Philippians 2:1-8 "If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, (2) Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. (3) Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. (4) Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. (5) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
Philippians chapter two is one of many passages of Scripture in which we are exhorted and encouraged as believers to live in this world for the honor of God, serving and promoting one another’s happiness and welfare. In this chapter the Apostle Paul urges us to seek and promote spiritual unity among God’s saints, love and affection for one another, and humility and lowliness of mind. He urges us to exercise genuine care and concern for one another’s happiness and welfare.
I want you to notice that the basis of his appeal is the grace of God toward us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Here and throughout the New Testament, believers are urged to godliness and obedience, not upon the basis of law, but upon the basis of grace. We are motivated and inspired, not by threats of punishment and promises of rewards, but by gratitude and love to God because of the mercy, love, and grace we have received and experienced in Christ.
In verse one, Paul gives us four arguments for unity, peace, and love in the Church of God, among believers. If you and I belong to Christ, we ought to constantly strive for and promote unity and peace with one another. Indeed, if we truly belong to Christ, we do love one another; and we ought to walk in and build upon that love. Here are four reasons…
"If there be therefore any consolation in Christ" - The word "consolation" means "comfort" or "confidence." This is what Paul is saying: If we have any genuine grounds of hope, comfort, and confidence in Christ, founded and based upon his person, his righteousness, his death, and his intercession as our Substitute and Advocate before God, then we ought to comfort one another and build one another up in the hope and confidence of the gospel.
"If there be any comfort of love" - If we enjoy the comfort and strength of God’s love, the everlasting love of the Father, the redeeming love of the Son, the regenerating love of the Spirit, and the brotherly love of grace, that love which is so pleasant and delightful, then we ought to give one another the strength and comfort of mutual love.
"If any fellowship of the Spirit" - If we have been brought into fellowship with God and with one another by the Spirit of grace, then we should constantly strive to maintain and build upon that blessed fellowship.
"If any bowels and mercies" - If we have any real depth of affection, if we have any real compassion and concern for Christ, his gospel, his glory, and one another, if our religion is real, if it is more than lip-service to God, let us show that love and concern to one another.
If these things are not in us, if they do not flow from our hearts to the hearts and lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ, if we do not truly love God’s people, then our religion, our profession of faith, our doctrinal orthodoxy, and our moral uprightness is nothing but a vain show of hypocrisy! But if these things are in you, Paul says, "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind" (v. 2). Let the all heirs of heaven, let all the children of God, let all believers in Christ, let all the family of God be likeminded in all things! Some say that is expecting too much; but that is exactly what Paul is saying here. That is not expecting too much. Let us be likeminded, of the same mind, of one accord…
These things reveal the reality or hypocrisy of our faith. These are marks, fruits, and evidences of inward grace. Read on…
Philippians 2:3 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves."
Anything that is done through strife dishonors God. Anything that divides brethren is a reproach to Christ. Anything that is born of contention casts a slur upon the gospel of the grace of God. The source of strife, division, and conflict between brethren is always vain-glory, pride, self-seeking, self-serving, self-promoting pride!
Proverbs 13:10 "Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom."
Look upon your brothers and sisters in Christ as being spiritually superior to yourself. - "I am the chief of sinners." "I am less than the least of all saints."
Yield to the judgments, desires, pleasures, and rights of others.
Philippians 2:4 "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."That simply means that the way to promote this unity and peace, this fellowship and love is to look out for and look after one another and quit looking out for yourself.
Note: Friendship and fellowship is a two way street; but we must be willing for it to be all one way,--willing to give and receive nothing in return,--willing to serve and not be served --willing to care for others and to neither want nor have anyone to care for us. Why?
Why should any man or woman be willing to so abase himself, or herself? Why should we set aside our own ambitions, feelings, desires, and preferences for the sake of others? Upon what grounds can anyone make such an appeal? Look at verses 5-8…
Philippians 2:5-8 "Let this mind be in you, (this loving, self-abasing, self-sacrificing mind!) which was also in Christ Jesus: (Our Lord thought not of himself, but of us. He served not himself, but us. He came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for us!) (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (8) And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
1 John 4:10-11 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (11) Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."
This is what the Holy Spirit is teaching us in these verses. If the Lord Jesus Christ so loved us, we ought, for Christ’s sake, so to love one another.
Romans 12:1-2 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (2) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."
Ephesians 4:32 "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
Ephesians 5:1-2 "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour."
Proposition : Because of his great love for us, that he might save us from our sins, ourselves, and the wrath of God, our all-glorious Lord Jesus Christ became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross!
Then, having fulfilled all righteousness, the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, died upon the cursed tree as the sinners’ Substitute.
WHY? That is the question I want to answer in the last part of this message. Why Did Christ Die? What was the object and purpose of his death? What did the Son of God have in mind, what did he hope to accomplish by dying upon the cursed tree in the place of his people? I know these two things; and I hope you do…
Whatever Christ intended to accomplish in his death, in the act of dying and by the merit and virtue of his death, shall most assuredly be accomplished. Christ, who is himself almighty God, is an effectual Redeemer. It is written, "He shall not fail" (Isa. 42:4).
And this Book tells us plainly and exactly what the Son of God hoped and purposed to accomplish by his death.
