Bible Service, Edmonton Baptist Chapel, London

Alpha & Omega Ministries

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It's good to be with you once again this evening, here in Edmonton.

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Of course, I have absolutely no idea where I am in London right now, since when

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I land, even when I land at the Wright Airport, and I'm told that Heathrow is the

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Wright Airport and Gatwick is the wrong airport, but even when I land at the Wright Airport, we get on these roads that go in circles anyway, so in that way, those of us who don't know where we are stay completely lost.

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So I'm not really sure which part of London I'm in. I don't know which parts of London I'm going to later on this week, but I do know that I'm looking forward to the encounters we're going to be having.

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And our topic this evening will be somewhat relevant to that, because the second debate that I'm doing is specifically on the

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Deity of Christ. The first debate, actually it's a topic that I chose that I've never heard anyone debate before, does belief in the

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Trinity necessitate shirk? Shirk is a concept of idolatry in Islamic thought, and so I hope to have the opportunity of very clearly expressing what the

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Doctrine of the Trinity is and how the Quran does not accurately identify the

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Doctrine of the Trinity. Since, of course, the Quran is written after the time of the

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New Testament, and certainly long after the time when the Doctrine of the Trinity is well known, then you can see the importance of that particular topic.

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But turn with me, please, back to John Chapter 8 from this morning. We're going to be in a number of different texts, not any one particular text, because I would like to speak with you this evening concerning various ways in which the

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Bible reveals to us the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and specifically the

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Deity of Christ. We must recognize, as believers, that our belief in the

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Deity of Christ is a spectacular thing in the world. It's an amazing thing that we actually are saying the world is enough.

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We are saying that the Creator of all things, the One who made all things, who has eternally existed, who by merely the volition of His will can bring this entire universe into existence, that this

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One, for His own purposes and for His own glory, actually chose to enter into His own creation.

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Just as a given that is rejected by the Islamic faith because it's not possible. Allah would never do something like that.

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But the Christian message is that in the councils of eternity past, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the

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Son voluntarily chooses, together with the Father and the Spirit, but the

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Son chooses to enter into human flesh in the incarnation. That is an amazing thing.

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There are many who would say, well, that's just not possible. Well, why is it possible? The God who created all things cannot enter into His own creation.

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Why is this? What is the logical foundation of this? And really, when you dig deep, what most people say is, well, it's just hard to believe that God would humble

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Himself so. Well, yes it is. That's why we need the Spirit of God to cause us to believe.

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But it is a radical statement. This morning, I said to you something, and I try to say this in most of my

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Islamic debates because I want this to be communicated to the Muslim people, but specifically, that every breath you take, every beat of your heart, you literally are borrowing that from your

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Creator, Jesus Christ. You cannot be neutral about this one, about whom the

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New Testament says that by Him were all things created, whether in heaven and earth, visible or invisible, whether principalities, powers, dominions, or authorities, all things created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things literally hold together, consist.

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You cannot be neutral. You cannot put off to another day dealing with someone like that.

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And so, ours is an amazing belief. And so, if we're going to tell people about our amazing belief, we might want to have some confidence.

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Should we not? About what we believe. And there are many who have spent much time, invested much effort in finding ways of arguing against the

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Christian faith, even from our own scriptures. And so, I would like to remind you this evening of the ways in which the

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New Testament testifies concerning the deity of Christ, and focusing upon a particular one, which we saw this morning here in John chapter 8, this phrase,

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I am. There are really about three major ways in which the

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New Testament reveals the deity of Christ to us. We know about those where the term

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God is used of Jesus. When Thomas sees the resurrected Lord, he answers and says to Jesus, my

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Lord and my God. Now, if anyone were to bow before a mere prophet, a mere human being, and say, my

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Lord and my God, that prophet should do exactly what the apostles did when people bowed to them.

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Remember in the book of Acts, people tried to worship Paul and Silas, and what do they do? Do not worship us, worship only

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God. Or when John bows before the angel in the book of Revelation, tries to worship the angel, and what does the angel say?

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Do not do that, worship only God. But Thomas bows before Jesus, and he calls him my

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Lord and my God. And remember what Jesus does. He says, because you have seen me, have you believed, Thomas? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

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No rebuke. Instead, he identifies what Thomas does as an act of faith. There are other places where Jesus is described as God.

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In John 1 .1, he is said to be the eternal logos, the Word, who has always existed.

