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Gordon has drawn us after thee. Now let us run and never tire. Number 166.
Sweetheart.
I.
Heart, stand by.
A string of mine when apart, when proud.
I can hear.
My redness.
Where they are.
Free by.
Continue with the 2nd chapter.
Philippians, Chapter 2.
Beginning of verse one.
If there be any, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies fulfill ye my joy, let ye be like minded, having the same love being of 1 accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind.
Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also of the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, 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.
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And became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow Of things in heaven and things in earth.
And things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure.
Do all things without murmurings and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as light in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, That I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. Yeah, and if I be offer of the sacrifice.
And service of your faith I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also do ye joy and rejoice with me. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you. And I also may be of good comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ.
But you know the proof of him, that as a son with the Father, He hath served with me in the Gospel. Him therefore I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I suppose it necessary to send to you Aphoriticus, my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier, but your message but your messenger.
And he that ministered to my wants. For for He long after you all, and was full of heaviness, because that he had heard that he had been sick, for indeed he was sick night unto death. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrowed. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that when ye see Him again, ye may rejoice.
And that I may be the less sorrowful, receive him, therefore, in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such in reputation, because for the work of Christ He was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me.
The enemy of the soul, our souls.
The devil himself and his emissaries was attacking the Philippian Assembly from two points from without, and from within the latter verses of chapter one, we find that there was a terrible persecution from without. But chapter 2, which we have had read to us just now, you see that the enemy was also seeking to work from within, and the apostle here gives them the great solution to that difficulty and that danger.
Of the enemy working within.
Put it in a nutshell, the enemy was seeking to create disunity and contention. And so this chapter, he deals with the cause and the cure of contentions in local assemblies. Some will tell us that the subject of this chapter is Christ our pattern or Christ our model. I beg to differ with that. It's not exactly the subject. The subject of the chapter is the cause and the cure of contentions, the remedy.
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The cure is Christ the pattern and Christ the model. And so he lays out here in this chapter the way that they could be saved practically as a company of believers from the inroads of the enemy to divide them. What it actually was at the bottom of it, there was two sisters that weren't getting along, and he knew that the enemy could make use of that and actually polarize the Saints into a situation where the enemy could get a victory.
In that little assembly in Philippi, they think the key verse of the chapter is verse 5, which says let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. What was his mind? He was in the highest place, was willing to take the lowest place and that would that would settle that difficulty that was there.
When difficulties arise, it's because I think.
I'm right, you think you're right, and we set ourselves up as knowing, knowing the the matter perfectly or whatever. But the mind that was in Christ was his willingness to take the very lowest place. He was in the form of God. He was willing to take the form of a servant.
That that mind that was in him should be in US, should be in me, should be in you, to take that lowest place. And that would settle the difficulty, wouldn't it?
That first verse.
Has when I was younger difficulties. I mean, I couldn't understand what's he saying here if there were be any consolation and any fellowship and so on. But he's using the word if what we might call the if of argument and you could almost substitute the word sense. He's really saying in this verse that since there's been such consolation and love and fellowship of the spirit and bowels of mercy extension toward me in the fellowship that you have given.
He says, now if you really want to make me happy and fulfill my joy, verse two, he says, use that on one another and be like minded and have and with one accord and with one mind. You see what had happened was that they had showed such love and fellowship and such grace toward the apostle. He says, well now it would be nice if you could just use that among yourselves and that there would be this like-mindedness that would come as a result.
He says be of 1 accord of one mind, then again in verse.
Three, let nothing be done through strife or Vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, that each esteem other other better than themselves.
The mind of Christ, the mind decrees that that's that would resolve all kinds of problems amongst us, wouldn't it?
But each esteem other better than themselves.
It's beautiful to read those words, but it's not easy to put it into practice.
I think it would be impossible, Chuck, if we didn't have the Lord as our object, wouldn't we could we could take courses on how to win friends and influence people and and go into all the programs that are offered. The bottom line of all that is that we would advance ourselves. That's the purpose of of such hand rings in in those kinds of programs. It's how to advance ourselves.
