#selfiesunday - Philippians 2:1-4 - Skip Heitzig

hello and welcome to this message from Pastor skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque our prayer is that God uses these messages to impact others for his glory we're excited to hear how lives are being changed by His perfect love if this message encourages you we'd love to hear about it email us at my story at Calvary ABQ org and if you'd like to support this ministry financially you can give online securely at calvaryabq.org/giving all have an ego but that doesn't mean we have to worship ourselves as we continue the series hashtag we learn what the Bible says about selfish living versus self less leaning now we invite you to turn in your Bible to Philippians chapter 2 as skip begins the message hashtag selfie Sunday Philippians chapter 2 verse 1 therefore if there is any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like-minded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interest of others we are not the center of the universe the world does not revolve around us now that is a revolutionary thought back in the fifteenth century there was an astronomer by the name of Nicholas Copernicus who in observing the universe made a statement that revolutionized the whole world up to that point everyone thought that the earth was the center and the Sun and everything else rotated around us so he said this if a man is to know the truth he must change his thinking despite what we have said for years our earth is not the center of the cosmos but just one celestial body among many the Sun does not move around us we move around the Sun and what you gotta know is when he made that statement not a lot of people believed that they thought he's wrong that can't be right we are the center of the world it was revolutionary it's the Copernican revolution now that was in the 15th century in the 20th century a Swiss psychologist by the name of Jean Piaget who studied children kids not stars but kids said each child must experience his or her own Copernican revolution he said they must learn they are not the center of their world so we know what that's like every infant thinks my desires have always been met life must continue that way they think walls should move out of the way before I run into them they think floors should become soft when I fall onto them they think everyone should give me their toys when I ask for them cars should never drive where I want to play or run but sooner or later life doesn't cooperate with those children and they have a revolution a Copernican revolution it's like duh the world doesn't revolve around me I am one of many well I think we all need a revolution we all need a Copernican revolution we're not the center of the universe it's been said that we live in the age of self it's all about self self-realization self determination self esteem self help there's even a magazine called self it's all about my self my individual options as opposed to the group not only is it the age of self as you have seen in the little video it's the age of this selfie the picture I take of myself the self-portrait of me in a certain place to prove I was in that place or with a person to prove that I was with that person one description of his selfie I found was this it's an instant visual communication of where we are what we're doing who we think we are and who we think is watching that's a selfie selfies are sometimes taken in front of mirrors sometimes they're taken with selfie sticks there's even a website called selfie dot-com that will help you master the art that fine art of self portraiture a typical selfie might be a guy flexing his muscles or a girl and it's always this pose one hand on the waist and then they do duck face pouty lips you know it's freakish really you want to take a wild guess how many selfies are taken every day you ready for this 93 million selfies are taken and posted every day world wide 93 million selfies are taken and posted every day the average millennial and I'm not picking on Millennials I'm just giving you the stats you know what a millennial is somebody between the ages of 18 and 34 that's the new classification the Millennial the average millennial will take twenty five thousand seven hundred selfies in a lifetime that's a lot of selfies and further stats females between the ages of 16 and 25 spend five hours a week with selfies I don't know how they compiled that and I'm not picking on any group that's just what I found not only can it be narcissistic it can be dangerous in the Year 2015 there were more deaths by selfie than by shark attacks worldwide true story you go death by selfie yeah you know picture people want just the right picture so they might get too close to the edge of something or they might jump too close to the action of a certain event and they put their life at risk more people died in 2015 taking selfies than those who died in shark attacks I wonder if they're gonna have selfie week like they have Shark Week now on television well Philippians chapter 2 is the answer to all that we have in the first four verses the marks and the motives of self less living the marks and the motives of selfless living now just let me get this to you briefly and we'll pass on because I don't want to get stuck in the weeds the way it is written these first four verses of piense - in the original language it's one long sentence one long complex sentence and the way Paul writes it he writes it with a conditional clause and if/then clause if this is true