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[0:00] Psalm 45. We'll read the whole chapter tonight. My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the King.

[0:10] ! My tongue is a pen of a skillful writer.! You are the most excellent of men, and your lips have been anointed with grace since God has blessed you forever. Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one.

[0:24] Clothe yourself with splendor and majesty. In your majesty, ride forth victoriously. In behalf of truth, humility, and righteousness, let your right hand display awesome deeds.

[0:37] Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies. Let the nations fall beneath your feet. Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever.

[0:51] A scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness. Therefore, God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

[1:07] All your robes are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and casia. From palaces adorned with ivory, the music of strings makes you glad. Daughters of the king are among your honored women.

[1:22] At your right hand is the royal bride in gold of Ophir. Listen, O daughter, consider and give ear. Forget your people and your father's house.

[1:33] The king is enthralled by your beauty. Honor him, for he is your lord. The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift. Men of wealth will seek your favor. All glorious is the princess with her chamber.

[1:47] Her gown is interwoven with gold. In embroidered garments she is led to the king. Her virgin companions follow her and are brought to you. They are led in with joy and gladness.

[2:01] They enter the palace of the king. Your sons will take the place of your fathers. You will make them princes throughout the land. I will perpetuate your memory through all generations.

[2:14] Therefore, the nations will praise you forever and ever. How are you doing? How is your relationship with Jesus?

[2:26] Are you dry? Perhaps disinterested? Do you feel like you have nothing to say to Jesus?

[2:39] Maybe you wish you had motivation, but you don't. Maybe you wish you cared, but you don't. You don't feel the need to get closer to him. You're self-satisfied.

[2:50] Perhaps you're happy. And you're really thriving. You can say, by God's grace, I really am. I'm growing in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

[3:05] I wish I had more of him, but he is everything to me. Has the Spirit of God perhaps been convicting you? And you walk around sick to your stomach, like an overinflated balloon because of your sin.

[3:22] You feel like you're empty on the inside, but you're ready to burst, fall apart. Perhaps you're already tuning out. Because while you want something, you don't think it possibly could be Jesus.

[3:39] And so, what I have to say is irrelevant. It's unimportant. I don't know how this evening finds you. I don't know how you're doing. But I do know that you do need Jesus.

[3:53] You need Jesus. And here's the good news. Even now, he's crowding in on you, coming to you. Ephesians says he's ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe.

[4:09] So he's filling the universe. He's coming. He's demanding a response from you, demanding change, giving hope, giving grace, confronting you in your life.

[4:20] And so, I don't know where tonight finds you. But here's good news. Jesus is here. You can meet with him. And he's the bread.

[4:31] He's the rain. He's the sun. He's everything that you need. Well, in these evenings, we've been looking at the glory of Christ.

[4:43] And we can't look at this objectively. We can't look at him objectively. We aren't scientists. We aren't objective theologians.

[4:54] Charlie Redd. Psalm 45. This beautiful picture of Christ and the church. And he's our husband. He's our lover.

[5:04] His banner over us is love. His glory is our covering. We were meant for him. Church of God, you were meant for Jesus Christ.

[5:15] We're his bride. He's our bridegroom. And so, tonight, as we come to look at the glory of Christ in his exaltation. And what I mean by that is that he reigns.

[5:29] He's over all. He's king of kings. He's lord of lords. He's glorious. He's grand. God has lifted him to the highest place. What I mean is that is good news for you.

[5:41] He's yours. He's yours. This is not someone who is far off. This is someone that you are joined to. And you have to remember that tonight. This is your savior.

[5:52] This is the one who loves you. And even now, he is joined to your humanity. His lips are anointed with grace. Out of his fullness, we receive grace upon grace.

[6:05] He's been given the spirit without measure. And so, he is so full. And he has everything for you. And so, the one who has been exalted looks after your interests.

[6:20] He did in coming and in dying. He was looking after your interests. But now that he has risen and exalted over all, the glory is. He is still looking after your interests.

[6:34] Even now, his heart is touched with your weakness. With your infirmity. He's joined to you. And so, even though he is above the fray, so to speak.

[6:48] He still feels what you are feeling. He loves you like his own body. For you are his own body. He's united to you and you are united to him.

[7:00] And so, why am I saying all this? To remind you that as we go through the glory of Christ's exaltation, that this is good news for you. This is glorious good news for you.

