Discover Joy in Christ Through Humility

Philippians 2:1–4 ESV

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.

In the first verse, we can see four conditions which ought to be present within our walk walk with Christ. This verse leads us into verse 4 at the end of our section of scripture we are looking at today. This verse in speech is known as a protasis statement.

Protasis - the clause expressing the condition in a conditional sentence (e.g. if you asked me in if you asked me I would agree ).

Paul has been so encouraged by what he has heard about the Christians in Philippi, but he now wants to encourage them to grow even more. He wants them to continue their growth in their Christian faith. He wants them to look beyond where they are now. If we are satisfied with where we are, we become complacent. This allows Satan to begin to sneak in. We always need to be looking for ways we can be growing in our faith.

Let’s break down this first verse so we can see the “if” statements Paul was making. These should be four conditions not only in the Philippians relationship with God in Christ, but ours as well.

Philippians 2:1 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

There are so many verses which deal with encouragement we get from Christ. The strength which we can receive from Him and the Holy Spirit as we go through our lives should be evident. Our world right now has definitely taken a turn this week. How have you reacted? I have heard some really good Christian friends of mine decrying failure in leadership. Do you think any of this took God by surprise? Do you think anything that happens in your life takes God by surprise? We serve a God who is all-knowing. We serve a God who is all-powerful. We serve a God who is ever-present with us. We need to know He is working His plan even through people who are not Christians.

In Nehemiah, you can read how God used Darius, one of the kings of the Medo-Persian empire who was in power during the time of Daniel. He not only helped the Israelites rebuild the temple and the walls around Jerusalem, he also gave them the items they needed to sacrifice and worship God. Did he recognize God? Yes. Did he believe he was the one and only true God? No. but yet God used him to complete a prophesy of the rebuilding of Jerusalem for a short time for the arrival of Jesus.

God has a plan. Listen to these verses of encouragement.

Zephaniah 3:17 ESV

17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Proverbs 18:10 ESV

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.

We can gain strength through these verses to face whatever is coming our way.

Philippians 2:1 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

We can also find comfort from the love Christ has for us and as we demonstrate that to others. God loved us so much He sent His one and only Son to die for us. There should be great comfort in this fact. We should have comfort simply from knowing this. The comfort we can get from His Word. It is so full of promises which were made to those who have accepted the gift of salvation.

2 Corinthians 1:3–4 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Romans 8:38–39 ESV

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Listen to what this verse is telling us. There is nothing which can separate us from the love of God. When we become Christians, we are in His hand, and nothing can take us away from Him if we have had a true conversion experience.

John 16:33 ESV

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 3:16 ESV

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Take comfort in these verses. Take comfort in the fact God loves you this much.

Philippians 2:1 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

The Holy Spirit should be evident in our lives. He should be the one who is guiding us and leading us in our walk with the Lord. God sent Him to us when Jesus ascended to heaven.

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

John 14:26 ESV

26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

John 16:13 ESV

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

How will we know if we are allowing the Spirit to guide us? Galatians lets us see what the fruit of the Spirit is. These things, these attitudes should be present in our lives.

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If you find yourself in a situation and these fruits aren’t present and you find yourself with other feelings in side, you need to pull back. You need to take time and pray. You need to allow the Holy Spirit time to make himself evident and allow that evidence to show through you and your life. We’ll touch more on this when we get to the second half of the verses today.

Philippians 2:1 ESV

1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy,

Affection and sympathy towards each other, this can be a hard one at times.

Romans 12:10 ESV

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Proverbs 17:17 ESV

17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

1 John 4:7 ESV

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

As we love one another, we will show the world the difference Christ has made in our lives.

We have a world now which will take snippets of your life, and that is what will define you. Think about what you see on social media right now. Posts of what will get reactions from people so they can get their point made which they want.

So let’s take a look at this really quickly. You’re in a situation where something hasn’t gone the way you wanted it too. You are going in to get it corrected. How do you approach this situation? You and whoever you are with may be the only ones in the area “talking,” “discussing” the situation. If you are flat out belligerant, and someone comes walking in, how have you demonstrated Christ? How do you know there isn’t someone else in a back office?

