The Living Word - A Resurrection Day Celebration

1:06One day he had this dream that he was binding sheaves in the field, and then his sheaf rose up above the others, and the other sheaves bowed down. And he told this to his brothers, and his brothers said, Are you actually going to reign over us? Do you really think you're going to reign over us? And then he had another dream, and this time there were 11 stars in the streets. Son and the moon, and they were bowing down to him.

1:35And they hated him all the more. His brothers were jealous of him. But his father kept all these things in mind. Of course, you know the story very well. It's the story of Joseph. And so his brothers plotted against him. They stripped him and they threw him in a pit. And then ultimately they sold him into slavery, thinking they had rid themselves of this favored son. Well, the Bible tells a story of another beloved son, another true story.

2:13We read these words in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world, and he is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power. Stop there. Well, the title of today's message is The Living Word, The Living Word. And I want us to, or I want to add to the celebration of this glorious Resurrection Day by focusing our minds upon the living. Word, specifically what it is, what it does, and our response to it.

3:12I want to do so so that you will leave here renewed by God Himself. As we draw near to the living word, there is a renewing effect, an awakening effect, a strengthening effect. And I want you to leave here renewed today because we have looked into these truths concerning the living word of God. First, I want to talk to you about the living word, what it is, what it is. The outline is simple, so we're not going to have anything on the screen other than just what you see there now.

3:59The living word, what it is. There are components to it. In Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, the author talks about the word of God being living and active. A living and active word. What is the word? When we talk about the living word, what is a word? We kind of break it down to its components. The word, what is a word? Just in general sense, the word is an utterance, it's a tool of communication. And when we think about God's Word, it is that as well. It's simply that. It is a tool for communication. God's word is his communication to man.

4:44God's word deals with speech, with sounds, with symbols, with gestures, and with all other forms of communication. A word is a tool for communication. We can even think of a word as sort of an intermediary between people. We speak, and what comes between us and what connects us is our words. Our words connect us. And so we can think when we talk about God's word, we're talking about an interaction between God and us through his methods of communication. That is what God's word is. It's his interaction with you through his methods of communication. So a word, we get that. Also, another part of this component is living, the living word.

5:43It is alive, it is active, as Hebrews 4:12 says. And Scripture, as you do even a quick survey of the Word of God, you understand that the Scripture sometimes portrays the Word as living, as thinking. As an acting individual or as a person, it is portrayed as increasing, as growing, as multiplying. It is not bound in 2 Timothy 2:9. It goes out in Romans 10, 18. It runs or it spreads in 1 Thessalonians 3:1, and it spreads through the world and it opens doors. Colossians 4:3. The word going forth is the very power of God at work.

6:33It is alive. It is a living word. And you know why it's a living word? Because God is eternally active. He is a God who communes with his people, and he does so through his word. He is eternally active, and he makes contact with people, and he does so through his words. God is living, God is active, and so his word is living, and his word is active. He speaks. Understand this about God. He speaks. He makes effort. He strives. And he continues to make himself known to his people. And that's exactly what he is doing here this morning. Through the proclamation of the word, through the teaching of his word, through the individual counsel, one-on-one, through the exhortations from a godly body of people. To one another, God is at work, and it is His Word that is at work, because God Himself is reaching out to you.

7:44The Word of God is something alive, it originates in the mind and heart of God, and it is sent out, and it is able to enter into the deepest part of the human soul. As Hebrews 4:12 goes on to say, it is living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, and it pierces into the, as far as the soul and spirit, and it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is able to go from the heart of God, from the deepest recesses of God, and connect to the deepest recesses of humanity. The Word is alive, the living word.

8:28So, I want you to understand that there is a unity in God's Word, a unity. Look back to Hebrews 1:1. God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers, in the prophets, in many portions and in many ways, in these last days, has spoken to us in His Son. So long ago, that speaks of a period when God spoke, and there apparently was a long period of silence. So long ago He spoke, but in In these last days, that is, in this period between Jesus' ascension and his return, in these last days, he has spoken to us in his son. But he has spoken in many portions, many ways. I want to briefly survey some of the ways, the many portions and the many ways that God has spoken to man. First of all, God spoke audibly. We can see this very early in the pages of Scripture in Genesis 2, 15, the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. And he said, From any of the trees of the garden you may freely eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So God spoke audibly. And then you see this, he spoke to the patriarchs in the same manner. So he called out to Abram or Abraham. And Abraham said, Here I am.

