.319 --> 00:39:21.719 But the wrath of God of that? 00:39:22.299 --> 00:39:23.000 Forget it. 00:39:23.500 --> 00:39:24.439 Just forget it. 00:39:24.500 --> 00:39:25.000 I love y'all. 00:39:25.480 --> 00:39:27.799 I would not bear the wrath of God for you. 00:39:28.139 --> 00:39:30.299 This is what Jesus came to do. 00:39:30.299 --> 00:39:31.559 And I wouldn't do it because I couldn't. 00:39:31.699 --> 00:39:35.339 Luke chapter 22, verse 39 and following, 00:39:35.559 --> 00:39:38.239 And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives. 00:39:38.299 --> 00:39:39.439 And the disciples followed him. 00:39:40.179 --> 00:39:41.859 And when he came to the place, he said to them, 00:39:41.939 --> 00:39:43.619 Pray that you may not enter into temptation. 00:39:43.759 --> 00:39:48.099 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw and knelt down and prayed, saying, 00:39:48.599 --> 00:39:50.519 Father, if you are willing, 00:39:51.259 --> 00:39:54.500 Jesus the man, remove this cup from me. 00:39:55.319 --> 00:39:56.980 He knew what was going to do. 00:39:56.980 --> 00:40:00.679 This cup that he's referring to is the cup of God's wrath. 00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:03.079 It's a reference to all those Old Testament texts. 00:40:03.519 --> 00:40:08.500 Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done. 00:40:08.500 --> 00:40:25.559 Such stress. 00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:31.759 This great anxiety and agony over what was going to happen just the next day. 00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:33.860 Jesus knew that he was made incarnate. 00:40:34.000 --> 00:40:37.739 God, the Son, indwelling human flesh for this moment. 00:40:37.739 --> 00:40:41.559 So, with me, if you've been here a while, you've heard me do this before, 00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:43.119 but imagine, just for a moment, 00:40:43.879 --> 00:40:46.779 the cup of God's infinite wrath do you 00:40:46.779 --> 00:40:48.939 for your infinite sin 00:40:48.939 --> 00:40:51.239 as a mass of water being held back 00:40:51.239 --> 00:40:53.199 by a dam 1,000 miles wide 00:40:53.199 --> 00:40:55.179 and 1,000 miles high 00:40:55.179 --> 00:40:56.799 and you're standing at the bottom of it. 00:40:57.379 --> 00:40:58.439 Infinite wrath. 00:40:58.699 --> 00:41:00.500 You can't see the ends of it this way 00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:02.579 and you can't see the top of it this way. 00:41:02.699 --> 00:41:04.959 It's a dam that is holding back 00:41:04.960 --> 00:41:08.400 that crushing punishment. 00:41:09.659 --> 00:41:11.659 Suddenly and all at once, 00:41:11.760 --> 00:41:12.820 the dam gives way 00:41:12.820 --> 00:41:15.740 and a wall of water comes rushing towards you, right? 00:41:16.039 --> 00:41:16.920 Certain death. 00:41:17.179 --> 00:41:19.000 A crushing blow. 00:41:19.139 --> 00:41:20.320 It's hurtling towards you 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:23.460 and just before you're swept away by it, 00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:25.820 a hole opens up at your feet 00:41:25.820 --> 00:41:28.260 and all of this wrath, 00:41:28.380 --> 00:41:30.179 God's infinite wrath for you 00:41:30.179 --> 00:41:31.800 that you justly deserve 00:41:31.800 --> 00:41:33.960 is siphoned into this hole 00:41:33.960 --> 00:41:35.400 and it's swallowed up. 00:41:36.619 --> 00:41:37.380 Into the hole 00:41:37.380 --> 00:41:39.460 and it's swallowed up. 00:41:40.860 --> 00:41:43.099 This is what Jesus accomplished on the cross 00:41:43.099 --> 00:41:44.720 for those who believe in him. 00:41:45.300 --> 00:41:48.320 He drank the cup of God's wrath for you. 00:41:49.159 --> 00:41:50.260 He turned the cup over. 00:41:50.760 --> 00:41:52.340 He slammed it down on the bar 00:41:52.340 --> 00:41:53.880 and he declared, 00:41:54.119 --> 00:41:56.179 it is finished. 00:41:56.179 --> 00:42:01.079 I read this week that the last words of Buddha 00:42:01.079 --> 00:42:02.419 were, 00:42:02.599 --> 00:42:03.279 I exhort you, 00:42:03.539 --> 00:42:05.399 all individual things pass away, 00:42:05.739 --> 00:42:08.079 strive on untiringly. 