But this morning, we're in Philippians 2. We're going to begin reading in verse 1, reading through verse 8. The sermon text is verses 5 through 8. Philippians chapter 2, beginning with verse 1, reading through verse 8, this is the Word of God. Again, let's give attention to it. Philippians 2, beginning with verse 1. 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 interest, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Amen. This is the Word of the living God. Let's pause and ask for His help as we consider just verses 5. through 8 this morning. Let's pray. Father, as we look now to this, the infallible, inerrant, and inspired Word, a Word that is given to us as our only rule of faith and life, we pray that You would help us, that You would give to us what You have promised, that we would have Your Spirit, that we might understand these words, not just with our minds, but also with our hearts. May they translate then to a life lived in humility before you, we pray for Christ's sake. Amen. It was Hudson Taylor, that great missionary who was scheduled to speak at a large Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Australia. There, as he came before this large body of believers, the moderator of the service introduced him in eloquent and glowing terms. He told that the large congregation, all that Taylor had accomplished in China, and then presented him as, quote, our illustrious guest. Taylor stood quietly for a moment and then opened his message by saying, dear friends, I am the little servant of an illustrious master. It was that Puritan, that great Puritan, John Flavel, who said the following, they that know God will be humble And they that know themselves cannot be proud." Now, as we approach these verses this morning and approach them within the context or the frame that we've already begun to look at from last week's sermon, the issue of unity within the life of the church, and we noted then, and as we will continue to note today, that unity in the church is, frankly, it's impossible without humility. That is simply to say the great enemy of unity in the church is pride, human pride, self-centeredness, and everything that comes from it. But as we consider these verses, these verses that you probably know well enough maybe to recite, perhaps word for word, or maybe fumble through in some manner, but you get the essence of it, these words that are really framed in a hymn-oriented way, I wonder if you might think of yourself in the same terms by which the Apostle Paul applies these words here. Do you, as he says it, do you have interest in the things of others more important than yourself? Is that the mind that you possess? And as it lived, then, therefore, as it demonstrated, even as we will see and take note as it was demonstrated by the example that Paul uses here in this passage. I mean, really, where else could he have gone if he was seeking to show the church of the Lord Jesus Christ about a life of humility? Would he appeal to himself? Could he appeal to somebody else? some other mere man, but no, instead he appears to the quintessential example of humility. He appears to the one who cannot be rivaled in any way, shape, or form. It's really without argument that even the most humble of men struggle with pride except Christ. And so he uses here, in the context of the zeal for unity within the life of the church, and his appeal to you and me to live that way, he appeals to the need for humility using the greatest example of it. The one who had no reason himself to be this way, but was this way, that we might be that way through the help of His Spirit and live within the confines of the church in a way that is useful and unified for the hope and cause of the humble one, the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, my friends, unity is impossible without it. You cannot have unity where there is no humility. You cannot have unity within the church if everybody's thinking about themselves all the time and what they want and how they think it should be done and what their idea of everything should be. You can't have unity in the church if everybody's running around thinking it's all about them. No, no. I think in some way it's interesting, at least as I think about this just standing here, how Paul uses Christ and highlights Christ here as an indicator to us that true unity within the life of the church, bathed in true humility, is all about Christ and nobody else. And that is exactly what we should be and how we should live within the walls of this building. And so it's without dispute that Paul is teaching the Philippian church here about unity. It was a concern, and as I've demonstrated to you already more than once, it was a major concern of the apostle, not just for the church at Philippi, but for every church that he planted and was a part and labored within. But it can only come through true humility, and so Paul wants to show that to you and me this morning. And so I'm going to show you how the Apostle Paul exhorts you to a life of humility, demonstrated in service to others, using the greatest example of true humility and service the world has ever known. And that, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I'm going to show you this morning, with God's help, how the Apostle Paul exhorts us, you and me, to a life of humility. demonstrated in service to others, using the greatest example of true humility and service the world has ever known, the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that's long, but it's in your bulletin, I believe. I think it is. If it's not, well, ask