The Lord never tells us anything that we're to do, that he hasn't been through himself. Every time we see an instruction in Scriptures, it's what the Lord has already passed through. In Second Corinthians 8-9, we have there in those two chapters, chapters 8 and 9, giving you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor. That through his poverty you might become rich. Gave himself thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift, every case.
The disciples come to him and ask, How many times shall we forgive? He says 70 * 7. We said, Oh my goodness, how are we going to go about that?
Every time that we find ourselves as an offense to the Lord.
We can come to him and confess that how many times do we have to do that? How many times for the same offense do we have to do that? Now, I won't go into detail. We only have to look at ourselves for this. We probably would think at length.
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The Lord is probably getting tired of hearing me confess the same fault over and over. They may be private things. Nobody else may even see these things. He says we're to forgive each other. 70 * 7 That's unlimited. He forgives us.
We don't have to hesitate in coming to him, in confessing. It's the only deliverance we have every detail in our lives.
How beautifully it puts everything in order, doesn't it? I was thinking of that verse five as it seems to be the center thought of what we have in chapter 2, but more than that.
Thinking of that mind.
The mind of Christ.
I just failed to be able to put it in words that would rightly express all that is brought before us with the thought of the mind of Christ.
If that were taken to heart for each one of us, for me.
And that in a practical way.
As someone has said, and I've enjoyed so much enjoyment of Christ and occupation with Him has never caused one division yet.
The enjoyment of Christ. Let this mind emphasis on the word of this mind in contrast to all other minds, the mind of Christ.
Worth much meditation, beloved brethren, the mind of Christ. We sang that little hymn.
And is it so I shall be like thy son?
To know that throughout the endless ages of eternity, as those who have been redeemed, we will then have the mind of Christ with all the hindrances removed.
Well, I would just say again.
It's worth much meditation to consider the mind of Christ with every decision that comes into our lives. What would He do?
What is his mind? Do we covet that? Is it the desire of our hearts that we might be like him?
Even now, a little more.
The truth of God is that we are one body in Christ, isn't it? It's not a subject of this epistle, but it is the truth of God. We've often mentioned how the Christian testimony has fallen into ruins because of the divided state of the testimony, but it's been a tremendous consolation to my own soul to realize that is divided as the testimony is.
The truth still remains, there is one body and we are to seek to reflect that even in the day of ruins. How can we do that? And that's what we have here in this verse two. You be like minded having the same love being of 1 accord of one mind.
We get to thinking sometimes that we have a cause to campaign for and that brother over there, he is badly mistaken. Brethren, let's be careful. If it is not a matter of the person or the work of Christ and those things, we must be careful to not give in at all. But if it's not a matter of that, if it's a matter.
Of differences, of feeling, of opinions, we need to seek to be of one mind 1 accord, because the enemy well knows that if he can get us divided one against another, we will seek, we will cease to be effective.
In our testimony to the world around us, that's one way the enemy seeks to defeat an army if you can get them divided against themselves. He has been defeated. The Lord help us to realize that we are one and that we need to seek to carry out this unity as the Scripture shows us, having the person of the Lord Jesus before us.
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So contrary to the.
Old nature, all this is we. We know too well how much of the strife among the people of God is because someone wanted to be great, to have the 1St place. Isn't that so? And when we look at our own hearts, we see how much there is to judge. We don't know the evil in our brother's heart may be the same, but we certainly know that which is in our own hearts, and how much we have to judge in the presence of God every day.
So, as Mr. Darby says, use a sharp knife with yourself, say little, pass on and need to be gentle with those who have failed. Is that right?
I remember hearing a brother who used to be among us, now with the Lord James Ryan.
Say, if I knew half as much about you as I know about me, I couldn't have fellowship with you.
Well, God's ways and thoughts are never our ways and thoughts, are they? The world speaks much about self esteem.
Than God thinks it's let each esteem other better than himself.
In James chapter one the Spirit of God records there some instruction in I'll just read in verse chapter one and verse 18 of James of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruit to this creatures. Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wroth, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness, and sure profligity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls. And so oftentimes the wrath of man is connected with the will of man. And we have that work that is not characterized by the righteousness of God. So the will of man and the wrath of man often rise up in opposition to the truth of God. And so instead of joy there, and instead of like mindedness.
Instead of love, instead of 1 accord, instead of being of one mind, there's that strife.
