← ArchiveSunday, July 1, 2018DateJuly 1, 2018Speaker—Text—Passages in this sermonPhilippians 23:34Genesis 118:14John 118:19TranscriptMachine transcribed. Click any line to jump there.0:00I thank my God every time I remember you to live as Christ and to die as gain. He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness. I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. As I may mention, Pastor Josh is out of town this week, so I have the great joy and privilege of sharing God's word with you this morning.0:30Since we're in such close proximity to 4th of July, I found it appropriate to share a Revolutionary War era kind of story.0:52So there are some American Revolutionary soldiers, and their job was to go ahead of the troops. And they were trying to clear the path and scout stuff out. Well, they came across this giant log in the middle of the road. So the corporal's like, all right, guys, let's dismount. We've got to get this thing cleared out of the way. So the guys are working and working and working and working, but they are struggling to get this thing out of the road.1:22Well, some time passes, and a rider comes up and meets the corporal. He says, so what's going on? The corporal very officially says, well, my men are clearing the road, so just give us a moment, and we'll get this thing taken care of. The rider kind of looks at him and is like, well, why aren't you helping your men? The corporal looks at him funny and says, I'm the corporal.1:50I don't do the grunt work. I just give the orders. Well, the rider dismounts, rolls his sleeves up, and helps these men clear the log. And with the rider's help, this log gets pushed aside. Well, the corporal's not super dense, and he puts two and two together, and he realizes this rider is none other than George Washington. So he is like backpedaling, man. He's trying to find some sort of excuse, like, uh, General Washington, my back was really killing me.2:20I needed my safe space on this horse. I'm sorry. Like, he's just trying to figure out something to legitimize the fact that he was super lazy. But before he could say anything, Washington mounted his horse, looked to the corporal, and said, you know what? Next time your men need help, call the commander-in-chief. In a very small, minuscule way, that's what we're going to be studying this morning.2:48Christian, be humble, because Christ is humble. We're going to pray, and then we're going to dive into the text this morning. Father God, we thank you for this morning. God, we thank you once again for the freedom and the privilege we have as brothers and sisters in Christ to come to sing your praises, to learn more about you through your word. God, I pray that you would illuminate the text, massage these truths deeply into our heart,3:17and God, help us to leave changed people. Guide us this morning, in Jesus' name, amen. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 is where we're going to be at, so while you're turning there, let me give you some context. Paul is imprisoned, and he's writing to the church at Philippi. And most of these letters are dealing with some big theological issue.3:46So Paul plants a church, he moves on to plant another church, and while he's gone, there's some false teacher that infiltrates the church, and basically teaches some sort of falsehood. And so Paul is usually wrestling with some theological issue. In the book of Philippians, it has a slightly different tone. Paul sees these brothers and sisters in Christ, and he knows that they're following in the truth, and he's encouraged by that.4:11And so he wants to continue to encourage them in their faith. And one of the ways that he does this is encourages the church at Philippi to be humble. In verses 1 through 4 of chapter 2, we read the call for humility. The call for humility. Let's read verses 1 and 2 together. So if there's any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,4:39complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord, and of one mind. So Paul knows these men and women. He has served with them. He has shared life with these men and women. And so it's written, there's an if there, but he knows these things to be true.5:07And he calls out four markers of a healthy church, four things that the church at Philippi are just doing really well. So what are they? Let's unpack it a little bit. There is an encouragement in Christ. Well, that's kind of a vague phrase, right? Like, what on earth does that mean, encouragement in Christ? Well, if we look at, like, the context, if we look at chapter 1, verses 27, we see that we're called to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel.5:32So what is the church at Philippi doing? They're holding one another accountable. They're pushing each other to godliness, and they're pushing each other to live in a way that honors Christ. So what else is the church at Philippi doing? They're comforting one another in love. So another translation would translate comfort as consolation.6:02So when we console somebody, what are we doing? We're bringing peace to them. So how do we do that in the church? Ultimately, we extend grace. There may be people who kind of rubs us the wrong way. There may be people that talk, think, and act differently than we do. But we look past that, and we share love and grace, and we have a comfort in love. A third mark is a participation in the Spirit.6:32You know, so often churches are held together by really good programs or really talented speakers or really good music. And those are good things. But Paul says a mark of a mature, godly church is men and women who follow the conviction and the will of the Holy Spirit. Who follow how the Holy Spirit is leading them and guiding them and directing them.7:00It's not about us. It's not about