Believe in Jesus, the Christ | 1 John 5:1

ThornCrown Covenant Baptist Church

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Okay, beloved, go ahead and turn with me now to the letter of 1st

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John, this time in chapter 5, the last chapter of 1st

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John. We finally made it to the last chapter here, and I'll read verse 1 for today's message.

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God's word says, This is

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God's word. Amen. This one verse is full of good stuff, jam -packed with all kinds of good sound doctrine here.

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So we're going to end up parking in this verse for today.

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I may not even get to finish the whole verse because it's got so much good stuff in it, and I don't want to rush through it.

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So, obviously, last week, last Lord's Day, I concluded 1st

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John chapter 4, the other love chapter in Scripture. That was definitely a blessing to go through.

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But the fascinating thing about chapter 5 is that God's cup of love still runneth over even to this very next chapter.

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So we're still going to see the subject of love coming up in these next few verses.

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It's really powerful stuff. And we're going to see some very prominent themes in this chapter, this passage, these verses as well.

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Many of which we've encountered before, but in different scenarios and contexts or situations, such as faith or belief and love.

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Right? Faith and love, both horizontal and vertical love.

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Jesus, the Christ and God, the Father. Right. Jesus, the

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Christ and God, the Father. Regeneration. Right. Being born of God.

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Regeneration. And also the chain of love between God, man and obedience to God's commandments.

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All of these things are connected. So if you'll notice here too, verse 1 is a type of parallelism.

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A type of parallelism where something is juxtaposed against each other.

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And it's sort of the same thing is stated in a different way or different things are stated in similar ways, in a similar structure.

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And verse 1 does that very thing. And I'll read it again for us. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the

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Christ has been born of God. That's the first parallel. The second one is, and everyone who loves the one who gives new birth loves also the one who has been born of him.

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So you can see the parallels there. Everyone who believes, everyone who loves that Jesus is the

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Christ, the one who is God, who gives new birth, loves also the one who has been born of him.

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And then in the first parallel, those who believe that Jesus is the Christ have been born, have been born of God.

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Good stuff here. So I want us to begin this message.

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Obviously, we'll begin with the first parallel. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the

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Christ. There's so much here, so much here to unpack. And let's let's let's dive in.

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Let's dig into God's rich word of gold and knowledge and truth.

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The very first thing, like I like I always say, is we need to know how to understand and define the terms that the

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Bible uses here and everywhere. We need to define the key terms.

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We need to know and remember what it means to believe always.

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We need to know what it means to believe. We need to know what it means, what what Jesus is.

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The Christ means all of that. And by way of, again, a reminder, one of the word believe is one of the most important words in the entire

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Bible, in the entire Bible. And one which is frequently misunderstood and many false teachings and teachers often distort because it's so important because it's at the foundation of so many doctrines.

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Now, I know those of you who have been with us, this shouldn't be anything new because this is an important word that I've preached on before that has come up many times before.

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But faith or belief, which are both synonymous, faith is just more the

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Latin word, but faith and belief are synonymous in Scripture.

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And we will see that today has two basic ingredients, two basic components, knowledge and ascent, knowledge and ascent in that order, right?

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Knowledge in ascent to understand something and to accept it as true, to agree with it as true.

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And that being said, one of the reasons that faith and the subject of faith is so important is that it ties into all of the most fundamental.

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Fundamental primary doctrines of Scripture, God, man, salvation, and God's holy word, it ties into every single one of those, and they are all the foundation foundational doctrines of Scripture, including

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Scripture itself. And I've mentioned this previously as well, the word belief or faith can also mean different things in Scripture.

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We specifically are referring to faith as the verb to believe, not so much as the faith or the belief that was once for all delivered to the saints.

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That's referring to an objective body of knowledge, to the system of doctrine that is revealed in the

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Scriptures. This is referring to what we do, to our action, our verb to believe.

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And this is very important for us to understand. Now, if you recall, once again, to believe requires something to believe in, something to believe, an object.

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It requires an object. And in other words, it requires knowledge.

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It requires knowledge of something. Do not let your heart be troubled, beloved.

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Have no fear. Believe in what? Believe in who?

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Jesus said, believe in God. Believe in God. Believe also in me, his son.

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Amen. That's from John 14 verse 1. Believe in God. Believe also in me.

