Let us turn again to God's Word
and the text that we were considering this morning in Philippians chapter
2 and verse 8 part of this great Christ exalting statement that
the Apostle makes in Philippians chapter 2 from verse 6 through to verse 11 he makes
remarkable statements concerning the doctrine of the Lord Jesus
Christ and we were looking at verse 8 in particular and being
found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient
unto death even the death of the cross and really it was a
continuation I said of what we started to consider last Lord's
Day evening. Remember how on that occasion
we took for our text the words of the Apostle John in that short
second epistle, second epistle of John and verse 9, whosoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath
not God, he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ. He has both the Father and the
Son. And that verse, of course, is
made up of two very short sentences, as we observe the punctuation
marks in the Authorized Version. 2 John, verse 9, is a verse made
up of two sentences, and the subject matter that is spoken
of in each of those sentences is the doctrine of Christ. And so last Lord's Day evening
we sought to say something with regards to that doctrine in terms
of the person, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and we
spoke then of His eternal Sonship, He is very God of very God, he
is begotten, not made, he is of one substance with the Father
in the language of the Nicene Creed, the doctrine of Christ. And so, we see here in Philippians
the same subject, the endowment, the doctrine of Christ, and here
we see something of the humiliation of his person. in verse 6 who being in the form
of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God and we said
this morning that when we read of him being in the form of God
the references to that inner essential, eternal nature that
belongs to him, the very mode of his existence. In other words,
he is God. Equality with God is not something
that he grasps after. It is his. He is God. And yet, how he humbles himself. Verse 7, But made himself of
no reputation. and took upon him the form of
a servant and was made in the likeness of men." He humbled
himself and I remarked how there are those who follow what is called the kenosis
interpretation of the verse, the particular word that's used
that's rendered here made himself of no reputation
is in fact a single word and it has the basic meaning of emptied
and there are those who say that he emptied himself of his deity
when he became a man but that is an erroneous interpretation
when he humbled himself it was not by the subtraction of his
deity it wasn't that he ceased to be divine How did he humble
himself? He humbled himself by the addition
of his humanity. Made himself of no reputation
and was made in the likeness of men. God became a man. That
was his humiliation. And we often sing it, do we not,
in the words of that 23rd hymn. A man there is, a real man. with
wounds still gaping wide from which rich streams of blood once
ran in hands and feet and sight, is no, whilst fancy of our brains,
no metaphor we speak, the same dear man in heaven now reigns
that suffered for our sake, this wondrous man of whom we tell
is true, Almighty God, He bought our souls from death and how
the price His own hearts blights. Who He is that real man and in
becoming a man do we not see something of the humiliation
of His person, the person of the Eternal Son of God. he humbles
himself by becoming a man by becoming the servant of his father
by fulfilling all the goodwill and pleasure of the father by
his obedience and that's really what we were
considering this morning in verse 8, his obedience, his work And
here in verse 8 do we not see also the humiliation that is
involved in that work that he undertook. Being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself. and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." I referred to the fact that that
work of the Lord Jesus Christ is often spoken of in terms of
active obedience and passive obedience. The obedience of his
life, where he is active in obeying all the commandments of God,
accomplishing righteousness, that righteousness which is spoken
of as a robe of righteousness that righteousness that is the
sinner's justification how God is pleased to impute that righteousness
of Christ onto the believing sinner he is accounted righteous
because he is clothed in Christ's robe of righteousness his active
obedience But then, here in verse 8, it is obedience unto death,
even the death of the cross, even as far as the death of the
cross. obedient to his dying day, says
Theodore Beza, the Protestant Reformer. Obedient not only in
living, but also obedient in dying, and often that is spoken
of as his passive obedience, the obedience of his death. As
in his life he honors and magnifies the Lord of God by his obedience
to all its precepts, So, he honors and magnifies that same law in
dying, but now he honors it in terms of all its dreadful penalties. He bears the punishment that
is due to the transgressor. And so, the sinner, you see,
he is pardoned. That sinner who trusts in Christ,
he finds the forgiveness of sins. He looks to Christ as that one
who has suffered and died in his room and in his death and
born in his own person that punishment that was the sinner's just desert.
