[0:00] As we come to the first part in this chapter 2, in the letter to the Philippians, remember how we had said in the opening couple of days that we dealt with this, that Philippi was almost certainly Paul's favourite church.
[0:14] It is the one that loved him most, the one that supported him most faithfully, and the one in which, no doubt, he was easiest in their company. But it doesn't mean that there weren't potential dangers in Philippi.
[0:28] Now, one thing that we find repeatedly in the Word of God is that God does not waste a single word. He does not repeat something just vainly if it is unnecessary.
[0:40] I've mentioned in the past, if you look at Joshua chapter 1, for example, you see how many times Joshua is told, be strong and very courageous. You don't have to be told to be strong if you already are strong.
[0:55] But if you're feeling weak, you have to be told to be strong. You don't have to be told to have courage if you're already self-evidently brave. But if you're feeling a bit scared and as if you're not up to the task, then you have to be told to be strong and be very courageous.
[1:12] And if you have to keep on being told it three, four, five times in the same chapter, it means that you must be feeling very afraid and very inadequate. So God doesn't waste any of his words.
[1:26] Whatever he does, it is needful. Whatever he requires of us, it is because we must render it. Whatever he calls us to go through, it is because we must go through it.
[1:38] Nothing is for nothing with God. And therefore, these opening verses of Philippians chapter 2 would indicate that the apostle recognizes that there are potential cracks under the surface in Philippi.
[1:53] He can see where the little weeds might just be showing little green blades above the good earth and where they need to be nipped at, where they need to be weeded at.
[2:05] So he is warning them, not because they are at fault, but warning them rather of the potential dangers of the things to watch out for, the hazards along the way.
[2:18] It is as though somebody is sitting beside you as you're driving, perhaps not doing a driving test because then you're too nervous to think about anything else, but rather let's say they're schooling you or coaching you for the advanced driving test or something, and they're talking to you as you go, and they're guiding you about potential hazards.
[2:38] But if you see, for example, sheep going along the side of the road, then be aware that one of them could suddenly start walking out in front of you. If you're driving at night just north of the hardest border, you could have deer on the road, you could have all manner of dangers.
[2:52] It's not that you go tentatively, fearfully, expecting them any minute, but be alert to these dangers. Be aware that there are unpredictable hazards there.
[3:03] So likewise, what he's saying to the Philippians here is, be aware of the potential dangers. Of what? Of division. Of pride.
[3:14] Of being misled into thinking that because I'm serving the Lord, that whatever I do must be great, and everybody should look at me, and everybody should follow me. And the whole thrust of this first part of the chapter is, no, you've got to empty yourselves out.
[3:29] You've got to be humbled. You've got to love one another and look to make others better than yourself. Why? Because this is what Jesus did. And he knows the Philippians are good. He knows that they are one of the best, most spiritual churches that he has ever planted.
[3:45] And the Lord has really blessed them. But it's because of that, he wants to see the brass not just look good, but really shine, really gleam for the Lord.
[3:56] So burnish up what you do have. Now, if there be, therefore, any consolation or encouragement in Christ, if any comfort or strengthening of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, now, that's a kind of old-fashioned word.
[4:15] It really means the sort of seat of the emotions. When people would talk about, you know, the bowels of mercies, or the bowels of Christ, nowadays we would say the heart, the very center and soul.
[4:26] It was thought to be the seat of the emotions. And so, therefore, we're talking about the tender emotions here. Comfort of love, consolation in Christ, fellowship of the Spirit, if there be any of these things.
[4:40] Now, this is a rhetorical question. You're not saying, well, maybe there will be, maybe there won't be. You know, you know there is. So, if that is the case, rather, since that is the case, because that is the case, it's not a question, mark if.
[4:58] It's rather a rhetorical question. If this is the case, then, fulfilled ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love.
[5:10] In other words, it says, having the same love, it means, rather, both loving outwards, and being loved. So, there is the outflow, and the inflow. And this is by outflow, and inflow, so you've got the healthy circulation of the love, just like the blood circulates in the body.
[5:27] And remember, the church is the body of Christ. And the blood circulates, it pumps around the body. If blood sort of stays in one place and clots, then you've got problems.
