Let's have a look at Exodus 20. Look at verse number 3.
Look at the first commandment, Exodus chapter 20 and verse number 3.
It says,
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
The title for the sermon tonight is
No Other Gods, No Other Gods.
Okay, so it's a new series on the Ten Commandments and this is part one.
No Other Gods Before Me.
Now, I don't think I really hear much preaching on this topic,
no other, you know, have no other gods before him.
Especially in a church like ours because, you know, in reality
we're not going to be tempted.
You know, people here, we're saved.
We know the truth.
We know the freedom that we have in Jesus Christ.
We know the gospel.
We understand salvation by grace through faith.
And so in reality, if you're a saved brother in the Lord,
you know, you're not going to leave this church and go to Islam and follow Allah.
It's unlikely.
If it happens, we know that person was never even saved to begin with, okay.
But it's unlikely you're going to turn to some other god
and have Allah before the Lord God of the Bible, right.
It's unlikely that you're going to turn to Hinduism or Buddhism,
even the false gods of the Bible.
You know, we see the children of Israel turn and worship a Moloch or a Baal, okay.
That's not going to happen here.
You know, even if you wanted to worship a Moloch,
you probably won't even know where to start, okay.
To put some other god before the Lord God of the Bible is very,
it's not going to happen.
It's unlikely going to happen in a church like ours.
You know, it's very unlikely that, let's say I go back to Queensland
and let's say with border issues, I can't get back here
and I'm gone like Moses was for 40 days.
It's unlikely if I'm longer than 40 days, I get back here.
It's unlikely that I'm going to see a golden calf set up
and you guys have decided to worship a golden calf, okay.
And name that the Lord God.
That's unlikely going to happen, amen.
And so, you know, how can we apply this for our church
that we should have no other gods before me?
And quite often I'll see, you know, some of the teaching
that I've heard from this idea is, well, if we create idols
and we love, you know, certain things in this life more than our Lord God,
that's putting some idols or some gods before him.
Yes, I can understand that.
But I think more likely what might hurt our church
or where some of our brethren might get confused
and actually put another god before the Lord God of the Bible
is what I've already kind of preached about in the past,
but I want to take a different angle here
and I'll quickly read to you from 2 Corinthians 11, 4, which says,
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or if ye receive another spirit which ye have not received,
or another gospel which ye have not accepted,
ye might well bear with him.
And so I think the danger of, one of the dangers of Christianity,
because there are so many churches, there are so many denominations,
there are so many people that claim the name of Christ,
where you might be misled and believe another Jesus.
You know, you might actually even hold this same Bible
and understand that salvation is through Jesus
and simply come to rethink and believe on another Jesus.
It's possible.
You know, churches can become corrupt this way.
In fact, the church that sent me out became corrupt this way.
They started to accept another Jesus in their midst.
It's a sad reality that this can happen.
And so how do we combat this?
How do we combat the thought that,
you know, we want to make sure that the God we worship in this church,
that's praised by this church, is the one true God of the Bible?
And it's not really about focusing on the other types of Jesuses that are out there.
It's more about knowing the Jesus and the God of the Bible more,
so that when we do see a fraudulent God or fraudulent Jesus appear on the scene,
we clearly are able to determine, no, that's not the God of the Bible.
You know, when people study money, for example, and they study cash,
you know, it's no use studying all the kinds of corrupt or, you know,
cash that's been created by, you know, by man, things that are false.
There's no point of studying that.
You're better off studying a true note, you know,
the kind of details that would be on that cash note, okay,
the shape of it, you know, the size of it, how it ought to look.
If you know what is true, you'll be able to determine that which is false.
You know, I grew up going to a Christian school,
and I know my parents met well to put me in a Christian school.
It was supposed to be a Baptist school.
It was more charismatic and Pentecostal than I recall.
And I'm telling you, there were so many other Jesuses,
I got confused as a teenager.
I did not really understand.
I did not understand that there were so many denominations,
even, like, Orthodox, even people in other churches
that we would not consider part of the Christendom umbrella,
so many different denominations, Pentecostals and Methodists and Lutherans,
and everyone named the name of Christ.
Everyone sort of said, yeah, salvation is by Christ.
And I just assumed that we were all saved.
I assumed we all believed that salvation is by Christ alone through faith alone.
It wasn't until I left high school and I would talk to my friends,
I realized, hold on, we have another Jesus here.
We have another gospel here.
You know, the Jesus that I speak, the salvation I speak about,
it's not the same salvation that you speak about,
and it brought a lot of confusion.
I started to realize, wow, this other Jesus has really infiltrated churches.
And so, as I said, the best thing to do is to understand
who the true Christ is, who the true Lord is.
Now, if you can please turn to Acts 4.
Turn to Acts 4 and verse number 10.
And this part one of this series is going to be a bit of a Bible study,
so get ready to flick through the Bible.
But you turn to Acts 4 for me.
And I'm going to read to you from Hosea.
