[0:00] We're going to read a couple of passages now from the New Testament. Firstly, in the book of Acts, chapter 2, and verses 22 to 36. And then we'll turn to Ephesians, chapter 1.
[0:12] And then after that, we'll turn to Philippians 2 and verse 8 to continue our studies there. So firstly, the book of Acts, chapter 2, and at verse 22.
[0:23] This is Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost, that notable occasion when the Spirit of God descended in power upon the church.
[0:37] Men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.
[0:48] So this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
[0:59] God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
[1:14] Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. My flesh also will dwell in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.
[1:25] You have made known to me the paths of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
[1:41] Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on the throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.
[1:57] This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you now see, that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
[2:14] For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.
[2:27] Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.
[2:38] And if we turn also to Ephesians chapter 1 at verse 15, reading to the end of the chapter. Ephesians 1 beginning at verse 15.
[2:57] For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love towards all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might, that he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.
[3:52] That he put all things under his feet, and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
[4:06] I pray God will bless to us these readings of his word, and in the light of these we'll turn now to Philippians in chapter 2, looking at verses 9 to 11.
[4:18] We can just pick it up at verse 8, where we saw last time, Jesus being humbled, and humbling himself by becoming obedient, to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
[4:34] Therefore God has highly exalted him, and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[4:57] Well, as we complete this wonderful section of Philippians chapter 2, we're coming to the way that the death of Jesus, his obedience unto death, was followed by his ascension and exaltation to the right hand of the glory of God on high, to the right hand of the Father, to this position of preeminence that he now occupies.
[5:25] Now we very rightly make much of the incarnation, of the birth of Jesus. We rightly make much of the death of Jesus, as this passage has been doing, as we've seen.
[5:36] And we rightly make much of his resurrection as well, and some events in the Christian calendar, as we sometimes follow the Christian calendar, they actually revolve around these great facts of Christ's birth, Christ's incarnation, Christ's death on the cross, Christ's resurrection from the dead.
[5:57] We associate services throughout the year with these great events. But what about his ascension? What about his exaltation to glory?
[6:09] We don't make so much of that, and yet the Bible is so full of different ways in which these are emphasized, such as we find in the passage tonight. For example, in Luke chapter 24, Luke ends his gospel, his account of the ministry of Jesus, by telling us that Jesus led the disciples out as far as to Bethany, and then he lifted up his hands upon them and blessed them.
[6:35] And in the process of blessing them with his hands lifted upon them, he was taken up to heaven and he disappeared out of their sight. So there was a witnessing by the disciples of an actual physical lifting up of the risen Jesus beyond this life, beyond this world, taken into the presence of God.
[6:59] And that's how, in fact, that's how Luke records it. Very similar to what you find in Jesus' own prayer in John chapter 17. You remember that in John 17, Jesus, in praying to the Father, set before the Father the fact that he had finished the work that the Father had given him to do in this world.
[7:20] We'll refer to this passage a little later on, but when he had spoken these words in the previous chapters, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you.
[7:34] And then he went on to say, I have glorified you on earth. Now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. So there you find the Bible making much of the ascension of Jesus, his exaltation to glory to the Father's right hand.
[7:56] And in this passage, in Philippians, you find the same emphasis on the exaltation of Jesus, immediately following the references we've been looking at in the past few weeks about his humbling of himself and his being obedient unto death.
[8:11] Then immediately, in verse 9 here, God, therefore God, has highly exalted him. It goes immediately into the exaltation of Jesus, his ascension and exaltation to glory.
[8:24] And you might ask the question, well, why didn't Paul finish at verse 10? Sorry, why didn't he finish here at verse 8, where he speaks about the death of Jesus, where he speaks about Christ's obedience.
[8:40] After all, he's setting forth Jesus as an example of humbling himself, of considering the needs of others above himself. It fits in with the purpose of Paul writing these things to the Philippians.
