I'm going to ask you this morning to open your Bibles to John 14. We're going through John 14. Today we're going to be looking at v. 28-31, and we'll be concluding, God willing, John 14. In Matthew 16, v. 13-16, our Lord asks His disciples a pretty critical question. He said, whom do men say that I am? If you remember that portion of the Gospel, you remember them saying, well, some say that you're Elijah. Some say that you're Jeremiah. Some say this. Some say that. You're one of the prophets. You're one of the old. And then Jesus, in His inimitable way, zeros in and fashions in a little bit more specifically. And He looks at them and He says, but whom do you say that I am? You guys know the story, don't you? My man Peter, foot-in-mouth Peter, steps up and gets it right. He says, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. You know, I know the Lord doesn't get surprised, but I wonder if the Lord got surprised. That was Peter? He says, thou art the Son of God, right? And the Lord says to him, Peter, flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. That question still remains to this very day. That question is still being perpetuated. Whom do men say that I am? And the answer to that question is eternal. We cannot get the definition of Christ wrong. And Christ has laid it out. The Gospels have laid it out. The Scripture from Genesis to Revelation lays out the answer for who do men say that He is. Is Jesus a lesser God? Is Jesus not as good as the Father? Not as qualified as the Father? Are Christians polytheists? Meaning we worship many gods. Muslims accuse Christians. They say, we're monotheists. We only believe in one God. But you Christians, you believe in multiple gods. Well, is that really true? Is that really true? Is the Father more preeminent in rank? than Jesus is. Has Jesus always been equal with the Father? Did he ever confess that? Did he ever declare that? Everything in the Christian church rises and falls with the correct view of Christ. And you know, in this church, we always talk about that we have a high view of God. So we want to put God and we want to exalt God. But within that Godhead, we need to have a right view of God the Father, a right view of Christ the Son, a right view of the Holy Spirit. That is the essence of who we are as Christians. We are Trinitarian. We believe in the triunity of God. One God comprised of three. And so we're going to look today at that particular passage because you're going to see a Scripture come out in verse 28. Verse 28 reads, "...you heard I said that I go away and will come to you. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father. For the Father is greater than I." That may pose a dilemma. We have to understand clearly what the Scripture says. So in order to understand Scripture, the proper interpretation of Scripture is context. If you don't remember anything, remember this. It's all about proper context. The Scripture is interpreted according to three methods. We interpret Scripture according to its literal method. That means not every word you take literally. It means we interpret Scripture from a literary perspective. Its context, its grammar. We look at Scripture from a grammatical context. What do the original languages say? We look at the original languages, and we'll talk a little bit about that. But we look at that within its proper context. And then the third element is the historical context. What is going on in point of time in history at that moment? And we look at it, and it's these three, and we pull them all together to get proper interpretation. Listen, the worst thing that anybody could ever do to interpret Scripture is this, is to read a passage of Scripture, is to ponder it, and then to say these words, I think this means blah. And sometimes people who do that, they receive it and they get a hunch, they get an inkling, they get an intuition, they get something inside of them, which many times are ascribed to the Holy Spirit, but is usually born of a hunch, your own intuition. And you can give a very wrong interpretation of Scripture. Very, very wrong. There is no shortages of cults that are taking things out of its respective context and saying, see, this means this, this means that. And it's sad sometimes because when we stumble onto them, sometimes people panic and go, I never heard that before. What's going on there? So context is key. And we always teach, you hear me say, it's not what the Bible says, it's what the Bible means. We're always in search of what the author's original intent was as he was penning the Scriptures under the influence of the Holy Spirit. So, we're going to look at today context. And because the Scriptures were penned over 1,500 years by 40 different authors, Most of whom were not contemporaries of each other. Most of whom had different vocations. It wasn't like they were all prophets or they were all disciples or they were all all these other different things. Right? And they're men of different backgrounds, writing at different times in history. And as you look at Scripture, you see that Scripture uses many different literary genres. It uses many different styles. And the interpretation for them vary. You look at Scripture, you have historical narrative. You read 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, et cetera. What you're reading is historical narrative. Well, you don't interpret the historical narrative the same way you would interpret prophecy. They're separate and distinct. Historical narrative is gonna lend itself more to what is going on in the history, what's going on at the time of Israel, the time of the church at that respective time. Right? Scriptures contain high uses of metaphors. This is where a lot of people get lost. Especially people say, I literally interpret the Bible. Okay, well Jesus made a