The self-humbling of Christ

Now, if you have your Bible with you tonight, I'd like you to open it at Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2, and we're going to read from verse number 6. Philippians 2 verse 6, 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 man. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth.

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Now, that's all we're going to read, and we know that God will bless the reading of his word with what we have already heard tonight. What I want to speak about tonight, first of all, is a man.

And this man that we're going to speak about is no ordinary man. He's a man that came from the glories of heaven. So the first thing I want to say is he is a savior from heaven.

It's a wonderful thing that the Lord took that journey right from heaven into this world to be born in such a humble way. But he came into this world to be the savior. And as a savior, he was a unique person.

There was no one like him ever before or ever since. And the word that we read together, it says that this person was in the form of God. So that tells us exactly who this person was.

And if you wanted to back that up by a scripture, you would go to the Gospel of Matthew. The four Gospels are writings by four different men that tell us about this wonderful person. And in the Gospel of Matthew, we read this, that his name would be Emmanuel.

It would be called Emmanuel, which is being interpreted, God with us. So this was no ordinary man. This was a Lord from heaven, a savior that came from heaven.

And in the same Gospel, we read that his name would be called Jesus. For he shall save his people from their sins. And Luke writes as well, his name shall be called Jesus.

He's a savior. And this is the one that we present to you tonight in this Gospel meeting. If you're ever going to be saved, if you're ever going to be in heaven, you need to meet this wonderful person.

And as well as that, it says that he thought it not a thing to be grasped after, a robbery to be equal with God. And if you want to back that up from the scripture, you would read the Gospel of John. And he said, I and my father are one.

So here's one who came into the world, the son of man in association with us, but the son of God. And then the next verse says that he took upon him the form of a servant. And if you want to read something that would teach you the fact that he's a servant, you would read the Gospel of Mark.

And then it says he was found in fashion as a man. He was a real man, but he was more than a man. He was really God in the form of God.

He was really a servant in the form of a servant, but he was much more than a man. Found in fashion as a man. And this wonderful person, if you read about him in the Gospels, you'll see what a wonderful person he really was.

He was a man that had compassion. And he was a man that had pity. And he was a man that saw people in their sins.

And while the Pharisees and the religious leaders of the day thought he should be associated with them and not associated with sinners, he said, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. So that's the good news, first of all, that I want to tell you tonight. There's a Savior who came from the glories of heaven, and he came so that you would have this great salvation.

And it can be yours tonight, and you can know it on the authority of the unerring word of God. He was a man from heaven. Now, if he was the Savior, how was he ever going to save people from their sins? Well, I think verse 8 would maybe bring that before us.

He became obedient to death. Not obedient to death as a master, but he became obedient to his father to the extent of death. Even the death of the cross.

So this is how salvation has been brought to you. It's been brought by a man who came into the world that he might go to the cross at Calvary. So he's not only the Savior from heaven, but he's a sufferer on the cross.

Was there no other way that God could ever forgive the sinner? Could somehow God not sweep your sins over and take you at your works and say, My son doesn't really have to know the Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And when he was in the world, he said, I have a baptism to be baptized with. And he said, I have a cup to drink.

And when he was speaking of that baptism, he wasn't speaking of water baptism, but he was speaking about going under the waves and the billows of the wrath of God. He was going to enter into that awful element. All the sufferings and deep mire where there is no standing.

We cannot fathom the depths of his sufferings, nor do we know the extent of the love that was displayed on the cross at Calvary. But we know he went under the waves and the billows so that you could be saved. And in the cup, he said, the cup that my father gave me, shall I not drink it? And in the cup, it's not so much he entering into the element, but the element entering into him.

And he said, my heart is melted in the midst of my bowels. All my bones are out of joint. What tremendous suffering he endured there on the cross at Calvary.

And we can tell you tonight that all that suffering, it wasn't a suffering for all sinners, so that when the aggregate is filled up, no more will be saved. But it took all the suffering of Christ on the cross to save one soul. Does it mean anything to you in the meeting tonight? Can you simply bypass the cross, pass by the cross, without seeing that here's one who in love to your soul went to the cross at Calvary and bore that wrath and the judgment of God so that you could go free.

So here we have the sufferer on the cross. We usually count here when we're speaking about this at five downward steps to the cross. And I like to relate it in my mind to what we have in Genesis chapter 20, where we have the Ten Commandments laid out before us.