then this should follow that's how it's written so he begins with the premise the if if if and then he gets to the main clause then then then what I want to do is begin with the main Clause which is the what to do and then end with the premise which is the why to do it so we have the marks and the motives of selfless living verse three is the main heartbeat of what he is saying let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself this is the revolution this is the Copernican or better yet christian revolution that i am not the center of the universe so what he gives us here are two things not to do they're put in the negative and then one thing to do here's what I want you to pick up on the two things not to do are the two things that got Satan kicked out of heaven selfish ambition and concede that was from the very beginning that got him booted out of God's heaven you might say then Satan took the first selfie it's described in Isaiah chapter 14 where Satan says I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will be like the Most High it's like Satan Here I am in heaven click selfie so I'll personally zit we are never more like the devil than when we practice these first two negatives selfish ambition and conceit but we are never more like Jesus than when we practiced the third one which is the remedy lowliness of mind that is the mind of Christ as we'll see and mention in just a minute so let's begin with these marks of selfless living and I'll put them in two don'ts and one do because two are in a negative and one is in the positive don't live selfishly that's obvious don't let's live selfishly let nothing verse 3 be done through selfish ambition now I think everyone here knows what selfishness is we all know what selfishness is this is no revelation to us we all get it I'll further say if you have kids you understand what selfish and says or you are reintroduced to the concept of a self-centered universe this is before the Revolution I heard a story of a mom cooking pancakes for her two boys one was aged five one was aged three kevin was the five-year-old Ryan was the three-year-old she's cooking pancakes well the kids immediately start fighting as to who's gonna get the first pancake and so she saw this as an opportunity a teaching moment and she says boys if Jesus was here right now he would probably say I'm gonna let my brother have the first pancake I can wait well the five year old Kevin immediately quick on his feet said Ryan you you be Jesus you'd be like Jesus me first but you know this not only if you have kids you know this if you have parents which obviously you all do you you know this if you know any human being you know this if you know yourself well enough selfishness or selfish ambition it is translated in verse three here's what I found interesting the original Greek term translated here selfish ambition is a word era theá-- or era Theon originally had a positive not a negative connotation originally the word simply described a day laborer somebody who went out and worked for a day and got paid for his work but eventually the meaning morphed into somebody who was a mercenary that is he would work for someone irregardless of what that person paid him to do even if it was for some bad reason I'll just work and do whatever you want as long as I get paid for it so the name or the word morphed even further and came to mean the self seeking advantage over others regardless of the effect that it had on others selfish ambition aristotle used the word of the unfair pursuit and self-serving ambition of politicians I just wanted to throw that out in political season because that is how politics works I will step on the neck of my opponent to get to the top and win I just want to win it's all about me winning so selfishness then refers to someone who advances himself or herself by any means at all just to get to the top it is the me first philosophy the all about me I'm the center of the universe philosophy it's planted in the heart of every child and it sticks with that child as they grow up to adulthood it's part of we are like that little poem I gave myself a party this afternoon at 3:00 twas very small three guests in all I myself and Me Myself ate all the sandwiches while I drank all the tea it was also I who ate the pie and passed the cake to me it's all about me and my needs so he says don't live selfishly to let nothing be done through selfish ambition here's the second mark don't live pridefully egotistical 'i also found in bursaries let nothing be done through conceit that's that's the translation i'm reading from conceit if you happen to have an old King James Version which I find very few have anymore I like the translation better it's the word vainglory says it all vainglory let nothing be done through strife or vain glory and this word translated from the Greek kena doc SIA speaks about a person who cherishes exaggerated ideas of their own importance look I am so awesome the world needs to discover how awesome I am this has always been a problem this is why Paul writes in Romans chapter 12 verse 3 that we ought not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think but think soberly in realistic terms of who we are it was a problem not only as Paul wrote to the Romans but when he wrote to the Corinthian church he wrote about love you know the chapter is the most famous chapter in the New Testament the love chapter and he says love does not parade itself love does not puff itself up love does not seek its own all