Please turn with me in your Bibles to Philippians 3 and also chapter 2, but we'll first read 3 and then come back to 2. Oh, I have it, 2 and 3, so let's first read 2. Chapter 2 then, verse 5 through 11. 5 through 11 and 3 from verse 2. Hear God's Word. Philippians 2 verse 5, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even the death of the cross verse 9 therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. In chapter 3 from verse 2, beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation. For we are the circumcision who worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Though I also might have confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Concerning the law, a Pharisee. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things loss, for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count him as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings being conformed to His death. I read thus far. May the Lord bless His word to your hearts. I should have mentioned I also have a text from Isaiah 45, Isaiah 45 verse 22 and 23. Maybe you know this was the text that God used to convert Charles Haddon Spurgeon on a snowy Sunday morning when an elder was preaching and not even a pastor. Isaiah 45, 22 was his conversion text. Look to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. I have sworn by myself word has gone out from my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall take an oath." This is the word of the Lord. The messages I'll bring you today, God's people of the Lord in Brantford, free reformed, are both related to the work I do in Africa, which is very relevant also for us here in North America. And so, this morning, I want to speak to you about the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the first thing that Islamic apologists will attack. They don't believe that Jesus is God. That was their creed from day one. That He is only the Son of Mary and not the Son of God. And then this afternoon, a call to stand firm as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ in this day and age. But now, I want to ask you, young people, children, every one of you, Where did Jesus ever say, I am God? Or where does the Bible say that Jesus Christ is divine? Could you answer that? Where does the New Testament unequivocally state that Jesus Christ is God? How important is that? Well, it is all important. It's probably the most important article in our creed. And if you don't know in your heart, if you're not sure, if you are not convinced, then you are, as you sit here, in mortal danger. You are like low-hanging fruit for the enemy. You can potentially be converted given the right circumstances to Islam or to atheism? Now the answer is all through the New Testament. But do we know, can we go there and show it? In my travels I show the deity of our Lord Jesus from the Gospel of Mark. the first gospel that was written, and then I do it from Saint Paul, and then also I even go to the Torah. And I've learned that from Jewish scholars, by the way. So then this morning, the divinity of Christ according to Paul. And in the first place, we want to ask, who was Saul of Tarsus? Who was he? And we read a lot about him in chapter three. of Philippians. When Paul, you know, is arguing with the Judaizers there in Philippi who are boasting in earthly and worldly things in their pedigree or whatever, and Paul says, well, I can also boast if I want to. I was circumcised on the eighth day. It was done the right way, not a week later. On the eighth day, according to the law. I am of the people of Israel. I'm a true Israelite. You know, Jews could argue about their lineage, you know. They could trace back their lineage Generations. We, maybe you can tell me something about your grandfather and then it stops there. You don't even know what's behind that. They could tell you all the way. A thousand years, many of them. A true Israelite. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. Well, Benjamin was one of the favorite tribes, right? There's a New Testament scholar that thinks Paul probably thought, I must put, I must restore the name of the other Saul of Benjamin. You remember there was another Saul of Benjamin? And he really dragged the name of Saul of Benjamin through the mud. Great King Saul of Benjamin. Now this Saul of Benjamin is going to restore the name, Saul of Benjamin. A Hebrew of the Hebrews, God's chosen people. Concerning the law, a Pharisee. The Pharisee was like a group or a club among the Jews that were especially devoted to make sure that never, never, never again will it happen that God's people will Go off the deep end. Go off after the idols, like they did before the exile. It will not happen again. The Pharisees will make sure of that. That was a good ideal that they had, mind you. Nothing wrong with that. Concerning zeal, a persecutor of the church. Well, who had zeal like Paul? He asked letters from the high priest to go and arrest these people who dared to worship a man who was crucified under Caesar Tiberius. How dare they worship him? Concerning righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. What