Introduction to The Godhead: The Love of Jesus | Steve Benson

And I imagine there's going to be a few

messages around this area.

And you know, the spirit of God is the

God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.

We've looked at them. And we have God

the Son who is Christ who come to the

earth literally as a man.

You remember what happened in Hosea?

That little book. If you haven't read

it, go read it. Read it. It's a great

book.

The theme is um not Sunday school

material,

but God told the prophet to go marry a

prostitute.

And you believe it or not, that's in the

Bible.

Why? God said you, I want to show you my

love.

This is what I'm going to do for you.

you know, you will forsake me, but I

will never forsake you.

So, even through these human

relationships

and things, we

we have God speaking to us. And Hosea

said, "You're a spirit. Why did you

choose to love me?" And you know, that's

what go who God is. He's a spirit who

has chosen to love us. and he has sent

his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, here

um to show us many things. Let's start

out in first Peter chapter 2.

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

1 Peter

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

You know, the Old Testament was

wonderful. It still is a wonderful book,

but once you know it's talking about

Christ, it's it becomes, you know, a

better, greater book. And then in the

New Testament, we have the person of

Christ. You know, it's not unimportant

either one, but it talks about the love

of God. So, here in First Peter, let's

turn turn to chapter 2

and

verse 21.

a man by the name of, in a way of

introduction,

Thomas Manton.

Some of you know him, some of you don't,

but he was one of the uh o oldies but

goodies.

I've got a whole volume um of his

through the whole Bible. And

he he said some wonderful things. And

I didn't use him for this message, but

I'm going to use a quote from him.

He was back in 1675.

And guys like um the guys that we

respect Warfield, I greatly respect

Warfield. He not only was a great Bible

teacher, he was a wonderful man as well.

So the two should go together and and

you know that's what God wants. He's he

wants us to know him. That can have a

great effect on our lives.

Thomas Manton said this, "To have the

spirit of God is to have the heart of

God. And to have the heart of God is to

have the mind of God. And to have the

mind of God is to know the will of God.

And to know the will of God is to do the

will of God."

So God comes to us and introduces

himself to us and says Jesus said it

best. Come and learn of me.

And you know that's the part of this

that you know I got saved

a long long time ago

40ome years ago now. But that was a part

of the mystery. I was like well okay now

I understand the gospel. Well, I know

what it takes to save me. And I put my

faith in Jesus. But now what? You know,

I didn't know. I was I was running

around going to different churches. I

kept going back to the Bible class, back

to the Bible class, back to the Bible

class. And I began to see that there was

a difference in in studying the word of

God and not studying the word of God.

And that's to know God is to study his

word. That is the will of God to study

his word. Another man said um that

theology is eminently a process in which

God speaks and man listens.

That's what the prophet said. Speak Lord

and your servant hears. And here

uh in first Peter in verse 21 he said

for even here unto were you called.

But not only Peter an apostle he how did

he how did he get to where he was? We'll

we'll look at where he was here in a

second

but he saw in Christ these things. He

saw in Christ you know his sufferings

for us and leaving us an example that we

should follow in his steps.

So the word of God and the apostles say

don't follow me follow him. The word of

God says don't follow men follow me. The

word of God says God is not interested

in man's opinion. It's not a provoke.

God said it and that settles it.

But there is a great reward as the psalm

says in listening to God. We know Peter,

he is a he's like us. He he was a very

sinful man.

And here we see many years later this

sinful man now telling us, look at this

list here

in um

chapter

two in verse 11.

And you know the word of God is to have

the preeminence.

You know, we know what that word is.

It's a, you know, it means excellency.

It means superiority. It means all those

things. And and it's very obvious that

the word of God says follow Jesus. And

Jesus said, "I am the word of God." But

so many people never get this far in

their Christian life.

So important for us to follow Jesus and

to follow his word. And here

um you know the failures that Peter had

Peter's life was open mouth and insert

foot.

He did that over and over.

Jesus kept you know helping him to learn

and to hear what Jesus said. And you

know Jesus he's an incredible person. He

can make us a a royal priesthood, a holy

nation, a people of God's own up there

in verse n.

So it's not on our merit, it's on the

merit of Christ.

And now we're a people. We didn't we're

wondering, weren't we? Now we are

following we're following Jesus. And

look in in in verse 11 there. And I'm

just going to highlight these words that

are verbs here for things for us to do.

Peter says, "Dearly beloved, we're loved

of Peter. We're loved of God now. We're

in the church. We're children of God.

