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good morning everyone welcome to free grace baptist church welcome back to all of you and a warm welcome to any visitors out there this morning i'm looking out there and I don't see you but you're you're probably there any visitors that are with us this morning it's a joy to have you with us to worship our Blessed triune God I don't think I have any announcements other than that pastor Butler should be back in a in a couple of weeks you're probably just going to be stuck with me his substitute for one more Sunday after this one and then we should be able to welcome Jim back to the pulpit in a couple of weeks and will it will make an announcement though just to let you know also when bible study will will start up again it very well may be the seventh of december but we will let you know let's turn in our Bibles please as we begin worship this morning if you'll turn with me to Psalm 107 Psalm 107 our call to worship will be a reading of that Psalm verse 12 verse 9 Psalm 107 beginning in verse 1 this is the word of the living and true God o give thanks to the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever let the redeemed of the Lord say so whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered out of the lands from the east and from the west from the north and from the South they wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way they found no city to dwell in hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their de-stresses and he led them forth by the right by the right way that they might go to a city for a dwelling place oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men for he satisfies the longing soul and fills the hungry soul with goodness amen well let's stand and sing together if you'll stand with me in your larger Trinity hymnal you can turn to 132 him 132 let's stand and sing together [Music] you please be seated we'll go to our Lord in prayer now just a reminder to everyone that we do at least every usually every second Lord's Day have a time of prayer prior to the Lord's Day morning worship so we have a full hour essentially dedicated to praying for the various concerns in our church we don't have a full hour during worship as so we can't pray for everything if you do want us to pray for anything please email us come to the prayer meeting prior to a prior to worship on the Lord's Day we also have a time of prayer at the Wednesday night Bible studies for for the you know the needs of the church and needs around the world but we'll go now to our God in prayer that we would have his blessing as we gather together for the worship of father son and spirit let's go to our God in prayer Heavenly Father we thank you now that we can come to you in prayer we thank you for this part of worship we thank you that we can come to you Father Son and Holy Spirit we have the audience of the the God of heaven and we do pray that you would help us now to properly hallo your name we long to be those who gather together for worship doing so in spirit and in truth and we pray that you would slay us low in that proper place as we gather before the thrice holy God of Holy Scripture we pray that you'd help us to rejoice in you to sing your praises as we pray now and as we sing hymns as we engage in that act of worship the preaching of your word we would ask Lord that all of it would be done unto the praise of your most high name we do pray yet again that around the world you would be praised by those who gathered together for worship we pray that all of your people around the world today even now Lord God as we pray would how will your name would rejoice in father son and spirit and Lord God that you would strengthen your people around the world today by your grace and for your glory a truly Lord we rejoice in the forgiveness of sins we rejoice in salvation through Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer we know that we do not and cannot save ourselves being found dead in trespasses and sins we thank you that you have made those that you have brought forth Lord God those alive who were dead in trespasses and sins at by your grace you have brought forth sinners to life in Christ we rejoice in salvation knowing that it comes solely and alone through a triune God that saves without a helper and we thank you for that work that avails with you not the deeds that we have done but rather the deeds of the Lord Jesus Christ we thank you that by his perfect life in His perfect death we have a righteousness that avails with you and the forgiveness of sins and we thank you that he rose again victorious the third day that he has ascended to your right hand where he ever lives to make intercession for his people to rule and reign over his enemies to subdue the hearts of his elect and bring forth many sons to glory we do pray Lord God that you would help us to rejoice in salvation by free and sovereign grace and that you would just impress upon us and new even now as we pray the forgiveness of sins and the glory that it is to be found safely in Christ we would ask Lord that you would be with those who are troubled physically strengthened those who are physically afflicted we pray that you would just lift up our wounded fellow brothers and sisters in Christ that those with disease and sickness Lord you would strengthen them that you would bring much help to them Lord and help him to to know gains and strength and to know even healing from the hand of God we thank you that Pastor Butler can be with us we pray that you continue to help him to recover we thank you for the gains that he's making after surgery and we do just pray that you would continue to strengthen our brother we look forward to to having him up here again in a number of weeks we pray Lord that you would be with those who struggle spiritually we know Lord God that we require not our own diligence to be returned unto the joy of our salvation but for all those who are struggling spiritually we pray that you would affect that that growth and that change Lord that you would lift them up back upon those high places of rejoicing and father son and spirit even now Lord God lift each and every one of us up that our souls might be stirred to high improper praise of the triune God rejoicing in Jesus Christ and salvation by him we do pray again for the persecuted Church around the world we are grieved to hear many reports of those being violently persecuted unto death we do pray Lord God that you'd be near to our brothers and sisters in Christ that you would comfort that you would strengthen that you would grant boldness and courage and that grace of endurance to continue in the faith in the face of opposers and in the face of tyrants we would just pray that you would be with our brothers and sisters around the world and Lord God we do pray yet again that you would deal with those who oppose you who oppose the High King of heaven and who oppose your church we pray that you would cast them down that you would bring even temporal judgment upon them that you would vindicate your name in all the earth so that we might know justice that we might see Lord God righteousness and equity around the world we know that this is only possible with you and with the advance of the gospel the proclamation of the word of God and we do pray that you would empower ministers and missionaries and those who go abroad Lord God to spread the fame of Christ we pray that you would give them much grace and much opportunity and that by spirit and word around the world Lord God many would be brought to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ we pray for those who rule over us Lord