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The Movement of Christmas (Philippians 2:3-11)
70 Plays3 years ago
The Movement of Christmas (Philippians 2:3-11)
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Sunday Message recorded 26 December 2021
by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
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Transcript
Introduction and Blessings
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org.
Encouragement to Follow Along
00:00:32
Speaker
And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
Reflections on Christmas and Jesus
00:00:45
Speaker
Good morning. I sure hope you've enjoyed your Christmas holidays and put the focus on Jesus and lifting him up. You know, one of the topics today, I guarantee you, and into the next week and maybe even two weeks down the road, people are going to be asking, what did you get for Christmas? So don't forget to include Jesus in there and say, I have joy inexpressible. I have peace beyond comprehension. I have so much in Christ.
00:01:14
Speaker
And so it's great to see you this morning. Thank you so much for being here. You know, most of the focus of the Christmas season centers upon the moment of Christmas. You know, we talk about the birth of Christ, the manger, Mary and Joseph, the angels, the shepherds, and rightfully so.
00:01:35
Speaker
But the coming of the Messiah was much more than just one significant moment in history.
Global Christian Significance
00:01:43
Speaker
You see, his arrival ushered in a movement, a life-changing movement. You know, the Joshua Project does a lot of research on
00:01:54
Speaker
religion and Christianity and all these different things, people groups around the world. And they say that right now there are 2.4 billion people that are saying, I'm a Christian, I'm following Jesus Christ. That would be 31% of our world.
00:02:11
Speaker
But I wondered how many people have followed Christ ever since He came at Bethlehem. It would be a much larger number than 2.4 billion. Some estimate maybe somewhere around 7.3 billion to 7.5 billion different estimates.
00:02:31
Speaker
But you see, Matthew said in Matthew 2, 12, that the wise men departed to their own country by another way. They didn't go back home the same way. I believe that whenever someone genuinely has a true, real encounter with Jesus Christ, they never go back home the same way.
00:02:54
Speaker
You know it says also that Luke recorded the shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them.
Paul's Message of Love and Joy
00:03:06
Speaker
You know, even the Apostle Paul wrote a letter from a prison cell that we're going to look at this morning to motivate the first church in Europe. It was in a place called Philippi, and he wanted to help them to discover where can they find love, compassion for other people? Where can they find joy, no matter what circumstances they're in?
00:03:30
Speaker
He wrote to them so they would know you find it only in one place. You find it in Christ. And that's why we celebrate. See, he mentions the Savior's name through the whole letter of Philippians. It's only four chapters, and yet he mentions some of the names of Jesus 40 times in those four chapters.
00:03:52
Speaker
A lot of Bible scholars say, really, the theme of this letter that we're going to look at this morning is found in Philippians 1, 21. The Apostle Paul said, you know what? For me to live is Christ. You see what I'm saying? It's more than just one moment.
00:04:10
Speaker
You know, in Bethlehem, the manger, when the star was there, it's more than just that one moment. It's like it ushered in a movement of people whose lives have been so transformed that now they're caring about other people, and they're sharing the good news of Christ with others. You know, it's amazing because the words we're about to read in Philippians chapter 2,
00:04:36
Speaker
These were penned by a man who was in prison. Think about the adverse circumstances in which he sat, and yet he wrote these glorious words that we're about to read. Some have said that this is one of the sweetest letters that the Apostle Paul ever wrote.
00:04:55
Speaker
He genuinely cared about this group of people. And so in Philippians 2, beginning of verse 3, where we're going to start, we're going to go down through verse 11, you're going to see what he was trying to say to
Living a Christ-Centered Life
00:05:08
Speaker
them. This is what I want you to do. This is how we're supposed to live as followers of Jesus Christ, no longer living a self-centered life.
00:05:19
Speaker
but living a life full of the Lord Jesus Christ and His love. How can that happen? Why should that happen? Would you stand with me as I read Philippians 2, verse 3 through 11? I hope you have a copy of God's Word. If you don't, there's one in the pew in front of you, but there's also on the screen the translation I'm reading from is the ESV.
00:05:42
Speaker
Do nothing, he wrote, verse 3, from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.
00:06:12
Speaker
who though he was in the form of God, did not
Exaltation of Jesus and Daily Living
00:06:15
Speaker
count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
00:06:42
Speaker
Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should 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. Let's pray together.
00:07:08
Speaker
Lord, it's so good to see my church family again. We had such a great time together at the Christmas Eve service. I know that some were traveling and celebrating with family. Thank you that this morning we can come back together as a church family, loving one another.
00:07:23
Speaker
But Lord, as Your love has been at work in our lives, it should be passed on. We should be telling others about Christ, and we should be loving them. And so I pray today that what we've experienced because You sent Your Son, it would not be limited to one day of the year. It would not be limited to one season, not even limited to one day a week.
