Like Father, Like Son

Please open your Bibles and turn to John chapter 5 and go with me to verse 19.

John chapter 5 and verse 19. In just a moment we'll be reading through verse 30.

The title of today's message is, Like Father, Like Son.

Jesus made amazing claims. In fact, one could even say that if any other man made the claims that Jesus made, we would be right to consider that man a lunatic.

Because Jesus said things about himself that if they were not true, would have been the height of delusion or, even worse, blasphemy.

Many years ago, C .S. Lewis, who is famous for writing so many works, including the

Narnia series and Mere Christianity, C .S. Lewis in Mere Christianity expressed something called the trilemma.

The consider who Jesus is, we are confronted with either one of three answers.

This is why it's called a trilemma. A dilemma would be an option of two. That's a dilemma, when you have two potential opportunities or two potential answers.

But a trilemma is when there are three answers. And the trilemma of Lewis, many of you have heard this before, so this is nothing new, but for those who haven't want to share it with you.

He said that when you consider who Jesus was, Jesus was either a liar, and what that means is he said what he said, and he knew that it wasn't true, but he said it anyway.

For instance, if I were to come today and I were to claim to be the czar of Russia, now

I would clearly know that that weren't so, and if I said it and expected you to believe it,

I would be a liar to say that I was the czar of Russia.

Now Lewis said there is a second option when considering Jesus Christ. He said perhaps lunatic, because if a man were to stand up, if let's just say

I were to stand up and say I'm the czar of Russia and I believed it, it wouldn't make it so.

If I said I'm the czar of Russia and I was convinced that I was the czar of Russia, so much so that you could strap me to a polygraph test, give me the polygraph test, and I would come out a hundred percent, because you know passing a polygraph test doesn't mean you're telling the truth, it just means you believe you're telling the truth, right?

So a person who is out of their mind can easily pass a polygraph test because they believe what they're saying is true.

So Lewis was saying Jesus is either a liar, what he said was untrue and he knew it, or he was a lunatic, what he was saying was untrue and he didn't know it, or we're left with only the option that he is the

Lord. The third option for Lewis said he said what he said and it was the truth.

He said what he said and it was the truth. And so I will challenge you today, most of the time when you preach a sermon the sermonic thesis will be at the end, it will be a thrust where we push toward a response, some kind of last words.

My thesis or my thrust is coming at the beginning, who is Christ to you?

Because here's what he cannot be, he cannot be merely a good teacher, because if Jesus said the things that he said and we're going to see them today, if Jesus said these things and he's not the

Son of God, the Lord of Glory, the very incarnation of divinity himself, if he said these things he's not a good teacher, if it's not true.

He's a liar or he's a lunatic. Some people will say Jesus was a good teacher, he's not a good teacher if what he said is not true.

Some people will say well he was merely a prophet, he does not claim mere prophet status, he says in fact he is more than a prophet, he claims in this text to be the very

Son of God and not Son of God in the sense as we are sons and daughters of God by adoption, but he believes he is

Son of God by nature, that when he speaks he is going to say

I am speaking with the authority of my father, I see what my father does and I do what my father does because I and my father are united in purpose.

No one can say that save the Lord Jesus Christ. No one can speak the way he spoke.

This is why the Pharisees when they heard his words they wanted to kill him because they did not believe his words and if his words are not true then it is very much the case that he would be blaspheming

God. And so let us now with that in our mind stand and read the

Word of God together as we prepare to study this text. I'll be reading from the

English Standard Version and it says, so Jesus said to them truly truly

I say to you the Son can do nothing of his own accord but only what he sees the

Father doing. For whatever the Father does the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the

Son and shows him all that he himself is doing and greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel.

For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

For the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son that all may honor the

Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Father, excuse me, whoever does not honor the

Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly truly I say to you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

Truly truly I say to you an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the

Son of God and those who are here will live. For as the Father has life in himself and he has granted the

Son to have life in himself and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the

Son of Man, do not marvel at this. For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.

Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment,

I can do nothing on my own. As I hear I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

May God add his blessing to the reading of his word and may I pray just for a moment.

Father as your word is proclaimed keep me from error, open your hearts, open the hearts of your people to the truth and for those who are not yet your people open their eyes ears and minds to understand and be changed.

And Father most of all Lord as the word is preached may your Holy Spirit mix what is said with faith and Lord bring it home into our hearts and minds.

For Lord if your spirit is not a part of this message it will have no effect. So Lord may your

Holy Spirit be the teacher. May I decrease, may Christ increase, may you be glorified in Jesus name.

Amen. We have been making our way through the gospel of John now since the beginning of December of last year working slowly verse by verse and chapter by chapter through this amazing text and we come now to chapter 5.

Last week we looked at verses 1 through 18 and that sets the stage for what we are seeing today.

A rather long discourse is being given by the Lord Jesus Christ which begins at verse 19 and goes all the way down to the end of the chapter and all of this began because Jesus healed a man on the

Sabbath. You'll remember that Jesus is visiting Jerusalem because there is a feast and while he is in Jerusalem he goes to the pool of Bethesda which was a place where many invalids would go and try to get into the water because it was believed that the first one to get into the water when the water was stirred up would receive healing from God and there was a man there who had been an invalid for 38 years and Jesus walks up to this man and says do you want to be healed and the man in a in a very pitiful response says

I don't have the strength to get in the water no one will help me get in the water and even if so somebody else gets in first so his response was very hopeless what what can

I do and Jesus said here's what you can do get up take your bed and walk and in an instant miraculous healing came upon the man his legs which just a few moments earlier were unable to bear his own weight were now young and healthy and well and he was able to walk pick up his mat and carry it and as he began to walk carrying his mat the text tells us that it was a

Sabbath day this is verse 9 it tells us right in the midst of the text and the day was the

Sabbath which reminds us about the legalistic nature particularly among the scribes and Pharisees of Jesus's day because when they saw this man who had been healed after 38 years of life in misery when they saw this man who had been healed instead of rejoicing with him over his healing they condemned him for carrying his mat something

I meant to say last week and I want to say it now legalism always lacks compassion legalism always lacks compassion licentiousness which is the opposite of legalism lacks truth and the

Bible calls us both it calls us to truth but it also calls us to compassion these men had no compassion for this man who had been healed they were not joyful over his healing rather instead they called him out you are carrying your mattress and again like I said last week this wasn't a

Sealy perfect sleeper right it was a little mat rolled up under his arm and he's carrying it and according to their rules which they had added to the

Word of God they he was breaking their law and so the man says

I'm only doing what I was told Jesus or he didn't know Jesus's name at that point he said the man who healed me he told me to take up my mat so they said well who was it

I don't know so he later has Jesus come up to him again ask him you know to see him and and the man is healed and Jesus says sin no more so nothing worse will happen to you and when the man finds out that it's

Jesus he runs to the Jewish people the Jewish leaders and he says that's the guy that's the guy who healed me doesn't tell us why he does this perhaps he's trying to get out of any legal constraint that he has for carrying his bed maybe he's trying to pass the puck or maybe he is maybe he's giving testimony to who

Jesus is we don't know the text isn't absolutely clear as to what the man's motives were for going and telling the

Jewish people but he went he told them and as a result Jesus is now facing the condemnation of the

Jewish people we we say this is a major turning point in John's gospel every one of the Gospels tells Jesus's story slightly different but this particular gospel this marks the turning point chapter 5 is when we see the authority of Christ begin to be called out questioned and we see if we look it says in verse 18 it says this is why the

Jews were seeking all the more to kill him their murderous rage begins here in chapter 5 why are they angry it goes on to say not only because he was breaking the

Sabbath according to them but he was even calling God his father making himself equal with God that is the last phrase of what we looked at last week and that leads us into verse 19 this week and verse 19 down to the end of the chapter is a long discourse of the

