Scripture Verses about Christ, Church Fellowship and Unity, Conflict

Block quote from Charles Spurgeon's Commentary on Philippians as well as two bibles Wuest and ASV for a framework for the commentary.

Philippians 2

1 If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions, 

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[1]

In view of the fact that there is a certain ground of appeal in Christ which exhorts, since there is a certain tender persuasion that comes from divine love, in view of the fact that there is a certain partnership on the part of the Spirit [in which the Spirit gives us aid in the living of our Christian life],

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[2]

Philippians 2:1–11

Exposition

1 if there is Paul did not mean to doubt that there is “any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,” for no one knew better than he did how those blessings abound to those who are in Christ Jesus. He put it by way of argument. If there is consolation in Christ, since there is consolation in Christ, since there is comfort of love, since there is fellowship of the Spirit, be one in Christ. Do not be divided; love one another. How urgently he pleads! How he multiplies expressions! Love among Christians is so precious that he begs for it as if for his life.[3]

since there are certain tenderheartednesses and compassions,

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[4]

consolation Consolation is the dropping of a gentle dew from heaven on desert hearts beneath. True consolation, such as can reach the heart, must be one of the choicest gifts of divine mercy; and surely we are not erring from sacred Scripture when we avow that in its full meaning, consolation can be found nowhere save in Christ, who has come down from heaven, and who has again ascended to heaven, to provide strong and everlasting consolation for those whom He has bought with His blood.[5]

2 make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; [6]

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[6]

fill full my joy by thinking the same thing, by having the same divine self-sacrificial love, being in heart-agreement,

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[7]

2 in agreement Paul would have all God’s people to be unanimous; he would have them think alike—that is the precise interpretation of the Greek—he would have them hold the same views, receive the same truth, contend for the same faith. He would have them as much alike in heart as in head. They are to be all found in the same love, not some loving the rest, but each loving all, and not even a single person exempted—every soul flaming with the sacred fire. He would have them knit together in every sacred enterprise, being of one accord, or as the Greek has it, of one soul; as though instead of a hundred souls enshrined in a hundred persons, they had but one soul incarnate in a hundred bodies. He would have all the people of God to be fused into one race, made to love each other, in fact, with a pure heart fervently. Now by this may we tell whether we are becoming like our Lord.[8]

 Dogs Fighting Each Other Instead of the Wolves

         Preaching Themes: Church Fellowship and Unity, Conflict

 Philipp Melancthon mourned in his day the divisions among Protestants, and sought to bring the Protestants together by a parable of the war between the wolves and the dogs: The wolves were somewhat afraid, for the dogs were many and strong, and therefore they sent out a spy to observe them. On his return, the scout said, “It is true the dogs are many, but there are not many mastiffs among them. There are dogs of so many sorts one can hardly count them. As for the most of them,” said he, “they are little dogs, which bark loudly but cannot bite. However, this did not cheer me so much,” said the wolf, “as this, that as they came marching on, I observed they were all snapping right and left at one another, and I could see clearly that though they all hate the wolf, yet each dog hates every other dog with all his heart.”

 I fear it is true still, for there are many who snap right and left, followers of Jesus too, when they had better save their teeth for the wolves. If our enemies are to be put to confusion, it must be by the united efforts of all the people of God—unity is strength.[9]

2 make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind; 

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[10]

by having the same divine self-sacrificial love, being in heart-agreement, thinking the one thing, doing nothing impelled by a spirit of factiousness,

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[11]

having the same love He knew that these saints at Philippi loved him. They had sent once and again to relieve his necessities, so he pleaded with them, by their love to him, to love each other. He does as much as say, “If you really do love me, if it is not a sham, if you have any sympathy with me, and with my labors and sufferings, if you really have the same spirit that burns in my breast, make my heart full of joy by clinging to one another, by being likeminded, ‘having the same love, united in spirit, having one purpose.’ ”[12]

3 doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; 

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[13]

nothing motivated by empty pride, but in lowliness of mind consider one another as excelling themselves, this estimation resting, not upon feelings nor sentiment but upon a due consideration of facts, not consulting each one his own interests only, but also each one the interests of others. This mind be constantly having in you.

