That is a long chapter. I think on Wednesday we'll have Dustin read the entire book of John before we get started with the Bible.
So this morning's sermon was kind of a more exciting, amen sort of sermon.
This is more of a doctrinal sermon and it's an important sermon because I think a lot of people might have some questions on some of these things.
And the name of the sermon that's part of our Salvation Boot Camp is The Nature of God.
And so before we get started in John 8, we're actually going to go back to John 8 at the end of the sermon.
Turn to John 4. We're going to lay the groundwork here. John 4. We're going to look at verse number 10.
And I want to show you here a few verses. And I added this here this morning, so let me turn there myself. John 4, verse 10.
And this sermon's going to be kind of different because most of the sermon's going to be introductory,
where I'm going to go through a lot of verses and explain some things.
And then I'm going to kind of tie in the application and it's all going to kind of tie together.
So you're going to really need to pay attention to this. Write down some notes if you need to.
And John 4, verse 10, it says, Jesus answered and said unto her,
If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
So Jesus is preaching the Gospel and he uses the example of water.
And he says, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink.
You say, well, we believe salvation is by faith alone. Amen, we believe that salvation is by faith alone.
But it's not just a general faith in something.
Because there's two things listed. You have to know the gift and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink.
I used to use the example, I used to be able to preach the Gospel in Spanish, and I can't anymore, it's been a while.
But I used to use the example, when I would preach the Gospel in Spanish, I'd be like, hey, a lot of people have a neighbor named Jesus.
It doesn't mean that if you believe your neighbor Jesus died for you, it's going to get you to heaven.
Why? It's not the Jesus of the Bible.
And so, just because someone says, well, I believe, it's just by faith, they have to believe certain things about who Jesus Christ is.
That's why this is an important sermon, because the Bible is very specific about this, and we're going to look at this.
And I think a lot of people are confused exactly about what you need to believe.
Now turn to Exodus 6. Let's look at another verse, Exodus 6.
Now, some things we know, like for example, there's a lot of cults here in the Philippines, and obviously they're wrong about salvation in terms of it being a free gift.
But they don't believe the right things about what they need to about Jesus to be saved either.
They completely reject who Jesus Christ is. They don't believe He's God in the flesh.
They don't believe that He's the eternal Son of God who came and died for us.
And the Bible is going to be very specific about what we need to believe about that in order to be saved.
Now I want you to look at Exodus 6. Let's look at verses 1-3.
Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land.
And God spake unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord.
So it's obvious, even from verse 2, when we think of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Jesus is God.
Because in verse 2, God is saying, I am the Lord. We know Jesus Christ is the Lord. Obviously we know Jesus is God.
But I want you to notice verse 3. And I appeared unto Abraham and unto Isaac and unto Jacob by the name of God Almighty.
But by my name Jehovah was I not known to them.
Now I've been wanting to preach a sermon on dispensational salvation because that's really the big thing in dispensationalism.
That's the biggest problem is they have salvation all different throughout different time periods.
But this sermon is going to kind of cover this very clearly. Notice in verse 3, he says by the name of God Almighty, that's the name Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob knew.
But they did not know the name Jehovah. So did Abraham have to believe in the Jehovah God?
He didn't have to believe his name was Jehovah because he didn't know that name yet. God hadn't revealed it.
3,000 years ago, people did not know the name Jesus Christ. They didn't have to know the name Jesus Christ.
We do have to know the name Jesus Christ. Why? Because God's revealed himself to be Jesus Christ by that name.
Now Jehovah's Witnesses need to take a look at this verse in 3 because they say that the name whose name alone is Jehovah.
Well here it says his name was God Almighty. There's a name of Jesus Christ. There's a name of God.
Obviously we know Jesus is God. There's a name of God right now there, God Almighty.
But they did not know the name Jehovah because he had not revealed that name.
And so what we have to understand, when we think about the Old Testament, they didn't know everything from day one in Genesis chapter.
Like right there Adam and Eve had every single thing we had in the Bible. More stuff gets revealed to them.
They didn't need to know the name Jesus Christ. But there are certain things they did need to know.
People have always believed in salvation by faith alone. It's always been by faith alone.
But more has been revealed as time has gone on. It's very clear to us today the God we believe in died on the cross, was buried, and rose again.
Did they have to have a full comprehension of every detail 3,000 years ago? No they didn't. But they do now because you either believe it.
Here's the thing. People in the Old Testament, they believed in the true God. Us today, we believe in the true God.
They had to believe everything that was revealed to them in terms of what salvation is. Just like we have to believe everything.
Now we have the finished product. We see everything. Whereas they didn't necessarily understand everything from day one.
Now turn to Deuteronomy 5. Let's look at some verses. I'm kind of getting ahead of myself here.
But it's very important for us to understand from John 4 that it's not just belief. It's belief in something.
Sometimes we go soul winning. And the first verse I show people after I talk about Jesus' resurrection is Acts 16.
And sometimes when I ask them, what does the Bible say you have to do to be saved? And sometimes they respond, believe in God.
That's not the right answer. Sometimes they say that. And I'm sure all of you that are soul winners, sometimes you've heard that as well.
That's not the right answer. It's not believe in God. And yes, Jesus is God, but you can't just believe in God and go to heaven.
That's not good enough. Now sometimes people say that and they're not meaning the wrong answer. It's just they're not expressing it well.
Sometimes they are meaning believe on Jesus, but they're not expressing well. But when they say that, and even if they don't,
I'll mention, well, there's a lot of religions in this world. Muslims, for example, Muslims believe in God.
