We return to the passage we studied last Sunday morning and add three more verses to it. Preaching through the book of Philippians on Sunday morning, and we consider chapter 2, verses 5-8 last Sunday, and this morning, chapter 2, verses 5-11, and it is glorious. It is sublime and yet simple as well. Simple in the sense that it's brief, it is succinct, and the brevity of the text is infinitely exceeded by the profundity of the text. If you'd make your way to Philippians 2, verses 5 through 11, we see a succinct yet comprehensive summary of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In seven verses, You can tell your family and friends, this is Jesus Christ, the Lord. Really, you need not go anywhere else, because this covers really the totality of who he is and what he came to do, and in fact, did accomplish. Philippians chapter 2, beginning in verse 5. 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 that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. You'll remember from last week that the primary verb in this passage is actually found in verse 5. It's an imperative, and it commands believers in the Philippian church, but it's plural. So by extension, it's commanding believers really everywhere. to think like Jesus. I'm commanding you by the Spirit of God, let this mind, make sure that you have the mind of Christ. And we're to have that mindset as a determination, as an intentionality in our lives. And in doing that, it will play out with a spirit of selflessness, as Jesus had, in a spirit of service, and He came to serve, and in a spirit of That was the ecclesiastical message that is having to do with the church. There's also, obviously, a significant Christological truth that today I want to bring that out, not to the neglect of the other because the context deals with the local church and unity in the local church. I shared that last week, and today I want to do more of a handling of the Christological, that is the doctrine of Christ. And the first thing we see in verses 5 through 7 is the glory of His incarnation. Verse 6 tells us, who being in the form of God. This word form, morphe, in the Greek New Testament, speaks of the exact representation, the that who He is speaks of His continual existence and of His nature, namely that Jesus is God eternal. And we see that throughout the Bible. We see that in John chapter 1. I taught that in my Sunday school class this morning. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and say the last phrase with me, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made which was made. And we see that in Colossians chapter 1. We see that in Hebrews chapter 1. And Jesus said in the Gospel of John, the series of I am. I am the door. I am the way, the truth, and life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the bread of life. I am the Good Shepherd. equating himself with the I am that I am of Exodus chapter 3, when God spoke to Moses in the burning bush. And so, very clearly, the Word of God teaches us that Jesus is the eternal God. I like what F.F. Bruce, the theologian, wrote. He says, possession of the form, being in the form of God, implies participation of the essence. Now, there are two words in the Greek New Testament that are translated form. Morphe, which is here, as well as in verse 7, who being in the form of God, and then in verse 7, made himself no reputation, but took upon him the form of a certain. That is talking about the exact representation, the exact likeness. That is a, if you will, a carbon copy, although that doesn't deal with the theological truth of it. In other words, Jesus is saying, in the form of God, he is saying, this is God. In the form of man, this is saying, he is man. He is the God-man. Do you appreciate that? Do you see that? But there's also another word, translated form, and it's found in verse 8. Notice, and being found in fashion as a man, in some translations, anybody in verse 8? Have your translations say, being found in form as a man? The word there, schema, or schema, from which we get the word schematic, is a word often translated form, but it has to do with that which is changeable. And so he was in the form, morphe of man, in that he was absolutely a man, but he was found in fashion as a servant. That is, he was in the form of a servant, and here he was in the form, in fashion, as a man. Now how can that be both? Well, the reason it can be both is because when I was conceived, I had the XY chromosome. Is that right? Where's Dr. Saylor? I think that's right. I had the XY chromosome, right? You got to keep track of it. Especially in this day, you got to keep track of that. I had the XY chromosome in my genetic makeup because that is male. That has never changed. And incidentally, it never will change. Now that's the fact of the matter. It doesn't change. I can will it to change. I can want it to change. I can surgically invade the space and maybe do something. It won't change. That's the word morphe, the