Pauls Epistle to the Colossi (12)

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Again I had a wonderful time this week with Ross and other men who are in the ministry out in Sacramento.

There were about 25 of us who sat and listened to Michael Hagen teach on the early church, up to Patrick, St.

Patrick, who brought the gospel to Britain. And Dr.

Hagen personalized these early church fathers. He told other stories, too. And, you know, we have such a rich heritage.

I had heard of Grimshaw in the past. I forget his first name. I think it might be William. But somehow

Michael Hagen got off on William Grimshaw, who lived a couple hundred years ago.

He was an unconverted man who became a preacher, a pastor in the

Church of England, Anglican. And he was a drunkard and a gambler.

And he thought, I'll go into the ministry. I can put in my, you know, work on Sunday morning, and I can have more time for my drinking and gambling through the week, if you can imagine that.

He took a church of about 12 people or so, and so he was quite happy and content.

A young couple in his church had a baby and died of crib death. So they came to him and asked for his counsel, and he basically says, well, time is a good healer.

You know, be like me, you know. Soothe your sorrows and drink, and in time it will go away.

A couple months later, they came back, of course, and there was no help. And he realized he had absolutely nothing to say to these people, even though he was an ordained bishop in the

Church of England. And so he was convicted about that. And so he began to make a ledger.

On one side, he listed all his sins. On the other side, all of his good deeds.

And he did that for quite an extended period of time. And he became very convicted about his sin.

But he was clueless. And so you can imagine this. He stood up before his congregation one day, and he says, we're all damned in our sins, we're all going to hell, and I don't have a clue as to how to get out of it.

Can you imagine that being a sermon? And he was visiting somewhere in a home, and there was a book on justification lying there, written by John Owen.

And he picked it up, said he opened it, there was a blast of heat that hit him. He closed it.

Opened it up again. Anyway, he took it home. And, of course, he learned the Gospel through that, was gloriously converted.

And Grimshaw became a very bold preacher. And within a dozen years, he had 6 ,000 or 7 ,000 in his congregation.

And he would preach throughout the region, and he would go over parish boundaries, which was forbidden to do, and preach the

Gospel in other parishes where there wasn't any Gospel preached by the Church of England.

And he caused such a row that some of the neighboring pastors would actually hire thugs with clubs to meet him at the line and beat him up if he came over.

And the other preachers paid these thugs in beer to beat up Grimshaw when he'd go around and preach the

Gospel. But just a wonderful story. And so Michael Haken talked about the biography, so I had to order it.

And it was already at home when I arrived home yesterday. I'm looking forward to getting into it. William Grimshaw.

Well, our last time together in Colossians 2, which was two Sundays past, we began to consider the paragraph contained in Colossians 2, verses 6 through 15.

The Apostle Paul had set before these Christians in this local church in Colossae the centrality and significance of Jesus Christ to their faith and their life.

Whatever the nature of the error that plagued this church, it was an effort to direct their focus on matters other than Jesus Christ.

And so Paul sought to correct them in this matter. And here in this paragraph before us,

Colossians 2, 6 through 15, we have the Apostle pressing upon his readers that they be devoted wholly to Jesus Christ.

And they were not to allow anyone or any teaching to divert them from their commitment to Christ. And so in this paragraph, he set forth the sufficiency of the

Lord Jesus to enable them to live before him. And he's able to do so because he has all authority, having caused them to be born again, and that he saved them from any and all things that threatened him.

Now, you will recall we proposed an outline for this paragraph that was based on the two main verbs, one in verse 6 and one in verse 8.

In verses 6 and 7, Paul emphasized their need to be walking in Christ. And then in verses 8 through 15,

Paul exhorted them to be essentially watching in Christ. And really, we like the translation, beware, rather than seek to it.

There is a need to be on guard here that he's pressing upon them. In other words, to be on guard against anyone or any teaching that would lead them astray, lead them away from the centrality and sufficiency of Jesus Christ to their faith and practice.

We already, two weeks ago, addressed the subject walking in him, and we began to address the matter of watching in him, but we want to continue to do so today.

And so let's read verses 8 through 15. See to it, or beware, is really a warning.

