The Gentleness Of Greatness

“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.” —Philippians 2:5–8

I find that the commentators and expositors differ quite radically as to the deepest import of the wonderful statement of our text and I am not going to attempt to enlighten you as to what they think or as to what I believe this particular statement means. Today I want to pick up on the gold that is lying on the surface, rather than to dig into the depths.

It is perfectly obvious to the most ordinary reader of the Scripture that the apostle Paul is citing here the incarnation, the ministry, and the death of Jesus, as the great example of Christian humility and self-sacrifice. His birth was the supreme act of condescension; His death was the climax of His obedience to God and His devotion to us; and His love prompted that condescension, that obedience, and that devotion!

Divine Condescension

First of all, I want you to observe the heights from which Jesus descended. The apostle here is directing us to the glory from which He came. “Being in the form of God (or as the Revised Version has it in the margin, ‘Being originally in the form of God,’) He emptied Himself.”

That is a wonderful statement, friends. To be in the form of God is equivalent to having all the essential attributes and the nature of God. Only God could be "in the form of God." Man is made “in the likeness of God,” but not “in the form of God.” What a marvelous revelation! It takes us back to His pre-existence and states that the One who bore the name of Jesus of Nazareth lived the divine life before He was born in Bethlehem of Judea.

The Vital Issue

It is a rather remarkable thing—and it seems to me it is an evidence of the strategy of the devil—that during these last few years, a great many of new religions have arisen, nearly every one of which denies the virgin birth and the pre-existence of the One called Jesus. One of these organizations which is zealous about publishing its literature and inviting people to its assemblies, labels itself the “International Bible Society.” This organization denies emphatically that Jesus had any existence before His appearance in Bethlehem of Judea.

How anyone can make such a statement and profess to believe the Bible, I cannot understand. I know our higher critical friends claim there is no such thing as a virgin birth. They deny Christ’s pre-existence. But the higher critics do not believe the Bible, and tell us frankly that they do not believe it. They do not accept its authority. Yet some honest brethren of this school state candidly that if one believes in the Bible, one must accept the traditional teaching of the church concerning the virgin birth of Jesus Christ.

Abundant Scriptural Testimony

It is everywhere clearly taught in the Word that before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was with God in glory. “In the beginning,” says John, “was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John bases his argument on that statement and states that the Word became flesh at Bethlehem and tabernacled with us. But before He became flesh, He was “with God and He was God.”

The apostle Paul, speaking on this theme, claims that Jesus Christ was the image of the invisible God and by Him all things were created “both visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, they were all created by Him, and all created for Him and through Him all things consist.”

Paul was a great believer in the deity of Jesus Christ. In writing to Timothy he says of Him, “is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting.”

Oh, beloved, you may not accept the authority of the Bible, but if you do, you are bound to believe that the Babe born in Bethlehem was the God who created the heaven and the earth.

But stronger still, it seems to me, than any statement ever made by Paul or by John or by any other writer, is that one little sentence (if I may call it such) in our Lord’s wonderful prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John. After He had prayed for other things, Jesus said, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with that glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” Could anything be stronger than that?

An Apt Illustration

I think of a scene in the fifth of Revelation which is a great illustration of this fact. It refers both to events past and events to come. John, you remember, was being escorted through those mystical symbolisms, and at last he came to a book sealed with seven seals which no man could open. And you know, friends, I have a conviction that sealed book represents the doom of the world.

But no man was found worthy to unloose the seals. When John heard that “no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon,” he said, “I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain.”

“A Lion and a Lamb!” Who could this be but Jesus! “He stripped Himself”—that is the thought. He laid aside the insignia of His majesty, the outward form of the Godhead, and He humbled Himself to become [a] man and a servant.

The Real Meaning

What does the Scripture mean when it says, “He emptied Himself?” Surely not that Jesus Christ laid aside the essential attributes of His deity? It does not mean that He laid aside His Divine nature and became a man just like the rest of us. Oh no, beloved friends. He never laid aside the essential attributes of the Godhead—never! While in the flesh, whenever occasion demanded, He “manifested forth His glory.” One of the first miracles wrought, recorded in John’s Gospel, concludes with the words: “These miracles He did in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth His glory.” He demonstrated that He was the Lord of the elements. He was the Lord of the winds and the waves. He could say to the sea, “Be calm” or “peace, be still,” and there was a great calm.

