PHILIPPIANS 2:5-112006 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Philippians 2:5-11

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2006. Powerful portion of scripture we have before us this morning, Philippians chapter 2.

I'd like to back up for just a moment and remind you of what we studied last week in verse 27 of Philippians chapter 1. Paul said, "...only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel."

Paul had ended up just before that saying that he was praying that God would open the doors for him to go to the church there at Philippi. He was imprisoned at Rome at the time, and he believed that God was going to open the doors so that he would be released from prison and be able to visit the Philippians. And he says, you know, whether I come or not, here's what you need to do, Philippians. Let your conduct be worthy of me.

Now, we also talked about what is that then? What type of behavior are we to exhibit and are we to have?

as living in a manner that's worthy of the gospel. What is that? The chief characteristic we saw that Paul was emphasizing to us as a church...

The way that we walk worthy is to be united. There needs to be unity within the body of Christ, that God would bring us together as one body and one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, Paul said there in verse 27 of chapter 1.

We also saw that that related to Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1 through 6 where Paul told us to walk worthy of the calling with which we are called. And the way that we did that was by walking in unity. And there was one Lord and one faith and one spirit and on and on. The emphasis being the unity that is required for us as believers in Jesus Christ as one body, as one church to be united together.

Now, in looking at the importance of unity, of course, we had to ask and figure out how do we obtain unity? How do we get unity for ourselves and become united together? And unity, as we talked about, is not a pleasant subject necessarily because it deals with death itself.

In order for there to be unity, you and I have to die to ourselves. We talked about death to selfish ambition, our own goals and desires, our ambitions.

We talked about death to self amplification, just blowing ourselves out of proportion and all the things that go along with that, as well as death to selfish attention and being focused on ourselves completely and wholly without regard for others. And so we're called to die to ourselves in those areas that we might be united as one body.

Well, Paul continues this discussion today. He's just picking up right where we left off, and he's teaching us to be united by giving us an example to follow.

He's told us what we need to do and how to die to ourselves, but he doesn't just leave it as that. He sets before us the model. So he says, live your life this way. Here's the one that you can follow and model your life after and put on the same attributes and characteristics, and then you'll be on the right track. Then you'll be doing what I've called you to do. You'll be living in a manner that's worthy of the gospel. And of course, the example he sets before us today is

Is Jesus Christ. We see that in verse 5. He says. Let this mind be in you. Which was also. In Christ Jesus. He starts out with the word. Let.

Now, let we talked about last week as well. It's a word that Paul uses to tell us this is something you are supposed to do. This is a command to us. It's not an optional thing. If you like it, you know, if you get around to it. No, this is his way of saying this is what you need to do. This is my command to you guys. Let your mind or let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

It's part of what Paul is telling us to do in order to walk worthy of the gospel of Christ.

And so to do this, we need to have the same mind, or another translation puts it as the same attitude of Christ. What mind did Christ have that we're to model after, that we're to follow after? And Paul will go on in the next few verses, and that's what he's talking about, explaining the mind of Christ that we are to have just like he had. Now, this portion of Scripture is

is one of the deepest, most powerful portions of Scripture about Jesus in the Bible.

And so it's much more than we can cover in one service and we're just kind of skimming the top, but getting the idea of the mindset that Jesus had, the attitude that he had, the mentality by which he lived, that we might follow his example. And I would encourage you, there's so much here that you can do much study on your own as well to find out what Jesus did for us. We learn a lot about him in this passage today.

But it's meant to be more than that. It's not just knowledge that we get in our heads about Jesus, but we should be then learning to follow his example as we learn what he has done for us. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And so what was this mind? We'll spend the next few verses dealing with this, looking at five things that Paul tells us about Jesus. First thing, verse 6 says,

We find that Jesus Christ is God. He says in verse 6, The first thing that we learn about Jesus Christ as we study this morning is that Jesus Christ is God.

God. This is very important. We need to know and understand this. The fact that Jesus Christ is God is essential to the gospel message. It's not an optional thing. Well, if you feel like it or if you think that sounds good, you can believe that Jesus is God. No, in order to be saved, you must believe that Jesus Christ is God.

