I'd like to direct your attention this morning to Philippians chapter 2. I will take my text through verses 5 through I don't know exactly where we'll stop, but let's begin reading in verse 1. If there be, therefore, any consolation in Christ, if there be any comfort in Christ, any comfort of love, if any fellowship to the Spirit, if any bows and mercies Fulfill ye my joy, that ye may be like-minded, having the same love, same love as who? The Lord Jesus Christ. Being of one accord and one mind, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind." Those are amazing words, lowliness of mind. I'm afraid it's something we don't know a whole lot about by nature. Lowliness of mind. I've seen my children grow up and pretty much every one of them, the first word they learned was, mine. Give them something for Christmas and they'd argue over the box it came in. It's mine. But there's never been one who was lowlier in mind than our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what I hope to show you this morning. The great dissension. He made to be our Savior, to be our Lord, to be our mediator, our substitute. That's what I want to hear about. I want to hear that bell rung clearly about how while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly, for us being ungodly. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind." Look what he asked. Let us esteem others better than ourselves, better than themselves. Our goal as believers is to prefer others above ourselves, to be more concerned with the one who believes the way we believe as if we would be if it was ourselves going through that trial or tribulation. I'm convinced that besides the great blessing of saving us by His grace, the greatest token of God's love towards us is to give us one another. brothers and sisters whom we can fellowship in the same God, in the same Gospel, in the same Christ. We have a connection like no one else has. That's why we're family. That's why we're the body of Christ. He's the head, we're the body. And we're all joined fitly together. And when one member of that body suffers, the whole body suffers. The holiness of mind. Let each of us esteem others better than themselves. And in verse 4 he says, Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. But I don't mean covet what your brother has. That means when you see your brother in need, you do what you can just as you would for your own self. If he needs a roof put on, we're going to be over there trying to get it put on. Esteem other better than yourself. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. And let this mind, 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. Christ thought it not robbery to be equal with God because He was God. He was God. And that's the theme of our preaching. Jesus Christ is God. Paul said, I'm determined not to know anything among you other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Our God and Him crucified. That ought to tell you a little something about the horrific sin in which dwells in us. that God Himself must die to justify us. 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. He was equal with God. This is the beauty of the gospel, my dear friends. The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, who is Creator of all, Ruler of all, Sustainer of all, Lord of all. Verse 7, "...made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a serpent." and was made in the likeness of men. And being found, verse 8, in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Now if God gives you eyes to see, you'll see the beauty in the lily of the valley. And if God gives you ears to hear and hearts to believe, you'll smell that sweet fragrance of the rose of Sharon. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. God, who is everything and over everything and who has made everything, made Himself of no reputation. That goes against everything that I believe by nature. You see, only God could make Himself of no reputation. Men can get on television and talk about a God who's trying and willing and unsuccessful and frustrated, but I tell you, it affects God in no way. Then move him a bit. I remember used to think, Lord, why don't you just take that man out of here? Strike him down. He's lying on you. And you know what? Proverbs says, he laughs at their calamity. He's not moved by what men think. He's God. He said, I'll mock when their fear cometh. David said, the Lord shall laugh at him, for he seeth that his day is coming. God's not much affected by what men... He's not affected at all by what men think. But the language here is that God made Himself. I think about old Isaac traveling that day with his father Abraham. He had the wood, he had the fire, he had all that he needed to make a sacrifice. And I imagine as they walked along, Isaac was thinking to himself, where's the sacrifice? And as they climbed closer to their destination, Isaac said, Daddy, I see that you've got the wood and the fire and the altar and everything's in place, but where's the sacrifice? And you know what Abraham said, The Lord is able to provide Himself a sacrifice. And that's what he did. He made Himself the sacrifice. He made himself of no reputation. No reputation. Salvations of the Lord. And so it was with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Noah, David, right on down the line. These all found grace in the eyes of the Lord. God came to them in mercy, and He drew them by His grace, and He made them willing to bow in the day of His power. Please, please, I beg of you, see. Please see that you did not make Jesus Lord over your life. If I have another person tell me that, I may lose my righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ was Lord before this world was ever made. I can't make Him Lord. But He made Himself of no reputation. No reputation. Christ made Himself of no reputation to redeem men and women with a horrific reputation. But God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. What was my reputation? Notorious, depraved, wretched sinner. This is the core and foundation of the gospel, dear friends. Christ, the Son of God, made Himself of no reputation. Now throughout my career in trying to build a business, I made it a goal and I made it a practice to build a reputation. Many of you men here this morning are in business. I know Eric, Bill, James. And it's very important And to have a good reputation, and it's vital to have one, to be a success in business. Now what I mean is this, a reputation of doing what you say you'll do. If you tell a man you're going to do