Turn to Philippians chapter 2. Title of the message, From Humiliation to Exaltation. No one has ever lived or ever
will live that has been so humiliated as
the Lord Jesus Christ. No one. No comparison. The holy,
spotless Son of God was made to be sin for us. Hanged as a
criminal. Humiliated. Humiliated. And no one who has ever lived
or shall live has ever been or ever will be as exalted as the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord. He is Lord. Not going to be. And that rejoices our hearts,
doesn't it? I'm so glad that the affairs
of this country are not in the hands of our President. I know
he's got to make decisions and all the Congress and all of them,
but I'm telling you, the affairs of life of this country and every
country on this earth is in the hands of that man seated at God's
right hand right now. He is the absolute sovereign
Lord. Whatever is going on in my life,
He has absolute sovereign control over it. Whatever is going on
in our community, whatever is going on in this country, and
whatever is going on in this world right now, our Lord has
absolute sovereign control over it. Absolute sovereign control over
it. A worm doesn't wiggle without his permission. It doesn't even
live without him. He said concerning us, without
me, you can do nothing. Do us well to learn that, wouldn't
it? Learn it early, early. that without Christ we can do
nothing. But with Christ, Paul said, I
can do all things. And I'm getting off my subject
here, but Paul said, I can do all things through Christ, in
Christ, who strengthens me. The psalmist said, I have ran
through a troop and leaped over a wall. Well, how did you do
that? I did it through Christ. Here
is the attitude of a believer, and the world does not understand
this. The world doesn't understand this at all. I am nothing. I know that. I know that by nature
I am sinful and wretched. I know that. That's the truth. But also know
this, that in Christ I'm holy. In Christ I have no sin. And
in Christ, I can do all things. And what confidence that ought
to give us. What confidence. Let's look. I'm going to start
in verse five. When I read this story today
and I wrote it down, I want to give it to you as we get into
this. Several years ago in Colorado
Springs. The pastor's conference requested
the pastor of a very rich, a very cultured, modern church to deliver
a message on salvation by character, salvation by character. And he
poured forth his stream of polished phrases, and he charmed the audience
with his sermon on salvation by character. And after the pastors
had praised him and put him up over his wonderful up-to-date
sermon, just right up-to-date, a man named W.E. Gladden, he rose and he said,
Mr. Moderator, may I ask the speaker
a question? And he said, certainly, brother. Mr. Gladden said, he has delivered
a message on salvation by character. I'd like to ask him what would
he preach if he were the pastor of a people who haven't any character? What's his message then? Our message to a congregation
that has no character to speak of is Christ and Him crucified. Christ and Him crucified. He's our message. He's our hope. Our Lord said this, the publicans
and the harlots will go into the kingdom of heaven before
you who brag on your character. Remember those Pharisees? Remember
that one young man came to him and said, I've kept all these
from my youth up. Oh, I've got a great character.
Well, I don't have a message for you. I don't have a message
for you. There's no gospel message for
you. The gospel is for the guilty.
The gospel is for those who have destroyed their character. They've
destroyed it. What we realize is after the
Lord saved us, And our character was destroyed a long time ago
back there in the Garden of Eden. Adam did a good job on that. Christ saves men and women whose
character is evil. You say, well, I know people
that do some good things. They do some noteworthy things.
Well, you know, among men, we can probably say that. But God
does not judge by our standards, does He? He doesn't judge by
our standards. God said in Genesis that He looked
down from heaven. Does He say that He saw some
good characters? He said it wasn't any good. There
was none to seek after Him. He said, God said, now this is
coming from God Almighty, He said that their imagination Their
thoughts are evil, and that continually. That continually. That's what God says. Now, let's
look here in verse 5. Let this mind be in you, this
attitude, which was also in our Lord, in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This was His attitude. This is the way he went about
doing his work. This is the way he thought every
day. He made himself of no reputation. Men and women, I've lived long
enough to know this by experience myself and by being around others. I know this. Men and women spend
their life promoting themselves. Just try in a conversation, just
try to listen and not start talking about what you used to do. Try to keep yourself out of the
conversation. It's hard. It's hard. I heard a song, this
has been some time ago, but it came to mind today when I read
this. The song, I don't know what the
title of it is, but he kept saying this, Oh Lord, it's hard to be
humble. And he goes on explaining how
good he is or how good looking he is and how talented he is.
