LookingtoJesus

Philippians 2:9-11

INTRODUCTION

Jesus.  No other name is more hated and more loved.

Years ago, I had a job at Trojan Nuclear Plant in the Training Department.  Most of my co-workers were ex-Navy guys as I was.  And they were prone to do a lot of cursing.  And one of their favorite curse words was “Jesus.”  And I remember how I would cringe when I heard them using His name in that derogatory way.  Silently, I’d pray “Lord, forgive them.”  But its striking to consider that amongst the various curse words that people use, “Jesus” or “Jesus Christ” is among the most popular.

By way of contrast, we have gathered here today to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.  We’ve prayed in His name.  Sung songs about Him.  And are now looking to His Word that He might instruct us in matters related to His Church.  We are here, as Philippians 3:3 puts it, to “worship in the Spirit and glory in Christ Jesus.”

The name of Jesus, which is despised by some, is adored by others.

Now we want to continue our study here in this incredibly important and relevant text, Philippians 2:9-11.  But before we do, we need to define some terms that we find here in this passage.  It will prove necessary for us to have a good grasp on these terms if we are going to understand.

Name.  The term “name” is used three times in verses 9 and 10.  Generally speaking the term “name,” as it is used in Scripture, represents not just one’s identity, but the total person—their character, authority, rank, power, etc.  And names were frequently given by God not merely to identify a person, but to identify them in their office or specific role in relationship to God.  For example, Abram—whose name meant “exalted father”—was given the name Abraham (“father of a multitude”), after God reaffirmed to him the covenant He made through which He promised to make Abraham “the father of a multitude of nations” (Genesis 17:5).  That’s just one example, but there are many more.  God gave Jacob the name Israel which means “he who strives with God” (Genesis 32:28).  Jesus gave “Cephas” the name “Peter” (which means “rock or stone”).

So, the name speaks to more than Jesus’ identity.  By the way…we use the name Jesus (at least we should use it) in this sense.  When it says those who “believe in His name” are given the right to become children of God, it is not speaking there about merely believing in His identity.  Its speaking about belief in His person.  And when we pray “in Jesus’ name,” we are not adding some kind of magical formula at the end of our prayers that guarantees that we will get what we want, we are submitting our prayers to the person of Jesus, His character, His purpose, His plan, and His will.

This passage speaks a lot about the name of Jesus, and you might note that He is referred to in a couple of ways.  The passage uses the singular name “Jesus.”  And it also uses the two names together, “Jesus Christ.”  It also speaks of the truth that “Jesus Christ is Lord.”  And all these terms are of great importance.

So, by way of introduction, let’s take a brief look at each of these names.  And we are going to do this backwards, leaving the name “Jesus” for last.

Lord = Greek “kurios” = “having power or authority.”  It was used in that day of owners and masters and fathers and such.  It was also used in the Septuagint version of the OT to translate the term Jehovah.  Jesus used the title in reference to Himself (Matthew 7:21).  Then in his first sermon, Peter applied the term to Jesus, saying, “God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).  Following the resurrection, with two exceptions (Acts 10:14; Revelation 7:14), there is no record of believers using the term kurios in addressing anyone except God and the Lord Jesus.  In other words, following the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as far as believers in Christ were concerned, there was only worthy of the title Lord, and that was Jesus.  And in reference to Jesus the term is used in a very practical and relevant fashion in other texts:

• Salvation is to those who confess Him as Lord. Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”
• The believer is exhorted to set apart Jesus as Lord. 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.”

Christ.  The term means “anointed” and speaks to Jesus’ identity as the Messiah of Israel.  When Jesus asked His disciples of their understanding of His identity, Peter responded by saying, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).  And Jesus affirmed Peter because, by divine revelation, Peter understood the truth about Jesus.  Later, following Christ’s resurrection and the out-pouring of the Spirit, Peter would declare: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36).  And we should note, that in this very first sermon of Peter, the first sermon preached, we have the same terms used of Jesus that we find in Philippians 2:9-11.

Jesus.  The term is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name “Joshua.”  It was a common name up to the second century.  The term itself means “Jehovah saves.”  That’s the meaning of the name.  It is a name which expresses Christ’s humanity.  Now if we are going to appreciate the meaning of His name, “Jehovah saves,” we need to do a little background study.

The name “Jehovah” occurs over 6000 times and in every period of biblical Hebrew.  Because it was written without the vowels, there is some debate regarding its exact pronunciation.  So sometimes you will hear it as “Jehovah” and sometimes as “Yahweh.”  It is the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses.  Exodus 3:13-14, “Then Moses said to God, ‘Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I shall say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’  What shall I say to them?”  And God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”  The NASB has a note regarding this expression, “I am,” which says: “Related to the name of God, YHWH, rendered LORD, which is derived from the verb HAYAH, to be.”  So that’s where “Jehovah” or “Yahweh” comes from.  The name speaks to His self-existent nature and therefore His identity as our Creator God.

Now, Jehovah hears of the troubles of Israel, enslaved in Egypt as they were.  And He sends forth Moses as a deliverer.  And through God’s mighty hand the people are redeemed from Egypt.  And Moses and Israel respond by singing a song to the Lord.  We read of what they had to say in Exodus chapter 15.  But in Exodus 15:2 these say, “The Lord (Jehovah) is my strength and song and He has become by salvation.”  Jehovah, the self-existent One (the creator), is also our Savior.  He has worked to redeem us from slavery in Egypt and to set us free to serve Him.

As God has chosen His people.  And works to bring them into the promised land, He prescribes to them certain laws regarding the temple, the priesthood, and sacrifices, etc.  And these all are a part of His plan and speak to His provision of a future redeemer, the Messiah of Israel.

And this phrase, “The Lord has become my salvation,” is a phrase that speaks to all of this.  The fact that God worked to redeem His people from captivity and the fact that He has promised a future deliverer.  So, the phrase is repeated elsewhere:

• Psalm 18:2, “The Lord (Jehovah) is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.”
• Isaiah 12:2, “For the Lord God (Jehovah) is my strength and song, and He has become by salvation” (And Psalm 18:14).

Remember what I said, the name “Jesus” means “Jehovah saves.”  And the name Jehovah is the name by which God disclosed Himself to His people.  A Name which speaks to His self-existence and therefore His identity as the Creator.  And we should note that Jesus repeatedly used that expression, “I Am,” in reference to Himself.  In fact, on one occasion—during his arrest—He asked the arresting mob, “Whom do you seek?”  They answered, “Jesus the Nazarene.”  And then Jesus said, “I am” (John 18:5).  The English text adds the word “He” in italics, but it’s not in the original.  He said literally “I Am.”  And do you know what happened when Jesus the Nazarene—who was purposing to go the cross to die for our sins—said “I Am” to that group of people?  “Where therefore He said to them, ‘I Am,’ the drew back and fell to the ground.”  Just a little side note.

But when Jesus was born we are told something about His name that is very important.  We read of it in Matthew chapter 1, verses 18-23.  The angel’s instructions were explicit.  The baby was to be given a particular name.  A name which was in keeping with His particular office and purpose.  It was also in keeping with all that was and is true about our God and in keeping with all that was prophesied regarding Him in Scripture.  The name is more than just His name, it represented all that was true of God in salvation.  Jesus means “Jehovah saves.”

Embodied in that name is the nature and character of God.  The types and prophecies of the Old Testament.  The purposed work of Jesus in dying in the cross.  The finished work of Jesus.  His death, resurrection, and ascension.  And His return.  In the beginning of our Bibles we read of the One who would come and bruise the head of Satan.  In the end of our Bibles we read about the Lamb who was slain and purchased for God men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  And central to it all is this truth which we’ve read about in Philippians 2:5-8, how God became man and died on a cross for our sins.

I’ve said before that you could summarize the message of the Bible in four words—“Man sins; God saves.”  And the name “Jesus” embodies these truths—“Jehovah saves.”  The main message of the entirety of your Bible is summed up in that one word—that one name—Jesus.

Now sometimes in Scripture we find Jesus referred to in alternative ways.  Sometimes he is referred to as “Jesus Christ,” as we have it here in verse 11.  And other times we find it in the reverse order, “Christ Jesus.”  Rarely do we find the simple term “Jesus” in the NT epistles as it is used here.  And it appears twice.

The disciples John and Peter and James and Jude refer to Jesus by using the two names in the order “Jesus Christ.”  And, of course, these men knew Him first by His human name and only fully comprehended that He was the Christ after His resurrection.  So, they used the name that reflected that.

The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, almost always referred to Jesus by using the two names “Christ Jesus.”  And the difference for Paul was that he first encountered Christ on the road to Damascus, and he encountered Him as the ascended Lord.

And as I’ve said, the name “Jesus” on its own is not typically found in the epistles.  So, the fact that it is found this way here is noteworthy.  As was mentioned before, the name emphasizes His humanity.  It was the name given to the human baby Jesus.  But embodied in Jesus and the name was the truth already spoken of—the truth that Jehovah saves.  But Jesus was His human name and as the God-become-man He humbled Himself in obedience to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore, God exalted Him, that is Jesus and gave Him the name which is above every name.

MESSAGE

The Preeminence of the Name:

In its Source

We read in Genesis chapter 11 how the residents of earth decided to build a tower, the tower of Babel.  They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”  And it is obvious that in sin this is something that we humans are inclined to do—“to make a name for ourselves.”

But Jesus didn’t make a name for Himself, God gave Him that name.  Note what the text says, “Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (2:9).

“Bestowed” translates the Greek term “charizomai” which is the verb form of the term “grace.”  It means to show favor, grant or bestow.  God “graced” Him with the name.  Now some are troubled by the fact that the giving of the name actually took place at His birth.  And they can’t understand how it would be that God would bestow the name on Him at a subsequent time.  But there is no contradiction here.  That name which was given to Him at His birth was affirmed in Him in His death for sins and resurrection from the dead.  Romans 1:4 speaks of how Jesus Christ was “declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead.”  Wasn’t Jesus already the Son of God before the resurrection?  Of course, He was (and is).  But what was true of Him was affirmed and declared through His resurrection.  And in the same manner, His name Jesus, meaning “Jehovah Saves” was affirmed in every way when He completed His saving work on the cross.

Hebrews 1:3b-4 puts it this way: “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.”

So, keep that in mind, next time you hear someone using “Jesus” name for a curse word.  That name was a name given to Him by God Himself.

In its Station

“Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (2:9).

God graced Jesus with a name that is above every name.  We read in the book of Acts of how Jesus sent forth His disciples to bear witness of Him.  And their efforts were met with both success and opposition.  In Acts chapter 4 we read of how the religious leaders threatened Peter and John, commanding them “to peak no more to any man in this name (i.e. the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). And of course, they refused to abide by that.  They kept on preaching.  So, the apostles were put in jail again.  But an angel of the Lord set them free.  The religious leaders captured them again and reminded them how they had given them “strict orders not to continue teaching in this name” (Acts 5:28).  The religious leaders were befuddled as to what to do with these men.  So, they held a council.  And Gamaliel stood up and said (Acts 5:35-39):

“Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.  After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. So, in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.”

And, of course, the apostles kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.  But we should note that there were others that were claiming to be somebodies, and their plans and actions came to not.  And since those days, two thousand years ago, there have been plenty of nobodies claiming to be somebodies, and their plans and actions came to not.  And in our day, there are still plenty of nobodies claiming to be somebodies, and their actions will come to not.  But not so with Jesus.  He’s been given the name that is above every name.

Someone has compiled a list of the top ten famous people in all of human history.  They compiled the list according to the number of Google searches done on these names and the approximate number of books written about them.  Here’s the list:

#10: Sir Isaac Newton

#9: Leonardo da Vinci

#8: William Shakespeare

#7: Adolf Hitler

#6: The Apostle Paul

#5: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)

#4: Moses

#3: Abraham

#2: Muhammad

#1: Jesus of Nazareth

He’s number one on that list right now—a list compiled according to the number of Google searches and approximate number of books written about Him—but to-be-sure not everyone would put Him at the top of their list.  There will come a day when He will be at the top of everyone’s list.

Years ago, a man wrote something he called “One Solitary Life”: “Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.  He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself…While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.  Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.  I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.

In its Sway

Note the repeated use of the word “every.”  His name is above EVERY name.  EVERY knee will bow to Him.   EVERY tongue will confess Him.

There have been a lot of despots in the history of men who have endeavored to rule over people by force.  At the time in which Paul wrote this epistle Caesar reigned over an empire which included about 57 million people.  Hitler tried to rule the world, but failed.  Mao Tse Tung ruled over some 1 billion people as the communist dictator.  His government was responsible, through famine, executions, and other means—for the deaths of approximately 50 million people.  There are today rulers in our world who would love to bring every human being on this planet into submission—the rulers of N. Korea, Iran, and ISIS—to name a few.

The Psalmist spoke prophetically of such things in Psalm 2:

¹Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
² The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
³ “Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
⁶ “But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

⁷ “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
⁸ ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
⁹ ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

¹⁰ Now therefore, O kings, show discernment;
Take warning, O judges of the earth.
¹¹ Worship the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
¹² Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way,
For His wrath may soon be kindled.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Note the repetition of the word “every.”  Then note this reference to the extent of His exaltation over all—“those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth” (2:10).

You will find the same truth spoken of, with minor differences, in other passages:

Ephesians 1:20b-21, “Seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.”

Revelation5:13, “And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

So, we have these three realms of existence—in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.  Someone has referred to them as the “celestial, terrestrial, and infernal.”

So, when we speak of the celestial (above the earth) we are speaking of the angelic host.  And these, of course, have always been employed in the worship of God (i.e. Isaiah chapter 6).  But the angels struggle to comprehend something which we ourselves have experienced.  The angels in heaven do not sin.  And because of that they don’t experience the grace and mercy of God in salvation.  Peter writes of the greatness of the salvation we have received in 1^st Peter.  He speaks of how the prophets of old sought to understand what the Spirit of Christ was speaking of with regards to the “sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow” (1 Peter 1:11).  What they sought to understand has been declared to us in the gospel (1 Peter 1:12).  Now note what it says in verse 12—“things into which angels long to look” (1 Peter 1:12).  The term translated “long to look” means to “gain a clear glimpse.”  It’s like that little child who stands on his tippy toes to look over a fence to get a better vision of something.  And what are text is saying is that all the angelic host will bow the knee to Jesus in the wonder and reverence as to what He has done in saving sinners.

And then we have the terrestrial.  And this will include people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.  It will include people from every class and race and status—men and women, rich and poor, famous and infamous.  It will not matter.  It includes people of all differing religious beliefs—atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Mormons, Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, and every imaginable cult.  In includes all of us and all of our loved ones and friends.  Includes all of those around the earth who are even now being persecuted for their faith in Jesus and it includes even their persecutors.  It includes all of those who exalt themselves in their own pride and power in this day, who are negligent of the reality that it is Jesus who is the “ruler of the Kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5).  Every means every.  The scope of what is spoken of here is beyond anything we can now comprehend.  There will be a kind of counterfeit duplication of this during the tribulation when the antichrist reigns for a time.  But Jesus will reign in this lofty place for all eternity.

Then we have the “infernal.”  That realm of existence which is “under the earth.”  And what is spoken of here is the demon realm.  Even the demonic realm will be brought into total subjection to Him.  It is even now defeated.  Colossians 2:15, “When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.”  And you say, “But why are they still free to work in their evil ways?”  They are for now, but their ultimate doom is assured through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  They are like those Japanese warriors—on remote islands–who continued to fight on, though the second world war had long since ended.  They haven’t got them memo.

Homer Kent, “’This universal acknowledgment will include angels and departed saints in heaven, people still living on earth, and the satanic hosts and lost humanity in hell…Every’ indicates a universal acknowledgment of Christ’s sovereignty, even by his enemies.  Paul does not imply a universal salvation but means that every personal being will ultimately confess Christ’s lordship, either with joyful faith or with resentment and despair.”

In its Strength

“Every knee will bow…every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (2:10-11).

The statements are from Isaiah 45:23.  And we have here the language that is associated with the expected response of subjects to a King.  In this case we are speaking of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  There will come a day when all will be subjugated to Him.  They will bow the knee and confess His Lordship in humble reverence and submission.

Our text is associated with the second coming.  And we should note that there is a radical difference between the nature of His first coming and His second coming.  As Adrian Rogers put it: “He came the first time to die; He is coming again to raise the dead. When He came the first time, they questioned whether He was King; the next time the world will know that He is King of kings and Lord of lords. The first time He wore a crown of thorns; the next time He will be wearing a crown of glory. The first time He came in poverty; the next time He is coming in power. The first time He had an escort of angels; the next time He will come with ten thousand of His saints. The first time He came in meekness; He is coming again in majesty.”

