Seeking once more the Lord's
help as we come to his word and to grant me the words to speak
to you again, I'd like you to turn to Philippians chapter two
and the text you'll find in verse seven. But made himself of no
reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was
made in the likeness of men. we were discussing and looking
at this morning, we saw that at this time of year we look
to the Lord Jesus Christ and we We seem to focus upon his
incarnation, his coming into the world as a baby. And the
Bible tells us that he was born as a baby into this world. We know that if we look at ourselves
as we are born into this world, that that is our beginning. Though
we were formed in the wombs of our mothers, the scripture tells
us that we were formed by God within the womb of our mothers
and we were delivered then into this world and that was our beginning. With the Lord Jesus Christ we
saw this morning that he had no beginning and he has no end
and within his existence or his eternal existence the fullness
of time came at a pointed time in the history of this world
when God's predetermined plan of salvation was to be fulfilled
and that Christ was to be brought forth into this world. The only way for him to save
his people was to come into this world as a man, to be underneath,
under the authority of his own law, to save those who are under
the law. And so we saw this morning that
Christ always existed and we saw that he was all-powerful,
all-mighty, ever-present and he was God. But we see our text, it begins
with but. contrasting something, something
that was going to change. He was going to become man, but
made himself of no reputation, was no accident. Some people speak about it, don't
they, that their child was an accident. And with Mary and Joseph,
it was no accident. And with God's predetermined
plan, it was no accident that Christ should be born into this
world. Right from the beginning, as
soon as Adam and Eve sinned against God, the plan was in place. Even we can say as scripture,
though we can't fully understand it, that that plan of salvation
was worked out in eternity past. but it was revealed to us after
Adam and Eve sinned and the scripture tells us that the seed of the
woman was going to bruise the serpent's head. Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15
he says, I would put enmity between thee and the woman, and between
thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt
bruise his heel. And so right from the beginning
of the scripture we can see that it was known to Christ, it was
known to God and it was revealed to mankind that somebody was
going to come to overthrow the curse that had been brought in
to bring about a redemption and this one was going to be the
seed of the woman. And the scripture tells us it
was not going to be easy for him. It was not going to be an
easy redemption, an easy overthrowing of the curse, an easy defeat
of Satan. It was going to be a painful
experience. It shall bruise thy head, Satan's
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. It was going to be painful
as Christ crushed Satan in gaining a victory for his people in having
their sins laid upon him and the wrath of God poured out upon
him. It was going to be a painful
experience, but he was going to he was going to gain the victory. And as we go through the Old
Testament, we see that slowly by slowly, it's like blocks are
added to our understanding about who Christ was going to be. Bit
by bit, more is revealed. We hear of the seed of the woman. But then as we move on to Abraham,
Abraham is given a great promise. Abraham, as we know, an idol
worshipper, called out from idol worship, chosen by God to be
the carrier of this covenant, that God was going to work through
him and that he was going to be the father of the faithful,
the father of the faith. We know that scripture tells
us Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. In Genesis 12, when the Lord
first appears to him, he says, Get thee out of thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, into a land
that I will show thee, and I will make thee a great nation, and
I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be
a blessing. And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the
families of the earth be blessed. And so it begins then with that
promise given to Eve, that her seed would bruise the serpent's
head. Then we move on to Abraham and
in him, in his seed, in his line, all of the families of the earth
would go on to be blessed. And so little by little, our
understanding, the prophecy is revealed, opened up to us. But all the time, Think of it. Christ knows exactly what he
has to do. From eternity past, there was
a covenant made between God and the Son that Christ was going
to come into the world to save his people. And all of that time,
it was in his complete knowledge of everything that he was going
to have to experience, everything that he was going to have to
do. And slowly by slowly, we could
say he drip fed that information through the prophets, through
the Old Testament, to reveal what was going to take place.
