Who Is This Savior? Pt. 1 (01/09/2005)

Matthew 1 and Micah 5: The Savior Foretold

Turn with me, if you would, to Matthew chapter 1. Brother Otis isn't the only one with the frog in his throat this morning. Did you catch your frog from my frog? Okay. From another place entirely. Matthew chapter 1 and verse 20.

Then I want you to go ahead and start looking for the book of Micah. If you're like me, that one takes a little longer to find sometimes. So Micah chapter 5, verse 2. I'm going to talk about our wonderful Savior today and who he is.

Who is this child? Who was this child? Who is this Savior? Let's pray and we'll begin. Father, we thank you for a time to meet together this morning. We ask that you would be with those of our church family who are under the weather today and couldn't make it.

Be with my dad today. Let him know that we're thinking about him and praying for him. Strengthen him and others who are not able to be with us today. Lord, we ask you to bless us by moving in upon our hearts today and teaching us from your word and we ask it in Jesus name.

Amen. The world has a lot of things to say about who Jesus was. They ran a big article about Jesus in Time magazine recently, right before Christmas this year, and they missed it. They missed who he was, naturally.

There are many groups that call themselves Christian groups in our country and across the world that miss it. And of course, many of the, quote, great religions of the world, which are non-Christians, they miss who Jesus is.

Many of them say he's a great prophet. Some say he's a good teacher. Some say he's an example. And let's see what the word of God says. Matthew chapter one, verse 20. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary, thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

And she shall bring forth a son and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Now, I'd like you to turn to that beautiful and interesting passage in Micah chapter five and verse two.

While you're turning there, last time we introduced this message and we read several scriptures from Isaiah chapter 45, verse five, and also verse 18 in Deuteronomy four thirty five and first Samuel two two and second Samuel seven twenty two and first Chronicles seventeen twenty Isaiah forty six nine.

And they are all verses that say this. And there are many others in the Old Testament. They say things like this. Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like me.

And we reminded ourselves that the Jews used to sing a little song two times a day. And the Orthodox Jews still sing this song twice a day and they teach it to their children. Shema, Israel, Yahweh, Elohim, Yahweh.

Now, they don't say the word Yahweh. They would say the word Adonai because they don't pronounce the word Yahweh. They believe it's too holy to pronounce it. But what it means is here, oh, Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.

And so we know that historic Christianity comes from a Hebrew religion, Judaism, which believed in one God, the unity of God. They believed it so strongly. They sing the song every day and teach it to their children.

But the Old Testament is full of verses like the ones I just cited. And so we know there is one God. We have to begin our study of who the Lord Jesus Christ is by understanding that there is only one God.

There are not two gods. There are not three gods. There are not a pantheon of gods like the Greeks taught that there were and the Romans. And I'm learning more and more about the Mormons. They believe there's a pantheon of gods, that there are many, many, many gods.

And yet the Bible says there is one God. Oh, Lord, there is none like thee. Neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears. Now, with that in mind, let's go to Micah chapter five and verse two.

We're talking about who the Lord Jesus Christ is with the underlying understanding that there is one God only. There's even a verse where the Lord in the Old Testament said, I am one God. And he said, I will not share my name with another.

And so forth. He says, I am a jealous God, which means he will not share anything with any other God, for there are no other gods. Micah chapter five, verse two says, But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me.

That is to be ruler of Israel, whose goings forth have been from old, from everlasting. That's an amazing phrase, because this word everlasting is the Hebrew word Olam, which means literally concealed or a vanishing point.

It means time out of mind. It means eternity. And so this one that is going to come in Micah, the prophet Micah prophesied that there would be one that would come. He would be born in Bethlehem Ephratah.

And it says that he this little town would be little among the thousands of Judah. So it tells us it's the small little town of Bethlehem. And yet this one who would come, the father says he will come to me.

He will be the ruler of Israel. And it gives this amazing information. It says of this one that his goings forth have been from old, from Olam, which means from as far back as you can go. The vanishing point is far back as your mind can take you.

This one was there. Now we know that this one is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who was born in the manger in Bethlehem Ephratah. And so what an amazing verse coming to us from the Old Testament.

And now I want to pick up where we left off. We didn't have that verse in the introduction last time, so I wanted to bring that to us. But I want to pick up where we left off. We had cited several passages of scripture in the New Testament that speak specifically to the question, who is this child?

And we started in Matthew chapter one, verse 20. It says that his title shall be Emmanuel, which means God with us. His name shall be Jesus, which means the one that shall save. Is it because he shall save his people from their sins?

