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Paul's letter to the Philippians
chapter 2. 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 rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. Let 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 made himself nothing, 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 under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father therefore my beloved as
you have always obeyed So now, not only as in my presence, but
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will
and to work for His good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling
or questioning. that you may be blameless and
innocent children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked
and twisted generation among whom you shine as lights in the
world holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of
Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain
even if I'm to be poured out as a drink offering upon the
sacrificial offering of your faith I am glad and rejoice with
you all. Likewise, you also should be
glad and rejoice with me." This was God's word to the Philippian
Christians, this is God's word to us. I'm not sure if there are any
children here this evening who haven't been here on previous
evenings. What we've done each evening
is just give out a question sheet with some questions on about
the sermon and we've said those are there for any children who
would like to fill in the sheets. I'm hoping that those who want
to do that were given a sheet as they arrived. Nobody has to
do it. that if you want to, you may
have been given a sheet, as I say, when you arrived. If there's
any of the children, let's say ages 10 downwards, who didn't
get a sheet and would like one, then put your hand up now and
somebody will bring you the question sheet for this evening. We've
got problems with the sound, have we? It's slipping already. We've taped it on this evening.
Tomorrow evening, I think it's going to be super glue. One way or another, we hope it
stays there. Once again, we were talking about
the children's question sheets. Some of the children left with
me the question sheets that they filled out yesterday evening,
and I've had a look at them. And once again, so encouraging
to see how well you've been listening and how much you've taken in,
how carefully you've written down those answers. If you see
me afterwards, I'll give you back your sheets. And if you
wrote down a question for me to answer, well then I've tried
to answer your questions at the bottom of that sheet. And tonight
I have remembered the chocolates. We've got my wife sent over some
chocolates because she thought the Canadian children probably
liked English chocolate. So if any of the youngsters would
like to come and just choose a chocolate afterwards, then
please do that. Well, this is session number
four on Philippians. And we're just carrying on where
we left off last night. we've been talking about role
models the great role models that people looked up to in Philippi
were powerful dynamic rulers like Alexander the Great or Caesar
Augustus or any of the emperors who followed Augustus And what
did people learn from their example? They learned that the most important
thing is to get to the top. To be the person who's in charge. The person whom everyone else
notices. The person who gets their own
way. They learn that it's right to
be ambitious and ruthless. That's what those role models
taught them. But now in Philippians 2, Paul
presents these Christians with a new role model, a new example,
a new way of thinking. He says in verse 5 of chapter
2, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Your thinking must be like the
way Jesus Christ thought. You must have the same mindset
as him. Christ Jesus who though he was
in the form of God did not think of his equality with God as something
to be exploited, something to use for his own advantage? No,
says Paul, Christ Jesus made himself nothing, a nobody. He was made in human likeness. He took the form of a slave. Christ Jesus was willing to live
like a slave. He was willing to work like a
slave. He was willing to be despised
and abused like a slave. That's the pattern to which Paul
is calling the Philippian Christians in their life together in the
church. And that's the pattern to which
he's calling us. Paul told the Philippians back
in verse 3, that they must act in humility. Well, humility means
being willing to accept humiliation. What we've been reading about
is the humiliation of God's Son. The one who was entitled to all
worship, all praise, all honor, took the form of a slave. When the Son of God became man,
he was accepting utter humiliation. But there was a further humiliation
to follow. Paul here is sketching out the
chosen career of the Son of God. And his career was a career of
progressive humiliation. The step of incarnation, taking
on human nature, human flesh, that was the first step. But
it was only the first step, because then that man, the man Jesus,
