Trinity Road Chapel Evening Service, 11/16/2008

Once again, it's my pleasure to be with you here in London, thank you very much.

Unfortunately, now we're going to be blinded by the light reflecting off the head. That's why the first four rows are abandoned, because both

Doug and I have some of the reflective problem when it comes to lights. I'll be hearing about that one for a while.

But it is indeed good to be with you, I do appreciate the time that I have been able to spend with you.

It's a little bit odd getting to know some folks when their first exposure to you, in general, is in the form of a debate.

Generally, I get to preach in a place and maybe at the end or something like that we have a debate. But to start as we did is a little bit unusual, it does give you somewhat of an introduction into what

I do regularly. I think by the time I finish this particular trip,

I'll be getting close to 80 debates that I have done beginning in August of 1990.

And only recently have the majority of those been on the subject of Islam. But when

I first started doing this, I had no inkling of the idea that someday

I would stand in London in defense of the Gospel. But it is truly an honor to be here, beautiful building.

And once I get a few moments, maybe next week, I'm not sure that I'm going to have them next week, but I know that at least the week after that, whoever is sitting on the incendiary device pew back there,

I'm going to be blogging that. I'm going to make you all famous. You'll get people standing outside the door wanting to get in and take pictures of the incendiary device indentation in the pew.

I just think that's really neat. Some of you are looking at me like, what are you talking about? I thought that would be general knowledge to everybody.

But someone back there is sitting right near where a German incendiary device came through the roof many, many moons ago.

I know my church is almost old enough to have been around during World War II, but that's about all the history we have,

I'm afraid. About the only thing I can say about our church is it's survived a lot of heat there in the desert.

That's about the most we can say. We just don't have the kind of history, being the colonials, as you know, that broke away.

Turn to me please to Hebrews chapter 1. I was hearing from Doug that he's been outdoing even the

Southern Baptists in the United States. He's been covering one entire book of the Bible in one shot.

Now, I don't know how you do that. It drove me crazy when I was in the Southern Baptist Church many years ago.

We tried to cover the entire book of Romans in about five weeks. I'm not sure how you do it in one shot, but just a few weeks ago in my own church,

I wanted to cover all of Hebrews chapter 1. In two sermons,

I got through three verses. I was rather unsuccessful at that point. I will attempt this evening to summarize the entire first chapter for you, so that will fit into the mode of the

Sunday evening sermons. Before we read this text, I want to address probably the most important element anytime you're preaching from the book of Hebrews.

It seems to me in the evangelical church today that this book is a closed book.

That for many people, the book of Hebrews strikes them as exceptionally difficult and hard to follow and somewhat troubling in the things that it says.

There are a few books that are proof texts more often where one little verse here, one little verse there is pulled out and odd things are taught on the basis of it.

I really do believe that Hebrews demonstrates for us our absolute necessity to be fully canonical

Christians. What do I mean by that? We need to know the entire canon of scripture. When Paul said in 2

Timothy 3 .16, when he said all scripture is theodorus talks, when he spoke to Timothy and said,

Timothy, you've known these things, he's talking about the Old Testament. Anyone who has read the book of Hebrews, especially if you have an

English translation that puts Old Testament citations in italics or bold or in some way gives you an idea just by looking at the page, just leaf through Hebrews right now and see how much of this book is citation of the

Old Testament. The writer assumes, as we can tell by the title, that the people to whom he's writing are well aware of the

Old Testament background of all of the texts that he's citing. And I think that's why it seems to be somewhat of a closed book to many people today.

It talks about these, the tabernacle, the various things that were in the tabernacle and a lot of folks just are like, okay, that may have been relevant to somebody, but I just don't know how that's going to help with my mortgage payment.

So they move on to something else. And the problem is that there are few, there is no book in the

New Testament, I would even say Romans, does not spend as much time specifically laying out the mechanism in sacrifice by which redemption takes place as we find in the pages of Hebrews.

