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CHRIST IS LORD

Philippians 2:1-11

Key Verse 2:9-11

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should 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.

One of God's purposes in allowing his children to go through the journey of life here in this world is to train them until they could pick up Jesus-like character, so they could be qualified to participate in the world to come, where the perfected characters would rule the perfected world. This vision is seen first in Genesis 1,2 (particularly in Genesis 1:26) and in many places of the Bible like 2 Timothy 2:12 where Paul says, "If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us", and also in Revelation 22:5 which reads, "There [in the perfected world] will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." 

How then does God train his children? What are the ways in which God disciplines them to be princes and princesses? What is God's design to grow them up into a kingdom of priests, a royal priesthood, and a people belonging to God, so they could reign the world? These are huge topics to consider. But in the passage for today we can find out a few critical clues on these questions. With this in mind, let us think about the passage in two parts:

I. Make my joy complete (2:1-4)

God trains his children in many different ways. In case of the Israelites who just got out of Egypt but kept complaining for lack of water and lack of tasty food, God trained them by sending them venous snakes. What did the snakes do? They all bit the mouth which belongs to whoever complained to God and Moses. Those who got bitten all cried out to God for help. God then healed them by granting them a "LOOK and LIVE" therapy, that is, the healing that comes by looking up at the bronze snake made and put up at the top of a pole set up by Moses (Numbers 21:1-9). Say, "Look and Live". Someone cried out to God saying, "Change me or kill me." Then God heard his cry and instead of killing him, God gave him Galatians 2:20 which also talks about the Look and Live Therapy. And he got healed. 

In my case I learned that God trains me by making what my mouth desires slightly different than what my stomach desires. My mouth always says, "Eat more." But, my stomach says, "Stop eating." But my mouth does not listen. And this happened again and again. Finally during the conference I realized why the Lord God designed me in such a way that my appetite is slightly greater than what my stomach can handle. I vaguely knew the reason, but as I traveled to the MSU to attend the first discipleship conference I came to realize the reason more acutely than before. The reason for this disparity (or lack of coordination) between the demand of my mouth and the demand of my stomach is not because of some error in God's programming, but because of God's special will for me, that is, to mold a divine character within me, the character that knows how to control what I see in front of me on a eating table. Had it not been for this disparity I would not struggle to grow up any more! 

But mostly the Lord God trains his children by putting in the context of a special environment called "church." What is a church? Church is a fellowship of people confessing Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior. In this church, the Lord God put a lot of different people - different in character, different in growing backgrounds, different in likes or dislikes, etc. and so forth. Last weekend we had a US/Canada discipleship conference where about 350 people attended. It was a body of Christ. It was a good ground to train all the attendees. Here in Downey we have more or less 120 people living closely. This is another body of Christ. And here in this fellowship the Lord God established a training ground in which we would all learn of each other, and grow into his perfection. 

Now, in the day of the Apostle Paul, the Lord God set up another training ground at the church of Philippi. We do not know how large the congregation was. Perhaps it was about the size of Downey ministry. There some were elders, some overseers, some deacons, but all were saints. The members included people like Lydia, the jailor, a sister who used to work as a fortune teller, and sisters like Euodia and Syntyche. 

First, the problem (1-2)

In many ways they were exemplary among the members of the other churches the Apostle pioneered. They made offerings sacrificially. They offered Paul the partnership of gospel. And they enjoyed deep, personal fellowship with the Lord. But still they were far from being perfect. In fact as they exerted themselves to serve the Lord a lot of problems came to the surface. What were they? Look at vs. 1-2. "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."

The Bible never says anything without any reason. Each time the Bible says one thing or another there is always the need it desires to address. This helps us to understand their problems better. 

First of all we cannot and should not underestimate the high level of performance exhibited by the members of the church at Philippi. In v. 1, for example, we see the word "if" repeating itself four times. "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion..." This indicates that invidiously they were performing very well. Each of them enjoyed a personal fellowship with Jesus Christ. The expression "if any fellowship with the Spirit" suggests that some of them were in the Spirit, so having a deep fellowship with the Spirit their countenance might have been shining like a bright sun. But the problem was that they did not now know to work together with fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord. 

And this was what made the Apostle Paul deeply "concerned". In this concern Paul says, "make my joy complete." Specifically then what made Paul so concerned? Although individually they performed very well, how did they fail to work together with others? In what manner did they fail to work together with fellow soldiers in Christ? Again the answers are found in the expressions Paul employed. 

