Exaltation of Christ because of the Joy of Unity

The passage discusses the exaltation of Christ because of joy and unity. It emphasizes the importance of humility and how it leads to unity. The source of exaltation is God, who has highly exalted Jesus and given Him a name above every name. The name given to Jesus is Lord, which signifies His authority and rulership. The passage encourages humility and reminds us of the power and greatness of Jesus. to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Today we're going to look at the exaltation of Christ because of joy and unity. And you remember last week we talked about in v. 6 that Jesus Christ, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the fashion as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. How does God respond to humility? We talk about humility and we know that humility is taught in the Bible and we see an example of Jesus Christ with humility. And so, how does God respond to humility? And that's where we pick up this morning in v. 9. With a wherefore. That's why I went back and read them three verses because wherefore is a conclusion. Here's the reasoning. 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. Father, we just thank You so much for Your Word today. We thank You for the songs. We thank You for the special this morning. And Father, our hearts are focused on You this morning and on Your Son Jesus Christ. And Father, we just ask You to use this passage of Scripture today to speak to our hearts, to challenge us, to convict us. Father, that if there be anyone here that does not know You as their personal Savior, today would be the day of salvation before it's eternally too late. We thank You. We love You. In Your name we pray, amen. You remember the subject and the context of this entire passage starting in chapter 2 is about unity, about unity. And you know, sometimes when we have this idea of unity, we found out that it's not being united. It's a little bit different than that. Paul tells us in verse 2, he says, fulfill You my joy that You may be like-minded, the same love, one accord, and one mind. And this is unity. We all look the same. We think the same. We love the same. We're all united together, thinking the same. And that's unity. That's what Paul is desiring for the church at Philippi. That's what I am looking for at the church of Kentucky, my desire. And so unity is a product, though, of humility. You can't have unity without humility because we have a whole bunch of individuals. And it's hard to be unity when we are all about ourself. And so humility has to be present. And so he tells us that in verse 3 when he says, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than themselves. Look, not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. And so last week we saw this humility, this example of humility that was given in Jesus Christ that brought joy and unity between Him and the Father, between Him and the church. And so we see this example of unity and this example of humility. And so last week we looked at all of that. And this week we see the exaltation of Christ as an example for humility. Jesus taught this in Matthew 23, verse 12. Jesus said, Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased. And he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. And so the way up is down and the way down is up. So you get your choice. Do you want to be abased or do you want to be exalted? If you want to be abased, then guess what? Exalt yourself. Make it about you and God will put you in your place. If you want to be exalted, if you want to be great, if you want to be wonderful, if you want to be recognized, then what should we do? We need to humble ourselves. He also tells us in Luke 14, verse 11, For whosoever exalted themselves shall be abased. He that humbled themselves shall be exalted. James, his half-brother, said, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. And so humility is the way up. Humility is the way to greatness. Humility is the way to exaltation. In 1 Peter 5 and verse 6, Peter, understanding a little bit more when he writes Peter about humility than he did when he was following Jesus Christ, he said this, Humble yourself therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. And so Peter learned that humility is the way to exaltation. And so notice, Jesus Christ, Paul has given us this example of humility through Jesus Christ. Now, what is the source of this exaltation? If we're humble and we will be exalted, what is the source of that exaltation? Well, he tells us in verse 9, Paul says, Wherefore God... God is the source of exaltation. It says, God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name, which is above every name. When you go back and you look at what Jesus Christ did in humility, what did He do? He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, right? But He came to earth. He lived as a man. He was obedient to God in everything that He did. And He was even obedient unto death. Why did He die? Because sins had to be paid for. And so He went to the cross to die for you and for me. And guess what? Did God leave Him in the grave? No, He resurrected Him. And then what happened? After He resurrected Him, He ascended to heaven where He is seated at the right hand of the Father. And so, all of this thing, and it says, God has also highly exalted Him. Hebrews tells us that now that He is seated at the right hand of the Father, He lives. His purpose in life is to make sure that you are interceded on behalf of Him. He intercedes for us. He's there to run between us and God because He understands. He knows what it's like to be a human. He knows what it's like to live in the