DO YOU REALLY KNOW JESUS CHRIST?

Photo taken from B Smith's Patio

 

 

634 - 1 DO YOU REALLY KNOW JESUS CHRIST?

September 9, 1981

Henry F. Kulp

 

John 1: 1-14  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the 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 truth.

I was told this past week that one of the larger pollsters took a sampling of some folks, and they found that 30 to 40% of those who were asked said they were born again. In other words, they were saved. I wonder what would have happened if they would have used the word, saved, instead of born-again. 

1/  I can’t but doubt these figures. These statistics, I do not think are true, because many folks say they believe in Jesus Christ, but when you question them, you find that it is not the Christ of the Bible. You can believe in Christ and not believe in the Christ of the Bible, so this morning I want to show you the Christ of the Bible, and I want you to determine whether you believe in the right Christ.

2/  Verse 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This verse takes us back to eternity past. No one can possibly understand eternity. No finite being can grasp infinity—it is beyond our comprehension. And that is why many people stumble when they read verse 1

3/  We are going to read about and be talking about eternity past, but WHEN all is said and done, it is extremely difficult to even catch a glimpse of it. We must accept it by faith, as we talked about it the last few mornings. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence, the proof of things not seen. You and I cannot go back into eternity past.

4/  Only through the Bible can we go back. Let us look at the Word, and of course, this refers to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and this existed in eternity past, He is without beginning. He has always existed in eternity past, He is without beginning. He has always existed.

5/  There is no “the”, no definite article in the first three WORDS. So we could translate it—in the beginning that had no beginning. So Genesis 1: 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And John 1: 1 start the same. The same three words, and both times it means in a beginning that was not a beginning. But then Genesis talks about creation, but John talks about Christ being here before creation. For He does the creating.  

6/  Then notice, the little word, “was” is used four times in the first two verses. This verb is very interesting. Why mention a simple thing like that? Because every time it appears, it is in the same tense, conveying the same thing. Eternal existence, He has always existed. He had no beginning.

7/  What did He do? He was with God. The little preposition, “with” tells us of familiarity. In mingling with one another you enjoy familiarity, and is what this word could be translated. The same was in the beginning, having familiarity with God. The Father and the Son had an intimate familiarity with one another. They enjoyed one another. There was a relationship here that boggles the mind. All in eternity past. 

8/  Then notice, it says the Word was God. This is the outstanding statement in all the Bible on deity of Jesus Christ, for the word was in fact, very God, Then when you go to verse 14 you find that the Word became flesh.

9/  There is a Psalm that put together a beautiful thought about eternity. I want you to turn to it with me. 

Psalm 90: 1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.

Whether you realize it or not, these words came from the pen of Moses. We always think of Psalms as being written by David, but here the writer is Moses. Notice what he writes about his Lord. He says, Lord, Thou has been our dwelling place in all generations, before the mountains were born, or thou gave birth to the earth, from everlasting to everlasting—and then the original copy says, THOU – God. So you can say. Lord Jesus, from the beginning you were there—God.  From the vanishing point of the past to the vanishing point of the future, You have existed – God, and you will always exist.   

10/  John 8: 58, 59 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 Here Jesus Christ said, Before Abraham was, I AM. What He is saying is, before Abraham was ever born, I existed. And the Jews around him picked up stones and said, how blasphemous He is—that the illegitimate Son of a carpenter and his teenage bride, would declare Himself God. But it was no God – He existed before Abraham.  

 

11/  Verse 3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

All things came into being through Him. Did you know that? I am sure many people do not. Many people think the Father is the Creator, but He is not. The Son is. It was the Father who did the planning, of course, but Jesus Christ is the Creator.  

12/  Let me show you the deity of Christ as it springs out at you from the Word of God. 

