Amen. All right, well we're there in Matthew chapter number 19. And of course tonight we are continuing through our Declaring Doctrines series. And on Sunday nights what we've been doing is we've been systematically going through the major doctrines of the Bible. And if you remember a couple of weeks ago, several weeks ago, we started in a new section in this series and we've been dealing with the Godhead. And we talked about the attributes of God, the fact that God is omniscient and omnipotent and immutable. And then last week we talked about the moral attributes of God. And if you remember we, excuse me, not last week, last week we were in our anniversary, the week before that. We looked at the moral attributes of God, and we learned that God is love, He's holy, He's just, He's merciful, He's jealous, He's righteous, He's true, He's faithful, and He is good. Tonight, we're going to begin a new section in this Godhead section about the deity of Jesus Christ. And of course, when we say the deity of Jesus Christ, what we mean by that or what that means is that we believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. Now there are some people who don't believe that. There are some religions who don't believe that. They believe that Jesus was a good man. They believe that Jesus was a good prophet. But they don't believe that he's anything more than that. We, of course, believe that Jesus is God in the flesh. Now we're going to look at this over the next several weeks, and I don't know exactly how many sermons it's going to end up coming to, but tonight we're going to look at the deity of Jesus Christ as proven by his moral attributes. And the only reason, honestly, I'm even starting with that is because we just looked at the moral attributes of God couple of weeks ago, so I think it would be good to look at that tonight. But we'll also be looking at the Deity of Jesus Christ as proven by the virgin birth, the Deity of Jesus Christ as proven by His sinless life, the Deity of Jesus Christ as proven by the statements of Scripture, and the Deity of Jesus Christ as proven by His own statements. And not all of those are all a specific sermon. Those might be all united into a couple of sermons or a few sermons. We'll see how that goes. But tonight, we're looking at the Deity of Christ. And the reason I'm telling you that is because I don't want you to think that what I'm giving you tonight is the only proof for the Deity of Christ. There is actually stronger and clearer proof for the deity of Jesus Christ, then the deity of Jesus Christ by his moral attributes, but I just felt like it was a good segue into it because we just looked at the moral attributes of God. And this is a strong two, of course, but this is not necessarily... What I would go to if I was at the door and somebody didn't believe in the deity of Christ, what I'm going to show you tonight is not necessarily what I would go to. To prove that, there are clear passages in Scripture. We'll look at those as we continue on in this series. But tonight, we're just going to focus on the deity of Jesus Christ, based off of, as proven by his moral attributes. So if you remember, a couple of weeks ago, we looked at these things. God is love. God is holy. God is truth. God is just. Tonight we're going to look at those, and we're going to see that Jesus shares all of the same moral attributes as God does, and that proves that Jesus is God, or it's one of the proofs that Jesus is God. Now you're there in Matthew 19, and in Matthew 19 and verse 16, we have this famous story of the rich young ruler coming to Jesus and asking him a question. Now, There is a lot in this passage. I've preached entire sermons out of this passage. I'm not obviously doing that tonight. There's a lot that we could cover, but I want you to understand the context is that we have this rich young ruler coming to Jesus, but he's coming with a bad attitude. and he's coming with, he's already made up his mind, and I can kind of, and Jesus, to be honest with you, you know, it seems like Jesus kind of, you know, is short with him and doesn't really, you know, just kind of gets the point, he's a little rough, but I can understand because, you know, as a pastor over the years, I've had many people, you know, come to ask me a question when they've already made up their minds, you know? And they already know what they're gonna do, they already know what they think, they already know what they believe, they're just trying to get you to kind of rubber stamp the decision they've already made. And this is what this young man's doing to Jesus. He already knows! what he's going to do. He's not going to let anybody correct him or tell him he's wrong, but he's just coming to Jesus hoping he can manipulate him into just kind of rubber stamping it and saying you're good to go, and of course Jesus doesn't do that. But look at verse 16. The Bible says this, and behold, one came and said unto him, good master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? Now notice, he doesn't come to Jesus asking what must I do to be saved. He already has an idea of what it takes to be saved. You gotta do something good. You gotta do good things to be saved. And he comes with this attitude with Jesus. And of course, Jesus knows this about him because Jesus is God, because Jesus is deity, because he knows what's in man. So he comes to him with this attitude. He says, good master, what good things shall I do that