PHILIPPIANS 2 PUTTING JESUS FIRST IN OUR CONFLICTS2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Philippians 2 Putting Jesus First In Our Conflicts

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 2019. I don't know about you, but my mind is a wreck tonight, man. It's been a crazy week. I don't know if it's allergies or what, but I've kind of like been in a fog all week. And then at work, it's just been...

a lot of meetings that are filled with strategy, that are filled with decisions about, you know, which way the company should go. And it's been really intense. And so I'm blessed to be able to be here and kind of like, kind of let those things go a little bit and just focus on the Lord and be ministered to by the Lord. And as we're working our way through the book of Philippians, we're trying to do that and looking at the focus of Jesus and the priority of Jesus here in the book of Philippians is evident in

throughout the book. And so we'll be looking at Jesus again this evening, but probably in a different way than you might have expected as you entered in, especially or even if you knew the passage. Because, well, it kind of took a different turn as the Lord was working these things out as I was preparing it. And I wasn't really expecting what the Lord wanted to emphasize and focus on here. But

Enough mystery. That's just to kind of catch your attention. Now you're hooked, right? Now let's read the passage and then we'll jump into the message. All right. Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 11. Here's what it says. Therefore, if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit.

Verse 8.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

Here in Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 11, we have this incredible passage and there's incredible truths and doctrine here, theology that you can study for the rest of your lives and not fully grasp or understand or have all the answers to. As Paul talks about Jesus being God and becoming man, there's great importance in these things that he is sharing.

And it's right in line with the priority of Jesus that we see emphasized throughout the book of Philippians and his importance in our lives, in our minds, in our hearts, and his place as we pursue him, as we walk with him. But tonight, as we look at this passage, I've titled the message, Putting Jesus First in Our Conflicts.

As I mentioned a few moments ago, as I began to prepare to teach this passage and I was going over it again and putting my thoughts together and considering the different aspects of the passage. Well, this passage in verses 5 through 11 is like,

super well known because if you're going to study doctrine, if you're going to study the nature of Jesus Christ and the humanity of Jesus Christ, this is one of those key passages. And it's one of those passages that has such depth in me. And so I kind of expected verses one, two, three, and four to kind of be, you know, we'll kind of

Cover those lightly and jump to verse 5 and, you know, kind of dive into the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ and the humanity of Jesus Christ and how those work together. And that was kind of my expectation because I know I'm familiar with the passage, right? But as I was reading through and preparing, praying, thinking about what Paul is talking about here, again, conflict is not typically what comes to mind when I think of Philippians in general, right?

and specifically Philippians chapter 2. Now being familiar with the book of Philippians, I think of conflict in the context of Philippians chapter 4. In Philippians chapter 4, Paul addresses two people. I implore you, or I implore Iodia and I implore Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And he goes on to encourage the people. I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

And so in chapter 4, he calls out a couple people and he says, look, there's some things going on and he doesn't tell us what those are, but you need to find a way to come together and be of the same mind.

And the rest of you, church, right, don't just like sit there on the sidelines saying, fight, fight, fight. No, no. You come alongside and help them to come together and be of the same mind. That there is the need for reconciliation and to bring this matter to a close. So I think of that in the context of Philippians chapter 4, but not in Philippians chapter 2, and not in the book of Philippians as a whole. I think of Philippians, I think of joy, right? I think of

Those kinds of things, but not conflict. When I think of the Philippian church, the church there in Philippi, I imagine it as an awesome church without problems. I don't know if that's the way you imagine it, but I realized as I was preparing this message, that's how I imagined Philippi. Philippi was the only church that supported Paul financially. As he's doing ministry around the area and then even moving down to Corinth from where they were, Philippi was...

supporting Paul and helping Paul and blessing Paul. They were really instrumental in helping to provide and they were used by the Lord greatly in that way. And so I think of the church of Philippi as an awesome church without any problems. But here in chapter two, although there is incredible doctrine here, Paul's not addressing that doctrine because he needs to teach the doctrine. He's addressing the doctrine in order to illustrate the path to follow for unity. And

And there is apparently some conflict issues in the church of Philippi. There's some divisions, there's some wranglings, there's some issues that are going on between people, whether they're prominent people or groups of people. We don't know from what Paul says the exact circumstances, but we can see that, well, there is conflict that Paul is addressing. And it really starts back in chapter one in verse 27. Take a look at that real quick. He says, "'Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.'"