We're following Jesus, but we're

sojourers and pilgrims on the earth. So

we leave the earth. You know, when we

get saved that we come to Christ and we

never leave." And here he says,

"Abstain."

In verse 12, he says, "Having your

behavior honest

among the Gentiles,

that they may see what? Our good works."

So that's what we do. We have good works

as we follow Christ. And then we submit

ourselves, everyone, to the ordinances

of man. We don't, you know, just, okay,

now I'm a Christian. I don't have to go

to work anymore

or I don't have to, you know, I don't

have to do anything. I'm just going to

sit around be a Christian. No, no. That

God says that we need to go and become a

productive part of the of the the city

we're in.

And that's what God wants.

Behold, they'll glorify God on the day

of visitation. What's that? Well,

everyone you've worked with and everyone

you've been on went through this life

with that you've witnessed to, you know,

they're they're going to give an account

someday.

And then

so our testimonies are very important.

And here Peter who years later has

learned these things and he's sharing

them with us. This is a great a great

list. Submit yourselves to every

ordinance of man

um for the Lord's sake, whether he be

king or supreme,

unto governors, unto them uh by him that

punishers of evildoers. And just like

Paul, that's what Paul says in Rome.

God wants us to be productive parts of

the society and subject to governors and

them that are sent for what? punishment

of the evildoers. That's not our job.

It's theirs.

Took me a while to learn that. I thought

I was a punisher of evildoers. No, God,

he will do it.

And for the praise of them that do well,

what does he say? For this is the will

of God.

exactly what Thomas Mattton said, you

know, to to know God and to to uh do

these things.

It's the will of God. And and um there

verse 17, honor all men. Verse 18,

servants be subject to your masters.

And then he says, what glory is it in

verse 20, look at the end of verse 20.

This is acceptable with God. So Peter

learned this after you know all these

years and you know and we all grow in

grace and here he is at the end of his

life sharing these wonderful things from

us and and then he says in verse 21

where we started out what's the reason

here's your calling

wait a minute I'm I thought I was you

know called to do this and called to do

that well maybe you were maybe your

occupation maybe you know you for um

your marital status and all those things

that you know we differ in in life. We

all have a different life experience.

But

but uh Peter says here that we are

called here

to suffer like he did and he left an

example that we should follow in his

steps.

So, how can we follow Jesus in his steps

um without the word of God? We cannot.

So, these things are so important.

Here's our calling. And here here's

Peter showing these things to us. And

Peter says, "Follow Jesus. Don't follow

me. I failed. Remember, I denied Christ.

Remember?"

So, you know, men are like that. But God

has mercy for us sinners. Now turn over

to first John.

That's why we are that our theology we

must study the person of Christ. We must

see Jesus. It's you know one thing to

say oh I know Jesus and then okay who is

he? I used to do that with people

doortodoor calling. Oh I know God. Oh

okay can you describe God to me? and it

just stops everyone in their tracks. You

cannot describe the God of the Bible if

you don't know the Bible.

And when we know the God of the Bible

and we know what the will of the God,

what the will of God is, is that we

follow his son who set a tremendous

example for us. So that's why this is

important. You know, Jesus was an

example to Peter

and and and to all the apostles

and John was there as well. 1 John

1 John 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2, you know this verse,

John chapter 2,

John 2 · chapter mention

remember one of John's favorite words

was abiding.

Abiding. Abiding. He got it from Jesus.

That's what Jesus said. Abide in me and

I will abide in you. Do what I say and

follow me. This is not complicated at

all. And here in 1 John chapter 2 verse

1 John 2:6

6,

and he that saith, he abideth in him

ought himself also so to walk even as he

walked. So here John's saying the same

thing. You know, they knew the person of

Jesus. I mean, we didn't we have we

weren't on the earth when he was,

but we didn't need to be. Now, we can

follow him through his word and follow

him as we come to the church and

assemble and look into the word of God.

Look in chapter 2 verse 21. 1 John 2 and

21.

There he says, "I have not written unto

you because you know the truth,

but because you know it not and that no

lie is in the truth." So we follow the

truth. The truth and Jesus are the same

thing.

