Philippians 2:1-11
All right, if you’ll remain standing, we’ll read some scripture here. This is Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 through 11. Perhaps some familiar verses to you but let me read it for you.
Therefore, God exalted him, that’s Jesus, to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God the Father. Well, I’m looking at the clock on the back wall and it looks to me like I have an hour and 40 minutes to preach. So, we close at about 11 and it’s 9:21 or 22, so no we won’t do that.
We won’t go that long. But glad you’re here this morning on this sunny Sunday afternoon or morning, I guess it is. I’m missing that hour of sleep as well.
Hey, we’ve been looking at the book of Philippians. And so, I like to just kind of review and bring us up to speed and kind of set the context. And so, let’s do that this morning.
This is message number five, I think, on the book of Philippians. It’s called the Joy Epistle. And one of the reasons is because the word joy and rejoice is found 14 times in this short letter.
And it’s written from Rome. Paul’s under house arrest. He’s been on trial, and he requests a hearing with Caesar.
And so, Paul always wanted to go to Rome and preach the gospel. I’m not quite sure this is how he expected to get to Rome as a prisoner. Isn’t that the way God works sometimes in our lives? We have these expectations.
We think what’s going to happen. And oftentimes God has a different plan. But Paul did get to Rome and he’s a prisoner and he does get to preach the gospel.
And so not only does he preach the gospel and some of Caesar’s household comes to faith in Christ. Because if you get to the end of the book, Paul’s sending greetings to the church at Philippi. And he says, all those in Caesar’s household greet you.
And so, through Paul’s witness in prison, some of Caesar’s household came to know Christ as their savior. And Paul also, he was there for about two years under house arrest. He was able to have visitors come and go.
He also used his time wisely. He wrote four letters. We have them in our Bible.
They’re known as the prison epistles. Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, not Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and then Philemon. Those are the four prison epistles.
So, Philippians is basically a thank you note. The church at Philippi had taken an offering and sent a gift with a fellow by the name of Epaphroditus. He makes his way from Philippi to Rome, and he gives that gift to Paul.
And Paul the apostle is writing now a thank you letter that he wants to send back with Epaphroditus to thank the church for their giving. Philippians is also Paul’s most personal letter. He was the founding pastor of the church there.
It was Lydia who was the first European convert at a woman’s prayer meeting that came to faith in Christ in her household. It was the Philippian jailer that came to faith in Christ in his household. And Paul ministered these people, and he loved these people.
So, when he writes this letter, it’s a personal letter, and he says, I have you in my thoughts. Every time I remember you, I thank God for you. And then he said, I have you in my prayers.
Paul said, I’m praying for you. I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And then Paul says, I have you in my heart.
He loved these people. He says, it is right for me to feel this way. This is Philippians 1:7-8.
Since I have you in my heart, God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Jesus. So, Paul had a very close relationship with these believers in Philippi. Well, then we looked at verses 9-11.
Paul said, I’m praying for you. And verses 9-11 is one of the prayers that Paul prayed for the Philippian believers. He prayed for three things.
He says, I want your love to abound more and more. And we said, is Paul praying that their love for each other would abound, that their love for God would abound, that their love for unbelievers would abound? And I would say yes to all three because God wants us to increase in our love in all of those areas. Secondly, he prayed that their knowledge and depth of insight would increase.
And then he prayed for discernment. I want you to be able to discern and make wise choices so you can live your best life. And that takes spiritual discernment.
And as we study the prayers of the Bible, and especially the prayers of the Apostle Paul, and God convicted my heart, and we talked about having a balanced prayer life. Because I find most of my prayer life is kind of like an organ recital, and we need to pray for people who are sick. But Paul also prayed for what? Spiritual growth and people to come to faith in Christ and spiritual development.
Well, then we looked at verses 13 through, I believe it’s 26. And Paul, three things Paul wanted us to know. Three declarations that Paul makes to the Philippians.
