Participants:
Series Code: SCM
Program Code: SCM210002S
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00:09 Who was Jesus?
00:12 He had compassion for the weak and the hurting. 00:15 He loved every person He met 00:18 and taught them how to love. 00:20 His great heart helped all those who came near Him 00:24 but most of all He was a friend. 00:27 That was who He was. 00:29 Now find out who He IS. 00:38 Welcome back to 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting. 00:41 We're so glad that you have joined us. 00:43 I know it's not quite the same as being here in person 00:46 but praise the Lord that we can still reach out and do 00:49 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting through television, through 00:51 radio, through the Internet. So we're praising the Lord 00:54 for technology. Were you blessed by that music hour? 00:57 I know that I sure was 00:58 and we just appreciate the talent that God has given 01:01 the musicians that were able to share this evening. 01:04 And what a great way to start out Camp Meeting! 01:06 You know, I think about worshiping God 01:08 and music is such a part of that. 01:10 And what an incredible theme! I want to say thank you to 01:12 the crew. You saw the open and it's depicting Jesus 01:15 walking beside the lake talking to people. Can you imagine? 01:19 Wow! What an incredible day that must have been! 01:22 But you know what? We have heaven to look forward to. 01:25 So we are just praying that the Holy Spirit will be here 01:29 during Camp Meeting; that you will come away blessed. 01:31 As you listen to all the messages, all the music hours 01:34 we KNOW that you will be blessed. Why? Because 01:37 we prayed for God's presence to be here. 01:39 Now I'm really excited to introduce the speaker 01:42 that's launching out Camp Meeting 01:44 and that's Pastor James Rafferty. 01:46 We're always excited to intro- duce him, but you know what? 01:49 In case you've missed it, he's now a full-time employee 01:52 of 3ABN... so that's so exciting. 01:55 His title is Director of Discipleship. 01:58 His wife will also be joining him here as well, Rise. 02:01 But he's a man of the Word. 02:03 He loves God, and he has a heart for evangelism. 02:08 So we're so excited about the up-coming plans 02:10 with having him here on board. 02:12 I also want to encourage you 02:13 if you have any questions or comments 02:15 as you listen to the speakers 02:16 you can always text us at: 02:20 Or you can e-mail us: 02:24 But before Pastor James brings the message to us this evening 02:27 we have Tim Parton bringing us a beautiful song 02:31 and it's entitled Behold our God. Thank you so much, Tim. 02:49 Who has held the oceans in His hands? 02:55 Who has numbered every grain of sand? 03:00 Kings and nations 03:04 tremble at His voice... 03:07 all creation 03:10 rises to rejoice. 03:14 Behold our God 03:19 seated on His throne. 03:23 Come, let us adore Him. 03:27 Behold our King! 03:32 Nothing can compare... 03:35 come, let us 03:36 adore 03:40 Him. 03:46 Who has given counsel to the Lord? 03:51 Who can question 03:55 any of His words? 03:57 Who can teach the One who knows all things? 04:03 Who can fathom 04:06 all His wondrous deeds? 04:11 Behold our God 04:15 seated on His throne. 04:19 Come, let us adore Him! 04:23 Behold our King! 04:27 Nothing can compare... 04:30 come, let us adore 04:35 Him. 04:41 Who has felt 04:43 the nails upon His hands 04:47 bearing all the guilt of sinful man? 04:53 God eternal 04:56 humbled to the grave, 04:59 Jesus, Savior, 05:03 risen now to reign! 05:09 Behold our God 05:13 seated on His throne. 05:16 Come, let us adore Him! 05:20 Behold our King! 05:25 Nothing can compare... 05:28 come, let us adore 05:33 Him! 05:44 You will reign forever! 05:50 You will reign forever! 05:55 Yes, You will reign 05:58 forever 06:01 and ever! 06:06 Behold our God 06:11 seated on His throne. 06:14 Come, let us adore Him! 06:19 Behold our King! 06:24 Nothing can compare... 06:26 come, let us adore 06:32 Him! 06:43 Amen! 06:44 Praise God! What a beautiful, powerful message in song! 06:48 Thank you, Tim. What a blessing! 06:50 Well, welcome to the 2021 06:54 3ABN Summer Camp Meeting. 06:56 And the theme of this Camp Meeting is so beautiful 07:00 and so powerful. It's right here before us: 07:03 Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus? 07:07 And I am blessed to be able to launch 07:11 the presentations for this Camp Meeting 07:13 with the message Eternal God. 07:16 Jesus is eternal God. Let's pray together. 07:19 Father in heaven, thank you again so much 07:21 for this opportunity that we have to study Your Word 07:25 and to learn about Jesus who IS eternal God. 07:29 And we are just thankful for the gift You've given us 07:32 in Jesus Christ: the gift of salvation 07:34 that brings us His righteousness 07:36 and it gives us the hope that we need to push through 07:39 the darkness of this world 07:41 and to find ourselves through the Author and Finisher of our 07:43 faith on the other side of evil and pain and suffering and sin. 07:48 So guide our hearts right now as we open Your Word, 07:50 as we study more about Jesus, 07:52 as we get our focus on the Lamb. 07:54 Guide us to heaven; guide us to the light 07:57 to the truth of who Christ is and what He means to us. 08:00 Be with each and every listener we pray 08:02 in Jesus' name, Amen. 08:05 Praise God! 08:07 You know, this theme is so powerful 08:09 and it's something that I've been studying 08:10 for the last few weeks just in preparation 08:13 for the meetings here... and I've learned so much. 08:16 You know, you think you know a subject. 08:18 You've been studying the Bible for many years 08:20 and you think you've got it kind of all figured out. 08:22 And then you're basically needing to present and to 08:27 understand the subject and it's a blessing 08:29 to go into the Word of God and with that need and that desire 08:33 to learn more to actually gain insights 08:36 that you didn't have before. So there are many Bible verses 08:39 scattered throughout the Old and the New Testament 08:41 that speak to the subject at hand. For example, 08:45 one of the most important and significant I think 08:47 is Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6. Let's just take a look there 08:51 in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. 08:53 Isaiah 9 verse 6 says this: 08:56 "For unto us a Son is born... " 08:58 "Unto us... " excuse me... "Unto us a Child is born, 09:02 unto us a Son is given 09:03 and the government shall be upon His shoulders. 09:06 And His name shall be called Wonderful, 09:10 Counselor, the Mighty God, 09:13 the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. " 09:16 Now you can't help but recognize as you look at this Bible verse 09:21 that this is talking about Jesus 09:23 because Jesus is the Child that was born. 09:25 Jesus is the Son that was given. 09:27 Jesus is the Wonderful Counselor. 09:30 Jesus is the Mighty God. He is the Everlasting Father. 09:35 You can't stop with the Child given; 09:37 you can't stop with the Son born. 09:38 You have to recognize that He is also the Mighty God 09:42 and the Everlasting Father. 