Latest / Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ) / "Into the Word: Philippians: Part 2" by Hiram Kemp

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"Into the Word: Philippians: Part 2" by Hiram Kemp · Cumberland Trace Church of Christ (Formerly Lehman Ave Church of Christ)

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that way. And just as Neil did last week, the handouts will simply,
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simply be what you find on the PowerPoint screen, but you can fill
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in the blanks if you'd like to take notes that way. We mentioned this last
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week, this is our Into the Word class. We typically preach a sermon on Sunday
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night, but at Lehman years ago we would do these classes on Monday
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nights, and we decided to be a good change-up for the summer to have these
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Bible-style classes, Into the Word, as we work through Philippians in 4 classes
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throughout the month of August. All ages are in here, and I just want to
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say before we start tonight, anybody in the class can answer a question or ask
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one. We'd love for you to participate and be engaged as we work through the
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material together. As they're handing those out, briefly just remind you of where we
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were last week. Neil gave an introduction to the book of Philippians on the whole
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and talked about what the book of Philippians is driving at. And if you
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followed what he was teaching us, he basically said that the book of Philippians is
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ultimately about how we give ourselves up and selfless
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service to strive toward the humility that God would have us to have
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and possess as the people of God. The book of Philippians is really about that,
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how we can be selfless servants that live humble lives, and when
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we do that, it leads to humility. Throughout the book of Philippians though, the way
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Paul typically does this is he lifts up examples. Paul will say, hey, you need
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to behave in this way and behave in this light, and then he'll use examples.
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He used himself throughout Philippians chapter 1. And we'll see some
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of the same tonight. So if you have your Bible, go ahead and turn it
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to Philippians 1, and we'll look at verse 27 all the way
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down through chapter 2 and verse 30, because that's where Paul finishes up this thought.
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And tonight's lesson, just like you see on the screen, is going to be about
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the selfless life of Jesus's servants,
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what that looks like, how we can become that, examples as
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Paul typically gives of what that looks like, and how God works
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it out in our day-to-day lives. All right, but before we get into the
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deep theology of Philippians chapter 2, let's just start with something a little bit more
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simpler than that, okay? Show of hands, everybody in this classroom who
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would describe themselves as selfish or who has ever behaved selfishly before.
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All self-righteous people leave their hands down. All right,
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so if that's the case, and the Bible teaches repeatedly, hey, don't be selfish,
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this isn't good for you, you know that churches and societies
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and homes where selfishness reigns always leads to the mayhem
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and destruction of that group of people and those lives. We're going
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to study tonight from Philippians 2. You probably aren't going to learn brand
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new information about why we should be humble and that sort of thing,
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but my question is, before we even get started, why are we selfish if
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we know internally this is not good for us? Not only
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does God condemn it and forbid it, but just practically
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throughout the inner workings of our lives, we've done this before and we know this
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doesn't work out good, why are we still people that often lean
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or opt for selfishness? Because we're selfish.
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All right, that's progress, making progress. Because we're selfish.
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What else? We like to be comfortable, and doing
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my way is easier than what? Any other way. Yeah, doing my
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way is the way I like to do things. Any, any other reason why we
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opt for selfishness? We want to be in control. Yep, we want to be in
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control. Here are some reasons I thought about, then we'll get to Philippians.
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We feel like nobody's looking out for us. Psalm 142:4, David says
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in that Psalm, this is not on your sheet. David says, I looked
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to my left and my right, there was no man that cared for my soul.
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A lot of times selfishness comes because we say, I've got to look out for
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numero uno, got to look out for myself, nobody else will. Sometimes people have
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taken advantage of us before. 2 Corinthians 12:15, Paul says
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it's strange the way his relationship was working out with the Corinthians. The more I
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love you, the less I'm loved. Sometimes we opt for selfishness
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because I extended myself for other people, but they didn't appreciate it.
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The world tells us it's the fastest route to success and exaltation.
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If you really want to go high and really reach the top, you've got to
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be about yourself. That's the only way to succeed. But Proverbs 14:12 says,
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there's a way that seems right to a man, but that way ultimately results
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in death. The world tells us we've earned it. And we deserve it. That's what
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Paul means— John means by the pride of life. This my way, I want to
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do it, I should do things my own way. And sometimes we get angry or
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irritated. Tried to be humble, tried to be selfless, but you know what?
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Nobody in this family cares. Nobody at this job cares. So from now on,
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I'm just going to worry about who? Me. That's anger and irritation.
