Turn back, if you will, to Philippians
chapter 2. Our text is found in the second
half of verse 9. It's the title of our message
as well. A name above every name. And we have only two divisions
to the message. And the first will be to identify
that one, singular, that one, whom God has given such honor,
such glory to. that at his name every knee shall
bow, God declares. That makes it so. There's no
question about that. Men won't bow now. No man by
nature will bow until God makes him willing in the day of his
power, but he declares all men, saved and lost, rebels and believers,
will one day bow at this name, and they'll confess. that he
is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And the second part of
the message will be asking why he is thus exalted. You notice
verse 9 begins with a wherefore, which takes us back to the previous
verse. But first of all, a name above
every name. Who is God so well pleased with
that he gives such honor to? Who is this individual? Who can
he be? Remember, God himself is pleased
with him. God puts this honor upon him. Men rejected him. Men looked
at him and said, we don't see anything to marvel at. We know
who he is. He's nobody. His father's a carpenter,
like he is. We know his mother. We know his
brothers. We know his sisters. He's Jesus
of Nazareth. He's nobody, just as Isaiah prophesied. When we see him, we see no beauty
that we should desire him. We see no reason to esteem him. All but unto God, the stone which
the builders refused, rejected, the builders, mind you, the leaders,
God hath highly exalted him. To God he is precious. To God
he's the cheap cornerstone. And remember, God is not easily
pleased. God doesn't accept just anything,
does he, David? No, God says it must be what? Perfect. Perfect to be accepted. Your standards and mine are not
so great. I might measure up to your standard
and you might measure up to mine. But God's standard? Who is this
individual with whom God himself declares, I am well pleased? And you know it can only speak
of one. That one unique individual, that
God has given that name above all others, and it tells us in
verse 10, that name is Jesus. All Jesus, the salvation of His
people, He has no rival. God says there is none like him. This is my son, he said, when
John the Baptist baptized him. The clouds departed, the dove
descended, and lighted up on who? Jesus Christ. And God spoke concerning who?
Jesus Christ. And He said, this is my beloved
Son. He never spoke concerning anyone
in these words. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am what? Well, pleased, always pleased
in Him. From the cradle to the grave,
Christ said, I do always those things that please the Father. And the Father, again, I say,
is not easily pleased. He can accept nothing less than
perfection, because He Himself is perfection. Oh, Jesus, in
comparison to who? Anyone. To who? Everyone, there's
none like him, none so great as he is. When I was a young
boy, Merle, I like to read biographies. Not because I was such a studious
person. There just wasn't a whole lot
of other things to do to entertain yourself. Back in my day, Bob,
there wasn't computers. There wasn't all these gadgets.
I noticed kids on campus, three out of five seemed to be on a
cell phone or an iPod or some device stuck in their ear or
texting while they walk, oblivious of what's going on around them.
When I was a kid, didn't have those things. We had to entertain
ourselves. Didn't have satellite. Didn't
even have cable. We did have two televisions,
though. I used to think that was something. My friends didn't
have two televisions. We had two televisions, until
I realized one had a picture and no sound, and the other had
sound but no picture. So my dad put one on top of the
other, and we had two televisions. It worked that way. Oh, but we
had to entertain ourselves. So I would check out books at
the library, from the school library. I loved to read biography. all about adventurers and explorers
and inventors and so forth. Or we could read in history about
Caesar, about Alexander, about his father Philip, all these
other so-called great men, what they did, what they found, what
they conquered. Or when we come to the book of
God, we read of only one of whom it is said God had highly exalted
him. There's only one that God esteems. Oh brother, Scott Richardson
