Latest / CCC West Covina / May I Present Jesus (Part 1)

Transcript

May I Present Jesus (Part 1) · CCC West Covina

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Take your Bible and turn with me, if you would, to the Gospel
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of John. And as you're turning there, as
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we begin to embark on the first few verses of John's gospel, I
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want you to turn with me to John chapter 12, John chapter 12.
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When you come to the 12th chapter of John, you are at the
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very end of Christ's public ministry.
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When you come to chapter 13, He enters his private ministry with
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His men. But in John chapter 12 you have
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the triumphal entry where everyone is praising His name
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and taking off their garments and putting them down on the
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ground, saying to Him, Hosanna, glory to God.
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In the highest, there is a whole bunch of people following the
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Christ. After all, it's Passover and
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everyone's moving in that direction anyway.
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Except for the fact that Jesus had just raised Lazarus from the
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dead. So that would include all kinds
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of curious people to understand who this Jesus is.
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And so they would be among the thousands, maybe even millions,
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following Christ into Jerusalem. And as He goes into Jerusalem,
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of course there are those in the city who are coming out to greet
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Him during that entry time into Jerusalem, which would cause the
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Pharisees to say these words in verse #19 of John 12.
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So the Pharisees said to one another, you see that you are
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not doing any good. Look, the whole world has gone
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after Him. That they began to accuse one
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another of not doing their job. Look what's happened.
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The whole world has gone after him now.
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Now, Please note that doesn't mean everybody in the world,
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because nobody in Egypt was going after him, nobody in Rome
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was going after him, nobody in Syria was going after him,
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nobody in Syria was going after him, nobody in Macedonia or Ki
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were going after him. The Pharisees are speaking in
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terms of generalities. All kinds of men from the world,
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all kinds of people from the world have gone after him.
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It doesn't mean that every person in the world was going
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after Jesus. That's like saying when John the
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Baptist was baptized in the Jordan, when it says that all of
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Jerusalem came down to be baptized by John and the Jordan,
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that doesn't mean that every single person in the city of
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Jerusalem was coming down to be baptized by John in the Jordan.
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It's a statement that talks about distinction.
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And so the Pharisees are are speaking in in, in hyperbole.
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Look at all these people following him.
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John knows that and uses a particular illustration to speak
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of some of the Greeks, some of the Gentiles, those who had
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converted to Judaism and therefore they were following
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the Christ. John uses this illustration.
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He's the only one who does it, says the verse 20.
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Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to
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worship at the feast. These then came to Philip, who
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was from Beseda of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, Sir,
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we wish to see Jesus. Now stop right there, Sir.
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We, we wish to see Jesus. Now, there is no record of the
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fact that they ever saw Jesus. There's no record that they ever
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spoke to Jesus. But John is helping you to
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understand the desire of people to see the true Jesus Christ.
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These people had a passion. They had to drive to come face
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to face with the living God and you got to stop right there and
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you got to ask yourself the question is, is is that is that
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us did did you come this morning to to see Jesus?
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Most people go to church to see other people.
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Some people go to church to be seen by other people, but do you
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come to church to truly see the true and living God?
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Do you come to see the Christ and all of his glory?
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John's whole gospel is about that.
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Somehow you might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the
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Christ, the Son of God. That's the whole purpose of his
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writing. The whole doctrine of
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Christology is wrapped up in John's gospel.
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It's a study of the Christ. Who is he and these Greeks had
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come from, who knows where, to just get a glimpse of Jesus, to
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somehow get a conversation with Jesus, to somehow be introduced
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to Jesus, which always makes us wonder why we are here.
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Thus the title for today's sermon.
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May I present to you Jesus, John 1, verses 1 to 5.
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Because when you come, I want you to see only Jesus.
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That's all that matters. That's the only motive for going
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to church. Every other motive is a wrong
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motive. The right motive is I want to
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see Jesus, I want to hear about the Lord.
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I want to come to know about the Lord.
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So at the outset, I must warn you that there are many
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churches, not just in America but all around the world, that
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introduce to people the wrong Jesus.
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Just because you go to a church doesn't mean they're going to
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introduce you to the right Jesus.
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That is very important for us to understand.
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I'm afraid that people don't really take into consideration
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where they go to church, but you should because if you go to the
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wrong church, you're going to be introduced to the wrong Jesus.
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And if you get Jesus wrong, you'll get your destiny wrong.
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You must know the right Jesus. That's why John says we write
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these things, that you may know that Jesus is the Messiah.