statement. He said, hey, if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. I don't see a lot of people wearing patches in this room. Right? Everybody seems to have two eyeballs as far as I could see. Right? But when Jesus uses that, He's using metaphor. He's using hyperbole. Using an extreme example to show something. If thy arm offends thee, cut it off. It's better that you go into eternity with one arm than to burn forever. Scripture uses allegory. Examples. And then there's the whole aspect of the wording. A word in the Hebrew Old Testament has a different meaning than the word in the Greek New Testament, and both of them have a different meaning than the word in English, which is why biblical interpretation becomes critical. And it's why, by the way, that the Scriptures define teachers as a spiritual gift. The ability to teach, to rightly divide the Word of God, to open up the Word of God and discern the Word of God and articulate the Word of God is a spiritual gift. And by the way, let me further add that that gift usually, in a Spirit-filled church, gets recognized by other teachers in a Spirit-filled church. Now, it doesn't mean you can't go home, read the Bibles. There are certain things you can do, and you can get the gist, you can get the genesis of what the Scripture means. But without context, it will usually lead to a wrong interpretation. That's why we have so many people running around quoting Jeremiah 29.11. I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you. Plans to give you a future. Oh, that's my verse, pastor. That's my verse. I claim the Spirit of God told me that's my verse. Who doesn't want to be prospered? Who doesn't want to have all these other different things? But they forget the context. And immediately before the prophet Jeremiah issues a stern warning to Israel. You have rejected your God. You have departed from your God. God is going to bring judgment down upon you. But He's not going to forsake you because He knows the plans that He has for you. Why am I making a big deal about this today? Because as we jump into the Word of God, I want you to have in your mind this idea of proper context, proper context, proper context. So as we encounter this verse, we can rightly divide this verse, and we can understand Did Jesus just pull something out of thin air and just try to stump somebody to say, well, a few thousand years later, this is what it's gonna mean? Or is there context to what Jesus is saying? Now, I'm gonna give you a very simple formula to remember context. Here's a very simple way. Number one. The verse in context to the paragraph. What is the verse saying in context to the paragraph that's being defined? The paragraph in context to the chapter. How does the chapter fit in to the overall context that the Lord is speaking about or Scripture is speaking? The chapter in context to the book. What's the overall theme of the book? Okay, how does that chapter now flow logically within the theme of the book? And the book... in context to the preceding entire Word of God? Is there Old Testament precedence? Are they talking about the law? Is there New Testament precedence? It's a simple rule of thumb for interpretation. So I know many of you love to study the Word of God. But when you come across something that stumps you in a sense like this, Think about the context. What is that verse in context to the paragraph, the paragraph in context to the chapter? What's the overall theme? What is the chapter in context to the book? What is the book in context to the rest of the revealed Scripture? It's a simple approach that you could take to proper interpretation of Scripture. So what are we going to learn today? Why is it important? We're going to see that in Jesus' statement in John 14, 28, it takes on an entirely different meaning when these principles are applied to the text. And we're going to develop a biblical view of Christ. That's what we want to do. We want to get a biblical view of Christ. And two things are going to come out. Is there Old Testament precedent for Christ and His equality with God? His being co-equal with God? Is there New Testament writer testimony of Christ's equality with the Father, so that we could arrive at a proper interpretation of the text, and we could leave with a biblical, I'm going to use a big word here, right? Christology. All that simply means is we could leave with a biblical view of Christ. So that's what we're going to do today. This is critical. And I'm just going to add another comment. This is critical. As my brother Rich, as he does his evangelism on UCF, and all of you who are sharing the gospel know, you're going to run into many people who are going to have many different views of Christ. And many times they're going to extrapolate from Scripture. Look at what the Bible says here. Look at what the Bible says here, right? Look at what the Bible says here. So how do we build a defense? Let me share something else, too. This is a doctrinal message. Doctrine is important. Doctrine is essential. Without doctrine, you have chaos. And what we're really doing today, even though we're led in the text exactly to where we are in John, where we are led in the text right now is the doctrine of Christ. A glorious, spectacular, wonderful doctrine. There is nothing sweeter, nothing better. So stay with me as we go through the text. When we last left off in John 14, we looked at verse 27. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives it do I give it. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful, neither let it be afraid. Here was a blessing, by the way. That was the last message that brother Bob Runyon heard from me. And I thought about it. I thought about it. How phenomenal was God in His mercy that God prepared Bob with that last message about peace. Don't let your heart be troubled. Remember we talked about that. That means to be agitated. That means to be boiled up. Don't let your heart be troubled. Don't let it be afraid. The afraid deals with the cowardice of fear. Don't run away. Don't fall off the course. I'm gonna give you. And it's my peace. It's not as the world peace. And I shared with you the world's peace is an illusion. It's only in Christ. It's only in Christ. Listen, it is only in Christ that one could know peace. It's only Christ that has the ability to calm the storms of life. It is only Christ that points you to your everlasting home and an eternity with Him. So we left off there. Jesus continuing now. He's continuing in this dialogue. Verse 28, He said, You heard it said that I said to you, I go away. and I will come to you. If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I." And we know several things right here, right? John 14, 15, 16, 17, Jesus is heading toward the culmination, the pinnacle of His earthly ministry. And that culmination of that ministry is going to go right to the cross. That's exactly where He's going to go. Straight to the cross. And so Jesus is building, he's preparing his disciples. And when you read, as we've been doing, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17, you have the most intimate portrait of Christ in his love for his disciples. How he seeks to calm their spirit as he seeks to calm them and prepare them for what's going to come. Verse 28. We can be assured that Christ, in the context of how He's preached, is not going to throw some curveball out here. He's not going to throw something that becomes contradictory to the doctrine that He's always said. Look what He says. Keep in mind as we go further. He says, "...you have heard it said..." And it's Jesus' way of reminding the disciples of the things He had previously taught them. So what are some of the things He had previously taught them? Look at v. 28. I go away and will come to you. Well, where did he say that? Go back in John. Beginning of chapter 14. Let not your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me. In my Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you so. For I go to prepare a place for you. Here he is. Hey, you heard it said, then I'm leaving. Well, I just told you just a few minutes ago. What else? He goes on to say, if you love me, you would have rejoiced. Look at John 14, 15. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Look at verse 21. He who has my commandments and keeps it, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him. Verse 23. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him. What's the third thing? Verse 28. If you love me, you would have rejoiced, Because I go to the father John 14 to in my father's house as we just read I go to prepare a place for you John 14 7 If you had known me you would have also known my father also from now on you know him and you have seen him John 14.10, Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me. Otherwise believe on the accounted works themselves. Truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, shall he do also. Greater works than these shall he do, because I go to the Father." You're getting a sense for context here. As Jesus is building this, He's drawing back on what He previously said. He's laying out the context, the groundwork. The question we need to ask, is Jesus in fact stating anything that would make Him lesser? So let's deal with that. We've already seen in John's Gospel alone, Jesus' statements of equality with God the Father and His oneness. You may want to write these down. John 5.23, "...so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent them." That's a powerful statement. He was equating himself equal with God. The same honor, the same tribute that you give to the Father, you give to the Son. And if you don't give it to the Son, it means you don't know the Son. It's a powerful statement. John 8.24, Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. We don't get that in our modern context. But in a first century Jewish context, that came across like a punch in the face. As a matter of fact, it's shortly thereafter that they're going to cry for his head. They're going to want to kill him. Right? Unless you believe I am he, who is the he? The one whom God had sent. He goes further, becomes more pointed, John 8, 58. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. Now, I want to give you the context for this. This is critical. This is critical. What was going on? The Pharisees had had it here with Jesus. And they were seeking to accuse Him. They were seeking to get Him to commit Himself into some kind of blasphemous crime. And they said, well, we have Moses as our Father. And Jesus makes a statement about His eternality. He says, let me tell you something. Before Moses ever existed, I am. What's significant about that? It goes back to Exodus. When Moses was on the mountain and God's telling Moses, you're going to go to my people, you're going to go to my people, send them to my people. Moses is going, what are you calling me? I'm a murderer. I got kicked out of Egypt. What are you sending me? As a matter of fact, a lot of people believe that Moses stuttered. And he's given all his excuses. I'm not eloquent in speech. I can't do this. I can't do that. You got the wrong guy, God. And so God's saying, look, stop with the whining and the complaining. This is the Brooklyn version. Stop with the whining and complaining. Just do what I tell you to do. Right? And so Moses figures, okay, I'm going to get him on this one. What if I go to him? And I say, God sent me to you. And they say, what is his name? Anybody remember what the response of the Lord was? I am that I am. Tell him, tell them, I am sent you, the everlasting, the preexistent one, the eternal God. That's what