Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Philippians chapter 2, and
reading from our text, verse 9. Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. Philippians chapter 2 and verse
9. We read in our reading just the
start of the chapter where there is listed in 2 Samuel 23 the
mighty men that David had, 30 mighty men. and they set forth in that chapter
their names, and they set forth what they did that made them
to be numbered amongst David's mighty men. And when we think
of such a list as that, and we think of David, a man after God's
own heart, and then we have a text like this, A name which is above
every name. And it is given to our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. What a contrast. Above every
name of the mighty men of the earth, a name above every name. The name of Jesus is the name. We are told very clearly that
this is the name, in verse 10 after our text, that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow, that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
And so that name kept secret over the years, Jacob, This same
Jesus, the eternal Son of God, wrestled with him, thus wrestled
with God and with man and has prevailed. But he would not tell
him his name. That was secret. Wherefore askest
thou after my name? And he blessed him there. His
name wasn't given to Gideon, to Abraham, to Manoah and his
wife, Samson's parents. They asked after the name of
the same angel, the same eternal Son of God in those pre-incarnation
appearances, and his name was told as being secret. But as
soon as our Lord came, we have in Matthew 1, again, the genealogy,
a long line right through to Christ, names of all the kings,
and then a name which is above every name. His name shall be
called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. It is a name above every name,
and may we always have it set in a very special place in our
heart. It's a solemn thing that today
a name is often blasphemed, but really the Apostle Paul, he said
of those that preached, some even of contention and some of
goodwill. But he said that he rejoiced
that whether in pretense or in sincerity, the name of Jesus
was preached, the name of Christ was preached. And though it is
a most solemn thing to hear our Lord's name taken in vain in
that way, yet really, There are many who have never been in a
church, never heard the gospel. It could be said they have heard
His name, and yet maybe have never inquired, what does it
mean? How great is this name? How high is this name? How esteemed
is this name? And so the Lord is able to use
even His enemies and those that blaspheme, to spread this name
which is above every name. But may it be on our lips as
a precious name. We sung in our first hymn how
sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. And may
that be so with us. It be a sweet, a precious name
to us. Now the context of our text is
a teaching of humility. We are told that in verse 3 that
nothing be done with strife or vain glory. It is to be done
with love and it is in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." And the whole
lead up, the context, is a teaching, the Church of God, the Philippian
Church, the Church here, whoever reads this Word, that the path
of blessing, the path of honour, the path of exaltation, is in
the path of humility, of lowliness of mind, of esteeming another
better than themselves. And the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore,
is set forth as our example. Verse 5, let this mind be in
you which was also in Christ Jesus, and then all that follows,
including our text. And I don't want to lose sight
of this as we preach and set before you this name, which is
above every name. We don't want to lose sight of
this message of this passage, the path of humility, of humbling,
not a pride, not a lifting up ourselves, but a lowly place. And our Lord spoke this in his
parables of ministry, that when you go to a feast, don't choose
the uppermost room, lest the owner of the feast come and he
says, friend, give place to this one, and thou with shame take
the lower place. But he said, when thou are bidden
to a feast, take the lower seats. And then, He that hath bidden
thee, come to thee and say, Friend, come up higher, and give a higher
place. The place, the right place of
blessing, and this is so exemplified in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ, is in humility, in lowliness, and not in pride. And that really
is so opposite to what we are by nature. We are very, very
proud Sometimes we might not discern it, we might not see
it, and then something will happen. And we like to be well thought
of, well spoken of, many, many different ways. It can be found
out, you know, if we haven't got pride, it can't be wounded. But many times, our pride is
wounded, and we find out we have got pride. So it may be that
we don't forget this lesson and this teaching, to be humble,
to take the lowest place, and surely when we know and feel
our sin, when we realise what the Lord has done to deliver
us from our sins, how humbling is that. And so may we have that
spirit that was in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to speak to you
then on this name, a name which is above every name. I want to look at three points. Firstly, why. Why God hath given
him a name above every name. Our text begins with the word
wherefore. So we can tell the reason why
is in what has gone before. Wherefore. God also hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. The
