[0:00] So let's all turn to Philippians 2, verse 1 to 11. Stacey will be reading from NIV, so please follow along. Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by making like-minded, having the same love, being one in Spirit and one of mind.
[0:36] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain consent. Rather, inhumanity, value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each other of you to the interests of the others.
[0:54] In your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature, God did not consider equality with God something else to be used to His own advantage.
[1:10] Rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant. Being made in human likeness and being fond in appearance as man, He humbled Himself by becoming omnipotent to death, even death on the cross.
[1:29] Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in the heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the God the Father.
[1:49] Thank you, Stacey. Moxie, can I ask you to share the message today? Right. Can we have some lights?
[2:07] Yeah, thank you. What a privilege to preach the name of Jesus. Right. Now, we are in this statement of faith.
[2:21] Is it five? I'm not sure, actually. Is it now? In our Constitution. No, three. The Article of Faith, three. In our Constitution, right.
[2:32] So, this is not the Bible, but I think we ought to know, because it's in our church constitution. Okay, Eden, you're going to be baptized. Please memorize that.
[2:43] No, you don't need to. Okay. See, it says that the Lord Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, was tempted and did not sin, crucified and died on the cross for the salvation of all humankind, has risen from the dead after three days and ascended into heaven.
[3:05] He shall come again in full glory to rule and judge the world. The righteous and sinners will rise together, but only the righteous will be saved, while sinners shall be condemned.
[3:17] Now, this is what we believe. We do not make this up. It is kind of a paraphrase them and edited them from the Bible.
[3:28] Okay, this is what the Bible says. Okay. So, the name of Jesus. What a beautiful name. What a wonderful name. The name that impacted the world so great that one-third of the world believe in the name of Jesus.
[3:49] But it's also very controversial. There are places, once you mention the name of Jesus, you will be persecuted. But it's a very powerful name.
[4:02] You and I experienced that. When I first came to New Zealand in 1973, I was about 13 years old. I grew up in Hong Kong, and I heard something like New Zealand is a Christian country.
[4:18] Was a Christian country. All right. So, I came to a thriving, exciting city of Dunedin. And, indeed, I was hearing the name of Jesus all over the place.
[4:36] Wow. I was, yeah, really. New Zealand is such a godly country. But then I realized everybody was using this name as swearing.
[4:50] You know, you hear places at school, and we were running a takeaway shop, and people come in, you know, oh, Jesus Christ. You know?
[5:01] I thought, I didn't know. I was in my innocent mind, you know? And then I realized, oh, what? If you believe in Jesus Christ, why would you use this name as a swear word?
[5:15] You know? In your country, you wouldn't use names of the Indian gods as swearing, right? Won't you?
[5:26] Ah, Buddha, Buddha. You don't use that. I never heard about it. Or, Allah, Allah. You'll be beheaded if you do that, right?
[5:39] But somehow, we take the liberty in profaning the name of Jesus. I mean, if he, one day he will judge the world.
[5:54] But praise God, he is full of mercy and kindness. Haven't you, before we become Jesus, we become Christians, we taken the name of Jesus in vain and profaned his name?
[6:10] I did? Yeah. But let's have a look at this name. Okay. Jesus, it was in the Old Testament, actually was Yeshua.
[6:24] That is Joshua. That is the meaning of salvation. salvation. God's salvation to mankind.
[6:36] And in the New Testament, it was a popular name. Jesus, Christ was not his surname, okay? Christ was a title, okay? It's a Messiah, all right?
[6:49] But Jesus, how come, how, how, how this, the name of Jesus came? It was actually, in Greek, it was Jesus. All right?
[6:59] So, because Greek, that does not have a, J sound, it's I, so, Jesus. Those, and so in, when it, in English, there's the closest, so they, pronounced it, Jesus.
[7:17] Okay? Jesus, the name of Jesus. What do we know about, this name? Okay? The passage we've just read, what Paul was describing, his, Jesus, dissension, and ascension, and exhorted the church of Philippi, to imitate Jesus.
[7:45] So, we do not just know about Jesus, but we need to follow him. Okay? Okay? In this passage, I believe that, today, if we call ourselves Christians, we need to exercise that, similar, humility, and submission, like him.
[8:07] We do not just know, about the facts, about Jesus Christ, about the Bible, but we need to, put our lives, in him.
