[0:00] Welcome to our services today, and as we come together around the Word of God, we would seek that it would please the Lord to show his favour to us and to bless his Word to us.
[0:20] Let us join together in prayer. Eternal and ever-blessed Lord, as we come into thy presence in this act of worship today, we would seek, O Lord, the grace to enable us to humble ourselves and to acknowledge our sinnership.
[0:49] We give thanks unto thee, O Lord, for the provision that thou hast made for us in thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have boldness and confidence to come into the very throne room of God and to lay out our petitions before thee.
[1:13] We seek, O Lord, the grace of repentance, O that we would sorrow over our sin, that we would turn away from our sin, and that we would come to embrace anew the mercy of God in Jesus Christ.
[1:36] We give thanks unto thee, O Lord, that thou hast manifested thy love to us in sending thine only begotten Son into the world that we might have life through him.
[1:53] O Lord, we pray today that as we come to read thy Word and to meditate upon thy Word, that thy Spirit would enable us in some measure to understand the condescension of thy Son as he came into this world and took our nature unto himself, and as he came into this world and took our nature unto himself, and as he took our sins upon him, and as he died and was buried.
[2:27] O Lord, that we would have some understanding of the depths to which he condescended, as we contemplate upon the heights and the rights and privileges that belong to him in eternal glory.
[2:46] O Lord, we pray that we would see the value of our salvation, and in seeing the value of our salvation, that we would come to appreciate it more and more.
[3:00] And we give thanks unto thee, O Lord, for all the tokens of thy lovingkindness towards us. We give thee thanks, O Lord, that thou hast enabled us to come around thy Word today.
[3:16] And we pray that in everything that we endeavour to do in thy name, that it would be with an eye, that thy known name may be magnified and uplifted and glorified.
[3:32] And so, to that end, we pray, O Lord, that as thy gospel goes forth this day, that it may go forth in the power and demonstration of thy Spirit in convicting and convincing and converting people to thyself, that a people would come to see their great need, and that they would be enlightened to see the insufficiency of the provision that was made in thy Son to meet with that need.
[4:03] We pray, O Lord, that thine own church may be upheld today, that we would grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We pray, O Lord, that we'll see the great privilege that is ours, as those who have come to put their trust in Christ, that we have been adopted into the family of God.
[4:29] O, as thy servant of all said, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.
[4:42] And we give thanks unto thee, O Lord, that those who are thine, and those who have that living hope, that they purifyeth themselves, even as thou art pure.
[4:56] And so we pray today that that sanctifying power may be upon thy word as we come to meditate upon it, that it would indeed set us apart, that indeed it would make us to seek purity, or to seek that we would turn away from our sin, and that we would embrace thee as thou art.
[5:23] And we pray, O Lord, that thou would bless our homes and our families, bless those who are ill, bless those who mourn today. We pray, O Lord, that thine healing and comforting hand may be upon them.
[5:39] Bless us as a nation, we pray thee. O humble us and grant to us that we would come in repentance, that we would come acknowledging our national sins, the sins of our nation.
[5:56] And it would please thee, O Lord, in thy wrath to remember mercy. We ask, O Lord, that thou would bless the gospel as it goes out throughout our land today.
[6:06] And we pray for thy servants who go forth to proclaim thy word, that they may be conscious of the unction of thine own spirit upon them.
[6:17] Enable them, O Lord, to preach the word, to preach the word with confidence and with boldness, knowing that thy word shall not return unto the empty, but that it shall accomplish that for which thou hast sent it forth.
[6:35] We pray, O Lord, that thou would continue with us now, that thy spirit would open our hearts to receive thy word. And all that we ask with the forgiveness of our many sins is in Jesus' name and for his sake.
[6:51] Amen. We shall now read the word of God as we find it in the Gospel of John and chapter 13.
[7:02] And we shall read from the beginning to the verse mark 17. Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.
[7:23] And so had been ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him. Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he was come from God and went to God, he riseth from supper and laid aside his garments and took a towel and girded himself.
[7:46] After that, he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with a towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?
[8:03] Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet.