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There you see faith tying into God himself. Believe in who? Believe in God.

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In what he reveals to us. And believe also in Christ, his son.

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Amen. So, this is something that Jesus clearly taught and commanded us.

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And not only that, but encouraged us to take heart and not be troubled.

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Let not our hearts be troubled. But rather, believe in his father, our father.

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And believe also in him, his son, Christ. Now, it should go without saying, but in light of the society and culture that we live in today, to believe in God does not mean to believe whatever we want.

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Obviously. Or whatever we think is right. Or whatever we want to be true or wish to be true.

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Or to believe in idols. To believe God means to believe his words.

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His words. His spirit, God breathed words. His spirit, God breathed scriptures.

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His God breathed revelation. His writings.

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Like Jesus said, the scripture cannot be broken. And God is a God of truth. So, we are not allowed. God gives us no concession to believe in falsehoods or in lies.

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Whether we make them up or somebody else does and we agree with them. That is a false faith.

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It is faith, but it is faith in something that is false. And we are to reject that and to believe only the truth.

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So, and for an example of this now. Of how our faith, our belief must be tied to what

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God says. What God speaks and what God has written. Turn with me to Christ High Priestly Prayer now.

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In the Gospel of John chapter 17. The Gospel of John chapter 17. We will start in verse 6.

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This is one of the most amazing and powerful prayers in all of scripture.

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It is prayed by Christ Jesus himself. In his role as High Priest.

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As our High Priest. And take note of that. That he is functioning as a

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High Priest. That is going to be very important later on. As we dive into the subject of Jesus being the

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Christ. Now John chapter 17. Verse 6.

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God's word says. Christ says. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me.

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All of these words are very important. Take careful attention to them. All of them. Whom you gave me.

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You gave me out of the world. That is referencing his Messianic role.

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His Priestly and Messianic role. They were yours. And you gave them to me.

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And they have kept your word. Notice that. They have kept your word.

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There you see it. Belief. Faith. Trust being tied to the word of God.

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Now they have come to know. There you see again.

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What is belief? Belief is knowledge. Come to know. That everything you have given me is from you.

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So they understand this knowledge that Christ revealed to them.

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Everything that comes from Christ came from the Father. And he gave to them.

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To us by extension as well. And they received them. They received them.

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How? By faith. By believing the things that Christ taught.

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And accepting them as true. As true. Oh I'm sorry.

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I skipped verse 8 there. Let me go back to verse 8. Everything that you have given me is from you.

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They have come to know that everything you have given me is from you. For the words. For the words.

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The remata. In Greek. Remata. The words which you gave me.

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I have given to them. I have revealed to them. And they received them.

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Receive what? The words of God. By faith. By believing them.

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That's how we receive things. We receive them by faith. By agreeing with them. And truly understood.

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That I came forth from you. Father. And they believed.

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That you sent me. Wow. This passage is amazing.

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It is just jam packed once again. How clearly Jesus Christ taught and showed his apostles and us as well.

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That Christ gives us knowledge. Of who he is. Of his mission. And that everything that the father gives him.

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He gives to us. What does he give us? He gives us knowledge. He gives us the truth.

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And we receive that truth by faith. By believing that the father sent his son

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Christ. Take note of that. Sent him for what? Take note of that.

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Beloved. And then of course. So now we are seeing how faith.

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Belief. Is tied to the words of God. The Remata. Of God. The Logos of God.

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All of these are related. In Scripture. Romans 10. 17. So faith.

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The same word. The same word is used. As we have seen before. It is the

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Greek word. Bistis. Bisteo. Faith. Belief.

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So faith. Comes from. Hearing. And hearing.

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By what? By the word. Of Christ. The word of God.

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That is what faith. Hears and holds and receives. Holds onto and receives.

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The word. Of Christ. The word of God. Amen. Now. Faith.

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And belief. Same thing. Is also. Man's response.

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Faith. Is man's response. To what God. Requires of him.

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Right? Faith. Belief. Is also. Man's response. To what.

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God. Requires. Of him. Okay? So. I talked about. The major doctrines.

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Foundational doctrines. Of Scripture. Doctrine of God. The doctrine. Of. His word.

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The doctrine. Of man. And the doctrine. Of salvation. So we saw.

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How faith ties into. God. How faith ties into. His word.

