Philippians 2

amen well turn again to philippians chapter 2 philippians chapter 2 and follow along once again as we look at verses 5 through 11 as a whole as a unit follow along as i read those verses philippians chapter 2 beginning with verse 5 paul writes your attitude should be the same as that of christ jesus who being in very nature god did not consider equality with god something to be grasped but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross and therefore god has exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name 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 last sunday was the closing of the summer games of the summer olympics the 96 summer olympics and uh if there you if i were to ask you to think of of one thing that that you can remember that really stood out to you about these games or to characterize the game probably one of the things you think of is the bombing because of the rise of terrorism worldwide but especially in our own country but then probably another thing you probably think about is carrie struggs vault i mean that thing was replayed a billion times you know now for the weather but before the weather you know let's watch this one

more time in slow motion and uh it was on the magazine cover of most of the major magazines and and written up in most major newspapers across the country and uh no matter what your feelings are about the the necessity of her vault you know there's been all the articles and editorials about well she really didn't need to do it because they were already they'd already won by points and everything else and it was just and then the you know the playing of the press because it happened hours earlier and and uh now it's you know now they're making a big thing out of it and all that whatever your feelings on it i want you to i want you to realize something about that

and i want to use it as a hook hopefully for your own mind so that whenever you see it you can know see it or hear it again instead of instead of thinking oh humbug here's the replay again or whatever that that it will remind you of of what we're looking at here in philippians chapter two okay because no matter what you thought about the necessity of it carrie didn't have any idea when she was doing a vault after she made her first vault and was injured i mean you know she all she knew was that it was close and whether or not the coaches knew for sure we don't know the coaches indicate that they didn't know i want you to think about what carrie's reaction was as soon as she

finished her first vault and she was in pain where did she look she looked over to bella she looked over to her coach and she got from her coach the encouragement to go on in spite of circumstances in spite of the fact that she was in pain in spite of whether or not it was known that the points were there she was encouraged to go on and so walking through the pain she went back and she focused on the goal that was set before her which was in her mind it was necessary to complete the task for the sake of the team that they might win the team gold medal and so running down the runway and hitting the the ramp and the and then the vault itself her focus was on the goal and she was listening to the

instructions of her coach and she pressed through the pain to that point to obtain the prize to obtain the goal now we're in philippians we're going to go several places this morning in scripture so hold your finger here in philippians and go to your right to the book of hebrews several books away you go to hebrews chapter 12 hebrews chapter 12 hebrews chapter 12 now if you're turning just listen we're going to start with verse 1 the writer of hebrews says in verse 1 therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses and he's the great cloud of witnesses are not people you know i don't know how you read this but i don't see this as particularly

people sitting up on a cloud somewhere watching us as it is this is a cloud a vast group of people mentioned in chapter 11 that have gone before us that have sacrificed greatly for their faith in jesus christ most of them did not receive the promise or did not see the promise of his coming so they sacrificed by faith in what god had told them was coming without actually seeing and so the writer goes to chapter 12 saying therefore since there's this whole cloud of people that have gone on before us that have made this sacrifice by faith having not received or not seen the promise of his coming and we have let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us and let us

run with perseverance the race marked out for us and he equates this to a competition to an olympiad if you will and the idea of a runner who is exhausted and beset by fatigue or beset by these things that are a type of what he's labeling as sin the chains of sin but it's the pains and the aches of an athlete and he says let's set those things aside and fix our eyes on jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joys set before him endured the cross scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of god consider him that means to ponder him to think about him in this light consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you will not grow weary and lose heart so in

we're told essentially that christ who was to bear the pain of the cross didn't focus on it didn't look at that that he had to go through but look past the cross to the goal, to the benefit of the team, as to what he was going to do when he endured the cross, and push through that for the sake of the goal. And we're to consider that. We're to look at what he did to do that. And Philippians 2 talks more about what he did.

And Carrie Strugg's vault, if you will, is a modern day illustration or a visual hook to realize practically what that involved. And so every time you see that replayed now, or every time you see her picture in a magazine or whatever, I'm going to pray that it just clicks in your mind, what we're going to go through this morning, having the mind of Christ. Because just as she looked to the coach, just as she looked to Bella for instruction when she was in pain, that's what Jesus did. When he was in the garden of Gethsemane, he was looking to the Father. Father, this is painful,

this is agony, and I still got this other vault to make. Strengthen me, Father. He looked to his Father, and the Father gave him the strength that he needed to look past the cross to the goal, and to make the vault. To go to the cross for our sakes. And that's what we're to do. That's what Hebrews says, and that's what Philippians tells us here in chapter 2, where we are to have the same mind as Christ Jesus. And

then we saw his steps down last week. The fact that he left heaven's glory, verse 6. He made himself nothing, verse 7. He took the form of a servant, also verse 7. The end of verse 7, he was found in human likeness. Verse 8, he humbled himself. The middle of verse 8, he became obedient even unto death. Verse 8, he became obedient even unto death. Verse 8, he became obedient even unto death. Verse 8,