something, you do it. Therefore, you have a good reputation. A good reputation of being honest and fair and hardworking, treating people the way you wanted to be treated, is essential in building a business and being successful. A good reputation is everything. If you don't have your word, you don't have nothing. But our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to save Wretches, maggots, worms like you and I must make Himself of no reputation. The Creator of the universe and all things within was God Almighty. And in order to redeem His people from their sins, He must make Himself of no reputation. And when God takes on flesh, dear loved ones, That's a great stoop to a no reputation status. One day Nebuchadnezzar stood before his kingdom and he looked out over it and he said, my, I am something else. Look what I've done. Look at the kingdom I've built. I must be special. And the Lord stuck him out in the field and made him like a beast. And one day, in Daniel 4, we're told, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto heaven. And he said, My understanding returned unto me. And I blessed the Most High, and I praised and honored Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. And His kingdom is from generation to generation. And listen to what He says about us, about Himself and about us. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. You know what that means? No reputation. Reputed as nothing. No reputation. And God doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, none can say unto him, What doest thou? Now to redeem us, Christ had to become one of us, yet without sin. So what did Christ become? Well, all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. Our reputation is nothing. Our reputation is so bad that it's nothing. It's not worthy of mentioning. God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, made Himself a righteous servant for His own cause and for His own purpose and for the salvation of His people. And God humbled Himself. Can you see that? Made Himself of no reputation, verse 7, and what took upon Him the form of a servant was made in the likeness of man. Christ made Himself. Christ humbled Himself. He Himself became obedient to Himself for us. Now let me say that again. That's too good not to mention twice. Christ made Himself. Christ humbled Himself. And He Himself became obedient to Himself for us. What does that mean? That means that all that God required from me He gave me that and more through Him, in Him, by Him. He who is master of all things voluntarily took on the form of a servant. He served us who could not serve Him so that we could serve Him. He took on the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. That's crucial. He who created all things to serve and worship Him took on the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men who are nothing but sin. Christ took on the form of a servant and He took on the lowest condition of humanity, the form of a servant. Servants were looked down on in the days of our Lord. And the Lord Himself said in Luke 22, 27, For whither is greater he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? See, our thinking is all messed up, naturally speaking. It is not he that sitteth at meat, but I am among you, as he that serveth. Most of the things of God are opposite of what we think naturally. First shall be last, last shall be first. We don't think that way, do we? Christ took on the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. The Lord God of heaven and earth not only took on the form of a servant, but was made in the likeness of men. He was born into this world just like the rest of us, yet without sin. Now you think about that for a moment. Here's God who spoke the worlds into existence. Here's God whom it was no hard thing to say, let there be light, and light was. He spoke light into existence. Nothing too hard for Him. And this same God made Himself of no reputation, took on the form of a servant, was made in the likeness of men, and born as a child. He laid in His mother's arms and trusted Himself to the care of an earthly mother and father. And he didn't only become a child who had to learn to walk and to talk. He did all the things that a normal child does. That's awesome and amazing when you think about it. Just like you did and just like I did, but with one important difference. He never once sinned. Not one time. He never disobeyed his parents. I can't say that. He never talked back to them. He always did what was asked of him, every time. You know why? He's doing it for Gary Borders. He's doing it for David Edmondson. He's doing it for Tyler Richards. He was truly the only perfect child ever born. to woman, but he was made in the likeness of man. You can see he was the God-man. He was 100% God, 100% man, and he knew no sin. That's what Brother Jack read. He knew no sin. He lived every day in perfect obedience to God the Father. And living in perfect obedience to God, he honored his father and his mother. He treated his brother like he ought to. He never once did anything that would bring shame or dishonor to His heavenly Father or His earthly Mother and Father because He knew no sin. I know I'm being redundant, but I intend to be. He never said a bad thing. He never did a bad thing. I've never done a good thing, I don't think. I'd do something good and then take pride in my humility. It wouldn't take me long to mess it up. He was always about his father's business. That's what he told his mother that day they left him behind. Where have you been? We've been on the road and just realized you weren't here. He said, didn't you know I'd be about my father's business? Twelve years old in the synagogue. doing the Father's business, fulfilling the Father's will, every single day he walked on this earth. He said, this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing. If he had committed one sin, he couldn't have saved a soul. If he had backtalked his mother one time, he could have never saved a sinner. He had to be perfect, and he was. He humbled himself, and our Texas became obedient unto death. even the death of the cross. Do you know how the Lord Jesus Christ became obedient unto death? God made Him what I was. And I was sin. What? He humbled Himself because He did not deserve my sentence. He didn't deserve my condemnation. He didn't deserve my death. But God made it so. God made it so. Now there are some today I hear that say, from the verse that Brother Jack read, for He hath made Him to be sin for us. I say, no, no. He wasn't made to be