used to say, God put all of his eggs in one basket. And so he did. Paul said of this
one unique individual, this God-man mediator, Jesus Christ whom God
had highly exalted. Notice it's past tense. It doesn't
say that He will be exalted someday out there in some millennial
reign on earth. It said He's already been exalted
because the work for which He is exalted has already been done. The work that He accomplished
on the cross is also in the past tense. Therefore, His exhortation
is in the past tense as well. There's none like Him. There's
none that can compare to Him. Only of Him could it be said,
the Word, that eternal Word, that Word that made everything
that is made, that Word that was in the beginning with God,
and He Himself was God. John said that Word, that eternal
Word was made flesh and did what? Dwelt. tabernacled amongst us. And John said, we beheld his
glory. He's the only begotten of the
Father, and he's full of grace. Aren't you glad he is? Full of
grace and full of truth. No wonder our Lord said to the
multitudes, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. Oh, He's
King of kings and Lord of lords. He is rich in grace, and God
has highly exalted Him. The sweetest name to the believer
is this name, Jesus. Like the bridegroom, it was spoken
concerning Him by the bride, He is altogether lovely. Altogether lovely. For 35 years
or a little more than that, I've been by God's grace, as He enables
me, following Him and declaring He's altogether lovely. Oh, Bob Pontzer asked me back
in the study before we came out, Larry, are you going to preach
something new? I said, no. He said, something
fresh? I said, I hope so. Nothing old
and stale, Larry, or nothing new and stale, but something
old and fresh. The old, old story of that one,
that unique individual, that one whom God says, I've highly
exalted him and declared that every knee shall bow to him,
my son, in whom I am well pleased. He has no rivals. He's altogether
lovely. Paul said, Christ is all. Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Did
Paul preach Christ to the exclusion of everything else? No, Paul
said, the preaching of Christ includes everything. Christ is
included because He, by God, is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. Oh, He's the believer's hope
for time and eternity. We can rest there. Brother Rex,
a moment ago again, back in the study before we came out, and
he led us in prayer. He said, God, I thank You that
we don't have to be concerned about whether we've done enough.
or whether we believed enough. It's enough to know that we're
resting on Him. That's the only place a sinner
can find rest. Those people that try to establish
their righteousness before God by their own works, by their
own doings, they never have peace. I've known them. I've been acquainted
with some. They never have rest. They never
have peace, unless it's a false peace. They're always in turmoil
because their heart tells them it's never enough. All but concerning
the Son of God, he says, it's enough. And trusting Him and
resting on Him, oh, I have peace with God through the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is that rock on which the
church is built, and he said the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. They have to prevail against
him first. Before they can get to the sheep,
they must smite the shepherd. They must destroy the shepherd,
and that can't be. No wonder Paul said, after confessing,
I find this a blessing in Romans 7. Paul said, O wretched man,
not that I used to be. Religious people talk that way.
I used to do that when I was a sinner. I used to go there
when I was a sinner. I don't do that anymore. I touch
not, taste not, handle not, wear not, go not. Oh, Paul said, not
wretched man that I used to be, but wretched man that I yet am,
Bob. Right now, as I write these words,
under the divine inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, I am a
wretched man. Sin dwelleth in me. Everything
I do is mixed and tainted with sin. Oh, but you know what he
said? In the very next breath, there's
no condemnation. To the man that's what? Paul,
you just confessed that sin is mixed with everything you are.
That is the principle that's in you. How can you now turn
around and say there's no condemnation? Oh, that's not all he said, is
it? He said there's no condemnation to those who are aware Where? In. Don't you like that word?
