If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter two, I wanna
begin reading in verse nine. 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. I'm gonna stop right there. I guess I'm gonna share with you
here. John Calvin wrote this, it's not very long at all. The
blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clarity
of the gospel. The sun is no less bright because
blind men do not perceive its light. And that's the truth. the blindness of unbelievers.
This is sometimes what we forget. We used to be blind, ourselves. And if our gospel be hid, it's
hid to them that are lost. But, and, we preach the truth. We preach the truth. Whether
men receive it or not, whether men can hear it or not, whether
men can see Christ We are to preach the gospel. And the gospel
is our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we have here
in this passage. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. Him. Now, start with this. The first cause is God. God has highly exalted him. Jesus Christ is who we're talking
about. and always has God highly exalted him. Now the word exalted
means this, elevated to the highest position, to the highest position. What's that mean? Well, there's
no one above Jesus Christ, not one. There's no one above him. Glory to God in the highest because
God has exalted him He, Jesus Christ, is the highest. And it says this, and his name
is above every name. Again, what's that mean? There is no higher name. There
is none higher, and there is no higher name. You, and here's
the point, You, I, we, no one exalts Christ, God did. It says it in the past tense. God has highly exalted him. We
don't exalt him, we're to praise him. We're to praise his holy
name. He is exalted, past tense, and
we are to praise him now. Matter of fact, I thought about
this when I wrote that down. The wrath of man praises him.
What's it say in Psalm 76 and verse 10? Surely the wrath of
man shall praise thee. The remainder of wrath, what? Shalt thou restrain. Jesus Christ
is to be praised and Jesus Christ is praised. God himself said,
this is my beloved son. What? In whom I am well pleased. Well pleased. They add this. Hear ye him. Hear ye him. Hear him. Why? He's highly exalted. He's highly exalted. His name
is above every name. Hear him, and not only that,
believe him. Believe him because his name
is exalted. His name is above every name
and he is exalted. Excuse me. Verse 10, that at
the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth. At the name
of, very carefully, Jesus. Jesus, his earthly name. Matter
of fact, Young's literal translation has it this way, and I like this
a little better. In the name of Jesus, every knee
should bow. In the name of Jesus, the name
of the Messiah. Jesus, the name of the man who
is God, the God-man. What was it Earl used to say?
Admon, Kadmon. The angel told Joseph, Call his
name Jesus. Call his name Jesus. Yeshua,
Joshua, Savior, for, call his name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. This is the one who is exalted
by God. This is the one whose name is
above every name. At that name, in the name of
Jesus, Every knee should bow the name of the God man God manifests
in the flesh Made known made known in the flesh power and
perfection and holiness personified Who is Jesus he is the Holy One
of Israel and Who is Jesus? He is the anointed one, anointed
by God. He is the Messiah, the Christ
of God, the Son of the living God. What does it say in Isaiah
and other places? The Lord of hosts is his name. And later on in the New Testament
it says this. He's coming with his name on
his vesture and on his thigh, the King of kings and the Lord
of lords. And who is it? This same Jesus
right here. At his name, at the name of Jesus,
every knee should bow. That's the words of the Holy
Spirit. It's written down here by the Apostle Paul. That's the
words of the Holy Spirit. Every knee bow every knee bow
Bow down before his holy name Paul wrote them, but the Holy
Spirit said them because God said them God said them bow down
What's that entail? Submit complete total submission
to Jesus Christ I Wish I could do it the way
it needs to be done. I want to do it He is everything
and we are nothing without him He made all things Just in case
you weren't thinking paying attention. He said and without him was nothing
made He made all things and without him was nothing made. You understand? We have to be told at least twice
or we won't get it. And then sometimes even when
we're told twice we don't get it. And not only that, by him, by
this same Jesus, all things exist. All things consist. Bow down to him. God hath highly
exalted him and given him a name which is above every name. In
the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Who is to bow? All in heaven, all in earth,
and all under the earth. You understand? That's everyone. and that's everywhere. Heaven's
up here, we're here, and under the earth. You wanna know what
that means? If you got a knee, bow. Every knee shall bow. Every knee. Bow down to him. And did every tongue confess? Every tongue confess. Just like
every knee, every single tongue. Every tongue confess. Where? In heaven, on earth, and under
the earth. Every single one. No exceptions,
no exemptions. Every tongue confess. And the
word confess means to fully agree. Fully agree. There's no question in this confession,
this full agreement. There's no doubt of the truth. Jesus Christ, his name is above
every name. God has highly exalted him and
every knee should bow and every tongue confess. Full agreement. You understand what confessing
means, fully agreeing? It means you say it. and you
mean it. Bow and confess. And I'll tell
you this part right here. Bowing and confessing is either
willing or unwilling. This is not a request. This is
a command from God. Every tongue bow. Every tongue
confess. Every knee bow. And what are we to confess? He
tells us that Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord. You understand, I
know there's a lot of people who worry about what to confess. Paul's telling us here who to
confess, which is much more important. You understand, there are confessions
of faith. There are doctrines, there are
theologies. They're systematic and they're
dogmatic. Now I'm not against sound doctrine
or sound theology. But that's not the question.