The purpose of Christ, the glory of Christ, the supremacy of Christ over all of the

Old Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant, all of this is laid out for us in the book of Hebrews. And so we are greatly impoverished when we do not find a delight in studying this book.

It is written and it's very important. Most of the misinterpretations of this book come from the fact that we don't keep in mind the audience.

What is the context of this book? This book is being written to those

Hebrew Christians in those early years. And I'm firmly convinced that this book is quite early on, certainly before AD 70.

There's no question in my mind that the writer, speaking of the ongoing sacrifice, that the temple had been destroyed would have clearly impacted the kind of argumentation you find here.

So this is in the early decades of the Christian faith. The writer is writing to those

Hebrew Christians who are experiencing such tremendous persecution and pressure being placed upon them to go back to the old way.

Go back to the old ways of Judaism. Offer the sacrifice.

You know that from, for example, the Gospel of John we're told that they were already in the days of Jesus putting out of the synagogue those who would confess

Him as Messiah. And so especially from one's family, great pressure would come upon you.

You've joined a cult. You've joined a movement. Nothing's going to come of this. Come back to the old ways.

Think about all the generations of those who've been faithful to the call of Abraham and Moses.

Come back and offer the sacrifice. Why offer the sacrifice? Because, of course, to offer the sacrifice is to say that the final sacrifice has not been given.

And so when we read those very sobering words in the 10th chapter about those who would trample on the blood of Christ, what they're talking about is offering that sacrifice, which would say

Christ was not a sacrifice. He was a false Messiah. He did not come to do what

He said He did. And that is how a person would enter back into the Jewish fellowship. And so what is

Hebrews but an entire work of apologetics? It's an entire work of apologetics.

And how does it do, how does it accomplish this task? The writer, whoever he might have been, and there's been much discussion about who wrote

Hebrews, the early church. Many of the early church did believe it was Paul. There's no question whoever wrote it was very familiar with his thinking.

But the language, the language is not Paulian language.

It is much more like Luke. And one very interesting theory that has been put forward is that actually

Paul originally wrote this in Hebrew and Luke translated it into Greek. That would at least give you why you have

Paul's thoughts being expressed in Luke's language. The level of the

Greek in Hebrews is very, very high. Very similar to Luke and Acts at the very top end of the spectrum in the

New Testament as far as difficulty is concerned. And so how does the writer go about his task?

He demonstrates the supremacy of Christ. He demonstrates the supremacy of Christ to press the argument there's nothing to go back to.

There's nothing to go back to. Everything that you knew, look at each of the chapters.

If each of the chapters, the chapter divisions aren't too bad. Sometimes they break in the middle of a thought.

But look at each of the chapters and each one presents to us another aspect of the supremacy of Christ.

You have his supremacy to the Aaronic priesthood and the presentation of the Melchizedek priesthood.

You have the supremacy of the high priest over the many high priests who would die so they could not continue in their office.

But he's able to save the uttermost because he ever lives to make intercession for those who draw nigh unto

God by him. The supremacy of Christ is always the theme all the way through to the faith chapter in chapter 11.

And then as you have in the Book of Romans, you then transition into a presentation of moral, ethical exhortations based upon what you've seen in the theology that comes at the beginning.

And so what we have here in Hebrews chapter 1 is the first element of this argument that the writer is presenting to the

Hebrew Christians. What is the first element? What is the first thing that is presented?

And it is an amazing chapter when you look at it and you consider it.

Let's read it together and again I will expand on a few thoughts as we're going along and then

I will try to sort of summarize it for you and make application. After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, in these last days he has spoken to us by his

Son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom he created the world.

The Son is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his person or his essence and he sustains all things by the power of his word.

And so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has inherited a name superior to theirs.

For to which of the angels has God ever said, you are my son, this day

I have begotten you. And again, I have become to you as a father and you to me as a son.

And when he again brings the firstborn into the inhabited world he says, let all the angels of God worship him.

And indeed verse 7, he says of the angels, he makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire.

But in contrast to that, but of the Son he says, your throne,

O God, is forever and ever and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.

