FREE TO FAIL
Freedom Series #2
PHILIPPIANS 2:5-13
INTRODUCTION:
Some of you are reading your sermon notes with transitional lenses or Bi-focals. Inventor? Benjamin Franklin, age 79. The computer, copy machine as the presses that printed our bulletin were powered by electricity. One of the first harnessers? Ben Franklin, age 40. Some of you here might of attended or know someone who went to an Ivy League school. Founder? Ben Franklin, age 45. Some of you have been to a library this past week. Who established the first library in America? Ben Franklin, age 25. Most of us received mail this week. The father of the US Postal Service? Ben Franklin, age 31. Who started the first fire department, invented the lightning rod, and designed a heating stove? Yep.. Benjamin Franklin. Wit. Economist. Philosopher. Diplomat. Journalist. Printer. Linguist (spoke and wrote 5 languages fluently). He did all of this until the age of 84. And he had exactly 2 years of formal schooling!
Isn’t that incredible? Inspiring? Yes! But it is a little unsettling too. As Mark Twain once quipped, "Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example." I think I know what Twain meant. I mean, good examples can help us to work harder and reach higher, but they do have this one annoying trait. We are expected to try to emulate them. The problem with that, is they can’t help us. They have no power to enable us to achieve the same accomplishments. Benjamin Franklin’s success’ may inspire us, but they can’t empower us. There’s nothing available to make us the inventor or great thinker he was. Right?
Well, if all that is true, then why did Paul exhort us to follow Christ’s example? Phil. 2:5 "Have this same attitude as Christ Jesus.." Isn’t that impossible? Oh, some try but we all soon find out that our own perspiration and performance won’t cut it. Let me ask you- Are you always doing what pleases Jesus? Me either. Do you feel like you’re even improving? How do we handle the fact that compared to Christ we all fall far short of that goal? How do you cope when you fail, make mistakes, sin? Well, good news. The secret for how to handle our failure and imperfections is in the verses before us.
This passage in Phil 2 is thought to contain some of the most beautiful verses in all of Scripture. In fact, many scholars say that these verses were sung as a hymn in the early church. But these verses are not mere poetry, they are also practical. If we will follow Paul’s advice we will learn that we have been given freedom to fail and in understanding that concept from God’s perspective we can become more like Christ.
I. THE GOAL: PERFORM LIKE JESUS: Vss: 5-8
Paul begins by giving us an ideal, a goal, an example to follow and he gives us a specific area in which to emulate Jesus. We are to imitate His attitude. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus...” Circle the word attitude. Notice he doesn’t say “Your actions should be the same as Jesus.” Paul tells us to think like Jesus more than act like Jesus. One of our problems in trying to be like Jesus is that we spend a great deal of effort trying to imitate Jesus’ actions rather than His attitude. We say things like, "Now, ask yourself, what would Jesus do in this situation." Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not knocking trying to do what Jesus does but we need to grasp this principle: thinking right always precedes acting right. A right attitude is essential to right action. The imitation of Jesus does not primarily consist in trying to imagine and do the things which Jesus would do. It consists in seeking primarily to cultivate the spirit, the disposition, the attitude which He possessed.
Paul wants to drive that point home to us with the next thing He says about Him. Vs:6- "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." Paul says, "Jesus, is God, but He made Himself nothing, or emptied Himself." Now, this does not mean that He gave up being God. It means that He gave up His position, power, prestige. The word here has to do with laying aside a rank or privilege. So the attitude of Christ is most clearly seen in us when we do not demand our rights! But, we don’t like laying aside our rank or privileges do we?
A preacher one day was preaching on perfection and he asked the congregation, "Does anybody here claim to be or even claim to know another person beside Jesus Christ who is perfect?" To his surprise a man in the back stood up. The preacher said, "Sir, you can’t actually be standing up claiming to be perfect." "No," he said, "but I thought I’d better stand for my wife’s first husband." We all have trouble from time to time seeing our imperfections. So Paul says, "You imitate Jesus’ humble attitude. The fact is, Jesus gave up His position in heaven in order to become just like us.