09:44 Clear in Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. 09:48 But then we go to the New Testament. 09:49 Now in the New Testament we have a number of Bible verses. 09:52 And we're going to look at a few of them but I want us to 09:54 focus in right now on one that's found in Philippians 09:58 chapter 2. This is one of my favorite sections of Scripture 10:01 concerning Christ because of what it reveals to us. 10:04 In Phil. chapter 2 and we're just going to look at verses 5-6 10:07 it says here: 10:09 "Let this mind be in you 10:11 which was also in Christ Jesus. 10:14 Who being in the form of God 10:16 thought it not robbery 10:18 to be equal with God. " 10:20 So here we find the apostle Paul telling us 10:23 that Jesus was in the form of God 10:26 and He thought it not robbery, that is, something to be grasped 10:28 onto, to be equal with God. 10:31 So John is recording the words of Christ here 10:34 as He reveals Himself as equal with God. 10:38 Excuse me, Paul is recording these words concerning Christ 10:42 as he under inspiration reveals Him as being equal with God. 10:47 Something that we see throughout the Old and the New Testament. 10:51 In fact, John records the words of Christ 10:53 when He revealed Himself as "the eternal I AM" 10:57 of Exodus chapter 3. 10:59 And again when Christ came to John on the Isle of Patmos - 11:03 the lonely prison island where John was exiled to 11:07 toward the end of his ministry - 11:09 He revealed Himself to John as The Almighty 11:12 in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 8. 11:15 So this basically confirms a principle 11:18 of Biblical interpretation. This principle is found 11:21 in II Corinthians 13:1 and the principle is this: 11:25 that in the mouth of two or three witnesses - 11:28 that is 2 or 3 witnesses - that every word be established. 11:33 And so what we have here is we have the witness of Isaiah, 11:36 we have the witness of Paul, 11:38 we have the witness of John that establishes 11:41 the truth of who Christ is. 11:44 Now we know that Christ was the Child born. 11:46 We know that Christ was the Son given. 11:48 But there's a lot of controversy among us, 11:52 a lot of controversy among those who profess to follow 11:55 God in relationship to His eternal existence, 12:00 to His Godhead, to His Godship, 12:03 to Him being God, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. 12:06 That's a phrase that we don't normally apply 12:09 to Jesus Christ. And so we're going to be looking at this 12:13 in more detail because we recognize that... 12:15 that John and Paul and Isaiah 12:18 are all witnesses of Christ as eternal God. 12:22 In fact, John's testimony is so clear 12:26 that an entire denomination has actually printed their 12:30 own Bible in order to silence John's inspired declaration 12:34 that's found in John chapter 1. 12:37 And this is one of my favorite sections of Scripture 12:39 when it comes to Jesus Christ. 12:41 John chapter 1 and we're going to begin with verse 1. 12:44 We're going to look at John 1:1-3. 12:50 Here's what it says: 12:51 "In the beginning was the Word 12:54 and the Word was with God 12:57 and the Word WAS God. 13:00 The same was in the beginning 13:02 with God and all things were made by Him 13:03 and without Him was not anything 13:05 made that was made. " 13:06 Now this is so powerful because we understand 13:10 that this is talking about Jesus 13:11 because later in the verse it says 13:13 "And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. " 13:16 And of course Jesus is the only One who was made flesh 13:18 and dwelt among us in relationship to God. 13:22 But it tells us quite clearly in verse 1 that 13:24 not only was the Word WITH GOD but the Word WAS God. 13:28 And that newer translation of the Bible that I was talking 13:32 about in relationship to that denomination that is trying 13:35 to silence John's witness here 13:37 says that the Word was a god. They've added that little a 13:41 in there and then they put god with a small g 13:44 instead of a capital G. 13:45 And this is totally contrary not just to the record here 13:49 in John chapter 1 but also to the way that 13:51 Greek word is used throughout the Scriptures. 13:54 Here Jesus is the Word who was not only with God 13:57 but He was also God. 13:59 He is the One who made all things in the context of this. 14:02 That means that's He's placed in contrast with 14:06 everything that is unmade. 14:08 Jesus Christ is not made. He is the One that 14:11 made all things in contrast to everything that is made. 14:14 And so therefore we have Him as in the "unmade" category 14:18 according to John chapter 1. 14:20 Now I've spent a lot of time studying this subject 14:23 in the years that I've been in ministry. 14:26 In fact, I had a number of studies with a group 14:29 back in Washington state... a group of people 14:33 called Jehovah Witnesses. 14:34 And we studied for months the different doctrines 14:37 that they were teaching & believing. 14:40 And now as a Christian and an Adventist at that time 14:43 it wasn't my purpose to try to convince them 14:47 but they would try to convince me that I needed to become 14:50 a Jehovah's Witness. And so we were studying the Bible together 14:52 and we were moving through the different subjects. 14:55 And we found some common ground but then we got to the topic 14:58 of course Jesus Christ. 15:00 And I started to recognize that they have this new translation, 15:04 this New World translation of the Bible, that they use 15:08 that has changed some of the Bible verses. 15:10 And so they gave me this questionnaire. 15:12 It had about I think thirty or forty questions on it 15:15 that had to do with Christ being God 15:18 and questions that would simply undermine the idea 15:21 that He was God, and they wanted me to fill it out, 15:23 to answer the questions. And so I began to answer 15:25 these questions. And as I did, again 15:27 I was able to study more deeply into the Scriptures 15:32 and I found myself going back to the book of Genesis. 15:35 And in the book of Genesis I found something really 15:37 interesting. In Genesis 1:26 15:41 it talks there about God in the plural. 15:45 God says: "Let US 15:47 make man in Our image after Our likeness. " 15:50 And I thought: "That's really interesting. 15:52 'Let US make man in Our image after Our likeness. ' " 15:55 And so I looked up the word God there. 15:57 "God says let US... " 15:59 And the word for God is Elohim. 16:01 And I found that that word Elohim is a plural. 16:05 In other words, it is speaking of God in the plural. 16:10 That God in the context of Genesis - 16:12 the very first book of the Bible, in the very beginning of 16:15 the Word of God - is in the plural. 16:17 In other words, it is speaking of more than just 16:20 God the Father. We have God the Father, 16:23 God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 16:25 And of course, in that context we have Jesus Christ 16:29 understanding, recognizing that He is part of that Godhead 16:33 in the New Testament. So the Old Testament - 16:36 Elohim: let US make man in OUR image. 