WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:05.040 Deep in the heart of every human being is a desire 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.080 to be great. We're made in the image of God. 00:00:07.179 --> 00:00:11.099 We want to be and do something significant. Here's 00:00:11.099 --> 00:00:14.039 the question. What's the path? How do you get 00:00:14.039 --> 00:00:17.219 there? Today we'll learn from the Apostle Paul 00:00:17.219 --> 00:00:22.800 how to become great in God's eyes. Welcome to 00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:25.379 this edition of Living on the Edge with Chip 00:00:25.379 --> 00:00:27.839 Ingram. Our mission is to inspire Christians 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:30.890 to be genuine followers of Jesus. to empower 00:00:30.890 --> 00:00:33.509 them to be active disciple makers in our world. 00:00:33.810 --> 00:00:36.549 Today we're continuing our series, I Choose Love, 00:00:36.789 --> 00:00:39.869 with Chip's message, Love Serves. And you may 00:00:39.869 --> 00:00:42.369 be wondering, what does service have to do with 00:00:42.369 --> 00:00:45.229 the idea of being great? Well, stay with us as 00:00:45.229 --> 00:00:47.810 Chip explores that meaningful connection as he 00:00:47.810 --> 00:00:49.890 picks up where he left off in Philippians chapter 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:52.890 2. Well, there's so much to discover together, 00:00:52.990 --> 00:00:55.810 so grab your notes and Bible and settle in for 00:00:55.810 --> 00:00:59.380 Chip's insightful talk. We tend to think about 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:02.420 love as, you know, a romantic feeling or an emotion, 00:01:02.539 --> 00:01:05.840 and I'm all for those. But the kind of love we're 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:09.060 talking about requires a choice. And there's 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:10.900 some things that work against us being loving 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:13.799 people. And they're not necessarily bad, but 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:15.659 they can distract us. And I'd like you to think 00:01:15.659 --> 00:01:18.719 just right now, when was the first time, just 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:21.680 as back far as you can go, when you really thought 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:23.840 to yourself, I want to be great at something? 00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:26.939 I mean, something clicked, and you just said, 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:29.319 you know, I want to be a great musician, or I 00:01:29.319 --> 00:01:31.480 want to be great in ballet, or I want to be a 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:35.900 great student. I remember I was, I think, 11 00:01:35.900 --> 00:01:38.579 or 12 years old, sixth grade going into seventh 00:01:38.579 --> 00:01:41.319 grade, and I went to a sports banquet, and this 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:43.819 coach was speaking, and he kept talking about 00:01:43.819 --> 00:01:48.159 this one five -foot -nine guard in a small school 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:50.920 that led the nation in scoring, and he talked 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:54.219 about his work ethic. And all I can tell you 00:01:54.219 --> 00:01:57.900 is something got birthed inside, and I thought, 00:01:57.920 --> 00:02:00.640 I want to be a great basketball player. And I 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:03.420 was so motivated because this guy's only 5 '9", 00:02:03.420 --> 00:02:06.060 and as I went into seventh grade, I was 4 '11". 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:09.360 And I went out for the team, and the coach said, 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:11.979 why don't you go out for wrestling? We need someone 00:02:11.979 --> 00:02:15.360 in the 85 -pound class weight. And basically, 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:17.180 you're too short, you'll never be a basketball 00:02:17.180 --> 00:02:19.939 player anyway. Well, to my personality, that's 00:02:19.939 --> 00:02:23.650 like, you know. pouring gasoline on the fire. 00:02:25.359 --> 00:02:28.360 And I remember just going absolute kind of nutso 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:30.199 and starting, you know, I started doing a bunch 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.139 of drills. And I started this ladder in my mind 00:02:33.139 --> 00:02:35.580 of first I'm going to make the team. Then I'll 00:02:35.580 --> 00:02:37.620 get some playing time. And then after I'll be 00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.180 a starter. And then I'll get prepared. And then 00:02:40.180 --> 00:02:42.419 I'll be a starter in the high school at Gahanna 00:02:42.419 --> 00:02:45.159 Lincoln Lion. And the whole town comes out. And 00:02:45.159 --> 00:02:47.599 then I'll get a scholarship to college. And, 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:50.680 I mean, I had this just blazing in my mind. I 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:52.599 started playing seven, eight, nine hours a day. 00:02:52.699 --> 00:02:57.139 No exaggeration. It just dominated my life. See, 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:58.699 here's what I want you to know. Open your notes. 