Who do men say that I am? - His Deity

[0:00] So, but before even the announcements, I had planned to ask for a couple of volunteers to read scriptures, kind of the main scriptures for the message today, but I forgot to do that.

[0:17] So, who wants to volunteer right now? Anybody? We've got two verses. All right, we've got one, Sherry, and we'll pass this one around. David? All right.

[0:33] So, Sherry, Matthew 8, 23 through 27. Matthew 8, 23 through 27. David, look up Mark 8, 27 through 29. Mark 8, 27 through 29.

[0:48] And I'll just pass this one when we're ready. Okay, just to reiterate, well, one thing, so we're not having children's church, but the nursery is available.

[1:03] However, we found it was a little bit chilly in there this morning. So, there's some kind of an issue going on with the heat. I did put a space heater back there. I'm not sure how well that will do. It's kind of a bigger room.

[1:17] So, we'll see, but you might have to like jog in circles or something. I don't know. But maybe figure some things out if that space heater isn't doing too well.

[1:31] As was mentioned, so we have giving envelopes. So, if you use those envelopes throughout the year in your giving, then you'll get a statement at the end of the year for tax purposes.

[1:44] And those statements are available on the book table in envelopes. So, if it should have your name on it, just go grab that. And you can use that. By the way, I didn't know that we had these envelopes until like this last summer.

[1:58] Maybe we'll share more about how that whole thing works. But especially for this new year, if you want to get one of those tax statements at the end of the year, there are giving envelopes back there.

[2:10] They have numbers on them. And I think there's 52 envelopes. Is that right in there? One for every week. But they have a unique number on there. And there's a sign-up sheet.

[2:21] And you just write down that number. Or maybe the number is already written down. And you put your name and address on there so that we can connect. That's your number for the year. And so, whether you put cash in there or checks or whatever, that will get assigned to you.

[2:34] And at the end of the year, you'll get a nice tax statement and all that. So, and then we already mentioned the photos.

[2:46] There's some really cute ones back there. So, you have to check them out. We'll leave them up for a few weeks and then parents can take them home. Thank you so much, Scott, for doing that. That's really neat. And that's it.

[3:00] Oh, just one thing. I was talking to Tanya this morning. And she was just saying how well she's doing. And, you know, she knows where her mom is. And we all do. And her dad's doing well, too.

[3:12] And they appreciate all the cards and notes everybody sent along the way. So grateful for that. You know, it made me think this morning. You know, Jesus got a little bit into this controversy.

[3:25] Some people asked him, well, because you had the Sadducees and the Pharisees. And what was their big debate? Is there a resurrection? Will we live again? Or is this it? And the Sadducees, that's how you know what a Sadducee is, where they were at.

[3:38] Because they didn't believe in the resurrection, so they were sad, you see. That was their viewpoint. And you can imagine that's a sad thing.

[3:50] This is it? Paul says, if this is it, we're to be pitied among all men. Like, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, if we're not going to rise from the dead, then what are we doing anyway? But Jesus had this interesting argument when they brought this question to him.

[4:06] He says, well, what did God say who he was the God of? He said, he is the God of who? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

[4:18] And he says, well, what does that mean? He said, is God the God of the living or is he the God of the dead? He's the God of the living, right? He's not the God of the dead.

[4:31] So God is the God of Abraham, who is alive today. The God of Isaac, who is alive today. He is the God of Jacob, who is alive today. And he is the God of Carolyn, who is alive today.

[4:46] She's not with us. And we do miss her. But she is alive with the Lord forever, as we all will be with the Lord forever one day. So we are grateful for that.

[5:00] I think, Marla, was there one more thing? Oh, thank you. Yeah, we got word this last week. Bill, right?

[5:11] Bill and Alice McDowell have or were members of this church for a long time. I think from the beginning or at least the 70s, from what I recall. I don't think I've gotten a chance to meet them.

[5:23] I think they had moved. I think they're in Maryland. They moved to Maryland to be closer to family. But Alice just passed away just this last week. Oh, she got COVID.

[5:35] I think she was already struggling with Parkinson's. And I think Pastor Mara even said MS. Maybe I'm wrong.

