One Mind – United in Humility | Philippians 2:1–11

Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Listen, I'm telling you, there's saturation happening up here.

And I gotta get to the word here, Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

We're finishing out our series United.

United was a series that we started a couple weeks ago to lead into a big season we felt was important for us to just make sure that we live in unity.

Listen, you probably have picked up on this if you've been here for any length of time, but at the beginning of our ministry season, we consider August kind of the beginning of our ministry season when small groups and studies begin to go and Bible studies and meetings start happening.

We always want to try to start with somewhat of a church-focused, culture-setting sermon series.

And that's what United has been.

It's just an opportunity for us to gather around.

And so Philippians chapter 2 is where we are.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

I wonder, I was thinking about this today.

I almost did it.

I'm not gonna, because uh saturation of the brain probably is not gonna let me.

But if I were up here and I just took a picture of you, in fact, I'm gonna do it right now.

You can hide if you want.

I'm gonna take a picture of you.

There you go, you're in the picture.

If I take that picture, take it right, I got literally a picture, it's going on social media later.

And I posted that picture immediately up on the screen.

What do you think is the first thing you are gonna be looking for when it comes to that picture?

Yourself, right?

You're gonna you're gonna be like, where am I?

Oh, I'm oh my goodness, I wasn't even looking, or I looked like I was holding my breath, or why wasn't I smiling?

He told me.

Listen, that's our instinct.

We immediately in group pictures, the first thing we do is we look for ourselves.

We judge the quality of the photo based on how we look.

Look at you could be at a wedding and part of the wedding party, the bride could look amazing, the groom could look incredible, and you weren't smiling right, and the whole picture is garbage, right?

Why?

Because you are judging the quality of the picture based on how you look.

If you look good, it's a good picture.

If you look bad, it's a bad picture.

Now, look at that's that's across the board.

We all do that.

Later, if we were to post some social media posts of the men's gathering or a women's gathering, you're gonna flip through those Instagram posts and find yourself and be like, there I am, there's the back of my head, I'm right there, right?

It's where I am.

And and the instinct is natural and across the board, and really the instinct is harmless when it comes to photography.

It really is, right?

Like, there's no nothing wrong with that.

You want to see what you look like, but here's the reality: is that if that same mindset is there, it becomes destructive when it governs our relationships at church?

We enter conversations if we have this mindset.

We enter decisions, we enter ministry, we enter the church asking, where am I in this picture?

How does this affect me?

Was my opinion considered?

Did anyone recognize my contribution?

And am I getting what I want, what I deserve?

And many relationships are damaged because everyone is looking for himself in the picture.

And in Philippians chapter 2, Paul calls us to a completely different way of relating.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Instead of looking only to our own interests, we look to the interests of others.

That's what he's calling us to.

Instead of demanding recognition, we are to adopt the mind of Christ, the one who has humbled himself and has become a servant.

And we're talking about the mind of unity.

So, so remember, we talked about one faith.

That's the gospel.

That was week number one of United.

We gather around one faith, striving together for the faith of the gospel, standing firm, one mind.

A church lives together in a way that is worthy of the gospel.

We talked about how we have one power that we depend upon, and we express that dependence in unified prayer.

So, one purpose, one faith we unite around.

One dependence, one power, we together go to God for.

And then last week Chuck dealt with one voice or the worship, the united worship, that we have a mindset that is together in unison to sing the praises and glory of God together with one voice, Romans chapter 15.

Romans 15 · chapter mention

And now Paul calls us to relate to one another with one mind.

So one faith, one power, one voice, and now one mind.

We're gonna read that from Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

So you read along with me, Philippians 2, verse 1 through verse 11.

Philippians 2:1

We're gonna unpack these great significant passages today.

These are God's words for us today.

This is where he has led us.

May they come to bear on us as he intends for them too.

Verse 1.

So it's it's a therefore, okay?

So it's a word that bridges back to the previous verses where he just talked about being unified.

Now he's gonna sandwich it again.

He's gonna beat it again.

Let's be unified.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort of love from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of, here it is, the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

That's unity.

Verse three, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

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, even death on a cross.

Therefore, God has highly exalted on him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Amen and amen.

Having one mind, that's what we're after, one mind.

And one mind does not mean that we all possess the same personality.

God help us if that were true, or the same preferences, or the same opinions, or the same background, because Christianity is not uniformity, it doesn't require everyone to think alike in everything.

Having one mind means that we share the same controlling attitude, which is, according to Paul in this passage, the attitude of Jesus Christ.

So Paul doesn't merely tell us to admire the humility of Jesus.

That's not what he's doing.

This isn't primarily a theological thing, that he's just saying, here's some things that are true.

He's actually telling us to adopt the mind of Christ.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

That's what he says.

Now, the mind of Christ then is not merely something to believe or it's something that we believe in.