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And James says the wrath or the anger of man doesn't produce the righteousness
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of God. And then this was already mentioned. It's just easier,
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and we like easy. I wanted to start here before we jump
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right into Philippians 2 because we probably wouldn't say this. You probably wouldn't vocalize
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it this way, but maybe we can approach the Bible and Bible classes
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and sermons kind of with this idea. Okay, God, I understand that. That's true,
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and that works in like the Holy Land. That works in heaven, in the heavenly
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world, but the philosophy that you're giving me, the way you want me to live
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my life, it doesn't really work practically here. And I hope
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we see as we work through the Bible tonight in Philippians 2, God saying to
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us, I made you and I made the world. And when
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you work against that, that's never going to work out for you in the
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world that I created. It's not going to be good for you. So Philippians 1:27
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down through the end of the chapter. But let's just start first with
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the first thing, and that is living out our beliefs. And this is what Paul
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says, Philippians 1:27. I'm going to read it all the way down through chapter 2
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and verse 4. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of
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Christ, so that whether I see you or am absent,
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I may hear of you that you're standing firm in one spirit, with one mind,
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striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened
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in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction,
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but of your salvation and that from God. For it's been granted
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to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him,
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but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I
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had and now hear that I still have. So if there's any encouragement
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in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection
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and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind,
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having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing
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from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant
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than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also
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to the interests of others. The first thing Paul says, he's already talked about what
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this should be about. Used himself as an example. Now he says, you've got to
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live out your beliefs. The selfless life of a servant of Jesus Christ means if
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you really believe this, you're going to live it out. And this means living out
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your life as a heavenly citizen. In verse 27, he says, only let
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your manner of life, or your translation may have, only let your
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conduct. And this is a word that sounds like in Greek where we get our
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word politics from. And Paul's saying your citizenship, the way you go about
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your business, should be as a person that's a citizen of heaven. Only let
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your manner of life be worthy of the gospel. What do you think that means
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in verse 27? What does this let your life be worthy mean? What does Paul
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mean when he says only let your conduct, your manner of life, your citizenship be
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worthy of the gospel? What does that mean?
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Conduct yourself the way Jesus expects you to. Live your life consistently
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with what you say you believe. Just hold your hand in Philippians 1.
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I want to show you a few other places in the New Testament where Paul
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continuously calls Christians back to this idea that you need to live worthy
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or you need to live up to your calling. So go to Ephesians chapter 4,
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and if you make a list of these or you write in your Bible for
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cross-references, you can just make your own. But this phrase from Paul, live a life
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worthy of the gospel, regularly comes up. So Ephesians 4 and
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verse 1, Paul's doing this same thing. I therefore, the prisoner of the
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Lord, I urge you that you walk worthy of the calling with which you've been
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called. It's the same idea. I want you to live consistently with
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your beliefs. You claim to be a Christian. You claim to be somebody that has
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a selfless, humble life. Walk worthy of the calling that's called you.
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Go to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, right after Philippians.
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Colossians 1 and verse 10.
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Colossians 1 and verse 10, so as to walk— this is his desire and
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prayer for these Christians— so as to walk in a manner that's what?
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Worthy of the Lord. Yeah, this is not a sermon. You can talk, I promise
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you, okay? Yeah, you can walk worthy, in a manner worthy of the Lord,
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fully pleasing him. Last one, go to 1 Thessalonians 2.
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1 Thessalonians 2, and notice verse 12. 1 Thessalonians
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2 and verse 12, he says, we exhorted each one of you
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and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner that is what?
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Worthy of God. So Paul constantly is telling Christians, if you're going to name
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the name of Jesus Christ, walk in a manner worthy. Go back to Philippians 1:27.
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Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether I
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come see you or else be absent— Where is Paul when he wrote the book
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of Philippians? In jail. He's in Rome. He's in prison. And he says, I can't
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be there, but I want you to do the right thing anyway.
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What do you call it when somebody only works when
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the boss is around, or only obeys when their parents are around, or only
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does their work when the teacher is standing over their shoulder? What is that called?
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The Bible has a word for it. What do you call that?
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Opposer. What else somebody said? Lazy, sloth.
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The Bible calls this in Ephesians 6:6— Neil used this
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for the scripture reading this morning— eye-service as men-pleasers.
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Paul's saying, whether I'm there or not, I want you to keep living the life
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you know you should live because my presence might encourage you,
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but God's always watching. The eyes of the Lord are in every place,
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beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15:3.
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God's eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth, 2 Chronicles
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16:9. Live a life worthy whether he's there or not.
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And he says, I want you to be people that stand fast with
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one spirit, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. The humble life
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of a servant of Jesus is you live out your life as a heavenly citizenship.
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Now, Corbin and Andre, come up here. I told them I was gonna use them
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for an object lesson tonight, okay? And they were both up to it. Up to
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bat for it. Just get back to back. Paul uses a metaphor.
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He uses imagery. Hold your Bible up. Roman soldiers would sometimes
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get in what's called a phalanx, and that is they would put their shields together.
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You've seen this in movies, and nobody could touch them with a spear. But sometimes
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they'd be pressed up against themselves in defense, and soldiers would
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have to get back to back with their swords up and defend each other.
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When Paul says, I want you striving side by side
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together for the faith of the gospel, he has this kind of imagery in mind.
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Now, what if Corbin said, you know what, I'm gonna just do my own thing.
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What's gonna happen to Andre? He's gonna be gone.
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Worse than that though, and just think about this from the standpoint of the church,
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what if Andre just turns around and he's just gonna
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use his sword on Corbin? See, Paul says, y'all can sit, only let your manner
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of life be— Corbin's like, he killed me? No, this was an illustration.
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Yeah. You think about group projects. You've done group projects in school.
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Why is that always death? Because what? Billy's not going to turn in his part.