But Jesus is a person. The truth is a

person and and that's what the apostles

are telling us at the end of their lives

and and and you know well into their

ministry of doing this themselves and

they said follow Jesus you know follow

his example do what he did and continue

and abide and look in verse 24

John 2:24

John 2:24

there he says let that therefore abide

abide in you which you have heard from

the beginning for which you have heard

from the beginning shall remain in you

and shall continue in you the father the

son and the father you know so the son

and the father are in us the holy spirit

is in us so god has equipped us to do

this to follow him to know the truth and

chapter 1 verse one

first John chapter 1 verse one

1 John 1 · chapter mention

there. Here, John sums it up. That which

was from the beginning,

that's Jesus. That's the Godhead, God

the Father, God the Son, God the Holy

Spirit. God became a man to be an

example

for us.

And you know, we can't,

you know, no way can we fulfill that. We

can't be like Jesus. Exactly.

But whatever Jesus did is right and

whatever he didn't do is wrong. Whatever

he said is the truth.

He is the truth.

And that's what he says here. Heard that

we uh have seen with our eyes. They saw

him.

You know that's him.

He's come out of the grave.

He walked on the water. He calmed the

storm. He raised the dead. He healed the

lepers.

It was him

and we have looked upon him. Our hands

have handled the word of life.

So Jesus is the logos. Jesus is the word

of life. He He brings life. He gives

life. That's where it begins. Told

Nicodemus, you got to be born again to

have eternal life.

And those of us that have been born

again, we have this eternal life.

And we bear witness of it. and we show

you eternal life. But that was in the

Father was also manifest

in us. That which we have seen and heard

declare we unto you that you may also

have fellowship with us and our

fellowship as where? Father, the Son

Jesus Christ.

So God wants to have fellowship with his

with his sons. That's who we are now.

We're all sons in Christ and daughters

in Christ. We're no longer servant.

We've been adopted into the family of

God. We have access

to the great throne of grace to the

wonderful savior Jesus Christ who come

down here and and was an incredible

example for us and ultimately laid down

his life that we might have fellowship

with the Trinity.

Turn over to Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

Luke,

my old buddy Simeon. Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

He's one of the guys I want to meet when

I get to heaven.

Old Simeon.

And here you guys know the story. And

you know, we um

we all have, you know, we all have uh

choices to make in life. And this man

chose

to wait.

And he he did so because God had told

him something.

That's what we're doing. We're we're

waiting like Simeon because God told us

something.

And you know that's the prophecies.

That's the future. That's with us. I

mean you know death is not the end of

us. Death is not the end of uh the

believers.

And old Simeon here, verse 25,

there's a man in Jerusalem whose name

was Simeon. He was the same man was

righteous and devout, waiting for the

consolation of Israel. How could you be

like that? Well, God prepared him, you

know, and that's what God's doing with

us. He's preparing us for the return of

his son. We need to be like Simeon. We

need to be in church. Uh we don't have a

temple anymore. We need to be in church.

We need to be with each other. We need

to be looking for the consolation of

Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon

him.

God rewarded his faith

and it was revealed unto him by the Holy

Spirit that he should not taste death

before he had seen the Lord's Christ. So

the the Bible doesn't say he was a

Levitical priest.

it. That's one of those things that

aren't here. You know, was he one or was

he not? We'll never know until we get to

heaven. But it doesn't say anything

about that. It says that John's dad was

a Levite priest waiting in the temple.

But this is here. So, we can see that,

you know, that's what God honors is just

faith.

Lord, I'm waiting on you. Lord, you

know, help me. Lord, you know, I I want

to be a devout man. I want to be a

righteous man. I'm waiting on you.

That's it.

It's not hard. It's not complicated.

And then as well, we have the um example

of Anna there in verse 36.

I mean, why are these here? The these

are here. So if you're just a common old

person,

you know, you're not a part of the fancy

society and the high the high rollers,

you know, God is looking for faith, not

not our pedigree.

Our pedigree goes back to Adam.

That's not very good. But here, you

know, the the scriptures are saying, you

know, God honors faith in and Simeon,

God honors the faith of Anna. God

honored the faith of Mary.

You know, God is just an incredible

rewarder

of those who are faithful.

And it said here, he's what was he

doing? He He's in the scripture. That's

where he was. That's where we need to

be. This is so important. And we have

two examples here of great blessings

that come on just ordinary people.

And you know, we have these examples and

they are good. Anna and and Simeon, and

we won't turn to this one, but how about

the centurion?

You know, he said, "Lord, you just speak

and it'll happen." And Jesus said, "I I

didn't find this faith in Israel."

And that's what Israel should have been

ready like the centurion. Lord, sec,

speak and we'll do it like these folks

here. So that's what God honors. He

honors faith. Doesn't matter if you're

eight 100 years old or or eight years

old.