of that language counteracts the idea of conceit exaggerated ideas of our own importance whenever you start thinking you're really important you may want to remember what mother whale said to the baby whale honey when you get to the top and start to blow that's when you'll get harpooned it's all about pride pride is the most destructive force proverbs 13 10 by pride comes nothing but strife that's expanded on in proverbs 16 verse 18 pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit goes before a fall somebody once said there's two ways to enter a room number one you can enter the room sort of this attitude Here I am Here I am the other way to enter the room is go ah there you are one is to have people notice me the other is for me to notice people you know the first Here I am and I'm so cool come on check me out the other is I'm checking to see how I can be a benefit to you how did Paul in or a room there you are how do I know this because every letter he writes he begins by saying Paul slave a bond slave of Jesus Christ and in the case of Philippians chapter 1 verse 1 Paul and Timothy bond servants of Jesus so he saw himself as a slave of Jesus and therefore a servant to others and in this case the church at Philippi so don't live selfishly don't live pridefully now let me give you a third mark and now we're going from the negative to the positive do live humbly do live humbly notice how he writes it let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit those are the two negatives but now here's the positive but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself now this is so foreign to our thinking it is so foreign to our orientation it is so foreign to how we in the West especially have learned to view our individual selves lowliness of mind just so it sounds more unfamiliar to you here's how its put in the New Testament in basic English but with low thoughts of your self do you get that with low thoughts of yourself let each esteem others better than themselves low thoughts of yourself that is so against our upbringing it's all about self confidence self determination self esteem bosses no with low thoughts of yourself esteem others better than yourselves let me tell you another revolutionary statement ready pride will make God your enemy quickest way to make God your enemy be prideful pride makes God your enemy humility makes God your friend you say preacher you got it you got a scripture for that yep the Bible says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble God resists the proud you become God's enemy when you were prideful that's what got Satan kicked out of heaven that's the quickest way to emulate the devil is to be prideful puffed up but he gives grace to the humble humility will make God your friend now here's what I want you to know about this idea of lowliness of mind the concept of lowliness was always seen in antiquity as not a virtue but of but a vise something you don't want to be you don't want to be a lowly person especially in the Greek way of thinking the Greeks sort of prided themselves in being better than every other culture in the world they were the great refined Greek culture and listen to what they called everybody else in the world who wasn't a Greek a barbarian if you're not a Greek year a barbarian so whenever they conquered people they turned them into slaves groveling slaves and the term they used were humble minded ones low minded ones that was the idea of a slave it was never something that you would aspire to become and so here in the New Testament it becomes a virtue that which was seen as something you don't want to be Paul says no no you want to be that you want to have a low mind you want to have a humble mind now why is that why would something the world esteems is so important and so virtuous be seen as something bad and something that the world would see is so bad low minded Paul says no no this is how you want to be here's why because that's how Jesus was in fact this becomes his whole point if we were to keep reading down in verse five and the following verses Paul says let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God and did not think it robbery to be equal with God he made himself of no reputation or he emptied himself poured himself out and took on the form of a bondservant here is Jesus in heaven pours himself out comes to the earth to humbly sacrifice himself because of our sins listen lowliness is the grease that keeps the gears of relationship running smooth lowliness of mind or humility is the grease that keeps the gears of relationship running smooth so he says let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind or humility of mind let each esteem others better than himself I mean honestly who do you know that does that i esteem you better than me most of us when we meet other people we won't say it out loud but we kind of think I think I'm a little bit better than they I'm a little bit smarter than they are I have a different opinion in my opinion a little bit better than theirs we would actually esteem others better than ourselves an interesting study I found I found an article in the Albuquerque Journal and they quoted from Health magazine about a study done in California at University of California Riverside evaluating students about what the students thought about themselves versus what others who knew them thought about them worlds apart in this study the students rated themselves and gave themselves higher ratings than others on cheerfulness warmth