[5:47] But having lots of health issues. But I guess she got COVID and then succumbed. She passed away. And so prayers for Bill and the whole family.

[6:02] I guess they're out in Maryland. And I guess there's going to be some kind of memorial service out here where their family is. But I don't think it's going to be until April. So anyway, just wanted to let the church family know about that.

[6:17] Did I cover everything? Okay. Yeah. Thanks, everybody, for that. Well, I'm going to turn this on. And we'll start here. Caleb, you want to run this to Sherry and then to David?

[6:34] And let's go ahead and start the message with these scripture readings. Matthew 8, verse 23.

[6:49] And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm in the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But he himself was asleep.

[7:01] And they came to him and awoke him, saying, Save us, Lord, we are perishing. And he said to them, Why are you timid, you men of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.

[7:16] And the men marveled, saying, What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him? All right. And then Mark 8, 27 through 29.

[7:30] Jesus went out along with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.

[7:46] And on the way, he questioned his disciples, saying, Who do people say that I am? They told him, saying, John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others one of the prophets.

[8:01] And he continued by questioning them, But who do you say I am? Peter answered and said to him, You are the Christ. All right. You'll give that to me.

[8:16] All right. Thanks. So, two things here. One, in the boat, this man, Jesus, calms the storm.

[8:31] And I like what the King James says. I don't know why, but at the end of that whole thing, they ask the question, What manner of man is this?

[8:44] Our Sherry read, What kind of man is this? Who is this man? That even the winds and the waves obey him? And then in Mark, as David read, the question that Jesus had for his disciples is, Who do men say that I am?

[9:05] Who am I? And that's a question that I want to answer from the scriptures over the next few weeks. Who do men say that I am?

[9:18] Who is he? Today, we're going to look at the question, Is Jesus God?

[9:28] But to kind of give a little bit more of an overview, Jesus Christ is, I think we can say, the most famous man in the history of the world.

[9:42] Would that be? That's probably pretty reasonable to say, right? The most well-known, the most famous man in the history of the world. The largest religion in the world bears his name, Christianity.

[10:01] There's a book about his life and his teachings, and it's the number one best-selling book in the history of the world. And is there a close second?

[10:14] There isn't a close second. The Bible is the number one best-selling book in the history of the world. Our calendar that we use is based on the date of his birth.

[10:32] It's the year 2023. What is the significance of that? It goes back to the year of his birth. Now, they kind of messed up the numbers a little bit, so it's not quite that.

[10:44] But that was what the intention was. Right? I think there's a three-year difference. But this is the year of our Lord, 2023. And across the globe, the whole world, we have all kinds of commerce going, people trading in the stock market and running their businesses and doing all these things, trading in oil and energy.

[11:10] And there's all kinds of sometimes controversial things going on. But every week on Sunday, almost all of that just shuts down for the day.

[11:22] And why? Why on a Sunday do we shut everything down? Almost across the globe. It's because that's the day that Jesus rose from the dead. This man, Jesus, has had more impact on the world than any other person.

[11:41] And it seems to me that basically everybody in the world has a positive view of Jesus. Now, not everyone. There are exceptions.

[11:51] Some people don't like the guy. But in general, everybody likes Jesus. Most religions have a positive view of Jesus. You talk to a Muslim, do they hate Jesus?

[12:03] No. They believe Jesus was a good prophet, a prophet of the Lord. Right? They'll even, at times, read the scriptures about his life. I've even found that a lot of non-religious people, secular people, kind of like Jesus.

[12:20] You know, they like some of the things that he taught. Now, I think sometimes people, they don't actually read the Bible. They just have heard a few things. I think if they actually read the Bible, they might be shocked at some of the things that they read about Jesus, and maybe they would change their mind.

[12:34] I've even found, what's the, in one of the most divisive things in our world, especially in this nation, politics. You have Republicans and Democrats.

[12:49] And does one group, like Jesus, and the other group hate Jesus? No. They all want Jesus to be on their side, right? They all quote scripture.

[13:00] You'll find politicians, both on the right and left, Democrat, Republican, and everywhere in between, love to quote Jesus. And so, but the question remains, who is this man?

