And again, this evening, if you would turn to Philippians chapter 2, I'd like to read for us verses 1 through 11. As we look at tonight, verses 5 through 8. Again, let us listen again to the Lord's word. 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 selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than 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 appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also God highly 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. This is the Lord's word. Would you bow with me, friends, and let's seek the Lord's blessing. Again, our Father, we do thank you for the scriptures we read and for the hymns we sing. We thank you for the thoughts that are revealed in these hymns, especially what we just sang. We do pray that you would come and be present with us by your spirit, knowing, Father, that our best efforts are never enough to change the hearts of men or nor to bring revival. We know, Lord, that you have worked in the past in your church to bring people to a clearer sight of who you are and of what they are. And we would ask that once again, you would do this this evening, and not only here, but across your church throughout this earth, that you would open our eyes to see you more plainly. We pray that your word would go forward with power. We pray, Lord, that you would advance your kingdom and cause the kingdom of Satan great injury. We ask that you would preserve those who are unable to join us because of sickness. We pray that your peace be upon them. And we ask, O Lord, that you would encourage our hearts this evening. Bless us now, we pray, asking all of this in Jesus' name. Amen. That's asking too much of a man. This is what is said when we feel that we have been, had other people infringe upon us or impose upon us beyond what they are welcomed or what we would typically welcome them to do. We're not about to give another inch as the request that has been made is humiliating. You're asking too much of me. And I can't, I can't take it anymore. This is the world. This is the world. Proud, self-protecting, self-preserving, self-interested, digging in to those things that they desire for themselves. But this is not to be the church. This is not to be the Lord's people. Recall that in this context of Philippians, the church in Philippi is considered Paul's joy. He loves this church. They're a wonderful church. They have participated in the gospel from the first day until the present. They are partakers of grace with the apostle Paul, both in his imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. But as much as they were doing right by the apostle and for the kingdom, they faced a universal struggle, a struggle, and we say it's universal because it's every church throughout history has always struggled with these very things. And no church will be immune to this. That is, the battle to die to self and to think of others as more important than yourself. This consumeristic, self-serving attitude is a huge problem for the body of Christ, as it does hinder us in our work, in our worship, and in our witness. Think of it. Selfishness, an empty conceit, pride, this mindset that I am somehow entitled, that I am superior, How we treat others is a revelation, as we mentioned this morning, of how we view ourselves. And so you could see how this mindset would indeed be detrimental to the church. And I want to say, I want to say that I don't think, I look at you here and I absolutely, I love this congregation. I love this church. You're a wonderful congregation. And yet, these are things that we are to be mindful of if ministry is to go forward in this place. No one can afford to take on a mindset of the world around us. And here, as we come to verse 5, the apostle gives this command to the church to have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Again, he gives here a command to the church. Again, it's a loving church. It's a church that has participated But there was something going on. Maybe it was Euodia and Syntyche. Perhaps it was other things going on. But Paul, writing this, knows that there is something that needs to be addressed in the church. And it is this attitude that needed to be addressed. Again, in verse five, we read this. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. This word attitude is to have the same thoughts to be disposed of in the mind. It is not a wish. It is not what he would merely like to see done. It is not simply a divine suggestion. He is instructing them to have this attitude, to direct one's mind to a thing to seek or to strive for, to seek one's interest or advantage, to have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It is what he wants them to do. It is what we are called to do. So often we treat the scriptures and its commands, the commands of God, as something optional, and we don't really have to do them. But this is a challenge to us all. By implication, it is what the Lord wants. It is not impossible for us to obey as we have been given the Holy Spirit. And it is not necessarily an easy thing. Oftentimes, We don't approach the Lord's commands and we don't endeavor to obey the Lord's commands because we say, well, that's just too hard. You ever teach your children that? Put your dishes in the sink. It's hard. Make your bed. It's too hard, is what they will say. And oftentimes, as Christians, we take this attitude. And yet, it is not an easy thing Because selflessness is not what we naturally tend towards. It is not what we naturally tend towards. So we are commanded to have the same attitude which was also in Christ Jesus. What was the mind of Christ Jesus? We're going to unpack this. We started to look at this this morning in Sunday school and in God's providence they've lined up here. What was this mindset? What is this attitude that we are supposed to have? What does it look like in the body of Christ? We see here it is Jesus Christ. He is the model of selflessness. Verses six and seven read this way. 