Bible Study Philippians 2:1-11

Well, good afternoon, everyone. My name is Dylan Horlebein, I serve as the interim Youth director. I know some of you all probably seen me walking around or some of us got to speak before. But I work with the youth, and I love it, it’s enjoyable. And it should be fun, if it’s not that it may be concerning right? I go to Carolina College of Biblical Studies where Pastor Chris is at. I am graduating this upcoming May so I’m very excited. I’m a little bittersweet but I’m excited. Pastor Chris is out of town this evening, so he asked me to sub in for him, so I said yes, let’s do it.

Prayer requests/praises?

Pray

So, Pastor Chris gave me the freedom to talk about whatever text of my choosing. So, I was thinking, what should we talk about? And then I remembered something was going to happen the day before. Something happened yesterday, right? Something pretty big? Can we all agree that election years are the worst? I can’t stand them because there’s so much division. No matter who wins, no one is going to be happy. Something may happen after. Names will be called to each other. And there will be so much hate and division. So, I want to talk about unity tonight. I challenged our students on Sunday night with this topic of unity. You won’t believe this, even teenagers struggle with unity. Now, not our students, they’re perfect, you know. But teenagers struggle with division and having unity with each other too. If you ask some of our public or private students, there may be a fight at their school. A disagreement that can turn into a fight. Drama that doesn’t lead to anything helpful down the line. But I challenged them to think of how they can have unity at their schools, sports team band team and everywhere the Lord takes them. So tonight, I’m challenging us to unite at work, with families, friends, and wherever the Lord takes us.

Go with me to Philippians 2. We’re going to start reading just the first 4 verses and then discuss and get back to verses 5-11. But before we read, I know you guys are in 1 Corinthians so let me remind you what Philippians is about.

Background

The book of Philippians is written by Paul, with the help of Timothy, his young protege. He wrote this letter to his close friends, the Christians in Philippi, from his Roman house arrest described at the end of Acts as he waited for his court appearance before Caesar. The church in Philippi was foundedby Paul some eleven years before this letter on his second missionary journey. This was the first church established on the continent of Europe. So, this letter was personal to Paul. This was a special letter to a group of Christians who were especially close to the heart of Paul. When Paul remembered what all the Philippians did for him back in chapter one, he was extremely thankful. He was grateful for the Philippians, but more so to God who had worked such kindness through the Philippians. They were extremely giving towards Paul, both when he was with them and when he was apart from them. They partnered with Paul in his spreading of the gospel through their friendship and financial support. They didn’t wait to see if Paul was a “winner” before they supported him. They got behind Paul and his ministry early. Some scholars have said that when Paul prayed for these people, he became happy. Some scholars have said that Philippians can be called “Resources through suffering.” Joy and rejoicing are repeated themes in this book as they are mentioned 16 times. From the time it was established, the church at Philippi was healthy, strong, and generous, becoming a model church for us. But here’s the trick, at times, this church still struggled with disunity. So, one of the reasons Paul is writing this book is to remind them of being together and being one.

So, now that we’re all caught up let’s read the text…

Read Philippians 2:1-4

So, tonight, I’m going to walk us through 3 points and then we’re done. The first one is…

1. Motivated to be together (v. 1-2)

Illustration

Let’s do a little poll quickly. By a show of hands, who here has a dishwasher? I’m so jealous of all. Who here wash the dishes by hand? Now, either way, thankfully we wash our dishes, right? A little confession, I hate washing dishes by hand. I will do any other chore in the house but that one. I will clean the kitchen, and not do the dishes. It’s bad I know, but I don’t like washing dishes and I’m glad I’m not alone. I remember one time my mom asked me to do these dishes and so I knew I needed to do the dishes. The only problem is I forgot to do the dishes. So, she got home, and she saw the dishes and she said, “Thanks for doing the dishes”, you know she had that look that moms give. And I’m like “You’re welcome” but then the alarm goes off in my head that I never did the dishes, so I go do them. But she made this rhetorical statement about me doing the dishes.

Explanation

Paul starts in chapter two, and he just makes some rhetorical statements. He makes some statements he knows the answers to and the church at Philippi knows the answers to. He says, “If then, there is any encouragement in Christ if any consolation of love if any fellowship with the Spirit if any affection and mercy.” All through verse 1 he uses the word “If.” The word “If” in English brings some doubt or fear to our mind. Remember, the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek so when we read scripture, we must take off our English lens and look at it through their context. In this context, Paul put it by way of argument. Perhaps no one knew better than Paul did because of his past. He mentions these things in a manner that they should all be obvious parts of the Christian life. This introduces the basis for Paul’s exhortation to unity, humility, and love among believers. The idea is that if they have received the things he mentions, then they have a responsibility to do what he is about to describe.

