I'm going to bring you a message
this morning on this subject, a question. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Our Lord one day asked his disciples,
Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man? Whom do men say that I, the Son
of Man, am? The disciple said, well, some
say you're John the Baptist, and some say you're Zacharias,
and some say you're one of the prophets. And then he posed this
question. He said, but whom say you? that
I am." He didn't say, the Son of Man. He said, Whom say ye
that I am? And they said, Thou art the Christ. Thou art the Son of the living
God. We believe and are sure that
Thou art the Son of God. I want to look at that a little
bit this morning. Who is Jesus Christ? Well, outwardly, and to the sons
of men, Jesus of Nazareth appeared to be just an ordinary man. That's
what Isaiah said about him. When he wrote, he said, He hath
no form, he hath no comeliness, and when we see him, there's
no beauty that we should desire him. He's despised and rejected
of men. He's a man of sorrows. He's acquainted
with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces
from Him. He's despised, and we esteem
Him not. Is that Jesus of Nazareth? That's
Jesus of Nazareth. He was born unto a poor, unknown
family. He was born in a stable. and laid in a manger. He was
carried away in the dead of night by Joseph and Mary that they
might hide him from Herod the king. He grew up in a small out
of the way town called Nazareth. He worked as a carpenter. They
called him the carpenter. He had four brothers, James,
Josie, Simon, and Judas. And he began his ministry when
he was thirty years of age. Up until that time, he had worked
with his father in a carpenter shop. He began his ministry thirty
years of age, and he was followed by twelve unknown men. None of them, none of them of
any prominence. The power of God, though, was
upon him, this Jesus of Nazareth. Someone said he spake as no other
man has ever spoken. He performed miracles that no
other man could do. He gave sight to the blind, hearing
to the deaf, and healing to the lame. And yet, in spite of all
of this, he was rejected by the leaders of this world. He said this. He said this to
all of Israel. He said, you know, when Pilate
asked him one time, said, Are you a king? When they delivered
him to Pilate, Pilate asked him, Are you a king? And he said this,
To this end, was I born. For this cause came I into this
world, that I should be a witness of the truth, and everyone that
is of the truth will hear my voice." And Pilate said, What
is truth? He didn't know what truth was,
and most of his cohorts didn't know what truth is, but Christ
Jesus said, I witness unto the truth, and everyone that is of
the truth will hear my words. Well, Pilate delivered him to
the soldiers, and they crowned him with a crown of thorns, and
they put a purple robe on his back. And they bowed the knee
and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews, King of Israel. And then they crucified him and
put him in a tomb and stationed soldiers to guard his grave. Now he's dead. Jesus of Nazareth
is dead and buried. And the Roman soldiers and the
Jewish people and the world who knew him not said, we're through
with this Jesus of Nazareth. We're through with him. We won't
hear him anymore. We won't be exposed to his teachings
anymore. Did anyone in that whole crowd
know who Jesus of Nazareth really is? Did anyone? Well, his disciples
did. They said so. They said, we believe
that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And I'll
tell you someone else who believed him, who knew who he was. Turn
with me to the book of Luke, chapter 2. It's someone else
who knew who he is in Luke, chapter 2, verse 25. And behold, there
was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same
was a just and devout man waiting for the consolation of Israel,
waiting for the Messiah, waiting for him who would come. For the
Holy Ghost was upon this man, Simeon, and it was revealed to
him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death until he
had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parrots, Joseph
and Mary, brought in the child Jesus to do after him according to
the custom of the law. There were certain things that
had to be done to everyone who opened the womb You have a mother
and all these things in the Jewish law. Then this man Simeon took
this baby up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now
let thy servant depart in peace. According to your word, I have
seen your salvation. He knew who he was. And Simeon
knew who it was. The disciples knew who he is.
