(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

I'm really excited to preach this sermon this morning. The title of the sermon is, The Son of God from Eternity Past. The Son of God from Eternity Past. Now when it comes to this doctrine, because of the last few years, there's been kind of a fight for the deity of Christ in a new way, in a way that Baptists traditionally have not had to fight this type of a doctrine, where they have to fight the fact that the Son of God has always existed, that Jesus Christ is from everlasting, and we mean that in the most literal sense, that He is from Eternity Past. And there's so much Bible, there's so much doctrine from the Bible that teaches us about the Lord Jesus Christ. And I love Proverbs chapter number 8, because it's obviously talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, and it gives us so many great attributes of the Son of God from Eternity Past. Look at verse number 22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way before His works of old. Now in Proverbs chapter 8, he's focusing on wisdom. But all of Proverbs is really focusing on wisdom. And how do we gain wisdom? It's from the Word of God. From the Word of God is where we derive wisdom. So in a sense, the Lord Jesus Christ and wisdom have a great parallel. And since we're in this chapter describing wisdom, we see it makes the transition to now actually speaking specifically about the Lord Jesus Christ. He's saying, look, the Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way. Now when we think of the word possessed, I think in our modern culture that we live in, you immediately think of someone who's demon possessed. You think of possession as being kind of a negative thing. But if you break it down, what is possession? Or what is possessed? It's possession, right? We think of the word possession. Is it wrong to have possessions? This morning, I have my wife with me. She's my possession. I have my children with me today. They're my possession. I possess them, not in the sense that I'm affecting them like a demonic spirit would, but I'm just saying that it's my wife. It's my children, right? These are my clothes. Possession is not a negative thing. Possession is just a statement of reality. And we look at the Son of God. He is the possession of the Father. He is God's Son. The Father has possession of the Son. It's His. It's not anybody else's son. It's God the Father's Son. Now go if you would to 2 Peter chapter number 1. I mean the most famous verse in the whole Bible. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. So who's He talking about? His Son. His only begotten Son, emphasis on the word His. Why? Because God the Father possesses the Lord Jesus Christ. It's His Son. Just in the same way when the Lord Jesus Christ looks at the Father, He possesses Him as His Father. That is who His Father is. 1 John chapter 1 verse 3 says, So it's His Son. He's got the possession of Him. Look at 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 17. When the Father looks at the Lord Jesus Christ, He says this is My Son. He possesses the Lord Jesus Christ. Go if you would to Acts chapter number 13. Not only that, the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to by many things. One of the things He's referred to as the Holy One, as the anointed one, as God's chosen. And even the devils, they recognize this. When Jesus Christ was walking on this earth, I'll read for you a couple places. It says in Mark chapter 1 verse 24, Now when you think of of God, what is that saying? It's saying that God possesses the Holy One. He's the Holy One of God because it's God's Holy One. It's the one that is God's that's the Holy One, so the Lord Jesus Christ is possessed of the Father. Luke 4.34 says the same thing. So it says the exact same thing again. The devils are saying, look, this guy, Jesus Christ, He's the Holy One of God. Why? Because He's possessed by the Father. Look at Acts chapter 13 verse 35. So when God the Father looks at Jesus Christ, He's saying, you're the Holy One, but you're mine. He's saying, thine Holy One, the one that you possess, the one that is yours. Now let's go to Galatians chapter number 4. Galatians chapter number 4. He would say, well, you know, didn't didn't He come into existence in Bethlehem's manger? Didn't the Son of God? Isn't that when He possessed Him? Isn't this the references that you're giving to? He gave His only begotten Son. He was the Holy One of God who is on this earth. Well, let's look at Galatians chapter 4 verse number 4. So when God the Father is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, He says He sent who? His Son. Now, if you send somebody, He's now going to make him of the woman. So if you say that the Lord Jesus Christ came into existence in His mother's womb and Mary's womb, okay, then He couldn't have been sent. He's saying He sent His Son and then guess what? Then He was made in the womb of His mother, Mary, not because that's His origin, not because that's where He began, but that's rather how He came into this earth. That's how He was manifested unto men is by being born of a virgin to fulfill all scripture, to fulfill all righteousness, so that becoming a man He could die for the sins of the whole world. But God sent His Son before He's ever made of the woman. He sent Him, why? Because He's the Son of God from eternity past. Go back, if you would, to Genesis chapter number 2. Go all the way back to the beginning of your Bible. Now in this verse that we read in Proverbs chapter 8, it not only says that the Son of God is possessed by the Father, but it also said that He was before His works of old. So my first point this morning is the Son of God from eternity past is a possession of the Father. He's possessed of God the Father. It's His Son. It's not anybody else's Son. It's only God the Father's Son. Not only that though, the Son of God from eternity past, He is before all of God's works. Before any works, before anything that was done, Jesus Christ was there. That's why He says, look, before His works of old. He already owned Him before anything that had ever been done. Before any beginning of Genesis chapter 1, before any time, before anything, the Lord Jesus Christ was there existing with the Father, and the Father had possession of the Son, and the Son had possession of the Father. I'll read for you a couple places before we look at Genesis 2. It says in Exodus 20-11, for in six days the Lord made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. So when God talks about creation, He says, look, all of it was created in six days, everything. Everything that we see today, all the heavens, all the earth, all the animals, all the fish of the sea, everything that we see today, it was created in six days. In Hebrews chapter 4 verse 4, the Bible says, for He spake in a certain place on the seventh day on this wise, God did rest the seventh day from all His works. So not only that, He says, look, I'm done with all my works. He finished the work on the seventh day. The seventh day was just a day of rest. He had completed it in six days. Now the seventh day's rest, He's completed all of His works. Look at Genesis chapter 2 verse 2, and on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made and rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. Look at verse 3, and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because that in it He had rest from all His work which God created and made. So there was just the six days of little creation. That's when God made all of His works and He rested. And it says in Proverbs chapter 8 verse 22 that He was before His works of old. So before the six days of creation, before His beginning, the Lord Jesus Christ was there. Now go to Genesis chapter number 1. Genesis chapter number 1, let's look at verse number 1. So we're making it clear, all the works were encapsulated in six days, all of them. So if He's saying He's before any of the works, let's figure out what was the first work. What was the first thing that happened? Genesis 1, 1, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. So we see here, God actually creates time. God creates the time-space continuum known in science. Because why? Because we have time, we have space, and we have matter. In a sense some people would say this is a trinity of trinities. And none of these can exist without the other. You can't have just time existing because then you have nothing there. You have nothing to, time can't measure nothing. You have to have something for time to be