School starts this week and I’m sure there are a lot of happy parents and grandparents and sad students. When I was in school I only cared about two subjects, sports and Rachel. So it would come as no surprise that I was an average student at best. I start back to school at the end of this week for my second semester of college. It’s amazing how 16 years out in the real world can change your perspective. I actually sit in the front of class and go to the classes. The Lord has truly blessed me with the opportunity for a second chance with my education. I would have a lot of shocked teachers if they knew I turned out to be a preacher. God has a funny sense of humor and great patience. When I was in school I had seven class periods. My favorite class periods were lunch and anything involving sports. Tonight I am going to talk about making straight A’s in seven principles of church unity. In our text tonight we will learn how Christ set an example for us and that is in humility. It is the Japanese who have created the best swords in the world. To create these fine weapons, ancient Japanese sword makers had to create a sword that was hard enough to retain a sharp edge, but at the same time soft enough not to be brittle. Sword makers who made swords by making the steel hard found they could preserve a sharp edge. Such swords, however, were often so brittle that they would often break when they clashed in battle. Soft steel, however, was found to be not as brittle, but would easily dull and be unable to slice through armor. Japanese sword makers therefore had to forge a sword with steel hard enough to retain a sharp edge, but at the same time pliable enough not to break in battle. What Japanese sword makers learned to do was to create a sword made of hard and soft steel. Multiple sheets of hard and soft steel are heated, folded and pummeled together over and over again. Japanese swords go through a lengthy forging process until they have up to 33,000 paper-thin laminations of hard and soft metal. Each of these layers is one hundred thousandth of an inch thick. This is all done to a very precise recipe of temperature treatment. The end result is a finely crafted weapon with extreme pliability and a blade that will retain a finely honed edge. Just as Japanese sword makers repeatedly hammer together layers of metal to produce a sword that will be strong enough to withstand breaking, so God allows trials to hammer metal into the lives of His children. Just a sword made of hard metal will easily break in battle, so the believer filled with pride will also break in adversity. It is in the forging hand of God that humility and dependence on Him are developed into our lives to create character that will triumph in adversity. The hard steel in our lives is the word of God. The soft steel in our lives is humility and a dependence on God. These are forged together in our lives through fiery trials and prayer to produce vessels that will give Him glory. We need the hard steel confidence of what we believe together with the soft steel of humility. Turn with me in your Bibles to Philippians 2:1-11, that will be our passage tonight. I will be reading out of the New American Standard (NASB).
Philippians 2
1. 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.
2. make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4. do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6. who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
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.
9. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
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,
11. and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The first principle that we have here is Paul telling the advantages we have received from being a Christian. So the first A is:
1. Advantages of being a Christian:
1. 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.
Paul tells us in this verse, if you have had any encouragements as a Christian, any comfort from His love, any fellowship with the spirit and enjoyed affection and tenderness from Christ, then verse 2. Look at the five things that we should have as fellow Christians in this verse. Encouragement, Love, Fellowship with the Spirit, affection and tenderness. Paul knows that as a Christian we should be receiving these gifts he lists it almost as a given. So since you are receiving these advantages of being a Christian. You should:
2. Agree in accordance with God’s purpose:
2. make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
Paul says here since you’ve received these advantages of being a Christian you can truly be joyful by agreeing with one another, loving one another, work together in unity intent on one purpose, being Christ-Like. We all know as Christians it’s not about keeping Christ all to yourself. We are to spread His love and blessings to others. The bottom line for us as Christians is to live Christ like lives as Christians. How are we to always agree with each other, love each other and work together? We all know have tough that can be. We serve the same Christ but a lot of times we have different preferences. We might all like ice cream, but you might love chocolate and I might not like chocolate. I might like vanilla and you might not like vanilla. We both love ice cream; we just have different preferences of ice cream. We all love Christ we just might have different preferences when it comes to worship. But notice the key to this verse, intent on one purpose. We need to look at being Christ like as our main purpose. When we fix our eyes on Jesus purpose and not our own we will, agree with one another, love one another and work together in unity.
Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. As you see we have to be unified because, there is one Lord, One Faith, one baptism one God who is over all. We have to agree in accordance with God’s purpose.
3. Arrogance is the enemy of unity:
3. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Paul is saying don’t be selfish and don’t be prideful, be humble and consider others as more important than yourselves. When we have a purpose of being as Christ like as possible our main focus should be that of humility. But when we start putting our pride in front of others we stop seeing Christ and we start seeing ourselves. Pride is in my opinion the deadliest sin there is. Lucifer was at one time one of God’s greatest creations. Until he thought of himself more highly than God. One of satans number one tools against unity is pride. I don’t see how you can like chocolate ice cream it is so nasty. Vanilla ice cream is the only kind that is acceptable. You both love the same thing, ice cream. You just have different preferences. But pride begins to make you think your opinion is more important than anothers. Ok our goal is Christ likeness. Lets look at what Jesus says.