[8:54] Why didn't he actually end there and rather than go straight into a reference to the exaltation before he then moves on again to address the church there in Philippi?
[9:05] Well, for one thing, it's important, and Paul always wants to keep this in mind, that the work of Jesus, as it includes his resurrection and exaltation to glory, is one indivisible whole.
[9:20] It's a unity. The whole work of Jesus, his humbling of himself to death, his death on the cross, is followed by his resurrection and his exaltation to glory, his session at the right hand, and even his coming again as the judge at the last day.
[9:36] All of that, if you like, is one great spiritual, theological package. And you cannot think of any part of it isolated from the rest.
[9:47] So for Paul, it's important, though he is emphasizing Jesus humbling himself in obedience to death, it's important that he would not leave it there, giving the impression that perhaps the rest of it is not all that important.
[10:02] But of course, it also fits with his purpose in setting these things before the church in Philippi, because as he's setting forth Jesus as their supreme example in his obedience and humility and his obedience unto death, now he's coming to think of his exaltation to glory.
[10:23] In other words, he's really saying, as we'll see, the humbling of Jesus of himself and his obedience unto death is of such great worth in the Father's estimation that is followed by his resurrection and ascension to glory.
[10:39] In other words, you and I have to think of our obedience to Jesus, our obedience to God, as of worth in the eyes of God. Not in a way that somehow or other merits being saved, not in a way that contributes anything towards her justification, towards somehow persuading God to save us, nothing like that.
[11:02] Nevertheless, God views the obedience of his people. God views the service of his people as his own humble people in such a way that there is a promise following in the world to come that God will reward that.
[11:18] And it's, if we can use the word reward, because that's really what happened with the case of Jesus himself. So our humility and our consideration of others before ourselves is something that God values.
[11:32] And it's something we should think of as pleasing to God, just as was the case with the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Now I just want to follow some of the main words and phrases in this part of the passage.
[11:47] And we'll try and look at something under each of those to finish off this part, this section of the chapter. First of all, there is the word therefore. Very often, as we've said many times, the Bible gives you a lot of emphasis through these little words, these connecting words.
[12:06] A connecting word here being therefore. Because that takes you back to join what's following on that to what's actually said before it. And there's a logic in it.
[12:19] In other words, Paul is actually saying the exaltation of Jesus was made necessary on the basis of what happened before. The fact that he was obedient unto death made its own emphasis with God the Father.
[12:35] He was pleased by that obedience of Christ by the death which he died. The Father's acceptance of it, the Father's approval of it, the Father's delight in it led to his resurrection and exaltation.
[12:50] So for the apostle, therefore is an important word. Here he is saying, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him.
[13:04] He's keeping it together in that way in which he is showing that God the Father had such great approval and delight of the son's obedience and death especially that is followed by his being set up given the name that's above every name.
[13:24] And indeed, that's the logic really, isn't it? You could use the word logic perhaps of that in John chapter 17 where we read there a few minutes ago of the way Jesus addressed the Father in prayer.
[13:38] And it's the same logic really that's in the mind of Jesus there. He is saying, Father, the hour has come glorify your son that the son may glorify you.
[13:48] I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory I had with you before the world existed.
[14:02] And though it's not specified in a way that specifies it in any way in detail, nevertheless, you take from the way that Jesus prays there that what he's asking the Father to do in glorifying him now is inseparable from the fact that he has finished and accomplished the work that he gave him to do in this world.
[14:24] That being the case, God the Father having accepted and approved and taken delight in the work of obedience of the Son, he is now pleased to exalt him.
[14:35] He is now pleased to install him in the highest place at his own side. And indeed, that's also something that you find in the logic of salvation itself, our salvation.
[14:50] Remember the two men who came to pray in Luke chapter 18, who came to the temple to pray, the one was a Pharisee. In chapter 18, the one being the Pharisee, you know the passage very well, the Pharisee and the tax collector.