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Right? Because we believe. His word. And now. How. Faith.

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Ties into. The doctrine. Of man. Because faith. Is a. Is a. Is what God. Requires of us.

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God commands. All men. Everywhere. To repent. And believe. Right?

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Amen. So. That is in fact. The very words. Of our

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Lord. And Savior. Christ. Jesus. In the gospel. Of Mark. Chapter 1. Verse 14. Through 15. After John.

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The Baptist. Had been delivered. Up into custody. Jesus. Came into Galilee. Preaching.

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The gospel. Of God. And saying. The time. Is fulfilled. And the kingdom.

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Of God. Is. At hand. Repent. And believe.

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What? In. The gospel. Repent. And believe. In the gospel.

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This is the most important. This is the most foundational. Command. In all of scripture. Repent. And believe.

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In. The gospel. In the truth. Of God's word. That. Is. How.

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The doctrine. Of faith. Belief. Ties into. Man. It is man's response.

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To God's command. To believe. In him. And his gospel. Bestow. It.

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Day. Bestow. It. Day. That's a command. Believe. In. The gospel. Amen.

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Now. This is. This is amazing stuff here.

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I just love how God's word. Ties everything together. For us. In this.

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Perfect. Consistent. System. Of doctrine. Now. That being said.

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That leaves us. With the last. Of the most foundational. Doctrines. That is salvation.

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Because. Man's. Salvation. Now. Man's. Justification.

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Which. Is. How. We are. Made. Right. With. God. Legally. Is.

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Obtained. By. The grace. Of God. Alone. Which.

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Is. What the reformation. Very clearly. Expounded. From God's word. Is. It is.

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Obtained. By the grace. Of God. Alone. How. Through what. Through.

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Faith. Alone. Faith. Alone. Belief.

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Alone. In who. Or what. In Christ. Alone.

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In Christ. Alone. To the glory. Of God. Alone. And based on.

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What. The ultimate. Authority. Of scripture. Alone. That's. See. That. And that. Beloved.

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Is. Why. The reformation. Was. Such a. Pivotal. Fundamental. World. Shifting.

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World. Changing. Event. Because. It. Exposed. The most.

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Fundamental. Teachings. Of scripture. How. Are. We. Made. Right. Before. God. That. Was.

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The material. Principle. Of the reformation. Salvation. And. On what.

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Grounds. Do we. Say. The truth. Of. Salvation.

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And everything else. Which is. Scripture. Alone. The formal. Principle. Of the reformation.

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These. Are the most foundational. Doctrines. In all. Of scripture. Like I said. God's. Word.

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Scripture. And. Faith. Alone. Is. How. We. Are. Is. The. Means.

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By. Which. We. Are. Saved. The. Instrumental. Cause. Of. Our. Justification. Faith. Alone.

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In. Christ. Alone. For. We. Maintain. That. A man. Is. Justified.

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Declared. Righteous. Before. God. By. What. By. Faith. By.

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Peace. Stay. By. Faith. By. Faith. And. Works. No. By.

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Faith. Apart. From. Works. Of. The. Law. Romans.

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328. God's. Is. Explicitly. Clear. About. These. Matters. And. It's.

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Like. I. Love. How. The. Confession. Sums. That. Up. For. Us. Some. Things. Are. Hard. To. Understand.

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But. Those. Things. Which. God. Fundamentally. Requires. And. Commands. Of. Us. To. Know. And. To. Understand. They. Are.

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So. Clear. That. Even. A. Child. Can. Receive. Them. And. Understand. Them.

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And. Believe. Them. We. Are. Justified. We. Are. Saved.

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By. Faith. Apart. From. Works. Of. The. Law. By. Faith. Be.

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Stay. Be. Stay. And. This.

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I. Just. It. Amazes. Me. And. This. Is. One. Of. The. Reasons. I. Love. Studying. Church. History. So. Much.

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As. Well. It. Should. Come. To. Us. As. No. Surprise. Then. That. All.

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And. Mean. All. Every. One. Of. The. Historic. Christian.

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And. Reformed. Confessions. Protestant. Reformed. Confessions. Dedicate. An.

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Entire. Section. An. Entire. Chapter. On. The. Subject.

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Of. Faith. On. The. Subject. Of. Faith. And. Often. More. Than. One. More. Than.

