Philippians chapter 3 verse 20
and 21, for our conversation, the word conversation there is
citizenship, is in heaven. Paul is talking about believers.
He's talking about those whose names are written in the book
of life. He's talking about those who
have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the
kingdom of God's dear Son. He says, our citizenship is in
heaven. We're citizens of that better
land. We're citizens of that land above. That place that the Lord Jesus
said, I've gone to prepare for you. And if I go to prepare this
place, I'll come again and receive you unto myself. And Paul goes
on to say, from whence also we look for the Savior. We look
for the Lord Jesus to come from that place where our citizenship
is. We're citizens of that country.
Jesus is coming back from there. We look for the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is the hope of the church.
This tells us, like Mike did, that the Lord Jesus is not dead,
but He's living. He's alive. He's at the right
hand of God. And He will suddenly appear.
He will come again and receive us unto Himself. Now Paul says
that He's going to change our vile body in verse 21. Who shall change our vile body? And it is true that we're sinners
by nature, choice, and practice. It is true that in the fall,
of Adam, we all participated. And it is true that we're all
sinners because of one man's disobedience, our father Adam. And it is true that we are depraved. Our natures are depraved. And
as Paul said, there dwelleth in me no good thing. I realize
that many, many people would have a difficult time even saying
that. In my flesh there dwelleth no
good thing. And certainly it takes an orator
to be able to defend man. It takes a very eloquent man
to be able to defend flesh, to defend this vile body. Paul said
it's a vile body, but the wonderful thing about it is the Lord Jesus,
who is coming from heaven, he's going to change these vile bodies,
that it may be fashioned like unto his own glorious body. These bodies are going to be
changed. They're going to be fashioned like unto the glorious
body. of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. We're told in 1 John 3, in verse
2 and 3, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. It doth not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He shall appear,
we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that haveth this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as the Lord Jesus, the One
coming, is pure. And so the Lord Jesus is coming
and He's going to change our bodies when He comes. He's going
to change them like unto His glorious body. Now there are
many scriptures in the Bible that teach us this truth. Romans
chapter 8 tells us that we've been predestinated to be conformed
to the image of God's dear Son. Can he bring that to pass? Is
he able to bring it to pass? Well, we'll answer that question.
We take note here that Paul goes on to say, according, he's going
to do all of this, according, it'll happen in God's time, the
very time appointed by God, he's going to bring this to pass,
according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things
unto himself. Now this is a tremendous statement
that I would like for you to think upon this morning just
for a few moments before we end our service. According to the
working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Now I would like for you to look,
if you will, in the book of Revelation chapter 1. Turn to Revelation
chapter 1, and I'd like to read a couple of verses here to you.
The Lord is working out His purpose in the lives of His people. He
is glorious in power. awesome in might, and he is able
to bring to pass his purpose because he has such power, he
is omnipotent, and he is able to subdue all things unto himself. Never forget that. And God works
according to that power. Now here in Revelation chapter
1, look at verse 7 and 8. Behold, he cometh with clouds,
and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him,
and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him even
so. Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which
was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I'm the Almighty, and
I am coming back, and when I come back, I'm going to change your
vile body, and I'm going to make it like my glorious body, and
I'm going to work through the power which is working to subdue
all things unto me. Now here let us notice another
verse here in this chapter. Let's look beginning with verse
13 now and down through verse 18. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man, clothed with
a garment down to the foot, and girded about the paps with a
golden girdle. This is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ as He appears here in the revelation that was given
to John on the Isle of Patmos. And here he is, he's clothed
with a garment down to the foot, gird about the paps with a golden
girdle, his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white
as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet
like into fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his
voice His voice, Mike was talking about Him speaking, and His voice
as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand
seven stars, and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength. And when I saw him, John said,
I fell at his feet as dead. What an awesome sight. It just
took the life right out of me, and I fell. The only thing I
could do was fall down at his feet as a dead man. And he laid
his right hand upon me. The Lord reached out and laid
his right hand upon John, saying unto him, Fear not. I am the
first, and I am the last. Now listen to verse 18, I am
he that liveth. Mike talked about the Lord Jesus
Christ being alive. Surely he is alive, no question
about it. Did he not walk out of the tomb?
He did indeed. He said that I have power to
lay down my life, I have the power to take it again. And he
took it again and he walked out of the tomb. And because he lives,
you and I live. And as the old song says, because
he lives, I can face tomorrow. It says again, life is worth
the living because he lives. It's because he lives that life
is worth living. If he's not alive, there ain't
any use living it, my friend. No need living it. We live it
because he is alive. And everything he said is true.
And we need to believe that. He said, I am he that liveth.
