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The record's clear today, for we wash thy sins away. The old account was still long ago. All hail the crown of Jesus. May glad angels prostrate God. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him o'er above. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown him o'er above. He's chosen seed of Israel's praise, the ransom crown of God. Hail him who sings here by his grace, and crown him o'er above. Hail him who sings here by his grace, and crown him o'er above. Let every kin, let every tribe on this terrestrial call, to him, all majesty, a-strut, and crown him, Lord of all. To him, all majesty, a-strut, and crown him, Lord of all. All the last now. With yonder sang, when proudly at his feet we come. We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him, Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song, and crown him, Lord of all. But with a sure way I see, nothing but the power of Jesus. What he made me whole again, nothing but the power of Jesus. All the precious is the Lord, who That makes me minus, Lord of other, that I know, nothing but the power of Jesus. And for my part in this I see, nothing but the power of Jesus. For I'm waiting this might be, nothing but the power of Jesus. All the precious is the Lord, that makes me minus, Lord of other, that I know, nothing but the power of Jesus. Nothing can force it at all, nothing but the power of Jesus. Not a good plan I have done, nothing but the power of Jesus. All the precious is the Lord, that makes me minus, Lord of other, that I know, nothing but the power of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness, nothing but the blood of Jesus. All the precious is the Lord, that makes me minus, Lord of other, no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus. In the harvest field now right then, there's a word for all to do. Hark, the voice of God is calling, till the harvest calling hears. Little is much when God is in it, favor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can fit in, if you'll come in Jesus' name. Does the place your call to labor seem so small and little known? It is great if God is in it, and he'll not forget his own. Little is much when God is in it, favor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can fit in, if you'll come in Jesus' name. When the conflict here is ended, and our race on earth is done, we will say if we are faithful, welcome home, my son, the God. Little is much when God is in it, favor not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can fit in, if you'll come in Jesus' name. Tempted and tried, we're all fates wonder, why it should be thus all the day long. While there are others living about us, never will last in though in the wrong. For the wrong will know all about it, for the wrong will understand why. Fear of my brother, live in the sunshine, will understand it all by and by. When death has come and taken our loved ones, it leaves our home so lonely and drear. Then do we wonder why others cross earth, living so wicked year after year. For the wrong will know all about it, for the wrong will understand why. Fear of my brother, live in the sunshine, will understand it all by and by. Faithful till death set our loving master, a few more days to labor and wait. Toils of the road will then seep as nothing, as we sweep through the years. For the wrong will know all about it, for the wrong will understand why. Fear of my brother, live in the sunshine, will understand it all by and by. When we see Jesus coming in glory, when he comes from his home in the sky, then we shall see him again. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome back to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you could all find your seats, we're going to get started. We're going to begin this evening's service with song number 274, Come Unto Me. Song 274. Song 274, Come Unto Me. Sing it out on the first. Take my yoke upon you. Hear me and be blessed. I am meek and holy. Come and trust my mind. Come, my yoke is easy, and my burdens lie. Speed it up a little bit on the second. Are you disappointed, wondering here and there? Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care. To unholy feelings, struggle in your breast. Bring your case to Jesus, he will give you rest. Come unto me. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Hear me and be blessed. I am meek and holy. Come and trust my mind. Come, my yoke is easy, and my burdens lie. Stumbling on the mountains, dark with sin and shame. Stumbling toward the pit of hell's consumed plain. By the powers of sin, deluded and oppressed. Hear the tender shepherd come to me and rest. Come unto me. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Hear me and be blessed. I am meek and holy. Come and trust my mind. Come, my yoke is easy, and my burdens lie. On this last verse, we're going to speed it up a little bit more. All together. Have you my temptation offered longer than? Has the sense of weakness brought distress within? Christ will send him by you if your flame is blessed. In the Holy Spirit, he will give you rest. Come unto me. I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Hear me and be blessed. I am meek and holy. Come and trust my mind. Come, my yoke is easy, and my burdens lie. Great singing, everybody. Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this church. We thank you for everyone that's gathered here together. We thank you for all the souls that were one today and yesterday. Lord God, we ask you that you please bless Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit. Help him to preach an edifying sermon unto us. Help us to apply it to our lives so we can walk out better Christians for your honor and glory. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, next up we have song number 304. We've done this one before, but it's a little bit newer still. So if you know it well, sing it out nice and loud. Nothing between. 304. Nothing between. On the first. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. God of this world, delusive dream. I have renounced all sinful measure. Jesus is mine, there's nothing between. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. So that his blessed praise may be seen. Nothing between, not least on his favor. Keep the great clear, let nothing between. Nothing between my world we venture. At its supply, though harmless they seem, Must come my heart from him ever severed. He is my all, there's nothing between. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. So that his blessed praise may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of his favor. Keep the great clear, let nothing between. Nothing between my pride or my station. Self or intent shall not infer me. Though it may cost me much tribulation, I am resolved, there's nothing between. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. So that his blessed praise may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of his favor. Keep the great clear, let nothing between. On the last, on the fourth, I want us to all sing very loud. You guys are doing great. On the last. Nothing between, we may need our trials. Will the whole world against me compete? Washing with prayer and hushed out denial. Outside I'm left with nothing between. Nothing between my soul and the Savior. So that his blessed praise may be seen. Nothing preventing the least of his favor. Keep the great clear, let nothing between. Thank you for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you need a bulletin, you can lift your hand nice and high. One of our ushers can come by and get you guys a bulletin. On the front we have our Bible memory passage, Matthew 28 verse 12. On the inside is our service and soul winning times. Please make sure you're putting in your soul winning information into our chat group. Also if you have any maps, make sure you're marking those and turning them into our done bin please. On the right is our list of expecting ladies. Please be in prayer for them. Also we have down below upcoming events. For our Renosa Soul Winning Marathon, we ended up having 187 salvations for the event. And boy, it was a lot of hard work. And so a lot of work went into that number. Thank you so much for everybody for praying for us and just thinking about us. You know, one thing I didn't say in this morning's sermon, but it often gets missed on this, is I was kind of thinking back about how many people I preached to. And I think I preached the full gospel to about 25 people. And 12 of them did not get saved and only 13 of them did get saved. And so, you know, sometimes you have to put in a lot of effort, energy, and even preach to a lot of people that don't get saved as well as the ones that do. And so, you know, these numbers are not necessarily even reflected of all the seeds that were planted and other people that may have heard the gospel. But sometimes it does take a lot of effort and a lot of energy and great appreciation to those who went out there with us. We had a great time. Honestly, it was a lot of fun, great spirit. People were really happy and we ate well. So, you know, that's the one thing no one ever criticizes me on missions trips is we didn't eat well. So, the workman is worthy of his meat, right? And also, cruise mission trip coming up, please be in prayer for that. Also, we have a couple of kids events. And then I need to put here in the bulletin the Spanish soul winning marathon we'll be having. I believe it's March 8th, if I'm correct. Does that sound right? March 8th is a Saturday and then we'll be having a Spanish breakfast in the morning. On the back we have our prayer list. Please be in prayer for our church family. And that's pretty much all I have as far as announcements are concerned. We'll go ahead and sing our Psalm of the Week, Psalm 150. Psalm 150. Alright, that's Psalm 150 in your black binders. Psalm 150. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with the soul to read and write. Praise him with the temple and dance. Praise him with street lights, road lights and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals. Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath read praise the Lord. Praise he the Lord. Praise God the Father. Praise God the Son. Praise God the Holy Ghost. Praise God in three persons. Excellent singing everyone. As the offering plates are going around would you please turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. And the Pharisees came to him and asked him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife, tempting him? And he answered and said unto them, what did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, for the hardness of your heart, he wrote this precept, but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. So then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter. And he saith unto them, whosoever shall put away his wife and marry another, comitteth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband and be married to another, she comitteth adultery. And they brought young children to him that he should touch them. And his disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. Thou knowest the commandments. Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, defraud not, honor thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest, go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! And the disciples were astonished at his words, but Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved? And Jesus looking upon them, saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospels. But he shall receive an hundredfold, now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last, and the last shall be first. And they were in the way, going up to Jerusalem. And Jesus went before them, and they were amazed. And as they followed, they were afraid. And he took again the twelve, and began to tell them what things should happen unto him, saying, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem. And the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests, and unto the scribes. And they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles. And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him. And the third day he shall rise again. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask. Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the baptism that I am baptized with, all shall ye be baptized. But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be much displeased with James and John. But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and their great ones exercise authority upon them, but so shall it not be among you. But whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. And they came to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus sat by the highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace, but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for the word of God. I thank you for the souls that were saved today. I thank you for this church. Please bless our pastor now as he preaches your word. Please help us to be attentive and help us to be better Christians. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. I wanted to preach another series, and this series is going to be on the Trinity specifically. And I'm wanting to preach a few different sermons that I really haven't covered these topics on the Trinity. Now, the Trinity is a big topic. There's a lot of things that can be said, a lot of things that can be talked about. But I'm going to be preaching three different sermons that are a lot of things that I haven't taught on yet or things that are just coming from a different perspective. But the first sermon that I want to talk about this evening is on the deity of Jesus Christ. Now, this is something that is honestly pretty simple. It's a pretty basic doctrine. And I'm sure everyone here already automatically agrees. But I think it's just important to see how we prove this from the Bible and to kind of remind ourselves, especially if you ever get into a soul winning situation or you're talking to other people. It's just nice to remember where you can turn in your Bible, because even myself included, I had been a soul winner for quite a while, and I remember running into somebody that wasn't quite sure about the deity of Jesus Christ, and I wanted to prove it to them. And just right off the top of my head, I was struggling with like where I would turn or some places that I might go. And so I think it's helpful to have a sermon where we just kind of remind ourselves or refresh ourselves of some of the places we could go to to prove that Jesus Christ is God. Now, of course, John one is a really great verse, and there's a lot of verses like that. But I wanted to go to one here in Mark 10 that it's not really a textual variant. And why I bring up that concept is a lot of people try to wiggle out of some of the clear verses on the fact that Jesus is God by claiming, well, in the originals, it's not there. There's all these different Bible translations that say it differently or something like that, because there are some places in the Bible where there's not really a quote, textual variant. And if you understand the doctrine that's being taught, there's no way to not understand that the Bible is teaching Jesus is God clearly. OK, now, in Mark chapter number 10, it brings up a young rich man that's coming into Jesus. It says in verse 17. And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one that is God. Here in the text, the young man is calling Jesus Good Master. And I'm going to use the board here for just a second to help me. But I think that if we kind of think about what this guy is calling him, it's really helpful, because here in Mark chapter 10. And I don't know if this isn't very visible. Let me let me grab a different marker in Mark chapter 10, verse 17. He is calling him Good Master. Now, grammatically, we can understand that the good isn't necessarily in reference to the noun. It's an adjective, right? He's calling him Good Master. So really, if we're looking at it, he's calling him Master, but he's using a qualitative adjective. He's describing the quality of the master with an adjective, and that adjective is good. This is the word that Jesus Christ is picking out and basically taking him to task on. Why callest thou me good? Why are you calling me a Good Master specifically? He says there's none good but one that's God. Okay, well, go if you would in your Bible now to John chapter number 10. Go to John chapter number 10. This is also confirmed in other places. The Bible says in Romans chapter number 3, there's none righteous, no, not one. I mean, the Bible's really crystal clear that there's only one that would be an exception to the idea that no one's good, and that is God. God is the only exception to the fact that everyone else is bad. Now, in John chapter number 10, look at verse 11. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd given his life for the sheep. So when Jesus Christ describes himself, what does he say in John? He says he is the Good Shepherd. So here's the thing. What is the adjective that Jesus Christ uses about himself? Good. Now, here's the thing. Obviously, you could just say the Bible's all lies are all trash. You could just be an atheist or something like that. But if you actually said, I don't think Jesus is a liar, well, then you'd have to understand that he believes something about himself. What does he believe about himself? He is the Good Shepherd. He's calling himself what? Good. And he says in this other passage, why callest thou me good? There's none good but one. That's God. So you know what he's saying? I'm God. Because the Lord Jesus Christ is God. When he says that he is the Good Shepherd, he is saying that he is God. And again, if you're going to be an atheist or say, I just don't believe the Bible, okay. But there are religions today that would deny the divinity or the deity of Jesus Christ. Now, on this other side of this board, and pardon me for you on the side, I'm going to try and get a TV for next week, but I kind of have this matrix, all right? And I'm not going to really go through all this matrix tonight. We're going to go through this matrix next week. But there's one section of this chart that we're going to focus on tonight. And it's an important section. It's that Jesus is God. Now, this is basically just a matrix of Trinity views and doctrines, okay. So if we were to look at biblical doctrines, I believe the Bible teaches that there's one God. Jesus is God. There's three persons. Jesus is not the Father. Jesus is the eternal Son. That Jesus' sonship is an eternal submission, okay, and that each person of the Trinity has their own witness, self, and will, okay. That's basically the doctrines that I believe the Bible clearly teaches. This is basically an understanding of