Open your Bibles please to John chapter number 17. I'll read verse 3 and then we'll go to the Lord in a word of prayer. And then we'll go on to another scripture. John chapter 17 and verse number 3. I will preface this message and I would really ask for your prayers while I preach. I have preached this message in Spanish. My, the last couple of weeks have been very full, we'll say it that way. I have translated this into English. But not all of it on this paper is in English. So, I would really appreciate your prayers as far as that is concerned. I would appreciate your patience when it comes down to any Spanish that happens to get put in here. I do not want to do that. And so I would really appreciate that as far as this message goes. It says in John chapter 17 verse 3, And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Let us pray. Lord, I thank You for this church. I thank You for the opportunity to preach here. Lord, I ask for Your direction and Lord that your people would receive a blessing from your word. Lord, help me with English. Help me in thinking and speaking correctly. Lord, give the words that I might speak easily in English, Lord. Bless us. Lord, as I know, as we read in the scripture, you honor your word. And I pray this in Christ Jesus' name. Amen. this verse in some people's eyes I guess this is eternal life that they might know thee the only true God the idea of knowing God is almost absurd or is to most people today the idea of knowing God is either either either I don't know how to say that word It's either a ridiculous thing or something that cannot be done or off the deep end with some fanatical... experience in seeing God. But the verse is very clear and I would like to look at some things in scripture this evening. There is a great hindrance to the furtherance of the gospel. And that is ignorance of what the gospel is and what the word of God says and who God is. In any place, sometimes I think Mexico is different than here. It is not. Man's sin is man's sin. His ideas and the things that are in his mind are the same anywhere in this world. I have, we have an institute and I teach in the institute and one of the classes that I normally teach is doctrines class. Doctrines, Romans also, I usually teach that class. But the class of doctrines is, I hope, at least the way I feel about it, is not just a dry, we're going to teach doctrines tonight. And most people get afraid of that or just go to sleep when you start. But it's not that way. This scripture, as any other scripture, has life. There is life in our Savior. He is life. He is eternal life. And any part of scripture, any doctrine you can talk about, points to Christ and the life that He gives freely in Jesus Christ. In 1 Timothy 6-16, I would like to start here. It says, Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see, whom be honor and power and everlasting. Amen. There is a nature or essence of God. And we can't, even the scripture in Acts 17, Paul preaching, he says, you can't honestly think that our God is some piece of stone or gold or silver. He said, just try to think about it, how that in that particular case, it was, how can you worship that thing when you made it And it doesn't even do what you do. How can you consider that to be your God? But the problem with that golden image, or silver, or clay, or whatever it's made out of, that image was in the mind of those men before they formed it. So the image is here. And I would say in our society, most people today don't have an image of anything around. I say most, maybe I don't know. In Mexico there's many images. But the idea or where I'm going with this is that we may not have any image of God or Christ or Mary or some saint or some, I don't know what, in your home. But the problem may not be on a little pedestal in your home, it may be in your mind the image that you form there. Because many people's perception of God is so human that God can do little more than they can. They have a perception of God that is, that they take Jesus Christ and it is, well I won't jump ahead, but they take Jesus Christ and say he was a man and they can never get the idea that he is God. And so there's a manly figure in their mind, there's a human figure in their mind and he is limited to a few miracles and a few nice words and that's the end of that. But God is much more than that. Physical images, whether they are in our mind or on a pedestal, are always an error. In Colossians 2.9 it says, For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. In Philippians 2.6, Who being the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. It's not the physical form of Christ. It's His nature and perfection that distinguish Him. Christ is equal to God. He is not only His image, but one with Him. In such a way, it is proper to say, if you have seen one, if you could say this, you have seen the other. In John 14 and verse 9, that was the argument, I don't know the right word, the complaint of Christ, in John 14 and verse 9, with Philip. He says, Jesus said unto him, Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? Have I been here so long, and you still don't know who I am? And then he goes on to say, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. How sayest thou, then, show us the Father? How can you ask, because that's what he did ask, He said, well then show us the Father and then Christ comes back with it. So obviously there is a misunderstanding in Philip's mind about who God is. But it's not that physical shape that was before him. It is the same with each person in the Trinity. God the Father does not share his essence or nature with the Son or the Spirit, but all are God. Each one possesses the same divine nature. We have a difficulty. And the first one is our understanding. In Job 11.7 he says, Canst thou but by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? Can you understand God? He says. Can you get to the end of God? Can you see and understand all there is? Job says. And obviously the answer to that is never. But our trouble is our understanding. We have a problem. If time permits, another day, if we talk about the eternity or the, I think the word is immensity of God, we have an aversion to that. We have an aversion to something that doesn't fit in our mind. We don't like a God that's not small that we can move around. We have a problem getting that idea out of our minds. We can know God in part by nature. But if that's all the understanding you have, it will be very very limited. Romans chapter 1 verse 19, Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it