Text:
Isaiah 45:22-23:
22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.
Romans 14:11-12:
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
Philippians 2:9-11:
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Theme:
Bow Down
Introduction:
- A rap song by the artist Ice Cube back around the year 2001 was named “Bow Down”.
- This was a song about how other artists needed to respect who he was as the greatest rapper.
- In other words, this can be translated, “give respect where respect is due”!!!
- We identify “bowing” with an action of respect to ROYALTY.
- We would “bow” before the king or queen.
- In order for us to bow, we must clear about who the person is and who we are in the context of this person.
- I ain’t gonna bow before someone who I don’t reverence to that degree.
- When I do bow it is not just done but evoked.
- What does it mean to “bow”?
- “Bowing” entails the bending of the knees while standing (whether to the ground or not)
- As an act of reverence…in order to make oneself shorter than the other that is being reverenced à as if to say “Thou art greater than I”
- As an act of submission…in order to show the laying of all that one has at the feet of the one that is being reverence à as if to say “All that I have is yours”
- “Bowing” entails the bending of the knees while standing (whether to the ground or not)
- Those who have accepted Jesus, the Christ, as your Lord and Saviour also believe that God is our Righteous King.
- FORETOLD à Jeremiah 23:5, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.”
- REALIZED à Revelation 17:14, “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings….”
- If He is our King, then shouldn’t we BOW DOWN to God?
- Psalms 95:6, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.”
- How must we BOW DOWN?
- Micah 6:6-8, “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God….He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
- Our texts take it from here to tell us that even if we don’t CHOOSE to BOW DOWN now, there will come a time when we will not have a choice!!!!
Body:
- FIRST à The Book of Isaiah is the first of the books of major prophecy in the Old Testament and are written, of course, by the prophet Isaiah, sometimes referred to as “Esaias” in the New Testament.
- The book is divided into three sections:
- The first section (35 chapters) is purely prophetic and written during the Assyrian threat.
- The second section (4 chapters) is historical and reflective of the life and times of King Hezekiah.
- The third section (27 chapters) is once again prophetic and written during the Babylonian threat.
- The book has 66 chapters, the same number of chapter as books in the Biblical canon.
- 39 chapters in the first two sections — the same number of books in the Old Testament.
- 27 chapters in the third section — the same number of book in the New Testament.
- In this 45th chapter of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah is writing of God’s prophecy concerning the conversion of the Gentiles.
- As the surrounding text explains, in God and God only, there is Salvation through righteousness. So, LOOK TO GOD!
- God is the ultimate Judge and King. All others will pass away!
- Matthew 24:35 (Mark 13:31 & Luke 21:33), “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
- Then we know that…
- God is the ultimate Judge and King. All others will pass away!
- As the surrounding text explains, in God and God only, there is Salvation through righteousness. So, LOOK TO GOD!
- The book is divided into three sections:
“every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear”
- In the end, ALL will have to face God and whether they are SAVED or NOT!
- If you didn’t know before, you definitely know then that GOD is GOD!!!!
- THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO BOW!
- SECOND à In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul is writing to a group of people who are the heart of the Gentile nation. These are a people who do not and cannot relate to the strict traditions and rhetoric existing in the Jewish community. They couldn’t understand “Old folk talk”. They needed things to be broken down to plain and simple terms that relate to their real existence. Paul did just that. He wrote Romans closer to the “How To” methodology than any of his letters.
- The church in Rome was begun by Christians after Pentecost and had in its population a large number of Romans or Gentiles.
- Paul’s purpose is to explain the great “truths” of the gospel to the Jewish-Gentile church in Rome
- It is unique in that it is a systematic exposition of the gospel of universal application à Salvation is free to all.
- In the 14th chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, God cautions the Jewish converts against judging, and Gentile believers against despising one the other. God is the God of all and not just some folks or some types of folks.