00:02:59.539 --> 00:03:03.840 The quest for greatness is universal. Everybody 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:06.919 wants to be great. Everyone wants to be successful, 00:03:06.979 --> 00:03:10.639 esteemed, valued, admired, significant, known, 00:03:10.939 --> 00:03:14.539 appreciated, accomplished, right? We want to 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:16.900 look our best, do our best. We want to achieve. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.800 And by the way, I don't think that's wrong. I 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:21.979 think we want to be great because we're made 00:03:21.979 --> 00:03:24.789 in the image of God. When you look at the galaxies, 00:03:24.930 --> 00:03:26.830 they're great. When you look at the earth, it's 00:03:26.830 --> 00:03:29.590 great. When you look at beauty, it's great. We're 00:03:29.590 --> 00:03:34.069 the pinnacle of God's creation. But desiring 00:03:34.069 --> 00:03:37.530 to be great is one thing, but then sort of in 00:03:37.530 --> 00:03:39.909 our humanness, we start deciding, well, how are 00:03:39.909 --> 00:03:42.189 we going to measure greatness? How do you know 00:03:42.189 --> 00:03:44.949 if you're really great? And whether it's, you 00:03:44.949 --> 00:03:47.870 know, like basketball, climbing the ladder of 00:03:47.870 --> 00:03:53.780 success, business, music, relationships, Historically, 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:55.800 about five ways, I've put them on your notes, 00:03:55.939 --> 00:04:00.659 we tend to say, this is what makes you great. 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:07.740 First is power. Who and how many people do you 00:04:07.740 --> 00:04:10.219 control? And I, of course, mean control in the 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:12.900 best sense of the word. But it's that idea that 00:04:12.900 --> 00:04:15.259 you have the final say, that you have either 00:04:15.259 --> 00:04:18.939 formal or influence, that just you're a somebody. 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:23.639 The second way is possessions. Possessions provide 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:27.079 freedom. Buy what you want, go where you want 00:04:27.079 --> 00:04:31.420 to, do what you want. And we just kind of tend 00:04:31.420 --> 00:04:33.240 to think the people with the most possessions 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:37.300 are really great. In fact, sometimes we buy things 00:04:37.300 --> 00:04:39.399 we don't even need so that other people understand 00:04:39.399 --> 00:04:43.180 how great we are. Third is position, our rank 00:04:43.180 --> 00:04:45.930 kind of in the pecking order. you know, your 00:04:45.930 --> 00:04:48.930 rights and your privileges. And, you know, they 00:04:48.930 --> 00:04:51.850 say, okay, well, all the business class passengers, 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:55.129 well, the VIPs, you know, there's just this, 00:04:55.149 --> 00:04:57.589 there's this pecking order. And, you know, you 00:04:57.589 --> 00:05:00.490 start out as an intern and then you get a job 00:05:00.490 --> 00:05:02.930 and then here and then here. And we all have 00:05:02.930 --> 00:05:06.329 this little pattern of, you know, power, possessions, 00:05:06.670 --> 00:05:09.889 position, and then prestige. How many people 00:05:09.889 --> 00:05:13.540 look up to you? You know, that inner security 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:16.420 that these people admire me. I'm a somebody. 00:05:17.079 --> 00:05:20.660 I have this many followers on Instagram. I have 00:05:20.660 --> 00:05:23.740 this many likes on Facebook. I'm a star. I have 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:26.319 three million followers. I have a bazillion followers, 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:31.019 right? You're great because of what other people 00:05:31.019 --> 00:05:34.560 think of you. And then finally, productivity. 00:05:35.879 --> 00:05:39.819 What do you produce? How good is it and how much 00:05:39.819 --> 00:05:42.220 of it? And no matter how much, it can be better 00:05:42.220 --> 00:05:46.860 and it can be more. And new and innovative. See, 00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:49.480 what productivity provides is a visible proof 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:53.220 of your greatness. It's games won, buildings 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:56.100 built, children raised, deals done, work accomplished, 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:01.360 companies developed, accolades and awards. Now, 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:04.420 just before you start feeling like... I'm going 00:06:04.420 --> 00:06:06.560 to give you the left -hand hook and smash you 00:06:06.560 --> 00:06:09.939 and say, how terrible of you to measure your 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:13.459 greatness that way. I don't think any of those 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:18.160 things, any of those are bad. They're often perverted. 