Phil. 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Introduction - Illustrating what verse 5 means

Before I delve into verses 6-11, I'm going to spend a fair bit of time analyzing verse 5 because it is so misunderstood by those who just quickly read it. It says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." This passage is being addressed to Christians who already had the mind of Christ to some extent, or they would not be Christians. But Paul uses the ongoing present tense in the Greek to indicate that they need to keep pursuing this mind because of how easy it is to lose the essential qualities in verses 6-11 if we do not. And let me use some illustrations of people who had the mind of Christ but then over time they began drifting from that and as a result began acting like the world.

David was a man after God's own heart, yet he fell into sexual sin and the cover-up of that sin implicated him in murder. And that negatively impacted his followers. Because his followers looked up to him, they either gave him a pass or actively covered up for him - no doubt thinking that it was for the good of the kingdom. They maybe thought that this compromise was for the greater good - the idea that the end justifies the means. And whatever you think of the Jason Bourne movies (which we only recommend to watch with ClearPlay), that kind of blind loyalty to authority structures is exposed as so wrong, and I think it is a good illustration of what is being exposed in the Federal government right now. But I want to stick to Christian illustrations. Solomon was the wisest man upon the face of the earth. I believe He had the thinking of God that was in Christ and should be in us. At least initially he had this mind. Yet later in his life God indited him for his perverted polygamy with idolatrous women. And no one stood up to him on that. And you can think of other Scriptural examples of men and women who started well but ended poorly and their compromises had a devastatingly negative impact upon their followers - followers who often felt obligated to overlook the sins in their leaders - which is wrong. Jonathan Daugherty said,

When leadership is good, followers prosper. When leadership is bad, followers suffer. When leadership is deceitful about their sin and weaknesses, followers are devastated by such betrayal of trust.

And in verses 19-30 we will be looking at quite a few other characteristics that absolutely need to mark good leaders. But today's passage backs up a step and looks at an essential underlying quality - where both leaders and followers must have the humility to measure themselves by Christ, and not by each other.

It would be easy to point the finger at the corruption in our national leaders. But the leadership of the church in America has not had the mind of Christ on quite a number of issues. For example, the last few years have seen an exposure of sexual scandals by clergy that is absolutely mind-blowing. And it's because they lacked what we are going to be looking at today. This is a critical passage.

Back when Ravi Zacharias was exposed for his sexual abuse and exploitation of women, people were mystified at how this could happen to him, and many people thought that this must be a rare occurrence among Christian leaders. Well, they were wrong. God has been uncovering a lot of corruption and rottenness in the church just like He has been doing in our nation. Two years ago the Southern Baptist Convention commissioned a study which exposed 380 Southern Baptist ministers who had engaged in extended abuse of over 700 women and children over a ten year period - and that may be just the tip of the iceberg because there was an immediate close-down of the investigation and some coverup. And we are seeing this exposure happening in denomination after denomination. It's made many victims feel cynical about Christianity - and you can sort of see why. And by the way, it isn't just Arminian and charismatic denominations that have had these scandals exposed. Last year it was discovered that numerous pastors in the Protestant Reformed Church denomination had covered up pedophilia, and as some victims said, what hurt even worse was that when this abuse was reported to church authorities, they covered it up. And the reason they gave was for the sake of the denomination's reputation - which we will see is really ridiculous when we look at this passage - especially when we look at the issue of humility. How could pastoral leaders that people looked up to so violate their trust?

And the Biblical answer is that their problem started in their mind or in their heart. And by the way, heart, mind, and soul are often used as synonyms in the Bible. For example, Deuteronomy 9:4 says, "Do not think in your heart..." Your heart can think. Deuteronomy 15 speaks of the wicked thoughts of our hearts. Proverbs 23:7 says, "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." So don't think of the heart as something mystical. It is just the inner man. Our brain thinks, but our spirit think too.