[13:15] Who is Jesus? Jesus Christ is the center of the Christian faith. He's not on the periphery. You know, it's been said that if you took Buddha out of Buddhism, you would still have a legitimate religion.

[13:32] You have all these teachings about kind of how to live your life and how things work and all that. But if you take Jesus out of Christianity, what are you left with? Not much at all.

[13:44] Not much at all. Christianity is about Jesus, the person of Jesus. Everything rises and falls on him and who he was and who he is.

[13:56] So the question for today, Christianity teaches that Jesus is not just the son of God. He's not just the son of man.

[14:08] But he is God the son. God made flesh. Christianity does not teach that he is a God of many. There are others who teach that.

[14:21] Christianity does not teach that he is kind of like God. Because he's really powerful and, you know, he's like the top of all the creation.

[14:32] Some people teach that. Christianity teaches that he is God. Historically, you look back in history and you see very, very early on, there was some controversy about this.

[14:47] Was Jesus God or was he just kind of like an angel? Was he a special creation of God that he used, that, you know, the real God, the Father, used in a special way?

[15:00] And there was this controversy called Arianism. And Arianism, it was called that because there was a guy named Arius. And he taught, well, Jesus was actually created.

[15:13] And he would point to certain scriptures that seem, well, it says that he was begotten. He was born, says about Jesus, of the Father. So that must mean that he wasn't eternal, just like the Father is.

[15:24] He was created. He came into existence later. And there was this whole big council where they brought in hundreds of bishops all across the area.

[15:38] And they had a council in a place called Nicaea where they were going to decide, what do we do with this? And it was a fairly unanimous decision that they came to where I think there was less than half a dozen who were kind of, were on the side of Arius.

[16:00] And everyone else said, no, what the scriptures teach is that Jesus is the very God himself. And they came up with a creed called the Nicene Creed that got adjusted a little bit a few dozen years later.

[16:16] But in 325, 325 AD, the Nicene Creed came out. And the primary message of that was that Jesus Christ is God himself.

[16:28] Today, we have different groups. We'll call them cults. I think that's appropriate. That teach that Jesus is not God. The Jehovah's Witnesses. Does anybody ever have Jehovah's Witnesses come to their door?

[16:39] A few. They teach that God created a special angel called Michael. That's in the Bible, isn't it? Michael the archangel.

[16:50] And through him, created everything else. And Jesus was the incarnation of this archangel. And he took on the sins of the world through his death. So he was a great angel, the greatest angel, and a special angel.

[17:05] And he died for the sins of the world. I mean, that's a neat thing for a creature to do. To die for everybody else, right? They even have their own translation of the Bible.

[17:18] Called the New World Translation. Which makes some adjustments to, especially to areas where it seems to indicate in the Scriptures that Jesus is God.

[17:30] For example, in John 1.1, it says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[17:41] Except if you read in the New World Translation, it says, And the Word was a God. It's a little bit different. The Mormons, they teach that both Jesus and Satan were created as God's sons, and they're brothers.

[17:56] They consider Jesus a God, as they believe that humans, even us, can attain to the same title. But at the same time, they don't consider Jesus to be equal with the Father.

[18:11] He's just one of the sons of God, who is a God, just like Satan was a God, and just like we can become gods one day. Back during our founding, there was a lot of controversy around, is Jesus God?

[18:28] And I have a few quotes from some of our revered founding fathers. John Adams wrote this to his son, John Quincy Adams. He said, An incarnate God, an eternal self-existent, omnipotent, and omnipresent, omniscient author of this stupendous universe, suffering on a cross, my soul starts with horror at this idea, and it has stupefied the Christian world.

[18:56] It has been the source of almost all of the corruption of Christianity. John Adams did not like this idea that God would become a man, that Jesus, a man, was God?

[19:09] Absurd. Thomas Jefferson said this, Of this brand of dupes and imposters, Paul was the great Coripheus, some charlatan of the past, and the first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus.

[19:27] That Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God, physically speaking, I have been convinced by the writings of men more learned than myself in this lore. Thomas Jefferson thought that it was absurd that Jesus Christ was God?

