At this time, I invite you to turn in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2. We'll look at the first 11 verses of this chapter. And Lord willing, we'll cover them all this morning as well. And it's found on page 1,349, 1,349 of the Bibles provided there in your rows. Let's give our reverent attention to the reading and hearing of God's word this morning. The Apostle Paul writes, therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, If any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should help or every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. as far as the reading of God's holy word. Remember, the grass withers and the flower falls, but God's word abides forever. This morning, we want to consider the joy of self-denial. And as you hear those words, the idea of joy and denial, you may be thinking to yourself, how in the world can you even put those two terms together? It's basically an oxymoron, isn't it? An oxymoron is the idea that you put two opposite ideas in order to, you join them in order to create an effect. So some examples of an oxymoronic statement might be an open secret. See that? You heard a joke and it was seriously funny. You ever considered liquid gas? And I think my personal favorite, government assistance. Two ideas that you put together that in the end you're going, these are contradictory. How in the world do these fit? And yet this morning we hear this theme of joy from the epistle of Philippians and yet hear it in the context of self-denial. How can there be joy present and yet the expression of self-denial? Well, the Apostle Paul is writing to this church in Philippi and he is ultimately emphasizing this point of self-denial for the sake of the benefit and good of the entire body of believers there in the church. He's written to them, having encouraged them in chapter 1, verses 27 and following, that their conduct would be such, that their behavior would be such, that their expression as Christians would be such, that they would stand firm side by side and in one spirit and with one soul. And in order to encourage them then in this pursuit of oneness, He says, look, the only way that this can happen is when you heartily embrace this life of self-denial. A couple of further things about this church at Philippi before we jump into the text. The other thing that is helpful with this is that it assures us that this call for self-denial is going to be something that everyone has to deal with. If you haven't read through the book of Philippians yet, I would encourage you to do so. It's only four chapters. It wouldn't take a long time to accomplish that. But you find that Paul doesn't really deal with problems in the church, per se. There's no doctrinal controversy. There's no deep-rooted, deep-seated problem. They're not abusing various practices within the church, like the church at Corinth did. But you do find that even as they have their theology down, even as they understand various things in relation to God and Christ and the church, that there still is this challenge of being able to come together and be one. And hence, you see this reminder that, hey, if you guys are going to be together, if you are going to be side by side, if you are going to be one soul, It's at a cost to yourself in order for it to be for the benefit and good of the whole. The other thing that's helpful here is that if Paul writes to the church at Philippi, whom he identified as his jewel, as his joy, as his crown, as his beloved brethren, and yet still has to work through these things, testifies to the fact that there is no perfect church. So stop looking. In fact, if you desire to find a perfect church, you'll probably be a lot like the guy who ended up on a stranded island who eventually was found. And as they found him, he said, let me give you a tour. There's three buildings. Here's where I live. Here's the church I attend. And here's the church that I used to go to. The point being is there is no perfect church. There are going to be conflicts, there are going to be tensions, there are going to be differences that need to be worked through. And the only way that we can achieve those things by the grace of God is to embrace this joyful self-denial. So how do we do so? How do we understand this? Well, I think Paul has four thoughts for us here in order to see this. That this position of humility is one that God himself established. So it is a God-established position that we then joyfully embrace the life of self-denial. The second idea is that it's a God-enabled position. Thirdly, it's a God-exemplified position. And then lastly, it's a God-exalting position. So it's been established by God, it'll be enabled by God, it's been exemplified by Him, and He ultimately will exalt Himself by it and through it. It's a God-given position to embrace this life of self-denial. Notice what Paul says in verse 1. If there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy. We're considering that this is a God-given position, but if you read this as written here, it would sound as if it's not been established. After all, it sounds as if Paul is saying, well, if this is the case, then this, and if this, and if, and if, and if. There would be a better word to use than if. After all, I'm making the point that this is something that God has given. Replace the word if with the word since. S-I-N-C-E. Therefore, since there is this consolation, since there is this comfort, since there is this fellowship, and