And So what a wonderful thing it is for us to recognize that it's the Spirit of Christ that we see in one another that we can just encourage. And that is that is Roth. If I feel Roth being stirred up in my own heart, it's not the righteousness of God that's going to be the fruit of it. And so we ought to keep our wills and our Roth in a place of subjection or or the flesh and the place of subjection and exhibit the Spirit of Christ.
One with the other.
What is loneliness of mind?
Thinking little of self.
It's the hardest thing to do.
Brother said if I could think nothing of myself, I should be perfect.
You can't do that.
But we ought to attempt to.
The more we think about the Lord, the more we won't have time to be thinking about ourselves.
That's the. That's the object of this last address we heard. Make room for good things and not for the bad things.
And the more we think about ourselves, the less time we'll have thinking about the Lord, isn't it?
That was Joe's problem.
He says in the middle of the book of Job, I will not give up my righteousness. But at the end he said, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine I see at thee, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. He had to be brought to that. He had to lose everything in order to lose his confidence in himself and even the so-called friendship of the of his friends that were accusing him. Come on, we know you did something wrong. Confess it, confess it. He says he I'm going to maintain my righteousness.
Until he got in the presence of God himself, and then he abhorred himself. How we can have pride, That's the worst thing that affects us. That's the worst sin that there is for us. Knowing, as David was pointing out, what this brother said, if we really knew ourselves and really judged it ourselves, we wouldn't have much to say in pride, would we?
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In the 13th chapter of Proverbs and verse 10.
There's a familiar verse there about pride.
Only by pride, or pride by pride cometh only contention, but with the well advised is wisdom. And then couple that with First Corinthians chapter one and verse 11, where we read the apostles speaking before. It has been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the House of ploy, that there are contentions among you.
And then you go down to verse 613 is Christ divided. So we see that the pride that leads to contention. One of the one of the fruits of that contention is division among us. And So what a word that is. And this chapter that we have before us Philippians 2. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus who beat in the form of God thought it not Robbie to be eat with God.
But made himself of no reputation, and so on. What a picture we have there. What rooms are exercise our hearts when we see our holy, holy, holy Lord take that humble place. Another verse in Proverbs 2825. He that is of a proud heart. Stirreth of strife you find in our chapter. Let nothing be done through strife and Vainglory.
It's been said that these are the two enemies to Unity. These are the two enemies to Unity, Strife and Vainglory. And I understand that Vainglory has the thought and the word in the original language at least, to do with ambition or self ambition. In fact, I think some translations even put it that way. Correct me if I'm wrong. Oh, what a destructive thing that is. Self ambition, wanting to distinguish myself among my brethren, or whatever it may be.
Maybe a gift or the way I look. Whatever the case is, we all want to be well thought of.
We all like to be well thought of, but that could be the flesh and probably is. And so when that kind of thing is at work, there's sure to be destructive to unity in the assembly. And so his exhortation is that they need to have a lowly mind. And He doesn't leave them there just with an exhortation to be having a lowly mind. He gives them an illustration or example in the Lord Jesus himself, who willingly, voluntarily went down, down, down.
That's the remedy for strife and contention among the Lords people, the willing being willing to take the low place.
There was a man that said that he was less than the least of All Saints.
You know, it's been said, it's easier to say that I'm the chief of sinners, that I'm less than the least of All Saints. There's something in us that desires to be the best in something. But what was it and what was it that motivated the apostle Paul in order to be able to say that it wasn't that he persecuted the Church of God? In that context, he said that he wasn't mean to be called an apostle. But what was it that motivated him to be able to say that he was less than the least of All Saints?
It was that he was given to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. It was that sense of grace that had come out to the Gentiles that had come out to him. And so it's one thing to flog ourselves for how bad we are and how much we failed and so on and so forth, but really, isn't the answer, isn't the deliverance for us that we get into the presence of God and be overwhelmed with a sense of grace. In that context, we will not be comparing ourselves among ourselves, but rather to be in the enjoyment of the grace that has reached us.
Suppose we cannot really be in the presence of God and be proud. If I was in the presence of a mathematician who knew infinitely more about the subject than I did, I wouldn't have to be told to be humble. I would feel humble. And when we had these proud thoughts, it's just an evidence that we are not really in the.