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:23.220 But if God would choose as you walk with him 00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:27.259 to give you power, position, prestige, and you 00:06:27.259 --> 00:06:31.000 saw it as a stewardship in order to honor him, 00:06:31.420 --> 00:06:34.000 and use your position and your power and your 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:36.699 possessions and the people that look up to you 00:06:36.699 --> 00:06:39.819 to fulfill the will of God, here's what I want. 00:06:39.939 --> 00:06:42.660 I want you to get more position, more possessions, 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.560 more power, and more prestige than anybody in 00:06:45.560 --> 00:06:49.399 the world and love God with it. But the problem 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:53.720 is there's a way that we become great in God's 00:06:53.720 --> 00:06:56.060 eyes and there's a way that we become great in 00:06:56.060 --> 00:06:58.899 the world's eyes. And what we're talking about 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:01.680 is genuine love. And so, notice, how do you obtain 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:03.819 greatness? I'm going to suggest there's two pathways, 00:07:03.980 --> 00:07:06.920 and they're very distinct. Pathway number one 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:10.300 is ascending, right? You climb the ladder of 00:07:10.300 --> 00:07:12.819 success. And no matter where you are, there's 00:07:12.819 --> 00:07:20.579 one more rung. That's the world's mode. And you 00:07:20.579 --> 00:07:22.540 can love God with all your heart, and He can 00:07:22.540 --> 00:07:24.439 bless, and you can go up that ladder. You just 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:26.980 have to remember who got you there. I love the 00:07:26.980 --> 00:07:30.300 little picture of the post. Have you seen this? 00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:34.639 There's a fence post and there's a turtle on 00:07:34.639 --> 00:07:40.259 top of it. And the byline is, I didn't get here 00:07:40.259 --> 00:07:46.399 on my own. And you know, being great and having 00:07:46.399 --> 00:07:49.579 some of all these things that if you can really 00:07:49.579 --> 00:07:51.819 recognize you're that turtle on the fence post, 00:07:52.100 --> 00:07:56.889 more power to you. But we live in a world where 00:07:56.889 --> 00:08:01.029 there's a lot of pressure to ascend in the world's 00:08:01.029 --> 00:08:03.790 mode. The second way we become great is by descending. 00:08:05.169 --> 00:08:07.750 This is what we're going to see is that the Apostle 00:08:07.750 --> 00:08:09.529 Paul is going to be speaking to a group of people. 00:08:09.769 --> 00:08:12.550 And when you want to be great, you tend to compare. 00:08:12.709 --> 00:08:14.250 And when you compare, you try and get better 00:08:14.250 --> 00:08:15.970 than other people. And when you compare and want 00:08:15.970 --> 00:08:17.470 to get better with other people, you kind of 00:08:17.470 --> 00:08:19.529 put them down and put yourself up. And what we 00:08:19.529 --> 00:08:22.709 learned last week is the me -set mindset, the 00:08:22.709 --> 00:08:25.209 only way to really be great in God's eyes and 00:08:25.209 --> 00:08:27.790 to have unity in relationships, you have to declare 00:08:27.790 --> 00:08:31.550 war on selfishness and you have to attack image 00:08:31.550 --> 00:08:34.409 management. Because a lot of all this greatness, 00:08:34.570 --> 00:08:36.649 you know what, at the end of the day, it wasn't 00:08:36.649 --> 00:08:38.669 about a scholarship. It wasn't about how many 00:08:38.669 --> 00:08:40.850 points per game. It wasn't being a great basketball 00:08:40.850 --> 00:08:43.710 player. It was about Chip's ego wanting to be 00:08:43.710 --> 00:08:47.309 a somebody. It was about I'm going to prove I'm 00:08:47.309 --> 00:08:49.970 okay, probably mostly to me and maybe more to 00:08:49.970 --> 00:08:54.309 my dad. And Jesus is going to say true greatness 00:08:54.309 --> 00:08:58.370 comes with humility. And the way as you descend 00:08:58.370 --> 00:09:01.230 into greatness, we're going to find that Jesus, 00:09:01.870 --> 00:09:04.789 will be the supreme ruler of all creation and 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:07.169 the creator, and then he's going to take on human 00:09:07.169 --> 00:09:09.429 flesh, and then he's going to become a servant, 00:09:09.590 --> 00:09:11.830 and then he's going to sacrifice his life, and 00:09:11.830 --> 00:09:13.570 then he's actually going to die, and then he's 00:09:13.570 --> 00:09:15.750 going to have the death on a cross of absolute 00:09:15.750 --> 00:09:20.149 humiliation and shame. And because he descends 00:09:20.149 --> 00:09:22.789 into greatness, then God will highly exalt him. 00:09:25.649 --> 00:09:32.690 Mark it down. God blesses and rewards humility. 00:09:33.870 --> 00:09:38.269 And humility is the pathway to deep abiding relationships. 00:09:39.070 --> 00:09:42.870 True greatness is defined by do not think only 00:09:42.870 --> 00:09:45.470 on your own things, but also on the things of 00:09:45.470 --> 00:09:48.309 others. Does that sound familiar? Do nothing 00:09:48.309 --> 00:09:52.950 from selfishness or pride or vain glory, but 00:09:52.950 --> 00:09:56.269 with humility of mind, consider others more important 00:09:56.269 --> 00:09:58.990 than yourself. Here's the acid test of greatness. 