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Can you go to heaven and not believe that Jesus is the
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Messiah? Answer no, because you got it
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wrong. Jesus.
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He is the Messiah that was prophesied in the Old Testament.
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Can you go to heaven and not believe that Jesus is the Son of
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God? No, you can't.
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You must believe in the true identity of the Jesus that John
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explains to us in his gospel. This is absolutely crucial, so
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much so that Jesus would say these words in Matthew's Gospel
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in his very first sermon, Matthew 7 verse #15 Beware of
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the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but
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inwardly are ravenous wolves. At the very beginning of the
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ministry of Christ, and he preaches his sermon, the Sermon
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on the Mount, he gives a warning about false prophets.
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It was so clear that the apostle Paul would say these words in
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Acts chapter 20, verse 28. Be on guard for yourselves and
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for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you
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overseers to shepherd the Church of God, which he purchased with
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his own blood. I know that after my departure
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savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and
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from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse
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things to draw away the disciples after them.
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Therefore, be on the alert, remembering that night and day
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for a period of three years. I did not cease to admonish each
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one of you with tears. Paul knew that there will be
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many who will rise up from within the church after his
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departure that would draw people away from the true gospel.
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So Peter would say these words, and his second epistle, Second
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Peter, chapter 2, verse #1. But false prophets also arose
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among the people, just as there will also be false teachers
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among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies,
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even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift
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destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their
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sensuality and because of them the way of the truth will be
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maligned. And in their greed they would
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exploit you with false words. Their judgment from long ago is
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not idle and their destruction is not asleep.
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So Peter, even with more fervency, would talk about
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people who would deny the true Master, the King of Kings.
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So Jude would say these words in verse three of his epistle.
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Beloved, while I was making every effort to write to you
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about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to
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you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which
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was once for all handed down to the Saints.
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For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were
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long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly
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persons who turned the grace of our God into licentiousness and
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deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.
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So Christ warns about false prophets and false teachers.
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Paul recognizes that after his departure they're going to come
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from within, and they did in the Church of Ephesus.
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And Peter would warn about these false teachers.
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Jude would say, the warning's over, they're here, they've
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already risen among you, and they deny truly the only Master,
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our Lord Jesus. John, who wrote 3 epistles after
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the Gospel, these epistles written some 50 years after the
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resurrection of our Lord, said these words.
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John second, excuse me, second John verse #7 For many deceivers
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have gone out into the world. Those who do not acknowledge
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Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, this is the deceiver and
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the Antichrist. Watch yourselves that you do not
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lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full
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reward. Anyone who goes too far and does
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not abide in the teaching of Christ does not have God and the
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one who abides in the teaching. He has both the Father and the
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Son. If anyone comes to you and does
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not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and
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do not give him a greeting, for the one who gives him a greeting
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participates in his evil deeds. See, John knows that there are
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people who are deceivers, they're called antichrists.
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They are those who are against the Christ.
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He would say in His first epistle in First John, chapter
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2, verse #18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard
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that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrist have
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appeared. From this we know that it is the
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last hour. They went out from us, but they
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were not really of us, for if they had been of us, they would
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have remained with us, but they went out so that it would be
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shown that they all are not of us.
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But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
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I have not written to you because you do not know the
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truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the
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truth. Who is the liar but the one who
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denies that Jesus is the Messiah, the Christ?
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This is the Antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the
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Son. Whoever denies the Son does not
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have the Father. The one who confesses the Son
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has the Father also. Again, the warning, because the
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New Testament is replete with the same warning.
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Satan is a master of disguise. In fact, Paul tells us in Second
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Corinthians Chapter 11, he says these words in verse 14.
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No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an Angel of
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light. Therefore, it is not surprising
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if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of
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righteousness. Who's in will be according to
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their deeds. And then he says earlier in 2nd
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Corinthians 4, verse 3, even if our gospel is veiled, that is
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veiled to those who are perishing.
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In this case, the God of this world, who is Satan, has blinded
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the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the
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light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of
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God. Satan's whole purpose is to
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blind the minds of people so they do not recognize that Jesus
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is God. He denies the deity of Christ,
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and every false gospel denies the deity of Christ.
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That's why the question who is Jesus is the most important
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question you need to have. You need to get that part right.
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If you missed that one, you've missed the whole thing because
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the gospel is the center of the good news about the Christ.