He's calling them to make sure their conduct is worthy of the gospel of Christ in chapter 1, verse 27.

And he goes on to talk about the suffering that we get the privilege of participating in, the suffering on behalf of Christ. But he's there emphasizing that the need to stand fast in one spirit with one mind and emphasizing that unity, implying that, and as we see now as we work our way into chapter two, they're not separate thoughts and completely separate subjects. It's kind of Paul's introduction into this subject that unity,

That there is not unity and there needs to be unity. There's two minds or maybe more. And there needs to be one mind. And there's a striving but amongst each other. Not striving together for the faith of the gospel. And then as we work our way into chapter 2 in verse 2. He says,

There's the need for this coming together, for this like-mindedness. And then we're not going to cover it tonight, but jump down to verse 14 of chapter 2 here. Paul goes on to give the instruction, Paul is here giving them instruction to do all things without complaining and disputing.

This isn't, again, a separate thought. This is the continuation of what began in chapter one, verse 27, that one-mindedness, that working together, striving together flows into our passage tonight and then continues to flow on from there where Paul says, now be obedient to this, okay guys? Do everything without complaining and disputing.

And we can learn from that. And as we kind of imagine the church of Philippi in our minds, maybe it's a little bit more like our church than we would have imagined, right? It's, well, it's got some complaining and disputing going on. It has some conflict between people. And how do we address that? And what do we do about that? When there is conflict between us and others within the church, perhaps within our families, within

What do we do when there's different ideas and different agendas and different expectations? How do we resolve conflicts? Well, here in the book of Philippians, we're reminded to put Jesus first. And when we put Jesus first for real, it will begin the process of resolving those conflicts. And so let's jump into our passage tonight. Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2 gives us point number one tonight, and that is unite together because of Jesus.

he says again in verse 1 therefore if there is any consolation in christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the spirit if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind he starts out in the first verse and he says let's let's think about jesus for a moment if there is any consolation in christ

If there's any encouragement, hope, comfort in Christ, if there is any. Now, when he says, if there is any, he's not saying it as if there is a question. You know, I don't really know if there's any consolation in Christ. I don't know if the love of Christ brings you any comfort. You know, that's a mystery. It's a question. I don't know if there's any fellowship of the Holy Spirit. No, no, he's not using the word if as in a question or that it could be possible that it's not. He's using the word if

in a way that it could be used or replaced with the word since. If I get off work and I call my wife and I say, hey, wife, I never call her wife, but I just did. So I'm rolling with it. Hey, wife, I'm going to the store on the way home from work. Do you need me to pick up anything? And wife responds and she says, well, if you're going to the store, pick me up. If you're going to the store, here's what I need. Now, she's not using the word if as a question, right? I just told her I'm going to the store.

So, okay, well, since you're going to the store or if you're going to the store, it's a word that can be used in either way. And here what Paul is saying is that there is all of these things. Every single one of these things are found in Christ. There is consolation in Christ. There is comfort that you receive from the love of Christ. And you have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, right?

Back in Romans, Paul said, look, if you don't have the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, you're not in Christ. So when you're in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling within. You have his affection and mercy. You have received consolation and comfort and fellowship of the Spirit, affection and mercy from Jesus. And so Paul starts here in what we have in Christ as he begins to address the path to conflict resolution.

It gives us some important truths, some important elements here. When we're handling difficulties with people, we need to always approach it in light of what Christ has done for us and provided for us. Whenever I'm encountering some kind of conflict, some kind of difficulty, especially with believers in the body of Christ, and it could be easy in our, you know, fantasy land mind that, well, there should never be conflict. No, the reality is there is conflict.

And it needs to be addressed. It needs to be resolved. And that's what Paul's going to go on to say. But we can't just try to fix it. We can't just try to do it, you know, in our own efforts or with our own ideas. But when we handle those, when we approach those situations, we need to begin with what we have in Christ and what Christ has done for us.

