[MUSIC PLAYING]
God isn't really
something to worship.
He's just waiting to
destroy all of us.
I guess there's a God
out there somewhere.
I hope there is a God.
God isn't really
something to worship.
[INTERPOSING VOICES]
God is everywhere.
Good morning.
Would you turn in your
Bibles this morning
to the Book of Philippians,
the second chapter.
Philippians chapter 2.
So we have been granted by the
state government 40% capacity
as opposed to 25% capacity.
So we're happy for that.
We'll take what we can get.
And if you are
listening by radio,
or you're watching
online live, maybe it's
time for you to
come back to church.
I think you're going to be
safe the sky is not falling.
I think you're going
to be just fine.
So let's get into the word
this morning, shall we?
We're in Philippians chapter 2.
We're in a series called
2020, Seeing Truth Clearly.
And it's essentially a
series on biblical doctrine.
We've been looking at
God, His attributes.
We kind of slightly
pivot as we concentrate
on the Lord, Jesus Christ,
in Philippians chapter 2.
But would you join me
in a word of prayer?
Father, with joy
we come before you,
and we are thankful that
we are together again,
fulfilling what you
said in your word,
that we should not forsake
the assembling of ourselves
together, as is
the manner of some.
But to be able to stimulate each
other to love and good works.
Father, thank you
for the ability
to sing and to be transformed
by the worship and by the word.
So Lord, we pray that
you'd strengthen us.
Strengthen us in our faith.
Prepare us, Lord.
Prepare us today
in truth, by truth,
to be able to be effective in
the world in which we live.
I pray that we would be filled
with a sense of peace and joy
in the midst of a crazy time.
In Jesus' name we ask.
Amen.
The name Charles Templeton
is probably not a name
you're familiar with.
Most people aren't.
But many years ago, it was
said of Charles Templeton, who
was an evangelist at the time,
a preacher for an organization
called Youth for Christ.
They said of him he is the most
gifted and talented young man
in America for preaching.
Yet you probably
haven't heard of him.
But you have heard
of his associate
at the time, who also was
a young evangelist in Youth
for Christ, by the
name of Billy Graham.
Billy Graham went on to be the
world's most famous evangelist,
preaching the gospel to
more people in history
than any other
single human being.
Charles Templeton did not.
That's because five
years after they
made that announcement
concerning him,
he walked away from Christ.
He walked away from the faith.
He said he didn't
believe anymore.
50 years later, a man by
the name of Lee Strobel
decided to hunt him down,
find out where he lived,
because he was writing a book
called The Case for Faith.
He wanted to interview this man
who walked away from the faith.
So he met Charles
Templeton in his home.
He was in his 80s at the time.
His health was starting
to fail a little bit,
but he was very
cognizant, very with it.
And so Strobel
conducted an interview.
And in the interview,
one of the questions
he asked him is what do
you think of Christ now?
What do you think
of Jesus Christ.
Charles Templeton said,
concerning Christ,
He was the greatest human
being who ever lived.
Everything good I know,
everything decent I know,
everything pure I know, I
learned from Jesus Christ.
And then unexpectedly,
Templeton's voice
began to crack.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
And he uttered these
words, I miss him.
I miss him, concerning Jesus.
I miss him.
Now, here's a man who
50 years before said,
I want nothing to do with
him, 50 years later saying,
I miss him.
And by the way,
after he said that,
he covered his face with his
hands, and he wept like a baby.
Very obvious that Jesus Christ
had a significant impact even
still in the life of this man.
And that's because Jesus is the
most compelling and captivating
personality in all of
history, in all of history.
I want you to look at just a
sampling of some testimonials
of different famous
people through history
and what they said of Jesus.
First of all, Albert
Einstein said, "I am a Jew,
but I am enthralled
by the luminous figure
of the Nazarene."
Then there was
Napoleon Bonaparte,
who said, "I know
men, and I tell you
that Jesus Christ
is no mere man.
Between Him and every
other person in the world,
there is no possible
term of comparison."
The British author HG
Wells admitted this.
"I am an historian,
I am not a believer,
but I must confess
as an historian
that this penniless
preacher from Nazareth
is irrevocably the
very center of history.
Jesus Christ is easily
the most dominant figure
in all of history."