How is this going to happen?  Note what it says at the end of Philippians 3:21. He has the power to “subject all things to Himself.”  By that power He will bring all into subjection.

Now this is going to happen in one of two ways.  There are those who have already confessed Him to be Lord.  Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”  We are speaking here of believers.  He is, for us believers, our Savior and Lord.  We even now bow the knee to Him in humble submission and worship.

But that vast majority of folks are not now in this position.  But He has the power and right to bring them to this point.  And He will.  That does not mean that they are going to be saved, but they will nonetheless be brought into complete subjection to Him.

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 speaks to His second coming: “When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His might angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  And these will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed.”

British historian H.A.L. Fisher once said: “Men wiser and more learned than I have discovered in history a plot, a rhythm, a predetermined pattern. These harmonies are concealed from me. I can see only one emergency following upon another as wave follows upon wave . . . nothing but the play of the contingent and the unforeseeable.”  But things are moving towards a God ordained destiny.

There is indeed a predetermined pattern to which history is inevitably destined.  The long war against God that started with Satan when he rebelled against God with a third of the angels of heaven; that long war that, on man’s side of things, started when Satan tempted Eve and Adam and Eve fell in sin.  That long war which has been going on for centuries past.  Where the forces of good and evil have raged against each other.  That long war will come to a conclusion one day.  The Lord Jesus has already triumphed through His death and resurrection.  And there will come a day when He will return and “Judge the world in righteousness” (Acts 17:31).  And on that day, all will be brought into complete submission to Him.

You wonder where things are headed in this world?  This is where they are headed.  Christ will reign over all.

CONCLUSION

Now what does this mean to you?  If you are here as one who has not sincerely trusted in Jesus for salvation it means you have some soul-searching to do.  You will bow the knee to Jesus one day.  The question is will you do that in adoration and gratitude as one of His own or will you be compelled to do that, as a vanquished foe.

Isaiah 45:22-23 speaks to this.  Our text quotes part of this passage.  It also speaks to God’s desire that you look to Him to salvation: “Turn to Me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God and there is no other.  I have sworn to Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back.  That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”

A 15-year-old teenager headed off to church, as he normally did on Sunday mornings.  But there was a blizzard that day and the heavy snow kept him from going to his usual place of worship.  Instead he found himself in a Primitive Methodist Church. As a young man, from a long line of Pastors, he knew all about Christianity, but he didn’t know Christ.  Later he would write of those days, “It was my sad lot to feel the greatness of my sin without a discovery of the greatness of God’s mercy.”  The Primitive Methodist Church almost didn’t open that morning, but the caretaker, thinking that a few people might show up, opened the doors and lit the stove.  By 11:00 some 12-15 people had come inside, but not the Pastor. He had apparently been unable to get there because of the snow.  Finally, one of the laymen of the congregation reluctantly took the pulpit. As he looked down, he could see the small congregation, hundreds of empty seats, and the young 15-year-old boy seated under the gallery. The text for his sermon was “Look unto me, and be ye saved” (Isaiah 45:22), and after about ten minutes of repeating himself, the man was about to step down from the pulpit. But before he did, he addressed the teenager. “Young man,” he said, “you look very miserable, and you will always be miserable if you don’t obey my text. But if you do obey now, this moment, you will be saved.”  He paused again, then shouted at the young man with more animation, “Young man, look to Jesus!  Look! Look! Look!”  That young man was Charles Spurgeon.  Years later Spurgeon wrote of his experience, “There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness was rolled away.”  And there are some here today—at this end of the earth—who need to look to Jesus for salvation.  We are all sinners.  We are all deserving of God’s judgment.  There is but One way by which any person can be saved.  Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.  Salvation is by grace through faith in Him.  Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.”  And it is left to every man in this particular dispensation of time—confess Him now and be saved OR confess Him later as a vanquished foe.

Now if you are here as one who has trusted in Jesus, you even NOW confess Him as Lord.  You even NOW glory in His name and in His salvation.   But you see the events in this world.  You face tribulations and even some degree of persecution.  You see in the news how the name of Jesus is met with disdain and hatred.  People scoff at Him, His word, and the very prospect of His soon return.  But be encouraged.  Jesus has triumphed.  We’ve read the end of the book and we know about its conclusion.  Jesus wins!  And so, do all those who have been born again through faith to eternal life in Him.

We live in anticipation of the day when all things will be reconciled to Him.  And even now we recognize where things are headed in this world.  The spiritual battle we are now engaged in won’t go on forever.  It will come to a conclusion.  And every being in God’s creation will be brought into subjection to Him.  2 Corinthians 2:14-16 speaks to this: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the others an aroma from life to life.”

Vernon Grounds, “What’s in that name? All the grace of God, all the wonder of redemption, all that we believe, and all that we are hoping for. We say it, we sing it, and adoration fills our souls. We anticipate the indescribable glory of that day when every knee will bow and every tongue, by glad choice or by divine constraint, will praise that highest and holiest of all names–Jesus!”

In his book, “Approaching Hoofbeats,” Billy Graham wrote of what took place under the Christian persecution in Rome.  “Imagine a village,” he wrote,” in the suburbs of Ephesus or Laodicea.  Christian believers are at work tanning leather, dying cloth, harvesting crops, raising families, studying math and history—at worship, at work, or at play.  Then, suddenly, hoofbeats are heard clattering up the nearby cobbled streets.  The horses are reined in by a Roman centurion and his honor guard.  A leather camp table is unfolded.  An incense burner is placed upon the table.  A flame is lit.  Heralds sound the trumpets.  There is no place to hide, no time to decide.  Believers must join their neighbors in that line.  Just ahead the village mayor tosses his incense into the flames and exclaims proudly, ‘Caesar is Lord.’  Others follow.  The line ahead grows shorter.  The moment of decision draws near.  Will the Christian avoid the conflict and protect his life and security with the simple act of obedience?  Will he mutter ‘Caesar is Lord’ and sneak back home to safety?  Or, will he recognize that act as a symbol of a wider disobedience, refuse the incense, proclaim ‘Jesus is Lord’ and pay the price for disloyalty to the state?

What would you do?  What are you even now doing in response to the cultural pressures that now work to suppress the truth and conform you to its own way of thinking and living.  The believer in Christ is one who has already confessed Jesus as Lord.  We are exhorted to set Him apart as Lord in our hearts.  And we do that for good reason.  He, the One who died for our sins and rose from the dead, has ascended to the right hand of God.  He reigns even now as Lord over all.  And He’s coming again.

Philippians 2:9-11

INTRODUCTION

According to the law of gravity what goes up must inevitably come down.  That is a law which governs the way that things work on this planet.  It is an undeniable and unavoidable reality.

There are many such laws of physics and life that pertain to the physical realm of our existence.  Likewise, there are spiritual laws which relate to all of us.  There are undeniable spiritual laws, axioms if you will, that govern the affairs of men in relationship to God.

One of those is a principle often cited in the Bible: “Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”  Those who lift themselves up in pride, will be humbled by God.  Those who humble themselves before God, shall be exalted.

This correlates with another principle found in the Bible: “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  You will find this principle repeatedly cited in Scripture also.

Jesus spoke of such matters.

On one occasion he was invited to the house of one of the Pharisees for a meal.  He noticed how the invited guests were vying to sit in the places of honor at the table.  So, he spoke a parable to them about how a person, if invited to a wedding feast, should not take the place of honor, because someone more distinguished might come along.  And there would then be embarrassment if that guest was moved to the lowest place at the table.  Instead, the guest should proceed to the last place, so that he might instead be moved to a more prestigious place and be honored in that way.  And Jesus summarized the parable by saying, “For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 14:7-11).

On another occasion he spoke a parable to those who were trusting in themselves in their own righteousness and looking on others with contempt.  The parable had to do with two men who went up to the temple to pray.  The first prayed to himself.  He thanked God that he was not like other people: “swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer.”  The second was unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, “but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner’.”  Jesus summarized the parable by saying: “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18:9-14).

On a third occasion Jesus was speaking to the multitude concerning the Pharisees.  He spoke of how the Pharisees loved the places of honor and how they gladly received respectful greetings, like “Rabbi” and “Teacher.”  And in doing that they were living contrary to this spiritual principle of which we have spoken.  And Jesus said regarding their misguided ambitions: “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.” (Matthew 23:6-12).

This spiritual axiom is proven to be valid in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the preeminent example of the truth that “he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”  And that’s what we find here in Philippians 2.

Philippians 2:5-8 speaks to the humility of Christ.  Philippians 2:9-11 speaks to His exaltation.

REVIEW

But let’s back up, before we go any further, and do a bit of review.

We have noted how God has called us, as believers, to a radically different way of thinking and living (Philippians 2:3-4).  This way of thinking is contrary to the way the world, the flesh, and the devil thinks.  These think that “looking out for number one” is the way to go.  According to the world’s economy, in this sinful way of thinking, it is perfectly okay and proper to idolize oneself.

But God calls us to a way of thinking and living that is characterized by humility and servant-mindedness and a propensity to put the needs of others ahead of ourselves.  “Love does not seek its own.”  And this radical way of thinking and living is according to this Biblical definition of love.

The radical way of thinking and living is exemplified in the Lord Jesus.  Amazingly, God’s word exhorts us to adopt the attitude of Christ (Philippians 2:5).  We are to adopt His way of thinking.  This will require of us, of course, a change in the way that we think—by the Spirit in the renewing of our mind.

So, what do we find as we consider this example of Jesus.  The key facet of His example is His humility.  We are called to “humility of mind.”  He demonstrated humility.  The eternal Son of God relinquished His divine prerogatives.  “Though He was rich…He became poor” (2 Corinthians 8:9).  He became a man.  He took on servanthood.  He humbled Himself in obedience.  He suffered and died on a cross.

And in all of this He is set forth as an example to us of how we are to think and live.

• Was Jesus selfless? We are to be like Jesus in that.
• Was Jesus servant-minded? We are to be like Jesus in His servant-minded perspective.
• Was Jesus humbly submitted to the Father in obedience? We are likewise called to submit ourselves to God and to others in humble obedience.
• Was Jesus willing to suffer? “It has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).

Now the cross was not the end of the story for Jesus.  Nor is servant-mindedness and suffering the end of the story for any of His followers.  Jesus did what He did on the cross looking forward to His reward.  He was living according to the principle of which we have already spoken: “But he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”  In the words of the author of Hebrews, Jesus did what He did for the joy that was set before Him.  Hebrews 12:2, “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising His shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  First the cross, then the crown.  First humility, then exaltation.

MESSAGE

“Therefore, also God highly exalted Him.”

The term exalted is a particular Greek term which means “to exalt to the highest rank and power, to raise to supreme majesty.”  God “super-exalted” Jesus.

And what we have here in Philippians 2:5-11 is the grand example of the truth of which we have been spoken, “he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”  To what extent did Jesus humble himself?  To the maximum extent possible.  In descending from the heights of heaven to humbling himself to the point of death on a cross, he humbled himself beyond that of any person in the history of men.  And note that “He humbled Himself” (Philippians 2:8).  He was not humbled by others.  He deliberately chose that path.  He “super-humbled” Himself.

And as we remember the events leading up to His death we see clearly how He humbled Himself.

• He knew full well what would happen, but He set His face to go to Jerusalem.
• In His prayer, He submitted Himself in obedience to the Father, “Yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).
• When He was arrested, He did not resist arrest.
• When He was tried, He did not plead His innocence.
• When He was beaten, He did not strike back.
• When He was reviled, He did not revile in return.
• And He was put on that cruel cross, and object of mocking and scorn. He was mocked and insulted by the soldiers, by the religious leaders, by those passing by, and by the two thieves who were crucified with Him.
• And a sign was placed above His head. It was written in three languages.  It was the charge held against Him.  It appeared to mock Him too, saying, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
• And people insulted Him, saying, “He saved others, He cannot save Himself” (Matthew 27:42).
• And He is all alone. Utterly forsaken.  The sin of the world is put upon Him.  He bears our sins and cries out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me” (Matthew 27:46).

So, on the other side of this spiritual axiom, we have the expected result.  “He who humbles Himself shall be exalted.”  So, what if someone were to super-humble themselves in a transcendent and preeminent manner?  What would we expect in that case?  Well it is exactly as we suppose—according to this spiritual law—that person would be “super-exalted” to a place of preeminent honor.

And this is exactly what we read about in the history of Jesus.  He was born into this world.  He lived among men as a servant.  He humbled Himself to the point of death.  He died on a cross for sins.  He rose from the dead.  And in Acts chapter 1 we read of how He ascended to heaven.  And in his first sermon, Peter preached on these matters.  And we read in Acts 2:32-33, “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.  Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God…”

Some might wonder “Where is Jesus now?”  The Apostle Peter acknowledged the fact that we “do not see Him now” (1 Peter 1:8).  But we believe in Him and love Him and know that He is now in heaven exalted to the right hand of God.

The Apostle Paul spoke to this (Ephesians 1:20-21): “He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.”

Likewise, the author of Hebrews (Hebrews 1:3), said: “When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

Charles Spurgeon, “He stooped, who can tell how low? He was raised, who shall tell how high? “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him. ” He threw away his name; he emptied himself of his reputation. How high is his reputation now! How glorious is the name that God hath given him as the reward of his redemptive work!”

And He stands in this super-exalted position in relation to the church, His body.  From heaven He exercises authority (Matthew 28:18).  From heaven He is at work preparing His bride, the church, for His return (Ephesians 5:27).  From heaven He intercedes on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25).  God has given to Him the Highest Place, the Highest Name, and the Highest Reign.

The One who died for sins in humility, is now exalted to the right hand of God in glory.  And He’s coming again and will reign over all.

Now, in sin, some still mock Him.  According to 1 Corinthians 1:23 the message of Christ crucified is “to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness.”  They deny the reality of His death and resurrection.  They refuse to obey the gospel.  They use His name for a curse word.

But none of this will work to dethrone Him from His super-exalted position.  He rules even now and is coming again, and all things will be brought into subjection under His authority.  And for us, as believers, this is a comforting truth.  We are members of His body.  He is our head.  He is our captain, our commander, the author and perfecter of faith.  He is our champion.  He has defeated all our foes—sin, death, and the devil Himself.  He has been super-exalted in this triumphant position.  We, the members of His body, have nothing to fear.  He has overwhelmingly conquered, we will too.

Or, to put this is real practical terms, we believe that Jesus, the son of a carpenter, who lived about 2000 years ago and who was executed on a cross, rose from the dead and is alive today in heaven where He ascended to the right hand of God.  Even now, He reigns, “as ruler over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5) and is coming again “to judge the world” (Acts 17:31).  Things are not spirally out-of-control in our world, to some unforeseen conclusion.  The ascended Jesus is coming again.  Those who have refused the gospel will suffer the penalty of eternal destruction.  Those who have believed in Him will be glorified with Him

CONCLUSION

There are a couple of other important lessons for us here:

The fact that He has been super-exalted by God implies that God was satisfied with the sacrifice He made for sins.  He finished the work.  Hebrews 1:3, “When He made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”  Through His death for sins and resurrection from the dead He has provided a means for lost sinners to be saved.  His ascension proves that.

Going back to the spiritual principle that we started with.  We see it perfectly fulfilled in the person of Jesus…

“Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”

This principle applies to the matter of salvation.  Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.  But that grace is received, and that faith is expressed by way of humility.  Salvation comes to those who humble themselves before God, acknowledging that there is nothing that they can do to merit or earn salvation from their sins.  Instead they confess their sins and turn their eyes to the provision God has made for their salvation in Jesus.  To those who believe in Jesus God gives the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

The path of humility exemplified to us in Jesus is the path that He has called us, as believers, to also.  We have already seen how we are to avoid selfishness and empty conceit.  And how we are to instead, in humility of mind, regard others as more important.  We are called, in this manner, to walk according to a Christ-like way of thinking and living.  And this is a manner of life which is pleasing to God and meets with Divine approval.

The Apostle Peter put it this way (1 Peter 5:5-6): “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He might exalt you at the proper time.”  In other words, live like Jesus.  Humbly serve Jesus by serving others.  In due time you will receive your reward.

As one writer put it, “As a consequence, God exalted Him.  Thus, in the divine economy of things, by giving a person receives, by serving he is served, by losing his life he finds it, by dying he lives, by humbling himself he is exalted.  The one follows the other as night follows day, but always in order—self-sacrifice before the self being exalted by God.”