You have loved righteousness, you have hated lawlessness. So God, even your

God has anointed you over your companions with the oil of rejoicing.

And please note, this continues the introduction of verse 8. In other words, to the

Son, he says, you have, O Lord, founded the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands.

They will perish, but you continue. They will all as a garment grow old and as a robe you will fold them up.

And as a garment they shall be changed, but you are the same and your years will never come to an end.

They will never be exhausted. But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet?

Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who will inherit salvation?

And so here we have the opening salvo, the opening presentation and representation of the supremacy of Christ.

There's so much here. Like I said, I only got through three verses of preaching my own church, so I'm going to have to be disciplined this evening.

Let's try first of all to look at the first four verses and summarize them. What is presented to us here?

First of all, we have the fact that God has spoken in various ways.

Some of the commentators suggest that the first verse is saying to us that in certain ways and at certain times in the past, in an incomplete way, through one prophet here, one prophet there, one prophet in Israel, one prophet in Judah, God has spoken to us by the fathers.

This is the way that he has, by the prophets, he has spoken to the fathers in the past. But now in these last days, in this final work of God, in these last days, he has spoken in a new and radical way.

He has spoken unto us in his Son. Not through prophets, but now one who is intimately familiar with the

Father. It reminds me very much of John's language, the prologue, where he describes in those first 18 verses of his gospel, the

Logos, and he wraps things up in verse 18. And he tells us that no one has seen

God at any time. The unique God who is in the bosom of the Father, he has exegeted him.

He has explained him. He has made him known. That's what the Son has done. And here the writer of the

Hebrews is saying the same thing. In these last days he has spoken unto us in the

Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.

Or literally, that's not the word world we would think of the cosmos. It is the ages.

He has created all things through this one. Again, we think of John, we think of Colossians.

These are the themes of the early church concerning the Messiah, that he is the one through whom all things have been made.

And so there's a new revelation that has come. And it is a fuller revelation because it is in one who knows the

Father intimately. Notice this description of the one through whom all things are created.

This Son, verse 3, is the radiance of his glory.

The radiance of his glory. Now some people have said, well that means he's secondary, see, because he's just the reflection.

But really, how do you even know what the glory of the Son is if you do not see its light?

How can you separate the two from one another? The one reveals the other. And again I see the prologue of John here.

Because here he is the radiance of his glory, but we know his glory. Remember the Old Testament people were afraid to even look upon God.

For they might die in seeing the fullness of his glory. But we see the radiance of his glory in Jesus Christ.

What we know of the Father's glory, we know because we've seen him. Even in John chapter 12, and I don't have time to open it up to you this evening.

But look sometime at John 12, 39 -41. Where there in the Gospel we're told that the one that Isaiah saw in his temple vision,

Isaiah 6, was actually Jesus. When you ask Isaiah, Isaiah whose glory did you see?

He says, I saw the glory of Jehovah, Yahweh. And then when you ask the same question of John, John whose glory did

Isaiah see? His response is, he saw the glory of Jesus. And so he is the one who is the very radiance of his glory.

He reveals to us the glory of God. But then he is called, and listen to the

Greek word, the charakter. The charakter from which we get not translation, but a transliteration into our language, character.

He is the very charakter of his essence or his person. Now what is the charakter?

Well, I remember many, many moons ago, my mother loved to send out

Christmas cards. She had a huge Christmas card list. And she still has beautiful, beautiful handwriting.

She also played the organ and the piano during musicals and things like that. But anyway, she would send out

Christmas cards. So she loved to write letters. The internet has destroyed most of that for most of us

I'm afraid. But she loved to write letters. And I remember as a young person, she had this set of stationery.

And she had these little candles. And she would light this candle, of course, as a little kid.

I'm fascinated by this. And she would drop some wax on the back of the envelope.

And then she had this piece of, it was a W, my last name being white, a metal imprint.

She would wait for them all to sort of blow on it. So I had to practice to do this. And then you would press it into the wax.

