John MacArthur's commentary on Philippians - Lesson 5

Introduction
In this portion of the letter to the Philippians church, Paul discusses the incarnation of Christ as a man and our sharing in His ultimate glory in His life, His suffering, and His resurrection

Pre-incarnation & Ministry

Paul affirms that Jesus is and has been eternally God

MacArthur points out that Paul uses the word "form" which conotates the unchanging character of something
This ties into what we discussed a couple of weeks ago, being of one mind - that is - a faith in the Truth.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)

Jesus is Messiah and Creator

Those present understood Jesus to be proclaiming blasphemy; do identify Himself as "I Am" is to declare Himself as Yaweh! Which He is.

1. "thought it not robbery"

A thing seized by robbery; embraced, prized, held onto

Though Christ had every reason to embrace and hold onto the honors of His deity, He was willing to leave it for a season

Would we give up a promotion, an award, a bonus for our fellow man? No - but our Lord gave up that much and infinitely more!

2. What does Jesus look like in His incarnation?

"made Himself of no reputation"; 2 Corinthians 8:9 "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, for your sakes He became poor, in order that you might be made rich through His poverty."

"took upon Himself the form of a servant"; Matthew 20:27 "And whoever desires to be chief among you, let him be your servant"

"made in the likeness of men"; Hebrews 2:16-17 "For truly He did not take the nature of angels, but He took hold of the seed of Abraham. 17 Therefore in all things it behoved him to be made like His brothers, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of His people."

"humbled Himself"; 1 Peter 2:23-24 "who when He was reviled did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but gave Himself up to Him who judges righteously. 24 He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed."

"obedient even unto death"; Matthew 26:39 "And He went a little further and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will."

Two things that these attributes have in common

All of these things we are unwilling to do!

All of these things fall into the broad category of "humility"

What is the definition of humility? - "Modest opinion of one's own rank or importance" (Webster) - not bad for society, but doesn't go far enough to be a Christian standard; "putting or thinking of others above one's self"

Let's take a look at the word "humility" in Scripture; "humble appears 31 times, "humbled" appears 47 times, & "humbles" 7 times; next to the Cross, humility, in my opinion, is one of the central themes of Scripture - in fact, we see here in Philippians that humility is exactly what drove Christ to the cross; He thought of us first and Himself last!

Proverbs 15:33 "The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility."

1 Peter 5:5-7 "Likewise, younger ones, be subject to older ones, and all being subject to one another. Put on humility. For God resists proud ones, but He gives grace to the humble. 6 Therefore be humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your anxiety onto Him, for He cares for you."

We see here in v. 8 that Christ humbled Himself into death, by giving Himself over to the Jews and Romans for Crucifixion in spite of His innocence and His ability to have legions of angels at His disposal.

Do we act humbly when persecuted?

Christ's Exultation and Our Promise of Glory

V. 9 has a "therefore"

According to MacArthur, this "therefore" links Christ's suffering and His exultation
Because He chose to humble Himself and suffer for us, He is ultimately exalted

2. We are told in the last verses (v. 10-11) that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Christ's holy name.

First, this is the purpose of the cross from the beginning of time - to display God's grace, His mercy, and ultimately His glory. And, we are participants in His glory because we are His children.

Second, we can take comfort when we are humble and being persecuted - Christ's name will ultimately be confessed by all. We have nothing to fear and no reason to become angry or defensive when we are wrongly persecuted, because we know that ultimately, those who persecute us will know the Truth.

Conclusion

Has anyone heard of a man named Wallace Hartley?

Wallace was the band leader on the Titanic who courageously led his band mates in playing continuously on the deck of the boat as it sank that fateful night (according to multiple eye witnesses)

Hartley was from the small town of Colne in Lancashire, England, and was raised in the Methodist church. His father was the choirmaster there and responsible for introducing the hymn ‘Nearer, My God, to Thee’ to the congregation, the song which was widely reported to have been played by Hartley and his band mates that night on the Titanic

By all accounts Hartley was a highly principled person and a devout Christian, who regularly attended church.
What's the point of the story?

Hartley approached his job and life from a position of humility. When it came down to a life-and-death decision, instead of running for the nearest lifeboat and finagling his way onto it in panic, he sacrificed himself to provide calm and ultimate hope to others in a desperate situation. He did this because he had hope in his ultimate exultation shared in Christ. May we live in this way everyday.