And so since Christ has done all of this for us, since Jesus has provided so much for you, Paul says in verse two, Paul says essentially the same thing, but just over and over and over again to help drive the point home for us. There needs to be unity. Unity.

In light of what Christ has done for us, his followers, his people, his children, there needs to be unity amongst them. Here's Jesus. He died. He gave himself. He provided consolation and comfort and the Holy Spirit and affection and mercy to his children, his body. There's no place then for there to be division, animosity between members of the body of Christ.

And so Paul says, fulfill my joy. You know, it would really bless me. In light of all that Christ has done for you, if you would be like-minded. If you could bring your minds to be in the same place, to have the same perspective. If you could have the same love. If you could come together and work things out so that your focus is on love. That you would be joined together in your purpose, in your love for one another and for the Lord. Being of one accord.

And I always think of one accord as in a Honda Accord. It just, I don't know, it always comes back in my head. Being of one accord, we all squeeze into one little Honda Accord. And it means we're all together and we're going the same direction. So we're like-minded, we're stuck in the same car, but we love one another. Paul says, be of one mind. Be of one mind. And that's difficult because, well, we come from different backgrounds and we have different ideas and different perspectives.

What do Christians divide over? Well, there's a long list, but I maybe would boil it down to, we divide over what we do. We divide over how we do it, and we divide over who gets to do it. There's been, you know, many kind of humorous stories about, but

tragically true stories about things that churches have divided over, you know, the color of the carpet, whether or not to have pews or chairs and, you know, lots of things that we could look at. What we do, that's something that we divide over. Within a church, what we do, well, do we do service this way? Do we have this kind of music? Do we have that kind of music?

Do we do this kind of event in this ministry or do we do that kind of event? What we do is something that is going to stir up because, well, different people are going to have different ideas about what we should do as a church. Different people are going to have different ideas about what we should do as individuals, what we should do as friends, what we should do as family. This is what the expectation is. And so what we do becomes, well, the source of

Things to fight over. Things to divide over. Things that, well, we're not like-minded. We're not in the one accord. You know, we're going different directions. We want different things. We have different ideas about what we should do. But then if we can come together and agree on what we do, how we do it, then can become another challenge. And so, okay, we need to put together a retreat. All right, we all agree. We need to have a retreat. Now,

How are we going to do this? Well, I think this, and I think that, and we should do it over here. We should go, you know, and now there's all this perspectives, all these ideas, and there's this potential division because, well, we agree on what we should do, but we don't agree on how we should do it. And it can cause problems. And there's brokenness in relationships, in fellowships, in ministries as a result of differing ideas of how we do what we've agreed to do.

Sometimes we agree on what we should do. We agree on how we should do it. Then the division comes when it gets to the point of who gets to do it. And so I plan the retreat. Richard's on board. He's all excited. How we do it? Oh, well, we're going to go here and this is what's going to happen. And then I'm going to teach. And Richard says, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought I was going to teach. I think I should be the one.

And who gets to do it, or maybe Cisco is going to teach and Richard's saying, no, no, no, no, no. Jeff should teach. It doesn't necessarily have to be promoting myself. But the idea is, I have different ideas about who should be involved in this. And so what we do, how we do it, who gets to do it,

I'm sure there's a great variety of multitude of other things that we could consider that we divide over, that cause conflict, where suddenly someone's got out of the car. We're not in one accord anymore, but now we're in separate cars. There's different ideas about what we do, how we do it, and who gets to do it. And Paul says, in those situations, in those contexts, when you have those different ideas and you're facing those kinds of things,

First, you start by reflecting on, remembering what we have in Christ, what Christ has provided for us. And then working from that, well, we need to become like-minded and work towards the same love. We need to unite together. How do you get there? How do you get from divided over these things to now like-minded, same love, one accord, one mind? It doesn't happen by winning. It doesn't happen by forcefulness.

