Philippians (Lesson 19)

Self-centered faith promises happiness but it can’t deliver joy. We open Philippians 2 and follow the Bible’s logic all the way down to the places it stings: full joy grows out of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and a mind governed by Jesus Christ rather than by ego, preference, or pride.

We talk plainly about what happens when church becomes a shopping trip. If our first question is “What does your church have for me?” we’re already aimed at disappointment, offense, and constant friction. Philippians 2 pushes us toward a different posture: being like minded through shared love, refusing strife and vain glory, esteeming others better than ourselves, and learning to look on the things of others. That isn’t soft language, it’s a direct call to spiritual maturity that transforms marriages, friendships, and local church life.

Then we center everything on the example that settles the argument: Jesus Christ. He was equal with God, yet He made Himself of no reputation, took the form of a servant, humbled Himself, and obeyed unto death, even the death of the cross. That’s not a slogan, it’s the model. If we want real Christian joy and real biblical Christianity, we have to stop demanding to be served and start living to bless.

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Transcript

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Welcome And Philippians Focus

SPEAKER_01 0:37

All right, thank you so much for that kind word of introduction. Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in today. I'm Brother James, and I greet you once again in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And I welcome you to the Preaching of the Cross Radio Broadcast. We are enjoying, we are enjoying a study together of the book of Philippians, and we have made our way into the second chapter, and we stated on the last broadcast that these eleven verses, Philippians 2, verses 1 through 11, are as weighty, as vital as any portion of God's word. We are seeing in these verses that Jesus Christ has set for us the example of self-denial and self-sacrifice for the benefit and the well-being of others, and we have seen that, or we see in this passage, we started seeing it last time, we have seen that the key to genuine joy and happiness is this self-sacrificial life, this willingness to spend and be spent, not for our own advantage, our own honor, our own glory, but for the benefit and the well-being of others. Now, for those of you that were not able to be with us for the last program, we certainly can't repeat everything that was said, but we'll be more than happy to read the verses together and give you the summary thereof, and then we'll move forward.

Consolation And Unity In Christ

SPEAKER_01 2:32

The Bible says in Philippians 2, verse 1, if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, so all of these things we saw are available in Jesus Christ and should be, should be appropriated in the life of every believer in Jesus Christ, we can have consolation, comfort, fellowship, mercy. All of these things are available to us. And when these things are real in our lives, when these things are working themselves out in our lives, our joy is full. You see that? Fulfill ye my joy. Now, what's the key to this? First of all, that ye be like minded. Now, as we said before, we don't have the same aptitude, the same personality, the same way of looking at situations, the same way of reacting and responding to things. However, we can all have our minds governed by, controlled by, regulated by the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and the words of the living God. Now, how does that happen? The Bible says, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, there it is again. What is this mind? What is this mindset that is necessary for full joy? What is this mindset that is the objective for every Christian? It's simply this let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, and one always leads to the other. But in lowliness of mind, let each that's every single one esteem other, that's every single one better than themselves. If I if I genuinely lived in the frame of mind that you are better than me, you could not offend me. If I lived in the mindset that I love you, that is, I'm willing to lay down my life for your joy, happiness, well being, spiritual advantage. If I genuinely and sincerely love you, our relationship would be enduring, our relationship would be blessed, it'd just be an ongoing, joyful situation as you and I minister to and bless one another. Then he says, in lowness of mind, ladies and other brother themselves, look not, and we move into new territory now, look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Stop Shopping For A Church

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Now this is remarkable. This is remarkable. We have lived to see the day when people are not looking for a church where they can be a blessing. Rather, they are demanding a church that is a blessing to them. People do not call a church and say, I'm looking for a place where I can serve. They call and say we are looking for a place where we can be served. People do not call a church and say, Is there a way our young people can be of help and of service to the people of the church? No, they call and say, What does your church have for our young people? Now that's where we are. We have now lived to see the day when if one thing doesn't go their way, one thing isn't done their way. People will walk out of a church. Why? Because the purpose of their going to church is not to serve the Lord, it's not to serve others, it's not to be a help and a blessing to someone else. It's to mooch. Now that's the bottom line. This has become a nation of moochers. This has become a nation of people with their hands out, and they are shopping. They are shopping for a church based upon who's gonna give me the most attention, who's gonna give me the most stuff, who's gonna give me the greatest number of play toys and pray playpretties, who's got the biggest pile of donuts? Now that's what it's all about. I'm telling you, my friend, it is all but impossible to minister and to practice biblical Christianity in this generation because people are so incredibly self-absorbed that it's it is almost absolutely impossible to get them to even think like Christians, which of course wouldn't if they can't think like Christians, they're certainly not going to live the Christian life. Now here's the key to full joy. The key to full joy is stop looking on your own things. Well, here's how I feel, well, here's what I want, well, here's what I think they should have done. Well, here's a and start looking on how can I be of help to him? How can I be of help to her? How can I minister to that man? How can I assist that lady? That's what it's all about. What's your proof, Brother James? What's your what's your illustration? What scriptural support do you have for such a notion?