And then after that, there's the descriptions of how to build an altar. God knew that man could never keep the law, works will never get anyone to heaven. Doesn't matter how good you are, we've heard of those that were very good in their lives, always never seemed to do anything really very wrong in their life, but they still needed God's salvation.

So God knew that. And he said there's going to be an altar. And he said that altar will have nothing to do with man.

The tool of man can't be used to build that altar. And then he said there's no upward steps to the altar. This man's nakedness will be seen.

But here we have seven downward steps to the altar. He humbled himself. You know, men did all they could to humble the Lord Jesus Christ.

They spat on his face. They pulled the hair from his face. But the Word of God says he humbled himself.

He took that lowly place. The one who is equal with God, imagine, could come and associate himself with us so that he could go to the cross at Calvary, so he could bring satisfaction to the throne of God in heaven and bring salvation to you. Are you saved tonight in the meeting? Can you look back to that time of salvation? There's nothing like it.

And even though I have talked to people that even lost their memory, but they didn't forget the day that God saved them. Now, I know it could be possible. But it's a wonderful thing.

There's nothing like it. It's not being saved for a famine. It's a feast.

It's just something to enjoy. And it's not just something for eternity. It's something for right now.

Are you enjoying life now? I was saved not like some of these boys when I was young. I was 33 years of age when God saved me. And that wasn't God's fault.

That was my fault. I knew the gospel, and I heard the gospel. But I rejected the gospel and wanted to go my own way.

But I'll tell you, I found out there's something missing in my life. I had gotten a fairly good job after I came from Ireland. We struggled for a while, but I ended up running an export office in the city of Detroit.

And I got invited to all the cocktail parties and all the ships that came into the harbor, all looking for your business. And I thought this is a great life for an Irishman. But I wasn't completely satisfied.

There was something missing, and I knew what it was. It was this person that we're telling you about. It was the Lord Jesus Christ.

But thank God, even I was away from my father and mother, here with a wife and a few children, and God dealing with me. A young man came into the business where I worked. He was an Englishman, and he said, you know, I've really got along well since I came from England.

I thought, well, that's good. That's what I'm trying to get. But he said, I'll tell you what happened.

He says, God saved me. And I had been thinking of scriptures that I learned as a boy, as a teenager, and here he gave me a little booklet. Nothing in it.

I shouldn't say nothing in it, but scriptures. I'm not minimizing the word of God. It was full of scriptures, and some of them were scriptures that I had been thinking about.

Wonderful how God deals with individuals. And I'm glad he dealt with me, and I found out on the cross it was for me. But he's not on the cross today.

Verse number nine says, God hath highly exalted him. He's on the throne. You know what that tells me? It tells me that God is completely satisfied with the work that was accomplished at Calvary.

We've heard those words, it is finished. Paid in full. Nothing that we have to do.

God satisfied with his son. There's a man in the glory. In the uncreated sphere.

Tremendous. A prince and a savior. Is he your savior tonight? Does he mean anything to you? For those of us who are saved, he means everything.

No mortal can with him compare among the sons of men. There's no one like him. Not just for his perfect life and his sinless humanity, but for his going to the cross in love with the poor lost guilty sinners.

And now exalted on the throne. And he said, you know, it's beneficial that I go up to heaven because I'm going to send out the Holy Spirit. And if there's one in the meeting tonight, and sometime during this day or maybe even during the meeting you've been thinking about eternity, I'll guarantee it, Satan didn't put that thought in your mind.

It was the Spirit of God. It's God and kindness dealing with you. As he dealt with each one of us who are saved.

All from different backgrounds, but all with one thing in common. All getting to the cross. Seeing that the work was finished.

That there's nothing we can do. We can't take anything away from the work of Christ. We don't need to add anything to it.

We just need to take God at his word. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him. He took the lowly place.

Couldn't go any lower. Right into death itself. And God has given him the highest place in heaven.

Satisfied with his work. Are you satisfied with it? I tell you, I'm satisfied with the work of Christ. Mr. Maxwell, one of the older preachers, he used to say, he said, I used to say, I wonder what he saw in me.

To suffer such deep agony. And he said, I discovered he saw absolutely nothing. Nothing in us to command us to God.

But God commandeth his love toward us. And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Can you say he died for you? Can you say he took your place? Can you claim him as your substitute? Christ died for the ungodly.

The person who has lived their life without taking God into reckoning is an ungodly person. And I was just simple enough to know if he died for ungodly people, and that's me. Then he died for me.

How about it tonight? What does it say then in verse number 10? That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Those knees of yours. Just look at your knees.