does Paul mean here by blameless? You know, we read the stories every now and then, oh, that pastor did that, and he stole money, and he had an affair, and that is not a good pastor. I call him 10 times, he never comes over. You could not point a finger to Paul. That's what he means by blameless. He would not as a good Pharisee think he's sinless. No, he had a good theology, blameless. That was the Apostle Paul. And as to his academic standing, a top student of Rabbi Gamaliel. He was a phenomenon in Israel, a prodigy. The poster boy of Judaism. But something happened. Something which is second only in importance and impact in the New Testament to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So much so that it is recorded three if not four times in the New Testament. Four times, Paul's conversion is recorded in the New Testament. But okay, before we go there, that is to his conversion, we have to ask another question. What was Jewish monotheism all about? Paul says, I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews. I'm of the stock of Israel. I'm not a pagan. All around him, In the Roman Empire, people were worshipping the Roman Pantheon, every god you can imagine. I'm not like them. Of the people of Israel. So who were Israel in the first century? The only monotheist people on the globe. Maybe the Zoroastrians were also somewhat monotheist, but here were the people of God. What does it mean that they were monotheist? Well, let me explain. You could go to many temples all around the Roman Empire and visit the temple and there you could see the images, the statues of their gods, of their idols. But when Pompey conquered Jerusalem in 63 BC, dealing with an uprising among the Jews, he dared to enter the temple, which he was not supposed to do, and passing through the holy place. Then he entered the holiest of holies, where only the high priest was supposed to go once in a year, and not without blood. And when he entered that place, what he found astounded him. Because he found nothing. No image. Only dust covering various objects. No one has ever seen God, says the Bible. Remember how Solomon prayed. Will God really dwell with humans on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less the temple that I have built, 1 Chronicles 6. And God commanded His people, we heard it, you shall not make any image of anything in creation to worship me through it. But that is exactly what they did. They flirted with the idols for so long, and all the prophets warned them to no avail. And then, doomsday came. The city was destroyed, the temple was destroyed, and Israel went into exile into Babylon. To cure them once and for all, from this terrible, terrible disease, this sin, this evil, to go after the nations and their gods. And there in Babylon, while God was humbling them, he also gave them the most sublime revelations of who he is. There is nothing like, and you find that especially in Isaiah, You go into the 40s of Isaiah, 40, 41, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. You are now on the highest mountain range of monotheism in the Bible. You cannot find it higher. You're in the Himalayas. You're on the Alps. You know that, you've read those. It begins with 40, an amazing chapter. So you're on the highest mountain range of monotheism. But then you go to Isaiah 45. Now you're on Mont Blanc. You're on Everest. You're on the highest point. The Lord says it again and again. There in chapter 45. Thus says the Lord who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret in a dark place on the earth. I did not say to the seed of Jacob, seek me in vain. I, the Lord, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right. And then he says, who will you put beside me? There is no other God besides me. There is no other rock like me. Again and again and again in chapter 45. And then, we come to our text. Look to me. and be saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there is no other and then these words listen I have sworn by myself God Adonai Elohim is now swearing he's making an oath what does he swear the word has gone out from my mouth in righteousness and shall not return that to me, not to all these idols that you flirted with, to me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall take an oath. In my name alone you shall take an oath. So that now you're on Mount Everest. You can't go higher. So keep that in mind. So now, we come back to Philippians and then to chapter 2. To appreciate what Paul is writing here, we must first answer the question, what happened to Paul? to this Jewish golden boy, the persecutor of the church. What happened to him? And now you will also realize why Islam doesn't like him. Because here's the secret. Paul was the first jihadi to be converted and become a servant of our Lord Jesus. So what happened to him? The most shocking thing I said next to the resurrection, Paul was on his way to Damascus, that first Christian city, and he was convinced they have dealt with a Jesus problem. Jesus was put away. As far as the Jewish elites were concerned, he's now in Hades, down under. And so it's around midday