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In Titus 2 .13 and 2 Peter 1 .1, he is called our Lord and Savior, our God and Savior. And so these terms are used with Jesus, and those are normally the texts that you end up arguing about on the street corner when

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Jehovah's Witnesses happen by or something like that. But those are not the only evidences of the deity

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Christ. We also have Jesus described as deity, as being creator, as having eternally existed, exercising the prerogatives of God.

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All those texts that speak of Jesus in this way. That's the second category of evidence.

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And probably the text we'll look at this evening will fall into that second category. But there's a third category we dare not forget.

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If you have been blessed to be raised within a Christian family as I was, as far back as we can find on my father's side, we've always been ministers.

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And despite all the mockery I get from my dear brother Roger, we do trace ourselves back to Scotland and were ministers in Scotland at times long past.

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Of course, my brother Roger and I have tromped around through graveyards in Dundee looking for whites to take pictures of headstones.

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So he's been a dear brother along those lines and putting up with my pseudo -Scottishness as a friend of ours says up in Glasgow.

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But be that as it may, if you did not have the privilege that I have to grow up hearing the word of God, then you might not be in the same situation those of us who had that education have.

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But when we hear Jesus saying things in the New Testament, since we're used to hearing

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Jesus, sometimes our ear is not quite in tune to recognizing how amazing

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His speech really is. Think of the things that Jesus says and does that no mere prophet could ever do.

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In other words, take some of Jesus' words and put them into the mouth of, well, think of the greatest prophets you might wish to think of.

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Think of Abraham. Think of Moses. Think of David. Would any of them have ever said, come to me, all of you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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Take my yoke, my burden upon you. Of course not. Would any of them have made the claims that Jesus did where He identifies the scriptures as His own words, to hold on to His own word as to have eternal life.

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There are so many things that Jesus said and did that could never be said of a mere prophet.

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Very often when, again, those individuals called Jehovah's Witnesses come to the door, we forget about those things and we forget to say, wait a minute, you're telling me that Jesus is

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Michael the Archangel. So you're telling me that Michael the Archangel would say the things that Jesus says.

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Or that the early Christians would speak of Michael the Archangel the way that the

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Apostle Paul does or John does. Are you serious? We don't ask them to give a defense of what they believe.

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We frequently allow ourselves to be put into a position where we're only defending what we believe rather than turning the shoe around, shall we say, putting it on the other foot and saying, does it fit there?

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And so especially that third category of evidence of the deity of Christ is frequently overlooked in our conversations.

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So with that, let's look at this particular aspect of the demonstration of the deity of Christ we find in John chapter 8.

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If you were here this morning, you know that we encountered a couple of verses. For example, in John chapter 8 verse 24.

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And what I'm going to be doing now, just in case there are some differences in how I read this, I'm translating directly from the

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Greek. So I'm not using an English translation this evening. Just looking at the Greek because the phrase we want to look at is found in the original language.

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It's translated a couple of different ways in our various English translations. But Jesus, therefore

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Jesus said to them, I therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins for unless you believe that I am, in most translations say

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I am he or I am the one or something along those lines. You will die in your sins.

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Now that phrase I am is the Greek phrase ego I mean, ego

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I mean. It's really just an emphatic way of saying I am. A very strong way of saying

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I myself am. And it is not true that every single time this phrase is used, well that means the person is claiming to be deity.

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No, that's not the case. And you may even have in your Bible a cross reference that might immediately throw you all the way back across the canon of scripture to Exodus chapter 3.

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Remember Exodus chapter 3 and the encounter between Moses and Jehovah God, Yahweh at the burning bush.

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And when Moses says, who will I say has sent me? What does God say to him?

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I am that I am has sent you. Now in the Hebrew language in which that was written,

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God is saying I am that I am. But you must remember that that Hebrew language is not what the

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New Testament was written in. The New Testament was written in the Greek language. And there was a translation of the

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Old Testament the Jewish people had used for about 200 years before the coming of Christ called the

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Greek Septuagint. And it rendered that phrase back in Exodus 3 .14.

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Ego amiha om. I am the being. I am the one who exists. And so I do not suggest that every time we find this phrase that we immediately jump back to Exodus 3.

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There's a much stronger basis upon which to stand. Let me explain it to you. First of all, any text taken out of its context is of course a pretext.

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You've heard that said many, many times before. When looking at the Gospel of John, sometimes we need to stand back.

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And this is something that we as Christians, honestly, my fellow believers, this is something I don't care what your line of work is.