he's saying. Tell them the eternal God, the eternal God, the preexistent one, the everlasting one, the one that's never been created. This is who is sending you and they will know. Kudos for Moses. Now stands Jesus thousands of years later. This was not a mistake. As a matter of fact, turn in your Bibles to John 8. I just want to show you this because I think it's critical. John chapter 8. Jesus is rebuking in a very bold manner these Pharisees. He says to them, verse 47, He who has God hears the words of God for this reason. You do not hear them because you are not of God. Now you've got to get this. He is talking to the de facto religious leaders of the nation of Israel. I mean, He's not talking to some guy off the street corner. He is talking to these scholared, learned men who spent their entire entire life in the Scriptures, and the Lord Jesus Christ, this lay preacher, would go up and he says, listen to me, listen to me, those that are mine, they hear my words, but you don't hear the word of God, because you're not of God. This is some heavy duty rebuke. Big time. Notice verse 48, the Jews answered and said, do we not rightly say you are Samaritan and have a demon? Uh-oh, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit right there, right? Tributing the works of Christ to Satan. You think they're a little unhappy of what Jesus said there? That they look at the Lord of glory, the Messiah, and say, you're a Samaritan. That's a half-breed. It was contemptible to the Jews. You're a Samaritan. You, you, you have a demon. How could you speak to us this way? Jesus' answer says, I do not have a demon. But I honor my father, and you dishonor him. But I do not seek my glory. There is one who seeks and judges. Truly I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he shall never see death.' And the Jews answered him and said, Now we know you have a demon. Abraham died, the prophets also. And you say, if anyone keeps my word, He shall never taste death. You see where this is going, right? It's point-counterpoint here. But now they're seeking to obscure. They're seeking to twist. Verse 53, Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham who died. By the way, that was the Grand Slam. Right? When push comes to shove, bring in Abraham. Right? You remember when John the Baptist was down at the River Jordan, and he was baptizing for the repentance of sins, and he sees the Pharisees coming, and John in his very subtle and discreet way goes, Who warned you, you brood of vipers, to flee the wrath of God that is to come? And you remember what they said to him? They said to him this, we have Abraham as our father. Why'd they say that? Because basically John the Baptist was doing a proselytized baptism, a ritual cleansing for the repentance of sin, which was done for any person, any non-Jew who converted in Israel. So what they're really saying, we're true Jews. We have Abraham as our father. Here they invoke the same thing. Hey, you're not greater than our father. Now watch the Lord's words. This is unambiguous. Jesus answer, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my father who glorifies me of whom you said, he is our God. And you have not come to know him, but I know him. And if I say I don't know him, I shall be a liar like you. But I do know him, and keep his word. Now watch verse 56. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it, and he was glad. Here Christ is talking about his eternality. Your father Abraham, the one that you boast about, the one that you're claiming, guess what? I got a story for you. He wanted to see this day. Not only did he want to see it, he saw the day and he rejoiced in the day and he's glad. Now what do you do with that, Pharisees? Seriously, what are you going to say with that? You're going to come back with another, you got a demon thing? Notice what they say in verse 57, the Jews therefore said to him, you're not even 50 years old and you Have you seen Abraham? Now, this is a term of condescension. It's not that they're questioning his age. You know, you don't look 3,000. That's not what's going on. It's a condescending statement. What are you? Who are you? You're not even 50 years old. You've seen Abraham? Now, here's where it all comes together now. I want you to see this, right? Because we're talking about his co-equality with God. We're talking about his eternality with God. Jesus is going to give a very specific and a direct answer that sums all of this up, and it's going to shock them. Verse 58, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you. Now, what happens when Jesus says truly, truly? What does that mean? We've talked about that. One truly is, hey, this is important. Two truly is, hey, look up here, listen up, pay attention, because something's coming that's really critical. Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, before Abraham existed, before Abraham came into the realm of materialization as a human being, I am. I am. Who shall they say sent me? I am who I am sent you. Before Abraham was even created. I am. Now, was that misunderstood by Pharisees? Well, again, let's go to the scripture. Let's look at the scripture in context. Here we go. Verse 59. Therefore, they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple." What would be the only reason he would be stoned for? What would be the only crime, according to the law, that they could stone him for? What was it? Blaspheming. Making himself out to be who? God, making himself out to be God. The message was clearly received. They didn't rebuke him. It irritated them. It agitated them to such an extent that in self-righteous rage, they picked up stones. You know what they were saying? You're a dead man. You're a dead man. Now we don't know how Jesus hit himself, but Jesus hit himself, and obviously they didn't hit