They believe Jesus existed, but what they don't believe is that Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again after three days.
Would they be saved? We have to be very specific with people that it's not just belief. Yes, it's believe, believe, believe.
We have to make it clear who Jesus is. We need to make sure that they understand it's not just a belief in God.
Because you have to believe certain things about Jesus to be saved. That's what we saw in John 4. It's not just good enough to know that there's a gift.
You have to know who it is giving you that gift. And Muslims, they don't believe Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and was buried and rose again.
They have to understand these things. That's the way God explained it. Now in Exodus 6, though, what we saw, don't turn back there,
but in Exodus 6, we saw that people in the Old Testament didn't necessarily know everything we do today.
Some things they didn't fully get. But as we have the finished product today, we have to believe this.
That Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again. We have to get this.
And so, sometimes people talk about the Old Testament salvation, and honestly, it's hard for us to fully comprehend how much knowledge they had of everything and every time.
We're going to see some things they definitely did know, and there's certain things there could kind of be debate.
One thing that's not debatable, though, is that they believe salvation by faith alone. It's always been faith alone.
We see the picture all the way back with Cain and Abel, with the sacrifice there in Genesis 4. It's always been by faith alone.
They got saved by faith alone, but they didn't have all the knowledge we do today about everything that was going to take place.
Now, one thing that people have always believed, and had to believe, they had to believe in the Living God.
Notice Deuteronomy 5. Deuteronomy 5, verse 26. Deuteronomy chapter 5. We're going to go fly through some verses here.
Deuteronomy 5, verse 26.
For who is there of all flesh that hath heard the voice of the Living God, speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have and lived?
Turn to Joshua 3. Joshua 3. It's interesting. He says, the Living God is speaking out of the midst of the fire. That's kind of a picture of Jesus Christ.
Because we know Jesus, when He died, His soul did go to hell for three days and three nights. That's what the Bible teaches.
It says in Joshua 3, verse 10,
And Joshua said, Hereby ye shall know that the Living God is among you, and that He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Gergesites and the Amorites and the Jebusites.
It mentions Living God. Living God. I'm not going to go to all the references where it talks about Living God.
But when you read the Bible, you're going to notice a lot of times it doesn't just say God. It makes it clear that He's the Living God.
Okay? Now turn to Isaiah 37. Isaiah 37.
Isaiah 37, verse 4, the Bible reads,
It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabshiqui, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to her approach, the Living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard.
Wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
Turn to Jeremiah 10. Jeremiah 10. We're only looking at some of these verses. I just want you to see very clearly, the Bible often talks about the Living God. The Living God. Okay?
Jeremiah 10, verse 10,
But the Lord, He is the true God, He is the Living God. Notice it says true God. We're going to come back to that later on.
He is the true God, He is the Living God, and an everlasting king. At His wrath the earth shall tremble and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation.
It refers to Him as the Living God. Turn to Daniel 6. Daniel 6.
Daniel chapter 6.
And in verse number 20 of Daniel chapter 6, the Bible reads,
And when He came to the den, this is Darius, and when He came to the den, He cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel. And the king spake and said to Daniel,
O Daniel, servant of the Living God, is thy God whom thou serveth, continually able to deliver thee from the lions?
Isn't it interesting that Darius understood? He had heard about the Living God. He says your God, the Living God that you serve, right?
The real God was known as the Living God. You'll see oftentimes people refer to Him as the Living God. Why? Because all these other gods are dead gods.
They're fake gods. They're false gods. They're not living gods. Our God is a living God.
Then notice verse 26 in the same chapter.
I make a decree, this is Darius, that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble in fear before the God of Daniel, for He is the Living God.
I personally believe that Darius gets saved. That's my opinion. King Darius or Darius, however you want to pronounce that.
But it refers to Him as the Living God, in steadfast forever, and His kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall be even unto the end.
So throughout the Old Testament, what are we seeing? Living God, Living God, Living God.
We didn't even look at all the verses. There's a lot of verses that say He's the Living God.
Now I want you to turn to the New Testament, Matthew 16.
Now I want you to understand something. That when Jesus Christ rose again after three days, it wasn't really hard to see who the Living God was.
Amen. He rose again. Up from the grave He arose. We sang that song. He is the Living God. He proved Himself.
Throughout the Old Testament it talks about the Living God. And wasn't the picture pretty clear when He rose again from the dead who the Living God is?
I mean isn't that so clear? How do these cults like INC not get it?
I mean the Bible talks about Jesus being God so much. How do you not get that? Because you're not saved.
You can't understand the Bible. Because if you look throughout the Bible, there's thousands of places you can see where Jesus is God because it refers to God as being Lord, being Savior.
Well who is our Savior? We know Jesus is. It's just very clear.
But in Matthew 16, notice what Simon Peter says. This is before Jesus Christ died on the cross and Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Now we believe in the Trinity around here. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost.
Now we know that Jesus Christ was the Living God, the true God, but He was also the Son of the Living God.
Now Simon Peter understands the God we worship is the Living God because he says the Son of the Living God. Peter knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.
He says that there in Matthew 16 verse 16 because he says, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We're going to go back to that later.
But turn to John 11. And I know we're looking at a lot of scripture. I'm trying my best. It can be a long sermon if we don't fly through this.
And in John 11 verse 25, Jesus said under her, I am the resurrection and the life. Okay?
When he's saying the life, he's showing he's the Living God. I am the life. Okay? It's a form of the word. I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believeth is how it is.
So yes, it's by faith alone. We have to understand that he is life. He is the Living God. Okay?