In any case, Ezekiel 8:12 warns that it's not enough for church leaders to avoid outward scandals. It says that we must daily root out even the hidden idolatry of the heart that no one else can see. Jesus said, "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies." That's why the Bible repeatedly commands us to guard our hearts or minds. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." And this paragraph that we are going to be looking at today shows us the only way we can do that.

It starts with the mind (v. 5)

Let's start digging into verse 5. Verse 5 is the theme of the whole paragraph. It says, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." We are called to have Christ's mindset - not Phil Kayser's mindset, or Greg Bahnsen's mindset, or any other human's mindset. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." Well, how in the world is that possible? Is this something mystical that we somehow tap into? I mean, we can’t see Jesus, so how can we have His mind? And the answer is, "No. It is not mystical." And let me explain.

The Greek word for "mind" or "mindset" is φρονέω. It is the opposite of a mystical turning off of our minds. It means "to think, form/hold an opinion, judge...to develop an attitude based on careful thought..." Interesting. The key to being a spiritually mature leader does not start with our emotions, physical discipline, relationships, prayer, or devotions. It starts with having the exact same thinking that Christ had. Christianity is a rational religion, and the more your mind is Biblically in gear, the less likely you will be to be fail. So it starts with the mind. And you might object and say it starts with love for God. But you don't even know how to love without first reading the Bible. So, no, it starts with the mind. There isn't anything in the Christian life that doesn't first start with mentally agreeing with the thoughts of God as revealed in the Bible. To repeat, Christianity is the most rational religion out there, and good conduct emerges from good thinking - from having our minds transformed by the Bible.

And if you have a translation that doesn't have the word "let" in it, I will point out that 97% of all Greek manuscripts of this book have the present middle imperative, just like the New King James Version does. We are to let a mindset that is outside of ourselves to come into our minds, just as Jesus had the mind of the Father as expressed in the Bible permeating His thinking. And by the way, the only way to objectively know what God thinks is to read the Bible. There are no other authoritative words than the inspired words found in the Bible that we have access to. The Bible is quite clear that once the canon of the Bible was finished in AD 66, all inspired prophecy outside the Bible ceased being given by God.¹ Why? Because the Bible was finished and it is now sufficient and provides all the inspired thoughts of God that we need for life and godliness. The Bible is totally sufficient for having the mind of Christ. The only way we can certainly know God's thoughts in our age is through the Bible. And it is Paul's contention that the only way for leaders to keep from being deceived and for their followers from being deceived is to check everything against God's mind as revealed in the Bible. Acts 17:11 says that the Bereans "were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." That was true even in the age of prophecy. So it's not just the leaders who needed to have the mind and thinking of Christ; followers do too. Every opinion of man (including my own) needs to be tested against the Scripture. There is no pastor who is infallible. But I do believe that what I am saying this morning is true. In the context of prophesying about the war against Jerusalem that ended in AD 70, Isaiah 8:20 tells us what God expects of every post-AD-70 believer. It says, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word [and he is referring to the Bible - that Isaiah prophesied would be finished by AD 70 - “If they do not speak according to this word”], it is because there is no light in them." Sola Scripture should guide our thinking; the Bible alone.

Why do I bring all that up? Well, I believe that the text mandates it. But I also bring it up because in my research, some of the most astounding leadership abuses have come from churches that are not guided by the Bible alone. I saw a meme on Tuesday that says it all. It says, "'follow your heart' has ended more marriages, caused more addictions, mutilated more bodies, destroyed more souls, and ended more lives than Satan imagined. It's one of hell's more effective slogans. Don't follow your heart, follow the One who created it." That's letting the thinking of God, which was in Christ's mind, also be in you. And we know exactly where to find Christ's mind - it's in the Bible. True Christianity is a rational religion that is 100% based on the Bible. I utterly reject Stephen Wolfe's book, Christian Nationalism, because it is not founded on the Bible alone. It's a mixture of pagan Greek thought with a few Scriptures sprinkled in. How can it be called "Christian" if it is not defined by the mind of Christ? It is my contention that we cannot call ourselves Protestants if we don't hold to the five solas of the Reformation, one of which is sola Scriptura, or Scripture Alone. Isaiah 55:7 tells us to abandon our own thoughts and instead to turn to God's. And you might wonder if the Bible is really sufficient to guide our thinking in every area of life. It is. Paul (the leader) told Timothy (the follower),

But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:14-17).

