Philippians (Lesson 3)

All right, I'm Brother James.

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We are studying the book of Philippians.

We started two broadcasts ago.

This will be lesson number three, and we're just now coming into our considerations of verse number one.

We spent almost two programs overviewing the book of Philippians, and now we have started into the text itself, and we were noting at the close of the last program some remarkable things about Paul the Apostle, a man after the heart of Jesus Christ, the man after God's own heart, and how he stands in contrast to so much of the modern ministry.

We saw that Paul placed himself in a position of servitude and made himself a servant to all the saints, all the believers at Philippi.

Listen to it in verse number one, Philippians 1 1, Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and the deacons.

We noted that the saints are placed ahead of the bishops, ahead of the deacons, and we noted that Paul makes himself the servant of all of them.

Like the Lord Jesus Christ, he did not desire to exalt himself above the people, but rather to place himself beneath them that he might serve, uplift, and bear their burdens.

People misunderstand because they're earthly minded or they are worldly minded.

They view the church as a business organization, and they think the more in charge I am, the more power I've got, the more offices I'm appointed to, and the more people I can boss around, though I'm really somebody in the church.

In fact, you might be the biggest in the place.

The Bible reverses that whole mindset that is so common in the world and says if you are really an overseer, the saints will come first.

If you're really a deacon, the saints will come first.

If you're really a minister, you will be what a minister is by definition, a servant.

You see, when a man is sent from the United States to be the government's foreign minister in Pakistan, he does not go there to run Pakistan.

He goes there to serve the president of the United States in Pakistan.

That's what a minister is.

When a man in Britain is the minister of the interior or the minister of labor, do you know what that means?

It doesn't mean he's over the internal affairs, it means he is the servant of the prime minister with regard to those affairs.

We've got this idea nowadays that a minister is somebody who runs a church.

No, a minister is somebody in the church who serves the Lord Jesus Christ and represents his interest for the benefit of all.

Look at the order.

He's a servant to the saints.

The saints are ahead of the bishops and the deacons.

If we could ever get that right, if we could get that order right, we would come close to the fellowship that Philippians 2 speaks of a joyous, blessed fellowship where everyone is looking out for the things of others and not for the things of themselves.

Now watch this idea of servant.

It implies three things.

Number one, he is the absolute possession of Jesus Christ.

A servant is not fifty percent free and fifty percent in bondage.

If you are a slave, if you are a servant, if you are the purchased possession of another man, you are his one hundred percent.

Now when Paul says I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, he's not complaining.

When he says I'm a servant of Jesus Christ, he's not looking to escape.

Here I am in this slavery, I've got to serve the Lord.

No, he's rejoicing.

Anybody in the market could have bought me that day, but Jesus did.

Anybody could have carried me home in bonds and made me their own.

It could have been some it could have been liquor, it could have been dope, it could have been bigotry, it could have been vice, it could have been gambling, I could have been any number of things.

I could be a slave to sin tonight.

I could be a slave to Satan tonight.

I could be a slave to money tonight.

But praise God, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ.

He bought me, he carried me home.

You ought to see the quarters I'm living in.

You ought to see the food I'm eating.

You ought to see the clothes I'm wearing.

You ought to see the company I keep.

You ought to see the work that I get to do.

Man, if I would have known what it was like to be a servant of His, I would have signed up for it a long time ago.

Okay, servant.

The absolute possession of Jesus Christ.

But the second definition, if he is a servant, or the second consideration, if he is a servant, he owes absolute obedience to Christ.

Can't you just see a slave out of the plantation saying, Boss man, I know this is your place, but here's how I think you ought to do it.

Not likely that would be an acceptable dialogue.

And yet so many people who are saved say to the Holy Spirit after hearing the Word of God preached, or say to the Lord after reading his word, Well now, master, master, after all, you are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and you know you do know the end from the beginning, but may I make a suggestion?

Yes, specks of dust who've been around for all of these twenty, thirty, forty, fifty years, telling God what he doesn't know, instructing God on how he ought to run his business, I don't think so.

When the apostle Paul says he's a servant of Jesus Christ, he is acknowledging that he owes absolute obedience to his master.

Third, regarding this matter of being a servant, we've got to remember that our society, like all societies, are populated by sinful men with fallen natures influenced by the devil.

We want our independence.

Psalm two is the testimony of the natural man.

He says, Let us burst their bands asunder.

When Jesus Christ came to earth, they said we will not have this man to reign over us.

People in our world don't mind God.

They just don't want God telling them what to do.

Our churches are full of people who don't mind Jesus saving them as long as he doesn't try to control them after he saves them.

That's the nature of the sons of Adam.

