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He then moves to his future plans 
under God, obviously, in verses 19 to 26, where he says it's 
better for him if he departs and is present with the Lord. 
Nevertheless, for him to remain on is going to promote fruit 
in the lives of people like the church in Philippi. And then 
in chapter two, he begins to exhort the people very specifically 
under the auspices of chapter one, verse 27. Notice in 127, 
only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that 
whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your 
affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, 
striving together for the faith of the gospel. So there is his 
introduction in terms of the practical exhortation that he 
wants to give to the church in Philippi, the way they ought 
to live as those blood-bought children of God who have been 
called out of darkness into marvelous light. He starts with unity within 
the context of the church, love, and giving preference to others 
in the context of the church. We see that in chapter 2, verses 
1 to 4. And then in verses 5 to 11, he 
sets forth Jesus as an example. So I've told you many times, 
the primary emphasis in the New Testament is not on Jesus as 
an example. The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 
chapter 1, The Jews seek after signs, the Greeks seek after 
foolishness, or after wisdom rather, but we preach Christ 
and Him crucified. So the primary accent in the 
scriptures is on the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus 
Christ with reference to redemption. There are passages, however, 
that hold forth Christ as an example to be followed, and this 
is one of those passages. So as glorious as the Christology 
is in verses 5 to 11, it's connected very intimately with what he 
has said in verses 1 to 4. So he doesn't say, verses 1 to 
4, I want you to be unified, I want you to love one another, 
I want you to give preference to others. Now that we're done 
with all that, Let's just bask in the glory of Jesus Christ 
and consider Christology. No, that's not it. The connection 
is obvious in verse five, when after giving the exhortations 
in verses one to four, he says, let this mind be in you, which 
was also in Christ Jesus. So Christ serves as an example 
to the people of God to put on the various things that Paul 
says, specifically in verse three, let nothing be done through selfish 
ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others 
better than himself. Let each of you look out not 
only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 
That is exemplified in a glorious way by the work of Christ in 
verses five to 11. It's also exemplified in Timothy 
in chapter 2, verses 19 to 24, and then by Epaphroditus in chapter 
2, verses 25 to 30. So we mustn't forget the context 
as we bask in the Christology, but we mustn't only look at the 
context when we can bask in that Christology. So we have seen 
the divinity of Christ in verses 5 and 6. He is in the form of 
God. and he is equal with God, equal 
with God the Father. And then in verses seven and 
eight, we have the humility of Christ, and that's broken down 
into two parts. First, the incarnation of our 
Lord in verse seven, and tonight, properly, the passion of our 
Lord. And then Paul moves to the exaltation of Christ in verses 
nine to 11. So we'll take up the passion 
of our Lord under the humility of Christ under two statements 
or two heads. the declaration of his humility 
in verse 8a, and then the demonstration of his humility in verse 8b. If you look at your Bibles, you'll 
notice verse 8 in our English Bibles has, and being found in 
appearance as a man. We already dealt with that last 
time. It's connected to verse 7 in the Greek text. So we're 
going to start with, he humbled himself and became obedient to 
the point of death, even the death of the cross. So that's 
the declaration of his humility. He humbled himself. And I think 
one of the things that we ought to observe here is that it was 
voluntary. There was no gun put to the Savior's 
head. And I think in context, that 
helps us to understand verses one to four. Our doing nothing 
with selfish ambition or conceit Is it because pastors or parents 
or spouses are going to yell at us if we don't do that? But 
we do it voluntarily. We see that this is indeed pleasing 
to our Lord. We see that this is conduct worthy 
of the gospel of Christ. We don't need to be compelled 
to do this, but we do it voluntarily because we are about serving 
our blessed God. In terms of the Christological 
nuance in the passage, he humbled himself according to his humanity. You've probably heard me say 