In verse 2, Paul gets to the unity part. He starts by saying “Make my joy complete”. He is making a personal request here to them. Remember Paul had a great relationship with this church and sometimes it made him joyful so he’s saying do these things to make me joyful. He knew that these Christians at Philippi loved him, so he pleaded with them, by their love to him. In a sense, Paul is leaving them with a challenge. In a sense, he’s saying “If you love me, do this.” Now, what do they have to do? He goes on and says, “By thinking the same way, having the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.” These together all speak of the same idea: a deep, abiding, unity among them. This unity is the goal. It is not found in the same lifestyle or personality. It is found when people have the same values and love. Paul sought that in this church. He was motivated to be one and he wants these Christians to be too.

Application

So, the application of these first two verses is more of a reflection for us. Are we motivated to be together? Do we desire to be 1? Do we desire to see each other as someone Christ died for?

Transition

Paul goes on and shifts a little bit to descriptions of how to achieve and practice unity in verses 3-4. He shows how unity is a mindset, that’s the second point…

2. Unity is a mindset (v. 3-4).

Explanation

Paul is about to get into the actions toward each other. In verse 3 he says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit.” Both of these attitudes stem from a self-centered mindset. “Selfish ambition” was first used in Philippians 1:17, when Paul describes preachers who opposed him because some would only preach for selfish motives. Selfish ambition can be understood as a motivation to elevate oneself or put one’s interest above others. Paul then uses the term “Conceit” and it’s similar to selfish ambition. Now, I had to do some research on this term because I didn’t know what it meant. It was funny on Sunday night with the youth, one of them loudly said, “What does that mean?” Teenagers are always curious and bold. “Conceit” describes an excessively favorable opinion of one’s ability and importance. It’s a worthless or empty desire for glory, a mindset that cares only to enhance an inflated view of self. It is self-promotion and ends up with a meaningless self-glorification that ends up helping no one and accomplishing nothing beyond satisfying ourselves. You know I think these two terms perfectly fit for 2024. We’ve all seen this in others, attention seekers who want to be in the spotlight. Then we’ve all dealt with this at some point in our lives when we want something so bad. We look at others as rivals because we want to do better than them. We strive for that attention and glory for ourselves.

But what does Paul tell us to do with these motives? At the end of verse 3 and verse 4 he says, “But in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.” Having humility is how we deal with our selfish motives. Now, this doesn’t mean looking at yourself poorly, but it means that we value ourselves more than others. To value others above yourself does not mean to look down on yourself but rather means to look up to those around you, not to hate yourself but to love and serve others even more. You do not reject yourself but place your brothers and sisters on a pedestal above yourself. It has been said, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less.” We have this servant mentality. Paul means that we are to focus on helping others more than on helping ourselves; the people around us are to get the share of our attention. When believers act like, we are of one mind, and everyone is cared for. A way to unity is to look out for others and not just us. It’s a mindset that we must have.

Illustration

I heard a story where a Pastor got done preaching on Sunday morning about being nice but then a lady yelled at another lady after church. The Pastor was feeling good about the message, and he was tired too because preaching can be a workout. He was feeling grateful he got to preach God’s word. He went for around 30 minutes and prayed. Everyone is having a time of fellowship before they leave. But then all of a sudden, the Pastor hears a lady behind him yell at another lady because she didn’t like the new floor arrangement they got. So, she let the whole church know. She wanted her preference. Now, maybe the lady didn’t read Philippians 2:4, I don’t know.

Application

What if we had a mentality of unity? What if we had a mentality of serving others? What if it was a game of who can care more about others? What if? I’m so thankful to work and be at a church that is so giving and mission-oriented. It has been a beautiful thing to be part of and just see. Pastor Jeff talked about it on Sunday morning during the announcements, as a church we have had 25,000 in the Hurricane Helene effort. That is amazing. Last Friday night, we dedicated a night to packing shoe boxes, and then on Saturday two small groups packed shoe boxes.

Now, here’s the application part to this, let’s keep going. Let’s keep living with this servant mentality. This mentality of putting others first and looking out for each other.

Transition

Paul then shifts and relates this to the greatest example, Jesus. Let’s read verses 5-11. The third point is…

3. Jesus sets the example of humility (v. 5-11).

Explanation

We see this in verses 5-11 where Paul is talking about the deity of Christ. Many have regarded this section Philippians 2:5-11, as a hymn of the early church that Paul incorporated into his letter.

Verse 5

Verse 5 is the introduction to the hymn in the form of a command. Verse 5 is key before we can understand verses 6-11. Paul is about to describe for us the mind of Christ but first, he tells us what to do with the information. It’s easy to read about the description of Jesus and admire it from a distance but God wants us to be awed by it and to imitate it. In verse 5, Paul introduced the hymn by looking both backward and forward. Looking back, Paul picked up the same attitude which he commanded earlier. Looking ahead, Paul anticipated the mind of Jesus. So, Paul uses the word “Adopt” and says, “Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus.” They were to imitate him because, in so doing, the problems of disunity would be solved. When we imitate Christ, we’re showing the love of Christ to others. We can have unity when we choose to walk in the same attitude as Christ. Remember also that this mind is something granted to us by God. 1 Corinthians 2:16 says that we have the mind of Christ. But letting this mind shows us that it is also something we must choose to walk in. You have to let it be so.