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[14]

3 do nothing according to selfish ambition Nothing is to be done through strife. But how much of religious service is from top to bottom carried out in strife? Sometimes one sect will seek to increase itself merely for the sake of becoming larger and more influential than another. Do Sunday school teachers never try to get good classes and to obtain conversions that they may be more honored than others? Does that never enter the classroom? Do street preachers never wish to preach better than others, and in order that they may win more applause? I know this from experience, that the spirit of strife may easily enough come into the pulpit, and that the minister may be seeking to outrun his neighbor when he thinks he is filled with zeal for God. The devil has had a finger in the building of many places of worship. The people have striven with one another, and then they have separated and built a new chapel, fancying that it has been all for the glory of God. Meanwhile, the devil has felt that it has been for his glory, and he has rejoiced in it. Whenever I serve God out of any motive of emulation or strife, I prove to myself that I have not worked out my salvation from one evil passion at least, and I have need to fear and tremble, to begin again and labor diligently till the spirit of pride shall be driven out of my soul.

How much is done out of vainglory! How many people dress themselves out of vainglory! The thought is uppermost, “How do I look in this?” How many give to God’s cause out of vainglory, that they may seem to be generous! How often does a preacher polish his sentences and pick his words that he may be thought to be an able orator and an eloquent preacher! Vainglory! It is a wonder that God accepts us in any of our works at all—in fact, He never could if He did not see them washed in the precious blood of Jesus, for in almost everything, from the lowest member up to the most useful minister of Christ, this vainglory will thrust itself in.[15]

3 doing nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself; 

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[16]

consider one another as excelling themselves, this estimation resting, not upon feelings nor sentiment but upon a due consideration of facts, not consulting each one his own interests only, but also each one the interests of others. This mind be constantly having in you.

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[17]

considering one another better than yourselves The apostle knew that, to create concord, you need first to beget lowliness of mind. Men do not quarrel when their ambitions have come to an end. When each one is willing to be least, when everyone desires to place his fellows higher than himself, there is an end to party spirit; schisms and divisions are all passed away.[18]

 Seeing Others’ Loveliness Makes a Person Lovely

         Preaching Themes: Beauty, Complaining, Encouragement, Humility, Love, Speech

 John Bunyan beautifully portrays Christiana and Mercy coming up out of the bath of the interpreter’s house. They have had jewels put upon them, and when they are both washed, Mercy says to Christiana, “How comely and beautiful you look!” “No,” Christiana said, “My sister, I see no beauty in myself, but how lovely you look! I think I never saw such loveliness.” They were both lovely because they could see other people’s loveliness.

 Your own spiritual beauty may be very much measured by what you can see in other people. When you say, “There are no saints now,” it is to be feared that you are not one. When you complain that love is dead in the Christian church, it must be dead in your heart, or you would not say so. As you think of others, that you are. Out of your own mouth shall you be condemned.[19]

Philippians 2:4 (ASV) 

4 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. 

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[20]

not consulting each one his own interests only,

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[21]

4 not looking out for your own interests Do not obey the world’s maxim, “Take care of Number One.” Have a large heart, so that, though you care for yourself in spiritual things, and desire your own soul-prosperity, you may have the same desire for every other Christian man or woman.[22]

Philippians 2:4 (ASV) 

4 not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others. 

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[23]

but also each one the interests of others. This mind be constantly having in you.

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:1–5). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[24]

the interests of others Consider how you can help others, and in what way you can prosper them both in temporal things and in spiritual. You are members of a body, so one member is not to think for itself alone; the unity of the whole body requires that every separate and distinct part of it should be in harmony with the whole.[25]

Philippians 2:5 (ASV)
⁵  Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[26]

. 

[This is the mind] which is also in Christ Jesus,  who has always been and at present continues to subsist in that mode of being in which He gives outward expression of His essential nature,

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[27]

5 think this in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus What an example we have set before us in the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus is the divine example of love and self-denial, and as we hope to be saved by Him we must diligently copy Him. He is now exalted to the highest glory as the reward of His voluntary humiliation, and by the same means must His disciples rise to honor. We must stoop to conquer. He who is willing to be nothing shall be possessor of all things.[28]

Philippians 2:6 (ASV)
⁶  who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book[29]

that of absolute deity, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His inner being [that of absolute deity], and who did not after weighing the facts, consider it a treasure to be clutched and retained at all hazards, this being on an equality with deity [in the expression of the divine essence],

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[30]