10:01He says, Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. So God spoke audibly, but he also spoke through prophets. Spoke through prophets. You certainly see at some point the people were terrified of God's presence. And certainly in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 19, the people told. To Moses, Speak to us yourself and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us or we will die. In other words, they had seen God speaking to them, and they're like, Let's go through, let's get this prophet thing going. Let's you speak to us, okay? Tell us what he says. We'll listen to that, but we'll die if we have to listen to God face to face.

10:50And so you see this pattern of speech throughout Israel's history, that the word of the Lord would come to a prophet, and then he would speak to the nation. But it was, in every sense of the word, God's word, though it came through the prophets. God also spoke, so God spoke audibly, but he also spoke visibly. He spoke through prophets, but he also spoke visibly. He spoke in dreams and visions. We already looked at Joseph's dreams that God used, spoke through. Also, Daniel, can use a great example of Daniel. He spoke even through the dreams of pagan rulers. God spoke. Ezekiel, he spoke in visions. Ezekiel 1:1, now it came about in the 30th year on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chibar among the exiles, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.

11:51Ezekiel saw visions of the glory of God. God spoke in types or parabolic truths, we could call them. Spoke. You remember in the Passover in Exodus 12, 3, he says, Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month, each one is to take a lamb for themselves according to their father's household, a lamb for each household. You shall keep it into the 14th day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight. Moreover, they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lentil of the houses which they shall eat. He was speaking pictorially, visibly. He was saying, as you kill this innocent lamb, something you need to understand that an innocent one is going to die, that the blood of that innocent one upon your doorsteps or on your doorpost is going to save you from the death angel. And so he is speaking through symbols and types.

12:59God also spoke through various actions. I'm going to list a number of them, but you can remember Balaam, right? God spoke through a donkey. But he took his stand, didn't he? When Balaam was going out in Numbers 22 to curse the children of Israel, that the angel of the Lord took his stand with his sword raised. And Balaam saw it and understood, okay, you can't curse what God has done. West. So God has spoken many ways, but in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son.

13:42After he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son. So that causes our mind to move into the realm of the incarnate word or the incarnate speech, or we could even call it speech incarnate. Jesus Himself, speech of God incarnate. This is how John describes him. John 1:1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being. He goes on in verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. And he goes on in verse 18 to say, No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. That is, He has exposited Him, or He has explained, exposed Him to us.

14:51Paul's description, He says this in Romans 1:1, I am a servant, Paul, a bondservant of Christ Jesus, called as an Apostle set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection of the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord. The living word declared with power to be the Son. Last week, as we looked at the purity and passion of Jesus as he entered into Jerusalem, he was no helpless victim, but he was a man on a mission. He was a man steady, well planned, understood. He was strength incarnate, power incarnate.

15:53He was humble yet majestic. And God directs all of us to hear him. That's the one. In Matthew 17:5, God said these words, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. You listen to him. That's the imperative there. You listen to him. So the question becomes: how do we today listen to him? Well, the answer is. We listen to the Son when we listen to his apostles, whose word is his word. How do we listen to the Son? Don't you find it interesting that Jesus did not write down a single word? It is incredible what Jesus entrusted to his apostles. When you stop to think about it, think about what he entrusted to them.

16:54In Luke 10, 16, Jesus says, the one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. Incredible. He didn't write anything down. All of the whole corpus of information about Jesus' life, his death, and his resurrection, he entrusted those words to the apostles. And therefore, the eternal salvation of everyone who would come after and believe in his name. That's what he entrusted. John 17, Jesus' prayer. He says, I have manifested your name, speaking to the Father, to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they have come to know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words which you gave me, I have given them. And they received them, and truly understand that I came forth from you. You and they believe that you sent me. The words that you gave to me, God, Father, I have taken those and given them to these that you gave me. The words, the words from God he gave to them.

18:20He goes on in verse 14 of John 17, I have given them your word. John 17, 17, sanctify them in the truth. Your word is truth. And as you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. So here is God the Father who has entrusted the words to God the Son, and God the Son has turned around and said, here are the ones that I am entrusting your words to. And now as the Father sent me into the world, I send you out. What a tremendous entrustment, right?

18:53And he had already told them that you're not going to be alone in this. John 15, 26, when the helper comes from whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. And you will testify also, because you have been with me from the beginning. You see, gospel ministry here? The Spirit is going to come. He is going to testify to the truth of the Son. And then you're going to go out and you're going to testify to the truth of the Son.

19:25Powerful. It's the Word at work. We're nothing. God is at work. And in John 20, 20, after Jesus is resurrected from the dead, he says this: He came and he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples then rejoiced, and when they saw the Lord, so Jesus said to them again, Peace be with you, as the Father has sent me, I send you. Pretty strong commission, right? And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit. You are commissioned. They had touched. They had seen. You go and testify of what you have seen, and what you have heard and what you have come to believe.

