Dear people, will you please open your Bibles to Philippians 2, beginning the reading in verse 1. I want to read the first 8 verses in your hearing, and then focus upon verse 8. I should say the first 11 verses, but focus on verse 8 for the message. Philippians 2, beginning the reading in verse 1. Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, If there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which also was in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. but emptied himself taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow. And those who are in heaven and on earth and under heaven. And that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. I think you would agree with me if I said to you, we are told in the Bible to live like Jesus Christ. To make sure that we, examples of Christ, And also you may know that it is in Antioch when we look at the book of the Acts that the believers were first called Christians, which means the little Christ. Living like Christ Jesus means to a converted life that displays the character and quality of living that proves attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ. John the Apostle puts it this way in his first epistle in verse six of chapter two. The one who abides in, or that is, who lives like him, ought himself to walk in the same manner as he walked. Jesus tells us to remember him as we take the Lord's Supper. And I think you would agree also, the best way that it is done is by living like him. To remember Jesus Christ in a few moments of the day, or if we say as we come to the Lord's table, just in a few moments on the first Sunday of every month, is not really remembering Christ Jesus. To remember Him, our Lord wanted us to make sure that we took Him with us wherever we may have gone. But some say, you can't expect me to be like Jesus. He's God. I say to them, Jesus became man to show us how we can live a life pleasing to God. What better way is it to remember Jesus than to walk as He walked? But to help us to do this, we must have a good understanding of what He did for us. It's always when we understand what someone has done that we have the greatest admiration for that person And likewise, when we understand what Jesus Christ has done, we'll have the greatest admiration for Him. And I believe Jesus understood this by giving us this very ordinance, that we will be brought back at least, whatever it may be in a particular church, you'll do this ordinance every Lord's Day, or once a month, or some quarterly, and some once a year. But we will be brought to the place where we can look at Jesus Christ, think of Him, and then set our hearts and minds upon Him. And I would ask you that what you hear today, it would be something as an exhortation that would take you through the entire month of living like Jesus Christ. Now what I want to do is to guide your thoughts through the passage read in your hearing. And let me give you a few words of the passage before we start out. You know this is the Apostle Paul. And what he is saying to the church by way of writing to them is that he expects them to live a certain way. He's saying to them that there should be this oneness in the body of Christ. And that oneness should be shown to the fact that there is this lack of selfishness. There are no longer those who are thinking upon themselves. There is no empty conceit in the people of God that is going around. He was telling the church there at Philippi that what they need to do is set the other person more highly than themselves. That they ought to think about them. think about their brethren, and put themselves, as it were, on the bottom of the totem pole. Everybody else above them, and think this way. And he is saying, this is the way you ought to think. And he says, the reason why, because this is the very attitude in Jesus Christ. He says in verse 5, have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Don't regard yourself as better than someone else, regard yourself lowly than everyone else. And then what Paul tells us then, because it was Jesus Christ himself who shows us this great example. Verse 6, who although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. Though he was eternal God himself, God the Son, there with the Father, when the whole act of redemption, the purpose of saving, came into the mind of God, which was an eternity past, you, the Son, should go into the world, take upon yourself a human body. Jesus didn't say, but I am God. God with you, Father. All the attributes and all the characteristics of God. If I take on a human body, I'm going to have to actually lay that aside. Lay aside all the privileges of Godhead when I do that. And Paul says, he didn't count these or regard this equality with God to a thing to be grasped. In other words, he didn't say, I want to hold on to this. If I go, I'm going to put some of that aside. But no, I want to hold on to the fact that I am God. They must see me as God. And he says, but he emptied himself, laid aside his privileges, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of man. He was the lowest position you can come to. Not only did he become man, he became a servant as he became man. And then it says in verse 8, being found in the appearance as man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Now I would say you probably read that passage or that verse plenty of times. And I hope when you read some of this, that you go back into it and think a little deeper on it. You'll see something that