He says, and was dead. I was dead. That's right. Here is an individual who was
alive and then he was dead. This is the Son of God. He died
in our room and stood in place. He suffered death on our behalf. He died, my friend, the sinner's
death. He died an everlasting death,
if you please, as far as God is concerned, because He is the
Son of God. He could die a death that was
equivalent to the death of every one of us if we were to die and
spend eternity in the lake of fire. Jesus died. And so He says, I was dead. But
hallelujah, behold, I am alive. Behold, look, I am alive. I'm alive forevermore. Forevermore. There's never going to be a time
again when I'm going to be anything else but a living Savior. And so He's alive and He says,
and I have the keys of hell and of death. I have the keys. I have the keys of hell and death. Now, when we think about our
Lord Jesus Christ and His power, I'd like for you to turn back
with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and notice here a couple
of things here that Paul has to say about this Savior of ours. When all things, we notice here
in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 24 through 28, he says,
Then cometh the end. Then cometh the end. The end
is coming. Do you believe that? What Peter
said, be sober, be vigilant, because the hour is coming. The end is coming. It's coming. And so then cometh the end, when
He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father,
when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. The Lord Jesus Christ has power. And He says that He's working
according to that power whereby He is able to subdue all things
unto Himself. Keep that in mind. That's my
theme. According to the working whereby
He is able to subdue all things unto Himself. And then He says
He's able to put down all rule. The time is coming when He's
going to do it. He'll put down all rule and all authority. and
all power, because verse 25 says, He must reign. He must reign,
for He must reign. He's the ever-living One, and
He's going to reign. He's the One that has the power,
and He's the One that has the authority. Did He not say when
He was in the world, I have all power on earth? He says, I have
all power on earth and in heaven. I have all authority. And so
He can put down any authority, any power that opposes Him. For He must reign till He hath
put all of His enemies under His feet. Where are you going
to be in eternity? Where are you going to be? Are
you going to be under His feet? Would you fall at His feet as
John did now in this life? Or are you going to be under
His feet in eternity? Mike mentioned those verses in
Philippians 2 there, verses 9-11 where the Lord speaks. of the
fact, or through the mouth of Paul, how that the Lord Jesus
Christ is Lord, and that every knee's going to bow, every tongue's
going to confess that He's Lord to the glory of God the Father. My friend, you'll either be saved
to the glory of His grace and mercy, or you will be damned
to the glory of His justice. One way or another, you're going
to glorify God. You're going to bow your knee
and confess that He's Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Let's continue to read here. For He must reign till He has
put all of His enemies under His feet. And if you be His enemy,
if you are a rebel against Him, if you have not been reconciled
to God, you are an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ, well, you're
going to be put under His feet for all eternity. The last enemy,
He said, that shall be destroyed is death. Here is a God we're
talking about who has the power to destroy death. And He did
destroy it when Jesus came out of the grave, He actually destroyed
death. And he goes on to say here, for
he hath put all things under his feet. But when he says all
things are put under him, it is manifest with all clarity
that he is accepted. which did put all things under
him, that God the Father is accepted from being under the authority
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, and then verse 28, and
here's the verse I've been working toward. And when all things shall
be subdued unto him. Did you get that? Remember that
power according whereby he is able to subdue all things unto
himself? Well, look here. He says, and
when all things shall be subdued unto him. You say, you really
mean that? That the hour is coming when
all things are going to be subdued unto him? It is true. It is true,
the Lord Jesus Christ shall reign in omnipotence. He shall reign
with all authority, and all shall be subdued under Him. Then shall
the Son also Himself be subject unto Him, that put all things
under Him, that God may be all in all. My friend, Jesus Christ
has been given authority over you. He's been given authority.
How do I know that? In the mediatorial office of
the Lord Jesus Christ, He has been given authority over you. You're under His authority. You say, I don't like that arrangement.
Well, whether sad or glad, my friend, it's true, you are under
His authority. And He has the right to do with
you whatever He will. Now I believe that the Lord Jesus
Christ can speak also to His sheep. He can call them out. I make no apologies for the fact
that our Lord Jesus Christ has a people that were given to Him
by the Father from the foundation of the world. I make no apology
for that. That's the teaching, the plain
teaching of the Word of God. And I know that God calls them
out one by one and leads them out of sin, leads them out of
their state in nature, and leads them into the glorious liberty
of the children of God. I believe that. I make no apologies
for that. And we believe that here in this
church, that there's a people that God has set His love upon
and that He will subdue them savingly and bring them unto
Himself. The Bible in John 17 verse 2
says that thou hast given Him power over all flesh that He
might give eternal life to as many as the Father has given
to Him. So the power has been given to
Christ to give eternal life. Now I'm talking about Him subduing
all things under His feet. He has the power to bring all
things down under His feet. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry
with thee, and thou perish from the way. My friend, it's time
to bow your knee now and submit yourself unto this God. And I'm
here this morning to inform you that there's a power working.
