All for Love's Sake

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.200 --> 00:00:04.919 The passage of scripture for the sermon this evening is in the Book of Philippians, 2 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:10.919 chapter two, verses one through a level. This is the word of 3 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:16.719 God. So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, 4 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:23.800 any participation in this spirit, any affliction, in any affection and sympathy, 5 00:00:24.039 --> 00:00:28.079 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, 6 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:32.520 being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from a selfish 7 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:38.479 ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. That 8 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.119 each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the 9 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:47.200 interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours. In 10 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:52.240 Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not 11 00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:57.600 count equality with God as a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by 12 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:00.920 taking the form of a servant. Being born in the likeness of men and 13 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:07.000 being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point 14 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:12.480 of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted 15 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:17.359 him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that 16 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:21.599 at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth 17 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:26.200 and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to 18 00:01:26.319 --> 00:01:30.239 the glory of gods of Father. The grass withers and the flower fades, 19 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:40.000 with the word of our Lord will stand forever. Please be steated. What's 20 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.439 the blessing to be with you here this evening? For many reasons, it's 21 00:01:44.439 --> 00:01:47.560 always a blessing to join together with brothers and sisters, not only in the 22 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:51.519 same denomination, but simply in Christ. It's a It's a blessing to be 23 00:01:51.560 --> 00:01:56.519 with you this time of year where there's there's much joy because of the advent, 24 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:00.280 because we dwell on the incarnation and all that means for us. So 25 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:01.879 I've mentioned this before, and I've been down here, but it's always a 26 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:06.359 blessing for my wife and I, who met in Tucson. So without your 27 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:09.639 fine city, my family would not exist. My eldest son who's now taken 28 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:14.240 care of our youngest son, it was born here. You're out to him 29 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:15.680 as he was driving um. So it's always a blessing to be down here 30 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:21.840 with you. And part of the blessing of this season is of course to 31 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.639 dwell on Jesus Christ. But that's also often a challenge for us, isn't 32 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:30.000 it. I would surely not be the first person to remark that the Christmas 33 00:02:30.039 --> 00:02:32.199 season, the advent season can can be a challenge. It can be a 34 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:36.319 challenge for a lot of reasons. For a lot of people, the loss 35 00:02:36.360 --> 00:02:39.759 of family members means it can be a season of sadness or loneliness. We 36 00:02:39.759 --> 00:02:45.520 we know, perhaps the biggest challenge for us as Christians is to say, 37 00:02:45.560 --> 00:02:52.199 stay centered on the joy of the Incarnation while we are steeped in the brine 38 00:02:53.080 --> 00:02:59.560 of American consumerism. Um, the Christmas season for most of America is the 39 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:06.039 season of Christmas stuff rather than the season of the Christmas Lord. And there's 40 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.520 lots of different ways you can measure this. The average American individual last year 41 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:14.479 spent three d dollars on Christmas gifts. I'm not saying Christmas gifts are wrong. 42 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:20.039 Uh. The average family spent a thousand dollars on Christmas gifts last year. 43 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:23.639 Uh, that's equivalent to one week's salary for the average family. Last 44 00:03:23.719 --> 00:03:29.960 year, Americans spent eight hundred and fifty nine billion dollars buying Christmas stuff. 45 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:36.280 And according to every statistic, it will almost definitely cross a trillion American dollars 46 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:40.800 this year on Christmas stuff. So, being that we are in this culture, 47 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:44.000 we're called to be in this world, we're called to seek the good 48 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:46.360 of the city in which God has placed us, how do we navigate right? 49 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:50.240 We we can't simply throw these things off. We don't want to completely 50 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:53.159 throw off the season or our families or the joy of giving gifts. But 51 00:03:53.360 --> 00:03:57.800 we also want to stay centered on Christ. And that idea of really being 52 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:03.120 centered on the incarnation is at the center of Paul's letter to the church in 53 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:08.520 Philippi, and so really lovingly it's it's also kind of a church to a 54 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:12.719 letter to every church during Christmas. If you're familiar with the Book of Philippians, 55 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:15.680 Paul is almost certainly in jail, He's almost certainly near the end of 56 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:18.079 his life. He is suffering. He's writing to a church that's had an 57 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:23.399 