Philippians 2:5-8

INTRODUCTION

I love reading biographies and especially missionary biographies.  The account of the life of Gladys Aylward is one of my favorites.  She was born to a working class family in London in 1902.  Having believed in Jesus, she was determined from an early age to go overseas as a missionary.  She applied to China Inland Mission, only to be turned down because of her inadequate academic background.  Undeterred, she saved up funds while working as a housemaid.  She spent all that she had on a train passage to China through Siberia.  In Siberia she was forced to get off the train and walk because of a war that was going on.  She traveled by train, by boat, by foot and finally made her way—through a long, arduous journey, to China.  And when she finally arrived at her destination the local villagers threw stones at her.  Ultimately she was much used by God to bring the light of the gospel to that very dark place.

It’s a long way from London to the remote region of China where Gladys traveled.  And when you think of missionary endeavor in times past, imagine how long and hard it was for people to go to those far away places.  But no matter how far any of us ever travel, or how hard and difficult our experience in serving Jesus, nothing compares to the missionary journey Jesus took when He left His Father’s throne above and came to this sin-cursed planet to die on a cross from our sins.

Philippians 2:5-8 is all about Jesus’ missionary descent from heaven to earth to die for our sins.

The word translated “attitude” in verse 5 means “to think, have an opinion, to be mindful of, be intent on.”  The Greek term is used 31 times in the NT.  11X in Philippians.  One such usage is in Philippians 3:19 which speaks of those who “set their minds on earthly things.”  Put simply, the term speaks of a way of thinking.

The term is a present tense imperative.  The fact that we are commanded to have this attitude means that it is something possible for us to do.  The reason why it is possible for us is not because of us.  It is because of what God has done and is doing in us.  The believer is a person who has been born again and thus made to be a new creature in Christ.  One who has been identified with Christ in His death and resurrection that he might walk in newness of life.  One who is indwelt by the Spirit of God, who works to mediate the very presence of Christ to us and in us.  It is possible for us, as believers, because we’ve been crucified with Christ and it is no longer we, in our old selves, who live, but Christ lives in us.

It is a present tense command.  So it is a way of thinking by the Spirit that attends our everyday walk in Christ.  It is not something to be turned on and turned off according to some kind of spiritual schizophrenia.  It is the way of thinking that is to characterize our lives 24/7.

Note this about our passage.  We are exhorted to maintain this attitude that was the attitude of Christ.  And that attitude is explained to us in verses 6-8.  The passage is saying that we need to maintain a way of thinking that is congruent with that of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It goes on to speak of His incarnation, servanthood, and crucifixion, things which all have great relevance to us as believers when it comes to our salvation.  He came as a man.  He came to serve and give His life for sin.  He died on a cross to save us.  But what this text is saying that He is not only our Savior by way of His sacrifice, He is also our example.  The cross is not something we believe not just because of its power to save, the cross is something we also look to for the power of its example.

That being said, we do the passage a kind of theological disservice if we get bogged down in the theological minutiae that is here.  There are wonderful and important things that are spoken of regarding the person and work of Jesus Christ here in this passage.  Many suppose that this represented an early Christian hymn that was sung in the churches of that day.  And we can see why!  But we need to pay attention to those truths as we consider this incredible truth—we are called to think and walk in a way that resembles that of the Lord Jesus Himself.

A main point here is this passage is the “humility of Christ.”  This passage speaks to that.

MESSAGE

1. Humble in His Renunciation

“Who although He existed in the form of God”

The Greek term translated “form” refers to “an outward manifestation which corresponds to the essence.”

It is an affirmation of the deity of Jesus Christ.  As the NIV puts it, “Who, being in very nature God.”

Jesus is the eternal Son of God.  He has always been and will always be the Divine Son of God.

That’s the truth affirmed to us in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

That’s the truth affirmed to us in John 8:58, where Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am.”  His audience understood what He was affirming about Himself inasmuch as they took up stones to throw at Him.

“Did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped.”  The term translated “regard” refers to “a judgment based on facts.”  It is the same word used in verse 3 with respect to how we are to think of ourselves in relationship to others.

The term “grasped” (translated “robbery” in the KJV) can have two distinct meanings: 1) to unlawfully seize something; and 2) to grasp and hold on to something at all costs.”  The second meaning is the sense here.  Jesus was willing to let go of privileges and blessings associated with His glorious heavenly existence.  He did not cease to be God, but He was willing to leave Heaven’s glory that He might come to this sinful world and die for sins.

It is the truth spoken of in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”

It is the same truth spoken of in the hymn, “He is Lord”:

Emptied of His glory; God became a man

To walk on earth in ridicule and shame.

A Ruler, yet a Servant; A Shepherd, yet a Lamb

A Man of Sorrows, agony and pain.

Now note this regarding Jesus’ humble renunciation.  He voluntarily and deliberately purposed to do what He did.  This denial of self and selfish concern and selfish prerogative characterized His earthly life and ministry.  And He voluntarily and purposefully did that.

There is an interesting exchange between Jesus and Peter that is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 16.  Peter correctly identifies Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God.  And Jesus commends Peter for His God-given understanding of that truth.  Then Jesus spoke to His disciples of how He had come to suffer and die and rise again.  And Peter’s response?  That should never happen to you.  Then Peter receives a totally different response from Jesus, “Get thee behind Me, Satan!”  But it’s the rest of what Jesus had to say that should catch our attention: “You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Matthew 16:23).  Then Jesus went on to explain that His followers are called to the same “self-denying” manner of life that is exemplified in Him.  “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him (likewise) deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’. (Matthew 16:24).

God’s interests vs. man’s interests.  God’s way vs. man’s way.  Dying for self vs. living for self.  These are the two different ways that are set before us.  The one, God’s way, is the way set forth for us in the example of Jesus Christ.  The other, man’s way, is the way of the world, the flesh and the devil.

Jesus did nothing from selfishness (i.e. self-will), we are exhorted to follow His example (Philippians 2:3).

2. Humble in His Incarnation

“But emptied Himself.”

KJV, “Made himself of no reputation.”

The Greek term translated “emptied” has been the subject of much debate by theologians.  My NASB has this note in the margin—i.e. “laid aside His privileges.”

It is not that Jesus laid aside His deity—that would be heresy—but that He emptied Himself of privileges pertaining to His deity.  One way to think of this is to set this text against what we read about in Matthew 17.  Jesus took Peter and James and John up a high mountain by themselves.  “And He was transfigured before them; and His face shown like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matthew 17:2).  The experience was so startling that, after the Father spoke, the disciples fell to the ground in fear.  John would later write of it in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory.”  Peter likewise would write of being “eyewitnesses of His majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).  But Jesus did not live His life before people in this transfigured way.  In the word of the prophet Isaiah, “He had no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him” (Isaiah 53:2).

Or, as the hymn puts it, “He left His Father’s throne above, so free, so infinite His grace!  Emptied Himself of all but love, and bled for Adam’s helpless race.”

He emptied Himself by “taking the form of a bond-servant.”

“Bond-servant” is the same term Paul and Timothy applied to themselves.  A bond-servant is a willing servant.  It is not one brought into a place of involuntary servanthood.  He is one who freely serves from a good motive.

The term “form” is the same used in verse 6.  And here it has the same sense.  An outward manifestation that corresponds to the essence.  What is affirmed here in verse 7 is readily apparent in what we see in the life of Jesus.  As He Himself said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).  And what we see in Him when He set aside His garments and wrapped Himself with a towel and proceeded to wash the feet of the disciples.

“And being made in the likeness of men.”

This is a different term than the term “form” used in verse 6 and 7.  It denotes something which is made like something.  Vine’s points out that this phrase does not either imply or exclude, by itself, the “reality of the nature Christ assumed.”  But other texts in Scripture make it clear that Jesus was a man.  In fact, Jesus was 100% God and 100% man.

This is the truth affirmed in John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

As the Nicene Creed puts it: “I believe…in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made; Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.”

Theologically speaking, this truth—that Jesus is fully God and was fully man—is of great importance.  To deny either is to misunderstand or misrepresent the truth about Jesus Christ.  As it says in 1 John 4:2-3, “By this you know the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.”

3. Humble in His Crucifixion

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself.”

It is an amazing thing this humility of Christ.  And we’ve already noted that the word holiness means literally “lowliness.”  The Divine Son of God, the creator of all things, humbled Himself.  He was not “humbled” by somebody or something, He put Himself in that position.

And His life and ministry is characterized by humility.

• He, the creator of all things, was born in humble circumstances. And we read how there was no place for Him in the inn and how He was laid in a feeding trough in His birth.
• He, who reigns over all, lived in subjection to His parents.
• He, who through whom all things exist, had no place to lay His head.
• He came and lived not as a King, but as a servant.
• He took on the task of the servant when He set aside His garments, wrapped Himself in a towel and proceeded to wash the feet of His disciples.
• He purposed to subject Himself to the evil forces who worked to arrest and try Him. He refused to make a defense when falsely accused.  He allowed Himself to be beaten and crucified.

Calvin sums up the practical application of our text: “Since, then, the Son of God descended from so great a height, how unreasonable that we, who are nothing, should be lifted up with pride!”

“By becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Jesus lived a life of perfect submission.  He came to do the Father’s will.  When the cross drew near He prayed, “My Father, if it possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).

Hebrews 10:7, “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come…to do Thy will, O God’.”

The Father’s will led Jesus to the cross.  And He purposed to submit Himself to that.

He endured physical suffering.  The cross was an especially brutal way to die.  But what was worse for Jesus was the spiritual agony He experienced when “He who knew no sin was made sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  A commonly used word in Isaiah 53 is the word “bore.”  He bore our sins on the cross.  And then it says in Isaiah 53 that the “Lord was pleased to crush Him.”  The full weight of man’s sin was put upon Him and He cried out, “MY God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?”  The perfect and sinless Jesus felt the full measure of the Father’s wrath against sin.  And He was utterly alone there on that cross.  Galatians 3:13 quotes Deuteronomy when it says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.”  He was made a curse so that we could be redeemed from the curse.

1 Peter 2:24, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.”

1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that HE might bring us to God.”

CONCLUSION

This passage should work to stimulate both adoration and emulation of Jesus Christ.  We adore Jesus in who He is and all that He has done.  We also fix our eyes on Him, the author and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12:2), endeavoring to live our lives according to His example.

The exhortations give to us in verses 2-4 were all perfectly fulfilled in the life of Jesus.

“Do nothing from selfishness.”  Jesus’ life was the antithesis of selfishness.  Agape love does not seek its own (1 Corinthians 13:5).  Jesus did not seek His own.

We are to do nothing from “empty conceit” but are to instead live according to a “humility of mind” (Philippians 2:3).  Jesus, the Divine Son of God and creator of all things, lived a life of humility.  He washed the disciple’s feet.

The world has known of no better servant.  He came not to be served, but to serve.  And we are likewise called to serve.  According to Christ’s example.

Philippians 2:3 exhorts us to put the needs of others ahead of our own.  Consider Jesus, who lived a perfectly selfless life.  Who was always putting the needs of other ahead of His own.  And who died on a cross for our sins that He might bring us to God.

Augustus Strong, “And Christ’s purpose is, not that we should repeat Calvary, for that we can never do, but that we should reflect in ourselves the same onward movement and gravitation towards self-sacrifice which He has revealed as characterizing the very life of God.”

Does your life bear resemblance to Christ?  Are you living according to Jesus’ radically different way of thinking and living?  When people see the way you think and act do they see something akin to the spirit of Jesus?  He is a glorious Savior and in Him we have a wonderful example!

 

 

 

Philippians 2:3-5

INTRODUCTION

In 1973 a man named Robert Ringer wrote a book entitled “Winning Through Intimidation.”  After the manuscript was rejected 23 times by publishers, he decided to self-publish the book.  It became a #1 bestseller and spent 36 weeks on the NY Times bestseller list.  In 1977 he self-published another book, “Looking Out for Number One.” That book also became a #1 bestseller and is still considered to be one of the top 15 self-help books of all time.  That second book was based on the premise that since man’s inherent nature is to look out for number one, we need to do a better job of looking out for number one.  Here’s a quote, “We sometimes lose sight of the fact that our primary objective is really to be happy as possible and that all our other objectives, great and small, are only a means to that end.”

That phrase—“looking out for number one”—has since become a part of our culture’s vernacular.  And there have been songs written that express the need to do just that.  For example, in 1992 Travis Tritt wrote a song having this chorus: “Lord everyone around me, I’ve tried so hard to please.  ‘Till the only one unhappy, feeling broken down is me.  But things are going to change, with each new setting sun.  Starting now I’m looking out for number one.”

But “looking out for number one” is nothing new to any one of us humans.  We don’t need a book to tell us to do a better job of it.  In sin, selfishness reigns.  And since we are all born sinners, we are all born with a natural inclination to put ourselves first.

We are, in sin, self-worshippers at heart.  At the beginning of the second chapter of his book, “Improving Your Serve,” Chuck Swindoll writes this: I, ME, MINE, MYSELF.  Those four words stood out in bold print.  They appeared as if they were forming an enormous monument, each letter seemingly chiseled out in granite.  At the base of this strange “monument” were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people with their arms held up high, as if worshipping at a shrine.  And then in very small letters, this caption appeared at the bottom of the editorial cartoon: “Speaking of American cults…”

This, beloved, is the culture in which we live.  It is a self-consumed and self-preoccupied society.  Worshipping at the idol of self we mistakenly assume that there is virtue and lasting benefit to be gained in the worship of self.

2 Timothy chapter 3 warned of the days in which we live, saying: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.”  Now we live in these difficult days.  And each of the maladies spoken of in this passage are readily recognizable in our society.  But note this about the passage, “lovers of self,” comes first.  And it would be fair that the rest of the maladies follow that first malady.  The “Looking Out for Number One” philosophy is, in fact, a recipe for social chaos and disaster.  As it has been ever since Adam and Even fell in the garden and sin entered the world.  We read about that in chapter 3, then in chapter 4 we read how Cain, as he was “looking out for number one,” killed his brother.

The long history of humanity is filled with such examples.  The reality is that in sin we are selfish and being selfish we don’t relate well to one another.  In sin, we are impatient, unkind, envious, prideful, rude, self-seeking, easily angered and embittered.

There is but one example—in the annals of human history—of a man who lived a purely selfless life.  And that man is Jesus Christ.  Philippians 2:5-8 speaks of Him: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance of a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

What happened when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us?  Jesus Christ was the Divine Son of God.  He was also a perfect man.  He was a man without sin.  In Him there was no sin.  He never sinned.  He was perfectly submitted to the Father in all that He did.  And He lived His life according to the godly character that was innate to His person.  And so, what do we see and find in this God-man, Jesus Christ?  He became man and took on the form of a bond-servant.  He lived a life of servant-hood.  He came into the world with no entourage.  He had none of the trappings of royalty.  He had no home and no possessions.  He came as a servant and He served others.  Purposefully.  Relentlessly.  Sacrificially.  And when He had given all that He had but His own life, He gave that up too.  And, as I said, His like is unique in the annals of human history.  He never exercised a selfish thought.  He never did a selfish thing.  He never uttered a selfish word.  Instead of looking out for number one, the Divine Son of God came into this world looking out for everyone but number one.

Now, by the Spirit, you—believer in Christ—have come to understand something of the beauty of the person of Christ.  You’ve worshipped at the shrine of self, but you came to the realization that “self” if a false god that can never work to satisfy your deepest needs and desires.  Christ alone can do that.  You thought, perhaps, that the universe revolved around you, but you came to realize that it is Christ alone who is worthy of such love and devotion.  But you nonetheless live in this flesh and are surrounded by worshippers of self.  And that’s why this passage is so important.  It reminds us of how God has called us, as believers, to a higher plane of living.  A way of thinking and living in Christ that meets with Divine approval.  And which proves to be a blessing not only to ourselves but to those around us.

MESSAGE

1. God has called us, as believers, to a radically different way of thinking

“In the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self” (1 Timothy 3:1-2).  But we need to purpose, by the Spirit, to think differently.

Romans 12:2 speaks to the need for us to not be conformed to the world (to not allow the world to press us into its own mold), but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind.  This is one of those matters where it is essential that we purpose in Christ to think and live differently.

We are to have the mind of Christ.  Note the phrase in verse 5, “have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

The Greek term translated “attitude” is the same term translated “mind” in verse 2.  It is in the present tense so it speaks of a continuous “mind” or a continuous “way of thinking.”  The NASB has translated it attitude and that gives a good sense of it.  What’s an attitude?  Sometimes we must use that in a negative way.  What’s up with your attitude?  But one of the definitions of attitude is: “a mental position with regard to a fact or state.”  Put simply, it is a way of thinking.

And as we look forward in the passage, to verses 6-8, we can readily identify that attitude in Christ that we are called upon to emulate.  It is in respect to His servanthood.  To “have this attitude…which was also in Christ Jesus” is to think about your life in relationship to others as that of being a servant.