second thing I want to cover is how God hath highly exalted
him. Our text just states that God
also hath highly exalted him, but I want to look at how he
has done that. And then thirdly, what is required
of all men to the glory of God the Father? And this is where
we are coming to lead up to the end of verse 11, that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. So that is our third point, what
is required. But firstly why? Why is it that God has given
him a name which is above every name? Now in the verses prior
there are seven reasons that are given to us in the text. The first is verse six and it
begins with the divinity of our Lord, the eternal Sonship of
our Lord Jesus Christ. It begins with His high and exalted
position. This is very important because
if someone was already in a very, very low place, it would seem
to be rather pointless to be speaking about them humbling
themselves or being brought down. But if someone is in a very high
and exalted place to start off with, and then they are brought
low voluntarily, that then is very praiseworthy. It really
means something. And so here in verse six, we
read who, Being in the form of God thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. Now, the form of God, no man
has seen God at any time. God does not have a form or parts. Our Lord Jesus Christ is God
manifest in the flesh, that comes later on, but what is being put
forth here is that He truly is God. There's the emphasis here,
this is the eternal Son of God. This is God himself. If you have
seen the Father, you have seen me. If you have seen me, you
have seen the Father. This is the true God and eternal
life. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was God, the Word was with God. And it is by Him that
all things were created. is very important. This reason
why He is exalted, it begins with Him being already exalted
at the right hand of the Father. You could not get a higher position,
you might say, no higher, no greater, than God Himself. And we would be clear on this,
that our Lord Jesus, as Eternal Son of God, was always the eternal
Son of God. It's a great mystery. God manifests
in the flesh. But it is a vital point to begin,
and to begin where Solomon began in dedicating the temple, which
is a type of Christ, and he says, will God in very deed dwell upon
the earth? The heaven of heavens cannot
contain thee, how much less this house that I have built and he's
praying, he's speaking to God. They can't contain thee. Will
God in verity dwell upon the earth? Not a representative,
not a man that had been made and then just given a position
on earth, but God manifest in the flesh, Emmanuel, God with
us. And it's very, very important
to begin in that exalted position And I say, why did our Lord have
to come to the earth if he is already exalted? Why did he have
to go through all of these things? For the justness, the righteousness
of God, to be able to do what he came to do to save his people
from their sins, he must go through this path. What we are reading
is the exalted name is that he should be able to save his people. What he did to be able to do
that, which he couldn't do, and we say reverence, couldn't do
before he came to this world. Couldn't do, yes he could do
it before those were saved from Adam as a promise of what was
to be done, but it is vital that he did come, that he did perform
it, that it wasn't just said in words. you know, has said
with Abraham, that it was by faith that he went and offered
up his son Isaac, and he was justified by works. He didn't
stay where he was and say, Lord, I believe that thou could raise
up Isaac from the dead, and yet didn't go and offer him up. He
actually did it. And so it is vital that the Lord
not only promise that he would come, but that he did come, that
he did offer himself up. And so we begin as the first
reason of the great exalted position that he had, and we may say retained
as God, as being in the form of God, Now Jews, this is what they rose
up against. They thought to stone him because
that thou being a man, make us thyself equal with God. But he was, and he is, equal
with God. And it is from this position
then comes the other six reasons of the wherefore from this exalted
position. So the next three, The next three
refer to his humility and humbling coming down to be as a man. The first that he said, verse
7, that he made himself of no reputation. No reputation. You know, those men that we read
of, David's mighty men, they had a reputation. There it is
in the inspired word of God, a reputation for their valour
and all that they did and everything that they performed. But our
Lord, as it were, took away all of that reputation. A reputation,
it speaks of what has gone on before. You don't just suddenly
get a reputation. It is because you're known for
doing something. You had a reputation for skill,
or for being punctual, or for being faithful, a reputation
for being honest. It is something that men have
noticed over a period of time, and they associate that attribute
with that particular person. But our Lord, he comes upon this
earth with no reputation. You know, when he starts to speak,
when he was in the temple at 12, whence does this man? No
figures, no, having not been taught, and wist ye not that
I must be about my father's business, he says to his mother, and there
was no, With us, when we were born into the world, you look
at a little baby in a basket, and you say, well, it can't have
a reputation. It's only just started life.
