SPEAKER_02: Thanks for checking out this podcast from Cardiff Christian Church.
SPEAKER_02: We're so glad you're here.
SPEAKER_02: Our hope is that through these messages you'll grow deeper in your faith and experience the life-changing hope of Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Now let's jump into this week's teaching.
SPEAKER_00: So reading from Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 11.
SPEAKER_00: So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
SPEAKER_00: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
SPEAKER_00: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
SPEAKER_00: Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, and taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Zane.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Good morning, C3.
SPEAKER_01: Good to be with you this morning as we continue our study through the Book of Philippians.
SPEAKER_01: If you were with us last week, you know we kicked off the series called The Joy of the Gospel.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm excited over the next, over the next eight weeks or so, we're we're studying this incredible letter from Paul to the church of Philippi.
SPEAKER_01: And last week we kind of talked about Paul, like his conversion and his and his backstory and him planting this church in Philippi, the first European church on the second missionary journey.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul writing this letter, it's obvious that as he's writing this letter, what we know to be true about Paul is that he's been radically transformed by the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Like he's encountered Jesus in such a life-altering way that now the gospel is central to him in everything that he does and everything that he says and every every decision that he makes.
SPEAKER_01: So Paul has, we talked about this last week, Paul has this perspective.
SPEAKER_01: Even in the midst of the most difficult circumstances, he's able to have a perspective that's like, well, to live is Christ and to die is gain, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like no matter what happens, I'm gonna honor the Lord in my life or in my death.
SPEAKER_01: And we we learn that Paul rejoices when Christ is being proclaimed.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't matter the motive behind it, as long as Christ is being preached and he's being preached clearly.
SPEAKER_01: Like I rejoice that Christ is being proclaimed, that he's being made known.
SPEAKER_01: It becomes a priority for Paul.
SPEAKER_01: And we found that that Paul finds like joy in partnering in the gospel, that he has this partnership with this with this church in Philippi, that they have partnered with him from day one.
SPEAKER_01: It's in encouraging and loving and serving and working for the Lord alongside brothers and sisters that gives him joy.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul, his passion doesn't go away as we as we turn the page to Philippians chapter 2.
SPEAKER_01: Actually, his passion for the gospel, I think, just ramps up even more.
SPEAKER_01: Our text today that Zayn just read for us in Philippians chapter 2 might be one of, I mean, it's hard to like, you know, rank different passages in in the Bible, you know, like that it's all important, it's all scripture, it's all God breathed, right?
SPEAKER_01: But Philippians chapter 2 might be one of the most important passages in in your entire New Testament because it's clearly portraying who Jesus is in ways that it might not have been clearly portrayed up to this point.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, we talked about like this is written in about AD 60, so like the Gospel of John is going to be written 30 years later.
SPEAKER_01: Like, like some of these, some of these letters to churches aren't even in circulation yet, right?
SPEAKER_01: So, how precious are these words to the to the Philippians?
SPEAKER_01: And this is such an such an important, um, important section in this in this letter.
SPEAKER_01: Most scholars say this is the heartbeat of what Paul's trying to say in all of Philippians, is right here in Philippians chapter 2, verses 1 through 11.
SPEAKER_01: And in a lot of ways, Paul is ramping up his talk about the gospel, and he's calling the church of Philippi, and I think he's calling us forward in our walk with the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: And so here's what I here's what I want to do.
SPEAKER_01: I want to pray.
SPEAKER_01: Um, and my hope and my prayer this morning is that as we look through Philippians chapter 2, which might be a really familiar passage for a lot of us in this room, and I hope that you're both comforted by the example that we have in Jesus, but you're also confronted with the example that we have in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Confronted with this reality that this needs to be how our lives look each and every day.
SPEAKER_01: Let me pray for us.
SPEAKER_01: Or we're so thankful for what you have accomplished for us that we could not do on our own.
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, as we as we look to your word, Lord, would you give us a clear picture of Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: Would you help us to internalize this clear picture of who you are and of and of what you're about?
SPEAKER_01: And Lord, would you would you help that to be true in our lives, in our families, in our community, in this place?