So I'm reading to you from an Old Testament book.
You'll turn into a New Testament book.
I'm reading to you from Hosea 13 verse 4.
Hosea 13 verse 4 says,
Yet I am the Lord thy God from the land of Egypt,
and thou shalt know no God but me,
for there is no Savior beside me.
Why is it so important that we have the right God of the Bible?
Why is it so important that we have the right Jesus?
Because, he said, there is no Savior beside me.
There are other false gods that look like the God of the Bible
that offer us salvation that looks like the same salvation that we're familiar with,
but there is no same salvation in that God.
We need to make sure we have the right God so we have salvation.
Isn't this the reason we want to worship God,
is to be sure that our sins can be forgiven,
that we can stand before God on Judgment Day
and know that we're in the righteousness of Christ
and that we can spend eternity in heaven.
It's so important that we have the one true God
because there's no salvation in some other false god.
Look at Acts 4 verse 10.
It reads,
Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel,
that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,
whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.
So who is this Christ, this Jesus Christ here,
is one who was crucified, one who God raised from the dead.
You know, Islam believes in Jesus,
but they don't believe he was crucified.
They don't believe that he rose from the dead.
So it's not the same Jesus of the Jesus here that we're reading about.
So we can automatically discount the Islamic Jesus is another Jesus.
Alright?
Let's keep going. Verse 11.
This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders,
which has become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other,
for there is none other name under heaven given among men,
whereby we must be saved.
There's only one name given under heaven by which we must be saved.
That's the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What did it say in verse number 12?
Neither is there salvation in any other.
What did God say in the Old Testament?
He said, for there is no other Savior beside me.
So what do we learn about Jesus?
Jesus is God straight away.
There is no other Savior.
God is the Savior.
Jesus Christ is the Savior.
There is no other name whereby men must be saved.
And so the God of the Bible, the Jesus Christ that we worship,
is one that offers us salvation,
and salvation in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, there are some people that you might be familiar with,
the Hebrew Roots Movement,
the Messianic Jews they call themselves.
And the Jesus they worship is not the Jesus of the Bible,
because they say to you, no, no, it's not really Jesus.
His name is...
What do they say?
Yeshua.
Or Yeshua.
You know, they'll say that's the real name of Jesus and salvation,
is by the name of Yeshua.
And yet my Bible never has the name Yeshua in there, okay?
We don't see another name that we're saved by,
it's the name of Jesus.
And so we can look at Messianic Judaism,
we can look at the Hebrew Roots Movement,
and say no, they've got another Jesus.
You know, that God that they worship is not the God that saves.
And so you can see that if we just get down to the details of the God that we worship,
we know God as He's described to us in the Word,
then we're not going to be misled by all the other seducing spirits
that are out there teaching another Jesus.
Can you please turn to John 14?
Turn to John 14.
John 14.
I'm going to read to you from Romans 10-12.
So the God that we are to worship,
Thou shalt have no other gods before me,
is the one that offers salvation in His name.
And I'm going to read to you from Romans 10-12,
you go to John 14.
But Romans 10-12 is a very familiar passage,
especially if you're a soul winner,
you'd be familiar with all these passages here in Romans 10.
But it says in Romans 10-12,
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, right?
The Jews, you know, before Christ came,
they were living in the Old Testament times,
and even though they're living now in the New Testament times, Reverend,
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
Because it says this,
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon Him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Amen.
Salvation as well.
I just call upon the name of the Lord.
In faith I believe what Christ has done.
My crucified Savior risen from the dead,
and I know I've got the right God.
It's the same God that is over all rich unto all that call upon Him,
Jew and Greek.
So if the Jews today, you know, call upon some God,
but it's not by the name of Jesus, what do they have?
They've got another God.
They've got some other Jesus.
They've got some other God that they worship.
They also, Judaism say, have also got another God.
They don't worship the Father because they don't have the Son.
Okay?
And so calling upon the name of the Lord is the act of, you know,
basically asking God for salvation, recognizing that you're a sinner,
and saying, God, please save me.
I believe on Jesus Christ.
I accept His death, burial, and resurrection.
Please give me eternal life.
This is calling upon the Lord for salvation.
And notice, it's the name for the Jews and it's the name for the Greeks.
It's the name for the Jews.
It's the name for the Gentiles.
Yes, it's the name for Aussies.
Okay?
It's the name for Australians as well.
And if you look at John 14, verse number 6, please, look at John 14, verse 6,
because the next question becomes, well, what about the Old Testament saints?
They did not know the name of Jesus.
Before Jesus was born, they did not know that name.
So how could they have called upon the name of the Lord?
And then people become confused.
And they start thinking, well, maybe salvation in the Old Testament was by some other method.
Maybe it wasn't by grace through faith.
Maybe the ads do the sacrifices and the works,
and I've kind of covered this topic recently as well.
But look at John 14, verse 6.
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Listen, when Christ said these words, the New Testament is not yet in effect.
He's still living in Old Testament times, okay?