John 1: 43 - 49  The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Now as one reads this Scripture on Nathaniel, you realize that the Jews are taught from early infancy to worship none but God, and bow to Him only. Why then did Nathaniel apparently worship Christ the first time they met? I know I used to think about that. As a young man I used to read this Scripture, and I would say, what would make this young Jew so certain that Jesus is God. You will notice, they brought Nathaniel to Jesus, and the Lord said unto him, “Behold an Israelite in whom there is no guile”, and Nathaniel was quite properly taken back by the apparent knowledge Jesus displayed of a perfect stranger. One whom he had never met before. So he said to Christ, What do you know about me? You have never seen me before. The answer of Jesus Christ so astounded  him that he  bowed before the stranger and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. 

13/  Jesus said, Before they called you, you were under a fig tree, and I saw you there. That doesn’t seem like a great thing to say. That certainly doesn’t seem to explain why Nathaniel worshiped Jesus Christ. Until you realize the geographical positions of the two persons involved. The people of Palestine understand this Scripture. Jesus and Nathaniel were separated by a span of seven miles—that is when Jesus claimed to have recognized this stranger. You might say, that is pretty keen vision, but you try to make out the form of your closest friend, at a distance of one mile, and then see what chance you have of recognizing a stranger seven miles away. But slim as that possibility is, all natural explanations are ruled out by the fact that in that seven miles is a hilltop. Jesus was on one side of the hill and Nathaniel on the other. Jesus Christ did that which is absolutely impossible to do. He could see through the hill and He could see seven miles. Immediately Nathaniel knows no one could have knowledge like that but God.

14/  John 17: 5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.

If you doubt  the preexistence of Jesus Christ, notice the high-priestly prayer of our Saviour. Again we meet His preexistence. He says, O, Father glorify thou me with Thine own self with the glory I had with thee before the world was.  

15/  John 14: 8, 9 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

Here Philip makes a request—show us the Father, and it sufficeth us, then Jesus said, Have I been so long time with you and thou dost not know me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the Father. How sayest thou, show us the Father? 

No honest person can escape the intended conclusion. When Jesus said, He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, He was stating His deity in the strongest words that any man could use.  

16/  Let us give you an illustration. Suppose I’m preaching here, I would say to you, you have been listening to me preach for many years from this pulpit. Would you like to have the President of the United States – Ronald Reagan, come and speak to you next Sunday, and you might reply with enthusiasm, Yes, we would. Some might say, any change would be for the better. But then, what do you suppose would happen if I were to answer you in these words? I have been speaking to you all these years, and you do not know me? He that has seen me, has seen the President of the United States, why do you say then, show us the President? What do you suppose you would say? Probably some deacon would stand up and say, You people hold him and I’ll phone for the wagon.

17/  Among the sacred names of God as He revealed Himself to the Hebrews in the Old Testament, is the hallowed Name – it is the name, Jehovah. We are not going to study this name, Jehovah, we are just going to use it this morning. I am sure you have had these folks come to your door who say they are witnesses for Jehovah. But yet they will tell you, Jesus Christ is not God, He is not Jehovah. So I ask you, do you know Jesus Christ? Is He God? Is He Jehovah? We could give you Scripture after Scripture, but we will give you a few that cannot be disputed. 

18/  Psalm 24: 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Here we have a Psalm about the coming of the Lord of Glory, and He tells us, this Lord of Glory, this King of Glory, is Jehovah of hosts. He is God. 

I Corinthians 2: 8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Here Paul speaks very clearly, which none of the rulers of this world had known, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory.  This, we see Paul is saying the God of Psalm 24: 10 is the Redeemer of the New Testament. 

Notice James 2: 1 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.

There he calls Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory. So we see both Paul and James did use the Jehovah text of the Old Testament, ascribing to Jesus Christ, the only One they knew. 

19/  Isaiah 44: 6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Here we read. Thus saith Jehovah the King of Israel. I am the first, I am the last, and beside me there is no God. These are tremendous, impressive words. The Lord God describes Himself as a Redeemer, Whose Name is Jehovah of Hosts. He claims eternal existence for Himself. In the phrase I am the first and the Last, and then declares, He is the only God in existence.