[19:43] Come on now. God can't become a man. A man can't be God. How could that possibly be? Today there's a scholar, an academic scholar named Bart Ehrman, who is a skeptic.

[19:57] He wouldn't consider himself a Christian, but he is a Bible scholar. And he has spent a lot of time and energy and written books trying to make the case that Christians have made a lot more of Jesus than even Jesus really taught.

[20:15] He thinks the whole book of John, the gospel of John, must be just completely made up because it seems to indicate in there some very specific things about Jesus being God.

[20:26] And well, that can't be true. And those kinds of things aren't in the other gospels. He said this, during his lifetime, Jesus himself didn't call himself God and didn't consider himself God.

[20:37] And none of his disciples had any inkling at all that he was God. And if you come across somebody like Bart Ehrman today or Jehovah's Witness, and you spend some time with them, they will actually point to certain scriptures that they can kind of make some interesting points that Jesus actually never said the words, I am God.

[21:09] Did you know that? Never in the Bible, the whole Bible, will you read Jesus saying, I am Jehovah. I am God. And they'll point that out.

[21:20] Well, where can you find that? It's not anywhere there. So Bart Ehrman has this idea that, well, Christians, they wanted, like the Romans, they kind of deified their rulers, you know.

[21:34] They would do that. They would deify their rulers. So Christians, even though it wasn't part of the actual scriptures or what actually happened, Christians decided, well, Jesus, let's make him like a God.

[21:48] And so people made changes to the scriptures here and there to adjust some things to try to prove this point. And sometimes when you talk to them, they'll actually point out certain discrepancies in the Bible and you'll find out, well, actually, they're right.

[22:08] We'll look at a couple. They actually make a good point. And I've known people who've had these discussions with specifically Jehovah's Witnesses and come away, what do I do with this?

[22:21] They made some really good points. Is this whole Trinity thing and this thing with God or Jesus Christ being God just something that Christians came up with later to make our religion maybe more robust, more powerful?

[22:38] Does it matter if Jesus is God? Some people say, ah, it doesn't matter.

[22:50] Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. Is that really a big deal? Well, let's go look at the Hebrew scriptures. In Exodus 20, verse 2 through 5, this is the part of the Ten Commandments.

[23:06] Exodus 20, verse 2 through 5 says this, I am the Lord your God. Lord, here is the word Jehovah, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

[23:22] You shall have no other gods before me. So how many gods should you have before him? Just one, right? No, zero. No other gods before me.

[23:34] You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.

[23:48] For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.

[24:01] So he said, whether your God that you worship beside me is in the heavens or in the earth or in the sea, don't worship that God.

[24:13] I'm jealous. I don't share my deity with somebody else. Worship me and worship me alone. Exodus 34, 14 says this, For you shall worship no other god for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God.

[24:34] In Deuteronomy 6, 13, this is an interesting passage because it's one that's quoted later in the New Testament when Jesus was tempted. This is in Luke 4, verse 8.

[24:48] Satan came and tempted Jesus and said, Look at all these kingdoms of the world. And if you'll bow down and what? Worship me, then all of this will be yours.

[25:01] And Jesus, in resisting the temptation, what did he do? He quoted scripture. He quoted this from Deuteronomy 6, 13. And I'm actually going to read from the Septuagint because this is actually what Jesus was quoting from the Septuagint.

[25:15] And I think there's an important little difference. This is an English version of the Septuagint because the Septuagint was actually in Greek. But here's what it says in the Septuagint. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.

[25:28] Thou shalt cleave to him and by his name thou shalt swear. That's what Jesus quoted to Satan when he told him to worship me. Luke 4, 8.

[25:39] And Jesus answered and said to him, Get behind me, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and him only you shall serve. Are we to serve the Lord Jehovah and then for the most part, right?

[25:56] Serve him for the most part and then maybe for some other gods we'll just give them a little bit of credence here and there. No. God is a jealous God. He does not share his praise, his worship with any other.

[26:10] Isaiah 42, 8 says this, I am the Lord and that is my name and my glory I will not give to another nor my praise to card images. Does God share his glory with other people?