Sins are blotted out by that precious blood and that righteousness
is imputed to the sin. And he stands there in a justified
state in the very presence of a holy, righteous and just God. Well, having spoken this morning
more particularly of his work in terms of the active obedience,
I want us now to consider his passive obedience. And as we
consider this, we see a number of things with regards to the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death was a violent death. His death was also a substitutionary
death. Sometimes the word vicarious
is used in the place of, that's the basic meaning of the word
vicarious. So his death is not only violent,
it's vicarious or substitutionary, and then his death was also a
voluntary death. In that sense, even in dying
he is not passive because He is the sacrificing priest. He
sacrifices himself. Men are not able to take his
life from him. He has the authority to lay down
his life. That was the commandment he had
received from the Father. Well, let us consider these three
aspects of the passive obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. First
of all, The death that he died was such a violent, such a vile
death. Look at the language that is
used here in the text. He became obedient, it says,
unto death, even the death of the cross. There is a peculiar
force in the very language that is employed by the Holy Ghost
who is the inspirer of Paul in writing these words. Calvin says
it is impossible to describe in words suitable to its greatness. Speaking of this death, Speaking
of disobedience unto this awful death of the cross, it is impossible
to describe it in words suitable to its greatness. Matthew Henry
says, an emphasis is laid upon the manner of his dying. What was his death? Well, it
certainly was a painful death. It was a painful death. It was
a long, lingering death that he died there upon the cross. And we see it in the accounts
that we find in the Gospels. We read there in Mark chapter
15. And what do we read concerning
his dying? In earth. Verse 25, it was the third
hour, and they crucified Him. Verse 33, and when the sixth
hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the
ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried
with a loud voice saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, which
is being interpreted, my God, my God, Why hast thou forsaken
me?" They crucify him then, it says at verse 25, at the third
hour. And that's reckoned to be nine
o'clock in the morning if we commence the hours of the day
at 6 a.m. And when the sixth hour has come,
that's high noon, when the sun is at its zenith, and yet at
high noon there's a darkness, an awful darkness over the whole
land for three hours until three o'clock in the afternoon the
ninth hour and then at the ninth hour he cries that awful cry
he feels so derelict in his soul not so much that he's suffering
at the hands of men he's suffering here at the hand of God my God
my God why hast thou forsaken me for six hours you say he dies
upon the cross such a cruel, terrible death, and a cursed
death it was that he died. It was painful, I say, in a physical
sense. But not only physical pain, there's
great anguish in the very depth of his soul here, as he is made
that great sin offering, as the wrath of God is poured out upon
him. There is a mystery in all of
these things. he feels forsaken and yet in
dying he is never anything less than God never anything less
than the eternal son of the eternal father we know that there could
really be no division in the Godhead because God is one and
God is undivided and God is indivisible and yet we have it here in scripture
oh what a mystery what a mystery not only the mystery of the incarnation
God manifested in the flesh but the mystery of the dying of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the pain that he has to endure it was
so violent his death it was so vile it was in fact a shameful
death that he died Hebrews 12 and verse 2 we read
he endured the cross despising the shame despising the shine. Was He not stripped of His clothing? Did He not hang there naked upon
the cross when they had crucified Him? They parted His garments,
it says, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. All
the shine, the spectacle that they make of this Holy Person,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And this death, you know, was
something that was very offensive to the Jews. They knew it was
an offensive form of execution that the Romans practiced. And so, in John 19, we're told
the Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation that the
body should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for
that Sabbath day was an high day, besought Pilate that their
legs might be broken and that they might be taken away." Oh,
it was so offensive to the Jews. Christ crucified. But as Paul
said, unto the Greeks foolishness, unto the Jews a stumbling block.
