The Right Attitude Pt 1

All right, it's good to hear all the voices chit-chatting, fellowshipping, and all that, yeah? Now, here we go. We're going to gather to worship the Lord this morning. I want to welcome all of you who have come this morning to Calvary Chapel. We welcome you here. We want to also welcome those who are joining us online. Would you join me in prayer? Would you all stand and make room for others? Amen? Yeah.

Father, we thank you for this opportunity we have this morning to gather again on this Sunday morning to worship in song, to study your word, Lord. Father, we ask that you would order this service, that you would order all that goes on here in our church this morning, that you'd be glorified. May we trust you, look to you, put our confidence in you today, Lord. Where else in the world would we put it?

We give you thanks, and now bless our time, we ask. Father, you meet us where we are. And to change us as we yield to you, and as you draw by your Holy Spirit, we thank you for that.

Bless our time, Father. We want to worship you.

You can trust the Lord. And sometimes our experiences then later have valleys, too. But God, you're faithful all through it, and we thank you. Because you're working in us, both to do and will of your good pleasure. Because when you say work out your salvation with fear and trembling, you don't mean work for salvation, but live it out. We've been saved, and we're in that process.

We've experienced that salvation as you have set us aside, sanctified us, and you're doing a work in each of us. You take us right where we are.

You do the changing. Oh, we thank you, Jesus.

Realize that you have ways of teaching us. It's not always easy. But those trials, those things we go through where you're teaching us to abide, the result is joy as we've gone through it. And we praise you, Lord. We praise you. You're worthy of our praise. You're a part of each of us. Each one out here, each one of us, Lord, you know. You know what's inside right now.

If there's hurting, there's joy, there's pain, whatever's going on, you know. And so, Lord, I lift each to you. That you would meet them right where they are. That they would see the strength at working in their life. We give you praise right now. Would you all stand?

I'm asking that you bless and encourage in our walk and witness for you. That, Lord, when people see us, they can take note, whether they're being negative or positive, that we've spent time with you. Give us a hunger for your word, a desire for the things of you. We are nothing without you, Lord. And any time we want to hang on to this world, we'll establish again that we're nothing without you.

We are here but a time. As I was sharing not long ago, rather by the rapture of death, we're all terminal. So may we be ready for when you do take us home, looking to that time when we depart from this body. We know we hang on to life as long as we can, because that's the way you've made us, Lord. We want to live and share your word. But I have a heart that's ready for you when you take us.

So touch hearts, Lord, today. Help us take note and really take note of ourselves. And just as Brother would share me a verse, Lord, in Luke 15. In Luke 15, where the prodigal son, after all he had done, he finally took note of himself. He really realized, what in the world am I doing? Here I am, now feeding pigs and eating husks because I don't have any food.

I bet the servants at my father's house aren't doing that. He took note of himself and he decided to return to the Father. Well, I want to tell you, if you're in that place, return to the Father. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's sing that chorus one more time.

Pray. Father, bless and anoint Pastor Ryan's word this morning. And bless Children's Church, the teachers and all that's going with the nursery, and workers and all, and toddlers, and those workers. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's have some fellowship. Now that you've joined us here, things to take note of, different studies to get involved in. So please take note of the middle section, a few things to take note of.

Just a reminder that the Grief Share group, you can see Holly Gage about that. And I think there's also info about the. There's still two spots available for the missions trip. But if she could know, I was just talking to, is Janet? No, she had to do. It's a lot cheaper if you tell her now than after the 27th is the whole point of that statement. So those are the things you need to know on that.

And then the Family Life Services Banquet is coming up on March the 9th. Calvary Chapel always purchases two tables for that banquet. So if you are interested in attending that, the only thing that we ask is that if you are able, you make a donation to Family Life Services. It's a great time, though. And this year, it's a talent show theme. So there's some folks that are going to be presenting some talent, which should be pretty fun.

So if you're interested in that, please come talk to me afterwards. I'll put your name on a list and get you a ticket. So those are the things that are going on. Oh, and just a reminder that on the back side here is our reading plan. Hopefully everyone's keeping up pretty good with the reading plan. And if you are watching online, that reading plan is available on our Facebook page.

So that being said, if you would make sure that you're reading, your mobile device is silenced. And for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 138. 138. Looking at the New American Standard for this part so we sound the same. If you need a copy of the New American Standard, there should be one in the row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 138, if you are able,

please stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word. I will read the odd verses if you will follow along with Glenn and the even verses. Psalm 138. A Psalm of David. I will give you thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to you before the gods. I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your loving kindness and your truth.

For you have magnified your word according to all your name. On the day I called, you answered me. You made me bold with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth will give thanks to you, O Lord. When? When they have heard the words of your mouth. And they will sing the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. For though the Lord is exalted, yet he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. You will stretch forth your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me. Your loving kindness. The Lord is everlasting. Do not forsake the works of your hands. And Father, we do thank you for your word, Lord, that you have honored above your name.