But then Paul says, He also humbled Himself and "became obedient unto death - even death on the cross." There’s something He experienced, we didn’t: crucifixion. In fact, Jesus experienced this death so we wouldn’t! Jesus gave up what He was, so we could become what He is. His purpose for coming to this planet he said was to “seek and save the lost.”(Lk 19:10 NIV) Isaiah tells us the place where His purpose was fulfilled, where he paid for our sins was at the cross. What an attitude of humility. Jesus left his place in heaven to be born like us, live like us and even be tempted like us. Heb. 4:15- "Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!" (CEV) Jesus Christ went through everything that you and I go through. He experienced every temptation, sorrow, & joy, that you and I deal with on a daily basis. That means when I am tempted, He’s been through that trial. When I am lonely, He can relate. When I am filled with sorrow, He’s knows how I feel. Jesus, Paul says, Jesus became like a man and experienced what we experienced, yet without sin. And that, Paul says, is what we are to become.
II. STEP ONE: PUT HIM FIRST: vss: 9-11
But how? It’s clear what Paul says to do... be like Jesus, think like Him and in thinking like him, act like him. Easy to say right? We ask, “How can I be like Jesus when I am not perfect? How can I ever have the same attitude as Christ?”
Well, Paul answers the “how” in two steps. First, he says we need to evaluate what is first in our lives, what we really live for. You cannot begin to emulate someone or something without first deciding it is worth imitating. What is the most important thing to you in your life? If it is wealth then you will try and emulate the rich, if it is fame you will attempt to do what made others famous. Paul says that step one in becoming like Jesus is to put Him first. Jesus is our example because he put God, the Father ,first. “When Christ came into the world, he said to God, ‘Sacrifices and offerings are not what you want, but you have given me a body.’” “7Then Christ said,‘And so, my God, I have come to do what you want, your way...’”(Heb. 10:6 & 7 CEV) And just as Jesus put God first by leaving heaven to come to earth and dying according to their plan, we are to put him first, make Jesus Lord of our lives.
You see, there are many who call Jesus Savior, but when it actually comes down to allowing Him first place, He is not the director of their lives. We are to start by evaluating what is first in our lives. Two things I want you to see here.
Notice in vs:9 who does the exalting. "Therefore (who?) God exalted Him to the highest place.." Jesus’ life demonstrates this truth: When you give up your rights to God, in the end, you will have God as the defender of your rights. That is what happened with Jesus. He gave up His rights, He made Himself nothing, and in the end, God was His defender, giving Him back His rights. Oh, how we need to learn that lesson. We are so concerned on making sure that we are not mistreated, that we are not taken advantage of. We talk about "our rights" or "what is fair," instead of "God I trust you to ultimately make things right.” Listen to 1 Peter 2:23-"When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, (here it comes) He entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly." You want to be more like Christ? Here’s his attitude toward life: Stop fighting for your rights and simply do what God has asked, even if it means going to the cross, and place your trust in the One who judges justly. As one old preacher said, "When God saw what man had done to His Son, He said, "You have done your worst. Now I’m going to do my best." We, as Jesus, we are to live by the Biblical principle: "Those who humble themselves before God, will be exalted.” But it’s God who does the exalting, not you.
Notice also, the way Jesus is exalted. 9b says that He is given the name that is above every other name. In our day a name is merely a designation to distinguish one person from another. But in the ancient world, a name meant more than it does now. It was an index of character, it said something about who the person was. Just listen to the names of Jesus in the Bible: Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, Son of Man, Son of God. Immanuel, Christ, Messiah, Mighty God, Alpha & Omega, Everlasting to Everlasting, King of Kings. And now, because of His humble obedience He is given the name that is above every other name, Jesus Christ, the Lord. The name Lord, in the Greek, is not so much another description but a new focus. The Christ who was denied, betrayed, rejected and crucified is now the highest, the exalted Lord. That name puts our focus on His authority, power, dignity, and dominion.