and that that power is God's power, and that that power is
bringing all to that place where they're under God's authority
and under the authority of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The question is, can He handle
His enemies? Well, Romans 9 and verse 17 says,
for this cause I've raised up Pharaoh to the end that I might
make my power known. Somebody said Pharaoh was a mighty
man. Well, he might have been a mighty
man, but it was no problem for God to handle him. He handled
him, and he handled him quite well. He raised him up. He allowed
him to come up. He watched over him through the
years just to bring him to the place where that rebel, where
God would take him by the neck and demonstrate unto all the
world, especially unto his people, the Israelites, that I am God
and there is none else. And I have all power in heaven
and in earth. And then, was there not a time
when at the Red Sea, The Lord demonstrated that He could take
care of His enemies? Oh, did He not drown the enemies
of the Israelites in the Red Sea, the Egyptians? Did He not? Absolutely He did. And was there
not a time when the children of Israel, a weak people from
the standpoint of having a great army is concerned, but when they
got to the walls of Jericho, And they put on a demonstration
there that would be confusing to any nation. Very, very confusing. I just read it again yesterday
in order to be able to get it fixed in my mind again, how they
marched around. And here's all these Israelites,
obedient unto God, doing what God said, marched around and
around. And on the last day, seven times
they marched around. And then they had to shout. On that last day, shout as if
the victory was already theirs. Oh, somebody said you look mighty,
you just look mighty foolish out there doing that. No military
general in all the history of the world would have ever, ever
would have said, that's alright, this will work. Nobody would
have believed it would ever work. But I'm telling you, it did work.
And God triumphed, and the walls of Jericho fell down. God triumphed
over His enemies. There is a power of hoarding.
Now this is the power that's working to change our vile bodies. This is the power that's going
to take us to glory. This is the power that's going
to bring the enemies of the Lord to hell. This is the power, the
power of God, that power whereby He is able to subdue all things
unto Himself. And then, did not God's power
manifest itself in the slaying of Goliath? Oh David, oh little
David, all they had was that sling and them five smooth stones. But I'm going to tell you what,
the enemy of God fell on that day. He fell, that giant, that
magnificent man. But he fell that day on his face
because God was there and he has this power that he is able
to subdue all things unto himself. Sinner, think about it. Think
about it. You're not going to escape. You're
in God's world. You cannot get out of this thing
without facing God and facing the obligation you have toward
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your King, and He's your
Lord, and to this end He both died and revived, that He might
be Lord both of the dead and the living, Romans tells us. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
is on the throne. So David and Goliath, and then
Mike mentioned Saul of Tarsus, was not God working in great
power when He brought down this sinner? When he brought down
this rebel? When he brought down this man
who was out to fight God? Well, that verse comes to me
in Corinthians where Paul said, Are we stronger than he? Are
we stronger than God? You going to fight God my friend?
You going to keep on rebelling against God? God speaks to men. But I want to tell you what,
there's going to come a day Some of you are going to get old.
Well, all of us are going to get old. Some of us already are
somewhat. Somewhat. But I will say this
to you, that one of these days you're going to get older than
you are now. One of these days you're going to be facing the
grave. And you're going to think back. There was a Sunday in February
of 2002 when the brethren talked about God speaking to men. and Him calling out His sheep
by the voice of His mouth. And you're going to wake up to
the realization, here I am, 67, 68, 69 years old, and I'm ready
to go down into the grave, and I've never heard a word from
the Lord. I never heard a word from Him. I never heard His voice. I never heard the voice of His
mouth. I don't know anything about this business of the sheep
being called out. I don't know anything about it.
Now I'm going to tell you what, it may not be bothering you now
at 35 or 40 or 18 or 19 or 15 or 16 or 17, may not be bothering
you now, but there's going to come a day whenever if you have
not heard His voice, you're going to lament. And you're going to
wail because of Him and because of the fact that you're going
to face God. And there isn't any way out of
it. It's appointed that the man wants to die. And after this,
the judgment, you can't get around it. You cannot get around it.
You'll face God. And so therefore, my friend,
the time has come. You must hear. And Saul said,
well, those that were with me, they didn't hear anything. But
I heard it. I heard the voice. The voice.
They didn't hear what I heard. And I want to tell you what.