And first of all, he said, I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the things that have happened to me have happened for the furtherance of the gospel. He’s saying, don’t feel sorry for me. I’m in prison, but God’s got a plan and a purpose, and the purpose is that he’s witnessing to the Roman guards.
And then he makes a second I know statement, and it has to do with Paul’s deliverance. Paul says, I know I’m going to be delivered. What did Paul mean by that? Paul’s saying, I don’t know if I’m going to live.
I don’t know if I’m going to die, but I know I’m going to be delivered. I’m either going to be delivered from prison, and I’ll continue to minister to God’s people, or if I die, I’m going to be delivered to heaven. And so, Paul makes this wonderful life purpose statement.
If you don’t have one, here’s a great one. That’s Philippians 1:21. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain.
He talks about heaven. And then Paul makes a third I know statement, and it’s found in verse 25, and it’s Paul’s dilemma. And so, Paul, as he writes this, he’s like, man, I kind of feel like I’m torn between the two.
I want to go to heaven, which is, he uses a triple superlative, which is far, far, far better than planet Earth. But I also feel this tug to be here. And maybe God still has some work for me to do, and it’s necessary for me to encourage the Philippian believers.
So, Paul’s third I know statement is, I know that I will remain. Paul felt this confidence that God still had a plan for him and to minister to people for years to come. And that’s what happened.
Paul was released from prison, and he continued to minister. Well, last Sunday, we looked at the last few verses of chapter one, how should we then live? And this charge from Paul to the Philippian churches, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel. And that’s a theme all through Paul’s writings.
He talks about the worthy walk. So, you call yourself a Christian, this is how you’re to live as a Christian. And please make that calling and that walk with God and walk with Jesus, make that look good to other people.
And so, we talked about what that looked like. And Paul continues with this theme. And that brings us to chapter two, Philippians chapter two, and titled this, How to Get Along with Others.
Although there’s lots of other areas, we could go in Philippians chapter two, verses one through 11. It’s a great passage about who Jesus is. But we’re going to talk about relationships today.
How to get along with others. And Paul’s writing to a church family. And as we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, he actually calls out two ladies toward the end of the book by the name of Euodia and Syntyche.
And he says, I plead with Euodia and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. I don’t know what was going on between the two ladies in the Philippian church, but they weren’t getting along. And so, Paul calls them out.
And so, Paul’s talking about relationships, how to get along with people. There’s a little poem that says, oh, to live in heaven above with those we love, that’ll be glory. But to live on earth below with those we know, well, that’s a little different story.
Sometimes we find that other people are difficult to get along with. Now, nobody’s secede here.
Let’s just make that statement right there. But sometimes there’s people in life that are challenging to get along with. And so, we’re going to look at some principles that Paul lays out here for our relationships.
But first of all, I want us to think about the fact of this whole matter of joy and what brought Paul joy. And it’s found in our text here. And it’s found in verse two where Paul says, Make my joy complete.
The apostle Paul found joy in the spiritual development of people
And Paul’s asking for these believers to live in such a way that would bring him joy. And so, here’s the premise or the principles that the apostle Paul found joy in the spiritual development or growth of people. That’s what brought Paul joy.
As he saw people that he ministered to, and as he saw them, what, growing in Christ and making spiritual progress. And so, Paul is saying, would you make my joy complete by growing in Christ and living a Christ-like life? And by the way, and it’s very clear in scripture for pastors and spiritual leaders. And Hebrews 13:17 talks about spiritual leaders having to give an account for God of their ministry and their people.
And the author of Hebrews is basically saying, pleading with people to live in such a way so that when the spiritual leader has to give an account for God, he’ll do it with joy. And I’m very cognizant of that fact that someday I’m going to have to stand before God and I’m going to have to give an account for my ministry. I want to do it with joy.
