The Gospel-Shaped Life: Humble and Bowed Down Before Jesus our Lord, Part 1

THE GOSPEL-SHAPED LIFE:

HUMBLE AND BOWED DOWN BEFORE JESUS OUR LORD

An Exposition of Philippians 2:9-11 (Part 1)

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   June 3, 2018

Series: Philippians: Gospel Partnership on Mission in the World

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

“My central mission in life is to…” If you were given a half-sheet of paper with those words on it, and the assignment was to complete the sentence with the honest truth about yourself, what would you say? My central mission in life is to…

• enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”?
• be healthy and wealthy?
• build a stable and successful family?
• maintain my own independence?
• show kindness to everyone?
• support the church?
• leave the world a better place?
• survive?

Whether or not any of these goals is a legitimate secondary goal is irrelevant to the point at hand. The point at hand is whether your central mission is aligned with God’s central mission.

God has a mission, and His mission is all about His Son. God’s mission is to glorify His Son – to display His Son’s greatness for all the world to see. Further, God’s mission is to glorify His Son by bringing all creatures to the awestruck recognition that His Son is sovereign over heaven and earth. Every human being will be brought to this awestruck recognition: for some, the recognition will come with joy and wonder; for others, the recognition will come with sorrow and terror.

The sobering question that confronts each and every one of us this morning is whether your mission adheres to God’s mission. Be assured that the counsels and purposes of sinful human beings will fall to the ground and come to nothing. By contrast, “The counsel of the LORD stands forever.” (Psalm 33:11)

How many people devote their waking hours to their own little plans, and give hardly a passing thought to the excellence of Jesus? But the excellence of Jesus is the very reality that ought to occupy our hearts and minds.

The Lord’s excellence is set forth in Philippians 2:6-11. The Lord’s humble servanthood is set forth in verses 6-8, and then His subsequent exaltation is set forth in verses 9-11. This crescendo of praise to the exalted Lord Jesus Christ is worthy of our close attention. Even though we will be focusing on verses 9-11 in this particular sermon, I will first read verses 6-8 in order to keep the humility-leads-to-exaltation progression of thought before our eyes.

⁶ who [Christ Jesus], though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

(Philippians 2:6-8)

Let me pause right there. From everlasting to everlasting, Jesus is the Lord of glory who inhabits eternity and is equal with God the Father and is clothed in divine majesty and is worthy of our worship. But Jesus did not use His divine status as a reason not to serve. Instead, He inconvenienced Himself, walked away from heavenly comfort and glory, and lowered Himself into our broken and tattered world. He “emptied himself” and became a Man. The Son of God became the God-Man who remained truly God but through the incarnation also became truly human. As the unique God-Man, Jesus “humbled himself” and lived in obedience to the Father and laid down His life on the cross as a sacrifice for sin. As His terrible suffering drew to a close upon that cross, “Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46) For all of His life, Jesus lived in trusting obedience to the Father, and this trusting obedience continued all the way to “the point of death,” when He entrusted Himself to the Father’s care. The question is: what would the Father do? How would the Father answer His Son’s perfect trusting obedience? The answer comes in verses 9-11:

⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Jesus “humbled himself,” but the Father “highly exalted him.” Jesus “made himself of no reputation” (Philippians 2:7 KJV), but the Father “bestowed on him the name that is above every name.”

The “Therefore” at the beginning of verse 9 connects the exaltation of verses 9-11 with the humble obedience of verses 6-8. Deep humility, costly obedience, sacrificial service, and perfect trust toward God are worthy of exaltation. In this good world that God made, humility is honorable. So the Father was pleased to crown His perfectly obedient Son with the highest honor in the universe. The Father “highly exalted [Jesus]” because Jesus obeyed the Father into the depth of lowly service and sacrifice. As a fitting response to the Son’s sacrificial obedience, the Father lifted Him up to the height of highest honor and now calls the whole universe to worship the Lord Jesus. All people should bow low the knee and swear allegiance to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Before going any further, I want to circle back to my summary of the larger vision that the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, gives to us in the thirty-four verses that run from Philippians 1:27 to Philippians 2:30.

