I greet all of you in the Blessed name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Our thanks for today's message is taken from Philippians 2 verse 3 to 4. allow me to read for you Philippians 2 verse 3. let nothing be done true Strife of in glory but in lowliness of Mind Let each esteem other better than themselves look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others the Lord blessed the reading of his holy and sacred word the Apostle Paul was speaking about the essential principles of spiritual Unity because this Unity was a potential Danger that could destroy the church in our previous message we have considered that if all these conditions stated in verse 1 were true then the following must apply if there be any consolation in Christ any comfort of love any Fellowship of the spirit if there be any powers and Mercies we all know that all these conditions are true therefore we must be United and fulfill one another's Joy be like-minded having the attitude of setting our minds on things above not on things of this world having the Same Love loving everyone equally with the agape love that is not subjected to preference or attraction be of one Accord United in spirit you and I may be different in many ways in our spiritual maturity and understanding but as far as God his word his work his gospel and his people are concerned we are united and we are of one mind today we want to focus on the second part of the essential principles of spiritual Unity there's a saying that goes something like this no one is better love by anyone than the individual himself the concern for each person for himself or herself is so rooted in the human nature that almost no one would argue against this statement the unbeliever naturally puts himself first other second and God lust but the Bible teaches us to reverse this series God must be first other second and we lost this principle is being taught throughout the scriptures for example Galatians 6 2 says bear ye one another's burdens and solve fulfill the law of Christ First Corinthians 9 19 says for though I be free from all men yet have I made myself servant unto all that I might gain them all Romans 12 verse 10 says be kindly affectionate one to another we brotherly love in honor preferring one another Romans 15 verse 1 says we then that are strong ought to help the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves this is the heart of our Christian conduct our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave himself for others and as followers of Christ we must follow his example and give ourselves for others too remember Jesus said in Matthew 25 25 to 40 for I was hungered and he gave me meat I was thirsty and he gave me drink I was a stranger and he took me in naked and he clothed me I was sick and he visited me I was in prison and he came unto me and when the disciples asked when did we do all these things to you Lord Jesus replied verily I say unto thee in as much as he have done unto one of this list of the burdened he have done it unto me for many people this is a very difficult command putting others before ourselves so sometimes we tend to have this mentality to push aside this command as if this is only one of a great number of things a Christian is expected to do therefore it is not very important we have to be mindful that no command is less important just because it is one in a large number of Commandments it is as if telling the truth on Monday is it important it is important it is just as important as telling the truth on every other day of the week here Paul was teaching the Philippians that in promoting spiritual Unity in the church there were three things they must do put off put on and look out this will be the three points in our message let's begin with verse 3. let nothing be done through strife and vain Glory in other words put off strife and then Glory the word strife has its root in self-will self will is always me and myself which inevitably will lead to quarrels fights and contentions a classic example is Lucifer we all are very familiar with who Lucifer is the angel of Light and he fell from heaven because he placed his own bill above God Isaiah 14 verse 12 to 15 says how are thou Fallen from Heaven o Lucifer son of the morning how are thou cut down to the ground which did weaken the Nations for thou has set in thy heart I will Ascend into the heavens I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also among the congregations in the sides of the north I will Ascend above the heights of the clouds and finally he said this I will be like the most high in other words I will be like God notice it is always I I and God said to him yet thou shall be brought down to Hell to the sights of the pit that was how Lucifer fell from heaven when he became so proud and plays his own will above that of God self-willed in a similar way Satan tried to Temp Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil we are