A Name Above All Names (11/07/2004)

Park Meadows Church

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Good morning. Let's turn in our Bibles to Philippians chapter 2.

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Philippians chapter 2. And I want to say what a privilege it's been for us to be here these last two weeks, or these last two

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Sundays. It's always good to be here with you all and to spend time with Brother David and his family.

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And it's been a blessing to sit in the hot seat of Brother Otis, all of which has been good.

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And I'm looking forward to getting back and seeing my kids, but it's been a pleasure to be here with my wife for the last 10 days to be just her and I.

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So that's been a blessing. So stand with me, if you will. Philippians chapter 2. And I'm going to preach a message that I'm sure

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I preached here before many, many, many, many years ago, but I believe it will be a blessing to many new people.

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And I know it will be a blessing to me as well. And I think sometimes we just need to exalt the name of Jesus and bask in the wonder of his greatness.

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Amen. So Philippians chapter 2, beginning with verse number 5, and we'll read down to verse number 11.

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And it says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

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And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

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Wherefore, God hath also highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is

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Lord to the glory of God the Father. Our text verses, verse number 9, where it says, wherefore,

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God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name, which is above every name.

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Now, we know when we read the word of God, whenever we find a therefore or a wherefore, there must be a before.

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And so what God is saying here in verse number 9 is, for these reasons,

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God has exalted Jesus. For the afore -named reasons, God has exalted

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Jesus, given him a name that is above every name. And so I want to talk to you this morning on this subject just for a few minutes.

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Why a name above every name? Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word.

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Thank you for the power and the truth of it. Thank you for the fact that Jesus saves.

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Thank you that he has a name above every name. And we pray that you'd open our hearts, open our minds, and help us to hear,

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Father, what your spirit has to say to this church today. In Jesus' name, amen.

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You can be seated. What is in a name? For people that have left their mark in this world, their name is almost a one -word biography.

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When we think of Moses, we think of a man who led two million people out of Egypt.

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When we think of Alexander, we think of a great, wild young man who conquered so much of the world by the age of 30.

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When we think of Demosthenes, we think of that silver -tongued orator of Greece who even made men like Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander, tremble.

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When we think of Shakespeare, we think of one whose ink flowed from his pen like golden pollen off shaken lilies.

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When we think of Will Rogers, we think of a fellow with wit and wisdom that few people have. And on and on,

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I could name you different names, or if I had mentioned their name today, then immediately you'd think of certain things.

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Today, I believe if Alexander walked into the company of every military genius that ever lived, I believe that his very audience with them would cause them to rise to their feet and stand.

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I believe if Shakespeare walked among the most literate people of literature, that immediately all would have to stand and give him reverence.

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I believe if Demosthenes would enter under a tent of all the greatest orators that ever lived, that immediately all would have to rise and give him reverence.

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I believe if Will Rogers walked into the company of every colonist, politician, and comedian,

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I believe that every one of them would stand, but for some reason or another, among the majority of people here today that are born again and washed in the blood of the lamb.

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I believe if the Lord Jesus were to walk in those doors, that rather than standing, we'd have to kneel in his presence.

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At the very name of Jesus commands something within every one of us that we can't explain.

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And there's a tremble in all of our hearts when we really think of that name. Amen? But why?

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Why a name above every name? You know, when I think of how we name our children, we go through name books, some of us, don't we?

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And we try to find a name that we like, and sometimes we'll name our children after a parent or a grandparent.

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But in the Bible, when folks got named, they got named after certain characteristics that the parents wanted to develop in them, or certain characteristics.

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Sometimes God told them what to name their children based on the character he knew they would have.

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And Jesus, according to the Father, said that he had to have a name above every name for the reasons mentioned here in our passage.

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Look what it says in verse five. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

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The reason Jesus had to have a name above every other name is because he has a position above every other position in that he has existed and does exist and will always exist in eternity with God as God.

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No wonder he had to have a name above every name. No one has ever had a position like that.

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Yes, there have been kings. Yes, there have been monarchs. Yes, there have been nobles. But no one has ever had a name above every name because no one else has ever had the position above every position.

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As I read in the Bible, in the book of Genesis, the very first verse in the book, it says, in the beginning,

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God created the heaven and the earth. And then when I correlate it with the New Testament over in John chapter one, verse one, where it says, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was

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God and the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made.