And so, Father, I pray that as we spend time in your word now, that you administer to us by the Holy Spirit. Father, the things that we will look at this morning, Lord, they are things that have so much meaning for our lives. And so, I pray, God, that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you would work through me, and that you would work in your people, and that we would learn exactly what it is that you want us to learn this morning. In Jesus' name.

Amen. You may be seated.

And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Philippians, chapter 2. Philippians, chapter 2. We said that each of the chapters of Philippians was going to somehow present to us an aspect of joy. What it looks like to live a life full of joy. Chapter 1, we said, is that joy comes from having the right perspective. We said that it comes from the right perspective.

We said that it comes from the right perspective. Having the right perspective of trials. Having the right perspective on life and death. And having the right perspective on the way that we actually live our lives. Well, as we come into chapter 2, he's going to cover a different aspect of having joy. That joy comes from having the right attitude. Joy comes from having the right attitude.

And so, the first thing that we want to look at this morning is we want to look at the attitude of humility. The attitude of humility. And so, starting in chapter 2. Verse 1. It says this. 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. Make my joy complete by being of the same mind.

Maintaining the same love. United in spirit. Intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit. But with humility. With humility of mind. Regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests. But also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves. Which was also in Christ Jesus.

Who although he existed in the form of God. Did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself. Taking the form of a bondservant. And being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance. As a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Even death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted him.

And bestowed on him the name which is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. Of those who are in heaven. And those who are on earth. And those who are under the earth. And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. An attitude of humility. Now he's going to tell us a handful of things.

About what it looks like to have this attitude of humility. But before he does. He talks to us about our motivation. For having an attitude of humility. And so in verse 1 he sort of gives us the motivation. That he will then follow suit with. Over the next few verses. He says therefore. And anytime we see the word therefore. We should always ask ourselves. What came before this.

Because it links whatever happened before. To what's going on now. So therefore in light of the fact. That Jesus and his. The right perspective for our lives. In light of the fact that. We are so blessed by God. Not only to be able to know him. But sometimes even to suffer for him. In light of that. These things are true. It says if there is any encouragement in Christ.

If there is any consolation of love. If there is any fellowship of the spirit. And if any affection and compassion. Now a better translation of that. Would be to replace the word if. With sense. Because this is something that is. True so let's read it. In a little bit of a different fashion here. He says therefore. Since there is encouragement in Christ. And since there is consolation of love.

And since there is fellowship of the spirit. And since there is affection. And compassion. Since all of those things are true. Since Christ has done such amazing work. In our life. And poured his Holy Spirit into our lives. And shed his love into our lives. And given us not only his affection. And compassion. But also given us affection and compassion. To share with other people.

Since those things are true. Therefore. We are to live a life of humility. And so he gives us that motivation. And now starting in verse 2. Through the end of the section that we just covered. There are four things that he is going to teach us. About what it looks like. To have an attitude of humility. Four things. Number one. To have an attitude of humility.

You must be unified. You must be unified. I want you to notice what it says in verse 2. It says. Make my joy complete. By being of the same mind. Maintaining the same love. United in spirit. And intent. On one purpose. He says make my joy complete. Do you know what that means in the literal Greek? What that literally means is. Fill my joy up to fullness. In other words.

Fill my joy full. By being of like mind. Isn't it kind of interesting. That that's the heart that Paul had for the people. Paul's heart for the people of Philippi. Was that they would be united. You know where Paul received this heart from. You know why Paul has a heart to see people united. He got it from none other than Jesus Christ himself. If we were to turn there.

And you don't need to. You might mark in the margin of your Bible. John 17. Because in John chapter 17. Jesus gives his what's called high priestly prayer. It's right before he goes to the cross. As a matter of fact. John 17. I believe. Was placed while they were on their way. To the garden of Gethsemane. And as they're on their way there. He prays this high priestly prayer over his disciples.

You know what one of the biggest themes. In all of John chapter 17 is. It comes in one verse. It says Lord that they would be one. As you and I are one. God's greatest desire for his children. God's greatest desire for his people. Is that they would be unified. And Paul picked up on that same heart. And his heart for the people of Philippi. Was that they too.

Would make his joy full. By being unified. He says that you would have the same mind. That you would have the same love. That you would have the same spirit. And that you would have the same purpose. Now I find it kind of interesting. That this is the second time in two weeks. That we've talked about being unified. As a matter of fact. At the end of chapter one.

We found that one of the things. That we were supposed to do. In the way that we live our lives. Is to work together. To strive together. For the furthering. Of the gospel. And now for a second time. In just a handful of verses. He brings this up again. As a matter of fact. He'll bring it up again. At the end of the book. What we find at the end. Of the book of Philippians.

Is that there was an argument. Between two ladies. In the church of Philippi. And that argument. Was beginning to affect. The rest of the church. Because that argument. Was creating a division. Within the church. Because we need to know something. When you have a problem. With somebody else. It becomes a problem. In the church. When you have an argument. When you have something.