It is a way of thinking that changes how we relate to one another.

So my encouragement to you is if you are in Christ Jesus, this is the mind, this is the mind that we should have in our relationships among ourselves with one another.

And so that is the big idea that sits over the top of this.

A united church relates with Christ-like humility.

If a church is going to be united around the faith, independence with one voice, it is going to be with humility.

This is the soil, or this is the culture, or this is the atmosphere where all of that unity is maintained and thrives is an atmosphere of Christ-like humility.

Okay?

So, what does Christ-like humility look like in our relationships?

How are we looking like this?

How does this happen?

How does this come to bear on our lives?

How are we to respond to these things?

And there's a ton in this text that we need to unpack.

Maybe should take two sermons to do so, but I'm not.

So buckle up, buttercup, let's go.

Okay.

Well, we will relate humbly.

Here's how we're gonna do it.

We will relate humbly when these four things are true.

Okay?

Four things, four truths gotta come in our lives together.

We will relate humbly when, number one, you and I remember what we share in Christ.

So look at the text.

Paul says, if there, if there is, Paul's not expressing doubt.

He's not asking whether these Christians have experienced these blessings.

The sense is that since these things are true.

Not if these things are true, but since these things are true.

Because he's like, listen, if there is any encouragement in Christ, and there is, if there is any comfort from his love, and there is.

So since these things are true, then his logic says, live in unity with one another, like people who share these realities.

Paul begins with what Christians have received before addressing how Christians should behave.

Our unity then is not something we manufacture through determination or better sermons or more uh manipulation.

It grows out of our shared experience of the gospel.

And what is our shared experience of the gospel?

Well, he says it.

Any encouragement of Christ in Christ.

In Christ refers to the relationship with Jesus.

This is a positional relationship.

So if you are a Christian, if you have believed, if the Spirit of God has brought new life into your life and you have trusted Christ and what he did for you, then you're participating in his life and salvation.

And because we belong to him, we have forgiveness and acceptance and hope and help in suffering.

That's encouragement.

So it's more than a pleasant feeling, it includes the strengthening and motivation that enables us to keep going.

We have encouragement.

We have hope because we are in Christ.

We have hope in suffering because we are in Christ.

We have hope in adversity because we are in Christ.

We have hope in health and sickness and loss because we are in Christ.

And he starts with that.

And remember that these believers were facing opposition, which Paul discussed in the preceding verses, and they knew what it meant to need Christ's encouragement.

So if Christ has strengthened and encouraged you, let that shape how you strengthen and encourage others.

That's Paul's argument.

If you've got something from Christ that's encouraging and full of hope, then let that be the ground in which you treat one another.

And then he says, any comfort from love.

Have you ever experienced the reassurance that comes from being loved?

That you are loved by other brothers and sisters, but also by Christ, by the Lord, God's love.

Paul does not explicitly identify whose love he means here.

God's love in Christ obviously is foundational, and that love is experienced through the love believers show one another, including Paul's love for them and their love for Paul.

So he's like, listen, if you've ever experienced the love of God and the love that I give you, and you have love for me, then let that be the ground or the heart behind how you relate to one another.

People then who have received such love should not relate to one another with coldness, rivalry, or contempt.

How can you claim I sing and appreciate the love that God has for me and then not love others?

That's Paul's argument.

And then he says, any participation in the Spirit?

Do you share in the life and presence of the Holy Spirit?

The word participation is koinonia.

It's this idea of fellowship.

It means to participate and to partner.

So Paul's point then is more than just enjoying one another's company.

He's saying these believers share in the same Holy Spirit.

Their connection is spiritual, not merely social.

Our connection is not just that we happen to worship at the same church and we happen to breathe similar air and we happen to sit in similar chairs and we're gonna walk out into a similar.

That's not our connection.

Our connection goes so much deeper than that.

It is that we share the same spirit, the Spirit of God, who indwells all believers.

For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body.

So by the Spirit of God, you have been connected to one body, the body of Christ, and now we are a part of the household of God.

That's his point.

And if there's any participation in the spirit, then then live in unity.

Don't treat as a rival someone with whom you share the life of God's Spirit.

And then if there's any affection and sympathy, that's the last part of verse one.

This is tenderness and compassion.

Affection describes deep heartfelt concern.

Sympathy describes compassion toward another person's suffering or need.

So this is compassionate hearts in Colossians chapter 3, verse 12.

Colossians 3:12

That's the same word, the same Greek words, compassionate hearts.

Not polite manners, but if you've ever experienced compassionate hearts and if you've received compassionate hearts, if this tenderness and compassion that's been associated with their life in Christ, if you've experienced that, then care uh for one another in the same way.

Other people's burdens then should matter to us, not just our own interests, because we have been recipients of affection and sympathy.