- The text in Romans is a direct reference to the text in Isaiah in that “every knee shall bow”
- However, it adds more clarity…
“every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God”
- Paul in Romans expounds upon the requirement of REPENTANCE
- The individual must not only give up what he/she has when bowing before God…
- He/She must also be cleansed (or free from Sin) to even be in the presence of the King
- Prerequisite to being in the King’s presence à Can’t bow ‘til you are made worthy and clean!
- True Repentance has requirements
- 1)a true sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness
- 2)an apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ
- 3)an actual hatred of sin and turning from it to God
- 4)a persistent endeavor after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments.
- The reason why Repentance is important is summarized in verse 12
- He/She must also be cleansed (or free from Sin) to even be in the presence of the King
- The individual must not only give up what he/she has when bowing before God…
“So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
- We must all seek one’s own soul’s salvation à Can’t no one else do it for us!!!
- It is PERSONAL between us and the Master, the King Righteous and Judge
- THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO BOW!
- It is PERSONAL between us and the Master, the King Righteous and Judge
- THIRD à The Epistle to the Philippians was written by Paul during the two years when he was “in bonds” in Rome, probably early in the year A.D. 62 or in the end of 61. The church at Philippi, of Macedonia, was the first-fruits of European Christianity.
- Therefore, Paul was close to the church in Philippi, and the church in Philippi was close to him.
- Although a typically poor community, the church at Philippi alone of all the churches helped him by their contributions, which he gratefully acknowledges.
- The least giving the most…The fewest giving the greatest…There’s always the faithful few!
- Paul wrote this letter to the Philippian church as a point of encouragement to a well-established congregation.
- Walking the path of Truth and Righteousness can be a toilsome journey and leave you weak.
- We need the Word of God to revive us!!
- The text in Philippians is a direct reference to the texts in Isaiah and Romans in that “every knee shall bow”
- However, it adds more clarity…
“at the name of Jesus every knee should bow”
- It is “the name of Jesus” that everyone “SHOULD” bow to
- John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
- Whether they do or not, they are accountable before God to do so!!!
- Not everyone will bow to the name of Jesus
- Revelation 9:20-21, “And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.”
- Although it is God’s desire that all BOW DOWN, some will not do it NO MATTER WHAT!!
- Romans 10:1, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.”
- We want them to be saved but for some it just ain’t gonna happen!!
- What happens when you do not BOW DOWN “at the Name of Jesus”?
- Your eternal destiny is determined…
- Heaven à John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
- Hell à 2Peter 2:4, “For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;”
- So, if you want to God to HEAVEN YOU WILL HAVE TO BOW DOWN!
- Your eternal destiny is determined…
- John 20:31, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”
Conclusion:
- Our text in Philippians goes on to add WHO shall BOW DOWN!
“of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth”
- The KJV says “THINGS” because you are nothing until you BOW DOWN!!!!!!!!
- THINGS In Heaven
- All of Heaven must BOW DOWN!
- Psalms 148:2, “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.”
- THINGS In Earth
- All of Earth should BOW DOWN!
- Psalms 98:4, “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.”
- THINGS Under the Earth
- All of Hell could BOW DOWN!
- It is prophesied in Acts 2:27, Psalms 16:10, “Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.”
- THINGS In Heaven
- So I don’t have to worry…
- When folks persecute me because of the truth à they have to CONFESS after they BOW DOWN
- When folks condemn me for telling the truth à they have to CONFESS after they BOW DOWN
- When the God in me is shunned by the evil in the world à they have to CONFESS after they BOW DOWN
- Therefore, understand that in dealing with folks…
- If they don’t know of the name of Jesus, they won’t believe on the name of Jesus
- If they won’t believe on the name of Jesus, don’t expect them to BOW DOWN at the name of Jesus
- If they won’t BOW DOWN at the name of Jesus, don’t expect them to confess their sins before Him
- If they won’t confess their sins before Him, don’t expect them to speak His Truth consistently
- If they won’t speak His Truth consistently, don’t expect them to be able to receive you by the Grace of God
- If they can’t receive you by the Grace of God, they won’t treat you or themselves right!!!!!!!
- WE ALL SHOULD BOW DOWN BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!
#387
