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Philippians 2 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Philippians chapter 2
0:02Paul has told them to walk worthy. He's
0:04given them the five points of what
0:06walking worthy looks like.
0:08And now he's going to double down on
0:10that and he's going to expound those
0:12five points a little more clearly.
0:16Philippians chapter 2 verse 1, therefore
0:20if there is any encouragement in Christ
0:24if there is any consolation
0:27of love
0:29if there is any fellowship of the spirit
0:32if any affection and compassion
0:37make my joy complete
0:41by being
0:43of the same mind
0:46maintaining the same love
0:50united in spirit
0:52intent on [music] one purpose.
0:56Do nothing from selfishness or empty
1:00conceit.
1:02But with humility of mind
1:05regard one another
1:07as more important
1:09than yourselves.
1:12Do not merely look out for your own
1:15personal interests
1:17but also for the interests of others.
1:23Have this attitude in yourself.
1:25And he goes on.
1:27So this is doubling down on the five
1:29points of worthy.
1:31And he says
1:32if there is any encouragement
1:35if people are going to see the church
1:37and say, "That's so encouraging. It's
1:39working."
1:41If there's any consolation of love
1:44consolation means that you're hurting,
1:47but love compensates.
1:50It consoles you. It makes you feel that
1:52the hurt is worth it.
1:54Paul is saying
1:56you can encourage me, guys. You can make
1:58me feel that what I'm going through is
2:00worth it.
2:01If there is any fellowship in the
2:03spirit,
2:04if the spirit is still alive in your
2:07communion with each other,
2:10any affection and compassion,
2:13then make my joy complete by being of
2:16the same mind. Paul is going to say some
2:18version of this over and over and over
2:21and over. Be of the same heart, be of
2:23the same spirit, be of the same mind,
2:25have the same purpose, intent on one
2:28purpose, united in spirit. Do you
2:30believe unity is the whole thing?
2:35You can say that
2:36if we are not of the same mind, if we're
2:38not maintaining the same love, if we're
2:40not united in spirit, if we're not
2:43intent on but one purpose,
2:46if we are instead guided by selfishness,
2:49divided by conceit,
2:51losing humility and looking out only for
2:54ourselves, if that's the case, then
2:56there's no encouragement, the church has
2:58nothing to offer. There's no
2:59consolation, it's been destroyed by
3:01hardship.
3:03There's no fellowship in the spirit, the
3:05spirit's not lord of anything.
3:08And there's no joy
3:09complete.
3:11It was all a good start, but a bad
3:13ending.
3:15Unless we have these things.
3:18And then he goes into this
3:21definition
3:22of who Jesus was.
3:24It's one of the most powerful
3:26Christological descriptions that we have
3:28in the whole Bible.
3:31Have this attitude in yourselves,
3:35the attitude he just described, which
3:37was also in Christ Jesus.
3:41Hm.
3:41>> [clears throat]
3:42>> What was the attitude again?
3:45Same mind, same love,
3:49united spirit, one purpose, nothing from
3:53selfishness, nothing from empty conceit,
3:56humility, regarding others as better
3:59than yourself. That was Jesus' attitude.
4:02That was his outlook and worldview.
4:05Have this attitude in yourselves,
4:07which was also in Christ Jesus, who
4:09although he existed in the form of God,
4:15did not regard equality with God a thing
4:18to be grasped,
4:21but
4:22emptied himself,
4:24taking the form of a bondservant,
4:27and being made in the likeness of men,
4:30being found in appearance as a man, he
4:33humbled himself
4:35by becoming obedient to the point of
4:38death, even death on a cross.
4:43What does this mean?
4:45Let this mind be in you, have this
4:46attitude in yourselves,
4:49which was in Jesus,
4:51who although he existed in the form of
4:53God,
4:55did not regard equality with God a thing
4:58to be grasped.
4:59What that means is that while Jesus was
5:02on the earth,
5:03he was fully man, and he was fully God.
5:06And yet, to fulfill his redemptive work,
5:11and to be one who could sympathize with
5:14us in his high priestly function,
5:18he had to know our weaknesses,
5:22and therefore he had to empty himself of
5:25what? What did he empty himself of?
5:28Those divine rights.
5:30Those rights that he didn't grasp for,
5:32he actually emptied himself of.
5:35He was like a man who had a trillion
5:37dollars in the bank, and yet he lived on
5:40a very modest budget.
5:44He had divine power in the bank, but he
5:47lived on the budget of human ability.
5:52Does that make sense? This word empty in
5:55the Greek is kenosis.
5:58Can you say that?
6:00Kenosis.
