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welcome to everyone it's good to be in the Lord's House on the Lord's day to worship our great and Sovereign God will you can turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 45 for our call to worship Psalm 45 beginning in verse one to the chief musician set to the lies a contemplation of the sons of Kora a song of love my heart is overflowing with a good theme I recite my composition concerning the king my tongue is the pen of a ready writer you are fairer than the sons of men Grace is poured upon your lips therefore God has blessed you forever G your sword upon your thigh oh mighty one with your glory and your majesty and in your majesty ride prosperously because of Truth humility and righteousness and your right hand shall teach you awesome things your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies the peoples fall under you your throne oh God is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom you love righteousness and hate wickedness therefore God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your comp companions all your garments are scented with myrrh and alows and CIA out of the ivory palaces by which they have made you glad King's Daughters are among your honorable women at your right hand stands the queen in gold from ofier listen oh daughter consider and incline your ear forget your own people also in your father's house so the king will greatly desire your beauty because he is your lord worship Him and the daughter of Ty will come with a gift the rich among the people will seek your favor the Royal daughter is all glorious within the palace her clothing is woven with gold she shall be brought to the king in Robes of Many Colors the virgins her companions who follow her shall be brought to you with gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought they shall enter the king's Palace instead of your fathers shall be your sons whom you shall make princes in all the Earth I will make your name to be remembered in all generations therefore the people shall praise you forever and ever amen we'll please turn with me in your Trinity Himel to himym number 217 hymn number 2117 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] his [Music] heav angels [Music] Jesus the highest [Music] let us pray our great and infinite God Of Heaven and Earth we come before you tonight and we acknowledge your majesty and your glory scripture says You Are Holy you are the God who made this world and all things in it you are the God who governs all his creatures and all their actions and you are indeed the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the author of so great a Salvation uh we praise you father for Sovereign Grace and for election and predestin nation and how we praise you that in the fullness of the time you sent forth your son born of a woman born under the law to redeem those under the law we thank you for the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus we thank you for his current session at your right hand and we look forward to that day when he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead and now we praise you father for the ministry of the holy spirit that one who has drawn us effectually unto the Savior that one who is has shown us our sin and depravity and shown us the glory of Christ as the one in whom alone there is forgiveness even the Forgiveness of sins may you be ex exalted tonight as we sing may you be exalted as we pray may you indeed be exalted as we gather around the word of Truth we ask that you would forgive us for our sins and our transgressions when we consider who you are when we consider what scripture declares concerning you and we see ourselves right in light of scripture we can only fall before you confessing our transgressions and pleading the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ how we thank you for that precious fountain that is open for sin and uncleanness and even now we pray that you would wash us and purify us and fit us for service in your sight we pray for any and all who have come here tonight that are strangers to the covenants of promise those who are aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel those who have no hope that have no God in this world we pray that today would be the day of salvation that you would bless the preaching of Christ and him crucified that you would use that word to bring conviction and bring that that realization that Christ Alone is Savior and we would pray that tonight you would cause Sinners to be born again by the power of your Holy Spirit we ask that you would do this so that you may be glorified and exalted so that we may see a display of your Sovereign power and Majesty maest y so that Sinners May rejoice in the goodness and the kindness and the mercy of God Almighty we pray for our young people and our children how we thank you for the blessings that you have given us as parents we know it's a a high calling to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord help us to be faithful with them and God we pray that you would give them ears to hear and hearts that would receive with Thanksgiving the word of Truth we ask that you would indeed bless those other babies that are in the womb we pray for our mothers in our church that are pregnant you would bless them with good physical health and strength and truly God we acknowledge with the altar that children are a gift from Yahweh we pray tonight Lord that you would bless the Siri Bible study we thank you for this opportunity on Tuesday night we pray that persons from the community would would visit and they would be gripped with the truth of God's holy word we pray that you would bless this work and cause it to indeed become a church Church Plant and we would ask that the the light of the Gospel would shine in that part of your world we know the scripture says that multitudes from every tribe and tongue and people and Nation so certainly God we have great confidence that what we seek to do is in the will of God most high we pray our father that you would bless richly in this endeavor and cause it to be always with your hand of mercy upon it we also pray for the temporal needs in our midst we ask God that you'd bless all of your people that do suffer on a