(Christ) the Incomparable Christ — Denny Kenaston

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold.

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These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Well, once again, thank you for that singing. Isn't that sweet?

Get all these men together, serious men, all singing with all their hearts unto the Lord. It's overwhelming, it really is. Well, I greet you this morning in Jesus Christ's precious name. I know that I can't explain to you how I feel this morning.

I can't explain the burden, the responsibility that comes upon you when you are called to stand in this place with all of you men. I don't know if I can explain it. It makes my heart to tremble on the inside, but we look to the Lord.

The Incomparable Christ and Christ-Centered Theology

We look away from ourselves and we look unto the exalted Christ who ever liveth to make intercession for us. And that's how we sit here today and that's how I stand here today, only that way. Well, I'm notorious for changing my titles and so I'm doing that again this morning.

Sorry, Tate Ministry, but I told Brother Jason this morning that it's one thing to sit around the table and throw titles around, you know, which is what we did about two months ago and gave me my title.

But it's another thing to get down into the very heart and the core of what you're supposed to be doing and saying. And when I start getting down into the heart and the core of what I'm supposed to be doing and saying, the title always comes.

And for me, the title is just like a whole message. I spent hours on the title, that it would be the right title. So I changed the title and the title is this, the title and then subtitle, the incomparable Christ.

That is the title. Now, how I'm going to do that. But the subtitle then under that is a study in Christ centered theology. The incomparable Christ, a study in Christ centered theology. Shall we stand for a prayer?

Oh, Lord, we all unite our hearts together here this morning, recognizing that we are all undone. Not just this man up here. We are all we would see Jesus Lord. We would see your son. We would see the incomparable Christ.

We would be changed, Lord. These are our desires. We all bring our needy hearts to you this morning and acknowledge that without that Christ in reality. Living in us. Moving in us. Revealing himself in us.

This is all nothing, Lord. It's just one more movement. Oh, Father, we pray. You will open our eyes. We might see the King in all his beauty. Lord, through these next five days. Lord, give us that spirit of wisdom and revelation.

Jesus Christ. We pray in his holy name. Amen. You can be seated. Just a personal word here. I feel like it's right. Just to give a personal word. I've been. I've been in God's crucible for the last year and a half or two years.

God has been bringing lots of humiliations my way. He's been answering my prayers. I have been coming to him and telling him that I'm not happy with who I am. And what I am. And he's been answering that prayer.

I don't want to go into all those details of that. But I just want you to know that God has been humbling me and helping me to see who I am. Helping me to see my needs through a lot of failures. But I'm here this morning trusting God.

So let's get into our message here. It is my privilege this week to preach about the Christ, the son of the living God. I was thinking about my assignment last week as I was beginning to prepare. And I thought in my heart, I cannot go wrong on this subject.

Though there's no way that I can cover it all. I cannot go wrong on this subject. God the Father is so jealous. And he so longs for the exaltation of his son in the hearts of his people. He longs for that.

And though we all are weak vessels. And though we see through a glass darkly. And we know that someday we will see face to face. When that which is perfect is come, we shall see him as he is. And we know that whatever attempt we may make through this week to preach about Jesus Christ.

The incomparable Christ. The son of the living God. We know that we cannot do justice to that. But yet, I have this confidence in God. That where God looks down and sees a man or a group of men who are desiring to see his son in a more beautiful way.

I do believe that God will come and stand beside us. And help us to see the beautiful things that are all wrapped up in his beautiful, lovely son. His beloved son. Whom he is well pleased. I also take this confidence this morning.

The verse there in the book of Revelation where it says. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And what I believe that scripture means is simply this. Where there are men and women who are willing to open up their mouths and exalt the Lord Jesus Christ.

The spirit of prophecy or the breath of prophecy is upon those men and those women. God will come to their aid. Because God is longing to exalt his son in our hearts. And to reveal his son in us and through us in ways that we do not know up until this time.

So I take confidence in that. I can't go wrong this week. With the subject that God has given to me. The person of Jesus Christ is by far, far, far the most influential man in all of human history. The most influential.

In fact, if we look for him. We will see his footsteps in all of history. You get out a world history book and you begin to look even in that world history book. If you will look at that book through the eyes of Christ.

If you can somehow sit on God's throne while you read that world history book. You will see the footprints of the Savior down through the annals and ages. It's no one else's. His. This is one of the thrills of the modern missionary minded Christian.

To be able to step back a bit outside of human history. And look beyond walls going up and walls falling down. And look beyond the tragedies of cultural revolutions and communism. And infanticides and all the things that happen in this world.

