Cornerstone Church August 30, 2015
“Joy: Don’t Leave Out the Most Essential Ingredient.”
Philippians 2:1-11
My wife Janet and I have the great joy of having five children. They have grown up to be incredible adults making a difference in the world through their vocations.
Our oldest twin daughters are now thirty-one years old and our youngest twenty-six years old.
This past year are family was blessed with the addition of two Grandchildren (a Grandson and Granddaughter).
Like your homes, there were days our house was filled with energy (especially at one point with five children under five years old). Children attract other children (their friends) and so our home was often filled with smells of something baking (hopefully chocolate chip cookies).
As my daughters got a little older they ventured into the world of baking! Their early experiments were attention-grabbing!
* On one occasion Aimee and Alison baked Molasses Cookies with extra virgin olive oil instead of regular oil. They were healthy but unique.
* On another attempt Aimee and Alison doubled a recipe but did not double the amount of butter used. Needless to say they were a little “dry!”
* Jennifer baked brownies with brown sugar instead of regular sugar. Today she has perfected brownies and lemon squares!
I discovered baking involves chemistry.
If you leave out an important ingredient it changes the outcome.
Example of baking muffins:
* Leave out the egg – they just look weird inside
* Leave out the butter – they are dry
* Leave out the baking powder – they just don’t rise!
Imagine Pumpkin pie without sugar or popcorn without salt or butter!
YOU GET THE IDEA!
LEAVING OUT AN ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.
This morning we are back in the Book of Philippians.
* Paul is writing the Church at Philippi from a Roman prison (guarded 24/7).
* While chains shackle Paul his heart is unshackled and filled with extraordinary joy!
How could Paul write such a powerful message about joy?
It is simple! He knew the LORD Jesus Christ as His Savior!
2 Cor. 5:17 NASB Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
WHEN WE ARE SAVED!
* Born Again (Born from Above)
* Become a follower (disciple) of Christ
LIFE IS DIFFERENT (WE ARE DIFFERENT)
* The Holy Spirit and the Word of God start removing all that is not like Christ (the old things pass away)!
* Christ transforms us into a vessel of honor (you are a new creation)!
IT IS NO LONGER BUSINESS AS USUAL!
PAUL KNEW THIS!
* He was a self-righteous Pharisee who was a persecutor of the church!
* His goal was to stop the early church from spreading even if it involved killing the Christians. Remember, he was there as they were stoning Stephen!
* The LORD Jesus Christ confronted him on the Road to Damascus on his way to arrest more Christians and revealed to Saul (now Paul) Who He really is!
Now in prison with a heart of overwhelming joy for His Savior Paul writes to the Saints at Philippi and us today to communicate what is the essential ingredient for keeping a joy filled life and heart and fellowship of believers healthy and a powerful testimony to the lost.
OUTLINE:
The Need for the Ingredient of Humility - Philippians 2:1-4
The Supreme Embodiment of Humility – Philippians 2:5-11
THE NEED FOR THE INGREDIENT OF HUMILITY
Philippians 2:1-4
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…”
Philippians 2:1 NASB
Phil. 2:1 Therefore…
Paul’s links back his discussion to Philippians 1:27-30
Phil. 1:27 NASB 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 that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
Reading between the lines Paul is trying to address divisions within the Body of Christ at Philippi that are beginning to drain energy from the church.
Phil. 4:2-3b NASB “I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony in the Lord. Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel…”
Have you noticed that all the New Testament Epistles address a variety of problems that develop within a church?
* Jesus is the One who is seeking to sanctify and cleanse His church (the Body of Christ) to present to Himself a radiant church without spot, blemish or wrinkle.
* I believe where it says we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” in Philippines 2:12-13 that Paul is not merely speaking about us on an individual level (our own sanctification).
* Paul is challenging believers within the fellowship to keep working out their disagreements (corporate sanctification) for the sake of the Gospel.
Paul, how are we going to keep striving together for the faith of the gospel?
* In our own strength we cannot!
* Empowered by the Holy Spirit we can!
After linking back to Philippians 1:27-30 Paul reminds the Philippians what took place when they came to know Christ as their Savior!
* Remember back to when they were transformed from the Kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God!
* Remember back to when they were set free from the sin that held them in bondage!
Paul uses a first-class conditional clause:
“If the condition is true, and it is then…”
John MacArthur Commentary on Philippians, pg. 103
It could be translated “because” or “since.”