regular basis God we know it's difficult to be holy when we're physically healthy certainly when we're physically unhealthy the challenge is even greater we pray that you would give grace and mercy and help and strength to your suffering Saints cause them in the midst of their trials and agonies and woes to always look upon the Lord Jesus Christ that one who is able to sympathize with us that one who did enter in who wasn't fact a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief who knew what hostility from this world was all about and God I pray that you would just use the doctrine of Christ to be a means of great encouragement to your suffering Saints yay God to all of us if we don't have physical trials we certainly have them spiritually and what we read of in Psalm 45 this one that is all together lovely may we always focus upon him and may our hearts be drawn out in love and affection and ation toward him we pray tonight again for the situation facing the uh people in British Columbia we know there are still several fires we pray God that you would give Grace and strength to those who fight these fires to be able to contain and ultimately extinguish them we pray for your people who have been dispossessed that you would be gracious and merciful unto them that in your timing they'd be able to return home we do thank you that the Mal jars are able to be with us we pray that you would protect their property their livestock their livelihood God just watch over them and may you give them great grace and our father bless us now bless Mike as he preaches the word tonight fill him with the Holy Spirit fill us with the Holy Spirit and cause us to receive with thankful Hearts the word of Truth bless other ministers of the Gospel in this city we thank you that there are other churches that do preach the truth and we pray that you would Prosper them that you would bless them that you would use these Pulpit Ministries to save Sinners and to sanctify your Saints and we pray these things through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen we please turn with me again in the Trinity Himel to 704 74 will stand as we sing together [Music] my glor [Music] around the the glory [Music] the in the cross are glor [Music] the in the cross in the my glor well you can turn in your Bibles to Daniel chapter 6 for our scripture reading this evening Daniel chapter 6 six beginning in verse one it pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 12 satraps to be over the whole Kingdom and over these three governors of whom Daniel was one that the satraps might give account to them so that the king would suffer no loss then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent Spirit was in him and the King gave thought to setting him over the whole realm so the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom but they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful nor was there any error or fault within found in him then these men said we shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God so these Governors and satraps throng before the king and said thus to him King Darius live forever all the governors of the Kingdom the administrators and satraps the counselors and advisers have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whoever petitions any God or man for 30 days except you O King shall be cast into the Den of Lions now O King established the decree and signed the writing so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the mes and Persians which does not alter therefore King Darius signed the written decree now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed he went home and in his upper room with his windows open toward Jerusalem he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as was his custom since early days days then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God and they went before the king and spoke concerning the king's decree have you not signed a decree that every man who petitions any God or man within 30 days accept you oh King shall be cast into the Den of Lions the king answered and said the thing is true according to the law of the means and Persians which does not alter so they answered and said before the king that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah does not show due regard for You O King or for the decree that you have signed but makes his petition three times a day and the King when he heard these words was greatly displeased with himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him then these men approached the king and said to the king know O King that it is the law of the Ms and Pur that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed so the king gave the command and they brought Daniel and cast him into the Den of Lions but the king spoke saying to Daniel your God whom you serve continually will deliver you then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den and the King sealed it with the with his own signate ring and with the signets of his Lords that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed now the king went to his Palace and spent the night fasting and no musicians were brought before him also his sleep went from him then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to The Den of Lions and when he came to the den he cried out with a lamenting voice to Daniel the king spoke saying to Daniel Daniel servant of the Living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to deliver you from the Lions then Daniel said to the king oh King live forever my God sent his Angel and shut the Lion's mouths so that they have not hurt me because I was found innocent before him and also oh King I have done no wrong before you now the King was exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den So Daniel was taken up out of the den and no injury whatever was found on him because he believed in his God and the King gave the command and they brought those men who had accused Daniel and they cast them into the Den of Lions them their children and their wives and the Lions overpowered them and broke all their bones and pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den then King Darius wrote To All Peoples Nations and languages that dwell in all the Earth peace be multiplied to you