The oldest Hymn part two- the way up is down. Phil 2:1-11 WBC 29.01.06pm
RECAP
Paul’s really concerned about Christian character, consistency and fruit
- He’s particularly concerned because he knows he might ’go to be with the Lord’… and there are factions in the church… and striving for prominence… and those who claim particular blessing and hence particular rights
And we learned this morning how he basically says
- if you’ve been blessed in any way. By being united with Jesus. By an experience of His love, or of His Holy Spirit… or anything that has touched your emotions. Good!
- … But then show it by the way you deal with each other
o be united. Loving. Of one mind. Not acting out of selfish ambition
o in stead- be looking to each other’s needs
That’s the real evidence that God has been at work among you
- and Jesus is the example to follow
Then he cites this fantastic old hymn-
- which it almost undeniably is.
o Uses words Paul doesn’t anywhere else
o Has rhythm and meter
- And is a window on what the church was singing pre-62AD, and their theology
o Eat your heart out Dan Browne! Their liturgy spoke of Jesus full divinity and humanity long before 325 AD (Nicea)
The hymn speaks of how Jesus (in very nature God) didn’t think about His rights, status or ’comfort’… as though He had to ’hold on’ to it
- but emptied himself (ekenosen). Of what? All the privileges He had- and became a servant. Human
So- how do you know if someone is specially blessed? By the way they live. By their thoughts of others. By them acting like Jesus
- who is the supreme example and incentive
So- what about you. What do you face that is a struggle? And how are you seeking to get what you think is yours by right?
- that promotion? Job. Status. Recognition. Fame. Lucky break.
- That freedom from being picked on? At work? School? Home?
- That ’favour’ among people that you are looking for
- Deliverance from that problem
That thing that you think ’should be mine!’
What is it, and how are you seeking to get it?
- just think about this for a moment
MAN’S WAY
Well- I want to tell you- the way up is down
Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But the opposite is there behind this passage-a s the context and antithesis of Jesus’ approach
- firstly, Satan, who (Is 14;14) wants to be like God
ISA 14:14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."
ISA 14:15 But you are brought down to the grave,
- to the depths of the pit.
o He tries to grasp at that which is not his. And gets cast down
- Secondly: Adam. "I want a bite of that apple and then we will be like God!"
o And he ’falls’…
o And each of us have been doing it like him, since
It’s built into the fabric of our fallen world. The bible describes it as the ’basic principles of this world’
- dog eat dog. Get your promotion. Step on their heads. Fight for your rights. "It’s mine, by right!"
that’s man’s way. And it works to some degree
- but I want to tell you- God won’t let it work for you if you are one of His children
o you’ll fight for self promotion and your rights
" but be miserable in the process
" lose your intimacy with Him
" probably end up knocked down
Your life can only work, function, if you function by the principles of the Kingdom
- and that is- "down means up"
- only as you humble yourself can God lift you up
- only as you submit to your circumstances can the Lord lift you out
- only as you take ’hands off’ can He get ’hands on’
o and bring glory to Himself
Jn 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
Listen to some passages from the scriptures
- Psalm 75:6 For promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. 7But God is the judge: he demotes one, and promotes another
F.B. Meyer said, "I used to think, that God’s gifts were on shelves - one above another, and the taller we grow, the easier we can reach them. Now I find that God’s gifts are on shelves - one beneath another and the lower we stoop, the more we get!"
- JAS 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
- 1 Pet 5:5 All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud
- but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Several years ago, a Greensboro, North Carolina, newspaper carried a story about a tractor-trailer rolling along on a side street in a southern city. The driver came to a low bridge and misjudged the height of his rig. When the truck came to a stop, it was wedged tightly between the bridge and the street. Wreckers were called to remove the truck, but with all of their skills and equipment they could not budge it. Among the bystanders was a young student. The lad walked over to the men and suggested that the tires on the truck be deflated. As the air screamed from the tires, the great truck began to settle slowly away from the bridge. A wrecker was chained to the truck, and it was gently pulled backward. When the truck was free of the bridge, the tires were reinflated and the trucker was again on his way.
SOURCE: Enest A. Fitzgerald. Keeping Pace: Inspirations In The Air. Greensboro: Pace Communications, Inc., 1988, p. 57
The way up is down
GOD’S WAY
Jesus submitted to God’s way… even death on a cross (the most awful subjugation and humiliation)
- and conquered the curse that was ours
- and was exalted to the highest place (resurrection, ascension, the seat at the Father’s right hand)
He was always in very nature God-and had the divine name
- but His Father GAVE Him the name that is above all names. Because He humbled Himself
Jesus has always been God. As such He had the right to judge the world
- but He earned the right because He became human.. and so has the right to judge us (as He’s been there)
He conquered God’s way… and let the father lift Him up, deliver Him, exalt Him, promote Him
And as a result every knee will bow before Jesus
- in the OT it’s God.
ISA 45:23 By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
ISA 45:24 They will say of me, `In the LORD alone
are righteousness and strength.’
But it’s clarified, now. It’s God the Son
all of creation will bow before Him:
- angels. ("heaven" v10). Cherubim, seraphim, archangels
- every human being ("things on earth")
o willingly "oh, Jesus my Lord"
o or in shame "Jesus- you ARE Lord"
every animal, tree and rock
REV 6:15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?"
- things under the earth
" death. Hades. Sheol. The realm of the dead
" Satan, his minions. Those chained in Tartarus (Jude 1:6, 2 pet 2;4)
Everything. He is absolute Lord of all.
And we’ve gotta learn to fight, win, be exalted His way
- Not in striving, but in humility and letting HIM do it
- Not by the ways of this world
The way up is down. That’s Jesus’ way.
Mt 23:11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