SPEAKER_01: We love you, and we give you all the glory because you alone deserve it.
SPEAKER_01: Your name we pray.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: So let's jump in.
SPEAKER_01: Jump in with me in verse one.
SPEAKER_01: This is what Paul says right off the bat.
SPEAKER_01: He says, So if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there's any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, I think what Paul's doing here is he's just laying out the gospel again.
SPEAKER_01: He's laying out the gospel again for these people right here, right off the bat.
SPEAKER_01: He says, if there's any encouragement in Christ, any encouragement from being united with him.
SPEAKER_01: This carries this connotation of being consoled in in times of hardship or disappointment.
SPEAKER_01: This goes back to what he's already been talking about in Philippians chapter 1.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Like I can have this perspective because I know that I'm in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I know that Christ is walking with me no matter what this life throws at me.
SPEAKER_01: Like I can I can have confidence, I can have joy in no matter the circumstance.
SPEAKER_01: And he says if there's any comfort from love, more literally, like the love of the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Do you have any comfort from the love of the Father that you've received?
SPEAKER_01: Like this isn't this isn't some like a shoulder to cry on kind of love, kind of comfort that you get from the love of the Father, even though that is an important kind of comfort to have at times in our lives, but that's not what Paul's getting at.
SPEAKER_01: Like that's that's not at all strong enough.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is, have you been built up?
SPEAKER_01: Have you been fortified?
SPEAKER_01: Have you been strengthened, knowing full well of what Paul talks about in Romans chapter 8, that nothing can separate us from the love that we have that is ours in Christ Jesus, right?
SPEAKER_01: If there's any participation in the Spirit, he says.
SPEAKER_01: This is the same word that's used in Philippians chapter 1, verse 5, where I thank my God every time I remember you for your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.
SPEAKER_01: It's that same word for partnership, koinonia, any fellowship with the spirit, any communion, joint partnership, participation with the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: This is how Jesus is how Jesus describes the spirit in John chapter 14, is the spirit will come and remind us and teach us and convict us of all that we have learned in Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is the participation.
SPEAKER_01: He says, if any affection and sympathy, any tenderness and compassion, like that which you have received that you now give, like God has looked on you and I and has given us far more than we deserve.
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: Like even while we were his enemies, he died for us.
SPEAKER_01: Like he went to the cross.
SPEAKER_01: We've received this grace and this mercy.
SPEAKER_01: And as Paul says, if there's any of these things, what he's really getting at is hey, there's all of these things.
SPEAKER_01: This is what the gospel includes.
SPEAKER_01: This is what you have received if you are in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You've received all of these things.
SPEAKER_01: You have received encouragement from being united with Christ.
SPEAKER_01: You've received comfort from the love of the Father.
SPEAKER_01: You've received this participation with the Spirit, and you've received affection and sympathy, tenderness and compassion.
SPEAKER_01: Of course, you have received this.
SPEAKER_01: And what Paul's really gonna do here in Philippians chapter 2, what you've already read, what we've already heard, is that, like, hey, if the gospel is true, then your life should look like it's true.
SPEAKER_01: That's really what it comes down to.
SPEAKER_01: That's the heartbeat of what Paul's trying to say here.
SPEAKER_01: If the gospel is true, your life should look like it's true.
SPEAKER_01: So, what does it mean to look like the gospel is true?
SPEAKER_01: To live a life that looks like the gospel is true.
SPEAKER_01: What does a gospel life look like?
SPEAKER_01: I read a story this week about this king of Italy, King Humbert, in the 1800s.
SPEAKER_01: And uh this king was like woken up at midnight by one of his one of his servants, and uh this this servant came in and told him that there was a like a breakout, an epidemic breaking out in Naples, uh, Italy, of cholera was was breaking out there.
SPEAKER_01: And he was supposed to go like the next morning, he was supposed to get up and travel to a different Italian city and and go receive this like this banquet in his honor and all this kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: This this this city in in Monza.
SPEAKER_01: And so he sent a telegraph, uh, yeah, telegraph to uh the people there in Monza, and he said it said just simply said this banquet at Monza, cholera, Naples.