abundance of faith in Christ, but at church that also needs to stay centered 58 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:27.600 around the real truth of the Incarnation. They need to stay centered in that 59 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:30.439 during a time of controversy. There are people who are fighting against Paul, 60 00:04:30.480 --> 00:04:32.959 who are trying to put him to shame, to tear down his ministry, 61 00:04:33.920 --> 00:04:38.279 and so perhaps they're not dealing with our consumerism, but both of us are 62 00:04:38.279 --> 00:04:43.000 placed with this conflict between stayings centered on Christ in the demands of the world 63 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:47.079 around us. And right here at the center of this book is this famous 64 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:53.120 passage. It's often called the Canatic Hymn, this reflection on the incarnation, 65 00:04:54.279 --> 00:04:59.560 and what Paul says that the center of this is humility. So we only 66 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:03.240 have two points tonight. We're gonna look at the humble Him. You could 67 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:06.160 also say we're gonna look at the humble Christ. Of course that's the center, 68 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:10.079 and then after looking at the humble Christ, we're gonna look at the 69 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:14.160 humble Life. So we're gonna skip ahead in this passage, even though we're 70 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:17.759 doing the whole pericope. We're gonna go down to verse five and we say 71 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:23.040 it's Him. There's a lot of reasons why theologians commentators will point out to 72 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.199 him, and I tend to agree, and I won't go into all of 73 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.800 the reasons. But one of the more interesting facets is that there seems to 74 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:33.319 be three couplets inside this passage that have a lot of things in the Greek 75 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:39.639 that connects them. But more specifically, they have this poetic progress through each 76 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:43.720 couple. The first one is Versus five and six. Have this mind among 77 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.279 yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who this is usual where the 78 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:49.560 him starts. Though he was in the form of God, did not count 79 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:53.959 equality with the thing to be grasped. And here's the second one. He 80 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:57.480 emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, by being born in the 81 00:05:57.560 --> 00:06:00.639 likeness of men, and being found in human form. He humbled himself by 82 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:04.439 becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. And 83 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:09.639 then here's the third couple. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed upon 84 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:13.560 him the name there's above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, 85 00:06:13.680 --> 00:06:15.759 every knie should bow in heaven and on earth and under earth, and 86 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:20.319 every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 87 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:25.959 Now that this being a hymn, it is not to settle some kind 88 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:30.240 of theological debut about songs, or it's often even find itself at a center 89 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:34.680 of different controversies about Christ and his incarnation, and those are all important. 90 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:39.279 But for the form of a sermon, I think we ought to look at 91 00:06:39.319 --> 00:06:44.240 the scriptures, and say is what does Jesus want me to know from this 92 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:47.360 text? And I say that with confidence because I learned that from Pastor Chris 93 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:53.199 Shelkin. If he's wrong, then we're wrong together. So what does Jesus 94 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:57.399 want us to hear? And although this this passage is amazing christological implications, 95 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:00.439 it should be the center of any seminary class on Christology. And although it 96 00:07:00.480 --> 00:07:04.199 has absolute implications for life in the church, when Paul is writing this to 97 00:07:04.279 --> 00:07:11.680 the Philippians, his overriding concern is clearly that they would understand the humility of 98 00:07:11.800 --> 00:07:17.600 Christ in the incarnation. And so, first we see that humility is the 99 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:24.519 cause of the incarnation. Why did God become incarnate? Why did the sun 100 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:28.160 take on flesh, it says in verse six, because he did not count 101 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:32.040 equality with things with God a thing to be grasped. So we can rightly 102 00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:38.279 say that humility, which is to say, humble love, was the cause 103 00:07:38.360 --> 00:07:42.800 of the incarnation. We know that God desired to make a people for himself. 104 00:07:42.839 --> 00:07:45.720 That's been the plan since the very beginning, when he put us in 105 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.079 the garden, to have a people for himself, a kingdom of priests unto 106 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:54.319 God. But now having fallen away from us. If God desires to have 107 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:58.319 that people, he must win them back to himself, and he must do 108 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:03.639 it through humility. Humil it is the cause he did not count equality with 109 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:07.959 God a thing to be grasped. And the force of that word is clearly 110 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:15.360 something to grasp onto, something to hold onto, And really Paul is setting 111 00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:20.000 up I believe we call it economy a choice, not that God was divided 112 00:08:20.000 --> 00:08:24.800 against himself, but a choice that the Trinity made in themselves. Would the 113 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:33.000 