The Vanishing Virtue - Philippians 2:1-2

Later describe it in this great chapters mind boggling humility of God the son.

The incarnating human flesh, the king becoming a servant. How annoying is that God would take pleasure in offering something to us. He has paid in full himself on boluses of God. Paul is going to connect the dots that you receive it now. You demonstrated to today begins a series from Philippians chapter 2 that's going to help you understand and live one of the Bible's most important characteristics, humility.

As Paul wrote Philippians he was under house arrest. He was isolated from his friends, church leaders in Rome had abandoned him yet strangely he wasn't longing for freedom are praying for comfort his soul desire was to see the church of God being united in humility.

Let's join Stephen right now as he begins this series with the lesson entitled the vanishing virtue Philippians chapter 2 spend the next few months here, maybe years. I don't know you spent some time here in all our studies together are going to simply fall under the categorical heading that I'm going to simply entitle with this one word humility.

It's every one of our battle in this chapter, the spirit of God for the apostle Paul will command humility.

He's going to illustrate humility through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in his incarnation so beautiful it is going to apply it not only to the church, but to every Christian begins with a series of statements that we need to to get a hold of the lays the foundation for this this chapter go back to verse one there just at the beginning of chapter 2, three, that if therefore there is any encouragement in Christ. If there is any consolation of love. If there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion make my joy complete by being of the same mind that is unity. The four times you noticed Paul right there if there is in the original language.

These if statements are what linguists call first class conditional clauses in it. It's terribly exciting on a Sunday morning, but it actually is.

You might be glad to read this and think that Paul might be wondering if these four propositions are true.

Is there really encouragement in Christ.

Is there any consolation well. Is there any fellowship of the Spirit, and so on.

The particle epsilon with an indicative could be rendered with the word sentence or as surely as you can read like this since there is encouragement in Christ and are surely if there is any consolation of love and there is or since there is fellowship of the Spirit or since there is affection and compassion. Again, always resource.

That's what he said but it was a lead you to wonder why doesn't Paul just right. Since were translated from some Greek word in their bright they had a word for that in the cells reason is that this brilliant lawyer, former rabbi is using this form of speech to logically herd us toward an undeniable conclusion. He's like a trial lawyer bringing the witness to agree to for things and then delivering his verdict of which the witness must agree the same thing that parents do. Every parent brilliant trial lawyer and the further along you go the better you get you the same thing in English. That is, you ask questions and you expect your child answer yes and after having answered yes to certain things. Then the verdict is as self-explanatory. So here's how it works. You ask your your little boy you call me from the backyard and you say something to him like do you care about your little sister's feelings, and he knows he's going to say what yes so you wait until he does things in our somebody finally gets to and these are well do you think she would appreciate if you quit taking her favorite doll and writing over with your Tonka truck yeah I guess so what do you want her to be glad that your big brother. Yes, well then if that's true go back out of the backyard and change your behavior. The idea these are true, then something else is true as well. That ought to happen three word than what Paul is writing here with that sentence.

He's asking these questions is there any encouragement in Christ is expecting us all say yes is there consolation in his love. Yes I know that's is there fellowship in the Holy Spirit yes is there any affection or compassion from him, yes, absolutely. Well that is all that is true, and they are, and since they are true now change something and that change is to dwell together as a body of believers in humble unity by Pentecost paraphrases it this way if there is any encouragement in Christ and there certainly is if there is any consolation of love and there certainly is if there is any fellowship of the Spirit and there certainly is if there is any affection and compassion from him, and there certainly is than fulfill my joy in unified behavior. These four phrases that are not uncertainties possibilities. They are certainties troops.

By the way, Paul is referring as you look at those four propositions not to just simply for supernatural realities and they are sourced and got the father got setting up experiences that they are experiences of every Christian or should be. So take a closer look at them first power first to encouragement in Christ were encouragement is from a word that can be translated comfort. Paul is basically asking the Philippian congregation have you any of you ever experienced the comfort of Christ and when did you well you know is that every every believer and syllabi can go back to that moment when they were introduced to the gospel placed their faith in Christ and that began this relationship encouragement. It came in Christ is talking so for you today. Is there encouragement in Christ. Yes we did begin when you became related to and you're growing in that understanding of Christ was always faithful and the older you get, the more you treasure as well, albeit a funeral today for a man who accepted Christ 10 months ago and his kitchen table. Jewish men, I would often see him at the car dealership over the years, 20+ years. His children were little.