Don't you like that expression? In Christ Jesus. In Christ. In Christ. Oh, first he sees Jesus and then
he sees me. Oh, accepted in the beloved. dressed up in the Beloved, clothed
with His righteousness, accepted in Him. No condemnation to those
who are in Christ Jesus. In Him alone are mercy and truth
met together. In Him alone are righteousness
and peace where they kiss one another. In Him alone is perfect
harmony. In Him alone Justice and mercy
walk hand in hand. No argument. No argument. That which was once a threat
to us is now a reason, another argument why God must accept
us. Justice doesn't argue against
us, it argues for us because Christ satisfied the justice
of God. And now we walk arm in arm, accepted
and to be loved. All full of grace and truth,
John said. ever full, ever flowing to supply
His people, all of His people, with all the grace that they'll
ever need. Now imagine that. Imagine that. I mean, you have some idea. God has given us some idea of
the grace necessary, the grace that's required to keep just
you for one hour. Think of the majesty and the
sufficiency and the power of the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
that it's required to keep you. Then multiply that by a number
that no man can number and that grace will bring them all before
the throne of God. So completely cleansed. so thoroughly
redeemed that God Himself looks upon them and says, I have no
fault. I see no fault. They're without
fault. This is what we read of in Revelation
14. They're without fault before the throne of God. Imagine that. The hymn writer said grace that
can pardon and cleanse within. Oh, that's the grace I need,
don't you? Grace that is greater than all
my sin. Jesus Christ sits upon the throne
of grace and declares, I'm the God of all grace. Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I shall give you rest. He's able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him. Paul says in verse 6 of this
book, that he that's begun a good work in you will perform it,
will carry it on until the day of Jesus Christ. What grace. My, so no wonder Newton said,
looking back on his conversion, looking back on his life of rebellion
and Christ rejecting and God hating. And then when God by
mighty grace brought him to the footstool, to the footstool. Oh, he didn't offer Newton grace.
He needed more than an offer, didn't he? And so did you. And
so did I. No, grace is not an offer. It's
an operation. It's God himself invading the
heart of a sinner and bringing him down. That's what he did
to that old slave trader. And he picked up his quill and
dipped it in his ink and wrote, amazing grace. It's amazing grace
that saved a sinner like me. Oh yes, he's the God of all grace. Grace that calls me out of darkness. Grace that keeps me. Grace that'll
bring me to glory. That is amazing grace. Turn if
you will to Revelation chapter 7. Here you have a picture. I refer to this often. To me,
this is such a clear and good picture. An evidence, if you
will, and proof of the sufficiency of God's mighty grace. Oh, here's
that multitude, John says in verse 9, or rather we read in
verse 9 of Revelation 7. After this I'll be held in love.
Oh, what a sight. A great multitude. which no man
can number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a
loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which setteth upon
the throne and unto the Lamb. Verse 13. And one of the elders
answered, saying unto me, What are these, John, which are arrayed
in white robes? And whence came they? And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are
they which came out of great tribulation. They came out of
great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.
And he that satteth upon the throne shall dwell among them."
Oh, yes. That name which is above every
other, Paul tells us, is Jesus. Men had lived and died for that
name. And well, they should. The truth
is, the truth is when you get right down to it, What else is
worth living for? And what else can prepare us
to die? Oh, this is life, our great high
priest prayed that night. before He was made sin for you
and I. This is life, that they might
know Thee, the only true God, but I can't know Him, the only
true God, without knowing Jesus Christ, whom God did sin. Oh, this is life. Men have died
with this as the last word on their lips, with the last breath
they had before they left this world, they uttered that sweet
name. gave him such sweet comfort,
Jesus. Jesus. He's called the Bridegroom,
the Shepherd of the Sheep, the Chief Cornerstone, Elect, Precious,
Emmanuel, Wonderful, Counselor, Prince of Peace, the Mighty God. He's all those things, oh, and
more. So much more. Our Prophet, Priest,
our King, But perhaps the sweetest of all, Paul tells us here, is
Jesus. The life of all of our joys. The sum and substance of the
gospel. You can't preach the gospel without
preaching Him. He is the gospel. Anyone who
stands and claims to preach the gospel without preaching Christ
is deceived. That's not possible. Turn, if
you will, to Romans chapter 1. Here you have a good definition
of the gospel, and Paul tells us exactly what it is. In Romans
chapter 1, verse 1, Paul writing, and he says, Paul, a servant
of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the