me later if you didn't get it, and I'll give it to you. But it can't be much simpler than this. Paul exhorts you and me to live a life of humility. and we're gonna see it lived by Christ, and that's the model. That's the measuring stick. It's not me, and frankly, it's not you. If I'm to say that I'm a humble person, which is self-defeating in some way, it needs to be measured against Christ. And on that, we recognize that we will fall short, and that's why we need Him. Two points as we consider these verses, verses five through eight. We first will consider the command to humility or of humility. And then, did I say two points? There's actually three, and your bulletin only has two. I added the third point very late yesterday. First, the command of humility. Second, the example of humility. And then third, the addition the life of humility, very practical suggestions and points that we will see in this third point. The command, the example, and the life of humility. Let's first consider the command. After exhorting the Philippian church in verses two through four, Paul turns directly to a command. It is a command. He's not suggesting to you, professing Christian, that you can or don't, you can or not, it's optional, maybe I want, maybe I will, maybe I won't, have this mind among yourselves. Notice that he qualifies it, adds to this very important parts. He doesn't just put a period there on that first phrase and sort of leave you to yourself and it's like something of a works-driven righteousness in which you can have on your own. He says, which is yours in Christ Jesus. What does he mean when he commands us to do this? What is he telling us? He's saying, first and foremost, you ought to have the same mind, the mind of humility that reflecting back into the previous passage in verse four, the mind that thinks of others far more important than yourself. But you can have that mind, you can have that thought processes, you can have that attitude because it's been given to you by the spirit of Christ. Now, certainly, this command is going to ebb and flow. I know people. I've met people. On one hand, they're the most giving of people. They think of others more important than themselves today. And then the next day, they couldn't act more self-centered. We do that. We are sinful people. And we struggle with these matters because we live in the wake of a fallen, sin-wrecked existence. But it doesn't change the command, it doesn't change the target, it doesn't change the goal. The goal is that we have this mind, what mind? The mind that sees others more important, more valued, better than we see ourselves. Now look, to be painfully blunt, one of you know me not to be. That is just not normal. If I were to get up in front of a business or a corporation and I was to give them some kind of advice, if I were to preach this to these, they would think I'm crazy. That's not how the world operates. Consider just the election cycle that we find ourselves in, and you know I don't preach politics from up here, and I'm not doing it now. I'm using it as an example. There's no humility in either one of these people. All they do is spend all their time beating up the other person with their mouths. How often does that happen in the world? But how often does it happen in the church? How often does it happen that we demonstrate that our needs are more important than the needs of our brothers and sisters? Because I want what I want. And I'm not going to do what I know will encourage one another and help one another, even if it means a little bit of sacrifice, or even a lot of sacrifice. And I could list a whole bunch of those things. This is not optional for the Christian. I love Jesus. Have this mind. It's yours. You have it. You have access to it. You have access to it by the Spirit of God. who has given to you all the help you need to live a life that says, I'm going to consider the interests of others more significant, as the ESV translates it, more important than myself. I suspect that most of us, me included, could spend enough time just thinking through these words. and recognizing how much confessing of sin we need to do. And as we do that, the church strengthens. It doesn't get weaker. King Solomon, in his wise words in the Proverbs, says that there's no honor before humility. You want to be significant? You need to be the lowliest of all, Jesus says. So Paul, he gives this command. But what does it mean? What is it then that he's getting at when he says, you know, have this mind that's yours? And what is he talking about? He's talking about a life that's humble before others, a life that considers others more important. What is it then? What does true biblical humility look like? Is it to walk around and say how rotten a person I am? I stink? That's not humility. I know some of the most arrogant people in the world. All they do is denigrate themselves. It's a sign of arrogance. That's not humility. What is it? What's it look like? Well, humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God's holiness in our sinfulness. I mean, just who are you and who am I? Jesus says we're unprofitable servants at the end of the day. If that doesn't humble you, I don't know what would. You mean to say that all the sermons I preach on this planet, all the years, the eight plus years I've been in the ordained ministry, it's just unprofitable? Yes, that's what that means. God doesn't need me to do that. He's purposed to use me to do it, but he doesn't need me to do it. The gospel won't shut down if I stop talking. And it won't for you or me if you come