Philippians 2:1-5 - The Deceit of Conceit
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction:
The Few. The Proud. The Marines.
I’m sure you have heard that slogan in the past. It was used in a lot of the Marines advertising campaigns a few years ago. It was a slogan that reached into the heart of man and brought out what was already there. Pride.
I have the utmost respect for our military. The brave men and women that have fought for our country deserve our utmost respect and support. But I think we must admit the dangers that pride can bring to the table.
The Romans were not much different than our culture today. They were obsessed with honor and pride. Roman orator and statesman, Cicero, wrote in the first century BC the following quote:
“By nature we yearn and hunger for honor, and once we have glimpsed, as it were, some part of its radiance, there is nothing we are not prepared to bear and suffer in order to secure it”
There is something deep down inside of each of us (namely the sin of pride) that wells up in us when called upon. Yet, it is this same problem that has led to the downfall of country after country and person after person. Our pride must be destroyed and our faith in Christ must be exalted.
Today’s message is much more closely related to another Marine slogan. In fact, this is the main slogan of the Marines and is much more congruent with Christian theology.
Marines. Always Faithful.
True success in life comes from faithful service for Christ in humility.
Today’s message is entitled, “The Deceit of Conceit.” Despite what this world tells us, humility is greater than pride.
Please turn and read with me in Philippians chapter 2 verses 1-5:
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Prayer
As we start today’s message, we are going to discuss three ways that we can have joy in Christ through humility. The first is..
I. You Can Receive True Joy from Christ By…Being United in Love (1-2)
I. You Can Receive True Joy from Christ By…Being United in Love (1-2)
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
The first thing we need to nail down in these verses is the word ‘if.’ Some may read this as a conditional statement. Notice, however, there is not a ‘then’ here. If/then statements are conditional statements and are dependent on the ‘if’ being accomplished. Yet, the word ‘if’ used here does not assume doubt or a conditional response. It instead assumes the truth of the statements that follow. This ‘if’ sets up the exhortation that follows. In fact, this word would be better translated as “because” or “since”. It represents the proceeding factual statements.
Interestingly, the three different prepositional phrases following the ‘if’ statement are all founded on Christ.
Encouragement “in Christ”
Comfort “from love”
Participation “in the Spirit”
Jesus is mentioned by name in the first statement. The second gives the word agape which is love that originates from Jesus. And the third is the Spirit that was promised by Jesus - namely the Holy Spirit.
True joy comes only from Christ. He is the foundation for any joy or love or unity.
Let’s break down these first three pivotal words attributed to Christ. The first is encouragement. Paraklēsis (par-ah-klese-ese), Greek for encouragement, means to come alongside someone. It means to exhort, counsel or comfort.
This is seen most clearly when comparing it to one of the Greek words used for the Holy Spirit in the New Testament.
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
This word for Helper here is paraklēton (para-clay-ton) and shows us how Jesus gives us courage. He helps us, intercedes for us, and advocates for us. He fills us with His Spirit and works in and through us. We are encouraged - or instilled with courage by Jesus Christ.
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
The next phrase is comfort from love. This Greek word means solace or comfort. It literally means speaking closely with someone. We are able to be comforted by Jesus Christ because of His love for us.
The final word for us to understand is the word participation. We have seen this Greek word many times in 1 John as we studied but it was translated fellowship there. Remember the Greek word koinōnia (coin-o-nia)? This word refers to association, communion, or fellowship. We have communion and fellowship with the Holy Spirit as He indwells us as believers. This is such an amazing truth we have as believers. The God who created everything indwells believers!
The final two words given at the end of verse one are affection and sympathy. These also come from Christ and show His heart for His people. He loves us with deep affection and the word used for sympathy can also mean mercy or compassion. How blessed are we to have such a wonderful Savior?
With all of this in mind we get to verse two. In light of the beautiful love and mercy that Jesus Christ has shown to us - His people - Paul charges us to complete his joy through unity.
We are given four aspects of unity in verse 2:
Being of the Same Mind
Having the Same Love
Being in Full Accord
Of One Mind (NASB states being intent on one purpose)
These four aspects of unity are united through the love of Christ in us. Through Christ’s power, we can be united of the same mind. This same mindedness and being intent on one purpose means literally thinking one thing together. The same mind means that we unite around the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We may not agree on everything in this world. We may not agree on who the best college football team is, but we are united and intent on one purpose regarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When we are intent on one purpose and of the same mind in regards to the Gospel, we can have the joy that comes from Christ through unity in the body of Christ.