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And then down in verse 14, it tells the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

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No wonder he had to have a name above every other name because he has a position above every position.

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Who was it that put the moon and the sun in the heavens? It was Jesus. Who was it that decked the heavens with the stars?

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It was Jesus. Who was it that smoothed out a chaotic earth and scooped out a place and put the water in it, tied it down with a rope of sand and called it oceans?

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It was Jesus. Who was it that put a garden of green over the valleys and mountains and hills and buttoned it up with lilies?

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That's the God we serve. No wonder he had to have a name above every other name.

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He has a position above every other position, but that's not the only reason.

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That would seem to be enough in itself, but certainly it's not the only reason.

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Notice what else it said. Who being in the form of God thought it not rivalry to be equal with God, but, but he made himself of no reputation.

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And took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men.

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What is this you say? This God who created the heaven and the earth and the sun and the moon and the stars and all of the host of heaven and everything that we know and everything that we don't understand, this same

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God became a man? Well then, no doubt he has to have a name above every name, not only because he has a position.

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We try to exalt men because they have wealth, but the wealth of God, the wealth of Christ, see, the wealth of Solomon by far, had him on a thousand hills and the thousand hills under the cattle.

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He's a person above all people. We try to exalt people because they have wonder, but Jesus exalted himself or Jesus exhibited greater wonder than Solomon.

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We try to exalt people because they do good works, but the Bible says about Jesus, he doeth all things well.

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No wonder he had to have a name above everything. He was a person above all people.

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When we think of anybody with any amount of greatness, the greatness that Christ exceeded over them is so far that whoever comes in second is not even registering on the radar screen.

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He's a person above all people. Jesus, when he came to this earth, he came to earth as a man.

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He opened blind eyes. He healed lame legs. He healed leprosy. He even raised the dead.

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No wonder he had to have a name above every name.

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Jesus fed the hungry. He comforted the uncomfortable. He had to have a name above every name.

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Jesus even talked to women and children in public, something that men did not do in those days.

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He had to have a name above every name because he was a person above all people.

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As a teacher, he taught better than everybody else. As a matter of fact, when Jesus taught, here is what they said of him.

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Never a man's faith. No wonder he had to have a name above every name.

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But it didn't stop there. Surely it seems like it could have, but notice what else they said.

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And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

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Wherefore, I'm sorry, even the death of the cross, which tells me that Jesus not only had a position above all positions, was a person above all people, but he also had a purpose above all purposes.

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Do you realize we all have something to do here? I get excited when

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I think about what Solomon wrote over in the book of Proverbs, where he said, a man's gift maketh room for him and bringeth him before the great man, because we all have a purpose.

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You may not feel very significant, but I've got news for you this morning. You have a purpose. God put you here for a reason, and you serve a purpose in God's plan.

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But nobody ever had a purpose like Christ. Position above all positions has coexisted in eternity with God as God, a person above all people, and then he came to earth, even as God came to earth to live among men as a man, but then his purpose above all purposes was that he died on the cross for sinners, as sinners.

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I didn't say as a sinner, as sinners. Because Christ paid my price, and he paid your price.

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And a lot of times we don't think about the fact that Jesus suffered and died for our sins.

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And as I think about the crucifixion, I find myself asking, when

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I was a child, when I was a little child, I used to think, when they used to teach me, it's like,

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Jesus loved me, this I know, where the Bible tells me so, and Jesus loves the little children, and then they say, they crucify.

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Did it fit? Well, if he loves me, and he loves the little children, how can we be happy?

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He's good. How can we be glad that he died? And I didn't understand then that he died in my place.

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I wasn't glad for him that he died. I was glad. But he didn't just take my place on the cross, even when they said, when

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Pilate gave him the opportunity to release Barabbas, the son of Sheol, and they said, which of these two will you, that I release unto you?

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Barabbas, this malefactor, this criminal? That's a picture.

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Barabbas is a picture of you. Barabbas is a picture of me. Because just like Barabbas deserved to die for his injustices,

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I deserve to die, and Barabbas was released because Christ took his place.

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Well, guess what? I was released because, but it didn't stop there.