[8:19] We will never be perfect, I will never be perfect, I will never, be accomplished, right? But, I am, in my whole life, to imitate, to walk, in steps, with Jesus.
[8:34] So, Paul was writing this, letter, the letter of, Philippians, to this church. This church, actually, was originally, very passionate, in evangelism, but something, happened.
[8:48] Maybe, due to persecutions, maybe, due to, relational, conflicts, in church. Somehow, they put that, passion of, evangelism, aside.
[9:03] And, and, Paul, was trying to, write to them, and trying to solve, the issues there, and encourage them, to, hey, let's, let's witness, for Christ, once again, like you had, before.
[9:17] So, after the first, chapter, Paul was greeting them, and then he gave, his testimony, hey, I'm in prison, but don't worry, I'm not here, by accident, I'm not here, because somebody, somehow, arrested me, but God has, a purpose in me, within, in my happening.
[9:37] See, I am in jail, but look, the whole guard, the whole, imperial guard, they knew that, I'm here, not because I committed, a crime, but because, for the name, of Jesus, and even, there are people, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, in, household, because of that, they, they came to Christ, through me, so, don't worry about me, I would like to be, released, and come back to you, but, but if Christ is willing, I can be released, but, I don't know, but, Jesus, will have his way, and in chapter 2, he wanted to encourage the people, hey, since we are, we are, we are in Christ, let's, be united together, have the same mind, have the same love, that Jesus had, and then, he thought about this, hymn, a popular hymn, at the time, that was, the passage, that Stacy, has read to us, Philippians chapter 2, 5, to 11, so, in this, song, a popular song,
[10:46] I'd like to share with you, three points, it was, the song, this hymn, was describing, Christ's, attributes, what is, what, what's the meaning of, attribute, now, you and I, we are persons, we have personalities, but you and I, will never have, attributes, only God, has, attributes, attributes, is, describing, God's, what is God like, alright, you can describe me, what sort of personality, I have, what sort of characters, I have, am I hot-headed, or am I quiet, you know, but for God, we use this word, attributes, to describe him, and then, God's, and Christ's, atonement, what he did for us, how he, redeemed us, and Christ's, attitude, okay, let's look at it, one by one, attributes, Christ, was, fully God, and, fully man, okay, how can it be, we will never understand it, we will never comprehend that, how can, somebody, be fully God, and fully man, if I say to you,
[12:00] I'm a man, but also, I'm a woman, woman, we will never be, although people try, in this world, okay, but, for Jesus, for Christ, he was, fully God, and fully man, in verse 6, being, in very nature, God, he, he is God, okay, but being made, in human likeness, now, what does it mean, is there, any time, he, empties something, from him, to become, human, there's a lot of, a lot of arguments, a lot of controversies, between, you know, when people ask, when Christ, being the very nature God, when he become, when he become, human likeness, he empties something, we have a song too, and can it be, that, that, that song, and he said, in a verse, he says, he empties, everything but love, but that is not, quite, doctrinally, right, because,
[13:19] God cannot be, not God, right, God, was always God, is always God, but, he also, become man, 100% man, because, if he was not God, he had, had no power, to save us, but he, if he was not, man, he cannot, represent us, right, so, there's something, it's, it's God's logic, it's not human logic, we always wanted, to study something, we call, logics, all right, so, we, we study, psychology, so, so, that's the logic, of psycho, psychic, all right, we want to study, sociology, so, that's the logic, of social, you know, things in, in the world, whatever, logics, okay, but we try to study, theology, the logic of God, we really cannot, put everything, tightly, neatly, as human logic, because God, is always, out of this logic, we try to, understand, we try to, comprehend, that is, our, task, but God, is always, above, human logic, right, so, we can only, by faith, we can, rationalize it, we can, think about it, we can discuss, but, perhaps, we may not, we may not, be able to, put into our, our finite, human writings, how to, understand, comprehend,