20:23He entrusted the whole information about his life to these apostles, and he gave them the same authority. As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sent his apostles. Same words, same authority, same power. No wonder Rome was turned upside down. Paul, speaking about this, says this in 1 Thessalonians 2:13. He says, For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God, when you heard it from us, you heard it. You accepted it not as the word of men for what it truly is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. In other words, you just didn't hear what we were talking about and received the words of men, but you have received what they truly are, the word of God. And for that, Paul was commending them and excited.

21:22See, we have really lost our view and our vision of preaching in the church today, haven't we? We have reduced the words of our pastors and teachers and leaders and Bible teachers to the words of men or the opinions of men. But this is not how the apostles saw the word at all. In fact, Peter understood this deposit of power and authority when he, in 1 Peter 1:24, cites this verse and says, All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. And then he says, This, and this is the word which was preached to you. The very word that the apostles spoke.

22:14He said, This, what I have spoken, what you have heard, this is the word of God. And so we have the word, as Peter will go on to say in 2 Peter, made more sure. In 2 Peter 1, 19, for no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. You see, we have the record of his speech, we have the record of the dreams, we have the record of the visions, we have the testimony of the apostles about the sun, we have all that objectively written out so we can interact, so we don't have to ask, what is the word? It is all before us.

23:03We have the words, we have the acts of the sun. So, how do we listen to the sun today? Come back to that question: how do we listen to the sun? Well, we do not walk and talk with Jesus as Peter did, or John did, do we? We don't hear the sermons of Peter or Paul like the early church did, do we? But get this: just as the apostles' proclamation was a continuation of Christ's preaching, so our testimony is a continuation of their proclamation. Do you see that?

23:43The word you read and hear today spoken of amongst his people is a continuation of the apostles' proclamation. They testified to what Christ had passed on to them. And do you know what we testify? Of, we testify of what they passed on to us. That we have come to believe. We have read their testimony and we believe their testimony. And now we testify to what they have testified to, and we pass it on. But there is no diminishment in the power or authority of the Word of God.

24:30The fact that you and I can teach and counsel and preach the scripture should be of great excitement to us today. Because what we proclaim today is nothing less than the Word of God. Just as Paul and the other apostles quoted from the Old Testament, but retained the sense of what they were saying and applied it to their audience, so we do the same. We proclaim God's Word, we proclaim it in various languages, we proclaim it in various ways and in new app making new applications, but all of it comes down to the same word of God.

25:17You see, there is no diminishment of the authority or the authenticity of God's word. See, when you teach and apply it today, that is. God at work. That is the Word doing its work. And God's Word possesses in all generations all the power and authority of God Himself. There is a real unity in God's Word. So what is the Living Word? The Living Word is God's speech to us. That's what it is. The Living Word, God's speech to us. So second, I want you to see what the Word does. Looked at the Living Word, what it is. Next, I want you to see what it does. And the Word of God, as you study through Scripture, you come away with a very important or key insight pattern that keeps coming up. The Word of God, no matter what form it goes out, it always accomplishes its purpose. Isaiah 55, 10 says it very well, For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bare and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will my word be which goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the manner for which I sent it. So what What does the word do? Well, God's Word predicts. It predicts. You see this over and over, that the Word of God predicts future events. You remember in 1 Kings 13, the man of God from Judah who prophesied that Josiah would come by name, and he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you and will burn human bones. Predict, and it comes true by name. There's something else that God's Word does, it creates. Of course, we see this right at the beginning of Genesis, right? Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light, and on. Let there be, and it was. Let there be, and it was. Let there be lights in the expanse, and it was. So, you see, God's Word not only predicts what will happen, but it creates what will happen. It's the power of the word. Psalm 38, 38 says this: Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. He spoke, and it was done. The word not only predicts, but it creates.

28:26So God's word predicts, it creates, but God's word determines the course of his. And certainly, this is true on a national level. As Daniel chapter 2 and 21 said, it is he who changes the time and the epics. He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to men of understanding. But God's word is also determinative of the future of the course of history. This was true on a national level, but it's also true on a very personal level. And you certainly see this in the life of Jesus. It is true of the path. The prophets spoke about the path that the Christ would take. In Luke 18:31, Jesus said to his disciples, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things which are written through the prophets about the Son will be accomplished. Let me tell you what's going to happen, he says. It's already written down. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, he will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon. And after they have scourged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again. So when you see this majestic king of kings entering into Jerusalem, he knows exactly what he's doing. And through his death and through his resurrection, he is saying something to you today.

