Jesus Christ Reveals Who He Is

Q: What does the Bible say about the nature of Jesus Christ?

Jesus Christ is the revelation of God, fully God and fully man, as stated in John 1:1 and John 10:30. The Bible reveals that Jesus Christ is both fully God and fully man. In John 1:1, it states, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' This clearly indicates His divine nature. Furthermore, Jesus asserts His unity with the Father in John 10:30, saying, 'I and my Father are one.' This highlights that Jesus is not merely a messenger from God but God Himself incarnate, the only true revelation of God to humanity. Throughout the New Testament, Christ's divine attributes and authority are emphasized. He performs miracles, forgives sins, and claims to have the power over life and death, asserting His divine authority. In essence, the nature of Jesus Christ is foundational to Christian faith, as recognizing Him as God incarnate is crucial for understanding salvation and God's redemptive plan for humanity.

Q: How do we know Jesus is God?

Jesus demonstrates His divinity through His works, teachings, and the acknowledgment of His authority by His contemporaries (John 5:17-29). We can know that Jesus is God through multiple affirmations in scripture and His actions while on earth. In John 5:17-29, Jesus explicitly states that He works as the Father works, leading those around Him to understand that He was making Himself equal with God. His miracles, such as healing the lame man, serve as testimony to His divine nature, as acknowledged by Nicodemus in John 3:2, where he states, 'Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.' Furthermore, the consistency of His message, proclaiming Himself as 'the way, the truth, and the life' (John 14:6) and presenting His role in salvation as the one who quickens whom He wills (John 5:21), reinforces His divine identity. Ultimately, acknowledgment of Jesus as God is central to faith, as failing to recognize him as God undermines the foundation of the Gospel.

Q: Why is the doctrine of the Trinity important for Christians?

The doctrine of the Trinity affirms that God is one essence existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which is essential for understanding salvation (John 14:26). The doctrine of the Trinity is crucial for Christians as it provides a proper understanding of God's nature and His workings in salvation. This doctrine states that there is one God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each person is fully God, co-equal and co-eternal, which ensures that all aspects of God's revelation and work are consistent with His nature. In John 14:26, Jesus promised, 'But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.' This indicates the collaborative work of the Trinity in the life of believers, wherein each person has a distinct role yet works in unity for the purpose of redemption. Understanding the Trinity is essential for appreciating the depth of God's love, the role of Jesus in fulfilling the law and providing salvation, and the Holy Spirit's work in sanctifying believers.

Q: What does Jesus mean when He says, 'I and my Father are one'?

'I and my Father are one' implies that Jesus shares the same divine nature as God, affirming His equality with the Father (John 10:30). When Jesus asserts in John 10:30, 'I and my Father are one,' He is declaring His essential unity with God the Father. This statement goes beyond mere agreement in purpose; it asserts that Jesus has the same divine nature as God. The understanding of this phrase is transformative for the Christian faith as it underpins the belief in Jesus as God incarnate. This declaration was met with hostility from the religious leaders of His day, who sought to kill Him for what they perceived as blasphemy—making Himself equal to God (John 5:18). Recognizing this unity helps believers understand the depth of Jesus' identity and the significance of His work in redemption; it emphasizes that salvation comes through Him as God, not merely as a prophet or a teacher. The unity between the Father and the Son showcases the cohesive action of God in redemptive history.

Q: Why is the Sabbath important and how does Jesus relate to it?

The Sabbath represents God's rest and serves as a sign of His covenant; Jesus, as the Lord of the Sabbath, fulfills its purpose through His work of salvation (Matthew 12:8). The Sabbath is rooted in God's creation as a day of rest, signifying His completion of creation and a covenant of rest for His people. The Sabbath serves as a reminder of God's promise and a time set apart for worship and rest. In Matthew 12:8, Jesus claims, 'For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath,' indicating His authority over this day and its observance. By healing on the Sabbath, as depicted in John 5, Jesus demonstrates that He is the fulfillment of what the Sabbath represents—rest, healing, and salvation. He emphasizes that the Sabbath is intended for the good of people, showcasing His compassion and mercy as central to His mission. Christians observe the Sabbath not merely as a set of rules, but as an invitation to experience the rest and grace that Jesus provides, thus seeing Him as the ultimate essence of what true rest means.

