931. God Exalts the Humble

God has a plan and a purpose for every single person. If we're supposed to mimic Jesus, Jesus was the ultimate example of humility since he humbled himself even to death on a cross. I've been learning to trust God with trials that I've been going through. I've learned that God is always there for me and he always provides the strength that I need. In chapel, I've been learning what it means to be humble and how that looks in the church and being a believer. God has been teaching me so much about just what discipleship looks like.

Those were Bob Jones University students who've been blessed by the chapel messages from the Philippians series called Live Worthy of the Gospel. Let's now listen to today's message from Philippians 2, 9 through 11 entitled God Exalts the Humble. I want to ask you to take your Bibles this morning. Turn with me, please, to the book of Philippians.

We've been working our way through this passage of Scripture as we've been studying the theme of living worthy of the Gospel. Paul is writing a church group of people that he greatly loves, he deeply loves. I was in a church last night. In fact, yesterday morning we were in Cincinnati, Ohio, and last night I preached at a 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, been there 51 years.

He's now 77 years old. The church is a thriving ministry. A number of our students here at the university come from that church. And one of the things I noticed yesterday as I was standing there, as one of the dear ladies said to the preacher afterwards, 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. And we go to a place where we are loved. And Paul is writing to this church that he really, really loves these people. And he challenges them to live their lives in a manner that reflects the worth of 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 he says in Philippians 2 five, let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. And last week, we look essentially at verses six through eight, where we see the son of God humbling himself and going to the cross. And we see the humility of God. Now today, we're going to begin in verse nine, excuse me, we're going to begin in verse nine, and we're going to see the response of the father to the son's humility. And 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 stamped on your soul.

It 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 one 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 at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, with 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 unalterable truth, something that will never change. And that is in the divine order of things, the way God has set things up, that the willingness, your willingness to humble yourself before God will inevitably lead to exaltation. Your willingness to humble yourself before God, you humbling yourself before God, will inevitably lead to God's exaltation of you. And you find it throughout the whole Bible. Proverbs 15, 33, before honor is humility. Proverbs 22, four, by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life. Observe in your mind humble Joseph, who God brought out of the pit and out of the prison and brought him into a palace and made him the prime minister of Egypt.

Why? Because God exalts the humble. Look at lowly Moses, who went from being an outlawed baby to growing up in the Egyptian palace of the king, who went from being an outlawed shepherd to the one who led the children of Israel miraculously out of Egyptian bondage. And what do we see in the life of Moses? God always exalts those who are humble. Notice the shepherd boy, David, the youngest of eight sons standing before the giant Goliath. And in one hurl of a stone, he slays the giant dead and David becomes the mighty victor.

What do 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 the tomb 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.

His heart is about you. And Jesus came into this world through the incarnation and he died on the cross through the crucifixion and he was buried in the tomb. In verses nine through 11, what do we see? We see the father is the one who exalts his humble son through the glorious resurrection and the glorious ascension of Jesus. And what the father did for the son is consistent to what Jesus told his disciples.

Matthew 23, 12, whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. I want to ask you the question this morning. 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 or left of you or in front of you or behind you. I'm talking to you young man.

I'm talking to you young lady. Do you believe that? Do you really believe that the pathway to exaltation is actually being humble? That's not the way the world thinks. The world doesn't see itself that way.