Another novelist from the 1800s,
in Russia, Theodore Dostoevsky,
said, "I believe there is
no one deeper, lovelier,
more sympathetic, and
more perfect than Jesus.
Not only is there no
one else like Him,
there never could
be anyone like Him."
My favorite quote of a
famous person about Jesus
is from Elvis Presley.
Look at what it says.
"No, honey, I'm not the King.
Christ is the King.
I'm just a singer!"
Right?
Elvis.
I've even often found that
those people who reject Christ
do so because they're rejecting
Christians more so than Christ.
Christ himself is still a
very captivating personality.
Well, this section
deals with Jesus Christ.
Philippians chapter
2, verses 5 through 11
is what we're going to look at.
It deals with, in a
nutshell, the life of Jesus.
It speaks principally of
the incarnation of Christ.
If you've never heard
the term incarnation,
it is not referring
to a flower, it
is referring to a miraculous
event of God becoming a man.
This section has been
called a Christological gem.
One author said it is the
greatest and most moving
passage that Paul ever
wrote about Christ.
Most scholars believe the
section we're about to read
was a hymn that was sung
by the early church.
That's why some of
your Bible versions
have it set out
in poetic fashion,
because it was something
that became a creed, that
became recited, and then it
became a hymn that was sung.
It is a section that shows how
God reached out to humanity.
Somebody once said, you can
tell the depth of the well
by how much rope is lowered.
This section is about
God lowering the rope,
showing the depth
of the hole of sin
and how God reached
down to save us.
One of my favorite
authors ever was a guy
by the name of Donald Grey
Barnhouse, who said, "Love
that reaches up is adoration.
Love that reaches
out is affection.
But love that stoops is grace."
In this section,
God is stooping.
It's all about how He does that.
So what I want to
do in this section
that we're about to read is
notice three mountain peaks
of the personality of Christ.
Very simply put, His humility,
His glory, and His mentality.
His humility, how He
humbled himself, His glory,
God the Father's response
to that, and then finally,
His mentality.
But what I'd like to do in
beginning is not read it
to you in the version
I'm teaching out of,
the New King James
version, I just
want the passage to wash
over you in a fresh way.
So I'm going to read it
to you from the New Living
Translation, which says this.
"Your attitude should be the
same that Christ Jesus had.
Though He was God, He did not
demand and cling to his rights
as God.
He made himself nothing.
He took the humble
position of a slave
and appeared in human form.
And in human form,
He obediently humbled
himself even further by dying
a criminal's death on a cross.
Because of this, God raised
him up to the heights of heaven
and gave him a name that
is above every name,
so that at the name of
Jesus, every knee will
bow in heaven and on
earth and under the earth,
and every tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of
God, the Father."
Incredible passage.
We're going to begin with
the humility of Christ.
In verse five, Paul writes-- now
I'm reading from the New King
James version--
"Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, did
not consider it robbery to be
equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation,
taking the form
of a bondservant,
and coming in the
likeness of men."
These verses take us
backwards into eternity past.
They describe Christ before
He came to the earth,
before He humbled himself.
And Paul says He humbled himself
in three ways, in His birth,
in His life, and in His death.
We begin with His birth.
You'll notice he says, who--
that's referring to Christ--
who, being in the form of God.
Now, allow me to give you
a quick little language
lesson here.
It's important to the text.
The word "form" that is used
in this translation, who
being in the form of God, is
the Greek word morphe, morphe.
We would spell it in
English, M-O-R-P-H-E.
You're familiar with the word.
It's right in the
middle of the word
metamorphosis or morphological.
We talk about people
morphing or things morphing.
We usually mean changing form.
But the word morphe,
for form, speaks
about the essential form
or nature of something
that doesn't change.
Did you get that?
The essential form or nature of
something that never changes.
There is another word in Greek
for form that is not used here.
It would be the
Greek word schema.
Schema refers to the outward
form that does change.
So here's an example.
Our essential form, our morphe,
is that we are human beings.
You are a human.
That never changes.
It never changes.
You are always human.
But you have a schema that
does change in outward form.
So the way you look
now, you didn't
look like that 10 years
ago, 20 years ago.
You won't look the
same in years to come.
You are changing,
your outward schema.
But the morphe, the essential
form, stays the same.
You began as a two-celled
entity called a zygote.
Maybe nobody ever called
you a zygote before.
But you were one.
