931. God Exalts the Humble

God has a plan and a purpose for every single person if were supposed to mimic Jesus. Jesus was the ultimate example of humility since he humbled himself, even to death on the cross and then learning to trust God way a child having going to change lanes that God is always there for me and he always provides strength that I need in chapel and learning what it means to be humble and how that looks in the church and being a believer doesn't so much all discipleship looks like Bob Jones University students who been blessed by the chapel messages in the Philippian series called live worthy of the gospel. Listen listen to today's message from Philippians 29 311 entitled God exalts the humble will ask you to take your Bibles this morning.

Turn with me please to the book of Philippians we been working our way through this passage of Scripture as we been studying the theme of living worthy of the gospel.

Paul is writing a church group of people that he greatly loves you deeply loves. I was in a church last night. Fact is, yesterday morning we were in Cincinnati Ohio in last night I preached to the church in Florence, South Carolina, and after the service I was standing there with the pastor. The pastor's been the pastor of the church for 51 years.

He started the church and planted it in their 51 years is now 77 years old. The church is a thriving ministry, a number of our students here at the University come from that church of one of the things I noticed yesterday as I was standing there is one of the dear lady said to the preacher afterward. She said pastor I love you and he said I love you too.

And as simple as that is. That's one of the profound elements of the church that God's people love each other we go to a place where we are.

Love Paul is writing to this church that he really really loves these people and he challenges them to live their watt lives in a manner that reflects the gospel and he also calls them to be unified to work together and in calling us to be unified. He challenges us to think a particular way and that is to think like Jesus and that's why says in Philippians 25 let this mind be in you which is also in Christ Jesus. And last week we looked essentially in verses six through eight see the son of God humbling himself and going to the cross and we see the humility of God. Now today were going to begin in verse nine sees were to begin in verse nine and were going to see the response of the father to the sons humility in my sermon this morning is entitled God exalts those who are humble and I want that to burn in your mind.

I want this to be something that is stand on your soul is something that you have to live with.

Not occasionally, but daily and hourly and that is as you read the Scriptures.

It is very clear that God resists the proud but God gives grace to those that are humble, so let's look at what he says beginning in verse nine of God's exaltation of the wind who showed himself the most humble. We read in verse nine wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that the name of Jesus every knee should bow 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. The apostle Paul here is establishing an on alterable truth. Something that will never change, and that is in the divine order of things the way God is set things up that the willingness your willingness to humble yourself before God will in inevitably lead to exaltation. Your willingness to humble yourself before God.

You humbling your self before God will inevitably lead to God's exaltation of you and you find it throughout the whole Bible, Proverbs 1533 before honor is humility.

Proverbs 22 four by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor, and life observing your mind humble Joseph. God brought out of the pit and out of the prison and brought them into the palace and made him the Prime Minister of Egypt. Why, because God exalts humble look at lowly Moses who went from being an outlaw baby to growing in the Egyptian palace of the king went from being an outlaw shepherd to the one who led the children of Israel miraculously out of Egyptian bondage and what we see in the life of Moses. God always exalts those who are humble noticed the shepherd boy David the youngest of eight sons banding before the giant Goliath in in one stone.

He slays the giant dad and David becomes the mighty Victor. What we see in all of these biblical characters that those who are willing to humble themselves before God. God will inevitably exalt and of course the greatest demonstration of this is that God took his own son from the deepest depths the crucifixion and be in the two and exalted him to the highest heights and this is what Paul is talking about in verses six through eight of Philippians we see that Jesus chose the pathway of humility because God is humble, not just on earth but God is humble in heaven because God is concerned about you and his heart is about you and Jesus came into this world through the incarnation and he died on the cross to the crucifixion he was buried in the tomb. In verses nine through 11 what we say we see the father is the one who exalts his humble son through the global PS resurrection and the glory orients ascension of Jesus and what the father did the son is consistent to what Jesus told his disciples.

