here. So open your Bibles to
Philippians chapter 2 if you would. We're going to read verses
5 to 11 today. And what some call, and I think
we've seen this through our studies in verses 5 to 8, some say is
one of the clearest portions of scripture. about the deity
and the humanity of Christ. And we've seen that brought forth,
haven't we? It's just absolutely stunning, to be honest with you.
And so let's turn to Philippians chapter 2. We'll read about our
great King, our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who's
God incarnated in the flesh. Philippians 2.5, let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the
form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of man. In being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven,
and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and look at this,
to the glory of God the Father. Remember, Christ came to this
world to save us from our sins, and he did it to glorify God,
didn't he? His whole will is to glorify
God, to do the Father's work. Remember when he's just a child,
he says, I'm here to do my Father's business, right? Which is the
will of the Father, the will of the Father. And now Jesus
Christ our Lord again came into this world to save his people
from their sins. But in order to do that, he must
live as our substitute. He must live a perfect life.
Right? And it's for us. He's already
sinless. He's already spotless. He's the
Lamb of God. So in order for you and I to
be justified, Brother Brian, and to be righteous in God's
eyes, he must live a perfect life for us. He must fulfill
the law for us, my sister and brother, he must fulfill the
law perfectly for us. And that perfect righteousness
is then imputed to us by the grace and mercy of God. So sister,
when God looks at us now, he sees us in Christ. which is magnificent. We're clothed in the robe of
righteousness. We're clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
And so God doesn't, he looks upon us and he sees us in his
son. My oh my. And in order for him
to be able to see us that way, Christ's righteousness, which
he, which he, He performed, and he wove, I like what the old
timers said, he wove the coat of righteousness that we wore
by his perfect obedience to the Father, right? He did that in
his life. And then in his death, he died
before God's law, which demanded, again, satisfaction for our sins,
right? The law says the soul that sinneth
it must die. Well, here's the sinless one,
dying in the room in place of sinners. so that we, my dear
brother and sister, might be justified in God's eyes. It's
magnificent. It's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. So not only was he perfect in
his life, but he was also perfect in his death. Not only was he
obedient in his life, but he was obedient unto the cross,
to dying upon the cross, to bearing our sins. and bearing the penalty
that was due us. Literally, the penalty due us
fell upon Him. Now, we can't fathom that. It's
true, though. Could you imagine the eternal
wrath of God due us? Falling upon Him? And think,
He's God in the flesh. And he's so satisfied, so satisfied
and extinguished the law that was against us, that Paul writes,
who can bring any charge to God's elect? It's God that justify
it. Now remember that, okay? We've
marveled that it's God who saved us, right? It's also God who
justifies it. If God justifies us, who can
bring anything against us? His law has already been satisfied,
right? His justice has already been extinguished that was against
us. Who can condemn us, beloved? No one. Because our sins were
judged in Christ. And that's why we say to our
sinner friends, who are sinners just like we are, right? We're
just saved sinners. We say the only hope for you
and for me is Christ Jesus the Lord. The only way to have sins
forgiven, and that's a desperate need of we humans. The only way to have our sins
forgiven is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, who was God
before he came to this world, was God born in the womb, Was God when he walked upon this
world in perfect obedience to the Father? Was God when he went
and died on the cross? And is God right now up in glory? He never stopped being God. So
we can say salvation is of the Lord. Salvation's of God. That's
what Jonah, basically Jonah's saying, salvation's of God. My, oh my, beloved. So marvel,
God saved us from our sins and God's justified us. Who shall
bring any charge against us? What a savior, what a redeemer. My, oh my. So this is the sinless
one we see here. Christ Jesus, our Lord, dying
for sinners, which is his elect, right? to save us from our sins. And never forget this, beloved
of God. He willingly gave his life. It wasn't taken from him. He willingly gave it. Why? Well, there was sheep given to
him There was a sheep given to him,
an attorney named Barb. There was a sheep given to him
named Kevin. There was a sheep given to him,
put your name in there. Even before we were even born. He went to the cross for us.
And not just us. Think of this. All the elect
of all the ages. And he did it willingly. Willingly. My oh my. Willingly went to death. His death. To die for sinners. And he gave himself up. Right? And he knew. He saw all
those Passover lambs, right? And remember, he's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, right? He's God. He knows why
he's coming to this world to save us and how he's going to
save us by the shedding of his blood. Let's just ponder that for a
little while. And he did it willingly. What
motivated him? His great love for us. His great
love for us. Think of the love you have for
your spouse. Think of the love you have for your children. Doesn't
even come close to the love that Christ has for his people. And the love we have for our
loved ones is deep. Doesn't even scratch the surface
of how much God loves us. My goodness. So he gives his
life willingly, sheds his blood willingly, that our eternal souls
might be redeemed from all our sins. How? By the shedding of
his blood. His precious, precious blood.
