In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes that the Bible is not just about different types of people, but about a person - the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Philippians is highlighted as a source of joy, with the Apostle Paul mentioning joy or rejoice 17 times in just four chapters. The preacher focuses on Philippians chapter 2, where Paul encourages believers to have the same mind of humility and selflessness as Christ. The sermon explores four areas to consider about Jesus: his reputation, his humility, his obedience, and his exaltation.

Hebrews chapter number 12 tonight in your New Testament Bible. Hope you have your Bible. We're going to use it tonight, and it'll be handy for the service. Appreciate the good singing tonight. Psalm 1830, as for God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord is tried, and He is a buckler to all them that put their trust in Him. And certainly if we could understand that as God's people, that God's way is perfect, it would save us from a lot of heartache, and a lot of discouragement, and a lot of doubt. Appreciate the good singing tonight. Appreciate all of you being here to be under the sound of the Word of God. Let's stand together, shall we? Hebrews chapter number 12 tonight in your New Testament Bible. The book of Hebrews chapter number 12. Let me just say a quick word about the table as Brother Robertson did. Certainly we did not come to sell books, music, nor preaching tapes. We've come to be a blessing, but we do have some things back there that we think will help you in your vehicle, in your home, in your office. Many preaching tapes, I think I'm down to about 55 or so. Of course, the Robertsons have many good books, and they have several recordings from the family that it would do you good to get them in your home, get some good, godly, conservative music into your vehicle and into your home. It's always good to have that type of music playing around the day, and maybe in the office if you have an opportunity. So go back there and see them. Some of them ought to be back there, and we'll be glad to help you any way that we possibly can. I want to help you tonight with this sermon. I've been praying about what the Lord would have me to preach, and I told you last night that I prayed that the Lord would help me this week as an evangelist to preach a whole new series of sermons. And so tonight I want to preach a new sermon. It's God laid upon my heart. I hope it'll be a blessing to you. It's one of those sermons that the Lord kind of works in your heart in the study before He ever lets you get in the pulpit and say anything to God's people. And so certainly I hope this will help you tonight. Hebrews chapter number 12. Notice, please, verse number 1. Hebrews 12 and verse 1. The Bible says, "...Wherefore, seeing we also come past the bough with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." Go back to the very first part of verse number 3, if you would. Because tonight I want to preach on this subject, for consider Him. Thank you very much. You may be seated. Let's bow our heads and hearts. And ask the Lord to bless our time together tonight, as we not only preach, but as I borrow your imagination, and we try to consider Him tonight. Now, my father, I do pray that you would empty me of myself, that you would fill me with the blessed Holy Spirit of God. And Lord, I pray that you would help me as I preach the Bible, as in truth it is the Word of God. Lord Jesus, you told your disciples in John chapter number 16, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. And Lord, tonight I want to not exalt the ministry of Evangelist Greg Locke, but I want to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ tonight with all of my heart. And I pray that in doing so, that you would draw some sinners close to you tonight for salvation. That you would do your dead-level best and work in our heart as you draw Christians unto yourself tonight. And Lord, we're praying for revival. We're asking that you would have your will and your way in our hearts. And so tonight, Lord, as we consider you, as we consider the Lord Jesus, I pray that you would burn deep within our hearts, that you would, Lord, give us a great passion to want to know more about the Word of God, to want to know more about the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Himself, our wonderful Lord and Savior. So please help tonight. Help these friends in this congregation as they listen to the Bible. Be with the children's meetings. Be with the nursery workers. And help me tonight, Lord, as I preach the Word of God. And I pray that when we leave, we will be James 1, 22 Christians, not just hearers, but doers also. So Father, we pray that You would bless, that You would work, that You would stir unconvicted chains, have Your will and way. Tonight we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. Let's suppose tonight that this room was packed to capacity with many, many influential people. Not to say that you're not influential and that we're just a bunch of hillbilly, country bumpkin rednecks, but let's just say that the building was packed to capacity with very political, highfalutin influential people from the choir loft all the way to the very back pew. Let's suppose that that American flag that is draped there on the back of this auditorium, we had them draped all around this building and tonight we were going to have a presidential rally. And let's suppose that all of a sudden a big, long Cadillac of a black, dark tinted window limousine came pulling into the parking lot. It had its nice little white wall Goodyear tires and had the little American flag sticking up on the front of the antenna and the Secret Service people got out and they had their little antennas that went down their backs and up and around into their ears and they had their little lapel mic instruments on their backs and they could hear one another. And they had their little Uzis and their little 357s and their nine millimeters and I mean they were all over the parking lot. And I mean they were just combing the woods and there were snipers on top of the roof. And let's say that we were privileged at the Elk Creek Baptist Church to have a visitation from the President of the United States of America. Now, we're not just talking about your average Joe Blow, run of the mill type of man. But we're not just talking about somebody that somebody's never heard of before. We're talking about the very President of the United States of America. And I don't care if you're a Democrat or if you're a Republican, I thank God we've got somebody in office that we can call brother who's getting the job done for Almighty God. And so let's suppose that the doors open up and all of a sudden old glory was raised and we began to sing the Star Spangled Banner. Everybody would stand to their feet and I don't care how influential people in the building would be, I mean they would clap and I mean they would lift up their voices and they would want to see the President. They would want to meet the President. And we would stand there probably for five or six minutes and I mean we would clap until we think that our fingers and hands would fall off. And we would clap and clap and give Him a standing ovation. And then all of a sudden there'd be silence. I mean there'd be complete quiet on the set as the President of the United States of America stood in this very pulpit and looked at the very citizens of this great and wonderful miraculous nation and gave us a