son of God choose to take on this humble form and all of the suffering 114 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:37.120 and misery and difficult that comes with it, or would he choose to grasp 115 00:08:37.200 --> 00:08:41.799 onto to stay with and only with the Godhead. That's awful helpful when we 116 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:45.240 talk about the incarnation, that we understand that God doesn't change. We know 117 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:48.559 that can be tricky theological purpose, but humility and understand the cause of humility 118 00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:54.440 helps us understand that in humility, God is bringing something to himself, not 119 00:08:54.679 --> 00:09:01.679 changing who he fundamentally was. Because and this is my mind blowing, God 120 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:05.000 has always been humble, and we might think that sounds odd. He's the 121 00:09:05.000 --> 00:09:07.399 great God of the university, desires, old glory and praise. Of course 122 00:09:07.440 --> 00:09:11.159 he does. It's right to give things the Lord, it's right to praise 123 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:13.840 his name. Every call to worship we read tends to start that way. 124 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:22.039 But humility, humility Paul describes here in this passage is what look not only 125 00:09:22.039 --> 00:09:26.080 to your interests, but look at someone else's above you. And this is 126 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:31.080 where the doctrine of the trinity is necessary to understand God's humble love and his 127 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:37.279 incarnation, because we confess a God that is three persons, and so sink. 128 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:39.840 Claire Ferguson, in his excellent book Devoted to God, says we needed 129 00:09:39.879 --> 00:09:43.639 to find the love and holiness of God in a way that doesn't just relate 130 00:09:43.639 --> 00:09:48.279 to us as humans. Christmas is the season where we think about God in 131 00:09:48.320 --> 00:09:50.120 relation to us. But if we're gonna say that God is loving, if 132 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:56.080 he's holy, how can we say that before the foundation of the world and 133 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.639 Sinclaire Ferguson says, the way we define his holiness before there's anything for him 134 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:05.039 to be said effort from, is that it's his love. The perfect outward 135 00:10:05.159 --> 00:10:13.240 facing love that each person in the Trinity has for each other is the picture 136 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:22.440 of precreation holiness, and therefore humility, because before the foundation of the world, 137 00:10:22.559 --> 00:10:26.279 before creation, before incarnation, the Father loved the son, The Father 138 00:10:26.399 --> 00:10:28.840 loved the Spirit. The son loved the Father and the Spirit, and the 139 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:35.679 Spirit loved the Father and the Son, and that love was glorious. It 140 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:39.799 was devoted to each other completely and fully. So we can say, yes, 141 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:41.720 God is humble, and that humility is the cause that humble love. 142 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:45.279 But then he goes on to say, in the next couplet, he emptied 143 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:48.279 himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of 144 00:10:48.360 --> 00:10:52.320 men, and being found in human, humbled human form. I could say, 145 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:56.399 being found in humbled form, he humaned himself. That wouldn't be quite 146 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:00.639 correct. But the point of being a human is to us assume a level 147 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:05.559 of humility. This is what theologians will call the creator creation distinction. The 148 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:15.960 minute the creator of life takes onto himself a human form, we have that 149 00:11:16.039 --> 00:11:18.919 auction, which can only be rightly referred to as the humiliation of Christ. 150 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:26.799 And our Eastern Orthodox brothers and sisters, there's many in that tradition who do 151 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:31.080 believe in Jesus. If you ever get to know them, it's fascinating how 152 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:35.879 much the incarnation forms the center of their theology. And I'm not suggesting we 153 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:41.000 go to the Eastern Orthodox Church for theology, but there is a deep benefit 154 00:11:41.200 --> 00:11:48.360 to meditating on the overwhelming humility displayed and humiliation displayed in this passage, and 155 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.519 it's worth sincerely taking a time and allowing your mind to grasp the implications that 156 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:56.399 the God who holds the earth together, hebrew says, by his word of 157 00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:01.639 power, now walks on it and feels it beneath his human feet. The 158 00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:07.440 God who binds hydrogen and oxygen together holds those molecules so that water is wet 159 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:13.679 from the smallest stream, carving a path through the forest to the mightiest oceans, 160 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:18.799 crossing against crashing against cliffs. The God who made that is now thirsty. 