As people who are being transformed by the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, we are called to obey the Lord and follow His example, walking in humility and love toward each other for the sake of deep congregational unity, so that we can effectively work together to carry out Christ’s mission, for the glory and praise of God.

The part of this summary that I want to draw attention to is the phrase ‘Christ’s mission.’ What is Christ’s mission? Christ, being equal with God and being obedient to God the Father, has the same mission that the Father has. So, Christ’s mission is God’s mission. What is God’s mission? Well, what is God’s mission as it is set forth in Philippians 2:9-11? God’s mission is to glorify and honor His Son. Specifically, God’s mission is to glorify and honor His Son by bringing “every knee” and “every tongue” into subjection to His Son. Do you see this? For what purpose has the Father “highly exalted him [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name”? What is the Father’s aim? “[So] that” – the words so that indicate aim and purpose – “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The Father Himself is glorified when human knees bow down in humble worship before His Son and when human tongues confess that His Son is the highly exalted Lord. God’s mission is to bring human creatures to the humble acknowledgment that “Jesus Christ is Lord.” And God’s mission is Christ’s mission. Therefore, when Christ entrusts His mission to His disciples, He says that the mission is to “make disciples” who live under His Lordship by obeying all that He has commanded (see Matthew 28:18-20). Same mission.

Don’t confuse secondary aspects of God’s mission with this primary purpose. Because we gravitate so easily to human-centered thinking, we often say that God’s mission is primarily about us. Therefore we may speak of sinners being saved and of broken lives or broken relationships being restored and of missionaries being sent out and of churches being planted and of building strong families and of showing mercy to the afflicted and of the promise that one day there will be a new heaven and a new earth. All of these things are wonderfully true and we ought to rejoice in them, but they are not God’s central and overarching purpose. God’s mission is primarily about the glorification and honor of His Son. Philippians 2:9-11 is just one of many Scriptural passages that speak of this glorious reality. So, in an effort to blow up our tendency to put ourselves at the center of God’s mission, I want to set before you a number of passages that put God’s Son at the center of God’s mission. God’s Son is at the center of God’s mission not only as the One who saves, but also as the One who receives glory and honor. I want you to get a taste of this fundamental purpose of God throughout the Scriptures.

GOD’S MISSION CONCERNING HIS SON IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Book of Genesis is a good place to begin our journey. In Genesis, God promised that a special human son would one day be given to humanity in order to rescue us from our sin-cursed world and crush the serpent who lied to our first parents in the Garden of Eden. The identity of this special human son was unveiled slowly throughout the Old Testament, but eventually it becomes clear that this special human son is not a mere human. This promised human son is both truly human and truly God. Thus we speak of the God-Man, our Lord Jesus Christ. I tell you this because it is important to understand that this God-Man is truly human and the Old Testament says remarkable things about this promised Man. As we travel through Genesis, we learn that this promised Man will be a descendant of Abraham, and of Abraham’s son Isaac, and of Isaac’s son Jacob, and of Jacob’s son Judah. In Genesis 49 Jacob pronounces blessings upon each of his twelve sons and upon the tribe that each son represented as its leader. Regarding the tribe of Judah, Jacob envisioned a future day when “the obedience of the peoples” would be rendered to the One who sits on Judah’s throne (Genesis 49:10).

Time passes, and Judah has a descendant named Jesse, who had a son named David – King David. The Lord made staggering promises about the special promised son who would come from David’s line. In Isaiah 9, we are told that this future king “shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do it.” (Isaiah 9:6-7) In Isaiah 11, we are told that the promised Spirit-anointed King would bring righteousness, judgment, and peace to all the earth, thereby filling the earth with “the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples–of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” (Isaiah 11:9-10) The promised royal descendent of Jesse and of David would be the focal point of true hope for the whole world (see Romans 15:12; see also Isaiah 43:1-4 and Matthew 12:18-21).