I may have eternal life? And again, I don't have time to develop this, but look at verse 17. And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? And this is what I mean when I say, it seems like Jesus is kind of a little standoffish with him, but I can understand it's for a reason. He says, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God. But if thou will enter into life, keep the commandments, and of course they have this whole conversation. But I want you to notice that Jesus is kind of standoffish with this young man, because he knows what this young man thinks about Jesus. He realizes that this rich young ruler simply thinks that Jesus is not the Christ, is not the chosen one, is not the son of God, but he's just a teacher. He's just a master. And he even tries to compliment him by saying, good master. And Jesus is kind of highlighting for this young man, you know, I know what you really think about me because he says, he says, why are you calling me good? He says, there is none good but one. Now what Jesus explains here is a theological truth. You're there in Matthew chapter 19? Go over to the book of Romans, Romans chapter number three. Romans chapter number three. And you know this, and of course you've seen this before, but let's look at it together. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans. Romans chapter number three, and look at verse number 12. Romans 3, 12, the Bible says this, they are all gone out of the way. Romans chapter 3 verse 12. They all got out of the way. They all together become unprofitable. Notice these words. There is none that doeth good, no not one. The Bible says that no one does good. Now, you and I, by our human standards, would say, well, you know, so-and-so is a pretty good person. And by our human standards, so-and-so may be a pretty good person, but the standard for good is God. In fact, the word good comes from the word God. God is good is what Jesus is saying to the rich young ruler and and to be good You've got to be like God. And by the way, this is why in Romans 3 he goes on to say For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God None of us can attain to God's glory. Why because none of us can attain to God's goodness So see Jesus is looking at this young man Who doesn't believe that he is the Son of God and he says you're calling me good, but here's the thing There is none good but one. That is God. And here's what Jesus is trying to explain to this young man. He says, if I'm good, then I'm God. And if I'm not God, then I'm not good. Because there is none that doeth good, talking about human beings, no, not one. And of course, if we ask the question, is Jesus good? The resounding answer would be, yes, Jesus is good. In fact, if you ask those who deny the deity of Jesus Christ, if you ask the Muslim who denies the deity of Jesus Christ, If you ask the Jehovah's Witness, who denies the deity of Jesus Christ, if you ask the Mormon, who denies the deity of Jesus Christ, if you ask whatever cult that denies the deity of Jesus Christ, if you ask them, is Jesus good, the resounding answer will be yes. No Mormon will tell you, no, no, Jesus was a sinner. They'd never say that. They'll say, well, Jesus isn't good. Okay, well, was he a sinner? Was he bad? No, no, he was good. As a Jehovah's Witness, is Jesus Jehovah? No, no, no, absolutely not. Is Jesus bad? No, no, he's good. He's a good teacher. He's a good master. He's a good prophet. Ask the Muslims. Jesus is a good prophet. Well, wait a minute. Jesus highlights this idea. He says, look, if I'm good, then I'm God. And here's the interesting thing about Jesus. When you study his life, no one would say he's not good. Everyone would say, yes, Jesus was good. Well, let me explain something to you. The fact that Jesus was good proves that Jesus was God. Because the truth is this, if we were to ask about you, well, we'd just have to ask your wife. Just have to ask your in-laws. Just have to ask your neighbor. Is so-and-so good? Oh, let me tell you about so-and-so. I mean, right? We just have to ask your husband. We just have to ask your adult children. Just ask your pastor. It sounds so good. Now, let me tell you about Zonzo. See, no one would say about you, and no one would say about me, oh, yes, they are good. You say, no, well, people would say I'm a good person. They say, yeah, you're a good person. But if we ask them, but are they a sinner? Well, of course they're a sinner. Do you see what I'm saying? No one would accuse Jesus of being a sinner. No one, everyone would say, Jesus is good. Well, let me tell you something, because Jesus is good, Jesus is God, because there is only one good, that is God. God is good, and Jesus is good. Therefore, Jesus is God. You're there in Romans, go back to John if you would, just go backwards. Acts, John, John chapter three. God is good, Jesus is good, therefore Jesus is God. And to deny the beauty of Christ, you have to deny the goodness of God, the goodness of Christ. The Bible says that Jesus went about doing good. The Bible says Jesus is good. Let me give you another one. John chapter 3 verse 33. He that receiveth this testimony hath set this to a seal. We saw this a couple of weeks ago when we were studying it. That God is true. So not only is God is good, but this statement is also true. God is true. Truth comes from God. Truth comes from God, period. Sanctify them through thy word, thy word is truth. The only truth we have in this