If you would, turn to the book
of Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two. I want
to begin reading in verse five. 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. 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 Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father I'm gonna stop right there Because that is officially right
now I will declare that to be a mouthful of scripture The reason I was looking at the
crucifixion this morning is because this is what I wanted to read
and what I want to talk about I Our Lord's condescension is beyond
our ability to understand. It's beyond my abilities and
my capability to relate to you. So here we go. Paul the apostle here did as
well as anyone could and he was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Out of this, what I'm going to try and concentrate on, even
while speaking about two or three things, are three very important
words in this section of scripture. I think they're incredible, amazing,
miraculous words. And the three words are this.
He humbled himself. He humbled himself. To me, this
is one of those things that like Peter wrote of some of Paul's
writings. It's one of those things that's hard to be understood.
It's tough. It's tough. But it's here in
black and white, and it's boldly and perfectly stated. He humbled
himself. It goes against every natural
thought of a man. I think actually every thought
of man, period. You know, the child was born,
the son was given, he is God manifest in the flesh. But while
he was here, the reason he was here, the way he was here, the
only way he could be here was if he humbled himself. He's God. Let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus. 1 Corinthians 2 says we
have the mind of Christ. And if you look at that word,
it means understanding. That's true because he's the
one that gives us understanding. Then opened he their understanding
of the scriptures. Didn't our hearts burn within
us as he opened unto us the scriptures? We know him through his word
which he's given to us. and he's given us the understanding
of his word in bits and in pieces here a little, there a little
jot upon jot, tittle upon tittle but let this mind be in you,
this understanding, these thoughts this is a bit of the mind of
God Christ Jesus God this isn't the thoughts of men,
this isn't even the thoughts of the Apostle Paul, these are
the thoughts of God that have been revealed to us here. Let
this mind be in you, who, Jesus Christ, being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And I like
how Earl said that. It's a thing to be grasped after. The literal translation of the
word robbery is, or plunder. It's the goods, you know? And
what do people do with plunder? Well, you grab it, you hold onto
it, and you never let it go. Our Lord didn't do that. He was
in the form of God. Why? Because He was God. He was with God in the beginning,
God. But He didn't think it was a
robbery. He didn't think it was a thing to be held onto to stay
that way. He came down. And He came down so far we can't
imagine it. Because we have no idea what
glory is like. We have no idea what heaven is
like, where there is no unrighteousness, where there is no unholiness,
where there is nothing but peace and love and joy and righteousness. But he, being in the form of
God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Yes, he is
the eternal son. Mine elect, but yes, he was the
one who spoke the world into being. Equal with God, and rightfully
so. Rightfully so, because he is
God. This is who the son is, and this
is where the son is. Before. It didn't stay that way. It didn't
stay that way. This was the natural place and
the natural form in the beginning, God. And in the beginning, the
sun. In the beginning, the spirit.
All together as one, and that's the natural form of the sun.
Equal with God. Then comes that word in verse
7, but. But, things are about to change
here. Here's where God is, here's where Christ is, was, equal with
God, in glory, but he thought it was not a thing to hold on
to. But, but, made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him what? The form of a servant. and was
made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as
a man, what? He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He made himself of no reputation. The creator of the universe made
himself of no reputation. I don't even know how you go
about doing that. Because I have no idea what it's
like to be that. And this is what seems odd to
us. See, man's natural progression, our state of being is low. And we want to go high. And if
we think our state of being is high, we want to go higher. That's
the way we think of things. We don't want to go down. You
don't want to go from being the CEO of General Motors to be a
guy slopping hogs. They call that a step down. But that is what our Lord did. In essence, he came down from
glory, what? And made himself of no reputation,
took upon himself the form of a servant. And that word form
there is exactly the same word used where it says being in the
form of God. We want to go up in money, status,
authority, power, all of it. And here we have God himself
coming down to our place, where we are. The Old Testament calls
us worms, meaning maggots. The Old Testament calls us less
than the small dust of the balance. The sun came to us. He came in the form of a servant
And look at that word it means slave He came in the likeness
of men in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was found in fashion
as a man That's how you become of no reputation
and That's not a real good thing to think about yourself. The
way our Lord made himself of no reputation was to become a
man. Because we got no reputation. And the reputation we do have
is not good. Look at the book. Look at the
book. The only reason Noah and the
ark was built was because Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. The whole earth was filled with violence. Guess what? It's
no different today. He came in the form of a servant.
He came in the likeness of men. And let me be very clear. Let
me be very clear. That word, like I said, that
word form, what that means is he was found in external condition
as a man. This is not a Christophany. This
was not an appearance like Melchizedek. This was not an appearance like
Joshua and what the captain of our salvation. Our Lord became man. That's what Paul is saying here.