And I'll tell you somebody else that knew who Jesus of Nazareth
really is. Turn with me to the book of Luke
chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. Someone else
knew who this is. This man Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth. Luke chapter 4 verse 33. And
in the synagogue there was a man which had a spirit of an unclean
devil. And this man cried out with a
loud voice, saying, Let us alone. What have we to do with thee,
thou Jesus of Nazareth? Do they know who this Jesus of
Nazareth is? They'll tell you. Listen, we
know who you are, Jesus of Nazareth. Have you come to destroy us?
I know you. I know who you are. You're the Holy One of God."
Turn over to verse 41 in this same chapter, verse 41. And the devils also came out
of many, crying out and saying, Thou art the Christ. Thou art
the Christ. Thou art the Son of God. And he rebuked them, suffering
them not to speak, for they knew he was the Christ." I know who
he is. You know who he is. Now I want
to tell you from John chapter 5. Now turn to that scripture
that Brother Ron read for us in John chapter 5. Let's see
who this is. Jesus of Nazareth. John chapter
5, let's read verse 17 and 18. But Jesus answered them, My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the
Moor to kill him, because he had not only broken the Sabbath,
but he said also that God was his Father, making himself equal
with God. He is. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's very God of very God. He is God. He's not just a messenger. God did send Him to this world
as a messenger. But He's not just a messenger
from God. He is God Himself. Jesus of Nazareth
is God Himself. Isaiah said, Call His name Immanuel. God with us. God was manifest in the flesh,
seen of the angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on
in the world, but God became a man. God was in Christ, Paul
wrote, reconciling the world to Himself. That's who He is. He's God in human flesh. The
Word was made flesh and dwelt among us And we beheld His glory,
the very glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace
and full of truth. Hebrews 1 verse 8, To the Son
the Father saith, Thy throne, O God. Thy throne, O God, is
forever. What are you saying, Preacher?
This is what I'm saying. I picked this up from someone
years ago. The ancient of days has become
an infant of days. He who made the woman was made
of a woman in her womb. He who made the son, God who
made the son, one time worked as a carpenter by candlelight. He who made the fields of corn
and barley and wheat sent His disciples to town to buy some
bread. Think about it. That's who He
is. He who made the fountains of water and the oceans and seas
and the streams. He cried out, I thirst. He's a man. One hundred percent
a man. God, God Almighty. Don't even stumble when you say
it. He's God Almighty. He planted the tree on which they hung His body. He put the iron ore in the ground
from which they got the nails and put them in His hand. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? I'll
tell you. Watch this now. He's the only
man who chose his own mother. He's the only man who set the
day of his birth, the hour of his birth, and the place of his
birth. He's the only man that set the
years of his life, the time of his death, the place of his death,
and three days later, raised his body. Who is He? He that has seen me
has seen God. That's about as plain as I can
make it. He that has seen me has seen
God. All right, let's read verse 19
and 20. Then answered Jesus, John 5,
19, Then answered Jesus and said
to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing
of himself. He was a man, and therefore he
had to do things by the Spirit of God. God gave not the Spirit
in measure to him, but he did what he did by the Spirit of
God. He was a servant of God. But what he saith the Son do,
For whatsoever the Son doeth, the Father does, the Son doeth
also. Now watch this. For the Father
loves the Son. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's
very God of very God. And the love of God is upon Him. And in Him the Father loveth
the Son. Oh my. I want you to turn to
John chapter 3 a minute. John chapter 3, the love of God
is upon the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God is only revealed
in the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God is only revealed
to the people who love Jesus Christ. That's true. John 3 verse
34, listen. For he whom God has sent speaketh
the words of God. For God giveth not the Spirit
by measure to him, for the Father loveth the Son. The Father loveth
the Son, and hath given all things into the Son's hands. And he
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. Now there are
two powerful, powerful things I want to show you here. The
Father loveth the Son, The love of God is everlasting, the love
of God is infinite, the love of God is unchanging, and the
holy love of God rests upon and in Jesus Christ. And Paul said
in Romans 8 verse 39, nothing can separate us from that love
of God which is in Jesus Christ. That's where the love of God
is. He that believeth on the Son hath this love. But watch this now, verse 36.