20/  Revelations 1: 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Here John has the audacity to describe Jesus Christ in the same words saying, I am the First and the last, I am Alpha and Omega. It is impossible to escape what is being said here. He applies to Jesus the Old Testament description of the One Great God. He makes Him to be first and last, the beginning and the end.  

Isaiah 43: 11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.

Here it says, I, even I, am Jehovah and beside Me there is no Saviour. These words from God to Isaiah absolutely permit no misunderstanding, and we don’t have to worry about some man’s interpretation. The God who is Jehovah says in plain words, beside Me, there is no Saviour.   

21/  Luke 19: 10  For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.

John 10: 9 I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

He said in plain words, words that a child can understand, I am the Saviour of men. In other words, He came to accomplish the task that is peculiar to Jehovah. He offers Himself as Saviour, He puts Himself in the place of the Almighty Who had already established the fact that He alone can be the Saviour of the Lost. Of sinners.  

22/  Psalm 23: 1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Here Jehovah is my shepherd, I shall not want. What a figure of speech. The Heavenly Father portrays Himself as the Guide, the Protector, the Defender, the Provider, for Israel who happens to be His flock. 

Notice, John 10: 11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

And this is truly startling to read. Jesus Christ said, I am the good Shepherd, so it is clear if you want to know Jesus Christ, you must know Him as God, as Deity. If He is anything less than that, He can’t save you, He cannot be your Redeemer.

AMEN

Ref: 634 - 1 / 09/09/1981 / DO YOU REALLY KNOW JESUS CHRIST? / July 18, 2020

GOD SPEAKS TO THE ROMAN CHURCH

Photo from Smith's patio

 

 

 

76 – GOD SPEAKS TO THE ROMAN CHURCH

September 15, 1963

Henry F. Kulp

 

Romans 1: 1 - 4 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:

Here we have, first of all, Paul as the writer of this epistle—and he talks about himself first of all and says that he is a servant, a slave of the Lord Jesus Christ—He is an apostle—a sent-one by Jesus Christ. Than the third thing we see is that he was separated unto the Gospel of God. Here you have separation—there is no question about it – God calls His people to separation. How we can go along with those who do not have the Gospel of God, is beyond me.  

1/  Notice the last four words of that first verse—the Gospel of God  and then link them with the first three words of vs. 3 for the second verse is in parenthesis—so you have this—the Gospel of God concerning His Son. That is the Gospel—that is what Paul was to preach, 

2/  The Gospel means  good news. For that is the meaning of the word, and God’s good news is about Christ Jesus. I wonder if you recognize that God has no other good news other than the good news concerning His Son. God has nothing good to say to any man except, Jesus Christ died for you. Have you received Him as your Saviour?  

3/  The Gospel of God. In these days we have so deluded the Gospel in order to make it simple that we have all-together failed to get the meaning of the Gospel of God. Only too frequently we think of the Gospel only as a means by which we are saved and we go to Heaven and we will not spend eternity in hell, and so this interpretation of the Gospel is occupied with the benefits that the sinner gets, and the sinner is inclined to become occupied with just the mercies of God and the grace of God that flows into him. The Gospel of God, then, is not simply the way whereby I am saved—it is far more than that. It is the Gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ God’s Son and our Lord. The central object of all this scene is not the sinner and the sinner’s blessing, but Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.  

4/  Notice two things that are said of Christ. First of all it tells of His humanity Vs. 3  Concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh. Now there is no doubt the humanity of Jesus Christ by birth is important for us. Then notice, it says here, which was made—it should be who was born of the seed of David. It is necessary for us to see that Jesus Christ was a real man. I suppose a better word would be “true man” instead of “real man”. Jesus Christ was a true man. Jesus Christ said He was a man.