It doesn't happen automatically, but it takes some effort. And I would suggest it probably will take some listening. I shared a little bit about my workplace this past week. We kind of hit a fork in the road. And it's a fork in the road that we've been working towards ever since I started this job. But we're at the point where it's ready to go and then hold up, back up, wait a minute. Maybe we need to like stop this and go a completely different direction.

And so we've had to like go back to the drawing board and it's just been wall-to-wall meetings, back-to-back meetings, in-depth discussions, huge, you know, projections, five, ten years ahead, you know, like try to figure out what is the best course for the company. And there's very different ideas on the path that we should take. And so it's taken, well, some deliberate effort to

to sit down and one of the key elements of being able to kind of get past the different ideas is learning to listen to the other idea. I have my idea, right? I'm not saying I have ideas. I'm just the developer, but I'm part of it. And so we have our ideas, right? There's this idea. I have this idea and they have this idea. And I don't really understand this idea. I have my idea. I'm fighting for that. And it's like, we should do my idea. But

But I haven't yet listened to their idea. And it's interesting. Today there was like, oh, there's maybe hope of some, you know, we can all climb together in one accord. Even though we went to lunch and we all got in separate cars. But, you know, there's hope that we're going to be able to get in one accord at the end of this. As we started to really listen to each other and understand what was going on there and what was coming. And there's hope.

Well, we might be coming to an agreement. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Understanding the other person is a big piece. Whether it's a matter of understanding or something else, the point is, it's going to take some effort. It's effort that we need to put in because of what Jesus has done for us. He's provided us the resources. It's not just that he has done these things for us and so, you know, we're beneficiaries and that's great, but the consolation, the comfort, the spirit, the

These are all the things that we need. These are the tools that we need in order to resolve conflict. Because in resolving conflict, there's going to be hurts. And I'm going to need to be comforted. Jesus has provided the comfort that I need. Mercy, yeah, it's going to be necessary. And Jesus has provided the mercy. And boy, the Holy Spirit is going to be required. You know, like that, all of those elements are going to be required. But Jesus has provided those. And so Paul says, fulfill my joy.

receive all that Jesus has provided and then put that to work. Don't let those divisions stand, but work together, unite together because of what Christ has done for you and what he has provided for you. Well, moving on to verses three and four, we get point number two, and that is increase your care for others. Here as we kind of continue understanding what Christ has done for us, understanding this is what we're working towards, that like-mindedness, that one accord,

It starts by recognizing what Christ has provided for us and the resources that we have in him. But now we also need to develop in our care for one another. Verse 3 goes on to say, And so here Paul gets a little bit more practical for us.

He says, let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. He qualifies the word ambition, selfish ambition. Let nothing be done for your own selfish ideas, your own selfish desires, your own desires for advancement, your own desires for a position, your own desires for promotion. Paul says, don't let anything be done, nothing, not even one thing be done for that purpose or conceit.

And the idea of conceit, you know, someone who is conceited, right? It's being full of yourself. One dictionary defined it as an excessively favorable opinion of one's own importance. An excessively favorable opinion of one's own importance. I don't know about you, but my opinion of my own importance is excessively favorable. And Paul says, don't let that be the motivation.

Don't let that be the core of anything that you do. And so you're seeking to resolve conflict. Don't let that be the motivation. You're seeking to do anything for the Lord, on behalf of the Lord. You're seeking to do anything at all. Let nothing be done, he says, for your own selfish gain or because you think you're the most important one or you're the one that really matters. Paul is really challenging us.

to rethink ourselves. And this is something that I would suggest every single one of us has to wrestle with. You know, there's some people who are perhaps more conceited than others, but I would also suggest we should never think ourselves not conceited, right? You may not be as arrogant as some others are. I may not be as arrogant as Pastor Cisco is, right? But that doesn't mean I'm not arrogant, right?

And I can compare myself to Pastor Cisco and go, yeah, see, I'm not arrogant, but that's not the standard. And that's not a clear picture of where I'm at. This is something that is a challenge for all of us. We have selfish ambitions. We are filled with ourselves to a greater degree than we should be. And it's one of the reasons why we have conflict. James tells us, right, where do wars come from?