discourse on His personal testimony. How He came to know the Lord Jesus Christ His Savior. I'm telling you when that man walked out the double doors of this church, everybody would want to shake his hand. You'd want him to sign your Bible. You'd want the President of the United States to know that you prayed for him. And I'm telling you everybody in this building would be enamored to be in the presence of the President of the United States. I mean the moment he walked in the door, no piano would have to play. No organ would have to play. Nobody would have to cue us. I mean just instantaneously, spontaneously, we would stand to our feet and like an active volcano, we would erupt in anthems of praise and we would thank that man for the good job that he's doing in the White House because everybody knows what a mess he had to come in and clean up and some things that he had to fix. And I mean we'd clap our hands and we'd slap that man on the back and say thank God for you. And I'm telling you everybody would stand up and hoop and holler and clap their hand if the President of the United States of America came walking through that back door. But did you know, ladies and gentlemen, contrary to popular belief, let's suppose that no limousines were to pull in the parking lot. Let's suppose the building was just filled with the very people that it's filled with tonight. Influential, non-influential, makes no difference. The nursery was going with the children. My wife was doing the children's meetings as she's doing even now. And there was nothing different about the service, but all of a sudden the back door opened and physically, actually, and factually embodied the Lord Jesus Christ came walking through the back doors of the Oak Creek Baptist Church and came to this pulpit. Now I do believe that we would be enamored to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Himself. Never a man spake like this man spake. He taught them as one that have authority and not as the scribes and the Pharisees. And you'd give a good gory flip to hear a sermon from Greg Locke if you could hear one from the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's one thing I know tonight from my Bible. I know that when the Lord Jesus walked in the back building, we would not stand up in anthems of praise. I know that we would not stomp our feet and hoop and holler and ring cowbells and beat on our pews and clap our hands until we felt that our fingers would grow numb and fall off. I know that we would not holler amen and jump around and shimmy up the tent pole. For ladies and gentlemen, if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself walked in the back doors of the Yelp Creek Baptist Church, the last thing we would be doing is standing and jumping around. Rather, we would fall on our face before the presence of the Most Holy God of the Bible. And in the book of Hebrews, if you believe the Apostle Paul wrote it, and I do, and if you don't, we won't argue about it. You can preach it another way when you get a chance to preach. But nonetheless, I believe that the book of Hebrews was written by the Apostle Paul. There's much internal evidence for that, but nonetheless, he even starts the book by preaching about the Lord Jesus. He says in Hebrews 1, verse 1, God who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in times past, unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, and by whom also He made the world. There are many people who do not understand the 13 simple chapters to the book of Hebrews, because it talks much about sacrifice. It deals much with the Old Testament law. It deals much with the Levitical priesthood. But if we would take our Bible and compare Scripture with Scripture, basically, the Apostle Paul, or the writer, if you will, of the book of Hebrews, is giving us this idea that in the Old Testament, there had to be an atonement for sin. There had to be that lamb of the first year that was sacrificed every year around the same time of the year, and their sins would have to be atoned for. The word atoned means to cover. The word atoned just literally means to pull a blanket over the top up. But yet, in the book of Hebrews, we do not see necessarily the atonement. We see what John saw in John 1, verse 29. The next day, John saith, Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, which not covereth up, but which taketh away the sin of the world. And ladies and gentlemen, when we get to the book of Hebrews, we have a book that is all about Jesus. We have a book that is about His birth. We have a book that is about His preexistence in eternity past. We have a book that is about His life. We have a book that is about the Gospel, the death, the burial, and the resurrection. And when we get to chapter number 12, the Apostle Paul is trying to encourage us not to give up. He's trying to encourage us to stay in the fight, to stay in the battle, and he uses the illustration of the Lord Jesus. How He set His face like a flint toward Jerusalem. How He did not look back. How He put His hand to the plow and He kept going forward and He did not look back. And I'd like to remind you, at any moment, He could have called ten legions of angels to destroy the world and set Himself free. He could have said, Father, destroy this wicked, vile, sin-cursed earth. But He did not. He died on that old rugged cross for your sins and for my sins. And the Apostle Paul says, God's people have reason to stay in the battle. We have reason to stay in the fight. And we have reason to continue in the grace of God. Why? For consider Him the Bible says. And did you know, ladies and gentlemen, if you study the Word of God from Genesis 1-1 to Revelation 22-21, you will find out that is the main theme of the Bible. The Bible says, Lo, in the volume of the book it is written of Me. I have come to do Thy will, O God. Did you know why this Bible is so important, ladies and gentlemen? Because this Bible is not about a place. Oh, it talks about places. It talks about heaven. It talks about hell. It talks about the earth. It talks about Jerusalem. It talks about Jericho. It talks about the far-flung worlds and the far-flung things that we see all around this world. But I'm going to tell you something. This book is not about a place. This book is not about people. Oh, it's a people-oriented book. It deals with the Jews, God's chosen people, the only nation that at one time went out of existence, and all of a sudden God began to regather them from the four quarters of the earth and put them back together. And as Israel goes, so goes the world, because Jerusalem is the breadbasket of the world, ladies and gentlemen. And the day that America turns on the Jew is the day that Almighty God turns on America. And so it is a people-oriented book. It deals with many different types of people. It deals with white people and black people and red people. It deals with all types of tribes and nations and tongues and people. But it is not a book that is necessarily specifically about people. You see, ladies and gentlemen, this book is about a person. And from one cover to the other cover, that person is the lovely Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to let your fingers do the walking and take your Bibles and go to Philippians 2 tonight, would you? The book of Philippians, please, if you'd turn there, and chapter 2. While you're turning to Philippians 2, let me give you the introduction to the book of Philippians. It is only a few chapters long, four in fact, out of four simple, short chapters in your