[8:15] Jesus answered to him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.
[8:27] Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit. And ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him.
[8:40] Therefore said he, Ye are not all clean. So after he had washed their feet and had taken his garments and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
[8:52] Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say, Well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, he also ought to wash one another's feet.
[9:05] For I have given you an example that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
[9:19] If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them. May the Lord bless to us the reading of that portion of his word.
[9:31] Now let us continue with our study in Paul's letter to the Philippians. So let us turn to the Philippians and chapter 2.
[9:42] And we'll read again from verse 5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and been found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
[10:19] And we seek the Lord's help and blessing as we come to meditate upon these words today. The Apostle Paul knew the church at Philippi well because it was the first church that he established in Europe.
[10:40] And in this part of the letter that he wrote to them, he exhorts them to be united as humble servants. We have already noted in our study that Philippi was a Roman colony.
[10:55] And wherever there was a Roman colony established, there was generated a consuming passion to identify individual people publicly according to their social status.
[11:13] Based on their social status, individuals wore different clothing, occupied different seats at public events, and experienced different treatment at the hands of Roman magistrates.
[11:29] The people of Philippi were especially proud to make a public display of their ranks and offices. And Christians in the church at Philippi would have been under great pressure to conform to their own social relations to the mark groups of the surrounding environment.
[11:49] However, Paul's purpose in this letter, and particularly in chapter 2, is to engender or create behaviour among the believers that he deemed appropriate for those whose citizenship is in heaven.
[12:07] He is against the dividing of people into different groups along class lines, and people of upper classes move further and further away from lower classes.
[12:21] Paul is reminding the believers at Philippi that they are citizens of a far greater and infinitely more glorious kingdom than Rome, that they are citizens of heaven, where Christ their Lord and Saviour reigns at God's right hand.
[12:40] Therefore, he insists that they develop or that they create a oneness, a togetherness among themselves.
[12:51] Now, because of this social culture, the congregation at Philippi was in danger of breakdown because of the competitive spirit that was creeping in among the members through strife and self-ambition and vainglory.
[13:14] In verses 1 to 4, Paul urged them to practice humble, self-sacrifice, self-denying service.
[13:28] In verse 6, he illustrates what he meant by pointing to Christ as the model or example of behaviour. The humble mindset that was evident in Jesus must be seen in all those who follow him.
[13:48] The instructions given by Paul in verses 2 and 4 correspond with that exhibited by Christ in verses 6 to 9. Paul urged the church at Philippi to follow the example of Christ, to humble himself.
[14:09] He has already urged them to act in the way that is proper for those who are in Christ, that they are to think about each other as those who have a shared identity in Christ.
[14:21] In other words, become in your conduct and church relationships the type of persons who have the mindset of Christ, who exhibit your shared identity in him.
[14:36] In other words, to have among themselves the frame of mind, the disposition or mindset that he has just described in verse 1 to 4 as those who have the mindset of Christ, they were to develop this attitude by following the example of Christ.
[14:58] In verse 6, as we have already noted in our study, that Paul begins by taking us to consider Christ in his pre-incarnate or pre-human state, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.
[15:18] What Paul is telling us or pointing to us is that the pre-human Christ shares fully in the very nature and essence of God.
[15:29] To borrow from the Nicene Creed, he is the very God of very God. We use the Shorter Catechism to keep ourselves focused, which teaches us that there is only one true living God, but three persons within the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.
[15:55] There is a number of ways by which this can be expressed. We could say, he who had always been God by nature, or we could say, from the beginning, he had the nature of God, or we could say, he was existing in the nature of God, or perhaps we could say, in his deepest being, Christ has the essential nature and character of God, the essential attributes of deity.
[16:25] Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God? Jesus is God, on equality with God.
[16:40] Some suggest that this expression, equal with God, is identical to the phrase, form of God. And there is no doubt that both phrases are closely connected.
[16:52] form of God, and equal with God. It is something that Christ possessed in his pre-human state. It was not something he would achieve, or attain, or gain in the future.
