Please God to bless us together
this evening as we meditate in his word Let's turn to the epistle
of Paul to the Philippians chapter 2 and we'll read the third verse
The epistle of Paul to the Philippians chapter 2 and reading verse 3
Let's nothing be done through strife or vainglory but in lowliness
of mind Let each esteem other better than themselves. This chapter, at least the earlier
verses, really sets before us the fruits and the effects of
divine life. That means that if we are truly
born again by the Spirit of God, our concern will be to walk in
accordance with the Word of God and the truth that it contains
and the precepts of which we are able to read. And as we read
together in this chapter, we've seen the great and glorious example
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how often we need to be reminded
of the life of the Saviour. We may think it's familiar, well
I'm sure it is familiar in some parts, but we need to also understand
the depth and the glory of his life, and not just the miracles
that he did, but also the words that he spoke the gracious words,
the words of instruction, and also the example that he set
for us day by day. And if we think of the life of
the Lord Jesus, that should, of course, truly influence each
one of us day by day as we walk on this earth. The problem is,
of course, that we often do not think of the great and glorious
example. And we find ourselves very taken
up with our own aims, our own desires, our own solutions, our
own methods. And that's why it's important
and we're thankful that the Lord in his love to his people, the
love to our souls, directs us to such words as this. that we
might be able to consider ourselves, consider our life, as we walk
on this earth. And therefore the Apostle speaks
to these Philippians, and he says, let nothing be done through
strife and all vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let each
esteem other better than themselves. We might acknowledge that and
say, well, I understand that and I believe it is true, but
the fact is, it's the walking out of it, isn't it? in our daily
life, in our daily concern, to do that which is in accordance
with the Word of God, that which will bring honour and glory to
our God. And surely nothing more will
bring honour and glory to our God than if we, if we are called
by His grace, if we are those who have been born again to walk
in conformity with the gracious words that we read in the Bible. And so here we have a statement
and how important it is, and as we consider this statement,
to always bear in mind the gracious work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We read together this chapter,
didn't we? And think of those words concerning
the Savior. He made himself of no reputation. You ponder that. Our reputation. We don't like our reputation
to be tarnished, do we? We don't like people to speak
of things which would lower our reputation. But here was the
gracious Lord, you know, who had a perfect reputation. And
yet you see how many people spoke against him. and he was willing
to be made of no reputation. Well that's a great test surely
for our spiritual life if we're willing to accept those things
that are spoken against us when they're wrong, when people misjudge
us and we're willing to therefore be of no reputation. Well this surely is one of the
great effects of the grace of God and the grace of God in exercise
and being worked out. And then we are told, and it
took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness
of men. Well, to consider the great almighty God was willing
to be made in the likeness of men is so amazing. and yet to think that also he
took upon him the form of a servant. He was ever willing to serve
his father, to do that which his father decreed he should
do. And therefore we have that as
a wonderful example for us today, to be a servant, a servant of
our God. Sometimes, perhaps, we have a
wrong understanding of a servant and sometimes we may think it
only applies to those who preach the gospel. Well of course that
analogy is totally incorrect because all of God's people are
servants. All of God's people are to serve
the Lord. We're all to serve in that position
and in that way the Lord will have us to do. And we should
always be seeking that with that true desire like the Apostle
Paul when he was convicted on that Damascus road and what did
he say? Lord what wilt thou have me to do? Well I wonder how many
of us continue to pray that prayer. Lord what wilt thou have me to
do? We often perhaps pray, oh Lords
do bless me in this way, do encourage me in this way, What we've really
done is to produce our own understanding, our own plan, and now we're praying
that God will go with us in that plan. Well, to be made willing, to
be a servant of our God, it's a wonderful privilege, you know.