[14:59] Christ, as fully, God, and fully, man, and, in John, 1, 14, I think, the song, we sung before, it was, it described that too, the word, became flesh, the word, actually, the, the, that's, that's the word, logos, okay, that is, the logos, the word, was understood, by the Greeks, at the time, it was, that deity, somehow, out there, controlling, everything, everything, is under his power, but, we don't know him, okay, that, that word, logos, was, what the Greeks, believed, but, John, used that word, yes, that logos, you think, you know, and, and you believe, is controlling, everything, in the universe, that, logos, in fact, became, flesh, and he lived, among us, and you have seen, this glory, that is,
[16:04] Jesus Christ, fully God, and, fully man, this is, this beautiful name, of Jesus, now, just imagine, the word, became, flesh, how, how, how can we, comprehend, some, some, theologian, trying to put them, in the woods, I, even that, we cannot, fully describe, okay, it says something like, the omniscient God, omniscient means, he is, all, knowing, okay, all knowing, the all knowing God, he knew, everything, he knows everything, but he chose, to enter, into time, now, once you are, in time, there is something, you, I don't know, right, there is something, you will not know, right, I will not know, what happened tomorrow,
[17:06] I will not know, what happened, next, the piano, might fall on me, you know, and Jesus, the all knowing God, entered, into time, and the omnipresent God, that is God, everywhere, entered, into space, when you are, in space, you cannot be, in two spaces, at one time, but Christ, God, he could, but he chose, to limit himself, into space, and the omnipotent God, that is, all, all powerful, okay, he, limited himself, in flesh, born, in a manger, as a baby, look, now, as a baby, you are very limited, if your mom, forgets to feed you, you'll starve, and, if your parents, forgotten to, change your nappy, you'll be a, terrible, situation, right, just keep, keep the same nappy, for the next three days, right, see what happens, see, this is something, it, it, it, it, just boggles our minds, right, the, all knowing God, all powerful God, all, the God,
[18:44] God who's everywhere, he chose to limit himself, yet, he was still fully God, and fully man, this is something, we need to very, we need to hold on, very tightly, all right, God, it's all, all these, in the, in the, the heresies, in the past, that's why so many creeds, had to talk, had to try to, you know, eliminate all these heresies, right, it was all about, the deity of Christ, and the humanness of Christ, some said, Christ, could not, some said, God cannot, cannot die, so, Christ cannot, be on the cross, so some, some, some people, develop this, this, shadow, kind of a theory, doxism, it says, Christ was on the cross, and then, until, when he was on the cross, before he died, there was something, God, Christ left, it was the, the human of Christ died, that God couldn't die, and all sort of these, sort of, heresies, and, and, that's why, people had to, work very hard, to try to, balance, to, comprehend, to grasp, whole, the, fully, human, fully,
[20:07] God, concept, right, so, there's something, for us, to, really think about, John, stopped, in his book, the incomparable, Christ, he, described, Christ, in this, in these, sentences, it says, Christ, was a, helpless, babe, from, birth, and then, he was a, hardworking, carpenter, a, compassionate, friend, a, non-violent, resistant, a, children, patron, a, human, a, humble, master, innocent, victim, resurrected, conqueror, elevated, king, internal, or, eternal, counselor, a, returning, lord, and ultimate, judge, the name, of Jesus, fully God, and fully man, even though, we cannot fully comprehend, it doesn't change, the fact, that,
[21:17] Christ, in his deity, in his humanness, came, to us, this is, the Christ, we believe, secondly, the atonement, of, Christ, he died, and he rose again, and he defeated, the power, of sin, he died on the cross, and God, exalted him, now there's two things, about, the atonement, he truly, well, and truly, died for us, right, Christ, took up, the human flesh, he went, on to the cross, and died, for us, he had, to die, because, if he did not die, our sins, will not, be cleansed, why, must,
[22:20] Jesus, die, cannot, God, in his, in his, generous, godliness, just, put something, on the cloud, in the sky, I forgive you all, and all be happy, why, he would, had to send Jesus, to die on the cross, for us, because, of sin, that's the Chinese, character, of sin, I added those two eyes, there, right, original Chinese, characters, do not have those two eyes, and, and, in, Romans, Romans 3, 23, it described that, all, have sinned, for short, of the, glory, of God, now, I won't, explain too much here, because, there is, two sermons later, we will talk about sin,
