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THE GREATEST PROMOTION IN HISTORY #4
THE MOST EXPENSIVE INAUGURATION
It was a Thursday afternoon, August 8, 1974 - and if you're a history
buff here in the United States, that date no doubt makes you think of
the culminating moments in the Watergate tragedy. Vice President Gerald
Ford had just heard from Richard Nixon himself that he was resigning the
presidency, and that Ford would become President the very next day.
It was a very sad moment, of course, the end of what even Ford called
"a long national nightmare" in his speech to the nation the
next day. But after two years of such tumult and accusations and anger,
at least now there might possibly be some peace. And there WAS going to
be a swearing-in ceremony, the U.S.'s equivalent of a kingly inauguration.
And so Gerald Ford and his fledgling "kitchen cabinet" had to
immediately attend to literally hundreds of details about the ceremony,
the speech, the invitation list. And then the question: who should officiate
at the swearing-in ceremony? Normal protocol would be for the Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court, Warren Burger, to administer the oath of office.
But he was over in the Netherlands, attending a conference at the Hague.
Ford's personal aide, Jack Marsh, finally managed to get Mr. Burger on
the telephone. And the president-to-be said to him, "Mr. Chief Justice,
I guess you've heard the news. I hate to interrupt your trip, but I would
like it very much if you could be here for the swearing in."
And the Chief Justice immediately cut in. "Well, there's no question.
I've GOT to be there. I WANT to be there." And they discussed the
logistics, because with the time zones separating them, it was already
Thursday evening in Europe, with the swearing-in scheduled for noon Eastern
time the next day. How could he possibly get back to Washington? And Ford
told him: "We'll get an Air Force plane to personally fly you here
for the ceremony."
And somehow that determination to be there for this most important moment
speaks to us in a very poignant way as we move now to the grand climax
of Paul's description here in Philippians chapter two. Because we've read
together how Jesus Christ, the King of this universe, came down. WAY down,
to this sorry, scandal-ridden world. He was "obedient unto death,"
the Bible says, obedient to the plan He and His Father had together created
for your rescue and mine. And now Paul begins to describe what is about
to come next: the inauguration, the swearing-in ceremony, the coronation
of a victorious King. Here's verse nine:
"Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the
name that is above every name."
Now friend, what is that name? We already have "King of kings"
and "Lord of lords." From Isaiah chapter nine we have Wonderful,
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. And in
Revelation 19, we're told that the Rider on the white horse is called
Faithful and True . . . but that He also has a name written on Him that
is so special, so holy, so sacred that no man can know what it is.
Maybe you remember that scene from The King and I, or "Anna and the
King of Siam," where the monarch is sending a letter to Abraham Lincoln,
trying to sell him some elephants. And he goes on and on about "Most
Royal and Noble Highness," "Most August Keeper of the Flame
of Liberty," etc., etc. A lot of empty words, not signifying very
much except that someone owns an English-Thai dictionary and a companion
thesaurus. But here, friend, Jesus receives a name "above every name,"
a name that is real, that has meaning and is expressive of the unsurpassed
victory He has achieved.
And now verses ten and eleven are where you and I come in. Up until now,
Christ Jesus has done these things without our say-so; He's triumphed
on our behalf whether or not we approve or applaud. But now at last comes
our moment:
"That at the name of Jesus," Paul writes, "every knee
should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue
confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
There's something very interesting to consider here. Every knee will
bow, Paul tells us. Heavenly beings will bow. Earthly beings will bow
- EVERY earthly being. Saved people and lost people too. And this expression,
"and under the earth," comes from a Hebrew idiom implying the
entire creation, including Lucifer and his fallen, rebellious angel armies.
