Sermon Tone Analysis

Prayer

Introduction

I am really excited about our passage this morning, at the same time, I’m really nervous about it.

I’m excited because this passage is such a neat and awesome passage.

There is lots to study and discuss and learn about it.

In some ways, it is the pinnacle of Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

But as I said, I’m also nervous about it.

It is such a rich and awesome passage that I know that I can never do it justice.

The reality is that I can’t, but I will trust that God’s Word will not return void this morning and that Christ will be glorified to the glory of God the Father.

Passage

Our passage this morning is .

If you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

We do this to show appreciation to God for His Word and in recognition that these are the most important words we could possibly hope to hear today.

says this:

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Thank you, you may be seated.

Sermon

As I mentioned in the introduction, this passage is absolutely amazing.

One of the really cool things about this passage is that it is sometimes called the Christ Hymn.

You’re going to have to bear with me for a second, because my total nerdiness is going to be on full display here for a second.

This passage, specifically verses 6-11, is an early Christian hymn.

When I say early, I mean one of the earliest.

It was most likely written by someone other than Paul, but was known throughout the early Christian communities.

It is highly likely that Paul had sung this hymn in worship with the Philippians while he was ministering among them.

We all know that songs and music have the ability to affect us deeply in ways that sometimes words alone cannot.

The songs we sing in church teach us doctrine and truth.

And they connect to our emotions – deeply sometimes.

Paul quoting this hymn would have been a powerful reminder to the Philippians of what they already knew and confessed.

Here is another really cool thing about this hymn.

When we read it, when we confess it, we are joining our brothers and sisters throughout time who have worshiped Christ in this song.

We truly act as one body, praising Christ across oceans and millennia.

That is really awesome.

What we are doing right here, right now, this morning is not an isolated event, but is connected to all our brothers and sisters in Christ who are living and who are in Christ’s presence.

We are literally worshipping before the throne of God, right now along with a multitude that cannot be numbered.

People from every nation, tongue and tribe.

If that doesn’t affect the way we think about worship, then we are hopeless.

If that truth doesn’t help us to take our eyes off ourselves and our own preferences, then we aren’t here worshipping Christ, we are here worshipping ourselves.

I wish I could go into more detail about the technical aspects of the Christ Hymn, but time is of the essence and I want you to stay awake!

Generally speaking, this sermon is laid out like an upside-down triangle.

What I mean is that we are starting with broad truths and as we move along, we will get more specific and detailed.

We are still kinda in the “broad” category as we move to Roman Numeral 2. “Imperatives and Indicatives”.

These are what Burkey likes to call 75 cent words, but really they are nothing to be scared of.

An imperative is basically a command.

Do this thing.

Don’t do that thing.

Think of others as more significant than yourself.

You get the idea.

An indicative is basically a description of what things are – it indicates the way things are.

This thing is true.

I touched on this a bit last week in anticipation of this passage, but God does not give imperatives without grounding them in indicatives.

That is, God does not give rules or laws without first grounding them in what is true – what has been accomplished.

We saw that last week with the 10 Commandments where just before the big 10 are listed, God reminds the People that He is God and He brought them out of Egypt.

Understanding that imperatives are always grounded in indicatives is massively important.

It affects the way we interact with people and it actually affects the way we interpret this passage.

Basically, we have two options in this passage.

We can see it as an imperative – as a command where Paul uses Jesus as an ethical example to be followed.

And Christ is and ethical example to be followed, don’t get me wrong.

Or we can see this passage as an indicative – this is who you are in Christ, and now since you are in Christ and have the same mind as Him, then walk accordingly.

Unfortunately, we have a habit of making rules without grounding them in the reality of the work of Christ.

When we do that, we are not practicing Christianity, we are practicing moralism.

We are unintentionally saying that we can be good and moral enough to merit God’s good favor.

But Scripture teaches that there is none good but God.

We become like the Pharisees, adding rules and laws and commands, but never living in or proclaiming the truth of who Christ is and what He has done.

We must be careful not to divorce Scriptural imperatives from Scriptural indicatives.

So back to our passage.

If we view this merely as a command to follow, we are going to be hopeless.

To be as humble as Christ is impossible.

We cannot condescend low enough to equal what Christ has done.

When Christ leaves His exalted place and literally becomes the lowliest, we can’t out humble Him – or even match that humility.

Not when we are already basically at that low level.

And here’s the point, we cannot do anything that is pleasing to God.

Not on our own.

Even our best deeds are nothing when compared to the righteousness of Christ.

This is why this matters, because this is the Gospel.

You and I cannot obey ourselves into God’s good graces.

There is none good but God.

There is none righteous, no not one.

None who seek after God.

John Owen uses the analogy of the man who is trying to fix the hole in his wall while his roof is burning.

He makes the point that you have to put out the fire first, then fix the wall.

He is not arguing for ignoring the wall, but making sure that other things are dealt with first.

Similarly, I am not arguing that we ignore the imperatives – the commands of God, but that we make sure we are grounding them in the finished work of Christ.

Flee to Christ in your sin, and He will make you clean.

The Holy Spirit will mend the hole in the wall.

So to our passage, “have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.”

Paul is grounding the Philippians humility in who they are.

They are already “in Christ”, and so they already have this deep, God honoring humility.

It is theirs.

Not because they are awesome, but because Christ is and they are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

The Philippians do not need a list of rules.

They don’t need a morality tale.

They need to be reminded of who they are in Christ and to walk in light of who they really and truly are.

A humble and obedient people who seek to honor God in their lives.

We just laid a lot of groundwork.

Now with all of that in mind, let’s look at what it is that Christ has done.

What is our reality in Christ?

Christ humbled Himself deeply.

He was eternally in the form of God.