The Whole Body, Part 3: The Eyes

Well this morning we continue on with this series we've begun now for the past two weeks the series of the body ideas the whole body getting our

Minds around what it means to be a sound a healthy a mature a perfect body

Growing up in all things into him who is the head as we looked at last week when we began

The anatomy of a healthy body proper and all of our unity all of our health is bound up with him

Who is our head? We are the body of Christ joined together as members in him by him by his spirit having a commonality being bound up together in this calling in this hope of glory and this is in part why we're

Beginning from the top at the head and we're gonna slowly kind of work our way down again skipping some digits and ligaments some some organs, but Generally looking at different aspects of what it means to be a whole body a healthier a mature church body

Again, just to pick up that language of Ephesians for the the goal here is that across these several weeks?

We will grow up in all things into him who is the head Christ from whom the whole body

Joined and knit together by what every joint supplies According to the effective working by which every part does its share

Causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love So we began with the head last week.

That was part two and then here part three this morning. We're looking at the eyes When I talk about the eyes or the sight of our body,

I'm mainly focusing on our regard The things that we regard or maybe within that we could talk about our attention

What we're looking at what we're focusing on the things that we notice What does it mean for our body to have healthy eyes sound eyes?

How do we have a regard for the things of the Lord and for one another that is mature?

How do we have attention on the right things in the right order? How can we have an outlook and a focus in a way that corresponds to this desire to grow up into all things into Christ?

Well the point I'll be making throughout this sermon this morning and we'll we'll of course foot stomp it toward the end is this

We cannot regard each other rightly without regarding the things of Christ It's a very simple point, but I hope

I can establish it. Well, we cannot regard each other rightly Without regarding the things of Christ again regarding being the idea of seeing beholding focusing on noticing

That's all contained within this idea of the eyes and the passage I want to use to get us there is

Philippians chapter 2 verses 1 through 4 I think two things are held out to us here between verses 1 and 2 and verses 3 and 4

So Philippians 2 beginning in verse 1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the

Spirit if any affection and mercy Paul says fulfill my joy by being like minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit But in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.

Let each of you look out Not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others

And Again, we cannot regard each other rightly unless we regard the things of Christ or to put it in this idea of looking out

Toward one another we can only look out for one another if we're looking at the things of Christ That's how we hold together these four verses what we look at will determine why we look out

That's all we're looking at this morning. Our eyes are our regard There was no pun intended eyes on the things of Christ means eyes on one another

Eyes on the things of Christ is verses 1 & 2 eyes on one another is verses 3 & 4

We cannot regard each other rightly without first regarding the things of Christ So let's look at each of these statements these if conditional statements in verses 1 & 2

In Greek when you have a conditional sentence, it can imply you can construct it in a way Grammatically to imply either a negative answer or a positive answer and all of these conditional sentences are structured in a way that expect a

Positive answer so he's not saying if as a shot in the dark I hope there is he's not saying if as if there's not he's saying if and the answer to that is yes

There is if there's any consolation in Christ. Yes, there is if there's any comfort of love

Yes, there is if there's any fellowship of the Spirit. Yes, there is if there's any affection and mercy

Yes, there is Before we even get into these verses you see what

Paul's doing He does this methodically throughout his letters He's always pointing to some good gospel grounding truth before he gives exhortation before he gives admonishment

Before he gives rebuke before he gives practical instruction He's often we put it this way

He's often giving what's true the indicative before he gives what ought to be done the imperative or the command

And here we see that he said he's describing The things that we have in common as a result of the

Lord working in and through us Each of these four statements that we'll look at this is all

Wrought out by the presence and grace of God in Christ by his spirit these things are at work effectively in us and since that's true

Paul says if you have these things if you're Regarding these things if you're seeing these things then you'll be able to do verses 3 & 4.

We're gonna hold that all together The first if is this the consolation we have in Christ that word consolation we don't use it very commonly

Another translation could be the comfort we have in Christ when you console someone who's grieving or mourning and he says there's a consolation that we have in Christ a

Comfort that comes from him that we share in because we belong to him. We're consoled.

We're comforted We're we're helped in Christ When there's deeper shades of meaning attached to this word, it goes a little bit more than the comfort we have in Christ It's also the comfort who is

Christ Christ is our consolation. He's the consolation of Israel Christ sends his spirit to dwell within us.

What's the spirit identified as the comforter? That's Christ's sending one who will comfort his people

It's his comfort his spirit the spirit of the Lord And so the idea is

Christ himself is the consolation listen to how Charles Spurgeon puts it It's the spirits business to cheer the hearts of God's people he consoles us, of course

He convinces us of sin of course he illuminates and instructs us but still the main part of his business lies in making glad the hearts of the redeemed and Bearing up the weak and lifting up the spirits of those who are bowed down Now mark you as the

Holy Spirit is the comforter Christ is the comfort the Holy Spirit consoles But Christ is the consolation

That's exactly right The Holy Spirit's work is is not in a glass jar separate from the work of Christ every act of God is a triune act and so that the comforter the comfort that he brings is the very presence and hope of Christ himself as Willed by the

Father as accomplished by the Son as applied by the Spirit The comforter dwells within us and he draws us to the one who is our comfort all of our hope and stay to Christ himself

Who bears us up to the Father? We see his love his goodwill toward us in Christ by the

Spirit you see there's this cascade from the Father through the Son by the Spirit to us and From us through the

Spirit to the Son unto the Father And you see this glorious picture Sometimes this consolation could be translated in other translations of persuasion

There's any persuasion in Christ In other words, this is a comfort that draws

It's a comforter that if we could use human human figures, it puts an arm around and says come come

Let's reason together. Come come come this way. Come come keep going in this direction There's a persuasion that's taking place if there's any persuasion in Christ Anything about the person or the work or the relationship we have to him.