[15:07] And this is something that Jesus told to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt. So you see, it fits into the passage in Philippians that we treat others and look at them as better than ourselves and put them ahead of ourselves.
[15:22] Well, that being the case, these two men went up to pray, the Pharisee said, standing by himself, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
[15:35] I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get. Well, not much sign of humility there, is there? Not much sign of thinking of others more than himself or above himself.
[15:47] But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And then Jesus said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, brought down by God.
[16:09] But the one who humbles himself will be exalted. That's the law of the kingdom. That's the principle of the kingdom. That's something that God keeps in place and fulfills.
[16:22] We exalt ourselves against God. He's going to bring us down at some point or other. He will humble us. If not in a way that surrenders to him, certainly in a way as we'll see in this passage itself, that will eventually accept his Lordship even if it's grudgingly.
[16:40] But whoever humbles himself will be exalted. That's the promise of God. We humble ourselves in obedience to Christ. We bring ourselves under that principle that we will be exalted.
[16:56] That's the Father's promise as he showed in his Son. So, therefore, it's such an important word just to convey to us the wonderful connection between the abasement and the humility and the obedience of Jesus and his exaltation then by the Father in consequence.
[17:15] Consequence. And then the second thing is what follows on from that. Therefore, God has highly exalted him. God has highly exalted him.
[17:25] Now, we've seen already the depth to which Jesus came willingly, voluntarily. He was obedient to the point of death. And we said the death of the cross is not just mere physical death.
[17:39] Painful load would have been even at that level. The death of the cross is an atonement for sin. It is the death that we deserve. It's the death that's due to us as sinners for our rebellion against God.
[17:51] It's the death that's called elsewhere in the Bible. The death that is damnation. The death that is separation from God, which is the cry of Jesus on the cross.
[18:05] And that's the lowest. That's the lowest you can get. You can't get beneath that. There's nothing beyond that in terms of the lowest point in the experience of Christ or of any human being.
[18:22] But then he's taking us to the highest. That was the lowest point. And having accomplished this, therefore, he says, God has highly exalted him. He is exalted in proportion, if you like, to the degree to which he was abased, the degree to which he voluntarily gave himself to the death of the cross.
[18:44] Now, you remember the Shorter Catechism, number 28, that asks the question wherein consists the exaltation of Christ. What does it consist of?
[18:55] What is it like? What is entailed in it? And it begins by saying, Christ's exaltation consists in his rising again from the dead on the third day.
[19:06] And he's being raised up to heaven and is being seated at the right hand of God and coming to judge the world at the last day.
[19:18] But it begins with this. It begins with the resurrection. The moment of that resurrection that Jesus rose from the dead is the beginning of his exaltation. It's a new phase in the Savior's experience and indeed in the whole order of salvation for his people.
[19:34] Because that is where death is truly and visibly defeated in the resurrection of the Lord. Now, Paul doesn't deal with the resurrection here.
[19:44] He wants to get on to what is the exact opposite of what is the lowest point. And he says, therefore God has highly exalted him. He has taken him to the highest possible point.
[19:57] Now, we use in our own language, everyday language, if you like, we use this kind of expression where we speak about being up or being down in someone's estimation.
[20:08] You see somebody who's done something, maybe that's something that you didn't expect them to do, and you can say of the person, well, he's definitely gone down in my estimation. Or the other way about.
[20:20] Somebody that's done something commendable, maybe something you didn't expect them to do, and you can say the opposite. Well, that person's really gone up in my estimation. We use that language of up and down in terms of our common human experiences.
[20:34] But the language here of the Bible is really, in a way, something akin to that. God has said to have highly exalted him, to have raised him up to the highest possible point.
[20:49] And it is the highest possible point. Jesus is at the highest point, at the right hand of the Father on high. And what that is saying is, it's really saying, in the estimation of the Father, this is really what his consideration of the death of Jesus led to.