For example, the expression "by being like-mindedness" suggests that they were not "like-minded". They were different-minded. Among them the idea that says, "You mind your businesses, I mind my own businesses" dominated. If they were  in the world (i.e., outside of the church), even if they adopted this kind of idea Paul would not be concerned. But they were inside of the church where they had one body with one head, one mind, one heart, one spirit, and one body. And it is the mind which controls the body. So it is a terrible thing for the members of the church to be different-minded. It was as a serious problem as serious as a man whose mind is split. What will happen if your mind is split? You are insane. You are a crazy person! You need a special therapy!

The expression "having the same love" shows that not all people had the same love - the love that God has for his children. It has been said that the antonym of love is not hatred but indifference. This observation indicates that indifference is worse than hatred. In this world people are indifferent to one another. But people belonging to the body of Jesus should not be indifferent to one another. If one finger has a minor cut, the whole body aches, so one immediately comes up with a remedy like applying a band aid. The church must function in the like manner. But inside of the church at Philippi the spirit of indifference spread widely. And Paul was concerned about this growing sense of indifference. This problem is prone to be of concern in an increasing measure especially when the church grows in number. 

The expression "being one in spirit" suggests that they were not one in spirit. The word spirit is used as opposed to flesh. Physically they operated as one body. But spiritually they did not. God is Spirit. So from a God's point of view, where there is no unity in spirit, the unity in flesh means nothing. Characteristically spirit refers to the essence of a matter. Matter is just matter: it represents a porous collection of physical components like carbon, hydrogen, iron, or something else. But, unlike a physical body spirit represents pure essence. So not being one in spirit means you are already divided at the core of your existence. Essentially you are not in harmony, but in disunity. Kingdom of God is in perfect harmony. And harmony is the source of true happiness. The church in its ideal form represents the kingdom of God here on earth. But by failing to be one in spirit the members of the church at Philippi failed to present itself as the source of God's kingdom! Rather, it ran the risk of seeing the kingdom of hell growing inside of the church. In fact many people inside of the church fail to form the unity in spirit that they go all different directions, that instead of God's kingdom, the kingdom of hell is growing in them. Then people outside of the church see the "church-going" people fighting each other, so completely lose the appetite to go to the church. 

By adopting the expression "being one in purpose" the Apostle Paul implies the greatest problem they had at the church of Philippi. When you think about it, the singleness of the purpose is the most important factor in succeeding in all ventures a man can possibly involved in. This weekend we had the discipleship conf. And our journey to this conference was a great success. Although two dozen of us were in the team, all went to and came back from the conference in high spirit. After the journey we came back to the center at around 9:00 p.m. We all sat around the table at the center, and shared one thing I learned. And each of us was so thankful that we even forgot that the dinner was ready. Why was the journey so successful? There are many factors. But of all we can say that we set one clear purpose: that is to renew our commitment to follow Jesus! No one forced to attend this conference. Every one volunteered to attend the conference. And before deciding to attend the conference, everyone understood the purpose, that is to live as a disciple of Jesus. But the members of the church at Philippi did not have the same purpose. Some had one purpose some another, and the list goes on and on. Figuratively speaking they were like two people in a car pool where one person insists that they should take 405 North, when other insists on 405 South. What will then happen to this car pool? Can they go anywhere? Nowhere. Why? Because living in this planet earth, you cannot go to 405 North and 405 South all at the same time. 

Second, the cause(s) (3a)

What then caused the problems? Look at v. 3a. "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit..." Two causes are presented - selfish ambition and vain conceit. 

(1) Selfish ambition. 

Ambition is good. In fact it is even necessary for us to grow up. Because of this Bismarck once said, "Boys be ambitious." Bible has the same encouragement. For example, the Apostle Paul says, "Aim for perfection!" (2Co 13:11) Last night one shepherd shared in his testimony that in the past he was very ambitious, but gradually his ambition fizzled out. But after attending the discipleship conference the Lord God gave him the new vision to fulfill the great work of God! I liked his statement. I could really identify myself with him! 

But "selfish" ambition is a problem. In fact it causes a great problem among all. It is this selfish ambition which causes a church to be divided. This selfish ambition if it is left to run its course works like a tornado. A few months ago there was a powerful tornado in the middle part of the U.S. I watched the scene of the town where the tornado had gone through. There were two lines of residential houses with one line standing on one side of the street, another on the other side. The tornado hit one line of the housing, so that after the tornado the houses on one side of the street remained intact but the houses on the other side were completely gone. Maybe the owners of houses which remained intact might have felt greatly relieved. They might even have thanked God for saving their houses. But what about the owners of the houses on the other side of the street? 

(2) Vain conceit.

Vain conceit is another problem. The word 'conceit' means an exaggerated estimation of oneself. You think you are more than yourself. Underestimating yourself is a problem, and overestimating yourself is also a problem. Because of this Socrates once said, "Know yourself." 