very familiar with that account Satan said to them you shall not surely die if you eat of the fruit your eyes shall be opened and you shall be light gods knowing Good and Evil notice he used the same ammo it is always either I I hear he was teaching Adam and Eve you you you so when Adam and Eve Place their own Wills above that of God that was how they felt into sin ever since then self-will has always been the root of every other sins strife is always associated with personal and group rivalry people may quarter and fight individually or as a group that is why people would say are you for me or are you against me are you for my group or are you against my group often he carries the idea of building oneself up by tearing someone else down a good illustration would be gambling where one man's gain is derived from another man's loss Strife is a consuming and destructive sin and because this sin like every other sin begins in the sinful heart anyone can commit it regardless of whether there's this opportunity for it to be hourly manifested or not no church no believer is Exempted from the threat of this sin therefore even the most doctrinalists sound church or the most spiritually mature believer is not immune to this sin nothing can divide or weaken a church more quickly than strife we must be very careful about the sin of strife the second thing we must put off is vain Glory the literal meaning for vain Glory comes from two words which means empty Glory the difference between strife and vain glory is that Strife will pursue after personal goals while then Glory will pursue after personal Glory a person with vain Glory will always consider himself to be right and he expects others to agree with him let me give you an illustration take the Olympics for example all the participants would train hard almost a lifetime of diligent training intense training for what purpose just to achieve that moment of Glory why do they call it that moment of Glory because it is momentary it fades away very quickly One Life to Live and you live that one life for this purpose that moment of Glory is an advantage and empty likewise what about our lives what about our services when we serve the Lord in the various ministries of the church we work hard we serve diligently whether it be singing in the choir playing the piano teaching the children the Sunday School facilitate the Bible classes contribute to the refreshment If instead of bringing glory to God we glorify ourselves One Life to Live we live for that moment isn't it vain and empty there's only one person to whom all glory is due that is gone and whatever Glory that is due to him we rob it from him for ourselves it is vain Glory it is empty Glory we must never do that why do people fight quarter and divide why do people sabotage other people's Ministry why are churches divided to stress a point to have their opinions hurt to have their suggestions implemented to fight for their rights it's always about me and myself how I feel is that not true and when you win the quarter or the fight they feel as if they are victorious they live for that moment so to speak we are not referring to speaking the truth we ought to speak the truth even then we must speak the truth in love we are referring to striving and fighting over trivia matters non-essential matters things that have no consequence to the advancement of the Gospel with the saving of souls or with the glory of God we fight and fight strife and strife it is so empty and then the Apostle Paul says let nothing be done through strife and then Glory put off strife and vain Glory but not just put off these two things that are very destructive we need to put something on too this brings us to our second Point look at the second part of verse three but in lowliness of mine Let each esteem other better than themselves lowly lowliness of my means humility of mind in other words we put off strife and vain glory and we put on humility humility is the opposite of pride the very sin that separated Fallen man from God Christians must be humble it is expected of us in the Beatitudes our lord Jesus said this blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Matthew 5 3 the phrase poor in spirit is synonymous to the lowliness of mind which means if we truly belong to the kingdom of heaven if we are truly children of God then we must be humble and two verses later Jesus went on to say blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth Matthew 5 5. so it is an undeniable truth that Christians must be humble they are expected to be humble but why would a Christian be proud or rather what other things he would be proud of well he could be proud of his services his spiritual gifts his successes his ability to do certain things that others are not able to do so or perhaps his office as a pastor a preacher a deacon a fellowship leader and so forth Paul was an apostle and yet he said to the Elders of Ephesus in Acts 20 verse 18.