New Testament Bible, did you know that out of those four little chapters, 17 times the Apostle Paul either used the word joy or rejoice. In four simple, short, yet straightforward chapters, 17 different times, several times in every chapter, he uses the theme, he uses the word and the encouragement that God's people should have joy. He even ends the book with Philippians 4, 4, rejoicing the Lord always, and again, I say rejoice. Now, the oxymoron, if you will, to that is this. We would think that if he's writing about joy, that he would be sitting with nice little silk pajamas on, with his leg up against the air-conditioned unit in the old air, just blowing right up his pants leg there, and he's got a big chicken leg in one hand, and he's got a big thing of kingly grapes in the other hand, and he's sitting up there in the Hilton high-rise hotel, having himself a jolly old time while he's preaching a Bible conference in a large fundamental Baptist church. But to the contrary, ladies and gentlemen, he is in a Roman jail cell on a stony, cold jail cell floor, his belly is growling because he needs something to eat, and the rats in the sewer are running through that infested prison cell, and he's down there with the murderers and with the rapists and with the extortioners, but yet the Apostle Paul said, if there's one thing that God's people should experience, if there's one thing that we should have, if there's one thing that should keep us going in the rough times of life, it is the joy of the Lord. And that is what the entire theme of the four chapters of the book of Philippians is all about. But when we get to chapter number two, he gives us a synopsis. He just kind of boils everything down into one big boiling pot of life and tells us what real joy is and where the real source of joy comes from. Notice what your Bible says, Philippians chapter number two and verse number five. Philippians chapter number two and verse number five. Paul again is writing, he 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, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that it's the name of Jesus, with things in heaven and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And ladies and gentlemen, if you study the ministry of the Apostle Paul, you will find out that Paul had a passion. That passion was to live his life, was to preach his sermons, was to pray his prayers, and was to live a life that would simply allow people to consider him. The Apostle Paul never one time walked into a church with his Bible under his arm, with his head swollen up like an overripe watermelon, and said, now listen to what I have to say. No, everywhere the Apostle Paul went, he opened his heart, he opened his mouth, and he opened his Bible like the front door of his house, and he said, consider him. He said, consider him in his life, consider him in his birth, consider him in his death, consider him in his burial, in his victorious bodily resurrection. And if there's one thing the Apostle Paul was consumed with, he said, church, you better consider the fact that Jesus Christ came the first time, but blessed be God, he said Jesus Christ is going to come the second time, and that may be this very night before I even conclude the final remarks of this Gospel sermon. And everywhere Paul went, he said, consider him. Consider him and consider him. So tonight, quickly in our outline, I want you to write down four areas that you consider the Lord Jesus Christ. Four areas tonight that we should worship Him for. Four areas tonight that we should praise Him for. And tonight, simply four areas where we should consider Him. Notice your Bible, please. Philippians 2 and verse number 5. Philippians 2 and verse number 5. Paul is writing. He says, let this mind... You study your Bible, you will find out he's speaking of the mind of humility, a mind of selflessness. Let this mind, Paul says, 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. Notice the phrase, please. But made Himself. But made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. I want you to consider, number one, what I call His reputation. His reputation. Now this is interesting. This struck me as kind of odd, Brother Potter. When I was reading my Bible this afternoon, I came across this particular verse. And it said, but made Himself of no reputation. But why did it not just say that He didn't have a reputation? Why didn't it say that? Why does it specifically say, why is the Bible so minutely inspired? Why is it so perfect down to the very dot and tittle that the Word of God says He had to make Himself of no reputation? Because I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, there's no one in all the world who has a reputation like Jesus Christ. He's the King of kings and Lord of lords. And when He left heaven's portals and became God manifest in the flesh, He had to make Himself of no reputation because never a man spake like this man spake. Never a man had a testimony like this man because He was not just mere man. He was 100% God. The second person of the Godhead. And ladies and gentlemen, He said, I and my Father are one. Now there's a lot of Dr. Bottlestoppers and Nurse Ragamuffins who want to debate that. There's a lot of people who don't say that Jesus Christ was God. But you study your Bible, John 1, verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. We're not dealing there with the written Word. We're dealing with the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. And without the living Word, the written Word is of none effect whatsoever. And that's why the Bible says in John 14, And we beheld His glory. The Bible says that the Word became flesh. There was a teacher in Sunday school and she got up and she said, She said, today I'm going to talk to you about 1 John 5, verse 17. There are three that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. She says, now I don't understand this. She said, I've never been able to explain the Trinity. And she gave them the little old egg illustration. You've heard it before about the three being in one and they're separate and all this, that, and the other. And she said, now, kiddos, I want you to know that I just can't exactly explain to you the Trinity. She said, there's some things in the Bible that are just too hard to be understood. And I can't explain to you the Trinity at all. And the little girl raised her hand and she said, Well, mommy and daddy's taught me about the Trinity for many, many months of my little Christian life. And she said, it's not that hard to understand. She said, teacher, if you'd allow me to stand up in front of the class. She said, I think I can give them a little phrase. I can give them a little poem that they would never forget that would remind them of the Trinity every day that they live. And that teacher looked at that little girl and said, Do you think you can actually explain something so deep as the Trinity? Do you think you can actually explain something so big, so magnificent, so miraculous and supernatural as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit? And she said, I believe I can. She said, come on up here. That little girl walked up into the front of the class and she cleared her throat. She looked at all those kids and she said, it's real simple, it goes like this. She said, they're three in one and one in three. And the one in the middle died for me. And I'm telling you what, ladies and gentlemen, that's exactly right. He had to make himself of no reputation because he was the very Son of God, gave the very