on the King's Highway, the highway that went from Egypt to Assyria. And then, out of nowhere, a bright light shone on them, brighter than the sun. And a voice spoke from heaven, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Saul knew who spoke from heaven. The only one who speaks from heaven is the God of Isaiah. Who are you, Lord? Who are you, Yahweh? I am Yeshua, Jesus. Can you imagine? There was not a more odious name among these Jews that didn't believe than the name of Jesus. Now he says, I am Jesus. I am the one whom you crucified. The cross was not even mentioned in polite society among the Jews. I'm him. Paul is struck to the ground, as you know, and with blindness. The one who spoke, spoke in absolute command and royal majesty, not even in anger. He's in full command. And Paul, this promising young man, is lying there a hopeless bundle, knocked off his ladder, climbing, you know, the ladder to success. That was the day when it pleased God to reveal His Son to the Apostle when he was still a sinner. That's what happened to him. And you know, he went then to Damascus and Ananias came to him. Ananias told him what he will do henceforth for the Lord Jesus Christ and he was baptized and scales fell from his eyes and he began to preach immediately that Jesus is the Messiah. As one who was shown mercy because he acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on him abundantly. And so he became an apostle, an example to us all of God's great patience with sinners and what He can do with the worst of us. And out of his mission work, came many churches, among others, the Philippians. And so now Paul is writing to the Philippians. He's in prison, actually. And there is some issues among them, some disunity. And you know, the first thing, if there is disunity in the church, step number one is humility. Become humble again. What does that mean, to be humble? Have the mind of Jesus Christ. And what does that mean? Well, he was equal with God. He did not cling to that status and existence. He came down. He took upon him the form of a servant, a bondservant. He became one of us. And he obeyed God all the way, even to the point of death. Not any death, but death on a cross. A shameful Roman cross, the worst of all. That is how far he obeyed all the way. And now Paul says, hold on to your seats, friends. Therefore, therefore, God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name. Where does Paul get this from? Only one place, from the Himalayas, Isaiah 45. He has given him the name, which is above every name. How many names in church history? Children, you learn about that. Famous names, a name above every name. What is the name above every name? It's the name of God. The name of God was given to him. Not that he was only God then, if it's from the beginning. That at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. What is only the privilege of Yahweh Elohim, that is now given to Jesus. Every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth. There's not one excluded everyone in this place, in this town. Even the devils in Hades. Everyone, everywhere, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That word Lord meant only one thing, kurios, the Lord himself, to the glory of God the Father. It's there in your Bible. We probably just don't read it closely, we don't read it carefully. It's there, it's on every page. Jesus could not have been exalted higher than this. He gave him the name. Now if you hear that, Phrase the name it probably rings a bell If you've read anything among about the jews, that's how they spoke of him the name They don't even want to pronounce the name And that name was given to jesus So at his name every knee shall bow And every tongue confess That he is lord And so this place where we are this morning, you know what it was called in the New Testament? There where they call on the name of the Lord Jesus. That's what this place is. That's the purest name for this place, where people gather to call on the name. To call on the name means to worship. So this Pharisee, this monotheist, this man so full of zeal for God, is now saying that a mere man crucified like a common criminal has received the highest name in the universe, the name of El Shaddai, of Adonai. And that's why Paul says, all I desire is to know Him, to be found in Him, to follow Him, to proclaim Him, to love Him. I consider everything I ever boasted in as complete garbage. So are you now convinced? I know you were, you knew that, that's why you gather here. But are you convinced deep in your heart? And have you, is there anyone here that has never called on the name, above all names, from the depths of your heart? Have you ever bowed your knees to Him? And is it your joy to confess Him? Maybe you've heard, there are so many stories now of people who are converted to the Lord from all different backgrounds, you cannot imagine. And sometimes when they reach rock bottom, what do they do? You hear it again and again. Lord, They call on the name. That is what Joel said will happen in the last days, when the Spirit is poured out. People will call on the name and be