Against somebody. When you have a dispute. With someone. It ultimately ends up. Affecting the church. You say no. That's my argument. Not the church's argument. Yeah. But you know what happens. When you have an argument. With somebody. When you have an argument. With somebody. You find followers. You find people. That will agree with you. And you start saying.

Do you know what they did? Do you know what they said? And you start telling people. Everything that happened. And you try to get followers. Of you. Well the person. That you're in the argument with. They do the exact same thing. They find followers. For themselves. And they do the exact same thing. Then you know what begins to happen. There begins to be a.

A division in the church. It may be a small division. But it's division nonetheless. And if Jesus. His greatest desire. For his church. Is that. We would be. One. As he and the father. Are one. Then don't you think. Every little argument. Ultimately ends up. Affecting the church. Don't you think. That every little thing like that. Ends up affecting. The unity.

Of the church. And so now. For the second time. He tells them. My heart for you. Is that you would be. Unified. Well how can we be unified? Well he listed. Four things there. In mind. In love. In spirit. And in purpose. Well how can. How can a bunch of people. Who are all very different. See I get the joy. Of being able to look out. And see all of your faces.

You all are just staring. At one ugly face. This entire time. I get to see all of yours. Right. I get to look. And I get to see. Everybody's little. Here's a little bit different. You know. Some of you all tall. Some of you short. God made you perfect. Right. And so. And then there's. There's some of you. That you know. You got long hair. You got short hair.

Some of you have perfect heads. Like me. Some of you have. Fully covered heads. And you know. God knew what he was doing. And so. But we're all a little bit different. Right. So how on earth. Can we become unified. When we're all that different. Well there's one place of unity. That we always have. And that's Jesus Christ. Because let me read this to you. In the way that I think.

That he intends it. In the way that I think. That's being meant. That you would be of the same mind. Well how can we all be of the same mind. Well if it is the mind of Christ. If we all. If we all have the mind of Christ. Then we can all have the same mind. Even though we think differently. About a lot of other things. If we unify on that one central theme.

Of Jesus Christ. Then we can be like minded. We can have the love of Christ. Flowing through our hearts. And that love of Christ. That does so much more. Than what the world says love means. Right. The whole world can't figure out. What love means anymore. Right. But we can. Because we know what love really looks like. Because it's presented to us. In the person of Jesus Christ.

Therefore if we are to be unified. We are unified in the love. Of Christ. We are unified in one spirit. Because the same spirit of Christ. Is in all of us. That same Holy Spirit. Indwells every single one of us. And that seal is inside of every one of our hearts. And we all have one singular purpose. That one singular purpose that we have. Is to know and serve.

Christ. You see. No matter how different we are. And I think we should celebrate. How different we are. I love that we're not all the same. It would be so boring. If we were all the same. Right. If everybody had the same statements. And the same sayings. And the same thinking. And you all like the same music. And you went to all the same movies. It would be incredibly boring.

And yet. In all of the differences that we have. We can always have this one unifying factor. And that's Jesus. Because if we put Jesus at the center. Of every single one of our lives. And no matter how different we are. In every other way. We are always unified. Because we have that one singular purpose. He says. If you want to live a life of humility. If you want to have the attitude of humility.

Number one. Be unified. Number two. We are to do nothing from selfishness. Do nothing from selfishness. I want you to notice what it says in verse three. I got really creative here. It says. Do nothing from selfishness. It was really early this morning. Okay. I couldn't get creative. Do nothing from selfishness. Or empty conceit. But with humility of mind. Regard one another.

As more important than yourself. That word selfishness. In it's most basic meaning. Literally means. To promote one's self. To put one's self forward. That's the basic idea of the word selfishness. Now that's one thing that our world gets. We all get selfishness. We have that one down pat. I can promote myself better than anybody in the world. I can tell you how awesome I am.

I can tell you how great I am. I can tell you how you should just do everything that I want to do. Because all the things that I want to do. Are the right way to do things. And you can do the same thing. You're the best at promoting. You're the best at promoting yourself. Because we're all really selfish by nature. But you know there's another aspect of that word selfishness.

That's a little bit of a deeper biblical meaning. That is what Paul is really intending. That word selfishness can also be translated. A spirit of faction. A spirit of faction. Now I've used the word faction before. But I thought. I wonder what it actually means. I wonder if I'm always using. You ever do that with words? I wonder if I use that in the right context.

So I looked it up to make sure that I was using it correctly. You know what the word faction means? It means. It means a group that descends from the opinion of the larger. A group that descends from the opinion of the larger. In other words. A group that breaks off. And that's what that word selfishness means. It carries with it the idea of a spirit of faction.