that a lot in our studies in John's gospel. You've heard me 
say it a lot in our studies here in Philippians chapter two. And 
when we refer to according to his humanity or according to 
his divinity, the technical term or the methodology that this 
reflects is what's been called in the church partitive exegesis. There's not gonna be a quiz, 
no test, but this is something that exegetes have seen. There 
are contexts where Christ speaks according to his humanity. the 
ignorant son, for instance, when he says that the son does not 
know the day or the hour, when the son bleeds, when the son 
suffers, when the son dies. That's according to the humanity 
of Christ, according to his human nature. So one person, two natures. There are times we see him act 
according to his divinity, when he breathes the Holy Spirit upon 
the disciples in John chapter 20, when he forgives that paralytic 
of his sins and says, so that you may know that the Son of 
Man has power on earth to forgive sins. And this part of exegesis 
tactic or strategy isn't imposed upon the text, but it comes from 
the text, and especially a text like this. He's in the form of 
God, and he's in the form of a servant. He's in the form of 
God, and he is in the form of a servant. Not two persons, one 
person, one subject, two natures. We call this in theology the 
hypostatic union. So the humility occurs according 
to his humanity, and it draws attention to the glory of Christ, 
this one who is in the form of God, who assumes our humanity 
and is in the form of a servant, humbled himself. And he does 
this voluntarily. And this really goes a long way 
to provoke in us to let this mind be in you, which was also 
in Christ Jesus. If the divine son comes into 
this world, assumes our humanity, and lives in a manner like he 
lived, that should certainly hold sway in the consciences 
of the blood-bought child of God as to how they're to treat 
other people. When it comes to a verse 3 or 
a verse 4, that ought to be something that we bemoan that we don't 
do more, that we lament and we cry out to God for grace and 
we cry out to God for help and for strength so that we can let 
nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness 
of mind, esteeming others better than ourselves, why does Jesus 
do what Jesus does according to verses 5 to 8? He does it 
because he is others-minded, and he has come to save his people 
from their sins. The Son of Man did not come to 
be served, he says, but to serve and to give his life a ransom 
for many. So let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. So the humility of the saints 
is even fortified in what we see here in terms of the Savior. 
Now that then brings us to the demonstration of his humility 
in verse 8b. So notice, after the simple statement, 
he humbled himself, it then goes on to say, and became obedient 
to the point of death, even the death of the cross. So the demonstration 
of his humility. I want to look first at the nature 
of his humiliation, and then secondly, the extent of his humiliation. So notice that the humiliation 
of our Lord Jesus Christ is seen specifically in obedience. So 
notice in verse 80, humbled himself and became obedient to the point 
of death. Obedience is what is punctuated 
here in terms of the humility of Jesus Christ. Obedience. One 
man says the manner and sign of his humility is obedience. 
whereas it is characteristic of the proud to follow their 
own will. For a proud person seeks greatness, but it pertains 
to a great thing that it not be ruled by something else, but 
that it rule other things. Therefore, obedience is contrary 
to pride. The overarching concern by the 
apostle, do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness 
of mind, consider others as better than yourself. And so with reference 
to the humiliation of our Lord Jesus, it is seen specifically 
in obedience. Now, this is the one who was 
in the form of God. This is the one who took on our 
humanity. This is the one who humbled himself 
according to that humanity. And I want to make sure that 
we're clear here, as we've seen this before in our studies in 
John's Gospel. We don't project obedience or 
submission or authority into God as God is in himself. This is not the way to distinguish 
the persons of the Godhead. This has become popular over 
the last generation or two. It's called eternal functional 
subordination of the son. Now, they're not meaning by that, 
that the son, according to his humanity as covenant mediator, 
obeys the father in every jot and tittle of the law. That's 
perfectly acceptable. We put obedience and authority 
in the economy where it belongs. But when we read it into theology, 
we are making a huge mistake. Dare I say, it is heretical. 
