But now we have the word of God, the most precious thing. Just think about what God wanted us to know is contained in his word. It's not all God knows. And some of us have trouble understanding exactly what it means and how it applies to us. And that's why we have preaching and Dr. Mike Bagwell, Tunnel Hill, Georgia, one of the most gifted men I know have ever known, to tell us what thus saith the Word of God. We appreciate you, brother. Come preach to us and for us, and we sure will be praying for you. Amen. We call it the Word of God, and indeed it is. This is the written Word. Our Savior is called the Living Word, nonetheless the Word. Richard just made the statement, a wise statement. This is not all God knows. God knows everything. He is an omniscient God. One reason we call it the Word The Greek verb behind that noun word is logeo. It is spelled L-O-G-E-O, logeo. And logeo often means to choose, make a choice. This is not everything God knows, but it's what God has logeo chosen that I need to know. Anybody believe there's information here on how to go to heaven when you die? God has chosen to put that in the book. It's what God knows we need. We believe in the sufficiency of the Word of God. Are y'all okay? Philippians chapter number 2 in Scripture, and tonight, I sort of feel nudged of the Lord in this direction. We're going to look at one main paragraph in this chapter. I'll give you the verse parameters in just a minute. I suspect this paragraph has more literature concerning it, expositions, commentaries than any other paragraph certainly in Philippians. And honestly, this paragraph might have more ink, more material in print about it than any other paragraph in the New Testament. It is that pivotal, these few verses of Scripture. And let's go ahead and tell you where they are. Technically, verses 6 through 11. Verses 6 through 11, I'm going to need an amen here. It's all about Jesus. Will y'all be bored tonight if I talk about Jesus? It may take me a while to go through these verses, but I promise you, it will exalt our dear Lord. That's what our singing has done. That's what the course is in which of magnifying our Lord. I think I'll say this and see how you respond. He is worthy. He is worthy. But before We get to that key paragraph. Paul is laying the groundwork for something he's going to have to deal with in Philippians chapter 4. We have already learned there does not seem to be a major problem in the Philippian church. There is love, unity, harmony. There is doctrinal orthodoxy. They're straight in their Bible doctrine. There is a missionary spirit they love to support among others, the Apostle Paul. But there is this issue. Preacher, I'm not sure Paul thinks it's worthy of a whole sermon, but he is going to address it. in chapter four. I want to go there, but that's for Wednesday night. I'll give you a hint. Two ladies, we know their names, Euodias and Syntyca. Those are feminine gender proper nouns. And Paul simply says, I beseech you, Eudias, And I beseech Seneca that they be of the same mind in the Lord. Can I put that in North Carolina language? I need somebody to smile. Get along with one another. Quit your fussing and your fighting and get in sync. Be of the same mind in the Lord. But Paul gradually builds up to that. These are good ladies. These are ladies that love the Lord with all of their heart. Probably real helpers, laborers in the church at Philippi. And just that little bit of a fly in the ointment. So, and I said that to say this, look at the introductory verses to Philippians 2. Introductory verses flipped. Look at verse two. And I'm gonna say, hint, hint, hint. Look at it. I wish y'all would be like-minded. You see that? I wish y'all would have, be in one accord, one mind. Flip to verse three, if y'all will. In lowliness of thine, let each esteem the other better than themselves. Do you all see what Paul's doing? He's hinting at the fact that church has got to love one another. Church has got to be of one mind. And this will culminate in chapter four where he has to name these two ladies. So this whole text, What I'm gonna preach or try to preach about tonight about Jesus, it fits into the setting of we Christians loving one another, of us Christians loving one another and encouraging and being of the same mind in the Lord. Are y'all okay? Two words, orthodoxy, and sort of a fancy word that means I believe right. I believe straight according to the Bible. Here's the other word, orthopraxy. What in the world is that? Praxi, the Greek is praxis, praso, it means not only orthodoxy, straight belief, orthopraxy, straight behavior, straight practice in my life. We're gonna get a dose tonight of orthodoxy. We're gonna learn tonight from the pen of Paul who Jesus is, who Jesus is. But in addition to that, he's gonna take that doctrine, orthodoxy, and bring it into the realm of orthopraxy and tell us who Jesus is and how that should make us. behave, how that should make us live. Are y'all following me so far? Here's a better way of putting it. If you believe right, I'm gonna need an amen, you'll behave right. Belief, Right belief precedes right behavior. I'm just gonna go ahead and tell you, I believe Jesus is the son of God. I believe we were all sinners till the day we trusted him and his blood washed our sin away. That's orthodoxy, right belief. We're gonna learn some key things tonight about our Savior. I say we'll learn or we will rehash them and refresh our minds. Many of you have been through this text again and again and again. Believe right and I will act right. If I believe I'm going to die