# Working Out Our Salvation. (Philippians 2: 12-16)

An episode of [The Bible Journey Daily Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1570210433), 21 Oct 2026, 28 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1728449/episodes/19924232-working-out-our-salvation-philippians-2-12-16.mp3

Send us Fan Mail This podcast is entirely the work of Jeremy R. McCandless and is part of season 24 of a project to complete an in-depth, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse study of the entire Bible. Follow and support me on Patreon. Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources Episode Notes: I remember a conversation years ago with a man who was genuinely puzzled by the Bible. He looked at me and said, "Jeremy, the Bible seems to contradict itself." I asked him what he meant. He said, "On the one hand, the Bible says we're saved by grace through faith and not by works. Ephesians 2 says that. Romans says that. The whole New Testament seems to say that salvation is a gift." Then he paused and added: "But then I read Philippians 2:12, and it says, 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.'" And then came the question: So, which is it? Are we saved by grace or by works? That's a fair question. In fact, it's a question that has puzzled many Christians over the years. Maybe you've wondered about it yourself. The Bible clearly teaches that salvation is not earned by our works. It is the gift of God, received by faith in Jesus Christ. But then we come to a passage like Philippians 2, and Paul tells believers: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." What does that mean? Is Paul contradicting himself? Is he suddenly teaching something different? Or is there something deeper going on in this passage that we're in danger of missing? As we'll discover today, Paul is not, in fact, talking about how to get saved. He's talking about what happens after you've been saved. In fact, these verses contain one of the clearest and most practical descriptions of living the Christian life found anywhere in the New Testament. It’s about living a life of spiritual growth and obedience. It’s about shining for Christ in a dark world, and it's about learning how to cooperate with what God is already doing in our lives. So, if you've ever wondered what it means to "work out your own salvation," or how Christians are supposed to live in the real world, then Philippians 2:12-16 has some powerful answers. Support the show This podcast is entirely the work of Jeremy R. McCandless... Follow and support me as an independent podcast creator on Patreon. Jeremy McCandless | Creating Podcasts and Bible Study Resources | Patreon To receive my weekly newsletter and keep up to date with all five of my podcasts, subscribe at: Jeremy McCandless | Substack Check out my other Podcasts. My History of the Christian Church: https://thehistoryofthechristianchurch.buzzsprout.com The L.I.F.E. Podcast: Philosophy and current trends in the Arts and Entertainment. https://the-living-in-faith-everyday-podcast.buzzsprout.com The Renewed Mind Podcast. My Psychology and Mental Health Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568891 The Classic Literature Podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2568906 To visit my Author page on Amazon and view my entire back catalogue of books on both Amazon and Kindle, and now also on Audible, Visit: Amazon.com: Jeremy R Mccandless: books, biography, latest update

## Transcript

[0:15] SPEAKER_00: Hi friends.
[0:17] SPEAKER_00: Hello everyone.
[0:18] SPEAKER_00: How are you today?
[0:20] SPEAKER_00: Well, it's very autumnal here.
[0:23] SPEAKER_00: Summer has finally left us, the temperature has dropped a lot, and the leaves from the trees are everywhere here in Lynham St Anne's in the northwest coast of England.
[0:35] SPEAKER_00: But that's a great time of year in its own way.
[0:38] SPEAKER_00: The colours are magnificent.
[0:40] SPEAKER_00: So wherever you are, and whatever the weather is, welcome to today's episode of the Bible Journey Daily Podcast.
[0:47] SPEAKER_00: Today we're looking at Philippians chapter 2, verses 5 to 11, one of the most famous and powerful passages in the book of Philippians.
[0:55] SPEAKER_00: But let me start today by just, well, here's a controversial thought.
[1:00] SPEAKER_00: Maybe every once in a while, everyone, certainly every Christian, should stand in front of a mirror and say to themselves, I need to check my attitude today.
[1:10] SPEAKER_00: But how do we actually measure an attitude?
[1:13] SPEAKER_00: We can speak of people having a good attitude, and sometimes we'll talk about people obviously having a bad attitude.