When God dispatched the angel Gabriel to tell the young woman Mary that she would give birth to God’s Son, Gabriel told her: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33)

In Psalm 2 we are told that this promised Messianic King would be sovereign over all the nations. God Almighty says, “I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2:6) God Almighty says to the King that He has established, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2:7-8) The King’s greatness is global: in Genesis 49 and Isaiah 11 “the peoples” are streaming to Him, in Psalm 2 “the nations” and “the ends of the earth” shall belong to Him. But what about those who refuse the King? The Scriptural warning is clear and straightforward: honor the Son, or you will perish! Psalm 2 concludes:

“Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear,

and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son,

lest he be angry, and you perish in the way,

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him.”

(Psalm 2:10-12)

John 3:36 issues the same warning to every person on earth: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

GOD’S MISSION CONCERNING HIS SON IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Continuing now in the New Testament, John 5 tells us that “the Father… has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” (John 5:22-23) Those who claim to honor God, but refuse to honor God’s Son, do not honor God. For God the Father delights to make much of His well-pleasing Son – and woe to those who do not share the Father’s delight!

When Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan, “the heavens were opened” and “the Spirit of God [descended] like a dove and [came] to rest on him” and the Father declared, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16, 17) When Jesus was transfigured on the holy mountain in the presence of the apostles Peter, James, and John, “his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.” (Matthew 17:2) For a brief moment, the divine glory that belonged to Him before the universe existed, transformed His ordinary humanity in accordance with the splendor of His deity. Then “a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5, italics added) Listen to Him! Likewise Moses had prophesied concerning Christ: “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.” (Acts 3:22-23, italics added) Listen to Him! Listen and obey! Jesus said, “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:26-27)

The Father delights in His Son and loves Him beyond the measure of heaven and earth. If you refuse the Son, if you refuse to honor and love and listen to and obey Him, then you will most certainly perish. “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed.” (1 Corinthians 16:22)

The Father’s passion to honor His Son reached its highest expression in the resurrection of Jesus and His subsequent ascension into heaven and exaltation at the Father’s right hand. Romans 1 says that God’s Son “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4). Philippians 2 says that “God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” Ephesians 1 explains Philippians 2 in greater detail: the Father

“raised him [the Lord Jesus Christ] from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet….” (Ephesians 1:20-22)

The risen Lord Jesus Christ is far greater than everything and anything in the entire universe! All things, all angelic and demonic beings, all governmental administrations and officeholders, all manifestations of power and force, all famous names and honorific titles, all publishing houses and media outlets, all human beings great and small, have been placed under the sovereign Lordship of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, and as such they owe Him glad-hearted submission and service. The Father has “highly exalted [Jesus]” in this way “so that… every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” In other words, God’s design in the exaltation of Jesus is that men and women would worship Jesus. The standing order of God Almighty for every nation and people group and person on earth is: “he commands all people everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30) Which means: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) All this is a matter of life and death: “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12)

DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE FATHER’S CENTRAL MISSION?

Do you understand that the Father’s mission is to glorify and honor His Son by bringing the peoples of the earth to admire and cherish and love and worship His Son? Do you understand this? The essence of saving faith is treasuring the glory of Jesus:

“… the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:4-6)

To be a true believer means that the light of divine glory is shining on your heart, and therein you taste and see that the Lord is good. To be an unbeliever is to be blind to Christ’s glory.

EMBRACING JESUS CHRIST AS LORD

When the gospel is proclaimed, the proclamation is about “Jesus Christ as Lord.” (2 Corinthians 4:5) Somewhere along the way somebody thought up the unbiblical idea that a person can receive Jesus as Savior without receiving Him as Lord. Many have been taught this error, and we should all be like the Bereans and examine this idea in the light of Scripture (Acts 17:10-11). 2 Corinthians 4:5 says that the message of the gospel is about “Jesus Christ as Lord.” Philippians 2:11 says that God has exalted Jesus so that “every tongue [might] confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Romans 10 says that true and saving faith embraces Jesus as Lord: “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9) Paul told the Philippian jailer how to be saved: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31) When Paul addresses the believers in Colossae, he tells them, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” (Colossians 2:6) Jesus is Lord! He has sovereign authority! He is worthy of the joyful obedience of all peoples everywhere! To be a Christian means that you have embraced this reality!