It's very clearly spelled out throughout the scriptures. We don't have time to get into it, but I'll give you a flavor, a little taste of what the scriptures have to say about that. He says, being the form of God to start out with. That word form, it means outward expression of the inward nature. Outward expression of the inward nature. Saying that Jesus Christ is in the form of God does not mean he's just...

a type of God or in some forms he's like God or that he masquerades or presents himself as God but this word form means that he actually is God. That's his nature. It's his substance. It's his essence. Jesus Christ is God. Please turn with me. I want to take you to a couple scriptures because this is very important. One book over to the right, Colossians chapter 1.

Colossians chapter 1, we see another portion of scripture where Paul says essentially the same thing, but also reinforces the fact for us that Jesus Christ is God. Colossians chapter 1, verses 13 through 17 say this.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness. That is, God has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. He, and this is Jesus we're talking about, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Verse 17. And he is before all things, and in him all things consist.

Another awesome portion of scripture, which we'll get to in several weeks down the line. But Paul here in Colossians says this about Jesus. He says, God has transferred us into his kingdom by believing in him. But there's some interesting things about Jesus that Paul tells us here. Number one, he is the image of the invisible God. The image, the representation of the invisible God.

He is the God that we are able to see, Paul is saying. He goes on though in verses 16 and 17 to explain not only is he the image of God, he is the creator. He created everything and there's nothing created in heaven, on earth, under the earth. There's nothing created, whether invisible or visible, that wasn't not created by Jesus. Everything was created by him, through him, and for him.

That can only be said of God. Jesus Christ is God. He is before all things, and in him all things consist, which means all things hold together, all things exist in Jesus Christ. He is God. Jump over a couple more books to the book of Hebrews, to the right there, Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 4, the author of Hebrews says,

stresses to us again the fact that Jesus Christ is God. Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 4 says, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. Verse 3 says,

who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a name, a more excellent name than they.

Here the author of Hebrews says, God spoke in various ways in different times, but now the last time he's spoken to us by his son.

And Jesus Christ is the final word of God. The final gospel, the final message that God has delivered is through Jesus Christ. And so the next time someone comes knocking at your door, hey, we have another. No, no, no. There's no other. This is the final word. It's through Jesus Christ. His presentation, the message that he delivered, which is the gospel. By him, we are saved through grace, by faith in him.

But here Hebrews says in verse 3, he is the express image of his person. Express, it's not a word we use that much unless we're talking about the 91 express lanes or something. They're not very expressed, by the way. But it means exact or precise. Literally, he's saying Jesus is a precise reproduction in every respect of God.

He's just like God. Because he is God. At every element, in every characteristic, he is God.

We see the point illustrated over and over again. If you'd like to do further study on this, I would encourage you to study more in the book of Hebrews. There's so much there. Over and over again, Jesus Christ is said to be God. The book of John, over and over again. The book of Colossians. In fact, the entire Bible. Even back in the Old Testament, in Isaiah chapter 9, when the prophecy was given that the Messiah would come.

Isaiah said he would be the mighty God. Jesus Christ is proclaimed to be God from Genesis through Revelation. Now, some will say, well, that's nice that you interpreted that way and stuff. But, you know, it would be very clear because Jesus never claimed to be God, some would say.

But that's not true. In fact, read the Gospels for yourself. Jesus did claim to be God. In John chapter 10, verse 33, the Jews are about to stone Jesus because he just said, I and the Father are one, meaning that we're equal. And the Jews begin to stone him. And Jesus says, well, what are you stoning me for?

What good work did I do that you're trying to stone me? And they said, well, not for good works in John 10, 33, but for blasphemy because you being a man make yourself God. Jesus did claim to be God. In fact, in John chapter 5, verse 18, John tells us, therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath, but said that God was his father making himself equal with God.

And that's an interesting one to study. Because anytime that Jesus says that God is his father, he is saying, I am God. I am equal with God. Anytime Jesus is proclaimed to be the son, it's a testimony of his deity, the fact that he is God. We just finished the book of John on our Sunday evening home Bible studies.

And we kept track as we studied week by week, chapter by chapter, how many times do we find references to Jesus Christ being God? Perhaps by him talking about my father in reference to God or referring to himself as the son of God and various other ways. But looking at those 140 times we found Jesus says, I am God.