Confess that he is Lord is what Paul wrote here. Understand,
Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is God. manifest in the flesh. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word,
Jesus Christ, was God. Was God. Confess Him to be Lord. Let's be very clear. You don't accept Jesus as your
personal Savior. The book never says that. because
it's not so. You are to confess him, Lord.
You are to confess him, Lord. What? Because I know what they
say. You accept Jesus as your personal
savior, then you make him your Lord. You're not making Jesus
anything. Nobody's making Jesus anything.
God has highly exalted him, given him a name above everything.
You are to bow and to confess. That's what we are to do. Bow
to him, submit to him, and confess that he is Lord. And that's why you're gonna bow
to him. That's why you're gonna bow to him. Submit to him. Now, the Lord is the Savior. The Lord is the Savior. And here's
the thing, if he's not Lord, he can't save. The scripture
is very clear on that. It is the Lord who saves. Salvation
is of the Lord. His arm is not short that he
cannot save. And the Lord of hosts is his
name. Confess him, proclaim him, and praise him. And confess him,
confess him. There is full agreement of every
tongue. Jesus Christ is Lord. He is God
of all. Lord of all This last statement to the glory
of God the Father Understand This is a hard thing
to you don't get credit for recognizing the truth You're gonna confess you're gonna
bow to Jesus Christ you're gonna confess his name Confess him
Lord To the glory of God the Father No credit to you for recognizing
the truth and this is the truth Jesus Christ is Lord is God is
above all But if you know him it's of no
credit to you No credit is due to you All the glory goes to
God the Father. Why? Because if you know him
and you bow to him and confess that he is Lord in this life,
it's because it was revealed unto you. What did Christ say? Flesh and blood hath not revealed
this to you, but my Father which is in heaven. That's what he
says. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Not 2 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter
2. Verse 11. For what man knoweth
the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him?
Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
which things also we speak. I like that. Not in the words
which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But, but the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Now what's
that mean? That means the natural man doesn't
receive the things of the Spirit of God. Why? For their foolishness unto him.
And I am not proud, but I will testify to that, Walter. I'll
testify to that, Paul. Paul, I'll tell y'all. There
was a time I thought that Christ and people going to church was
foolishness. I thought it was. I was wrong,
though. I was wrong. But neither can
he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." That's where we all were at one
time. That's where we all were. Now, in this life, if you bow
to the Son, who is exalted above all by God, and you confess him
with your mouth that he is Lord, that's a spiritual thing. That's
a spiritual thing. And it's not because you were
so smart to figure it out, it's because God gave it to you. It's
because Christ revealed himself to you. It's because it's, what,
to the glory of God the Father. We're going to confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. All glory to God the Father. Why? Because that's where it
belongs. That's where it belongs. Bowing
to Jesus Christ and confessing him Lord is to the glory of God
the Father. So this is my title, Paul. There's
two things you're gonna do. There's two things you shall
do. Bow to Jesus Christ and confess Jesus Christ as Lord. You understand
there's only one truth in heaven. I wrote on here there's only
one story in heaven. I don't particularly like that
word but you'll know what I mean here in just a minute. There's
only one song in heaven and that story And that song are the same
thing. And here it is, worthy is the
lamb that was slain. The one song and the one story
in heaven is now and forever, worthy is the lamb. Because the
Son of God, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the
world, is the story of heaven, the truth of heaven. All the
song in heaven. Paul's told us in epistle, in
heaven, on earth, and under the earth, confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord. Every knee's gonna bow to him. Every tongue is going to confess
the truth of him. And that is everyone, everywhere.