God honors faith. Now turn over to Luke

Luke 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7.

Luke,

you know, it's just amazing

that, you know, God used fishermen. God

used Simeon. God used Anna. God used

Mary.

And and you know what? That's what the

Old Testament says.

And here's proof of that here in Luke

7

and verse 22.

Who did Jesus come to?

Okay, I'm only hanging out in the

Millionaires Club.

you know, I'm only hanging out at the

country club. I'm only hanging out, you

know, with the, you know, the uh fancy

people.

No, he says here,

and Jesus said, "Go your way

and tell John."

When Jesus speaks, we listen.

And that's what John did. Calm them

right down. Did I miss the Messiah?

No, John, you didn't.

And what does Jesus say? How does he how

does he comfort him? How does he um

bring him forward in the in the state

that he is in? Well, with the word of

God. The blind see, the lame walk,

the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear,

the dead are raised. To the poor,

the gospel is preached. Who did Jesus

come to? It wasn't all those guys up

there. It was all these guys down here

with us.

And you know what Paul says in first

Corinthians about, you know, people that

God uses or can use. Not many wise men

after the flesh. Not many mighty men

after the flesh are called. Some are.

And God can use those guys too as well.

That's just the enormity of our God. The

enormity of Jesus. He does. He can take

a leper and make a minister out of him.

He can take a poor man and make a

minister out of him. He can take a blind

man, make a minister out of him. And

that's what he says here. And a deaf

man.

So, you know, those are the people that

Jesus come to. Wow. I would have never

thought that, but he did. Just as the

Old Testament said. And blessed is he

whosoever shall not be offended in me.

That's the Jesus said that's what I'm

looking for.

Whether you're rich or poor, you know,

there's, you know, don't be offended in

me. I'm like you.

You know, he he uh had a human side to

him. And that's, you know, the lepers.

Look in look in chapter 5 verse 12.

chapter 5

in verse 12.

You know, it's it's the old the

orphanage illustration.

If you know, you're going to adopt a

baby.

You went to the orphanage and you know

there was a whole bunch of babies at the

or the orphanage, every one of us would

probably go in there and pick the

prettiest,

nicest one we could find. That's not

what God did. We're the worst.

You know, we're the poor. We're the

We're the lepers. We're the, you know,

we're those who society has cast out.

That's okay. That helps us follow him.

And here the leper, you know, these

people wouldn't even go around lepers.

People wouldn't even go around women.

the woman of Samaria at the well.

You know, Jesus broke some ground for

the ministry

and those who follow him, we're going to

go to the poor. We're going to go to the

lepers. You know, we're going to do all

these things that he did. These are the

people he come to save. These are the

people he come to change their lives and

give them eternal life.

And in verse 12 it says, "And it came to

pass, he was in a certain city.

Behold, a man full of leprosy

who seeing Jesus fell on his face and

besought him, saying,"Lord, if you will,

you can make me clean."

There's no one Jesus can't make clean.

Well, this is talking about physically.

You think physical filth is bad? How

about spiritual filth?

You know, and that's what we are. We're

all dead in trespasses and sins. And and

Jesus has come to give us life, to give

us life everlasting. Well, how did his

disciples react to this?

You know, our our masters over there

healing lepers. That's not where we want

him.

Notice verse one. And it came to pass as

the people pressed upon him

to hear the word of God, that's it. You

want to hear the word of God, there's

only one place, only one source,

and it's Jesus. He stood by the lake of

Ginerith

and he saw two boats standing by the

lake

and

the fishermen were gone out of them and

they were washing their nets and he

entered into one boat which was Simon's.

This is early on,

you know, when

you guys are familiar with the apostles.

They all some of them were fishermen,

some of them were tax collectors.

Um, Simon was a zealot. You know,

they're just a variety of backgrounds,

but they were not the Pharisees and the

Sadducees and the Jews and the scribes.

No, they were the common people,

the poor people.

the down and outers and that's who Jesus

came to

and he told Peter later on you didn't

choose me that John there in the upper

room you haven't chosen me but I have

chosen you and ordained you that you

should go forward

so the only reason we know Jesus is he

chose us you know that's uh here as well

but notice Peter's reaction now when he

cease speaking. He said to Simon,

"Launch out into the deep and let down

your nets for draw it." And Simon

answered and said unto him, "Master, we

toil all night. We've taken nothing.

Nevertheless,

at thy word, I will let down the net.

