I invite your attention to the
book of Isaiah, 25th chapter. Isaiah chapter 25. My message today is titled, Jesus
Christ's Deity Declared. We're going to read this one
text in which there is a declaration of the deity of Christ, Jesus
Christ, our Lord. And then we're going to be looking
at a number of other references and then come back to this in
closing. But let me read it to you, Isaiah
25, verse 9. And it shall be said in that
day, well, this is that day. Lo, this is our God. We have waited for Him. and He
will save us. This is the Lord. That word Lord,
all uppercase letters, that is His name, Jehovah. This is our
God and this is Jehovah. We have waited for Him. We will
be glad and rejoice in His salvation. I love that text. It is one of
three that speak the same phrase about beholding God. Beholding God. If God can be beheld, that means
He can be seen. And yet, no one has seen the
Father, Jesus said. And yet we're told Some have
beheld Him. It is with good reason that Jesus
in the Beatitudes says, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God. When Jesus was on this earth, most people looked at Him. They
did not see God. Some were blessed to look at
him and said, behold, this is our God. The declaration of the
deity of Jesus Christ, we're going to look at some this morning.
I am not going to deal this morning with the proofs of the deity
of Jesus Christ. That subject is far too voluminous
for this short message. I'm just going to look at some
declarations of the deity of Jesus Christ, and we're going
to cover a lot of ground. That's why you have the outline
there before you in that tract form. We're going to cover a
lot of Scriptures, because there are so many declarations of the
deity of Jesus Christ. We're going to look at the Scriptures
that say so. We're going to observe that The
declarations of the deity of Jesus Christ are from God the
Father, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ himself, Jehovah's prophets
and apostles, the gospel of Jesus Christ and Jehovah's people.
Here's a six-fold declaration of the deity of Jesus Christ
from all the most important people that you can find in the Holy
Scriptures. Or persons, I should say. The
most important persons you can find in all the Scriptures. First
of all, God the Father declares Jesus Christ deity. He calls
him God and describes him as God in Hebrews 1, verses 8 through
12. And as I said, we're just going
to be reading a number of these scriptures and not giving much
of a commentary. There really is no need to. The
scriptures here explain themselves. Hebrews 1, verses 8 through 12. But to the Son, God the Father
says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. Folks, can
it be any clearer than that? God the Father looking at Jesus
Christ and saying, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. This is God the Father speaking
of His Son as God, calling Him Son and then describing, calling
Him God and then describing Him as God. Reading on, And He said,
You, Lord, and here He quotes Psalm 102, verses 25 through
27, And you, Lord, in the beginning,
laid the foundation of the earth. Now someone may say, I thought
the Bible says God created the heavens and the earth. Yeah,
that's what it says. And God the Father says Jesus
Christ did it. And you, Lord, in the beginning,
laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work
of your hands. for Jesus Christ is the divine
creator. He is the creator. They will
perish, but you remain, for Jesus Christ is imperishable. They
will all grow old like a garment, and like a cloak you will fold
them up, which only God can do, and they will be changed. But
you are the same, for Jesus Christ is immutable, And your years
will not fail, for Jesus Christ is eternal. Now this is God the
Father speaking of Jesus Christ. Listen, folks, I'm not going
to argue with him. I'm not going to argue with God
the Father. If God the Father says Jesus
Christ is God and describes him as such, that's good enough for
me. That settles it. That settles it. Some years ago, A friend of mine had a little
magnetic sticker. You put them on the refrigerator.
Back in our day, you could put them on the dash of your car
because there was metal in them. But the little magnetic sticker
read, God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. And I says, no, that's not true. That's not true. What is true? What's true is this. God said
it. That settles it. I believe it. I believe it. God said it. That settles it. I believe it. Nothing is settled
because I agreed with God. If God said it, that settled
it. Then furthermore, God the Father
prophesies of the coming of Jesus Christ and He said, His name
is Jehovah. This is the name by which He
shall be called. God the Father said, You call
Jesus Christ Jehovah, our righteousness. Because that's what He is. That's
what He is. Well, folks, I'm not arguing
with God the Father. Some may argue with them if they
want to, but not this one, not this one. God said it, that settles
it, I believe it. He called Jesus Christ God and
told me to call him Jehovah. Now we come to the second point.
The Holy Spirit declares Jesus Christ deity. The importance
of this point is compounded by the fact that the Holy Spirit
is the divine author of Holy Scriptures. Two texts I give
you. You can look at them on your own later. All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. It's God-breathed. So God is the author of Holy
Scriptures. Then we read, And holy men wrote
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So in one place we read that
the author of the scriptures is God and the other place we
read that the author of the holy scriptures is the Holy Spirit.