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I don't care what your age is. I believe that it is perfectly appropriate for me to challenge you as a believer to know your

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Bible well. In fact, to know some things about its background. To know some things about the books.

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We should be able to, in our minds, have an outline of the major books of the

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Bible. Know where to find things. We should be able to look at the book of John and say, what is

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John trying to communicate to us? My, look at how he starts his book. He has this prologue.

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He says, in the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God. He describes this

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Word as the unique God who is in the bosom of the Father. In verse 18,

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He has made the Father known. So we're given an introduction through which we're supposed to read the rest of the book.

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And there's all these passages in John about you need to honor the Son even as you honor the

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Father. Here in John chapter 8, we have this I am, these I am sayings.

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And in John chapter 10, I and the Father are one. The Jews are all sticking up stones to stone Jesus. Why would they do that?

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They don't stone angels. They stone people for committing blasphemy. And of course it ends up with the

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Jews accusing Jesus. We have a law and by that law He ought to die. Why? Because He made

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Himself out to be the Son of God. They understood that the Son of God was a claimed deity.

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They recognized this. Jesus Himself in John 5 had said, used the fact that God works on the

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Sabbath. He continues to make the sun to shine and the earth to stay in its orbit on the Sabbath day.

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And He claimed that for Himself. He claimed that right for Himself. The Father is working until now and I am working.

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And the Jews understand He's making Himself equal with God. And you of course have Thomas' confession of faith in John 20, 28.

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My Lord and my God. And so you have all of this material in the Gospel of John.

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And so is it really outlandish to come to John and say, does He use this particular phrase in a particular way?

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Well let's look at where He uses it and let's see if we can find a pattern. We saw verse 24.

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Unless you believe that ego I me, I am, you will die in your sins.

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And then in verse 28. That when you lift up the Son of Man then you will know that I am.

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Very same Greek phrase. And then at the end of this particular chapter, verse 58, which we saw this morning.

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Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham came into existence, before Abraham was, ego

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I me, I am. And what do the Jews do as soon as He says this? They pick up stones and stone them.

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They know exactly what He's claiming. Why do they know exactly what He's claiming? Does this phrase appear elsewhere in the

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Old Testament? Keep that question in mind. We're going to answer it once we look at a couple of other texts in the

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Gospel of John. Now turn with me to John chapter 13. John chapter 13, verse 19.

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Now, just a brief personal story here. When I was in Bible college many, many years ago,

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I had an acquaintance of mine. I learned a lesson from this. This was a man who knew a great deal about Jehovah's Witnesses.

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He studied them all the time. But he was not a man who was in the church. He was disobedient to the

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Lord in the matter of gathering with the people of God. He was imbalanced. And guess what happened to him?

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He ended up becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses. And so I had been involved in writing some letters to him and answering some of the claims that he was making.

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And this was back in the early, early days of computers.

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We had just gotten the first computer for our ministry. It was called a compact portable. It weighed about 45 pounds.

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It was the size of a sewing machine. It was portable only in that it didn't break your back to carry it.

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And it did not even have a hard drive. It had a 6 -inch green screen, about yay big.

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I think I still have eye damage from staring at it for so long. And I remember one evening, my dear wife had already gone to sleep.

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And I was sitting there typing away. And I was dealing with this subject and writing a letter for this gentleman.

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And I was looking at this text, John 13, 19.

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And if you look at the context, Jesus is talking about the future.

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That this is to fulfill the scripture, verse 18. The one who eats my bread has turned against me.

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And he says, I'm telling you this now, before it happens. So that when it happens, you may believe that I am.

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Ego, I am, again. And I remember I was looking at that in my

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Greek text. By one of those little flickering desk lamps that us poor people have.

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That they'll stay on when I'm recording real well. And I was going, I've seen this phrase somewhere before.

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I know I've seen this somewhere before. This was before the days of Bible works and accordions.

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And all the wonderful software we have now. I actually had to use books to find things back then.

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And I started thinking, where have I seen this? And I got out my copy of the Greek Septuagint.

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I said, it couldn't be there, could it? And I turned to the verse that Jehovah's Witnesses use to get their own name.

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Why are Jehovah's Witnesses called Jehovah's Witnesses? Because Isaiah 43 .10 says, you are my witnesses, says

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Jehovah. And my servant whom I have chosen. You are my witnesses, says

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Jehovah. That's where Jehovah's Witnesses got their name. It was Isaiah 43 .10. Now I knew

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Isaiah 43 .10 very well. Because it was a verse I used with Mormons all the time. We had been witnessing to Mormons for quite some time.

