Rejoice | Part 5 | Philippians 2:1-11 | Esteeming Others Better Than Yourself
We’re there in Philippians 2 and of course on Sunday mornings we’ve been going through a series entitled “Rejoice”. It’s a verse-by-verse study through Philippians and we are in Chapter 2 now. What we’ve been learning is Paul teaching us about joy, You’ve heard me say this every time we’ve been in this book but that’s what this book is about. He used the word joy over and over. He used the word rejoice over and over. He’s also teaching us about Jesus. And what he’s actually teaching us is about the joy that can be found in Jesus.
If you remember from the last time we were in Philippians, we looked at Philippians 1:27. This is a famous verse on unity. “27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit,…”. That speaks of unity. “…that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;”. One mind speaks of unity. Striving together speaks of unity. He’s been emphasizing this idea of unity. He continues to emphasize that as we come into Chapter number 2. Notice Philippians 2:1 “If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.”. Likeminded, same love, one accord and one mind all speak of unity. So we see that Chapter number 2 continues this idea of unity.
He’s writing to the Church of Philippi about the need for unity and the fact that we as a Church of believers need to have unity if we’re going to accomplish what God wants us to do. And then the Apostle Paul kind of shifts gears a little bit. And while he’s explaining the need for unity, he begins to explain this idea of relational maturity or how to be mature within personal relationships or interpersonal relationships. You might ask “What does one have to do with the other?”. And the idea is this that if we are going to have unity, we must have personal relational maturity. The idea is that you and I cannot have unity if we cannot get along. We have to be able to get along with the people next to us and beside us whether it’s our spouse or whether it’s your children whether it’s your fellow Church members or co-workers or whatever it might be. If you’re going to have unity, you need to get along with people. You need to have relational maturity. And the Apostle Paul begins to kind of dissect that for us. We’re going to dissect his words in regards to that.
As we begin, I want to ask you this question. What if you could become an expert at interpersonal relationships? What if you could become really good at having personal relationships with other individuals, being able to relate with other individuals and get along with other individuals? Because that’s what the Apostle Paul is going to talk to us about in the next 11 verses. He is talking about this idea of interpersonal relationships and being mature enough to be able to get along with people. We’re calling it relational maturity. I want you to notice several things that the Apostle Paul brings up for us in this passage in regards to relational maturity. He begins by stating to us the principles of relational maturity. This would be the “What does it mean?” or “What does it look like?” to be mature within your relationships and to be able to get along with people and have unity.
What the Apostle Paul does is he gives us a “do” and a “don’t”. He begins with the negative first. Notice what he says in verse 3. “3 Let nothing be done…”. Here’s the don’t. He says don’t do this. He says if you’re going to have relational maturity, if you’re going to be mature within your relationships, if you’re going to get along so that you can have unity he says “3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;…”. When we talk about the principles of relational maturity, he says don’t have vain glory. “3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;…”. I want you to notice that word “vainglory”. This is 2 words put together. Vain is the idea of being self-absorbed. It’s the idea of being shallow or only focused on self. And then we have the word “glory”. The word glory in our King James Bible is used synonymously with the word boast or brag or to show off. He says “3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;…”. Self-absorbed, showing off, bragging, being focused on self. The Apostle Paul says that if you’re going to have unity you need to have relational maturity. If you’re going to have relational maturity don’t have vainglory. What exactly is vainglory? Vainglory is an inflated sense of self-importance. Vainglory is an exaggerated or inflated sense of your own personal self-importance.
Galatians 6:3 has a good definition of the word vainglory. “3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.”. What is vainglory? Vainglory is when a man or a woman thinketh himself to be something when he is nothing. You think more importantly of yourself than you should. You think that things are owed to you more than they should. And here’s what the Apostle Paul says. If you’re going to have unity, you need relational maturity. If you’re going to have relational maturity then you have to get along with people. You have to be able to get along with people, strive together with people, be likeminded, having the same love. “Striving together for the faith of the gospel.”. And he says you can’t do that while you are practicing vainglory. Vainglory is when a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing.