Why Did Christ Die? Let me show you from the Word of God seven things the Lord of glory died to accomplish, seven reasons for the death of Christ.
Romans 14:9 "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."
I preach without apology the blessed gospel doctrine of particular, effectual redemption. Christ died to redeem and save God’s elect. He did not die to save those who perish in their sins. The Son of God did not lay down his life for those for whom he refused even to pray (John 17:9, 20). You cannot divide the priestly work of Christ. His sacrifice and his intercession are for the same people! Yet, there is a sense in which our Lord Jesus, as our Mediator, as the God-man, our Surety, bought the whole world and all who are in it.
Matthew 13:44 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field."
He bought the right to rule the whole world and all who are in it as a Sovereign Despot (John 17:2; 2 Pet. 2:1).
2 Peter 2:1 "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord (Despotes not Kurios) that bought (Agoradzo not Ekagoradzo) them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."
He bought the right to dispose of the whole world and all who are in it as a Righteous Judge (2 Thess. 1:6-10).
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, (8) In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (9) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; (10) When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."
He bought the right to make all things new and to have the praise of all things (Rev. 21:5; Rom. 8:23).
Revelation 21:5 "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."
Romans 8:23 "We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."
This is what I am saying. By virtue of his death upon the cross, Christ the Man is Lord of all! He has all power over all flesh. And he constantly exercises that power as the Sovereign Monarch of the universe to save his own elect (Ps. 2:8; Acts 2:36; John 17:2; Ps. 115:3; 135:6).
Acts 2:36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."
CHRIST DIED UPON THE CROSS, UNDER THE WRATH OF GOD, AS OUR SUBSTITUTE, SO THAT GOD MIGHT BE BOTH JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF ALL WHO BELIEVE ON HIM UNTO LIFE EVERLASTING (Rom. 3:19-28).
Romans 3:19-28 "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (20) Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (21) But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; (22) Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: (23) For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (24) Being justified freely by his grace> through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (27) Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. (28) Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law."
Let me quickly point out five things here about this business of justification.
It is not possible for us to justify ourselves by personal obedience to the law, because we are all sinners.
It is not possible for God himself to justify us without the perfect fulfillment of the law’s righteousness and the complete satisfaction of the law’s justice by Christ.
Through the merits of Christ’s obedience and death God is just and we are justified, made righteous in God’s sight. - It was the specific object of Christ in his death to make all for whom he died righteous before God; and he did (2 Cor. 5:21; Jer. 23:6).
Since we who believe on the Son of God are justified without the works of the law, we have no grounds of boasting before God.
By faith in Christ, only by faith in Christ, we fulfill, honor, and satisfy the law of God (Rom. 3:31).
Romans 3:31 "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law."
CHRIST DIED FOR US, AS OUR SUBSTITUTE, UNDER THE WRATH OF GOD, TO PUT AWAY OUR SINS BY THE SACRIFICE OF HIMSELF (Heb. 9:24-26).Hebrews 9:24-26 "For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (25) Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; (26) For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."
Numbers 23:21 "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them."
1 John 3:5 "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."Now look at 1 Peter 3:18. --- "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit."
We could never have come to God. Christ brought us to God, and will yet bring us unto God, and will at last present us holy, unblamable, and unreprovable in his sight, before the presence of his glory!
V. Turn to Galatians 1:4. --- Here the Holy Spirit tells us that Christ "gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father."
Psalms 37:1-9 "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. (2) For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. (3) Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. (4) Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (5) Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. (6) And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. (7) Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. (8) Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. (9) For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth."
VI. Now turn to Titus 2:14 . --- Christ "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."
Every word in this text is precious and full of instruction. Do not let a single syllable slip by your eyes and ears unnoticed.
Christ has redeemed us from all iniquity.All who are redeemed by the blood of Christ and saved by his grace are his peculiar, distinct, special people; and they are zealous of good works.
We belong to Christ as no one else. We are his…That does not mean that believers live in perfection, or even in anything that resembles perfection. But it does mean that believers earnestly seek to do the will of God in all things, walking in love toward one another for the glory of him who loved us and gave himself for us.
Now, let me show you one more thing. This is the purpose of Christ in his death. And it shall also be accomplished.
Our most glorious Christ died for us that he might present us to his Father and our Father, before wandering worlds, in the beauty of perfect holiness, to the praise of the glory of his grace (Eph. 5:25-27; Col. 1:21-22; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Eph 2:7; Jude 24-25).
Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (26) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (27) That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Colossians 1:21-22 "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled (22) In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight."
1 Corinthians 15:24-28 "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. (25) For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. (26) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. (27) For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. (28) And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all."
Ephesians 2:7 "That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
Application:Much more could be said regarding the purpose of our Savior’s death, but these seven things are clearly set forth in the Word of God as the objects of his sin-atoning sacrifice. And, being the objects, the purposes for which he laid down his life, they shall be effectually accomplished by his grace and power. It is written, "He shall not fail"!
This is what I am saying: --- The Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and laid down his life for us so that we, all his people, God’s elect, the chosen sons and daughters of God almighty, might, through the merits of his precious, efficacious blood receive and forever enjoy all the benefits and blessings of adoption in him.
Galatians 4:4-5 "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (5) To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons."
Jude 1:24-25 "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, (25) To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever. Amen."
*