him with any stones, but the intent of the heart was to put him away, because in that moment he blasphemed God. By what? By claiming the I Am, and making himself equal with God. Listen, our faith is distinct. And it's distinct in the fact that we have a God who became flesh, who dwelt among us, whom we beheld His glory as the only begotten of the Son of God. who both became perfect human beings while maintaining his perfect deity. Neither one was compromised. This is unique to Christianity. So we talked about context, and I didn't mean to digress. Anyway, we talked, but now the question asked, so say, well, is this limited to the Gospel of John? Was John the only person who talked about this? Because remember, we're going for proper interpretation of the Father is greater than I. So are there Old Testament Scriptures that speak to it. I'm going to start at one of the most famous Old Testament Scriptures, Deuteronomy 6.4. What's known in Israel as the Shema. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God. And let me start, and let me say emphatically that we, As born-again believers, stand by that statement. Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God. He's one God. But here's an interesting thing. You see, this is where grammatical contexts come in. The word for one in Hebrew there is the Hebrew word echad. And echad denotes plural One comprised of many. Let me give you a few examples. You have a cluster of grapes. It's one cluster, but it's comprised of many grapes. Echad denotes that. It defines that. One, yes, but one comprised of many. Where else do we see this? Genesis 2.24. when the Lord says, the two, the man and the woman, the two shall become one flesh. Right? He's talking about the union of the man and the woman. When a man and a woman consummate a marriage, the two now become one flesh. It's one flesh right in the eyes of God. But how many individuals? Two. There's two. That's an example of echad in the Old Testament. Genesis 3.22, Then the Lord God said, now listen to this, Behold, man has become like one of us. Note the plural use and the implication. Knowing good and evil, and now he might stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, eat and live forever. Notice the plurality In the statement, the Lord God said, behold, man has become like one of us. One in a plural. That's an example of echad. Just like in Genesis 1.26. Not using one, but another example of that is Genesis 1.26, when the Lord said, Let us make man in our image. Now, this is at the dawn of creation. At the dawn of creation. And the Lord makes this statement, right? Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God. But the Lord God makes the statement, let us make man in our image. Well, who is He talking to? Let's do a process of elimination. Is He talking to angels? No. Why not? Man's not created in the image of angels. Is He talking to animals? No, why not? Contrary to what science says, man is not another animal, nor was He created in the image of animals. Well, we know it can't be demons. So what else could it be? The plurality of the Godhead. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let us make man in our image. We see in the Old Testament the references to God are plural references. Here's one, Genesis 1.1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. What's the Hebrew term for God? Elohim. What's Elohim? Plural for majesties. Plural for majesties. And if you go through the Old Testament, you could see the word Elohim used when it talks about God's plural within us. Plural for majesties. Here it is. Nothing has been created. Just existence is there. by the one who made something out of nothing. And in Genesis 1.26, he says, let us make man in our image. Plurals for majesty. Echad, the words, that's why I tell you proper interpretation when you look at the grammatical context, you begin to see things that are not there. It is this oneness that the church fathers founded and spoke of. It's this one of three. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This was first preserved, by the way, in the Nicene Creed. This was written June 19, 325 AD. Here's what the Nicene Creed says. We believe in one God. The Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages. God from God, light from light, true God from true God. Begotten, not made. of the same essence as the Father. Through Him all things were made for us and for our salvation. He came down from heaven. He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary. He was made human. He was crucified for us on the Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried. The third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. He ascended to heaven. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead. His kingdom will never end. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, giver of life. He proceeds from the Father and the Son, and with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified. He spoke through the prophets. We believe in one holy, Catholic, apostolic church. And let me qualify that. That does not mean Roman Catholic. That means Catholic in the term of universal. It means the universal body of believers. We affirm one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look forward to the resurrection of the dead and to the life in the world to come. Amen. This was written 300 years after Christ. The early church found it necessary to put this statement, which still carries forward to this day. This was the view. Now let me share something. There always have been other views that have attacked this oneness of Christ. Oneness, this triunity of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I shared with you some examples in the Old Testament like Genesis 1. You know, we talked about Elohim, plural, of majesties. We look at