Jesus Defines Real Joy

SPEAKER_01 9:57

Well, it's Jesus Christ. It's Jesus Christ. What did he do? What did he do? Well he certainly didn't come into this world and demand that everybody treat him the way he felt like being treated. He was despised, he was rejected of men, he was a man of sorrows, he was acquainted with grief, he was lied about, his mother was lied about, his words were twisted, his motives were called into question, he was called a devil, he was called a blasphemer, he was beaten, he was whipped, he was nailed to a cross for you, for me. He didn't turn to his father and say, Now, if I go down there to that earth, uh, what's in it for me? If I go down there and become man, uh what will I get out of it? No, this Lord Jesus Christ knelt in that garden of Gethsemane and said, Not my will, but thine be done for your benefit and for mine. I know that's hard to understand if you've been watching much religious TV. I know that's hard to understand if you've been spending much time with the best sellers in the religious bookstore. Because, see, you have this idea that Christianity was about perverting some Jabez prayer so you could trick God into giving you a yacht. I understand, I understand. If you've been watching religious TV and reading the bestsellers in the religious bookstores, you thought God was sitting in heaven waiting for you to demand him to give you more money. I understand, I understand. That's American Christianity, and it's of course it's not Christianity at all. I understand that. But here's what I want to know. How can you have any joy when you are self-loving, self-serving, self-centered, and trying to force God to become your personal servant or your genie who obeys your every command. You're never going to find any joy that way. All that is, is a continuation of your self-loving, self-serving life that you live before you ever put the first ounce of faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible says, look not every man on his own things. Well, he hurt my feelings. Well, I didn't like the way he preached. Well, church was too long. Well, they don't have enough dinners. Well, uh, down here they they they pay more attention to me. Well, you know what your problem is? You're not a Christian. I didn't say you weren't saved, I didn't say you hadn't believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. I said your problem is you're not a Christian. Jesus Christ did not look on his own things. He looked on the things of others. Jesus Christ did not put himself first, he put others first. And you cannot be a self-centered, self-serving Christian. It's a contradiction in terms. Now you go to that religious bookstore and you look at these fellows with their with their perms in the hair and their makeup on, grinning at you like a Cheshire cat, and you look at the titles, the the book titles and the chapter titles, and and you tell me it's not all about you. You can have a better day, you can feel better, you can have a more positive mental attitude, you can name it and claim it, you can be what is all that? It's humanism. With a few verses out of the Bible thrown in to try and make church members believe it was Christian. Nothing, nothing can be farther from the truth.

Blessing Comes Through Blessing Others

SPEAKER_01 14:53

First Peter 3 verse 8 says this, finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, but contrary wise blessing, knowing that thereunto ye are thereunto called that ye should inherit a blessing. How do I get a blessing? Not by treating people the way they treated me, not by getting evil, uh or getting even with those that have done me evil, not by lashing out, not by walking away, not by taking my ball and going home, or taking my Bible and going to the church down the road. You know what I do? I lay down my pitiful emotions and feelings for the benefit and well being of others. That's what I do. And when I do that, as I do that, my joy sent to me by God the Father through God the Son, delivered by the indwelling Holy Spirit, my joy becomes full. Because I am now living not as a self-centered, self loving, self serving church member, but I am now living as Jesus Christ lived. And as I live the Christian life, God blesses me with joy. I know this is completely opposite of what's being taught in the average church. You know why you do know why? Because the average church exists so he can make enough money to keep existing. And the preacher's job is to tell the congregation what they want to hear so they will keep coming and keep giving, so he'll have enough money to live on, and the church will have enough money to survive and pay its indebtedness and pay its bills, and so that preacher is not about to preach biblical Christianity from the Holy Bible, because that's not what carnal people want to hear. They don't want to hear about self-denial. They want to hear a rock band singing God loves you, God loves you, God loves you, God loves you, over and over again ad nauseum. That's what they want. Now why is that? Because Christianity has all but disappeared from American churches. That's why. I'm telling you, my brother, I'm telling you, my sister, a church is not supposed to exist for you. You are supposed to be living your life so you can be a help and a blessing to God's church. I know that's a strange and novel concept. Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ did not put you into his body so that you could be the center of attention. He put you in his body so that you could make others the center of attention and be blessed and know full joy thereby. That's what it's all about. Now here's what the Bible says. You ready?