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We're waiting for Sarah to respond, right? Some of you work on jobs
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week in and week out where you can't do your job until another person
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does their part. You know how frustrating that is if they don't pull their weight.
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And this is true on sports teams. Coach calls a play. I'm just going to
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do my own thing. Paul says, when I hear about you Philippians, the selfless
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life of a servant of Jesus, only let your life be consistent
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with the gospel of Christ. Whether I'm there or not, I want you guys back
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to back, Striving together for the faith of the gospel. Don't run off
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and do your own thing. Don't be a weird soldier in the army of Jesus
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Christ and stab another soldier in the back. You work together for the faith
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of the gospel. Stick together, striving together for the faith of the
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gospel. That's what Paul means by being a selfless servant. And if you do this,
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you'll overcome fear from outsiders. In verse 28, he talks about these opponents
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and he says, don't be frightened by your opponents. Maybe these troublers,
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and he'll say more about them in chapter 3, these agitators, they were causing
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trouble. He says for them it's a clear sign of destruction, but it's
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for your salvation and that from God. Most Christians
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read the Bible, come to worship services, hear sermons and participate,
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and really want to be faithful. What often gets us off course
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is opposition from the outside. I was
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talking to somebody yesterday and he said, you know, Hiram, there are a lot of
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days in between Sundays. And I was thinking, well, there's 6 and that's
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every week. But what he meant was, when I hear a sermon, I really want
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to do the right thing and do a good thing. But then you know what
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happens? Life happens. I got to go to work. I've got
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to deal with people. Paul's saying, hey, you guys stick together. And though there may
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be outside pressure and opposition, you stay on the same page. It'll be their destruction,
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but it'll ultimately be your salvation. For them, it was persecution. Maybe for
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us it's not persecution. But there are voices on the outside, from the outside
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world telling us this is not the way to live your life. And you could
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think about a list of our adversaries. For them, it'll be their destruction,
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but our salvation, that's saying this way of Philippians, the selfless life,
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is not the way you should go. And maybe you've got some things like top
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of mind, social media, the world, the internet, fine. But then there's some underlying things,
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and I'll just call this like secular psychology that's teaching
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people today, hey, You got to look out for you. And I think
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mental health is important and it's a great thing, but social and like secular mental
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health that says the most important thing in your life is you. You've got to
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get your mind right. Focus on you, focus on yourself, develop your personality,
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all that you, you, you for whatever else good it could be.
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It's not Christian because the Christian life is ultimately
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not about you. It's about other people. And Paul says, I want you to
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be a person that strives to do this in a way that honors God and
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then be willing to suffer, verse 29, to you is granted in behalf of Christ,
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not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. The way
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you know you're living out your beliefs and you're a selfless servant is how much
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you're willing to suffer. At the end of the day, your religion is
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whatever you would suffer for gladly without any
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kind of apology or without any fanfare. Whatever you would suffer for gladly
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without apology or fanfare, that's your religion. And that's why Peter says, if anybody suffers
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as a Christian, 1 Peter 4:16, don't be ashamed, but instead
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glorify God in this name. Paul uses himself as an example again in verse 30.
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And then the last thing Paul does, and we'll just do this quickly and move
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on to the second section, he gives these examples. In Philippians 2:1-4,
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he says, how does your translation start out in verse 1? So what?
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So if there's any encouragement, any consolation. When Paul's
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using this phrase, so if there's any consolation or any encouragement, This doesn't mean
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like maybe there is. Paul's saying, hey, since this is true,
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Paul's using a phrase that assumes this is true. And he's saying,
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because these things are true about your life, because there's encouragement
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in Christ, because there's comfort of love, because there's fellowship of the Spirit,
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because there's affection and sympathy, you should be the kind
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of people that live your life humbly. Look at verse 3 and verse 4.
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Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count
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others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own
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interests, but also to the interests of who? Other people.
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What does this phrase mean in the world when people say this? And maybe somebody
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said this to you, maybe you've said it to somebody else. You're struggling through something
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and you're mulling it over in your mind repeatedly, and then somebody says this to
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you, you got to get out of your own head. What does that mean?
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You got to get out of your own head. You got to get out of
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your own thoughts. What does that phrase mean?
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Stop being selfish. But like, what about your thoughts? What does a person mean when
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they say, hey, you're doing this to yourself, you're stressing about something and
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they say, hey, if you're going to get past this, you got to get out
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of your own head. What does that mean? Quit dwelling on it.
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You got to get out of your own head. In Philippians 2:3-4, look at the
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verses again. Paul's saying you got to get out of your own life.
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Paul's saying you got to get out of your own life. You can't just keep
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dwelling on yourself. Look not every man on his own interests, but every man also
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on the things of others. Who do you spend the most time thinking about?
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Most of us are going to say, ourselves. And Paul's going to say, that's your
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problem. You're so worried about yourself, how people see you, how you sound, how you
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look, how people perceive you. That's your problem. The Greeks
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had a word for this. It was called an isophile. This is a person that
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just loved looking in the mirror at themselves. And maybe you know people like
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this, right? They just love looking at themselves. Paul says, don't live your life that
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way. That's not what the Christian life's all about. A selfless servant that lives
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out their belief says, you know what? My life isn't the most important one in
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the world. I want to pour out my life in service to other people.