Note the other phrase used to represent the mindset we are to maintain as believers: “with humility of mind” (2:3).

The term translates a combination of terms, one meaning “low-lying” and the other “mind.”  The idea is lowliness of mind.  It is set against the other term in the verse, conceit.

God calls us as believers to this mind-set, one of lowliness of mind.  Now humility is commonly disdained and likewise commonly misunderstood.  It’s good for us to have a good, Biblical definition of what is meant by the term.  Romans 12:3 is helpful, “For through the grace of God given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as god has allotted to each a measure of faith.”  Humility involves having a proper estimation of ourselves.

C.J. Mahaney uses this definition: “Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.” In sin we are prideful and ignorant of these truths. But the Holy Spirit does a wonderful work in opening our eyes to the glory of God and His holiness and simultaneously convicting us of the depth of our sin problem.  Humility is essential not only in our relationship with God, but it also impacts the way we relate to others.  How important is humility in how we relate to God?  The Scripture repeats this principle of truth three times: “God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  And when it comes to our relationships with others, pride is at the source of all kinds of strife and divisions.  That is why Peter says, “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another” (1 Peter 5:5).

There is a great quote regarding humility from Andrew Murray.  He said, “Humility is perfect quietness of heart.  It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feeling nothing done against me.  It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed and despised.  It is to have a blessed hope in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door and kneel before the Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble.  The humble person is not one who thinks meanly of himself, he simply does not think of himself at all.”

We have a great example of this attitude of Christ provided for us in the gospel of Mark (Mark 10:35-45).  James and John went to Jesus to ask of Him that he might give to them the privileged seats, on His right and His left, when He came into power.  Now they didn’t understand some things.  They believed Jesus to be the Messiah. But they couldn’t understand what He was saying when He spoke to them of His pending suffering and death.  They were all headed to Jerusalem, and then Jesus would be made to be king.  So, they asked for those privileged positions of power.  And Jesus responded by again speaking of His pending suffering and the sufferings that they themselves would eventually face.  Now after this discussion ensued, the rest of the disciples “began to feel indignant with James and John” (10:41).  This is not the only occasion when we read of such a thing.  Later in Jesus’ ministry, after He shared the last supper with His disciples, a discussion ensued amongst the disciples as to which one of them was the greatest.  So, these disciples were far from perfect men, they were prone to the same “looking out for number one” way of thinking that has infected us all.  But Jesus responded to the matter by distinguishing between two different ways of thinking and living.  He said that the Gentiles function according to man’s way of thinking.  Rulers “lord it over them.”  People vie for the highest positions and when they get them they use their power to command others and demand certain things from them.  And, according to man’s way of thinking, this is perfectly acceptable and normal behavior.  We might even speak of it according to what is commonly called “upward mobility.”  But Jesus said that that’s now how things work in God’s economy, “But it is no so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:44-45).  In God’s economy greatness is not defined in terms of “upward mobility,” but “downward mobility.”  Greatness in God’s kingdom looks like servanthood and Christ Jesus Himself is the great testimony to that truth.

In his book, “True Humility,” C. J. Mahaney differentiates between greatness as defined by the world and by God: “The difference couldn’t be starker.  As sinfully and culturally defined, pursuing greatness looks like this: Individuals motivated by self-interest, self-indulgence, and a false sense of self-sufficiency pursue selfish ambition for the purpose of self-glorification.  Contrast this with the pursuit of true greatness as biblically defined: Serving others for the glory of God.”

Note that phrase there, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”  Philippians 2:5 is telling us that we are to think the same way as Jesus.  And we ought to be able to say the same thing about ourselves.

• In our marriage: I am not in this marriage to be served, but to serve.
• In our family: I am not in this family, to be served, but to serve.
• In our relationships at work or at school: I am not here to be served, but to serve.
• In our church: I am not here to be served, but to serve.

We would say: “I am glad to serve you in Jesus’ name.  My great goal and aspiration is to know and love and serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and these things I do by following His example.”

With respect to the radical way of thinking God calls us to, the hymn, “May the Mind of Christ, my Savior,” puts it well.  And it is a prayer.  That the Holy Spirit may work through the Word of God, so that in our walk with Christ we might have the attitude of Christ: “May the mind of Christ my Savior, live in me from day to day, By His love and power controlling, all I do and say.”

2. God has called us, as believers, to a radically different way of relating to others

We are likewise called to a radically different way of relating to others.

“Do nothing from selfishness.”  The term translated “selfishness” denotes “ambition, self-seeking, rivalry.”  Vine’s Expository Dictionary explains that “self-will” is the underlying idea in the word.  So, it is that in us that is self-centered and demanding and contributes to a spirit of divisiveness.

The cause of this self-seeking behavior is an overestimate of one’s own importance.  “Empty conceit” and selfish behavior go hand in hand.  And, as we’ve already stated, there are a host of miserable consequence that go along with this kind of behavior.  As someone has written: How to be Miserable…

• Think about yourself.
• Talk about yourself.
• Use “I” as often as possible.
• Mirror yourself continually in the opinion of others.
• Listen greedily to what people say about you.
• Be suspicious.
• Expect to be appreciated.
• Be jealous and envious.
• Be sensitive to slights.
• Never forgive a criticism.
• Trust nobody but yourself.
• Insist on consideration and the proper respect.
• Demand agreement with your own views on everything.
• Sulk if people are not grateful to you for favors shown to them.
• Never forget a service you may have rendered.
• Be on the lookout for a good time for yourself.
• Shirk your duties if you can.
• Do as little as possible for others.
• Love yourself supremely.
• Be selfish.

This recipe—for being miserable—is infallible.

We’ve got a couple of great examples in Scripture of both the positive and negative to what is expressed here in verse 3.  In 3 John we read of Diotrephes.  It is said of him that he “loved to be first among them.”  Apparently, Diotrephes had a problem with pride.  This was a man who called himself a Christian.  But his behavior was hardly Christ-like.  He denied the authority of the Apostle John.  John was an apostle appointed by the Lord Jesus Himself.  He had walked with Jesus and had witness Jesus’ death and resurrection.  He had faithfully served Jesus for decades.  He had suffered much in bearing witness of the Lord Jesus, but in his prideful arrogance, Diotrephes showed no respect to that wonderful man of God.  And then there was the matter of showing Christian hospitality.  When other associates of John would go there to visit, Diotrephes wouldn’t receive them.  And if that wasn’t bad enough, if anyone dared to receive these friends of John, Diotrephes would put them out of the church.  Diotrephes was not living his life according to the truths of this verse.  He was of the “looking out for number one” mindset.

Look at Philippians 2:19-21.  Here we find another man, Timothy—Paul’s beloved son in the faith.  Paul was hoping to send Timothy to the church in Philippi so that he could receive a report on how things were going.  He said that he had no one else of “kindred spirit who (would) be genuinely be concerned for (their) welfare” (2:20).  Timothy was of kindred spirit with Paul, but they both were of kindred spirit to the Lord Himself.  They had that “attitude which is in Christ Jesus.”  Note what Paul went on to say.  “For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus” (2:21).  Timothy is a wonderful example of this Philippians 2:3 way of living.  Now I know of nothing that will work to promote unity better in a marriage or home or church than for each member to adopt this approach to relating to others.  If every member will seek after the interests of Christ Jesus, they will prove him or herself to be a source of great blessing to others.  Philippians 2:3 is a verse to memorize and meditate on and allow it to become deeply rooted in your heart.  That the Spirit might work to transform you through this Word.

“Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).

I’m reminded of the story of Uncle Bob’s Shoes.  It was on one of my first trips to Uganda.  Pastor Bob and I had been leading a conference for pastors in Kabaale Village.  We were walking back to the guest house for lunch.  Bob stopped along the way to talk to one of the pastors.  When he was approaching our dining area, I noticed that he was walking gingerly along the path.  I looked then at his feet and noticed that he was wearing some crude and well-worn sandals.  “What happened to your shoes,” I asked?  He explained to me how the pastor had stopped him and asked him to pray that God would provide him with some shoes because his sandals were hurting his feet.  So, Bob had taken off his shoes and gave them to this pastor in exchange for the man’s sandals.  And as we were talking, Bob removed those pain-inflicting sandals.  And we were both amazed at what we saw.  The pastor had tried to repair the sandals, holding them together by punching a bunch of tacks through the soles.  And though he had tried to stub the points on the upward side, they still poked through and caused some discomfort when you tried to walk in them.  Why would Pastor Bob give away his sandals?  Because he was living according to his mindset.  He was living out what it says, “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.”  He had another pair of shoes.  He was glad to serve Jesus by serving this pastor and looking out for his interests.

History tells us of how a man named Copernicus studied the sky and came to a startling conclusion regarding the order of things.  He said, “If man is to know the truth, he must change his thinking!  Despite what we have said for years, our earth is not the center of the cosmos—but just one celestial body among many.  The sun does not move around us; we move around the sun.”  Years later someone did a study on children and concluded, “Each child must have his or her own “Copernicus revelation.”  Indeed, we are all in need of such a thing.

CONCLUSION

I just finished reading a great book, “Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown.”  It’s the true story of his life.  Adam great up in small town Arkansas.  He played football for his high school team and was a fierce competitor.  He had a lot of friends.  He graduated from high school and headed off to college.  But found he didn’t have much appetite for academics.  He came back home and worked for his Dad who had an electrical company.  But then he met a girl.  And this girl had a drug problem.  And she drug Adam along into it.  He was doing all kinds of drugs including Meth.  He would be gone overnight and sometimes for days.  His drug habit got real expensive, so he stole from his Dad’s company.  On one occasion he ran off with the company’s van.  And this went on for some time.  And his Mom and Dad loved him, as did his twin-sister and older-brother, but there was seemingly nothing they could do to stop Adam from his downward spiral.  They feared for his life.  Adam was totally given over to his sinful pursuits.  And he didn’t care at all about anyone else.  It mattered not the he was breaking the hearts of his parents.  His twin sister loved him, but he was oblivious to her concerns.  He was completely self-absorbed and utterly lost.

Then Mom and Dad decided to go to church.  And they talked to the pastor.  And they were saved.  And they began praying for their son.  They called the sheriff—there was a warrant for Adam’s arrest—and had Adam arrested.  The pastor when and visited him.  And the court made a deal with Adam—go to a Christian treatment program, for a year, and you won’t have to stay in jail.  And so, he did.  And somewhere along the way, Adam trusted in Jesus.  But that wasn’t the end of his drug issues.  Meth is especially hard to stay away from.  And he sometimes went back to it.  He met a young lady.  A Christian young lady.  And she began to pray for him.  And she got to know him.  And she would intervene whenever he was tempted to go back to drugs.  They got married.  And Adam decided to join the Navy.  He had seen the movie Navy Seals as a boy and had ever since carried that thought of being a seal.  A friend’s Dad, a Navy man, worked to get some waivers approved.  And Adam joined the Navy to become a Navy Seal.  And he passed all the rigorous training.  And by this time, Adam has grown in his walk with Christ.  He is a loving husband.  A child comes along.  And then another.  He is a loving father.  Despite some serious injuries, Adam excels as a seal and is counted among an elite group in the top one percent of all the seals.  He serves in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He is known for his willingness to put himself in harm’s way for the sake of his fellow soldiers.  When he’s in Afghanistan he sees that there are many children without shoes.  So, he calls his pastor in the US, and they ship hundreds of shoes to Adam.  When his fellows walked with him, they carried weapons, he carried shoes—and he would give them away to children who didn’t have any.  He would also carry MREs with him and would give them away to hungry children.  It was about time for his Navy career to be over.  He had one last mission he was called to perform.  His task force was called to enter a particularly dangerous and mountainous region.  They were going after a man who had led a team of Taliban rebels who had been responsible for the death of many Americans.  The team arrived at his holdout.  And much shooting ensued.  And there came a point where someone had to go to a spot where a man was firing from a window at the team.  Adam volunteered.  He put himself in harm’s way to protect his teammates.  And he was mortally wounded.  And Adam died.  He had been asked, before that day, how he could approach such situations with such fearlessness.  You know what his response was?  It was his faith in the Risen Christ that made the difference for him.  Adam walked with Jesus.  And as he did, he lived that kind of life.  I read that book and cried.  And I also rejoiced.  I rejoiced in the truth of what Jesus Christ did in that man’s life.  He rescued him from his sinful and selfish and bankrupt existence and made something very beautiful of his life.  It should come as no surprise to you that Adam’s example worked to encourage other Seals to put their faith in Jesus Christ.

Beloved, God has called you to walk in Jesus’ footsteps.  There is no virtue or valor in selfishness.  What does courage and strength and a purposeful life look like?  It looks like Jesus.  And God calls on all of us to follow in His steps.  To adopt, by the Spirit, His way of thinking and to replicate, again by the Spirit, His way of living.  And make no mistake about it—this radical way of thinking and living—is impossible for any of us in our own flesh.  It will do us no good to try harder to be better when it comes to these matters.  We can only do any of this as we are led and empowered by the Spirit to do them.  But let’s pray that it would be so.  Unto the glory of our Savior.

 

Philippians 2:1-2

INTRODUCTION

In Jesus “high priestly” prayer, Jesus prayed to the Father regarding all of those who would come to believe in Him and thereby make up His church.  We are in His prayer.  This is what He prayed:

“I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, are in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst sent Me.  And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me” (John 17:20-23).

We something here of the heart and purpose of the Lord Jesus regarding His church.

• His prayer was that we might be perfected in unity.
• The basis and nature of this unity is the unity that exists in the Godhead itself. “That they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, are in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us.”
• The unity He prayed for is first of all a positional unity as we are brought into fellowship with the Father and the Son through salvation. But the unity He prayed for us more than that, for He prayed for a unity that was demonstrably evident to others.  A unity that would testify to the truth of the gospel.

Paul shared the heart of God in his matter.  He had the same aspirations for the church in Philippi.  And this was a major matter of concern as he wrote to them in his epistle.  We saw something of this in Philippians 1:27-30.  That phrase, “with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel” captures the heart of the passage.  Believers are to be united in the common cause of the gospel.  Paul uses terms in the passage which emphasize the nature of the way that we are to relate to one another.  The world “conduct” means literally “to behave as citizens.”  As fellow citizens we are to relate to the Lord Jesus and one another in appropriate fashion.  The term “standing firm” is a military term meaning to remain in one’s post.  We are fellow soldiers we are a “band of brothers” fighting side-by-side in the good fight of faith.  The term “striving together” speaks to laboring together in a common purpose.  The Greek term is related to our English term “athlete.”  So, it could be said that we are like “fellow teammates,” each using our own particular gifts in doing our part in this common cause.  Fellow citizens, fellow soldiers, fellow teammates.  No Christian is an island to himself.  We are part of a grand and glorious and eternal cause.  We’ve been enlisted by God to that cause and the only way that we can have any degree of effectiveness is in joining together with our fellow believers.

Now what is here before us is very relevant to us in our day.  We look across the landscape of our society and culture and we see a lot of division—division in marriages, division in families, division in our country, in our churches, in our world.  Now some of this is not surprising, even as Paul warned Timothy of the spirit of things in the last days (Read 2 Timothy 3:2-5).  But God intends something very different for His people.  A local church is intended to be an oasis of Christ-centered unity in the desert of human selfishness and division.  God’s intent is that we might enjoy the benefits and blessings of unity in our relationship to Him and to one another.  As the Psalmist has put it: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1)!

I came across an article in the “Tabletalk” devotional this past week in which the author speaks to the challenges we face.  He says, “Real community doesn’t happen on its own—it takes time, patience, repentance, forgiveness, and love that covers a multitude of sins. The church community is not just a crowd of people on a Sunday morning; it is the gathered, worshiping people of God in a congregation where masks aren’t needed and where real friends help bear the real burdens of one another. Community is not just getting together; it is living together, suffering together, rejoicing together, and dying together.  Although many Christians claim to want genuine community, many want it only on their own terms, when it’s convenient, and when it demands nothing from them. What they want isn’t the church community, but a country club where they pay their dues for services rendered. They want to be served without having to serve anyone else. Real community forces us to die to ourselves and get over ourselves so that we might love one another as ourselves.”

And that’s Paul’s focus in our text…

MESSAGE

1. Our Shared “In Christ” Blessings

Note the four-fold occurrence of the phrase “if any” in verse 1.  The grammar is a “first class conditional” statement in the Greek.  It literally means “if, and it is so.”  You could translate it “since” (i.e. “since there is encouragement in Christ; since there is consolation of love”).

Now why did Paul put it that way?  He was inviting his readers to take spiritual inventory.  He was directing their thoughts to Christ and the blessings they enjoy in their relationship with Him.  He was calling upon them to take note of the way in which Christ relates to them.

