Let's turn to the book of Philippians. I want to tell you why I selected this text. I was in Turkey. I knew I was returning back to the States and that I usually have the opportunity to travel and visit churches and to preach sometimes. And so I was praying for a text and just one day and walking and The verse, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, came to me and it came to me with power. It acted upon my emotions. And then I thought I would some sort of way use that verse while here in America. Well, I decided to go to the scriptures and to find that verse and to read that verse in its context, which is found in the letter of Philippians. And I began to study it more And I began to understand it a little differently than what I initially thought just walking along the street. So I just want to be faithful to the text and to preach the text. And to let you know that the theme is unity. Unity in the body of Christ. And I'm not with an agenda. I'm not saying you don't have unity. I'm just letting you know how I came to this verse. But when I studied the verse, it directed me by its context to the theme of unity. As you know, the the book of Philippians is written by the apostle Paul. You can see it in verse one. He actually attributes Timothy with him as bond servants of Jesus Christ. Paul is in prison in Rome. Timothy appears to be at his side and he is authoring the book. If you ever have read through the book of Timothy, I'm sorry, book of Philippians, you'd find that it's a very warm letter. It's a very fatherly letter. There's a lot of affection of Paul that can be found in the letter. And this happens, this happens and exists because of Paul's good history with the church in Philippi. If we were to look at verse chapter 16, and please, you don't have to go there, but if we were to look at Acts, the book of Acts, chapter 16, we would see that Paul, by a vision, had a call to Macedonia, and that he left from Troas to Philippi, which happened to be the chief city of that part of Macedonia. So by vision, Paul went from Troas to Macedonia to Philippi, the city. And it was in Philippi that Paul heard of a group of women who met by a riverside for prayer. And the apostle Paul went there and was able to open up the scriptures to them regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says that a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira, the Lord opened her heart, which means she was saved. And then she entreated the Apostle Paul and those who were traveling with him to come into his home. And he did. We also see while in Philippi that while the Apostle Paul was teaching and preaching that there was a young woman possessed by a spirit of divination. She seemed to have the ability to predict the future in some way or some sort of divination that her owners were gaining a profit from her. Well, she would follow Paul And she would irritate Paul by saying and shouting out that these men are the servants of the Most High God. At irritating the Apostle Paul, he cast the skirt out of the woman. Well, she no longer has the ability to do divination. Her owners no longer have the ability to make a profit from her. So they stir up the city against the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul is imprisoned. He's first beaten with stripes, then he is imprisoned. And it appears that Silas was with Paul, because it says later that Paul and Silas were praying in prison. And while they were praying, there was an earthquake. Their fetters, their chains were broken. The doors were open. They were able to get out. And that there was a jailer. And he was afraid. He wanted to take his life. But the Apostle Paul said, no, we're all here. He came under conviction of sin. He wanted to hear more about the Lord. the story ends that the Apostle Paul preaches to both he and his family and they are saved and they are baptized. So this is what we learned from chapter 16 regarding Paul's first visit to Philippi and obviously met many Christians and developed really good relationships with them. We see in Acts chapter 20 that Paul leaves Ephesus and he goes again to Macedonia and that he goes to the ports of Macedonia, giving much exhortation to the saints who are there, and he makes his way to Greece. He remains in Greece for about three months, and then he wants to go back to Jerusalem, but he hears that there's a plot to kill him. So instead of sailing from Greece, he works his way backwards, and he makes his way back to Philippi, the city of Philippi, and from Philippi, he sails back to Troas. So we see again in chapter 20 of Acts, Paul's second extended stay, or at least passing through the area, developing and nurturing his relationship with the Saints or in Philippi. Now, in this letter, the Apostle Paul is in prison, and we learn from the book, especially from the fourth chapter, that There's a man named Epaphroditus and he was sent from Philippi from the church to the Apostle Paul. It appears that he brought some sort of support, some sort of comfort, could have been clothing, could have been food, could have been money, I don't know, but he came and he brought some support to Paul. And