Preaching From Philippians #5

It gives us a picture of the humility of Christ like we have never seen before. If the church today is ever going to accomplish anything for the Lord, we are going to have to know and possess the humility of Christ.

Illus: Some of the New Testament Christians caught this vision. The attitude of John the Baptist should be the attitude of every believer. John had become influential in Palestine, but after he baptized Jesus, the people began to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. When he was questioned about this, John said, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

This is the age in which folks walk around bragging about all kinds of things.

Illus: A Texan was bragging to an Englishman about how big Texas was. The Texan said, "Why you could get on a train in east Texas on Monday morning, head due west all day Monday, continue overnight, and still be in Texas at sunset Tuesday," The Englishman said, “You could do the same in England. British trains are just as slow.”

Illus: Yesterday in the middle of the service the back door of the church flew open and in walked one of the biggest, meanest black bears that I have ever seen. He was standing on his hind legs, growling and snarling and threatening everybody. The women were screaming, the children were crying and the men were throwing hymn books that only made the bear madder. Then, from nowhere there came this little tiny dog about the size of a Chihuahua and it barked, growled, and nipped at the feet of that bear and ran him right out of the church.

Now my brother, do you believe that story? The man answered, “Well of course I do, that was MY dog!”

Most of the bragging people do is about how great they are.

Illus: A Kentucky woman boasted to a Texan that there was so much gold in Fort Knox that you could build a wall of solid gold 10 feet high all around Texas. The Texan answered, "Well you just go ahead and build it, little lady, and if I like it, I will buy it."

Illus: Many today make you think of some of these professional wrestlers or boxers on television, grabbing a microphone and telling everyone, “I am the greatest!”

We need more Christians today that are yelling, “He must increase but I must decrease!”

We can never become like Him, UNTIL WE BECOME LIKE HIM!

WHAT WAS HE LIKE? He was the greatest individual to ever walk the face of the earth, but He was so full of humility that many had a hard time believing that HE WAS THE SON OF GOD!

IF He had come as a mighty King riding a White Horse from heaven, they would not have had a hard time believing He was the Son of God! But instead, He came as a helpless baby, depending upon mankind and living a humble life among mankind.

HOW CAN WE EVER BECOME LIKE THE HUMBLE SAVIOR WHO DIED FOR OUR SINS?

This passage of scripture reveals to us what we must do. I would like to show you TWO things from this wonderful passage of scripture. We need to consider -

I. THE EXAMPLE OF JESUS

Look at Philippians 2:5, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.”

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE THE MIND OF CHRIST? Our mind controls everything about us. It controls our every movement and our every deed.

Illus: In 1929, a German scientist by that name of Hans Berger discovered that there is electrical activity in the brain.

(Humor: What he did not discover though, is that some seem to run on 220 volts while others are running on about 110. Just kidding!)

His discovery revealed for the first time in history that doctors could look at what was going on inside the brain. We now have many modern machines which allow even a closer look at the brain, things like the EEG, CAT scans and brain scans.

Doctors can not tell what a person is thinking with these machines, but they can tell a great deal about the function of the brain.

Listen, I hope they never will be able to invent a machine that reveals our thoughts. WOULDN’T THAT BE TERRIBLE?

• Can’t you imagine the divorces that would cause

• Can’t you imagine the fights that would cause

• Can’t you imagine the murders that would cause

I repeat, I hope they never invent a machine so doctors or anyone else can look into our minds and tell what we are thinking. THAT NEEDS TO BE LEFT ALONE!

But suppose they did have a machine that they could hook us up to and look into our minds. What would they discover?