God of God Himself. And the Apostle Paul said, He robed Himself in human flesh and God became a man. One of the greatest mysteries that we will ever try to rack our brains and try to figure out is why in the wide world, God would ever want to become a man. He humbled Himself, robed Himself in human flesh. He left the glory dust. He left the angels. He left His Father and the blessed Holy Spirit. And He left all of that to come to a sin-cursed earth. And made 2 Corinthians 5.21, He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. There was a man one night that stayed home from church. He was a Christian man. He had been saved for many years, but his heart had grown cold and indifferent. Bitter and calloused towards the things of God as we do so often in us. They were having a Christmas play down at the church in the middle of December, freezing cold outside, three or four foot of snow. His wife begged him to go to the Christmas program. And he said, No, honey, I just don't want to go tonight. I think the Lord will understand I'm just not feeling real well. And he had been reading his Bible a little bit lately trying to appease his conscience for never going to church and for never wanting to do what's right, never having family devotions and so on and so forth. So the wife decided she wasn't going to chide him and beg him anymore. She got in the car and the kiddos got in the car and they went to the Christmas parade, a thing there at the church. And the man was left at the house and he was watching television, watching a ball game. And all of a sudden while he was watching that ball game, he was interrupted and disturbed. And outside he heard a... He couldn't figure out what in the wide world it was. He sat there for just a moment. He kind of looked around. He thought maybe somebody was at the door and he couldn't figure it out. And so he just kind of slumped back down on his couch and grabbed his cup of coffee. He heard it again. He thought to himself, what is this? And he got up and he walked over to the door and he looked out and nobody was at the door. And he looked around all over the place and he looked out there and he said, well, there's nobody here. And so he went back inside and he sat down. Those servants that he sat down, he heard it two or three more times and he looked over in the living room and they had a big bay window. And what it was is there was all these birds, big, huge flocks of birds that had come into the yard and they had seen the warmth inside that house and they had seen the light inside that house and they couldn't see the glass in the front of that big bay window. And those birds just one by one and grove by grove were flying right into that window, knocking themselves silly. And that little knocking that he kept hearing was those blackbirds busting up against that glass. And he thought to himself, man, I've got to tell them birds how stupid they are. And so he went over to the glass and he stood out in front of the door making a bunch of funny faces to no avail. Them birds just kept hitting. Them birds just kept hitting. And so he thought, I know what I'll do. I'll go get me a little pack of sunbeam bread and I'll crumble up some of that bread and put it on the doorstep and they'll see it over in the doorstep and they'll come eat it. And so he put it over there while he was putting it out. Boom, boom, boom. Well, I mean, them birds just by the droves just hitting that thing. I mean, there was hundreds of them all over the yard, all up in the trees. And he thought to himself, what I need to do is go get a shotgun and just shoot it up in the air and scare all these birds away. He said, but I know what I'll do. I don't want to disturb the neighbors. And so he goes outside. You know, he puts his big galoshes on, puts his boots on. He gets his earmuffs on and his gloves and he goes over to the hickory tree and he breaks off a limb and he gets that limb and he starts shooing those birds away. Shoo, bird! Get out of here, bird! Go! And I mean, just to no avail. They kept just hitting the window. Boy, they just kept hitting the window. One after another. Them birds flopping all over the ground, you know, just knocking themselves silly. And they're just laying all over the place and hit that window and bust themselves in the head and bust their beaks all to pieces and then fall to the ground. And finally, after shooing those birds, I mean, the man was just completely physically exhausted. He threw that stick down. He fell down on his knees in the snow and he said, you bunch of stupid birds. He said, how in the world am I going to make you understand that that's a window that you can't fly into the house? Shoo, bird! Shoo, bird! And the more he hollered, the more they kept hitting. And all of a sudden, he slumped over in the snow and he said, you know what? If I could only be a bird to warn the birds of their waywardness. And I'm going to tell you something, ladies and gentlemen. There was a time that we were beating our faith against it. We had no hope. We were dead, doomed, and dying. There was a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. And we went to church and we tried to read and we tried to be religious and we tried to do what was right, but to no avail. But thanks be to God, one day the eternity passed. Jesus Christ said, the only way I can warn them of their waywardness, of their sinfulness, of their ungodliness, is if I become one of them. And God came down. God manifests in the flesh, but yet the Bible says He made him. I'll never be able to figure that out. And I'll never be able to preach a million sermons and explain to people all that that means and all the great spiritual ramifications, but I do know He had to make Himself of no reputation. So consider, number one, His reputation, but please look back in your Bibles if you would at verse number seven again. Made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Being found in fashion as a man, He humbled and became obedient unto death. Notice the emphasis. Even the death of the cross. Consider, number one, His reputation, but please consider, number two, His humiliation. Here's the Lord Jesus. The Bible is prophesied in Isaiah 7, in verse number 14, Behold a virgin, not just a young lady, but an actual young lady who had never been with a man ever before in her life. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a son. Thou shalt call His name Emmanuel, which is being interpreted God with us. And you know the story. Jesus Christ came and there was no room for Him in the inn. And sad to say, in many of the Baptist churches I preach in, there just doesn't seem to be much room for Him in most of the churches I'm in either. And they said, You can go out in this little lowly stable. And they went out to a stable. Most historians believe it was a type of a cave. Whatever it was, it was lowly. And it certainly wasn't the Hilton High Rise or the Holiday Inn Express. They went out there, and you know the story. The shepherd came. We're talking about the off-scouring of the earth. We're talking about the lowest paid job in the entire land around that particular region, ladies and gentlemen, in Bible days. We're talking about men with dirty feet and dirty hands and dirty breath and dirty eyebrows. We're talking about men who haven't had a bath in days. Men who hang around with dirty, stinking, smelly, woolly sheep. And the Bible says that the angels appeared unto those bunch of lowlifes. They appeared not unto the prophets of the land, not unto the preachers of the