Havasu Christian Church
Study in Philippians
March 19, 2025
Philippians 2:1-18
“The Jesus Attitude!”
INTRO: In Church we often talk about how we should “be more like Jesus.” It’s true! We should! But HOW should we be like Jesus? Should we wear a robe and sandals? Should we learn carpentry skills? Should we walk everywhere we go? Or maybe we should be like a crazy neighbor I used to have who said he was Jesus?
Our passage today will not only tell us how to be more like Jesus, but it will give us a good reason WHY we should be like Jesus!
Philippians 2:10-18 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
17 But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all.
18 You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me.
- What is the “Jesus attitude?”
- There are things we do as a body.
- being of the same mind.
- We are working toward the goal of growing God’s Kingdom!
- We work at maintaining the same love.
- We all do our part to love each other!
- Even when some of us may not be all that loveable!
- We are to be united in spirit and purpose.
- Again, as Paul tells us in Corinthians, we are a body!
- A body that works together to help itself be healthy!
- Teeth can’t brush themselves!
- There are things we do and don’t do as individuals.
- Do nothing from selfishness.
- “ME ME ME” should only be a warmup for singing!
- “ME ME ME” should never be my attitude!
- Do nothing from empty conceit.
- If you have an ability, remember where it came from!
- Practice humility of mind>
- regard one another as more important than yourselves;
- do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
- How do I grow in this “Jesus Attitude?”
- Model your attitude after Jesus!
- Look at and follow Jesus’ example!
- Jesus “existed in the form of God.”
- He IS God in a human body.
John 1:1–5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
- Let that soak in for a minute….
- Jesus chose to let go of everything that made Him God. He became one of us!
From gotquestions.org:
Referring to Jesus, Philippians 2:6 says, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage.” The King James Version (KJV) puts the verse this way: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” The difference in wording here is due to the differing interpretations of the Greek word harpagmon, which can be literally translated as “robbery” or “plunder.” However, given Jesus’ deity, it’s probably better and more theologically accurate to understand the word as meaning “a thing to clutch” or “something to hang on to at all costs.”
What the apostle Paul is saying in Philippians 2:6 is that Jesus did not try to “hang on to” or “clutch” His uniquely divine status and role as the Son of God in His incarnation. Rather, He willingly let go of that and “emptied himself” (Philippians 2:7, ESV) in order to fulfill His Father’s will in becoming human.
It is important to note that, while Jesus did not think it robbery to be equal with God in His incarnation, He did not cease being God. Jesus is fully God and one with the Father.
- Jesus; equal to God the Father in every way because He IS God… Was still God during His time on earth!
- HE STILL IS GOD!
- As God, He still allowed Himself to be killed for our sakes!
- Compared to Jesus, none of us have very much to give up! But we still often struggle to do it!
- I want to be the center of my own universe!
- I want to be the “god” of my own life.
- I want everyone else to recognize just how special and amazing I am!
- Jesus walked away from TRUE greatness, in the most absolute sense.
- Jesus humbled Himself!
- If Jesus could do that, maybe I can give up on how great I think I am.
- Maybe I can grow in true humility.
- Humility is not denigrating yourself. “I’m worthless… I have no abilities or skills….
- To do this is to say God makes useless things.
- Humility accepts that I have talents and abilities, but it recognizes where those talents and abilities come from.
- Humility also accepts that others have talents and abilities as well and that they should be allowed to exercise those talents and abilities.
- Paul is calling the Philippian Christians (and us) to live like Christ! To be Humble in our fellowship with other Christians.
- Like Christ, we should “not think it robbery” to intentionally empty ourselves of any special status or role as we serve and love one another.
- We shouldn’t try to use our positions or powers to advantage ourselves and put others behind.
- We should willingly put others good ahead of our own.
- In this, Christ led the way.
- Paul can’t help himself. He has to use this example to talk about the future when Jesus returns!
- God has highly exalted Jesus!
- His name is greater than any other name!
- Everyone will bow their knee to Jesus!
- Some, willingly with joy!
- Others, begrudgingly with sorrow!
- Everyone will confess Jesus is the Messiah, (Christ) and that He is LORD!
- Some, willingly with joy!
- Others, begrudgingly with sorrow!
- This will all be done for the Glory of God the Father!
- Jesus did what He did so God would be glorified by us for all eternity!
- Paul comes to a conclusion about our “Jesus attitude:” “So then, my beloved…”
- “Work out your salvation with fear and trembling…”
- “Fear and trembling?”
- Take our salvation seriously!
- It is something to cherish.
- You don’t play catch with the delicate
- antique lamp that was handed down to you from your great, great, great, grandmother.
- Live in a way that shows you cherish your salvation!
- To do this, we obey what we have learned!
- Whether someone is standing over us or we are all alone!
- Our integrity of service matters greatly!
- Don’t forget that God is at work in your life.
- You may not always understand what God is doing, but you can trust Him that He is doing it right!
- What He does in our lives will glorify him!
- Don’t grumble and fuss!
- Now I’ve quit preaching and gone to meddling, haven’t I!
- Grumbling and fussing seem to be priorities in our time.
- The internet gives people the impression that they can say whatever they want without repercussions!
- They may be right… For now!
- But not forever!
- When we live with our “Jesus attitude,” we be an example to others.
- Blameless & innocent.
- There should be a great contrast between us and the “crooked and perverse generation we live in.
- Children of God.
- What we do reflects on our Father, God!
- We are lights in the world.
- Our world is full of darkness.
- It’s our job to reflect the light of Jesus into that darkness!
- It’s all too easy to let sin dirty up the lamp chimney.
- We do this by “holding fast the word of life.”
- How we do this doesn’t just affect us. It affects our Christian family.
- It would affect Paul.
- “in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.”
- Paul would not be disappointed in them!
- Paul’s life also affected them!
- Even when he is “being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith” Paul rejoices.
- Paul is being “poured out” so that they can follow Jesus more and more closely.
- This gives Paul Joy!
- Paul calls on them to share in his joy!
Conclusion: Do we have the “Jesus Attitude?”
- Are we living lives of humility?
- Are we putting others ahead of ourselves?
- Do we forget to care about who gets the credit for what we do?
- Are we following the example of Jesus?
- Do we think about how brightly we shine so that others can see Him?
Do we look forward to “the day of Christ?”