But our Lord was born into this world as a babe, as if he was
just starting life, which he was here below. But this wasn't
the start of his existence. Out of eternity, he'd formed
the world. He should have had a great reputation
of everything that he'd done, but he comes here, and those
that see him, there's no great reputation gone before him at
all. He made himself of no reputation. Just taking all that away. The second thing is that he took
on him the form of a servant. I am, he says to his disciples,
among you is one that serveth. Now a servant was of the lowest
position in society, to be at the bidding and calling of others,
to be for the benefit of others and the help of others. Remember in verse four it says,
look not every man on his own things, but every man also on
the things of others, as it were to put others first. And our Lord Jesus Christ, the
whole reason why he came was not for himself. was not for
his benefit, his blessing. Yes, his people are his inheritance,
but his coming to this world was that he might serve his people,
that he might be a benefit and a blessing for his people, that
he might serve his father. And he comes in this form, a
low form, a form of servitude. took upon him the form of a servant. And then the third is that he
was made in the likeness of men, not of animals which just have
flesh, not of angels which just have spirit, but of the seed
of Abraham, which is body and of soul. The Lord Jesus Christ being formed
in the womb of the Virgin Mary by the overshadowing of the Holy
Spirit. Joseph was not his father, as
supposed it was, but his father was in heaven. And because of
that, he did not take that sinful nature that we have. Job, he
marvelled, he struggled, that how can that born of a woman
be clean? He wondered how can this promised
seed of the woman, the promised coming of Christ, anyone that
is born into this world is tainted with sin. And as a sinner is
unable to redeem another, the lamb had to be spotless. He knew
that. The Old Testament saints knew
that. But the mystery that is told in those first chapters
of the New Testament, they open that mystery up. The Holy Ghost
shall overshadow thee, wherefore that holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God, spotless and
pure. But He is made in the likeness
of men, so much in the likeness of men, that the Jews, even when
the Lord spoke, as in John 6, many wonderful things, yet they
said that this is Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter's
son, and they were offended at him. They couldn't see any difference
in the Lord than any other man, nothing to distinguish him. We
are told that his form was more marred than any man. There's
no beauty that we should desire him. But he is made under the
law, a maid of a woman, to redeem them that are under the law.
The great humbling and condescension to be made like unto sinful flesh,
sinful men, with not to the natural eye any difference at all. You think of if there was an
assembly of those that we looked upon them as being obnoxious
sinners, that were really looked down upon, and we dressed up,
we made ourselves look just like them and mingled with them, and
anyone seeing us would think that we were one of them. And
yet in ourselves, we view them as sinners, as those that we
would not like. You know, the Lord said, how
long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you?
