We'll begin our worship by singing to God's praise in Psalm 95 in the Scottish Psalter,
page 357 of the psalm book, Psalm 95. We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 6.
O come, let us sing to the Lord. Come, let us, everyone, a joyful noise make to the rock of our salvation.
Let us, before his presence, come with praise and thankful voice.
Let us sing psalms to him with grace and make a joyful noise.
We'll sing from verse 1 to verse 6, and if you're able, we stand to sing.
Let us sing to the rock of our salvation.
Let us, before his presence, come with praise and thankful voice.
Let us sing psalms to him with grace and make a joyful noise.
Thank you.
God, our great God, our great King, above all gods He is.
As of the earth are in His hand, the strength of His blisses.
Through Him the spacious sea belongs, for He the same did me.
Let Thine land also from His hand, His form at first to take.
O come and let us worship Him, let us bow Him with all.
And on our feet before the Lord, our Maker let us fall.
Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank You for being able to gather in Your name today.
We thank You for the blessing and the privilege that is ours to come and worship You.
As You command us, even in that psalm that we have been singing,
we are to be a people who recognize who You are.
That You are our Maker, that You are our God.
And we pray that as we come today, as we come to seek You and to hear You,
through Your Word, that You will speak to us, Lord, and help us to know more of who You are
and the wonder of all that You do and have done for us and will do for us.
We thank You that You are our God who is always active, that You never sleep,
that You are always watching over us.
And we pray, Lord, to know Your blessing and Your presence over us at all times.
Throughout this holiday period, for all our young people, we pray that You will bless them and watch over them.
As we see visitors in our midst, we thank You for them, Lord,
and we pray that You will refresh them at time of visiting and holiday with family and friends.
And that together, Lord, even today, we would know that You are here with us, that You are for us.
So bless us in all that we do in our worship here.
And as the young ones go through to the tweenies, we thank You for all who are there to help with these things.
And we pray that together today, we would just know the wonder of what it is to worship You
and to hear Your voice speaking to us.
So, Lord, hear us, we pray, and answer our prayers according to Your will.
So we ask it all in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen.
I'll just say a few words to the young ones.
If you're going to go out to the holiday tweenies in a moment,
and even if you're staying in, and even the adults, always listen in as well,
because there's always something to hear as we think of what God's Word says to us.
Does anyone ever pretend to be somebody else?
Maybe when you're young, you do, but even when you get old,
sometimes people pretend to be somebody else or act like somebody else.
Maybe it's not just the young ones.
Maybe it's your parents or even your grandparents.
You see them trying to pretend to be somebody else.
For example, maybe you're playing football out in the garden
and Grandpa decides to try and imitate Messi,
and he ends up just falling over on his backside.
He makes a fool of himself.
Or maybe when you're going out running, you often think,
I wonder what it's like to be Laura Muir running in all these big competitions
in a big stadium.
We sometimes pretend to be people in different ways.
Maybe you love singing, and when you're singing,
you hold something up to your mouth and pretend to be Taylor Swift
or somebody else as you're belting out the songs.
Maybe somebody you know, when they're driving,
they pretend to be Lewis Hamilton,
driving so fast around everywhere.
I'm sure there's a few adults in here who we could say that about.
You see them driving around at high speed.
But we often maybe try and pretend to be somebody else.
But our lives isn't about pretending to be somebody else.
It's being ourselves and recognizing who we are
and what we need to do.
We need to come and put our trust in Jesus.
That's what the Bible says to us.
And yet, in the Bible, as we read through it,
we find a man called Paul in the New Testament.
He tells us to imitate somebody else.
He tells us to be like somebody else.
And he tells us to be like Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 1, he says,
Be imitators of me as I am of Christ.
So we're to be ourselves,
and yet at the same time to imitate somebody else.
That can sound a little bit confusing.
But what it means is that whatever we do
and however we behave as ourselves,
we are always to think of it in light of,
well, what would Jesus do?