161 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:22.120 The God who is the source of all energy in this universe, who 162 00:12:22.120 --> 00:12:28.080 binds every molecule together, where all new life springs from, finds himself knocked 163 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:31.440 out and and tired. So that's why being in human form is being in 164 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:37.279 humble form for him. But not only was that hum humble love that he 165 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:39.639 had not only for the members of trainees, but now he has for his 166 00:12:39.720 --> 00:12:43.440 people. Not only is that the cause, but this him says that humility 167 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:48.080 is also the work, that it has to be a humble work to save 168 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:52.960 his people. He had to be humbled in being obedient to the point of 169 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:56.919 death. And so if God is not humble in his cause and his love 170 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:01.759 and his work, then we can't even be saved. One of the most 171 00:13:01.759 --> 00:13:03.879 important works in the history of the Church was written by Anselm around the turn 172 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:09.720 of the last century two centuries ago, to be clear, and its Latin 173 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:13.039 titles Curdeous Homo, which is why the God Man. And it's a really 174 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.960 excellent treatise on why God had to become a man. But the center of 175 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:22.000 it, there's this wonderful thought that Anselm shares and an some sells. God 176 00:13:22.039 --> 00:13:28.000 had to humble himself to become a man because he loved us, and it 177 00:13:28.080 --> 00:13:31.600 was in fact his love that necessitated this humility. So humility is the cause, 178 00:13:31.639 --> 00:13:35.200 it's the reason why. Humility is the work. It's the utility what 179 00:13:35.360 --> 00:13:39.039 it's what saves us. And then we've seen this final couplet. Humility is 180 00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:43.919 what God crowns in the incarnation, taking on becoming thirsty even though he made 181 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:48.639 water, becoming hungry, even though he made life. This humility is what 182 00:13:48.799 --> 00:13:52.600 saves us. It's also a God crowns in verse nine. Therefore, this 183 00:13:52.720 --> 00:13:58.519 final triumphant couplet therefore, because of his humble love, because of his humble 184 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:03.840 incarnation, because of his bull salvation for those things. Verse nine says God 185 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:11.120 exalted because of his humility. God exalted him and bestowed upon him the name 186 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:16.159 that's above every name. Now, that could be really hard for us as 187 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:20.200 humans to combine the exaltation of Christ, the glorious king where you read in 188 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:24.600 Revelations who comes down in his eyes are like fire, and his fury treads 189 00:14:24.639 --> 00:14:31.679 the wine press of the wrath of the Lord God almighty. And Philippian says, 190 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:37.360 that's because he was humble. It's because he was humble that he treads 191 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:41.240 the fury of the wine press of the wrath of the Almighty God. It's 192 00:14:41.279 --> 00:14:45.399 because he was humble. The nations bend their need to him and adore him 193 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:48.639 as a powerful king. Those things, Philippian says, are inturately connected. 194 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:54.039 That's why are hymns talk about Jesus is born a king. And this is 195 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:58.799 the illustration I think for this point that the incarnation is at its very core, 196 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:03.919 the humility, the humble nous of God and of Christ is the doctrine 197 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:09.679 of Christ as a righteous, powerful, glorious king. And it's in many 198 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:13.759 ways the battle that I think helps us fight back against the doctrine of stuff, 199 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:18.320 for the doctrine of therapeutic moral deism, or all the different ideas that 200 00:15:18.360 --> 00:15:20.759 come at Christmas, is that Christ is a humble king. So I want 201 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:24.000 to invite you to turn in your bibles, or swipe in your Bibles, 202 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:30.279 or however you open the Word of God. Um. I had a seminary 203 00:15:30.279 --> 00:15:33.480 professor, an older man from the South, who refused people in the pulpit 204 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:37.600 too in the in the pews to use phones to look at their Bible, 205 00:15:37.879 --> 00:15:39.679 because he said it was like kissing your wife through a screen door. I 206 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:43.399 have no such compulsion. If you want to turn with me to Deuteronomy seventeen, 207 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:52.399 what we're gonna find is God's commission of Christmas. And I don't think 208 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:56.120 when we read Deuteronomo, we normally think of it as an advent book. 209 00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:03.039 Deuteronomy seventeen fourteen, when you come into the land that the Lord your God 210 00:16:03.120 --> 00:16:07.120 is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and say 211 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:11.320 I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around 212 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:15.440 me. You may indeed set a king over you, who the Lord your 213 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:18.559 God will choose. One from among your brothers, you shall set his king. 214 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:22.440 You may not put a foreigner over you who is not your brother. 215 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:26.799 He must not acquire many horses for himself, or cause the people to return 216 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:30.840 to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to 217 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.559 you, you shall never return that way again. And he shall not acquire 218 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:37.600 many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire 219 00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:41.519 for himself excess silver and gold. And when he sits on the throne of 220 00:16:41.639 --> 00:16:47.440 his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book the copy of this 221 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:52.240 law approved by political priests, and it shall be with him. He shall 222 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:55.879 read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear. 223 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:57.519 The Lord has gone by keeping all of the words of this law and 224 00:16:57.559 --> 00:17:03.879 its statutes, and by doing them, that his heart may not be lifted 225 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:07.039 above his brothers, that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either 226 00:17:07.079 --> 00:17:11.680 