"Into the Word: Philippians: Part 2" by Hiram Kemp

that way. And just as Neil did last week, the handouts will simply,

simply be what you find on the PowerPoint screen, but you can fill

in the blanks if you'd like to take notes that way. We mentioned this last

week, this is our Into the Word class. We typically preach a sermon on Sunday

night, but at Lehman years ago we would do these classes on Monday

nights, and we decided to be a good change-up for the summer to have these

Bible-style classes, Into the Word, as we work through Philippians in 4 classes

throughout the month of August. All ages are in here, and I just want to

say before we start tonight, anybody in the class can answer a question or ask

one. We'd love for you to participate and be engaged as we work through the

material together. As they're handing those out, briefly just remind you of where we

were last week. Neil gave an introduction to the book of Philippians on the whole

and talked about what the book of Philippians is driving at. And if you

followed what he was teaching us, he basically said that the book of Philippians is

ultimately about how we give ourselves up and selfless

service to strive toward the humility that God would have us to have

and possess as the people of God. The book of Philippians is really about that,

how we can be selfless servants that live humble lives, and when

we do that, it leads to humility. Throughout the book of Philippians though, the way

Paul typically does this is he lifts up examples. Paul will say, hey, you need

to behave in this way and behave in this light, and then he'll use examples.

He used himself throughout Philippians chapter 1. And we'll see some

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

of the same tonight. So if you have your Bible, go ahead and turn it

to Philippians 1, and we'll look at verse 27 all the way

down through chapter 2 and verse 30, because that's where Paul finishes up this thought.

And tonight's lesson, just like you see on the screen, is going to be about

the selfless life of Jesus's servants,

what that looks like, how we can become that, examples as

Paul typically gives of what that looks like, and how God works

it out in our day-to-day lives. All right, but before we get into the

deep theology of Philippians chapter 2, let's just start with something a little bit more

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

simpler than that, okay? Show of hands, everybody in this classroom who

would describe themselves as selfish or who has ever behaved selfishly before.

All self-righteous people leave their hands down. All right,

so if that's the case, and the Bible teaches repeatedly, hey, don't be selfish,

this isn't good for you, you know that churches and societies

and homes where selfishness reigns always leads to the mayhem

and destruction of that group of people and those lives. We're going

to study tonight from Philippians 2. You probably aren't going to learn brand

new information about why we should be humble and that sort of thing,

but my question is, before we even get started, why are we selfish if

we know internally this is not good for us? Not only

does God condemn it and forbid it, but just practically

throughout the inner workings of our lives, we've done this before and we know this

doesn't work out good, why are we still people that often lean

or opt for selfishness? Because we're selfish.

All right, that's progress, making progress. Because we're selfish.

What else? We like to be comfortable, and doing

my way is easier than what? Any other way. Yeah, doing my

way is the way I like to do things. Any, any other reason why we

opt for selfishness? We want to be in control. Yep, we want to be in

control. Here are some reasons I thought about, then we'll get to Philippians.

We feel like nobody's looking out for us. Psalm 142:4, David says

Psalms 142:4

in that Psalm, this is not on your sheet. David says, I looked

to my left and my right, there was no man that cared for my soul.

A lot of times selfishness comes because we say, I've got to look out for

numero uno, got to look out for myself, nobody else will. Sometimes people have

taken advantage of us before. 2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul says

2 Corinthians 12:15

it's strange the way his relationship was working out with the Corinthians. The more I

love you, the less I'm loved. Sometimes we opt for selfishness

because I extended myself for other people, but they didn't appreciate it.

The world tells us it's the fastest route to success and exaltation.

If you really want to go high and really reach the top, you've got to

be about yourself. That's the only way to succeed. But Proverbs 14:12 says,

Proverbs 14:12

there's a way that seems right to a man, but that way ultimately results

in death. The world tells us we've earned it. And we deserve it. That's what

Paul means— John means by the pride of life. This my way, I want to

do it, I should do things my own way. And sometimes we get angry or

irritated. Tried to be humble, tried to be selfless, but you know what?

Nobody in this family cares. Nobody at this job cares. So from now on,

I'm just going to worry about who? Me. That's anger and irritation.