There is another school of thought that teaches eternal relations 
of authority and subjection. That what is true of the Father 
and the Son, that we see here on earth, is true of the Father 
and the Son in eternity, as God. Again, many times we have stressed 
the way you see distinction between the persons of the Godhead is 
not eternal relations of authority and submission. It is not eternal 
functional subordination of the Son. It's the eternal relations 
of origin. The Father is unbegotten, the 
Son is begotten by the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from 
the Father and the Son. So when we think authority, and 
we think submission, and we think obedience, we don't map that 
onto God and say that the way that the Son relates to the Father 
in terms of heavenly reality, or God in Himself, we are in 
error. And when it comes to that, what 
the people actually do is they introduce a multiplicity of wills 
in God. If that is true, authority and 
submission is what distinguishes the persons of the Godhead, it 
argues for two wills. You've got to have an authoritative 
will and then a submitting will. And that's not Orthodox Christianity. One power, one substance, one 
eternity, one will. The essential nature, or rather 
the essentialness of the unity of the divine nature. It is at 
stake in this Christological debate. So we don't read what 
happens in the economy into God himself, because then we're going 
to be heretical, and we don't want to be heretical. So the 
Apostle Paul tells us that with reference to the humanity of 
Christ, the form of a servant, he humbled himself and became 
obedient. Now, in terms of this, the entirety 
of his humility, let me just read what I think the text is 
saying. He humbled himself and became obedient to death. Now, 
I think we typically read that he was obedient to death, the 
death that was going to happen. I think it means from the womb 
to the cross, from the entirety of his life, he was obedient. Every jot and tittle, every step 
of the way, he was obedient. When it gets into even the death 
of the cross, that's the extent of disobedience. That's the extent 
of this particular act of humiliation. So the obedience that he renders 
up is according to God's law. And our confession, I think, 
has a wonderful summary statement in terms of God's law. It says, 
God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience written in his heart 
and a particular precept of not eating the fruit of the tree 
of knowledge of good and evil, by which he bound him in all 
his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. So the perpetual obedience, the 
exact and entire obedience, is from his mother's womb all the 
way to the point of death. In other words, the entirety 
of his life was marked by this humiliation, which is seen specifically 
in his act of obedience. Galatians 3 tells us, For as 
many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for 
it is written, Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all 
things which are written in the book of the law to do that. It's 
kind of Paul's point in the book of Galatians. We'll see that 
as Tim moves through Galatians. What does Paul say in Galatians 
chapter five? You who get circumcised, thinking 
there's religion in circumcision, thinking that there's acceptance 
with God via your circumcision, you are obligated or you're a 
debtor to keep the entirety of the law. You don't get to just 
take your best shot at it. Well, I'll obey three out of 
the 10 commandments. I'll obey a few of the ceremonies 
of Moses. Now, the ceremonies of Moses 
seems to be front and center, which was plaguing the people 
of God in the churches in Galatia. But with reference to God's law, 
listen again, Galatians 3, and this is a quote from the Old 
Testament, Deuteronomy, for as many as are of the works of the 
law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed is everyone 
who does not continue in all things which are written in the 
book of the law to do that. That's why we need Jesus, because 
we don't do the works of the law. especially not all of them. I mean, the best Christian, on 
the best day, stands in constant need of Christ's righteousness. It's not that there's ever a 
time where we go, man, I had a really great day. I think sometimes 
this happens with the supper. I had a great week. I've had 
a great month. I think I deserve the supper. 
I hope that's not in our minds. It's all about Jesus and what 
he's accomplished. And Christ was obedient from 
the womb to the cross. The obedience is seen to his 
father as the covenant mediator. But even before that, as a man, 
true humanity in order for him to serve as that mediator in 
order for him to save his people from their sins as a man he had 
to obey the law so with reference to the obedience to his father 
galatians 4 says when the fullness of the time had come God sent 
forth a son born of a woman and born under the law. Why? To redeem those who are under 
the law. So he must obey his father. Every 
jot and tittle of his life, the incarnation of the son necessarily 
placed him under the law. And as man and mediator, he had 
the obligation placed before him to obey that law. Go back 
to Matthew's gospel, where you see the first inkling of this 
in the baptism of our Lord Jesus. Matthew chapter three. Matthew 
chapter 3. You remember the scene? He comes 
to be baptized by the Baptist, and the Baptist says, no, I don't 
think I should be baptizing you, you should be baptizing me. Verse 13, then Jesus came from 
Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And John 
tried to prevent him saying, I need to be baptized by you. 
And are you coming to me? Jesus answered and said to him, 
permit it to be so now for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill 
all righteousness. Then he allowed him. That sets 
the tone of the Savior's ministry. He's got to fulfill all righteousness. 