someday and go to heaven, how many of you believe that? And if I believe when I die or when the rapture comes, I will go to an event called the judgment seat of Christ and he will judge me for the deeds done in my body. Do y'all believe that? That belief will have an impact on my behavior. I'll live the kind of life that will be pleasing to him at the judgment seat of Christ. Let me tell you what the world believes today. They don't believe in creation. Largely now, they do not believe even in the existence of God. If you believe the Bible, I hope I get about three amens, and if not, we'll just live with it. If you believe the Bible, you believe man is the crowning creation of God. God didn't make man on the first day or the second day. Man is created on the sixth day. How many of y'all believe God created man and thereby man is special? We are created in the image of God. We believe that and we behave accordingly. The world doesn't believe that. I gotta tell you. The world believes that we are merely animals. In our university biology departments now, our young folks are being taught that we evolved from a monkey, an ape, a toad frog, a one-celled amoeba, protozoan, and some primordial ooze somewhere billions of years ago. Follow my reason now. If you think you are merely an animal, you will probably end up living and acting like merely an animal. And that's part of the problem in America today. So I'm getting some unusual looks, and I don't want to misinterpret those looks. Most of America is acting like animals today. Society in which we live. What you believe will determine how you behave. And so with these things in mind, look at chapter two, verse number five. Chapter two, verse number five. Some folks not getting along real well. Let this mind be in you. which was also in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The word mind there, let this mind froneo, and it has to do with the way we think. It has to do with our attitudes and our heart, and let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Now I'm gonna say it all over again, what I believe, will determine how I behave. If I believe right about Jesus, hint, hint, hint, verses six through 11, if I believe right about Jesus, I'll behave right. I'll act right in relation to my brothers and my sisters, and how will that be? Let each esteem the other better themselves, or to be humble-minded, to be of the same mind, to be in one accord. Paul is building toward that. Brother Gary, here's the amazing thing. Out of this sermon, out of this nudge toward humility, loving the Lord, being of the same mind one to another, comes this jewel of Bible doctrine. It's not accidental because nothing in the Bible is accidental, but Paul almost backs in reverse. into these beautiful, beautiful lines. And again, I'm speaking of verses six through 11, all about our Savior. This text of Scripture, watch me, is going to carry us into the past. I guess I could say eternity past about Jesus. Then it's going to carry me to the New Testament days about Jesus. Then it's going to carry me to the present day about Jesus. I'm going to make an announcement. I know what he's doing right now. And you do too. Bible clearly tells us. And then it's going to take us into days yet future about our Lord Jesus. Past. present and future of our Savior. I want to say beginning and end, but that won't work. Hope I get an amen. He doesn't have a beginning. That is the most pitiful amen I've ever heard in my life. My Savior does not have a beginning. And He doesn't have an ending. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He is the eternal Son of God. Let's go to verse 6 and we will Now remember, the last words of verse 5, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, who? We're going to learn something about Him. Being in the form of God. Now that's something where we'll at least start. Jesus being in the form of God. Now notice something. It does not say He became God. It does not say he became in the form of God. Being in the form of God. Let's run the clock back. 6,000 years, Adam. Let's run back further. Let's go back a million years. The earth's not created and God's 10 billion years ago. And that's an arbitrary. Jesus, hope I get it right, was in the form of God. There's never been a second in all of eternity that Jesus was not in the form of Almighty God. That noun form. Morphe, it's spelled M-O-R-P-H-E. And it means simply this, it means the actual form and Morphe intrinsically on the inside and on the outside as well, inner and outer being in the form of God. Let me say, how many of you believe God is love? How many of you didn't believe Jesus is the expression of God's love when he was on this earth? Being in the morphe, the form of almighty God. Go back to the Garden of Eden, he's in the form of God. Go back to when God's creating the earth and the angels are singing, the Book of Job, the angels are saying, Jesus is in the form of God. Go back as far as your mind could go. Jesus is God, I need an amen, and he's always been God. Oh, look. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. The word equal, it is spelled I-S-O-S, isos. Those of you who teach or homeschool or if you remember your geometry years, an isosceles triangle, is one where every side is of the same length. They'll fit exactly on isosceles triangle. Every side on his three is a precisely identically the same way, isos. Jesus is equal to God the Father. How do I, I don't know quite how to do this. Jesus is not part God. He is not half God. He is not wannabe God. Jesus is God. Jesus is equal with God. And you say, Preacher, I just don't believe that. Bad news. Bad sign. If you don't believe Jesus is God, picture this sign, you're not going to heaven when you die. That's one of the requirements, believing that he is the son of God. That thought it not robbery, get the verb. Harpazo, H-A-R-P-A-Z-O. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Harpazo means to snatch. That's why it's translated robbery. to seize, to fetch, and this is a crude illustration, but I don't know half of it. Here sits God the Father, here sits God the Son, somewhere in the eternity past, nothing God the Father owns. Does Jesus hesitate to reach over and take for His own? Because there'd be nothing wrong with Jesus climbing and assuming the characteristics and the traits of the Father. He is equal with God. Are y'all following me? We're just in the first verse of Paul's delineation here. I'm reading a book. The title is irrelevant right now. And it was telling how in the militant Muslim countries, how the Christians are being slaughtered today simply because they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God. I don't want to pursue that. Here's one way they determine if a man is a Christian. It wouldn't work with us. They get his cell phone, y'all listen to me. And if there's a Bible program. If there's a Bible program on that cell phone, he's a dead man. No questions. They'd kill him on the spot, behead him on the spot. The world does not like the fact. Now, there are many who'll say Jesus is a good man. There are many who'll say Jesus is a prophet. There are many who'll say Jesus did many wonderful works. But that's not gonna work. He is in the form of God. He is the very morph of an almighty God. And he is, I need a good amen, equal with God. All the way back as far as the eye can see. Let's go to verse number seven. Look what Jesus did. But made himself of no reputation. Can I make an announcement about our Savior? When He came down here to die so us sinners could be saved, God the Father didn't make Him do it. God the Father didn't get a two by four and say, son, you're going down, down. No, no. He made Himself. of no reputation. I want to make an announcement. Jesus came down here of his own accord. Jesus came down here because he chose, he wished, he desired to come out. I guess that's how much he loves you and me. He made himself of no reputation. Now I wonder what that means. Here's the verb. Keno'o. K-E-N-O-O. Keno'o. What does Kano'o mean? The literal translation of Kano'o, get this, he emptied himself. Now that's a controversial doctrine, but that's the verb. He emptied himself. What does that mean? Can you imagine what it must be to be in the form of God and to be equal with God and then to decide you're going to come to earth on our behalf? He had to make himself of no reputation. Let me make an announcement. That does not mean he did anything wrong. made himself of no reputation, keno'o. And keno'o, you said preacher, it means to empty himself. Let me describe what I believe the Bible teaches about kenosis, keno'o. Jesus came to earth, we already agreed, he didn't do anything wrong. Jesus came to this earth, And there was never a second, there was never a moment when he was on this earth, but that he was still God. He's still God even hanging on that old rugged cross. So when we say he made himself of no reputation, when we say he emptied himself, that does not mean he ever ceased being God. Well, I'd like to know what it means. It means he had to, John, temporarily lay aside some of his God attributes in order to be able, David, to come down here and die for you and die for me. Now this is doctrine. But I told you last night, you look like above average intelligent people. Are y'all still with me? Doctrine, he laid aside some of his godly traits or characteristics. Brother Randy, I've had people say, I don't believe that. I just don't believe it. Hear me. How many of you believe God the Father is omnipresent? That means God is everywhere at once. When Jesus came to earth, He's God, He's omnipresent God. He has to lay aside His omnipresence because you can't be in the human body. I need an amen and be everywhere at once. If He's in Nazareth, He can't be in Bethlehem. If He's in Jerusalem, He can't be in Cana of Galilee. He had to limit himself. But you see, he had to do that to die on the cross so we could be saved. Made himself of no rest. Is he still God? Yes, he's still God. They'll kill you for believing that in some places, but yes, he's still God. But he emptied himself. of some of those divine attributes. And I would give you another divine attribute or two, but by the time we get to verse 11, you would wish I hadn't given you another one or two, because the sermon would just get longer and longer. I'm gonna need a little affirmation. I've got a habit when I pray. Do y'all see what I mean? He divested himself of some of his godly attributes. and he took upon him the form of a servant." The word there for servant is doulos. Brother Roy, the only way I know how to explain it, it is the lowest level of slavery in the social scale. of the Greek-Roman world. They had slaves who were housemasters. They're way above the doulos. They had slaves who rode the great grain boats when the winds weren't favorable across the Mediterranean feeding Rome. They were way above the lowest form of servanthood known. Jesus took upon Himself the form of a servant. And that word for form, it gives us the word schema, and it literally means, and this is probably a corner, he was wired like a servant. He came down here and he began to think