God we know that kings are installed by you and Kings are cast down by you and we know that the nations of this world are the nations of our God and of his Christ and we do pray that you would raise up those to rule over us in justice righteousness and equity and that you would cause those to stumble like drunken men who would seek to propagate wickedness and to cast down virtue in the land we do pray Lord that you would be with us now as we worship we pray for me Lord God in the pulpit that you would give me that grace that ministers of the gospel need in order to proclaim rightly the things of your truth and we would ask yet again that you would be here among us and that you would strengthen your people by spirit and word that all of those Christians who have come into these doors this morning would leave having been equipped by spirit and word to live in a manner worthy of the gospel to rejoice in Christ and we pray Lord God for that same Ministry of the Spirit and were done to the salvation of sinners that those who entered in these doors outside of Christ those who came in Lord in unbelief that they would by your grace and for your glory leave singing the praises of our precious Christ and it's in his name that we pray amen let's stand again and sing as a church remember when we sing as a church we're singing to our God and according to the Word of God we're also singing to each other in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs let's stand and sing 195 in your hymn books [Music] you [Music] please be seated you can turn in your Bibles with me to Matthew 23 our new testament scripture reading Matthew 23 beginning in verse one will read two verse 22 Matthew 23 beginning in verse 1 the Word of God then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples saying the scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat therefore whatever they tell you to observe that observe and do but do not do a gourd according to their works for they say and do excuse me for for they say and do not do for they bind heavy burdens hard to bear and lay them on men's shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers but all their works they do to be seen by men they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments they love the best places at feasts the best seats in the synagogues greetings in the marketplaces and to be called by man rabbi rabbi but you do not be called rabbi for one is your teacher the Christ and you are all brethren do not call anyone on earth your father for one is your father who is in he who is in heaven and do not be called teachers for one is your teacher the Christ but he who is greatest among you shall be your servant and whoever exalts himself will be humbled and He Who humbles himself will be exalted but woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men for you neither go in yourselves nor do you allow those who are entering to go in woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you devour widows houses and for a pretence make long prayers therefore you will receive greater condemnation woe to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites for you travel land and sea to win one proselyte and when he is one you make him twice as much a son of Hell as yourselves woe to you blind guides who say whoever swears by the temple it is nothing but whoever swears by the gold of the temple he is obliged to perform it fools and blind for which is greater the gold of the temple that the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold and whoever swears by the altar it is nothing but whoever swears by the gift that is on it he is obliged to perform it fools and blind for which is greater the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift therefore he who swears by the altar swears by it and by all things on it he who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it and he who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it amen let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this the reading of your Holy Scriptures we thank you that we have full Bibles in our hands that we have this freedom and this this benefit and we do pray that you would help us not to count that a small thing but a very high honor we do pray that we would avail much of your scriptures we thank you for the the much that this passage teaches us we pray that we would not be such who are only outwardly Christian and only outwardly religious we would not be like those scribes and Pharisees of old but rather Lord God that by your grace and for your glory we would be such as who are marked by true and proper religion that we would have those hearts that are filled with affection for the Lord Jesus Christ and that whether inwardly or outwardly all that we do Lord God would be done for your glory say and that we would be your true worshipers who do worship you in spirit and in truth so be with us now unto the end Lord God that you might be glorified in all that we do we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen well one more him then before we engage in preaching if you'll stand with me and we will sing hymn number 87 let's do been together [Music] you [Music] Oh [Music] Oh please be seated [Music] can turn in your Bibles to Philippians 2 if you've been with us the last number of weeks or if you've been listening we've been working through this him to Christ as to God Philippians 2 5 to 11 going through it more slowly than we might at different times taking a sort of each clause in each section of this under consideration to behold hopefully each time we come together the riches and the excellencies of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ as Paul brings it out here in this him to Christ as to God this time I'm just going to read philippians 2 beginning in verse 5 and finishing it verse 11 once again the Word of God Philippians 2 verse five let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father amen let us go again to our Lord in prayer let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you now for this time in preaching we would ask that you would help us now Lord God be with us by your spirit strengthening us keeping us attentive helping us to be focused upon the Word of God and the Christ to whom at points and we pray once again that our Savior would by this act and by this gathered assembly be exalted upon our praises here and Lord God we do pray that you would receive all honor and glory father son and spirit we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord G is amen well we've been working through this him to Christ as to God a number of Sundays ago we introduced it we had a look at the context we had a look at the exhortation proper in verse five let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus simply remarking that the Apostle Paul is exhorting the church to humility he's actually exhorting the church first to unity congregational togetherness and harmony for the Gospels sake through humility that he exhorts them to first in verses 1 to 4 and then by introducing the example of humility the chief and the highest example of humility the Lord Jesus Christ in verses 6 through 11 last lord's day we looked at the structure of the of the him first we noted that it starts high and lifted up it then condescends to Christ's lowliness and taking on humanity to the point of being lifted up upon Calvary's cross and then by virtue of the perfection of Christ saving work he's exalted to the right hand of God and every tongue is to confess every knee is every knee is to bow and every everyone under her under the earth on the earth and everyone in heaven is to give rightful