And when you lifted it up, there was this beautiful W put into the wax. The sad thing is those wax things get ripped off by all the machines we use for our posts now.

And so people just don't do this kind of thing anymore. But back then, it was all done by hand and so on. Now that's what she would do.

Well, in the olden days, they might have a ring. They would have a signet on the signet ring. And you would do the same thing.

If you were sending a shipment, you would put the wax or something on it. And you'd press the ring into it. And it would leave an exact representation, a caractere of the original.

And that's what the word refers to. Jesus is said to be the very exact representation of his essence or his being.

Now people say, see, that means he's just a copy. That means he's secondary. Please think with me for just a moment.

Outside the realm of those who just absolutely do not want to believe. How can any mere creature be an exact representation of the very essence of being of the infinite

God? It's an impossibility. Instead, you have here that relationship between the

Father and the Son. That eternal intimate relationship that exists between them being pictured for us.

The radiance of this glory, the exact representation of this person. Clearly distinguishing between the

Father and the Son. And yet clearly telling us we cannot limit the Son to some mere human being.

To just a prophet who had thoughts about God. No, this is one through whom all things have been made.

He is the one who has made known to us God. Indeed, it is described by his powerful word.

He sustains all things. Is that not a description of Jehovah God of the

Old Testament? By his word of power, he sustains all things. This is Paul's saying, in him all things hold together.

So when he had accomplished cleansing for sins. When he himself had made that sacrifice that removes the stain of sin.

He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. Later on, that is a text that is going to come up again in the demonstration of the perfection of Christ's work.

That though the high priest would go in every year repetitively. There was no place in the inner tabernacle for him to sit.

Because his work was never completed. But Christ is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high.

His work is done. His work is finished in that sense. It does not admit a repetition over and over and over again.

So you have immediately these assertions of the divine being of Christ.

And so in the Jewish way of thinking. What are the next beings below God?

But the angels themselves. And so to demonstrate that Christ is not merely just some

Galilean prophet. We now have a comparison. A supporting of these assertions made about him.

Beginning in verse 4. Demonstrating the superiority of Christ to the angels.

And so you have prophetic words brought forward here. And applied to Jesus Christ.

For to which of the angels of God did God ever say you are my son. Today I have begotten you.

This coming from 2 Samuel. Psalm 2, 7 we read this morning.

And then also 2 Samuel 7, 14. I will be his father. He will be my son. And then he describes in verse 6.

When he brings the firstborn into the world. He says let all the angels of God worship him.

Deuteronomy 32, 43. Psalm 96, 7. And Psalm 103, 4 are all cited in this section.

Where he contrasts the one who is Jesus Christ. The one who is worshipped by the angels.

With the angels themselves. Now I just pause for just a moment to sort of warn you.

When those folks wake you up on Saturday morning. Ringing the bell to your front door.

And they want to hand you a watchtower or a wake magazine. They are carrying a Bible which is not actually truly a

Bible. It is a perversion of the Bible called the New World Translation. And when it comes to verse 6.

And when he again brings his firstborn into the world. He says all the angels of God worship him. That is the

Greek term proskuneo. And proskuneo can refer to non -religious worship.

Soldiers would proskuneo before a more superior soldier. It just simply refers to bowing down.

But whenever it is used in a religious context. It refers to worship.

For example people tried to proskuneo the apostles. And they said do not do that.

Worship God. In the book of Revelation. At one point John tries to give proskuneo to the angel.

Who showed him all these things. The angel says do not do that. Proskuneo only God. And so this is the same term that is used here.

And ironically in the New World Translation. Whenever proskuneo is used of God. Jehovah God.

And they translate it as worship. But here since it is used of Jesus. They come up with the. Oh it is just an everyday word.

We all use all the time. It is just a synonym right. Do obeisance to. Do obeisance to him.

Purposely trying to hide. What is truly going on in this text.

Unfortunately that happens a lot. In the New World Translation of Jehovah's Witnesses. You need to be aware of that.