In the presence of the Lord, and occupied with him well as God, he.
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It says here.
He laid aside his glory. We need to be very careful here. Of course He didn't lay aside his deity, He emptied himself.
Of the outward glory that was his in a vast eternity. And became a man humbling himself in that character. But He never laid aside His deity. He never ceased to be the eternal Son. He did not become the Son in manhood.
His position as the only begotten of the Father was from a past eternity. I think we need to honestly contend for that truth because there's a very evil doctrine abroad as to that point.
It's in contrast with Adam Adam.
Grasped after godhood, and he was told, or the enemy told Eve at least he shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And so he grasped after that. In effect, here is one who is God in every sense of the term.
Yet and So what it says at the end of verse six, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God or.
He did not esteem it something to be grasped after, because He was God in every sense of the word. There was no need for such a thing but being in that position of supreme exaltation.
He emptied himself. He made himself of no reputation.
What an example. We all like to have a reputation for something. Here's one who emptied himself completely. Tremendous to try to think about it rather than to meditate on his humiliation. When we think of the contradiction of sinners against himself, we think my just think of it. Here was God manifest in flesh, and yet contradicted it every term.
Misunderstood. Spit upon, Beaten.
God become man, truly God, truly man. But never once did he insist on his Godhead rights, did he not once he exercised his his God had power on behalf of his people, heal them. He raised the dead, but he never insisted upon them for himself.
All is for in love for man.
And an obedience to the will of God.
So he was obedient under death, whereas the first Men had been disobedient unto death.
He was in the form of God, but he took upon him the form of a servant.
O brethren.
Are we not all servants?
And you will keep that form of a servant for all eternity.
It's a marvelous thing to meditate upon that served us in the past in dying for us on Calvary, meeting our deep need of sinners. He's serving us now as our great High Priest. Alas, we need His advocacy as well, but He's certainly serving us now at the right hand of God every hour of every day. How could we ever get through this wilderness scene without that?
Priesthood of Christ Then in Luke 12, we know that he's going to serve us for all eternity, so he's never going to give up that place of service in manhood for us forever. What a what a wonderful thing to contemplate.
Illustrations always fall short when we use them to illustrate the great truths connected with the person of the Lord Jesus. But allow me to just say, take the example of an of a four-star general. You know, there he is, commands an army with tremendous power and respect. But when he comes home, he takes off that uniform and puts it on a chair, but he's still a general.
He's still a general, but he's laid aside the Insignia of his glory, but he's still every bit a general. And so when the Lord Jesus became a man, he didn't cease to be God in any sense. That would be blasphemy to say that.
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He had to give a man to die. He couldn't die as God. He didn't die as God. He gave up his life, the power of the Spirit.
The first man was made a living soul. The 2nd man was made a quickening spirit.
He didn't have the attitude. It says who being let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, did not esteem it something to be tenaciously held on to. I am God, I will never consider to be anything less. That was not His mind at all. It was just the willingness to lay that aside.
Come to where we were.
That's the place he took to save you and me.
As God, he emptied himself.
As man he humbled himself. He used the word empty because in the other translation, verse 7, when it says He made himself of no reputation, it should be and he emptied himself. So as God he emptied himself, but as a man he humbled himself. What an example.
We found that God save God, that too at the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We found a wise man came and they presented 3 gifts, the gift of gold, the gift of frankincense, and the gift of murder. And do we not find that in these few verses here we know that gold speaks of that divine righteousness. Let's look at our verse again in verse verse six, Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
So not a beautiful picture of how God knew from the very beginning that he safeguarded that there is that gold, isn't it? And then in verse 7, there's a frankincense being expressed here, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of man. We found that frankincense was put on top of the meal offering picture of that perfect man that that evenness of that fine flower.
No lungs, no, no imperfection is humanity. There was exhibited as that perfect one. And then of course in verse 8, the picture of myrrh, picture of death for his burial. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
In creation, man was made in the image and likeness of God. It's interesting how careful and how exact scripture is when it speaks about our Lord Jesus and how careful we need to be as well. It does say in Colossians chapter one that he is the image of the invisible God.
But it never says He's the likeness of God. That would be to deny his divinity. But he was made, it says here in verse seven in the likeness of men.
