Clifton Stewart

Summary Statement: It was necessary for Jesus Christ to become man, to restore us to God's original intention.

Last week we got into Philippians 2:1-4, beginning an argument Paul is making in Philippians 2:1-11. That argument is "Gospel unity comes from gospel humility, which we learn from Christ's example". In covering just that first phrase last week, we considered 2 things: a) The gospel must affect our thinking (aka, unity comes through a certain way of thinking), and b) gospel thinking must result in humility ("a high concern for others and a low-concern for myself). Friday, we get into the second half of this argument, which is really the heart of the argument: "we must learn humility from Christ's example" We can look at this argument in verses 5-11 in 4-parts...1) Who is Jesus? = Jesus is God, 2) What did Jesus do? = Came to earth as a servant, human, and criminal (He "gave up his divine rights" ['emptied Himself']), 3) Why Jesus Did it? = He did what was necessary to save us, because of His love, which led to His exaltation above all creation, and 4) How must we respond = Put on that same humility. This fourth point is really where this argument is going. Paul is introducing this image of Christ because it's our perfect example of what kind of humility WE should walk in. It's a high calling. It hits hard. And yet it's so encouraging; because in Christ, it is possible! (v. 5).

Philippians 2:1-11 is really one argument, and it's this..."Gospel unity comes from gospel humility, which we learn from Christ's example". In verses 1-4, we are going to get to the first part of that argument: "Gospel unity comes from gospel humility". Firstly, you can't get unity, or humility, without reflecting on and depending on the gospel. That's why Paul begins in verse 1 with his phrases "if any...if any...if any...if any". That's a gospel reflection. Those are the promises of the gospel. So why don't we 'get' (receive, have) unity? Because we don't 'get' (understand, reflect and depend on) the gospel! That's why of Paul's 4 phrases in v. 2, he says "have the same mind" twice (1st and 4th)... because this is about how we think about life. We need Christ and His gospel to control our thinking. Secondly, this gospel thinking should lead us to be humble. Humility is a big concept in the bible, but Paul's simple reasoning here is that we can't be concerned with our own reputation, honor, or importance ("selfish ambition" and "conceit"---this was the Roman attitude to life, not Christ's). Humility is the cure for the chief disease that threatens our unity...jealousy. Therefore, gospel humility means that a) God is using me to be concerned with the needs of others, and b) God desires that I would rejoice in the growth and gifts of others, and not just my own. Therefore, Gospel thinking will lead me to humility that sets my gaze on others' concerns. And next week, we'll see how Christ is our perfect example of that!

In this section we meet one of the NT's most famous passages: "To live is Christ, and to die is gain" (1:21). And because this verse is so essential (both in Philippians and in the Christian life), we're going to look closely at this verse. And here's an essential idea that drove Paul's ministry...Paul could live for Christ BECAUSE DYING WAS GAIN. Here's how we'll look at this. Firstly, Paul said death is gain, but isn't death actually loss? Yes! And that's the only way the world can look at death. And yet we have organized all of society to ignore death. Secondly, we need to admit the truth; that we cannot ignore death. And when we look at death it is quite frightening, because death redefines our lives' importance, value, and purpose. Finally, we'll address that Paul's surprisingly joyful tone (even when addressing death) is because Paul knew that in Christ, death is gain. It reminds us that it is Christ who gives importance, value, and purpose to our lives (cf. 1 Cor. 15, Rom. 8:38).

Paul's main point: Paul wants to point to his own motives rather than these difficult Christians. All he cares about is Christ being proclaimed, rather than his own reputation being respected. He knows that drawing concern to him will distract from Christ, therefore he stops his critique of them short. We must learn something similar...we care SO MUCH about our own reputations, and it distracts from the gospel!

Paul is going to explain what the Philippians have been waiting for, which is a report on how he is doing personally, and if the gospel mission has failed. Yet Paul doesn't just give them details, but a whole theology on how to view our circumstances when they don't turn out as planned (cf. Gen. 50:20). Paul's imprisonment might have seemed hopeless for the gospel to go out...but it hasn't! Instead, Paul has been able to evangelize Roman elites (v. 13), and encourage other believers by his joyful and faithful example (v. 14). The point for us is that we need to have a gospel perspective in our circumstances. When we care about the gospel more than ourselves, we get to see all the ways God wants to use us in our daily lives. Only then can the Christian life be fully participated in, and real abiding joy can be found!

If the gospel is so important, how can I become a the kind of person who would represent it well? That's Philippians 1:9-11. In this single sentence (3 verses) Paul explains 3 things. First, he explains how we should grow; we should be people which a mature and God-centered love. Second, the 'why' we should is because we want our lives to have been honorable to Christ when he returns. Third, Christ himself has promised this growth. The same righteousness credited to us in salvation is promised to come from us in sanctification. What a blessing! Im so excited to get into this text with you all!

We're getting into the text of Philippians tonight with this thought: you can't just force yourself to be joyful (#nike). Joy is an attitude, not a feeling; but even attitudes need to be cultivated and grown. That's how Paul thinks of joy; as an attitude that naturally arises from considering the gospel. Specifically, consider 2 joys of the gospel: gospel partnership and gospel assurance (in Christ).

Too often, both believers and non-believers assume that Christian's live guilt-ridden, non-exciting, pleasure-denying lives...that's why I'm excited to start getting into the book of Philippians with you all! Because Paul explains the truth that, even in difficult circumstances and situations, the gospel of Christ guarantees a life of joy: because it guarantees life in Jesus himself!