[5:38] Likewise, if it's too thin, then you've got problems. A healthy blood supply is flowing around the body, being pumped around the body. There's an inflow and an outflow. And this is what it means by having the same love.
[5:51] Both being loved and loving. So, both inflow and outflow. Being of one accord, that means, literally, with united souls.
[6:04] Souls that are knit together of one mind, this unity. Be like-minded, of one mind. So, work on this unity. It is a great gift of God.
[6:15] You know, he's not having to lecture them and use sort of sarcasm and sharpness the way that perhaps he might have to with, say, the Corinthians or other churches here.
[6:27] But, he's just sort of encouraging them, like, you're good at this, work on it. You've done so well up to now, just keep polishing that prize. Keep on working on it.
[6:37] Don't let it slip. Don't fall away. Just keep on top of it. And it's, you know, if one is on top of a subject or a particular ability, then you don't have to do too much to keep it going.
[6:50] Let's, you know, let's say, if somebody walks in your house, let's say, it hasn't been lived in for a while and there's sort of dirt and the dust on the surface and cobwebs on the ceiling and you touch the carpet, boom, dust comes out of it.
[7:03] You pat a pillow and boom, clouds of dust come out of it and it's really a bit grubby because it hasn't had any attention for a while. Then if you're going to really clean up, then you're going to roll your sleeves up and get out of the rubber gloves and boil the water and get the detergent and start polishing and cleaning and take out the carpets and batter them and it could be hours or days of work before you get it spick and span again.
[7:26] But if you're already got gleaming, shining, clean, well-vacuumed, well-polished house, then, yeah, each day you might have to do a wee bit sort of thing and maybe a bit of oovering, but it won't take too much just to keep it up and keep it clean like that.
[7:41] And the heart or the church or the relationship with the Lord is the same. If it's regularly maintained, then it's less hard slog, less hard work.
[7:53] Keep it up, keep it going. And this is what he's saying to him, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, inflow and outflow, being a one accord of united souls, of one spirit.
[8:09] Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, you know, this empty desire to look better than somebody else. But in lowliness of mind, let each extreme other better than themselves.
[8:24] Well, sometimes that's not too difficult to do because we think, oh, so they've got gifts of that, they've got gifts of this, of me, I'm nothing. And there's a sense in which we can kind of delight in grinding ourselves down and say, oh, I've got no gifts, I've got nothing at all.
[8:40] When it isn't true, the Lord gives us each thing that we can do, things which if we will put at the disposal of his lordship and his kingdom, we will find we can do little bits here and there to build up his kingdom.
[8:56] We can help, we can be part of the body, we can make a contribution. Indeed, one of the reasons he gives us such gifts or abilities or means that we can contribute to the overall good and well-being of his kingdom, his church, his people, one of the reasons he's given these gifts is so that we can use them.
[9:18] The greatest and highest means that any ability or gift or drive that we may have that it can be put to is the service of the Lord.
[9:29] There's no higher cause in this world. Whatever gift, ability, strength, what have you that you've been given, there is nothing that you can do more great with it than apply it to help the Lord's cause, the Lord's kingdom, the Lord's work.
[9:45] You might think, oh well, there's nothing I can do. That's not true. That simply isn't true. We may look around and say, well, so and so, they can do this and they can do that. They've got so much more gifts than me.
[9:57] Okay, they've got different gifts. But there's some things that they'll be no use at at all but you can do. The Lord doesn't lump all the gifts in one place.
[10:08] Sometimes he gives five talents to somebody and we wish we had the five talents. And maybe he only gives us two or even one but he still expects us to use them and to do what we can with them.
[10:21] Remember what he said about the widow's might in the temple to me. That this woman had given more than all the rest of them that put in their abundance because she gave all that she had.
[10:34] She laid herself, as it were, on the altar of sacrifice to the Lord. And Jesus saw and he blessed, as it were, before the apostles said, this woman is given more than all the others.
[10:49] What he saw was a heart that devoutly loved the Lord and would shuffle back to its own little probably empty hovel where maybe she didn't have two sticks to rub together for a fire or didn't have a handful of meal to make a loaf of bread for a meal tomorrow that she had given all that she had to the Lord.