different views that exist, kind of just general categories. These two columns, I would say, are a Trinity column, okay. But there is a three-self view and a one-self view. I've consistently taught and always will teach that I believe that the Trinity is a three-self view. There's the Catholic view, and it's not really the Catholic view. It's like the Catholic theologian view of a one-self view. This is the Augustinian view. There's modalism. There's Unitarians and Arians. There's Muslim, Jews, and Mormons, okay. And it's kind of just as you go down this, as you move this way, you just get worse and worse and worse when it comes to the Trinity, okay, when it comes to who God really is. But if we look at this category, you notice there's some problems. Some people do not believe that Jesus is God. That would be Unitarians. That would be Muslims. That would be Jews. That would be Mormons. Now, Mormons will say that Jesus is a God, but just not the God, okay. So there's a little bit of nuance there, but they say they became a God, which is a lie straight out of hell, okay. But Jews just deny that Jesus is anything good about Jesus. They spit if they have to say his name. Sorry for all you Zionists out there. Muslims, they would say Jesus was a good man and a good prophet, but not God. But here's the thing, he can't even be a good prophet because there's none good but one, that's God, okay. And then Unitarianism, they essentially would say there's one God and it's just the Father and that the Son is a created being, he's a lesser being. And it's okay to worship him and stuff even though he's not God, which makes no sense, but he's just not God. It's just a weird, strange view. It used to be of antiquity, Arianism. Arianism or coming from that particular theological view. There really isn't anybody today, I don't believe, that are called Arians or anybody that would say they're an Arian. But Unitarians exist. There are a lot of Unitarian churches, there's been famous people that have been Unitarian in this world. So we're kind of addressing this particular matrix. There's of course maybe other groups or other circles or fringe areas that deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, but we don't really care about them too much. So that's just kind of a general synopsis of the chart. But I want you to now go, if you would, to 2 Corinthians 5. I basically have 10 simple proofs that we want to go through in the Bible that prove clearly that Jesus Christ is God. Number one, he's good. And that's a great point to ask people. You could just say, hey, is Jesus Christ good? Because if he's good, then he's God. It's that simple. If Jesus Christ is good, he's God. He said he was good. So you have to at least admit that Jesus Christ believed he was God. Because he would not be able to call himself the good shepherd if he did not believe he was God, because he clarified with the young rich ruler, hey, why are you calling me good master? Because if you're calling me that, you're basically calling me God. Because there's none good but one, that's God. That's what Jesus Christ clarifies in Mark chapter number 10. John 10 verse 11, he says I'm the good shepherd. In 2 Corinthians chapter number 5, here's another point that I think is important to bring out. And again, this is not a textual variant. This is just simply using the doctrines of the Bible's teaching to show clearly that Jesus Christ is God. I don't even know how a Unitarian could even get out of the first point that I made. Here's the second point I have no idea how they can get out of. 2 Corinthians chapter number 5, look at verse 20. Now that we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Here's the second reason why Jesus is God. He never sinned. How can you believe that Jesus never sinned and not be God? Because for all have sinned and come short of the glory of who? God. You know why Jesus Christ is accepted in that message? Because he is God. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of Jesus Christ. Right? Because Jesus Christ is God. But you know what? If he's not God, all have sinned. All have sinned. So if the Bible is saying that he has not sinned, there's only one solution to that. He's God. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the person that has not sinned is God, which is Jesus Christ. So the Bible is crystal clear that he never sinned. Hebrews chapter number four also says he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. So the Bible is crystal clear Jesus Christ never sinned. Very important point doctrinally. Go to 1 John chapter three. Go to 1 John chapter number three. So point two is Jesus Christ never sinned. I almost always explain that point when still winning because I'm trying to help them understand that Jesus Christ had to be sinless so he could take our punishment. Because if he was a sinner, then he would have been punished for his sins. But because he was sinless, then he could be punished for our sins as that substitute. And I feel like that explanation really helps people kind of click with what's happening, how he's taking all of our sin and we're taking his righteousness. That's what's being taught in second Corinthians chapter five is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. How we took his rights, we're made the righteousness of God in him and then he was made sin because of us. That's why you have the serpent on the stake or the serpent being lifted up because the serpent represents the sin that Jesus Christ became on the cross for us. It was an ugly sight. It was a gross sight because our sin is gross and it's something you don't want to look at and God was not really pleased with because he's not pleased with our sin and he ended up having to die and take our place. Not only did he die physically, he took our place in hell and then rose again three days later, of course. But this is really explained in first John chapter three and what really could help you memorize this passage and this would be a great one to just have just ready in your mind is it's first John 3.16. So you have John 3.16 and then you have first John 3.16 and notice what first John 3.16 says, Hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. So there's a great verse that you can just go to right on the spot to show them that