like a servant. Somebody talk to me. Reckon there's a big difference between being equal with God than being a slave. Preacher, I'm not comprehending, he's a servant, listen to him. The Son of Man did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister, serve as a slave, and give his life a ransom for many. I tell you what, folks, we ought to love him more than we do, just because what he did to come down here to save us. He took upon Him the form of a servant and was made. Was made. I don't want to get too teachy here, but that is an important verb. Was made. We can't point to a time when Jesus started being God. We've already discussed that He's eternal. But I can point to a time when He became a man. was made. That is a point, action verb. Oh my, listen to this. There was a day when Jesus Christ is God, equal with God, and he is not man. Then it happened. It happened in Bethlehem, a lady in a manger. Then it happened. And all of a sudden God has come to earth. God has taken on a human body. He'll be a servant, but now he's made in the likeness of man. Can you imagine? God became man. How many of y'all believe that? Tell me. John 1, 14. And the Word, Jesus is a living Word, and the Word was made flesh. point of time. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. John said, I saw his glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father. He was made in the likeness of man. Can I say something? And somebody will say, hallelujah, God loved us so much that God became man to die for us. And Paul is telling and sharing with us The great story. Tell me the story of Jesus. Write on my heart every word. Don't believe I'll ever get tired of hearing about Jesus. How about y'all? Let's go to the next verse. It's even more astounding. Being found in fashion as a man, Here he is on earth. How many of y'all believe in something called the virgin birth of Jesus? That's how God coming to earth. So many of you are taking notes tonight. I like it. God coming to earth, that's called incarnation. Latin word. Carnus, C-A-R-N-U-S in Latin means meat, flesh. Everybody's got some hanging on your skeleton tonight. Incarnation, God, came down here in, and I'm gonna use the word, human flesh. That's the point. Being found in fashion as a man. Preacher, that word man is anthropos. The study of man is called anthropology. He was found in fashion as a man. I'll tell you what, as a man, far as I'm concerned, Hope y'all are still with me. Not that I think I'm that far ahead. I just don't wanna bore you. I just don't wanna lose you. Being found as a fashion as a man. For as a man, I wouldn't have any trouble if Jesus was king, would y'all? I wouldn't have any trouble if he ran the Roman empire, to have been in better shape. I wouldn't have had any trouble had he, as a man, he could have been the best of all men. He was a sinless man. But he humbled himself. He humbled him. The disciples have finally learned, they've come to the conviction that Jesus is God. Peter, who do they say I am? Well, some say you're Jeremiah, one of the other prophets. Who do you say I am? Y'all remember, Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the sign of the living God. Does anybody believe that tonight? Blessed are you, Simon, Barjah. And as soon as they learn that he's God, they're having supper one night. That night, it is protocol. It is common etiquette in the Holy Land. When you have a meal, your host, will bathe your feet. Everybody wears sandals. The streets are dirty and dusty. It's just a way of refreshment. They'll bathe your feet. It didn't happen that night. For some reason, it was omitted. Uncultured, but it was omitted. There near the end of the meal, our Savior, who is God, Our Savior who is equal with God. Our Savior who's always been in the form of God. Now he's become a man. Got up from the table. Took a towel. draped it across his body and got down on his knees and bathed 24 dirty, smelly feet belonging to the disciples. Victor, why don't you bring that up? He humbled himself. If that's not humility, I don't know what it is. You know what? We'd fuss and fight a lot less in church if we humbled ourselves. He humbled Himself, and then watch this, He became obedient unto death. He became obedient unto death. Does anybody believe this? Jesus had to die in order for us to be saved. No other way. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us. He became obedient unto death. Watch this. That is a unique statement. Do you know anybody anywhere? And death came to that person and said, are you ready? I said, if you're ready, I'm going to take you on today. And that person could say, yes, I'm ready, or no, I'm not. I will not be given the option of being obedient unto death. Martha, I'll just say this. If I am given the option of being obedient unto death, you're going to be hearing a 500-year-old preacher one of these days. Because I'm not going to be obedient unto death. I like the revivals too much. I enjoy living too much. It won't be me. It is appointed, and the me wants to die. But with Jesus, he became obedient unto death. Let me see if you'll agree with this. I don't believe Rome had enough soldiers in their army to kill the Son of God. I don't believe there's enough hatred in the hearts of the Pharisees and the Sadducees to end his life. They didn't murder him. They didn't kill him. They didn't murder him. Hope I get an amen. He laid his life down for you. He became obedient unto death. Can I tell y'all something? I'm not sure God can die. I mean, who's going to kill God? You're looking at one old boy that ain't going to