We continue with our subject, the deity of Jesus Christ, and using John 10 and verse 30 for our text, where the Lord Jesus in giving instruction before the Jews, they were not of the mind to receive it, declared his deity saying, I and the Father, I and my Father are one. So we've been going from passage to passage, looking at passages where the Lord Jesus Christ made his claim of being God. And we are now at Mark 9, verses 33-37. And he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace, for by the way they had disputed among themselves who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them. And when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name receiveth me. And whosoever shall receive me receiveth not me, but him that sent me. Note how that is stated. Whosoever shall receive me receiveth not me, but him that sent me. Verse 37 plainly shows the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ of His equality with the Father. It is a very clear declaration of His Godhead. No man should dare to say such a thing as that because of the claim that is involved in those words. Clearly, this is a claim of deity. When we receive, accept, or minister to people in Jesus' name, that is because of who He is, by His authority, because He has told us to, Because He is our Savior and our Lord and our God, then we are receiving or ministering to Him. When we receive people who claim they are Christians in Christ's name, we are receiving Christ. And when we minister to people in Christ's name, Because we are Christ, we are ministering Christ to them. If we receive such a person, we receive God the Father who sent that person. Christ's assured knowledge of equality with the Father should spill over into our souls when we read statements like this. raise up a false humility and some negative kind of pride and say, well, that's saying too much of me. It's saying too much of any of us to say that we are anything in ourselves. But we must accept what the Scripture says. Just as Jesus Christ saying He would dwell with His people and be in them. And He would say it in His Spirit. And He would dwell in them. Indeed, that Father, Son, and Spirit would abide with His people and in them. The Christian must not shy from that or hesitate to acknowledge this has to be true on the same grounds that all the Scripture is true because the Spirit of God put it in the book. It is true. And I know Most of you, if not all of you who are Christians, are like me. You're ashamed to even think that the Spirit of God would dwell in someone like yourself. Well, you're not proud of yourself as a Christian. You don't think much of your own self, of your graces, of your knowledge, of your faithfulness, of anything about yourself. The Lord knew all of that. He's the one that made us. And He's the one that is teaching and training us. And He is the one that declared these things that we either have to acknowledge are true or throw the Bible away. The Spirit of God said it. The Spirit of God put it here. It's a wonderful, wonderful truth. Christ's assured knowledge of equality with the Father should spill over into the souls of those who read such verses and should assure them of his deity also. Now Mark chapter 13. Verse 31, it's a large context, runs from verse 5 through verse 37. Verse 31 is something that we'll take out of the middle of it, not using it out of context, but I don't want to spend the time to read the lengthy passage and point out the various things. My words, Jesus says, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. Well, that statement in itself being true reflects his omniscience that he would know such a thing, that he would know that men are going to continue to believe on him as long as the world stands. They're going to continue to hold on to his words and hold his words before men so that they don't pass away out of existence. Give some time to thinking about that statement this afternoon. We have the words of some men who lived a long time ago, but not very many compared to how many people there have been. Most people's words have simply passed away when they passed away. Some of their family will remember some things they said for a generation or two, maybe four or five in some families where there's more of a family bent. Their words will pass away. And even in the warfares of this world and the changes of times and the floods and the fires and all that, even the things that are written in books, largely passes away. And finally, it's all going to pass away. The heavens as we know them, the atmosphere is going to be burnt up. the earth, at least its surface, and maybe the whole thing. It's a shame to be a preacher and be so dumb you don't know which, but I confess to that ignorance. It's going to be burnt up. But Christ's words are never going to pass away. Now, if that's true, He's not just a man. He's God. And that He can keep His words in people's minds and in their hearts and keep this book of His words in existence throughout the history of the world is a declaration also of the glory of His deity. Those words, My words shall not pass away, actually covers the passage from 5 to 37 with all the events and subsequent warnings therein. Plus all of his words, because no word of Christ that had eternal implications. Do you remember the scripture says that every idle word that men speak will come into judgment? I can only believe that Jesus Christ never spoke an idle word, what is called there an idle word, because he's the God-man. He didn't speak idle words. His