6 being equal with God You and I can have no idea of how high an honor it is to be equal with God. How can we, therefore, measure the descent of Christ, when our highest thoughts cannot comprehend the height from which He came? The depth to which He descended is immeasurably below any point we have ever reached, and the height from which He came is inconceivably above our loftiest thought. Do not, however, forget the glory that Jesus laid aside for a while. Remember that He is very God of very God, and that He dwelt in the highest heaven with His Father. Yet, though He was thus infinitely rich, for our sakes He became poor, that we, through His poverty, might be rich.[31]

Philippians 2:7 (ASV)
⁷  but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[32]

but himself He emptied, himself He made void, having taken the outward expression of a bondslave, which expression comes from and is truly representative of His nature [as deity], entering into a new state of existence, that of mankind. 

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[33]

7 emptied himself Emptied Himself of all His honor, of all His glory, of all His majesty, and of all the reverence paid to Him by the holy spirits around the throne.[34]

Philippians 2:8 (ASV)
⁸  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.[35]

And being found to be in outward guise as man, 

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[36]

in appearance like a man A great marvel is that Incarnation, that the eternal God should take into union with Himself our human nature, and should be born at Bethlehem, and live at Nazareth, and die at Calvary on our behalf. He was the Creator, and we see Him here on earth as a creature; the Creator, who made heaven and earth, without whom was not anything made that was made, and yet He lies in the virgin’s womb. He is born, and He is cradled where the horned oxen feed. The Creator is also a creature. The Son of God is the Son of man. Strange combination! Could condescension go farther than for the Infinite to be joined to the infant, and the Omnipotent to the feebleness of a newborn babe? Yet this is not all.[37]

Philippians 2:8 (ASV)
⁸  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.[38]

He stooped very low, having become obedient [to God the Father] to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross.

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[39]

8 he humbled himself Our text does not speak so much of the humiliation of Christ in becoming man, as of His humiliation after He took upon Himself our nature. He had not descended low enough yet, though He had come down all the way from the Godhead to our manhood.

What will not Christ do for us who have been given to Him by His Father? There is no measure to His love; you cannot comprehend His grace. Oh, how we ought to love Him, and serve Him! The lower He stoops to save us, the higher we ought to lift Him in our adoring reverence. Blessed be His name, He stoops, and stoops, and stoops, and, when He reaches our level, and becomes man, He still stoops, and stoops, and stoops lower and deeper yet.[40]

 Jesus Humbled Himself by Waiting

         Preaching Themes: Humility, Humanity of Jesus, Patience

 I cannot pass over the thirty years of His silence without feeling that here was a marvelous instance of how He humbled Himself. I know young men who think that two or three years’ education is far too long for them. They want to be preaching at once—running away, as I sometimes tell them, like chickens with the shell on their heads. They want to go forth to fight before they have buckled on their armor.

 But it was not so with Christ; thirty long years passed over His head, and still there was no Sermon on the Mount. When He did show Himself to the world, see how He humbled Himself. He did not knock at the door of the high priests, or seek out the eminent rabbis and the learned scribes. He took for His companions fishermen from the lake, infinitely His inferiors, even if we regarded Him merely as a man. He was full of manly freshness and vigor of mind, and they were scarcely able to follow Him, even though He moderated His footsteps out of pity for their weakness. He preferred to associate with lowly men, for He humbled Himself.[41]

Philippians 2:8 (ASV)
⁸  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book[42]

having become obedient [to God the Father] to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross.

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[43]

by becoming obedient Our Lord’s way of humbling Himself was by obedience. He invented no method of making Himself ridiculous; He put upon Himself no singular garb, which would attract attention to His poverty. He simply obeyed His Father, and, mark you, there is no humility like obedience: “To obey is better than sacrifice; to give heed than the fat of rams” (1 Sam 15:22).

In what way, then, did the Lord Jesus Christ in His life obey? There was always about Him the spirit of obedience to His Father. He could say, “Look, I come. In the scroll of the book it is written concerning me: ‘I delight to do your will, O my God, and your law is deep within me’ ” (Psa 40:7). He was always, while here, subservient to His Father’s great purpose in sending Him to earth; He came to do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work. He learned what that will was partly from Holy Scripture. You constantly find Him acting in a certain way “that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” He shaped His life upon the prophecies that had been given concerning Him. Thus He did the will of the Father.