Whatever Jesus says, obey him."

It's like Mary at the at the wedding

feast. She's told them that she knew

Jesus. Whatever he says, do it.

So that's why we study Jesus. That's why

we look at the person of Christ. That's

why we we want to be introduced to him.

We want to know him on a personal level.

And and that's what a personality is.

You know, there there are about six or

seven personalities.

And you know, we all fall into one of

those groups. We have you know there

there are positive things about our

personality there are negative things

about our personality and this is not

psychology it's just basic human nature

you know that that we know you know we

all fall into these and you know God it

doesn't matter what our personality is

you know that's not a restriction for

God in any means

and here Peter um he says says here in

verse

seven, they beckoned unto their partners

and they who were the in the other boats

that they should come and help them. And

they came and they filled the boats and

they began to sink. So many fish.

Why? They did what Jesus said to do.

So he knows what's going on. We can

trust him. So even if we don't

understand everything, that's where

faith comes in. We're not saved by

knowledge. We're not saved by

understanding. We are saved by faith.

And look, look at the reaction that

Peter has. You know, Peter

here, he says, Simon Peter saw it. He

fell down at Jesus knees saying, "Depart

from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord."

That's what we need. you know, we need

to fall at his feet and say the same

thing. Lord, I'm a sinful man like

Peter. And that's what people need to

hear. You whether you're a leper or

whether you're a poor man, whether

you're a rich man,

you know, you are a sinner. I am a

sinner. He's the holy one.

And until you know that, you I don't

suppose you could call him Lord.

And this is probably where Peter was

saved. I know he says later on, you

know, that the father revealed it,

>> but here's where Peter's call

and he was astonished um and all that

were with them the draw of fish which

they which they had taken

you know so just obeying Jesus is that

what we should do

and he goes on to say here fear not from

henceforth thou shalt catch man.

Well, Jesus chose a lot of fishermen to

follow him and they understood this. Oh,

we've been catching fish. Now, we're

going to go for men. Well, that's what

the ministry is. That's what the

Christian life is.

You know, I'm a sinful man, Lord. But he

said, "Go

and, you know, and trust in him." So,

you know, that's this is how the

apostles reacted to Jesus. You know, how

else could you react if you went out all

night and caught nothing and then boom,

the boat's full? How'd that happen?

Well, the master, son of God, oh Lord,

the one who created the fish, he's upon

the earth. And remember what Luke said

in chapter one, go back there. We we

looked at this when we talked about the

incarnation.

in Luke 1

and verse 35,

you know, he's

he's not a man.

He's not an angel.

He's um

the son of God. Look at verse 35.

The angel said, "The Holy Spirit will

come upon you.

the power of the highest shall

overshadow you. Therefore, also that

holy thing.

That's what Peter said. Depart from me,

Lord. I'm a I'm a sinful man.

So, we need to know the holiness of

Jesus. We need to know the perfectness

of Jesus. We need to know he's God. He's

the son of God. That's what it says. He

will be born of thee, and I will call

him the son of God. And Simeon knew it

when he saw him. Anna knew it

when they saw him because they were in

the scriptures. And that's key for us.

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

find Jesus in his word and follow Jesus

in his word, you know, and and you know,

we we catch up and then we drift off or

we fall behind, but our course doesn't

change. We're still following him.

He's not done with us, you know. He's

going to he's going to complete that

great work in us that he has begun like

he did in Peter. You know, there's

Peter. I'm a sinful man, Lord. And

here's Peter 30 years later saying,

"Whatever that man says, do it."

That's what the word of God says. To God

be the glory. John 11:36.

John 11:36

You know, Jesus loved people.

I mean, that's

that has to come out. I mean, you just

you just can't hide the love. Animals

know if you love them.

Children know if you love them.

And here, look what he he he wept in

verse 35.

There's his humanity on full display.

And then it says here, the Jews, behold

how he loved him. And we got an

exclamation point on that.

Just the incredible love Jesus had for

people.

Peter saw it, John saw it, you know, all

the apostles saw it, the ladies saw it,

the women saw it. If you follow Jesus,

you're going to see Jesus love to the

poor, to the lepers.

Did he come?

And everyone that that met Jesus talked

about his love. Wow. He loved Lazarus.

Incredible love that he gave us. Turn to

Ephesians chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

How can we know the love of Jesus and we

don't know Jesus?