Beware that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

And in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities, and put them to open shame by triumphing over them.

A couple weeks ago we saw that there were two kinds of errors that threatened the church. We saw in verse 8, and they came in the form of philosophy.

Not formal philosophy as we know it down through the ages, but any really worldview that would direct them away from Jesus Christ at the heart and center of it.

From philosophy, and from just plain empty deception, error.

We read earlier how they remained subjected to what appeared to them to be plausible arguments, and yet it was leading them astray.

See to it, beware, that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit. And there are two ways in which these two errors were promoted among them.

Error was promoted first, according to human tradition. That's a very powerful force that influences people, or their family, their nation.

We've always done it that way. It must be of God. Look how ancient it is, our practice is.

And then secondly, according to the elemental spirits of the world.

And here he's talking about things that were going on in Asia Minor at the time.

A lot of mystery religions, mysticism, spiritism, that kind of nonsense.

And then he declared that both the preventive and corrective for the false teaching that was corrupting the Church at Colossae was to see their identity and sufficiency in Jesus Christ alone.

These errors that troubled them were not according to Christ. And there's the test by which everything may be assessed.

Everything may be governed. In other words, these false teachings would direct them to things, to matters that had essentially nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

And many that profess to be Christian churches do the same thing today. Even among Protestant churches, you find that.

And the apostle then explained further in verses 9 and 10, And so the

Holy Spirit has set before us two great essentials in understanding who we are as Christians. Two matters for which we are always to be on guard.

First, the deity of Jesus Christ is to be believed and affirmed. And this teaching of which should be preserved and guarded.

And then secondarily, the truth that Christians are complete in Him is to be taught, affirmed, and preserved.

And so, although this is the second Lord's Day in which we're dealing with this paragraph, there will be more because we're not getting any further than that first clause of verse 9, which is one of the clearest statements in Scripture of the deity of Jesus Christ.

For in Him, the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.

And we want to address this today and concern ourselves with this matter today. And then next week, at least at the beginning,

Lord willing, we'll consider what it is to be filled in Him. He is full of God, the fullness of God bodily, and we are filled in Him, is what

Paul says. And therefore, don't be directed by this nonsense. Don't allow anything to divert you from this matter.

And so, this doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ is, of course, essential and foundational for our faith.

Some might take it for granted. We shouldn't, because there are those that deny it, and deny it in different degrees as well.

Jesus of Nazareth is a man attested by God by miracles, wonders, and signs. He is none other than the eternally begotten

Son of God. And here is the ancient Nicene Creed, formally adopted by the churches in A .D.

325, in which the early church set forth to describe the person of our Lord Jesus. And they did so in the context of refuting heresy.

It drove them to the Scriptures, and this was their conclusion. We believe in one God, the

Father Almighty, maker of all things, visible and invisible. And in one

Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from the Father, only begotten, that is, from the being of the

Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the

Father, through whom all things came into being, things in heaven, things on earth, who because of us men, and because our salvation came down and became incarnate, becoming man, suffered, rose again on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and will come to judge the living and the dead.

And at this time their doctrine of the Holy Spirit was not fully articulated, clear, but they affirmed, and in the

Holy Spirit, we believe in the Holy Spirit. But as for those who say there was when He was not, in other words, there was a time when

Jesus Christ wasn't in existence, and this was the nature of the heresy of the day, before being born

He was not, and that He came into existence out of nothing, created being, like Mormons teach, and Jehovah's Witnesses teach, and they taught back then the heretics, or who assert that the

Son of God is of a different hypothesis or being of God, in other words, in essence, not truly

God, or is subject to alteration or change, which these, the Catholic, and that's lower

C, not capital C, Universal and Apostolic Church, anathematizes.

In other words, they declared that you are damned, you are not a Christian, you are not saved, unless you affirm this about the

Lord Jesus Christ. And so, it was affirmed as an essential. There are some things that are not essential, that we can differ on, not this one, this is one that is absolutely essential to the faith.