140 times in the book of John, just that one book alone. And those are the ones we didn't have to debate or discuss or do research on, just plain English right there in front of us. Jesus Christ is God. And it's proclaimed throughout the scriptures. It's not an optional doctrine. It is essential. We need to know that Jesus is God. And so Paul says, if you jump back in Philippians chapter 2, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal to

He didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God. So we first, number one, we have the understanding that Jesus Christ is God. But here, Paul moves on to point number two, which is that Jesus Christ emptied himself. It's the last part of verse six here, as well as the first part of verse seven. He didn't consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.

What is Paul saying here? This word robbery, it's an interesting word. It means to seize or to hold fast. Now, Jesus Christ is God. He has existed eternally. He's always existed because he is God.

Yet what Paul is saying is that he didn't hold on to that position. He didn't hold fast to that position that he had as God, being at the right hand of the Father. Jesus Christ, being God, became flesh and dwelt among us. You can read all about it in John chapter 1, verses 1 through 18. He left his position at the right hand of the Father in heaven in order to come to earth as a man to die for your sin and my sin.

to pay the penalty that we could not pay. Now, if Jesus had held fast to his position in heaven, there would be no hope for us. We would be eternally lost. We could not be saved if he had held fast to his equality with God. It was only because he loved us so much that he left his father's side in order to come and be a man and die for us. And so it's important that we understand that Jesus Christ is God, but that he died.

didn't hold on to that. He considered your life and my life more important, and he made himself of no reputation. Verse 7 goes on to say, Jesus Christ emptied himself. This word, our phrase, made of no reputation, it's one word in the Greek. It's the word kenosis. It literally means that he emptied himself.

Many will ask, well, what did he empty himself of? And there's great big discussions that you can have, but let's just look at the basics. Number one, let's first make this clear. Jesus Christ did not empty himself of his deity. Not at any time, at any point did he cease to be God. He is God, was God, always will be God. That never changed throughout his time here on earth.

We find that over and over again. Again, we don't have time to get all into that. But very simply, verse 6 says, being in the form of God, that word being is in the tense that tells us is, was, always will be the form of God. Jesus Christ is God. So he did not empty himself of his deity. He did not stop being God. But what did he empty himself of?

And I believe we find the answer in John chapter 17, verse 5. You don't have to turn there. I'll read it to you. But John 17, 5 says, well, quick context. Jesus is praying to the Father. He's about to be crucified. He's about to be put to death and buried. And then he'll be with his Father shortly and

So Jesus prays to God. He says, and now, oh Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Jesus says, I had glory with you before the world existed. Because he's God, he's always existed. And he says, I don't have this glory now, but God, it's almost time now for you to glorify me again, for me to take that role, that position at your right hand again as God.

God the Son. He set aside or emptied himself not of his deity. He didn't cease to become God, but he set aside the glory. He set aside his rights and privileges as God. He emptied himself of that. Jesus Christ is 100% God.

He's not partially, he's fully God, but he's also fully man. When he came the first time, he came in humility. He laid aside his glory and his position. But when he comes again, he will come in his glory. And that's the time that we want to be ready for. He emptied himself of his rights as God. And the temptation that Satan presented him with proved that.

Because in Matthew 4 and Luke 4, you find the story of Satan in the wilderness tempting Jesus. He'd fasted for 40 days. At the end, he was hungry. And Satan comes and says, you're God. Why don't you just turn these stones into bread? Use your power, your rights as God. Claim your rights and use them because you're hungry. Meet your needs.

Do it yourself. You're God. You don't have to wait to be provided for. You can just do it yourself. But Jesus would not. He did not because he had emptied himself of those rights and privileges of the glory he had with God. So number one, Jesus Christ is God. But number two, we must understand that Jesus emptied himself. Difficult to understand and comprehend. Yes,

but something we must learn that we may apply it ourselves. But the third thing we find also in verse 7 is that Jesus Christ became a servant. Verse 7 says, taking the form of a bond servant. Now, I don't know what you think about this, but to me, this is so powerful. What Paul is trying to get into our minds here and trying to help us understand is

Does it make sense to you? Do you understand what Jesus did? Think about this. He laid aside his rights and privileges as God, his glory. You know, we look at Isaiah chapter 6 where it talks about Isaiah in the throne room of God and he sees God high and lifted up and the train of his robe fills the temple and the cross

The foundation shook as the angels were proclaiming, Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. And this magnificent scene. And to realize Jesus was there. That was the glory that he had. The glory that he experienced. That's who he was. And he laid that aside. He emptied himself and took the form of a bondservant. The form of a bondservant.