he became obedient even unto the death of the cross. Those seven steps down of Christ, seven steps in his humiliation, we are to consider that. Now, I want you to consider that, because that's what we are to do. In our humbling, we're to have the same mind he had. Now, Jesus kept sight of the Father. Cary Strug kept sight of the coach, and with however many, 30-some thousand people yelling,

the only, the only, and it's amazing to me, because you know, they miked Bella, and you could hear him say, you can do it. You know, you can do it, Bella girl, you can do it, you know. 30,000 people screaming. Whose voice did she hear? His. You see, I think as Christians, we have lost sight of the goal, and we forget where the coach is, and we listen to all these other things in the world that tell us, come over here,

it's easier. Come over there, it's better. Come and do this, and it's not as difficult. You won't have as much of a struggle. Focus on the pain. This hurts. Look at what it's going to cost you. We've lost sight of the coach, and we've lost sight of the goal. Now, what Cary Strug did in the Olympics was a result of years of a disciplined activity. It was years of being disciplined and discipled to listen to the

instructions of her coach, following his every word, following his every instruction. This is how you do this. This is how you get through that. You can push through the pain. You've got to learn to push through the pain. Years of a disciplined instruction. The same thing with us. That's what a disciple is, is it takes years of listening, years of following the instructions, and it takes

years of following the instructions of the coach, and learning how to be obedient to the instructions that the coach gives us. You see, when we should be down at the gym working out, we're usually down at Brahms pigging out. I know I got to do that, but just one more blizzard, or one more whatever, and then the trial's hit, and we wonder why we're so weak. God, why have you done this to me? Why

have you forsaken me? Jesus took seven steps down in his humbling, in his humiliation here, and as I mentioned last time, there is nothing that you can't do. You can't do anything that you and I will ever give up for the Lord. There's nothing that we will ever sacrifice for the Lord that we will not receive abundantly above all that we can ask or think in his blessing as he exalts, as he lifts us up, and that's one of the things that Paul wants us to consider as we have this mind of Christ. That's why these verses are pinned this way. We see not only the seven steps down in

Christ's humiliation, but we see also, and I want you to see this this morning, seven steps up in his exaltation. That as he came and humbled himself and took on the form of a man and humbled himself unto death, even the death on the cross, that God has exalted him, that God lifted him up and has blessed him more than in the pain that he suffered. Now follow me with that, because that's the goal that Jesus saw set before him. That's what caused him to endure the pain, that the goal was greater than the pain that was to be endured, and that's what we need to see if we're going to have the mind of Christ. What you're enduring now, and as you yield that to Christ, and as you sacrifice to the Lord,

whatever is necessary, for God to work through you, the goal that's reached is going to be so much greater than whatever you're facing right now. That's why we're to consider this. That's why we're to have this mind of Christ. Now another preliminary thing here. Hold your finger here in Philippians. Go back to Matthew chapter 23. Matthew chapter 23. Get some preliminary groundwork laid here before we

consider the exaltation of Christ. Matthew chapter 23, in the seven upward steps of Christ's exaltation. Matthew chapter 23, beginning of verse 1, just if you're not there yet, listen as we're reading. Then Jesus said to the crowds, and to his disciples, verse 2, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything that they tell you, but do not do what they do, for they do not

practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything, now notice this, everything they do is done for men to see. They make their phylacteries, which are little prayer boxes that they put some of the Ten Commandments in, and then they would wrap them around their wrist and around their forehead, and it would be a visible sign of their prayerfulness and their keeping of the law ever before them. Their phylacteries, they make them wide so that they're seeable, so that men

look and go, oh. And we've been to Israel, been to the Wailing Wall, and the Jews, many of the Jews, the Hasids, do that today. They come with a prayer shawl over their head, and they take their phylacteries, and they put them on the forehead and unwrap them around, and it goes clear up the arm. You know, these great big wide bands of leather. They're quite a scene. Everything they

do, it says, they make their phylacteries wide, and the tassels on their garments long. They love the place of honor at the banquets, and in the most of the places, they make their phylacteries wide. Most important seats in the synagogue. They love to be greeted in the marketplace, and to have men call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have only one master, and you are

all brothers. In other words, not to be exalt, not to exalt yourself to position. And do not call anyone else father, for you have one father, and he is in heaven. Again, not to exalt yourself in position. Nor are you to be called teacher, for you are to have one teacher, the Christ. Again, exalting self to position. Verse 11, the greatest among you will be your servant, for whoever

exalts him. Himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. As you and I seek to walk humbly before our God, it is to be humbled unto him. It's to do everything that we do for his sake, not so men see it. Now, this is tied initially to our worship, but it carries on to our daily life out there. Because however we worship God here, will bear itself out, out there,

in front of others. And the struggle that you and I have is, not doing what we do to be seen of men. Because I'll confess to you, and we talked about it some last week, you struggle with how men see you. How this looks to others motivates a lot of why you do what you do. How others perceive me. If I'm dressed right, if I have the right hair, or makeup, or whatever on how others look at me. And so in the same way, what I do if I'm going to serve,