Matthew 2312 who so you shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted now and ask you a question is what do you believe that that's true. I'm asking you that. Do you believe I'm not talking about the person to the right of you are left or you are in front of you about it. I'm talking to you, you young man. I'm talking to union lady. Do you believe that do you really believe that the pathway to exaltation is actually been humble. That's not the way the world thinks the world doesn't see itself that way the world either. Either he seeks to exalt himself or blame everybody else work problems, and yet God has called us to humble ourselves in the humiliation of Jesus brought about the exaltation of Jesus. So this morning, I'd like to salute a little more detail in this passage of Scripture because it begins with the phrase, if you'll note in verse nine he says. Wherefore, what is he doing. He's looking back and he's looking back to what Christ did and now beginning in verse nine we see to responses or results of the humiliation of Jesus and the first is the response of the heavenly father. What did the father do for his son and notice what is says wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, God is the subject and he is showing us his response to his sons self humiliation and to responses of the father number one it says the father exalted inside the Scripture says he highly exalted him.

That means literally a super exaltation. He was raised to the highest honor among all human beings and what was this all exaltation number one it was first of all, the life explosive resurrection when Jesus came out of the tomb on that glorious morning in a global PS imperishable, imperishable body, a body that still bears the marks of his suffering, for in his hands and his feet in his side. He still bears the wounds and yet he comes out in that resurrected body. By the way you have God resurrected his own son in his own son died for stepping God's gonna resurrect us from the dead. I'll think about the world and what makes the world exciting and we always had the exciting places the amusement parks to the streets of Las Vegas at the downtown of New York City. All the light. The lights in the brightness of this world which you know what when you go to a graveyard. A graveyard is never an exciting place to go hunting who goes hand hangs out in the graveyard but I want a sum of the day's gonna come that the most exciting place on planet Earth is going to be a graveyard.

You know why because the dead in Christ shall rise first in God's gonna resurrect our body and God always exalts those who are humble, Jesus came into this world as a man.

He lived as a man, he died as a man, and now Jesus alive from the dead as a man, the man Christ Jesus, and after Jesus rose, he was seen alive for 40 days to many different people in many different occasions and in many different places. What happened at the end of those 40 days, the risen Jesus gathered with his disciples on the top of the Mount of olives and then suddenly the second aspect of his exaltation took place. The first is the resurrection, but the second is this that Jesus was standing on a on a particular spot where he was standing. Suddenly he ascended upward into the clouds. How do we know that because the disciples watched him any disappeared in the clouds and the heavenly father buys own dynamic power took his own son from the earth through the skies into the very throne room of God in the heaven.

Any Jesus came back to the place where he had laughed and now he is come back as the living God man Jesus 100% God and 100% man who is been super exalted by the father into the place where he now sits at the right hand of the father. This is what he what Paul is saying he super exalted his own son, but notice. Secondly, the father granted to this super exalted son, a new name. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, now here's the question what was that name will Jesus had all kinds of special names. He was called Emmanuelle God with us wonderful, counselor, Prince of peace, the Almighty, the ancient of days, Jesus was called the door, the chief shepherd. The good shepherd the great Shepherd is called the word the life of the Lamb. The life the bread of life. The I am the rock.

The way the truth and the light of the Alpha and the Omega, and you can go on and on a note Jesus had multiple names but the name that the Lord gave him when he ascended in the heaven was a different name what it what was that name.

Well, it's a name that is above every name, in other words, nobody has this name. Exit Jesus is a name that is possessed by no one but many people have wanted to possess that name is the name that makes you more than a mortal man is a name that makes you God, for example, there was one man who was called Pharaoh view of Pharaoh means God on earth. The intermediary between God and between the gods and the people.

There was also another who is called Caesar and Caesar was worshiped in Rome as divine.