Also, there was within Him the Spirit of God, who led and guided Him, so that He could say, “I do always those things that please the Father.” Then, He waited upon God continually in prayer. Though infinitely better able to do without prayer than we are, yet He prayed much more than we do. With less need than we have, He had a greater delight in prayer than we have; thus He learned the will of God as man, and did it, without once omitting or once transgressing in a single point.

He did the will of God also, obediently, by following out what He knew to be the Father’s great design in sending Him. He was sent to save, and He went about saving, seeking and saving that which was lost. Oh, dear friends, when we get into unison with God, when we wish what He wishes, when we live for the great object that fills God’s heart, when we lay aside our wishes and whims, and even our lawful desires, that we may do only the will of God, and live only for His glory, then we shall be truly humbling ourselves![44]

 “Obedience Is the Best Humility”

         Preaching Themes: Humility, Obedience and Disobedience, Pride

 I have known persons try to humble themselves by will-worship. I have stood in the cell of a monk, when he has been out of it, and I have seen the whip with which he flagellated himself every night before he went to bed. I thought that it was quite possible that the man deserved all he suffered, and so I shed no tears over it. That was his way of humbling himself, by administering a certain number of lashes. I have known persons practice voluntary humility. They have talked in very humble language, and have decried themselves in words, though they have been as proud as Lucifer all the while.

 To obey is better than to wear a special dress, or to clip your words in some peculiar form of supposed humility. Obedience is the best humility, laying yourself at the feet of Jesus, and making your will active only when you know what it is God’s will for you to do. This is to be truly humble.[45]

Philippians 2:8 (ASV)
⁸  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book[46]

He stooped very low, having become obedient [to God the Father] to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross.

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[47]

to the point of death Was He not on earth always stripping off first one robe of honor, and then another, till, naked, He was fastened to the cross? And there did He not empty out His inmost self, pouring out His lifeblood, giving up for all of us? How low was our dear Redeemer brought! Lower than the cross Christ could not go; His death was one of such extreme ignominy that He could not have been more disgraced and degraded.

Our Lord died willingly. You and I, unless the Lord should come quickly, will die, whether we are willing or not: “It is destined for people to die once” (Heb 9:27). He did not need to die, yet He was willing to surrender His life. He said, “I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take possession of it again. This commandment I received from my Father” (John 10:18). He died willingly, but at the same time, He did not die by His own hand. He did not take His own life as a suicide; He died obediently. He waited till His hour had come, when He was able to say, “It is finished,” then He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. He humbled Himself, so as willingly to die.

He proved the obedience of His death, also, by the meekness of it, as Isaiah said, “Like a sheep is dumb before its shearers, so he did not open his mouth” (Isa 53:7). He never spoke a bitter word to priest or scribe, Jewish governor or Roman soldier. When the women wept and bewailed, He said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28). He was all gentleness; He had not a hard word even for His murderers. He gave Himself up to be the Sin-bearer, without murmuring at His Father’s will, or at the cruelty of His adversaries. How patient He was! If He says, “I thirst,” it is not the petulant cry of a sick man in his fever; there is a royal dignity about Christ’s utterance of the words. Even the “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,” with the unutterable gall and bitterness it contains, has not even a trace of impatience mingled with it. Oh, what a death Christ’s was! He was obedient in it, obedient not only till He came to die, but obedient in that last dread act. His obedient life embraced the hour of His departure.[48]

Philippians 2:8 (ASV)
⁸  and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross.

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[49]

He stooped very low, having become obedient [to God the Father] to the extent of death, even such a death as that upon a cross.

Wuest, K. S. (1961). The New Testament: an expanded translation (Php 2:6–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.[50]

on a cross That was the worst kind of death. It was a violent death. Jesus did not fall asleep gently, as good men often do, whose end is peace. No, He died by murderous hands. Jews and Gentiles combined, and with cruel hands took Him, and crucified and slew Him. It was, also, an extremely painful death of lingering agony. Those parts of the body in which the nerves were most numerous were pierced with rough iron nails. The weight of the body was made to hang upon the tenderest part of the frame. No doubt the nails tore their cruel way through His flesh while He was hanging on the tree. A cut in the hand has often resulted in lockjaw and death; yet Christ’s hands were nailed to the cross. He died in pain most exquisite of body and of soul.