[7:13] You're his and he's yours. And that changes everything. It changes everything about your life. It changes everything about your trials. It changes everything about your family dynamics and your personal life.

[7:26] It changes everything. So, put your past behind you. Forget your father and your people. Your father's house. Here is your Lord.

[7:36] And so, his exaltation isn't just good for him. It's good for you. So, we're looking at his glory. Please turn again with me to Philippians chapter 2.

[7:47] Philippians chapter 2. And we're going to finish this passage. We've gone halfway through it. And we're going to begin reading at verse 9. And we'll read a few verses.

[7:58] And this is what we're going to look through tonight. Philippians chapter 2 and verse 9. Christ has been humbled to the grave.

[8:10] Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place. And gave him the name that is above every name. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven.

[8:21] And on earth. And under the earth. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. To the glory of God the Father. Four questions tonight.

[8:33] Who? How? Where? And why? Who, how, where, and why? First, who. Who exalted him?

[8:46] Verse 9. Therefore, God exalted him. Who exalted him? God. God. His exaltation is not proud self-exaltation.

[8:58] He humbled himself. He made himself nothing. But he did not exalt himself. God did. Christ was humble. He obeyed. He obeyed to death.

[9:09] He suffered. He died. That's what he did. And in response to that, God exalted him. Now, lots of people are exalting themselves nowadays, aren't they?

[9:21] In schools, teens are exalting themselves. They're putting others down. They're looking down their noses at others. They're trying to get to the top. They want to be popular.

[9:31] They want to have everyone like them. They want to be honored and respected. They want to be seen. At work, men and women are exalting themselves. Talking about how good their work is.

[9:43] Talking bad about other people's work. Belittling other people's work. And so when they mess up, they cover and they excuse. And there's always extra reasons why it happened. Anything other than them having weakness.

[9:57] Even something else besides them. Why? Because they want everyone to look up to them. They want to be exalted. They want to be thought of as great and special.

[10:08] On your street, people are exalting themselves. In your city, people are exalting themselves. In the high places of our nation, the presidency, the congress, the courts, White House, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, everywhere.

[10:24] People are exalting themselves. Lifting themselves up higher than they should be. And what about you? What about you?

[10:35] Is your whole life a one long pursuit of self-exaltation? And God does not leave us to wonder what his attitude is toward this movement of man to exalt himself.

[10:56] Obadiah 3. You who say to yourself, who can bring me down to the ground? Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars.

[11:11] From there, I will bring you down, declares the Lord. God opposes the proud. They lift themselves up and he swats them down.

[11:24] They try to reach higher. They crawl over the backs of others and he throws them down. He blocks their path. He's a great wrestler and he is always wrestling down the pride of men.

[11:36] God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. So the Father in heaven turns his eyes upon his son, his precious son, the son that he loves, and see him there.

[11:51] He's lying on a stone, cold bed, dead. Why is he dead? Because he obeyed.

[12:06] Because he humbled himself. And he humbled himself to death, even death on the cross. And so there he sees his son. The son he loves. Humbled.

[12:18] Buried away from the world. Thrown down. He sees where his obedience has taken him. And the Father's heart can't take it. His heart bursts into love.

[12:31] And with his mighty arm, he begins to lift him higher and higher. He exalts him. And so no one can say the son doesn't deserve to be there.

[12:42] Because this is what God has done. No one can say Christ doesn't deserve to be there. No one can say this is unfair. No one can say he got there on the back of his enemies. He got there by putting other people down.

[12:52] No, he was there because the righteous judge of heaven and earth said, My son deserves the highest place because of what he has done. He exalted him.

[13:05] So why is he king of kings and lord of lords? Why are angels crying out, glory, glory to the lamb? And why are they falling down on their faces before him? Because God exalted him.

[13:17] God saw his sacrifice and he was pleased. And God's heart was burned with passion to exalt, to honor, to glorify his son. And so see what the father thinks of his son's work.

[13:29] See what the father thinks of his work upon the cross. He sits on his father's throne. So see the man of sorrows now.

[13:40] Angels, saints, crowd around him. Own his title. Praise his name. See what God thinks of his sacrifice. Let me ask you, what do you think of his sacrifice?

[13:53] Is it a small thing in your life? Something that doesn't register among all the other things that you have to do? Your work, your family, your church life.