And he goes on, it's hard to be humble when you're like me. The hardest thing, the hardest
thing for us naturally is to be humble. It was natural for
our Lord Jesus Christ. It was an easy thing. He didn't
struggle trying to be humble. He was humble. He was humble. And he made himself, it says,
of no reputation. If anybody, if anyone had the right who deserved
a reputation, it was him. And he wouldn't have it. He wouldn't
have it. Now, that's not saying that you
don't, you know, doing a good job where you work, is not trying
to get yourself a reputation, it's just doing a good job. Let
other people give you the reputation. Our Father gave Him a reputation.
He's Lord. He highly exalted Him. And what
a reputation the Father has given to the Son. He's Lord over all. Solomon said, let someone else's
mouth praise you and not you. Don't you do it. Don't you try
to build up your reputation. If you get one, let it be. You
just do a good job and it'll follow. It'll follow, just like
it did our Lord. But he made himself of no reputation. He is God. It says, in the beginning,
God. Who's that speaking of? That's
speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. All that we see. You know, he
didn't, when he came into this world, he didn't gather the people
around and say, now, won't you just, you see that? Tree? I made that. You see the animals? You see all this? You see all
of this? You see this moon and the stars?
I made that. He didn't do it, did he? He didn't
do it alone. He did not brag on himself at
all or try to make himself a reputation, though he is God. One example for us to follow. He stripped himself of his royal
robe. He veiled himself in flesh. Now
this, I'm talking about God now. God who is, you know, I can't
put it into words. We just, we use the scriptural
words. But to try to describe God is
beyond this little brain of mine. And yet he veiled himself in
this flesh. And he walked among us, and he
sat down and he fellowshiped with us. He didn't sit down and
fellowship with a bunch of good people. He didn't sit down and
fellowship with the angels that had not followed. He sat down
and fellowshiped with sinners that hated him. We just naturally
hate God, don't we? So Scripture says, The natural man has his enmity
against God, the natural man. But our Lord stripped himself
of his royal robe, veiled himself in flesh, and walked among us. But not only did he walk among
us, he came as a servant. Look here in verse 6. Who being
in the form of God, that means he's God. Thought it not robbery
to be equal with God?" Well, he's got to be God to be equal
with God. "...but made himself of no reputation, and took upon
him the form of a servant." A servant. Now, get this. He is God. And God, Almighty
God, the Creator of heaven and earth, became a servant. God became a servant. God the
Son became a servant to the Father. He became a servant to do His
will, to do His Father's will. Turn over to John chapter 6. We find out here what this will
is. He came as a servant, and he
came as a servant to do his Father's will. He says here in John, chapter
6, verse 37, "'All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came
down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me.'" There's
election. all which he hath chosen and
given me, I should lose nothing." He will not lose not even a hair
of my head. Not even a hair. He said, not
a hair of your head shall perish. It won't happen. I should lose
nothing but should raise it up again at the last day. And this
is the will of him that sent me. This is what he came to do.
This is the servant speaking. I came to do the Father's will,
and this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son and believes on him may have everlasting life,
and I will raise him up at the last days." Now, you'd think
that would be good news, wouldn't you? And that is good news to
sinners. But verse 41, the Jews then murmured at him. They didn't
like that. They didn't like that a lot.
They didn't even hear what he said. Because he said, look,
the Jews murmured at him because he said, I'm the bread of life.
