There's an article written by
Jonathan Edwards and he titles his article, A Wonderful Love
of God. He begins by asking this question,
how wonderful is the love that is manifested in giving Christ
to die for us? It was for this love to enemies. You say, what? Enemies? In Romans 5.10 we read this,
When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death
of His Son. How wonderful was the love of
God the Father in giving such a gift to those who not only
could not be profitable to Him, but were His enemies, and to
so great a degree. They had a great enmity against
Him, yet so did His love Yet so did He love His people that
He gave His own Son to lay down His life in order to save their
lives, even though they were enemies against Him. Though they
had enmity that sought to pull God down from His throne, yet
He so loved them that He sent down Christ from heaven, from
His throne there, to be in the form of a servant. And instead
of a throne of glory, gave Him to be nailed to the cross and
to be laid in the grave so that we might be brought to the throne
of glory. How wonderful was the love of
Christ in thus exercising dying love towards His enemies. He
loved those that hated Him with a hatred that sought to take
away His life so as voluntarily to lay down His life that they
might have life through Him. First John 4.10, we read then,
herein is love. Not that we loved him, but that
he loved us and laid down his life for us. Would you bow with
me in prayer? Our Holy Father, we praise you
and thank you for that love that you have for your people. A love that is so strong, nothing,
absolutely nothing, not man, not creature, not wills, not
desires, nothing can separate your people. Those for whom the
Father gave you, those for whom you laid down your life on the
cross, those for whom your blood was shed, nothing can separate
those from the love that is in our Savior, Jesus Christ. We
read in Romans 8.1, there is now no condemnation. That means
no charge. And oh, what a wonderful, blessed
thing it is to hear those words. Especially for those of us who
see ourselves as the sinners we are. Deserving your wrath,
but yet receiving the mercy and the grace that you so desire to give. Father, I ask that you would
be with me now as I stand before your people. Just as I ask for
Rommel, Lord, I ask that you would be with me and give me
the words to speak. Give those who hear the ears
to hear, to hear the truths of your according to Your Word by
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, our Teacher. In His name we pray,
Amen. I'd like to ask you if you would
this morning, turn with me once again to this
wonderful letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians. He wrote this letter in regards
to their loving support, as you will recall in our earlier messages
beginning in chapter one, where Paul was thanking them for what
they had sent him. They sent him ministering to
his needs, being under house arrest for preaching the gospel. They sent him food maybe, whatever
he might need that he couldn't go out and get. They sent him
another man to go out and get those things that he might need
and minister unto him. Paul witnessed their loving support
and their willing and gracious hearts to minister to the needs
of a brother. A brother in Christ, a brother
who was suffering for the very reason of preaching God's truths. In our last look, we considered
how to strengthen the brethren. See, that's what Paul was doing
going through the remainder of chapter 1 there. He was admonishing
them, lifting them up and telling them what a wonderful thing it
is that they go about proclaiming who Christ is. And they're doing
it by their actions. They're not doing it so that
they can be saved, they're doing it because they are saved. We don't work for our salvation. Salvation is of the Lord. And
anything that we add to salvation, or that we think we're adding
to it, destroys grace. Grace is unmerited favor. How do we strengthen our brethren?
I left off with that very thing at the end of last week's message.
We strengthen our brethren by encouraging them to keep on keeping
on. Brother Pastor Gene tells me
that every day. John, just keep on keeping on. Whether I need
to hear it or not. And I'll tell you, most of the
time I need to hear it. Just keep on keeping on. Keep on talking
about Christ and Him crucified. That's what Paul said. He says,
I wish to know nothing of you. I don't want to know about all
the good stuff you're doing. That's not what's important.
I mean, I see what you're doing, and that's great, and I appreciate
it. Keep on doing that. But that's
not what the importance of. The importance of the whole story,
the whole message is Christ and Him crucified for His people. Keep on keeping on. And we're about to see that.
Look with me if you would. Once again, verse 21 through
30 of chapter 1. For to me to live is Christ,
and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose I want
not. For I am in a straight betwixt
to having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which
is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more
needful for you. And having this confidence, I
know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance
and joy of the faith. that your rejoicing may be more
abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again. Only let your conversation Be
as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and
see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for
the faith of the gospel." Now you notice it didn't say that
you go out and feed the poor, and you do this, and you do that,
and you do this. Striving for the faith in the gospel. What
is the faith in the gospel? Our Lord says it very simply. believeth on me. That's it. Believeth on me and
thou shalt be saved. Continuing on in verse 28, And
in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them
an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that
of God. For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer
for his sake. having the same conflict which
he saw in me and now here to be in me. But folks, it doesn't
end right there. That's where we quit last week.
That's where Paul was beginning his conversation to strengthen
his brethren, to encourage the brethren to keep on keeping on.