gospel of God, which he had promised to for by his prophets in the
holy scriptures. And this gospel, concerning His
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David
according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead. The gospel concerns His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
15. Let's look at this familiar passage once again. Another definition
of the gospel. It can't be separated from the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, that's refreshing, which I preached unto you, which
also you have received and wherein you stand, by which also you
are saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless
you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first
of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. Jesus paid it all, and that He
was buried, and that He rose again. The resurrection of Jesus
Christ is the proof that God the Father is satisfied with
the work that our Lord did on our behalf. If not, He would
have still been in the tomb. When He rose Jesus Christ from
the dead, it was His eternal Amen, His assent that He was
satisfied with the work of His Son forever, and raised Him up
to His own right hand, said, Thou hearest my Son, until I
make your enemies your footstool. And that He was buried, and that
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. All God's
purposes are centered in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1, we won't
turn there, but 14 times Paul uses that expression, in Him. The purpose of God is in Him. Redemption is in Him. We're chosen
in Him. We were foreloved in Him. It'll
all be wrapped up in Him, of Him, and through Him, and back
to Him are all things. My soul, what a person. What
a person, what an individual. Paul said, in him. Where else
would it be? In him dwelleth all the fullness. Now think about that. All the
fullness of the Godhead, the triune God, all the fullness
dwelleth in him. I had a fellow tell me not long
ago, there's more. Larry, you needed more. You've
not experienced enough." I said, I know Christ, how can there
be more? He said, well, you know, you
Baptists just don't go far enough. There's the gifts. Oh no, there's
one gift, the unspeakable gift of God's grace, and that's the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm completing Him. If I have
Him, I have everything that God Almighty requires, and the only
thing that God Almighty is pleased with. Our best old hymns are
written with that name as their central theme. Jesus and shall
it ever be. Oh Jesus keep me near the cross. They're a precious fountain.
Jesus, lover of my soul, let me hide myself in Thee. Oh, Jesus
paid it all. All to Him I owe. Jesus saves. Jesus saves. Thank God. Jesus saves. He proved it to
me. He proved it to me. Oh, when
God in His grace, I didn't think it was grace at the time. But
when I became lost for the first time in my life, when God, as
old Barnard said, got me lost. Convinced me that I was lost. Didn't just give lip service
to it. Oh, and I wanted more than what some soul winner could
do. I needed more than what some well-meaning preacher could do.
I didn't need the assurance of a soul winner. I needed assurance
with God, whom I had sinned against, that my sins were forgiven. Oh,
and I sought for peace, but I found none. Day and night, as the psalmist
said, my sin was heavy upon me and I couldn't find peace. I
couldn't find peace under conviction of sin, laid down at night and
couldn't sleep. Lost. Lost. Everything seemed
to cry out to me. You're lost and you deserve to
be. You're guilty. You're condemned
and you deserve to be. If you're going to hell, it's
just the right thing to do. Oh, day and night. Lost. And the devil convinced me. God
wouldn't save me, Rex. I'd gone too far, Don. I'd crossed
the line. God's not going to save you.
And the proof was abundant that he was right. The evidence was
against me that that was probably so. And I remember falling down
before him. I'm nothing. And I can't do nothing. And I've tried to do what I've
been instructed. I went to these churches, and
I've trotted up front until they're sick of looking at me. I've said
the sinner's prayer. And, but I'm still lost. They're telling me I'm saved,
but I'm lost. I'm lost. And like that leopard,
if you will, if you will, remember, remember, if you will, nothing
else matters. Nothing else matters. If you
will, that's all that mattered. It's not up to me. It's up to
you. I'm in your hands and you can
save me or you can damn me. It's all up to you. And if you
will, you can make me clean. And he said, I will. I will,
I will. Thy sins, which are many, are
all forgiven thee. Have you heard what Jesus did
for me? Have you heard? My sins are all
forgiven. They're gone as far as the east
is from the west. So far have I removed your transgressions
from you. They're buried in the sea of
my forgetfulness and will never be brought up again. Also, the
name above all others is Jesus. And why? Why, Paul says, all. Because he humbled himself and
became obedient unto death, even to death of the cross. The cross, that's why God had
highly exalted him. Whatever was involved concerning
his death upon the cross, it must have been a success. Mark,
whatever he intended by it. Whatever God purposed in the