Where do these fights come from? They come from internal. It's an issue within our hearts. Charles Spurgeon says, When we're not trying to get our way, when it's not our own importance that matters, then there's no quarrel. There's no fight. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. In contrast, he says,

Let each esteem others better than himself. So this is the opposite. Instead of being filled with the idea of how important I am, in lowliness of mind, I look at you and I say, you're important. You're important.

And I esteem you better than me. Now, the idea here of esteeming others better than himself, that doesn't mean, you know, I have to pretend like Roman is better at the guitar than me. I can quite confidently say I am better at the guitar than Roman, right? It doesn't mean we have to like be weird like that. But at the same time, we have this opinion, this esteem of others. And we are not to have this idea that

Well, someone is lesser, that they're of lesser value than us, that they're of lesser value in the body of Christ, that they're of less importance, that they can contribute less, that they can be less, you know, a part of what God wants to do. No, no. We need to understand that, well, God has designed the body of Christ so that each part is important. Each one has its role. Each one has its place. And that every person, well, God loves. And every person is a person that Jesus died for.

And it's easy for us to be consumed with ourselves and whether intentionally or not, it causes us to esteem others as lesser than ourselves. We need to esteem others as better than ourselves, Paul says. Pastor Warren Risby says, Paul wanted them to see that the basic cause was selfishness and the cause of selfishness is pride. There can be no joy in the life of the Christian who puts himself above others.

The basic cause, the root issue of the conflict and the striving that they're having, the disputes that are going on, the complaining that is happening, referencing verse 14 here, do all things without complaining or disputing. They're doing things and we're complaining and disputing while they did it because selfishness and pride. And Paul is saying, do nothing from selfishness or pride. Instead, let each of you, verse four, look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

And I like the way that Paul puts this here. I think it's important for us to understand. He says, let each of you look out not only for his own interests. Paul says, look, you have to look out for your own interests. That's part of life. That's part of what the Lord wants of you. There's a healthy way to look out for your own interests. And sometimes it's obvious to us. And sometimes we get really weird in our minds and come up with weird ideas. But just kind of a simple example.

You could think, well, does God want you to be generous? Yeah, God wants you to be generous. So should you give away all of your money? That's probably a greater amount than God is actually calling you or wanting you to give away. Now, some people, he does call them to give it all away, right? But the point is being generous, which I think we could agree, that's how God wants us to be, doesn't mean that we don't have anything because God also wants you to provide for yourself.

He also wants you to provide for your family. He's giving you resources for your purpose, for providing for your family. And so to give away more than what God is calling you to give away, well, it goes beyond generosity. And now it becomes unfaithfulness in your stewardship of what God has provided. And so you have to look out for your own interests.

You can't just give everybody all your money. You can't just help every need that is there. You can't just do everything that you want to do perhaps. You have to also have some boundaries so that you can protect what God has called you to maintain and manage for yourself. Now on the one hand...

We don't really have to be instructed or taught to look out for our own interests. What Paul is saying here is saying, but don't only look out for your own interests. You're going to do that, and that's part of what you should do. There's no getting around that. You're going to want to take care of yourself already. But also there's an element, there's a healthy balance to, yeah, you should do that. But what you need to work on is increasing your perspective to focus on what others need.

What would be good for others? It can be easy to be consumed with what's good for me. What do I want? What do I desire? What do I deserve? What do I think? But what are the interests of others? And so Paul says, yes, you're taking care of yourself. You're looking out for your own interests. Part of that might be healthy and part of that might be good. But rather than try to like root out and like figure out all the details of that, here's what you should do. Start adding on the interests of others and look around and think what is needed? What

How can I care for them? I always define love as doing what is best for someone. Love is desiring and doing what is best for people around you. And so in the midst of conflict, specifically, what we need to do is increase our care. To stop trying to win for winning's sake,

to stop trying to win for our own benefit, to stop trying to push for and accomplish, you know, what we want and get our goals met and get our perspectives done. And, you know, what really we need to do is to see on the other side of that conflict and say, what's best for them, Lord? How can I care for that person? How can I meet their needs? How can I be part of providing for them and fulfilling them in what you want to do?