And note this about unity.  In order for there is be any kind of unity there needs to be some basis for that unity.  A family enjoys that by way of their common identity as members of the same family.  For us as believers the basis for our unity is our common relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This is a positional truth, but it is a positional truth with practical implications.  Because we are “in Christ” and He is in us, we are in a relationship with Him.  These things mentioned in verse 1 are all blessings we enjoy in our relationship with Him.

Note the first of these.  “If there is any encouragement in Christ.”  What is meant be this word “encouragement?”  The term translates the Greek “paraklesis” which is variously translated “encouragement, comfort, or consolation.”  It means literally “a calling to one’s side.”  I like the term “encouragement” and it is befitting of Christ in our relationship with Him.  In salvation He’s come along side us.  He is with us, even “in us,” and is with us encouraging and exhorting us along in our walk with Him.  We’ve known something of what it means to encourage or be encouraged.  We are easily discouraged and distressed.  We were that way in sin before we looked to Jesus for salvation.  And ever since that day Jesus’ has been by our side.  As they hymn puts it: “Jesus! what a Friend for sinners…Jesus! What a Strength in weakness…Jesus! What a Help in sorrow…Jesus! What a Guide and Keeper!…Hallelujah! what a Savior! Hallelujah! What a Friend!  Saving, Helping, Keeping, Loving, He is with me to the end” (“Our Great Savior”).  Do a spiritual inventory of your own life.  Do you find any encouragement in Christ?  Of course, you do.

“If there is any consolation of love.”  The term “love” translates the Greek “agape” which speaks of that love which is founded in the person of God and revealed to us in Christ.  It is that love that has been richly poured out within our hearts by God in our salvation through the Spirit (Cf. Romans 5:5).  The term “consolation” translates a Greek term which means “the process of speaking closely to anyone.”  Kenneth Wuest translates the phrase, “since there is a certain tender persuasion that comes from divine love.”  So, as believers, we are recipients of this.  He loves us, and His love works in us and speaks to us and works to transform us.  We need never doubt His love for us.  He is always relating to us according to His love.  In our good times and bad—He loves us the same and nothing can work to diminish His love for us.  He always relates to us according to His love.  Check your spiritual inventory.  Do you have any consolation of love?  Of course, you do.

“If there is any fellowship of the Spirit.”  The word translated “fellowship” is the Greek “koinonia.”  It means a “communion, a sharing together.”  The Spirit is the divine person of the Holy Spirit.  Every believer in Christ is indwelt by the divine person of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”  You’ve been born again by the Spirit and ever since that day the Holy Spirit has been at work to fulfill His appointed task.  His purpose?  To glorify Christ in mediating His presence in you.  What does this fellowship of the Spirit look like?  John 7:38-39 expresses it best: “He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.”  And this is your experience, believer, whether you realize it or not.  The ministry of the Spirit is compared to this river of living water flowing from your innermost being.  This life, which is as an inexhaustible fountain in Christ’s person, has been unleashed in your innermost being.  You are the recipient of this life.  In this spiritual wasteland, this desert, you have something that the unbeliever does not have—you have a relationship with God that works to fully satisfy your deepest longings.  Is there any “fellowship of the Spirit.”  Again, yes!  Of course!  We are incredibly blessed by the Helper’s ministry in us!

“If any affection and compassion.”  The first word is the same word used in Philippians 1:8.  It speaks of “tenderheartedness.”  The source of this “tenderheartedness” is Christ Himself.  The term was used repeatedly of Christ in His dealings with men.  You are a recipient of the “affection” of Christ Jesus.  He loves you in this way.  The second word is sometimes translated “mercy” (i.e. Romans 12:1).  He feels compassion towards you and is merciful in His dealings with you.  Taken together these two terms speak to how Christ cares for you and cares about what you are going through.  You have a friend in Jesus Christ who is always there for you and cares about what you are going through.

Are you experiencing the encouragement of Christ?  Are you comforted by His love?  Do you enjoy the fellowship of the Spirit?  Are you a recipient of Christ’s affection and compassion?  Of course you are!

God has loved you in this amazing fashion!  He loves you even now and is at work in your life. Now why are you so incredibly blessed?  What is God’s purpose in bestowing these blessings on you?

God has blessed you so that you might be a blessing to others.  God’s intent was not to save you so you could simply become a repository for His blessings.  He has called you to be a “channel of blessing” in your relationship to others.  You’ve been saved by Christ.  You are now loved by Christ in these various ways, so that you might relate to your brothers and sister in Christ “in kind” (i.e. according to Christ’s example).

There is a wonderful example of this in the land of Israel.  The river Jordan flows from north to south and empties itself in the Sea of Galilee.  By all accounts the Sea of Galilee is a beautiful place.  It is filled with an abundance of aquatic life.  Birds occupy its shores.  People vacation there.  Its full of life.  And a part of the reason for that is that it has a goes in and a goes out.  It both receives and gives.  The cleansing influence of the River Jordon does that.  The Dead Sea is a different story.  It receives from the Jordon River, but its low in elevation (the lowest elevation on dry land on earth), means that nothing goes out from it.  Its salinity is 33.7%.  It’s hypersalinity prevents macroscopic aquatic organisms such as fish and aquatic plants from living in it.  It’s dead.  God doesn’t want for you to be a “Dead Sea” Christian.  You were reborn in Christ to walk in “newness of life.”  That newness of life means that you are no longer to live as a sinful, selfish, consumer Christian.  You don’t come to the church with a “what’s in it for me” attitude?  God’s purpose is for you to be a channel of His blessing in your relationship to others.

2. Our Shared “In Christ” Unity

So, Christ relates to you in this way.  He encourages you.  He loves you.  You enjoy the blessings of fellowship with Him.  He cares for you and cares about you in all the details of your life.  How does this apply to our relationship with one another?

Note the emphasis on oneness in verse 2.  The term “same” occurs twice.  And then there are the terms “united” and “one.”  The basis of the unity we are to work to preserve is Christ and His example to us.

“Make my joy complete.”  Paul would rejoice to hear that the church in Philippi was experiencing the things spoken of in verse 2.  But, going back to Jesus’ prayer in John 17, these things are at the heart of Jesus’ desire for us as believers.

“By being of the same mind.”  The word “mind” translates a term which speaks to a “way of thinking.”  The tense of the verb speaks to an all the time activity.  One translator has it this way—“that you may be being disposed.”  Note the repeated use of this term.  You cannot tell in your English Bible, but the Greek term occurs repeatedly in this passage: mind (verse 2); purpose (verse 2); mind (verse 3); attitude (verse 5).  So, this “way of thinking” is obviously important.  Something else that is noteworthy here is the very fact that we are called to be of this “same way of thinking.”  Now this is incredible thing that God could work to do such a thing.  People can be stubborn and independent and have their own ways of thinking.  Sometimes getting people together in a common cause is like herding cats, something that it is impossible to do.  But God wants to work together in a similar way of thinking.  What is this way of thinking?  What is this “same mind.”  Well it’s not my way of thinking.  And it’s not your way of thinking.  Its Christ’s way of thinking.  It is to have the mind of Christ.   There’s a wonderful example of this in Matthew chapter 16.  Jesus had just explained to his disciples that He was going to suffer and die and be raised up on the third day.  And Peter rebuked him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord!  This shall never happen to you” (Matthew 16:22).  But (Jesus) turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Matthew 16:23).  In sin we set our minds of man’s interests.  We think in a worldly way.  And the only way that we can think rightly is to be born again and then to have our minds renewed by the Spirit of God through the Word of God (Cf. Romans 12:1-2).  The bottom line is this—to be of the same mind we must all have the mind of Christ.  And the only way that’s going to happen if we are zealous towards the Word that we might better know Christ.

“Maintaining the same love.”  The term translated “love” is the Greek “agape” (same as in verse 1).  The word “maintaining” speaks of the practice of this love.  But note, again, that we are to practice this “same” love.  What is the love spoken of?  It is love of the same nature of that which we have received.  Paul is going to speak to the nature of this love in Philippians 2:5-8.  It speaks there of that love that Christ demonstrated in purposing to die for our sins.  But the main point here is that we were never meant to be merely a repository for this love.  According to Romans 5:3 this love has been shed abroad in our hearts.  We’ve been filled up to overflowing with the love of God, so that this love might be extended to others and especially to our fellow believers in Christ.  Ephesians 5:1-2 puts it this way, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you.”  What is this same love?  It is the “just as” love we have received.

“United in spirit.”  Positionally speaking, we possess a “unity of spirit” inasmuch as we are each indwelt by the same Spirit of God.  Practically speaking, we need—each one of us—to be filled with the Spirit, and to walk by the Spirit, and to keep in step with the Spirit if we are to be united in spirit.  This unity of spirit is an incredibly important thing.  So much so that Paul elsewhere spoke of the need to be “diligent to perverse the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).  We do that as we are all commonly led by the Spirit and, on the other side of things, forthrightly pursue those attitudes and actions that work to resolve differences and promote unity.  I read that book, “The Boys in the Boat,” a year or so ago.  Great book which tells the story of the University Washington eight-oared crew team which represented the US in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.  The book tells the story how these team members, who came from lower middle class families and had to earn their way through school through the depths of the Depression, were coached and prepared to compete and win.  In the book you read about the importance of the synchronization of the eight rowers as they responded to the commands of the coxswain.  The coxswain was in the back of the boat yelling out the command.  The rowers sat one behind another on either side of the boat.  They each needed to listen carefully to the coxswain.  They needed to row according to his command and they needed to be in sync with their fellow oar men.  This is a wonderful analogy of what God intends for a local church.  Jesus is the Lord of His church.  He speaks to us through the Spirit through the Word.  And the Spirit lets us on a Christ-ward course.  And He yells out the commands.  And he bids us work in harmony with one another.  It will do the boat no good at all if one oar man decides that he won’t listen to the coxswain.  It will do the church no good at all if one of its members heads off in the flesh to cause division and strife.  No, they all need to be pulling together.  They all need to “keep in step with the Spirit.”  They all need to be actively working together by doing their part in using their own spiritual gifts in serving the body of Christ.

“Intent on one purpose.”  The word translated “purpose” is actually a different form of the same term used earlier in the verse and translated “mind.”  It has the idea of “being disposed to” something. The through of the phrase is “being disposed to one thing.”  And again, the concern here is what was spoken of in Philippians 1:27, “with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.”  That’s the one purpose we are all intent on.

CONCLUSION

Brethren, you are there in verse 1.  You are so very blessed in Christ.  You have encouragement in Him.  You are loved by Him.  You enjoy the fellowship of the Spirit.  He cares for you with affection and compassion.  You might say—you should say—with the Psalmist—“my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5).

But Christ’s purpose was never that you should be only a reservoir of His blessings.  He intends for you to relate to your brothers and sisters in Christ according to His example.  He has it for you to be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you might fully adopt His way of thinking—that you might have the mind of Christ.  See that great example of love—whereby Christ died for you—He has for you to relate to your brothers and sisters in Christ in that same manner.  You are indwelt by the Spirit; His purpose is that we all might be filled and led by the Spirit that we are united in spirit and intent on one purpose.  You ask what that purpose is?  It is there in verse 27, “with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel.”  It is the grandest purpose of all!  And God has enlisted you in this cause.

Now if these two verses are to be fulfilled in us we are going to have to change some things.  By faith we need to understand and appreciate how truly blessed we are!  We need to praise God and thank Him for all that He has done for us.  But beyond that we need to value our community.  We need to invest ourselves in it.  We need to be fully enjoined in it.

We need to value the church.  We need to reevaluate the way that we look at church.  Church is not something we go to—church is something that we are.  We are “members one of one another” (Romans 12:5).  You are a part of the grand assembly of believers.  God loves the church.  The church is the most important entity on this planet.  It alone possesses the answer, in the truth of the gospel, for what ails man.  It has a bright future inasmuch as God’s purpose in His church will not fail.

We need to value unity.  I always cringe if I hear a spouse saying something negative about their partner.  It’s painful to hear a family member criticize another member of their own family.  It’s no less disconcerting when a member of a church family criticizes a brother or sister in Christ.  These are things we must not do if we are to maintain the unity of spirit that God has called us to.  These things are not It is impossible for the church to fulfill its God’s appointed task apart if the members of a church family refuse to relate to one another in a Spirit-led, Christ-like manner.

We need to love one another according to Christ’s example.  That means showing forbearance.  That means exercising forgiveness.  That means actively pursuing opportunities to serve one another in love.  That means using our spiritual gifts for the common good of the body of Christ.  That means attending church with a degree of enthusiasm and genuine interest.  That means doing your part, pulling your weight, being a team player.  And doing all these things according to Christ’s example, to the glory of God.

Philippians 1:27-30

INTRODUCTION

The dictionary defines a cause as “a principle, aim, or movement that, because of a deep commitment, one is prepared to defend or advocate.”

Now there are a myriad of causes to which people devote themselves.  Some of these causes are noble and worthwhile.  Many are not.  Some of these causes are for temporal things that soon wither away.  Some of them endure longer than that.  Some people devote themselves to such causes with little ardor or devotion others give their all—their lives thoroughly devoted to a matter.

Of all the causes that have ever been fought for, no cause is more noble and more virtuous than the cause of the gospel.  It is a cause to which every believer in Christ has been enlisted.  And it is a cause to which we are to devote our lives and unite ourselves to.

Just a reminder of the context.  Paul is writing to the Philippians, a church which God had used Paul and his companions to start, from a prison.  The church in Philippi has sent a gift to him, and they were no doubt wondering how he was doing.  He responded with this epistle.  Most of the first chapter has to do with his own experience.  His prayer for them.  His optimistic understanding of his circumstances.  His question regarding what might happen to him and his optimistic perspective whether it be life or death.  So, we come to the end of the chapter, and the tenor changes from Paul’s experiences to the application of his own experiences to the Philippians in theirs.

MESSAGE

1. A Cause to Live For

There is a common misconception that exists in our day regarding the message of the gospel.  Many wrongly assume that the gospel message—that Christ died for sins and rose from the dead–is something that we simply believe and then we put the message behind us and move on to other things.  That’s a wrong way of thinking about the gospel.  We never put it aside as believers.

The ESV has it right in its translation of 1 Corinthians 15:2 when it says of the gospel that we “are being saved” by it (present tense).  The gospel message has not just worked to save us from our sins by way of forgiveness, it has also worked to unite to Jesus Christ and to His death and resurrection, so that we might walk in newness of life in Him (Romans 6:1-4).

That being said, there is a kind of conduct that is worthy of the gospel.  There are two important terms that we need to define in this phrase.

The first is the term “worthy,” which is related to our English term “axle” or “axis.”  The thought behind the term is “that which balances the scales.”  So, this verse is speaking of the kind of conduct that is consistent to the gospel message.  Put the gospel message on one side of the scale.  Put your conduct (your walk; the manner in which you live your life) on the other.  They should balance out.  The same term is used in Ephesians 4:1, “Walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.”  There needs to be a measure of consistency between one’s believe in Christ and their behavior in Christ.

The other important term is “conduct.”  An interesting term is used here which means literally “to live as a citizen.”  The term is related to our English terms “police” or “politics.”  The emphasis here, though, is not how we behave as citizens in the earthly realm, but as citizens of heaven (Philippians 3:20).

The emphasis in the passage is on Christian unity as it goes on to speak of how we need to be of “one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel” (verse 27).  So, the focus here is on that conduct which is appropriate for fellow citizens on God’s heavenly kingdom.  It’s not surprising that Paul uses this particular term, for Philippi was, after all “a leading city of the district of Macedonia.”  The citizens of Philippi took pride in their Roman citizenship.  So, Paul applied a term that they would be familiar with to their spiritual situation.

And the term fits.  What makes for a good citizen in the earthly realm? In the heavenly realm?

A good citizen acknowledges governing authorities.  What is true in the earthly realm needs to be true of the citizens of heaven.  Our authority is Jesus Christ.  He is the head of the church.  We are those who acknowledge Him as Lord and seek, as His servants, to do His bidding (Cf. 2 Timothy 2:4).

A good citizen obeys the law.  And again, in the heavenly realm we are guided not by our own human wisdom, but by the Spirit of God and the Word of God.  We gladly subject ourselves to the Word and live our lives according to a “what does the Bible say?” way of thinking (Cf. 2 Timothy 2:5).

A good citizen relates properly to his or her fellow citizens.  He doesn’t disrupt the peace or seek to do harm to his fellow citizens.  Instead he proves himself to a beneficial member of a community.  And so, it is the heavenly realm.

