When God gets tired, that’s amazing.

Steve Brown:
When God gets tired, that’s amazing. I’ll explain, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Key Life is all about God’s radical grace. Grace that has dirt under its fingernails and laugh lines on its face. If you want the Bible to be a book of rules, you may want to stop listening now. But if you’re hungry for the truth that’ll make you free, welcome to Key Life.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. Hope you guys had a great week-end, and I hope your pastor’s sermon was as good as my pastor’s sermon. If you have a Bible and you’re in a place where you can open it, or on your device or whatever you use, we’re looking as a part of our study in the Book of Philippians, the first eleven verses of the second chapter of Philippians. And you need to know that that’s not only one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible, it is one of the most important passages in the entire Bible. And we’ll look at that as we study, and we’re going to spend maybe this week and next week talking about what’s going on in that particular passage. And I’ll tell you something, when we finish studying, we’re both going to feel like there’s more. And we only scratched the surface. But at any rate, let’s pray and then we’ll get down and study. Father, we come into your presence and we recognize that what you have revealed is so deep, and so amazing, and so incredible that we can’t get our arms around it. You are a great and good and sovereign God, bigger than we think, and bigger than we can think. Father, you know everybody who’s listening to this broadcast, you know the hard places and the soft places, the tears and the laughter, the success and the failure. Remind us that you’re sufficient and present and sovereign over everything that happens in our lives and teach us even when it hurts to praise you. And then, Father, as always, we pray for the one who teaches on this broadcast. Forgive him his sins, because there are many. We would see Jesus and him only. And we pray in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Alright, let me read the passage to you again, and we’ll be going to it for the next few days again. It’s Philippians 2:1 through 11, where Paul writes.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation of the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Don’t miss what Paul said at the beginning of that passage. It seems when you first read it, that’s a pretty arrogant, pretty self righteous thing to say. He says.

If there is any encouragement in Christ, incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection of sympathy. Complete my joy by agreeing with me.

Boy, when somebody says that, they’re either a nut, or they are so in love with Christ and walking with Him that they’re willing to be an example to others. That’s what we’re called to be. If there is any of those good things going on, then do it the way I do it. Now, immediately, when I say something like that, all you guys, and me too, are thinking that means don’t smoke, don’t drink, and don’t hang out with people who do. Be good and nice and obedient in all your ways. Obey all of the laws, and your witness will be pure, and you’ll win the world to Christ. Let me say with all the pastoral kindness that I can about that particular viewpoint, it’s from the pit of hell, and it smells like smoke, and if you believe it, you’re a fruitcake, cause you can’t do it. And Paul knew he couldn’t do it either. Paul said.

It is a saying worthy of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

And I’m going to be an example of somebody who is saved and is obedient and I’m going to be the chief of the leaders among you. He didn’t say that. He said.

And I am the chief of sinners.

That gave him authority, when you set aside your self righteousness because you’re not righteous enough to be self righteous and in fact just the opposite, then you can say, follow me, because I get it, because I understand. When you say with Martin Luther.

The essence of the Christian faith, is that we are great sinners and Jesus is a great Savior.

When you understand that, then with Paul, you can say this.

If there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being just like me.

That’s not arrogance, that’s true humility. That’s understanding what the gospel is all about. And frankly, folks, that is the basis of our unity. I don’t know about you, but I pray every day of my life for revival and awakening in America. I love church history and reading about the Great Awakening and George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards are two of my great heroes in the Christian faith. And I want to say, God, do it again. And then I had an experience of the Jesus Revolution. I was a pastor in the Boston area when that broke, and young people came in droves to our church, and God’s Spirit was moving across the land. And I would say, Oh, that is so good. And today I say, do it again. Do it again. Well, let me tell you, and by the way, there aren’t five steps to God doing it again. I mean, it’s not that if you pray enough, he’ll bring an awakening, or if you’ll be good enough, he’ll bring an awakening. God does as he pleases and he does it right well. But I ask and I yearn that He do it again. And there are a number of things that are at least visible when there’s an awakening. And one of them is the beginning of unity. We aren’t unified because we’re good, we’re unified because we’re not. We are not unified because we do it right, we are unified because we do it wrong. And I believe that as the gospel is preached and lived in the churches of our nation, as people recognize again that we are great sinners and Jesus is a great Savior. There will be a coming together of weird choices by God, and we will see an awakening. Let me say it again, because it’s really important. Unity must be present if there is awakening. And unity doesn’t come because of our goodness, but because we’re not. And that’s what Paul is saying in the first verses of this text that we’re studying during these days. He’s not saying, I’m a good person, be of the same mind. He’s saying, I am the chief of sinners saved, and I love Jesus with all my heart. Be of the same mind. And by the way, we ought to pray that we can say the same thing. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. That was Steve Brown resuming our unhurried tour through the Book of Philippians. Specifically examining Philippians 2:1 through 11. More to discover tomorrow, so be sure to join us. Well, I don’t know if this encourages you or bums you out, but there are now 43 days until the end of the year. It’s definitely a season of wrapping things up. And in that spirit, I’d like to remind you that our 2024 Key Life print magazine is still available. But only for a little while longer. This edition is bigger and better than ever with a redesigned format and featuring new articles from Steve, Chad West, Alex Early, and Kendra Fletcher. Claim your free copy right now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] and ask for the magazine. To mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of Key Life magazine. Oh, and one more free thing. Stop by keylife.org/magazines to explore our free digital magazine archive. And finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you support that work through your giving? You could charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950. And listen, if you can’t give, it’s all good. But please do pray for us, would you? Always appreciated. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.