And later, at the Council of Chalcedon, or Chalcedon in 481, the person of the

Lord Jesus was set forth more fully and clearly, because between 325 and 451 there were other heresies, regarding the

Lord Jesus, and so, there it stated the conclusion, we then following the

Holy Fathers, and that would have been the earlier Church Fathers that had written after the Apostolic Age, as well as the

Apostles probably in this context, all with one consent teach men to confess one and the same

Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead, and also perfect in manhood, truly

God and truly man, of a reasonable, in other words rational, soul and body, not just a human body, but a human soul, mind, thinking, he had two natures, one human, one divine.

Consubstantial with us, according to the manhood, in all things like unto us, without sin, begotten before all ages of the

Father, according to the Godhead, and in these latter days for us and for our salvation, born of the

Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, we would take issue with that statement, that was a common statement, but God was not born to Mary, His human nature certainly was, but not

His divine nature from eternity. According to the manhood, and one and the same

Christ Son, Lord, only begotten to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusably, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably, the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union.

Our Lord has two natures, He has a divine nature and a human nature,

He is infinite in His thinking, in His human nature He thinks, He was born as a baby,

He had to learn and acquire wisdom and knowledge, and He did so. Two capacities of knowledge, two human nature emotions that affected the

Lord Jesus, two natures in the sense that the

Lord Jesus of course again grew in wisdom and stature with man and God.

Two wills, a divine will in His divine nature, and a human will,

Father let this cup pass from me, not my will however, but Thine be done. He had a human will, always in subjection to the divine will of course,

He was without sin. And so the property of each nature, being preserved and concurring in one person,

He wasn't two persons, one of the heresies of the day said He was two persons, no He is one person with two natures, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same

Son, the only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning Him, and the

Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught us, and the creed of the Holy Fathers is handed down to us.

Probably a reference to the Nicene Creed that we read earlier. And so there is the full delineation of the doctrine of the person of the

Lord Jesus Christ. He's a divine person who took upon Himself human nature, becoming man, eternal

God. And so the scriptures set forth clearly the deity of the Lord Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth in a number of ways, and it would serve us well to review some of these, and I've set down for us nine different ways in which the deity of Jesus Christ is set forth in the scriptures.

I'm sure there are more than these, but these should be sufficient for and to anyone with a heart and mind open to the truth that this is the clear teaching of the

Christian faith. And so I want to rehearse these. Now I've got what, 13 pages of notes?

And that's only because I diminished the margins to squeeze it in from 15 pages. There's no way in the world we're going to get through the next 20 -25 minutes.

But I thought that it would at least be good in one collection for you as a resource.

You know Mike and Johnny Cappadona have been having the Jehovah's Witnesses come over for numerous weeks, you know a handful of months every

Saturday. And so Mike's been preparing ahead of time for these. And the woman who had been coming weekly started bringing the heavy guns, and finally brought in the heavy gun, the big gun last week

I guess, or the week before I left. And he finally got upset when Mike kept pointing to the scriptures and said,

I don't want any more of this, and walked away. And Mike and Connie seemed to think that the woman might be somewhat persuaded and aware of just how weak the arguments were that were being passed on.

This is an important matter, and you never know when you'll be called to defend this truth. But there's numerous ways in which the deity of the

Lord Jesus Christ is set forth in the scriptures. I'm not going to read all the verses, but I want to delineate the ways and maybe break down in some detail as to how you can show forth the

Lord Jesus as God incarnate. Well first, certainly Jesus Christ as God is amply testified in the scriptures.

And really number nine is similar to this. It can be a subset of this, but we're going to look at number one here.

And so we can read in the opening verses of John's Gospel, for example, John 1 -1, in the beginning was the

Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God. And then in verse 14, and the

Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Clearly this teaches us that Jesus is

God. Opening words of Hebrews 1, Jesus is addressed in Hebrews 1 verse 8, but to the

Son He says, God says, Your throne O God, this is directed to the Son, Your throne

O God, calling the Son God is forever and ever, a scepter of righteousness is a scepter of Your kingdom.

John 20 verse 28, Thomas confessed that Jesus was God. Thomas answered and said to Him, My Lord and my

God. If this were not true, Jesus would have rebuked Him immediately. But it's a truth affirmed.

Acts 20 -28, Jesus is identified directly as God. When Paul warned the elders at Ephesus, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the

Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, the church of God, which

He, God, hath purchased with His own blood. Clearly a reference to Jesus Christ.

