Yers. 5-ll.-17te exampk of the Lord Jesus. I. THE lllITATION OF THE Loar, JESUS CHRIS'l.' IS THE ONE RULE OF CHRISTIAN PRACTICE. 1. ln the outward life. He ileased not himself; he sought not the high places of the world; he did not choose a I ife of case, comfort, pleasure. He lived for others; he went about doing good; he cared for the temporal needs of the sick and poor. He cared for the souls of all. 2. Jn t/;e inner life of thO'IJ!fht and, feel,ing. The Christian must mind the things which the Lord Jesus minded; his thoughts, wishes, motives should be the thoug:tits, wishes, motives which filled the s1cred heart of Jesus Christ our Lord. Holy Scripture bids us purify ourselves even as he is pure. '!"he standard is very high, above us, out of our reach. But it is the end to which the high calling of the Christian points; it should be the ohject of all the longings of our hearts, to know Christ, to love Christ, to be made like unto Christ-like him in the outward life of obedience, like him in the inner life of holy thought. IL THE EXillPLE DB.AWN OUT IN ITS DETAILS. Christ looked not upon his own things-his Divine glory, his equality with God the Father. He looked upon the ,hings of others-our helplessness, our danger, our need of a Saviour. 1. What he was. He was God; the Word was God in the beginning, " God only begotten " (the reading of the most ancient manuscripts in John L 18), begotten of his Father before the world was. When God only was, and there was none but God ; before the ages were, the Word ww; God. "Before Abraham was, I am," the Saviour said, in John viii. 58, where he vindicates his right to the incommunicable Name, Jehovah. He wa11 God, then, by nature, by inalienable right, one with the Father, being" the Brightness of his glory, and the express Image of his person; " possessed of all the fulness of the Godhead ; all the splendour, the glory, the omnipotence, all the essential attributes, of Deity. Tb.u.s he was in the form of God, on an equality with God. But he did not count this inconceivable glory a thing to be grasped, to be clung to. He looked on the things of others, blessed be his holy Name ! 2. What he became. He emptied himself of that effulgence which flesh could not behold and live. He took the form of a servant, the likeness of humanity. In ouJ;ward fashion he became as one of us, though he ceased not to be God. His whole humiliation. from the Incarnation to the cross, was his own voluntary act: "I lay down my life of myself.'' That' stupendous act of self- EaCrifice wholly traoscends the reach of human thought. The difference between the greatt:st king and the meanest slave is absolutely nothing compared with the abyss tl!at separates humanity from Deity. That abyss beyond measure is the measure of ,r,_e love of C,'1rist which pagseth kno1vledge. 3. Btill lte looked not cm his own things; i,,; cl~ tlie lowest pl<v..e rvpon f,(J,rt/,. He despisec! not the carpenter's shop at Nazareth; l.e EhM a new dignity on honest labour by his own example; he gave a new g~ory to l,uwi.lity whicl.t had no glory hitherto; he was content to obey: "Not my will, but thiu(:, 1e dor,e." He humbled himself and became obedient. His obedience extended 11,r,,u~ri e'<'ery detail of his most holy life; he sought not his own glory; it culminated ;;_ - ueath: il could reach or, further; he became obedi(:nt unto dtaLh. Aud that -0 OIJ, II. l-30.] 'l'HE EPISTLE '1'0 THE I'llILIPl'JANS. 67
tlenth wns the denth of. th_e cross-the cruel, lingering, shameful death reserved for slaves o.n? the worBt of or!mrnals. Life has many strange contrasts-weaHh and abject poverty, JOY and utter misery. There never was contrast like this-omnipotence and seeming helplessness, the glory-throne on high and the awful cross. He loved ne so very dearly. 'l'hat astonishing love is set before ns as our example. III. Hie EXALTATION CONSEQUENT UPON HTS HUMILIATION. 1. Christ humbled himself, wherefore God highly txalted him. Wherefore; it is n great word, it expres8es B law or God's kingdom. Exaltation follows on self-abasement, glory on humility. It wns so with Christ our Lord. God exalted him, the incarnate Son, Jesus, perfect God, but also (blessed be his holy Name I) perfect Man, high above all heavens. He became obedient unto death ; wher~fore God gave unto him the name wl,ich is above evel'y name. Unto Jesus, God and Man, all power is given in heaven and in earth, all the unutterable glory, all the majesty of the Godhead. 2. Therefore all prei-ailinq prayer is made in his Name. "If ye shall ask anything in my Name, I will do it." .All prayer is offered through his mediation. We plead before the throne of grace hi~ perfect obedience, bis precious death, his atoning blood, the blood that clcansetb frorr. all sin. "Through Jesus Christ our Lord" is the prevailing close of every Cbristinn prayer. 3. He himself is the obJect of Christian u-orship. All creation in heaven ~nd earth and under the earth bows the knee to him in adoration. .All tongues mast confess with thanksgiving that he is Lord. Wor~hip offered to him redounds to the glory of God the Father, for it is God who exalted him. IV. THE DISCIPLE 1s AS BIB MASTER, THE SERVANT AS ms LORD. The JiL of Christ, in a sense, repeats iteelf in each one of his elect. They share his humiliation, his cross; they shall share his glory, his throne (Rev. iiL 21). 1. I am crucified with <Jhrist. We must imitate him in his humiliation, emptying ourselves of pride and self-indulgence. We must deny ourselves, mortifying the old man, crucifying the flesh with the affections and lusts, dying through the power of the most holy cross to the world and to the flesh. 2. So shall we rise with him-now, unto newness of Ii re ; hereafter, to behold him in bis glory, to sit with him in bis throne. " He that shall humble him~elf shall be exalted." Self-abasement must come first, then the glory ; first the cross, then the crown. LESSONS. 1. Learn never to let a day pass without meditation on the great Example. Contemplate with wondering thankfulness the great mystery of the Incarnation. Strive with all tl,e energy of your spirit to fix your t.houghts in awe, in penitence, in adoring love, upon the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Intense meditation on that tremendous sacrifice is the greatest help towards a holy life. 2. Pray for grace to imitate him in his humility, in his unselfish love.