The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E87 - More Important than You

Episode Date: September 21, 2020

Hey, church family. It is Devo time. If you got your Bible and you tuned in last week, you'll know that we're in the book of Philippians. This week we're going to try to cover Philippians chapter two coming out of saturated, the last day of saturated talking about hope. I did an overview of some of Paul's words to the church at Philippi. And I thought for a few, I don't know, it might take a month or I don't know how long it'll take. We're going to just dive into the book of Philippians. So Philippians chapter two, we're going to cover the first. 11 verses. Paul starts out this way, so, and one of the great ways to study the Bible is just to see what the conjunctions are putting together. Because he's, he's, the thoughts that he is going

to have after the words so are there because of the words before so. And before so, if you go back to chapter 1, verse 27, ultimately he says, only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come to see you or an absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit. He goes on to say, it has been granted to you for the sake of Christ that you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. So if what he's saying is, as a Christ follower, then you are going to be able to, as a gift, to partake in suffering. So, if there be any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the spirit, any affection and sympathy, in other words, because of what Christ has called you to do in walking out your salvation, by walking in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in, that's chapter one.

so if there be any encouragement in Christ basically what he's saying in chapter 2 verse 1 is if you're a Christian at all if the gospel means anything to you at all if you've experienced any blessing from God if you've had any participation in the spirit if you've had any affection towards the Lord at all then complete my joy by being of the same mind having the same love being in full accord and of one mind. Ultimately, here's what he says. Verse one, if the gospel has had any impact on you whatsoever, then make my joy complete by being united as one people under one Lord with one mind and one love. You see, a result of the gospel of Jesus Christ among his people is an inexplicable unity. And I'm telling you, I know we live in a

world right now that is fractured like, I mean, like I've never seen it in my lifetime. I'm 47 years old. I'm, you know, I'm sure some of you older saints have seen some times that are similar to this back in the 60s and 70s, things like that. And what's a shame is oftentimes churches are splintered and churches are fractured. And I don't just mean like a local church, but I mean the church universal. and one of the evidences for the reality of the gospel in the life of the believer is supposed to be unity. In fact, you know in John chapter 17, when Jesus prayed what is called the high priestly prayer, his longest recorded prayer in the scripture, one of the things that he prayed for, more than anything else, is the unity among believers.

That Jesus said that the way that they, outsiders, people that don't know Christ, the way that they would know that we are Christians is because of our unity, because of our love for one another. Can you just imagine for a second? And if you were, honestly, if you were as saturated, you saw a glimpse of this on Saturday night here at San Pablo. Can you imagine if every church, let's just say in Jacksonville, if every single church, regardless of ethnic makeup, regardless of political affiliations, regardless of denominations, what if every church in Jacksonville was, of the same mind, having the same love, and being in full accord and of one mind. What if the church in Jacksonville was completely unified? Can you imagine how loud the gospel would resound in our city

because of our unity in Jesus Christ? And so Paul says, all right, if you're a Christian at all, church at Philippa, then you really want to make my joy complete, then you be unified. And you say, well, Paul, listen, I don't know if you've been to our church in Philippi, like I don't know if you've been to 1122, but we've got a lot of different people

with a lot of different opinions. And any time you get sinful people rubbing up against each other, whether physically or metaphorically, there's friction there. So Paul, how in the world are we going to be unified like this when we have different opinions

and this person wants to sing these songs and this person wants to start this ministry? we've got all kind of different opinions. How in the world are we going to be one? Here's how. Verse three, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility, count others more significant than yourself. You see, the reason that unity results from the gospel

is because what the gospel teaches us is that Jesus, who was high and lifted up in glory, stepped out of glory and came on a rescue mission for you and I. And his glory is the most ultimate objective that he has. And yet, for the sake of his glory, what Jesus did is he humbled himself and he treated us as if our sin problem was a bigger deal than the fact that he was the son of God.

You get this? That he treated us as if we were a big deal. Now, again, he is the biggest deal. he is the ultimate, it is all about his glory, it's not about us, but he laid his life down in humility that we could have a relationship with him. And because of that, he says that we should do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, count others as more significant than yourselves. Now, others are not more significant than you, but we should treat them as if they are more important than us. Every single one of us have been here before. You ever been to a wedding?

don't you treat the bride like she's the most important person in the room? Now, the day before the wedding and the day after the wedding, she's just the same as all the rest of us, but you don't get offended at the wedding because everybody's toasting the bride and groom. You don't get offended at the wedding because everybody's not lining up to shake your hand. You don't get offended at the wedding

because nobody brought you a gift or sings you a song. No, no, no, no. You treat the bride and groom as if they are more significant than you are because at the wedding they are. Paul says, if you want to be unified, then this is how you should treat one another. And we know how to do this. We know how to do this.

Just for a second, I want you to think about the person, like, who comes to mind when I say to you, who's the most significant person that you have ever met, or who is the most significant person or valuable person that you would ever want to meet? So the first thing that comes to my mind is the time that I got to have dinner with Billy Graham.