or don't come to church. It's rightly understanding who we are in the light of God's holiness, assessing it correctly and honestly. To be humble is to have a right assessment of our own place in the world. Think about it like this. When you look at the spectrum of your own life, look, I'm not trying to be Debbie Downer up here, and I'm not Debbie anyway, but some of you will live 70, 80, 90, maybe even 100 years. If the Lord tarries and he waits 5,000 years from now, I gotta tell you something, what you did in this world is probably not gonna matter a whole lot. I'm not criticizing. I'm just telling you, have a right assessment of your place in the world. That's what humility says. I get it. I'm just gonna be faithful, I'm gonna plot along, I'm gonna do what the Lord's asked me to do to the best of my ability, try to walk humbly before Him, and if He pleases, He's pleased to use it, great, and if He's not, it's His glory, it's His purpose, and you know what, that's fine, too. Boy, that's tough. We all wanna be somebodies. We always wanna be the best, you know? Wanna be noted, we wanna be recognized, we wanna hear all of these things. Paul says, no, if you want to have a unified church, a cohesive family, you need to think about others more important than yourself. Whether you ever get any accolade or praise or any other thing. To be humble is to have a right assessment of our own place in the world. Humility, frankly, is at the heart of our Savior's character. It's the only place in the Gospels where you actually hear Jesus talking about himself. When it comes to who He is and His character, what does He say? I am meek and what? Humble of heart. No, He was either lying to you or He was right. It's at the heart of His character. I'm going to show you that in a minute, the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. is that which you and I need to emulate. Paul says it's a command, it's not optional, and if we don't have it, if we don't possess it, if we're spending all of our time thinking about me, me, mine, and myself, then we're not humble. We're always worried about who's gonna take me here and do this for me and how I can avoid helping other people and hiding out in some room somewhere in the church because the place needs to be cleaned up somewhere else. That's not humility. Think of others more important than yourself. It's hard. Why? Well, unity is impossible without it, but the reason is that God's eye is before the humble. In James chapter 4, we read that most plainly. We read other places that the way to exaltation, the way to honor is through humility. In Proverbs 15 and Matthew 23, Jesus words to his own disciples that you're not going to be like these people. Instead, if you want to be the greatest of all, you must be their servant. Well, that's a message the world doesn't like, and the church, frankly, doesn't like it much better. God opposes the proud. Now, I don't know about you, I mean, I've had people oppose me in my life, I'm sure you have too. You ever had God oppose you? It's not really a contest. You'll lose. You don't want God against you. It's one of the few times in the Bible where you actually witness God opposing people. And here he opposes them in this way when they demonstrate this attitude of pride, lacking any true humility whatsoever. He comes against them. He will run interference. He will do everything he can to humble them. And it could be done in many different ways. Now that we can see throughout the corpus of God's word, the various ways in which he has done that for people. One way that comes to mind just very quickly is there in Daniel chapter four. It's a very interesting, rather interesting story of a king. Nebuchadnezzar, every time I hear that name, I think of my previous elder who could never say that name and it was always, well, butchered. Bless his heart, so to speak. You know, he did the best he could, but he never could say it. King Nebuchadnezzar, remember him, right? Look what I've done. I'm great. Daniel's like, you better knock it off. Nah, I'm great. Look at all these, standing out there one night looking about how great everything was. Look what I built. God says, I'm done with you. Well, we're done. We're done with this. And casts him down like an animal. He was humbled. How many stories in the Bible can you read of these things? And what do we do? We depersonalize them. That'll never be me. Right. That'll never happen to me. Uh-huh. No, no. God opposes the proud. And one of the things that He will do for every Christian that names His name, who has been bought with the blood of Christ, who knows something of His forgiveness, He's going to sanctify you into the image of Christ. And if the central image of Jesus Christ is humility, guess what He's doing right now? He's trying to make you like Him. And we all could stand a heavy dose of it in this world. God opposes it. His eye is on it. He sees every arrogant thought, hears every arrogant thought, sees every arrogant act. But it also threatens the very unity of His Church. Because only through true humility and service to others, lived from the heart, will foster the unity of the Church that is so necessary in the world in which we live. The command, the reason, and the reason the reason is there is because we have an enemy. It's the very opposite of humility. It's pride. I think we know the characteristic of humility is not easy to foster in our lives. We get offended at the littlest things. Why? Because we're proud. Oh, he stepped on my toes. I'm not going to talk to him for six weeks now because he bothered