And so that’s what brought Paul joy. In fact, in 1st Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 19 and 20, Paul says, for what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you, Thessalonian believers? You indeed are our glory and joy. The apostle John writes in his third epistle, 3rd John, verse four, I have no greater joy than to know that my children walk in truth.
So, what brought Paul joy? It was people who are walking with Jesus. John says my greatest joy in life is to see my children walk in truth. I don’t know what brings you joy, but I hope that brings, that’s the target of your joy.
See your kids, your grandkids, those under your sphere of influence to live for Jesus. So where does Paul start here in Philippians chapter two? Well, he starts with attitude, because our actions flow out of our attitude. And perhaps you’ve heard this statement from Dr. Charles Swindoll.
It’s been around for a long time but let me read it. It speaks to attitude because our attitude is so key. Dr. Swindoll writes, the longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude to me is more important than facts. My past, education, money, circumstances, failures, successes, more important than what other people think or say or do is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. Attitude will make or break a company, a church, or a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will choose. We cannot change our past. We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I’m convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, 90% how I react to it.
And so, it is with you. We are in charge with our attitudes. So, Paul’s going to talk about our thinking and our attitude here in this passage and what mindset we need to have.
I. The commemorations
And so, let’s look at this outline here in Philippians chapter two. And we’re going to start with the commemorations. That means some reminders.
I had to go with a little different word here to fit our alliteration that starts with C. So, commemorations, Paul’s reminding the believers of something. He gives them four reminders. Let’s look at it beginning in verse one of Philippians chapter two.
By the way, if your translation says the word “if”, really the better translation is “since”. And in the construction of the Greek, Paul’s saying if, but really the meaning is since this is true. And so, the better rendering is the word since.
So, since you have any encouragement from being united in Christ. So, he’s reminding the believers that you’re in Christ. That should encourage us.
What encouragement should that bring? Well, we should be encouraged that being in Christ means your sins are forgiven. We’re going to remember that this morning as we close with the Lord’s table that he’s removed our sins as far as the east is from the west. He’s buried them in the depths of the sea.
The scriptures say he will remember them no more. It doesn’t mean that God forgets our sins. It means he won’t hold them against us.
And so, do you have any encouragement from being in Christ? Your sins are forgiven. You’re a child of God. You have access to God’s throne at any time.
You’re part of God’s family. There are so many blessings from being in Christ. So, he’s reminding them.
Do you have any encouragement from being in Christ? Do you have any encouragement from Christ’s love? Since there’s any, since there’s encouragement from his love. Dr. David Jeremiah in his book, God Loves You. He always has and he always will.
Reminds us about God’s love. It’s a universal need. Every human being born on the planet wants to be loved, wants to feel loved.
The greatest love there is, is God’s love. Dr. Jeremiah reminds us God’s love is uncaused. We love him because he first loved us.
God’s love is unending. God’s love is unlimited. God’s love is unchanging.
God’s love is unconditional. There’s nothing we can do to separate us from the love of God. In fact, the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 8 writes this great portion of scripture in Romans 8 beginning in verse 35.
He writes to the Roman believers, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? What can separate us from God’s love as believers? Paul writes, no, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And then he makes this great declaration. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, angels nor demons, the present, the future, any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus.
You’re a child of God. There’s nothing you can do that can separate you from God’s love. And so, Paul’s reminding them of the benefits of being in Christ.
And Paul’s reminding them of the encouragement that they have from God’s love. And then he reminds them of the indwelling Holy Spirit that lives within them. And he reminds them of God’s mercy and compassion.
II. The commands
And then he says, since you’ve experienced all this, since you have all this, I want you to make my joy complete. And so, then he tells us how to do that. And he gives us some commands, some do’s and some don’ts in the next couple verses and verses two through four.
There’s two negative commands and a couple of positive commands. Let’s look at the negative ones first. And here’s the first negative command.
He’s saying, don’t do this. And this is found in verse three. Do nothing out of selfish ambition.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition. When we’re born into this world, we are born fallen, sinful creatures, and we are born selfish. Just spend a little bit of time around some young toddlers.