measured. You also can't have something without time, because you say, well when was it? Hey, the earth was somewhere, when? There is no time. Well that doesn't really, you know, it doesn't really compute in our finite mind. You have to have all three, and we look at time, you have past, present, future. All three are time, yet all are distinct. They're not each other. You have with space, you have height, length, width. All the same things, they're all space, but they're all unique, they're all distinct from one another. And then you even have matter, solid, liquid, gas. Again, three distinct states of the same component, right? So that's a trinity of trinities. Go to Revelation chapter number 10. So one thing that we can learn about the Lord Jesus Christ is he's outside of time. That's a concept that's very difficult for a finite being to wrap our heads around. That's something I don't believe we can fully understand. But the Bible teaches that the Lord Jesus Christ was before all of his works. Now what was his works? It was obviously creating all the heavens and the earth, but also time. It says in the beginning. Can you have a beginning if it really wasn't the beginning? No. Because when you say, well, what was five minutes before that? What was five minutes before the beginning? You say, well, I guess that was the beginning. You say, well, what was five minutes before that? Well, I guess that was the beginning. You have this infinite loop. So there is no beginning. Not because time is not God, which is what the atheist wanted to be. The atheist worshiped time, just FYI, that's another sermon, but the God created time. He exists outside of time. The Lord Jesus Christ is outside of time, and that's the only thing that actually makes any logical sense, because you can always say, well, what happened five minutes later? What happened five minutes before that? It's this infinite loop. You know what actually makes sense is that there was a creator, and he created a time, and there was a beginning. He also says there's going to be an end, and then there'll be no more time again. Look at Revelation chapter 10, verse six. And swear by him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that there and are, and the earth and the things that there and are, and the sea and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. So God says, look, there's a beginning and an end, and at that end, there will no longer be time. We will go into what is known as eternity, everlasting, eternal. You say, explain that to me. I can't, because I'm a finite being. But maybe when I get my glorified body, maybe when I'm actually walking and talking with the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh, you know, maybe I can understand. But right now, I can't understand that. And when you study the Bible, okay, there's very important doctrines. There's certain things that we must understand in order to be saved. There's certain things we must understand to be a part of this church. And there's certain things that we'll never understand. We don't have to understand how eternity works, okay? But if you're going to deny that the Lord Jesus Christ is from eternity, you have another Jesus. You have a different God than the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Lord Jesus Christ is clearly from everlasting. He's from eternity, the Son of God from eternity past. Go if you would to Revelation chapter one now. Flip to Revelation chapter number one, because when it describes the Lord Jesus Christ, He's before all things. Look at verse number eight, I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. So when Jesus Christ is describing Himself, He says, look, I'm the beginning. I'm the end. I encompass all of it. I didn't come into existence 2,000 years ago. That's a wicked lie. That's false doctrine. And look, people are trying to attack the deity of Jesus Christ every single way possible. Don't get confused. Don't get led astray. The Lord Jesus Christ is from eternity past. The Son of God is from eternity past. And He was possessed by His Father. Look at verse number 11, saying, I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last at what thou seest. Write in a book and send it unto the seven churches, which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, unto Philadelphia, unto Laodicea. Lord Jesus Christ is saying, tell all the churches, guess what? I'm the first and the last. He's outside of time. The Son of God from eternity past is outside of time. Go back, if you would, to Proverbs chapter number eight, then. Proverbs chapter number eight. And if you want to keep a finger here, we'll definitely be kind of going through this. I really want to kind of study Proverbs chapter eight. We're going to look at a lot of other verses, though. I want to look at a lot of Bible this morning and really nail this down. But look at Proverbs eight, verse 23, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. Now, when we study about the Lord Jesus Christ, we learn what so far? What have we learned? We've learned that the Lord Jesus Christ, He's possessed by the Father, that He's before time. We even see it emphasized again, that He's from the beginning, right? But it also says here that He was set up from everlasting. Now if you look at the word set up, it can have a lot of different definitions, a lot of different meanings. But I looked at some of the definitions I believe this actually means. It says to raise to a place in a high position, or to place in view, or to place in power or in office. So when it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, it's saying in eternity past, before the world began, look, the Lord Jesus Christ was raised to a position of power, raised to a position of prominence, why? So that the Lord Jesus Christ could get all the glory, so that we could give Him all the honor and the power and the praise. Go to Colossians chapter number one, Colossians chapter number one. So being set up, somehow it's from everlasting, you say explain that. I can't explain things from eternity past. I can't explain all the things of in eternity and how eternity works. That's not what we have to understand to believe who Jesus Christ is, to get the definitions that the Bible wants to teach. We just know, look, this guy is from everlasting and he was always set up. There was never a time where the Lord Jesus Christ was not set up, where He was not possessed of the Father, where He did not exist as the Son of God. He's always existed. He's always been given the high position. He's always been placed in view. Now look at Colossians chapter one verse 15, who is the image of the invisible God. So what are we talking about? We're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the firstborn of every creature. Now don't let this phrase just freak you out. You're like, oh man, it says that he's born. Well we'll understand that in a minute. The Bible makes it clear what it means here is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was raised again from the dead. That's what I believe this is specifically talking about. Let's keep reading though. Verse 16, 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 for it pleased the father that in him should all fullness dwell and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven. Now let's unpack this powerful scripture right here. What is my third point? That the Lord Jesus Christ has the preeminence. The son of God from eternity past was set up so that he might have all the preeminence. What is preeminence? It's talking about superiority. It's talking about, look, the Lord Jesus Christ is superior in all ways. That's why he's also the firstborn, look at what it says here in verse 18, the firstborn from the dead. So, when it's talking about him being the firstborn, it's talking about the fact not only does he exist before you, not only does he exist before all creation, not only does he exist before all works, not only is he the creator of everything, but when he became a man, he's also, what the Bible would say, the firstborn in the sense that he was raised again from the dead first. He's the first one. No one has been glorified with their glorified body before the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because he gets all the preeminence in every way. In every way you can imagine it and every way in the future, in the past, in the present, in eternity, he gets all the superiority. God the father says, I want all the fullness to dwell in him. Nobody is before him. Nobody gets more honor. Nobody gets more glory. Period. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He was set up from everlasting. Why? The word of God's from everlasting. The Bible is from everlasting and it gives the Lord Jesus Christ all the honor, all the glory. It's all to him that he gets it. That's why he's the firstborn of every creature. He has all preeminence. Not only that, he created everything, visible and invisible, everything. You say, well, is that created by him? Yes. So how can he be a creation? He created everything. They were created by him. Notice those words, by him. We also understand that the father is the creator and the sense that he created all things through the Lord Jesus Christ, by the Lord Jesus Christ. God the father spoke and all things were created by the word of God, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see how they work in coordination. God the father is also the creator, but we see the Lord Jesus Christ is the one really doing the work. He's the one, the God of the father is speaking and the word of God is creating all things. Not only that, it says that in verse 20, let's back up, okay? Verse 19, for it pleased the father that in him should all fullness dwell. So who are we talking about? Who's the him? It's the Lord Jesus Christ, right? So the father's looking at the Lord Jesus Christ. He wants all fullness to dwell in him, meaning what? He's fully God. Look at verse 20, and having made peace through the blood of his cross. So who's the his there? The Lord Jesus Christ, right? Is his cross. Not only that, by him, who's the him? The Lord Jesus Christ to reconcile all things unto himself. So what is the Bible teaching us? It's teaching that the Lord Jesus Christ reconciled all of us to himself. Why? So that then he could reconcile us unto his father. So we see the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who has reconciled us to himself. Now people that reject the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is the second person of the Trinity, the fact that he is the son of God, they'll point to a verse like this and say, well God the father reconciled everything to himself. Is that what it said? No, it's the father's looking at the son saying the son reconciled everything unto himself, and then he reconciles us unto the father. Look at Acts chapter number 13. Acts chapter number 13. I just want to prove again why the Bible calls him the first born of every creature, just so we're not confused. He was set up from everlasting. There was never a point where the Lord Jesus Christ was not set up. He's always been set up. He's always had the preeminence. Now when you study your Bible, you'll understand that it teaches that men did not understand everything about God from Genesis chapter one. That's where we begin to learn about God. That's where we begin to learn about his creation. That's where we begin to learn about his purpose and all things, and until the Lord Jesus Christ come and is manifested in the flesh, we don't fully understand everything about the Lord Jesus Christ. He teaches us many things about himself, about God the father. Look, we get to the book, the last book, what's called Revelation. He's still teaching us things, but we now have the full word of God. We have what he wanted us to know, and we can know, hey, the Lord Jesus Christ is from everlasting. Look at Acts chapter 13 verse 33, God have fulfilled the same unto us their children, and that he raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. So when God the father raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, when he took his soul out of hell, returned it back into his body, and he walked out of the tomb, the father looked at the son and he says, this day have I begotten thee. This day, why? He's the first born from the dead. He's the first born of every creature. That's what the Bible is teaching. That doesn't mean he didn't exist before. How did he die if he didn't exist? He obviously existed before that, and he existed before Mary's womb. We already saw in Galatians chapter number four, he sent his son to then be made of the woman, right? And you keep going back, hey, let's look at Proverbs chapter eight. It's saying he's before all of his works. Colossians one is saying he's the creator of everything, why? He gets all the preeminence. Now go if you would to Revelation chapter five, not only that, Colossians one taught us that they were not all created by him, they were created for him. Look all creation is to give honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, to give him praise, to give him all of this adoration. You say show me that in the Bible. Well, let's read Revelation chapter number five. And before I do that, let's read one other verse, okay? Let's look at Revelation four. So it should be pretty much on the same page. Look at verse number two, and immediately I was in the spirit and behold the throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne. Now most of you probably know why I'm preaching the sermon or what I'm trying to attack, but let me just explain it for a second. There's some people that would deny the fact that there's a trinity. They would deny three persons, one God. They would deny that the son of God has always existed. So they'll point to verses in Revelation and say, well, there's only one in heaven. There's only one seated in heaven. So if there's only one, if these people were literally in heaven, they only saw one person, how could trinity be true? How could, where is the Lord Jesus Christ? Where is the Holy Ghost? Where is, you know, the trinity, okay? But here's the problem. Just because you see one seated on the throne doesn't mean there's not other people there. Doesn't mean that God, the son is not there. Doesn't mean that the Holy Ghost isn't there. He's just telling us what he saw. And he only saw one seated on the throne in Revelation chapter four. But guess what? It talks about the Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter number five. Let's read. I need to turn there myself. I want to look at verse number five with you. And one of the elders said to me, weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to lose the seven seals thereof. So what happens? He sees this vision. God, the father, is seated on the throne. He has a book and everybody's weeping. They're like, nobody can open the book. I want to know what's in that book. I mean, people today, they could care less to read books, but you know, in heaven, they're looking at this book and they're like, I want to know what's in that book. Who can open it? No one. No one can open the book in earth or in heaven. Nobody. And they're weeping. They're like, we wanted to know what was in this book. But then we see someone does prevail. Someone can open the book. What does it say in verse five? And one of the elders said unto me, weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David hath prevailed to open the book and to lose the seven seals thereof. So when he looks at the lion of the tribe of Judah, when he looks at the Lord Jesus Christ, what does he call the Lord Jesus Christ? The root of David. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ was not born in Mary's womb. He's the root of David. He's the creator of all things. He created all mankind. He's the root that actually brought us David. And then he's also the offspring. And then guess what? He's the firstborn from the dead. He's all things. He's the beginning and the ending. He's the first and the last. He gets all the preeminence. Let's keep reading though. And I beheld and lo in the midst of the throne of the four beasts and the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. So whatever this creature is, Hey, it has the seven spirits of God. Do you have the seven spirits of God? Look, he said this thing, the lamb of God, the lamb that's been slain, it has the seven spirits of God. Look at verse seven. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne. That sounds like there's more than one person. I mean, I don't know how you can read this and say, well, there's only one. Is he, is he taking the left hand? It's taken out of the right hand and he's calling himself a lamb. He's also sitting. That's stupid. There's obviously someone else there taking the book out of the hand of the father. Let's keep reading. Who's this person? It says, and when they had taken the book, the four beasts and four and 20 elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of olders, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song saying thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for that was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. So we see the lamb. He's now getting a song sung about him. Now you think in heaven, in the presence and observation of God, the father, he's going to let someone get a song worshiped about him. If it's not God, if it's not the son of God, what in the world are we worshiping? Just a literal physical animal here. No, it's obviously talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. It also called him the lion of the tribe of Judah. Didn't it? So it's also, it's, it's the lamb of God. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's getting a song sung to him because he gets the preeminence because he gets the honor and glory and the praise due unto his name. Cause he's God. Not only that, he says he's redeemed us to God by thy blood. So Jesus Christ's blood redeemed us to God, the father. We see different persons here. Do we not? Let's keep reading verse 10 and God and has made us unto our God, Kings and priests. And we shall reign on the earth and be held. And I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beast and the elders and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such are as in the sea and all that are in them heard I saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that said upon the throne. Oh wait, is it, is it in there? And unto the lamb forever and ever. So they see they're giving honor and glory. They're giving the exact same praise to the one on the throne as to the lamb. Why? Because they're both God and it pleases God the father for people to worship the lamb and his presence for him to get the preeminence for him to get the glory due unto his name. Look, he's the one that redeemed us. He's the one that shed his blood for us so that we can be reconciled into God his father. Oh man, I just think there's one person. Well, who's the lamb here? What is that? They'll say, well, God the father is a person. Then my question is, what's the lamb? What do you call that? Is it a person? I mean, what is it? Is it an animal? So you believe that God is part, you know, part person and part an animal or part, what is it? Well, that's an explanation because they reject the Bible and wouldn't it make perfect sense if the Lord Jesus Christ is from everlasting. He has all the preeminence that we'd see a place where he's worshiped, where he'd see a place where it's giving him all the honor and glory and praise due unto his name. And it's by every creature in heaven and on earth, look, thousands and 10,000s of thousands. They're all worshiping the lamb and him that sits on the throne. Now go if you would to Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53 and John chapter one. When John the Baptist looks at the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh, what does he say? Behold, the lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. He looks at Jesus Christ, he's calling on the lamb of God. The Bible is so clear, it's so crystal clear, the Lord Jesus Christ, he gets all the preeminence. Why? Why does he get all the preeminence? Look, he is the one that took your sins upon himself when he didn't deserve it. He is the one that suffered all the pain, all of the physical torment, all of the mental torment, all of the shame. He took it all upon himself, that's why we can give him honor and glory today. Why are we taking that away from the Son of God? Why are we taking away from the Son of God from eternity past? Look at Isaiah 53, this is why he gets the praise. This is why he's called the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Verse one, who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground, he hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we shall desire of him. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. Now, if he's just the same person, is he smiting himself? I mean, is this guy just punching himself? I mean, is that the God that you worship? Mayim says the Father actually smit his Son for the sins of the world, so that we could be reconciled unto him. Look at verse number five, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. God the Father smit the Son for you. He put all of our transgressions, all of the sin of this world was laid upon his Son. That's why his Son gets all the preeminence, all the glory, all the praise. And when they were on this earth, they couldn't look at his face. But when we're in heaven, we will rejoice and praise and give honor and glory to that lamb that was slain, to the one that's slain in heaven. Look at verse 10. Yea, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. What a sadistic God, the oneness God has. It pleases him to bruise himself? I mean, this is weird. He hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. So when we look at the Lord Jesus Christ, they'll say, well, you know, he's just the same person. No, it says his soul. God the Father looks at him and says, his soul, not my soul, his soul is the one that burned in hell and offering for sin. He shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many for he shall bear their iniquities. When God the Father looks at the Lord Jesus Christ, he says, my righteous servant is going to justify you. You know why you're justified? Because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing that you did, not our works of righteousness, which we have, we don't have any. We're not righteous. We're not good. All of our righteous, you know, works are like filthy rags in his sight. We get to go to heaven because of the blood of Jesus Christ, because he redeemed us to himself that he could present us to the Father as perfect, as spotless. I'm not spotless. I'm not perfect. I'm as far from that as I can possibly imagine. But guess what? Jesus Christ took this upon himself so that we could be reconciled unto God, his Father. That's why we give him the honor. That's why we give him the glory. That's why you give him the praise. He was set up from everlasting. Look, he gets all the preeminence. Go back to Proverbs chapter number eight. Isn't this great that we can learn about the Lord Jesus Christ? I can't wait to be there and see the Lamb slain and to sing praises unto him, sing that new song, give him honor and glory and praise. You know, I haven't been able to do that and see him. I haven't been able to see him, but it's going to be so great to see him and be able to give him all that honor and glory and praise that he deserves. And you know, while I'm on this earth, I'm going to try and do my best and try and do the best when, you know, we're singing the hymns and we're singing the songs. I'm going to give him the honor and the glory and the praise. Look at number verse 24. When there was no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water. Now again, like I've already emphasized. I can't explain every single thing about eternity or things that happened in eternity. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ was set up from everlasting, right? There was never a time where he was not set up. Well, and here it also says when there were no depths, I was brought forth. So you say, what does that mean? Well, it certainly doesn't mean that he was created because we saw, hey, he's outside of time. He's outside of creation. He is the creator. What does this mean? Some people will say, they'll say, well, he's begotten in eternity past. I'm not saying that I agree or disagree, but this verse is clear that he was brought forth from eternity. Outside of time, the Lord Jesus Christ in a sense was outside of time, he was somehow brought forth. Well, the same thing exists. He was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. How does that make sense to the human mind? It can't necessarily make sense to the human mind, but we know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. So he was brought forth, he's set up, he's slain from the foundation of the world. Before anything, he hits all of the honor, all the glory, all the praise, everything about him has already happened. It's like it's already happened because it's in eternity. Now again, do you have to understand this perfectly to believe in the Trinity, to believe God's word, to believe that he's the son of God, to believe that he did not exist in Mary's womb? No, that's of course silly. And people attack things like this and try to say, oh, you don't understand everything. That's right. I don't understand everything. I never will understand everything until maybe I go into heaven until