16:39 And then there are other places. In fact, there are hundreds 16:42 of places in the Old Testament where the word Elohim is used 16:46 to describe God. 16:47 And I was intrigued with this and began to share this with 16:50 my friends, my Jehovah's Witnesses friends. 16:52 And shortly after this based on that study 16:55 and also the study that we were doing 16:57 in John chapter 1 that Bible study ended. 17:02 But it really helped me. You know, when we study together 17:05 we can really learn a lot from one another. 17:07 And it really helped me to gain insight into this subject 17:10 on the Word of God. I was kind of cut off. 17:13 They had someone come to the study and ascertain 17:16 if I was even someone that they should continue to study with. 17:21 And as they realized that I was immoveable, 17:24 that I was going to stay with the Word of God 17:25 and the truth of the Word of God 17:27 they said: "We're not going to study. 17:28 You shouldn't be studying with this guy any more. " 17:30 But I left there with this understanding that has deepened 17:34 in my own Christian experience, in my own relationship 17:38 with God. And I find that each one of us 17:41 has that opportunity. Whenever you study the Word of God 17:44 even if you're studying with people who may not see things 17:46 the way you see things 17:47 it gives you opportunity to gain greater insight 17:49 into the truth of God's Word. 17:53 So this is what I gathered as I began to study with 17:57 these Jehovah's Witnesses, and I took that 17:59 and I ran into some other statements that I thought 18:04 really helped me to recognize how controversial this is. 18:07 And what I mean by that is this: 18:09 my study with Jehovah's Witnesses was not the first time 18:12 that this subject became controversial. 18:16 When you go back to 18:17 the life of Christ, when you go 18:20 back to Jesus Christ incarnate you're going to find 18:23 that this truth has been controversial even in His day. 18:26 Jesus Christ in John chapter 8 beginning with verse 58 18:31 is sharing with the religious leaders of His time 18:34 the fact that He is God. 18:35 And this is the way He says it, John 8:58: 18:38 "Jesus said unto them: 'Verily, verily I say unto you 18:42 before Abraham was I am. ' " 18:46 Jesus Christ again is claiming to be the self-existent One. 18:50 He's going back now to the Exodus, back to 18:53 Exodus chapter 3 when Moses asked God 18:57 to tell him who he - Moses - should tell the people 19:02 had sent him to deliver them from Pharaoh. 19:04 "Who should I tell them You are? " 19:07 And God responds and says: "I AM that I AM. " 19:11 And Jesus picks this up. 19:13 In John 8:58 Jesus picks this up 19:16 and Jesus basically says: "I am the I AM. " 19:22 "I am before Abraham. " 19:25 "I am that self-existent One. " 19:28 And the Jews understood this. 19:29 They knew exactly what He was saying 19:31 and their response is really interesting. 19:33 In verse 59: "They took up stones to cast at Him 19:38 but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple 19:41 going through the midst of them and so He passed by. " 19:44 So what we see here basically is we see 19:46 that this has been contro- versial from the very beginning. 19:50 Not just from Genesis but even as Christ came, 19:53 even as the Child is born, even as the Son is given, 19:56 even as the Mighty God comes incarnate in human flesh 20:00 and claims to be the self- existent One, the I AM, 20:03 even then religious leaders are seeking to stone Him; 20:07 are seeking to cancel Him; 20:08 are seeking to take His life. 20:11 Satan has always hated the fact 20:13 that God would come in the person of Jesus Christ 20:16 to our rescue. And he's doing everything he can 20:19 to obscure that. We can hang our whole heart, 20:23 our whole hope, upon Jesus Christ incarnate 20:26 in human flesh. 20:28 So this was the Jewish experience. 20:30 You know, when Jesus explains that He is the I AM of the 20:33 Bible, the One who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, 20:36 the One that sent him on a divine errand to rescue His 20:41 people, that He's the Rock. 20:42 Paul says that the Rock that followed them in I Corinthians 20:45 chapter 10 "that Rock was Jesus Christ. " 20:49 In their wilderness wanderings the pillar of cloud by day 20:53 and the pillar of fire by night. 20:54 When Jesus claims this the Jews seek to stone Him 20:58 because they knew that Jesus was calling Himself THE GREAT I AM. 21:03 And that's the thing about Jesus. 21:06 That's the thing about belief in Jesus. 21:08 You know, you can't simply say that Jesus was a great prophet. 21:12 You can't really say that Jesus was ONLY a prophet. 21:16 Because if you say that He was a prophet 21:19 all of God's prophets are faithful to God. 21:21 God's prophets don't lie. 21:23 And if you accept Christ as a prophet - which He was - 21:26 He was more than a prophet - but you accept Christ as 21:27 a prophet then you must accept Him as THE I AM 21:30 because Jesus Himself calls Himself THE I AM. 21:33 The Word... capital W. 21:36 He is the One that was in the beginning with God. 21:39 He was the One that made all things. 21:41 He was the One that is equal with God. 21:44 He is the Everlasting God; He is the Mighty God! 21:47 And so if you accept Christ as a prophet 21:50 you must accept what Christ says of Himself as a prophet 21:52 because He is, if He is a prophet, He is a true prophet 21:55 of God. And if He is a true prophet of God 21:57 He is One that does not lie. 22:00 And if you accept this inspired testimony 22:03 of Christ you will find that the same Rock 22:07 that guided His people, that was with His people, 22:10 that comforted His people, that protected His people, 22:13 that provided for His people in the wilderness wanderings 22:16 is the same Rock that is going to provide for us 22:19 and comfort us and protect us 22:21 in our wanderings in the wilderness of sin. 22:24 We need Jesus Christ to be with us when the heat 22:29 of the guilt comes upon us in that wilderness of sin. 22:32 We need Jesus to be our Rock today. 22:35 And Jesus is still the water of life today. 22:38 He's still the pillar of cloud today. 22:40 He's still the Rock today. 22:41 He is still the One who is with His people today. 22:45 So we don't want to pick up those stones to stone Christ, 22:50 to stone the revelation of His divinity because 22:53 Jesus as God incarnate is EVERYTHING for us. 22:57 He is everything that we need for our salvation. 23:01 In fact, God is asking us to give our life to Jesus. 23:04 God is asking us to trust our lives into His hands. 23:07 Wherever you are, whoever you are 23:10 wandering in that wilderness of sin 23:11 God is calling you through the Rock, Christ Jesus. 23:14 God is calling you through the Mighty God who has come 23:16 as our Deliverer incarnated into human flesh. 23:18 He's calling us to Him and Jesus says 23:21 "Whoever comes to Me I will in no wise cast out. " 23:25 And if you only had one promise, friends, 23:28 if you only had one promise in all of Scripture, 23:30 that promise would be enough 23:31 to take you into the kingdom of God. 23:34 You are to know your heavenly Father through Jesus Christ. 