He was God over all, blessed forever He is.
But he was made in the likeness of men.
Hebrews, chapter one, verse 5.
I wonder if.
Remember a few years ago we were enjoying this together, and I remember this being said about that verse so as Hebrews one and verse 5. For unto which of the angels said He at any time Thou art my son, his deity, this day have I begotten thee is impeccable humanity.
And then significant. Nothing was lost in that. He became a man before we read. And again, I will be unto him a father, and he shall be.
Unto me a son.
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And the wonder of it all is that he'll never cease to be a man.
Never cease to be a man. He could have accomplished the work of redemption and and gone back and laid aside his manhood entirely and just resumed all his deity, which he had never lost. Of course. No, but he's always a man.
We'll be able to look into that blessed man's face, knowing that in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily as a man, bodily as a man. All the fullness of Deity dwells in that man.
It makes me shiver to think that I'll be in the presence of that man. It was God and man in one person.
That's a mystery, isn't it? Yes.
There's so much, so many evil doctrines that are.
Promulgating around the world now, and nearly everyone of them.
That is, promoted attacks the the person and the work of Christ in some way or other. Without naming specifically the sex that we are Speaking of, you'll find that they always attack the person and the work of Christ in some way or other, and his deity especially. So how we need to be extremely careful here.
He is the eternal Son. He was from apostate eternity which says the beginning of the creation of God in Revelation 3. It doesn't have any reference to the Lords beginning that has reference to the new creation which he is the head and the source origin and he's not a creature.
When the angels look down from the glory, that was the first time they saw their Creator.
But I just think it's so important to earnestly contend for this truth because there is so much error, well, evil abroad that would attack the person of Christ.
There are there are two offerings in the Old Testament of which the Spirit of God says it is most holy. And those two offerings were the meal offering which brings before us the humanity of Christ in his life down here on earth.
And the sin offering, which of course presents him to our thoughts as the one who bore our sins. I believe the Spirit of God who indicted those words in the Old Testament, knew already that the question of the humanity of Christ and the question of His sin bearing would both be mediums for Satan's attack and the unbelief of man. And so he takes special care.
To preserve the most holy character of the man Christ Jesus.
There are those that are very well known in Christendom and one of them is themed as the greatest evangelist ever, Billy Graham. And he was a great preacher of the gospel. But he did teach, at least at one time. I hope he had repented of it, that the Lord could have sinned.
He couldn't have sinned in his deity, he said, but in his humanity he could have. But his humanity was not innocent like Adams. It was holy, and holiness cannot sin.
If he could have sinned, then the nature that we have is the same as his human nature, and it's holy. That means we'll still be able to sin even when we get to heaven, which is nonsense.
He could not sin in his humanity. Adam could. He didn't have sinful humanity when he's created, but he was capable of sinning. But the Lord was not capable of sinning, whether you look at his deity or you look at his holy humanity.
To his own mother, to Mary the word says, That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called. He was always the Son of God, but he became the Son of man.
In order to die so that he could take our place, to give us his place. What a contrast it is at the cross.
Verse 8 and being found in fashion as a man.
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Humbled himself even as a man. This is a perfect man.
Never a flaw could be found in him.
The scribes and Pharisees, the doctors of the law, surrounded him to try to find something that could catch in his speech, that they could accuse him. They always went away silenced. They could never find any flaw in him.
But here he as a man, a perfect man, humbles himself all the way to death, and that the death of the cross. Oh, how this should silence any desires. Brethren, to justify ourselves, why can't we take a little bit of black from our brethren? Why can't we take a little bit of abuse? We see the Lord Jesus standing there before Pilate.
And those religious leaders surrounding him, accusing him vehemently.
That man.
Did not answer one word. Even Pilate marveled greatly.
What a beautiful picture before us. And you and I say they treated me wrong. I can't take it any longer. How can we say such a thing when we know that Jesus without a word, submitted to it The worst travesty of justice.
Ever committed was was condemned to die on the cross. Can't we take a little bit of injustice, even if it's handed to us by our brethren? Can't we sit down and just bow?
Oh, brethren, what an example is set before us so that we too can walk.
In humbleness of mind and in unity of spirit before the Lord.