[23:20] I actually preached about, sin, the, the, article of faith, five, this morning, and yesterday, so, I won't, I won't, I won't dwell too much on it, to it, later on, I believe, Pastor William will talk about this, but, sin, it's not just, what we have done wrong, right, so, sin is something, it's, it's, it's, it's a status, all right, for, for instance, like, if we don't, don't have the appetite, to eat, all right, normally, I eat, buckets of rice, right, but suddenly, your, your mom said, why are you not eating, is something wrong, with my cooking, why, why are you not eating, eat, come on, open your mouth, eat, I'll shuffle that into your mouth, eat, and then, okay, you eat, but, and then you throw up, right, so, it's not about, your eating, it's about, my status,
[24:21] I'm sick, that's why I cannot, do these sort of things, right, so, sin, it's about, the, the, the status, how, how, how, the situation, the, the, the conditions in me, and the, and how sin, have actually, bound, and I, I'm not free, and sin, at the end, the result, as the, the passage just, said, in Romans 3, 23, it's death, it's death, alright, so, when I'm in that sort of situation, I cannot help myself, to, but have these sort of, actions, outcomes, so, Christianity is, really not, it's not about, a religion, in correcting, my wrong deeds, alright, Christianity, is, is a, relationship, a faith, in God, and telling me,
[25:27] I cannot do, any good things, and I do, and I need help, from the, atonement, of Christ, I'm sure, those who get, baptized, next week, they all know, about it, because, we spent, the whole hour, talking about this, right, so, it is, the atonement, of Christ, that, that we are, saved, so, this word, justification, it happened, a lot, especially, in the book, of Romans, alright, what does, what does, justification, mean, it does not, mean, that you are, sinless, alright, it's a word, that was actually, in the Roman, courthouse, at a time, you are convicted, alright, you, you are sentenced, you are judged, but then, the, the judge, come to you, said, alright, you are acquitted, you don't need, to serve these sentences, anymore, because somebody, paid a price for you, that is, the meaning, of justification, just, as, you have, never, sinned, not, you are, you are not, not, meaning, you have not, sinned, but something, happened, just, as, you have, never, done any wrong, because,
[27:04] God, himself, has paid a price, through, Jesus, I should have, received those, punishment, but God, knows full well, I cannot, endure them, because the punishment, is death, separation, eternal separation, from God, and God, does not want, to see that, so, he, took the initiative, sent his son, to die on the cross, now, that's, another, another, logic, that, we cannot, fully, comprehend, it's, my fault, why, another one, has to bear, the consequences, that is, the justice, and the mercy, of God, God, and he, took the initiative, to plan, to work out, the salvation, and for me,
[28:06] Albert, do you want to accept, by faith, you don't have to do anything, you just accept, by faith, that is, the atonement, of Christ, through, Jesus, and thirdly, so, in Christ, everything, because of his atonement, all the sin, the control, the gravity, and the result, of sin, cancelled, and we are free, man, woman, we, can follow him, and thirdly, oops, his attitude, humility, and submission, and, as I said, when we, when we believe, in Jesus, it's not just fact, okay, knowing, in the Bible, whether in the Old Testament, or New Testament, it's always, much more than, just head knowledge, okay, knowing,
[29:14] Christ, knowing God, is actually, actually mean, intimate relationship, like, husband, and wife, Adam, knew, Eve, and the son was born, how does he know him, how does he know him, very intimate, relationship, so, when we, when we believe, in Jesus, we, we need, much more than, just head knowledge, getting, getting, the stuff right, but, we need, to walk, in steps, with Christ, so, in verse 5, have the same, mindset, as Christ, the church, in Philippi, you know, about, Jesus, you know, he was fully, God, fully man, you know, he has atoned, our sins, but, have the same, mindset, as Christ, if, you, declare yourself, as followers, of Christ, so,
[30:20] PCBC, I believe, this, command, applies for us, as well, for me, as a pastor, for you, as a leader, for you, as, I'm just an ordinary people, no ordinary people, in Christ, have the same, mindset, have the, have the same, love, have the same, unity, in Christ, like in, chapter 2, verse 2, I think, this, particular, decision, a friend, had just shared, about this morning, when we, decided together, about, whether we, should call this, pastor Iris, truly, I am at peace, right, I know, I know, of course, I cannot read, everybody's mind, okay, but I believe, during the process, at least, all the leaders, we, truly want to lay, the result, to God, and, we are very much, even though we, we might, think, a little bit differently, but, but we, want to be, united, in a sense, okay, so we, we did what we could, and we, and, and what, during those, sharing sessions, prayer meetings, and what people, has shared, and we requested, so we, we're trying to convey, to pastor Iris, in Hong Kong, and she was very, cooperative, right, and, and, and during the process,