Unto the Jews a stumbling block. They knew what it was. It was
a shameful thing. that he was having to endure
when he died upon the cross, that violent death. And besides
being shamed in his person, is he not also shamed when we think
of the offices of the Lord Jesus, Prophet, Priest, King? He is the Mediator, He is the
Saviour. And out there upon the cross
you see, we see the shame and the scorn as a prophet. What do they say when he endures
that mock trial running up to his crucifixion? Because that crucifixion, of
course, it's supposedly something judicial. He is being executed as a criminal. And are they taunted in the mockery
of the trial? And amongst other things they
say prophesy who it is that smoked him when they blindfolded him
and strike him on the face. Prophesy! Or they're mocking him there as a prophet,
the great prophet who has come from God. But they not only pour
shame upon his prophetic office, they do the same with his priestly
office. They say to him as he hangs there
upon the cross, he saved others, himself he cannot save. All come
down from the cross they say. They tell him that he should
save himself. How he had ministered during the course of his earthly
life, ministered to men and saved men. how he had given sight to
the blind and feet to the lame and given a tongue to the dumb
and ears to the deaf. He'd done many miracles. He saved
others. Himself he cannot save. What
sort of priest is this? He cannot save himself. And then
also they mock him with regards to his kingly office. They set
over his head His accusation written, this is Jesus, the King
of the Jews. Now they mocked him as a king. Remember, we are told of them
making a crown of thorns. and make a crown of thorns. When
they had plaited a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and
a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him,
and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! If he be the King of Israel,
let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him, if he
be a king. Oh, the awful shame that is associated
with the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is dying. That violent death of the cross,
and all the vileness that's associated with it. Treated now as a common
criminal, and the people standing about taunting him, gazing upon
him. I say friends, it was truly a
violent, a violent death. that Jesus of Nazareth had to
endure. And what was his death? Besides being such an awful death,
it was also a substitutionary death. He's dying for others. He's not
dying because of any of his own sins, he is the man who is sinless.
Paul speaks of him in Hebrews, does he not? As holy, harmless,
undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher than the heavens. That one who was, Peter says,
in the house of Cornelius there in Acts chapter 10, went about
doing good. Oh, he was a good man. He was
a good man. There was no sin in him. Why
then does he die? Well, we are told, are we not?
2 Corinthians 5 verse 21, He has made him to be sin for us,
who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. What a statement is that! In
the inspired Word of God concerning the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
God! God hath made him to be sin for
us, says Paul. Who knew no sin? He knew no sin.
Sinless. Innocent. Why was he made sin? Why were the sins of his people
all imputed to him, reckoned to his account? that there might
be that blessed exchange, you see. Their sins become His. His righteousness becomes theirs.