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One. Section. More. Than. One. Chapter. More. Than. One. Question. And. Answer. All. Of. Them.

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Do. From. Most. Basic. Most. Simple. Of. Children's.

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Catechism. Which. We. Use. Here. In. Our. Church. The. Children's. Catechism. The. Baptist. One. To.

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The. More. Theologically. Advanced. Confessions. And. The. Mature. Catechisms. That. Are. For.

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Adults. Like. The. Larger. Catechisms. All. Of. Them. There's.

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A. Reason. For. That. Beloved. That's. Like. What. We've. Been. Seeing. And. Likewise. All. Systematic.

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Theologies. All. Systematic. Theologies. Must. Dedicate. A. Significant.

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Portion. To. The. Subject. Of. Faith. Because. Otherwise. If. It.

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Didn't. It. Would. Not. Be. A. Significant.

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Portion. To. The. Subject. And. Goes. To. Show. I. Hope. We. Get. The.

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Idea. Right. Faith. Is. A. Fundamentally. Important. Subject. In. Scripture. And. It's. No. Wonder. That.

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The. Enemy. The. Devil. Tries. To. Distort. It. And. Twist. It. And. Try. To. Redefine. It. And. Say. Well. Faith.

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Really. Means. Obedience. Faith. Really. Means. Substantial. Faithfulness. Which is. What the. Jews. Did in. Jesus day.

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And in the. Old. Testament. Times as well. And many. False teachings. Today. Like federal vision.

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The new. Perspective. On Paul. One of the. Most. Popular here. Seasons. Our time. Is to redefine.

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What faith means. Into something. That it is not. Something. that is not strictly grace and based on nothing that we do.

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It is not of works. It is apart from works. So beloved, speaking of confessions and catechisms,

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I love how our Baptist confession of faith defines faith for us.

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It's very clear, very biblical. In chapter 14, which is on the subject of saving faith, right, there's an entire chapter dedicated to the subject of faith.

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Saving faith, justifying faith, in different terms like of that sort.

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By this faith, by this saving faith, a Christian believes to be true whatever is revealed in the

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Word, for it is the authority of God Himself. Amen.

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And then it continues, but the principal acts of saving faith are those directly relating to Christ.

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Accepting, in other words, like receiving. Accepting, receiving as true and resting, resting on Him alone for justification, for sanctification, and for eternal life, by virtue of the new covenant of grace.

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Amen. Now, this is powerful definition here.

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Very, very, very robust definition of faith. And it is basically the same thing that I already stated.

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Now, notice here that resting on Christ, resting is a physical act.

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It's an illustration. It's figuratively resting on Christ. Intellectually, by believing what

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Christ says to be true, and the gospel, the Word of God. So that is saving faith, beloved.

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And to believe, again, is a verb.

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It's an action, but it is not a work. We have to get that straight.

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To believe is a verb, but it is not. It is not a work. You know, we've been seeing the very prominent rise of Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, because of this return to tradition, and to the ancient stuff, and the older stuff.

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And these same religions are false religions, because they fundamentally conflate faith and works.

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They say, well, there's no difference, really, between faith and works. Lies. Lies of the devil.

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We just read from Romans 328, faith is explicitly contrasted apart from works.

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And we need to know this, beloved, because there's many videos out there swaying people left and right, who are not grounded in these fundamental doctrines.

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But faith is repeatedly contrasted everywhere in Scripture from works. And when it appears to be equated with obedience or works, it is an ad hominem argument to show the absurdity or the falsehood of the argument that is being refuted.

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Take careful note of those words, beloved, because that is what Scripture teaches us.

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And if you fail to realize that faith is contrasted from works, explicitly so, you don't know what it means.

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You have a false understanding of faith. So now, it is not a work.

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I hope that's clear. Faith means to understand knowledge, a proposition or propositions, and to accept them as true.

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Knowledge and assent. Knowledge and assent and agreeing to the knowledge.

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Or in other words, propositions, right? Propositions. Now, proposition, what is that? It's funny because we were singing with our kids, the song

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Praise. What's that? And it kind of reminds you of that. Propositions, what's that? Now, proposition is very simple.

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It's the meaning of a declarative sentence. And this verse in 1st John chapter 5, verse 1, is a perfect illustration of that.