At one point and he visit every so often in the old building quit I'd see him and I invite him back, share the gospel with him and he would always tell me, Stephen. The smile on his face. Sunday is the perfect day for golf okay but you know the invites. I just rehearse it whenever I lost touch with them over the last for five years until 10 months ago when his daughter Jess is now grown up believer married emailed me and her email started out by saying I don't know if you remember my father corseted, but he has stage IV cancer and I think he wants to talk to you. I came over and had the privilege of opening the Old Testament and delivering to him the gospel that we rehearsed from Isaiah 53 in other passages in asked him if he understood would he like to make Jesus Christ his Messiah, tears coming down his cheeks. Yes to the ever-changing Sunday became not the best day for golf, but worship he sat right down here about four rows from the front right at my writing was always smiling. Just drinking it until he couldn't come anymore week or so ago before I left for Israel just emailed me and said look hospice has been called and that before you go out of the country.

He may not be alive when you get back so I went over I walked into the room where he was in their home and I said Eric coming go see the place of your father's and this is where you and I are going to live forever.

One day, and just like he was. He said I read in John's description of the new Jerusalem from Revelation 2122 he drank it in.

You see, he had discovered a greater encouragement in life than anything else. It was now in Christ later on. Paul is going to effectively tell the Christians not to keep this encouragement to ourselves. These are spiritual realities found in the Lord and there to be delivered and declared and demonstrated to first and foremost one another and into our world. Secondly notice Paul writes of the consolation of love. The consoling effects of the love antecedent of the source would be Jesus Christ. When the world looks at us do they do they believe we have a consolation in Christ do they believe that we have a source to which we can go to be consoled.

This is a reference to the love of Christ for a fact he can be translated literally is very similar to the previous word but it's a little different and that this word talks about speaking to someone in a friendly manner, pulling up a chair getting real close just reminding them of the consoling trues of Christ's love.

It's offering soulless you could translated by the way, I came to mind. Just two days ago, I stepped into another room from which people do not emerge alive.

This room held a woman who walked with Christ for decades didn't know her but her daughter and her daughter's family belong to this fellowship invited me to come into meet her mother and I when I got there two days ago I walked into the room and then stopped because Lisa was real close to the bed there at the head where her mother lay and she had her Bible open and the lease was reading passages of Scripture and just a quiet voice and her mother was useless man.

This is an illustration for talking since speaking soulless someone of Christ. I finally interrupted them, walked over on the other side of the bed and I said carry on.

Though I am here but you just how I love what you're doing.

Let me just listen in. She had a study Bible and had notes in and she began to read the lyrics of the hymn text and she read it and I said you know that's why my wife's favorite him.

She said really she says I don't know what do you know what I said I do she said would you sing it right now.

No instrument.

I sound really good with an orchestra and a thousand people know sing. Please so I did admit I change the key. A few times lost the melody line somewhere in there, but they didn't know any different. The lyrics go like this, he giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater descendents, more strength when the laborers increase to added affliction. He added his mercy, to multiplied trials is multiplied his love has no limit his grace has no measure. His power has no boundary known and demand for out of his infinite riches in Jesus he giveth and giveth and giveth again. This is delivering soulless consolation for love demonstrated that kind of love to us in that while we were even in the act of sending Christ died for us.

Rose chapter 5 similar kind of humility is that the dog would die for us through Christ pose you later describe it in this great chapter of his mind boggling humility of God to sign the incarnating in human flesh, the king becoming a servant. How going is that consoling should it be to us that God would find us down to save us consoling.

Would it be from eternity past, we been chosen to be the bride of Christ through faith alone with the dog would take pleasure in offering something to us. He has paid in full himself how humble this is of God. Paul is going to connect the dots that you receive it now. Do you demonstrated to others, we move on. Thirdly, Paul points out next verse one points to the fellowship of the Spirit. This is the coin in the of the spear we've already encountered the word coin, unable for in chapter 1, partnership, fellowship chapter 1, Paul refers to the coin. On the other partnership of this church with him in the gospel so remember point I knew we had good fellowship is is more than a dozen doughnuts are potluck during a Bible study and this is word is is deeper all those things might be your symptoms are bad, but it it relates to people who are joined together in the gospel stand together for the truth of the gospel. So Paul says I thank God for your 20 no need with me your partnership with me in the gospel. I found it interesting to discover in the secular Greek culture. The word coin and he referred to inheriting a possession common possession. In Paul's day. If errors inherited a piece of property, common possession coin O'Neill meant that each error was not inheriting a piece of that property is that they were together inheriting all of the property, which is a powerful application to this particular spiritual reality. The apostle Paul is telling us that believers in Christ are errors we have inherited, as it were, the Holy Spirit, we have coin O'Neill with the Holy Spirit. We have common possession, which means that you believers over here don't have a little bit of them and you believers back there unite even less of him to get early is over here you have a little bit of him and other churches. They have a little bit of heaven will get a little piece of the Holy Spirit.

The what this means is that every believer has common possession by faith, we have been all made to drink of one Spirit person is. We have all individually become temples of the Holy Spirit for screening 690.

