Introduction to The Godhead: The Teaching and Preaching of Jesus | Steve Benson

biographies and church history books and

stuff. Um, John Wesley's mother

was a very strict disciplinarian.

I don't know how many kids they had. It

was in the double digits,

but she was a busy woman

and

can you can imagine her with that many

kids around was hard to have a quiet

time. Does anybody know what she did to

have a quiet time?

>> She put her apron over her head.

>> She She told the kids, "I'm going to

have a quiet time now." She put her

apron over her head and and uh so in the

midst of the busyiness of having a bunch

of children and trying to raise them,

discipline them, that's what she did for

her quiet time. What are we doing for

our quiet time?

Give God a moment to speak to us every

day. It's a good song, Linda. Thank you

for choosing that. Steve Benson has a

Sunday school hour for us. God bless

you, Steve.

Thank you, pastor. Good morning,

everyone.

We've been doing a a sound doctrine

series,

major doctrine, sound doctrine, Bible

themes.

Um, it's sort of been a topical study so

far and

I've kind of enjoyed that

studying going through these topics and

you know seeing where what the word of

God has to say

about these important things. So if you

would let's open our Bibles to Acts

Acts 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

This is the teaching and preaching of

Jesus.

Teaching and the preaching of Jesus.

And we're going to look at a lot of

verses in John here in a minute. But you

know the the synoptic gospels, Matthew,

Mark, and Luke,

they focus on the public ministry of

Jesus.

And you know, they give us great detail

on that. And and John does something

very unique. John zeros in on the

private teaching of Jesus. You know,

John gives us the, you know, chapter 14

and on that, you know, was the uh the

upper room discourse,

you know, the things that Jesus taught

uh the apostles.

So, if you have a red letter Bible, you

know, we have all of Jesus

uh sayings in red,

and there are a lot of them.

There are a lot of things that Jesus

said and we can't ignore everything else

by any means, but

but taking the time to zero in on what

Jesus preached and taught in public and

private

is important, I think, for us as we

study him

and realize that he was there was never

a teacher like him, never a preacher

like him.

You know that guy, he could discern your

thoughts while you're talking to him.

So, we have that here in the book. We

have that here in the word of God. And

he is the word, isn't he?

And the word became flesh and dwelt

among us. And John really does a good

job focusing on Jesus private teaching.

And it also John presents the deity of

Christ. Well, here we have the results

of what Jesus taught.

And in Acts chapter 4,

Acts 4 · chapter mention

you know, this is the first persecution.

You know, Jesus told him they were going

to be persecuted.

You know, I don't know if they believed

him or not. They should have believed

him, but when it when it rolls around

here, you can see that they're relying

on what he told them, what he taught

them.

And we look at verse um 13.

Acts 4:13. How did the apostles react

Acts 4:13

um to the persecution that came

to them as the church as apostles? They

were all persecuted by the Jews around

them.

So you know the first century closes out

in the book of revelation. John John

wrote the revelation that was you know

95 AD.

So you know the first century is when

all of these things happened and began

and come to a close. So, you know, there

was a span of time and the book of Acts

is, you know, it's over 30 years, maybe

35 years of the church's ministry that

Luke records for us.

And here in Acts, we know and we have

the first persecution.

So, just like Jesus said,

people were going to hate them because

of him.

And and that's not changed for us

either.

But here in verse 13, now when they saw

the boldness of Peter and John, wait a

minute. I thought these guys ran and

hid.

Yeah, they did.

But the the things that Jesus foretold

them in the upper room, you know, this

is going to happen, that's going to

happen. They had, you know, they worked

their way through those things. But here

they are now preaching the gospel and

starting in Jerusalem and and just

spreading out from there. By the way,

the church began in Jerusalem, not Rome.

The false church maybe didn't begin in

Rome,

but the true church began in Jerusalem.

And it began with the preaching of the

apostles and their boldness here that we

see in Peter and John. Those who ran and

hid. They're not running hiding now

and perceived that they were unlearned

and ignorant men. I mean, that's the way

society looks at us. Well, you guys are

just, you know, you you're out there.

You know, you don't count. You don't

amount to anything. We can't listen to

you guys.

But they saw that in Jesus when he was

on the earth. You know, the Pharisees,

the Sadducees, the Jews. I mean,

everybody

uh, you know, was ignorant when it come

to Jesus.