unto them, for the invisible things of Him from creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." And the point here is they are out without excuse. There is no excuse not to believe in God. But by studying, only study, There is only in nature, there is a limited testimony of God. In our study, unfortunately, there is also a limited amount of understanding in 1 Corinthians 1.19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. This wisdom or wise men as this scripture talks of. The men that know things in this world. The ones that have their many years of study in who knows what. That we should believe anything that comes out of their mouth even though they are ignorant of it. The wise men are not always those that study, but are often those that take counsel with themselves and believe themselves to be wise in their own conceit. But they will talk and they will tell you their own opinion about God if you ask them. But our difficulty is always our understanding. His essence or the permanent or invisible invariableness of His nature or personality. The importance in all of this is because as Paul says in Galatians 4.8, it says, How be it then when we knew not God, we did service unto them which by nature are no gods. Now here we're talking of the essence of God or the nature of God. And it says that we worship God that by nature are no gods. So there is something to looking into the nature and the way God is. Because these gods by their nature were no gods at all. They have no understanding. They cannot move themselves. They cannot create anything. They have not life and they cannot give life. But by nature they are not gods. So it is important to us because in our ignorance we worship devils also. In the day of our ignorance we worship who knows what. The point is that this ignorance, if we persist in it, there will be confusion to who, what, God is, or the God you serve. Everyone today is saved. All serve God. If you don't believe that, just ask any Muslim. That's the way they all talk. Many people speak of Christ. But the question is here, who is He? Who is He? The answer that's given to those questions is always a very superficial answer that indicates nothing at all. And if that Christ is the one you believe in, He is as good as the man standing on the corner. He has no greater power. He has no greater intelligence or wisdom. He has no greater holiness than the man standing on the corner. by the answer that is normally given about who God is and who Christ is. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 4. This nature that is God's nature is not the nature that we receive. We do not become God's. There are some that would tell you that you do. And that's why it's important to know who God is. Or there's just a message in a preaching or words in a book that are dry or have no meaning. But this is life. I almost got a Spanish word there, but I didn't. It says here, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. But this divine nature that we have is not all that God is. That is, He has been gracious to us in what He has given us, but we do not become God. We do not. It is His good mercy and grace that He has given us this divine nature, but we do not become God. And this special nature, of course, is His deity or divinity. The nature is common between the three persons of the Godhead. It is not transmitted from one to the other. It is common between the three. There should be no confusion in that. One of our difficulties in all of this is that God is a spirit. What is that? In John chapter 4 verse 22. Says, you worship, you know not what. This is Jesus talking to the woman at the well in Samaria. You worship, you know not what. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. Verse 24, God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. The idea of spirits, or spirituality, or... I truly lack the words in English. The idea of a... Spiritist? Is that the right word? A person, a medium? Am I going down the right road here? The odd spiritual realm, as they will say. Dealing with demons, if you will. Spiritism, thank you. That's what most people think of. God is a spirit and they put him over there, possibly, was that. But in John 1, verse 18, it says, No man has seen God in time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Matthew 11, verse 27, All things are delivered unto me of my Father. And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father neither knoweth any man. The Father saves the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal Him. He is the Spirit. God is not a substance. He's not all substances put together. He's not this world. He's not the tree outside. He's not the universe. He's bigger than all that. He's more than that. This is simply just a creation and a very small one that He's done. And we are even less. Because we are a tiny part of all those things. And our pride is a stench to God. The Bible, of course, attributes human form, body parts, I don't know the proper word in English, to God. He has a face, he has eyes, he has ears, he has a mouth, he has hands. All those things, all those descriptions of God are not to say that God has eyes, or a nose, or a mouth, or ears. It is truthfully, tragically, the only way an omnipotent Spirit, God, can communicate with us in our fallen state. That's the reason it's said. It's not said to bring God down to us. It's the only way we can understand the wonders of God within our own context. It's not a thing to glorify ourselves or to think we're something. It's actually a very humbling thing. That God has to talk to us in our language. That God has to speak to us, unfortunately, by our understanding, which is terribly dimmed. I've got to get things straight here. The Bible says, even though the Bible says, that God has appeared to different men, be it Abraham, Genesis, or Jacob, They are all appearances of the Son of God and these passages make reference to the future incarnation of Christ. John 5.37 The Father himself, and the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. The reason for this is because the gospel has become such a weakened thing, and the propagation of the gospel is done in such an ignorant way. And Christ presented in such a way that it is a miracle, but not because it is truly a miracle that He can save the soul of a man, but it seems that it is a miracle because God can barely save the soul of a man. As if I could do a miracle. As if I have done something with all of my strength and been able to do something, lift