Interest In Interests - Sermon On Philippians 2:4 Series

Introduction

“Hey look, here they come again. Wow. I’m surprised they came back after how they got treated last time. But … now it looks like there’s more of them … a lot more. And look down there. Oh man, there are hundreds of them. And this time they have swords! Oh boy. Quick, go run and tell Abigail.”

“Tell her what?”

“Tell her that for the past six months, every time we were out in the fields, the only reason none of the master’s sheep got stolen was because of David and his men. They were like a wall around us. There were a bunch of times when some gang would come through, and they would have cleaned us out, but David’s men stepped in. And when they were dumb enough to try to fight David’s men, they didn’t last five minutes. And besides that, they were just really kind to us. They were always helping us out, taking care of us, lending us a hand when we needed help – they have been so good to us. So then last week David sent a few of them to meet with our master. All they did was ask for a little food. We owe them a whole lot more than that. But Nabal was his typical, proud, arrogant self. He belittled them, insulted them, and sent them away empty-handed. Go on. Go run and tell Abigail. Maybe she’ll know what to do. And tell her it’s not just a dozen men - there’s like 400 of them, and they are armed.”

So Abigail gets the news and goes out to meet David, and this is what David told her: “May God deal with David, be it ever so severely, if by morning I leave alive one male of all who belong to him!" (1 Sam.25:22) He’s not going to just kill Nabal. He’s going to slaughter every servant, every hired hand, every son – every last male on that property. It’s going to be a bloodbath.

That is what pride and arrogance will do for you. When you feel the need to stand up for your rights and your dignity, when you find yourself thinking, “I’m not backing down in this argument – I’ve got my pride,” when you are tempted to stubbornly hold your ground in an argument just so the other person doesn’t have the satisfaction of winning – remember this. Pride never pays off.

Proverbs 15:25 The LORD tears down the proud man’s house

Proverbs 16:5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

The higher I lift myself up, the farther I put myself from God’s presence.

Psalm 138:6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.

When I reach out for God in a time of need, he will be nowhere to be found if I have clung to pride. And on that day when the storm hits and my life falls with a great crash because of my pride, God will not be there to help me. But on the other hand, God is near to the humble. Psalm 138:6 says he looks upon the lowly. Humility draws the gaze of Almighty God. Drawing His gaze means attracting His grace. The more you humble yourself, the more you attract grace from God.

James 4:6 That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

We have been studying verse by verse through the book of Philippians and we come this morning to verse 4 of chapter 2. In verse 1 he gave us the motivation, reminding us of his affection and tenderness towards us. In verse 2 he gave us the mandate - be unified in the church, like-minded, having the same love, one in spirit and purpose. And then the means in verse 3. The way to achieve that kind of unity is not to just have everyone sign the same doctrinal statement or statement of philosophy of ministry. The only way for us to become one in heart and soul is to have good attitudes towards each other, and that will only happen when we have humility. And so in verse 3 he calls us to humility.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Just look at the person sitting next to you or in front of you right now, and think, You are more significant than me. You matter more than me. You are more important than I am. That is the attitude God commands us to have. When we’re not having that attitude, we are sinning.

“Oh, here comes that guy. He’s really going to waste my time.”