As this world is an open and an aching sore. If you can step back just a bit and look at all those things through the eyes of Christ. You will see his footprints moving in the midst of nations. Prevailing upon kings and ministers and governors.

Working things out after the counsel of his own will. That he might, yes, find one more group of people over there on the other side of the world. That will all of a sudden open their eyes and begin to see.

And begin to love him and honor him and exalt him. I mean, God, he will go long distances to make that happen. And oh, that's one of the joys of missionary minded Christians even in this day. To step back and see, oh, there are those footprints again.

God is after his people. He is after them. He is after the communist cultural revolution. Which left a deep, deep void in the hearts of the Chinese people. You know, Mao Zedong, he set himself to destroy Christianity and completely get God out of China.

There was one thing that he just didn't consider. When he had such aspirations as that. He did not realize that there God has set his king on his holy hill. And you will not snuff out the revelation of God in the hearts of people.

God just takes that cultural revolution and the deep void that it put into the hearts of the Chinese people. And turned around and made that thing for good. And now there are millions of Christians in China.

Yes, thank you Mao Zedong. Thank you very much. You have been God's servant. The very God that you tried to snuff out all the while you were in his hand and he was using you. Is ringing with the praises of God.

That's our incomparable Christ. We get to talk about him this week. So the spirit of Christ has swept in there and filled that empty void in the hearts of millions of Chinese people. Jesus said these words and they were prophetic and they are still alive today.

He said, if I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me. I take great confidence in a prophecy such as that. And so do missionaries all over the world. When they go into a place where it seems like it's dark and it's dangerous and it seems like there's no light at all there.

I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me. And we stand on it here this morning. Oh the power of the proclamation of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Do we even begin to understand the mysterious things that begin to happen in the hearts of men and women.

When somebody is bold enough to stand up at the anointing of the Holy Ghost and begin to proclaim the person and the work of Jesus Christ. Mysterious things happen brethren. Things that I cannot explain nor do I understand.

But I don't need to be able to explain it and I don't need to understand it. I just simply need to do it. Amen. That's the way it is. Powerful influences. Yes Christ is the most influential person in all of history.

Gandhi read his Sermon on the Mount and without even being converted he changed the direction of an entire nation of India. Simply by reading Christ's Sermon on the Mount. He is the incomparable Christ isn't he?

Slavery has been abolished because of his name. Whole nations have changed from idolatry to Christ worship because of his name. I think of South Korea and how that even a hundred years ago South Korea was one heathen nation.

Filled with Buddhism and Confuciusism. But there were some missionaries who somehow believed in the power of this Christ. The Son of the Living God. And they began to proclaim the person and work of Christ in Korea and today.

Korea is a totally different nation. Now it's not everything that I would like it to be and I guarantee you it's not everything God would like it to be as he sits upon his throne. But when you look at what Korea was a hundred years ago and you look what South Korea is today.

You have to stand back and marvel again and say oh what a wonderful Christ who could change a whole nation of people. A soldier said never a man spake like this man spake. That was just the Christ in his humanity.

The Gospel as the Person of Christ

We're way beyond that now but just the Christ in his humanity. Let's turn for a scripture in 2nd Corinthians. Can we do that? In 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 Paul is speaking a bit about the gospel. And by the way the gospel is Christ.

It's not a doctrine. It's not a historical writing of something that happened. The gospel is Jesus Christ. He is the hope of all of humanity. Nothing less than he. But Paul is speaking about the gospel in 2nd Corinthians 4 and verse 3 and he says these words.

But if our gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost. And he explains how it is hid to them that are lost. Gives us a little bit of an insight here. Pulls back the veil. Lets us see behind the scenes of this physical world that we live in.

And he says these words. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Now we all understand that truth. We know that so. We know from our own experience. We look back to a day when we were totally blind.

And we look at it now and we think how could I be so blind. None of us was so blind until the light of the glorious gospel shined in our hearts. And now we see but though we see we can look back. We remember how blind we were.

How the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them. See that is what the enemy is out to do.

To stop, to block that shining image of God which is Jesus Christ. And through this week our desire is to do the exact opposite of that. To lift up that beautiful image of God for who He is. So Paul goes on in verse 5 to say, For we preach not ourselves.

And I like that. We are not here to talk about ourselves. We are not here to talk about the things that we want or the things that we want to see done. We preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord.

And ourselves your servants for Jesus sake. And then Paul tells us why. Why he has made himself a slave. Why he is the servant of Jesus Christ. Why he is the prisoner of Jesus Christ. And this is quite revealing to our own hearts this morning.

He says, for God. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. Now he is going back to the creation here. Just for a moment. And it is good for us to go back to that creation also. The God who commanded the light to shine in the midst of the darkness.