Should you ever have conversations with these folks. But then notice what verse 8 says.

But of the son he says. And I emphasize when I read this.

That in verse 10 you have the same thing. And introducing another continued quotation.

Going on referring to Jesus Christ. Now this text is one of the two texts.

That I highly recommend to you. That you have ready to use. When you have opportunity.

Of explaining why you are a Trinitarian. Especially to those folks. Who pass out the watchtowers and the wakes.

The Jehovah's Witnesses. Those who have been at the debates. Know that in both debates.

I raised this particular issue. But in the debates I had to do it very quickly. I could not do it in such a way.

That it would have quite as much weight. As it normally would. Here is what I would recommend to you.

As you might want to utilize this text. In your own witness. If you are talking to one of Jehovah's Witnesses.

You do not want to go to Hebrews chapter 1 first. What you want to do. Is something along these lines.

I met with some elders of the Witnesses. A number of years ago. And they just honestly asked me.

Well we just do not understand. Why anyone would be a Trinitarian. We just do not see it. Why do you believe the doctrine of Trinity?

And I explained to them. And I said well let me put it this way. There is a reality in the scriptures.

That you need to understand. I believe that there is one true being of God. That is shared by three divine persons.

The Father, the Son and the Spirit. I differentiate between the word being. And persons. And I would like to illustrate why

I believe this. By using a word that you are quite familiar with. And that is the word

Jehovah. Now I realize the more appropriate way of pronouncing. What is called the

Tetragrammaton in the Old Testament. Is Yahweh. But Jehovah's Witnesses are pretty stuck.

On the pronunciation Jehovah. So there is really no reason to argue about the issue. Particularly with them.

As soon as they hear you say Jehovah. You are going to catch their attention. Many times

Jehovah's Witnesses. Who go door to door so much in their life. They are not really listening to much of what you are saying.

That is why I never deal with John 1 .1. With Jehovah's Witnesses. The door of most Jehovah's Witnesses. Is to respond to John 1 .1.

In a comatose state. There is absolutely no thought process.

Going on in their mind. As they start droning on to you. About the lack of a definite word. John 1 .1 .C

They are thinking about groceries and the laundry. And they are not even listening to you. So I just don't suggest using that particular text.

With Jehovah's Witnesses. Until you have established more of a foundation. And have them listening to you. But they will listen to you.

When you use their language. And so I said to them. I would like to explain why

I am a Trinitarian. Because I would like to talk about the name Jehovah. And there are many of them.

Especially if they are raised in Jehovah's Witnesses. They don't think any of the rest of us. Even though that word exists. They think they are the only ones.

Proclaiming the name Jehovah in the world. And so I knew I had their attention. And I said. The word

Jehovah. As you know is found many thousands of times. In the Old Testament.

Your own translation actually uses the name Jehovah. The word Jehovah. Is not found in the

New Testament. In their translation it is. They have inserted it by the way. 237 times.

In the text of the New Testament. But I say to them. The name Jehovah.

Is used in the New Testament of the Father. There are Old Testament texts. That were about Jehovah.

That are applied to the Father in the New Testament. And you would agree with me on that. But you see the name

Jehovah. Is also used of Jesus. And the name Jehovah. Who is the

Spirit of the Lord. But the Spirit of Jehovah. And so it is the fact.

That the one name Jehovah. Is used of three distinct persons. And you would agree with me. The Bible distinguishes between the

Father, the Son and the Spirit. But if they are each described as Jehovah. Then is that not exactly.

Why I believe in the doctrinal trinity. And I had their attention. And so what you do at that point.

Is you ask. Could I ask you to read a text from your Bible. Jehovah's Witnesses are normally.

Willing to read texts from their Bible for you. And so I ask them. To begin by reading.

Psalm 102. Verses 25 through 27. I ask them to turn in their

Bible. To Psalm 102. Verses 25 through 27. And I have them read the text.

And I ask them who is this about. And in their own translation. And just a few verses before that.

You will find the name Jehovah. And if you read the text. It is about how Jehovah is the unchanging creator.