[21:09] This is the Father's value judgment, if you like, of what Christ the Son has done in humbling himself and being obedient to the death of the cross. This is Paul saying, it's the equivalent really of saying, this is how God the Father regarded this, of such value and of such worth, that is followed by being exalted to the highest point.
[21:30] Nothing less is deserved. Nothing less is appropriate. Nothing less fits with what he has done in humbling himself to the lowest point. Nothing less than that is worthy of it.
[21:43] He is worthy of nothing less than being exalted to the highest possible point. It's not above what he was as God before he came to take us out humanity to himself.
[21:58] Remember, that's where the passage began, being in the form of God, having everything that makes God, God is true of the Son. He is fully God.
[22:09] And he's not exalted above that. You can't get above that. But what Paul is saying is, remember, he's saying, that this human Jesus, you see, that's what was emphasized by Peter on the day of Pentecost when he preached that sermon that we read part of earlier on.
[22:28] How many times even in the part of it we read does Peter say, this Jesus, this Jesus, this Jesus of Nazareth, this human being, this human Jesus, this Jesus who suffered and died, this Jesus you saw and witnessed, this Jesus who spoke to you, this Jesus who did these miracles, this Jesus who walked amongst men, this Jesus who suffered, this Jesus who was tempted, this Jesus who, in all of these ways in which you knew him, lived as a human being in this world, this Jesus God has exalted, this very person.
[23:01] that's because he accomplished everything given him to do. And in consequence, God the Father highly exalted him, set him at the highest pinnacle possible for him.
[23:21] And in the words of Rabbi Duncan, a famous free church professor, at one time, this is the phrase that he used somewhere, and it's been recorded as something that's been passed on.
[23:40] Here he said, is the dust of the earth on the throne of the universe. Because our humanity, the human nature of Jesus, as that is a real humanity, in conjunction with his deity as the Son of God, it is occupying the right hand of the majesty on high.
[24:00] It is at the highest pinnacle. It is there in the person of Jesus, exalted to that glorious height, highly exalted. It's the beginning of a reign unlike anything that went before.
[24:18] Now, of course, the Son of God always reigned as God with the Father, with the Holy Spirit, over all the creation that had been created by him, by this God.
[24:31] The three persons together comprising the one God and the place of the Son in that. God is as the Father and the Spirit.
[24:43] He is set over all the creation. He is the Creator. He is Lord of that creation. But this is a new phase. This is something that didn't exist even with regard to the Son before, that he's now coming to be exalted to reign over the universe as the God-man in our nature as well as the Son of God in his deity.
[25:08] And he bestowed on him the third thing. He bestowed on him the name that is above every name. You notice the word bestowed because that reminds us there or teaches us that whatever this name is, as we'll see in a minute, it was a name that was bestowed upon Jesus.
[25:27] It was a deliberate act of God the Father, similar to what you find in Hebrews chapter 1 where it speaks about this name that's above the names of any angels or any human being that he obtained by inheritance, that he inherited, something he entered into, something in consequence of his work on the cross.
[25:49] But what is this name? What does Paul mean that God bestowed on him the name that is above every name? Well, it's not the name Jesus itself because that's a name that was already his.
[26:05] That was a name given him at birth just as God himself had specified. A name referring to him being the Savior. So it's not the word Jesus, the name Jesus as a name that's meant by Paul where he says he's given him the name that is above every name.
[26:25] In order to try and come to a right conclusion about that, we need to go back to the Old Testament. We need to go back to the likes of Isaiah chapter 45 because it's pretty obvious that that's the passage that Paul had in mind as he was writing these words and this particular aspect of things in Philippians 2.
[26:45] Let me just remind you of, let's just read in Isaiah 45. Well, in verse 5 there, God is saying, I am the Lord and there is no other.
[26:57] Besides me, there is no God. Verse 18, you find him saying similarly, thus says the Lord who created the heavens, he is God who formed the earth and made it, he established it, he did not create it empty, I am the Lord and there is no other.