Notice in John's gospel, you see this accent many times in 
terms of his relation to the Father according to his humanity 
as the covenant mediator, as the one tasked with saving his 
people from their sins. John 4. John 4, specifically 
at verse 34. Well, picking back to verse 31, 
in the meantime, his disciples urged him, saying, Rabbi, eat. 
But he said to them, I have food to eat of which you do not know. 
Therefore, the disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought 
him anything to eat? Jesus said to him, My food is 
to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do 
you not say there are still four months and then comes the harvest? 
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, 
for they are already white for harvest." Notice that. Verse 
32, I have food to eat of which you do not know. They're perplexed. Has anybody given him any food? How does he describe that? My 
food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his 
work. That's a foreign concept, not 
just to these men that were with them, but to us. Can you say, 
my food is to do the will of Him who sent me? Probably not, 
brethren, or else the cross and all of its attendant benefits 
were in vain. If we can do the will of the 
Father who sent us, then we don't need Jesus. Notice in John 5.30, 
John 5.30, I can of myself do nothing, as 
I hear I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not 
seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me." John 
6, verse 38. For I have come down from heaven, 
not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This 
is the will of the Father who sent me, that of all He has given 
me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last 
day. And this is the will of him who sent me that everyone 
who sees the son and believes in him may have everlasting life. 
And I will raise him up at the last day. John eight, specifically 
at verse 29, John eight, 29. And he who sent me is with me. 
The father has not left me alone for I always do those things 
that please him. I always do those things that 
please him. So the humility of our Lord Jesus 
from the womb to his death was always to the father. But there 
was a manward orientation as well. The obedience to human 
authority. If you look at our Lord Jesus 
in his earthly ministry, he continued in subjection to his earthly 
parents. Those weren't perfect parents. Contra Rome, you know, 
Mary rejoiced in God, my savior. She was a sinner that needed 
a savior. They were not perfect people, 
brethren. And yet he submitted to them. He was subject to them 
according to the scriptures. His vocation as a carpenter. 
He was obedient the entirety of his life on the horizontal 
level as well. He didn't lay on the couch and 
say, hey, I'm the Messiah. I'm just going to wait it out 
until I go to the cross. No, he worked. He did what God 
commands in the fourth commandment. It's a command to rest, but it's 
also a command to work. Six days you shall labor and 
do all your work. As well, his humility before 
the disciples, washing their feet, That scene is amazing. He takes off the garment and 
girds himself. Later on, Peter uses a convention 
that seems to suggest that scene when he says, be clothed with 
humility. The implication might be like 
the master when he bent down and washed our feet or consider 
the humble obedience of our blessed Lord with reference to his enemies. With reference to his enemies, 
he tells Peter to sheath the sword. He tells Peter to put 
away that instrument of defense such that he could be arrested 
and be dragged off to the Sanhedrin and then to Pontius Pilate. He 
was obedient. That's what characterized the 
state of humiliation. As well, we have that blessed 
testimony of Simon Peter concerning the Lord. in 1 Peter 2, verses 
21 and 22. Peter says, for to this end you 
were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an 
example that you should follow his steps. And then he cites 
the prophet Isaiah, and he says, who committed no sin, nor was 
deceit found in his mouth. I find that to be an incredible 
statement, not only in terms of the active obedience of our 
blessed Savior, but in terms of the position of Peter. Peter 
was very close to the Lord. Remember? Gethsemane and Transfiguration. It's Peter, James, and John. 
You've heard me say this before. The people that you're closest 
to, you sin the most against. Unless, you know, you're the 
blessed exception. The rest of us slobs, the people 
that we love the most, for whatever reason, we sin the most against 
them. You'd think it would work conversely. 