00:07:46
Speaker
but instead it would be a daily journey, a daily following of our master, the Lord Jesus Christ. We love you, thank you for loving us. Bless this time together. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Thank you, you may be seated.
00:08:01
Speaker
You know what I find incredible about this passage is that these words were written over 63 years after Christ's birth. You know, 63 years is a long time. It's a long time for something to continue to go once
00:08:18
Speaker
You know, something has taken place. But I find that interesting that in this passage, he's still talking about Jesus becoming a baby, becoming a human entering into our world at Bethlehem, 30 years after Christ's death.
00:08:33
Speaker
After his resurrection, after his ascension, he's still writing about how God exalted him. Ten years after the Apostle Paul first preached to this church in Philippi, he's still preaching it. Are you still declaring the good news? It's great if you have shared the good news in the past. Man, that's fantastic.
00:08:55
Speaker
But are you sharing the good news in the present? Are you making plans in 2022 to say, Lord, I want to tell others because you've changed my life. I'm just telling you, it's a movement. It's a movement that ought to be in our lives every single day.
00:09:13
Speaker
Well, first, let's define the movement of Christmas. What do I even mean? Would you look with me at verses 3 and 4 and 5? I believe what you'll find is the movement is an exhortation toward an attitude of Christ. We're going to explore what was the attitude that Christ had before he came. What was the attitude he had when he came, after he came?
00:09:39
Speaker
What is his attitude toward us now? Obviously, Christmas is not a season revolving around self because it's a season that we want to share.
Christ's Love as True Discipleship
00:09:49
Speaker
It's a season of caring. So I want you to look at verse five closely. He says something here, have this mind among yourselves
00:09:59
Speaker
which is yours in Christ Jesus. He's talking about a certain attitude, a certain mindset, certain disposition. It's actually a present, get this, imperative. Do you and I have a choice about loving other people once we say, I'm going to follow Christ? Once we say, if you want to know who I am, I'm a Christian. Do we have a choice about loving other people?
00:10:26
Speaker
No? Not if we're going to follow Him in obedience because we are commanded to care about other people. And that's what he's talking about in verse 5. I think that's what he's talking about in verse 3, in verse 4, in verse 5, and following. So Jesus said, there's one way that people are going to know that you're my disciples. You know what that one way was?
00:10:50
Speaker
He said, by the love you have for one another, your love for one another will be the birthmark that you've been born again, that you know me. As a matter of fact, the aged apostle John wrote in 1 John 4, 7 through 21, he said, you want to know what verifies that you really know God?
00:11:11
Speaker
You know God whenever you just love people. It just kind of flows out of your heart. You have this incredible love for God. He's loved you, so now you're ready to love other people. But if you look at this carefully in verses three and four, you'll notice that we're cautioned about only caring about self.
00:11:34
Speaker
Do you remember King Herod? I think King Herod wasn't concerned about the people of Bethlehem, the people of Jerusalem. He wasn't concerned about the people of Israel. He was only concerned about himself.
00:11:49
Speaker
And so I'm thinking, oh Lord, help me not become like a Herod as I go through my life. Help me to follow in Jesus' footsteps, to be more like Him. And that's what I hear Him saying when He says, do nothing.
Warning Against Pride
00:12:02
Speaker
I mean, not one thing, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves.
00:12:13
Speaker
Let each of you look not only to his own interests. Is it okay for you to think about your life and your interests? Of course it is. And that's why I really like the way it's worded. It says, look, let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. There's nothing wrong about you being concerned about your life.
00:12:39
Speaker
your family, all the different things that you need to accomplish in your life that God wants to do through you. But it's just you don't want to just be focused only on yourself. God's stretching us with this. He's saying people who follow me are going to be concerned about other people. And he said, don't be known as a person who's only concerned about themselves. You see, it's almost like someone who is concerned about themselves, they have this symptom.
00:13:09
Speaker
You know, these days we're all concerned about the symptoms of different kinds of things. But here he says in verse three, do nothing from selfish ambition. You know, I believe selfish ambition is nothing more than a symptom. It tells us something's wrong inside in our hearts. What's wrong down there?
00:13:29
Speaker
It's pride. We're only thinking about self. Self is on a throne deep within our hearts, not the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's why he's cautioning us and he's saying, I want to give you a warning about an inward disease called empty conceit, called pride or arrogance. It's people who are only thinking about themselves, no one else. Sometimes that even interrupts marriages. It comes into families.
00:13:58
Speaker
But notice how verse three and four also, they pull us in a direction to be saying, okay, I'm going to calculate how important other people are in my life.
00:14:13
Speaker
Let's read it again. He said, do nothing from selfishness, ambition, or conceit, but in humility, count. We're going to see that word to pop up again in a moment, but count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others.