to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long 227 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:18.240 in his kingdom he and his children in Israel. This is a Christmas passage, 228 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:22.799 because we know the king that was promised Israel is not ultimately David, 229 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:26.519 and it's not Solomon, it's not Josiah, it's not Hezekiah. This is 230 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.440 a Christmas patches. The king that needs to come to Israel is the humble 231 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:34.240 God taking on a humble human form, humbly and humanly saving his people so 232 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:38.920 that he will be this king forever. And if we look at the descriptions 233 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:45.039 here of this king, they are overwhelmingly humble descriptions. I would actually suggest 234 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:48.160 you that's maybe the only thread you can find to connect these disparated parts. 235 00:17:48.200 --> 00:17:52.359 He has to be one of you. He can't be some foreign and that's 236 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:56.079 separately. He has to be like you. It's a necessary part of humility, 237 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:59.960 I think, is that connection to one another, to not thinking yourself 238 00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:02.640 as above someone else. You have to be like. Then, he says 239 00:18:02.640 --> 00:18:04.519 this, he must not have what many horses, many riches, many gold, 240 00:18:04.519 --> 00:18:08.599 many wives. He can't have anything that elevates himself above his people. 241 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:12.720 And then the most humbling thing of all, he must be a man of 242 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:18.880 the word or praise God, he must be the Word in order to be 243 00:18:19.400 --> 00:18:23.839 truly humble. So Humility is the king. Humility is a cause, it's 244 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.839 the way, it's what's crowned. But then we see what happens when Christians 245 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:32.640 at Christmas forget that's the king that we need. And so now I'm gonna 246 00:18:32.640 --> 00:18:36.920 ask you to turn to First Samuel chapter eight, a passage that often gets 247 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:42.839 confused. I think this is when Israel demands a king. Then all the 248 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:47.599 elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rama and said to him, 249 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:48.960 behold, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your 250 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:52.319 ways. Now a point for us a king to judge us, like all 251 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:56.079 the nations. But this thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a 252 00:18:56.160 --> 00:19:00.000 king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord, and the Lord 253 00:19:00.039 --> 00:19:03.519 said to Samuel, will obey the voice of the people and all that they 254 00:19:03.559 --> 00:19:07.119 say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected 255 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:11.720 me. Now how do we reconcile these two verses. Deuteronomy seventeen says, 256 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:12.960 when you get into the lands, you want a king, that's good. 257 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.079 But now in First Samuel chapter eight, when they want a king, God 258 00:19:18.119 --> 00:19:22.559 says, they reject him. But the answer is in Philippians chapter two, 259 00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:27.880 because the question is what kind of king do they want? They do not 260 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:33.279 want a humble king, you can see the beginning. What they want is 261 00:19:33.279 --> 00:19:37.799 a king like the other nations. Well, that pretty clearly violates the very 262 00:19:37.799 --> 00:19:38.799 first rule of the humble king, that he's gonna be like you. He's 263 00:19:38.839 --> 00:19:41.920 not gonna be like the nations. He's not gonna robe himself and all these 264 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:45.720 are rays. He's not going to call himself the emperor of the earth. 265 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:48.599 He's not going to build a throne here that he thinks will stand. They're 266 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:55.759 already breaking Deuteronomy. And then look who they pick. In verse nine, 267 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.400 there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, and he had a 268 00:19:59.400 --> 00:20:06.680 son whose name Saul. And everything about Saul is not humble. They like 269 00:20:06.799 --> 00:20:08.680 him because he's not one. He is a Benjamin night, but he's not 270 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.279 like that. We always said, they want a king like the nations. 271 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:17.400 He is handsome, the opposite of the king that God describes the book as 272 00:20:17.559 --> 00:20:22.319 he's known for his his wealth, his his prosperity, his handsomeness. Everything 273 00:20:22.359 --> 00:20:23.720 about him is the opposite of this humble king. And we'll see in his 274 00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:26.920 life that that Saul is most definitely not a man of God's word. That 275 00:20:26.920 --> 00:20:30.400 he doesn't understand it, he doesn't care for it, he doesn't listened to 276 00:20:30.440 --> 00:20:36.279 it. And so the Israel doesn't reject Gone because they want a king. 277 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:41.400 Israel rejects Gone because they reject his humble king, the humble king described to 278 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:45.400 you on me, the humble king that we find in the birth narratives of 279 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:49.920 Luke and of Matthew, the humble King that Paul centers his letter around in 280 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:57.359 Philippians Chew. You have to fundamentally understand this Christmas King as humble. Now 281 00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:02.440 before that, before he just rise, he makes this commendation to his people, 282 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:06.680 right, and we know that Paul probably believes that as he's about described 283 00:21:06.680 --> 00:21:11.079 the humble life that flows from the humble Christ, he thinks this is probably 284 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:12.920 the last letter he's going to write to these people. He doesn't expect to 285 00:21:12.920 --> 00:21:15.240 live. Indeed, we don't know if he talked again to this church. 