This is message is a part of our Spiritual Foundation Training Pacs, from the series entitled “Christian Character”.
These “Training Pacs” are part of the spiritual education people receive when they come for missionary training. – 6.5.12
Philippians 2:8-24
8. And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which
is above every name:
10. That at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and the things under the earth;
11. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the
glory of God the Father.
12. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence
only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling.
13. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good
pleasure.
14. Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15. That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke,
in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as light in
the world;
16. Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I
have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
17. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy,
and rejoice with you all.
18. For the same cause also do ye joy, and rejoice with me.
19. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also
may be of good comfort, when I know your state.
20. For I have no man likeminded, who will naturally care for your state.
21. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.
22. But ye know the proof of him, that, a son with the father, he hath served
with me in the gospel.
23. Him therefore, I hope to send presently, so soon as I shall see how it will
go with me.
24. But I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly.
I. He Has Forever Taken On The Likeness Of Men
I’m going back to the beginning of 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 being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also 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 in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Why is He saying this to us? Above it He says in verse 3, “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory…” But be ye full of joy, likeminded, having the same love, (verse 2) being in one accord and of one mind. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus:” It’s a little bit more difficult for us to be “of no reputation” than it was Jesus. Sometimes we think so, don’t we? He was for Jesus. He was the Son of God. And that makes it all the more difficult… because He took the form of man. The likeness of what? “Made in the likeness men.” I think I shared with you one time my experience in India, or at least I’ve touched on it. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything to you that He chose the likeness of men. And it doesn’t mean a thing to you that He cancelled everything of heaven— everything that was a part of His being in the heavens – He gave it up to be like these little creatures crawling around the earth with two legs, supposedly intelligent, supposedly great people… and still they are. They still think they are above God, and they make God “of no reputation.”
Somebody was sharing with me today about the Public School Commencement
Exercise. God is not permitted to be in it; neither are they permitted to pray. I said to the Lord one time – and I was very upset – I said, “God, why don’t You show these world who You are God? Why?” Then He gave me a scripture – the 78th Psalm – where He said, “And He delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy’s hand.” (Psalm 78:61) He hasn’t yet taken all His glory out of the enemy’s hand. He hasn’t yet released His strength on this earth. But He’s going to do it. He’s shaking Himself right now. The things which are being said and done against Him today … He’s getting ready to shake Himself as one that has been in a deep dream, and He’s going to hit His enemies in the hinder parts. And when He does, something’s going to happen. He’s going to take His strength out of captivity and His glory away from satan.
He took on the likeness of men, made Himself “of no reputation,” and, being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself. You know, no good could have
redeemed mankind. No Son of God could redeem mankind. Only Jesus as the Son of
man could redeem man. Whatever He was before He came to this earth, He was never again – because He forever took the form of man, made in the likeness of man. “…and being fashioned as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” He made Himself of no reputation, by taking on the form of man – not the Son of God, but the Son of man. He would never, never have the same relationship with the Father when He left heaven to come to earth: He was forever to be fashioned after man.
II. How Can We Not Yield To The Cry Of This Jesus,
Who Humbled Himself To Become A Man?
How can we?– How can we? – HOW CAN WE NOT YIELD TO HIS CROSS? How
can we not yield to the cry of the Lord, who humbled Himself? Maybe you don’t know what it would mean. I’m sure I don’t know what it would mean for the Lord of lords and the King of kings to come and be spit upon, cursed, reviled, persecuted – all the nasty, evil things – and then end up at the cross: obedient even unto death for you and I. I think we have some nerve to think that we can talk any way to God except to obey Him. I don’t know how we think we can go in the way of the world, and compromise in the world, when Jesus made no compromise. How can we do it? We can’t do it. Even though we think we can get by with it, we can’t get by with it. Because He became “of no reputation” to be like men. It should put us to shame to even think of any way other than God’s way – any way except God’s way.