Earlier we discussed the fruits of the Spirit. These aren’t things we can take off and put back on. Our Christianity isn’t something we can put on for Sunday mornings and leave at the door. Let’s be honest, our Christianity isn’t something we can take off when we are dealing with each other and then put back on. When we do this, we are giving the world the evidence they need as to why the church is irrelevant to them. Why should they come to a place where they stand a chance of being treated the same way they are in the world?

1 John 3:18 ESV

18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

We demonstrate our sympathy and affection to each other through our actions. The world has to see the message we are preaching.

I think most of the time we have these four characteristics. I think there are times we slip up. When we do, we need to go back to these four characteristics and demonstrate them even more. Once again, we’ll get into how we should act when we do mess up. We’ll even hit on how we should act if we are the ones who were unloaded on.

So, Paul evidently saw these four characteristics present in the church at Philippi. Since he tells them to complete his joy in the next section of our passage.

Philippians 2:2 ESV

2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Paul challenges the church to be of one mind. He is saying, if these four characteristics are evident in verse 1, then move forward together. Work towards the goal.

How can we make sure we are doing this? How can we strive together with such a diverse group of people?

Don’t you love when the Word gives you the answer? Sometimes it’s very simple. It’s the carrying out of what we’re told to do that is hard.

Philippians 2:3–4 ESV

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.

We are to live putting ourselves second.

This isn’t what the world tells us. The world tells us to look out for ourselves. This is a lot of the reason why our world is in the shape it is on.

Think about times you have approached a situation and you put your agenda out front. Examples

What would have happened if you would’ve taken the time to pray about the situation? What would’ve happened if when you found yourself starting to lose your cool you would’ve taken a breath or just left the situation to get yourself back in the right frame of mind?

There are so many times I wish I could hit the reset button and gone back and said something a different way. There are times I wish the filter would’ve kicked in before my mouth did. There are so many times I wish I would’ve spent more time in prayer about things and allowing God to help me to see the other side of a situation.

We must die to self so that the new can come.

When we die to self, we allow the Holy Spirit to come in and change the way we think. Others come first. We are His humble servants.

Colossians 3 talks about dieing to what the world tells us is right and putting on the new self which is from God.

Colossians 3:1–17 ESV

1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Wait a minute, I was looking for the verse that said if someone doesn’t come at me with a godly attitude, I’m allowed to slap that same attitude right back at them. It must have been skipped in my digital version of the Bible.

We need to die to ourselves.

When we put others first, we will find ourselves living a happier life. We will see others problems as opportunities for ministry.

When we truly humble ourselves before God and others, what will happen?

1 Peter 5, deals with this. First it talks to the elders/leaders of the church and the way they are supposed to conduct themselves in front of the church and God.

1 Peter 5:5–6 ESV

5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,

The chapter goes on to watch out for Satan who will look for any opportunity to devour you.

When Satan can get our minds off of the way we are supposed to be serving others in and outside of the church, he as gained a foothold. When Satan can get you to focus on things that you see as yours instead of His, Satan will take away your joy.

Has Satan stolen your joy?

If so, take a look at what you are doing? How are you going about your ministry you are working in? Are you doing it to serve others or are you doing it for the recognition you will receive?

When we are doing ministry out of true service to others, there is never an issue. We are serving, period. When things don’t go exactly the way we have planned, are we looking at it as another opportunity to dig deeper into the ministry, or are we looking for someone to yell at?

If we are truly in this to serve others, it won’t matter. We will find work arounds. We will find a way to make things happen, and we will thank God for the opportunity to serve Him.

When we are serving others for the Glory of God, that is where the joy is. When you do this with a clean and pure heart, this is when 1 Peter 5:6 lives within us and our hearts. It is when God is able to really come and be among His people and use them for the ministries He has for the to do.

Get back your joy by letting go of self and putting on humbleness.

Live a life to serve God and others with nothing held back.