And we want to go in and look at those in a few moments a little closer. Another passage was in first Timothy three sixteen. These are the key passages. This passage says God was manifest in the flesh and that that is who Jesus was.

Then we went to John chapter one in verse one. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And then we went to Hebrews chapter one, verses one through three, where it says that Jesus is the express image of the father and the brightness of his glory.

And it went to Colossians one twelve and following, where it says he is the image of the invisible God for by him were all things created there in heaven that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, dominions, principalities or powers.

All things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things. And by him, all things consist that in the Greek language means he holds all things together. He is that which keeps your molecules from flying apart, not only from each other, but literally from flying apart.

And then we went into Colossians chapter two, verse six and through nine, actually, verse nine says this for in him dwelleth all of the fullness of the Godhead bodily in a body. I want to read to you the verse right before it.

The verse right before that verse says, beware, lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all of the fullness of the Godhead in a body.

Now, the verse right before it talking about these philosophies and traditions and rudiments of the world referred to the Greek pantheon and many other things, but especially to the Greek pantheon with Zeus and and Saturn and Mars and Jupiter and all the other planets.

They were all named after their gods. And it talks about these rudiments of the world in these traditions. And the Apostle Paul said, beware, lest you be led astray by these things. What's interesting, when you study some of the cult groups, you'll find that their beliefs, they take the Bible and they take familiar verses and phrases from it in words.

And they use the same words we do. They just use different dictionary. They define them differently, and that's really confusing to us. But the thing is, they bring in things that go go back to the Greek mythology and they bring in some of those types of gods.

And this is what the Apostle Paul is warning against. And many times Paul said that you should stay with the simplicity of the gospel, the simplicity that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want to take these passages that we just mentioned.

And go into more detail into the word studies and into who the Lord Jesus Christ is, if you go back to the passage in Matthew chapter one, which is where we really began in verse twenty one. And she shall bring forth a son and now shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

This word Jesus. Is pronounced Yeshua is how the Hebrews say it. It actually comes from two Hebrew words. And the first is Jehovah. Does that sound familiar? Jehovah. And it means Jehovah God, the self-existent eternal one.

And it comes from the second word, Yahshua, which means to open wide or free or to be safe. And so when you put Yeshua together, the two little words together, what Jesus's name means is Jehovah saved.

Isn't that amazing? That's what his name means. Jehovah saved. That's what Yeshua means. In Isaiah, 43 in verse 10. And 11, it talks about Jehovah. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord. And it's all caps, L .O .R .D., all caps.

That's always Jehovah when you see it that way. So you are my witnesses, saith Jehovah. And my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me, there was no God formed.

Neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am Jehovah. And beside me, there is no savior. Now, think about that for a moment. Jehovah of the Old Testament says. That he is God. He says that he has chosen us as servants and witnesses of him.

We're the only true Jehovah's Witnesses, by the way. And he says, understand that I am. I am he. Now, do you remember a passage in the New Testament or more than one passage in the book of John where Jesus says, you shall die in your sins for if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.

And in the Greek, the word he is not there. So Jesus really said, you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. And in Isaiah 43 and verse 10, Jehovah says, I, even I am.

And then he says, and beside me, there is no savior. You must understand and believe me and understand that I am. I have declared and have saved. I have showed when there was no strange God among you.

Therefore, you are my witnesses, sayeth the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am. And there is none that can deliver out of my hand. I will work. And who shall let it or stop it? He is the sovereign God of the universe.

So who is Jesus, then? If he is called the savior, if his name means Jesus, Jehovah, that saves, who is he? If God says there is none other but me, there is none other that can save, there is none other savior.

And yet the very Bible that says that says that Jesus shall come, his name will be Jesus, which means Jehovah saves. How can this be? It can only be true if Jesus is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. And he was formed by the father and there was no other formed by the father.

Now, did you notice in Isaiah in this passage, it has an interesting, interesting phrase that we don't talk about or hear about a lot. Isaiah 43, 10, right at the bottom of the verse, it says before me, there was no God formed.

Neither shall there be after me. Now, we're going to go into this a little bit, a little bit later on in this study about what could that possibly mean? Because we know that Jesus was not created because he is the creator.

Colossians passage that we read last Sunday made that very clear. He said he created everything that is. He said he created everything that's visible and everything that's invisible. That means the spirit world as well.

Everything on the earth. But he also created everything in the heavens. So Jesus Christ cannot be a created being and he cannot be another God. And yet it uses this interesting terminology formed. There was none formed before me.