form. However, I'm different than how I was at conception. I look different. There's a different schematic going on here. If you were to trace me as a three-month-old, and then you were to look at that schematic then, and then look at me now, you'd say, well, he was bald then, so it's the same. No, no. follow what I'm saying there's a change in the scheme of things that's what's going on here so he existed eternally as God because he is God he came as man in the form of a servant and then grew He was nine months in gestation, just like we were nine months in gestation. And he was actually born, and he actually grew and changed the scheme of his appearance, changed throughout time. You all following this? Now, that might be deep, but that really is what the text is wanting us to see. Just what the quote here says, that his possession of the form implies participation of the essence. And he thought it not robbery. Notice also in verse 6, though as God, he didn't think it was robbery to be equal with God. He didn't try to grasp it. He didn't try to hold on to all of the prerogatives, and I shared that last Sunday. John Wolvard, former president of Dallas Seminary, wrote this, he said, he did not hold the outer manifestation of his deity as a treasure that had to be grasped, that had to be retained. Christ was willing to lay aside the fanfare of his deity. He didn't lay aside his deity. God can't not be God, amen? By definition, God must be God. But He can lay aside the fanfare. He can lay aside the majesty of His glory for a season if He chose to. And in fact, that's exactly what He did. He is God. but he laid aside the glory and superimposed humanity, if you will, upon that. Now, why did he do that? Folks, to identify with fallen man. We need to be shouting thanksgiving and praise to him because he did it to be able to identify with you that is a creature, not a creature, but identifying with the creatures so that he could be tempted and be the only acceptable substitute. Because the book of Hebrews says it's not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could radically and utterly remove sin. No, the best they could do is just cover sin until the Lamb of God who takes away sin would come and identify with fallen man. What grace He brought in doing that for us. What's the lesson? Well, F.F. Bruce wrote, the lesson for the Philippian Christians is plain. As Christ set aside his own interests for the sake of others, so should they. And that is what the fulfillment of verse 5 is. Let this mind be in you. This mind of selflessness, of service, of sacrifice, just like Jesus had it in his humanity, it's to be in his followers as well. And so I ask you, I plead with you, are you in the trap of how am I going to be benefited? What am I going to get out of the worship service? What am I going to get out of that church? What does it mean for me to serve the Lord? No, no, no folks, that's altogether the wrong focus, altogether the wrong motivation and intent. The purpose that we have is to have the mind of Christ, which is selflessness, not more self. It's selfless. It is sacrifice. It is service to the degree that he took upon himself the form of a servant. My, the eternal God did that for us. The glory of his incarnation. He did not stop being God, he set aside the glory of deity for a moment when he became man. Secondly, we see in verse 8 the agony of his humiliation. Notice in verse 8, and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself and became obedient." Now, in the Greek New Testament, if you're to look, the word death, thanatos, is used literally side-by-side, back-to-back, with no other word in. He became obedient unto death and Death even of the cross and so it's emphasizing that the repetition is just emphasizing Emphasizing he died. He died. He died. He died. That's why he came. That's why he to be humiliated now think about this God becoming man is humiliating God become that is part of mankind God becoming mankind and Wearing a diaper which needed to be changed or five times a day is humiliating. I mean we're talking about the eternal God, the self-existent everlasting God is now subject to to the care of frail humans and parents. And all of the other things that he experienced, how was he picked on as a kid? What an oddity he must have been compared to the other 12-year-old and 14-year-old boys on the school playground, as it were. And they had to have picked up on it. They had to have noticed. And the skill that he had at Joseph's right hand as a carpenter. And how it must have been nothing but perfection. He couldn't make a mistake. He never, never made an error in measuring out this length of board which needed to be cut. It was a perfect cut every time. Y'all appreciate that he was subject to all, in some cases, subject to evil people who said evil things to him and told him dirty jokes. And he had to eat rotten food at times. And he was subject to all of the temptations. Being tired, being