Every
Knee Will Bow and Every Tongue Confess
[Philippians
chapter two]
Brothers
and sisters, today we will continue our study of the apostle Paul's
letter to the Philippians by examining chapter two. In keeping with
my commitment to this ministry and to Christ, and since there is so
much in here to contemplate, I'm committed to reaching as many people
as I can. So rather than rush through this and risk losing anybody,
let's take our time with this slightly longer, power-packed letter
from the apostle Paul, beginning at verse one.
“If
you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any
comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any
tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being
like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not
only to their own interests, but also to the interest of others. Your
attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in
very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be
grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a
servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even
death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and
gave him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed –
not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence – continue
to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who
works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
(Philippians 2, verses 1-13, NIV)
Have
comfort in and through God's unlimited love, and have fellowship in
the Holy Spirit so we can develop tenderness and compassion! Remember
the words of the apostle John, who wrote that, “it doesn't matter
how much we love God, so long as we remember that God loved us first”
by sending his son Jesus to be a living sacrifice for all of us.
Tenderness and compassion towards others is a hallmark of those who
work continuously at being better Christians, as well as being
full-time “ambassadors for Christ”. Jesus said, “I
desire mercy, not sacrifice”.
Don't tell Jesus how often you go to church, or how much you put into
the collection basket. He is far more interested in, first, how well
we treat others, and second, how did we serve other people.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
If we spend our lives devoted to our own comfort, and that of our
immediate families, then that is worth very little in God's sight.
That's why everyone will have to stand before God and be judged
according to how well they served others, first as ambassadors for
Christ, and second with a life well lived by putting others ahead of
ourselves in importance. “Whatsoever you do for the least of my
brethren”, Jesus famously said in all four gospels, “that
you do for me”.
“Your attitude”, Paul wrote, “should be
the same as that of Christ Jesus”, who humbled himself to the
extreme of lowliness by allowing himself to be executed as a common
criminal, only to rise again on the morning of the third day. In so
doing, He achieved eternal life for himself, as well as for all who
call upon his name. That means us, people, so that when our lives are
finally over we can be with him in Paradise. Without the supreme
sacrifice of Christ Jesus, nobody would be saved, that's for sure!
“At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, ... and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Jesus conquered everything, even death itself. Moreover, when Jesus
lay in the borrowed tomb in which he was buried for three days, he
went on a search and rescue mission for every lost soul who has ever
lived or whoever will live. Meaning, He liberated hell itself and all
those who were in it who were not destined to be there forever like
Satan and his demonic minions who wreak havoc upon the earth and its
inhabitants. Jesus swept them all up and took them home with him,
like a parent coming to the rescue of a kidnapped child!
“Work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling”, Paul wrote, but what did he really mean here?
Having fear of the Lord, in its original context, meant to have
extreme reverence towards God, who chose to make us in his image and
likeness even though He didn't have to or feel compelled to. It
doesn't mean that we should be afraid of God as we would, say, a
bully or an armed criminal, or an abusive parent or spouse. God
operates out of love, not fear, as the apostle John wrote when he
said, “Perfect love drives out fear.” If anyone comes to
you and claims to be a servant of Christ while making you feel
apprehensive or intimidated, get away from that person or that church
(yes, unfortunately there are churches like that) immediately.
Sometimes knowing God's will is mainly common sense, and in cases
like this there is no need to inquire of the Lord. The obvious answer
can sometimes be right in front of us. The flip side of this coin is
the mention of the word “trembling”, meaning that we don't have
to fear God, but we should fear the consequences of sin if we are
doing so deliberately. (Yes, unfortunately there are Christians like
that, and they are jeopardizing their salvation in and through Christ
if they continue and do not repent!) Now that we have examined this
treasure trove of Spiritual material, we can move on to the second
half of our study of chapter two.
