Bow to Him Now!

Philippians chapter 2 verse 5. let this mind or attitude be in you which was also in Christ Jesus being in the form of God not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore God also hath highly exalted him 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 verse 10 says every knee should bow this Philippians 2 10 and 11 the end of that passage speaks of a day when every knee of all created beings will bow to Jesus Christ as Lord not all willingly some will be forced to bow that will not be a day of salvation it will be a day of the revelation of Jesus Christ the beginning of Eternal judgment and eternal reward everyone will bow then but my message tonight to us is bow to him now Worship the Lord before we're seated Hallelujah [Music] Hallelujah since your presence so strong here Lord [Music] amen praise God God bless you please be seated I think I could give an altar call now and we would all come teaching on the principle the biblical principle of submission to the authority of God but I want to make it clear that everyone must be under Authority and true Authority comes from being under Authority we're not teaching today about my authority I'm teaching on the lordship of Jesus Christ but I feel like it's important for you to know that I try to practice what I preach of being a man under Authority and seek counsel in the multitude of counselors there is safety or board our pastoral team and ministerial brothers that are not there's not a lot of people a lot older than me nowadays so some of them are my peers but I believe it's important for you to understand that I I know the importance of being under Authority for the last several months before I come to the pulpit I've just been praying Lord I want you to know that I submit myself I humble myself under the mighty hand of God I want to be a man under Authority last week I taught on this subject not my Will from The Prayer of Jesus and the Garden of Gethsemane Luke 22 42 saying father if thou be willing remove this cup from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done so I want to take just a few minutes maybe a little longer than normal to review what I taught last week first of all I taught at the essence of sin is self-will Isaiah 53 6 all we like sheep have gone astray we've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all I talked about the progressive nature of sin that sin originates with self-will this autonomy of demanding my own way that then leads to Rebellion against the authority of God and resisting the will of God ultimately it leads to unrighteousness or sinful behaviors that starts with cell will leads to Rebellion against God and that it always plays out with uh with unrighteous acts have you ever noticed that most sinful Behavior has an addictive nature to it it brings you under the power of that sinful Behavior regardless of whether it is chemical psychological emotional physiological it brings you under that power amen so it's important to be under the lordship of Jesus Christ I spoke about Satan's five I Wills in Isaiah 14 I will Ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also upon the Mount of the congregation in the sides of the north I will Satan said Ascend above the heights of the clouds and I will be like or equal to the most high now I asked this question last last week I've been thinking about this how does an Angel become a devil you know he was the covering cherub and I'm not going to go back and review all that I said about him from the Bible but when self-will took over his will when he decided that he would exalt himself against the lordship of almighty God then there was iniquity found in his heart we don't know if it was an overnight process we don't know if he did go around spreading gossip on God and seduce a third of the angels to go with him however that happened it seems to have happened but when God saw this iniquity or crookedness or perverseness in him that he went astray he went from being the covering cherub an angel to the devil lifted up in Pride full of himself Ezekiel 28 says that he was cast out as a profane thing out of the Mountain of God so I was thinking on this I went back to my file that has series of messages in it and back in February of 2020 there are several messages that were taught on this theme Brother jury taught on February 5th 2020 on this theme to obey is better and I'm saying that because if you want to go back and study more biblical principles of authority you can go back there on the 12th of February 2020 I taught on the wisdom of submission and and uh there are similarities in that message to last week and if I would have gone back and read those those they could have saved me a lot of time last week but I didn't and then on the 19th of February 2020 I taught an understanding Authority and then on a Sunday February 23rd 2020 I I spoke on the struggle for Spiritual Authority Jacob and Esau wrestling and then finally Jacob wrestling with God so if you want to go back if you want to study more that's what you can do but today I want to focus on Philippians 3 and 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven of things in Earth and things under the earth now when I was 18 years old I went on a missions trip to Korea and I saw those people bowing In some cultures especially in eastern cultures bowing is a common practice battling or stooping lowering your torso and head it's a way of showing honor and it's really more detail than we know about who is allowing to whom and if it is just a mutual respect between peers or bowing to a person in Authority or bowing to an elder it's a lot of uh there's a lot of nuances to bowing and understanding the culture in which you're operating otherwise you might shake hands with a person instead of bowing to them and you might bow to a person when you should not bow to them in diplomatic situations and among aristocracy and European countries there's also bowing but there's a Biblical history of bowing that we find in the Bible there are several words