You may take your seats. Our Scripture reading this morning from Philippians chapter 2, verse 1 through 11, as we'll focus on verses 5 and further on. Philippians chapter 2, starting in verse 1. The Word of God never returns to him void. Let us remember that as he calls us to hear and obey. So if there is 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 yourself. that each of you look not only to his own interests, 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. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and honor the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I'm gonna focus, as I said, on verse five, and further, there's just no way that in one sermon we could explain the depth, the width, the glory of what is written here, but I'll do my best. Now, beloved in your Lord Jesus Christ, I wanna take us back a little bit, because I've said from the beginning, we work with a plan through chapter two. And it's good that we review what the Holy Spirit has revealed to us in the previous verses. We have seen so far that a Christian life is, and I mean, when I talk about a Christian life, I want you to think not of something else than what you and I live each day, because we are Christians and we live. So we talk about a Christian life. We talk about our lives. that a Christian life is a life worthy of the gospel of Christ. That's almost the measurement. That's almost what the standard is given to us. It is worthy of the gospel of Christ, not only because of the gospel, but also as we continue to live out the gospel in our lives. And in order for us to live a steadfast life in the gospel, we also have to live in unity with one another. We have seen very clearly how God has blessed the church with a spirit-filled unity, a unity that is already established, but a unity that we also have to continue to develop. Because we were made children of the living God, we are also blessed to come into this fellowship, which we also have seen has its complete revelation and fulfillment in the perfect unity that exists between the triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And because of this new relationship that we have with God, Our lives are blessed, we've seen from the scriptures, encouragement, with comfort, with fellowship. But then we see that the Bible did not stop there. Blessed with this unity, we are also called to live out this unity in fellowship with one another. And then we've seen in the next sermon how this unity will grow if our minds are filled with the same gospel truths, how our hearts, when our hearts are filled with the same sacrificial love for one another, the love that you and I have been loved with, and also if we live with the same purpose, and that is to glorify God in our lives daily, in everything we do. And then the Spirit of God warned us to remember that there are obstacles. There are obstacles that will endanger this unity. And we focused on those obstacles in another sermon. Selfishness and empty conceit, we've seen, will break apart this unity that exists between believers. Thus, we are called to pray for you. protect but actively maintain this unity with a spirit of humbleness where we are always looking away from ourselves to look at the interests of others. And perhaps what you heard the last three weeks hit a nerve when you realize that it is not quite how things are in your own life. But I trust that it hit a little bit more than just a nerve. I hope that the Holy Spirit continue to work these truths through in your mind like a revolving door that you could not stop thinking about it to remember, but this is my calling. This is how my life, my Christian life should look like. I hope that it make you realize how much you still have to grow in your faith, just as I have to. And I pray that the Lord will reveal to us how much our lives revolves really around ourselves and our own interests while we are called to put the kingdom of God first. So two questions. If you have to describe your own life, do you think you could rightfully say that your life is a church and kingdom-oriented life? And if our visible unity, this is the second question, if our visible unity was not important to God as a church, why did he command us to celebrate the Lord's Supper frequently so that we could see how we are connected to one another, how we are one within, how we are indeed united in Christ? Just remember, He demonstrates to us every time when we celebrate the Lord's Supper how He once was offered for all the sins of all His people for the body of Christ. And it is in this unity that the deacons must also lead us and help us to continue to love each other more in practical ways, And now the word of God continues as the Apostle Paul reinforced the critical importance of humility in the heart of the believers. You remember, we say we need to look away from ourselves and look upon the interests of others, our fellow believers. And there is no better way to reinforce this thought by reminding the Philippians of the attitude and conduct of him to whom they are united to in their faith, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And I showed you last week that these verses are basically, I'm talking of verse 5 through 8, that these verses are basically the motivation for our lifestyle. Ye, Jesus, is the foundation on which every aspect of our lives is and should be built. Yes, with these verses, the Holy Spirit takes the focus away from ourselves, and he places it on Christ, our Savior. And that's a good thing, because if we want to change our lifestyle, if we truly want to repent, we need to be confronted with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because you know how ignorant we sometimes can be. how we could feel that urges of the Holy Spirit, like a needle that just gives you a prick, and disturbed us just enough that it bothers us while we are here in the worship service, but the moment we get in our cars and drive home, it's forgotten. Or you might be too confident that you feel you don't need to change any, nor repent. That's why I think Paul comes and he, it's like in a climax, put us now before Christ himself and he says, and says, have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus. So let us look at him, at Christ right now. really try to put ourselves before him as a church, and then we will see, I'm sure we will soon see, that we need to repent daily of our own self-love and our empty conceit. Because where would we find a greater model for humility? He is the model of everything for us. Jesus himself said in Matthew 11, 29, take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. Learn humility from me. John 13, he says, after he washed the disciples feet, love one another as I have loved you. After humbly, he washed the disciples feet. And it was the Apostle Peter that also says in 1 Peter 2.23, when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to Him who judges justly. Think about it, he could have handled it completely different, all this suffering that he endured here on earth. He could have handled that differently as the all-powerful, almighty King of Kings, but he did not. Our passage says, he humbled himself unto death. And it's our lack of humbleness that so often influences our willingness to serve. Just check yourself when responsibilities are handed out or you're asked to do something. We see how people disappear. So often we're willing to serve as long as it doesn't take too much effort. Or are we willing to love as long as He does not take self-sacrifice? Or are we willing to give as long as He doesn't take too much of my money or time or even of myself? The Word of God encourages us to live a life that is not looking at its own interest. A life that is not selfish and filled with empty conceit. Everything that is asked of us is shown to us in Christ. In his person and in his life, we see the perfect realization of all those things that are actually demanded of us. But I want you to realize the following. If those things that were demanded of us in the previous verses, if those things were present in the life of Christ, Yes, if Christ renounced Himself in order to save His children, who are we to think it is unimportant for our own lives? If He saw it fit, if He did it because it was necessary, if the Holy Spirit presents Christ to us as an example of a life of humility, how could we as His children think, Well, that is not that important for us to serve and love one another. How could we even want to put a limitation on how much we want to be like Christ? Agreed, there are certain things that you and I cannot, let's say, copy, and in which Christ cannot be our example. We cannot copy His works of salvation. We cannot suffer and die vicariously. Only Jesus Christ could satisfy the divine justice of God and bring His people to glory. But with God's help, we can and must copy the heart, the attitude, the mind of Christ. Yes, God gives us that command. It is not something optional for the church. It's not something optional to the Christian life. The word is not simply saying, this is Christ's mind, and if you are able, become more like him. You see what I'm saying? No, he's saying, have this mind among yourselves. But now you could easily say, even before we start this morning sermon, in this passage, focus on verses five through eight. When we were busy with verses one through four, we already came with hanging shoulders when we heard the commands to live in unity with each other, because we said it's not easy, because it forces us to give ourselves up. How could we do this, you might ask, and it's a fair question. Because to have the mind of Christ, or if you were to be like Jesus, is simply impossible. We cannot simply imitate him and hope to impress God, if you want. And I think if that was the gospel, not one of us would ever made it to heaven. We all fall short of the glory of God. Isn't that why it's so comforting to hear, in Jesus Christ and you have eternal life, that is the only gospel, right? And if we remember those words now and read verse five, then things fall in place. Because in verse five, as I read it again, he says, have this mind among yourselves, that's the command, and then what follows? A promise. A promise. because he says, which is yours? How? In Christ Jesus. So let's read the whole sentence. Have this mind among yourselves. That's the command. Which is yours? In Christ Jesus. God never asks anything of us that he does not make possible for us. That is why Christ is not simply our example. You imagine if Jesus Christ was only the example for the Christian, how tired you and I would have become to be that perfect example. But Christ is far more than that for us. Yes, no one can reach his perfect example unless we are in him. And how are we in him? Through our faith in him. It was the president of the Reformed Theological Seminary that once wrote, there is no Christianity, there is no godliness, there is no obedience that pleases God outside of Christ. Your religion, your morality, is as damnable as your rebellion if it's not the fruit of union with Christ. How could we become like Christ if we are not in Christ? Or if I put it positively, we could only have this mind we are supposed to have among ourselves if we are in union with Christ. because then through His Word and His Spirit, He enable us to be what He asked us to be. He gives us the promise that He would do so, the promise that the Holy Spirit will confirm us through the means of grace into the image of Christ, which includes the mind of Christ with His humbleness. So let your answer be thoughtful and self-searching when I ask you this morning, are you in Christ? And if you are, let us see what the mind is that the Holy Spirit is renewing us unto. Because our pastor said, Christ, and I'm just gonna go quickly through that, Christ was in the form of God. It doesn't mean that God has a material form, Now remember, God is spirit. It only means that Jesus possesses all of God's attributes. He was fully God. As John says in his gospel, in the beginning was the word, and the word was God, and the word was with God. He was with God in the beginning, and the word was God. Through him, all things were made. Without him, nothing was made that has been. In him was life, and that life was the light of man. Jesus Himself spoke of His own preeminence when He, in His high priestly prayer, says, the glory I had with you before the world began. Yes, He was from eternity. He always existed. Yes, the Son of God is equal to God because He is God Himself. But He emptied Himself. by taking the form of a servant. He was born into this world in the likeness of man. From his eternal glory, covered and enveloped with majesty, he came down to this sinful earth and took human nature on himself. Instead of being worshipped as king, he came to serve as a servant. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. I've heard people say, I will die for my wife. Will we die for each other? Will we serve and love each other to the point of death? Because we are one in Christ. You know, we always want to go from the bottom to the top. We want to do better and better. We want to elevate ourselves. Our Lord Jesus did just the opposite. He came from above down to this earth. We want to become God. Our God became man. We always want to hold on to everything, even the most insignificant things, the temporary things of this life, like our money, our possessions, and our prestige. Our Lord Jesus gave it all up, everything, to save you and me. We are so concerned about who we know and who we are seen with. Jesus came to this earth to be seen with those the world frowns upon, the sinners, the prostitutes, the homeless, those who were rejected by society to change them and win them for the kingdom of heaven. We want to be served and acknowledged. Our Savior came to serve. Does our life look anything like the life of Jesus? Are we really completely focused on the church and God's kingdom first? I think you will agree if I say no. we are not quite there yet. As we see him in his glory or as we see him in his humbleness, I think we once again this morning see just our own weakness and our own sinful pride. It is then that we must remember he's not only our example, as I said, he is also our savior. He came to this earth for you and me. And what He gave up was in order to save us also from a life of selfishness and empty conceit. Because it's our own empty conceit that make us think we don't need God that much. It is our own pride that make us think we don't need to grow in our faith while we are still far away from the reflection of the full image of Christ in our lives. It is our empty conceit that makes us put ourselves and our own interests first, before those of others. Now, we still have to change. We still have to change to understand that in the church, it's not in the first place about me, but about my fellow brothers and sisters and how important they are in my life. You see, humanism says love other people to make the world a better place. The true gospel says, live in union with Christ and that heart's attitude will be given to you because it is yours in Christ Jesus. Embrace the promise. It is yours in union with Jesus Christ. And you know what else happened in that union with Christ? We continue to discover ourselves day after day. We discover ourselves as sinners before a holy God, as selfish sinners before a savior who gave himself up and everything else in order to save us. You see how this passage ends. in exalting the name of our Lord Jesus and in acknowledging Him as the one before whom every knee will bow. Yes, then we discover ourselves in the presence of our Savior and we burst out in joy and praises for what He has done for us day after day after day. Because in joy we will then remember that He became man humiliated himself, became a slave, and that he was obedient to the point of death on a cross. Remember then that God has already, in several passages in Philippians, reminded you that you have this comfort in Christ. You have received love. You have the communion with the Holy Spirit. You can have the same mind of Christ. Not because you're smart. but because you've been redeemed to be like Him already. Can you just picture yourself a world, and for that matter a church, where this mind of Christ is in every home, where we work, in every business, in every relationship. A life in which we give rather than receive or take. A life in which we rather serve than live to be served, a life in which we regard each other as higher than ourselves. Christ made this possible for us, but only in union with him. And when we are in him, we will bear much fruit, Jesus says, So let us live in union with Christ as a church. Let us live in union as Grace Presbyterian Church that will reveal to the world around us, it will reveal to one another the beauty of this union that we have in Christ. And it will fill our hearts continuously with thankfulness and humbleness as we serve and love one another. God's people say, Father, as we come to you, we ask that you would receive us in our sinfulness, as we acknowledge again how short we fall of your glory, and as we undertake again today to live in unity with you through your Son, Jesus Christ, so that more and more, Lord, the fruit of that unity will become visible in our church as we continue to love each other better and more, more intensely, more intentional, more invisible ways, so that your name be glorified as we place ourselves, Lord, not before, but behind those whom we are called to serve. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Let's sing hymn number 466, Jesus, our Lord and King. ♪ Living sacrifice ♪ ♪ Now justify my grace ♪ ♪ And make the life divine ♪ ♪ Formed for yourself to show your praise ♪ ♪ We sound your noise ♪ I stand here to sing. We rise to walk anew. Friends for the sun. And I sing to you, dear, if you are there, be nice to me this time. I'm going to use the whole Revelation 1, verse 4 through 6 as our blessing today. Receive God's blessing and go from here in peace. Just remember to go and sit down first for our congregational meeting. Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood and has made us to be a kingdom priests to His God and Father. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. If you would take your seats, please, and the elders come forward.