must take a further unimaginable step of humiliation. Paul says in verse 8, and being
found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death even death on a cross God's Son had consented to be
a slave and to be a slave is to be humiliated it's a humiliating
role to play but how far Is he willing for his humiliation to
go? To be a slave means that you
have to be obedient. But how far will his obedience
stretch? Yes, he submits, he obeys through
every moment of that humiliating life on earth. But now his humility,
his obedience must face the final test. He must go to the Garden
of Gethsemane. And there, shaking with terror,
writhing in anguish, he's going to cry, not my will, but yours
be done! And he's going to become obedient
unto death. And that death has to be the
death of a cross. Why? because that's the death
appropriate to a slave. It's what Roman writers called
the servile supplicium, the slave's punishment, the most humiliating,
shameful, agonizing death conceivable. It's impossible, I think, for
us to understand the utter horror with which Roman people thought
about crucifixion, about death on a cross. It was the ultimate
horror. It was the most degrading, the
most humiliating fate possible. Let the very word cross be kept
far away, not only from the body of a Roman citizen, But even
from his thoughts, his eyes, his ears. The Roman lawyer Cicero
said that. He says it's not just that a
Roman citizen should never have to suffer crucifixion, he should
never have to hear that word. He should never have to think
about it. It's an obscene word. It's a word you don't whisper
in front of people. Cross. Death on a cross. It's a disgusting idea. And yet,
the Lord of Glory, the rightful Emperor of the Universe, was
strung out naked, nailed to a cross, and he submitted to it. That's what Paul means when he
says that Christ Jesus became obedient to death, even the death a shudder through the readers
in Philippi. It's a word that wouldn't be
used among Roman citizens and they were so conscious that they
were Roman citizens. And now Paul's reminding them
that the one they worship was pinned to a cross. He became
obedient to the death of a cross. That was the final step in the
career of the Son of God here on Earth. That was the career
he chose for himself. See, that's Paul's emphasis.
That this was the chosen path for the Lord of Glory. He made
himself nothing, says Paul. He took the nature of a slave
He humbled himself. He became obedient unto death. There's nothing forced on him
in this. This is the career path he's
chosen to walk. It brings him from infinite glory
on the throne of heaven to utter ruin, utter shame on the cross
of Calvary. By all human standards, it is
a career of absolute failure. Look at the figure on the cross.
It's a figure of absolute weakness. You can't have a more helpless
man than that. A man nailed hand and foot. It's a figure of total failure. By all human standards, it's
a figure of utter shame. The King of Glory chose the career
of a broken slave. He chose the career of a condemned
criminal, and he ended that career on a cross. seems a career of utter waste.
It seems a life thrown away. But this was the path he chose.
This was the path that obedience demanded. And this is the role
model that Paul sets before the Philippian Christians. When Paul paints a portrait of
a true man. It doesn't point to the superhuman
figure of Alexander, the way the artists portrayed him, gigantic,
magnificent. Remember the words I read to
you from one historian about the outward appearance that Alexander
chose when he came down as a god to earth? grand, majestic, impressive,
what was the outward appearance that the Lord of Glory chose? Paul points first to a man living
the life of a slave, having the form of a slave, and then he
points to a writhing, disjointed, bloodied figure on a cross, Paul's
role model is not Caesar on his throne, surrounded by courtiers,
issuing commands, trampling down his enemies. Paul's role model
is this Jesus, humiliated, betrayed, lonely, heartbroken, but still
believing, still submitting, still obeying his Father, still
loving his enemies, still praying for those who have nailed him
there. And you must be like him, says Paul. You must be like him. How are we going to sum up this
man Jesus and his career? We'll sum it up in three words. It's firstly a career of obedience. In obedience, obedience to his
father's will, the Son of God became a man. In obedience, the
man Jesus lived every moment of his life here in this world. In obedience He submitted to
the cross of Calvary with all its shame. Every thought of Jesus
was obedience. I must obey. I must obey every
moment of my life. I must do His will. That was
His constant thought. In the volume of the book it's
written of me. Lo, I come to do thy will. It's a career of obedience. And
then secondly, it's a career of humility. At every step along
this career path, the king isn't thinking of himself. He's forgotten
himself. He's forgotten his own needs.