in the Hebrew and at least one in the Greek that have this word bow now if you're doing a word search you're probably going to find a lot of scriptures about a bow that you shoot not bow that you do there's the Hebrew word the transliteration would be k-a-r-a so he's about 30 times in the Bible it's a verb it means bowing or falling down at the knees and it can refer to this literally or metaphorically that you have a heart that is reverent or Bowing in humility now the word bow down is found in a lot of contexts including bowing down to God bowing down to Idols bowing to angels and even bowing to people that you would see is Superior or an elder all of those examples are in the Bible sometimes it's prostration falling flat on your face in in the Bible when Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple he knelt before the Lord First Kings 8 54 says that when Solomon made an end of his prayer and supplication to the Lord he arose from before the altar of the Lord from Neil killing on his knees with his hands spread toward Heaven here is Solomon this wise King on his knees kneeling before god with his hands outstretched to Heaven it was a physical posture symbolic of the condition of his heart I mentioned that this is a social greeting and to angels and even someone that is showing submission even in enslavement to someone who has captured you but it expresses deep respect and reverence to the person that you are bowing to at the dedication of the first temple I referred to Solomon but in second chronicles 7 3 it describes the worship of the people and when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down and the glory of the Lord upon the house they bow themselves with their faces to the ground of upon the pavement and worshiped and praise the Lord saying for he is good for his mercy endureth forever in the New Testament when Paul was praying his famous prayer a prayer that I love very much for the Ephesian Christians Ephesians 3 14 Paul said for this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named so I wanted you to see a little bit of a Biblical background about this practice of bowing your knee to someone that you Revere and especially bowing To God In Worship now our text Philippians 2 is really begins in verse 1 with a teaching on humility between people in the body of Christ Philippians 2 1 if they're therefore if they're be there for any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any Fellowship of the spirit if any bowels or heart and mercies fulfill you my joy that you be like-minded having the same love being of one Accord and one mind let nothing be done through Strife or vainglory something to exalt yourself but in lowliness of Mind Let each esteem other better than themselves this is the attitude that should be in the body of Christ now we don't look down on anyone there's a phrase you've heard about holier than thou that's actually in the Bible that some people think that they are holier than someone else let nothing be done by Strife or vainglory verse 4 look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others now just in case you want to twist this verse it doesn't mean be nosy it doesn't mean get in other people's business it means care about other people means be alert aware sensitive to what might be going on in someone else's life so that you can be there for them and care for them but if you're always thinking that everyone else is supposed to care for you then this is probably not going to be your mindset and then to give an example of true humility the Apostle Paul tells us about Jesus let this mind this attitude this mindset we might say be in you which was also in Christ Jesus so then Paul tells about describes the humility of Jesus Christ and what we would call his condescension Philippians 2 and 5. being in the form of God if I did not robbery to be equal with God and made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death and then I love this last phrase even the death of the Cross without going into a lot of detail it's one thing to die but to die by crucifixion was quite a humiliating experience to hang naked to be be brutally beaten to be tortured to be exposed to the elements to have people come by wagging their heads railing on you hung between two thieves identifying with the worst of the worst even the death of the Cross amen I grew up singing songs what like what condescension bringing us Redemption he made himself of no reputation the form of a servant humbled himself obedient unto death even the death of a cross so here is Jesus who is the example of humility of serving one another but then the Apostle Paul takes us to the result of that now Hebrews 12 talks about Jesus enduring the cross for the joy that was set before him that is not his angle in Philippians chapter 2 but he is saying that because of his humility because he became obedient unto death even the death of the cross it was that posture it was that humility that caused him that mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus to then be exalted verse 9 wherefore God hath also highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name but at the knee of Jesus every knee should bow but things in heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father what does this mean that Jesus Christ is Lord in the Old Testament the Jews would not say the name of the Lord it was so reverent they would not say Yahweh and when the Septuagint was written by the Jews the Greek Old Testament at least 6156 times the unique name of Yahweh was translated Lord that name was so sacred and what Paul is saying to everyone there that God has given him a name that everything he would bow and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh that Jesus Christ is the only God that there is none beside him amen the Jewish prophets proclaimed God's exclusive claim to his own name Isaiah 45 I am the lord and there is no other part for me there is no God so Jesus is given this name Lord that belongs to God Almighty alone now Oneness Pentecostals