He's still there. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. But he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God. Not the love of
God. The wrath of God dwelleth abideth
on that man." The Father loves the Son. The Father loves the
Son. And God's love is unchanging,
it's everlasting, it's infinite, and it rests upon and in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through Christ to the people
who love Christ, God loves them. And nothing can separate us from
this love of But those who do not believe Christ, do not receive
Christ, do not love Christ, God's wrath is upon them. I don't know
how to preach that or say that except just what it says. He
that believeth on the Son, he hath life. He hath love. He hath the Son. He that believeth
not the Son will never see life. God's wrath. God's angry with the wicked every
day. Where's that in the Bible, preacher? In Psalm 711? God's angry. He's angry with the wicked every
day. And I don't know how to say this except the way God said
it. Jacob, have a love. Esau, have a hate. Turn with me to Psalm 5. Psalm
chapter 5. Listen to this. Psalm chapter
5, verse 4 through 6. Psalm 5, verse 4 through 6. Psalm 5, verse 4. Listen. For
thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness, Neither shall evil dwell with
thee. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that
speak lies. The Lord will abhor the bloody
and deceitful man." This is just so. And I tell you,
Noah's day, the people of Noah's day, they felt that wrath. They
experienced that wrath, that judgment of God. The people in
Sodom and Gomorrah, Sodomite, they felt God's wrath. They saw
God's wrath. They were exposed and destroyed
by God's wrath. They were burned to a crisp by
God's wrath. God hated the workers of iniquity,
and our God is a consuming fire. Those two things are true, my
friends. God loves the Son. God's love
is upon and in the Son. And God's love is given through
the Son to the people who love the Son. And if any man love
not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Let him be accursed. Let him be anathema. The Lord's
coming. Turn with me to the book of 2
Peter for a moment. 2 Peter chapter 3. 2 Peter chapter 3. Listen to this. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 10. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night. into which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works
thereof shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we be in our
holy conversation?" looking far and hastening unto the coming
of the day of the Lord, the day of God, wherein the heavens,
being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
perfect heat. But nevertheless, we, because
of His love, His grace, His mercy, His Son, we, according to His
promise, we look for a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
not wrath, not wrath, righteousness in him." Our God is a consuming
fire. But it's not those who love Christ. Why would not a man love Christ?
He is love. God made him love. All right, let's see this something
else here. Who is Jesus of Nazareth? Turn back to our text, John 5
verse 21. Now listen to this. And read verse 20 again. The
father loves his son and showeth him all things that himself doeth,
and he'll show him greater works than these that you may marvel.
For as the father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them,
even so the Son, Jesus Christ, quickeneth whom he will." What
are we talking about here? We're talking about Christ the
Redeemer of sinners and Christ giving life to dead sinners. This is spiritual resurrection.
This is spiritual. This is not the resurrection
of the dead later on. This is spiritual resurrection.
Look down at verse 24. 24 and 25, Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that hears my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, hath life, everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation,
but is already passed from death unto life. People who love Christ
and believe Christ are already risen, already quickened, already
passed from death to life. Look at the next verse. Verily
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall
live. That's us. That's spiritual resurrection.
Our pastor preached on this just a few days ago. I'm the good
shepherd. I know my sheep. I call them
by name. They hear my voice. They shall
be one foal and one shepherd. No man can pluck them out of
my hand. My Father gave them all thus,
me, and no man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. Turn
to the book of Ephesians. This is what we're looking at
here. The Son quickeneth whom He will. The Son quickeneth whom
He will. Remember that word now. Let's
look at Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. This is
talking about us right now. Ephesians 2, 1. And you at the
quicken, who were dead in trespasses and sin, wherein in times past
you walked according to the course of the world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh. fulfilling
the desires of the flesh, of the mind, whereby nature, children
of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us to gather with Christ." That's
what we read a while ago. The Son is quickening whom He
will. The Son speaks. The lost person
hears. And He's made life, quickened
to life. Even the dead, even when we were
dead in sin, He had quickened us together with Christ. By grace
are you saved. Verse 6, And hath raised us up
together, and made us sit together in heaven and places in Christ,
that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of
His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. I heard a fellow one time wrote
a psalm, and he sang it two years ago. You may have heard it when
you were growing up. But some fellow was singing,
it made headlines in heaven when I got saved. In other words,
it dawned on them up there When God saved me, it made headlines
in heaven. Well, I told them this. Maybe it made headlines down
here. God wasn't surprised. God knows
His children from the foundation of the world. Their names are
written in the book of life. So it'll be good news to you
when He saves you. But He knew it all the time.