that Paul is now sending Epaphroditus back to Philippi with this letter. And so we see in the letter again, it's a very warm letter. It's a very affectionate letter because of the Apostles Paul's relationship with the Saints who are in Philippi. And you can see some of that reflected in chapter 1, verse 7, where Paul is speaking highly of him. He says, it is right for me to think of this because I have you in my heart. And as much as both in my bonds and in the defense and the confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of grace. So Paul had the Philippians in his heart because he knew they were partakers of the gospel or they were partakers of the grace of God, which is given through to us by grace. They were helping Paul in his defense and his confirmation of the gospel just by being there for him and being supportive of him, encouraging him while he was in his bonds. I want to take a little excursion and hopefully I'll come back. I want to take this excursion by just referring to Romans 1 16 and to 2 Peter 1 3. You don't have to turn there, but you know the verses. Paul says in Romans 1 16 that he's not ashamed of the gospel of God for the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to first the Jew and also to the Greek. The gospel of Christ is the power of God. And the point I want to stress here is that, and you know this, is that when the gospel is preached, God owns it and he brings conviction of sin and he grants faith and repentance and he gives conversion and new life. That's what the gospel does. It is the power of God for our salvation. But it's not just a one-time believing thing. It's an enduring believing, right? Because one of the things that we endear is that not only as saints we're saved by grace, but we shall persevere. We will make it to the end because God is preserving us to the end. And so it's all part of the gospel of the power of God in the preached gospel, the preaching of the word that brings us to saving faith and keeps us in this faith. So I have this, the power that Paul is referring to includes both the ability for the sinner to be saved and for the saved sinner, us, to live the Christian life as explained and exhorted in the Bible by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. In 2 Peter 1.3, Peter says that according to God's divine power, he has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him that have called us to glory and to virtue. Here again, as a result of the gospel, through a knowledge, an intimate knowledge of Christ, a living hope, a living faith, Through this knowledge of Christ, we have what has been given to us, all this divine power, the Spirit working in us, using the scriptures to guide us. We have all that we need, right, for life and for godliness. We lack nothing. We lack nothing. We have everything we need to obey the scriptures as taught to us. And this is sort of reflective In chapter 1 verses 9 through 11, Paul says this to the Philippians, I pray that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless into the day of Christ. How or why? Verse 11, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ. Through a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we have this righteousness. And this righteousness and the power of the Spirit gives us this fruit of righteousness. This is just implying that what the Lord asks of us, or what we're instructed to do by the apostles when we read the Scriptures, we have the ability to obey. We have the ability to do according to what we're being asked to do, or commanded to do, or exhorted to do, or encouraged to do. And this brings us back now to Philippians 2, verse 5. My excursion is coming back here. Because in chapter 2, verse 5, Paul says, have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. There seems to be an implied ability in this statement that we have this attitude in ourselves because we are in Christ and Christ had this attitude. Now, what is this attitude? We'll learn about it later. But what I'm saying is that we have this instruction by the Apostle Paul, a simple statement, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ. It's implied that we can. because of the power and the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We have all that we need pertaining to life and godliness. Amen? Alright. So now let's look at chapter 1, verses 27 through chapter 2, verse 11. There's two imperatives found between these verses. And what I mean by an imperative, that's what they use in Greek. It's a command. For us, it would be a command. Sit down, stand up, turn right, turn left. In verse 27, chapter 1, verse 27, there's a command. Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Now, you don't see it, but there's a Greek, in the Greek, there's a sort of a reference to citizenship. And it spins off, or Paul comes back to this in chapter 3 in verse 20, where he says, for our citizenship is in heaven. And we'll come back to verse 21 later, verse 20 and 21 later of chapter 3. But staying in verse 27 of chapter 1, conduct yourselves in a manner that is worthy of Christ. Conduct yourselves as a citizen, basically, of heaven. That's the first command. And if you go down to chapter two, verse two, there's another command. Make my joy complete. So if you take these two commandments, one in verse 27, the other one in chapter two, verse two, and sort of treat them as a parentheses, open parentheses and closing parentheses. And I ask you, what do these two commands share in common? Let's look at the text, the answer to the question. is that they share a common call to unity. They're both calling us, commanding us for unity in the body. Let's look for that. Verse 27, chapter 1. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, that is, conduct yourselves as a citizen of heaven, so that whether I come, Paul is in prison now, whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit. It's a reference to unity. With one mind, a reference to unity. Striving together, a reference to unity. Striving together for the faith of the gospel. You see the call to unity? Again, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Also, in chapter 2, verse 2, where the other command is, there is a call to unity. Make my joy complete. How? By being of the same mind. Do you see that? He continues. Maintaining the same love. Here it's a little bit more clear. United in spirit, intent on one purpose. So hopefully you see there's this call to unity. There's a command. Conduct yourselves as Christians. There's a command. Make my joy complete. And in both of these commands, he's calling the Philippians to unity. One mind, one spirit, one purpose. You see that? Do you have your conscience? Do you believe me? Okay. Good. Thank you. So, there's a theme in the book of Philippians. I'm not saying it's a major theme, but there is a theme of unity. And it reaches its climax in chapter 4, verse 2. When the Apostle Paul tells two sisters, two women, Hey, get along. I urge you in chapter four, verse two, to live in harmony in the Lord. It's a reference to unity. Okay. Now let's go back to chapter one. Between verses 27, between verse 27 of chapter 1 and chapter 2, verse 2, there's three references to suffering. And then there's an exhortation. The references to suffering are found in verse 28. Chapter 1, verse 28. In no way alarmed by your opponents. So it's sort of implied, when are you alarmed? You're alarmed when there's danger, or there's fear, something's happening. It's a reference to suffering. In no way alarmed by your opponents, which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you. And that too from God. Verse 29, For to you it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Here's the second reference to suffering. Verses 30. Experiencing the same conflict. A reference to suffering. Experience the same conflict which you saw in me and now here to be in me. So we have this call to unity in verse 27. We have a call to unity in verse 2 of chapter 2. Between these two calls to unity, we find that there is this historical context of suffering. Standing firm, being alarmed by your opponents. Christ has granted you to suffer for his sake. Experiencing the same conflict which you see in me. So this is reference to suffering. But there's also an exhortation which is found in verse 1 of chapter 2. And the exhortation consists of four conditional statements. If there is any. So let's look at verse 1, chapter 2. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, Make my joy complete. Exhortation. If there's any of this that exists, by being in Christ, by being in the love, by being in the Spirit, if any of this exists, make my joy complete. It's an exhortation. Now what's the implied answer? If there is any. There is. Yes, it's there. It's implied and it's there. And so there's a point I want to make that this gospel that we preach, the gospel is a gospel of grace. And this gospel of grace is powerful in our lives. Look at verse 29 of chapter one. For to you, it has been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake. Christ grants power to the believer, to you and I. He grants us power to believe in Him, and He grants us power to suffer. In Christ, there is all we need to believe, there is all we need to be united, and even our unity can be preserved in the context of suffering. Look at verse 27. Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you, or remain absent, I will hear of you, and here's an indirect reference to suffering, or just the whole nature of being the pillar and support of the truth, that I hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit. Standing firm. It has the idea of enduring, right? And then also, standing firm in one gospel, with one mind, striving together. It takes some effort. Maybe in the context of suffering, but you have the power. We have the power. Not only to believe in Christ, but to suffer in Christ, and in our suffering to remain unified. We have the power. It's been given to us. Amen. All right. So the theme is unity. And we are united by humility. If we possess humility, each individual possesses humility, we have the ability to remain united. Our goal is unity and not uniformity. You know the difference? And here is maybe a good illustration. I understand that Pastor Thomas has casual days of dress, casual dress on some Sundays and maybe a more formal dress on a Sunday. You still have unity, right? But you don't have uniformity. Not everyone wears the same clothing. You have this freedom. You have this diversity. diversity of dress, unity of spirit. Okay, so I'm not talking about uniformity, not being all the same shape and the same size because there's a cookie cutter. Okay, so we're looking for unity. We're striving to keep unity. Let's look now and read chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. I'll read it to you. I'm reading out of New American Standard. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete. By being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in Spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important of yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in the appearance of a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, verse 9, God exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen? Verses 2 through 11 can be broken up into two divisions. The first division would be our duty, found in chapter 2, verses 1 through 4. Our duty. And the second division would be Christ. Christ as our model, found in verses 5 through 11. Regarding our duty, we saw that in verse 2, there is a call to unity. Make my joy complete by being of one, of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. And then we find in verses 3 and 4 a demonstration of unity. And the Apostle Paul does it by a contrast in verse 3. First he uses a negative, and then he goes to the positive. In verse 3, the negative. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. That's negative. That's not good. And he's telling us not to do it. But on the contrast, with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. So a demonstration of unity is that I'm not regarding myself as more important than you. I'm not moving and operating and motivated by my selfishness or by my empty conceit. And Paul does the same in the next verse, verse 4. It's the second time he uses the same contrast, a negative and a positive. Look at verse 4. Do not merely, that's negative, don't do this. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests. But the contrast, look out also for the interests of others. So you see what the Apostle Paul is doing? He's contrasting. How is humility or how is how is unity demonstrated? It's demonstrated in our lives by not a Putting ourselves first, not regarding ourselves as higher than others. Esteeming others higher than ourselves. Beloved, just a little side caveat for an application. This works in church. This works in marriages. And we need it. This is what we need daily, don't you? In marriages. It works in every relationship. And so the key, if there would be a key for demonstrating humility, or demonstrating unity, is that our interests are for others, and that we're regarding one another more important than ourselves. So this is how we demonstrate unity. But we need to ask ourselves, what is the source of unity? What would motivate us to behave and demonstrate unity? Well, look at verse one of chapter two. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, that's a source. If there's any encouragement in Christ that we receive, It sort of works in our members and gives us this ability to esteem others higher than ourselves. If there's any consolation of love, if there's any fellowship of the Spirit, if there's any affection and compassion. And beloved, we said that these things are, these things exist. And so it is from this unity, this organic union of being in Christ, that we have this ability to demonstrate unity. Paul says in verse 5 of chapter 2, have this mind which was also in Christ. Christ had a certain mindset, and we're going to look at it a little bit later. Christ is our model. He modeled humility. Paul says in verse 5, have this attitude which was also in Christ, an attitude of humility. And you may have seen it. But now let's go back to verse 3. What does Paul say in verse 3? Do nothing from selfish and empty conceit, but with humility of mind. Regard one another as more important than yourselves. It's because we're in Christ. It's because Christ had a mind of humility. that we too have the ability and we have the mind of humility. And from this mind of humility, we're able to demonstrate, behave in a way that reflects unity and preserves unity and establishes unity. And when unity is lost to restore unity, it's there. So let's look more at Christ as our model. in verses 5 through 11. Christ is our model or an example to us in two ways. In verses 6 through 8, we can use a big theological term, humiliation. And in verses 9 through 11, another big theological term, exaltation. And they're just big words that theologians use in systematic theologies. And they're just two, like, good mental handles where you can pick it up. The humiliation of Christ and the exaltation of Christ. And I'll explain it to you. And once you hear it, it'll be a lot easier to understand than what the big words may mean. But the humiliation of Christ is basically, when we'll read these verses, we'll see what Christ did. The humiliation of Christ, what Christ did. And then when we look at the exaltation of Christ, we'll see what was done for Christ by the Father. Humiliation, what Christ did. And that's Christ is our example. We want to be like him, right? Christ did that. We want to do that. What happened to Christ? What was done to Christ and for Christ by the Father? He was exalted. There's an implication. If Christ is our example, if Christ is our model, if we behave like Christ, what was done to Christ and for Christ will also be done for us because we are in Christ. And we'll see that at the very end. Paul says the exact same thing. So this humiliation of Christ, what did Christ do? Well, let me tell you, as the son of God, the word was face to face in the beginning was the word and the word was with God. But then you learn in chapter 14 of verse 14 of chapter one of John and the word became flesh incarnation. So the son of God was in face to face with his father, but he was born of a virgin. He became man. He was crucified on the cross. And he was buried. So these things in theologians terms, if you read systematic theologies, the humiliation of Christ includes his incarnation, his suffering, his crucifixion, and his burial. Things that Christ did. But what was done for Christ? The exaltation. What happened to Christ on the third day, children? He was raised from the dead. Forty days later, what happened to Christ? He was ascended to heaven. Ten days later, what happened to Christ? Well, there's Pentecost, and while Peter is preaching that, what this means is that Christ was coronated as king. He was given the promise of the Holy Spirit, and he poured the Spirit on his church. So Jesus was exalted by His Father. He was raised from the dead. Forty days later, He ascended to His Father. Ten days later, He was given the Spirit which He poured out on His church. And Christ now sits in session as King. He is King of Kings now. He is Lord of Lords now. He is in His session. And the only thing that the exalted Christ waits for is what? when his father says, come, and he defeats his final enemy, which is death. At that time, there will be the resurrection and the judgment of the dead. So, we have the humiliation of Christ. The Word of God, pre-incarnate, became man, was crucified, was buried. We have the exaltation of Christ. He was raised from the dead, he was ascended to his father, he was given the Holy Spirit, and he reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now let's look a little bit at verses 6 through 8 again. I kind of got ahead of myself, but it's okay. Verses 6 through 8. Who although he existed in the form of God, this is, and did not regard equality with God as a thing to be grasped. The Son of God was in his pre-incarnate glory. And if you need a picture of that, what happened to Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration? He was transfigured. He was glorified. He saw his glory. What was Jesus praying for in the garden? John 17. Father, I want to come back to you for the glory that was mine before. I want to return to my glory. The Son of God, the Word, existed in His glory. And He didn't consider that something to be grasped. Now what it means is, He didn't see it as something to be asserted. It wasn't a privilege and a prerogative of His divine nature that He had to push and impress and reveal while on earth. It was a transfiguration. But he didn't assert his rights as God. He didn't consider it something to be grasped. What did he do or look at what he did? He humbled himself in verse seven, he emptied himself. Basically, what that means is he's he he can see he covered he concealed his glory, he came. We look at him, despised, stricken, smitten of men, not very pretty. He emptied himself, taking on the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearances of man, he humbled himself even more in the garden. All right, not my will. Let this cup pass me. Not my will, your will. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So we see, if you just want to look at verse six and eight, six through eight, what's happening? His divine rights, his divine privileges, his divine prerogatives, he did not assert. He was not American demanding his rights. He didn't claim the preamble of the constitution. He didn't. He could have, but he didn't. He died on the cross at Gethsemane. When they came to arrest him, he said, who are you looking for? Jesus. I am he. And what happened to the guards with their swords? They fell backwards. Now, I just got to throw this. I like, I like, uh, I shouldn't say this, but I interact with a lot of charismatics and I have to say, look guys, the only sling I sling in the spirit I see in the scriptures and people are falling backwards is in the garden. Every other manifestation of the glory of God and coming to a prophet, they fall on their face to their savior. But anyway, so Christ had this power to even say, I am he, to knock them all back. And don't we learn from the scriptures that even on the cross, he had at his disposal angels. He didn't assert his rights. What was he doing? He was regarding you. He was regarding me. Higher than himself. Higher than himself at that moment. Isn't that