Now here’s a problem with pride and vain glory. I’ve preached a lot about pride over the years and I’m not going to take the time to go through all the verses on pride. But here’s what I do know about pride and vainglory. It is very difficult to identify in self. It’s very difficult to see in a mirror. Unfortunately people that struggle with pride or vain glory often don’t see it in themselves. They don’t see what is a very ugly thing to other people in themselves. My wife helped me come up with this list to help you identify pride within yourself. There are questions that people can ask themselves in order to identify pride in their own lives and to identify vain glory in their own lives. I want to read these to you and I want you to honestly before God ask yourself these questions. Don’t just assume that you don’t have a problem with pride. Prideful people think they are very humble. For example “I’m humble and I’m proud to be humble.”.
Here are the questions that you should honestly ask yourself to see if you struggle with pride and vainglory. Do you have trouble in multiple relationships with your spouse, your in-laws, co-workers, employees, employers, neighbors, fellow Church members, people around you? I’m not talking about you have one problem with one person. If you have trouble in multiple relationships then that could be a sign of pride. When you find yourself fighting with your spouse, in-laws, co-workers, and pretty much everyone that is around you then you may have a problem with pride or vainglory.
Number 2 – When you think that all of your problems with other people is because they are envious of you. What do I mean? I mean you have problems with people and you think they are envious of your money, your good looks, your muscles, your job, etc…It might mean that you struggle with vainglory.
Number 3 – You always turn situations that have nothing to do with you and make them about yourself.
Number 4 – You have a deep need for excessive attention and admiration.
Number 5 – If you are preoccupied with self and are usually only ever thinking about yourself. Always dreaming of unlimited success, power, brilliance and beauty for yourself.
Number 6 – When having conversations, you always hog the conversation or gear the conversation about yourself.
Number 7 – If you have a sense of entitlement. If you feel that people owe you or that people are there to serve you then you probably have a problem with vainglory.
Number 8 – When you mainly have and develop relationships to exploit them for your own gain.
Number 9 – When you When you act like you are better than other people or act like other people are below you.
Number 10 – If others around you describe you as arrogant or haughty.
Number 11 – If you don’t have any or many long-term friends.
Number 12 – If you think you are right about everything and you never apologize. If I asked you when the last time was that you apologized and you can’t think of it or it’s been a long time then you probably have a problem with vainglory.
Number 13 – If you are a one-upper.
The truth is that vain glory and pride are things that are hard to see in the mirror. The funny thing is that it’s very easy to see in others and it’s very difficult to see in ourselves. Vainglory is this exaggerated view of self. “3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.”. The Apostle Paul says if you’re going to have relational maturity, if you’re going to get along with people and strive together for the faith of the gospel, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.
We’ve been talking about “vainglory” but I want to focus on the word “strife” now. The word “strife” has to deal with contention, arguments, fights. The reason that the Apostle Paul says let nothing be done through strife or vain glory is because these two things go hand in hand. In fact, vainglory is not only an inflated sense of self-importance but vainglory is also the source of all relational problems. If you have a problem within your relationships then mark it down that pride is the source of these problems.
Proverbs 13:10 “10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”. See, every time that you’ve had contention with someone, every time you’ve ever had conflict with someone, every time you’ve ever had a fight with someone or not gotten along with someone, the Bible says the underlying reason is pride. Pride is the underlying factor within our relational immaturity. “10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”. The Bible says that when we have contention, when we have a fight or argument, it is because at least 1 but probably both sides have an issue with pride. See, vain glory is the source of all relational problems. You cannot have relational maturity while practicing and living with vain glory. Paul says “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory.”.
Maybe you’re wondering if pride really is the source of these relational problems. Galatians 5:26 “26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”. Here Paul says you don’t want to have vain glory. You say why? The problem with vainglory is it constantly puts you in competition with others. When we perceive others as being better than us then we envy them. When we see them as less than us we provoke them and jab at them and fight with them. Paul says “26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”.
Go back to Philippians 2. We’re looking at the principles of relational maturity. Paul gives us a big don’t. What’s the don’t? Don’t have vainglory. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory. Then the Apostle Paul gives us a big do. He says don’t have vain glory and then he says do something. Philippians 2:3 “3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind…”. See, if you’re going to get along with people then you must not have vainglory. If you’re going to get along with people then you do have to have lowliness of mind. You say what is that? Lowliness of mind. What does that mean? Oftentimes people have the wrong idea of lowliness or humility. Humility is what he’s speaking about. Oftentimes people think loneliness of mind is thinking that you are worse than others. That is not humility. That is a false sense of humility. That is actually still pride. What is lowliness of mind? It is a lowering of your self-worth, self-rights or self-importance. The truth is that humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking of yourself less.