Lord Jesus Christ I I tried to think of a name for it because many of Jesus's longer discourses are given names the

Olivet discourse the upper room discourse these are things that we give names to that that have meaning but there's no real name for John 5 and there should be and I wasn't creative enough to come up with a good one the best

I could come up was that would be this is the apologetics discourse and the reason why I call it that is apologetics is to make a defense to make a defense to give an apology or a word of defense and and and I believe

Jesus is here giving a defense to all who will hear him of who he truly is who he truly is he is the

Son of God he is the one sent by the Father to do the

Father's will and his goal his mission his purpose is to do everything the

Father tells him to do everything he sees the Father doing he does

Christ is the manifestation of God in the world he is the incarnation of God in the world as I said last week and I'll say it again this week if you want to know who

God is learn who Jesus Christ is if you want to know

God better then get more acquainted with Jesus Christ now verse 19 and verse 30 have a very similar statement within them and this is why

I made that our book ends this week I'm going to be honest with you I don't think I'm going to get to verse 30 I just as I was walking through it this morning thinking to myself

I said I'm really think I may have to stop at verse 24 but I wanted to show you at least how these verses fit together because in verse 19

Jesus says truly truly I say to you the Son can do nothing of his own accord now go down to verse 30 he says again

I can do nothing on my own Jesus begins and ends this in this section with an important point

I am not doing anything apart from God I am not doing anything apart from the

Father now understand Jesus is not negating his own divinity

Jesus is not denying that he is in fact divine in and of himself but what he is saying is that what he is doing is in perfect unity with the

Father understand this when we think of the

Trinity we think of the Trinity in two ways the

Trinity can be considered either in its ontological nature or in its economic nature and I'm not throwing those words out to create confusion

I'm hoping it will create some clarity because oftentimes when people talk about the

Trinity you'll just hear people give a glib well it's a mystery and we don't know well it is mysterious and there is a certain level of comprehension that we will never have because to take the fullness of God's truth and put it in our mind would be like taking the

Atlantic Ocean putting it inside of a thimble it just doesn't work but we can understand certain aspects of God's truth and we can come to certain conclusions this is why we say we believe in the

Trinity because we believe this is what the Bible teaches it believe it teaches us that there is only one God we see this all throughout scripture

God is referred to as one God there are not many gods we do not worship a pantheon of gods like the

Romans or the Greeks we do not worship multiple layers of gods we do not worship gods who give birth to other gods as are in certain mythologies but we worship one

God who has eternally existed he has no beginning that's right there even before you get to the

Trinity just thinking of the eternality of God should cause us a great amount of humility because we can't understand that we live as time -based creatures and we live as time bound creatures we only think of things in the now and the before and the after that's how we consider all things but God exists and existed before time began and he has always existed he'd had no beginning and he will have no end so that's the first aspect of the

Trinity is that God is one without beginning or ending the second aspect of the

Trinity that's important is that God is one in essence but he has three in person three in person refers to who

God is God has eternally existed in relationship with himself as father son and Holy Spirit and these three persons are co -equal co -eternal and yet distinct they relate to one another and so this regards the ontological

Trinity the ontological Trinity means the the nature of ontology refers to the being or the nature of something this is what we're talking about when we talk about the ontological

Trinity and the ontological Trinity God is one in essence three in persons three these three persons are co -equal co -eternal and distinct they have existed forever they will exist forever as father son and Holy Spirit this is the historic

Christian faith has been proclaimed for 2 ,000 years it is a upholded in Scripture and it is even taught throughout the pages of the

Old Testament though in types and shadows and exposed to us clearly in the New Testament in the clear words of passages like the

Gospel of John which says in the beginning was the Word the Word was with God and the Word was God so that's the ontological

Trinity but then we talk about the economic Trinity the economic

Trinity says that within the act of redemption God has expressed himself through the

Son and through the Spirit in distinct ways the Father sends the

Son and the Son comes to do the will of the Father in the

Incarnation and when the Son ends his work with the death burial and resurrection he ascends and what does he say