The well-known Great Commission in Matthew 28 is all about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Jesus says to His disciples,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Since Jesus is the sovereign Lord over heaven and earth, everything in heaven and earth ought to be subjected to His Lordship – and not just everything, but every one! Every person ought to place himself or herself under His Lordship – and this is what it means to be a disciple, to place yourself as an obedient learner under the mastery and rule of King Jesus.

In Ephesians 1 Paul tells us that God’s big picture plan is “to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:10). God’s plan is that everything be properly harmonized in Christ – that everything be properly ordered under Him. In Colossians 1 Paul tells us that “all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16) The whole created universe is the Father’s gift to His dear Son.

To be a Christian means that I have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin, and so now I am now seeking to live my life as God intends it: for Christ, under Christ’s Lordship, in obedience to Christ’s commands. “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” (Colossians 3:17) Your character, your way of life at home and at work and in the church, your priorities and decisions – all of these things should be centered on Christ and should testify to the world that Jesus is Lord! The all things that should be wonderfully subjected to the wonderfully good Lordship of Christ include all ways of thinking: “For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:4-6)  

Returning to Philippians 2, we have been reflecting on the fact that “God has highly exalted him [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow… and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” God’s fundamental mission is to glorify His Son by bringing the peoples of the world to honor His Son and live under His Son’s authority. Our survey of other passages makes it clear that to be a Christian means that you have entered this reality in which you now cherish Jesus, honor Jesus, love Jesus, obey Jesus, worship Jesus. If you have received “Christ Jesus as Lord,” then your singular purpose in life is to live all of your life in faithfulness to Jesus’ authority, to bring every aspect of your heart and mind and conversation and life and marriage and family and school and work under His sovereign rule, and to influence others to do likewise. When we evangelize the lost, we are urging them to bring themselves under the authority of Jesus, that they might be forgiven and transformed to live a holy life. When we encourage our Christian brothers and sisters, we are urging them to bring their lives more fully under the authority of Jesus, to live as more faithful disciples of Jesus our Lord.

When Paul instructs us, “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Philippians 1:27), he means that Christ and His gospel is the rule of our lives. We owe allegiance to Christ Jesus our Lord. This obedient loyalty to Jesus is not merely compliance with our Lord’s exhortations but is actually conformity to our Lord’s example. Even so, He alone is Lord, and we are His grateful disciples. As grateful disciples, we must pay attention to the glory of Christ that shines through the gospel: we behold His humility and sacrifice, His compassion and grace, His authority and power, His faithfulness and truthfulness, His unshakeable trust in the Father and His steadfast love for sinners like us, His broken body and shed blood. We behold our King and conclude in our hearts, ‘I must follow Him!” We behold Him risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, seated at the Father’s right hand, clothed in divine splendor, far greater than anything and everything in all creation, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of Jesse, the Son of David, the Lord of glory who holds salvation in His mighty and merciful hands. We behold this highly exalted Lord and are compelled to worship Him and give Him the honor that is rightfully His:

““Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might

and honor and glory and blessing!”

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.”

(Revelation 5:12-14)

Is the good news of Jesus’ exaltation shining as glory upon the affections of your heart? Is it your joy to celebrate His excellence, glory, and worth? Are you seeking to conduct your life under the sovereign authority of Jesus?

THREE APPLICATIONS

Here are three questions of application to help you ponder whether you are living rightly under the truth of Philippians 2:9-11.