That's the glorious exchange that we have in the Gospel. He
takes to Himself all the sins of His people and bears the punishment
that was their dessert and in exchange He gives them His righteousness. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. This is the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's dying then. It's an accursed
death. Because sin brings a curse. Remember in the Garden of Eden
when Adam and Eve sinned. What comes as a consequence of
the fall? The curse. Curse is the ground. says God, for thy sake Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law being made a curse for us for it is written
cursed is everyone that hangeth on the tree he has endured that accursed
death and it was what the sinner deserved
Because they were the ones who were the transgressors of the
holy law of God. As many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. If we're not continuing in all
things written in the book of the law, if we're not doing constantly
every commandment of God, and perfectly obeying all those holy
precepts and statutes of God. And that means obeying not only
in terms of the externals. It means an inward obedience,
does it not? Because the Lord is spiritual,
it's a spiritual law, says Paul. And I am carnal, we're all the
same, we're carnal men, carnal women. And we know that When
Christ teaches the truth of the spirituality of that law, he
makes it so plain that anger, anger is murder. The wanton thought
is adultery. All cursed is everyone that continueth
not in all things written in the book of the law to do them. And we are those friends who
have not continued. You may imagine that you've kept
the whole law of God and yet you offend him one point, says
John. Just one transgression, you're
guilty. All is despoiled by one transgression. There's the flaw. And there can
be no flaw. The obedience must be a perfect
obedience. This is the obedience of the
Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? He is obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross, obedient from the cradle to the grave,
as we said this morning. He is obedient to God, he is
obedient to men, he is obedient to his parents, he is obedient
to the ceremonial law, he is obedient to the moral law. Why
his life, his death, all about him is one scene of perfect obedience. And yet, this obedient, sinless,
holy, righteous man dies in a cursed death. It's substitutionary. But see, see the agonies, the
agonies of his soul. At the ninth hour, Jesus cried
with a loud voice, saying, Lama, lama sabachthana, which is being
interpreted by God. My God, why hast thou forsaken
me?" And yet he knew it. He knew it. Must come to this,
this was the very purpose of his coming into the world, was
it not? This is the real reason for the incarnation. He says,
for this cause came I unto this hour. You see, when the hour
was come that he must be received up, we're told in Luke 9, he
set his face, he set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. He must go that way. To this end was I born, and for
this cause came I into the world. that he might make that great
sin atoning sacrifice. Obedience unto death, even the
death of the cross. Look at the language that is
employed, that word, unto. Now it has this idea as far as,
even to, even to the death of the cross at a cursed death. What does he say in the course
of his earthly ministry as we see him preaching as he declares
to men the gospel of the grace of God that he has come to demonstrate
that he has come to accomplish by all of the work that he's
done even the Son of Man he says came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister and to give his life a ransom for men. He gives his life a ransom for
men. He pays that price that the Lord,
the Holy Lord of God demanded to be paid, the price of redemption, It is the shedding of His precious
blood. Or the law demands it. The law
demands it. The wages of sin, death. What
does the law say? The soul that sinneth, it shall
die without the shedding of blood. There's no remission. This is
the language of the law of God. And this is what Christ does.
He comes to minister and to give His life, to sacrifice His life
It was a ransom for many. It was all that the Father had
given to Him in that eternal covenant. Oh, it was, you see,
in that death that He died, that substitutionary death upon the
cross that the Lord Jesus completed that great work that He had undertaken
in terms of the eternal covenant. Remember what we're told concerning
him here in verse 7, he makes himself of low reputation, he
takes upon him the form of a servant. He is God's servant. Behold my
servant whom I uphold, mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. This
is what he has done in the eternal covenant, though he be equal
to the Father, yet he willingly in that covenant becomes the
servant of God. He engages to fulfill all the
terms of that covenant whereby He will save His people from
their sins, takes upon Him the form of a servant, and so He's
made in the likeness of man. And He will therefore accomplish
that work even unto the death of the cross. He says, therefore
does my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might
take it again. No man taketh it from me. I have
power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. That was the Father's
commandment. And He came, you see, with authority I have power, I have authority
from God to lay that life down. I have power and authority to
take that life again. Oh, this is a man under authority,
the authority of heaven. And he will completely straight
work to finish the transgression and to make an end of sin and
to make reconciliation for iniquity. and to bring in everlasting righteousness. What a statement is that there
in Daniel 9.24. What a summary it is of the work
that the Lord Jesus Christ came to do, and comes to do for others,
even as many as God had given to Him in the eternal covenant. Thine they were, He says in His
High Priestly Prayer. Thine they were, and Thou gavest
them to Me. And Christ will do all that is
necessary, having loved his own, which were in the world he loves
them. And he loves them to the end, it all terminates in his
death. I say then that this passive
obedience, this dying of the Lord Jesus Christ, oh it's so
violent a death that he dies, so vile a death and accursed
it. And yet, He Himself is so holy
and so innocent, the Righteous One. Therefore, we see that His
death is not for any sins of His own. He dies to atone for
sins not His own. It is substitution, it's vicarious,
it's Christ in the place of the sinner, in the sinner's room,
in the sinner's stead. And then, finally this evening,
we have to recognize this concerning this passive obedience, it's
a voluntary death that he dies. It's a voluntary death that he
dies. See what he said here in these verses, verse 7. He made
himself, it says, made himself of no reputation. He talk upon himself the form
of a servant. You see how he is active here. He is voluntary in doing these
things. He does all this so willingly.