I am going away but I'm going to send to you alas percolators another comforter and the word alas there means another of the same kind there's a different word in Greek when it's another of a different kind that is heteros so if I were to if you were to hand me a pencil and I say no

I want another one and I wanted another pencil I would say alas I want another pencil but if you hand me a pencil and I want a marker

I would say no I want heteros I want another I want a different one you understand when Jesus says alas percolators

I'm sending you another one like me and the word percolators means one who walks beside one who stands by side us it's the word for an advocate it's the word that a one in standing in a courtroom who would stand beside you and advocate for you power on meaning beside kale toss to call to call alongside to give you strength it's the same word we get the word encouragement because we need somebody to come stand alongside of us to give us strength this is why the

King James says comforter the word comforter does not mean a blanket on your bed but the word comforter comes from the the

Latin forte which means strength and come forte with strength to give strength to stand beside you so the economy of the

Trinity is that the father has sent the son to do the work of exposing the world to God himself

John 114 says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory of the only begotten of the

Father full of grace and truth that's what Christ did he became flesh so that we could experience

God in person this is amazing this is powerful this should this should cause our hearts to overwhelm with joy to think that the

God of the universe the second person of the Trinity became flesh so that we could know God why because no man has ever seen

God according to John 1 no man has seen God but the only begotten of the Father he has made him known he has the word is exegete it's where we get the word exegesis he has he has explained him to us

God has made himself known through his son and so when

Jesus says in verse 19 and then again in verse 30 I can do nothing on my own accord he's saying

I didn't come to express some individualistic will apart from the Father but I came to do the will of the

Father I came to do what the Father sent me to do because as the son

I come with a mission and the mission is to be God's Word on display and I'm doing this through my father and I would even go as far as to say by the power of the

Spirit remember Jesus always said everything he did was by the power of the Spirit because the Trinity is always working together in these things to bring about the will of God the full and complete will of God so by expressing the unity of purpose with the

Father Jesus is not rejecting his own authority but he's affirming it by showing there is no division between him and the

Father we see this again in John chapter 10 when Jesus says I and my father are one a lot of people want to use that verse to prove the

Trinity oh see it says in John 10 30 I and the Father are one that's the Trinity I would

I would caution you on that because while I would say yes the

Father and the Son are one ontologically in John chapter 10 in verse 30 Jesus is saying

I am the Father are one in purpose that's the the meaning that's the context and that's the same thing we see here in John 5 19 and John 5 30

I can do nothing on my own but what I only do what I see my father doing because we're one in purpose we're singular unified harmony in purpose and Jesus says truly truly

I say this to you you know why Jesus says truly truly this is idiomatic in Hebrew it is a way of expressing a and something that is emphasized something that is emphasized you know if you write a letter write an email you write in all caps that's emphasized well that's yelling don't write in all caps especially if you send me an email don't put it all caps but you you might underline something or bold something to give it emphasis well in Hebrew spoken word language they would say something twice to express emphasis so when

Simon remember when Jesus wanted to get Simon Peter's attention he would say Simon Simon and he would say his name twice and it was emphasizing the importance of what he was about to say something to the third degree of emphasis is the superlative degree you go back to the

Old Testament God is holy holy holy only time any any attribute of God is expressed in the superlative degree is his holiness

Isaiah chapter 6 so here Jesus says verily verily in the

King James you know why King James says verily because the Latin veritas means truth verily means

I'm telling you the truth I'm telling you the truth so the King or the the modern language simply says truly truly

I say to you and Jesus says this three times in this section he says it once in verse 20 or once in verse 19 once in verse 24 and once in verse 25

Jesus is trying to help the hearers who are listening to him understand the words

I am saying to you are the truth of God there's nothing more important that you will ever hear in your life than hearing what

I'm about to say to you truly truly I say to you so he says whatever the father does that the son does likewise and then we go to verse 20 for the father loves the son and shows him all that he is doing all that he himself is doing in greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel the father loves the son that's an important phrase we see that throughout the scripture