How would Jesus speak?
How would Jesus act?
How would he be towards others?
And how we act in that way.
So that challenges us.
And to be an imitator of Jesus
means first and foremost
that we have to put our trust in him.
When we pretend to be somebody else
like Messi or Taylor Swift
or somebody who's got all these gifts and talents
that we don't,
we know we won't reach that.
And in many ways we could say that
when it comes to imitating Jesus as well.
We will never do what Jesus has done.
But we are still to strive to be like him.
That one day we would see him
and be like him fully.
For we want to put our trust in him
because he is worthy of imitating in every way.
And that is where we find joy.
That is where we find life.
So when we think of being imitators,
being like other people,
let us remember to be ourselves first and foremost,
but also to put our trust in Jesus Christ
and imitate him.
Well, we'll say the Lord's Prayer together now.
Let's say the Lord's Prayer.
Our Father which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
the power,
and the glory forever.
Amen.
We'll again sing to God's praise.
Now we're singing in Psalm 27
in the Sing Psalms version,
page 31 of the psalm books.
Psalm 27 on page 31.
We'll sing from verse 1 down to verse 5.
And during this singing,
the young ones can go out to the tweenies.
The Lord's my Savior and my light
who will make me dismay.
The Lord's the stronghold of my life.
Why should I be afraid?
We'll sing from verse 1 to 5 to God's praise.
Amen.
The Lord's the stronghold of my life.
Why should I be afraid?
When the world doers threaten me
to take my life away,
My other shodings and my foes
Will stumble in my face.
Oh, an army hens me in,
My heart will feel no dread.
Though what against me should arise,
I will lift up my head.
One thing hath lead before the Lord,
And this I'll seek the way,
That I may come within your sight,
And dwell there all my days.
But on the beauty of the Lord,
I constantly gain his,
And in his eyes may seek to know
Direction in his way.
All in his dwelling he will keep me
Safe in troubled days.
Live in his hand,
He'll shelter me,
And on our rock he reigns.
We return to read in God's word now.
We're going to read in Philippians.
In the New Testament,
Paul's letter to the Philippians.
Taking up our reading in chapter 1,
At verse 27.
We're going to read down into chapter 2,
Down to verse 11.
Philippians chapter 1,
At verse 27.
Let us hear the word of God.
Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ,
So that whether I come and see you,
Or am absent,
I may hear of you,
That you are standing firm in one spirit,
With one mind,
Striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,
And not frightened in anything by your opponents.
This is a clear sign to them of their destruction,
But of your salvation,
And that from God.
For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ,
You should not only believe in him,
But also suffer for his sake,
Engaged in the same conflict,
That you saw,
I had,
And now hear that I still have.
So, if there is any encouragement in Christ,
Any comfort from love,
Any participation in the Spirit,
Any affection and sympathy,
Complete my joy by being of the same mind,
Having the same love,
Being in full accord,
And of one mind.
Do nothing from rivalry or conceit,
But in humility count others more significant than yourself,
Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
But also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves,
Which is yours in Christ Jesus,
Who,
Though he was in the form of God,
Did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
But made himself nothing,
Taking the form of a servant,
Being born in the likeness of men,
And being found in human form,
He humbled himself,
By becoming obedient to the point of death,
Even death on a cross.
Therefore,
God has highly exalted him,
And bestowed on him,
The name that is above every name,
So that the name of Jesus,
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.
And so on.
May God add his blessing to that reading from his word.
We'll again come to God in prayer.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven,
As we worship you,
We acknowledge our dependence,
And our need of you at all times,
To recognize your word,
To recognize your voice,
To hear it in the midst of all the other distractions,
That can go on around us,
In our lives,
And in our world.
We can so often be caught up,
In the many things that take place,
But yet,
We know that there is one thing,
Most needful of all,
And to come and sit at the feet of Jesus,
And to hear what you have to say.