And so when we read this word servant, we think horrible, cruel, insulting bondage, position beneath my station, something that uh infringes upon my dignity.

But I want you to look with me at Jeremiah seven, verse twenty five.

Jeremiah seven, verse twenty five.

Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets.

Amos three, verse seven, surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

There are three men in the Old Testament whom God calls his servant Moses, Joshua, and David.

Do you know what Paul is saying in Philippians chapter one?

He's saying God by his grace has given me a high calling.

He has given me an honorable position.

You see, to the natural man being made a servant is insulting.

Why?

He's looking at himself.

Me a servant?

But the spiritual man says, wait a minute, me his servant?

What a difference.

I'm looking in the mirror and I can say, Well, I deserve to be more than a servant.

I consider my great capabilities and my vast intellectual powers and my talents and my gifts.

Surely I deserve more than a servant's place.

Then I look at God.

It's God standing there calling me his servant.

That changes the whole perspective.

You mean you want me to work with you?

All of a sudden it's not look how great I am.

It's look how great God is.

And why would he ever select me?

Why would he appoint me to be the one who waits on him, the one who ministers to his people on his behalf, and it suddenly with my eyes on God, not on self, becomes a high, high calling.

Now look back at Philippians and chapter two and verse seven.

And these these verse are going to be so familiar to you, you'll have them memorized by the end of this study, and that'll be a good thing.

Philippians 2 7 speaking of Jesus, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.

Look at verse 9.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him.

What to man was degrading and insulting turned out to be, in the operation of God, the most exalting and uplifting experience a man could possibly enjoy, a woman could possibly know.

The Bible says in James and in Peter, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Now listen, we carry with us into the Christian life all those years of thinking like a natural man.

The world says exalt yourself, promote yourself, puff yourself, get ahead of the others, brag about how much more you're doing than they are, brag about how much more than they uh spiritual you are than they are.

Show off.

And you get a big place and a big position in a big church.

God saved me from a church full of people in leadership who got there by showing off.

God help us, God help me to be in and part of a fellowship of people who consider greatness serving more people, giving more to others, doing more for others, being more to others.

That's what Philippians is all about.

The apostle Paul said, I'm rejoicing, I'm happy, I'm joyful, I'm a slave.

How could a man be happy who was a servant?

My friend, you can't be happy any other way.

God exalts, God uplifts, but only those who humble themselves.

People go through life trying to find uplifting experiences and they stay depressed.

Quit trying to have an uplifting experience and just go find somebody that needs some help and help them out and watch God lift you up.

I'm not a shrink, but I know truth.

The Bible, the Bible is true.

I know that people get down and get depressed and they stay that way because they're occupied with themselves.

The only way you're going to get out of that depression and get out of that funk is to get out of those uh and get out of those doldrums is to quit dwelling on yourself and get out there and find somebody that is worse off than you are and help them and be a blessing to them.

That's the Bible.

Here's a guy sitting in jail.

He's going to have his head cut off.

And he writes a letter and says, Boy, I sure am happy today.

In fact, I'm so happy I wanted to tell you I was happy, and while I'm encouraging you, I'm getting even happier than I was when I started out, and I was already happy when I started out.

You ought to see the rats in this place, they're huge.

Praise the Lord.

See, that's the Bible.

Look at this thing about being a servant.

In um let's go to Exodus twenty one.

Exodus twenty-one.

And start at verse number one.

Now, these are the judgments which thou shouldst set before them.

If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

Down to verse five.

And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I will not go out free, then his master shall bring him unto the judges, he shall also bring him to the door, or under the door post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an aw, and he shall serve him forever.

Do you know what the Apostle Paul wrote?

He wrote, before he died, he said, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

You know what that fellow did?

He was in bondage to sin, he was in bondage to the law, and Jesus Christ came along and bought him, then set him free and said, Saul, you're a free man.

And he turned to the Lord Jesus and said, Oh Master, I love you.

You may have bought me and then set me free, but I don't want to be free from you.

I will serve you all the days of my life.

If you're saved, you're free tonight, today, this morning.

You're free.

Right now, you're free.

Jesus Christ redeemed you with his own precious blood.

He set you at liberty from the world, from the flesh, from the devil.

Help yourself.

Live however you want.

But may I make a recommendation?

You ought to turn to your master and say, I love you, master, and I don't want to go free if it means leaving you.

I'll serve you all the days of my life.

That is a servant, as found in Philippians chapter one.

Now look at Second Samuel chapter fifteen.

Second Samuel fifteen and verse fifteen.

Second Samuel fifteen verse fifteen, a great verse.

And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my Lord the King shall appoint.