flesh. And so He is there to intercede on our behalf. So the source of exaltation is God. That's pretty simple, right? That's pretty understandable. Now let's look at the title of exaltation because it says there, wherefore God, the source of exaltation, has highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name. That word given there means to graciously to give. Or perhaps better in this connotation is wholeheartedly. Wherefore God also highly exalted Him and wholeheartedly, graciously given Him a name which is above every name. What is the title given to Jesus Christ? What is the title that God has given to Jesus Christ? You know, when we think about the name of Jesus Christ, it stands out above all other names. It's a special name. Jesus was given many names and titles in the Bible. And I don't know if that put it all on one. And I don't know if you can read that. I know I can't read that. But think about the names of Jesus. He's called Adam. He's called the Anointed, the Apostle, the Author, the Amen, the Alpha, the Ancient of Days. He is Beginning, Begotten, Beloved, Branch, Bread, Bridegroom, Bright and Morning Star, Bishop of the Souls, Brightness of the Father's Glory. He is Captain, Consolation, Chief Cornerstone, Counselor, Covenant, Chosen of God, Christ. He is Daysman, Deliverer, Dayspring, Daystar, Door, Desire of all Nations. He is Elect, Ensign, Everlasting Father, Emmanuel. He is Finisher of the Faith, Forerunner, Friend, Firstfruits, Faithful Witness, Fountain of Life, Issuing from the Cave of Death. He is God, the Gift of God, Governor, Guide, Glorious Lord. He is Help, Hope, Husband, Horn of Salvation, Hearer, Head of the Church, Heir of all Things, High Priest, Hell's Dread, Heaven's Wonder, the Holy One. He is I Am, Inheritance, Image of God's Person, Immortal, Invisible. He is Judah, Just, the Judge, Jesus. He is King, King of Israel, King of Jews, King of Glory, King Everlasting. He is the Life, the Light, the Love, the Lily, the Love, the Lion, the Lamb, the Lawgiver, the Living Stone, and the Lord of Glory. He is Messenger, Messiah, Mediator, Master, Mighty God, Mercy's Paradox. He is a Nazarene. He is the Offering of David, Omega, Only Begotten of God, Offering and Offerer. He is Priest, Passover, Potentate, Prophet, Propitiation, Prince of Life, Prince of Peace, Physician. He is Righteous, Rabbi, Ransom, Rest, Root of Jesse, Root of David, Refiner, Refuge, Resurrection, the Rose of Sharon, Blooming in the Shades of Hell, Ruler, Redeemer, Rock of Ages. He is Stone, Shepherd, Son of God, Son of Man, Shield, Servant, Seat of the Woman, Surely, Sufferer, Savior, Sinless Sacrifice, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is Teacher, Truth, Tabernacle, Testator, Treasure, Tree of Life. He is Witness, the Word, the Way, the Wisdom of God, the Wonderful. In the words of the Bible, He is the Fairest among 10,000. He is the Altogether Lovely One of all the names given to this man, none is as precious or as sweet as His majestic name, Jesus. Jesus. You know, when we look at this title that God gives Him, it can't be Jesus. We know there's a lot of people that are named Jesus, right? Especially if you go down to Mexico, they're Jesus, they're Jesus. There's a lot of people that have that name. But when you think about the name of Jesus, that was the name that was given to Him at His birth, at His incarnation. Remember, it means Jesus saves. The angel told Joseph, and you shall call Him Jesus. That was the name of His first coming. That was the name of His birth and His incarnation. That was the name that made Him a Savior, a Sufferer, and a Sacrifice. But now God gives Him a name of exaltation. And it's not Jesus. He gives Him a name above all other names. And there can only be one name that rises above every name that's powerful enough to cause every knee to bow and every tongue to confess as we see in verse 11. And that is the name Lord. The name Lord. He is the Ruler. He is the Authority. Lord in the New Testament is equivalent to the Old Testament Yahweh. The name of God, the Sovereign One. Jehovah, which indicates Sovereign Ruler. It signifies rulership based on power, based on authority. God is and God does what God wants to do because He's God. He's Yahweh. He's Jehovah. And there is no other name in heaven that is greater than that. Well, in the New Testament, the equivalent to Jehovah, to God, is Lord that He gave to Jesus Christ. You see, when Jesus Christ humiliated Himself, when He took up on humiliation, then God exalted Him to a Ruler. He becomes Lord. He already given His hints to this was going to be His name. If you remember Pilate, when Jesus Christ stood before Pilate and Pilate was sitting there questioning Him and wondering, is this man really a king? And he wondered if he was really a master, a great teacher. But Pilate at the end of the deal, what did he acknowledge Him as? Not a great king. Not a master. But he recognized Him as Lord. Lord there. Thomas, if you remember, when he saw the nail prints in Jesus' hand and the scar where the sword was thrust into His side, Thomas replied, My Lord and my God. It was evident all along that He was the living Lord. But here, here, Paul writes in Philippians, in the church at Philippians, in His exaltation, in God exalting Him, now He is formally and officially given the name Lord. He now has it as a God-man. He was Son of Man on earth. Sometimes a few times Son of God. He was Jesus, a common name. He was Christ, Messiah. But now the Father says from here on out, you must confess Jesus Christ is what? Lord. Lord, that's the name which is above every other name. Notice v. 10, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth, things