Philippians 2:1-8
“1S BY whatever [appeal to you there is in our mutual dwelling in
Christ, by whatever] strengthening and consoling and encouraging [our
relationship] in Him [affords], by whatever persuasive [a]incentive
there is in love, by whatever participation in the [Holy] Spirit [we
share], and by whatever depth of affection and compassionate sympathy,
2Fill up and complete my joy by living in harmony and being of the same
mind and one in purpose, having the same love, being in full accord
and of one harmonious mind and intention.3Do nothing from factional
motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy
ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true
spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as
better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one
another than you do of yourselves].4Let each of you esteem and look
upon and be concerned for not [merely] his own interests, but also each
for the interests of others.5Let this same attitude and purpose and
[humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your
example in humility:]6Who, although being essentially one with God and
in the form of God [[b]possessing the fullness of the attributes which
make God God], did not [c]think this equality with God was a thing to be
eagerly grasped [d]or retained, 7But stripped Himself [of all
privileges and [e]rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a
servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human
being.8And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled
Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of
death, even the death of the cross!” (Amplified Version)
Jesus creates certain circumstances or situations for his children. He then observes our capacity and ability in dealing with those circumstances. The Old Testament saints encountered many difficulties, tribulation, and sufferings as well. But since we do not know how to handle those circumstances, we can generally become confused and angry.
I, personally, encountered many unique situations created by Jesus. The situations were created to train me. They were made to battle harden me. They were made to make me thick skinned. They were made to make me immune to situations in which I may normally react with my human emotions. I had experienced discouragement, failures, and unfairness. It did not matter, how much I tried to escape those circumstances, I was constantly cornered. I was cornered into a place of discouragement, failure, and injustice. During my period of ordeal, I thought to myself, “What is it that He wants? How does He want me to deal with this?” I experienced difficulties numerous times.
The bible states that our attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus, v4. The bible specifically explains about it. Whether we experience a personal tribulation or whether people treat us unfairly, speak against us, speak abusive words at us, or falsely accuse us, we must express the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ.
Certain circumstances or situations come upon us daily. But generally, we are already experiencing a situation or dilemma that may be negatively affecting us. We constantly face difficulties from unknown or unexpected problems.
We often trap ourselves as we attempt to determine who or what is right or wrong. As Christians live a life in faith, they experience difficulty as they attempt to determine right and wrong. What is the standard of right and wrong? Many Christians attend church and attempt to live faithfully but at the same time define with their own guidelines of right and wrong. If we argue and debate on issues that are not even related to our faith, we are basically wasting our time.
‘You are right.’ “I am right.’ ‘You are wrong.’ ‘He/she is wrong.’
As we argue on who is right or wrong, we end up stressing ourselves. People may demonstrate on the streets against a person or idea based on their own standard of judgment. It is the same at church. Many are dogmatic of their own beliefs or views. Those types of people are hopeless.
Therefore, Jesus is teaching Philippians 2:1-3. Just because our living standards may be better than others does not give us the right to Lord over them. Even though a person may be living in poverty or under difficult circumstances, we must have the attitude of the other person being better than us. But the sad thing is that people generally judge one another based on their personal standards. People may judge and measure others based on how they dress, look, or talk. Moreover, they may judge or measure others based on their financial situation or health. They may also judge certain people negatively assuming the situation is due to the sins of the father or generational curses. These types of people that judge negatively are far away from the spiritual level in which the Lord desires. If we do not have love and cannot edify the church, we are immature and still have much to grow. We may be granted spiritual gifts such as the fire of the Holy Spirit but if we judge others with our own measure and standard of right and wrong, we will only end up causing trouble. This is not faith. In the church, couples, youths, and the deacons may fight or argue using their own standard of judgment. They usually fight based on what they have experienced. This is why Jesus warned us to be cautious since many of us fight over issues that are good. They argue over subjects such as how to encourage one another in Christ, about love, about fellowship with the Spirit, about tenderness and compassion. (Philippians 2:1-3) These are issues that are good but they fight because they lack love themselves. When certain situations arise, do not attempt to solve it by figuring out who is right or wrong. We, however, must reach the highest level of love.
With married couples, they can insist a standard of measurement on right and wrong to one another. That type of mentality must be broken. That type of attitude illustrates a lack of love and edifying. We must be patient. We must have the attitude of Christ Jesus. We must solve problems with the mind of Jesus and His attitude. We must not live in faith based on our own standards and measurements.
