Amen. Well, as we focus on the scriptures this evening, our meditation will be based on verses 6 through 8, but we want to see them, those verses, in the larger context. So please give attention as I read Philippians chapter 2, beginning at verse 1. If there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit. But in humility, count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus." And now the two leading thoughts of these verses, Christ emptied himself, and Christ humbled himself, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. but emptied himself. By taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. There is a teaching that is based on these words that says that when Jesus came, when he became a man, what he did in this emptying was that he emptied himself of all of his deity so that he ceased to be God. Of course, this is a wrong and heretical notion, but just to make it plain what is going on, follow with me on the screen and see something of the key words, the key verbs of the text. Christ emptied himself. And oftentimes when we think of humiliation, we think of going without or subtracting something from me. But here, It is Jesus is lowering his divine reputation. And how did he do it? Not by taking something away from his deity, but adding things to his deity that in a sense cloaked or hid something of his glory. This making himself of no reputation comes as he takes the form of a slave, as he is born in the likeness of men and as he is found in human form. So very simply under this emptying himself, Jesus is taking a huge step in condescension, a huge step in humiliation as he becomes a man. But then our passage goes on. The middle part of verse 8 says, he humbled himself. Now it's not simply the humiliation of being a man, it's the humiliation of what he did as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. even death on a cross. Some refer to this as the double humiliation of the Lord Jesus. He made himself of no reputation, leaving heaven and becoming a man. It is low enough, we might think, for him to be a man. But he went further. He further humiliated himself by going to that Roman cross and being crucified as he was. And then the next verb comes along. Therefore, God has highly exalted him. So I trust as you see it on this screen, you'll be able to see it in the flow of our thought this evening. So join with me if you care to use the handout sheet. We're looking now at Roman number one. Our Lord's humiliation in his incarnation. And we start here with A, the Son's pre-incarnate glory. His pre-incarnate glory. We're starting in verse six, though he was in the form of God. This is the state that Jesus was in from eternity past. As long as there was the Father, there was the Son and the Holy Spirit. In eternity past, they all were co-equal in their glory as God. And as such, the first part here of verse 6, he was in the form of God, the appearance of God, the essence of God. From eternity past, Jesus was truly God. Think of the words of Jesus in John 17 and verse 5. And now, Father, towards the end of his life, and now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. There was a glory in heaven. He humbled himself coming to earth. He was going back to heaven and looking forward to that share of glory. He was the invisible God. This was seen in the Transfiguration, where before Peter and James and John, the Lord Jesus was wonderfully changed before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And so it's very plain in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus that he did not get rid of his deity. It is humiliation by addition, joining true humanity to himself. Secondly, B, consider with me the son's pre-incarnate disposition, his disposition, his attitude, what his perspective was. Now we're looking at the latter part of verse six. Who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. When you grasp something, you've got a hold of it, and you don't want to let go of it. Jesus, out of love, said, there's something more important to me. It's more important that I go as the redeemer of humanity, and so I am willing to let go of myself as simply being God. What a statement. Simply being God. but he was going to join true humanity to himself. So equality with God the Father was something that Jesus already possessed. It wasn't that he was grasping after something that he did not have. Sometimes we can do that. But this is Jesus being willing to give up something that he already possessed. Remember the words of John 1. John 1 in verse 1. In the beginning was being the Word, and the Word was being with God, and the Word was being God. He already possessed this. It's not that he was grabbing hold of something that was not rightfully his. With the language of Romans 9 and verse 5, of whom are the fathers and from whom according to the flesh Christ came. who is overall the eternally blessed God. He possessed deity and he did not regard that deity as something that he had to hang on to and had to avoid becoming a man. But then notice that this equality in glorious form is not graspingly retained. Imagine the British kingdom being at war, and it is needed that the Queen should get a message to her leading generals who are there on the battlefield. And she has to go take the message. And in order to do this, she needs to take her crown off, all of her other jewels, she needs to dress, in the clothing of a servant woman so that she can get to the front line to get to these generals and to bring them a message from herself. This is something of what Jesus does in an infinitely smaller way. He puts on the clothes of a bondservant. Now thirdly, C, notice the son's condescension. This is from verse 7 through the first part of verse 8. But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men. He emptied himself. He emptied himself. He humiliated himself. The New King James renders this, made himself of no reputation. The word itself means emptied. But the new King James, knowing that there are those who want to say that the emptying is an emptying of his deity, countered that and said, well, no, it's an emptying as he made himself of no reputation. When you looked at Jesus, you didn't see him as God. When you looked at Jesus, you saw him as humanity. You saw his glory being hidden. So it is an