[27:19] And then you go to verse 21, similarly, where you find declare and present your case, this is God addressing the foolishness of idolatry, let them take counsel together.
[27:30] Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord, and there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior?
[27:43] In other words, the name that was given to Jesus being exalted to the right hand of God is the name, we used to call it Jehovah, nowadays called Yahweh, but it's that Old Testament name that means Lord.
[28:01] And that was the name given to Jesus, it was bestowed upon him. I might say again, was that not always his name? Wasn't he always God?
[28:12] Wasn't he always the Lord? Well, yes, but remember what we're saying. This is now the Son of God having taken our nature, becoming human, joining it to his divine nature, and having finished this work that was given him to do in this world, it is as such the Son in our nature, God, the God-man, that's made Lord over all.
[28:35] And tonight, that's who's reigning the universe. That's who's reigning over everything that happens in our world, our own lives within it, the vastness of the whole creation.
[28:47] Who is actually reigning over that? Who's reigning over this world that's inhabited by human beings? It is this person, this Jesus, but this Jesus exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high, this Jesus that has been eminently exalted to the highest point, this Jesus who's been given the name that's above every name.
[29:08] You see, so you find the combination of God in Jesus, the combination of being the Son, and also being in our nature, brought under this wonderful lordship that's given him in consequence of accomplishing the work of the cross.
[29:29] Now, you're not going to hear much of anything at COP26 about this. there'll be a lot of exercised people as to how we can save the world, as to how we can actually prevent further climate catastrophe, how we can stop the world on the track that we're told it's on to further warming and further disaster in various parts of the world.
[29:58] BBC News online had a caption saying, can COP26 really save the planet?
[30:10] You see, what's behind all that thinking is that human beings have it in themselves to really deal with the salvation of the planet. Human beings are themselves the ones who control what happens to this planet.
[30:24] I'm not saying by any of this that we shouldn't be concerned about global warming if we believe there's such a thing. Certainly in parts of the world, climate has changed.
[30:34] There's no doubt about that. That's in evidence, but how far you go with that depends on who you listen to. But this is the thing we're getting at. This is the reason I'm mentioning this, that there is this view amongst human beings, not just politicians, but largely throughout an unregenerate world that's in rebellion against God.
[30:56] We have it in our capacity to save this planet. It's in our own hands and depending how we think, depending what conclusions we come to, depending what policies we can set in place, we're able to save this planet from further catastrophe.
[31:13] Who is lord of this planet? Whose plan is directing the course of this planet? And by that I'm not saying in any way, as I've said before, that we don't take things seriously in order to look after our planet and look after the world in which we live, that's one of the reasons God placed man in the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it, to look after it for him.
[31:41] And ever since man fell, we've failed to do that properly. We've exploited the resources of the planet. We've done that in such a way that has left people with massive deprivation.
[31:53] lack of crops and poverty, everything that's associated with these terrible things. But you see, that doesn't mean that mankind has the capacity to deal with this in his own intelligence and by his own efforts and with his own conclusions and setting in place the proper political policies and getting all the nations of the world to be in agreement over what we're to do.
[32:20] That's all good and well if it ever came about. Don't decry that. But don't think that the future of the planet is in human hands. Well, they are in human hands in the sense in which Christ is human, but they're in the hands of the God man.
[32:37] They're in the hands of the Jesus. This Jesus, as Peter put it at Pentecost, who is now exalted, as Paul is saying here, to the highest and has been given the name that's above every name.
[32:48] so important to our thought processes, to our conclusions, to our life as Christians, that we live meaningfully under the lordship of Christ, that we don't consider that lordship to belong to anyone else.
[33:06] That's sadly why you won't see or hear much at COP26, I doubt, of any references to the need to repent, the need for human beings to see that they need to draw near to God and confess to him that they've been out of order in the way they've gone about in whether it's climate change or anything else to do with the way that they populate and act on this planet.