and intelligence that's how they saw themselves cheerful warm intelligent while others saw them observers saw them as hostile deceitful and condescending worlds apart right what got my attention was the title of the article the name of the article was study says jerks had too much self-esteem that great study says jerks have too much self-esteem so to counteract that Paul said let each esteem others better than himself and then he amplifies that in verse four let each of you look out not like oh look out but look around study observe look out not only for his own interest but also for the interests of others this is revolutionary this is where I live my life and I decide I am NOT the center of the universe it's not really about me I'm gonna start now observing and looking out for what interests other people I'm gonna be a part of that I don't know if you've ever gotten these letters in the mail from credit companies but it's typically looks like this the letter credit card company and big red letters on the front of the envelope say no interest now I look at that and go really there's a company out there that wants to loan me money and they don't want me to pay any interest on it that that's possible so that's why you open the letter and read the fine print you find it's all about the interest and now I know when it says on the front of the envelope no interest what it really means it means they're not interested in me at all I have no interest in you at all none but I am interested in your money that's really what it means so we're to live our lives not just interested in us but looking out for the interest of others it is revolutionary and that selfless living those are the marks now let me give you the motives here's the reason why and I'll give you three reasons why because the text gives us three reasons why we're to prefer a self less life rather than a selfish life reason number one because selfishness is all around us it's part of the world in which we live notice how verse one begins what's the first word verse one anybody you can talk back in church this church you can yell at me first word is therefore okay so do you know the rule by now whenever there's a therefore find out what it's there for right you don't you don't begin a thought I wouldn't begin a conversation with you go there for you go what are you talking about because it's a word that ties back the previous thought right so Paul is basing the motives on a previous thought don't you want to know what the previous thought is I knew you did verse 27 of chapter one chapter one verse 27 only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent I may hear of your affairs that you stand fast in one spirit he's introducing the idea of unity with each other with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel and not in any way terrified by your adversaries notice that word which is to them a proof of perdition but to you of salvation and that from God for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me this is what the therefore is all about the church was being persecuted by the world around them and the persecution came from selfishness what he's saying is this the people of this world are consumed with furthering their own agendas fulfilling their own desires looking after their own satisfaction don't you add to that don't be like them they're persecuting you because they hate your message because it doesn't reflect their values they're after you because of their own self-centered behavior don't you live that way and add to that pile that's the idea and that is why he say it says you need to be together in unity with each other one mind of one heart of one spirit folks this is why it looks so awkward when Christians fight each other because that's what the world does they do that all day long you don't want to resemble the world because selfishness is all around you don't let selfishness be a part of you that's what the therefore is therefore he's referring to that so because selfishness is all around you that's a good reason not to be selfish but to be selfless second reason because selfishness is opposed to Christ who is in you when you came to Christ you invited him to come in he took you up on the offer and he came in to sit on the throne of your life to be in charge of your life he is in you so verse 1 says therefore we covered that if there is any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love that is referring to Christ love now stop right there the word F would be better translated since because the word in Greek could be translated either if or since and the meaning here is since since it is true that if there is any consolation in Christ since it is true that you are con sold by belonging to Christ are you consoled because you belong to Christ does that bring you consolation do you ever think about that that I am saved not because of what I've done but because of what he's done for me he he he received me he brought me into the fold based on what he did for me brings me consolation he's supposing it does he's supposing that's true if there's any consolation in Christ or since there is and since his love is so comforting to you and I hope it is I hope you don't go well God Here I am I hope you realize how cool I am God cuz you would definitely want to pick me and use me I'm so awesome I hope your thoughts are oh the wonder of it all the wonder of it all just to think that God loves me that's the proper attitude and that brings us great comfort remember the