I make a decree that in every Dominion of my kingdom men must tremble in fear before the god of Daniel for he is the Living God and steadfast forever his kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed and his Dominion shall endure to the end he delivers and rescues and he works signs and wonders in heaven and on Earth who has delivered Daniel from the power of the Lions so this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian amen let us pray Our Father we thank you for this wonderful display of sovereign power certainly it was Daniel in the Angel's Den being guarded and protected and watched over by a gracious and a merciful god may we realize that this is indeed our God that you are worthy to be believed in that you would help us Lord God you would increase our faith as we say with that one man in scripture Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief increase our faith increase our desire to bring glory to you and God give us the kinds of men in our day and age the kinds of men and women that are like Daniel with such holy customs and with with such a persistence and a consistency and not to shrink back from praying even when commanded by civil Authority not to do so father we praise you and we thank you that you show yourself faithful every page in scripture you've shown yourself faithful every day to us and we have every reason and all confidence to believe that you will continue to do so grant us Grace to grow in our understanding of such things and may we be emboldened for a courageous service of our God in this world and we pray through Jesus Christ Our Lord amen well for our final hymn before Mike comes up to preach God's word we'll turn to 175 175 again we'll stand as we sing together [Music] hallelu my still my heart [Music] hallelu hallelu [Music] hallelu glor King all to sing Hallelujah [Music] well good evening if you'll turn with me your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2 that's Philippians chapter 2 this evening we're going to look at that that great Hymn of Christ uh verses 5- 11 last week we looked at uh Peter's discussion of humility and then Paul also discusses humility as well but then he gives the greatest example of it namely in the great condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ not only in his condescension but also in his life death and Resurrection so Philippians 2 veres 5- 11 we're going to read verses 1- 11 to set the context for us read with me Philippians 2: 1-1 therefore if there is any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any Fellowship of the spirit if any affection and mercy fulfill my Joy by being likeminded having the same love being of one Accord of one mind let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit but in loneliness of Mind Let each esteem others better than himself let each of you look not out not look out not only for his own interests but also for the interest of others 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 by taking the form of a bonder servant and by coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming 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 pray oh Lord Our God who is man that you are mindful beloving who are we that you consider us and you stoop low to us oh God we do thank you oh God that you are the true and the Living God and that you did not that Christ Our Lord Christ Our King did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but by made himself of no reputation that we who are of no reputation might be exalted with him might receive a glorious body with him might be to praise his glorious name for saving us and calling calling us out of Darkness for those that have believed on Christ Jesus may this humble us oh God may this cause us to think right concerning you and may this cause us to think right of ourselves and right concerning others let us love one another with that c that that posture of service let us care for one another so much so that we do not grasp the things of this world but let them go for your sake and For Your Glory but oh God we do pray ultimately that Christ Our king would be magnified and would be glorified and that that we would praise His name this day for this day is your Lord's day as we come to celebrate the great resurrection of Christ Our King may we give you the honor and Glory that is due unto you may we sing the Praises that are due unto you oh God for How Majestic are your ways in all the Earth how we praise you for your works the great works of Salvation oh God and each and every one of us who have believed on Christ you have worked in us we we truly confess that Christ does save his people from their sins for by your mercy and by your Providence and through your spirit and through the preaching you have worked in us to show us our need for Christ show us our sin and grant us the gift of faith that enables us to believe on Christ Our King for those that do not know Christ today oh God we pray that you would grant them that gift of faith that you regen regenerate their hearts show them their need for Christ that they might look to this one look to this humble King look to this servant and find everlasting life find Joy unending in the hope of the gospel for those that are believers here today may we be edified by Your Word by what you say to us in this text and may you help us and strengthen us to have the mind of Christ even though we fail so often as we seek to have the mind of Christ may we continually look to Christ Our King and we pray oh God that ultimately you would be glorified in all things in the Name of Christ amen well the book of Philippians is written by the Apostle Paul when he is in prison and he is writing for the purpose of to give thanks to the people to encourage the people and to give them some exhortations in the times and in the midst of potential trials that might come and one of the themes we see throughout the Book of Philippians is the theme of unity of mind which is what Paul uh discusses for us in verses 1- 4 of chapter 2 and one of the ways that we can have Unity of mind with one another is humility towards one another and perhaps then Paul goes on to explain after he gives this charge he goes on to show us the great example of humility the great one who showed us the great