You see what he's doing?

Paul is not simply saying, you attend the same church, so try to get along.

He is saying you have been encouraged in Christ.

You have been comforted by his love and the love of fellow brothers.

You have been joined together through the Spirit of God, you have been touched by compassion.

Let your relationships then reflect the grace you share because you are in Christ.

Paul loves doing this.

In fact, one man said Paul loves to lavish us with encouraging reality before and as the basis of any commands.

He's just giving us some realities that are significant.

So Paul begins with what we have received together before describing how we should live together.

This is who you are.

Now unite.

Listen, I'm you if you know, you know, you know our family, uh that we're a family of six.

I have four kids.

I like to joke that I only have three kids now because one of our kids left.

She went to college and we disowned her because she left us and there's an emptiness there, but no, she's still part of our family.

We love her, she's still there.

But we vacation together as a family.

We eat a couple times a month, maybe together, maybe a little more than that, as a family.

We drive to places together as a family.

We don't do all of that because we're of the same personality.

Could you imagine?

If you had a family that all had the my personality, you'd be like, Lord help us, that would be incredibly bad for the world.

Children aren't in the car united together because they have the same personality or the same preferences in music.

In fact, we see this every time I ask and take a survey, hey, where do you guys want to eat today?

I have one person who says In N Out Burger, one person who says Chipotle, and one person who would have picked In N Out Burger or Chipotle, but because his sisters chose In N Out Burger or Chipotle, he wants Chick-fil-A all of a sudden, and World War III breaks out in the Reed household because we have diverse attitudes and preferences when it comes to what we're gonna have for dinner.

Listen, that's the reality of what it's like.

So our our unity in the car and our unity as a family is not based upon preferences or or personalities or even giftings.

The unity doesn't come from uh from those things, but it comes from similarity of a shared parents.

We are together in a relationship because we are of the same name, same home.

In Christ, that's true of us.

We are believers, we've been adopted by the same Father, we've been accepted to the same table.

The question then is not whether we are naturally alike, therefore we get along, it is whether we will live like the family that grace has made us to be.

Members of the household of God.

That's what Paul says we are in Ephesians.

So then he says, if that's true, if those things are true, then verse two, look what he says, complete my joy.

I love that.

Just I have joy in you.

He already said that in Philippians chapter 1.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

I have joy because you're partnering with me in the gospel, but but man, my joy would be full if not only did you partner with me in the gospel, but you all got along doing it.

That there's joy and unity.

My joy will be brought to fullness by seeing your shared faith expressed in genuine, united, a genuinely united church.

So he's essentially saying, You have brought me joy through your partnership in the gospel.

Now bring that joy to fullness by loving one another and pursuing the same purpose.

Be of the same mind, have the same love, be in full accord and of one mind.

These all happen, these realities that we want.

This is the church we want.

Nobody wants to come to a church where those things aren't true.

Nobody wants to pastor a church where those things aren't true.

Nobody wants to worship in a church where that's not true.

And these things happen when we remember our common experience, our shared experience in Christ.

That we have been brought into Christ, and therefore we have encouragement and compassion and comfort of his love, and therefore we relate to one another differently.

Amen?

Get it?

Okay, what we share in Christ is greater than anything that can divide us.

That's number one, okay?

Number two, verses three and four teach us this we will relate humbly when you and I reject the attitudes that divide us.

So after establishing the foundation or the basis for unity, our shared experience in Christ, Paul identifies the attitudes that threaten that unity.

Paul does not leave unity as an abstract ideal.

That's not what he's doing.

He identifies the attitudes that destroy it and the choices that cultivate it.

Okay?

Now he identifies two enemies of unity, selfish ambition and conceit.

So here's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna open it up and pull one of those out at a time.

Selfish ambition.

Do nothing from selfish ambition.

The key word here is from.

Paul is addressing motivation behind what a person does.

Don't do it from this motivation.

Selfish ambition is a word that carries the idea of self-seeking rivalry or advancing oneself, one's interests, or one's position at the expense of another.

Don't do anything to advance yourself at the expense of another.

It's not simply uh wanting to accomplish something significant.

We see the word ambition, and we might say, well, God doesn't want us to have any personal ambition.

That's not that's not what he's saying.

Paul himself was deeply ambitious for the advancing of the gospel.

But the problem he's addressing is that it is making our personal advancement the controlling purpose of our actions.

Selfish ambition manifests itself when it asks, how does this affect me?

Will I get what I want?

Will anyone recognize my contribution?

Who is the person chosen instead of me?

They're not even better than me.

I'm better than them.

Why didn't anyone ask my opinion?

Why should I have to sacrifice?

Why should I have to give something up?

Right?

That those are the attitudes that come to the surface when selfish ambition is the motivation.

It turns church life into a competition.

