Striving Together in Humility | Philippians 2:1-11

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from

His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make

my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and of

one mind.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Rather in humility, value others above yourselves.

Start looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being

in the very nature of God, did not consider equality with God, something to be used to

his own advantage.

Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of the servant, being made

in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man.

He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above

every name.

That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

And every tongue acknowledged that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Good morning, everyone.

It's great to be together on this wonderful Sunday morning.

I don't know what kind of weeks that you have had.

We've all had varying kind of weeks, I presume, but it is a wonderful thing to be around the

words of eternal life this morning.

And these are not just words that man has written.

These are the words that God has breathed out through the apostle Paul to us this morning.

So why don't we join together in prayer and ask our heavenly Father to help us understand

these words.

Father, we thank you so much that we are able to be together this morning.

Father, we need you more than anything.

And so we ask as we come around your word, would you hold Jesus central in everything

being said?

By your spirit, would you lead us to our Lord Jesus Christ and help us this morning, Father,

to know your beauty, to know your awesomeness, Lord.

We ask for this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

There's a word that I get really excited about whenever we approach a passage as a church,

and that is the word therefore.

Now I get excited about that word because whenever we see it, we want to ask the question,

why is therefore, therefore, that's right.

Well that word is there because it introduces a thought or a statement resulting from or

caused by what has immediately come before it.

So before we get into the text that we have before us this morning, we want to have a

quick think about what has immediately come before.

You see, last week we saw a switch in this letter, a switch from how Paul was going and

how God was using him in his chains to Paul commanding the church in how we are to act

as Christians in our neck of the woods, or as Paul put it, how we are to conduct ourselves

in a manner that's worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's what we saw last week.

Paul went from encouraging his friends in Philippi, in his and their situations, to

commanding the church in how we are to act out our faith in this world.

And that's in a way that exalts Christ in every and any situation.

Now remember the original recipients situation, the church in Philippi was under some sort

of persecution to give up on the gospel.

Yet Paul reminded them that because they had been saved and because God had started a good

work in them, which he intended to finish, that they could stand firm and actively strive

together as one in the faith of the gospel.

And that's important to remember.

Paul could give his friends apostolic commands that he knew that they could obey because

they were in no way alone.

No, the grace of God and the spirit of Christ was with them all in the battle.

And so Paul made it clear, they were to actively strive in the power and grace of God because

it's as they did that, that they would actually function as a sign to those who were opposing

them.

And that sign was that those who oppose God's people and by implication the gospel, which

is the power unto salvation, well, they're actually setting themselves up as enemies

of God and their end will be nothing but utter destruction.

They are sobering words.

Those that oppose the church, will they have the one who put the church together, who paid

for the church in the blood of Jesus, will they have him to answer to?

And he won't let injustice prevail forever.

All this to say Paul has been saying to the church that we are to live in a way that glorifies

what God has done in our life and that he wants us to do it together, united for the

sake of the gospel.

But this is a thing that's really interesting.

Paul has been saying to do all that and that the church's obedience means something in

the scheme of things, but then notice how we ended our time last week.

It was with Paul saying, you know, in the same way that God has granted us salvation,

well, he's actually granted us to suffer as well, verses 29 through to 30.

Well, you can imagine the questions running through the Philippians minds.

The opposition, the oppression, the hardship that they've all been facing, well, that was

all under the sovereign hand of God and for all intents and purposes, it didn't look like

it was going to alleviate anytime soon.

And that's the thing about the church.

We will go through hardship and opposition from external and also internal pressures.

And we're going to have a look at that a little bit more detail in the coming weeks.

But through it all, we are called to conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel.

And as we'll see this morning, that will only come about by our uniting, not just with Christ,

but with each other as well, which means there's going to have to be some humility in our lives,

both towards God and each other.

So with that said, let's have a look at chapter two, verse one.

These are the words of God.

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from

his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion.