Jesus is referred to as one who was foreknown by God that should tell us something about the word foreknown because oftentimes foreknown people sometimes think that just simply means that God looks through the corridors of time and see someone and knows them and understands about them and learns about them and that's what it means to foreknow know the word know when

God uses the word know he's referring to affection he's referring to love

Amos chapter 3 verse 2 when it says of the father it says he knew

Israel of all the other nations why because he had set them apart he had shown affection to Israel why because they were the biggest no because they were the best absolutely not but because in his mercy he had elected them he had chosen them by his own sovereign will and he says you have

I known from all the nations of the world and he says of Jesus that he was foreknown before the foundation of the world why because the inter

Trinitarian love of the father and the son the spirit have always existed this is why

I've heard people say well God created man because he was lonely no one loneliness would be an abject need in God's character and God needs nothing that's one of the major things that we believe about God is that God doesn't have any needs that have to be filled right

God is God is what we call I say or the essay at of God the I say it of God is a is a theological word it simply means the self -existence of God God has all that he needs in and of himself and he needs nothing from the outside his

I say it to you this is utter and complete independence you aren't like that I aren't like that you can you say you're utterly independent no you need air you need water you need atmosphere you need food you need all the things that keep your body from falling apart

God needs nothing and so the idea that God created because he needed something to love or someone to love him that's not it at all but love has always existed because within the

Trinity there's always been love between the Father and the Son and the Spirit and that has always been this is why we say love didn't start when

God made the world but the love of God within himself has always existed and so it says the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing

Jesus had access to what the father's will was he could he could know what the father wanted him to do even in his incarnation he knew the father's will remember when he was 12 years old and he was in the temple what did he say his mother father why have you done this to us they said don't you know

I must be about my father's business he knew that he had a purpose and he knew what

God's will was and notice what it says in greater works than these will he show him so that what so that you may marvel

Jesus will be doing greater works than he has done and we see that we've talked about in John's Gospel there are seven distinct miracles that John points out we've already seen the wedding feast at Cana where he turned water to wine we already saw the miracle of the nobleman's son in Cana now he has healed the lame man at the

Pool of Bethesda and we're going to see other miracles he's about to feed the 5 ,000 in chapter 6 we're going to see that miracle and on and on and on to the grandest of his miracles prior to the death burial and resurrection which of course is the the penultimate of his miracles but the grandest of his miracles before that will be the rising of Lazarus and John's Gospel where he will raise a man from the dead after being four days in the tomb greater works will you see so that you may marvel you will be astonished that word means absolutely astonished and we see this in verse 21 for as the father raises the dead and gives them life so also the son gives life to whom he will now when it says that the father raises the dead and gives them life there are two ways that this can be understood there are

Old Testament examples of people who are raised from the dead it is rare resurrection is not common in the it's just not a common thing

I mentioned a few weeks ago about that guy some ministry overseas who claimed to have 500 resurrections happening under his ministry and I said that's just baloney as if it were happening with it with the amount of cell phones that exist in the world we we would know about it nobody's hiding 500 resurrections but even in Scripture resurrection is a fairly unique miracle it doesn't happen a lot in fact

I won't do a quiz I did this with the minute set free on Thursday I won't do it with you guys but but with them it's more of a

Sunday school setting so I can do that but if you know in your mind how many how many times do we know of that Jesus rose someone from the dead oh well only three that we know of only three that we know of and if I'm missing one feel free to correct me but here are the three that we know of the first one is gyrus who's the his daughter was sick and he came to Jesus and he said my daughter's sick and as they were going back the servants came and said don't trouble the teacher anymore your daughter's dead and and Jesus said she will live and he went and he said