He's forgotten his wishes. He's forgotten his desires. It's
his father's will that matters. It's the needs of others that
come first. He lives as a man thinking about
others. He dies for the sake of others. And for the sake of others he
will accept any humiliation. He's willing to be a nobody. He's willing to be rejected and
despised and overlooked and sneered at. He's willing to be hurt again
and again and again. he's got no ambition except the
ambition to bring honor to his father and mercy to ruin sinners and thirdly it's a career of
suffering because his obedience and his humility lead to appalling
suffering in his lifetime he's a man of
sorrows And that life culminates in the
heartbreak and the torture and the horror and the impenetrable
darkness of Calvary. And willingly this man, Jesus,
accepts the suffering. He accepts it to the end. That is his chosen path. That's the path. by which Jesus
will accomplish his objectives. He has no other method, no other
program. You know, if you had the opportunity
to interview Augustus Caesar, you could ask him, what was your
strategy? How did you accomplish your goals?
How did you get to where you are? and he'd tell you about
the political alliances he made and he'd tell you about the great
military victories he won and he'd tell you about the resources
he built up but turn to the Son of God and
ask him what his strategy was and he'll tell you only three
things I obeyed gave myself, moment by moment, in relentless
obedience to the commands of my father. I humbled myself. I was willing
to accept any humiliation. I was willing to do any task. I was willing to serve the lowest
and the most degraded human beings. I was willing to expose myself
to any shame, and I suffered. I accepted whatever suffering
my father sent me. I accepted it without complaint,
I accepted it without bitterness, I accepted it without rebellion.
I obeyed, I humbled myself, and I suffered. That was the career
that Christ Jesus chose. but the career of the Lord Jesus
Christ did not end at the cross. Between verses 9 and 11, Paul
goes on to sketch out all that followed. Christ became obedient
to death, even death on a cross, therefore God has highly exalted
him and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. in heaven and on earth and under
the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. The key word in that long sentence
is the first word, therefore. He humbled himself Therefore,
God exalted him. He chose to be a nothing. Therefore, God gave him the name
above every name. He was willing to be a slave. Therefore, God decreed that every
creature should call him Lord. All the triumphs all the glories
of the risen Lord Jesus have come to him as the result the
reward of that life of obedience and humility and suffering he
claimed nothing for himself and therefore God gave him everything
he had no ambition for himself and that's why he's worthy to
be enthroned forever the man Jesus is worthy to share the
throne of God because in his life he shone out God's own qualities
of infinite humility and infinite love no other man is fit to sit
on the throne power corrupts absolute power corrupts Absolutely. Put any other man on a throne. Give any other man unfettered
power and it will corrupt him. He'll become as corrupt as Alexander
or Julius Caesar. Only a man who's totally humble. Only a man who's utterly other
person centred. Only a man who's completely incorruptible. is fit to be put on the throne.
But that's Jesus. That's what he's proved. He's
proved that he can't be corrupted. He's proved that he is willing
to give himself and give himself and give himself. And that's why God has exalted
him. Now let's think for a moment
about the triumphs, about the vindication of the exalted Christ. Paul presents the triumph of
Jesus Christ in three great declarations. First of all, he tells us in
verse 9 that God has highly exalted him, that's the ESV's translation,
and given him or bestowed on him the name that's above every
name. It's actually stronger than just
God has highly exalted him. What it really means is God has
supremely exalted him. God has exalted him to an incomparable
place. Paul's echoing Psalm 97 verse
9 You, O Lord, are the most high over all the earth. You are exalted
to the highest place above all gods. But Paul is telling us
that the man Jesus has been granted divine honours. That he sits
on Jehovah's throne. That he carries the supreme name
the name Jehovah, Yahweh, the Lord. Jesus exercises sole, solitary,
supreme dominion over all creation. This man, the same man who hung
naked and broken on the cross, now sits on the throne of God. You see how Paul again has in
view the blasphemous claims of the Caesars. They claim to be
among the gods. They claimed a place alongside
Jupiter and Juno and all the rest of the Roman pantheon. But that's not Christ's claim.