[11:09] And she probably went away happy. She certainly went away blessed and commended by the Lord. Let nothing be done then through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
[11:26] In other words, that we are free in God in relation to others because we know that our relationship to Christ is secure which if we are trusting in him then it is.
[11:39] Like we said this morning, our salvation if we are saved and we know our sins forgiven it's not anything that we have done it's not any good in our part it's because of how good Christ is.
[11:50] Now if Christ is perfect and if he has died to take away my sin if his blood has been shed on the cross for my sin then I'm clean I'm safe. There's nobody who can take that away from me.
[12:02] Nobody can pluck me out the father's hand they can't gouge the lines off the father's hand like we were saying this morning. So we're saved so we can afford to be free in Christ we can afford to relax a little and see the blessings that he's ready to bestow through others yes maybe through things I can do too but through others in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
[12:30] maybe they actually are better than us and maybe they're not but if they're just working away with their one talent and they're trying to do their best then we go soon he's not as good as me he's only got one talent there no no you praise them up you say what a great job you're doing with that with that thing you've got don't say with your one talent I've only got one he thinks he's got three you know you praise them up you encourage them you strengthen one another and so strength in the body look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others now this does not mean poke your nose into everybody else's business I'd rather be busy bodies but what it means is see the good not in ourselves but in others look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others admire and encourage what others may be doing that they may be strengthened see the good that they do see the blessing that they bring encourage strengthen look not just oh I can do this
[13:44] I can do that look at what others can do every man on the things of others see the good in one another now you see what this is this is doing here the focus is always away from the self it is always away from the inward looking and that's not just so that we don't think look at me how great I am because it's only a very superficial look at ourselves that will ever make us think yeah I'm really great the likelihood the human nature being what it is and the Lord knows this about human beings the longer we actually do look at ourselves the more discouraged we actually become and the deeper we gaze within our hearts the darker it actually begins to look so the more we look at ourselves the more downcast we become the more negative we become perhaps the more resentful we become and how little gifts we've been given and how useless we may be and how many times we sin and so on and how dark and negative we become the more we look at ourselves a superficial quick glance might make you think oh yeah
[15:01] I'm not doing you're bad compared to other people I'm reasonably good but then in the quiet honesty maybe of our own private life or our own room or our own closet we look at actually there's not really much there to be proud of there's nothing really it's what gets hidden from the world I mean you're outward packaging that looks okay but inside my goodness it's dark if anybody knew how dark it is everybody would know what a hypocrite I am oh I can't possibly be a rich I can't possibly be saved Jesus blood can't possibly have availed for me and the more we look to ourselves the less we look to Christ the Lord does not want us to be self-obsessed this is the first trick as it were the first failure in the garden when Eve and Adam are persuaded not to think of what does God say but rather to doubt what God says and to think what can I gain how can
[16:03] I myself be advanced and the more we look to self the devil now will tell us oh you deserve better than this you should be the one at the centre but the more we are the more we see how helpless how weak how inadequate how sinful we are you might think oh it's great to be at the top of the tree imagine everybody looking up to you imagine everybody thinking oh he's really powerful he's great she's wonderful but the trouble is once let's say you're at the very top of the tree that's where everybody else wants to be now you're the focus for everybody clambering up everybody trying to pull you down as they say even with politics it's one thing to get to the top it's another thing to stay there and nobody can stay there forever and if you do reach the supposed top there's only one way to go and that's downwards no we're not meant to be obsessed with ourselves that's the way to emptiness it's the way to hopelessness look not every man in his own things but every man also the things of others you don't have to be looking to the good others do look outwards look to them encourage them strengthen them never mind about self the Lord has promised he will care for us consider the bullies of the field that they grow and they pile not neither to be spoon and yet I say that Solomon in all his glory is not laid like one of these one sparrow does not fall to the ground without your father he cares for as Peter says no casting all your care upon him for he care for you let the Lord worry about looking after you you seek to encourage and strengthen others this is what