You see, the original writings, there were no chapters. There's
no verses numbered. Those are things that we have
added throughout time so that we can quickly reference to them.
When I ask you to go to the book of Philippians chapter 1, I could
just say go to the book of Philippians. Now if you'll turn three pages
over to paragraphs such and such, but it's a lot easier to do it
the other way. So Paul's admonition here, his encouraging words continue
on. Look at verses 1 through 8 of
chapter 2. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, you see how it continues on, it's not starting a new subject,
we're continuing on. If therefore, if what I've just
said to you is in you, if there be any consolation in Christ
in that, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit,
if any bowels and mercies, If there's any of that stuff, listen
to this, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like minded, having the
same love, being of one accord and of one mind. Folks, there
is only one God. There is only one way into salvation
and that is through the same as the one God, Jesus Christ
the Lord God in the flesh. Verse 3, let nothing be done
through strife and vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let
each esteem the other better than themselves. Look not every
man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.
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. Three distinct persons, God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but yet one
God. All equal in power, all equal
in thought, all equal in purpose. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with the God, but continuing on in verse 7, but made himself
of no reputation. Heaven came down. Heaven came
down to this world. You know how many times we've
said this before, it bears repeating. I don't care what heaven's like.
as long as Jesus Christ is there, and wherever he is, that's where
heaven is. Heaven came down and glory filled
my soul, 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 the fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. My title this morning and the
focus I'd like to put my message on today is the world's greatest
servant. You ever heard a story maybe
out there, might have even seen a movie about one where a good
and faithful servant who's been serving say a lord of England
or something like that and they've been so faithful and good and
how towards the end of the servant's life, they're blessed with a property or something,
the owner, the lord of the property or whatever takes good care of
them. Folks, that doesn't even compare
anything you've seen to what it means for our Lord to become
a servant for you and I. We can't even fathom the depth
of what that means. Heaven came down. He who is above
everything, glory to everything, humbled himself and became flesh. Why? Because he has loved his
people with an everlasting love. He's loved each and every one
of your people that are his. If you belong to Him, He has
had your name inscribed on His palms before the world ever was. That breastplate, that breastplate
that the high priest would wear when he would go into the holiest
of holies and sprinkle the blood on the mercy feet, that breastplate
had the names of all of Israel inscribed on it. It didn't have
Moabites on there, it didn't have Egyptians on there, it didn't
have all these other names. It had the Israelites, God's
people. God's chosen people. And they weren't chosen for anything
that they had done good. They were chosen because He loved
them. And that's exactly why He's chosen
you and I. Not because of anything we have
done, but because of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and His
love for them. The world's greatest servant.
Look at verse 7 again if you would with me, but made himself
of no reputation. I want to consider that for just
a moment, of no reputation. He who has, who deserves, who
is above every reputation. He humbled himself. and made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. I want to talk to you this morning
about the God, the God who delights in being merciful. Turn if you
will over to the 13th chapter of John. These brothers and sisters in
Christ that Paul is writing to in Philippi were expressing their
love for a brother who had a need. A brother who was being persecuted
for declaring the word of truth. Paul went about declaring that
it was not the works of men, but that it was God who chose
people to redeem a certain people. that it was God in the flesh
who laid down His life for that people, and that people would
be saved. They called His name Jesus, for
He shall save His people. In the book of 1 John 3, verse
14, we read this, you don't need to turn there, I'll read it for
you. We know that we have passed from death unto life because
we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brethren
abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brethren
is a murderer. And ye know that no murderer
hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love
of God, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought
to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this
world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his
bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God
in him. My little children, let us not love in word, neither
in tongue, but in deed and in truth. When one for whom God
has loved from before the foundation of the world, when one whom has
had the truth of what we are before a thrice holy God has
it revealed, then we are brought to love one another. Why? Because He first loved us. We see the mercy that He has
for us. And as a reaction, not a cause,
but a reaction, we are merciful to others, especially to our
brothers and sisters in Christ. Are you with me in John chapter
13? Look, if you will, at verses 1 through 5. Now, before the feast of the
Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had 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. And supper being ended, the devil
having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot Simon's son
to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the
Father had given all things into the hands, and that he was come
from God and went to God, he riseth up from supper, and lay
aside his garments, and took a towel, and girded himself. After that, he poureth water
into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe
them with the towel wherewith he was girded." Do you see a
picture? Do you see the picture of what
our Lord is telling us here? God Almighty. Folks, this doesn't even describe
a drop of what God's mercy is for His people. He got down on His knees and
washed the feet of His disciples. Do you realize how low that would
have been for a person at that time? Henry Manhattan shares
a little bit with us on that. Let me read for you from Henry
Manhattan what he wrote about this. He says, the washing of
feet was the lowliest servile work that could be done at that
time, and it was done by the least in the house. Yet the eternal
king of glory rose from his seat of honor, laid aside his robe
of righteousness, wrapped himself in a large towel, and began to
wash tenderly and carefully the dusty feet of each disciple.