since there is this affection and mercy. In other words, it's true that these things are present. God has given this. Each one of these things, consolation, comfort, fellowship, affection, and mercy, are all things that God has provided to His church through the Lord Jesus Christ. The idea that we are encouraged in Christ is the idea that we are united to Him. We confess that we are joined to Him by a true and living faith, that Christ truly has come alongside of us, and even while we were dead in our trespasses and sins, that He did not leave us there, but instead He pulled us out of that position and made us His own. He made us His disciple. We were the lost sheep and He was the Good Shepherd that came and rescued us from the danger and the toils and the snares so that we then would be a part of His fold. And so we note then that God has given us a position through Christ where He has united us to Him by a true and living faith. But we also then see that there is a comfort that's given. It's the promise of Christ's presence. It's the comfort of God's love. It's the assurance that even though we were rebellious and against Him, and by nature, haters of God, He still came to us. He didn't look at us and say, no, you're too bad, you're too far gone, you're too wicked. He instead, out of love from eternity past, did accomplish His perfect, pure desire to bring about salvation so that we then one day will join with all the saints to praise Him for the splendor and beauty of His love. And Christ doesn't leave us or forsake us, but He assures us that even as He is away, He's at no time absent from us because He's given us His Spirit who dwells in us and who works in us and who accomplishes then the will of God in our lives, molding us and shaping us after the image of the Son. And we truly know that God continues to express and pour out the abundance of His grace in our lives even now. So that He continues to shower us with blessing upon blessing, and promise upon promise, and glory upon glory. And so Paul then notes, you've got a God-enabled position. If you're here this morning and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not have this yet, but it still is yours. You may be able to know of that peace that passes all understanding, of that strength that carries you from day to day, of that hope that may be present for tomorrow, and the knowledge that God looks at you with favor and not with disdain or hate. Come to Him. Embrace Him. Believe Him. Ask Him for His work to be present in you. And He assures us that He turns away no one. The privilege of the church, the position of the church is enabled because of God. But notice what Paul says, in light of this God-given position, there then becomes this call. What is it that was said in the Superman movie or the Spider-Man movie that came out in the late 90s or the early 2000s? With great privilege comes great responsibility. Is that what it was? Okay, great power comes great responsibility. Well, change the word power with position. With great position comes great responsibility. And what is it? Verse 2 through 4. It's been a while since I've seen that. Fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also the interests of others. What's Paul saying here? Because of this God-given position, it will be manifest within the church in three ways. Harmony, humility, and helpfulness. The church that understands its position in Christ, the church that understands the love that the Father has poured upon it, the church that understands the connection that is present through the Spirit, and the church that recognizes the tender mercies of God cannot help but being harmonious, humble, and helpful. Paul says here, be like-minded, having the same love. being of one accord, of one mind. He ultimately is noting that there is this call that there is a togetherness. There is a one goal present. There is a one purpose that is there. They are one-souled, as it were. There aren't multiple thoughts, multiple ideas, or multiple purposes being present. But they're all together, in it together, working the same way, so that ultimately, they see that they each walk in step, side by side, unified. It's ultimately the call that he reminded them of in chapter 1, verse 27. Does this mean that we'll all think the same way? No. Does this mean that we'll all think the same thing? No. Does it mean that we will agree on everything? No. But it does mean that we work together through our differences so that we still then have one goal in mind, which is the glory of God and the advancement of the cause of Christ through his gospel. The way in which harmony is manifest is then through humility. He says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but esteem others better than yourself. He says, deny the position of exaltation or promotion for yourself, deny any aspect of pride, and instead embrace humility. What do we mean by humility? Tim Keller said this, the essence of gospel humility is not thinking more of myself or less of myself. it is thinking of myself less. It's not thinking more of myself, and therefore I'm selfish, or less of myself, and therefore I'm not as selfish, but instead it's thinking of myself less. You see, ultimately, when grace changes our hearts, humility is then born. It means to deny and let go of our wants, our desires, our interests, and in turn, put it for the good, benefit, and purpose of the other. I mean, after all, isn't that what Christ has done? If Christ only held