They couldn't get past what he said earlier. I mean, what he's
saying here is so rich. He's telling them what the will
of the Father is and they can't get past what he said about the
bread. There's a guy I was talking to
the other day. And Jeremy was with me. I was
talking to this man. I was telling Jeremy after it
was all over with, and he left, and I said, he didn't hear a
word I said. I said, did you notice, I said,
he couldn't wait until I shut up to talk. I mean, it was like
he was ready to come up out of his seat because he had something
to say. But he wasn't listening to what I had to say. Our Lord has given this the will
of the Father. This is His will, but they weren't
hearing a word of it. They couldn't get past what He
said about the bread. They murmured. They were in a murmuring mood.
They wasn't listening at all. But He came as a servant to fulfill
the Father's will, and as a servant He fulfilled, listen now, this
is our hope. This is our hope. He fulfilled
what was required of us. The servant. He says in Isaiah
42, Behold my servant. He also goes on to say that he
shall not fail. That means I didn't fail. If I'm in Christ, I can't fail. I cannot fail, not if I'm in
Him. And if I'm in Him, the evidence
of it is faith. You believe God. But as a servant, he fulfilled
what was required of us. That's why he became bone of
our bone and flesh of our flesh. That's why he was made, it says
in the Scriptures and Hebrews, made like unto his brethren. With this exception, he knew
no sin. He knew no sin. He was an obedient servant. Oh,
wouldn't you like to be an obedient servant? I think we've lost that
in this country, what that really is. I think we've become so independent,
we've lost it. You know, I'm glad for Independence
Day we celebrate. I'm glad that this country is
independent or has its independence and we're not relying on other
countries out there, but listen. Don't become independent of God,
and let's not become independent of each other. He was an obedient servant. As I hear, I speak. He didn't add to it. He didn't
take away. Exactly what he heard is exactly
what he said. As I hear, I speak. My meat,
my meat is to do the will of him that sent me. Now, that's
a servant. And there's another example.
There's another one. He was the perfect servant. He
never failed at anything. He never failed. I can assure
you if you and I work together long enough, I'll disappoint
you. Our Lord never disappointed. Never disappointed His Father.
Never. He's the faithful servant. You ever miss work? Have you ever missed work? School? You ever miss school? Our Lord never missed a day.
Not one time did He call in sick. Not once. The faithful servant. Everything he did, he did with
all his heart. He did it perfectly and he did
it faithfully. Faithfully. And listen, he's
God's servant. He's God's servant. Behold, he
said, my servant. And as a servant of God, he became
obedient. unto death." Back here at Philippians. And being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Sin deserves death. Sin is what I am. And God says, you deserve death. The soul that sinneth shall surely
die." The Word of God teaches forgiveness. We have forgiveness, but how
do we have it? How does it say it over in Ephesians?
Through His blood, through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus.
We have forgiveness now, but that forgiveness came at the
expense of His humiliation. It came at the expense of His
shed blood. It's His blood. We have forgiveness not just
because I asked for it. I tell you what, I have forgiveness
because He asked for it. The Father forgives them. They don't know what they're
doing. And the Father can forgive me
or anyone else of the vilest sins through the blood and the
righteousness of his son." That's how we're forgiven. Yes, the Bible teaches forgiveness, but without shedding the blood,
Hebrews 9.22, there's no remission. There is no forgiveness without
shedding the blood, his blood. The only blood sacrifice of Christ,
or only the blood sacrifice of Christ, can bring forgiveness, And it says, He became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. We all have to die,
don't we? We all have to die. And He came
as a substitute for a multitude of sinners. Therefore, He must die. But He's
not going to die of old age like you and I. He's not going to die from some
sickness. He's going to die the death that you and I deserve,
the death of a criminal. He's going to suffer at the hands
of Almighty God. He's going to suffer at the hands
of justice. God's wrath, the hell of God's wrath is going
to be poured out on him. Even, he says, the death of the
cross. That was reserved for the worst
of men. God, who is holy, sent his holy
son into this world to die the death of a criminal. Great, what
a mystery. What a mystery. Until God reveals
it. Until God reveals it. Why must he die such a death? As I said, he's our substitute.