People think that they are pretty humble because they are down on themselves. They think by talking about how big of a loser they are then that makes them humble. That’s still pride. You might wonder how that can be. You’re always still only thinking about yourself. Humility is not thinking less of yourself. Humility is thinking of yourself less. Lowliness is lowering your rights, your importance, your thoughts of needing and wanting and desiring and being owed something. Paul says that if you want to get along with people then don’t have vain glory. If you want to get along with people then you need to have lowliness of mind.
Psalm 131:1 gives us a good definition of lowliness or humility. Remember, vainglory is an inflated sense of self-importance. Psalms 131:1 “Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.”. The word haughty means arrogant or superior. It means a high view of self. The word lofty means proud or self-important. If you pay attention to people, pride comes out in the way you carry yourself. You will notice this in facial expressions, the things you say and the way you look. Have you ever seen someone that just looked arrogant? They just look proud. The Psalmist says “Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me.”. What the Psalmist is saying that he doesn’t have this belief of inserting himself into matters that are too great for him. In a parable, Jesus said that you don’t want to take the higher seat at an occasion and have somebody tell you that the seat belongs to someone of more importance. The idea is that we don’t insert ourselves or make the assumption that we belong in the VIP area. Don’t have the attitude that you belong in the position of preeminence. Have the attitude that you are just there to serve. You are just there to be a blessing. If other people lift you up then praise the Lord but otherwise don’t promote yourself to that position.
I said number one we’re going to look at the principles of relational maturity. This really lays the foundation for the rest of what we are talking about. We’re talking about how to get along with people. It comes down to this idea of not seeing yourself as more important than you ought to see yourself. And also practice humility. Not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. That’s the principle of relational maturity. Then Paul shifts into the practice of relational maturity. The principle is that we’re talking about being humble and not being proud. The practice of what does that look like.
Philippians 2:3 “3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind”. Here’s the practice of it. “let each esteem other better than themselves.”. The practical application is esteeming others better than ourselves. For years we had Brother Stucky on staff here at Verity Baptist Church. He’s now a missionary in the Philippines doing a great job. He’s started 2 churches. I remember that he would say to me often that Philippians 2:3 is probably the most quoted verse behind the pulpit of Verity Baptist. You say “Pastor. Why do you emphasize this verse so much to the point where people would notice that?”. Number 1, without relational maturity we cannot have unity. We cannot strive together for the faith of the gospel if we cannot be mature enough to get along with each other. What does that mean? It means that we must not have vain glory. It means that we must have loneliness of mind. What does that look like? Here’s what it looks like. We should esteem other better than ourselves. The word esteem means to think or consider. When we esteem others better than ourselves or we consider them more or better than us, we consider them that way in the sense of more of a priority.
You say what does it mean to esteem other better than themselves? Here’s what it means. If the choice is between me and you, if the decision is between you and me, if one of us has to win and the other one has to lose, if one of us has to gain and the other one has to suffer a loss, if someone’s going to get what they want and the other person is not going to get what they want, someone with relational maturity will yield to the other person. You never see kids or babies or toddlers or children do this. When it comes to relational maturity, the idea is that if the choice is between me winning or you winning, me gaining or you gaining, me getting what I want or you getting what you want, the highly relationally mature individual will esteem others better than themselves. They’ll decide to yield. They will decide to suffer loss so the other person can have gain.
Romans 12:10 “10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;”. We see brotherly love but we also see the idea of esteeming others better than ourselves but wording it a little bit differently. The word prefer means to yield, to give to the other party, to give the importance. Imagine what your marriage would look like. People often will come to a Church like this, a very conservative Church that actually believes the Bible and we teach things like the Bible teaches that the man should be the spiritual leader and the leader of the home. We don’t believe that we should lead as men for our own benefit. We should be servant leaders. We should lead for the benefit of those who follow us. And we teach that ladies should submit to their husbands and be in subjection unto their husbands as unto the Lord. Of course “as it is fit in the Lord”. People will complain and say that it should be 50/50. They say 1 person in charge wouldn’t work and they would take advantage. They argue for what the world says of men taking 50% control and women taking 50% control. Let me remind you that those types of marriages often end in divorce.