Now, I wanna put it this way. This has happened, this is happening,
and this shall happen. Because there's a very strange
thing here. Well, I mean, let's put it this
way. When he says every tongue under
heaven, every knee under heaven, in heaven, excuse me, on the
earth and under the earth, he means Every knee in heaven on
earth and under the earth Is going to bow and is going
to confess I've heard people put it this
way. You're gonna do it now or you're gonna do it later, but
you're gonna do it You're going to bow and you're going to confess
Willingly or unwillingly And I'm going to tell you this, you're
going to know the truth one day. One day. That rich man that lifted
up his eyes in hell found out some truth while he was down
there. He found out he couldn't get out. He found out nobody
could get to him. And he found out he couldn't
help anybody else. But he also found out who God
was. It doesn't matter whether you
like it or not. You have bowed and you're going to bow. It doesn't matter whether you
like it or not. You have confessed and you're going to confess fully
with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. Now, I hope you like it. I hope you love to do it. I wish
everyone did, but I know they don't. Jesus Christ is Lord whether
you know it or not. Jesus Christ is God whether you
like it or not. I like it. I really like it. I love it. I love him. I wish
I understood him more than I do. I wish I could walk in his way
better than I do. I wish I could confess him and
praise him and honor him to the glory of the Father more. But here's my conclusion. Bowing
and confessing to Jesus Christ is easy to do if you know him,
if you know him. You know what Walter said the
other week? It's right to believe God. It's right to believe God. And I'm here to tell you this,
it's not hard to believe God if you know God. Now, your understanding
may not be what you want it to be. My understanding is not where
I want it to be. But I believe God. It's easy
to believe God. Matter of fact, it's easy to
believe God if you know where he is. It's easy to believe Jesus Christ
if you know where he is. He is seated on the right hand
of the majesty on high. Nothing's too hard for God to
do. You understand? The virgin birth, he's on the
right hand of God right now. He has all power and all authority
Heaven in earth and in hell he is Lord of all he has power over
all flesh It's not too hard that if you
know where he is if you know who he is it's not too hard to
believe God oh My he is seated in the place
of all power and all authority because it was given to him by
the father and He's exalted him. Exalted him. If you've seen him
and you know him, it's not hard to believe him. And if you know him, he's your
Lord. He's your Lord and your hope.
And you will willingly bow to him. and you will willingly confess
him with your mouth that he is Lord to the glory of God the
Father because he is both Lord and Christ. Jesus Christ, what
does it say? The righteous, the righteous. So that's my word. That's the
word of the scripture. Bow to him. and confess him Lord,
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And enjoy it. Enjoy it. You understand, if he's revealed
himself to you, he's given us this book right
here with his story in it. It's from cover to cover, this
is a book of Christ. Like I said, there's only one. This book tells us who he is. Now this book also tells us who
we are and what we are. Sinners. But he came to save
sinners. And he did. And he did. And God hath highly exalted him. and given him a name above every
name, and at the name of Jesus, every knee is going to bow. In heaven, in earth, and under
the earth, and every tongue is going to confess Jesus to be
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Rejoice. Rejoice. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the Lord God omnipotent, reigns, he reigneth forever. Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful
again for this time and this place. And most of all, Lord,
for your son, the highly exalted Lord of glory, Jesus Christ. He humbled himself came down,
took on the form of a servant, and completely and totally obeyed
your law, became the perfect sacrifice for sin forever for
his people. And he has saved them from their
sins. Thank you, Lord. Be with Walter,
be with Paul as they come to preach your word. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.