Because the Father did not die on the cross, the Son did. The Son is

God, He purchased us with His own blood. And then there are several verses in 1

John that speak directly to the deity of our Lord Jesus. 1 John 3 .16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us.

Notice God laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. Again it was not

God the Father that laid down His life for us, but Jesus Christ, here identified as God. 1

John 5 .20 it states, We know that the Son of God has come, has given us an understanding, that we may know

Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true. It is our Jesus Christ, this is the true

God and eternal life. The Apostle Paul declared in 1

Timothy 3 .16 Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifested in the flesh.

And then from John's Gospel alone I cited a number of verses, and we are not going to read those, but they are there, in which the deity of the

Lord Jesus is set forth in very clear terms in many different ways.

And so that's one way the Scripture testifies to the deity of the

Lord. A second way in which the deity of the Lord Jesus can be shown or proven is that there are attributes of Jesus that are only true of God, for they are the incommunicable attributes that only

God can possess. Let me explain. When speaking about the attributes of God we may identify some as communicable and some as incommunicable.

These attributes that are communicable are those which we also can be like.

He is able to communicate those to us. And so they are real in us in a finite manner, but they are actually in us.

But on the other hand, incommunicable attributes can only be true of God. And so communicable attributes like love, and holiness, be holy as I am holy, these are communicable attributes of God.

But there are incommunicable attributes that are true of God only and cannot be true of creatures, of human beings.

And yet they are applied to Jesus. And therefore these incommunicable attributes of Jesus betray

He must be God, He can be none other. And so you have, for example,

Jesus is described as eternal, only God is eternal. Secondly, Jesus is infinite, as only

God can be infinite. You can't be infinite, you and I are finite by definition.

Jesus is omniscient, as only God can be omniscient. Another communicable attribute is knowledge, but He is omniscient, we are limited.

But we can have knowledge like God has knowledge, that's a communicable attribute. But it is incommunicable in omniscience.

Fourth, Jesus is omnipotent, as only God can be all -powerful. You and I can't be all -powerful, no human being can be, but the

Lord Jesus Christ is. And so Jesus Christ manifests

God's incommunicable attributes that are unique to God cannot be said to be experienced by finite mortal human beings, and therefore

God, as God is eternal, so is Jesus. As God is infinite, so is Jesus. As God is omniscient, so is

Jesus. As God is omnipotent, so is Jesus. The conclusion, Jesus is God. Ironclad argument.

Thirdly, there are relations that Jesus has with God the Father that can only lead to the conclusion that Jesus Himself is eternal

God. We'll only cite several. First, He is the only begotten

Son of the Father, only begotten Son. Second, Jesus is the very image of God the

Father, and therefore He must be, and He certainly is,

God and only God. The fourth way in which the deity of the

Lord Jesus can be shown, there are acts that Jesus did that can only be done by God, proving

Jesus to be eternal God incarnate. And there are a number of these.

First, Jesus refers to Himself as the author of the believer's election. He told

His disciples in John's Gospel, I do not speak concerning all of you, I know whom I have chosen.

Commonly, the scriptures attribute the believer's election to God the Father, but here the Lord Jesus speaks of His having elected

His own. Again, one must conclude that Jesus is God. Secondly, Jesus is shown to have known the inner secrets of men's unexpressed thoughts.

Matthew 9, 4, but Jesus knowing their thoughts. Only God can know men's thoughts.

You don't, I don't. Jesus could, He can, because He's God. Third, Jesus hears the prayers of His people.

You ask anything in my name, I will do it. Only God can hear and answer prayer. Mary can't hear your prayers.

Angels can't hear your prayers. Saints, those Christians who have died in the past, they can.

Only God has that capability. Fourth, Jesus will be the judge of all human beings.

For the Father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the Son. Only God could judge the entire human race, because He knows all things.

He can judge everybody according to righteousness. Fifth, Jesus creates as only

God can create. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. He's the

Creator. Sixth, Jesus commands as only God can command. He said to them, why are you fearful,

O you of little faith? He arose to rebuke the winds and sea, and there was a great calm. He has authority over creation.