But that look what happened. It says,

"And they murled

that they had and took knowledge of them

that they had been with Jesus." So

that's what made the difference

is being with Jesus. And then he come

back, remember after he rose from the

dead, he had a ministry with them as

well,

you know. So they're not running like

they did before. They're standing up for

Christ and they're standing up for the

gospel. Look back in verse 12. You want

to get persecuted, just go out in the

world and tell everyone this. There is

no neither is there any sal any other

salvation in any other name under heaven

given among men whereby we must be

saved. I mean that is a pretty bold

statement.

That's why these men in the early church

was being persecuted.

But what where was their boldness at? It

wasn't in, you know, in their

occupation. It their boldness was in

preaching. Their boldness is in telling

them what verse 12 says here. Just

they're bold about the salvation. And

that's what we have to be. We have to be

bold about what verse 12 says. You know,

I don't care what anyone else says.

There's only one way to heaven. And

that's not me speaking. That's God.

That's the Lord Jesus. That's he's the

one we got this from. And we see here

the first apostles in the church bold

about these things. And guess what? It

gets worse. Look down in verse 17. And

they told him that it would spread no

further among the people. What? This

bold preaching that Jesus is the only

way to heaven. Verse 12.

And they threatened them.

They speak no more in this name.

So the doctrine is is the salvation is

nowhere else but in Jesus. And you know

and they got persecuted

um and they continued to get persecuted.

And you go on through the book of Acts

here and it's very obvious. Look up in

verse one of chapter 4 as they they

spoke unto the people. That's what

people that's what preachers do. That's

what teachers do. They preach to the

people. They speak to the people. They

didn't say, "Well, the priest, you know,

maybe he's saved. We just we'll go over

here and deal with the fisherman." No,

they stood up to the government. They

stood up to the Jews. They stood up to

those who persecuted and killed Jesus.

You know, can't get much worse than

that. You know, you're still the people

that killed Christ are you're now

preaching to him. You just killed the

son of God.

To the Sadducees, to the chief priests,

they didn't leave anyone behind. And

they and they grieved that they taught

the people. And they preached the name

of Jesus, the resurrection of the dead.

There's the apostles doctrine. There's

the apostles preaching. And then and

again, neither is their salvation in any

other verse 12. And they laid hands on

them and they put them in custody. And

the next day it was now even tied.

Many of them who heard the word

believed. So there you go. That's what

they did. And that's what we need to do.

The word is the word that Jesus gave us.

And the apostles were preaching what

Jesus gave them. So as we look at the

teaching and the preaching of Jesus, the

first thing we got to know is that

that's what the early church did. That's

what the apostles did. They didn't drift

off into anything else. This was

everything to them. Jesus and him

crucified. Jesus and him raised from the

dead. And it's just like Jesus warned

them. He said these things were going to

happen. They're going to hate you

because of me.

And we can expect the same.

And now in verse 17,

remember they said, "Don't spread this

any further among the people." What? The

preaching of Jesus, the teaching of

Jesus, that they he's the only way to

heaven.

There's no other salvation offered.

And the early church stood

for these things. In verse 20, we cannot

but speak.

So they spoke. They taught, they

preached, they taught just like Jesus

did.

He spoke and he taught. And we have that

in the gospels.

So as we look at his teaching and his

preaching, then you know, we need to

know that this is what the early church

was just zeroed in on what he said and

did.

And they've written these things down

and and this helps us. So

our power, their power was in preaching

the resurrection of Jesus from the dead

up there in verse two.

So we need to follow suit, you know,

2,000 years later that nothing has

changed in the world. It's still

separated from Christ, still persecuting

the gospel preachers. And you know, you

say there's no other way to heaven but

Jesus. Then you know that's going to

bring on the wrath of man. Who are you?

Well, it's not who am I? It's who is

Jesus?

That's why verse 12 said there's no

other name. It's him. He's the one we

preach.

Go over to John. Now, we're going to

look at a few verses in John. John

records um the private teaching of

Jesus. And here in John chapter 6,

John 6 · chapter mention

John chapter 6 and verse one.

John 6 · chapter mention

Now these guys are, you know, they're

remembering what Jesus went through.

You know, here's, you know, yeah, the

Pharisees, they didn't want anything to

do with him. You know, he called them

all demons and devils.

He said, "You don't know my father. You

are the devil."

So here in John chapter 6 and verse one

John 6 · chapter mention

after these things Jesus went over the

sea of Galilee

uh which is the sea of Tiberius

and a great multitude followed him

there. So he's

he's preaching and teaching. I you know

I don't know what that was like but we

get to heaven we're going to hear him

talk. We're going to hear him teach.