It was, also, a death most shameful. Thieves were crucified with Him; His adversaries stood and mocked Him. The death of the cross was one reserved for slaves and the basest of felons; no Roman citizen could be put to death in such a way as that, hung up between earth and heaven, as if neither would have Him, rejected of men and despised of God.

It was, also, a penal death. He died, not like a hero in battle, nor as one who perishes while rescuing his fellow men from fire or flood; He died as a criminal. Upon the cross of Calvary He was hung up. It was an accursed death, too. God Himself had called it so: “Cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree” (Deut 21:23). He was made a curse for us. His death was penal in the highest sense. He “bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet 2:24).[51]

Philippians 2:9 (ASV)

⁹  Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name;

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[52]

Philippians 2:9 (WuestNT)
⁹  Because of which voluntary act of supreme self-renunciation God also supereminently exalted Him to the highest rank and power, and graciously bestowed upon Him the Name, the name which is above every name,

Wuest, Kenneth S., trans. The New Testament: An Expanded Translation Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1961. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[53]

9 Therefore That is, because of His previous humiliation. There is a marvelous connection between that shame, and spitting, and the bending of the knee of seraphs; there is a strange yet mystic link that unites the calumny and the slander with the choral sympathies of adoring angels. The one was, as it were, the seed of the other. Strange that it should be, but the black, the bitter seed brought forth a sweet and glorious flower, which blooms forever. He suffered and He reigned; He stooped to conquer, and He conquered for He stooped, and was exalted for He conquered.

O Christian! Sit down and consider that your Master did not mount from earth’s mountains into heaven, but from her valleys. It was not from heights of bliss on earth that He strode to bliss eternal, but from depths of woe He mounted up to glory. What a stride was that, when, at one mighty step from the grave to the throne of the Highest, the man Christ, the God, did gloriously ascend. And yet reflect! He in some way, mysterious yet true, was exalted because He suffered.[54]

Philippians 2:9 (ASV)

⁹  Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name;

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[55]

Philippians 2:9 (WuestNT)
⁹  Because of which voluntary act of supreme self-renunciation God also supereminently exalted Him to the highest rank and power,

Wuest, Kenneth S., trans. The New Testament: An Expanded Translation Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1961. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[56]

God exalted him Pause over this thought—that Christ did not crown Himself, but that His Father crowned Him. He did not elevate Himself to the throne of majesty, but His Father lifted Him there, and placed Him on His throne. Reflect that man never highly exalted Christ. Put this then in opposition to it—“God exalted him.” Man hissed Him, mocked Him, hooted Him. Words were not hard enough—they would use stones: “They took up stones again to stone him” (John 10:31). And stones failed; nails must be used, and He must be crucified. And then there comes the taunt, the jeer, the mockery, while He hangs languishing on His death-cross. Man did not exalt Him. Set the black picture there. Now put this, with this glorious, this bright scene, side by side with it, and one shall be a foil to the other: man dishonored Him; “God exalted him.”[57]

Philippians 2:9 (ASV)

⁹  Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name;

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[58]

Philippians 2:9 (WuestNT)
⁹  Because of which voluntary act of supreme self-renunciation God also supereminently exalted Him to the highest rank and power,

Wuest, Kenneth S., trans. The New Testament: An Expanded Translation Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1961. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002. WORDsearch CROSS e-book[59]

name above every name He threw away His name; He emptied Himself of His reputation. How high is His reputation now! How glorious is the name that God has given Him as the reward of His redemptive work![60]

 How the Christian Shares in Christ’s Exaltation

         Preaching Themes: Glory

 The Christian feels that when Christ is exalted, it is himself exalted in some degree, seeing he has sympathy with his desire of promoting the great cause and honor of God in the world. I have no doubt that every common soldier who stood by the side of the Duke of Wellington felt honored when the commander was applauded for the victory; for said he, “I helped him, I assisted him. It was but a mean part that I played; I did but maintain my rank; I did but sustain the enemy’s fire; but now the victory is gained. I feel an honor in it, for I helped, in some degree, to gain it.”