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Perfect illustration of that. Because in verse 1 of chapter 5 of 1st

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John, it says, everyone who believes what? It's a proposition to believe that Jesus is the

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Christ. Jesus is the Christ. Subject, copula, predicate.

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That is a declarative sentence. And the meaning of a declarative sentence. Jesus, subject, is, copula, the verb to be, and predicate, the

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Christ. That is a proposition that is to be believed.

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That is believed in this verse. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

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Amen. Now, powerful stuff here.

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Note also, this is very fascinating. I kind of, I realized this when

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I was studying this verse. And it struck me when I was looking at the Greek that the phrase, everyone who believes, in the beginning of verse 1, everyone who believes, is the exact same phrase that our beloved apostle uses in John 3 .16.

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It's the same exact phrase. John 3 .16. Should be a memory verse, right?

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For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. His unique, one -of -a -kind

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Son. His unique, firstborn Son, begotten. That's important because of what verse 5, chapter 5, verse 1 says about being born of God.

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Take note of that. Here's the key phrase, that whoever believes in Him, whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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That's the same exact phrase in the Greek. The phrase is, Pas ho pisteouon.

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Pas ho pisteouon. That's the same word. Pisteouon. Pistis.

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Pisteouo. Pisteouete. Now, some verses in English kind of mistranslate this verse because it makes it sound like, whosoever.

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Whosoever believes or whoever believes. Unfortunately, the Legacy Standard Bible kind of does the same thing.

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Whoever believes. That's not what it means. This ho pisteouon is referring to a specific group of people.

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That those believing in Him. All the believing ones, literally. Pas all ho pisteouon.

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The believing ones. Those believing in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

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Likewise, everyone who believes in Him, everyone believing in Him. It's not just anybody, whoever.

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It's everyone believing in Him. Specific group of people.

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Amen? This is really interesting stuff here. Now, now that we're laying the groundwork here at the beginning.

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So, believe. Believe that Jesus is the Christ. So now, what does that mean? What does it mean that Jesus is the

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Christ? We know Him today, obviously. He just, Jesus became known as Jesus Christ.

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But Jesus is not, Christ is not His last name. Christ is not

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His last name. It's a title. It's a title, right? And we need to know what this title means.

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What does it entail? What does it include? There's, there's a lot more here than just a last name, right?

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That's not what it is. The word Christ means anointed. Anointed.

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Christos. That's the Greek, Christos. Messiah, in the Hebrew, it means

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Messiah. Yeshua HaMashiach, the Messiah, the

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Anointed One. As you know, in the Old Testament, that the Old Testament talks about frequently the anointing, something with oil.

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And that anointing represented the presence of the Holy Spirit in that individual. So there's an anointing of kings to rule

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God's people. There's an anointing of the prophets to speak God's Word through His Spirit, right?

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And to write God's Word. Thus saith the Lord. Amen? So that's what

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Christ means, the Anointed One. Now, I love, once again, how the

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Baptist larger catechism explains this for us in question 41, which says, why was our

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Redeemer called Jesus Christ? Why was He called that? Our Redeemer was called

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Jesus Christ because He saves His people from their sins.

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That's what Jesus means. He saves His people from their sins. Joshua.

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It means Joshua, Yeshua. Yahweh saves

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His people from their sins, which is what the Gospels explains as well. And because He was anointed with the

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Holy Spirit above measure. That's what Christ means. Anointed by God's Spirit above measure.

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Consequently, He was set apart and fully equipped with all authority and power to execute

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His offices. To execute His offices of prophet, priest, and king, principally.

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The munus triplex, like Calvin explained in his Institutes. The threefold office of Christ.

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Now, within the church, within the church specifically. So then, okay, if Christ means anointed, then the question naturally follows.

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Anointed for what? Anointed for what purpose? Why was

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Jesus anointed as the Christ? Remember, when

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Jesus as revealed as Christ in the Scriptures. There are a number of different places, but there's one particularly that stands out.

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And if you recall, I preached on this not too long ago. Turn with me to the

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Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, verse 15. To Peter's confession of faith.

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The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 16, verse 15. Here we see

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Christ speaking to His disciples, the

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Apostles. God's Word says that He, Jesus, said to them, the disciples.

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But who do you say? Who do you say? Who do you confess that I am?