Get those words - the Scriptures are sufficient to make the man of God complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. In other words, we don't need any propositional revelation outside the Bible to be able to please God. We do need the Holy Spirit's illumination to understand and apply the Bible, but the propositional truths that God wants in our mind come from the Bible alone. Any other thoughts may or may not be true, but the Bible alone can be the foundation for life. One of the projects that I have been working on, and which should be ready to go up on the web² in a couple years (Lord willing) is the Great Axioms Project. In it I am showing how the foundational axioms for all 60 disciplines of thought are clearly revealed in the Bible. Everything needed to develop an entire system of mathematics, set theory, geometry, physics, statistical probability, logic, hermeneutics, textual criticism, and even music are revealed in the Bible. We use that Biblical worldview to then go out and take dominion in the world. And you might wonder about music, but God inspired Ezra the prophet to insert the diacritcal marks in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, and those diacritical marks not only serve for punctuation, MacDonald has shown that they give us everything we need as the foundations for music.

Of course, all of this takes study and work. But that's the only way the propositional thoughts of God, that were in Christ Jesus, can also be in us. 2 Timothy 2:15 commands us, "Be diligent [or as the King James words it, "Study," or as other versions word it "Work hard") to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." When you immerse yourself in the Bible, you will have more and more of God's mind just as Jesus did, and you will be able to discern what is true and false in the leaders that you follow. But it will also enable you to have the characteristics that are given to us in the remainder of this chapter. Be rational. Be a critical thinker. But you can only know that your thinking corresponds to God's thinking if the Bible is internalized. And of course, Jesus exemplified this better than any other human. What did the Bible produce in Jesus? This whole chapter will show that it produced a lot, but there are two things that this paragraph highlights: a true humility that is honored by God and a victorious faith that is honored by God. Those two foundational characteristics flow from a transformed mind.

Avoding a mindset of false humility - Jesus did not deny who He was (v. 6)

So, let's look at the humility of Jesus in verses 6-8. And I want to start by pointing out that in verse 6 it kept Jesus from having a false humility. And this is so important to recognize. There are Christian books out there that encourage a false humility - and I will explain what I mean by that. But look at verse 6. In this verse we see that Jesus did not deny who He was, or deny His position, authority, gifts, and abilities. Verse 6 says, "who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God..." Jesus was very God of very God, and He never denied that fact. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all equally God - three Persons in one Godhead. So He was fully equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit because He was God - God the Son. The New American Commentary says,

The word “form” means an outward appearance consistent with what is true. The form perfectly expresses the inner reality. The description “very nature of God” parallels “equality with God.” “Equality with God” is, therefore, another explanation of Jesus’ nature. The form of the expression stresses the manner of his existence since the word “equal” is actually an adverb showing how he existed. In the Greek text, the phrase is introduced with an article so that it should read “the equality with God,” referring back to something already identified as equality. Thus “form of God” and “equality with God” refer to the same state of existence, and the NIV correctly translates “in the form of God” as “in very nature God.”

... [Consider] the meaning and force of the participle “being.” The word basically meant “to exist originally” but later was used as an intensive form which meant “really exist.” The result is that Jesus “really existed” in that form...³

I know that is a long quote, but the point is, that Jesus was not robbing God of something like the first Adam tried to do. The first Adam followed Satan's temptation to be as God in determining good and evil. But this was not a temptation for Jesus because Jesus has always existed as God. When He claimed deity - as He did throughout the Gospels, He didn't have pride and He didn't have a false humility.

And by way of application, while we will see that we should not pridefully elevate ourselves above what we should (which verses 7 and following emphasize - true humility), neither should we downgrade ourselves beneath what God has gifted us to be in order to appear to be humble. That is a false humility that interestingly also flows from pride.