So notice, even in the Old Testament times, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Even in the Old Testament, they had to be saved by Jesus Christ.
That's the only way, brethren, okay?
No other man cometh.
Jesus says, look, the only way to heaven, the only way of salvation, is exclusively by me.
So how can we then turn around and say, well, the Old Testament saints were saved some other way?
That would be contrary to the words of Christ.
And those that believe that salvation is by some other methods in the Old Testament,
salvation by some other methods, potentially in the future,
they've got another gospel, they've got another Jesus once again.
These people are not saved, they've got another gospel.
Salvation is only by faith on the finished work of Jesus Christ.
But again, these things creep into churches, and we have to be careful to have no other gods before me.
We need to make sure that we have the one true God of the Bible.
Please turn to John 5.
John 5, verse 45.
And again, people are just confused.
They don't get it.
They don't understand the words of Christ.
Many times because they're just not saved.
Pastor Kevin, they did not know the name of Jesus in the Old Testament.
What does Jesus say here in John 5, 45?
John 5, 45.
Christ is speaking to Jews that do not believe in him.
He's saying to them, you know, you don't believe in me, I'm not going to accuse you.
Moses is going to accuse you.
Who's Moses?
The Old Testament.
You know, from the Old Testament.
He's the one that God used to bring in the Old Covenant.
Why would Moses accuse these people?
Look at verse 46.
Listen, the first books that were ever written,
the first five books of the Bible, the books of Moses,
Moses immediately already started to speak of Jesus Christ.
We started with Exodus, chapter 20.
You know what?
When it said there, thou shalt have no other gods before me,
that means have no other Jesus before me, right?
It's Jesus, the one Jesus, not some other Jesus,
not some other false god.
The one God that we worship is Jesus.
Moses wrote about him, says Jesus.
How can we say then that the Old Testament saints knew nothing of Jesus
when Moses wrote of Jesus?
How can we say that?
You know, either we believe Jesus or we don't believe Jesus, right?
Look at verse 47.
But if ye believe not his writings...
Sorry, verse number 46.
I already read it in verse 46.
Verse 47.
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
Okay?
So what did we learn there?
That the Old Testament is compatible with the New Testament.
The Old Testament spoke of Jesus Christ
and Christ has come on the scene, you know, in the New Testament days.
But it was always about Christ.
The Old Testament always pointed people to Jesus Christ
even though they did not know yet his name.
I'm going to quickly read to you.
Remember that famous verse that we're familiar with?
Romans 10, 13.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
And we saw the name of the Lord there, of course, referenced to Jesus Christ.
Well, that is not a New Testament verse, okay?
It actually comes from the Old Testament.
It comes from the Book of Joel, okay?
So we know quite often when the Apostle Paul would write the Scriptures,
he would reference the Old Testament, okay?
Let me quickly read to you where this comes from.
So, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord.
What's the name of the Lord in the New Testament there?
The name of Jesus Christ shall be saved.
And again, you'll say, well, they did not know the name of Jesus.
And that's true, they did not know the name of Jesus.
But did they know the name of the Lord, though?
No.
Okay?
All right, so Joel 2, 32 is where it comes from.
It reads like this.
And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be delivered.
So instead of saved, delivered.
This is what it's teaching.
It's teaching us salvation, that even in the Old Testament days,
that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord,
of course that's calling upon the Lord in faith,
shall be saved or shall be delivered.
So what name did they call upon?
Back in the times of the Old Testament, when Joel wrote this,
it keeps going for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance.
Yes, even in Jerusalem, the Jews of the Old Testament,
they called upon the name of the Lord as well.
As the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.
All right, brethren?
So whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
In the New Testament, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be delivered is found in the Old Testament.
They still had to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved.
Saying, well, they did not know the name of Jesus.
Well, a lot of you are very familiar with the term Lord in your King James Bible.
And the word Lord in your English Bibles in the Old Testament
is translated from the name...
Anyone know?
Jehovah.
The name Jehovah.
So if you had the Old Testament there in Hebrew,
when it says that it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord,
it would be whosoever shall call upon the name of Jehovah
shall be delivered, okay?
And in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance,
as the Lord have said or as Jehovah have said,
and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call,
in the remnant who Jehovah shall call.
So the name that they knew in the Old Testament was the name of Jehovah.
Jehovah, okay?
Jehovah is the name of Jesus Christ, all right?
That's another name for Jesus Christ.
And so in the Old Testament days, in the times of Moses
and those that were under the Old Covenant,
they still were saved by grace through faith
and we would call upon the name of Jesus.
They would say, Jesus, please save me.
They would say, please, Jehovah, please save me.
They knew Jesus by the name of Jehovah, okay?
Now, please go to Exodus chapter 6.
Go to Exodus chapter 6 and verse number 2.
Exodus chapter 6 and verse number 2.
Now the name Jehovah is also the name of the Father.
The Father and the Son both share the name Jehovah.