00:09:59.049 --> 00:10:04.669 Are you ready? It's how well do you love? The 00:10:04.669 --> 00:10:06.870 greatest people in the world are the people who 00:10:06.870 --> 00:10:10.889 love others the best. I have a unique part of 00:10:10.889 --> 00:10:15.210 my job. I bury a lot of people. Someone has to 00:10:15.210 --> 00:10:20.490 do it. And I've never sat around a graveside 00:10:20.490 --> 00:10:23.149 or gone to a house afterwards and had any group 00:10:23.149 --> 00:10:28.409 of people talk about, wow, man, did that guy 00:10:28.409 --> 00:10:32.309 have a great house? Or man, her jewelry was off 00:10:32.309 --> 00:10:35.330 the charts. Or did you ever hear, what do they 00:10:35.330 --> 00:10:38.350 talk about? They talk about relationship and 00:10:38.350 --> 00:10:41.330 they talk about, you know what, whether she had 00:10:41.330 --> 00:10:43.529 a lot or had a little, she was the kindest woman 00:10:43.529 --> 00:10:46.549 I ever knew. You know, he was the man that stayed 00:10:46.549 --> 00:10:48.870 after work even though he was busy when I was 00:10:48.870 --> 00:10:51.169 going through a big marital problem. And every 00:10:51.169 --> 00:10:53.230 Tuesday night, he met with me and talked with 00:10:53.230 --> 00:10:55.590 me and kind of privately shared this new thing 00:10:55.590 --> 00:10:57.970 about faith I didn't know about. And he was a 00:10:57.970 --> 00:11:01.389 vice president in the company. He was someone 00:11:01.389 --> 00:11:05.629 that when my husband walked out on me, he and 00:11:05.629 --> 00:11:08.389 his family had me over for Thanksgiving. They 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:11.309 met me at church. They made me feel loved. At 00:11:11.309 --> 00:11:14.450 the end of the day, the greatest people on earth, 00:11:14.629 --> 00:11:17.090 the greatest people you'll ever know will not 00:11:17.090 --> 00:11:18.889 have anything to do with how famous they are, 00:11:18.990 --> 00:11:21.210 how much money they have, how much power they 00:11:21.210 --> 00:11:23.769 have, how many likes they have on Facebook. It 00:11:23.769 --> 00:11:28.450 will be love. Now open your notes because I want 00:11:28.450 --> 00:11:31.350 to walk with you Through how God is going to 00:11:31.350 --> 00:11:35.049 teach us to achieve true greatness. How do you 00:11:35.049 --> 00:11:37.070 get there? How do you experience true greatness? 00:11:37.389 --> 00:11:39.990 One word. You got it, don't you? Can you write 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:44.049 it down? Humility. By the way, humility is not 00:11:44.049 --> 00:11:46.669 thinking too high of yourself. It's not thinking 00:11:46.669 --> 00:11:49.389 too low of yourself. It's kind of self -forgetfulness. 00:11:50.169 --> 00:11:52.210 It's not thinking of yourself at all. There's 00:11:52.210 --> 00:11:54.210 a focus on God and there's a focus on others. 00:11:54.309 --> 00:11:56.129 The most humble people in the world actually 00:11:56.129 --> 00:11:59.120 don't think they're humble. Because they're not 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.740 focused on themselves. Humility is the channel, 00:12:02.820 --> 00:12:04.919 underline the word channel, through which the 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:08.980 supernatural power of God's love flows to heal 00:12:08.980 --> 00:12:12.000 our deepest hurts and restore our most important 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:15.820 relationships. Can you think of anything more 00:12:15.820 --> 00:12:19.340 important than your hurts or the hurts of someone 00:12:19.340 --> 00:12:22.000 else? I mean, we all have dysfunctions. We all 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:24.019 have struggles. We've all been betrayed. We've 00:12:24.019 --> 00:12:27.500 all hurt, right? But someone, humility is someone 00:12:27.500 --> 00:12:30.500 who cared enough to get off of thinking about 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:34.259 themselves to invest in us and love us. And as 00:12:34.259 --> 00:12:36.759 they did that, the Spirit of God, His love came 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:39.480 through them and wholeness occurred so that what? 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:43.379 We could do the same. Humility is the channel 00:12:43.379 --> 00:12:46.759 by which grace flows downhill into our hearts 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:50.159 and it restores us and it restores relationships. 00:12:51.259 --> 00:12:53.220 Have you ever seen what happens in a group or 00:12:53.220 --> 00:12:55.679 in a marriage or in a family when people forgive 00:12:55.679 --> 00:13:00.080 one another? I mean, it's pride that keeps relationships 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:02.759 apart. And it's the other person, they should 00:13:02.759 --> 00:13:05.360 apologize first. Do you know what happens in 00:13:05.360 --> 00:13:07.379 a marriage or in a family or in a small group 00:13:07.379 --> 00:13:10.500 or a business when there's someone that has genuine 00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:13.200 humility and lets go of their rights and their 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:16.039 positions, their prestige, and said, this relationship 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:21.759 matters more than? That's what Jesus did. And 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:24.000 he changed your world and my world and the whole 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:27.820 world. You're listening to Living on the Edge 00:13:27.820 --> 00:13:30.379 with Chip Ingram. And he'll be right back to 00:13:30.379 --> 00:13:33.000 finish today's message. But first, is all the 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:35.220 uncertainty in our world causing you to feel 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:38.159 discouraged and anxious? Then listen in after 00:13:38.159 --> 00:13:40.279 the teaching to hear about Chip's newest book, 00:13:40.460 --> 00:13:43.960 I Choose Joy. This tool will help you experience 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:47.159 deep, lasting joy no matter what. Stick around 00:13:47.159 --> 00:13:49.519 to learn more. Well, for now, here's Chip with 00:13:49.519 --> 00:13:52.200 the remainder of his talk. So I want to take 00:13:52.200 --> 00:13:55.360 you on a journey following Jesus into greatness. 