world comes from God. You learn John chapter three, go to John chapter 14. John chapter 14. And by the way, I'll bring this up in my America's series on Sunday mornings, but all of you constitutional loving you know Americans out there Let me explain something to you when the when the Declaration of Independence says we hold these truths to be self-evident That's actually an attack on God True you say well true. It's self-evident. No no we get our truth from the Word of God We hold these truths from the Word of God. They're not self-evident. That's a sermon for another day, but anyway John chapter 14 Look at verse 6, John chapter 14 verse 6, Jesus saith unto him, notice, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. So Jesus is not only good, Jesus is truth. Now God is truth, you say, how can these things be? If God is truth and Jesus is truth, The equating factor there is that Jesus is God. And again, you say, well, I don't know. Is this the only proof we have of the deity of Christ? Absolutely not. We'll spend the next several weeks looking at it, but please understand this. You just gotta ask this question. You just gotta ask this question. If you were to ask, are you truth? Not do you tell the truth sometimes when it benefits you, but are you truth? Is your being truth? Is there no deceitfulness lying in you? The answer is a resounding no, of course not. The Bible says let God be true, but every man a liar. Here's the thing, Jesus was not just a man. He was truth. He was God. God is good, Jesus is good, therefore Jesus is God. God is truth, Jesus is truth, therefore Jesus is God. Go to Luke chapter one. Luke chapter one, you're there in John. Just go backwards one book into the book of Luke. While you turn there, I'll read to you out of Isaiah chapter six and verse three. We saw these verses a couple of weeks ago when we were doing the moral attributes of God. And it is this, Isaiah chapter six verse three, and one cried unto another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. Here's point number three, God is holy. God is holy, and the Bible teaches that Jesus is holy. Let me show it to you. Luke chapter 1 verse 35. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the house shall overshadow thee. Therefore also, notice these words, that holy thing, referring to Jesus Christ, which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Now, the term the Son of God is a reference to the deity of Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God, the only begotten Son of God. But notice, in this verse, it is connected to the fact that He is holy. He is referred to as a holy thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of God. See, God is holy, but Jesus is also holy. Go to the book of Acts, chapter four. You're there in Luke, and it'll pass John into the book of Acts, Acts chapter four, and look at verse 27. So I want you to notice that Jesus and God, we spent an entire sermon looking at the moral attributes of God, right? Not just the physical attributes of God, the fact that he's omnipotent and omnipresent and omniscient and immutable. he but he also has moral attributes he's good he's holy he's just and then we see that jesus shares all those same attributes god is good jesus is good therefore jesus is god god is truth jesus is truth therefore jesus is god god is holy jesus is holy therefore jesus is god i accept before verse 27 for the truth against notice what the bible says about jesus Thy holy child Jesus, who now has anointed both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were gathered together." See, Jesus is described as being holy. God is described as being holy. God is holy. Jesus is holy. Therefore, Jesus is God. And again, how much would you have to pay someone to say of you that you're holy? Because you're not holy. I'm not holy. Jesus is holy, Jesus is truth, Jesus is God. Go to Acts chapter number 3. While you go there, I'll read to you from Revelation 15. Revelation 15 in verse 3, the Bible says this, and they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways. Thou King of saints, God is just. God is just. And the Bible says that Jesus is just. Acts chapter 3 and verse 14. But ye denied, notice what the Bible says, the Holy One, here's another reference to Jesus being holy, and the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you. See, the Bible refers to Jesus not as someone who does justice, but as someone who is just. And again, could it be said of you, you're just. I mean, you're always fake. Would your children say? And look, I'm not saying your children shouldn't be able to say this. Obviously, our children are raised by parents that are sinners. Sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes we, you know, you ever spank a kid, the wrong kid? You know, you spank it, you're just convinced. You are lying to me. They're like, no, it was you. I'm like, no, it was you. You find out years later, oh, it really wasn't you. You have to go and spank the other one like five years later. It's odd. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. You obviously don't do that. Sometimes we get it wrong. We do the best we can, but you know what? Jesus never gets it wrong. In fact, the Bible says that he's just and in justice he makes war. See, the difference between you and the American Christian is that when Jesus wages war, it's always just. It's never like, well, we thought the weapons of mass destruction were there, and then after, well, it's not. Oh, no, we killed 500 million, you know, civilians. God, you know, again, I'm being too political. You guys, you liked it better when I wasn't into politics. God is just. Jesus is just. Therefore, Jesus is God. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at that. You're there in Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. While you turn there, I'll read to you from Daniel chapter 9. Daniel 9, 14, Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us. For the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth, for we obeyed not his voice. The Bible says that God is righteous, and the Bible says that Jesus is righteous. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at verse 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus. I want you to notice the context is Christ Jesus. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. So Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. So we're going to learn here what Jesus is made unto us. He's made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Now, none of those apply to you and me, but I want you to notice that Jesus is made unto us righteousness. So, the Bible says that God is righteous in all his words, which he did, Daniel 9, 14. But then the Bible tells us that Jesus is righteousness. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. You're doing 1 Corinthians, just one book over, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Look at verse 21. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. And by the way, when you spank the wrong kid, it's not the end of the world, okay? They got away for something else at some point that they should have got spanked for. So don't beat yourself up too much about it. Second Corinthians 5 verse 21, the Bible says, for he hath made him to be sin for us. This is God the Father, hath made him, God the Son, to be sin for us. Notice, who knew no sin, Jesus was without sin. We'll come back to that in another sermon. Jesus was without sin because he's God. That we might be made the righteousness of God in him. See, at salvation, he took my sin, I took his righteousness. Why could I take his righteousness? Because he was righteous. You and I are not righteous. You and I do not have the righteousness that will allow us into heaven. God is righteous. Jesus is righteous. Therefore, Jesus is God. And we don't even have to ask you if you're righteous. We already know. You're a sinner condemned to hell. You need the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Your righteousnesses are as filthy rags, the Bible says. You're not righteous. I'm not righteous. We're not righteous enough, but Jesus is. You say, well how could Jesus have enough righteousness? Because God is righteous, Jesus is righteous, therefore Jesus is God. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look at verse 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 9, the Bible says this, God is faithful. God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. The Bible says that God is faithful. And again, we talked about that last week, I don't want to spend too much time on it. But let me tell you something, the Bible also teaches that Jesus is faithful. Go to the book of Revelation if you would, Revelation chapter 3. And I realize we're looking at a lot of passages, but you know, what's new, right? Revelation chapter 3, we always look at a lot of passages. Revelation chapter 3, and look at verse 14. The last book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find. Revelation 3.14, the Bible says this, And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, and by the way, this is Jesus speaking, and you can get that if you read chapter 1, 2, and 3. It's Jesus speaking to the seven churches of Asia. He says this, And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things sayeth the AMEN. So he's referring to himself. So as these things say, the amen, notice what Jesus says about himself. The faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. Now where we saw that God is truth, and Jesus is truth, therefore Jesus is God. Here we have Jesus saying, I'm not only the true witness, I'm the faithful witness. The faithful witness the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of god go to revelation chapter 19 Revelation chapter 19 verse number 11 in revelation 19. Of course, we have the battle of armageddon We have the lord jesus christ coming down to do battle on the white horse With 10 000 of his saints behind him and in revelation chapter 19 and verse 11 Notice what the bible says about jesus and I saw heaven open and behold a white horse. This is not the right horse of Revelation 6, which is the Antichrist, the imitator, this is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. See, he judges in righteousness, he makes war in righteousness, he's faithful and true. See, the Bible says God is faithful. And then the Bible says that Jesus is faithful and true. The Bible says that God is true. And then the Bible says that Jesus is faithful and true. You say, how can these things be? Here's how. Because God is true, and Jesus is true, therefore Jesus is God, and God is faithful, and Jesus is faithful, therefore Jesus is God. And by the way, let me just say this. Aren't you thankful that Jesus is faithful? I mean, being faithful means he's consistent, he's constant. Sometimes, and I realize that this sounds bad, and please forgive