To be one God among the gods. He's exalted to the highest place,
above all gods, all powers, whatever forces, whatever principalities
and powers there may be in all the universe, they're all subject
to Him. Each of the Caesars used the
title Lord, and spoke of Caesar as Dominus Nostra Deus, Our Lord
and God stamped on the coinage. Now says Paul, there's only one
man who has the right to carry the name Lord. It's the name
above every name. When we call Jesus the Lord,
we're using the title in its fullest sense. When you read
the Old Testament, when you meet that word Lord written in capital
letters, what you've got there is the name Jehovah Yahweh the
great I am for all eternity the man Jesus bears the name Jehovah
Jehovah Jesus Jesus our Lord now this is something definitive
this is all path tense God has highly exalted him. God has bestowed
on him the name that's above every name. There was a moment
in time when the man Jesus was recognized as son of God and
installed in all the honors that belong to that title. There's
a time when he was appointed son of God with power, says Paul
in Romans 1.1. There was a point in time when
the man Jesus was wrapped round in the robe of divine glory,
when he was caught up to the highest place to begin his reign
from the throne of God. We call that his ascension or
his exaltation. That isn't something progressive,
is it? That was a once for all event, his glorification, his
enthronement, God exalted him. It's once for all, it happened,
it's a fact. But the consequences of that
once for all exaltation have to be worked out step by step.
And that's what Paul goes on to tell us in what follows. This is his second declaration. God has decreed that at the name
of Jesus every knee shall bow at the name of Jesus Paul's stressing
his humanity that was a name Jesus was known by as a man on
earth well at that name, the name of Jesus every creature
in the universe will kneel in submission things in heaven,
says Paul, things on earth, things under the earth, they will all
kneel before Jesus. Now the three words that Paul
uses there, the heavenly things, the earthly things, the under
earth things, are all terms used chiefly for spiritual beings,
for all the mysterious demonic powers that threaten and enslave
mankind. What Paul calls elsewhere the
spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm. Not just creatures
on earth, says Paul, but whatever creatures there may be in the
unseen world, they will all one day acknowledge the triumph of
the Lord Jesus. They'll all acknowledge that
that man who hung, abandoned, defeated, ruined, has conquered
them, has defeated them. They'll all bow the knee before
him. You know, the Greeks were shocked
when Alexander the Great demanded that they should bow the knee
before him they were supposed to be free people the Greeks
nobody had ever asked them to do that before but he demanded
it and they did it because they said he's equal to God but even
Alexander never demanded that all the invisible powers should
kneel before him Paul says they'll bow before Jesus. They'll bow
the knee to Him. And, says Paul, every tongue
shall confess that he's Lord. That's the third declaration.
You know the passage that Paul is quoting from Isaiah, chapter
45, where Jehovah declares, before me every knee will bow. by me every tongue will swear,
but now that adoration, that praise, that worship that's due
to Jehovah alone is being given to Messiah Jesus, to the man
who humbled himself, to the man who obeyed the man who became
a nothing, the man who died a slave's death on the cross. He must be
acknowledged as Lord by every creature, by angels, by demons,
by human beings. First, the definitive triumph,
the exaltation, and then the progressive outworking, the defeat
of spiritual powers, every tongue confessing that Jesus is Lord. Now the question we need to ask
is this, when does Paul expect this to happen? When do Christ's enemies bow
the knee? When will every creature confess
that Jesus is Lord? And the answer is clear Paul's
looking forward to the consummation, to the triumphant return of Jesus,
to the end of history, to the last day. It's then that every
knee shall bow, isn't it? It's then that every tongue shall
confess that he's Lord. At the parousia, the glorious
returning of the Emperor. But Paul isn't speaking only
of the parousia, is he? He's not talking only about the
return of Christ. What happens then is only the
culmination, it's only the climax of what Christ has been doing
ever since his exaltation. Does Paul only expect to see
demonic powers defeated at his return? Doesn't Paul say elsewhere
that Christ is putting all his enemies under his feet now? Doesn't
he say that the weapons of our warfare are powerful now for
the pulling down of Satan's strongholds? Paul expects to see the powers
of darkness being driven back in defeat now! Does Paul only
expect to hear tongues confessing that Jesus is Lord at the end
of the world? Of course not. He expects to
see men and women declaring Jesus is Lord now. He expects to see
it happening in Rome where he is. Every Roman citizen we said
was expecting to say Caesar is Lord. But Paul expects to see
men and women and children being saved and baptized. And when