see, if I'm going to humble myself, I have this desire that however I, humble myself in service is seen by others. Whether it's by a plaque on the organ, or a plaque on the pew that's been donated, and so and so's name. So that somebody else knows my sacrifice. So that somebody else knows that this cost me something. We have that desire. And that's something that Jesus warns us against. He says, that's the mark of Phariseeism. So we got to,

we battle that. And so as we look at how Jesus humbled himself, we realize that he didn't do it so that men would see him in a certain way. He didn't care how they saw him. Several times in John it says, and they thought he was wonderful, but he committed himself to no man, because he knew it was in the hearts of men. So he didn't care what they thought. His only concern was what

his father thought. And so he did those things as unto the father. And I say that to keep us aware of it, because it is extremely difficult to do. We all want the attaboys, you know. Attaboy! You know, way to go. We all want our picture on the front page of the traveler, giving the check for a million dollars to this worthy organization, and smile big for the camera, and shake the hand so

they can see you receiving it. And you can get the wonderful accolades, and the wonderful attaboys for your wonderful service, and your gracious heart in giving to this wonderful community. Attaboy! We all want that. We do. You do. I mean, if you're going to sacrifice, if you're going to give something up in service, if it's going to cost you bucks or time, you want somebody to

appreciate it, you know. And we got to fight against that, because that's what Jesus says not to do. You do it as unto the Lord. And so as we look at Jesus' humiliation, we need to realize that we are not seeking to be seen in what we do, but we're just simply seeking to serve. Verse 12 here in Matthew 23, for whoever, it says, exalts himself, whoever sets himself up to be

claimed worthy in this great sacrifice that he's making, it says God will humble. And whoever humbles himself will be exalted. Now back to Philippians chapter 2, for in these verses 5 through 8, we see the humiliation of Jesus. Jesus humbled himself for the sake of the Father, for the sake of the goal that was set before him to endure the cross, despising the shame. Jesus did

it as unto the Father. And that's how we got to do it. And it's hard. It's difficult. I'm just telling you that. So you're aware of it. Watch out for doing things to be seen of men when you're doing that. Okay. Now, another reason for that is that you and I don't have to seek the exaltation in what we do. You and I don't have to seek the exaltation in what we do. We can trust God to

exalt. We can trust God to raise us up. When we take our eyes off the coach and want to do things our way, we're saying, in a few minutes, we're going to be exalted. We're going to be exalted. I don't trust the coach anymore. I don't trust what he says. Carrie Strug did what she did. She believed her coach. It was necessary. I'm going to do it. I can push through it because that's

what coach said. I can make this vault. I can ignore the pain through the vault and make it. And that's what God's looking at us and saying. And if we follow him, we're saying, I trust you, Lord. I trust you, coach. I believe you. And I'll do it. If we don't, we're saying, I don't know. Okay. Verse 9. First step up in the exaltation of Christ. Verse 9, it says, God exalted him to the

highest place. God exalted him to the highest place. And it starts off with a therefore. Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place. And the therefore means as a result of, or as a consequence of this humiliating process, this humbling process in verses 5 through 8. As a consequence of that, God has exalted him. God has lifted him up. Okay. Hold your finger here in Philippians again. Go

back to your right. You were in Hebrews earlier. Go past Hebrews. Just past Hebrews is James. The first book past Hebrews is James. Go to James. James chapter 4. James chapter 4. James chapter 4. Look at down at verse 10 in James chapter 4. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up. Okay. How do I do that? Back up to verse 7. Submit yourselves then to God. Any

humbling of ourselves begins with a submission of ourselves to God and to his will. I want to humble myself, Lord. I want to have the mind of Christ just as in Philippians chapter 2. What do I do? I have to submit myself to you. I have to submit myself to you. I have to submit myself to you. I have to submit my will to you. I have to submit my desires to you. I have to submit everything that

I have to you and then I will move in this progression of humbling myself before you. First Peter chapter 5. It's the next book over. You don't have to turn there, but first Peter chapter 5 verse 6 says the same thing. Peter says the same thing. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that he may lift you up in due time. And right before that in verses 3

through 5, it's talking about a submission again to authority, a submission to those you. So before we can humble ourselves, there has to be an acknowledgement that we need to submit ourselves to God. We need to submit ourselves to him as the coach. He's in charge. What he says, I do regardless what he says I do. And that takes years of discipline as we've talked

about before because there are limits to what he says I'm going to do. You know, I have to learn that. The gymnast didn't just jump up on the uneven bars and do giant swings. They had to learn how to do a kip, how to kip up so they could move over. They had to learn how to do releases. They had to like to go over the bar the first time and be upside down. You've never done that. It's a

thrilling experience. They belt you with ropes so that you don't kill yourself when you first go over the bar. You have to learn that. In the same way, we have to submit ourselves to the Lord and continue that process to learn how to humble ourselves before him. So it's taken some effort. But the thing I want you to see in both James 4 10 and first Peter chapter 5 verse 6 is that,