“Do
everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become
blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and
depraved generation, in which you shine like stars of the universe as
you hold out the word of life – in order that I may boast on the
day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I
am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and
service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of
you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. I hope in the
Lord Jesus to send Timothy with you soon, that I also may be cheered
when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes
a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his
own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy
has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served
with me in the work of the Gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as
soon as I see how things go with me. And I am confident in the Lord
that I myself will come soon. But I think it is necessary to send
back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow
soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my
needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you
heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had
mercy upon him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me
sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so
that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less
anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor men like
him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life
to make up for the help that you could not give me.” (Phil. 2,
verses 14-30, NIV)
“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so
that you may become blameless and pure...”. One thing is for
sure – nobody likes those who constantly complain, and that goes
double for those who bicker and quarrel constantly over every tiny
little thing. Such people are negative people who take offense at
everything and everybody they dislike, and often for trivial reasons,
as you know. Such people can and do profess their faith in Christ all
day long, but they are in danger of not being saved because their
faith is polluted with negative human emotion, not to mention the
fact that such people are inherently ungrateful and often
mean-spirited individuals. No matter how much they receive and how
much they benefit, they are never satisfied – they always want
more. Under no circumstances will any person who is greedy,
ungrateful, hateful, argumentative or combative make it into heaven
when their physical lives are over. This was what Jesus meant when he
said, “Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord', will see the kingdom
of God”. As it was then, so it remains to this day.
“Shine
like stars of the universe as you hold out the word of life”,
is exactly what those who complain and argue should be doing instead.
So if there is anyone like this who wishes to repent – and it's a
commendable thing when one recognizes the error of their ways and
repents – this would be an excellent place from which to begin.
Jesus taught something similar to this during his famous and beloved
sermon on the mount when He taught, “You
are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they
put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In
the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your
good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew
5, verses 14-16.)” There is your answer in a nutshell – be a
shining light for all to see. Not everyone can do this in exactly the
same way, so there is no perfect one-size-fits-all method that
applies uniformly to all persons. Instead, we should be doing just as
the apostle Paul wrote earlier when he referred to “working out
your own salvation with fear and trembling”.
“For
everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ”.
As we saw in another recent study, those individuals who become
ministers as a career choice – meaning they are in it for the money
– are entering the ministry for all the wrong reasons. As a
well-known evangelist said fairly
recently, “The only way I could start this ministry was to mortgage
my house to the hilt. But things got off to a really slow start, so I
asked God why the ministry wasn't doing any better at that time. I
protested to the Lord that I had already given my house for start-up
money, and that I had nothing left to give. But God answered my
prayer by saying that He didn't want or need my house, but what he
really wanted was me. I had totally surrendered the house and the
money, but I forgot to include myself.” So it is with the rest of
us, and this is what Paul was referring to when he wrote what he did.
The
apostle Paul finishes up this chapter with some comments about the
business of the early church. On the surface, at least, most of this
seems to be rather mundane stuff. But there is one final thing I wish
to point out in closing this week's study. A nearly forgotten
minister in the early church was a gentleman by the name of
Epaphroditus. Paul notes that this person became ill to the point of
nearly dying while performing his service to the church at Philippi.
This makes me wonder how many modern preachers, teachers, evangelists
and overseers (see 1st
Corinthians chapter 14) would go to this extreme for the sake of the
Gospel of Christ. So let us ask ourselves, “Would I be willing to
serve Jesus Christ even to the point of nearly dying, like
Epaphroditus did? Would I be faithful even unto death?”
Whether you believe it or not, we are very close to our
Lord and Savior's second and final coming. As we get ever closer,
there can be no doubt that the infamous Antichrist will soon make his
appearance on the world stage. As you know or have heard, he will
force everybody “both great and small” to receive his mark on the
hand or forearm or forehead. How this will occur is still open to
debate, and it currently includes what I see as excessive
speculation. Two things I know for sure, and that is that no one will
be able to buy or sell unless they have the mark of the beast, and
those who refuse to allow themselves to wear his mark will be killed,
and this may well include myself if I am still living then. Paul
prophesied about this when he wrote in another letter, “a day is
coming when no man will be able to work”. Are you prepared to
become a living sacrifice for Christ by refusing to take the mark of
the beast? I am, and you should be too. Jesus sacrificed himself for
us on the cross, so we should all be prepared to do the same. This is
tough to contemplate, I know. But the reward will be eternal life in
Him. Amen.
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