SPEAKER_01: I'm going to Naples.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't see me again, goodbye.
SPEAKER_01: And that's what he did.
SPEAKER_01: He went to Naples.
SPEAKER_01: Like, first opportunity went to Naples as he as he showed up.
SPEAKER_01: He wasn't like received with like as a king would be received.
SPEAKER_01: It was actually like all of the influential, all the rich, all of the like upper class people had all fled the city.
SPEAKER_01: Like they were gonna stay around for this.
SPEAKER_01: It was the common folk, the lower class, that received him, the ones that were afflicted.
SPEAKER_01: And he he didn't care what who who received him, he was coming to serve the people, and that's exactly what he did.
SPEAKER_01: Like in the weeks that followed, he worked incessantly to check the plague, to relieve the sufferers.
SPEAKER_01: He entered hospitals, he took the hands of the sick and the dying into his into his own, and by his example, he actually shamed others to join him into this duty.
SPEAKER_01: And after one week that was particularly bad, one of one of his advisors came to him and said, Your Majesty, there were 3,400 cases yesterday.
SPEAKER_01: This is getting to be alarming.
SPEAKER_01: Like you should probably go back to Rome.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what the king said.
SPEAKER_01: You may go if you like.
SPEAKER_01: I shall remain till I see Naples free from disease.
SPEAKER_01: And that's exactly what he did.
SPEAKER_01: And here's the point there's something pretty incredible.
SPEAKER_01: Something pretty incredible about a king descending his throne to serve those he rules and to risk his life.
SPEAKER_01: It stirs something inside of us, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: Like there's something that just like draws us into a story like that.
SPEAKER_01: And I believe the reason why your heart and why your life, why your soul is drawn into a story like that is because the God who created you has done the exact thing for you.
SPEAKER_01: It's exactly what he did.
SPEAKER_01: He stepped away from his throne and he took on flesh for you and for me.
SPEAKER_01: This is the picture that Paul paints.
SPEAKER_01: You've already read it once, but you better get used to it.
SPEAKER_01: We're gonna read it a couple times this morning, chapter 2, verses 5 through 11.
SPEAKER_01: This is what it says have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Who, though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.
SPEAKER_01: By taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is the Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Man, there's a lot that we could say about these passages, about this passage right here.
SPEAKER_01: And for the sake of our time this morning, what I want to do is I want to try to sum up what Paul is talking about here.
SPEAKER_01: What does the gospel life look like?
SPEAKER_01: Quite frankly, like put as simply as I could, like, what does a gospel life look like?
SPEAKER_01: It looks like your king.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it looks like.
SPEAKER_01: Like your life is supposed to look like his.
SPEAKER_01: That's really what it comes down to.
SPEAKER_01: Let's be clear.
SPEAKER_01: Like Christ, first and foremost, is your savior, but then he's an example to follow.
SPEAKER_01: He is both.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just simply your savior that you just get to like take in the good gift that he has freely given you.
SPEAKER_01: He is that.
SPEAKER_01: First and foremost, he is that for you, but he's not just that.
SPEAKER_01: He's also the example that then you live your life out of.
SPEAKER_01: So a gospel life looks like your king, the one who did not look to his own interests and desires, but he gave them up.
SPEAKER_01: He humbled himself and died in your place and in mine.
SPEAKER_01: And a life changed by the gospel, it looks like him.
SPEAKER_01: It looks like him.
SPEAKER_01: Here's what I want to say.
SPEAKER_01: Humility is the way of the kingdom, because humility is the way of the king.
SPEAKER_01: This is what Paul's getting at.
SPEAKER_01: Like if we fix our eyes on Jesus, if we continue to be shaped into his image, if we are if we are constantly being transformed into Christ and into the image of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, if we've truly received his gospel with joy, then his example will be the one that we start to resemble.
SPEAKER_01: Like his example will slowly start to seep its way into our families.
SPEAKER_01: His example will be the one that invades this church and this community.
SPEAKER_01: Like his example will be the one that we leave for those to come after us.
SPEAKER_01: Now here's what's interesting about our text.
