I invite you to turn this morning in your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2. We're continuing our reflections and study in the book of Philippians this morning, and we come to this, like I said, great chapter. We'll be looking at the first 11 verses of Philippians chapter 2. You know we have built to this point in looking at this call of the struggling church in Philippi that was struggling with priorities, but struggling with their mission and all sorts of external problems and internal problems. And now Paul moves us right to the heart of it in chapter two to look at the humility of Jesus. So we're going to be reading these first 11 verses. So if there's 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 to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 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 the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And there will end today the reading of God's wonderful word. It was Charles Spurgeon who once said, don't go creeping into your subject, first to the ankles and then to the knees, as some preachers do, but plunge into it at once over head and ears. That is the easy way to get the attention of the people. Don't spar at them, but hit out boldly straight from the shoulder. What he meant was stop with all the fluff. Get to the heart of the meaning of the text right away. go after it and that's what will help people to understand exactly what's happening and will engage their mind. So I don't want to waste time doing that today. I don't want to fill this in. I want to jump right into this. It's really one of the most glorious texts in all of the Bible. It is just a wonderful, wonderful passage to be able to preach. It's one of those passages that you fear that in preaching you will do such a disservice because it's so glorious and magnificent that your words might take it down a notch from what it actually is saying but here we are today after we're moving through this glorious book of Philippians so far about the pursuit and the way that the Christian is to look at life that's what we've been working through haven't we we have a whole different way of looking at the things that happen in this life we have a whole different way of handling ourselves at least we're called to in the way and the things that come upon us. The church itself was facing external persecution and opposition and they were falling apart internally because of it. And we've been able, what a book for the moment in our day. With all this external pressure and everyone worried about the future and everyone thinking about is persecution coming for Christians and look how the culture has changed. We're in the midst of a revolution. what are we going to do? How are we going to survive? How are we going to make it in the midst of all of this? And Paul goes after this thought. It's the worry, it's the fret, it's the anxiety which he's going to address in chapter 4. There's a reason he's saying don't be anxious for anything. All those things take us off mission. All those things move us away from the calling that the Lord has given us. And Philippians is helping us with this. Philippians is giving us such a perspective. And today, now he goes after the heart of it all. It really is the application to the gospel. That's really what this passage is. In fact, if you think I'm pressing that too far, I'm simply ripping off B.B. Warfield's titles. Titles are not really copyrighted. imitating the incarnation. That's B.B. Warfield who did that. This passage is about imitating the incarnation. This passage is about us looking at Jesus coming down to this earth, taking on the form of a slave, and imitating it. That's what he's calling us to. That's the main point Paul's after here. In fact, that's what drives this book, is the heart of right here in chapter two, to look at Jesus in the incarnation and then say, that's what the Christian life looks like. Well, we should know that. What is a Christian but a Christ follower? What is a Christian but somebody who's made back into his image? And that's what we're looking at today, to have the call to have the same mind that Jesus had. A mind that is yours, says Paul. That's one of the gifts. A mind of Jesus. And that's what the Christian is. That's what we're called here to do, is to imitate Jesus. So we're going to be looking at this example of Christ here. I'm going to start there today in this text. And then we're going to circle back to what Paul's doing with the application of it all and end on a great note of encouragement with the resurrection. So that's where I want to start. It's really to look at the example of Christ that is here. And again, when you talk about examples, we're not just talking about only some kind of moral hero for us. We know when we're talking about examples that Jesus did the ultimate sacrifice to actually pay for sins. Nobody in following the example of Christ is paying for sins. So it's important to say that up front. But still, this is a very important passage to have us think about what the mind of Jesus looks like in us. That's what this is about. And it's really helping us because Paul is somewhat answering the question here that we've been wrestling with in the book of Philippians. How did Jesus look at things when he was on earth? How did he handle things when persecution came upon him? When governing authorities, that fox Herod, came at him? How did Jesus look at things? How did he handle the things that came upon him? And they say that this was, at least in many of the ancient writers, one of the ancient creedal hymns that was sung to keep this truth so powerful before them in the early church. And this is what really comes, and that's why the language here is somewhat interesting and complex. It's not difficult to understand, but some of the translation nuances, it can be difficult to sort of see exactly what is being said here. But I want you to notice this imperative that's given in verse 5. Notice verse 5 to begin with. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. Now that's an interesting way to say it. He calls us to have the mind that is actually the gift that is given to you of the mind of Jesus. This is your mind as a Christian. So you need to engage this. This is one of the gifts that God has given you as his child. This is a work of the Spirit in you. To have a certain kind of mind that is a gift from God. And you need to have it. You need to use it. You need to embrace it. You need to love it. It's a beautiful message that's being given here. The words are somewhat challenging here in the original. We have this word morphe. I don't typically use Greek words, but I want you to look carefully at the text as we work through this. Paul is here applying something in verse 6. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God. He's talking about a reality. So in other words, to say it very plainly, Paul is speaking of the being or the essence of God. Who knows what that is? We only can talk about that. The being or the essence, characterized in his holy attributes. Here, notice what he's saying. Whatever the being or the essence of God is, Jesus is. That's what he's saying. Jesus is. Many translations have correctly translated this, I believe. Jesus being in the very nature God. That's correct. Being in very nature, very essence, he is God. From here he goes, and notice what he says, as true God, he possessed the fullness of the divine essence. He's God. That's what he's saying here. It's a really plain statement about his divinity. He had a divine nature from eternity. We don't compartmentalize in the Trinity. Jesus is truly God. Truly God. So notice how he begins to think and reason here to help us understand this. Being in very nature God, form, nature, he's talking about. Now comes to the second part in verse 6. Who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. Now, that's not talking about us grasping anything. You have to listen to exactly what he's saying there. I always like to, because so many of you were raised on the King James and spent time in the King James, and some of the older translations use robbery here. It's interesting that robbery would come into this, or where some of the translations would say did not account it to be robbery. But that's not quite correct either. What he means is this. When Jesus came to this earth, when Jesus assumed a human nature, he did not grasp or hold on to that equality with God selfishly for his own gain apart from the divine will. He didn't grasp it that way when he walked on this earth. He didn't come down here and parade the fact that he is truly God in a way that would take him, the glory to him, away from the divine mission that he had to glorify his Father in the salvation of you. That's one of the reasons I think Jesus so seldomly I mean sometimes we come up and say why didn't Jesus just openly say he's God one of the great reasons I think is given right here he said it to those think about the the needy and the humble and those who needed salvation but notice that that when Jesus was on earth he wasn't out and about parading himself that way he wasn't out and about showing off that way it's really kind of a an amazing thing to to think about. You know, Jesus didn't grasp that equality with God for his own advantage, is really what Paul's saying here. Even though he was in all of his eternal glory, robed in splendor and majesty, equal with God, he did not count that in the incarnation as something to be secured for his own benefit to lord it over everyone else. Wow. You remember Jesus would say this to his disciples. Gentile lords and kings do that. That's what you expect. You expect power grabs from the government, don't you? That's what all the history of government is. But it shall not be so among you. Why? Well, because Jesus, truly God, didn't come down here and do that among us. He had every right to do so. He had every right. He's the maker through whom everything was made of heaven and earth. He came down here and look at the humble disposition he decided to take on. who he is. Jesus was the eternal one clothed in the garments of majesty and splendor, the very one who is the brightness, Hebrews 1, of God's glory. Look at the pagan gods. What are they like? Look how they treat their subjects. Look how they demand allegiance blindly. Look how they're cruel and take. Paul wants us to think about this for a minute. Paul wants us to think about the state of humiliation, which is what we're looking at. Paul wants us to think about Jesus in the state of his humiliation and to ponder that the eternal Son of God, who was in all of his majesty and splendor and eternal glory, the one who always is, did not grasp that glory for his own advantage, but left that home. Think of John 17 when he prayed, Father, glorify me now in the presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. But what did he do, verse 7, instead? What did he do? He emptied himself. Taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, he humbled, being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death. Even the wicked, cursed, cruel death of the cross, says Paul. Emptied himself is not really a best translation either. He didn't empty himself of anything. What it means is he made himself nothing. He made himself nothing. He chose to make himself nothing in the incarnation. He poured himself out in the incarnation. How so? He made himself of no reputation. He literally took the form, in choosing the human nature and a body, he took the form of a slave, a servant. And when he came in likeness of men, adding the human nature, how do you communicate this? Being equal with God, he didn't selfishly hold on to that for his own gain. He didn't come down here and pray the fact of how it's his own greatness and how wonderful and powerful he is in that state of humiliation. He made himself of no reputation among us and came in the likeness of human beings. here we come to everything we this is the heart of the christian gospel you know truths that describe the ultimate sacrificial love for you you know how do you explain that the eternal son of god through whom everything was made you know when creation happened and god said let there be that was jesus speaking how do you explain it was the brightness of god's glory and an express image of his person, made himself nothing because he loved you. Who wants to yawn through that? Who got out of bed sloppily this morning to come hear that? Peter fought him the whole way. Do you have a better picture in John 13 of what it looked like when they're at the table and they all walk in the room and there's a water basin in the back And they're all arguing about who's going to be greatest in the kingdom. And Jesus stands up. And he walks down the long row of the table. Everyone had positioned themselves in the best seats. And he girds himself and he ties himself. And in front of him transforms visually into a slave. That's what he did. And he grabbed the towel and the water basin. and he stooped down on his knees. Get up. Get up. Jesus, you're too dignified to do this. If I don't do this, you're not entering glory. You have no possession in the kingdom. He transformed himself right there on earth to help us understand it. He became a slave. He became a servant. What a moment. The very gospel we treasure is the washing away of our sins by Jesus becoming this. And after reading this in Philippians 2, you think the point might be driven home already. He then says this, and being found, verse 8, in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. Scarcely will a righteous man, you know, die for somebody. Any of you ever laid down your life for anyone? You wouldn't be here if you had. Isaiah 52 says something amazing. You know that when he was found in appearance as a man, and he decided to say, what kind of body is going to be prepared for me? And that eternal counsel, they must have discussed that, the Father and the Son. Jesus selected a body that had no outward glory. I mean, this is what Isaiah is saying to us. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him. Imagine what you, you know, think about, how do you even start to ask the question, what would you pick? We all know. He had no appearance in the selection of a body that we said, wow, there's the Son of God. He was an unattractive man on all accounts. We're so into good-looking people. Put-together people. We all today want to come here and show everyone, look at me. I'm together. You're not together. You're hiding it. None of you are together. Nothing extraordinary about this one. I want to remind you that we live to show ourselves something, to make ourselves a name. This is our whole culture. This is our life. We're all trying to establish ourselves and make ourselves great. We've been trained it's all about making something great again. Strive to be rich. Strive to be successful. our outward glory is what we live for. We're functioning hedonists. And it's all about our happiness. And it's all about how we feel. That's what makes me so bothered about all the worship discussions today. It's incredibly selfish. It's all about you. It's all about our creaturely comforts. Can you be any more comforted to death in this life? Jesus made himself nothing to the degree that he took a form that in human eyes is nothing. And then in verse 7, he centers on the fact that in making himself nothing, he went ahead and humbled himself all the way to dying. Why would you do that? Because your predicament was so bad before a holy God. Had he not willingly laid down his life, you will be burning in hell forever. This is the love of God in the most defined way. Where the love of God for you is most revealed, the love expressed in the ultimate selfless sacrifice that God himself took our form, our flesh, our human nature, subjecting himself to the cruel, tormenting death of the cross. Why did he do that? Because the Father loved you. And the Son gave his Son, Because the great manner of love with which he loved us, he gave his son. A son whom the father was really happy with. A son whom the father eternally loved in perfection. The one who knew no sin became sin. He took on all your sin. That you might become in return the righteousness of God in him. It was