emptying, this is a little number one, the emptying of himself, the making of himself into no reputation. Once again, it does not mean emptied of his deity. Peter said, after being with him for those years, who are you? Who am I? You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Positively, what does it mean? If it's not a subtraction of his deity, what does it mean? Well, it means that when Jesus came, he was born of a woman. He looked like a typical human baby. When Jesus came out of the womb of Mary, no one would think that they were on Mount Sinai when there's thunder and there's lightning and there's a sense of God's presence, no. It was a helpless baby, but a true human. So when Jesus came to earth, there was nothing that was flashing in lights that this is the God of heaven, other than perhaps the angels and their message. So little number two, the main verb is emptied, and now two, three, and four are participles that fit under that. by taking the form of a servant, his condescension to slave form, by taking the form of a servant, being in the likeness of men. Here is a radical exchange, or at least a radical cloaking, of the form of God, his deity. Jesus, though the ruler of the universe, the creator of the universe, appears in the old worn-out coat of a slave. Number three, here we're looking at his true humanity being born. being born in the likeness of men. Here's the message of John 1 in verse 14. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we've seen His glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. He is truly God. but he's appearing here in the flesh, he's appearing as man. Here again, it is humiliation by addition. He is condescending, he is emptying himself, but he is joining to himself the likeness of men. When Jesus came, we could look at him in the language John 4 in verse 6. Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. What an amazing statement to make of one who is truly God. He was wearied from walking a few miles. the God who spoke the universe into existence. And then Matthew 8 and verse 24, and there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. Now, if we look at what happens just a little bit later, and he speaks and he calms the sea, you would see, well, his deity is breaking forth. But before that miracle, when he is asleep on the back cushion of their boat from extreme weariness, it's not exactly a picture of deity. He is truly God, but he has joined to himself this true humanity. And then fourthly, and being found in human form, being found in human form, the first phrase of verse eight. Here's, again, his condescension to simple humanity. You look at him, who is this? And unless you really know him well, unless you knew his miracles, you would say, well, he looks like a man. So the emptying of himself by addition. taking the form of a bondservant, being born in the likeness of man, and being found in the appearance as a simple man. Roman numeral two. Our Lord's humiliation in his crucifixion. So there we have in our first point, the first level of his humiliation. He's there in heaven, he's there sharing eternal glory with his father. And he comes and he's born of the Virgin. He comes down. He looks like a mere man. But now there is another level in his humiliation. Once he's a man, once he's the true human, then he drops even lower. So, Roman numeral 2, a Lord's humiliation in his crucifixion. Consider, first of all, the reality of his further humiliation. Verse 8, being found in the human form, he humbled himself by being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. It is not enough for him to empty himself and join to himself true humanity. Now notice with me, secondly, B, the reason for this further humiliation, the reason for his further humiliation. Well, he was doing so because this is the arrangement of the father and the son. We saw in Sunday school. something of God's sovereignty over everything. And Mike was leading us in this study to see how Charnock was laying out God's sovereignty in the realm of the Redeemer. the realm of God the Son coming to save us from sin. And we think of a passage like Isaiah 49 and verse 6, where the father speaks and says, you're going to be my servant. And as my servant, you're going to be useful in bringing salvation, not just to the Jews. That would be too small a thing. but I'm gonna use you as my servant to bring my salvation, to bring gospel light to the ends of the earth. That can only be Jesus. And then in Isaiah 53 and verse six, what are the terms? of Jesus coming and winning our salvation. Well, all we like sheep have gone astray. That's what we contribute, our sin, our going astray. But then God takes that going astray, the guilt of it, and lays on Him all of our iniquity. And then a few verses later, Isaiah 53 and verse 10 and 11, Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him, to bruise him. He has put him to grief when his soul makes an offering for guilt. He shall see his offspring, he shall prolong his days, and the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Evidently, Paul Washer was invited to come and preach evangelistically, I think it was every weeknight. And after, for the first night, he spoke on this passage, spoke of how the Father bruised the Son. And after that first night of preaching, they contacted him the next day and said, the other nights of preaching have been canceled. They were offended. that he would speak of the gospel, the true gospel, the biblical gospel, in these terms, that the father had to repay Jesus with punishment for their sin, that he used the language of bruising the Lord, the father bruising the son. That's the language of the text. He bruised him. He crushed him. And if you have a guilt offering, And whenever an Israelite would have a guilt offering, that animal's neck would be slit. Its life is taken out for it. And there's the symbolism. That sacrifice dies so that you can stay alive. And Jesus died in the place of his people. And yet this amazing language in the latter part of Isaiah 53 in verse 10, he shall see his offspring. Dead sacrifices don't typically see too much. but he will see his offspring. He's going to be successful. He shall prolong his days. The will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. And on to verse 11, out of the anguish of his