One who would break off from the rest of the group. Because you think you're right. And everybody else is wrong. I know that doesn't exist in our world today. But in Paul's day it did. In Paul's day that was a major problem in the church. Right? As factions. And so he said. Let nothing be done out of selfishness. Out of the idea of putting yourself forward.

And saying I'm right and everybody else is wrong. And gathering a group to yourself. Don't let it be done out of selfishness. But he tells us the second thing we're not to do anything out of. Underneath the same heading. We're not to do anything out of empty conceit. Out of empty conceit. Another translation could be empty pride. But I actually prefer the New Living Translation best of all on this.

Because I think it carries the idea perfectly. Don't try to impress others. That one hurts. Right? What do we all like to do in the world that we live in today? Right? We like to impress people. We like to impress people with the things that we own. With the cars that we own. With the homes that we own. We like to impress people with the new gadget that we got.

We like to impress people with the amount of money that we make. We like to impress people with our kids' grades. With our kids' athletic ability. It has to be my kids' athletic ability. Because I don't have any more anymore. Not that I ever had much to begin with. But I definitely can't impress anybody any longer. We like to impress everybody with everything that we've got.

Right? And say, look at me. That's what all of social media is intended for now. Is impressing people with the things that you have. Which is why we always use filters on social media. Right? Not just because they put those sweet smiley faces on us. Or make me look like I have hair. Or like I have makeup on too. Right? Not just because of that. But we like to use those filters because they make us look so good.

Everybody right now. Sorry if I call anybody out. It's not my purpose. Everybody right now is posting those AI generated. Pictures of themselves. Anybody seen those floating through all the social media right now? And they always make them look perfect. I'm always like, I wonder what would happen if I did that. I don't want China to have my face. So I'm not going to do that.

But I always wonder what it would look like. Right? Kim Jong-un just puts my face up there for North Korea. He's like, this is me. I'm like, how do I have a social security number in North Korea? I have no idea. Anyway. So, but that's what everybody wants to do. We want to put our best foot forward. We want to impress people. But do you know how else we impress people?

We impress people by saying. Dang, I haven't bought a new car in 35 years. I'm so humble. I don't need the next newest car that there is out there. As a matter of fact, I own more older cars than you do. And I can impress you with that because I'm not all about how I look. You know, I live in the oldest house that there is. And it's falling down. Be impressed with my humility.

We'll never include the be impressed with my humility part. But that's what we mean. Right? You know what else we impress people with? How busy we are. I went to 35,000 events today. And it's only noon. Right? I read things sometimes. And I'm just like, I'm just tired reading that. Let's take a nap. It's going to be great. You're going to find it's awesome.

Right? Let's just eat a snack. There's brownies in the kitchen. We try to impress each other. He says, don't do that. Stop trying to impress each other with everything. Instead, what should we do? Instead, notice what it says in verse 3. But with humility of mind. With humility of mind. That word humility means. Lowliness. Lowliness. Or to think of ourselves accurately as little.

Right? That's pretty easy for me to do. Because I'm not a real big guy. Well, I'm not very tall. Anyway, but that's the idea. Is having an honest estimation of our littleness. With humility of mind. With lowliness of mind. I love the way the Amplified Bible put this. Neither with arrogance or self-righteousness. Neither with arrogance or self-righteousness.

So, don't do anything out of selfishness or vain conceit. Empty pride. But with humility of mind. Notice what he says next. He says, Regard one another as more important than yourselves. Regard one another as more important than yourselves. Now, I want to first of all say what this does not mean. Because sometimes this can be turned into a looking down on myself sort of a thing.

What this does not mean is, I think one of the greatest truths that we can learn in the culture that we live in today is just how valuable you are to God. You're valuable because you've been created in the image of God. And your life has value because you've been created in the image of God. And you need to know and understand that. Not only are you valuable because you've been created in the image of God,

but when you fell in sin, God loved you so much that he laid down his life so that he would not have to spend, an eternity without you. That's how valuable your life is to God. So this statement of regarding others as more important than yourself is not devaluing who you are because we can't elevate God by devaluing ourselves. The idea is much different than that.

The idea is an attitude of putting others before myself. Putting others before myself. And that's not something we're very good at. Typically, we live in a world right now that says you. You are number one. And if you don't look out for you, no one's going to look out for you. If you don't take care of you, no one's going to take care of you. And God has a completely different opinion on it.

He says, if you start looking out for you, you'll miss the point. In humility of mind, regard others as more important than yourselves. Put other people in front of you. There's an old song. I'm sure I've quoted it in here before. An old song we used to sing when I was a kid. I won't sing it because usually after I sing, my girls say, Dad, don't do that. Right?

But it goes like this. J-O-Y. After all, what's this epistle about? It's about joy. J-O-Y, J-O-Y. This is what it means. Jesus first, yourself last, and others in between. Our world has taught us for years that if you want to be happy, you need to be number one. Because after all, Sheryl Crow taught us, if it makes you happy, it can't be that bad, right? But if it makes you happy,

then why the heck are you so sad, right? It's because that philosophy is a really bad way to live your life. It's because we've spent so much of our lives trying to make ourselves happy, and you know what we found? Nothing that we do makes us happy. Because joy only comes if we have the order right. If it's Jesus first, others, and then me. And you know what's amazing?