It's a wonderful blessing. And if we consider the value
of our salvation and the cost of our salvation, and how the
Lord Jesus so willingly gave his life so that we might receive
life. If we have those truths before
us more and more and to recognise what an amazing favour it is
that the Lord has looked upon us in our lowest state and come
to us and called us out of the darkness of nature into the glorious
light of the everlasting gospel, surely our concern and desire
must be that we are found serving this kind and gracious God and
to serve him in whatever way the Lord will direct us in. And
the blessing is this, the Lord will not direct us in the wrong
way. You and I perhaps might take
many wrong turnings in our journey in life. We may have many false
steps we may make, we may perhaps turn out of the way because we
followed the way which seems right to a man but the end thereof
are the ways of death. What a blessing it is to be able
to find ourselves seeking for God's direction in what way we
should be found serving the Lord. Well the Lord Jesus you see We
have his example, don't forget, and took upon him the form of
a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Well, we have there an
example beyond anything that you and I can really contemplate,
a servant so willing do the will of His Father, that He was there
laying down His life, laying down His life, suffering all
incarnate God could bear with strength enough and none to spare. He became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. There have of course been those
people since which we recognise as martyrs, the history of our
nation and of course in other countries perhaps we're more
familiar with those who've given their life in our nation those
who would not bow down to all the attempts of Satan to turn
them from serving the true God and the Lord ordained that they
should also give their life and we can read you know those history
of the martyrs and see how wonderfully God sustained them in those trying
situations. Yes, when their life was to be
taken. And often it was very painful to be burnt at the stake. I'm sure it was a most horrific
death. And yet, you see, they were willing
to be found serving the Lord. The Lord ordained that they should
die that death. He did not turn away from it. So we have such a great example
now. For the most part today we're
not called upon to give our lives. There are those still of course
in other countries who do give their lives. They are executed
because they will not deny the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I suppose that really sets
before us, doesn't it, the real weight and the real blessing,
the real favour of the of divine grace the Lord gives. The Lord
gives grace. He gives more grace. He gives
grace to die. And so, therefore, we can see
and know those today and those in history who were willing servants,
who became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now we have, therefore, the gracious
example of our Saviour. And we need to keep that before
us as we consider the truth of scripture, the exhortations of
unity and humility, to think that as the Lord directs us today
in our lives to walk humbly before our God, to always remember the
gracious and the blessed example of the Savior. And so the apostle
writing then to the Philippians He comes and he says, let nothing
be done through strife or vainglory. Nothing at all. Not the smallest
thing. We are not to strive for those
things which do not really profit, those things which are really
not too important. And we can sometimes strive for
things really just to prove, well, what I said was right and
you're wrong. And just it is really almost
we can say to get one over somebody else. Well, here we have these
gracious words, let nothing be done through strife. We are not
to strive wrongfully. We are to strive rightfully,
but not to strive wrongfully. And again, in order to examine
that, we need grace to look into our heart to see what our motives
are. How often you know motives can
be wrong? How often we can have a wrong
motive, and we can think we have a right motive. But if we examine
ourselves carefully before our God, we will find that the motive
is not quite as pure as we thought it was. And we will find hidden
there, deep down, something which seeks that we might receive some
acknowledgement of the great way that we've spoken or walked
or thought. But the Lord directs us in this
way, that nothing is to be done through strife. And the real
reason for that is, that if things are done through strife, who
receives the glory? Does God receive the glory? And
the answer is really no. It just comes down to individuals.
And that's, what is it? Vanity of vanity. Vanity of vanity
and vexation of spirit. So we need to be very careful,
don't we, in our lives. And remember the Lord has graciously
given these things, not to beat us with a stick, but to show
us in love the right way that you and I are to walk in our
life upon this earth. Let nothing therefore be done
through strife and let nothing be done through vain glory. And this word, vainglory, can
really be described as excessive pride. Pride is a very terrible
sin. It's a very wretched sin. It's
a very insidious sin. And we all suffer from it in
one way or another. Pride. Pride. It's a hideous monster. And it's
something which so spoils our spiritual life, when we allow
ourselves to be proud. So easy, isn't it? To be taken
up and to think, well, if I say this or do that, I should be
thought well of. We may not say it in so many
words, but you know, that is found in our heart. And it is
important, if we are desirous to be truly healthy Christians,
we should be very aware and very concerned to be aware of ever
indulging in vainglory. Vainglory. Don't forget to be
directed to the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. To think how
he walked, and he was a great and glorious Saviour. He didn't
seek any pride for himself. He humbled himself. He humbled
himself. How good that is. What an example. How often we forget that with
these great truths. Sometimes we wonder perhaps why
we don't receive the blessing, but maybe look deeply into our
hearts and see where the cause, our own nature is the cause.