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Going out to Salt Lake City and out to the Mesa Easter pageants. And passing out tracts and witnessing to Mormons for quite some time.

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And the end of Isaiah 43 .10 is the verse that we always use with Mormons. Before me, there was no

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God formed. And there shall be none after me. Mormons believe they can become gods.

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They can become exalted to God. In fact, the God of this world was once a man who lived on another planet. Just like you and I.

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And so Isaiah 43 .10 just cut that idea right in half. Saying, before me there was no

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God formed. Mormons believe there are literally billions of gods out there in the cosmos. And there shall be none after me.

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Well, sorry Mr. Mormon missionary, but you're never going to become a god. And so I knew Isaiah 43 .10.

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And I knew that the Witnesses had gotten their name from it. But then when I looked at it in the Greek Septuagint.

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There I found the exact same language that Jesus uses of himself.

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In Isaiah 43, God is identifying himself as the one true God over against the false gods.

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Isaiah 40 -48 is the trial of the false gods. And there

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Jehovah challenges the other gods. Tell me what's going to happen in the future.

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You can't do it. Only the true God knows what's going to happen in the future. In fact, one of the challenges in that section is.

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Tell me what has happened in the past. And why it happened. And tell me what's going to happen in the future.

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See a historian can tell you what happened in the past. He can't always tell you why it happened. The true and sovereign

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God can fulfill his own challenge at that point. And there in that flickering little light.

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I looked at the Greek of Isaiah 43 .10. And I took my Greek New Testament. And I brought

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John 13 .19 over. And I found that here the Lord Jesus is using the very same language.

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That Yahweh uses of himself in Isaiah 43 .10. He's applying it to himself. In the context of revealing the future.

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And that's what gave me the key to start looking and seeing. How many times this phrase in Hebrew. Anahu.

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I am. Is used. And especially in Isaiah. And it becomes one of the primary identifications.

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That Jehovah uses of himself. Identifying himself to his own people.

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John 13 .19. But we continue on because this evening. We have read to us

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John Chapter 18. Did you notice what took place there? In John Chapter 18.

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The arrest of Jesus. Judas brings the soldiers into the garden of Gethsemane.

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Across the Kidron Valley. And Jesus meets them.

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He says who are you seeking? They said Jesus the Nazarene. And he said to them.

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Ego Aini. Now notice what happens here. John. Then repeats.

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He wants to make sure we understand. Judas the one betraying him was standing with them.

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And when therefore he said to them. Ego Aini. Repeats it. So we make sure that we know what

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Jesus said. When he therefore said to them. Ego Aini. They went back and fell upon the ground.

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Please. We have here soldiers. Armed men.

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With lanterns. And here comes. The carpenter from the

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Hesedeth. He has no arms. He has no defenders.

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And all he says is. Ego Aini. And they fall back upon the ground.

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It is amazing to me. The efforts that have been used by men to get around.

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What John is clearly trying to communicate. Now if we had not seen. Ego Aini before this.

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If we didn't see it in John 13. If we didn't see it in John 8. If we didn't have the Jews picking up stones. To stone

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Jesus for saying these words. Then maybe I could understand.

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Someone trying to find another way. Of understanding this. But I get just a little bit suspicious.

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When people start going. Well you know there would be. There would be a lot of vines on the ground.

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So maybe someone tripped. And knocked someone else over. Really? Yes.

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Or. Well it was his great moral purity. That knocked him backwards.

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Well I've seen soldiers. Knocked backwards by moral purity everyday. Haven't you? Not quite.

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What amazing. Feats of imagination. People come up with.

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To try to get around the fact. That it is painfully obvious. That in a book. That begins with.

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In the beginning was the word. The word was with God. The word was God. The word became flesh. And dwelt among us.

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And beheld his glory. The glory is of the only God the Father. He is called the unique God in John 1 .18. He is called my

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Lord my God in John 20 .28. In a book that says all those things. Doesn't it make sense.

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That having said. Unless you believe that I am. You will die in your sins. Does it not make sense. In quoting the

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Old Testament scriptures. Of himself. In John 13. That here at the arrest of Jesus.

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When Jesus says I am. The soldiers fall back upon him. What is

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John trying to communicate to us here? What does John want us to understand? Is it not clear.

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That in this self identification. In this very use of. The language of the

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Old Testament. To describe himself. That Jesus. Is revealing.