that type of humiliation from the throne room of heaven to the cradle, to the cross, and then the burial chamber of death that Paul wants us to stop and just sing about. You simply have no idea what it must have been like in the hour of the garden when he was sweating giant drops of blood, which was just an outer expression for us to understand he was suffering the unending torments of hell. When he says, my soul was exceedingly sorrowful unto death, that was for you. Now, you want to talk application? You really want to talk application? Some of you have always said, we need more application. Let's talk it. Let's talk application. Let's talk about the sacrificial life. See, if we heard that properly, we're a little bit on edge right now. Because that's mind-blowing. If we don't look like Jesus in this age and the church, what kind of witness will we have? He could have prayed at his own interest and didn't. How many times did Jesus' disciples walk up and say something absolutely stupid in light of this great sacrifice? You know, Lord, we want the seats in glory. Gentile rulers do that, but anyone who desires to become great shall become what? A servant. And whoever of you desires to be first, you got to come way back down to being a slave. So what Paul's saying then now at verse 1 makes all the sense in the world, doesn't it? Therefore, notice this, 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. Any consolation, I think probably is a better way just to feel the weight of that word. Any comfort from love, any affection, fellowship by the Spirit. Notice that participation in the Spirit. Any sympathy. That's an amazing verse. You've received all these blessings in your life because Jesus did that for you. Notice the four statements here. Consolation, fellowship, affection, mercy. What he's saying here is how much Jesus went through for you, What do you constantly receive from him now in life? You receive a lot of help from him that you don't think about constantly. We are constant recipients of, because of that sacrifice, comfort. He ministers comfort to you all the time. Comfort my people. Comfort my people in my love. There's no judgment for them. He's flooded your lives with mercy and grace. flooded your lives with it. You are stranded in grace. Does he not continually forgive your sins? Every time you come to him, he says, son, forgiven are your sins. I love you. Does he not continually wrap you in his arms and help you in all of your distresses in life? Has he not made promise after promise after promise after promise that he cannot lie. He's going to make good on. When you are down and you're broken hearted, he lifts you up. He's always saying, I never leave you nor forsake you. He's always coming and ministering comfort to you. How many of you lost loved ones and feel the pain of that and the difficulty you've lost spouses and children and all the loneliness and pain that that brings and then he comes and gives you a word of encouragement and keeps you lifted up. There's any participation in the Spirit. Sure there is. You don't even realize that the Spirit's, when you can't pray because your prayer life's probably not very good, He's praying for you. Interceding with groans to help you. Psalm 103, you could just read today. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that's within me. And bless the Lord and forget not all his benefits. What does he do? He forgives all your iniquity. He heals your diseases. How many times have you prayed and he's given you healing mercies? He redeems your life from destruction. Many of you could have wrecked your lives and he's pulled you out of the pits. He crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies every day. And he feeds you. I mean, so, that's a pretty rich life. what else do you want God to do for you? Done it all. Well, here's the end call of the passage. Here's the heart of the passage. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. There's one other gift he's given you. He's given you his mind, Jesus' mind. That's your gift. The mind to become what? A slave. Fulfill my joy by being like-minded. Set your minds together on what really matters. See, we're going to get there in Philippians chapter 3. You guys are divided on things, but you've forgotten what unites you. And in those things you think differently, God will help you, but unite your minds on what the heart of it is that you have together in gospel fellowship. Set your minds on that and the fellowship of the gospel, having the same mind, being of the same accord, of one mind. Too many are stuck in what they think Christianity should be. Too many are stuck in this with no appreciation for what it is. Maybe too many here are just here for the tradition's sake. Because you have to be. It's time to get rid of that mind. You need the mind of Jesus. It's time. When you think about why you're here, some people are caught up what they don't like about the church or how they feel about worship. You know what? How much more narcissistic can we be? Do you look like Jesus? That's the call. In Philippi, there was a lot of complaining. There was fighting going on. or people, I don't like this, and I don't like that, and we're just dividing over this and that. Paul couldn't believe it. That's what I said last week. For those who weren't here, I'm surprised we don't have first mass reformed church and second anti-mass reformed church. It's that kind of stuff. Verse 3, Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, let each other esteem others better than yourself. How about doing that? Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but the interests of others. Go to the down and outs. Invite them in your homes. Look like Jesus. Don't huddle up with all the people who affirm you. Go to the broken. Go to the weak. Go to the needy. Go to the educated and the non-educated. Esteem them better than you. That's the mind of Jesus. That's what he did in the incarnation. That's the most freeing life. You don't have to make yourself something. I think that's why we have a lot of depression right now on social media. Everyone thinks they have to solve everything. Everyone thinks they have to be something. You're free. You're released. from that. You don't have to make things endlessly about you, your name, your greatness. You don't have to make a lot of money in life. You don't have to be fake. You don't have to come here dressed so nice to show that you're the together one. That's not what Christianity is about. You're not. I'm not. This is Christianity at its best. This is what's real. Set your minds to think and look like a servant, like Jesus did. What's he after? Chapter 1, my prayer is that as a church, your love for one another would abound. Not a hypocritical love, not a fake love, not a showy love, not a love that wants to show yourself just when you have to do a duty. a real love, a sincere love, a sacrificial love. Here's the encouragement. It's a pretty short state of humiliation in the big scheme of things. What did God do for Jesus? What did the Father do for the Son? This is really wonderful. Therefore, God also highly exalted him and give 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 every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This one who went to all that is your Lord. He is raised. He is seated. He's King and Lord over all. And do you know who that was? Who did that? It's who all the scriptures talked about. By myself I've sworn, Isaiah, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked. Before my every knee will bow and every tongue will swear. They will say of me, in the Lord alone are righteousness and strength. Isaiah 45, 23. in the Lord. He's the Lord. He's Yahweh. He's the name. And I think this is a somewhat subtle reminder to us that if we're going to share in that great victory as we should share, if we're going to be bowing the knee today as we should and share in that great encouragement of his exaltation, which he now is reigned and supreme all over all, to which every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. If we're going to share in that, then in death could not hold him, then in the time of our humiliation, we're going to have to look a little bit like him. That's part of our calling. That's part of the response of gratitude for him saving us. And this is the beautiful thing that's being said here. Don't lose heart in the struggle. That's really what we have to be reminded of. Don't lose heart in this great struggle in the present age. Jesus is Lord. He is God. He triumphed over all sin and death in the grave, and he's raised today, and everybody will bow to him. You get the peculiar privilege as his people to be conformed into that image. To look like the sun and your glory's coming. The raising of your bodies. The end of all this will come. But what a blessing. I still think of, we'll close with this thought in Acts. Apostles were commanded never to teach or preach in the name anymore. And they said, of course, You tell us, we're going to do what's right in God's sight. We're going to go preach the gospel. When they had beaten them with many rods, they went out rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name. The name. And that needs to be how we look at life. That God has loved you, God has given his son for you, God's forgiven you and he's counted you worthy to bear the mind of Christ. That's what you carry. So use it. Enjoy it. It's a freeing life that way. And that'll change the way you look at everything. This is one of the great blessings the Lord's given us in this life. May we praise him today in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for instructing us in a beautiful word today and for helping us to understand this. It's well beyond what our little minds can even put together. But there's enough here that you've given us in these brains to comprehend a bit of the sacrifice that was made, just a little. And if we have received any bit of the blessings from this sacrifice that we enjoy every day, which we know we have, may we, Lord, have the mind of Jesus in the way that we walk and serve and love one another. Help us for we're weak. We're selfish. Starting from right here. We're narcissistic. We're hedonistic. We're not hiding these things today. We're openly admitting these things before you today. It's all about us. We've been pampered to death in this place. And yet we recognize great blessings from you as you have cared for us and provided for us and loved us. So help us more and more to have the mind of Jesus and to be thankful and to love as we're called to love. Bless us as a church in that way. May the Escondido United Reformed Church resemble what it means to have a true fellowship in the gospel. Unite us together more of the same mind, same purpose, same goal. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.