When you think about it, a lot of people suffer from this problem - the problem of vain conceit. In the past the Apostle Paul suffered from this problem. Being a Pharisee of Pharisees he thought that he was better than others. So, what did he do? He persecuted the church. Mercilessly he caught the Christians and put them in jail. He became an instrument of the devil. 

The side effects of vain conceit can be manifested not only on a large scale like that of a self-righteous man persecuting the members of the church, but also on a smaller scale like a  student not doing homework but still expecting to get an A plus at his final exam, or a shepherd who thinks that he can be a good Bible teacher without preparing good Bible study notes. 

Most seriously a man of vain conceit causes trouble in his relationship with others. Other shepherds go out and with an absolute faith they fish students. Then by faith they teach the word of God. Then after the Bible studies, they pray hard that God would open the hearts of their sheep, and lead them to Jesus. Then they bear lots of good fruit. The Lord fills them with Bible students. But a shepherd suffering from the problem of vain conceit thinks that he can have lots of sheep without even going out for fishing. He is like a man who wants to fill his stomach without eating. Like a man who goes out and never earns a living, and therefore remain poor, and yet become jealous of those who have money, and drive a nice car like Mercedes Benz, and therefore even entertain the idea of robbing others of what they have, a shepherd of vain conceit can cause a lot of trouble among the members of a church. 

Third, Remedies (3b-4)

What then is the solution? Look at vs. 3b and 4. "[B]ut in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." 

(1) In humility consider others better than yourselves.

Practically however it is not easy for us to consider others better than oneself. First of all considering others better than you automatically means you are worse than others. And who wants to be classified as worse than the others? It sounds even not good to your [mental] health. But still Paul says that we must consider others better. 

Why? We find an another to this question in Genesis 1:26-31, especially v. 31a. Let us read Genesis 1:31a. "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." It was 'very good' means as created by God every one is very good, so each person is perfect. Each one is No. 1. In God's eyes, everyone is perfectly good and good all the time. This ideal has become true in Jesus as well. He died on the cross for our sins. Because Jesus took away the sins of all who believe in Jesus, all believers are seen by God as perfect. For this reason the Apostle Paul calls the brothers and sisters at the church of Philippi as saints! Plus, within this general premise of everyone being seen by God as perfectly good, the Lord God endowed each person with one two or possibly many more of great points which all the rest are lacking. I saw this during the  minivan trip to and from MSU last weekend. For example while I had a terrible time to say no to desire for food in front of me, one brother had no problem to say no. He is good in saying yes or no. This is a very important character of a disciple. To a disciple, yes must be yes and no must be no. This is just one small example, and I can go on and on with many other examples, but I must stop here.

(2) [In humility] [e]ach of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

This is mainly to address the problem of a man with selfish ambition. We are naturally cut out to be good in looking to our own interests, but not so in looking to the interests of others. Why then should we look to the interests of others? This is a very profound question. But in vs. 5-11, the Apostle Paul offers a powerful reason. 

II. Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ (5-11) 

This Bible passage is one of the most famous passages, so that tons of evangelists, Bible teachers, preachers, and pastors made sermons and wrote books out of it. Let us then read this passage responsively.

2:5  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

  2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

2:7 But made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!

2:9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,

2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

2:11 And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Because many have been taught on this passage, we do not need to tap into the deeper meanings of each of the Bible passage. But for our own purposes I would like to mention only two things: 

First, humility as the key to fulfilling all the good virtues the Apostle Paul admonishes us to go for. 

It is interesting to note that the Apostle Paul used the humility or humbled in today's passage in two places: v. 3b and v. 8b.  V. 3b reads, "[I]n humility consider others better than yourselves." Then in v. 8b, Paul says, "[H]e humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" There is one common factor in the two verses: that is, it is when one humbles oneself alone that one can obey God's commands, even the command for you to die on the cross for the sins which even you did not commit! 

What then does humility mean? We can understand its meaning best when we think about the antonym of this world: pride. A proud person will never learn what it is to obey God's commands like the command to regard others as better than himself.

Second, humility is the key to reaching true greatness as God defines the word "greatness." 

There is not that much to consider about this point, for it is quite obvious in the example of Jesus. There are many other examples proving this point, like the example of Moses, or the example of Joseph or the example of Daniel. But of all Jesus' example stands out the most. May the Lord then bless us to consider the example of Jesus particularly his humility. Then as we relate ourselves with others with this humility the Lord will help us bear good fruit that lasts forever, still forming a unity of love with others in the Lord. This then will enable us to be know as children of God who is infinitely great, children who are qualified to even reign in the perfect world to come, even together with Jesus Christ, the Lord of lords, the King of all kings! One word: Christ is Lord