00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:59.059 And as we do, I have to tell you that all of 00:13:59.059 --> 00:14:01.620 Scripture is God -inspired. All of Scripture 00:14:01.620 --> 00:14:04.940 is very important. But there are some passages 00:14:04.940 --> 00:14:08.820 that I think rise up to the pinnacle of the truth, 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:13.419 the majesty. We're going to go to a holy, holy 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:17.080 place where what we will see about the second 00:14:17.080 --> 00:14:20.559 person of the Trinity. is so mind -boggling, 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:23.600 so counterintuitive. And for those of you that 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.000 have been Christians for a long time, my prayer 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:29.980 is that you would see this with fresh eyes. We're 00:14:29.980 --> 00:14:35.039 going to talk about one... Who is in the pinnacle 00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:38.340 of glory and myriads of angels are worshiping 00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:41.320 him. And he sits on the throne. God the Father. 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.899 God the Holy Spirit. He owns everything. He controls 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:47.980 everything. He has the utmost position. Colossians 00:14:47.980 --> 00:14:50.600 1, he spoke and the galaxies came into existence. 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:53.620 By the word of his power, he holds everything. 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:58.539 And he will take on human flesh. And then he'll 00:14:58.539 --> 00:15:01.600 become a servant. And then he'll sacrifice his 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:05.500 life. And then he'll die. And then he'll actually 00:15:05.500 --> 00:15:08.539 die on a cross, which was the most shameful, 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:12.120 humiliating way. A Roman citizen could never 00:15:12.120 --> 00:15:16.820 be crucified because it was so lowly. And it 00:15:16.820 --> 00:15:21.600 will be out of that humility that you and I and 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:24.539 whosoever would believe could have life. And 00:15:24.539 --> 00:15:27.169 what he's going to say is, Here's the path. Paul's 00:15:27.169 --> 00:15:29.690 going to say, there's bickering between you all 00:15:29.690 --> 00:15:31.490 and there's persecution and pressure without. 00:15:31.690 --> 00:15:34.950 You have to, are you ready? You have to become 00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:39.370 humble so there's healing and there's life. I'll 00:15:39.370 --> 00:15:41.250 walk through the model rather briefly because 00:15:41.250 --> 00:15:43.690 then I want to get to the end and apply it for 00:15:43.690 --> 00:15:47.110 all of us. Notice, humility flows from a specific 00:15:47.110 --> 00:15:51.269 mindset. Hear the command. Have this attitude 00:15:51.269 --> 00:15:53.649 in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. 00:15:54.970 --> 00:15:57.710 Circle the word attitude, if you will. Literally, 00:15:57.710 --> 00:16:03.330 it's let this mind be among you. You know, I 00:16:03.330 --> 00:16:05.690 talk about reading the scriptures. I talk about 00:16:05.690 --> 00:16:07.529 meditating. I talk about putting good things 00:16:07.529 --> 00:16:09.990 in your mind. We are the product of our thought 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:13.009 life. This passage literally is your mindset, 00:16:13.129 --> 00:16:16.250 how you think, how you view yourself, how you 00:16:16.250 --> 00:16:18.309 view money and position and power and prestige, 00:16:18.509 --> 00:16:22.429 how you think. Have this mindset in you all that 00:16:22.429 --> 00:16:26.120 was in Jesus. And now he's going to tell us what 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:31.379 the mindset is. We achieve true greatness when 00:16:31.379 --> 00:16:35.279 we embrace, not just agree with, when we embrace 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.500 Christ's mindset toward power and possessions. 00:16:39.720 --> 00:16:43.340 How did Jesus view power? I mean, he had all 00:16:43.340 --> 00:16:45.919 the power. He was the ruler. How did he view 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:49.809 possessions? He owned everything. Notice what 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:52.509 the text says. Who, although he existed in the 00:16:52.509 --> 00:16:55.250 form of God, did not regard equality with God 00:16:55.250 --> 00:16:57.309 a thing to be grasped. Put a box around the word 00:16:57.309 --> 00:17:01.590 form and then put a line under did not regard 00:17:01.590 --> 00:17:06.089 equality with God a thing to be grasped. Literally, 00:17:06.109 --> 00:17:09.089 that phrase is as something that must not slip 00:17:09.089 --> 00:17:12.190 out of his hands. The word form here is morphe. 