praise to God through the Lord Jesus Christ and we secondly look last time at the certain divine majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ remember this him starts I and lifted up it starts by saying that Christ is in the form of God who being in the form of God we noted that that argues for the certain divinity the certain deity of our Lord Jesus Christ and the exaltedness the the loftiness of the him didn't stop there but we also noted his equality Christ did not consider it robbery to be equal with God he has a assure certain unmitigated equality with the Father laud and honor to the Father laud and honor to the Sun before we move on to his lowliness I just want to remind ourselves of that equality noting that remember paul's exhortation to humility makes no sense if christ is not equal to the Father the the force of this him is contingent upon Christ equality with the father and what we move on to next his condescension and taking on humanity the glory of that contrast hinges upon his certain equality with the father note at this point that Paul's exhortation to humility makes no sense if Christ is not equal to the father Chris Austin's words if he who has it not in his power to usurp and be a king kids usurp is a word for taking violent seizure of something if something isn't yours someone has something that isn't yours who may be as higher in power has higher prestige to usurp would mean to take what isn't yours to take what is theirs if he who has it not in his power to usurp and be a king remains a private citizen should we praise him for his quietness I think not and then chrysostom goes on to speak of Christ according to his deity as the word or Son of God he says if he be a servant he is inferior and subject to him that is greater but this is not lowliness of mind if the Sun were inferior this is not a sufficient example to lead us to humility and why because it is not humility for the lesser not to rise against the greater not to snatch at rule and to be obedient unto death you see if Christ is inferior to the Father then this exhortation to humility makes absolutely no sense because is it humility for one not to snatch at something that isn't theirs to begin with of course not Theodoric rights if the Sun was not equal to the Father but inferior he did not obey in humility he merely fulfilled his station you see you see what this does to the Incarnation then it's not that remarkable if Christ is less than the father and inferior but of course we know don't Christ is one in substance equal in power and glory with the father and that's what makes the Incarnation so glorious that's what makes the Incarnation so remarkable because one who is equal with the father takes to himself our nature and in that nature assume is submissive and his subject to the Father not according to his deity which now brings us then to Christ's lowliness we want to do simply two things by looking at Philippians 27 this morning and those two things are this borrowing a bit from John Owen we're going to observe two things his self-emptying by taking upon himself man's nature and his self-humiliation engaging in man's nature according to his task now if you're worried if you're worried I don't know what it is about warnings but I I need a lot of water in the morning in the evening I'm okay if you're worried that we're just going to be reflecting on theology this morning not that that's a bad thing but if we're just going to be engaging in a survey of Christology that's not all that we're doing there is immense practicality and what we're going to be looking at this morning there is immense application in studying the person of Christ here at Philippians 27 so notice first his self-emptying by taking upon himself man's nature notice the language here in verse 7 but made himself of no reputation other versions render that the NIV made himself nothing the NASB and the ESB he emptied himself so Christ who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God but emptied himself made himself of no reputation now note we said that this main point that were considering now is his self-emptying by taking upon himself man's nature so what does this not mean then when we come across this language in verse 7 where we have just been confronted with his loftiness who being in the form of God and not considering equality with God something to be held onto at all costs but made himself of no reputation what does that mean or if you have a version that says he emptied himself that's curious language what does that mean well first what it does not mean it does not mean that he did not press his divine prerogatives this is what we mean by that you see some think that this whole him that this whole exhortation is from the vantage point of Christ already being in the flesh he's already incarnate and so this language making himself of no reputation simply pertains to the fact that he didn't press his divinity while on earth now we do have examples of that and that is true while Christ went about doing good in his humanity in his messianic work according to the charge of the father when he went about doing good on earth he didn't press his deity all the time did he he's he's a man of sorrows acquainted with grief we did not esteem him Isaiah says he went about the earth doing good and he didn't always press his divine prerogatives remember the example of his temptation in the desert when Satan tempts him to press his divine prerogatives Christ is resolute to his messianic task and he doesn't cave to the temptations of the devil remember on the night in which the night in which Christ was betrayed remember what Peter does he takes his sword en sheaths his sword and he lops off the ear of Malkus the servant Christ heals the servant puts the ear back on and in sovereign power and what does Christ say he says do you not know that I could call to my aid twelve legions of angels but in order that it must be fulfilled the Christ going to be delivered up into wicked hands crucified and rise again the third day let it happen thus in order that the sures might be fulfilled so there is a reality to this that Christ did not press his divine prerogatives while on earth we do have glimpses of his deity though the mounts the Mount of Transfiguration where there is a sort of unveiling if you will of his deity and they beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth we have an example of his divine power when the storm takes captive the boat upon the Sea of Galilee we have the that wonderful account where it really is if we were to read later on in Psalm 107 in the scripture that the call to worship this morning Psalm 107 says that God has the power to raise up the stormy winds which lifts up the waves of the sea and he calms the storm so that it's waves are still Christ in His divine power does that in his earthly ministry so yes Christ does not press his divine prerogatives he doesn't always call upon his deity as he goes about the earth doing good but this is a man attested to you Peter says who goes about the earth doing good but what does this mean then but we're actually continuing with what it doesn't mean so it doesn't mean that he did not press his divine prerogatives secondly it doesn't mean that he lost anything of the glory of his divinity when we read but he emptied himself this does not mean that for a time or forever it does not mean that for a time or forever he cast off his deity God cannot cease to be God when we read before who being in the form of God which carries with it remember the weight of being very God the nature of the essence the indivisible substance of deity Christ has he's equal with the