And instead of asking, how can we advance the mission, we begin asking, how can we advance ourselves?

We're not asking, is this good for the gospel?

We're not asking, is this good for the glory of God?

We're not asking, is this good for the building of the kingdom?

We're asking, is this good for me?

And James 3:16 warns us that where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

James 3:16

Selfish ambition never remains private, it always appears in our relationships when it rules our motives.

Selfish ambition, interesting enough, can operate through spiritual activities.

Did you know that?

In Philippians chapter 1, verse 17, Paul uses the same word to describe people preaching Christ out of selfish ambition.

Philippians 1:17

They were doing something incredible.

Preach Christ, but they were doing something moral and right and godly and spiritual out of a wrong motive.

They were doing something with self-serving motives.

That means someone can preach, someone can serve, someone can lead, someone can give, someone can defend a theological position and be well articulate in apologetics while being driven by a desire to win, to control, or to be admired.

That's selfish ambition.

So Paul is not asking, what are you doing?

That's not what he's interested in here.

He is asking, whose good are you pursuing and whose advancement are you seeking?

That's selfish ambition, okay?

Don't do anything.

Listen, let's just take that and just apply it, plug it and play it in your marriage.

Plug it and play it in your home, plug it and play it in your workplace, but especially for the sake of our gathering together, let's plug and play that in our church life together.

So selfish ambition.

Number two, he says, do nothing from conceit.

The Greek word for conceit is translated vain glory or empty conceit, literally.

Conceit is is this idea of a groundless sense of self-importance, a desire to have importance recognized, even though you really didn't do anything to get it.

I'm a sports fan through and through.

So I will be this, but isn't it funny how when your team wins, you somehow walk around arrogantly and conceited as if they won because you wear their hat?

Right?

Like, look at this.

And then people get in fights over this stuff.

Like, as if they did something to win or whatever.

It's like, look, there were 11 guys on the football field and a bunch of people on the sidelines who won this game.

You did nothing except cheer.

So let's not base your conceit on anything empty.

That's the idea.

Okay?

Selfish ambition seeks my advantage.

Conceit insists on my importance.

Conceit says my perspective is obviously the right one and deserves the greatest weight.

Conceit says my needs deserve to come first.

Conceit says my gifts make me more important than others.

Conceit says my contribution is more important than theirs.

Conceit says my hurt excuses my behavior.

Conceit says my preferences should determine the direction of the church or the body.

Conceit says people should recognize what I bring to this church.

Selfish ambition wants the glory.

Conceit says I deserve the glory.

Both destroy unity.

Romans 12, 3 says, do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought to think, but think with sober judgment.

So humility then is not denying the strength God has given you.

It is seeing yourself accurately.

A person made in God's image, gifted by God's grace, dependent upon God's power, and called to serve God's people.

It's not thinking less, it's just thinking of yourself rightly.

And a church cannot enjoy genuine unity while its members are competing to establish their own importance.

So instead, replace self-centeredness with humility.

Look at the next part, but in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.

In humility, lowliness of mind.

Not believing you are worthless, not denying the gifts God has given you, not pretending everyone else is more capable than you, not being unbelieving or being unable to receive encouragement, not constantly criticizing yourself.

No.

A person can speak negatively about himself while remaining immensely preoccupied with himself.

Isn't that crazy?

You can be all kinds of I'm lowly, I'm humble, I'm not much, but you are so self-centered and preoccupied with yourself.

We can do that.

Biblical humility then involves an honest understanding of ourselves before God.

C.S.

Lewis said it this way: he will not be thinking, the humble person will not be thinking about humility.

In fact, he will not be thinking about himself at all.

That's what humility is.

And he says, when you live in humility, you will count others more significant than yourselves.

This means to regard or to consider.

Paul is calling for a deliberate way of thinking, to make an intentional way of counting or regarding others.

It's a consciously adopting a posture towards others that shapes our actions towards them.

So instead of automatically treating my interests as the most important, I learn to regard the other person as someone whose good I should willingly prioritize and to count them more significant.

Not more valuable.

That's not what he's saying.

He's not saying treat that person more as if they're more valuable.

He's not commanding us to believe that everyone else possesses greater worth before God, greater ability or greater character.

That would require us often to believe things that aren't true.

Rather, he calls us to give others the place of honor and to willingly take the place of service.

The point is not you matter and I do not.

That's not what he's promoting.

He's promoting you matter and I will not insist that my interests always come first.

We should not weaken the command here, is just kind of acknowledging that people matter, but Paul calls for something more.

He says there should be then a willingness to prioritize their good, even when doing so costs us something.

This is Romans 12, 10.

What a great passage for this.

Outdo one another in showing honor.

So we just talked about we don't want the church to become a place of competition, except in this regard.