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His true nature. Now these soldiers. They are not experts in the law.

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They didn't know anything about. The Greek Septuagint. Or something like that. And yet they still fall back upon the ground.

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Not because they have understood. What he is saying. But because of the very power. Of the words that he speaks.

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And so we have these uses. Of this phrase. Are we over reaching the text.

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To conclude that this is another. Of the many evidences. Of the deity of Christ.

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I do not believe that we are. I believe we are being. Completely fair with John. When we ask the question.

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Does John just in a willy nilly fashion. Use this type of language. Do other people use this type of language.

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In the same type of context. No of course not. And certainly when we are first.

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Introduced to this phrase. As an issue of faith. Unless you believe that.

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I am. Now some will say well it's just that I am the Messiah. Well. That's partly true.

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I can certainly understand. Well what he meant was that I am the Messiah. Alright.

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But then why does he attach. Faith. To believe.

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That he is the I am. And then attaches this to existence. Before Abraham. Why does he allow.

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The men to pick up stones. To stone him for blasphemy. In the end of the chapter.

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Why does he say. No you don't understand. I'm just saying I'm the Messiah. That's not what he does.

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No. It is the text itself. That makes the connection. In saying.

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Unless you believe that I am. You will die. He quotes.

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The Old Testament Scriptures. Where. Jehovah was revealing his ability.

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To know the future and to reveal the future. And then as Jesus reveals the future. To his disciples. He uses the exact same context.

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To use the exact same language of himself. And then here in chapter 18.

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When he says the words. The men fall back upon him. Do you see now why

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I do not suggest. That the first thing we do. When we are discussing.

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These passages with someone. Is to immediately fly back. To Exodus chapter 3. Instead we need to go to Isaiah.

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We need to go to the line of the prophets. Where this phrase. Is used of.

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Jehovah God. Especially in those contexts. Where he is revealing the future.

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Now. Let me sort of. Add to this demonstration. Not another use of I am.

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But. Someone might be thinking. Well. Would John use this kind of.

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Tremendously exalted language. Of Jesus. And we must. We must recognize again.

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As I said in the beginning. We are making an amazing claim. When we speak.

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This way about Jesus Christ. We claim that he is the creator. Of all things. The creator entered into his own creation.

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How can this be? And yet that is what Christians have. Proclaimed from the very beginning.

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In fact I do not know if you noticed this. On Thursday evening. I will be. Showing this in my presentation.

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On the deity of Christ. In the debate. But within just the past couple of years.

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They were doing some renovations. At a prison. In Megiddo. In Israel.

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And they were digging down. And I guess it is a. Fascinating thing to dig.

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Anywhere in Israel. You are always in danger of running across. Some major archaeological find.

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Because it has been inhabited for so long. And here we have a prison. They have got prisoners. And they dig down and all of a sudden.

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They discover a mosaic floor. And they start. Clearing the dirt.

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And debris off of this floor. And they realize this is. A major archaeological find.

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But then as they are. Clearing the debris away. They start reading what the mosaic said. And they discover.

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That this was once the site. Of an extremely early. Maybe the earliest.

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Christian church. That has ever been found in history. And they can't date it.

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Perfectly yet. But it is very very early. Long before the council of Nicaea. Some people believe in the second century.

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And I have a picture. Of part of the mosaic floor. Because they have cleaned it off.

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Very very well. It is very easily read. And there you have. An ancient

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Christian woman. And evidently. There had been a table.

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That had been a part of the church. And I suppose. This is the ancient equivalent.

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Of our putting in some churches. At the end of a pew. Donated in memory of such and such a person.

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Or something like that. We have certainly seen things like that. But here in this mosaic floor.

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You can very clearly read. This woman. Has given this table. In honor.

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In blessed memory and remembrance. Of our God. Jesus Christ.

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It is very clear. The exact same type of language. You find in one of the earliest writings.

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Outside the New Testament. The bishop of Antioch. Named Ignatius. Was on his way to Rome.

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To die a martyr's death. He was to be thrown to the animals. To be torn apart.

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As a very aged man. And he wrote seven letters. As he was traveling to Rome.

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And a number of times. More than a dozen times. In those genuine letters.

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Written around. No later than 108 AD. Because that's the date of his death.

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He uses the language. Of our God. Jesus Christ. See many people will tell you.

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You're misreading John. Because that's a theology that developed. Long long down the road.

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In fact. If you had gone to seminary. Even here.