You can only think of going into perhaps some seedy places in
London, places that God's people would want to rush out of and
think, how would you feel like if you said, no, you've got to
go in there. You've got to mingle with them, you've got to hear
what they say, you've got to see what they say, you've got
to hear things spoken against you in there. And yet our Lord
spent 33 years here below, enduring the contradiction of sinners
against himself, hearing and seeing all that they were doing,
and all the walking, and knowing what was in their hearts, and
knowing even amongst his 12 that one was to betray him, made in the likeness of men. And now we come to the last three
that apply to when he was a man. It is a great humbling to become
a man. But then, once he is a man, being
found in fashion as a man, in verse 8, the first thing that
is said, he humbled himself even more then. He humbled himself, even when
already low as a man, already as just the son of a carpenter,
he walked as a lowly, humble man, as a man. And the next thing, that he became
obedient unto death. He came into this world that
he might die, that he might offer himself for a sacrifice. He had
to be proved that he was the spotless lamb, He had to be tempted
in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. He had to prove
that the second Adam was not going to fall like the first
Adam did. The first Adam had all the goodness
of a garden, all the fullness, and yet ate of one forbidden
fruit. Our Lord hungered after fasting
40 days in the wilderness, when tempted with bread, and with
using his powers to command stones to be bred, he refused to do
so. Man shall not live by bread only,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. A nail
in a sure place, a nail able to have hung on him all the glory
of his father's house, one that truly was fitted and prepared. to put away his people's sin. And he was obedient unto death. Obedient as a child, obedient
right through those 33 years. Obedient right through his ministry. Obedient to his father. My father
gave a commandment, what I should say and what I should do. Now
to be a blessed thing. If this point would also be true
of us, that we were as obedient children and that we are obedient
unto death. What death the Lord has reserved
for us, we do not know. We may think we know. Peter,
he was told by the Lord virtually he would be crucified, and he
was. But the Lord is a sovereign in
that. And the blessed thing is to endure unto the end. He that
endureth unto the end shall be saved. And this is the mark,
obedient. To have the Lord to be the one
that directs us where we should go, what we should do, how we
should act. Are we obedient? Are we obedient
this morning? Are we doing what the Word of
God commands? Or are we making excuses to not
do what the Lord commands? Are we trying to get rounded?
The Lord knows, He knows our heart. But may we have this mark
as our Lord had, to be obedient, as obedient children, obedient
even unto death. Our Lord was. He always did that
which His Father commanded him. But there's a last one, and that
is even the death of the cross. A terrible death, one of the
most painful deaths and that devised by the Romans, that they
should have such a long, excruciating, painful death naturally, let
alone to have the hiding of a father's face The wrath of God poured
out upon him and to endure that darkness for three hours. What
the Lord endured, thou shalt see the travail of his soul and
shall be satisfied. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
upon a tree. Our Lord was hung on a tree. He endured the curse in the place
of his people and not any death. It was not just the death that
the thieves had each side of him. They were sinners. We indeed
justly received the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath
done nothing amiss, says the dying thief that was saved. Lord,
remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. The Lord's
answer, verily, verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be
with me in paradise. Our Lord endured that cross.
Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. And in
that cup, and he says, nevertheless, not my will, but thy will be
done. In that cup is all the wrath
of God, all the sins of his people laid on him, all the pain, all
the sufferings that could visibly be seen, and all of that which
was hidden, that was not seen by man. And yet, known by God,
he shall see the travail of his soul. And the people of God,
it is said, they shall look upon him whom they have pierced. Our sins pierced him. And so there's these seven things
that go before our text. There's the reason why. Why God hath highly exalted him. Why he has given him a name.
which is above every name. There is a reason. Though he came, as it were, into
the world with no reputation, here in the pages of sacred writ
is given a reputation. What the Lord did upon the earth,
what a difference that what man would do. Man would say, I've
done this, I've done that, I've done many wonderful things, great
things, mighty things, but what God esteems as to be worthy of
being given a name which is above every name is very, very different,
isn't it? I want to look then secondly
at how God hath highly exalted him. How is it so? The first thing
that is set before us here is the name. He has given him a
name. A name which is above every name. How significant often through
the Word of Scripture is a name. And of course when our Lord was
given this name, is that given the reason, for he shall save
his people from their sins. Her name is Saviour and that