[1:20] SPEAKER_00: But what is a good attitude and what is a bad attitude?
[1:24] SPEAKER_00: Is a bad attitude simply one that is negative?
[1:27] SPEAKER_00: A person who's negative all the time, and is a good attitude someone who's simply positive all the time?
[1:33] SPEAKER_00: Is all that we can hope for is having a positive attitude in a bad situation?
[1:38] SPEAKER_00: Or is there another kind of attitude, a deeper, a more meaningful type of attitude to have?
[1:44] SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm going to answer that question right out of the door for you with an affirmative yes.
[1:50] SPEAKER_00: I think there is something beyond just having a good positive attitude to life.
[1:56] SPEAKER_00: I think there's something at a much higher level, something we can call a divine or a godly attitude.
[2:02] SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, it is an attitude described for us in the New Testament, and God in fact recommends, commends all believers in Jesus Christ to have it.
[2:11] SPEAKER_00: So what is the divine godly attitude?
[2:14] SPEAKER_00: I hear you ask.
[2:16] SPEAKER_00: Well, turn with me today to Philippians chapter 2, and I'll show you on today's episode of the Bible Journey Daily Podcast.
[2:52] SPEAKER_00: Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, writes this: In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Jesus Christ, who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.
[3:07] SPEAKER_00: Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
[3:15] SPEAKER_00: And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.
[3:23] SPEAKER_00: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, and that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[3:43] SPEAKER_00: So, what have we been through so far in this book?
[3:46] SPEAKER_00: Well, after his customary greetings, the prayer, the thanksgiving, and a sort of personal update, Paul then turned at the end of chapter one in verse 27, and he urged everyone reading this and said, Let you be let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
[4:04] SPEAKER_00: Now, in chapter two, Paul has already shown us that unity requires humility.
[4:10] SPEAKER_00: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, rather, in humility value others before yourself.
[4:18] SPEAKER_00: So having established, we saw it yesterday, that humility produces unity, Paul presents the supreme example of that, Jesus Christ.
[4:30] SPEAKER_00: So what mindset, attitude, so to speak, did Jesus Christ have?
[4:35] SPEAKER_00: Well, in a word, in verse 8, he says, He humbled himself.
[4:40] SPEAKER_00: Now the word translated humbled in verse 8 is the same word that was translated lowliness of mind in chapter 2, verse 3 that we looked at yesterday.
[4:50] SPEAKER_00: So unmistakably there is a connection here between this passage and what has just gone before.
[4:56] SPEAKER_00: Prior to this paragraph, he had told the Philippians that they needed a humble concern for other people.
[5:01] SPEAKER_00: And in today's paragraph, he gives us an illustration of that humble concern for others.
[5:06] SPEAKER_00: And the illustration is Jesus Christ Himself.
[5:10] SPEAKER_00: He is the ultimate illustration of humble concern for other people.
[5:14] SPEAKER_00: So what I want us to do is look at his attitude, his divine godly attitude.
[5:19] SPEAKER_00: Now that word that we've just seen translated mindset obviously means a fixed mind on a particular purpose.
[5:27] SPEAKER_00: And as I've explained, that purpose in the context is that we like him should have a humble concern for other people.
[5:34] SPEAKER_00: Now to appreciate this illustration, notice what he said when he said, who being in the very nature of God did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage.
[5:47] SPEAKER_00: Paul begins Christ's humility by establishing that Christ was God in very essence and equal with God, and that Jesus did not regard that as a position as something that he could exploit.
[6:01] SPEAKER_00: Now that's a very interesting statement.
[6:03] SPEAKER_00: In the Greek text, there is one single word here that has become fairly well known in some theological circles.
[6:11] SPEAKER_00: It is the Greek word kenosis, which means he emptied himself.
[6:15] SPEAKER_00: I'm sure you've heard that phrase.
[6:17] SPEAKER_00: So in verse 6, it is telling us that he's equal with God and is God, and then verse 7 is saying that he empties himself of that.
[6:26] SPEAKER_00: So what did he empty himself of?
[6:28] SPEAKER_00: And the answer to that question itself has provoked a great deal of discussion over the years.
