Philippians (Lesson 22)

And thank you so much for that kind word of introduction.

Thanks to each and every one of you for tuning in today.

I'm Brother James, and I greet you once again in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

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We are in the book of Philippians, we are in the second chapter, we have come to that grand portion of Scripture that speaks about Jesus ascent back to glory, which he willingly, voluntarily, lovingly forsook when he came down to this earth to die on the cross to pay for our sins.

We have considered from verse number six that Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross.

And we have spoken at length on several broadcasts about that act of humbling himself, denying himself, and going to the cross to die for your sins and for mine.

But now, now the tide turns and from that great descent the passage begins the great ascent back up to glory.

Wherefore, wherefore because of his sacrificial death for the sins of the world, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth.

How about that?

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God and the Father.

Now this ninth verse is remarkable in its depth.

Wherefore God also.

Now this underscores the fact the Bible fact that it was God the Father who put God the Son to death.

Isaiah fifty three, it pleased the Lord to bruise him.

Jesus Christ offered himself to die in your place and in mine, to suffer the wrath of God in our stead.

And because Jesus humbled himself and became obedient unto the will of God the Father, in making that payment for sin, wherefore because of that God also hath highly exalted him.

It would not do you any good, not in eternity, rarely in time, but in eternity it would not do you any good to be exalted by a man.

It would not do you any good to be exalted by a group of men, it would not do you any good to be exalted by the entire human race.

Because those men would die and you would die, and all of that vainglory would crumble into the dust.

You could be, you could be proclaimed a king, like Nebuchadnezzar, you could be proclaimed a king like Caesar, you could be proclaimed a king like Saul, like Elvis, like Michael Jackson.

Men could exalt you, men could adore you, men could praise you, men could glorify you, and then you would die.

And find that to gain the whole world and lose your own soul is an act of supreme folly.

But Jesus Christ was not exalted by men, though now we sing his praises.

Jesus Christ was not lifted up and magnified by men, though we now try to hold him as high as we possibly can.

But Jesus Christ was exalted.

Jesus Christ was lifted up by God the Father.

That makes it an everlasting matter.

That makes it an eternal matter.

That makes it something of lasting, permanent value.

You know the Bible says in first Peter chapter five, Jesus the supreme living example of this truth.

The Bible says in first Peter chapter five, starting at verse number five, likewise ye younger submit yourselves unto the elder, yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility, as Jesus was.

For God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.

Humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of God, which Jesus certainly did, that he may exalt you in due time, which God the Father certainly did.

Now consider the contrast.

As you read in Isaiah fourteen of Lucifer, Satan, saying in himself I will ascend, I will exalt myself, I will be like the most high God.

Here is a man acting in pride seeking to exalt himself, and God surely and certainly casts him down.

I'll tell you, Jesus Christ, he's the one to follow.

We get out preaching in public places, and some alcohol influenced child of eighteen or twenty two or twenty five will shout Satan rules as though we're supposed to pack up our Bibles and go home by such a statement of folly.

Satan sought to exalt himself, and down he goes to the lowest hell.

I wouldn't follow him.

Jesus humbled himself, and up he ascends to the highest place in all the universe, seated in honor and glory and majesty at the right hand of the Father, I'll follow him.

Many have said it it holds true.

The way up is down, the way down is up.

One of the great Bible paradoxes.

Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, not just exalted, but highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.

Given him a name which is above every name.

I'm all right with that.

How about you?

Why, if it's a choice between my name being proclaimed to the world and my name being adored, or the name of Jesus being proclaimed to the world and being adored, let's let's give Jesus that place.

Now what about this name above every name?

According to Matthew chapter number one, it is a saving name.

Matthew one verse number eighteen.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise.

When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost, then Joseph, her husband, being a just man and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.

But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost, and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.

For he shall save his people from their sins.

Verse twenty five and knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and he called his name Jesus.