Turn to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1.
Now I've had people tell me before, and we're going to show this as false from the Bible, but I've heard people say that you don't have to believe Jesus is God to go to heaven.
I've heard people that are so-called soul winners say that. You know what? That's a bunch of heresy.
The Bible is very clear that there's certain things about Jesus Christ you must believe. You can't accept part of salvation and reject part of it.
It's an all or nothing thing. I'm not saying that you have to understand the timing of the rapture to be saved. I'm not saying that. Why?
Because the Bible doesn't say it, so I'm not going to add a stipulation or add to the Word of God.
But the Bible is very clear in John 4. You have to understand that there's a gift and who it is that's giving that gift. Okay?
You can't say, well, I believe by faith alone that Muhammad died for my sins. There's a problem with that. Muhammad didn't die for your sins.
Now I've never met anyone who would say that, but I'm just saying that we need to be clear, especially as we talk to cults, who Jesus was. Okay?
1 Thessalonians 1, verse 9.
So once again, it refers to him as the living God. It also refers to him as the true God. Okay? The living God, the true God.
Obviously, we know there are a lot of false gods out there, a lot of dead gods that aren't the living God, that aren't the true God.
There's millions out there. Talk to the Hindus. They have so many manifestations of God, it's ridiculous. None of them are God.
They're all fake God. They're all false. They're not real. There's a lot of false gods out there.
One story in the Bible that comes to mind is the story of Dagon. Right? Where all of a sudden they wake up and Dagon is basically just destroyed.
And they don't get it. It's like you're worshiping an idol. It's not the real God. It's not the true God. Okay?
Now, turn to 2 Chronicles 15.
And so the first thing we see is just belief in the living God. And she asks herself the question, well, what about Buddhism?
Could people in the Old Testament believe by faith in Buddha to get him to heaven? No.
Because there's a living God and there's a bunch of dead gods. And the living God has never changed.
This alone shows us that God has never changed. Because in the Old Testament and the New Testament, it refers to God as the living God.
Which means in the Old Testament, they couldn't get saved by their works or any other way. It was still by faith. Okay?
They couldn't get saved in Buddha or whatever religion. Back then, I think during this time, Zoroastrianism was a big religion of the Persian Empire.
That was their big, when they ruled the world Zoroastrianism before Islam took it over.
Look, that would not get them to heaven, even if they believed it by faith. Because it's not the living God. It's a fake God. It's a dead God. You must believe in the living God.
So we see that in the Old Testament, it was belief in the living God. Today it's belief in the living God.
But we do have a bit more of a picture of who the living God is very clearly. We know that, whereas they didn't necessarily have that perfect, clear picture.
You'll remember that some of the disciples, I mean, basically all of them were very confused on the resurrection when it took place. Right?
Now we cannot be confused about the resurrection today and expect to get to heaven. We must believe in the resurrection.
And I don't want to get in the head of myself, because that's going to be a full sermon in the Salvation Boot Camp, how we must believe in the resurrection to be saved.
But you look at certain religions, Jehovah's Witnesses, did you know they do not believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus?
They don't believe it. They believe in a spiritual resurrection. They don't believe that Jesus physically rose again from the dead.
You know what? They're going to go to hell unless they change their mind on that. They must believe Jesus actually rose again.
It's kind of funny how their big holiday they celebrate is Easter when they don't even believe about the resurrection.
What a hypocrite. They have this big thing in America where they pass out all these flyers, they have this big event, free of charge.
Everybody come on Easter when they don't believe in the resurrection. What a load of garbage. What a stupid religion.
2 Chronicles 15 verse 3. And we remember it said the living God. Now let's look at the one that says the true God.
2 Chronicles 15 verse 3. Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
So they weren't without the true God because of the fact there's a bunch of churches, there are a bunch of religious people, priests that are just preaching lies and heresy.
And then it's not the true God. They're just preaching a bunch of garbage, preaching a work of salvation. That's not the true God then.
Because salvation is by faith alone. Now turn to the New Testament. John 14 verse 6.
In John 14 verse 6 we're going to see very clearly that Jesus Christ is showing that he's God and the Son of God in the same verse.
Now we talk about all these verses that talk about the living God and the true God. Notice what Jesus says in John 14 verse 6, a very famous verse.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Remember the true God? The living God?
Well Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, singular. The truth, the true God. I am the life. He's saying he's the living God. He's saying he's the true God.
No man cometh unto the Father but by me. There he's saying he's the Son of God. He says no man cometh to the Father but by me.
So Jesus is saying that he is both God and the Son of God. Now let me just say this, that I thought about talking about this after the service, I'll just talk about it now.
In the Philippines, and I've said this before, everybody believes in the Trinity except INC and weird cults and Apollo Kippenroy and people like that.
So I am not going to go overly in depth on the topic of the Trinity, especially to go through the book of John. It's really the book that makes it clear.
Because I just don't think it's pertinent for us at this church. We all believe, I hope we all believe that Jesus is the Son of God and he is God.
We believe that here and I think it's very clear. Now obviously if you have a church that has a situation that you have to deal with, which they did in America, they go really in depth and talk about that.
I just don't think in every chapter, I'm not going to stop and talk about the Trinity all the time because I think here everybody in this country already gets it pretty much, except a few cults.
Now I'm preaching on this topic, the nature of God, because we need to preach the whole Bible and this is something that links with salvation.
But I'm just saying, I'm not going to just spend all my time talking about it because I just think at this church, if I talk about it all the time, we'd be going a little bit overboard just always thinking about this topic.