But only the Son has the name of Jesus.
Are you going to read anywhere in the Bible where the name Jesus is given to the Father?
No. In fact, the name Jesus is used to distinguish the Son from the Father.
But the name of Jehovah was both given to the name of the Son and to the Father.
But look at Exodus chapter 6 and verse number 2.
Exodus chapter 6 and verse number 2.
I just want to prove this to you just with clear scriptures
that they knew him by the name Jehovah.
Exodus chapter 6 verse number 2.
And God spoke unto Moses and said unto him, I am the Lord.
Now, if you were to read that in your Hebrew Bible,
it would say, I am Jehovah, okay?
Now, let's get going. Verse number 3.
And I appeared unto Abraham.
So Abraham was before Moses, right?
Of course, right?
And I appeared unto Abraham and unto Isaac and unto Jacob.
All these guys, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were before Moses, okay?
And I appeared unto Abraham and unto Jacob.
Sorry, Isaac and unto Jacob.
Look at this.
By the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah, was I not known to them.
Interesting.
So when Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible,
when God introduced the old covenant with the people of Israel,
he revealed himself to have the name of Jehovah.
But before Moses, they did not know the name of Jehovah.
But they were still saved by calling upon the name of the Lord.
Okay, so they couldn't call upon the name of Jehovah.
They couldn't call upon the name of Jesus.
Who did they call upon?
What did he say there, okay?
Sorry, I lost my sight there.
But by the name of God Almighty, okay?
But by the name of Jehovah, was I not known to them.
So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, when they called upon the name of the Lord,
they called upon the name of God Almighty.
That's, of course, another name for Jesus.
Jesus Christ is God Almighty, the mighty God.
Alright, the Bible tells us.
Well, praise God for that, okay?
So we see that throughout history, even before the old covenant,
they would call upon the name of the Lord.
They knew him as God Almighty.
When Moses came on the scene with the old covenant,
they still called upon the name of the Lord.
They called upon the name of Jehovah.
And in the New Testament days, we've been revealed the name of Jesus Christ.
We call upon the name of the Lord.
We call upon the name of Jesus, okay?
Salvation is the same, okay?
And upon the same Lord God of the Bible,
the same Jesus Christ.
And, you know, I love the consistency of the Bible.
I actually want to prove to you that they called him by God Almighty
and not by Jehovah or Lord.
So please go to Genesis 17, verse number 1.
Genesis 17, verse number 1.
I mean, there's so many ways to prove this.
I just want to show you just a quick snapshot here.
Genesis 17, verse number 1.
The Bible reads,
And when Abram, so that's Abraham,
was ninety years old and nine,
the Lord, sorry, the Lord, that's Jehovah.
Okay, well, one second, let's understand this.
The Lord appeared to Abram
and said unto him, look at this,
I am the Almighty God.
Walk before me and be thou perfect.
Say, Pastor Kevin, hold on.
So, look, when God reveals himself to Abraham,
how does he reveal himself?
What name does he give himself?
God Almighty.
Isn't that consistent with what we read in Exodus?
It is, okay.
But he said, hold on,
it says the Lord appeared unto Abram.
Yeah, but who wrote the book of Genesis?
Moses.
And, yeah, Moses knew, of course,
the name of the Lord, Jehovah.
And so, yes, this proves that, of course,
Moses wrote the book of Genesis
because he had the name revealed to him of Jehovah the Lord
and he wrote of the Lord,
but when he's speaking about historical times,
when God reveals himself to Abraham,
God reveals himself, his name, as God Almighty,
not as Jehovah.
Please go to Genesis 28.
Go to Genesis 28, verse number 1.
Genesis 28 and verse number 1.
Genesis 28, verse number 1.
And Isaac called Jacob,
because we saw that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
they all called him by God Almighty or Almighty God.
And Isaac called Jacob and blessed him
and charged him and said unto him,
Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
Arise, go to Padan Aram,
to the house of Bethuel, my mother's father,
and take thee a wife from thence
of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother.
Look at this.
And God Almighty bless thee
and make thee fruitful and multiply thee,
that there mayst be a multitude of people.
And so notice that, you know,
that when Isaac speaks to his son Jacob,
he refers to God as God Almighty.
You'll see that over and over again.
The Old Testament saints before Moses
would refer to God as God Almighty.
You know, the book of Job,
we know the book of Job must have been written
around the time of Abraham
because Job knows God as God Almighty.
You'll constantly see, in fact,
the name God Almighty most often comes up
in the book of Job.
So that must have been before the time of Moses,
simply by that one historical fact.
Can you please turn to Genesis 2?
Genesis 2, verse 4.
Genesis 2, verse number 4.
Genesis 2, 4.
The Bible reads,
These are the generations of the heavens
and of the earth when they were created.
Who created the heavens and the earth?
We know it was Jesus Christ.
In the day that the Lord God
made the earth and the heavens.
So notice it says the Lord God,
the Lord again referenced in the name of Jehovah.