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1 Corinthians 10:24, Paul says, look not
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every man on his own things, but also I want you to look on the
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things of others. Don't put your own interests first, but instead put the interests of
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others first. The life of a selfless servant of Jesus, it boils down to living
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out your beliefs. Paul's saying this is already baked in the gospel. So if you
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believe this, if there's encouragement in Christ, and there is, If there's comfort
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of love, and there is, if you've enjoyed fellowship of the Spirit, and you have,
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make my joy complete. That's verse 2 of chapter 2,
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by making sure you don't focus on yourself,
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but you focus on others. What's going to happen in a church when everybody
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is focused on everybody else? You say, well, nobody will care about me. But if
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everybody in this congregation was focused on somebody besides themselves,
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somebody would see to your needs of encouragement and of hope and of uplifting.
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It wouldn't be you. You'd be giving it to somebody else. But somebody in turn
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will be doing what? Giving it back to you. And Paul says, that's what it
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means to live out the sacrificial life. Now, number 2, we'll have
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4 of these moves tonight and we'll be done. He says, he gives us an
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example. Paul in the book of Philippians, he teaches something that Christians
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ought to do, and then he quickly follows it up with an example.
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And in this section, Paul gives the best example he can think of,
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and that's the example of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:5,
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he says, Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in
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Christ Jesus. So the mind of Philippians 2:1-4, this mind
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of humility, this mind of service, putting others before yourself, he says,
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that's the mind of Jesus and I want you to have it. Let's read verses
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6 through 11 together. I know 9 through 11 was a part of the scripture
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reading, but let's read 6 through 11 and notice how he demonstrates that
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Jesus actually lived this selfless and sacrificial life. In verse
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5, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
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who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God
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a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself by taking the form of a
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servant, being born in human likeness, in the likeness
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of men, being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the
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point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted
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him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at
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the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under
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the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
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to the glory of God the Father. Paul has just told the Philippians to live
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what kind of life? Sacrificial,
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starts with an H, ends with humble. What does he say? Live a humble life.
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And now he gives an example. That example is Jesus. How do you know Jesus
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was humble? He says, here's the evidence. He was equal with God.
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He says, who being in the form of God, Jesus was and is
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equal with God. John 10:30, Jesus says, I and
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the Father are one. Jesus was co-equal with God the Father and with God the
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Holy Spirit, but Jesus became a human. He humbled himself.
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He became a human being. That's John 1:14, the Word was made
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flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld that glory, the glory
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as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Jesus became
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a human, but that's not Paul's major point. It's not just that Jesus became
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a human being. He became a human, and then what did He suffer when He
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became a human? Death. But what kind of death?
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Death on a cross. The whole Old Testament, Deuteronomy 21:23,
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talks about cursed is the one that hangs on a tree. Jesus didn't just die.
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He died the equivalent of our modern-day lethal injection or electric chair.
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It was a humiliating and embarrassing way to lose your life.
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Paul says, if Jesus was able to humble himself like that, you and
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I should be able to humble ourselves as well. If he lowered himself, we can
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lower ourselves. Paul teaches a principle and then he says, hey, here's an
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example of somebody's life you can follow. And he comes out with the best
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example he can think of. It's not his last one, but first and foremost,
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he just starts with Jesus. What was Jesus's
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life all about? You read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. What was the thrust
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of Jesus's life all about? Serving who?
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Other people. You really can't think of one miracle outside of the resurrection
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that Jesus ever did for himself. When Jesus was hungry, he didn't feed
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himself, but he did it for other people. Jesus healed the sick and raised the
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dead. His whole life was poured into other people.
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Luke 19:10, Jesus says, the Son of Man has come to
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seek and to save that which was lost.
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He went to a party one time at Matthew the tax collector's house, and the
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Pharisees came. And they were upset that Jesus was at this party. And in Matthew
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chapter 9, they say to his disciples, your master eats and drinks with
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publicans and sinners. Jesus's response was, they that are well have no
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need of a doctor, but I haven't come to call the righteous, but instead I've
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come to call sinners to repentance. His whole life was poured out in following
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other people. And if Jesus, who is higher than everybody else,
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could lower himself in service, Paul is saying a part of what it
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means to be a Christian, is to do the very same thing.
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And you know this already. John 13, when Jesus is washing the
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disciples' feet, he says, if you know these things, happy are you if you do
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them. And the question is, will we do them? Go to Hebrews chapter 5.
21:18
Hold your hand in Philippians 2. Go to Hebrews chapter 5 and notice this same
21:22
point being made. Hey, Jesus suffered and humbled himself.
21:26
And you and I, if we're going to be his followers, we've got to obey
21:29
him and do the same thing. Hebrews 5:8 is about
21:33
Jesus's suffering. And the Hebrew writer says in verse 8, Though he was
21:37
a Son, yet he learned obedience by
21:41
the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of
21:44
eternal salvation to all them who obey him. If Jesus
21:49
humbled himself, then we're going to have to humble ourselves.