words are more substantial than the whole creation. Now men a long time ago had things written in stone. They had it impressed into metal. Some of those things are still around in museums and different places, giant libraries of the world. They've lost their meaning to men, and men don't care anything about them. They're just something for them to idly gaze upon. It would be odd, somewhat, that it could be retained that long. There's no power to them. The Lord Jesus knew what He was claiming, and He was claiming it purposely to make men reflect on who could make statements like this. There has to be some kind of a nut. For the biggest liar in the world, he has to be God, saying that his words are never going to pass away. What a blessing to know and trust this statement. Every promise of salvation to repentant sinners stands sure. Every one of them is certain. If you come to me, you will live. If you believe on me, you will have everlasting life. If you believe on Me, you've already passed from death unto life. I will keep you. I'll never let you go. You're in My Father's hand. You're in My hand. No man can get you out of My hand. I will save you forever. You have eternal life. So many promises like that, and every one of them is true. For those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they're promises of glory, and are glorious to their souls. Every promise of aid in strong trials is true. Every promise of comfort to weary, sick, homeless, despondent, mourning, bereaved, lonely, persecuted, hated and despised, mocked, people, all, all promises to them shall be redeemed according to Christ's immutable promises to His people. This is indeed the vein of God's riches and glory opened to the wickedest men out of hell. Believe on Christ and you shall be saved. Repent and you shall be forgiven. Seek mercy against your sin and you shall have mercy. Cry to God for grace, not because you're good, but because you aren't any good. Not because you can help yourself, but because you can't help yourself. Not because you're going to try to save yourself, but because you already know you can't save yourself. Not because you're weaning yourself from sin, but because you can't beat the rack. You can't get loose from sin. Cry to God for mercy, and the promises are there. And every one of them, every one of them will be fulfilled. Not one of, not one person who ever truly seeks Christ shall be lost. Here is the same vein ready to pour down fortunes of grace worth more than a whole universe to the saints' needy souls upon every son who asks in faith. And how can we fail to believe the promises of such an one as can say, my words shall not pass away? He didn't say it for a joke. He didn't say it in a bigotry, bragging way. He just spoke it as truth that everybody ought to believe. And if he needed to, he could say, look at what I'm doing. Look at what I'm doing every day. Follow me around. Look at what I'm doing. Do you believe I can't do what I say I can do? Let them believe him. Let us all believe Him. When you're sunk down in the mire of your own sin-caused misery, you can't get out of that misery, get your eyes off of yourself and turn your eyes and your mind to Christ and who He is and what He has done, what He is doing and what He has promised. Get your mind away from yourself as much as you can, because feeding yourself on your own misery is just giving yourself more misery. Get your mind off of your misery. Get your mind on the Christ so that you can receive the riches of the promises of Christ. Not to trust His Word is in itself a statement of unbelief in His deity. It's a declaration that you do not believe He is God. You don't believe He can do what He said He can do. Let us pray in harmony with His promises and then let us trust Him to keep those promises while we enjoy His keeping of them. May He receive glory now from His believing people, and they shall receive glory afterwards through Him. Now let's go to Matthew 7 for a passage, look at a few in Matthew. Matthew 7, 21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? If I was a fellow running around nowadays claiming to be a prophet and came across this in the Bible, I would sure have some long and serious thoughts, I'll tell you that. And in thy name have cast out devils. And I'll say the same about that. There's still people, although the demon Thad passed several years ago, there's still folks running around claiming they're casting out demons. And in thy name done many wonderful works. And then while I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, they set out to believe and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. The family told me they saw, I think they were watching the news in HB's hospital room, showing this recent hard rain, some place, a house floating downstream, crashing into a bridge, taking the top off of it or something like that. It wasn't built on solid enough rock. Everyone will hear these sayings of mine, and do it or not, So he likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall, or terrible was the fall of it. It came to pass when Jesus had entered these sayings that people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. This is at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount, of course. I trust you recognize that. So here's a claim by Christ to be judged over men's souls, and the claims are such that they can only honestly be made by God. Go back and read in those first few verses. Their judgment is not with respect in this place, is not with respect