 So the Christian, when he sees his Lord exalted, says, “It is the Captain that is exalted, and in his exaltation all his soldiers share. Have I not stood by his side? Little was the work I did, and poor the strength that I possessed to serve him, but still I aided in the labor.” The commonest soldier in the spiritual ranks feels that he himself is in some degree exalted when he reads this: “Therefore also God exalted him, and graciously granted him the name above every name”—a renown above every name—“so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.”[61]

Philippians 2:10 (ASV)
¹⁰  that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth,[62]

Philippians 2:10 (WuestNT)
in order that in recognition of the Name which Jesus possesses, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the earth, [63]

10 every knee should bow Look at Him! Can your imagination picture Him? Behold His transcendent glory! The majesty of kings is swallowed up; the pomp of empires dissolves like the white mist of the morning before the sun; the brightness of assembled armies is eclipsed. He in Himself is brighter than the sun, more terrible than armies with banners. In heaven, in earth, in hell, all knees bend before Him, and every tongue confesses that He is God. If not now, yet in the time that is to come this shall be carried out, that every creature of God’s making shall acknowledge His Son to be “God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Rom 9:5). My soul anticipates that blessed day, when this whole earth shall bend its knee before its God willingly! I do believe there is a happy era coming, when there shall not be one knee unbent before my Lord and Master.[64]

Philippians 2:11 (ASV)
¹¹  and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.[65]

Philippians 2:11 (WuestNT)
 and in order that every tongue should plainly and openly agree to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord, resulting in the glory of God the Father.[66]

11 every tongue confess Now is He higher than the highest. Now everyone must confess His divinity. With shame and terror, His adversaries shall bow before Him; with delight and humble adoration, His friends shall own Him Lord of all.

Jesus Christ is Lord What we are taught here is the great truth that Jesus Christ, though once He stooped to the lowest shame, is now exalted to the very highest glory, and even the devils in hell are compelled to own the might of His power. We are also to learn from this passage that the way to ascend is to descend. He who would be chief must be willing to be the servant of all. The King of kings was the Servant of servants; and if you would be crowned with honor by-and-by you must be willing to be despised and rejected of men now. The Lord give us this gracious humbleness of mind, for Jesus Christ’s sake!

glory of God the Father See how the greatest glory of Christ is the glory of the Father. He never desired any other glory but that. The highest honor you can ever have, O child of God, is to bring honor to your Father who is in heaven.[67]

Application

The Consolation of Christ’s Presence

If ever your minds dwell with sadness upon the fact that we are at this day absent from the Lord, because we are present in the body, think of the great truth that Jesus Christ of old had delights with the sons of men, and He delights to commune and have fellowship with His people now.

Remember that your Lord and Master appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre under the disguise of a pilgrim. Abraham was a pilgrim, and Christ to show His sympathy with His servant, became a pilgrim too. Did He not appear also to Jacob at the brook Jabbok? Jacob was a wrestler, and Jesus appears there as a wrestler too. Did He not stand before Moses under the guise and figure of a flame in the midst of a bush? Was not Moses at the very time the representative of a people who were like a bush burning with fire and yet not consumed? Did He not stand before Joshua—Joshua the leader of Israel’s troops—and did He not appear to him as the captain of the Lord’s host? And do you not well remember that when the three holy children walked in the midst of the fiery furnace, He was in the midst of the fire too, not as a king, but as one in the fire with them?

Cheer then your heart with this consoling inference. If Christ appeared to His servants in the olden time, and manifested Himself to them as bone of their bone, and flesh of their flesh, in all their trials and their troubles, He will do no less to you today. He will be with you in passing through the fire; He will be your rock, your shield, and your high tower; He will be your song, your banner, and your crown of rejoicing. Fear not; He who visited His saints of old will surely not be long absent from His children today. His delights are still with His people, and still will He walk with us through this weary wilderness. Surely this makes Christ a most blessed consolation for His Israel.[68]