We know that historically the Emperor of Japan was believed to have descended from the gods. What you say preacher I'm saying this that there were always would be gods among men Joseph Nobles and Hitler's chief propagandist said in a broadcast on 19 April 1936. Listen to this that Germany has been transformed into a great house of the Lord, where the Führer as our mediator stands before the throne of God. Imagine that in the world. There's always been men who would be God. But in reality there is God who became a man. Many of call themselves kings, and many have called themselves lords, but there is only one who possesses this name and what is that name when Jesus ascended into heaven, he entered into the throne room of God and all that day there was a glorious chlorination like you coordinate a king, and the father said to the sun. According to Psalm 110. In verse one the Lord said under my Lord, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The father gave his son a new name and a new title and what is that title is the Lord word Jesus Christ and that word Lord means more than master because according to Isaiah 45. The mother is the Messiah is declared to be the God of Israel list in Isaiah 4522 looking to me and be saved. All the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. I have sworn by myself.

It is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return that under me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess the Old Testament declares that the one that you heard about your need to have a wonder you can guard confess, is the God of Israel, and we come to the New Testament and what we find, we find that we are to bow our knees to Jesus. What does that tell us about Jesus that that title.

Lord means more than man.

It means God there is only one who has the official title of Lord that he is Jesus Christ is that he is superior over all creation, all power is been given unto him in heaven and earth, all things are under his control. He is Lord over his people. He is Lord over his enemies.

The sons throne has been established with thank God it's a throne of grace and God gives grace to those who are humble. The father's response to the magnanimous humbling of the son of God is to exalt him and here's what Jesus is saying to his own people that like the sun is disciple should be the same way that if we humble ourselves and God will exalt us if we exalt ourselves. God will humble us the way up is the way down the way to success is to serve, it's not just ask humility as a way of life I must embrace it. Let me just say right now one the hardest things for 1819 2021-year-old is to be humble because your entering into adulthood you're entering into your own life.

You're making your own decisions your own choices and I want to say to every one of you here let it burn in your heart. Let it be in the form front of your brain. God resisted the proud but gives grace to the humble. Are you humble.

This is what God is calling us to be in the father responded with a son by exalting him because he was humble but notice the second response and that is not only the response of the father, but look at the response of creation. It says that God is exalted him and given him a name that is above every name in the notice verse 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and things of the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord Y to the glory of God the father.

That little word that means so that or in order that he was given this name in order to solicit a response from creation and what is that response from creation that we will bow down and worship him that we will toward Jesus that we will reverence him that we will pay homage to him and that we will recognize his power and authority that he has first place. He has the highest place, he is to be preeminent if we are to bow our knees to him and not just worship him, but we are to humble ourselves before him, and we are to recognize him as the power over our lives with me as you?

Have you given Jesus your life. I'm talking to you this morning. Have you given Jesus your life. I'm asking you young man to have you put your life in God's hands. If you bowed your knee to him. Have you surrendered your lighting up the greatest need on the campus of Bob Jones University is the surrender of our lives to the Jesus Christ, take my life and let it be consecrated to the this is what is calling us to do the greatest act of humility is to surrender your life to God. God I want to put my life in your hands.I want to live your way. I want to do your will.

Lord, not my will but thine be dead done. It's all throughout the life of Jesus and what is the response.

He says there two parts of the response and is found in the human body.

Number one, every knee shall bow.

The idea here is that every rational being in the universe, in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow to Jesus in earth. That's the angelic beings on earth that human beings under the earth that's fallen spirits no knee will be left on the bed whether it's human, angelic or demonic sum will bow and joyful delight. Some will bow in grudging shame, but regardless of your condition, every knee shall bow, everyone will recognize Jesus Christ as Lord Lord Battelle knee before him.

Now surrender your life to him. That's what he say and then secondly he says every tongue shall confess convention is not something different from the bowing of the knee its counterpart what you saying you're confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord. The word Jesus refers to his purpose for coming because it means the Lord is Savior from sin. The word Christ represents his promise. That is, he is the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of the one who said he would come to say in the word Lord represents his power.

He is sovereign over all. I am the Lord, and there is none other.