And James says the wrath or the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness

of God. And then this was already mentioned. It's just easier,

and we like easy. I wanted to start here before we jump

right into Philippians 2 because we probably wouldn't say this. You probably wouldn't vocalize

it this way, but maybe we can approach the Bible and Bible classes

and sermons kind of with this idea. Okay, God, I understand that. That's true,

and that works in like the Holy Land. That works in heaven, in the heavenly

world, but the philosophy that you're giving me, the way you want me to live

my life, it doesn't really work practically here. And I hope

we see as we work through the Bible tonight in Philippians 2, God saying to

us, I made you and I made the world. And when

you work against that, that's never going to work out for you in the

world that I created. It's not going to be good for you. So Philippians 1:27

Philippians 1:27

down through the end of the chapter. But let's just start first with

the first thing, and that is living out our beliefs. And this is what Paul

says, Philippians 1:27. I'm going to read it all the way down through chapter 2

Philippians 1:27

and verse 4. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of

Christ, so that whether I see you or am absent,

I may hear of you that you're standing firm in one spirit, with one mind,

striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened

in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction,

but of your salvation and that from God. For it's been granted

to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him,

but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I

had and now hear that I still have. So if there's any encouragement

in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection

and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind,

having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 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. The first thing Paul says, he's already talked about what

this should be about. Used himself as an example. Now he says, you've got to

live out your beliefs. The selfless life of a servant of Jesus Christ means if

you really believe this, you're going to live it out. And this means living out

your life as a heavenly citizen. In verse 27, he says, only let

your manner of life, or your translation may have, only let your

conduct. And this is a word that sounds like in Greek where we get our

word politics from. And Paul's saying your citizenship, the way you go about

your business, should be as a person that's a citizen of heaven. Only let

your manner of life be worthy of the gospel. What do you think that means

in verse 27? What does this let your life be worthy mean? What does Paul

mean when he says only let your conduct, your manner of life, your citizenship be

worthy of the gospel? What does that mean?

Conduct yourself the way Jesus expects you to. Live your life consistently

with what you say you believe. Just hold your hand in Philippians 1.

I want to show you a few other places in the New Testament where Paul

continuously calls Christians back to this idea that you need to live worthy

or you need to live up to your calling. So go to Ephesians chapter 4,

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

and if you make a list of these or you write in your Bible for

cross-references, you can just make your own. But this phrase from Paul, live a life

worthy of the gospel, regularly comes up. So Ephesians 4 and

verse 1, Paul's doing this same thing. I therefore, the prisoner of the

Lord, I urge you that you walk worthy of the calling with which you've been

called. It's the same idea. I want you to live consistently with

your beliefs. You claim to be a Christian. You claim to be somebody that has

a selfless, humble life. Walk worthy of the calling that's called you.

Go to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, right after Philippians.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention Colossians 1 · chapter mention

Colossians 1 and verse 10.

Colossians 1 and verse 10, so as to walk— this is his desire and

prayer for these Christians— so as to walk in a manner that's what?

Worthy of the Lord. Yeah, this is not a sermon. You can talk, I promise

you, okay? Yeah, you can walk worthy, in a manner worthy of the Lord,

fully pleasing him. Last one, go to 1 Thessalonians 2.

1 Thessalonians 2, and notice verse 12. 1 Thessalonians

2 and verse 12, he says, we exhorted each one of you

and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner that is what?

Worthy of God. So Paul constantly is telling Christians, if you're going to name

the name of Jesus Christ, walk in a manner worthy. Go back to Philippians 1:27.

Philippians 1:27

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether I

come see you or else be absent— Where is Paul when he wrote the book

of Philippians? In jail. He's in Rome. He's in prison. And he says, I can't

be there, but I want you to do the right thing anyway.

What do you call it when somebody only works when

the boss is around, or only obeys when their parents are around, or only

does their work when the teacher is standing over their shoulder? What is that called?

The Bible has a word for it. What do you call that?

Opposer. What else somebody said? Lazy, sloth.

The Bible calls this in Ephesians 6:6— Neil used this

Ephesians 6:6

for the scripture reading this morning— eye-service as men-pleasers.

Paul's saying, whether I'm there or not, I want you to keep living the life

you know you should live because my presence might encourage you,

but God's always watching. The eyes of the Lord are in every place,

beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3.

Proverbs 15:3

God's eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 16:9

16:9. Live a life worthy whether he's there or not.

And he says, I want you to be people that stand fast with

one spirit, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. The humble life

of a servant of Jesus is you live out your life as a heavenly citizenship.

Now, Corbin and Andre, come up here. I told them I was gonna use them

for an object lesson tonight, okay? And they were both up to it. Up to

bat for it. Just get back to back. Paul uses a metaphor.

He uses imagery. Hold your Bible up. Roman soldiers would sometimes

get in what's called a phalanx, and that is they would put their shields together.

You've seen this in movies, and nobody could touch them with a spear. But sometimes

they'd be pressed up against themselves in defense, and soldiers would

have to get back to back with their swords up and defend each other.

When Paul says, I want you striving side by side

together for the faith of the gospel, he has this kind of imagery in mind.