Peter was intimate with Jesus. Peter is able to say what Peter 
says from the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, who committed no sin, 
nor was deceit found in his mouth. Not once, not ever. It was entire. It was exact. It was perpetual. It was blessed. It is the obedience of our Lord 
Jesus Christ. So when Paul says, let this mind 
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, our Lord, Paul 
is using the biggest example that he can muster to impress 
upon the children of God to let nothing be done with selfish 
ambition or conceit, but to give preference to others, to esteem 
others as better than yourself. The Lord Jesus Christ was obedient 
from the womb to the cross. But then notice in verse 8, we 
see the extent of his humiliation. I think what Paul is doing here 
is amplifying this state of humiliation characterized by obedience from 
the womb to death. But now let's talk about this 
death. It wasn't just an ordinary death. Matthew says concerning the crucifixion, 
far more reproachful than beheading, hanging or burning out of unspeakable 
love to bring us nigh unto God. So notice Paul says he humbled 
himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the 
death of the cross. Now, it was especially humiliating 
in light of the Old Testament. You can just turn to Galatians 
3. There's an Old Testament quotation there, and we should see it. Galatians 3.13, Christ has redeemed 
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, 
for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. 
That's Deuteronomy 21.23. Cursed is everyone who hangs 
on a tree. This was a cursed death. Christ became a curse for us. in order to redeem us from our 
sins. Now, not only was it a cursed 
death, but it was a very shameful death. Turn over to the book 
of Hebrews. I remember reading Charles Spurgeon, 
as you're turning there, Spurgeon says, our artists usually clothe 
Jesus on the cross. Not that I'm an advocate for 
pictures or paintings of Jesus on the cross, but in the history 
of the church, when men have taken brush to whatever that 
thing is they draw on. My ignorance as an artist, that 
thing. The canvas, thank you, yes, very 
good. When they do that, they put a 
cloth on Jesus. That's probably not the way that 
it was. Shame, humiliation, ignominy, 
all of the things associated with that kind of a death. You 
think that bloodthirsty mob of unbelieving Jews wanted to do 
anything less than bring him to utter humiliation? I mean, 
him being a man made himself equal with God. This man's a 
blasphemer. Every bit of shame, every bit 
of humiliation should be thrown upon him. Note what the apostle 
says in Hebrews chapter 12, verse one. Therefore, we also, since 
we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us 
lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares 
us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. 
So what the apostle is doing here is he's exhorting the people 
of God to perseverance. He's exhorting the people of 
God to run with endurance the race that is set before us. He 
first invokes this imagery of an amphitheater filled with witnesses. Now, those witnesses aren't cheering 
on the runners down below. The witnesses aren't, you know, 
going, hey, Jim, you keep running. You keep fighting that temptation. 
You keep resisting that sin. That's not how they're witnessing. 
The witness in a courtroom testifies. These guys, these witnesses, 
men and women, aren't just watching the runners on the field. They're 
actually witnesses. And the witness testimony is 
God is faithful. And if you ask the question, 
who are these witnesses in this amphitheater? Read Hebrews 11. All the godly men, the godly 
women who by faith did what they were supposed to do. That's the 
connection. Therefore, we also, since we 
are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, godly Abel, who 
says God is faithful. Godly Rachel, who says God is 
faithful. Godly Abraham, who says God is 
faithful. Godly all of them, who say God 
is faithful. We've got these witnesses testifying 
concerning the glorious faithfulness of God. That's the first motive. The second is the experience 
of Jesus. Notice. after verse one, verse two, looking 
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy 
that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, 
and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. I 
think at times, if we are operating in the realm of selfish ambition 
or conceit, it feels shameful It feels below us. It feels beneath 
us. It's not dignified for us to 
humble ourselves, eat a bit of crow, confess where we were wrong 
and own it and deal with it. No, we sometimes double down. We get really defensive. We say, 
no, that wasn't me. But that's not Jesus, according 
to this particular statement, looking unto Jesus, the author 
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before 
him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at 
the right hand of the throne of God. So back to Philippians 
2, what the apostle Paul is saying here is that this obedience of 
our Lord, which was indicative of the state of humiliation, 
was from the womb of Mary all the way to his death. But then 
to amplify that or to demonstrate the extent of that, to exacerbate 
it, he says, even the death of the cross, what Christ went through 
on behalf of his people, he endured, he despised, and yet he carried 
on because he counted his father as faithful as well. The blessed 
Savior is the perfect example for those in the church who need 
to be reminded to let nothing be done through selfish ambition 
or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others 
better than himself. Let each of you look out not 
only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 
If you ask the question, what would Jesus do? He'd humble himself. 