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. I'd like you to consider for a second who Jesus Christ is. Consider who he is. He is not a weakling. We looked at Nebuchadnezzar this morning, and we said, you know, he, he esteemed himself as being the great king of the earth. And it wasn't until he recognized who the Lord was that he would be healed, uh, that he would be restored to his throne. And we made the comparison then that Jesus was quite different because while Nebuchadnezzar believed he had all greatness, Jesus Christ actually does have all greatness and had all greatness prior to the incarnation. He is God. He is the mighty God. We see this in scripture. If you will look with me to Daniel chapter 7, we read in verses 13 and 14 regarding the second person of the Trinity. Daniel writes, I kept looking in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming. And he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away. And his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed." Here, he's speaking about the Lord. But again, we read in Revelation chapter 1, verses 12 through 18. Again, remember, these are speaking of the Lord. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like a son of man clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across his chest with a golden sash. His head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. In his right hand, he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. And he placed his right hand on me, saying, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one. And I was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and of Hades." Beautiful pictures, wonderful pictures of who Jesus Christ is. He is God. Jesus Christ is God. He existed in the form of God, we are told, that is, And this word refers, morphe, or form, refers to the inner essential and abiding nature of a person or thing. He existed in the form of God, the Nicene Creed, homoousius, not homoousius, not like God, but being God, being of the same substance as God. Here is Jesus Christ. He is the eternal God. He is God. And we are told this in the scriptures in Colossians 1.16, for by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. John 1, 1, we read in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And John 8, 58, truly, truly, Jesus says, I say to you before Abraham was born, I am, I am. And what did the Jews do? They picked up stones to kill him for his blasphemy because they understood that he was making a claim to being God. Jesus would pray in John 17 in his high priestly prayer, Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. There are many other scriptures we could look at. The point is that Jesus Christ is God. It is he who is. It is he who has might and power and glory, who is worthy and entitled to all praise. That's who Jesus Christ is. That's what we need to keep in mind as we read here in Philippians where he says, who although he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. He is God. He is God. And although he is God, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. He is entitled. This is the problem oftentimes in the church is that we come to ministry, we come to church, we come to a group of people, and we say, I'm entitled to better than this. And it's the mindset that really guts a church. And again, I want to reiterate, you're a wonderful group of people. And I don't see this in this group here tonight. And I seldom do I see it, even in the church. But we see things, or we don't see things. And yet, that doesn't mean that the attitude isn't lurking, burbling up inside our souls. I am entitled to better than this. I'm worthy, then, to have to do this. He does not, Jesus, though he is God, does not, did not, regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Notice, he did not think his equality with God was a thing that must not slip from his grasp. He's God. He is, he is God. He has it, glory, power, might, and though entitled to the honor and glory of God, he doesn't maintain his right to it. He doesn't cling to it. Beloved, this is Christ's mindset. Paul holds out Christ as an example that you and I should follow. And it starts with our rights. We start by saying, I have rights. I have feelings of entitlement, men and women, because of my, my nationality, my status in life as citizens or people, parents, elders, or teachers, employers, employees. I have rights. You can't make me do this. You don't know who I am. I've seen this time and again, where a man of dark skin will come into the church, not a black man, just an Indian man or something, and he would come in, and if he was asked to set up chairs, it would be like, oh, you're saying that because I'm dark-skinned. No, I'm saying it because you're a member in the church, and I can't do it all by myself, right? And that's safe for us, right? But it's this kind of thing. Do you know who I am? Do you know what I'm capable of? Do you know how many degrees I have or what I've done? And how dare you ask me? that I should have to do