under the earth. Notice it says at the name of Jesus. It didn't say the name Jesus, but it says the name of Jesus. The name of Jesus is now given Him Lord is the title that he is to go by. Notice the name Jesus doesn't make people bow. If you think about it Christmastime and you think about that babe, that Jesus is not a name that makes people bow. It's not a name that brings about confession. It's not a name that people drop to their knee. But guess what? Jesus Christ is Lord. Amen? He is Lord. God has given Him that name. And because He is Lord, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. The Father exalted Him and gave Him a name and His name that He gave Him was Lord. And the Lord is above every other name that is out there. If you are Lord, you're above every other name. It applies deity. It applies deity. But it carries this power of sovereignty. It's not just to say that you are God. It is to say that you are God-Ruler. You are the Ruler, the Deity, the Sovereignty One. And that's what it has to mean that He is number one. He is preeminent in our lives. So what should be the response to this name Lord? Well, notice the response to His exaltation. It says there in verse 10 that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in the earth. That's a purpose clause. That word that, it shows purpose. Here, because He has been exalted, because He's been given this name Lord, here is what should happen. Here is what should take place in their life. Every knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. You know what the response should be? Worship. Worship. That's what worship is. Worship is not getting up and singing a praise. Worship is not standing with your hands up. No, worship is what? Worship is bowing your knee, obedient, recognizing that Christ is Lord. That He is the Ruler. He is the Master. He is the Sovereign One in your life. Knee, you have been bought by a price. And therefore, we're told to glorify God in our bodies. This was a purpose clause that was there. It indicates a purpose or a result. So really, you could make it read this way. He has given the name which is above every name in order that, or with the result that, at the name of Jesus, every knee bows, every tongue confesses Jesus Christ is Lord. The purpose of Him being given that name was to put Him in authority and cause everyone to bow to that authority. Remember, in verse 11, the name of Jesus is Lord. This is what salvation is all about. Salvation is about confessing Jesus Christ as Lord. It's one thing to recognize Him as a prophet. It's one thing to recognize Him as a teacher. It's one thing to recognize Him as even the Messiah. But it is something totally different to recognize Him as Lord. Remember, as a matter of fact, Matthew 7, Jesus Christ was wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount. And it's kind of interesting because He said, Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. You see, there's a lot of people that say He is Lord. There's a lot of people worshiping in churches today that are saying that Christ is Lord. He is the Lord! But then you know what they do? They walk right out of church and they go about doing their own life, their own business, living and making decisions all on their own. Jesus said, Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Well then, who does get into heaven? How do you get into heaven? But he that doeth the will of the Father, which is in heaven. That he that doeth the recognition of the Lord. He goes on in verse 22, and he says, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? Have we not in Thy name cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works and sang many specials and taught many Sunday school classes and gave many an offering and even did some public praying. And all of you can just add to the list whatever you want to, but they're saying that He's Lord and they're doing, but guess what? He says, Depart from Me, you workers of sin. I never knew you. Saying that He is Lord is different than recognizing Him as Lord and living as He is Lord. And so it's a purpose then. It's a response to His exaltation that we are to worship. We're to worship Him. And first of all, that means that at the name of Jesus, which is the name Lord now. Jesus was His birth name. Lord is His exalted name. We are to bow our knees. We are to humble ourselves in His presence. He says every knee will bow. That's a subjunctive, but it takes on a force of a future indicative. In other words, you have a choice now to bow. You have a choice not to just say Lord, but to make Him Lord, to obey Him. But guess what? In the future, you're not going to have no choice. In the future, you're going to bow. You're going to bow. Notice what He says in this passage of Scripture. He says that everybody, those that are in heaven, those that are on earth, those that are under the earth. Now one thing that I want you to notice, if you notice that it's on the screen here because that's in King James, the themes is italicized. That means they're supplied. And I don't know why in the world the King James translators made it themes because themes don't worship God. People worship God. It really should be those. That word is supplied, trying to clear up the concept of what they are teaching. But themes can't worship God. He said that at the name of Jesus, every knee, individuals of those in heaven, of those in earth, and of those under the earth. Who's He talking about? Who is in heaven? There's two groups in heaven. First of all, there's the angels. The angels that are there around the throne of God. And then there's also those that have been saved. Their spirits are at the throne of God. I