However, imagine if you had a marriage where the husband woke up every day with the goal of not having strife or vain glory but esteeming his wife better than himself. Imagine if the wife woke up every day not with strife or vain glory but with this idea that in honor she would prefer her husband. Imagine if your work environment was like that. Imagine if your family was like that. Imagine if this Church was like that. The amount of work, the amount of unity, the amount of striving together. Paul says “10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;”.
Philippians 2:4 “4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”. What does this mean? You say “Isn’t looking at others stuff being envious or covetous?”. That’s not the idea. Verse 21 sheds some light on what Paul is talking about. Philippians 2:21 “21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”. When he says in verse 4 “4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”. What he’s saying is to look out for the best interests of others and not just your own best interests. The world teaches that it is a “dog eat dog world” and you have to look out for number 1. That’s what the world thinks. Paul says that the idea of relational maturity is esteeming other better than ourselves. This means that we should not be looking out for our best interests but we should be looking out for the interests of others. ““4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”. Philippians 2:21 “21 For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.”. Everyone’s only interested in themselves and he says we ought to consider, we ought to esteem, we ought to prefer others.
I’m just telling you these are Paul’s secrets to successful relationships. Your outlook produces the outcome. Look, if my outlook of life is selfish, if my outcome will be divisive and destructive, if my outlook is self-sacrificing then my outcome will be edifying and unifying. Paul explains that vainglory is why you don’t get along with people. It’s because of pride. “Only by pride cometh contention”. He says don’t have vainglory. He says have lowliness of mind. He says that’s the principle. Then he says the practice is esteeming others better than ourselves. You look out for the best interests of others not just yourself.
We saw number one the principle of relational maturity. We saw number two the practice of relational maturity. Then the Apostle Paul continues to develop this idea and he gives us the pattern of relational maturity. You might say or think “I’ve never seen that happen in real life. I never saw my parents or boss or anybody act like that. You’re telling me that I’m supposed to esteem others better than myself, that I’m supposed to look out for the best interests of others, that I’m supposed to prefer others and not myself, that I have to lose so that they can win in order to have relational maturity.”. This is something that you can’t explain to a really young child. You have 2 kids that are 4 years old and they are teach fighting over the same doll. The sad thing is that sometimes you deal with the same thing with 2 grown adults. You try to explain to them that one of them has to esteem the other better than themselves. It’s like a deer in the headlight. They are like “What are you talking about?”.
Paul shows us the pattern of preferring one another. Verse 5 “5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”. We are to be the followers of Jesus Christ. That’s why we are called Christians. We’re supposed to be like Christ. Paul says there’s a very good example of everything I’ve been teaching you about vain glory, about strife, about lowliness of mind, about esteeming others better than yourself, about not looking on and only being concerned with your own things but also looking on the things of others. He says there’s a very good example, a very good pattern of that. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. He says “5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”. In verse 6 he begins to speak to us about the deity of Christ. He speaks to us about his deity. “6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”. That is a very clear passage in our King James Bible affirming the deity of Christ. So what do you mean by the deity of Christ? Here’s what we means by that. As Bible believing Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He was not just a man. He was the God-man. He was God that became a man. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
If you are here this morning and don’t have a King James Bible then I’m not mad at you. But let me help you understand some things. This verse is under attack in the modern Bible versions. Maybe you have an ESV, Here’s what the ESV says. “who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.”. Now the word grasp means to hold or grip to something. Our King James Bible says “6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:”. What does that mean? That means that Jesus did not think he was robbing God or taking something that belonged to him. When he equated himself to God, he was not taking away from God’s glory in a robbing type of way. In fact, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God. What does that mean? It means that he made himself equal with God and there was nothing wrong with it. Why? Because he was God. But the ESV says “though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped”. In the ESV he didn’t think he could be equal with God. These are 2 very different things. People say that all the modern Bible versions do is update the language but they say basically the same thing. That is not true at all. They completely change the meaning. Maybe you’ve never heard of this King James Only topic but we have a Documentary called “New World Order Bible Versions” that we would love to give you that goes through all of these things.