He is the creator of all things. And all things grow old. But he does not grow old. And here is an important thing to do.

If you are writing this down. If you are thinking about this. It is an important thing to do. Ask them this question.

Could these words. Be said. Of anyone but Jehovah.

Is there anyone but Jehovah. Who is eternal. Is there anyone but Jehovah. Who is the creator of all things.

Who does not age. Who does not change. And if they are orthodox

Jehovah's Witnesses. They will answer no. These words can only be said.

Of Jehovah. And then I say well keep your finger there. In Psalm 102. 25 -27.

And let's look at Hebrews chapter 1. And so I will take them to Hebrews chapter 1.

And here is a little insight for you. If they question that this is the same text. Once you read it.

It is impossible to do so. But even if they question that it is. Their own study bible has a little reference note.

Next to the beginning of verse 10. The center column. That will direct them to Psalm 102. 25 -27.

So you can use the publication that way. If you so choose to do so. Though be warned. Only use that if you have to.

Because if you show familiarity with their bible in that way. They will probably be packing up their stuff.

Really quickly to get out of that. I have had Jehovah's Witnesses accuse me. Of being a former Jehovah's Witness.

No one can know the things you know about us. Unless you are a former Jehovah's Witness. And of course they are not allowed to speak.

To former Jehovah's Witnesses. And so they were out the door. In no time whatsoever.

So. I have in turn to Hebrews chapter 1. Ask them to read.

And as they begin to read. You founded the earth in the beginning Lord. And the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish but you continue. They will grow old like a garment. And like a robe you will fold them up.

And like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same. And your years will never run out.

Clearly. Clearly. These are the exact same words of the Greek Septuagint.

The Greek translation of the Old Testament. Of Psalm 102. 25 -27. But that is why

I emphasized when I read it. The introduction. At verse 10. Says and.

That goes back. To the introduction at verse 8. Which says. But to the sun.

And so. These words are being said. To the sun.

Now how. Can we even begin to understand. How a monotheistic Jew. Seeking to.

Write to Hebrew Christians. Hebrew Christians. Who know the

Shema of Deuteronomy 6. 4. Shema Yisrael. Yahweh Elohim. Yahweh our God. Yahweh is one.

How can a monotheistic Jew. Take the words. Of Psalm 102.

Which are so plainly and clearly. About the unchanging nature. Of the Creator God himself.

And say to the sun. He says. You founded the earth.

In the beginning. They will perish. You continue. They will all grow old.

Your years will never run out. These words are addressed. To the sun. There is only one.

Possible way. To understand these words. That the author is communicating.

To us that as to his nature. As to his essence. Jesus Christ is truly.

He is Yahweh. You do not take. The unique characteristics.

Unique characteristics. Why do I emphasize that? A little insight here very quickly.

When I wrote my book. The Forgotten Trinity. There was a Jehovah's Witness.

He is no longer a Jehovah's Witness. Interestingly enough. One who defended Jehovah's Witnesses. I debated in Tampa Florida in 2003.

By the name of Greg Stafford. He had written a book in defense. Of Jehovah's Witnesses. And so as I was writing my book.

I read his. I wanted to know what are the best arguments. I wanted to know what the best arguments.

Against my position are. So that I can provide the best defense. To the people of God.

And one of the things he said. In trying to get around a text like this. He said well you know.

If you look at Hebrews 1 .8. These were words originally written. About the Hebrew King.

And so. If you try to argue. The way the Trinitarians argue. You basically proving that every

Hebrew King. Was Yahweh. If you apply these things to Jesus. In this way.

And I had to sit back. And I had to think about that. And I had to clarify my own thoughts.

In light of that. And that's when I realized. Well the problem is. Kingship is not unique to Yahweh.

There have been. Many Hebrew Kings. Solomon and David. There's just two right there.

There have been many Hebrew Kings. So applying kingship in one context. Might not prove identity.

But that's what makes. Hebrews 1 .10 -12. So vitally important. Is that the attribute.