23:39 You are to know in the sin-scorched world 23:42 a Savior who has come to give you the water of life. 23:46 So we want to look now in the context 23:49 of the joy that God has brought to us in Jesus Christ. 23:53 You know the Bible says in Luke chapter 15 23:55 that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents. 23:58 And that's why Jesus Christ came to this world. 24:01 He came to reveal to us the God of heaven 24:03 so that we could find that joy or give God that joy 24:08 of returning to Him, to the Father, to the image in which 24:11 we were created. So in John chapter 1 24:14 Jesus is God. He's the Word; He's the Maker of all things. 24:17 In John chapter 8 Jesus is the GREAT I AM. 24:19 He's the Rock that provides water in that wilderness of sin. 24:23 And now we want to look in John chapter 14 because 24:26 here is where we find something that is so powerful 24:29 and so insightful... at least it was to me 24:31 and I hope it's going to be to you 24:32 about the incarnate humanity of Jesus Christ. 24:37 In John chapter 14 and verse 9 Jesus says 24:41 unto Thomas and Philip 24:46 and His disciples. He says to them: 24:49 "Have I been so long with you 24:51 and thou hast not known Me, Philip? 24:54 He that has seen Me has seen the Father. 24:57 How sayest thou then 'Show us the Father? ' " 25:00 Now this is a verse that I've read many many times. 25:04 You know, Philip and the disciples are struggling with 25:06 Christ... they're struggling to understand who Christ is. 25:10 Christ has just declared to them "I am the way, the truth, 25:12 and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me" 25:14 in verse 6. And Philip says: "Well... 25:17 well show us the Father and that will be good enough 25:19 for us. Just show us who the Father is. " 25:21 And Jesus basically says to them: "If you've seen Me, 25:25 you've seen the Father. Have I been with you for so long 25:29 and you haven't seen the Father? " 25:31 "Haven't you seen the Father in Me? " 25:33 And I really want us to hear this - 25:35 this inspired declaration - because what Jesus is saying 25:38 here is so powerful, it's so important, it's so significant. 25:43 This is huge for us 25:45 because there's so much confusion about 25:49 Christianity and their belief in God 25:52 and the idea that God is one and there's only one God. 25:56 And there's so much confusion about this idea that 25:59 Jesus is God. And we have dif- ferent religious denominations 26:04 and different beliefs about Christ being God. 26:07 And so here we want to see that Jesus is saying 26:10 "You know, when you see the Father you're seeing Me 26:12 and when you see Me you're seeing the Father. " 26:14 We can't miss this. This is so powerful because... 26:16 because monotheism is alive in the world today 26:21 in contrast with polytheism. 26:23 Now monotheism is this idea that we believe 26:25 in one God. Polytheism is the idea that 26:27 we believe in many gods. And there are so many 26:30 religions today that are polytheistic. 26:32 You know, Hindus have many gods. 26:33 They have Shiva and Vishnu and Krishna... 26:35 all these different gods that have different purposes 26:39 and different characters and different hearts 26:41 in the way that they relate to humanity. 26:44 And then you have the Greeks. They had many gods. 26:46 They had Zeus and they had Hades and they had Apollo. 26:48 And all these gods had different personalities 26:51 and different characters and different purposes. 26:54 And then, of course, you had the pagan gods. 26:56 The Roman gods that fulfilled different functions 26:59 corresponding to the various aspects of life. 27:02 There were many gods in the Latium - the reach of Italy 27:05 where Rome was founded. Some which were like Italic 27:09 and Sabine and Etruscan. 27:12 These gods were all different. 27:16 That was the belief of polytheism: that different gods 27:19 are polytheistic, or believing in different gods 27:23 is polytheism. And in contrast to that, we have 27:26 monotheism. Now monotheism believes 27:29 in the one God, and of course the Jews were monotheistic 27:32 in their belief and their understanding. 27:35 And we as Christians claim to be monotheistic. 27:37 In other words, we believe in the one God 27:39 and yet people will say to us: "Well if you believe 27:41 in the one God and you don't believe in many gods 27:44 how can you say that Jesus is God? " 27:46 You know, "Isn't that believing in more than one God? " 27:49 And this is where I think our hearts and our minds 27:52 need to be understanding exactly what Jesus is saying 27:55 in John chapter 14. 27:57 You see, all the religions that have many gods 28:00 or more than one god have gods who are different 28:02 from each other, You know, even some forms of Christianity 28:06 make God the Father different from God the Son. 28:08 You know: God the Father is an angry God 28:10 and the Son is a merciful God. 28:12 And so you see this contrast sometimes 28:15 even within Christianity. 28:16 But in reality, it's Christian- ity's unique contribution 28:22 to religious understanding 28:24 to present one God in these three persons. 28:28 In other words, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 28:30 each one of them, each one of this heavenly trio 28:34 is a perfect reflection of the other. 28:37 In other words, and this is so beautiful to me, 28:41 Christianity unlike every other religion 28:45 believes in and worships one God. 28:49 Whereas these other religions worship many gods 28:51 Christianity worships one God who is revealed 28:55 in purpose, in character, in divine nature 29:00 in the Father, in the Son, and in the Holy Spirit. 29:02 So "If you have seen me, " Christ says: 29:04 "you have seen the Father. " And then Christ goes on to say 29:07 that when the Holy Spirit comes He's going to testify 29:09 of Jesus. Now we read about that in John chapter 16. 29:13 Let's just take a look at these verses. 29:17 Jesus says: "Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth 29:20 is come He will guide you into 29:22 all truth for He shall not 29:23 speak of Himself 29:25 but whatsoever He shall hear 29:27 that shall He speak 29:28 and He will show you things to come. " 29:29 Verse 14: 29:31 "He shall glorify Me 29:33 for He shall receive of Mine 29:35 and shall show unto you 29:37 all things... " verse 15... 29:40 "that the Father hath are Mine. 29:41 Therefore, said I, He shall take 29:44 of Mine and shall show it unto you. " 29:46 So here we see Christ talking about the Holy Spirit. 29:50 And in the context of what we've read in John chapter 14 29:54 and verse 9 we see here a broader expansion 30:00 of this heavenly trio. 30:02 Jesus says: "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. " 30:04 And you can't say that of Zeus. 30:06 You can't say: "Well if you've seen Zeus you've seen Hades. " 30:08 You can't say: "If you've seen Shiva you've seen Krishna. " 30:11 You can't say: "If you've seen Sabine you've seen Italic. " 30:13 You can't say that of these other polytheistic gods. 30:16 You can only say that of the God of the Bible. 