The Lord Jesus said, Thinkest thou, Thinkest thou, that I cannot now pray to my Father, and He shall presently give me more than 12 legions of angels?
He was gone.
If there was any a man who was ever justified in judging the one who had condemned him, what was the Lord Jesus? You know, I was struck as I've been listening to the conversation that our brother Bruce brought out early on, that it all had to do with two sisters, that that this portion of the epistle has been written.
It never, it never brings out who is wrong, because that's not the issue, is it? If the Lord Jesus Himself could suffer at the hands of such wicked men and in love commend Him to the Father.
How much more? Why is it that we have a life that we have such an example and we can't bear a little bit of hurt, a little bit of shame sometimes and a little bit of punishment and just commend it to the Lord and look upon their qualities better than we look upon our own. That's that's the whole purpose of this, isn't it, that we can look at this one if if anyone ever had a right.
To judge the Lord Jesus did, but no, even the death of the cross he would not dishonor his Father.
By doing anything other than what would please his father, would we want the same?
Isn't that what it's really saying? Let this mind be in you that the end result is that interactions. Does it give place for the enemy to divide?
Or in our actions does it glorify our Father and help us to go on one another in an assembly? For Satan doesn't have an advantage.
Comment that Mister Jarvey made somewhere in his writings to this effect that pride is the cause of division and humility is the secret of fellowship. That's nice. You see this beautifully brought out in the Lord Jesus making these steps down. When someone said there are seven steps down here ending in the death of the cross, the Lord Jesus went down voluntarily to the lowest place.
Psalm 88 says, Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, and no one went lower, and no one went higher.
Because verses 9 through 11 tells us that he would hide from a name above every name. Heaven. I believe the verse is 9 through 11 are brought in here to show us this practical lesson. And that is simply this, that God will reward humility.
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Not here necessarily, but he will reward humility. The Lord Jesus in life was not outwardly.
Justified. It was not outwardly vindicated.
He died hung between two criminals. He died completely abandoned by his own followers. Who was not an outward vindication in this life. But it is in resurrection that God's answer is given, isn't it? And I think that is a tremendous lesson too. So often we like to, even maybe after a problem is passed, we like to vindicate ourselves.
Brethren, Lord, help us to not do that.
God vindicated him. God's answer was in resurrection, and that's when the full answer will be given. He might vindicate in this life, but so often that does not happen. God's answer is in resurrection, and that's what we have from verse 9 forward. An illustration of that is Mathivasha. He was slandered by Zaiba. You know the story. At least you should know the story.
Anyway, when David had to flee, he was away and Mephibosheth, being lame on both his feet, couldn't get to David to tell him that it wasn't true that Mephibosheth's heart was with David. And so all the while that David was away, Mephibosheth didn't trim his beard or his nails and feet or whatever it was until David came back. When David came back, then it was settled. We all learned that Mephibosheth was not a traitor, but he was faithful. But he had to wait until David returned, and we may have to wait until the Lord comes back for some of the issues that we feel we have been aligned and misunderstood.
Here in this world, But do we have the faith and the confidence to leave it with the Lord until that day, or do we want to be vindicated here? That can be a problem if we have to be vindicated here. And really at the bottom of it is pride. That enemy that is so dangerous, isn't it lovely? In connection with Mephibosheth, he also said, yeah, let him take all.
And what a spirit that is for us, isn't it? I was thinking of the Blessed Lord and how.
In first Peter chapter 2 we read.
Verse 21.
The end of the verse Follow His steps. I'll read the whole verse. For even here unto recalled, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, Who when He was reviled, reviled not again when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself unto Him that judgeth righteously. And then we read. They marveled at the gracious words that came from His.
From his blessed lips, someone a little quote that I've enjoyed too, that a kind word is like the oil that takes the friction out of our lives. And so in the book of Proverbs, someone has said there's over 90 references to the tongue and many of them are good words. From a positive side, a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and pictures of silver.
And yet we're also warned so many times in Proverbs 2.
Of the harm that is done with the tongue. But what an example we have in our in our precious Savior.
In every word that came from his lips, may the Lord give us grace, and be we be exercised that. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy side. Oh Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.
