Sermon Tone Analysis

*Philippians 6.*

Today we are going to look at a passage that is an awesome revelation of Jesus – I approach it with some trepidation because I want to do it justice but am aware that I am totally incapable of doing so – who is sufficient for these things?!

But that is the case with all Scripture – we are dealing with God’s Word!

So let’s call upon Him for help, that He would reveal His Son to us.

If you get nothing from the message this morning, may I suggest you go home and read this passage, and read it again, until the wonder of it thrills your heart.

We have slowly been wending our way through Paul’s letter to the Church in Philippi *[P]*.

Paul was in prison in Rome and the Church in Philippi was discouraged by this because they were loyal supporters of Paul in his mission of spreading the Gospel, they were partners with him.

So Paul sought to change their perspective from a human one, to looking from God’s perspective, the view-point of His purposes.

We have now reached chapter 2 (if you could turn there) *[P]* – and last time we saw that although the Philippians were fully behind Paul, there are hints that they were not getting on so well together: [*Philippians 2:1-11*/ Therefore if 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, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.

Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others./

(Paul encouraged them to be of the “same mind” in (Phil 2:2) *[P]*, they needed to be in agreement – he stresses unity, thinking of others, having a humble mind – he is focusing on their thinking their “mind” – he now goes on to speak about this mind that they should have, this way of thinking:) /Have this attitude/ (“mind” the same work as “being of the same mind” in Phil 2:2)/ in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped/ (or clung on to)/, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant/ (a slave!)/, and being made in the likeness of men.

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father./]

We treasure this passage (and rightly so) because of the picture it gives us of Jesus; but we need to keep in mind why it is here, the context: it develops the big idea from the previous section about being /like-minded/.

It has been placed here for a specific reason – why do we have this description of Jesus?

Because we are to have the same mind that He has! – the same attitude, the same way of thinking.

Jesus is the prime example of the qualities that Paul was exhorting the Philippians to have.

So although these verses are about Jesus, they are also about you and me!

At least the way we should be.

Paul connects this section to the previous one by asking us to think like Jesus did.

In context, the model of Jesus’ humility and sacrifice is intended to reinforce Paul’s call to consider others as being more important than ourselves.

And what better example could there be than Jesus?

We are given a glimpse into Jesus’ mind, His attitude!

And it is totally different to ours!

It has just been mid-year report time.

Hannah brings home a learning journal with samples of her work – she has to say what she is proud of – she is actively prompted into being proud!

Her reports usually say something about them wanting to see her more confident, assertive – to be pushing herself forward, just like all the others do.

The school, the world, encourages exactly the opposite attributes to those we are trying to instil into our child.

The world’s way, is push to get what you want, to strive to get ahead, be proud of what you accomplish.

It is behind all we do.

We want more pay, so we take industrial action; we push and put pressure on to get what we want.

We love our sport – but the whole basis of sport is to beat the other side, crush the opposition, assert your superiority.

I well remember playing a game of croquet with my Dad according to Christian principles: instead of trying to win, I would try to arrange my shots so that things were lined up for Dad’s best interests – you know, thinking of the interests of others – he packed it in – the whole game became utterly pointless.

Look, the insurance company is slow in getting my place rebuilt, so I hassle them.

It works!

The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

So we are conditioned to push our own barrow.

But what does (Phil 2:2-3) say? – look out for the interests of others; consider others more important than yourself.

We are proud of our accomplishments – that is how we measure a man, by what he has done, made, or become.

But that was not Jesus way – it is totally different.

Let’s take a look at the traits of Jesus that are highlighted.

Now if anyone has anything to be proud of, be respected it is Jesus – He is fully God! *[P[* with all the rights and privileges that go with that.

All that follows is to be understood in this context, namely, that Jesus has the /form of God/.

His Divine status provides the backdrop against which we should consider His example.

So what does Jesus do with all this power, position and authority?

Even though He was entitled to these things, Jesus does not use them to His own advantage.

He does not consider equality with God as something to fight for or hold onto.

Instead of holding on to His “rights and privileges,” He chose a different path.

This path has both positive and negative aspects to it.

Even though He could have asserted His Divine right, He chose instead, on the negative side, not to regard equality with God as something to be grasped.

What would you do if you were God?!

You would expect a bit of respect, a bit of honour.

It has just been the queen’s 60th jubilee – look at all the pomp and ceremony given to her, a mere human monarch.

You know, pride is deep seated and is at the heart of all sin.

Satan was a glorious angel, with high position in heaven – what did he do?

That was not enough, he sought to make himself equal with God!

But Jesus, the truly great One, did not cling to that position He had; on the contrary, He emptied and humbled Himself.

He had the /form of God/ but took on the /form of man/.

The implication is that if Jesus is willing to set aside His own rights in obedience to the Father’s higher purposes, then why can’t we do the same?

Why can’t we be like-minded and consider others more important than ourselves?

Even though Jesus had the Divine clout to do anything He wanted, He chose /not/ to stick up for His rights.

I would call that MEEKNESS *[P]*.

What Jesus /did/ is highlighted by the contrast with what He did /not/ do – He didn’t cling to His status and rights.

Paul follows this with two statements about what He /did/ do – instead of clinging on to His entitlements, He emptied Himself and He humbled Himself.

How?

By taking the form of a servant and the likeness of human form *[P]*.

Here we have the King of kings, the supreme authority, the Lord over all because He made it all – and what does the King do?

Well, kings are served by their subjects, aren’t they?!

But this King over all, served His subjects!!!  *[P]* [*Mark 10:45*/ “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”/]*

[Luke 22:25-27*/ And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’

“But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.

“For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves?

Is it not the one who reclines at the table?

But I am among you as the one who serves./]

But He didn’t just serve, with all His Divine capabilities; no, He went further – He who has always been God, fully God, became a human being!

To serve and fully identify and know what it is like to be human, to be like those He was serving – He became one of them!

Here is God, but He took on human likeness.

We strive to keep what we have attained – but He laid it all aside.

What humility!

*[P]*.

I have mentioned this before, but He didn’t just come as an adult to minister for three years, He was born a baby – there is God with no control over His bowel or bladder, dependent on teenage backblocks girl to suckle Him.

God in human likeness!

This is where it gets exciting – think about it: nearly every superhero you read about as a kid had two qualities.

First, they had a human form, like Superman, Batman, or Spiderman.

But there was also that thing that made them different.

They also had some kind of special power that other humans didn’t have.

The same characteristics held true for the villains.

They too had a human form and some special power.

The thing that separated the good guys from the bad guys was what each did with their powers.

The villains used their power to try and take over the world, while the heroes used theirs to fight for truth and justice.

How does this relate to Philippians?

Well, Jesus is in the same kind of position: fully human, yet still having His Divine attributes.

It raises the question of what Jesus will do with all that He has.

To build up the suspense before the answer, Paul slows things down at the end of (Phil 2:7) by nearly repeating his previous statement about Jesus being in human likeness: “/being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form/”.

We do the same kind of thing before the peak of a story: “I was looking out the window, minding my own business.

But while I was looking out the window.…”

Chances are you’d be disappointed if something significant did not follow – we would naturally expect that whatever comes next is of significance to the story – we are building up the tension, the anticipation.

That is what Paul is doing in this intentional slowing (Phil 2:8).

So the big question is: what is the significant thing that follows the repetition?