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Remember, 1st John. Again, all of this is tied together. And Simon Peter answered and said,

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You are what? You are the Christ. You are the

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Christ. The Son of the Living God. The Son of the

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Living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you, Simon bar

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Jonah. Simon, son of Jonah. Because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you.

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But my Father, who is in heaven, has revealed this to you. Note once again there, who chose who and who revealed the matter.

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It wasn't us that believe these things on our own. It was the

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Father in heaven who reveals these things to us by His means and His Spirit.

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Amen? Now, if you want to dig more into this passage, you can go back and listen to the sermon called,

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Beloved you are from God and I've overcome. It was based on 1st John, chapter 4, verse 4.

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Back in July. But that's mainly what

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I wanted to deal with in this passage. He confesses that Jesus is the Christ, the

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Son of the Living God. And note the parallels with 1st John, chapter 5, verse 1.

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Our Father, who is in heaven, reveals to us that Jesus is the Christ, just as He did to Peter, right?

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And gives us the gift of faith by first begetting us by His Spirit.

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In other words, faith requires the new birth, being born of God.

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Just as believing that Jesus is the Christ requires a revelation from God, the

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Father. Amen? So this is what we need to, it's a very prominent pattern that we are utterly dependent as fallen sinful men upon God for all of these things, for all of these things.

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Because everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God already.

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Already. Wow. Amen. Amen. Beloved, so now, okay, that being said, faith requires a new birth.

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Now let's look at another teaching from Christ from the mouth of our own

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Savior in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4. The Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verse 16.

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This is a very prominent event in the life of Christ, and one of the clearest passages that explains

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Jesus Christ, Jesus as the Christ, as the Messiah. 1

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John, I mean, I'm sorry, the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4, verse 16.

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We'll start there. And He, Jesus, came to Nazareth, His hometown, where He had been brought up.

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And as was His custom, note that phrase, as was His custom,

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He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read, and stood up to read.

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This was all part of His messianic role. Take note of that. And the scroll of the prophet

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Isaiah was handed to Him, and He opened the scroll and found the place where it was written in Isaiah 61.

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The Spirit of the, note it here carefully, the Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.

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Why? Because He anointed Me. He has made

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Me the Christ. He anointed Me to do what, beloved? To preach.

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To preach what? To preach the Gospel, the good news to the poor, amen, to the poor in spirit, that is.

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Not just to people who are materially poor, to the poor in spirit, like the beatitude says.

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He has sent Me, He has sent Me, right, on a mission to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the

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Lord. And He closed the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.

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And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed, they were fixed on Him.

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They anticipated something big was about to happen. And He began to say to them, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your very hearing, amen.

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Wow, this passage gives us amazing insight into Jesus the

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Christ and His messianic role, His Gospel role. Wow, this is powerful stuff.

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Both in His prophetic teaching role as the announcer and the preacher of the

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Gospel, the proclaimer of the good news, that's His prophetic role. And in His priestly role, right,

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His priestly role being as the fulfiller and the fulfillment of the

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Gospel itself. Because He is the Lamb of God. He is the sacrifice that will satisfy the sin debt of all of us on our behalf.

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That's His prophetic and His priestly roles right there. I very much appreciate how

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William Hendrickson, a very good Reformed commentator that I recommend him to you all, very good overall.

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He says to believe that Jesus is the Christ means to accept

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Him as the divinely appointed Savior. To accept

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Him as a divinely appointed Savior, amen. To accept Him as the divinely promised

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Messiah, the divinely promised foretold Messiah. Just as He showed the people hearing and us who hear today,

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Isaiah 61. All of these things were prophesied hundreds of years before Christ came and fulfilled them.

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Before their very eyes, before in their very hearing. So to believe that Jesus is the

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Christ, to sum it up nicely like Hendrickson did, is to rightly understand and accept

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Christ as the divinely prophesied Messiah and Savior according to the

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Scriptures, according to God's own words, amen. Now turn with me beloved to Isaiah the prophet because the prophet continues expounding on the messianic role in Isaiah 61.

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So turn with me now there to the beginning of Isaiah 61. This is an amazing passage.

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We're going to find some amazing things here in God's word. So Isaiah 61 verse 1.

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The spirit of the Lord Yahweh, of Lord Yahweh is upon me, is upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me to do what?

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To bring, to herald, to usher in good news, the gospel to the afflicted.

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He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim release to captives and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of Yahweh.