condescension that no other man has ever engaged in in the gospel of free and Sovereign Grace in the Life Death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and so we see here in Philippians 2: 5- 11 that after Paul calls these Philippians to consider others better than themselves he shows shows them this great example of humility found in Christ Our King that is the main thrust that is the main focus namely what Christ has done to demonstrate to show this loneliness of Mind as he considers others better than himself as he looks not only for his own interests but for the interests of others namely for the Salvation of his people and so we will look at this key theme of Christ under three main considerations this this evening we look first of all at the king who came in verses 5-7 secondly we look at the king who died in verse 8 and lastly we will look at the king who is exalted in verses 9- 11 so the king who came the king who died and the king who is exalted so let's first look now at the king who came verses 5- 7 notice what he says let this mind be in verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus you see this very ver this very verse ties in what we've already read and talked about briefly in verses 1-4 as we see Paul says let nothing be done through selfish ambition let nothing be done to show to be done out of the our own interest but for the interest of others so then he goes on to say let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Our King so so when he says we must have Unity of Mind together we must seek to put on the mind of Christ and one of the ways Christ exhibit what what Christ does for us is he ex is the greatest example of humility of engaging in that posture of service and Paul goes on to explain what these uh what these actually are what he actually uh um what the the great example of Christ how he demonstrates humility because then he goes on to say in verse 12 through 18 he goes on to show show that we must you know work out our salvation with fear and trembling we must shine as lights in this world you see the the imperative the command in verse 5 and in verses 12 through 18 is very much rooted in the gospel rooted in the truth of the Gospel namely in the work of Christ Our King and so he gives them this charge that we must have this mind of Christ have this humility to to look like our savior and he goes on to explain how Christ humbled himself if you think you're humble I encourage you to look at our savior if you think that you are not prideful I encourage you to look at the Great Lengths through which Our Savior engaged in humility notice what Paul says in verse 6 who being in the form of God now this word form of God certainly does highlight the necess the nature of Christ he is fully God he is the he is I am he is from Everlasting to Everlasting but the very language of form of God is highlighting something a little highlighting something else namely the radiance of God the radiance of Christ Our King as he visibly displays himself throughout the Old Testament before he came into the world you see the focus of this text is very much on status who is Christ before he became incarnate and even after he became incarnate he is God Almighty he was there at the beginning he was there when the world was created he was in the beginning with God and created the world through God created the world through him his great acts we see throughout the Old Testament he was there he is God when he brought the Egyptians out of slavery out of bondage and into the promised land perhaps the best way to describe what Paul is getting at here is what we see in Hebrews 1:3 albeit after Christ is Incarnate he is the radiance of the glory of God he is the exact imprint of his nature and certainly if one is the form of God he must be equal with God but nonetheless the the idea that Paul is highlighting here is the glory of God the manifestation of the glory of God as we see it in the Old Testament we read this in several there's we read this in Psalm 45 as Pastor Butler read this already for us who is this one you are fair than the son of men Grace is upon your lips therefore God has blessed you forever G your sword upon your thigh oh mighty one with your glory and your majesty and in your majesty ride Pro uh ride Prosper prosperously because of Truth humility and righteousness and your right shall teach you awesome things your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies the peoples shall fall under you Psalm 145 also highlights the Majesty of God I will extol you my God O King I will bless your name Forever and Ever every day I will bless you and will praise your name forever and ever great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable one generation shall praise your Works to another and shall declare your Mighty acts I will meditate on the Glorious Splendor of your majesty and on your wonderous Works men shall speak of the might of your awesome acts and I will declare your greatness they shall utter the memory of your great goodness and shall sing of your righteousness the Lord is gracious and full of compassion slow to anger and great in Mercy the Lord is good to all and his Tender Mercies Are Over All his works and we could continue but what does Moses say in Exodus 34 he says Lord Show Me Your Glory then as he passes by the Lord proclaims his name the very same thing we just read in Psalm 145 the Lord the Lord a god gracious and merciful slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and we could continue on and on but the focus is highlighting the Pinnacle of Glory the highest being there is in this world the only the being who is completely wholly other than what we are he is the highest of them all and that's the focus of the text because he's contrasting between go Christ being in the form of God but also in the form of a bonder servant we'll get to that in a moment who being in the form of god notice what he says after that he did not consider it robbery to be equal with God I'll be honest with you this word robbery is a difficult word to understand guess how many times it's used in the New Testament once here guess how many times it's used in the Old Testament zero guess how many times it's used in non-biblical Greek five or six so it's a very difficult word to