Now once again may the Lord bless
us as we turn to meditate in the epistle of Paul to the Philippians
and the second chapter and this evening we'll think on verses
9, 10 and 11. So the epistle of Paul to the
Philippians, the second chapter and reading verses 9, 10 and
11. 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, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. Last week we spoke on the previous
verses to these verses nine, 10 and 11. And those verses showed to us
the greatness of God and the mercy of God and the favor of
God when he took on himself, our form. Indeed, as we read
now, verse seven, 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." Well, we see, of course, in those verses,
really the humiliation of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But now we come to this word
wherefore. We see there is then a wonderful
different view. And that view directs us now
to the risen Saviour, to the conquering Saviour. And we read,
wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name
which is above every name. What a change, really, from that
condition and situation when the Lord was crucified on the
cross at Calvary, when he was so humiliated. And yet, you see,
he came right down and he gave himself as that glorious sacrifice
for sin. And what a great blessing it
is to know that he gave himself as that great sacrifice to take
away all of our sin. And yet now we come to this statement
that he is highly exalted. Indeed, we know that after those
three days he rose from the dead and it was a glorious resurrection. And he rose as the glorious saviour
of sinners. He rose indeed as the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords. He rose as the conqueror over
sin, death, hell and the grave. And so surely then, these words
are so gloriously true, wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him. He is worthy of all praise. He is worthy of our praise. He
is worthy of true thanksgiving for all that the Saviour did,
because without that sinatonian death we would have no hope of
eternal life but because of that sinatonian death we have that
good hope through his grace of receiving that wonderful gift
of eternal life and so may it be in our life our desire to
truly exhort him and so the Apostle goes on to say, and given him
a name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus every
knee should bow. Well, what a great and glorious
name this is, the name of Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. And what a mercy if we view him
today as that great and glorious Savior, the one who is, the cheapest
among 10,000, and the altogether lovely. And if we have the wonderful
evidence the Lord has indeed come and saved our souls, surely
our desire, our concern will be to lift him up and to honour
and glorify his great and glorious name. We've read together in
that chapter in John's gospel very wonderful and very glorious
words really because we're told verse 26 for as the father hath
life in himself so hath he given to the son to have life in himself
and has given him authority to execute judgment also because
he is the son of man. and also, of course, the glorious
Son of God. And we read, and they shall come
forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life,
and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. That is the truth that will come
and be known in every heart and in every being, that they are
either amongst those who are blessed with this great and glorious
gift of eternal life or receive the just reward of their sins,
eternal damnation. Well, may we therefore be found
tonight rejoicing in what God has done. We're told he was a
burning and a shining light and you were willing for a season
to rejoice in his light. Well I hope tonight all of us
can truly rejoice in his light because his light brings forth
light into our hearts, into our dark hearts and raises us to
that good hope through his grace of eternal life. And then the
apostle goes on to say that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. That's an important word here,
should. Everyone should bow. How few do bow. Of course this
really refers to us bowing to the Lord in our heart, acknowledging
that he is our Lord and our Savior, the great and glorious God. And
so how good it will be if we are found bowing down before
this great and eternal God. We know, of course, that at that
great day of judgment, every knee will bow without any doubt. All those who've despised, all
those who've mocked, all those who disbelieve the gospel will
bow down. They will know. They are in the
presence of Almighty God, the judge of all the earth. So the Apostle goes on, that
every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth
and things under the earth. Wherever people may be, wherever
they may be found, this will be the situation. Every knee
will then bow in that physical way, and what a great blessing
for us today that we willingly bow down to our God and acknowledge
Him as our Lord and our God, that one whom we desire to follow,
that one whom we desire to obey, the one whom we desire to listen
to. What a blessing therefore if
the Lord grants us this wonderful favour. And then the apostle
goes on. and that every tongue should
confess. We've had one should bow before
God, now we have another should. Should confess. They are two
very important shoulds, and every true believer will come within
those words. We ought to ask ourselves the
question tonight whether we have bowed down before Almighty God,
and whether we have confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord. The Lord knows exactly how we
stand before God. And you know, it's only as the
Lord sees us exactly as we are. It's not a question of impressing
people. The question is hearing God's
Word, being blessed by God's Word, instructed by it, encouraged
by it, moved by it, so that our whole heart desires to truly
bow down before this great and glorious Saviour and to confess
that He is Lord of all, that He is the Saviour of sinners
and that He is my Saviour. Well, I hope tonight that this
word should has been fulfilled in our lives, and if it has not
been, that you and I might desire truly to be found amongst those
who do desire to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Every true
born-again sinner, without any doubt, will confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord before they pass out of time into eternity. Yes, and there will be that desire
so to do that you and I may be amongst those who honour our
God for all that he's done for us in dying for us upon that
cross at Calvary, for suffering all that incarnate God could
bear with strength enough and none to spare in order to redeem
our souls. He goes on then to finally say
to the glory of God the Father. And I'm sure that will be our
real concern, our true desire to glory, glorify God, to the
glory of God the Father for sending his only begotten Son into this
sinful world to suffer and to bleed and die because of his
great love towards unworthy sinners. And so as we conclude this verse
at this time, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Well may we indeed truly
desire to glorify God and to come and to be found crowning
Him Lord of Lords. You know the new song of glory
will begun on the earth. We shall truly sing worthy is
the Lamb that was slain, we shall desire truly to acknowledge that
he is our King in Kings, Lord of Lords, and with that desire
to crown him Lord of all. Well may God bless these few
remarks and help our brethren to lead us in prayer tonight.