Let us turn once again to that
portion of scripture that we read in Philippians. Philippians
chapter 2 and I direct your attention to the words that we find here
at verse 8. In Philippians chapter 2 and
verse 8, And being found in passion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross Philippians
chapter 2 and verse 8 part of that great statement concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ that we have in this particular chapter
Now last Lord's Day evening we sought to say something with
regards to the doctrine of Christ and particularly with regards
to the person of the Savior. We were considering those words
in the second epistle of John, that little second epistle. And
there at the 9th verse John says, "...whosoever transgresseth and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, neither
abideth in the doctrine of Christ. He hath both the Father and the
Son." And so we considered the significance of that statement
concerning the doctrine of Christ and I said that there of course
it is the person, the person of Christ. that John in particular
is speaking of. But the doctrine of Christ concerns
not only his person but also that great work that he came
to accomplish here upon the earth in the appointed time, the fullness
of the time. And in this particular passage
that we have in this chapter, the second chapter of Philippians,
we see how that Paul the Apostle speaks of both the person and
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He speaks clearly of his person. He sets before us the great truths
of his nature. He is human. He is a real man. but He is also divine, He is
true Almighty God. And so here in verse 6 we see
the deity of the Christ who is spoken of. At the end of verse
5 we have the name Christ Jesus, and then in verse 6, "...who
being in the form of God, fought in that robbery to be equal with
God. And the language that he uses,
the words that he employs are very significant. The word that
he has here, the word form, the form of God refers to his inner,
his essential and his abiding nature. Archbishop Trench says,
it is the mode of his being, it is the mode of his existence. In other words, he is none other
than God himself. And equality is what is spoken
of here at the end of verse 6. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. He is equal. equal to the Father,
equal to the Holy Spirit. This is the consequence of him
being in the form of God. And so, we see how that Paul
speaks of the deity of the Lord Jesus, that He is God. But then also, he goes on to
speak of His humanity in 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 is truly a son of Adam. He is made in the likeness of
men. And it's interesting to observe the similarity with the
language that is used concerning the birth of Seth. Right at the
beginning we read of this son who is born to Adam and Eve in
Genesis chapter 5 and verse 3. Adam lived 130 years and begat
a son in his own likeness after his image. and called his name
Seth, the son in his own likeness. It is the same word that is used
here in verse 7 in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ. He also is in the likeness of
man, he is in the likeness of Adam. He is a true man. Now, in becoming a man he did
not cease to be God. It says in verse 7, he made himself
of no reputation. And there is an interpretation
of that verse that's referred to as the kenosis interpretation,
where they say that the Greek, and it's true, the Greek word
that used literally means to empty. making himself of no reputation,
they say, he emptied himself. And the suggestion with that
theory, that interpretation, is that in becoming a man, he
emptied himself of his dietary. But that is nonsense. That is
contrary to what is clearly taught throughout the New Testament.
In becoming a man, He did not cease to be true Almighty God. He didn't empty himself in any
sense of his deity. How did he humble himself? It
wasn't by the subtraction of his deity that he humbled himself,
but by the addition of his humanity. That's what the text says, verse
7. "...made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. There is his humility. That he who is never anything
less than true Almighty God did in the fullness of the time become
truly a man. And then we see the Lord Jesus
Christ here of course, the God-man in terms of that great work that
he comes to do as the mediator. Observe the order of these clauses
as we have them in the 7th verse. He makes himself of no reputation. He takes upon him the form of
a servant. He is made in the likeness of
men. How he humbles himself, even
in terms of the eternal covenant. He is equal He is equal with
God the Father. He is very God of very gods. And yet, He becomes God's servant
in the covenant. Behold My servant whom I uphold,
Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth. I have put My Spirit upon Him. He is the Anointed One. He is
the Messiah. How He makes Himself of no reputation,
becomes God's servant in terms of the covenant and therefore
as God's servant he is made in the likeness of men and he comes
to this earth and he comes to do his father's will I came down
from heaven he says not to do mine own will but the will of
him that sent me my meat is to do the will of him that sent
me and to finish his work And so I want us, having said something
last Lord's Day evening with regards to the doctrine of Christ
in terms of his person as God-man, I want us today to consider something
of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and of course that is