That's a persuasiveness F .B. Meyer carries this out so well He says

Jesus Christ is interested in every church fellowship But we do not always realize how much he is doing to persuade us to maintain it

Have there not been times in your life when you've been greatly incensed in other words greatly offended greatly upset by something

But you find this still small voice speaking within your heart a gentle Influence coming over you a yearning towards a brother or a sister about whom you had been cherishing some hard or unkind feelings

What is that? It is the persuasiveness of Christ There's any persuasion from Christ any comfort any consolation

And you see that carried out in the second statement if there's any comfort of love. This is almost synonymous with consolation

There's a comfort that's actually the comfort of affection. That is Christ's affection for us

That becomes part of our affection toward one another. It's the love of Christ born out to others who love

Christ. I Love Christ and I love others who love Christ. I love Christ and I love others because I love

Christ and he loves them It's impossible To love with a fervent love the bridegroom but to hate the bride it's just not possible and So this affection this this consolation this persuasion

It's a comfort of love if anything This could be viewed like an incentive Paul is holding it out if there's any leaning from love if there's any

Gain to be had in love any encouragement from love And this is a love again that is

Christ's love at work effectively in us thirdly a fellowship in the spirit

You remember in in times past we've talked about this word fellowship it's almost always emptied of its meaning

We think of fellowship as the mere gathering But but I would say Fellowship is not something that worldlings can mimic not the fellowship that we're describing here

It's not a mere gathering you don't fellowship with relatives at your annual cookout You don't fellowship at the

Elks Club or fellowship at the bowling alley fellowship is not just a mere gathering fellowship is a partaking a participation in the purpose of God a

Fellowship is a joint venture Fellowship is a gathering toward a specific end toward a common goal

Partnership is helpful. But the idea is more Participation we have a fellowship as Christians in the

Holy Spirit He's the one that's united us. He's the one that's given us a common purpose a common destiny a common goal

He's given us gifts Not just his presence but gifts to carry out that common purpose and so Paul's again holding this out as an incentive if we are partakers of this work of the

Spirit if We have joined together in him unto his purpose You can't escape this picture

It's all held together the the comforter the consolation the love the fellowship. This is all wrought out by the

Spirit of Christ And this is all of our unity all of our oneness This is why

Paul says in Ephesians 4 that Christians are to endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in The bond of peace he says there's one body and one spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling

So the Spirit manifests our fellowship the Spirit Unites our hearts in faith the

Spirit prompts our walks toward that vision in that glory It all comes from the

Holy Spirit indwelling his people He does this of course individually 1st

Corinthians 6 can speak of the individual This is a reason you're not to join your members to a harlot in the context of 1st

Corinthians 6 because your body is a temple Of the Holy Spirit there's something individual about that.

I think that's a it's a right application But there's also something corporate 1st Corinthians 3 16

Do you not know that all y 'all are the temple of God and the Spirit dwells in you? There's a corporate dimension to being indwelt by the

Spirit Vulcan say we've been baptized into one spirit. We all drink of one spirit

In other words there there is a bond There is a fellowship of the Spirit that is actually the source of all of our unity of all of our growth into him

Who is our head? And so we participate with the Spirit this means as not only as individuals

But as a church we seek not to grieve the Holy Spirit We seek not to quench the

Holy Spirit we dare not provoke the Spirit lest Ichabod be cast over our fellowship.

Do you see? You keep in step with the Spirit as the people of God not just as individuals day by day throughout your week

But as a church as a gathered body we must endeavor to keep in step with the

Spirit It's the same thing that Paul is saying endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit It's the

Spirit's unity, but you need to endeavor to keep it you need to keep in step with it You need to repent where he presses conviction you need to obey where he presses illumination

You need to bend and to submit where he exalts God's Word in a way that puts a certain calling or direction upon your life

This is what we have to do individually as well as corporately So the condition here is a realization that we are participating in the

Spirit as the Spirit leads and prompts directs gifts grows This compels us a certain regard and view not only for the things of Christ But also a certain regard and look at one another it's what we look at that determines how we look out

And then the fourth conditional statement here is affection and mercy. There's any affection. There's any mercy

It almost goes without saying that if you have these other three things in place You're going to have affection and mercy if you have fellowship in the

Spirit if you have the comfort of his love if you have the Consolation of Christ you're going to have affection and mercy these things will flow our motivation begins with this affection out of the mercy that we receive from God and when we have received the

Affection of God in Christ when we have been bestowed upon by his mercy.

We then turn to others in mercy Mercy received is mercy shown

Love received as love shown It's not possible to truly understand

God's mercy if we don't Replicate it in a myriad of small ways to others again

The one who has understood his debt rightly could never grab someone by their collar and demand pay me what you owe

He's not understood the first thing about mercy the one who understands mercy

Dwells in a certain lowliness of mind That's exactly where Paul's going in verses three and four.

And so this idea of a constant rich Deepening love for the things of Christ and for one another all has its wellspring in the love and deepening mercy of God in Christ unto us

As we were saying even Last week the Bible does not say that we have to like each other

Grin and bear it and just get the job done. The Bible says we have to love one another

We have to be very careful how we define that love it should be biblically defined we should not allow worldly Definitions or worldly examples to impinge upon what scripture would define love as being as what love looks like The the church here at Philippi would have already had this established just by how

Paul relayed his own experience to them at the very Beginning of the letter. He says you're in my heart

You're in my heart God is my witness how greatly

I long for you with all the affection of Jesus Christ He says

I long for you. God is my witness. I long for you You could put it this way.

Paul is lovesick for the brothers and sisters of this congregation. I yearn he says

My affection is kindled I'm praying for you constantly you're in my heart everywhere

I turn I see you I'm yearning for you Where is that coming from? Is that the

Paul that we knew on the road to Damascus? that's a result of Christ saving

Paul of Christ drawing Paul into his own presence of of Christ teaching

Paul of his person of his perfection of his work of redemption and Paul Receiving this being saturated with these gospel truths begins to have the same

Christlike love toward the body of Christ He says just like Christ could say you're in my very heart

You're the apple of my very eye. I long for you. I yearn for you That's the goal that Paul holds out to this church.

That's the goal that the Lord would hold out to every church we're gonna have this this fervent love one for another and not settle for less as Though God would settle for less

He wants us to grow up into him in all things that includes his own affection and love for mercy

And so that's the goal That's a goal. That's not possible. If we're striving in the flesh. That's not a goal.

That's possible with carnal wisdom That's not a goal that's accomplishable if we're thinking earthly thoughts or looking at each other in earthly ways

That is something that comes from the very Spirit of God himself. It's a supernatural love It's a love from above These are the conditions that Paul lays out again.