Now, what if Corbin said, you know what, I'm gonna just do my own thing.

What's gonna happen to Andre? He's gonna be gone.

Worse than that though, and just think about this from the standpoint of the church,

what if Andre just turns around and he's just gonna

use his sword on Corbin? See, Paul says, y'all can sit, only let your manner

of life be— Corbin's like, he killed me? No, this was an illustration.

Yeah. You think about group projects. You've done group projects in school.

Why is that always death? Because what? Billy's not going to turn in his part.

We're waiting for Sarah to respond, right? Some of you work on jobs

week in and week out where you can't do your job until another person

does their part. You know how frustrating that is if they don't pull their weight.

And this is true on sports teams. Coach calls a play. I'm just going to

do my own thing. Paul says, when I hear about you Philippians, the selfless

life of a servant of Jesus, only let your life be consistent

with the gospel of Christ. Whether I'm there or not, I want you guys back

to back, Striving together for the faith of the gospel. Don't run off

and do your own thing. Don't be a weird soldier in the army of Jesus

Christ and stab another soldier in the back. You work together for the faith

of the gospel. Stick together, striving together for the faith of the

gospel. That's what Paul means by being a selfless servant. And if you do this,

you'll overcome fear from outsiders. In verse 28, he talks about these opponents

and he says, don't be frightened by your opponents. Maybe these troublers,

and he'll say more about them in chapter 3, these agitators, they were causing

trouble. He says for them it's a clear sign of destruction, but it's

for your salvation and that from God. Most Christians

read the Bible, come to worship services, hear sermons and participate,

and really want to be faithful. What often gets us off course

is opposition from the outside. I was

talking to somebody yesterday and he said, you know, Hiram, there are a lot of

days in between Sundays. And I was thinking, well, there's 6 and that's

every week. But what he meant was, when I hear a sermon, I really want

to do the right thing and do a good thing. But then you know what

happens? Life happens. I got to go to work. I've got

to deal with people. Paul's saying, hey, you guys stick together. And though there may

be outside pressure and opposition, you stay on the same page. It'll be their destruction,

but it'll ultimately be your salvation. For them, it was persecution. Maybe for

us it's not persecution. But there are voices on the outside, from the outside

world telling us this is not the way to live your life. And you could

think about a list of our adversaries. For them, it'll be their destruction,

but our salvation, that's saying this way of Philippians, the selfless life,

is not the way you should go. And maybe you've got some things like top

of mind, social media, the world, the internet, fine. But then there's some underlying things,

and I'll just call this like secular psychology that's teaching

people today, hey, You got to look out for you. And I think

mental health is important and it's a great thing, but social and like secular mental

health that says the most important thing in your life is you. You've got to

get your mind right. Focus on you, focus on yourself, develop your personality,

all that you, you, you for whatever else good it could be.

It's not Christian because the Christian life is ultimately

not about you. It's about other people. And Paul says, I want you to

be a person that strives to do this in a way that honors God and

then be willing to suffer, verse 29, to you is granted in behalf of Christ,

not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. The way

you know you're living out your beliefs and you're a selfless servant is how much

you're willing to suffer. At the end of the day, your religion is

whatever you would suffer for gladly without any

kind of apology or without any fanfare. Whatever you would suffer for gladly

without apology or fanfare, that's your religion. And that's why Peter says, if anybody suffers

as a Christian, 1 Peter 4:16, don't be ashamed, but instead

1 Peter 4:16

glorify God in this name. Paul uses himself as an example again in verse 30.

And then the last thing Paul does, and we'll just do this quickly and move

on to the second section, he gives these examples. In Philippians 2:1-4,

Philippians 2:1–4

he says, how does your translation start out in verse 1? So what?

So if there's any encouragement, any consolation. When Paul's

using this phrase, so if there's any consolation or any encouragement, This doesn't mean

like maybe there is. Paul's saying, hey, since this is true,

Paul's using a phrase that assumes this is true. And he's saying,

because these things are true about your life, because there's encouragement

in Christ, because there's comfort of love, because there's fellowship of the Spirit,

because there's affection and sympathy, you should be the kind

of people that live your life humbly. Look at verse 3 and verse 4.

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 who? Other people.

What does this phrase mean in the world when people say this? And maybe somebody

said this to you, maybe you've said it to somebody else. You're struggling through something

and you're mulling it over in your mind repeatedly, and then somebody says this to

you, you got to get out of your own head. What does that mean?

You got to get out of your own head. You got to get out of

your own thoughts. What does that phrase mean?

Stop being selfish. But like, what about your thoughts? What does a person mean when

they say, hey, you're doing this to yourself, you're stressing about something and

they say, hey, if you're going to get past this, you got to get out

of your own head. What does that mean? Quit dwelling on it.