And so we ask today,
That as we come in your presence,
As we come to seek you,
As we come to hear from you,
That you will help us,
To still ourselves before you,
And to come with that longing,
And that desire,
To be built up by you,
To understand you,
And your ways,
To understand your wonderful love,
Towards us,
Your humility,
Even as we have read of it here,
The wonder of these words,
That we have read,
That so often we cannot grasp,
Just the depth of them,
That you made yourself nothing,
That you became obedient,
To the point of death,
Even death on the cross,
Help us to see,
What has been done for us,
Even though it may have been,
So many years ago,
Even though it may be,
As something that seems,
So distant from us at times,
And yet,
How we need it so near to us,
Even this day,
To recognize the wonder of the cross,
For all our days,
The wonder that Jesus,
Came into this world,
To lay down his life,
For sinners such as we are,
We thank you too,
Lord,
That today is a reminder to us,
That he rose from the grave,
That on the first day of the week,
As they gathered at the tomb,
As they came to it,
They saw a stone,
The great stone,
That had concealed him inside,
Had been rolled away,
And he was not there,
For he was risen,
And we thank you,
For every recollection,
That we have in your word,
Of how he met with people,
He met with them,
In so many different ways,
And situations,
Reminding them,
That he was risen,
And that he would ascend,
To the father in heaven,
That he would receive,
All that glory,
That was due to his name,
That he has been highly exalted,
And has a name,
That is above every name,
And we pray to know more,
Of that name today,
The name of Jesus,
As our Lord,
And as our God,
And so we pray,
That as your word is proclaimed,
Throughout our communities,
And islands,
And nation,
And world today,
That the name of Jesus,
Would be praised,
That the name of Jesus,
Would be lifted high,
On lips of many,
That the name of Jesus,
Would be confessed,
Confessed even in our own hearts today,
That you would be our Lord,
And be our God,
So hear us in these things,
Lord,
And guide us in our worship,
And hear us in our prayers,
For all that goes on around us,
Lord,
We pray for our homes,
And our families,
And our communities,
We pray for all the different needs,
That we see,
And the needs that we know,
That you only know of,
Lord,
We know that there are so many,
But yet you know the people around us,
You know us intimately,
You hear our prayers,
You hear our cries,
And so we ask,
Oh Lord,
That you will come in your power,
That you will minister in ways,
That we cannot,
That you will be that peace,
That only you can give,
That healing,
That only you can give,
That forgiveness,
That only you can give,
We pray,
Lord,
For people to know,
What it is to call,
On the name of the Lord,
And that you will be heard,
That you will be heard,
By them as well,
As you hear from their cries,
Lord,
We ask for your comfort,
To those who mourn,
We think of,
The Finlayson family,
And commit them to you,
Catherine and Rothy,
And the grandsons,
James and Joel as well,
And all the extended family,
And ourselves as a congregation,
May you continue to bless,
And to minister,
To each one,
To comfort,
And uphold,
And give strength,
Remember those in hospital,
And homes,
Remember those confined,
In their own homes,
For different reasons,
Even today,
Lord,
Remember those who tune in online,
We thank you for this facility,
And not just for locally,
But even so many parts of the world,
Where different people,
Will tune in to hear,
The gospel,
We pray that you would bless it,
To each one,
Remember our nation,
And our world,
As we think of all that goes on around us,
We think even of,
The events in America,
Last night,
With the attempted assassination,
Of Donald Trump there,
We see it in shock,
And we see it as,
The kind of world that we live in,
Where there's so much hostility,
So much anger,
Lord,
We pray,
That in these days,
You would remember us,
That you would have mercy upon us,
Remember our nations,
Lord,
How we need you,
To be Lord over all,
To be our Lord,
And our God,
As a people,
May you hear,
Your praying people,
Near and far,
As a church,
As a body,
Of your people,
May you,
Lord,
Come down upon us,
Be in our midst,
Guide us,
In all that we do,
And may we do it,
For your glory,
And yours alone,
As we ask all,
With the forgiveness of our sins,
In Jesus name,
Amen.
