Rev. David Holwick Book of Philippians series
First Baptist Church EASTER 1998
Ledgewood, New Jersey
April 12, 1998
Philippians 2:5-11
|
I. What's the lowest you've sunk?
A. A question that's rife with possibilities...
1) Visions of cruelty and depravity.
2) If you haven't been that low, you are imagining how low
the person next to you has sunk.
B. However far you've fallen, it's not as far as Jesus fell.
1) This beautiful passage gives great insight into Jesus.
a) It covers that sweep of his life, from his
pre-existence to Christmas to Good Friday to
Easter and beyond.
2) In the form of a poem, though just may be high style.
II. Jesus is God.
A. Literally, he was in "form" of God.
1) Not external appearance so much as genuine characteristics.
2) Same expression used to say Jesus took the form of servant.
a) Didn't just appear to be one, he WAS one.
3) Note that in beginning Jesus was equal with God.
a) Passage is among strongest expressions that Jesus is God.
B. Jesus gave it up.
1) He gave up Godhood to go on a secret mission.
a) Literally, he "emptied" himself.
b) Some say he gave up divine power - lightning bolts, etc.
c) Others say he didn't give up anything, but poured
himself into our form.
2) Perfect disguise - a servant.
a) Equated with "nothing." (Seinfeld tie-in?)
b) Human likeness - not that he was fake, but took on our
nature.
c) Just as Jesus was really God, he was also really human.
3) Shows how Jesus is unlike us.
a) We don't give up stuff, especially advantages.
b) When was last time you gave up a raise? Promotion?
C. Jesus experienced the worst.
1) Ultimate downsizing - shame of cross.
a) Worst death of all.
2) Obedient to it - it was part of a plan.
a) Not a misguided cult leader who miscalculated.
b) He knew the score all along.
c) To the world, it looked like he lost it all.
III. The Father had the last word.
A. Death wasn't the end of Jesus.
1) Therefore - God rewarded him for obedience.
2) Exalted him. (Easter and ascension in view)
3) He was given a new name.
a) Jesus was a common name.
b) "LORD" is his new name.
B. Jesus is Lord.
1) Every knee will bow, tongue confess. Isaiah 45:22-23
a) Remarkably, Isaiah applies it to God.
b) Earliest creed was, "Jesus is Lord."
2) What it means to say "Jesus is Lord."
a) I acknowledge that he is really God.
b) I believe that he has everything under control.
c) I commit all of my life to him.
3) The real issue.
a) Not if you will confess Jesus.
1> All creation will, someday.
2> Even his enemies will.
b) Issue is WHEN you will.
C. The Christian Church is growing around the world.
It is estimated that 16,000 people are saved every day.
The net growth each year is 6 million people.
Stephen Neill, an expert on Christian missions, says that
Christianity alone has succeeded in making itself a
universal religion.
This doesn't mean that everyone in the world has become a
Christian.
Yet it is a fact that Christianity has found a home in almost
every country in the world.
It has believers among all the races of humanity, from the
most sophisticated of Westerners to the tribes in the
deserts of Australia.
This is something which has never happened before in the
history of the world.
#3449
IV. Jesus can be Lord right now.
A. We have to make our own descent.
1) Some have done this literally.
a) People can really mess their lives up.
b) But that's when they see their need.
Jack Rue is a Morris County boy.
He describes his life as "American Pie" from the time he was
born 24 years ago until he reached junior high.
His parents were Christians who took his older brother and
sister and him to church every Sunday.
He did well in school.
Then, when Jack was in about seventh grade, he became
obsessed with motorcycles and leather.
He started listening to heavy metal music and drinking.
He did his first drugs when he was about 12 years old and
progressed to daily use of cocaine by the time he was 16.
Jack grew his hair long, had an ear pierced, and bought a
motorcycle and leather jacket.
He got the money to support his habit and his motorcycle
by doing landscaping and carpentry and by selling drugs.
Needless to say, he had stopped going to church by then.
He substituted worship of a satanic cult that he followed
around the country.