6:02Kenosis in your mind should live as the
6:04counterpart to glorification.
6:08When Jesus ascended into heaven,
6:11he took the full possession of his
6:14divine rights.
6:15He was fully God on Earth, but he was
6:18not living in full ownership of that
6:21which he possessed.
6:24He wasn't activating all those rights.
6:26Does that make sense?
6:28He was keeping that in a savings
6:29account. Why? Because he needed to
6:32fulfill a high priestly function of
6:35mediation to know our weaknesses, to
6:39know our infirmities, to be tempted in
6:41like manner just as we are.
6:43Amen.
6:45So, Jesus had this mind. This was the
6:48outlook. And Paul's saying, "Have this
6:49mind in you."
6:51Which is basically to say, "Don't act on
6:55everything you can do.
6:57Let love be your reason, not power.
7:00Let this mind be in you which was also
7:02in Christ Jesus,
7:05who being in very nature God did not
7:08grasp for those rights. Now, when he was
7:10glorified, he had all of those rights.
7:13He went ahead and took those rights.
7:16He emptied himself taking the form of a
7:18bond servant,
7:20and being made in the likeness of men,
7:23being found in appearance as a man, he
7:25humbled himself. He emptied, he humbled
7:28by becoming obedient to the point of
7:31death.
7:32It says that he humbled himself by
7:34becoming obedient.
7:36That's one of the most fundamental
7:37statements in this whole chapter.
7:40Humbling yourself is not laying your
7:41ears back. Humbling yourself is not
7:43changing your tone of voice only.
7:46The most humble thing you can ever do is
7:48obey God.
7:51If it looks meek, obey God.
7:54If it looks proud, obey God.
7:57If people will say you're exalting
7:58yourself, obey God. If they'll say
8:01you're humbling yourself, obey God.
8:02Don't have any regard for what they say.
8:05Obey God, and that is the most humble
8:07thing you can ever do.
8:08He humbled himself by becoming
8:11to the point of death, even death on a
8:12cross. What word did he obey
8:18to the point of death?
8:20What does John 3:16 tell us was the
8:23reason that the Father [clears throat]
8:25gave up his Son?
8:27>> He so loved the world.
8:29>> He so loved the world.
8:31He was obedient to the will of the
8:35Father in the garden
8:37when he said, "Not my will,
8:40but your will be done."
8:44By implication in and through and by me.
8:48So, there's the obedience, right?
8:51But the will
8:53was the love of the Father.
8:56This is where the Father is saying,
8:59"It is my will
9:01that we redeem these caught in sin." So,
9:05love was the will that he obeyed.
9:10Amen. He was obedient
9:12to the demands of love
9:15even when it demanded a cross.
9:18For this reason also, God highly exalted
9:21him
9:23and bestowed on him the name which is
9:24above every name.
9:27So, God exalted him.
9:30Well, Jesus is a twofold being.
9:33So, the divine Father exalts the human
9:36son
9:38who has submitted in this complete
9:41manner.
9:42For this reason, God highly exalted him
9:44and bestowed on him the name which is
9:47above every name.
9:50The Father's name is Yahweh. He tells
9:52Moses, "This is my name forever
9:54by which I am to be remembered for all
9:56generations."
9:59But
10:00what is the name above that? There is no
10:01other name above that. But Jesus was
10:05given that name.
10:07You shall call his name Yeshua, for he
10:09will save his people from their sins.
10:11And the name Yeshua is Yahweh become
10:13salvation.
10:16Yahweh means I am what I am and I will
10:19become whatsoever I will become. So, he
10:21was Yahweh our righteousness, Yahweh our
10:25refuge, Yahweh our salvation, Yahweh our
10:29peace, Yahweh our healer, Yahweh our
10:32shepherd. But in Jesus, he became Yahweh
10:35our salvation, which is what the name
10:38Jesus means.
10:40In In Hebrew, it would be the the Hebrew
10:42version of Joshua.
10:45For this reason, God highly exalted him
10:47and bestowed on him the name which is
10:48above every name,
10:50so that at the name of Jesus
10:53every knee will bow
10:55of those who are in heaven and on earth
10:59and under the earth and that every
11:01tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
11:04Lord to the glory of God the Father.
11:08This is quoting from Isaiah
11:11where he says every knee will bow and
11:12every tongue will swear.
11:14But now in Jesus, we we confess. We
11:17speak the same thing as what he is
11:20speaking, what his spirit is speaking.