[6:33] SPEAKER_00: Some say he emptied himself as his divine attributes.
[6:37] SPEAKER_00: Now that isn't exactly compatible with the rest of the New Testament, where we see him expressing, sometimes even miraculously, those divine attitudes.
[6:46] SPEAKER_00: So some have revised that view and said that what he did was he emptied himself of the voluntary use of his attributes.
[6:54] SPEAKER_00: But that seems unlikely to me well, considering his life and ministry.
[6:59] SPEAKER_00: There's nothing in the passage that even remotely suggests that he gave up those powers and those abilities.
[7:05] SPEAKER_00: Rather, I think the structure of the verse is explaining to us.
[7:09] SPEAKER_00: Paul himself says he's meaning, he's emptying himself in that simply he took upon himself the form of a physical body, and he walked as a human, a man upon the earth, in the form of a servant.
[7:45] SPEAKER_00: So he's referring to the manifestation, or for him at this point, the recoming manifestation of his deity.
[7:53] SPEAKER_00: That which he had before the world was, and before he came a man was incarnated.
[7:59] SPEAKER_00: He obviously didn't have that manifestation when he walked the earth, except for that brief moment on the Mount of Transfiguration.
[8:07] SPEAKER_00: What we're being told here then is that even though he was equal with God, he was the very God, he emptied himself of that.
[8:15] SPEAKER_00: Meaning, as some translations say, he became null and void in that, in that he became a man, an ordinary human, and he became a servant of other human beings, of humanity, a word that's actually used that says he became a slave.
[8:31] SPEAKER_00: Or is to say the same thing another way, as Paul says in 2 Corinthians chapter 8, where he wrote, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.
[8:47] SPEAKER_00: He was God, he had all the riches of heaven, friends, he had all the glory of God, and yet he emptied himself of all of that, and he became null and void.
[8:58] SPEAKER_00: He became an ordinary man, and he became a servant, he became a slave for humanity.
[9:03] SPEAKER_00: He was a real man who looked like a real man, he didn't want round around the Middle East with a hero over his head, he didn't glow in appearance, he was just an ordinary man.
[9:14] SPEAKER_00: And Paul is saying, That man which you saw was equal with God, but he'd emptied himself of all of that, and not only became a man, he became a slave amongst us, serving us.
[9:28] SPEAKER_00: Now, if that isn't mind-boggling enough, look at what he says next when he says, And being found in the appearance of man, he humbled himself.
[9:36] SPEAKER_00: So that's the point of these verses.
[9:39] SPEAKER_00: He's humbling himself, but it didn't say he humbled himself when he went from God to being a man, it says he humbled himself, and it continues, and became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.
[9:52] SPEAKER_00: So becoming obedient is a description of his humbling of himself.
[9:56] SPEAKER_00: So now that he, as God, has become a man and he humbled himself by being obedient to death, and it was no ordinary death, it was death on a cross.
[10:07] SPEAKER_00: I think was when we sometimes think about the cross, it's so far removed from our experience, we have no real appreciation of what was involved there.
[10:17] SPEAKER_00: You see, the death on a cross was not just a simple, straightforward death, it was an extraordinarily cruel death.
[10:24] SPEAKER_00: Among the Jews, it was considered a curse.
[10:27] SPEAKER_00: Among the Romans, it was only a death fit for foreigners and slaves who were criminals.
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: It was not for ordinary Roman citizens.
[10:34] SPEAKER_00: Cicero said, and I quote, let the very name of the cross be far away, not only from the body of the Roman citizen, but even from his thoughts, his eyes, and his ears.
[10:44] SPEAKER_00: End of quote.
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: You see, the death on a cross was a disgraceful, humiliating, cruel, and painful death.
[10:52] SPEAKER_00: And you see, when Jesus died in the cross, he didn't die for himself, he died voluntarily that way for us.
[10:59] SPEAKER_00: That's the message here.
[11:01] SPEAKER_00: The verse I referred to a moment in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 says, Though he was rich for our sakes, he became poor that we might be made rich through his poverty.
[11:12] SPEAKER_00: The point is he died and he died voluntarily.