Before we turn back,
To look at our passage,
In Philippians,
We'll sing again,
To God's praise,
In Psalm 110,
In the Scottish Psalter version,
Psalm 110,
We'll sing from verse 1,
To verse 5,
We'll sing from verse 1,
To God's praise,
The Lord is in,
To my Lord,
Sick thou at my right hand,
Until I make thy goals as true,
Where all my feet stand,
The Lord shall earth of Zion send,
The rod of thy river,
In midst of all my enemies,
In the Lord,
The governor,
The willing people in my day,
All fire shall come to thee,
And holy duties,
From our moon,
Thy youth,
Thy truth shall be,
The Lord himself,
Have made a road,
And will repent him never,
Of the order of them is,
Starолов day,
The Lord apart the peace
Forever,
And will repent him never,
Sonia, Son, mighty Lord, that sits at thy right hand.
Salim is he, O Christ, like who kings that do him withstand.
We're going to turn back to our reading in Philippians chapter 2.
Our focus this morning is on verse 8 to verse 11.
As we sang there in Psalm 110, there's these words in verse 5.
The glorious and mighty Lord that sits at thy right hand.
You're reminded there of where our Lord is, exalted at the right hand of God.
That is through today.
As we read here in Philippians chapter 2, we are reminded of how that came about.
Of how he humbled himself.
How he came down in the form of man.
How he came obedient to the point of death.
Even death on the cross.
It says there in verse 8.
And then in verse 9, it goes on to say,
Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.
It's a wonderful thing to think about what Jesus has done for us.
And the depths of it we so often can't understand.
The glory that was his that he left behind.
But the glory that he now has at the right hand of God.
When you think of that word glory, how would you go about bringing glory to yourself?
We can talk about bringing shame to ourselves in different ways.
Or someone who's brought shame to the family in some ways by doing something bad.
Or by doing something that leaves a kind of feeling of disgrace upon them or upon the family.
But how do we bring glory?
Or should we try to bring glory to ourselves?
Well, as you read on in these verses, verse 11 says to us that we are to give glory to God.
That is the glory that we are to seek to bring.
Not to bring glory to ourselves or our families through success or fame or riches or doing good or any of these things.
But that we always would seek to give glory to God.
And that's what we see with Jesus here.
Giving glory to God the Father.
And how did he do this?
Well, he did it in obedience.
He was obedient to his Father.
You see it in verse 5 through to verse 7.
The mind of Christ.
There it is.
It speaks of.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men.
From the great heights of glory with God the Father.
He came down to the depths of this world, into this sinful fallen world.
He took on the form of man.
He humbled himself in obedience to God the Father.
And there he gave glory to his Father.
And as we look at this passage in Philippians here, we are just reminded of the enormity of what Jesus has done for us.
And to always have that in our minds.
His obedience to the point of death.
And as Paul puts it here, as we look at a little later on, even death on a cross.
The shame that there was in that death.
But that brought glory to God the Father.
And the purpose behind it all.
That he came from heaven to earth.
That he came down in the form of man.
For what purpose?
To give his life as a ransom for many.
To give his life that we might have life through him.
And life to the full.
We are sinners.
And we need his power.
We need his glory.
Not our own.
And that is the glory that we see that the Lord Jesus shows us here.
His obedience.
His power.
And his glory.
That is ours through faith.
Shame would normally bring disgrace.
And those who looked on at Jesus as he was crucified.
They saw it as a disgrace.
They saw it as the lowest of low.
And that is what the world did to him.
That is what the world put him through.
That they brought him to that point of death on the cross.
But he was obedient.
He was doing the Father's will.
It was shameful.
There was humiliation.
But after it all there was glory and exaltation.
As the hymn writer puts it.
It says,
Bearing shame and scoffing rude.
In my place condemned he stood.
Sealed my pardon with his blood.
Hallelujah.
What a savior.
Bearing shame.
He had that shame.