You might think that is just the ESV. Well, here is what the ASV says. “who existing in the form of God counted not being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped”. How about the RSV? “Who though he was in the form of God did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped”. People often make a big deal about the Bible issues and they act like you’ve got to be some theologian to understand these things. Look, you don’t have to be a theologian to understand that things that are different are not the same. These two books are saying two different things. One is saying Jesus is God. The other one is saying he didn’t think equality was with God was something he could grasp or attain to. The question is, is Philippians 2:6 wrong? Was Jesus God. The Bible is very clear that Jesus is God. In our doctrinal series, I preached about three sermons on the deity of Christ. The deity of Christ is proven by the statements of scripture, by his personal statements, by his attributes. The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is God but I’ll just give you some examples.
John 5:18 “18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.”. Look, the Bible teaches that Jesus was equal with God. How is that possible? Well, we also believe in the Trinity. There is one God that exists in three persons. Those three persons: God the father, and God the son, and God the holy spirit, they are co-equal and coexistent. They are all God. You say “Are they three separate Gods?”. No, there’s one God but there’s one God that exists in three persons. You say how can that be? Turn to John 1.
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”. Now if you’re going to be with someone, are you separate from them? The word with implies a separation but then it says “the Word was with God”. This means they are the same. How can that be? It can only be explained in one thing – the trinity. John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”.
The Bible teaches that Jesus is the creator, Jesus is the one who created. The Jehovah’s witnesses will say “Jesus was the first creation of God.”. The problem with that is that without him was not anything made that was made. He’s not a creation. He’s the creator. He is the word that was with God and that was God. You might wonder how we know that “The Word” is Jesus. Look at verse 14. “14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”. According to John 3:16, the most famous verse in the Bible, who’s the only begotten of the Father? “16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,…”. We see the deity of Christ. Look, the Bible clearly teaches the deity of Christ. I’m not going to take the time to continue but we preached sermons on his deity that you can listen to and get references. The point is that Jesus is God in the flesh. Go back to Philippians 2.
I want you to remember that this is not the major focus of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul’s not writing about this because he’s writing a dissertation on the deity of Christ. He’s making a point about relational maturity. He’s talking about the fact that we must be willing to lower ourselves and that we must be willing to put others first. We must be willing to esteem others better than ourselves. He gives us a pattern or an example of that. He says “5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man,…”. Remember, 1st Timothy 3:16 says “16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,”. The Bible says in John 1 “The Word was made flesh”. So we see the humiliation of Christ. The fact that he was deity who lowered himself and became humanity. On top of that, not only did he become humanity but we see the humility of Christ.
Look at verse 7 again. “7 But made himself of no reputation,”. Jesus wasn’t into Facebook. Jesus wasn’t trying to get a million followers on Instagram. In fact, when Jesus healed people he would tell them not to tell anybody. He made himself of no reputation. He had no need or desire for admiration. “7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:”. If you remember, when the disciples asked Jesus who will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, the Bible tells us that he began to wash their feet. I can’t think of something more humbling than washing somebody else’s feet. I don’t even like washing my own feet much less somebody else’s feet. And he washed their feet and he said the servant will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
The Bible says “7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”. Jesus is the perfect example of esteeming others better than ourselves. No looking on our own interests but on the interests of others. 2nd Corinthians 8:9 “9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.”. He made himself poor so we could be rich. He made himself lose so that we could win. He is the perfect example of esteeming others better than ourselves.
In Philippians 2, not only do we have the humiliation of Christ, but then the Apostle Paul brings up the exaltation of Christ. In God’s economy, you cannot have humiliation without having exaltation. In God’s economy, the way it works with God is that the way to go up is down. And by the way, the way to go down really quickly is up. You say I don’t understand. Satan said that he will ascend into heaven and be like the most high and he is brought down. The Bible says that God resisteth the proud. Pride produces destruction in your life. Humility produces exaltation. See, with Jesus, we have the most extreme form of humility. God became a man. And that man wasn’t the most powerful, most rich, most famous man. He was a lowly man. He was born in a stable. There was no room in the inn. Nobody admired him.
Look at Philippians 2:9 “9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:”. This is the name of Jesus. It doesn’t say Jehovah. “10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”. When it says that every knee should bow, it’s not just saying saved people. It is also saying unsaved people. By the way, it’s not just people. It’s animals. It’s creatures. It’s angels. It’s beasts. The Bible says that everyone whether they like it or not, everyone will bow their knee to Jesus. They will bow their knee and proclaim. They will bow their knee. Today people want to reject Christ. They want to say that they don’t believe in God. They want to be atheist. But one day every atheist will bow down and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. They will confess it right before they are thrown into hell. It won’t save them. But whether you get saved or not here on earth, everyone will confess at the great white throne. “11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”.