21:53
Last thing, Jesus's humility in Philippians
21:56
2:9-11 led to his exaltation. Paul says,
21:59
therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him a
22:03
name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
22:07
bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that
22:10
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
22:13
This is Isaiah 45:23. It's an Old Testament quotation about
22:17
every knee bowing and every tongue confessing to God. When it says
22:21
Jesus is highly exalted, this is Daniel 7:13-14,
22:24
where Daniel says, I saw one like the Son of Man coming to the Ancient
22:29
of Days, And to him was given a kingdom and dominion, that all people,
22:32
nations, and languages should serve him. He's saying that's about Jesus.
22:36
So based on this passage, after Jesus' death on the cross, he was exalted.
22:40
Exalted where? How high was Jesus exalted based on this
22:43
passage? Somebody read it and tell me. How high was Jesus exalted
22:47
as a result of his death and his suffering?
22:52
Somebody said it. Gary? Above every name.
22:56
If you humble yourself, how, how do you think you're going to be exalted?
23:01
Above every name. The Bible says we're raised to sit with Christ
23:05
in the heavenly places, Ephesians 2:6. We're headed to the same place He
23:09
is. Paul says Christians are going to judge the world and angels,
23:12
1 Corinthians 6:2-3. If we humble ourselves now,
23:17
God's going to exalt us then. Maybe we mentioned this
23:21
before, and I think somebody told me here before they did this with their kids.
23:23
Maybe you've done this, the Stanford Marshmallow Experiment. You're familiar with that?
23:27
A woman comes in the room or an experimenter comes in the room and they
23:30
set a marshmallow before kids. And I just watched some of these getting ready for
23:34
this lesson this afternoon. And you can watch these on YouTube, not during the lesson,
23:37
but afterwards, right? And they set the marshmallow and the person
23:41
conducting the experiment says, okay, I'm gonna leave this marshmallow here for you. You can
23:44
have this marshmallow if you want immediately, but if you can wait 20 minutes when
23:48
I come back, you can have 2. And they just leave the camera on the
23:50
kids. And the kids that are there, they're like all under 10 years old.
23:53
They're smelling it. Some of them are touching it and then licking it. Some of
23:57
them eat it before the lady even gets out of the room. They just devour
24:00
theirs right away. And isn't that your life and my life? God says,
24:03
okay, you can have glory now, but if you wait till I get back,
24:07
I'll double it. And we get so close to the glory of the world
24:10
and we smell it and we touch it and we want to grab it.
24:13
And some people, before he even gets out of the room, we're just like,
24:16
just give me my glory now. I'll take the praise of men. I'm all about
24:19
me. I only want what's mine. Just give me mine now. And the rest of
24:22
us are like those kids. We're just squirming. We can't sit still.
24:26
We just, when is he coming? Or when am I going to get my glory?
24:30
And the Bible teaches, if you can just wait, it's not that
24:33
God's against our exaltation. God's against our timing.
24:36
1 Peter 5:6, he says, humble yourself under the mighty hand of
24:40
God and he'll exalt you at the proper time.
24:44
When somebody like on a job or something is going to get a promotion or
24:47
some kind of movement in a company, and we say something like, We don't want
24:51
this person to get the big head. What does that normally mean? Like, we don't
24:54
want you to— we're worried about you getting the big head. What does that normally
24:57
mean? We don't want them to get what? We don't want you to get ego.
25:00
We don't want you to get arrogant. How can you be sure that's not going
25:03
to happen to a person? How can you be sure that if this person gets
25:07
the promotion, if they get the new position, if they get the increase in pay
25:10
or prestige, that they won't get the big head? Like, what things do we have
25:14
in place to make sure that doesn't happen? Whatever you're thinking
25:17
about, the answer is really this. You really don't know.
25:21
You can't guarantee it. God has put some parameters
25:25
in place, and the way God works it out is this. I will exalt you,
25:28
but you got to suffer first. And if you can get through suffering— throughout
25:32
scripture, there's this pattern where God says, if you can get through suffering, you can
25:36
handle shining, and I can put it in your hands and it won't corrupt you.
25:40
Just let your mind start thinking through biblical characters. Joseph, you're going to be exalted,
25:44
but first prison. Ruth, you're going to marry Boaz, but first you've
25:48
got to go glean in the fields. Job, I'm going to double it, but first
25:52
suffering. And then Jesus, a name above every name, but first you'll be treated
25:56
as a name lower than every name. Humility says,
26:00
I can wait to get my second marshmallow at the return of Jesus Christ.
26:04
Arrogance says, I've got to get mine now because he may not come back,
26:07
or I'm just so starving for glory, I got to have what's mine. And Paul
26:10
says, there's an example. The selfless example of Jesus teaches us what
26:14
this is all about. Number 3, quickly, letting our light shine. Verses 12 through 16.