and he will lift you up and he will lift you up and he will exalt you. First Peter 5 6 in due time in the proper time. You see, when you and I do something for somebody else, we want the recognition right then. I mean, God forbid that you should give somebody some money or give them something wonderful and somebody else gets credit for it. You ever done that? You ever done something great for somebody? Maybe, maybe

while they're on vacation, you go mow their lawn. You know, it takes all that time to mow their lawn. You just do it for free. And they come home and you know, they go, wow, did you know somebody mowed my lawn while I was gone? You go, yeah, I noticed that. You know, they say, I'll bet it was Harry over there. I bet Harry did that. And you're going, you know what, Harry, you know, I live right near

your door. You know, I bet it was, I bet it was Joe down the block. Joe's always doing kind, you know, it's terrible when you do something and somebody else gets credit for it. We want that credit. And what God is saying in his word is as we humble ourselves before him, he'll exalt us. He'll make the credit known at the proper time. You trust him. Is he the coach? Does he

have your best interest at heart? Then you let him do it. And that takes a discipline. And that takes a discipline. And that takes a discipline. And that takes a discipline. And that takes a discipline. And that takes time spent with the coach in his word and in prayer, learning what he says so that those times that he wants me to be a servant, to humble myself, I can do it without seeking men's

approval and the glory from men, but I can let him do it and him raise it up in due time. That's the picture that we have in Philippians chapter two, brothers and sisters. What's the supreme purpose of God, the father at this point right now in time, the supreme purpose of God, the father is that he might glorify Jesus. In the universe, that Jesus Christ might be glorified in the universe that he has created, especially on this earth where man dwells, that, that Christ might be glorified by his creatures, by his creation, by the men that he created, mankind that he created, that rejected him and forsook him, that he has come to redeem, that it might glorify him. That's God's purpose is that

his universe would glorify the son. What makes earth so significant? It's the purpose of God. What makes earth so significant? I read a, read a quote that I agree with. It says, quote, man is a disease on the epidermis of a minor planet, end quote. Man is a disease on the epidermis of a minor planet. Amen. What makes earth so significant? Jesus died here for you

and for me. That's what makes it so significant. Jesus died here for us. And in this first step up, that sacrifice, that humiliating sacrifice that Jesus brought himself to as he submitted to the will of God, that's what makes it so significant. That's what makes it so significant. The father and came and went to the cross. God has exalted him. God has lifted him up. It says to

the highest place. And as we saw in James, and as we saw in Philippians, and as we saw in Matthew 23, that same promise is for you and me. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, and he will lift you up. He will exalt you. Trust him to do that. You have the example in Christ. Wherever you are in your circumstances right now, give it to the Lord. Trust him with

it. Say, Lord, whatever's necessary, I want to be your servant in the midst of this circumstance. I trust you. Live through me, whatever's necessary. You'll bring the acknowledgement. You'll bring the credits. You'll bring the accolades, whatever's necessary. Maybe not even in this life. Maybe later on. You'll take care of it. When you do that, it's hard. It takes

discipline. It takes time walking with the Lord. So don't give up easy. Jesus shows us the example. That's his first step up, that God has exalted him. Second step, second step, also verse nine, and gave him the name that is above every name. That's a second step up. God has exalted him and gave him the name. Definite article in the Greek. Gave him the name that is above every name. Now,

I want you to notice this. In this particular part of the verse, it's talking about the position of the name, not the proper name itself. It's talking about the position the name represents. He says he's given him the name that is above every name. You're in Philippians here. Go back right next to Ephesians. Go back to chapter one of Ephesians for just a second. Ephesians chapter one.

Ephesians chapter one. These are the blessings that we have in Christ in our study in Ephesians. We've been going through this. Verse 18. Start with verse 18 in chapter one. Paul prays that we might understand and know the hope to which he's called us, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints. Verse 19, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is

like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. Above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. And also God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. God has exalted him and given him the name that's above everything. Greater than the president of the United States, greater than the queen of England,

greater than the United Nations board of assembly. The greatest name ever. And it's dealing with position, his position and authority over everything that there is. Pull the finger here. Go back with me to Luke chapter 14. Luke chapter 14.

Luke's gospel chapter 14. You know this story too. Jesus is at the Pharisee's house. Verse 7, chapter 14. When he noticed how the guests had picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable. When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor. For a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited

both of you will come and say to you, give this man your seat. And then humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place so that when your host comes, he will say to you, friend, move up to a better place. And then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. And then he uses the same statement that we've seen

already in Matthew 23 and James and Peter. Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And he's talking here in Luke about position, position of authority and position of recognition. How much of your life is spent seeking position, position of authority, position of recognition? We make those efforts to do that rather than just to serve. Lord, I'm serving. I want to serve wherever

you put me and I'll serve you. Promotion doesn't come from the east or the west or the south. It says in the Psalms, promotion comes from the Lord. Raises up one and puts down another. So, Lord, you raise me up and you put me down. Wherever I'm to be, I'll be yours. That's a humbling. That's a laying yourself before the Lord and saying, God, I'll just be and let him do it. It's amazing what he'll do when he does, when you do that,

rather than seeking position, seeking to obtain position. And we do that not only in our jobs, but in our ministry, in our service to one another, that we might have a position in each other's eyes as being, oh, you know, pastor, elder, spiritual, rather than just seeking to do and let God. Give the ultimate position. God, it says, gave him the name that is above every name, the name.