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During the seminaries. 150 years ago. You would have been told.

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That the conclusion. Of modern scholarship. The assured results.

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Of modern scholarship. Is that the gospel of John. Could not have been written. By anyone who knew

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Jesus. Because you see. It's Christology is so high. It's view of Jesus is so high.

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That it was probably written. Late in the 2nd century. Maybe in the beginning of the 3rd century.

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That's what you would have been told. By men with many degrees. I think our

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Lord has. A divine sense of humor. Because.

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While the learned men. Had come to decide. That the New Testament. Was unreliable.

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That John could not be trusted. Because it's fascinating to me.

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That as archaeology has discovered. The papyri fragments. Papyri were.

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The form of paper. Used in the ancient world. Especially in the 1930s.

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Through the 1940s and 1950s. Major finds. Of papyri were found.

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In the desert sands of Egypt. And guess. What book of the

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New Testament. Has the earliest. Attestation. Amongst those papyri.

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But of course. The Gospel of John. And in fact. Without much argumentation at all.

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We can clearly demonstrate. That there is at least one papyri fragment. From around the year.

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125 AD. And guess what that papyri fragment is of. The 18th chapter.

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Of the Gospel of John. This very same. And. All of scholarships.

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Agreed on that. There might be a couple of other fragments. That are even earlier. Not all scholars agreed about that.

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But again. The Gospel of John. So the scholars had stood and said.

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Oh. Written around 200, 220. And we find papyri copies. That are 100 years earlier than that.

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And so. We look at this. And we hear people saying. You're reading too much into this.

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Let me show you one other amazing text. In the Gospel of John. Just to sort of cement this for you.

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Turn back with me to John chapter 12. I mentioned this in passing this morning. But it's one

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I think that the believers. Really should be aware of. And know about. Because it's one we fly past.

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In essence when we're reading. Here at the end. Of Jesus's public ministry.

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He's wrapping things up. Remember the. The Greeks have come seeking him.

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And so. In response to this. Jesus gives this last. Portion of his public ministry.

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From John 13 onward. It's just for the disciples. No more public ministry recorded. By John at all.

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But I think one of the reasons. This passage is missed. Because it requires us to know. The Old Testament real well.

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And let's face it. In much of modern evangelicalism. There are only 27 books. In the canon of scripture.

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And we don't know the Old Testament. Very well at all. But if you go back to.

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Verse 37. Although Jesus had performed.

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So many miraculous signs. Before them. They still refused to believe. So that.

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The word of Isaiah the prophet. Would be fulfilled. And then we have some quotations.

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The first quotation. Lord who has believed our message. And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed. Comes from Isaiah.

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Chapter 53. But then. We have this amazing statement.

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Verse 39. For this reason. They could not believe. Because again

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Isaiah said. And then verse 40. Is a citation from the book of Isaiah.

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He is blind in their eyes. Hard in their heart. So they will not see with their eyes. And they will stay with their heart.

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And turn to me. And I will heal them. Where is that from? Well. That's from probably one of the most famous sections.

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In the book of Isaiah. Isaiah's temple vision. Remember in Isaiah chapter 6. Where Isaiah is commissioned.

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As a prophet. And he has a vision. Of Jehovah sitting upon.

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His throne. Lofty and lifted up. And. He is.

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He has the experience. Of saying woe is me. I am undone. I am man of unclean lips. I live amongst a people of unclean lips.

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And God provides forgiveness for him. And he is commissioned to go. And he is given a message. And the message is one of judgment.

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So he says how long O Lord. And I think that was how long O Lord. Can't necessarily read that into it.

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But probably that is what it was. Well this is where these words came from. They come from Isaiah chapter 6.

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Verse 10. Then we have this one. Uncritical statement.

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Verse 41. And I think we just go flying past it. And never stop to think about what it is saying.

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Isaiah said these things. Because he saw his glory. And spoke about him.

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Isaiah said these things. Because he saw his glory. And he spoke about him.

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Well who is the only his. In the context. Look at the very next verse. Nevertheless even among the rulers.

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Many believed in him. Well who is the him. The him is Christ. The him is Jesus. So when did

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Isaiah. See his glory. Well who did.

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Isaiah say he saw. In Isaiah 6. I saw the

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Lord. Lofty lifted up. Sitting upon the throne. In his temple. And here is.

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Just a small fact. That I went through. Bible college. I went through seminary.

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And I never learned this. I was working on. My first doctorate.

