The Example of Humility
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 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. 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.
1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Example, Teaching By
The story is told of a T.V. repairman who didn’t like to think about his job when he came home. As a result, he never bothered to properly install the T.V. antenna on the top of his house or fix it when one arm broke in a windstorm. One day a new family moved in next door, and the owner went up on his roof to install an antenna. Knowing that his neighbor was a T.V. repairman, he put his up exactly the same way and turned his antenna to face in the same direction as his neighbor’s. Then, after studying his neighbor’s antenna for a while, he reached up and broke one arm off his new antenna!
As disciples, we teach by example, whether we intend to or not!433
This story teaches us what happens when we have a bad example, but we as Christians do not have that problem when we look to Christ. He was the perfect example. His life in its entirety is an example we can look at.
We have talked the last couple weeks about unity, unity in the church, and our lives to be worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul has painted this picture of unity, and he then goes into what we consider the main point of this passage is to have the mind of Christ. Be in unity and have the same mind, and then he says “Have this mind”
Whose’s mind
The mind of Christ.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
ESV Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,0% difference
CSB Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,74% difference
NASB95 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,36% difference
NKJV Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,46% difference
NIV In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:79% difference
NLT You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.83% difference
a bunch of different translations, but the point is the same. Have this mind that Christ Jesus had himself. It seems as if Paul just continues to raise the standard.
Live your life worthy of the gospel, be a unified church, be of the same mind, have this mind that Jesus had.
Some would suggest that what Paul has written here in verses 5-11 were one of the earliest hymns the early church would have.
The Mind of Christ
The Mind of Christ
Take this mind. Think like Christ.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
What Paul will do here with this text is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit craft a hymn from Isaiah 45:14-25; 52:13-53:12). We see this progression of exaltation to humiliation back to exaltation. Christ who was seated above everything, everything subjected to him, but he gave all that up and humbled himself.
The point is that Christ was more concerned about rescuing sinful human beings than holding on to his heavenly glory [Ea].
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Jesus, 2nd Person of the Trinity, God the son, he was in the form of God. Christ, omnipresent, omnipotent, all-knowing, Jesus Christ who was equal with God this was not a matter of keeping his status but of giving up.
From eternity past, the plan was always that Christ would come to earth to save his people from their sins.
How is it comforting to know that nothing surprises God?
This mindset of Christ we see a glimpse of what he is thinking before his incarnation (or his birth as a man), and then we see after.
This hymn addresses what Paul wants them not to do where his command before was
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. Paul compares this picture that the Philippians were struggling with selfish ambition and conceit to Christ who not concerned about that, but his greatest concern was for others. For those who were fully depraved, sinful humanity who needed a Savior. Christ considered others state of being more important than his own, and came into the flesh.
I mean look at yourself and those around you. I’m sure you woke up this morning not feeling so great, morning breath, you get hungry, you get stomach aches, your fingernails and toenails can get gross. Your feet smell.
The Father sent the Son to live in this flesh
He did not consider his equality to be grasped
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
“emptied himself”
Let’s talk about what this does not mean.
Jesus did not lose his deity.
Jesus did not lose his attributes.
He emptying himself does not necessarily mean he emptied himself of something.
But what is he meaning that Christ emptied himself.
Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 1. As God He Emptied Himself (2:5–7)
“he made himself of no reputation,” whose sense the NIV has captured with its “made himself nothing.”
Paul’s Letter to the Philippians 1. As God He Emptied Himself (2:5–7)
The concern is with divine selflessness: God is not an acquisitive being, grasping and seizing, but self-giving for the sake of others.
Complete Paul’s joy by not being selfish but counting others more significant that you cannot do this on your own, but when you have the mind of Christ you cannot act selfishly. It is impossible for you to do that, but only to consider others more important.
Jesus who is fully God, then becomes fully man that he may be like us.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Jesus had to become like us that then he may die for us. He is the ultimate high priest who able to sympathize with our struggles and temptations because he went through them.
He went through what we go through day to day, yet he resisted temptation. He did not give into sin, but he resisted.
16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
How does this encourage our prayer life?
Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses, and he can be our high priest. Catholicism in their belief system would say you cannot have a relationship with God without a priest, but we have the ultimate high priest that sits on at the right hand of the Father pleading on our behalf. He has made intercession for us, that we can pray to the Father. He emptied himself that he took the form of flesh being born in the likeness of men.
Make this distinction in your mind, Christ did not become humble, HE IS HUMBLE.
His incarnation did not make him become humble, but he is the definition of humble.
Philippians—The Fellowship of the Gospel Emptying by Being Born
The little angel was beginning to be tired and a little bored. He had been shown whirling galaxies and blazing suns, infinite distances in the deathly cold of interstellar space, and to his mind there seemed to be an awful lot of it all. Finally, he was shown the galaxy of which our planetary system is but a small part. As the two of them drew near to the star which we call our sun and to its circling planets, the senior angel pointed to a small and rather insignificant sphere turning very slowly on its axis. It looked as dull as a dirty tennis ball to the little angel whose mind was filled with the size and glory of what he had seen.
“I want you to watch that one particularly,” said the senior angel, pointing with his finger.
“Well, it looks very small and rather dirty to me,” said the little angel. “What’s special about that one?”
“That,” replied his senior solemnly, “is the Visited Planet.”
“ ‘Visited’?” said the little one. “You don’t mean visited by—”
“Indeed I do. That ball, which I have no doubt looks to you small and insignificant and not perhaps overclean, has been visited by our young Prince of Glory.”
And at these words he bowed his head reverently.
As this angel was reminded of this truth, we need reminded what Christ gave up and did for us in humility that we may be made right with God and have a relationship with him.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
After emptying himself, he humbled himself. Further humiliation for the Son of God that he may be obedient to the Father. God the Father sending the Son to die on the cross for the sins of the world, that he was obedient in the flesh. Every action, every word, every thought that Jesus had knew he was getting one step closer to being obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.
This sort of obedience displayed by Christ Paul shows to the church of Philippi that they needed to be obedient.
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.
They can do this, because Christ did it first and the price he paid was the price we were suppose to pay. We can count others more significant than ourselves because Christ left heaven and took on this flesh that we may have eternal life. The gospel, the good news first starts with Christ leaving heaven and the incarnation of Christ of him taking on flesh.
Jesus’s whole life demonstrated humility.
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.
Think of the tension of the room. 12 proud disciples where none of them are willing to wash each other’s feet, but Jesus will. No Hebrew Israelite could be commanded to wash the feet of others. This was humiliating. Yet Jesus did.
He says this later,
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
In humility, you love others because Jesus loved you. Jesus in humility left leaven, that he may die for you so you have a right relationship with him.
In humility, you consider others more important that yourselves, the church members in this room, in this building, you do it because you love love as Christ has loved you.
Questions you and I need to consider that how can I look more like Christ in humility? What needs to change in my life to put on the mind of Christ.
As Paul continues to write this Christ hymn, we get to the
The Exaltation of Christ
The Exaltation of Christ
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
Christ did not stay in the grave, but three days later rose from the grave. It was only fitting, that if the Son would make him so low in this world, that he would then be raised so high by the Father. His name is exalted above every name.
22 “Turn to me and be saved,
all the ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
‘To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
He is given the name above every other name.
YAHWEH
The name where for hundreds of years as scribes copied the Scriptures, every time they wrote Yahweh, they stopped, washed their hands, changed pens and inks, and exalted YAHWEH.
The name above every name bestowed upon Jesus at the right hand of the Father. Why
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.