He dropped out of high school during his senior year, but
got a GED and spent 2 semesters at a local college.
His college career was halted abruptly in 1990 by a serious
motorcycle accident.
As Jack looks back on it, he sees that accident as a turning
point in his life - a shift from bad to worse.
He lost the use of his legs for 2 months, and he stayed drunk
and high for the entire time.
Although they took care of him after the accident, his parents
told him they had had it with him.
His father told him he had run from God and was paying the
price; he said he wasn't welcome in their home anymore.
As soon as Jack was able, he moved in with a girl he knew.
She lived with her mother, and both of them were alcoholics,
so they tolerated his habits.
By then, though, just selling drugs wasn't sufficient to
support his drug habit, so he started stealing.
He stole from anybody and everybody.
Eventually he got caught and was sentenced to 8 years in state
prison for burglary.
During the 21 months he served before being paroled, he was
re-introduced to God by volunteers from a church in Sussex
County.
They came every Sunday night for a Bible study, and the things
they said and did made a big impression in Jack.
Unfortunately, when he was released from prison in 1994,
he forgot about God.
He deliberately moved away from old haunts and managed to
stay clean for 2 months.
But he didn't have any friends in the new place and the only
place he knew to look for friends was a bar.
So he started hanging out in bars, and the next thing he knew,
he was high.
He also learned a new skill: free-basing cocaine.
Within 3 months, Jack was unemployable.
Two months after that, he was back in jail.
His brother was planning to get married and he had asked Jack
to be his best man, but when he found out Jack had been
arrested again, he changed his mind.
That was one of the things that drove him to get help.
He also knew he was a three-time offender and parole violator;
if he went back to prison he would never come out.
Jack Rue doesn't know where he got the number for the Market
Street Mission.
He just knew that he had to make a change or he would spend
the rest of his life in prison.
Jack called Phil Dosier in February of 1995, and his life
has not been the same since.
The first three months he called his "Spiritual Kindergarten."
He just surrendered and listened.
His Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor re-introduced him to God,
and the Mission taught him about Jesus.
Through Jesus, Jack feels his life has turned around completely.
He has rebuilt the bridge between himself and his family.
He sees them at least once a month.
The people at the Mission are like a second family to him,
one that holds him accountable.
And he's been taking courses at the County College of Morris
with the object of a professional career.
Jack's goal? To get involved with a prison ministry.
He wants to be like those volunteers who came to him when
he was in prison.
#4108
B. Most of us haven't sunk as low as Jack Rue.
1) But all of us must descend from our inflated ego.
2) We are nice, but not nice enough for God.
3) At your best, there is a great gap between you and Lord.
C. Deflate it.
1) Humble yourself before God.
2) While you were still a sinner, Christ died for you.
3) When we humble ourselves, he lifts us up.
D. Sin is not only way to descend.
1) Context of passage is not to tell about Jesus, but service.
a) Jesus didn't hang onto advantages. (He had biggie)
b) He gave them up for our sake.
2) We are told to follow his example.
a) "Seek your own good, and you'll never find satisfaction."
#1736
b) Time spent with others, in meaningful way, is priceless.
c) Simple service, with no strings attached.
V. Is Jesus YOUR Lord?
A. If he is, he is Lord no matter what.
1) It may look like the other side is winning right now,
but Jesus is Lord.
2) You may think you cannot cope any more, there is too much
pressure, but Jesus is Lord.
3) You may think your problems are too great and you can't
handle them, but Jesus is Lord.
4) Circumstances may pile up against you and people may
thwart you and fight you, but Jesus is Lord.
B. Say that phrase when you're discouraged - Jesus is Lord.
1) When you're tired, worried, afraid - Jesus is Lord.
2) Say it when you don't think you can go on another mile.
3) Say it when you're grieving and you don't know why
somebody has died - Jesus is Lord.
4) Say it when you're lonely.
C. And say it at Easter.
1) Make it the theme of your life.
2) That's what it means to be a believer. Romans 10:9
"If you confess with your mouth, 'JESUS IS LORD', and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.."
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Easy CHM and documentation editor