You know, many Christians believe that following the thousand years known
as the millennium - you can read this in the last chapters of Revelation
- there will be a time when every single person who's ever lived on this
planet will be alive. Even the lost, the most determined of rebels. This
involves the dreaded second resurrection John writes about in chapter
20, verse five. And many have wondered: Why does God raise up these wicked
people, those who have relentlessly rejected Jesus and His gift of eternal
life, only to allow them to then die again in the final flames? Well,
friend, our time is short here, but let me suggest that one reason is
so that God can display to the entire universe the incredible gift of
Jesus Christ on Calvary, the full panorama of His dealings with the human
race. Somehow, I believe you and I and every generation of Planet Earth,
from Adam and Eve and Cain, through to Hitler, and the architects of tomorrow's
genocide and heresy, will be alive at once. Everyone will see for themselves
the goodness of God and the incredible sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Somehow
Philippians chapter two is going to come to life right here in a dramatic,
compelling way. And then, slowly, perhaps reluctantly, every lost sinner,
including Lucifer himself, will bow the knee to Jesus Christ. Every person
who has ever lived, saved or lost, redeemed or unrepentant, will confess
verbally and openly that Jesus Christ is Lord of all and deserving of
the throne.
Well, let me ask you today: what does this mean for us? Friend, it means
one thing. You and I have simply got to be there. This is the single greatest
moment in the history of the universe; you and I have got to be there.
Whatever it takes. Whatever planes must be chartered. Whatever sacrifices
must be made. Whatever commitments it might involve. You and I have got
to be standing among the redeemed as our Redeemer and Hero and King and
Savior and Friend steps forward to receive that crown and to be exalted
to the highest place.
At the end of Watergate, there on August 9, 1974, a tragic chapter was
finally closed. A new beginning was possible. Now on THIS great day, can
you imagine what it will all mean? When Jesus is crowned as our King?
Sin is gone. Suffering is over with. Death is banished forever. Every
sickness, every lonely pang, every funeral, every memory of cemeteries
and car accidents and rape and theft and murder . . . gone forever. The
long national nightmare will be over at last, because Jesus is crowned
as our King.
And every single person will confess that Christ is Lord, but friend,
don't you want to do so from the side of the saved? Don't you want to
make that confession with overwhelming joy rather than with reluctant
dread? The celebration won't be as complete, as perfect, unless you are
standing there and I am standing there.
Over there in the Netherlands on that Thursday night, Chief Justice Warren
Burger knew that he absolutely HAD to get back. Whatever it took. Whatever
it cost. If he had to swim the Atlantic, he had to be there. Partly because
he needed to fulfill his governmental role, and partly because it was
the proper thing to do, and also partly because he had a nodding acquaintance,
at least a bit of friendship, with a man named Gerald Rudolph Ford.
Now, I never knew President Ford and he doesn't know me either. If you
were to ask Ford or Carter or Bush or Clinton or XXXXX about Lonnie Melashenko
and Kenneth Richards and David Smith, they'd give a big shrug. "Who
are they?" And yet many people just like us buy plane tickets and
ride trains and buses to get to a presidential inauguration.
And if that's true, can you and I possibly fathom how very important it
is for us to be present at this coronation moment? We know Jesus! And
He knows us! He's not a distant leader; He's the One who redeemed US.
Each one of us, on a personal basis! He died for you and He died for me.
And it's absolutely imperative that we be there on that day, to add our
voices to the choir, our cheers to the crowd, our banners and our salutes
and our tears and our cries of triumph to the great redeemed throng.
Try to calculate in your head the cost of getting to Washington, D.C.
for one of America's little inauguration parades. A plane ticket, a hotel
room, a rental car or maybe a pass on the D.C. metro to get there, perhaps
a new outfit and some winter mittens. A few meals, a $250 ticket to a
ball afterward. It costs quite a bit to get to that chair reserved with
your name on it.
Well, I can tell you something. Heaven is already setting up for the parade
of Philippians chapter two. The great war is almost over. Calvary is a
fait accompli. Jesus has triumphed. And already, the streamers are being
set up. The PA system is getting checked; the big-screen TV has been rolled
in so we can all see. The platform is in place, and there's a throne at
the very center of it.
And somewhere in the vast spread of seats, rows and rows and rows, is
a chair that has your name carefully written on it. The computer printouts
indicate that it's been reserved for you. And next to your name is the
price - the cost of having that chair in place for you to sit in. The
infinite price paid on a hill far away.
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