26:19
Again, Paul comes back to a teaching section, and then the last thing we'll do
26:22
is one more example. In verse 12, he says, therefore, my beloved,
26:25
as you have always obeyed, so now not only as in my presence,
26:29
but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with
26:33
fear and trembling. For it is God who is at work in you, both to
26:35
will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling
26:39
or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without
26:43
blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as
26:47
lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the
26:50
day of Christ I might be proud that I did not run in vain or
26:54
labor in vain. All right, what are some of the marks of people
26:58
you know that are humble? Just step outside of Philippians for a minute and don't
27:01
think about the screen, fill in your blanks, just tell me. When you think about—
27:05
don't give me a name of anybody. When you think if somebody said, I want
27:09
you to give me a description of somebody that's humble, what kinds of things would
27:12
you say? What was that? Thankful. Thankful for
27:17
sure. Yes. Grateful.
27:20
Servant. Caring.
27:24
Quiet. C.S. Lewis said humility is so shy, if you mention its name,
27:28
it leaves. Yes. So it would be— Kathy.
27:31
No credit. We don't need credit. Don't need to be praised. What else?
27:37
Generous. All those are great, and I think all of those are biblical,
27:40
and you could cite a verse for every one of those, every single one of
27:43
them. Paul has just talked about being humble. Being humble like who?
27:48
Being like Christ. Jesus died. He suffered a terrible death. He was
27:51
exalted. Your exaltation's coming. You just have got to wait on it. But then
27:55
Paul says Here's what real humility looks like. In this text, he says, this is
27:59
what it means. In verse 12, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
28:04
We need to clean up something about how we read verse 12 and what Paul's
28:07
not saying. This verse is sometimes cited as meaning, hey, you've got to work hard
28:11
and do your own thing to be saved. But that runs against everything Paul's
28:15
already said. Paul just said, don't be worried about your own what?
28:19
Your own self, Philippians 2:3-4. Philippians 2:12 is
28:23
not, Work out your own salvation, read your Bible, say your prayers,
28:26
get yourself into heaven. Paul uses a second person plural,
28:30
which is another way of saying— Paul, if he was translating this today, he would
28:33
say, y'all work out your own salvation. This isn't about like your individual salvation.
28:38
Paul's talking to the Philippian church in verse 12. This isn't about
28:42
like your own spiritual hustle and grind. Work out your own salvation with fear and
28:45
trembling. Paul's just told the whole church, I want you humble. And now in verse
28:49
12, he says, You all collectively work out your own salvation with fear
28:54
and with trembling. Help each other to do this by committing to
28:58
be humble people. In verse 13, he says, because God's working in
29:02
you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
29:06
Why is it important for Christians to know we've got work to do for God,
29:08
but God's still working in us? Why do you think the Philippians
29:12
needed to know this? For sure,
29:15
yeah, obedience is also included in that.
29:19
Nat hit it on the head. He said, if you forget God's working, you feel
29:22
like you're working alone. 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24,
29:26
Paul says, God's going to sanctify your whole body,
29:29
soul, and spirit at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is the one
29:33
who called you, and he will do it. His encouragement is, you guys work in
29:36
verse 12, but remember, you've got a lot of work to do for God.
29:39
But verse 13, God's got a lot of work he's doing in you. That will
29:43
encourage you to stay faithful no matter what. A humble person works
29:48
out their own salvation collectively. We sometimes talk about the life of the congregation.
29:52
That's right. This is one life. Remember Undra and Corbin back to back?
29:55
Paul says, stand fast with one spirit. We are working out our
29:59
salvation collectively together, remembering God's still working
30:03
in the midst of the Cumberland Trace Church of Christ. Added to that is this
30:06
idea in verse 14, stop complaining and stop grumbling.
30:10
And this is important. In verse 14, he says, do all things without
30:13
grumbling or disputing. The first word, grumbling, It has to do with like
30:17
talking underneath your breath. This is like mumbling something underneath
30:21
your breath. And this Greek word, gongousmos, it sounds like that in Greek.
30:25
It sounds like somebody grumbling under their breath. But the second word,
30:28
the grumbling, that's the backbiting,
30:31
that's the gossiping. And Paul's saying, if we're going to be humble, we can't have
30:34
that. When you think about people in the Bible who complained, who do
30:39
you think of first and foremost? Who do you think about? The children of
30:42
Israel in the Old Testament, all they did was what?
30:46
Complain. And Paul's saying, I don't want you to be like that. Because if we
30:50
complain collectively, look at verse 15 and verse 16,
30:53
that you may be blameless and innocent children of God without blemish
30:57
in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, holding fast to the word of
31:00
life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I didn't
31:03
run in vain or labor in vain. At the end of verse 15, he says,
31:06
you shine as lights in the world. I don't know what you think about
31:09
when you hear the words of Matthew 5:16, let your light— so what?
31:14
Maybe you think like, okay, I need to do a Bible study. True.
31:17
I need to invite somebody to church. True. I need to
31:21
be helping the homeless. Good. But in this text, you know how we collectively shine
31:25
our light one way above the world? The world doesn't do this. Stop grumbling.
31:30
Stop complaining. Don't grumble. Don't complain collectively
31:34
and about each other individually. He says, I don't want you to do that.
31:37
And if you do that, you shine as lights in the world. World, because everybody
31:40
else, when the world doesn't go their way, they complain, they grumble, they backbite.
31:44
And he's saying, I want you to be different. It's how we shine our light.