He gave his life.
He gave his life to that death that he died.
Even death on the cross.
But God exalted him and gave him a name.
And that is the name that we need.
Because a day is coming as it says here.
That every knee will bow.
And in heaven and on earth and under earth.
And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
But it's night and day the difference.
Of how we may confess him on that day.
Will we confess him as our Lord and our God and our Savior.
As the one who we know as the Lord who loved us and gave himself for us.
Or will it be Lord and God in the sense of only then recognizing the word of God is true.
That he is Lord.
That he is God.
But that we have rejected him.
Do you want to be part of his glory.
And to enjoy his glory forevermore.
Well as to see what he has done.
And to put our trust in the one who has given himself in obedience to the point of death.
Even death on the cross.
And so there's three aspects of this I want to look at together this morning.
As we think of what Jesus has done for us here on this cross.
And the first thing is we want to see the low point.
The humiliation that there was in it.
Then we'll see the turning point.
And then we'll see the high point.
So we begin with the low point.
And then the sense the humiliation.
Christ becoming nothing was part of what we call Christ's humiliation.
And you see it so clearly in here when you think of verse 6.
Where it says who though he was in the form of God.
Did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
He was with God the Father.
And yet he didn't see that as something to be grasped.
To be held on to.
No instead he came.
He made himself nothing.
Taking the form of a servant.
Being born in the likeness of men.
Made himself nothing.
Emptied himself of all that was his at the right hand of God.
To come down into this world as a man.
And to live among a people in this world who were sinners.
Have you ever been humiliated?
Have you ever gone through an experience of humiliation.
Where something has happened to you.
Or somebody has done something to you.
And it just leaves you with a sense of humiliation.
That everybody is looking at you in this way.
And looking down on you.
And you just feel small and insignificant.
Maybe someone has humiliated you at work.
And given you a task that seems to be so much below what you would normally be doing.
Can you imagine for example.
The king coming into Stornoway and being told.
Go and sweep the streets of Stornoway next weekend.
After the Heb Kelt festival.
He wouldn't do it.
He wouldn't come and do that.
There would be humiliation for him to do that.
And yet you think of what we call the humiliation of Christ.
The glory that was his with the father.
That he did not grasp and hold on to.
But that he made himself nothing.
He came in the likeness of men.
This is God in the person of Jesus.
This is the king who is deserving of all glory.
And yet he comes in this form.
And he comes humbling himself.
Humbling himself in obedience.
To the point of death.
Death.
Even death on the cross.
And just what does that mean for us?
Do we understand what Christ has done for us?
When you see someone who has done something powerful to you.
Something you don't deserve.
You're left just in a sense of awe at that person.
You don't know how to thank them for it.
And yet do we see what Christ has done for us.
In his humiliation.
In his coming down.
In his leaving all that glory behind.
And humbling himself to the point of death.
It would have been amazing enough that God came down to this world.
In the form of a mighty king.
A mighty warrior.
It would have been amazing that he would come in the form of a humble servant.
That we read here.
But it almost just goes on further and further.
When it comes to what we cannot comprehend.
That he would come and humble himself to the point of death.
That he came to die.
And then it's like Paul adds this.
To leave us even more staggered by it all.
That even death on a cross.
He didn't just die any death.
He didn't die a noble death.
He died the cruelest of deaths.
The death that was for the extreme criminals of that day.
The cross was a weapon of torture and suffering.
And that's what he endured.
Even death on the cross.
People who saw Jesus die on the cross.
They saw the shame of it.
Because that's what people understood of the cross.
Those who knew the Old Testament.
They were reminded that God's word says that cursed is the one who hangs on a tree.
Just what Jesus did.
He hung on a tree.
The cross is what that was.
And there was the curse of God.
And for those who didn't know the Bibles or didn't understand scriptures.
Still there was the shame of crucifixion.
It was the lowest and most despicable form of death.
Reserved for criminals.