Recall these bedrock truths:
if there is any encouragement in Christ,
There is amazing encouragement that comes from knowing Christ as your Savior!
* Knowing you are saved destined to live eternal with Him
* Knowing Him personally walking with Him daily through prayer and His Word!
* Knowing HE IS SOVERIGN – in absolute control of EVERYTHING!
* Knowing He will never leave you or forsake you!
if there is any consolation (comfort from) of love,
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
The saints’ and angels’ song.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
“The Love of God”
Frederick Martin Lehman
if there is any fellowship of the Spirit,
Paul uses the word koinonia (fellowship / partakers).
* Jesus said He would send the Holy Spirit (another comforter / helper) after He returned (ascended) to His Father.
o Lead us!
o Guide Us!
o Empower Us!
o Correct Us!
* Because we have fellowship with God because we have peace with God we also have fellowship with the Holy Spirit (God the Spirit) and with one another!
These same truths form a benediction from Paul at the end of 2 Corinthians:
2Cor. 13:14 NASB The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.
if any affection and compassion,
2Cor. 1:3 NASB Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort;
Col. 3:12 NASB And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
These truths build upon the strong bedrock foundation of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Building your life on anything else is like building on sand!
“…make my joy complete”
Philippians 2:2
This is an imperative! A command calling for action! DO THIS!
* Start living out these truths in your life day to day!
* Paul’s heart is already overflowing with joy from knowing Jesus!
* He is calling the Philippians to get rid of their petty nonessential disagreements and differences for the sake of the gospel which will in turn: “fill-up” / “make complete” his joy (the icing on the cake)!
HOW DO WE DO THIS (MAKE THIS A REALITY)?
…by being of the same mind,
* like-mindedness
* one-minded
…maintaining the same love,
Agape Love
“Love of will, not of preference or attraction. It is based on an intentional, conscious choice to seek the welfare of its object. It is because Agape (love) is based on the will that it can be commanded”
John MacArthur Commentary on Philippians, pg. 107
…united in spirit,
…intent on one purpose.
THIS MAKES SENSE DOESN’T IT?
It is Jesus’ Church! He established it for His purpose in the world!
Eph. 4:4-6 NASB There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
We are now going to learn about the importance of the most essential ingredient that we cannot leave out of our lives!
No I am not going to share Kentucky Fried Chicken’s secret spices or the top-secret ingredients of Coke! PEPSI’s formula is easy – water and lots of sugar!
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
Philippians 2:3
This is a negative command. Literally: “nothing from selfishness”
* “Do” is added in our translations. It is not in the Greek.
* Selfishness needs be eliminated completely from our heart. Why? Because what is in the heart becomes manifest (a reality).
SELFISHNESS (selfish ambition)
“What’s in it for me?”
Selfishness is a deadly destructive sin.
* It first destroys the person.
* As the person is destroyed they begin to destroy others through their selfishness.
Ambition = “to work for wages”
It was understood:
* I am working to help the team (my company)!
* I’m working to benefit my employer and provide for my family.
* I’m working by “giving an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay”
Ambition Today = “to work ONLY for wages”
I work only for the money “what’s in it for me!” Show me the Money!
EMPTY CONCEIT (vain glory, empty arrogance)
“Who notices me?”
We need to be delivered from “Selfies.”
Why are we impressed or care so much about by what the Kardashians are doing?
Seriously I wish their fifteen minutes of fame were up!
Empty Arrogance
When going through customs once Oscar Wilde was asked “Do you have anything to declare?” He replied, “Only my genius!”
“Conceit is the quicksand of success”
Arnold H. Glasow – sermoncenteral.com
“Conceit is the most incurable disease
that is known to the human soul”
Henry Ward Beecher – sermoncentral.com
If this is your focus or goal the Bible says this:
Matt. 6:2 NASB “When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
HERE IS THE ESSENTIAL INGREDIENT:
…but with humility of mind regard one another
as more important than yourselves;
Humility – that sounds simply enough!
* I’ll run over to the spiritual health food store and pick some up!
* Not so fast!
* The word used for “Humility” / “lowliness of mind” (tapeinophrosume) was first coined in the New Testament. It does not appear in extra biblical Greek literature until the Second Century.
The Romans and Greeks both looked on humility as a weakness! Before I or We point a finger at the Greeks we need to look at our own society.
ARE YOU BUCKLED UP?
We live in a culture driven by rights and the pursuit of happiness!