30:20 The God of the Bible is One! 30:23 If you've seen Jesus, you've seen the Father. 30:26 When the Holy Spirit comes, He's coming to testify 30:28 of Jesus. When you see the Holy Spirit... 30:31 when the Holy Spirit is filling you, the Holy Spirit 30:33 is filling you full of the characteristics of Jesus. 30:37 The mind of Christ is filled in you through the power 30:40 of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit comes 30:42 to show Christ. And Christ comes to show 30:45 the Father because they are all one. 30:47 They have the same character; They have the same mind; 30:49 They have the same purpose; 30:51 They have the same divine essence; They are all One. 30:54 They are three individual persons but They are one God. 30:58 And this is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from polytheism. 31:01 So you cannot actually say that Christians 31:04 who believe God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit 31:06 are polytheistic... they're not! 31:08 They're monotheistic... clearly they are. 31:10 When you understand this one truth it sets Christianity 31:14 apart from all the other polytheistic religions. 31:18 So there are these many gods in Hinduism 31:21 and Greek mythology and paganism. They're all different. 31:23 They all have different purposes, different characters, 31:25 etc. But there is the one God of the Bible: 31:29 God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 31:31 I hope you got this because this is so significant, 31:35 it's so powerful, and it's been such a blessing to me 31:38 to see this more clearly than I've ever seen it before. 31:42 Now we want to take one more look 31:45 at the subject of Christ as eternal God 31:49 and we're going to do that in the book of Hebrews. 31:51 Because what we want to do here is we want to find 31:55 this subject... we want to find this laid out for us 32:00 in a contextual systematic way. 32:03 And that's what the book of Hebrews is all about. 32:04 The book of Hebrews gives us a contextual, systematic 32:08 revelation treatise if you will on Jesus Christ. 32:12 Jesus Christ IS God... Hebrews chapter 1. 32:15 He is man... Hebrews chapter 2. 32:16 He is Savior, He is Intercessor, 32:20 He is Priest, He is EVERYTHING to us. 32:24 And the book of Hebrews is giving us this treatise: 32:26 this beautiful picture of who Christ is. 32:30 And its contextual and it is systematic. 32:34 And so as we look in the book of Hebrews - 32:36 the New Testament book of Hebrews - 32:37 at this systematic contextual treatise of Christ 32:41 we're going to find that the first part of this treatise 32:44 introduces Christ as the eternal God in a way 32:48 that will I think satisfy even the searching scholar. 32:51 In the book of Hebrews the divinity or the divine nature 32:55 of Jesus is clearly depicted in chapter 1. 32:58 So let's open our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 1 33:01 and let's look here as we begin the outline 33:04 that is given here by the author of Hebrews. 33:07 Hebrews chapter 1 unfolds this aspect of Christ's 33:10 divine nature, of Christ's divinity 33:13 in relationship to the Father 33:15 that is both relational and redemptive. 33:19 And it begins in this majestic King James language. 33:23 I love the language of the King James Bible 33:25 and so we're going to read here in Hebrews chapter 1 33:28 beginning with verse 1. 33:30 It says: "God, who at sundry times 33:33 and in diverse manners... " 33:35 You know, that's King James language. 33:37 Sundry times... that means 33:39 various times. Diverse manners... 33:41 different manners. So God 33:43 at various times in different ways 33:46 "spoke in times past unto the fathers by the prophets. " 33:50 You know, God is a communicator. 33:51 God is seeking to speak to us. 33:53 God is seeking to communicate to us because God wants 33:56 a relationship with us. 33:57 And that's really what it's all about. 33:59 You know, when you have a relationship with someone 34:01 and you're not on speaking terms - that phrase that we use 34:04 sometimes: "We're not on speaking terms" 34:06 that means the relationship is going south. 34:08 That means there's a problem in the relationship. 34:10 And we've had a problem in our relationship with God 34:13 from the beginning of sin... from the very entrance of sin 34:16 into this world. Adam and Eve found themselves 34:19 hiding from God when He came to visit them 34:21 in the garden as He normally did in the cool of the day. 34:24 And He calls out to them, He speaks out to them 34:27 because God's desire for a relationship with us 34:31 hasn't changed because of sin. 34:33 Our relationship with Him has changed. 34:36 We're hiding... we're afraid. 34:37 But God is still seeking us; God is still wanting to 34:39 communicate with us, and that's what Hebrews is telling us 34:42 in chapter 1 and verse 1. 34:44 God has spoken to us. His relationship 34:47 to us hasn't changed. 34:49 He wants to speak; He wants to communicate 34:51 but He's done it through the prophets now. 34:53 He's done it through the prophets and then it says 34:55 in verse 2: "Has in these last days 34:58 spoken unto us by His Son 35:00 whom He has appointed heir of all things 35:02 and by whom also 35:04 He made the worlds. " 35:06 Now this is beautiful! This is powerful because 35:08 we see here Jesus Christ being the Creator, 35:11 again, being established right here in Hebrews 1:1-2. 35:15 But notice what it says in verse 3: 35:17 "Who being the brightness of His 35:20 glory and the express image 35:23 of His person and upholding 35:25 all things by the word of His power 35:28 when He had by Himself purged 35:30 our sins sat down 35:32 on the right hand of the Majesty on high. " 35:37 Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. 35:39 Now this is amazing. It's interesting because 35:42 a lot of scholars don't know who the author of Hebrews is. 35:47 But I think if you do some research and some comparison 35:50 through other epistles in the New Testament 35:52 you're going to find clearly 35:54 that the author of the book of Hebrews is Paul. 35:56 And the reason why a lot of scholars don't think he's 35:59 the author is because he doesn't open this book with 36:02 his usual Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, 36:05 called by the grace of God, etc. 36:07 He gets right to the point. 36:09 And the reason he does that, I think, 36:10 is because he is speaking to the Hebrews, 36:13 to his brethren according to the flesh, 36:16 and he knows perhaps that his time is limited. 36:19 And so in the first three verses he just sets it out there. 36:22 He just gets right to the point. 36:23 He doesn't waste any time at all 36:25 with introductions about grace and about apostleship. 36:29 Paul gets right to the point. He says basically 36:31 God has been talking to us through the prophets 36:33 in times past and now He sent His Son to talk to us 36:35 in these last days. And His Son is the One by whom 36:38 He created the worlds. He is equal with God. 36:40 He's the revelation and the brightness of His glory 36:43 and the very express image of His person. 