11:23So then, my beloved, just as you have
11:26always obeyed, not in my presence only,
11:29but now much more in my absence, work
11:33out your salvation with fear and
11:36trembling, for it is God who works in
11:39you,
11:41both to will and to do for his good
11:44pleasure.
11:46He starts off by telling them, "If
11:48there's any consolation, if there's any
11:50encouragement,
11:52be of the same mind."
11:54He says, "Let this attitude be in you."
11:57Because what happened in the whole story
12:00of of Christology that he just described
12:03is God worked through a man.
12:06God was in Christ reconciling the world
12:09to himself. The Father that is in me
12:11does the works, Jesus said. So, he says,
12:14"Have this submission so that you can
12:17have God working in you both to will and
12:19to do for his good pleasure."
12:22Do you understand? The whole point is to
12:24arrive at
12:27a submission to the Holy Spirit that
12:30mirrors Jesus's submission
12:32and therefore that mirrors Jesus's
12:34power.
12:36Amen. So, he says, "Just as you have
12:38obeyed
12:40not in my presence only." When Paul was
12:42there, it was easy to obey Paul, right?
12:45But now this Paul is gone, but the
12:47Spirit is still here. And if they'll be
12:49of the same spirit now in Paul's
12:51absence,
12:52much more in my absence, work out your
12:56salvation with fear [clears throat] and
12:58trembling.
13:00What does it mean to work out your
13:02salvation? Does it mean to do the works
13:03of the law and earn your salvation? Of
13:05course not. It means to walk in
13:08submission to your heavenly Father just
13:11as Jesus did. It means to let this mind
13:14be in you, which utterly subdues the
13:16flesh and utterly activates the new man.
13:19Work out your salvation with fear and
13:21trembling, and then he makes it clear
13:23this isn't something you're going to do,
13:25for it is God who works in you both to
13:29will and to do for his good pleasure.
13:33Then he says this, "Do all things
13:34without grumbling or disputing,
13:37so that you will prove yourselves
13:40to be blameless and innocent children of
13:43God,
13:45above reproach in the midst of a crooked
13:48and perverse generation among whom you
13:50appear
13:51as lights in a dark world."
13:55Do everything without grumbling or
13:57complaining, so that you will prove
13:59yourselves blameless and innocent. So,
14:01now we know what the problems were that
14:04Paul wanted them their love to abound
14:07more and more,
14:08so that they would be blameless, he
14:10said.
14:12The blame that was in their church is
14:14that they were complainers.
14:17They were sowing discord by murmuring
14:20and complaining.
14:22And we know that likely Paul, but the
14:24writer of Hebrews tells us that if we
14:26are without discipline,
14:29we are bastards.
14:31We have cut short the process by which
14:33God makes us sons. You can say that
14:36hardship is the crucible that births
14:38sons of God.
14:40But if you go through that hardship and
14:42you
14:43combine all of those challenges with
14:45complaints and whining and arguing and
14:48disputing,
14:50then you abort the process that was
14:53supposed to make you into a son.
14:58Do everything without grumbling or
14:59complaining, so that you will prove
15:01yourself blameless and innocent children
15:03of God, above reproach in the midst of a
15:05crooked and perverse generation,
15:08among whom you appear as lights in the
15:10world,
15:11holding fast the word of life,
15:15so that in the day of Christ I will have
15:17reason to glory because I did not run in
15:19vain nor toil in vain.
15:22If you become complainers in crisis,
15:25Paul,
15:26his whole ministry was a waste on you.
15:30If you put on the long face and start
15:33murmuring to one another when you go
15:35through hardship, Christ can't be
15:37exalted in you like Paul said Christ was
15:39going to be exalted in him whether he
15:41lives or dies.
15:43This is what we were made for. Jesus was
15:46highly exalted because he was obedient
15:49to the point of death.
15:51But you're becoming disobedient. You're
15:52losing faith in the face of a crisis.
15:55And if you lose faith when you go
15:57through bad things, then you cut short
16:00the process that makes you sons. You're
16:02illegitimate. Paul ran in vain. You're a
16:05bastard.
16:07But even if I am being poured out as a
16:09drink offering upon the sacrifice in
16:11service of your faith, I rejoice and
16:14share my joy with you all. So he says,
16:17"You got to stop complaining.
16:20Do it like me.
16:21I'm being turned upside down.
16:24I am the sacrifice and I'm being dumped
16:26on the altar of your faith.
16:29And I've got joy.
16:32I'm like Jesus, Paul's saying. For the
16:34joy set before me, I'm enduring the
16:36hardship.
16:38And I'm proving myself a son of God.
16:41Even if I am being poured out as a drink
16:43offering upon the sacrifice in service
16:45of your faith, I rejoice
16:47and share my joy with you all.