don't have time this morning, but go over and read Revelation 4. In Revelation 4, it shows you a look around the throne of God. A glance into the future of those that were there. And what were they doing? They were praising Jesus Christ. The Lamb that was slain is now Lord. Guess what? He's coming back to get what is His. He's coming back to get what belongs to Him. And He says, every tongue, and I love that, every language, every thing shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. What does that mean? It means to acknowledge. It means to affirm, to agree. I agree that Jesus Christ is not just a babe born in a manger. Jesus Christ is Lord. Are you affirming that in your life by the way that you live and the way that you go? The holy angels sitting in heaven are affirming that Jesus Christ is Lord. The resurrected, the glorified saints that are there in heaven are recognizing that He is Lord. Everyone is saying that He is Lord. But then it also says, not only in heaven, but it says also in earth. Who's on earth? There's two groups of individuals on earth. There are those that are saved and those that are lost. Those that are saved should be claiming that He's Lord. They should be affirming and professing that He is Lord. But guess what? Those that do not profess Him as Lord will one day in the future, they will bow. They will confess that Jesus Christ was more than a prophet. He was more than a teacher. He was more than a Savior. He is Lord of their life. And then he mentions under the earth. Who's under the earth? Well, we know that under the earth would refer to hell, right? And so who's in hell? All of the demons. All of the angels that fail. That God cast out of heaven. All of them demons down there that are trying to destroy everything that has to do with God. Guess what? One day, they will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Do you remember a good example of that in the Gospels? Do you remember when the man came to Jesus Christ and had this legion of demons in him? And all of a sudden, when Jesus stepped up, what did they do? Lord? They recognized who it was. Lord, don't destroy us. Don't destroy us. If we have Your permission, right? If we have Your ability, would You please just put us into that swine over there? Jesus, with His authority as Lord, said go. And you remember the swine went over the cliff and all drowned? See, even they recognize that He is Lord. But one day, one day, they're not going to be asking to go in the swine. They're going to be bowing on their knee and they're going to be confessing the name of Jesus Christ is now Lord. There's also those that have died that never did believe in Jesus Christ. Guess what? They're going to have their opportunity at the great white throne judgment to bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. When you talk about Jesus Christ, you're talking about the Lord, the Master, the Sovereign of the universe. And we talk so much today about His love and His grace, that I think a lot of us today are forgetting that He is Lord. That He is the Sovereign. That He is the Master. And so, review real quickly. The source of exaltation. God. God is the source of exaltation. What is the title of exaltation? Lord. Lord. You know, that reminds me that when we get to heaven, if you go over and read in Revelation, that every one of us that are children of God, we're going to all receive a new name also that we don't even know yet, but we're going to be given a good name. But guess what? It's not going to be Lord because that name is given to Jesus. He is the Sovereign. He is the Master. So what is our response? Because Jesus Christ has been exalted to Lord. Our response should be worship. Worship. And that's not saying praises again. What is it? It's being obedient. Recognizing Him as Lord. Affirming Him as Lord in your life. And so, if the source is God and the title is Lord and our response should be worship, what is the purpose of all of this? Why go through this process of humility and how does it affect you and I? Well, look at what he says in verse 11. "...that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord..." And then notice this next clause. "...to the glory of God the Father." To the glory of God the Father. Listen, and this is good stuff here. And if you watch out, you'll read over that phrase and you won't even take time to think about it. But think about it for just a minute. When the Son is glorified. When God lifted up and exalted the Son, guess who got glorified? Not the Son, but God got glorified. It was the Son that died, right? But guess what? It's God that provided the way. It's God that had the plan. And so, man, in this we see this deity. We see this. You remember Jesus said He could have said He was fully God. He could have said, I'm not going down there and die. You go do it. But no, what did He do? He obeyed the Father. And because He obeyed the Father, and this is the mystery of the Trinity. I don't understand everything about the Trinity. And sometimes the more I try to explain it, the worse shape I get in and the more of a mess I make in it. But here's what I do know about the Trinity. That they are all one. They are united. And guess what? They're humble to the account of each other. Jesus Christ became humble for the Father. The Holy Spirit is humble to the Christ. And guess what? God is humble to the Father. So there's this Trinity there where they're humble to each other. But guess what? Jesus Christ is the one that is exalted as Lord. You know, you could even look at it and say, well, God the Father must get jealous. If He's the total deity and He is the one that is in control, wouldn't it kind of make you mad that all