And it has the association with the authority of the name in scripture of Yahweh. God says in the Old Testament, my name will I share with no one else. That's another marker that Jesus is God, is the essence of God. And he has given him the name. Now, the exciting thing to me about this, we're going somewhere else. Hang on. Go to Revelation chapter two. We'll only go a couple

more places. Now, we're through the main part of going around, just getting some things, Revelation chapter two. Exciting thing about the name. Under the church of Pergamum, in Revelation chapter two, he says, verse 17, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a

white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it. Now, I don't know how you read through the seven churches in the book of Revelation, but in our study of Revelation that we completed a year ago or so, one of the things I wanted to emphasize was that the seven churches not only represent seven churches that were actually there at the time that John received the revelation of Christ, seven actual churches, all with these names, the church in Pergamus, the church in Thyatira, the church in Laodicea, but they also represent seven church ages, seven specific ages of church history from the time of Christ until his second coming. Seven ages of the church that are predominantly characteristic with each one of these

characteristics in these seven churches. But they also represent each church, each community of believers down through history. Each community of believers within Calvary Chapel, there are representatives of each of these seven churches. There are those who have characteristics of each of these seven churches. There are people in here today who are characteristic of the church at Ephesus. You've had a wonderful time with the

Lord, but for some reason you've just kind of drifted away from that love relationship. You know he's here. You know you want that fellowship with him, but you moved. And there's a call out to you. There's a warning to you today to come back to your first love. There are some here who are from the church of Thyatira who thrive in the church of Ephesus. There are some here who are from

the church of Thyatira who thrive on ritual, who've got to do this. You've got to say your prayers or go to mass or go to church or take communion or something because you're thriving on ritualism. You're thriving on some formalism in the church and you have no relationship with Jesus Christ. And there's a call to you to forsake the form and come to that relationship with Christ.

There are some of you who are in Philadelphia. Everybody wants to be in a Philadelphian church. It's the church of love. It's the church that receives the promise of the coming of the Lord, the sparing from the wrath that is to come. And there are some in this church. That are part of that Philadelphian church. There are some in here too are part of Laodicea and

you're just kind of here and you're kind of lukewarm. You're kind of, you know, okay, things are great when I'm there. And then I go back into the world and I'm in the world and I'm kind of in between the two. And there's a warning to you, get off the fence or he's going to vomit you out of his mouth. You see, there's some of the characteristics in each one of these in our

fellowship today. And so each one of the promises applies to us. And one of the promises here is that to those who overcome, to those who set their hearts on the coach and follow him and forsake the for the goal that's set before him, you are going to get a stone on it, a white stone with a new name. And I don't know if you're going to be called Ralph or Susie or whatever, you know, but it's going to be associated in the same way with Philippians 2 with the position that God is raising you up to, that God is exalting you to in due time. Promise. Now look over chapter 3 here

in Revelation as well. Chapter 3 to the church in Philadelphia. Verse 11, I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown. Verse 12, to him that overcomes, I will make a pillar in the temple of the Lord. Verse 12, I will make a pillar in the temple of the Lord. I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him

the name of my God. You're going to have something else written on you. The name of Yahweh and the name of the city of God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven of my God. And I will also write on him my new name. Philippians chapter 2, given him a name, which is above every other name. That name is going to be on you as well. It has to do not so much with whether you're John or

Joe or Susie or Ralph, but it's a name of position. It's a name that indicates position and a place of authority. The new Jerusalem in the new kingdom of God. Listen, take the lower seat. Let God move you up. He does a good job. He does a good job. Third step quickly. The third step up. And he says that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Second step, he exalted him and gave him the name

that's above every name. Now, the next step above that is that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Now, this refers to the name itself, to the proper name itself, to Yeshua, Joshua, Jesus. Jehovah is salvation. That the full pronouncement of that name, that the recognition properly do it, will be received finally. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow.