Talitha Kumi little girl arise and she rose from the dead that's one we know happened but that was immediately death that was immediately death she had only just died then we read in Luke's gospel about the widow's son at Nan this is where a young man is on the he's on the the the funeral pier he's being he's being carried out to be buried so he'd at least been dead for a day in Jewish tradition you have to be buried the same day that you die but it's your 24 hour period so he's being let out and Jesus walks over and nobody could ruin a funeral like Jesus right he comes over and he raises this woman's son the widow's son and gives him back to her mother and he's raised from the dead both of those though are within pretty close proximity to the time of death but then at the end of John's gospel four days dead by now he stinketh right that's the mention that four days

Jesus said roll the tomb away roll the stone away from the tomb and Jesus says Lazarus come forth and Lazarus came forth so Jesus we know

Jesus has the power to give life as the father had the power to give life but I said a minute ago

I said there's two ways this can be taken and and I think we need to consider both ways because not only is there physical life that can be given both in the

Old Testament when God raised people from the dead or in the New Testament when God raised people from the dead but also

Jesus I believe is also making reference if not only in a veiled reference to the fact that everyone who believes in him is brought from death to life in the spirit everyone who believes in him is brought from spiritual death to spiritual life and I think that's why he says the

Son gives life to whom he will this is a reminder of the sovereign grace of God in the giving of life to whom he will you understand if you have gone from spiritual death to spiritual life that was a work of God and not of you that if you have gone from being a dead and sin dead and trespasses unbeliever to now being a living active part of the body of Christ you did not resurrect yourself but God in his infinite mercy through the proclamation of his word and through the work of his

Holy Spirit came into your dead soul and gave life to your dead soul to where now you are alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved

Ephesians chapter 2 this is the wonderful blessing that Jesus came to give life not just physical resurrection yes there are physical resurrections and there are others there was a resurrection after Jesus died on the cross there were those who came out of the tomb in the

Gospel of Matthew tells us that and then there were other resurrections during the book of Acts where there were people who were raised from the dead remember the man who fell out of the window because of Paul's long -winded preaching

I feel a lot of connection to brother Paul as I may also have a little bit of long -winded nature but I've never had anyone die well not yet but but the idea that resurrection is in the scripture is certain but every person who believes is given resurrection life the moment the spirit changes them from being dead and trespasses and sins to being alive together with Christ now verse 22 says for the father judges no one but has given all judgment to the son that all may honor the son just as they honor the father whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him when

I said earlier that no one could say the things Jesus was saying that no one could say these things if they weren't true and not be delusional this is the part that should stand out to you hear this hear these words

Jesus says the father judges no one but has given all judgment to the son understand how that would have been heard by the leaders of the

Jewish people they understood God as the judge of the universe you remember Abraham when he was talking to the

Lord in Genesis 18 and they were talking about the city of Sodom and he looked to the Lord he says we're not the judge of all the earth do what it's right here's what's interesting about that I believe he was talking to Jesus because if you go back into the

Old Testament and you see what are known as the theophanies of the Old Testament are the times when

God manifested himself to certain people God manifested himself to Abraham God manifested himself to other people throughout the scripture

Moses and others I believe those manifestations are Jesus therefore I would I would I would express them as what's known as a

Christophany or a pre -incarnate visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ so when when

Abraham said will not the judge of all the earth do what is right he's actually speaking to the judge he's speaking to Jesus and you remember what happened to Sodom it said the

Lord rained down heaven rained down fire from heaven the

Lord on earth rained down from the Lord in heaven the word Lord is expressed for the one who's here and the one who's there in that passage go back and look at it so it's such an interesting point there and so Jesus says and going back to verse 22 the father judges no one now that is not to say that the father is not united with the son in his judgment but it is an important distinction to say that the son has been given the authority to judge here's the thing

I hear people say all the time and I want you to think about this people will say all the time I don't understand how the

God of the Old Testament was so mean and the God of the New Testament is so nice and that's and I know that's maybe a simple way of putting it but that's the way people will say the

God of the Old Testament was so judgmental he was so harsh he was so quick to judge and the

God of the New Testament is so loving and so merciful and so gracious and what are they saying what's the implication of that when they say that two gods that's right they're different gods and you know what that is that's false it's not two gods you know what the