We're going to hear him speak.

But these people heard him as a man as

well as the apostles.

And why are they following? They

followed him because they saw his

miracles which he did on those who were

diseased. That's what the Messiah did.

And we're going to look at his miracles.

They are so important. But how much more

important is his teaching and his

preaching?

We can't, you know, we're not called to

keep the miracles going. That went away.

were called to keep his preaching and

his teaching going.

And he went up into the mountain and he

sat with his disciples. So, you know,

there were times when Jesus was public,

you know, like the synoptic gospels tell

us. Then there were times when Jesus got

them in alone and and some of the ladies

as well. He had private time with them

to tell them, you know, this the truth

is coming from me, not them. And they

saw it and his miracle. So then you know

there was no doubt he is the son of God.

And the Passover of the feast was near.

Jesus lifted up his eyes

and and he said where shall we buy bread

that these may eat? So he's going to use

this miracle here to say

you know it's not physical food it's

spiritual food. It's not miracles.

It's me.

It's the word of God. I am the bread.

And we understand that now. You know, we

Jesus is the bread of life.

And here he's telling them that telling

the apostles, I'm the bread of life.

You know, don't listen to them.

You listen to me. And he did this to

test them for he himself knew what he

would do. And then Philip says, you

know, we we couldn't feed this if we had

a Sam's Club card.

And then Jesus does the miracle, make

the men to sit down, you know. So all

these things were

a part of his earthly ministry and him

showing them that he is the bread of

life.

Um

we read verse 11 where he says and they

took the loaves and when they given

thanks he distributed to the disciples

and then the disciples were sitting down

and you know everyone took as much as he

would. This is just incredible miracle

and he's not doing this just to feed the

crowd. He could have done that pretty

easily. He's doing this so the disciples

will learn. Listen to me. Everything I'm

the bread of life. The food that you

need is going to come from me. Like the

woman at the well.

Take the gift that I give you. I am the

water. I am the living water. Jesus did

those things and said those things and

they're so important for us to see here.

And then over in verse 17, he entered a

boat and then the over to the sea of

Capernium, Peter's hometown. And it was

now dark. And Jesus was not come to

them. And he come to them

uh on the sea here as the wind blew.

They knew and they wrote about 530

furongs and finally he says down there

it is I be not afraid. So you see how

Jesus took his miracles and just

connected them to him. You know I'm

greater than my miracles. I'm more

important than my miracles. What I say,

my preaching, and my teaching is more

important than miracles.

Because here's what we want. We could

read all this. We don't have time. Go

down to verse 24.

And at the end, it says, "Seeking for

Jesus."

You know, that's what we want. We want

people seeking for Jesus. And, you know,

he's the bread of light. You know, he

can feed the hungry. He can, you know,

the woman at the well. He's the living

water. We need to get people to Jesus,

not the church.

Although going to church is important,

but we can't stop there.

It's not about joining a church. There's

no other name under heaven whereby we

must be saved. And he said that, not me.

So, he can give us the strength. And you

know, these men saw these miracles and

walking on the water and and feeding the

uh the folks here.

And this is what we need. You know, we

need physical food

and you know, we we need um physical

water as well. But it doesn't end there.

We have a greater need.

And Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus is

the living water. That's what the

apostles preached and learned from him.

And these people were seeking for Jesus.

That's what we want. We want to preach

him and him crucified. He's the only way

to heaven. You're going to go to hell

without him. So there's no other name

under heaven whereby we must be saved.

That's all of us. Jesus didn't need to

be saved. We But we do. He's God. God in

the flesh. And you know the the the

apostles as they reflect back on these

things when they wrote these things that

you know they're remembering you know

what he said and what what happened but

John he gives us sort of the private you

know lessons from from Jesus himself and

that's what we're seeing here they were

seeking Jesus.

So that's what we want, you know,

everything that we do. And

we want folks to be seeking Jesus. And

we can't do that if we're not preaching

him, you know, and teaching him. Jesus

did it publicly. He did it privately.

And he spoke the words to them and and

you know, the words are, you know, they

are spirit and they are life. That's in

this uh book of John

as well. And then verse 26, he says,

"You verily, verily, I say unto you, you

seek me, not because you saw the

miracles, but because you ate the loaves

and you were filled. Labor not for the

food." Jesus is preaching.

He's teaching. He's making the

application for us all.