you've never seen before. And I want to use this verse 8 to make us come closer to Christ as we come to the Lord's table. Notice with me a few things in this verse. First of all, as we see here, Jesus Christ being found in the appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Notice, first of all, his notable appearance. Now, when I use the word notable, I know we can have that to be in a place of honor, but I use that as a way that you cannot mistaken who he is. His notable appearance, it is clear to all. It says, being found in the appearance as a man. Appearance here means the external form, meaning his whole outward appearance was no different than any other man. The external form or appearance does not describe the inter-existence of Jesus Christ, and this is what is not the point here. Remember what Paul says early on, but emptied himself, or laid aside his privileges, laid aside who he is, and taken on the form of a servant. And so therefore, who Christ is, if a person looked upon him as he walked the face of the earth, all they would see is another man. He took upon Himself a human nature, though from all eternity He had a divine nature, and will continue to be divine for all eternity to come. Paul says it this way in Galatians chapter 4, But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. He truly came as a man and he was born from a woman. This explains the incarnation of Christ. He was fully God and fully man. He was recognized as a man. His human nature was real and all who saw him had no doubt concerning his humanity. They knew this was a man. They could speak of him as he walked through the scriptures as we see him there in the day that he walked. All the things that they saw, it was a man. Even the disciples could say, what manner of man is this? He was recognized. It was recognized that he had all the qualities and characteristics of a human being. He was born through the natural process of birth, though without an earthly father. He came into the world as we come into the world, but he had no earthly father. Matthew writes for us in chapter 1 in verse 18. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. But to found her to be his child is like a woman today is of child. You see her. She has the evidence that she has been now that God has given birth to a baby is about to come. She's pregnant. She goes through the process and then there's a process of birth. Here with Matthew saying the same thing took place with Jesus Christ. Luke chapter 2 and verse 7. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and she wrapped him and clothes and laid him in a manger. Everything that is done to a baby was done to him. He was taken from birth and all that you had to do is clean up him and everything and you wrap them as a baby. The same thing was done to him. I don't think when you look at that in loose gospel that you look there's something special in the wrapping. No, what was done for a baby in those times were done for Christ. And this is what he did. And this is the way he came into the world. But not only that, he went through the normal development processes that any other human being would go through. He grew up, Luke chapter 2 and 52, and Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature. and in favor with God and man. He grew. He grew mentally. He understood. Things were given to him as humanity to move on one point. You know, we can go back and say, to be able to actually negotiate the spoon and to take it from the plate and bring it to his mouth. He grew. He increased in wisdom. and to understand all the things that was going on. What Joseph and Mary may have taught him as a child. His alphabet, words and whatever. He had to learn it all. And stature. He didn't stay a baby. One of the things that I said long ago as I came up. The problem with one of the so-called Christian church, a portion of the church, is that they remain, Christ remain a baby to them in a manger. No, he grew up. He become from a baby to a toddler running on the floor. A baby playing with those toys that Joseph would find was appropriate at his age. And as he comes up a little older, Joseph is teaching him certain things that he had to understand. Characteristics to be formed in him as a young man. And then, as a young man now, at the age he's about to go around, he teaches those also. But even in that growth, we find that he was a part of a family. He learned a trade. He wasn't just plopped down on the earth. He is God among you, even though the scripture says that, and he's some kind of a phantom. Mark 6 says, is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary? and brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon are not his sisters here with us. And I said that because here he is speaking and coming out and saying who he is and what he's saying and words of authority and how you must work and looked at him. But who is this guy? Don't we know him? And at one time he was saying, where did he get such knowledge and such wisdom? Pharisees asked him one time, ask him one time, did you send him to the school of the very teachers of the law? He possessed physical needs to people just like you and I. He hungered, he thirst, there was weariness in his body and he had to get rest, Matthew 4 and 2. And after he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he then became hungry. In the midst of that wonder, the Holy Spirit takes Jesus and He drives Him into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. While He