me. Pride. I'm not going to resolve it in a God-honoring way. Pride. We live in the cancel culture. We live in a culture that everybody gets offended by every little thing. Someone sneezes funny and they get upset. Pride. It's not easy to deal with. Pride is at the root of the fall of man. The word I is in the middle of the word pride. It's all about me. There are many enemies to humility in our lives, but at the root of them all is our sinful pride. Pride is a sin of the attitude and the heart, and is cited in two lists of the most glaring sins in the entire Bible. It's not an accident that it's there. And pride, like any other sin, doesn't remain internalized. It'll always show up. Your pride, my pride, will pop up like that proverbial beach ball that I've used as an illustration. You hold it underwater for so long, but you're only going to be able to do it for so long, and that eventually that dumb beach ball, because of gravity, is going to pop up, and it's going to show itself. And we've all been subject to that. We've had that happen. It doesn't remain in our hearts. It surfaces in sometimes the most inconvenient of times. It comes out in our speech, the way we look at other people, our treatment of other people. Pride is the great enemy of humility. It will gut humility. It will slaughter it. It's a sin of the heart. That means it needs the grace of God. It needs the Spirit's work to turn our hearts from arrogance and pride and self-centeredness if we're really going to honor the command that Paul, by the inspiration of the Spirit, gives to us here. So let me ask you a question. Don't answer this out loud. When it comes to the values we live by, what would people say characterizes it? Some would say that you're a very person of deep conviction. That's great. Good. Or you're a person of unswerving moral values. Great. And the list could go on and on. Would it be characterized by humility? Maybe you don't know the answer to that question, because you're afraid to answer, because then it's going to be like, well, then he's going to get me with the whole, you're not supposed to be thinking about yourself. Right. So ask your spouse, do you think I'm humble? Do you think I deal with things in a humble way? Am I more mindful of the needs of others than I am myself? Is that what characterizes me by and large? Not perfect, but in general. Now, if you don't want to know the answer to that question, don't ask. Can you say, would you be able to say, would others be able to say that is how your life is characterized? In other words, does your life reflect the very example of humility as Paul gives it to us in this passage? You see, Paul didn't use another person, just a mere man, to press home the point and the importance of it. He used the perfect example, because that's our measuring stick, that's our goal. He's the one by which we measure our humility. He measured against mine or yours. No, no, it's Christ. So Paul gives us here in these verses the example of humility. We first note that it's functionally impossible to live a life of humility without this mediator. Just as it's true with any spiritual characteristic that we are called to obey as professing Christians, we are unprepared to do so if we are not properly equipped. God commands it and He tells us that we can indeed have this mind that's in Christ because we are in Christ ourselves. Which is to say we have been given and granted all of the means by which the Spirit of God will give to us to help us that we might live a life of humility. But we do that and we get that through the work of this mediator that is highlighted for us here in these verses. And not just any mediator, but the mediator. who commands us to a life of humility and a life of service to others. But he didn't just command it. He himself lived it as well. He didn't just tell his disciples to be the least of all. He was, in fact, the least of all, at least from a human point of view. He didn't just tell His servants, His disciples, His apostles to serve one another. He too served others. We're talking about the King of glory here. Put it in human terms, it would be like the King of England getting down off His perch Going out in a soup kitchen and serving the homeless without the cameras and the photo ops and the chance to get in a newspaper and to advance his political agendas. I was watching a particular episode of Mind Me Vice, Don't Judge Me, where a man, a preacher, at least in the program, He would, very wealthy preacher actually, once a week he would evade the paparazzi, if you will, and sneak around Miami, change cars two or three times that he might go serve at a soup kitchen somewhere. Doing it so that not for the applause, not for the attention, not for the notoriety of it, just because he wanted to serve. That was Jesus. He served for the sake of others. He came down off of His perch, as it were, that He might live a life of humility, that He might not only live it, but exemplify it for us, that His church might prosper as a result. He did it through the incarnation. Think of it, the humble birth in a manger in a barn. I know we're getting closer and closer to that time of year. It's become so common to us, it's almost passé. Jesus was born in a stable. Where's my next gift? You ever thought about the depths of just that historical truth? The King of glory who created all things visible and invisible came into this sin-wrecked, rotten, filthy, rotten place. And instead of being greeted with parades, with an inauguration on the Mall of Washington, D.C., born in a barn. It all began even before