Yes You have this consolation in Christ Yes, you have this comfort of his own love.

Yes, you have this Participation this fellowship in the very Spirit of God and yes

You've received and are being stirred by God's own affection and mercy If you have any of this

Paul's logic is then be like -minded Fulfill my joy have that same kind of love be of one accord

Paul takes all of those gospel givens and he turns it toward the unity of the body

Why is Paul longing for them? This is why he uses this language fulfill my joy I'm not fully able to rejoice yet because you're not fully united in these things

I'm not fully able to enjoy what is lacking in the body

I'll be able to fully rejoice when I see you having that same love and being of one accord

So Paul says fulfill my joy. I'm yearning for that joy to be fulfilled. Oh He says how

I want to see the wholeness of the body of Christ That's his outlook.

That's how he's looking at others in the church. That's his eyes And he wants the church to have that same sight that same attention that same focus

So he says in verses three and four, here's how you'll do it. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in lowliness of mind

Let each esteem others better than himself Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interest of others

What is Paul saying must be done in a phrase?

Self -denial Self -denial Let nothing be done through selfish ambition rather than having a selfish ambition deny yourself

Let it not be out of conceit rather than prizing and swelling up in your pride

Deny yourself empty yourself even as Christ emptied himself in lowliness of mind not in height not in this sort of a

Strutting around like some proud peacock. I remember going to a

Sort of a little zoo. It wasn't a full zoo It was more of like an animal animal rescue shelter and they rescued a number of peacocks whose tails had been

Chopped in order to probably make souvenirs or who knows what and and so these poor birds very majestic birds

They were strutting around Perhaps unaware they didn't have that beautiful spread of tail feathers, but they were still very proud

So they're sort of puffing out their chest and strutting by and then these little stubs Would slowly spread and rattle and it was a very pathetic sight and it's just a picture to me

This is what we look like when we're strutting around in our pride There ought to be something glorious that we could boast in but there's not we just have little

You know stumpy feathers and things misgrown and little pieces of bone sticking out

No, it's self -denial and lowliness of mind Think of others higher than yourself esteem others better Let each of you look out not only for his own interest in other words not only look out for self

But look at the interests of others. So don't just look at self look at others

Don't just esteem self deny self so that you can esteem others in a phrase

Self -denial is what Paul's getting at. It cuts against our natural orientation as human beings toward ourselves

If you if you have a toddler Or have had a toddler You know exactly what we're getting at here

We're born into this world and we think the world is ours and the world revolves around me It's a hard life lesson to learn the world does not revolve around you

When you're three when you're four when you're five It does seem like the world revolves around you mom and dad Do everything just to get you through the day

It seems like everything is at your beck and call then you grow up and you learn how to get in line with the world

And you realize you're just a very small cog in a very large operation We are naturally oriented toward the self

We are not naturally oriented toward others not in our own families not in our church body

Not in any level of human relationship And so the gospel comes and Paul says as a result of all these things we've looked at in verses 1 & 2

There's now a shift in the way that we regard ourself and therefore the way that we regard others

If these things are true, I no longer see my life myself My path in the same way

I once did Now that I have a consolation in Christ in a comfort of his love now that I have this

Participation in the work of the Spirit this glorious goal as a result of this affection and mercy that's been wrought out in my life

I have a whole new identity. I have a whole new purpose I have a whole new realm of priority.

I'm seeking the kingdom first his righteousness And so whatever had characterized my life in the past That dog -eat -dog mindset of pursuing my ambitions with reckless abandon

Trotting upon anyone who gets in my way like a politician very carefully Also, perhaps very deceitfully using people in ways that best suit my needs my ends my desires

Well, that's how we used to live.

That's how the world lives It's all about me Until you receive the affection and mercy of Christ and it's all about him

And then your love starts to get reordered if you've begun with him If you're looking rightly if the eyes of the body are fixed upon him, it changes the way we look at everything else.

I Cannot see myself in the same way. I once did I now can no longer see others in the way

I once did Because I've seen Christ because my eyes are fixed on him and I have all of these things this

Cascading picture of the gospel wrought graces his gift of salvation all that comes with it

I'm changed forever. My outlook has changed forever the things I focus on It's all shifted how

I identify myself How I understand my role my purpose my end that's all shifted

But when we think about who we are in Christ, in other words part of this self -acknowledgement is inherently self -denial

I cannot conceive of myself as part of God's body nor can I rightly understand and look at God's body unless I Acknowledge that now

I have a new self that requires self -denial I'm a stone among many stones being built up into the temple of the

Living God. I'm a leaf on a branch of many branches that are abiding in the vine

I'm a member One of many members knit together and jointed into this bride of Christ It's it's forcing me to think about my relationship to others in an entirely new way

I'm not the temple. I'm not the bride. I'm not the vine I'm one part and I have a part to play

So it's not a bad estimation It's a right estimation it's not

Having the wrong kind of esteem. I think at some point in Christianity You need to have that Nehemiah like reaction should should such a man as I flee

In other words, you know We shouldn't always have the sort of dark cloud raining upon our heads and that's the way we have lowliness of mind

We should be able to say should such a man as I Should such a virtuous wife as I Go in this direction.

You need to have the right kind of esteem, but that esteem can't become pride or conceit or selfishness

And so you need to humble yourself you need to think of yourself rightly and you cannot think of yourself rightly nor humble yourself

Unless you're seeing God rightly and therefore seeing others around you rightly Paul is able to love and serve the body of Christ Because of what he's known of Christ and how that changed the way he understood himself

Do they have a boast I could boast too. In fact, I used to boast In fact, my whole life was my boast Pharisee of the

Pharisees born on the eighth day Circumcised on the eighth day of the tribe of Benjamin according to the law blameless

My whole life I built up in this glorious way. What's that now as a result of knowing Christ rubbish?

You see it was radically reoriented What did that lead to a?

Self -denial that freed him to serve and love Christ's body out of love and service to Christ himself

It's the right esteem. It's the right self acknowledgment

It's the right view of others viewing others who also have been saved unto

Christ And what that means as an obligation toward them they too are of the body of Christ They too have the affection and mercy of Christ wrought upon them.