understand but nonetheless I think the context helps us understand what it means and to be honest with you I'm not a big fan fan of the term robbery here I think a better translation based on the context is does not consider it something uh did not consider equality with God something to be grasped as the new King James says in the margin or something to be held on to to be equal you see God is Christ is equal with God and He does possess that right if you will but the focus is is is on Christ who for who didn't necessarily forsake that right but took on the form of a servant took on human nature this one who is the highest of the of the all the beings became the lowest he went from perhaps we can say in a very limited way of understanding the humility that we see here it's like a king becoming a peasant it's like a prince becoming a popper a CEO becoming a homeless man and and I know it doesn't even g grip the truth in any sort of way that we can fully understand but that's what Paul is trying to highlight here for us he is the radiance of the glory of God and yet he did not consider equality with God something to be grasp to be held on to that he could not let it go for the sake of others not saying that Christ gave up his divinity we'll talk about that in just a moment but nonetheless he did not consider it something to be grasped and then he goes on to say in verse 7 but made himself of no reputation I think the King James Nails this translation here you see this is the translation that some say means he emptied himself and some say that then that means that he emptied himself of his divinity some Divine attributes namely his omnipresence and his omniscience because they're trying to highlight so much his true Humanity what do you do when you take away an attribute of God first of all you certainly say that God can change but you also then mix the two Natures of Christ do you not if Christ limits himself then is there not a conflation between his humanity and his his divinity so much so that we want to highlight his Humanity that we diminish his deity which is what goes on when people think that this word means he emptied himself as of his Divine attributes the focus here is again on that idea of status he made himself of no reputation he made himself of no reputation he divested himself of position or Prestige perhaps we could say and I think the following words highlight further how he does that you know you could actually translate he emptied himself if you if we did some good Greek grammar here in verse 7 he emptied himself or made himself of no reputation by taking the form of a bonder servant and by coming in the likeness of men those words are indicating how he made himself of no reputation namely by taking on human flesh by taking on human nature perhaps uh uh by by by becoming by the word becoming flesh and dwelling with man you see man is not the Pinnacle being God almighty is and so when God in his the second person of TR the Trinity the Son of God con condescends to us comes becomes incarnate that is great humility brothers and sisters that is a great demonstration of considering others better than himself and then he further explains he came he becomes in the form of a bond servant and by coming in the likeness of men you see we need him to be God and we need him to be man but we need him there must not be any conflation between the two we confess with the definition of chaldon that there's one person with two Natures not any conflation between the natures but not so much as if there's two persons with two Natures but one person with two natures and as our forefathers wrote many years ago he's unchangeable in confused if you will an indivisible and Inseparable it's an addition if you will not change and when some say that he emptied himself of divine attributes they say that he changed he did not change he took on human flesh because it is man who sinned against God and and it is man who is required to fulfill the law in Perfection and man who is required to do uh to to to to make sacrifice or to to to to to Bear the punishment that man desires or that man deserves excuse me me but he must be God because only god is perfect so we have this great mystery of one person with two natures and what you can say about the nature you can say about the person but what you say about one nature you cannot say about the other do you catch that what you say about the nature you can say about the person of Christ well you cannot say that because he is divine and his is excuse me because he is omnipresent in his divinity that he's now omnipresent in his Humanity you cannot say that who is this one one person two Natures without conflation or separation he is the god man and we see here very much this humility of Christ in coming and taking the likeness of us we see his his his condescension towards us we see his love towards us us you know in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 he says uh Paul says though for our though he was rich for our sakes he became poor that very much aptly describes what Christ went through by considering others better than himself by taking the form of a servant that we who are lowly we who deserve punishment might have everlasting life we see the condescension and the unchanging love that God has for his people in the Incarnation in the humility of Christ Our King let us ponder that let us consider that let us meditate on these great truths that this Christ who was in the form of God made himself of no reputation so we see this King who came this king who who be this Christ who became incarnate let us look then secondly at the king who died in verse 8 now if Christ just became incarnate that would be a great evidence of humility but he doesn't come in the form of a king in in human sense he comes in the form of a bonder servant right he he's born in a manger and notice what Paul says being found in the appearance as a man he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross now this word appearance here there's some who argued throughout history that Christ only appeared to be man that's not what this word means it actually means he was man so that's kind of just a quick overview of that the recognized state or form in which something appears namely as a man and that's exactly