Five Lessons to Learn from Christ’s Humiliation

1. The first lesson to learn from Christ’s humiliation is to have firmness of faith in the atoning sacrifice. If my Lord could stoop to become man, and if, when He had come as low as that, He went still lower, and lower, and lower, until He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, I feel that there must be a potency about that death which is all that I can require. Jesus by dying has vindicated law and justice. If God can punish sin upon His own dear Son, it means far more than the sending of us to hell. Without shedding of blood there is no remission of sin—but His blood was shed, so there is remission. His wounds let out His lifeblood; one great gash opened the way to His heart. Before that, His whole body had become a mass of dripping gore, when, in the garden, His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. My Lord, when I study your sacrifice, I see how God can be “just, and the one who justifies the person by faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26). Faith is born at the cross of Christ. We not only bring faith to the cross, but we find it there. I cannot think of my God bearing all this grief in a human body, even to the death on the cross, and then doubt. Why, doubt becomes harder than faith when the cross is visible! When Christ is set forth evidently crucified among us, each one of us should cry, “Lord, I believe, for your death has killed my unbelief.”
2. The next lesson I would have you learn from Christ’s humiliation is this: cultivate a great hatred of sin. Sin killed Christ; let Christ kill sin. Sin made Him go down, down, down; then pull sin down, let it have no throne in your heart. If it will live in your heart, make it live in holes and corners, and never rest till it is utterly driven out. Seek to put your foot upon its neck, and utterly kill it. Christ was crucified; let your lusts be crucified. Let every wrong desire be nailed up, with Christ, upon the felon’s tree. If, with Paul, you can say, “May it never be that I boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal 6:14), with him you will also be able to exclaim, “Let no one cause me trouble, for I carry on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17). Christ’s branded slave is the Lord’s freeman.
3. Learn another lesson, and that is obedience. If Christ humbled Himself, and became obedient, how obedient ought you and I to be! We ought to stop at nothing when we once know that it is the Lord’s will. I marvel that you and I should ever raise a question or ask a moment’s delay in our obedience to Christ. If it be the Lord’s will, let it be done, and done at once. Should it rend some fond connection, should it cause a flood of tears, let it be done. He humbled Himself, and became obedient. Would obedience humble me? Would it lower me in man’s esteem? Would it make me the subject of ridicule? Would it bring contempt upon my honorable name? Should I be elbowed out of the society wherein I have been admired, if I were obedient to Christ? Lord, this is a question not worth asking! I take up your cross right joyfully, asking grace to be perfectly obedient, by the power of your Spirit.
4. Learn next another lesson, and that is self-denial. Did Christ humble Himself? Let us practice the same holy art. Have I not heard of some saying, “I have been insulted; I am not treated with proper respect. I go in and out, and I am not noticed. I have done eminent service, and there is not a paragraph in the newspaper about me.” Your Master humbled Himself, and it seems to me that you are trying to exalt yourself! Truly, you are on the wrong track. If Christ went down, down, down, it ill becomes us to be always seeking to go up, up, up. Wait till God exalts you, which He will do in His own good time. Meanwhile, it behooves you, while you are here, to humble yourself. If you are already in a humble position, should you not be contented with it; for He humbled Himself? If you are now in a place where you are not noticed, where there is little thought of you, be quite satisfied with it. Jesus came just where you are. You may well stop where you are, where God has put you. Jesus had to bring Himself down, and to make an effort to come down to where you are. Is not the Valley of Humiliation one of the sweetest spots in all the world? Does not the great geographer of the heavenly country, John Bunyan, tell us that the Valley of Humiliation is as fruitful a place as any the crow flies over, and that our Lord formerly had His country house there, and that He loved to walk those meadows, for He found the air was pleasant? “I should like to be known,” says one. “I should like to have my name before the public.” Well, if you ever had that lot, if you felt as I do, you would pray to be unknown, and to let your name drop out of notice; there is no pleasure in it. The only happy way, if God would only let us choose, is to be known to nobody, but just to glide through this world as pilgrims and strangers, to the land where our true kindred dwell, and to be known there as having been followers of the Lord.
5. I think that we should also learn from our Lord’s humiliation to have contempt for human glory. Suppose they come to you and say, “We will crown you king!” You may well say, “Will you? All the crown you had for my Master was a crown of thorns; I will not accept a diadem from you.” “We will praise you.” “What, will you praise me, you who spat in His dear face? I want none of your praises.” It is a greater honor to a Christian man to be maligned than to be applauded. I do not care where it comes from, I will say this: if he be slandered and abused for Christ’s sake, no odes in his honor, no articles in his praise, can do him one-tenth the honor. This is to be a true knight of the cross, to have been wounded in the fray, to have come back adorned with scars for His dear sake. Look upon human glory as a thing that is tarnished, no longer golden, but corroded, because it came not to your Lord.