[11:15] SPEAKER_00: When Jesus Christ hung on the cross, he was there to pay for the sin of the world.
[11:20] SPEAKER_00: And this I say is the point of what Paul's trying to guide across in these verses in Philippians chapter two.
[11:27] SPEAKER_00: Now, yesterday in verse three, in the opening of this chapter, we heard him say, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves.
[11:42] SPEAKER_00: And Jesus Christ will clearly this is the supreme example of that.
[11:47] SPEAKER_00: It is the worst possible death to the best possible man.
[11:52] SPEAKER_00: He humbled himself and he did it for us.
[11:54] SPEAKER_00: So let this be in your mind, and like he says, the mind was also in Jesus Christ who humbled himself for others.
[12:03] SPEAKER_00: That, my friends, is a divine attitude.
[12:06] SPEAKER_00: It's way beyond just having a positive attitude, it's a godly attitude.
[12:12] SPEAKER_00: It's not just positive, it's saying I'm going to sacrifice myself for other people, because that is what Jesus did at the highest level.
[12:21] SPEAKER_00: That was his mindset, what he set his mind on, his purpose.
[12:26] SPEAKER_00: I think we've taken the cross and rather glamorized it.
[12:29] SPEAKER_00: We've beautified it.
[12:30] SPEAKER_00: Some people cover it with gold or plate it with silver and set it with stones.
[12:35] SPEAKER_00: We sometimes put it round our neck as a piece of jewelry, which in itself is nothing wrong with that.
[12:42] SPEAKER_00: But it can for some people have a danger of glamorizing the cross.
[12:46] SPEAKER_00: Let me remind you that the cross wasn't a beautiful thing.
[12:50] SPEAKER_00: It wasn't pleasant in any way, and the death of a cross was anything but beautiful.
[12:55] SPEAKER_00: It was brutal and painful.
[12:57] SPEAKER_00: And when Jesus Christ died for us on the cross, he died an excruciatingly painful death, and it endured.
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: It was a physical and mental humiliation that suffered for at least six hours, we're told.
[13:10] SPEAKER_00: And Paul is saying, Let this man be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus.
[13:15] SPEAKER_00: This man who humbled himself to become obedient to death, even death on the cross.
[13:20] SPEAKER_00: And he endured all of that for other people, not even for himself or because of himself.
[13:26] SPEAKER_00: And that is the ultimate example of the godly attitude.
[13:30] SPEAKER_00: Now I can imagine some of you hearing this and saying, Well, why would I want to do that?
[13:36] SPEAKER_00: I mean, this sounds awful.
[13:38] SPEAKER_00: It sounds like suffering.
[13:39] SPEAKER_00: This sounds like hurt and pain.
[13:41] SPEAKER_00: Why would you want to do a thing like that?
[13:43] SPEAKER_00: And what would happen if you really adopted this attitude in life?
[13:47] SPEAKER_00: Well, simply put, it is having a concern for other people and wanting to serve them.
[13:53] SPEAKER_00: And if necessary, sacrifice in our way.
[13:57] SPEAKER_00: Now, for us, it can mean sacrifice part of our time, part of our money for other people.
[14:02] SPEAKER_00: But what happens if we did that?
[14:04] SPEAKER_00: What would happen to your life if you really adopted that kind of lifestyle?
[14:08] SPEAKER_00: Well, let me tell you, it does, of course, have the potential to be personally painful at times.
[14:14] SPEAKER_00: But there is also a second point that Paul's making in this passage, which is very important to holding this thing in the correct balance.
[14:22] SPEAKER_00: The first thing he says is that Christ humbled himself, but the second in verse 9 says, So following that, God exalted him to the highest place.
[14:31] SPEAKER_00: And in verse 10, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
[14:37] SPEAKER_00: And in verse 11, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[14:44] SPEAKER_00: The first point Paul made in this passage is that Christ humbled himself.
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: The second is that God exalted him.
[14:51] SPEAKER_00: Now, Isaiah in his prophetic book has an extended passage in that book, a long book with a long passage on what is called the suffering servant.