soul, he shall see and be satisfied. Jesus is going to go through the whole thing and say, amen, good, that was worth it. to bring many sons to glory. By His knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. So the reality of his further humiliation becomes a man, then goes lower, and the reason for it, well, it's a humiliation, one thing to be a man, and it's another thing to be put to death as a sacrifice for someone else's sin. Thirdly, see the extent. of his further humiliation. The extent of it, well, it's given to us there in the language of the text. He humbled himself, verse eight, by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So Jesus, as a truly human, as a perfect, in perfect humanity, dies. The God-man dies, of course, not in his Godhead. That cannot be. But the God-man dies in his humanity. The Son of Man comes from his throne of heaven to the manger. But that's not low enough. He needs to go on to the crucifixion. But then this language of the text, even the death on a cross, it points to the disgrace and the torture of crucifixion. The crucifixion being reserved for non-Roman citizens, for those who are criminals. A death for slaves and criminals, nails through the wrists, nails through the feet, the whipping that is associated with it, but be careful, don't damage any of the internal organs because we want to keep them alive in order to suffer for a period of days. Cicero, the Roman senator, said that the existence of crucifixion is a blemish and a shame on Roman culture. that you could design something for the suffering of men like this. So Jesus is killed as the vilest criminal in all of Palestine, the worst sort of death that could be brought to him at that time, and this for no cause in himself. He was absolutely perfect, free from sin. Roman numeral three, lessons. Lessons from our Lord's deep humiliation. First of all, marvel that the Son of God is willing for self-sacrifice. Marvel that the Son of God is willing for self-sacrifice. The Son of God was there sharing the glory of the Father and the Spirit There was nothing to perturb them. There was no sin. There was no humanity to go astray. It's just God. But thank God that Jesus is touched with the feeling of our infirmity. Praise God that our God is a God of love and a God of grace. And Jesus was willing to come. Now it's true that the father sent him, the father commissioned him, the father gave him command, the father gave him work to do. But the son stepped forward and says, I delight to do your will. Jesus comes as the God-man, 2 Corinthians 8 and verse 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich. Marvel that the Son of God is willing for self-sacrifice. None of us probably have that kind of capacity to give of ourselves in that kind of way. Secondly B. Marvel. Marvel at Jesus Christ's beautiful life of self-sacrifice. Is there a more beautiful human life than that of the Son of God? No. He endures great pain himself to bring immeasurable happiness and joy to others, those who are his sheep. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, for our sake, he, the Father, made him, the Son, to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in Him, the Lord Jesus, we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Our sin goes to Him at the cross. His perfect righteousness comes to us as we believe in the Lord Jesus. So what are your goals in life? What do you hope to do? What great things do you hope to accomplish? You want to be someone really popular? Somebody really influential? You want to amass a great fortune? Those plans are all about self, aren't they? But Jesus' plans are just the opposite. He had everything. He was rich. but he made himself poor for us. Whatever it is that you would hope to accomplish with your life, it pales in comparison to what Jesus has already done. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 14. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this, that one has died for all. Jesus has died for all his people. Therefore all have died, have died in him. And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised. To remember how Philippians 2 begins, it's humility. That we need to view others as more important than ourselves. And then, here's Christ's death. His double humiliation. Out of heaven to the manger. Once in the manger, on to the death, the Roman death of the Roman cross. Regarding others as more important. What a powerful example the Lord Jesus Christ is and what a powerful motive for us in some way to begin to look upon others as more important than ourselves and seek to serve them for the glory of God. We come to the table this evening, and as we take that bread, we are feasting on the broken body of Christ as we take that blood. We are taking the shed blood of Christ, symbolically, yes, but we are taking it and saying, I am willing to walk in the ways of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pledge myself to the terms of the new covenant where I will live for God and God will get glory through my life. Let's pray. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your wonderful condescension Thank you for your willingness to take on this amazing double humiliation. We don't know how far it is for you to come down, Lord Jesus, to join true humanity to yourself, to come from the throne room of heaven to the manger there in Bethlehem. And we would think that such humiliation, far more than what we could ever even conceive of, such humiliation ought to be enough. But it was not enough for our salvation. And you, Lord Jesus, were willing to be further shamed to die, and to be shamed to die in that death on a Roman cross. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for this. We pray that you would take these words of this passage and write them on our hearts. We pray, Lord, that you would help us as we come in moments as believers to partake of these elements. As we take these elements to our lips, we pray that our minds would be caught up with these great truths. and from the depths of our souls that we would be desirous of bringing great glory to you by living humble lives for your glory. Work in us, Father. Work in us, Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for what you have done in our behalf. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.