[33:36] You won't hear any of that. But you know, as a people who know the gospel, as the covenant people of God, it's our privilege to bring all of this before the Lord who reigns on the throne tonight and express our concern to him and appeal to him as the Lord of the planet, as the Lord of lords, as the King of kings, as Lord over all, that he will come and change things through the blessing and the power of his Spirit so that people will be brought to see how his word is so relevant to our circumstances and how his word, as we would apply it, would actually address the issues of our day, big or small.
[34:28] That's what we have to pray for. That's what we have to witness to as well. And it's so important to take into account the total lordship of Jesus.
[34:38] You remember how Matthew ends his gospel, and this is taking us into another territory, the territory of evangelism, but this is how Jesus there said to the disciples, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
[34:59] All, not partially, not some, not 90%, not 99%, all authority in heaven and on earth. Everything in which authority is to be exercised with regard to the creation, it is mine.
[35:16] It's been given to me. I've accomplished it. I've earned it. Therefore, see there's that wonderful connection word again, therefore, on the basis of that, seeing that's the case, go and make disciples of all nations, because that's really a great privilege tonight.
[35:36] We might think we're not accomplishing much, well so be it. We might think we're so small in number, how can we possibly influence that world out there? We're not doing it in our own strength. We're doing it under the Lordship of Christ.
[35:48] We're appealing to the Lord Christ himself to exercise his mighty power and through his spirit to fill our own lives and to make us influential in this world.
[36:00] All authority has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples. That's the starting point, not our own ability, not the situation facing us, not the resources that we have, but the Lord Jesus Christ.
[36:17] That's where you start. You don't work your way towards that and finish with that. That's what the disciples were told. All authority has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples.
[36:30] Act on the basis of that. And therefore go. Now he's, Paul back to Philippians 2, so that the name of Jesus, this just read it through, therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[37:01] in other words, this again follows on from the previous one mentioning the name of Christ, the Lordship of Christ, the total Lordship of Christ, that at the name of Jesus, that at the Lordship of Jesus, that at the authority that Jesus has been given, every knee should bow and every tongue confess.
[37:21] Again, going back to Isaiah 45, listen to verses 23 to 24, by myself I have sworn from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return to me, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear allegiance.
[37:40] Only in the Lord it shall be said of me a righteousness and strength. To him shall come and be ashamed all who are incensed against him.
[37:51] In other words, that is reminding us or teaching us that there are two groups of people in the world. There are those who accept the Lordship of Christ and willingly live under it, and there are those who reject it, and those who have nothing to do, don't want anything to do with it.
[38:09] But both groups, the totality of humanity will be brought on the day of Christ's return to be gathered before him.
[38:21] And as Revelation puts it, the books shall be opened, and the dead shall be judged out of those books. God will open his records, the files that he has kept, if you like, from the beginning of time.
[38:39] And whether we've come before him in faith and accepted his Lordship, or whether human beings have actually rejected that and continue to do so to the day of judgment, it makes no difference as far as this is concerned.
[38:53] all on that day will acknowledge and will acknowledge without any doubts in their mind that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[39:09] His people will acknowledge it and confess it gladly. They will worship him for it. They have longed to see the Lord they love coming in his glory.
[39:22] And as Isaiah put it, those who rage against him, those that have actually gone and were incensed against him, those who raged against him, well, they too will bow the knee.
[39:34] They will not do it lovingly. They will not do it acceptingly of his Lordship. They will continue to resist him and to reject him for all eternity, but be rejected by him.
[39:49] But they will never be able not to acknowledge that he is other than Lord, that he is king, that his rights are the rights that rule and govern the universe.
[40:07] You see, it's to the glory of God the Father. There's no rivalry within the Godhead. There's no jealousy within the Godhead. The glory of the Son brings glory to the Father.
[40:18] That's what John 17, the prayer of Jesus, that's how he put it. Father, glorify your Son, that the Son also may glorify you. The higher Jesus the Son is exalted, the higher the glory that's brought to the Father as well as to the Son himself.