00:42:09.059 --> 00:42:10.559 The last words of Jesus, 00:42:11.179 --> 00:42:13.719 it is finished. 00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:17.739 He became a man that he might die that death, 00:42:17.839 --> 00:42:18.059 right? 00:42:18.399 --> 00:42:21.599 That we would have full redemption 00:42:21.599 --> 00:42:25.279 declared justified in him. 00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:28.519 This is an astounding truth. 00:42:29.000 --> 00:42:31.480 This is a massive reality. 00:42:31.619 --> 00:42:32.400 And what Paul is saying 00:42:32.400 --> 00:42:34.799 is that it should inform the way we live 00:42:34.799 --> 00:42:35.860 with one another. 00:42:36.759 --> 00:42:39.219 How dare we not love each other 00:42:39.219 --> 00:42:42.639 when we have been loved like this? 00:42:45.139 --> 00:42:46.460 Verse 9 to the end. 00:42:46.539 --> 00:42:48.339 I think Paul just can't help himself 00:42:48.340 --> 00:42:50.340 and I'm so glad he can't. 00:42:51.019 --> 00:42:51.280 He says, 00:42:51.400 --> 00:42:51.820 therefore, 00:42:52.260 --> 00:42:53.660 because of what he has done, 00:42:53.740 --> 00:42:54.579 his death on the cross, 00:42:55.100 --> 00:42:56.740 God has highly exalted him 00:42:56.740 --> 00:42:58.100 and bestowed on him the name 00:42:58.100 --> 00:43:00.500 that is above every name, right? 00:43:00.559 --> 00:43:02.260 Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, 00:43:02.340 --> 00:43:05.019 the place of honor, right? 00:43:05.180 --> 00:43:07.519 His name is a name that is greater than. 00:43:07.600 --> 00:43:08.920 He is supreme, right? 00:43:08.940 --> 00:43:09.960 He's more excellent. 00:43:10.059 --> 00:43:13.720 He's preeminent over every other name. 00:43:14.680 --> 00:43:15.940 So at the name of Jesus, 00:43:16.100 --> 00:43:18.059 every knee should bow in heaven 00:43:18.059 --> 00:43:19.480 and on earth and under the earth 00:43:19.480 --> 00:43:21.079 and every tongue confess 00:43:21.079 --> 00:43:23.059 that Jesus Christ is Lord, 00:43:23.159 --> 00:43:24.980 like that this will be the end of all things 00:43:24.980 --> 00:43:26.059 when Jesus returns 00:43:26.059 --> 00:43:31.500 to the glory of God the Father. 00:43:32.940 --> 00:43:35.619 We have in Christ a perfect pattern 00:43:35.619 --> 00:43:37.119 for a lowly life. 00:43:37.699 --> 00:43:38.219 So, 00:43:38.639 --> 00:43:40.880 we ought to humble ourselves 00:43:40.880 --> 00:43:43.139 and walk in a manner worthy 00:43:43.139 --> 00:43:45.500 of the gospel of Christ. 00:43:45.500 --> 00:43:48.059 Christ is the reasonable thing 00:43:48.059 --> 00:43:49.599 for us to do. 00:43:50.420 --> 00:43:51.920 Why don't we spend so much time 00:43:51.920 --> 00:43:53.079 trying to make much of ourselves 00:43:53.079 --> 00:43:54.179 in this life 00:43:54.179 --> 00:43:55.820 instead of preparing ourselves 00:43:55.820 --> 00:43:57.219 for the life to come, 00:43:57.340 --> 00:43:58.920 which will last forever. 00:43:59.480 --> 00:44:00.579 It's reasonable. 00:44:01.599 --> 00:44:02.639 God help us all. 00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:05.819 Jesus said in Matthew 23, verse 12, 00:44:05.920 --> 00:44:07.199 whoever exalts himself 00:44:07.199 --> 00:44:08.980 will be humbled 00:44:08.980 --> 00:44:11.299 and whoever humbles himself 00:44:11.299 --> 00:44:13.400 will be exalted. 00:44:13.719 --> 00:44:15.579 Just like Christ was exalted. 00:44:15.719 --> 00:44:16.599 We won't be just like Christ, 00:44:16.719 --> 00:44:18.539 but they'll still be above us. 00:44:19.400 --> 00:44:21.059 But if we will humble ourselves 00:44:21.059 --> 00:44:22.259 and serve one another, 00:44:22.559 --> 00:44:23.920 live the lowly life 00:44:23.920 --> 00:44:24.960 that we've been called to, 00:44:25.139 --> 00:44:26.079 the suffering life 00:44:26.079 --> 00:44:27.179 that we've been granted, 00:44:28.019 --> 00:44:29.779 then for eternity, 00:44:29.780 --> 00:44:31.820 we will be exalted. 00:44:32.460 --> 00:44:33.180 Let's pray together.