36:44 And He has purged our sins and sat Himself down 36:47 at the right hand of God. And if the Jews aren't going to 36:50 listen any more to what Paul has to say 36:51 at least he's gotten it all out there. 36:53 In those three verses he's covered everything 36:56 that we need to know about who Christ is, 36:58 about what Christ has accomplished, 37:00 and about where Christ is right now: 37:02 sitting on the right hand of the Father. 37:04 So Jesus Christ is the brightness of God's glory 37:08 Paul is saying right here. 37:10 Jesus Christ is the express image of God's person 37:13 Paul is saying right here. 37:14 Jesus Christ upholds all things by the word of His power 37:18 Paul is saying right here. 37:20 Jesus made the worlds Paul is saying right here. 37:23 Then Hebrews continues. It continues to describe 37:26 this divine relationship of God the Father and the Son. 37:30 Notice what it says as we go down to verse 6 37:33 of Hebrews chapter 1. 37:34 And again Paul says: "When He brings the first begotten 37:39 into the world He sayeth: 'Let all the angels of God 37:42 worship Him. ' " Verse 7: 37:44 "And of the angels He sayeth: 'Who maketh His angels 37:47 spirits and His ministers a flame of fire. ' 37:49 But unto the Son... " verse 8, "He says: 37:52 'Thy throne O God 37:55 is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness 37:59 is the scepter of Thy kingdom. ' " 38:01 Hebrews chapter 1 verses 6 through 8. 38:04 So we see here Paul picking up the same language 38:07 that we read about in Isaiah chapter 9. 38:09 Paul here is identifying this interaction that's taking place 38:15 between God the Father and God the Son. 38:16 And Paul is saying here that unto the Son He, God, says: 38:22 "Thy throne O God is forever. " 38:25 God the Father was calling God the Son God. 38:27 Did you hear that testimony in Hebrews? 38:30 It leaves no room for confusion 38:32 as to Christ's original unborrowed divine nature. 38:36 Hebrews says unto the Son God the Father says: 38:40 "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. " 38:45 So Hebrews now is kind of moving back and forth 38:49 I would say seamlessly between the incarnate Christ: 38:52 a Man who was born into this world for our redemption 38:57 and the pre-existing divinity of Christ. 39:00 The pre-existing Christ who is eternal God. 39:04 The Father relates to the Son as God. 39:08 He calls Him Lord and then the Father says to Jesus 39:11 "I am Your God" in relationship to the fact that 39:14 Jesus Christ has become a man 39:17 and now looks to the Father as we are to look to the Father. 39:20 So the emphasis continues in verse 10 of Hebrews chapter 1 39:25 as it identifies Christ as a Son in a new sense 39:29 regarding that His incarnation as a man 39:33 has established Him in a way that is now new 39:38 to His pre-existent self. 39:40 And it maintains this great emphasis on Christ's unborrowed 39:46 underived divinity while also introducing us 39:50 to Christ as a human being. 39:53 Notice verse 10 of Hebrews 1. 39:55 "And Thou, Lord, 39:57 in the beginning has laid the foundation 39:59 of the earth and the heavens 40:01 are the works of Thine hands. " 40:03 Verse 11: 40:04 "And they shall perish but Thou remainest. 40:06 And they shall all wax old as does a garment. " 40:09 Verse 12: 40:10 "And as a vesture Thou shalt fold them up 40:13 and they shall be changed 40:14 but Thou art the same 40:16 and Thy years shall not fail. " 40:19 These last verses are amazing. 40:21 These last verses offer us the capstone 40:25 to Christ's unborrowed, underived, divinity. 40:29 The Bible says of Christ: "Thou, Lord, in the beginning 40:33 hast laid the foundation of the earth. " 40:35 "Thou remainest. " "Thou shalt fold them up. " 40:39 "Thou art the same. " "Thy years shall not fail. " 40:43 So with this contextual systematic teaching 40:47 on Christ's divinity the book of Hebrews 40:50 summarizes basically the entire topic 40:53 we're talking about here. 40:54 From Genesis to Isaiah 40:57 to John to Revelation, 40:59 Philippians, back here 41:02 in the context of the book of Hebrews we have a full 41:05 revelation of who Christ really is. 41:08 The Bible teaches in both the Old Testament 41:11 and the New Testament that Jesus Christ is equally God. 41:15 The Bible teaches that He holds the title Everlasting Father. 41:21 And this testimony accords with the Biblical interpretive 41:25 principle that we find in: 41:29 "In the mouth of two or three witnesses 41:32 let every word be established. " 41:34 So the gospel of John 41:36 spends quite a bit of time in summary now 41:39 emphasizing Christ's divinity. 41:41 "In the beginning was the Word 41:43 and the Word was God and the Word was with God. " 41:47 In fact, it so clearly identifies Christ 41:51 as God that an entire denomination 41:54 have printed their own version of the Bible 41:56 in order to change the Greek word used throughout the 41:59 New Testament for God to a god, small g, instead of capital G. 42:04 So we've learned also that polytheism 42:08 is the belief in many gods who are all different. 42:11 They are different from each other in character, 42:14 in purpose, in heart, in mind. 42:18 Whereas monotheism is the belief 42:20 in the one God, and unlike polytheism 42:23 Christianity teaches that there is one God: 42:26 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit who are identical in nature, 42:31 in character, in purpose, in heart. 42:34 They are, according to hundreds of Bible verses 42:38 in the Old Testament, They are Elohim. 42:41 They are GOD: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 42:45 They are Elohim... that's a plural for God. 42:47 And yet if you've seen Jesus you've seen the Father. 42:50 And the Holy Spirit testifies of Jesus. 42:53 If you've seen one, you've seen them all 42:55 because They are one in purpose, one in heart, 42:57 one in character, one in nature. 43:00 So from the Old Testament to the New Testament 43:02 we find this oneness... this one-God truth... 43:07 that is taught in the three persons: 43:09 God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit 43:12 who testify of each other, who reveal each other, 43:15 who are not different from each other 43:16 like Zeus is different from Hades 43:18 or Krishna is different from Shiva 43:20 or Sabine is different from Italic. 43:23 They are One; They are the same 43:26 and yet They are three divine persons... 43:28 the heavenly trio if you will. 43:30 So finally we looked at this systematic 43:34 contextual theological treatise 43:37 on Christ in the book of Hebrews. 43:39 What a beautiful revelation that we have there. 43:41 And we find Paul here moving seamlessly between 43:44 the incarnate Christ and the pre-existent Christ 43:47 emphasizing that Jesus Christ is the brightness of God's glory. 43:52 Jesus Christ is the express image of His person. 43:56 He upholds all things by the word of His power. 