Having a mindset of true humility - Despite being fully God, Jesus humbled Himself (v. 7-8)

And we are going to hurry on. In contrast to false humility, verses 7-8 show that Jesus had true humility.

Reputation was unimportant (v. 7a)

The first evidence of true humility was that reputation was unimportant to him. Verse 7 says, "but made Himself of no reputation." Wow! He wasn't preoccupied with protecting His reputation. Desperately trying to protect your reputation is one of many evidences of pride that Gary talked about last week. Jesus said that the Pharisees and Sadducees prayed and did all their rituals to appear good before men (Matt. 6:5). They were very concerned about reputation. And that same pride led them to put others down. They were constantly slandering Jesus, downgrading Him, and trying to ruin His reputation. Jesus left His reputation in God's hands. Reputation was unimportant, so He wasn't constantly trying to prove who He really was.

And we can learn from this. But let's relate this to the corruption in church leaders that I started this sermon with. In case after case of churches covering up the sins of their leaders over the past ten years, their excuse was that they didn't want the reputation of their denomination to be ruined. And the perpetrators themselves failed to confess their sins because they feared losing their own reputations. But I think that Sam Storms had a much better approach when (as I pointed out two weeks ago) he had the humility to give an extensive public letter of confession, repentance, and asking for forgiveness for having been blind to Mike Bickle's sexual abuse of women and children. He had previously defended Bickle because he had a hard time believing that these accusations could be true. But he failed to investigate. But when it became obvious that abuse had occurred, he realized how much his covering for Bickle had hurt people, he tearfully gave a full repentance saying that he wanted God's favor, not man's favor. It took humility to do that - a humility that few leaders nowadays seem to have. They are too concerned about their reputations to be that transparent.

Defending our reputations is one of things that can keep us from true accountability and true transparency. But if we are to have the Bible (as God's revealed mind) in our minds, reputation will become less and less important to us, and living transparently in the truth of the Bible and in focusing on God's favor will become paramount.

He came as a bond-servant (v. 7b)

The next evidence of Christ's true humility was that He became a bond-servant whose only purpose was to do the Master's will. In John 6:38 Jesus said, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." Wow! That is a powerful evidence of humility. So verse 7 of our passage goes on to say, "taking the form of a bond-servant." Gordon Fee says, "'Form' (morphē) here means precisely what it did above, that in his earthly existence he took on the 'essential quality' [the meaning of the word "form" - He took on the essential qaulity] of what it meant to be a slave."⁴ For the Master of the universe to become a slave who did not seek His own will shows astounding humility.

And God calls all of us to similarly be bond-servants, or slaves. 1 Peter 2:16-17 says, "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bond-servants of God." Notice the connection with putting off vice. Peter is revealing the thoughts of God that were in Christ's mind and that also need to be in our mind on this issue of being bond-servants. In Romans 1:1 Paul exemplifies lack of false humility in that he calls himself an apostle (and he exercises the full authority of an apostle), but just before he calls himself an apostle he shows true humility by calling himself, "Paul, a bond-servant of Jesus Christ." And if we have the humility to be bond-servants of Jesus, it won't bother us to be bond-servants of each other if Christ commands it. And He does.

Husbands and wives should exemplify God's call that we serve each other in humility. Why? Because we are bond-servants of Jesus and He tells us to. Pastors are called to be bond-servants to their flock. The flock is called to be bond-servants to each other and to their leaders. We are not here to selfishly hope that the world will revolve around us and that the purpose of everyone else is to serve us. That's the sinful goal of the Calvin character in the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. Instead, we should imitate Jesus who said to His followers, "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matt. 20:26-27). And in two later sermons when we look at Timothy and Epaphroditus, we will see that they had this essential qualification of leadership. True humility evaporates selfishness.