to that which was of benefit for Himself, was comfortable for Himself, was ultimately easiest for Himself, would He ever have come to this world and been born and lived and suffered and died? The answer is no. And so the call then for humility is the call that says, I let go of all that I want for the benefit, good and sake of the other person. The last point here is helpfulness. serving any way that you can. This is ultimately the call that God has placed on the life of the believer. After all, we know that the second table of the law calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Jesus in John 13 notes that he gives us a new commandment, which is to love one another, and that we should be known by this. And Paul to the church of Galatia says, do good to all, especially to those that are the household of faith. Put these three things together in terms of this God-exalted position. Think about the glory of the church that would begin to unfold and be manifest as individuals begin to set aside differences. I'm not talking about putting aside doctrine, I'm not saying abandon clear points of Scripture, but our own preferences, our own comforts, at times our own wants that don't have great significance in the context of the entirety of the group or of the whole. Being able to give preference to the other person so that you in turn show that they are of more importance than you. It would revolutionize the example of the church. An Old Testament example that we see of a willingness to pursue harmony for the sake of humility, even showing helpfulness, is the account of Abraham and Lot in Genesis 13. Abraham's flocks had grown, Lot's flocks had grown. And it came to the point where there was warring and division among the servants as to where the sheep would feed. And so Abraham and Lot came together and Abraham looked at Lot and simply said, you have first pick. You go to the east, I'll go to the west. You go to the north, I'll go to the south. You pick first and wherever you go, I'll go the opposite." Lot looked around and he pursued the best. Even though God had already promised, Abraham, this is all yours. Even though God had noted, I'm going to ensure that you have it all and that things work out well for you. Here He says, I'll defer to you. There's a story of a rice farmer over in the Orient who would put water in his fields every morning only to find out that later in the day all the fields were drained because his neighbor would go and he would pull up the dam and consequently put all the water into his own fields. And this happened day after day after day after day. Finally, the Christian farmer determined that he had to stop filling his own fields first, and consequently served his neighbor instead, who was an unbeliever, by putting water into his fields, and then his own. Initially, the problem ceased, but an even greater consequence that resulted because of this is that through the testimony of humility and helpfulness, this individual came to profess saving faith in Jesus Christ. You, as the believers of God, have tremendous opportunity to show the power and witness of a God-enabled position by joyfully denying yourself in order to show unity, humility, and service to one another. And yet, as you hear this, you go, how can I do that? After all, if someone cuts me off in traffic, it's... When I'm at home and the kids do something, and it's immediately... And let's not even talk about marriage, right? Notice what Paul says in verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Paul notes that we have a God-established position because it is a God-enabled position. Paul ultimately is saying that the mind that was in Christ, or is in Christ, is also yours. In other words, the call for helpfulness, humility, and harmony isn't a call that's being made to you to accomplish and do on your own. Paul isn't in turn writing to you to say, well, you just do it and it'll happen. You just make it work and it'll go forward. You just take care of yourself and go through these various steps. And if you follow after my simple plan, it'll all take place and occur. He's writing to the church when he then says, you have been united to Christ, you have been comforted, you have been encouraged, you have been strengthened, and furthermore, you've been given the mind of Christ. It is yours. And so this call to then Give deference to others. This call then to serve, this call then to love, isn't a call that is being established before you where you go, it's impossible for me to do this. You've been given the Spirit of Christ. He dwells inside of you. He has taken you from darkness to light. He has moved you from death to life. He has called you one of His own disciples. He has enabled you and equipped you and strengthened you and provided you all that you stand in need of through Him. And so consequently, before His people, who at times are hard to love and hard to serve and hard to get along with, He says, You can do this. You can do it by my grace, my power, and my strength. And so if you feel that you are lacking in this enabling, and yet you are identified as a child of God, what do you need to do? Cry out to your Savior regarding your unbelief, and in turn recognize that, God, you have enabled me to be able to do this, but I haven't seen it yet. And so turn me, change me, equip me. But we see that even as God has established this and God enables it, He doesn't then call you, do this, but not give you any idea of what this looks