That is ascribed to Jesus. Is absolutely unique to Yahweh. We're not talking about.

Hebrew Kingship here. We're talking about being the unchanging. Eternal creator. And there's only one of those.

And so to apply these words. To Jesus. In this way. Is to demonstrate without question.

That the inspired scriptures. Are identifying for us. Our Savior. As the

Incarnate One. As John said in John 1 .14. The Word became flesh.

He dwelt among us. We beheld his glory. The glory of the only begotten Father. Full of grace.

We beheld him. John even emphasizes in the beginning of 1 John. Which our hands have touched.

Handled. He wasn't just a phantasm. He truly entered into human flesh.

What condescension. And it is that condescension. It is that condescension.

That the Muslims cannot begin to understand. But then again. Can any of us.

Begin to understand that. Condescension. Outside of the work of the Spirit of God in our hearts.

Remember the text this morning. Jesus opened their understanding. So they might understand the scriptures.

He opened their minds. And if you hear this evening. Are somewhat taken aback.

By the fact that here we are. Sitting so many thousands. Of miles away. Or that Doug is going to be heading over.

Toward the Mideast. Where so much of this took place. It's a long flight.

You're going a long ways that way. I'm going a long ways that way. It's a long ways. It's a long ways geographically.

It's a long ways time wise. We speak a language that did not exist in that day.

Our culture is so much different. Our technology is so much farther advanced. And yet here we sit this evening.

In what binds us together. Our common faith. That Jesus Christ is

Lord. That these words are true. That God has invaded. His own creation.

And fundamentally altered. The relationship of man and God. By what he himself did upon the cross.

That should make you stop and think once in a while. What an amazing claim is

Christianity. And what an amazing thing it is. That Jesus promised.

I will build my church. Here we are folks. Sometimes we look around and say.

There's not many of us. But does that mean something? Does that somehow mean.

That Christ has failed? Here we are so far away. Temporally and geographically. And yet we believe.

There's only one explanation. There's only one explanation. It is the spirit of God.

That causes anyone to be able to say. Jesus is Lord. The great consolation to me.

As I look at a western culture. That is growing. In it's hatred.

Of our God and his law. The great consolation is. Christ is the one.

That builds his church. I don't build it. I seek to edify it.

But I don't build the church. Christ does. The king of the nations. As we read in Psalm 2.

Psalm 22. Long long ago. God revealed prophetically.

What he was going to do in Jesus Christ. And here we are today. And we believe. Because he by his spirit.

Has changed our hearts. I encourage you to spend more time. With other people. I encourage you to.

Learn the Old Testament. So well. That the argument becomes. Your own argument.

Becomes precious to you. This book has really. Become a precious possession to me.

This is just the start. There is so much more. Especially when you start entering into. The mediatorship of Christ.

And his high priesthood. And the finished work of Calvary. It is just so rich. I would highly recommend it.

To your in -depth study. Because it truly is. A gem in the New Testament.

A pearl of great price. Shall we say. To use Jesus' language. So I highly recommend it to you.

Thank you very much for your listening. Lord God let us go to him now. Indeed our heavenly father.

We do thank you for your scriptures. We thank you for your preservation. Of them down to the ages. Despite the hatred of men.

The attempt even of the Roman Empire. To destroy your scriptures. You have decreed.

That your people will possess them. And will love them and will preach them. And so we thank you that we have them.

In such abundance. We thank you that we have the freedom this evening. To gather here and speak freely of your truth.

We ask that you would help us. To continue to use the freedoms that we have. To your honor and glory. And even if the day comes.

When we must count the cost. For being able to speak. The whole counsel of God.

May we be people who are far more concerned. About what you think about us. Than anyone else.

May we be good disciples even then. In counting the cost. We do pray for those that are gathering here this evening.

I pray your blessing upon this church. And its outreach and its ministry. If there be any amongst us this evening.

Who have not bowed the knee to Jesus Christ. May you by your spirit even now. Reveal him in his glory to you.