understand this idea amen this doctrine that there is one God Amen no Jew would ever believe that there is a trinity of gods one God eternally existed in three persons that would be heresy to them as it is to God who alone is everything so this name Lord wasn't like Jesus Christ is is a god like all the other small gods gods in the Hellenistic world he's not just a rival to Caesar he is Lord he is Yahweh he is God alone amen so this meant something that is the only god of Jewish monotheism Creator and Sovereign of all every knee shall bow now Romans 14 is a chapter about Christian Liberty about not judging one another in matters of Christian Liberty not about sound Doctrine Romans 14 10 but why does thou judge thy brother or why does thou set at not thy brother why do you despise him is what that phrase means for we shall all stand before the Judgment seat of Christ for as it is written Paul is reminding them as it is written and we're going to talk about where this was written as I live saith the Lord every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God so quit having this being in your eye and finding this moat this little speck of sawdust in your brother's eye Philippians 2 Romans 14 are citations of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah I want to go back to Isaiah 40 to 21 to give you where these phrases come from they don't just come out of Paul's mind they come out of inspiration of almighty God but they come out of the Old Testament tell you and bring them near yea let them take counsel together who have declared this from ancient time who had told it from that time have not I the lord and there is no God else beside me a just God and a savior there is none beside me look into me and be saved all the ends of the Earth for I am God and there is none else now when he says to the ends of the Earth that means he's not just a Jewish god he is a God of All Flesh amen he worked through the Jewish people through the seed of them to bring us Jesus Christ but he is God of the ends of the Earth there's not a gentile God and a Jewish god and an American God Amen he is God alone in verse 40 23 of chapter 45. I have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return that unto me every knee shall bow every tongue shall swear or confess God Almighty Yahweh Jehovah God is saying this of himself and it is not it is not wrong to say that this is said of Jesus Christ and we believe that now this passage is is a hymn a song that would have been sung in church and it envisions the end of time when Jesus Christ is revealed as king of kings and Lord of lords Revelation tells of this time in Revelation 17 13 that they fight against him but they find out that he is the Lord of lords and King of Kings in Revelation 19 the armies that are with God are following him on white horses and they are clothed in fine linen white and clean and out of his mouth goes a sharp sword and that he should Smite the Nations and rule them but they rot of iron and he Treads The Wine Press of the fierceness of the wrath of almighty God and he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written king of kings and Lord of lords and this hen in Philippians 2 all three Realms of the universe are subject to the authority of Jesus Christ all of the Angelic beings all human beings and all of the underworld every Fallen Angel every being created will bow their knee to the lordship of Jesus Christ Angels demons humans the whole universe will openly Express total submission before the Lord Jesus Christ it's hard to fathom that people that are experiencing the Judgment of God do not always repent they don't turn from their evil ways you heard me say a few times around here that the greatest Revival in America should be in nursing homes her people are facing imminent death but if you said no to God for 15 60 70 80. 90 years or longer what changes that human will to say God I'm sorry for my sins that's why I said a while ago we want our tenderhearted children to come to God in their youth before they have hardened their hearts against God Pharaoh in Exodus 9. the hail and the Thunders are ceased the Bible said he sinned more he hardened his heart he and his servants the heart of pharaoh was hardened neither would he let the children of Israel go was thinking about the Book of Revelation when the wrath of God is poured out Revelation chapter 9 and I'm just giving you the highlights of Revelation 9 starting in verse 17. talks about these in all of the imagery of Revelation a third part of men are killed by fire by smoke and by brimson was issued out of their mouths for their powers in their mouth and in their tails for their tails were likened to serpents in their heads and with them they do hurt and the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not they repent and Nod of the works of their hands that they should not worship devils and Idols of gold of silver and brass and stone and wood which neither can see nor hear nor walk neither repent a day of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their fornication nor of their thefts can you imagine that people in in those kinds of judgments would have their hearts hardened and would not repent Revelation 19 8 on the screens and the fourth Angel poured out his vile upon the son and power was given to him The Scorch men with fire I don't want to be around when this happens I'm looking forward to the catching away of the church we call it the Rapture in a moment in the twinkling of an eye amen the dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord we are not appointed unto wrath amen in Revelation 19 describes wrath 1916 9 rather 16 9. and men were scorched with great Heat and blasphemed the name of God now this is unthinkable which has power over these plagues God could have stopped it right God had power over these plagues they repented not to give him glory may I remember Romans 1 when people knew him they glorified him not as God neither were thankful sounds kind of innocent doesn't it but it's really acknowledgment