He chose us in Christ from the foundation of the world. And
our salvation has nothing to do with the will of the flesh
or the will of men. It has to do with the will of
Christ who quickened us. Let me show you that. Turn to
Romans 9. Romans chapter 9. Let me show
you that. This business of quickening the
dead. You have be quickened who were
dead in trespasses and sin. It is by the will of the Son.
the will of the Father, the will of the Son. Romans 9, verse 10. And not only this, but when Rebekah
also had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election might stand not of works,
but of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder shall
serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth. It's not of him that runneth.
It's of God. to show it mercy. For the scripture
saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised
thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will heal
hardness. I will say then, what is he found
for? Who hath resisted his will? Nay,
but, O man, who art thou that reprised against God? Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made
me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay to say of
the same lump, Make one vessel unto honor, and another unto
dishonor? What if God, willing to show
his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with all longsuffering,
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he prepared afore, before he prepared unto glory. All right, here's my last point.
Turn back to John 5. John 5, verse 22 and 23. John
5, 22. And 23, who is Jesus of Nazareth? He's very God of very God. He's
quick in whom He wills. The love of the Father is upon
the Son and to those who believe the Son. Now, who is Jesus Christ? Verse 22. For the Father judges
no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son. That all
men should honor the Son. Our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy
of all honor, praise, and glory. Honor the Son. Honor the Son,
even as you honor the Father. What's this? He that honoreth
not, he that honoreth not the Son, honoreth not the Father
which sent him. All honor, all glory, all praise,
Our majesty with the Father is also in the Son. And he that
honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father that sent him.
Who is Jesus Christ? One more verse. Hebrews chapter
one. Hebrews chapter one, verse one. Hebrews one, verse one. Who is
Jesus Christ? Listen to this scripture. God,
who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past to
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom, by Christ, he made the worlds. Christ is the brightness
of God's glory. Christ is expressed image of
God's person. Christ upholdeth all things by
the word of his power. When he had by himself purged
our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty of God Almighty
in heaven. That's Christ's present person
and glory. Now listen to me. I must tell
you, these pictures of Jesus You probably don't have any,
but a lot of people do have them. Who is that? That's Jesus. Well,
who is this Jesus that the pictures show? They show a picture of
Mary holding a baby in his arm. Is that Jesus? Is he the man holding the lamb?
I've seen pictures of Jesus holding a lamb in his arm. Is that Jesus? I see pictures of a man holding
a lantern, knocking at a door, wanting somebody to let him in.
Is that Jesus? I see a naked man hanging on
a cross at this Catholic church up here. I see a naked man. Is
that Jesus Christ? Is that the one we're honoring
and glorifying and praising and rejoicing? That's not Jesus Christ. Now, these pictures don't come
out of the sun. Let me show you who he is and
where he is. Turn to Revelation. Revelation,
he's not an infant in a mother's arms. He's not a man holding
a lamb, crossing a creek. He's not a fella standing at
the door trying to get somebody to let him in. He's not the naked
man hanging on a cross. He's God! Almighty God at the
right hand of the Father. who doeth all things according
to his will." Listen to Revelation chapter 1 verse 9, verse 9. And I, John, Revelation 1, 9,
I, John, who am also your brother and companion in tribulation,
and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, I was in the
isle which is called Patmos. for the Word of God, for the
testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
Day, and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying,
I am, I'll tell you who He is, watch it, I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last, the beginning and the end, and when thou seest
what thou seest, write it in a book, and sent it to all the
churches of Asia, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
Laodicea. And as I turned to see the boys,
which spake to me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
golden candlesticks, one likened to the son of man, clothed with
a garment down to the foot, girt about the paps with a golden
girdle. His head and his hair were white
as wool, as white as snow. His eyes were as a flame of fire. That's not a baby in a mother's
arms. That's not a weak, weakling down on the cross. And his feet
locked under fine brass as if it burned in a furnace. His voice
was the voice of many And he had in his right hand
seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sophie,
and his countenance was as the sun shining in his tree. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as a dead man, and he laid his right hand upon me,
saying, Fear not, I'm the first in the line. I'm he that liveth,
I was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen! And I have
the keys to hell and death. I have the keys. We shall see
him as he is. Not as an infant, not as a fellow
knocking, not as a fellow holding a sheep, not as a fellow dying.