Jesus Christ was God and that God laid down his life for us because notice, Hereby perceive we the love of God. What is the love of God? The love of God is that he laid down his life for us, that God laid down his life for us. So we can see how much love that God has for us because Jesus Christ is God. Now, I love this verse. This is a great verse. But let me read this verse for you and I took some screenshots just so it would be quick for me but this is the NLT in first John chapter number 3 verse 16. So you're looking at the King James. This is the NIV. Let me get it right. The non-inspired version. This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. Now here's the thing. It's not that that is necessarily false but doesn't it leave out something kind of important? Doesn't it actually take away from the idea that Jesus is God? Because it just says this is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. But this says, Hereby perceive we the love of God. So we actually see that it was God. So you know these modern versions, they make a lot of these subtle changes in these passages that strip away important things like the deity of Jesus Christ in this passage. You know you could see in a lot of other passages keep your finger here, go to John chapter 10. Let's go back to John, just the Gospel of John for a moment. I want to show you again, it's obvious too that when we talk about the person sacrificing themselves for us that that was Jesus and we see the love that Jesus has for us. That Jesus would be willing to sacrifice himself. But the Bible is really clear about who sacrificed themselves, it was Jesus. Now in John chapter 10 look at verse 15. Verse 17, Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. Now these are some great Trinity verses because notice the Father is loving the Son because the Son is laying down his life. And specifically we know from 1 John 3.16 that it's the love of God that he was willing to lay down his life for us, for the brethren, for the sheep. Jesus Christ loves us. Verse 18, No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. So you can really see the love of God illustrated in 1 John because it talks about how the Father is willing to sacrifice his Son, gives the commandment to the Son to be the sacrifice, but then Jesus as a willing and obedient Son also willing to lay down his life and the love that he has for us to lay down his life for us. So we see the great love that God has for us in the Father and in the Son because they're both God. Go back to 1 John and let's look at chapter number 5 now. Let's look at chapter number 5. Point 1, Jesus Christ is God because he's good. Point 2, he's God because he never sinned. Point 3, it's because the Bible tells us that God laid down his life for us. Here's a fourth one. The Bible just explicitly states that Jesus Christ is the true God. Now look at 1 John 5 verse 20. And we know that the Son of God is come and have 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 makes it crystal clear that Jesus Christ is the true God. We're in him that is true which confirms what he says in John about how in the way the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father but by me. So Jesus Christ is the truth, he is the true, and he is the true God as the Bible describes. Is someone even where they say this? I don't know because of the, just the fact that it says this is the true God. Notice it says and eternal life. Well, the Bible clearly says in this passage that Jesus Christ is the eternal life if you just back up to verse 11. Look. And this is the record that God has given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son. So notice he already told us that eternal life is Jesus Christ and it's in Jesus Christ. So then when you go down further and it's saying, hey, and eternal life, that's matching with Jesus again, right? So we notice that it's consistent because Jesus Christ is the true God and he is eternal life. And that life is in Jesus Christ in the Son. That's how we get saved is through Jesus Christ. That's how we obtain eternal life is by putting our faith in Jesus Christ and he gives us eternal life and he is the true God. Now, again, I want to read a couple quotes from some other translations here. 1 John 5 in the NLT. In the NLT, this is what it says in verse number 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. That's kind of hard for you just to hear, but I want to make it clear what this just said. It says now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son. So it's saying that the true God sounds like it's someone that's not the Son because we're in fellowship with the true God's Son, his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God and he is eternal life. So they just completely misconstrued all the pronouns to strip away again the fact that Jesus Christ is the true God. That's why you never want an NLT. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 3. So if you want to prove that Jesus Christ is divine, is deity, is God, to me it's pretty simple. If you just remember, hey, John 3.16, let's go to 1 John 5.3.16. And if you want to tag on 5.20, you're right there. But here's just another one. How about 1 Timothy 3.16 again? So all you have to remember is just 3.16. You got John 3.16, which is just, you already know that because it's the best verse in the Bible. And so then you just remember, hey, the best verse in the Bible, what if we just add a 1 to 1 John 3.16? Just 1 John 3.16. And then you got 1 Timothy 3.16 is also another great verse on the deity of Jesus Christ. Look what it says here. And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed unto the world, received up into glory. So again, another great verse on the deity of Jesus Christ. Yet the modern versions ruin this one again too. Here's what the NIV says. Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith. Christ was revealed in a human body. Now, first of all, it just sounds a little bit more awkward and clunky, doesn't it? I mean, God manifest in the flesh just has power to it. Christ was revealed in a human body. It just, it sounds like a technical journal or something. And it just kind of, it just doesn't have the same ring to it. But it also just doesn't have the same doctrine to it. Because it's now stripping away the great idea of just God was manifest in the flesh. Now it's just Christ in a human body. And, you know, it even kind of strips away who Christ is. Like, is it a loner body? Like, what kind of body? Like, you just showed up in a random body. Like, what does this even mean? It just sounds weird as opposed to saying, hey, it was God manifest in the flesh. Of course, the ESV and other versions do the same thing where they just say, he was manifest in the flesh. And they don't really give that attribution of God being manifest in the flesh. And what I've noticed is when people kind of argue about the deity of Christ, they almost seem to always go to these verses where there's a critical text issue or there's kind of a variant textual question mark. But the first few points that I went to, I don't even know how they would argue against because it's not a textual variant. It's just what the Bible is teaching. It's just the doctrine of the text. I would love to see those people being taken to task on those other points that I brought up. But these ones are just great if you go sowing because we're not trying to convince an idiot, okay? We're not trying to convince an atheist or some weirdo. You know, if someone's a heretic, the Bible says after the first and second admonition, reject. If they don't like 1 John 3.16 and they don't like 1 Timothy 3.16, it's probably just, you know, hit the road, Jack. We don't want you back, right? Go to Hebrews chapter 1. Go to Hebrews chapter 1. So we've got some great verses here. Of course, you know, I'm going to get to it, you know, some other verses that are pretty obvious. But I'm just kind of clumping a lot of these verses together in a similar point that's being made, right? Number one, Jesus is good. That's why he's God. He never sinned. That's why he's God. He laid down his life and it says God laid down his life. The Bible says he's the true God. The Bible says he was God manifest in the flesh. Here's another really strong point is that the Father calls Jesus Christ God. I mean, that's a pretty great point, right? Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8, But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness, is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And so another great verse, I don't even think this one's a textual variant. I mean, for the most part, pretty much all the modern Bibles even say here, you know, they're talking about Jesus and they're calling him God here. And so that's why you would even see most Christians, most churches, almost everybody will affirm Jesus is God. But I just don't want a Bible version where it's hard to prove that Jesus is God. I want a Bible version that's easy to prove that Jesus is God because they're not taking out tons of different places and references. I want all of them in here. Of course, verse 9 is a great Trinity verse because we see that God has a God. How is that even possible? It's because there's three persons in the Trinity. There's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Each are God. And of course, Jesus Christ is submissive to the Father. So that's another point that's being made here is that he is submissive unto the Father. And so therefore, it's his God in a sense, even though we understand that they're co-eternal, they're co-equal. At the same time, Jesus chooses to be submissive unto the Father and he has that particular role. Let's go, if you would, to Hebrews 1, verse 10 now. So number 6 was that the Father calls him God. Here's another point in the same text, though. Verse 10, The Bible says about Jesus that he is the one, specifically, that laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of thine hands. What does Genesis chapter 1 say? In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. So there we go. There's another reference to the fact that Jesus Christ is God because he is the Creator. Jesus Christ is the Creator and he's the one that created all things. If we keep reading, it says, Colossians chapter 1, if you skip to the left and go back to Colossians chapter number 1, we'll notice that the Bible affirms that Jesus Christ is the Creator. And so we have the Father speaking all things into existence and through the Son, the Word of God, all things were created. The Bible says in Colossians chapter 1, verse 13, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him and he is before all things and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. So the Bible makes it crystal clear that Jesus Christ is the Creator of everything, every single thing that has ever been created. And you say, what about him? Well, he didn't create himself because he's not a created being. But of course, some people get a little confused and I understand. The text can read a certain way where you just kind of get a certain imagery when it says that he's the firstborn, right? Did you notice this? It says in verse number 15, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Now, again, that sounds like he was created. But if you notice a little bit further down, it says in verse number 18, the firstborn from the dead. I believe that, again, it's just in a reference to the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the firstfruits. He's the first resurrection. So he is the firstborn in that particular context. But he's obviously not some created being. There's not a time when Jesus Christ did not exist. Micah 5 makes it very clear that he's from everlasting. And so, yeah, he's just before everything. He is the first. But that does not mean that he is created. Because we have to understand that while we all exist, we haven't really been born again physically. But Jesus Christ has because he's been resurrected. And so he is the firstborn in the resurrected state. And he's the firstborn of every creature. Every single thing that's going to be in the resurrected state, Jesus Christ is the first of all. But that does not mean that he was created. He already existed prior to him being the, quote, firstborn. Okay? So don't get too confused on that language there and think, like, that somehow denies the divinity of Jesus Christ. Go to John chapter 1. Go to John chapter number 1. He's the first to essentially have the resurrected body and resurrected state. He's the firstborn from the