saved. Read the book of Acts. What is the book of Acts all about? From beginning to end, it's about the name. It's all about the name. The disciples were wondering, well, when are you going to restore the kingdom of Israel? Jesus said, no, that's not really your business, guys. You wait in Jerusalem until you've been filled with the Holy Spirit from on high so as to receive power. Power for what? To stand before governors and kings and the world and the Jewish people and to proclaim my name." That's what Acts is about. And that you see in Acts 2, Peter preaching. He reveals the name, the one you crucified, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Glory, God raised. He couldn't remain in death. And therefore let everyone call on the name of the Lord. And you hear it again and again and again in Acts. Call on the name of the Lord. Which Lord? This Lord, whom God raised as the Lord of life. If you want to escape the day of judgment, you have to call on that name. There's no other way. So 3,000 got baptized and added to the church who called on the name. And then Peter and John went up to the temple to pray. You know the story. There's a man crippled for 38 years, and he's looking for something. And Peter said, gold or silver we don't have, but what we do have we can give you in the name of Jesus. Get up. And the man doesn't only get up, he jumps. Like the prophet prophesied Isaiah, that will happen in the messianic age, the lame will jump. He jumps and the people, there's a consternation, pandemonium. They all come on the whole temple square, they gather around the apostles. And what does Peter do? This is the opportunity for what? To proclaim the name, the name. And then the authorities heard of this, and they send the guards. They're upset. We thought we have dealt with this man. What do we hear from the temple? And they arrest them. And they ask them, in what name did you do this? And they want to stop them. They want to tell, brothers, just stop this. We can have coffee together. We can have good times here in Jerusalem. We just ask you one simple thing. Cease with this, with this name. How about that? You can get off, you can go home. And Peter and John says, No other name was given. No other name under heaven through which you and I may be saved. And that is the story of Acts. The whole story of Acts is the world, the devil, tries to squash the name. James is beheaded. Paul is out to arrest the Christians. They are scattered. But as they go, they spread the name. And then Saul is converted to bear the name even before the emperor of Rome. So, that is how great this name is. There are so many stories. You know, we think in the Middle Ages there was no faith, like the church almost started at the Reformation time. Not true. When Saladin conquered Jerusalem. The crusaders had conquered Jerusalem a hundred years before and now Saladin took it over. He was brutal. And he had this Christian leader before him. He asked him, just deny Jesus, it's all good. Raymond of Bouillon or something, I forgot the exact name. And Raymond said, I will not deny Jesus Christ. There were many martyrs, Christian martyrs who lived in a place, maybe you have heard of this place, Gaza. Christians lived there. when the Muslims first came. And they were a band of those Christian men of Gaza who refused to deny the name and they were tortured to death. The name. My friend Johnson in Uganda was once invited to a gathering by the border with the DRC. And the Muslims had in their midst a young girl that was in catatonic state. She was like sitting like this in a corner for I don't know how long. And they couldn't help her. And they heard. of Johnson and his ministry. And they called him. They put him on the spot. He said, I didn't know what to do. They asked me, I'm standing here among all these Muslims. They said, can you help this girl? What do I do now? Well, he could only do what he saw in the Bible. In the name of Jesus Christ, stand up. And she did. And God was glorified. And he said, you want to interview her? I can connect you with her and you can talk to her. And she became a Christian and her family. My friends, I hope you will be a bold confessor and a defender of the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. No mere prophet, not only the Son of Mary, the very Son of God who came down from heaven for us and for our salvation. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our God, we thank You for Your Word, and we pray that the name of Jesus would be on our lips until our dying day, and that nothing would be more precious than believing and confessing His name. For no, nothing in this world can be compared to the joy and the peace that we receive through believing in You. All the wealth, all the treasures, all the fame, all the pleasures are nothing compared to knowing you. And that's why they will come from the East and the West. Never mind what difficulties or persecutions they will face, they will come. to bow the knee before Jesus and sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the marriage supper of the Lamb. So bless your people, we pray in His name. Amen.