You know, what’s the first words that a lot of kids learn after mommy and daddy? It’s like, mine, mine. I remember, this is a long, long time ago. We’re having a ladies Bible study here at church.
And we had childcare lined up and ladies showed up for the Bible study. And a childcare provider, something happened last minute and there was no one in the nursery. And I was here and I said, you know what? No, I’ll watch those kids for like, you know, the Bible study about an hour and a half.
And I’m down in the toddler room and there was like four toddlers. I’m just watching them. And even though there was like dozens and dozens of toys, they all wanted the same one.
And for an hour, it was like a power struggle the whole time and put it down and someone else went for it and they would run like, no, you’re not getting that. And it was just classic, you know, that’s just the way we’re born. And then what does Paul say? Don’t do anything out of selfishness.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition. And the sooner we learned, the sooner our kids and grandkids learned that it’s not about them. Life is not all about them.
The better off they’ll be. What does God want to do? He wants to move us from selfishness to a life of selflessness. It was Abraham Lincoln; the story is told.
He was walking down the walkway and he had two boys with him and they were all fussing at each other. And one of them was crying and somebody said to Abraham Lincoln, what’s the matter with your boys? He says, I have three walnuts, these two boys and they each want two of them. You know, so there you go, selfishness.
So, Paul says, don’t do anything out of selfish ambition. One negative example of that or an example of selfish ambition. And let’s just take a moment to go to Matthew chapter 20.
You remember this story perhaps in the gospels. Jesus is ministering, he’s got his 12 disciples and there’s a little bit of a power struggle going on. And a well-intended mother, Mrs. Zebedee comes up to Jesus with a request.
This is in Matthew chapter 20. Jesus, when you come into your kingdom, could my two boys, James and John, could one of them sit on the right hand and the other on the left hand and kind of be there in those power positions? Would that be okay, Jesus? When the other 10 disciples heard that request, they were furious, they were mad. Some commentators think they were mad because they wanted that position.
And so, Jesus tells Mrs. Zebedee, number one, you don’t really understand what you’re asking for, but then he uses it as a lesson to teach about humility and greatness. He says, whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first must be your slave, just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for many.
So don’t do anything out of selfishness, selfish ambition, me, me, me. And the second don’t is don’t do anything out of vain conceit. The word there really means pride, arrogance.
Isn’t it interesting that the middle letter in the word pride is the word I? Jesus’ harshest criticism was reserved for religious leaders who were proud. They were proud of their standing. They were proud of their positions.
And Jesus’ harshest criticism was for religious people of his day. What’s the warning of Scripture? Pride goes before fall. That’s in Proverbs 16:18.
We just studied the book of Daniel. Remember King Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel warned him and King Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the warnings of Daniel. And so let me just go to Daniel chapter four, verse 29 quickly, and here’s what happened.
So King Nebuchadnezzar, he’s on the roof of his palace in Babylon. He says, is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? In other words, King Nebuchadnezzar’s saying, look at me and what I have done. And it says, even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven.
This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar. Your royal authority has been taken away from you. And so, God judged him.
And God judged him harshly because of pride. I like sports, grew up in a family of all boys. But at one point in time, the most recognizable name on the planet of earth was Muhammad Ali from St. Joseph, Michigan, not far from here on the other side of the state. But what was Muhammad Ali? What was the statement he was known for? I am the greatest.
He proclaimed that over and over and over again. Muhammad Ali passed away a few years ago. We happen to get to know his caretaker in his final years.
He’s a good friend of our daughter-in-law. Name was James. James was the caretaker for Muhammad Ali in his closing years of his life.
And Parkinson’s ravished his body. If Muhammad Ali never came to know and bowed the knee to Jesus, he found out that he’s not the greatest. So, Paul says, don’t have selfish ambition.