dead. He's the firstborn of every creature. One day, we will also be like him and we will be in a resurrected state. But he's the firstfruits, then there's the harvest, and then there's basically the gleanings. This is how you understand the end times. Jesus Christ was the first to be resurrected and ascended up into heaven. Then there'll be the rapture, where it's kind of like that first resurrection. And we'll be gathered together and we'll be resurrected. And then it seems like there's probably a later gleanings from after the millennial reign period. So that's kind of how you understand it. And God uses earthly examples of how you gather a harvest. So when you're gathering your harvest, you just kind of have that first fruit. Then you have the main period where you gather most of the fruits. And then you kind of have the gleanings where you're just getting the last little pieces that are plucked off of the crop. Now it says in John chapter 1 verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things are made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. So again, we see the creator aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, John 1-1 is probably one of the best verses to use if you're going out soul-winding to prove that Jesus Christ is God. But I wanted to show you a couple other examples, right? You've got John 1-1, you've got 1 John 3-16, you've got 1 John 5-20, but you've also got 1 Timothy 3-16. And so hopefully with those few examples, if someone isn't going to believe it after you just show them John 1, 1 John 3-16, 1 John 5-20, and 1 Timothy 3-16, they're probably just not going to get it at that point. And so you might have to wait and give them more time to chew on that, but Amanda is an heretic after the first and second admonition the Bible says to reject. I want to go to just a couple more. Go to Matthew 9. There's some other kind of just places in the Bible where we can see and confirm the divinity of Jesus Christ, I wouldn't say that these are necessarily the best or the clearest examples, but I do think that they're still great pictures of how Jesus Christ is God and just ways that we can understand that he's God. Matthew 9, look at verse 2. And behold, they brought him to a man sick of the palsy, laying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their face, said on the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee. The Lord Jesus Christ clearly forgave sin in Matthew 9. Who can forgive sin save God? Now again, this is a little bit harder of a proof to maybe make, especially to someone that's a contrarian, but at the end of the day, for us that believe the Bible, we all recognize no one in the Bible forgives sin apart from God. And so this is just another clear proof text of Jesus being God. Look at Matthew 4, go backwards a little bit. Go to Matthew 4. Here's another great point, is that Jesus Christ, when he was on this earth, not only did he say he's the Good Shepherd, not only did he forgive sin, but he also accepted worship, which is something that is not allowed for anybody save God. Now Matthew 4, look at verse 10. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. The Bible says that you're only allowed to worship God, and specifically, Jesus Christ said this. This isn't just a random text. This is Jesus Christ rebuking the devil, saying to him specifically, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God. But then later in the text, or actually let's go backwards, go to Matthew 2, and look at verse, here's a great one. Matthew 2, verse 2, saying, Where is he that is born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. You know what the kings of the east believed? That Jesus was God, because that's the only one that's allowed to accept worship is God. Though if you would do the end, go to Matthew 28, though. Go to Matthew 28. We'll see Jesus Christ accepting worship, and of course, this could be proven in a lot of texts. There's a lot of places where people came and worshiped Jesus, meaning they're literally kneeling, bowing down, and worshiping Jesus Christ, which is only accepted of God. Why would Jesus rebuke the devil for that, and then later do it? Allow people to worship him, unless he clearly believed he is God. And of course, he did believe he was God. But that doesn't change the fact that what he said to the devil is a clear rebuke. It's a clear admonition that you could only do this, so you'd have to say either Jesus is lying, crazy, or he's God. But there's no middle ground on this doctrine. Matthew 28, verse 9, Now again, I don't understand this, but Unitarians will somehow say that it's okay to worship Jesus even though he's not God. Well, I'm wondering, like, what about Matthew 4, 10, when he's talking to the devil and saying, You're not allowed to worship anybody but the Lord thy God. How do you even argue against that? And again, that's not a textual variant again. That's just a doctrine from the Bible. But you see people, lame people, like James White debating these people, these Unitarians, and he always goes to these textual variant passages. I'm like, Why don't you go to this passage? Why don't you show them these kind of points, right? I guess because then they wouldn't want to debate anymore after they lose. Go to Revelation chapter 1. Go to Revelation chapter 1. Here's the last one I'm going to make, and this is a very important doctrine is just understanding that Jesus is God because when you don't understand that Jesus is God, you can get off on a lot of these Trinity views. So this is a really important point to understand that Jesus is God because in order to believe in the Trinity, I think you're going to have to just understand a few basic points. In my view, the Trinity is this. There's one God. Jesus is God. There's three persons. Jesus is not the Father. I mean, if you pretty much believe that, then I would say you believe in the Trinity, but of course, there's going to be a spectrum. There's going to be a little bit of nuance and variation between that, and of course, I want to prove all these other points that I think are also still very important and still taught in the Bible, but if someone basically agrees to that, then I would say they have a Trinity view, and of course, our church view is that we believe in the Trinity. I'm