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So you must get Jesus right. John would say this in first
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John 4. Beloved, do not believe every
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spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,
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because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
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Now think about this. This is 50 years after the
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resurrection of the Christ. We're 2000 years down the road
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from that. And John is saying there are
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many Antichrist, there are many false teachers in his day.
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Think about how many there are in this day.
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So many of them. So he says, test the spirits,
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test the message and the messenger, examine them closely.
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Listen with a critical ear, look at them with a critical eye.
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Make sure that you examine the genuineness of their message,
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the genuineness of the man in which they present.
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For is it the true Jesus? Because if it's a different
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Jesus, it's a different gospel. If it's a different gospel, it's
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satanic and it's damning. So you need to get Jesus right.
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So he says this. By this, you know, the Spirit of
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God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in
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the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not
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confess that Jesus is not from God.
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This is the spirit of the Antichrist, of which you have
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heard that is coming, and now it is already in the world.
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It's already here, it's everywhere.
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And you know what the unfortunate thing is, is that
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there are countless people, millions of them all around the
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world going to churches that deny the true identity of Jesus.
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Let me give you a few examples. There is this movement in
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Pentecostalism called the Oneness Pentecostals.
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There are 25,000,000 that claim to be a part of that
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denomination. 25,000,000 that are a part of the Oneness
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Pentecostal movement. One of the greatest proponents
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is a man who just retired from his ministry.
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His name is TD Jakes, I'm sure you've heard of him.
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The Oneness Pentecostal movement believes in what was old called
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the Sabelianism. Modern day term is Modalism.
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It denies the triune nature of the living God.
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It denies that God is 3 and one. It denies that God is self,
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existent self or the the God is Co eternal coexistent right as
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one supreme God. Modalism says that God is 1, but
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he takes on various forms at different times.
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So if he wants to be the Father, he can be the Father.
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If he wants to be the Son, he can be the Son.
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If he wants to be the Spirit, he can be the Spirit.
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But it denies the true nature of the living God.
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And so if you're a part of the Oneness Pentecostal movement,
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you are hearing the gospel about the wrong Jesus.
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You got 25 million people on their way to hell and they don't
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even know it because they got Jesus wrong.
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It's so important to hear this, to know this.
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The Word of Faith movement, 90% of everyone in the charismatic
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Pentecostal denomination, 90% of them are of the word faith
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movement. The word faith movement is all
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about signs and, and wonders and miracles and, and healings and,
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and all of those extracurricular things.
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They're really into all that. And their leaders, the most
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prominent leaders, deny the deity of Christ.
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People like Creflo Dollar and people like Benny Hinn, people
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like Kenneth Copeland, all those men deny the deity of Christ.
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So you have 90% of the people in this movement who hear about a
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different Jesus. That is very, very alarming.
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In fact, listen to what Creflo Dollar says.
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MacArthur in his book Strange Fire quotes these men.
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This is where I got the quotes from.
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Creflo Dollar says that if Jesus came as God, so he's already
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denying that Jesus is God. If Jesus came as God, then why
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did God have to anoint him? Jesus came as a man, that's why
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it was legal to anoint him. God doesn't need anointing, he
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is anointing. Jesus came as man at age 30 and
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God is now getting ready to demonstrate to us and give us an
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example of what a man with the anointing can do.
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So he denies the deity of Jesus that Jesus in all reality is God
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in the flesh. It was Kenneth Copeland who said
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why didn't Jesus openly proclaim himself as God during his 33
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years on earth? For one single reason.
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He hadn't come to earth as God, He came as man again, denying
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the deed of Christ, which by the way, he's wrong because we will
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see in John's gospel that Jesus Christ claims to be God.
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Over and over and over again have been a hen who says that
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Jesus, who was righteous by choice, said the only way I can
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stop sin is by me becoming sin. I can't just stop it by letting
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it touch me. I and it must become one.
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Hear this? He says.
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He who is the nature of God became the nature of Satan. 90%
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This is not my statistic. This is their very own
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statistic. 90% of those in the Charismatic Pentecostal arena
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are of the word faith movement, and this is what they're being
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taught, that Jesus came as a man, but Jesus wasn't God in the
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flesh. You have Kenneth Copeland who
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says these words. The righteousness of God was
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made to be sin. He accepted the sin nature of
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Satan in his own spirit. What blasphemous is that?
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He says, And at the moment that he did so, he cried, My God, my
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God, why has thou forsaken me? You don't know what happened at
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the cross. Why do you think Moses, upon
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instruction of God, raised the serpent upon the pole instead of
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a lamb that used to bug me? I said, why in the world would
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you want to put a snake up there?