31:47
Isaiah 49:6, ancient Israel was supposed to be a light to the Gentiles.
31:50
They failed. The new Israel of God, the Church of Jesus Christ,
31:55
is supposed to shine our light to the world, and we dare not fail him.
31:58
That's what it means to be a humble servant. And it's a behavior— this
32:03
behavior, the opposite of this behavior, this Grumbling and disputing
32:06
is what destroys unity, guys. It's what destroys us.
32:10
And before we move on to the last part, and we're about to be done,
32:13
I just want you to think about something. He says, do everything without grumbling
32:16
and disputing. This is about unity. This is about humility. I want you
32:21
to challenge yourself and everybody in your house. And if you're single, the rest of
32:25
us, let's keep each other accountable. I want you to challenge yourself with this thought.
32:28
How long can you go without talking bad about somebody
32:32
else? I mean, what if it was a capital offense? What if you talk
32:35
badly about somebody and like Ananias and Sapphira, you drop dead immediately?
32:40
Some of you wouldn't make it out the parking lot because you're already thinking,
32:41
this long lesson, I don't even like it. Why are we doing these 17 points?
32:45
His PowerPoint's all janked up. I can't get the— you'd be dead before you
32:49
get out the park. How long could you live if it was a capital offense
32:53
to talk about somebody else in a negative light? By the way,
32:56
it is a capital offense. Every sin list in the New Testament has
33:00
gossip and slander in the list. Hey, we're back to back. What if Andre and
33:04
Corbin, they're back to back and they're gossiping about each other, and then he turns
33:07
around to address the gossip and he gets shot through? Jesus is saying, you're Christians,
33:11
you're on the same page. Do everything without murmuring and disputing.
33:15
What if your life was literally on the line and the moment you talk
33:19
negatively about somebody, how long could we stay alive?
33:22
God hates the sown of discord. That's Proverbs 6:16-19.
33:26
Our challenge is, Go as long as you can. And if you
33:29
find yourself with your spouse, your sibling, we're not going to do that.
33:33
Don't talk back. Do all things without grumbling and disputing.
33:36
We grumble about this verse being in the Bible. We don't like that he's this
33:40
exhaustive, but he is. And he says, you'll shine as lights in the world.
33:44
Paul's going to do what he's done already. The last thing he's going to do
33:47
is give us more examples and we'll be done. 17 through 30, Philippians 2:17.
33:52
He says, even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering, upon the
33:55
sacrificial offering of your faith, I'm glad and I rejoice with you all.
33:59
Likewise, you should be glad and rejoice with me. I hope in the Lord Jesus
34:03
to send Timothy to you soon so I may be cheered by news of you.
34:06
I have no one like him who would genuinely be concerned for your welfare,
34:10
for all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
34:13
But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with the Father he has
34:16
served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon
34:19
as I will see how it will go with me, And I trust in the
34:23
Lord that shortly I myself will come also. I thought it necessary to send to
34:27
you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier and your messenger
34:30
and minister to my need. For he's been longing for you all and has been
34:34
distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed, he was ill near to death,
34:38
but God had mercy on him and not only on him, but also on me,
34:41
lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. And I'm the more eager to
34:45
send him therefore that you may rejoice at seeing him again. That I may be
34:48
less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy and honor such men,
34:52
for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to
34:56
complete what was lacking in your service to me. Okay, Paul starts,
35:00
live a humble life. Jesus is your example. Then he says,
35:03
live a humble life. No grumbling, no complaining, work out your salvation. And then he
35:07
ends with 3 examples. The first example is Paul himself. In 2:17-18,
35:11
he says basically what he says at the end of his life in 2 Timothy
35:14
4:6. Being poured out as a drink offering. This is some
35:18
Old Testament allusion to Numbers 15:5. People would
35:22
pour out a drink, a libation, in sacrifice to God. Paul says, that's my life.
35:26
And in Philippians 2:17-18, Paul says, that's what's happening
35:30
with me. The first example is Paul's own life, and he's already done this before
35:33
in chapter 1, talking about himself as an example of humility. The second
35:38
example, there's nobody like Timothy, nobody else like Timothy.
35:41
Think about all of the people that work with Paul.
35:45
Silas and Titus, and you think about Mark and
35:49
Barnabas, he says, I've got nobody else like Timothy. What's different about Timothy?
35:53
It's in verse 20. What's different about Timothy?
35:57
Miss Dora says, like-minded, genuinely what?
36:01
About who? Other people who will naturally
36:05
care for your estate. Everybody's worried about themselves, but not Timothy.
36:08
Kate taught in the auditorium I guess this month or last month
36:12
and did a lesson on Timothy. You might go check that out on YouTube,
36:15
but it's this idea that Timothy was a selfless servant. And Paul says,
36:18
I've got nobody else like him. Here's my question. Was Timothy's example
36:22
impossible to mimic? When he says, I got nobody else like Timothy who will naturally
36:26
be concerned for your state, is Timothy like a spiritual unicorn? Nobody else can do
36:30
what Timothy's doing, or is this possible for everybody?
36:34
How? This is not a trick question.