let me read for you Acts 20 verse 18. you know from the first day that I came into Asia after one manner I have been with you at all seasons serving the Lord with all humility and With Many Tears and temptations in other words the elders at Ephesus they had known Paul since the first day he stepped foot into Asia dead watch how he lived the entire time how he served the Lord and how did he serve the Lord with all humility With Many Tears and trials dear friends are you humble or are you proud a person can be actively engaged in the Lord's work and yet be proud deep in the recesses of that person's heart he may be thinking well I am certainly better than the rest I am definitely more talented than the rest I have more spiritual gifts than the rest I have been in the church since day one I've done this I've done that are you such a person do you know there is a warning in the Bible about people who are proud First Peter chapter 5 verse 5 to 6. for God resisteth the proud and give grace to the humble take a moment and consider this verse I think most of us are familiar with this verse do resist means to oppose to fight against can you imagine God is the one who will oppose you fight against you resist you if you are prone and if you are humble he promised to give grace to you if we believe this truth what must we do Peter went on to say humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may exhort you in due time so if we truly believe that our God who is Almighty all-powerful all-knowing and we are always in his presence he knows if we are proud and if we are proud he resist us our persons fight against us but he promised to give Grace to us if we are humble what must we do humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God sometimes it is a sad reality but it is true we see pastors preachers and other church leaders being removed from the ministry the moment that happens our first thought is the church must be in trouble it must be a problematic Church Troublesome Church the members must be the ones who created the problems if our God does not permit nobody can be removed has it ever crossed our minds that God could be the one who resisted he could be the one who opposed and removed why because of pride remember God knows what is in our hearts even in the deepest recesses of our hearts hourly we may appear to be humble righteous but the reality is that we are proud and not righteous but self-righteous God knows and he removes allow me to share with you a true life experience there was once a preacher who used to critique or rather criticize other pastors and preachers sermons and he will always use this phrase this pastor's preaching cannot make it all that preachers preaching cannot make it in other words according to him not good enough I was really tempted to tell him what about your preaching are you that good but I did not want to fall into the same sin so I would often tell him please stop saying that please stop saying that God is Not Bliss he did not stop true enough subsequently he was removed even till today I have not heard of him serving in any preaching capacity God knows do not play the food we've gone he said very clearly he will resist the proud but he will give Grace to the humble and if I can add all those people whom he has criticized that they are preaching cannot make it they are still serving as preachers can you see our God knows everything if the Believers have true humility they will not think highly of themselves but instead they were esteemed other better than themselves the word extreme is a verb that means more than just having an opinion it does not mean to pretend that others are better but truly and sincerely you believe that others are actually better that is the idea but how is that possible it's not easy to do that right humanly speaking it is our natural inclination to think more highly of ourselves than others how then can we achieve that one Theologian gave this explanation which I think by far is the best explanation allow me to quote him the way to approach this most difficult and seemingly impossible challenge to esteem others better than ourselves is to consider our own sins we know far more about our own hearts than about the hearts of anyone else recognizing the sinfulness of our hearts should then exclude any boastful self-assortation uncut remember what the Apostle Paul said about himself I am the list of all the apostles I'm the list of all the sins and Christ Jesus came into this world to save Sinners of whom I am chief which means I am the worst how was he able to do that well simply because his such his own heart dear friends we know our hearts better than anyone else and when we look into our own hearts how can we honestly think of ourselves in a proud way in fact the more we look into our hearts the Lesser we will complain about others the more we look into our hearts the less negative things we will say about others if I may put it this way the reason why we complain about others look down on others think negatively about others and have a holier than dark attitude is because we feel to search our own hearts this is a principle we must apply into our lives look into our hearts We Know Who We Are in our own sacred places we know ourselves and when we consider our own sinfulness by the grace of God we will then be humbled and then we will be able to esteem others better than ourselves can you imagine if everyone of us were to do that how wonderful the church would be every believer everyone in the church would examine his or her own heart and understand that we are truly unworthy and then be humbled and then we esteem others better than ourselves how wonderful but even if others were not want to do that they want to continue to be proud and then bask in their own Pride let them be accountable you and I obey this command and we humble ourselves why because we love God we want to glorify him with our lives we want to be accountable to him in the final analysis we will stand before the almighty God nothing can be hidden from him not just our actions not just the things we say even our hearts the motivations the intentions behind our actions will all be opened before him we want to be accountable so we put off strife and vain glory and we put on humility and esteem others better than ourselves and finally we look out for the interest of others verse 4 look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others