There is no contradiction. Put the two together. This book,
this one, it has one author. It is the Holy Spirit, the divine
Holy Spirit. Paul the Apostle, Peter, the
Gospel writers and the prophets, none of them authored a single
word in this book. None of them did. They were but
the pen men. God is the author. And they wrote
as they were moved of God. Isaiah, yes sir, put your quill
in your hand. This is the Holy Spirit speaking.
Get a parchment there before you. Write these words!" And
that's how the Scriptures came. The words that the Holy Spirit
gave the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, they took those words
and wrote. They're not their own words.
No, no, no. They're the Holy Spirit's words.
And these men were but the pen men. So, let's consider this. We'll look at some text that
Paul wrote, and Peter wrote, and John wrote, but they're not
the author of those texts. The author of the texts is the
Holy Spirit, God the Spirit. What does He say? Colossians
1, verses 15 through 17. Jesus Christ is the image of
the invisible God. In Hebrews 1, 3, called the express
image of His person. The express image. When you see
Jesus Christ, you're looking at God because He is the image
of God. One reason why the scriptures
tell us you shall not make a graven image of God is because Jesus
Christ is that image. He is the image of God. He is
the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created through Him and for Him. He is before
all things, because He is eternal, and in Him all things consist."
Now that's the Holy Spirit saying. He's declared the deity of Jesus
Christ. He is the image of the invisible
God. Colossians 1, verses 19 and Colossians
2, verse 9. The Holy Spirit says, It pleased
the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell. In Jesus
Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. When you
looked at the body of Jesus Christ, you were looking at God in a
body. All the fullness. Jesus did not
lack any part of the fullness. What fullness? The fullness of
both deity and divinity. Now the words are much alike
with this one difference between them. Deity refers to who God
is in his person. Divinity refers to what God is
and all his attributes. In Jesus Christ is all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, which means every bit of God is in
Him. Every bit of God is in that body
of Jesus Christ. All the divine attributes are
in Jesus Christ. He lacks nothing with regard
to deity or divinity. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. In Philippians 2, verse 6, the
Holy Spirit says that from eternity Jesus Christ is in the form of
God and equal with God. From all eternity, I mean from
all eternity, He's in the form of God. He's equal with God. Co-eternal and co-equal. This is God the Father and God
the Son. We could include the Holy Spirit,
but that's another subject for a different time. But here, just
consider that they are co-eternal and co-glorious. Our dear friend Bruce Crabtree
in Indiana publishes a church bulletin like
we do. In his bulletin there is always
this scripture, that all should honor the son just as they honor
the father. He who does not honor the son
does not honor the father who sent him. Now I have asked this
question to a number of different people. who claim to be witnessing for
Jehovah but deny the deity of Jesus Christ and simply ask them,
do you honor the Son just like you honor the Father? And usually
they'll say, yeah, oh yeah, Scripture says to. Do you honor the Father
as God? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Do you honor
the Son like you honor the Father? It is about that time that I'm,
you know, I'm probably going to be told, you know, look at
the time I have another appointment. That has happened so many times.
Listen, we're going to be careful to do this. All should honor
the son just as they honor the father. If you do not honor the
son, you do not honor the father who sent him. This is the Holy
Spirit declaring this to us. He is in the form of God. He
is equal with God. Alright, number three. Jesus
Christ declared his deity. He said in John 14 verse 9 and
John 12 verse 45, He who has seen me has seen the Father. He who sees me sees him who sent
me. That's an answer to a question.
One of the disciples says, Show us the Father. He says, Have
I been with you all this time and you still do not know you
have seen the Father? If you have seen me, you have
seen the Father. That, my friend, is a declaration
of deity. In John 8, 58, Jesus said, Most
assuredly I saved you before Abraham was. I am! I am what? I am what I am. I believe that's one of God's names. Exodus 3.14. That's who I am. I am. I am who I am. I am the ever-present One. Jesus
did not say before Abraham was, I was. No, He didn't say that.