Isn't it amazing in our society, in our culture, that the name of Jesus spoken derogatorily has with it such an impact of condemning and disgust and conveys. Such a feeling of such an expression of vileness to say that name. I mean, every movie anymore has it. They have to say it. Everybody you work with uses it, right? If there is, oh, mash your finger, oh, and they take the name of the Lord. It's meant to be Jesus Christ, our Lord glorified and exalted

and they say it was such disgust. Why? Why that name? Why is his the only name among all the religions upon the earth that that's done with? I've never heard anybody go, oh, Mohammed, you know, oh, Buddha, you know, oh, Hare Krishna, man, you know, I've never heard anybody do that. But they take the name, the name. You see, that's from the pit. And the enemy knows that one day he'll have

to bow before it. He knows the scripture. And he knows that one day. And so he wants to just, he wants to deride that as much as he can. He wants to, he wants to keep as many people from acknowledging it as possible. And so he uses in such a derogatory, slanderous, degrading term that people don't see the glory of it. But it says here that there's a time coming,

that at the name of Jesus, when that name is finally proclaimed, there's a time coming when the angels will announce, Jesus, here's our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And the knees are going to buckle and we're going down. Everybody's going down. You won't be able to help yourself. You're going down. Every knee's going to bow. He's finally going to receive the recognition and

the exaltation and the adulation and the glorification that he deserves. Finally. And so will you. Because his name's written on you. He has a new name for you. He will exalt you in due time if you humble yourself before him. Do you trust the God? Fourth step. Actually, the fourth, fifth, and sixth, they're all, they could be taken together, but because the verses delineate them, they're significant, each and every one. And each one

has its specific meaning. And so I want to consider them as individual steps. And maybe you've read through this before and read that every knee will bow in heaven and in earth and under the earth. And you just kind of read over them without really thinking about them. But I want you to think about them because they're inclusive for a reason. Fourth step up. Every knee

will bow in heaven. Every knee will bow in heaven. And so he's going to exalt you in due time if you will bow in heaven, in the heavenly realms. And this has to do with the angelic beings, the created beings in God's presence, the angels that serve him night and day that are ministering spirits, ministering to him, and that he sends to minister to you and I. They are going to bow

before Jesus. Why is that significant? Well, in the eighth Psalm, and you don't have to turn there now, but just remember this. You've read it before. You've heard this verse before. In Psalm 8, verse 4, it says, what is man that you are mindful of him? Now, I've read that before, and I've gone through a time where I've been spared some devastating catastrophe, or I've been

blessed in some marvelous way, and my devotion just happened to take me to Psalm 8. Who is man that you are mindful of him? And my heart just leaps out going, yes, Lord, I identify with that. What am I that you are mindful of me? But I want you to notice that Psalm 8 is basically prophetic and doesn't really have to do with you or me. What is man that you are mindful of him? The next part

of that verse is, or the son of man that you care for him. Now, that's a specific title for Messiah, the son of man. Jesus used that title of himself more than any other, the son of man. So this is a messianic Psalm that's prophetic. What is man that you are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him? Verse 5 says, you made him a little lower than the heavenly beings, and you crowned

him with glory and honor. Verse 6, you made him ruler over the works of your hands. You put everything under his feet. Now, granted, you and I are made a little lower than the angels. We're limited in our flesh. And granted, you and I, it says, will judge angels. But glory and honor belongs to the Lord only, period. And everything under the feet is only going to one place that I

read in scripture. We just read it several times this morning. And that's under the feet of Jesus. So that's a Psalm that's prophetic about what's going to happen with Messiah, what God is going to do with Jesus. And so these are statements concerning his exaltation that are answering prophecy. God made the prophecies. God said, this is what I'm going to do, and here's a fulfillment

of it. He said, I'm exalting him, and every knee is going to bow in heaven. He, stepped out of heaven in his humiliation and became a created being, stepped out of his glory that he has with the Father and took on the form of flesh and became a servant and a servant unto death, even the death of the cross. So at that point in his, in his created sense, he was lower.

He was limited. He limited himself and he was limited and less than the limitations of the angels, even though he was fully God. And God says, I'm going to exalt him and put everything under his feet. So this is simply the acknowledgement of a fulfilled, prophecy. This is going to happen. That will be recognized. What has God promised you? That he would never leave you nor forsake you. That you and I are in process of salvation. You

realize there's three steps to salvation. Salvation is a threefold process that you have been saved. The moment you accepted Jesus Christ, the moment you asked him into your heart, you were saved at that point. But your flesh, your body's still here and still gets fat and still gets corruptible and still dies because it still has a seed of sin in it. But while we are alive, we are to seek to bring

our flesh. Into submission to the spirit, that spirit that's been regenerated, regenerated in us. Now we're to bring our flesh into submission. And so that's a process of salvation. You are being saved. And that's this disciplining process we've been talking about. You bring yourself into submission unto Christ. And it's a daily process. It's a daily workout. It's a daily seeing those things

that needed work. And they put the belts on and okay, Lord, bring me through this one, you know, and I'll come to you and I finally, I can do it now. I can give it to you. They take the belt off and I go to the next one. And it's a daily process of being saved. And then ultimately, you will be saved. There's a time coming, a promised time down the road when you and I are

going to see him face to face. And it says, and we'll be like him for we'll see him as he is. This corruptible will put on incorruption. There's a time coming when this flesh is going to finally be no more. And we long for that. That's the process of salvation. And do you believe it's going to happen? We have the example in Christ. And so this is a promise, a prophetic promise

that he's going to fulfill. All the things in heaven will bow before him. Fifth step, every knee will bow on earth. Every knee will bow on earth. It's amazing to me, the effort with which mankind seeks to distance himself from God, from taking his name and using it in vain or derogatorily as a swear word, to seeking to find everything possible to deny God's

existence. You've heard about the rock, the Martian rock this week, the Martian rock that has the molecules of life that have been found on it. And so all the scientific world is going, well, there's life on Mars and there, and all the news media is, throwing it at the clergy. You know, now what do you say? You know, what about this life on Mars as if it's upsetting the whole theological plan of God? We have a tape set in our library from