land, not unto the prophets of the land and the big theological bigwigs and the political people and the kings and presidents, but He just appeared to the lowly people and the Bible says that those shepherds came by and they fell down and knelt down before the Lord Jesus and they realized in their heart, this is the promised one. This is that seed of David which would come. This is that one that will deliver us. This is that one that will set up the kingdom. This is the Messiah of the world, and yet He wasn't born in a large, huge room. He wasn't born with grapes in His mouth. He wasn't born with any of that. As a matter of fact, it was two years later when He was a little child when the wise men came and most of the time when we see the nativity, we see the wise men in Santa Claus and everybody else standing around. Well, I have news for you. Santa Claus wasn't anywhere around and the wise men didn't come for two more years when He was in a house and He was a little child. It was those shepherds that came and fell down before the Lord and Joseph and Mary were amazed in the Word of God says that Mary pondered all of these things in her heart. About 12 years they lived there in that little town and He learned carpentry skills. Can you imagine the God of the Bible? The God of the Bible wearing a diaper and learning to walk and learning to talk. He subjected Himself to the will of His Father. Now, you hear me and you hear me well. Although He was 100% God, He was still 100% man. It is not that He laid aside His power. He chose not to use His power so He could fulfill the will of His Father. When He was 12 years old, He walked into the temple. When He walked out the other side of the door, those priests and those prophets that had been studying the Bible for years, their dentures fell out and their hair was parted right down the middle and they said, what in the wide world? How in the world did this little kid who doesn't know anything learn all of these things about the Mosaic Law? And they were amazed that at 12 years old, He confounded the mighty man. When He was 30 years old, the Bible says in Matthew 3 that He walks over to John the Baptist. John the Baptist takes the Lord Jesus and He says, what have you come for? And He said, I've come to be baptized of you. And John said, wait just a minute, Lord. He said, I indeed need to be baptized of thee. And Jesus said, suffer it. Suffer it to be told to fulfill all righteousness. He was not baptized because He needed to get saved or because He had gotten saved. He was baptized as an example, ladies and gentlemen. And the Lord Jesus was laid down into that water and He was raised again. And the Bible says the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove came down and lit that on His shoulder and the sky was parted and a voice of God the Father rang out and said this, not another, but this one right here. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Matthew chapter four and verse number one. Then, when? When Jesus made His ministry public. Then was Jesus led of the Spirit, not the devil. He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And for 40 days and 49, He was tempted in all points like as we are. Yet without sin, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. And finally, He looked at the devil and He said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And the power of the Word of God made the devil run. And the power of the Word of God will still make the devil run. You don't have any business carrying on a conversation with the devil because he knows more Bible than you do, ladies and gentlemen. What you do is just quote in the Word of God and he'll put his little tail through his legs and run like a whip puppy. And Jesus said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And the devil left and the Bible says the angels came and ministered unto him. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. He cast many devils out of people's bodies. He raised the dead in John chapter 11. And a man who had been dead for four days came up out of the grave. And Jesus said, loosen and let him go. He laid across the dead body of Jairus' daughter and said, pelasai kumai, which is to say, damsel, I say unto thee, arise. And those people that were laughing all of a sudden lost a little chagrin and a little smile off of their face as that little girl rose to her feet. And Jesus said, give her something to eat. Jesus walks into cities and there's a man by the name of Zacchaeus. Now, Zacchaeus had two strikes against him. He was a midget and he worked for the IRS, but nonetheless, he got so excited that Jesus came to town that he skimmed up a tree to sit down and sip lemonade and wait for Jesus to come by. But he got more than he bargained for because not only did he get to shake the Lord's hand, but the Bible says that Jesus took him back to his house. They had potluck dinner and he was led to the Lord by the Lord himself. And it doesn't get any better than that. There was another time, ladies and gentlemen, where a man came to Jesus and he said, Lord, he said, my little boy's full of the devil. He said, he's got the very demons and devils and minions of hell in him. When we walk past the campfire, he throws him into the fire. When we walk past the lake or the creek, he throws him into the river. He throws him into the water and he tries to drown him. Jesus spoke the very words and the demons of hell ran from the very power of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Mark chapter five, my favorite story in the whole Bible, Jesus spoke just a few words and pulled thousands and thousands and thousands of demons out of one maniac of Gadara's body and sent them into the pigs. And the pigs ran down a steep place and were violently choked in the sea. And miracle after miracle, the disciples at the end of Mark chapter four get in a boat and they get scared because all of a sudden the boat's being tossed around like a toothpick in a bathtub and they don't know what in the world they're going to do. And they go and they wake up the Lord and they said, Lord, don't you care that we perish? Doesn't it bother you that we're all fixing to be fish bait? Doesn't it bother you that we're all fixing to go overboard and we're all going to drown? The Bible says that Jesus stood on the front of that boat and he opened up his arms and he said, peace be sealed and ironed out the wounds in those wavy, wavy seas. The disciples scratched their head in bewilderment, looked at one another and their eyes were bigger than Jimmy Dean's salted shakes and they said, what manner of man? What manner of man is this that even the very winds and waves? But don't you know what the Bible says? The God of the Bible, the God that made the very breath that's in your body, that could snuff the very breath that's in your body out of this life. But furthermore, it says he also became a servant. The word servant there is the word do-life, isn't it? He became a servant. I tell you, I believe that preachers would learn to humble themselves as did the Lord Jesus. I believe our ministry should be much more effective. Jesus did not come to be a theological big shot in a big wig to prove to everybody, including the sword of the Lord, what he means. Jesus came to give his life a ransom for many. He took a towel off of himself one day and he knelt down with a basin of water and he stuck his disciples' dirty, stinking, nasty, sandaled feet inside that water and began to wash. Peter said, well, I don't think that's a good idea. Jesus