thirsty, being weary, having a broken heart. weeping for those who also were hurting. He was humiliated. God became willing to be humiliated and to lay down his life. Notice in John 10 18, Jesus said, no man takes my life from me. I lay it down. You say, well he was a victim. No, he wasn't a victim. I lay it down to myself. I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it up again. As I shared last Sunday, Jesus didn't just simply die. He died an agonizing, humiliating death of cruel mockery and whipping and beating and his beard ripped out and he was spat upon and naked hanging on a cross. Cursed is everyone who hangs. on a tree. My, what humiliation for the God-man. He was made a curse for us, Galatians 3 13 tells us. So folks, that's really the audacity of disobeying verse 5. Let this mind being you, a mind of selflessness, of servanthood, and of sacrifice, how dare believer any genuine child of God squabble over petty issues and I demand my rights and I'm right on this and you're wrong and and I can't get past it and all when we look upon him whom we have crucified I was to blame why he was on the cross anybody identify with that it was for my sin not his own How dare I ever think myself so important when I'm commanded to let His mind be in me? Amen? Couldn't we do with a whole lot more of thinking less of self? A whole lot more of thinking less of self. Worried about getting my way and getting what I want and all the rest, my. Shame on me and you, if that applies to you. Thirdly, not only his incarnation, not only his humiliation, but the majesty of his resurrection. We see that in verses 9, 10, and 11. In his humiliation, he experienced the cross. his majesty he experienced the resurrection and really the word the idea of resurrection from the dead it it says lordship it speaks of lordship these verses dogmatically teach that folks because there's really no option and you can use this in your sharing you can use this in your witnessing and in your counseling for if he rose from the dead and the Word of God says he did and we believe that then he's Lord. This is Jesus Christ, the Lord, the master, the boss, the sovereign one over whom he has, over all the rest of us, he has absolute authority. So it's intellectually incoherent. it's theologically irreverent to confess to believe in the fact of the resurrection and it not radically affect your behavior let me say that again it is intellectually incoherent it's nonsense it's theologically irreverent it's blasphemy to say oh I believe Jesus rose from the dead on the third day but I'm not going to yield to his lordship what want to get out of the way before lightning comes through the building and strikes you dead." Such irreverence, such incoherence to acknowledge He rose from the dead and then not be part of those who say, He is Lord. Three days, earlier than the resurrection. God the Father had viewed His Son as the cursed sin-bearer. And in the resurrection, God the Father lifted His Son infinitely high. The phrase, highly lifted, is a compound word which means to raise up. But it has, notice in verse 10, No, verse 9, wherefore also God hath highly exalted him. It's really the idea of highly lifted, lifted high, but it has a prefix, the word hyper, like some of our eight-year-olds have that attached to their names. We understand what hyper means, right? That's attached to this word. So he was hyper-exalted. In other words, there's no word for it. His exaltation, his majesty is infinite. And every knee will bow one day. Verse 10 in Christ's Lordship, there are three particular areas and and there's a lot of discussion I am NOT going to the wall on these Applications, but but generally speaking the majesty of his resurrection will yield celestial Adoration it seems like that one's the one that we clearly understand that is the name of Jesus the Lord every knee should bow of things in heaven." Now that is likely discussing, talking about the host of heaven, the heavenly host, the angels, the cherubim, the cherubim, the cherubim and the like. In fact, Revelation 4 11 says around the throne there were those who were I think I had that don't I have revelation no I don't have revelation 411 let me read it to you thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power For thou has created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created so thou art worthy O Lord Jesus Christ the Lord they the heavenly host of course bowed to his Lordship and Hebrews 1 6 says and let all the angels of God Worship him. So that's that's the easy one the celestial adoration and then there's Terrestrial that is of this earth Salvation and things in earth are mentioned here. Who will bow? Now, who is this? Well, certainly it includes those who, the redeemed, that is us. We have bowed to his lordship at one point in time. When we said, come into my heart, Lord Jesus, save me. For as many as received him, to them gave he the right to be called the children of God, even to