That's pretty good verse, isn't it?

Now when when Paul said, I am a servant of Jesus Christ, can't you see in his life evidence that he put the principle of 2 Samuel 15 fifteen into practice?

Can't you see him saying to the Lord Jesus, Behold, thy servant is ready to do whatsoever my Lord the King shall appoint?

Should that not be our heart as well?

Should we not be living that same way?

I'll tell you when Saulatarsus, who became Paul the apostle when he got saved, he started out that way.

In Acts nine he's on the Damascus Road, blind as he can be.

And you'll recall he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

Instantly he saw himself a servant to King Jesus.

Give me the orders, I'll carry them out.

Look with me at Luke twenty two.

Luke twenty two, and we'll start reading at verse twenty four.

Luke twenty two starting at verse twenty four.

And there was also a strife among them.

These are disciples.

They're followers of the Lord.

And they are striving with each other.

You know why?

The verse says there was a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.

You know why people fight?

One thinks they're better than the other.

Why does somebody fight back?

They're out to prove them wrong.

That's where strife comes from.

In a family, in a church, in a society, it's pride.

Why the Bible clearly says in Proverbs 13 10, only by pride cometh contention.

So here are men, the disciples of the Lord, who are striving, who are fighting with each other, because they're stuck on themselves, not in love with Jesus.

They are devoted to themselves, not to serving others.

That's where the strife comes in.

So the Bible says in verse 25, and he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.

The Lord is about to hit at somebody among the disciples who considers themselves in authority over other disciples, verse twenty six, but ye shall not be so.

Now look what Jesus said.

He said you're not going to have anybody with authority over the others.

That's that's what he said.

That's the idea.

Look at the principle, but but verse twenty six, he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he that is chief as he that doth serve.

That's Philippians.

Who's the greatest of all?

The Lord Jesus Christ.

What did he do?

He completely turned human thinking on its ear.

He turned that thing upside down.

I'm the Lord, I'm God, I'm the Alpha, I'm the Omega, I'm the greatest.

Give me your dirty feet and let me wash them.

Peter said, Lord, you're not gonna wash my feet.

Why, Peter?

You think you're too good?

Do you think you're not good enough?

One's just as surely pride as the other.

If God said you're a saint, you're a saint.

If God said you're his child, Then you're his child.

If God said you're an important, vital member of his body, then you are.

It's just as much pride to say, Look at me, I can do it all, as it is to say, Oh, poor me, I can't do anything.

Either way, you're drawing attention to yourself and not not to the Lord.

Now watch verse 27.

For whether is greater he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth, is not he that sitteth at meat?

Well, well, sure, anybody would say that.

But Jesus said, I am among you as he that serveth.

Do you know who that is?

The I am, I am among you.

Look, the I am is among them.

The Jehovah God who spoke out of the burning bush has got a towel on his arm, a basin at his knees, he is taking his hands and cleaning mud out from between the toes of commercial fishermen.

And the Holy Spirit said to the Apostle Paul, that's the mark.

We are pressing toward that mark.

The closer you get to that mark, the less interested you'll be in self, and the more interested you'll be in others.

Here's what we'll come to realize the more interested we are in others, the more joyful God causes us to become.

The more interested we are in the well-being of others, the more our own well-being increases.

That is the Christian life.

Amazing.

Just amazing.

Now 2 Peter 218 says this for when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escape from them who live in error.

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption, for of whom a man is overcome at the same as he brought in bondage.

Now here's a man saying, You don't want to serve God, you don't have to obey the Bible, you don't have to follow all that Jesus stuff and all those rules.

Man, come on, get free.

Okay, uh what do you want to do?

Well, a squat and party.

Well, here's a guy that has to smoke a cigarette, he has to have some dope, he has to turn on that country and western music, he he he has to.

He's in its grip and bondage.

And he says, Why do you have to do all that God stuff?

Why do you have to do all that church stuff?

Well, why do you have to do all that devil stuff, all that sin stuff, all that world stuff?

Look, I'd rather be overcome by the loving Lord Jesus than be overcome by vice and device.

Yeah, they make fun of that Bible.

They make fun of Christians, they make fun of our dedication to Jesus Christ.

But I'd rather be a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ than be a servant to sin.

I'd rather know the joy that comes from living living for Jesus than anything else in this world.

Oh, it has some heartaches.

I'll not deny that.

It has some troubles and trials, I'll not deny that, but so does any life lived by any man anywhere on the face of this earth.

I'd rather I'd rather be a servant of Jesus than a servant to the world, the flesh, and the devil.

That's real liberty, real freedom.

Living under the influence, power, and control of the Holy Spirit of God.

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