Bible says about God in the Old Testament he's abounding in love and steadfast mercy and his mercies endureth forever that's the

God of the Old Testament and you know what it says in the New Testament Jesus said on that day many will come to me and they'll say

Lord Lord but I will say depart from me I never knew you that's the judge saying to the people on trial

I never knew you we were never in a relationship that's what the word no means it means to be doesn't mean to just God knows everyone in the in the sense of knowing every hair on every head

God God there's no information that God could take in that's new God never learns anything just recently

William Lane Craig who's a very famous apologist said yes

God does learn things and I said oh William oh William he goes by Bill but anyway

I said God does not learn for God knows everything he knows the end from the beginning and so the father has given judgment to the son and the judge the son will judge but look at verse 23 and I know where I got a hurry a little says that all may honor the son just as they honor the father you understand if anybody else in the universe said that that would be absolutely blasphemous that I deserve the honor that God deserves that I will receive the honor that God the father receives if I stood up and said that I hope you would beat me as you fire me and send me out the door that if I stood up before you and said

I deserve the honor that God deserves this is the danger and I know this is going to seem like a departure

I promise you it's not this is the danger of the papacy for it is in the papacy where we are told this man represents

Christ in the world and people bow down to him and kiss his ring recently someone posted on social media picture of the

Pope and this is not Roman Catholic doctrine but it was this what this person was thinking it said my

Lord am I God it was a picture of the Pope and I said how absolutely destructive is the mindset that because he is called vicar of Christ which means one who stands in the place of Christ by carry us is where the word vicar comes from how absolutely devastating is such a theology that you would up hold a man to such a degree that you would consider him to be in the place of Christ no only the triune

God deserves our worship and veneration and this text says that Christ will be honored just as the father is honored and whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him beloved understand this you will not get to the father without the son you will not make your way to glory without going through the

Lord Jesus Christ people say all roads lead to God no

Jesus said there is a way which leads to life and it is a narrow way and there is a broad way which leads to destruction and many there are who find it that broad way is marked with all kinds of names smart with the name of Islam smart with the name of atheism smart with the name of Mormon is smart with the name of all kinds of other things because those things are appealing they will appeal to the mind into the flash offer you opportunities for spiritualism without Jesus Christ and you can be a spiritual as you want but if you are spiritual apart from the

Lord Jesus Christ you are dead spiritually and all of the feelings and accompaniments of your spiritualism will find their way into the lake of fire along with you there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus was on in the garden on the night before the crucifixion he said to the father father if there be another way let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but I will be done and you know what the sound from heaven was silence

Jesus said if there is another way take this cup from me and there wasn't another way you want to argue for the exclusivity of Christ why

Jesus is the only way people will run to John 14 in verse 6 I'm the way the truth the life no one comes to the father except to me that's a great verse but you know the verse

I run to is the one I just quoted when Jesus asked the father is there another way if there is another way take this cup from me and the sound from heaven was silence because there is no other way then through the cross through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ if you are unwilling to honor the son if you are unwilling to go through the son you will not ever get to the father beloved that is the word

I will leave you with today for there is no one who refuses to honor the son who will make their way to the father so I ask you today are you the one who today has chosen still to refuse to honor the son are you one who has yet to bow your knee to the

Lord Jesus Christ Philippians chapter 2 says that there is only one name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved which we must be saved and it is the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ so that at his name every knee will bow you're either going to bow your knee now or you're going to bow your knee when he comes on his white horse with the word of his mouth coming out like a flame of fire and a sword and at that day every knee will bow but it will be too late have you bowed the knee to the

Lord Jesus Christ or do you think he is a liar or a lunatic no my friends he is the

Lord let us pray father I thank you I thank you for your word

I ask that now as we prepare our hearts for communion as we prepare our hearts to receive that which points to the body and blood of the

Lord Jesus Christ the bread and the cup may it be oh God that we are humbled again and our need for Christ and yet reminded