43:58 Jesus is the One to whom the Father says 44:01 "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. " 44:04 And finally Hebrews 1 says of Christ 44:06 "Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation 44:09 of the earth. You remain. 44:12 You shall fold them up. 44:13 You are the same; Your years shall not fail. " 44:17 So truly, according to the Bible 44:20 Christ is equal with God. 44:22 Christ is fully divine. Christ is eternal 44:25 everlasting Father and therefore our sole Savior from sin. 44:31 For only One who is equal with God 44:33 only one who is equal with the character of God 44:37 can actually save us from sin. You see, 44:38 the Bible tells us in I John 3:4 that 44:41 "sin is the transgression of God's law. " 44:45 In Romans chapter 3 we are told 44:47 that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. " 44:51 Now that word glory is synonymous with God's law. 44:55 Because the word glory represents God's character 44:58 and truly God's character is love 45:00 and His law is love. 45:02 In fact, Jesus says in Matthew chapter 22 45:05 verses 36 through 40 45:08 that the law is summarized in two things: 45:11 One: loving God with all our heart, mind, and soul 45:14 and Two: loving our neighbor as ourselves. 45:18 In all of this we have the law and the prophets. 45:21 So God is love... His law is love. 45:24 God's law is a transcript of His character. 45:27 It is a revelation of His glory. 45:30 We sin by transgressing God's law. 45:33 We sin by falling short of God's glory, of who God is. 45:38 An angel cannot make reconciliation for that sin. 45:41 For the transgression of God's law only God Himself 45:45 can make reconciliation. 45:47 Only God Himself can make propitiation. 45:49 So we must look to a Savior who is not an angel. 45:54 We must look for a Savior who is no less than God Himself. 45:57 And that Savior IS Jesus Christ. 46:00 Because, you see, God can't just toss His law. 46:02 God can't just do away with His law. 46:05 God doesn't nail His moral law to the cross. 46:09 God upholds His law in Jesus Christ. 46:12 That's why Jesus Christ came: to be a fuller revelation 46:16 of God and therefore of God's law. 46:18 Jesus Christ was sinless. 46:20 Jesus Christ was holy; Jesus Christ was perfect. 46:23 Jesus Christ was BLAMELESS! He was a perfect representation 46:26 of the law of God, and yet the Bible says 46:29 in II Corinthians 5:21 46:31 "He who knew no sin... " That's Jesus Christ, 46:33 the blameless, holy, perfect Jesus Christ who knew no sin... 46:37 "He became sin for us. " 46:40 Now when we look at this it's powerful, it's beautiful 46:42 because the Bible is teaching us that our salvation 46:44 is found in this eternal Savior, in this mighty God 46:48 that is identified as Jesus Christ, the incarnate 46:53 God in human flesh, the Word made flesh 46:55 who is God and dwelt among us. 46:57 Our salvation is found in Him because 47:00 He comes as the One who is a perfect representation 47:03 of the glory of God and yet He comes as a man. 47:05 And as a man He reveals 47:08 the principles of God's law perfectly, blamelessly, holy. 47:12 AND THEN He becomes sin for us. In other words, 47:15 He actually takes on everything that we deserve: 47:19 sin and its consequences. 47:22 He lives a perfect life and then He dies 47:24 in our place as our substitute... 47:26 taking upon Himself our penalty for sin. 47:29 And as He does this He allows us 47:33 to receive from Him His righteousness. 47:36 Paul is saying here that there's a great transaction 47:38 taking place. He's saying that Jesus Christ 47:40 became sin for us. 47:42 Jesus never sinned. He didn't deserve to become 47:44 sin for us. There was nothing that earned Him that position. 47:48 He simply BECAME sin for us; volunteered to take 47:52 our place and to receive our punishment as a sinner 47:56 and in so doing He gives us His righteousness. 47:59 Paul says it this way: "He became sin for us 48:02 who knew no sin that we might become 48:04 the righteousness of God in Him. " 48:06 Now this is a powerful exchange because what God is basically 48:09 saying here is that we, who have done no righteousness, 48:14 who deserve no righteousness, who are not holy, 48:17 who are not blameless... In fact, Paul says in Romans 48:20 chapter 3 verse 9: "There is none that seeks after God... 48:23 no not one. " There's none good; none of us are good. 48:25 We who have done no good who ARE no good... 48:28 we get His righteousness. 48:29 Jesus, who did no sin, who is blameless and holy, 48:32 He takes our sin and we take His righteousness. 48:37 This is the great exchange of the gospel. 48:39 And an angel couldn't have accomplished that reconciliation 48:43 for us, the reconciliation that's outlined for us in 48:46 II Corinthians chapter 5. 48:47 An angel couldn't have done that. 48:49 Any being lower than God Himself could not have done that 48:52 because someone had to come who was equal with the law of God 48:56 in order to make propitiation. In order to satisfy 48:59 the just claims of that law 49:02 and uphold it while manifesting or giving to us 49:06 the righteousness, the mercy, and the grace that we need 49:09 to be saved from the guilt, from the consequences, 49:12 from the ultimate end of the transgression of that law 49:17 which is death. 49:20 Transgression of the law leads us to death. 49:22 Sin is transgression of the law. 49:24 The wage of sin is? Death. Romans chapter 3 and verse 23. 49:27 So Jesus Christ has come 49:30 to manifest to us this great salvation 49:33 that we find in the plan of salvation: 49:37 the eternal plan of salvation that God has laid aside 49:40 from the very beginning of the world. 49:42 And it's in this context that we want to thank and praise God 49:45 for the salvation that's been offered us in Jesus Christ. 49:47 It is in this context that Satan is doing everything he can 49:51 to undermine - subtly undermine - Christ's divinity, 49:55 Christ's divine nature. 49:56 He wants to destroy the divinity of Christ 50:00 because in destroying the divinity of Christ 50:02 he undermines the plan of salvation. 50:04 He destroys everything that we've just established 50:07 and we've talked about. Every- thing that has been established 50:08 in the Word of God. He destroys the plan of salvation 50:11 by taking Christ and making Him something less 50:15 than what He was: the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, 50:18 the Prince of Peace. 50:19 The One who has come to reveal the Father to us. 50:22 The One who is one with the Father 50:24 and the One who has promised us the gift of His Holy Spirit 50:28 to also reveal to us this beautiful revelation 50:31 of God's character and, of course, to transform us back 50:34 into the image in which we were created: the image of God. 50:38 And so we find ourselves now in concluding this powerful 50:43 presentation, this powerful revelation of who God is. 50:46 It's not a powerful presen- tation; it's the Word of God! 50:48 This is so clearly God's truth from the Old Testament to the 50:53 New Testament. It's not about me; it's not 50:55 about the words that I am speaking. 