But again, why is the word Jehovah being used here?
Because Moses penned the book of Genesis.
And so as he's telling the story,
he's referencing the name of God as Jehovah,
the Lord,
but the people that are in the historical setting,
before the name was revealed,
they refer to him as God Almighty.
So you notice that consistency.
Salvation has always been by faith,
has always been by calling upon the name of the Lord
in faith, before the Old Testament,
name of God Almighty or Almighty God,
in the time of Moses, Jehovah,
in the time of the New Testament, Jesus Christ.
Salvation has always been the same.
When people are telling you,
no, salvation is by some other method,
some other way, some other gospel,
some other God, you know,
it's basically putting some other God
before the God of the Bible, okay?
So it's so important that we remain consistent
when the Bible is so consistent.
You know, when people make such a mess of things,
I don't know why they make a mess of things.
Well, I know why, because they're not saved.
Okay, that's really why.
And then they deceive the simple,
which is so sad.
So sad.
I'm going to continue reading to you from Romans 10,
where we read before,
who such a combat name of the Lord shall be saved,
and then it keeps going.
Romans 10, 14.
How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed?
So notice, calling upon the Lord is to believe on Him.
Calling upon them, Lord, for salvation
is to place our faith to believe on the Lord.
And how shall they believe in Him
in whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent
as it is written,
how beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things.
So when you call upon the name of the Lord,
you're basically saying,
I believe the gospel that was preached unto me.
You know, every time we pray,
we call upon the Lord.
Basically, call upon the Lord is to pray,
is to ask, okay?
But when it comes to the reference of salvation,
calling upon the name of the Lord
means that you believe the gospel.
You know, you believe the one true God
who's offering you salvation,
because there is no salvation in any other God.
And so, you know, sometimes people say,
you know, this person is saved
because they called upon them the Lord.
Amen, that's true,
but I want to make sure that that person
has believed the gospel, okay?
That's the key part of it.
Have they believed the gospel?
And when they believe the gospel,
they can call upon the God
that gives them salvation,
that has offered them the gospel,
the salvation through that gospel message, okay?
So again, these Old Testament saints,
you often read about them
calling upon them the Lord.
They called upon him for salvation
on the gospel, the finished work of Jesus Christ,
even though they did not know
the name of Christ, okay?
All right, can you please turn to Isaiah.
Turn to Isaiah 41, please.
Turn to Isaiah 41.
Isaiah 41, verse number 4.
The other misunderstanding
that a lot of people have,
they think that the God of the New Testament
has changed from the God of the Old Testament.
They say, I like Jesus
because he's a humble guy, right?
You know, he's not nasty and angry
and, you know, cursing people constantly.
And they think it's some other God.
They truly think Jesus Christ,
the God of the New Testament,
is like a reformed God.
You know, it's like God finally figured out,
maybe being hard and harsh
is not the way to go, you know?
No, no, it's the same God
throughout the Bible, okay?
Isaiah 41, verse 4.
It says,
Who have wrought and done it,
calling the generation from the beginning,
I the Lord,
the Lord there is Jehovah,
I the Lord, look at this,
the first and with the last,
I am He.
Who is the Lord?
The first and with the last.
It's quite interesting how it's got that,
the first and with the last.
Can you please go to Isaiah 44, verse 6.
Isaiah 44, verse 6.
Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel,
again, the Lord there is Jehovah, okay,
and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts,
I am the first and I am the last,
and beside me there is no God.
Please go to Isaiah 48, verse 12.
Isaiah 48 and verse number 12.
Isaiah 48, verse 12.
Harken unto me, O Jacob and Israel,
my cord,
I am He,
I am the first,
I also am the last.
Mine hand also have laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand has spanned the heavens.
When I call unto them,
they stand up together.
So this God which is the first and the last,
He's the one who created the heavens and the earth.
We know once again that Jesus Christ is the creator of all things.
And then I'm going to read to you just from the last book of the Bible.
You're all very familiar with this.
Revelation 22, verse 12.
The words of Jesus Christ, Revelation 22, 12.
He says, and behold, I come quickly.
Who's coming back?
Jesus Christ is coming back.
I come quickly and my reward is with me,
to give every man according as his work shall be.
I am alpha and omega,
the beginning and the end,
the first and the last.
Jesus Christ, the first and the last.
We read about the God of Isaiah,
the first and the last.
Who is he?
It's the same one God.
And what did we read over and over again?
That there is one God, right?
I am the first and I am the last,
and beside me there is no God.
And so other religions that teach that there are multiple gods,
guess what?
That is a false god.
A false god.
That is a false religion, right?
We are to set no other god before him.
And I hope you, and I'm sure you do,
if you're saved today,
that you have the right god.
You know, I don't want this church to ever be deceived.
I'm not going to be the pastor of this church forever,
I think.
I don't know, maybe I will be.
I don't know, maybe Jesus Christ is coming back sooner than I think.
But who knows?