And he's a perfect sacrifice, isn't he? So he's offering himself
up as a perfect sacrifice. Look at verse 8. In being found
in a fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death. Even the death of the cross. Marvel at the great humility
here shown by our Savior. He's God. The blessed Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ, is God in the flesh. And God's humbled himself and
became a man. Took upon him the form of a man. Sinless, but still fully human and fully
God. And marvel how low he stooped
to save us from our sins. Leaving heaven to come here to
save us from our sins. Marvel at that. That's a wonder.
That's a wonder that Christ did that for us. Each of us as believers
should say, He did that for me. And then look what happened.
He was raised from the dead, right? Look at verse 9. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him. Where is he now? He's in
heaven. Amen, sister. And he's seated
at the right hand of the Father interceding for us. He's so far
above us. You see, the problems of this
earth are nothing to him because he's above them all, isn't he? Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. God is all highly exalted and
given him a name which is above every name. Oh my. And we know that name. Every knee shall bow and every
tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. Look at verse eight again. And
being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now, he became
obedient unto death. This does not mean that death
was a master over him. No, he's the master of death. This is talking about the The
kind of death that he died. Crucifixion. A painful death. A death for criminals. What are we in the eyes of God's
law? We're criminals, aren't we, brother? Oh my. The best person in this
world, just a criminal in God's eyes. You ever think of that? You look at the best person,
because it's not me. And it's not you. You, beloved, know it's
not you either, right? But you look at someone and people
exalt and say, oh, he's such a great person. He's such a good
person. And they're a criminal in God's
eyes. Because they broke his law. Right? Criminals break laws,
don't they? We were boring criminals, weren't
we? Man thinks we're pretty good.
No, we're a bunch of sinners. My oh my. We're lawbreakers by
nature. That's what we are. So he's the
master over death. And think of this. No individual
ever died a death like this. They may have died at crucifixion.
Okay? But they never had the unmitigated
wrath of God poured out upon them. for all the elect of all
the ages. Oh, my. John Owens, I believe
it was, wrote a book or wrote an essay called The Death of
Deaths. No other death like this. No
other death like this. No one ever died as he died,
and no one will ever die as he died, because we struggle when
death comes. He gave his life. Willingly. I don't care. Every
Christian and every unbeliever, at the end of their life, we
struggle to breathe, don't we? The flesh wants to live on. The Spirit's willing to go home,
if you're a believer, right? Oh my, take me home, Lord. But
the flesh still struggles to breathe. He willingly gave his
life up. He willingly gave up the ghost.
Turn, if you would, to John chapter 17. Or John chapter 10. And put your finger in John chapter
19. He willingly laid down His life
for us. Well, how do we know that? Well,
look at this. John chapter 10, verses 17 and 18. This is marvelous,
beloved. And if you're a believer, He
did this for you, and He did this for me. Look at this. John 10, verses 17 and 18. Therefore
doth my Father love me, because what? I lay down my life, that I might take it again. Look
at that. He lays down his life. That means
he gives his life. He lays it down. It's his to
give and it's his to take. Look at this. No man taketh it
from me. Look at that. See, when they
came and put that spear in the side of our king, he'd already
given up the ghost. They went and put the spear in
the other thieves, or into the sides of the thieves so that
they would die. But they came to Christ, and
what they would usually do is break the legs so that they couldn't
push themselves up anymore. That's how they would get breath,
because they were suffocating, basically, inside when at crucifixion.
And so they'd use their legs to push up to give them relief. So that's why they broke the
legs of anyone who was on a cross. And they went to break the legs
of Christ, and he's already gone. We're going to see why in chapter
19. But look at this. Look at verse
18. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. That's the second time he said
that right there. I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay
it down. Look at that. He's a master over
death. Isn't that wonderful as a believer?
To know that our Savior is the master over death? Oh my. And I have power to take
it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. Now let's turn over to verses 28 to 30 in John
chapter 19. John chapter 19. Look at this. After this now remember what
he said there. He said he told us twice He has the power to
give up life to lay down his life, right? Look at this 28
after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished
that the scripture might be fulfilled sayeth I thirst I Now there was
set a vessel of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar
and put it upon Hesop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he
bowed his head, look at this, and gave up the ghost. He had the power to lay down
his life. And we know, don't we, Brother
Brian, that he took his life up again, didn't he? He was risen
from the grave for us three days later for our justification. God justified us. Christ is God.
He justified us, Brother. My, oh my, it's wonderful. It's
absolutely wonderful. My, look at that. He bowed his
head in death as one dying, freely submitting his spirit to the
Father's will. And the stroke of death, freely
submitting his soul to the stroke of death. And then what? He gave up the ghost. He laid
down his life by his power. That he might take it up again.