A bondservant is defined as one who is altogether consumed in the will of another. In essence, he went from giving orders to taking orders, receiving orders, being obedient.

He became a bondservant. Now, it says the form of a bondservant. Again, it's the same word form. Outward expression of the inward nature. He did not pretend to become a servant or just act like a servant while he was here temporarily on the earth. He really did became a servant.

He was altogether consumed in the will of God. He lived to serve God. Everything he did was in service to God. In Mark chapter 10, verse 45, Jesus tells his disciples that he says, even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. I didn't come here to be served. Now you have to know if it was you or me, we would have come to be served. We would have come and, hey, I'm here.

Meet my needs. Please me. Satisfy me. Do what I tell you to do. In fact, that's often what happens when we have authority. We like to have others meet our needs. But Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life for many. So Jesus Christ is God.

But number two, he emptied himself. And number three, he became a servant. And then continuing on in verse seven, we find the fourth thing. He says, coming in the likeness of men, the fourth thing we find is that Jesus Christ became a man. He became a man. He did not subtract his deity. He didn't cease to be God, but he added humanity. He was not a human being prior to his virgin birth.

He was not a bondservant prior to this. These are things he took on. He became as he came here. He always existed, but not as a human. He existed as God because he is God. And yet at the virgin birth, he added humanity to his nature. He took on a body like yours and mine. He became these things when he emptied himself, but notice that it's in order to bring salvation to us.

Amazing. Powerful. Man, we could talk and go around and around and around and around on these ideas and concepts of what Jesus Christ did for us. Verse 8, he says, And this is what's amazing to me. Emptying himself was not enough.

It wasn't enough for him to lay aside his glory, which he did, and his rights as God, which he did. It wasn't enough for him to become a bondservant and become a human being. Maybe we would possibly think that that was enough. He could have maybe said, you know, hey, I've made lots of sacrifices already. I think I've done enough. But then we'd be lost. There would be no way for us to be saved if Jesus had been content there, if he would have just stopped there becoming a man

And say, oh, that's enough. That's significantly less than God. It's still much less than what I was. I've sacrificed a lot, but he hadn't sacrificed everything yet. It wasn't enough. He even went beyond the emptying of himself and the taking on the form of a bondservant and humanity. The fifth thing we find about Jesus Christ is that he humbled himself and became obedient to death. So he's brought himself from death

Being God and the presence of God and all the glory that goes along with that and roles and privileges and rights that he has as God. Emptying himself of those things and taking on humanity. But that's not enough. Then as a man, he humbles himself and became obedient to the point of death. Again, if it was me, if I was the one coming, being found in appearance as a man, Jerry exalted himself and became king of the world.

I'm still a man. It's still significantly less than God. It should be sufficient. No, it's not what Jesus did. If he had done that, we could not be saved. He had to then, as a man, humble himself and become obedient to the point of death. Being a man was not a low enough position yet. He still had to humble himself yet further. His humiliation was not complete. Now, he could have said, as a man...

I'm much too important to die. You know, the world needs my opinions and my thoughts and my teachings. Think of all the miracles that I could perform and all the great works that I could do and the things that I could establish coming here as a man. The world needs me alive, not dead. And we probably would have agreed with him. But God says, no, it's not enough. That's not enough to save people from sin.

Jesus, you have to yet humble yourself farther and become obedient to the point of death. And he wrestled with it. In Luke chapter 22, we read about it. Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane the night of the crucifixion or his trial leading up to his crucifixion. And he goes and prays three times. And with such fervency, he's so intense, he's sweating drops of blood. And he's asking God, Lord, is there any way else?

Is there any other way that they can be saved? Is there any other way that they can spend eternity with us? Lord, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. This is not what I want to do. This is not my will. I'm not desiring to die tonight. He had to become obedient to the point of death. He says, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done.