36:38
Just do what Philippians 2 says. If you just forget about yourself, you stop
36:42
complaining, you realize God's working in you, you shine your light, think about
36:46
other people, Paul will add our names to the list.
36:49
And then the last example he mentions is Epaphroditus.
36:53
And he says, Epaphroditus, this name comes from the Greek
36:56
goddess Aphrodite, common name in the ancient world.
37:00
This man, he says in verse 25, He's a brother. What else?
37:05
Fellow worker. What else? Fellow soldier. What else?
37:09
Messenger. And every one of those terms
37:13
is about what Epaphroditus does for other people. You notice Paul didn't say he was
37:16
talented, he was gifted, he was smart. He's a fellow brother. That means his
37:20
relationship to somebody else. He's a servant, how he serves other
37:24
people. He's a minister. Epaphroditus's whole life was poured out. And then
37:28
he says, He almost died for the work of Christ.
37:32
Now, some of you have been in the military and you can think about real-life
37:36
times where you say, I almost died. Others of us maybe
37:40
almost choked on a Slim Jim once or something. That's the closest we've ever gotten.
37:43
Epaphroditus nearly died for the work of Christ. He's traveling
37:47
back between Paul and the Philippians and he nearly died.
37:51
Paul says, he was ill, near death. God had mercy on him, but not only
37:54
on him, but also on me. Lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.
37:57
He's saying, you know Epaphroditus. He's a member of the church there in Philippi.
38:01
You know him and you know his situation and you know how he
38:05
sacrificed for my sake. And he's saying, honor such men. Be an
38:09
example like Epaphroditus. Live your life like he did.
38:12
One commentator makes this note. It's interesting that Epaphroditus doesn't change his
38:16
name. He has this Greek goddess name. He doesn't change his name,
38:20
but he changed his life. Because you can't just be a Christian in name.
38:24
You've got to be a Christian in action. Epaphroditus is his name. A lot
38:28
of people in the first century world had this Greek name, but not a lot
38:31
of people in the first century world had this Christian life. He was a messenger,
38:35
a faithful servant, a minister to Paul's needs. He nearly
38:39
died. Who else died in Philippians 2? Jesus Christ.
38:42
Epaphroditus is being just like his master. And Paul's saying the
38:46
Christian life is that. It's about being humble. It's about putting others before yourself.
38:49
And when you do that, you reflect the life that belongs to Jesus.
38:54
If you watch television shows, you know that our society on a whole,
38:59
we really like shows that deal with first responders and service positions. Law Order: SVU,
39:03
Chicago Fire, Good Doctor. And what all of those shows do
39:07
is they highlight these service-type roles, medical profession,
39:11
firefighters, police officers, and you know what they do. And this is why people are
39:14
addicted to watching them. They make it glamorous. They make it fun, they make
39:18
it exciting, and they always make it heroic. If you
39:22
know any lawyers, if you know any police officers, if you know any firefighters or
39:25
anybody in the medical profession, they'll tell you it's a lot more
39:29
grit than glory. It's a lot more grind than glamour. TV makes
39:33
it look one way, but in real life, it's the mundane,
39:37
boring job, a lot of disrespect. People don't appreciate
39:40
you. They think you're the bad guys when you show up. They overlook it.
39:44
A lot of people think about the Christian life, and I don't know what you
39:47
think about when you envision it. A lot of people think, oh, I need to
39:49
have a lot of books around me. I'm really smart. I need to travel the
39:51
world and do something just spiritually remarkable for Jesus.
39:55
Philippians 2 reminds us that's TV Christianity.
39:58
The real Christianity is Philippians 2. It looks
40:02
boring. It's more grit than glory. It's more grind than glamour.
40:06
It's just saying, you know what? I'm going to see how long I can go.
40:08
I'm not going to say anything bad about anybody. Especially a Christian. I'm going
40:12
to put other people's needs before myself this week. I'm not going to think about
40:15
how I look so much. I'm going to give somebody else a compliment. I'm going
40:17
to serve somebody else. I'm going to go out of my way. That's never going
40:20
to make the news. It's never going to be popular, but it will be the
40:24
Christian life. Who in this auditorium can you get back to back
40:27
with and say, you know what? I would give my life for yours
40:31
and we're going to fight together. I won't stab you in the back. I won't
40:34
let anybody encroach upon us to harm us. We're one family and
40:37
we're selfless servants serving the Jesus that did the same thing.
40:41
Let's pray. God, we love
40:46
you. We know you love us because of what Jesus did on the cross.
40:49
Thank you for what Paul taught us in Philippians and has been teaching us as
40:52
this letter has been preserved down through the centuries. May our lives model
40:56
what we claim to believe. Jesus is the Son of God. His way is right.
41:01
Living for ourselves will destroy us. Destroy the church,
41:05
and ultimately keep us from being our best selves. When we pour out ourselves
41:09
for you, you promise, though our glory may be delayed,
41:12
it's guaranteed and you'll exalt us. Help us to do
41:16
all things without grumbling and disputing. Help us to shine as servants in the
41:20
world. Help us to get out of our own way and get over ourselves
41:23
to your good and glory. In Jesus' name,