And we and we find him in his word. We

follow him in his word. Here in

Ephesians chapter 3,

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

he said, "My sheep hear my voice and I

know them and they follow me."

And the scriptures are the the voice of

Jesus. Here it in Ephesians chapter 3

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

and verse

19.

How did Paul know the love of Jesus? You

know, he wasn't there when Peter fell

down.

said, "Depart from me, Lord." Paul comes

along much later. But Paul spent time

with Jesus.

I don't know how it all happened. It we

don't have all those details, but for

weeks, months, Paul spent time with

Jesus

and he saw the love of Jesus.

And if you're a sinner and you need

mercy, you need grace and love, and he

just pours it out on us.

And that's what Paul says. Paul was a

murderer. Would you choose a murderer to

carry on your legacy?

I don't think we would. We're not God

though.

But he can. You know, that's the

greatness of our God. You know, it's not

our sin doesn't limit him.

You know, if we'll follow him, we'll

walk with him, we will know these

things.

And Paul says here in verse 19,

"And to know the love of Christ,

how can we know the love of Christ if

we're not in the word of God?"

That's where we see it. We see his love

for sinners. We see what he said to

Peter, what he did for Peter, when Peter

failed. When they all failed, when they

scattered, when they ran, while he was

hanging on the cross,

they saw that love.

and to know the love of Christ which

passes knowledge. You want to know God?

It's only through the love of Christ

that you may come or that I may come

and that you may be fulfilled with the

fullness of God. It's not only brings

knowledge, it fills us with the fullness

of God. you you want to be filled,

then find the love of Christ and don't

leave it. You know, if we if we don't

know God loves us, if you're saved,

if you're unsaved, know that God loves

you and you must come through Christ.

That's the gospel. But now we're talking

about those who are saved, those who

know Christ, who are following him.

We're following him in his love.

And as a person he had for us sinners.

And that's what Paul tells us here as

well that the love of God

passes all knowledge and we filled with

the the fullness of God. And and now he

just says unto him who was able. That

should make us worship God to know that.

Praise God for that. Now unto him who is

able to do exceedingly abundantly above

all that we ask or think according to

the power that works in us. What works

in us? The love of God through Christ.

It's here. That's what we operate on.

Unto him be the glory for the churches

through Jesus Christ for all the ages. I

mean, that's, you know, the the reality

is that, you know, we still have our

flesh and we still battle with our

flesh, but God doesn't need our flesh.

You know, just go ahead and leave it at

the door. Let's, you know, crucify.

Jesus said, "Crucify your flesh and

follow me." So, everything comes from

him. It's a gift.

That's what chapter 4 is saying here

as well. Look in verse seven.

According to the measure of the gift of

Christ. It's a gift. We can't earn the

love of God. We can't earn salvation. We

can't earn these precious and great

things. We would not have them without

the love of Christ. Now go to John 14.

John chapter 14

John 14:31

verse 31.

John 14:31, "But that the world may know

John 14:31

that I love the Father."

What? You know, the his apostles knew he

loved the Father.

Um the Jews, some of them knew he he

loved the Father.

And and at Lazarus tomb, they saw it.

Oh, how he loved Lazarus. But they also

saw Jesus loving God the Father.

That's why we need an example.

We should love the father that sent his

son. We should love God. He's a he's a

spirit, but he's a father, son, and holy

spirit. He's the godhead, you know, and

they're they all have personalities and

they all have

uh great works that they have done.

And when Jesus got done paying for our

sins, the father said, "Here comes

everything. We need nothing."

So all the fullness is in Christ. Turn

to Matthew chapter 5. Don't look

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

anywhere else.

Matthew chapter 5 verse 17.

Matthew 5:17

Here is where

you know here here Jesus is being an

example for us again. Well, how do we

get through the day? How do we get

through the week? How do we get through

the month? How do we get through the

year?

Well, here in John or excuse me, Matthew

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

and verse 17,

he says, "Think not that I've come to

destroy the law and the prophets. I have

come to destroy, but to fulfill."

Well, remember

what are the first two commandments?

Or what are the two commandments Jesus

said for us to keep?

Love the Lord our God with all our

heart, all our soul, all our mind. We

can't do that. He did.

And we saw it. We saw him love Peter. We

seen him love his father. We seen him

love the lepers.

This man loved people in a great way.

And that's what it says. He fulfilled

it. You know, now we have his love. God

said, "Love me with all your heart, your

soul, your body, your strength." And

Jesus is the one who did that.

God said, "Love your neighbor."