precious? So what happens to him? He's our model. He demonstrates this humility. What happened to him? Well, to the glory of the Father. His Father raises him from the dead. His Father exalts Him. His Father gives Him the promised Holy Spirit. His Father sits Him as King on His right side. He's exalted. Verses 9-11, For this reason also God highly exalted Jesus, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus. This thing of exalting Christ, and this thing about giving Him a name which is above every name, is just saying that He has all authority. He has all authority. It's not what Christ said when he came back to his disciples and be on Matthew. Behold, all authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. He has all authority and we see in chapter 3 of verse 21. It says the same thing at the end of the verse, that Christ, by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself, a reference to this authority that the Father gave him. And verse nine, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every knee, so that the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth. and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord through the glory of God the Father. So what we see in verses 10 and 11, so that the name of Jesus Christ, every knee will bow, those in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. What we see here is because of what Christ did, His Father did something for Him. And here in verses 9 and 11, Jesus has the ultimate honor, the ultimate, the greatest honor of having a universal acknowledgement. All things created will acknowledge Him. The Father has honored His Son. It is to the glory of God the Father that He has done this. Doesn't that make you want to jump a pew or a chair? Huh? This glorious thing, what Christ has done in his humiliation, he's done for us. And because he honored his father, his father honored him. There will be a universal honoring of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we preach. That's what we teach. These truths are what support as pillars. Now, I want you to understand what the Apostle Paul is doing. Let's understand this application. Every time in scripture we're told to do something or commanded to do something, it's because Christ has already done something. Okay. And what is Paul telling us? He's calling us to unity, commands us to be unity, to be unified, even in the context of suffering. And he tells us to have the mind of Christ. And then he goes off in this example. He's showing us that Christ humbled himself. The Father honored him. What the Apostle Paul is telling us Since we are in Christ, we can be like our Savior and not assert our rights. And we can be totally at peace and joy because we know as our Father exalted and honored His Son, our Father will exalt and honor us because we are in Christ. Do you see it? This is it. You've got to grasp it. And if you don't grasp it yet, I wish I could grasp it more so that I could be really excited and really open up the excellencies of Christ. But it comes and goes for me, and right now it's kind of ebbing. But meditate on this. Go home and think of what Christ has done for you, what the Father has done for His Son. And because you are in Christ, you have the ability to do for him what the scriptures teach you with the promise that was done for the son will be done for you. I'm not saying we'll be little gods or anything, right? Look at chapter three, verse 21. Let's look at 20, verse 20 and 21. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly await for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what Paul is saying. Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of his glory. That's talking about our resurrection and our glorified bodies. by the exertion of the power that he has even to subject all things to himself. And remember, this is what Paul says, for our citizenship is in heaven. OK, and then he talks about Christ will be transforming our lowly body to the conformity of his body, which is glorified. Well, let's go back to first chapter one, verse 27. Paul starts this off with conduct yourselves in a manner worthy. Conduct yourselves as citizens of heaven. Live unified. In a mind of humility, have the mind that Christ had, which was a mind of humility, because Christ was humble. What the Father done for Him was to glorify Him. It's implied here in this that we too will be glorified with Christ. And it's more clear in the verse I just read to you in verses chapter 3, verse 20, 21. This is what the Apostle Paul is doing in this little section of Philippians chapter 1, verse 27 to 2, 11. Please go home and meditate on it. and get power. Get power and live in unity. Amen? Peter says it this way, Subject one to another and be clothed with humility for God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. Listen, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time." Isn't that what we're just saying? Yes. And here's the context of suffering. Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Amen? Can you do it? Yes, you can do it. If there's any consolation in Christ, if there's any fellowship in the Spirit, If there's any affection, be of, make my joy complete. Be of one mind. Can you do it? Yes, you can do it. Are you doing it now? Yes. And if it falls apart, will you use this to restore it? Yes. Amen. This is it. Okay, that's what Paul's doing. Now, when I was walking the street to Turkey, I had a second application. And I don't think I'm stretching the text too much. Surely the text is, we're talking about this exaltation of Christ. For we who are believers, it's an exciting thing. We look for it. Doesn't it feel good to say that every name, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess? Doesn't that do something for you? The Spirit testifying us, it is right and it is fitting for our Lord to be glorified. And that's true. And the Apostle Paul is saying, and hang in there because you will be glorified. And that's good. And that's what Paul is saying. But beloved, if it's true that there is going to be an ultimate honoring of Christ, that he will receive a universal acknowledgement, doesn't that imply judgment? Yeah. It's a judgment. It will go well for us, but it will not go well for everyone who is not in Christ. And it's for this reason we labor in the gospel. The Apostle Paul, in chapter four of this book, in chapter two, verse two of chapter four, he tells these two ladies to get along. But then he goes on to say, for the church to help them, whatever that means. And it does have this implication. He says, OK, to live in harmony in the Lord, verse three, indeed, true come, I ask you to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel. Being unified, helps us in being the pillar in support of the truth. It helps us to participate in the gospel. It helps us to fulfill our role in warning that there is a universal judgment, that every knee will bow. We who are in Christ, we find it's a glorious thing. We're doing it now willfully. But there will be a time when they will do it by requirement. And the blessing for them will not be as great as the blessing for us. And so we speak it and we warn all to repent and come to Christ. Amen. That's what we do. We're the pillars for the truth. We have the gospel and we can vessel. And we do the best that we can persuade all men to come to Christ. So you told me you're doing good, but let me ask you some attitude questions or some application questions. How is your attitude? How is your attitude? Is it like Christ? It can be and it should be. Have this attitude which was in Christ. Christ was motivated by an attitude of humility. He demonstrated it. You have the ability. How is your attitude? Christ had the ability to come in all of his glory at all the time like on Mount Transfiguration. He didn't assert his rights. How about you? Are you demanding your rights? If you are, you don't have the attitude of Christ. Another thing, Christ could have had all angels come and take him off the cross. He had a right that he could have used. It was a right that was given. I mean, he was God. He could have had rights. We have Christian rights. We have privileges, Christian liberties and rights. But are there some that you're not using for others? Now, you know, I can see there's real sharp theological guys can tell me on that. Let me just use Paul. Paul had the right to receive when he preached the gospel money. He didn't use that right. That's an example. The Scripture can give you freedoms and rights that you just choose not to use. That's what Christ did. You want to be like Christ? Pray and obey. So the simple question, are you obedient? Will you be obedient to death? And if you're in Christ, you will be, okay? You might have to strive and make some adjustments now. It's called sanctification. But you're going to get there. It's going to work. You can do it. Amen? Amen. OK, a word to the unconverted. I don't know visitors here. You may be a visitor. Maybe what I'm saying is far from you. You don't understand it. Well, this you can't understand. You were born in sin. You have sinned. You've offended a holy God. He doesn't like it. But He's a gracious God. He's a loving God. He's a good God. And so He gave His Son. He sent His Son on earth. That's what we're talking about. His Son came to earth to die on the cross. And that's what He did. And the offer is to you. The offer is to you and to your children. If you will simply come to Christ. Come to He who died on the cross for sin. Come to Him who will forgive you of your sin, because you will bow your knee to Him. You will confess Him as Lord. You will do it. You can have the privilege and the prerogative to do it today. It's called the abundant life. This is the abundant life to know to know the true God, the only God, and His Son. You can have the abundant life today and kneel and confess Christ. Or you can stay in your sin and your darkness, but you still will kneel and you still will confess Him. Much to your own fear and terror, and for a lifetime or eternity of terror, but you will do it. Come to Christ, we pray. Amen. Come. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we simply ask, we sang a real good song about your word. And the song we sang right before the sermon. Let it come in power to us, we pray. Amen.