And Jesus forgives sins. Only God can forgive sins. But that you may know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.

I say unto Him, get up, take up your bed and walk. Jesus sanctifies

His people as only God can sanctify. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God to those who believe in His name.

How could He sanctify His people unless He were God? And He glorifies as only

God can glorify. He's going to glorify His people. And so there are acts that Jesus did that can only be done by God proving

Him to be eternal God incarnate. A fifth way in which the deity of Jesus Christ can be shown, it can be shown that Jesus Christ is

God by the manner in which His disciples regarded Him and related to Him. And this is certainly the case throughout the gospel accounts.

His disciples regarded Him and treated Him as only God would be regarded and treated, showing they believed

Jesus to be God. And so first Jesus is believed on as God would be believed on.

He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he's not believed in the name of the only begotten

Son of God. And so to believe on Jesus as we believe on God, for Jesus is

God. Secondly, Jesus is loved as only they the disciples would love

God. 1 Corinthians 16, if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ let him be accursed, let him be damned.

O Lord come. The disciples loved Jesus as they would only love

God because Jesus is God. Third, Jesus would be obeyed as God alone would be obeyed.

John 17 5, Jesus is praying to His Father while He was still speaking, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them.

Suddenly a voice came out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved Son. I don't think that's

John 17 5 it's probably Luke 17 5 I'm thinking, because John 17 5 is

Jesus' pastoral prayer, but this is an account of the transfiguration which

I think is Luke 17, but again I'm going off the cuff on that one.

But the point is this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased, hear Him. And that command of the

Father to hear His Son means listen to Him, teach you and listen to Him, command you and do what He says. Christians obey

Jesus Christ as God. Four, Jesus is prayed to as though He were

God. When Stephen was stoned as he was calling upon God as he was dying,

Lord Jesus received my spirit. He was praying to Jesus. Normally in the

Scriptures we pray to the Father, and that's right, through the merit of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, but it's okay to pray to Jesus too.

Although that's not the common way that we do it. Jesus Himself said to His disciples, when you pray, pray in this manner, our

Father who art in Heaven. Fifth, Jesus is praised as God is praised.

Revelation 5 13, every creature which is in Heaven, on earth, and unto the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,

I heard saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever.

Notice how the Lamb of God, Jesus, is linked with the Father, is equal, deserving of praise from all of creation.

The same thing that is said of the Father in Revelation 4 is said of the Son, the Redeemer, in Revelation 5.

You could only do that if Jesus were God. Sixth, Jesus is adored by His people as God is adored.

Hebrews 1 .6, when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, let all the angels of God worship

Him. How can you worship Jesus unless He's God? And so to praise

God, or praise Jesus Christ as only God deserves to be praised, would mean that Jesus Himself is

God, and worthy to be praised. Sixth, in John's Gospel, there are a number of sayings in which

Jesus uses the expression, I am. A whole other category of Scripture proofs.

And so by our Lord's own confession, He is God. This is linked, of course, our

Lord's sayings were linked with the revelation of God to Moses in the Old Testament at the burning bush. God called and commissioned

Moses to go deliver the people of Israel out of Egypt. And Moses said, well, who am

I going to say sent me? When they ask, surely they're going to ask. Indeed when I come to the children of Israel, say to them, the

God of your fathers has sent me to you. They say to me, what is His name? What shall I say to them? And God said to Moses, I am who

I am. And that is the translation of God's proper name.

My proper name is Lars, God's proper name is translated, I am.

Or Yahweh, commonly understood or said as Jehovah, that's His proper name.

And so God identified Himself to Moses as I am, which signifies God's eternal nature, as well as His everlasting commitment to see that His word and His promises are fulfilled, and that He was faithful to the covenant promises and commitments that He had made to His people.

And when our Lord Jesus was speaking before a crowd, He identified Himself as the great I am, or the

Jehovah, it's actually Yahweh of the Old Testament. Jesus is

Jehovah. One clear example of this was in John 8 where our

Lord was engaging those who were opposed to Him, and He declared, most assuredly

I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death. Well the Jews responded, or reacted to Him, now we know that you have a demon,

Abraham is dead, and the prophets, and you say if anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death. Are you greater than our father

Abraham who is dead? And the prophets are dead, whom do you make yourself out to be? And Jesus answered, if I honor

Myself, My honor is nothing, it is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God, yet you have not known

Him, but I know Him. And if I say I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you, but I do know

Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, he saw it and was glad.