Don’t do things out of arrogance and pride. But then he tells us some things that we need to do. Verse two, then make my joy complete by being like-minded.
Talking about unity, the same love, love of Jesus, being one in spirit and one mind. We talked about unity of position. We’re all part of the body of Christ.
We talk about unity of purpose. What’s our purpose? The gospel, to share the gospel. Why do we send $10,000 over to Southeast Asia? Because those kids need to feel loved and come to know Jesus.
And so be like-minded, have the same love, being one in spirit and one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, here it is, rather in humility.
There’s the key word here. We’re going to learn about humility. In humility, value others above yourselves.
Not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interest of others. Okay, so there’s a key in our relationship. Paul’s saying, don’t just care about yourself.
Don’t just live a life that’s all about me. You need to value and be concerned about others. Put others first.
I’ve not watched the movie, but I’ve heard this line from the movie, and it’s a movie, Beaches. And Bette Midler is having coffee or tea with one of her friends, and they’ve been talking for about a half hour, and Bette Midler, her character, has been talking the whole time, and she turns to her friend and says, well, enough about me. Tell me, what do you think of me? What do you think of me? You know.
No, put others first. Isaiah 66 verse 2. These are the ones I look on with favor. Those who are humble and contrite in spirit and those who tremble at my word.
Those who are humble. And what is humility? It’s putting the needs of others first. It’s serving others.
Humility is sometimes having to make an apology. And we all think what we think is right. Otherwise, we wouldn’t think it, right? We always think we’re right.
But I’ve discovered that we’re not always right. And I’m sometimes not right. I’ll date myself.
You know, when I was growing up, the show, I’m not, I don’t mean that, you know, I’m giving my age away, happy days and remember Fonzie, he couldn’t even, he tried to say I was, he couldn’t even say it.
I was wrong. And humility sometimes means going and making an apology. I got a letter probably about three months ago.
I think I shared this at one of our board meetings. It was from someone that was in a previous church and an incident that happened. It didn’t end up going well and there were some hurt feelings, some wrongs.
And this was 35 years ago. And I opened this letter. And first of all, it’s, in there’s a donation to the Gideon’s ministry of $100 in my name.
I thought, well, that was very generous of this person. I haven’t had any contact with them in years, decades. And then there was a little piece of paper in there.
I’ll read, I’ll read you some of it. Pastor Ron, I want to apologize for any pain and grief I have caused you and your family. And then he kind of goes into the specific thing.
I believe it was significant and difficult for you. Time has mellowed my perception of things, especially in the shortness of life. I cannot undo what was done.
I give it all to Christ who knows my nature, my weakness, and many more actions that have not been Christ-like. I make this gift on this card with the hope that God can use it to help others and find a better way. It’s not often you get an apology 35 years later.
That’s what he was doing. That’s humility. And that rarely, rarely happens, but it’s never too late to make those apologies.
III. The classic example
Well, now we’re going to look at the classic example of humility. And if we could all take a guess, this is like the answer that’s the answer for every question in Sunday School. The little kids think Jesus is the answer to every question.
And Jesus is the classic example here. And so, Paul writes to the Philippian believers, here it is, in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as who? Jesus Christ. I want you to think like Jesus, the attitude of Jesus.
And what was the attitude of Jesus? And this is so counter-culture to where we are as a country and a nation, where everyone wants to what? Demand their rights. What did Jesus do? Rather than demanding his rights, he relinquished them. He willingly gave them up.
And so, here’s this classic passage that we could spend several messages on, talking about who Jesus is, and that Jesus is God in the flesh. But here’s how Paul describes the humility of Jesus. There’s really seven steps downward, and this passage is known as the kenosis passage, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.
Rather, he made himself nothing. By taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by being obedient to death, even the death on the cross. The greatest example of humility is what Jesus did when he left the glories of heaven and willingly became what? A human being, 100% God, 100% human, yet without sin.