me, and I don't think this is the truth, but sometimes you feel like, and I'm sure you've been there in your life, you feel like people, it's almost like people are looking for an opportunity to let you down. It's almost like people are looking for an opportunity to, you know, mess you up, to trip you up, to offend you. But you know what? Jesus will never do that. Jesus is faithful. He's constant. He's consistent. He's always there when you need him. And look, you say, I need to get that from my husband. You'll never get that from your husband. You can only get that from God. I need to get that from my wife. Don't put that pressure on her. She can't give you that. Only God can give you that. If I can just get that from my children, they'll fail every time. You can't get that from a human being. No human can be faithful, but God is faithful. And Jesus is faithful. Because Jesus is God. Let me give you another one. Go back to the book of John, if you would, John chapter 1. John chapter 1, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. And do me a favor. Keep your place right there in John, actually. Go to the book of Psalms, if you would. Keep your place in John 1. We're going to come right back to it. Go to the book of Psalms, Psalm 116. If you open up your Bible just right in the center, you're more likely to find the book of Psalms. Psalm 116. I want you to notice verse number 5. And, you know, I'm going to put these two together. They probably should have been their own point in the last sermon, and I apologize for that. But Psalm 116, verse 5, the Bible says this, Gracious is the Lord. See that word, gracious? That's grace, right? For by grace are you saved through faith. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. When we look at the moral attributes of God a couple weeks ago, we talked about the fact that God is merciful, or mercy. But we talked about the fact that mercy and grace are kind of different sides of the same coin. Grace is when you receive something you did not earn. Mercy is when you don't receive something you did earn. Grace is when I didn't work for it, but I got it anyway. Mercy is when I've sinned and messed up, but I didn't get the punishment. It's the same concept, but just on the flip side. And that's why here in Psalm 116 verse five, they're put together. Gracious is the Lord and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. So God is gracious. God is grace. And God is mercy. Now, for by grace are you saved through faith. We often emphasize the grace part, and there's nothing wrong with that. The Bible does that. The reason we do that is because we're talking about the gift that we are receiving, which is eternal life. The gift we get by grace. But realize that mercy is there as well, because when I don't get hell, that's mercy. Do you understand that? When I get heaven, that's grace. When I don't get hell, that's mercy. When I get heaven, grace gives me something I didn't deserve. When I don't get hell, mercy doesn't give me something I do deserve. Do you understand that? That's why these words are coupled together. Grace and mercy. Now here's the point. God is gracious and merciful. We saw it there in Psalm 116 verse 5. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. But I want you to notice that Jesus is both grace and mercy as well. Go to the book of John, John chapter 1. John chapter 1, and a lot of these verses overlap with each other because the doctrine of the deal of Christ is just overlapped throughout the Bible. John chapter 1 verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. And of course, this is talking about the deity of Christ, and this is a whole other passage on the deity of Christ, and we'll come back to this another time. I just want you to notice this. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of. Notice what the Bible says Jesus was full of, the Word. Jesus is the Word. full of grace and truth. Now, God is true. Jesus is truth. I am the way, the truth, and the life. But the Bible says here that he's grace and truth. He's full of grace and he's full of truth. You say, but God is grace. Well, here's the thing. God is grace and mercy. Jesus is also grace and mercy because Jesus is God. Go to verse 17, same chapter. John chapter 1 verse 17. John 1 17 the Bible says this, for the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Notice the Bible emphasizes that he's grace which is just the flip side of mercy and His truth. The Bible says that God is gracious, gracious is the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. Now let me give you an example of this in the Bible. Go to the book of John, chapter number eight, if you would. You're there in chapter one, so just flip a few pages over. John, chapter number eight. And I'll show you one of the, probably the, I think one of the best examples of this in the Bible. John chapter 8, you have this extremely popular, well-known story John chapter number eight, Luke chapter number three, the Bible says this, and the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And of course, the scribes and the Pharisees were doing, because they were trying to catch Jesus in his words. And I don't have time to develop this story. I'm actually gonna probably preach through this at some point in our Sunday morning series, but I'm not gonna do that tonight. But I want you to know, they're trying to get Jesus to do something wrong. So they find this woman, the Bible says