He submitted to God's will, humbled himself, and willingly gave his life. Because that's why he came. In John 6, 38, Jesus says, I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. He came not to do his own will and accomplish what he wanted to accomplish or what was convenient or nice for him. He came to be obedient to God, to do what God told him to do. But that still was not low enough.

His humiliation was not yet complete. He had not been brought low enough simply coming as a man and being obedient to death. He goes on to say in verse 8, even the death of the cross. Even the death of the cross. He didn't come and just have to be obedient to die peacefully in his sleep overnight or some type of execution that would be just for a moment and it would all be over. A crucifixion, the death of the cross, which...

It was like torture. We won't get into that, but I'm sure that you've heard the teachings, the studies on the effects of crucifixion on a body. But you know, it wasn't the physical element that made it so significant. In Galatians chapter 3 verse 13, Paul told the church there at Galatia, he says, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.

For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. He quotes Deuteronomy 21 verse 23 and teaches Jesus humbling himself and becoming obedient to death is not enough. The next thing he had to do or the final element of that was that he had to become a curse for you and I. The law said anybody who's hung on a tree is a curse of God. Jesus said,

went from being in the presence of God as God with his glory and rights and privileges and worship and everything, and he emptied himself of those things, took the form of a bondservant, became a man, humbled himself, became obedient to the point of death, even to the point of becoming a curse for you and me that we might be saved. And anything else would not have been sufficient for our salvation. He did that for us.

He did that for you because he loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. In the garden, he said it, Lord, if there's any other way, there's no other way. Good works, religion, nothing else. Only by believing in Jesus Christ can we be saved. Only by believing in his finished work on the cross.

Paul goes on in Philippians chapter 2 to prove it. He says, therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. As a result of what Jesus did and what he gave up and what he went through, the way he brought himself low, Paul says, as a result of that, God has highly exalted him. And he's given him the name which is above every name.

And that is why it is only through the name of Jesus Christ that we can be saved. That's why anything else is just blasphemous. Just saying, it wasn't worth it what Jesus did. It wasn't, I didn't need that or we didn't need that. We can get to heaven this way or that way. I have my beliefs. I'm a good person. And on and on and on we go. It's blasphemous. Trampling on what Jesus sacrificed for us.

No, as a result of what he did, God lifts him up and says, this is the name. This is how people will be saved. This is how they will receive my love and my grace and my mercy by believing in Jesus Christ that he was sacrificed on their behalf because he did this because he became a curse for us and sacrificed his life for us. God has highly exalted him. And so salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.

Peter said the same thing in Acts chapter 4 verse 12, talking with the Jewish leaders who arrested them. He says, look, there is salvation in no other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. It's only through the name of Jesus Christ, only through what he did for us.

Continuing on in verses 10 and 11, he says that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. He says he's given him the name that's above every name so that every knee should bow. How many knees? Every knee. There's no exception.

every knee will bow just like we sing one day every tongue will confess you are god every knee will bow every tongue will confess he makes it very clear of those in heaven of those on earth of those under the earth anything created anywhere ever will bow before jesus in recognition he is god he is god's way of salvation he is the name above all others

Because of what he did, God gave him this position above any other name. He made him the savior of the world and every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. The choice that you and I have to make is when will we bow? When will we confess? Because we can bow now and confess now and find eternity with God or we can refuse. We can die and stand before him as he's on the throne and we'll have no choice.

but to bow and confess you are Lord. But at that time, it will be too late to make a decision to follow Jesus Christ. We have to choose now to bow before him now, to confess that he is Lord, which is more than just, okay, I confess he's Lord. Okay, I can do whatever I want. That's not what salvation is about. That's not the gospel message. To confess that he is Lord and to bow before him. It's a life that we live and worship to God.

giving him lordship of our lives, making him our master. There's many who will not bow before Jesus Christ today, many who will not confess that he is God, the savior of the world, but they will one day. And unless you surrender to Jesus in this life, you will be condemned in the next. The Bible is very clear about that. But you know, after seeing all that he has done for you,

Why not bow before him now, seeing how much he loved you and emptying himself and taking on the form of a servant and a man and humbling himself to the point of death, even in becoming a curse for you? Why not receive the love that he offers to you? Why not confess that he is Lord? Why not receive that he died for you and paid the price for your sins? Why not receive the eternal life that he offers to you?