I think it would be an improper balance for us here. Obviously different churches have different situations, but like I said, around here pretty much everybody.
Because it's so clear from cover to cover, John 14 verse 6, doesn't he say in the first half of the verse that he's God when he says, I am the truth, the life?
Because remember, they believe in the true God, the living God. Then in the second half, he's saying he's the Son of God because he talks about the Father.
John 17 verse 3. When it comes to a lot of verses, honestly, people could have different interpretations of what's the full meaning.
But one thing that you have to get, and we're talking about this in this sermon, is that Jesus Christ has always existed, the Son of God has always existed, and he is God.
From eternity past, he didn't become the Son of God. He's in the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was the Word. That's not that complicated.
And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Talking about Jesus Christ, Jesus was here at the beginning. The Son of God has eternally existed.
So I'm okay with people that believe that who have different interpretations on verses. That's fine because we still believe the same thing.
There's a lot of verses we could interpret a little bit differently from one another. But as long as you believe that Jesus Christ is God and he's the Son of God and he's always been that,
then that's fine because that's what the Bible teaches. John 17 verse 3.
And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sinned.
So once again, the Bible talks about the only true God. Now here it's referring to the Father as the only true God and Jesus Christ.
Now turn to 1 John 5.
When there's been that whole oneness thing in America, when you listen to the heretics say what they believe, the problem with them is they did not believe that the Son of God existed from the beginning.
They didn't believe that. They don't believe that. They believe there's just God and he manifests himself in different ways. That's weird.
That's what Apollo Kibiloy believes. He believes he's a manifestation of God.
And when you first heard it, it was hard to understand what they were talking about because we know there's so many verses that say the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
And it's like, well, they can't be saying that there is no Son. That is what they're saying. That there is none. Right?
I mean, it's pretty bad if you're lining up with Apollo Kibiloy. That shows you how weird it is because Apollo Kibiloy believes he's a manifestation of God during this time period to the Filipina people.
It's like, what in the world? It's like, are you kidding me?
1 John 5, verse 20, And we know that the Son of God has come and hath given us an understanding that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son, Jesus Christ.
This is the true God and eternal life.
So the Bible is very clear, a belief in a true God, and it's very clear in 1 John 5, 20 that Jesus is the true God.
Now, turn to Isaiah 43.
That same verse also referred to him as the Son. Now, here's the thing about this, and I talked about this in an earlier sermon.
When we're understanding the nature of God and who God is, it's hard to fully grasp that.
The best example of the Trinity that I have, I think the best one is saying that I am a body, soul, and spirit, and with God there's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost.
I'm not saying it's a perfect example, because I don't think any examples are necessarily perfect.
I think it's the best one to understand. But look, I don't necessarily think that God expects us to fully understand it like a math problem, because it's not a math problem.
When you're understanding the nature of God and who God is and how he's eternal, I don't fully grasp that.
I'm not trying to, though, you know, because I'm not going to be...
The Calvinists are these intellectuals that won't believe anything unless they understand it fully.
Look, I'm not going to understand fully things in the Bible, but if the Bible says it, I'm going to believe it even if I don't understand it.
And how God was fully man and fully God when he was here, Jesus Christ, I don't fully understand that, but I do believe he was fully God and fully man.
Why? Because the Bible teaches it. How he was the Son of God and yet he is the true God and how the Trinity works, I don't necessarily fully understand it.
That's the way it's always been. That's what the Bible teaches. That's the way it always will be.
And what you notice, and not to try to go on too many tangents, but when you talk about that group that were the heretics there in America,
you notice that the reason why they didn't believe it, they mentioned it without trying to really, they said it never made sense to them.
They never understood it. They weren't saying the Bible doesn't teach it. They were saying they don't understand it.
That's the same thing with Jehovah's Witnesses. They will always tell you, well, if he's God, then how come he's praying to the Father?
What they're saying is, yes, the Bible shows a lot of verses saying he's God, but I don't understand it, so I won't believe it.
We should never be like that. Or if we don't fully grasp something, we don't believe it.
We need to believe what the Bible says, even if we don't fully grasp it, like a math problem.
There's a lot of things you're going to see and hear preached that, you know what, if the Bible teaches it, we believe it, whether we fully get it or not.
See, the Bible talks about the living God and the true God, and you know what, we know, we saw a lot of verses even already that Jesus is the living God,
and he is the true God, and we know there's one God, right?
The Bible says, in Isaiah 43, so people in the Old Testament, they had a belief in the living God.
They had a belief in the true God, okay?
Now, in Isaiah 43, verses 10 and 11, I want you to notice, they also had a belief that God was their Savior, okay?
Isaiah 43, verses 10 and 11,
Isn't it very clear from Isaiah 43, verses 10 and 11, that God is our Savior?
Besides Him, there's no Savior, okay? There's only one Savior, and we believe that.
We believe that God is our Savior. We believe Jesus Christ is our Savior.
Even in the Old Testament, though, they understood, and it was taught that God was their Savior, okay?
Now, turn to the New Testament, Luke 2, I'll prove this to you, Luke 2.
Now, as I said, it's hard for us to fully grasp everything that everybody in the Old Testament understood,
because we saw in Exodus 6 that they did not know the name Jehovah until it was revealed to Moses, okay?
Abraham didn't know God by that name. It wasn't revealed to him.
But as more got revealed, you have to understand, after the time of Moses, you had to understand Jehovah God.
Just like today, once Jesus came, guess who you have to believe in?
You have to believe in Jesus Christ. Now, here's the thing.