The Mind Of Christ Explained

SPEAKER_01 18:44

Jesus Christ thought it not robbery to be equal with God. How about that? Now if anybody else in this world claimed to be equal with God, he would be taking to himself a position, a place, a title upon which he had no claim. No one listening to my voice has any right whatsoever to say I am equal with God. Jesus Christ did have the right to make that claim. He was, he is, he always will be God Almighty. As such, as such, the Bible says He made Himself, see, self Himself. He took His self, He made Himself of no reputation. He just completely denied all self-interest. Why did he do that? He 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 and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Do you know why Jesus Christ made himself of no reputation? So that he could die for you, so you could be eternally advantaged and daily blessed beyond your wildest dreams. Jesus Christ denied himself for you. Now that's what the Bible says. And therefore the Christian life is denying yourself, denying yourself for others, that is Christianity. Anything else is humanism, paganism, or false religion with Jesus' name attached to it. I'm dwelling upon this because honestly, I could probably should just preach this every single day that we're on the radio, day after day after day after day after day, because it is absolutely unheard of in the modern church in America. This whole idea of esteeming others better than yourself, this whole idea of laying down your life for others. Do do you understand why the average radio program is so vastly different today than it was fifty, sixty years ago? Do you know why? Because the audience wouldn't take this kind of preaching hour after hour, day after day, so the preachers have had to conform their programming and their messages to suit the audience. Do you know why Christian TV bears no resemblance to Christianity? Do you know why? Because if it did, the money would dry up tomorrow. Now you know that, and I know that. And so the the broadcasters have conformed their TV programs, they've tried to make it look as much like the world's entertainment programs as possible. Now that's just the fact of the matter. I wish it wasn't so. But it is. Do you know why the average church with each passing month takes on more and more the appearance and the personality of a nightclub? Because that's what the people attending demand. To

Repent Of Self-Centered Faith

SPEAKER_01 23:29

those types of radio listeners, to those types of church attendees, I have only one thing to say. Repent. We are not changing biblical Christianity to suit the demands and the desires of people who have no interest in biblical Christianity. It's not going to happen. Now, if that offends you, it's because you love yourself more than you love Jesus. If that offends you, it's because you may be saved, but you don't want to live the Christian life. Here it is again. Here it is again. Jesus Christ wants you to esteem others better than yourself. Jesus Christ wants you to stop looking out for your own things and look out for the things of others. Jesus Christ wants you to make yourself of no reputation, to humble yourself, and to willingly lay down your life for the benefit and well-being of others. And that, my friend, is the pathway to joy, to contentment, to satisfaction, to blessing, to God pouring out his honor upon you. That's what the Bible says. I want to be a biblical Christian. I don't want to be a spoiled baby that demands everything go my way or else. You can't stay married with that kind of attitude. You can't have any kind of decent friendships with that kind of attitude. You cannot stay in and be a blessing to any church anywhere with that kind of attitude. It's just not going to happen. I want you, my friend, I want you to be blessed. I want God to pour out his full his full and complete blessing upon you. Please, please get in the second chapter of Philippians, allow the Word of God to fill your heart and mind with His Holy Word, to fill your soul with His Holy Spirit so that you, so that you can know the life more abundant that Jesus Christ has for you. Amen and amen.

Resources And Invite A Friend

SPEAKER_01 26:57

This is the preaching of the cross radio broadcast. We have thousands of hours of cassette recorded sermons and Bible studies, not just cassette. We still have the cassettes. We also have them on DISC, and they're all available to you. The books that we have, dozens of them. All of this material is found listed, cataloged on our website at jamesnox.com. JamesNox.com. You may also write to us at 872 Glenwood Road. 872 Glenwood Road. That's in D land. D-E-L-A-N-D D Land, Florida. That zip code number is 32720. And that mailing address is in the United States of America. This program, by God's grace and through your help, is heard at many different times over many different radio stations. We thank you for helping us make that possible. The announcer will be on in just a moment to let you know when this program will be heard again over this radio station. And the only way, the only way that anyone else would know about it. We don't have advertising in your local newspaper. We can't come to your town and hand out flyers and so forth. The only way people know about this program is if you help us by inviting a friend to listen with you, and we hope you'll do that. Until then, I'm Brother James. May the Lord richly bless you.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

And every week.