not going to put any other labels on it. I'm not planning on updating it or making it different, but just for the sake of explaining these things, I do talk about the three-self versus the one-self, but some people would say, what about the social Trinity versus the orthodox Trinity or the classical Trinity? I'm just not going to really run into any of these labels. Obviously, a lot of people probably accuse me of being a social Trinitarian, and I mean, honestly, I don't really have a problem with that, but I just don't really necessarily want to use the title myself because I don't see it being that beneficial. There's some baggage I feel like sometimes associated with that title, so to me, it's just like, hey, we believe in the Trinity, but at the end of the day, I do believe that there are three cells to the Trinity, and we'll talk about that next week, but we have to understand first some basics. There's one God. Everybody agrees, pretty much, but that Jesus is God. We have to understand that that's a true statement. Revelation 1, look at verse 8. This is Jesus speaking. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come the Almighty. And so the Bible is really crystal clear that Jesus Christ is the Almighty. I'm sure there's a few other texts that we could go to and prove the deity of Jesus Christ, but I just wanted to give you ten really solid points. I'm just going to kind of quickly recap them. Number one, Jesus Christ is God because He's good. Number two, because He never sinned. Number three, the Bible says that God laid down His life for us and Jesus is the one who laid down His life for us. The Bible says that He is the true God and eternal life in 1 John 5.20. The Bible tells us in 1 Timothy 3.16, it was God that was manifest in the flesh. The Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter number one that the Father, when He looks at the Son, He says, Thy throne, O God. And so we see the Father calling Jesus Christ God. Number seven, the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ is the Creator and we know that God created the heaven and the earth. The Bible tells us in Matthew that Jesus Christ healed a man by forgiving his sin and we know that only God can forgive sin. In Matthew 4, Jesus says that we're only allowed to worship God and, of course, Jesus Christ accepted worship multiple times while on earth. And then lastly, when He comes back, or in this great vision here in Revelation, He makes it clear, I'm the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the ending, which was and is and which is to come, the Almighty. I mean, He couldn't get any clearer that Jesus Christ is God. And, of course, we worship God and we love God and we love Jesus Christ because He is God. And we need to know these doctrines and when we go out and preach the Gospel, I don't necessarily feel like I have to convince people of this doctrine, but I do think it's important to just at least confirm it with them. Just confirm it with them. It's pretty simple. I typically just say, hey, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Bible says that He was God manifest in the flesh. You believe those? You know, hey, the Bible says that there's the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three persons, but there's one God. And almost everybody is just pretty much like, yep, yeah, yeah, I agree with that. And then I just move on. But if someone were to say, you know, I don't really understand that, or that doesn't make sense to me, or I'm confused or something, then I might go through some of these passages. I might go to John 1-1. I might go to 1 John 5-13. I might go to 1 Timothy 3-16. And, of course, you could use any of the other ones that I showed you, but those are some ones that are easy to remember. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, so much for giving us the free gift of salvation through your Son, Jesus Christ. And thank you so much for Jesus, your sacrifice, that you're willing to lay down your life for us. And I pray that you would just help us to have a greater appreciation of what you did and the humility you had to have as God to come down and be clothed in flesh and to suffer and to be tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin, and that you're willing to endure the cross. Even though despising the shame, you went through all of the pain and the suffering and the torture of being crucified, spending three days and three nights in hell, but coming out victorious through the resurrection. I pray that you would just help us to gain a greater appreciation of who you are and what you've done for us. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. For our last song, we're going to go to 374. Send the light. Song 374. Song 374. Sing it out on the first. There's a call from three. You're the restless way. Send the light. Send the light. There are souls to rescue. There are souls to save. Send the light. Send the light. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine from shore to shore. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine forevermore. We have heard the master going in call today. Send the light. Send the light. And a golden offering at the cross we lay. Send the light. Send the light. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine from shore to shore. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine forevermore. Let us pray and praise thee everywhere about. Send the light. Send the light. And a dry slide spirit everywhere be felt. Send the light. Send the light. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine from shore to shore. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine forevermore. Let us not go weary in the work of the. Send the light. Send the light. Let us gather jewels for a crown above. Send the light. Send the light. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine from shore to shore. Send the light, the blessed gospel light. Let it shine forevermore. We have baptism this evening. Sister Cammie is coming for baptism. Sister Cammie, have you trusted Christ as your savior? Yes, sir. Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The buried in likeness of his death, raised to walk in newness of life. Make sure to congratulate our baptism. God bless you. You're dismissed. .