This morning, let's look at John
5. I call this message, Jesus Christ
Reveals Who He Is. Jesus Christ reveals personally,
plainly, who he is, who is Jesus Christ. Now, let's read, beginning
with verse 1 of John 5. After this, there was a feast.
of the Jews. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there was at Jerusalem, by
the sheep market, a pool, by the sheep gate is what that is,
which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five
porches. Now listen carefully, in these
Porches lay a great multitude, a great multitude, many impotent
folks, blind, haught, that is lame, withered, waiting for the
moving of the water. For, now whether this is what
they believed, whether it was tradition, whether it actually
occurred, I do not know. It may have been possible that this
did take place, an angel disturbing the water. It may not be. It
may be just a tradition. But nevertheless, don't let it
take away from what our Lord is about to do and say. For verse 4 says, an angel went
down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. That's what they've That's what
they thought took place. And it may have, I don't know.
But whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped
in, was made whole of whatever disease he had. And there was
a certain man who was there, which had an infirmity thirty
and eight years. In other words, this man was
unable to walk. He'd been lame for thirty-eight
years. Now when Jesus saw him lie, now a long time in that case,
he said to him, Will thou be made whole? Now remember, there's
a great multitude of people there, a lot of sick people, all in
the same condition, lame, withered, haunt, blind. But our Lord said
to one man, Will thou be made whole? And the impotent man answered
him, Sir, he didn't know who he was. I have no man when the
water's troubled to put me into the pool. But while I'm coming,
evidently rolling toward that water, Another steppeth down
before me. And Jesus said to him, Rise,
take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately, right then and
there, the man was made whole, made so whole and so strong and
so well, that he took up his bed. You can imagine what his
condition was for 38 years, never having walked. And he not only
walked, but he took up his bed and carried it, his bedroll. And on the same day was the Sabbath. It was the Jewish Sabbath day,
the day when they could do no work, etc., etc., but it was
the Sabbath day. Now, then the Jews, these religious
leaders, therefore said to him that was cured. Now here, here's
a man well known to everybody who's been afflicted, lying there,
right there in the gate of the temple, of the city, the gate,
there were seven gates, and this is the Sheep Gate. But he was
lying there in that particular gate for thirty-eight years. He'd lain helplessly by this
pool until our Lord had healed him, made him completely well,
strong enough to walk and to carry his bed. Now this is a
notable miracle. These people all knew it. There
was no doubt of his cure. And a wonderful miracle had been
performed. These Jews couldn't deny that.
But instead of being filled with joy for the man himself and praise
for God, and admitting that some great person was among them,
a great miracle had been performed, they were filled with hatred.
And they said to the man that was cured, it's the Sabbath day.
This is the Sabbath day. It's not lawful for thee to carry
thy beard. This verse reveals the blindness,
the tradition, the hardness of the heart that's found in religion.
I will cling to what we have traditionally been taught
even in the face of the great miracle and power and work of
God Almighty. They couldn't see the man that
was healed, they couldn't see that Christ had healed him, they
couldn't see the power of God exhibited. All they saw was a
fellow who was carrying his bed on the Sabbath day. This was
against the rules. So he answered them, verse 11,
he that made me whole. He said to me, take up thy bed
and walk. His authority goes beyond your
Sabbath and your tradition and your custom. He's the Lord of
the Sabbath. He said to me, He's the one,
the one that healed me, the one that made me whole. He said to
me, take up your bed and walk. And then they asked him, what
man is that which said, do you take up your bed and walk? Well,
they knew, I'm sure. And he that was healed wist not
who he was. For Jesus had conveyed himself
away, a multitude being in that place. I just imagine our Lord,
when that man took up his bed and walked, the excitement that
was generated. They probably hadn't seen anybody healed there
around that pool, probably just a tradition. But they all got
to talking and rejoicing, and he just flipped away, conveyed
himself away, the multitude being in that place. Afterward, Jesus
found him in the temple, this man whom he had healed, and said
to him, Behold, thou art made whole. Now sin no more. That's the worst thing come upon
you. What the Lord is saying is, continue in this way. continuing
faith, continuing submission unto me, to God, lest greater
things come upon you than being lame, and that's eternal condemnation. And the man departed and told
the Jews it was Jesus that made him whole. And therefore did
the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him And they used
as an excuse for their opposition and their hatred the fact that