of a sudden your Son is the one that is exalted and now given the name Lord? I'm not doing that. I'm not making my Son greater than me. But you know what that does? That gives us this picture of humility. See, as Christians, now go back to the beginning of our text in chapter 2. What are we supposed to be? One mind. One love. Right? Not about ourselves. Do you realize when you humble yourself and you obey Jesus Christ as Lord, guess what? Jesus gets the glory. And you know what Jesus does with that glory? He gives it to the Father. And you know what the Father does? He gives it back to the Son. And the Son passes it and they pass it around. And so you know what that means? That when you and I are humble... Because remember, this is an illustration of humility and to have joy. When you and I humble ourselves and are obedient to Jesus Christ, guess what? It brings glory to all of us. Your humility brings glory to me. And guess what? My humility brings glory to Jesus. And so you see how it goes around? And there's no jealousy in humility. There's no jealousy in unity. We're all glad and we're all happy for everybody. Look at John 5 and verse 23. This is what Jesus said. Jesus said that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father, which hath sent Him. They all had their purpose. They all had their deal. But guess what? All the glory comes back to God who said what? The first commandment, there shall be no gods before Me. Hear, O hear, O Israel! I, the Lord thy God, am one. But Jesus humbled Himself and He became obedient even to the death of the cross. So God exalted Him and gave Him the name Lord. He gave Him Lord. See, in order to recognize that, when you present the Gospel, it's good to talk about the love of Jesus Christ. It's good to talk about the grace of Jesus Christ. It's great to talk about that you are a sinner and that you must confess your sins. But there's another side of that. Romans tells us that if you will confess with your mouth that what? Jesus Christ is Lord. If you believe that in your heart and you confess that with your mouth, then guess what? You are saved. There has to be both. There has to be both. And what He's doing here is He's illustrating this humility. What is humility? Doing nothing from selfishness. Nothing from empty conceit, but with humility of mind. And so what He is doing is calling the church at Philippi. He's calling the church here at Kentucky for us to be in unity. And we can't be in unity until we are all in humility. And when we're in humility, then guess what? We're going to be united. And guess what? God's going to be glorified. And if God's glorified, He's going to glorify His Son. His Son's going to glorify us. And guess what? God's going to be glorified. It's a process. And God's not being lifted up and glorified today because we don't see people being humble today. And people are not recognizing Jesus Christ as Lord. When you think about Jesus Christ's humiliation and exaltation, not only is it the greatest truth in Christian history, but it may even be for you a constant reminder of the fact that we need to humble ourselves and seek in unity within the church. So I'm going to ask you a question. See, God's will lift you up if you humble yourself. And if we're lifted up, then God has lifted up because we can't take credit for it, can we? Jesus couldn't take credit for the death because why? The Father sent Him. But it took both of them. It takes all of us to do what? And Jesus Christ said, if I will be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me. But in order to lift up Christ, there has to be humility and unity. Two questions I want to leave you with this morning. Are you humbling yourself for the unity of the church? See, the church is referred to as the Bride of Christ. The Bride of Christ. And Jesus Christ as the Groom is now going to prepare a place. He is building a mansion for us. He is preparing a place. And when everything is ready, guess what? He's going to come and get His bride. And we're going to be where He is. And so if Jesus Christ cares that much for the church, and you are a part of the church, are you humbling yourself for the purpose of unity? And the second question, if you're not humbling yourself for the unity of the church, have you exalted Christ to Lord of your life? Have you recognized Him? The good thing is, is guess what? You can do it now. You can do it now, willingly. Or you can do it in the future, forcibly. But listen to me, this passage is very, very clear. One day, every single one of you will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Wouldn't it be so much better to do it now? And next week we're going to see that this example, as He turns it back to us. As He turns it back to us, that He says, y'all are obedient. Not only in my presence, but you're obedient in my absence. You have humbled yourself for unity in Christ. And when we humble ourselves and have unity in Christ, you know what it comes back to? It comes back to joy. Joy, right? And even while Paul was in prison, he says, I can have joy. Why? Because Philippi was humbling themselves and they were in unity. Paul was humbling himself. God, if You want me to be in this stinky prison, then guess what? I'm here. And while I'm here, I'm going to keep doing what You called me to do. I'm going to preach the Gospel. So he humbled himself. He didn't say, God, I'm an apostle. Why am I here in jail? He didn't murmur and gripe and complain and get disgruntled. No, what did he do? He willingly accepted what was laid upon him, and never did stop doing his mission and his purpose for God. As we stand and have a verse of invitation this morning, are you exalting Him as Lord?