[14:06] Is it a small thing in the mix of your life? Or is it a reason to never stop praising him? That your heart is drawn to his cross again and again throughout your day, every day because of what he has done for you?

[14:23] Does your opinion match God's opinion? He's at the highest place. He deserves the highest honor. That's what God thinks.

[14:34] What do you think? God exalted him. That's who. Now how? How high? How high did God exalt him? The NIV says he exalted him to the highest place.

[14:48] That's a rather loose interpretation, a loose way to translate it. It says literally, he super exalted him. He super exalted him. This verb is only used once in the whole Bible.

[15:00] It means he transcendentally exalted him over everything. God takes the God man, Jesus Christ, and gives him all the glory and all the dignity of what it means to be God over all of creation.

[15:15] God doesn't just exalt him. He super exalts him. God elevates him right above every creature and all of creation. Right above the highest heavens.

[15:25] Ephesians 4.10. He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the universe.

[15:35] Ephesians 1.20. God exalted him far above all rule and authority, power and dominion and every title that can be given. How high is your husband?

[15:46] How exalted is he? How high is the one who loves you with all that he is? He's higher than the heavens. Isn't that good news?

[15:59] Isn't that wonderful? Good news. Isn't that wonderful to think about? It began with the resurrection, but it didn't end there. Resurrection led to ascension and ascension led to coronation.

[16:12] God raises him until he can be raised no higher. He seats him on the throne of the universe. And he gives him a name that is above every name.

[16:26] A name. It's a reputation. It's a standing. It's his dignity, his honor, his rank. So God gives him a name, a place of dignity above every other name.

[16:41] So did you know that the Queen of England has a husband? Maybe you didn't know that. Maybe you did. Queen Elizabeth has a husband. His name is Philip. Philip has been married to Elizabeth for a very long time now, 50 years.

[16:55] But he is not King Philip. There's no King of England. There's only a queen. He's called Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. He has other titles, other ranks.

[17:06] He has a name. He has a name. He has a rank. But it's not as high as his wife's. She is queen. And he is prince. She's the monarch.

[17:21] And he is her husband. And it's almost like it doesn't work the other way. So there are many names, many titles and ranks. King, Prince, Duke, Earl.

[17:33] CEO, President, Vice President. Many names, many titles. But God has exalted Jesus Christ and given him the highest name, the highest rank, the highest title.

[17:43] A name above every name. The highest honor. We read about it in Ephesians. He seated him far above every rule, all rule and authority and power and dominion.

[17:54] Every title that can be given. Rule, authority, power, and dominion. That's Paul's way of talking about angelic ranks. He's talking about angelic titles.

[18:08] Apparently in heaven there's a hierarchy of angels. We don't understand very much of it. But some are higher than others. Some are lower than others. Some have more control.

[18:18] Some have, they're in charge of more. Some are in charge of less. Each has a title. Each has a rank. Each has a position. But far above the highest one is Jesus Christ.

[18:31] Jesus sits. His is the kingdom. His is the power and the majesty and the glory forever. So that's how. That's how far. That's how high he is exalted.

[18:43] Here's the third question. Where? Where? Where will Christ be exalted? And you see it there. At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow.

[18:56] Where? Where? In heaven and on earth and under the earth. Where? In heaven. He'll be exalted.

[19:06] He is exalted. In heaven, that's talking about the angels. Then I saw a lamb. Looking as if it had been slain.

[19:17] Standing in the center of the throne. Encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. And he came and he took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

[19:28] And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb. And they sang a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were slain.

[19:41] And with your blood, you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on earth.

[19:54] And then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousands. Ten thousand times ten thousand.

[20:08] In the ancient world, the largest number that you could write was ten thousand. So he's saying an innumerable host. Times an innumerable host of angels.

[20:22] And they encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. And in a loud voice they sang, Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.

[20:38] Seven-fold praise. All the praise of all of heaven is what Jesus receives. John sees four living creatures. One like a lion, one like an ox, one like a man, and one like an eagle.

[20:53] They're the angelic reflections of the created order. They're the angelic reflections of the animal kingdom. So here animals can't sing. But in heaven, these angelic representations of them, reflections of them, are in the heavenly court.

[21:11] And they fall down before the lamb. And John sees 24 elders. And these are the angelic reflections of the rulers of God's people.