Men and women who die and go to hell. Boys and girls who die
and go to hell. They don't hear what the sheep
of Christ hear. They don't hear it. They don't
hear it. They don't hear it. These with
Saul of Tarsus. They might have been religious
as he was. Pharisee just like he was. But they didn't hear
the voice. Paul said, they didn't hear what
I heard. They didn't hear it. And so I trust this morning that
God will be pleased to cause you to hear the voice of His
mouth. Now then, I want to say this
and I'll close. Over in the book of Romans chapter
8 and verse 36 and 37, it talks about He says in verse 36 it says as
it is written for thy sake we're killed all the day long We're
accounted sheep for the slaughter. I'm talking about According to
the power whereby is able to subdue all things unto himself
I'm talking about how that God is able to accomplish his purpose
I'm talking about the fact that God without any man is a success I'm talking about the
fact that God will win out of according to the power whereby
he is able to subdue all things into himself. But now Paul here
is picturing Christians. And he says, as it is written,
for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted
as sheep for the slaughter. Sheep for the slaughter. Sheep!
But look at verse 37. According to the power whereby
he is able to subdue all things into himself, nay in all these
things. In all these things, the sheep
are more than conquerors through Him that loves. Do you see, my
friend, this morning that even though the people of God, you
may look around and despise them. You may look down on them. You
say, oh, they've sure got poor ways. They're feeble people. They're weak people. They just
sung this morning about, I am weakness, full of weakness. And
we are weak. God knows we are, and if you
got an ounce of sense, you'll admit yours. You're weak. You're weak. We all are weak.
But I want to tell you this, the sheep are more than conquerors. Well, how can you explain that,
preacher? A bunch of people running around here, and all they can
do is pray. They don't have any means. They
got very little means. And they don't have the ability
to twist arms and go to high places in government. Isn't anybody
here running Enron or any big companies in America can buy
their way with the government? Nobody. Nobody. We don't have
the power to do those things. We're just sheep. Just defenseless
sheep. That's what we are. But nay! Paul said. Nay! Why, it looks like they're nothing
but just sheep for the slaughter. Looks like they're just a bunch
of little people you can push them around. You can do whatever
you want to with them. Don't make any difference. You
can cheat them. You can do whatever you please.
There ain't nothing but sheep. But Paul said, nay, nay, nay,
you better back up and look at this again. He said, in all these
things, we're more than conquerors. We're more than conquerors. That's
right. And so don't let anybody laugh.
Don't anybody feel pity for me. Don't feel pity for the children
of God, the people of God. Don't feel pity for the poor
in spirit. No! Don't feel any pity for the
meek. No! Don't feel any pity for the
sheep that must hear His voice before they can come to Christ.
Don't feel any pity for them. They're more than conquerors.
through Him that loved Him. Because He has power, and according
to the working whereby He is able to subdue all things unto
Himself, He makes them more than conquerors. And they are overcomers. We're overcomers. Overcomers. Oh, in the world you'll have
tribulation, but be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Jesus said,
I'll overcome the world. Somebody would stand up and say,
no, He was Crucified on a cross. Jesus said, I have overcome the
world. I was alive and I was dead. But I'm alive now and forevermore
I'm alive. And I'm calling my sheep out.
And I'm calling them out. And my friend, I hope that you'll
examine yourself this morning in the light of what's been said
here in these two little short sermons. That you will examine
yourself. Have I heard from God? He's got
power and He can save. Have I heard from Him? And if
I don't ever hear from Him, I expect someday in eternity to be under
His feet. I'll be under His feet. And God is going to get glory.
He's going to get glory unto Himself. He's an all-wise God. He'll get glory to Himself. He
will. And I'm not going to stand up
here and say this morning that I think that He'll get the same
glory from damning you that He will from saving you. I'm not
going to say that. But I am telling you this, that whether He saves
you or damns you, He will get glory. He's going to get glory. And the day will come when you
will bow. You're going to bow. There isn't any question. He's
got power to subdue all things unto Himself. Why don't you quit
fighting God? Lay down your guns. Lay down
your knives. Lay down your clubs! Lay it down. Send up the flag of peace on
the pole! And surrender! Surrender to Christ. Surrender to Him today. Surrender. Surrender. And say before God,
Lord, I'll put myself in the position where I can hear Your
voice. If You're speaking to people in the church, I'll be
there. If you speak to people when the gospel is preached,
I'll be there. I'll submit myself. I'll come. Lord, I want to hear
your voice. I don't want to get old and decrepit
not having heard the voice of the Lord. I don't want to do
that. I don't want to do that. Well, may the Lord be pleased
to use what has been said here this morning to the glory and
praise of His name.