[26:25] Again, he's a jealous God. You know, it's good to share, isn't it? We teach our kids to share but there are certain things that it's not appropriate to share.

[26:36] God does not share his glory with others. Deuteronomy 6, 4 and 5 says this in Hebrew this is called the Shema.

[26:47] Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one. One God. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength.

[27:01] And then there's this warning in Deuteronomy chapter 13 that we'll read. This warning Deuteronomy chapter 13 starting with verse 1. If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them.

[27:30] You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul. You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice.

[27:45] You shall serve him and hold fast to him. That prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God gave you to walk.

[28:06] So you shall put away evil from your midst. So does God have just a little bit of tolerance for worship of other gods?

[28:20] Not the slightest little bit. He is intolerant of that. So, after reading all this, if Jesus is not God, then we as Christians are guilty of the worst kind of idolatry.

[28:42] Is that true? Absolutely. And Jesus himself, who made certain claims, is the worst. He's the prophet that's being, we're being warned about here.

[28:56] if he's not, if he's not God himself. Jesus is the worst kind of false prophet.

[29:06] You know, when we do apologetics, we give a defense for our faith. One of the apologetics around who Jesus is, is, well, there's only really three options for identifying who, the kind of person Jesus is.

[29:22] he's either a lunatic, he's just crazy, and he's saying crazy things about who he is, or he's a liar, right?

[29:34] And he's just making things up. He's like this prophet being spoken of here. He's leading people astray. Or the other L is he actually is Lord Jehovah, God himself.

[29:47] It's really only three options, right? And so you can pick one of those three, but you can't pick any other. And so, people have made the case, well, he is Lord because none of the other options will actually fit.

[30:02] So let's look at some of the things that the Bible says. And there's some direct teachings that actually indicate very, very clearly in a very direct way that Jesus is God himself.

[30:17] First, we go to John chapter 1. And I'm going to turn there. John chapter 1. It says this, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

[30:38] Not was a God, but the Word was God. And it says, all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. And in him was life, and the life was the light of men.

[30:51] And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Who's this talking about? Jesus. This is the gospel of Jesus according to John.

[31:04] John is telling this gospel, this gospel is about the life of Jesus. If we skip down to verse 14, it says this, And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

[31:22] He was with the Father from the beginning, and he was God, it says. In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 8 and 10, it says this, But to the Son, this is talking about Jesus, but to the Son, he says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

[31:46] This is the writer of Hebrews quoting the Old Testament scriptures, and saying, This is about Jesus. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

[31:58] A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your companions.

[32:14] And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hand. If we go look at another book written by John, his epistle, 1 John, chapter 5, verse 7, says this, For there are three that bear witness in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.

[32:37] Now, that's powerful, right? Except that this is probably one of the most disputed passages in all of the New Testament. There's actually some really good arguments that people make saying, Well, this was actually probably added later.

[32:56] And for some people, that's a jarring thing. Why would somebody do that? In fact, I think if you read some translations of the Bible, you actually won't even find the scripture in there because it's so controversial.

[33:10] Another controversial passage is in 1 Timothy, chapter 3, verse 16. It says this, And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.

[33:31] It says right there, God was manifested in the flesh. Who's that talking about? Jesus. Except there are whole books written about, well, that Greek word isn't actually God, it's actually a different word.

[33:46] It's not the word theos, but it's actually a word, some people just added a couple of characters to the word he. And people make somewhat compelling case for this.

[34:00] So if these are our strongest verses, then what do we do? Well, I want to, in the 20 minutes that we have, just take a survey, a quick survey of dozens of scriptures, and just look at them and see if, is it just these handful of verses that we can look at that actually seem to, in a very direct way, indicate that Jesus is God, or is there more to it?

[34:35] In Psalm 100, verse 3, it says this, of Jehovah, know that the Lord, he is God, and the Lord is Jehovah. Jehovah. Whenever you see Lord in all caps in the Old Testament, it's using the word Jehovah, the proper title or proper name for God.

[34:56] Know that the Lord Jehovah, he is God. It is he who has made us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Right?