what he is he is fully man I mean Paul highlights that further in with verse 8 with verse 7 but he said notice he humbled himself we looked at that word last week didn't we that inward disposition that humility is something that is inward not so much outward but the high the the the the the thing that Paul is highlighting perhaps here in a more intensified sense is that again that idea of losing that status losing that Prestige something that he doesn't feel he must grasp but it's done again especially with slaves slaves were supposed to engage in humility slaves were supposed to be the ones who are the lowest of the low and you see in the ancient world the primary currency that they trafficked in was the idea of honor and shame and what was in honor and shame what was it was determined what was honorable by those of the culture and let's and I'll be honest with you being a slave was not the highest of the high but it was the lowest of the low and so he humbled himself and notice further how he humbled himself again I think we need to add the word by here not and he humbled himself how did he do that be by becoming obedient to to the point of death even the death of the Cross John Gil says highlights that Christ's obedience uh uh uh is is not only in his death but in his in his entire life how did he be how did he humble himself by becoming Man by being subject to parents by becoming a carpenter by conversing with the meanest of men washing disciples feet compliance with the god the father's will as Hebrew 5 highlights Hebrews 5 highlights he was tempted and engaged in full Human Experience yet he was without sin in many places we see him hungering and thirsting and weeping and tired and sleepy we've even seen several instances where we see his anguish as he goes before the father in Gethsemane but he obeys the father even there we see his obedience to do what the f God the Father requires of him in a lot of ways we see that great Covenant of redemption in action don't we you see the father uh uh appointed the son to be the savior of his people and the son willingly offered himself to be that Savior for his people that's what Christ does by being obedient in his life but not only being obedient in his life but in being obedient unto the point of death which shows how far Christ uh uh how the measure of which he is willing to be obedient going to the point of death even so much so that he would die the death on the cross talk about being humiliated brothers and sisters talk about utter shame when it comes to the cross one historian writes that at during the Romans times that the cross is for Dangerous criminals or members of the lowest classes he says crucifixion satisfied the Primitive Lust For revenge and the sadistic cruelty of individual rulers and of the masses connected with other forms of torture like flogging and to make matters even worse perhaps sometimes we have seen pictures that we shouldn't see of Christ but nonetheless there is a garment covering his covering him that's not the case brothers and sisters victims were displayed naked and usually in prominent places with most of the men never being buried utter shame and humiliation utter pain and utter torture certainly physically but also mentally as well he's crucified as the lowest of low he is hung out there that we might have everlasting life he has born the punishment and shame that we should that we should have for our sake brothers and sisters and we haven't even got to the wrath of God being poured out on him yet humanly speaking this is one of the worst deaths ever this is the worst death ever not only in the pain that they would feel on his body but also in his in the in in in being humiliated before others as well but not only is he humiliated in front of others not is is a huge sign or a huge evidence of humiliation but but we also see the wrath of God is poured out on him for our sakes we deserve Eternal punishment we deserve Eternal damnation but God bruised him God poured out his wrath upon him the Wrath that you and I deserve for eternity that we might have everlasting life a great evidence of humility brothers and sisters a great evidence of condescension a great evidence of showing that service that servant attitude towards us that we might have everlasting life and very much I think Isaiah 53 is in the background of what Paul is saying here the one we refer to so often and so frequently Isaiah 53 that servant song He Is That Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief and we hid as it were our faces from him he was despised and we did not esteem him surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken Smitten by God and Afflicted but he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon on him and by his stripes we are healed we are like sheep that have gone astray we have turned everyone to his own way and the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all skipping down to verse 10 yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he has put him to grief when you make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand he shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied by his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many for he shall bear their iniquities therefore I will divide him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death and he was numbered with the transgressors and he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors does this humble you brothers and sisters does this bring you low we are thankful for this one who was obedient we're thankful for this King who did come who became a peasant that we might have everlasting life so we've seen the king who came seen the king who died let us look lastly then at the king who is exalted verses 9 through 11 notice the connection between his obedience and his exaltation therefore God therefore God has highly EX exalted him and given him the name that is above every other name and this I think highlights with what back to Isaiah 532 this time verse 13 you see that word for exalted here is another rare word in the New Testament it's only found once here but it's found also in in Isaiah 52:13 52:13 the right Isaiah writes behold my servant shall deal prudently and he shall be exalted be exalted and extolled and be very high