The world either either seeks to exalt itself or blame everybody else for its problems. And yet God has called us to humble ourselves and the humiliation of Jesus brought about the exaltation of Jesus. So this morning I'd like us to look a little more detail at this passage of scripture because it begins with the phrase if you'll note in verse 9 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 9 we see two 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 it 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 son's self-humiliation and two responses of the Father. Number one it says the Father exalted his son. 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 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 glorious imperishable body. A body that still bears the marks of his suffering for in his hands and his feet and his side he still bears the wounds and yet he comes out in that resurrected body. By the way if God resurrected his own son and his own son died for us then God's gonna resurrect us from the dead. I often think about the world and what makes the world exciting and we always have the exciting places the amusement parks the the streets of Las Vegas the downtown of New York City all the light the lights and the brightness of this world but you know what when you go to a graveyard a graveyard is never an exciting place to go. I mean who goes and hangs out at the graveyard but I want to tell you something the day is gonna come that the most exciting place on planet earth is gonna be a graveyard. You know why because the dead in Christ shall rise first and 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 is 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 and 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 particular spot and where he was standing suddenly he ascended upward into the clouds how do we know that because the disciples watched him and he disappeared in the clouds and the heavenly father by his own dynamic power took his own son from the earth through the skies into the very throne room of God into heaven and he Jesus came back to the place where he had left and now he has come back as the living God man Jesus 100% God and 100% man who has 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 that the father granted to this super exalted son a new name wherefore God also have highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name now here's the question what was that name well Jesus had all kinds of special names he was called Emmanuel 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 he's called the word the light the lamb the life the bread of life the I am the rock the way the truth the lot the alpha and the Omega and you can go on and on and on Jesus had multiple names but the name that the Lord gave him when he ascended into 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 except Jesus it is a name that is possessed by no one but many people have wanted to possess that name it is a name that makes you more than a mortal man it is a name that makes you God for example there was one man who was called Pharaoh do you know what 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 are you saying preacher I'm saying this that there are always would-be gods among men Joseph Goebbels Hitler's chief propaganda said in a broadcast on the 19th of April 1936 listen to this that Germany has been transformed into a great house of the Lord where the Fuhrer 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 have called 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 on that day there was a glorious coronation like you coronate a king and the father said to the son according to Psalm 110 in verse 1 the Lord said unto my Lord sit thou at my right hand until I make mine enemies thy footstool the father gave the son a new name and a new title and what is that title it is the Lord Jesus Christ and that word Lord means more than master because according to Isaiah 45 the Messiah is declared to be the God of Israel listen to Isaiah 45 22 look unto me and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else 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 and every tongue shall confess the Old Testament declares that the one that you are to bow your knee to and the one to whom you are to confess is the God of Israel and we come to the New Testament and what do 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 and that is Jesus Christ he is that he is superior over all creation all power has 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 son's throne has been established but 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 son his disciples should be the same way that if we humble ourselves God will exalt us and if we exalt ourselves God will humble us the way up is the way down the way to success is to serve I must not just accept humility as a way of life I must embrace it and let me just say right now one of the hardest things for an 18 19 20 21 year old is to be humble because you're 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 forefront of your brain God resisted the proud but he gives grace to the humble are you humble this is what God's calling us to be and the father responded to the 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 had exalted him and given him a name that is above every name and then notice verse 10 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 why 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 adore 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 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 let me ask you a question 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 have you put your life in God's hands have you bowed your knee to him have you surrendered your life to him the greatest need on the campus of Bob Jones University is the surrender of our lives to the authority of Jesus Christ take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee this is what he's 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 God I want to live your way I want to do your will Lord not my will but thine be done it's all throughout the life of Jesus and what is the response he says there are 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's human beings under the earth that's fallen spirits no knee will be left unbent whether it's human angelic or demonic some will bow in joyful delight some will bow in grudging shame but regardless of your condition every knee shall bow everyone will recognize Jesus Christ as Lord bow your knee before him now surrender your life to him now that's what he's saying and then secondly he says every tongue shall confess confession is not something different from the bowing of the knee its counterpart what are 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's the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy the one who said he would come to save and the word Lord represents his power he's sovereign over all I am the Lord and there is none other everyone is going to confess Jesus Christ is 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 for one great purpose and that is the purpose for which God has created the world he is doing it for his own glory for the manifestation of his person in his perfection that he will put on display who he is through his glorious son and so what is Paul telling us he's telling us this is the way we should think we should value humility we shall humble we should humble ourselves we should submit ourselves to the authority that is placed that is placed over us the Bible tells us in 1st Peter 5 that you're to submit yourselves unto the elder yea all of you are to be subject one another we to be clothed with humility for God resisted the proud but he 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 at 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 sheet that is your rankings it comes out at 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 find out at the end of your freshman year if you become a corporal your junior year you can either be a sergeant or you can be a private and you find out at the end of your sophomore year what your ranks gonna be your junior year and then at the end of your junior year you find out if you're gonna your senior year be a private or are you going to be an officer so you can be a private all four years or you can be a corporal sergeant or an officer Well, my sophomore year, I was a corporal. My junior year, I was a sergeant. And the rank sheet came out at the end of the year. And out of 2,000 cadets, there were only 32 people who had the rank of captain and above.

So out of the 2,000, only 32 had that rank, captain, major, lieutenant, colonel, colonel. Well, the rank sheet came out, and I actually was expecting to be a captain because I was fairly assured it was going to happen. And when the rank sheet came out, my name wasn't on the list.

I wasn't on any list. And what that meant was it meant that I was going to be a private my senior year. And I cannot tell you how that, like, killed me. And I remember going back to my room and sitting there and thinking, I'm going to be a private next year. And I was humbled by it.

I 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'm going to be a private, I want to be the best private I can be my senior year. And I just said, I accept it from your good hand, and I thank you for it. Well, I 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 petted? 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, and you're going to be on regimental staff, which means you're going to move out of your company, and you're going 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 at 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, and God, you're in control, and God, I can trust you, because you're Lord. Now that sounds easy to do, it's 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 is tell anybody, I'm going to be honest with you. I just love being vulnerable, needy, and weak. I just love that.

Actually, I'm the exact opposite. But this is where God has 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 and close your eyes 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 I don't want to be that way, and pray that I would be willing to be humble. Who would acknowledge that this morning? Lift your hand up all over the building.

All over the building. How about you, sophomore, sitting over in Rodeheaver, raise your hand. Lord, you've seen the hand, you know our hearts, and Lord, you have given us in the person of your son, Jesus, a living example of how we're to be. Lord, help us to humble yourselves under 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 in 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 this series, visit our website at thedailyplatform.com. Join us again tomorrow as we continue the study in Philippians on The Daily Platform.