16:51You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same
16:55way and share your joy with me."
17:00Do you get what he's saying? If you lose
17:01your joy in your pain,
17:04then it can't turn you into a son.
17:07It's no longer a discipline that becomes
17:09a crucible to make you a son of God.
17:12Instead,
17:14there's nothing to have encouragement
17:15for. There's nothing to have consolation
17:17for, there's no fellowship in the
17:19spirit, the devil wins.
17:23Be like Paul
17:24and share
17:26joy with him cuz he's got joy even while
17:28in chains.
17:30But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send
17:33Timothy to you shortly so that I also
17:36may be encouraged when I learn of your
17:39condition.
17:40I want to learn that you're not being
17:42ravaged by the devil.
17:45I want to learn that your faith is not
17:46circumstantial.
17:48I want to learn that this mind is in you
17:51that was in Jesus. I want to learn that
17:53grumbling and complaining hasn't aborted
17:55the sonship process that was going on in
17:57you.
17:59For I have no one else of kindred spirit
18:01as Timothy
18:03who will genuinely be concerned for your
18:05welfare.
18:08For they all seek after their own
18:09interests,
18:11not those of Christ Jesus.
18:14But you know of his proven worth that he
18:16served me in the furtherance of the
18:19gospel like a child serving his father.
18:24Therefore, I hope to send him
18:25immediately as soon as I see how things
18:28go with me.
18:30And I trust in the Lord that I myself
18:33also will be coming shortly.
18:35He wants to get free. He wants to come
18:37out.
18:40But I thought it necessary to send you
18:42Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow
18:44worker and fellow soldier, who is also
18:48your messenger and minister to my need.
18:51Your apostle, literally. And minister of
18:53my need.
18:55Because he was longing for you all and
18:58was distressed because you had heard
19:00that he was sick.
19:01So they sent someone to Paul.
19:04Epaphroditus.
19:06This guy got sick.
19:08So Paul's going to send him back cuz
19:10he's worried that his church family is
19:13worried about him. They didn't have
19:14email, they didn't have phones, they
19:16couldn't pick it up and say, "Hey,
19:17everything's all right." For indeed he
19:19was sick to the point of death.
19:23But God had mercy on him,
19:25and not on him only, but also on me, so
19:28that I would not have sorrow upon
19:30sorrow.
19:32Epaphroditus nearly died. Paul said,
19:35"God raised him up, but it was also a
19:37big mercy to me [music] cuz I couldn't
19:38have lived
19:40through his passing.
19:42I would have been so sad. Therefore, I
19:44have sent him all the more eagerly so
19:46that when you see him again, you may
19:48rejoice, and I may be less concerned
19:51about you."
19:53Receive him then in the Lord with all
19:56joy,
19:58and hold men like him in high regard,
20:02because he came close [music] to death
20:04for the work of Christ,
20:06risking his life [music]
20:08to complete what was deficient in your
20:13service to me.
20:17He was sent by the church,
20:20and he was filling [music] in and
20:22helping Paul,
20:24because
20:25the Philippian church couldn't.
20:27And he said he was [music] willing to
20:28die. His sickness was that he risked his
20:31life
20:32to help Paul.
20:35Mhm.
20:36So, what do we get from this?
20:39There's only one reason to have
20:40consolation
20:43and encouragement of love and in Christ,
20:45[music]
20:46and it's if we are united.
20:48But the only way to be united
20:50is to let the mind be in us which was in
20:52Jesus, that doesn't live for self, that
20:55doesn't look out for self,
20:57that doesn't grasp [music]
20:58at what God has made us to be, but
21:01humbles ourselves,
21:02>> [music]
21:02>> and becomes obedient to the demands of
21:04love, even to the point of the cross.
21:07But when those demands lead you to a
21:09cross, [music] you can start complaining
21:11and grumbling. And if you do, you're
21:13going to abort the crucible that was
21:15going to make you [music] a son.
21:17But if you'll trust
21:19the same way God worked in the humble
21:21Christ, [music] he will work in the
21:23humble Christian. He will work in you to
21:26will and do you his good pleasure. And
21:28when you let God work in you that way,
21:30[music] that's working out your own
21:31salvation in fear and trembling.
21:34And when you let him do that, you're
21:35going to have the same joy even in your
21:37trial that Paul has. And then you're
21:39going to be able to share it with Paul.
21:42And that's what he got from
21:43Epaphroditus. [music]
21:44That's what he wants to get from the
21:45Philippian church.
21:50>> [music]
21:59[music]

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