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And that's where Jesus stops. Notice that's where Jesus stops. But the prophet continues to end the day of vengeance from our

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God, the day of vengeance from our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, Zion, giving them a headdress instead of ashes, the oil of rejoicing instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting, amen.

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So they will be called oaks of righteousness. That's, I love that phrase.

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They will be called oaks of righteousness, firmly planted and rooted in righteousness, in Christ's righteousness.

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The planting of Yahweh, not our own planting, but Yahweh's planting, that he may show forth his beautiful glory.

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And God's people said, amen. Now this is an amazing passage.

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There's so much richness here. But like many prophetic passages, this one points to an immediate fulfillment by the prophet speaking these prophetic utterances and a future messianic fulfillment and promise that Christ himself ultimately fulfills, right?

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There's an immediate fulfillment and a future fulfillment. I love how our good friend and older brother

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Matthew Henry puts it. One of the best commentators of God's word says, as Isaiah was authorized and directed to proclaim liberty to the

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Jews in Babylon, the captive Jews in Babylon, so was Christ.

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Now God's messenger to publish a more joyful jubilee to a lost world, to a lost world, amen.

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That's a beautiful way of summarizing that immediate fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah fulfilling that role and then the ultimate fulfillment, the final fulfillment of Christ's role as the

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Christ, the Messiah. You'll see too how in the original context, the immediate fulfillment had more of a sense of pertaining to the earthly circumstances of Jews.

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They were captive, they were oppressed, and God's prophet was sent to comfort them.

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But now when Christ fulfills that, he's referring to something much deeper than that.

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It's much deeper than just physical ailment or oppression. It's not a social gospel.

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It's not a mere social gospel. It's the truth gospel of eternal life.

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That's what he ultimately delivers us from, the oppression of our sin and the devil and the world, amen.

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So I really appreciate also how our

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Baptist larger catechism explains these very concepts in question 43.

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How does Christ execute the office of a prophet? Christ executes the office of a prophet by revealing, proclaiming, ushering to the church, his people in various ways throughout all ages by his spirit and word, meaning it continues to happen today through his people, his pastors, his teachers lawfully ordained at the complete will of God.

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All of it, all of God's will for their edification and salvation, amen, amen.

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That's an awesome summary of the biblical teaching of God's Christ as prophet, which is all part of his messianic role because he was anointed to do what?

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What's the first thing it says? He was anointed to proclaim good news, to proclaim good news as a prophet of God.

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Now question 44, how does Christ execute the office of a priest? How does

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Christ execute the office of a priest? Christ executes the office of a priest by offering himself once for all as a sacrifice without blemish to God to satisfy divine justice, to be a reconciliation for the sins of his people and in making continual intercession for them, amen.

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That is the gospel. That was the gospel that he was sent to not only proclaim like the prophets did, but now

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Christ is the fulfiller of that gospel. He is the walking truth of the gospel and the fulfillment of it.

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The gospel is nothing else but the life and death of Christ and what it accomplished.

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It is our redemption accomplished and applied by God's, through God's spirit anointing him for that role on the earth.

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So our Lord Jesus, his role as the

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Christ is an expression and fulfillment of God's redemptive love for his people whom he has made born again.

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He has rebirth, right? Because those who believe that Jesus is the

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Christ have been born of God, have been born of God already.

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And I just absolutely love how the early Christian church recognized this from the very beginning, from its inception of the

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New Testament church, from the beginning of it. They recognized early on both who

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Christ is and what his work was that he accomplished on the earth, his messianic role and mission.

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See if you can guess where this comes from that I'm going to read, beloved. See if you can guess the source of this, okay?

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It's a very important document from the early early Christian church.

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We believe, notice that, we believe the same thing that 1st

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John is telling us about. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten

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Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, true

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God from true God, begotten, not made, not physically born or created, of one being with the

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Father, one being with the Father, through him all things were made.

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In other words, Christ is God, Christ as truly God, as he is as God, he is as God as the

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Father is. Now it continues, for us and for our salvation, for us men and women and for our for our salvation, he did what?

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He came down from heaven, he came down from heaven, was incarnate by from the

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Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and was made man. Christ is truly man.

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God and man, both. For our sake, on our behalf, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried.

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On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the

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Father. What is that a summary of, 1 Corinthians chapter 15? That which is of first importance, the gospel.