They too are participating in this fellowship with the spirit What does that mean for me? It means

I cannot isolate myself I cannot be an eye that says to the hand I have no need of you

I recognize now this radical obligation this interdependency that we've been speaking about now for two weeks

Paul says this in romans 12 Be of the same mind toward one another Do not set your mind on high things

Associate with the humble don't be wise in your own opinion It is this radical thoroughgoing

Humility, I think of myself less I esteem others better I'm seeing myself rightly.

I'm seeing myself as God sees me a part of the bride a member of his own body

A gifted functionary for the outworking of the spirit's desire in us and through us

Humility is this means to see myself as God sees me to see others as God sees them

So at one level it lowers my natural selfishness On the other hand it also raises up my regard my sight my focus on others

Paul says it this way. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit Don't do anything if it's coming out of a selfish vein if it's towards some selfish end

Just don't do it. Paul says let nothing be done in that way What does it look like for a church to not do anything out of selfish ambition or conceit?

I asked the question going toward maybe even a meeting tonight whether depending What would it look like for our church to not let anything be done out of selfish ambition or conceit?

Would anything change or would nothing change? We're asking the question simply this are you unselfish as a person are you unselfish?

Anyone care to raise their hand Who here is unselfish? Who here is selfless who here has the mind of Christ?

We're naturally selfish We'd like to think of ourselves as unselfish and we do that by trying to find someone who we regard as selfish

And we make ourselves feel better in comparison to them Me selfish never look at so -and -so

I'm I'm the paragon of modesty and humility and charity compared to them

But that's never the standard The standard is Christ Again, are you selfish?

If we're honest with ourselves, we know that we're not Selfless but we're selfish

We do most things through selfish ambition Most things meeting the demands the comforts of the calls of the world the flesh and the devil

Selfishness in this way is like oil to the water of the word It's the problem with selfishness and it's a problem with the body that is operating through selfishness

Through pride of place through viewing others through this lens of conceit. I don't need you I rank up like this against you.

You're not worthy of my time my love my effort my concern The selfishness is like poison to a growing body

The spirit is grieved and quenched because he's seeking to bring about love and order and unity selfishness cuts against that Think about it in this way the selfish person will hardly ever apply the word to themselves

Simultaneously a selfish person is a master at applying the word to everyone but themselves You know james talks about the mirror

Of god's word and we see it in a moment and then we turn and we forget what we've seen a selfish person is prone to forget what they've seen because They're not even interested in seeing themselves in the mirror to begin with They're only looking at the mirror to find things about other people.

You know who this would be good for Mm -hmm I read this. This is I should tell it. I should tell it to him.

That would be really good for him It's the mirror for everyone else but not for me There's a certain self -blindness that comes with selfishness

They know everything that everyone else ought to do But next to nothing about what the word means for them

In other words I can start to see god's purpose god's calling god's way And how everyone around me is falling short of that and they really need to do this and they really need to grow in that And they really ought to be like that and not like this, but I can't apply that same standard to myself

In fact, I don't even care to And if anyone dares press or point a word at me

My my feathers are more than ruffled I'm more than incensed and offended that is a hallmark of selfishness

You consider first corinthians four You have these believers of the church at corinth and they're developing a sort of popularity scale

Uh, which faction do you belong to? I'm of paul. I'm of apollos. I'm of cephas.

Oh, well, i'm the really holy roller I'm of christ And paul just rejects that wholesale

He says you're supposed to be the super spiritual ones Vying for some supremacy in position over against each other

You haven't understood the first thing about christ the first thing about the gospel And so he says first corinthians four, you know,

I wanted to address you as if you were spiritual, but I couldn't because you're fleshly You know, this would be a very different letter if you were spiritual

But I can't even talk to you as if you're spiritual. You're just so fleshly So here's the rest of the letter now. It's a very different kind of letter.

That's paul writing to the church at corinth What is he seeing there? ambition Envy Selfishness conceit.

He's just seeing this display of almost worldly craving for elevated status

And he just calls it as he sees it. It's all fleshly. It's worldly And if you're going to be worldly i'll speak to you as worldly if you're going to be fleshly

I'll write to you as fleshly. What does he say of himself? He says you're vying after apollos and peter and myself as if we're divided against each other

He says this men ought to regard us as servants of christ So, how does paul protect his own heart his own ministry from the things that are slowly ripping apart the church at corinth?

He says i've regarded myself as a slave. In fact, you ought to regard me in that way as well

Some letters he's willing to press the authority of the dignity of his office paul an apostle of jesus christ

In some letters in situations like this. He only introduces himself as paul a slave of christ

Men ought to regard us as slaves paul says I regard myself not as your superior But as your servant because I serve a master who became a servant for my sake

One who though has untold wealth infinite riches and splendor became poor for my sake

One who though the very wellspring and source of life Took upon himself the pains and curse of death for my sake if that's my paradigm and model you ought to regard me as a slave

Paul saying don't come and puff me up don't come up and try to line up behind my faction I'll have nothing to do with that and so christianity has no place for For vying for positioning for angling

We consider it in this way. We know that christ dwells in every believer From the least to the greatest that's the promise of the new covenant

No longer will a man need to say to his neighbor, you know the lord They shall all know me from the least to the greatest

All members of the body of christ have some knowledge some indwelt presence by his spirit. They've been born again

Behold old things have passed away. All things have become new in christ. This is true of every member of the body of christ

Whether an hour old or eight decades old. This is the truth. This is the reality of the body of christ

They all have an interest in christ. They'll have a position in christ They're all indwelt by the spirit of christ from the least to the greatest

And therefore you have never met a genuine believer who you're not called to love as you would love christ himself

We've talked about this in the first week of this series. How do you do that? You come to appreciate the fact that they're indwelt by the spirit of christ

You come to consider what christ is doing in their life How christ is present in them?

What do you see of christ reflected in their life? In their speech in their testimony

Maybe you still see a lot of the old man a lot of the pockmarks of the world the flesh and the evil one

But yet christ still shines through And you have this regard for whatever ray of light of christ is shining through their life

You want to enlarge it? You want to peel back even more so that the radiation of christ's illumination can begin to overwhelm their person and personality

You want to see christ formed in them? That was paul's outlook look Ceaselessly laboring until christ is formed in you

I see glimmers. I see rays. I want to see more To this end. I pray without ceasing to this end.

