It’s Musty

Philippians 2:1-11 NASB

(1)  Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, (2)  make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

(3)  Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; (4) do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

(5)  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, (6)  who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, (7)  but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

(8)  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

(9)  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, (10)  so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11)  and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Did you ever mock someone?  Maybe when you were younger you did it just to have fun.  We have all seen kids mock someone else.  Well, in this section of Philippians, Paul gives us a wonderful lesson about imitating Christ and I have to say it’s a little MUSTY.

We MUST show compassion and give encouragement.

In verses 1 and 2 we see that Christ has given us a common foundation to build upon.  We are to have the same mind.  This means we all need to make sure we are working for the same cause and that is to spread God’s Word.  We are to have the same spirit and maintain the same love.  How else will we be able to show one another compassion?  How else we will be able to encourage each other.

We MUST be humble and willing to serve others.

WOW!  Take a look at verses 3 & 4.  How many times have we seen others who are just looking out for themselves?  Wait a minute.  How many times have we caught ourselves just looking out for ole number one?  Paul tells us to regard others more important than ourselves.  This calls for us to have a mind of service.  When others are in need we are to serve them.  We cannot do this unless we first have that love in our hearts that changes us.

We MUST be willing to give up our status to serve others.

Let’s get one thing straight in verses 5-8.  This is not saying that we are to give up our jobs or sacrifice our careers to go off into the mission field. Have you ever seen someone who their job status is all they are?  They do not realize that their big titles and certificates do not impress everyone.  The only status that is of concern here is do you have the blood of Jesus Christ applied to your life.  We cannot humble ourselves to the point that we truly want to help others if we are stuck on who we are in this world.  Remember same mind, same spirit, and maintaining love.

We MUST trust our status to God.

Verse 9-11 Paul tells us that in that day every knee will bow and every tongue confess.  Those who have spent their entire lives rebelling against Christ and rejecting His call will bow and confess that He is Lord.

We are to imitate Christ and practice humility.  We are to serve others.  This is the example that Christ gave us.  Why is it so hard for us to do?  

We are not to serve others to get earthly rewards.  The rewards come from living a life trying to imitate Christ.

Yes it’s MUSTY

Think of one way you can serve someone this week.