SPEAKER_01: What's interesting about our text is that Paul presents this example of Jesus as a solution, as like the fix.
SPEAKER_01: And if there's a solution, that means there has to be a problem.
SPEAKER_01: There has to be a problem.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's talking about this problem in the first couple verses.
SPEAKER_01: Read with me in verses 1 and 2.
SPEAKER_01: This is what it says.
SPEAKER_01: So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, there is.
SPEAKER_01: Because you've been changed by the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: Then he says this, then complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind.
SPEAKER_01: By what Paul's saying here, it seems to be that unity is the issue at hand.
SPEAKER_01: Like unity is the issue that the Philippians are struggling with right now.
SPEAKER_01: They like unity is the problem, and he's saying humility is the solution.
SPEAKER_01: Paul's saying here, like my joy is gonna be complete if you guys are all united, if you all have the same same mindset, you all have the same passion, you all have the are working together in the same direction.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul knows what's at stake because he understands that God dwells in the unified presence of his people.
SPEAKER_01: This is where God dwells, but here's the danger.
SPEAKER_01: The danger, I think, that Paul, what Paul understands is that hey, disunity rarely like rises quickly and harshly.
SPEAKER_01: Like disunity actually comes way more slow than that.
SPEAKER_01: Like it creeps in through the back door, like it comes in through the open window, like it just kind of slowly takes over as individuals quietly decide to start building their own kingdom rather than his.
SPEAKER_01: That's what happens.
SPEAKER_01: That's how disunity happens in a body of believers.
SPEAKER_01: And Paul's saying, hey, you want to have the best defense against disunity?
SPEAKER_01: It's live in humility.
SPEAKER_01: Paul uses the same verb several times throughout this passage, and actually more in the book of Philippians than anywhere else in his writings.
SPEAKER_01: He has it uses it 23 times total in all of his writings, 10 times in Philippians.
SPEAKER_01: It's this Greek verb phrone.
SPEAKER_01: That's what it is.
SPEAKER_01: It means to think, to understand, to be wise.
SPEAKER_01: And what he's what he's doing, what Paul is convinced in, and what I think is important for us to understand, is that Paul is convinced that if we are to act in a certain way, then we have to think the right way.
SPEAKER_01: Like your mind and what you're thinking, the true thoughts that you're putting into your mind are going to impact your life.
SPEAKER_01: Like it's gonna have, it's gonna find its, like, it's gonna seep out.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the pattern that that seems to be where Paul goes and encourages them to live in unity by by conducting themselves in every relationship with humility, is all like kind of starting with your head, starting with what what you're focusing on, what you're prioritizing.
SPEAKER_01: The question, like, what does a gospel life look like?
SPEAKER_01: It looks like you're humble king.
SPEAKER_01: But what does it mean to live like our humble king?
SPEAKER_01: Good news for us is that Paul gets specific with us in verses three and four.
SPEAKER_01: In verses three and four.
SPEAKER_01: And really what it what it really comes down to is we're not thoroughly focused on me.
SPEAKER_01: That's the first thing that Paul wants to tell us.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, you living a humble life, like in response to the humble example that has been set for you on the cross of Christ, like it means not being thoroughly focused on you.
SPEAKER_01: When I was, you know, preparing for this sermon, I started thinking about like, you know, like fictional characters that are just always just like focused on themselves, you know.
SPEAKER_01: So there's some cartoons like Daffy Duck or Garfield or Johnny Bravo.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you grew up in that era with Johnny Bravo, you know.
SPEAKER_01: But then I thought about this one specific fictional character, and I don't know if it's okay that I share this, you know.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if this what this says about me or what, but I'm just gonna go ahead and share this quote by this great theologian that we know.
SPEAKER_01: His name's Michael Scott.
SPEAKER_01: And he said, Do I do I need to be liked?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely not.
SPEAKER_01: I I like to be liked, I in I enjoy being liked, I have to be liked, but it's not this incessant need, like my need to be praised.
SPEAKER_01: You know, like this, that is that is Michael Scott, right?
SPEAKER_01: They're just kind of thoroughly focused on him, right?