What did that mean? That being human meant experiencing all that we experience, pain, physical pain, emotional pain, rejection. He came into his own and his own believed not in him. The Jews rejected him.
His own family rejected him and ultimately led him to the most horrific death that we could conceive of. The Romans invented it, death by crucifixion. So, the greatest example of humility, the example of Jesus.
Perhaps the next greatest example of the humility of Jesus could be found in the Gospel of John. Just a few days before Jesus went to the cross, he’s in the upper room with his disciples. They’re there to observe the Passover.
Jesus puts a whole new meaning into the Passover, and we’re going to partake of the cup and the bread in a few minutes here. But what did Jesus do while the disciples were in that upper room? The common courtesy would be that there would be a slave there who, as the disciples came in, the slave would wash their feet, especially before a meal. If you’ve seen pictures of the Last Supper, you know that that table’s very low, and they kind of sit lounging, and so your feet are kind of close to another person.
So really important to wash the feet. There was nobody there to do that. What’s Jesus do? He gets up, takes off his outer garment, wraps a towel around his waist, and one by one washes the feet of the disciples.
Even Judas Iscariot, who he knew in a little bit was going to literally betray him and kind of knife him in the back. And the Apostle Peter, who in just a few hours was going to deny that he even knew Jesus. Jesus demonstrated what? The humility of a servant.
IV. The commendation
Well, that brings us to the close of the passage here, verses 9 through 11. It’s the commendation, the commendation, these great verses that we read. Therefore, God has exalted him to the highest place.
So, where’s Jesus now? When he ascended to heaven, he’s sitting at the right hand of God the Father, is where Jesus is. That’s the highest place. And gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, and heaven on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Wow, those are some powerful verses. Let me just take time to read what one commentator, Ray Pritchard, is his name says about these verses. It says, God has given Jesus the name above every name.
God has ordained that one day his Son will universally be recognized as the Lord of heaven and earth. When that day arrives, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. All creation will physically bow before the Son of God and acknowledge his Lordship.
Note how universal this will be. It will include all creatures in heaven and on earth and under the earth. That would include angels and saints in heaven, all those living on the earth, and the dead and the demons, and Satan himself under the earth.
No one will be left out. All will be included in the universal declaration that Jesus Christ is Lord. Bowing the knee means submission to him as Lord.
Confessing with the tongue means that there is no other Lord but Jesus. So, fix this thought clearly in your mind. Jesus will have the last word.
He will be vindicated before the entire universe, even his enemies will bow before him. In the end, no opposition will stand against him. Key point here, this is not universal salvation.
So, you can either do it now or you can do it later. And if you do it later, it’s too late after you’ve died. But it’s universal confession.
Not all will be saved, but all will confess that Jesus is Lord. Every knee will bow someday. Every tongue will confess he’s Lord.
Life lessons
So very quickly in just the last five, seven minutes here, three quick life lessons, and we’re going to zip through these and then get to the Lord’s table.
1. Always remember God hates pride
So, what are some reminders, some life lessons we can learn from this? Number one, always remember that God hates pride. That was the original sin of Lucifer, was pride.
Proverbs 6:16 through 19, seven things that God hates, number one on the list, God hates pride. And so, God wants us to embrace humility. Jesus talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount and talking about spiritual disciplines.
And he’s talking to his followers and the disciples about prayer, about giving, and about fasting. So, he says, when you pray, don’t do your righteous acts to be seen by men. Let me just read some of Matthew 6. Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So, when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues on the streets to be honored by others. So, when you do your giving, don’t do it in a way that you want everybody looking at you.
And just an illustration of this, some think that when Jesus says, when you give to the needy, don’t announce it with trumpets, he’s talking about maybe how some of the religious leaders gave their offerings. Does he mean a literal trumpet? Here’s a trumpet from back in that day. This would have been a trumpet.