He identified with humans (v. 7c)

The next evidence of His humility is that God the Son identified with humans. Verse 7 goes on to say, "and coming in the likeness of men." The Greek word for "likeness" does not mean that His humanity was an illusion. It means that Christ's human nature had some differences from our human nature even though He was fully man. For example, He obviously didn't have a human sin nature. I think Gordon Fee (and I’m quoting from charismatics to show that we can learn from them even if they are wrong on prophecy, but Gordon Fee explains this well) in his commentary on Philippians when he says,

This word... [is] emphasizing that he is similar to our humanity in some respects and dissimilar in others. The similarity lies with his full humanity; in his incarnation he was “like” in the sense of “the same as.” The dissimilarity... in Rom 8:3 had to do with his being sinless... [and in] his never ceasing to be “equal with God.”⁵

But the main point is that the owner of the Universe identified with us by coming in the weakness of human flesh. And humility calls for us to identify with fellow-believers by entering into their world, caring for their needs, identifying with their struggles, and calling ourselves brethren. The church leaders who fell into sin lacked this essential quality.

Others recognized that He was truly human (v. 8a)

The next evidence of His humility was that He took to Himself a human nature so thoroughly that others recognized that He was indeed truly human. No one could deny that fact. In other words, Christ’s humanity was a very visible and obvious humanity. They knew that He was not a fake human. Verse 8 says, "And being found in appearance as a man..." Again, the Greek word for appearance does not denote illusion. The Greek word for "appearance" is σχῆμα, and refers to a recognizable outward form. The Pillar commentary says,

In his “outward appearance, form, and shape,” Christ was found in every respect to be fully human. The word found here indicates that the reality of Christ’s humanity was discovered “intellectually through reflection, observation, examination or investigation.” The word “expresses the truth that this fact could be seen by anybody.” ... all who observed Christ [could...] conclude that he was an authentic, not a counterfeit, human being. Here again the Greek word anthrōpos is best translated as human being, since the point of the text is not Christ’s male gender, but his humanity.⁶

William Hendriksen agrees and expands on that in a very helpful way. He says,

in their estimation he was a human being, just like themselves in ever so many respects: Had they come into this world through the natural process of birth? So had he (Luke 2:7 - [and for the sake of time I won't read all the Scripture references that he gives. But he adds]). (The mystery of the virgin-birth they did not fathom.) Had they been wrapped in swaddling clothes (cf. Ezek. 16:4)? So had he (Luke 2:7). Had they grown up? So had he (Luke 1:80). Did they have brothers and sisters? So did he (Matt. 13:56). Had they learned a trade? So had he (Mark 6:3). Were they at times hungry, thirsty, weary, asleep? So was he (Matt. 4:2; John 4:6, 7; Mark 4:38). Were they ever grieved or angry? So was he (Mark 3:5). Did they weep at times? So did he (John 11:35). Did they rejoice, for example, at weddings? He too attended a wedding (John 2:1, 2). Were they destined to die? So was he, though in his case that death was physical, eternal, voluntary, and vicarious (John 10:11), and this they did not understand. In his entire fashion, therefore, he was recognized as a human being. He had the looks and outward bearing of men. His way of dress, customs and manners resembled those of his contemporaries.⁷

Now, for the God of the universe to do this shows humility. But we too are called on occasion to not try to escape from our human limitations, but to experience God's power working through our human weakness. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 Paul confessed that he had pleaded with Jesus to remove a fleshly weakness that he had - what he calls a "thorn in the flesh." There has been all kind of debate as to what this weakness in his body was about. Some say it was an eye disease. Others say it was epilepsy, or malaria, and the list of conjectures goes on and on. We simply are not told. We just know that it was a physical problem [something in his flesh] that bothered him. But Christ decided not to remove it, saying, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." If Jesus faced physical weakness and did not seek to escape from that, so too can we. Now, it is appropriate to pray for healing, but there are times when God brings far greater manifestations of His grace in our lives precisely through the thorns that we experience. Simon Kistemaker rightly says of that verse,