what he's spoken of in particular here in the words of verse 8,
the text that I announced. Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. And so, we're going to consider
the work, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this morning
to think of that work with regards to both God and man. We see here Christ's obedience
to God, but we also see this, that In all this work is one
with men, is united to men, is a man. But first of all let's
consider what he said concerning his obedience, his obedience
to the will of the Father. And the obedience to God is indicated
by the way in which Paul continues in the passage that we have before
us. He says in verse 9, 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 to the glory of God the Father. And you observe
that opening word in verse 9, Wherefore, therefore, he says,
it is the consequence as a result of his obedience to all that
will of the Father, as a result of that work that he accomplishes
as one who has been sent by the Father, the Father now in terms
of the covenant will exalt him. This is the reward of all that
obedience to the Father's will. And what do we see here with
regards to that work that he so willingly undertook and so
readily accomplished? What do we see? We see his obedience. And normally his obedience is
spoken of in this sense. It's twofold. It's active and
it's passive. It's active in terms of the obedience
of that life that he lives, that life wherein he does all the
Father's will, he obeys every commandment of God, he fulfills
all righteousness, he lives his life in subjection to the Holy
Lord of God. Remember how he's made of a woman
and made under the law, he's subject to the law, and he fulfills
it, he honors it, he magnifies it. by the obedience, the active
obedience of His living and then His death is spoken of as His
passive obedience because there upon the cross He still is mindful
of that same holy righteous and just and good law of God and
what does He do? He bears in His own person that
penalty that was due to those who were the transgressors he
honors it in terms of all his dreadful penalties as he suffers
that death that the law requires of those who are the transgressors
it's a substitutionary death he was not a transgressor but
he takes to himself the sins of his people this holy righteous
just and good man and there upon the cross he bears that punishment
that was there deserves. Well I want us, as I say, to
consider today the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and in particular
this morning to think of the the active obedience, the active
obedience of the Lord Jesus. He became, it says in the text,
obedience unto death even the death of the cross. Observe the language that Paul
is using as he describes this obedience of Christ, how extensive
it is. Obedient, it says, unto, as far
as, even to. This is the force of the particular
word that he is using. Dr. Gill observes here, concerning
disobedience, that he is obedient from the cradle to the grave. He is obedient to God. He is obedient to man. He is
obedient to his earthly parents. He is obedient to the ceremonial
law. He is obedient to the moral law. He is obedient in everything.
His obedience is complete obedience. As we've already said there in
Galatians chapter 4, doesn't Paul speak of him as one who
is not only made of a woman, but he's made under the law when
the fullness of the time has come, that time that God had
ordained in eternity, that time that was agreed upon in terms
of the eternal covenant between the Father and the Son and the
Spirit, when that time has come, the fullness of the time. God
sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. And we see how, in his humiliation
here, the Lord Jesus Christ is one who just goes lower and lower. This is the context, of course,
in which the Apostle brings forth these great statements concerning
Christ, the doctrine of Christ here, is set in a certain context. How does the chapter open? Well, Paul is exhorting these
believers at Philippi, and not only at Philippi, this is part
of God's Word. These words are addressed to
all the people of God, to every true church of Christ. He says,
if there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of
love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any vows and mercies,
fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded, having the same
love, being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done
through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind." This
is what he's exhorting to. Not thinking of ourselves, not
being preoccupied with ourselves and our own interests, our own
concerns, but we're to be mindful of others, we're to be humble
minded in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than
themselves look not every man on his own things but every man
also on the things of others very practical instruction that
he's giving them, the importance of humility God resisteth the
proud says Peter but giveth grace under the humble. Humble yourselves
therefore under the mighty hand of God." But here you see what
Paul does, as he gives this exhortation, he then turns to the doctrine
of Christ, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ
Jesus. What a pattern, what a pattern
of humility is to be witnessed when we consider the Lord Jesus
Christ and His work How in his humiliation, he just goes lower
and lower. Being God, what does he do? He becomes a man. Being found
in fashion as a man, he humbles himself.