There's a hindrance, there's a problem, and it's in ourselves. And what have we done? We've
allowed the devil to get in. And the devil then makes the
rules and not God. My friends, how we need to be
careful to not allow the devil to come in to our heart and to
rule there. He's very active and he's looking
for the quickest way in. My friends, if there's any opportunity,
be sure Satan will enter in. And what does he do? He plays
on our pride. That's one of his greatest tricks,
to prey on our pride, so that we submit to his cunning devices. And what does that do? It brings
us down in a spiritual sense, so that we find ourselves not
in a healthy way. We may have thought we were doing
that which is right, but in fact we were doing that which was
wrong. And so we need therefore to know
the blessing of being kept by God's power, vain glory, pride. Oh friends, may we pray against
it day in and day out. It's one of the great curses
that we have to face continually. The devil won't give up. He won't
give up, my friends. He's always there nudging us
and trying to get us to do this or say this. How many things,
if you analyse your conversation, analyse my conversation, analyse
it, how many things we say so that people might think, well
that was a rather smart remark, that was a rather good statement. Well, has it been for God's honour
and glory, or is it our vain glory? These are the kind of
things that we need to submit to. And again, it goes against
our nature. It goes against our nature, and
perhaps some of us are worse than others in this respect. But we need to pray. The Lord
will grant that we may not do anything through vain glory. It won't bring glory to God,
it brings just glory to ourselves. And really, what does that do?
It's a sinful situation, isn't it? Well, we should thank God
that the Lord, in His mercy, has set before us here, in His
Word, such statements as this. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory. So, we have there, we have two
diseases, don't we? Two diseases. A disease of strife,
and a disease of vainglory. We might say, well, what's the
remedy? Well, I believe the remedy is before us in the following
statement. But in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. In lowliness of mind,
let each esteem other better than themselves. Now, that may
not be an easy statement to absorb, and we may think, well, I can't
really go along with that. But the Word of God is true,
remember that. The Word of God is true. And
we need, therefore, to have a lowliness of our mind, and in that situation,
to esteem others better than ourselves. We are tempted, very
often, to think that we are better than other people. We might think
we're more clever than other people. We might think we've
got more grace than other people. We may think we've got a better
experience spiritually than other people. Well, we need to consider
the truth of God's Word because such situations may not be therefore
glorifying to God. And we may be resting in our
own abilities, in our own way, and think, well, therefore, this
must be good, and it must, therefore, receive some acknowledgement.
Well, let us realise, here is the truth of God's Word, but
in lowliness of mind. That means, as we think of these
things, we are to be humble in ourselves. And I believe we should
be humble in ourselves in this way. Never forget that God has made
us. Never forget that God has given
us all the ability that you and I have. We haven't just developed
it ourselves. It's that which God has given
us. And if we may therefore perhaps foolishly think, well I'm of
course a lot more intelligent than that person, let us remember
it's the grace of God that's given us intelligence. And to
therefore be brought down and to be low in our lowliness in
our mind. And I believe that really means
to understand that everything that God has given us, all our
abilities, are of his grace. And we don't deserve any of it.
We don't deserve any of it. And I believe as the Spirit of
God may come upon us and direct us in this way, it will bring
us then into that situation when we realize it's by the glorious
grace of God that he's given me anything. Because I could
be totally ignorant. I could have been born with virtually
no brains at all. And not only in a mental way
but also in a physical way. Sometimes we can think, well
I'm glad I'm as fit as I am and I've got this good physique and
everything else and I'm quite a good looker. My friends, how
important it is to realise that it's only God that has made us
like this. God has made us like this. We could have been born
a most ugly person. We could have been born a cripple. We could have been born with
not many limbs. But God has graciously granted
us many things. So therefore, should we not be
low in our own mind and our own estimation of ourselves, realising
that it's all that we have and possess, God has given us. God has given us. We cannot boast
in anything that we have. God has given it to us. Let us
always remember that and may that truly influence us in our
lives. I believe this will be a real
remedy to strife and vainglory, to bring us to this understanding
and what would it do I believe we will then be brought humbly
low before our God and we will be thankful to God and we will
praise God for his goodness toward us. Remember here we have this
statement, but in lowliness of mind. It's the things that you
and I think. It's not necessarily things that
you and I say. It's not our actions, but what we think of people. When often perhaps we're sinful
and we think wrong things of people, don't we? Here we have
this important statement. But in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. Better than themselves. That's an important consideration,
isn't it? And how difficult that is. Difficult for our nature. We don't want to do that, do
we? We want to think ourselves better than others. But here
we have this great statement, to esteem other better than themselves. This will bring us indeed down,
and what will it do? I believe it will produce then
a Christ-like spirit within us. We often pray, don't we? I hope
we do anyway. that we might have a Christ-like
spirit, but often we don't really understand what is involved in
a Christ-like spirit. Isaiah, in his prophecy, he gave
us a little insight as to what that really meant. And we read
in the last chapter in the prophecy of Isaiah, the Lord tells us
the first two verses read, Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is
my throne, the earth is my footstool, where is the house that ye build
unto me, saith, and where is the place of my rest? For all
these things hath mine hand made. And all those things have been,
saith the Lord, but To this man will I look. Is that our prayer? I hope it
is. The Lord will look upon us. Have we prayed that? I hope we
have. To this man will I look. Well, we have a description of
this man. This is what it is. Even to him
that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word."