If an entire church lives that way, if an entire church lives, like everybody else is more important, like Jesus comes first, and then others, and then myself, nobody gets left out. Everybody gets taken care of. Because all of a sudden, you have put everything in the right priority. And so, if we are going to live lives of humility, number one, we must be unified.

Number two, we must do nothing out of selfishness. And number three, we must look out for the interests of others. Look out for the interests of others. Very similar point, but a mild difference. I want you to notice what it says. Verse four. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Now, I'm going to translate that first part

in Ryan's translation, okay? Like, I read lots of different translations of this to try to come up with just the right meaning, and I combined a whole bunch of them and made my own version of it. And this is Ryan's version. It says this. Don't just pay attention to what's good for you. Don't just pay attention to what's good for you. Don't just pay attention to what's good for you.

We, again, live in a world that says you need to do what's good for you. You need to do what's good for you, and it doesn't matter what it does to anybody else. It doesn't matter who it hurts. It doesn't matter who it gets in front of. You need to do what's good for you. I was sitting in a waiting room the other day. I think it was Friday. My days all run together.

Sitting in a waiting room, I think it was on Friday, and I walk in, I check in, and there's something on the TV. I didn't care. I didn't care what was on the TV. It's not the point of the story. I think it was HGTV, which I typically don't want to listen to anyway. But something's on the TV, and I'm kind of half-heartedly looking at it because, you know, it's TV,

and you're just staring off into space. And all of a sudden, I'm going, man, the things I'm hearing don't match up with what it looks like they're talking about. That is so weird. Well, I noticed that there was a young man sitting just below the TV, and he had his phone out. And his phone was playing so loud that I could not hear what the TV was saying. All I could hear was what the phone was projecting.

And all I could think was, isn't that a really good picture of our culture that says, if it's important to me, it should be important to you. If it's important to me, it's the most important thing in the world. I will look out for my own interests because that's what's important to me. Well, I was walking through the halls of a school the other day, and as I've mentioned before, I'm a really auditory human being.

I pick up on other people's conversations around me. Usually, I join in. This was one of those times. So I'm walking through the halls of this school, and this kid is behind me, and this kid is going, my teacher said if she sees my phone one more time, she's going to take it away from me. And so I looked at her, and I said, you can't do that. That's my privacy.

And I was like, right? Like, if you want to burn my biscuits, attitude will get me every single time. Like, I can handle people being loud. I can handle people being raucous. I can handle, like, some roughhousing. I can handle all that kind of thing. But man, when people pop an attitude, that's when things go down. It goes downhill really fast for me. And like, well, I start to rub my head, right?

When I get mad, I go like that. My daughters go, dad, why are you angry rubbing your head right now? I'm like, I don't know, okay? Something ticked me off, right? So I'm listening to this. And wait, it gets better, okay? So she says, so I went home and told my mom about it. And I'm like, okay, wait for it. She goes, and my mom said, you're exactly right. And I was like, oh, that's the problem.

You see, every time we'd get mad at kids that have bad attitudes, we need to know they came from parents with bad attitudes. So if you're a parent in here this morning, I want you to know your attitude's rubbing off on your kids. You can't help it. And if you're putting your interests first, they're gonna put their interests first. Now, before we get real upset about this and say,

yep, it's this new millennial generation. Before that, I heard a conversation where somebody said, my grandparents gave me the right too. We need to know being selfish, putting our interests first is not based upon the generation you come from. Cause I have news for us. From the beginning of time, people have been putting their interests first. And that's the way we live.

And it's awful. It's one thing when you hear that in the world, it's a whole other thing when you hear it in church. Amen. He says, don't just pay attention to what's good for you. Look out for the interests of others. Is it beneficial for the people? I know it's what I want to do, but is it beneficial for the, rest of the body? Is it beneficial for the people around me?

I hear this all the time with Christian liberty. When people take controversial Christian liberty and they say, but it's my right. But is it good for the people around you? Are you looking out for the interests of others? You see how humility is always going to put other people first and me last. So if we want to live in humility, number one, we need to be united.

Number two, we need to do nothing from selfishness. Number three, we need to look out for the interests of others. Number four, we need to look out for the interests of others. And then number four, we need to follow Christ's example. I'm going to read all the verses four through eight, or excuse me, five through eight, because I think it's really important to take this as a whole

and then we'll break it down. It says, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant. And being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. I'm going to do something real quick, because when I was listening to Chuck Smith teach on this, he said, this is holy ground that we're treading on, and we should do so with prayer.