You got to get out of your own head. In Philippians 2:3-4, look at the

Philippians 2:3–4

verses again. Paul's saying you got to get out of your own life.

Paul's saying you got to get out of your own life. You can't just keep

dwelling on yourself. Look not every man on his own interests, but every man also

on the things of others. Who do you spend the most time thinking about?

Most of us are going to say, ourselves. And Paul's going to say, that's your

problem. You're so worried about yourself, how people see you, how you sound, how you

look, how people perceive you. That's your problem. The Greeks

had a word for this. It was called an isophile. This is a person that

just loved looking in the mirror at themselves. And maybe you know people like

this, right? They just love looking at themselves. Paul says, don't live your life that

way. That's not what the Christian life's all about. A selfless servant that lives

out their belief says, you know what? My life isn't the most important one in

the world. I want to pour out my life in service to other people.

1 Corinthians 10:24, Paul says, look not

1 Corinthians 10:24

every man on his own things, but also I want you to look on the

things of others. Don't put your own interests first, but instead put the interests of

others first. The life of a selfless servant of Jesus, it boils down to living

out your beliefs. Paul's saying this is already baked in the gospel. So if you

believe this, if there's encouragement in Christ, and there is, If there's comfort

of love, and there is, if you've enjoyed fellowship of the Spirit, and you have,

make my joy complete. That's verse 2 of chapter 2,

by making sure you don't focus on yourself,

but you focus on others. What's going to happen in a church when everybody

is focused on everybody else? You say, well, nobody will care about me. But if

everybody in this congregation was focused on somebody besides themselves,

somebody would see to your needs of encouragement and of hope and of uplifting.

It wouldn't be you. You'd be giving it to somebody else. But somebody in turn

will be doing what? Giving it back to you. And Paul says, that's what it

means to live out the sacrificial life. Now, number 2, we'll have

4 of these moves tonight and we'll be done. He says, he gives us an

example. Paul in the book of Philippians, he teaches something that Christians

ought to do, and then he quickly follows it up with an example.

And in this section, Paul gives the best example he can think of,

and that's the example of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5,

Philippians 2:5

he says, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in

Christ Jesus. So the mind of Philippians 2:1-4, this mind

Philippians 2:1–4

of humility, this mind of service, putting others before yourself, he says,

that's the mind of Jesus and I want you to have it. Let's read verses

6 through 11 together. I know 9 through 11 was a part of the scripture

reading, but let's read 6 through 11 and notice how he demonstrates that

Jesus actually lived this selfless and sacrificial life. In verse

5, 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 he emptied himself by taking the form of a

servant, being born in human likeness, in the likeness

of men, 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

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 should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father. Paul has just told the Philippians to live

what kind of life? Sacrificial,

starts with an H, ends with humble. What does he say? Live a humble life.

And now he gives an example. That example is Jesus. How do you know Jesus

was humble? He says, here's the evidence. He was equal with God.

He says, who being in the form of God, Jesus was and is

equal with God. John 10:30, Jesus says, I and

John 10:30

the Father are one. Jesus was co-equal with God the Father and with God the

Holy Spirit, but Jesus became a human. He humbled himself.

He became a human being. That's John 1:14, the Word was made

John 1:14

flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld that glory, the glory

as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus became

a human, but that's not Paul's major point. It's not just that Jesus became

a human being. He became a human, and then what did He suffer when He

became a human? Death. But what kind of death?

Death on a cross. The whole Old Testament, Deuteronomy 21:23,

Deuteronomy 21:23

talks about cursed is the one that hangs on a tree. Jesus didn't just die.

He died the equivalent of our modern-day lethal injection or electric chair.

It was a humiliating and embarrassing way to lose your life.

Paul says, if Jesus was able to humble himself like that, you and

I should be able to humble ourselves as well. If he lowered himself, we can

lower ourselves. Paul teaches a principle and then he says, hey, here's an

example of somebody's life you can follow. And he comes out with the best

example he can think of. It's not his last one, but first and foremost,

he just starts with Jesus. What was Jesus's

life all about? You read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What was the thrust

of Jesus's life all about? Serving who?

Other people. You really can't think of one miracle outside of the resurrection

that Jesus ever did for himself. When Jesus was hungry, he didn't feed

himself, but he did it for other people. Jesus healed the sick and raised the

dead. His whole life was poured into other people.

Luke 19:10, Jesus says, the Son of Man has come to

Luke 19:10

seek and to save that which was lost.