[17:42] Paul is writing to Philippi but it has been preserved down all the millennia that it might likewise be reiterated to us this is God's living word not just to Philippi but to Scotland to us in the 21st century and why let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal of God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross now there is so much in these verses they're classic verses in the New Testament and these few short words that the person and the perfection of Christ is just totally set forth in such simplicity why is Paul saying these things to the Philippians yes why should you empty yourself why should you focus on the good of others not just about yourself because this is what Jesus is like you're meant to be followers of
[18:50] Christ that's what a Christian is one who belongs to Christ therefore look to the example of Christ let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus you said come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am weak and lonely in heart and you shall find rest to your souls you see it is so much more restful to be the servant than it is to be constantly trying to be the master be the servant and you don't have to worry anymore you have that peace let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus now notice how Paul is putting the focus wholly on Christ there are times elsewhere when you might think well he's trying to sort of turn the focus on himself but only so that they can see a living example of a
[19:51] Christian look at chapter 3 verse 17 brethren be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example he doesn't mean look at me instead of Jesus what he means there is if you want to see how you can live this out look at what I do it's not complicated it's not difficult just look at what I do and do that that's how you follow Christ now you've got to be really confident your Christian witness an example to do that but as we said a couple of weeks ago we saw how Paul did empty himself for the Philippians he didn't use his Roman citizenship till afterwards he allowed himself to be scourged to be thrown in jail to be ill used to be called all manner of evil things and only the next day did he say well actually you know shouldn't have done these things because we're Roman citizens it would have been the easiest thing in the world to stop that happening to but he allowed it to happen so that it would put them in a stronger position but Christ Jesus let this mind be which is also
[20:56] Christ Jesus who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God not something to be grasped at something to be snatched at he didn't think it was something that he should go after in that sense now there's two two ways of understanding this both of which complement one another in the one sense he doesn't grab it for himself equality with the father he's quite happy to be humble as a servant he doesn't think oh I want that for myself in another sense he doesn't have to because he knows he already is God it's just oh I want to climb up here and say I want to be the minister and scabby I am I want to be the one who stands at me you'd be able to say well you already are what's the problem why are you making such a fuss about it I don't have to rant and rave and scream about this place where I ought to be stagging or these things I ought to be this is what I am like it or not this is what the Lord has called me to do I have to follow him and so we don't have to make a big fuss about something that is already the case
[22:02] Jesus doesn't need to grasp of this equality with God it is already his and he doesn't unseemly sort of say well I should be up there in glory he intus himself being in the form of God now there are two words in the original in the Greek for form one is the word morphe and the other is the word schema and they both appear further down this chapter but they mean different things although they're both translated in English as form the word morphe means what one is in one's permanent real identity as an example of that one commentator has taken the example of let's say a human being a man is a human being a man in his complete identity that's his morphe his substance as it were but the schema the more temporary thing that is something which may change the outward form may change for example he may be the same individual but at one stage he may be a baby an infant another stage he may be a toddler or a young child another stage he may be a youth or a teenager and then he might be a young man and then he might be middle aged and then he might be an old bent man with his thick who can barely walk and so on but he is still the same individual and he is still a man throughout to all intents and purposes he is the same individual he is the same human being but the outward expression of that man has changed various times throughout his life so likewise the morphine the form of God this is what
[23:45] Jesus is it's not just that he is shaped like God or packaged like God this is what he is in reality this is his identity the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God this is what he had likewise he was God but he made himself of no reputation in other words how that's in the original the sense of that no reputation is to empty himself out it is as though a container is poured out until there's nothing left shaking the last drops out of it he has nothing left of his power and you know God God filling of the heavens and the earth he is now reduced to the status of a human being albeit a divine human being but you know nothing compared to the power that he had made himself of no reputation emptied himself and took upon him the form same word morphe of a servant and was made in the likeness schema outward thing of men now we need to explain this too when he becomes a servant or slave which is the literal word he has become that absolutely complete he's not just seeming to be servant he's not just seeming outwardly temporarily as though this is what he was this is what he has become because if you compare with what he had what he has become is so much more abased and we think oh come on he could still he'll be sick he could walk on water he could turn the loaves and fishes enough to feed five thousand that's pretty powerful only by our comparison compared to what he was he filled the heavens and the earth he had such power as to speak the word and light came into being he had such power as to pronounce the word and he made the stars also however many billions and billions of stars are out there he names them every one he knows them individually he has designed the intricacy of the human eye the nervous system the veins and all the blood that flows around all the body that is perfectly balanced and designed for what it is intended for every detail of creation from the microscopic creatures that were only beginning to discover more about to the vastness of the planets all of this