Demons and death obeyed His will. He never laid aside the attributes of the Godhead. He was “God manifest in the flesh.” Never get away from that, beloved friends.

“But,” says the apostle, “He took upon Him the form of a servant.” Not only did He condescend to leave the place of glory and tabernacle with men, but He took the lowest place among men.

The word “servant” in our day does not convey the adequate conception of His humiliation. Servants, as we think of them, may be most honorable and honored. But Jesus became a slave!

And in that day, a slave had no rights. He could not own property. If he were insulted, he had no redress. There was no protection. He could be spit upon, he could be mocked, he could be hated, he could be wronged, and the arm of the law was never outstretched to save or to protect him. Jesus, as a slave, was sold for just twelve dollars! Ah yes, “He humbled Himself.”

An Antidote For Vanity

The apostle Paul, in stating this great truth, had a specific purpose. He sought to promote unity and humility in the church at Philippi. There were divisions in the church and this evil came from vainglory and strife. What is strife? Party spirit. What is vainglory? Personal vanity. And God knows that strife and vainglory play a very large part in our lives today. Unless we can find the secret of keeping self in the place of death, it will dominate even the best among us.

A man may preach from mere personal vanity. That is a hard saying, but it is true. Men may do Christian work simply through strife—party spirit. If you know the human heart and have looked the facts squarely in the face, you will agree with me.

Even in that early period of church history, the apostle Paul had to say, “Let nothing be done through strife.” I can almost hear someone say, “Yes, Paul, it is easy to talk like that, but tell me how to do it.” Well, Paul says, if you want to know, I will tell you: “Let each esteem other better than himself.” That is a great lesson to learn. That is taking the place of the slave instead of the ruler.

A Sharp Contrast

Had I time this morning, I was going to read to you a little story from the thirteenth chapter of John’s Gospel. You know the scene well. There are two wonders in it which make one marvel. One is the selfishness of the disciples, and the other is the humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was strife among the disciples as to who should be greatest. How slow we are to learn the spirit of Jesus. Especially in humility we are farther away from Him than in any other respect. We are more unlike Jesus in lowliness than in anything else. I do not wonder that he said to Philip on this occasion, “Have I been so long time with you, Philip, and hast thou not known me?”

How shallow was their conception of Him. They looked upon Him merely as a benefactor. Here they were, seated at table, striving to know who should be greatest. How their selfishness must have hurt Him. But in the midst of the meal, He arose, and laying aside His garments just as He had laid aside His glory up yonder, like a slave He girded Himself with a towel and washed the disciples’ feet.

Peter said, “Thou shalt not wash my feet.”

“Oh, yes, Peter,” Jesus said calmly, “you have a lesson to learn. What I do thou knowest not now.”

There is something in that story that many people never see. Did not Peter understand that outward act? Of course he did. But in that act there is a hidden meaning. Jesus said, which “thou shalt know hereafter.”

But O God! After nearly two thousand years, we do not know it yet! The washing of one another’s feet means being servants for Jesus’ sake. “If I, your Lord and Master have washed your feet, ye ought to wash one another’s feet. If ye know these things happy are ye if he do them.” He came to leave us an example that we should follow in His steps. Men never knew that humility was a grace until He came among us.

Revival And Humility

We are praying in The Moody Church for a revival. We say, “Oh, Lord, let there be an awakening in the church which shall answer the infidelity of our time. Let there be an outpouring of power and conviction upon men and women.” I believe that is the most effective answer we can give to infidelity. But that power is delayed. Every now and then there is a slight response, but the genuine spirit of revival, the kind that brings us close together in warm, heart-to-heart fellowship, that makes men and women love the house of God that kills the love of the world in the human heart—that is what we want. And the lack of it makes our hearts ache.

Now we say we want a revival. Do we? Then we must be where we are ready to serve, ready to suffer, ready to be misunderstood, ready to do things for people who do not deserve them.

Read that thirteenth chapter of John carefully and note how many times it says, “Jesus knowing.” In the light of the knowledge He had of the treachery of these hearts, in the light of the fact that He knew Judas was about to sell Him to His enemies, He knelt down and washed the traitor’s feet.

You are never wrong when you are lowly. When you are farthest from pride and conceit, you are nearest to Jesus Christ. When you have a sense of your spiritual poverty, you go from knowledge to knowledge and from grace to grace in the Christian life.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God,” laid aside the insignia of His majesty and humbled Himself, made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a slave. Is that all? Nay, verily, “Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…and every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”