who they said that she was taken in adultery it says in the scribes and pharisees brought unto him a woman taken adultery and when they had set her in the midst they say unto him master this woman was taken in adultery in the very act and the question i gotta ask is okay well where's the guy you know you bring this woman caught in the very act we can tell that your motives are not righteous where's your buddy Notice verse 5. Now Moses and Noah commanded us that such should be stoned, and by the way that's true, but what sayest thou? They're trying to catch Jesus in his words. This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. And by the way, let me just say this, and I'm not going to preach this right now, but they're trying to catch Jesus because they're trying to get him to either go against the law of Moses or to go against the Roman Empire and the law of the Romans. And the reason this is very applicable to us is because we live hate to break it to you, in a heathen society, in a non-Christian society, where the laws of the Lamb do not match up with the laws of God. And here they're trying to get Jesus, because there's no right answer to this question. Either he says, stone her, like Moses said, and then they call the Roman Empire and say, he is going against the law of Rome, or he says, don't stone her, because we live in Rome, USA, and, you know, we don't follow the Levitical laws, and then they'll say, wait, see, you're a phony. So there's no right answer here. They're trying to catch him in his words. So what does Jesus do? And look, this is a good lesson for some of you. You know that you don't have to answer every question? They say, so tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. Sometimes people ask you questions, there's not a good answer, it doesn't matter what you answer. You know, it's like, he just, act like you didn't even hear him. And don't tell me Jesus is a liberal. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, and of course we don't know what he wrote on the ground, nobody knows that, we'll have to ask him when we get to heaven. But the Bible says in verse 7, so when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, notice the great question that Jesus asked, he says, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again, the idea is that there is none that doeth good. There's only one without sin, and it's Jesus, because Jesus is God. He says, look, you're trying to get me to do something here that really I only have the right to do. But he says, look, you want to go at it? He that is without sin, let him first cast a stone at him. And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. Notice verse 9. and they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those nine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? Verse 11, she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee." Now, the average liberal goes to this passage and just, you know, loves the fact that look at the grace and the mercy of Jesus and there is grace and mercy there, absolutely. And I want you to notice that this definitely highlights the grace and the mercy of Jesus Christ. He says, where are thine accusers? He said, hath no man condemned thee? She said, no man roared. Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Highlights the grace of God. But I want you to know, that's not all he said. Because the liberal today, the Rick Warren today, the Joel Osteen would say, neither do I condemn thee. But that's not all Jesus said. He said, neither do I condemn thee. Grace of God. Then he says this, go and sin no more. Truth of God. He didn't just say, hey, I don't condemn you either. Just go on, do what you did. No, that's not what he said. He said, I don't condemn you either. But you need to stop that. Go and sin no more. See, Jesus was the perfect mixture of grace and truth. See, we mess it all up. We're all like, you know, the liberals are like, grace, grace, grace. But they forget about truth. They're like, just come in here with whatever sin, and we're gonna help, we're gonna forgive you, and we're gonna love you. And look, there is that. There is grace. There is forgiveness. The Bible says that the grace of God is available to all man. But see, the liberals today, they say grace, grace, grace, but they never preach truth. The fundamentalists, you know, we tend to kind of be a little lopsided on the truth. Truth, truth, truth. Preach hard sermons about sin. And I'm all for that. But there's also grace. See, Jesus was the perfect balance of grace and truth. Neither condemn I thee. You know what Jesus asked you when you got saved? Neither condemn I thee. But go and sin no more. You don't have to stop sinning to get my forgiveness. You get my forgiveness by grace. But then, don't forget about the truth. Jesus was this perfect balance of grace, mercy, and truth. You say, how can that be? Here's how it can be. Because Jesus is God. Because God is grace at the same time that he is truth. He is holy at the same time that he is just. There can only be a balance that comes from God. God is gracious. He is merciful. And Jesus was full of grace and truth. He was grace and truth. God is grace and mercy. Jesus is grace and mercy. How can that be? Well, Jesus is God. Go back to the book of John, if you would. John chapter 2. Let me give you a couple more. We'll finish up tonight. John chapter 2. While you go there, I won't read the entire verse. I'll just read