He is God. He was God. He is God, but he
became a man. A man. That should boggle your mind.
How did he do it? I have no idea. Walter, you said
a while back, how did the God of all glory end up in an infant,
a baby born of a woman in a manger in Bethlehem? I got no idea. But I do know this, it took the
power of God to do that. And when he did that, he had
to humble himself. He humbled himself. He came down
to where we were because this is where we needed him. He became in fashion a man, born
to a virgin. He was made of a woman, made
under the law. What? To redeem them that were
under the law. There was no beauty that we should
desire him. There was nothing that set him
apart outwardly. from any other man. That even
bothers me even more. Just don't understand it. But that was the prophecy in
Isaiah. He'd have no beauty nor comeliness that we should what?
Desire him. And yet we desire him. They were praying for this one
to come, and then when he came, they didn't recognize him. He
came unto his own, and his own received him not. Why? He made
himself of no reputation, and he took upon the form of a servant.
They were looking for a king to rule and reign over them and
give them everything they wanted. No, he came to fulfill a need. He didn't come to give you what
you wanted. He didn't come to give anybody what they wanted
other than his people. And guess what? He's the one
that made you want that. He took upon himself the form
of a slave. Our Lord said it himself. He came to minister
unto, not to be ministered to. People nowadays think, oh, well,
you know, The bigger you are, the more servants you have. The
more money you got, the more servants you have. Our Lord came
in the form of a servant. He came with a purpose and a
work to actually accomplish, to do his work, to fulfill the
purpose of the Father. And how'd he do it? He humbled
himself. He humbled himself. He humbled himself. The God of
all glory became a man. He came into this world as a
baby. He was under the rule of his
parents. He grew up under the law. He became a man of full age,
still of no reputation. still in the form of a servant,
still he humbled himself, even at a full age. No man did this to him. He humbled
himself. He was sent by his father, but
he humbled himself. He made himself of no reputation. He, what? Took upon himself the
form of a servant. He made himself in the likeness
of men and being found in a fashion as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
He became a servant and ministered unto men. Jacob thou worm The Lord of glory
came down to minister to men To minister to worms What a glorious
condescension he humbled himself He did it nobody made him do
it He did it and he did it lovingly and he did it willingly and and
he did it voluntarily and he did it fully in the will and
the purpose of the father. I and my father are one. He was prophesied in the garden,
he came into the world, not the way the Jews wanted him to come.
He humbled himself. He humbled himself. We didn't make him come. He came. And he became obedient to the
father. He humbled himself and came to
obey the will of his father. Now, I know we say he was king
while he was here. Guess what? He was. He's king
now. He's always been king, he always
will be king. But even while he's king, he humbled himself. And he became
obedient, even as king. Because a good king does what
he needs to do for his kingdom. And without him humbling himself,
The kingdom that we are a part of, we wouldn't be a part of.
There wouldn't have been a kingdom to be translated into, or we'd
have never made it in. He became obedient for the purpose
and love of his kingdom. He humbled himself and obeyed
the will of the Father. And he became obedient unto death.
There's no way to get out of this. Even the death of the cross. The death of the cross, the death
of shame. It was a shame to hang on a tree. It was a shame. They put him up there with two
what, say hey, malefactors. Now they're very, very careful
In the King James Version, I looked at it, I haven't not looked at
it, but they said it, the way they put it is, he hung there
with two others, they put a comma, malefactors. Because they don't
wanna say our Lord Jesus Christ was a malefactor, okay? And he wasn't, but he was hung
as a malefactor. As it is written, cursed is everyone
that hangs on a tree and he hung on a tree. Now you can take that
or not. That's what the scripture says.
He humbled himself. He, what? Became a curse for
us. He was, what? I'll say it. Made
to be sin for us. He died the death of a malefactor. I like to say malefactor. It's a good word. How could he
do something like that? He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death, even, even the death of the cross. Oh, how he humbled himself. He
told them, I could call legions of angels before he ever got
that far. But he wouldn't, because he humbled himself. Instead, he was made sin for
us. He humbled himself. He submitted
to the death of the cross. Why? He told us the good shepherd
gives his life for the sheep. And he said, I am the good shepherd. And he is the good shepherd. He gave his life a ransom for
many. He said in that same section,
John 10, I've got the power to lay my life down. I've got the
power to take it back again. He humbled himself to this death
of substitution, this death of sacrifice, this death of satisfaction
to God the Father for the sins of his people. He humbled himself
and he died on that cross. It was a real death. Know people
can say whatever they want, you know Comas, whatever he didn't
have him No, it was a real death The father and the son had worked
this out between them, but the father and the son were not playing
pretend Our Lord Jesus Christ humbled
himself unto death and He died the death on the cross. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. Wherefore, because he humbled
himself, because he became obedient unto death, because he accomplished
everything the Father had sent him to accomplish on this earth,
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him Him and giving him
a name which is above every name The one who's humbled himself
his name is now where it says highly exalted that means it's
at the highest There's nothing above his name There's nothing,
there's no one that is above the name of, wait, wait, Jesus. The name of a man. The name of
his humility. The name where he became a slave,
became a minister. God hath highly exalted him because
he deserves to be highly exalted. He is the highest. He is the
highest. The one who's humbled himself
is at the highest. The one who created this universe
is the same one by whom this universe consists. By him, all
things consist. And God hath highly exalted him
and given him a name 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. His earthly name. I mean, that's
the way Paul writes this. At the name Jesus, every knee
should bow. At the name Jesus, things in
heaven, things in earth and things under the earth. The name of
the man, Jesus. The God man, yes. But it's his
earthly name. His earthly name is never going
away. The name of Jesus shall never
go. Because I remember when Earl first said it, Walter, I'd never
really thought of it that way. There's a man seated at the right hand
of God the Father right now. Because he had humbled himself
and came down and was obedient. Even unto the death of the cross.