that point, but as it pertains to his earthly ministry, it began in a barn. For that moment forward, Christ exemplified humility through service all the time. All the time. How we doing? You see why you need a Savior? You don't do that all the time. I don't do it all the time. He did. From the moment of his birth to the point in which he cried out, it is finished. Into your hands I commit my spirit. And he was placed in a borrowed tomb. Every second of every day, he lived this life of humility before others. He came not to be served, but to serve. And he did. That incarnation, that work of Christ taking to Himself humanity, is the beginning of this work. But why? Why? For undeserving sinners? For your sake and for mine? He didn't have to do any of this, you know. He was under no compulsion whatsoever. This is why Paul picks Him as the example. To show that it was just completely free. Absolute love. that He might give of Himself. In the fullness of time, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might rescue us, that He might serve for our sake. This is what He did. This is the mind that Paul wants you and I to have, and we have it in part because of the Spirit The baby in the manger grew up, and as he did, he learned obedience to the things that he suffered. So how does Paul exemplify it? How does he highlight Christ's humility in this brief, hymnotic passage? He does it through the use of two key phrases. I'm not going to deal with every syllable of these verses, verses six through eight. Frankly, they speak for themselves. I will say, before I get into the two key phrases, I will say this. There is, and you need to be aware of this, and I wouldn't be faithful if I didn't tell you this, there is a heresy in the church centered around these verses. It is called the canonic theory, the kenosis theory, in which the phrase where he emptied himself in the King James Version implies, at least according to some, that Jesus emptied himself of his divinity when he took on humanity. That is a heresy. That is not what happens here. The humility is not in that at all because it did not happen. The humility is in what he did, what he added to himself, and how he lived within it. You just need to know that. It's called the canonic theory. Write it down. Look it up. It's heresy. All right? There's actually a hymn out there in Canopy that I should gain. Penned by Charles Wesley in which verse 3 of it actually highlights the canonic heresy It's not in our hymn book. And if it were we wouldn't be singing it But I do know a church or churches that has it This is not the point If Jesus at any time emptied himself of his divinity He would no longer be God and if he is not God he could not save you and he could not save me. I All right, with that said, Paul uses two key phrases to highlight the very humility of Christ, to exemplify for us the kind of humility that we must possess and emulate. First, he talks about Jesus being in the form of God. Verse 6, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. We first note the pre-incarnate Son, the pre-incarnate nature of the Son of God. He was in the form of God. That is to say, He was God. As John tells us most plainly in John chapter 1, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It's not a God. Jehovah's Witness and New World Translation tries to tell you that's wrong. It's not even grammatically correct in Greek. It violates every grammar rule. No, no, He is God. In eternity past, before there was anything, before there was anything of anything to speak of, He was God. So what does Paul mean then when he says this phrase? The term form here means the inner essential and abiding nature of a person. In fact, it's one of the few times in a sermon I'll actually quote from the NIV. Nothing against the NIV necessarily, I just prefer more literal translations. The NIV says like this, it says, who being in very nature God. That's who He was and who He is. His very nature is God, deity from all eternity. Never once was He made God and never once did He forfeit God from Himself. He is God. He remains God, even in His incarnation, in the purpose of the incarnate Son. What exactly did the Son purpose to do? Did He empty Himself of God, as some would argue? No. If so, He would be insufficient to satisfy a just and holy God. It must be a Lamb without blemish or spot. That is not just a phrase. That is to say, it must be sinless in every way. It must be without defect. It must be Christ. It must be God himself, for only he is without sin. Only he is without defect. Only he is thrice holy. Only he is the one by which Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6, exalted and lifted up, and the angels are pronouncing the thrice holy nature. Only he can do what is necessary that we might be exalted. Put a different way, God Himself took to Himself humanity. Now look, this is Christian theology 101. Maybe it's lost its luster. The God of the universe, immortal, invisible, God only was, added to Himself humanity. How is it our minds can grasp the depths of this? I heard one professor try one day, and I think it's helpful, but I don't think it gets there because I don't think it's possible to truly grasp it as humans and pea brains as such as we are. He said it would be like you and me deciding to go live on purpose and intentionally in a garbage pit or a dump. Now, I know there's one off St. Joe somewhere. Okay, so if you want to know a little bit of what it was like for God to take on humanity, go live there. Pitch a tent and live right in the middle of it. Now, that doesn't obviously get