It's the death we ought to die. But he's got to die this death
of the cross because he was made to be sinned.
Guilty. Guilty. He really and truly assumed,
took our guilt. He took it. It's real. It's real. His death speaks volumes
of what I am. It speaks volumes of what I am.
When I look at him hanging on Calvary's tree, when
I look at him in the Word of God, I read about him being crucified. What did that say about me? That
the Son of God had to come from glory, robe himself in flesh,
be tormented under the wrath of God, and die. I'll tell you
what it tells you about me. You're a criminal, son. The law of God, the justice of
God says you are a criminal. And you're going to be executed.
You're going to be executed. But our Lord was executed in
our place. He bore our sins in His body
on the tree. It says He gave Himself as a
ransom for many. He was wounded for our transgressions. Wounded, bruised, tormented for
our The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes
we are healed. The suffering was real. It was real. Now because of who
He is, what He did, aren't you glad it didn't end
there with His humiliation? You know, it would end with us
being humiliated if not for the Son of God, if not for Jesus
Christ. our lives would end in humiliation. But the Scripture teaches us
here, wherefore, because of who He is and what
He did, God also hath highly exalted Him. His humiliation is over with.
His exaltation will never end. It will never end. He's highly, highly, cannot exalt Him any higher.
Highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every
name. No name compared to His name. Whatsoever you ask in My name, it's His name the Father hears. It's His name that opens the
Holy of Holies for us. It's His name that allows us
to the throne of grace. His name. Be careful how you use that name.
God highly exalted it. Let us always highly exalt it. God has given Him a name which
is above every name and that name is Lord, King, Redeemer, And that at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow. And every knee should bow at
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 I have to say this. I want to confess that name and
bow to that name right now. Because I assure you this, I
will bow to it and confess it one way or the other. Now, you
either do it in hell, or you'll do it now, and you'll get to
reign with Him in glory. It's one way or the other. But
every knee, you know what he says here? Every tongue and every
knee. That's right. That's all those
over in the Middle East that can't stand Him. All those who despise
Him, and all those in this country that despise Him. Everyone, everything,
this is, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow
of things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth.
Satan himself is going to bow. All the fallen angels will bow
and confess him to be Lord. To the glory, honor of God the
Father. Now let me close with this. Here's
comfort for believers. If Christ is exalted, then all
in Him are exalted. Is He seated at the right hand
of God? I'm seated at the right hand of God if I'm in Him, if
I believe on Him. Is He victorious? So are we. The battle's over. We're not
going to lose. We're not going to lose. The
trials I go through is not a sign of loss, that I'm losing. I'm not losing anything. The victory's been won. Every believer can come up to
death and say, oh, Greg, where's your sting? Oh, Greg, where's
your victory? Death, where's your sting? Where
is it? It's gone. Now these things are real, they're
not. And to those who believe it's
real, it's real. And he is seated at God's right
hand as our high priest. He's the king priest. He's Lord
and he's also the priest who makes the intercessions for us.
And if he's sitting there as my Lord and my king and my priest, then when I call upon My Heavenly
Father, He hears me. He hears me. I have a priest
there. I have an advocate there. My soul, God is providing everything
for us there in Christ. We ought to be the happiest people
on earth, really. We can't lose. The battle's over. It's been
won. It's been won. It would never be hard to go
to work in business if I knew I could never lose. You know,
we get worried over this and worried over that because we
just feel like we're not going to make it. We've already made
it. We've already made it. Really. Is that so or not? I tell you, that'll take you
all the way to the grave. That'll give you something. I'll give
you something to be careful about when it comes time to lay this
body down. Say goodbye to this world. The Father has highly exalted
Him. He went from humiliation to exaltation. And we are exalted in Him.