John 8: 39, 40 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

Here Christ was debating with the Jews as to whether or not they were the children of Abraham. He said if ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. And He brings out the fact here that He is a man. 

5/  Paul was sure of the real humanity of Jesus Christ. 

I Corinthians 15: 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

Here he writes to the church at Corinth and he says, for since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead. Here he is bringing out the humanity of Jesus Christ – He was true man.

6/  I Timothy 2: 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Any man who reads the Scriptures with honesty in his heart will soon be convinced that Jesus Christ was a man. 

7/  Then the next thing that is said about Him is His deity in verse 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. 

This is a declaration of Christ’s deity. This declaration is that of the Holy Spirit, and the proof of the declaration is in the resurrection. Thus, we have the birth and burial of Jesus Christ linked together—He Who was divinely born was divinely raised. He who was born in a virgin’s womb was raised from the tomb. It is generally assumed that this verse means that Christ was raised from the dead, and was proved to be the Son of God by this resurrection. But this doesn’t seem to be the meaning here. I will read the 4^th verse as you have it in the margin of your Scofield Bible. And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness that the resurrection of such as were dead—in other words, the resurrection of dead ones. He was declared to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection of some who were dead.  

8/ I want you to turn to the Book of Matthew, and it throws some light on what I mean. 

Matthew 27: 51 - 53 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

Remember, He was proved to be the Son of God by the resurrection of dead ones. Remember when Jesus Christ was on the cross there was a supernatural darkness for three hours. 

Matthew 27: 45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.

Now from the sixth hour there was a darkness over the land until the ninth hour. You realize no one saw what happened on the cross during those hours when Jesus Christ bore our sins. No one saw the agony, and the excruciating pain and torture of His body that Jesus Christ went through before He died, for there was darkness. 

Then we read, Matthew 27: 51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

There was an earthquake, and the rocks were rent and broke all over the country. Supernatural happenings are all about.   

9/  Another thing, there was a disturbance in the grave yard. Thousands of saints, all the way from the patriarchs who had been buried in Jerusalem, and their graves were broken open. What a night that must have been in Jerusalem. The saints came out of the graves and the people in Jerusalem that night found themselves walking on the streets with people out of the graves. When Jesus died there was a great disturbance among the dead. The graves just wouldn’t stay shut. Notice, Jesus Christ lived as no other man lived, and Jesus Christ died as no other man died. When He died all nature was disrupted. Even the sun went dark, the earth trembled and the earth opened and the saints who lived 1,000 years before were walking among the people of that day. 

There is not one atom of reason for any man who has had an open Bible in His hand to doubt the deity of Jesus Christ—He was declared to be the Son of God with power.

10/  Now we must understand that Jesus Christ is both Man and God, there are two verbs that give us the answer to this problem. We read He was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, declared to be the Son of God with power. The two verbs are “made” and “declared”. The Bible is never afraid to put the twin truths of the humanity and deity of Jesus Christ in the same verse. Our text proclaims He was both made and declared. He is the God-man.  

11/  He was a man, because for example, take this account of Christ in the storm. Is there anything more human than the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ tired out and asleep on the boat. You read this portion very carefully and you will find that it is evening time, and it was the time when He was tired and worn out from the day. It was the time when He first pronounced woes upon the city. It was the day when He really went after the Pharisees, it was the day when His family thought He had lost His mind, and He announced that He would never listen to any pleas that came to Him from His mother, Mary.  

 

Mark 4: 35 - 41 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Notice in the 36^th verse. They took Him even when He was in the ship—even as He was—it is a phase that shows us there was something about His condition that drew the attention of the  disciples. He lay down in the boat and went fast asleep. He was so tired that the wind and the storm and the rush of the water into the boat did not awaken Him. Is there anything more human than a man tired out, fast asleep with the sleep of just shear exhaustion. 

