November 16, 2014
Being Joyful
Be Joyful...Be Like Jesus
Philippians 2:1-11
(Advance Slide #1)
Introduction
As God’s people we sing!
- We sing songs of praise in our gladness, we sing hymns of sadness in our grief.
- Songs shape our lives.
- For me, some of the best sermon illustrations are found in song.
- In the text that we will study this morning might be the fragments of a hymn.
- The content of this ‘hymn’ also shapes who we are...followers of Christ!
Even though this is a letter of joy the church is also flawed.
(Advance Slide #2)
- They were being divided and we might but we might not know the exact reason.
- We do find hints in the text, Paul says, “standing firm in one spirit.”
- Something was hampering them...weakening them...stand firm.
In chapter 2 we find the cure.
(Advance Slide #3)
- That cure is “the mind of Christ.”
Text
(Advance Slide #4)
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
In this paragraph Paul will use several keywords that we have already read:
- Joy, fellowship, love, partnership, affection, unity, same mind, united in spirit
The solution to their problem was to recognize the blessings that Christians enjoy.
(Advance Slide #5)
- Their “comfort in love” & “participation/fellowship in the Spirit”
- “if” is not a statement of doubt but one of certainty!
- This statement should grab our attention.
“Go out there and win one for the Gipper!”
- How can you refuse such a request like that?
- Paul says, “Complete my joy.”
(Advance Slide #6)
- How can they do that?
(Advance Slide #7)
“being of the same mind…”
“having the same love…”
“being of full accord and of one mind”
(Advance Slide #8)
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
We do not know the exact root of the disunity.
- There are two things that will destroy unity and the effectiveness of the church.
“selfish ambition” - doing something that will make you look better.
“vain conceit” - empty glory
They are to think of themselves humbly.
(Advance Slide #9)
- Humility is the willingness to get down on your knees; to get down on the floor.
- Humility is the exact opposite of conceit!
(Advance Slide #10)
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
Jesus is the supreme example of the type of attitude that we need to have!
- These verses have been considered and written about...some think it to be a hymn fragment.
- The section is poetic and it is as if Paul is quoting something.
(Advance Slide #11)
- There appears to be 3 sections to this hymn:
- Jesus’ pre-existence
- His incarnation
- His glorification
The fact that Jesus existed prior to His birth is nothing new to the NT.
- Jesus was in the form of God and was humble enough not to hang on to that image.
- Jesus was whatever it means to be God but was willing to give it up!
(Advance Slide #12)
“emptied himself” - of what did He empty Himself?
- Took the form of a servant.
- Not just any servant but a bond servant...a slave!
- He was pouring Himself out...this is about His sacrifice...Jesus poured HImself out.
(Advance Slide #13)
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus was in the appearance of man.
- The verse further tells us that that He humbles Himself...even to the point of death.
- The verse further qualifies this by “even death on a cross”...the worst death of all!
- We don’t usually think of Him as an example of obedience, but He is!
(Advance Slide #14)
Notice the change in vs. 9, up to this point it had been about Jesus.
- Now, notice, that God is acting.
- The text says that God “highly exalted Him”
- He gave Him, literally “graced Him”, with a name!
- Every knee will bow before Him;
- Every tongue...even the lost...will confess that He is Lord.
- What does ‘confess’ mean?
- To own up to!
Lesson
People in ancient times when thinking of heroic leaders would have thought Alexander the Great.
- By the time that he died at the age of 33 he had so successful that he was almost perceived as divine.
- For Paul the closest comparison to Alexander would have been emperor Augustus.
- He too would been recognized as divine in the eyes of his ‘people.’
Understanding this helps us digest Paul’s message about Jesus as the Messiah!
- In light of Paul’s words, Jesus was the ‘real deal’ and Alexander and Augustus were simply caricatures.
Now take this stark contrast between the pagan gods and heroes and Jesus, now think it through against the background of the Old Testament.
- Who was it that arrogantly grasped at the chance to be ‘like God, knowing good and evil’?
- Of course it was Adam in Gen. 3
- Alexander and Augustus just did what humans do...sought more glory when they tasted it.
- What’s the connection?
- In the Old Testament, God’s people Israel are the servant-people, whose suffering obedience to God’s saving plan will be the unexpected way of dealing with the world’s sorry state.
- But Israel, too, is in slavery; Israel, too, has gone the way of Adam.
- In Paul’s own day there were would-be rulers of Israel who seemed only too eager to go the Alexander/Augustus route...so what was to be done?
In this poem Paul offers an answer.
(Advance Slide #15)
- Gives the deep groundwork for the challenge to self-sacrificing unity within the church:
- Jesus’ humility!
- Jesus’ sacrifice!
- The depth of His gift for us!
PRAYER
Conclusion
(Advance Slide #16)
What does it mean for a believer to have the “mind of Christ” today?
What would it mean for the Lord’s church today to have the “mind of Christ”?
It would mean that we do not act for myself, but look to the needs of others!
- Having the mind of Christ is refusing to insist on my rights!
- It is humble service, it is obedience to God, and a sacrificial life.
Just think how different, HOW JOYFUL, the church would be if all Christians exhibited the mind of Christ and would serve as He served.