And on his right hand and on his left hand were criminals who were deserving of it.
And yet here was the sinless son of God.
Come down from glory to this low humiliation.
Humbling himself.
Obedient to death.
Even death on the cross.
And here is the wonder of the love of God for us.
The love of Jesus Christ for lost sinners.
That he was obedient in this.
Not my will but yours be done he said.
The shame of it.
Martin Luther, the reformer.
As one said he was reading as part of family worship from Genesis 22 with his wife.
And he was reading through about Abraham offering up Isaac on the altar.
And how God provided a lamb in his place eventually.
But Katie, Martin Luther's wife said to him.
I can't believe that God would have treated Abraham's son like that.
But Martin Luther said he did.
He did for his own son.
He gave his own son.
For Isaac he gave a lamb in his place.
But for his own son Jesus he offered him.
He gave him to the point of death.
Even death on the cross.
So there is this low point.
This humiliation.
That he emptied himself.
He made himself nothing.
Obedient and humble to the point of death.
Even death on the cross.
Do we understand what that means?
Do we appreciate what that means?
That he gave himself for our sins.
The second thing we see here is the turning point.
And that's what we see as we go into verse 9.
As we see the humility of Christ.
We maybe recognize how far short we fall ourselves.
In our own humility.
In our own obedience to God.
In our own lack of thankfulness to God.
And what he has done for us through his son.
But the second thing here that we see is we are by nature a people driven by purpose.
We like to have purpose in our lives.
But so often the purpose is self.
And that's what Paul is highlighting for us here.
We need to change that.
We need that changed for us.
By trying to trust in the Lord Jesus.
He has spoken at the beginning of chapter 2.
Of humility and counting others as more important.
Looking out not only to your own interest.
But the interest of others.
Have this mind among you.
Yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus.
This is the foundation of everything that we're looking at.
Who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
And yet we're grasping for our own glory.
Instead of looking at the glory of God.
But here we see that pride can so often take hold of our own hearts.
Pride and boasting in ourselves.
And C.S. Lewis in one of his books in Mere Christianity.
He wrote this.
As we come up against God in the midst of our lives.
He said this.
In God you come up against something which is in every respect.
Immeasurably superior to yourself.
Unless you know God as that.
And therefore know yourself as nothing in comparison.
You do not know God at all.
As long as you are proud you cannot know God.
A proud man is always looking down on things and people.
And of course as long as you are looking down.
You cannot see something that is above you.
He is there talking about us recognizing God in that sense of the one who is above us.
But in our pride we cannot see him because we are looking down on others.
But that's what Paul is getting at here.
Look not only at your own interest but the interest of others.
Have this mind among you which is yours in Christ Jesus.
And when we see that.
When we see that we begin to see how our hearts are changed from pride and self.
It's to see Jesus.
And as we see him on the cross.
As we see him in that humiliation.
We are reminded here of what came after.
That in his obedience.
In verse 9.
Therefore it says.
Related to what came in verse 8.
How he was obedient to the point of death.
Even death on the cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him.
And bestowed on him the name.
That is above every name.
All that he had.
Before he took on that humiliation.
All that he had.
All that he left behind.
That he emptied himself of.
Once again.
He is exalted.
Once again.
He is lifted up.
And that it is his name.
That is above every name.
There is the turning point.
That he was that low servant.
And Jesus did not exalt himself.
He could have.
He could have taken himself off the cross.
He could have saved himself from all of that.
But he didn't.
He was obedient.
Therefore.
God the Father has exalted him.
God the Father has given him the name.
That is above every name.
The name of Jesus.
The name of the one that we are to look to.
The name that is proclaimed.
The name that is preached.
The name that is the way to forgiveness of sin.
It is through him.
As Peter proclaimed Jesus in the book of Acts.
Acts chapter 5.
Before the Jewish Sanhedrin.
What he said to them was this.
He said.
The God of our fathers raised Jesus.
Whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.
God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior.
To give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sin.