The Lord explains to us on how we must solve our problems. We must have the heart, love, and edification of Jesus. Therefore, He said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”What is His attitude? We can never solve the problem with our standards of right and wrong. Who is Jesus? He has the authority and power. He is God’s only Son who sits on the right side of God. This God, Jesus, made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Moreover, He humbled Himself. He did not just imitate humility, He humbled Himself unto death. He became human trash, crucified mercilessly on the cross. He is the Son of the Majestic God. Jesus solved every problem with an attitude of obedience. But since we generally attempt to solve our problems with our own measurement, it doesn’t work. Our subjective standards on the view of faith and our standards of judgment will never work. These types of people may appear one way externally but internally they are not.
In order to solve any issue, we must possess the Lord’s love, edification, and His heart of obedience. Without those characteristics, we can solve nothing. We must possess Jesus’ standard of judgment. What is His standard of judgment? He made Himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant. How do we make ourselves nothing? We must not be so insistent. We should not judge with our subjective opinions. Jesus gave it all to God. He did it according to God’s will. This is proper faith. We must learn from the Lord. We must learn His Word.
Many fight because they love to prove they are right. This is pride. These types of people are very dangerous. We do not live our life of faith just to prove we are personally right. Jesus did many right things. He did not attempt to prove it. He just lived to do the Father’s will. The Father’s pleasing will is for us to make ourselves nothing and take the very nature of a servant. Jesus did not just attempt to obey; He obeyed unto the death of the cross.
Peter was determined to die with Jesus. However, he ended up denying Jesus three times. I am not saying that one’s determination to die for Jesus is not important but more important is for us to completely die by crucifying ourselves totally on the cross. Do not desire to die for a gain, it is a selfish motive. God desires us to be the lowest of the lowest. But we often want to be righteous of the righteous and would rather show off our influence. This is a disposition of being a tyrant.
Why did God hand Job over to Satan? It was to break the thoughts of Job that he was the greatest man among all the people of the East (Job 1:3). We often will give reasons and tell God that we are willing to die for Him but in reality, we cannot die when our flesh is alive. The thing that God desired from Job was his brokenness.
We often talk about our firm devoted will. But in reality, we are heading in the other direction. We all have a judgmental mind. We all have our own methods of condemning others. We can be insistent based on our own wisdom and arrogance. We all have stones that need to be torn apart from ourselves. God desires us to be the lowest of the lowest but we desire to be the boss. This is why we must go through difficult trials. We must prove our faith. If we are not able to prove our faith and express the love of the Lord, our faith is not genuine.
The churches are full of enthusiasm but there is no manifestation of power. God cannot approve such of churches. Enthusiasm is simply an announcement. One cannot trust with only enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is not power. Power must be proven by manifestation. There is a big difference between enthusiasm and power. We must be baptized by blazing fire!
Corinthians 13 talks about love. Love is not just an emotion. It is a manifestation of power, “love is patient.” Patience is power not an emotion. If we cannot be patient, we cannot persevere or endure. We would not even be able to withstand trivial harsh words thrown at us. There is no power where there is no patience. Many people do not work for God but work to prove themselves and their faith. We cannot prove our faith through our own ideas and our own works. If we use our own experiences to prove our faith or if we use God’s Word to show or prove that we have faith, then we have a high probability of becoming corrupt.
Jesus said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Him.” This means we must make ourselves nothing and take the whole nature of a servant. We must stop trying to prove ourselves but instead we need to humble ourselves and obey unto death if necessary.
Jesus was brutally crucified on the cross. But people usually want to be abundantly blessed during their latter years and retire in comfort. They desire to live an exceedingly comfortable life until the day they die. But Jesus did not comfortably or peacefully die. He died wretchedly naked without even being properly covered. He had become total human trash. But we are deluded. We think our life of faith is the same as unbelievers. We think life is about getting married, having children, being financially blessed, live a good life, and then die peacefully. Is that really a life of faith?
Today, God will create more situations or circumstances. We must stop fighting among ourselves. We must stop trying to prove who is right and who is wrong. We must fight with all of our strength and with our lives to weaken the forces of the enemy. Almost all Christians have no idea. They are so ignorant of their enemy. A strategy the devil employs is to make us weary by continuously attacking us over and over again. They attack us continuously. This is why we are spiritually loose. We must be fully awake and on guard. We must put down our own standards and measurements. The Lord’s judgment is perfectly accurate. Begin from a place of lowliness, the lowest of the lowest. Do not say, “Do you know who I am?” Think of yourself as the lowliest of the lowest. Then the Lord will lift you up and raise you up among all. Do not initially place yourself first. You will have to go when the Lord calls you home. Exam yourself and have the attitude of Christ Jesus.