those who believed on his name, John 1.12. So when we called upon him we called upon him as Lord for with Romans 9 10 9 10 or 10 9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth what? Jesus as Lord what is that was that Romans 10 9 10 9? Okay, I thought it was Romans 10. I didn't have that in my notes, but if you confess Jesus is Lord and You're saved, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. So it seems to be talking about that time and those folks who are on earth who are saved. What about those who aren't saved? They're not bowing the knee, no, and that seems to be what the final one is mentioned, that's mentioned here, the third one. Judicial condemnation. Even those things under the earth, there will be those who will bow to His Lordship. Even those in hell, even those who aren't redeemed, will one day, in fact even right now, they're convinced. It's been said that when an atheist who died didn't believe in God, but a second after death he believed in God. I don't say that in a cute way. I say that it's a horrific situation, which is why we are called to tell the nations that Jesus saves. He is Lord. He is Lord and the resurrection of Christ demonstrates that. All of your religious friends, just about, Catholics, Baptists, anybody that you know and that I know, practically everyone would say yes I believe that Jesus died and rose again and that has a natural follow-up and you're following him as Lord doesn't mean that you're perfect doesn't mean that I'm perfect God knows that I know that you know that there is a true and clear direction for me these past 46 years of following him, wanting him, and seeing him as high and lifted up, highly exalted, hyper exalted over my life, over your life as well. This is Jesus Christ the Lord. All those in hell, there because of hard-hearted unbelief. Everyone has enough witness in this world to know that God is. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is. Hebrews 11. You say, how do you know that they know that? Romans 1 says creation declares the glory of God. Romans 2 says conscience accuses a lost person when he or she sins. That's enough light to cause one to say, how can I have a relationship with the true and living God? Charles Wesley The theologian, the hymn writer, father of Methodism, in 1749, so approaching 300 years ago, wrote a hymn from this passage, from this text, in studying this text. I don't know that we've ever sung the hymn. I don't know the tune. I guess it could go to any number of meters. I'm not sure. But verse 1, Brother Saylor, of the hymn, Jesus the Name High Over All, says this, Jesus the name high over all in hell or earth or sky. He reversed the order from Philippians 2. It dealt with heaven and then earth and then hell. He said in hell or earth or sky. Angels and mortals prostrate fall and devils fear and fly. Jesus the name to sinners dear, the name to sinners given. It scatters all their guilty fear. It turns their hell to heaven. And why did he do all this? Why did he leave heaven's glory, set aside the fanfare of deity, be clothed in the humiliation of humanity, only to die death, death of a cross? go through all of that to be raised again because verse 11 tells us it's to the glory of God the Father. You see, he became a curse for sinners. Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And yet, throughout eternity, the truth at his baptism will be heard, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased." He did all things in obedience to his heavenly Father, including going on the mission to seek and to save those who are lost. Why? Because they need to be found and forgiven and rescued. We certainly did, but that was not the motivating thrust of Jesus in coming and doing His work. The motivating thrust is so that His Father would receive glory from the nations, so that His Father would hear you God for saving such a worm as I I caused the pain I was responsible for the sin that he bore the penalty that he bore and God you forgave me we will hear well done my beloved son in whom I am well pleased this is Jesus Christ the Lord May you follow Him. Lord, I'm thankful for this, Your Word. What a text. It is beyond profound, just like the Word that You are hyper-exalted is beyond description and understanding. And yet You are, and we believe that. How glorious You are. How good, how kind, how holy. Your eternality is beyond our understanding. Your omnipotence, your omniscience, your omnipresence. And yet, Lord Jesus, you set aside those divine prerogatives for a season to identify with fallen man. What a humbling thing. Lord, may we have this mind each one of us, your followers, that you manifested, that you demonstrated. And that being the case, God, our Father, you will be glorified. Move on our hearts. Convict us of petty preferences, of demanding our own rights, of holding bitterness, unforgiveness, and the like and that we would yield in a fresh and a new way to you even in this hour for your glory.