Let today be the day for you. Give Jesus Christ your heart. Ask him to make you born again today before you leave this place, before you finish listening to this service. Let God do a work in you and you will be saved because there's no other name given among men by which we must be saved. Amazing what Jesus has done for us, isn't it? But at this point, I need to take us back to the beginning. Remember verse five, let this mind be in you

which was also in Christ Jesus. We've studied and Paul said all these great and wonderful things about Jesus Christ, but here's the hard part. Let that mind that we just studied about Jesus be in you. The five things we saw about Jesus is that he is God, he emptied himself, he became a servant, he became a man, and he humbled himself and became obedient and

And I look at that, at what he's done, I'm blown away. It's hard to comprehend. How could he love us so much? How could he bring himself so low? It should fill us with awe and wonder. But as I then relate back to verse 5 and realize I am called to do the same things, to bring myself low, to have that same mind and attitude. Well, now it's not awe and adoration and wonder. It kind of makes me sick.

Seriously, like my body violently revolts against this whole concept. It makes me sick to look at this and say, this is what God is asking me to do. Yet that's what it is. Our flesh hates it. Our sinful nature abhors it. But it's what God has called us to do. As we walk worthy of the gospel of Christ, three things we'll look at from Jesus's example.

Three things that God is speaking to us this morning. This is what you and I are to do and to walk away with applying to our lives. In order to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, we must be like him. We must let the mind of Christ be in us. What are these three things? First one, empty yourself. Empty yourself. Jesus emptied himself of his glory.

He emptied himself completely and he calls us to do the same. Empty yourself of glory. Make yourself of no reputation. When someone is proud and arrogant, we often say, you know, they're full of themselves. We say that to mean that, you know, they think they're so important. They think that they're all that. And very often that describes us. We're full of ourselves, but we need to empty ourselves.

This concept is completely contrary to the world. Society, psychologists and psychiatrists and all of the rest of the world, they say, no, what you need is you need a good, healthy dose of self-esteem. That's what you need. That's what people are lacking. But the reality is, the Bible says, we already have too much self-esteem. We are consumed with ourselves.

Consumed with how important we think we are. Consumed with how talented we think we are. Maybe consumed with how ugly we think we are. Or how we've been wronged. Or how we should be treated. Or what we think we deserve. We're consumed with ourselves. And so God says, let me make this very clear for you. I'll clear it up for you real quick. Here's what you deserve. You deserve hell. Every one of us here this morning, we deserve judgment. Eternity separated from God.

Because of our sin. And our response, usually, no, I'm a good person. I've never killed anyone. I go to church. For crying out loud, I'm the pastor of the church. How could I deserve hell? God says, you do deserve hell. You are wicked. Your heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. The inclination of your heart is evil continually. And again, I'll argue. No, I'm pretty good. I'm better than Charles.

Better than Ronnie or whoever else I might compare myself. I'm pretty good compared to them. You see how we think? I'm pretty good. I'm better than. We're full of ourselves. I deserve heaven. You ask anybody randomly on the street, you think you deserve to go to heaven? Oh, yeah. Why? Well, I'm pretty good. Never killed anybody. Haven't done anything really bad. I pray to God. We all think we deserve heaven because we're full of ourselves.

Jesus says, you need to empty yourself. Now, the ironic thing is, Jesus actually had something to empty himself of. He calls us to empty ourselves, but the reality is we're already empty. We just don't know it. We think we're all this and we got all these things going for us and we're, Jesus says, you're empty. You don't realize that you're poor, blind and naked.

I counsel you to buy gold from me and clothes and I'll fill your life. But come to me, open your eyes and realize that you're empty. Jesus made this very clear. We have to empty ourselves. In Luke chapter 9, he gave a condition. If you want to follow Jesus, if you want to walk with him, if you want to be his disciple, he gave this condition in Luke 9, 23. He says, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself.