And then you changed
your outward form again.
You became an embryo.
You kept changing.
You were a fetus.
You kept changing.
You were a newborn.
That's your schema.
You're still human.
That's your morphe.
But the outward
form is changing.
After a newborn,
you were a toddler.
After toddler, you
were a small child.
You then were a pre-teen.
And then you went to a teenager.
You became an adult,
then an ornery adult.
That's the stage I'm at now.
I'm an ornery adult.
So what Paul is saying by
using the word like that,
he's saying Jesus Christ
possessed, possesses,
the unchangeable,
essential nature of God.
And look at the word being.
Who being in the form of God.
That's present active.
It means He always has been and
continues presently to be God.
That's why Jesus could
say, if you have seen me,
you have seen the Father.
Understand that.
Jesus never became a God.
He was God before Bethlehem.
He was God pre-human.
That's His essential
morphe, His essential form.
But then, Paul says, who
being in the form of God, now
get this, did not consider it
robbery to be equal with God.
You might read that and go,
what on earth does that mean?
Didn't think it robbery
to be equal with God.
Well, the word robbery means to
grab or clutch, to hold on to.
To seize something.
If you ladies are walking
with your purse in a crowd,
and somebody comes
up to you and bumps
into you to grab, to seize,
to hold on to your purse,
you clutch it tighter.
You grab it tighter.
You might belt the guy
in the face for doing so.
But you grab a hold of it.
You don't release it.
So what Paul is saying
is here's Jesus.
His form, His morphe, His
essential, unchangeable nature,
is God.
But surrounded with all
the privileges of that,
He didn't think that holding
on to that was important.
He released that
to go on a mission.
Now, just keep that in mind.
I'll flush all that out
for you in just a moment.
It goes on to say,
in verse 7, He
made himself of no
reputation, taking
the form of a bond servant
coming in the likeness of men.
Now, that phrase, made
himself of no reputation,
literally means to empty.
To empty of content.
So if I had, for
instance, a pitcher
of water on the
platform, and I decided--
and I almost brought
one out, just to do it,
but I'd have to have a
basin to catch it in.
If I turned it over
and emptied it all out,
that's the idea of the word,
made himself of no reputation.
It's a Greek word, kenosis.
[NON-ENGLISH],, to empty
of content, to divest.
So Jesus, whose essential
nature was God and is God,
didn't think that
holding and clutching
onto all the privileges of
being God was important.
But He released.
He divested.
He emptied himself.
Now, the question
becomes of what.
What did He empty himself of.
Not deity.
Don't ever think for
a moment that Jesus
stopped being God when He came
to this earth to redeem us.
That's where the cults
want to take you.
And that's not
what He is saying.
When it says He emptied
himself, He divested himself,
He can't empty
himself of His nature.
That's who He is.
He is God.
Always was, always
is, always will be.
So what did He empty himself of?
Two things.
Privilege, or let's say the
prerogatives of His deity,
the prerogative of His deity.
For example, the
glory of heaven,
the anthems of the angels,
all the presence angels,
the Seraphim, the cherubim, who
gave constant praise and glory.
He gave that environment up.
That is seen in the prayer
of Jesus in John 17,
when Jesus prayed, glorify me
with the glory I had with you
before the world was.
Glorify me again.
I want it back.
He gave that up.
He gave up the
prerogatives of His deity.
Second thing He
emptied himself of
is independent authority,
independent authority.
In other words, while
He was on the earth,
He voluntarily
surrendered, submitted
to the will of only one,
that is the Father in heaven.
So He said in John 5, I
do not seek my own will,
but the will of the
Father who sent me.
Jesus said, I always do
those things that please Him.
In the Garden of Gethsemane,
He didn't want to suffer.
He didn't want to
go to the cross.
And He said, if there's any
way this cup can pass from me,
let it pass.
That's how He felt.
That's what He wanted.
But then He said, nevertheless,
not my will, but thine be done,
which is the exact opposite
of Satan's philosophy.
Satan said, not thy
will, but mine be done.
Satan was a creature who
wanted to be the creator.
Jesus was, in fact,
the Creator, who
surrender to being a creature.
That is love stooping.
That is humility.
I will leave heaven,
Father, surrender myself
to you for this plan,
for this purpose.
So that is the
humility of His birth.
He came in the likeness of man.