[17:10] Some make this slight distinction, and I think rightly so. Form of God speaks of his essence, or nature as deity, that is, his attributes.
[17:22] Whereas equal with God speaks of the glories, or prerogatives, or rights, or privileges of deity. Form of God refers to deity.
[17:35] Equal with God speaks of the honors, and the privileges, pertaining to that state. who, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.
[17:56] As we have noted last week, this literal rending would be that he emptied himself. What does it mean? Well, as we noted, Christ, in his, being equal with God, had glories, or prerogatives, or rights, or the privileges of deity.
[18:16] He had, he had the rights of being immune from suffering, from pain, and poverty, and so on. But he did not cling to them in a grasping way. He did not regard them as something to be taken advantage of.
[18:31] Instead, he took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. The pre-human Christ, the pre-existent Son, regarded to be equal with God, he did not excuse himself from the task of suffering and dying to bring about our salvation, but actually as uniquely qualifying him for that mission.
[19:03] Thomas Aquinas wrote, he emptied himself not by laying down the divine nature, but by taking human nature. Or, as Augustine says, thus he emptied himself taking the form of a servant, not losing the form of God.
[19:24] The form of a servant was added. The form of God did not pass away. He made himself of no reputation by taking upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and been found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself.
[19:48] This was his pre-incarnate choice. He who was in the form of God, God the Son, equal with God, had all the prerogatives of Godhood, did not cling to them in a grasping way, but made himself of no reputation by taking upon himself the form of a servant, or better, the form of a slave, but not losing the form of God.
[20:18] Now, taking the form of a servant, or a slave, is the same word used in verse 6, form of God.
[20:29] So there is no reason that the terah means anything different here in verse 7 than it does in verse 6. Paul was not saying that Christ possessed the external appearance of a slave.
[20:44] That is, that Christ took merely the outward appearance of a slave, that he looked like a slave, though possibly he could have. Nor was he saying that Christ disguised himself as a slave, but rather he meant that Christ took the nature or characteristic attributes of a slave.
[21:05] In other words, he became a slave, he became a servant, he took the inner substance, the very nature of what it means to be a slave.
[21:19] And in taking that to himself, he brought it to the highest expression. That is what it meant for Christ to be made of no reputation.
[21:33] And slavery in the Roman world meant the lack of rights. A slave in the Roman world was a piece of property to be bought and sold.
[21:45] Slavery denied a person the right to anything, even his own life. And like other people, a slave had no inherent rights. And to ascribe to Jesus the status of a slave was to assign to him a position of greatest humiliation and scorn in the social world of the Philippians.
[22:09] this must have shocked them. To assign to Jesus the position of a slave.
[22:25] Christ was like a slave. He voluntarily became a slave, laying aside that which was his glories or prerogatives or privileges as the Son of God.
[22:41] He veiled all his rights by clothing himself in human nature. As we find stated to us in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 where we read For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich.
[23:09] Now when a rich man becomes poor his manner of existence is changed but not his nature as a person.
[23:20] So that Christ never ceased to be the divine Son of God. Yet he veiled up the riches and prerogatives of heaven for the lowliness and poverty of our life in Palestine.
[23:35] Taking the form of a slave was not God minus but God plus. Perhaps the perfect picture of this is found in the portion of the Gospel that we read today.
[23:52] John chapter 13 which records for us Jesus putting himself in the place of a slave and washing the disciples feet. In the upper room he laid aside his garments and he took a towel and girded himself with a garment of a slave.
[24:10] He entered the world as a slave. A person without advantage with no rights or privileges of his own for the express purpose of placing himself completely at the service of all humankind.
[24:30] Jesus said for even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
[24:41] in the upper room as he sat with his disciples he said for whether it is greater he that sitteth at meet or he that serveth is not he that sitteth at meet but I am among you as he that serveth.
[24:57] He gave up his riches and left the glories of heaven or perhaps I should say he veiled his riches and he descended from the glories of heaven.
[25:11] And his prayer to the father in John 17 he says I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do and now O father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world wars.
[25:27] That glory that was veiled in the days of his humiliation here on earth. Christ taking the form of a slave meant that he became dependent on his father and the power of the Holy Spirit.