He went to a party one time at Matthew the tax collector's house, and the

Pharisees came. And they were upset that Jesus was at this party. And in Matthew

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9, they say to his disciples, your master eats and drinks with

publicans and sinners. Jesus's response was, they that are well have no

need of a doctor, but I haven't come to call the righteous, but instead I've

come to call sinners to repentance. His whole life was poured out in following

other people. And if Jesus, who is higher than everybody else,

could lower himself in service, Paul is saying a part of what it

means to be a Christian, is to do the very same thing.

And you know this already. John 13, when Jesus is washing the

disciples' feet, he says, if you know these things, happy are you if you do

them. And the question is, will we do them? Go to Hebrews chapter 5.

Hebrews 5 · chapter mention

Hold your hand in Philippians 2. Go to Hebrews chapter 5 and notice this same

Hebrews 5 · chapter mention

point being made. Hey, Jesus suffered and humbled himself.

And you and I, if we're going to be his followers, we've got to obey

him and do the same thing. Hebrews 5:8 is about

Hebrews 5:8

Jesus's suffering. And the Hebrew writer says in verse 8, Though he was

a Son, yet he learned obedience by

the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of

eternal salvation to all them who obey him. If Jesus

humbled himself, then we're going to have to humble ourselves.

Last thing, Jesus's humility in Philippians

Philippians 2:9–11

2:9-11 led to his exaltation. Paul says,

therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him a

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 confess that

Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

This is Isaiah 45:23. It's an Old Testament quotation about

Isaiah 45:23

every knee bowing and every tongue confessing to God. When it says

Jesus is highly exalted, this is Daniel 7:13-14,

Daniel 7:13–14

where Daniel says, I saw one like the Son of Man coming to the Ancient

of Days, And to him was given a kingdom and dominion, that all people,

nations, and languages should serve him. He's saying that's about Jesus.

So based on this passage, after Jesus' death on the cross, he was exalted.

Exalted where? How high was Jesus exalted based on this

passage? Somebody read it and tell me. How high was Jesus exalted

as a result of his death and his suffering?

Somebody said it. Gary? Above every name.

If you humble yourself, how, how do you think you're going to be exalted?

Above every name. The Bible says we're raised to sit with Christ

in the heavenly places, Ephesians 2:6. We're headed to the same place He

Ephesians 2:6

is. Paul says Christians are going to judge the world and angels,

1 Corinthians 6:2-3. If we humble ourselves now,

1 Corinthians 6:2–3

God's going to exalt us then. Maybe we mentioned this

before, and I think somebody told me here before they did this with their kids.

Maybe you've done this, the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment. You're familiar with that?

A woman comes in the room or an experimenter comes in the room and they

set a marshmallow before kids. And I just watched some of these getting ready for

this lesson this afternoon. And you can watch these on YouTube, not during the lesson,

but afterwards, right? And they set the marshmallow and the person

conducting the experiment says, okay, I'm gonna leave this marshmallow here for you. You can

have this marshmallow if you want immediately, but if you can wait 20 minutes when

I come back, you can have 2. And they just leave the camera on the

kids. And the kids that are there, they're like all under 10 years old.

They're smelling it. Some of them are touching it and then licking it. Some of

them eat it before the lady even gets out of the room. They just devour

theirs right away. And isn't that your life and my life? God says,

okay, you can have glory now, but if you wait till I get back,

I'll double it. And we get so close to the glory of the world

and we smell it and we touch it and we want to grab it.

And some people, before he even gets out of the room, we're just like,

just give me my glory now. I'll take the praise of men. I'm all about

me. I only want what's mine. Just give me mine now. And the rest of

us are like those kids. We're just squirming. We can't sit still.

We just, when is he coming? Or when am I going to get my glory?

And the Bible teaches, if you can just wait, it's not that

God's against our exaltation. God's against our timing.

1 Peter 5:6, he says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of

1 Peter 5:6

God and he'll exalt you at the proper time.

When somebody like on a job or something is going to get a promotion or

some kind of movement in a company, and we say something like, We don't want

this person to get the big head. What does that normally mean? Like, we don't

want you to— we're worried about you getting the big head. What does that normally

mean? We don't want them to get what? We don't want you to get ego.

We don't want you to get arrogant. How can you be sure that's not going

to happen to a person? How can you be sure that if this person gets

the promotion, if they get the new position, if they get the increase in pay

or prestige, that they won't get the big head? Like, what things do we have

in place to make sure that doesn't happen? Whatever you're thinking

about, the answer is really this. You really don't know.

You can't guarantee it. God has put some parameters

in place, and the way God works it out is this. I will exalt you,

but you got to suffer first. And if you can get through suffering— throughout

scripture, there's this pattern where God says, if you can get through suffering, you can

handle shining, and I can put it in your hands and it won't corrupt you.