they're baptized, what do they say? Jesus is Lord! He expects to see it happening
in Philippi. He expects to see it happening
all across the world. You see, don't you? The things
that Paul talks about here in verses 10 and 11 are the victories,
the triumphs that Jesus wins all through this gospel age. Paul doesn't expect Jesus' victories
only at the end of the world. He expects to see Jesus' victories
now in history. Yes, the whole vast scale of
Jesus' triumphs won't be seen till the last day. But the triumph
itself is seen on every day of this gospel age. From the moment
when God exalted Jesus Christ to the highest place, from that
moment, step by step, Christ's enemies are being forced to admit
defeat. And chosen sinners are being
brought to confess that Jesus is Lord. I'm sure that when Paul wrote
these words, he was remembering Christ's victory over him. There on the road to Damascus,
he, Saul of Tarsus, dominated as he was by demonic power, demonic
rage, he bowed the knee. Literally, physically, he found
himself prostrate on the ground before Jesus. And he confessed
that Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord, he said, what would you
have me to do? And Paul is certain that the
same awesome power that smashed his resistance must be seen throughout
all nations in all centuries to the glory of God the Father. Jesus, that broken, tortured, defeated
slave whose body hung on a cross has
defeated the whole empire of evil. Even now, Jesus is tearing down
strongholds of Satan. Even now he's subduing millions
of rebel sinners to himself. That's what Paul is telling us
here. Now do you see the vast paradox
that we've got in these verses? A man abandons all ambitions
for himself. A man lives the life of a slave. A man dies in misery and shame. And that's how he triumphs. That's how he defeats the power
of darkness. That's how he rescues mankind
from the grip of Satan and all his legions. That's how he forces
the spiritual world into submission. That's how he wins universal
sovereignty. And that's how he brings glory
to God. That's Paul's bottom line at the end of verse 11.
The ultimate end of all this. To the glory of God the Father. A man dies obediently. He accepts
humiliation, battering, torture, loneliness, shame, and that's
the appointed way by which God is glorified before the universe. Let me say it again, you've got
to take in how utterly different This is from all that the Philippians
have been trained to believe. All through their lives they've
been taught to revere great men. Men who show themselves stronger
and cleverer and more cunning than their opponents. Men who
are born leaders, men who are dynamic figures, men who know
how to exercise authority. It's through men like that that
triumphs come. It's men like that that accomplish
great things. No, says Paul. The ultimate victory
belongs to a man who obeyed and humbled himself and suffered. A man who chose to be a nothing.
A man who seemed to have been utterly defeated. a man whose
life seemed to have been just thrown away for nothing, he won
the victory. He won the only victory that
counts. That's the one great central
fact that dominates this whole letter to the Philippians. If
you only remember one thing from this series of Bible studies,
remember that one. How did Jesus break the powers of evil? How
did Jesus conquer the world? How did Jesus win the right to
sit on the throne of heaven? By becoming a slave. By becoming
a figure of fun. Someone that everybody laughed
at. By walking a path of obedience
that led to suffering and to death. that's the great lesson
we're learning here now why is it why was it so important that
Paul should preach that truth to the Christians in Philippi? well surely for this reason the
Philippian Christians had to understand and we have to understand
that this pattern is not only true for Jesus Christ, it is
also true for his people. It is true for all who walk in
his footsteps. Remember, that's where Paul starts.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. We long to see victories won
in this world. We long to see verses 10 and
11 realized in our experience. We long to see these things happening
in experience of our churches. We long to see Satan's power
broken, don't we? We long to see men and women
brought to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We long to see
God glorified. We long to see the kingdom of
God coming with power. But how are such victories to
be won? They have to be won the same
way that Jesus Christ won the definitive victory. They're only won when Christ's
people live the same way that Christ lived. When they live
lives of costly obedience and self-denial. When they humble
themselves and accept humiliation, when they accept suffering as
the price of obedience, when they see themselves as slaves,
they forget their dignity. They're willing to do the most
degrading work. They forget their own hurts,
their own weariness. They press on in lives of obedience. They accept insults, they accept
abuse, they accept pain and they don't resent it. They live with
the attitude of Christ. And it's through people like
that that Christ's victories are won. You see, we're back
to the great theme that we introduced at the beginning of this series.