the first three words. But in Nahum chapter 1 and verse 2, the Bible says these words, God is jealous. God is jealous, so God is jealous, and Jesus is jealous. I have to kind of explain a little bit here, but let me just show it to you. John chapter 2, verse 17, the Bible says this, and his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Remember when Jesus walked into the temple, he got angry, and he overturned the money changers' tables, and he threw them out of the temple? When he did that, the disciples remembered that it was written, they applied this to Jesus, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Now, that word zeal, I want you to notice, if you go, and I want you to remember that, John 2, 17, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. And go through the book of 2 Corinthians chapter 9. So you have John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 2, 2 Corinthians 9, verse 2, the Bible says this, for I know the forwardness of your mind. 2 Corinthians 9, verse 2. For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Archaia was ready a year ago. Notice these words. your zeal have provoked very many so I want you to notice in John 2 17 the Bible says the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 in verse 2 the Bible says your zeal have provoked very many and I want you to understand this in John 2 17 and in 2nd Corinthians chapter 9 in verse 2 the Greek underlying words that are translated zeal are the same word and I'm not trying to confuse you with the Greek or impress you the Greek I just want you to understand that the words in the original language are the same words in those two verses and they're both translated zeal now if you go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 in verse 2 the Bible says this, Paul says this, for I am jealous over you with godly jealousy and I want you to notice that word jealousy there is the same underlying Greek word that was translated zeal in second Corinthians chapter nine and verse two. And it's the same underlying Greek word that was translated zeal in John chapter two and verse 17. And I just want you to understand that because I want you to understand that these words are used synonymously in scripture, jealous and zealous. They're used synonymously. The same Greek word in our King James Bible is translated zeal, zeal, jealousy. They're used synonymously. And you can hear even by the way the words sound that they have the same etymology. Jealous, zealous. And I don't have time to develop that and how that all works together and why they mean the same thing. I'm just bringing that up to say this. God is jealous. We saw that a couple of weeks ago. Jesus is zealous, is what the New Testament says. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. But jealousy, or being jealous and being zealous, are used synonymously. And I'm just explaining that to you because there's not a verse, at least not one, that I could find in the New Testament that said that Jesus was jealous. but the Bible says that God is jealous, the Bible says that Jesus is zealous, and those words mean the same thing. That's the only point that I'm trying to make. God is jealous or zealous, Jesus is jealous or zealous, however you want to word that, and that is because Jesus is God. They have the same attributes, the same moral attributes. Go to 1 John, chapter number four, if you were. Towards the end of the New Testament, you have the book of 1 John. So we saw that God is good, and Jesus is good, therefore Jesus is God. We saw that God is truth, and Jesus is truth, therefore Jesus is God. We saw that God is holy, and Jesus is holy, therefore Jesus is God. We saw that God is just, and Jesus is just, therefore Jesus is God. We saw that God is righteous, and Jesus is righteous, therefore Jesus is God. We saw that God is faithful, and Jesus is faithful, Therefore, Jesus is God. God is grace or mercy, and Jesus is grace and mercy. Therefore, Jesus is God. God is jealous. Jesus is zealous. They mean the same thing. Therefore, Jesus is God. Let me give you the last one. We'll finish up tonight. God is, and if you remember, this is the most famous of the moral attributes. Many people think this is the only moral attribute. God is love. 1 John chapter 4 and verse 8. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And there's other passages that say the same thing. God is love. But I'll submit to you tonight that Jesus is the embodiment of love. In fact, if you would go through the book of John, John chapter number 13, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, or if you kept your place in 2 Corinthians, you can go backwards past 1 Corinthians, Romans, Acts, John, John chapter 13. God is love. Now here's what's interesting. John chapter 13 and verse 34, the Bible says this. This is what Jesus said. A new commandment I give unto you. Now Jesus here is getting ready to go to the cross. He's coming towards the end of his ministry. And he says to his disciples, a new commandment I give unto you. Now I don't know about you, but if I was one of the disciples and I heard him say a new commandment I give unto you, I'd kind of sit up and listen. Because for these disciples who grew up in this Jewish pharisaical culture, commandments were the norm as far as religion was concerned. I mean the commandments of Moses and the commandments of the traditions of men, they understood commandments. That's why Jesus got asked so much about