Think of Noah as God decides to destroy all of the human race
because of their sin. And we see that the the promise that was given, the
ark, was to be made. And that through Noah, God established
his covenant. Even though he destroyed all
of mankind, Noah found grace in the eyes of God. And so that
line was kept to enable that promise that was given to Eve
to continue. And then coming to Abraham, it's
greater revealed to us Think of Isaiah and everything that is revealed
to Isaiah concerning the Lord Jesus, especially in Isaiah 53. The suffering servant, the man
of sorrows. He shall grow up before him as
a tender plant. and has a root out of a dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire
him. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it
were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, that we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned every one to our
own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not
his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep
before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
He was taken from prison and from judgement, and who shall
declare his generation? For he was cut off of the land
of the living, for the transgressions of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done
no violence, neither was deceit found in his mouth. And as he
goes on, You think this is being given to a prophet. Remember
the prophet spoke, thus saith the Lord. And as they are receiving
direct revelation from God and they are revealing to the people
exactly what God is saying to them, he is revealing to the
people of Israel and to us today of all that Christ was going
to suffer, maybe 700 years before it even happened. Think of that. the foreknowledge of Christ. As he's in heaven, glorying with
the Father, but having that pre-knowledge of all that he is going to pass
through to save his people, to bruise the serpent's head, he
is going to bruise his heel. He's going to be of the line
of Abraham and he's going to be the suffering servant the
king of kings, the lord of lords, despised and rejected of men. One who lived in glory was going
to become the man of sorrows. His own creation was going to
reject him. We hid, as it were, our faces
from him. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. He who knew no sin became sin. You think in his God, in his pre-incarnate state, His body or his being was unable
to be wounded. And yet as he came as a man with
a body like unto our body, that body was afflicted. That body
was stricken and smitten and bruised and oppressed and afflicted. We see him on the cross, don't
we, or in his trial. and how they beat him and they
placed a crown of thorns upon him and how they nailed the nails
through his hands and through his feet and how they placed
the crown of thorns upon his head and how they mocked him
and spat upon him and he entered into all of this
suffering put on all of this flesh with a pre-knowledge of
everything that he was going to experience. You imagine most of us we would flee. We may do it to save ourselves. We may go through all manner
of hardship to save ourselves. to save someone else with that pre-knowledge of everything
that we are going to experience, the rejection, the hatred, the
pain and the suffering. And yet the scripture tells us,
but he made himself of no reputation. He knew everything that was going
to take place. and yet he made himself of no
reputation. In our reading in Galatians 4, in verse 4, it says, But when
the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son, made
of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. When the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son. And we may
see that there's a contradiction in what is being said, that he
made himself and God sent. We read in John 3.16, God gave,
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. But as we looked at this morning,
there is no contradiction. There can be no conflict between
the will of Christ and the will of God. Therefore, they are united. They are knit together. They
are equal. And Christ tells us that it is
his will to do the will of him who sent him in John 6. In verse 38 he says, For I came
down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, and all which he has given me should I lose
nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And
this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son, and believeth in him, may have everlasting
life, and I will raise him up the last day. I came down from
heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent
me. You see, the will of him that
sent him was the same will in which he had. He desired to do
the will of the Father. In Gethsemane, he says, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my
will, but thy will be done. Christ's will, if there was another
way to save his people. then that way would have been
opened. But there was no way. There was no other way in which
man could be saved except by Christ passing through that crucifixion
or his passion experience. And so when he says he made himself
and that God sent his son and God gave his son, it is all of
one. It was God's will that Christ
should go and to save his people. And it was Christ's will that
he should be obedient to the Father and to save his people. He says, greater love has no
man than this and a man lay down his life for his friends. He
says, the good shepherd, which is himself, lays down his life
for his sheep. He made himself of no reputation. For us, as sinners, our reputation
is everything. Naturally speaking, we like to
be thought well of. We like to be thought of as a
nice person, a good person. and we don't really like the
idea of having no reputation. But if we look at Christ and
all that we looked at this morning and all that he laid aside to
accomplish the salvation for his people. And he willingly
undertook that step down, as it were, to save them. But he
made himself of no reputation. The scripture tells us in the
book of Hebrews. From the book of Hebrews chapter 2,
about man. It says, quoting from one of
the Psalms, Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest
him with glory and honour. Thou didst set over him the works
of thy hands. thou hast put all things in subjection
under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection
under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now
we see not yet all things put under him. In speaking about
the creation of man, that God made man in his image, in his
likeness, and that he made man to have authority over the order
of God's creation. But man of himself is lower than
the angels. And underneath man there is the
animals and the creation. In verse 9 it says, but we see
Jesus. who was made a little lower than
the angels for the sufferings of death, crowned with glory
and honour, that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for
every man. For it became him for whom are
all things, and by whom are all things, to bring many sons to
glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through
suffering. And so we see as man in God's
order of creation is lower than the angels and God himself at
the pinnacle of all things, king of kings and lord of lords. And
then we see Christ having to come down underneath his own
created beings, the angels themselves, all so that he could taste death. And we don't believe that the
angels are able to die, the eternal spirits. And so it would be no
good for an angel to be the suffering servant. It has to be a man. He has to be enabled to experience
the wrath of almighty God as a man and to die. But we see
Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory. We turn to John, chapter one,
what we looked at on Wednesday, verses 10 and 11. It says, and he was in the world.