father laud and honor to the Father laud and honor to the Sun and so when we read but made himself of no reputation or emptied himself let it never enter into her our minds that Christ cast off his deity that he ceased to be what he ever and all waise was God in essence and in truth that is not what the text means God cannot stop being God the one who is infinite eternal and unchangeable cannot incur loss he doesn't stand in want and in need of gain but he also cannot incur incur loss brethren when we use that sort of language we're not simply trafficking and oh you know theology proper considerations you know who is God that's glorious stuff our God cannot change he cannot incur loss he doesn't stand in need of gain he is perfect infinite eternal and unchangeable in all of his glorious perfections let the trumpets blast and let us all fall down in worship so what does it mean then what does it mean made himself of no reputation the old boys would say things like this chrysostom while he remained what he was he took that which he was not turret and echoing the same sentiment rights emptied himself is not to be taken simply and absolutely as if he ceased to be God which is in pious even to think he emptied himself not by putting off what he was but by assuming that which he was not and finally Gil though he took that which he had not before he lost nothing of what he had you see the consistent echo from the Apostles all the way through to that Baptist Gil in the in the 18th century born at the end of the 17th but a minister in the eighteenth you see the constant stream of recognizing the glory of Christ in divinity unchanging but in taking on humanity so what does it mean then but made himself of no reputation the answer comes with the very next clause with the very next part of that sentence taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men you see how Christ emptied himself not by casting off that which he was but by taking on that which he was not man he takes the form of a bondservant coming in the likeness of men and that is the means by which we have this self-emptying you know where you know where the the the early church would go to to to argue for this glorious truth that he did not cast off that which he was but took on that which he was not go to John one for a moment I think we we had a look at that last time perhaps under a subtle a subtly different consideration but noticed in John one where where would we go to see the fact that when Christ takes on flesh he doesn't cast off that which he was but rather being what he always was God in essence in truth he takes on something which he was not before notice in John one at verse 14 with the reality in our minds that the word is God from verse 1 and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth so you see let's just say for example that John had only written and the word became flesh and dwelt among us let's just say that's that sort of all we had there we have other Bible so we know we know the truth we know what happens but you know someone could just take that and the word became flesh and dwelt among us take it to me and that the word was something but he became something else that he morphed into or changed into flesh that deity became flesh no longer deity but now flesh but you see it goes on and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth they were looking upon this Christ and they saw a man but they knew by virtue of the fact that if they see him they see the father they knew by virtue of who Christ was that this one is very God of very God light from light and so we have the reality that yes he became flesh but he did not cast off that which he was you know as we are working towards a consideration of the the Incarnation the reason we have to glory in the Incarnation is it's it's variegated it's there's so many sides to the glorious truth of the Incarnation that Christ took on our nature in order to redeem the sons of men you know this is something that we glory in there that we ought not to glory in once once a year around that the time encompassing the twenty-fifth of December each and every day we draw a breath and I'm not trying to I'm not trying to be hyperbolic here each and every day that we draw breath we are to rejoice in the Incarnation that eternal God would take on temporal man take on our humanity in order to redeem guilty sinners you know when we come to the Incarnation this truth that God did not cast off that which he was but condescended and taking on to himself that which he was not consider some of the language that we use as Christians Christ descending from heaven you know the old Creed's would say things they do say things like Christ when they're identifying Christ he's God of God light of light true God of True God begotten not made one in being with the father who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven but you see that language that language betrays a measure of in accuracy because God did not leave heaven and come down departing from a place where he no longer is and coming to a place where he was not before what do I mean by that Calvin says he descended he descended from heaven in such a way that without leaving heaven He willed to be born in a virgin's womb to go about the earth doing good but he ever and always was that one who filled the heaven and the earth the heavens and the earth even from the beginning you see the glory of our Christian doctrine of the Incarnation it's not we don't have a greco-roman Egyptian sort of deity that is bedecked in robes with maybe an animal head who inhabits physically and spatially a place in the sky somewhere who condescends he's nowhere there now because he's left and he's come down on a chariot or or some strange thing and he goes about the earth doing whatever and then you know goes back to another place we need to divest ourselves of any sort of pagan conceptions of of God you know the the old Creed's would say things like he who wishes to be saved or he who is to be saved must think thus of the Trinity and Christ Christ did not descend from heaven leaving heaven but he descended in such a way that without leaving heaven He willed to be born of a virgin to go about the earth to do good to die upon a cross to rise again to ascend and to now ever live to make intercession for his people brethren Christ the point is that this emptying in Philippians 2 if you can find your way back there this making himself of no reputation does not mean that he cast off divinity but it does mean that he took on the form of a bondservant let's move on to that now the second aspect the first aspect of his self-emptying was making himself of no reputation and it is by taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of man note the language is that Christ does this voluntarily but made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men Christ engages in the task of incarnation and his messianic work he does so voluntarily he does so freely not by obligation not by any sort of natural compulsion or natural obligation but rather he does so freely and voluntarily he takes to himself man's nature taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of man now brethren just by way of application here to interrupt the flow of looking at the text with a bit of application and this is often application that I bring out and hopefully you see it's warranted and not simply repetitive but this is to incite the believer to worship it's too and we're to admire Christ that's a language of John Gill you know John Gill if you read his read his commentaries all the time he's very technical brilliant technical observations very sort of