death of His Son, it must have been a success. Otherwise, God
would not have promoted Him like this. God would not have promoted
Him if it was a failure. If He died for people who are
now in hell or shall ever be in hell, then He was a failure. People say, I don't want to hear
that he just died for the sins of his people. You'd rather hear
he died for the sins of people who end up going to hell? What
kind of gospel is that? That's not good news. Oh, the
good news is this, that he entered one time. Like Paul said he did. Like the entire book said he
did. He entered one time into the holy place and he didn't
take a stab at it, David. He didn't make an attempt at
it. Bless God, almighty conqueror of Cain, eternal redemption for
us. John said, I saw him. And upon
his head were many crowns. And one of those crowns was the
glory as our Redeemer. He obtained eternal redemption
for us. Joseph quit tossing and turning,
quit fretting concerning Mary. It's not like you suppose. That which is conceived in her
is of the Holy Ghost. And when he spurned Joseph, And
when He's brought forth through the womb of that Virgin, call
His name Jesus, for He shall, don't you like that? He shall
save His people from their sins. No question about it. No doubt
about it. He only can accomplish such a
feat, such a work, because manward, we love sin. God hates sin. Now how can these two ever be
reconciled? How can God be just and justify
the sinner? How can the sinner ever be reconciled
to God? Only one way. Only by one individual,
and that's the God-man. The God-man mediator, we who
were once a far off, Paul said, are now brought nigh. How? By our works, by our effort,
by our faith, by anything we do? No, you were brought nigh
when Christ died. You were reconciled when He died. You were reconciled and brought
nigh to God by the blood of the cross. And God declares, God
declared, When I see what? Now see, this is why we as believers
can go home, not like the religious world that always look to their
self and never have peace as we said. Oh, but we can go home
and lay down and rest. Why? Because we trust Him. We look to the same place that
God looks for satisfaction, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He's our peace. He broke down
that wall that was between us. He Himself reconciled us to God. As Gabriel said to Joseph, He
shall save His people. He shall save no defeated Savior
from their sins, from all their sins. Paul again in Hebrews 7. He's able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by Him. All that come. There's never
been a sinner that ever come to Christ for mercy that didn't
find it. That's a fact. That's a sweet
truth. There's never a sinner. Anybody
here wanting forgiveness? Anybody here seeking mercy? Look
to Jesus Christ. Look unto me, he said, and be
ye what? Saved. He'll save to the uttermost
the vilest offenders. Oh, here's the good news, the
vilest offender that truly believes that very moment. God doesn't
say go down to some little man in a box and confess your sins
and he'll tell you to give him 50 push-ups and so forth and
then absolve you. Don't try to work. He says believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, the vilest offender, the most wayward
prodigal, the most depraved sinner, the Saul of Tarsus. Oh, that
sinner that truly believes that very moment. from Jesus a pardon
received. I say unto you, not two hours
from now, or three years from now, or at the judgment bar of
God, but right now that publican is going home, he's going down
to his house justified, declared not guilty in the court of heaven. Oh my son, in the sight of God
himself. Isn't that good news? All comes
down to this. We look again at Philippians
2. God has highly exalted him, verse 9, and given him a name. Oh, that 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. All will bow to Him. Thank God
we bow now and cast our crowns at His feet. Jesus saves, Jesus
saves. Oh, spread the tidings all around.
He saved us from the penalty of sin, the power of sin, and
that same mighty grace from our mighty Redeemer will save us
one day from the very presence of sin. I don't mean things out
here, I mean in here. From the very presence of sin,
His blood shall cleanse us from all sin. So in that day, we stand
before Him without spot or blemish or any such thing. Turn, if you
will, to Revelation chapter 19, and we'll wrap this up. Revelation chapter 19. Verse 11, And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge
and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
and on his head were many crowns. And God says he deserves every
one of them, doesn't he? And we say, yes, amen, he does.
And on his head were many crowns. Oh, he redeemed us, and he deserves
to wear those crowns. And he had a name written that
no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. And
the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth
goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations,
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he
hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of
kings and Lord of lords." Oh, we love to sing of Christ our
King and crown Him blessed Jesus, because there is no word here
ever heard so dear, so sweet. as Jesus. What a Redeemer. God bless you. Thank you for
your attention.