The disciples awakened Him and then the scene changes – He arose, rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still – and then you notice that the disciples said, “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the waves obey Him?”  Here  we have His humanity, and His deity. In humanity He was fast asleep—exhausted. In His deity, He was awakened and He stilled the winds and the waves and they became calm. Yes, He is a Man, He is also God.     

12/  I want to set forth one more example of the two natures of the God-man. It is the story of tribute money. The world says there is nothing more sure than death and taxes, and the Romans who controlled the land of promise where Jesus Christ was living, had a tax upon the people, they called it a head tax. And a day came when this head tax was to be collected. The tax collector came to Peter, does your Master pay taxes? The very fact that he asked the question of Peter, showed that even the tax collector recognized there was something in Jesus Christ that was a little different from all the rest of the men that he met. Actually, it was not Peter’s place to answer for the Lord Jesus Christ, but Peter – impetuous Peter – according to his nature agreed that the Lord would pay taxes. When Peter arrived at the house where the Lord Jesus Christ was staying, the Lord took him aside and began to talk to him privately. He asked Peter if he recognized that Kings exempted themselves from paying tax, but they took money from others, and in so doing they were free. Peter agreed that all this was true, and the Lord pointed out that because He, Himself was a King, it should be only natural that He should be exempt from giving taxes. Yet, so no offense might be given to the worldly Peter, He told Peter to go out and pay the taxes. But the method of securing the money is startling—in fact, He said to Peter – Go down to my Sea of Galilee, which I, of course, created, and I’ll have one of My creatures loose a coin in the water, and there is going to be a fish that is going to take in his mouth. You go fishing and I’ll have that fish come to your hook. You can take that fish out of the water and take the coin out of his mouth and it will be a coin of sufficient value to pay my taxes and yours. 

 

It is a human thing to pay taxes, but certainly the divinity of Jesus Christ is seen in His way of paying them. Humanity and deity in the same portion of Scripture. Humanity is subject to the laws of the land—Deity knows the movement of the fish in the sea, knows the whereabouts of a lost coin.

Matthew 17: 24 - 27  And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

AMEN

09/15/1962/ 76 - GOD SPEAKS TO THE ROMAN CHURCH / July 2020

THE MAGNIFICENCE OF JESUS CHRIST

Photo taken by B Smith from the patio

 

 

634-2 THE MAGNIFICENCE OF JESUS CHRIST

October 4, 1981

Henry F. Kulp

 

 

The great question facing every individual born into this world is, who is Jesus Christ, and what is He? Your answer to those two questions will determine your eternal destiny. Will you spend it in Heaven or hell? What do you think about Jesus Christ? Who is He, what is He? 

John 1: 1 - 5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

1/  John tells us here in this Scripture, that in a beginning that was not a beginning was the Word, and the Word was face to face with God the Father, and then the Word was God. For Jesus Christ to be anything  less than God, He cannot be your Saviour.

2/  Many claim to believe in Jesus Christ, but the Christ they believe in is not the Christ of the Bible. To many He is a great teacher. To others He is a Way-shower, and to others He is God Almighty, Who is the only Saviour, and the last one is where we fit and where we know the Bible wants us to be.

3/  The greatest offense against God the Father is to bring the charge against His Son, He is not God. Let us see in the Bible whether Jesus Christ is really God or whether He is just another man or some created being.

4/  John 14: 1 Jesus Christ turned to His disciples and said, Ye believe in God, believe also in Me. He taught them to put as much confidence in Him as in God. Thus identifying Himself with God, and what man would ever be able to do that? Say, you put as much confidence in Me as you do in God. Could any angel say that? Of course not.    

5/  John 5: 23 Here Jesus Christ states, all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. Let me ask you, Who is this person who dares to take a share of God’s honor? To be on equal basis in being honored with God?