Look at verse 7.
He made himself of no
reputation, taking the--
what's the word?
Taking the form.
There's that word again, morphe.
Taking the form of a
bondservant, the nature,
the essential, unchangeable
nature of a bondservant,
and coming in the
likeness of men.
So now we understand this.
Jesus, who had the unchangeable
essential nature of God,
also took on, at a
point in time and space,
the essential,
unchanging nature of man.
So Jesus wasn't a good man.
Jesus was the one
and only God man.
He was what theologians
call theanthropos.
He was God, fully God, He was
man, fully man, in one person.
Had both natures,
divine and human.
So that when Jesus
was born in Bethlehem,
He entered into a physical
body, listen, permanently.
He entered into a
permanent physical body,
from which there was no escape.
So when Jesus died on the
cross, He died physically.
When Jesus rose from the
dead, it wasn't a phantom.
He rose physically, in
a glorified human body.
When He ascended into heaven,
He ascended there physically.
And today, Jesus is
at the right hand
of the throne of
God, physically.
Interesting to think,
today, right now,
there is a man in heaven,
at the right hand of God.
Jesus Christ.
And He will return to
Earth physically one day.
Both natures.
One author put it this way.
The tongue the called forth
the dead was a human one.
The hand that touched the leper
had dirt under its fingernails.
The feet upon which the woman
wept were calloused and dusty.
And His tears, oh,
don't miss the tears.
They came from a heart as broken
as yours or mine has ever been.
What this means is when
Jesus cut himself, He bled.
When He stumbled up
a stairway, He fell.
When He slept at night,
He probably snored.
You don't like to think
of Jesus that way, I know.
But that's humanity.
That's the limitations
of humanity.
Think of it this way.
What Jesus went through
in the incarnation
would be considered the ultimate
cross-cultural experience.
You have traveled to
third world countries.
You know what it's like to have
a cross-cultural experience.
You go to a place that is
103 degrees and 98% humidity,
and you live there for a few
weeks, and it can be brutal.
You go, man.
This is so different.
I miss air conditioning
really badly.
Or you think, I haven't had a
McDonald's hamburger for weeks.
This is-- how can I survive.
That's cross-cultural
experience.
Now think of leaving
heaven and coming
to the dust bowl of Bethlehem
and living in Nazareth
and marching up and down
Israel and Judah in Jerusalem.
It says that He took on
the form of a bondservant.
That is his very nature.
Jesus didn't act like a servant.
Jesus served people.
He served fishermen.
He served harlots.
He served sick people.
He served suffering people.
He said, the son of man
has not come to be served,
but to serve and give His
life a ransom for many.
In the upper room, He
even put on a towel,
like a servant would.
Bent down and washed the
dirty disciples' feet.
Peter's feet, Judas' feet.
Cleaned them like a slave would.
Form of a bondservant.
So that's the humility of
His birth and His life.
Paul keeps going in
verse 8, shows us
the humility of His death.
"And being found in
appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient
to the point of death, even
the death on the cross."
That's another way of saying,
and can you believe it?
Not just death,
but a certain kind
of death, a cross kind of death,
the worst known at the time.
This is the ultimate
act of service.
He willingly gave His own
life breath, His own blood,
for a mission.
Yes Jesus' birth was miraculous.
Yes, His life is extraordinary.
But His death, that
is the epicenter
of redemptive history.
And every time
you see a cross, I
hope you don't just
go, oh, a cross.
Nice piece of jewelry.
Must be a Christian.
Think of the cross as a
token of love and grace.
When you see the arms going
sideways on the cross,
think of God's love
reaching out to grab you.
When you see that vertical
stake coming down,
think that represents grace.
That's God stooping so
that he could love me.
Grace and love.
In short, God took on a body,
moved into the neighborhood.
Then He went to the cross.
The reason He left
heaven is we couldn't
be saved unless He did,
unless He worked His stoop.
And the perfect one took on
all of our junk and filth
and imperfection on
Himself, crucifixion.
It could be summed
up in one word.
Forgiveness, that's
why He did it.
Forgiveness.
Why such humility?
Forgiveness.
It's so that He could,
on the cross, say--
and I believe He
couldn't wait to say it--
Father, forgive them.
They don't know
what they're doing.
It's so that He could
grant us forgiveness.
That's humility.