the New Testament reference. John 1.1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was with God. And let me tell you something, you could take every Bible from the earliest recorded times and lay them out one by another, and they will all say that same thing. In the beginning was the Word, the Lagos, and the Word was with God. and the Word was God. I shared with you Genesis 1.26, and there are great corollaries in the New Testament to Genesis 1.26. You could look at John 1.10, for example. John 1.10, and he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him, right? Colossians 1.15, you will know this. They used to say, let your fingers do the walking, and my fingers are pretty lame right now. Colossians 1.15, He is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn of all creation. Let me add a statement there. Firstborn has nothing to do with chronology. It doesn't mean He was the firstborn. It means He is the preeminent One. That's what firstborn means. He is the preeminent One. The firstborn of all creation. Now notice this. For by Him all things were created. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Didn't we just talk about Genesis 1-1? In the beginning, God created. Here the Apostle Paul says, look at what he says, for by Him, by Christ, All things were created, both in heaven and on earth, visible, invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority. All things have been created by Him and for Him. We talked about Old Testament precedence. Is there Old Testament precedence for the equality of God? Here it is. The writer of Hebrews writes effectively the same thing. In previous days, God spoke to us. He spoke to us through many and diverse ways. But now He speaks to us through His Son. Here's one, Isaiah 7.14. We say this a lot at Christmas. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a child, and his name shall be called what? Immanuel. Immanuel. God with us. God with us. Here's another one, Isaiah 9, 6. For unto us is born this day. Oh, I got it messed up. For unto us a child is born, a son is given. Now listen to the titles that are given to him. What is he called? Mighty God. Eternal Father. There is only one eternal Father. Elohim. Adonai. There's only one Eternal Father. And the prophet speaking of Christ's birth at His incarnation says, And He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. These are unmistakable terms of deity. and not a lesser deity. These are unmistakable terms of equality with God. My favorite, and I think one of the most powerful ones in Scripture, is Philippians chapter 2. And I want you to see this because this is critical. Because then we'll go back to the text and hopefully close this out. Philippians chapter 2. beginning with verse five. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. Now watch the wording, watch the wording, watch the wording. Who although he existed in the form of God. Now it's not in the form of a God. Although he existed in the form of, what does that mean, he existed in the form? That word means, it's actually a Greek word, morphe, it means the exact essential elements. Kind of a terminology we would use today would say DNA. It is the essence of what comprises that genetic makeup. That's what that form is. The form is he existed in the exact essential form of God. But look what he goes on to say. But he did not regard equality with God. Whoa. He did not regard equality with God. And by the way, that word equality means equality. That's literally what it means. He did not regard his equal position with God. A thing to be grasped. In other words, a thing to be retained to. Get the picture. This is talking about the humility of Christ. But I want to make this clear. The Apostle Paul is laying out the case. He existed in the form of God. He didn't regard equality with God. He didn't hold on to his rank. He didn't hold on to anything. He just existed in the form of God. What did he do with that? and being made in the likeness, but emptied himself, verse 7, emptied himself, and that doesn't mean he emptied himself of divine prerogative, divine origin, or anything. What it does mean is the rest. He took the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men, being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. I wanna show you something in verse 10 that a lot of times get missed. Look at verse 10 here, verse nine. Therefore also God highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name which is above every name. What is the name that is above every name? I'm going to give you a clue. It's not Jesus. What's the name that is above all names? What is the name that every knee is going to bow? Here it is. You ready? Adonai. Lord. God had bestowed upon Christ the name Adonai. Lord. And at that name every knee bows, every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is God. Every name That is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of those who are in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Adonai. Jesus Christ is Lord. Now look, who bows? Everyone and everything bows at the name of Jesus. and confesses with joy, He is Lord. Want to know something about that day? I'm going to tell you something weird about that day. Osama Bin Laden is going to bow. Adolf Hitler is going to bow. Lenin is going to bow. They're all going to bow. And all the saints that have gone before are going to bow too. And those of us that are there on the side of glory are gonna bow and we're gonna cry out, Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is our God. To the glory of God the Father, to the glory and the praise of his name. and everyone who ever blasphemed and everyone who ever cursed the name of Jesus and everybody who ever used his name as a swear word. The most adamant and ardent atheist who says there is no God is gonna