And remember, when he took up his life again, we're raised,
he's raised for our justification. So he dies a sinless sacrifice
to pay for our sins. And then he's risen again, the
sinless one, for our justification. Makes you excited, doesn't it?
It's wonderful. Oh my, he gave up the ghost.
He committed his soul into the hands of God. He committed himself
to the Father freely, laying down his precious life, which
no man we saw could take away from him. No one could take it away from
him. He gave it willingly. Oh, what love! Let's go back
now to verse 8 in Philippians chapter 2, with that in our minds.
It says this, and being found in the fashion as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross. See the word unto there, where
it says and became obedient unto death? It's a translation of
a Greek word which means up to the point of. up to the point
of our Lord was obedient to the Father up to the point of His
dying. He was fully submitted to the
Father in His life and in His death. He completely redeemed us, beloved. He did that which was impossible
for us to do. And the reason He had to lay
down His life is He's sinless. Death has no claim on Him. Remember,
I think it was on Wednesday night, he said, the prince of this world
cometh, we looked at the text in John, and hath nothing in
me. Nothing. He's sinless. Oh my. Our Lord, he was obedient to
the Father in his life and up to the point of his death. He
said, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. Remember, we've seen that
in the Psalms a couple of weeks back, and we saw it in Hebrews
too. Now, see the words, even unto
the death of the cross, when it says he became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Now, the Apostle Paul
is bringing forth here the character of Christ's death. the character
of Christ's death. I looked at this from several
commentators, and Hawker and Gillard, the two guys I really
lean on a lot, and they both had the same view on this. He's talking about the character
of how Christ died. It was the death of the cross.
And again, it's nature, the nature of death upon the cross is one
of extreme humiliation. Right? Guilty criminals were
crucified. And here's the sinless one dying
in our room, because we're the guilty criminals. My! What love he has for us,
beloved. What great love! Oh, how low
he stooped, as I said. It was a death of misery. Crucifixion was a miserable way
to die. Painful. Again, it was a kind
of death dealt out to criminals. And here's the sinless one, dying
for sinners. Oh, my. And also, it was dealt
out to those who were not citizens of the Roman Empire. That's something,
eh? My, oh, my. My, oh, my. He's not of this world, is he?
No, he's not of this world. His kingdom's not of this world.
No, not at all. Not at all. The Greek translation
of this verse I found interesting by least. I'll read it to you.
It says, in being found in the outward guise as a man, because
remember we looked at the form, fashion and form are the appearance. That's why when Christ said,
if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. Right? He's the outward expression.
He's the form, the guise of God. He's the only one we're going
to see. In heaven, we see Christ. We
see Christ, beloved. And being found in outward guise
as a man, he stooped very low, having become obedient to the
extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross. Oh my. And think of this. He nurtured that tree and had
it grow that that cross was carved from. Those nails that were pierced
his hands, somebody worked that in a mine that he had put there. My, oh, my. The hammer. The hammer
that they hammered the nails into his hands and his feet.
I don't know what hammers were made out of, maybe iron, or I
don't know what it would be, rock probably, hey brother Travis,
somebody had a hard rock or something? Copper or something? But he had
that, he formed that in the earth. The spear, probably made out
of iron. That was all mined from where
he put it. And he even gave the men strength
that hammered those nails. and breath that hammered those
nails into him. He did it for us. It's marvelous what he did for
us. It's stunning, isn't it? And we're just scratching the
surface of it here. It's amazing. So we can see the
character of Christ's death upon the cross. was both painful and
shameful. The scripture says this, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of law, being made a curse for
us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on the
tree. That the blessing of Abraham might come upon Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Galatians 3, verses 13 and 14. And I've mentioned in previous
study that This punishment was also inflicted upon servants. It's called a servile punishment. What did he take the form of?
A servant. Servant. He's the servant of
servants, isn't he? And this is the greatest instance
of humility that this world will ever see. that the King of glory
becomes a man and dies upon a cross to save sinners such as we. And this death is unmatched in
any other death, unparalleled in any other death. No one suffered
like our Lord suffered. Now, people suffer death, don't
they? But they don't suffer the eternal wrath of God falling
upon them as they're dying. Right? For all the elect of all the
ages. Unsaved people have the effect of the wrath of God falling
upon them after they die. Right? But he was still alive. And he suffered for us. My oh
my. Listen to this in Titus chapter
2 verses 13 and 14. It says, Looking for that blessed
hope in the glorious appearing of our great God and our Savior
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity and purify himself of peculiar people zealous
of good works. Let's read verse 8 again of Philippians
chapter 2. And being found in the fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Oh, let us keep looking to Jesus
who is the author and the finisher of our faith, beloved. Who for
the joy, the scripture says, for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame. And he sat down at
the right hand of the Father. Right hand of the throne of God.