he violated their Sabbath day. Listen. They sought to slay him
because he'd done these things on the Sabbath day. He violated
their tradition. He crossed the grain of their
custom and their religious traditions and ways. It's more their tradition
and custom was more important to them than the very glory of
God Almighty, the revelation of God himself. What an awful
place to be, what an awful position, that we can't be taught, we can't
learn because we are in this particular tradition of religion
that's been handed down all these years. Instead of listening to
God and hearing God and beholding the works and power of God, we
walk in our ways. And that's the way these fellows
worked. So in these next verses, starting with verse 17, the Lord
Jesus answers these religious Jews and tells them who he is. The Lord Jesus himself answers
these men who persecute him and seek to slay him and are bound
up in their tradition and in their religion, and he tells
them who he is. Now, later on, I want you to
hold that right there a minute and turn to John 10. John 10,
now this is important here, I want you to look over here just a
moment. Later on, these same fellas, these same religionists,
and folks back then were just as religious as they are now.
Folks back then weren't any more bound by their tradition, their
religious custom, than folks are today, no more bound than
folks are today. And so he's going to tell these
people who he is, reveal who he is. Well, later on here in
John 10, these same folks came to him at the same temple in
John 10, verse 24. Then, you see it, then came the
Jews round about him, they encircled him, and they said to him, Now
then, how long Dost thou make us to doubt?" If you be the Christ,
if you be the Messiah, if you be the one for whom we look,
of whom Moses wrote, tell us plainly. Now listen to him. And
Jesus answered them, I told you. I told you. And I think he's
referring to this place right over here. I told you. Right
here at this same spot. Right here at this same temple.
I told you, and you didn't believe me. I told you and you didn't
believe me. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. When I healed that lame man,
that man was made to walk after 38 years. That bore witness that
I came from God. Nicodemus said no man could do
these miracles except God do with him. The works that I do,
my father gave me to do, they bear witness in me. But you didn't
believe me. I told you plainly and you didn't believe me. Because
you're not of my sheep. That's why you didn't believe
me. You're not of my sheep. As I said to you, my sheep hear
my voice. They believe me. I know them
and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they'll
never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. No man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I am a father of one." And then
they took up stones to stone him. And he said, many good works
have I shewed you from my Father, for which of these works do you
stone me? Why are you stoning me? What
have I done to cause you to stone me? And they replied, they answered,
for good work we've stoned thee not. We've got no objection to
religion, we've got no objection to tradition, we've got no objection
to morality, we've got no objection to your feeding the poor and
healing the sick and doing all these things. We've got no objections
to that. We're stoning you for blasphemy,
for what you said. They said, are you the Christ?
He said, I told you. I told you, and you didn't believe
me. And we're stoning you for what
you said, because it's you being a man, make yourself God. Now that's the issue. It keeps on being the issue. And here's where it started,
right over here in John 5. Go back to my text now. He said,
I told you, I told you, and you didn't believe me. I'm going
to, for my message this morning, tell you what he said about himself
to these people, these religious folks. And these weren't, these
folks to whom he's speaking here, they're not just a bunch of rabble-rousers
and rag muffins that he gathered up off the street. These are
the Jews. These are the folks with religion,
with custom, with feast days, and worship days, and holy days,
and Easter's, and Lent's, and denominations, and offices, and
Sanhedrin's, and doctrines of Pharisees who believed in the
resurrection, the Sadducees who didn't believe in the resurrection,
and the scribes, and the students of scripture, and all. These
are folks just like folks today. Just like folks today. And the
issue is not works. The issue, many good works have
I showed you, for which of these do you stone me? We don't stone
you for good works. We've got no objection to good
works. That's not the issue. That's
not the issue. It's not the issue now, it wasn't
then, it never has been, it never will be the issue. The issue
is who is Jesus Christ? That's the whole issue. Works
is not the issue. Well, I believe the Baptists
are doing more than the Methodists. I believe the Methodists are
doing more than the Catholics. I believe the Catholics are doing
more than the... They're all doing the same thing. They're
doing good work. And who's got any objection?
I'm for it. I'll send an offering and help
them. But that's not the issue. It
wasn't the issue here. All right, what did he say in
verse 17? The Lord answered them and said,