When it comes to the earthly realm people most endeavor to live their lives as good citizens.  But when it comes to the church there is much conduct that is not befitting those who claim to be Christians.  There are plenty of professing believers who are not subjecting themselves to the Lord Jesus or to any God-given authority.  There are plenty who don’t endeavor to live their lives according to the Word.  And there are plenty who see little value in having a contributing role in the community of believers.

This is a real problem for the church.  There ought to be a discernible difference in our lives as believers in Christ.  That’s what Paul was speaking about in verse 27, “So that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you.”  Whether I’m able to come to you or not, I’ll hear of the church in Philippi that they are living out the gospel.  We ought to live to the same purpose.  That when people hear of LCBC they might hear that our behavior is consistent to our testimony and that we are united in the cause of the gospel.

The gospel message is adorned when our behavior is consistent to the message.  Titus 2:9-10, “Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.”

The phrase applies not just to bondslaves, but to all of us.  There is a kind of behavior that adorns the gospel.  There is a kind of behavior that makes the gospel beautiful before others.  It is the kind of behavior that is the fruit of our relationship to Jesus.  It is people seeing Jesus in us—His love, His joy, His wisdom, His righteousness, His joy, His peace; the hope we have in Him.

If you are going to be contribution to the cause of Christ, you are going to have to conduct yourself in manner befitting to the cause of Christ.

2. A Cause to Unite Behind

The terms used in this passage are terms associated with warfare—“standing firm” and “striving together” (verse 27); “opponents” (28); “suffer” (29); “conflict” (30).  We are engaged in a spiritual conflict.

So, in this cause of the gospel we are engaged in a great conflict.  And it is important that we be united in the cause.  Let’s look at some of the terms are phrases that are used.

Note the terms “one spirit” and “one mind.”  It is possible for us to stand firm in “one spirit” and to have “one mind” because God has united us to the body of Christ.  The unity spoken of here is not a unity of human organization, it is a unity of divine relationship.  1 Corinthians 12:13, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.”  Ephesians 4:3, “Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  There is a song in our hymnal entitled “Our God has Made Us One,” and that’s the truth of it.

It’s a miraculous thing when you think about it.  You will find the Latin phrase, “E pluribus unum,” on US currency.  The phrase means literally, “Out of many, one.”  That’s a noble statement.  And there is some truth to it inasmuch of America is made up of people who originally came here from all parts of the world.  But there is another sense where there is not so much truth to it—because America could hardly be called “united” anymore.  But it’s different with the church.  God has worked to join folks from every possible identity and background to the body of Christ.  Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  We all share the same Lord and are indwelt by the same Spirit.  You could fly anywhere in the world and find brothers and sisters in Christ whom you could readily identify with and enjoy fellowship with.  It is in the church that we find a genuine “E pluribus unum.”

Now we’ve been united by God in this common cause.  And it’s important for us to keep our focus.  Because we are all to prone to lose sight of that which unites us.  A.W. Tozer, “Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So, one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become ‘unity’ conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”  We are united in Spirit to a common cause, the cause of the gospel.

The term “standing firm” is a warfare type of term.  A related term is used in Ephesians chapter 6 where it speaks of the spiritual conflict we are all engaged in and the need for us to take up the whole armor of God so that we might “stand firm.”  The idea in the military sense is to “not leave one’s post.”  To not abandon your place as a fellow soldier in the battle.  Now in the olden days of warfare it was important for an army to attack another army with a united front.  If a soldier were to leave his post that could mean disaster for his fellow soldiers.  The enemy would then attack at that point of weakness and gain a victory.  The same kind of thing happens within the church.  The enemy is always looking for a weakness in the Christian community from which to launch his attacks.

Make note of another phrase which is equally important—“striving together for the faith of the gospel.”  The phrase “striving together” translates the Greek term “sunathleo.”  Did you catch the last part of the word, “athleo?”  It a term related to our term “athletic.”  It means to “contend in games.”  But here it speaks of how we contend together for a certain thing.  Put simply, its speaking of teamwork.  We are to labor together as a team in this great cause.  We see something of the value of teamwork in the earthly realm.  I’m a big basketball fan.  And it’s the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.  Recently the Oregon Ducks defeated the Arizona Wildcats in the Pac-12 basketball tournament.  The coach of Arizona complimented the Oregon team.  He called them one of the best teams in America.  He said that they weren’t the most talented team, but because of their teamwork the sum of their parts was greater.  Teamwork can do that for a group of people.  It’s amazing what a group of people can do if they will simply work together.  What can a people led and empowered by the Spirit of God do if they were to work together?  Amazing things!  That’s what the early church was doing.  That’s what God has called us to do.

If you are going to succeed according to that formula, there are couple of things that are necessary:

From the negative standpoint you are going to have to deal with conduct that is detrimental to the team.  Ephesians 4:2-3 speaks to this: “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

From the positive standpoint you need for every member to find their God-given place in service.  “Ephesians 4:16, “From whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part.”

Note that the concern is that we would be striving together for a specific cause, “the faith of the gospel.”  It is not…

• Striving together for a political party.
• Striving together for a social cause.
• Striving together for world peace or any other kind of earth-bound agenda.

The cause for which we are to strive together is the faith of the gospel.  Mark Dever, “When Christians unite around something other than the gospel, they create community that would likely exist even if God didn’t.”  But we’re united in a common cause and that cause is the gospel.

That’s the cause of which Christ spoke when He said, “And you shall be My witnesses” (Acts 1:8).  It is the cause which Paul called the “matter of first importance” (1 Corinthians 15:1).  It is the cause represented to us to be “the glorious gospel of the blessed God” (1 Timothy 1:11) and “the power of God for salvation for all who believe” (Romans 1:16).  It is a cause

3. A Cause Worth Suffering For

The Apostle Paul speaks of opponents.  The word speaks of those who lie opposed to the cause of Christ.  Later in the epistle we read of those who are “enemies of the cross of Christ” (Philippians 3:18).

We should not be surprised by this. So, Jesus had forewarned His disciples, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matthew 16:18).  He also told them, “A slave is not greater than his master.  If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).

Opposition and persecution are not an anomaly for the believer in Christ, it is to be expected: “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake” (Philippians 1:29).  Perhaps you didn’t realize that when you trusted in Christ for salvation?  We live in a society with a great degree of freedom, so our experience is not the same as those early believers or of people who live in oppressed regions of the world today.  But persecution and opposition are the norm for the believer.  2 Timothy 3:12, “And indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

That is the legacy of the church.  From Stephen’s martyrdom to the one who died this very day in some persecuted region of the world.  Paul likewise faced opposition (Philippians 1:30).  He too had to deal with those seeking to cause trouble for him (Philippians 1:17).  There is a growing antagonism against Christianity in our world.  So, it’s important for us to understand that our cause will be met with opposition.  It’s always been that way.  It will be that way until Christ’s church is raptured into heaven.  God’s work done God’s way will always be met with opposition.

But it is important for us to respond to it in a God-honoring way.  Don’t be “alarmed” by your opponents.  The term “alarmed” translates a seldom used Greek word which means to be terrified or scared.  Don’t be scared by them.  You’ve got no reason to be?

You’ve got God on your side.  Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who is against us?

1 John 4:3, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

I came across this delightful Scottish chorus the other day:

 

Cheer up ye saints of God,

There’s nothing to worry about;

Nothing to make you feel afraid,

Nothing to make you doubt;

Remember Jesus saves you;

So why not trust him and shout,

You’ll be sorry you worried at all, tomorrow morning.

1 Peter 3:15 speaks to how we ought to respond to those who seek to do us harm: “But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”

• Submit yourself in your heart to the Lordship of Christ. Trust Him.  Determine to obey Him.
• Your hope is in the Lord. Don’t be moved from that.
• Make your defense. Your testimony regarding Christ.
• Respond to your opponents in gentleness and reverence.

It matters how we respond.  Paul says that our response is a “sign of destruction to them.”  The term speaks to a “showing, or point out, or demonstration.”  So, your trusting response (i.e. Stephen when he was martyred) demonstrates the rightness of the cause and warns of the ultimate destruction of those who will remain opposed to the gospel.

2 Corinthians 2:14-16, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.  For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life.”

All that being said, the cause of the gospel is a cause worth suffering for.  People devote themselves to all sorts of causes.  Many of them are unworthy.  But in the cause of the gospel we have a noble and eternal cause worth fighting for and worth suffering for.

CONCLUSION

Someone wrote the following (taken from the Hymn “Onward, Christian Soldiers).  It is meant to be humorous, but there is far too much truth to it.  And we need to recognize this, repent of these wrong ways of thinking, and determine by God’s grace to head in a better direction:

Backward Christian soldiers, fleeing from the fight

With the cross of Jesus nearly out of sight.

Christ, our rightful master, stands against the foe

But forward into battle, we are loathe to go.

Like a mighty tortoise moves the Church of God

Brothers we are treading where we’ve always trod.

We are much divided, many bodies we

Having many doctrines, not much charity.

Crowns and thorns may perish, kingdoms rise and wane,

But the Church of Jesus hidden does remain.

Gates of hell should never ‘gainst the Church prevail

We have Christ’s own promise, but think that it will fail.

Sit here then ye people, join our useless throng

Blend with ours your voices in a feeble song.

Blessings, ease and comfort, ask from Christ the King

With our modern thinking, we don’t do a thing.

If you are a believer in Christ you’ve been enlisted into this common cause, the cause of the gospel.

And Paul uses three wonderful analogies to speak of the spirit in which we are to devote ourselves to the cause:

As fellow citizens.  Our allegiance is the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are led by the Spirit to trust Him and obey Him.  We work together as fellow citizens.

As fellow soldiers.  We are to stand firm in one mind.  That mind is the “mind of Christ.”  As fellow soldiers we are bonded together in this cause.  Our success is dependent upon the mutual support of each one of us for our brother in Christ and our sister in Christ.  There can be no Lone-Ranger Christians.  You need me.  I need you.  We all need each other.

As fellow athletes.  We are all part of a team.  Our success necessitates teamwork.  On the negative side it is important that we do all that we can to preserve the unity of the Spirit.  On the positive side it is equally important that we find our own particular role in serving the body of Christ.

Philippians 1:19-26

INTRODUCTION

Hamlet: “To be, or not to be- that is the question:

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them. To die- to sleep-

No more; and by a sleep to say we end

The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks

That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation

Devoutly to be wish’d. To die- to sleep.”

William Shakespeare’s Hamlet experiences deep feelings of grief following the death of his father.  He confesses his uncertainty—in responding to his troubles–as to whether it is better to go on living, or to die.

In our passage the Apostle Paul addresses the “to be or not to be” question.  But his perspective is entirely different.  He knows Jesus Christ.  And in his relationship with Christ he does not deal with the matter from a negative or sorrowful standpoint.  The passage is summarized in verse 21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”  In Christ, he acknowledges that there are advantages in either case, “whether by life or by death” (verse 20).

Remember the context…Paul was used by God to found the church in Philippi on his second missionary journey.  A decade or so later, he was in jail in Rome on trial for his life.  In those intervening years, the church in Philippi had supported Paul in his ministry.  They loved Paul and Paul loved them.  When they found out that he was in jail, on trial for his life, they sent Epaphroditus with gifts to support him.  In response Paul wrote to them regarding his situation.  His purpose was to instruct and encourage them.  And that’s the context of what we read here.

Paul is uncertain to what the future holds.  Some five years later he will write, in his letter to Timothy, “The time for my departure has come” (2 Timothy 4:6).  But as he writes to the Philippians, with a decision regarding his case still pending, he doesn’t know for sure what will happen.

So, there is this question before Paul.  He wants for Christ to be exalted in his body, “BY LIFE OR BY DEATH” (verse 20).  He says, “FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST, AND TO DIE IS GAIN” (verse 21).  He speaks of how he is “HARD PRESSED FROM BOTH DIRECTIONS” (verse 23).

So, it’s as if Paul puts the two things on either side of a balance scale.  He weighs the advantages of both.  What is the advantage if he were to go on living?  What is gained if he is to die?

You know we give special attention to the last words of a person.  In the face of death people sometimes bare their souls and speak to what lies deep in their hearts.  Now Paul here is not immediately facing death, but he’s contemplating it.  And as he speaks of it we are given insight into his perspective on life and death.  On what truly mattered to him.  We have his perspective on life or death.  It’s as if he has weighed both alternative on a balance scale.  And as he does so he considers the advantages of each.

MESSAGE

 1. TO LIVE IS CHRIST

Paul said, “To live is Christ” (verse 21).

Now this statement stands out in that it is not something that is typical in this world.  Few would say “For to me, to live is Christ.”  They might say, “For to me, to live is to accumulate wealth.”  Or, they might say, “For to me, to live is to pursue fame and power.”  Or, they might say, “For to me, to live is to be happy and experience pleasure.”  They would fill in that statement in a host of ways that express the wide variety of sinful pursuits that are common to man in his rebellion against God.

But this statement of Paul’s is not something that is or should be exclusive to Paul.  This statement should express the belief and understanding of every born-again believer.  We should all say the same.

What did Paul mean by what he said?  F. B. Meyer wrote of the various ways this is true of the believer.

• To live is Christ, because He is the Origin of our Life (Ephesians 2:10, “Created in Christ Jesus”).
• To live is Christ, because He is the Essence of our Life (Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”).
• To live is Christ, because He is the Model of our Life (1 Corinthians 11:1, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ”).
• To live is Christ, because He is the Aim of our Life (Philippians 3:10, “That I may know Him”).
• To live is Christ, because He is the Solace of our Life (Hebrews 4:15, 7:25, 13:5; He sympathizes with us, He intercedes for us, He will never leave us nor forsake us).
• To live is Christ, because He is the Reward of our Life (Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”).

So, in all these ways, and more, Christ is the life of the believer.  Think of it this way—people who were around Paul would have had a hard time discerning any separation between Paul and the Lord Jesus.  His relationship with Jesus was such that it was hard to discern where Paul stopped, and Jesus began.  His thoughts, deeds, and words were Christ-like and nothing mattered more to Paul than knowing Jesus better.

Paul understood that to die and be with Christ was something that was “very much better,” but he understood also the value of remaining on in the flesh.  What were the advantageous of doing that?

To glorify Christ.  “But that with all boldness, Christ shall even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (verse 20).

Paul’s chief concern in life was that Christ might be glorified.  He lived his life to this end.  We were created to glorify God.  That is the purpose for which we were made.  Sin debilitates in this sense—it prevents us from doing that which we were created to do.  But Christ died for sins and rose from the dead that he might save us and transform us and equip and enable us to fulfill our God-given purpose.  We’ve been saved to glorify our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To glorify Christ is our eternal destiny.  So, as Paul considered his circumstances, not knowing for certain what might happen, his concern was that no matter what happened that he would not be put to shame in anything, but that Christ would be exalted.  You read of the testimonies of our persecuted brothers and sisters in other parts of the world.  And you hear how they plead for us to pray for them, and chief amongst their concerns?  That they might remain bold in their testimony regarding Christ.

There was a Norwegian theologian, Ole Hallesby that prayed: “Lord, if it will be to your glory, heal suddenly. If it will glorify you more, heal gradually; if it will glorify you even more, may your servant remain sick awhile; and if it will glorify your name still more, take me to yourself in heaven.”

To serve Christ.  Paul knew that to depart and be with Christ was very much better, but to remain on would mean “fruitful labor” for him (verse 22).  He was speaking of serving Christ.  If he were to remain on he would continue to do that which he was given already to do, serve Christ.  Remember how Paul began his epistle?  “Paul and Timothy, bond-servants of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:1).  By choice he was a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He understood that life on earth is but for a short time.

2 Corinthians 5:7-10, “For we walk by faith, not by sight—we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and present with the Lord.  Therefore, also we have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him.  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”

C. T. Studd was a missionary who devoted his life to serving Christ in difficult regions. He once wrote a poem entitled “Only One Life.” This is a part of that:

Only One Life

By C.T. Studd

“Two little lines I heard one day,

Traveling along life’s busy way;

Bringing conviction to my heart,

And from my mind would not depart;

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,

Soon will its fleeting hours be done;

Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,

And stand before His Judgement seat;

Only one life,’twill soon be past,

Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

To serve Christ by serving others.

“Yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.  And convinced of this, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith” (verses 24-25).

What’s Paul saying?  He would prefer to depart and be with Christ, but if he is to remain on living this is all that matters to him—to serve Christ by serving others, and especially his Christian brothers and sisters.

He understood that God had called him and equipped him to serve the body of Christ so that they might grow in Christ and experience joy in Him.

Later is this epistle, in chapter 2, Paul speaks of the example of Christ.  Thou He is the Divine Son of God, He left the glory of heaven and came to this earth as a servant.  The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.  And we are to follow in His example.  Paul lived his life in this manner.