you see God has exalted him and given him the name that is above every other name but he did that through resurrecting him raising him from the dead which is what Paul says in Romans chapter 1 he descended he was a descendant of David concerning his son Jesus Christ Our Lord in verse three of chapter one who was born of the seed of David according to the Flesh and declared to be the son of God god with power according to the spirit of Holiness by the resurrection from the dead and because Christ this judicial verdict that is granted to this one you see that the the the God gives him the thing that God the father gives the son what he promised him he exalts him and gives him a name that is above every other name but not only that he gives them a people as well that you and I who are his might have everlasting life you and I that are his might as we as we when we die or when Christ comes we shall experience fully everlasting life but we do that through praising God our King why do we come on Sundays brothers and sisters we come to praise him for his salvation praise him for his work for the things that he has done he's the name that is above every other name the name that has been granted to him you see Christ's name is exalted and it's also exort because every verse 10 that the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on Earth and those under the Earth highlighting the universal scope in which he shall be praised he is the true and living God and he is the one who deserves his praises and I think we can see an Evidence of that in the ministry of the Apostle Paul because Isaiah 45 prophesies the salvation of the Gentiles Paul then speaks about that quotes Isaiah 45 in Romans 14 praising God for the fact the salvation of the Gentiles has come every tribe every tongue will praise His name because it is a difficult phrase to deal with those in heaven those on Earth and those under the Earth but I think it does highlight the universal nature with which he shall be praised and isn't that true in a lot of ways in which we see today many of different tribes and tongues and Nations Pro praising the name of Christ for his crosswork for his Incarnation for his humiliation and exalting him for he is God Almighty as one writer says this name Lord for Paul Lord is a title of majesty reflecting the Regal lordship of the Risen Christ over the living and the dead God made Jesus Lord of the at the resurrection as a consequence of which he now shares with the father over all creation and the right to Universal adoration as Paul says in Ephesians 1: 20 and 21 which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and SE him seated him at his right hand in the Heavenly places far above all principalities and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this age but also in that which is to come we come to church and we see for t of Heaven as we walk along that road to the celestial City we come and experience glimpses of what heaven shall be like we hear God speaking to us through the word we hear we come to sing praises to our God for salvation and it gives us that taste that longing that as we press on in our trials and there are many trials that God almighty this exalted one is carrying us and bringing us home to the celestial City and there we shall Praise Him and and honor him and bow before him and even as we do Bow now hopefully not as often as we should but we praise him and give him honor that is due unto him and as Paul says at the end in verse 11 to the glory of God the Father amen you know what's interesting as we go through this text sometimes we forget that it's an exhortation and he's giving an example don't we I almost feel like Paul is almost forgetting that as he as you see his enthusiasm come out as he perhaps as he's dictating or writing this you see him just getting fired up as he's speaking and and and and and or writing this very thing but we forget that verse 5 is the command that he that that is that then is rooted in the gospel we forget that we see the in the gospel of free and Sovereign Grace this one who humbled himself and that we should have this mind of Christ not for salvation but because we have been saved if you think your humble brothers and sisters look again he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped to be held on to how often do we hold on to our status so much so that we cannot let it go for the sake of others yet he did this for our sake that we might have everlasting life life behold brothers and sisters your humble King well in conclusion then brothers and sisters we have seen this king who came we've seen this king who died and we've SE we see this King who is exalted even now and we should have a similar mind to this one to put on the mind of Christ and I would say today if you are an unbeliever and you do not know the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ believe on this one believe in the life the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ for he truly is your only hope and you shall have everlasting life and you shall experience Joy unending even though there's still trials and suffering in this life when you die or when Christ comes you shall experience everlasting life well let us pray oh Lord Our God we thank you that Christ is the king we we thank you that Christ is the one who Reigns Supreme now we do thank you that he governs all things and as your people we thank you that he saved his people from their sins we pray that you would help us and strengthen us and help us to ponder and meditate on the truth of the Gospel the truth in which Christ Our King though being the form of God did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but he made himself of no reputation oh Father God forgive us when we hold on to our reputation forgive us when we do not humble ourselves forgive us for our pride oh God but help us to always look to our Savior look to our King for he is the humble one he is the humble King may this give us comfort and hope and strength and father God for those that do not know Christ this day may they believe on Christ may they look to this humble King and find everlasting life in him we thank you for these things in the Name of Christ amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation then you're dismissed e