My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought
the Lord to kill him, because he not only had broken their
Sabbath, but he said God was his Father, making himself equal
with God. In other words, they understood
exactly what he was saying. They understood it here, and
they understood it when he repeated it in John 10, I and my Father
are one. Now my friends, this little Preacher
in the small town of Ashland, Kentucky is not going to try
to explain the Trinity. I couldn't if I wanted to. No
man can comprehend God. Luther, Martin Luther said one
time, I don't need a God I can understand. If I could comprehend
him and understand him, he'd be like me. Can you by searching find out
God? It's higher than the heavens, it's deeper than hell, it's broader
than the sea. What can you know? Well, I can
tell you what I do know. I do know from his own words,
the Lord our God is one God. One God. There are not three
gods, there's one God. And he reveals himself to us
as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Listen to the scriptures, Isaiah
7, 14. Now listen to this. The Lord himself shall give you
a sign. A virgin shall be with child,
and I shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. God with us. There's Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, and yet one God. And that God came to earth in
the form, in the habit, of a man. He made himself of no reputation. He was born of a woman. He was
made under the law. Isaiah 9, 6 says this. In other
words, what I'm saying is this. There's one God. There's not
three gods. There's one God. God is Spirit, and God is revealed
in Christ. And the Holy Spirit is the power
and the thoughts and the of God, the Holy Spirit, yet there's
one God. When we talk about Christ sitting at the right hand of
God, we're talking about position. That's what we're talking about.
We're talking about he was exalted as a man. He's the God-man. And
the God-man is exalted, not that God the Father sits here and
the Son sits over here and the Spirit over here and the three
bodies or forms or revelations. No, there's one revelation. God
is spirit. They that worship him, worship
him in spirit and truth. And Jesus Christ is the only
revelation of God. Let me show you that in John
1 18. Listen to this. John 1 18. John 1 18. No man hath seen God
at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. Now Jesus
Christ was standing on this earth when that was said. And yet he
said he's in the bosom of the Father. Jesus Christ is God. He never left the bosom of the
Father. He came into this world having
never left the bosom of the Father. God is omnipresent. Omnipotent,
omniscient, and omnipresent, and is one God. That's the reason
when the The disciples asked the Lord Jesus, show us the Father.
He said, you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I'm the only
one you'll ever see. I'm the only revelation of God
that you'll ever see. Not only here, but in heaven.
He that has seen me has seen the Father. Believest thou not
that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? I can't explain
that. I just know that that's so. Isaiah
9, 6 says this. Under us, a son is born. Under us, a child is born. Under
us, a son is given. The government shall be upon
his shoulders, and thou shalt call his name Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."
That's who Jesus Christ is. He's God. He says, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
God the Father is God, God the Son is God, God the Holy Spirit
is God. They're one God. And yet three persons. As I said, I can't explain that.
I'm simply saying that it's something. And Jesus Christ is the revelation
of God. And while he came into this world
in a body form, in a bodily form, and stood on this earth, he never
left the bosom of the Father. And when we get to glory, we're
going to, we're going to praise and magnify the name of Christ. In John 1, it says, in the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and all
things were made by Him. By whom? By Christ as God. And without Him was not anything
made that was made, and the Word was made flesh, that same Word
who is with God and is God and by whom God made all things,
that word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and full of truth. He's the God-man. And this is
what he's saying to them. I and my Father are one. I and
my Father are one. My Father works, and I work.
Jesus Christ is God. He's not just He's not just the
Son of God, He's God. And yet He is the Son of God.
He's the revelation of God. Turn to Hebrews 1 just a moment.
Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. Listen to
this. Here are six or seven things about Christ Jesus, our Lord. And to try to divide God is folly. It's utter folly to try to divide
God. He's not divided. Listen to this
in Hebrews 1. God, who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son.
Now listen to what he says about him. Whom he hath appointed heir
of all things, by whom he made the worlds, who, being the brightness
of his glory and the exact express image of his person, who upholds
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
on earth." That's Christ. The exact image of God. All right,
go back to the text now. Here's the next thing that he
said. The next thing he said is in verse 19. He says, My father