This task at that time was never, ever performed by a superior,
but only by inferiors to the superiors. as by a wife to her
husband, or a servant to his master. This is why we find Peter
objecting to such an act by his master. Look at verse 6, if you
will, please. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. Then cometh he to Simon Peter,
and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Isn't
that interesting? Can you not hear the astonishment
in Peter's question? Lord, are you going to wash my
feet? No. Peter was a very prideful
man, wasn't he? I can picture myself in that
very same chair. Are you going to wash my feet,
Lord? Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Peter
knew himself to be a sinful man. Read Luke 5.8 and you'll see.
And he confessed Christ to be the Son of God. He thought it
too far below the dignity and the character of his Lord to
wash the feet of such a worthless creature as he was. Do we not
see the same when we consider his death on the cross? When
we consider the one who knew no sin was made sin, our sin?
when we consider the one who bared every one of our sins in
his own body, not just the ones that we committed, but the ones
that we will commit? He bore it to a horrible death. Can we not see his mercy and
his love magnified before us? Folks, there is no greater example,
no greater servant, than the one who humbled himself and became
flesh. Look at verse 7. And Jesus answered
and said unto him, unto Peter, what I do thou knowest not now,
but thou shalt know hereafter. Oh, how often we go through this
world not knowing what our Lord is doing. We don't know why the pestilence
of viruses come along. or why people raise up in anger
and attack for no reason, or why people do whatever it is
people do, other than the fact that we know this, the heart
is desperately wicked. How do I know that? Because my
heart, the very heart of John Reeves' flesh, was desperately
wicked. And the Lord came along in a
day and preached His gospel through a man standing in this very pulpit.
And in that first day that I heard that gospel preached of a God
who saves, who saves His people, for sure, not maybe, not might,
not possibly, but for sure, I heard about a God. One who deserves
to be called God. The God of glory. The God of
all glory. He arrested that old stony heart
and gave me a heart to believe. How we need to learn to wait
upon the Lord's own time to make spiritual truth clear to us.
And meanwhile patiently submitting to His word and to His will.
Look at verse 8 if you will please. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt
never wash my feet. Seasoned stubbornness, here it
comes. Oh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. I'm good at doing
that, too, you know. Especially when it comes to things
around here. Ah, wait a minute, Lord. I can
get that done. Peter saith unto him, thou shalt
never wash my feet. And Jesus answered him and says,
if I wash thee not, thou hast no part of me. Oh, folks. Should not Peter ought to have
been satisfied with the Lord's first reply there and submitted
unto him, but notice that he first spoke out of modesty. He
spoke out of humility, but now he speaks rashly and he says,
ye shall never wash my feet, of which the Lord replies, if
I wash thee not, ye have no part of me. In other words, he's saying
you have no part of me in redemption. You have no part of me in the
kingdom of God. Christ is not speaking here of
this simple act of washing Peter's feet. He's referring to washing
of the regeneration and the cleansing of his precious blood. Folks,
I'm here to tell you this morning that unless a man is washed in
the blood of Jesus Christ, he has no part of God. It doesn't mean that he is cleansed
with part of your blood, part of your doings. It means you
are cleaned and washed in the blood of Christ alone. It is
by His blood that we are purged from sin. It is by His precious
blood that we are purged from sins, and He can have no part
if you are not washed in His blood in the Christ of glory. Are you? Are you washed in the
blood, in the precious blood of the Lamb? Look at verse 9. Simon Peter said, rather than
him, not my feet only, but my hands. and my head. What changed his mind? Did Peter get smart all of a
sudden? I don't think so. No. Who is it that turns the
hearts of men? All of a sudden Peter realized,
just as he's about to realize further on in the book of John
or in the book of Mark or in the book of Luke, when the Lord
had to tell him, you will deny me. In fact, you're going to
deny me three times. And after that third time, Peter's
like, realized what God had said was true. In fact, you know,
everything that the Lord Jesus has said is true and will come
to play. And he cried. And he realized,
I'm a sinner. And he says, Lord, not my feet
only, but everything. I need washed from the top of
my head to the bottom of my feet. That should be our prayer every
morning. That should be my prayer every morning. as I get out of bed and realize
that the only reason I'm breathing today is because my Lord had
determined it so. Peter, convinced of his error,
fearful of losing the hope that he held in Christ and consciousness
of his sin, says, Lord, don't just wash my feet, but wash my
hands and my head. Peter knew that he not only had
walked in sin, but had done evil and thought evil. Folks, a true
child of God knows that our flesh can do nothing. We have no confidence
in our flesh. Our only confidence is in our
Lord. We don't even put confidence
in our own faith. Our confidence is in the one
who is the author and the finisher of that faith. Sometimes He gives us great faith.