SPEAKER_01: And it's, you know, our our culture likes to like just make that uh a sense of just joking.
SPEAKER_01: But it's actually way more natural for us than we than we come to realize or come to accept sometimes.
SPEAKER_01: And this is what Paul says hey, do nothing from.
SPEAKER_01: Hold on, we need to, we need to like underline, you need to underline those words.
SPEAKER_01: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.
SPEAKER_01: This is an imperative for those of us who belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna be honest with you, I have failed at this imperative.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_01: I have failed at this imperative, right?
SPEAKER_01: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.
SPEAKER_01: But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Let each of you not look, not look on look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
SPEAKER_01: This is what Paul's saying.
SPEAKER_01: Hey, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit.
SPEAKER_01: Don't look to your own interests.
SPEAKER_01: At the core of what Paul's getting at here is there's this temptation of self-concern, of self-interest, of self-promotion, of egoism.
SPEAKER_01: And really, we can trace this all the way back to the garden.
SPEAKER_01: We can trace this all the way back to the garden when the serpent is tempting Eve.
SPEAKER_01: He says, hey, you're gonna be like God.
SPEAKER_01: This is why God's saying you shouldn't eat that fruit, because you will be like God.
SPEAKER_01: Talk about self-promotion.
SPEAKER_01: What, I'll be like God?
SPEAKER_01: I'll get on his level.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is this is the temptation for every single one of us.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, even fast forward a few chapters in in Genesis as the as the followers of God are trying to like get to heaven, build a tower to heaven, let's make a name for ourselves and let's get to heaven.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, even his disciples, all the way, fast forward all the way to his disciples walking with him, the 12 walking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Three different times they are they're found arguing about who's the greatest in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_01: Three different times, who's the greatest in the kingdom?
SPEAKER_01: Like, can we sit at your right and your left hand?
SPEAKER_01: Three different times, who's the greatest in the kingdom?
SPEAKER_01: What's interesting is that each of those times it comes directly on the heels of Jesus saying, Hey, I'm gonna go suffer at the hands of the chief priests and Pharisees.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna be falsely accused, and I'm gonna die a gruesome death on a cross.
SPEAKER_01: But don't worry, I'll raise again three days later.
SPEAKER_01: And they're like, cool, cool, cool.
SPEAKER_01: Who's the greatest?
SPEAKER_01: Like, am I better than him?
SPEAKER_01: You know, that'd be great if I was better than him.
SPEAKER_01: Like, while while Jesus is talking about, while their king is talking about laying his life down for them, they're talking about promoting their own.
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is this is the natural bent for all of us as fallen people, is to make a name for ourselves, to prioritize our own needs and desires, to be consumed with my own interests and build my own kingdom, is to make ourselves the main character of our story, and to only consider everybody else's secondary to that.
SPEAKER_01: Even God Himself, he's secondary to me.
SPEAKER_01: And this what leads, like where this leads is just detrimental to every relationship, to every community, to every every gospel advancing venture.
SPEAKER_01: It's detrimental when people have this kind of attitude because we end up being more comfortable with what is right now than aware of what God might be calling us to.
SPEAKER_01: We become complacent with where we are right now because we're just focused on ourselves, rather than boldly stepping into and having a willingness to join in with what God's doing.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes this leads to like arguing about secondary issues because we just feel the need to be right, and eventually the need to be right is more important than the need to be one in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes this like we this leads to like us hearing a plea for help or for for somebody, somebody needs something from us, and instead we just expect somebody else to meet that need or to fill that void.
SPEAKER_01: Like what we are complacent with what we're contributing rather than constantly asking God, like, how do you want to use me right now where I am?
SPEAKER_01: Like, where do you wanna where do you want to take me further?
SPEAKER_01: What do you want to do with what you've given me?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes this leads to like a need for control.
SPEAKER_01: A need for control.
SPEAKER_01: We need to be the one calling the shots or making things happen.
SPEAKER_01: And if we don't, like we can't trust that it's gonna happen the way that it needs to happen.
SPEAKER_01: And what ends up happening, what this leads to, when we're thinking about ourselves, we're We're so thoroughly focused on me, like we begin to replace trust in God with trust in ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: See, Paul doesn't mince words here.
