Sermon for 3/28/21 14 Minutes
Notes
Transcript
Mark 11:1-11 & Philippians 2: 5-11
Mark 11:1-11 & Philippians 2: 5-11
-----------------------------------------------------------
If you will take your handout,,, we will begin responsive reading under Proclamation and Response.
Christ Jesus, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
But emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in our likeness.
And being found in human form He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
That at the name of Jesus every knee shall 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Let us pray:
Prayer:
Almighty God,,, you sent your Son,,, our Savior Jesus Christ,,, to suffer death on the cross. Grant that we may share in His obedience to your will and in the glorious victory of His resurrection; through Jesus Christ our Lord,,, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,,, One God,,, now and ever,,, Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------------
This morning I'll be reading Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 11.
And I'll be reading from the King James Version Bible.
As you will see,,, these verses are similar to the responsive reading that we just recited together.
Philippians 2:5–11 (KJV 1900)
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (7:34) (5:18 if Psalm is skipped)
God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.
-----------------------------------------------------------
With today being Palm Sunday,,, we usually read the scripture where Jesus comes into Jerusalem riding on the donkey and this morning I felt led to add these verses from Philippians to that.
Hopefully between these two sets of scriptures that have been read they will help to prepare us as we begin our Holy week that leads us to our Easter celebration.
Let's begin as we look briefly at these verses and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verse 5 says: 5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
Paul is trying to tell the Philippians to come together in likeness of Christ.
To have the “mind of Christ” means to have the same disposition that Jesus had.
While a Christian cannot suffer for the sins of others,,, as Jesus did,,, he can at least have Jesus' attitude and disposition.
He can be moved by the same motives,,, and,,, subject to the same discipline of the Spirit.
Jesus came into this world and was a servant to all.
As we see in these verses this morning,,, Jesus Christ is the supreme example of humility and selfless concern for others.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verses 6 and 7 say: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
When we read this part of scripture,,, being in the form of God,,,, we need to remember that Jesus always was God,,, always will be God,,, forever and ever.
But even though Jesus was God,,, in a way that we cannot understand,,, He did not consider this position something that He had to hold on to at all costs.
Since we needed to be redeemed,,, and He was the only one that could accomplish that,,, He was willing to relinquish His "positional" equality with God—the comforts and joys of heaven.
The commentary uses the word "positional" because when Jesus came to earth,,, He was still equal to the Father,,, but since He took on the form of man,,, He endured things that the Father never had happen.
God the Father was never spit on,,, or beaten,,, or crucified.
In this sense,,, the Father was greater than the Son—not greater as to His Person,,, but rather as to His position and the manner in which He lived.
Jesus expressed this thought in John 14:28: “If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.”
In other words,,, the disciples should have rejoiced to learn that He was going home to heaven.
While on earth,,, He had been cruelly treated and rejected.
He had been in lower circumstances than His Father.
In that sense,,, His Father was greater.
Paul’s own illustration,,, in 2 Corinthians 8:9,,, gives an example also where it says: “Though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.”
Here in each case there is a change of the mode of existence,,, but not of the nature.
When a poor man becomes rich,,, his mode of existence is changed,,, but not his nature as man.
It's the same with Jesus Christ,,, from the rich and glorious mode of existence that He experienced in heaven,,, He came to earth for our sakes,,, to a much lower and poorer mode of existence which He assumed together with the nature of man.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verse 8 says: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
You would think that just coming to earth to show us the way that we should live would have been an example enough,,, but Jesus humbled Himself,,, and died on the cross for our sins!
He died for you and I,,, even while we were still sinners.
He loved us that much.
There is a post making the rounds on Facebook that says: "You will never look into the eyes of anyone,,, that God,,, doesn't love!"
Think about the worse possible person that you can think of,,, ,,, ,,, murder,,, thief,,, no matter who you can think of,,, or how bad they are,,, God loves them so much,,, that He died on the cross for them,,, just as He did for all of us that are Christians today!
That love is there for them,,, just waiting to be given,,, all that's needed,,, is an awareness of His love right there with them,,, waiting for them to accept it.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Verses 9 through 11 say: 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In my Wesleyan Commentary it says,,, Paul doesn't talk about the crucifixion for very long without mentioning the resurrection.
He keeps the balance between life and death.
Paul is saying that the time was coming when the kings of this world will acknowledge the Lordship of Christ.
This type of language was especially meaningful in an age when kings and kingdoms abounded and when the Emperor of that day and time was called “King of Kings.”
-----------------------------------------------------------
There is so much that we can learn from these two sets of scriptures.
If the people had been of the same mind as Christ when He rode into Jerusalem,,, they might not have been so afraid when Jesus went to the cross.
He had warned them,,, but they couldn't understand because they were looking for a worldly king.
It's the same for us today.
We need to stop looking for worldly gain and spend more of our time planning for our future in eternity,,, which will never end,,, compared to our limited time spent here on earth.
--------------------
Jesus humbled Himself and rode into Jerusalem on a donkey,,, just as He had already humbled himself taking care of all,,, and then He went humbly to the cross to die for our sins today.
What better shape would our world be in,,, if we humbled ourselves and took care of others the way that we should.
--------------------
Jesus was obedient while He was here on earth,,, even to the point of dying on a cross for our sins.
He was highly exalted by God,,, and given a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
What better example can we have,,, to show us that we need to be obedient,,, and do our best to live the kind of life,,, that will be pleasing,,, to God,,, especially as we begin this Holy week,,, preparing,,, for the resurrection of our Savior,,, Jesus Christ.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hymn # 378 Blue Hymnal
Benediction