The one you killed he says.
Your sins and mine killed Jesus.
It was that that led him to death.
Even death on the cross.
But God the Father raised him.
God the Father has exalted him at his right hand.
Therefore.
As it says here.
God has highly exalted him.
And given him.
Bestowed on him.
The name that is above every name.
That sacrifice.
That obedience.
That was done.
That Jesus gave his life.
Back in 1943.
In the midst of the second world war.
There was a ship that left America.
Called the SS Dorchester.
It had been a ship that had been used for.
Ordinary cargo.
Pre-war.
But it had been converted into a troop carrier.
And it had set sail from America.
Heading across the North Atlantic in February 1943.
Carrying just over 900 troops to go and fight in the war.
And they knew that going across the Atlantic was dangerous.
German U-boats were always on the prowl.
And they were told the men on board the ship.
That they were to sleep at night.
Fully clothed.
And wearing their life jackets.
Just in case.
But because of the nature of the crowds in the midst of the boat.
It was so warm inside.
That many refused to wear all their clothes.
And their life jackets.
But on the morning of February 3rd 1943.
At around 1am.
The boat was struck by a torpedo.
And they were told that we are sinking.
The boat is going down.
And it was going down fast.
Well as well as the troops on that ship.
There were four army chaplains on board with them.
And in the midst of all the chaos that ensued after the torpedo struck.
These four chaplains began to try and bring order.
And to try and help.
They were there guiding people.
Getting them life jackets from boxes.
Praying over those who were wounded.
And eventually in a short space of time as the boat was going down.
There were people panicking who didn't have life jackets.
So all these chaplains.
The four of them.
They gave their own life jackets to those who didn't have.
And as others made it off the boat onto rafts and lifeboats.
They stayed on the ship as it went down.
They stayed there praying.
And there's testimonies told of people who could see it after they got off the boat.
These men there praying as others went down with the boat.
It's an amazing story of sacrifice in so many ways.
Why did they do it?
Why were they helping in this way?
Why weren't they just trying to save themselves?
Because they knew what people needed was to hear about Jesus.
And these kinds of sacrifices.
They make such an impression on us at times.
Of the nine hundred.
Probably nearly a thousand men on board.
Only a quarter of them survived the sinking.
And the four chaplains went down and are so spoken of to this day for their act of bravery.
And the way that they showed that power of prayer.
But they were doing it not for their glory.
Not for glory of self.
But for the glory of God the Father.
Because they knew that those who were perishing without Christ were lost for all eternity.
And here we see the greatest sacrifice of all.
That God the Son humbled himself to the point of death.
Even death on the cross.
And so as we see there in verse 9.
That name that is above every name.
What does that name do for us?
Well if you tie that in with what it says in Isaiah's prophecy in chapter 45 verse 22.
It says turn to me and be saved all ends of the earth.
For I am God and there is no other.
This is the name.
This is God.
This is where there is salvation.
And there is no other.
There is no other way to salvation.
There is a turning point here for us.
As we think of Jesus.
He was highly exalted and given a name.
But what about ourselves?
Is there a turning for ourselves?
Are we turning to him that we might be saved?
Because there is no other way.
There is no other way to be saved.
But through him.
Let us turn to him.
Finally we see here.
The high point.
From that humiliation.
God gives him a name.
He highly exalts him.
So that the name of Jesus.
Every knee should bow.
In heaven and on earth and under earth.
And every tongue confess.
That Jesus Christ is Lord.
To the glory of God the Father.
Those who mocked him.
Those who despised him.
Those who rebuked him.
Those who had him crucified.
Those who still mock him to this day.
The day is coming.
When every knee will bow.
And every tongue confess.
And say that he is Lord.
But are we trusting?
Gambling.
Is something that so many people do.
And so many people struggle with in life.
It's a dangerous thing.
It's about the hope.
Of a change in our circumstances.
The hope of that big win.
But that's for most.
And many never comes.
Many buy a lottery ticket.