you know I don't want to his language isn't let's say as poetic as Spurgeon but there are times where he he punctuates points and he is poetic and at the point of Philippians 2 5 to 11 he says this take these two things form of God and form of a bondservant and admire the amazing stoop we are to admire Christ not not the admire you know not the admire that we use in our common parlance you know we can use the word admire for for low things it's kind of like the word awesome I think the 1980s destroyed the word awesome yeah everybody lived in the 80s and you were you know in your you know teenage years perhaps or something like that the 80s ruined the word awesome because awesome was just applied to everything you know that you know the you know the wave I caught off the beach that was awesome the ketchup chip bag that i had that that was awesome the you know the steak i ate whatever that you know those things were awesome but you see the psalmist says our god is awesome and a great king see that it's the same with the word admirer will we you know we can use it wholesomely i really admire that the way that you know that family preps their food into Tupperware containers that's that's admirable but you see admire is to be lifted up from common parlance to heavenly considerations when we think of this christ the one who is infinite eternal and unchangeable took on finitude temporality mutability without casting off his infinitude his eternality and the fact that he's unchangeable he took on the nature of us who are finite who are temporal who are changeable he took on our confession says our essential properties and our common infirmities Christ endured weakness you know some of the things we ought to admire if we can you know the the preacher to borrow agustín's word the preacher labors under a great dearth of words to adequately explain and to open up the doctrine of the Incarnation the preacher really does labor under a dearth that is a notable absence kids we labor under a notable absence of words to adequately encapsulate the glory in the mystery of the Trinity and of the Incarnation but consider some things when we're talking about taking on the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men consider some things here the one who formed the womb is formed in a womb I think the language of thomas watson is something like the one who hung the stars hangs upon a breast the one who the one who created the dust of the earth and who brought forth man from the dust of the earth and breathed life into him now takes on the form of the one he brought up from the dust and he walks upon the dust of jerusalem brethren what we need to admire we need to worship you see it doesn't stop with this christ hanging upon the breasts of a woman or walking the dust of jerusalem continues in this him and we'll get there next week but it continues and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross the one who fixed the stars in place yes hung upon the breasts of a woman but also hung upon that cross of ignominy giving himself for guilty sinners admire worship so it's voluntary he takes to himself our nature he makes himself of no reputation and notice that it's not only assumed Humanity in view but it's also servanthood notice the language of the text here taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men he takes the form of what a bondservant you know this would have brought much cheer to the hearts of those we we sort of talked about in just a little bit in passing a couple sundays ago remember that we noted that what's his name again Pliny the Younger I think it was plenty the younger and he's writing to trajan it's around the year 112 and he's writing remarking that these Christians are gathering together on a fixed day and they're singing a hymn to Christ as to a god and they gathered together in the wee hours of the morning why because most of them were likely slaves they were bondservants the this Christ this highly exalted one comes to our lowliness but you see it's not just though that is condescension that he takes on the form of humanity but rather he's in the he's in the form of a bondservant we'll get to it in a number of moments here he humbles himself that's just not repetition of the Incarnation though it is that but it's also the manner in which he went about the earth doing good does so as a servant as a bondservant as even a slave it's not simply assumed in humanity and view though that is immense condescension but it's also servanthood and make no mistake when you're when you're reading your Bibles when you read this passage for example and you see the language of ball and servant if you know if you've read your Bible if you've come to church for years and if you're familiar with the old and the New Testaments your mind should be working a bit here when you land upon form of a bondservant hopefully your mind goes back and it thinks isaiah it thinks Isaiah anak promised my servant whom I uphold so that's how the father speaks of the Sun my servant whom I uphold I'll put my spirit upon him and he will be a light to the Gentiles here we have Paul or the and these Christians us by virtue of singing this hymn and reading this him to Christ as to God reflecting upon the reality that this Christ is the promised servant of Isaiah who would come in the fullness of the times to give his life for guilty sinners to prior to that instruct men as he goes about in the days of his flesh preaching only Verity ever and always from his lips proclaiming the the glory of the kingdom and salvation by him and then he's delivered up into the hands of wicked men crucified risen again and ascended and he still speaks his truth by his Spirit through his church you know this is another application here do you think what what's practical about rehearsing the you know rehearsing Christology rehearsing first the deity of Christ and then his humanity that he really did take man's nature what what what do we get out of that hopefully we just realized that this is to bring us to worship but brethren this also serves to exhort us and instruct us that we are to be in church you might be thinking oh here we go again another another guilt trip to come to church if you're Christian it's never a guilt trip to come to church is it when a preacher says you you need to be in church yes it's our joy absolute joy but you see this Christ who came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation he is present with his people when they gather together in church have you ever thought about this when when Christ appears after his crucifixion he appears when well he's resurrected and it's on a Sunday and he appears on that first Sunday to his disciples if you read the Gospel accounts if you read for example John 20 what we read is that eight day later he appears again to the disciples on the on the eighth day and that language doesn't just simply mean eight days later it means a full week after the first instance which means that on another Sunday on the second sunday Christ appeared to his disciples and said peace to you and spoke to Thomas and said put your hands here and see that it is I you see we are just like those disciples in us in a special and in a different way but we are just like those disciples every time we come to church Christ comes on Sundays and he's found in the midst of his people just like he did on those resurrection Sundays our Christ is here he's here by his spirit his humanity is at the right hand of god in his humanity he's exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high but brothers and sisters he's walking in the midst of his lampstands what's practical about a