I grew up not with a
lot of hymns in my life.
There were a couple
of hymns in church.
Never paid much attention to it.
I like rock and roll music.
But since I became a believer,
I've studied the hymns,
and it's hard to come
close to the kind of depth
that some of those
old hymns produce.
And one of my favorite is a song
written by Frederick Lehmen,
called "The Love of God."
Listen to how poetic he puts it.
Could we, with ink,
the oceans fill.
And were the skies
of parchment made,
where every stalk on earth a
quill, and every man a scribe
by trade, to write the love of
God would drain the oceans dry.
Nor could the scroll
contain the whole, though
stretched from sky to sky.
The love of God, how rich,
how pure, how measureless,
he writes.
That's humility.
That's love and
grace, the cross.
So first mountain peak in Paul's
little pericope about Jesus
is His humility.
Second, His glory.
Now, look at God, the Father's
response to that humility.
Verse 9.
Therefore God also highly
exalted Him and given Him
the name which is
above every name,
that at the name of
Jesus, every knee should
bow of those in heaven
and of those on Earth
and of those under the earth.
And that every
tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father."
First Paul talks
about the humility,
now he talks about the glory.
First he talks about what
Jesus voluntarily did.
Now he writes about what
God the Father voluntarily
did in response to what
Jesus voluntarily did.
He exalted Him.
So Paul says, Jesus
went down, down, down.
Birth, life, death.
God the Father took him
up, up, up, all the way up.
Name above every name.
Humiliation followed
by exaltation.
The lowering followed
by the lifting.
So it was in a few stages.
Number one, first
stage, Resurrection.
Jesus conquered death.
Three days after His death,
walked out of the tomb.
That's stage one.
Second stage, ascension.
Disciples were there
when it happened.
They saw him on
the Mount of Olives
go [WHISTLES] straight up.
Right?
Like a slow rapture,
just up into the heaven.
Third phase was dominion.
Resurrection,
ascension, dominion.
Seven times, the New
Testament tells us
Jesus, when He got
to heaven, sat down
at the right hand of
God, of God the Father.
That speaks of authority.
That speaks of power.
That's why when
John the Apostle,
in the Book of Revelation,
gets this vision of Jesus,
he sees Jesus very,
very differently than he
had seen him on this earth
in Galilee, in Jerusalem.
And John, in
Revelation, chapter 1,
John writes, His
face was as bright
as the sun in its brilliance.
In Revelation chapter 19, on
His head were many crowns,
and He bore a name, King
of Kings and Lord of Lords.
That's glory.
That's authority.
That's power.
So here's Jesus going
down, down, down.
Here's the Father saying, now
I'm going to bring you up,
up, up.
Please notice, it's
pretty obvious,
that God the Father's
estimation of Jesus Christ
is the polar opposite of this
world's estimation of Jesus
Christ.
When Jesus was on the earth,
people said He's crazy.
They despised Him.
They talked smack about Him.
When He raised
Lazarus from the dead,
they plotted to
put Him to death.
The world's reaction
to Jesus was
rejection and extermination.
Kill Him.
Get rid of Him.
God the Father's response
is glory and exaltation.
Vastly different.
And something.
Notice in verse 9, therefore,
God is also highly exalted.
It means to lift up.
He lifted Him up.
And given Him the name--
notice this.
Not a name.
Did you notice the
definite article?
God the Father gave
Jesus the name, the name,
which is above every name.
God gave Jesus some
superlative name.
What is the name
above every name?
You say Jesus, that's our gut
reaction, because again, it
says in verse 10 that
at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow, those
in heaven, those on earth.
And yes, that was the
name given at His birth,
the name of Jesus.
The angels said, you
will call His name Jesus,
because He will save His
people from their sins.
However, that was a
pretty common name.
A lot of people
had the name Jesus.
He was one of hundreds,
if not thousands of people
named Yeshua at the time.
But it was a pretty standard,
common, ordinary name
at the time.
It seems to me that
there's one name that
is mentioned here in the text
that is above every name.
That's the name Lord.
Verse 11, that
every tongue should
confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
Ah, now we understand God
the Father called Jesus Lord.
Does that surprise you?
Well, it shouldn't.
Because the greatest
texts in all
of the New Testament on the
glory and exaltation of Christ
found in Hebrews chapter 1.