Let's compete with one another in showing honor, in living selfless, and in living humble and preferring or counting someone else's needs more significant than our our own.

So instead of competing to receive honor, we become eager to give it.

Notice the command is mutual.

Others, he says.

He means one another.

Paul is addressing the whole congregation.

So he says, to count others more significant than yourself.

And so he's not just saying count others as if there are people in the church who deserve more honor and there are other people who do not.

No, he's saying, all y'all, every one of you, count others.

So if everybody's counting others' needs and will more important than their own, now we all are doing the one another's of preferring one another and submitting to one another and honoring one another.

So it's the whole congregation uh considering one another or counting others more significant than yourselves.

And then he says, verse 4, this might be the biggest part.

Let each of you look not to his own interests.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests.

Look means to pay attention, to give careful consideration.

He is calling us to direct our attention.

Self-centeredness, by the way, is not always expressed through obvious arrogance.

Sometimes it appears in an inability or an unwillingness to notice anything beyond our own concerns.

The most self-centered people aren't always the most arrogant people, but they are the people who have an inability to see other people's needs, other people's hurts, and other people's successes.

Instead, we notice our inconvenience, but not another person's burden.

Our disappointment, but not another person's sacrifice.

Our desire to be heard, but not another person's need to be understood.

How much we work, but not the pressure someone else is carrying.

Paul calls us to widen our attention and he says to not only look at yours.

He's saying, Look, look, look to yours, but don't only look to yours.

I'm not talking about some sort of like lose control of your health, your household, and your other obligations.

You should just stop worrying about your life, your budget, and your bank account, worry about other people's.

He's saying, no, do do that, but also pay attention to how you can serve other people, the interests of others.

That's what he says.

Also the interests of others.

Another person's concerns, another person's needs, another person's responsibilities, another person's welfare.

I'm seeking to understand.

So you see what he's doing here?

He's giving us the attitudes that really will divide us.

Selfish, uh, selfish ambition, promotion of self, and empty arrogance or empty conceit.

Instead, in humility, count others more important than yourself.

Consider how you might be able to pay attention to the interests of others.

That's what we're talking about here, right?

Not selfish ambition or empty conceit.

I'm talking about how we treat one another in our relationships.

Uh there's I have this knee-jerk reaction.

I'm gonna confess something to you for a second, okay?

So judge me if you want.

I hope you won't, but it just is what it is.

Spills turn me into some kind of like angry maniac.

Like, I just think sp like so if you spill right now, I'm sorry, I'm confessing it.

So, all y'all that spill coffee every Sunday, I'm mad at you for a few minutes, we're getting over it.

But if a spill happens in my kitchen, I'm just like, what were you doing?

Why did that spill happen?

What's wrong with you, right?

Now, listen, that's wrong.

I confess, I'm broken.

But one of the things I can't stand is when I'm holding, let's say, my cup of coffee and I get bumped into and my coffee spills, I would say it wasn't my fault.

And if you ask me why my coffee spilled, I would say, because that person bumped me, right?

They bumped me.

But but here's here's what I realize is the bump only explains why something came out, it doesn't explain why coffee came out.

I know, simple illustration, but bear with me for a second.

Coffee spilled because coffee was already inside the cup.

Okay?

Now I get sin into frustration.

You bump me, you shouldn't have done that, but their bumping me doesn't explain what was why what was inside was inside, it just reveals what was inside.

And our relationships in the church bump us, don't they?

Like, let's just be honest.

I'm not talking physically in the lobby because you can't find room to walk around in.

I'm talking about relationally, people bump you.

Someone disagrees with you, someone overlooks you, someone receives an opportunity that you wanted, someone fails to thank you, someone fails to call you, someone fails to recognize you, a decision is made that you would not have made, and the anger, the defensiveness, the jealousy, the gossip, or the resentment spills out.

And we say, Look what they made me do, look what this situation brought out of me.

But the pressure did not create the pride or the selfish ambition or the conceit.

It simply exposed what was already present.

So as we live in relationship, the question is not who bumped me, look what you made me do.

The deeper question is, what did the bump reveal in me?

What spilled out of me?

Was there kindness and paying attention to the interests of others and love and humility, or was there anger and frustration like Andrew Reed does when he's bumped in his coffee spills?

Listen, may relationally we let come out of us all kinds of Christ-like humility when our relationships in the church bump us.

Amen?

Amen.

Paul does not merely give us a command, then he directs our attention next to Christ.

This is the best part of the text.

And I've only got a couple minutes to give it to you, so here we go.

We will relate humbly when, number three, you and I reflect the humility that Christ displayed.

This is the hinge.

Now we're about to read one of the best Christological, theologically deep text about Christ, but he's not giving it to us for systematic theology, he's giving it to us as an example to follow.

Have, verse 5, this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Think about yourselves and one another the way Jesus thought.

Paul is not saying we must possess Christ's infinite knowledge.

That's not what he's talking about.

He is saying that our relationships should reflect Christ's disposition.

So, what we're gonna get here is that Jesus isn't merely an illustration that Paul adds to his sermon, like the weak bump my coffee cup illustration.

No, it's bigger than that.

He is the supreme revelation of humility and the source of the humility that Paul commands.

The supreme revelation of humility.

Andrew Murray said it this way: Our humility before God has no value except that it prepares us to reveal the humility of Jesus to our fellow men.

So he's like, listen, don't just be humble before God.

Live humbly before others so that they might see it modeled.

That's what we're after.

Christ-like humility is not meant to remain in our private devotional life, it must become visible in how we treat people.

That's why he says, have this mind among yourselves.

He doesn't say, have this mind when you're in your prayer closet and nobody sees you, and when you're driving or when you're bumping in the lobby to people, don't have it.

That's that's not.

It's it's among yourselves.

He's not saying privately think humble thoughts.

He wants Christ's humility to shape how we relate to one another.

So the question really comes up that does the way I treat other people reflect the way Jesus treated us?

That's what Paul's presenting to us.

The wording, which is yours in Christ Jesus, also keeps this from becoming just some detached moral advice.

These are people who belong to Christ.

They are in Christ.

It is theirs because they are in Christ Jesus.

They are called to live together in a way that reflects the Savior to whom they belong.

That's what he's after.

So listen, if you are, brothers and sisters, in Christ, if you have been united to Christ, if you're a Christian, if you've placed your faith in Christ, then this is the mind that is yours, enabled and empowered by Christ, so that you can follow the model of Christ.

Well, what did he do?

Man, this is good.

You should be asking that.

Well, what did he do?

What's so good about what he did?

You probably know this, but look what he says.

He did not use his position for himself.

Verse 6, who, though he was in the form of God, that doesn't mean he was merely like God.

That means that he shared the genuine divine status and nature of God.

Not just outward resemblance, but total nature.

He was in the form of God.

He was God, is what he's saying.

He's not describing a man who eventually became God.

He is describing the Son of God, the divine son who became man.

That's what he's doing.

He did not become God, but he eternally existed as God.

He was in the form of God, he was of the nature of God, he was God.

In the beginning was the word.

The word was with God, and the word was God, and the word became flesh.

John 1 14.

Right?

That's what we're after.

So we're not talking about a man who became a God.

We're talking about a God who became man so that he might serve us and save us.

He did not count, though, he was with God, though he was one with God, though he was in the image of God.

He did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Do you see that?

Oh man, don't miss this.

Jesus did not treat his equality with God as something to be exploited for his own advantage.

Paul is not saying that Jesus refused to become equal with God.

He has already described Jesus as existing in the form of God.

He was equal with God.

He is not saying Jesus stopped being equal with God.

The point here concerns how Jesus acted in light of his equality with God.

You understand that?

It's not saying that he stopped being God or he wasn't God.

He is saying he was God, and this is how he acted, even though he was in divine status.

He did not treat his divine status as a reason to avoid the servant's spot or to refuse suffering involved in saving us.

Here's what we do.

We often reason this way because of who I am, I should not have to serve like that.

This creeps into my life if I say, Well, I'm the pastor.

I shouldn't have to empty trash.

Right?

That's the brokenness here.

That would mean using my status, if I want to use it that way, arrogantly, selfish ambition, as a reason not to get involved in messiness.

And Jesus says, No, he did not count equality with God, a thing to be exploited for his own advantage.

Remember, verse 3 says to count others more significant than yourselves.

And now he uses the same word, telling us that that Jesus counted again something about his status.

Paul is showing us a deliberate way of thinking that leads to deliberate self-giving.

Jesus had every right, but he did not insist upon every right.

We tend to view position as an opportunity to be served.

Jesus viewed his position as an opportunity to serve.

Amen.

Right?

That's a good spot, by the way, to say I agree.

That's what amen means, by the way.

I agree.

That's what we're after, right?

You can say I agree.

That's okay.

Ready?

I agree.

There we go.

What does my position entitle me to receive?

That's what we ask.

Jesus asks, How can I use what I possess for the good of others?

Jesus made himself nothing.

Look at verse 7.

He emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, by being born in the likeness of men.

Paul does not say that Jesus emptied himself of his deity.

He does not say that Jesus stopped being God or became less than God or surrendered the divine attributes that made him God.

Instead, the following phrase explains how he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant.

He emptied himself by taking the servant's place and entering into our human condition.

The movement here of Paul is not from being God to no longer being God, it is from divine majesty to genuinely human life of a lowly servant.

He didn't cease to be what he was, he became what he had not been.

The eternal son remained truly God while becoming truly human.

You understand that?

He was truly God and truly human.

Emptying describes not his emptying of his deity, but it describes his self-giving and humiliation.

It should not be turned into a claim that he discarded his divine nature.

Be careful of that.

Paul's purpose here is not to answer every question about Christ's divine and human natures operated and how they coexisted.

I can't help you with that.

All I know is that he was 100% man and 100% God, because the Bible teaches us that.

And Paul's purpose isn't to help us understand the divine nature and the human nature, but he's really trying to help us understand this that the Son willingly accepted the lowly condition and costly service involved in becoming our Savior, even though he was of divine status.

So the emptying is the eternal son took to himself a fully human nature.

The one who created humanity entered humanity, the one who was served by angels became a servant, the one who possessed heaven was laid in a manger, and though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Second Corinthians 8 9.

Okay, we we track in here?

Think about it this way.

John chapter 13 tells us that Jesus knew that the Father had given him all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and that he was going back to God.

John 13 · chapter mention

John 13 is explicit about that.

Jesus knew, and so what it says, he got up from the table and he put a robe on and put a towel over his arm and he knelt down from supper, wrapped himself there, and washed his disciples' feet.

Now I love that he puts disciples' feet there because I think the best picture of humiliation is the washing of someone's nasty, corn-filled feet, right?

It's gross.

And I think that's what we're doing here.

It may not be as bad then as it is now, but listen, that's what he did.

He humbled himself, got into the lowest position from his acknowledgement of who he was, and he washed their feet.

Jesus did not merely perform a few acts of kindness, he became obedient, being born in the likeness of men, not meaning that he appeared to be human, but he was fully human.

He was hungry, tired, exhausted, yet without sin, Hebrews 4.15.

And being found in human form, verse 8, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death.

He humbled himself by following and obeying the will of the Father to the point of death, even death on a cross, the most shameful death that there was, the most excruciating, painful death that there was, the most uh disregarded death, so much so that Roman citizens were forbidden from being crucified because it was too shameful.

That's what he became obedient to, not just to serve and wash people's feet, but to die, and not just to die, but to die the death of a shameful criminal.

Think about this: for from God to the form of a servant, to the likeness of humanity, to obedient suffering, to death, even death on a cross.

How far was Jesus willing to stoop all the way to you to meet your need as your Savior?

He wasn't willing to say, This is my right, I don't have to do that.

I am God, I am in the form of God, I am equal with God.

I'm not gonna lower myself to go down amongst those smelly, sin-filled people.

I'm going to live in my deity and in my glory.

No, that wasn't his attitude.

His attitude was, I'm willingly humbling myself for their good, because I'm not counting my will more important than my love and my will, uh, obedience to the will of the Father.

John Stott said it this way: the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man.

That's what he did.

So the cross shows us that our Savior did not merely tell us to put others first.

What did he do?

He put us before himself.

He saw us in our sin, guilt, and helplessness, and he did not remain at a safe distance.

He entered our world, he carried our sin, he absorbed our judgment, and he gave his life so that we could be forgiven.

That means this that Christian humility is not primarily produced by repeatedly telling ourselves to be less selfish, but it grows as we fix our attention upon the self-giving love of Christ.

The cross then is both the means of our salvation and it is the model for our Christian relationships and all relationships.

So here's the challenge from point three.

When I become impressed with myself, I need to look at the cross.

When I become protective of my rights, I need to look at the cross.

When I refuse to forgive, I need to look at the cross.

When I insist that others should serve me because of my status, I need to look at the cross.

That's why we take communion so often is because we want to constantly put before us this is what it means.

When my preferences become more important than the unity of the church, I need to look to the cross.

We do not become humble by staring endlessly at ourselves and repeating, be humble.

We become humble as we fix our attention upon the self giving love of Jesus.

Amen?

Okay, that's three of them.

Last one I don't have time to fully develop, but I'll just I want to give it to you, read the text.

We will relate humbly when you and I rejoice in the lordship Christ deserves.

The story doesn't end at the cross and in humiliation.

Therefore, verse 9 God has highly.

Highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.

The word, therefore, connects Christ's exaltation with his humiliation.

The one who willingly went to the lowest place has been raised to the highest place.

Jesus humbled himself and the Father exalted him.

This doesn't mean that Jesus earned deity through his obedience.

He's always been God.

It means that the Father publicly vindicated the Son's saving work and exalted the crucified and risen Christ as Lord over all.

He elevated him to be both Lord and Christ.

He's both the Lord and the Messiah.

That he is established, that he sits on the right hand far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named.

So that, verse 10, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow.

And in heaven and on earth and under the earth, humans, demons, and angels should all bow when the name of Jesus is declared.

That there's no part of creation outside his authority.

And then verse 11, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

The name above every name, that is the divine title, Lord of all.