and I are one. And they understood he was making
himself equal with God. He was, he is God. Verse 19. Then answered Jesus and said
to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing
of himself, but what he seeth the Father do. And for what things
wherever he doeth, the Father, these also doeth the Son." As
I said, it's impossible for God to be divided. For the Father
loveth the Son. and showeth him all things that
himself doeth, and he will show him greater works than these,
that ye may marvel." Now, I know that Christ speaks here as our
representative, because he was our representative and our redeemer
and our federal head. He came to do the Father's will.
He said, it's written in the book, I come to do thy will,
O God. But he's also saying here that
the purpose and will of the Father, the covenant mercies of the Father,
are the covenant mercies of the Son. In other words, it's the
same. God who decreed to have a people,
to have a new heaven and new earth, God who decreed to have
a kingdom reigned over by Christ, is Christ. They're one and the
same. Their purposes are the same.
It's impossible for them to be divided. What the Father wills,
the Son wills. And what the Son wills, he redeems,
and what the Son redeems, the Spirit calls. Turn with me to John chapter
4, just back one page, verse 34. John 4, 34. Jesus said to them, My meat is
to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. And
when he prayed in Gethsemane's garden, he said, Father, I finish
the work you gave me to do. One and the same. One and the
same. All right, turn back to my text.
Here's the third. He says, first of all now, I
and my Father are one. He says, secondly, I am one with
my Father in his purpose. What the Father purposes, the
Son purchases and redeems. What the Father wills, the Son
carries out. I came not to do my will, but
the will of him that sent me. In verse 21, he says he's one
with the Father in sovereignty. Verse 21. For as the Father raiseth
up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will. For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom
he will. Now to understand what he's saying
here, you've got to go back to Exodus 33. Will you do that with
me? Exodus 33. And we go all the
way back to the days of Moses, man of God. And we see here Moses
made a request. Actually, he made three requests.
Moses had a place where he met with God, the cloud. They called it the tent of meeting,
and the cloud of God's glory would come over that tent, and
the people would stand and watch Moses as he went out there to
meet with God. And the Lord would come and speak
to Moses as he's praying. He'd speak to Moses. And on this
particular occasion, this is after Israel had left Egypt,
they were in the wilderness, in the tent of meeting, and Moses
went out there, and he really made three requests. He really
asked three things. Verse 13, he said, Now therefore,
to the Lord, he said, Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found
grace in thy sight, show me now thy way, that I may know thee,
that I may find grace in thy sight, and consider that this
nation is thy people. And God said, My presence shall
go with thee, and I'll give thee rest. Or here's his second request. And he said to him, Moses said
to the Lord, If your presence go not with me, carry us not
hence. For whither shall it be known
here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is
it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated,
I and thy people, from all the people that are on the face of
the earth? And the Lord said to Moses, I'll do this thing
that thou hast spoken, For I found grace in my sight, and I know
thee by name." That's two requests. Alright, Moses asked him the
third. And he said, Lord, I beseech thee, show me your glory. Show me your glory. And the Lord
said, I will make all my goodness, my goodness, my glory. Moses
asked, show me your glory. Well, God's glory is his goodness.
I know the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament shows
his handiwork, and we see God's glory in a lot of things, but
Moses is asking God, Moses had seen the Red Sea parted, he'd
seen the rock give forth water, he'd seen the death of the firstborn,
seen all these things, but he wanted to see God's ultimate,
chief, greater glory, the glory of God. That's what he wanted to see,
the glory of God. And God said, alright Moses,
I'll make my goodness, that's God's greatest glory is his goodness,
his grace, to pass before you and I'll proclaim, verse 19,
the name of the Lord before you and I'll be gracious, I'll be gracious, gracious to
the guilty, gracious to sinners, gracious to traitors, gracious
to murderers, gracious to harlots, gracious to publicans, I'll be
gracious to whom I will be gracious. And I'll show mercy. Lord, if
thou shouldst mark iniquity, who would stand, but this mercy
would be. And I'm going to show mercy. And I'm going to show
mercy to whom I will show mercy. That's God's goodness and that's
God's glory. Now listen back over my text.
It's what Christ said, I and my Father are one. I am God. And as the Redeemer,
as the representative of my people, I'm one with God in purpose. And I'm one with God in sovereignty.
Verse 21, for as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them,
even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. He'll be gracious to