is the very thing that He came to do. But I want to turn to
the first chapter in Paul's epistle to the Colossians because in
that portion we have how God hath exalted Him, what pre-eminence
that He hath given Him. In verse 18, In that first chapter
in Colossians, the next letter from Philippines, we have that
it pleased that in all things he might have the preeminence. Now, if one has the preeminence,
it is the highest place. It is a position that none can
come anywhere near to. They can't even come anywhere
near it. It's the highest place of exaltation,
the preeminence. He is all in all, that in all
things He might have that. And so from verse 14, we are
told of those things, how God has exalted Him. Verse 14 is
that we have redemption through His blood. We have the forgiveness
of sins. He has given that exaltation,
that blessing to be upon the Lord. He is exalted to give repentance
and remission of sins unto Israel. That is an exalted position. There is none other saviour,
there's none other that can fulfil or to do that. Also in verse
15, here's the image of the invisible God, that is truly God, not as
a visual image as we said, but to be truly God with all the
attributes of God, the firstborn of every creature, not that his
existence began with his birth here below, but in the very beginning
with God, he was with God. And then in verse 16, exalted
him and giving him this credit as this work, by him were all
things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers, all things were created by him and for him." You know,
he said when he came, he made himself of no reputation. In
the Gospels, it does testify to us that by Him were all things
created. But when He came, He didn't come
with that. He didn't come with that, that
everyone knew that. But when He is exalted, when
He is lifted up, when He has suffered, bled and died, then
this is all given to Him. This Jesus of Nazareth that was
so despised, this same Jesus, He is the one by whom all things
were created and the Father owns this and gives this preeminence
and gives this blessing and exalts Him in that. Can you imagine
if a man that we looked at and we despised them, they were rough,
they weren't dressed well and they didn't speak well and we
looked at them and we just treated them with disdain. And then we
had another man come, and so you see this man here, you see
what he's done, he's built all these wonderful buildings, he's
designed them all, he is the builder, he is the architect.
And you look at this same poor man, and now he's being told
by someone else that he's ascribing all of these wonderful things
to this man. That's what the Father is doing,
he is Jesus of Nazareth, It was crucified, and I'm ascribing
to Him all the creation, and that He is equal with me, and
all of this glory, and all that is made and done, He's done it,
and He sustains all things. And of course, while He was on
earth, sometimes when He rose, He stilled the winds and the
waves. What manner of man is this, that even the winds and
the waves obey Him? And then, it is told, He is before
all things. And by Him all things consist.
You can hear the Father pointing to the Son, pointing to our Lord
Jesus Christ, and ascribing all of these things to Him. He is
the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence.
It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And you see, in this way, through
the Word of God, through the Gospels, through the letters,
our Lord is being now greatly exalted and lifted up. No more the despised Nazarene,
no more just Jesus of Nazareth, but given a name which is above
every name and the full meaning of that name, the full meaning
of it, a precious name. And to you which believe, says
Peter, he is precious. So how God hath highly exalted
him, and we might say really in every conversion, in every
sinner saved by grace, he is exalted, he is precious. The Holy Spirit, he shall receive
it mine, shall show it unto you. He shall not speak of himself,
he exalts the Son. He puts the crown on his head. Yes, if you and I are called
by grace, the Lord will be exalted before us. He'll be precious. He'll be altogether lovely. He'll be in the place of preeminence. That will be a real test of what
we really see in him. The Lord Jesus Christ, exalted. God hath highly exalted him. On to look then lastly at what
is required of all men to the glory of God the Father. And for this we read from verse
10, verse 10 and 11. That at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and
things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And so there's
two things. The first one is a practical
way, and of course it's not a literal bowing. It's not like Haman that
wanted people to bow down before him. We have no man on earth,
the Lord is ascended up into heaven. It is not in that way,
we are not to be in a sense like the Muslims that
would all be lined up and all bowing and bowing before the
Lord, is not required in that way, to bow in that way. But it is to in practice giving
Him the reverence due to His name, worshipping Him, adoration
to Him, obeying Him, The Lord says, you call me Lord, but you
do not the things that I say. The greatest way of exalting
the Lord and giving him the honor is to obey him. What would we
think of a master who had servants? What would we think of a father
that had children? And you ask them to do this and
that, and they just ignored him. Well, I'm not doing that. or
I'm going to choose it, I'm going to do it my way, I'm going to
do it another way. What would we think of someone