all the way there, does it? But at least help somewhat. for us to understand it. Our confession helps us understand somewhat of what this form of God means and how it's applied to the work of Christ. When he says it, he did not count equality with this a thing to be grasped or held on to, but emptied himself. That's the Greek word kenosis, hence, kenotic theory, okay? Emptied himself of what? What did he divest of himself that might show forth his humility? Well, I'm going to give you four of them. I wish I wrote these, because I didn't. But I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. They're great. First, he gave up his favorable relation to the divine law. He gave up His relation to the divine law. While our Lord was in heaven, no burdens of guilt rested upon Him. At His incarnation, He voluntarily took this burden unto Himself, and He began to carry it away. Thus, the spotless Lamb of God, who knew no sin, became sin for us, in order that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. What? Yeah, that's what it means. The law giver became subject to the law. The law that you're subject to, he who knew no sin became sin for your sake. This is what it means that he emptied himself. Second, he gave up his riches. 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9 states plainly that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich. He gave up everything, even his very own life. He was born in a stable and buried in a borrowed tomb. He borrowed a room in which to celebrate the final Passover meal with his disciples. He was indeed poor and took upon himself the greatest of debts, the iniquity of every one of us. Third, he gave up his heavenly glory. The Savior was very aware of this, so much so that He fervently prayed with the Father on that dark night before He was crucified, and now, Father, glorify Me in Your presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed. From this eternal glory, the Son willingly descended into the realm of misery in order to pitch His tent for a while among sinful men, the one of whom the seraphim covered their faces in Isaiah 6 and the object of the most solemn adoration voluntarily descended to the realm where He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Fourth. He gave up His independent exercise of authority. Is there somebody more authoritative than God? Is there somebody above God that tells God what to do? But when Christ took upon Himself humanity, He voluntarily gave up His independent exercise of authority. He learned from the things that He suffered. He did not seek to do His own will, but that of the Father's will. The Creator, the Divine Lagos, submitted Himself to the will of the Father. And what was that will? That He might be a servant. That He might save prideful, self-centered, sinful people. Which is the second phrase that Paul employs here. Again, form of God. Now he turns and looks at this idea of the form of a servant. What is the purpose of a servant? The things that the Savior did on the behalf of His people. What is it that He did? You could just go through the Gospels and just read and take note of the many different ways in which He served men. He cast out demons. He called sinners to Himself that they might walk with Him and learn from Him. He raised the dead in John chapter 11. He fed the myriads of people who were hungry in the feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000. He calmed the sea and rescued His disciples on the boat in the middle of the night. He subjected himself to the attacks and the antagonism of sinful people. Name-calling of every kind, even to the point where they believed the things that he was doing was because of the work of the evil one. And it goes on and on, and that's just what's written down. And the things that we do not know that happened to him in the 33 years that he lived, give or take, on this earth. That all of it was designed, all of it was driven by his heart of service, a desire to serve, a desire to save, a desire to rescue, a desire to think of others more important than himself. He was willing to suffer at the hands of wicked people that he might rescue wicked people. He came not to be served, but to serve. and give his life a ransom for many. He didn't come as a conquering king, but a humble and lowly servant. As a man, he walked with and served men. You show me somebody else in the history of humanity that served other people like this man. Mother Teresa is a great lady, but she doesn't come close to what Jesus Christ did, not even close. You see, she needed a savior. He didn't. He didn't have to come and do what he did. He willingly emptied himself, divested himself of all the things that I've already read, that he might simply serve you and me as a life of the servant. From the very place and circumstance of His birth to His trial, the Lord of glory, the God of heaven, the creator of the universe, the one who is worthy of our praise and our adoration, the one who we come in here every Lord's Day to sing to and to praise and to pray to and to hold up before us as the only hope that we've got, He alone served. you and me. It is quite true, and I don't remember where I got this from, I'm sure I got it somewhere, but it's quite true that the only person that has ever lived who had every right to assert his own rights, his own will, the only person that has ever lived that had that right, waived them. that he might save you and me. You see why Paul's using Jesus as an example of humility? You see why he's using Jesus as an example before us, how we are to live within the