Labor not for food which perishes,

but for the food that endures to

everlasting life, which the Son of Man

has given unto you. Don't miss that

word.

It's a gift. Jesus is a gift.

And he's given to us by the father. He's

given He comes to us in his word. He's

He's the one that saves us. He's the one

that redeems us. He's the one that

forgives us.

He says, "For him has God the Father

sealed."

So Jesus says, "You don't have to go

anywhere else. Don't look anywhere else.

I'm the way. I'm the truth. I am the

life. No man can come to the father but

by me." These are amazing things that he

said.

And and uh now look down verse 34.

Then they said unto him, 'Lord,

evermore give us this bread.

So he is that bread and he says,"I I I

will be the living bread. I will be your

the light. I will be the water." God

says, "I will be these things for you."

So we don't need to look anywhere else

when it comes to salvation.

you know, the football

just around the corner, isn't it? But if

they don't kicker doesn't get the the

ball through the uprights, no good. But

if he does, good.

And so it is with with salvation.

You're, you know, you're going to miss

the mark. If you try to come to God any

other way, but if you come to God on his

terms in the way that he has laid out,

Jesus said, "I'll be your living wife.

I'll be your bread

and and I will supply to you these

things. This is the work of God in verse

29. How do we get this? You know, do we,

you know, see how much money we can

give? No. No. You're missing the whole

thing. We're sinners. Everything we do

is sinful. Our our flesh cannot please

God. We cannot approach God any other

way than through his son. And that's

what Jesus says here. believe on him who

he has sent.

So Jesus taught the crowd, the public,

the apostles and John and and Luke and

Peter and these men who were with him

that he was that's what they were to do

to believe on him. You know, the gospels

weren't written until after the churches

were some of the churches were already

out there.

So, you know, we're coming back. They're

coming back and they're, you know, these

men, John, he's given us an incredible

thing. Believe on him.

Nothing else will do.

And you know, Jesus said, "I am the way.

I am the truth." You know, he didn't shy

away from these things. I'm the bread of

heaven. I'm the water of life. All those

things he is for us. And look at verse

38.

He says, "For I came down

from heaven."

You know, Jesus, I thought he started in

the manger. Well, as a man,

but he existed way before that. He, you

know, they they said, "We follow

Abraham. We follow Moses."

Jesus said, "They spoke of me. I'm

greater. I'm I was here before they were

ever born.

So our faith is resting in a God who is

eternal that become a man

that he might become the bread that he

might become the water of life and he's

come down from heaven and he's brought

that life his eternal life with him. You

know his his ability to set us free from

sin. If the son will make you free you

will be free indeed. That's right here.

So these men heard these things and and

here Jesus said I'm I'm from heaven and

I didn't come you know yeah I was born

in Bethlehem but I existed before

Bethlehem and he went to Nazareth and

there he was a carpenter and you know

there he had a childhood

but before all those things he come from

heaven and he's come down to from heaven

to do what? Not his own will. That's

what the devil tried to get him to do

when he tempted him.

Couldn't get Jesus to sin. He's sinless.

He tried to get him to divert himself

from the father's will.

Didn't work. I mean, Jesus, he was a

workaholic at getting his father's will

done. And people misunderstood that. I

mean, even the the apostles

misunderstood that.

And now they know, now they see, oh,

he's rose from the dead, you know, now

we're to go and preach. Now we're, you

know, the church is going all these

great and wonderful things. But

everything come from heaven in the

person of Jesus. So it is just so

important for us and the church to look

and see what he said and what he did,

his preaching and his teaching.

And you know to the extent that you know

we don't have to ask the world we

certainly don't have to ask the devil

you know what we should do or or what we

should believe or listen to Jesus

himself.

It's enough if you listen to me. It's

enough if you come to me. It's enough if

you let me be your Lord. I I'll give you

living water. I'll give you mana from

heaven. I am the bread from heaven.

So he's not of this world. That's that's

where the persecution part comes in for

for him and for us.

He was hated by the world. He was hated

by the devil. The Gentiles, the Jews,

you line them up. No one wanted to

listen to him until they were born

again.

And it's still the same.

So that's what we need to do. we need to

be born again. Jesus said in John

John 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3, you know, Nicodemus said,

"You're a pretty good teacher." And

Jesus said, "Well, I'm more than a good

teacher. I'm a redeemer. I'm the savior.

I'm the one that you can come to and be

born again." That's what we need. We

need eternal life. We're born dead in

trespasses and sins.