Remember? We said it was going to be one
of the big themes of the book. victories come for Christ and
his gospel when his people suffer pain and humiliation and when
they accept it willingly lovingly for his sake remember we saw
that principle worked out in Paul's first visit to Philippi
here he is mounting the invasion of the West Starting with Philippi,
the most Roman city in Greece. A stronghold of Caesar, a stronghold
of Satan. How is it going to happen? A
great military operation? A great crusade? Pauline tanks rolling into Philippi? No, Christ has said that his
followers don't take up swords. and fight for his kingdom. Well
then, at least it's going to take a vast advertising campaign,
isn't it? Great public meetings, lots of
celebrities on the platform, the local mayor perhaps as the
guest of honour. We'll need financial backers,
won't we? We'll need skilful PR men, won't we? We'll need
to harness the Philippian media, won't we? We need to make sure
that Paul himself has the right presentation skills. We need
to call in the make-up people to give him the right image.
After all, this is Philippi! You're taking on the gigantic
power of the Roman Empire! That's the way victories are
won, isn't it? That's the way the Alexanders
and the Caesars and the Richard Branson's and the Rupert Murdoch's
and, well, whoever the Canadian equivalents are. That's the way
they've built their empires, isn't it? All the machinery of
power. All the help of the spin doctors
and the image makers. We win victories, don't we, by
being dynamic and glamorous and knowing how to use the tools
of power. How was the victory of the gospel
won in Philippi? It was won when Paul and Silas
were seized by a lynch mob. And when they were stripped naked
in public. And when they were flogged. They
were defeated. They were humiliated. They had
all their dignity stripped away from them with their clothes.
They were thrown into prison filthy and bleeding with the
flesh torn off their bodies. They were chained up in the darkness. What a humiliating end to their
career in Philippi. What an utter failure. Where
has obedience to Christ brought them? It's brought them to the
same place as it brought Jesus. To humiliation, to agony, to
helplessness. And there in that place, the
battle for Philippi was won. It was won when Paul and Silas
lifted up their voices and sang. In their pain, in their humiliation,
they sang. They proclaimed publicly their
love for Christ and their willingness to suffer for Him. They became
obedient. They accepted all that had happened.
as God's will for them. They humbled themselves. They
accepted the public shame and the physical pain. It was the
cost of following Christ. They were determined to press
on in obedience, even if it became obedience to death. Their attitude
was the same as that of Christ Jesus. Obedience, humility, the
willingness to suffer. That night the prison the structure
that symbolized the authority of Rome, shaken to its foundations. That
night the jailer, the man whose work it was to uphold Caesar's
authority, that night he bowed the knee to Christ. That night
he took the words on his lips, Jesus is Lord, And better still,
he's my lord. That night the grip of Satan
on Philippi was broken. But how was it accomplished?