He makes himself of no reputation. He takes upon himself the form
of a servant. And then here in verse 8, what
do we read? Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself. He humbles himself. It's all
voluntary. No man is able to take his life
from Him. He says as much there in John
10.18. No man takes it from Him. I lay it down of myself. I have
power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. And what do we
see then? In His dying we see the great
love that He bears towards the Father. He will ever be about His Father's
business. He will finish the work that
the Father has given Him to do, but also we see this, we see
the great love that He bears towards His people. Remember
the words that we have there at the beginning of the 13th
chapter in John's Gospel. Christ in the upper room where
He institutes the Holy Supper that we shortly will also observe. It's the Feast of the Passover.
It's the last Passover that He will celebrate with His disciples
before He suffers and it was at that Passover that he instituted
the Holy Supper and we read here in the opening words of John
13 there before the Feast of the Passover when Jesus knew
that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world
unto the Father having loved his own which were in the world
he loved them unto the end He loves them, He loves them so
much that He will willingly go the way of the cross. How willing was Jesus to die
that we, fellow sinners, might live. All the willingness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, really there is a blessed
activity in His passivity, though we speak of His dying in terms
of Passive obedience really is so active in dying, because he
gives himself. As I said, he is not only the
Lamb of God, the sacrifice that he is being made is the sacrifice
in priests. He offers himself. No man is
able to take his life from him. He is active even in his passive
obedience, just as there is that passivity, we might say, in his
active obedience. When we think of his life, and
the obedience that we sought to say something of this morning,
how he would go about doing good, how he was fulfilling all righteousness,
obeying every commandment of God. In all His life there is
this passivity in that He submissively submits to the Father's will.
My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish
His work I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, He says,
but the will of Him that sent me. Oh friends, what is it that
marks the life and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is obedience. He is an obedient man. Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. That's the mark. That's the mark
of the Lord Jesus. And what does Paul say? When
we take account of the context here, verse 5, let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. He spoke this morning
of that mind of Christ in terms of humility. And we see that
certainly, that's what Paul is speaking of, the necessity of
humbleness of mind, lowliness of mind. If we're those who are true followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ we must be marked by that humility of
mind but what goes hand in hand with that humility is this obedience
obedience that is the mark is it not of the children of God
and so verse 12 after this great portion, this tremendous statement
concerning Christ in his person, Christ in his work, here is Paul's
deduction, wherefore he says, verse 12, he's deducing something
from what he has been saying concerning Christ, wherefore,
or therefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as
in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling be obedient in fear for it is God's which worketh
in you both to will and do of his good pleasure be an obedient
people or don't be murmurers and disputers bow to the sovereignty
of God bow to the authority of the word of God live in accordance
with the precepts of the gospel be an obedient people, that's
what he is saying this is the Christians calling, if we are
those who know the Lord Jesus Christ we must recognize this,
must we not that true doctrine is practical where there is pure
doctrine there is holy living Oh God grant that we might be
that people then. That people who see the Lord
Jesus Christ not only as our Saviour, He is that. Oh He is
that, thank God for Him. The only friend, real friend,
the only Saviour of sinners. But also to us a pattern, a pattern
of humility and a pattern of obedience. being found in fashion
as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even
the death of the cross and as he humbles himself so he is exalted
wherefore God also has highly exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every nation
bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory
of God Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he
might exalt you in due season. Oh, the Lord bless his word to
us. Let us now join together in the
singing of His radiant throne on high, surprising
mercy, love unknown, to suffer, bleed.