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Christ had to suffer shame for all of the shameful acts I've done. The Bible says they buffeted him, which means they took the palm of their hands and smote him under the eye for all of the evil things he did.

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The Bible says that they scourged him. They took a cat and nine tails, and it was not uncommon for a man to be ripped in half at the

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Roman whipping post, and they would tie their hands together and put it on a rope and throw that rope up over a beam, and then they would stretch it until his feet just barely touched the ground, and a strong Roman guard would take that cat and nine tails, which was a whip that had different cords in it with bone and metal and glass in the end of it, and he would, and literally, it would rip the flesh off of his body.

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For all of the sin you've ever taken into your body, all of the sin I've ever taken in my body, Jesus died, and he died.

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They mocked him for our pride. They nailed his hands to the cross for every evil deed your hands have ever done, and every evil deed my hands have ever done.

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They nailed his feet to the cross for every evil path we've ever trod. Jesus suffered and died in your place and in my place.

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Don't let that not be real to you. Don't let that be old hat to you, because he didn't just die and suffer for your past sins.

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He even suffered and died for those sins we got planned for later on this week, because when

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Jesus died, all sin was future sin from our perspective. I hadn't even been born yet.

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He had a position above every position. He's a person above all purposes. The Bible says, wherefore he,

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God, hath made him Jesus to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous of God in him.

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Or you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that even his poverty might be rich.

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Christ took our place, and because he took our place, the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one dies for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for us, that they which live should not live for them, but to themselves.

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I'm not supposed to live for me anymore. I'm supposed to live for him, who died for me and rose again, which brings me to the last point.

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Became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, but those of us who know the story, we know he didn't stay dead.

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Jesus had to have a name above every name, because he had a position above every position. He was a person above all people.

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He had a purpose above all purposes, and because he has power above all power.

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How much power does he have? Power enough to raise from the dead, and I know some skeptics might try to say, well, he's not the only one.

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Lazarus was raised from the dead, oh, but there's a difference. Hattie was raised from the dead, but there was a difference.

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Elijah raised somebody from the dead, but there's a difference. Paul raised one from the dead, but there's a difference.

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Jesus is the only one who's ever raised himself from the dead. Jesus said, no man takes my life.

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I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it up again. Jesus has power above all power.

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Jesus said over in Matthew chapter 28, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

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No wonder he had to have a name above every name. How much power does he have?

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He had enough power. If we go back and look at these verses all again, we see that he had enough power, that he had sovereign power, who being in the form of God, thought it not right for him to be equal with God.

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He had sovereign power. What is sovereign power? Sovereign power is that kind of power that helped

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Moses out when he had the Red Sea in front of him and the mightiest army in the world behind him, and God says,

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Moses, put your stick over the water. Lord, do you know how serious this situation is?

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Yes, I do, but you've got to understand, I've got all power. And God opened up the

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Red Sea. That's all power. That's sovereign power. You say, what's sovereign power? Sovereign power is the kind of power that takes a little boy and defeats a nine -foot giant with a 16 -pound spearhead.

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I'm talking about sovereign power. You say, what's sovereign power? Sovereign power is the kind of power that when

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Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace, the most mighty men that were in Nebuchadnezzar's army were killed by the fire because it was so hot, but Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in that fire fellowshiping with the one who has sovereign power, and when they came out, the

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Bible says, they didn't even smell like smoke. Oh! Oh! I'm kidding.

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Don't let me make you nervous now. It's gonna be all right. I get kind of excited. I'm talking about sovereign power.

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I'm talking about the kind of power that when the king threw Daniel down and the lions did.

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I'm talking about lions. I don't know if you've ever seen a lion. How many of y 'all have ever seen a lion? A lion is not a little bitty deal.

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I remember, remember we did it down here at that mall in Dallas where it's a really good store? We walked around the corner, and there was, they had a lion stuck up like this.

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I walked around the corner, and whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. I'm down here at the corner, and the lion was already dead, but he tried to take me with him.

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I thought, my goodness. I didn't, he was up on his hind legs. He was about this tall. Daniel was in the lion's den all night long, and he who has sovereign power made those mighty lions as docile as a tomcat.