I remember that day when I sat in that home in India. A young man asked me a
question: “Any religion is all right, isn’t it? If you believe in it?” Something happened to me at that moment. The Lord lifted me up into the realm of eternity: it was before time, before man was created. As I was in the realm of eternity, I heard a conversation up there by God the Father and by His Son, Jesus. I felt the great love of God that He has for this one that consented to be of no reputation, but consented to be like men – that He might take us out of the judgment that had already been pronounced on the human race, to take us from the hand of satan and redeem us back to the Father. I felt the Father’s love for this precious Son and the price that He would pay, as they together began to talk of what He would do for this mankind that they were going to create, knowing full well that man was going to fall in the hands of satan and be condemned forever without God. Knowing all of this, God created man for His own pleasure. How can we hesitate tonight and add the world to our pleasure? How can we mix ourselves with the things of the world and think we are doing God’s pleasure? How can we do it? How can we even think about these things? – “Oh, you have this, you have to have that…”
I don’t know what I said to the people at that table that day, but one thing I
knew: I had been in the presence of Almighty God, and I had been in the presence of His Son, and I knew how God’s heart was, and I knew what Jesus’ heart was, and I knew the price they decided to pay to have people called human beings on an earth that God created for them, even the price of the cross – even the price of laying His life down to become like man. He didn’t have to. God didn’t have to have us, but He desired a people that would love Him and serve Him not because He clubbed them to do it, not because He put circumstances that nobody could get around, but because His Son loved us. But God so loved us that He sent His Son into the world to die for us. And Jesus so loved us that He gave His life at the cross for us. Then how can we be so cheap? So cheap! So cheap that we think we could discredit Him? How can we do it? And all He’s asking of us is to take this life and let it be wholly consecrated unto Him. All He asks is to empty ourselves of the things satan has put upon us, and let us be filled with His joy, with His love, with His peace, with His righteousness. How can we balance it? How can we justify ourselves in what we say and what we do? How can we do it? We cannot do it. We cannot do it.
III. What If Jesus Had Compromised With Satan?
Compromise is a terrible thing in the sight of God. If Jesus had compromised
with satan in the wilderness, there would be no redemption of man. Everyone of us
would be doomed to go to hell. We would have gone there without any reprieve from the Lord, had He compromised in the wilderness when satan was trying to get Him to acknowledge he was the Son of God. He did not come to this earth as the Son of God. He took on the form of man to redeem man by His own stand as the Son of man. He chose to become one of us. He chose to be “of no reputation,” that He might bring us into the presence of God, that He might take from our life everything that is against God; that He might be everything unto us. How can we go halfway with God? How can we think we can get by? Huh? No way. NO WAY. The price that He paid was too much.
I remember so well. I don’t know how long I was in the realm of eternity. Time
was not there. There was only eternity. But something happened to me there. It was as though the Lord took me to the beginning of time when He created the world, and He put man upon the earth. I watched all of this happening, and I watched it come down to the time that Jesus became like man – in the likeness of man. How they tried to kill Him as soon as He was born. The Pharisees and the Sadducees tried to kill Him; satan tried to kill Him in the wilderness. But He went in there with power, and He came out with power! Amen! The power of the Holy Ghost! He won the battle there for us against satan. He won the battle there for us against satan. He won our redemption at the cross, but He won the battle against satan for us in the wilderness. He fought it as the Son of man. He did not fight it as the Son of God. Satan tried to involve Him as the Son of God, but He would not be involved as the Son of God. He knew He had come as the Son of man, and He must go to the cross as the Son of man, not as the Son of God. He laid it down for you and I. He laid it down for the whole world. Down through the generations of time.
Again I was observing what was taking place: all that happened to Jesus and at
the cross, and after His death, and after His resurrection. Then after His resurrection, the scene changed. Something happened at the resurrection. Jesus completed what the Father sent Him to do. It was to bring all mankind that would come to him back to the Father, back to God, with their sins forgiven, their lives transformed. When He arose from the dead, the Bible says the saints arose with Him. Doesn’t it? Do you know what happened to those saints? They’re up there waiting for you and I to get saintly! They’re up there waiting. A host that no man can number looking down here saying, “Why don’t you people let God do what He needs to do with you? You’re slowing down the time of the coming of the Lord.” They’re not pitying you. They’re disturbed because you’re taking too much time! You’re not letting God do the work He needs to do, so Jesus can come again. This same Jesus died on the cross and rose again. This same Jesus forgives us of our sins. This same Jesus is coming again. And this is what He says: “Wherefore God also has 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 in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Amen.
IV. Every Knee Is Going To Bow And Every Tongue Is Going To
Confess That Jesus Christ Is Lord.
What is it to us tonight to pay this price that we may be able to stand before
Him, that He may make us as He is. Then why do we compromise? Why do we allow
the things of this world, and the devil, and people, and things to hinder us from
entering into that place in Him where we can know that it is Christ in us? We can
know that this love changes our lives. The same mind that Jesus had, He’s giving to us – that we might do the will of the Father, through Jesus Christ, who died for us. He rose again, and it doesn’t matter whether they believe it or don’t believe it. It doesn’t matter if they are wicked or not wicked. It doesn’t matter where they stand before God tonight. It doesn’t matter. “Every knee is going to bow, and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” They’re going to do it, and they might do it in their anger or in their hate, or in their total destruction of their soul, but their going to do it. Whether they like it or not. The day’s coming and they’re going to have to declare it. I don’t think it’s far away. I don’t think it’s far off, because our Lord paid a price for us to be filled with the fullness of God – the very fullness of God. Jesus paid the price that we might stand before Him in the day of judgment – boldly stand before Him. Not of our boldness, but in the honest humility of Jesus Christ. Stand there humble, in the very presence of the Son of God, that we might be as He is.