And then look if you will in verse 57 of

John.

We're all as dead as Lazarus was,

you know, and there's a physical side

and a spiritual side to us,

you know. And we have a soul and our

soul is separated from God. And that's

made our body and everything else in us,

our personality, everything that we are

separated from God.

The only way back is through his son,

the one who come down from heaven. As he

says here in verse 57,

he says here, as the living father,

you know, God's not dead.

He's quite alive. We have the living

God. We have the living word.

You know, God's alive. His word is

alive. And you know to get that we have

to come to him through Christ

and be born again and receive that free

gift that he offers. Only he can give us

life. Only he can raise us from the dead

spiritually. That's the way we're all

born in Adam and then we come along and

make it even worse.

He says as the living father has sent

me. You know, that's so important for us

to see. God the father sent the son to

earth. He didn't come on his own. He

didn't, you know, he didn't become, you

know, he he did well and then he become

God. No, that's that's false teaching.

That's blasphemy.

He's been God since forever. He was

there in the garden with Adam and Eve,

the Trinity, God the Father, God the

Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It's so

important that our faith rest in a

triune God

and that's what we find in the scripture

a triune God the father son and holy

spirit so here this living you know it

has to come from above that's what he

says

you know except you be born from above

you cannot enter the kingdom unless you

be born from above you cannot become a

child of God where's all that at John

chapter one

But once those things are in place, once

we believe on him, once we we rest our

faith in the son of God, like like the

men that he discipled did, you know,

that's so important. Can't be Jesus

disciple without being born again. A lot

of people are trying to follow him and

they're not born again.

You can't do it. You must come to him on

his terms. And he's laid them all out.

He's living and he can give us life, the

life so the life that we need.

And then you know Jesus, he started

talking about the forgiveness of sin.

You know that was a big deal with the

Jews.

Jesus not only claimed to be God that

God the father uh sent him and he is God

the son and he is the son of man. And

Jesus said you come to me and I I'll

give you life and I'll forgive your

sins.

You know, that's why he's so important.

The only way you can be born again, the

only way you can have the forgiveness of

sins is through the Lord Jesus.

And here

he he tells us these things. Now, turn

over to uh to to John chapter 7.

John 7 · chapter mention

And you know that's

You know, people talk about, you know,

religion and traditions and, you know,

all those things that, you know, that

men have come up with. You know, you

can't come to God on something that men

have come up with.

That's that's Jesus said in John 10, I

am the way, I am the truth, and I am the

life. You know, I'm the shepherd of the

sheep. The shepherd gives his life for

his sheep.

So the only way to come to God, not

through any man's way or man's religion

or man's traditions or man's thoughts,

you know, those things are all sin. The

only way to come to God is through his

son. And that's what Jesus said. Come

unto me all ye that labor and heavy

laden and I will give you rest. And here

in John 7 and verse 38, he says that.

Notice what he says. He that believeth

on me, is it good works? You know, he he

that does good works,

as the scripture says, out of his heart

will flow rivers of living water. And

that's what happens when you're born

again. Everything changes.

And now we have the spirit. Now we have

the word of God. Now we have the new

birth. Now we're not going to perish

anymore. We become a child of God

through the new birth that he talked to

Neas Nicodemus about.

And then if you will

um look down in verse 46

he says here the officer said never a

man spoke like this man.

He kept telling him he's the son of God.

He kept telling him come to me oh you

that labor and heavy laden. Nobody had

ever on the earth said anything like

that.

only God.

So the rulers heard this, the Pharisees

heard this, the Romans heard this, and

as a result they came and crucified

Jesus.

Look in chapter 8

verse 40.

John 8 and verse

40.

you now seek to kill me. Remember Jesus

always to tell tells the truth. He's not

a liar. He's not a deceiver. He says

here to the to the to these to this

crowd, these Jews,

they still think they're of the seed of

Abraham and children of God because of

that.

And you know, that's the book of Romans.

Paul said, "You, you know, you have to

be born again. You, you're not going to

heaven because you're a Jew.

No one's going to heaven by anything

that humanly speaking.

We have to be born again. We have to

come to God through his precious son.

That's what he taught. You know, we

didn't make this up. We didn't just We

didn't all get together and you know

what? Well, let's make a Bible and let's

uh you know what what do you think we

should say? You know, ask everybody.

That's the world. That's religion.

That's tradition. That's all those

things that are out there in the world.

We have the truth because Jesus come to

the earth and he gave it to us through

his body. And here in John 8:40,

John 8:40

you seek to kill me.

Why? a man that has told you the truth.

Remember the apostles in in Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4, you guys are trying to kill us

because we told you the truth.

So don't, you know, don't don't think it

looks it's going to be different for us.

They, you know, they hate us because of

him. They hate us because we speak with

his authority. There's no other way to

heaven but through him. No other way to

heaven but through the new birth.

It takes the blood of God to pay for our

sins. We cannot back off that.

Jesus never backed off of it. The

apostles never backed off of it.

I told you the truth. So he, you know,

he was a incredible teacher. You know,

remember he said, "No one ever spoke

like Jesus. No one no one's told us the

truth."

You know, and that's what happened to me

when I got saved. You know, personal

little personal note,

I just thought you Christians were all

just a bunch of cuckoo.

And you know, I never been around a real

Christian, a genuine Christian, but

there's so much religion out there.

There's so much man's tradition out

there. You're not going to find your way

to God through it.

And somebody come to me with the gospel

and said, "You got to be born again."

Listen.

And this is the truth. You're a sinner.

You need a savior. You need a redeemer.

Well, people don't want to hear that. I

thought I was doing pretty good. I

wasn't. But, you know, that's the way we

think. Oh, we're doing pretty good. You

know, God's going to take me right on

into heaven. No, he's not. Unless you've

been born again.

And he says, "Which I have heard of

God."

So Jesus connects his teaching not only

his coming from heaven to earth, he

connects his teaching

uh to heaven right to the throne of God

are the words of Jesus

are the sound doctrines of the church of

the truth of the power of the gospel.

That's what Paul said to the Romans.

This is the power of of God is in the

gospel.

So when we change it or we water it

down, that's what the devil wants us to

do.

That's what the world wants us to do.

You Christians, man, you born again

guys, they're just and gals, you Bible

thumpers.

Well, we're not. I guess if that's what

we are, that's what we are. But we can't

but speak the things that Jesus has

taught us and told us like the early

apostles. So the doctrines that we have

aren't man-made. They didn't come from,

you know, a committee.

They came from God. And his son

delivered them to us.

And his son delivered him to his early

apostles and his early disciples.

And they were born again.

They were born again through this man

that taught, you know. And so it is for

everyone who has been born again. And

you have been, you must listen to this

man called Jesus,

this teacher and this preacher Jesus as

I did, as John did, as Peter and the

early apostles. It's not changed.

Salvation is a gift from God.

There's not of works lest any man should

boast.

And I'm not going to drift off into that

gospel presentation, but I'm saying, you

know, this is not what we think. This is

what he told us to do.

And he's given us a book here to do it.

In John 8:58, he tried to get killed for

John 8:58

it. And then look over here.

And they took up the stones and they

cast him at him. But Jesus hid himself

and he went through the temple going

through the midst of them. and and he

just dis he just disappeared.

He his time had not yet come.

But the apostles are telling us that he

was persecuted

because he spoke the words from heaven

to us

and they're sufficient. You know, we

have a sufficient savior. We have a

sufficient word of God. You know, all

these things are are have been done for

us.

And you know, he told the apostles,

"Freely you receive, freely give. Don't

charge anyone for this. Don't try to to

to make steps up to my altar." That's

what he told the Israel back in the in

the uh early chapters of Exodus. Don't

make steps to me.

You know, I have died for you.

And Jesus is the one that proclaimed

these things.

He's eternal. He has eternal life. He's

the son of God. He's the son of man.

He's everything he said and more. John

says we we need a a dolly to to carry

every the books that could be written

the good that he did. But John said

these have been written that you might

do what?

Believe on his name. So don't add

anything to that believing on his name.

to be saved. Now, there are other things

that are important, you know, but that's

not what we're talking about. Now, we'll

get to the church and the the church has

a couple ordinances and, you know, there

there's a whole, you know, another

series that we can do on those things,

Lord willing. But now we're zeroed in on

Jesus. Now we're zeroed in on what he

said about himself and where it came

from.

He came from heaven.

And then uh John 16:28,

John 16:28

John chapter 16

John 16 · chapter mention

and verse 28.

You know that's you know if we know that

and you know we believe that Jesus is

God.

You know, that's you can't be saved

without believing Jesus is God. I'm

sorry. I didn't say that. He did.

But if you do believe he's God,

then you may have eternal life. You may

know the father. This all came from him.