Just let your mind start thinking through biblical characters. Joseph, you're going to be exalted,

but first prison. Ruth, you're going to marry Boaz, but first you've

got to go glean in the fields. Job, I'm going to double it, but first

suffering. And then Jesus, a name above every name, but first you'll be treated

as a name lower than every name. Humility says,

I can wait to get my second marshmallow at the return of Jesus Christ.

Arrogance says, I've got to get mine now because he may not come back,

or I'm just so starving for glory, I got to have what's mine. And Paul

says, there's an example. The selfless example of Jesus teaches us what

this is all about. Number 3, quickly, letting our light shine. Verses 12 through 16.

Again, Paul comes back to a teaching section, and then the last thing we'll do

is one more example. In verse 12, he says, therefore, my beloved,

as you have always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence,

but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with

fear and trembling. For it is God who is at work in you, both to

will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling

or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without

blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as

lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the

day of Christ I might be proud that I did not run in vain or

labor in vain. All right, what are some of the marks of people

you know that are humble? Just step outside of Philippians for a minute and don't

think about the screen, fill in your blanks, just tell me. When you think about—

don't give me a name of anybody. When you think if somebody said, I want

you to give me a description of somebody that's humble, what kinds of things would

you say? What was that? Thankful. Thankful for

sure. Yes. Grateful.

Servant. Caring.

Quiet. C.S. Lewis said humility is so shy, if you mention its name,

it leaves. Yes. So it would be— Kathy.

No credit. We don't need credit. Don't need to be praised. What else?

Generous. All those are great, and I think all of those are biblical,

and you could cite a verse for every one of those, every single one of

them. Paul has just talked about being humble. Being humble like who?

Being like Christ. Jesus died. He suffered a terrible death. He was

exalted. Your exaltation's coming. You just have got to wait on it. But then

Paul says Here's what real humility looks like. In this text, he says, this is

what it means. In verse 12, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

We need to clean up something about how we read verse 12 and what Paul's

not saying. This verse is sometimes cited as meaning, hey, you've got to work hard

and do your own thing to be saved. But that runs against everything Paul's

already said. Paul just said, don't be worried about your own what?

Your own self, Philippians 2:3-4. Philippians 2:12 is

Philippians 2:3–4 Philippians 2:12

not, Work out your own salvation, read your Bible, say your prayers,

get yourself into heaven. Paul uses a second person plural,

which is another way of saying— Paul, if he was translating this today, he would

say, y'all work out your own salvation. This isn't about like your individual salvation.

Paul's talking to the Philippian church in verse 12. This isn't about

like your own spiritual hustle and grind. Work out your own salvation with fear and

trembling. Paul's just told the whole church, I want you humble. And now in verse

12, he says, You all collectively work out your own salvation with fear

and with trembling. Help each other to do this by committing to

be humble people. In verse 13, he says, because God's working in

you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Why is it important for Christians to know we've got work to do for God,

but God's still working in us? Why do you think the Philippians

needed to know this? For sure,

yeah, obedience is also included in that.

Nat hit it on the head. He said, if you forget God's working, you feel

like you're working alone. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24,

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24

Paul says, God's going to sanctify your whole body,

soul, and spirit at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is the one

who called you, and he will do it. His encouragement is, you guys work in

verse 12, but remember, you've got a lot of work to do for God.

But verse 13, God's got a lot of work he's doing in you. That will

encourage you to stay faithful no matter what. A humble person works

out their own salvation collectively. We sometimes talk about the life of the congregation.

That's right. This is one life. Remember Undra and Corbin back to back?

Paul says, stand fast with one spirit. We are working out our

salvation collectively together, remembering God's still working

in the midst of the Cumberland Trace Church of Christ. Added to that is this

idea in verse 14, stop complaining and stop grumbling.

And this is important. In verse 14, he says, do all things without

grumbling or disputing. The first word, grumbling, It has to do with like

talking underneath your breath. This is like mumbling something underneath

your breath. And this Greek word, gongousmos, it sounds like that in Greek.

It sounds like somebody grumbling under their breath. But the second word,

the grumbling, that's the backbiting,

that's the gossiping. And Paul's saying, if we're going to be humble, we can't have

that. When you think about people in the Bible who complained, who do

you think of first and foremost? Who do you think about? The children of

Israel in the Old Testament, all they did was what?

Complain. And Paul's saying, I don't want you to be like that. Because if we

complain collectively, look at verse 15 and verse 16,

that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish

in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, holding fast to the word of

life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I didn't

run in vain or labor in vain. At the end of verse 15, he says,

you shine as lights in the world. I don't know what you think about

when you hear the words of Matthew 5:16, let your light— so what?