a heavy rock and just given it all that I could do and I could just roll it off the road. And that's where most people looking at God and seeing their conception of God is this weak thing that can barely save the soul of a man. I am very frustrated and often express that to those in Colima about how glory is given to the devil and Christians fear the devil and they do not fear God. And how there's all this talk about the devil and what he can do and what he's doing and where he's going and how he's doing it and yet they And they think God is in some way concerned or worried about what the devil's doing. Well, he's not. He's not sweating up there in heaven. He's not wringing his hands as you or I might do. He's not pacing around wondering how it's going to end. He knows where it's going. He's been there and come back. He did it all. There's nothing more to do. The concept that many have in Christ and the gospel that's taken to the world is a weak gospel. It's one that seems that the power of the gospel is simply in the voice of the preacher. But it cannot be that way. You talk of spirits. They have no body. A spirit other than God. He is not corruptible in a bodily sense, but in a moral sense, they are. All except for God. He is not. I'm going to have to look some things up here and read them in English, so you'll have to look with me. In 1 Timothy, chapter 1, verse 17. I'll give you time to look, because we'll have to read it in the right language. 1 Timothy 1, 17, simply says, Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. Be something to remember always. In chapter 6 verse 16. Who only hath immortality dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen. Now that's an interesting statement. The light that no man has seen. nor can see, to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen. It is an interesting and sad thing that men want to deny and do not want to know the only one that can give them life and has given them life in this world. And yet they refuse to humble themselves before such a God. Because He is the only immortal One. Any being made, any angel that lasts eternally is only that way because of God. It has nothing to do with us. It has nothing to do... You don't win a prize of eternal life. You don't win it. You don't have eternal life. You have a God that is eternal. The heavens are there and will always be there, not because of eternal life, but because of the God that is eternal that is there. The glory is to Him, not to eternal life in that sense. Because many would say, eternal life I have. Well, do you have God? Well, there's a question there. Somebody told them they had eternal life. Do they have God? There is eternal life in the text that we read in John 17. God is not a passive God. He's not a spirit floating in the air and something that is passive in His presence is to be felt and you hear He's floating around somewhere. Maybe He'll float by. God is not passive in that way. God is, and for the same reason, God does not have a will and a work. What God wills is done. That's just the way it is. It's not that God speaks something and then does something. What is said is done. There isn't any difference. God doesn't go back and repeat or repair or change because He had to correct an error. What God said is eternally said and done. That's where it must always be. God, what He says, His Word, is Etchus, sorry, his work. It's just simply that way. Always thought it interesting that in reading about this, that of the simplicity of God. It was always, it is a very difficult thing. God is simple. Simplicity. He is a spirit. There is simplicity there. There is no physical form. It's not a metaphysical thing. We'll get into that. His will and His work is one thing. Whatever, if there is any idea, and that's why you must have the idea of when you speak of the Trinity, there is not three gods trying to figure out what to do. One God. and only one. His will is one. His work is one. It is all one because He is one. There's no idea of parts or one that's major and one that's minor because that would be the idea of change and mutating and that can't be. God could not be infinite or immense or independent immutable if there was change or a body in parts. He is simple. It does not change the fact that there are the manifestation of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. But all of these ideas and all the things that are in man's mind about what he thinks of God will change and has changed the gospel message in his own mind and heart. If God is a God that is sitting in heaven and is on his throne and governing all the universe, that a God that has set in place all these truths that cannot be changed then there is a reason to humble yourself before that God. There is a reason to fall before that God and ask for mercy knowing that every word and everything that He has ever done is still as valid today as it ever was. The Word of God does not become old. The Word of God does not become antiquated to where in this generation it does not work. Young people do not have to have the fear that these words on this page will someday become words that are of no use. They are eternal because the one that spoke them is eternal. They cannot be changed. The gospel message of a Savior that came and died and paid the ransom for our soul on the cross at Calvary is still the same message. And the only one that could do that is God incarnate in Christ Jesus. That is the only one. And there is no way to change that. There is no reason to change that because that is the eternal truth of God. The gospel and the life eternal that we can have in Christ is because of what He is. And the reason A sinner goes to hell is because of what he is. He is a sinner and he needs Christ. That is the only one. He is lost in his sin and he needs the only one that was on this earth just like I am but without sin. God in the flesh who in his corporal body died on the cross and bought our redemption. That is the only way of salvation. There is no other way. There is no other God that can or would care to save Alasekh. There is no other God except that one God who is immutable, that one God who has that eternal, constant, the words aren't coming to me right now, but the only God that is eternal in His being and consistent and always the same. And that is our confidence as when we come to Christ that he can eternally save our souls. Amen. Let us pray. Lord I thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your mercy to me and to these people who are your children. In Christ's name. Amen.