WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.080 Well hey, thanks everybody for being here this morning. 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:04.320 Um my name's Brad O'Kelly. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:07.599 I am just a relief pitcher here at Redeemer. 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:13.359 Um yeah, if I I tell people this every time I preach, if you don't like it, it's it's perfectly fine. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.320 Just come back next week and uh, you know, I won't have anything to do with it. 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:17.920 We'll all be back to normal, okay? 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:21.120 So it's just enjoy yourselves today, get through it. 00:00:21.199 --> 00:00:27.280 Um Alex will be glad to show you a popsicle outside after this to ease your pain, and then uh we'll be good to go. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:27.679 Okay? 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:32.719 We've been working through Nehemiah for the past couple weeks, took a break at Easter, got back into Nehemiah. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.119 So I have Nehemiah chapter five today. 00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:43.200 Typically, Nehemiah chapter five is one that you would it's kind of a flyover chapter, you know, you just kind of sail through it uh as you read to the good stuff, trying to figure out what's going on. 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:45.280 Chapter 6 is where a bunch of good stuff happens. 00:00:45.439 --> 00:00:52.560 So we're in chapter 5, uh, but I gotta tell you, there's something going on here that we can all benefit from that we're gonna see today, hopefully. 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:57.280 And the first thing, though, that I I want to just start you out with what we're gonna look at, okay? 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:03.520 And what we're actually gonna look at is we're gonna look at selfishness versus selflessness, okay? 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:05.200 That's that's where we're headed today. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:07.280 Selfishness versus selflessness. 00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:13.040 Now, I have a great litmus test to tell if you are selfish or not, which this ought to help you a lot. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:13.599 All right? 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:18.079 Look, you order something off of Amazon, okay? 00:01:18.319 --> 00:01:28.959 You order your item from Amazon, and somehow, in his infinite wisdom, Jeff Bezos gets that item from the shores of Bangladesh to your front porch with in less than 48 hours. 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:33.840 You open the box, you take your item out, you look at it, you do whatever it is you do with it. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:46.480 Maybe you throw it in a corner because you really didn't need it in the first place, or maybe you actually use the item, you take that thing, you put it into your life, your life is complete for the next 30 seconds until you need to order something else off of Amazon. 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:51.599 But the real test of whether you are selfish or selfless is this. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.400 What do you do with the cardboard box it came in? 00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:04.159 Some of y'all, you just look straight at the ground because you know you're guilty. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:05.680 You're selfish, aren't you? 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:10.800 I, me, me personally, I mean, I'm I'm not trying to brag, I'm selfless. 00:02:11.199 --> 00:02:12.240 I'm a good human being. 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:13.280 You want to know why? 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:16.400 Because I break down boxes. 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:20.000 I break down boxes into their smallest form. 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:24.639 I place them into the receptacle where they should go. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:30.080 That's what I do because I'm selfless. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:53.680 Now, someone else in my house takes those cardboard boxes and she places them in strategic places, namely at the top of the steps leading to our garage. 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:59.599 So that, in hopes, maybe, I still haven't quite figured this out, I'm still on the fence on this. 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:01.360 My thought process is this though. 00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:10.400 She puts it there in hopes that A, I will either take it and break the box down and put it in the receptacle, or B, I will trip over it, fall down the stairs. 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:13.520 She gets rid of me and the box all at once. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:17.599 I'm still not sure which one it is. 00:03:18.080 --> 00:03:18.719 Working on. 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:20.800 But I'm the box breaker down. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:22.400 I take the box, I put it in the receptacle. 00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:23.599 Some of you, you're kickers. 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:27.199 You kick the box into the garage, next guy's problem, right? 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:28.400 Selfish. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:30.080 Selfish. 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:32.080 But I am selfless. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:32.960 I break the box down. 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:33.280 I put it. 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:37.599 Maybe you're here today and you're like, Brad, not only do I break the box down, I put it in the recycling bin. 00:03:37.759 --> 00:03:41.840 Well, Jesus loves you more, obviously. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:44.639 But I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but here's the deal. 00:03:44.719 --> 00:03:47.039 You put that thing in the recycling bin, and let me tell you something. 