Sermon Notes 11/25/2012

Joy in Temptation

Philippians 2:12-30

The Doctrine of Providence, that God is in charge of human history and God is good, and that God works things out just in the nick of time to help us learn what he has to teach us.

So when we pick up this section of scripture, their need was exactly as our need. Some of their responses are like some of your responses. And my hope is to use what Paul has written, as inspired by God, to help us have some insight on how we should proceed as a church.

Verse 12

“Therefore” – “therefore” is picking up on what has transpired in Chapter 2, verses 1 through 11, and that is that Jesus Christ is God, who humbly came into human history to live a perfect life without sin – the life we have not lived – to go to the cross and die as a substitute in our place for our sins, paying our penalty for sin, which is death.

That he ascended into heaven and he is now glorified. He is exalted. He’s ruling and reining over all people’s times, places, nations and cultures, from his heavenly throne, and that Jesus’ name is above every name. That in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess in heaven and on the earth and under the earth that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father. Jesus has made a new people. Jesus has made a new way of life, and Jesus’ name is to be exalted in all things, in all ways, at all times by his people.

Therefore, my beloved,

·         He planted the church

·         He pastored the church

·         He loved his people

·         Just like I planted and pastor this church

As you have always obeyed

·         How many of you really don’t like that word obeyed?

·          We live in a culture that is committed to disobedience.

·         Children should rebel against their parents – disobey them.

·         Parents are encouraged to disobey spiritual leadership in the church People are encouraged to disobey God – to disobey scripture.

·         It’s sort of hip and trendy and cool and admirable in some circles to be disobedient. To be disrespectful. To be defiant.

·         I’m guessing none of you woke up this morning and said, “God, teach me to obey. I want to obey. I love to obey. I long to obey.

Here is what he is saying – if you have loving Godly leadership, obey that leadership. If you have parents who love the Lord, obey them. If you have a boss who is a decent boss, obey them at your job. If you have pastors, leaders, in ministry who give you council, obey them.

here’s the deal – most of us disobey because we think we’re smarter than everyone. We think we’re better than everyone, and we think that we see ourselves more clearly than they do. And we’re wrong, because we’re blind to our own blindness and we’re foolish to our own folly, and if someone loves God and loves us and speaks to us, we should obey. We should listen. We should consider. And that requires what we spoke of last week – humility.

Read Verse 12-13

The doctrine of regeneration

·         Jesus Christ is God. He died to take away our sin. That is true. But in addition to that, he regenerates us

·         It is about God taking out your heart of stone, which is rebellious and foolish and hard hearted and obstinate and stubborn and wicked and depraved and sinful. and he replaces it with a heart of flesh. That is not a perfect heart, but a heart that is tender toward God that desires God.

·         Regeneration is being transformed, utterly changed from the inside out. A new heart, which Proverb says is the wealth spring of our life, or a new nature, to use that language, or a new identity. It’s a new center. “You become a new creation,” Paul says. You change from the inside out.

·         What accompanies that new nature – that new heart – is new desires. You desire things you never desired before.

·         Paul’s language. “God is at work in you.” “If you’re a Christian, God is at work in you.”

·         The Christian life is not without passion. It actually is very passionate

·         One theologian says that divine sovereignty and human responsibility is like two pedals on a bike.

·         The Christian life is not so much about what you need to stop doing.

o   It’s about what you need to start doing –

o   To replace an old affection with a new affection –

o   To replace an old pattern with an even better life through Jesus.

·         The first thing that God changes in us is our will.

o   Usually the problem is our will.

o   We want to do evil.

o   We want to do sin,

o   So God has to change our will.

o   Some people argue for free will. I don’t want free will. I want God’s will.

You will have conflicted desires, You’ll be tempted to sin. But if you truly have a new heart – a new nature – you’re deepest desire will be the desire to obey God, to live for him, to live life like him, to be someone who follows in the pattern of the life of Jesus.

For his good pleasure”:

·         God owes us nothing. But here’s the truth. God is a great God. Satan is horrible. Sin is terrible. The world is fallen, but God is good. God is a good God. And God takes pleasure, He delights in doing good.

·         God is good and God is pleased to do good for you.

·          God wants to save you, help you, change you, encourage you, convict you, instruct you, transform you, change your desires

·         He wants to transform your heart from the inside out. God enjoys doing that.