It's amazing the language that is used here. He is God. He is true, almighty God, in
the form of God, equal with God, but making himself of no reputation,
taking upon him the form of a servant, and then made in the likeness
of man. He was God. And as I've already
said, in humbling himself, he doesn't empty himself of his
divine, divinity he humbles himself by taking to himself that human
nature he becomes a real man and then as a man as a man he
humbles himself by being subject to the Lord of God subject to
the precepts of the Lord of God made under the law. Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient. But in that obedience
he goes lower yet because he's not only willing to submit himself,
to subject himself to the precepts of the law of God, but he also
becomes subject to the penalty of the law of God. because he
is obedient unto death. Even in dying we see his obedience
to all the will of God. This is the great work that he
came to do, of course, he came to die. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth unto truth. Oh, that's the work that He came
to do, to redeem them that were under the law, that they might
receive the adoption of sons. As many as are under the works
of the Lord are under the curse, are they not? Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things written in the book of the Lord
to do them. And what has Christ done? He
has come and taken that accursed place of the sinner. As we've
said, He's died as a substitute. All the significance of his humiliation,
he goes deeper and deeper, he becomes a man, he obeys the precepts
of the law, but then also he satisfies all the penalties of
the law. This is the significance of his
obedience, but it is that active obedience in particular that
we are concerned about this morning, that life that he lives, that
life of obedience to all the will of God, that willing submission
to every part of God's holy law. And what is he doing by that
obedience in life? Is he not accomplishing a righteousness? What does Paul say when he writes
to the Romans in chapter 5? As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, even so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous." And there in Romans 5, as in 1 Corinthians
15, Paul has in mind just two men, the first Adam and the last
Adam. It was the first Adam, of course,
whose disobedience there in the Garden of Eden brought in the
curse. or the awful curse that has come
upon all his descendants because of his disobedience to the commandment
of God. By one man's disobedience many
were made sinners. And we all of course descend
from that first man and we all therefore come into this world
as those who possess a fallen nature, a sinful nature What
is our natural mind by nature, the carnal mind, it's enmity
against God, it is not subject to the law of God, says Paul.
Neither indeed Calvary. In Adam all have sinned. But
then in Romans 5 Paul speaks of the other man. The last Adam,
the Lord from heaven. By one man's obedience, he says,
many shall be made righteous. It is the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ that he is speaking of. And what is that
righteousness? It is the life that the Lord
Jesus Christ lived here upon the earth. He was obedient from
the cradle, obedient right through to the grave. His whole life
was a life of obedience. In all things that he did, he
pleased the Father. This is my beloved son, says
the Father, in whom I am well pleased. He ever pleased the
Father. All that righteousness that was
wrought. And that righteousness that was wrought, of course,
is the righteousness that justifies the sinner. It's that righteousness
of Christ that is imputed to the sinner, reckoned to the sinner's
account. It's that robe of righteousness whereby the sinner can stand
before the very bar of God as one who has not only been cleared
of all the guilt of his sin because Christ has died as his substitute
but as one who is now accounted as righteous because that obedience
of Christ is reckoned to his account. When that great American theologian
of the last century John Gresham Machen was coming to the end
of his life we have the record of a letter that he wrote to
his friend professor John Murray and in the course of that letter
as Machen is contemplating his end. He writes this particular
sentence. He says how he is thankful for
the active obedience of Christ. There is no hope without it,
he says. The active obedience of Christ. That was his righteousness, you
see. He understood it even as he came to the end of his life. He needed a righteousness whereby
he might stand before his God. And that righteousness must be
the righteousness of Christ. It is the same that David speaks
of there in Psalm 71. We sang part of that Psalm, of
course, in the metrical version. Now in that Psalm, as David is
coming to the end of his days, he also sees where his righteousness
lies. I will make mention of thy righteousness,
he said, even of thine own. All his hope, all his confidence
was in that work that his greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, would
come to accomplish in the fullness of the time. Lord David saw it
with the eye of faith, saw it as something that was in future.