He did it for the joy that was set before him, the joy of redeeming
his bride, redeeming his elect from all their sins. Someone
might ask, well, who are you looking to when we look to Jesus? Well, we're looking at the, we
who are the redeemed of the Lord look to Jesus, our Savior, who
was appointed by God the Father and sent by God the Father to
be our redeemer, our representative, our ransom, and our mediator.
And we who are the redeemed of the Lord look to Jesus, who is
the author of our faith. He's the one who begins it, isn't
it? We're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, given faith to
believe. And we who are the redeemed of
the Lord look to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the object of
our faith. The object of our faith. We look to the Lord Jesus
Christ again, who is the finisher of our faith. The finisher. My oh my, what's the finish of
our, of this, of our faith? Eternal life, to see Him face
to face. We won't hope then, will we,
to see Him? We'll see Him. It'd be wonderful. Oh my. Let's read Philippians chapter
2 again verses 5 to 11. And we're seeing here there's
seven steps of humiliation and then there's seven steps of exaltation. I got enough time to do this.
Good. And marvel at this. The first are seven steps of
humiliation and then we're going to see seven steps of exaltation. Okay. Look at this in verse 5
to 11. We'll read the whole context.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. In being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death. Okay, right there from 5 to 8,
I'm gonna bring forth, after I read verses 9 to 11, the seven
steps of humiliation found in those verses. Now from verses
9 to 11, there's seven steps of exaltation. So let's read
verses 9 to 11. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in the earth, and things under the earth. And every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. So we see that the death of Christ
and the shame of it, which was made a stumbling block to the
Jews, are actually the cause of our salvation. Because the
cause of our salvation is in Christ and him alone. It's not
anything we do, is it sister? Nothing we do. It's all in Christ. It's all in Christ. By his perfect
obedience. So here, here's the seven steps
first of humiliation. Christ Jesus, our Lord, the first
one is Christ Jesus, our Lord, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. Well, we see that in verse six.
So he's God. He's God in eternity. Then the Son of God, the Word
of God, made Himself of no reputation, which we see in verse 7. He emptied
Himself in the Greek, remember? Then number 3, the Word of God,
who is Jesus Christ, we see took upon Him the form of a servant.
Marvel! The Sovereign became a servant.
The Sovereign became a servant. That's also found in verse 7.
Then the word of God, who is Jesus Christ, was made in the
likeness of man. Also in verse seven, that's the
fourth step of humiliation. The fifth step of humiliation,
the word of God, who is Jesus Christ, was found in fashion
as a man, and he humbled himself. Again, with a servant of servants.
Number six, the word of God, who is Jesus Christ, we see was
obedient unto death. Obedient to death. And in the
seventh step of humiliation, the Word of God, who is Jesus
Christ our Lord, dies in the room and place of his people,
sinners, enduring the death of the cross. The death, the crucifixion. The crucifixion. He's the sinless
one dying for sinners. Now, in the next verses, The
seven steps of exaltation. Oh my, look at this. They're
found in verses 9 to 11. These steps are, first one, God
has highly exalted him. Verse 9, he's highly exalted,
he's far above us. That's where he is, beloved.
And then number two, God the Father has given Christ Jesus
our Lord a name above all names. Look at that. A name above all
names, that at the name of Jesus. There's salvation in no other,
is there? Only in Christ. Oh, it's wonderful. And then
at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow firsthand. Every knee. People shook their fists at Him,
said, I don't believe in Him. And now think of this. We were there. And we would still
be there, except for the mercy of God. Oh, my. Oh, my. Oh, my. And then look
at this, the fourth step of exaltation. Everything in heaven, everything
in heaven, everything in heaven will bow to Jesus Christ our
Lord. Verse 10. Everything. And then,
number five, everything in the earth will bow to our Lord Jesus. Verse 10. Everything under the
earth. This is the sixth one. Everything
under the earth will bow to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything. There won't be nothing left to
have. Oh. And then look at Numbers 7. Here
it is. Here it is. Every tongue that
ever lived and that ever will live Everyone people who hated
our king and people who love our king Shall confess Shall
confess what? That jesus christ is lord. They're gonna proclaim his lordship
And remember we don't make christ lord. Do we he's already lord And everybody who passes through
this world is going to proclaim that great day. Jesus Christ
is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. Whoo! Aren't you thankful you're a
sheep of God? Look what Christ has done for us. It's amazing. It's absolutely
Amazing. Brother Travis, can you close
us in?