Okay, so first things first, after Paul has talked to the church about providential salvation

and suffering, he again encourages this church by pointing them back to the truth of the

gospel.

I mean, we see it right here in our opening verses, don't we?

Where does he want us to find the certainty of God's grace in our lives?

Well, it's not in our circumstances, but in the gospel of Jesus Christ, because hey, both

Paul and the Philippians circumstances, well, they weren't great.

But did that mean that God had cast them off and was done with them?

Certainly not.

In fact, it's as Paul has said through this letter, they were in a great place to be used

of God.

As he, Paul, was getting to share the gospel with influential soldiers in Rome and the

church in Philippi had the opportunity to act in obedience with his word and as a result,

become a sign to all those that oppose them and show that God was really at work among

them.

So, if we look at our blessed assurance in our circumstances, our compass will be all

over the place.

That's why Paul always points Christians not to our circumstances for assurance, but to

the gospel to know the certainty of God's grace in our lives.

Hear it again.

He doesn't say if you have any encouragement from having a great job, if any comfort from

having a thriving ministry, if any happiness from everything going perfect.

No, he says, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort

from his love, if any common sharing in the spirit, if any tenderness and compassion.

And he does that because that's good news right there.

That's great news right there.

As we can only be united with Christ in the love of God, share in the Holy Spirit and

have the fruit of the Spirit in our lives if we've been saved from the ways of this

world and had Jesus embrace us as his beloved.

Church, we are to look to the gospel, not to our circumstances to find our blessed assurance.

It's by believing, actively believing, trusting Christ that we can be certain of God's grace

in our lives.

Now there is something worth noting here and it has to do with our English translation.

You see, by using the word if, well it makes us sound a little bit more like a possibility

rather than a reality.

If you walk down to the shops, there might be some Mrs Max Pies left.

If the Eagles train hard, they might win a game.

Unlikely.

But that's not the case here in any sense.

As the Greek that sits under our new international version can also be translated as since or

because.

So we could understand this passage as being translated or at the very least understand

Paul as saying because you're united with Christ, there is encouragement.

Since there is comfort in his love, since there is a common sharing in the Spirit because

there is fruit of the Spirit.

All that to say Paul is redirecting the church from the what ifs of their situation to the

what is.

And what is the what is, I hear you ponder.

Well, because of the work of God on behalf of his people, we have been forgiven.

We have been washed, cleaned and justified and thus united to Christ for all eternity.

And it's because of Christ and Christ alone that we walk in the Father's love and have

the very Spirit of God working in and through us.

And it's from and only from that gospel work that we can be encouraged and comforted in

all our circumstances.

And we'll notice this morning that's where Paul takes it.

He encourages the church by pointing them to the certainty of God's grace at work in

the lives of his people.

He points them to the gospel.

He points them to the reality of every single Christian to then exhorting us and giving

us three things to aim for in our walk together.

We see it in verse two, if you would read with me.

We read, make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in

spirit and of one mind.

Now, Paul, now by Paul saying, make my joy complete, he isn't saying, I'm not happy with

you, therefore I command you to impress me a little bit more.

Now, what he's saying is that he already has joy with these people, but they will bring

him further joy if he hears that they are continuing to walk out their Christian lives

in obedience to the word.

Think about it like this.

Parents, we absolutely adore our children, right?

And they can't do anything for you to love them anymore or less.

But isn't it a wonderful thing when you hear from other people that they have beautiful

manners and good listening ears?

It's a wonderful thing when you don't see your little ones for a little while, yet hear

from others, they have taken all the things that you've tried to teach them in the home

and you hear that they've put them into practice when you're not around them.

Well, that's what Paul's driving out here.

He's saying, friends, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel and until I

see you again, might I be filled with joy more so with the reports of your being like-minded,

having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

What's Paul saying here?

What's he driving us to with this being and having language that we see in verse two?

Well, it's all got to do with unity, right?

I mean, let's think about what we had a look at last week, particularly in verse 27.