Everybody who was saved before Jesus came, once Jesus came onto the scene, immediately they're going to believe.
Why? Because when you're saved, the Holy Spirit speaks to you. God guides you, and you know the truth, okay?
It's not like people believed in God Almighty, and then once Jehovah was revealed, they say,
well, I believe in God Almighty, but not Jehovah.
No, those who truly believed in God Almighty would believe in Jehovah when he was revealed by that name, right?
If you're saved, you're going to believe what the Bible teaches, okay?
It says in Luke 2, verse 11,
For on you is born in this day, in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
Christ the Lord is the Savior. Go down to verse number 25.
And so we know that God's our Savior, we know Jesus Christ is our Savior. Luke 2, verse 25,
And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon.
And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the constellation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
He understood that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was his salvation.
Now I'm not saying he had a perfect understanding like we do today, because more is revealed to us now.
But he did understand that Jesus Christ was his salvation right when he was born.
And we saw in the Old Testament they believed in God as their Savior.
Now turn to Genesis 22.
And in Genesis 22, starting at verse 7, the Bible reads, and we talked about this the other day, but it says,
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father.
And he said, Here am I my son.
And he said, Behold the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for burnt offering?
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for burnt offering.
So they went both of them together.
See, God will provide himself. God is going to be the lamb.
We see all throughout the Bible that, you know what, God is the lamb.
God is our Savior, and we have a pretty good picture today.
The Bible does talk about the Trinity in the Old Testament, and I believe they believed it,
because it talks about the Son of God in the Old Testament.
Now I do believe that it's very clear to us today when Jesus Christ rose again exactly who he was.
Now turn to Micah 5. Micah 5.
And so what we saw right now is that people have belief in the living God, in the true God,
and that God as their Savior, both in the Old Testament and New Testament, okay?
And I want you to see that they had believed that Jesus Christ was God, okay?
Turn to Micah 5. Did I tell you to turn to Micah 5? Micah 5.
And it says in Micah 5, verse 2,
But thou, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me, that is, to be ruler in Israel,
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
You know the modern versions change Micah 5 to? They change it.
Instead of from everlasting, they change it to ancient times, okay?
They change it to saying, well, you know what, you came from a long time ago,
but not from everlasting. That's what Jehovah's Witnesses believe.
That's what these cults believe. They don't believe Jesus was everlasting,
but in Micah 5, too, it's very clear he came from everlasting, not just a long time ago,
God created him, because that's what a lot of the cults believe,
that Jesus was created shortly after the beginning of the world, like in the first week or something.
That's not what the Bible says. The Bible doesn't teach Michael the Archangel turned into Jesus like these cults teach.
No, it says he's from everlasting. Why? The Son of God.
No, it says he's from everlasting. Why? The Son of God has always existed.
The Bible is very clear about that he's from everlasting. Now turn to Matthew 2.
They're quoting from Micah 5 in Matthew chapter 2.
And it says in Matthew chapter 2, starting in verse number 2,
Saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? For we have seen a star in the east, and are come to worship him.
When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
So in verse 2 it says they want to come and worship him. Why? Because they know he's God.
Because you only worship God, and they knew he was God.
And then it says in verse 4, And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together,
he demanded of them where Christ should be born.
And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet,
And now Bethlehem, and the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah.
For out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people.
You saw in verse 2 that they knew that this was God.
And these people that don't believe, they know this is prophesied.
They don't believe it, but they know it's prophesied.
So you see how they had knowledge of this?
Obviously from the Old Testament, because they know where he's going to be born.
Even Herod, who didn't know much about the Bible, he understood it was taught to some degree.
So he asked them, you know, what exactly was prophesied?
Because this was something that was known, okay?
They understood that he was going to be born and be their savior.
Now I'm not saying that they understood everything in terms of the resurrection like we do today,
but they did understand that Jesus Christ was God, that he was claiming to be.
They didn't necessarily believe in everybody, but it was known that the person who would be born was God.
That's what we see. Now turn to Daniel 3. Daniel 3.
And so there's been always a belief in the living God.
In the Old Testament, you had to believe in the living God.
Today you have to believe in the living God, okay?
You had to believe in the true God in the Old Testament.
You have to believe in the true God today.
They understood that God was their savior, even if they didn't understand how all of that worked out.
You have to believe God's your savior today.
You have to believe that Jesus is God, and it was very clear to them.
They knew from the prophecy that this was going to be God.
This is who they're going to worship. This is who they knew.
Same thing today. You must believe Jesus is God.
And in Daniel 3, we're going to see that they also had a belief.
It was known that the Son of God was their savior.
Daniel 3, starting in verse 23.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound in the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
They never can answer. The king was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors,
Did not we cast three men bound in the midst of the fire?
They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt.
And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Now I believe Nebuchadnezzar ends up getting saved, but he's not saved in Daniel 3.
But you know what? What did he see? The fourth is in the form of the Son of God.
Don't tell me they didn't have any knowledge of the Son of God in the Old Testament.
He isn't a believer, but he says, well, this looks like the Son of God.
Talk about a good picture of Jesus going to hell, though, right?
He's in the midst of the fiery furnace, just like Jesus went to hell.
His soul, not his body, his soul went to hell for three days and three nights when his body was in the ground before he rose again.
But look, Nebuchadnezzar, who's an unsaved heathen, he had an understanding that there was a Son of God.
Now obviously when we look at the Old Testament, the Old Testament does not talk about salvation as much as the New Testament does.
Right? The Bible, there's differences. It talks about various stories in people's lives and stuff like that.