church to other people, how we're to think more highly of other people than we think of ourselves? Who else could he use? Who else would be appropriate? Because we see our Lord in all of his actions, serving the needs of the people. Do you see him that way? Or do you see him as a ticket that you might hold on to as you enter the pearly gates of heaven? Do you see him as one who served for every minute of every day for the entirety of his existence on this earth, as one who served for your sake? Do you see him that way? The creator of the universe with a towel wrapped around his waist as he stoops to wash the feet of his own disciples. Can you imagine? You don't have to imagine. Do you hear the words he offers when he says, I have given you an example to follow? What was that example? To serve? Of all the rights and claims he had, he voluntarily set them aside to serve, to give, to offer his life as a ransom for undeserving sinners like us. He took on human flesh. He suffered the ills of a sin-cursed world. He got tired. He got weary. He suffered in every way that man suffers, yet without sin. He did it that he might serve you and me. All of this he did willingly unto one great end. And Paul highlights it for us in this passage, that one great end, death on a cross, not exactly the most pleasing ways to die. As Paul highlights it for us in this passage, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And so Paul gives to us He shows us, he highlights for us the quintessential example of humility. He holds him before his church, before the church, and he says, look, if you want to have the mind that you possess, you have the mind of Christ and you have his spirit. If you want to serve in the church, you want unity in the church, you want a familial attitude within the church, you better start thinking about others more important than yourselves. And if you don't know what that looks like, you look to Jesus. And you start emulating him. No, you can't die for my sin. I can't die for yours. But I can serve like Jesus served. I have the mind of Christ. What does that look like? What would it look like here at Providence? That life of humility, what does that look like? Well, if you know Christ this morning, you have His help. You have no excuse. If you choose to live arrogantly and pridefully, you do it on purpose. You do it because you don't care. You have the mind of Christ. You know Him. He has rescued you from sin and misery, and this should be working in you by the Spirit of God. It can be no other. But if you don't know Christ today, than you are living at the height of arrogance. There is no higher pride than to live this life without Christ. To say, I'm going to go it alone, I'm going to do it my way, and I don't need anything he had to offer. There must be another solution. If I'm sincere enough, if I'm good enough, if I do enough, I will be accepted by God. No, you will not. No, no, only those who have been humbled by the service of Jesus Christ will ever, ever live with Him for eternity. You see, it's the highest form of humility to say simply, I am a sinner, and I am in desperate need of Jesus Christ, and I must have Him. For without Him, I have no hope. whatsoever, I will die in my arrogance and in my pride, and I will be lost for eternity." You need the one who voluntarily condescended to this miserable existence. You cannot save yourself. You must believe on He who served. You must repent of that sin, flee to the cross of Christ, Third, the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ for you Christians should lead you to a few things, especially when we consider it in relationship to one another, because that's what Paul is compelling us to do here. We must serve our Lord in our daily lives. It's the natural response to those who have experienced His service. That's just not on Sunday. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday at your job, in your homes, in your cars, in your conversation, are you doing it to serve Christ? In your schooling, in your labors, in your writing a paper, and working on a sermon, is it done to serve Christ? It's gotta start there. seeking first his kingdom and righteousness. But it doesn't end there. If you want to serve the Lord, then you certainly want to serve the ones that Jesus Christ came to serve. That's each other. That's you, me, and all of us. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We're a family. We're going to squabble sometimes. Family squabble. I've never known a family not to squabble. or even fight, or yell, or go out the front door mad and come back later. I've seen all of it. Probably done it a few times. But we're still a family. But families also serve each other in different ways. And one person can't do everything. One person can't do everything in the church either. Service. What does that look like? Well, hospitality. I've said this before, and I'll say it again. I'm still struggling with this here. Four years. How's your hospitality? Oh, you don't understand. It's such a pain. Yeah, I know. I get it. Serving can be that way. Having people over, looking for ways to do those kinds of things. You'll learn more about your brothers and sisters in your living room than you will in the hall of this church. Just FYI. Never mind the fact that it's commanded of us to engage in Christian fellowship and be hospitable and to think of others more important than ourselves, then visitors come through the door of this church. You know, it's the Lord's Day. You want them to go down the street to the restaurant? I hope not. Sometimes they're forced