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This is the gospel. This is what Christ came to fulfill, the gospel. And he will come again in glory as king now to judge the living and the dead.

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And his kingdom will have no end. Amen. This is

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Christ's divine messianic mission and role. And where does this come from, beloved? This comes from the

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Nicene Creed, written in 325 AD, in the year 325, many centuries ago.

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Very early on in the church, in the council of Nicaea. This is such an amazing document and it really, it has really given me a newfound appreciation for this creed by virtue of this study on 1

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John chapter 5, verse 1. Because it is an amazing summary, a concise summary of who

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Christ is and what he has done for us. For us and our salvation, for our sake, he came to fulfill that gospel, to live perfectly and die on our behalf, beloved.

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So don't let anyone tell you, beloved, that oh the reformation is a, the reformed faith is a departure from the early church.

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Nonsense. That's nonsense. Now, we cannot be dishonest about church history because we don't look exactly like the early church.

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There were many differences even within the early church, but there are some core foundational doctrines that are exactly the same, like this one.

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And that most of the reformation catechisms that came after it expound and draw from and deduce from these early

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Christian creeds. Because they are a summary of what the Bible teaches, what Christ himself taught, who he is and what he has done.

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And that's why, beloved, I think it's important to incorporate this creed as well into our doctrinal standards.

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It is a beautiful summary of the Bible, of what we believe. We believe all of these things.

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Amen? And to close out today, beloved, I love the hymn that we sang today,

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Christ the True and Better, a typological hymn. It says,

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Son of God and Son of Man, both, who when tempted in the garden never yielded, never sinned.

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He who makes the many righteous brings us back to life again, born of God, right?

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Dying, he reversed the curse. He reversed the curse. That's an awesome gospel truth there.

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Then rising, crutched the serpent's head. Amen. And God's people said,

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Amen. That is a summary of what Jesus came to do as the

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Christ, beloved. And with that said, let us go ahead and bow and close out with a word of prayer.

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Our gracious, precious Lord and Heavenly Father, we thank you for this awesome, awesome word of the truth of your word,

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Father God, in 1 John 5 and all throughout the rest of your counsel, your holy counsel, your divine, sacred writings,

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Lord. We thank you for sending your Son to be the Christ, the promised one, the

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Holy One of Israel, who came, lived a perfect righteous life that we could never live.

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And on account of that righteousness, died also to satisfy our sin debt, your wrath, that we could never satisfy, that we would otherwise have to satisfy in eternal punishment under your wrath.

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But because for our sake and for our salvation, your Son, Christ Jesus, truly

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God and truly man, ever since the virgin birth, he came down to be the fulfiller and fulfillment of that messianic gospel,

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Lord. We thank you, Father, for these precious truths and for the testimony of your church, the true church, the pillar and buttress of your truth, beloved.

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Not that they are the ones who, we are not the ones who define truth. Your word does. Your word, in fact, defines what the church is.

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It's how we recognize the true church, beloved. But the church, your people are. Nevertheless, you have ordained us to be the pillar and buttress of your word as those who preserve the truth of your word on this earth and in society,

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Father God. Help us to continue to be that church, Father, that is the pillar and buttress of the truth and of these things which you have shown and revealed to us so clearly, who

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Christ is, who your Son is, and what you have sent him on this earth to do and accomplish on our behalf.

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And let us not ever distort those things, Lord, those fundamental truths in all of scripture, the doctrines of who you are as God, who we are as men, how we accomplish salvation, what it means and how we accomplish it by grace alone, through faith alone, in your

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Son Christ alone, in the gospel alone, and in your word, the truth of how we know these things by virtue of the truth of your holy

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God -breathed scriptures. Father, we thank you, Lord. We ask these things in Jesus' precious, almighty name, the

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Son of God and Son of Man. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermons of Thorn Crown Covenant Baptist Church, where the

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Bible alone and the Bible in its entirety has applied to all of faith and life. We strive to be biblical, reformed, historic, confessional, loving, discerning

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Christians who evangelize, stand firm in, and earnestly contend for the Christian faith.

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If you're looking for a church in the El Paso, Texas area, or for more information about our church, sermons, and ministries, such as Semper Reformanda Radio and Thorn Crown Network Podcasts, please contact us at thorncrownministries .com.