sin. He was made in the likeness, is what the Scripture says. Well, listen, I'm not a scholar, but I'm going to tell you this. If He, God, did not make Him, Christ, sin for us, we're in a heap of trouble. He who knew no sin was made to be sin. Now, He made Himself of no reputation. He took on the form of a servant. He allowed Himself to be made in the likeness of men and subservient to all that men are subjected to, yet without sin. He humbled Himself even further and became obedient unto death, but not just any death. This was even the death of the cross. This was the death of a horrific criminal This is how they killed murderers and the worst of the worst, hanging them on the cross. And He humbled Himself even to the death of the cross. What am I saying? I'm telling you that Christ our Lord, the perfect God-man, died upon the cross as the greatest sinner that ever lived. He died for all the sins of all His people throughout all of time. Therefore, hanging on that tree is the greatest sinner that ever lived. If God had not made Him to be sin for us, then we could have never been saved. If He had not been made sin for us, He that knew no sin, have never become obedient unto death, much less the death of the cross. Now why? Because God's strict justice would not allow it. Now you think about this. The guilty was condemned and the innocent was made free. That's God's strict justice. If you're guilty, you die. The wages of sin is death. If you're innocent, you win free. Exodus 34 says, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. And yet, Scripture teaches that Christ is a just God and a Savior. Now, how can these things be? Well, I'm fixing to tell you. Are you ready? Here it is. God made Christ, who was perfect, who was innocent, to be made sin for us. God made Christ guilty. And He made His chosen elect who were desperately wicked, perfectly righteous. It's called substitution. It's not a hard thing. He who knew no sin was made sin for those who knew nothing but sin. That's substitution. That's a mediator. Oh, when we think of mediators sometimes, we think of someone that comes in between two businesses and tries to work everything out. This mediator died for those that he stood in the place of. And this is the gospel, dear brothers and sisters, but it doesn't stop there. This was God in the flesh who humbled himself, made himself of no reputation, took on the form of a servant, humbled himself, became obedient unto death. This is God in the flesh. This is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world who reigns forever throughout everlasting. And there are some today who say, oh, I agree, he was a great prophet. Let me tell you the difference between him and all the prophets. You can dig all the prophets up. They're all dead, buried in the grave. Not this one. Not this great prophet. Revelation 13 says, And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Friends, our Savior is a just God and a Savior. Isaiah said, Tell ye and bring them near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient times? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside Me, a just God and a Savior. There is none beside Me. There is none beside Him. So let me ask you again. What do you think of Him? Where is our Savior now? Well, the Apostle Paul tells us, and this is crucial. Philippians, look at verse 9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name. that at the name of Jesus 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." Now here's a sobering thought. God has highly and rightly exalted Him above everyone and everything. That's what it says here. So much so that even at the mention of His name, every son and daughter of Adam should bow. But here's the sobering thing. Many do not. Many do not bow. Oh, His name should cause every knee to bow, but not every knee will. Oh, at the mention of His name, it should cause everyone everywhere to confess that He is Lord, but not all will. They should, but they don't. And this is what the Scripture asks the sinner, what think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? Is He just another prophet? Or is He God Almighty? Is He a begging and pleading Savior? Or is He a sovereign Savior who rules and reigns even now? Some would say the decision is up to you. And I say the decision is not up to you. Who and what Christ is has been decided a long, long time ago in eternity past. Look at verse 12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in we always obey in Christ. Don't ever think that we obey in our own right. But you've always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence. And notice these words. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Now people have taken those two little words and they've made a whole doctrine around it. But you know something? The very next verse tells us what it's all about. It says, For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. I've heard gospel preachers many times say, you can't work out what God hasn't worked in. And that's what this is saying. You can't work out what God hasn't worked in. You better work out your own salvation. Do you know what it means to work out your own salvation? Do you know what the Apostle Paul is telling us here? He's saying, you better bow. You better bow. You better follow His feet. We better take sides with Him against ourselves. We better plead and beg for mercy. If He has caused us to obey His voice, we better continue to obey. Work out what God's worked in. That's working out your salvation. You cannot work out what God hasn't worked in. We believe because God caused us to do so. We obey because He made us obedient in the day of His power. We work out what He's worked in. We keep believing because it is He that sustains us and keeps us and holds us. and cause us to continue to trust Him. And we know as believers that we only deserve death and condemnation, that before the law of God we're all guilty, that every mouth may be stopped, that we all are guilty before God Almighty. We know we deserve only death and only condemnation. So we continue to bow and we continue to trust. And we continue to believe with fear and trembling. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. There's no way a sinner can save himself. But you can bow. grant you to do so, you can trust Him as God enables you to do so. For it is God which worketh in you, and notice this, this is a wonderful thing, a wonderful truth, He's working in you to will and to do His good pleasure. That's the hope of my confidence. My Lord does all things well.