it is not good enough to believe that others are better they are more important we must also look out for their interest the word look means to observe something and it carries the idea of giving close attention and special consideration here it does not mean that Christians are busy bodies it does not mean that Christians are to neglect their own things or the upkeeping of their own spiritual and physical well-beings Christians who do not take reasonable care for their own bodies whether physically or spiritually they will not be able to live or Minister effectively we are all responsible for our own things here the phrase on his own things refers to the personal interest in regards to the Lord as in serving the lord because the context is about spiritual Unity in the church so when you look at the church there are different programs and activities they are all equally important but the problem will arise when people seek to promote their own Ministry priorities at the expense of others as a result they will quarrel fight and then divide some people consider the EU Fellowship as more important than the children Ministry others feel the personal evangelism as of a higher priority than Home Care Group yet others may consider the food and refreshment ministry as more important than the flower arrangement Ministry simply because flowers are only there for us to see they cannot be eaten the possibilities for conflicts in the church are almost endless the list goes on and on when every man looks at his own things even in the things pertaining to services to the Lord's work it is so destructive the glory of God and the love for the Believers will be affected will be sacrificed dear friends soon we will have our dhw classes resumed by the grace of God but we are not here to compete whose class is bigger we are not here to compete which facilitator is better it's always good to have a Bible study and to have an honest discussion about spiritual things but sometimes we lend ourselves in serious debates why because our discussions are not conducted in a spirit of humility and there's no mutual respect we say we are speaking the truth we are defending the word but in actual fact we are defending our own personal agendas God forbids in a few months time we will have our annual congregational meeting whereby we will discuss the different ministries of the church how things are conducted how things are done and then how we can do things better again the same principle applies we say we raise up issues for what purpose for our own personal interest or are we looking out to the interest of others to the church at lunch for the spiritual benefits of the church God knows dear friends it is not by chance not coincidence that we have been brought to this church It Is by God's Providence I believe you love this church you love the people in this church you want them to grow spiritually you want your children to grow spiritually through all the Bible studies through all the resources we have in this church so that they will be spiritual serve and glorify the Lord but a divided Church cannot do that a divided Church cannot do that effectively what must we do put off strife and vain Glory and then put on this loneliness of mind that is humility extreme others better than ourselves consider our own sinfulness and then we will honestly be able to truly and sincerely esteem others better than ourselves and then look out for the interest of others why do we do that because of our God and for his glory there may be a time in the past whereby we have strife whereby we have been proud where we have served with vain Glory whereby we have esteemed ourselves better than others there may be a time whereby we have not looked out for the interests of others it is only about ourselves our families even in the ministry it is about our own Ministry now that we know the truth we repent may the Lord forgive us our God is faithful and just to forgive us of all our sins and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness if every one of us were to adopt this mentality God first always he comes first others second and me Plus then we will surely be a testimony to this unbelieving world if every one of us were to adopt this biblical and godly mentality taught by our lord Jesus himself then our church will be a beacon of light in these last days our almighty God will be glorified let us pray Father in heaven we thank you for this opportunity for us to consider these two verses the essential principles in spiritual Unity oh Lord help us to remember what we ought to put off strife and then Glory it is so vain and empty because it is only for that momentary Glory God forbids that we live our lives as such and we ought to put on the lowliness of mind that is humility and esteem others better than ourselves humanly speaking we know we cannot do that but through the Wonder working of thy spirit we will be able to search our own hearts recognize our own sinfulness and the more we look into our own hearts the less we will complain about others the less negative things we will say about others and the more we will esteem others better than ourselves and not only we put on but we also look out for the interest of others not only in our own things but in the things of others even as we serve together as a church we consider the ministries of our Brothers and Sisters in Christ we want them to flourish and prosper in their work we want them to grow spiritually or for thy Glory oh Lord help us that we have this Godly mentality that thou must come first in our lives and we put others second we ourselves lust and we put ourselves into thy hands for we know that thou knoweth all things thou has sent thou resisteth the proud but gives grace to the humble so we want to Humble ourselves knowing that thou will truly give us the grace to press on and persevere in our lives in the work of the ministry at every moment as we live our days on this Earth all for thy Glory this we pray in Jesus name amen
I greet all of you in the Blessed name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Our text for today's message is taken from Philippians 2:3-4. Allow me to read for you Philippians 2:3: 'Let nothing be done true Strife of in glory but in lowliness of Mind. Let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others.' The Lord blessed the reading of His holy and sacred word.