Take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. If you want to follow Jesus, the first thing he says you must do is you must deny yourself, empty yourself. This word deny means to lose sight of oneself and one's own interests. The first thing you got to do is put aside everything about you if you're going to follow Jesus, if you want to have a walk with God.

If you want to walk worthy of the gospel, you must put aside your own interests. Empty yourself. Deny yourself. Die to yourself. But the second thing we learn from Jesus' example this morning, number one, we empty ourselves. But number two, following Jesus' example in verse 7, we become a servant.

Just like Jesus became a bondservant, altogether consumed in the will of another. So the idea is we are to empty ourselves, but we don't just remain empty. God doesn't call us to an empty life. Jesus said, I came that you may have abundant life, overflowing life, life to the max, to the full in John 10. He wants to give us full life. And so we're not to be empty. We're then to fill ourselves, but not with ourselves.

What do we fill ourselves with? Do you remember the priorities we've been looking at through the book of Philippians? In order to have joy in our life, we apply the acronym. First the J, which stands for, and then the O, which stands for, and then the Y, which stands for, Jesus, others, yourself. You're to empty yourself. I'm to empty myself, but then to be filled up again in that order. First, I fill my life with Jesus.

relationship with him, time in his word, time in prayer, time in fellowship, time worshiping him. Jesus. Jesus becomes my life. And then as I give my life to Jesus and my life is consumed with Jesus, then God says, okay, now the rest of the space, the rest of the time, put others in there. And so I give my life to Jesus and then I give my life to others and then myself lasts. That's the order. If I'm to have joy, if I'm to follow Jesus,

That is the order of my priorities. I need to be altogether consumed with the will of God and become a bondservant, serving him and serving others before myself. Jesus, again, in Mark chapter 10,

He called his disciples to him and he says, you know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them. And their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever desires to be great among you shall be your servant. And whoever desires to be first shall be slave of all. Jesus says, listen, I know you want to be great. And that's not a bad thing. And he doesn't condemn them for wanting to be great.

But he says, you're just going about it wrong. You're seeing the example of authority and power and influence in this world. And you're thinking, that's how I can become great. Jesus encourages us, become great, but not that way. That's the way that the Gentiles live and lord it over others. Here's the method for you and I as Christians. Become a servant of all. Yeah, if you want to be the greatest, become a slave.

Serve others, Jesus said. They are the priority. Die to yourself, empty yourself, and become a servant. Serving Jesus Christ, serving others before yourself. Now, as we're commanded to become servants, how do we know when that's accomplished? How do we know when we've arrived and we've become a servant? I love what Gail Irwin has to say about this. He says, do you know how you can tell if you're a servant? By the way that you act when someone treats you like one.

When someone tells you what to do and expects you to meet their needs and serve them, how do you act? Is your heart and attitude, yes, that's the rightful thing. I'm your servant. Who do they think they are? Do they know who I am? What do they think they're doing? We need to become servants, Jesus says. Following Jesus' example, Paul says in Philippians 2, become a servant altogether consumed in the will of God and serving others. Finally, the third thing,

We apply to ourselves this morning. First, we empty ourselves. Second, we become a servant. And then thirdly, following Jesus' example in verse 8, you're to humble yourself and become obedient to death. Doesn't your flesh just kind of cringe and make your hair stand up just at the thought of that? To be obedient to death in humility. Jesus did this. He humbled himself and became obedient to death.

And this is so important for us. This is really a key that we need to learn. Because humility, it's one of those things we talk about all the time, but the reality is that humility is very elusive to us. We have trouble actually defining humility. What is that exactly? It's not self-pity or just kind of beating ourselves up. That's not humility. So then how do I obtain humility if I'm supposed to humble myself? How exactly do I do that?

Is there a 12-step program and then when I get to it, then I'm humble? How do we humble ourselves? What is it really that's taking place there? How do I humble myself? Well, the answer is we become obedient to the point of death. If you want to humble yourself, become obedient to the point of death because obedience takes humility.

By obeying, we're saying, I will receive instruction and do what I'm told. I will submit to you and do what you want me to do rather than what I want to do. Jesus came to do what he was told, not to tell others what to do. And he called us to do the same. Who are we to obey? First and foremost, we obey God.