whom he will. He'll show mercy to whom he will.
And if you'll turn to Romans 9, the Apostle Paul referred,
he did the same thing I'm doing this morning, in Romans chapter
9. When he was talking about the
will of God in redemption and the will of God in mercy and
the will of God in grace, he did the same thing I did. He
went back and referred to Moses. Look at Romans 9. referred to
that incident in Exodus 33. Paul the apostle did. Look at Romans 9, just a moment.
Verse 11, verse 10, Romans 9. And not only this, but when Rebekah
also had conceived by one, even our father Isaac, for 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 to her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob hath a loved, Esau hath a hated."
Now what shall we say then? Is this unfair? Is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid. For he said to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, it's of God. It's short mercy. Same thing I did this morning.
I go back to my text now, John 5. Our Lord said, my father and
I won, we won in purpose and we won in sovereignty. Now then,
my friends, When I read that story about the impotent people
around the sheep gate and the pool of Bethesda, what did it
say? There was a multitude there.
There were very many there. Our Lord walked by many of them
and said to one man, will you be made whole? The Son quickeneth
whom he will. He'll show mercy to whom he will.
That's just, that's fact. That's scriptural. That's just
so. So unquickeneth whom he will.
And I wouldn't change that. It's in his purpose, his will. The Apostle Paul said, I thank
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of spirit and belief in the truth. Alright, here's the fourth thing
he said, verse 22. For the Father judgeth no man,
he hath committed all judgment to the Son. That all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. Even honoreth not
the Son, honoreth not the Father. If they're one, you can't honor
Christ and not honor the Father. You can't honor the Father and
not honor Christ. They're one. He that has seen
me has seen my Father. There's only one revelation of
God and that's Christ. You can't worship the Father
and hate his revelation. You can't worship the Father
and hate his image. He's the exact image. You can't
worship the Father and hate his glory. Christ is the brightness
of his glory. The glory of God is revealed
in Christ. No man knows God who doesn't
know Christ. God is Spirit. No man has seen
God at any time. No man knows the Father but the
Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. You can't know God
and not know Christ. Christ is God. Is that what he's
saying here? No man can worship God who doesn't
worship God in Christ. There's no other revelation of
God. See, that's the reason the heathen, they worship the stars,
or they worship the moon, or they worship the sun, or they
worship the creature. because they don't know God.
God hasn't revealed himself to them. The only thing they see
of God is these things which they worship. But God came down
here to earth, took on himself the form of a servant, the likeness
of sinful flesh, was made a man, and revealed himself. He revealed
his sovereignty, he revealed his righteousness, he revealed
his mercy, he revealed his truth, he revealed his glory in Christ
Jesus. And they said we won't have him,
meaning we won't have God. We don't like God the way he
reveals himself, we want God the way we think he ought to
be. That's the way, we want God like we have made God to be. But God was in Christ. And that's
what he's saying here, no man honors The Father who does not
honor the Son, that all men shall honor the Son even as they honor
the Father. Glorify the Son even as they
glorify the Father. He that honoreth not the Son
honoreth not the Father, because the Son is the Father. That's
right. The Son is the Father. I and
my Father are one. You see, let me show you something
over here in 1 John 2. 1 John chapter 2, this is the epistle
of John, 1 John chapter 2. Let me show you something here
in verse 23 of 1 John chapter 2. Whosoever denieth the Son,
the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father. Now turn to 1 John 5.20. And we know, 1 John 5, 20, that
the Son of God is come, he has come and given us an understanding. Apart from Christ, there's no
understanding God. There's no revelation of God.
That we may know him that is true. You want to know the true
God? That we're in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus
Christ? This is the true God. This is
the true God. This is eternal life. You see
what I'm saying? He is God. You can't, in Revelation 5, in
glory, the host of heaven, they sang unto Him, the Lamb. They worshiped the Lamb. They
don't worship the Father and say, we appreciate Jesus, what
you're doing. No, they worship the Lamb. He is God. I hope you understand what I'm
saying. This is the very thing they rejected. He said, I told
you plainly, and you didn't believe me. I told you over there plainly,
you didn't believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. Now, I hope you are of his sheep,
because his sheep hear his voice. And their contention was, you're
not God. You're not God. We'll take your
works, we'll take your salvation, we'll take your righteousness,
but we're not going to take you as God. He is God. You can't honor the