The world was made by him and the world knew him not. He came
unto his own and his own received him not. He made himself of no
reputation. I was once building a house many years ago and the building
inspector had come and the owner's wife was there. And we were speaking to the building
inspector and the lady came and she said, I own this. She wanted him to know that she
was the owner of the building. She was proud of what she had
accomplished and what she had bought. She wanted a reputation. She wanted to be seen by the
building inspector as a somebody and not just a passerby. She
wanted acknowledgement We think of Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ,
King of kings and Lord of lords. The earth was made by him. Everything
was made by him. And he came to his own and his
own didn't even recognise him. He was in the world. The whole
world was made by him. And it didn't know him. Came to his own and his own received
him not. And he made himself of no reputation. As I thought on this, it's one
thing to be humbled, isn't it? To be humbled by an act is humiliating. Think of Nebuchadnezzar. Very
proud. It's not this great Babylon that
I have built. all these great things that I
have done, and immediately he's struck down and becomes a madman,
living in the fields, eating grass, and till he comes to that
acknowledgement that God is sovereign and over all things, nobody can
stop his hand or say to him, what are you doing? He was humbled
in the dust by God until he realised that he was nothing in the hands
of a almighty God. And sometimes people, they go
bankrupt, don't they? A businessman maybe has a nice
car, nice house, doing well, everything going smoothly for
him. and someone fails to pay him, or mismanagement of the
books, and he goes bankrupt. And he's humbled, he's ashamed. Sometimes they even go and commit
suicide, don't they, over such things. They're so ashamed by
what has taken place. They have been humbled by something. Think of Peter when he was denying
the Lord Jesus Christ those three times and the Lord Jesus Christ
looked at him and immediately he was humbled and he wept bitterly,
he was ashamed for the things that he had been saying. That
can be the case can't it with us and when sin is exposed in
our lives we think that we've been able to hide it Then someone
sees us or somebody finds out for the things that we are doing
and we are humbled, we're made ashamed of those things. We're not quite so proud as we
thought we were. Or we mess up in some way. We think
that we're good at something and we're not. and it all falls apart and we're
humbled and we're embarrassed and we're ashamed and sometimes
the Lord does it to preach us and we get confident and we get
proud and he withdraws his spirit and we stumble over the words
that we say and we feel dry and dead and it's a humbling experience. It's embarrassing. But it's another thing to humble
yourself. Jesus humbled himself. He wasn't pulled down. It was something that he voluntarily
undertook to step down from glory to this earth. And he humbled himself. And as
he came to his own, and his own received him not. And as you
think about it, as he is denied by or betrayed by Judas Iscariot,
and as he is there before Pontius Pilate. I don't know if I can find it now.