Matthew 5:16

Maybe you think like, okay, I need to do a Bible study. True.

I need to invite somebody to church. True. I need to

be helping the homeless. Good. But in this text, you know how we collectively shine

our light one way above the world? The world doesn't do this. Stop grumbling.

Stop complaining. Don't grumble. Don't complain collectively

and about each other individually. He says, I don't want you to do that.

And if you do that, you shine as lights in the world. World, because everybody

else, when the world doesn't go their way, they complain, they grumble, they backbite.

And he's saying, I want you to be different. It's how we shine our light.

Isaiah 49:6, ancient Israel was supposed to be a light to the Gentiles.

Isaiah 49:6

They failed. The new Israel of God, the Church of Jesus Christ,

is supposed to shine our light to the world, and we dare not fail him.

That's what it means to be a humble servant. And it's a behavior— this

behavior, the opposite of this behavior, this Grumbling and disputing

is what destroys unity, guys. It's what destroys us.

And before we move on to the last part, and we're about to be done,

I just want you to think about something. He says, do everything without grumbling

and disputing. This is about unity. This is about humility. I want you

to challenge yourself and everybody in your house. And if you're single, the rest of

us, let's keep each other accountable. I want you to challenge yourself with this thought.

How long can you go without talking bad about somebody

else? I mean, what if it was a capital offense? What if you talk

badly about somebody and like Ananias and Sapphira, you drop dead immediately?

Some of you wouldn't make it out the parking lot because you're already thinking,

this long lesson, I don't even like it. Why are we doing these 17 points?

His PowerPoint's all janked up. I can't get the— you'd be dead before you

get out the park. How long could you live if it was a capital offense

to talk about somebody else in a negative light? By the way,

it is a capital offense. Every sin list in the New Testament has

gossip and slander in the list. Hey, we're back to back. What if Andre and

Corbin, they're back to back and they're gossiping about each other, and then he turns

around to address the gossip and he gets shot through? Jesus is saying, you're Christians,

you're on the same page. Do everything without murmuring and disputing.

What if your life was literally on the line and the moment you talk

negatively about somebody, how long could we stay alive?

God hates the sown of discord. That's Proverbs 6:16-19.

Proverbs 6:16–19

Our challenge is, Go as long as you can. And if you

find yourself with your spouse, your sibling, we're not going to do that.

Don't talk back. Do all things without grumbling and disputing.

We grumble about this verse being in the Bible. We don't like that he's this

exhaustive, but he is. And he says, you'll shine as lights in the world.

Paul's going to do what he's done already. The last thing he's going to do

is give us more examples and we'll be done. 17 through 30, Philippians 2:17.

Philippians 2:17

He says, even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering, upon the

sacrificial offering of your faith, I'm glad and I rejoice with you all.

Likewise, you should be glad and rejoice with me. I hope in the Lord Jesus

to send Timothy to you soon so I may be cheered by news of you.

I have no one like him who would genuinely be concerned for your welfare,

for all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with the Father he has

served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon

as I will see how it will go with me, And I trust in the

Lord that shortly I myself will come also. I thought it necessary to send to

you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier and your messenger

and minister to my need. For he's been longing for you all and has been

distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed, he was ill near to death,

but God had mercy on him and not only on him, but also on me,

lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. And I'm the more eager to

send him therefore that you may rejoice at seeing him again. That I may be

less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men,

for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to

complete what was lacking in your service to me. Okay, Paul starts,

live a humble life. Jesus is your example. Then he says,

live a humble life. No grumbling, no complaining, work out your salvation. And then he

ends with 3 examples. The first example is Paul himself. In 2:17-18,

he says basically what he says at the end of his life in 2 Timothy

2 Timothy 4:6

4:6. Being poured out as a drink offering. This is some

Old Testament allusion to Numbers 15:5. People would

Numbers 15:5

pour out a drink, a libation, in sacrifice to God. Paul says, that's my life.

And in Philippians 2:17-18, Paul says, that's what's happening

Philippians 2:17–18

with me. The first example is Paul's own life, and he's already done this before

in chapter 1, talking about himself as an example of humility. The second

example, there's nobody like Timothy, nobody else like Timothy.

Think about all of the people that work with Paul.

Silas and Titus, and you think about Mark and

Barnabas, he says, I've got nobody else like Timothy. What's different about Timothy?

It's in verse 20. What's different about Timothy?

Miss Dora says, like-minded, genuinely what?

About who? Other people who will naturally

care for your estate. Everybody's worried about themselves, but not Timothy.