There shall not be another formed after me. Put your thinking caps on about what that possibly could mean, and we'll get back to it a little bit in a in a few moments. The word itself, by the way, the word formed here is the word in Hebrew Yaltzar, and it means formed through squeezing into shape.

To mold into a form as a potter. It also carries the connotation of to determine, such as the determinative will of God. So let me ask you this. When a potter begins to make a clay object. Is he making the clay or is he just forming the clay?

Does he create the clay? No, the clay was already there, wasn't it? So that gives us a hint about what this means. The word itself formed means Yaltzar into the Hebrew mind. That is a potter working the clay and forming it into a shape that has been predetermined, a predetermined shape.

It's already been planned out. The plan for the beautiful pot is already in the potter's mind, if not on paper. And then he takes that substance which already exists and he forms it into that plan. I'm giving you too much of a hint, so let's move on.

It does not mean to be created from nothing. That particular Hebrew word does not. Now, the Bible says in Colossians chapter one in verse 16, for by Jesus, by him were all things created that are in heaven and in earth and so forth.

Now, when you go into Hebrews, much of the first part of the book of Hebrews was written to combat the theory that Jesus Christ was an angelic being. Do you know who the Mormons think that he is? Well, many things, and it's confusing to try to figure out what they think he is, because it just depends on where you read in the Book of Mormon or in their books.

But one of the things they think he is, is the brother of Lucifer. How does that fit you? Another thing they think he is, is they really think he is Adam reincarnate and that Adam is your God. And they call him the Adam dash God.

So the true God is Adam. Do you believe that? Have you seen that anywhere in the Bible? But that's what they believe. And it's really sad. Now, the Mormon on the street may disagree with you there. You may say, we don't believe that.

But they teach these things to their people in stages. And some of these things are secret things that only the the higher ups, the priests, talk about very much. They don't introduce this to their new converts, and they certainly don't let the world know about it.

And so there are many, many beliefs about who Jesus is. One time, Look Magazine, I don't even think that one exists anymore, but it used to when I was a boy growing up and it was larger than life. I mean, it was bigger than a normal magazine, big magazine.

And they put one of the things they did one year was they ran an article where they interviewed one of the top leaders in the Mormon church. And they ask him questions because back in those days, the American public was more interested in God than they are now.

So they had an interest in things like this. So this is a key article in the magazine. And they ask him simple questions. Want to know, are they are you like the rest of us? Are the Mormons like the rest of us?

And one of the questions they ask is, do you believe in the virgin birth? And the priest answered this way. He said, yes, we believe in the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ. That's how he answered it.

Now, did he answer the question exactly? Actually, he did not. He wanted the public to think that they believe just like we believe. But if you study the books and you realize what they believe, they believe that Adam.

Miraculously, and this is how he could answer it, yes, with a clear conscience. Yeah, we believe it's a miracle. But the miracle that they believe in is that Adam resurrected and came out of a grave somewhere on the earth and walked around and came into Mary and had relations with her.

If you know what I mean, and that that's where Jesus came from. That's exactly what they teach. So that Adam was Jesus's father. Adam being the Adam God. Now, ladies and gentlemen, this is not just blasphemy.

This is the type of doctrine that leads people to hell. It's blasphemous, but it's the doctrines of demons, and it leads people to hell if they believe these teachings. So we have to look at the clear word of God and see who it says Jesus is.

Now, remember, these people and the Jehovah's Witnesses are the same. They believe that Jesus is an angelic being. I'd like you to turn to Hebrews chapter one. Now, remember, this is one of the passages we introduced last time.

And it does deal with who Jesus is, but it spends a great deal of time telling who he is not. That is very important for us in the light of what I just told you, that the Mormons believe and teach. Next time you see the two young men with the little black skinny ties and the white shirts and they want to come in your home, ask them the question.

Who do you think God is? Is he any kin to Adam? See what they say. They will not want to admit that to you. Now, Hebrews one, three, Jesus Christ is who we're referring to, and it says he is the brightness of God's glory and the express image of his person.

And upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. Being made so much better than the what? All right. So can you both be an angel and be made better than an angel at the same time as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they?

Their name is Angel, which means messenger. His name is Yeshua, which means Jehovah saves. And his title is Emmanuel, which means God with us. And the author of Hebrews asked the question, has any angel ever been given a better inheritance or inherited a more excellent name than Jesus Christ?