That's a very wonderful statement, isn't it? And what an effective
statement it is. And just you think about that
in our lives, my life and your life. If we might think, well,
yes, I desire this, that the Lord will look upon me, but to
this man will I look, and we might pray for that, but we have
to think, well, Are we in a right spirit? Have we a right desire? Are we following the right way? Are we observing the truth of
God's Word? The truth is that often these
things are contained in what we might almost say remote places. like perhaps this second of Philippians
in those early verses. We can easily just pass over
them and not recognize how relevant and how important they are to
each one of us. We can't think, well of course
that doesn't apply to me, perhaps it applies to the person sitting
next to me on the seat. We need to realize that the Word
of God speaks directly to our hearts individually and so to
be blessed with a realisation that the Lord will look upon
such who are of poor and a contrite spirit. So just remember, if
we cry to God, Lord, look upon me, perhaps we ought to cry out,
first Lord, give me a poor and contrite spirit, and one that
trembles at thy word. And again I believe if God really
blesses us with such a spirit, to tremble at His Word. What
an effect that will have, will it not? To tremble at God's Word. And tremble if you and I are
not walking in the way that the Bible directs us to. How often we find ourselves hard-hearted,
worse than that really, rebellious against God. And what does the
Word of God tell us? The rebellious dwell in a dry
land. We may think, well, I just don't
feel very healthy in my soul. I really feel to be quite dry. I feel quite barren. And we may
think, well, that's perhaps a good thing and a good mark. Well,
we need to very carefully consider our situation as to why that
is. Why is that? Is it because In
effect, we're walking contrary to our God. We're walking in
a way which is not in accordance with God's way. The Lord tells
us, if ye walk contrary to me, I will walk contrary to you. And that's not easy, is it? To
be found walking contrary to Almighty God. And yet, how blessed
it is if the Spirit of God therefore directs us in this way, but in
lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Well, we need grace, don't we? But what does the Lord tell us?
He gives more grace. He gives more grace if we desire
that we might be found in a position like this. Because, surely, we
don't want to dwell in a dry land, do we? We want to be found
healthy and lively and to be dwelling in a fruitful position.
Surely a fruitful position is to be found walking in accordance
with the Word of God. Now the Apostle goes on and gives
us some more instruction. Just to mention this next verse. Look not on every man on his
own things, But every man also on the things of others. To seek
the Lord will bless others with those things which are needful.
You know, we can look on our own things, can't we? And can
we think, well, look what I've got. I've got all these possessions.