But you know, as a church we need to make sure that
we don't allow people to come behind this pulpit
and start teaching some other god.
You know, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever,
the saviour of mankind.
Now even though there's one God,
and I'm not going to harp on this topic for very long,
but even though there's one God,
you know, we also believe in the Trinity.
We believe in one God in three persons.
One God in three persons.
Let me just see what I can get you to turn to.
Please turn to Matthew 28.
Turn to Matthew 28 for me.
Matthew 28.
And I'll just quickly read to you some very obviously famous passages,
passages that we are very familiar with,
about God being in three persons.
Listen, we don't worship three gods.
We don't have three gods.
We have one God that we worship.
This one God is in three persons though.
And you just can't get around it.
That's what the Bible teaches.
We have to accept that by faith.
The Bible says in 1 John 5-7,
For there are three that bear record in heaven,
the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one.
Alright, that's what the Bible says.
In fact, you know, let's say it's a mistake.
But here's the thing,
it's consistent with the whole Bible.
It's consistent with the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Let us make man in our image in the book of Genesis.
God is already speaking in the plurality there.
Let us make man in our image.
Matthew 28 verse 19,
the Great Commission.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations.
Baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
These are the words of Christ.
He says that there is one name,
name of the Father and the Son.
And the Holy Ghost's name, by the way,
is the authority.
There's one authority.
There's not like one main God and like lesser Gods.
God is one in authority.
God is one in power.
And even within the Godhead,
there's a structure.
The Father sends the Son.
We've really looked at this in depth in previous sermons.
And yet they're all one in authority.
There's no greater authority than God.
Turn to Matthew chapter 3 please.
Turn to Matthew chapter 3 and verse number 16.
Matthew 3, 16.
What we read in Matthew 28 is toward the end of his ministry
after his resurrection.
At the end of his ministry,
he claimed the triune nature of God.
And even when Christ began his ministry,
he began it by being baptized.
And there we see the Trinity once again in Matthew 3, 16.
And Jesus, that's the Son, when he was baptized,
went up straightway out of the water
and lo, the heavens were opened unto him.
And he saw the Spirit of God.
So is Jesus the Holy Spirit?
No.
He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove
and lightning upon him.
So we have the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus.
And lo, a voice from heaven saying,
this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
Is Jesus speaking to himself?
This is my beloved Son.
Is Jesus the Father?
No.
This is one-ness theology.
I don't like carrying on about this all the time,
but I guess we have to touch on this topic.
But you see that the Father is not the Son.
The Father is speaking to the Son.
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
Jesus the Father is not speaking to Jesus the Son.
No, Jesus is the Son.
The Father is speaking of the Son.
It's undeniable here that there is one God and yet three persons.
One God, yet three persons.
Please turn to Colossians 2, verse 9.
I really want you to turn to this passage.
Colossians 2, verse 9.
Because there is a lot of misunderstanding
and those that believe in one-ness theology,
I feel, will look at this verse
and they think this is one of the key verses
to teach that Jesus is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
That's not true. Jesus is the Son.
Jesus is the Son.
Colossians 2, 9, please.
Colossians 2, 9.
Can you get me some water?
Thanks, sir.
Colossians 2, 9.
For in Him, this is speaking about Jesus.
For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
That's an interesting verse.
It's a beautiful verse.
For in Jesus, for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
What does that mean?
I've heard some Christians say,
we don't have the word trinity in the Bible, and we don't.
The Bible does not contain the word trinity.
There are words that we use to help illustrate doctrines and truths in the Bible.
Trinity, tri means free, and then unity, one God, three persons.
That's where we get the word trinity from.
I've heard people say, instead of using the word trinity because it's not in the Bible,
why don't we use the word Godhead?
Because Godhead is found here in the Bible.
But here's the thing. Trinity does not mean Godhead.
That's why.
There are actually two separate things.
Within the Godhead, there is a trinity,
but the word Godhead does not mean trinity.
Let's pretend Godhead did mean trinity for a minute.
Let's pretend that. Let's read it again.
Jesus, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the trinity bodily.
What would that mean?
That would mean that when Jesus Christ came in the bodily, in the bodily form,
that the trinity basically, the fullness of the trinity is in his body.
So Jesus Christ is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
You can see where that might lead.
But is that what it means? Does Godhead mean trinity?
No, it doesn't.
Godhead is basically an old English word for the word Godhood.
That's what it means. Godhead is just an archaic word for Godhood.
Let's consider this word Godhood.
For the mothers, you've experienced motherhood.
What does the word motherhood mean?
It's the state of being a mother.
Fatherhood. The state of being a father.
What is Godhood? The state of being God.
That's what it means. The state of being God.
So when we understand that, let's read it again.
For in Jesus, for in him dwelleth all the fullness of the state of being God bodily.
Is this teaching that Jesus Christ is the Father, is the Holy Spirit, is the Son?
No. It's saying he's fully God.