No, He was. Jesus did not say after Abraham
was, I was. I don't know if that was too
awesome, but what Jesus is saying before Abraham was, I am. I am what? The same yesterday, today, and
forever. I tell you right now folks, this
subject of the deity of Jesus, this is glorious. I am. That's one of God's names. Yep,
that's who I am. I am. Before Abraham was, I am. John 10 verse 30. Jesus said,
I and my father are one. Meaning two separate persons
in one indivisible Godhead. Now consider, I and my father are one. Not two separate gods. There's
only one God. But two separate persons in one
Godhead. Oh, when he said that, he's got
an audience in front of him. They're not taking very kindly
to what he has to say. When he said, I and my father
are one. Did you hear what he said? Yeah,
blasphemy, that's what he said. Read what happens next. Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone him. The other time
was in chapter 5, verse 18. Jesus answered them, many good
works I have shown you from my Father, for which of those works
do you stone me? Then the Jews answered him, saying,
For a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because
you, being a man, make yourself God." I quoted this verse once
to a man, and I told him, I said, Jesus said, I and my Father are
one. They're just one in agreement,
one in purpose, one in what they do. That's all it means. Well then why did those who heard
him, who denied his deity, want to kill him? For blasphemy! You make yourself God, they said. Revelation 22 verse 13, Jesus
says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the
end, the first and the last. And that title, this title is
from Isaiah 44 verse 6. Thus says Jehovah the King of
Israel and his Redeemer Jehovah Host. I am the first and I am
the last and besides me there is no God. Now listen folks,
it stands to reason that if there can only be one who is the first. Oh, we agreed on that. There
can only be the first. Anything after that is the second.
There can only be one, the last. There is nothing after the last.
I am Alpha, first letter in the Greek alphabet. Omega, last letter
in the alphabet. Beginning, because all things
have their beginning in Him. And the end, because the end
of all things is Jesus Christ. The first and the last, and I'm
happy to add, and everything else in between. Everything else
in between. I am the first and the last and
there's only one. In the book of Isaiah, he identifies
himself as the only God. In the book of Revelation, he
identifies himself as Jesus Christ. And there's no conflict. It's
all one and the same. Therefore, all three persons
in the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit, all declare
Jesus Christ's deity. Jehovah's prophets and apostles
declared Jesus Christ deity. That's my fourth point. Especially in the names by which
they called him. Immanuel, which is translated
God with us. He says were two or three gathered
in my name, I'm in the midst. If he's with us, God is here.
God is here. His name is Immanuel, God with
us. He is the mighty God, Isaiah
9 verse 6. I don't know if we're going to
finish today or not, and if not, we'll come back to it. I have
to point this out to you. I had a discussion one time with
a man who claimed to be witnessing for Jehovah, and I showed him
here Isaiah 9 verse 6, Jesus is the mighty God. He said, yeah, he's the mighty
God. Yeah, he is. So, he is divine? Oh, no, no, no, no. He's the mighty God, but he's
not divine? No, he's not divine. How can that be? Well, Jesus
is the mighty God, but he is not the almighty God. The almighty God is Jehovah,
and Jesus is the Mighty God. So I said, okay, if I understand
you correctly, you're telling me that Jesus is the Mighty God,
but He is not the Almighty God, because the Almighty God is Jehovah,
and Jehovah is not the Mighty God. Is that right? Have I understood
you? Yeah, he said, that's right. So I told him, Go to Jeremiah
chapter 32. Now go ahead and go. Jeremiah chapter 32. By the way, he had his own translation. His cult has made their own translation. Does much the same as does, on
this point, it's much the same as our King James. Jeremiah 32. Verse 17. Are you with me? Jeremiah 32,
verse 17. Ah, Lord God. You see the word
God in all uppercase letters? That's His name Jehovah. The
word Lord is Adonai. That's another one of God's names.
Ah, Adonai Jehovah. Behold, Thou hast made the heaven
and the earth by Thy great power, and stretched out arm, and there
is nothing too hard for Thee. So I asked my friend who came
to be witnessing for Jehovah, who are we talking about here?