The Apostle Paul was speaking about the essential principles of spiritual Unity because this Unity was a potential Danger that could destroy the church. In our previous message, we have considered that if all these conditions stated in verse 1 were true, then the following must apply: 'If there be any consolation in Christ, any comfort of love, any Fellowship of the spirit, if there be any powers and Mercies.' We all know that all these conditions are true. Therefore, we must be United and fulfill one another's Joy, be like-minded, having the attitude of setting our minds on things above, not on things of this world, having the Same Love, loving everyone equally with the agape love that is not subjected to preference or attraction, be of one Accord, United in spirit. You and I may be different in many ways in our spiritual maturity and understanding, but as far as God, His word, His work, His gospel, and His people are concerned, we are united and we are of one mind.
Today, we want to focus on the second part of the essential principles of spiritual Unity. There's a saying that goes something like this: 'No one is better loved by anyone than the individual himself.' The concern for each person for himself or herself is so rooted in human nature that almost no one would argue against this statement. The unbeliever naturally puts himself first, others second, and God last. But the Bible teaches us to reverse this series: God must be first, others second, and we last.
This principle is being taught throughout the scriptures. For example, Galatians 6:2 says, 'Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.' First Corinthians 9:19 says, 'For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain them all.' Romans 12:10 says, 'Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another.' Romans 15:1 says, 'We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.' This is the heart of our Christian conduct.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave himself for others, and as followers of Christ, we must follow His example and give ourselves for others too. Remember, Jesus said in Matthew 25:25-40, 'For I was hungered and he gave me meat, I was thirsty and he gave me drink, I was a stranger and he took me in, naked and he clothed me, I was sick and he visited me, I was in prison and he came unto me.' And when the disciples asked, 'When did we do all these things to you, Lord?' Jesus replied, 'Verily I say unto thee, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.'
For many people, this is a very difficult command: putting others before ourselves. So sometimes we tend to have this mentality to push aside this command as if this is only one of a great number of things a Christian is expected to do; therefore, it is not very important. We have to be mindful that no command is less important just because it is one in a large number of Commandments. It is as if telling the truth on Monday is it important. It is important; it is just as important as telling the truth on every other day of the week.
Here Paul was teaching the Philippians that in promoting spiritual Unity in the church, there were three things they must do: put off, put on, and look out. This will be the three points in our message. Let's begin with verse 3: 'Let nothing be done through strife and vain Glory.' In other words, put off strife and then Glory.
The word strife has its root in self-will. Self-will is always me and myself, which inevitably will lead to quarrels, fights, and contentions. A classic example is Lucifer, whom we all are very familiar with. Lucifer was the angel of Light, and he fell from heaven because he placed his own will above God. Isaiah 14:12-15 says, 'How art thou fallen from Heaven, o Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the Nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will Ascend into the heavens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit also among the congregations in the sides of the north, I will Ascend above the heights of the clouds, and finally, he said, I will be like the most high.' In other words, 'I will be like God.' Notice it is always I, I, and God said to him, 'Yet thou shall be brought down to Hell, to the sights of the pit.' That was how Lucifer fell from heaven when he became so proud and placed his own will above that of God.
In a similar way, Satan tried to Temp Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. We are very familiar with that account. Satan said to them, 'You shall not surely die. If you eat of the fruit, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be like gods, knowing Good and Evil.' Notice he used the same ammo; it is always either I, I hear he was teaching Adam and Eve, you, you, you. So when Adam and Eve Place their own Wills above that of God, that was how they fell into sin. Ever since then, self-will has always been the root of every other sin. Strife is always associated with personal and group rivalry. People may quarter and fight individually or as a group. That is why people would say, 'Are you for me or are you against me? Are you for my group or are you against my group?' Often, it carries the idea of building oneself up by tearing someone else down. A good illustration would be gambling, where one man's gain is derived from another man's loss. Strife is a consuming and destructive sin, and because this sin, like every other sin, begins in the sinful heart, anyone can commit it, regardless of whether there's this opportunity for it to be hourly manifested or not. No church, no believer is Exempted from the threat of this sin. Therefore, even the most doctrinal sound church or the most spiritually mature believer is not immune to this sin. Nothing can divide or weaken a church more quickly than strife. We must be very careful about the sin of strife.