He's alive forevermore. Back to 1 John chapter 3. We're going to see him. Listen to this.
1 John 3, Behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not. It didn't know him, But beloved, now are we sons of God. And it does not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know this. When He shall appear, we shall
be like Him, and we're going to see Him as He is right now,
as He is. It's amazing what these pictures
do to people. And you have to see the thing
that it leads to. I had a dear friend, dear, dear
friend, Charlie Payne. Many of you know Charlie. But
he was a Church of God pastor one time and he heard the gospel
and came to our church and the Lord saved him, made him a preacher. But when he was in religion,
he had all these pictures of Jesus, you know. And when the
Lord saved him and he saw who Christ is, he went home from
church one day and his sister was there. She was a religious
person. And Charlie told his wife, said,
get those pictures, those idolatrous pictures. I'm going to burn them.
And his sister said, you're going to burn Jesus? No. Honey, I'm not going to burn
Jesus. I'm going to burn these idols that I've called Jesus. He took them outside, Doris will
remember this, and built the fire and started throwing them
in the fire. His sister came running out.
Don't burn Jesus. That's where that leads. That's
where that idolatry leads. We're not going to burn Jesus.
We're going to burn idols is what we're going to do. We're
going to leave our idols and cling to the Son of God, our
Lord and Savior. Here's a little poem before I
quit. Lord Jesus Christ, thy name above
all, in hell and earth or the sky, angels and men before thee
fall, and devils fear thee and fly. Lord Jesus, name to sinners
dear, the name that sinners are given. His name destroys all
our fears and turns our hell into heaven. Lord Jesus Christ,
our chains and feathers break and crush the serpent's head. Power to helpless souls, Jesus
speaks eternal life unto the dead. So I rejoice with every
breath, and now that I know His name, I will praise His grace,
and I'll cry in death, Thank God my Jesus Christ lives and
reigns. He does, and He does. All right, let's pray. Our Father hallowed be Thy name. Hallowed is thy name, the name
of thy son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We reverence, we respect, we
worship, we rejoice in that blessed name above all names. We do thank
you. I pray you'd bless the message
to every heart. And Lord, bless our pastor as
he speaks this morning and again tonight. Give Him the power and
liberty of your Holy Spirit to exalt this Savior whom we love
and make His message a blessing to the people down there. And,
Lord, give Him yearning mercies as He drives back home. We thank
You and praise Your name for Your goodness to us. And we rejoice
that we are in Christ by Thy grace, under the blood of Jesus,
safe in the Shepherd's fold, under the blood of Jesus, safe
while the ages roll, safe though the worlds may crumble, safe
though the stars grow dim, we are under the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and we are secure in Him. Amen. Brother Gary, Gary,
you gave, you lead our song. Turn to hymn number 218 and stand
again. 218. All hail the power of Jesus'
name, let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Crown him ye martyrs of your
God who from his altar fall. Extol the stern of Jesus, brought
and crowned him Lord of all. Extol the stem of Jesse, brought
and crowned him Lord of all. Ye seed of Israel's chosen race,
ye ransomed of the fall. Hail Him who saved you by His
grace, and crown Him Lord of all. Hail Him who saved you by
His grace, Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall. We'll join the everlasting song
and crown Him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song
and crown Him Lord of all.