to whether they believe there's a God or not. It is with respect to whether they believe in Jesus Christ or not. And many of them who claim to believe Him, and that's aimed directly at Israel. So much of their religion was false, but it's aimed at everyone. They want to trust Christ indeed, and not in name only. That's not proven by how perfect we've become. It's proven by when we are followers of Christ and continue followers of Christ to the end. Believing the gospel of Him, trusting Him as our Savior. And it's very clear from what he is saying that he has been established as the judge. As he said in John 5. and in many other places. He is the judge. But only God can be the judge of all things. So you should not be able to miss or misunderstand what our Lord Jesus was saying here. And the people, verse 28 says, were astonished at his claims. Well, people have got over their astonishment nowadays, and their pride, and their arrogancy, and their hatred of God. They're not afraid to get on television or out in the streets and deny the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the preachers. Well, they take on everything that he has declared as evil. In chapter 9, He entered into a ship and passed over and came into his own city, Nazareth. And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And the old servant of the scribes said unto themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? Whether it is easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, Arise and walk. But he may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, and saith he to the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house. Jesus knew that he had authority to forgive sins. Now, we can forgive each other trespasses against each other. We can forgive in the sense that we refuse to execute justice against our brother or our neighbor for their sin. The Christ's forgiveness of sins, that part of it is in His forgiveness, but it's far greater than that. He sends away the guilt of his people's sins. If we forgive a neighbor that sinned against us, if he sinned against us, he sinned against God. And he has to deal with Christ about that, to have the guilt of it put away and to avert the punishment of God for those sins. We can forgive what it might be just for us to do towards Him, And that is a poor, but a real illustration of forgiveness, that only God can forgive sin, so that the sins are put completely away, and the guilt is put away, and the eternal wrath of God is sent away also. Now, if some man came up to you and said, whatever sin you've done in your lifetime, or are involved in now, or shall commit in the future in your life, I forgive you for those sins. Would you feel pretty good about it? Or would you think you better take care of your own sins, old buddy? I think you're some kind of a nut. The Lord Jesus Christ had substantial credentials of His deity in what He was doing. He had just healed this man of a palsy. We would say a shaking fit as country folks. He couldn't quit shaking. Because of the disease that he had. Right in front of their eyes. But when he did it, he said, Thy sins be forgiven thee. And then when he made the statement, and made his explanation, he equated the ability to heal that man with the ability to forgive sins. Now, you don't have to be a great theologian to put that one and one together and make two out of it. No man who is not God has power to heal anyone. No man, no man, no man. So what about the apostles? When they went and spoke to someone and they were healed, or laid hands on them and they were healed, there was no power in them that did it. They were acting as agents of Christ. It was Christ's power. It was God's power that was healing those people. And they knew that. And they didn't just go to whoever they saw. They didn't have any power. Paul couldn't heal himself. They didn't go to everybody they saw that was crippled or diseased or whatever. When the Spirit of God came upon their hearts and impressed them to go to someone and do something, they did it. It was God who did the healing. We need to remember that in light of the world being run over with so-called healers nowadays. But the Lord Jesus They were looking at a man, and here's a man telling people he forgives their sins. They supported it with such credentials that it was wise to believe him. But sin can only be forgiven, sent away, and the guilt of it put away by him who has power to remove the guilt. And dear friends, it's not just power. Christ, by right, had the authority to deal with sin because he is the one who ultimately bore the guilt and punishment of that sin. And every Christian revels in that every day that he lives. Matthew chapter 12. And we call upon you, everyone, to trust the Lord Jesus Christ to pay for your sin. Matthew 12, verses 1-8, At that time Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn, and his disciples were unhungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day. And he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did when he was unhungered, and they that were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither of them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? The priests work in the temple, and they are blameless. And I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath day." In one brief statement, Jesus exalts Himself above the temple of Israel's worship and also above the law. In verse 6 he says he's greater than the temple, and in verse 8 he says he's Lord of the Sabbath. He is over the Sabbath