6/  Among the sacred names of God as He has revealed Himself to us, one is a hallowed name. The exact form of which is lost for a modern one. This name is Jehovah. The name Jehovah appears over 7,000 times in the Old Testament, and it was held in such reverence and awe, man never spoke it in audible terms, and when the priest was reading the law and came to the sacred name of God, he shut his eyes, bowed his head, crossed his hands upon his breast, and worshipped. The congregation, knowing what he was thinking about this name of God, bowed with him and joined him in homage.

7/  When a scribes was  copying the law, when he was to copy that name, he always used a new pen to write it in the text. In the course of time it became agreed that since that name was never spoken, they would  leave a blank in the record, and copies were thus made in this fashion. When the reader came to this blank, he knew that the special name of God was intended, and he paused and worshipped and thought of that Name. Thus, after generations and centuries of this practice, the name became lost and for the sake of convenience, we use the English form Jehovah, and simply state it. It was the holiest word to speak of God. This word Jehovah, always means the Person of Jesus Christ.

8/  We have those who call themselves Jehovah’s witnesses, but deny Jesus Christ is God. This is a ridiculous teaching.

9/  In the third chapter of Genesis we have the first announcement of the coming Redeemer. It was Jehovah who said that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpents head. Then in the 4^th chapter of Genesis it was Jehovah-God Who accepted Abel because he came by the means of the shed blood of the lamb. In the 6^th chapter of Genesis when God made provision for the salvation of the believing remnant from the flood, it was Jehovah who gave the pattern of the ark.

10/  On the eve of the departure of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, it was again Jehovah Who demanded the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. Who commanded that it be applied to the lintels and door posts.

11/  When the law was given from the slopes of Sinai. It was Jehovah who gave this law to the children of Israel.

12/  Let us take our Bibles and notice how the New Testament writers quoted the Old Testament passages describing Jehovah and applied them to Jesus Christ.

13/  Isaiah 44: 6 Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

This is a tremendous statement. The Lord God describes Himself as the Redeemer, whose Name is Jehovah of Hosts. And He claims eternal existence for Himself in the phrase, I am the first and I am the Last, and then He declares very clearly that He is the only God in existence.  Now consider the audacity of John the Apostle, who knew Jesus about as well as anyone ever did when He walked upon this earth…

Revelations 1: 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Revelations  22: 13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Notice how Jesus is described in these two passages. It is impossible to escape what he is saying. He applies to Jesus Christ the Old Testament description of the one great God – he makes Him to be first and last, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega.

14/  Exodus 20: 10, 11 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

But the 7^th day is a Sabbath unto Jehovah thy God. That is a clear statement, it is the Sabbath of Jehovah thy God. That is to say, this day belonged to Him exclusively. And with what amazement did the Jews hear the words of Jesus Christ. 

Matthew 12: 8 For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. 

In that astounding sentence, Jesus claimed to be Master and Soveriegn of the day which belongs exclusively to Jehovah.

15/  Psalm 103: 1 - 3 Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

Psalm 130: 3, 4 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

We can see very clearly from these words, there is forgiveness with God, and only from God, and the God who forgives sins is none other than Jehovah. 

Matthew 9: 1 - 3 If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

We can imagine the astonishment of the people of Israel. They heard Jesus Christ say, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven. And in high indignation, the scribes said to each other, this Man blasphemeth, and they were justified by this acclamation. Unless      this Man was God. Perhaps no other single portion of Scripture or incident in the life of Christ more thoroughly convinces us that He knew He was God. He said clearly, I forgive your sin.

16/  Matthew 4: 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 

If there was one thing that the Jews knew it was that the ultimate sin was idolatry. You are to worship none but God. Here we have a Scripture—it is very hard to understand if He is not God. 

Matthew 28: 9 Behold, Jesus met them saying, All Hail! And they came and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him. 

Some would argue, Well, it was proper for the apostles to worship Christ on this occasion, because He had been raised from the dead, but you can go throughout the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will see that He accepted worship and He went out of His way to invite that worship.