[35:07] We are God's people. He made us. We didn't make ourselves. He made us. And we are like sheep. And he is what? A shepherd in his pasture. Psalm 95, verse 6 and 7 says this, Oh, come let us worship and bow down.

[35:23] Let us kneel before the Lord our God, our maker, for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. In John chapter 10, Jesus makes some claims about himself.

[35:43] And he makes this statement, but almost the whole chapter is about him being what? The good shepherd. He says this in verse 11, chapter 10, verse 11, I am the good shepherd.

[35:54] The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. He's the shepherd? You know, Jesus spoke as if he were God, even though he never said those exact words, I am Jehovah.

[36:16] You know, in the Old Testament scriptures, you have lots of prophets. And what would, when a prophet was a messenger of the Lord who had a message from God.

[36:28] It wasn't a message from themselves, right? It was a message from the Lord. God would give them a message and say, tell this to my people. And so, so often, they would start off the message with what?

[36:43] The, in the King James, right? Thus saith the Lord. Ever seen that? It's actually 350 times you'll see that in the Old Testament. That's a lot.

[36:55] They would start off, thus saith the Lord. This is what the Lord has to say to you. I am his messenger. If you look in the New Testament, Jesus was, is it, is it accurate that Jesus was a prophet?

[37:08] Sure, he was a messenger. But did Jesus ever say, thus saith the Lord? I know, it's, well, I'm not sure.

[37:20] But if you actually go through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and read about the story of Jesus' life, you will never ever see anything like, thus saith the Lord. Except Jesus had this funny phrase before he would say something impactful.

[37:36] Does anybody know what that was? He said it, let me see. There's 135 times that you'll find this in all the Gospels, that Jesus started, whenever he'd say something really profound, in the King James, truly, truly, or verily, verily, I say unto you.

[37:56] Wow, that kind of sounds a little bit like the prophets, but there's an important difference, isn't there? Not thus saith the Lord, but verily, verily, I say unto you.

[38:07] Why? Because Jesus was not just the messenger, Jesus was the message. verily, verily, verily, I say unto you.

[38:26] In Matthew 10, verse 37, Jesus said this, he who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

[38:42] Jesus said if you love your mother more than me, then you're not worthy of me. Jesus said you need to love me more than your mother.

[38:55] Now, we know in kind of the world today there's a lot of fatherlessness and so there's a lot of people that despise their fathers, right?

[39:07] But very, very few I would say, right, that don't love, love their mother, right? The love of a mother is the greatest love that we could imagine.

[39:20] Jesus said you should love me more than your mother and your father. Did Moses ever say that? Did Moses ever say, you need to love me more than even your parents?

[39:35] Did an angel ever come down from heaven and tell somebody, you should love me? than your family? Did that ever happen? Never.

[39:49] This Jesus, either he was crazy or he was a liar and he was a self-absorbed lunatic, or he really does deserve our love more than even our parents.

[40:05] In Exodus 3, 14 and 15, this is the burning bush passage. Say that three times fast. And God said to Moses, I am who I am.

[40:18] And he said, thus you shall say to the children of Israel that I am has sent me to you. Moreover, God said to Moses, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.

[40:33] This is my name forever and this is my memorial to all generations. When you let them know that I sent you, tell them it was I am. That's a funny phrase, but it's a powerful phrase, isn't it?

[40:47] Because we know what that means. He is everything. In John 8, 58 through 59, Jesus said this, Jesus said to them, most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

[41:03] And what happened after that? Then they took up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed by.

[41:17] Why did they take up stones? We talked about that the other week. Is it because it's bad grammar? No, they knew what Jesus was saying. Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament, said, I am who I am, and Jesus said, I am.

[41:33] before Abraham was, I am. In Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14, there's a prophecy about a future event that was to come to pass.

[41:47] It says this, it says, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel. That's an interesting, that's a nice word.

[42:03] It's a nice name, Emmanuel. There are people named Emmanuel today. What does it mean? God with us. God with us.

[42:14] And this is repeated in Matthew 1, telling about the birth of who? About Jesus Christ. Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.

[42:27] And there he says, which is translated, in case you didn't know, God with us. His name is God with us. Another verse from the prophets, Isaiah 9, 6, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulders.