One day every tongue will confess what the church gladly confesses today.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Every Hitler and every Saddam Hussein and every ISIS member and every abortion clinic, all of them will all bow down and say, Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen?

That's what's gonna happen here.

So why does he connect this?

Because he's raising the brightest star.

What I mean by that is this on a clear night, it's fun to look up into the sky and try to argue what star is the brightest, right?

Oh, look at that one over there.

That one's bright, and I think that one's a planet, that one's glowing red, and I even have this app on my phone where you can look at the stars and you can see where the planets are, and you get to figure out which one's the brightest, there's the brightest, there's the north star.

But you know when that doesn't happen?

When the sun rises.

Because when the sun rises, there's no doubt what the brightest star is.

There's one star that shines bright, so much so that you can't even look at it without burning your retinas, right?

Right?

So the reality is this is that as long as we keep the Son of God in a corner of our lives and our gatherings, we're gonna argue about who's the brightest star in this church.

But when we elevate the glory of Christ and the majesty of Christ, and we let the Son of God rise in this place, there's no doubt who the brightest is.

It's Jesus Christ.

And that's going to happen when the end happens, whether you like it or not, let's do it now.

That he might be preeminent in the church.

That's the focus.

And I feel like the point he's making is this, and Charles Spurgeon said it best.

It matters not what shall become of us.

God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.

So do you see how my rejoicing in the Lordship Christ deserves now makes our humble relating take place and unity be preserved?

Yes, because we no longer are fighting for brightness in the sky.

There's one who is brightest in the sky of life, church.

That's Jesus Christ.

So we bow together, we confess together, we worship together, and we live together for the glory of the one who humbled himself to save us and now reigns over all.

We will relate humbly when we rejoice in the lordship Christ deserves.

Okay, that was quick.

I said it all.

Let me wrap this up.

Our world tells us this: promote yourself, protect yourself, assert yourself, demand your rights, build your platform, make sure you are noticed.

Jesus teaches us another way.

Humble yourself, serve others, obey the Father, give yourself in love, trust God with the outcome, live for the glory of Christ.

This is the mind of Christ that we are called to share.

A united church relates with Christ-like humility.

And we will relate with this kind of humility when you and I remember what we share in Christ, when you and I reject the attitudes that divide us, when we reflect the humility that Christ displayed, and when we rejoice in the lordship Christ deserves.

We become and stay united, not by having all the same preferences, all the same personalities, all the same opinions, but by all having the same mind, the mind of the one who came, not using his position for himself, but took the form of a servant and humbled himself to the point of death, even death on a cross.

So before we leave asking how others should treat us, let's fix our attention upon Jesus.

That might change how we relate to one another.

Amen?

Okay.

Three quick truth to life questions, truth to life, truth to life questions.

Here they are.

Number one, have I experienced what Christ offers?

Am I in Christ?

Ask yourself this.

Am I in Christ?

If not, come to Christ.

What have you not yet shared that Christ has offered to you?

What have you forgotten that you share with another believer in Christ?

Just go back to the gospel and am I in Christ?

And if I am in Christ, my brother that's in Christ should be treated differently because we are in Christ.

That's number one.

Come to Christ.

Number two, in what relationship do I need to humble myself?

In what relationship do I need to say, uh, my interest is not as important as yours?

In humility, I'm gonna deny myself.

Is it a is it a marriage?

Is it a parenting relationship?

Is it a church relationship?

Where has selfish ambition entered your heart?

What spills out of you when you are overlooked and disappointed?

Hey, what comes out of the cup when it's bumped?

Let's get that right.

And number three, question that's a little more abstract for you to answer open-ended.

How does my humility affect gospel mission?

If we're called to be on mission, then our humility probably affects that.

How does it affect it?

Answer that question.

I think it's important for us to relate to that, knowing that we are on mission.

We're gonna sing this out.

Jesus Only Jesus is a song that I think fits here because we are gonna bow before him.

Let's do it together now as a church, singing the glory of God and and the majesty of Jesus Christ.

A united church relates together with Christ-like humility.

Amen?

All right, let's pray.

Father, thank you for your word.

Thank you for this passage, what it means to us, and how it guides us in our in our thinking about our relationship to one another.

Help us to relate together in this way.

Help us to follow the model of Jesus Christ.

Help us to understand our position in Christ, help us to identify where selfish ambition and empty conceit is crept in and where that begins to flow out of our lives when we are bumped.

Help us to live with Christ-like humility.

We love you, we want to honor you, we want to be a united church.

We know that this is important for the health and success of our movement as a church for the kingdom and for your glory.

So help us in that.

Somebody's here that doesn't know Christ, I pray that you'd save them and they would come to know Christ as their savior and share in the benefits of being in Christ.

We love you and we thank you.

We pray this all in Jesus' name.

Amen.