SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 3/5/23
Our hope and prayer for this series are that God will grow these seven marks of grace in us as we identify them and learn to obediently pursue them with our hearts focused on Jesus. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: Our 7 Shared Virtues
TEXT: Philippians 2:1-11
TITLE: Humility
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: The humiliation of Christ in the gospel creates humble hearts in His people
POINTS:
I. Our Manifestation of Humility
II. Our Motive and Model for Humility
SERMON EXCERPTS:
”Why this series? It's simple—We desire to become more like Jesus. We exist for God's glory. God's glory is revealed as His church reflects His greatness in Jesus Christ. So, we desire to become more like Jesus. We are not trying to start a revolution; we just long for our lives to proclaim the praises of our Savior. It's that simple.”
“…we begin with the virtue that is the fountain of all other virtues—Humility.”
“What is humility? Humility is a selfless disposition of the heart created by an accurate view of God, self, and Christ. God is infinitely holy; I am utterly sinful. Therefore, the only way I can joyfully relate to God and generously receive from God is His undeserved saving grace toward me in Jesus Christ. The degree this reality shapes us is the degree we will be characterized by true humility as a church.”
“Humility is interesting. The key to becoming more humble is not focusing on being more humble; it's focusing on the humility and humiliation of Jesus.”
“The first step in growing in humility is understanding pride. By nature, we are proud, not humble. We're prone to conceit because our hearts naturally crave praise. Pride is in our DNA.”
“Pride has many faces. Some are obvious; others are not. But self is at the center of them all:
Feel unappreciated when you serve others and receive no recognition for your efforts—Pride!
Self-deprecating speech actually meant to draw praises for something you are proud of—It's called humblebrag, its false humility, a.k.a. Pride!
Loudest person when you enter the room, while you're in the room when you leave the room because you desire everyone's attention—Pride!
Wallow in self-pity because life is hard, and you deserve better—Pride!
Unwilling to get out of your comfort zone for the spiritual good of another—It's called fear of man, and it may be the most deceptive and destructive form of Pride!
Characterized by telling others what you know rather than seeking others for input—Pride!
Expectations to be served by others exceed your enthusiasm to serve others—Pride!
Hyper-critical of self and others because little things that go wrong reflect poorly on you—Pride!”
“LOOKING is labor. Listen to the phrases connected with the original word for LOOKING: notice carefully; watch out for; fix one's attention. These are intentional activities.”
“Practically, LOOKING means:
Pausing in the middle of your busy day to listen to someone who needs encouragement
Patiently praying for someone when you really what to punch them
Inquiring instead of accusing when you share a concern or correction
Judging someone charitably until you know the facts
Listening to someone instead of interrupting them because you have something so great to say”
“True gospel humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less because you are looking to the interest of others more.”
“The gospel puts this claim on our lives. If this (in Christ), Then this (put on humility). Christ calls us to it. Commands us to it. And, is our sufficiency for it. That’s where Paul points us.”
“Instead of grasping his godness, Jesus willingly surrendered the honor, praise, and glory that was rightfully his and had been from eternity past in the perfect fellowship of the Trinity to become a Jewish boy from Nazareth who would be crucified as a criminal. That's what Paul means in verse 7 when he says Jesus emptied himself. Jesus didn't empty himself of divine attributes. He didn't become less God when he became fully man. Jesus never minimized or denied his deity. He just didn't grasp it.”
“Jesus did not simply take on a human disguise; he took on our human nature. The Creator and Sustainer of all things condescended into our fallen world, subjecting himself to our frailties as human beings in every way except one—he was without sin.”
“Jesus didn’t come high and lifted up in society. He could have—he is God! He came as a scorned slave. Look at verse 7. The word translated servant means slave. Think about that:
A slave was less significant than the least significant
A slave had one interest—the interest of others
A slave was above no one and beneath everyone
Jesus humbled himself, assuming our nature, becoming a servant—translation: substitute sacrifice for us—and obediently died the most humiliating, shameful, excruciating, cursed death possible, (8) death on a cross—for you!”
“The cross is the opposite of selfish ambition and vain conceit. In true humility, God the Son counted you more significant than himself, making his entire life about your greatest interest—being made right with God.”
“That is true humility that led to the humility of Christ that compels and enables us to live humbly with one another.”
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
James 4:6
Isaiah 66:2
Hebrews 1:3
Hebrews 2:17
Romans 5
QUOTES:
Jerry Bridges - “Humility opens the way to all other godly character traits. It is the soil in which the other traits of the fruit of the Spirit grow.”
C.J. Mahaney - “The real issue is not if pride exists in your heart; its where pride exists and how pride is being expressed in your life.”
APPLICATION:
How can we cultivate true humility?
Read book of quarter—contexts of application
Application specific to today’s text
Visit the cross often by reminding yourself who God is, who you were, and why Jesus matters
Pray the words of Phi 2:3-4 for yourself and our church
LOOK for ways to serve others
When you complete a task, something good happens to you, or encouraging words are spoken about you, take a moment to transfer all glory to God
Eagerly encourage one another where you see humility and carefully correct one another where you see pride
Live today in light of tomorrow