Why does Paul boast in his weaknesses? The weaker he is, the stronger the power of Christ works through him. Jesus wants to use him as a messenger who comes not in his own strength but knows his complete dependence on the Lord. In fact, the wording of the last clause in this verse [and he is referring to 2 Corinthians 12:9] is unique, for Paul literally says, “that the power of Christ may pitch a tent over me.” The picture is that of God descending from heaven and dwelling in the tabernacle among the people of Israel (Exod. 40:34). It is that of Jesus, who came down from heaven and dwelled, as in a tent, among his people (John 1:14).⁸

He obeyed even to the ultimate sacrifice of the worst form of death (v. 8b)

The rest of verse 8 shows that He even obeyed the Father's will when it involved the ultimate sacrifice of the worst form of death. "He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." Two weeks ago I expounded on the privilege of suffering with Christ and of martyrdom, so I won't repeat what I said back then. But crucifixion was such a horrible form of torture that Roman citizens were exempted from ever being crucified. For Jews, crucifixion was a sign of God's curse. And of course, Christ bore the curse on our behalf.

But being able to say to God, "Thy will be done" is another way in which we humble ourselves before God's almighty hand. There are times when God brings humility into our lives (one of the fruits of the Spirit) through such sacrificial giving of ourselves.

Having a mindset of faith in Christ's victory in history (vv. 9-11)

But humility is not all that we are called to have. We are called to have the same kind of victorious faith that Jesus had. And God exalts the humble and by faith enables them to achieve things that the wise, strong, and able-bodied of this world often cannot achieve.

Exalted because of humility ("Therefore" - v. 9a)

That this faith and victory flowed precisely from Christ's true humility can be seen by the word "Therefore" in verse 9. It was precisely the humility of verses 5-7 that resulted in God's exaltation of Jesus. And the extent of this exaltation is stated in very amazing ways. But the point is that the way up for Jesus was the way down. And the way up for us is also the way down. God exalts the humble but casts down the proud. Let's look at how much Christ was exalted by the Father.

An unsurpassed name and reputation (v. 9b)

First, God gave the humble Jesus an unsurpassed name and reputation. When prideful leaders are put into positions of exaltation, it is sometimes to their ruin. They are not internally prepared or spiritually prepared to handle that exaltation. But when they embrace the same mindset that Jesus did in verses 5-7, they can handle exaltation without it ruining them. That's why a prideful person should never ever ever be ordained as an elder no matter how gifted he may be. His exaltation will be his ruin, just as it was for many of those leaders I referenced at the beginning of the sermon.

Verse 9 says, "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name." The most humble Person in the universe is made to be the most exalted Person in the universe. This is the way God thinks. You might wonder how God could put up with us in all of our failures, but God does so because God is humble. Strange as it may seem, God is humble. And the humble thinking of God the Father was also in the mind of Christ, and we are to put on that thinking. Humility is totally consistent with exaltation. In fact it is the prerequisite to true exaltation.

In any case, Jesus was made to be Lord of lords and King of kings. He was given authority over every human and over the entire universe. Obviously we won't be exalted that much, but the same principle holds. If God has destined you to be exalted into a leadership position at your job or a leadership position above your brothers and sisters, or a leadership position as husband and father, it is imperative that He first humble you. And the quicker we can learn the lesson of humility, the quicker the exaltation can come. And last week on the back of Gary's sermon outline was a chart developed by Nancy DeMoss that is the best chart that I have seen by which you can test the degree of your humility - and therefore the degree to which God can entrust you with more gifts and authority. Both humility and victorious faith belong together. They are flip sides of the same coin. It helps to explain a lot of what has been going on in both the church and in our nation. Countless people have been ruined by authority because they lacked Christ's humility, and those leaders have in turn ruined our nation.

A guaranteed victory that would be unsurpassed (vv. 10-11)

Next, in verses 10-11 Jesus was given a guaranteed victory that would be unsurpassed in history. There is debate as to how much of this exaltation will happen on judgment day and how much happens in history. I side with the commentators who say that Christ is presently exalted above all, and will be progressively more and more confessed by humans as being exalted as the faith spreads in this world, and will have the ultimate expression of that exaltation on the last day of history. But either way, look at the language of verse 10.