And we fail there, too. Jesus didn't

fail. He loved his neighbors. And when

we follow him, we go to the scriptures

and we see him as the great example.

Now turn back to chapter 4 while we're

in Matthew back to the temptation, the

testing.

And here we see,

you know, the walking and the following

Jesus's,

you know, his word and him are the same

thing.

So here he says in verse four, it is

written

that man shall not live by bread alone.

We need to eat every day and go four

days without water. But I we can't go or

maybe it's the other way around. We have

to have food every four days or we die.

So bread is important. Eating is

important. And Jesus said, "Listening to

me is more important.

Following me is more important.

Listening to God is more important than

eating."

That's what the Psalmist says. That's

what the Old Testament prophet said. And

then he says in verse 7, it is written

again, don't put the Lord your God to

the test. So Jesus again responds with

the word of God out of the mouth of God.

That's what we have. Be gone Satan in

verse 10. You will God says you will not

you will worship the Lord and him only.

Did Jesus worship anyone but the father?

He's he's in the Godhead. He loved the

father. He honored the father

and he fulfilled this for us in a great

way.

Now turn to Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

We just keep seeing these events in the

life of Jesus that are showing us who he

is and what he did and why he's here and

what he told his apostles and you know

what they said and reported to us in the

word of God. Luke 4

and verse 7.

Oh, I'm sorry, 16. Luke 4:16. This is in

Luke 4:16

Nazareth.

And after Bethlehem and after the

dedication with Simeon and Anna in the

in the temple, Joseph and Mary took off

from Nazareth

so Jesus could go to work.

you know him coming to us, him

understanding us

and you know that's as his custom was.

It says

so they knew him. He had a reputation

of loving, being kind and considerate

and helping.

And he's even going to have a greater

impact when he begins his ministry.

And it's it is beginning here because

this is the first tour of Galilee. He's

starting his ministry right here. Notice

what he says.

The spirit of the Lord is upon me

because he has anointed me to preach the

gospel to the poor.

Remember,

that's what the Old Testament said he

would do. He wasn't going to come and

land in the temple. He wasn't going to

come and land in the, you know, the

Pharisees

uh um club or the Sadducees club.

He come to the poor. He come to preach.

the gospel

and he sent me to heal the

brokenhearted. That's who. Man, it's it

it's a it's a sad thing to be

brokenhearted. I mean, some some of you

just went through incredible things in

your life.

That doesn't mean you can't associate

with Jesus. No, that means you can.

and to preach deliverance to the

captives and to recover the sight of the

blind and to set at liberty those that

are um bruised. This to preach the

acceptable day of the Lord. So here he

is beginning his ministry now and we're

going to look at his you know his his

early apostles, his first disciples.

There are things there for us to learn.

We'll do that later on. Now, now turn

over to Luke or I'm sorry, 24. Luke 24

Luke 24:44

verse 44.

No, he was uh

he he's our savior, you know, and that

that's the greatest thing about him. God

become a man to pay for our sins, but he

is so much more. Don't stop when you get

saved. say, "Well, I don't need Jesus

anymore." That's a huge mistake.

He wants you to come. He wants you to

know him. He wants you to follow him.

Whether you're a leper or whatever,

doesn't matter. Our limitations do not

limit him.

In Luke 24 and verse 44, and he said

unto them,

and he puts the emphasis on the word,

these are the words which I spoke unto

you while I was with yet with you. You

know, they heard him preach.

They saw him preach. You know, they saw

him heal the lepers. They saw him love,

you know, his enemies.

Even Judas, he washed Judah's feet.

Have you washed your betrayer's feet

yet?

No. Our savior has.

He just has a great love for us.

And he has been a great example in the

word of God. These are the words which I

spoke unto you while I was yet with you

and that uh it must be fulfilled which

is written the law of Moses. Jesus still

talking about the word of God

and in the prophets and in the psalms

concerning me.

So the son of God come to earth and he

said everything in that old testament is

pointing to me. Follow me. No more

prophets,

no more uh sacrifices, no more temple.

He has cleared the way for us to worship

God and to follow him. He's did all the

work

and we are the beneficiaries of that.

I got a couple things written down here.

We won't turn to these verses, but

you're familiar with them.

Jesus loved men who were not saved.

You know, people struggle with that. How

did you know this love thing? Jesus.

That's why we study the person. That's

what why we study the man. I don't care

just about what he did. I want to know

what he said.

I want to know him. That's that we say

have a personal relationship with God.