“Father God, until now, I had only tried to prove my faith among men. I tried to prove that my standard of judgment was correct. Forgive me for placing my decision and thought ahead of yours. Please change me. Please help me be transformed. In Jesus Name, Amen!”
Abstract Sermon by Pastor Kim, Yong Doo of South Korea, The Lord’s Church
Author of Baptize by Blazing Fire
Translated by Steve and Yoojin Kim
Monday, May 31, 2010
Jesus creates certain circumstances or situations for his children. He then observes our capacity and ability in dealing with those circumstances. The Old Testament saints encountered many difficulties, tribulation, and sufferings as well. But since we do not know how to handle those circumstances, we can generally become confused and angry.
I, personally, encountered many unique situations created by Jesus. The situations were created to train me. They were made to battle harden me. They were made to make me thick skinned. They were made to make me immune to situations in which I may normally react with my human emotions. I had experienced discouragement, failures, and unfairness. It did not matter, how much I tried to escape those circumstances, I was constantly cornered. I was cornered into a place of discouragement, failure, and injustice. During my period of ordeal, I thought to myself, “What is it that He wants? How does He want me to deal with this?” I experienced difficulties numerous times.
The bible states that our attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus, v4. The bible specifically explains about it. Whether we experience a personal tribulation or whether people treat us unfairly, speak against us, speak abusive words at us, or falsely accuse us, we must express the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ.
Certain circumstances or situations come upon us daily. But generally, we are already experiencing a situation or dilemma that may be negatively affecting us. We constantly face difficulties from unknown or unexpected problems.
We often trap ourselves as we attempt to determine who or what is right or wrong. As Christians live a life in faith, they experience difficulty as they attempt to determine right and wrong. What is the standard of right and wrong? Many Christians attend church and attempt to live faithfully but at the same time define with their own guidelines of right and wrong. If we argue and debate on issues that are not even related to our faith, we are basically wasting our time.
‘You are right.’ “I am right.’ ‘You are wrong.’ ‘He/she is wrong.’
As we argue on who is right or wrong, we end up stressing ourselves. People may demonstrate on the streets against a person or idea based on their own standard of judgment. It is the same at church. Many are dogmatic of their own beliefs or views. Those types of people are hopeless.
Therefore, Jesus is teaching Philippians 2:1-3. Just because our living standards may be better than others does not give us the right to Lord over them. Even though a person may be living in poverty or under difficult circumstances, we must have the attitude of the other person being better than us. But the sad thing is that people generally judge one another based on their personal standards. People may judge and measure others based on how they dress, look, or talk. Moreover, they may judge or measure others based on their financial situation or health. They may also judge certain people negatively assuming the situation is due to the sins of the father or generational curses. These types of people that judge negatively are far away from the spiritual level in which the Lord desires. If we do not have love and cannot edify the church, we are immature and still have much to grow. We may be granted spiritual gifts such as the fire of the Holy Spirit but if we judge others with our own measure and standard of right and wrong, we will only end up causing trouble. This is not faith. In the church, couples, youths, and the deacons may fight or argue using their own standard of judgment. They usually fight based on what they have experienced. This is why Jesus warned us to be cautious since many of us fight over issues that are good. They argue over subjects such as how to encourage one another in Christ, about love, about fellowship with the Spirit, about tenderness and compassion. (Philippians 2:1-3) These are issues that are good but they fight because they lack love themselves. When certain situations arise, do not attempt to solve it by figuring out who is right or wrong. We, however, must reach the highest level of love.
With married couples, they can insist a standard of measurement on right and wrong to one another. That type of mentality must be broken. That type of attitude illustrates a lack of love and edifying. We must be patient. We must have the attitude of Christ Jesus. We must solve problems with the mind of Jesus and His attitude. We must not live in faith based on our own standards and measurements.
The Lord explains to us on how we must solve our problems. We must have the heart, love, and edification of Jesus. Therefore, He said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.”What is His attitude? We can never solve the problem with our standards of right and wrong. Who is Jesus? He has the authority and power. He is God’s only Son who sits on the right side of God. This God, Jesus, made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Moreover, He humbled Himself. He did not just imitate humility, He humbled Himself unto death. He became human trash, crucified mercilessly on the cross. He is the Son of the Majestic God. Jesus solved every problem with an attitude of obedience. But since we generally attempt to solve our problems with our own measurement, it doesn’t work. Our subjective standards on the view of faith and our standards of judgment will never work. These types of people may appear one way externally but internally they are not.