* I want to do my own thing!
* I want to be number one!
* I want to do whatever is right in my own eyes!
Our world is in a mess! Our society is fracturing and breaking apart!
* Babies are being murdered daily (58 Million since Row V Wade) because of rights!
* Millions are destroying their marriage through affairs because of rights!
* In the wake of marriages being destroyed families are being destroyed.
* Our Government (national / state and local) is being destroyed by self-interests
* Churches are being destroyed by consumerism / selfish motives (have it your way)
Self needs to be removed from the throne of our lives!
The meaning of Jesus’ second greatest commandment has been changed to fit our own definition or lifestyles.
“The second is like it, ‘You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself.’
Matt. 22:39 NASB
It has been turned around to say, “You must first love yourself before you can love your neighbors (or others).”
SAYS WHO?
* That is a lie from the world system!
* The spirit of the age (zeitgeist)!
* Psychobabble!
Jesus understood we already love ourselves (sometimes too much). Because we already know how to love ourselves He then wants us to go love others with that same devoted love we have for meeting our own needs.
Selfishness and Conceit are our default setting since the fall! These sins come straight into our hearts from Satan!
As Christians who have been born again the Holy Spirit is seeking to reset or calibrate our hearts to God’s original settings!
Joy = Jesus – Others – You!
You cannot spell joy: You – Others – Jesus That would be YOJ
“When Augustine was asked to list the central principles of the Christian life he replied: ‘First, Humility; Second, Humility; Third, Humility.’”
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself;
it is thinking of yourself less.”
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
“Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder that merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death.”
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis, pgs. 56-57
…do not merely look out for your own personal interests,
but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:4
THE SUPREME EMBODIMENT OF HUMILITY
Philippians 2:5-11
Paul links what he has been teaching to the greatest example and embodiment of humility the world and universe has ever known. Jesus!
Humility characterizes Jesus!
Matt. 11:29 NASB “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and You Shall Find Rest For Your Souls.
Zech. 9:9 NASB Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
This section in Philippians is a Christological Hymn. It is one of the most profound statements about the LORD Jesus Christ – God the SON. The God – Man (100% God / 100% Man).
PAUL WROTE THIS AS AN ILLUSTRATION ON HOW WE ARE TO LIVE!
Phil. 2:5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Phil. 2:6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
Phil. 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus (God in Human Flesh) who dwelt in the heavens! Creator of the Universe and all that has or will exist left it all to live like a slave in human flesh!
That should blow your mind! It is almost incomprehensible without His life as an illustration to us that we are to follow “In His Steps.”
Heb. 12:2 NASB fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Not long before the Last Supper (the Last Passover to be celebrated) the apostles were divided over who was the greatest. It may have started when the mother of James and John came to Jesus to talk about her son’s future position in the Kingdom. She asked if one could sit on His right hand and the other His left hand. This led to matters being overlooked (someone hired to wash their feet) and probably disagreements.
John 13:3-5 NASB Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God, and was going back to God, rose from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself about. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
John 13:12-14 NASB And so when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments, and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? “You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.
HOW DID GOD HONOR JESUS?
Phil. 2:9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
Phil. 2:10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Phil. 2:11 …and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Paul wanted the Philippians to live like Gospel People!
* He wanted them to live as people who were transformed by Jesus Christ.
* He knew more persecution and trials were coming! But he also knew that more lost people needed to be reached!
Paul knew God’s endgame wasn’t just rest for His people and a large banquet!
He understood that in the end the full acknowledgement by all that Jesus Christ is LORD to the glory of God the Father was the goal!
KEY INGREDIENTS TO NEVER LEAVE OUT:
The most important is to know Jesus as your LORD and Savior!
* Having your life and heart transformed by the Savior through the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word is the most important decision you will ever make!
* You are already an eternal being. You need to decide whether you want to stay on the broad road or turn and do a U-Turn turning to God by faith from sin!
The most essential ingredient after you know Christ as your Savior is making sure you do not leave out humility!
A life of humility empowered by the Holy Spirit will fill you with the greatest joy and happiness!
“I believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We must be emptied before we can be filled.”
Dwight L. Moody
Humility not only fills us with joy, it helps us to maintain true unity and oneness as God’s people which fuels our fellowship with intoxicating joy which makes us a powerful witness for Christ to the lost in our community, home, family and workplace!
Humility is the essential ingredient for God’s people!