to because they got no choice. Why? Because God's people aren't being very hospitable. There's a list back there on that table. There's two names on it. All you're doing is saying, I'm ready if some visitor comes to the door of the church on some Lord's Day, and I'm ready. And if they need a place to eat, I'm going to have them over to my house, or I'm going to use the kitchen in the church, or whatever the case may be. Why? Because I want to serve them. I don't even know who they are, but I'm still going to serve them anyway. Why? Because they're my brothers and sisters. That's what I'm going to do. You know, it's not that difficult. Peanut butter sandwiches work, you know, and tomato soup. That's what I like anyway, but I'm simple. The congregation is commanded to these things. That's how you demonstrate service. If you really understand the service of Christ, isn't that what he did? He was the quintessential example of hospitality, the perfect deacon. Elders are commanded to do it. They don't have much option. It's one of the marks of being an elder. If you're not being hospitable, then maybe you should quit or don't pursue the office of elder. It's how you serve. But what about all the passages in the New Testament about all these, what we call, one another passages? They're not just there to fill space. Paul says in Galatians 6, to bear one another's burdens. Now, we're too independent and too American about this. We don't share our burdens, number one, and number two, we don't know how to share, bear one another's burdens when they come to us. We're to comfort one another. 1 Thessalonians 4, in verse 18, you know, not everything is always rosy. We're to bring comfort, not harm. We're to edify. Romans 14, verse 18, we're to edify one another. Or put a different way, we're to encourage. Hebrews 10, Well, I could probably preach a whole sermon on that right there. I'll resist. But we're to encourage one another. That's how we serve. I'm not doing that, because I don't want to. Oh, I see. We're supposed to be kind to one another, tended hearted, forgiving one another, even as Christ Jesus forgave you. That's how you should be with your mind and your attitude, Ephesians chapter four. We're to love one another, Romans chapter 12, 1 Corinthians 13. We're to be patient with one another. Look, none of you got it all figured out, I can tell you that candidly, I don't either. But we're to be patient, patient. The Lord's working in your life, I hope, I trust, as He's working in mine, and none of you are at the same place I am, and I'm not where some of you are. We're all to be patient with one another, encouraging one another, sometimes rebuking if necessary, in all the right ways. We're to do these one another things. This is how we serve one another within the life of the church. Some of them are pleasant, some of them are fun, some of them are nice, and some aren't so nice. But Paul says if you want to have unity in the church, you need to be doing these things. You better have the mind of Christ, and you do. So plead for the spirit of Christ more, that you might see others more important than yourself. Some of you are doing a wonderful job with this. I know, if you don't think I pay attention, I pay attention, I don't know everything. But I know enough. Some of you could probably do a little better. But it's not just that which we do, it flows from the heart. And a realization of the service of Christ and what he has done for us, it should flow naturally from our own hearts and our own understanding out of gratitude for his service to me that I might serve you. Whatever way the Lord equips me to do it. True biblical humility is really counterculture. And contrary to our sinful flesh, It's hard to denounce self for the benefit and blessing of others. I'm tired. I got other things to do. I get all those things. We're all very busy people. Maybe too busy. So what do you do? How can you foster a heart of humility? I mean, just give you two things and I'm done. They're not all that complicated, frankly. I've already mentioned them in the sermon. Pray. I don't know how else to get there. God is giving you the means. He's giving you the tools. You want more humility? You want to have the mind of Christ in spades? Pray, Lord, I desire this in my life. Give me what you command me. Give me opportunity. Grant to me the strength. Give me more of your spirit. Whatever words you want to use, pray. Meditate on the humility of Christ. You've got these verses here in 5-8, you can think through and work through and contemplate and write down stuff and jot down comments and let your mind just go. Read the Gospels. And see just how it is that Jesus Christ served you. Oh no, you weren't there, but you were. He was serving you. Meditate on the humility of Christ. As we do that as a congregation, as we do that, as I do that, as the elders do that, as the deacons do that, as we do that, we will be unified as a people. We will be, well, people will be jealous of the unity of the church, because as Jesus said, they'll stand back and say, wow, look how they love one another. Amen. Our Father, we confess to you that these things are hard. We are, because of our sin and our sinful nature, we are prone to self-centeredness. We are prone to these things that we know displease you. But we also know that as your children, we have the mind of the Savior. And so we pray that you would perfect our minds and our actions in such a way that we would live this way. Seeking to serve in any way we can the needs of our brothers and sisters, we pray for Christ's sake. Amen.