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:49.840 That recycling bin is like buying a first-class ticket on an airline. 00:03:50.080 --> 00:03:53.599 You're going to the same place and poor people and coach went, you're just getting there in a better chair. 00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:54.560 You know what I mean? 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:00.240 That recycling's going to the same place the trash went that you put in that other thing, but uh you gave it a first-class ticket. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.159 Give it a little salute on the way out the door. 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:03.599 That's what you did. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:06.719 But in Nehemiah, what we're seeing today in chapter five is this. 00:04:06.879 --> 00:04:08.479 We're seeing what a perfect picture. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:14.319 Nehemiah's even going to compare and contrast, really, being selfish and being selfless. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:16.959 And in chapter 5, he starts right from the beginning. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:18.319 Here's chapter 5, verse 1. 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:18.959 Here's what it says. 00:04:19.120 --> 00:04:25.439 It says, Now there arose a great outcry of the people and their wives against their Jewish brothers. 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:27.600 Don't forget that, Jewish brothers. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:35.759 For there were those who said, With our sons, with our daughters, we are many, so let us get grain that we may eat and keep alive. 00:04:36.000 --> 00:04:43.759 There were also those who said, We're mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our houses to get grain because of the famine. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:51.040 And there were those who said, We have borrowed money for the king's tax on our fields and our vineyards. 00:04:51.279 --> 00:05:07.920 Now, our flesh is the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children, yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards. 00:05:08.079 --> 00:05:16.560 What's happening right here is that Nehemiah has taken a group of people, they are rebuilding the walls, and what we are almost to the point where the wall is completed. 00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:24.399 A lot of times when we study Nehemiah, we get into our heads that this building process took years and years and years, and it was a long process and all this stuff. 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:33.759 I'm going to steal some thunder for whoever preaches next week, but in chapter 6, we find out that the entire wall building process of Nehemiah, do you know how long it took? 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:35.439 52 days. 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:48.240 So how in the world have we gotten into this much trouble with people crying out against their own brother saying, we've got massive problems? 00:05:48.480 --> 00:06:00.160 The reason this happens is because Nehemiah is actually dealing with something that has been systemic from generation to generation to generation, and it's come to his front door at this point. 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:02.240 That's what Nehemiah is dealing with. 00:06:02.319 --> 00:06:09.199 And what he has is he has a group of people that are mad and that are angry and that are upset because all of this has happened to them. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:16.000 But the worst part about it is if you look at verse 1, he says, against their Jewish brothers. 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:26.560 This is Jewish people enacting taxes and taking money and essentially robbing the laborers who are also Jewish brothers. 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:29.600 This is people against the same people. 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:39.279 People that believe the same thing, people that understand the same thing, people that are working for a common good, yet you have the haves and the have-nots. 00:06:39.680 --> 00:06:44.319 And the haves are looking for the best way to take care of it and take advantage of the have nots. 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:46.639 That's what's happening with Nehemiah. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:47.839 So you have three groups of people. 00:06:47.920 --> 00:06:54.240 The first group is people who are hoarding grain because they know there's a famine, and they have enough strength and power to do that. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:07:03.519 The second group is people that have mortgaged their fields and their vineyards and all of this stuff, and they're in debt up to their eyeballs, and there's no way that they're ever going to be able to repay that. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:09.279 And the third group is people who are being taxed so heavily that they can't come up with the tax payment. 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:21.920 So they're also in debt up to their eyeballs, and they've lost everything they've had to the point where they've had to send their children into slavery to try to repay the debts that they owe. 00:07:22.720 --> 00:07:23.920 Can you imagine? 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:33.680 This is all landing at Nehemiah at one time, right here in chapter 5, and it is brother against brother, the haves and the have nots. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:38.399 And it is a selfish, selfish game. 00:07:39.360 --> 00:07:41.199 And all of this comes to Nehemiah. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.879 Nehemiah hears this, and he's processing all of this, and this is great. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:50.160 I love this verse in verse 6 because here's what Nehemiah says about the whole situation. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:53.360 Verse 6, and I was very angry. 00:07:54.639 --> 00:07:55.759 I was angry. 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:04.399 He says, I was angry about this, and when I heard their outcry of these words, I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against who? 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:07.439 The nobles and the officials. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:14.720 And I said to them, You're exacting interest each from his brother, and I held a great assembly against all of them. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:16.560 Nehemiah brings in the people. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:19.040 You have laborers and you have nobles and officials. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:29.199 The laborers are building the wall, they're doing exactly as God has called Nehemiah to do, and the nobles and officials are watching them and going, How can we profit from this situation? 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.439 That is a selfish act. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:39.360 And what they're doing is they're taking their selfishness and they're going to enact it on the very same people that are working to rebuild the wall for them. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:41.200 Does that sound familiar? 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:42.480 Some of you, it sounds very familiar. 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:43.360 You do that every day, right? 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:44.399 You got to go to work. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:46.000 You got a boss. 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:48.799 You got to do what you have to do, right? 00:08:49.279 --> 00:08:55.679 All of these things are familiar, but Nehemiah says, I get angry about this because it's brother against brother. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:03.200 So he finds an assembly, he brings them all together, and this is what he tells them in verse 9. 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:05.440 Well, first of all, I'm sorry, verse 8. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:11.759 And he said to them, We, as far as we were able, had brought back our Jewish brothers to have them be sold back to us. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:15.120 They were silent and could not find a word to say. 00:09:15.279 --> 00:09:21.200 Verse 9, so I said, The thing that you are doing is not good. 00:09:22.080 --> 00:09:27.600 Ought you not to walk in the fear of God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:30.080 Here's what you have to understand. 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:42.080 These nobles, these businessmen, the people that are profiting off the work of the laborers, all of this is one of those you ought to know better things. 00:09:42.159 --> 00:09:42.879 And I can prove it to you. 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:47.360 We're not going to look at it today because it's just light reading for you later on when you go home. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:51.919 You should go home and open your Bible to Leviticus chapter 25. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.360 Go read Leviticus chapter 25 later today. 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:57.200 Your eyes will roll into the back of your head. 00:09:57.279 --> 00:09:58.799 You'll have no idea what's going on. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:01.279 You just throw your hands up and go, yes, sounds great. 00:10:01.360 --> 00:10:19.759 But Leviticus chapter 25, actually, Moses is on Mount Sinai and God is giving him a process by which you are to loan money, by which you are to enact interest, by which you are to sell back to those laborers the land that you buy from them in the year of Jubilee. 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:27.279 All of this in Leviticus chapter 5, God lays out, knowing that one day this is going to be a problem. 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:30.480 So now we're in Nehemiah's day, and what does Nehemiah do? 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:42.159 He takes the very law that these Jewish brothers should know, and he brings them together and he says, You know what you're doing is wrong. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:44.639 You know it. 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:50.639 I don't think there's a better way to describe me, to be honest with you. 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:56.320 How many times do I need to look in the mirror and go, you know what you're doing is wrong? 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:57.840 Yet what? 00:10:58.720 --> 00:11:00.240 We're still doing it. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:02.559 You know it's wrong. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:08.399 You know that God has specifically put this law in place because of this situation. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:10.080 Yet, what do these people do? 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:14.879 They cast that to the side in hopes that they can make a profit off of it. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:20.720 Knowing that God is specifically in his word, forbidding them from doing the thing that they're doing. 00:11:20.879 --> 00:11:47.120 How often do we do that where we take the things that we're involved in, the very nature of our sinful hearts, and we take it and we try to shove it down into the pages of Scripture to make it fit so that we can justify ourselves when the only justification we have is to hold up the very things that we do to the Word of God and say, This is not right, and my only way to be justified is through Christ. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:56.000 Yet we take our very things and we say, I'm trying to justify what I am doing. 00:11:56.240 --> 00:12:01.360 These nobles, these people in Neo's mind are doing the exact same thing. 00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:08.639 Justification after justification, selfishly looking for their own gain. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:18.240 But Nehemiah sees this, calls them together, calls them out, and says, We're not gonna do this anymore. 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.159 And his solution to the entire problem is this. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:24.080 Verse 12. 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:29.360 Then he said, We will restore these and require nothing from them. 00:12:29.600 --> 00:12:32.480 We will do as you say. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:37.039 Nehemiah walks into the room and he says, We're not gonna do any of it anymore. 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:39.840 Give everything back, let it all go. 