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September 06, 2020, Sunday, 2:03 PM
Manila, Philippines
CCF 4W'S Live A Christ Centered Life: Be Humble Like Christ
WELCOME
How are you & your family responding to the many "crisis" situations around us today?
WORD
Philippians 2:3-11
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a]God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b]of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8. And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
There were so many challenges to being joyful this past week: WHO announced a COVID19 worldwide pandemic, an increasing number of cases in the country resulted in an even our church services to go online. Worldwide, we see people feeling anxious & fearful. Yet there is a bigger problem that affects us all, it is an invisible, inner problem just like a virus, that plagues all of us: PRIDE. CS Lewis said this about pride: "Pride, the one vice of which no man in the world is free & of which hardly any people, ever imagine they are guilty themselves." Is not it true? Pride can be hidden so deep within our hearts. However, we see its reality manifest in various ways. Why do people lie? Why do people get so angry? Why do people slander? Why do people get envious of others? If you trace all these to their source, you will discover that pride is at the root of it. John Scott said that "pride is our greatest enemy & humility our greatest friend."
In Proverbs 16:18
18 Pride goes before destruction,
a haughty spirit before a fall.
we are reminded that "Pride goes before destruction & a haughty spirit before stumbling." The antivirus for the COVId19 is still being developed & until such a time when it is made available to us, we are bound to experience the ill effects of this virus. The antidote to PRIDE is to LIVE A CHRIST CENTERED LIFE:BE HUMBLE LIKE CHRIST & until we apply this to our lives, we are bound to continue feeling the ill effects of pride in our lives! Philippians chapter 2 deals mostly on a specific relational conflict that Paul addresses.
In Philippians 4:2-3
2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
Paul mentions who these people are: Euodia & Syntyche & the church in Philippi is encouraged to help these women restore their relationship. Paul opens this chapter with "IF" statements, first class conditional clauses that give him a jump off point for his advice & command for the believers in Philippi. He is basically summarizing our lessons in this series: real joy comes from the Lord & Paul is at the best position to say this because his situation was not really so comfortable & Paul was in prison in his old age. Now when Paul said "make my joy complete", he was not saying that his joy was lacking; he was saying that they can make his joy "even fuller" by their "ONENESS in Christ.
He is not after uniformity or conformity, but he wants them to have the same love & be controlled by the same Spirit. The solution he gave was simple on how to "make joy complete", but it is filled with so much theilogical truths that all believers must be able to live by & exhibit in their lives.
Philippians 2:3-4
3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
remind us to "do nothing out of selfishness or empty conceit" & instead "with humility of mind"; a mindset of humility that stands at the opposite of thinking highly of the self; "regard one another as more important than yourselves." When there is conflict or disunity, it would first seem like it is brought about by our differences. However, deeper introspection will show that it is because of PRIDE! Paul is telling the Philippians to approach daily living with humility & not by selfishness. But how?
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christand I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
directs us to a SAViNG FAITH; Paul "died" to his own self to have new life in Christ! The Christian life is not hard, it is impossible. We need the life of Christ in us.
Philippians 2:5-7
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a]God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b]of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
show us that even if Christ was in the form of God, He was willing to surrender His rights to exercise divinity. Jesus did not stop being God, but He stopped using His privileges as God, in order to suffer & die in our place for the redemption we needed. Likewise, we are to think of others that way; the willingness to surrender our rights & serve for the greater benefit of others. Are we willing to do this even in this difficult & "abnormal" situation with a pandemic going on? Are we willing to not hoard so that others with less respurces can have something to buy for their families too? As Christians, we should be the first ones to give up our rights to serve others.
John 1:1-3
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
defines best who Jesus is. The apostle John calls Jesus "the Word" & in John 1:14
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John tells us that "He dwelt among men". This same Jesus suffered & bled on that fateful day in Calvary, was put to shame & eventually died a humiliating & execruciating death on the cross. Jesus did not have to do any of that but being the "only Way" for us to be freed from our sins & be restored to God, Jesus gave up His life for our lives to be redeemed.
Colossians 1:15-16
The Supremacy of the Son of God
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
All things were defeated by Him & for Him!
In Philippians 2:8
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
the word "appearance" uses the Greek word "schema" it means shape. Jesus appeared as a man, an exterior form that did not take away His true essence of being God but enabled Him to humble Himself as a servant.
In Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
we are given a model of humility in Christ & shown how His humility was honored by God such that Jesus is & will be, exalted in heaven & on earth. Peter in 1 Peter 5:5-6
5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
"God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble."[a]
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
reminds us that to be humble is to trust God. You entrust your interest to the Lord such that you can look out for the interests of others instead. It us an amazing privilege to entrust our all to God!
Hebrews 12:2
2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
says that Jesus endured the pain & suffering on the cross "for the joy set before Him", & His joy is our reunion with God. To cure the virus of pride, we need to maintain the joy we have with one another, transform our hearts in accordance to God & become selfless to the point of our inconvenience for the benefit of others. Instead of focusing on our fears or complaining about the disruptions to our comfort, let us learn to pray for & encourage others. Be grateful, generous & thankful no matter how challenging our times are. This is impossible & only double if we have Jesus at the center of our lives. When selfishness afflicts us, apply the antidote in
Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Now more than ever, let us live lives characterized by the humility of Jesus!
DISCUSSION QUESTION: (DONT INCLUDE HERE YOUR PAST EXPERIENCE BECAUSE WE ARE NOW AT THE PRESENT 2020, POST THIS IN YOUR WEBNOVEL)
1. Is it easy for you to be humble? What makes humility a difficult virtue to live out?
Mia answer: Yes it is easy for me to be humble; pride makes humility a difficult virtue to live out
Kathy answer: It is also easy for me to be humble, But, sometimes, ambition, pride and greediness make humility a difficult virtue to live out.
2. Identify your usual struggles & see if pride can be the root cause of it. Share one of your "respectable sins", something that might not be obvious but pride is at the root of it.
Mia answer: My struggle is dream job & some failure in life; lack of my self-control when I get disgusted of something
Kathy answer: My struggle is loss of employment since 2015, low variable online income from 2016 up to present, and environmental issues that I lived with since childhood. Yes. these are my struggles.
3. Do you know of anyone who does not know Jesus yet? Maybe a workmate, classmate of family member? What steps will you take this week to connect with that person & seek an opportunity to share the gospel to them?
Mia answer: I know someone who does not know Jesus yet; it is my friend, other is my siblings & my co-teachers before in Power Plus Center; the steps that I will take this week to connect with that person is to pray for them & seek an opportunity to share the gospel to them through my fb & IG account
Kathy answer: Everybody knows the family issues whenever financial matters become an issue. I would be praying for them to realized what really matters most.
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