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The son of Satan? Why didn't you put a lamb on
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that pole? And the Lord said to me, because
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it was a sign of Satan that was hanging on the cross, He said, I
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accepted it in my own spirit, spiritual death, and the light
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was turned off. How sad is that?
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Denying the deed of Christ by claiming that He adopted the
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nature of Satan. If you have family or friends in
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that denomination, you need to grab them as quick as possible.
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Drag them away from that kind of church because they're hearing
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about the wrong Jesus. Christology is important.
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It's crucial to understanding salvation.
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One man who's called America's pastor, who boasts 40,000 strong
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every Sunday, denies the supremacy and exclusivity of
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Christ, and most people don't even know it.
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His name is Joel Osteen. When asked if he thought people
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who refuse to accept Jesus Christ are wrong, this is how he
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responded. Well, I don't know if I believe
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they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible
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teaches and from the Christian faith, this is what I believe.
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But I I just think that only God would judge a person's heart.
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He doesn't know he's a pastor. He boasts 40,000 strong.
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So what does he do? He pontificates his ignorance
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every Sunday, so 40,000 people become ignorant of the gospel of
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who Jesus is. He says this.
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I just think that only God would judge a person's heart.
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I, I spent a lot of time in India with my father.
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I, I don't know all about their religion, but I know they love
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God and I don't know, I've seen their sincerity, so I don't
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know. I mean, he doesn't know
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anything. I mean, come on people, he says.
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I know for me and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a
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relationship with Jesus. Well, you can't have a
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relationship with Jesus if you don't know who he is, right?
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Another occasion he was asked, are Mormons true Christians?
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How would you answer that? Listen to what he says.
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Well, in my mind they are. Who cares what's going on in
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your mind? In my mind they are.
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Mitt Romney has said that he believes in Christ as his savior
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and that's what I believe. So, you know, I, I'm not the one
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to judge the little details of it.
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So I believe they are. So here's this pastor of 40,000
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Strong on Sunday morning telling everybody that Mormons are
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Christians, that the Jesus that Mormons believe is the same
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Jesus that Christians believe, and he's not.
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That's why there are many antichrists that have gone out
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into the world. John would speak of it, Jude
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would speak of it, Peter, Paul, Christ warned about it.
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They're everywhere. So I don't know where your
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friends go to church, I don't know where your family goes to
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church. But if it was me, I would grab
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them and snatch them out of the fire because if they believe in
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that kind of Jesus, they're not going to heaven, they're going
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to hell. Will you ever tell them that?
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Will you ever be as so bold as to say you're not believing in
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the right Jesus of the Bible? Who will tell them if you don't
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tell them? We are responsible as parents to
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warn our children, not just when they're young, but no matter how
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old they are. We are responsible as Christians
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to warn people of impending judgement if they don't believe
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in the true Jesus. This is so incredibly important.
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So when Christ said, who do men say that I am?
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Most people got it right. Most people got it wrong.
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Excuse me? Well, some say you're Jeremiah
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and some say you're Elijah, and some say you're one of the
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prophets. Everybody's saying that you're
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great, but nobody's saying that you're God.
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That's all that matters. So Christ says, well, who do you
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say that I am? And Peter says thou art the
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Christ, you're the Messiah. You're the long-awaited Messiah,
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the Son of the living God. And Jesus said flesh and blood
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did not reveal this to you. In other words, no man can ever
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convince you that Jesus is God. Christ says, My Father in heaven
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has revealed this to you. You see, it's a divine
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enablement. It's divine sight.
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Only God can do that. God the Father opens blind eyes
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so people will see the glorious light of the gospel.
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So as we go to John chapter one, oh by the way, you can turn to
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verse one if you want to. We need to at least begin that.
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This morning. You turn to John 1.
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I want to present to you Jesus. I want to present to you the
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true Jesus as John proclaims him and declares him to be.
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We must understand this because it's absolutely crucial to your
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eternal destiny. So John one verse one says in
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the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the
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Word was God. He was in the beginning with
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God. All things came into being
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through Him and apart from him nothing came into being that has
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come into being. In Him was life, and the life
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was the light of men. The light shines in the
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darkness. In the darkness did not
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overpower it. This week, next week, and
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probably the week after, I want you to see 5 aspects of the
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Christ. I want you to first of all see
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his eternality, and then I want you to be able to see see His
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deity. Then I want you to see His
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personality, and then what you see is activity or His
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creativity, and then you need to see His invincibility.