[26:13] God has done he is greater than all of these things so when Jesus allows himself to be conceived in the womb of the virgin and to become this tiny little fetus in the womb and even as he grows into manhood and he is able to exercise some of the power of his Godhead it is if I can say this reverently without disrespect it is as nothing compared to the power that he had and has in his fingertips in glory to us it looks fantastic but compared to what he was when he filled the heavens and the earth he has become completely servile in that sense because the only reason he has emptied himself of the vastness of the universe and contracted it done into this human body where God and man are perfectly combined the only reason he has done this is to serve mankind to be the servant by which they can be saved that's the only reason he's done it you have to empty out some time ago the family and I of course as you'll know moved from the previous months we were in into rented accommodation before eventually coming to here into the mans we were in now and in the process of moving out we had to downsize all the books and stuff that accumulated over 18 years in the parish ministry or whatever a lot of new packages up in the boxes to get the storage and so on and when we moved into our rented accommodation we had to decide which furniture we're going to take which books we're going to take which items we're going to take and how much gets left in storage we have the downsides and somebody looking around the house you've got nice furniture here and your books and everything that's just right but it has nothing but it's only a fraction of what was there before and what has to be emptied out and reduced into the more confined space this is as nothing compared to the emptying out required of the power and strength of Jesus into the individual body that he inhabits it looks divinely powerful to us as it is but compared to what he was and has it's just nothing and again if I can say that reverently
[28:48] I don't mean disrespect to the Lord but just to emphasize how much he has given up in order the only reason he comes in the flesh is to serve to serve mankind to be the sacrifice they cannot be to provide what they cannot provide the form the reality of a servant the morphine the actual identity and personality of a servant it's not a pretense it's not just packaging it's what he is in reality and was made remember that in becoming a human being he was made Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law you might think oh wait a minute now if he's God he can't have been made because God is the one who makes he's not the one who is made so is he less than God somewhat well it's back to this old perfect balance that he is equal to the father as touching his
[29:58] Godhead less than the father as touching his manhood it is his manhood which is made not his divinity he's always God from all eternity but if he's going to be man that manhood has to be made it is made in the womb of a virgin it is the manhood which is made not the Godhead so that is the sense in which by this contracted humanity he is less yes than the father that fills the heavens and the earth but he is still God the second person of the trinity so this is the sense in which he's made in the likeness of men now this word likeness at verse 7 this is where the Greek word the schema the temporary phase comes in now we have to be careful with this because it's a temporary phase not in the sense that he isn't wholly human now which he is he has ascended into heaven the same body with which he rose from the dead and with that same body he is now seated at the right hand of the father which is a mention of previous occasions indicates that heaven is an actual physical place because there is a man there with a physical body the firstborn from the dead and that man is Jesus
[31:16] God the Son so because he has a physical body he is somewhere it's not just a sort of spiritual concept heaven though it's a real place where a real person is somewhere in a real physical location because he is now in the body but it's in the sense of the temporary nature of his manhood is the temporiness of his earthly ministry only you know three and a half years of earthly ministry it's reckoned to be thirty something years on this earth that's pretty temporary compared to the whole history of time compared to the vastness of eternity so that's a sense in which it's a temporary thing Jesus is limited in his earthly ministry for a temporary short time in the same way as a man Morphe in his reality form is temporarily a child temporarily an infant or a baby temporarily a schoolboy temporarily a teenager and then he becomes something else so that's the sense of what the likeness is temporary his likeness in this world is temporary now he's in glory and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself in other words he humbled himself still further and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross he subjected himself even further now some commentators have pointed out the ways in which