SPEAKER_01: If you have been changed by the gospel, then have nothing to do with self-promotion, with selfish ambition, with vain conceit.
SPEAKER_01: Because of this gospel that you have received, don't succumb to the temptation to push yourself to the top.
SPEAKER_01: No, willingly take the place of low estate.
SPEAKER_01: Like willingly humble yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You're no longer thoroughly focused on yourself.
SPEAKER_01: You instead are thoroughly focused on others.
SPEAKER_01: That's what Paul says.
SPEAKER_01: He says, Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
SPEAKER_01: Let each of you not look not to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this seems kind of odd, you know?
SPEAKER_01: This can seem like kind of an odd thing for Paul to throw out there and can kind of like seem like a, you know, definitely like hard work a lot of a lot of times, but it's it's more natural than you might think.
SPEAKER_01: And let me prove it to you.
SPEAKER_01: I think I think a lot of you have experienced it over the last year.
SPEAKER_01: So by show of hands, how many of you have been to a wedding in the last year?
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand really high, really high.
SPEAKER_01: You've been to a wedding in the last year, okay?
SPEAKER_01: A good amount of you have been to a wedding, how many of you have ever been to a wedding ever in your life?
SPEAKER_01: Raise your hand as high as you can, right?
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So most of you have been to a wedding, right?
SPEAKER_01: And what happens at a wedding?
SPEAKER_01: Think about what happens at a wedding.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody, even if you're on the groom side, everybody's there for the bride, we've realize, we understand, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like everybody's there for the bride.
SPEAKER_01: You defer to the bride, and rightfully so, even the groom does, right?
SPEAKER_01: You wait in line for the bride, you take pictures with the bride.
SPEAKER_01: When the bride walks in, you stand up, right?
SPEAKER_01: You treat her as if she is more important than yourself because on that day, she is.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: Like this day is for her, right?
SPEAKER_01: So, which means you know how to do this, right?
SPEAKER_01: Like this might seem odd, but at the same time, we also understand what it means.
SPEAKER_01: We also understand what this kind of attitude encapsulates.
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is this is Paul saying, this is the attitude you are supposed to have all the time in every single one of your relationships.
SPEAKER_01: You defer to the other person, you count them as more significant than yourself.
SPEAKER_01: And listen, the only way a community of believers can have the same mind and be of one accord is by putting their own needs, their own desires, their own wants and wishes, their own agendas on the side, and taking up the Lord's agenda, like living to honor and glorify him above all else.
SPEAKER_01: And we do so by looking to the needs of others before ourselves.
SPEAKER_01: See, humility is a life so focused on others that you begin to forget about yourself in the most wholesome way that you can.
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's so focused on others that you forget about yourself.
SPEAKER_01: This kind of humility lived out looks like making conversations always about the other person and not just focused on you.
SPEAKER_01: Like humility doesn't hijack the conversation and make this uh a competition one-up scenario all the time.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know about you, I'm convicted by this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I'm convicted by this, right?
SPEAKER_01: This is not all about you.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't just listen, humility doesn't just listen long enough to reply.
SPEAKER_01: No, humility stays curious and really wants to understand.
SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, humility like speaks the truth boldly and clearly, but also doesn't hold grudges.
SPEAKER_01: Like humility doesn't back away from hard conversations, doesn't back away from hard conversations, doesn't avoid them, it speaks the truth in love, but at the same time knows how to let something go.
SPEAKER_01: It's not gonna harbor anger or or bitterness against somebody else.
SPEAKER_01: Humility is quick to say I was wrong.
SPEAKER_01: It's quick to say I was wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's not defensive, it's not, it doesn't need to justify itself, doesn't need to shift blame, it takes responsibility.
SPEAKER_01: That's what humility does.
SPEAKER_01: And sometimes, if we're honest with ourselves, humility like can kind of seem unattainable.
SPEAKER_01: Like this can kind of seem like, you know, yeah, maybe on on the best of the best of the best days, like I can get a few moments of that.
SPEAKER_01: It can kind of seem like out of reach.