like. He doesn't call you to pursue this path and then say, well, you figure it out, but it's there. because God himself has exemplified it. Verse six, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant and coming in the likeness of men. The one who calls you has paved the way. The one who calls you has shown you exactly what it looks like. The one who says, do this in harmony, humility, and helpfulness says, this is how. And this is where in looking at this, you end up going, what? Because you ultimately see that there is this call for self-denial and yet this aspect of joy. The author of the book of Hebrews notes that as he lays out the example of faith in chapter 11 with person after person after person who forsook all to follow Christ, he then shows Christ as the greatest display of that life. And he notes, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame. And yet if he embraced this life of humiliation with joy, then you in turn can say he looked at self-denial with joy. Consider how great his self-denial was. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation. We all agree that Jesus is God, that He existed from eternity past, that He's the second person of the Godhead, that in being God then He has all of the attributes, all of the perfections, that He Himself is the essence of God. Paul notes that when he says that He is in the form of God. Christ dwelt as the second person of the Godhead in the glory of heaven from eternity past, and he enjoyed the praise of heaven. A glimpse of that is seen in Isaiah 6, where the angels are covering themselves, recognizing his gloriousness and his holiness and his greatness. He's in a position of receiving perfect praise. He's in a position where there is no sin immediately present before Him. He is in a place where it is only the splendor of His glory unfolding again and again, and the recognition of that resounding throughout all eternity, through all the ages. And yet, what does He do? For the sake of love, he recognized that his position of equality with God could be let go of. What do we mean by that? Well, Jesus remained God. He never is let go of that. He's identified as Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Jesus noted, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and the Father are one. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. So what is He letting go of? He's letting go of that display of glory. He's willing to condescend so that His glory becomes hidden. It becomes unapparent for a time. We recognize that he couldn't go without his deity in the position of our mediator for, remember, our catechism reminds us that our mediator has to be true God and true man, true God, that he might be able to endure the burden of God's wrath for our sins, so he didn't let go of that. He willingly and lovingly condescended from his position of honor in order to take up a particular role. As he undergoes this, notice what he does. He submits himself to God's rule or God's law. He puts himself under the authority of God so that he binds himself to fulfill all righteousness and perfectly obey the law which he had established in thought, word, and deed. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 8 that for our sakes he became poor, though he being rich, so that through his poverty we might become rich. He gave up everything in order to secure life for you and me. And as he entered into this position, he had nothing. Jesus didn't come as a glorious king, he came as a humble servant. Jesus wasn't born in a palace, he was born in a stable. Jesus didn't have an entourage that followed him everywhere that he went. When he entered into this world, it was nothing. Even as he went about his life, he had no possessions, he had no home. He tells us that even foxes and birds have places to be, but not me. Even as he went about his ministry, he had no boat. He had to borrow. Peter is one of the other disciples. Remember when he fed the 5,000? Did he provide the bread and fish? No. Some boy who was there brought it. He didn't even have bread to provide to other people. The last week of his life, he rode on a borrowed donkey. He had the last supper in a borrowed house. And yet he did all this, this display and this entrance into poverty in order to secure the payment for our debt, in order to give up his life for us. And what do we see? He made himself of no reputation being a servant. Not a king, a servant. Not a ruler, a servant. Not a dictator, a servant. Not prominent, a servant. His position of service was seen in that he had no significant reputation. No one would look upon him and go, now there's the Messiah. They wouldn't just look at him and go, In fact, as people interacted with him, you did find some who followed, but by the time he died, even his closest followers all said, we're out of here. The world turned on him so that he was mistreated and hated and mocked. This position of lowly service was the lowest of the low and a menial task. and yet willing to do the work for another and work for the benefit of another. Looked like us in that he had a body and a soul, but he lived for another. The service then we also see is that he had no reputation as a man. He endured everything Not for Himself, but for us. He entered into this world, He lived a life, He grew up, He dealt with people, He dealt with hunger, and fatigue, and thirst, and sleeplessness, and He was angered, and grieved, and He sorrowed, and He even died, assuring us that God did