I toil I labor. I'm like a mother in birth pain for you galatians I want to see christ more

I want to see christ in you more christ presence christ activity christ affection

And so you learn as a christian you learn to participate in the spirit in this way You can love any fellow believer if they are a fellow believer because you can love the manifestation of christ within them

Knowing that he is conforming them into his image That's all you need to love with a fervent love

With an above all love with a love that is unique to the family to the household of god

And in fact the way that we experience and show this love Is part of receiving and experiencing the love of christ you will experience and display the love of christ who is physically distant from you

In the way that you experience and share the love of christ people who are physically present to you

Isn't that some of our testimony, I hope it's everyone's testimony that you have experienced something of the love of christ from the love of other christians

You've known something of his warmth his goodness his affection because of the warmth and the goodness and the affection of his people

What is that but christ's love for you being worked out through the lives of his people?

So you experience and you share in the love of christ you display in and present the love of christ in all of these ways

You can love any saint because of the love of christ Paul knew it to this depth

I cannot love christ if I fail to love the body of christ And look at the bodies that he's loving

They're full of neglect stubbornness mulish pride They're rejecting paul holding him at arm's length questioning whether they should even have a regard for his apostolicity

But what does he do he says I yearn for you labor for you pray for you. I love you When he's dealing with the church at corinth again, he's dealing with a very confused and prideful church bubbling with division

Resistant to paul not a lovely fellowship of god That doesn't change paul's affection for them because his affection was always in christ jesus so the love that we have is not a love that just Comes out of thin air between us horizontally

It's a love that dwells in the spirit that is sent by christ from the father It's again the father's love for his bride

Brought out in our midst by his spirit. It's the love of christ that becomes our love for christians

It's christ's own love for his bride that becomes our love for the bride for the body of christ.

That's the point And then we come to verse four again What's connected to this let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others

What does that mean it means i'm willing to forgo my own comfort my own Preference my own desire if it will benefit my brother or sister in their walk in the lord

How can I help them grow? How can I see more of christ's presence at work in them? Something radical has taken place.

It's not about me anymore. It's about him and because it's about him. It's about others

That's the transformation It's not about how I get ahead anymore.

It's about how we get ahead That's the transformation that's the fellowship of the spirit

That's Members being joined and knit together with the effective working of the spirit of god that causes them to grow up into all things

The we conquers the eye the body of christ conquers the selfishness You begin to look out for others interest rather than looking at your own

In fact because of how we're born as selfish creatures If you aim for your own interest and want to just sprinkle in the interest of others

In other words, I want to grow in being selfless. I want to have a regard for others Well, I need to of course

I need to keep focusing on myself So i'm going to keep focusing on myself because there's needs and wants and and things that I need to work out

But i'll certainly try to be attentive to the needs of others You want to sprinkle that in come alongside i'll tell you it's never going to happen

The only hope you have to even sprinkle in an interest in others is to aim for that It's to focus on that if I can focus on that Somehow I might actually have a hope of balance because there's already a magnetic pull for me to focus on myself

So I have to get the focus off of myself and turn my focus on to others That is impossibly hard to do impossibly hard to do

Unless you have the spirit of god overruling you overshadowing every aspect of your walk

Being faithful to god in this way is simply returning to him the love that he bestows on us He loved us first when we did not love him

He was looking out to us when we wouldn't even turn to him It's this way that we turn to those who may not turn to us look at those who may not reciprocate anything toward us

And that's okay If it's not okay You should question whether you're doing it out of the love of christ or for the calling of christ or whether you're doing it for some selfish gain

When people get jilted by unreciprocated acts of of grace or mercy or kindness

They should question what's behind those acts of mercy grace and kindness it's like I remember very vividly as a teenager

I was walking into a store and there was a A woman maybe I don't know 10 feet behind me

And and knowing that I said i'm going to be a proper gentleman and i'll hold the door open All right, chivalry is not dead if I can do anything about it and so I put my hand on the door and I very graciously opened and waited for for her and Didn't even look at me didn't even nod glance just walked right through Now how did

I react in that moment I was being a gentleman I was just being a gentleman.

So it means nothing to me that it was not acknowledged That it wasn't reciprocated that there wasn't. Oh, thank you so much.

What a fine young man you are Yeah She just went right through and then it's like well, I wish

I had never opened that door in the first place That's what we that's what we're like I have to question the motive.

Why were you opening the door in the first place? I thought it was to be a gentleman. No, you wanted something from it

Why are you showing that mercy why are you giving that act of kindness why are you showing that kind of attention When it's not reciprocated or it's reciprocated poorly or it's treated unfairly or it's used wrongly

How you react is going to say a lot about why you did it in the first place Again, do we love?

with the love of christ Aren't you thankful that our savior? Does not restrain his love

Unless it's perfectly reciprocated. You'll get nothing more from me Well, that was a waste i'll never do that again, aren't you thankful That his love is boundless Aren't you thankful that?

However, your day or night has been his mercy has renewed for you in the morning Morning after morning and every morning of your life in christ

That's the kind of unfathomable love that we are called to exhibit toward others There's just no place for self to reign in your life if you would acquire that kind of love

There's no place for for conceit or selfish motive or they didn't even really appreciate it I don't think it was worth doing in the first place

You know, i'm really the only one who even does things like this to begin with These people aren't worthy

No one's worthy of me What a pathetic way to view others. That's why paul says men ought to regard us as servants as slaves

It doesn't matter whether we're appreciated We love with the love that we've received from christ we love with a love unto christ

I love for the sake of christ if for nothing else So we're always being challenged

Where is that pocket of pride of conceitedness of selfishness at work in my life?

It's causing me to have a wrong regard for others a wrong view. I can't even see myself rightly

I certainly can't see them rightly That's what paul's getting at again. What's the health?

Of our sight as a body, what are our eyes? How do we regard the things of christ? How do we regard one another?

Well when I have my identity Fixed on christ in a way that frees me and opens my eyes to the needs and and and uh opportunities of others around me

I'll be able to be faithful to god In a way that shows love to others as love to him

That gives love to others as a return of love i've received from him In this way i've understood the first table of the law

And I see how it naturally flows into the second table of the law If I can love the lord my god with all of my heart my soul my strength.

