3/31/2019
Attitude – Philippians 2, Pt 2
…your attitude should be the SAME as that of Christ Jesus…
Christlikeness Is Christian Life
Philippians 2:5-8 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 & took upon Himself the form of a servant & was made in the likeness of men: Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself & became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross!
Exaltation Is Realized In Humility
Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every name:
Humility is a dominant virtue in the Bible. “When pride comes, then comes dishonor,” warns Solomon, “but with the humble is wisdom” (Proverbs 11:12) & “It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Proverbs 16:19).
Zechariah describes the coming Messiah as “…just & endowed with salvation, humble, mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9), a prophecy about Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:15).
Moses was “very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). David said, “For though the Lord is exalted, yet He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar” (Psalm 138:6). In another psalm, he wrote, “The humble will inherit the land”.
Jesus quoted Psalm 37 in Matthew 5:5: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”. He described Himself as “gentle & humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29).
Paul testified of himself to the elders at Ephesus, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility” (Acts 20:18-19).
Three times in two verses in his first letter Peter calls for humility: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” (1 Peter 5:5-6).
(MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Philippians)
He Is Exalted Because He Exhibited Agape
Philippians 2:10-11 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven & things in earth & things under the earth; that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Agape Described
John 10:14-18 …I know the Father– I lay down My life for the sheep…The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life–only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down & authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.
Agape Revealed
John 17:22-23 I have given them the glory that you gave Me, that they may be one as We are One: I in them & You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me & have loved them even as You have loved Me.
The Origin & Goal of Agape
John 17:24-26 Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, they know that You have sent Me. I have made You known to them & will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them & that I Myself may be in them.
Relationship to Jesus IS Relationship to God
John 14:7-9 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him & have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father & it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long & yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
Agape Reveals The Children of God
1 John 4:8-10 He that loveth not (agape not) knoweth not God; for God is love (agape). In this was manifested the love (agape) of God toward us, because God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love (agape), not that we loved God, but that He loved us & sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Agape Is Known By Christ’s Demonstration
1 John 3:16 Hereby we perceive the love (agape), because He laid down His life for us: & we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 4:14-16 We have seen & testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him & he in God. We have known & believed the love that God hath towards us. God is love; he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God & God in him.