rehearsal of this him this champion proclaimed and sung about in this stanza in these stanzas is with us now worship Him and fellowship with him he is our worship leader our precious Christ he's the servant to the Father he's also a servant to men when he assumes our humanity remember the words of Christ himself what is the purpose of of his humanity what is the purpose of him taking to himself our nature matthew twenty let's turn there this is a passage you ought to know well Matthew chapter 20 specifically verse 28 but we want to back up a little bit just to rehearse some of the things that are going on in the context of that grand statement that closes out the section notice in matthew twenty beginning in verse 22 matthew twenty twenty-two but jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that i am about to drink and will actually sorry let's back up even further verse 20 I apologize then the mother of Zebedee sons came to him with her son's kneeling down and asking something from him and he said to her what do you wish she said to him grant that these two sons of mine may sit one on your right hand and the other on the left in your kingdom but jesus answered and said you do not know what you ask are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with they said to him we are able so he said to them you will indeed drink my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with but to sit on my right hand and on my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it is prepared by my father and when the ten heard it they were greatly displeased with the two brothers but Jesus called them to himself and said you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them and those who are great exercise authority over them yet it shall not be so among you but whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant and whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave just as the Son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many you know I think it's very often the case that we consider this text whether reading it or perhaps hearing a preacher mention it and we're bought were brought to the place of considering the cross of Christ and you should I mean it says here give his life a ransom for many so a destination in your contemplation ought to be the crux of Christianity the crucifixion of the Son of God upon Calvary's cross but you see the son of man did not come to be served you know the incarnation just isn't the vehicle unto the cross death though remember the cross is that prime crux of our high and holy religion but remember the incarnation bears to us the reality or brings to us the reality that this Christ came and he was a servant he was a slave you have to be drawn to at least a consideration that perhaps Paul has in mind here in Philippians 2 1 through 11 the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ at speak here with regards to whoever desires to be first among you let him be your slave before that whoever desires to become great among you let him be your servant I love what Calvin says on this because remember as we're working through this hopefully hopefully this is continually plowed up in your minds the reality the the whole point of this him that we have rehearsed over the last three Sundays since then the son of God descended from so great a height how unreasonable that we who were nothing should be lifted up with pride that's Calvin he says this on the words of Christ in Matthew 20-26 specifically these words are employed in an unusual sense for ambition does not allow a man to be devoted or rather to be subject to his brethren abject flattery I do acknowledge is practiced by those who aspire to honors but nothing is further from their intention than to serve but Christ's meaning is not difficult to be perceived as every man is carried away by a love of himself he declares that this passion ought to be directed to a different object let the only greatness eminence and rank which you desire be to submit to your brethren and let this be your primacy to be the servants of all you see this rubs against the minds of men doesn't it our natural inclination is to be honored our natural inclination is to receive praise we don't want to submit we don't want to subject you know even sitting in a restaurant we might even reject a salad because it's not moist enough that's how special and awesome we are we don't we don't want to subject ourselves we don't want to submit and to be humble naturally it's not the human inclination to cast off pride and to put on humility it's rises up in the hearts of the sons of men to put on pride and to suppress any exhortations to humility this is why this him to Christ comes as a dart to the heart of every Christian to be sure comes as a dart to the heart of everyone I hope that the God of heaven and earth would come down from his loftiness to be a servant not only of his father in the nature assumed but also to be a servant to us that he would come not only not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many admire worship and imitate because this Christ not only was he equal with the father but condescended but takes on our humanity and even serves us what glorious stuff we have in our Christ in our God and in his Christ notice as well that the contrasts that we have here if you find your way back to Philippians 2 the last two Sundays I went long and I intend emphasis on intent not to go I intend not to go long as long as I did the last two Sundays but let's continue with this by noting that there are some contrasts that this that this him to Christ as to God is to bring to our minds hopefully one of the many of the things that we do as Christians is to remark after and to glory in contrasts that the Word of God brings to us the first of course is deity and humanity we see this wonderful contrast in the him that this one who is in his very nature eternally God equal with the Father who comes and takes to himself man's nature the contrast between deity and humanity that which is infinite eternal and unchangeable takes on finitude temporality and mutability but secondly we have remarked in the past and this is a second contrast we've remarked in the past what we have going on on here isn't primarily this but this is here nevertheless for the consideration remember that in Philip I we had Philip the second of Macedon who had a shrine in the city he exalted himself to a place of deity he being man and man alone exalted himself to a place of deity and set himself alongside the 12 major gods of the the Greco Roman pantheon of that time you see the contrast there the exaltation from humanity the wrongful the the vainglorious exaltation of humanity to the point of deity but this Christ who has full and an unabridged deity in equality with the father takes on himself humanity you see the contrast between our King the king of kings and the Lord of lords and earthly cans it's the earthly Kings heart it's the the mindset of an earthly King to exalt himself in this case of Philip the second of Macedon the namesake for Philip I it was to exalt himself to the place of deity the same would go in the context with the greco-roman with the Roman emperors of that time imperial called the exaltation of Caesars to the place of deity and in the in the context of the Christian religion our brothers and sisters 2,000 years ago would bump up against that imperial called and if they did not as we remember from that pole that that whole a trajan pliny thing if they did not bow a knee to caesar and cast off obedience and allegiance to christ they were ultimately put to death but this Christ again he condescends from a