We also need to have the same love. We need to be filled with the love of Jesus. This is speaking of the agape, sacrificial love that we saw in verse 1. A love that is Christ-centered and then flows out from His Spirit within us and outwardly to others. Only then can we truly be united in love and be intent on one purpose.
Sadly, many people today are not united around a same mind or are intent on one purpose. They also may not share the same love. Many today have a similar love but not the same love. Many today have a similar love in that they love themselves and not Christ or others. We will get into more detail about this in verses 3-4, but the enemy of unity is selfishness and self-centeredness.
Paul’s joy that he mentions here may appear to be human-centric on the surface. Yet his joy is stemming from the works of God through the people of God. It should bring us joy when we see God using others to glorify himself and advance the Kingdom.
True joy from Christ comes from being united with Christ in love and finding unity in the body of Christ through the love of the Christ.
You can also...
Scripture References: John 14:16
II. You Can Receive True Joy from Christ By…Being Selfless in Life (3-4)
II. You Can Receive True Joy from Christ By…Being Selfless in Life (3-4)
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Before we get into these two verses, I want to encourage you all to memorize these two verses. These verses are key to true joy and contentment in Christ. They are key in being sanctified, or made more like Christ. Spend some time this week reviewing these verses as well as Philippians 1:21. We need to memorize His Word and have it ready in our mind. The Word of God is key to winning the spiritual battles of our lives.
Getting back to our Scripture… We are are told to do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit…Notice that there is no wiggle room here. Paul doesn’t leave any qualifiers in this verse.
There isn’t a qualifier that says...
...unless someone isn’t kind to me.
…unless my wife doesn’t meet my needs.
…unless my husband doesn’t meet my needs.
…unless my kids don’t obey.
…unless I am given an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder.
…unless I am able to leverage my position on the team.
Nope. Paul gives no qualifiers here for selfish ambition or conceit.
This verse is where I gleaned the title of this message. “The Deceit of Conceit.” We have seen this word selfish ambition earlier in Philippians and it refers to aiming at selfish gain. But this is the first time we have come to this word conceit in our studies. And it is the last time we will come to this particular Greek word as well! It is only found here. The word is formed as a compound word that comes from two Greek words meaning empty and glory. The KJV translates this word as vainglory. It refers to a highly exaggerated view of self.
These two words work in tandem with one another. Selfish ambition is all about selfish gain. Maybe it is financial. Maybe it is material wealth. While conceit is focused on personal glory. Conceit has to do with arrogance and being full of pride.
I find it very interesting that this word for conceit not only refers to a highly exaggerated view of self, it also refers to illusion, delusion, and error. It refers to a worthless opinion.
We talked a few weeks ago about fool’s gold. It may look like gold, but it is worthless.
Those who are conceited may put on a show and look like they are authentic and like they are the real deal. Yet, they are nothing more than delusional. They are not what they appear to be.
If we are not to seek selfish ambition and conceit what are we to seek?
This is the where we find the heartbeat of this message and is where we will find it fleshed out in the Person of Jesus Christ next week in even more detail.
Jesus calls us to humility. This Greek word for humility means lowliness of mind. I think that our pride-ridden, conceited, and selfish culture isn’t too interested in a message on humility. Yet, if you can image, the Roman culture was even less amenable to such a message!
In fact, this Greek word for humility didn’t even exist in Greek outside of the New Testament until after the entire New Testament had been written (which was all completed in the first century). You don’t see it in any secular Greek writings until the second century AD. Humility was so foreign to them they didn’t even have a word for it!
If you remember the quote we discussed from Cicero during the introduction, the Romans were obsessed with honor and glory. They sought pride with everything they had. They were all about gaining political power and societal respect - and they would step on whoever they needed to in order to gain it.
Think about how countercultural this statement was from Paul to the Roman citizens of Philippi. He was saying, don’t do what you have always been told to do! I would argue that many of the teachings of Scripture fall into that same category to us today as well. Don’t do what you have always been told to do? That is tough teaching!
But was this really a new teaching that Paul was bringing in? It is obvious that it wasn’t something taught in Greek schools of thought as the word hadn’t even been invented yet in that native language!
However, we see the teachings on humility throughout the Old Testament.