[15:00] SPEAKER_00: And we know that that was none other than the Messiah being referred to then, who is the Messiah Jesus Christ, described here.
[15:08] SPEAKER_00: And in chapter 52 of that book, verse 13, Isaiah says, Behold my servant, which in the very next chapter Isaiah describes as the suffering servant, saying, He shall be exalted and extolled and be the most high.
[15:26] SPEAKER_00: So Philippians chapter 2 is saying that Jesus Christ here fulfilled that prediction and the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and he did that by humbling himself, and God exalted him for that.
[15:39] SPEAKER_00: And in the case of Jesus, that meant he would be resurrected from the dead and would ascend to on high.
[15:45] SPEAKER_00: But I just want to pause here for a second and explain that what was true for Jesus Christ, that which was specifically predicted in Isaiah and elsewhere, and specifically fulfilled in his life, is also a principle that applies to all of us who are in Christ, that any of us who know Christ and humble ourselves before God, God will raise us up also.
[16:09] SPEAKER_00: This is specifically promised to us in the New Testament, and this is really, really important.
[16:15] SPEAKER_00: James chapter 4, verse 10 says, Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he will lift you up.
[16:21] SPEAKER_00: Also let me bring as evidence 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 6, where Peter writes, Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time.
[16:32] SPEAKER_00: It is true of all God's servants, anyone who sacrifices or suffers in any way in his servants, and they continue to humbly submit themselves to God and express that humility in service of others, God's promise is that he will exalt them.
[16:50] SPEAKER_00: So God raised him up and God ascended him so that he now sits on the right hand of God the Father.
[16:56] SPEAKER_00: And in this passage in Philippians chapter 2, it's showing us that there are two results of God's exaltation of Jesus Christ that can apply to us.
[17:06] SPEAKER_00: The first is we're told that that the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven, on the earth, and unto the earth, and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[17:19] SPEAKER_00: Now, obviously, neither of those things have actually happened yet, for not every living creature in the universe clearly at this point bows their knee to Jesus Christ, and not everyone confesses with their tongue that he is Lord indeed.
[17:32] SPEAKER_00: But Paul is clearly saying that there is coming a day when this will happen.
[17:37] SPEAKER_00: Every knee will bow.
[17:38] SPEAKER_00: But verse ten also adds, of those in heaven's angels, those on earth, the humans, and those under the earth, which some say perhaps referred to the demons bound in chains in the bottomless pit of the dark abyss.
[17:54] SPEAKER_00: So what this is all saying is that there is a great coming together, a coming point, being that at some point everyone, every creature will bow in submission to the great sovereign Lord of the universe.
[18:08] SPEAKER_00: But it also says that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and do it to the glory of the Father.
[18:14] SPEAKER_00: Now, this has always intrigued me.
[18:17] SPEAKER_00: There is coming a time, it says, when everybody will bow and everyone will confess that he is God.
[18:24] SPEAKER_00: So what does that mean?
[18:25] SPEAKER_00: Well, let me be clear, I don't m I don't believe it means that everybody's going to be saved.
[18:31] SPEAKER_00: And that's the real tragedy that lies behind this declaration.
[18:35] SPEAKER_00: That those who have trusted in Jesus Christ will gladly bow the knee in submission, of course, and confess that he is God, and their confession will be an act of worship and praise, but there is also a bow, an act of submission to a sovereign king, that there are still going to be out people out there who will have to at least admit that he is Lord.
[18:57] SPEAKER_00: But the tragedy is for them is that it is too late because they didn't trust him in this life.
[19:03] SPEAKER_00: But this passage is telling us, along with other passages elsewhere, that there is a coming time when everybody is going to have to admit that Jesus Christ is God, and God is going to exalt those who knew and lived in that knowledge.
[19:17] SPEAKER_00: You see, the point of this passage, and we dare not miss it, is that he humbled himself and that as a result God exalted him.
[19:25] SPEAKER_00: And that is the point, and that is the principle of the prize not only to Christ, but to all of us who choose to follow him as well.
[19:34] SPEAKER_00: The act of incarnation was the infinite example of God condescending, literally, to come down.