So you know what? was not hard that night that I had dinner with Dr. Graham. It was not hard for me to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, count Billy Graham more significant than me. You know why? Because Billy Graham is more significant than me. Now, not like a salvific kind of way, but you understand what I'm saying. I had such respect and honor for him. And so it was easy for me to not be selfish. It's not like we were eating dinner and there was one piece of bread left. And I said, get out of here, Billy, that's mine. That's not what I did. I didn't sit at the head of the table and say, I have to sit up here because I pastor 1122 and you sit somewhere else. Ultimately,

what Paul is instructing us in here is this. If you are a believer and you, because of the gospel, are pursuing unity, then you should treat other people the way I would treat Billy Graham. Let me tell you very practically. I'm talking about the people that you live with, the people that share your last name, the people that you room with. You see, ultimately, what we often do with the people that are closest to us, the people that we work with, the people that get on our nerves. Often what we do is we are so accustomed to being with them. We treat them like nobodies,

and we do a whole lot of things out of selfish ambition or conceit. You know what I would never do to Billy Graham? If I was on a Zoom meeting and Billy Graham walked into my home office to ask me a question about his math homework, Do you know what I would never say to him? I would never, I would never say, can you just leave me alone for a minute? Never. I would say, hey guys, hold on one second.

I would put them on mute and I would look at Dr. Graham and I would say, how can I help? But when the little Martins that live in my house walk in my room, oftentimes is selfish ambition and vain conceit. You're getting in my way. You see, Paul says if the gospel has had any impact on you whatsoever, don't do that. and if and and if you want to be unified as a church, don't do that. Verse four, let each of you look not only at his own interest, but also the interest of others. And then you say, all right, Paul, how are we going to pull this off?

And he tells us how he's going to give us an example. And he's going to just go ahead and skip all the little examples. And he's going to take it to the ultimate example. He says, have this mind among yourself. The NIV says it this way. Your attitudes should should. be the same as that of Christ Jesus. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

Think about this, that we have the mind of Christ, at least we're supposed to, according to this, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself by 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 confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So he says, Paul says to the church of Philadelphia, You want to make me happy?

Well, let me ask you this. Do you have any blessing in your life from the gospel of Jesus Christ? And the answer is yes, then make my joy complete by being unified, same mind, same heart, being one. How do you do that?

Don't do anything out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. But in humility, when you're talking to your wife, pretend like you're talking to whoever you look up to the most in the planet. When you're talking to your employees, treat them as if they are more significant than you.

And when you say, how are the world am I going to do this? Here's how you're going to do it. That our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus because we have the very mind of Christ. And Jesus, who was in the very form of God, did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped. In other words, Jesus never pulled out his name badge and say, hey, check that out.

You see what that says? That says, son of God. So you do what I say. that's never how he acted. He never played the Jesus card. He never played the Son of God card in order to lift himself up. Like he never went to a restaurant and they were like, I'm sorry, we're full. And he's like, actually, I need a table for 13. You know who you're talking to? I'm Jesus. I'm the son of God. Let me go pick my own table. That's never what he did. But what he did is the Bible says that he emptied himself. We live in a culture where we are full of

ourselves. I mean, think about it. One of the biggest industries in America right now is our own platforms about ourselves. Our generation created a thing called the selfie. That's what we're into. We are into us. We are full of us. And the gospel says that Jesus emptied himself. How? Not only did he step out of heaven and put on flesh, not only did he step off of the throne where he was being worshipped in glory and made himself one of us, but he didn't come as a king, he didn't come as a dictator or a president. He came as a servant,

born in the likeness of man and being found in human form. He humbled himself, and he was obedient to his heavenly father, even to the point of death. And then what happened? He trusted the father that the father would exalt him. The father would raise him up, not only out of the grave,

but sit him at the Father's right hand. And when the time comes, every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus and Jesus alone is Lord. So how can we be humble? How can we be unified? We are unified and we are humble because of the person and work of Jesus Christ. So listen, Christian, if the gospel has had any impact on your life, I want you to start today with the people you live with, the people that share your last name, the people that share your address,

the people you work with, the people that know you best. And instead of you puffing yourself up and thinking that they are there to serve you, I dare you to treat those people today. Like as soon as you finish watching this divo, that you start treating those people today as if they are more important than you.

Why? Because that's how Jesus treated you and I at the first. cross. Let's pray. Dear Father in heaven, Lord, I know that you are ultimately about you, that you are ultimately about your glory, that Jesus died on the cross for his name's sake, that his name would be lifted up. And yet, God, somehow, in the way that you work, you know that you are most glorified in laying your life down to rescue lost people like me. And like every single one of of us who have come to faith in you. God, by the power of the Spirit, would you help us treat people in our lives the way you have treated us? And then we would know, God, if this is how we would treat

one another, not just in our local church, but if all of our churches treated one another this way, that we would be unified. We would have one mind, one love. There would only be one body. We prayed in Jesus' name. Amen.