But it's not like these were cavemen that didn't know anything about the Word of God.
There was an understanding about these things, about God being their Savior, about the Son of God, about the living God, about the true God, just like there is today.
Now obviously we have a bigger picture today.
And you know what? I think people could have different opinions on how much was revealed at various times to which people in the Old Testament.
But the key was that they believed by faith in the living God, even if they didn't understand how everything worked because it hadn't taken place yet.
Now today we do have the full picture.
But I want you to understand that if you're in this room and you're saved today, you would have gotten saved in the Old Testament too.
You would have put your faith because you would have believed the Word of God or not.
You either believe the Word of God or you don't.
And me being saved today, if I heard the Gospel 3,000 years ago, guess what? I would have believed it. Why?
Because you either choose to believe the Word of God or you don't.
The same people that are saved today are the same people that would have accepted when they heard the Gospel 3,000 years ago.
It's not harder for us to get saved today. It's not easier.
Because it really comes down to whether or not you believe the Word of God or you don't.
Now obviously more is revealed today.
But look, the same things I would have believed back then, now that more is revealed, I'm going to believe that as well.
Because you either believe the Word of God or you don't.
Now turn to John 8. John 8. That's all introduction.
It's going to be a long ceremony.
But I just want you to understand that it's not like in the Old Testament it was so easy to get saved.
Because all you had to do is just believe there's a God and you'll go to heaven.
It's the same thing as it is today.
Few end up getting saved, whether it's the Old Testament or New Testament.
The same people that got saved today would get saved 3,000 years ago and vice versa.
The people that died before Jesus Christ, guess what?
When they heard the Gospel, when we knock on their door when they're 14 years old,
if they would have gotten saved 3,000 years ago, guess what?
They would believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior that rose again today.
Just like they would 3,000 years ago, they would believe what was revealed about God.
Because it's just by faith. It's just as easy, it's just as difficult.
It's the same getting saved today as it was thousands of years ago.
Because you either believe the Word of God or you don't.
Now John 8 verses 23 through 24, this is what it says.
And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath, I am from above.
Ye are of this world, I am not of this world.
I said therefore unto you that ye shall die in your sins.
For if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
Jesus is saying if you don't believe I'm he, you're going to die in your sins.
Now, I mentioned five things.
I mentioned the living God, the true God, a belief in God as your Savior,
a belief in the Son of God as your Savior, and a belief that Jesus is God.
Now obviously in the Old Testament they didn't understand the name Jesus.
But what they did understand was that a Messiah, a Christ, was coming.
And they believed he was the Savior.
And so I mentioned five different things.
Now, I want you to notice that he says you must believe that I'm he.
Now when he says I'm from above, he's proclaiming himself to be the living God.
He's proclaiming himself to be the true God.
He says I'm not of this world.
He's showing he's a living God.
He's showing he's a true God.
And he says hey, if you believe not that I'm he, you shall die in your sins.
And you say well, what exactly is he referring to?
You have to understand all these things tie together.
It's not like you'll believe in the true God but not the living God.
If you believe in the living God, you're going to believe in the true God.
If you believe in the true God, you're going to believe in the living God.
It's not like you'll believe in the living God but then reject Jesus as God.
No, that's impossible.
You either believe it all or you don't.
It's not something where it's like well, I believe some of it but I don't.
You either believe on salvation about who Jesus is.
It's just like when it comes to our works.
You have to believe that salvation is by grace alone.
You can't believe it's 99% Jesus and 1% you.
You either believe it all or you reject it all.
It's the same thing with who Jesus Christ is.
You either believe it all or you reject it all.
I had a friend of mine who when he preached the gospel,
in Acts 16 he would tell people that you have to believe that Jesus is who he says he was
and that he'd do what he said he'd do.
I like the way he worded that.
That's exactly what it talked about in John 4.
You have to believe he is who he says he was.
You have to understand who's giving you the living water.
You have to believe he'd do what he said he'd do.
That he would save you by faith alone.
Those are the two things mentioned in John 4.
I like his explanation.
We have to believe he is who he says he was.
He claimed to be God.
You can't say you believe the Bible and reject him being God when over and over again
he accepted worship and he said he was God.
You have to believe.
And in verse 24 he says,
If you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.
Now go to verse 25.
Then said they unto him, Who art thou?
And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
So he's already told them this.
They're just choosing not to believe it.
I have many things to say and to judge of you, but he that sent me is true.
And I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him.
They understood not that he spake to them of the Father.
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man,
then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself.
But as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
He said, He that sent me is true.
So he's saying that God the Father is the true God, right?
So we see that Jesus Christ is God.
And we also see here as he's talking about the Father that Jesus is saying he's the Son of God.
Okay?
He's saying he has a Father.
He's the Son of God.
He's also showing that when you lift me up, he's saying he's going to be the Savior.
The Son of God is our Savior.
Okay?
You have to believe that.
You say, do you have to believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God?
Yes, you do.
Because the Bible says the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
It's not that complicated.
You must believe God gave his only begotten Son.
Okay?
Yeah, you got to believe it.
Now, I've never met anyone I've preached the gospel to that rejected God the Son.
Because everybody knows that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.
The problem they have is not believing Jesus is God.
That's usually what you see, right?
Now turn to, look at verse 56.
Verse 56.
I mean, when you think about giving the gospel, well, we'll look at that here in a second.
I won't talk about that now.
But in verse 56, notice what it says.
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad.
Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am.
Okay?
Now if you notice the statement of Jesus, this is not proper grammar.
Okay?
He's saying before Abraham was, I am.
Okay?