286 00:21:17.480 --> 00:21:21.200 He knows that he's leading, he knows that they're going to need encourage me. 287 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.119 They have supported Paul, they love Paul, they love the ministry, 288 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:29.200 they love Jesus. But their beloved brother is about to die. He's deeply 289 00:21:29.240 --> 00:21:32.279 concerned that they might be left rudderless. Paul believes in the Holy Spirit, 290 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:34.400 he believes in Christ, he believes in this humble King. But he's concerned 291 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:38.079 about them. And so Paul says, if there is any encouragement in Christ 292 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:42.279 here the severity of his language. I if there's anything I can give you 293 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:48.200 to sustain you in this world, If there's anything I can give you to 294 00:21:48.240 --> 00:21:51.160 help you persevere when me and others and people in your flock are killed. 295 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:56.720 If there is any comfort from love, that's pretty dramatic. Any comfort from 296 00:21:56.799 --> 00:22:00.759 love, any participation in the Holy Spirit. Just stop right there. If 297 00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:04.960 you're in Philippi or you're here right now this morning, what Christian doesn't want 298 00:22:06.000 --> 00:22:08.799 these things? If we condition the ligonnaire or born, and to do a 299 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.680 study of Americ Christians, what percentage of you would like to have encouragement from 300 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:18.000 Jesus Christ, that answer would be Christians. How many of you would like 301 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:21.920 to have comfort from love? Christians? How many of you would like to 302 00:22:21.960 --> 00:22:30.400 participate with the Holy Spirit? Lord, please let that be so, do 303 00:22:30.519 --> 00:22:38.920 nothing from selfish ambition or conceite in humility. Count others more significant than yourselves. 304 00:22:38.960 --> 00:22:42.599 So just as this King that God's people once rejected, but now have 305 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:47.160 accepted at Christmas. This King, whose humble love is the cause of salvation. 306 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:51.000 It's the way of salvation. It's what's glorified at salvation. Now Christians 307 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:55.000 have to realize that humility is every bit essential for their life, because they 308 00:22:55.039 --> 00:22:57.640 find life in Him, and that's essential. In in Philippians three, we 309 00:22:57.640 --> 00:23:02.880 see one of the most beautiful testament, suggification by faith alone. For his 310 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:06.440 sake. I have suffered the loss of all things and account them as rubbish 311 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:08.000 to gain Christ, to be found in him. Paul says, this, 312 00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:12.839 not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that 313 00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:19.920 which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. 314 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:23.680 So here, Paul, clearly, he is not telling you to be 315 00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:29.960 humble so that Jesus might finally love you. He's not telling you to look 316 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:33.279 not only to your interests but those of others, so that this humble God 317 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:37.720 might save you. It's instead the opposite, he says later, I press 318 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:42.039 on towards this because Jesus Christ has made me his own, because of the 319 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:49.759 tremendous humility of this King who is like you. And that's Christmas. That's 320 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:56.119 him fulfilling the first part of Deuteratomy's seventeen. Because he's like you, because 321 00:23:56.160 --> 00:23:59.559 he loves you more than he loved anything in this world, wives and riches 322 00:23:59.559 --> 00:24:04.039 in Egypt. Because he is the Word incarnate, you are already saved when 323 00:24:04.079 --> 00:24:07.519 you have faith in Him. For this, humility is not to win his 324 00:24:07.640 --> 00:24:11.920 love, but it is the only way, Paul says, to have encouragement 325 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:15.519 in Christ, comfort from love, participation the Holy Spirit, any affection and 326 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.000 sympathy. Paul says, I want that for you complete my joy. Then 327 00:24:18.039 --> 00:24:22.720 by doing this thing, be humble, so we could see the exact same 328 00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:26.759 things that are true of Christ. And that's because how it works where united 329 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:30.240 Him. What's true of Christ must then, through his work his free grace 330 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:33.960 be true of his people. Humility has to be the cause for how we 331 00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:37.920 treat each other at Christmas and all through the year. Humility is the cause 332 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:44.480 if we want to have encouragement and Christ comfort and lung participation only spirit. 