of who he is they would not turn from their wickedness and they would not acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ and the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seed of the Beast and his kingdom was full of darkness and they gnawed their tongues for pain and blasphemed the god of Heaven because of their pains and of their sores and repented not of their deeds you know what does it take the rich man says sin Lazarus let him go back and preach to my brothers tell them not to come to this place for I am tormented in this Flame Father Abraham in this imagery says they have Moses and the prophets they have a Bible and that they won't believe the Bible they will not believe though one rise from the dead you would think that people under these conditions of the judgments of God they're gnawing their teeth they're in incredible pain there's a God who has a power to stop everything but they do not repent or turn from their ways these people who are Smitten by God he will not repent one of these days they will fall on their knees and they will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father the expectation that every tongue will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord doesn't mean that all of creation will gladly offer praise and thanksgiving to God it's not like a worship service at church thank God we do that it means to declare openly and acknowledge and in other words when they confess they're forced to confess they have no option but to do that amen the god of Isaiah 45 they've raged against him they'll be put to shame so I want to repeat this it doesn't mean that there's going to be this Universal participation in some statement of faith or confessing Christ as their lord the Lord of their lives it's an open and irrevocable admission that they have lived their lives all wrong and their eternity will be Everlasting torment away from the presence of God but they will have to recognize that he is God of the universe and he sits in the seat of uncontested authority he sits on the circle of the earth and the inhabitants of the Earth are nothing to him amen every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord now the big picture of this passage is that when we come to church and we worship God and we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord we are changing our Eternal destiny every time a sinner repents and turns from their sins and all of Heaven rejoices and we Rejoice with them when we celebrate what's with a party when we see that conversion that transactional experience that a sinner becomes a saint and they confess with their tongue they bow at their knee that Jesus Christ is Lord the greatest thing on Earth what it saves them from and what it saves them too that is the work of the church amen here is Jesus Christ in those days the Philippian Christians going through times of persecution Hard Times prison epistle but here it is Paul says it is Jesus Christ who was crucified on a Roman cross not Caesar who is Seated on a Roman throne who will rule forever and ever and ever and though you may be in a season in time and difficulty and pain in your life you have the greatest hope of all the world that you have chosen to bow to him now praise God here are Christians in Philippi that are kind of translated from Earth to Heaven they're seeing the scene of the end they're being taken out of this nasty now and now to that sweet by and Pie they're seeing what will be on that day when they confess and they bow their knee gladly to the lordship of Jesus Christ and all the harsh realities of Hell will be averted because they bow to him now and they will not be forced to bow to him then I look forward to the day that with all the saints of God that we bow our knee and we confess with our tongue that when I was eight years old I said Jesus Christ is Lord [Applause] so my message to you tonight is very simple bow to him now whenever you feel like his will is in conflict with yours he is not going to change his will change yours when he's calling you to a commitment that is difficult bow to him now God is not just a demanding authoritarian he loves us he gave himself for us he condescended he paid the ultimate price as a form of a servant so now he is highly exalted and he deserves our life and he deserves Our Praise God chastens those he loves but in time now he doesn't Force you doesn't Force us to bow to him just like the people in Revelation that I describe just like the people I refer to in our culture have lived their whole lives soon to leave this life but they leave not confessing not bowing in our culture we don't bow very much and I'm not asking you to bow or to pray kneeling always but I am calling you and I'm calling myself to make sure in my life make sure in your life decision by decision day by day challenged to your will by a challenge to your will that you bow to him now if you're able please stand there are numerous Old Testament scriptures about not bowing to the gods of this world but take the time to read through them in detail but Leviticus 26. he shall not set up any image of stone in your land to bow down to it Deuteronomy 5 Do Not Bow Down thyself to them Joshua you don't bow yourself to them there are lots of gods that they would face in their world but we do not bow to the gods of this world amen we do not bow to awoke culture we do not bow to Pagan practices if we do not bow Our Lives to the filth of this world that we would become servants to sin amen the lord gave us and I will not go into any detail about this several rounds of authority that he instituted Spiritual Authority or in the church domestic Authority in the home civil Authority the law corporate Authority at work all of these are in the Bible Ephesians other places of course and God tests our submission to him by our submission to these other entities that he established all authorities of God Romans 13 says we don't bow our will to anything that is against the will of God and even when it is not easy we bow to him now