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Before I ever learned. This little fact. Notice it says. Isaiah said these things.

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Because he saw Christ glory. That is his glory. Literally he saw his glory.

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Once again. If you get out that volume. That I got out of the flickering little light.

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Called the Greek Septuagint. You discover that there is. A small variation. In the wording of that translation.

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In the Hebrew Masoretic text. Hebrew Masoretic text. The Hebrew text of the

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Old Testament. And it is. Fascinating to me. That when you read Isaiah 6.

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In the Greek translation. Which is what John is quoting from. He is quoting directly from the

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Greek translation. He is not directly quoting from the Hebrew. He is directly quoting from the Greek. The difference is that at the end of.

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Verse 1 of chapter 6. Instead of the Hebrew where it says. And the train of his road.

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Was filling the temple. At the end of verse 1. The Greek Septuagint says. And I saw his glory.

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In the exact. Same words that John. Uses in verse 41.

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In John chapter 12. And so. Anyone who is sitting there with the

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Greek. Translation of the Old Testament. They have just read verse 10. That he has just quoted.

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From that Greek translation. They look up the beginning of that section. There. Isaiah sees the glory.

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Of Jehovah. What does John tell us? Isaiah said these things.

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Because he saw. Jesus' glory. And spoke about. When the

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New Testament writers. Who are monotheistic Jews. They believe there is one

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God. They would get up in the morning. And they would repeat the Shema. Shema Yisrael.

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Yahweh Elohim. Yahweh our God. Yahweh is our God. They believe in two gods.

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They were not polytheists. And so. When those men. Are willing to take the very words.

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Of the Old Testament. They can only be applied. To Jehovah.

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And bring them in the New Testament. And apply them to Jesus. What does that tell you about what their faith is?

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Who did they believe Jesus was? A mere prophet. Michael the Archangel?

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No. They recognized that Jehovah Himself had entered into human existence, the person of Jesus Christ.

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He truly is the eternal Son. Now, I think I might have another five minutes to show you one of them.

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Alright, let me show you one of them, because this one, this one is so exciting to me. We're going to leave

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John for a moment, and I want to show you one other place, because I want to demonstrate this is not the only place where the

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New Testament identifies Jesus as Jehovah, as Yahweh. Yahweh is the better pronunciation.

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There wasn't any J in Hebrew to begin with, so Jehovah is not even a possibility, though that's our traditional way of rendering that particular word.

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Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1. Now, just on a level of usefulness to you, this is just, just...

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If you are ever in a situation, maybe at the door, maybe on the tube, whatever it might be, and you're speaking life with one of Jehovah's Witnesses or someone like that, what

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I would exhort you to do is, if you want to show someone... And I did this, I had a couple of elders,

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Jehovah's Witness elders, a number of years ago, and they just straight -up started off by saying, look, we know that you're a minister, we just have one question for you.

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Why in the world would anyone who knows what you know believe in the doctrine of Jehovah? Why would anyone?

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I said, well, let me tell you why. I said, because the name Yahweh, the name Jehovah, that makes

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Jehovah's Witness pervert. They're not used to hearing people use that name. They think nobody else uses that name but them.

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And so I said, because the name Jehovah is used in the New Testament of the Father, and of the Son, and of the

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Spirit. Now for a Jehovah's Witness, if Jesus identifies Jehovah, all the rest of those passages they like to argue about become irrelevant.

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God, a God, all that stuff's irrelevant. If Jesus is Jehovah, that's the end of the argument as far as they're concerned.

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And so what I like to do is I like to say, well, could I ask you to read a passage from your own

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Bible? They can use the New World Translation, their mistranslation of the Bible at this point, all they want. And I ask them to read me

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Psalm 102, verses 25 -27. I want to write that down,

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Psalm 102, verses 25 -27. Is there a

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Bible over here? Yes. I have a

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Bible. I have just the New Testament in here, so...

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Psalm 102, verses 25 -27. And there we read,

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Of old you lay the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure.

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Yes, all of them will grow old like a garment, like a cloak you will change, and they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.

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Now I ask them, as soon as they read it, I say, now would you do me a favor? Would you tell me who is being discussed here?

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And all they have to do is go back to, for example, verse 22. And the kingdoms to serve the

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LORD. Now in your New King James Version, you see the word LORD there, but notice it's

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O -R -D in all caps. When you see O -R -D written with all capital forms in the

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Old Testament of your Bible, that is the English Bible translator's way of telling you that the underlying

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Hebrew term is Yahweh or Jehovah. L -O -R -D in all caps is

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Jehovah. Now the Jehovah's Witnesses in their Bible, they write it out. They've got Jehovah over 5 ,000 -6 ,000 times in the

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Old Testament. So theirs will say, in the kingdoms to serve Jehovah. So I go, now who's being discussed here?