Just because he came to the earth in Bethlehem's manger,
in a body that was to be sacrificed, did not make him any less God.
This is teaching us that even though Christ was 100% man, he was also 100% God.
He wasn't like some lesser God.
He's walked this earth. He was God. He's God Almighty.
He's Jehovah. He's God Almighty.
Whoso shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
He wasn't 50% man and 50% God.
This is another paradox that we just need to understand and believe.
He was fully man and yet fully God.
He wasn't some lesser God that was walking this earth.
That's what it means that in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
Now let's understand the triune nature of God.
You know, how the triune nature of God worked in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So please turn to John chapter 5 and verse number 36.
John chapter 5 and verse number 36.
Jesus Christ was very open about how the Trinity worked in his life, in his ministry.
John chapter 5 and verse number 36.
Christ says,
Notice the next words.
Interesting.
No one has ever seen God the Father.
You can't even stand before the God the Father and consider him.
You'll be overwhelmed, brethren.
You'll be overwhelmed.
But I want you to notice what part did God the Father send with Jesus Christ?
Well, number one, we saw that he sent him.
The Father sent the Son.
Number two, the works that Jesus did were works that the Father gave him to do.
So we see the obedience of the Son.
We see the Son following the will of the Father.
So the Father gave him works to do.
I'm sending you to earth.
I'm giving you works.
You've got to be crucified for the sins of mankind and I'm the one sending you.
I'm sending you.
Now can you please turn to Matthew chapter 12.
Turn to Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 17.
Matthew chapter 12 and verse number 17.
Christ of course said in Luke 22 42,
Not my will but thine be done.
Christ came to this earth to do the will of the Father.
The Father gave him the works to do.
Matthew chapter 12 verse number 17.
I think this is very interesting.
Because in Matthew 12 17 it says,
That he might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaias the prophet saying,
Who is Isaias the prophet?
Isaiah.
So what was it that Isaiah preached about?
What was to be fulfilled in the time of Christ here?
Verse number 18.
Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved.
By the way God is speaking here.
My servant.
Who's the servant here?
Well the servant here is referencing Christ.
Jesus Christ, the Son.
Behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved.
In whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my spirit upon him and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.
Do you notice that in the Old Testament then?
Because this is from Isaiah.
The Old Testament spoke of the Trinity as well.
The Father is sending his son as a servant.
And he says about his servant, about his son,
that he's going to put his spirit upon him.
So you notice that the Trinity also appears in the Old Testament.
Please turn to Luke chapter 4.
Turn to Luke chapter 4 verse number 18.
Luke chapter 4 verse number 18.
These are the words of Jesus Christ.
In Luke 4 18 he says,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised.
So what is Christ saying?
That the works that the Father has sent him to do,
he's able to accomplish those works by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
That's how the triune nature of God works.
The Father sent the Son to do the works
and Christ is able to do the works by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the one that gave him the power to preach the gospel.
Brethren, in order for us to have the power to preach the gospel to the lost,
we also need the strength of the Holy Spirit to do that.
Please get in the habit of asking God for his Spirit
to give the boldness and the ability to preach the gospel to the lost.
Even Jesus Christ needed the Holy Spirit to accomplish the great works.
All the miracles that he did, he did it for the power of the Holy Spirit.
I'm going to quickly read to you from Matthew 12 28.
This is a passage, of course, when people said
that the works that Christ did was by the power of Beelzebub,
by the power of Satan.
And Christ says in Matthew 12 28,
But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God,
then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
So Christ says, when I cast out devils,
I did it by the power of the Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit is the one that gave Jesus Christ the power to do the works on the earth.
So even though we had Christ on the surface some 2,000 years ago,
and our focus ought to be on Christ, of course.
You know, salvation is by Christ.
He did the works that his Father sent him to do,
and he was able to achieve the works by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so even though Christ was on this earth,
the triune nature of God was functioning,
was the one that enabled Christ to do what he was able to accomplish.
Please turn to Matthew 17, please.
Please turn to Matthew chapter 17, and we're near the end now.
Please turn to Matthew chapter 17.
I just want to reinforce to you that it is God, one God in three persons.
The Son is not the Father.
The Father is not the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is not the Son.
And yet they are one God.
One God.
Jesus Christ fully God.
The Father is fully God.
The Holy Spirit is fully God.
They're not some lesser gods.
No, they're not.
It is just the one God that we worship.
And I love Matthew 17.
I love this story for many reasons, but let's have a look at it.
Matthew 17, verse 1.
This is of course the story of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ,
because some people say,
well, yeah, you know, Jesus Christ,
you know, when he was on the earth, that was just the man, Christ Jesus.
And they'll say that the deity of Christ,
that his Godhead, his Godhood is actually the Father.
Have you heard that?
That the Father came in the body of Christ,
and basically on the cross, when Christ was on that cross,
because Christ says,
what did he say?
Father, I see your hand like a little less.
Nah, not that one.