Matt 23:11-12 (NASB) But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
So Jesus expects humility out of us, not pride. Anytime our pride gets in the way of our service to God, that’s when we give satan control. Humility is what God requires for unity, pride will never be involved. If you ever think too highly of yourself just look at Isaiah 64:6. Our best works are filthy rags to the Lord. Our pride has no place in His kingdom and Pride is destructive. Prov 16:18 Pride goes before destruction,And a haughty spirit before stumbling. Arrogance is the enemy of unity.
4. Attention to others not just yourself:
4. do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
Notice what Paul says her in verse 4 don’t just look out for your interests but pay attention to others interests. That sounds a lot like verse 3 consider others more important than yourself. Whenever the Bible repeats something in a passage it is putting emphasis on what it is repeating. It’s saying one of the key points of this passage is putting others before yourself .(Mat 22:36-39 KJVR) Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Loving others Jesus said is the 2nd greatest commandment, WOW and we will see a couple of verses later that Jesus is the perfect example of loving others.So lets review: we have been blessed through our advantages of being a Christian. We know that we should agree in accordance with God’s purpose. Arrogance is the enemy of unity. Attention to others not just yourself. Sounds like a pretty tall order for us to fill. That’s where verse 5 comes in if there is still any confusion.
5. Attitude of Christ is the only way to attain unity.
5. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
Your attitude should be the same that Jesus had. What attitude exactly did Jesus have. Matt 11:29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. Jesus is telling us here to learn from Him humility. Matt 20:26-28 26"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Another example of Jesus humbling Himself to serve others.If we are ever going to be able to encourage one another and love one another and agree with one another and work together in unity we have to have the same attitude that Christ had, Christ like humility is the only way. we cannot do it on our own. We have to have the attitude of Christ. That simply put is humbly putting others before yourself. That is so hard in our culture today. Satan floods our society with you are all that really matters. Who cares what others think if it feels good and is right for you do it. We have to realize that this philosophy goes against everything the Bible teaches. Christ’s attitude was that he put others first. As we shall see in verse 6,7 and 8 more so than we could ever do. An Attitude of Christ is the only way to unity.
6. Absolute example:
6. who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
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.
When I start thinking about what to preach I always get a lot of topics that congregations need to hear. I say what does Harlan Park need to hear? I had preached a sermon on worship and one on Hezekiah and his example of Godly success. I thought these will be good sermons for you to hear. Then after praying for what God wants me to preach I think of these 3 verses. Christ’s ultimate example of Christ likeness. When I read the context of the passage 5 minutes later I went to bed. God blessed me with this text. These verses should humble anyone. Here we have Jesus part of the Godhead. He doesn’t argue with God the father and say I’m not going down there to redeem man. Do you think I really want to leave heaven for these sinful people. Remember I’m God too. No it says He emptied Himself of His rights as God and came as an example for us. He came as a bondservant. Let’s get to the root of that word He came as a slave for me and you. He came as a man. We never can give this thought enough meaning. God came as a man, not just a man but a slave. He humbled Himself and obediently paid for our sins. Not just anyway but by a way that left no doubt about how much He loved us. He was beaten, whipped and crucified for our sins. What an example. 1 Peter 2:24 24and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
He humbled Himself to serve us and to save us. That’s the God I want to worship. That is who I want to model. We have the absolute example. will we submit our pride to serve Him.
7. Adore and worship His majesty:
9. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
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,
11. and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This the result of Jesus humbly coming to earth to redeem us. He has a name greater than any other name. This name is so great that one day every knee will bow. A lot of times we look at this and think when we see Jesus every Knee will bow. This verse tells us that at the name of Jesus every Knee will bow. Just think we are walking around heaven and the very name of Jesus is mentioned and people bow. When we come together in unity and focus on Christ His will is down here on earth. Then He gets they glory. Adore and worship Him for His majesty. Heb 2:9 9But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. Because Jesus tasted death for all of us He is crowned with honor and glory. He deserves our praise and our servanthood. we owe our very lives to Him. Adore and worship His majesty.
So let’s review 1. Advantages of being a Christian (be thankful for all that we have as Christians.) 2. Agree in accordance with God’s purpose (we can always agree when we are Focused on God’s purpose in Christ likeness.) 3. Arrogance is the enemy of unity (pride and selfishness will never be in accord with unity.) 4. Attention to others not just yourself (look out for the interests of others not just yourself.) 5. Attitude of Christ is the only way to attain unity (Our attitudes have to be the same as Christ’s, total humility, if we are going to do the above list in unity.) 6. Absolute example (We have the ultimate example of service and humility.) 7. Adore and worship His majesty (when we do all these things with a humble Christ like attitude Jesus gets the glory that is due Him.)
In our world today the church needs to be an example of Christ’s love and we can never accomplish God’s purpose in our communities without unity in our church walls. We have to remember with all that satan tries to distract us with the real war we face is not against flesh and blood but with satan and his evil forces. We can never beat him alone but with Jesus on the throne satan will one day bow at the very name of Jesus. We face a defeated foe. Satan loses the battle, but we still have to bring souls to Jesus and away from satan and the way to do that is a unified church in Christ. When we are unified in Christ, satans strongholds will crumble and God’s people said “AMEN”