position of eternal glory and takes on himself humanity there's another contrast here and we're moving towards a point to introduce what we'll look at next week but there's another point of contrast here the contrast between Christ and us it's an obvious contrast none of us are God none of us ever condescended from a place of highness to a place of lowliness in fact our humility is will note from Calvin in a few moments our humility is not seen in condescending because we don't have any high place from which to condescend our humility is seen in not estimating ourselves as high because we're already low were the sons of where the sons of men were not the Son of God but there's a strike contrast here between Christ and us and you see the the imploring of the Apostle Paul is to rise us up with our regenerate hearts and in our Christianity to be like the Christ of our profession we are to suppress by the Spirit of God that natural inclination to exalt ourselves and be like Christ in the context of the church to serve and to be a servant to all to condescend as it were no not even to condescend but to take on humility to cast off pride and to be like this Christ but you see and this this will before we before we close we want to remark after this and we'll look at this more next time in the context of obedience on to cross death there's a fourth contrast here and it's the contrast between two atoms Adam the first to thrust humanity into sin and depravity and Adam the second who comes in the fullness of times to restore the blessings lost by first Adam though in a much more excellent way and to undo to answer the curse of condemnation for sin by the giving of himself upon Calvary's tree you see when we get to obedience next lord's day where we read being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross make no mistake that there is to be a contrast made there between Adam that one who by his disobedience thrust humanity into sin and depravity just as that Adam thrust all of us into sin by his disobedience this last Adam this one who is deity and humanity perfect Godhead and / perfect manhood in one person this one comes as the second Adam and by the perfection of his obedience were raised to glory and we have a righteousness not our own that avails with God brethren Christianity presents to the world the only religion that has the stuff of eternal glory and blessed salvation we're not a we're not a religious option out there among many that bring to the you know the hearts of men legitimate options to consider for their journey in this lower sojourn Christianity is a religion about the god man who redeems guilty sinners from their sins who brings the elect to glory by virtue of the perfection of his obedience and his perfect cross death glorious things to consider in our Christ taking to himself man's nature we'll get to this next time but not only the contrast isn't only seen in obedience here this contrast of the two atoms the disobedient Adam and the gloriously obedient Christ it's not only there but it's also the entire him the contrast Adam sought to exalt himself to deity by taking of the fruit offered to him by the deception of the serpent by way of Eve he had a he went from a position that of humanity and sought after something that was not his but Christ having something that is his eternally condescended to take on the nature of the sons of those who were thrust into sin by Adam to redeem us it's absolutely glorious hopefully I might not be explaining it well but hopefully you're entering into the glory of the Incarnation and the salvation that Christ brings to the sons of men what a glorious story true story the glorious Verity the truthfulness of the Word of God well let's just close by noting his self-humiliation engaging in man's nature according to his task no us the language here made himself of no reputation taking the form of a bondservant and coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself you see what we're supposed to see here well first often being found in appearance as a man I I don't know if we can properly enter into maybe that's not the right language and appreciation for the the true and real humanity of Christ as it may have touched the the early the early Christians here Christ really did become man he didn't just come as the spectre outwardly appearing as in the form of a man wasn't just a phantom the incarnation of Christ Christ going about as a man wasn't only outwardly that he looked like a man but rather that he really did take on humanity body and reasonable soul he had a human mind he is fully man yet without sin you see the early Christians if you read first John one for example and in fact turned their first John one you may or may not know this but the early Christians were dealing with a heresy perhaps not fully formed and fully organized but influenced by paganism they were saying that Christ only appeared as a man that he only looked outwardly as a man but he was you know a specter a phantom he had the outward form of a man but he was not truly humanity and John is writing in opposition to those very heretics he's writing in opposition to those who were saying that Christ had not come in the flesh in fact he is Antichrist who says that Christ has not come in the flesh and noticed the beginning of first John notice what we what we find here that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon on and our hands have handled concerning the word of life the life was manifested and we have seen and bear witness and declare to you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested to us that which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us and truly our Fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ and these things we write to you that your joy may be full you know what is one of the reasons why their joy may be full what is one of the things that constitutes the proper joy that they are to have the realization that Christ really did take on humanity he was not a phantom because if he was as one of the early church fathers said if Christ was a phantom then our salvation is a phantom also you see the importance of Christ taking on humanity that your joy may be full that's connected to the reality of Christ taking on humanity such that these could cast their eyes upon him and their hands could handle Luke in his in his in his gospel at the end recounting the not read but but at writing concerning he Luke wasn't there but writing concerning with divine inspiration the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ what is he right there Christ Himself uses the language in his resurrection I'm not a phantom I'm not a spirit i'm not a specter i have flesh and blood just like you he eats broiled fish and honeycomb you know what was the end of christ's eating broiled fish and honeycomb to counter the later Christological heretics well in part but it was to bring joy to his disciples so that they might know that he really is the christ that walked with them and taught them and talked with them and that died for their sins see the humanity of Christ the doctrine that Christ took to himself humanity isn't just a you know a concept of theological truth reserved for the contemplations of ivory tower theologians it's absolutely to go and do you know how practical it is it's it's so practical brothers and sisters that it is it forms part of the basis for our very salvation what's an application in rehearsing that Christ took upon himself the form of a bondservant it is to rejoice in your salvation because if Christ was a phantom so too is our salvation Christ is not a phantom he took to himself man's nature