this. And I go, be careful. Be careful. That woke mindset that's all around us feeds this mindset of entitlement. It feeds the mindset of entitlement, and it causes us to miss what Jesus Christ actually did. No one was ever more entitled to glory, power, honor, and glory than Jesus Christ himself. No one. And yet we see what he gives up, what he doesn't fight to maintain his right to it. Where we get into trouble is when we maintain our rights. These are my seats. I heard somebody mention that coming in. Isn't it funny how we always go to the same seats? So I actually had this in my notes before you said it. And you don't fight for those seats. But I've seen this. Again, these are my seats. And we hear about this all the time in churches. Oh, someone drove me out because they weren't willing to give up my seat. Why not? Did you pay for that seat? Is your name on it? Did you lick it before you came into church? No, these are not the things we ought to be doing. This isn't my job, someone will say. This isn't my job. I wasn't hired to do this. I don't volunteer for these types of things. I've already raised my children. Why should I have to help raise someone else's children? I've heard this one, and again, not necessarily from any of you. You understand that this mindset, if this mindset takes hold in a church, ministry will never occur. in the church, it will never occur. And what will happen is you'll have one or just a few people who are doing a lot of the work and they're swimming upstream against the culture of entitlement where others are saying, I don't want to be involved in this because it's beneath me, I'm beyond that. It's a dangerous mindset and you can understand why the Apostle Paul would be addressing it in the church in Philippi, because what isn't affected when that mindset comes into a church? Those aren't the hymns that I like to sing. So I'm going to quit coming because I don't like those hymns. This isn't the way I like to do ministry. I don't think we ought to do it this way. So I'm not going to participate until you do it my way. You see that? It hurts the work. It means that we're not looking after each other. We're not ministering to each other. Very dangerous mindset that comes about. We get into this mindset, we get into trouble when we maintain our rights. But corresponding to this attitude that we see in Jesus Christ, who although he is God, he's created all things, the angels sing his praises for all eternity past. We see that it's not just an attitude that Jesus took on, but it was also a corresponding action, not merely a humble disposition but humble actions in his birth and in his death. We are told that he emptied himself. Kenoi, give up to lay aside what one possesses. Now understand, he didn't give up his divinity. Jesus Christ did not give up his divinity. He never stopped being God. When he emptied himself, he emptied himself of his existence in a manner equal to God. William Hendrickson had this to say, and I thought this was good. Four points he brings up, he says, he emptied himself of his favorable relation to the law, from law giver to law obeyer. We read this in Galatians 4.4, but when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law. He is the Lamb of God. He came to be punished for the sins of his people. He was one who was made to be sin on our behalf. Two, he points out that he gave up his riches and became poor on our behalf that through his poverty we might become rich. Three, that he gave up his heavenly glory where he was recognized where the seraphim gave him praise continually and he came to a people who did not receive him and who would not recognize him. And fourth, He gave up his independent exercise of authority. He became a servant. John 530, he says, I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. He gave up all that was comfortable. He gave up all that was familiar, all that he was accustomed to in order to minister to us. How did he do this? He took upon himself the form of a bondservant. Again, this word form, morphe, inner, essential, and abiding nature of a person or thing. God himself took upon himself the nature of a bondservant. The Christmas hymn, one of my favorite, of Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Veiled in Flesh the Godhead See, Hail the Incarnate Deity. This is what Christ did. Imagine he who spoke the world into existence who sustains all things and decrees times and places, who even the devil himself cannot thwart. He comes and takes upon himself a bondservant's role." Humiliating. When I was a teenager, I worked at this dive in Montrose, Ohio. It's no longer there. It was torn down and they put up a market. But this dive was called the T-Freeze. It was a soft serve ice cream cone shack that served the best coney dogs in the world. I wasn't going to talk about hot dogs and I did it again. Coney dogs and hamburgers and french fries, all of the famous foods that everyone loves. We may not say we love it, but I'm pretty convinced we do. And the floors were dirty. I mean, even though I scrubbed them relentlessly, they were uneven, too. They were orange tiles that were warped, and so people would trip as they're walking through the restaurant. The walls were crooked. Everything is dirty, perpetually stained. It was kind of a joke. It was like the place not to work. And I actually worked there, because the guy gave me, he paid me not even minimum wage, but he allowed me to go to my Bible studies and do things that I'd like to do. So for me it was good. And