And the apostles were taught this by

him. And here in 28, he says, "I came

forth from the father." So, if we

believe in the preexistence of Jesus,

like we're supposed to, you know, he he

he become a man, but he never became

God. He's always been God. And he came

from the father. He came from the

Trinity. And he says, "I have come into

the world."

And they they knew it. You know, that's

how John starts out. all these uh

disciples that came to Jesus and said,

"You're him. You're the promised one

from glory." And that's who he is. He

come forth from the father. He come into

the world. But now he says, "I'm going

to leave the world." What do you mean,

Jesus? You going to commit suicide?

No, he's not going to commit suicide.

remember he he wouldn't let him have him

earlier on with their motives and and

everything. The timing wasn't right. But

now that the time is right, Jesus said,

"They're not going to take my life. I

just lay it down.

And I'm laying it down for you. I'm

laying it down to to pay for your sins."

And that's what he says in verse 27. The

father himself

um loveth you.

There's no other way to

see the love of God than through Jesus.

Can't I love creation? I love everything

out there. God is just an incredible

God.

I um

my back porch was covered with moths the

last week. I don't know how they're just

a big moth hatch and there's moths

flying all over the back yard and I'm

like, "What is going on?" It was like,

you know, bats coming out of a cave or

something, except they were all moss.

And I looked out the window and one of

those moss got got stuck in the screen.

I had the screen up where I've been

powerwashing. So, he or her got

underneath the screen and got up to the

top and was was just pinched in there.

Couldn't get out. I'm like, it's just a

moth. I'm not going to rescue a moth.

All of a sudden, I don't know what they

must have sent a distress signal out.

Here come all these other moths over

there to that one that was stuck and

they started pushing him down to get him

out of the screen.

I recorded it. I said, "Okay, man. I I

just I'll help, too." So, went out there

and lifted the screen up and we got the

moth out. Everybody, all the moths were

happy. I mean, how without a god is this

possible? Tell me.

It's not

that the moths care about each other,

you know, and that's what Jesus says. We

should love one another. If moths can do

it, why can't we?

And then Jesus says a greater thing

here. The father loves you

because I lay down my life for you and I

have loved you and you have believe that

I have come from God. This is such an

important verse.

It Jesus sort of sums it all up, you

know. So this is what we believe. This

is what I believe. The son of God's

death on the cross was not, you know,

because he was a, you know, he didn't

pay his taxes.

No, it was because he was righteous.

He was loving. Well, how many faults did

he have? He looked at him and said, "Can

you accuse me of anything?" They

couldn't. You know, he's perfect. He's

sinless in every way. And he went,

he come from heaven and he went to the

cross.

and he he's going to leave the world.

He's going to leave us, the the apostles

say here, and go back to his father.

So that's what we believe. We believe

that he's eternal. He come from God. He

come from heaven. He come to earth. He

taught. He spoke. He preached.

And we learned. And so did his

disciples.

And not only did they learn from him,

his teaching, they learned from him as

an example.

He's there's no other example like him.

So he said these things and then um the

next one, let's look look over in

chapter 12 and verse 45

of John.

All this is in John.

you know, John, he he's he he brings the

private teaching of Jesus and that's,

you know, that's what we need to get

as we study sound doctrine. You know, we

you know, Jesus was more than God. He is

God

and and he became a man for us.

But before

he spent 33 years on this earth being a

man

and then he laid down his life and paid

for our sins. And here in in John 12 and

verse 45,

and he that seeth me

seeth him that sent me.

So Jesus, he's the only clear vision

into heaven. He's the only clear vision

into eternity. He's the only clear

vision to God. Where's God at? We come

to earth as a man

and spoke great things. And not only

spoke great things and did great things,

he he laid down his life as a ransom for

us all. He became uh um poor that we

through his poverty might be made rich.

It's all in him for salvation.

And that's why Paul and the church said

there's no other name under heaven

whereby we must be saved.

But the great thing is, you know, God

has given us the gift of eternal life,

but we have to come to him on his terms

and receive it as a gift.

And you know, they questioned his

authority. Don't have time to go there,

but we've already looked at that the the

authority that Jesus had. He said,

'Well, you can't do this. Who do you

think you are?

He says, "My authority is not from

earth. My authority is from above."

And that's what he did. And here in John

15,

John 15

is where he told him about Acts chapter

Acts 4 · chapter mention

4.

You see, Jesus is not just God. He knows

the future. He knows all of it. Every uh

inch of it.

And it's going to end the way he says.