[32:46] Jesus became even more humbled in this world remember who he is and where he has come from we've already mentioned the fact that he was made of a woman Galatians 4 verse 4 made under the law that's the person he's subject to the law all that he went through you know all the circumcision and the Passover rites and the sacrifices and all the law that he observed and fulfilled perfectly to every last detail he was subject to the law even though as God you could say he was above the law but he's subject to the law he was subject to his parents remember how in Luke chapter 2 after he is found in the temple as a boy and then Mary says how could you do this to us didn't you realise we'd be wanted sick didn't you realise your father and I meaning Joseph have been looking for you three days how is it you saw me didn't you know I'd be about my father's presence and he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart
[33:55] Luke chapter 2 verse 51 he was subject to them even though he was God personified even though Joseph who wasn't even his real father but legally and to all intents and purposes he was and Mary was in all her saintliness a fallible human being he's got these two fallible human beings that he knows so much more than they do he is so much more powerful than they are but God's law is that as a minor he is to be subject to his parents and so he is subject to Mary and Joseph subject to his parents he humbles himself even more in order to fulfill what his father requires he is humbled even more in the sense that he is thought to be just the carpenter Mark chapter 6 and verse 3 is not this the carpenter the son of Mary the brother of James and Joseph of Judah and Simon and all his sisters here with us and they were offended at him likewise in
[34:56] Matthew 13 the same incident verse 55 it says is not this the carpenter's son now you could say in one sense it's bad enough they think this is just a carpenter he was a carpenter we're not denying that that was his physical job in Nazareth that to an extent is true but he's humbled in allowing people to just think this is just a carpenter and then worse still it says in Matthew the carpenter's son he's not Joseph's son although outwardly everyone would have thought that he was but to be thought to be a mere man the mere son of a carpenter they were offended that such an individual should have delusions of grandeur as they sought to think that he was the Messiah he wasn't the carpenter's son he allowed people to think likewise again he was humbled in the sense that when he was betrayed what was he betrayed for you know I've already mentioned in prayer Judas could have got 10,000 pieces of gold if he had wanted if the price was right the chief priest would have come up with anything that he wanted but he betrayed him for what for the price of a slave 30 pieces of silver
[36:11] Zechariah chapter 11 verse 12 said it I said unto them if you think good give me my price and if not forbear so they weighed for my price 30 pieces of silver this was the price of a slave if a slave a man's servant or maid's servant had been gored by an ox and died then the person who owned the ox had to pay the master of that slave 30 shekels of silver the price of a slave he is humbled you could say almost humiliated by the fact that he is betrayed to death for what pennies the price of a slave he is betrayed for he is humbled further in the kind of death the curse of death that he dies upon the cross this was a death so gruesome that it was reserved for slaves and criminals if you're a Roman citizen you didn't get crucified Paul would not be crucified under any circumstances he was a Roman citizen if he was to be executed he would get beheaded nice clean cut one stroke crucifixion took hours sometimes days it was so horrible it was reserved for criminals and slaves
[37:25] Jesus Jesus is humbled even further being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father two or three things in here first of all what Paul is writing to the Philippians is that God highly exalted him because he had been so humbled as low down as he had been made to go God lifted him up so high nobody was ever more humbled or humiliated than Jesus Christ from where he had come to where he descended and because nobody was ever more humbled than him nobody will ever be as highly exalted as him and the
[38:29] Lord has made this perfect balance this perfect justice and measure however far down he was said is how high up he was raised God highly exalted him and gave him a name which is above every name now the subtext to the Philippians is look the glory that Christ has laid up for us if you want that glory you want a piece of that action then this humbling that I'm talking about this serving of others this thinking of others better than yourself this is what you've got to do because Jesus did it and he was highly exalted if you want to be exalted you've got to be humble if you want to be given this glory you've got to give out the lower down you go and be humbled to serve others the higher you'll be raised up but you won't be raised up unless you're humbled here and this is the message he's giving out you don't really find him giving out that kind of coaching advice as it were to other churches but to the
[39:29] Philippians who were so far along the way so good in their relationship with Christ they could say this is what you've got to do if you're going to be exalted as Christ is you've got to be humbled as Christ was this is how you become like him and this is how you gain the rewards of glory now I think there is a certain a perfect balance a perfect justice and measure with God in the sense that well I always used to comfort myself in the past thinking you know oh if you're just a wee congregation and other people huge congregations and it always seems to grow and add and think well you know there's a sense in which to an extent they will already have some of their reward because if it's the gospel going out and if one is seeking to be faithful and if there's not much visible reward this side of eternity then it just means there's more to be given on the next side of eternity and if more is received here then there's less left to be given you know if you're a colleague and you work with somebody at a factory or warehouse or whatever and you like to go home early sit with your feet up by the fire and read your book or watch tv and they're slogging away in meantime you think well