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Well this is Jehovah. This is talking about how Jehovah doesn't change, right? How Jehovah endures.

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How the creation ages, but Jehovah does not age. And you are the same.

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Your years will have no end, etc., etc., right? Yes. Then an important question.

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Could those words be said of anyone else? Could it be said of anyone else that they created all things, they're the creator of all things, and that they are the unchanging creator of all things?

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And they'll say, well of course not, no. Good. Now, keep your finger there and turn with me to Hebrews chapter 1.

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And you don't have to fight with them about mistranslations in their text or anything else. They do have a text here that's questionably translated.

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All you gotta do is go to Hebrews chapter 1 and say, now, beginning with verse 8, it says,

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But of the Son, he says. And I stop and I go, who's the Son? Well, that's

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Jesus. So we're talking about the Son here, right? Yes. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.

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Do not be thrown off by the fact that their translation will say, God is your throne. Don't worry about it.

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Let that pass for now, and you can come back to it later. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and a righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.

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You have loved righteousness, and have hated lawlessness. So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions with the oil of rejoicing.

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And, verse 10. Now, what does and mean? Well, verse 8 said,

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Of the Son. So now, continuing that, this is also said, Of the Son.

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And look at what we have here. You found the earth in the beginning, Lord, and the heavens are the works of your hands.

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They will perish, but you continue. They will roll like a garment, like rope. You will fold them up like a garment.

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They will be changed, but you are the same, and your ears will never run out. Guess where that's from?

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And guess what? In the Jehovah's Witness reference file, right over in the center column, there will be a little letter, reference in the middle, and guess what will refer to Jehovah's Witnesses?

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Psalm 102, 25 -27. They don't even have to believe you, when you tell them where it's from.

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Now, if you had them read it first, they're going to be able to tell. But even their own Bible will confirm, yes, this is a citation of Psalm 102.

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When they've already agreed with you, these words could not be used of anyone but Jehovah God, then please tell me what the writer of Hebrews is doing.

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Applying them to Jesus. Unless, he is a Christian believer.

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Jehovah's Witnesses believe he is the first and greatest of God's creations, Michael the Archangel. But these words could not be said of Michael the

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Archangel. So here you have in Hebrews, we take a text from the

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Old Testament, only about the unchanging God, and apply it to Jesus. Gospel of John, text from Isaiah chapter 6, where Isaiah saw the glory of Jehovah sitting upon his throne, apply it to Jesus in John chapter.

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How could these writers, who confessed absolute monotheism, say these things of Jesus?

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Unless they believed that Jesus truly was Emmanuel, God with us, the

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Great I Am. That is the biblical testimony. We believe in the deity of Christ, we believe in the doctrine of Trinity, not because some council 300 years after the time of Jesus told us to.

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Were those councils important? Of course they were. Did they determine our belief? No. Even the council of Nicaea in 325

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AD had to fight for its acceptance on the basis of the argumentation found in the word of God.

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There is so much falsehood. Running about the internet, so much falsehood,

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I want to repeat this fact by scholarship today. We need to know why we believe more.

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Because as the scriptures say, we are to give an answer for the hope that lies within us, yet with gentleness and reverence.

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And it's difficult, let's be honest with ourselves, it's difficult to give an answer with gentleness and reverence when we feel a lack of confidence.

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We need to know we believe. our faith increases, our ability to proclaim that truth to others increases as well.

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Let's close. Indeed, our Heavenly Father, we do thank

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You for the opportunity, the freedom that we yet have to gather in the name of Christ in this place, to open

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Your Word and to consider these things. And Father, as we have looked at the testimony of Your Word, to the great glory of Your Son, may we remember, may

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You cause our hearts and minds to be receptive, and when we have opportunity to speak to those around us who have been given false

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Gospels, false religious beliefs that would keep them from bowing the knee to Christ, may we with confidence open

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Your Word and demonstrate what Your Word teaches. For we know that Your Spirit uses

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Your Word to bring about that glorious transformation of a sinner to one who loves

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God and has bowed the knee to Christ. And so we thank You for this evening. We ask that You would help us to remember these things, give us opportunity to share them with others.