[25:46] He said as recorded in John chapter 5 I judge and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. In John chapter 14, he says, Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Peter in his sermon as recorded in Acts chapter 2 says, Ye men of history, you'll hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know.
[27:08] Christ taking the form of a slave meant that he, as we already noted, became poor. He said, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath nowhere to lay his head.
[27:25] He puts himself voluntary into the circumstances wherein people mocked him, they spat on him, they made fun of him. He was treated with rote-ness and contempt. His glory was veiled and he was despised and rejected of men. They saw no beauty in him that they should desire him. He was a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness, in the words of the prophet Isaiah.
[27:55] But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.
[28:11] He was made in the likeness of men, which immediately suggests a beginning or becoming of men. It marks the assumption of something new. Jesus became something he had not previously been.
[28:30] In the words of John, the word became flesh. As we have already noted, he added a human nature to his divine person, so that in accordance with our catechism, he had two distinct natures.
[28:48] That is, a divine nature and a human nature, but he remained one person forever. He was not part man and part God, not a mixture of both.
[29:05] But two distinct natures, but one person. As Anathenae says, he became what he was not, he continued to be what he always was.
[29:20] He became what he was not, but continued to be what he always was. And the method by which this was achieved, of course, was by a miraculous conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
[29:42] In Galatians chapter 4, Paul wrote, Luke records for us what the angel said to Mary.
[30:00] Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favoured with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
[30:14] He shall be great, and shalt be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever.
[30:27] And of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be?
[30:38] Seeing I know not a man. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, And the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
[30:57] Think of the marvel of all this. The eternal Son of God became the earthly Son of Mary. He became the last Adam.
[31:12] Whereas the first Adam had a beginning, but no birth. The last Adam had a birth, but no beginning.
[31:25] Christ took everything that is involved in becoming truly human except sin. From the moment of his conception, everything about his humanity fell with the normal natural parameters.
[31:41] He developed normally inside his mother's womb. His development took about nine months. And when he was born, his mother felt all the birth pains. And he was born just like any other baby.
[31:56] Although eternally he was God and remained God, he became man. He had a human body. He had a human soul.
[32:08] He had a human mind. He had a human will. He grew up just like any other normal boy. Luke writes, Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man.
[32:22] He grew from being a baby to childhood to teenager to adulthood. He had to learn to walk and talk.
[32:34] He, like any other human baby, was dependent on his mother to be washed and fed. He was hungry. He was tired. He was thirsty.
[32:44] He even asked a Samaritan woman on an occasion, Will you give me a drink? He experienced a whole range of human emotions. Love, anger, sorrow, joy, compassion and many more.
[33:01] There is no record in the Bible that Jesus ever smiled or laughed. But I think it would be ridiculous to suggest that he never did either.
[33:14] John Calvin says, Those who imagine that the Son of God was exempt from human passions do not truly and seriously acknowledge him to be a man. I think it would be ridiculous for us to think that Jesus never smiled or laughed.
[33:32] But there is not simply the physical and emotional life of Jesus, but also his spiritual life. He was tempted in every way just as we are tempted.
[33:46] We sometimes confine this to his confrontation with Satan in the desert. But it is interesting what Luke writes.
[33:59] And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. Jesus was tempted throughout his life, just as we are.
[34:12] He was a man who became dependent on prayer. Hugh Martin says that prayer is a confession of weakness and of insufficiency, which illustrates the true nature of his humiliation.
[34:31] He attended public worship. He studied the Bible. He also had all the sinless limitations that belonged to us.
[34:42] There were things he did not know. For instance, he did not know about his second coming. Mark records those words of Jesus when he said, But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
[35:02] Remember how he asked the father of a demon-possessed boy, how long has he been like this? There were limitations to his human knowledge.
[35:18] Oh, the marvel of his condescension. He who was truly God became truly man and remaining truly God.
[35:34] In the person of Jesus Christ, we have the God-man. One person with two distinct natures, so that one person can be infinite and finite, omniscient and ignorant, omnipotent and powerless.