And so it doesn't mean you drop your interests altogether. God's given you resources. He's given you perhaps vision. He's given you, but there's a way to come together and resolve that conflict by not just focusing on what you have, what you've heard, what you think, what you know the Lord wants of you, but now bringing in out of love and care and concern that what's best for the others, specifically the people involved.

that you're in conflict with. Increase your care for others. When we put Jesus first in our conflicts, we go back and we receive what he has for us. His love for us enables us to love one another. His comfort for us enables us to be hurt by the other and still love them and care for them and do what's best in their interest, for their best interest, right? Like we have from the Lord that the necessary tools to be able to

to navigate that conflict in a way that we look out for our interests and what he's called us to, but that we also make sure that we're taking care of them, that we're working towards what's best for them because we love them. And there can be even, you know, hard, difficult conflict, but that is navigated with love, not with selfish ambition and conceit, but that you're working through, and it is work, but you're working through with love

the goal, the motivation of love and reconciliation. Well, moving on to verses five through eight, we get point number two or point number three this evening. Become a servant like Jesus did. So here in this incredibly powerful doctrine, we're not gonna dig into the doctrine super in-depth tonight, but more on the surface, just stop and think on the reality of what Jesus did in becoming a servant and then his call to follow his example.

Again, in verse five, he says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. And so again, looking at this passage,

It's incredibly powerful. There is important theology. Books and books and books have been written, you know, on this passage. There is this depth because, well, it talks about Jesus being in the form of God. And so you have the understanding of Jesus being God, the triune nature of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, right? And Jesus being God, being equal to the Father, and that's part of the

triune nature of God, doctrine and theology, right? And yet Jesus did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. He didn't decide that I have to hold on to my status and my position with the Father at all costs. But instead, he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of man. And so here you have God, Jesus, equal to the Father, one with the Father, and

At the same time, he became man. And you have the incarnation, the humanity of Jesus, not changing his nature in the sense of not being God, you know, removing his deity, but adding humanity to his deity so that Jesus is God. And at the same time, Jesus became a man. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. So here you have Jesus, the son of God,

who is God who became man, he went to the cross. And there unfolds the gospel. God himself, the father sent his only begotten son. He died upon the cross for us. Powerful truths, important pillars of the Christian faith. Great depth in theology. And you can study the kenosis, the emptying of himself and all of that. I'm not going to get into all the, you know, those elements of this passage. But instead I would back up to verse 5.

And look at why Paul is bringing this up. He says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. The whole point of this passage, Paul is not trying to, you know, develop a systematic theology here, you know, a doctrine and teach that and reveal that. And, you know, it's the first time they've heard of it. It's probably actually just like a quick refresher course on, you know, what he actually gave in person back when he was in Philippi. But he brings it up for the purpose of saying,

You know what Jesus did. Now you learn to follow his example. Pastor David Guzik puts it this way. It's all too easy for us to read the following description of Jesus and admire it from a distance. God wants us to be awed by it, but also to see it as something we must enter into and imitate. Enter into it. And so what does this mean for us?

As you picture Jesus, one with the Father in eternity from all existence, and, well, he made himself of no reputation. How big of a transition is that? From being in glory from all eternity with the Father to becoming of no reputation in a manger in the outskirts of Bethlehem. It's, you know, if you're thinking about it in terms of, you know, dropping a couple pegs, it's like, well, that's not like a couple pegs, right? That's like infinity to zero, right?

Jesus made himself of no reputation. And here we are, filled with selfish ambition and conceit. We're full of ourselves, right? We're holding on to that. And no, I need to be right. And I'm in this conflict because, you know, I'm right. And I need to, this is, my way is the better way. And, you know, we're in the midst of the conflict, not of no reputation, but defending our reputation, insisting on our reputation.

Maybe trying to make a name for ourselves through the conflict and have a reputation, you know, whatever the case may be. But we're holding on to our position, our reputation. We're holding on to what we have in a way that Jesus did not. What was best for Jesus? In some senses, you could say just to stay with the Father in eternity, right? But Jesus decided, no, you know what's best for me is what's best for them. And that's for me to let go of my privileges and

To step out of my glorious position, to become of no reputation, to come in the likeness of men. But then Jesus didn't stop there in just stepping out of glory into humanity. In verse 8, being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. How many times are we obedient to the Father to the point of death? Jesus here is setting the example for us.