pretty much no one from my school ever came there. One day, one day I'm in there, and I'm sweeping the floor. And in walk the, the jocks from the school, the guys who were the athletes, the guys who had all the girls, and they walked in and they sat down at a table in the middle of the freeze while I am in the restaurant sweeping and trying to mop the floors. I can't begin to tell you how humiliated I was that these guys walked into the restaurant and there I was holding a mop and I had to go up to them and I had to say, I had to humble myself and say, may I please hop under your table? That was the most humiliating thing. One of the most humiliating things I think I ever had to do was to identify as a servant at the tea freeze in front of the fellows from school who were the docs who had all the girls and were driving, actually driving cars. Humiliating for me. Now take that and multiply it by an infinite number. And when we get a sense of what Jesus Christ underwent for us, he wraps himself in a towel, washes feet, John 13. He comes and he speaks with and comely sorts. He dines with tax collectors and sinners, and he is obedient even under the point of death. Nothing could be more contrary. Nothing could be more contrary than to have the almighty God take on this stature, this position. And yet it's precisely what he has done. Until you understand the heights, you can't appreciate the lows that he underwent for us. And Paul says this is the attitude that we need to demonstrate in the church. He takes upon himself the nature of man, body and soul. And this would be humiliating enough, but the apostle moves on to say not only is being born, but he was afflicted and he was rejected and he is mocked and spoken badly of. Jesus, our Lord, has gone all the way by being humble, obedient to the point of death, and even death on a cross, a humiliating way to die. A miserable and humiliating way to die that is being crucified between two sinners as though he too was guilty of sin like they were. A shorter catechism, number 27, says this, wherein did Christ's humiliation consist? Christ's humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in lowly condition made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross, and being buried and continuing under the power of death for a time. Nothing could ever have been more foreign to our God than to go through these things. And yet this is precisely what he went through. Paul's point is that Jesus went from the highest heavens in glory to the lowest of lows here on earth in order to save you. And this is the mindset. that we are called to put on. Think of the most humbling experience, degrading, unjust thing you've ever experienced, and know that it was infinitely greater for our Lord as he is God. And yet this is the Lord's attitude, and Paul says to us, imitate this. Imitate this in the church. Do not think yourself entitled. Do not think yourself worthy. Do not think yourself better. You may be, Maybe you have degrees, you're very dignified people, you're smart people, you're giving people. And yet for all of these things, and as true as they were, they were not enough for our Lord to say, I will not go. But he goes and he gives his life. And friends, this is the attitude that the Lord calls us to in the church. And you can see then why this would be important in the church that we not take the attitude of, I'm better than this. This is my chair. Go find somewhere else to go. I don't have time. I've already raised my children. I've already serving. I don't need to give myself anymore. Those attitudes are the attitudes that hurt the church and hurt her witness and work. I want to encourage us that we identify where our gifts are and that we would plug in and use those gifts however we can to the betterment, to the service and ministry of the body of Christ, and that we'd not hold back and wait until just the right thing comes along, but that we step in and take this attitude and make it our goal to have this attitude in ourselves, which was in Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. Let us pray. We thank you, Father, again for your word and pray that it would have its effect upon our lives. And we pray that you would create in us the mind of Christ, that we would daily be overwhelmed with gratitude for what the Lord Jesus has done for us. And Father, we pray that he would, that our eyes would be opened more and more to his glory, and that we would see more and more clearly the depths of his humiliation in order that we would not pity ourselves or be full of pride and think that I am beyond these things. We ask that you would help us for we know Lord that we are like Isaiah said I am a man of unclean lips and I live among people of unclean lips. So we too are a people who have been tainted by our world around us. We bring our own sin to the world but also father we often are conformed to the world around us, again, emulating the attitudes, these woke attitudes of thinking that some are more privileged than others. We know, Lord, before you that we are sinners in need of your grace. We pray that we would not take your grace for granted and that we would live in light of this grace, giving ourselves even as our Savior gave his life for us. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for all that you have done and pray that you would form now this mindset in us as we go from this place. Grant us wisdom and consideration as to how we would serve and love one another. We ask this in your name, amen.