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That's the kind of sovereign power I'm talking about. If you still can't quite understand the kind of sovereign power I'm talking about, to walk on top of water that you ought to be sinking in, and not only enough power to walk on it, but enough power to call somebody else out, because he had so much power that he worried about nothing.

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So calm was he in the midst of the storm that they had to wake him up, even though they were afraid they were gonna die, and when he arose, he looked up at the heavens and said, peace, he looked down at the waves and said, be still, and with the right arm of deity, he ironed the wrinkles out of the waters, drove them across the seas with the tail stuck between their legs like whip puppies till they pillared their head on some distant shore, and they said, what manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him?

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I'll tell you what manner of man he is. He's the manner of man that has power above all power.

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What kind of power does he have? He has sovereign power. We see it right there in the verse. Not only does he have the power to be sovereign, but he also has the power to surrender.

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Who being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself and became obedient. See, we think, man thinks,

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I've got power when I rebel. No, you don't have power when you rebel. You have power when, you know, it amazes me when people read about the crucifixion, and they say when

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Jesus was in the garden, he said, father, it would be your will, let this cup pass from me. They think that he's praying to get out of the crucifixion.

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He wasn't praying to get out of the crucifixion. He was praying to go through with it. The Bible said right before that, his soul was sorrowful even unto death.

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I believe his prayer was saying, father, I didn't come to die in a garden. I came to die on a cross.

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I don't want this cup of death in the garden, because my work is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work.

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He had the power to submit. But not only that, he became obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.

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Because he had the sovereign power and the power to submit, we also see that he has the power to save. There is no other name given among men under heaven whereby ye must be saved.

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Buddha can't do it. Mary can't do it. Muhammad can't do it. Confucius can't do it.

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No other name, just Jesus. Saving power, sanctifying power, sustaining power, supplying power.

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My God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Why a name above every name?

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Because Jesus has a position above all positions.

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He's a person above all people. Had a purpose above all purposes. He has power above all power.

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And that's why it says, wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name.

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That name is an all -inclusive name. And if you'll allow me just for a moment to exalt the name of Jesus and get on board the old ship of Zion and mount that toppest and highest mast and tell you his name just one more time for he is

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Adam. He's advocate, he is anointed, he is apostle, he's amen, alpha, ancient of days and born of a woman.

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He is the beginning, the begotten, the beloved, the branch, the bread, the bridegroom, the bright and morning star.

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He's the bishop of our souls. He's the brightness of the father's glory. He's the cluster of camphor.

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He is captain, consolation, chief cornerstone, counselor, covenant, chosen of God and our

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Christ. He's the day's man, deliverer, day spring, day star, door, and the desire of all nations.

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He is the elect, ensign, everlasting father, Emmanuel. He's a finisher of our faith.

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He's the first fruit, faithful witness. He's the fountain of life issuing from the caves of death. He is

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God, the gift of God, governor, guide and our glorious Lord.

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He is help, hope, our husband, horn of salvation, healer, head of the church, heir of all things, high priest, hell's dread, heaven's wonder, and the holy one.

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He is I am, image of God's person, immortal, invisible. He is Judah, he is just, he is

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Jesus. He is king, king of Israel, king of kings, king of glory, king everlasting, amen.

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He is messenger, mediator, master, Messiah, mighty

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God, mercy's paradox. He is the Nazarene and the offspring of David. He is

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Omega, only begotten of God, the offering and the offerer. He's the priest,

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Passover, potentate, prophet, propitiation, prince of life, prince of peace and position.

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He is the quencher of our thirst. He's righteousness, rabbi, ransom, rest, root of Jesse, root of David, refiner, refuge, resurrection, rose of Sharon, blossoming in the shades of hell.

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He's sweat, blood, and tears that has quenched for all believers the fires of hell and clothed that crater of damnation with foliage, fruit, and flowers.

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Yes, he is ruler, redeemer, rock of ages. He is regenerate breath, rekindling the soul's fire from the soul's altar and restoring the silent strings of the spirits, young harp, and tuning them to heaven's harmony.

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He is the stone, shepherd, son of man, son of God, amen.

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He is the shield, servant, seat of a woman, surety, sufferer, savior.

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He's the sinless sacrifice. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is teacher, truth, tabernacle, testator, treasurer, tree of life.