That name is the name God the Son took upon himself when he came to this earth in a body of sinful flesh, and it is in that body that he died for our sins, and it is in that name that he rose as Savior.

That name of Jesus is a saving name.

Luke Luke chapter number ten.

Luke chapter ten, turning there and reading verse number seventeen.

And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.

Through thy name.

So it's not only a saving name, it is a powerful name, the powerful name of Jesus.

Sadly, but true, in Luke twenty one we read this Luke twenty one verse seventeen and ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

It is a hated name.

I don't know why anyone would hate Jesus the lover of their soul.

I don't know why anyone would hate one who loved them enough to die that their soul might be saved, but men do.

Women do.

Religions do hate the name of Jesus.

Then the Bible says in Acts chapter number four, it is an exclusive name.

Acts chapter four, beginning at verse number ten, the Bible says, Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, doth even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

That name, the name of Jesus is not only a saving name, it is the only saving name.

If one hopes to have eternal life, one must call upon the name of the Lord.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Not any other name, not any other person, not any other historical figure, not any other religious individual, not any creed, church, denomination, religion, no, no, there's only one saving name.

And that's the name of Jesus.

Then we see as we come here to this verse of Philippians that it is an exalted name.

It's an exalted name, the highest, the highest, the greatest.

And that is just absolutely fine with me.

Now throughout history men have sought to make names for themselves, and men have sought to establish the glory and the honor of their own names, but it's never turned out too well.

As we turn way back in our Bibles to Genesis chapter number eleven, Genesis chapter number eleven, back when the nations were united, back when man was one, and there were no divisions and barriers between them on the basis of race or nationality or culture or creed.

The Bible says in Genesis eleven one, and the whole earth was of one language and of one speech, and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there, and they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick and burn them throughly, and they had brick for stone and slime had they for mortar.

And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

Verse six four the Lord came down to see it, verse six he beheld it, verse seven he decided to wreck it, and verse eight, God scattered the people all over this earth.

Notice what was their desire not to bring honor and glory to the name of the Lord, but to make themselves a name.

And God said, I'll not have that and put a stop to the whole affair.

In Psalm number forty nine, Psalm number forty nine.

The Bible says of men in verse eleven, their inward thought is that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling places to all generations.

They call their lands after their own names.

How about that?

Boone's borough, Jacksonville, Washington.

It's all over the place.

It's all over the place.

And so what happens?

People die, step out into eternity, and find out that while men may remember their temporary greatness, owing to the fact that their name is attached to a piece of property down here on this earth, that if they knew Jesus Christ as their Savior, that's the only name that mattered in getting them to heaven, and if they didn't know Jesus Christ as their Savior, the rejection of the one who bore that name cost them their soul, and they ended up in a lake of fire.

And so in eternity it's really a silly thing to think that naming a piece of land with your name so that you could be honored and glorified by future generations, it's rather a silly thing to think that is more important than knowing the Lord Jesus Christ.

So God has given him a name.

And that name is above every name.

It's above the name of Mohammed, it's above the name of Buddha, it's above the name of Confucius, it's above the name of Joe Smith, it's above the name of just put any name you want there.

And the name of Jesus is superior.

Not because I have decreed it so, but because God has decreed that it should be so.

Not only is his name exalted above all other names, but at the name of Jesus every knee, every knee should bow.

Things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth.

You know, men did this once in mockery.

They did this once as fools, not knowing what they did, not realizing the magnitude of their deed.

The Bible says in Matthew twenty seven twenty nine, as Jesus is on his way to the cross, and when they have planted a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and a reed in his right hand, and they bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews.

Those same men will bow those same knees one day.

But it won't be in mockery.

It won't be in ridicule.

It won't be to make fun.

So Jesus Christ is exalted.

He is exalted because he humbled himself and died for the sins of the world.

And because of his great sacrifice, men will bow their knees and give him honor and give him glory.

They might do so as saved men and saved women as they praise him for their salvation, or they might do it as lost men and lost women just before they are banished to eternal torment.