2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
God honored Moses’s humility.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Getting back to our Scripture - we see at the end of verse 3 and in verse 4 that genuine humility has more regard to others than self. Don’t misinterpret this to meaning that we do not need to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, spend time with Him in prayer and reading His Word, and have time alone with Him. We do need to protect that time. We do need to be looking out for (which in the Greek means pay close attention to) our spiritual life, families, and responsibilities. We do need to take reasonable care of our bodies as well. We must be filled with the Spirit and have the Word of God overflowing in our own minds and hearts. Yet, we do not stop there. We do not spend our entire lives developing theologically fat heads and look like body builders. We do not look only after ourselves.
Sadly, our culture does not usually struggle with spending too little time on ourselves. Our struggle is the opposite. Our struggle is getting beyond ourselves. The Roman culture was similar. Paul challenges us to look outside ourselves. We are to look at others and think of how we can serve them. How can we meet the needs of those around us? What can we sacrifice in order to help someone else?
In America, we think that joy comes from stuff. Advertisements are filled with the luring of stuff. If you upgrade your phone you will be happier. If you get this new sofa you will be happier. If you take more vacations you will be happier. If you have a bigger house and nicer cars you will be happier. And so forth. We think that joy comes from putting ourselves first.
However, true joy and satisfaction in Christ requires that must get past ourselves. We must get to the second half of verse 4. We must also look to the interests of others.
I have listed three different ways that we can love like Christ and put others first. Where better to look when thinking about how we can put others first than the one who put the interest of the world before His own comfort when He came to earth to take our sin on the cross? Let’s look at these three ways we can put others first like Christ:
We must love what Christ loves - justice, mercy, truth.
We must love who Christ loves - others.
We must love how Christ loves - sacrificially.
True joy from Christ comes from living a life in service to Christ. Christ calls to think less of self and more of Him first and others second. Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. The first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it…love your neighbor as yourself (Matt 22:37-39). This love is a love of action. It is the kind of sacrificial love that Christ poured out for us on the cross. Put God first. Then think of others. Trust God to look out for your interests. He will provide for you. You only need to remain faithful to Him.
Brothers and sisters, true joy comes from Christ as we are united in love and selfless in life and finally...
Scripture References: Proverbs 11:2, Micah 6:8, Numbers 12:3, Matt 22:37-39
III. You Can Receive True Joy from Christ By…Being Founded Upon the Lord (5)
III. You Can Receive True Joy from Christ By…Being Founded Upon the Lord (5)
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
We will get more into this verse as we get into the next section of this chapter and we discuss the humility and subsequent exaltation of Christ. However, I think it is fitting to end this sermon with this verse as well. If we want to be united with the same mind and be selfless in this life. If we want to be others-centered and most importantly God-centered - then we need to look no further than Christ Jesus. He is our example of true humility. He is also our source for true joy.
We have mentioned many things in the past that the church can rally around. We also know that our culture can rally around many things as well. We can rally around sports teams, civic clubs, car shows, and just about anything else.
But in order for us to truly be united in our church, we must be single-minded in Christ. We can have this mind among ourselves if we have all placed our faith in Jesus Christ. If we rally around the Gospel and make our lives all about honoring and glorifying Christ, we can have true unity and joy through that. Our joy may be complete in Christ.
True joy and unity comes from a single-minded belief that Jesus is enough for each on of us. It isn’t Jesus plus anything. It is Jesus is everything.
He is the only way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). He is the sacrificial Lamb who took on the sins of the entire world (John 3:16). He is our living hope (1 Peter 1:3). He is our resurrected king (Hebrews 1:3).
I pray that all of us are united around the Gospel. I pray that all of us find our true joy not in this world but in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I pray that all of us have humbled ourselves before our gracious and Great King and humbly accepted the free gift of eternal life. I pray that we have all repented (or turned away) from our sins and put all of our trust in Him.
I pray that we all have the true joy of Christ because we are founded on the Lord.
Scripture References: John 14:6, John 3:16, 1 Peter 1:3, Hebrews 1:3
Conclusion
As we come to a close, I want to reiterate how countercultural this message is today. I pray that you don’t just let this go in one ear and out the other. I pray that as you seek the Lord, that you understand where true joy and satisfaction comes from. It will never come from selfish ambition and conceit. It will never come from a “me first” attitude. It only comes through genuine and true humility. It only comes from putting God first and others second.
Prayer
If you would like to learn more about salvation through Jesus Christ or want to obey Jesus by obeying the first commandment of a believer in going through the waters of baptism - please let me know.
Have a blessed week.