And the clear answer is no. Verse five continues the argument again. Now, you have to understand the cults do not have new. Blasphemies. There's nothing new. They go back. A cult always starts from a leader who is usually an ignorant person.

And by that, I mean an unstudied person. They usually have not read very much. They usually haven't read what anybody else thinks certain passages the Bible means. And if they had, they wouldn't care what anyone else thought it meant.

And they usually come forth with the idea that everyone else, that means the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists and the Lutherans predominantly are all false and they're all perverted. And they've gone so far away from the truth that we can't listen to them.

We are the new reformed church. That's what every cult teaches their people. They teach their people that if you're a Baptist, a Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran or one of the mainline denominations, that you have been blinded and that you've fallen away and you're no longer part of the true church.

And God brought us up under this one man who started us in order to bring his truth back into the world. They never try to answer what happened during the other 1300 years since Jesus was here to all those people who didn't have Joseph Smith, for example.

They don't try to answer that question. And then they begin to teach things such as perversions of who Jesus is. Well, these are not new perversions. If they were new, you'd have to ask the question, why is Paul answering the same perversions in the book of Hebrews?

Why is he arguing against? Someone saying that Jesus was an angelic being, if it weren't true that someone was saying that during his lifetime. There were groups of people who were teaching this in Paul's day.

What does Paul say about it? He continues in verse five, for unto which of the angels said, God, at any time thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. Paul asked that question, did God ever say that to an angel?

The implied answer is no, but he did say it to Jesus Christ. And again, I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. Is there a place where God ever called any angel? His only begotten son, verse six.

And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith and let all the angels of God worship him. Does it make sense to have an angel worshiping another angel? So apparently Jesus was not an angel.

He was the one the angels were supposed to worship. And since God says, I don't share my name with another and there is none other. No worship should go to anyone but me. It begs the question, then who is Jesus?

Verse seven and the angels to which ones of the angels did he say? Well, he says of the angels who makes his angel spirits. And his ministers, a flame of fire. But in contrast, God said unto his son, thy throne, oh, God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness in the scepter of thy kingdom.

The apostle Paul brings out the point that when God speaks of angels, he calls them ministering spirits, ministers, a flame of fire. But when he speaks to Jesus Christ, his son, he calls him God. He says, thy throne, oh, God.

So God calls Jesus God. Now, this is not only found in the book of Hebrews. It is actually quoted from the book of Psalms in the Old Testament. And so God says to Jesus, thy throne, oh, God, is forever and ever.

A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Paul makes it very clear who Jesus is, but he also makes it clear who he isn't. He's not a created being. He is not an angelic being. He is the one that the angels, in fact, worship.

He is the one that God himself called his only son. And he is the only one that God ever called God. Verse nine, thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, talking about Jesus. Therefore, God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

That means above all the angels and above us, his brothers and sisters down here. And thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth. And the heavens are the work of thy hands. Now, how can that be true of an angel?

You see, thou, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, you built the earth, the Lord Jesus built the earth. And the heavens are the work of his hands. He not only built the earth, but as if to prophesy what the Mormons would teach thousands of years later, he said, you also built everything that's in heaven.

And you see, the Mormons teach that who we worship only had to do with this earth. The Adam God only has to do with this earth and that there are other gods on other planets and that you yourselves can become gods over a planet someday.

Nothing more blasphemous than what they teach, but they don't let you know that that's what they teach, but it's in their Bibles. They have three. They have four Bibles, the King James Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and the Book of the Covenants.

They consider them all to be inspired. In fact, they consider the King James Version to be the most accurate Bible. But they believe that the Roman Catholics perverted every verse in it so much that you can't know if even one single verse is true is what they say about the Bible.

However, the three books that Joseph Smith brought them are perfect because they're newer and they hadn't had time to be perverted by the Catholics. So tell me which book in their view interprets which other book and which books have the authority.

The Bible doesn't have the authority because it's has errors in it, they say. Now, isn't that subtle? So what Satan has done is he's created the perfect cult, just like when the AIDS virus was created, it was the perfect killer because it kills the immune system.

And without the immune system, you can't survive it. And that's what it attacks. So the Mormon cult attacks the very authority of the only book in the world that could prove them wrong. So their people, humanly speaking, are caught.

Now, I take great comfort in this passage in John chapter 10, Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me and they will not follow another. So if there are sheep caught up in that horrible cult, guess what they will do if you teach them the true gospel, they'll come out, they'll come to the true shepherd, Jesus Christ.