[40:35] All to the glory of God the Father. Not all will be saved. Not all will come to meet with Jesus as their Savior.
[40:48] There will be some who have not accepted him, even under the gospel all their lives and will still be part of this crowd who will bow the knee and acknowledge that he is Lord.
[41:00] Not all will be saved. I hope you and I will be. There's no reason why we shouldn't be. The gospel is there. The offer is there. Jesus is available to us by faith.
[41:15] Why should we perish? Why should we not be saved on that day? Why should our bowing not be willing and loving compared to those who have not?
[41:28] But there are no atheists in the crowd. Amongst those who bow the knee and confess him as Lord, even if it's not willing, willingly, nevertheless, there are no skeptics there.
[41:42] Nobody is saying on that day, who is this? who is this person? What's he doing here? What's he here for? Every tongue shall confess, every knee shall bow, that Jesus Christ is Lord.
[42:07] Have I bowed to him already? Have you bowed to him already? have you come to surrender your rights into his hand, as we said this morning in following him, to deny ourselves and to accept his will?
[42:26] Have we come truly to bow the knee to Jesus already? Please don't leave it any moment longer, because it's those who bow the knee to him willingly and gladly in this life that will come to be received into the everlasting kingdom.
[42:43] God. And if you and I come to leave this world and we've not bowed to him and confessed willingly that he is Lord, that he is our Lord, that he is Lord of all, I dread what the day of judgment will be like for me and for you if that's our case.
[43:04] Because all you'll have to produce as your account is called for by God is what you think is your own righteousness. And God will show it to be the shabby thing it is.
[43:21] But if you have the righteousness of Jesus as you have when you accept him, God will say to you and with all others, come, you blessed of my father, inherit this kingdom.
[43:36] let's pray. Gracious Lord, our father in heaven, we thank you tonight that you have accomplished such great things for your people beyond our ability, Lord, to describe or to appreciate fully.
[43:51] We thank you that you are Lord. We thank you that in the midst of a world that we know is in such darkness and turmoil in so many respects even tonight.
[44:02] We thank you, Lord, for that wonderful, bright light that your word brings to us to shine into that darkness, the bright, glowing light of your lordship, of your authority, of your kingship.
[44:18] Help us to be glad for it. Help us, Lord, all the more willingly to serve you and to present you as the king and as the saviour to the world in which we are set. Receive our thanks in worship again and all for Jesus' sake.
[44:32] Amen. Let's conclude our service tonight singing once again to God's praise from the Scottish Psalter. We're singing this time from Psalm 89 that's on page 346.
[44:56] Psalm 89 and verses 25 to 29. Again, words that pertain to the messianic king of which David was symbolic as we find throughout the psalm.
[45:10] At verse 25 we read, His hand and power shall reach afar, I'll set it in the sea, and his right hand established shall in the rivers be.
[45:22] Thou art my father, he shall cry, thou art my God alone, and he shall say, thou art the rock of my salvation. I'll make him my firstborn, more high than kings of any land.
[45:34] My love I'll ever keep for him, my covenant fast shall stand. His seed I by my power will make forever to endure, and as the days of heaven, his throne shall stable be and sure.
[45:50] From verse 25, his hand and power shall reach afar. Amen. His hand and her shall reach afar, I'll set it in mercy, and his right hand peace.
[46:20] He's established shall in the rivers be. Thou art my father, he shall cry, Thou art my God alone, and he shall say, Thou art the rock of my salvation.
[47:06] I'll make him my first born Lord, I and kings of any land.
[47:22] My love I ever give for him, my covenant fast shall stand.
[47:39] His seed die die die my power will be forever to endure, and as the days of heaven and as the days of heaven his throne shall be and sure.
[48:13] Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and evermore. Amen.
[48:26] . the deuxième before sing and start the number ofino is from on the number next second to before I