Verses 6-11

So, in verse 6 the hymn starts, and it has two movements: the humility of Christ in verses 6-8 and the exaltation of Christ in verses 9-11.

Verses 6-8

Verse 6 specifically talks about the attitude of Jesus. Paul first says, “Who, existing in the form of God.” This can be hard for us to understand because when we use the word “Form” we think of the shape of something; but in this context, it is more the idea of a mode or an essence, it is the essential nature of God, without a physical shape or image. God has a form, and Jesus exists in this form of God. And what did Jesus not do? Paul goes on by saying, “, “Did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.” Jesus did not cling to the privileges of who he was, as God. It wasn’t that Jesus was trying to achieve equality with the Father. He had it and chose not to cling to it. Jesus did not think of his equality as something to use to his advantage. Instead, he had this humble mindset.

Verse 7

Paul goes on and says something interesting, “Instead he emptied himself.” Now, what does this mean? We must be careful of this because Jesus didn’t empty himself of His deity in any way. Jesus did not become less God or lose any of His character. At the end of the verse, Paul tells us “By assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man.” This describes how Jesus emptied himself. The idea of emptying himself was his taking the form of a servant. One scholar said, “The emptying is that God became human, the Lord became a servant, and obedience took him to death. He left his position, rank, and privilege for us.”

Verse 8

How did he do this? Verse 8 says how, “He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even to death on a cross.” It’s simple but powerful, Jesus seeks humility, refuses glory, and takes the lowest place possible for us on the cross. Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher who’s called the prince of preachers said this about this verse, “Obedience is the best humility.”

Transition

In verses 9-11, we see that shift to the exaltation of Christ.

Verse 9

Verse 9 says, “For this reason, God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name.” Jesus did not crown himself, but the Father crowned him. He did not elevate himself to the throne, but the Father lifted him there and placed him there. His humiliation led directly to his exaltation.

Verses 10-11

Now, in the last 2 verses, we see why as they explain the purpose of God exalting Jesus. These last 2 verses should just make us want to praise Him. This is what it says, “so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Not only is Jesus exalted by the Father, but the whole world will be brought into submission to the Son.

Transition

But what does all this have to do with unity? Why did Paul want to write this part? Paul did not give this description of Jesus in Philippians 2:5-11 simply for theology. Theology is important but it’s not the only reason he said this. He gave this to help them practice real unity at any time of their life This picture has equipped them to act in a way towards each other that will promote unity in the body of Christ. When we have that humility mindset like Christ, we can have unity. We’re to be like Christ, the chief’s servant. To focus on giving rather than receiving. To have a servant's heart.

Illustration

I remember my senior year in high school when I took a weightlifting class, and it was leg day. By the way, still to this day, I don’t like leg day, I’m the type to skip leg day. But then I remember I do not my legs to look like a toothpick. But this specific day in class, it was maxing out on squatting. I was already dreading the day. But we started out doing some warm-up sets and then it’s time to max out. Now, typically when we max out you do it in a group and then tell the teacher your number to see if you made any improvement. But, when I had to max out my teacher wanted to spot me, and I did not like that one bit. But I got the ball, got in position and I went down and then came up and put the bar back. My teacher was like “Dylan, you did not go enough, you need to go lower.” In my head, I was like “Well, I felt something.

Application

But most of the time, we don’t go low enough. We’re not growing stronger because we’re not willing to bend and let Jesus be in control. Often, unity doesn't take place because we’re not willing to be low enough and put others higher. What is keeping you from going low enough to put others first? What is holding you back from having unity with others? Is there something you need to change within yourself?

Closing

So, unity can be hard. If it wasn’t, Paul wouldn’t be talking about it. But the church in Philippi at times struggled with it, and even today, in 2024, almost 2025, it is still struggling. Which, by the way, shows you how relevant the Bible is. I want to leave us with this famous prayer from John Scott, a former Pastor in Harlem, New York. I’m going to read it and go straight into prayer; this is what it says…

“Almighty God, you are one Lord and have made us one humanity. We worship you for your unity, and we thank you for ours. So, look in pity on our present national disunity. Forgive the selfishness and prejudice which divide us from one another. Deliver us from suspicion and greed. Enable us to welcome our rich cultural diversity as a gift from you; to work for mutual understanding and respect and to secure equal opportunities for all. We pray through him who came to reconcile us to you and each other, Jesus Christ our Lord.