Everyone is going to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Every believer will bow and shout to the top of his lungs. Jesus Christ is Lord, every angelic voice will resoundingly permeate the universe. Jesus Christ is Lord, every unbeliever will announce in despair. Jesus Christ is Lord, every demon will grumble. Jesus Christ is Lord every say even Satan will say Jesus Christ is Lord and all of this will be done from one great purpose and that is the purpose for which God is created in the world. He is doing it for his all glory for the manifestation of his person and his perfection that he will put on display through his glorious so what is Paul telling us he's telling us this is a way we should think we should value humility. We should humble.

We should humble ourselves, we should submit ourselves to the authority that is in place that is placed over us.

The Bible tells us in first Peter five that you to submit yourselves unto the elder EA all of you are to be subject one another would be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. The single greatest act of my life in obedience to God is to humble myself before him, and surrender my whole life, and then each day live in that that position of humility during my junior year of college I was in school down in Charleston, South Carolina at the end of the end of the school year. They post a list of who is going to have a position of leadership we call it a rank. She that is your rankings. It comes out of the end of the year and that's the rankings for the following year. So for example when you come in as a freshman. Everybody is a private, your sophomore year.

You can either be a private or corporal. So you fight heavily into your freshman year. If you become a corporal junior year. You can either be a sergeant, or you can be a private and you find out at the other your sophomore year which rights could be your Junior and then at the end of your junior year you find out if you're going to your senior year be a private or are you good to be an officer so you can be a private all four years or you can be a corporal sergeant or an officer what my sophomore year I was corporal my junior year I was a sergeant in the rank she came out at the end of the year and out of 2000 cadets there only 32 people who had the rank of Capt. and above.

So out of the 2000 only 32 had that right Capt. Maj. Lieut. Col. Col. was a rank she came out and I actually was expecting to be a captain because I was fairly assured it was can happen and with a rank.

She came out, my name wasn't on the list. I wasn't on any list what that meant was, it meant that I was to be a private. My senior year I cannot tell you how that light killed me and I remember going back to my room and sitting there and thinking I will be a private next year and I was I was human I was humbled by I was II had completely different expectations and I sat there for a while and I thought of these kinds of verses and I thought God if I would be a private. I would be the best private I can be my senior year and I just said I accepted your good hand, and I thank you for was about to leave my room and a call came into my room and it was an officer in the military who was actually over all of these rank sheets and he called me up and he said is this cadet had it. I said sir yes sir he said there has been a mistake in the rank sheet and you are now regimental athletic officer, which means that you are a captain in your gonna be on Reginald staff, which means you to move at your company and your to move up to the highest staff positions in the entire Corps of cadets and I hung up the phone and I started laughing and I laughed not so much that what happened I laughed at the reality that God's word is so true, and no matter what happens in my life that I want to live in a place of humility before God, because God you know who I am. You know where I live, you know what's going on in my life in God you're in control and got I can trust you because your now that sounds easy to do.

It's not all is not easy to live. I want to thank all of you who have responded so kindly to the letter that I sent out on Friday announcing that I was diagnosed with cancer.

The last thing I wanted to do was tell anybody, be honest with you I I just love being vulnerable, needy and weak. I just love that actually on the exact opposite, but this is where God is put me and my wife and folks I know God's word is true. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that in due time he will lift you up. Would you bow your head enclosure.

As with me, as we pray, how many of you would say this morning, Dr. Pettit.

Please pray for me. I really struggle with pride and and and I don't want to be that way and pray that I would be willing to be humble who would acknowledge that this morning with your hand up all over the building all the building but you sophomore sitting over the road able raise your hand. Lord you seen the hand. You know our hearts and Lord you your you have given us in the person of your son Jesus a living example of how were to be more helpless to humble yourselves and your mighty hand you will lift us up in the time you want to do it and we thank you that we will ultimately be raised in Jesus and his name. You've been listening to a sermon from the book of Philippians by Dr. Steve Pettit, president of Bob Jones University. If you would like to order the study booklet titled live worthy of the gospel which was written for the series, visit our website@thedailyplatform.com. Join us again tomorrow is we continue the study in Philippians on the daily plan