I get to talk with the father. I still don't even know if I'll understand everything. I mean, Paul did say we know in part, but then shall I know even as also I'm known. So perhaps our understanding will be even greater when we get into heaven. But look, it's God. He is the one that has all knowledge, all understanding. He's trying to explain it to us. And this is how he explained it. Hey, I was brought forth. Does that mean he was created? No. We obviously understand he's not. And the Mormons, they're actually closer than the one that's Pentecostals because they actually believe Jesus Christ was created in eternity past somehow. Like he didn't exist. There was a time where he didn't exist in eternity. And then he like became the son of God as we all became son of gods and the devil became son of gods. And he doesn't get any preeminence at that point. We see the Lord Jesus Christ according to the Bible. He gets all the preeminence, all the glory, all the praise. Go to Ephesians chapter number three. I'll read for you from Genesis one. He says when there were no depths. We know that this is talking about creation in general. He says in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and the earth was out form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. So when he creates the beginning of earth, he says there's a deep. And the Lord Jesus Christ saying before any of those depths, I was brought forth. I was there. Look, before the fountains abounding with water. In verse 25, I'll just read for you from Proverbs eight, a few more verses. It says, before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth nor the fields nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the face of the depth. Look, he's saying I was there. I was already brought forth. I'm already set up. I'm already the lamp slain before the foundation of the world. Before anything that was created, he's the one that created all things. From Micah five two, it says that he's from everlasting. In Isaiah 43, it makes it clear. It says before me was no God formed. Neither shall there be after me. I even I am the Lord and beside me there's no savior. So according to the Bible, there's one God. There is no God formed before him. There's no God formed after him. The Lord Jesus Christ has always existed. He has always been brought forth. He has always been set up. He has always been the son of God from eternity past. Look at Ephesians chapter three verse eight. Unto me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. Oh, I think I'm going to understand everything. I'm smarter than Pastor Shelley. He says he doesn't know anything. Well, what does this say? Unsearchable riches of Christ. Look at verse nine. And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hidden God who created all things by Jesus Christ to the intent that now under the principles and powers and heavenly places might be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God. According to the eternal purpose, which he purposed and Jesus Christ is our Lord and whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. So what's my fourth point this morning? We've already talked about it, but the Jesus Christ, the creator, he is the one that created all things. So in the sense that he says I was brought forth, it's definitely not saying he was created. He is the creator of all things. All things were created by him and for him. He is the creator. So whatever that means, it doesn't mean that he came into existence. There's no God formed before or after. The Lord Jesus Christ is always been the son of God from eternity past. Go to Hebrews chapter number one, Hebrews chapter one, we'll get stronger indication about how the Lord Jesus Christ is the creator. Now in the sense when he's talking about the mystery, the fellows with the mystery, he's talking about Jews and Gentiles. He's saying, look, it wasn't known unto men exactly how that was going to work in the future, how that all the Gentiles would be reconciled unto the church through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why the Jews had a hard time, you know, understanding, hey, we should get Gentile saved. Why they had a hard time wanting to fellowship with these Gentiles, they didn't really understand it. And Paul's saying, look, it wasn't as clear. It was kind of a mystery. Now if you study your Old Testament, you'll see that God always purposed that. God always had the plan to reconcile the heathen through faith through the Lord Jesus Christ. But, it's more obvious in the New Testament. It's more explicitly stated in the New Testament. And we see that God the Father reconciled all into one body by Jesus Christ. Look at Hebrews chapter one verse eight. But under the sun he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness as a 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 thou, Lord, in the beginning, hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands. So when the guy, the Father, looks at the son, he says, hey, you're God. Hey, he says, thou, he's talking to him, he's saying, thou, O God, right? Not only that, look at verse nine though. He's saying Jesus Christ loved righteousness, he hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God. Now here's my question. How in the world do onenesses understand that Jesus Christ has a God? But we see there's God and deity, there's two deities. We see not in the sense that there's more than one God, but in the sense that there's two that are both persons and they're both God at the same time. He says that two Gods, is that two Lords? It's one Lord, it's one God. Now of course this is what they try to attack you with. They say, well, you believe in multiple Gods and you say that there's multiple, you know, Lords. But look, the Bible makes it clear that there's one God, there's one Lord. And many times in the Bible when it's talking about God, it's talking to him in a singular sense, right? It's saying he, him, his, these types of things. But the Bible uses this throughout the whole Bible. There's many times where God looks at a group of people and says him, his and her. You say, what? I don't believe that. Well, if you study it, look at when it says Jacob. When it says Jacob, sometimes it's talking about a person named Jacob, sometimes it's talking about all of Israel. It's saying it's looking at all these people and it's saying Jacob had done his will. Is he saying one person? No, he's saying a whole group of people. He's saying Israel had done this, Israel it's his, it's him, right? He's talking about Edom and Ammon and Moab. He's talking about all these different people, but he's saying, look, they're one in a sense. When you just collectively look at them, it's one. And when you look at God, it's one. There's one God. That's why you can say him, his, but you know what? When you look at the father and the son, there's two. That's why we believe in three persons, one God. Look at Hebrews chapter number seven, Hebrews chapter number seven. I was going to have you turn there, but in Genesis, when you, when God, Genesis chapter number five, when he's going through the genealogies and he's looking at Adam and Eve, he looks at both of them and he says he created both them and he called their name Adam. So if you look in your Bible in Genesis chapter number five, when God looks at Adam and Eve, he calls their name Adam. Oh, okay. Well, is that multiple people? Yes. It's obviously multiple people, but he's saying their name is Adam. When you look at the father, the son, and the Holy Ghost, their name is God. Their name is Lord God. Their name is Jehovah. But when you look at the father, it's God the father. When you look at the son of God, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. When you look at the Holy Ghost, it's the Holy Ghost. All right. There's a distinction between the persons. Look at Hebrews chapter number seven. You say, well, I still think, you know, obviously there was something with the father, but was it really the son? Maybe it was just the word of God. And this is what these people try to do because it's so foolish their doctrine. So there's grasping for straw. So they'll say, well, it was just the word, but Hebrews chapter seven teaches us it was the son. Look at verse number one. For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him. To whom also Abraham gave a 10th part of all, first being by interpretation, king of righteousness. And after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace, without father, without mother, without descent, having neither