How would Jesus deal with this? He'd disarm it. How would Jesus 
deal with this? He would do it without selfish 
ambition or conceit, and he would give preference to others. Well, 
how do we know that? Because that's precisely what 
marked the entirety of his life. Exact. Entire. Perpetual. Every jot and tittle of his life 
was marked by that obedience, which was the great identifier 
of the state of humiliation. So Paul's example here is most 
powerful. It's strong with Timothy, and 
it's strong with Epaphroditus as well. They both illustrate 
or demonstrate certain facets of what Paul enjoins upon us 
in verses 1 to 4, but not like Jesus. And when we set this in 
its larger context, we cannot divorce verse 8 from verses 6 
and 7. Who being in the form of God 
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and 
the Word was God. 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. Paul's following that 
same motif. Notice, who being in the form 
of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. That's 
his John 1.1. And then is John 1 14 is verse 
7, but he 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. It's according to his humanity. 
He humbles himself. And he does so to death, even 
the death of the cross. So in the context, it's the incarnation 
and the passion of the divine son of God. The word became flesh. The incarnation shows us this, 
but the passion highly demonstrates the humility enjoined by the 
apostle upon the church of Christ, such that they do nothing out 
of selfish ambition or conceit. It is a marvelous, stupendous 
example, and as Gill says, put these two together, the form 
of God and the form of a servant, and admire the amazing stoop. Or as Matthew Poole says, upon 
these considerations, how should Christians in mutual love condescend 
to each other? In other words, brethren, what 
Paul is doing here, he's giving us glorious Christology. And 
I'm not sure you could pack as much into, you know, a few small 
verses as the Apostle does. And then you've got commentators 
that come along the way and expound it even more so to show us that 
what we have in the in what we call classical theism, was not 
imposed upon the Bible. It is derived exegetically from 
the Bible, the form of God and the form of a servant. That's 
part of the exegesis. According to the humanity, according 
to his divinity, the one person acts. So when it comes to this 
particular section, the apostle is calling upon us to contemplate 
the Savior. So that our hearts are drawn 
out in love and worship, we should consider the one who is in the 
form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 
but took on the form of a servant. That should just blow our minds 
when we ponder that. but it's also to function in 
such a way as to how we're to deal with one another, how we're 
to conduct ourselves in the context of the local church. Christology 
and ethics are mingled in this beautiful passage by the Apostle 
Paul for our good and for our benefit. Well, in terms of just 
some thoughts in closing, the glory of Christ in his person. 
Again, we need to notice the voluntary nature of his humility. 
The voluntary nature of his humility. Gone to his head. No compulsion, 
no, you know, you must, or I'm going to cut you off. The voluntary 
nature. He humbled himself. As well, 
the definitive expression of his humility, and he became obedient 
to death. The entirety of Christ's life 
is marked by obedience. If you ever really want to see 
what righteousness looks like, it's the 33 years that Christ 
was on this earth. That is righteousness. That is 
obedience. That is what our confession says 
in terms of personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience 
to God's law. This is what Deuteronomy 27 and 
Galatians 3.10 means when it says you must do all the things 
committed in that law. That's a subject for our meditation 
that should cause us to just stand in awe. I would suggest, 
thirdly, the glorious extent of His humility is seen in that 
phrase, even the death of the cross. The extent of His humility, 
even the death of the cross. It wasn't just piecemeal. It 
wasn't just partial. It wasn't just kind of faked. 
No, this is what the Son of God, who assumed our humanity, does 
for us men and for our salvation. And then the obvious doctrinal 
content of his humility is that we see here an emphasis on the 
active and the passive obedience of Christ. Those shouldn't be 
foreign concepts to anybody in this church. Whenever we talk 
about justification by faith alone, we ground it not upon 
our faith plus works, not upon our merit, not upon our thought 
process, but it's on the active obedience of Christ, his positive 
obedience to everything that God had given him to do. And 
then the passive obedience refers to his death on the cross. Passive, 
not meaning that he was an unwilling participant and just sort of 
thrown up there, more probably like passion. It was the death 
aspect of the cross or the ministry of Jesus. Zanke says, there are 
then two parts to his obedience, one that preceded death on the 
cross and the other that included the cross and death. In common 
theological parlance, it's the active and passive obedience 
of Christ. And Paul says it's as a result of that that you 
and I get to go to heaven. Romans 5, 19, for as by one man's 
disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one man's obedience 
many will be made righteous. The entirety of his obedience. 