be forced to their knees and they're gonna be forced to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. And it's gonna be to the glory of God the Father. For today that shall be. when my Jesus I shall see, just to look upon his face, this one who saved me by his grace, to take me by the hand and lead me through the promised land. Oh, what a day, what a glorious day that will be. Oh, brothers and sisters, we have a glorious Christ. We have a glorious gospel. We have a glorious God. He has more than enabled. His salvation is more than able to save us. To those who love, He preserves them and He leads us through. No matter how dark the trial, no matter how hard the testing, our God is the one who pulls us through. He lifts us from the muck and mire, and He takes us out of the miry clay, and He sets our feet upon a rock to stay. And that rock is Jesus Christ. Oh, glory to God. What a magnificent Christ. What a magnificent God. What a magnificent three in one. What a glorious truth that we rejoice and we sing and we praise. That's why we come. That's why we worship. That's why we love our Lord. That's why we're out in the streets. That's why we're telling people, come and get saved. That's why we have a hunger and a desire in our heart that men and women would come to Christ. That's why we don't live a dead state. Stupid idle religion that is stuck in formality But is rooted and grounded in the power of God and the truth of the gospel That's what we do it for. There's no other reason Nobody's getting rich here We're not hustling people You don't see say hey if you give me $50 I'll send you this anointed handkerchief you pray and put on your pillow and all your wishes will come true It's not gonna happen Brother and sister, where are you with Christ today? Where are you with Christ? Do you love Him? Do you love Him? Is He your greatest affection? Your greatest joy? Oh, brothers and sisters, you know what the difference is between a believer and an unbeliever? I'm going to make it real simple. A believer knows God. Most unbelievers know about God. There's a distinct difference. The believer knows his God. And the believer says, oh God, I want to know you more. I want to press into you, Almighty God. Father, I know that you are above every circumstance and you are supernatural. Father, I know that your hand is upon me, but oh God, I pray that I would know you more. I pray that you would pull me in. I pray, oh God, Father, that I yearn to see your face. There's a lot of ways that people say, hey, do you know Jesus? You know, you gotta confess your sins. Listen, I'm gonna tell you something. Be a yearn for Christ. Is He your greatest affection? If you could have anything in the world right now Would Christ make the top five? Or would Christ be number one? Listen to me. Don't leave, please. I beg you. I beg you. With everything in me. Don't leave not knowing Christ. Confess your sins to the Lord. Listen, God is merciful and great. God gave us his son. He told the prophet Isaiah, come let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. That's not the picture of God that we often see, right? This mean, vindictive, judging guy. And you know why he said that? Because he took his only son. Although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being found in the appearance of men, became obedient even to death on a cross. See, Jesus had to be fully God. And he had to be fully man. He had to be, as the writer of Hebrews said, tempted in all ways as we are yet without sin. But at the same time, only God could pay the penalty of sin. And so Christ took upon himself, he took upon himself the judgment and the penalty for our sins. and he took it upon himself with joy. The writer of Hebrews talks about that this Christ upon the cross, he didn't even, he despised the shame. That's what he said. He despised the shame. That means he thought so little of the shame that was gonna be to hang on a cross naked, to be accused as a criminal, to be in the eyes of the world being punished for something that supposedly he did. He thought nothing for it. Why? For the joy that was set before him. He endured the cross. You understand that? For the joy that was set before Him, Christ endured the cross. That's why as Christians, we're compelled to preach this gospel. The Apostle Paul says, the love of Christ controls us. And I cry to you today, if you do not know this Savior, cry out to Jesus. Father, have mercy upon me, I'm a sinner. I know, Father, that there is a judgment reserved, Lord God, and if the blood of Jesus does not wipe me clean, I will stand before you in my own righteousness, and I will be lost eternally. But, Father, all we like sheep have gone astray. Each one has turned to his own way, but the Lord has placed upon him the iniquity of us all. Mighty Father, we come to you this day. We pray that you would be magnified and glorified, Lord. We pray, O God, that each and every one of us would examine ourselves. O God, that the greatest desire of our hearts would be our Lord Jesus Christ. O God, that you would teach us to love as Christ, that you would teach us to walk as Christ, that you would teach us to become obedient like Christ, that Lord, that we too could empty ourselves of ourselves, Lord God, that the most preeminent thing in us would be Jesus Christ and Him glorified and Him resurrected and Him magnified, O God. And mighty God, I pray if there is anybody here, O God, whom your hand is reaching out in conviction, that you would call them unto yourself, O God, that they would repent, turn to Christ, and be born again. And Father, like that demoniac's father, we all who are in Christ pray, Lord, we believe. Help, Lord God, our unbelief. Be magnified, Lord. Be exalted, Lord. Be glorified, Lord. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. Amen and amen.