try it. Who's going to kill God? Well, then how did Jesus die? Pray tell. Now, this is old-fashioned. Someone will react to this interpretation of Isaiah 53. But I'll tell you how Jesus died. God the Father Himself, I want to see if I hear two amens, dealt the death blow. to his only begotten son." I don't believe that. Read it. I said that the smitten of God, smitten of God, God dealt the death blow to kill his daughter. And Jesus is willing. Jesus humbled himself. He's become obedient unto death. I heard a preacher say, in fact, there are books promoting this theory. Jesus didn't really die. He merely swooned. The disciples somehow in that last vinegar, they were able to drug even. You mark this down. I hope somebody is gonna agree. He did die. The wages of sin is what? Death. And he paid our wages for us. He died in our stead. He became obedient. under death. And that, you say, well, preacher, that's the end of the story. He became, obey, oh no. Even, astounding, even the death of the cross. Even the death of the cross. Let me show you something, if I can. During the grueling interrogation by Pilate, Pilate declared three times, he's innocent. I find no fault in this man. But the Jews wouldn't have it. One time, check it out. Pilate said, you take him. You take him and crucify him. Brother David, they wouldn't. Let me tell you why, you say, Purchase that place right into their hands, let them kill him. I've got a government authority, government permission to kill him. There's one of the Jews wouldn't kill him. If the Jews had killed him, they would have had to stone him to death. They would have wrongly accused him of blasphemy and they would have had to stone him to death. But that's not a low down enough death. That's not an embarrassing enough death, stoning. They're not gonna be happy until he dies, even the death of the cross. Even the death of the cross. Are y'all still with me? Are y'all still listening? I appreciate the way the artist portray the death of our Savior. But if every document I can find on His crucifix, He died absolutely naked. That is part of the shame they inflict, the Romans, and they had perfected it. He died, in fact, Hebrews tells us, talking about the cross of Calvary. He endured the cross, despising the shame. Even the death of the cross. There hanging on that cross, his body would dehydrate. You gotta remember, his back is wide open, shreds of flesh hanging from his back, from the grueling scourge. They nail a man to the cross in such a way that his hands are extended, his feet are nailed, and for Jesus to breathe. You see, when you're like that, your body pulls, your ribcage pulls up on your lungs. You can't breathe. In order to breathe, he has to push up his back, that old rugged cross, every breath is excruciating pain. And then the mockery, the names they call him, the filth that they place upon him, even the death of the cross. Can I make an announcement? You can't get any higher than being equal with Almighty God. And you can't get any lower than the death on an old rugged cross tortured by executioners of the Roman government, even the death of the cross. I'm daring, well, we're not really, we've got two or three verses to go, but I want to say something about the cross. what I'm about to do, the death of the cross, I'm calling it a Bible model of the atonement. Jesus and what he did on the cross, getting us to say, that's the atoning act of an almighty God. There are so many new views of the atonement today. The bookstores are filled. with, I call it propaganda, false doctrine on this business of the atonement. Someone recently, oh my, are you familiar with the term, the emergent church? It's these new boys on the block. They're not sure the Word of God is all enclosed in the Bible. It may contain the Word of God, but they're not willing to say it is the Word of God. And they're liberals. They deny the fundamentals of our faith. He said this. He said, there's so many, because of the internet, because of social media. There's so many ideas out there today about Jesus, who Jesus is, the death on Calvary, what he accomplished on the cross. They say, this is what they, I'll give you the man's name if you want it afterward. They say, there's no way to be dogmatic about what Jesus did on the cross. You can't be dogmatic, there's too many ideas. Well, excuse me. I'm gonna make an announcement, and I'm gonna be dogmatic about it. If it's in that book, dealing with my Savior's death on the cross, I'm gonna believe what that book says. Dogmatically, I'm gonna believe what that book says. And what does that book say? That book says I'm lost on my way to hell, and I deserve to die and go to hell. It says Jesus is the sinless Son of God, and hanging on that cross that day, God Almighty, All we like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord hath laid on him, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Here's what I believe. I think I can document it with Scripture. God took all y'all. You're sin. Y'all sin. Yours, yours, mine, y'all up yonder. He took all of our sin and everybody that's ever lived is alive now or ever will. I believe in an unlimited atonement. Bless you. And he poured that sin in the weight of our Savior on the old rugged cross. Physical suffering was bad enough. But on Calvary, He not only suffered physically, He paid our sin debt. He suffered spiritually hanging there on that tree. And now, because of the atonement, now, because of the shed blood of Jesus, 2 Corinthians 5.21 can become a reality. Here it is. God made Jesus to be seen on the cross for us. That's