Paul said, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

Then whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I'll know that you

stand firm in one spirit, striving together as one for the faith, the gospel.

As we took note, Paul's exhortation to the church to have tenacity, to walk in mutuality,

to actively strive together in our confession and live out our gospel unity in this world,

well, it's only possible because God has first done a work in us.

We live out of that work, we live our obedience out of that work from that new life.

All that to say, we also noted that Paul's language was in no way promoting individualism

in the church, was it?

Just the opposite.

Individuals in the church actually conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel

of Christ when we're in fact walking in unity with one another.

And that's what Paul picks up again here in verse two.

He's saying, brothers and sisters, live out your oneness, your togetherness in the one

spirit and give me greater joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit

and mind.

What might Paul mean by that?

Might he mean that we here in the church have to be in such agreement that we agree on absolutely

everything, on the color of the carpet, the translation of the Bible we use on Sunday

mornings, the songs that we sing?

We might be surprised by the answer because I would say no and yes.

And I've put it in that order so that we might have a think about a couple of things here.

So first, I would say, no, we don't have to agree on absolutely everything because we're

told in our Bibles that we are members of a body and not every member of the body has

the same role, function or gifting.

Individually, together, we also have different experiences and wisdom to bring to the table.

And that's actually a beautiful thing.

It's a wonderful thing.

And so at the end of the day, we express our great unity in coming at things from different

angles, yet not cracking and tearing over every little decision that needs to be made.

That's why we have AGMs and we vote on things.

We listen, we speak, we have conversations.

We want to hear from the congregation.

It's an important thing.

So no, we don't have to agree on absolutely everything when it comes to things like the

color of the carpet, the Bible we use, the songs we sing, because different people have

different opinions, experiences and preferences.

However, in saying that, I will point out to you what Paul is pushing on here with the

language that he's employed.

And that's that we as the church must all approach things in a way that we are to continually

strive to maintain the unity among us.

Does that mean we need to agree on absolutely everything so that everything we do is totally

uniform?

Well, no.

But yes, in the way we tackle things as brothers and sisters in Christ.

That's what Paul is wanting us to get here.

He's saying strive together as one, be like-minded, have the same love, be one in spirit and in

mind.

In other words, have the same spiritual mindset among yourselves.

Aim to maintain your unity and work together in all things.

Brothers and sisters, we can have legitimate differences of opinion in the body of Christ.

That's not the real problem here.

We can disagree and still love one another and get along great and still work with one

another.

However, do you know what the true obstacle to unity is?

It's self-centeredness.

It's selfishness.

And that's exactly what Paul picks up here in verses three to four.

He says, do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.

Rather in humility, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each

of you to the interests of the others.

Hear what Paul's saying here.

He's saying friends, maintain the unity that you have in Christ, have the same aim and

work together in and from that oneness.

But be aware.

Be aware of putting your wants above others, your opinions over that of others, your preferences

before others.

Church, that's how we, as a Christ-centered community, that's how we should approach everything.

By together aiming to maintain the unity one for us in Christ.

And we do that by thinking about how our decisions will affect other people.

That's not to say that we shouldn't be heard or that our feelings don't matter.

Now it's saying that Christianity and church life isn't a lone venture.

It means that we are to do discipleship together, which means other people will be around us

and they're going to have a plethora of things to say and share on the same matters.

So as we walk with our brothers and sisters in Christ, sometimes we may have to forego

our own desires, our own agendas, our own priorities in order to help others around

us.

We all have access to the throne of grace to ask for wisdom on these matters.

That's key to everything that Paul has to say here.

Unity in Christ is best maintained through humility in us.

I'll say that again because it's important to catch.

Unity in Christ is best maintained through humility in us.

And that's where our apostle has taken things.

He has taken us from what we already have in Christ to how we work it out and maintain

it to now what it looks like in the flesh.

And in typical Pauline fashion, he can't help but take us straight back to the gospel.