We've inherited the Holy Spirit in our client with them means that we have inherited the entire property, or in this case the entire person of the Holy Spirit.

We have all how is that we were God, we just don't let out a little bit after the old one little bit here you behaving a little more you behaving a little more know we have by faith in Christ inherited the entire person or fellowship of the Spirit is even now complete.

Now this is a spiritual reality, but it must be demonstrated as a living reality if the spirit condescend in great humility to inhabitants to bring us about his common possessors as errors of how willing are we to fellowship with other the other heirs you know there's a lot of trouble in a judges chamber when the inheritance is distributed. How we treat each other as errors of the Holy Spirit. Does it bother you that you are worshiping with people that you didn't get to handpick and if you did, would they be different than what God's chosen to bring if the spirit of God recognizes us as joint errors.

How do we recognize each other when we think of when we see each who are really to one another was to elevate our sense of wrong. Equal errors to the inheritance of the Holy Spirit which gives us coin on the I love CS Lewis's again. His insight when he wrote decades ago.

I'll edit it down a little bit but he said this, you need to remember that the most uninteresting person you talk to in the church, believers may one day be a creature which, if you saw him now as he will be, then you would strongly be tempted to worship him as we can see what were going to be a shining immortals. One day we can see each other now like we will be then we might be tempted to fall down and worship so glorious will be the splendor that God is reserved for us. Peter wrote that he says this is Lewis. It is in this light that we should conduct all our dealings with one another. There are no ordinary Christians you have never talked to a mayor mortal good.

Keep that in mind we are we are in the assembly of future shining immortals who will reign with fourthly. Paul points out the reality of affection and compassion in the last part of verse one affection any affection and compassion.

Surely there is Christ antecedent the source affection we need to understand correctly refers to the inner person guy, your King James translation might translated bowels of mercy little brutal but it's a good translation. The generation of Paul's day considered the bowels the inner organs, even the intestines to be the seat.

The origin, the source of the motion. It's the word record explained that even sounds a bit disgusting but that's the guts okay that we use the expression in a today dog but haven't got what feeling backtracked back here. It's interesting to consider Paul Rand hallmark from the Judean Hills is all the Valentine cards back there would've been little effort they would read something like I love you with all my control.

I have you forever in my tip. I have a lot going for you way down deep and Michael, I don't have too much fun here with over time they sorta centered on the hearts as being that Oregon from which emotion comes which is great because I love you with all my heart better than I love you with all my whatever my liver of the next word Paul introduces here the word compassion and tender mercies's word refers to displaying concern over somebody's misfortune and other context is going to actually write to the Corinthians, and say that God is the father of and use this word.as the father of mercies, God is the father of the feeling and emotion. Now it's important to recognize here that these words are intertwined these two. Besides being redundant affection. Follow this here is the internal source of emotion, compassion or mercies is the actual expression of that emotion.

One author from Great Britain called affection for roots and compassion its fruit and that would be a good way of understanding. It's one thing to say well you know I do have a heart will see. Do you express it to demonstrate mercy. The merciful person that's great to hear but do you do it.

That's where Paul is driving us in making these realities that these four propositions are realities are true. Now Paul drives home the point. Verse to look there. He says this make my joy complete make my joy complete by being of the same mind banked my joy just off the charts by being unified in humility is what it means being the same mind that it might sound contradictory.

The apostle Paul be talking to us in laying the groundwork ability and then he tells the church to do something to make him feel good. It sounds contradictory.

You're right it does. At first blush it in this context, Paul is actually informing the church that there is a joy that is richer and deeper sweeter than any self-centered self promoting, self congratulating desire. The grace of Christ creates a new heart source and in that finds its greatest joy its deepest emotion in seeing the church and see Christian friends grow more unified.

Paul is saying this is what would send my joy skyward for you to demonstrate the humility of God the father, God the son God the spirit.

The treason bound up in these propositions by demonstrating their version of love. Their version of encouragement.

Their version of care and compassion now. Don't miss this dumbest Paul is under house arrest. Remember his chain is no freedom of movement is isolated from his friends that the church leaders in Rome have nothing to do with them. They don't even know where he is staying in here.

He says what would make me so incredibly joyful would be to see and hear that you as a body of believers are unified in humility can't help but wonder how I feel like under house arrest.

No movement, no friends find what would make me so happy would be, why is while I tomorrow during these chains can be freedom of movement vindicate my name bring back my friends right. Paul is effectively saying over top of my tank is getting on house arrest is getting on my friends, but it is a big is being rewarded for serving Christ. None of that process. It would bring me credible filling joy to see the church demonstrating humility.

What a great challenge you're listening to wisdom for the heart with Stephen Devi. This was less than one in a series called humility from Philippians chapter 2 the Philippians commentary is available in our resource library. It would help you to dive deeply into this important and practical book if you like information about this resource.

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