[31:52] I, I truly, honestly, when I came to the, the meeting, this, this afternoon, I was, very, very much, at peace, because what, because I know, majority of our, brothers and sisters, they are very, genuine, in seeking, the will of God, of course, the result, was not what I wanted, but, I had to accept, because, this is, the corporate, kind of, decision, for the whole church, and, God, it did not surprise God, because he's, he's, omniscient, he knows everything, right, and he, he would probably, before, I know anything, he already has something jacked up, right, and, in his time, he will bring someone along, maybe more, even more suitable, so, I think, this is something, that we all have to exercise, all right, unity, all right, does not, have to be, uniformed, having the same mind, doesn't mean, we think, everybody think alike, everybody think alike, that is, uniformity, that is, dictatorship, you go to Korea, everybody has to think alike, in America, nobody think alike, that is, that's the good, that's the, the gift, of, allowing, differences, in among us, but yet, we belong, to Christ, so,
[33:34] I, I do feel, very positive, about, this morning, and I think, this is, church, it's like that, right, I would not, you know, look at, certain brothers and sisters, you did not vote that, I'm not going to talk to you, no, if that is the case, I'm the, I'm the one that having problem, right, so we should, have this mind of Christ, we can be different, but, we are, one body, right, this is, what Christ, the life, the Christ is like, is, is, his attitude, he was God, and he did not, hold on to his deity, his, his, his, privileges, his power, he did not hold on to it, he was willing to, lower himself, he emptied himself, he became slave, become man, lower, lower to the lowest, of the lowest, all right, died on the cross, but God, raised him up, now notice that, he did not, elevate himself, it was God, who raised him up, his job, was willing, to, be, you know, to lower himself, willing to, to, to, to, to become, the lower of the lowest, in order to serve,
[35:08] God's purpose, I think this is what we all, need to learn too, are there anything, we hold on so tightly together, I mean, to hold, hold on too tightly, in our lives, that we'll never let go, now, in, in the city of Philippi, nobody, I mean, humility was unknown, in that city, why, because the city, was a city, of return services, all these soldiers, army officers, they all lived there, imagine, if you're a sergeant major, you're a colonel, you will never walk, alongside a private, an ordinary soldier, less, doing, something, for, for, for someone, who is lower rank, ranks, than you, never heard of, never seen, but Paul, saying to, the church in Philippi, you're not like that, the soldiers of Christ, we're not like that, we, we are, on a reverse, mode, compared, to the world, because, our commander,
[36:20] Christ, he was like that, he was, the general commander, but he was willing to, die, on the cruel, cruelest, lowest, the shame, most shameful death, don't worry about, how to elevate ourselves, that's God's business, it's not us, so, we, we, need to, exercise, that, kind of, attitude, humility, submission, like, Christ, if we, declare, ourselves, as Christians, as Christians, think, are there, anything, that, we, are, insisting on, are those, I think, there's a fine, balance, between, insisting, doing good, or, arrogantly, stubborn, right, we can be, I'm doing all this, for God, check, is this, is this, only my narrow-minded, stubbornness, or, is it really based on the Bible, if it's truly, honoring God, no matter what others say,
[37:35] I would still want to honor God, but if that was just me, in a very, very, my narrow-mindedness, thinking that, is the only way, and we, neglecting, other, faithful, brothers and sisters, having the same mind, as Christ, so we need to, we might, just need to learn, what Christ did, we need to, just let go, of something, are there anything, that we hold on, so tightly, that we will, never let go, my experiences, my knowledge, my giftings, my talents, or whatever, my grades, my fame, I think, in Christ, we can, if Christ, in his deity, he will, even let go, of all his privileges, we are to, do likewise, let's pray,
[38:37] Father, just thank you, for your word, and thank you, for the beautiful name, of Jesus, thank you, not, not just, that beautiful name, that we know, the most powerful name, that changes life, but Lord, we want to, follow your steps, we want to be like you, we will never be like you, but pray, that Lord, have mercy on us, that we walk closely, in steps, with you, in Jesus name, we pray, amen, amen,