Not the way men say

he's God. Who can go against God? Well,

they're going to try. That's the whole

book of Revelation. But here he says,

"If the world hate you,

know this. This is a knowledge." They

heard it from him. He preached it and he

taught it. He said, "If the world hate

you, know that it hated me before it

hated you." And they saw

they saw the abuse that he took. a man

in whom there was no sin, no gile.

And here we see this in John 15 verse

John 15:18

18. If you were of the world, the world

would love its own. Was Jesus of the

world?

He's from the father.

Devil didn't like that. The devil tried

to divert him. the Pharisees, Sadducees,

the Jews, the Romans, the Gentiles,

everybody

tried to get him to to divert from his

father's will.

He said, "No, thank you.

My father and I are one. Uh my father is

the creator and I am as well. The triune

God, the wonderful things that we know

about God." He says, "Uhoh,

I have

chosen

you out of

the world."

Was that election? What are you talking

about? Yeah, that's election.

Where did we get this great doctrine of

election? It wasn't something the church

dreamt up.

No, this came from Jesus. Remember, he's

been in heaven. He's, you know, he was

there, you know, when when things were

created. He was there when the father

chose um us in him.

And he left us with his his apostles. I

go to Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

And because of what Jesus taught us and

what Jesus told us, now we can we can

speak in his authority. We can speak in

God's authority

and say there's no other name under

heaven whereby you must be saved. But if

you'll be saved, you know, you will be.

It's a free gift

that comes by faith. And here in Mark

in chapter 13

verse 32,

he says here, "But of that day and that

hour knoweth no man,

know not the angels who are in heaven,

neither the Son, but the Father."

People, the Mormons try to use this

verse to say, "See, Jesus isn't God.

You know, he he doesn't know what's

going on." Well, that's not even at all

what he's saying here. We'll come back

to this in a second. He says, "Take

heed, watch, and pray. For you know not

when the time is." That's what he's

trying to teach him. Not that he doesn't

know when he's coming back like they try

to say. He's saying, "You don't know

when I'm coming back

to be ready."

So that's the authority that he spoke

with that come from his father that come

from eternity past and is going to take

place in the in the future. So that's

why Jesus can say there's no other name

under heaven whereby we must be saved

but through him.

Take heed to watch and pray you know not

when the time has come for the son of

man is like a man taken a far journey.

When he said this to them, they probably

were going like, "What's he talking

about? What's a far journey? You're the

son of man. You're the son of God. Where

are you going to go? You're I'm the

present."

But that's what Jesus is saying. You're

going to see me die on the cross

and pay for your sin. But remember, I'm

going to raise from the dead. And not

only am I going to raise from the dead,

I'm going to return that you may be

where I am.

You know, God takes his children out of

this world. He chose them. He's elected

and chosen us whether you like that or

not. And he's called us. You know, all

of those things we need or we be just

like everybody else. God who?

But God has sent the light and that

light is in his son. That's what Jesus

said. I am the light of the world.

And you know, I'll stop. But here he

also talks about his kingdom.

You know, that's what we need to know.

This man that was on the earth has spoke

with such authority has left and he's

coming back. But he also has a kingdom.

That's where you and I come in.

And the precious gospel has called us

out of the world

and unto God. These are blessed things.

And you know, if you argue with Jesus,

you're arguing with God.

You know, don't argue with God. Don't

argue with the word of God. Just believe

it. God doesn't need our help to tell us

what we need to hear. That's what a lot

of people think. But Jesus spoke and the

apostles spoke the words that he spoke

and you know, they were born again and

we're born again. And anyone else who

comes to him will be born again as well.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you this morning for

the word of God. Where else can we go to

see the earthly ministry of your son in

public and these synoptic gospels and

these private things that John shares

with us that he individually taught

them.

And we're just so thankful that you will

individually teach us your ways and your

truths as we pray, as we watch, as we

prepare for a great kingdom.

Uh this world's in serious trouble.

Unbelievers are in serious trouble. The

devil is in serious trouble

because of the son of God and the son of

man. That's in whom we believe that died

for our sins and him that rose from the

dead as Peter said in Acts 4. And we

preach in his name and we teach in his

name these great sayings that you gave

him from heaven. And we thank you for

such precious gift as this. And we pray

it in Jesus name. Amen.

Oh Lord, as we go from this place,

loving you more,

trusting you more.

May the power of your love and the light

of your word shine

to a sin darkened world. as we go from

this place.