That broken down in his life in terms of active, that with 
reference to his death in terms of passive. Second Corinthians 
521, Paul says, God made him who knew no sin to be sin for 
us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. 
The twin blessings involved in justification by faith alone. 
Brethren, that's why we eat this bread and drink this cup. That's 
why this is all possible to us tonight. Why it's certain, why 
it's there, why we do this. Again, not a reward for good 
conduct over the last month since the last time. Not necessarily 
don't do it because you had a bad or rough month. No, it's the 
active obedience of our blessed Savior to every jot and tittle 
of the Father's command. It's the passive obedience of 
our blessed Savior, shedding his blood to cleanse us from 
all of our sins and unrighteousness. And not only that, it's the one 
who is in the form of God, who did not consider it robbery to 
be equal with God, who took upon himself our humanity, not just 
our humanity, the form of a servant. I mean, brethren, if it were 
us, we'd take on humanity in the form of a king. I mean, that's what is due us, 
right? We take on the form of a wealthy 
man. We take on the form of a wise 
man. He took on the form of a servant. 
Why? So that he could save us from 
our sins. So that through that passive 
obedience, we would be cleansed in his precious blood. Through 
that active obedience, we would receive that wedding garment 
that fits us and prepares us such that we can enter into the 
presence of a thrice holy God. The stuff of Philippians 2, 5 
to 11, yeah, as the people of God, don't be selfishly ambitious 
and do nothing with conceit, but rather give preference to 
others. All that's true. But this is true because of what 
Jesus accomplished on behalf of the people whom the Father 
had given him. It really is a splendid and a 
marvelous passage. And I want to just end on this 
note with reference to the mind of Christ in the believer. Let 
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Yes, obedience. Yes, humility. Yes, kill the 
selfish ambition and the conceit. But also have this mind in you 
to contemplate the beauties of the Christology and the glory 
revealed to us in verses 6 to 11. You're not going to go to 
heaven because you've mastered no selfish ambition or conceit. You're going to go to heaven 
because he did. You're not going to go to heaven because you always 
give preference to others. And again, I'm not minimizing 
the context and telling you it's okay. you're going to go to heaven 
because of what Christ has done on your behalf. So we need to 
be reminded of that. We need to have this mind in 
us to contemplate the glories of the Savior as set forth in 
a Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 to 11, not so that we can go 
out in sin, but that when we do sin, we remember we have an 
advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ, the righteous. 
He ever lives to make intercession for us. This kind of commitment 
on the part of the Son of God means the kind of stability and 
the kind of peace and the kind of comfort that the people of 
God possess. His oath, His covenant, His blood, 
support me in the whelming flood. It's not my oath. It's not my 
covenant. It's not my blood. It's his. Luther said something to the 
effect, when I look at myself, I cannot see how I could be saved. But when I look at Jesus, I cannot 
see how I could be lost. I love that. That is blessed, 
brethren, so take the supper tonight with that sobriety, with 
that reverence before God, but with the joy of the Lord as our 
strength, that our Savior did what the Savior said He would 
do, has done, and is written about in a book like Philippians. 
May that encourage us May that build us up in our most holy 
faith. May that confirm that faith and strengthen it. May 
it be a means of grace to conduce to our good and for our perseverance 
in the Christian faith. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for this beautiful passage of Holy Scripture, 
truly an amazing passage. We give glory to you, Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit for such a wonderful salvation. We thank 
you that you've made us partakers of this, not because of what 
we were going to do or what you saw that we might do, but according 
to predestination and election and blood atonement wrought out 
by the Savior King. We thank you for the ministry 
of the Holy Spirit who has taken these things and made them effectual 
in our lives. And we thank you that tonight 
we can eat this bread and we can drink this cup and together 
as a church we can proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 
We give all glory and praise and honor to you for so great 
a salvation and we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.