[35:56] The marvel of his condescension. He who'd been in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.
[36:16] Now, all I want to say before we move on is that although Christ took unto him human nature, it was a nature that was sinless. A nature that was sinless.
[36:30] David says in Psalm 51, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. That was never true of Christ.
[36:43] He could not utter such words. Paul wrote to the Romans and said, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh.
[36:56] He was like our sinful nature, but his nature was not sinful. He was like our sinful nature in the points that we have already noted. Although he could not utter those words of David, he could say that it's make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts, as he was fed by his mother like any other baby.
[37:18] He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, but without sin. He took upon him the form of a slave and was made in the likeness of men and been found in fashion as a man.
[37:32] He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. But to those who looked at him, he was in fashion as a man.
[37:42] All they saw was the appearance of a man, and that was all. What they saw was an ordinary man. They saw nothing to distinguish him physically.
[37:55] There was no sign of his unique divine status. All they saw was that which was ordinary. He was a man in poverty. He was a man who was homeless.
[38:08] He was frail. He was not exceedingly popular. He was rejected by the religious elite of the day. No one was able to see the deity that was sitting beneath the veil of his humanity.
[38:22] It required faith to see beyond the veil an appearance of humanity. Previously, we saw the decision of the pre-incarnate Christ.
[38:36] Now Paul brings before us the decision of the incarnate Christ. He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
[38:52] What the catechism teaches us is that we are not to confine Christ's humiliation simply to the act of incarnation, although the incarnation was an act of humiliation.
[39:31] But his humiliation continued in his status as man. So we read that he humbled himself and became obedient unto death. His whole earthly life was a life of continuous humiliation.
[39:45] His humiliation. His humiliation. His humiliation was manifested in his obedience. To whom was he obedient?
[39:57] Well, verse 9 makes it plain to us that he was obedient to the one who exalted him, that he was obedient to God. In John chapter 6, Jesus said, For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
[40:16] John chapter 8, The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him. And as he made his way from the upper room with his eleven disciples, he said, As the Father gave me commandment, even so I do, Arise, let us go hence.
[40:34] He could honestly say, I have kept my Father's commandments. I have been obedient to my Father's commandments.
[40:46] I have been obedient to the work that the Father hath given me to do. And to what point was he obedient? Unto death, even the death of the cross.
[40:59] The human nature of Christ was mortal. He was able to die. But as we have already noted, it was unfallen human nature.
[41:12] He was sinless. When we are conceived, as we have already also noted in the words of David, we are conceived with a fallen nature.
[41:23] We come into this world as sinners. But that was not true of Christ. He had a true human nature, but not fallen nature. His human nature was weak because he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, not weak because he possessed a fallen human nature.
[41:44] There is no indication that death was inevitable for Christ. All men die whether they want it or not, because death is the wages of sin.
[41:56] Yet death was not inevitable for him in his humanity, and that it was unfallen human nature. Perhaps you can say that it was like Adam before he sinned, for he had unfallen human nature.
[42:13] But there was this that we can note, Adam became disobedient unto death. Christ, however, obeyed unto death. Now, this was not possible for anyone else, to be obedient unto death, except for Christ alone.
[42:36] Paul wrote for us, one man's disobedience, many were made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. But it was not just a common death, but the death of the cross.
[42:54] And for the judge at Philippi, Paul's remarks must be extremely striking, because crucifixion was considered a barbaric form of execution of the utmost cruelty.
[43:09] It was a form of execution reserved for rebellious foreigners or violent criminals or robbers. It was considered the typical punishment of slaves.
[43:22] It was a death to which the law had uttered a curse. There we read in the law of Moses, And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree.
[43:40] But thou shalt in any wise bury him that day, for he that is hanged is accursed of God, but the land may not be defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
[43:52] Reminding us that Jesus did not die a gentle death, but that he died as a slave. He died as a communal criminal in torment on a cross of shame.
[44:10] His death was not a gentle death, but he died in torment on a cross of shame. But let us remember that his death was substitutionary.