Father if you don't honor the Son. So clear. Let's look at the next one quickly.
He's one with the Father in salvation. Look at verse 24. Verily, verily,
I say to you, he that heareth my and believeth on him that
sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life."
What he's saying is this. Now, the Scriptures declare salvations
of the Lord. The Scriptures declare that the
salvation of the righteous is of God. Salvation belongs to
God. That's right. What Jesus Christ
is saying, salvation belongs to me. The Son quickeneth whom he will.
And if you hear my words, he said, and you believe on him
that sent me. I came out of the bosom of the
Father. I came down here. I came as the
only revelation of God. If you can hear me, and you can
believe my words, and you can believe on me, and believe the
purpose for which I'm sent, that's what he's saying. He says that
man who hears is already saved. He hears my word and believes
the purpose for which I came, already saved. And he'll never
be condemned. What does it say? He'll never
come into condemnation. He'll never face judgment, because
I'm judged for him, because he's passed already from death to
life. Now, this is not raising your
hand and doing something to satisfy the The thoughts of me and this
is between you and He's speaking here this morning just like He
spoke back then, saying the same thing. All I'm doing is reading
it. I'm God, one in purpose, one
in sovereignty, one in salvation, one in honor, one in glory, and
you hear me and you believe me. These things I'm saying, you've
passed from death into life. That's the reason you're here.
He said, My sheep hear My voice, he that heareth My word, and
believeth on him that sent Me hath life. My sheep hear My voice,
and they believe, they follow Me. They do. You say, when does
a man say when he hears? When he believes. Because most
people don't hear. Christ said they have ears, but
they don't hear. They're hearing these words, but they're not
putting them together. I've got a whole lot of teachers
in this congregation, and you know what I'm talking about.
Your students sit out there and you teach for an hour or 45 minutes. They hear you, but they're not
hearing you. They hear you. They hear your voice. They see
you standing there, but they don't hear you. Some of them
do. Some of them hear you. And they know what you're saying,
they understand you. Isn't that right? They hear you and they
understand you. Some do, most of them don't. And those who
hear, they have an interest. And I'm saying those that hear
Christ have an interest, and God gave them that interest.
That's life. The life in them responds to
the life speaking to them. The life in them responds to
the life spoken. The life in them responds to
the word of life. Yeah, that's right. I see that. What do you mean you see it? You don't see it out there. You
see it in here. I understand what you're saying. I see what you're saying. I hear
what you're saying. And then he says this, 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. Now he doesn't say the dead in the graves, he said the
dead. Who is that? That's dead sinners. Dead in
trespasses and sin, and Adam all died. This is spiritual resurrection. Later on he's going to talk about
natural resurrection of the body, because he says they that are
in the graves are going to hear my voice. The hour is coming now, right
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God.
My voice, Christ said. And they that hear shall live,
for as the Father hath life in himself, he is given to the Son
to have life in himself. Christ is the life. He's God. Now marvel not at this. You think
this is unusual? Wait a minute. The hour is coming
in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice. That's another resurrection.
Blessed and happy as he who had part in the first resurrection,
who heard the voice of the Son of God. That's what I'm preaching. That's what he said. Salvation is a resurrection.
Salvation is being born of God. Salvation is the work of God,
not the work of a preacher. I'm not persuading anybody to
do anything. I can't do it to begin with. God can. God gave me an understanding
of this. He can give you the understanding
of it. But all the arm-twisting and whip-popping and all of these
sad, somebody dies and don't you want to meet mama in heaven,
well sure, who wouldn't? Meet mama anywhere. Our mama's
gone over to Virginia and we miss her, don't we? But that's
not the issue. Issues, who is Jesus Christ? Now, that's going to be settled.
Who is God?

Jesus Christ Reveals Who He Is

What does the Bible say about the nature of Jesus Christ?

How do we know Jesus is God?

Why is the doctrine of the Trinity important for Christians?

What does Jesus mean when He says, 'I and my Father are one'?

Why is the Sabbath important and how does Jesus relate to it?

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Jesus Christ Reveals Who He Is

What does the Bible say about the nature of Jesus Christ?

How do we know Jesus is God?

Why is the doctrine of the Trinity important for Christians?

What does Jesus mean when He says, 'I and my Father are one'?

Why is the Sabbath important and how does Jesus relate to it?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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