By superstar evangelists? By great choirs? By vast technological
resources? It was accomplished by two men
who obeyed and humbled themselves and suffered and wept and sang
and pressed on. You remember again Paul talking
about his experience in Rome itself? I want you to know brothers
that what has happened to me has advanced the gospel. Paul's
confronting the power of Caesar at it's very center now. Paul's assaulting Caesar's own
capital city He's taking on all the might of Roman government,
all the extent of Roman dominion. How is he doing it? What's God's
strategy for the conquest of Rome? Doing it from a prison
cell. From a human point of view, Paul's
been defeated. He's been rendered helpless. And as Paul lies there in chains,
The gospel is spreading through Caesar's bodyguard. Remember
we saw it? It's being preached out on the streets. Powers of
darkness are being defeated. Men and women and children are
saying, Jesus is Lord. Where is victory won? It's won
by Paul in a prison cell. Filthy hungry, lonely, but still
saying may Christ be exalted. It's won by Alan Gardner on the
shores of Tierra del Fuego. I don't know if there's a biography
of Captain Gardner on the bookstall, there ought to be. There he is,
starving to death, abandoned, far from home and family, still
praying, still longing for the triumph of Christ in South America. It's what he writes in his journal,
our times are in his hands and he can raise up others far better
qualified than we are to enter into our labors, whether I live
or die, may it be in him that lonely death moved scores of
men to pray and to go his widow 50 years later could look back
and she wrote this about herself she was permitted to see that
her husband's work and labor of love was not in vain in the
Lord Moreover, that the countries in which his toil was greatest
and his suffering worst, Araucania, the Gran Chaco, Tierra del Fuego,
have his gospel openly preached. And Gardner's biographer added
this, it was all explained now. The apparently useless sufferings,
the long arduous journeys, the disappointments, the setbacks
culminating in those lifeless bodies on the beaches had all
proved to be the outworking of a divine plan. Today thousands
confess Jesus is Lord because Alan Gardiner was willing to
waste his life for Christ. Where's victory won? It's won
by Mehdi Dibaj. Locked for years in a prison
cell in Iran. In a little cell, three foot
by three. Imagine that. Writing to his judges. That's
astonishing testimony. Just brimming over with praise
and gratitude to Jesus Christ. there aren't many Christian testimonies
published in the British press but that one was and then he's
released from prison after those years of cramped existence in
the darkness only to be stabbed to death and have his body thrown
onto a rubbish heap but his testimony reached millions and today there
are, I believe, millions of people in Iran who look back and say
it was through his testimony I was awakened where's victory
won? it's won in inner city estates
in the cities of England where faithful men minister year
after year without publicity without human reward and you
have such men here I'm certain I think of a friend of mine laboring
for 29 years in an inner city congregation in Manchester coming
in week after week to clear up the broken glass to wipe the
excreta off the walls waiting for the reinforcements
that never came still pressing on still honoring the name of
Christ in that place, working on obediently in a place where
younger men were unwilling to go, humbling himself to do the
most degrading tasks if only the gospel could be preached.
Suffering disappointment, suffering weariness, he lived like a slave. He had the mind of Christ. and it's when Christ's people
have Christ's mind that Christ triumphs. Where is victory won? It's won
in every gospel church where Christians stop thinking about
themselves. Where in humility they count
others as more important than themselves. when they stop worrying about
whether they're getting the attention they deserve or whether they're
being treated fairly or whether their gifts are being recognized
when they start living like slaves who don't expect any recognition
Paul really believed that it's only when the members of a church
have that Christ-like mindset that God is glorified and the
victories are won for Christ look where Paul carries on straight
from verse 11 he's just told us that we have to have Christ's
mindset he's described that mindset that mindset of total self-forgetting
humility and then he says in verse 12 therefore my beloved
as you've always obeyed So now, not only in my presence, but
much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling. For it's God who works in you,
both to will and to do his good pleasure. Do all things without
grumbling, without questioning, that you may be blameless and
innocent. Children of God without blemish
in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom
you shine as lights of the world. Do you see what Paul is saying?
Paul wants the church in Philippi and its members to shine before
the dark world. He wants everyone in Philippi
to see how different they are. He wants everybody to see in
them blameless children of God so different from the crooked
and twisted people around them. But Paul says it's only going
to happen when you start obeying this command. When each one of you starts thinking
as Christ thought, when each one of you starts living as Christ
lived, when each one of you chooses the pathway of self-sacrificing,
self-forgetting, serving of one another, how can you expect the
world to take the gospel seriously? How can you expect triumphs to
be won for Christ if the world sees churches that are full of
rivalry and ambition and arguments and quarrels? Christ won his great victory
by that life of humiliating service. Christ won the right to triumph
over satanic powers by forgetting his own rights. Christ won the
right to be called Lord by becoming a slave. And if believers are
going to share Christ's victories, Christ's triumphs, they must
first share Christ's mindset. They must imitate Christ's life
and Christ's lifestyle. Christ's career choices. Let's just read one more verse.