The second thing we must put off is vain glory. The literal meaning for vain glory comes from two words which means empty glory. The difference between strife and vain glory is that strife will pursue after personal goals while then glory will pursue after personal glory. A person with vain glory will always consider himself to be right and he expects others to agree with him. Let me give you an illustration. Take the Olympics for example. All the participants would train hard, almost a lifetime of diligent training, intense training for what purpose? Just to achieve that moment of glory. Why do they call it that moment of glory? Because it is momentary, it fades away very quickly. One life to live and you live that one life for this purpose, that moment of glory is an advantage and empty. Likewise, what about our lives? What about our services when we serve the Lord in the various ministries of the church? We work hard, we serve diligently, whether it be singing in the choir, playing the piano, teaching the children the Sunday School, facilitating the Bible classes, contributing to the refreshment. If instead of bringing glory to God we glorify ourselves, one life to live, we live for that moment, isn't it vain and empty? There's only one person to whom all glory is due, that is God, and whatever glory that is due to him we rob it from him for ourselves. It is vain glory, it is empty glory, we must never do that.
Why do people fight, quarrel, and divide? Why do people sabotage other people's ministry? Why are churches divided? To stress a point, to have their opinions hurt, to have their suggestions implemented, to fight for their rights, it's always about me and myself, how I feel. Is that not true? And when you win the quarrel or the fight, they feel as if they are victorious, they live for that moment, so to speak. We are not referring to speaking the truth. We ought to speak the truth. Even then, we must speak the truth in love. We are referring to striving and fighting over trivial matters, non-essential matters, things that have no consequence to the advancement of the Gospel, with the saving of souls, or with the glory of God. We fight and fight, strife and strife, it is so empty. And then the Apostle Paul says, "Let nothing be done through strife and then glory." Put off strife and vain glory. But not just put off these two things that are very destructive, we need to put something on too. This brings us to our second point. Look at the second part of verse three, "But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." Lowliness of mind means humility of mind. In other words, we put off strife and vain glory, and we put on humility. Humility is the opposite of pride, the very sin that separated fallen man from God. Christians must be humble, it is expected of us. In the Beatitudes, our Lord Jesus said this, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:3). The phrase "poor in spirit" is synonymous with the lowliness of mind, which means if we truly belong to the kingdom of heaven, if we are truly children of God, then we must be humble. And two verses later, Jesus went on to say, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5). So it is an undeniable truth that Christians must be humble, they are expected to be humble. But why would a Christian be proud? Or rather, what other things he would be proud of? Well, he could be proud of his services, his spiritual gifts, his successes, his ability to do certain things that others are not able to do, or perhaps his office as a pastor, a preacher, a deacon, a fellowship leader, and so forth. Paul was an apostle and yet he said to the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20 verse 18.
Let me read for you Acts 20 verse 18. "You know from the first day that I came into Asia, after one manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility, and with many tears, and temptations." In other words, the elders at Ephesus, they had known Paul since the first day he stepped foot into Asia. They watched how he lived the entire time, how he served the Lord. And how did he serve the Lord? With all humility, with many tears, and trials.
Dear friends, are you humble or are you proud? A person can be actively engaged in the Lord's work and yet be proud. Deep in the recesses of that person's heart, he may be thinking, "Well, I am certainly better than the rest. I am definitely more talented than the rest. I have more spiritual gifts than the rest. I have been in the church since day one, I've done this, I've done that." Are you such a person?
Do you know there is a warning in the Bible about people who are proud? First Peter chapter 5 verse 5 to 6. "For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble." Take a moment and consider this verse. I think most of us are familiar with this verse. To resist means to oppose, to fight against. Can you imagine, God is the one who will oppose you, fight against you, resist you if you are proud? And if you are humble, He promised to give grace to you. If we believe this truth, what must we do? Peter went on to say, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time."
So if we truly believe that our God, who is Almighty, all-powerful, all-knowing, and we are always in His presence, He knows if we are proud, and if we are proud, He resists us, opposes us, fights against us. But He promised to give grace to us if we are humble, what must we do? Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God.