So would you bow with me real quick? Father, this next section tells us about you. It tells us about Jesus, not only his deity, but his servant, his servant heart. And so, Lord, may we understand, would you give me the words to speak? Would you give all of us the ears to hear so that we can be the people that you've called for us to be? In Jesus' name, amen.

So the first thing he says is this. He says, have this attitude in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. The New King James and the Old King James translated, have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It's the same word that was used earlier in chapter two when he said that you would be of the same mind. That you would be like-minded. In other words, what he says is,

be like-minded with Christ. Have the same kind of attitude and mindset that Jesus had. And then he goes on to describe that mindset because he now goes on in verse six to say, who, although he existed in the form of God. Now, this is gonna get a little theological. So hang with me. I will do my best to keep it on a level we can all understand, myself included,

because I don't have a real theological mind sometimes. But he says, although he existed, he existed in the form of God. That word form is a really interesting word. The word form means an outward expression of an inward reality. An outward expression of an inward reality. In other words, being in the form of God. He already existed in the form of God. Who he was in the inward reality is God.

And he existed in that form in an outward way. This is one of the strongest, according to Kenneth Weiss, statements of the deity of Christ in all of the New Testament. Because for him to have already pre-existed in the form of God meant that he was God. It states the deity of who Christ is. This is important to get to the point, I promise. Who, although he existed in the form of God,

did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. What? Well, what does he mean by equality? Well, when he talks about equality with God, he's not talking about equality of power. He's not talking about equality of purpose or of person. He's talking about equality of privilege. The privilege of the glory of his deity. So, he says, although he existed in the form of God,

he was 100% God, he did not count the privilege of the glory of being God something to be grasped. What does that mean? Well, the idea of something to be grasped means this. A treasure to be clutched, and retained at all costs. In other words, even though he was God in form, he was 100% deity, he did not regard the equality, the privilege of holding on to that glory

as something that he would hold on to at all costs. Instead, what did he do? He emptied himself. He emptied himself. It's exactly what it says. As a matter of fact, the New American Standard translates that exactly as it says. It's intended to be he emptied himself. The question is this. What did Christ empty himself of? If he was in the form of God and didn't consider the equality of his privilege with God

something that he would hold on to no matter what, instead he emptied himself, what did he empty himself of? This is where it gets a little bit dangerous because there is a theological thought out there. It's a false theological thought, but one nonetheless, that Jesus emptied himself of his deity when he came down and dwelt among us. In other words, he was not God dwelling among us.

He came down in human form. That's not the idea of what's being stated here. What did he empty himself of? Well, if it was the privilege of his glory that he was willing to let go of, what did he empty himself of? He emptied himself of his glory. He emptied himself of his glory. When he emptied himself of his glory, it says that he took on, the expression of a bond slave.

Notice what it says right there, verse seven, but emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant. That word form is the exact same word that we just mentioned, an outward expression of an inward reality. The word took means to add to. In other words, he added to who he was, the outward form of a bond servant. He laid aside his glory and he put on the clothes of a bond servant.

Not only did he put on the clothes of a bond servant, but he put on the clothes of a man. Notice what it says, and being made in the likeness of a man. He didn't stop there. Notice what it says in verse eight. In being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself. By becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. Verse eight brings this all to a crescendo

with three statements on what Jesus did. As he became a man, number one, he humbled. Himself. He humbled himself. That word humbled means to bring oneself low. It's the verb form of having humility of mind. He brought himself low. He lowered himself to us. He humbled himself. And what did he humble himself to? He humbled himself to be obedient to the point of death.

That's the second statement. Not only did he humble himself, but his humility was so great that he was willing to lay down his life. And then the third statement comes with even. Even to the extent of, is the idea. Even the death on the cross. You and I don't always think about what the cross was really like for Jesus because you and I are pretty sanitized when it comes to the cross.

We don't live in a culture where that's reality. The Philippians lived in a culture where that was a reality. So when Paul wrote to them that he humbled himself to the point of death, even to the point, even to the extent of the death on the cross, they knew that meant something. Because to the Gentile mindset, the cross was absolutely a curse. Because the only ones that were allowed

to hang on the cross were non-Romans and usually slaves who were considered property. Roman citizens were not allowed to be crucified because it was such a horrific form of death. As a matter of fact, the lowest of the slaves and the criminals were the only ones that were crucified. So for Jesus to have humbled himself to the point of death on the cross in the Roman mind at that point in time meant that he lowered himself to being a place of less than human.

That's what Jesus was willing to do. That's the mind of Christ. Not only was it a curse to the Gentiles, but for the Jewish people it was a curse as well. Not only because they were being crucified by a Roman government who was oppressing them at that point in time, but it's written in the book of Deuteronomy that cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree. And so what did Jesus do for us?

Have this mind in you, have this attitude in you, which was in Christ Jesus? Well, first of all, even though he was God, 100% God, he was willing to lay aside the privilege of his glory so that he could come down here and put on a show of glory. To put on the clothes of a bondservant, to put on the coat of a man so that he could humble himself to become obedient to death, even the death on the cross. Now let's put this in a really beautiful picture, shall we?