What he's saying is, I've always existed.
Amen.
And so that's the reason why it's worded kind of weird.
Before Abraham was, I am.
He's saying, I've always existed.
But you know, he's saying more than that.
Okay?
Because if you notice in verse 59, Then took they up stones to cast at him.
But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Why are they taking up stones to cast at him?
They understand he's saying he's God.
Okay?
Now we see that he says, I am, which shows that he's before Abraham.
But this is a quote from Exodus 3.
Turn to Exodus 3.
And we're going to see very clearly what Jesus is saying.
And how there's no doubt that he was claiming to be God.
Now when it comes to us preaching the Gospel, I don't really think it's going to be much of a battle field to convince people that Jesus is the Son of God.
Because everybody knows that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.
But we will run into times where people don't believe Jesus is God.
Okay?
We all should memorize a few verses, and be able to show an INC person that's actually receptive to the Gospel, which is rare.
We need to show them a couple verses that show them that Jesus is God.
We need to show these people that are coming from these cults, we need to be able to show them that Jesus Christ is God.
Now notice Exodus 3 verse 14.
And God said unto Moses, I am that I am.
And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am hath sent me unto you.
Moses asked God, what's the name I should tell them?
And he said, I am that I am.
So what was Jesus saying when he says, before Abraham was, I am?
You know what he's saying?
He's saying, I'm God.
Amen.
Very clearly.
That's what he's saying.
I'm God.
There's a reason why they took up stones to cast at him.
Because he's claiming to be God.
Okay?
Now wait a minute.
What did the Bible say earlier?
If you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.
Do you have to believe Jesus Christ is God to go to heaven?
Yes you do.
You have to understand he's the I am.
You have to understand he's the living God.
He's the true God.
He showed I am.
He said, before Abraham was, I am.
Turn to John 10.
John 10.
As I said, you know, we could interpret some of these verses kind of differently when we look at all the verses in the book of John.
But there are certain things you must believe.
Okay?
And see, the problem with these people being heretics is because they don't believe there is a son of God.
But Jesus Christ was the son of God from eternity past.
There are so many places that prove that.
We also see, which is the big fight for us, that Jesus Christ is God.
Okay?
It's very clear.
John 10 verses 30 and 33.
Verse 30.
Well, it's very clear.
Verse 32.
The Jews answered him, saying,
Now, remember in verse 30, he said, I am my father.
He's making it clear he's the son of God, isn't he?
He's claiming he has a father.
But you know what?
They had an understanding from the Old Testament that the son of God was God.
Okay?
And they take up stones to stone him.
He's making it clear that there's a distinction because he's saying there's a father.
I and my father won.
We see the distinction.
But we also see they take up stones to stone him.
Why?
Because they say you're making yourself God.
You know, Muslims understand this.
When I preach the Gospel to Muslims in America,
they understand that when you're claiming Jesus is the son of God,
that's also proclaiming he is God.
Because if it's the son of God and his nature is coming from God,
the virgin birth, well, obviously he is God.
Okay?
Now, I'm not saying we fully understand or comprehend these things.
Like I said, when we're talking about the nature of God,
this isn't a math problem.
But I believe what Jesus said when he says I have a father in verse 30,
and I believe what he said when he said I am that he is God,
and I believe the people that he talked to understood it.
Why?
Because they tried to kill him.
Because they knew he was claiming to be God.
Turn to Matthew 9.
Matthew 9.
We'll look at a few more places.
As we're preaching this series on the Salvation Boot Camp,
I want to preach on everything that's essential to salvation.
That's the point of the series.
But honestly, when it comes to this sermon,
although I think this is an important sermon for us to understand
about how in the Old Testament exactly what they believe,
they believe in the living God, the true God,
I think it's an important sermon for us to understand our doctrine,
I don't think this is really that important of a sermon when we go out soul-willing.
Because it's not an issue here in the Philippines.
You know what? Thank you.
It's important for me to preach this because it's part of the series.
I'm not going to leave anything out.
It's not an issue here in the Philippines.
Everyone who's coming from a Catholic background,
they believe in the Trinity, like we do.
Everybody in this room, I'm sure pretty much all of you,
as long as you're a raised Catholic,
you believed in the Trinity from day one.
Now, in other places, not everyone's coming with a Catholic.
Now, the Catholic Church is obviously wicked.
They're up the devil.
It doesn't mean they're wrong on everything, though.
And so they're right about this on the Trinity.
So most people we talk to,
I don't think we need to spend a lot of time talking about the nature of God.
Now, if we lived in India,
I'd probably preach a lot of sermons and go really in-depth
because it would be a real issue, right?
I would preach a lot of sermons on this topic.
Or if we were in a Muslim country, before I got executed by the government,
I'd preach a lot of sermons showing that Jesus Christ is God
and that He's the Son of God because they don't believe that.
But us here in the Philippines, this really isn't that important of a sermon.
The repentance of sins sermon, that was a pretty important sermon.
The Trinity's not because everybody already believes in the Trinity, right?
The repentance of sins, that's a super important sermon for us out solely.
But this sermon, I think it's important for us to understand our doctrine.
It obviously is.
But at the same time, I don't think it's an issue here.
I don't want you to think that,
oh man, this is such an important issue.
It's really not an issue here in the Philippines.
Everybody already believes this.
Matthew 9, verses 2 through 6,
And behold, they brought to Him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed.
And Jesus, seeing their faith, said unto them, the sick of the palsy,
Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee.
And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves,
This man blasphemeth.
