Sermon Cloud

Well here we are again and we’re into our third week of trying to suss out what church is supposed to be like as we read through Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen that we need to trust what we know and not what we feel, and that though life doesn’t always turn out as you’d planned that God will always be there and He does some amazing things when we let Him.

So Paul’s got the introductions over, he’s told them a bit about his situation and encouraged them, and this week we’ll start to see a few more answers to our question “Church: what exactly is that?”

One of the things Paul talks about in this part is humility, what do you think people might say if you ask them what humility is?  Well we can find out with our quotes now and then we’ll have a chat about it over a coffee.

·        Quotes

·        Discussion/Feedback – what does humility mean to you?

Philippians – 1:27 – 2:11 Page 899  - 900

²⁷ Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News. ²⁸ Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself. ²⁹ For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him. ³⁰ We are in this struggle together. You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.

¹ Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? ² Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.

³ Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. ⁴ Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

⁵ You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

⁶ Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.
⁷ Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form, ⁸ he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

⁹ Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names; ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

So Paul’s done with talking about himself and he dives straight into what he knows about his friends, and their situation living in a Roman colony, what does he say, “Just keep your heads down lads and live as good Roman citizens?” No he says, Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, so yes live within the civil Roman laws, but don’t forget, Philippi isn’t your home, you’re just passing through, your home is with God, and when your ready for it, He’ll be there to help you move in. That is another of the qualities of a true church; people who are already living as citizens of Heaven – you see when you get to that point when you can see you need saving and Grab hold of God’s promise, you get immediate citizenship – the thing is though there is no dual nationality in the Kingdom of Heaven, so all of the time you’re travelling to your new home, you’re an alien here.

Then he says Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies. But surely you lot haven’t got any enemies, after all, your all such lovely people… well I hope you don’t go out of your way to make enemies, but sadly the church has enemies, you see the good news message that we have is a bit uncomfortable for some people, it’s not always popular to warn people of the danger of going against God. But Paul says Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies, you see not only have we not got to be intimidated, but we should expect hassle, take it on the chin and for every punch thrown at us... what? Give em a good kickin’? No of course not – show love…

But hang on you might say, I don’t find that very easy – I don’t like that, what about me, what about my rights, what about my pain and my suffering, why should I take that abuse, can you relate to that? I think Paul could and I think his friends could, of course they could relate to that because it’s not fair is it, it’s not fair that we are hated for showing love, it’s not fair that we end up suffering at times as a result of simply getting on and living with God’s help, the life He asked us to.

It’s not fair, but Paul says it’s a privilege and your not alone, it’s a privilege to be an eternal citizen of Heaven.

Paul says look if you’re serious about God then live like it, live like it as individuals and live like it as a church. Stop criticising other people thinking about you and think about other people.

You see Paul had heard that there were a couple of women causing a bit of a kafuffle in the church, we’ll have a look at what he’s got to say about them in a few weeks, but they were busy whinging –  about what who knows but I doubt they were moaning about themselves, they were no doubt complaining about each other or pointing the finger at someone else --------------------------

These characters weren’t being humble

But what is humility? What is humility?

Paul puts it like this:

Have you got anything at all out of following Jesus, has his love has made any difference in your life, does God’s Holy Spirit mean anything to you?

If you do have a heart, if you really care— then do me a favour: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front; don't sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don't be obsessed with getting your own way. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Yes that’s right says Paul – BE HUMBLE

And before you ask says Paul, LET ME TELL YOU WHAT HUMILITY REALLY IS, Let me show you the model of humility...

Think of yourselves the way Jesus thought of himself.  You see He is God but He didn't think so much of Himself He thought of you and so He didn’t cling to His rightful status. No. When the time was right, he put aside equality within God and became a slave, that’s right God the Son became human!

And having become human, he stayed human. That is the model of humility. He didn't claim special privileges. No, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then, despite the fact He was the only person ever to have lived without doing anything wrong, completely sinless, He died a selfless, obedient and painful death—a criminals death— crucifixion. He did it for you. That is the model of humility

That is the model of humility, but it didn’t end there said Paul, Jesus isn’t Dead, and because He isn’t dead, then neither need you or I be.

You see, because of that obedience and humility, our Father God raised him from the dead,  to the place of highest honour, to rule and reign over everything, and He gave him the name above all other names; so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

• That is perfect humility – now of course you’d be right if you said that’s beyond me, Jesus is God, I’m not God. Come Keith on give me a break
• But Paul didn’t say you must do the same as Jesus he said you must have the same attitude as Jesus.
• How is your attitude?
• Do you go through life with the attitude that everybody else owes you?
• Maybe you think you don’t  -
• Do you expect everyone to do things the way you want, in the way you want just because that’s the way you like it?
• Do you expect people to look at you in a certain way, to behave in just the way you want
• Do you jump on the smallest mistake and ram it down someone’s throat
• Do you have the attitude that you are entitled to certain things
• When other people’s honest mistakes mess up your plans, do you complain to them  - or even worse moan about them

When Jesus owed you nothing but hell, he went to hell for you.... he went to hell for you....

Until you are completely and utterly stunned by that love, let me tell you, you will continue through life with a sense that you have certain rights, that you have an entitlement, that life owes you.

But when that realisation hits you, that you were owed Hell, but you got Heaven, at the cost of the life of the Son of God – then, then humility happens.

And that is a realisation that we need afresh each day, as individuals and as a church.