Gresham Machen could look back on it. But with each of them,
you see, it was this, it's the righteousness of another. upon
a life I did not live, upon a death I did not die, another's life,
another's death, I hang my whole eternity," says the hymn writer
Horatius Barnum. A life that he did not live,
the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the act of obedience
that he's spoken of. His whole life is one scene of
obedience, fulfilling all the Father's will, honouring and
magnifying every one of the Ten Commandments. Being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient. Obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Well, there we might say we see
something of the Godward aspect of his obedience. His obedience
is to the Father's will. He will finish the work that
the Father has given him to do. But let us secondly, just for
a while, turn to consider this obedience with regards to man. And here do we not see Christ's
oneness with sinners. Look at the language that we
have in the text. Being found in fashion as a man. All he does, all of this, you
see, is a man. As a real man. We sometimes sing that hymn,
do we not? That lovely hymn of Joseph Hart's. 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 wild 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 brought our souls from death
and how the price his own heart's blood. being found in fashion
as a man. Now he is pleased to become bone
of our bone, flesh of our flesh. Paul, again writing in Hebrews
chapter 2 says, Verily he took not upon him the nature of the
angels. He doesn't take upon him the
nature of angels. They are creatures. They are
glorious creatures, are they not? There were those angels
that fell, but there were those elect angels, the Seraphim, the
Cherubim, which are about the throne of God. But the Lord Jesus,
the eternal Son of God, was made a little lower than the angels. For as much then as the children
were partakers of flesh and blood, we are told He likewise took
part of the same. He becomes a man. He is then
the seed of the woman, that one who is promised of course right
at the beginning when our first parents transgressed. There in
Genesis chapter 3 we have the sad history of the fall of Adam
and Eve, but immediately we have that great promise of the Gospels,
the promise of Christ, the first promise concerning the seed of
the woman who shall come to bruise the head of Satan. And who is that? Why, it's the
Lord Jesus Christ, is it not? He's the seed of the woman. His very coming into the world
does not involve a man. He's not born in the natural
way by natural generation. His birth is a miracle. What
is conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary is by the Holy Ghost,
that holy thing, that human nature, but a real human nature nonetheless. But this is the great mystery
of the Incarnation, is it not? He is made of a woman. But also,
it says there in Galatians 4, He is made under the law he is
made under the law he comes to stand in that law place of his
people he is a public person he's a public person all that
he does in living and in dying is for his people just as Adam as the great head
of the race is a public person as in Adam you see all died so
the Lord Jesus Christ is the head he is the head of the body
of the church is he not? and in all that he does he's
doing it for his people he's standing there before God in
their law place and we see him as a little babe in that law
place he's under the ceremonial law of God we read of in being
circumcised. We read of how his parents take
him to the temple to pay that redemption price that was required
with regards to the firstborn. In Luke, the second chapter of
Luke's Gospel, we have the detail concerning these significant
events in the life of this little baby. Luke chapter 2 verse 21,
When eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child,
his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before
he was conceived in the womb. And when the days of purification,
that's marriage purification, according to the Lord of Moses
were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present
him to the Lord, as it is written in the Law of the Lord, every
male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. The firstborn male has to be
redeemed. There is a redemption price to
be paid, as says the Lord of God. And we see Christ, you see
here, subject, even as a little babe, subject to that law. He is circumcised. Now what does
Paul say concerning circumcision? Galatians 5 verse 3, I testify
again to every man that he is circumcised, that he is debtor
to do the whole law. The Lord Jesus is circumcised,
he is debtor to do the whole law. Oh, we see him so clearly
then as that one who has come to stand in that law place. He's subject to the holy law
of God even from the moment of his birth. And he will accomplish
and fulfill all that holy law of God. He's the fulfillment,
of course, of the ceremonial law. That ceremonial law that
we have in the book of Leviticus all of those types are fulfilled
in him as the antitype. All of those sacrifices, they
point to him as that one who is going to make the great sacrifice,
one sacrifice for sins forever. He's the fulfillment of the ceremonial
law, but he also, of course, is that one who has fulfilled
the moral law, the Lord of the Ten Commandments. He has obeyed
every commandment of God perfectly, completely. Now when he becomes
a man, when he begins his public ministry, what do we see? We
see how that in a sense that ministry begins at his baptising. His baptism marks the start of
public ministry. Now the Lord of Gods, the Lord
of God did not require that baptism but you see in that baptism what
Christ is doing. What is John's baptism? It's
a baptism of repentance and Christ has no sin of which to repent and yet he comes and he willingly
submits to the baptism of John. We have it recorded there in
the Gospels again. We see it in Matthew's account,
for example, there in the third chapter of Matthew, verse 13,
Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to be baptized
of him, but John forbade him. saying, I have need to be baptized
of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto
him, Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness. Then he suffered it. And Jesus,
when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water,
and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit
of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him. and thou
a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I am
well pleased. As I say the Lord doesn't require
that baptism. But what is Christ doing here?