SPEAKER_01: And we might be tempted to ask this question.
SPEAKER_01: You might be sitting there right now and saying, like, okay, yeah, but how far do I really take this?
SPEAKER_01: Like, is this all just all just like a picturesque world that Paul's painting here, and it's not actually not actually what he what he wants for us, not actually what he's calling us to?
SPEAKER_01: Like, is all of this kind of more just like hyperbole and you know, just like uh, yeah, idealistically, sure.
SPEAKER_01: I guess this is how we would how we would live.
SPEAKER_01: Like, is this really realistic?
SPEAKER_01: And what's interesting is that Paul answers this question in verse 5.
SPEAKER_01: Did you see it?
SPEAKER_01: It says, have this mind among you.
SPEAKER_01: It's that same that same verb, Franeo.
SPEAKER_01: And he says, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: You should underline that.
SPEAKER_01: This is yours in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you understand this.
SPEAKER_01: What Paul is saying here is that this is this mindset, this ability to live in this way in all of our relationships, it's possible because of what you have received.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is yours because you belong to Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This is part of the gift of the gospel that has been freely given to you.
SPEAKER_01: This is part of his grace and his mercy.
SPEAKER_01: Like this is included in the gospel.
SPEAKER_01: You can have this same kind of mindset, you can live this same kind of way, you can submit yourself to the other person, you can you can consider them, you can be thoroughly focused on them rather than thoroughly focused on yourself because of what Christ has done.
SPEAKER_01: It's interesting to me that other places in Scripture, Paul will say, Hey, follow me as I follow Christ, and he doesn't do that here.
SPEAKER_01: You see that?
SPEAKER_01: Like Paul doesn't say, hey, just do it like I do, you know?
SPEAKER_01: No, he says, have the same mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, and this is what he has done.
SPEAKER_01: Read with me, verses 6 through 8.
SPEAKER_01: Who though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, to be used to his own advantage.
SPEAKER_01: But he emptied himself.
SPEAKER_01: You should underline that.
SPEAKER_01: He emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in likeness of men, and being found in human form.
SPEAKER_01: Underline this, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_01: See, we need to understand right here who we're talking about.
SPEAKER_01: We're talking about the Messiah, we're talking about God in the flesh, we're talking about like the chosen one, we're talking about Jesus, the Christ, the Son of the living God.
SPEAKER_01: This is who we're talking about.
SPEAKER_01: And what could he have demanded?
SPEAKER_01: Like he could have stepped on the scene and just been like, hey, it's me.
SPEAKER_01: Give me everything I deserve, which is everything.
SPEAKER_01: He deserves it all.
SPEAKER_01: So he could have just came in and started throwing things off.
SPEAKER_01: Like, I need that honor, I need that respect, I need that reverence, I need that your obedience, I need all the glory, I need your service.
SPEAKER_01: He could have come in and demanded everything, all of this, and rightfully so, and instead he set his privileges aside.
SPEAKER_01: He stripped himself, he took off the robe.
SPEAKER_01: It didn't mean he wasn't a king, but he set a set aside these privileges.
SPEAKER_01: And instead, he clothed himself in service.
SPEAKER_01: He took on the form of human.
SPEAKER_01: Like what he chose instead is that he he emptied himself and took the form of a servant made in the likeness of men, and he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross.
SPEAKER_01: Church, listen, humility is the way of the kingdom because humility is the way of our king.
SPEAKER_01: This is what he has done for you and for me.
SPEAKER_01: He has made a way once and for all.
SPEAKER_01: Because he humbled himself, because he chose it.
SPEAKER_01: DeFazio sums it up with this formula that I think is really helpful.
SPEAKER_01: I hope it just sticks in your head this week as you're walking, as you're talking, as you're engaging in different relationships.
SPEAKER_01: I hope this sticks in your head.
SPEAKER_01: Not me, but you, because God.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about me.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not thoroughly focused on me, but I'm looking to you.
SPEAKER_01: Because of what God has done.
SPEAKER_01: Not me, but you, because God, because God has changed me, because he has altered my life in such a dramatic way.