And if we are obedient to the point of death, then even if this conflict kills us, then that's okay because I was obedient to the Father. Even if losing that conflict kills us, it's okay, I was obedient to the Father. Now that doesn't mean that God always wants us to lose the conflict and it's not really a competition, so losing is not quite the right thing. But even if it's not my perspective that wins in the end of the day, or maybe it is.

But the issue is not my reputation and me and what I want. Jesus didn't do that for those purposes. He did that for the benefit of those that he came to serve. He did that out of obedience to the Father. And so it's in submission to the Father. We become a servant like Jesus did, willing to serve even to the point of death, the death upon the cross. The classic picture of Jesus as a servant, he gives to us in John chapter 13.

where he, you know, lays aside his clothes. He takes on a towel, girds himself, and takes the role of the lowest slave of a home. And he says, I'm going to wash your feet to his disciples. Afterwards, he says, hey, you guys understand what I just did? If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, well, then you should wash one another's feet. I've given you an example that you should do as I've done to you.

That's the point of this passage. You look at where Jesus was and to the extent that he humbled himself, to the extent that he emptied himself, to the extent that he obeyed the Father and looked out for the interests of the others, to that extent, we're to follow his example and empty ourselves and give of ourselves and be servants to the Father. But ultimately, you know what that means practically? That means we're serving people.

The commentator Thomas Constable, I often quote from him in the teachings. He had this diagram, this chart that kind of, I thought, brought some useful ideas and insights into this idea of being a servant like Jesus. And he presents it as the difference between a helper and a servant. I think it's useful for us to consider these things, just to kind of help us evaluate and help us kind of pursue further this idea of becoming a servant like Jesus did.

He says,

And so in the midst of the conflict, when the Lord says, well, here's what I want, and here's how I want you to love this person that is fighting with you, and there's conflict and there's battles, and that's always going to be inconvenient, right? And so I might, you know, think I'm being a servant, but maybe I'm just being a helper. Just when it's convenient, just when it suits my interests, just when it's easy for me. I've got selfish ambition and vain conceit, right? That I'm full of myself. Helpers help people they like, right?

servants serve even people they dislike, even people that irritate and bug. I mean, it's, you know, Jesus talked about, hey, if you love those who love you, you know, so what? Like, that's not, that's not some big thing, right? But can you love those and serve those that irritate you and annoy you, that hate you? Helpers help people they like, but servants serve even people they dislike. Helpers help when they enjoy the work.

Servants serve even when they dislike the work. Well, that sounds like fun. I'm in. I'll do that. Sure. Thanks for the help, right? But servants, that's different. Oh man, I really don't like to do that. Lord, I'm obedient to you. I'm serving you. It doesn't matter if it's something I like. Helpers help to obtain personal satisfaction. Servants serve even if they receive no personal satisfaction. For servants, it's sacrifice. It's not necessarily for my benefit. I may not get anything out of it.

Now the reality is you serve the Lord and you will get reward out of it, but you may not see it quickly. And we'll see that in the next few verses in just a moment. But if I'm only helping because of what I get out of it, well, I'm a helper. I'm not a servant. Helpers help with an attitude of assisting another. Servants serve with an attitude of enabling another. And that's an interesting one to consider.

I want to provide some assistance, some help, or I want to enable. And this goes back to the idea of loving and caring for the interests of the other, that I want what's best for you. And so I'm going to work on resolving this conflict. I'm going to work on relating to you. I'm going to work on this relationship and reconciliation, not just to, okay, now then there's no conflict and okay, you know, that's better. But so that the end result is, well, you're in a better position now.