us. The final mark of a healthy church is an affection and sympathy. Affection comes from the word splankna, which is kind of a weird word, right? But it's a deep-seated emotion right in our core. And we've all experienced this to some degree. We all have somebody in our lives that, man, we just love and we cherish.7:28And when we see that person go through some struggle, that twists us up on the inside. And so what is Paul saying about the church at Philippi? He's saying you guys are taking each other's problems seriously. If one person is struggling, you're lifting them up. If there's a hardship, you are surrounding them and you are loving them and you are providing for their needs. And Paul knows these brothers and sisters in the church at Philippi.7:58And he just assumes these things. He knows and he sees God working in their life. And he knows that this is a reality. So the question on the table this morning is can these four markers be assumed of Bethel? As we grow in grace, as we grow in our relationships with the Lord, may this be said of us.8:19So one of my favorite movie franchises is Rocky, okay? Because I love this guy because he is like the underdog from Philly. And he somehow rises the ranks and he becomes the heavyweight champion of all time. He fights internationally. The fifth one is just not in the canon. We don't even pay attention to that movie.8:48But it's a great film franchise. And I love it. I love the underdog story, right? But Rocky is nothing without his trainer, Mick. Mick pushes him to go faster. He makes him chase the chicken, right? And he makes him punch stronger. And in the second film, he completely changes how Rocky fights. He's a good, loving, hard-nosed coach. And so Paul sees spiritual maturity.9:17He sees that the church at Philippi is following after the things of God. And so he, like a good, loving father and like a good, loving coach, pushes his church to grow deeper. How does he do that? In verse 2, let's read it again. Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and in one mind. Ultimately, he calls us to unity. He calls us to set aside our preferences and desires for one mission, for one purpose, and that is to make Jesus' name famous.9:46And that is the call to go deeper. You know, I am a dad to a 15-month-old. And I love my son. His name is Hudson. He is incredible. One thing that I've begun to realize on this journey of parenthood, right, is mom and dad are the creators or the builders of things.10:10Like every Christmas, every birthday, we get something, some project to construct. And so we celebrated Hudson's first birthday a few months ago. And he has this really cool toy. It's this red car. And it has this horn and the wheel and the key and stuff. And then, like, there's this floorboard. And it can come out.10:39And when he gets a little older, he can kind of like Fred Flintstone it around the house. And it's really cool. It's a cool toy. But when I look at it, when I was about to put it together, I was like, oh, this is no big deal. And I started to kind of, I was like, oh, this thing had like 17 billion pieces. I'm like, you've got to be kidding me. And it's overwhelming. But I bust out the instruction manual. And I just step by step put that thing together. And to be honest, when we look at this text, we see the four markers of a healthy church, a call to unity.11:10We could just say, all right, let's close the Bible, pray, sing just as I am. Let's beat the Methodist Cracker Barrel, man. We've got a lot of stuff to work on just right now in these two verses. And it can seem overwhelming. But Paul gives us a step-by-step process by which we go deeper in our faith. So we're called to unity. How do we do that? Let's look at verses 3 and 4 together.11:39Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not to his own interest, but also to the interest of others. He calls us to be humble. And there's things that we don't do in being humble, and there's things we do in being humble. The first thing is we don't do anything out of rivalry.12:09Christian, we don't sing the solo. We don't leave the Sunday school class. We don't serve in an area of leadership because we think we can do it better than our peers or want to bring fame to ourselves. Paul calls this what it is. It's conceited. And if we look at the word conceit, it's literally a compound word in the Greek, and it's empty glory. So when we do things out of rivalry to kind of just show off,12:37we're accruing glory for ourselves. Ultimately, that's a fruitless endeavor. That's meaningless. So we do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but what do we do? We look at others and we put others before ourselves. You know, we've probably heard this since preschool, but it is such a hard truth to actually live out. Because it goes against everything that's just within us, right?13:07We want to be first. We want to take care of ourselves first. But there's a radical call to put others before us. So what does that look like in Bethel? I think that looks like an honest conversation, at least to start off. Maybe there's someone who's significantly younger talking to somebody significantly older. Or people who have absolutely nothing in common.13:35And just having an honest conversation, an honest dialogue, and saying, you know what? I have an idea of what I want Bethel to look like. You have an idea of what you want Bethel to look like. How can we work together? How can we set aside the stuff that doesn't really matter so we can reach a lost and dying world, so that we can push back the darkness in St. Clair County, so that we can show Christ's love to our neighbors?14:04I think that's where it starts. It's a call to just humbly listen and love one another. Well, tomorrow is Monday, and we may just jump into our work. And we may look at the week ahead, and it is so easy to kind of forget about a very radical call. So what should compel us to humility?14:32Christian, we're called to humility because Christ was humble. In verses 5 through 8, we see the example of humility. Let's read it together. 