before we close this evening. Chapter 3, verse 10. I think
it's impossible to bring out the real force of this verse
in an English translation. But it spells out the principle
we've been thinking about so exactly. Paul's been talking
about his willingness to lose everything that once he would
have cherished he talks about his willingness to lose his reputation
his self-esteem his dignity and then in verse 10 he says this
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection
he's looking back to the account He's given of Christ's career
back in chapter 2. He's thinking about the power
that is now exercised by the risen Christ. The power to compel
every knee to bow. The power to make men confess
that he's Lord. Paul says, I want to be part
of that. I want Christ's power to be exercised through me. I
want to share Christ's resurrection victory. I want to share his
triumph. And then he says this, and I
want to share his sufferings. Becoming like him in his death. Paul says the only way I can
share in the power, the triumph of Christ is by sharing in the
suffering of Christ. Becoming like him in his death. Now that's the key phrase. Becoming
like him. It's a single word in the Greek.
And it's the same word that Paul used back in the passage we've
been looking at in chapter 2. You remember where it says he
took the form, he took the likeness of a slave Now Paul says, I want
to take a form, a likeness like his. I want to be a slave like
him. With all that means, the back-breaking
toil, the loneliness, the heartbreak, the public humiliation, the life
of sorrows, and I want to be made like him in his death. If being like Christ means that,
says Paul, then that's what I choose. Paul's looking at the cross.
When he talks about being made like Christ in his death, remember
the death he's talking about. Paul, in his mind's eye, can
see the cross. He's looking at the man on that
cross. He's looking at a battered wreck
of a man. A man who's covered in blood
and spittle. He's looking at a naked man.
He's looking at a penniless man. He's looking at a man who is
abandoned. Who's crying. Who's writhing
in pain. And Paul says, I want to be like
that man. He's my role model. I want to be like him in his
obedience. I want to be like him in his humility. I want to
live the way he lived. I want to die as he died. And in that way, says Paul, I
believe I shall share in his triumph. I believe I'll share
in his resurrection. Let me ask you again. What sort of picture do you have
in your mind of the sort of Christian you want to be? The sort of church
member you want to be? What's your mental picture of
a successful, happy Christian? Who do we model ourselves on?
Some famous evangelist? Dynamic, successful, praised
by everyone. Going from one place to another
and being clapped by Christians wherever he goes. Is that your
role model? Some great Bible teacher? International
reputation? We've only got one role model
here in this world. and he's a crucified criminal he's a man who's rejected and
who's laughed at and who's spat on Paul says I want to be like
Christ and I know what that means it means being a nobody it means
being a slave it means living a slave's life And it means dying
a slave's death. Is it worth it? Oh yes, says Paul. Verse 11. If by any means I may attain
to the resurrection from the dead. Oh yes, says Paul, I'm
happy to live like Christ. And if I'm called to, I'm happy
to die like Christ. Providing that one day I'm going
to be raised with Christ. Anything that brings me nearer
to that is worthwhile. Paul's looking forward to the
moment of his death. To depart and be with Christ is far better.
Beyond that he's looking forward eagerly to the moment of resurrection. The moment when Jesus Christ
returns again and raises his people from death forever. Paul's
going to see his Saviour face to face. And so are we. If we share Christ's life here,
we should share Christ's life there. And one moment with Christ
will make all the troubles and the struggles and the humiliations
of this world just seem... nothing. Nothing by comparison. His fellowship here with Christ,
sweet, Well, if fellowship here with my Lord can be so inexpressibly
sweet, what will it be when his face we see, when around the
white throne we meet? Thank you so much for listening.
Humiliation to Exaltation
Series CCFC 2012 Plenary
Studies in Philippians - part 4
| Sermon ID | 82212233322 |
| Duration | 1:11:40 |
| Date | |
| Category | Camp Meeting |
| Bible Text | Philippians 2:1-16 |
| Language | English |
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