I'll read to you just a
couple of verses from there.
Hebrews chapter 1, verse 6.
When He-- that is God the
Father-- when He presented
His honored son to
the world, God said,
let all the angels
of God worship Him.
That's God saying, here's Jesus.
I want all the angels
to worship him.
Same chapter, verse 8.
But to the Son, He says--
now, this is God the Father,
speaking to the Son--
look at what He says.
Your throne, O God,
endures forever and ever.
Your royal power is
expressed in righteousness.
So we have God
the Father calling
Jesus God and the Philippians
2 calling Jesus Lord.
So get the flow of the passage.
Jesus, in unchanging
nature, was God.
At some point and
time in space, took
on the unchanging nature of
physicality, of humanness,
became a man, God man.
Humbled himself in birth,
humbled himself in life,
humbled himself in death.
And so God, the Father,
lifted him up, up, up,
to the highest position ever.
All of that to make
a little point here.
If you ever wonder if your act
of self-sacrifice is worth it.
If you ever wonder
if you being humble
is worth it, if the pain of
all that humility is worth it,
please take note of Jesus,
because he would say, oh yeah,
it's worth it.
Because when I humbled myself,
my father raised Me up.
You say, well, of course.
You're Jesus.
But what about me?
Well, 1 Peter
Chapter 5, He says,
humble yourselves under
the mighty hand of God,
that He may exalt
you in due time.
He promises to do
the same for you.
Maybe not to that
degree, of course not.
But at the right time, when you
humble yourself and obey Him,
He will, in His own time, and
by His own means, exalt you.
Jesus put it this way.
Everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled.
Everyone who humbles
himself will be exalted.
You want that in a nutshell?
The way up is down.
The way down is up.
You keep pushing yourself
up, you're going down.
You humble yourself and go
down, He'll bring you up.
The way up is down,
the way down is up.
Now, this leads us to,
really, the central point
of Paul's entire passage.
And that is mentality,
the mentality of Christ.
He talked about His
humility and His glory,
but the main thrust is the
mind, the mentality of Christ.
Look at verse 5.
Let this mind be in you.
Some of your translations
say attitude.
Let this mind be in you which
was also in Christ Jesus.
Then he gives the example
of the humility and glory.
So the thrust of the
passage is he's saying,
I'm writing these words not
so much to distill for you
the incarnation as much as to
provide for you the motivation
for your humility.
In other words, he presents
the ultimate reason
we are to humble ourselves
and serve others.
Because Jesus did it.
And you know why Jesus did it?
It was in His mind first.
He thought it.
Did you ever see the
little bracelet, WWJD,
What Would Jesus Do.
You know, you really
can't answer that question
till you understand and answer
the question, what would Jesus
think.
Because Jesus did based
on what He thought.
And so He thought in his own
mind in heaven, it's worth it.
I'm going to do that.
And he did it.
But he first thought that.
Let this mind to be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus.
Now, go back a couple verses.
Let's take it at
the very beginning
of the chapter, verse 1.
Therefore, if there's any
consolation in Christ,
if any comfort of love, any
fellowship of the spirit,
if any affection and mercy
fulfill my joy by being
like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord,
of one mind--
there it is again--
let nothing be
done through selfish
ambition or conceit,
but in lowliness of what?
Mind.
Lowliness of mind.
That's another
phrase for humility.
Lowliness of mind.
Let each esteem others
better than himself.
Let each of you look out not
only for his own interests,
but also for the
interests of others.
Jesus was God, is God,
but was a servant.
He came and served.
We too should serve.
That's His mentality.
Some of you know
nothing of servanthood.
You and I were raised in
a narcissistic society.
It is all about
you all the time.
It's hard for you to get
out of the mold of that
and to look out
and serve others.
But I guarantee you,
if we as a church
just practice these
few verses, there
would be no other church
like us in this community.
If you did this
in your business,
there'd be no other business
in town like your business.
If you did this at home,
you would stand out
on the block as being
different from everybody else.
Just this.
This is Christ likeness
in a word, humility.
Humility.
Now, I found a lot of
us are weird when it
comes to the idea of humility.
A lot of us think
humility means putting
on a dopey smile or a
weird look on our face
and kind of hanging our head and
talking smack about ourselves.
And people give us a compliment,
no, I'm really not good.