333 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:48.960 Humility is what will cause those things. Just like in our humble King, 334 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:56.000 humility is what works in our life now. I'm very thankful for coming to 335 00:24:56.039 --> 00:25:00.599 Presbyterian Church. We all greatly limit the amount of American churches that full prey 336 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:03.400 to the prosperity gospel. And if you want to hear the prosperity Gospel work, 337 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.440 Christmas is the exact right season to sample it, because every Christmas message 338 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:10.440 in the world to be. Christmas is the season where God has come to 339 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:12.480 give you all of your hopes and dreams, to drive away all the darkness, 340 00:25:12.640 --> 00:25:15.960 to get rid of your cancer, to give you money, to get 341 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:18.960 rid of your debt, to declare his promises. That's what Christmas is all 342 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:25.000 about, except we hear the exact opposite. Christmas is about humility. And 343 00:25:25.039 --> 00:25:26.720 so when I tell you the humility works, it's not because I desire for 344 00:25:26.759 --> 00:25:30.240 you to have your best life on Friday. Your your best life better not 345 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:33.880 beyond Friday. Your best life better be in the world that's to come. 346 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:37.839 But I will tell you, Paul says really clearly, if humility is how 347 00:25:37.880 --> 00:25:41.359 God saved the world, then humility is also the only thing that's gonna work 348 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:44.920 in your life to make you more like Jesus. If that's what he used 349 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:47.720 to save the world, that's what He's gonna use to change your heart. 350 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:52.319 To do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but to count others as more 351 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:57.880 significant than yourselves. That's the story of the Gospel. The Bible says, 352 00:25:57.880 --> 00:26:00.759 why did God suffer the ross? And he said, for the joy that 353 00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:03.640 was set before him? What was the joy that was set before him? 354 00:26:04.200 --> 00:26:10.759 Glory with his father? But also you, You were the joy that was 355 00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:15.279 set before him. You being with him and forever in paradise was his great 356 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:18.000 joy that he loved so much that he cast aside everything else in humility, 357 00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:22.000 because that's what he wanted. So now he says, if you would be 358 00:26:22.079 --> 00:26:26.559 like him, have that same mind. Jesus died for these people. That's 359 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:29.920 what humble is. If you want to be like him, love them the 360 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:32.720 way that he does, which is more than he loved his own life, 361 00:26:33.079 --> 00:26:37.319 with all due respect, more than you should love yours. Humility is also 362 00:26:37.359 --> 00:26:41.759 what God is going to crown in our life. It's also what is going 363 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:45.119 to last. And we can see this in all of the promises of crowns 364 00:26:45.119 --> 00:26:48.519 that come through the Bible. You probably familiarly. Some of them. Martyrs 365 00:26:48.559 --> 00:26:51.200 receive a crown. The Book of Revelation, elder deacons receive a crown. 366 00:26:51.400 --> 00:26:55.200 It even says all those who were joiced in the Lord's appearing, we'll receive 367 00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:59.119 a crown. But think of everything that God is crowning in the Bible, 368 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:03.359 and see that it is always the humility that is perfectly reflected in his son. 369 00:27:04.160 --> 00:27:10.079 The martyrs receive a crown because in humility they lost their life so that 370 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:14.160 they might gain it in Jesus Christ. Those who serve the church receive a 371 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:18.400 crown, Paul says, and Peter says, because they humbled themselves and gave 372 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:21.880 their lives to the church. And all those who receive a crown for looking 373 00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:26.440 forward to Jesus Christ are those who forsake their life so that they might find 374 00:27:26.480 --> 00:27:30.400 it in Jesus Christ. So just like he will crown his son forever as 375 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:36.079 a righteous, glorious, all powerful king because of his humility, the only 376 00:27:36.200 --> 00:27:41.759 thing, the only thing that we should understand will work to have this benefit, 377 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:45.559 is humble love in our lives. Maybe ask what about prayer? Can 378 00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:48.240 you pray if you don't do it in humility? James saysn't it? What 379 00:27:48.279 --> 00:27:52.559 about serving one another? Serving one another is an act of humility? You 380 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:56.559 say, what about coming in worship? Bending the need of Jesus Christ is 381 00:27:56.599 --> 00:27:59.680 the act of humility that He requires of his people. So there are many 382 00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:02.839 christ In virtues. I'm not trying to elevate humility more about grace or more 383 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:04.960 about love. But but we have to understand that because it's central to who 384 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:10.240 Christ is, it has to be central to us. And so we started 385 00:28:10.240 --> 00:28:15.880 by talking about Christmas stuff. The question is not whether or not the stuff 386 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:19.200 is good or bad, because I can't answer that question for you. And 387 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:22.519 I'm not telling you to take away your kids Christmas presents because we need to 388 00:28:22.519 --> 00:28:26.200 be humble. That's probably the wrong way to teach your kids humility, no 389 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:33.799 presence, be humble like Jesus. No, it's it's entirely it's entirely different 390 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:37.279 question. Part of the problem with the Christmas stuff is that we live a 391 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:40.880 life of many options. Right, you go on Amazon and you can have 392 00:28:40.920 --> 00:28:45.200 anything you want within days, I mean literally almost anything. Things that would 393 00:28:45.200 --> 00:28:48.000 blow the mind of our grandparents if we showed them to them. Right, 394 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:53.039 all we have in this world consumer is an options. But if the central 395 00:28:53.079 --> 00:28:57.440 message of Christmas and Incarnation is the humility of Christ, and if the central 396 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:02.279 inciquation for his humilities are humility, that I tell you do. You do 397 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:07.079 not actually have options. The only thing for us is to be humble like 398 00:29:07.160 --> 00:29:11.440 Jesus Christ. And the promises is there is no good thing that's lost in 399 00:29:11.519 --> 00:29:15.640 following Jesus Christ. No truly good thing does God remove from the people who 400 00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:19.519 love him. Yeah, he might remove some of the Christmas stuff. We 401 00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:23.640 might lose some things in this world, but Jesus says, he who will 402 00:29:23.720 --> 00:29:32.359 lose this world for my sake will have life forever. That's humility. That's 403 00:29:32.359 --> 00:29:34.799 what Christ works in his people. That's the encouragement. Brothers and sisters. 