Now modern Christianity has this turned all around.  Our self-centered culture looks at life from the opposite perspective.  We are taught from childhood that our lives have meaning to the extent that we are made happy by others.  We are here to be served.  But the high calling of the believer is not to be served, it is to serve Jesus.  And we serve Jesus by serving others.

The Virginia Tech massacre took place in April 2007—almost 10 years ago.  Tragically, 32 people were killed and 17 were wounded.  Among those who were killed was a freshman girl by the name of Lauren McCain.  Lauren was a believer in Christ.  Shortly before her murder she had written the following prayer in her diary: “Show me your purpose for me at Tech, and on this earth.  But, if you choose not to, I will still praise you and walk where you lead, not because I am selfless, or holy, or ‘determined to sacrifice myself to do what is right’ but because you are the delight of my heart and I cannot live without you.”

Lauren didn’t realize when she wrote that prayer that God would soon be calling her home.  But she was likely aware of our text in Philippians.  Perhaps she had read it and thought about it.  She certainly shared in Paul’s Christ-centered approach to his life.  His concern was that Christ would be exalted in his body “whether by life of by death.”  That was the case for Paul.  That was the case for Lauren.  God would have the same to be true of all of us, as believers in Jesus Christ.

2. TO DIE IS GAIN

A deliverance.

I want to draw your attention to a word that we find in verse 19, the word “deliverance.”  The word translates the term that is usually translated “salvation.”  Paul is not speaking, of course, of salvation in the sense in which we commonly use the term (i.e. salvation from sin).  And we should recall that salvation is in three tenses—past (justification), present (sanctification; i.e. growth in Christ), and future (glorification).

It would be fair to say that in this sense, the believer in Christ has been delivered, is being delivered, and will be delivered.  The term is used in various texts in reference to every tense of salvation.  Now deliverance in any of those ways is founded in Christ and His finished work on the cross.  By faith in Christ the believer in Christ experiences a salvation “to the uttermost,” or literally, “to save completely” (Hebrews 7:25).  So, Paul has no doubt as to his “deliverance,” the only question is whether that will be in his life or by his death.  This is in keeping with what Paul wrote to the Romans: “But in all these things (tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword) we overwhelming conquer through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

A departure.

Note the term Paul uses the term “depart” to describe death.  In secular Greek the term described the loosing of the anchor or mooring of a ship, so it could depart port and set sail.  It was also used of striking one’s tent as one would do in the military when “breaking camp.”  The same term is used in 2 Timothy 4:6, “The time of my departure has come.”

The death of a believer may be a cause of sorrow for those who love that person.  But that person is not lost.  The body which is their earthly tent is torn down, but then they have a building from God in the heavenly places (Cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1).

Gone From My Sight

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,

spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts

for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.

I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck

of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then, someone at my side says, “There, she is gone.”

Gone where?

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,

hull and spar as she was when she left my side.

And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me — not in her.

And, just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone,”

there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices

ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!”

And that is dying…

A desirable thing.

“To die is gain” (verse 21).

“Having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better” (verse 23).

The word gain means simply “gain or profit.”  Paul’s saying that death would be advantageous for him.

The phrase “very much better” might literally be translated “very much indeed more better.”

Not just better.  But much better.  No just much better.  But very much better.

Paul viewed his own death in this manner.  Why?

We sometimes think of heaven in terms of the “no longers.”  Revelation 21:4 tells us that in heaven there will no longer be any death, or mourning, or crying, or pain.  2 Peter 3:13 speaks of heaven as the place where there will “no longer” be any sin.

And all of this is true.  And we can weigh that on the balance scale and consider that death (or the rapture) will be an escape from all that is wrong in our lives now.  There is truth in that.  As believers we will depart from this earth either through our death or the rapture—“I know not when my Lord will come at night or noon day fair, or if I’ll cross the veil with Him or meet Him in the air.”  We don’t know whether it will be in the one way or the other, but we do know that on that day we will escape this sin-cursed place.  And, as I’ve said, the rapture (or a person’s death for that matter) is the ultimate answer to every prayer request.  Because when we are brought into Christ’s presence there will be nothing left to pray about.

But that’s looking at the matter from the negative side.  Paul was thinking in the positive.

This is part conjecture on my part, but I think there is good reason to believe it.  Paul had an experience where he was caught up to the “third heaven” and heard and saw inexpressible things.  He saw something of what God has prepared for us in heaven.  So great was this vision, Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble (Cf. 2 Corinthians 12:1f).

But, apart from that, we can see in Scripture the reason that Paul viewed death as he did.

His preeminent desire was to know Jesus (Philippians 3:10).  In death, that desire would be perfectly fulfilled.  1 John 3:2, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be.  We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”

He had written elsewhere: 2 Corinthians 5:8, “We are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.”

And a marvelous thing will take place on that day.  A glorious transformation!  Look past this dark night to the morning of Christ’s revelation to you.  By faith imagine what it will be when God erases all that’s wrong and restores completely, in you, all that was lost to man in the fall.  God has something incredible planned for you.  It is a thing that is exceeding, abundantly beyond all that we can ask or think.  Paul writes of it in Philippians 3:19-21.  And we need to make note of it.  We are not of those who set their minds on earthly things.  Our citizenship is in heaven.  We are eagerly waiting for the Lord Jesus Christ.  There will come a day when He will do a remarkable thing.  By His incomparable power He is going to take your humble body and transform into conformity with the body of His glory.  He’s going to do that!

CONCLUSION

Now, if you are like me, you might be dismayed as you consider the Apostle Paul’s approach to life and death.  You see in your own life too many times where you find yourself serving self instead of serving Christ.  You are too prone to fall back into “setting your mind on earthly things” way of thinking.

Now if that’s the case, I’ve got some good news for you.  Paul had some things going for him that helped to keep pointed in the right direction.  And you have these same things.

Paul’s confidence regarding his future deliverance was sourced in two things—“your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” (verse 19).

Paul valued the prayers of the believers in Philippi.  He saw the need for them.  He understood that such prayers, in a mysterious way that we cannot fully understand, played a role in that which God was doing in Paul’s life.  Paul elsewhere wrote, “Brethren, pray for us” (1 Thessalonians 5:25).  Now if Paul coveted the prayers of his fellow believers, that he might fulfill God’s purpose and will in his own life, how much do we need the prayers of our fellow believers?  Ephesians 6:18 speaks to the need for us to prayer for one another.  Obviously, this is an important thing for us to do.

Paul’s confidence was founded on another reality.  “The Spirit of Jesus Christ” (verse 19).  That’s simply another title given to the Holy Spirit.  The word provision translates a term which means to lavishly provision or furnish.  Paul was indwelt and filled by the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit was leading and instructing and transforming and working in Paul in a host of ways.  We’ve said it before, if we compare the Christian life to a journey, then the Holy Spirit is our well-qualified guide to lead us to our heavenly destination.  It would be impossible for us to get there apart from Him.  But, because the Helper indwells us, we can be confident that God is going to work to finish what He started in us.

While walking through the forest one day, a man found a young eagle who had fallen out of his nest.  He took it home and put it in his barnyard where it soon learned to eat and behave like the chickens.  One day a naturalist passed by the farm and asked why it was that the king of all birds should be confined to live in the barnyard with the chickens.  The farmer replied that since he had given it chicken feed and trained it to be a chicken, it had never learned to fly.  Since it now behaved as the chickens, it was no longer an eagle.

“Still it has the heart of an eagle,” replied the naturalist, “and can surely be taught to fly.”  He lifted the eagle toward the sky and said, “You belong to the sky and not to the earth.  Stretch forth your wings and fly.”  The eagle, however, was confused.  He did not know who he was, and seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again.  The naturalist took the bird to the roof of the house and urged him again, saying, “You are an eagle.  Stretch forth your wings and fly.”

But the eagle was afraid of his unknown self and world and jumped down once more for the chicken food.  Finally, the naturalist took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain.  There he held the king of the birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, “You are an eagle.  You belong to the sky.  Stretch forth your wings and fly.”  The eagle looked around, back towards the barnyard and up to the sky.  Then the naturalist lifted him straight towards the sun and it happened that the eagle began to tremble.  Slowly he stretched his wings, and with a triumphant cry, soared away into the heavens.

You, believer in Christ, were “created in Christ Jesus” to fly.  God has not saved you so that you could muddle around in the chicken yard fighting over scraps in your own selfishness.  He has created you in Christ Jesus so that you might live in Christ Jesus—exalting Him, serving Him, serving Him by serving others.  Your destiny is not to have your head chopped off and be diced up for chicken soup.  Your destiny is to fly away and to be with Christ in the heavenly places forever more.  Paul lived that kind of heavenly life on earth as he waited for the time when God would take him home.  God has called us to do the same.

 

 

 

Philippians 1:12-18

One of the most memorized of all Scripture verses is Romans 8:28.  Rightly so, as it reminds us of how God works through our circumstances to accomplish His purpose.  Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

The main point of the passage is that God is sovereignly working in the lives of His children to accomplish His purpose in them.  And note that there are a couple of qualifiers or conditions associated with this verse.

The promise is to those who love God.  I.e. those who have been called by God unto salvation and as result love God.  No such promise is given to those who stand outside of the gospel.  They face difficult circumstances too, but it cannot be said of them “that God causes all things to work together for good.”  Their trials are but a precursor of the greater and eternal trial that they will face when they are condemned to hell in a Christ-less eternity.

The second qualifier is this…the good spoken of in the passage is specific.  It is defined for us in verse 29.  God is at work in the life of the believer to conform him to the image of His Son.  Now that is a grand and magnificent purpose!  And it a purpose that will surely come to pass, even as we have seen in our study in Philippians 1:6, “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Now both of these verses are true because of who God is.  God is wise, loving, and powerful.  He is not limited in what He does by the circumstances that we face.  Indeed, He is able to use our difficult circumstances in a positive way.  The God who raised Jesus from the dead is able to bring good out of our bad.  That’s the way God works.  And because of that we can be and we should be optimistic as Christians.

Webster’s defines “optimism” as “an inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome.”  The passage before fits that definition to a tee.  Paul is inclined to put the most favorable construction on the events of his life.  But Paul is not able to do that because he is a member of the optimist club.  His optimism is well-founded in his relationship with Jesus Christ and the triumphant nature of His plan.  He’s optimistic in Christ.

Note that Paul is writing to the Philippians from prison.  There is good reason to believe that this is the imprisonment that is referred to in Acts chapter 28.  And it should not escape our notice that this is not the first imprisonment of the Apostle Paul.  In fact, when Paul first brought the gospel to Philippi, a riot ensued, and he and Silas were locked up in a prison.  Remember that?  And what happened on that occasion?  Paul and Silas were “praying and singing praise to God” (Acts 16:25).  And the prisoners were listening to them.  And God caused a great earthquake.  And the jailer, terrified because he himself would be executed if he were to lose his prisoners—was ready to take his own life.  But Paul shared the gospel with him, and he and his family was saved.  Now our text says that Paul’s later imprisonment worked out for the “greater progress of the gospel,” but what was true of the second was also true in the first.

So Paul is again in prison.  Why is he there?  You can read the details of how his imprisonment in Rome came to pass in the book of Acts.  Put simply, he was in prison because he had preached the gospel of grace and in preaching that message he upset the Jews.  In other words, he was in prison not because he had done anything wrong.  His enemies—enemies of the gospel of grace—had seemingly won a victory in their working to have him imprisoned.

Now we should note in our text that Paul was not all deterred in his ministry efforts though he was in prison.  His enemies probably assumed that would be the case.  But it wasn’t.  No doubt the believers in Philippi were wondering how things were going for Paul, he wrote to reassure them.  But note what happened as a result of Paul being in prison:

1. His circumstances turned out for the greater progress of the gospel (12). The cause of the gospel was not at all hindered when the Apostle to the Gentiles was imprisoned.  Instead it prospered.  Just as Paul writes in 2 Timothy 2:8-9, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.”  You can lock up the messenger, but you can’t lock up the message.
2. Because of his circumstances (his imprisonment) he was able to reach people with the gospel who otherwise would not have been reached. Paul’s “imprisonment in the cause of Chris (became) well known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to everyone else” (13).  Paul was no ordinary captive.  His relationship to Christ became clear to those who guarded him.  And some of them no doubt trusted in Jesus.  Others were likewise exposed to the gospel—Jews (Acts 28:17f); at least one Gentile, Onesimus, though likely many more (Philemon 1:10); and members of Caesar’s household (Philippians 4:22).
3. Because of his imprisonment, and specifically because of his godly and courageous response to it, others had “far more courage to speak the word without fear” (Philippians 1:14). In other words, Christian brothers looked at Paul and what he was going through and said, “If Paul can speak out boldly regarding Christ in his circumstances, why should I fear in doing the same.”
4. Because of his imprisonment, some opponents were taking advantage of him. They were preaching Christ, but were doing so out of selfish ambition attempting to take advantage of Paul in his circumstances.  Being envious of Paul, they were misguidedly attempting to gain a larger following for themselves.  But even in this Paul found reason to rejoice, saying, “What then?  Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice, yes, and I will rejoice.”  By the way, in speaking to this particular aspect of Paul’s response—there is far too much competition between churches in America.  It is dishonoring to God and detrimental to our Christian testimony.  The story is told of three churches, located on different corners of the same intersection, who didn’t get along together. One Sunday each of them opened their meeting with a rousing song service. It was a warm day and all the doors and windows were wide open. One congregation began singing the old hymn, “Will There Be Any Stars in My Crown?” The strains had barely faded away when the congregation across the street started singing, “No, Not One, No, Not One!” They had scarcely finished when the third church began singing, “Oh, That Will Be Glory for Me.”  That’s just a story, but it speaks to the divisive spirit that exists among some churches.  Naturally, we want to support our own church and pray for it and rejoice in its growth.  But we need to refrain from that spirit that would rejoice when other churches struggle or falter.
5. Because of his imprisonment the believers in Philippi had opportunity to show their loving concern for Paul in sending a gift to him. How encouraged Paul must have been in receiving that gift.  And it said something about the love and spiritual maturity of those believers in Philippi.

We could go on.  There were other ways, no doubt, in which God worked in Paul’s difficult circumstances to bless Paul and his ministry.  But the main point is this—Paul’s difficult circumstances were no deterrent to God in what He was doing in Paul’s life and in Paul’s ministry.  Contrarily—they worked to prosper Paul in his ministry.

God is not deterred at all by our difficult circumstances.  He delights in bringing good out of bad.  The cross is the ultimate example of this.  But then again in Acts 8 we read of how a great persecution arose against the church in Jerusalem following the martyrdom of Stephen.  But that great persecution did not hinder the growth of the church.  Instead, as a result, believers were scattered “throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1).

There are some great historical examples of such things.

• John Bunyan was imprisoned because he stood firm in contending for the faith. From that prison cell he wrote “Pilgrim’s Progress,” That wonderful allegory regarding suffering that has encouraged millions of believers.
• It was in a Japanese prison cell that Jacob DeShazer, one of “Doolittle’s Raiders, came to know Jesus. God not only saved Jacob, He called him—while he was still in prison–to be a missionary to the Japanese.  After the war he returned to Japan and many people were saved through his ministry.
• I’ve heard of the testimony of the pastors in the house churches in China. These pastors were sometimes arrested and imprisoned.  But according to their testimony their circumstances worked out for the greater progress of the gospel because they would spend their time in prison evangelizing fellow inmates and preparing them to be pastors.

Now none of our circumstances are as dire as any of these examples, but we sometimes feel imprisoned.  But we need to realize that we serve a God who is much greater than our circumstances.  I’ve got a little sign in my office that says, “Our great problems are small to God’s power.  Our small problems are great to God’s love.”  In other words—in our difficult circumstances we need to remember that God knows and God cares and God is able.

Remember that definition of optimism?  Optimism is an “inclination to put the most favorable construction upon actions and events or to anticipate the best possible outcome.”

That’s what Paul was doing.  But we need to ask the question “Why?”  Why was Paul able to do that?  What was at work in his life that he could remain so optimistic in those difficult circumstances?

The short answer to that question is “Jesus.”  But let’s try to flesh that out a little bit.

Know the Risen Christ.  What made the difference for Paul?  There were no doubt plenty of other prisoners in Rome.  Few if any would be able to say what Paul said, “my circumstances have worked things out for the better.”

And so it is in life.  We all face trials.  Unbelievers face trials and difficult circumstances.  Believers face trials and difficult circumstances.  The difference for believers is that God causes all things to work together for good in their lives.  That difference exists because of their relationship to Christ.

Paul knew Jesus Christ (Cf. Galatians 2:20).  His great purpose in his life was to know Him better (Philippians 3:10).