Every knee will bow before Him (v. 10)

It says that every knee is destined to bow before Him - "that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth." Both the elect and non-elect will eventually have to bow before Jesus and acknowledge that He is exactly whom the Father says He is. Those in heaven were the elect that Jesus took out of Sheol/Hades at His resurrection and ascension along with all other New Covenant saints who have died since then. At our death we instantly go to heaven. Those on earth are those still alive - and there is coming a time in history when all on earth will bow before Him. Those who were still "under the earth" when Paul wrote are all the non-elect who were left behind in Hades after Christ's resurrection and ascension and the non-elect who have died since that time who instantly go down to Hades. When the non-elect die, they still go down to Hades. But the point is that all will acknowledge His Lordship one way or the other.

Every tongue will confess that He is Lord (v. 11a)

Verse 11 adds, "and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." The Greek word for "confess" is a very interesting Greek word that goes beyond simply pagans being forced to bow before Jesus. The Greek word speaks of joyful, worshipful, enthusiastic confession. So several commentators point out that the very word "confess" in the Greek mandates the truth that this verse takes Christ's exaltation one step further than verse 10. It shows that eventually all the inhabitants of the earth will be Christians. That is the extent of the victory that God will give to Christ. A. T. Robertson says on this verse, "To confess Jesus as Lord was the mark of a true believer, a Christian in reality (Rom. 10:9)."⁹ So he says that eventually all who live on earth will be Christians in reality. F. B. Meyer says, "going forth to all parts of the universe to tell of it, to kindle hearts and lives with it, to unfold, as only redeemed men can, the full meaning and significance of the name Jesus."¹⁰ George Clark says, "The language of this verse and the last can mean nothing less than that Christ is an object of worship" by all who are on the earth.¹¹ J. S. Robertson says, "It will be accomplished in a more glorious manner, when the latter day splendour shall begin to shine, when 'the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord,'"¹² And Spence-Jones speaks of this as referring to "all creatures endowed with the gift of speech. The word rendered “confess” is commonly associated with the idea of thanksgiving, as in Matt. 11:25, and generally in the Septuagint. Every tongue shall confess with thankful adoration that he who took upon him the form of a slave, is Lord of all."¹³

So verse 11 is hinting at what is explicitly stated elsewhere - that eventually the Great Commission will be fulfilled and all nations will be fully discipled into what it means to think God's thoughts after Him. And did not the prophets anticipate the continual increase of Christ's kingdom until the earth will be full of what? - of the knowledge of the Lord - and that this knowledge will be as deep as the waters covering the ocean beds. hat's pretty deep. That means that corporately there will be a constant increase of God's mind, which was in Christ Jesus, also being in the minds of the inhabitants of the world. So I believe that those commentators are absolutely correct on the meaning of this verse. God the Father is progressively honoring Jesus with the greatest victory and greatest exaltation. Why? Because He was the most humble Man upon the face of the earth - a Man filled with the mind of God as revealed in the Bible.

Everything in history will glorify the Father (v. 11b)

And the people mentioned in verse 11 will all do it (not out of terror) but "to the glory of God the Father." And thus everything that was lost by the first Adam will be restored by Christ - and much more. That is a victorious faith that the humble Jesus had - a victorious faith that God could entrust with total honor and victory. He had the faith of victory even before He saw it; even when enemies were all around Him. And it is God's call for us to have the humility to believe God's promises of worldwide victory (whether we can understand them or not) rather than trusting our sight. That’s having the mind of Christ. Pessimistic eschatology is not - pessimistic eschatology is living by sight rather than by faith.

Conclusion - Five additional applications

Let me end by making five additional applications to this paragraph.

First, study the Bible daily and memorize it like Jesus did. When you read through the Gospels it is obvious that Jesus had been memorized the Bible. He could quote it left and right. I believe that He had memorized the entire Old Testament. And that is the only way that God's thinking, which was in Christ Jesus, can be in us. It's the only way that our thought patterns will be transformed and we will have a godly mindset that can keep us from evil. Memorize the Bible, meditate on it, and study it.