That's the only way.

And that's a great way. Jesus said, "I

am the way. I am the truth. I am the

life. No man comes to the father but by

me."

And we see him when he was in Galilee.

And we're going to look at his ministry,

you know, he he went out and he went

preaching and teaching.

But I've got the rich young ruler that

he loved. Um many of his enemies called

him a friend of the publicans and

sinners,

but he was an example in that, you know,

he went there not to sin. He's the

sinless one.

Um, he went there

that they might know him.

That's usually who comes to faith, the

great sinners like Paul,

like Peter. And when we get saved, we

say, "Depart from me, Lord. I am a

filthy man."

And you know, there's that verse in in

in Romans 5:8 there where just I'll just

Romans 5:8

reference it and make a couple comments.

But there it talks about the love of God

and the Holy Spirit is given to us that

we might know the love of God that might

be spread above abroad in our hearts. So

God says if you don't know about my

love, it's your fault. If you're a

Christian and you don't know I love you,

it's your fault, not mine.

We have just had a tremendous love from

heaven poured out upon us sinners

through God's son. Go to Romans chapter

Romans 8 · chapter mention

8 and I'll quit.

This a one of the greatest chapters in

the Bible.

Romans chapter 8.

Romans 8 · chapter mention

You guys are familiar with it. We won't

have to read it all.

But in Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8 · chapter mention

um, you know, this is about the Godhead

here, the son of God,

um, God the Father, the Spirit of God,

all the Trinity is mentioned in here.

And God has adopted us. You know, we

went to the, remember, we went to the

orphanage and we picked out the

prettiest baby to take home.

God didn't do that. He took the worst

ones. That's us.

Why? So he could just show his

incredible love and grace and mercy

for us sinners.

And you know, I used uh after I got

saved, you know, there were things that

just in the word of God were easy to

understand and get, but yet there were

things that were not. And you know, I

had people telling me one thing and

other people telling me other things.

And you know, as a young Christian, we

all go through that. Who do we listen

to?

And you know, the word of God is where

it's at. When I finally got to Romans

Romans 8 · chapter mention

chapter 8, and I read this chapter, I

don't know how many times, over and over

and over, and it put to rest all the

fear I had about losing my salvation.

That's assurance.

And the this chapter says that the

spirit bears witness in verse 16. The

spirit himself bears witness with our

spirit that we're the children of God.

That's what happens. It happens in the

scripture that we're assured of who God

is and what God is. And he is holy. He

is just. He is good. He's loving. He's

kind. He's all these incredible things.

And the chapter goes on at verse one,

there is therefore now no condemnation

to them that are in Christ. What a

chapter this is. And I won't read it.

You guys are familiar with it, but turn

over um to verse

37.

And

it's just incredible. and nothing can

separate us from this love.

And I didn't say that. I didn't make

that up.

God said that

he loves us and he sent his son for us

that we might be just like him. And here

in verse 37, nay in all these things we

are more than conquerors through our

great faith or or our great works, our

great effort. No, through him that loved

us.

Jesus loves us. God loves us.

And the love of God passes all knowledge

as Paul said in Ephesians. And then Paul

says, "I'm persuaded."

So there must have been a time when he

wasn't.

There was a time when I wasn't, but I am

now. I'm persuaded.

Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor

principalities, nor powers, nor things

present, nor things to come. Quite a

list,

nor height, nor depth,

nor any other creation,

will be able to separate us from what?

The love of God which is in Christ Jesus

our Lord. this man Jesus and his father

and the Holy Spirit love us greatly and

he come to us. We're poor. We're

wretched sinners. We we should we don't

deserve any of this.

But it's a great gift that God has given

to us through his amazing son.

And you know Jesus loved his enemies. Oh

Judas,

what an example.

And he's the one that said, "Love your

enemies." Not me. He did. And here he

said, you know, that nothing can

separate us from the love of God which

is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for

this day. Thank you for the opportunity

we've had to be in your word tonight.

We've been looking at your son,

Lord Jesus. us what an incredible life

you lived.

Not only did good, but you loved.

Not only did good, but you were gracious

and kind to sinners. You loved sinners.

You still love sinners. And that's all

we are.

And we've been redeemed through your

precious blood. And we thank you

for that. As Paul wrote here in Romans,

what a verse that nothing can separate

us from the love of God which is in

Christ Jesus our Lord.

You loved us greatly. Father, help us to

love you back. We pray Jesus name. Amen.

>> Amen.

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,