·         God loves saving people. God loves forgiving people. God loves changing people. He just does. It’s all for his good pleasure.

There are a few things that get in the way –in the way of working out of your new heart and new desires and new passions and new appetites and new gifts and new power. He addresses those in verse 14.

“Do all things without grumbling or questioning,”

·         This is complaining and whining and nitpicking. And it’s grumbling.

·         He is not saying to lie about your position in life (say your good when your not)

·         You can be honest. Paul’s honest. He is in prison. They might kill him. It’s not his favorite thing to do. It’s sort of rough for him.” He’s honest. You can be honest without complaining and grumbling.

·         When you think of grumbling, complaining, whining, what group of people in the Bible comes to mind first? The Israelites in the Old Testament!

o   They kept complaining. Until what? They died. That’s one way to stop complaining.

·         Some of you, you complain all the time.

·         When you’re grumbling, you’re so busy arguing with God, you don’t have time to listen to him.

o   You’ve not taken the time to ask the question, “Okay, God you’re good. You’re doing something good in me. What do you want me to learn?

o    How can I grow?

o   What are you trying to teach me?

o   What do I need to repent of?”

Does this mean I can’t have a question? You can have a question, but there’s a difference between having a question and always questioning. A question is “I don’t understand. This doesn’t make any sense. I’m confused. Explain this to me. Show me what God is saying here. I don’t know what happened. Could you help me understand?” That’s a question. Questions are perfectly fine.

Questioning is more like interrogation. Questioning is, “I don’t trust you. You’re guilty until proven innocent. I’m holier than you and smarter than you, and until you convince me, I’m convinced you’re wrong.”

Questioning, grumbling – sins to be repented of. Sins that actually get in the way of working out what God has worked in you.

Stopping to say, “Okay God, what are you trying to teach me? What are you trying to grow me in? What do I need to repent of? What do I need to learn here? Please don’t make me walk around my house for 40 years until I die. Please give me the humility to learn so I can figure this out and move on with my life.”

“That you may be blameless and innocent”

·         We need to come up with big words to justify our rebellion.

·         We have all these silly ways of getting our way. And the best thing to do with someone who’s hard hearted, rebellious and stubborn, is to go up and ask these questions – “Are you blameless and innocent?”

o   Then tell me where you’re not blameless and innocent.” Then that would be your sin

·         Are you blameless? Are you innocent? There’s always something for us to repent and learn.

Read Verse 14-15

·         Sometimes people who say they’re Christians get so consumed in their own disobedience.

o   They get so consumed in their own self-righteousness.

o   They get so consumed in their own feelings

o   Their own hurts

o   Their own wants

o   Their own needs

o   They forget that they’re supposed to be a witness to the world.

He’s saying, “You know what, it’s a crooked, jacked up world.” And non-Christians are watching you, and they are asking the question, “Does Jesus make a difference?” And if you’re questioning God and if you’re one who continues to complain all the time and one who disobeys God, what he’s saying is people are watching. And they’re gonna say, “You know what? The church is as joke. That person’s a hypocrite. And Christianity doesn’t work because Jesus is a fraud.”

Some of you may not understand that a lot of people are watching you – friends, family, co-workers, neighbors – and how you live will indicate to them whether or not this doctrine of regeneration is true and Jesus really changes anybody.

Read Verse 16,17,18 and Preach it !!

Sermon notes 11-18-2012

Joy in Humility

Philippians 2:1-11

What humility and pride are?

I’ll start by telling you what humility and pride are. I believe it’s sometimes easiest to understand humility by comparing it with pride.

·         First as John Staut the eminent theologian says, “Pride is our greatest enemy.” You need to know that pride is your greatest enemy. Conversely, humility is your greatest friend.

·         Second, pride is in its origin, demonic and satanic. Satan was originally an angel created by God and he became very proud. That was the first sin and he was kicked out of heaven. humility is Christ like and its spirit enabled, meaning that any human being who has any measure of humility is a miracle.

·         Third, pride is the encouragement to compare ourselves to other people, and we tend to pick people that we feel are less than us—less intelligent, less successful, less affluent, less attractive. Humility is continually comparing ourselves to Jesus Christ.

·         Four, pride covets the success of other people. When they succeed, we become jealous and envious and covetous. That’s why sometimes we’ll critique people when they succeed. We’re jealous. Humility allows us to not covet the success of other people, but to celebrate it—to rejoice in it and to be glad for God’s grace that has been extended to them.