Chuck Missler called Monuments, Sacred or Profane. I encourage you to listen to it. It has notes with it and sit down and listen to it. And Chuck Missler does some remarkable work on bringing out the passages dealing with the sons of God. This phrase, sons of God in scripture is found in Job, where the sons of God came and presented themselves before God, and Satan came with them. And then, of course, the whole dialogue between God and Satan.

They are first found in Genesis chapter six, right before the flood. And we find that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair and desirable. And so they took many of them unto themselves as their wives. And there was found in the land Nephilim giants. Goliath was a descendant of Nephil. He was a Nephilite. Interesting. You find out that these very possibly are the angels

that cohabited with the daughters of God. And so they took many of them unto themselves as their daughters of men. The fallen angels seeking to thwart God's effort to bring forth a seed through the woman that he promised Eve in the Garden of Eden. We find in Jude and in second Peter that these angels that tried to do that are in chains in a place called Tartarus, reserved for the final judgment. Now, what did they do while they were here? Well, it's very interesting. And if you

pick up on this, you'll find that it's very probable that that's where the pyramids came from, that that's where the Stonehenge came from. During this particular time, it's recorded in history that there was a close relationship between the two of them. And so it's very possible that that's where the pyramids came from. And so it's very possible that that's where the cross pass by by the planet of Mars to the earth, so much so in every culture, in every language group has some kind of record of this pass by. It scared the daylights out of them, out of the earth

when that happened. If there is a face on Mars, you've heard about the face that they think is on Mars, that's not a natural windstorm kind of face, but that has been carved or made. Where did that come from? Very probable from the sons of God, from this fallen angelic race. So, I mean, once you get in and know the background on some of this stuff, hey, yeah, I believe it. But it's

amazing how man tries to distance himself from God and try to find something that he's got on earth that's going to disprove God or that's going to take the foundations of Christianity away. Well, I got news for me from the word. Every knee on the earth is going to bow. Every knee. Even the guys that you share with at work, the guys that you share with at school. You talk about Jesus

and they laugh at you or they ridicule you or they mock you and they then go to all the more effort to profane his name in your presence. They're going to bow. They're going to bow. Every knee on earth is going to bow. Now, I'll tie these together. Every knee will bow under the earth. Every knee will bow under the earth. This refers to the souls of the unrighteous dead, primarily. Those that have

died disavowing any knowledge of God or any relationship with God, linking their lives into idolatry or anything that is not the God of the Bible. Luke chapter 16. We were in Luke 11 earlier. And in Luke chapter 16, Jesus has been telling many parables. And you come to the story of Lazarus and the rich man. It's the only one that he does not qualify it by saying, and Jesus

told him another parable or Jesus told him another story, which indicates that what he was telling them was an actual fact. It was a recounting of fact. And he says there was a certain man named Lazarus who was a beggar. And every day he would set himself at the door or at the gate of the rich man seeking to get scraps from his table. And Lazarus had sores and the dogs came and licked

his sores. And finally, Lazarus died and his soul was carried by the angels to Hades, to the place of torment. And there was fire there. And the rich man was in fire. And looking over, he could see Lazarus being comforted by Abraham. And he cried out, Father Abraham, it's hot over here. And I'm dying of thirst. You know, please have Lazarus come and bring some water, at least dip

his finger in water and come over and let me just suck on his finger more or less so that I can have my thirst quenched. And Abraham says, I'm sorry, son, you know, but while you're alive, you had all the greatness and the riches of the world. And Lazarus was a beggar. But now he's being comforted. And besides that, there's a great chasm or a gulf fixed between us so that

we can't come over there and you can't come over here. I don't think that's just a story or a parable. I think that's an actual description that Jesus is giving us of Hades. And that's just a holding place. That's not Gehenna. That's not the ultimate lake of fire. But that is a holding place. When Jesus went to the cross and he ascended into heaven, Ephesians 4 tells us that

he led captivity captive in his train. I believe that he led captivity captive in his train. I believe that he led to Hades, that he proclaimed the victory over sin and death and that he ascended and he took the souls of the righteous dead in Abraham's bosom with him into heaven. Now, when a believer dies, according to Philippians 121, we saw that Paul said, I don't know which is better for me to stay here or to die. For to me, to die is better because to die, I go to be with Christ. So today, when a

believer dies, he goes right into the presence of the Lord. But an unbeliever, the unrighteous go to this place in Hades called torments until the final judgment, the great white throne judgment, when they will be cast alive into the lake of fire. They will bow. Those are the knees that will acknowledge him, those under the earth. It also takes in the demonic realm, all of the fallen