Let there be light. God said. That makes you just stop you know. Sit back in your chair a moment. Just that. We are talking about a God who commanded that there would be light. And there was light. That shined in the midst of darkness.

But then Paul goes on to say. Here is my motivation. That God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts. Oh brethren do you realize what you have. That God. In my heart.

To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. In the face of Jesus Christ. God the eternal God. Jehovah the eternal self-existent one. Has pulled back the veil and revealed himself in his Son.

Jesus Christ. Can we grasp that this morning? That that mysterium tremendum of the universe. Who dwells in light that no man can approach. Has pulled back the veil. And revealed himself. In the person of Jesus Christ.

Colossians chapter 1 says that Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. And I don't know. I don't even know what all of that means. We're talking about things this morning that we don't even totally understand.

That's the way the Bible is. The Bible is still filled with many many mysteries. That we do not understand. But we can gaze into it. And we can see enough that it moves us. And that's our prayer this week.

That that which we do see, it will move us. Into practical realities of everyday life. Yes, it's wonderful to behold the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. But oh, my brothers, if that's all we do. We haven't seen anything.

If it doesn't change us. We haven't seen anything. Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. Brethren, we have seen Him. We have seen Him, praise God. We may not have seen Him the way that we should.

I know we haven't seen Him in all that He is. But this morning, we have seen Him. God, who commanded the light to shine in the darkness, has shined in our hearts. To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face.

And we have seen Him. I agree with the words of the Lord Jesus Christ when He looked to Peter. After Peter gave those beautiful words, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus looked at Peter and said, Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

And I would say the same thing this morning. Brethren, if you see the Christ. If your heart has been captivated by the Christ. Flesh and blood hath not revealed that unto thee. But our Father which is in heaven, graciously, lovingly has so blessed your life.

That you have gotten a glimpse of the Christ, the Son of the living God. And yea, you have never been the same because of it. I know that I have not. I have never been the same. And it doesn't stop, brethren.

Blessed are your eyes and blessed are your ears. This morning. Oh, the glory of this Christ. The glory of this incomparable Christ. May, let me just say this, brothers. There is no other name under heaven given among men where by men are seen.

And may I just warn you. The day is coming. And it's not far off. When you will be considered an absolute bigot. And a crazy madman. That you would dare to stand and make such a statement as that. But you know, when you see the Christ.

When you see the incomparable Christ. There is nothing else that you can say. And so, my prayer is that God would so root us and ground us in this incomparable Christ. That we will have the intestinal fortitude.

The holy grit that we need. The courage to be able to speak up and stand for this Christ as the only way to God. There are not many roads to God. There is only one. That statement is becoming very unpopular.

Even as we sit here today. We must train our children to stand firm on that statement, brethren. They are going to face things that we have not faced. I promise you. It is coming. But oh, when we see Him for who He really is.

There is no question about where salvation lies. None whatsoever. Brethren, we need a fresh revelation of the Christ. The Son of the Living God. Let us ask God to do that in our hearts. Flesh and blood does not reveal that unto thee.

But only your Father which is in heaven can give you a fresh glimpse. A fresh revelation of the Christ. The Son of the Living God. My mind goes to those early Moravian brethren. There at Hernhot. In the midst of a communion service.

They got a fresh revelation of the crucified Christ. And it so changed those brothers and sisters. They spearheaded a modern missionary movement which moved like fire for a hundred years. That is what the incomparable Christ can do.

They saw Him. And they were never the same. And they could do nothing else but give their lives for the exaltation of that Christ in heathen lands where they have never heard. They could not do anything else.

The Apostle Paul had a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ on the Damascus road. And he nurtured that vision of Christ all of his days. And it became his burning passion. And it consumed his every moment.

And God wants to do those kind of things in our hearts. It is time brethren. It is high time. That God would do such a work in our hearts. That we could also walk away and say I will never be the same.

John’s Witness to the Word Made Flesh

The Apostle John said it this way in his old age. And you can turn there if you want John. We are just doing introductions here this morning. But listen to the old man. And he was old when he wrote this.

Listen to the old man. Picture him. Old gray haired bearded man. Weak on his knees and legs. He wrote. And the Word was made flesh. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God.

The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. And without Him was not anything made. That was made. And the Word was made. And dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory. John says.

And that word beheld there. That is an important word. That is not a little glimpse out of the corner of your eye. That is not what beheld means. Behold means you stop what you are doing. Your attention is arrested.

You gaze upon Him. And oh John can truly testify. I spent those three and a half years. Gazing upon the Word that was made flesh. And dwelt among us. Though he did not understand everything about that Word made flesh.