day. The temple was sacred to the Jews. They always thought of it and were supposed to think of it in connection with God the Father. There was a Holy of Holies, there was the Ark of the Covenant, where God would meet with the people, a place so sacred that nobody was supposed to see it once the thing was set up and established. No one was to even see it except the great high priest who went in there once a year to effect atonement for the nation. It was the center of worship for Israel. Sin was atoned for and forgiven there. The sacrifices were offered there. It was the center of the life of the nation. They were told even when their worship was instituted at Mount Sinai, they were told that if I bring judgment on you and carry you off into pagan land somewhere, You always remember the temple and turn your hearts to the temple and turn your face to Jerusalem and worship me. It was the center of life to them. They were called there to Jerusalem to the great day of atonement and two other major holidays, feast days, worship days, so their whole lives were intertwined with the temple because that was the center of the place of atonement. Well, from there Jehovah dealt out his mercy and judgment to his people. met with them and forgave them. So Jesus' claim could be nothing else but of deity, because only God Himself is greater than the temple in the mind of the Israelite. Likewise, His claim to be Lord of the Sabbath. The Sabbath had been observed since before the law was given. It was a direct institution of God to Israel in the law. So he who could claim to be Lord of the Sabbath and to change the rigid laws concerning the Sabbath could only be God. Nobody else dared to change anything concerning the Sabbath. But the Lord Jesus did. He who could set aside any part of the law must be God. And of course they hated the Lord Jesus Christ for this very thing. Now verses 22 through 32 in this same chapter. Then was brought unto him one possessed with the devil, blind and dumb, and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed and said, Is not this the son of David? When the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself. How shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub, or by the devil, cast out devils, by whom be your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." And obviously he's pointing at himself as the king of the kingdom. Or else, how can one enter into a strong man's house and spoil his goods except he first bind the strong man? If I'm casting out demons, I've overpowered Satan. And if I can overpower Satan, Then the logical inference from that is clear. Except he first bind the strong man, and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me. He that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. Therefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him. Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." And I'm not going to go into a lesson on blaspheming the Holy Ghost, but I do want to say that there's a clear and intentional claim here by Christ to be God. He casts out devils. Again, I remind you, no one is greater than the angels except for God. And His power over Satan declares that He is God. You don't know any man who has been able to overthrow Satan. Only the God-man. He claims in verse 28, to be of the Spirit of God, cast out devils by the Spirit of God. Claims to have brought the kingdom of God to them. Only God could make that claim. That's God's promise. The kingdom of God is God's kingdom. And then it relies upon God to bring God's kingdom into the world and to the people. See, He's not veiling things. In their mind, it's all very clear through translation and through our not being privy to the law of God and all the things that have gone on down through the history. It's not as easy for us as it should have been for them to grasp what Christ was saying and what was intimated by what He was saying. But He is clearly declaring His deity in all of these places. In fact, it is the major point of why He was healing people and of what He was doing all of the time, was to give evidence, solid evidence that Messiah had come and to get it inserted into the people's minds and forced into their hearts that this is not just a great man. This is God who has come down to you. Emmanuel, God with man. He who denounces Jesus, the man, shall be forgiven. There's a lot of things I'm not saying at this point. I want to go ahead and continue my sentence. But he who denies that he is God, Because that's what verses 31 and 32 amount to. He has no hope of forgiveness. He has rejected the Spirit of Christ. He speaks by Christ. Or by whom Christ speaks. I shouldn't say it. He's rejecting God. He's rejecting God the Spirit. And he's rejecting Christ as God. And there's more there than I Comprehend, I'm sure that as much as I have said is absolutely true. Now to Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 through 18. When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? They said, some say that John the Baptist, some Elias. That was Jeremiah, one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Now look at verse 19. He has said that Peter made a good confession when he acknowledged that he is the son of God, which is the same as declaring his deity. And then look what he does. after Peter brings this confession out into the open, and all of them agree to it, all the disciples who are there agree to it. He is indeed the Son of God. He commends Peter, and then he says, I will build my church. You know what the church was, still at this time? It was the Great Congregation of Israel. To whom did the congregation of Israel belong? It belonged to God the Father. And Jesus Christ says, I will build my church. He's not saying, I'll build another church of another kind. He's saying, I will continue to build my church. That's as clear a declaration of His deity as could conceivably be made. But he goes farther. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He doesn't say it directly, but obviously he is saying, I will keep that from happening. I have control of Satan. I have control of everything. But he goes farther. This would be more likely to stagger us been in this assembly for a length of time than the other things that he has said, and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Now brethren, I doubt if any of us or anyone in this world puts as much premium on the Church of Christ as it deserves in light of this statement. Christ dwells with His Church. Christ acts through His Church. Jesus Christ is with His Church wherever it is meeting this day. If you think of it as a whole election of grace, He's meeting with His Church this day. Christ is meeting with His people in all of these assemblies where His name is being preached, where His name is being exalted, where His Word and His truth are being held up before men, where men are being commanded to believe on Christ, being taught of Christ. Christ is there. But it says more than that. It says, when we acted a while ago, in our mini-business meeting, and these two brethren who asked to be admitted to this congregation were voted on, that we certainly accepted their profession of faith and their life as anything that we have seen of it as believers, we were acting for Christ and inviting them into this assembly. And they should understand that. And you should understand that. And I should understand that. They have said, we want to be part of the worship. We want to be part of whatever enmity the world brings against this assembly. We want to be part of this church's efforts to carry the gospel. We want to worship with these brethren, to pray with them, to be brothers and sisters to them, to be of the same spirit that they in general are as they serve and honor Christ. That's what it means to be a part of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just a paper thing. It's a spiritual thing. That's what they were wanting. And we wanted them to know that we accept them That they are walking with Christ, seeking to honor Christ. And we want them to be a part with us and have communion and fellowship with us and help us in the labors of the church to serve and honor the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ in heaven affirms that. It is His work that we did. It was His Spirit. That assembles the body here and the body there and the body there and the parts of the body of Christ wherever they are in this world. And it's His Spirit that dwells among them and does the work of Christ in them. What a powerful declaration. Who could have the keys of the kingdom of heaven except God? And Jesus said, I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Brethren, You are required to say that you're Christ, to acknowledge that you're in the kingdom of heaven, and that you can act in Christ's authority as a member of Christ's body in carrying on the work of Christ in this world. That's what that is saying. God affirms it. He's doing His work through His people. and through his churches. Nobody, no rich man, no king, no supreme dictator for life has the wealth of honor as upon the humblest Christian in the world through whom Christ acts and carries on his work in this world. Now if you want to be a part of something big, young men and women and children, the gospel of Jesus Christ is the biggest thing in this world. And if you come to Christ, you come to God. You commit your soul and your keeping and your life, your affections, Your integrity, all that you are, He may make of you, commit that to the Lord Jesus Christ. For you to be His, you're a part of the best organization in the world, and the strongest, and the one that's not going to go bankrupt, and not going to go out of business. Because Jesus Christ is the head of it. And he is omnipotent and omniscient. And as we follow the Scriptures and act in the light of the Scriptures of God, we're doing the work of Christ. We're speaking for Christ. Even though the truth comes from a very ignorant and very lowly individual teaching, he's speaking in Christ's name if he's speaking Christ's truth. And it's to be received as if the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said it. That's right. And your part as those who make up the congregation and are not the teachers is to make sure that you're not believing something that is in error. Seek Christ. Walk with Him. Read His Word. Meditate upon it. Continue on with Christ. The smallest assembly, three or four or five or half a dozen of the Lord's people, they're involved in the same glorious congregation that we are, the Kingdom of Heaven. And they're just as worthy as any of us because all of their worth is in Christ. And we are just as rich as any of them because all of our wealth is in Christ. And they are just as certain as heaven as people in the biggest churches in the world, because Christ is all in all for them. Well, that's a suitable place for me to close. Christ claims the people of God as his own. God's church is his people. It has become his church, and he is the king of the kingdom of heaven.