·         Fifth, pride is about me. It’s about what I want. It’s about what I need. It’s about what I think. It’s about what I feel. It’s about what I declare. It’s about what I deserve. Humility is about Jesus and it’s about other people. And humility allows someone to be selfless, whereby their natural inclination would be to remain selfish.

·         Sixth, pride is about my glory. “Do you know who I am? Do you know what I’ve done? Do you respect me? Do you honor me? Do you praise me? Do you like me? Do you want to be like me?” Humility is about the glory of Jesus Christ. Do you love Jesus? Do you know Jesus? Do you honor Jesus? Do you respect Jesus? Do you want to be like Jesus?

·         Seven, “I am God” – “Little G, God”. “I sit on a throne and I make commands and I expect people to obey and honor me.” Humility is not about being God, but it’s about celebrating the fact that the real God has lovingly served me.

·         Eight, pride leads to arrogance, cockiness, smugness, and it’s repugnant. Humility leads not to arrogance, but to confidence. Confidence meaning, I won’t deny my convictions. I won’t disagree with scripture. I won’t dishonor Jesus.

·         Nine, the point of pride is independence. We see this in Satan who wanted to be separated from God. We see that as sinners, where we want to live independently of God, doing what we want. Humility is not about independence. It’s about dependence. It’s about acknowledging that we’re created and he’s Creator, and that we are dependent on God for love and grace and mercy and forgiveness, and compassion and instruction and correction and help. And so the humble person seeks in no way to be independent. They acknowledge their dependence on God and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

·         Tenth, Augustine, says that “pride is the mother of all sin” – that “pride is pregnant with all kinds of sin”. I believe that’s true – that under all sin is pride. That pride is the root sin that leads to the fruit of sin, which would mean conversely that humility is the mother of all joy. That’s what Paul is going to tell us this week – that humble people are the only ones who truly have the possibility of being happy people.

Outside of scripture, humility is not taught.

·         It is not to be encouraged.

·         It is not to be informed.

·         That our world exists for self-help, self-esteem, self-love, self-actualization. Not for humility.

·         Not for love of God and others

Our scripture for the day!!

We start in Chapter 2. In here we find something that is absolutely countercultural, instruction on humility, and so we must confront our sin nature, we must re-think what our culture has taught us, and sadly, even reevaluate much of the church’s teaching—that it’s about your destiny and your vision and your rights and you’re calling and your giftedness and your glory. We must rebel against all of that. And Paul gives us great advice, encouragement and instruction regarding humility.

It is my opinion, that Philippians 2, 1 through 11, is the centerpiece of the book. Everything leads to it and flows from it. Furthermore, it is one of the most, if not the most, significant sections of the New Testament on the person and work of Jesus.

Joy in Humility

Read Verse 1-4

·         “Complete my joy”

o   So many people are miserable because they’re arrogant

o   Look Paul is worried about others not himself

·         “Do nothing”

o   that is a very important statement

o   keep the focus on others

o   leave your interest behind

o   have a servant attitude

·         Nothing builds a church stronger than humility. Nothing breaks and destroys a church faster than pride.

o   This church is like every church—very frail.

o   Health is gained slowly and lost quickly

o   Jesus has done a great deal in and through and for and by and in spite of this church and in spite of me.

o   What we’ve been working on for 3 years could be undone by one or a few proud people. That’s how frail unity in the church is. That’s how frail we truly are as a community.

o   The one person who is proud all of a sudden becomes a point of division and controversy and conflict and separation.

·         Rivalry and conceit.”

o    Rivalry meaning you’re in competition for resources, information, power, title.

o   Conceit—you’re jealous of other people in the church.

o    He’s writing to a church! This is a Christian warning.

·         In humility, count others more significant than yourselves, and the interest of others first

o   Proud people only care about what they care about.

o   Humble people think of everyone.

o   Proud people think of themselves.

Are you humble or proud?” We must all say, “I’m proud.”

Jesus the most humble example!

Read Verse 5-8

·         Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,”—

o   Only Christians have the ability to really understand humility, not because we’re better than anyone else, but because it’s only to be found in Jesus!