00:14:35
Speaker
You see what I'm trying to say? I'm trying to say we should value other
Christ's Sacrificial Mindset
00:14:40
Speaker
people. There's no one in all the world that we should look down on and say, you know what? They don't count. They're not worth anything. We should say, no, Lord, help me realize every person on the planet is created by you. And you love them. You went to the cross for them. And so I'm thinking, what an incredible thing. How is this even possible?
00:15:03
Speaker
For all of us who in our rebellion make everything about ourselves, how is that even possible? Well, he tells you at the end of verse five, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours. It's a gift. It's yours. Where do we find it? In Christ Jesus. The mind of Christ is found in Christ. The day you really surrender your life to the Lord,
00:15:28
Speaker
You repent of your sins, you repent of being selfish, of saying, God, I'm tired of trying to follow everybody else. I'm trying to follow, tired of following my own life. I'm gonna follow you from now on. The day you do that, the day you surrender to Him as Lord and Savior, trusting Him, something happens. You receive a whole new mindset and you begin to think supernaturally from the inside out about those that are around you.
00:15:56
Speaker
Someday you can read 1 Corinthians 2 16 because it says the same exact thing that we have the mind of Christ. It's ours the day we trust Jesus Christ. The only source that you and I will ever find in all of life for compassion is Christ. I'm just telling you, Christ, there's no angle. It's like this unconditional love for other people that we find only in him.
00:16:25
Speaker
That's why verse 6 introduces us to the example taken from the action of Christ. You see, I'm referring to one action. I'm referring to something that happened far, far in the past before Bethlehem. See, in order to ignite and inspire the movement of Christmas, you'll need the holy fire.
00:16:46
Speaker
the holy fuel that's going to ignite a movement. And that is only found when we say, look what Jesus did. So that's what I want us to do as we focus in on verse six, who it says, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
00:17:09
Speaker
Are you looking for inspiration to care about other people as we enter a new year? Let me give you three. We can be inspired by the reality of Christ's role, His position. It says He was in the form of God. It means the same essential nature. It says He was equal with God, the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.
00:17:32
Speaker
It's amazing how they weren't up there competing. Who's going to be number one? No, there was an incredible unity in the Trinity. And so no wonder the Apostle Paul writes of Jesus in Colossians 1.19 and he says, in him,
00:17:50
Speaker
All the fullness, all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. You see, Jesus, 100% God, son of God. He had always been an eternity past. There never was a time when Jesus was not. So don't think that he came into existence in Bethlehem in the manger. That's when he became a man. That's when he became human.
00:18:15
Speaker
but oh, he existed long before. And so we can be inspired when we realize, so that's the truth about who he is, but also inspired by the release, get this, the release of his rights, the release of his rights.
Humility and Sacrifice as a Model
00:18:33
Speaker
You understand what the word grasp means, right? Grasp, it means you grip something. It means you cling to something. It means you say, I'm not going to let go of this.
00:18:44
Speaker
Jesus had this incredible example that he leaves for us when he said, you know what?
00:18:51
Speaker
I'm going to release my rights. What he said was, really, I think I'm going to release the right to enjoy my rights. You see, he didn't quit being God, but he said, you know what? I'm going to become a man and I'm going to face all these limitations just because I'll become a man in one body. And so I thought, it's incredible knowing who he is
00:19:17
Speaker
and then saying, he gave up all of that just to come and become a man. But here's the most astounding thing of all. If you're looking for inspiration to love other people, then just think about this, inspired by the regard that he had for our redemption. Did you notice the word count again in verse six? Remember, I said it's gonna come up. Who though he was in the form of God did not count.
00:19:47
Speaker
equality with God, a thing to be grasped. You know why he didn't count that? Because he valued you and he valued me. His appraisal of us, that's why I like what is written for us in 2 Corinthians. In 2 Corinthians chapter seven, verses eight and nine, here's what it says.
00:20:14
Speaker
Though he was rich, he became poor so that we, though we were poor, could become rich. And he's talking about spiritually. And so my point to you is if God was willing to give up all of the glories, all of the riches, all of the reputation, everything in heaven,
Necessity of Christ's Sacrifice
00:20:36
Speaker
Why will we not care about other people? Shouldn't that motivate us to say, I want to love others and care for them? Did God pay a price so that we could be in His family, so that we could go to heaven, so that our sins could be forgiven? Oh yeah.
00:20:54
Speaker
Yep, we love to sing about the sweetness, the thought that God gave it all up and he became a baby. He was born in a manger. It's a sweet, precious thought that we should value each Christmas.
00:21:11
Speaker
But why did he have to die? Why did he have to go on in verse eight and talk beyond him? Why did he just go on and on about his birth? In verse eight it says, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Why did he do that? You know why he did that? Because if he'd have stayed a baby, even if he lived a perfect life, which he did, he lived a perfect life.
00:21:40
Speaker
But if he didn't give his life for me and you, we can never be his follower. We can never go to heaven. We can never enter his family. Our sins would never be forgiven.