said, you let me wash your feet, Peter. You let me wash your feet, Peter. It was a picture of him humbling himself and becoming a servant of humanity to become something that we all are in this world. Oh, don't get me wrong, he became a man. He endured the trials of life. He endured hardship. He endured punishment and pain and mockery and laughing and scoffing. He endured all of that. Jesus wept. Matthew, in chapter number 25, he goes up on a mountain and he looks over Jerusalem with a broken, saddened heart. He says, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I would have gathered you under my arms as a mother. He ended up gathering her kids under her wings, but she would not. And you see the broken heart, the compassion that we preached on last night of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here is the very God of God. And your Bible says here in Philippians chapter 2 that he humbled himself. But go in the Word of God if you would, please. Now to verse number 9. I'd like to show you something interesting tonight. Verse number 9 of Philippians chapter 2, the Bible says, wherefore, the word means because of this, because of these things which we've dealt with tonight, wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name. Acts 4.12 Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name given among men, whereby we must be saved at the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts chapter 16 and verse number 31 Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Notice what your Bible says in verse number 10, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow for things in heaven, for things in earth, and things under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Consider His reputation. Consider His humiliation. But thirdly, ladies and gentlemen, consider His... You know, as you study your Bibles, you will find out that humility always comes before a lofty position. That's why the Bible says if you humble yourself, God will exalt you. But if you don't humble yourself, if you lift up yourself in pride, then God will abase you. And here the Bible says that Jesus willingly surrendered His will to the will of His Father. He humbled Himself and because of that reputation, because of that humiliation, the Bible says, wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him. And you hear me tonight, ladies and gentlemen, one day every demon, every imp, and every minion and devil of hell will fall down on their wicked bowed knees and they will confess openly with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. One day every vulteer, every Bible-jury-jector, every Bill and Hillary Clinton, every dope-head, every dope-smuggler, every crackhead, every harlot in Nashville, Tennessee, one day every person that's ever kicked around the Bible, one day every liberal and every modernist who has cut the Word of God to pieces and said there is no virgin birth and says there is no second coming and says that we do not have a Bible, one day every one of those liberal theologians will fall on their face and they will lay prostrate before the Lord Jesus and they will proclaim He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And one day, ladies and gentlemen, every person in this room will fall on their face and they will proclaim the deity of Christ. They will proclaim the Lordship of Christ. Now you hear me tonight, I've heard many people who say, but Lord, I made Jesus Lord of my life. No, you did not. He was Lord long before you ever came around. You just simply submit to the Lordship and you've got a choice tonight. You can call Him Lord right now because you want to or you can call Him Lord at the judgment seat because you have to. But bless God, you will call Him Lord one day. You've given your houses, your money and your land now or He'll take it all in because it belongs to Him anyhow. Ladies and gentlemen, everything we've got, including the body in which you live and breathe and move is alone from the Lord Jesus. He's the Lord of our lives. I'm sick to the gills of filling up our churches with these young people who come to church and they get their baggy britches hanging all the way down to their ankles and their earrings all over their face and they sit in the back pew of a Baptist church and they put their Nike tennis shoes up on the back of some little old lady's head and instead of taking notes, they're passing notes and they pop their stinking bubblegum and many times the parents and the people there in the church are no different and no better and we never come to the altar and we're never moved and it never bothers us when we hear a soul-stirring sermon or a song that should really grip us and really hurt us and we never get moved about people that are going to hell and we go to church and we go to school and we go to work and we go to the grocery store and it's like it's no big deal. We never live for God. We never speak a word for the Lord Jesus and whenever we go to Shoney or whenever we go to the Chinese buffet or whenever we go to a restaurant, we're even scared to bow our head and pray for the very food that the Lord Jesus Christ has given us. You've seen them before. They pretend like they've got a migraine when the preacher's praying. They pretend like they're digging through something in their purse. They pretend like they've got something in their eye and they're scared to bow their head in front of a bunch of people and pray and if you're scared to bow your head in public, don't you tell me you've got any of God. You don't have any more of God than one infuser sitting in tonight if you can't worship and praise the Lord in public. I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, I'm sick to the gills of these people that say, well, He's my Savior. Bless God as He's your Savior. I promise you one thing. He'll be your Lord. He'll be your Lord if He is your Savior. Now, I'm not saying you're going to understand everything about the Bible. I don't believe the moment you get saved, you're going to understand everything about the atonement. Hey, the moment I got saved, I didn't know what the word atonement meant. When I first got saved, I didn't know what inspiration from perspiration was. When I first got saved, I didn't know what the trinity was from a spare tire on the side of the road. You're not going to know everything about the Bible when you get saved. But I'll tell you one thing you will know about the Bible. You will know that something happened deep down in the inner recesses of your heart. And when the Holy Spirit of God takes place, you will have no problem calling Him Lord of your life. And I'm telling you, He has an exalted position. And it's not just a high position. The Bible says He is highly exalted above all kings, above all princes, above all principalities, above all dominions, above all presidents. And the Bible says that every, every, every, that means every single mouth in this building right now, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. You know, there's a lot of people who say, well, you know, Jesus just really came into existence. You know, in the book of Matthew, He was born in a stable. No, no. Your Bible speaks about the existence of the Lord Jesus Christ from the very get-go. Colossians chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. And by Him, that's Jesus. By Him. For Him, and through Him were all things made. By Him, for Him, and through Him do all things. Psalm chapter 8 and verse number 1. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth, who has set Thy glory above the heavens. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou ordained strength, that Thou mightest heal the enemy and stop the avenger. He said, when I consider Thy heavens the works of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast made, what is man, that Thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man, that Thou visitest him. Psalm 19, verses 1, 2, and 3. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth its handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no language, for their voice is not heard. Their line is thrown out throughout the earth. And ladies and gentlemen, tonight, as I preach, I'm not one of these preachers that like to read a lot of poems and things, and if you do, that's fine. But tonight I have something that I'd like to read. I'd like to take your imagination, I'd like to take you deep within the confines of the Word of God, and from one cover of your Bible, excuse me, of your Bible, all the way to the other cover. As my grandmother used to say, from one black quiver to the other black quiver. From this leather side to this leather side. From one side all the way through the end of the concordance. I'd like to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that every book in your Bible points to one person. Every book in your Bible proclaims one person. Every book in your Bible preaches and praises one person, and that is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Genesis, He is the seed of a woman. In Exodus, He is our rock. In Leviticus, He's the sacrificial lamb. And in Numbers, He's the brazen serpent of the pole. In Deuteronomy, He's the prophet. And in Joshua, He's the captain of the Lord's host. In Judges, He's the messenger of Jehovah. And in Ruth, He's our kinsman redeemer. In 1 and 2 Samuel, He's the seed of David. And in 1 and 2 Kings, He's the ruling king. In 1 and 2 Chronicles, He's the true king. And in Ezra, He's the Lord of heaven and earth. In Nehemiah, He's the builder and battler. In Esther, He's the sovereign ruler. And in Job, thank God, He's the risen redeemer. In Psalms, He's the shepherd, the shield, and the strong tower. In Proverbs, He's wisdom personified. In Ecclesiastes, He's the preacher. And in Song of Solomon, He's the altogether lovely one. In Isaiah, He's the high and holy one. In Jeremiah, He's the Lord of righteousness. In Lamentations, He's the man of sorrows. In Ezekiel, He's the watchman of your soul. In Daniel, He's the fourth man of the fire. In Hosea, He's the pleading one. In Job, He's the outpourer of the spirit of God. In Amos, He's the God of Israel. In Obadiah, He's the deliverer of Zion. In Jonah, He's the ambassador. And in Micah, He's the Bethlehemite. In Nahum, He's the bringer of good tidings. In Habakkuk, He's our burden bearer. In Zephaniah, He's the jealous one. In Haggai, He's the desire of all nations. In Zechariah, He's the Lord of hosts. In Malachi, He's the son of righteousness. And guess what? That's just the 39 books of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is Christ concealed. And the New Testament, thank God, is Christ revealed. In Matthew, He's the king of the Jews. In Mark, He's the servant of Jehovah. In Luke, He's the son of man. And in John, He's the son of God and the son of man. In Acts, He's the builder of the church. In Romans, He's our justifier. In 1 and 2 Corinthians, He's the conqueror of death and the great problem solver. In Galatians, He's our liberty. In Ephesians, He's the head. In Philippians, He's given a name above every name. In Colossians, He's the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In 1 and 2 Thessalonians, He's the comer in the clouds. In 1 and 2 Timothy, He's the commander and chief of life. In Titus, He's the one who cannot lie. In Philemon, He's the debt payer. In Hebrews, He's the great high priest. In James, He's the Lord of faith and good words. In 1 and 2 Peter, He's the great shepherd. In 1, 2, 3 John, He's my holder. In Jude, He's the coming judge and you beat me to the punch line. In Revelation, He's the king of kings and Lord of lords. And don't you ever forget from one cover to the other cover, this book is about Jesus. Now, let me make a statement before I give you my final point and we go home. You tell me how much you love this Bible, and that's exactly how much you love Jesus. Because this book, and as much time as you want to spend with this book is the same amount of time you want to spend with it. Don't you tell me you love Jesus and your Bible lays on a dusty shelf and you never read it. Most of the time, I preach to the only reason they bring their Bible to church because it happens to match the outfit that they just bought at the mall just a few days earlier. And I'm telling you, ladies and gentlemen, if you love Jesus, you'll love His Bible. If you love this Bible, you will go more to love Jesus. But at last, I want you to see, consider Him in His salvation. His reputation, His humiliation, His exaltation, but thanks be unto God, we can consider. Did you know the word Jesus, just the very name itself, means saviour. Matthew chapter number 1 in verse number 21, He shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus. Now, here's the reason why. For He shall save His people. He did not say He would save you around your sins or through your sins. My Bible specifically says He'll save you. Ladies and gentlemen, the very name Jesus means salvation. The very name Jesus means deliverance. The very name Jesus means justification. It means propitiation. The Bible says in 1 John 2, 2, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. And just to speak the name Jesus, then we are speaking salvation. Just to mention the name Jesus, we are mentioning the red royal redeeming blood of the crimson flow of Calvary. Ephesians 1, 7, in whom we have redemption through His blood. Even the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace. Hebrews 9, 22, and almost all things are by the law purged with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. And ladies and gentlemen, tonight you need to consider His salvation. Maybe you're here tonight and you've never been saved by the grace of God. Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me. And I preach this sermon tonight because I want to uplift the crucified, yet the risen Savior, because no longer is He upon a cross. No longer is He in an old cryptic tube with rigor mortis setting in on His body. But my Bible said there in Hebrews 12, that He sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. And He's been up there interceding for you and for me. And tonight the Bible says when He ascended, the Holy Spirit of God descended to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. And tonight as we exalt the Lord, the Holy Spirit of God perhaps is working in that pew right this very moment. He is troubling the water of your heart. He is troubling the water of your soul. And He's telling you in your heart right now, you need to consider Him. You need to consider Him. You need to see the fact that He made Himself of no reputation for you. You need to see the fact that He humbled Himself for you and for me, ladies and gentlemen. And you need to see the fact that Jesus Christ did all of that, not simply because He had to, but because He wanted to, because He dove down into the depths of depravity and despair to pick you up and to help you when you could not help yourself. And ladies and gentlemen, don't you get the big head and say, well, I found God. No siree, Bob, you