child story of the ugly toad who was really a prince he was under the spell and he turned into a toad and the only way to untorn him to turn him back to a prince was for that beautiful princess to kiss the toad when I first heard that as a kid I went yuck what girl and their right minds want to kiss a toad what girl what Oh a toad I want to kiss it now let's take it to an infinite more infinitely greater analogy for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son what kind of a father would give his son for the comfort of others answer one who is not selfish one who is totally self less now I say that because this becomes then the basis of new relationships between Christians new relationships in the church I accept others because Jesus accepted me I forgive others because Jesus has forgiven me that's what he taught us to pray and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors again you can say it back to me you Church I can't talk in this one you can appropriately so Paul said in Ephesians 4 and be kind to one another tender-hearted forgiving one another just as God in Christ has forgiven you I've received it now I'm going to dispense he's accepted me I'm gonna accept others he has esteemed me enough to do that I'm gonna esteem others so if Jesus is in you then love will come from you these are all Paul's thoughts here so because selfishness is all around you because selfishness is opposed to the Christ that is in you and the third motivation for selfless living because selfishness hurts the family by you whose by you right now your family is by you the Christian family the church and so he writes in his thoughts if there's any fellowship of the spirit verse 1 that is the fellowship we enjoy with each other produced by the Holy Spirit if there's any affection and mercy fulfill my joy by being like-minded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind he is speaking to Philippian believers about their fellowship and he introduces a thought that will expand upon later in chapter 4 when he says you know there's a couple of people in your church they happen to be gals and the church is experiencing a division because one group is siding with one person the other group is siding with yet another person so there was a division in the church it was a Christian family but there was sibling rivalry within the family why hey let me ask you a question why why are there divisions in any church among any group of Christians why why one word you know it selfishness it's all about selfishness it's pride that produces selfishness James in Chapter four of his books at what causes fights and quarrels among you don't they come from your desires that battle within you you want something and you don't get it you kill and you covet but you cannot have what you want you quarrel and you fight so get Paul's thinking here selfishness is a part of the world fishness greatly offends the lord selfishness is opposed to Jesus Christ selfishness hurts the church we need a revolution not a Copernican revolution as much as just a Christian revolution where we realize the world doesn't revolve around me the world didn't revolve around you the world revolves around him it's his world it's all about him and you and I are just little illumine Ares that revolve around his will his agenda I hope because if that's the case we're gonna get along great we're gonna get along great years ago somebody asked dr. Karl Menninger the famous founder of the Menninger clinic what he would advise a patient who was about to have a nervous breakdown if that patient felt a nervous breakdown was gonna happen what would this brilliant man dr. Karl Menninger advised most expected he would answer it by saying I'd advise him to go to a co psychiatrist but he said this I would advise him to lock his door at home go across town find somebody who has a great need and do something to help that person you get it I'm gonna shift my focus off of me and on to them and that that was astonishing when I read that because I thought that is really the heart of our text we are not the center of the universe when I shift my focus and esteem others better than myself and I'm interested in them they're gonna get interested in me it's not all about the self or the selfie as much as the group II thank you Father for the clear truth that as opposed to what we have heard and seen displayed in our world just like Copernicus said we have to change our thinking we've thought that the world revolves around the earth but it doesn't so we too must have revolutionary thought lord I pray that all of us would see our agenda our life our plans revolving rotating being centered by oriented by your purpose your will because the byproduct of that is great satisfaction for us in great unity among us and a great witness from us to the world we pray it would mark us Lord in Jesus name Amen to live exclusively for ourselves is to live in a prison and God wants us to live selflessly how will you live out what you learned in this message let us know email my story at Calvary ABQ org and just a reminder you can give financially to this work at calvaryabq.org/giving us for this teaching from skip Heitzig of Calvary Albuquerque

Channel: Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig

Views: 14,416

Rating: 4.5945945 out of 5

Keywords: Calvary, Albuquerque, Skip, Heitzig, Jesus, Hashtag, Sermon, #selfiesunday, Philippians

Id: RPaGTUlaevk

Length: 36min 56sec (2216 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 05 2018