the beginning of days nor end of life, but made like under the son of God, abide of the priest continually. So in Genesis, when Abraham returns from the slaughter of the kings, he offers a tithe unto someone named Melchizedek. And when it's describing to us who Melchizedek was, it's saying, look, this guy had no father. This guy had no mother. You say, what does that mean? Well, it explains it very clearly. It says without descent. It's just saying this guy did not have an earthly descent. He did not have a physical mother. He did not have a physical father. That's not where he came into existence. That's not where he is. He's just always been. He's just from eternity. Not only that, he says having neither beginning of days. That sounds like another person we know, huh? The Lord Jesus Christ, right? Then we talk about, hey, there's no beginning. He's from eternity past. Not only that, nor end of life. Sometimes even these oneness heretics, they'll say that Jesus Christ will somehow end after the millennial reign, after he's delivered the kingdom up to God, the father. It's so wicked. They keep attacking the son of God. Look, the son of God is the same in eternity past as eternity future. And maybe that doesn't make sense because we're talking about eternity, but that's how I understand it, okay? But look who he's compared unto. Is he compared unto the word of God? No. He's compared unto the son of God. So if there's someone who has no physical descent, who's before everything, who's after everything, he's saying, who's like that? Who is Melchizedek modeled after? The son of God. So that means you have to apply all those same attributes to who? The son of God. Meaning what? The Lord Jesus Christ did not come into existence through a physical mother and a physical father. Did not happen. He did not have descent. He has neither beginning of days nor end of life. Look, the son of God has always existed from eternity past. This is what this clearly teaches. They'll just pick out the last or the first phrase in verse three without father and say, well, see, you know, the son of God didn't always exist because it says without father that means you can't have God the father. That's ridiculous. That's stupid. That's not even what this is teaching us. Now go if you would to Isaiah 41. I have a lot more to cover, so I'm going to try and speed it up. My last point. So we've learned several things. That's kind of review, right? The son of God was possessed by God the father. He was before all of God's works. He gets all of the preeminence. He is the creator. All things were created by him and for him. But not only that, the Bible teaches that the son of God from eternity past was with God the father. He's with him. There's two of them. He's not with himself. He's with God the father. And even when you read in Proverbs eight, it says when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed the fountains of the earth, then I was by him as one brought up with him. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth. And my delights were with the sons of men. So he's saying, look, the Lord Jesus Christ, he was with God the father, just like being brought up with him. They've always been together. They've always been one with another. God the father is there and God the son is there and he's rejoicing with him. God the father has pleasure and God the son, he was daily his delight. There was never a moment where the father was not delighted in the son having pleasure with the son. But you know what he did? He decided, even though I have all this delight, all this pleasure for my son, one day I'm going to send him to the earth. I'm going to smite him. I'm going to lay upon him all the transgressions just so you and I can be reconciled in God the father. That's how much he loved us. And when the Bible teaches about the love of God the father, he says it's manifested and the fact that he sent his son to die on the cross of our sins, that's the love of God. He didn't have to do that. The Lord Jesus Christ was daily his delight. He doesn't need us. He wanted us. He loved us. He chose to reconcile us if we would believe in his son. He imagined he did all those things to his son and people reject the son of God. Guess what's going to happen to them? The wrath of God. God is just. God is going to punish them severely. Look, the whole world gives honor and glory to the Lord Jesus Christ, points to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the most popular book on the planet. And when people reject the gospel, they're going to have a damnation. They're going to be destroyed in hell for all eternity. Look Isaiah 41 verse four, who has wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning. I, the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he. So when he says, he says, Hey, I'm the first and I'm also with the last and I'm the last and he's the verse. Look, they share the same attributes. This is why when you look on a online article about the Trinity, they'll say three persons, one essence. Now that word is obviously not found in the Bible. Okay. If you really don't like words that are not found in the Bible, you probably need to etch out this word on the front of your Bible that says Bible. Okay. So just because it's not in the Bible doesn't mean it's not a biblical word, right? We see the Bible just means scriptures. Trinity just means three and one. We see all kinds of different things. Essence would just be the fact that the father and the son, they share the same characteristics. They look alike. They do. They have the same desires. They're both the first and the last. They're both the truth. They're both from everlasting. Look, they have the same characteristics cause they're both God. Does that mean that there's not two of them? Absolutely not. There's obviously two. Go to first John chapter one and John chapter one. Go to both of the Johns. Not only that, in Isaiah 48 verse 16, it says, come ye near unto me. Hear ye this. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning, from the time that it was. There am I. And now the Lord God and his spirit has sent me. So in Isaiah chapter 48, you actually have all three. He says the Lord God, his spirit, and they sent me. So you see the son's looking at it. He's like, well, the Lord God and his spirit, they both sent me. There's your trinity folks. In the Old Testament, there's a trinity all over the Bible. The trinity we see when John the Baptist is baptizing the Lord Jesus Christ and he comes up straight way out of the water. We see the voice from heaven. We see the Holy Ghost ascending like a dove. We see all three. It's clear that there's three. It's clear that they're distinct from one another, but at the same time, they're obviously one God. There's only one God. It's the father, the son, and the Holy Ghost. Look at John chapter, first John chapter one, let's look at there first. John chapter one, that which is from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we've looked upon, our hands have handled over the word of life, for the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and shown to you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested unto us. So Lord Jesus Christ, he's always been with the father. Go to John chapter one now, John chapter one. Now when you're looking for clear scriptures, John chapter one is the clearest. John chapter one gives us so much information, so much doctrine, but you know, heretics, they can read a verse that means the truth and they try to twist it and pervert it to give their own definition. So a lot of times it's good to compare a lot of other verses. See we've proven everything from all over the Bible. We've been in Genesis. We've been in Revelation. We've been in Isaiah. We've been in Proverbs. The whole Bible teaches the same thing. The son of God is from eternity past. Let's get the clear verses. John chapter one verse one, in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. Oh, let's emphasize another point. The same was in the beginning with God. So he's emphasizing, hey, I was with him. I was with him. The son of God was with God. Look at verse three. All things are made by him. Oh, who's the creator? Look, he's just going to drill in every single point that we've been already studying. Okay. And without him was not anything made that was made. So is the Lord Jesus Christ made? No, not anything. He's the one that made everything. He is the maker. He is the creator. In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth in the darkness