V. What Will It Mean To Jesus When He Presents His Kingdom
Back To The Father?
Can you think about what it would mean to Jesus, when He sees that
multitude that has become just like He is? He’s going to present it to the Father. This kingdom that Satan took away from God, he thinks he’s winning over it all. No, he isn’t, because one day our Lord Jesus is going to say, “Come on with Me. Come on with Me: I want you to go with Me while I present the kingdom of this world.” The kingdom that Jesus brought to this world. Not the worldly kingdom. “Come on, it’s time now to present it to the Father.” What do you think the Father’s going to do when He looks at us and sees Jesus? He doesn’t see us, He sees Jesus. That’s what He looks at now, and He sees Jesus shaping and molding our lives so that He can say, “Come on, family, I want to present you to My Father.” And He became the Son of man with no reputation, that we might become sons of God – that we might join with Him.
How do we have the nerve? How do we think we have the nerve to do this to Jesus? How do we have the nerve to let our lives be compromising and half full of the devil and half full of ourselves, instead of giving it all to Jesus, and allowing Jesus to come forth in us. I think we need to consider it and see where we stand in Him, because He wants us to stand in all the fullness of the Father. To do that, every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. I hope tonight this message stirs your heart such as you’ve never been stirred in all your life, and it will make you turn around and become “of no reputation,” like Jesus. That you would realize that Jesus did it for us, that we might be able to bow before Him, and give Him the glory. Give Him the glory for every little thing that He gives to us. Every ray of hope, everything that we have, the Lord has given to us. Let’s shake ourselves from all these other things.
VI. All He Asks Is For Us To Give Him Our All – And
He Will Give To Us His All.
There was a young man that was with us – there have been many young men
that have been here – and God has done mighty things in their lives, but they walked away from it. One of the young men may be sentenced for life, for murder. They just sentenced him some weeks back for murder. He turned away from God. There’s two or three others that are in prison tonight. They were here, they had a chance, and they turned from it. They thought they wanted to go out there and have some fun. There’s a young man in prison, whose going to have to spend several years. I heard him prophesy, I heard him pray, I heard him here under the power of Almighty God. God changed his life! But he chose to walk out from it and went his way. He is now in prison. There was a young man just a few days ago – I said to him, “How can you do this to Christ who brought you out of so much? How can you walk away from Him? How can you treat Him the way you plan to treat Him?” How can you do it, when God has done so much in your life? How can you do it? We might play games with people, but we don’t play games with God. Jesus paid it all to give us all that the Father has for us. It’s ours tonight, and all He asks is for us to give Him our all, and He will take it, and He will give to us His all. He already paid the price for us, so that one day we can stand before Him boldly and know that He has made us as He is, through His precious blood, and in His mighty name. He has transformed our lives.
You heard the word this morning. It was very mighty what the Lord gave us –
that which God will do in our life if we will surrender. Tonight, He’s saying, “Surrender all to Jesus.” Amen. You’re going to meet this message down the road somewhere. You heard it: God’s going to hold you responsible for it. You’ll meet it down the road. I hope you meet it before judgment comes. I hope you decided tonight to let Jesus be all in all to you. I hope you lay everything down on Jesus’ feet, and let Him become to you the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Praise His name. “…it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You tonight. Jesus, we thank You that You became “of no
reputation” like unto man. And, Lord, we lift up some of these men, and some of these women, too. We wonder how you could die for such as these. O God, only You must say we are “of no reputation” except in Jesus. Lord, this night, bring forth Your Spirit in this people. Let true repentance come to every one of our hearts, that this light which is in us shall become brighter; that we may walk without compromise in this world today; that the light shall become brighter and brighter unto the perfect day. We give You glory. We thank you for this Word tonight. We ask You, our God, bring us to the realization that there is no compromise in God. It’s all in all or none at all. This night, Lord Jesus, speak to our hearts about everything we’re trying to compromise with. We ask You, Jesus, to take every one of our lives tonight, and let us see ourselves as You see us, that we might stand before you tonight, set free in the light of Christ to be revealed in us. We thank You, Lord, for this Word. We thank you for the ears that have heard it and the hearts that have received it, and, Lord, we give you glory for it now, and we thank You, that You will bring it to pass. In Your Wonderful Name we ask it, and for Your glory. Amen.