Jesus who knew no sin. He became sin for me that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. I'll use my coat again. I wouldn't mind hearing a hallelujah. Jesus looked at me and he said, If you'll take off that filthy coat of sin, if you'll give me all your filth, all your gut, if you'll give me all of that trash, all of the wrongdoing, things you've done you shouldn't have, things you should have done and you didn't, if you'll give me all that, I'll handle it, Calvary, and I'll give you a robe. I wish I was a white coat now. I'll give you a robe of righteousness. I'll give you a robe of purity. And y'all aren't going to believe it. You're going to think I'm wearing robes spiritually of righteousness of my Savior on my body tonight. Hallelujah. Took my filth. Gave me His righteousness. Even. That's what He got done on the death of the cross. Can I say something? What a Savior. What a Savior. Let's get our next verse. Wherefore, it means therefore. It means consequently. Hey, I want you to look at something. Watch my hand. Down, down, down, and then all of a sudden, up, up, up. Isn't that what Jesus taught us? He that will abase himself Humble himself, shall be exalted. Let this mind be in you. Humble yourself. Let everybody go ahead of you. Esteem everybody else ahead of yourself. And see what God will do. He'll honor you. He'll bless you. Jesus modeled that godliness of life. Also, Garriott didn't say exalted, highly exalted him. Let me give you that word, highly exalted. Are y'all familiar with the word hyper, H-Y-P-E-R? Anybody in the building have a hyper grandson? granddaughter, they're wide open, 90 miles an hour all the time. It means to the extreme, above and beyond, God has highly exalted him. Here's the Greek. Somebody smile. God has hyper-exalted Jesus. I don't know. Jesus' report card from God the Father, Romans 1, those first four verses, Jesus' report card from God the Father, God declaring how his son did. Here's his report card using our King James Bible, the resurrection from the dead. You did good, son. You died right. You lived right, but you died right. You always been equal with me. You humbled yourself. And because you died right, because you shed your blood, sinners can be saved. I am gonna, A plus, 100%, I'm raising you from the dead. Hallelujah. He highly exalted him. Brother Gary, in this text, is my shirt tailed out? And it would be the green shirt, wouldn't it? It couldn't be the white shirt. It does not say, Jesus exalted Himself, God the Father. Highly exalted Him. I'm saying the resurrection is an indication of that exaltation, but listen to this. Not only the resurrection, 40 days later, Jesus ascended from this earth all the way to heaven. That's pretty exalting too. He is highly exalted Him. Y'all know where our Savior is right now? He's in heaven. He's at the right hand of the throne of God making intercession for us. And giving Him a name which is above every name. I don't have my timer. I think it's in last night's Coke. One of you little buggers is probably responsible for that. Y'all that prayed against it and told me not to bring it back and everything else, I bet you'll be glad to see it tomorrow night. I may have one waiting, one to get up here tomorrow night. Giving Him a name that's above every name. God the Father is rewarding His Son. I want to find out what that name is because I want to exalt Him in like manner. It's giving Him a name. which is above every name. Get another verse, if you will, y'all, you're doing a mighty good job. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. Every knee should bow. And if we could look at the next verse, every tongue will confess. Now, what are they gonna confess? Well, we'll get to that in just a minute. Let's find out who's gonna bow. I'll go ahead and tell you, they're gonna confess he's Lord. And who's gonna bow? Things in heaven, things in earth, and things under the earth. Let's talk about that, things in heaven. I think that one's already pretty well underway. There are in heaven tonight right now, myriads, untold numbers of angels who are bowing down before Him. They're saying things like, worthy, worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. Glory and honor in heaven right now. They're already bowing and praising His name, hallelujah. And I'll guarantee you any saint of God you know that dies, they're gonna join in that glorious course. But wait a minute, not just things in heaven, things in earth. things in earth. Breacher, what does that mean? Well, it means exactly what it says. The word for earth is ge. We get geo as in geography or geology, things in earth. And the word there for things, it can mean things or individuals or people that are in earth. All right, let's see. Up at Harvard University, Well, not anymore because the person died. The pastor of the memorial church on campus was a homosexual. Believed in all of this same-sex marriage and diversity. Denied the Bible as the literal Word of an Almighty God. Can I tell you something? That man's knee He may not like it, but that man's knee someday is going to bow before the Son of God and acknowledge Jesus is Lord. Bless you. Everybody, everybody, does that include some high political office? It does. Does that include some atheistic religious professor? It does. Does that include the atheists of the communist block? It does. Does that include every, it does. Every knee is gonna bow in this earth. They're gonna bow before him. How many of you believe that? And things under the earth. Are y'all still with me? And things under the earth. What in the