But they will, they will bow their knees.

Hebrews 2 verse 9 says this.

Hebrews 2:9

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ drink that cup of wrath in the Garden of Gethsemane?

For every man.

Why did the Lord Jesus Christ hang there on that cross?

So that every single man who had ever lived could escape the second death, so that every single woman who had ever lived could escape the fires of hell.

Now, reading on down Hebrews 2 14, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise himself, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death, his own, he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage.

Now the devil is the devil is uh powerless to destroy anybody that will trust Jesus Christ.

The devil is no longer the issue.

God has made a way of salvation for anybody who will trust the Lord Jesus Christ.

Death has entered into and conquered every mortal man.

But the Lord Jesus Christ came and conquered death so that every mortal man could be victorious.

So death is not the issue.

If your neighbors or your kinfolk or you end up in a lake of fire in eternity, it won't be the devil's fault, and it won't be God's fault, and it won't be the fault of death.

It'll be your decision to go there against everything God could do for you.

Don't try to exalt your own name.

Don't try to lift up yourself.

Why, Jesus Christ, if you just put your faith and trust in His name, you can bow your knee as someone who is saved rather than as someone who is lost, but you will bow your knee.

In Revelation 20 and verse 11, the Bible says, And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.

Hallelujah.

Thy God, the one that sits on that great white throne, to deal with the rejecters and the despisers and the mockers and the scoffers, those who refused his salvation, they will face the Lord Jesus Christ, and his countenance will be such that everything that he created will run and hide.

Heaven and earth will have fled away.

Verse twelve.

And I saw the dead small and great stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works, and the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works.

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.

This is the second death.

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The Bible says in Revelation chapter twenty, if you've been dead five thousand years, if you've been dead five hundred years, if you've been dead five years, when time runs out, you are going to be raised up to stand before the great white throne of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you can say, My church taught me to trust myself.

You can say my religion taught me to trust my good works.

You can say, I believe that just as long as a man did more good than bad, you can say whatever you want.

But according to Revelation 20, if all you've got is your good works, you're doomed.

The Bible didn't say he was going to judge men by their bad works.

He didn't say he was going to judge men by their good works.

He said he's going to judge them according to their works and then throw them into the lake of fire.

You see, the only hope you've got of entering heaven is calling on the name of the Lord.

Nothing else matters in that day.

Here's a man standing before Jesus Christ, and he says, Well, I didn't believe in you.

So what?

Man says, I believe there were other ways to heaven.

So what?

Man says, Well, I think there's a lot of different paths as long as you're sincere.

So what?

The Bible says you come through Jesus Christ or you don't get in.

That man will bow his knees before the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will confess that Jesus died for him to deliver him from death, and that he's about to die.

And there's nothing, there's nothing that man can do to save himself.

It's it's Jesus Christ or eternal damnation.

Every knee is going to bow to Jesus Christ.

They're not going to be a group of thrones up there, and people will bow before the God of their choice.

It's not an AA meeting.

You don't get up there and pick your own deity and bow before it.

And that one is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now, if I was you, if I was you, if I'd never been saved, I'd get saved right now.

And there's only one Savior.

If I was you and I'd never been born again, I'd get born again right now, and there's only one that can give you that new birth.

The Bible says God has highly exalted one person and one person only, that's Jesus Christ.

The Bible says there is one saving name and one saving name only, and that's the name of Jesus Christ.

And I urge you, my friend, with all my heart, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then and only then can you be saved.

It's Jesus or hell.

It's Jesus or lose your soul.

It's Jesus or everlasting darkness.

What's it gonna be?

You say, Well, I think doesn't matter.

Well the way I look at it, doesn't matter.

I just feel doesn't matter.

At the name of Jesus, every knee is going to bow.

Why not get a head start and bow your knees now while there's opportunity for you to be saved instead of waiting to bow your knees later when you are lost forever.

Amen and amen.

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