SPEAKER_01: Because he chose to step on the scene.
SPEAKER_01: When I was hopeless and helpless.
SPEAKER_01: Let me just tell you a couple things.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a natural attitude for you and for me, but it is attainable.
SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's not natural, it's it's not gonna be something that you can do by your own power.
SPEAKER_01: But when you're surrendered to the Lord, when his spirit is working in you, man, this this kind of attitude in all of your relationships, it's attainable.
SPEAKER_01: Because the power that raised Christ from the dead is at work in you.
SPEAKER_01: And he will help you take your eyes off yourself if you ask him.
SPEAKER_01: He will help you to be have your eyes open and attentive to the needs of others around you and to consider their needs above your own.
SPEAKER_01: If you ask him, if you submit to him, if you really desire this, it's attainable.
SPEAKER_01: You need to understand this though, that as you do this, this is not the way the world works.
SPEAKER_01: I don't, you don't need me to tell you that.
SPEAKER_01: This is not the way the world works, right?
SPEAKER_01: We we understand like it's like we don't our world doesn't deny themselves and look to the interests of others.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's all about climbing the ladder and and getting ahead and just thinking about what's what's best for us.
SPEAKER_01: It's a different thing altogether.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, what the world needs and what maybe you need in your relationships is exactly this right here.
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is the secret for what you're looking for.
SPEAKER_01: There's not very many passages in scripture that say, like a direct, if you're struggling here, then do this and it will fix everything.
SPEAKER_01: This is one of those where he says, like, hey, in your relationships with one another, you struggle in your relationships with one another?
SPEAKER_01: Like your marriage on the rocks right now?
SPEAKER_01: That you know, your relationship with your in-laws kind of like testy right now, or that coworker just always, whatever, getting under your skin, or that neighbor, you know, we all have that one neighbor, you know.
SPEAKER_01: Like, is there is there something that's happening right now?
SPEAKER_01: He says, Hey, in your relationship with one another, do this.
SPEAKER_01: Like, don't think of yourself all the time.
SPEAKER_01: Do nothing from selfish ambition or vain conceit, but consider their needs above your own.
SPEAKER_01: Like, don't look to your own interests, look to theirs.
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is this is the the secret ingredient that's gonna fix your relationships, is when you have the attitude of Christ, not me, but you, because of what God has done.
SPEAKER_01: Humility is the way of the kingdom, because humility is the way of the king.
SPEAKER_01: But you know what's incredible about our king?
SPEAKER_01: Is that humility is not just it's not just the way that he chooses to do things, it's also his joy.
SPEAKER_01: Like, this is the joy of our king is humility.
SPEAKER_01: That's what the the author of Hebrews says.
SPEAKER_01: Like, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let's throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance.
SPEAKER_01: The race marked out for us.
SPEAKER_01: Looking to Jesus is what he says.
SPEAKER_01: The founder, perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising its shame, and he's seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
SPEAKER_01: This is the joy of our king is to humble himself and to go to the cross on your behalf and on mine.
SPEAKER_01: I love how Henry Nowen said it.
SPEAKER_01: He says this way the way of the disciple is not of upward mobility in which the world has invested so much, but of the downward mobility ending in the cross.
SPEAKER_01: It's not a life of power and control, but a life of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest.
SPEAKER_01: This is how Paul ends this section.
SPEAKER_01: You've already read it.
SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna read it again.
SPEAKER_01: Verses 9 through 11.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
SPEAKER_01: So that the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_01: Church, the one who went lowest has been made highest.
SPEAKER_01: And it's this mindset that he has that's meant to be yours.
SPEAKER_01: It's meant to be mine, it's his example that we follow, and it's his name that we lift above every other name.
SPEAKER_01: Only and ever.
SPEAKER_01: The name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Let's stand and let's sing together this morning.
SPEAKER_02: Thanks again for listening to the Carterville Christian Church podcast.
SPEAKER_02: Our prayer is that today's message has encouraged you and drawn you closer to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: To learn more or get connected with our church family, visit Carterville Christian.com.
SPEAKER_02: We'd love to walk alongside you in your journey of faith.