Sometimes it is a sad reality, but it is true. We see pastors, preachers, and other church leaders being removed from the ministry. The moment that happens, our first thought is, "The church must be in trouble. It must be a problematic church, a troublesome church. The members must be the ones who created the problems." If our God does not permit, nobody can be removed. Has it ever crossed our minds that God could be the one who resisted, He could be the one who opposed and removed? Why? Because of pride. Remember, God knows what is in our hearts, even in the deepest recesses of our hearts.
Hourly, we may appear to be humble, righteous, but the reality is that we are proud and not righteous but self-righteous. God knows, and He removes. Allow me to share with you a true-life experience. There was once a preacher who used to critique or rather criticize other pastors and preachers' sermons, and he would always use this phrase, "This pastor's preaching cannot make it. That preacher's preaching cannot make it." In other words, according to him, not good enough. I was really tempted to tell him, "What about your preaching? Are you that good?" But I did not want to fall into the same sin. So, I would often tell him, "Please stop saying that. Please stop saying that God is not pleased." He did not stop. True enough, subsequently, he was removed. Even till today, I have not heard of him serving in any preaching capacity. God knows. Do not play the fool. We've gone through this very clearly. He will resist the proud, but He will give grace to the humble.
And if I can add, all those people whom he has criticized that their preaching cannot make it, they are still serving as preachers. Can you see? Our God knows everything. If the believers have true humility, they will not think highly of themselves, but instead, they will esteem others better than themselves. The word "esteem" is a verb that means more than just having an opinion. It does not mean to pretend that others are better, but truly and sincerely you believe that others are actually better. That is the idea.
But how is that possible? It's not easy to do that, right? Humanly speaking, it is our natural inclination to think more highly of ourselves than others. How then can we achieve that? One theologian gave this explanation, which I think by far is the best explanation. Allow me to quote him. "The way to approach this most difficult and seemingly impossible challenge to esteem others better than ourselves is to consider our own sins. We know far more about our own hearts than about the hearts of anyone else. Recognizing the sinfulness of our hearts should then exclude any boastful self-assertion."
Remember what the Apostle Paul said about himself? "I am the least of all the apostles, I am the least of all the saints. I am the chief of all the sinners. And Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." Which means, "I am the worst." How was he able to do that? Well, simply because he searched his own heart. Dear friends, we know our hearts better than anyone else. And when we look into our own hearts, how can we honestly think of ourselves in a proud way? In fact, the more we look into our hearts, the lesser we will complain about others; the more we look into our hearts, the less negative things we will say about others.
If I may put it this way, the reason why we complain about others, look down on others, think negatively about others, and have a holier-than-thou attitude is because we fail to search our own hearts. This is a principle we must apply into our lives. Look into our hearts. We know who we are. In our own secret places, we know ourselves. And when we consider our own sinfulness by the grace of God, we will then be humbled, and then we will be able to esteem others better than ourselves.
Can you imagine if everyone of us were to do that, how wonderful the church would be? Every believer, everyone in the church, would examine his or her own heart and understand that we are truly unworthy, and then be humbled, and then we esteem others better than ourselves. How wonderful! But even if others would not want to do that, they want to continue to be proud and then bask in their own pride, let them be accountable. You and I obey this command, and we humble ourselves. Why? Because we love God. We want to glorify Him with our lives. We want to be accountable to Him.
In the final analysis, we will stand before the Almighty God. Nothing can be hidden from Him. Not just our actions, not just the things we say, even our hearts, the motivations, the intentions behind our actions, will all be opened before Him. We want to be accountable. So we put off strife and vain glory, and we put on humility, and esteem others better than ourselves. And finally, we look out for the interest of others.
Verse 4, "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." It is not good enough to
believe that others are better, they are more important. We must also look out for their interest. The word "look" means to observe something, and it carries the idea of giving close attention and special consideration. Here, it does not mean that Christians are busybodies. It does not mean that Christians are to neglect their own things or the upkeep of their own spiritual and physical well-beings. Christians who do not take reasonable care for their own bodies, whether physically or spiritually, they will not be able to live or minister effectively. We are all responsible for our own things.