comprehended it not. Let's skip down to verse number 10. He was in the world and the world was made by him. And the world knew him not. Look at verse 13. Which were born not of blood nor the will of flesh nor the will of man, but of God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. And John bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me for he was before me. So when he's looking at the word that was with God, he's saying that was before me. That was before I ever and John is like six months older than the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's saying this guy that is obviously physically younger than me. He was before me. Let's keep reading in verse 16 and is of his fullness have we all received in grace for grace for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. Now how in the world do you have one person in his own bosom? I mean, is he holding himself like he's just like, I'm in my own bosom. I'm like holding myself. Look the son is in the side. The father loves the son. Imagine a father perfectly loving his son. He's in the bosom of the father and the son came down to this earth to teach us about God the father, to teach us about what we should do. We should believe on his son, shouldn't we should believe the record that God gave of his son. Now, I'm going to go to two more places this morning. Go to 2 Peter chapter two in Matthew 22, the last few places I'm going to have you turn. We've looked at a lot of scripture. There's other clear scriptures. Hebrews chapter 10, when the Lord Jesus Christ is talking, he says, thou has prepared a body for me. Meaning what? That the flesh of Jesus Christ is not the only distinction between the father and the son. No, the sons always existed and then he put on flesh. The word became flesh. We say, what's the practical application of the sermon? What's what's the point of this sermon? Well, first of all, it's just getting really good doctrine. I love learning about the Lord Jesus Christ. I love understanding this, but this has been a point of contention with the church that I was sent out of and even now there's going to be people that are going to try and detract you from the faith. That are going to try and steal you away from God's word, from serving God, from the true and holy righteous God. They're going to say, come serve God with us, come with us and serve other gods. There's another God we want to teach you about. His name's just Jesus and he's all one. He's this pretender. He pretends to be a father and he pretends to be a son. He pretends to be a Holy ghost, but he's not really them. He's just one. He's just lying to us. He doesn't really have a son. The son didn't really exist. All these blasphemous, wicked statements. It's another Jesus. It's another God. Do not be deceived. But you know what? These people are going to try and detract you. They're going to try and lie to you and use deception to try and draw you away. And even now these, these stupid losers, there's these guys that were thrown out of Faith Ward Baptist Church. Okay. Tyler Baker is a guy who was a deacon of Faith Ward Baptist Church when I was going there. He was thrown out for believing in oneness Pentecostalism. You say, was that what he believed? Yes. Oneness Pentecostal page on Wikipedia, it is verbatim everything he believes. He will deny it. He will say, it's not true. He will lie. Every single point is exactly what he believes. You say, I want to know what he believes. It's that page. Now he'll deny it. You know, so he's blue in the face because he knows it makes him look like an idiot if he were to say, Oh, I believe in oneness Pentecostalism. But he believes all of it. I mean, I read it again last night. You read the first paragraph, you read the next paragraph, you read the next paragraph. I mean, it's, it's so uncanny. I mean, you can't even, you're like, wow, every single point, I mean, exactly verbatim, all of it. Okay. Not only that though, he drew some other losers with him. He drew some other defectors with them. Two guys named Josh Hall and Russell Bobs. Now these guys are obviously the biggest losers on the planet because they don't have, you know, I guess they don't have a job to worry about. I guess they don't have a family to worry about. I guess they're not busy soul winning or reading their Bible. So they just have to come on our channel and just write all these comments constantly and try to draw you away and say, Oh, pastor Shelly, he used to believe just like we did. He used to believe oneness just like we did. And they're a bunch of liars and detractors. And the truth is, I would love to just ignore trolls, but the reality is as this church goes on, there's just going to be more trolls. There's just going to be more people that try to attack our church and try to attack me and try to attack anybody. They'll try to attack you. They'll try to start spreading rumors about you. It's very likely that that can happen. So you have to realize, well, who am I going to trust? Who am I going to put my reliance on? Now look, I make mistakes. I do things that are wrong. There's been times when I've said things that are wrong. But if you want to know what someone believes, ask them, why don't you go up to them and ask them? And you know, these losers, after they were thrown out, after they were rejected of the church, they kept calling me and they're like, Hey, you believe just like we did. No, I didn't. No, I don't. Never have. And they try to say, well, I found a sermon where you taught exactly what we believe. And they tried saying, say all these things I said, I didn't even believe them. I, the thing that they were saying that I said, I didn't even believe I said it just in the honor and the integrity of my heart. I was like, there's no way show me, show me. So they send me some like video that they made attacking me, trying to say that I believe just like them. Now in that video, I did make a few statements that are just wrong, that I do not agree with. They were not something that I believe. I said that Jesus Christ is the father in a sense of saying, well, you have to say, you can't say that Jesus Christ is not God. You'd have to say he's the same as the father. They're the one person. Okay. Now I do not agree with those statements. I'd never believed those statements. And here's the thing. Sometimes when you're explaining a concept that you are, is somewhat difficult, you might use the wrong words to explain it. Here's an example of this. Whenever I grew up in the non evangelical church, okay. I taught to say salvation was I gave my life to Christ. Okay. That's what I use. Someone say, Hey, are you saved? I say, yeah, I gave my life to Christ. Now if you take those words, literally, that's not what the Bible teaches. It's not a gift exchange. You don't give God something and he gives you eternal life. No, you just receive eternal life. It's a free gift. So those words in themselves, if you took them literally, you'd be like, well, that guy's not saved. That guy doesn't, you know, believe the gospel. That guy doesn't know what he's talking about. But if you just asked me what I meant by it, I would have said, well, I'm not trusting in myself. I'm trusting in him. I put all my reliance and soul on him to save me. That's what I meant by it. Now, is that a good way to explain it? Absolutely not. Now, when it came to the Trinity, there was a time where I wasn't sure if I understood if I liked the word person, right? I thought, well, I don't know if person's exact right word to use there. I'm not saying I'm for it. I'm also saying I'm not against it. I was uncertain. So then whenever you're just preaching, and it's not even in your notes, and you're just extemporaneously speaking, sometimes words just come out when you're trying to explain things and they're wrong, okay? So when I'm saying, hey, Jesus Christ and the Father, they're one person, I'm meaning they're one God, okay? That's what I'm trying to explain. And if you just listen to the whole sermon, that's what it means. But even if I did believe it, even if I did believe wrong about the Trinity, it wouldn't matter. And I would just admit, I don't have a problem admitting I've been wrong. I've been wrong about a lot of things in my life. I'll fix anything that I've been wrong on. I've been wrong on all kinds of stuff. Look, I'll just admit it. And if you see someone attacking me, if you see someone attacking our church, come to me and ask me, I will give you all the information. You say, well, I don't know. I don't know what's going on. Just come