didn't find God. God was never lost. You didn't go looking for God because you were wicked, you were vile, you were ungodly, and you were dead in your sin. But Jesus Christ left the portals of heaven, and He came looking for you, ladies and gentlemen. And tonight the Holy Spirit of God is working in your heart. He's speaking to you, and He says, consider Him in salvation. There's no other name given among men. He's not a Savior. He's the only Savior. He's not a way to heaven. He's the only way to heaven. I was in Africa just a few weeks ago, about a month or so. One night I preached on the deity of Christ to an interpreter. I'd say a few words. I'd say, Jesus is God. I'd go through a bunch of stuff. I didn't know what to say. It sounded good, and everybody said, amen. So I guess he said what I said. Well, I said something that night. I said, Allah is not God. Buddha is not God. Confucius is not God. I mean, I went to all of them. Anything I could think of right there. I just went to all of them. Well, the next morning I was preaching on hell. When I was preaching on hell, this truckload of Muslims pulled up. And they started getting out. Over in Africa, I mean, they don't have two or three people in a truck. You know, they got two or three hundred people in a truck in this place. And they pack them in like a bunch of sardines and Turkish clams. And about eight or ten of them just kind of got out. Had their little beanie hats on. You see them. Had them long robes, big old bulky things. And I figured the reason it's bulky is because they had hand grenades on them. I figured that's what it was. I figured they had AK-47s, and I was fixing to get blasted into eternity preaching on hell. And so about eight or ten of them got out and just kind of, just real casual. They wouldn't mean, they didn't say a word. Just kind of standing around the tent while I'm preaching. And all that's going through my mind, I'm thinking to myself, I ain't got a pistol or a gun. You know, I'm getting a little nervous, you know. I'm hoping my interpreter's got a gun or something, you know. All these guys just kind of standing around the tent. And I'm getting a little nervous. I'm out here preaching on hell, buddy. I'm just beating a cool kid. I'm just going to town. That guy's brave. He's just going on, speaking in tongues, whatever he's doing. And I mean, we was having time. And after about 15 minutes, a couple of them guys just kind of wanted off. They went off to a little market. He was kind of in a little marketplace where he was. And two of them sat down in the back, a couple empty seats. There you go. Sit down in the back. We had day services and night services. Well, I finished my sermon. I said, that's 15, 20 minutes to go by the time they got there. And I finished my sermon preaching on hell at the end of the sermon. I said, now, ladies and gentlemen, just before we bow our heads, I want to quote you one verse. That guy did his little deal. I said, the Bible says in John 14, 6, Jesus said unto them, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man cometh unto the Father but by me. And I don't know if that's there to kill me that day. I don't know what that's there for. But I'm going to tell you one thing. When I gave that public invitation, both of those hardened Muslim men to the Lord Jesus Christ to do in them what Muhammad and Allah and the rest of that fake phony baloney crowd could never do. After the service, I was privileged to shake hands with two hardened black Muslim men who found out that Jesus Christ, consider Him. Your heads are bowed. Your eyes are closed, please. Thank you for listening tonight. Thank you for letting me preach the burden of my heart. Oh, how we need more people to preach on Jesus. We've got much preaching on programs and how-to workshops and how to build churches. I'll tell you how to build churches and build homes. Just preach on Jesus. Just let people know He's the only way to heaven. Let people know He's the only way to holiness. Let people know He's the only way to happiness. And tonight, ladies and gentlemen, I've done my best to preach myself empty with that which God's laid upon my heart. I want you to stand to your feet tonight, if you would, please. Your heads are bowed. Your eyes are closed. Miss Robertson will begin to play. In just a moment, Brother Robertson is going to sing. Maybe you're here tonight and you've considered Him. You're saved by the glorious, miraculous grace of God. But you know what? You know just as sure as you're standing in this building, there's an heir of your life you've not submitted to the Lord. You know the Spirit of God is speaking to you right now. You know what you need to do. Maybe it's someone you need to yield to Him. Maybe it's something that you need to yield to Him. But tonight, you've considered Him and you know that one day He's going to get it. So you might as well give it to Him tonight and have complete peace and victory when you pillow your head. Would there be somebody here tonight who would say, Preacher, I'm saved. I know that. I've tasted His salvation. I've considered His grace and I've been saved. But tonight, the Spirit of God has spoken to my heart in this service. And tonight, Preacher Locke, would you simply go to the throne of grace on my behalf? Would you pray for me? Tonight, I'm saved, but God's Spirit has spoken to me. Right now, wherever you are in this building, would you put your hand in the air? All I'll say is thank you and God bless you. And you may put it down. God bless you and you. Are there others, Preacher? God bless you. God bless you. Preacher, pray for me tonight. God spoke to my heart. God bless you, sir. Are there others, Preacher, tonight? Pray for me. Spirit of God spoke to my heart. There's business I need to do. Let me ask you this tonight. Dear sinner friend, I didn't ask if you were a visitor. I didn't ask if you were a member. Here's the question. Are you saved? Have you tasted His salvation? Have you considered the fact that He's the only way to heaven? As Jesus has been lifted up tonight, has the Spirit of God drawn you close to Him? Do you see a need for Christ tonight? Would there be somebody here who would say, Brother Locke, I'm not sure, but I'd like to be sure. I don't know that Christ is my Savior, my sin's forgiven, my life is changed, and heaven's my home, but I want to know that. Oh, God knows my heart, Preacher. I want to know that. Now friend, please hear me. I'm not going to embarrass you. I love you tonight. Desperately and deeply, I care about you, and I want to help you any way I can. I will not embarrass you. And I'm not going to drag you out either. If the Holy Spirit of God can't make you make a decision for Christ, then certainly this evangelist cannot, and I wouldn't want to. But I would like to pray for you. Would like to ask God to have mercy on you tonight, and give you the courage to do what you already know in your heart you need to do. Would there be one here tonight, Preacher? Tonight, I'm considering Him. I don't know for sure that I'm saved. I don't know if I were to die that I'd go to heaven, but I'd like to know that. Oh, Preacher, I'd like to know. Would you pray for me? Quickly, would you slip your hand up and then put it right back down? Would there be one just before we sing? God bless you, sir. You may put your hand down. Preacher, I need to know. Tonight, I'm considering Him, and I know I need to be saved. Is there another Preacher tonight? Tonight, the Spirit of God has moved in my heart, and I need to get it settled.