404 00:29:34.839 --> 00:29:38.640 We are not humble enough. I am not humble enough. It's okay because 405 00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:44.240 Christ was humble enough for us, and so being filled with the overwhelming love 406 00:29:44.599 --> 00:29:48.319 that's so humble. It saves us. We are only radically free to be 407 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:53.079 completely humble, not just with our Christmas stuff, but with all of our 408 00:29:53.160 --> 00:30:00.559 life. Let's pray, Heavenly Father, we're so thankful for your example of 409 00:30:00.599 --> 00:30:04.119 humility on the cross. The incarnation means so many things for us. It 410 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:08.240 is a fountain head of so many of our auctions. We are thankful for 411 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:12.400 every day of our life that you came and you took on our form that 412 00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:15.759 you did what we could not do for ourselves. That you loved us even 413 00:30:15.759 --> 00:30:22.759 when we didn't love you all for a humble love's sake, God, we 414 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:26.160 pray that this humble love would resonate in our hearts. Were so thankful that 415 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:29.720 in your providence. There's a season where we even go into stores and radio 416 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:33.599 as we hear angels HARKing the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. But Lord, 417 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:37.279 let that dwell particular in your people guard us, guard us from focusing 418 00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:40.720 too much on stuff and on the things of this world. But let us, 419 00:30:40.839 --> 00:30:45.319 like Jesus Christ, humble ourselves of everything except for love, and let 420 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:48.640 us love him, not to win his love, but to live in his 421 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:52.359 love, and to bask in what humility does. For your people. Let 422 00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:56.200 us pursue one another this season and all the days of our life with a 423 00:30:56.279 --> 00:31:00.599 truly humble love, because that's what saved us. And so, Lord, 424 00:31:00.640 --> 00:31:03.559 even as we pray these things, we pray for the people in this congregation. 425 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.079 We desire for them to be healed. We desire for them to prosper. 426 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:11.079 We desire for them to be strengthened, to be comforted. Lord, 427 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:14.319 And so we ask first that you would enable the brothers and sisters here to 428 00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:18.359 be that comforting love, that we would indeed truly look to one another's needs 429 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:21.519 as more important than our own, and that we would be desirous to pour 430 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:23.200 out our lives to be a little bit more like Jesus tomorrow than we were 431 00:31:23.240 --> 00:31:27.240 today we fought. We pray for traveling mercies for all of our brothers sisters 432 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:30.079 who are far from us. Lord, keep them safe, give them energy, 433 00:31:30.279 --> 00:31:34.079 keep them away from sickness. Lord, as we know that happens delivered 434 00:31:34.079 --> 00:31:37.119 to them to where they're going or back home to us, that we might 435 00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:40.799 rejoice in the gift that they are. Lord, we pray for all the 436 00:31:40.839 --> 00:31:42.720 members of this congregation. They're sick. We think of Bill and Berniey, 437 00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:45.480 we think of Pastor Chelco, we think of the Nichols family. Lord, 438 00:31:45.480 --> 00:31:49.480 bless them. If it's in your will, you are got a tremendous mercy 439 00:31:49.519 --> 00:31:53.400 and grace. We asked that you would heal them. Give them healing and 440 00:31:53.480 --> 00:31:57.359 Lord, even if you desire for the thorn to continue, Lord, you 441 00:31:57.400 --> 00:32:00.640 pray that you would use it to bring them closer to Jesus, that they 442 00:32:00.640 --> 00:32:01.839 would be comfort in the Holy Spirit, In the Holy Spirit, that they 443 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:06.720 would be participation and love and sympathy, that they would know they have these 444 00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:08.759 things in You, and Lord, allow your church to be that comfort, 445 00:32:08.799 --> 00:32:13.359 to be that encouragement to them as they suffer. Lord, we pray for 446 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:17.319 our sister Sarah, who goes into open heart surgery tomorrow. We pray that 447 00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:21.160 you would bless her. We pray that you would equip the saints of Calvin 448 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:23.559 Presbyterian Church to care for her. We pray for Caleb or husband. We 449 00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:28.559 pray for Joseph and their daughter. Comfort them. Would we pray that they 450 00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:30.559 would have these things that you've promised your people, that they would be encouraged 451 00:32:30.559 --> 00:32:34.759 in Jesus Christ, that they would be comforted by your love, that they 452 00:32:34.880 --> 00:32:37.759 have a participation in the Holy Spirit. Because of your amazing, humble love 453 00:32:37.799 --> 00:32:42.400 for them. Lord, we do ask for healing for Sarah, strengthen her 454 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:45.279 heart, care for her doctors, Give them wisdom and strength and energy tomorrow 455 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:50.160 as they work. Lord. We ask for mercy, knowing we are undeserving 456 00:32:50.200 --> 00:32:54.160 of it, but knowing you love to give it because of your wonderful, 457 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:59.000 wonderful, wonderful grace. Lord, we ask for all these things, and 458 00:32:59.319 --> 00:33:00.880 our great say of you are Jesus the Christ Amen