Second, put off fake humility that needlessly puts yourself down in order to look good to other people who also have fake humility. If God has given you authority, exercise it. Certainly you need to exercise it humbly, but exercise it. If God has given you wisdom, riches, power, and spiritual gifts, don't downplay those things. Use them to God's glory. Put off fake humility.

Third, begin to cultivate true humility. It will be much easier to do that if you are secure in Jesus and not in what other people think about you. When others point out errors in your thinking, don't bristle. Thank them for pointing our your errors. Be glad that you were corrected. Why? Because you want God's thoughts in your mind, not mistaken thoughts. There are many other ways that you can cultivate humility. As I already mentioned, Gary gave you a long list on the back of last week's outline. But let me just highlight four. First, be transparent with your accountability partner. Second, put other's needs ahead of your own. Third, the moment your heart longs for recognition and praise, thank God that you have not gotten it from others because you want God's praise above all. Fourth, be willing to do menial tasks without complaint. Those are all ways that you can begin cultivating true humility and do everything as unto God.

My fourth application is to seek to foster reconciliation and unity as Jesus did. It's easy to throw zingers that make us look good and that make others look bad, but Christ died to reconcile us to Himself and to the Father. Now, there is a time when zingers are OK. Jesus used them. But keep in mind that Jesus will not be satisfied until all on earth are eventually reconciled. And especially among believers, we should excel in the graces of reconciliation. And if you want God's mind that explains how to do so, I think an excellent book that draws out the Scriptural principles is Ken Sande's book, The Peacemaker. That book is just loaded with Christ's mind on this subject of reconciliation. Internalize it.

And one last application to balance out the previous one, we can follow God's manual on what it means to have true obedience to our authorities like Jesus did and when it is permissible to disobey them and/or to call them out. Jesus submitted to his parents while He was a minor, but it was submission in the Lord, not a blind submission. All submission is conditioned by that phrase, "in the Lord." It is not a blind submission. And that true submission to authorities can be totally consistent with confounding those authorities can be seen in the narrative of twelve year old Jesus in Luke chapter 2. In verses 46-47 this twelve-year-old was able to confound the wisest scholars in the temple. Why? Because he had already internalized the propositional truths contained in the Bible. And the paragraph ends with this interesting tid-bit on his interaction with His frantic parents who thought He was lost.

And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Jesus was subject to them, but that didn't mean that He always agreed with them.

In any case, we only know how to have true submission to authority (but not blind submission) when we submit to God's Word, the Bible. On another occasion Herod commanded Jesus to leave the area immediately, and Jesus refused. He said that He wouldn't leave for three days, and his explanation was that He had to fulfill His Father's will as expressed in Old Testament prophecy (which He referred to). In other words, His submission to civil authority was conditional as being a submission in the Lord. He disobeyed Herod's command because it was an unlawful command - even though on other occasions He submitted to civil authority. In a similar way, as submissive citizens, there are times when the Bible itself calls us to disobey civil authorities like we did when we refused to stop worshiping during Covid. And of course, our session confessed our sin of closing down for the first weeks until we remembered that the Bible says that quarantine is for the sick, not the well. So we did initially blow it. But we then disobeyed that unlawful command. Submission to Scripture sometimes mandates disobedience to our civil authorities. A pastor in Europe has just been sentenced to a prison term for preaching against abortion and other evils that the civil authorities in his country insisted that he must praise. And I believe he has the mind of Christ when he refuses to do that. Having the mind of Christ may mean we will suffer with Jesus, but the mindset of Christ on authority is more important than blind submission.

So hopefully those five additional applications will help you to flesh out what it means to have the same thinking in us that was in Christ Jesus. Obviously there are other applications that could be made, but it is my prayer that each of us would be driven by God's Word, which reveals God's mind. May it be so, Lord Jesus. Amen.