Imagine the faith that He gave Abraham to take his son onto
the mountain to sacrifice him. You know what the faith was?
It's exactly the same faith that you and I have right now. He
believed God. God said, this son that I have
given you will be the father of many nations. Abraham knew
that his son would be raised from the dead. Yet when he got
there to that very spot, and his son asked him, but where's
the sacrifice, dad? Don't worry about it, son. Don't worry about it. God will
provide it. And that's exactly what he has done for each and
every one of his people. Don't worry about the sacrifice.
God has provided it. Even when our faith at other
times is as small as a mustard seed, it's in Him. It's in Him. It's in His promises to you and
I. He tells us. He tells us there's
no condemnation to those of you who are in me. If you're in Christ, your sins
are paid for. I don't care how big they are.
We talked one time not too long ago about the unforgivable sin.
You know what the unforgivable sin is? The unforgivable sin
is to go through that doormark death not believing in Jesus
Christ. You go through that doormark
death and you don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're
not going to believe unless He gives you the gift of faith to
believe in Him, you will go to hell. And you'll go exactly to
where you deserve. And those of us who go to heaven,
we will look at that and we will say, that's what we deserve,
but our Lord and Savior laid down His life for us. And we'll
spend an eternity saying praise unto the One. Hallelujah! Jesus Christ saves. Turn back to our text now in
Philippians if you would. We rest in His promises, we rest
in His doings, we rest in His works. Paul's exhortation here,
once again, is to strengthen the brethren, to lift them up.
Even though himself was under a heavy persecution, knowing
that they would suffer much the same, he pointed to the greatest
servant to ever walk this earth. He pointed them to Christ Jesus,
the Lord of Glory. God in the flesh, our great creator. the Creator of everything in
heaven and earth and under the earth, and everything has been
put under His feet. All glory goes to this One who
laid down His life for His sheep. Look at verses 9-11 of chapter
2. We just read about how He made
Himself of no reputation, how He took upon Himself the form
of a servant, how He was made in the likeness of men. He was
found in the fashion as a man, humbled Himself and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. And now we read in
verse 9, Wherefore God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a
name which is above every name. that at the name of Jesus every
knee shall bow of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Do you see? Do you see? He who hath ears, let him hear.
Do you see the glory? the great mercy that God has
for His people. Do you hear the love that He
has for those for whom the Father hath given Him? Do you believe
on the greatest servant of the world that the world has ever
known? You see, to God be the glory,
great things He hath done. Look at verses 12 and 13. Wherefore, 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. For it is God which worketh in
you, both to will and to do. Why? How? Of his good pleasure. Oh, this attitude of humility and
the spirit of love and the unity are not of your own doing. This love that we have for the
brothers and sisters in Christ, this attitude of unity between
us, this is not of our doing. This is of God's doing. Our unity is His pleasure. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1 if you would, please. And I'll bring this to a close.
1 Corinthians chapter 1. We glory in the servant of God. We glory in the One who works
all things out for our good. That's what he says in Romans
8.28. All things are for our good. All the stuff going on
in the world around us, everything that has happened from day one
has been for the people of God to be called out of darkness.
And the world's going to continue on going on until the last one
has been called out of darkness. God, I pray that that might be
one of my children. Nevertheless, Lord, thy will
be done. Look at verses 20-31 of 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God." Folks, I can't think of anybody
more learned in Scriptures than maybe
the Pope, or Charles Stanley, or any of those other well-learned
men in Scriptures. But their wisdom hasn't gotten
them anywhere. They don't know the grace of God. I share that
with you because, Polly, our wisdom is going to
get us nowhere. Only in Christ. Only in our Lord
and Savior. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now turn over, if you would,
to verse 29. Verse 29 of chapter 1. That no flesh should glory in
His presence. Folks, you give me one inch,
and I'm going to try to take glory in it. I don't mean to. That's just the way I am. And I'm so thankful that the
Lord allows me to step deep in it when I do. Sometimes the nose
will get hurt pretty bad when I fall flat on my face. It always brings me back around.
To quit looking at that flesh, read on, but of Him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom. and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glorieth in the Lord. When I have been given strength to turn away
from my own pride and to turn to my Savior, I see the glory in His mercy. His mercy towards me even though
I continue to allow that sin to rise up in me at times. I see His love for me and what
He has done for me on the cross. I see the greatest servant in
the world greatest servant the world has ever seen who has loved
me with an everlasting love and I give him all the glory. Even my looking to him is because
of him. Will you stand with me please?