Oh, we're talking about Jehovah. He is Adonai Jehovah. So we're talking about the Almighty
God and not the Mighty God, right? That's right. We're talking about
Jehovah, the Almighty God. Okay, read on. Thou showest lovingkindness
unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into
the bosom of their children after them. The Great, the Mighty God,
Jehovah of hosts, is his name. The poor man read that last line
for the first time in his life and the discussion stopped. I
said you told me that Jesus is the mighty God but he's not the
almighty God and you told me Jehovah is the almighty God,
Jehovah is not the mighty God, right? Yep. Here Jehovah is called
the Mighty God. And that's one of Jesus' name
in Isaiah 9 verse 6. He is the Mighty God. His name
is Adonai Jehovah and Jehovah of hosts. He is the Mighty God. Number three, He is the everlasting
or the eternal father and there is but one, Isaiah 9 verse 6. For unto us a child is born and
unto us a son is given. Now that's an interesting phrase. Unto us a child is born and unto
us a son is given. We do not read, unto us a child
is given and unto us a son is born. We do not read that. Very
specifically, unto us a child is born and unto us a son is
given. The child is born, the son is
given. The child is Mary's. He was born
of her. The son is God's. He gave his
son. There are the dual natures of
Jesus Christ, the divine and the human in one person. For
unto us, God's people, believers in Jesus Christ, if you are a
believer of the gospel, this is to you. For unto us a child
is born, and unto us a son is given. And the government shall
be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Mighty God,
Eternal Father. And there's only one And there's
only one. He who is the mighty God. The
child born of Mary and the Son given by God. The given Son is the Eternal
Father. That cannot be. It is in Jesus
Christ. It is in Jesus Christ. The given
Son is the Eternal Father. And there's only one. There's
only one. John 20, verse 28, my Lord and
my God. Now this is an interesting situation. Jesus is raised from the dead. Late in the day, he shows up
to the apostles, ten of them. Now remember, Judas had already
gone to his place. Thomas was not there. Jesus showed
up, evidently rather miraculously. The door was closed, he just
showed up. And they're staring! And he proves to them that it
is he. It is he. So the ten go and tell
the eleventh apostle, whose name is Thomas. We saw the Christ. He showed up. He was with us.
He is raised from the dead. We saw Him. Ha, ha. Yeah, right. Unless I put my finger in the
hole of His hand and in the hole of His side. Ha, ha. I'm not
believing. Now, we call Him doubting Thomas. Listen, folks. Let's not be too
hard on Him. We probably have doubted worse
than he has. But there was some doubt about
him until the next Lord's Day. Same time, same place, except
Thomas is here with the ten. Eleven of them there. Jesus just shows up. The doors
are locked! Jesus just shows up. Hey, Thomas,
bring your finger over here. I've got a hole in my side and
a hole in my hand. You can put your finger in. And
Thomas just says, don't have to. I don't have to. My Lord
and my God. That's what he called him. My Lord and my God. He's a doubter
no more. My Lord and my God. I quoted this to a man one time
who claimed to be witnessing for Jehovah. He says, it was
only an exclamation. He didn't mean it. Oh, okay. Only an explanation. He did not
mean it. If it was only an exclamation,
he committed blasphemy. He took God's name in vain. And Jesus said nothing. The other
ten said nothing. Because Thomas told the truth. My Lord and my God, when you
behold Jesus Christ, that's the exclamation from us, my Lord
and my God. Paul the Apostle in Romans 9
verse 5 calls Him Christ, the eternally blessed God. Amen! So be it. Now yes, the Holy Spirit authored
these words. Paul is only the penman. But
notice what he calls Him, the eternally blessed God. That word
blessed means happy. We have a happy God. If you follow the ancient Greeks and the Romans
and the Egyptians and the Babylonians and the Scandinavians, we've
got some Scandinavians here. Okay, look at Thor and Odin and
some of the other Scandinavian gods. They were not always happy, were
they? Our God is always happy, the
blessed God, the eternally blessed God. And in case you didn't catch
what I said, Paul says, I'm going to add, Amen, so be it. He calls Jesus Christ our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Peter does the same, our great
God and Savior, Jesus Christ. John the Apostle calls him the
true God in eternal life 1 John 5 verse 20 Paul the Apostle says
that in Jesus Christ God was manifested in the flesh what
an awesome statement is that God was manifested in the flesh he
was seen God was seen walking on this earth in our flesh and
blood, sinew and muscle. God was manifested in the flesh
when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Alright, now
I want you to remember that final phrase, the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us. We're going to come back to that
next week, God willing. But I just want to stress the
point here before you of these declarations of Jesus
Christ and His deity. This is such a glorious subject,
is it not? These declarations of the deity
of Jesus Christ. God the Father calls Him God
and describes Him as such and then said, you call Him Jehovah,
our righteousness. And the Holy Spirit says, yes,
I agree, because in Him is the fullness of all God bodily. And here we find that Jesus Christ declared His
deity. You do believe Him, do you not?
His holy apostles and His holy prophets, they declared His deity. Well, I'm not going to argue
with it. I'm going to honor the Son just
as I honor the Father. And O God, our Father, to the
glory of Your name, reveal Your Son unto us, for whom and what
He is, And we pray that you bless this message to the glory of
Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. We'll conclude this message next
time, God willing.