And God is highly exalted and raised him from the dead. He
ascended into the heavens and he is seated waiting, expecting
his enemies to be put under his feet. His enemies are going to
be made his footstool. And that's what it means. They're
going to be under his feet. Now we know him as Jesus and
we are to praise his name now. Glorify his name now he humbled
himself as a slave who set his people free He redeemed them
from their sin and their shame and their trespasses and their
offenses He is our salvation But in order to be our salvation
he humbled himself And it says every knee is gonna
bow And guess what? Everywhere. You got a knee, you're
gonna bow. That's the way it works. On the
earth, above the earth, on the earth or under it. It don't matter
where you are. It doesn't matter who you are. One day, every knee
shall bow. I recommend doing it here right
now. Because you might do it later
and it might not help you. You're gonna do it. Everybody's gonna
bow to this one who humbled himself. And every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Like I said, you have a knee,
you're gonna bow. If you have a tongue, you're
gonna confess. There will be no dispute about this one day.
We're surrounded by dispute and argument and debate now. It's
not gonna be that way. Forever it's not gonna be that
way There will be one day no doubt
no argument no debate and no question every tongue shall fully
agree Shall fully confess that Jesus Christ is Lord Not was
Lord is Lord Yes, he was Lord. Yes, he is Lord. Yes, he will
always be Lord, but you're going to be proclaiming it right now.
And you're going to proclaim it later. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God. He is man. He is Lord. He is the God man, but he is
Lord. He is the highest. He is the
child that was born. He is the son that was given.
He's the one on whom the government sits on his shoulders. And he's
the one who rules and reigns, and here's the part the world
doesn't like, he's the one who judges. Why? Because he's Lord. He's
king of kings and Lord of lords. He that humbled himself Lord
over all God has given him power over all flesh Everything in
this universe consists in him by him He has the power and the
authority What to the glory of God the Father Praising the Son praising the
Father If you praise the Son, you're praising the Father. There's
no way to know the Father without knowing He that humbled Himself. And there's no way you can know
the Father without knowing He that humbled Himself. Knowing
the Son. And the Father's given all glory
to the Son. He came to do the will of His
Father. His creation, His condescension,
His humbling of Himself, and His exaltation all gives glory
to the Father who sent Him. Only God could save. Only man
could die. He humbled Himself unto death,
obedient unto death. He became man He redeemed us
himself Thy Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. I love that statement
The only one who could redeem was God but God up here couldn't
do it He humbled himself He had to come down to Redeemed his
people and he did He did He did That's what the angel told Joseph
call his name Jesus That name that is highly exalted now above
all Why for he shall save his people from their sins. I Just the last thing very quickly. I didn't humble him. You didn't
humble him. We didn't humble him. And I don't
know if I can say this. The father didn't humble him.
He humbled himself. This was a work. Solely of the
son now it is in accordance with the will of the father and the
will of the spirit These three agree in one these three are
one But this is the work of the son he humbled himself And was obedient unto death even
the death of the cross but again that wasn't the end I Have power
to lay down my life, and I have the power to take it back up
again. He was raised from the dead,
seen above 500. He ascended into glory, and he
ever lives, what? To make intercession for his
people. In order, in order. that his people might live. In him, he humbled himself. He humbled himself. I wish I
could proclaim it the way I should. I do know this. I shall, you shall, all shall
bow and confess that the one who humbled himself This Jesus,
this Jesus, is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And I can
state that with absolute fact. Thank you, Lord, for this time,
and your Son, for this place. Be with us as
we take the Lord's table. Help us to understand your work,
your will and your way more clearly. Help us to walk in newness of
life. We'll give you all the glory
and honor and praise because it is yours now and forever. Amen.