I was thinking of your quotation from Darby, God will reward humility, and I'd like to read the last verse of John, chapter one. I think it's there.
John chapter one the Lord is talking to.
I guess it is here. Yeah, it is verse verse 40, but the just the last verse I'll read. And he said unto him, Verily, verily, I said to you hereafter, hereafter.
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He shall see heaven open.
And the angels of God ascending and descending upon who? The Son of man. There he gets it, He's over everything, is the Son of man. They're ascending and descending upon Jesus.
What a wonderful thing.
Well, passing on to verse 12, we have a pivotal word here in that word. Wherefore Mr. Darbys translation marks this verse with a new paragraph. He's now going to lay down some practical exhortations based on the example that he brought before us in the Lord Jesus humility. He exhorts them that now, since he is no longer with them to work out the problems that there may arise being in prison, they were going to have to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling.
This is a practical salvation that the assembly has to workout, each one using the pattern of the humility of the Lord Jesus. He's saying you need to work it out among yourselves, and that way there will be a practical salvation from the inroads of the enemy. So we might say this is an assembly salvation, the salvation of the assembly in a very practical way, and each one of us must take part in that.
If it's going to.
Workout in that way. I know this verse has been very often taken in all kinds of different applications. For instance, people will look at this and think of the word salvation, the salvation of our souls and the penalty of our sins that he would receive when we get the Lord Jesus as our Savior. And so they look at this and say, well, work out your own salvation. Perhaps it means that what I need to do is to get the salvation that I have in my heart out into my life so that people can see that I'm saved.
Well, that's a nice thought, but that's not what this verse is talking about. I'd go elsewhere to show you that. For instance, adorn the doctrine and so on. And Titus 2 here he's talking about a practical working out of our salvation by each one of us going down, down, down like the Lord Jesus. And there will be then a saving of the assembly from disunity. An illustration that was given to me one time before about a man that was walking in the Andes Mountains.
And there was this little trail off the edge of one of the mountains that he was going along with his donkey, his mule full of cargo, and it was just wide enough for him to get along. As he went along, one turned path, this way and that. And as he made his way along that path, what do you think he saw when he came around one corner? Another man with a mule filled with cargo as well. What were they going to do? They couldn't pass.
And off the edge was a Cliff. And so they discussed what they should do. They were asking each other. Do you remember the last time you used the path widened out. Maybe we could back the mules up and get them to a place where they could we could pass together. The other had an idea. Maybe we could unload them all and then fast and then reload the mules. While they were discussing this, the two animals had it all figured out. One of them got down on its knees.
Put itself as close as it could to the edge, and the other one simply stepped around it, and it was solved. And so if there's an impasse in the assembly, brethren, that's the example. Just go down, get on our knees, take the low place, and let our brethren step around us. It'll be for the salvation of the assembly.
I'd like to know that there's two last words here, fear and trembling. Fear. We learn in the songs that that's wisdom. I'm not clear. I'm trembling.
Explain that.
First of all, at the end.
I'll read the last course. You worked out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Fear is system, I presume. And what is trembling? It's the fear I, as I understand it, that the enemy make might make use of any pride or strife or Vainglory that might be in US, and.
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Make use of it by entering in and and destroying the assembly. The trembling I would take it would be the fear of realizing that there's enough flesh in me to to spoil the whole gathering. And so when I realized what I am in myself, I need to carry this out with a lot of fear.
And trembling, the apostle Paul, when he was present with them, found that they were obedient. You've always obeyed.
Not as in my presence, only that was when he was with them, but now much more in my absence.
And then he says work it out.
You know, so often we tend when we get to a problem we have that we don't know what to do, we like to call up a brother that has maybe a little bit more wisdom than we.
Well, they couldn't call Apostle Paul.
He wasn't there.
They had to work it out and I think it is valuable, brethren, when we come together and conference meetings like this, you're not going to get all the individual questions for your life answer, but you're going to get in this book expounded our principles.
Unfailing principles that God has laid out for us.
Now when we go back home and you can't go up and ask that brother what he thinks you should do, but you have the knowledge of those principles, now work it out. And so, like you say, it's going to the Lord with a sense of the fact that if we're not careful, the enemy can use this situation.
