In John 7, verses 28 and 29,
we read, Christ say, I am not come of myself, but he that sent
me is true, whom you know not. But I know him, for I am from
him. and he hath sent me." I have
entitled this message, The Claims of Christ. He said, with regard to God,
I know him, I am from him, and he sent me. Now, if tomorrow you go to work
and somebody comes up to you and says, I know God. I'm from
him. He sent me. Would you believe him? I wouldn't. You'd have to be awful gullible
to believe someone with that claim. I know God. I'm from him. He sent me. I would not believe someone who
made that claim. But these are the claims that
Christ made of himself. I know God. And he said to these
same people, you do not know him, but I know him. And then
he says, I'm from him. That's my origin. And then he
says, he sent me. Jesus Christ is either who he
said he is, or he's deluded, deceitful, an imposter. a fraud. He is either who he
said he is, or he is a deceiver of men. Now let's look at what
led him to make this statement. He said in verse 19 of this same
chapter to the Pharisees, did not Moses give you the law? And yet none of you keep the
law. Why go ye about to kill me? Now,
in John chapter five, he had healed a man on the Sabbath day,
a man that had been paralyzed for 38 years. And the Pharisees
were upset because this man took up his bed and walked on the
Sabbath day. And they accused Christ of committing
a sin and working on the Sabbath day. Well, here's how the people
respond to him, saying, why do you go about to kill me? The
people answered and said, thou hast a devil. Who goeth about
to kill thee? You're demon possessed. You have
some kind of conspiracy problem. Who goes about to kill you? Jesus
answered and said unto them, I've done one work, and you all
marvel. He's talking about that healing
of that man on the Sabbath day. He says, Moses therefore gave
unto you circumcision, not because it's of Moses, but of the fathers,
and you on the Sabbath day circumcised a man. Now, after you were born,
if you're male, eight days later you were to be circumcised. That
day happened to fall on the Sabbath for some people. Now they weren't
circumcised the seventh or the ninth day then, they were circumcised
on that eighth day, and that eighth day might be the Sabbath.
And he says, when that takes place, the Sabbath is not broken.
And are you going to accuse me and become angry of me and say
I've broken the law because I've made a man every whit hole on
the Sabbath day? Judge not according to appearance,
but judge righteous judgment. Then said some of them of Jerusalem,
the people who lived in Jerusalem, is not this he whom they seek
to kill? They understood that the Jews
and the Pharisees wanted to kill him, but lo, he speaketh boldly
and they say nothing to him. Do the rulers know indeed that
this is the very Christ? Do they believe he's the Christ
now? How be it we know this man whence he is? Speaking of the
Lord, we know where he's from. But when Christ cometh, no man
knows which he is. Now, they really did not know
where he was from. They thought he was from somewhere
in Galilee. They didn't know he was from
Bethlehem. But they say, we know where he's from. But when Christ cometh, he's
obviously not Christ because he's from Galilee. We know where
he's from. But when Christ comes, no man knows where he is. Then cried Jesus in the temple
as he taught, you both know me and you know whence I am. Now
he is not saying you know me and you know where I'm from because
they didn't. He was from Bethlehem, not Galilee. And he said, do
you know me? Do you know where I'm from? That's
what he's saying. Like he said, do you now believe?
Do you really know me? Do you really know where I'm
from? I'm not come of myself, but he
that sent me is true, whom you know not, but I know him. I am from him, and he hath sent
me." Now, I repeat, the Lord Jesus Christ is either some self-delusional
person who has illusions of grandeur, or he is who he says he is. He says, I know him. You don't
know him. But I know him, I'm from him,
and he sent me. I know him. I know him. I know him altogether. No man
has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, the sole representative
of the being and the character of the One who sent Him, the
only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him. I know Him. In the beginning
was the Word. And the Word was with God as
a distinct person. And the Word was God. Only God knows God altogether. You and I can't know him. Christ
knows him as God knows himself because he is God. He said, as the Father knoweth
me, even so know I the Father. In Matthew 11, verse 27, he said,
all things are delivered unto me of my Father. That means everything's
in his hand. That's including me and you.
That's including everybody else. All events, all things are delivered
unto me of my Father. And no man knows the Son, but
the Father. Jesus Christ is so infinitely
great that the only one who can really know Him is the Father. Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son. He who is equal with God because
he is God, the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.
No man knows the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him. Now, Christ says concerning his
father, I know him. I love the passage in John chapter
17, beginning in verse two, thou has given him power over all
flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou has given
him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. Now there's no knowing God apart
from him who knows him and is pleased to reveal him. He said
in John 8, 54 and 55, if I said I don't know him, I'd be a liar
like you are, but I know him. and keep his sayings, oh, his
knowledge of the Father. Now, you may know me, but you
don't know all about me. There's much about me that you'll
never know. And I may know you, I may even know you on intimate
terms, but there's much about you I'll never know. The Lord knows me. altogether. And he knows his father altogether
because he is one with God. He said, I and my father are
one, equal with God. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. The only way you can be equal
with God is to be God. He knows God. He understands
God. He loves God. He is God. Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That's how He knows God. He knows
Him altogether. He knows His will. He knows His
purpose. He knows His mind. There's nothing
with regard to the infinite, incomprehensible God that He
does not know. He said, I know. No one knows God like the Lord
Jesus Christ does. He knows him altogether for this
one reason. He is God. I know him. And the next thing he says is
I am from him. He is my origin. I come from Him. How many times in the gospel
of John did he say, I came down from heaven? That's where I'm
from. I came down from heaven. Now, if I would say to you, I
came down from heaven, you would say, you're crazy. And you would
be correct in saying that. But when Christ says, I came
down from heaven, it's because he came from God. God was his origin. Now, I was born in Ashland, Kentucky
in 1959 in the King's Daughters Hospital. I'm from Ashland, Kentucky. He's from God. That is his origin. He said in John chapter eight,
verse 42, if God were your father, you would love me. For I proceeded
forth and came from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Now, he was born in Bethlehem
and it was prophesied that he would be born in Bethlehem in
Micah chapter five, verse two, but his origin is God himself. I proceeded forth from God. Now think of these claims. I
know God. I came from him. He is my origin. And the third thing he says is
he sent me. I know God. I come from him. John 1 says, in the beginning
was the word and the word was with God, face to face with God,
equal with God. And the word was God. He knows God, He came from God,
and God sent Him. These are His words, I know Him,
I come from Him, and He sent me. Now, He is called, in Hebrews
3, verse 1, the Apostle of our profession. That means the sent
one. of our profession. God sent Jesus
Christ into the world. John 3, verse 17 says, For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved. That's why he came. We were already condemned. We
were condemned in Adam. We were condemned when we were
born into this world as sinners. God didn't send his son to condemn
the world, but he sent his son into the world that the world
through him might be saved. We read in Matthew chapter 1
verse 21, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save His people from their sins. 1 Timothy 1.15 says this is a
faithful saying. This is Paul speaking. He says,
this is a faithful saying. You can rely on this. And it's
worthy of all acceptation. Everybody ought to receive this
as the best news they've ever heard. That Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners. It doesn't say he came to save
believers. It doesn't say he came to save
good people. It doesn't say he came to save
the righteous. It says he came to save sinners. What's a sinner? He's the one
who commits the sin. A sinner is somebody who all
they do is sin, and it's sin because they do it. They cannot
not sin. They cannot say, well, I'm not
going to sin. Everything they do, when they breathe, it's sin
because they're sinners. They can't look down their nose
at anybody. They have no claims on God.