I've helped you work towards what's best for you. It's the difference between servants and helpers. Interesting things for us to consider. And you can walk through these and understand Jesus. He was a servant. Although he is God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, existing with the Father in all glory from, we don't even understand the from, but from forever, he became a servant. And Paul says, let this mind be in you,

which was also in Christ Jesus. Well, finally, verses 9 through 11 gives us point number four, and that is trust God to be glorified in the end. In verse 9, he says,

Another, like just, this is a passage we frequent, right? This is one that we know Jesus is exalted above all others and incredible truth about Jesus. And you can bow now in salvation. You can bow before him in eternity unto damnation. Like we know these truths, we know these concepts, but in light of what Paul has been saying, Jesus humbled himself and became a servant. He emptied himself and stepped out of glory and

Because he knew the end result would be the glory of God the Father. He was able to humble himself to that degree. He was able to empty himself to that level. He was able to serve to that capacity because the end result is the glory of God the Father. And the reality is, if that's what we want, if our end goal is the glory of God the Father, well, there will be conflict still eventually.

we'll be able to navigate it in a way that honors the Lord. Because what we want in the end is not my glory, not my way, not my will, not, you know, lack of hurt or pain for me, not, you know, whatever I want resolved or retribution that I think needs to happen or what really matters in the end. I can humble myself. I can serve. I can look out for the interests of others, even if it costs me. Because in the end,

the Father will be glorified. And Jesus emptied himself, incredible degree, more than we understand. And the result was he was exalted to the glory of God the Father. And we're given a similar promise throughout the scriptures. James chapter 4 verse 10, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. But that's not for our exaltation. It's really ultimately we're exalted, we're lifted up for the glory of God the Father.

How could Jesus endure the disrespect that he endured on this earth? How could he put up with that kind of treatment? He is God, the creator. How could he put up with what he put up with in the relationships that he walked in and in the crucifixion that he ultimately endured? How could he do that? Well, he could do that because he trusted the father to be glorified and to exalt him in the end. How could Jesus endure the pain? How could Jesus, in a similar way, how can you

endure? How can you put up with by trusting the Father to be glorified? If I insist on exaltation now, if I insist on my way now, if I insist on, you know, I'm right and I must win, if I insist on that now, I would suggest perhaps I don't actually believe in the exaltation later. I don't really actually trust God.

to work this together for good. I don't actually trust God to be glorified in the end. He doesn't have a grip on this situation. That's why I have to have, you know, my way and accomplish my purposes and get what I want. I'm not actually that interested in the glory of God. I'm interested in me. And that is the problem. I need to trust God to be glorified in the end. Pastor Warren Risby says, we may not see the glory today,

but we shall see it when Jesus comes and rewards his faithful servants. You can trust God in that. If we will put Jesus first in our conflicts and work to unite together, work to get in the one accord and get going on the same direction, to be of the same mind and same love towards one another, if we will work on that unity by increasing our care for one another and loving one another and desiring what's best for each other and serving one another like Jesus did,

The end result will be the glory of God. He's got it under control. The issue really comes down to, just like James says, where do wars and fights and battles and conflict come from? It's the issue of our hearts, our selfishness, our own conceitedness. We need to put Jesus first. He'll help us resolve the conflicts. Let's pray. Lord, I pray for each one of us. And Lord, we have conflicts. We have battles that take place. We have disagreements and divisions and

arguments and complaints and things that go on, disputes that take place. And Lord, as they do, we can often get caught up in the emotion of it. We can often get caught up in the offense of it. We can get caught up in the desire to win and the desire to be right or the desire to be proved right. Lord, I pray that you would help us. May every conflict for us be a cause for us to stop and reflect on what you have done for us.

Bring us back, Lord, I pray to Philippians chapter 2, Lord, that we would consider the consolation that we have in you and the comfort of your love, the mercy and your affection towards us and the Holy Spirit you've imparted to us, Lord. Lord, may we come back to you and draw upon your example and your resources to then turn around and love and serve one another just like you did to us. And you didn't just serve the ones that were easy.

the ones that loved you already, but Lord, you came and served us when we wanted nothing to do with you. Lord, would you give us that heart? Help us to see people through your eyes. Help us to love one another and desire truly what is best for each other, more than desiring our own way and what we want. Lord, would you resolve conflicts? In Jesus' name we pray.

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