00:17:13.190 --> 00:17:16.609 We get our English word morphed. The meaning 00:17:16.609 --> 00:17:19.690 of the word is the inner essential quality of 00:17:19.690 --> 00:17:23.029 a thing or a person. In other words, when it 00:17:23.029 --> 00:17:26.509 says that although in the form of God, we think 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:28.549 a form of something exterior, he's going to use 00:17:28.549 --> 00:17:31.190 a different word for exterior in a minute. Form 00:17:31.190 --> 00:17:33.849 of God is the essential inner nature. In other 00:17:33.849 --> 00:17:36.849 words, although he and the Father and the Holy 00:17:36.849 --> 00:17:41.920 Spirit all have the same morphe, He didn't regard 00:17:41.920 --> 00:17:45.200 his equality with God something that he had to 00:17:45.200 --> 00:17:47.059 hang on to. In other words, he was going to take 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:50.400 his power, he's going to take his rulership over 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.660 positions, and he's going to let them go and 00:17:53.660 --> 00:17:57.440 start descending downwardly out of his love for 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:03.259 you and his love for me. Notice next, we must 00:18:03.259 --> 00:18:07.779 become truly great when we embrace Christ's mindset 00:18:07.779 --> 00:18:12.910 toward positions. And prestige. But he emptied 00:18:12.910 --> 00:18:16.869 himself. So instead of holding on to this position, 00:18:17.109 --> 00:18:21.390 he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant 00:18:21.390 --> 00:18:25.269 and being made in the likeness of a man. Underline 00:18:25.269 --> 00:18:28.549 the word emptied. Put a box around formed. It's 00:18:28.549 --> 00:18:32.809 the same word. And then underline bondservant 00:18:32.809 --> 00:18:37.630 and a circle around likeness of men. And if you're 00:18:37.630 --> 00:18:39.309 here thinking, my gosh, I didn't even bring a 00:18:39.309 --> 00:18:42.349 pen, we'll bring one next time. What I want you 00:18:42.349 --> 00:18:46.450 to see, these words, the theology is so rich, 00:18:46.470 --> 00:18:49.869 it's so mind -boggling. In other words, he was 00:18:49.869 --> 00:18:52.470 equal with God. When it says he emptied himself 00:18:52.470 --> 00:18:55.480 for Bible students, the word is kenosis. Literally, 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:59.519 it means he made himself nothing. What that means 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:02.039 is about two or three things. Number one, he 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:04.940 had pre -incarnate glory. If you would have met 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.759 the pre -incarnate Christ, the light emanating 00:19:07.759 --> 00:19:12.359 from him, you'd be gone. And so he veils his 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:18.380 glory by putting on human flesh. Then he limits 00:19:18.380 --> 00:19:22.059 the independent use of his attributes. See, sometimes 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:24.740 we think of Jesus like Superman. He had this 00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:27.319 toga on, but when it got really hard, he just 00:19:27.319 --> 00:19:29.799 ripped off the toga. Instead of an S, there's 00:19:29.799 --> 00:19:33.160 a G. I am God. I'll overcome this. He didn't 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:37.299 do it that way. He limited the independent use 00:19:37.299 --> 00:19:40.799 of his attributes, and he took on a body. Are 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.799 you ready? Permanently. Have you thought about 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.259 that? Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. 00:19:46.299 --> 00:19:49.279 He has a resurrected body. When you see Jesus, 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:51.519 you can see a bit later, those of you that are 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.000 followers of Christ, you want to see the holes 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.500 in his hands? I mean, it's a sacrifice that's 00:19:57.500 --> 00:20:01.619 unbelievable. And what he's doing is, he's saying, 00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:04.700 I was in the form, the very essence of God. I 00:20:04.700 --> 00:20:08.599 make myself nothing, never ceasing in any way, 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:11.500 relieving himself of any deity. He's fully God, 00:20:11.619 --> 00:20:16.240 fully man. And then notice what it says. Taking 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:19.400 the form, not just the acting, the form, the 00:20:19.400 --> 00:20:23.400 essential nature, not just of a servant, but 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:27.240 of a bondservant. A bondservant in Jewish and 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:30.119 in Roman culture had no rights. You might have 00:20:30.119 --> 00:20:32.700 a number of servants in the house. The bondservant 00:20:32.700 --> 00:20:34.700 is the guy that picks up the doo -doo. He's the 00:20:34.700 --> 00:20:36.859 guy that empties the trash. He's the guy that 00:20:36.859 --> 00:20:39.819 has zero rights, no anything, anywhere, at any 00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:46.329 time. Could you just pause for a moment? Could 00:20:46.329 --> 00:20:49.730 you imagine? I mean, when you think of how we 00:20:49.730 --> 00:20:52.730 cling to our rights, how come they didn't do 00:20:52.730 --> 00:20:56.170 that for me? Don't they know who I am? Can you 00:20:56.170 --> 00:21:00.990 imagine the creator of the universe taking the 00:21:00.990 --> 00:21:03.450 form of a bondservant? And it says he's made 00:21:03.450 --> 00:21:05.690 in the likeness of a man. The word likeness is 00:21:05.690 --> 00:21:09.150 our word schema. This is the word that means 00:21:09.150 --> 00:21:11.829 just the outward fashion of, the appearance of. 00:21:12.289 --> 00:21:15.450 And he was fully human except He wasn't like 00:21:15.450 --> 00:21:19.809 all other men. There's no sin nature. Jesus, 00:21:19.910 --> 00:21:24.670 everything he did, he said, follow me, model 00:21:24.670 --> 00:21:28.029 this. I can do nothing apart from him. His entire 00:21:28.029 --> 00:21:30.789 life was I'm dependent on the Father and in the 00:21:30.789 --> 00:21:33.589 power of the Holy Spirit to live this life so 00:21:33.589 --> 00:21:36.569 you can follow behind me and you be dependent 00:21:36.569 --> 00:21:38.670 on the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:21:40.130 --> 00:21:43.980 And he did that because he loves you. He did 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:48.420 that to rescue mankind. He descended into greatness. 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:54.960 This is Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram, 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:57.339 and you've been listening to Part 1 of his message, 00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:00.700 Love Serves, from our series, I Choose Love. 00:22:01.059 --> 00:22:03.380 Chip will be back shortly to share some helpful 00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:06.210 application for us to think about. One of the 00:22:06.210 --> 00:22:08.509 greatest delights of God's heart is to witness 00:22:08.509 --> 00:22:10.869 His children, those of us who call Him Lord, 00:22:11.049 --> 00:22:14.250 loving one another. Yet, we all know this isn't 00:22:14.250 --> 00:22:16.569 always easy and often doesn't come naturally 00:22:16.569 --> 00:22:19.430 to us. In this short study, Chip walks through 00:22:19.430 --> 00:22:21.789 the four characteristics of love laid out for 00:22:21.789 --> 00:22:24.690 us in Philippians chapter 2. Discover how to 00:22:24.690 --> 00:22:27.009 apply these truths to your relationships with 00:22:27.009 --> 00:22:29.630 others and God so you can love more and love 00:22:29.630 --> 00:22:32.490 better. To listen to this entire series, visit 00:22:32.490 --> 00:22:35.829 livingontheedge .org or the Chip Ingram app. 00:22:36.410 --> 00:22:38.509 Well, our Bible teacher Chip Ingram is with me 00:22:38.509 --> 00:22:40.630 in studio now to share a quick word with all 00:22:40.630 --> 00:22:43.369 of you. Thanks, Dave. You know, we're living 00:22:43.369 --> 00:22:46.069 in very uncertain and at times volatile times. 00:22:46.329 --> 00:22:49.390 The stock market goes up crazy and then down. 00:22:49.569 --> 00:22:52.470 We got social issues, political issues, a lot 00:22:52.470 --> 00:22:55.630 of division. And then you have an enemy who has 00:22:55.630 --> 00:22:58.309 darts of fear and uncertainty that he brings 00:22:58.309 --> 00:23:01.259 to people's mind. There's an antidote to that. 00:23:01.420 --> 00:23:03.880 Regardless of where you are and what you've been 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:06.400 through or what the people you love have been 00:23:06.400 --> 00:23:09.700 through, you can choose joy. You don't have to 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:12.200 wait for it to happen. We're not a victim of 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:14.660 our circumstances, but we need to understand 00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:19.319 how do you really experience joy even when all 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:22.289 the external things are challenging? How do you 00:23:22.289 --> 00:23:25.750 combat anxiety and depression and you don't measure 00:23:25.750 --> 00:23:28.450 up and life's not worth living? Let me encourage 00:23:28.450 --> 00:23:31.890 you. I just wrote a brand new book called I Choose 00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:35.170 Joy. It's based on Philippians chapter one. And 00:23:35.170 --> 00:23:37.369 if you know someone that's hurting, let me encourage 00:23:37.369 --> 00:23:40.490 you to get it. Good word, Chip. To get your copy 00:23:40.490 --> 00:23:44.289 of the new I Choose Joy book, visit livingontheedge 00:23:44.289 --> 00:23:50.539 .org or call us at 888 -333 -6003. I'm excited 00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:52.900 for all of you to experience the life -changing 00:23:52.900 --> 00:23:56.380 power of this work. Again, go to livingontheedge 00:23:56.380 --> 00:24:02.720 .org or call 888 -333 -6003 for complete details 00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:06.160 about the new book, I Choose Joy. App listeners 00:24:06.160 --> 00:24:09.579 tap special offers. Well, here again is Chip 00:24:09.579 --> 00:24:11.759 to share some application for us to think about. 00:24:12.779 --> 00:24:16.619 As we finish up today's broadcast, I was reminded 00:24:16.619 --> 00:24:19.420 of a verse that I reviewed this morning. I write 00:24:19.420 --> 00:24:21.880 down little verses on cards, and I memorize them, 00:24:21.980 --> 00:24:25.019 and then I review them as often as possible. 