Stop to consider this for a moment…if you are a believer your life is in His hands.

• Christ died for your sins.
• He rose from the dead.
• He ascended to the right hand of God.
• From heaven He even now intercedes for you.
• His purpose and plan for you cannot be thwarted. He will never leave you or forsake you.  Nothing can work to separate you from His love.
• He’s coming again for you. To take you home to be with Him forever.

These truths are unalterable.  Nobody and nothing can work to change any of these things.  Paul was not alone in that prison cell.  The risen Christ was right there with him (Cf. 2 Timothy 4:17).  And because of that he was able to respond to his trials in a godly and courageous manner.

Serve Him in His Triumphant Plan.  Note Paul’s focus here.  The term “gospel” appears twice (12 and 16).  Then you find these phrases: “speak the word of God” (14); “preaching Christ” (15); “proclaim Christ” (17); “Christ is proclaimed” (18).

While he was free he lived his life according to one purpose—to know Jesus and to make Him known.  When he was in prison he lived his life according to that same purpose—to know Jesus and to make Him known.

He was serving God in His plan.  Remember what Jesus said regarding His church?  Matthew 16:18, “I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.”  Remember what Jesus’ mandate in Acts 1:8, “…you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”  God has a plan and His plan will not be thwarted.  So a key to being an optimistic Christian is making sure that we are onboard with God’s plan because we know that God’s plan will not fail.

What does this mean for us as individuals?  God’s great plan for you as a believer is to make you to be like Jesus.  He has purposed to conform you to the image of His Son. Bad circumstances are no deterrent to His plan.  In fact, He can and will use your difficult circumstances to accomplish His purpose.

There are many passages which speak to this—James 1:3; 1 Peter 1:6-7, etc.  Let me quote just one.  Romans 5:3-5, “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Jesus Christ will never disappoint you.  So make knowing and serving Him your chief concern.

Be Filled with His Spirit-imparted Joy.  Even though Paul was in prison.  Even though some were taking advantage of him in his imprisonment seeking to cause him distress.  Paul rejoiced and determined that he would keep on rejoicing.

This is a recurring theme in the book of Philippians.  The words “joy” and “rejoice” are found repeatedly in the book.

The word speaks to a joy or gladness that is derived, not from our circumstances, but from our relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is helpful to distinguish between the words “joy” and “happiness.”  The word happiness is related to the word “happenstance.”  What is a “happenstance?”  It is a matter of circumstance.  We think of happiness in terms of circumstances.  We might sometimes say, “Whatever makes you happy.”  According to that way of thinking there are certain circumstances or activities that can make us “happy.”  The problem with that way of thinking is that that kind of “happiness” is a fleeting thing.  We find that it doesn’t truly satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts.  People can exist in the best of circumstances and still not be happy.

And many live their lives according to this “if only” approach to life:

• If only I win the lottery…then I’d be happy.
• If only I had a better husband or better wife…then I’d be happy.
• If only I had a better job…then I’d be happy.
• If only so-and-so wasn’t so difficult to get along with…then I’ll be happy.
• If only I could find a better church….then I’ll be happy.
• If only so-and-so is elected President…then I’ll be happy.

But a true and lasting joy, independent of our circumstances, is availed to the believer in Christ by the Holy Spirit.  This joy is not dependent on our existing in a prescribed set of circumstances, this joy can be ours no matter where we are or what we do.

• It is availed to us by God: Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing…”
• It is the fruit of the Spirit: Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy…”
• It is a joy which we experience in our relationship with Jesus Christ. Peter was writing to persecuted believers when he said, “And though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory” (1 Peter 1:8).

So let me ask you a question…are you happy in Jesus?  Are you even now experiencing the joy of Christ?  And let me ask another question…are you holding on to some of those “if onlys?”  What’s your “if only?”  The key to finding happiness is not in pursuing happiness.  True Joy is bound up in the person of Jesus Christ.  We find true joy in knowing and serving Him.

CONCLUSION

The account of Joseph’s life has to be one of the most remarkable and inspiring in all the Bible.

• Joseph’s troubled began when his father showed favoritism for him and gave him the vary-colored tunic.
• Then Joseph had the dreams where he saw first all his brothers bowing down to him and then his father and mother and brothers bowing down to him.
• After his brothers found out about his dreams, they plotted against him to murder him. But ended up selling him off into slavery.
• He was a slave in Potiphar’s house.
• Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of making advances on her.
• He was thrown in prison.
• While in prison he had opportunity to interpret the dreams of the Pharaoh’s cupbearer and baker—who had both been thrown in prison for displeasing their master. The interpretation of their dream came to pass, just like Joseph had said.
• Pharaoh had a dream. The cupbearer remembered how Joseph had interpreted his own dream, so he advised Pharaoh to send for Joseph.
• Joseph was able not only to interpret Pharaoh’s dream but advise Pharaoh as to what should be done. A famine was to come upon the land—for seven years.  Joseph had a plan to provide for the people.
• And ultimately that’s what happened. As Prime Minister of Egypt Joseph was in a position to provide not only for the people of Egypt, but ultimately for the Jews.  That had been God’s purpose from the beginning.  And though Joseph could not have known that—when he was hated by his brothers, or sold off into slavery, or stuck in a prison—God was working in Joseph’s life all along.
• So, we read Joseph’s assessment of the matter at the end of the book. Genesis 50:20, “And as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

Now Joseph did not understand exactly what God was doing when he was thrown into the pit, or sold off into slavery, or falsely accused, or sat languishing in prison.  He came to that conclusion after the fact.  He was able to look back on the events of his life and see how God’s hand was at work to bring about that good result.

Maybe in your present circumstances are making you feel like you are imprisoned.  I’ve got some good news for you, God is able to set you free.  And no matter how difficult your circumstances, you can be and should be optimistic as a Christian:

• Know the Risen Christ.  Do you know Him?
• Serve Him in His Triumphant Plan?  Is God’s plan your plan?
• Be filled with His Joy?  God has availed a true and lasting joy—independent of our circumstances—in His Son Jesus Christ.

 

Philippians 1:7-11

INTRODUCTION

Why pray?

What should we pray for?

Eight prayers of the Apostle Paul are found in his epistles:

• Ephesians 1:17-23; 3:14-21
• Colossians 1:9-14
• 1 Thessalonians 3:10-13
• 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12; 2:16-17; 3:16
• Philippians 1:9-11

What can we learn from these prayers?

These are things of great importance.  A commentator on this prayer, found in Philippians chapter one, said this: “What an excellent prayer this is! In our day when we tend to voice prayer requests for physical needs primarily we need to follow Paul’s example of putting the spiritual needs of others high on our prayer lists. Christians still need God’s supernatural enablement to value highly the things of greatest importance as revealed in Scripture. Only then will we make choices that will prepare us to give a good account of ourselves at the judgment seat of Christ.”

They are things that we should pray for, for ourselves.  James 4:3.

These are things that we should pray for, for others.  Ephesians 6:18

What motivated Paul to pray?

He loved the believers in Philippi.  He had them in his heart.  He longed to be with them.  He cared for them with the “affection (lit. inward parts) of Christ Jesus.

He understood that he and the Philippians were both partakers of grace.  We are partakers of grace.  We all share in God’s grace.  God is rich in grace.  He has lavished His grace upon us.  He sits on a throne of grace and bids us come that we might receive His grace and mercy.  Paul prayed knowing that, as much as He cared for the believers in Philippi, His prayers ascended to heaven itself to the One who loved the Philippians even more.

He had a heavenward perspective to his prayers.  He was looking forward to the “day of Christ.”  He understood that the church is the bride of Christ that will be presented to Him that day “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such things” (Ephesians 5:27).  He was looking past the everyday concerns that occupy our earthly existence.  He understood that God is doing a good work in preparing us for heaven and he prayed that way.

He had a “glory to God” perspective.  He prayed what he prayed because he was ultimately concerned that these believers might bring glory to God.  So oftentimes we pray in a “God please fix this” sort of way.  But Paul’s prayer ascended to a higher plane.  These believers had been saved unto the glory of God.  The transformation that He had worked in them was to His glory.  They were all His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.  God had done this work “to the praise of the glory of His grace.”

MESSAGE

1. That We Would Be loving

It should not escape our notice that Paul’s first matter of concern in his prayer that they would be loving.  The command to us “to love one another” is God’s great command to us.  We’ve been studying this matter in Sunday School.

Love = agape.

Love (agape) comes from God.

We are born again to this kind of love.  Agape is the “mark of the Christian.”

It is the fruit of the Spirit.

Agape love purposefully, sacrificially and consistently seeks what is best for its object.

Agape love is exemplified for us in the Lord Jesus Christ.  1 John 3:16.

It is best described for us in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7.  It is not a feeling, it is an act of the will whereby we deliberately seek not our own interests, but those of others.

The love Paul had in mind is not some kind of “slippery, slurpy, sloppy, agape”—as J. Vernon McGee once said—it is a love that is instructed by “true knowledge.”

Note this about love.  According to 1 Corinthians 13:2, if a person has knowledge without love he is NOTHING.  The other side of that equation is likewise true.  Love exercised apart from the knowledge of the truth is likewise of no value.  There is much said and done in the name of love that is not “with knowledge.”  How dependent we are on the Spirit of God in this matter.  Love is not something we figure out or something we grow in by trying harder to be better.  Love is in us as the fruit of the Spirit.  Or, according to 1 Thessalonians 4:9, we must be taught by God to love one another.  In that sense Paul was in effect praying that we might be good students in God’s classroom.  We are all enrolled in LOVE 101 having God Himself as our instructor.

Note that this love is a love exercised with discernment.  Now any Christian whose been around for a while, knows something about this matter.  You are in a difficult situation.  How are you to respond?  What is the loving thing to do?  The loving thing is oftentimes not the easy thing.  Sometimes we want to fight.  Sometimes we flee.  Sometimes we respond, especially when it comes to children, by catering to their demands.  Sometimes in the name of love people do things that enable others in sinful behaviors.  But what is the best response?  What is the wise response?  That is not always easy to discern.  In discerning love, the Apostle Paul once wrote an incredibly difficult letter to the church in Corinth.  In discerning love, the Apostle Paul rebuked the Apostle Peter to his face.  In discerning love, he will urge two women in the church in Philippi to get along with each other, calling them out by name.  Love exercised in discernment is not easy.  The best example of discerning love is the Lord Jesus Himself.  He always knew exactly what to say and do in responding to others.

Now Paul’s prayer was that they might abound more and more in this kind of discerning love.  The standard to which we measure ourselves when it comes to the practice of agape love is Christ Himself.  There will always be room to grow.  Paul commended the church in Thessalonica, saying, “Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia.  But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more” (1 Thess. 4:9-10).  Now the reason why this is possible is that we are immersed in an inexhaustible stream of love which flows from the heart of God.  We are merely channels through which God’s love flows.  God has already poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).  The limits to the exercise of Christian love are never on the Divine side of the equation.  They have to do with us and our reluctance to be submitted to God and to allow Him the freedom to work in our lives.

Paul will speak to this matter later in his epistle.  Our example when it comes to agape love is Jesus.  And Paul will speak to Christ’s example—in one of the most beautifully, descriptive passages in all of Scripture—in Philippians chapter 2.  And he will exhort us to “have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”

2. That We Would Exercise Discernment

“So that you may approve the things that are excellent.”

Literally “distinguish between the things that differ.”

The term “approve” was used of the testing of metals.  Back in the gold rush days there were some who mined and panned for gold who were not able to distinguish between true gold and fool’s gold.  They’d scoop up a bunch of fool’s gold and take it to the assayer only to find out that what they had wasn’t worth a thing.  They had no ability to “approve the things that are excellent” when it came to gold.

The phrase here is related to that.  To approve through testing.

To “affirm and practice what is excellent” is the idea.

We are talking about discernment.  What is discernment?  Webster’s defines the term discern this way: “to recognize or identify as separate and distinct.”

So, Paul is praying that these believers in Philippi might be able to exercise discernment.  Why is that important?

Well on the opposite side of discernment is being naïve and gullible.  It is to believe what anybody tells you.  It is to be led astray in wrong beliefs and practices.

Ephesians 5:14, “As a result, we are not longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming.”

2 Corinthians 11:2-4.  Paul’s goal for the Corinthians here coincides with what he prayed for with respect to the believers in Philippi.  He wanted to be able to present them to Christ and a pure virgin.  The challenge was that the Devil was at work trying to move them away from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.  And the false teachers came, preaching another Jesus or different spirit or a different gospel, and the believers in Corinth had no ability to “approve the things that are excellent.”  They had no ability to discern.

That’s one of the reasons why is important for every believer in Christ not just to hear the word taught but to endeavor to study the Word of God for himself.  It’s not good enough simply to believe what you hear from a pastor or Sunday School teacher or someone on the radio or TV.  You need to possess the truth for yourself.

Hebrews 4:12-14, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.  For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

Paul prayed that they might possess discernment.  It is through putting the Word of God into practice that we grow in our ability to discern.

Now discernment is not an end unto itself.  The exercise of discernment leads to a desirable result.  “That you may be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.”

There are two terms used in speaking of the objective, “sincere” and “blameless.”  You will find similar terms used in Philippians 2:15. Why two terms?  One speaks to what’s inside, the other to what’s on the outside.

The term translated “sincere” means “unalloyed, pure.”

The term translated “blameless” means simply “void of offence.”

Pure inside and out.  If you keep on approving the things that is excellent eventually anything that is not “excellent” will no longer be a part of you.  This all has to do with preparing you for heaven.  In heaven there will be no need for discernment.  Why not?  Only what is excellent will be there!

3. That We Might Bear Fruit to the Glory of God

Much attention is given, in the Scriptures, to the issue of bearing fruit.

The OT Jews were compared to a vineyard from which a harvest was expected, but none came forth.

A key NT text on fruit bearing is found in John chapter 15, verses 1-16.  The terms “abide”, and “fruit” appear numerous times in the passage, leading us to conclude that the key to bearing fruit is abiding, abiding in Christ.

The heart of Jesus towards His disciples is evident.  His desire is that we bear fruit (15:2), more fruit (15:2), much fruit (15:5, 8), and lasting fruit (15:16).

The analogy Jesus used instructs us on both the means of fruit-bearing and the nature by which it happens.  Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.  Just as a branch bears physical fruit through its connection to the vine, so the believer can only bear fruit by abiding in Jesus.  The one who abides in Jesus, is one who has Jesus’ words abiding in him also (15:7).

Apart from Jesus we can do nothing (15:5).  No fruit-bearing, in the God-approved and God-pleasing sense, can take place apart from intimate fellowship with and dependence on Jesus.

What is this “fruit” of which Jesus speaks?  The passage speaks of keeping Jesus’ commands (15:10), and preeminently, His command to “love one another” (15:12), so fruit then can be defined, to some extent, to an obedience to Jesus, and especially in demonstrating Christ-like love towards other members of the body of Christ.

Paul’s prayer deals directly with an issue of preeminent concern to all.  We’ve a short stay on this earth.  What matters most, as we live our lives here looking forward to Christ’s return and that day when we will appear at the judgment seat of Christ?  What will stand the test of his judgment and be as “gold, silver and precious stones?”  What will be burned up, as “wood, hay, or stubble” (1 Corinthians 3:12)?  Paul’s prayer was that these believers would bear lasting fruit.

That great missionary, C. T. Studd, put it this way:

“Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

CONCLUSION

Ultimately, Paul was praying that his beloved friends in Philippi would grow in Christlikeness.  This is God’s chief concern for every believer in Christ.

Is this where your heart lies?  To grow up in Christ.  To love, as He loved.  To exercise “Spirit and Word” borne discernment in your walk with Him?  To bear lasting fruit, to the glory of God, as you abide in intimate fellowship with Him?

Is this how you pray for yourself and your family and friends?  So many of our prayers are “earth-bound,” when they need instead to soar to the heights of God’s eternal plan and purpose for us.  Paul’s prayer here is a reminder to us of the need to elevate our prayers in a heavenward direction.

The story is told of Michelangelo.  How a big piece of marble had been provided for a sculpture of David at the Cathedral in Florence.  Michelangelo was hired after two previous sculptors failed to finish the project.  So, Michelangelo was there before this huge block of marble with his hammers and chisels and various tools.  Someone came up to him and asked him “But how are you possibly going to turn that huge chunk of marble into a statue of David?  His reply?  By chipping away all that is “not David.”  So, God has this work in us to chip away in us all that is “not Christ.”  And we have a part in this work.  With God’s objective in mind, we pray towards that end.  God works in us, and we are transformed into Christ’s image “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be.  We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is.  And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”