And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said,
Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
For whether it is easier to say, Thy sons be forgiven thee,
or to say, Arise and walk.
But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins,
than sayeth He that the sick of the palsy, Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thine house.
They're accusing Him of blasphemy again.
Why?
Because they knew He was proclaiming Himself to be God.
Because only God can forgive sins.
He's saying, I have the power to forgive sins.
Why?
Because the Son of God, when He was here on earth, had the power to forgive sins.
Why?
Because He is God.
Okay?
That's what the Bible teaches.
Turn to John 3.
John 3.
We'll close up here in John 3.
I just want to show you a few verses that, in our Gospel presentation,
I don't think we need to spend a lot of time talking about this.
I mean, we're going to use these verses in our Gospel presentation.
But I want you to show you that, in our Gospel presentation that we use,
verses very clearly show Jesus is the Son of God.
Okay?
It's not an issue here in the Philippines.
But when we give the Gospel, it's there.
We're mentioning it.
It says in John 3, verse 16,
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
I use John 3, 16 in every Gospel presentation.
Okay?
Verse 17,
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through Him might be saved.
Say, well, how could anyone look at these verses and believe that there's not a Son of God?
They don't have the Spirit inside guiding them.
They don't get it.
I mean, it says that He has a Son.
They just aren't willing to believe because they don't comprehend.
They don't understand.
But you know what?
I'm not a Jehovah's Witness.
I'm just going to believe what the Bible says even if I don't fully comprehend everything.
Do I fully understand the nature of God?
No, I don't.
I don't think it's the simplest thing.
Okay?
And I personally, we're not going to go super overboard on it
because I just don't think it's an issue here in the Philippines.
And you know, we just take it by faith.
This is what the Bible says.
Verse 18.
He that believeth on Him is not condemned,
but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Person is condemned who doesn't believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Okay?
You have to believe God the Father sent God the Son.
That's just what all the salvation verses talk about,
is the Father sending the Son to be the Savior of the world.
But at the same time, we saw from John 8 very clearly,
we have to believe Jesus is God,
because He was proclaiming to be God.
That's why they stoned Him.
And if you believe not that I am He shall die in your sins.
So what exactly was He saying when He said,
if you believe not that I am He shall die in your sins?
Look, all the things we talked about tie together,
because you either accept it all or you reject it all.
Okay? All those things.
You have to believe it.
You have to believe God's your Savior.
You can't say, well, I believe that God's my Savior,
but I don't believe Jesus is God.
I mean, if you believe God's your Savior,
then you're going to believe Jesus is God.
These things all tie together.
Yeah.
Okay?
Let's look at John 3, 36, the last verse.
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on them.
See how the key is believing on the Son?
See, a lot of people give the gospel to it.
They'll say, well, I believe in God.
You've got to believe in the Son.
You either believe in the Son or you reject the Son.
Now, there's a lot of people, they reject the Son.
They don't believe that.
Right?
There are some cults here that they have weird views
about who Jesus was.
I mean, we've already preached in other sermons,
but isn't it just very clear from this sermon
that Jesus is God?
Is there any doubt about that whatsoever?
Why did they keep trying to kill him for blaspheming
if he wasn't claiming to be God?
They just didn't understand what he was saying.
They understood very clearly what he was saying.
That's why they got very mad at what he was saying.
Now, I don't think Jesus spoke as directly,
like 2 plus 2 equals 4 to them,
because I don't think he was trying to.
They're false prophets.
They're devils or whatever.
He doesn't even care if they believe or whatever.
But they got it enough that they tried to kill him
because they understood who he was claiming to be.
Right?
It's very clear Jesus Christ was claiming to be God.
We also see very clearly that he's the Son of God.
And all these things about him being our Savior,
these things all tie together.
And it's really not that complicated.
And when people don't get verses like John 3.16,
it's because they're not saved.
When we talk to repentance of sins heretics,
I mean, one big proof of whether or not somebody's saved or not
is do they understand the voice of the shepherd?
Yeah, right.
And you hear people explain certain verses.
And they claim to believe like we do.
And then when they explain it, it's like,
man, we do not have the same spirit guiding us
to what this verse is talking about.
And it's like the proof is just in the pudding.
Because it's not complicated in John 3.
I mean, it's really not complicated at all.
And so let me just emphasize this as we close the sermon,
that when it comes to this topic,
it's just really not an issue.
So as we go through the book of John,
I'm really not going to talk about it that much.
Because as we read John chapter 8,
there's a lot of verses in that chapter.
And there's a lot of topics we're going to cover
that I think are more pertinent.
Because I don't think this is really a tough issue here in the Philippines.
The people we preach the gospel to, they all believe in the Trinity.
That's the one thing the Catholics got right.
Praise the Lord for that so we don't have to cover it.
But that is one thing the Catholics got right.
They believe in the Trinity.
They're not wrong on everything.
Oh, they're Catholics and they're wrong.
No, I mean, they're right about that.
That's one thing they got right.
Praise the Lord for that.
Because honestly, it makes preaching the gospel a lot easier here in the Philippines.
Because this is a topic that you have to spend a little bit of time on
if people are confused.
But it really just isn't that big of an issue here.
Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today
and just get to read your word
and see what the Bible says about your nature.
We see very clearly you are God.
We also see very clearly that you are the Son of God
and that you always existed in eternity past.
It's always been like this.
There's been no change in that way, God.
Help us to just apply this to our lives
and help us to dig deep
and really understand the deep doctrines of the Bible.
Like I said, this is not an issue at our church.
It's not an issue here in the Philippines.
It's not an issue of religions we talk to.