• Lastly, let us be inflamed with a strong desire to honor Christ. If He humbled Himself, let us honor Him. Every time that He seems to put away the crown, let us put it on His head. Every time we hear Him slandered—and men continue to slander Him still—let us speak up for Him right manfully. Do you not grow indignant, sometimes, when you see how Christ’s professed Church is treating Him, and His truth? They are shutting Him out still, till His head is wet with dew, and His locks with the drops of the night. Proclaim Him King in the face of His false friends. Proclaim Him, and say that His Word is infallibly true, and that His precious blood alone can cleanse from sin. Stand out the braver because so many Judases seem to have leaped up from the bottomless pit to betray Christ again. Be firm and steadfast, like granite walls, in the day when others turn their backs and fly, like cowards.
• The Lord help you to honor Him who humbled Himself, who became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross! May He accept these humble words of mine, and bless them to His people, and make them to be the means of leading some poor sinner to come and trust in Him![69]

We Are, Like Christ, Exalted through Degradation

If Christ was exalted through His degradation, so will you be. Do not count your steps to triumph by your steps upward, but by those that are seemingly downward. The way to heaven is downhill. He who would be honored forever must sink in his own esteem, and often in that of his fellow men. Think not of the fool, who is mounting to heaven by his own light opinions of himself and by the flatteries of his fellows, that he shall safely reach Paradise. No, that shall burst on which he rests, and he shall fall and be broken in pieces. But he who descends into the mines of suffering shall find unbounded riches there, and he who dives into the depths of grief shall find the pearl of everlasting life within its caverns. Be willing to take the lowest place in the church of God, and to render the humblest service; count it an honor to be allowed to wash the saints’ feet. Be humble in mind; nothing is lost by cherishing this spirit, for see how Jesus Christ was honored in the end.

Recollect that you are exalted when you are disgraced. Read the slanders of your enemies as the plaudits of the just. Consider the scoff and jeer of wicked men as equal to the praise and honor of the godly; their blame is censure, and their censure praise. Reckon too, if your body should ever be exposed to persecution, that it is no shame to you, but the reverse. And if you should be privileged (and you may) to wear the blood-red crown of martyrdom, count it no disgrace to die. Remember, the most honorable in the church are “the noble army of martyrs.” Reckon that the greater the sufferings they endured, so much the greater is their “eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor 4:17). So you, if you stand in the brunt and thick of the fight, remember that you will stand in the midst of glory. If you have the hardest to bear, you will have the sweetest to enjoy. On with you, then—through floods, through fire, through death, through hell, if it should lie in your path. Fear not. He who glorified Christ because He stooped shall glorify you; for after He has caused you to endure awhile, He will give you “the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet 5:4).[70]

Sources

          September 16 Daily Help

          Philippians 2:1–16 The Interpreter: Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible

          Consolation in Christ (Phil 2:1) The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. 7

          Working Out What Is Worked In (Phil 2:12–13) The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. 14

          Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon: Philippians 2:1–18 The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. 38

          Our Lord in the Valley of Humiliation (Phil 2:8) The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. 38

          Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon: Philippians 1:12–30; 2:1–13 The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. 47

          Exposition by C. H. Spurgeon: Philippians 1:21–30; 2:1–11 The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. 55

          The Exaltation of Christ (Phil 2:9–11) The New Park Street Pulpit Sermons, Vol. 2[71]

Here is Dallas Willard on Phil 2:10-11
Eventually, every knee will bow and every tongue will acknowledge this
current reality (Phil 2:10-11) Both believers and nonbelievers alike will be confessing   [72]                                                                                                                   

Appendix / Bibliography

[1],[6],[10],[13],[16],[20],[23],[26],[29],[32],[35],[38],[42],[46],[49],[52],55],[58],[62]&[65] The Holy Bible: American Standard Version Fort Worth, TX: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1901. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

[2],[4],[7],[11],14],[17],[21],[24],[27],[30],[33],[36],[39],[43],[47],[50],[53],[56],[59],[63],[66],[ Wuest, Kenneth S., trans. The New Testament: An Expanded Translation Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1961. Reprint, Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2002. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

[3],[5],[8],[9],[12],[15],[18],[19],[22],[25],[28],[31],[34],[37],[40],[41],[44],[45],[48],[51],[54],[57],[60],[61],[64],[67],[68],[69],[70],[71] Spurgeon, C. (2014). Spurgeon Commentary: Philippians. (E. Ritzema, Ed.) (pp. 47–67). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

[72] The Divine Conspiracy Continued
Author Copyright     Dallas Willard and Gary Black Jr.
Publisher William Collins, 2014
ISBN 9780007589937
Length 328 pages

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