He's identifying himself. He's identifying himself with
his people. He's identifying himself with
sinners who need that baptism unto repentance. And so he says
to John, thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. He declares himself to be at
one with his people. And we know that the Lord is
well pleased for his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law
and make it honourable. Oh the Father there at his baptism
owns him, acknowledges him. The voice from heaven which says,
this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. In fact there
of course we see all the persons of the Godhead. The Spirit also
comes and descends upon him in the form of a dove. Now we see
quite clearly at the commencement of his ministry that salvation
involves all the persons of the Godhead. It's a Trinitarian salvation. Yes, it is God, the Son, who
humbles himself as he willingly undertakes this great work, as
he comes to obey all the will of the Father. And yet, how we
see the Holy Ghost anointing him, descending upon him in the
form of a dove, the voice of the Father acknowledging him. That one who has come not to
call the righteous, but come to call sinners to repentance. He is at one, I say. In this
work, he is at one with sinners. He is the friend of the sinner. He is the savior of sinners. Orphans is not that the way in
which we must always come to Him. We can come in no other
way. We can only come and call upon
Him as those who are sinners, ever always in need of His grace,
always needing to look to Him, to His blood, but not only to
His blood, but also we must look to His righteousness, that robe
of righteousness, that garment of salvation, that he has provided
for the sinner. What do we observe then in Christ's
life? His active obedience. Three things
as we conclude this morning. First of all we see this, that
he is the Savior. He is the Savior of the sinner
in his active obedience. What does Paul go on to say in
the third chapter. We have this great Christological
portion here in chapter 2. When we come to chapter 3, it's
interesting, in chapter 3 Paul speaks of himself, does he not? It's one of those portions in
his epistles that we might call experimental. He speaks of his
own experiences. And we've said before, he is
a pattern, as he says to Timothy, a pattern to them which you thereafter
believe. There are those principles that
we see in Paul's life, in Paul's experience, that apply to all
who know anything of the grace of God. And this is what Paul
says as he speaks these very personal words in chapter 3 and
verse 9. His desire is to be found in
him that is in Christ, not having mine own righteousness which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith." I say friends,
again, in his obedience, in his active obedience, obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross, we see the salvation of
sinners. Here is the sinner's only hope,
be it Gresham Machen in the 20th century, be it the Apostle Paul
here in the 1st century, be it King David, all those centuries
before the coming of Christ. Salvation is in Christ's righteousness
and it's only there And as Paul knew that in his soul's experience,
so he preached it. He preaches it at Antioch in
Pisidia, as we have it there in Acts chapter 13. What is the
great message that we see Paul proclaiming in his preaching? He says, Be it known unto you
therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are
justified. that accounted righteous from
all things from which he could not be justified by the Lord
of Moses. He is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believes. He is the Saviour. But as He is the Saviour, so
the Lord Jesus Christ is also that one who is the sympathizer,
because He has lived as a man. He understands
men. He understands men, does he not?
Again, we've referred already to those words that the Apostle
writes in the end of Hebrews chapter 2, Verily he took not
on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like
unto his brethren. that he might be a merciful and
faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation
for the sins of the people, for in that he himself hath suffered,
being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."
How his was a real human life, that life that he lived, Again in chapter 5 of Hebrews,
who in the days of his flesh, says Paul, when he had offered
up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears
unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard,
in that he feared, though he were a son, yet learned the obedience
by the things which he suffered. Oh, we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities,
he said. that was in all points tempted like as we are yet without
sin he is the saviour yes but he is a sympathising saviour
he knows us he knows our human experiences he knows our human
weaknesses not our sinful human weaknesses he is without sin
he is without sin but he is touched is he not as Paul says with the
feeling of our infirmities a real man A man who lived a real life,
a life of absolute obedience to God. And so what do we see?
He's the savior, he's the sympathizer, he's the pattern. He's the pattern. He's the standard. Here we see,
you see, what the gospel requires. Our rule of life is it not this?
Gospel precepts. The pattern of the Lord Jesus
Christ. the context here again. Verse 5, let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus. This is the Christian's
calling. Having set forth this great section in which he declares
the doctrine of Christ from verse 6 through to verse 12. That whole section really is
a great Christological portion of Holy Scripture. Then after
that What does Paul say in verse 12? Wherefore? He makes a deduction. Therefore, we would say now,
my beloved, as you 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. For it is God's which worketh
in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Here's
your calling. If you know anything of this doctrine of Christ, anything
of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, live as Christians. Do all things without murmurings
and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless as sons
of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation in whom ye shine as lights in the world. Oh, this is the
Christian's high and holy calling, is it not? We're to be like Christ.
And we're to know that humility that was so evident in his life,
made of a woman, made under the law, yes, subject to all God's
law, living a life of complete and utter obedience, being found
in fashion as a man. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The Lord bears to us His Word.