In the hope it could be you.
And what's the chances?
One in 45 million.
And yet.
We'll put our hope.
In that.
Don't be a fool.
To think that that is what will change your life.
Don't be a fool.
To think that it's these things.
That will give you the security you need.
There is only one thing you need.
For security.
And that is Christ.
And yet we all gamble.
In so many ways.
We're all gamblers at heart.
When we think of not putting our trust.
In Jesus.
Why gamble and take the chance.
That what God is saying in his word today.
Is not true.
It's not for you.
You don't need it.
You do.
And that's what these verses remind us of.
The day will come.
When every knee will bow and tongue confess.
That Jesus Christ is Lord.
But is he Lord now?
Christ humbled himself to the point of death.
Even death on the cross.
But he has a name.
Above every name.
That he is Jesus.
And that he is Lord.
It was once said.
If he is not Lord of all.
He is not Lord at all.
And that's the challenge to ourselves today.
Is he Lord?
Do you see what he has done?
His humiliation.
His being brought low.
His emptying himself.
His obedience to death.
Even death on the cross.
But that God has raised him up.
That he is exalted at the right hand of God.
And that a day is coming.
When we must appear before him.
And give an account for ourselves.
Is he Lord?
Is he God?
In your heart today.
There's a poem I read.
And it says this.
I am not sent a pilgrim here.
My heart with earth to fill.
But I am here God's grace to learn.
And serve God's sovereign will.
He leads me on through smiles and tears.
Grief follows gladness still.
But let me welcome both alike.
Since both work out his will.
No service in itself is small.
None great though earth it fill.
But that is small that seeks its own.
And great that seeks God's will.
Then hold my hand most gracious Lord.
Guide all my doings still.
And let this be my life's one aim.
To do or bear thy will.
One aim.
To do or bear thy will.
When we see what he has done for us.
His will.
His will that he gave his son.
And Jesus' obedience.
Obedient to the point of death.
But how he's exalted.
How he's lifted up.
And how his name is the name through which we can be saved.
We ask ourselves.
Is he Lord?
Is he God for us?
It is through his death.
That he gave glory to God the Father.
Do we see glory for ourselves?
Or do we see the shame that he endured?
That we might enjoy his glory.
And that we would give glory to God the Father.
May we see Jesus.
His obedience.
His death.
His humiliation.
But above all his exaltation.
And the power of his name.
That is there to save.
Let us pray.
Our Father in heaven.
And we do thank you that we have a God who understands our needs.
We have a Lord who came and met our needs.
And that we have a spirit.
A Holy Spirit.
Who is here for us today.
To draw us closer to the one who is able to help.
In all our different needs.
And we do ask oh Lord.
That you will go before us in all things.
That you will humble us.
That you will remind us that there is one name exalted above every other.
And the name is Jesus.
And that we must appear before him.
That we must bow and confess.
That he is Lord.
But help us even today.
To know him as Lord and God of all.
As we ask it in his precious name.
Amen.
We're going to conclude by singing to God's praise in Psalm 118.
Psalm 118.
We'll sing from verse 5 to verse 9.
These three stanzas.
It's Sing Psalms version page 155.
Psalm 118 at verse 5.
I cried in anguish to the Lord.
He answered me and set me free.
The Lord is with me.
I'll not fear.
What harm can people do to me?
We'll sing from verse 5 to 9 to God's praise.
I cried in anguish to the Lord.
I wish to the Lord, He answered me and set me free.
The Lord is with me, I'll no fear, what harm can people do?
To me, the Lord is with me constantly, He is the one who gives me aid.
I look in triumph on my foes, I will not need to be afraid.
It's better far to trust the Lord, I'll move for help to man's defense.
It's better far to trust the Lord, than in a prince of confidence.
Amen.
After the benediction, I'll go to the door to my left.
We'll close with a benediction.
Now may grace, mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
rest upon and abide with you all now and forevermore.
Amen.
We'll be right back.