The disciples in the book of Acts were before the Sanhedrin and the rulers there, they told them, do not preach in the name of Jesus anymore. And the disciples said, well, you judge for yourselves who we're to obey, whether you or God. And of course, we're to obey God rather than men. God comes first.

We obey God regardless of what anybody else says. That's our place. That's what we're called to do. To be obedient to him whether we like it or not. Be obedient to him whether the government likes it or not. Or whether our employer likes it or not. Our family likes it or not. Our society likes it or not. We're to be obedient to God first and foremost. But he also, God, gives us some instructions in the scripture about others that we're to be obedient to. Submissive to.

Another word we don't like, submission. In 1 Peter 2, he outlines some of them for us. Chapter 2 and 3, really. First in chapter 2, verses 13 through 17, Peter tells us we're to be submitted to the government. The laws of the land, the authority that's over us, we're to be obedient to the point of death as long as it doesn't contradict the first one, being obedient to God.

But in the confines of God's scriptures and God's word, we're to be obedient to the point of death to the government, to the authority that God has placed over us. He goes on in chapter 2, verses 18 through 25 of 1 Peter to tell us, not only are you to be obedient and submissive to the government, but you're to be obedient and submissive to your masters. He talks about slaves and masters. Now, slaves and masters in our day today,

would be the same as talking about employees and employers. And so he says, employees, you are to be submitted to your employer to the point of death, as long as it doesn't contradict the first, obedience to God, or the second, obedience to the government. You're not doing anything illegal, not breaking the laws of God, then obedience to death, to the point of death. Humble yourself, Peter says, Paul says, Jesus says, and obey.

Submit to your God, to your government, to your employer. Then chapter 3, don't we love this chapter? Verses 1 through 7, husbands and wives. Not only are we to submit to God and government and employer, but wives are to submit to their husbands, Peter says. And Paul says in Ephesians chapter 5 as well. Colossians as well, Paul says that.

Wives are to submit to their husbands, but husbands are to submit to their wives as well. We saw that in Ephesians chapter 5. We see it in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 7, where Paul says, husbands likewise, likewise is pointing back to the subject that he was talking about, which is submission. He says, dwell with your wives with understanding, which means submit to them so that you can dwell with them with understanding. Husbands, wives, employers, government, God, humble yourself.

to be obedient to the point of death. In other portions of Scripture, we also see children are to be obedient to their parents, Ephesians 6, 1 through 4, and throughout the Scriptures in 1 Corinthians, as well as Hebrews 13, 17, to be obedient to spiritual leaders. We are to be obedient. We're to humble ourselves and be obedient to the point of death.

That's our place. That's what God has called us to do. That is the mind of Christ that we are called to put on. It's one thing to say, have the mind of Christ and talk about, you know, in general, loving your enemies or being good or...

But Paul lists these specific things. He emptied himself. He became a bondservant. And he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. Now these things have this mind in you, have this same attitude, live this way. Jesus Christ is the model. He's your example. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Many will say, you know, I can't have the mind of Christ. It's impossible. He had an advantage because he was God and so he was able to do that, but I can't do that. And if that's our heart, then we've forgotten that he emptied himself. Everything he did, he did as a man, relying upon God, just like you and I. He is the model for us because he became a man and walked with God the way that he calls us to. These things apply to our lives.

at church, at home, at work, wherever we are. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And so I want to encourage you believers, take on the mind of Christ. Empty yourself and become a servant and humble yourself to be obedient to the point of death. And for those of you who are here,

Maybe you've never received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Maybe you've walked away and one time you had a relationship with him. Today is the day of salvation. You need to get right with him because salvation is only found through Jesus Christ. There's no other way. It's only through his work, what he did for us on the cross. So the worship team is going to come up and close us in a last song. There's going to be people coming up to pray for you.

If you have prayer requests and needs, if you have things on your heart areas, you just want to agree with God and what he's been speaking to you. Or maybe you have some concerns and some illnesses. Come up for prayer. We'd love to agree with you, but maybe you need to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Today is the day of salvation for you. God's giving you an opportunity. Receive the work. Be born again. Receive the forgiveness and grace and mercy that Jesus offers to you today.

So we'll close in this last song. Afterwards, you can come up for prayer or to receive Jesus Christ. Let's worship the Lord.