[42:47] Who is this talking about? This is talking about the Messiah. And his name will be called Wonderful, and his name will be called Counselor, and his name will be called Mighty God, and Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

[43:08] That will be his name. The Son, the Messiah, the Mighty God. Deuteronomy 10, 17, it says this, of Jehovah, for the Lord your God is God of gods, and he is Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality, nor takes a bribe.

[43:37] Similarly, in Psalm 136, verse 3, it says this, O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his mercy endures forever. Lord of lords, it's a superlative.

[43:50] In some languages, they don't have like we have more and most, or great and greatest, so instead of saying the greatest Lord, or the greatest God, or the greatest king, they would say the Lord of lords, the God of gods, or the king of kings.

[44:08] In the book of Revelation chapter 17, it says this of Jesus, these will make war with the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them, for he is what? He is Lord of lords, and king of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful.

[44:23] I thought Jehovah was Lord of lords. Yes, Jesus is Lord of lords.

[44:34] we read through a bit ago those scriptures that say that you should worship God and him only.

[44:46] Jehovah, worship him alone. Don't worship, don't bow down to somebody else. Don't worship someone else. In fact, we have the story, and several stories, but one particular that I think most of us are aware of, of there were three men who refused to bow down to somebody else's God.

[45:07] Who was that? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel's friends. This is described in Daniel, and in Daniel chapter three, and we'll just point out this verse, and they said this in response, because they refused to bow down to this idol that was shown, and the king said, guys, there's a law about this, and if you don't do it, then we have to put you in the furnace and burn you up, so just bow down, just do it once maybe, or whatever.

[45:53] They said, no way, we're not doing it. Verse 18, well, he said, if, he says, our God will deliver us, our God will deliver us, but, maybe not, maybe not, and if he doesn't, we're not going to do it anyway.

[46:14] Verse 18, but if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. We're not going to do it. This is a big deal.

[46:26] Worship God and him alone. So, there have been times throughout the scriptures where people tried to worship people who were not God.

[46:37] For example, in Revelation, John had some visitations from angels, and in chapter 22, verse 8 and 9, it says this, now I, John, saw and heard these things, and when I heard and saw the worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.

[46:58] he bowed down to him. Then the angel said to me, see that you do not do that. For I know the prophets and of those who keep the words of this book.

[47:13] Worship God. Do not worship me. I'm an angel, I'm like you, I'm a created being. You worship God and him only. there was a time in Acts when Peter went to the house of Cornelius.

[47:32] It says Acts chapter 10, verse 25 and 26, as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and he fell down at his feet and he worshiped Peter. But Peter lifted him up, get up, don't do that, saying, stand up, I myself am also a man.

[47:51] Don't worship me, I'm a creature, I'm not God the creator. Was there ever a time in Jesus' life where people bowed down and worshiped him?

[48:04] And what did he say? Don't do that. Is that what he said? The very first time he was worshipped was by the Magi.

[48:17] Matthew 2, 11, and when they had come to his house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and they worshipped him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to him, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

[48:29] You're like, well, you know, people can make mistakes, right? People worship false gods, so. And Jesus certainly wasn't old enough to say, hold on, guys. His parents were probably, I'm not sure what to do here.

[48:43] Later on, this is when Jesus is an adult, he healed a leper, Matthew 8, 23, and behold, a leper came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.

[48:55] Then Jesus put out his hand and said, get up, don't worship me. Is that what he said? Nope. And he touched him and said, I'm willing, be cleansed. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. There was a ruler whose daughter died, Matthew 9, 18.

[49:09] And while he spoke these things to him, behold, a ruler came and he worshipped him, saying, my daughter has just died, but come and lay your hand on her and she will live. After Jesus walked on water in Matthew 14, 33, the disciples were amazed.

[49:25] It says, those who were in the boat, they came and they worshipped him, saying, truly you are the Son of God. It was a Canaanite woman, a Gentile, whose daughters were demonized.

[49:36] It says in Matthew 15, 25, then she came and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. She worshipped him. There was a blind man healed. John 9, 35, Jesus heard that they had cast him out and when he had found him, he said to him, do you believe in the Son of God?