·         “did not count equality with God”

o   Humbled himself

o   Stepped down from heaven

o   Left his throne

·         “but emptied himself”

o   This was not commanded of him

o   This was a price he was willing to pay

o   Are you willing to pay the price and humble yourself for others??

No one is more humble than Jesus.” No one is more humble than Jesus. And Jesus demonstrates that in what we call the incarnation. It’s a theological term. Incarnation means God became a man!!!!

·         he humbled himself by becoming obedient

o   we humble ourselves when we give God the glory

o   we humble ourselves when Gods needs come first

o   we humble ourselves when serving becomes more important than being served

By becoming humble God lifts Jesus above all!!

Read Verse 9-11

Jesus is more important than anything, and the name of Jesus is the most beautiful thing of all. That is because as fully man and fully God, Jesus is the only mediator who can reconcile us proud sinners to our humble and good God.

Paul says it this way elsewhere—“There is only one mediator between man and God. That is the man Christ Jesus. God became a man to live humbly, to die on a cross for sinners to reconcile them to God.” As a result of that, Paul says, “The name of Jesus is the name that we should exalt. The name of Jesus is the name that we should sing. The name of Jesus is the name that should live for. The name of Jesus is the name that we should humbly and gladly proclaim.”

Before we leave!!

I want to share some scripture I have been mediating on this week and 10 things we need to look at in our lives!

Proverbs 16:5 (ESV) Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 16:18 (ESV) Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

James 4:6 (ESV) But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

1 Peter 5:5 (ESV) Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Every morning when we wake up with a proud spirit its like we are picking a fight with God! My momma always said “don’t poke the bear”

So in closing, I’ll give you ten recommendations that I have taken from the book “Humility, True Greatness” by C.J. Mahaney, and I am sharing them with you as ways to clothe yourself in humility so that God might give you grace.

·         First, follow the truth wherever it leads. If it means it leads to “you’re wrong”, then follow it. If it leads to “you’re fired”, then follow it. If it leads to “that’s not what’s best for you, but it’s best for all”, then follow it. If it leads to “you need to apologize”, then follow it. Don’t defend yourself. Don’t always do what is in your best interest. Follow the truth wherever it leads.

·         Secondly, invite and pursue correction and council. Tell the people in your life, “I’m blind to my own blindness. I’m foolish to my own folly. I need you to confront me. I need you to rebuke me. I need you to speak the truth to me. When I’m acting like a jerk, I need you to say it. I need you to give me council because sometimes I don’t know what to do. I need correction because sometimes I say and do the wrong thing.” And receive it, don’t argue, don’t blame shift, don’t change the topic. Receive it.

·         Thirdly, learn from everyone, including your enemies and critics. Have the humility to overlook their pride, because God may have something that is truthful for you if you’re humble enough to overlook their pride.

·         Forth, repent quickly and thoroughly. Don’t force it to be an enormous issue where multiple people have to get involved and it has to become very formalized, and all the way to church discipline and something that is very arguist and painful and complicated and divisive. Don’t make someone pin you to the mat and break your arm before you tap. Just tap. “I sinned. I was wrong. I screwed up. That was evil. I’m a jerk. I’m sorry.” Make it simple.

·         Five, seek and celebrate God’s grace at work and other Christians. God is at work in other Christians. Look for it. Encourage it. “I see God is changing you here, growing you here. I see what he’s doing through you here. I’m encouraged by this.” Nurture and encourage God’s grace at work in others.

·         Six, cultivate his spirit of thankfulness. Be thankful for people and tell them be thankful for God, and tell him cultivate an attitude of thankfulness. Proud people think they deserve everything. Humble people know they deserve hell. And anything beyond that is a real gift, and so they’re able to be thankful.

·         Seven, listen to scripture more than yourself. We can lie to ourselves, deceive ourselves, con ourselves, condemn ourselves, justify ourselves. Don’t listen to yourself so much. Listen to scripture. God will speak to you truthfully through his Word.

·         Eight, exalt the name of Jesus in all you do. The right answer to every question is whatever makes Jesus look great, because he is. Don’t do what exalts your name. Do and say what exalts the name of Jesus. You’ll never regret that. Just by wave encouragement, you’ll never regret that.

Ninth, laugh. Proud people cannot laugh. They’re way too serious and they can not laugh at themselves. So let me just state this. You are ridiculous. You are. You are ridiculous. I am ridiculous. And proud people can’t laugh at themselves.