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:41.919 Everything's going back to zero. 00:12:42.159 --> 00:12:43.519 Everybody's forgiven. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.159 I want all of their stuff back in their own hands. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:54.080 And every single person in this room, do you know what they're the very last thing they said in uh in verse uh what was it, verse 12 13? 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:55.759 It says they said, Amen. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:57.360 Amen. 00:12:58.399 --> 00:13:06.159 Hey, uh, you know all that stuff you guys stole, all the money and the wealth you amassed over uh taking advantage of these people, you're gonna give it all back to them right now. 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:08.000 And we're just gonna go back to zero. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.360 You're gonna hand it all over. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:11.200 And all of them go, all right. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:17.519 I think if we did that in this room today, the the the tone might be a little different, don't you think? 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:24.000 Hey, everybody, anything that you've got from uh maybe not so great gain, like you're gonna give it back to the people that uh that you took it from. 00:13:24.159 --> 00:13:26.080 I think it'd probably be like, well, hold on now. 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:26.720 Yeah? 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:28.159 Wait a minute. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:33.679 Nehemiah walks into a room and he literally says, We're going back to zero, getting everything back that you've ever taken. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:35.360 And all they say is, Amen. 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:37.200 Let's do it. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:38.399 Here you go. 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:39.360 Why? 00:13:39.840 --> 00:13:43.279 Because they knew they were wrong. 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:48.399 And the only solution was to make things right. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:58.720 So now we move forward and we see this act of selfishness, and Nehemiah has to call out selfishness in these people, and then it comes home to him because he has an opportunity. 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:00.000 Look at verse 14. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:16.799 In verse 14 it says, Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the 20th year to the 32nd year of Art Exerces the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:27.600 The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them their daily ration, forty shekels of silver, even their servants lorded it over the people. 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:29.600 But I did not do so. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:30.240 Why? 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:31.919 At the end of verse 15. 00:14:32.320 --> 00:14:35.600 Because of the fear of God. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:38.480 Nehemiah now has a chance. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:39.519 He's governor. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:42.799 He has all of these resources allotted to him. 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:46.559 Do you want to know how the governor got those resources? 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:48.960 Let's stop and think about this for a minute, okay? 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:54.879 How does your current governor or official or government have resources allotted to them? 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:56.559 They tax you, right? 00:14:56.720 --> 00:14:57.679 They tax me. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:15:01.039 And they take that and they make it a resource that they use. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:03.039 Same is true in Nehemiah's day. 00:15:03.200 --> 00:15:13.600 They would tax the people so that the burden on the very people that are already burdened gets greater and greater and greater so that he can have more and more and more. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:14.960 But what does Nehemiah do? 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:17.360 He doesn't take a selfish approach. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:23.200 He instead turns to selflessness and says, I don't want any of it. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:25.039 You can keep it. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:37.120 Because if it's going to tax these people even more, if it's going to hurt them, if it's going to become a burden to them that they can't overcome, I don't want anything to do with it. 00:15:38.639 --> 00:15:52.559 It is a picture of selflessness that Nehemiah lays down all of the resources at his disposal and instead focuses on the very people that God has called him to lead. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:01.519 And he becomes a selfless leader that people can look in on and go, that is a great picture. 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:09.679 A picture of what Russ was preaching last week, and I love that we make this so clear as we study Old Testament chapters like this, and we study Old Testament books. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:13.200 We go verse by verse, line by line, through each Old Testament book when we preach through them. 00:16:13.360 --> 00:16:14.480 And here's what Russ said last week. 00:16:14.559 --> 00:16:24.720 He said, What we're doing in Nehemiah is not only learning from the life of Nehemiah and how he led these people, but we also see these important pictures and points to Jesus. 00:16:24.960 --> 00:16:31.519 They go directly to where Christ is in the New Testament from this Old Testament passage in Nehemiah. 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:32.559 Well, how does that work? 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:43.679 Well, I think the totality of scripture, from this point all the way through and even before this, gives us pointers on how we're supposed to live our daily lives. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:48.639 One of the great places to begin is Psalm 119, verse 36 and 37. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:50.879 Psalm 119, verse 36 and 37. 00:16:50.960 --> 00:16:51.679 Look at what it says. 00:16:51.919 --> 00:16:58.480 Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to selfish gain. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:06.799 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.319 The psalmist points out to us that it is not our selfish ambition that we should be looking for. 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:13.440 Instead, it is what? 00:17:13.680 --> 00:17:18.319 The way of God that should focus our hearts every single day. 00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:23.279 James does the same thing in James chapter 3, verse 14 through 16. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:28.559 James 3, 14 through 16, James says, But if you have bitter jealousy and what? 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:35.680 Selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. 00:17:36.000 --> 00:17:43.119 This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.680 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be what? 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:52.559 Disorder and every vile practice. 00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:00.559 It is selfishness that leads to disorder and vile practices. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:10.319 And we hear this and we understand this and we know that scripture points us in this direction, that our selfishness is what truly holds us back. 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.519 And yet we look in the mirror and try to justify it every single day. 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.799 But we go forward and thank God that we just didn't get left there. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:25.039 Instead, we get to Luke, Luke chapter 14 and verse 10. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:28.319 Luke 14 and verse 10, Jesus is talking and look at what he says. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:34.400 He says, But when you're invited, go sit in the lowest place. 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:41.279 So that when your host comes, he may say to you, friend, move up higher. 00:18:41.680 --> 00:18:45.440 Then you'll be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:46.160 Why? 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:57.359 Verse 11, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. 00:18:57.680 --> 00:19:04.720 This is a picture of Jesus and what he's going to do on the cross for us. 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:18.079 And the Apostle Paul takes this very act that Jesus speaks of in Luke 10, and he ties this beautiful bow onto it and lays it all out for the Philippians and for us in Philippians chapter 2. 00:19:18.240 --> 00:19:21.839 Here's what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 3. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:22.799 Listen to this. 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:39.920 Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also the interest of others. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:20:09.920 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 by 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. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:13.039 Even death on a cross. 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:19.279 Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:34.000 So at 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. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:37.759 Do you understand what the Apostle Paul does here with selfishness? 00:20:37.920 --> 00:20:43.359 He takes it and he completely blows the idea that we should be selfish out of the water. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:56.880 How he uses Jesus to show that God in the flesh, the one who could have come to this earth, dwelt among us, looked at our sinful hearts, and said, You're on your own. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.200 I'm done with this. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:02.720 You care nothing about me, and I want nothing to do with you. 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:06.000 He could have used every bit of his deity to do that to us. 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:17.759 Instead, in his humility and in his humbleness, he shows up and he says, Not only do I care for you so much that I can't allow that to happen, but I'll give you the perfect example, even death. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:23.200 Death on a cross for God in the flesh. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:30.720 So that your selfish heart doesn't win out every single day. 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:43.359 Instead, you get my grace, my mercy, my peace, knowing that I have come to earth to dwell among you and die on the cross for your sin. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:54.480 It is the perfect, most complete picture of a selfless act that anyone could ever commit. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.599 And Jesus did that for us. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:16.960 That we would not die in our selfishness, but that we would live a new life in him through his grace and his mercy every single day, knowing that he was selfless on our behalf. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:32.000 Church, it is our selfishness that keeps us in the place where we are, and it is the selfless, wonderful act of Christ on the cross that offers you freedom from that selfish gain. 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:40.000 Follow Christ and His humility and the work he did on the cross, that our selfish hearts may be put to rest. 00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:42.400 Father, we thank you for this day. 00:22:42.480 --> 00:22:44.480 We thank you for an opportunity to open your word. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:47.039 Lord, to hear from you. 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:53.279 To understand that if left to our own devices, we would be selfish to the point of death. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:59.359 But in you we are alive because of your selfless act of death on the cross. 00:23:00.160 --> 00:23:01.119 Father, we thank you. 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:06.319 May you incline our hearts to hear that every single day. 00:23:07.279 --> 00:23:08.640 As we look to you.