[49:53] And he answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him? And Jesus said to him, you have both seen him and it is he who is talking with you. And he said, Lord, I believe, and he worshipped him.

[50:04] And Jesus said, for judgment I have come into the world that those who do not see may see and that those who see may be made blind. This man worshipped him.

[50:16] Jesus didn't stop him. There were the women at the tomb after the resurrection. Matthew 28, 9, and as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, rejoice.

[50:27] So they came and held him by the feet, and they worshipped him. And the 11 disciples after the resurrection also, Matthew 28, 17, and when they saw him, they worshipped him.

[50:42] But there were some who doubted. In fact, the one who doubted was, he gets a nickname, right? We remember him as Doubting Thomas. In John chapter 20, verse 28, it says this, and this is after Thomas is like, guys, this is too much.

[51:02] He's not alive. How could somebody rise from the dead? They said, we saw him. I can't believe it. Jesus came to him and he said, look, Thomas, look at my hands, my feet.

[51:17] And what was Thomas' response? And Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. And Jesus said, oh, hold on. Now, I know I'm a great angel, but no.

[51:32] Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. And then, even at the ascension, Luke 24, verse 51, now it came to pass, while he blessed them, that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven.

[51:49] There he went. And they worshipped him. And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They worshipped him. Is that because they didn't know what they were doing?

[52:04] Or because they knew exactly what they were doing? This is the last verse we'll look at. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 5 and 6, the first chapter of Hebrews, well, the whole book of Hebrews is about Jesus.

[52:19] But the first one is specifically about who he was. And in verse 5 and 6 it says this, talking about Jesus being more than just a man and even being more than an angel, and even a mighty angel.

[52:36] Verse 5, for to which of the angels did Jehovah ever say, you are my son and today I have begotten you? And again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son.

[52:55] But when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him. Some people might say, well, he's the son of God.

[53:09] I mean, we're all sons of God, right? Aren't we all sons of God? He is the son of God, the one that we all must look to. He's a special creation of the father.

[53:22] Does God share his worship with a creature, with any creature? Not at all. But the angels are told, worship him.

[53:36] Worship my son because he is the very God of creation. So who is this man Jesus? Jesus is God, our creator.

[53:50] He's the son of God, but he is also God, the son. He's the king of kings and he is the lord of lords. He is, as Jehovah is, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

[54:03] In fact, he is the one who upholds the whole universe by the power of his word. That's what it says of Jesus.

[54:13] Jesus. He upholds the whole universe, all it is, by the word of his power. But I want to get back to the passage that we read in the beginning.

[54:28] Jesus said, well, who do men say that I am? That's a good question. Who do men say that I am? But then he finished up. There were some ideas. Who do men say that I am? But the question is, who do you say that I am?

[54:42] Because to one degree, you know, it doesn't matter what we think, right? It just matters what's real, what reality is. But for each one of us, it matters who we say that he is.

[54:56] Do you worship him? Do you love him above all others? Do you serve him above all earthly powers? And of course, this is the gospel we preach.

[55:11] It wasn't that God sent an angel to die for our sins. It was God himself who came down from heaven and offered his life as a gift for our sins.

[55:25] And if we receive that gift, we can have eternal life with him forever. You know, we have just, we won't take any questions today or comments.

[55:37] But I would like to kind of end with a hymn. Is that all right? And I wrote it down. Number 227.

[55:56] We don't have any music. That's fine. We'll just do this. And hopefully there's enough people that know it that we can sing it okay. 227.

[56:10] It says, let us come worship and bow down. Did I get the number right? Okay, is that the right song? Let's all go ahead and stand up if we would for this one.

[56:20] And we'll end with this. 227. come let us worship and bow down.

[56:32] Let us kneel before the Lord our God, our maker. Come let us worship and bow down.

[56:45] let us kneel before the Lord our God, our maker. For he is our God.

[57:00] And we are the people of his pasture. pasture. And the sheep of his hand.

[57:16] And the sheep of his hand. Amen.

[57:29] Thanks, everybody.