Go over with me one place. I want you to go over to John chapter 13.

If all of the theology didn't make sense to you, I'm praying this word picture does. John chapter 13 is taking place in the last 24 hours of Jesus's life before his crucifixion. His disciples and himself were celebrating the Passover meal together. And to paint the picture for you, this is usually what would happen before something like a ceremonial Passover meal.

The men would go and they would ceremonially wash themselves, usually in some sort of a public bathhouse where they would take care of that. And they would put on clean clothes and they would put their sandals back on their feet and they would walk to wherever it was that they were gonna be celebrating the meal together. Now, while they were clean, ceremonially speaking, walking on barefoot, dusty roads on a warm day wearing sandals meant that by the time you got there, your feet were rather dirty. And so usually what would happen is whoever was hosting a ceremonial meal like a Passover meal would provide a servant, a servant who is perhaps the lowest in the house.

As a matter of fact, almost always the lowest in the house. And that servant had one job. Everybody that comes through the door, you're to wash their feet so that they are comfortable and ready for the meal. And so as they show up to celebrate, the Passover meal, there was no lowest servant provided. After all, it was just Jesus and his boys, right? And what did Jesus' boys usually argue the most about?

It wasn't about who was gonna be the lowest servant. It was about who was going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So guess who did all the feet washing? Nobody had washed anyone's feet up to this point in time. Now that paints the picture for where we are in John chapter 13. Notice what it says in verse one. Now, before the feast of the Passover,

Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, the devil, having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hand, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, he laid aside his garments, and he took a towel, and he girded himself. He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Now, does Philippians chapter two make just a little bit more sense now?

Because here you have the creator of the heavens and the earth, the sustainer of all life, the savior of humanity, the one who will return to earth someday to rule and to reign and to destroy this present earth and to give us a brand new heaven and a brand new earth. You have him who, came to the feast, and he lays aside his garment, interesting verbiage that's used there, right? And he took up a towel, same word by the way, he took up, he added to himself a towel, and he took on the form of a servant. And what did he do?

He washed the disciples' feet. Now, this has become a little bit of a controversial story this week, would you agree? I didn't plan for it to be this way, it just happened to be this way. If you watch the sermon, if you watch the Super Bowl, go Chiefs, if you watch the Super Bowl, sorry, you know that there were commercials on during the Super Bowl and they were the he gets this commercial.

Now, I'm gonna give my opinion on these. I think that there's some good things in them, but I think that they miss the point. I don't think that they go far enough. Does Jesus get us? Absolutely, but he doesn't just get us, he goes further than that. My concern with the commercials is while I don't disagree with the act that took place on the commercial, it stops too soon

and it gave that Jesus only came to serve and it's one of the reasons he came, but he didn't just come to serve, he came to give his life as a ransom for many. I think if they were to do a he gets this commercial, they should show him hanging on the cross saying, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And then they would say, he gets us because that's really what Jesus did to deal with our sin. That being said, the pictures that were presented on there, we need to remember, carry a great deal of weight with them because I want you to think about the people whose feet Jesus is washing at this point in time.

Number one, he's not just washing his disciples' feet, he's washing his disciples' feet. Why the difference of the voice inflection? Well, because that night they would not be his disciples, they'd be the disciples that ran away as soon as Jesus was threatened by the Roman soldiers. All of them would be scattered. Not only did he wash the feet of his disciples,

but he washed the feet of Peter. Peter, the one who, who was usually good at sticking that really clean or dirty foot in his mouth, and who would go on to deny that he even knew who Jesus was three times to the point of cursing his name. And also included was not just the disciples, not just Peter, but Judas. And it wasn't Judas at his best, it was Judas at his worst.

After all, it said, verse two, the devil, having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray him. Why do you think the Holy Spirit, had John write that? So we understand that what Jesus did at this point in time is he truly humbled himself and took on the form of a servant, a servant to everyone. My friends, if we wanna have the attitude of humility, we need to understand something.

You don't get to pick and choose who you serve. You don't get to pick and choose who you love. You don't get to pick and choose who you show grace to. You don't get to pick and choose who you show mercy to because Jesus didn't pick and choose you. He chose you. who he showed love and grace and mercy and service to. We love and we show mercy and we show grace

and we serve the people that are in front of us. You say, but they don't deserve it. Neither do you. But what if they go on in sin? So did you. And yet Jesus just continued to love you, amen? Matter of fact, I'm here because Jesus wouldn't give up on me. Even when I knew all of the right things to do, I still screwed up. And he continued to pursue me. And now you are to have this same attitude

that you have seen in Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God did not consider the privilege of his deity something that he would hold on to and not let go of. Instead, what did he do? He emptied himself and he took on the form of a servant and he humbled himself, making him obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. And you and I are to follow the example of Jesus Christ.