was there, everything as man wasn't suspended. What happens, He's hungry. In John 4, verses 6 and 7, when He met the Samaritan woman at the well, He was weary and thirsty. He asked her to give Him a drink and He's resting. Mark 4, 38, when he calmed the sea, he was asleep because he was tired. And he was so asleep and so tired that the very rocking of the boat didn't even wake him up. And they had to go down and wake him. He was part of a family. He possessed the physical needs as you and I. He possessed real emotions, too, people. He partook in the joy of a wedding. In John chapter 2, he was there in that wedding. Everything that that wedding was an enjoyable part of two being united together, Jesus partook of it. He wept. And it says Jesus wept in John chapter 10. He experienced grief and anger. We read this morning in Matthew 12 and in Matthew chapter 26, we say, He, when the man with the withered hand, what did he do? It says at that point, he looked on and it grieved him. And he was angry that what they would do is to try to say, you shouldn't do this to such a one. It says it this way, after looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, he said to them, to the man that is, stretch out your hand. That's in Mark's Gospel. All these were in Him, truly man, having all that we have, growing up, becoming a man from a child, born into the world as we were brought into the world, having needs as we have, even real emotions in Him. An epitome of that emotion is when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto the point of death. This is man as we are. With the abundance of the biblical evidence, no one can make a convincing case that he was not truly true humanity. Oh, I know it is that someone placed Jesus into another category, as it were. Put him above man, but somewhere between man and God. You know, like some new superhero. He really didn't have the essence of man, and he kind of like put away the essence of God. But no, the Scriptures tell us that he was God indeed, but also he was man indeed. And here's what the Apostle Paul says, being found in the appearance as a man. Notice what he's saying, that every single person that looked upon him, they knew he was a man. What Paul is saying here, if you go back to verse 5, have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. What is the attitude? What I am, what I have, what I've done, what I think should be brought to me, guess what? I can lay all that aside, because that's what He did. It says, but He laid aside His privileges, taking the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of man, But in verse 8, being found in the appearance, he's saying here, now everybody who saw him, they saw a man. That's the first thing you need to hear. His notable appearance, who he was. He was a man. Secondly, notice his notable obedience. It says, he humbled himself. by becoming obedient, even to the point of death. I'd like you to think about that for a moment. And what I want you to think about is put that in the very aspects of humanity. And what humanity did, yes Jesus Christ was the God-man, but look at his humanity, and this is what the very point that Paul focuses upon. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Though we can see his obedience in other texts, here in Philippians 2 we have his obedience in the work of redemption. He humbled himself. He took the lowly position. He came to the point where he says that all I will do is that I don't think of anything for myself. Can you humble yourself into the place where you say, now, whatever God wants to do with me, here's what Christ is saying, this is what I'll do. He humbled Himself, and He says, what needs to be done? He humbles Himself to obedience, becoming obedient. That means all that God had planned, and all that had come to Him from eternity past, You remember if you read in another place, in the book of Hebrews, a body you have chosen for me. I have come to do thy will, O God. In another place, Jesus says, I have come to do the will of the Father. This is his will. That all that he has given to me, I should lose nothing. I have come to lay my life down for the sheep. I have the power to lay it down. You see, death wasn't something that Jesus looked at and he said, you know something, I don't even know what this is. I don't understand what he's going to be. He did and he knew in his humanity that meant that he would come to a point where he would actually have to obey the Father. And this is what he did. He humbled himself and we can see that again even in the very words of what he did. The beginning of that humility was he laid aside his privileges as eternal God the Son. Now what he has to do as eternal God the Son. Wasn't it enough? for him to be in the form of a slave? He didn't come as a man into humanity, and he came as a Pharisee, a high priest, a slave. The worst class in manhood, the slave, the lowest class, the one where they beat you and tell you what to do. And they tell you that you don't even belong to yourself. You're owned by another. You come to that point where, no, This is what you are. And he says, in that, what did he do? He humbled himself by becoming obedient. He became obedient. All that the Father said, all that had needed to be done, as far as him now taking on a body as you and I, and to come, and as we know, to go to the cross, he says, I'm going to be obedient to all of it. And I don't believe that the God part of Christ didn't know what that meant, what it all entailed. He's