The Exalted Reign of Jesus Christ

Beloved, as we observed in corporate worship yesterday from Phil. 2:9-11, the reality of the exalted reign of our Lord Jesus Christ is the true Christian’s source of unspeakable joy, comfort, and motivation in all of life.  Near the end of my sermon, I shared how this text profoundly impacted the young C.H. Spurgeon, in the wake of a devastating event he and his congregation experienced.  I commend his sermon on this passage to you, entitled “The Exaltation of Christ”.  To whet your appetite, here’s a brief quote:

 “Believer, there is comfort for thee here, if thou wilt take it. If Christ was exalted through his degradation, so shall thou be. Count not thy steps to triumph by thy steps upward, but by those which are seemingly downward. The way to heaven is down-hill. He who would be honored for ever must sink in his own esteem, and often in that of his fellow-men. Oh! think not of yon fool who is mounting to heaven by his own light opinions of himself and by the flatteries of his fellows, that he shall safely reach Paradise; nay, that shall burst on which he rests, and he shall fall and be broken in pieces. But he who descends into the mines of suffering, shall find unbounded riches there; and he who dives into the depths of grief, shall find the pearl of everlasting life within its caverns.”

 May God give us grace to humbly live ever more fully in the joy and comfort of Christ’s exaltation!

 Pastor Greg