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Those five things will scream out at you as you begin to break
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down verses 1:00 to 5:00, but it all begins with His eternality.
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The Christ existed before the world began in the beginning it
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says in the beginning was the Word.
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This is his eternality. In the beginning was the Word,
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and the tense of the Word was explains to us that he didn't
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come into being at the beginning, but existed before
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the beginning ever came about. In the beginning the word
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already existed. It was already there.
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We know from verse 14 that that word became flesh and dwelt
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among us. And we'll talk to you more about
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the word as time goes on to help you understand why John uses
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Lagos as an explanation of who Christ is.
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But you need to understand His eternality.
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Everything about the Christ existed before time began.
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He has no beginning. He is the eternal God.
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So let me show you very familiar to all of us as Isaiah 9 verse
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#6 For unto us we understand a child will be born, and unto us
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a son is given. Note, the son is not born.
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The son is given, the child is born Speaking of his humanity
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and his deity, and his name will be called wonderful.
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Someone will say, well, he's called wonderful counselor.
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No, he's called wonderful. It doesn't mean that he's not a
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wonderful counselor, because he is, but his name is wonderful.
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How do we know that Book of Judges 13th chapter, Manoah, the
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father of Samson, when he encountered the Angel of the
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Lord, the pre Incarnate Christ, he says, tell me, what is your
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name? And the Angel of the Lord says,
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why do you ask my name knowing it is wonderful?
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So when Isaiah says his name will be called wonderful, he's
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echoing what the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah way back in
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the book of Judges. That's his name.
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He is wonderful, He is counselor, He is mighty God.
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And then it says he is everlasting Father.
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What does that mean? I thought you said the Son
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wasn't the Father and the Father's not the Son.
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That's correct. So how can it be the eternal
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Father? How can it be the everlasting
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Father? Well, you must understand Father
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in the Jewish sense. So it means that he is the
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everlasting author, the eternal originator.
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That's what Father means in the Jewish context.
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So He's not the Father, but He is the everlasting author, the
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eternal originator of everything from eternity.
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Speaking of the fact that the Son given is the child who was
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born, but He existed in eternity past.
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Micah 5 says the same thing. Micah 5 verse #2 the great
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prophecy about the arrival of the Messiah quoted in Matthew
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chapter 2. When the Magi came right into
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Jerusalem asking where is he was born king of the Jews and Herod
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asked the scribes, they quote magnify verse #2 it says, But As
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for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah too little to be among the clans
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of Judah. From you one will go forth from
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me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long
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ago, from the days of eternity, Speaking of the fact that the
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one born in Bethlehem is from the days of eternity, speaking
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to the eternality of the Son. This is so crucial to understand
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that Christ existed before time ever began, because He is the
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eternal God. So John begins by explaining to
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you the eternality of the Word, the eternality of the Son, that
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He's always existed. He never came into being.
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So important. Turn to Hebrews chapter 1.
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Hebrews chapter 1. It says this in verse 5, For to
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which of the angels did he ever say, You are my son today I have
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begotten you, and again I will be a father to him, and he will
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be a son to me. And when he again brings the
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first born into the world, he says, and let all the angels of
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God worship him. Now stop right there.
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This is very important because the Colts will tell you that
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Jesus is the first born, trying to prove to you that Jesus was a
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created being. That's not true because the word
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for first born is the word prototicos.
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It is used nine times in the New Testament.
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Prototicos is the word that speaks not of origin.
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But one who is preeminent, one who has the right to the
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inheritance, he is the one who is the ruler.
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So it's it's, it's a word that speaks to the fact that there is
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one who rules, there is one who is preeminent.
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That's what protota cost means. Same thing said in Colossians
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chapter 1 verses 15 that He is the first born of all creation.
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We know that he wasn't the first one born in creation, that was
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Adam. But the first born of all
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creation is like the first born of all those who have been
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raised from the dead. Of all those raised from the
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dead, He is the preeminent ruler of them all.
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Of all those ever born, He is the preeminent one of them all
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because he is the pro totocas. Very important to understand the
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deity of Christ. Let me give you one more hint.
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It says verse 8, but at the Son he says your throne, O God, is
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forever and ever. The Father speaking to the Son
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calls him God your your, your throne is forever.
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And then it says, And the righteous scepter is the scepter
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of His Kingdom. You have loved righteousness and
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hated lawlessness. Therefore God, your God, has
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anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.