become man. And Christ then entered into this position. God exemplifies this position of what? Not greatness, humility. Not glory, humility. Not self-service, but other service. Paul says he submits. To what? Death. By the way, in terms of this position of lowliness, Remember what Jesus was oftentimes accused of? Being illegitimate. I mean, think about how humbling and humiliating that was. Because remember, after all, his dad Joseph was thinking about taking Mary and putting her away quietly because she was with child. And he had that reputation all of his life then. Another aspect of this humiliation that we don't really ponder or consider. But all of it led to what? Death on a cross. They said that death on a Roman cross was like dying a thousand times over. But even if that weren't bad enough, He had to be identified as an innocent criminal of the state who was condemned to die, taken then outside the camp so that the Jews would not have their holy city somehow brought down or impure. And he then submitted himself to death. Remember, it wasn't by accident. He didn't somehow swerve into it. He noted that he then gives his life. He puts down his life. He takes it up again. all so that the worst weight of sin of you and me could be set on the Lord Jesus Christ, and as we rightly note, that throughout all of His time, but especially at the end of His life, He bore in body and soul the wrath and curse for our sins. He descended into hell. The Scriptures here are pretty clear that Jesus then has shown us this position that God has descended, that when He calls us to the way that says, be joyful in self-denial, and we go, oxymoronic, it doesn't make sense, God. I know. Let me show you. Harmony with one another, it's against my nature. I know. I'll enable you, let me show you. Working together for the good of the whole of the church. You know what we're like, God? I know. Let me show you, I've enabled you. Jesus doesn't call us to joyful self-denial without then showing us the way and enabling us to pursue it. And notice here, ultimately, it's God exalting. What happened in the life of Christ? God exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that in his name every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's pretty clear. Jesus is King. He wins. He's been put all the way up to the top. Everyone's going to come before him. Pure angels, impure angels, saints and sinners all are going to come before the Lord Jesus, whether they want to or not, and say, You're it. So what does this mean for us? It means that the call that is set before us of joyful self-denial is the call that is set before us. Properly, rightly, and accurately. That although at the outset it seems confusing, it seems like it's not the way, it seems like it shouldn't be that way, it really is. How so? What did the Lord Jesus say? If you wanna be first, you'll be what? Last. If you wanna be great, you gotta be the servant. If you wanna be exalted, you must be humbled. James tells us that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. God deals with those who are low. The call to us as believers, where we embrace true and real joy, isn't found when we are going after our own way, in our own wants, with our own likes, and in our own pursuits, but it's ultimately found when we follow Christ. And Christ says, if you're gonna come after me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross, And follow me. Jesus noted that he did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. This way that God has enabled, that God has established, that God has exemplified, and that God will ultimately exalt does seem contradictory. But it's his way. And therefore, as you struggle, you know you're gonna struggle because self is going to say, contradicts. But God says, come. Self is gonna say, no way. God says, yes way. Self is going to say, is there any other way? God is going to say, there's no other way. Look at my son and what he has exemplified. But God notes that He will enable, equip, and establish you to do so. God notes that He has given you union with Christ, His Son, to ultimately encourage you in this. God notes that He has ultimately worked in you by the comfort and strengthening of His Spirit. God ultimately notes that He has reminded you of His tender love for you over and over and over again. And therefore, as you consider this joy of self-denial, He who has called you is also faithful, and in turn will bless this in your life and the life of His people. As you reflect on these things, may God encourage, establish, and strengthen you in this to do His will. to love others in a harmonious way, in a humble way, as well as in a helpful way. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we praise you for the call that you've set before us. Encourage us in this work, for we find conflicts with it, we struggle with it, we know our own tendencies, we know our own sinful focus, We know how easy it is for us to exalt self. It's the way in which we always naturally go. But it's not the way that you've called for us. And so as we really want what you have said, so please bring it about in our lives. Assure us of it. Begin to work it in us. Use one another to encourage us in the call that you've set before us. And please just go before us that we might see a smooth and clear path to go forward and to exalt Christ in light of all He's done for us. And it's in His name we pray, even as we say. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.