They're going to bow. They're either going to bow in time, that is now. In this day of grace.

Or they're going to bow in eternity. What will it be? It's your responsibility. If we could be saved for you, we would be saved for you.

But we can't. This is your responsibility tonight. To bow the knee now.

Bow before the God of heaven. And confess that you're a sinner. You'll confess that he's Lord in the future when it's too late.

But what does it mean to confess him as Lord? It means as Lord he is everything. And I am nothing. And I'm depending on this one for my eternity.

What are you depending on? There's only one who's been exalted to God's right hand. There's only one Savior. Neither is there salvation in any other.

For there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So own him as Lord. Confess him as your Savior.

If thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord, thou shalt be saved. It's not just a matter of telling people you're saved. Confessing in that way.

Confessing to God. I'm a poor, lost, guilty sinner. I'm on the way to hell.

And if God were not long-suffering, I'd be there already. I'm glad I found out that I was a sinner. When we hear these young people telling them how God saved them, it stirs you up.

I was saved in the city of Detroit when I left my office. Went to be where I was all alone. And I thought of scriptures.

Many, many good gospel texts. And the more I thought about them, the more muddled I became. And then I remembered something I had read when I was searching the scriptures.

I wanted salvation. And that day where I was, I told the Lord, I want salvation more than anything else. There's nothing else matters.

And I wasn't thinking about anyone else. Just myself. And God brought a scripture to my mind.

Verses. You may think they're a little unusual, but I was thinking of Peter walking on the water. And he began to sink.

And I was just simply enough to see, well, that describes me. I'm sinking. Right down to the depths of a burning hell.

And there's nothing I can do. I can't figure this thing out. But I'm glad my memory still works a bit, you know.

And I thought, well, I'm sinking like Peter. But what did Peter do? He said, Lord, save me. And the Lord stretched forth his hand, or stretched out his hand and caught him.

And it dawned on me. We've been talking about salvation being revealed. That's what I mean when I say it dawned on me.

Was God revealing it to me? That I was like Peter. Sinking. That I was a sinner that was sinking and that could do absolutely nothing.

But I found out, Lord, save me. That the Lord Jesus Christ was the Savior who had done everything. Why, I tell you, it's wonderful to know Christ as your Savior.

To know that there's one who loved you so much. You know, the heavenly merchant man in Matthew 13, he sold all that he had to obtain the pearl of great price. That's the church.

But the Lord Jesus even went beyond that. He gave not all that he had. He gave himself.

Does it mean anything to you in the meeting tonight that there's one who loved you unto death, even the death of the cross? So just to sum up what we have said, you have absolute deity. Verse 6. Verse 7, you have unique personality. Verse 8, sinless humanity.

Verse 8, unparalleled ignominy. Going to the cross, suffering for sin. Verse 9, universal authority.

This world's not going on forever. The Lord Jesus is going to take up the reins of government. What a glorious day that will be.

And before that takes place, the Lord is coming for his own. Are you ready? When's he coming? Because no one knows when he's coming. He could come tonight.

He could come before we sing a closing hymn or have a closing prayer. How about it for you tonight? Does it mean anything to you that there's a Savior who came from the heights of heaven and went to the depths of the cross so that you might have this great salvation, so that you might be saved and saved for all eternity and know it for a certainty on the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. It never changes.

We can depend on what God says. I often say that my father passed away on a visit to the United States, 1975. First time he ever left Ireland, he went back in a coffin, a casket.

One of the brethren at his funeral said, I'm only going to read one word, two words rather. What were the two words? Salut filio logos. What does that mean, you say? Filio is one of the words for love.

Like Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Logos means the word, the expression of God in his word. And he said, this man loved the word of God.

I love the word of God. I didn't know it as well as my father. And it's not false humility.

I mean it. I know it. I'll never know the word as he did.

But I love the word. Do you know why I love it? First of all, because it tells me I'm a sinner. All of sin comes short of the glory of God.

I love it because it tells me there's a Savior. I've read about Him here in Philippians 2. And I love it because it gives me the assurance of salvation. That's how I know that Christ died for me.

And if I trust Him, I'll be saved for all eternity. So may God open your eyes tonight to see and admit your sin before God and to look off to Calvary and see the Lamb for sinners slain, the suffering one upon the cross, bringing glory to God, finishing the work, bringing salvation to poor, lost, guilty sinners. Is there a poor, lost, guilty sinner in the meeting tonight? Could you not just drink it in? I am a guilty sinner, but Jesus died for me.

Mashallah.