First, is your life in submission to God’s central mission to glorify His Son? Submission is a great word and one helpful way of defining it is simply under another’s mission. Your responsibility as a creature in God’s world is to live under God’s mission. You really ought to be able to say, “My central mission is to honor the Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart in everything.” Paul modeled this on every front. With respect to his own life, he desired that “now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” (Philippians 1:20) With respect to his fellow Christians, he desired that they “let [their] manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.” (Philippians 1:27) With respect to the wider world of lost people, he desired that Christ be proclaimed to more people in more places (Philippians 1:12-18), so that some would bend the knee and confess the truth that Jesus is Lord. These desires of Paul weren’t shallow sentiments but deep convictions that motivated and shaped everything that he did. The Father’s aim is to glorify Jesus in your life, that you would be on bended knee before the Lord Jesus, that you would behold His glory and excellence, that you would hold fast your confession that He alone is Lord of all. Then also the Father’s aim is to glorify Jesus through you in other people’s lives, that you would influence others to honor Jesus. Is your mission aligned with God’s mission?  

Second, is your conduct (Philippians 1:27) consistent with your confession (Philippians 2:11)? As Christians we confess the truth that Jesus is Lord. But our calling as Christians runs far deeper and far wider than a verbal declaration, for the truth we confess is truth that must also be lived. That, of course, is the emphasis of this whole section in Philippians 1-2: to live in a manner worthy of Christ’s gospel (Philippians 1:27), to live in unity of mind and unity of mission with my church family (Philippians 1:27–2:2), to live as a humble loving servant toward my Christian brothers and sisters (Philippians 2:3-4), to live in resolute obedience to the Lord (Philippians 2:12). Are you following the Lord Jesus in your everyday relationships and responsibilities?

Third, are your eyes open to the weighty and sober implications of this passage? What I have done in this sermon is show from many biblical passages how true Christians have been brought into the reality of Philippians 2:9-11. For us believers, Philippians 2:9-11 is very good news! Our Lord, who loves us and cares for us, has sovereign authority over heaven and earth. He will bring us safely into His heavenly kingdom. He will fulfill His gracious promises toward us. He will accomplish His good purposes in our lives. He will bring forth justice and peace at the appointed time. He will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body in the day of resurrection. He will crown our humble service in His name with a share in His glory! But Philippians 2:9-11 is very bad news for everyone who continues in sin, for everyone who refuses to honor and follow Jesus, for everyone who fails to get on board with the Father’s mission to glorify His Son. At the judgment, every unbeliever will come face to face with King Jesus, and what a terrible day it will be: “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23) On that day they will recognize His Lordship, but by then it will be too late for them to be saved, and they will go away into punishment. What a day that final day of reckoning will be

“when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed….

(2 Thessalonians 1:7-10)

Glory and joy for His saints, but vengeance and punishment for the disobedient. Do you feel the weightiness of these two great realities that await the human race on that future day?

Let us pray.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

NOTE: My inclusion of a bibliography reflects my interaction with other teachers in the preparation of my sermon. While the main part of my preparation involves my direct interaction with the biblical text, I find it helpful to invite other “discussion partners” into my preparation process. My mention of these teachers (writers, speakers, etc.) does not imply any particular level of agreement with them, nor does it constitute an endorsement of their work. That said, I am appreciative of those – past and present – who are seeking to faithfully teach God’s Word, and I am happy to benefit from their labor.

Calvin, John. Calvin’s Bible Commentaries: Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians. Translated by John King. Forgotten Books: 2007 (orig. 16^th century).

Carson, D. A. Basics for Believers: An Exposition of Philippians. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996.

Hansen, G. Walter. The Letter to the Philippians (Pillar New Testament Commentary). Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009. 

Silva, Moisés. Philippians: Second Edition (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament). Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.

NOTE: I also consulted the multiple commentaries that are available through Bible Hub in consideration of Genesis 49:10 and Isaiah 11:10. Available online: http://biblehub.com/commentaries/genesis/49-10.htm and http://biblehub.com/commentaries/isaiah/11-10.htm.