talk. I have nothing to hide. I have nothing that I will not tell you, that I will not share with you, that I will not give you all the truth. I can even prove to you though, if I needed to, that I did not believe that. Years before I even preached that sermon, I had written doctrinal statements where I had explained what I believed about the Trinity, that there was the Father, then there was just the Son, and there was the Holy Ghost. You know, I've never believed, never taught that the Father's name is Jesus Christ. You know what? No pastor that's friends of ours has ever taught that the name of the Father is Jesus Christ. You know, they've never taught to baptize in Jesus' name. You know what? They've never taught oneness Pentecostalism. Now, does that mean that they didn't use bad words sometimes? Does that mean they explained concepts incorrectly? Of course, maybe they did. And you know what? That's not the reason why Tyler Baker was thrown out. That's not why these guys were thrown out. It is because of the conclusions that they've drawn from their false doctrine. Like what? Like the fact that there isn't three, the fact that there isn't the Son of God from eternity past, the fact that there's only one name and it's Jesus Christ. Those are the things that really identify. This person doesn't believe what we believe. They don't believe the Bible. That's why they were thrown out. Now, they're going to constantly attack and try to, you know, distract you. And this Josh Hall, he's such a loser. He was the most flattering person I've ever been around in my entire life. He thought Pastor Anderson walked, you know, on water. He was just like, oh, he's just the greatest person ever. I watch all his sermons. He's so amazing. He's the best ever. And then as soon as he's thrown out, he's like, you know, Steven Anderson's wicked and he's a liar and he's a railer and he's not a man of God. I mean, just immediately. And look, when someone comes up to you and you don't really even know them and they're just like, oh, you're so cool and you're so smart and you're just great and you're really handsome, it will not take long for them to flip that switch. Look, stuff coming out of your heart genuine that you're not going to change quickly doesn't come out quickly either. Look, easy come, easy go. And this flatter is such a liar. He makes a video attacking Pastor Anderson. He says, well, Pastor Anderson is claiming that I'm trying to draw people away from faith word Baptist church. Well, show me the text messages, show me the phone calls, even though I do have the text messages on my phone still where he's texting groups of people, videos attacking Pastor Anderson, groups of people, you know, railing against Pastor Anderson. And then Pastor Anderson says, why don't you and your buddies go jump in a lake? And then in his video, he's like, he said, I should kill myself. Well, you know, if the shoe fits and guess what the Bible says, you offend one of these little ones, which believe in me, it would be better that you hang a millstone around your neck and recast in the depths of the sea. And you know what? That's what I think about these detractors. Just cast yourself into the sea as internal evidence that he already knew that he had texted a whole bunch of people. You know, there's Josh Hall. He's such a coward. He's such, he wouldn't approach Pastor Anderson as soon as the event came out, as soon as it came out that, you know, there's all these people denying the Trinity and all this. He was still in the church. And he's still saying, oh, I believe just like you guys. Yeah, I believe the Trinity. Oh yeah. Then like a few weeks later, he leaves. Just then he texts like every single person. He texts every single person, some long list that he sent to Pastor Anderson. He emails Pastor Anderson saying, well, I'm too afraid to come talk to you. I knew that you wouldn't, you know, listen. So I'm just leaving the church and I still believe in the Trinity kind of, but you know, I'm just leaving because he seemed really mean and really harsh. So then he sends it to everybody. He sends it to me. I have his text message where he's sending that to me, what he sent to Pastor Anderson. And then these guys have the gall to say, well, I'm not trying to draw anybody away from church, even though I'm texting everybody in private and calling them and talking to them and making videos attacking me. Who's me? What do I have to do with the situation really? I mean, does it really matter if some other person in the church was teaching wrong? Like who cares? Like why were they digging through all of my sermons? Do they really not have a job? They really not have a family. And look, I already preached this, but internet trolls raise loser kids. When your kids see, oh my dad, he loves to go on these YouTube channels and write all these comments because they have no life. They have no purpose. They are not going to go out and serve God. They don't actually love people. They don't actually want people to be saved. Look, and if you're going to attack Trinity churches, you got a lot of churches to attack. That's just all Christianity. But why do they want to attack our church? Because they're trying to draw you away. They're trying to detract you. They're trying to get you to have doubt in your pastor and say, you know what? Maybe your pastor believes just like we did and he's tossed you and fro and whatever. Look, I'll explain to you everything that I believed, everything that I've changed my mind on or didn't. Look, you come talk to me if you have a problem. If someone's making some video attacking me or doing whatever, you take that as an opportunity to say, well, I'm going to ask my pastor what's going on and he's going to explain it to me. He's going to love me, to teach me, and to show me what the Bible says, what's going on in the situation. Now look at Matthew chapter 22 and the reality is there will always be Trinity deniers. You know what I also call them? Sun deniers. They deny the son of God from eternity past and you know what? There's no new thing under the sun. There was sun deniers in Jesus Christ's day. Let's read about some. Matthew 22 verse 41. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David. He saith unto them, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord? Saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither did any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. So you know what? The Pharisees when they say, well, who's Christ? Well he's just the son of David. He's just a guy that's coming into existence at some point and he's going to be our rescuer. The anti-Christ is who they're waiting for and he's saying, look, then how come David when he's talking to the Christ, he says, the Lord said unto my Lord. How is that possible? Because he's the root and the offspring of David. The son of God is from eternity past and when these sun deniers, when these Trinity deniers are coming around, Jesus Christ is like, hey, what do you think about Christ? And they're like, well, we don't believe, you know, Christ is from eternity. We don't believe in the son of God from eternity and that's what these guys reject. They reject the son of God from eternity past. But we've learned what the son of God, he was a possession of God the father all the way through, was he not? He was before all of the creation. He gets all the preeminence. He is the creator. He was with God and when Jesus Christ is on this earth and he's confronted with him, he's like, what do you think of Christ? I know what I think of Christ. He's the son of God from eternity past. Let's close in prayer. Thank you father so much for your word. Thank you so much for this church. Thank you so much for everyone in this room. Thank you so much for your son that you gave him to die on the cross for our sins. I pray that we would give him all the preeminence, that we give him all the glory and all the praise and honor due unto his name, that we could glorify your son and we could understand the love that you have towards us, that you would separate your son from you, that you would smite him, that you would stricken him, that you would bruise him for our iniquities, for our transgressions, that it pleased you to be satisfied through the offering of your son, that we can be reconciled unto you through his blood. I pray that we'd never lose that from our heart, but that we would understand the importance of understanding the son of God and believing in him to be saved. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.