on a cross and he could say, my God, my God, why have thou forsaken me? And I think the God-man knew that. Though in humanity he may not have seen it all, but in infinite divinity he knew that was going to come. But he humbled himself. So the man, the manly part, the humanity of Christ said, here I am. I'm going to lay myself down for you. Whatever the Father says to do, I'm going to be obedient and do it. But what did he humble himself to? became obedient to the point of death. That's not very pleasing to any of us, is it? We look at our lives even right now today, and we think of us, those of us who have gotten older, we're getting close to that doorway of death. And we kind of wonder what is going to be, what is God going to choose? Is it this thing that's bothering me right now that God's going to use that as a doorway? Is there something else going to come? You know, will I be ready for death when it comes? Well, the humanity of Christ probably thought the same way. And I believe we can say that because he would say, even in the garden, he said, Father, if it be thy will, let this come past. If there is another way you can do this, O God, but not my will, your will be done." And there his obedience and humbling self even to the point of death. In the garden he says, God, if there's an easier way, but if there is not, your will be done. You see, because death and that death that he had to face was not a A death where you and I would probably have, if God is kind to us, where we may find ourselves getting weaker and weaker. We lay down in a bed and maybe someone says, you know, he's gone, she's gone. This is a horrible death. It was a death which had the characteristic, first of all, it was painful. It was crucifixion. And what it entailed was nothing that anybody would ever want to go to. And this is seen in the very accounts of the crucifixion. He was brutally beaten by those. He got to the cross. He was there and beaten some more in the very area. They looked upon him and they did all kind of wickedness to him. They took him from one court to another and they mocked him. Beat him with a rod, put the crown on his head, teasing him. Put that down. and blood flowing down. It was painful. And they say death on a cross was the most horrible death that you could have had during that time. It was a death that was slow. Now we don't know. We have pictures of what the cross could have looked like, but there are different things that says what the cross probably did look like in most the studdings in it. It wasn't like the two pieces that we see today. It could have been just a pole itself. It could have been an X. We don't know. But this much we do know. It was the most excruciating death that existed at that time. Just imagine putting your hands and nailing spikes through putting your feet together and nailing spikes to that. And they're being lifted up. And they said the whole idea is being lifted up. There's a pain that comes through all the middle side of the body. Your weight's going down. You're squeezing out. You're feeling pain. And you're losing breath and everything as it goes down. And you're trying to get back up again. But the pain of trying to get back up is causing you to hurt more. And you have to release that. And when you release that, it hurts some more. And you're trying to get back up again. Where, when, will this anguish end? And he went through that for hours. That's the death he had to face. It was a painful death. But not only was it painful, it was a shameful death. They mocked him. For the interest of time, I won't turn you to the text. But if you do, read Matthew 26, verses 65-67. They came, they looked at him. Look at him. Save yourself, come down from the cross. And then the soldiers at another time, they looked at him, they said, ha ha, he is a king, you know. They took his clothes off, put this, some kind of purple robe on him, this thorn of crowns, and they beat him with a stick, kept beating him on the head. Hey, prophesy, who hit you? Shameful. And it was shameful also because it was the death of a criminal. It was a death. The Greeks said during that time, the philosophers said, it was the death of a slave. Well, he came. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 and 26, but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews, the stumbling block, and to the Gentiles, foolishness. Watch that trusting a man that died a criminal death. Who are you to tell me this person who went to the cross, crucified as a criminal, so that's a stumbling block to the Jews. I can't believe anyone that was killed as a criminal, died as a criminal, can be Messiah. And the Gentiles will say, this is foolishness to think that I should trust in someone who died as a criminal. But that's just what it was for them. But it was shameful. And I look at him and no one looked at that and thought that there was anything good about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But even I go on and it says here, not only was that a notable obedience, he obeyed and went to that. But there is this notable death. Remember, he says, obedient to the point of death. Now, he says, even the death of the cross. Though I moved a bit into this part, more precisely, the death of the cross, he says, that's what it was. Now, I say to you, there are two significant aspects to his death on the cross. First of all, it was a type of death ministered to criminals and criminals alone. unless there was some crudeness in the hearts of those who had