[19:41] SPEAKER_00: This was God, the creator, becoming a man.
[19:45] SPEAKER_00: The creator becoming like the created creatures.
[19:48] SPEAKER_00: And what it led to, that act of humility, it led to the cross, the act of infinite humiliation.
[19:55] SPEAKER_00: The Lord of glory became obedient unto death, even death on the cross.
[19:59] SPEAKER_00: But the cross ultimately led to the crown.
[20:03] SPEAKER_00: He was equal with God, he emptied himself and became a man.
[20:07] SPEAKER_00: His condescension means he came down, he humbled himself by becoming obedient, even unto death, on death on the cross.
[20:14] SPEAKER_00: But that was his ultimate humiliation to die there, to die that way.
[20:19] SPEAKER_00: But now it says, Don't forget God has exalted him, glorification has taken place.
[20:26] SPEAKER_00: So the cross and the humility led to the crown.
[20:30] SPEAKER_00: And that's the principle that applies here and it applies to all of us.
[20:35] SPEAKER_00: As James and Peter have pointed out, if we humble ourselves before God, he will lift us up and he will exalt us in due time.
[20:42] SPEAKER_00: And if we just be about doing God's business of being humbly concerned for other people, then God will look after his business on earth and he'll also look after his business with us to see that we are exalted because of it.
[20:55] SPEAKER_00: So the point of this passage is believers ought to adopt the same mind as Christ, the same attitude of Christ.
[21:03] SPEAKER_00: If you will, you are adopting the mindset of the divine, of God Himself.
[21:10] SPEAKER_00: That, I say, my friends, is the divine attitude.
[21:14] SPEAKER_00: That is the godly attitude that all believers in Jesus Christ should have.
[21:18] SPEAKER_00: We need to humbly be concerned about others and to the point that we sacrifice ourselves for them in the name of Jesus Christ.
[21:29] SPEAKER_00: Now let me close by clarifying a couple of things.
[21:32] SPEAKER_00: Number one, I think that if you've adopted this divine attitude, it does not mean that you should deny who you are.
[21:40] SPEAKER_00: I think there's an idea afloat among some Christians that humility is some sort of debasing yourself around others.
[21:47] SPEAKER_00: But it isn't even remotely close to that, as I see it described in the New Testament, and it's certainly not what is going on here.
[21:54] SPEAKER_00: Now, if you humble yourself, the reality is you know exactly who you are, you know exactly.
[22:00] SPEAKER_00: What your abilities are and what your illimitations.
[22:02] SPEAKER_00: The key here is that you have a realistic view of yourself.
[22:06] SPEAKER_00: It is a biblical form of humility.
[22:08] SPEAKER_00: You see Jesus Christ, who was God, and you see the reality of who you are when you stand beside that.
[22:15] SPEAKER_00: He had every right to be God because he was.
[22:19] SPEAKER_00: He wasn't stealing the position, that's how it's described here.
[22:22] SPEAKER_00: He knew very well that he was God, and he chose to become an ordinary man and to humble himself, as it says, even to death on the cross.
[22:30] SPEAKER_00: So adopting the divine attitude of Jesus doesn't mean that you deny who you are.
[22:36] SPEAKER_00: You may now be well aware of who you really are for the first time.
[22:40] SPEAKER_00: He certainly knows who you are.
[22:42] SPEAKER_00: But let me also point out that does not mean that you will do as he did, that you will necessarily need to sacrifice who you are.
[22:50] SPEAKER_00: That was his attitude, and he wanted to do that.
[22:53] SPEAKER_00: He humbled himself and became obedient to death on the cross.
[22:57] SPEAKER_00: He voluntarily said, I will gladly sacrifice myself for the sin of the world, and we should at some level adopt his attitude and do the same.
[23:07] SPEAKER_00: Now in his book Knowing God, Jabe Packer dealt with this passage, and when he got to the end of it, he made a statement that I think captures it very well.
[23:16] SPEAKER_00: One of the best statements on this situation, I think, I've ever seen.
[23:20] SPEAKER_00: Now it's a rather long quotation, but it is said so well I'm going to risk reading it for you.