We have the most extreme example of humiliation. We have the most extreme example of exaltation. And Paul brings this up not to give us a lesson on his deity but to teach us about relational maturity. If we’re going to have relational maturity and be followers of Christ, the Bible says “5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”. We must not have vainglory. We must have lowliness of mind. We must esteem others better than ourselves. We must look out for the benefit of others, not the benefits of ourselves. Because that’s what Jesus would do. And if Jesus would do it, that’s what you and I should do. I want you to notice a couple things and I’m almost done. We’ll finish up here in a minute. I just want to show you a couple things. Go to 1st Peter.
Let me give you some final thoughts about humbling yourself. When you humble yourself, you exalt God. In God’s economy, the way up is down. When you humble yourself, you let others go first. 1st Peter 5:5 “5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”. See, when you humble yourself, you may find that God will exalt you. James 4:6 “6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”. See, the way up with God is down and the way down with God is up. You lift yourself up and God will bring you down. He resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble. With Jesus, we have the most extreme form of humiliation produced. The most extreme form of exaltation. When you humble yourself, you might find that God exalts you.
Let me give you another thought. Philippians 2:2 “2 Fulfil ye my joy,…”. Joy is what we’ve been talking about for the last several weeks. The series is called “Rejoice”. Why? Because the Apostle Paul over and over and over in the book of Philippians uses this word “Rejoice”. He says rejoice in the Lord alway and again I say rejoice. He tells us to rejoice. He tells us to have joy. He uses the word rejoice over and over and he uses the word joy over and over. The book of Philippians is a book of joy. It’s a book of Jesus. It’s about joy we can find in Jesus. It is the epistle of joy. It is Paul teaching us to rejoice. And I want you to notice that Paul goes into this whole dissertation about how we should not have vainglory but we should have lowliness of mind and should esteem others better than ourselves. He says we should look out for the benefit of others and not ourselves. We should follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ and let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. He begins all that by saying in verse two “fulfill ye my joy”. When you humble yourself, you may find not only that God exalts you but when you humble yourself you may find that you will experience true joy. How can that be? Go to Hebrews 12:2.
Let me read to you an article on humility and happiness. It’s a study that was done and it’s very interesting. I’ll read to you a short portion of it. It’s a fascinating study on the principle of humility and the golden rule. It was conducted by Bernard Rimland, director of the institute of child behavioral research. Rimland found that the happiest people are those who help others. Each person involved in the study was asked to list 10 people who they knew the best and to label them as happy or not happy. So these individuals were brought in for the study and they were asked to list the 10 people who they knew the best. They gave a list of the 10 people they knew the best. Then they also rated them on being happy or unhappy. Then they were to go through the list again and label each one as selfish or unselfish. The determination or definition used for selfishness was “a stable tendency to devote one’s time and resources to one’s own interest and welfare or an unwillingness to inconvenience oneself for others.”. This is found in Rimland’s book the altruism paradox.
“In categorizing the results, Rimland found that all the people labeled happy were also labeled unselfish. He wrote that those whose activities are devoted to bringing themselves happiness are far less likely to be happy than those whose efforts are devoted to making others happy. Rimland concluded his writing by stating do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”.
Hebrews 12:2 “2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”. The word joy is in the context of the most humiliating aspect of the life of Christ. Here’s what the Bible tells us about Jesus. When Jesus was experiencing humiliation, the most extreme form of humiliation, during that entire time period he was experiencing joy. “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross”. See, when you humble yourself, you may find that you experience something very odd. Through humility you can experience true joy. You’ve heard me say it a lot and I’ll continue to say it. The truth of the matter is that when you and I live for self, in the end all we will have is ourselves. There is no joy in that. If you want joy in marriage, child rearing, getting along with others or Church members or your Pastor or coworkers, etc…you’re going to need unity. In order to have unity you’ll need relational maturity which means you can’t have vainglory. You must have lowliness of mind which means you must esteem others better than yourself. You must look out for the best interest of others rather than yourself. And if you’re not sure what that looks like, Paul would say “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”. The greatest example of humiliation and exaltation is the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you do that, you may be surprised that when you lower yourself God exalts you and when you lower yourself you may experience joy.
Let’s pray.