V.10 tells us that at the name of Jesus we should bow and profess our allegiance to His Lordship. When we do that, God says, we can reap an eternal benefit. Romans 10:8-9- "This is the word of faith we are proclaiming. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." What exactly does it mean to call Jesus Lord? Well, it means, first of all, that you acknowledge that Jesus is God. You must believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, ruler of the universe. Even though you can’t see Him, because of the testimony of the Bible and the millions of lives that have been changed, you believe that Jesus deserves your utmost for His highest. Is that all? No, the book of James says, even the demons believe, and they respond by trembling. We must through faith, submit to His control. That means we give up trying to call the shots and say, "Jesus, what you’d have me do, I’ll do it. Even.. (get this) even, if it doesn’t make sense. You want me to repent? Try my best to live by Your Word rather than by my way? Alright. You want me to confess that you are my Lord? Say, with my mouth that I believe in You? In front of people? Okay. You want me dunked under water, baptized into Christ? Little strange, but no problem, You’re the boss, You’re my Lord." When we do that we are simply following Jesus’ example of putting God, the Father first. All our decisions, all our actions must be screened through His attitude. The first step is putting Him first, is making Him Lord of your life and why not? God has made Him Lord of all!
III. STEP TWO: PROGRESS IN HIS PLAN: vss:12-13
And that brings us to vss:12-13 and the second step. Circle the word "Therefore" in vs:12. That simply connects the acknowledgment that Jesus is Lord, that he is first in our life to the practical way we are to imitate him. You see “perfect” in terms of God’s expectation of us does not mean sinless - we can’t be sinless we’ve already blown that! But perfection when understood in the context of progression is possible. Let Odessa Texas’ Permian Cougars coach Gary Gaines explain it.
{Video Clip: Friday Night Lights - Start: Chp. 27: 1:28:51 - End: 1:30:39 = 2:48}
You see, Coach Gaines did not expect flawless play on the field but did expect a desire to be complete in their love for the game and for each other. In the same way God is not asking you to be sinless but rather to be “perfect” or complete in our striving for excellence - in our desire and endeavoring to think and thus be more like Jesus. How do we do that practically? Paul says two things here.
(1) He says in v:12- "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling.." Please notice that Paul does not say "work for your salvation," or "work toward your salvation." He says, "work out your salvation.." What does “work out” mean? Well, when you work out your body you train it don’t you? When you work out a problem you think through it right? God is asking you to apply the same principle spiritually. This is so important - Perfection is not the goal of the Christian, progress is! Listen to 2 Peter 1:4-8- “God made great and marvelous promises, so that his nature would become part of us...5Do your best to make progress in your faith. You can do this by adding goodness, understanding, 6self-control, patience, devotion to God, 7concern for others, and love. 8If you have these qualities and you are making progress in them, it demonstrates that your life in Jesus is living and productive.”(CEV)
Let’s make sure we understand what’s going on here. The only way to live with a perfect, holy God is to be perfect. Now, if that depends on me being sinless I’m done, no chance of getting to heaven. But the Bible teaches us that when we have a relationship with Jesus we are made perfect or righteous. In that moment it’s as if God sees me, not as Tim Smith but as Jesus. Listen to these passages: “Christ never sinned! But God treated him as a sinner, (on the cross) so that Christ could make us acceptable to God.”( 2 Cor. 5:21 CEV) “ It is through faith that all of you are God’s children in union with Christ Jesus. 27You were baptized into union with Christ, and now you are clothed, so to speak, with the life of Christ himself.”(Gal. 3:25-26 TEV) You see, when you put your faith in Jesus, then His right life if given to you! Since he’s given you His righteousness you can live a confident, Christian life.
Did you know that during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge in S.F. that during the first half of the construction 23 men fell to their deaths in the waters below. It was so dangerous that they stopped construction. Then they built a huge net under the bridge at a cost of $100,000, so if anyone did fall they would not be hurt. During the second half of the construction only 8 men fell and of course, none of them died. But here’s the amazing thing.. during the last half of construction the work proceeded at 25% greater efficiency. Having the net under them didn’t make them more careless it made them more confident & more efficient. You see, working out your salvation means that you train, you make it the best you can be since you already have it! And what a freedom and confidence there is when we comprehend that truth.
Now, someone might say. “Tim, okay, I understand the “work out” your salvation part - that we are to be making progress but why does Paul say to do that with “fear and trembling”? Most scholars agree that the “fear and trembling” here refer to the environment that you are working out your salvation in. In other words, as you train, as you progress in your Christian life, you do so with the utmost respect that this world and our enemy Satan wants to pull you away from God and with the utmost responsibility knowing it is what your Lord wants of you. J.B. Philipps translated this verse this way: “... work out the salvation that God has given you with a proper awe and responsibility.” So, the first practical step is to understand that because of your relationship with Jesus you desire and are progressing in your faith, “working out” your salvation.
(2) And the second part of how you do this is found in vs:13 - let’s read this together. "...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." This is what we’ve been waiting for. God is saying, "You don’t have to do this by yourself, I’ll help.”Now, how does God do that? Let me mention three resources very briefly as we close.
(1) The Bible. Write this scripture in your margin: 2 Tim. 3:16-17. (On screen) That tells us that the Bible is all we need for salvation and for growing in Christ. It says that the Bible is "useful for teaching, telling us what’s right & what’s wrong; "rebuking," The Bible will reprimand your spirit. Ever sat and listened to a sermon and felt like the preacher had read your mail, bugged your house? "..correcting" The Bible doesn’t just knock you over the head, it tells you how to get back on track, and then finally,’training in righteousness.." A consistent study of the Bible will be your manual for change, for making progress. I’ll be real straight with you. Some of you are not progressing like you would like to because you are not studying His Word! God has said that His Word is living, it is active. The Psalmist says it gives life. Get yourself a readable translation and spend 15 minutes a day reading. I guarantee it will change and help you. If you don’t have a Bible, we’ll give one to you, that’s how much we believe in taking advantage of this resource.
(2) Resource is the Holy Spirit. When you come to Christ one of the blessings He promises is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38 -"Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." One of the resources God provides is the Holy Spirit who will comfort, convict and guide you, IF... here’s our choice.. If we will submit to His leading in our lives. The bible teaches us we can resist, ignore and even grieve the spirit. But it also teaches us that if we submit to the Spirit’s leading He will help us pray, guide our decisions and prick out hearts when needed.
(3) resource is circumstances. Sometimes God uses this resource when the other two won’t work. Prov. 20:30- "Sometimes it takes a painful situation to make us change our ways." (GN)(repeat) How many here are living proof of that verse? Sometimes it is only when we get knocked down that we look up. You know what I’ve learned in my life? I don’t change to quickly when I see the light, but I always change when I feel the heat. Now, we are going to spend next week talking about how we respond to circumstances. Either we are grumblers or grateful.. But let me say this.. the way you handle circumstances goes a long way in demonstrating how much you are progressing in your relationship with the Lord.
How gratifying it is to know that I am free to fail. Oh, I don’t mean that you use failing as license to disobey but rather that you know that Jesus is walking beside you in this journey and when you fall he’s there to pick you up, dust you off and say, “Come on, don’t stay down, let’s keep walking together.”
Max Lucado tells of a friend of his who teaches under-privileged children in an inner city church. Her class is a group of 9 year olds who love life and aren’t afraid of God. There is one exception though, a timid girl named Barbara. She lives in a home that has left her afraid and insecure. For weeks the teacher taught, but Barbara never spoke. Never. While the other girls sang, she looked at the floor. Always present. Always listening. Always speechless. Until one day the teacher gave a lesson on heaven. She talked about seeing God. She talked about a loving Savior who had died so that all might go to a place where there were tearless eyes and deathless lives. Barbara was fascinated. She wouldn’t release the teacher from her stare. She listened and then she did what she had never done, she raised her hand to ask a question. Stunned, the teacher, said, "Yes, Barbara?" And with tear filled eyes she asked, "Is heaven for girls like me?"
Oh, yes, Barbara, heaven is for girls like you, because it’s for men like me. Heaven, is for you too. It is provided by One who through unsurpassed love, emptied Himself and became obedient to the cross, becoming like us so that we could become like Him.. cleansed by His blood. And now, no matter what mistakes you’ve made, how many times you’ve messed up, you can be free, even to fail because you have the freedom to love and submit to Him, making Jesus the Lord of your life and He’ll help you every step of the way. And that has got to make you smile!
