Mackay, Harold G: Un-Selfishness ~ Philippians 2;4

I've been thinking about tonight's meeting for a week or two, since I knew that I would be bringing the message to you, and as I've been doing so, a, uh, story from the mission field that I heard many years ago has been constantly recurring in my mind. I remember hearing, and I have no recollection where it was, or even the country involved, but I have remember hearing of a missionary that carried the gospel to a primitive people, a people who had never heard it before, who had never even seen a Bible, whose language had never been reduced to writing. And, uh, facing those obstacles, he began to speak of the Lord Jesus and to live for him. And, uh, slowly but surely, the, uh, testimony of lip and life took effect, and a few accepted Christ as their savior. Of course, there was opposition. There always will be. If we don't stir up the devil, we don't stir up much else. And so there was opposition, but he persisted, and he, uh, learned the language, reduced it to writing, and translated the New Testament. That, of course, took several years, but to his great joy, he was able to begin to distribute the New Testament in the language of this people to them. After he had done so, one of the, uh, chief opposers, uh, of him and his message came to him with a sort of a gleam of satisfaction in his eye, and he said, uh, I found you out at last. And, uh, the missionary said, uh, uh, just what do you mean? In what way have you found me out? He said, you're not as good as your book. Well, I've been thinking about that. Couldn't all of us plead guilty to that? We're not as good as our book. And as this story kept coming back to my mind, I felt that the Lord had some message in it, first of all for myself, and then for you, to whom I'd be speaking tonight. And one verse kept coming to my mind and was so impressed on my heart that I want you to read it with me. Uh, tonight. It's in the second chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. Philippians chapter two and verse four: Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. And as I read that, and as I thought on it, I had to personally admit that I was not as good as the book. For one short, simple verse, I believe we have what would cure the major part of problems that arise, whether in families or in assemblies. If this were just carried out by each one of us, how far it would go in, uh, settling many of the problems and curing many of the ills that arise amongst us, the Lord's people. Look not every man on his own things. Now, the thought of things here, I believe, is interests. Look not every man on his own interests, but every man also on the interests of others. In other words, we are exhorted in this simple verse here not to be thinking about our own interests, but about thinking about the interests of others. Now, apply that to every situation. If a problem arises between husband and wife, you don't need a seminar on family relationship. All you need to do is for the husband to begin to think about the wife's interests, and the wife to begin to think about the husband's interests, and that'll take care of that. If there's a problem between the parents and the family, all that is needed to settle it is for the parents to be interested in the interests of the family, and the family to be interested in the affairs of the parents. If there are problems in an assembly, the cure for that is for me to be interested not in my interests, but in your interests, and you to be interested not in your interests, but in my interests. And I repeat, if we were to carry that out, what a revolutionary effect it would have all down the line. Look not every man on his own interests. Now, it's natural to do that, and that is why we're exhorted not to do it. But some might say, well, if I don't look after my interests, who will? Well, I'll tell you what I've learned through the years. If I don't look after my interests, the Lord will. And I think I would much rather be stumbling around in my feeble, faltering way, looking after the Lord's interests, and having him in his perfect, omnipotent way looking after my interests. I'm going to be the winner every time on that, because there'll be failure on my part, but there'll be no failure on his part. Now, it has often been pointed out, but not too often, that in this remarkable second chapter of Paul's letter to the Philippians, this is the key verse that unlocks the whole chapter. And to illustrate and to enforce this revolutionizing principle that we have in verse four, we have four remarkable examples or illustrations. We have our Lord Jesus Christ, who of course is a perfect exemplar. We have the Apostle Paul, who undoubtedly, uh, was the greatest imitator, and I use that term as it's used in scripture, uh, imitator of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then we have, uh, Timothy, that we will look at a little in detail. Timothy, who was an unusual associate of the great Apostle Paul. And then we have Epaphroditus, one who was from Philippi itself and was there with Paul in his imprisonment. Now, enough is said in this v- chapter regarding these four, to emphasize this fact, every one of them did not look at their own interests, but they looked at the interests of others and acted accordingly. And naturally, you have immediately in verse five uh our Lord Jesus Christ referred to. Let this mind, this mind of not being concerned about our own interests, but the interests of others, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Then we have these seven beautiful, familiar, but perfect steps downward of humiliation that our Lord Jesus Christ took from the glory above, down, it says, the last step, even the death of the cross. Why did he do that? Well, in this connection, because he looked at these Philippians, and he was interested in their salvation. They were, like all the rest of the world, sunk in sin, unable to save themselves, and our Lord from glory, he was interested not in the glory that he had and had had from all eternity, not in the perfect fellowship and communion that he had with the Father, not the worship of angels. That wasn't our Lord's chief concern. He's interested not in that which concerns himself as the eternal Son of God, as he well might have been, but interested in the salvation of these Philippian sinners. And because of that, he's willing to step off the throne and down and down and down and down until he reaches the lowest depths at Calvary's cross, even the death of the cross. What a lesson for us, and how it should shame us. It does me. I find in my heart, although I've been fighting it for over fifty years now, I find in my heart a natural tendency to want to go up. God said, go down. You say you want to be more like Christ? You say you want to be Christ-like? Then go down. And the lower you go down, the more you become like Christ. The higher we go up, the less we become like him. But as we follow his steps, we go down. And none of us will ever reach the depths that our blessed Savior sank to on Calvary's cross, even the death of the cross. Do you and I think we've suffered a little? We've never had a crown of thorns beaten into our brow. I've never been spit on for my Lord. I've never been beaten and buffeted for my Savior. I've never had nails driven through my hands and my feet for him, but he did for me. Why? Because he wasn't looking on his own interests, he was looking on mine. And so he was willing to pour out his blood on Calvary. What an example, my brethren and sisters. Oh, we might learn to follow him. And then the Apostle Paul bring is bring brought before us from, uh, verse 12 on. And I think if you read these verses regarding Paul, you will see a man that is interested in the service of these Philippian believers. Only the Lord could procure their salvation. But now that they are saved, they are to serve him. They're to shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life. And Paul is interested in that. But he not only encourages them, he not only exhorts them, that's good, but he goes further. I want you to notice what he says in verse seventeen. The full import of it may never have come home to your heart. He says, yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. Now, what he's saying literally, that word offered is literally poured forth as a drink offering. In the Old Testament, you have the major offerings that were to be offered on the altars of Israel. But there's an offering that is not included in them, and yet it's referred to. We know very little about it. It was what is called the drink offering. No one liked it, but it was poured out. The first time you read about it is in Genesis chapter thirty four, I believe it is, either thirty four or thirty five. um and there you have a, a drink offering being poured on a stone that had been raised in testimony to God. The only thing we know about this drink offering is that it was a hymn of wine, and wine, as we well know in scripture, is a symbol of joy. Now, what's the apostle saying? Follow the footsteps of his Lord and Master, and illustrating this principle here of not looking on one's own interests, but in the interests of others, he says, now I'll be happy, I'll joy, and I'll rejoice if I'm just poured out like a drink offering on your service. Think of the humility of it. He's speaking as though these Philippian believers, what they were doing was a great sacrifice to God, and he said, all I want to do is just to be a drink offering, just to be poured out on what you're doing for the Lord. What a lovely spirit. I wonder if all of us, or any of us, I wonder if the speaker is ready just to consider what others are doing for the Lord as being all important, and we just willing to be poured out for the Lord on that service. That is following in the footsteps of our blessed Lord. We can't pour out our blood for redemption. That would do no good, and that's absolutely unnecessary. But my brethren and sisters, we can pour it ourselves for the Lord. And that's what the apostle is ready to do for these Philippian believers. Then he says, now, I want to send Timothy to you just as soon as I possibly can. And I want you to notice what he says about, uh, Timothy in verse twenty. For I have no my- man like-minded who will naturally care for your state, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. Paul says, I have a young man here, and he is interested not in his own things, but he's interested in your state, your spiritual state. And he says, as I look over my associates, and this is a striking thing, it has never come home to me with as much force as it has this past week. As he looks around over his associates, as he looks at the assembly there at Philippi, he says, I have no man like-minded. Now, it's literally, apparently, of a kindred spirit. I don't know anyone else, he said, that has the same spirit. It says he will naturally care for your state. The word naturally here is genuinely. Here, young man, a young preacher, he's not concerned about his own things, but he is concerned about the spiritual state of those believers at Philippi. He's concerned deeply about that. And Paul says, for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. As I thought of these verses and what Paul is saying about, uh, Timothy and the others there, I thought, well, now the problem today is nothing new. So many, even of God's children, are concerned about their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ, not the condition of others. Are we at all, if we're perfectly honest, are we not found more often thinking about ourselves and our affairs and our state than we are thinking about the state of others? How much do we pray for the other saints of God? How much do we weep over the people of God? How much are we imbued with the spirit that was so characteristic of Timothy here? It says he will naturally, he'll genuinely care for your state. Timothy had a genuine deep, uh, concern and care and exercise for the spiritual state of the believers there at Philippi. And Paul said, I want to send him to you, because you can imagine what a, uh, blessing one like that would be. May I encourage all of you, and I'm speaking to my own heart as well, you can be sure. May I encourage all of you to be concerned about the spiritual state of others of God's children. That, if it really grips our heart, it would put us into motion to really carry out a ministry of comfort and care and consolation for the people of God, and how much that, uh, means. I was, uh, delighted and very much encouraged when I learned tonight that two of our brethren, uh, so far as I know, without any, uh, sort of official arrangement, have taken upon themselves the very necessary and very profitable ministry of visiting, uh, all the newcomers here at the chapel. Our brothers and sisters, that's what's needed. But you say, nobody's asked me to do it. Nobody's appointed me. That's the trouble today. We've got so regimented. We've got to have a schedule, dates and persons and everything like that before we do anything for God. Brethren, get busy. If you do too much, the Lord will forgive you. But if you don't do enough, I don't know whether you will or not. Don't wait until you're appointed. You're appointed right now. If you're want an official appointment, bow your head, and I'll, I'll pray for you right now. What has been done in the assemblies of God's people has been done not so much because of official appointment as because of a burdened heart. And if we were just to be more burdened about others, we would see things done. Say, well, nobody's given me anything to do. Brethren, there's so much to do. Sometimes I almost ask the Lord to turn the clock back and make me young again. Now, before I get half through that prayer, I stop and say, Lord, forgive me. I didn't mean that, really didn't. But, brethren and sisters, when I see all that there is to be done, all that could be done, what a joy it would be. I would to God that I had the strength when I came here thirty nine years ago, and I'd like to get right into the middle of things again. There's plenty to do on every hand if we have a heart that's burdened for the Lord and for the Lord's people. But how true this is of us. All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. I was never a great admirer of the late President Kennedy. But there's one thing he said that has come back to me again and again, and that is this. In one of his most famous speeches, he said, ask not what the country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country. Now, if we get a little bit of that spirit right here in this assembly, instead of asking what the assembly can do for us, ask what we can do for the assembly. And if everyone were seeking to do what they can for the assembly because it's the Lord's assembly. Timothy is exercised about the state of the Philippians. But when the apostle comments on that in verse twenty one, he spe- speaks of it as the things of which are Jesus Christ. Anything you and I do for the Lord's people, we're doing for the Lord himself, and the Lord will reward. As a father, I have always appreciated deeply anything that has been done for my sons. I would rather have something done for them than for me personally, and I believe that's just a very, very faint reflection of the attitude of our Father in heaven. Brethren and sisters, I believe that our Heavenly Father deeply appreciates everything we do for one of his children. Whoever that child may be, if they belong to the Lord and we do something for them, do you remember what the Lord said? Even a cup of cold water in the name of disciple, he shall not lose his reward. Yes, how we need Timothy's. I was thinking of this. It just came to me. Uh, millions of Christians know about Timothy. Why? Because he didn't seek his own things, but the things which are Jesus Christ's. He didn't put his own interests first, he put the interests of the Philippian saints first. And down through the century, millions of people all over the world have been reading about Timothy. Do you know the name of one other Philippian believer? Right off the bat now, without looking toward the end of the chapter, do you know the name of any other one Philippian believer? Yes. And any other? Do you know why we can't remember the others? Because they sought their own things. And brethren, the more we seek our own things, the more we'll drift into oblivion. I'm realizing more and more as I get toward the end of my Christian life, only what's done for Christ will last. When I stand at the judgment seat of Christ, it won't matter at all what kind of a house I lived in, what kind of a car I drove, what kind of a bank account I had. But what'll matter at the judgment seat of Christ is whether I lived for him and for his people. And so there's one other, and that's Epaphroditus, one of their own. He had apparently been sent by the assembly at Philippi with a gift for the Apostle Paul there at Rome. He brought that gift. Now, that's all we're told. I want you to look at the last verse of the chapter. It says, uh, because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me. Now, in some way or another, these Philippian saints, although they sent twice to the apostle, and although they had sent Epaphroditus as their personal messenger with a gift that financially met the need of the Lord's servant at this time, that's very clear from this chap- this chapter here and chapter four. There was something, we don't know what it is, what it was, there was something lacking in their service. Now, both Paul and Epaphroditus say nothing about that. We don't know what it was, but there was a shortcoming there, and this dear man, when he came to Rome and brought the gift from the Philippian believers that met the need of the apostle, and you read chapter four and you see how grateful Paul was for it. He spoke of it as a sacrifice to God. He appreciated it. It met his need. He said, I have all, I am full and abound, but in some way or another, and I don't think there's any way we can learn what it was, but there was some shortcoming here. Now, what did Epaphroditus do? Did he criticize the Philippians? Did he criticize the assembly at Philippi because of what they didn't do? No, he didn't. You read these verses. He took off his coat and went to work to make up for it. And doing that, he almost killed himself. Yes. He saw there was a shortcoming here in some way that we're not told, and possibly the reason we're not told what it was specifically, so that we can apply it right across the board. When we see a shortcoming, when we see a failure, when we see something that isn't being done, what should we do? Do what Epaphroditus did. Well, and do it yourself. And I say, in doing that, he almost died. You read these verses? A dear man apparently so labored that he was almost at death's door. In fact, he was at death's door because of this. Now, as I've been reading this, frankly, the Lord's given me a quite a whipping. I can assure you of that. Uh, because I don't think any of us, including the speaker, we're not in very much danger killing ourselves and what we're doing for the Lord. We may get a little worn out in it, but here's this dear man, and he's seeking to make up where others had failed. He jumps into the breach, and he does everything he can, right to the point of death. And then there's another lovely thing that I point out as I close. He's worried because they don't know back at Philippi how much he's doing and what a bad shape he's in. No. He's worried because they've heard he's sick. He's heard that they're worrying about him. Now, if it had been us, if this speaker had worked himself right to the point of death, he'd want all the Lord's people to know about it. I remember one time in the past, I won't give any details at all, but I remember one time in the past that, uh, something happened to us that, uh, was rather expensive. And, uh, one of the Lord's servants visiting in our home, he learned about it. He said, have you let the Lord's people know about it? I said, no. Well, he said, you should. I said, just why? I said, my father knows about it. I've been telling him. Well, but he said, you ought to let all the Lord's people know. He said they'd respond wonderfully. I said, I don't want them to respond to anything that I let them know. I want them to respond to what the Father tells them to do. If we'd have been this sick, we'd want them back at Philippi. I want the assembly back at Philippi to know how hard I've been working, and that I almost killed myself because they failed, and I try to make up for them. Now you let them all know, be sure and announce it Sunday morning. No, Epaphroditus says, I'm sorry you heard about it. Paul says he's worried because you're worried about him. What a lovely spirit. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. God help us to look not on our own things. What will I get out of it? No, no. What can I give out of it? Brethren and sisters, Christianity is not getting. Christianity is giving. Giving and giving and giving. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege of coming together and refreshing our spirits with the singing of these lovely hymns of praise, worship, thanksgiving to thee. Speaking to thee in prayer, Father, for many need our prayers, and we need to pray for one another. Now, Father, we've been looking into thy word. Lord, help us, speaker and hearer, to take these exhortations from thy word to our own hearts. Help us, Father, to follow a little more closely after the blood-stained footprints of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. May we know a little more what it means to be poured out in service for thee and for thy people. And grant our God that what we do, we may do it as unto the Lord and not unto man. Grant thy blessing upon all who could not be with us tonight. Graciously bless them, we pray, and part us with thy richest blessing. We pray once again, as we have been doing daily, Father, for our brother and sister in their labors at Pittsboro. Grant, Lord, that thou wilt use them for thy glory there. We know that thou dost appreciate what they do and what others do for thy senior saints in that place.