If you would look with me at verses 5 through to 8, Paul says, in your relationships with

one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who being in very nature God did not

consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.

Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in

human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient

to death, even death on a cross.

Admittedly, we could actually spend weeks and weeks and weeks on these verses because

there is so much that we can dive into.

In fact, some of my favourite preachers have spent months on just verses 5 through to 8

with others having done their PhDs on this very section of scripture and they are big,

big books.

However, for our purposes this morning, we're not going to pull everything apart in a microscopic

way.

But look at these verses in a more telescopic approach because I want you to see how Christ's

very life is the greatest example of humility that we are to follow.

And so after Paul has encouraged, exhorted and given some aims to the church in how we

are to live out our faith in this world together against all the odds and oppression and hardships,

he has held togetherness and oneness to be key in how we walk in obedience.

He has shown that unity among us in the church is essential in order for us to maintain the

unity that we already have in Christ.

We must walk in humility towards one another.

That's a key theme here.

So in saying that with the assurance of our salvation being the gospel and already having

unity in Christ, how do we walk in Christ-like humility?

Well first, we're to embrace the mindset and the attitude of Christ.

It's what Paul says here in verse 5.

He says, in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

What's he mean by that?

That's exactly what he goes on to explain in the next few verses.

Paul shows us how we are to adopt Christ's attitude by helping us to understand who Jesus

is.

First, he tells us that Jesus is divine.

He tells us he's God.

We see that in verse 6, who being in very nature, God.

Now there's a number of reasons why that is so important for us to understand, but in

the context of Paul's argument, he's pointing to the divinity of Jesus because he wants

us to understand just how much Jesus humbled himself.

I mean, think about what he's saying here.

He's saying that Jesus was no ordinary man, but God himself.

I mean, that's a mind blowing thing to think about, right?

The stature of Jesus wasn't that he was just a prophet or preacher, but God himself.

However, second, Paul shows us that just because he is God, he did not consider equality with

God something to be used to his own advantage.

In other words, when God took flesh and came to dwell among us, when he became man, when

Jesus walked among his creation, he could have simply commanded the respect he was due.

I mean, Jesus has every right for his creation to worship him, yet he didn't cling to the

full exercise of that rightful privilege.

Rather third, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in

human likeness.

I mean, listen to what Paul is telling us here.

I mean, we're starting to get a picture of unbelievable humility, right?

This is the God we serve.

God has every right to be worshiped and adored by his creation, to be served by us.

Yet he made himself into a human so that what he might serve us.

Paul goes on to his fourth point saying of our great architect and perfecter of humility

and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death,

even death on a cross.

I want you to think about that for a second church.

This is absolutely incredible what we're hearing.

It boggles the mind, the creator of the universe, the maker of you and me and everything that

was, is and will be became a man so that he might serve his creation.

And how did he serve us?

By dying on the cross in shame and humiliation.

I mean, the gospel is already such great news that it's hard to fathom, but as we lightly

skim over the details of just what it took for Jesus to serve his people, what else can

we do than stand in awe of his work on our behalf?

This is what Paul is doing for the church.

He's saying, look at our savior.

Look at what he's done for our redemption.

Now as you live the Christian life, be like him.

It's very important that we understand what Paul is doing here.

He isn't saying be like Jesus, otherwise you're going to hell.

That's not what's being said here.

And I say that because that would fly in the face of everything that Paul has been encouraging

the church in so far.

Paul and the Philippians both knew the gospel was not based on their works in order to gain

heaven.

No, they both knew salvation came completely by faith alone in the work of Christ, with

works being a result of saving faith.

So by Paul giving this exhortation to be like Jesus, he intends all believers to strive

towards the example of Christ.

However, I want to say this, Paul isn't saying do this and you'll be saved.

No, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

That was the saving message to the Philippians and that is the same gospel that we put our

trust in here in Armidale.

However, as we've seen, our apostle wants us to endeavor to live as those who are worthy

of receiving the gospel.

