Esteem others higher than yourself

This is not the kind of sermon that makes people jump up and down and shout: ‘Hallelujah!’ but it is an apostolic injunction that actually changes lives and makes the will of God a present reality rather than something we continually pray for.

A pivotal chapter

Philippians 2 is a pivotal chapter in the apostolic letter of Paul.

What will it be like if people in a church all esteemed others higher than themselves? There will be no division, no dissension, no gossip and no evil works. It will be heaven on earth!

Phil 2:3, 4: 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.

Here we have a key to unity: esteeming others higher than yourself. And Paul also gives us the first step into putting it into practice: take a sincere interest in others.

In order to know what someone else’s interest is you have to get to know that person. We are all too busy with our own interests.

Paul refers to the example of Christ in order to illustrate his point.

Phil 2:5-8:  When Christ was at the top of his form (morphe: inward essence) He made Himself of no reputation and took upon Himself the form (schema: outward form) of a servant. The French Bible says He chose the form of a simple man (not an important man, not a rich man).

A practical example

To get a hold of this revelation let us take an example from the world of sport: if Roger Federer wins the American Open tennis championship at Flushing Meadows in New York and then disappears from the tennis scene only to be found coaching little kids at the tennis club here in Milnerton, Cape Town, it will give us an idea of how Jesus left glory to come and dwell among us. He clothed his glorious inner essence with the coat of a simple man, almost unrecognizable. You would walk right past Him without knowing who He is.

When Jesus was at the height of His career, He gave it all up for you and me. He emptied Himself of all His divine privileges and became a servant to us.

At one stage, Nola was the highest paid actress in South Africa. Then she got an International film offer. The part was given to her. She did not have to go for an audition to get the part. But she had to bare her back for one scene. She declined the offer. The director was most upset. We went on to become missionaries to Australia, unknown to a nation we do not know. At the height of her career she gave it up and became a servant.

How to humble yourself

The second thing Jesus did was to humble Himself by becoming obedient even to the point of death, the death of a cross, the most cursed way to die.

The result: Phil 2:9-11: God highly exalted Him and gave Him a Name above every other name, that at His Name, every knee should bow in heaven and earth, and every tongue confess that He is Lord.

Jesus did not think it robbery to be equal with God, but He gave up that privilege to come to earth as a man, to be rejected of His own people, the Jews, and to pay the ransom for all our sins, Jews and Gentiles alike, so that through His death there is no difference between Jew and Gentile any longer, but He removed the middle wall of partition between them so that they are both one in Him, a new creature in Christ.

Paul asks the Philippians to have one mind and one heart and one spirit and then gives the keys to that spiritual unity: let each esteem others higher than himself by taking an interest in others as well, by giving up some privileges and by becoming obedient.

We learn obedience through things we suffer – just like Jesus did, even though He was the Son of God (Heb 5). We can learn without suffering, of course, but normally we are stubborn of nature and take a long time to become obedient.

A check list to review

Here are a few injunctions to help us esteem others higher than ourselves:

1. Cease bickering (kwaadsteek in Afrikaans)
2. Come to each other’s aid
3. Stimulate good works in each other
4. Persuade each other to live godly lives
5. Give incentives to serve God and other people
6. Avoid strife and vain glory
7. Patch up differences

The hot iron of God’s love will iron out the differences between us like an iron removes the wrinkles in a shirt. Through God’s love in our hearts we can patch up differences and heal estrangements.

The final conclusion

God wants to bring the church to its ultimate conclusion: the human will locked into God’s will coming to full strength expressing the eternal design of the divine purpose (Phil 2:13, 14).

Learn to esteem Christ first (Isaiah 53:3)

Then esteem others higher than yourself (Phil 2:4)

Esteem those who labour in the Word to teach the people (Phil 2:28-30)

What a wonderful place the church is, when we do the will of God and enjoy His Kingdom in our midst instead of repeating ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ ad infinitum without ever seeing it manifested!

Receive this Word as it is in Truth, the Word of God, not a man, and it will benefit you greatly!

Andre Pelser, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.