commandments. Remember they asked him multiple times, what is the greatest commandment? multiple times he answered you know the greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all our heart with all our soul with all our might and The second is like unto it to love thy neighbor as thyself. He said on these hang the law and the prophets He says if you can do these two things if you can do these two things love the Lord thy God with all your heart with all your soul with all your might and you can love your neighbor as yourself you'll fulfill all you don't have to worry about the rest you'll be fine and Because if you love your neighbor God with all your heart, then you're not going to worship an idol. If you love your neighbor as yourself, you're not going to steal from him or kill him. She says, look, they asked him, what's the greatest commandment? Because their religion was all about commandments. And by the way, all false religions are all about commandments, commandments, keeping the law, doing good things. They ask him about the commandments, the commandments, and then he says, hey look, let me help you out. We gave you the 10, apparently you couldn't get that. Then we gave you complete bolts, just full bolts, full of commandments. You couldn't figure that out either. So let me just, maybe make it a little easier. Let's go from 10 to two, okay? Love thy neighbor as thou art, love thy neighbor as thyself. Apparently that was too hard too. So he says, okay, let me try another one. A new commandment I give unto you. that you love one another. Now, at that point, the disciples are gonna be like, wait a minute, Jesus, that's not really new. You already said that. That's in Leviticus. To love thy neighbor as thyself. By the way, that's in Leviticus. Did you know that? You already told us to love our neighbor. How's this new? He says, well, here's the new part. A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another. They said, we know that. He says, stop interrupting me, let me tell you. That ye love one another, here's the new part, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. See, the new part of the commandment was not that ye love one another, but that ye love one another as I have loved you. Go to John chapter 15 and verse 13. You say, well, what's the big deal about that? Well, here's the big deal about that. No one loves more than Jesus. Here's what the Bible says, John chapter 15, verse 13. Greater love hath no man than this. You wanna find a man with the greatest love, here's what you gotta find. And you can't find anybody else that has more love than this love. Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. He says when a man sacrifices himself for his friends, he says greater love hath no man than this. See, Jesus had the greatest amount of love, the greatest quantity of love, the greatest quality of love. There was no one that had greater love than Jesus, because greater love had no man than this, that a man laid down his life for his friends. And by the way, that's exactly what Jesus did. He said, don't take my life from me, I lay it down. I sacrifice myself for you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." So please understand this. The Bible says God is love. Then the Bible says that in Jesus was the greatest love that mankind had ever seen or heard or known about. So how can that be? Because God is love, Jesus is love, therefore Jesus is God. And Jesus looks at you and I and says, let me give you a new commandment. Love one another. That's not new, Jesus. No, no, no. Here's the new part. Like I love you. I mean, how would that transform your marriage? How would that transform your parenting? How would that transform your friendships and your relationships in life? When you said, I'm not just gonna love you like I love myself. Because that don't even just take you to a limit. I'm gonna love you like Jesus loves you. Enough to lay down my life for you. Greater love hath no man than this, the Bible says. That a man lay down his life for his friends. And here's the truth. God is love, Jesus is love, therefore Jesus is God. Jesus is God. There are other reasons why we believe Jesus is God. We believe Jesus is God because the Bible says so, and we will look at that in a later sermon. The statements of scripture that say Jesus is God. We believe Jesus is God because Jesus said so. We'll look at that as well. And look at the statements of Christ himself that prove the deity of Christ. We believe Jesus is God because of his sinless life and his virgin birth. We'll look at that as well. But tonight we just looked at this. Jesus is God because of his moral attributes. Because Jesus is good. Because Jesus is truth. Because Jesus is holy. He's just. And none of those things apply to you or me. Jesus is all these things, because Jesus is God. So we believe in the deity of Christ because of the attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you Lord for your word. Thank you for the Bible. And Lord, I do pray that we would walk away with this application. What would happen if we quit loving people the way we want to be loved, and we just started loving people the way you love them? I think that would be a game changer. Lord, I pray you'd help us to live that way, to love that way. We thank you for the clarity of Scripture on doctrine, the fact that we can learn doctrine and understand doctrine. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray.