Article Library

---

By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

---

Christ Emptied Himself

“‘Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped’ (Philippians 2:6). Isn’t that wonderful. What was His? His was the splendor of heaven. His was the privileges of deity. His was this epical position as a part of the Godhead. His was undiminished deity, supremacy over all matter. He did not regard that role of co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent with the Father, something to be clung to, but He willingly released it. There was no fight, there was no argument, there was no reluctance, there was no hesitation. Just when the right time came, ‘He emptied Himself.’ He released, voluntarily released, the independent use of His divine attributes. He didn’t stop being God, but He stopped acting independently as God during that 33 plus-year journey on the planet. Always subservient to the Father, always in submission, always awaiting the next move. Emptied Himself of that and took upon Himself the form of a bond servant. How magnificent.”

God Specializes in the Impossible

“First of all, I learned that God can do anything. He can do anything. We just learned last week again at our church that He specializes in the impossible, the impossible. He can do anything. If there’s one thing that characterizes every one of us here today, we all have a few things in our heads that are impossible. There are situations that are human, by that I mean humanly impossible. We cannot pull them off. We want to, we wish we could, we’ve prayed, we’ve waited, they’re impossible. That’s when He pays close attention. God can do the impossible.”

Stay Open to God’s Leading

“Stay open to wherever He may be leading. Encourage your spouse, if you’re a married person, to stay open with you. Be open to wherever that may be. And you know, it’s strange about God, He’s full of surprises. He may leave you, you know, 20 miles from where you were born. He may want to put you 8,000 miles from anything you would call familiar. But the story is a reminder that if He can bring His Son from there to here, He can take us from here to wherever.”

God Can Change Anyone

“That’s what God did for us in His Son, released His Son, gave Him to us. God can change anyone. And God can lead anywhere. If He can bring His Son from the third heaven to this earth and have Him identified with us, He can lead you and me anywhere He wishes.”

Pause and Let the Wonder In

“What our Savior must have felt when He came to His own, and not even His own people received Him. So far from what He would call home, and here He was on a mission that He accomplished on our behalf. Thank God for moments like that where we pause and let the wonder in.”

Additional Resources

First, sign up for our Chuck’s Insights on Ministry email where we bring you his best thoughts on preaching, leadership, and ministry each week. By signing up, you’ll instantly receive a one-page checklist with 20 preaching insights from Chuck. See this page’s sidebar.

Second, check out our new Preach The Word articles and video series on YouTube where we’re teaching Chuck’s best insights on this important calling.

Third, listen to Chuck’s messages to those in ministry through our Seminary Chapels page. For decades, he offered students at Dallas Theological Seminary his best thoughts on church leadership and ministry. Now, we have put them at your fingertips. Also, you can find them through this YouTube playlist we created for you.

Fourth, if you don’t own a copy of Chuck’s book on preaching, Saying It Well, we highly recommend you add it to your library. It’s his preaching memoir that is also like a practical preaching manual. You won’t be able to put it down.

---