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 made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.15:02And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So in order for this passage to make sense, we've got to talk about a theological topic. We have to talk about the doctrine of the Trinity, or the doctrine of who God is. And we, honest to goodness, could spend all morning just talking about this,15:30and just start to scratch the surface. So here's what we're going to do. I'm going to give you four main points about the Trinity. And if you want to talk more, email me, call the office, we'll grab coffee and we'll discuss this. But I'm going to give us four main points to kind of help us understand what's going on here. So the Trinity, number one, God is three persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God.16:01God the Father is 100% God. God the Son, 100% God. God the Holy Spirit, 100% God. Got it. And number three, we worship one God. How can three persons be one God? It's beyond our understanding. It's beyond what we can fathom. But God in his sovereignty has deemed it so. And in the fourth, we see God the Son chooses to submit his will to God the Father.16:29And we see that displayed in verses 5 through 8. And this passage and these next few verses can get kind of squirrely. So what we're going to do is we're going to just take it piece by piece. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, right? That's what my dad says. I've never eaten an elephant, but I assume that's how you do it. Metaphorically speaking, maybe.16:59So let's take this piece by piece. Though he was in the form of God. You know, to be honest, the word form kind of weirds me out. Because when I hear the word form, I think of like an edition of a book or some sort of copy. But that's not the image being conveyed here. When Jesus is called the form of God, Paul is saying that he is the true and exact nature of something. And possesses all of the characteristics and qualities of God.17:25There's two different Greek words that deal with form. One deals with the essential form of something that never changes. The other deals with the outward form, which changes from time to time and from circumstance to circumstance. For instance, the essential form of any human being is humanity. And that will never change. But his outward form is continually changing. A baby is a boy and a youth and a man.17:53They're always human, but his outer form changes all the time. So when Paul is saying that Jesus is in the form of God, he is saying that he is 100% God. And we see God at work in the Trinity throughout Scripture. We see in Genesis 1, it says, Let us make man in our likeness and in our image. And in John 1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, which is Jesus,18:21and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is fully and 100% God. Now, we're about to read a couple of phrases that feel like I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth. So we're going to unpack those a little bit carefully here. Though he is in the form of God, he did not account equality with God a thing to be grasped. You may be thinking, Dan, you just said Jesus was 100% God.18:51Why does it sound like he's on the JV basketball team trying to dunk, and like all he's doing is touching the bottom of the net, so he goes off and does something else? A better translation of this is Jesus did not count the privileges and rights of his divinity to be held on to. He is truly God, but he doesn't count the rights and privileges of his divinity something that he should utilize while he's here on earth.19:17This is further fleshed out by the phrase, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant. It's kind of like this in a very, very small way, okay? As I mentioned, I'm a dad of a 15-month-old, and even now, he's all boy, he loves to wrestle, he loves to tickle fight, he loves to play.19:46If I wrestled my son with my full weight and full strength, I could really hurt him, right? So I choose to hold back. I haven't lost any of my weight, I haven't lost any of my strength, I'm choosing to hold back, and this is what Christ has done. He is fully, 100% God, but he chooses not to utilize the rights and privileges of his divinity.20:16But instead, what does he do? He takes the form of a servant. Let's just kind of wrap our minds around that for a second. God, the creator, the sustainer of the universe, the person who could speak and everything be wiped away. A person who, the God who can speak and everything come into existence.20:45The God who's giving breath in our lungs right now. That God chose to come to earth. And he didn't serve like the kings and the queens in the upper class. He chose to serve the down and outers. He chose to serve the poor. He chose to serve the weak. He chose to serve the outcasts, the broken.21:13Those are the men and women he chose to serve. And not only did he choose to serve them, he chose to serve the people who hated him. The people who didn't get his ministry, who didn't understand what he was doing, who wanted him dead. Those were the people he chose to humble himself under and serve. But not only did he serve these men and women, what did he do?21:43He humbled himself by being obedient to the point of death. Even death on a cross. So he looks at his creation. Men and women who hate him. Who are naturally sinful people. And says, you know what? I'm going to die for you. I know you can't save yourself. And you deserve to die. So I'm going to come to earth.22:12And I'm going to die in the worst way possible. I'm going to be beaten. Beyond recognition. I'm going to be mocked and scorned and stripped in front of my friends and family and in front of my culture. And I'm going to be nailed to a piece of wood and left to suffocate. You know, I don't think in our natural rhythms of life that we think about that. But Christian,22:42But Christian, be humble. Because Christ is humble. The beautiful truth this morning, is that humility is not just some story. That Christ is not just in the grave. And in 9 through 11, we see the result of Christ's humility. The results. Let's read this together. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus,23:11every 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. Every religious leader dies. But our God is alive. Three days later, the grave couldn't contain him. The grave couldn't hold him. He reigns victorious. He holds the keys to death and hell. And he has ascended to the right hand of the Father.23:40And he reigns victorious. And his lordship is as constant as the air that we breathe. It is foundational to the universe. Everyone knows this fact. We see in heaven, the saints and angels are declaring his lordship. We see saints here on earth declaring his lordship as they endeavor to share that with others. The tough thing24:11and the sobering thing is those who wrestle with God will have the same fate as those who are in hell, the demons and Satan himself. They will be forced to declare the lordship of God because it is just a truth. It is just a constant in our universe. What's the purpose of all of that? To bring glory to God the Father.24:40God the Father is not jealous that Jesus is ascribed the lord of the universe. He's not envious of this fact. And Jesus isn't jealous of the fact that God the Father is receiving glory and honor and fame. They love to bring glory and to make much of God. And that is our call. As Christians, we are called to live lives,25:09to speak truth, to bring glory and honor to Christ. And in doing so, we bring glory and honor to God the Father. So what do we do with this passage? On Monday morning when we have our cup of coffee in our hands and we're looking at paperwork or whatever you guys do, how do we actually apply what we've learned? Number one, before we speak, are we speaking in a way25:39that brings unity to the church? You know, we have so many different outlets to communicate with people. Right? We have all of our social media pages. We could start a blog. We could start a podcast. We could start a YouTube channel. We could actually, like, talk to somebody face-to-face, as crazy as that sounds. We could write somebody a letter. We could send a text message. We could call somebody. We have so many different ways we can communicate.26:09So the question on the table is, when we communicate, are we doing so in a way that promotes unity in the church? Are we loving our brothers and sisters in Christ? Are we striving for those four marks that we see at the church at Philippi? And to be honest, there's going to be people who don't act humbly when we get to work on Monday morning or when we go to church next Sunday,26:38next Sunday, and somebody may rub you the wrong way. So how do we deal with that? How do we respond in humility? I think that goes back to honest conversations, right? So if you have a brother in Christ and it's an issue of preference, just talk to somebody. Just kind of lay it out. Just have an honest conversation with them. And if it's an issue of preference, don't make that your hill to die on. If it's an issue of truth, stand on truth.27:08Don't back down from truth. But do so in a way that's loving and gracious and respectful. Number three, do the job. Whatever that job is, may we never be too good to do something. May we never see, you know, I could probably have a better use for my time. Christ has humbled himself27:36to the lowest state to the lowest state and set an example for us that we too should humble ourselves so that we bring glory to God. So just do the job. And number four, use the lordship of Christ to compel our evangelism. You know, I think it's kind of goofy, and this is so much for me. Like,28:06Like, I get so nervous to talk to people about Jesus. like, I don't know why. Because the lord is the creator and the sustainer and the master of the universe. There's not anything that's outside of his grip. So why should we be afraid? Why should we be reticent to share the gospel? And I remind myself of that. And I say, you know what? I need to love, I need to get outside28:36of my own head and my own fears, and I need to graciously share Christ. We also should use the lordship of Jesus because we know that every knee will bow. Right? Some will bow out of love and adoration and worship because we have a relationship with Jesus and we are adopted into his family, but some will bow because they just have to and they bow out of fear.29:05So let the lordship of Christ compel our evangelism. And maybe we're here this morning and you're a first-time guest and you're trying to kick the tires on the whole religion and Jesus thing. Here's my encouragement to you. Follow Christ. It's worth it. It is absolutely worth it. Confess with your mouth29:35that Jesus is the lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead and you will be saved. So repent of ourselves and put our whole hope in Christ. We have counselors here in the front when we give our invitation, but maybe you say, hey, I have more questions. I have more questions. I have to process this. I need somebody to talk to me. Fill out the connect card and put it in the offering plate as it's passed. Let me pray for us and let us respond30:04to the word through worship.