And so he holds up the great perfecter of our faith before our faces as our example

of perfect humility.

That in the power and grace of the Lord, we are to strive towards on this side of eternity.

That's the example he points to.

And it's important for us to understand that in the context of what he's doing here.

And it goes back to verse five.

Paul started this whole section by saying in your relationships with who?

With one another.

Have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

And so we must understand this exhortation to be like Christ, not just in an individual

sense, but also in a communal sense as well.

That's what Paul is driving home to us again this morning.

We're to act like Christ towards one another.

Brothers and sisters, this means that our obedience in working out this command means

that we have to live out our Christian lives together.

As I've said before, Paul is in no way fostering individualism in the church.

We've seen it every step of the way.

He's been showing us that unity is incredibly important in the church.

And so our expression of this reality is utterly dependent upon every single one of us, upon

every member of the body of Christ.

We must strive together in our one faith, in the power and the grace of God.

So as we end our time this morning in this phenomenal passage of scripture, it's an incredible

thing to think about, isn't it, church?

Paul is pointing to the ultimate example of humility.

No one has ever humbled themselves more than our Lord Jesus Christ.

No one has started ever so high and then descended so low.

No one gave up so much as our Lord Jesus did for us.

So on this basis, our apostle exhorts every believer to be like Christ and follow his

example when it comes to each other.

And let me say this, the spirit of Christ is at work in us.

The spirit of Christ through the Holy Spirit is at work in his people.

And if that is how Jesus lived his life, what right do we have to refuse his example and

do things our own way?

The work of the spirit in us is one that is leading us to more and more humility.

And we must make whatever sacrifice is necessary for the good of others.

Given this example, none of us can ever humble ourselves too much.

None of us will ever be able to surpass the humility that Christ has demonstrated towards

us.

But as we've seen this morning, this is our calling and it is our wonderful privilege

to live our lives in humble servitude and obedience to the one who gave everything to

humbly serve us.

Because there's a result.

There is a result and that is joy.

Paul goes on in verses 9 through to 11, therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave

him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow

in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ

is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

What is the result of following the Lord Jesus Christ?

It's humility.

Humility in us and in the congregation.

What's the result?

Well, as we see in the life of Jesus, his obedience led to exaltation, glory and ultimate

joy.

That's the result of our obedience.

If we reject this, it's going the wrong way.

If we embrace this, if we follow after the example of our Lord in the grace and the power

of the Spirit, if we follow this example of humility together in this congregation here

at Grace Christian Church, then joy will be the result.

We might not walk it out perfectly.

We might make mistakes.

We might have to spend some time on our knees confessing where we got it so wrong again.

But we don't work out our salvation in our own strength, but in the grace and the power

of God himself, whose Holy Spirit is continually working in us to conform us into the image

of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It's our great privilege church to be in this together.

So this morning, let's just take the next few moments to come to our Heavenly Father

in prayer and ask him to help us in this endeavor, to help us in our obedience, both individually

and corporately as the body.

Would you pray with me?

Father God, we asked this morning that you would hold Christ high in our midst.

And Father, this passage holds our Lord in such a phenomenal way.

And Father, as we've skimmed over the words that we have before us this morning, there

is such comfort in the gospel knowing that you sent Jesus to save that which was lost.

Father, it's an incredible, awesome standard.

And so we ask, we know where we fall so far short.

We know where we have gone skewiff in this.

But we ask with your tender mercy, with your tender grace, would you please give us the

wisdom in how to walk this out?

Father, we ask that we are not a congregation that casts these things aside into the too

hard pile.

We ask that we would be a congregation that is changed by your word.

And that grace, Christian church here in the city of Armidale would be known not just as

a city set on a hill, not just as a place that loves you and makes disciples, but that

it is a place of humility, Lord.

Where we serve one another, not in a sense of duty, but in a sense of love and genuine

affection for each other and the people that walk through the doors.

We ask for this in Jesus' name and for your glory.

Amen.