with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin Oh confessional language glorious confessional language it's our salvation found in that you know what else is of application here that Christ truly took upon himself our nature that he humbled himself he's not he's not just found in outward appearance as a man but he took on humanity is the suffering of the persecution the suffering under persecution by Christians throughout the ages of the church do you know that on his way on his way to Rome at least as if history is any guide on his way to Rome Ignatius Ignatius was born around 35 ad right around the time of the crucifixion of Christ he was a disciple of of John the Apostle Ignatius was and it's told that on his way to Rome to be martyred he wrote a number of epistles and one of the epistles he wrote regarding the error that Christ was only a phantom that he didn't take on himself true humanity and his application was this why am i suffering in Chains if Christ is a phantom you see those who are suffering for the cause of Christ their suffering is sanctified and consecrated and blessed because Christ himself suffered and you see that's the point when we just read there that Christ took on humility that he made himself humble to the point of obedience his humility is seen in in so many things but one of the things that scene in is that he took to himself suffering unto the cross death and such suffering then sanctifies every persecuted st. out there in fact in I'm ending in in 1 minute and 40 seconds in Philippians notice this language of suffering you see this this him to Christ as to God answers so many of the exhortations that we have by the Apostle Paul in Philippians rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice why because the lofty one made himself lowly that he might be lifted up upon a tree that upon the perfection of his saving work he might be raised to the right hand of the Majesty on high another exhortation here comes in verse 28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to you which is to them a proof of perdition this is Philippians 128 but to you of salvation and that from God for to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for his sake see Christ humbles himself to the point of death in order that this isn't the prime thing it's to save sinners from their sins but also in order that those who follow after him in their suffering will not be suffering in vain because he himself also suffered consider that one the Apostle Paul writes in 12 three who who suffered under the persecution of the Jews and the Romans and was delivered up upon a tree you have not yet suffer done to bloodshed but this one suffered to give his life a ransom for many consider him in your suffering and brethren it's a help to us and we'll close to this it's a help to us in our temptations what is a practical application of this doctrine that Christ took to himself man's nature it's that he's a help to us in in our temptations we've already noted the prime thing and let it never escape our minds at the prime reason for Christ to take humanity is to save his elect his people from their sins to to save a multitude of sinners that no man can number but as you go home and is and as you go through your week and you struggle with sin you struggle with the devil your own flesh and the world around you seeking to pull yourself away from Christ and all that is Christ pull you down into the pit of depravity and sin fighting against those things fighting against temptation remember our Christ Hebrews to 14 in as much then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood he himself likewise shared in the same that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death that is the devil and released those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage for indeed he does not give aid to angels or take on the nature of angels but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham or take on the nature of the seed of Abraham therefore in all things he had to be made like his brethren that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people there's that prime thrust in the Incarnation and the assumption of humanity by Christ but notice verse 18 for in that he himself has suffered being tempted he is able to aid those who are being tempted who are tempted brethren when you're tempted have you ever have you ever when you're being tempted to fall into sin have you ever dwelt upon Christ see that's the point Paul's bringing forth here we have this high priest who suffered who has been tempted when you're being tempted think of Christ pray to Christ remember he's the second person of the Blessed triune God Christ get me strength Christ bless me with a knowledge of your presence with the grace of endurance with the grace of resistance contemplate that Christ who came into this world who took upon himself man's nature that he might bring many sons to glory and that he might also provide help in in time of need brethren next week we will observe the Lord's Supper you're a Christian in this church right now the application is where are you when the Lord suppers being served where are you when the supper is being spread out by our God in remembrance of this Christ that we are rehearsing in Philippians to our their greater things to be doing when the supper is being served their better things if you're a Christian here this morning to be doing when the supper is being served Christ said do this in remembrance of me and who are we remembering but the lofty one who put on on our lowliness in order that we who are lowly might be brought in eternal life to that place of loftiness if you're here this morning and you reject Christ you don't believe in him know that this same Christ we read later on every knee will bow every tongue will confess that he's Christ a glory of God the Father will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead you do not want to be full you don't you do not want to fall under the the heavy and the righteous hand of Christ in everlasting condemnation and judgment believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved and you'll have that hand that grips your soul for eternity nothing can snatch it away nothing can snatch you away from the sovereign grip of this one who came who died who rose again who ascended and all who believe in him now have everlasting life let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your time together in your word we rejoice that we can rehearse the glories of our Christ we pray Lord God that you would forgive us of our sins God that you would help us in our thoughts to contemplate so often the glories of our Christ who rehearse his perfections to rehearse his conquering to rehearse the fact that a true God took on true humanity and gave his life for guilty sinners we pray Lord God that by your grace and for your glory you would even now save that you would be here presently by your spirit raising forth dead sinners to life that you would be strengthening now your saints and that you would cause us to leave this place rejoicing in you seeking to live in a manner worthy of free and sovereign grace and we pray in the name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ amen let's stand and sing together we're going to sing the doxology you'll stand with me it's Roman numeral 60 in books let's stand and sing together [Music] at a him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to God our Savior who alone is wise be glory and Majesty Dominion and power both now and forever amen well please be seated we'll have a brief time of Prayer when the piano is finished you're free to leave you