world might that be? There are a plethora of beings under this earth right now. In fact, just to be honest so we can tell you the truth. Hope I get an amen. If not, I can explain it. It'll take me 15 minutes, but I can explain it. Or you can just say amen. Everybody in hell right now is gonna bend their knee too. But I'm interested in something else, things under the earth. We know from 2 Peter 2, and we know from the book of Jude, there are angels, I think it goes back to Genesis 6, but everybody doesn't have to agree. There are angels in Tartarus, in the underworld, and they are chained in darkness. Till the day of judgment, you all mark it down. Ever last one of them is going to have to bow before Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I can't wait. These liberals who mocked us, these liberals who said we're stupid for believing the Bible, they're going to have to bow. Let me tell you what it meant. We were wrong. Jesus is right. And little old ignoramus is talking about the Bible. They're smarter than we were. Glory, glory, glory. Jesus is Lord. Hallelujah. That was me with that last little bit of exaltation. Things under the earth. Go to the next verse, please. That every tongue will confess. Oh boy. Confess. Ecce homolo geo. Ecce homolo geo. What's the verb mean? Essentially. Let me not go into the, to say the same thing. When you et omologai, you're saying the same thing about Jesus that the father's saying about him. And the father's saying he's Lord. Jesus is Lord. Every time, gonna say the same thing, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory. of God the Father. Every tongue will confess, here it comes, Jesus Christ is Lord. Now there are differences of opinion, and we're gonna love each other either way, but I'm pretty sure that name that's above every name, Jesus is a beautiful name, I love it dearly, sweetest name I know, but I don't think Jesus is the name involved here. will confess that Jesus Christ is fill in the blank. Jesus Christ is? Let's do it one more time. Jesus Christ is? Lord. I'll have to do it quickly. But what that name involves. In Greek, it's kurios. I think we talked about that maybe earlier in the series. The Hebrew equivalent is adonai. Adonai. Let me give you a crash course in Adonai. No Jew, no rabbi will ever write God's name Jehovah. Too holy, too reverent. They will not write. They will not attempt even to pronounce God's name Jehovah. Doesn't bother Americans to curse him up one side, but a Jew would never write Jehovah. So, they came up with another word that means Jehovah. Another word that means very God of very God. And that word is Adonai. Adonai. They're gonna confess that Jesus is Adonai. They're gonna confess, I hope I get an amen, that Jesus is God. And that's where this thing started out, being in the form of God. He thought it not robbery, but equal government. And now we're ending up over here, future Bible prophecy. Everybody is going to confess Jesus. Christ is Adonai. He is Lord. He is God. He is supreme. He is the owner of us all. He's the one to whom we, to the glory of God the Father. To the glory of God. Can I make an announcement? I think we're on the winning side. What do y'all think? To the glory of God the Father. And that word glory, it's doxa, D-O-X-A, doxa. The Hebrew equivalent is kibod, it's spelled K-A-B-O-D, glory, doxa, kibod. What does it mean? Just this, oh. First, Jesus said it, the way I will glorify the Father is by glorifying the Son. I need a better amen. The way I glorify the Father is the way I glorify the Son. Jesus said it again and again, particularly in John. To the glory of God the Father, you can as easily say to the glory of God the Son, who is equal. with God the Father. To the glory of God the Father. You know what's going to happen when this thing's over? Well, it's never going to be over. Then we blend into an eternity future. We're going to spend no telling how long. And we're going to be glorifying God the Father. And we're going to be glorifying God the Son. Kabod, that word kabod, Hebrew, doxa in Greek, both have slightly different meanings. It means heavy, kabod, weight. Here's how you glorify God the Father tonight. Let Him know how heavy He is to you. I'm not wording that way. Let Him know how much weight carries in your heart and in your life tonight, and you'll be glorified. And doxa, doceo, that verb doceo, it means to seem, to think, to evaluate. You will, New Testament, doceo, glorify Jesus when you tell Him how you evaluate Him, what you think of Him, what you believe of Him, to the glory. of God the Father. We're going to one great hallelujah praise meeting one of these days in the air, and God the Father, God the Son will be glorified forever. I'm a little bit tired. And I think when you're preaching about Jesus the devil, I don't think he likes it a whole lot. But we've seen him from eternity past through his earthly ministry, to the day He saved you and me, all the way into eternity future, whenever knee will bow. There'll be some folks who'll delight in that. There'll be some who'll hate it. But they'll be forced to do it. None the less. Here's the invitation tonight. I think the Lord laid it on my heart. Sitting over there by Davey. Music was preparing our hearts for worship. Would you stand with me? Stand. Somebody come play an instrument when you're able, when you can. And I'm not going to force. In fact, I've been criticized for not being... The fellow said, you're not forceful enough at invitation time. And that's... I'll have to work all out. I'll rejoice Christ is preached. That's all I