Well may it please Almighty God
once again to help us as we meditate upon a few verses in the second
chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians. And this
evening we'll comment on verses five to eight. Verses five to
eight in the second chapter of the Epistle of Paul to the Philippians.
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 men. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Well these are very wonderful
and very important and very blessed verses and it's a mercy if the
Lord shows us something of the depth that catches beneath and
what a mercy it is to be able then to enter in to the truth
of these words. The apostle desires, and I'm
sure we desire, that we might understand something of the great
truths contained in these verses, and to realize the wonderful
and glorious example we have of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he says, let this mind
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. This means a Christ-like
mind. This means a godly mind. This means seeking to follow
the glorious pattern that our Saviour gave us when He was on
the earth, when He lived on this earth. And we know that the Lord
Jesus left His heavenly place in glory with the father to descend
into this sinful earth and to live that 33 years and to die
that sin atoning death so that all of his people might have
that great and good hope of eternal life and to know that all their
sins are forever washed away what a blessing it is and so
as the apostle says look not every man on his own things and but every man also on the
things of others and then he comes to this let this mind be
in you which was also in christ jesus so it's wonderful really
to have a little insight through the wonderful inspiration of
the holy spirit to come to this which was also in christ jesus
and then the apostle tells us something of the greatness and
the majesty and the glory of the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be
equal with God. Well, God the Father, God the
Son and God the Holy Spirit are all equal. They are co-equal.
in that glorious trinity joins together a mystery which indeed
is just too difficult for our minds to really absorb but we
will bless God if we possess that God-given faith to believe
the truth of these things and so to understand as the Lord
says or as the apostle says of the Lord who being in the form
of God thought it not robbery, to indeed be equal with God. It's a wonderful, wonderful truth
that is. Now you see he was equal with
his father. His glory was equal with his
father. The difference at this time was
that his glory was veiled, so that as he came into this cynical
world He took on Himself our human form and our human nature. And yet, you see, we see just
a little of this wonderful glory when the Lord graciously took
up those three apostles, Peter, James and John, up that high
mountain and was transfigured before Him. And He his ears became
white and glistening. A little of his glory was displayed
to those three favoured disciples and yet as they came down from
the mountain he told them not to say anything about this until
after he had been crucified and rose from the dead. It was a
secret revealed to them, it showed a little bit of his glory and
what a wonderful thing it is and therefore being in the form
of God he thought it not robbery to be equal with God what a mercy
it is to realize that he tells us on when he was on the earth
in the gospel of john he says the 10th chapter i and my father
are one yes they were united together and they were equal
together A wonderful, wonderful truth it is to realize the blessing
and favor that we have in the Word of God. Likewise, in the
first chapter of the Gospel of John, we read this, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. means the Word was the Lord Jesus
Christ and he was with God the Father and yet he was God. In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. What a blessing
for us today to realize such a grand and glorious truth because
he was indeed the Son of the blessed. Again the Lord Jesus
spoke when he was on the earth and he spoke about his father
and himself and in the fifth chapter of John's gospel verse
17 we're told that Jesus answered them, my father worketh hitherto
and I work. There was that unity of spirit,
there was that working together and what a wonderful wonderful
truth it is who being in the form of God thought it not robbery
to be equal with God because he was God and then we come on
to this wonderful statement but although he was very God the
true God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him
the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men. We've seen his Godhead and the
glory of it in the previous verse and now we see his humanity,
how he came down into this sinful world and was willing to live
that perfect life. For the first 30 years of his
life, apart from just that one occasion when he was in Jerusalem,
speaking to the elders there in the synagogue, we don't hear
anything of him. And what a great evidence there
is therefore of the Lord Jesus Christ coming down to our level. The carpenter's son, no great
place of wonderful learning, but willing to have a very, we
might say, servile job. with his father, but not told
precisely what he did. But no doubt he did work with
his hands and helped to finance the family. And yet you see,
there he was, for all those years, the Lord God, the creator of
all things, and yet willing to come into this sinful world and
to be, as it were, a nobody. Nobody really realized who it
was. I sometimes wonder, as he worked
and as he was with his brothers and sisters in that perfect life,
what a tremendous example of selflessness he must have made
to those that he was with. Never changed. Always said good
things. Never said spiteful things. never
said evil things and you see that's what the apostle is directing
us to here as he says let this mind be in you which was also
in christ jesus we have a wonderful example perhaps not detailed
as much as we would like in those days but nonetheless very clear
it is the lord jesus christ was in that condition and humbled
himself and therefore we're told where he has made himself of
no reputation took upon him the form of a servant willing to
serve no doubt he served his parents perhaps he served his
brethren perhaps he served others and as we know after he was 30
years and revealed as the son of god he served yes What a wonderful
example we have then of a servant and was yet made in the likeness
of men. Yes, no different, no different,
no doubt aches and pains, no doubt difficulties sometimes
in walking and doing things. He may have got splinters in
his hands, we don't know, but yet you see he set a good example
and never complained. so the eighth verse goes on to
tell us and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself go
back to that previous condition of the saviour in glory as the
king of kings and lord of lords seated on the throne with his
father worshipped by the angels perfect situation and now Because
of the need for sinners to be redeemed, the glorious Son of
God came into this sinful world and was found in fashion as a
man and he humbled himself. He came right down to extremes. King of kings and Lord of lords,
right down to the lowest person. the lowest person in order that
he might be that glorious and suitable one who should take
our place and redeem our souls. He humbled himself and became
obedient, obedient to his father, obedient in all he had to do.
He never disobeyed. He never turned away from the
work the father gave him to do. He was obedient, obedient to
his Father. What a good example it is for
us today to be obedient to our Heavenly Father, to be obedient
to the great truth of God's Word. And not only that, but he was
obedient under death, even the death of the cross. And you see
he was not recognized This is any small thing, because he was
crucified between thieves. That's what he was counted as.
Yes, it was a very ignominious death. And it's really described
like this. You know, there is an emphasis
laid upon the manner of his dying. which is good to contemplate,
which had in it all the circumstances possible which are humbling.
Just think of that, the Lord of life and glory, even the death
of the cross. Remember the word of God tells
us, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. So that was the position
the Lord Jesus Christ took. A death, a curse by the law,
And yet you see there he was on that cross full of pain. Body full of pain in the body,
nailed through his hands and feet. Those nerve centers of
our body. What pain that must have been
in that situation. And then hanging all his weight
on those four nails really. What agony. and there he was
exposed as a public spectacle for all to mock upon and yet
you see he bore our punishment instead what condescension what
condescension of the blessed Jesus to do that for you and
me and so tonight may indeed we be humbled like the Saviour
humbled himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross, and truly praise God tonight for our salvation. Praise God tonight for the willingness
of the Saviour to die upon that cross in order to satisfy the
demands of the Holy Lord God and to suffer all incarnate God
could bear with strength enough and none to spare. Well, may
we come tonight thankful indeed that we have precious words like
this to put in a very direct perspective the great debt we owe to such
a glorious Saviour. Amen.