29:52The prophets spoke of it, but this is also true of the path that Jesus spoke about himself. He says, This is about the future events in John 10:15. I lay down my life for the sheep. I lay it down so that I may take it up again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.

30:20And boy, did the world ever see that. You see, God was speaking to us through the crucifixion, through the death, and the resurrection of Christ. What was it saying? What was it saying? Well, Paul answered this question very loud in Romans 8:31 through 32. And if you were with us on the Good Friday service, you know exactly what I'm talking about: that he who did not spare his own son, how much more will he give us all things?

30:54That's what the cross and the resurrection speaks to us. The favored Son was given for us. Do you see why God raised up the favored Son? It was for our benefit. And as he goes into Jerusalem, he knows exactly what he is doing. And he knows exactly that he's going to come out on the other side with a communication that is so loud that it'll resonate through the ages. Forever and ever. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know God loves me to an extreme degree.

31:46I think some of us really don't believe that God loves us. That's why the Son goes to the cross. So God's Word, it predicts, creates, determines the course of history, but it also gives life. It gives life. John 5, 24 says, Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my words and believes him who sent me, has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life. It gives life. It works salvation. James 1.18 says, In the exercise of his will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. We were brought forth by the word of truth. Peter 1.23 says this, you have been born again, not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is through the living and enduring word of God. You have been born again by the living word of God. You think about what is a, think about this seed. We've talked about this before, but the seed is a very profound symbol or entity, very small. I've planted carrot seeds. Have you ever planted carrot seeds? They're really small, right? What does a seed do? It's dropped into the soil, right? And then it goes to work. And it takes in from the soil the nutrients and even the soil itself and it transforms it into a magnificent plant.

33:23Very incredible. A metamorphosis. It takes soil from the ground and it creates, transforms, creates something very new. This is what a seed does. You see, the Word of God is the continually abiding and working seed of the new life in the child of God. One commentator said it like this: the word of God is the utterance of God dropped into the soul of man, taking it up by divine power into itself and developing the new life continually. That's what the word of God is, dropped into the soul of man, the soil of man. And then it takes that man, that woman, and it takes that humanity and it transforms it into the glorious image of Christ. That's the power of the word. That's the power of the word. In fact, we could summarize everything that Christ won on the cross in one word, forgiveness.

34:30Forgiveness. And that word goes out. And when that word is dropped into the soul of man, it begins by giving a hope. A hope. Ah, yes, could it really be that God does love me? That there is hope for the future, that I don't have to run from it, that I don't have to excuse, I don't have to bury, I don't have to hide, and I don't have to live under the guilt of my sin. That God will and does accept me in His beloved.

35:06And a hope begins. And that hope grows till a full knowledge of the pardon of sin is realized and understood by faith. And then God, and then it settles in on you. It keeps growing more and more. God really does love me to the extreme. And that is what the cross teaches us. This is what happened to one of the English reformers. Thomas Bilney said this. I chanced upon this sentence, and this is after a life of religious work, and he was distant from God. He said, I chanced upon this one sentence of Paul. O most sweet and comfortable sentence to my soul, in 1 Timothy 1. It is a true saying and worthy of all men to be embraced that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief principle. This one sentence, through God's instruction and inward working, which I did not then perceive, did so exhilarate my heart. Being before wounded with the guilt of my sins and being almost in despair, that immediately I felt a marvelous comfort and quietness, insomuch as my bruised bones leaped for joy. After this, the scriptures began to be more pleasant to me than the honey from the honeycomb.

36:41The beginning of the word is hope, but the word doesn't just stop there, it doesn't give us a hope. It continues to grow and increase, and it does its work in the heart of man, and it does its work in society and in the church. Commenting on the great Reformation, Luther said, This: All I did is I simply taught, preached, and wrote the word. Otherwise, I did nothing. The word of God did it all. You see, God's Word is living and active.

37:18And if you will listen to God's Word, it will change your life. This truth that is being preached to you today is both a promise and a warning. A promise of all the inheritance in Christ is yours. But also a warning, do not neglect such a great salvation. Do not neglect such an extravagant gift. We know that. If somebody gives you a great gift and goes to a great extreme and then you snub it, you forever offend, right? Well, God has gone to the lengths to give you an incredible, extravagant gift beyond all measure.

38:06Receive it. So the Word of God, it predicts, it creates, it determines the course of history. It gives life, it gives hope and continual growth. It is God's power. God's word is energy, life-giving energy. So I looked at what the word is. We looked at what it does, and I want to talk to you about our response. We are to receive the word. What do we do with the testimony of the apostles concerning the son? We are to receive the word throughout scripture. This is the message from Deuteronomy 6, 4 and on, receive. And receive means to hear, to believe, and to obey. Receive the testimony of God. James 1, 21 tells us to receive the word implanted. Hebrews 1.1 gives us five good reasons. If you look back there, five good reasons why we should receive the word.