But as he is before Pilate, he says,
Do you not know I can just call 12 legions of angels now to fight
for me? He humbled himself. You see it's
one thing to be humbled but it's another to humble yourself and
even more to have the ability to get yourself out of that humiliating
experience. You have the ability to get yourself
out but you withhold that. in order to accomplish what you
are trying to achieve. And for Christ, that was the
salvation of his people. I don't think King Charles would
ever go and live under London Bridge. I think he likes the palace too
much. I don't think he would live on the streets if he could
save a few people. But the Lord Jesus Christ made
himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of
a servant. We think of the Lord Jesus Christ
at this time of year and we find that there was no room for him
in the inn. We find that he was not born, although he was a king,
and although he was born into kingly descendants, yet his parents
were poor. We read that they offered up
that sacrifice of the two young pigeons for an offering. We read that he had nowhere to
lay his head. We read that the foxes have holes
and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has
nowhere to lay his head. We think of glory, eternal day,
coming down to this world, being born of a virgin and being laid
in a manger, being visited by shepherds. He was a servant of all. Think of the poor people who
came to him, had no ability to fix their illnesses. They came
to the Lord Jesus Christ and he healed them. Think of the
miracles that he did, raising from the dead, feeding of the
5,000, the 4,000. You think of him washing his disciples'
feet, taking that mindset of a servant,
that position of a servant and washing the feet of his students. Why? Why did the Lord Jesus willingly
make himself of no reputation and take upon himself the form
of a servant? Not only was he going to be the
lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, but the book
of Hebrews tells us that he is going to be our great high priest,
the mediator, who was tried and tempted in all points as we are
yet without sin. He's able to understand the feelings
of our infirmities. He's able to understand the weaknesses
of our flesh, for he has passed this way before. You think of
it as I was thinking earlier of the Garden of Gethsemane and
of Jesus. And as he says, not my will but
thy will be done. And the angels come and strengthen
him. the one who created heaven and
earth, the one who created every single person upon the earth
now, the one who created the angels, is so humiliated, so
humbled that his own beings come and minister strength to him,
to encourage him to persevere in the work that the Father has
given him to do. so that he would accomplish that
work and save his people and become their great mediator,
their great high priest. He made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of men. And what does this mean to us?
The Apostle by the Spirit puts this in the middle of a letter
to the church. the Philippians. And he writes to them and he's
telling them about unity and love and fellowship one with
another. He tells them, fulfill ye my joy, that you be like-minded,
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man to his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you. And so he causes them to cast
their mind back to what Christ has done. He causes them to be
reminded of what Christ was in past glory and what he became. And he says, as Christ humbled
himself, as he laid aside all of that all of his glory and put on himself
the form of a servant, you remember. The only reason why you are in
the church, the only reason why you are saved is because of what
Christ has done. And because Christ humbled himself,
so you also are to humble yourself. You might say, well, we hear
often that we can't do anything. Well, as an unbeliever, you can't
do anything. And as you try to humble yourself
as an unbeliever, you are seeking to obtain a salvation by your
own works. You seem to climb the ladder
to God by yourself. But as a believer in Christ Jesus,
with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, I can do all things through
Christ that strengthens me. And as Christ made himself, it
was a predetermined plan. I always
get this, not willful, but a mindful decision. He knew exactly what
he was going to do. He pre-thought that he was going
to come to earth. He made himself of no reputation.
And as Christ thought about what he was going to do and to accomplish,
so believers are to think about how they act and how they live
and how they deal with one another. Deliberate acts of humility. You see, it's very easy, isn't
it, to be riled up, to get angry. and to act upon that anger and
to be driven by that anger. But it's another thing to be
indwelt by the spirit and to restrain that anger and to act
in a Christ-like manner, to have the mind of Christ in us who
made himself of no reputation. Sometimes when we're outdone,
we want to fight our corner. We want to gain the victory. We don't want to lose. We don't
want to be the weak one. But Jesus says, blessed are the
meek. Blessed are the meek. We are Christians, believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't need to fight. The scripture
tells us, He will fight for you. Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord. Christ made himself of no reputation
and took upon himself the form of a servant and was made in
the likeness of men. And Paul says, let nothing be
done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, let
each esteem other better than themselves. And it comes in,
doesn't it, with the commands of Christ. Love the Lord your
God with all of your heart, soul and mind, and your neighbour
as yourself. By our natures, we want to be
something. We want to climb up the ladder. We want to achieve. We want to be the best. We want
to be the most powerful. Our Christian nature is coming
down the ladder. You see, going up a ladder is
actually easier than coming down, naturally speaking. and spiritually or going up in
life and achievements is easier than coming down. When we have to come down, it
may be painful, but think of Christ. When we have to back
down, it may be difficult and hard and embarrassing and humiliating,
but think of the Lord Jesus Christ, be like-minded one with another,
having the same love one with another, with one accord and
of one mind. I've experienced coming down. When I was called into the ministry,
I was running my business, and I felt led that I should
give it up. and I went to work for someone who worked for me.
It was a rainy day, I was working on my own, and he turned up,
my boss, and he went into the client, and they stood at the
kitchen window, looking at me. I was in the rain, drinking cups
of tea. And I felt humiliated that I
was once the boss. and now I'd come down to be a
labourer. And the words of scripture came
to my mind, to be the least, be content to be the least. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. You 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 men. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.