[21:22] So there were 12 patriarchs, 12 sons of Jacob that became Israel. There were 12 patriarchs and 12 apostles. And so there are 24 elders. These are the angelic reflections of the rulers of God's people.

[21:36] And they, too, fall down before the lamb. And then John sees angels. And innumerable hosts of angels, thousands and thousands, 10,000 times, 10,000 singing, worthy is the lamb.

[21:50] Their hearts, all of their hearts are throbbing with praise, with passionate worship for the lamb. And one day we will be there. Or even better yet, one day that will be here.

[22:03] Because heaven will come to earth. So in heaven, Christ is exalted. One day it will be on earth. And every knee will bow.

[22:16] It's almost Christmas time. And maybe you'll go and see Handel's Messiah or hear it. And everyone knows from Handel's Messiah, the most famous song is the Hallelujah Chorus.

[22:32] People love the Hallelujah Chorus. They love to sing it. And they almost always sing it out of context. Because the context, for most people, is not very nice.

[22:43] And Handel's Messiah, right before the Hallelujah Chorus, right before everyone is singing, King of kings, Lord of lords. There are four short little songs.

[22:56] Arias, I think. Based on four scriptures. First, a man comes out. A bass. And he sings, why do the nations rage?

[23:10] And then the chorus sings, let us break their bonds asunder. And then a tenor sings, he who dwells in heaven laughs. And then another tenor comes out and he sings, thou shalt break them.

[23:25] And then, and only then, do you come to the Hallelujah Chorus. Before Hallelujah, thou shalt break them.

[23:38] You are my son. You are my son. You are my son. Today I become your father. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance. The ends of the earth. The ends of the earth, your possession.

[23:49] And you will rule over them with an iron scepter. And you will dash them to pieces like pottery. Knees don't bow now.

[24:01] But knees will bow. Men laugh at Jesus. He's unimportant. He's not a part of the news. He's not a part of the story. They war against Jesus. They will not honor him.

[24:12] They will not trust him. He's unimportant. He's a nobody. They do not bow. But they will bow. And they will bow on broken knees. If that's the way it has to be.

[24:24] On earth, men will bow. Where? On earth, in heaven, and then under the earth. The damned in hell will bow.

[24:36] The fallen angels will bow. Jesus will be worshipped by all. And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

[24:47] Every knee means every knee. In Paul's day, people were expected to confess Caesar is Lord. Kaiser Kurios.

[24:59] But the pride of men will be put down. And on that day, there will be no more Kaiser Kurios. Caesar is Lord. There will only be Christos Kurios. Jesus Christ is Lord.

[25:13] So then no man will lay a hold of his place. No man will exalt himself to that position. No man will exalt himself against Christ again.

[25:25] Then Christ will be over all. And that confession that Christ is Lord will be squeezed out of every heart, if that's how it has to be. Out of every fallen heart.

[25:36] Out of every fallen angel's heart. They will admit that he is their Lord. He is their Lord. They might not have voted for him. They might not have wanted him.

[25:48] They might have fought against him tooth and nail. But they will confess that he is their Lord. And if you have not yet bowed your knee to Jesus, you will bow.

[26:01] You will bow before him. God has done it. He has exalted him. Can you fight against your maker?

[26:13] And the question is, why not make peace now? Why not bow now? Is your sin worth your destruction? Is your sin worth your humiliation and your broken body and your shattered knees?

[26:28] Just think about it. You will bow. I beg you to think about what you're doing. Jesus sits on a throne of grace even now.

[26:42] Sits on a throne of grace. That means that right now he is graciously disposed to sinners. Sinners come. He receives them. They come confessing. He forgives them.

[26:54] They come saying, I need to be saved. Nothing in my hands I bring. He gives them everything. He is willing to save. Today is the day of salvation. But the devil is saying, just wait.

[27:05] Wait. Keep waiting. But why wait? Why not make peace? Why not repent and throw yourself down now while it could be a blessing to you instead of a curse?

[27:20] That's the last question. And that brings us to the last question. Why? Why is Christ exalted? To the glory of God the Father. Christ is exalted to glorify the Father.

[27:35] When we throw ourselves down at Jesus' feet, we honor the Father. To honor the Son is to honor the Father. God wants to be glorified through his Son.