In order to solve any issue, we must possess the Lord’s love, edification, and His heart of obedience. Without those characteristics, we can solve nothing. We must possess Jesus’ standard of judgment. What is His standard of judgment? He made Himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant. How do we make ourselves nothing? We must not be so insistent. We should not judge with our subjective opinions. Jesus gave it all to God. He did it according to God’s will. This is proper faith. We must learn from the Lord. We must learn His Word.
Many fight because they love to prove they are right. This is pride. These types of people are very dangerous. We do not live our life of faith just to prove we are personally right. Jesus did many right things. He did not attempt to prove it. He just lived to do the Father’s will. The Father’s pleasing will is for us to make ourselves nothing and take the very nature of a servant. Jesus did not just attempt to obey; He obeyed unto the death of the cross.
Peter was determined to die with Jesus. However, he ended up denying Jesus three times. I am not saying that one’s determination to die for Jesus is not important but more important is for us to completely die by crucifying ourselves totally on the cross. Do not desire to die for a gain, it is a selfish motive. God desires us to be the lowest of the lowest. But we often want to be righteous of the righteous and would rather show off our influence. This is a disposition of being a tyrant.
Why did God hand Job over to Satan? It was to break the thoughts of Job that he was the greatest man among all the people of the East (Job 1:3). We often will give reasons and tell God that we are willing to die for Him but in reality, we cannot die when our flesh is alive. The thing that God desired from Job was his brokenness.
We often talk about our firm devoted will. But in reality, we are heading in the other direction. We all have a judgmental mind. We all have our own methods of condemning others. We can be insistent based on our own wisdom and arrogance. We all have stones that need to be torn apart from ourselves. God desires us to be the lowest of the lowest but we desire to be the boss. This is why we must go through difficult trials. We must prove our faith. If we are not able to prove our faith and express the love of the Lord, our faith is not genuine.
The churches are full of enthusiasm but there is no manifestation of power. God cannot approve such of churches. Enthusiasm is simply an announcement. One cannot trust with only enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is not power. Power must be proven by manifestation. There is a big difference between enthusiasm and power. We must be baptized by blazing fire!
Corinthians 13 talks about love. Love is not just an emotion. It is a manifestation of power, “love is patient.” Patience is power not an emotion. If we cannot be patient, we cannot persevere or endure. We would not even be able to withstand trivial harsh words thrown at us. There is no power where there is no patience. Many people do not work for God but work to prove themselves and their faith. We cannot prove our faith through our own ideas and our own works. If we use our own experiences to prove our faith or if we use God’s Word to show or prove that we have faith, then we have a high probability of becoming corrupt.
Jesus said, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Him.” This means we must make ourselves nothing and take the whole nature of a servant. We must stop trying to prove ourselves but instead we need to humble ourselves and obey unto death if necessary.
Jesus was brutally crucified on the cross. But people usually want to be abundantly blessed during their latter years and retire in comfort. They desire to live an exceedingly comfortable life until the day they die. But Jesus did not comfortably or peacefully die. He died wretchedly naked without even being properly covered. He had become total human trash. But we are deluded. We think our life of faith is the same as unbelievers. We think life is about getting married, having children, being financially blessed, live a good life, and then die peacefully. Is that really a life of faith?
Today, God will create more situations or circumstances. We must stop fighting among ourselves. We must stop trying to prove who is right and who is wrong. We must fight with all of our strength and with our lives to weaken the forces of the enemy. Almost all Christians have no idea. They are so ignorant of their enemy. A strategy the devil employs is to make us weary by continuously attacking us over and over again. They attack us continuously. This is why we are spiritually loose. We must be fully awake and on guard. We must put down our own standards and measurements. The Lord’s judgment is perfectly accurate. Begin from a place of lowliness, the lowest of the lowest. Do not say, “Do you know who I am?” Think of yourself as the lowliest of the lowest. Then the Lord will lift you up and raise you up among all. Do not initially place yourself first. You will have to go when the Lord calls you home. Exam yourself and have the attitude of Christ Jesus.
“Father God, until now, I had only tried to prove my faith among men. I tried to prove that my standard of judgment was correct. Forgive me for placing my decision and thought ahead of yours. Please change me. Please help me be transformed. In Jesus Name, Amen!”
Abstract Sermon by Pastor Kim, Yong Doo of South Korea, The Lord’s Church
Author of Baptize by Blazing Fire
Translated by Steve and Yoojin Kim
Monday, May 31, 2010
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