I really can be freed and Empowered to love my neighbor as myself But i'll never be able to love my neighbor not even in the first instance

If I don't first love god above all And having loved god. There's no one

I can fail to love Having loved god and known his love his love. All right I'll be able to grow in this fervent love in this abounding love

So we need to be faithful to god in the way we seek to love him first and foremost Because only then are we able to love anyone or anything else rightly

Your love of god will change your love of self. Your love of god will change your love of fellow believer Your love of god will change your love of enemies

This call to love god and therefore love neighbor will help you fix your identity in christ What a great mindset

I ought to regard myself as a servant I I ought to regard myself as a servant

Other people ought to view me in that way Sadly in christianity this happens quite often people want a few virtue signaling opportunities of being a servant

In this vain attempt to become more like a master I've done my part

I should get more recognition. This should be something praised and notified someone take the polaroid of me donating

In our acts of service, it's just a virtue signal It's an attention grab. It's it's a soothe of conscience.

I really am a good person. I really am better than the rest I really am a cut above certainly i'll be acceptable in god's sight

But what what a amazing thing to regard yourself as a servant and at the end of a day of toil

To still regard yourself as nothing more than a servant having done. All you receive your just wages and are thankful What an amazing way to live your life

This identity will fix you upon christ who became a servant for our sake

You'll only be able to do it with his mind This whole flow of philippians, of course two one through four feeds right in To this mind of christ this great philippian christ hymn

With my identity now fixed upon christ i'm not going to be thrown off by how i'm regarded or treated

I'll know that i'm regarding myself As I regard my savior a servant as he became a servant a lover of souls as he was a lover of souls

I'll know that i'm rightly identifying myself in him if i'm not thrown off by how others regard me or treat me

Paul is able to bear up under all sorts of storms and adversity Because he wasn't seeking the validation or approval

Or celebration of any of those lesser things. He was looking unto christ A church body having healthy eyes whole eyes sound sight has their eyes fixed upon christ

What good is it if the world scorns or celebrates us That only that only bears upon us temporally

We we have an eternal calling We have an everlasting savior His smile his frown is all to us if we're viewing things rightly if our eyes are fixed on him.

It doesn't matter whether we're getting pats on the back or unfriendly fingers

That won't affect us nearly as much Because our eyes are fixed upon him

So if my identity is fixed upon christ whether this is individually or even corporately i'm not going to be thrown off by how i'm mistreated or misregarded

I just won't be It's a really good gut check to whether you're prideful conceited or selfish

How much are you thrown off by the way that you're regarded or mistreated by others? It'll it'll tell you a lot about where your eyes are fixed

Or how you're regarding yourself in relation to others rather than to christ christ was a byword

A running gag among some of the scribes and pharisees think of that We know who our father is

I didn't throw him One who has legions of angels at his command

Perfectly pure allowing as it were his own enemies to scoff and mock

But as peter says through all that Injustice and there is no other word for it.

He entrusted himself to him who judges justly It's not for me to vindicate It's not for me to go chasing after reputation and perception

That's in my god's hands I'm to serve him i'm regard myself as a servant of him

I'm not going to be thrown off by how i'm misperceived or mistreated. My savior was misperceived and mistreated

Why should I expect any different no servant is above his master If they treated him in this way, won't they treat you in this way?

of course That should not that should not be the way anyone's treated if we're understanding the body of christ rightly within the body

We hope it's only those outside the body those enemies of the cross of christ Whose god is their belly that would that would scour and repudiate but the reality is there is hostility that creeps up even among fellow believers it's what uh arthur schopenhauer is

No saint no friend of saints, but he called this the porcupine dilemma Where in the in the

Frozen vicissitudes of life. We have a need for community and warmth, but the problem is I would

I would say not schopenhauer, but russ Because of our fallen natures. We also have these quills these spikes

So it's cold and I need community and warmth But the closer I seek that community and warmth the more i'm getting poked and prodded and pressed with these quills

So it's like cold on the one hand i'm going to freeze to death warmth But it comes at the cost of getting all sorts of injuries and wounds and that's sort of what it's like in church fellowship

You want warmth you want closeness you're going to get poked You're going to have quills You're going to have to get the the pliers out or whatever they do to remind to remove those things

That's the porcupine dilemma The point is this We won't be thrown off nor will we sour

Nor will we bow our heads down in misery and despair if we've rightly understood who we are in christ

And labored to rightly understand who others are in christ as well It means no matter

What the occasion or circumstance I won't be having this hostile glare For any considerable length of time not if i'm rightly viewing myself and therefore rightly viewing others

Not if i'm holding myself in low esteem and thinking the best of others thinking better of others than I would even think of myself

Like some meme that I saw and it was like You know To think that anyone could insult me.

I sing 17th century hymns that insult me far more than you ever could Our hymns have a lot more to say to offend our sensibilities than anyone opposed to us could

Just do we actually bear these realities out? I saw an opera with my dad

I'm, probably losing everyone with this now. I'm a big fan of opera and It was it's a great opera

Bellini it's called it puritani. You'd like it. It's actually a story about uh, cromwellian times

But uh in the first act there's this great scene So in opera you have these long performances, you know dialogue and so on and eventually you have an aria

Which was a very beautiful song sort of a keynote and those can go on for 8 10 15 minutes and in this scene, there's this

Wedding that's about to take place and there's all this controversy swirling around it and there's the man who Is desperately wanting it to crumble because he's so madly in love italian operas are very melodramatic

It's madly in love with this bride -to -be. He wants her for himself And so because there's a lot of repetition

It's this 15 minute flowing song the actor that's playing this man is his name's ricardo in the opera

The actor's sitting there and he's just scowling but the song's been on for like 15 minutes. So he's just like for 15 minutes

He's like You know trying to show all these facial expressions of anger and I was kind of getting a kick out of it because there's all this movement and Choreography and the notes and the swells are so gorgeous with the bel canto singing

And then here's this ricardo sitting there glaring for 15 minutes straight Staring And I thought boy, what a picture of how sad like in this moment of celebration and joy

Here's this person just glaring cruelly, you know sourly That's what it can be like at times if we're not rightly regarding our identity in christ and others identity in christ

