The Forge Week 2

Intro Group Time (15 min)

Welcome back to the forge!! I don’t know why when I say that I want fire, and stage lighting. Hammers, anvils, swords, etc. Change my voice, Welcome to the forge!

Welcome back to the second week of bible study. Glad to see everyone again. This is week two, so we are going to jump straight in and get started.

Page 21 in your books. I’m going to give you 15 min to talk about the individual studies this week, and then the discussion starter, and if your group has extra time there is a second questions there as well.

Proverbs 13:20 “20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.”

Intro Prayer

Video Clip and Discuss(15 min)

One of the unique things about the forge is that one of the climactic moments happens early in film as opposed to later. You get to see this moment and its not a closer to the film, but really an opener, to his faith journey.

Lets open the floor like we did last week and look at the discuss questions on page 22.

Engage - Transition (25 min)

This weeks lesson title is “Giving Like Jesus” and the key verses is Philippians 2:4. We are going to explore Philippians 2:1-8 in our study time.

To give us the context Paul is writing to the church at Philippi, and he is writing this particular epistle from prison. Many think he was imprisoned in Rome at the time. It could be said that the theme of Philippians is Joy in Christ, despite your circumstances in life. Chapter 1 begins with Paul thanking God for their partnership in the Gospel, and his prayers for them.

He quickly turns to his current circumstance. He is in chains, he has been imprisoned, but it is for the glory of Christ! The gospel is moving forward, and he is excited and joyful of that, but he gets into this struggle of I want to be with Christ, but I know there is work to do, so he comes to the conclusion no matter what happens, wether he lives or dies Christ will be magnified.

At the end of the chapter he turns his attention to the church at Philippi. Your conduct needs to be worthy of the Gospel of Christ. He tells them they will have to deal with the same struggles as him, they will see persecution, and need to decide to proclaim the gospel of Christ with all joy, despite their circumstances.

Therefore, whats it there for? All Paul has just said. Difficult times are going to come. Therefore…

Philippians 2:1–4 “1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

Our key verse is there at the end. What is Paul trying to convey here in these verses? He starts off with these series of rhetorical questions. He begins using the socratic method, to call the church here to think…to not just hear him say, these things exist and are so.

In a sense he is telling them these things are so, and I want you to ask yourself do I believe this. Because if I do…I have a responsibility.

He lists 4 things:

Consolation in Christ - If there is consolation in Christ, which there clearly is. It means comfort or support. In fact there can be no true consolation at all apart from Christ.

Comfort of Love - The word comfort here has a very similar root as the word consolation, it means to comfort, but more than that, to strengthen, or make strong. The love of God has no bounds, we can be comforted and strengthened in our day to day lives. Romans 5:8 “8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Fellowship of the Spirit - This epistle would have been written later in the book of Acts if you were to lay out a timeline. There is this concept that you have heard if you’ve been here for a while, it is Koinonia. It is a fellowship that comes from the Spirit of God. It is a supernatural fellowship that binds christians together. You are my brother in Christ, we are more than neighbors, we are family. This was evident in the church at that time and should be today.

Affection and Mercy - Affection is love or fondness toward someone, and Mercy is having compassion or forgiveness toward someone, especially when you have the power and right to punish them, mercy is withholding deserved judgement. Hello He sent His Son, If you are a born again believer you have experienced God’s affection and mercy.

Paul list these 4 things in a series of rhetorical questions to cause the church to think.

They are so obvious though, he could have said: If the sky is blue, if water is wet, if poop stinks…..that was for the younger guys.

Paul is saying the most obvious things in the world, so what comes next is not a thought or a suggestion but an obligation. If these things are true, do me a favor, do me a solid, come through for me, its a verbal agreement.

Philippians 2:2–4 “2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Then our key verse 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

The christian life is not a competition, It is actually completely upside down from what the world says. The world says get what you can, no matter who you have to use, or step on to get what you want. Christianity says, don’t think about yourself, think about others. In a perfect society, if everyone thought about each other think about how great life would be. Think about it, I try to serve you, at the same time you try and serve me….what happens is we come along side of each other and work in unity.

The Setup, then The Savior

So we have The Setup, and then The Savior. Paul gives the setup in the verses we just read, heres what you need to be doing, and then he gives the savior. The theme tonight is Giving like Jesus, well how did he give. Paul is getting ready to a beautiful passage about the savior, but first he transitions from what he just said and tells them in verse 5.

Philippians 2:5 “5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” Keyword here is Let. This is not going to be our default. It is a choice, but he tells them this is what I want to see, all of you caring for each other, this is the mind of Jesus, but you have to choose it, you have to Let or be willing for the Spirit change you.

Philippians 2:6–8 “6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Wow. There is so much theology in these three verses right here, we simply don’t have time to explore it all. What it is saying in a nutshell, Jesus Christ, is God, he was not trying to get to or achieve God’s status, he already had it. That word Robbery think of it more as grasping or holding onto, like you just won’t give something up.

Christ gave up nothing of who he is, and was, and will forever be when He came to earth. He was just as much God as He ever was. He may not have expressed all of His attributes of Deity, but He surely had them all, what changed is what was added to Him. Humanity was added. Think about that, He came in the likeness of men, as a man. He chose to change his dwelling from heaven to earth, in the form of a servant.

There is a word in here that I struggled with in putting this together. Look at verse 8.

Philippians 2:8 “8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Think about that for a second. All through the gospels, Jesus goes around performing miracles. That means, the physical world we live in obeys, Him and the spiritual world all around us obeys Him. Sickness, physical ailments, obey Him! Devils possessing humans, obey Him! Need some food, he multiplies atoms, and particles, they obey Him. Remember the story of the disciples in the boat, and the storm came up on them and Jesus is asleep?

Luke 8:25 “25 But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!””

How can this one, who all creation obeys, become obedient?

John 1:1–3 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

John is talking about Jesus here. He was instrumental in creation. Go back to Genesis Chapter 1.

Genesis 1:3 “3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.”

Genesis 1:6 “6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.””

Genesis 1:9 “9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”

Genesis 1:11 “11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass…

Genesis 1:14 “14 Then God said, “Let there be lights …

Genesis 1:20 “20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound …

Genesis 1:24 “24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature …

God said and it happened. Jesus, does not obey, he speaks and all matter and creation obey Him. This is the one that all creation is to obey, yet he humbled Himself, and became OBEDIENT.

Paul wraps the thought in Philippians like this

Philippians 2:9–11 “9 Therefore Another therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Spurgeon said it great too: The lower he stoops to save us, the higher we ought to lift him in our reverence.

The Bottom Line: You want to Give like Jesus, humble yourself. Think of others, what can I do to serve them. What can I give to them. Men, what can you give to the next generation. What wisdom, what experiences do you have. Young men, you may think I don’t have a lot to pour into someone just yet, if you have Jesus, you have something to give to the people in your life.

When we humble ourselves and become obedient to the Holy Spirit working to transform us, we will learn to give more than we take, and God will be exalted in our lives, through Christ living in us.

Transition to Group time.