It's all the Lord, it's not me.
And just that weirdness.
That is not humility.
That is false humility.
And whenever you exercise
self-deprecation like that,
oftentimes, it is done as
a mask to hide your pride.
You want people to
think you're humble.
It's why you do it.
That's really the
essence of pride.
You see, humility is not
thinking badly about yourself.
Humility is not thinking
of yourself at all.
Humility, you might say,
means the willingness
to give up my will for
another's good to accomplish
what is best.
Once again, it's the
willingness to give up
my will for another's good
to accomplish what is best.
Two times in the New Testament,
once in the Book of James,
once in the book of
1 Peter, both of them
say the same quotation, from the
Book of Proverbs, by the way.
They say this.
God resists the proud but
gives grace to the humble.
Did you hear that?
God resists the proud.
You know what that means?
It means the quickest
way to pick a fight
with God is to be proud.
When you swell up with pride,
you're choosing God off.
You are shaking
your fist at Him.
God resists the proud but
gives grace to the humble.
DL Moody used to say, be
humble, or you'll stumble.
I like that.
Be humble, or you'll stumble.
Humility is a tricky
thing, because it's
a virtue that once you think
you have it, you've lost it.
Oh, I'm so humble.
Not anymore.
[LAUGHS] That's out the window.
It's like the
preacher who said he
had a great sermon
on humility but was
waiting for a much bigger
crowd before preaching it.
Listen, the Titanic took
12,000 men two straight years
to build.
When it was completed, it was
the largest sailing vessel
ever in history up to that
point out on the seas.
The Titanic was
considered unsinkable.
In fact, the captain of
the Titanic went on record
as saying even God Himself
cannot sink this ship.
Famous last words.
April 14, 1912, the
unsinkable ship sank.
And as that went
down, people should
have thought of
Proverbs 16, "pride
goes before destruction, and a
haughty spirit before a fall."
Think of the damage
pride has done.
Pride got Satan kicked
out of heaven, Lucifer.
Pride got Adam and Eve
kicked out of the Garden.
Pride got Saul kicked
out of the kingdom.
Pride got Haman kicked
out of the Persian court.
Pride got Nebuchadnezzar kicked
out of the Babylonian court.
Pride ruins marriages,
families, businesses, churches.
Pride is a cancer of the soul.
Left undiagnosed and
untreated, it will destroy you.
The only antidote is humility.
To think like Jesus thought,
with that mentality,
followed by His humility,
leaving the glory
to God in His due time.
That's the only cure.
Here's my question, in closing.
If Jesus humbled
Himself to accept death,
can't you humble
yourself to accept life?
If He is willing to give
you a free gift of life
by you saying, I
admit, I need help.
I'm a sinner.
I receive Christ
and Christ alone.
If He's willing to
give that to you,
If He's willing to
accept His own death,
can't you humble yourself
and say, I accept His life.
I'm going to quit saying
it's all about me.
I'm a good person.
I'm going to work
my way to heaven.
I'm religious.
Stop.
Receive.
Take it.
It's a gift.
Say yes to Him.
Admit you have a
need and be cured.
Some of you have only admired
Christ up to this point.
That would be the word.
You admire Him.
You have seen Jesus help your
wife become a nicer wife.
You admire Jesus for that.
You like what He's done to
your husband or your children
or your parents.
But you yourself have
not received Him.
Some of you even miss
Him, like Templeton.
You miss Him.
You remember a level of intimacy
and closeness and clarity.
You walked away from
that, and you miss Him.
So miss Him no more.
Stop where you're at.
Turn around.
That's called repentance.
Turn around.
Say yes to Him.
Receive Him.
Make that choice.
Do it today.
Father, thank you
for the opportunity
to see in these few sentences
the clear personality of Jesus
in His humility, in His
nature as God, in His not
needing to hold on to all of
the pleasure and prerogatives
and privilege that
that afforded,
but to become a baby and
a man to live among us.
And thank you for that
sacrificial death that brought
us life, free, eternal life.
All it takes is receiving
Christ, believing in Him.
Turning from the past and
stopping and just saying,
come in, Lord.
Be my Savior.
I pray for those who
have never done that.
They've only looked from
afar and admired Jesus,
or they at one time walked
with you, and they miss that.
They miss Jesus.
I pray, Lord, that You
would just bring them back.