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He is the unifier of the brethren. He is the victory over our sin. Not only that, but he is the wonderful one.

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He is the wisdom of God. He is the extra mile. He is Yahweh and the zealous one.

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He is the lovely and mighty Christ beyond which our human minds cannot comprehend.

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His is the sweetest name on mortal tongue, sweetest carol ever sung. They say he's the reason for the season, but I've got some good news.

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He's the reason when there is no season. His name is a name above every name.

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His name has the power to take enemies and make them brothers, but his name also has the power to take brothers and make them enemies.

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His name is the only reason you like me, but his name's the only reason I like you. His name is a name above every name.

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His name is Jesus. Let him be exalted among us.

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Let him be the one we want worshiped. Let him be the one we bring glory to. His name is

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Jesus, and it's all about him.

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It's all about him. It's all about him. It's all about Jesus.

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Let's pray. Father, thank you for Jesus.

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Oh, we thank you that you love us. Because of Jesus.

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We thank you that you saved us because we trusted in Jesus.

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We thank you that you gave us the faith we needed to trust in Jesus.

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We thank you for the fact that he has a position above every position, that he is a person above all people, that he had a purpose above all purposes, that he has power above all power.

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And thank you that in him we move and live and have our being.

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With every head bowed and every eye closed, nobody looking around, who'll say, Brother Myron, I know, I know, like I know my own name, I know

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I'm saved because I've trusted Christ as my savior.

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Testify by raised hand, you know you're saved. There's no doubt in your mind about it. And put your hands down.

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Who'll say, Brother Myron, I don't know I'm saved, but I sure would like to know. Will you please pray for me?

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I'd like to know that I have eternal life, but I don't know. Anybody like that? Testify by raised hand.

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God bless you, young man. I see your hand. Father, I thank you for this young man that raised his hand and said he's not sure he's saved.

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And I pray that your spirit would indeed convict him and draw him to you. And do a work in him that he cannot do in himself, that he might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

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Thank you for the fact that your spirit works in the hearts of men and women and boys and girls.

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Thank you for the fact that my prayer can't save him, but thank you for the fact that you can draw him to you.

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I pray that you do a work in his life that he won't be able to eat, sleep, or think about anything else until he receives

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Christ. Convict him, I pray. Draw him to you.

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Head still bowed, eyes closed. Nobody looking around. Hosea, brother of mine, it's easy for us to get distracted, and I've been distracted by so many things going on in my life.

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Pray for me that I'll focus on him who is my all in all.

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That's your testimony. Testify by raised hand. Praise the Lord. Hands all over the room. Praise the Lord.

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Father, thank you. Thank you so much for loving us in spite of ourselves and because of you.

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Thank you for still moving in the hearts of your people. I pray,

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Lord, that you would just continue to work in our lives and help us to focus on Jesus in his name.

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Amen. Pastor. When Myron was about 19,

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I heard him preach that message, or not that message, but part of the message, the part with the names at the end, to six to 8 ,000 people, and most of them were preachers and preacher's wives, and they were standing up, shouting their

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Bibles, screaming and hollering amen. And this morning,

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I heard him preach this to about 40 people, and we sit quietly, and quiet tears come down the edge of our eyes.

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But the wonderful thing about that, it's as if we're instruments, and the same

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Lord plays different tunes on our heart strings, but he's the one that plays the tune, and that's powerful.

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But that message is marvelous, wonderful. I'm glad we have that on tape. We can play that for our great -grandchildren, and not that you won't be around to preach it to them,

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Brother Myron, but that was a blessing to all of us, all of us in the

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Lord to hear his wonderful name. Well, let's have a word of prayer together.

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Father, we thank you for this wonderful time, for the fact that you brought

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Myron and Tony together, created their wonderful family, and that we get to share them here from time to time, and according to your will, and the wonderful times we get to spend together.

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And Lord, we pray that you will continue to bless Brother Myron's ministry across this world, as he's able to speak to different groups of people with this same powerful gift that you've given him.

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And Lord, we ask you bless our fellowship time in a few moments, bless the meal we're about to have together.

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And Lord, we look forward to the message this afternoon, as you've placed that on Brother Myron's heart.