I've got this beautiful thing. It might be a toy. It might be
a bike or something. And we're very proud of it. And
we look at it. And we admire it. Well, is it
really God-honouring? seeking the glory of God, we
should desire that we might be thankful for it, and desire perhaps
that other people might be blessed with such things, and favoured
with such things. And so the Apostle therefore
tells us then, let this mind be in you. Now he's already spoken
in that way, and he goes on to really exhibit a greater degree,
as I've already mentioned, And as we looked upon these words
that we have a wonderful example of the Saviour which is set before
us. And if this is our concern, that
we might esteem others better than ourselves, is it not therefore
that we desire to honour and glorify our God in our life? in the way that we think and
in those things that we say. And the Apostle, as he addresses
these Philippians, he tells us, he says that in the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow. Well, as I've said on many occasions,
everybody who has ever lived, or ever will live, will bow the
knee to God. God's people will bow down to
him on this earth. Everyone will bow down to God
on that great day of judgment. No one will be able to withstand
the withering glare of almighty God. everyone then will believe in
the Lord God. But all were a favour to be amongst
those who believe on the Lord God while they're upon this earth
and be found in this position here that in the name of Jesus
every knee should bow. Now what will make you and me
bow down to the Lord Jesus Christ? Would it be When we're favoured
with lowliness of mind, low in ourselves, we desire to acknowledge
the greatness of our God, the glory of the Saviour, the preciousness
of what He's done to redeem our souls, to always remember the
cost of our salvation. This should, should it not, really
bring us down in our own estimation. and realise that there's nothing
in ourselves that warrants any favour, any mercy. And yet to
think of this great and glorious Jesus, that of the name of Jesus. Oh, tonight, my friends, what
a good testimony it is, if when we hear the name of Jesus mentioned,
we can acknowledge, yes, oh, how sweet the name of Jesus sounds. in a believer's ear. If you and
I are amongst those who believe, it's a wonderful evidence that
we possess the grace of God. We might try and analyse our
little life. When we hear the name of Jesus,
when we hear it blasphemed in the world, does it make us sad? Does it make us perhaps speak
out against it? But in any event, if we hear
it From those who are godly, do we rejoice? Is it a sweet
name, this name of Jesus? Because therein is all my salvation. If there was no Jesus Christ,
there would be no salvation. And so to think of this great
and glorious name, that name of Jesus, We bow down willingly. If we do bow down willingly,
what does it really mean? It means that we acknowledge
this Lord is our God. He is our Master. He is our King. And as such, naturally, if we
acknowledge someone to be our King or our Master, what would
we consider to be right? it would be to do the will and
do the commands of such. What we have here are greater
than any king or any master on this earth. We have a great and
glorious master and therefore surely in these words, at the
name of Jesus, every knee should bow that you and I bow down desiring
to do God's will for us, to be a willing servant Well what a
testimony that is and what an evidence it is that we do possess
the life of God in our soul if it's a sweet name and we desire
to bow down to worship the Lord and to do his will and to follow
him and therefore Paul goes on to say of things in heaven and
things in earth and things under the earth and then he says and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. We perhaps sometimes think how
important it is that our God is honoured and He is glorified. And here we have this great truth
and the evidence of it when the Apostle says, wherefore that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We have
to look in our own lives and see whether by the grace of God
we have confessed that Jesus Christ is our Lord. When has
it occurred? I believe when we've been brought
down in the estimation of ourself, but in loneliness of mind, esteeming
each better than ourselves, and of course esteeming the Lord
Jesus Christ, that he is lifted up in our estimation. And we
desire that it might be so. The true Church of God desire
that the name of Christ is exalted. Indeed we read, let us exalt
his name together. I believe the whole Church of
God desire that Christ's name may be exalted and lifted up
because of all that he's done. All that he's done. in order
to redeem our souls. Oh, if the Spirit of God has
directed us to our wretchedness and our undeadness, in our great
sinfulness and the evil of our hearts, to think that such a
Saviour has looked upon us, has come to us, has spoken to us,
has called us. Oh, do we have not great cause
to come and acknowledge Him for all that He's done, and to testify,
indeed, in the words we have here, and that every tongue should
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Oh, how needful it is that
all of you, all of us here tonight, are blessed with this great grace
to testify that He is our Lord. He is our God. He is the one
that has died upon Calvary's cross to redeem my soul. He is the one who shed his most
precious blood so that all my sins are forever washed away. What a blessed time it is when
the Lord brings us then to this lowliness of mind and to esteem
others better than ourselves. It's then that we are willing.
Yes, we have to leave everything else besides. And we remain willing
in the day of His power, the power of the Spirit of God, which
has come and touched our hearts, revealed to us something of the
preciousness of the Saviour, the violence of ourselves, and
the desire to honour His great and glorious name. And the Word
of God tells us, those that honour me I will honour, and those that
despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Amen.