So we need to do it in fear and trembling, but if we sincerely go to the Lord, humble ourselves, get down on our knees, confess our weakness, get into the Word, search the pages of Scripture never found it to fail that the Lord will give clear direction. That's what I believe means. Work it out your own salvation.
Workout those problems you have and.
Then the Lord will give clear direction, and the Lord tells us how to do it in the next verse, doesn't he? Verse 13.
God is our resource and our only resource, isn't He?
Like Isaiah chapter 66 and uses the same word there in chapter 66 and verse 2. But to this man will I look even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. So what is it that we use in the assembly and amongst ourselves to really discern what the mind of the Spirit is in connection with a problem that might come up? It's really a trembling and a fear.
Of God trembling at his word, to just use it as that measuring stick, as it were to in the wisdom, divine wisdom, not the wisdom of the natural man. And it's not the will of man that ought to govern the people of God. It's the will of God himself. You get that in Titus chapter one. I'll just turn to it. I think of it often. It says in Titus chapter one and verse 7.
For a Bishop or an overseer must be blameless as the steward of God, not self willed, not soon angry. And so he wants the will of God and he wants how did he find out the will of God? He finds it out in the word of God and when he knows he trembles that that word, he vows to it. The Lord wants us to learn to depend on him directly. We can understand when a new person is comes into the faith and at the beginning he may be looking to that person who is instrumental in guiding him to the Lord.
But as growth takes place, then there should be the exercise and the growth to look to the Lord in our situations. Verse 13 says it is God who works in you. And sometimes we go to brethren and they give a solution and we might do what they asked and tell us to do, but they don't understand the full extent of what's going on. It's God that's working in this. And if you get one problem solved and God hasn't gotten you.
To learn the lesson He means you to learn, He'll send another problem along, a little bit worse. We need to learn to look to God. Brethren, it is God that works in us, the willing and the doing. He puts in our hearts the willingness. He gives us the strength to do as well.
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Two great results take place here in the following of the pattern of the Lord Jesus and going down. Firstly, there is the saving of the assembly from the inroads of the enemy to to disrupt the unity as we've had. And then secondly, in verse 15 we have the fact that there will be a bright and shining testimony of the assembly in the community where it is. There's going to be a bright shining testimony in the community.
If we walk together, go ahead.
I was just going to say and illustration of the two donkeys, if they argue this is going to lie down, who's going to take the low place? Well, the one that had the mind of Christ would take the low place. That would solve the problem, wouldn't it? That's our problem. We have too much pride.
Oh, I don't have any pride. Oh yes, you do. Yes, I do. We all do.
Before it.
I'll see what I can do with it back in our chapter, chapter one, where it speaks in verse 27 that the.
If your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.
We've got a lot this morning about how our behavior can spoil our testimony in the gospel, but the river will Adon saying that goes farther here. It's not simply the gospels of Gosport to the laws. That's true what Paul describes in Acts chapter 20, and he'll go there for a moment for that verse.
The next 20 to verse 27 says why I have not shunned and declared all the council of God. So this was referred to.
The whole council, the whole council not submit the gospel to the last. That's important in this chapter. Here we're looking at it's the collection.
Testimony.
That's concerned about it's not. It's probably worse than my squalling my testimony individually to the world.
See the whole assembly itself, as it were. Well, it's testimony go back to John 17. This is tied in there as well.
Lord's Prayer in John 17.
Probably even more important to themselves is this.
1St.
2/23.
The force in verse 22 at the end says they are one and maybe one even as we are one.
That's where several times in this chapter verse 23 I am them and thou in me they may perfect in one that the world may know world may know that LSA of them as LS love me is what's the collective testimony of going on. Is this quite so important here that these individuals were quarreling and actually mainly the 4th chapter so serious, but.
It's the old gospels that said they were saved, but Mr. This is family information, family of God who could get along. So we don't have these corals and it doesn't show as a word to the world. He wants us to to live in the joy that he has liberated us as a free in here. So let's take that low place instead of causing the problem. Let's be a problem solver.
Something like that.
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We can see my.
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Name.
We're not translating in the water. It's getting right.
Of every day.
But we also.
All patients.
On our eyes, Henry the Strange.
We lay around.
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May we also think 23.
23.
Number #23 was given out.
Oh good.