Kate taught in the auditorium I guess this month or last month

and did a lesson on Timothy. You might go check that out on YouTube,

but it's this idea that Timothy was a selfless servant. And Paul says,

I've got nobody else like him. Here's my question. Was Timothy's example

impossible to mimic? When he says, I got nobody else like Timothy who will naturally

be concerned for your state, is Timothy like a spiritual unicorn? Nobody else can do

what Timothy's doing, or is this possible for everybody?

How? This is not a trick question.

Just do what Philippians 2 says. If you just forget about yourself, you stop

complaining, you realize God's working in you, you shine your light, think about

other people, Paul will add our names to the list.

And then the last example he mentions is Epaphroditus.

And he says, Epaphroditus, this name comes from the Greek

goddess Aphrodite, common name in the ancient world.

This man, he says in verse 25, He's a brother. What else?

Fellow worker. What else? Fellow soldier. What else?

Messenger. And every one of those terms

is about what Epaphroditus does for other people. You notice Paul didn't say he was

talented, he was gifted, he was smart. He's a fellow brother. That means his

relationship to somebody else. He's a servant, how he serves other

people. He's a minister. Epaphroditus's whole life was poured out. And then

he says, He almost died for the work of Christ.

Now, some of you have been in the military and you can think about real-life

times where you say, I almost died. Others of us maybe

almost choked on a Slim Jim once or something. That's the closest we've ever gotten.

Epaphroditus nearly died for the work of Christ. He's traveling

back between Paul and the Philippians and he nearly died.

Paul says, he was ill, near death. God had mercy on him, but not only

on him, but also on me. Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

He's saying, you know Epaphroditus. He's a member of the church there in Philippi.

You know him and you know his situation and you know how he

sacrificed for my sake. And he's saying, honor such men. Be an

example like Epaphroditus. Live your life like he did.

One commentator makes this note. It's interesting that Epaphroditus doesn't change his

name. He has this Greek goddess name. He doesn't change his name,

but he changed his life. Because you can't just be a Christian in name.

You've got to be a Christian in action. Epaphroditus is his name. A lot

of people in the first century world had this Greek name, but not a lot

of people in the first century world had this Christian life. He was a messenger,

a faithful servant, a minister to Paul's needs. He nearly

died. Who else died in Philippians 2? Jesus Christ.

Epaphroditus is being just like his master. And Paul's saying the

Christian life is that. It's about being humble. It's about putting others before yourself.

And when you do that, you reflect the life that belongs to Jesus.

If you watch television shows, you know that our society on a whole,

we really like shows that deal with first responders and service positions. Law Order: SVU,

Chicago Fire, Good Doctor. And what all of those shows do

is they highlight these service-type roles, medical profession,

firefighters, police officers, and you know what they do. And this is why people are

addicted to watching them. They make it glamorous. They make it fun, they make

it exciting, and they always make it heroic. If you

know any lawyers, if you know any police officers, if you know any firefighters or

anybody in the medical profession, they'll tell you it's a lot more

grit than glory. It's a lot more grind than glamour. TV makes

it look one way, but in real life, it's the mundane,

boring job, a lot of disrespect. People don't appreciate

you. They think you're the bad guys when you show up. They overlook it.

A lot of people think about the Christian life, and I don't know what you

think about when you envision it. A lot of people think, oh, I need to

have a lot of books around me. I'm really smart. I need to travel the

world and do something just spiritually remarkable for Jesus.

Philippians 2 reminds us that's TV Christianity.

The real Christianity is Philippians 2. It looks

boring. It's more grit than glory. It's more grind than glamour.

It's just saying, you know what? I'm going to see how long I can go.

I'm not going to say anything bad about anybody. Especially a Christian. I'm going

to put other people's needs before myself this week. I'm not going to think about

how I look so much. I'm going to give somebody else a compliment. I'm going

to serve somebody else. I'm going to go out of my way. That's never going

to make the news. It's never going to be popular, but it will be the

Christian life. Who in this auditorium can you get back to back

with and say, you know what? I would give my life for yours

and we're going to fight together. I won't stab you in the back. I won't

let anybody encroach upon us to harm us. We're one family and

we're selfless servants serving the Jesus that did the same thing.

Let's pray. God, we love

you. We know you love us because of what Jesus did on the cross.

Thank you for what Paul taught us in Philippians and has been teaching us as

this letter has been preserved down through the centuries. May our lives model

what we claim to believe. Jesus is the Son of God. His way is right.

Living for ourselves will destroy us. Destroy the church,

and ultimately keep us from being our best selves. When we pour out ourselves

for you, you promise, though our glory may be delayed,

it's guaranteed and you'll exalt us. Help us to do

all things without grumbling and disputing. Help us to shine as servants in the

world. Help us to get out of our own way and get over ourselves

to your good and glory. In Jesus' name,