[40:45] I put it so much better than them but when it comes to payday their wage packet is going to be so much greater than yours because of all the overtime they've put in it's not because they're better than you it's because they've had to put more in and so they're getting more out depending how much we are given here in this world if it's not very much it means there's more to be given in the next if we receive more of our blessings here there's less left to be given hereafter if we would be exalted we must first be humbled if the philippians would gain the glory they must bear the cross and that is the same message for us at the name of jesus every knee should bow now paul writes to the corinthians no man says jesus is lord but by the holy ghost some commentators like to think oh when it comes to glory when it comes to this final fulfillment all the demons in hell they'll all be loving christ and they'll all be saying jesus is lord and love will have overcome all these things and all the devils will be gathered out of hell they'll all be joyous in heaven because they'll all say jesus the lord because they can't do that except with love now that would be a nice thought personally i'm not convinced because i think the lord pronounces ever to be eternal that it is an everlasting separation between god and man it is for all eternity that the false prophet and the dragon and the devil and his angels are cast into everlasting fire so hell will not be a temporary place whether it is everlasting glory or everlasting punishment it is everlasting but even those who are defeated and at enmity with the lord will be compelled to say yep he is lord he is right we were wrong all these years and part of christ's glory will be that all his enemies will be compelled to acknowledge yes okay fair enough jesus is lord we lost he won every time we'll confess you know sometime when you're feeling down think of the fun of listening to richard dockins or others like that who've scorned the fact of christ and the glory of god saying well yes jesus is lord they don't accept they acknowledge that the tragedy will be if they're doing it from the depths of hell unless they convert and are saved before man but everyone those who have rejected christ in favour of false prophets and false gods those who have propagated a message of atheism and persecution they will all acknowledge every knee shall bow every tongue shall confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father there won't be any left anybody you can think of from all of history from all the world in every age every single town will be acknowledging that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father how is god glorified if it's god the son how is the father glorified well supposing your child was an athlete let's say they were a sprinter or whatever and they made the olympic team team gb and there they are off to the olympics and so on and everybody in the community knows that your little boy and your little girl is staying in the team and the event comes and everybody in the village are glued to their tv sex and there they are running the track competing against the brazilians and germans and africans and americans and russians and all these people and then just at the last they burst over the fresh light they get the gold and there's a union jack going up and they pray god save the queen and so on gold medal round their neck and you think oh great yeah the one from our village the one from our community yeah they won the gold and next time you pass everybody in the street or at the village or the post office and you'll say oh didn't your boy do well or didn't your daughter do we were so proud and you're just beaming and bursting with pride because they did it and they're glorified but hey you get glory and kudos you get your son your daughter won gold and god the father is glorified because his son did everything that was required of him he fulfilled every requirement he went down so low that he plumbed the depths of hell and he is now exalted so high that the father is glorified in the achievement of the son and he shares in that and rejoices in that wherefore my beloved as you have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence without your own salvation with fear tremble for it is
[45:46] God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure now there's quite a bit more to say on that but I realize our time is gone so let's just think in terms of God the father being glorified in the son to the glory of God the father Jesus Christ his lord if you would glorify the father glorify the son if you would show how you want to honour God the father honour God the son you cannot serve God without serving his son Jesus Christ these verses 12 and 30 we're looking at Lord willing on a subsequent occasion because there's a bit to say about that but we haven't really got the time now to but just remember if we would be exalted we must be humbled just as Jesus was don't be looking at ourselves that's the way to darkness and discouragement look on the good of others and above all be looking unto Christ burnish up that brass keep on top of that relationship glorify the son and you will glorify the father let us down will and wait people come to them down because the
[47:02] Christopher hum people look at