In the early years of his life. As an old man he can now say. We beheld His glory. And it was the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. In other words. There was no question about who He was. The glory of His Father was all over Him.

And He was full of grace. And He was full of truth. What a beautiful combination. Yes. Only God would be that. Full and running over with grace. That is dunamis. That is power. And running over with truth.

He was walking in human flesh. He is the incomparable Christ. And John bare witness of Him and cried saying. This was He of whom I spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me. For He was before me.

Thank you John. And then John gives his testimony. Of His fullness have all we received. And grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses. But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Totally different way to live.

Yet the law was given by Moses. But now Moses is over here. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. That is a revelation of the truth. Of the Word of God. Empowered by the Spirit of God. That came through Jesus Christ.

No man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared Him. Yes. He hath declared Him. By His very words. By His very deeds. By His very example. By His very character.

He hath declared God. He is the incomparable Christ. By His life. John said we beheld Him. We gazed upon Him. We touched Him. We laid our head upon His breast. We watched Him heal the sick. We were there when He stilled the waves of the storm.

Out there in the Sea of Galilee. Oh we, yes we beheld Him. We watched Him. The Christ. In His humanity we watched Him. And John finishes this way. He finishes His testimony this way. His holy record of the incomparable Christ.

He finishes with this declaration in chapter 21 of John in verse 25. There are also many other things which Jesus did. The witch. If they should be written every one. I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.

And if He could say that. After watching Him. For just those years. Much more today brethren. Yea, the world could not contain all the books. But I'll tell you what can contain them. Eternity will contain all the glorious things that He has done.

Down through the ages. Since He became the exalted Christ. Seated at the right hand of the Father. Yes, all of eternity will contain all the glorious things that He did. In the multitudes of millions of people's lives.

Yes, this is the Christ. The incomparable Christ. And we brethren see Him. Yes, brethren. Amen. Missionaries tell glowing stories. Of the heathens response to the declaration of Christ's life. You know.

Sometimes. The missionary has an unusual opportunity. To take a whole village. And just lay out Christ to them. You know, before they get to the story of the crucifixion. They get the story of His life.

And those natives. Those heathens. They behold and just like John. They are enraptured by it. And their hearts are drawn to Him. And in fact. I mean it finishes them off. When all of a sudden. That beautiful person.

Is hanging on a tree. In suffering agony. For their sins. And it breaks them. He is the incomparable Christ in His life. But not only is He incomparable in His life. He is the incomparable Christ in His death.

Christ Incomparable in His Death

The centurion. Watching. Standing there and watching Him die. Said. Surely. This is the Son of God. This is the Son of God. Isaiah says. He was despised. And He was rejected. He was acquainted with grief.

He was smitten of God. He was wounded. And He was bruised. He bare our iniquities. And He opened not His mouth. But as a lamb going to the slaughter. He laid down His life. He was made an offering for sin.

Yes He is the incomparable Christ in His death. And He bore it all with meekness. With the meekness of a lamb. Why? That He might set us free. Might set us free. You know I was thinking about it as I was meditating.

Upon this subject you know. Victory comes. Victory comes in a different way. For us. We are God's people. It's not the same. It's not by the strength of our hands. It's not by the power of our abilities.

It's not by the power of a gun or anything. That's not how it comes. But I was thinking of that little picture there in the book of Revelation. Where John was weeping. No man was found in heaven or in earth.

Who could take the scroll and loose the seals thereof. And I think it was an elder that came to John and said, John don't weep. Don't weep. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed. And you know I mean.

I like to try to think you know. Put myself in John's shoes you know. Okay. The Lion of the tribe of Judah. And you know he probably turned to look to see a lion. And guess what. He saw a lamb. A slain lamb.

And oh brethren. That's how it works in God's economy. It's not a lion. It's a lamb. It's not how strong we are. It's how weak we are. It's not how smart we are. It's how much we can yield ourselves. And come down and be low.

And humble ourselves. In the same way that Jesus did on the cross. Yes. He's the incomparable Christ in his death. But he showed us the way. He showed us the way. And John turns to look. To see this lion.

Of the tribe of Judah. And behold. A lamb as it had been slain. Hallelujah. That's so beautiful. And then all of heaven falls on their face before that lamb. Just to let you know. How wonderful it is.

That the lamb. Overcame. Hallelujah. Philippians chapter 2. Can we turn there? My. These things are interesting. If you're a preacher. You'll know what I'm talking about. But you know. You work on things like this.

And you think. How am I going to do this? I don't know if I have enough to say. And I don't know how this is going to go. And you fret. And you pray. And you cry. And all those things. And you get up here.