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And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the
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earth. And the heavens are the works of
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your hands. They will perish, but you
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remain. And they all will become old
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like a garment and like a mantle you will roll them up like a
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garment. They will also be changed, but
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you are the same and your years will not come to an end.
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Why? Because He is the eternal God,
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that's why. So John says in John one verse
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one in the beginning was the Word indicating that before time
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began, before everything started up, the word had already
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existed. And you jump down to verse 14,
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it says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we
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beheld his glory, the glory as of listen carefully.
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The only begotten of the Father, only begotten circle that Word.
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The word is monogamous. It's only used five times in the
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New Testament, and John uses it four times.
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God gave His only begotten Son, John 316.
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You know that verse and the only other time it's used, helps us
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understand the definition of monogamous, the only begotten.
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Again, you will have to use this when you talk to the JWS who
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come to your door. I recall a conversation I had
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when I lived in Covina and the JWS came to my door and they
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knocked in that door. I was outside doing some kind of
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yard work and they, they came to me and I love that because I was
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already sweaty and I wanted to make them sweat.
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So I kept them there as long as I could and I kept them facing
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the sun so they could see the the heat rising in them.
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And I would ask them words like, well, you say that Jesus is, is
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the first born. Well, that mean that's the word
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prototic cost. You know what that means, right?
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They have no idea what it means. So you explained it to them.
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And then then I say, they say, well, he is the only begotten of
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the Father. I said, yeah, but you know what
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monogamous means? They have no idea what it means.
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They have no idea. They are so ignorant of what it
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is they believe because they don't believe the truth.
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This is the only other time when she was outside John's gospel.
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She was 11. He was 11.
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Specifically verse #17 it says by faith, Abraham, when he was
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tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises
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was offering up his monogamies, His only begotten son.
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Let me ask you a question. How many sons did Abraham have
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at this point? 2 Was Isaac the only son of
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Abraham? No, Ishmael was.
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Ishmael was the first born son, but he was not the prototicus,
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the right to the inheritance son.
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He also wasn't the monogan Ace, the only begotten son that is
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Isaac, because he is the unique son or the son of choice.
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That's what monogan Ace means. So when John says we beheld this
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glory, the glory is that of the only begotten of the Father,
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full of grace and truth. He is the unique Son of the
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Father. He is the Son of choice of the
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Father. He is the Son who is the
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rightful heir to the inheritance of the Father.
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Has nothing to do with birth order, has everything to do with
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His preeminence and uniqueness as the Son of God.
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May I present to you Jesus the eternality of the Son.
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He has always existed. He never came into being.
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He is the originator of eternity.
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Well, to to be the originator of something, you have to be what
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that is, and He is the eternal God of the universe.
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From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
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We are embarking on a journey that is the most crucial journey
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you will ever be on because it's a journey about the identity of
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the Christ and what you believe about Christ is everything.
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Everything. If you get Christ wrong, you'll
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get Christianity completely wrong.
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So you need to begin at the very beginning.
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Who is Jesus? Because who He is is all that
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matters. So let me ask you who do you say
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Jesus is? Who do you say the Christ child
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is? It's not what do you think or
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who do you think he is? It's what does the Bible say He
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is. That's why you must always keep
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your finger in the text. That's why you test every
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spirit, every message, every messenger.
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Always. Just because they say they're
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Christians doesn't mean they are.
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You must examine what they believe about the Christ because
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that would tell you everything you need to know about what it
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is they they believe about life and death.
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My prayer for you and me as we embarked in this journey, and we
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just introduced to you the first phrase of John, chapter one
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verse #1 It's going to take us a while, but there's no hurry
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because it's imperative that you get Jesus absolutely correct as
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John presents him. He is the Christ, He is the
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Messiah. He is a Son of the living God.
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Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for this day,
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and we thank You for this opportunity You've given us to
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spend time in Your word. We are grateful.
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Our prayer, Lord, is that you would embed Your word deep into
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our hearts. Let there be no confusion among
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us about who You are, that truly we would have believed that
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Jesus is exactly who He says He is in the Scriptures, and that
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Lord, we would not be LED astray by those who are truly
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Antichrist. They deny that you came in the
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flesh. They tell us that you have taken
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Satan's nature. All those things are completely
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and totally wrong. But you, Lord of the Christ, you
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are the Messiah. You're the sinless God.
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Man 100% God 100% man, came to die for our sins, that we might
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be called the children of the living God.
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And so, Lord, until you come again, may we proclaim the true
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Jesus to those who are lost in their sin.
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We pray in Jesus name, Amen.