know to say. But tonight, I wanna give everybody in this building who wishes to an opportunity to walk down this aisle, not yet, they'll play in a few seconds and just kneel, get ready for eternity. Practice it a little. Just kneel and say, Lord, thank you for saving me. Preacher, I don't normally do that. I want you to throw normally so far outside that door you can't see it. I want somebody to take that step tonight, honoring the Lord. I want somebody to move out and worship Him physically, visibly, in a way you might not usually do so. Let's make Him proud. I don't know if that's the right word. Let's give Him glory in our service tonight. Thank You, Lord, for who You are and always help Him. Preacher, I'd come down there and do that, but my knees, I'm in pain and I stand around the front. God knows you can't kneel. God knows that physical limitations are sometimes hindering. Oh my, I wish you could see yourselves. I'd convince heaven, Ken. Love him a little bit. Thank him that he was willing of himself to leave the splendors of heaven, the ivory palaces, come down here, become a man, become a servant, become a slave. or even die on an old rugged cross. Shedding His blood at our sin might be washed away. You are a beautiful sight. I don't know this. It wouldn't surprise me the Lord's got a smile on His face. There's a First Baptist Church in Fletcher, North Carolina. They're not ashamed of me. And I realize you can be praising Him right where you are in your view as well, don't you? Misunderstand me. While you're down here, go ahead and ask Him to save that loved one for whom you're burdened. Go ahead and tell Him that you've got your knee bowed and your little tongues confessing Him as Lord right now. Or let me be among the first to do so. The Romans, including the Philippians, had to say, Caesar is Lord. We'll not do it. We're gonna say Jesus is Lord. Jesus is Lord. You pray, you worship. When you feel liberty, you might go back to your pew or sit around the front, whatever you choose to do. We've got to remember it's not just doctrine. It is that, and it's thrilling, but it's not just doctrine. Now that we've learned the mind of Christ, let this mind be in you. Practice this kind of humility, sacrifice, and love for your brothers and sisters in Christ. My, my, my. You know what? I'd be remiss if I didn't say this. You're here tonight and you've never been saved. Linger a minute. Stay around. Talk to Brother Roy. Talk to Preacher Bagwell or a dozen others. We'd love to point you to Jesus. Love to share some verses. Tell you how you can become His child. Even before you leave this building and go to your homes. Anybody glad you're saved tonight? You may be seated just for a moment. Preacher, can I go ahead and count real quick? I tell you, y'all helped me with this. I'm tired, my hammer toe is killing me. And if you've got those numbers already ready, just give them to me and I'll calculate them and call them out to Debbie. If you want to add up your row and just have a total for the row, that makes it a little bit quicker. I don't know how long I preached, but I tried to deal with the text and you've been patient and I appreciate that. Alright. All we're counting is chapters. 8. All right. Visitors probably do not know, and that's understandable. 8 right behind us, honey. Oh, good. 7. Thank you. 24 for the row. Thank you. 18 for the row. 8. 23 for the row. This helps. 16 for the row. 36. Four. 16. Norman, is that you? Amen. I love Norman. Bless your heart. Four. Got two. Two more. Four. Is that the row? All right. Thank you. 16 for the row. 53 for the row. Good job. Visitors. Got two. Amen. Thank you. Four. 12 for the row. Four for the row. Five for the row. 10 for the row. Visitors too. Four more for the row. Y'all. 24 for the row. Two. 39. 16. Six. Eight. Good, thank you. All right. Six, gotcha. Four more. Eight. 24. Amen. 32. Good job. Eight. Got it. Let me, let me come around. Y'all got any? All right. None out in the vested view. All right. Am I missing anybody back through here? 12. 20. Four. This row. Twenty more. Excellent. Eleven more. Sixteen more. Honey, put down my eight, if you will, please. And Deb's going to get the total. I knew what I wanted to do when I came. I don't know if I've got it accomplished. The Lord will have to let me know about that. But I wanted to exalt the Lord. I wanted us to see what He did. in order to get us saved. And really, the story's not over yet. We got into a little bit of Bible prophecy. He is victor. We are conquerors through Him. who loved us so. If you're not familiar with our video Bible classes, Brother Roy's gonna let me stay late tonight after the service, and I'm gonna set up, and I like to do it every year, record one of our Bible classes here almost every week. I record in the church where we're preaching, and look at, Debbie's got some bookmarks. tell you exactly how to get to our Bible classes. If you go and you enjoy them, subscribe. Subscribe to that YouTube channel. It makes it a whole lot easier to get to all 950 of the video lessons. That's more than last night. 572. Thank you all. 572 chapters we've heard or read and we're doing it, help me, to the glory of God. To the glory of God. And one more amen and we're through. We're going to read some more tomorrow. Well, I thought one more and we'd be through. We're going to read or listen some more tomorrow. I know you will. 572. Where are we at? 1,094 grand total after just two evenings of counting our chapters. We'll probably be 2,000 or beyond come Wednesday night. Thank you, preacher, so very much. God bless you.