If either of those describe you.
If you've never given
your life to Christ,
if you've wandered
away from Him,
today you want forgiveness.
Today you are willing
to say yes to life.
Because that is the
cure that is needed.
The real pandemic
is not a virus.
The real pandemic is
a thing called sin.
That is a 100% kill rate.
It will kill everybody that
doesn't come to Christ.
It will send people
to hell forever.
That's what we ought
to be scared about.
The wonderful grace
of God stooping down
to offer free salvation is
offered to you right now.
If you want that, if you're
willing to come to Him
or come back to Him, if you
are willing to receive Christ
as your Savior, with our heads
bowed, with our eyes closed,
I want you to raise
your hand up in the air.
Just raise it up boldly.
Keep it up for a moment,
so I can acknowledge you.
Keep it up.
Just hold that hand up.
Raise it up.
This is your choice.
This is you before God.
God bless you, sir,
on my right-hand side.
Anybody else?
Raise it up.
In the back.
God bless you.
Receive Christ as your Savior.
Say yes to Him.
God bless you in the back.
Who else?
Raise that hand up.
If you're in the balcony,
raise your hand up.
Family room?
Yep.
I see a few hands over there.
God bless you guys.
If you're outside,
raise your hand
if there's a pastor out there
who will acknowledge you.
Yes ma'am, to my left.
Father, thank You for just
this place of honesty.
This has been so needed.
And thank You for these
who have responded.
I pray, Father, that you will
reveal deeply and personally
right now that this
is the right thing.
This is the right move.
This is the right choice.
Strengthen and fill with the
power of your Holy Spirit
to see life change and to
walk in obedience to You
from this day forward.
Fill them with a
joy they've never
had before, I pray
in Jesus' name, Amen.
Let's all stand.
We're going to
close with a song.
I saw hands go up
around the auditorium,
and it's been a while since
we've done this next stage,
but we're going to do it today.
If you raised your
hand, you can get--
I'm going to ask you to get
up from where you're standing.
If you're in the back,
find the nearest aisle.
Come and stand right
up here in the front.
You can distance
a few feet apart.
I'll get up here, just
in case that worries you.
I don't want to get too close.
But if you raise your hand and
prayed that prayer or did that,
I'm going to ask you now
to come forward, and stand
right up here.
I'm going to lead you in a
moment in a personal prayer
to receive Christ.
So if you've raised your hand.
If you're in the
family room, please,
come through those doors.
Come through those doors,
and come through the hallway,
and stand here.
I saw some on the side.
Please find an aisle
and stand here.
If you're in the
back, please do that.
It won't take long.
Allow us to cheer for you.
[CLAPS] Yes.
Yes.
You come.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Oh, Jesus Christ,
we'll come to the altar.
So good.
And the Father's
arms are open wide.
Forgiveness was born with the
precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Come on up.
Stand right here.
That's good.
A few feet apart.
You raise your hand.
You almost raise your hand.
Or if you just know, I need to
receive Christ now, you come.
You come and stand
right up here.
Come on.
Come on up.
Come on this.
God bless you.
Good.
Welcome.
Forgiveness was flowing.
The precious blood
of Jesus Christ.
Going to the altar
for Jesus Christ.
OK.
I'm going to leave you who
have come in a word of prayer.
I'm going to ask you to pray
this prayer out loud, after me.
You say these words from
your heart to your Lord.
Say this.
Say, Lord, I give you my life.
I know I'm a sinner.
Please forgive me.
I believe in Jesus.
I believe He died on a cross,
that He shed His blood for me.
That He rose again
from the dead.
I turn from my sin.
I turn to Jesus as my Savior.
I want to follow Him as my Lord.
Fill me with your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus' name, I pray.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
It's so good.
Welcome.
Welcome to God's family.
Now, don't leave.
We're going to be
responsible about this.
Pastor Antonio, he has
that mask on he's waving.
Would you follow him.
We're going to
take you to a room.
We'll be distanced.
We'll be careful.
But we want to share with you
next steps of following Christ.
Just right over this way.
We hope you enjoyed this special
service from Calvary Church.
We'd love to know how
this message impacted you.
Email us at
mystory@calvarynm.church.
And just a reminder, you can
support this ministry with
a financial gift at
calvarynn.church/give.
Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from Calvary
Church.