[27:48] God wants us to come to him and honor him through his Son. In honoring his Son, we honor him. And so he makes his Son the one and only Lord.

[28:01] He makes his Son the one and only Savior. This is his plan. This is his idea. And so when we come and we come and confess that Jesus Christ is glorious and we bow before him in our hearts and we worship him and we sing him, we're agreeing with God.

[28:18] We're taking God's side on the matter, on the opinion of Jesus Christ. And we're saying, yes, what you have done is right.

[28:31] What you have done is good. The Father loves the Son and he wants everyone to honor him. And so we can't be afraid to make too much of Jesus Christ.

[28:43] We can't be afraid to make too much of Jesus Christ. That is an impossibility. Angels in heaven aren't saying, don't you think we're getting carried away?

[28:54] God isn't saying, hey, why are you doing that? Don't I deserve some praise? No, all eyes, all hearts, all minds, all thoughts are focused on Jesus Christ.

[29:05] And God the Father wants it that way. We can't be afraid to think too much of him, to put our trust in him, to love him, to think about him, to give ourselves to him, to serve him.

[29:15] That is not to be imbalanced. That is to echo God's own heart. That is to be God-like.

[29:28] When heaven and earth and under the earth and everything falls down in worship and confessing the Lord, God will smile. He will not take it as if he's being robbed of glory.

[29:40] He will take it as if now I am glorified. God delights in his son. So Christian, delight yourself in the Lord. Delight yourself in the Lord.

[29:54] We read it in Psalm 45, that beautiful picture of Christ and his church. And the psalmist says, oh, daughter. That's us, the princess of the king.

[30:05] Oh, daughter, think and give ear. Forget your people in your father's house. The king is enthralled by your beauty. Honor him, for he is your Lord.

[30:17] And then the princess is dressed. And she is brought into his presence. Brought to her king. And then it's the rest of the story.

[30:30] And they lived happily ever after. God delights in his son. He delights to honor and exalt him. And so you should delight yourself in the son.

[30:41] Delight yourself in Christ. Look at him. By faith, even now lay a hold of him. He's reigning. He's reigning for you. He's putting all of his enemies and your enemies under your feet.

[30:55] He's our Joshua. When was the last time you read Joshua? He came in. Joshua. He led the armies of God. And he conquered the kings.

[31:06] And then what he did was he lined up those kings. And made them lie down. And had the elders of God's people walk across their necks. And then he slew them.

[31:19] That's our Jesus. Conquering our enemies. Putting them under our feet. And so delight yourself in the Lord. Your old life is behind you. If you're a Christian, there's been a great divide in your life.

[31:32] Before Jesus and after Jesus. Your old life is gone. You have a new Lord. Lord. So what troubles? What sorrows?

[31:45] What trials? Are you facing? Bring them to the risen King. There he is. Seated on the throne. Bring them to him. By faith, bring Jesus into the field of battle.

[31:58] You are never meant to live the Christian life without your risen Savior by your side. So when sin trips you up, bring it to Jesus. He's triumphant over sin. Son. Triumphant over sin.

[32:09] He has grace for you. Are you weary? Are you careless? This is where we begin and this is where we'll end.

[32:20] Are you weary of the Christian life? Not very excited about all that. Shake it off. Gird yourself up to fight.

[32:33] Jesus is the King. You have to put the sloth, the carelessness behind you. Jesus calls you to fight. He calls you to be with him and stand with him in this battle.

[32:46] And so will you stand there and do nothing? Will you stand there and watch the fight go on? Look at your King. He's exalted over all. This is not a losing battle. This is a winning fight that we are in.

[32:58] So shake off your weariness. And as Jesus is on the throne, let's go out of here with joy. Joy. Because of what Jesus has done.

[33:10] Jesus reigns and that changes everything. Amen. Well, let's pray. Oh, our great God, we thank you that you exalted our Savior to the highest place.

[33:24] And that truly has changed everything for us. We take joy in his position. We take joy in you honoring him. We thank you that we are united to him.

[33:37] Thank you that he loves us. He loves us even now. Now that he is exalted over all. Now that he is receiving the praise of angels.

[33:47] Thank you that one day on the earth and under the earth, he will receive praise. And we look forward to participating in that coming day. And so we pray, come Lord Jesus.

[33:59]  Come quickly. Amen.