50:56 It's about the words that God is speaking. 50:58 It's about the truth of God's Word - of the Old and the New 51:01 Testament, the truth about Jesus. 51:03 This truth reveals to us a God who being in form 51:09 with God, being equal with God 51:11 did not think it robbery... something to be held on to... 51:14 but came down to our level via Philippians chapter 2. 51:18 Let's just close out there in Philippians chapter 2 51:21 and we'll begin with verse 5. 51:23 We've looked at verse 5 and 6 of Philippians chapter 2 51:26 but we're going to look now at the rest of this declaration 51:29 that Paul makes in Philippians chapter 2. 51:33 Starting with verse 5 we're going to read all the way down 51:35 in Philippians chapter 2 to verse 11. 51:38 Because this is a summary if you will 51:41 of the history of the plan of salvation. 51:44 And these verses include all of us in a sense. 51:47 Philippians chapter 2 beginning with verse 5: 51:50 "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. " 51:53 What kind of mind did Christ Jesus have? 51:55 "Who being in the form of God 51:57 thought it not robbery to be 51:58 equal with God, but made Himself 52:00 of no reputation. " 52:01 He emptied Himself. 52:03 "and took upon Him the form of a servant 52:05 and was made in the likeness 52:06 of men. 52:08 And being found and fashioned 52:10 as a man He humbled Himself 52:11 and became obedient unto death 52:13 even the death of the cross. " 52:16 Here we have if you will a summary 52:19 of this wonderful truth of who Christ is 52:21 and who Christ became. 52:23 We are confused many times as we look at the manifestation 52:26 of Christ in humanity and we think: "Well, 52:28 He was a man. Created, formed, born as a man 52:33 from Mary... He can't be God because He was a man. 52:36 How can He be God? " 52:38 Well, we have to go to the divine revelation. 52:41 We can't trust in our own feelings, our own thoughts, 52:44 our own wisdom. We have to trust in the wisdom 52:47 of God and the wisdom of the Bible. 52:49 And the Bible tells us that Christ indeed was equal 52:52 with the Father, and He didn't count it something to be 52:54 grasped on to, to be held on to, but He 52:55 emptied Himself of that divinity and He became a man. 52:59 He was the God-Man and He wants us to have that same mindset. 53:02 You know, we were made in the image of God. 53:04 We were created to be like God but we've fallen. 53:07 And yet Satan promised us in the Garden of Eden that 53:10 we would be gods. 53:11 And many of us are seeking to be gods in our own right... 53:14 relying on our own wisdom, 53:16 relying on our own strength, 53:19 relying on our own understanding 53:21 and not relying on the wisdom and the strength and the 53:24 understanding that God gives us in Jesus Christ. 53:26 And God is calling us to be like Christ. 53:28 To have the mind of Christ... to humble ourselves. 53:31 Notice what it says here: to humble ourselves 53:33 and to be like the One who became obedient even unto death. 53:37 Who came in the likeness of man; who was found and fashioned 53:39 as a man, who humbled Himself to be a servant of man. 53:43 And then it says: "He humbled Himself even to the death 53:47 of the cross. " Jesus Christ went all the way 53:51 down to the place where He needed to be in order to 53:54 rescue us from sin and from sin's consequences. 53:58 And then it says in verse 9: 53:59 "Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him 54:03 and given Him a name which is above every name 54:05 that at the name of Jesus 54:08 every knee should bow 54:10 of things in heaven and things in earth 54:12 and things under the earth. 54:13 And that every tongue should 54:15 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord 54:17 to the glory of God the Father. " 54:20 It is the glory of God 54:23 to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; 54:25 that Jesus Christ is One equal with the Father. 54:27 It is the glory of God because Jesus Christ 54:30 came to reveal the Father. Jesus Christ is one with 54:33 the Father. He is the one God with the Father 54:36 and the Holy Spirit. This is not polytheism... 54:38 This is monotheism. This is recognizing that when 54:41 you've seen Jesus you've seen the Father. 54:43 And when the Holy Spirit comes He comes to show us Jesus. 54:45 They are all one in heart. They are one in 54:48 mind, They are one in character, They are one in purpose, 54:50 They are the one God. And it would glorify God 54:53 for us to recognize that 54:55 and to recognize why Christ had to come. 54:57 Why the Father had to send His Son. 54:59 Why God had to be incarnate because one equal with the law 55:03 had to die as a consequence of our transgression of that law. 55:07 One equal with the glory of God had to die 55:10 as a consequence of us falling short of the glory of God. 55:13 And that's exactly what Jesus Christ has done. 55:15 And one day every knee is going to bow 55:18 and every tongue is going to confess 55:20 that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 55:22 Every knee! Every tongue! 55:24 Even Satan Himself will eventually bow 55:27 and confess this truth. But friends, 55:29 I'm appealing to you right now 55:30 let's confess this truth while probation lingers. 55:35 Let's confess this truth now while Jesus Christ 55:37 is in the heavenly sanctuary ministering for us 55:40 proffering His righteousness, His merit 55:43 in the place of our sins. 55:45 Taking from us the consequences of those sins: 55:48 death, eternal death, the second death 55:50 and giving to us the gift of eternal life. 55:53 Friends: I'm asking, I'm pleading with you 55:55 to accept the gift that God has given us in His only begotten 55:59 Son Jesus Christ, One who is equal with the Father. 56:01 Accept the message of the Bible, 56:03 the Old and the New Testament. 56:04 Don't rely upon your wisdom. Don't rely upon the wisdom 56:07 of others but rely on the truth of God's Word. 56:10 This is my final appeal... the final appeal 56:13 of this first presentation of this Summer 3ABN 56:16 Camp Meeting that is all about Jesus 56:19 and who Jesus is. 56:20 And the appeal that I am making to you is: 56:23 bow now and confess now 56:25 that Jesus Christ is Lord. 56:28 Father in heaven, we are asking that You would 56:30 please speak to each and every person out there, 56:32 each and every listener right now wherever they are. 56:34 In whatever country they are and wherever their hearts are at 56:37 we're asking that You would please, Father, 56:39 please draw their knees in submission to You. 56:44 Draw their hearts in submission to You, 56:45 in submission to this truth that is revealed 56:48 throughout Scripture - Old and New Testament - 56:50 of who Jesus is: eternal God. Do this for them, 56:54 do this for us we pray 56:56 and thank you. In Jesus' name, Amen. 57:02 His body was broken so that we could live 57:07 giving us the gift of eternal life. 57:11 He pursues us relentlessly with an everlasting love. 57:16 Regardless of our failures and mistakes 57:19 the One who loves us like no other. 57:24 THIS is who Jesus IS. |
Revised 2021-10-12