17/  John 9: 1 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

Here the apostles raise a question concerning the cause of this man’s blindness, and they said it was because of sin. Jesus corrected their harsh and erroneous opinion, explaining that this man had been born that way in order that he might become a testimony to the mighty, miraculous works of God that Jesus Christ should do. And so the Saviour made clay, anointed the eyes of the blind man, and ordered him to wash in the pool of Siloam, and when the man obeyed this very strange command, his eyes were opened and perfect sight was given to him. So this man went into the temple and gave his testimony, and he greatly distressed the Pharisees who hated Jesus Christ, so they talked to him and said, give God the praise. We know that this man, Jesus, is a sinner. He said, whether he is a sinner or not, I cannot say, but one thing I do know, that where I was blind, now I can see. It was an unanswerable argument. They were stymied. So therefore they excommunicated him and cast him out of the temple. 

John 9: 35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?

You say, that no great thing. I have been excommunicated by ecclesiastical members of a denomination. They defrocked me five times, but it has never affected my ministry one bit, for if one pulpit is closed to me another will open. If I am God’s man with God’s message. But this was not true when this blind man was cast out. To the Jew, the temple was the means of access to God, therefore when they cast the blind man from the temple, they cut him off from worshipping Jehovah, and the poor fellow went out bewildered and amazed at the hardness of the treatment given to him by the church leaders. He wondered what he would do with no means of approach to God. 

Our Lord knew what happened, and He sought him out, and when He found him He said, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He said, Who is He, Lord, that  I might believe on the Son of God? Then He said Thou hast both seen Him, and it He that talketh with thee. Thereupon, the fellow was absolutely delighted, cast himself down before Christ and worshipped saying, I believe. Christ showed that He knew He was God, and in effect, He was saying to the excommunicated man. If they will not let you worship God in the temple, worship Him in Me, right on the city pavement.

18/  Galatians 4: 4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

This is an astounding statement to think about. Jesus Christ was a Jew in humanity. He lived under the law, and He advocated the holy, unswerving obedience to the divine law, but do you realize, Jesus Christ never offered a sacrifice for Himself. Indeed He could not. He Who is the Lamb of God, needed no lamb. The lamb of the sacrifice was offered to cover the sins of the worshipper, and since Jesus Christ had no sins, He never offered a lamb.

19/  It is equally interesting to notice that Jesus Christ never prayed for forgiveness. He often sought the face and presence of His Father, but it was only in communion, and when He prayed, He talked to God as an equal.

20/  John 3: 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Jesus Christ taught the necessity of Israel, Israelites being born again. He said, You must be born again. He didn’t recommend it, He didn’t say it was a wonderful experience, He didn’t say you ought to be, but He said, you must. But Jesus Christ was never born again. Not one place do we read of Him being born again. He excluded Himself.

21/  Also we need to see, He was not a sinner. 

Hebrews 7: 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

 

That He was the Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and so He was the perfect man. Again, words cannot be clearer—in Him was no sin. 

I Peter 2: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

Who did not sin. He never committed one sinful act, He never had a sinful thought. 

II Corinthians 5: 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

He who knew no sin, was made sin for us. So it is clear that Jesus Christ was the only perfect one who ever lived on the face of this earth, because he was God manifest in human flesh.

22/  I suppose the most forceful argument for the sinlessness of Jesus Christ was His own resurrection from the dead.  We know that death is the result of sin. The wages of sin is death. 

Romans 5: 12  By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. 

James 1: 15 And sin, when it is finish bringeth forth death. 

So it is clear to us from the Word of God, that sin causes the death of all men, and Jesus Christ would have remained in the grave had He ever been guilty of one sin. 

No, we have a Saviour, Who is perfect in every way, for He is God, and He is the Redeemer of mankind, and all who trust in Him will have eternal life.

AMEN

Ref: 10/4/1981 / 634-2 THE MAGNIFICENCE OF JESUS CHRIST / July 2020