like that? You'd think the person is saying it has no esteem, no
reverence. They think very meanly of their
father. They're not honouring him at
all. Honour thy father and thy mother. And so when we treat
the word of God and his commands and his precepts with disdain,
remember Written, incarnate Word is all the same. We don't want
to think with the Bibles, with the red letters in that they're
only the letters of the Lord Jesus. Yes, they may be what
men feel in the Word of God is what He uttered here below. But
all of the Word of God is the Word of God. All of the Word
of God is the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true
God and it is God's Word. All of it. And so we, in practice,
be doers of the Word and not hearers only. This then is the
first thing that is required. No one can accuse us of being
a hypocrite if we first are doing what we're saying. A hypocrite
is someone that says and does not do. But if we are already
doing it, and if men ask us to give a reason of the hope that
is within us, and the reason why they ask, because they've
seen we're doing things that they do not do, and not doing
things that they do, and so they want a reason. Whatever we say,
they can't turn around and say you're a hypocrite, because the
reason why they ask, they've seen the works first. Our Lord
Jesus Christ testified that my works, the works that I do, They
testify of me. Yes, he testified in word that
he was the son of God, that God was his father. But he could
go right back and say, don't just rely on my word, my works,
my miracles, those things, they testify of me. And this is so
with us as well. And may the Lord give us that
grace and help. We have a God to go to, to give
us grace and to give us help. to be obedient, to walk according
to the word. Thy word is a lamp to my feet,
a light unto my path. That we be those who have the
fear of the Lord, who think of the type of Joseph when his brothers
came to him. At first, his brothers had cast
him into the pit. They despised him, they rejected
him, as like the Lord was dealt with here below. But then they
find him in a place exalted. That's where we find our Lord
now, in the text, exalted, like Joseph. Was his brothers treating
him with disdain then? Not at all. They feared him. They knew his power. They knew
his authority. They knew the position that he
had. Pharaoh reinforced it. Pharaoh
had given him that position, and they bowed before him. They
gave Him reverence, they obeyed Him, and how much greater our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. That is the first part, that
there should be on earth, and yes, in heaven, angels and things
under the earth, even the devils, every name, all the creation. He hath put under His feet all
things, All things, there's nothing that he hath not put unto him.
The word is very clear in that. He is King and Lord of all. Devils and angels, amen, and
especially his dear people that bowing before him. But what a
blessed thing to come before him and have that relationship
as being his children, his kindred, his brethren. of those for whom
he suffered, whom he died, and to give him that reverence and
honour, not by force, but because I love him, because of what he
has done for them, and he is precious in what they have had
revealed to them, in what he has suffered for them. Well,
the last one of what is required is that every tongue should confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. Now,
some of our people would say, well, it's just enough for our
neighbours to see us dressed up, get in our cars and go to
the house of God each Lord's Day. And it may be the Lord would
use that to convert them, but that is not the only thing that
is required. There is a confession. We are
to speak to those that are around about us. We are to talk to them. And especially in the things
of God regarding the Lord Jesus, we have in Romans 10, that with
the heart man believeth, and with the mouth confession is
made unto salvation. A public profession and confession
is an important thing, is not to be just lightly disregarded. Whosoever shall confess me on
earth, him will my Father confess before the angels in heaven. It is a confession of whose we
are, whom we serve, and what we see in the Lord Jesus Christ. In many lands still there is
a cross taken up. It was said of the man that was
born blind in John 9, that whosoever should confess that Jesus was
the Christ, he'd be put out of the temple. And there are many
lands still that where one publicly professes a belief in Jesus,
their lives are in danger, they're persecuted. And right through
history, it has been a thing that we do not know as yet in
our land to that extent. We have known in years gone by,
but maybe then in a time of peace and when we can be able to confess
the Lord before men and that He is Lord. And even when we're
afflicted and when we're tried and when things are not going
well and the world might say, you're a Christian, look at all
you're going through. And you say the Lord Jesus Christ
He is Lord. He is my sovereign God. He chooses
out my path. He appoints my sorrows, my tribulations. They're in His hand. I would
worship Him. He is exalted. Who am I to challenge
what He has appointed for me? And especially when He has appointed
a heavenly home, a place above, appointed that when this world
is done, When death takes the body to the grave, the soul shall
return to God and shall have those mansions prepared. For
may we know and confess and reverence and serve this name, which is
above every name, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.