administered it. They could have given it to anyone. But this was understood to be a death by criminals. Now what then can you trust in if our day he tells you he's somebody that should be trusted in, but you now looking at him sitting in an electric chair. Or, if he's now there and he's getting ready to have the lethal injection. Or if you move back a little bit in time, you find that he's wandering out in another time of space and time, getting ready to have his head chopped off. How can I trust somebody like that? Why should I put any trust? This man, this is it. It's over. But the type itself is put for those of criminals. Brethren, all through history we have seen this. A man who is a criminal man and he's worth nothing but on any trouble in the society, he's taken out in the market square and before all he's put to death. And then the means or the ways of that death even brings more shame to the person. And it actually tells you that he is worth nothing at all. In the eyes of the people, he deserved to die for blasphemy and for trumped-up charges they gave in saying that he was against Caesar, the Roman government. They believed that he should die. He was crucified with criminals, indicating that he, too, was a criminal. That's the type of death ministered. It was a type that was ministered to criminals. But in God's economy, there was another aspect to this death. And it was a death described as a curse. Galatians 3 and 13 says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, curse is everyone who hangs on a tree. And this comes, as Paul is given, this comes from the book of Deuteronomy. And it says what has to take place with those, if they do anything, you put them to death. But you don't leave them on the tree that long. You take them down, because this is a cursed thing, and you remove it. But what it says here, even death on the cross, Jesus humbled himself to bear the curse of God. He knew what was going to happen. He knew what the Father was going to do. But He did it for His people. He did it for redemption. He did it to save sinners. The Bible teaches that all who break the law of God is under the curse of the law. Meaning that the punishment of the law, which is God's wrath, will come upon all who are not trusting in Jesus Christ. You see, the world will not get away from God. But to put it another way, a life of sin and wickedness is a life without God and Christ and under the wrath of God. You see, people live today and they think that, you know, they can get away with things. And even if you listen to the gospel, you say, you hear, God is going to send to hell. He's going to bring his wrath out upon all those who know not Christ. Well, at that time, I don't have to worry about that right now. I'm only about 14 years old. I can live. You know, I'm 23. Oh, I'm 73. I may live to be 80. And by that time, maybe I'll get saved. I'll change my mind. But the wrath is already upon us. And no one knows when that wrath is going to break. But you see, Jesus knew this. And he understood that. And he said this is the very reason why he came. He understood also that he was going to become a curse when he was there dying for his people. While he was on the cross, Satan through sinful men poured out scorn upon him. You see we said that in another place we read that Satan thought he had him then. He thought that everything that needed to be done to shut up this one who's come, and he knew the Son of God, got him on the cross, now he's going to die now. It's all over. So he actually poured scorn upon him by giving those that would come and actually mock him and everything. He thought he had it when he actually got into the heart of Judas and told him, salute Jesus that is, over to the high priest. Here, we'll pay you for that. Oh, we got him now. He's on the cross. He's there now. He's dying on that cross. Satan said, it's all over. I have the victory here. I've won it. And that was enough for him. He caused sinful men to pour out scorn upon him while he was there. But while it was taking place on that cross, the death of the cross, he said even God brought darkness from heaven. Have you ever thought about what that darkness represented? It displayed the wrath of God. A lot of us look at that and say, wow, some kind of powerless stuff was happening. It displayed the darkness of heaven, which is the wrath of God upon mankind. And even at that point, the wrath of God upon His only Son. Lord to bruise him. And this is what God was doing. He closed the heavens and He showed it. And all that God was saying, with the crackling of the thunder and everything, He was speaking. He was speaking now as His Son was on the cross. If you go back into Exodus, you see the people of God, when Moses went up on the mountain, they said to the people there, they said, no, we can't get close to the mountain because of the lightning and the thunder and the darkness. And God poured it out once again. and saying, here is the wrath of God being poured out. But the wonder of it all, all that wrath poured out upon His Son was because that He was accursed for sin at that particular time. He was in the place of those who need to die. You and I who should be upon the cross and receive God's wrath right now. Satan outside. pouring scorn upon Christ, God in heaven pouring out his wrath, Jesus inwardly, boring, bitter anguish of abandonment. Where is he in the midst of it all? It's almost like the humanity of Christ wondered, what's going to happen now? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? In the midst of all this that's going on, I feel like I'm lost. It's all over. But He had to feel that for His people. Because you see, it was a substitutionary death. It wasn't a death that Jesus had to die for Himself. Jesus did nothing wrong. He committed no sin. But Jesus was dying a criminal's death for all who would believe upon Him. Because you know who was going to believe upon Christ? We criminals! Criminals in the mind and heart of God. Criminals because we had never come to the place of saying, Lord, here is what we can do. Criminals because we were unable to do anything to please the Lord God. We could not do it. Christ had to do it. And so it says, even to this death, he was obedient to the death of the cross. He was obedient to become a criminal to die in our place. But I want you to know this is not the end of it. Though verse 8, if you take it, and what I said to you even this morning, you could go over it more and more again and you could find there's even more you can pull out of this as you meditate upon Christ dying for you. But this is not the end. Verse 9 tells us that His death on the cross was not the end of the matter. Instead, it makes it clear that He is a triumphant Savior that will receive all glory and honor. You know, Satan was quite happy until the stone was rolled away and Jesus came out. Then he knew he didn't have victory over him, Christ had victory over the devil. And this is what is said in verse 9, for this reason, what he went through, dying on the cross, humbling himself, being obedient even to the point of death, for this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. Who is he now? Lord of lords and king of kings. He is the everlasting father as what was put into the words of Isaiah. He has a very plate that he's going to have which is above. And of his government there will be no end. But he says what's going to happen upon the face of the earth for this at the end of time all will be brought before Christ. Verse 10 so that all the name at the name excuse me of Jesus every knee will bow. of those who are in heaven, and on the earth living, and under the earth the dead will come out. And what are they going to do? And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is what's going to happen. So we've shown to you, you have in the Scriptures, Paul shows you, there is this death, this horrible death. But it's not the end of it. It's more. That Christ who you hear, the reason why we take the very elements of Christ's death is because He's alive. He lives and we worship Him. I ask you right now, are you a criminal? Are you a criminal? Look to each one of you in here. Are you a criminal? Jesus was dying for criminals. Death for all who would believe upon Him. Are you a criminal? I don't ask you that according to your own standard. Because all of us, we are not making ourselves really as bad as we are. But according to God's standard, are you a criminal? Don't think like the criminals of the world think. They break the law, and they think that they will not be caught. Oh, they're going to get all these. I can plea bargain this thing out. I can talk to God, you know, and they're going to work this thing out. You broke God's law. Therefore, you are guilty before Him right now. Yes, you are a criminal right now. His punishment is already stacked against you. God is not going to come someday in the future and say, let me read your report card of morality and see what you did. He knows it already. You are already a criminal before God. You will not get off easy. God is not going to say, OK, you've got this, this, this on the left-hand side, but you've got a few on the right-hand. Guess what? I'm going to X those out. No. No getting off easy for you. If you meet him in judgment without someone to plead for your case, you're going to be in a bad, bad situation. You need someone who will stand for you. Job said it this way, I need a daisman. I need someone to stand before God and me that he can put his hand on God and put his hand on me. Otherwise, I will not make it. And this is what you need also. You need one who will stand between you and God. And this is what Christ is. He is the one. Oh, dear friend, dear child in this place, there is only one suitable way to take away your sins. It's not you doing anything. It's not you trying to prove something. It's not you trying to work your way in. It is Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone, the eternal Son of God, who knows all you have done, though all you have said. He is the one who looks at you right now. And believe it, dear person, He knows everything. What did you come here with this morning? He knows. What did you do yesterday? What did you do this past week? He knows it! What are you thinking right now? He knows it! And maybe, some of you might be saying, I will not have this man to rule over me. He knows it. But even knowing all of that, He gives these wonderful words to you. Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. He promises rest for the soul that trusts in Him for salvation. Run to Christ. Confess your sins. Repent and trust Him to save you. Yes, dear people, the death of Christ Jesus was a humiliating, horrible death. And we are expected to enter into it with understanding when we come to the table. And so therefore, when we look at this, oh yes, there's bread and there's a cup. Nothing so excruciating about that. It doesn't even do anything when we take it in as far as making a discomfort to the body. But it represents a discomfort. It represents a discomfort in each and every one of us. Our sins and what they've done to God, it represents a discomfort to Christ and what he did in order to destroy the very weight and power of sin for each and every one of us. Let me end with a few lessons from this passage. Paul is saying here, look at Christ. And I say to you, child of God, if Christ humbled himself to such a deep, anguishing death, we should be willing to humble ourselves to the little ways that submission to him comes to our lives. You know, we say, well, I don't know if I can do that. That's hard. The smallest little thing. Make a choice for Christ. You know, in this, yeah, that may be fun, and that may be neutral. But what about getting to your word and reading about Christ? No, I'll get to the word later. Where's the submission to Christ in that? And you can mount up for yourself, look at your own life to see how many times the submission to Christ is not there because you want the other thing. It fills out your life, so to speak. It makes you feel comfortable. It gives you the pleasure that you want. Christ didn't come into this world for pleasure for you. He come to humiliate Himself and displeasure, excruciating pain as the God-man, and to suffer and to be mocked. Some of us won't even suffer one inch for Christ. How are you remembering Him if you don't do that? Secondly, if He was obedient to death, we should become more and more obedient to the commandments of Christ. Don't push Him aside. Bow to Him. We should become more and more obedient to the commandments of Christ to show our love and thanksgiving to Him and what He has done for us. How sad it is to look at Christ on the cross and say, this is what He's done. Oh Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you've done. Turn our face and go into sin. What is that? talking to some people as a pastor and giving counsel and some of the things that's going on and seeing the hurt and pain that are in people because what one person has done by telling all these things of what I do for you, what I'm going to do for you, what you are to me, and they turn around and do the opposite thing. And you see this person just filled with tears, broken up, because, oh, you said it. And especially in most cases, what that person has done for the other one. no reciprocation, not even gratitude. And I say to you, if we can sin with a high hand when Christ has done such a great thing to us, where is the gratitude for dying in my place? Furthermore, we should strive to be more like Jesus in our lives, displaying the humility and concern for others as Christ did. He says in this very chapter, verse five, have this attitude in yourselves, which also in Christ Jesus. You see, Christ didn't save us and put us over there on a little place, a little piece of ground, all by ourselves. Now you live as a good Christian here, you have no contact whatsoever with any other Christians. Paul is speaking to a church. He says in that church, the very idea of who you are in Christ is because of how you treat one another. and how you can humble yourself. If he says, have this attitude, it says in the Proverbs, the old English version, have this mind in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. Do this, this way. Now you are like Christ. If you're going to take the bread and the cup, when you come away, you should say, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to become more and more like my Savior. and I'm going to have live a sacrificial life as I see here in 1 Philippians chapter 2. Paul puts it this way after he says all that, guess what he gets down to? He gets down to the real nitty-gritty. Not you and I sitting in a room someplace and begin to take on all these highfalutin thoughts of living with Christ and the time we have with Christ and all these wonderful things about Christ. But guess what he says? Verse 14, do all things without grumbling and disputing. so that you will prove yourself to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you appear as lights in the world." Why are they going to see? How you treat one another. How we walk. See, Christ has nowhere in the scripture that there's a salvation and you open it by yourself and you're saved. He says, you're going to prove your salvation in the body of Christ. And finally, those of you who are not saved, His death is sufficient to save you. If you're thinking this morning or this afternoon now, what can I do? Well, I want you to know His death is sufficient to save you. Plead to Him for mercy and ask Him to forgive you of your sins. Look at your sins. They're real. Go to God. Well, you may say, I don't want to be saved right now. You know what you do? You push that aside and say, but I need to be saved. And you cry out to God. Dear people, it's not going to begin until you open your heart and mind and say, Lord, I see this is real. I'm a criminal. Christ died on the cross for criminals. I'm a criminal. If I die for myself, I ain't going to manage that. I need to trust in Him. Don't wait until you feel like doing it. Do it because you know you must do it. And I know there's some of you in here right now, you know that's the case. You're not waiting for a feeling. Guess what? The feeling is going to come when you take the truth and be obedient to the truth. Sinners are going to hell. Deal with that truth. You are a criminal before God right now, and you may be cast out of His presence for all eternity. Let's pray.