So try as they may, the cult group cannot cause one single elect person to go to hell, but they are trying, they're trying to deceive even the elect. So continuing in Hebrews chapter one, just for a moment longer, let's continue down here, look at verse 11, they shall perish.

This means the earth, but thou remainest. This means Jesus. They shall wax old as doth a garment and as vesture shalt thou fold them up. The Bible says, Jesus will fold up these things someday and they shall be changed, but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail.

Now, if Jesus is the same, which means he never changes, who is he? There is only one who never changes and that's the immutable God, the one true God, but to which of the angels said, God, at any time, sit on my right hand until I make thine enemies a footstool, the author continues, Jesus is not an angel.

The apostle Paul is arguing, are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Talking about the angels. Now you go into chapter two, verse one. Therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip because some cult member comes into your house and teaches you weird things and you start to think they sound pretty good.

I doubt that you would think that in this church, but there are many borderline Christians who never study or in these churches out here that wouldn't know the difference. And so look at this, we ought to take the more earnest heed.

Paul says, since these things are true, since Jesus is not an angel, since he is the one the angels worship, since he is the one that created the angels and everything in earth and everything in heaven, then we ought to give more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip and we change what we believe.

For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompensive reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him being the apostles?

God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders. You see, this is the role of the apostles. And the Mormons believe that there are apostles right now today. They also believe in zombies. Did you know that?

Who knows what a zombie is? I figured some little kid would tell me. But anyway, they believe that people come out of the grave, walk around all the time, all around you right now. Because it happened one time, you know, at the resurrection, it said the graves were open and some people came out and walked around.

So they said, well, it happens all the time. Bible doesn't say it happens all the time, nor does it say that we have witnesses such as these apostles who are followed by signs and wonders all the time.

And that's the heresy of the Pentecostals as well. Any group that believes there are apostles today and that there are men followed by these kinds of signs and wonders are telling you a fib. Because if they were, they can also speak to you the word of God, which by the way, the high prophet among the Mormons today, when he speaks, it's God's word, they say.

It's more true than the Bible itself, they say. I've read the quotes. They say it's more true, more important for you than the Bible itself. What is the difference in saying that their prophet can speak something God told him and a Pentecostal or charismatic saying, well, God told me this last night, so I'm going to share it with you.

You tell me the difference. There is no difference. The truth is God set us in a dispensation called the church age and he brought the Jesus Christ and then the apostles after Jesus ascended into heaven.

Jesus said to them, I have things to tell you that you can't bear until I'm gone. But when I'm gone, I'm going to send the Holy Spirit who's going to come into your mind and bring forth the things that I want you to write.

And they wrote it. And he bore it out with signs and wonders and miracles so the Jews of that day who require a sign would believe that they were God's apostles. That's the purpose of these strange and unusual signs and wonders that they had.

And once those signs and wonders were fulfilled and the word was given and we had the New Testament canon, they ceased. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13, they would cease and they did cease. And I can go back and show you two witnesses that go back as early as 100 years after Jesus died, one of the early church fathers in the east, one in the west, who both said these signs no longer exist in the church.

So you tell me why they exist in every Pentecostal charismatic Mormon church today, because it's a counterfeit, ladies and gentlemen. So don't believe these things. You may see them with your eyes, but don't believe what your eyes sees if it contradicts what the word says.

God bore them witness with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. Let me ask you this, who controls when a sign like that happens? Was it according to the will of the apostles who did these things, or does it say according to God's own will?

The sovereign God of the universe dispenses these gifts. It is really beyond us to argue whether the gifts exist today or not. It doesn't even matter whether they exist or not. What matters is whether the sovereign God operates them or not.

Because you can't turn them on and off. And yet there are churches all around us, even in this city today, that try to turn them on today right during church so that they can see with their eyes so they hope they believe something.

Jesus said, you wicked generation, why do you have to always have a sign? He said, the only sign I'm gonna give you is the resurrection from the dead, and he's already given it. So we're not living in a dispensation of signs and wonders.

We're living in a dispensation of faith, hallelujah, and it's better. It's better because I don't have to see something to believe God is all around me and in me and in this room today. I don't have to see anything.

I know it because the word says it. For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come. Whereof we speak. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels. You see, he had to be made lower than them.

Why is that? Because what was he before he was made lower than them? Stay with me, we're almost through. What did he have to be before that in order to be made lower than them? Higher than them, so he's not an angel.

So that he, by the grace of God, should taste death. So why was he made lower? So he could die. That he should taste death for every man. For it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things.

To bring many sons unto glory. To make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all one. For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.