The most joyous occasions and the things that ought to correspond to peace and happiness and unity joy in the holy spirit

Almost always devolve to some sort of hostile stare down Whether that's done physically between the pews or just something harbored within the heart

And again, the question is are you rightly viewing the lord rightly viewing yourself and therefore rightly viewing others

If I have my identity fixed in christ, I will not be thrown off by how i'm perceived by how i'm regarded by others

My whole purpose is to be a servant to him who called me I live for his regard

And I serve for his purpose. And so I see god's calling and providence in every circumstance in every relationship around me

This is part of god's work part of god's calling part of an opportunity part of something to pray for and participate with This is what it means to be again orienting ourselves toward god a love that begins with him and then flows out from him toward others so that it may return to him

This is a moral element D .a. Carson, he says this so well, he says it's a moral element in knowing god

Someone might memorize scripture someone might have some degree in theology, but that's not the same thing necessarily

As growing in the knowledge of god and walking in his ways There's some people that have more memorized and more t's crossed and eyes dotted than any one of us could ever hope to That does not necessarily mean anything about their growth in the grace and knowledge of jesus christ

Why because it's impossible to grow in the grace of jesus christ without repentance and this is d .a

Carson, this demands a lessening of our characteristic self -focus Self -focus selfishness paul says let nothing be done in that Nothing don't let anything be done out of selfish ambition or conceit

I think of self -focus. It's an interesting word like a camera we all use our phones for cameras now, but Some of us have used or at least understand a nice slr camera and it usually has a nice Telephoto lens or something and it has a focus ring

All right, every camera every lens system has a focal point a focal range

And the idea is you can focus on something and whatever is focused on becomes sharp 8k resolution and then anything that's not focused on becomes kind of blurry

If you're focusing on yourself, everything is vivid lively sharp detailed

About your life your interests your needs everyone everything else everyone around you is blurred The closest things to you are a little more clear

But the further and further you get away from you it's more and more and more blurry and then you're like, what is that?

Light dark cloud tree sea sky can't make out what that is So if we're self -focused then the things that are vivid and clear to us are the things that correspond to my wants my needs my comforts my desires

That's crystal clear laser clear everything else blurry What you want to get to as a christian is

I want to learn how to focus on others As christ focused on others. I want to become blurry

I want my desires my wants my needs to become more blurry than they've been so that i'm focusing

And i'm a little more clear and crisp and precise on the needs and places and desires of others

How can I be a means of serving them unto christ? You see you're turning the focus ring toward a different focal point off of myself toward others

I must be blurred. They must become more clear. That's the idea And this means that you're finally considering others

Consider one another that's the command from hebrews 10 consider one another How can you consider one another if you're not focused on one another?

If you're not looking if a body doesn't have eyes You'll never be able to consider one another Why do you consider one another hebrews 10 24 in order to stir up love?

So it's not ricardo glaring Angrily cruelly, why are you looking?

Why are you glaring? Why are you gazing? Why does a body have eyes in order to stir up love? How can

I stir up the love of christ, how can I encourage? remind strengthen bless

How can I comfort? How can I rejoice with those who are rejoicing? How can I grieve with those who are grieving?

How can I bear up those who are bowed down? How can I admonish and warn those who are puffed up?

I'm considering others only because i'm focused on others i've become blurry Others have become more clear.

That's what it means to esteem others better than yourself You start to consider all those who have served the lord with you

You start to think about all these precious saints of god that have prayed for you In different proximities in different levels of intensity.

They've stood by you. They've encouraged you Maybe it was a stray word Maybe it was just some comment.

Maybe it was just some look Maybe it was just some blessing you remember some kind of christian love that was lavished upon you

You think of their faces and their names and their gestures It's all stored in your memory bank smiles and warmth and kindness and gentle words you consider that you appreciate it

You become thankful you become humble The porcupine quills are getting a little bit smaller

You can get a little bit closer When you appreciate that kind of love it's because you've considered them you've looked for them you've focused on them you can appreciate them

You can appreciate them Usually marital counseling at some point it kind of starts with Love and respect right?

We've talked about this in times past a wife, of course Is fueled by love and so husbands are commanded to see to it that they love their wives and wives tend to be

Fueled by that love and husbands have a very different kind of fuel They're more diesel oriented and and that's why wives are commanded see to it that you respect your husband

And so A husband's obviously coming to his wife with the wrong fuel You know that I respect you

I'd pay the bills and I'd give you your space. And so I want you to love me. It's not love Or a wife on the other hand will go, you know, you know that I love you you big oaf

Respect it's the wrong fuel we go to each other in the wrong ways Usually what happens in marital counseling is a wife that's struggling to respect her husband or a husband that's struggling to love his wife

You say what are some things that you can appreciate? What are some things that you notice? What are some things that you're thankful for you start to allow their minds and their memories to swell not with their needs and their wants and their unfulfilled desires

Other things that they're thankful for the things that they ought to be thankful for. What do you appreciate? Surely there's something you can respect about your husband.

Surely there's something that you can love in your wife And this is the idea is you're considering you're looking you have eyes

It makes you thankful it starts to humble you and when you appreciate

Others in this way as a result of the love of christ. You'll want to grow them in that love You'll want to grow in that love

You'll you'll want to seek that kind of growth for yourself and for others This is what the writer of hebrews is getting at consider one another in order to stir up this kind of love stir it up What happens

I we might have an object lesson even today what happens when

There's the fervent heat of the crock pot, but it's not getting stirred What has a glorious potential a nice hot meal?

Becomes acrid as there's a half inch of burnt muck at the bottom of the crock pot It's like we have all the potential for the fervent warm love of the spirit, but it has to be stirred

It has to be stirred. Otherwise it starts to burn. It's cold on the top and burnt to a crisp at the bottom

So you have to stir up love. How are you going to stir up love? You have to look at one another consider one another remember one another appreciate one another who are you because of christ

Who are they because of christ? What are they to you because of christ? What are you to them because of christ when you start thinking and looking in this way?

You'll be that much closer to stirring up the love within the body of christ And everyone has a spoon in their hand so to speak everyone has an opportunity to stir up The love of christ in this body at this time steward olyot says

We ought to desire that everyone around us grows in holiness And this means that we will do our bit to help them because we're hoping they will do their bit to help us

And if we're going to grow in the grace and knowledge of jesus christ We cannot do it as individuals.