00:21:50
Speaker
That's why He came. It's all connected. It's all a part of the Christmas movement, the Christ movement. It's all about Him. You see, if I look at this, I think there's a word that reminds me of how our sin debt was canceled. It's the word expiation. I know it's a difficult word, but let me just say it's really simple. What it means is that you take something away.
00:22:17
Speaker
Expiation means something was removed that was there. You see, I was smothering under my sin debt. I owed God a debt I could not pay, but he came to me and he said, I will pay that debt. So that's why his death was a substitutionary death. He took our place. It says, and being found in human form,
00:22:43
Speaker
Why did he come in human form? Because you and I, we couldn't die for our own sins. We needed somebody who lived a perfect life to die on that cross. And that's why he had to come in human form because he said, if I'm going to take their place, then I'm going to have to become a man and I'm going to have to die. And notice that his death was not only substitutionary, it was voluntary.
00:23:11
Speaker
He humbled himself, it says, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Max Lucado said a number of years ago, he chose the nails. Nobody forced him to die on the cross for you or for me. He said, you know what? I'll do it. I volunteer. It's the only way. And he said, I'll do it. And I'm thinking, what incredible sacrifice, what incredible love
00:23:39
Speaker
The people back then used to say something about dying on a cross. You see, we wear necklaces. If you got a gold necklace on that's a cross, it's great, that's fine. But you know, it's not really something pretty if you were to see it. And that's why those who saw it back then, they had a saying, and this was the saying, to die on a cross is to die a thousand deaths.
00:24:05
Speaker
I'm telling you, it was miserable and it was prolonged. It was not easy. It was not comfortable. Sometimes when we get involved to care for someone else, it's not comfortable because we're following in the footsteps of Jesus who said, you know what? I'll give all this up and I'll come down there and I will suffer and down across.
History's Move Towards Christ
00:24:24
Speaker
They will place my body in a tomb.
00:24:27
Speaker
But there's one last thing. Paul doesn't want to end this section of scripture without reminding us of it, the exaltation of the authority of Christ. You see, history is linear. Some people think, oh, history is just cyclical, it's circular, it just goes round and round and round, not really going toward any specific destination. No, that's not right. Biblically, it is going towards something.
00:24:55
Speaker
And here's what it's going toward. Let me read it again. Read with me in verse 9 through 11. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth. In every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
00:25:19
Speaker
Oh yeah, that's where it's headed. That's where it's going. So if you want to be a part of a movement that is exciting, that is eternal, that will change lives, that'll make a great difference in this world, then just say, you know what, Lord?
Carrying Devotion Beyond Christmas
00:25:36
Speaker
I'm gonna follow you. I'm gonna repent of my sins. I'm gonna trust what you did for me in the cross. I believe you rose from the dead. I believe you're coming back to this earth. And I'm gonna follow you until my very last breath.
00:25:49
Speaker
You see, the Christmas decorations will soon be boxed up. I wonder if any have already said, I'm gonna box them up today. I'm gonna box them up this week. I'm gonna box them up after New Year's. You see, the moment of Christmas, the season of Christmas, well, we're gonna box it up. But what about the devotion? The devotion.
00:26:11
Speaker
to the spirit of Christmas, the devotion to the Christ of Christmas. It should be daily. It should be every year. It should be every week, every day, every month. The wise men went home a different way. Will you return home the same? The shepherds returned glorifying God. Will you return to work and school?
00:26:32
Speaker
to glorify Him or to do something else. The apostles returned to Jerusalem, Luke says, after Christ's ascension, you know how they returned? They had great joy. Sometimes I feel like people are saying they're a Christian and yet they're going to enter the new year, not with joy, with jealousy. They're going to enter the new year with discouragement or bitterness.
00:26:55
Speaker
or maybe with fear or worry or insecurity. You don't have to is my point. You don't have to. The Lord wants to replace it with joy, with compassion for others, with purpose and meaning. But the main thing is you need to say, Lord,
00:27:12
Speaker
You know what? I don't want my worship of you to only be for the Christmas season. I want it to be all year long. I don't want it to just be Sunday morning. I want to worship you and follow you every day. That's what I believe Paul is
Conclusion and Prayer
00:27:29
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talking about. Let's pray together. Oh, Lord.
00:27:32
Speaker
We're gonna extend an invitation in Christ's name to anyone that would like to follow him. And so I pray that you've spoken to hearts today. I pray that you would draw those that you're speaking to. It could be that some are already your followers, but they realize something rang the bell today from your word. Your Holy Spirit used the living and active word. And so speak to every heart today.
00:27:57
Speaker
And I pray that, God, you would help us to follow you closely as we go through the rest of this year and into the new year. May we truly see a movement, a Christ-honoring movement that takes place through our church and in this community and around the world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.