And you just have way more than you could ever fit. Into one hour. Because the testimony of Jesus. Is the breath. Of prophecy. The apostle Paul had tremendous insight. Into the incarnation of Christ. You know John just said.

The word became flesh. But when you look to Paul. Paul had revelations of the incarnation of Christ. That the other apostles did not understand. The depth of that Paul did. And we find that here in Philippians chapter 2.

Christ’s Self-Emptying and Obedience

Verse 5 through 8. Where Paul admonishes us. And also the Philippians. Let this mind be in you. Which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God. Thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

But made himself of no reputation. And took upon him the form of a servant. And was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the likeness of men. And in fashion as a man. He humbled himself. And became obedient.

Even unto the death. Of the cross. And that is as far as we will read for now. Theologians call these verses. The seven steps. Downward of Christ. Or. The great kenosis. The great self emptying of Christ.

There are two phases. Of this great self emptying. There is that which he laid aside. And there is that which he took upon. And there is great wisdom in that. That statement that I just made. For us. Practical.

Wisdom. For us. There are things. That we also. Need to lay aside. And there are other things that we need to take. Upon us. If we are going to. Let this mind be in us. That which is also in Christ Jesus.

We will have to do the same thing. He laid aside. Oh. Didn't he lay aside. And after he laid aside. Then he took upon. And oh look what he took upon. This is the incomparable Christ. It is hard for us to even imagine.

The distance that he traveled. But we must at least try. To grasp the great gulf. Between who he was. And what he became. For you and I. The great gulf. Would be like us becoming an ant. In order to save.

All the ants. That's just a little picture. But I believe the distance is way. More than that. But you can just. You know. Use your imagination a bit. To come down and become. A little ant. Living. In a ant colony.

Going in. That little ant colony. To save. All the rest of the ants. Jesus said these words. To his father. In a prayer that he prayed. It was about time for him to go on. And he said these words. It was a prayer he said.

And now oh father. Glorify thou me. With. Thine. Own. Self. With the glory. Which I had with thee. Before the world was. We don't know all what that means. But glorify thou me. With thine own self. Give me back.

Everything that I need. With the glory that I had. Before the world began. Yes. The great self emptying of Christ. He laid aside. Having all the nature. And attributes of God. He did not grasp. Or hold on to it.

Being the very nature of God. Having all the attributes of God. He did not grasp it. And hold on to it. He looked away from all of this. And said yes. To his father. Yes father. Who sent him into the world.

To save sinners. The scripture says that he made himself. Of no reputation. He made himself. Nothing. And brethren. That was a choice. That he made. A clear. Conscious. Choice. To make himself. Nothing.

He emptied himself. Of all that he was. Laid aside his robes of deity. And chose to humiliate himself. And count himself of no value. That's laying aside isn't it? But let's look at the taking upon. For a moment.

He took upon him the nature. Of a servant. A slave. Totally different mindset. Totally different. The creator. He spoke the worlds. Into existence. Submitted himself. To do his father's will. Millions of angels.

Are at his command. Everything happens at his word. Now all of a sudden. He takes upon himself. The form of a slave. The feet washing scene there. In John chapter 13. Is a beautiful picture of what he did.

A physical picture. Of the spiritual reality of what he did. He laid aside his robe. And picked up a servant's towel. And knelt down. And washed the feet. Of his disciples. The dirty feet of his disciples.

That's what the Christ. Did. That's what he did. Not only did he do that. He submitted himself to a human body. In all its limitations. With all of its humiliations. With all of its temptations. He stepped out of eternity.

Into time. The word was made flesh. He willingly chose this. While he was still. In glory. He knew what he was doing. We should read. Just a little. In Hebrews 10 verse 4. Through 7. For it is not possible.

That the blood of bulls and goats. Should take away sin. Bottom line. It's not enough. The Passover lamb is not enough. The bird stock sacrifices are not enough. That red heifer is not enough. It was not possible.

That the blood of bulls and goats. Should take away sin. That is what was needed. And the blood of bulls and goats. Couldn't do that. Wherefore when he cometh into the world. He saith. Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not.

They would not satisfy you. But a body hath thou prepared me. He took upon himself. A human flesh. A body hath thou prepared me. In burnt offering. And sacrifice for sin. Thou hast no pleasure. They would not satisfy God.

The justice of God. Was not satisfied with the blood of a bull. Then said I. And here we see. We get a glimpse into the heart of Christ. Here. Then said I. Lo I come. In the volume of the book. It is written of me.

Now that is a good. Christ centered theology verse. Right there. In the volume of the book. It is written of me. Lo I come to do thy will. O God. Thank you. A body hath thou prepared me. And being found in fashion as a man.