The example of Christ, amen? Go back to Philippians.

It goes on from here to say in verse nine, for this reason also, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. I love this. I love this benedictory statement that Paul makes here about Jesus because as Jesus has humbled himself, he says, for this reason, because he humbled himself, God has also highly exalted him. He highly exalted him by giving him a name which is above every name.

What does that mean? It means Jesus' name is above all other gods, right? We exalt thee, O Lord, above all gods. It means that salvation that comes in the name of Jesus is greater than any other place of salvation that anybody could offer to us in the world. The name of Jesus is above all names in power, in dignity, in glory, in exaltation. He has the name above every other name.

Why? Because he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death on the cross. Not only is his name above every name, but at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We need to understand something. Everybody's gonna bow down to Jesus. Your choice is when.

When will you bow the knee to Christ? When will you come to Jesus and say, you're gonna be Lord? Because it'll happen on this side of eternity and then he'll be your savior. And that's a beautiful thing. That's option A is what you want, okay? I'm just gonna give you the answer right now. Option A is what you want. You can either A, bow to him now and he will be your savior.

Or B, you can bow to him on the other side. You can either A, bow to him now and he will be your savior. You can either A, bow to him on the other side of eternity and he will be your judge. The choice is yours. And I'm always fascinated at these arrogant people who say, I will never bow down to Jesus. I'll never believe that there's a God. I'll never believe in Jesus.

I'm gonna do what I wanna do. It's all a myth. It's all a fable. It's all a story that you've made up. All I can think is, is that a chance you're really willing to take? Because if I'm wrong, I lose nothing. If you're wrong, you lose everything. Because one day, everyone will bow before Jesus. Now, that's the theological truth. You know, there's a practical truth in this for us too.

Because if we are to live with the right attitude, it means that we are to live with an attitude of humility. And an attitude of humility, that means that we will be unified, that we'll do nothing from selfish ambition, that we'll look out for others' interests, and that we'll follow Christ's example, which may mean that we're gonna have to be a servant to people that we don't know. That we really don't like that much. And sometimes we'll have to get treated like a servant by people we really don't like that much.

Do you know there's a practical truth for us too? Go with me one more place in scripture. Go to 1 Peter, chapter five. Go to your right. Hebrews, James, 1 Peter. If you hit 2 Peter, you went too far.

If you hit Revelation, you really went too far. If you're in the concordance, go back left. 1 Peter, chapter five, verse six. It says this. You know what? I did verse six only in first service. I wanna do verse five too because it gives some really good context. Peter speaking says, you younger men likewise be subject to your elders and all of you clothe yourselves

with humility toward one another. For God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Pay close attention. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the proper time. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you at the right time. Listen, if we're to live a life of humility, then we will have to humble ourselves.

And that means that some people will hold it over our head that we've humbled ourselves. We say, Lord, I can't serve them because I just, I can't bring myself to serve them. He says, you take care of it now. I'll take care of you in the future. All you can handle is your part. You do what God calls you to, to humble yourself. You let him handle the results.

Lord, you don't understand what they're gonna say about me. He's like, really? You really think I don't know what they're gonna say about you? They said it about me too, remember? Oh yeah. Let God handle the results. You live in an attitude of humility. Brothers and sisters, the world's looking for a church like this. The world's looking for people like this.

The world's looking for a true religion like this that lives like this. A church that's unified. A church that won't be selfish in the way that we do our things. A church that is always looking out for the interests of others. A church that is following Christ's example. They're looking for believers that are unified with others. They're believers. They're looking for believers

who are not selfish in the things that they do that are putting others ahead of themselves and are following Christ's example. Brothers and sisters, we're gonna live in joy. We need to live with an attitude of humility. Amen? Let's all stand.

And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you. And Lord, the things that are presented in your word today, Lord, like many things we say, that's really hard. It's pretty unnatural for us. It's not real natural to me to humble myself. And yet, Lord, it's what your word calls for us to do. Father, we are reminded that it's not by might and it's not by power,

but it's by your spirit. And so, Lord, we come to you this morning asking for that power of your Holy Spirit to be at work in our lives. Father, asking that your Holy Spirit would take these truths of your word and work them deeply into us. To where we come out smelling just like you. To where we come out looking like you. Father, we wanna surrender to you this morning.

Surrender our attitude to you. Surrender our hearts to you. Father, if there's anyone here this morning that doesn't know you, that hasn't bowed their heart to you, and has been stubborn about it. Lord, for the reasons that you only know, I just pray that today would be the day that they say, I just can't keep kicking against the goads. I just can't keep fighting.

Lord, for the rest of us, may we live as you have called for us to live. May we have the attitude that you called for us to have. Lord, fill us afresh with your Holy Spirit, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen. Be blessed.

And so we ask that you would help us look to you, trust you. All we've got, with all we can, we can trust you in every area of our life. And we give you praise today. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, y'all have a great week. Have a great week. Have a great week now.