39:07God has spoken into his prophets in many portions and in many ways. And in these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son. Number one, he is appointed heir of all things. That's a good reason to listen to him. Two, through whom he made the world. This is your creator. Good reason to listen to him. And three, he is the irradiance of his glory. Number four, he is the exact representation of his nature. And five, he upholds all things by the word of his power, and that includes you.

39:41So we are to receive the word. And now let me tell you something amazing. All that is, everything we have said so far has been amazing. Do you know what the next response? You are to receive the word, and then you are to distribute the word. Very profound. Think about forgiveness. Think about forgiveness in two ways. First of all, how it was achieved, and second, how it is given or how it is distributed. First of all, Christ achieved on the cross forgiveness for all mankind.

40:24For all who will come, put their faith in Him. It's for all who will come. He won it. But how do we know about it? Isn't it interesting? He entrusted all that information to the apostles. The significance of it all was entrusted to the apostles. It is distributed in the gospel where it is preached. Do you see how the word, how Christ himself accomplished forgiveness? Luther said it very well. He said this: even if Christ were given for us and crucified a thousand times, it would all be in vain if the word of God were absent and were not distributed and given to me with the bidding, this is for you. Take it.

41:21Take what is yours. In other words, the fact that Christ dies isn't enough to save your soul. You must know about it. Yes, he won it. He alone, outside of any work of man, he won it, but you have got to hear. It is distributed through the preached and proclaimed word. And that is where you and I, we receive the word, we believe the word, we obey the word, and then we turn around and distribute the word.

41:59You see, it is. The word that distributes, presents, and offers the gospel, and gives me the forgiveness which was won on the cross. It is through the proclaimed word, that seed that goes in and drops into the soul of man. We are seed scatterers, dropping the seed of the word into the soul of man, and it does its work. So let's be all about the gospel. Let your life be found here receiving and distributing his word.

42:37Give your time, your heart, your resources, your profession, your family, your associations. Let everything be subsumed in this one task of receiving and distributing. Two tasks, maybe. So the living word, we've looked at what it is, we looked at what it does, and we looked at our response. We are to receive it and distribute it. So let me take you back to the story about the beloved son long ago. You know, God's word through Joseph's dream proved true.

43:13You remember in Genesis 44, 14, Judah and his brothers came to Joseph's house, and there they fell to the ground before him. And Joseph said these words to them, I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold in. Sold into Egypt. Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive by great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God. And he has made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord over all his household and ruler of the land of Egypt. See, here you got the whole nation of Israel, really heads of household, bowing before the favored Son. And they didn't realize that the favored son was there for their benefit. I think there's a picture here. And I would leave it at that. It's a picture about another son, an illustration of another son, a greater son, a son favored by the Father. And Isaiah 45, 22 says, This, Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by myself, and the word has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness and will not turn back. That to me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of me, Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength. Men will come to him, and all who were angry at him will be put to shame. Spoken centuries before Christ. And then Paul. Paul makes this connection to Jesus. Philippians, he said, For this reason, God highly exalted him, Jesus, and bestowed on him the name which is above every name. So at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

45:30You see, this is the favored Son. He has been declared with power to be the Son by his resurrection. And God is saying to all the world, this is my favored Son, all will bow down. He knew how to bring Joseph's family underneath the favored Son. And he knows how to bring all of humanity under the Lordship of Christ. And he has promised to do so. But there is a blessing to all you who come to him by faith. And you will confess that he is Lord because of his goodness and his grace. And you are those who see God from the side of his goodness and grace. And there are some that will stand and suppress the truth and suppress the son and say, we will not have this man rule over us.

46:30He will also bring you to your knees. Thus saith the Lord. So, the Word of God has come to you today. God loves you to the same degree that God loved his favored Son. You see, he raised up the favored Son for our benefit. And you know what he does? He asked you today to trust him in this. This is truly what happened. Receive His Word. It is the power of God for salvation and strength for continued growth. Let's pray. Lord, thank you. Father, thank you for the celebration that you've given us this morning. Father, and as we leave here today, may you be honored. May the word which was spoken and taught in our Sunday schools and communicated one with one another and spoken today, Father, may that word, as it reflects the trueness and principles of your written word, sink deep and continue to do its work as we know it will, as you have promised it will, to the end that your people may be strengthened and glorified and that you build up the church in this day, in this age, that will speak to this nation and distribute the good news that you have risen and that you have risen indeed. In Jesus' name.