It’s a ram’s horn. Is someone going to blow and get everybody’s attention? Now a rabbi so-and-so is going to give his offering. You want everybody to pay attention.
Some people think that when he says about do not announce it with trumpets, that it talks about in the temple and there were some metal receptacles where people would give their giving and announcing it with trumpets meant that you stopped and you kind of made a really loud clanging noise. Oh, they’re giving lots of money. Something like, I just brought this illustration in case anybody’s sleeping this morning, something like this, you know, come in, okay, I’m giving my offering today, (pours coins into a metal bowl).
Thank you. Don’t do that. What was he saying? Don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.
And he goes down through all those spiritual disciplines and he says, when you pray, don’t pray on the street corners. When you fast, don’t make your face look funny. And what’s wrong with you? Well, I’ve been fasting for the last few days.
2. Don’t forget the source of every blessing
No, God hates pride. Secondly, don’t forget to acknowledge the source of every blessing. So sometimes in life we forget to thank God, don’t we? And so, this is just an attitude and a mindset that we need to have.
1st Corinthians 4:7 asks a very interesting question. What do you have that you did not receive? The church I grew up in, my dad pastored in Cleveland, Ohio. Every Sunday we started out our service by singing the doxology, praise God from whom all blessings flow.
It’s a reminder that everything in life is a blessing from God. James 1:17, James writes about this in James 1:17, he says, every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights. God had to remind the Israelites about this before they go into the promised land.
They’ve been 400 years of Egyptian slavery, 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. Now you’re going to go into the promised land and you’re going to live in houses that you didn’t build and you’re going to enjoy all the wonderful benefits of the fruits of the land and you’ll be tempted to be proud. And don’t forget that it’s God who gives you the ability to get wealth. It’s God who’s given you the health and the intellect and the ability to earn a living. And so don’t forget to acknowledge God.
3. In God’s kingdom, the way up is down
And thirdly and lastly, last life lesson is this. In God’s kingdom, and there are a lot of paradoxes in the Bible, in God’s kingdom, the way up is down. And that’s true for the life of Jesus. He first chose to obey the father and humble himself and became human and became obedient even to death on the cross.
And then what happened? Then God exalted him, gave him that name that’s above every name. And so, in God’s kingdom, the way up is down. It’s the pathway of humility.
So, the apostle Peter writes to persecuted refugee believers, you who are younger, submit yourself to your elders. All of you clothe yourself with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud but shows grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under God’s mighty hand.
He may exalt you in due time. So, as we live a life of humility and service to others, guess what? Someday that’s going to be acknowledged, that’s going to be rewarded, and we’ll be exalted. God’s not going to forget any work you did in his name.
And that conversation in Matthew 25, he’s welcoming people into his kingdom and he’s basically saying, well, you did all these things for me. And the person says, well, when did I do those? Well, when you cared for the lowly, when you reached out to those that were hurting, and the poor, and ministering to people, it’s as if you did it to me. And so, the Bible talks a lot about rewards.
And so, in God’s kingdom, the way up is the way down. And so just in summary, how to get along with others, we could boil it down to this. Think like Jesus and act like Jesus.
And you’ll get along well with your fellow brothers and sisters. Now, with those that are outside the kingdom, you can think like Jesus and act like Jesus and you’ll be persecuted. But this is in the context of the body of Christ and the family of God.
And I just want to say, and I’ll just close with this, thinking about demonstrating humility and acts of service. And I see this every week in our church family. That’s something that we stand up and talk about.
But I see people visiting those that are sick, financially helping those that are in need. Someone this week taking a couple of meals to somebody in our community that are not even associated with our church, but they’re hurting. People who humbly, quietly serve.
People who these last six months have volunteered to make a meal for 60 people on a Wednesday night. Some folks that spent some time this week doing a humble task of helping just clean things up around here. Nobody asked them to do it.
They just wanted to contribute their time and their talents. And so, the way up is the way down and God will reward you for that.