[44:27] Christ's death was vicarious. It was for others, for he did not need to die for himself. But Christ taking our place, substituting himself for us in his death on the cross, he paid the penalty that was due to our sins by taking our sins upon himself and suffering what those sins deserved.
[44:53] Paul, in the second letter to the Corinthians, chapter 5, says, For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
[45:04] In Isaiah, chapter 53, brought to us there is the nature of Christ's death. In these words, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
[45:21] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
[45:32] All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
[45:44] Christ, the eternal Son of God, the very God of very God, took to himself a true human nature and surrendered his divine rights, veiled his personal glory, and lived his life on earth as a man in total dependence on the Father and the Holy Spirit.
[46:08] He died like a slave or a criminal in torment on a cross. There were moments of anguish that tore his soul when he was almost overwhelmed by the thought of it all.
[46:24] In the Garden of Gethsemane, three times he prayed, O my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.
[46:39] When Philip took the Greeks to see him, we are told that Jesus said, Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour.
[46:51] There was a time when his sweat dropped like blood and when there were tears in his eyes. The writer to the Hebrew tells us, who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him, that was able to save him from death.
[47:16] Jesus' supreme example of selflessness and obedience should lead and encourage believers to abandon their self-serving attitudes.
[47:30] This was quite radical and a great challenge for the church at Philippi. People who were so proud of their Roman citizenship and the quest for public honour which dominated their behaviour priorities, and Paul now sought to challenge their social world with a radically alternative set of behaviour and attitude which was shown to them in the humiliation of Jesus Christ.
[47:58] Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. to put this into practice was never going to be easy for the behaviour required of the Christians at Philippi and of me and you go completely opposite to the values of this world.
[48:25] It goes completely opposite to what we are by nature. Paul was teaching the church at Philippi that Jesus Christ is a perfect example of humbleness and servitude.
[48:42] Never has anyone nor will anyone again surrender so much to become so low. Jesus took on manhood even the form of a slave so that he could bear our sin and receive his just punishment in his own body.
[49:02] Die the death of a criminal for the purpose of providing salvation to sinners like me and you if we trust in him. And Christ is the perfect example for all believers of being a humble servant to one another.
[49:21] And believers should strive to develop this mindset. That is what Paul is impressing upon the church at Philippi and impressing upon me and you that we should strive to develop this mindset of being humble slaves to one another.
[49:41] To serve one another. Realise that the ultimate reason that Jesus became a man was to bear our sin and die on the cross for sinners.
[50:00] Yes, much else was done by Jesus of which we read in the Gospels. But at the heart of his coming and taking our human nature was this purpose to bear our sin and to die in order that I and you could have life.
[50:18] What an amazing truth. the eternal Son of God condescended from the glories of heaven and took our human nature for one ultimate prevalent and central purpose to bear the sin we have committed and to die the death that we deserve because he knew that only in this way would we sinners be saved.
[50:48] he came and went to the cross for others and let us as his followers show the same dedication and the same dedication and service and love and mercy and forgiveness to one another.
[51:09] Oh, he says, let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
[51:21] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.
[51:38] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord our God, we acknowledge and confess that we have finite minds that cannot in any way measure the amazing truth that has been set before us today, the truth of thy condescension, from the glories of heaven to the very depth of a curse of death.
[52:23] O Lord, grant to us that we may in some measure in accordance to our finite minds see the amazing love of God God in sending his son to be a sacrifice for sin so that we could have life, that we could have salvation, that we could be redeemed from the slavery and the bondage and what our sins deserve.
[52:57] O true are the words of thy servant of old who said we love him because he first loved us.
[53:09] And may we, O Lord, have an understanding in some measure of how far that love was willing to go in order that we would be saved.
[53:27] O how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? For here in his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and that he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins.
[53:46] And if thou, O Lord, loved us to such a measure, to such a depth, we ought also to love one another.
[53:58] Bring us into that oneness and togetherness that we have in our shared identity in Christ. O Lord, go before us today.
[54:09] Bless thy word to us in our meditation upon it. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forever more.
[54:23] Amen. Amen.