Here, the phrase "on his own things" refers to the personal interest in regards to the Lord, as in serving the Lord. Because the context is about spiritual unity in the church. So when you look at the church, there are different programs and activities, they are all equally important. But the problem will arise when people seek to promote their own ministry priorities at the expense of others. As a result, they will quarrel, fight, and then divide.
Some people consider the youth fellowship as more important than the children's ministry. Others feel the personal evangelism as of a higher priority than the home care group. Yet others may consider the food and refreshment ministry as more important than the flower arrangement ministry, simply because flowers are only there for us to see, they cannot be eaten. The possibilities for conflicts in the church are almost endless, the list goes on and on. When every man looks at his own things, even in the things pertaining to services to the Lord's work, it is so destructive. The glory of God and the love for the believers will be affected, will be sacrificed.
Dear friends, soon we will have our DHW classes resumed by the grace of God. But we are not here to compete, whose class is bigger. We are not here to compete, which facilitator is better. It's always good to have a Bible study and to have an honest discussion about spiritual things. But sometimes, we lend ourselves in serious debates. Why? Because our discussions are not conducted in a spirit of humility, and there's no mutual respect. We say we are speaking the truth, we are defending the word. But in actual fact, we are defending our own personal agendas. God forbids!
In a few months' time, we will have our annual congregational meeting whereby we will discuss the different ministries of the church, how things are conducted, how things are done, and then how we can do things better. Again, the same principle applies. We say we raise up issues for what purpose? For our own personal interest? Or are we looking out for the interests of others, to the church at large, for the spiritual benefits of the church? God knows.
Dear friends, it is not by chance, not coincidence, that we have been brought to this church. It is by God's providence. I believe you love this church, you love the people in this church. You want them to grow spiritually, you want your children to grow spiritually through all the Bible studies, through all the resources we have in this church, so that they will be spiritual, serve and glorify the Lord. But a divided church cannot do that. A divided church cannot do that effectively.
What must we do? Put off strife and vain glory, and then put on this lowliness of mind, that is humility, esteem others better than ourselves, consider our own sinfulness, and then we will honestly be able to truly and sincerely esteem others better than ourselves, and then look out for the interest of others. Why do we do that? Because of our God and for His glory.
There may be a time in the past whereby we have strife, whereby we have been proud, where we have served with vain glory, whereby we have esteemed ourselves better than others. There may be a time whereby we have not looked out for the interests of others. It is only about ourselves, our families, even in the ministry, it is about our own ministry. Now that we know the truth, we repent. May the Lord forgive us. Our God is faithful and just to forgive us of all our sins and cleanse us from all our unrighteousness.
If every one of us were to adopt this mentality, God first, always, He comes first, others second, and me last, then we will surely be a testimony to this unbelieving world. If every one of us were to adopt this biblical and godly mentality taught by our Lord Jesus Himself, then our church will be a beacon of light in these last days. Our Almighty God will be glorified.
Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this opportunity for us to consider these two verses, the essential principles in spiritual unity. Oh Lord, help us to remember what we ought to put off, strife, and then glory. It is so vain and empty because it is only for that momentary glory. God forbids that we live our lives as such. And we ought to put on the lowliness of mind, that is humility, and esteem others better than ourselves.
Humanly speaking, we know we cannot do that. But through the wonder-working of Thy Spirit, we will be able to search our own hearts, recognize our own sinfulness. And the more we look into our own hearts, the less we will complain about others, the less negative things we will say about others. And the more we will esteem others better than ourselves.
And not only we put on, but we also look out for the interest of others, not only in our own things, but in the things of others, even as we serve together as a church, we consider the ministries of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We want them to flourish and prosper in their work. We want them to grow spiritually. All for Thy glory, oh Lord.
Help us, that we have this godly mentality, that Thou must come first in our lives, and we put others second, and we ourselves last. And we put ourselves into Thy hands, for we know that Thou knowest all things. Thou hast said Thou resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. So we want to humble ourselves, knowing that Thou wilt truly give us the grace to press on and persevere in our lives, in the work of the ministry, at every moment, as we live our days on this Earth, all for Thy glory.
This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.