[23:25] SPEAKER_00: Dr.
[23:26] SPEAKER_00: Packer says this, and I quote, We see now what it meant for the Son of God to empty himself and become poor.
[23:33] SPEAKER_00: It meant a laying aside of his glory, a voluntary restraint of his power, an accepting of hardship, isolation, ill treatment, the malice of human beings towards him, and misunderstanding, and finally a death that involved such agony, spiritual even more than physical, that as a man nearly he broke under the prospect of it.
[23:54] SPEAKER_00: It meant love to the uttermost for the unlovely men and women who through his poverty might become rich.
[24:01] SPEAKER_00: The Christian message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity, there is hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, and hope of glory become, because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in the stable so that just thirty or so years later he might hang on a cross, and it is the most wonderful message the world will ever hear.
[24:22] SPEAKER_00: And then he continues there are many whose ambition in life seems limited to building a nice middle class Christian home and making nice middle class Christian friends and bringing up their children in nice middle class Christian ways and who live in the nice middle-class suburban sections of the community.
[24:42] SPEAKER_00: For Christians, the spirit is the spirit of those who should live like their master, live their whole lives on the principle of making themselves poor, spending and being spent of their own self and resources to enrich their fellow man, giving time, trouble, care, and concern to do good to others and not just their own friends and their own communities, but in whatever and wherever they see a need.
[25:29] SPEAKER_00: So I have one final point to make, and it's a very important one.
[25:33] SPEAKER_00: What he did, God highly exalted him for.
[25:37] SPEAKER_00: And when we follow his example and adopt his attitude, a godly attitude, I am saying to you that you too will be exalted by God one day.
[25:46] SPEAKER_00: Our cross also will lead to a crown.
[25:49] SPEAKER_00: We will also be lifted up in due time.
[25:52] SPEAKER_00: And I think that is wonderfully illustrated for us and is going to be in the rest of this chapter.
[25:58] SPEAKER_00: I think that when we humbly submit before God and serve other people, the promise is he will exalt us for that.
[26:05] SPEAKER_00: And at least part of that, part of that will reward will be in this life.
[26:10] SPEAKER_00: But I also say to you on the authority of not just the Apostle Paul, but not on the authority of James or Peter, but on the authority of none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
[26:22] SPEAKER_00: Paul implies this principle in Philippians chapter 2 here.
[26:26] SPEAKER_00: James stated it in chapter 4 of his letter, and Peter underlined this, will underline it for us in 1 Peter chapter 5.
[26:34] SPEAKER_00: But Jesus Christ himself is the one who ultimately said it.
[27:23] SPEAKER_00: Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you, to him who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other, and for him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either.
[27:34] SPEAKER_00: Give to everyone who asks of you, and from him who takes away from your goods, do not ask them back.
[27:41] SPEAKER_00: And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
[27:46] SPEAKER_00: But if you love those who love you, what credit is that for you?
[27:49] SPEAKER_00: For even sinners love those who love them.
[27:51] SPEAKER_00: And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you?
[27:55] SPEAKER_00: For even sinners do the same.
[27:57] SPEAKER_00: And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back with credit, what is that to you?
[28:03] SPEAKER_00: For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back.
[28:07] SPEAKER_00: But love your enemies, do good, and lend hoping for nothing in return, and your reward will be great.
[28:14] SPEAKER_00: The cross leads to a crown.
[28:17] SPEAKER_00: You live a loving life of humility and being concerned for others, and your reward will be great.
[28:25] SPEAKER_00: Hear me and hear me well.
[28:28] SPEAKER_00: That is the attitude all of us must have.
[28:31] SPEAKER_00: Not to the point of denying ourselves or being exploited by other people, but that is the attitude we must have towards these things.
[28:40] SPEAKER_00: But also, that will be the experience we will get.
[28:44] SPEAKER_00: Because remember, if you humble yourself and you live that kind of lifestyle with that kind of godly divine attitude, then that kind of attitude is the thing that brings you the kind of reward we've heard about today.
[28:59] SPEAKER_00: And that really is something we can look forward to.
[29:03] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for being with me today.

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