He said about being forsaken.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
They'll say at that point, God the Father departed from the Son,
and yes he did,
because God the Father cannot have sin in his presence,
and Christ became sin for us.
But they'll say, well, at that point, it was just the man.
It was just the flesh.
He wasn't really God, because God cannot die.
No, God died.
God laid down his life for us.
The blood that was shed was the blood of God.
You cannot separate Jesus.
He's fully God and fully man.
It's not like he's partly God and partly man.
No, he's fully God and fully man.
The Christ Jesus on the cross,
even though the Father had forsaken him,
was still God on the cross.
Because some people say, well, yeah, he was like the separation on the earth,
but then when we go to be with God in heaven,
then God's just going to merge,
like the Son's just going to merge into the Father,
all of a sudden it's just going to merge,
and it's just this one, I don't know.
That's basically Hinduism.
Hinduism believes that.
Hinduism believes that there's sort of this one all-powerful God,
and he's just like, you know, this one God is like billions of gods,
and they all kind of just merge into this one God.
I don't know.
I'm maybe not being necessarily accurate,
but Hinduism literally believes in hundreds of God,
and they don't believe there's any real limit
because they believe God can manifest himself in many, many, many, many gods.
No, that's not true.
When we get to heaven, we're still going to see the separation
of God the Father, God the Son, and Holy Ghost.
Now, I can prove that to you in the book of Revelation,
but I want to prove that to you more so when Christ was on this earth
because when he was transfigured, he put on the glory.
He put on the glory.
The glory that he had separated himself from, in a sense, to become man,
he turned on the glory at the mounts of transfiguration,
and as it were, these people that were with him,
they experienced heaven to some extent.
Matthew 17, verse 1.
And after six days, Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother,
and bringeth them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured.
So he changed. His figure changed.
He was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun.
Imagine that.
Imagine all of a sudden you can see Christ's face,
and then we've all looked at the sun at times,
and it just blinds us, and we get these black spots.
All of a sudden, you're looking at Jesus, and all of a sudden,
it's like looking at the sun.
Christ changed.
He was transfigured before them.
His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
And behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
It's like these guys just entered heaven.
The glory was on.
Even the Old Testament saints appeared.
Moses and Elias talking with him.
Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus,
Lord, it is good for us to be here.
If thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles,
one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.
So are they seeing Christ at this point?
They are seeing him, right?
He's just very bright, like looking into the sun.
Verse number five.
While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them,
and behold, a voice out of the cloud, which said,
This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
Hear ye him.
Who's saying these words?
Well, if you're saying it's my beloved son, it's the Father speaking.
Now, they saw Jesus Christ transfigured.
They saw him bright as the sun.
But when God the Father appears on the scene,
notice they don't see the figure of God the Father.
They cannot see him.
Jesus Christ was right.
No man has seen the Father.
But rather, a bright cloud overshadowed them.
This bright cloud is protecting them from the glory of the Father,
because they'd be wiped out if they saw him in their sinful flesh.
But notice that.
They can see Christ, but they can't see the Father.
The Father protects them with that cloud.
The Father, once again, even in glory,
even in this transfiguration glory of Christ,
when he turns it on, there's still the separation there between Father and Son.
Verse number six.
And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face and were so afraid.
I'm sure they were surprised and amazed by Jesus' transfiguration,
but when they heard the voice of the Father, they just couldn't bear.
They were afraid.
They fell on their faces.
And Jesus came and touched them and said,
Arise and be not afraid.
And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only.
So is there a separation between Father and Son even in glory?
Absolutely.
When we go home to be with God in heaven,
we're going to see the fullness of God.
We're going to see the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
not some merging of a greater nature of God.
No, this is God's nature.
This is who God is.
God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I'm not so much teaching about the Trinity today.
I just want to make sure that the God we worship,
the God we understand in the Bible, is the one true God.
If we're going to have no other gods before him,
we want to make sure that we have the one true God
and access to the Father to receive the Holy Spirit is through Jesus Christ.
And in conclusion, just a verse that we read not long ago
because we're going through 1 John.
But 1 John 2, verse 23, I'll just read it to you.
Praise God for the God that we worship.
Once again, you know, we're not going to.
I'm sure I look at you guys.
I know you're saved.
I know you love the Lord.
I'd be very surprised if you turn to Islam.
I'd be surprised if you turn to Roman Catholicism.
You know, I'd be surprised if you worship some, you know, golden calf.
You know, that's not going to happen.
But as I said, it can happen where people bring in another Jesus, another God,
a God that offers salvation by some other ways, okay?
A Jesus that they say was not known in the Old Testament.
Yes, he was known.
Yes, we have the greater revelation, okay?
But the pictures were there.
The sacrifices were there.
They still called upon the name of the Lord for salvation as we did today in faith.
They just called him by another name.
And of course, we believe in a triune God, a God, the Father who sent the Son,
the Son who did his works by the power of the Holy Spirit.
That is the one true God that we worship.
Salvation is through Jesus Christ.
Okay, let's pray.