00:24:25.019 --> 00:24:28.099 And candidly, I need to do it a bit more. But 00:24:28.099 --> 00:24:31.680 Psalm 113, 5 and 6, I reviewed today, and it 00:24:31.680 --> 00:24:36.140 just struck me so powerfully. It says, Who is 00:24:36.140 --> 00:24:40.849 like the Lord our God, who humbles himself? to 00:24:40.849 --> 00:24:44.269 behold the things that are in heaven and on earth. 00:24:44.369 --> 00:24:47.210 Now think of that. The God that we serve is so 00:24:47.210 --> 00:24:51.609 great, so powerful, so pure, so holy, he humbles 00:24:51.609 --> 00:24:55.190 himself to even look into heaven, which is an 00:24:55.190 --> 00:24:57.990 absolutely perfect environment, let alone the 00:24:57.990 --> 00:25:02.170 things on earth. And then imagine that this God, 00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:05.910 God the Son, came and humbled himself to the 00:25:05.910 --> 00:25:08.809 point of death. He allowed himself to be separated 00:25:08.809 --> 00:25:11.940 from the Father. that he paid the ultimate price 00:25:11.940 --> 00:25:14.480 so that you and I could have relationship with 00:25:14.480 --> 00:25:18.579 him. Jesus is the greatest, the first, the foremost. 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:21.680 Everything in heaven and earth has been created 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:25.420 by him and for him and through him, and yet he 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:28.359 descended into greatness. He humbled himself. 00:25:28.759 --> 00:25:31.539 He was willing to give up his rights. He thought 00:25:31.539 --> 00:25:34.619 of us instead of himself. Instead of convenience 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:38.059 or comfort, he left the pleasures of heaven, 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:40.980 of being worshipped by myriads of angels, and 00:25:40.980 --> 00:25:43.980 was treated like a common thief, was stripped, 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:47.880 embarrassed, humiliated, and then died upon the 00:25:47.880 --> 00:25:51.740 cross to say to you and to say to me, I love 00:25:51.740 --> 00:25:55.150 you. And that is our motto. He says, have this 00:25:55.150 --> 00:25:58.769 attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ 00:25:58.769 --> 00:26:02.869 Jesus. You know, you talk about humility. You 00:26:02.869 --> 00:26:05.869 talk about what love really is about. I will 00:26:05.869 --> 00:26:10.059 tell you this, love serves. You know, for years 00:26:10.059 --> 00:26:12.900 and years, I recognized that I was arrogant and 00:26:12.900 --> 00:26:15.119 proud, and I tried really hard. I don't want 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.200 to be proud. I don't want to be arrogant. And, 00:26:17.299 --> 00:26:19.259 you know, as soon as I got pride to go out the 00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:20.920 window, it came in the door, and I put it out 00:26:20.920 --> 00:26:22.420 the door, and it came through a crack in the 00:26:22.420 --> 00:26:25.539 floor. And finally, I had a dear older brother 00:26:25.539 --> 00:26:28.680 say, Chip, quit thinking about trying to be humble. 00:26:29.210 --> 00:26:31.069 You want to be humble? You just serve people. 00:26:31.369 --> 00:26:34.869 Just choose to go to the back of the line. Choose 00:26:34.869 --> 00:26:37.829 to let other people go first. Choose to not hurry 00:26:37.829 --> 00:26:40.730 to get on the plane. Choose to look at the two 00:26:40.730 --> 00:26:42.809 pieces of meat at dinner and let someone else 00:26:42.809 --> 00:26:45.809 have the best one. You just start choosing to 00:26:45.809 --> 00:26:49.230 serve, and over time, God will make you humble. 00:26:49.769 --> 00:26:52.970 Jesus came to serve. Here's my question. What 00:26:52.970 --> 00:26:56.569 are you going to do? You want to really see the 00:26:56.569 --> 00:26:59.589 world change? In fact, you want to see your relationships 00:26:59.589 --> 00:27:03.369 change? You want to see yourself change? Today, 00:27:03.490 --> 00:27:07.410 say to the Lord, help me become a servant like 00:27:07.410 --> 00:27:10.170 Jesus. The power of the Holy Spirit living in 00:27:10.170 --> 00:27:12.990 you will give you all that you need if you make 00:27:12.990 --> 00:27:15.809 that choice and take that step. Let's be servants 00:27:15.809 --> 00:27:18.529 of the living God. That's a great challenge, 00:27:18.670 --> 00:27:21.170 Chip. Hey, before we close, I want to thank those 00:27:21.170 --> 00:27:24.170 who support us financially. Your generosity helps 00:27:24.170 --> 00:27:26.819 us create programs like this one. But if you 00:27:26.819 --> 00:27:29.039 haven't partnered with us, there's never been 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:32.220 a better time. Between now and June 30th, every 00:27:32.220 --> 00:27:35.180 gift we receive will be matched dollar for dollar. 00:27:35.380 --> 00:27:39.920 And making a donation is easy. Just go to livingontheedge 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:46.759 .org or call 888 -333 -6003. That's 888 -333 00:27:46.759 --> 00:27:52.799 -6003 or visit livingontheedge .org. App listeners 00:27:52.799 --> 00:27:56.079 tap donate. For Chip and everyone here, thank 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:59.160 you in advance for your generosity. We'll listen 00:27:59.160 --> 00:28:01.160 in next time as Chip picks up in his series, 00:28:01.299 --> 00:28:04.440 I Choose Love. Until then, this is Dave Drewy 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:06.640 saying thanks for joining us for this edition 00:28:06.640 --> 00:28:08.279 of Living on the Edge.