angels, all of the sons of God who are, I believe, the heinous ones, the ones that cohabited with the daughters of men. They're in chains in a place called Tartarus. They will bow. They will acknowledge him. All of the demonic realm, including Satan, will bow before him and acknowledge that he is the Christ, the son of the living God. Now, the reason I think this is important for us to

understand, again, is its inclusiveness, you see, because it's everywhere that Jesus affected. It's everywhere that he has any, of course, he's God. He affects the universe. But every part of his sacrifice in his humiliation affected all three of these areas. And it's in all three of these areas that he is now receiving exaltation, receiving honor, receiving glory. And he's

and the point is, if you and I humble ourselves before the Lord, to whatever extent, to whatever sphere is involved in that, and let God lift us up, that in his lifting us up, eventually, the acknowledgement will be there. You see what I mean? You're not going to lose anything if your neighbor doesn't know you mowed the lawn. It's all going to come out in the wash. And the exaltation

is going to be so great that it's going to so overshadow what you sacrificed to do it. When you minister to somebody and it costs you something, some time or some effort, you're going to or some money. Don't worry about it. Let God lift you up because when he exalts, he touches every sphere that's necessary so that the exaltation, the honor, and the glory is received from every area that's necessary. You see, if we can see that, if we can grab that, we don't have to fight

for glory. We don't have to fight for recognition. We don't have to fight to do things to be seen of men. God will take care of it. Well, maybe I'll move and I'll never see them again. You'll see them again. You will see them again someday. And the effort of the sacrament of the Holy Spirit that was made will be recognized and rewarded by Christ. And you can bet it's going to be awesome

to you when it happens. Seventh and final step. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. So you see, the question is not, will you confess Jesus Christ as Lord this morning? The question is, when will you confess Jesus Christ as Lord? Because see, you

will. And you can either pay me now or pay me later, you know. You can either confess him now as Lord or confess him later as Lord. See, the thing is, though, now, if you confess him as Lord, if you acknowledge him as Lord, now what comes with that is salvation. It's that freedom that was sung about earlier. It's a freedom from the bondage of sin and death. It's a freedom unto a

glorious relationship with God. If you are a Christian and you surrender to that lordship of Christ, it's an acknowledgement of his control, of his authority. It's a freeing. It's such a freeing to do that now. And it's a promise of blessing later. It's a promise that he, will lift you up later, exalt you in due time. If you wait till then, and the then is when Jesus

comes back. If you wait till the then, and you're one of these under the earth in the place of the unrighteous dead, then you're going to do it anyhow. But it's too late to reap the blessing of it. You see, it'll still be condemned to the lake of fire. You'll still just acknowledge that he is Lord, that he is the Lord Jesus Christ. And you'll acknowledge it whether inside you don't

want to or not. You'll have to, because every fiber of your being is going to be responding to the truth of it. And you'll have to. Is Jesus your Lord? Is he the coach? Is he the one you're looking to? Is he the one you're listening to? You see, we're all called to love him. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you are called to love him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, with all your strength. Heart, soul,

mind, and strength goes forth. So it's easy for me to say this morning, yes, Jesus is Lord. It's easy to check that one off until I think about love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your heart. That involves your emotions. That involves the want-tos, you know. Do I love him with all of my heart? And

Jesus said, you know, I want that from your life. I want you to give that up. And I don't want to. I want you to give up that relationship. It's harmful to you. I want you to give up that particular activity in your life. It's harmful to you. I want you to go over here where I want to send you. I want you to do this particular thing. I don't want to. You see, he's not Lord

of my heart. Lord up to this point, and then no further. But love him with all of your heart and with all of your mind. See, all of your mind. Well, what's my mind been up to lately? Well, my mind has been thinking all kinds of these thoughts about somebody that said something about me or done something to me at work. Somebody that said something or done something

in the fellowship or about something I really want. And I'm going to figure out a way to get it. You know, it's really not what I should have, but I'm going to figure out a way to get it. And God says, I want your mind. Love me with all of your mind, which says, Lord, it's yours. You know, if you want me to love that person, I'll love him. If you want me to have that thing, I'll have it.

If not, it's up to you. I'll lay that at your... And see, until we do that, he's not Lord of our mind. Lord of my soul. Lord of my soul involves all of my fleshly desires, my tangible fleshly sensual desires, the things I feel and see and smell and taste and want to appease my flesh. Is he Lord of my soul? If I love him with all of my soul, not if there's times

I grab that extra piece of cake, you know. God says, you don't really need that. And I go, yes, I do. I may not ever get another one of these, you know. Then he's not Lord of your soul at that particular time. Love him with all of your strength. That means there's effort involved and there's effort involved in every love that you do. And I'm going to figure out a way to get that

relationship if you're honest with yourself. Courting relationships, dating relationships, husband and wife relationships don't just happen. There's work involved. It's an effort involved to love the way God loves. And if it's that much effort with each other, my goodness, what must effort be to love the Lord who I can't see? Well, turn again to Philippians chapter two.