It's something that a church has to do together. I need your gifts and graces to grow

So We all need each other if we would grow up into him who is our head as the body of christ and so Coming to a close

How are you going to look out? For the church body well as we've said just from philippians 2 1 3 4 how you look out how you consider others

How you focus on them will depend on what you're looking at that in numbers 12 when

Miriam and aaron are rising up against moses and they're you know What a lousy leader we could do so much better than them and they have this whole faction behind them and they're you know

Like we're going to take this into our own hands and moses really needs to sit in his place And of course god seeing this all unfold knowing what's in their heart

He calls them all to the tent of meeting moses perhaps completely bewildered having no idea what's to come Miriam and aaron thinking maybe the lord's even on our side.

Moses is really going to get cast down They're feeling this righteous indignation and what does god do he rebukes aaron and miriam?

In fact, he puts leprosy on miriam And I always think like what was moses putting together here

Because all of a sudden they're called to the tent of the meeting and god just launches into leprosy on miriam And then an all -out rebuke and part of the rebuke is

How dare you speak against my servant moses? I speak to others and dreams and riddles and visions, but with him

I speak face to face So how dare you speak against him? And you remember when this leprosy breaks out aaron cries moses, please forgive us intercede for for our sister

And moses being the meekest man on the face of the earth. He cries out lord. Don't hold us against her How do you get that kind of meekness and humility?

He wasn't even he didn't even have time to be offended He just went straight to interceding why? Well, the answer is right there in the text.

It's because he was beholding god face to face No wonder he was the meekest man on the face of the earth

How can even a fiber of your flesh stand when you're beholding the face of the almighty? No wonder he'd go straight into intercession.

He knows he's a sinner He knows this awesome privilege of actually seeing god

He doesn't hold himself up and lord over others He he empties himself just to be in the presence just to seek the afterglow of the glory of god

No wonder he can jump into intercession. No wonder. He doesn't hold anything against miriam and aaron in that way What you look at will determine how you look out

He was able to look out for the children of israel Even for aaron and miriam because of what he was looking at.

He was beholding the face of god We opened our service with this call to worship from psalm 63

I've come to look for you in the sanctuary Have you? Have you?

I know what it's like growing up in church most sundays I came to look for my friends Until the lord changed my heart

I know that a lot of people are it's kind of trendy right now to go to church You think they're going to look for the lord?

No, they're going to look at themselves and feel better about themselves and instagram their moment in church. I'm now a more complete authentic person

Lots of people that come to the sanctuary week after week They're looking to a lot of things and they might not be looking to the lord at all.

They're not looking for him No wonder There's no ability to be humble

Or to be selfless or to be focused on others or to consider oneself a servant of christ You're not looking at the right thing.

Why are we even here to begin with? How you look out will depend on what you're looking at Remember in mark 10 when jesus is giving a prediction

That that he will suffer and be crucified and rise again on the third day and the sons of thunder come and they say

It's this amazing almost feckless boldness They say do do for us whatever we ask

It's not amazing. I love how blunt that is. It's like give them credit for being honest and transparent

They don't even try to couch it. They don't even make it seem more palatable. They're just like lord

Do for us whatever we ask We've got something to ask and we want it to happen The reality is we might camouflage our requests

But a lot of our heart attitude toward god is no less pretty than that lord.

I need this to happen I want you to do this for me Lord, my focus is on me. I want others to focus on me.

I want you to focus on me lord Here's what I need. I need this to happen in my life Remember jesus has just said because i'm focused on you

I have to go be crucified They come to him in the midst of that and say We want more of your focus.

We've got a lot of wants and needs and comforts to work out in our lives Jesus is staring down his suffering and they're pressing for more honor

He's glaring at the abandonment of his father's presence and they're arguing about who's going to be greatest among them

That's a microcosm of things that happen in church fellowships all the time What are we looking at as a body of christ?

There was this great interview that d .a carson had with carl fh henry that the old sort of father of neo -evangelicalism in the middle of the last century and and he was so struck by his his

Solidity and conviction as a as a man and so carson was interviewing me said Dr.

Henry, you've been at the center of attention in evangelicalism for now half a century Have you stayed humble?

And he said back Don it's hard to be prideful when you're standing at the foot of the cross

Do you do you want to slay pride? That's where you have to sit That has to be what you're looking at Why have you come into the sanctuary?

Dl moody put it this way god never ascends any way anyone away empty except those who come full of themselves

He'll never send you away empty unless you come full of yourself To come

As the poor in spirit is to leave blessed To come hungry and thirsty is to leave full and satisfied to come yearning for a righteousness that you lack

Is to receive it by degrees of glory And so we ask the question in closing.

How are the eyes of our church? Are we characterized by this kind of lowliness of mind and other oriented esteem?

Do we regard each other as more vital more necessary more important than ourselves

If not I can tell you why It's because we cannot see one another rightly when we lose sight of the things of christ

How we look out depends on what we're looking at Our whole purpose is so that we can grow up into all things into him who is the head

And therefore if there's any consolation in christ if there's any comfort of love if there's any fellowship of the spirit any affection and mercy

May our joy like paul's be fulfilled by being like -minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind

That we would do nothing through selfish ambition nothing through conceit But that being lowly minded we would esteem others we would esteem

Each other look around you look in front of you look behind you look next to you that we would esteem

These people to our left and to our right better than we esteem ourselves that each one of us

Every single one within this room would look out not only for their own interests But for the interests of others the interest of god's growth of grace in our midst.

Amen Let's pray Father, thank you for your word lord.

Bless it to us May we be doers of your word lord not hearers deceiving ourselves lord peel from us our

Our our sinful selfishness Our sinful regard of ourselves and all of our pride and our sinful regard of others

And all of our lack of charity and cruelty Lord to have your sight to have your eyes

To have your love to have your mercy To have your affection Lord may it may it wash over us.

May it saturate us lord. May we become more and more as you are Help us as a church body We're so feeble and weak in these regards lord.

We We are poor in spirit. We are hungry and thirsty lord fulfill these things in us. We pray in jesus name.