And then the Jews said to Him, are you not yet 50 years old? Have you seen Abraham? And Jesus said to them, most assuredly

I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. What a claim! Jesus is claiming to be the

God of the burning bush, His Eternal God.

Well they knew what He was claiming, they took up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the

Temple. Now aside from this one forthright statement in which He identified

Himself as I Am, there are a number of other I Am sayings of Jesus in John's Gospel. And through the

Greek construction you can see it is clear He is declaring that I Am. Ego Ame.

Ego is a personal pronoun, first person singular I, Ego. Ame is a verb to be, first person singular,

Ego Ame, I Am. And so Jesus declared, I am the bread of life, that was a declaration of deity, as the light of the world.

Secondly, I am the light of the world. Third, Jesus is the door of the sheep. Most assuredly

I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. And when they heard Him speak, probably in Aramaic, they would have been struck, this guy is claiming to be

God. I Am. Jesus is a good shepherd, I am the good shepherd.

Jesus is the resurrection of life, I am the resurrection of life. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the true vine. Over against Israel, the undependable, fruitless vine,

He is the true vine. I am the true vine. Each of these metaphors of our Lord used to describe

Himself, used His Greek pronoun verb construction, I Am. And so each one of these instances calls the reader back to that great declaration of God to Moses, I Am who

I Am. Jesus confessed Himself to be God. And you have one other clear instance in Gethsemane when

Jesus was arrested in the garden. He revealed Himself to His captors as the great I Am.

And Judas, having received a detachment of troops and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns, torches, and weapons.

Jesus, therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, Whom are you seeking? They answered

Him, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said to them, I Am He. If I remember right, the

He is really not in the Greek text. He just declares I Am. I could be mistaken about that. But notice

Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with Him. Now when He said to them, I Am He, they drew back and fell to the ground.

They clearly understood what His claim was being. A seventh way in which the deity of our

Lord Jesus can be demonstrated is there are several accounts of our Lord's dealings with unbelieving Jewish leaders that reveal

Jesus as God. They knew what He was claiming. They accused Him of blasphemy because of His claims that He was

God. And so, first, when Jesus asserted clearly His deity, the

Jews did not believe on Him and desired to kill Him. Jesus said to them, Most assuredly

I say to you before Abraham was I Am. What happened? They took up stones to throw at Him because Jesus hid

Himself went out the temple going through the midst of them and passed by. Our Lord clearly set forth

His deity and the Jewish leaders knew that He was doing so and so they would stone

Him. On another occasion, Jesus made Himself equal with God when

He claimed to be the Son of God. We read of this encounter in John 5. The man whom

Jesus healed departed, told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the

Jews persecuted Jesus, sought to kill Him because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them,

My Father has been working until now, I've been working. And therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill

Him because He not only broke the Sabbath but also said that God was His Father making

Himself equal with God. That passage decimates the Jehovah's Witness argument because they say that He's the

Son of God, but not God the Son. These Jews understood that you claim to be the

Son of God, you're making yourself equal with God. And so they would stone Him for that.

And then at His trial, His opposers knew He was claiming to be God. Matthew 26, the

High Priest arose said to Him, do you answer nothing? What is it these men testify against you?

Jesus kept silent, however. The High Priest answered, said to Him, I put you under oath by the living

God. Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to Him, it is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the

Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of Heaven. It's basically saying that I'm the

Son of God and I'm going to judge you one day, you're going to see me one day. You're going to see me in my kingly power and authority.

Well, when the High Priest heard this he tore his clothes which was a violation of the Law of Moses. And he declared, he spoke in blasphemy, what further need do we have of witnesses?

Look, now you've heard blasphemy, what do you think? He's deserving of death. Jesus claimed to be

God. Well, next, whoops I've got two number 7's, this should be 8, maybe

I have 10 instead of 9, huh? I don't know. The next is the Lord Jesus speaks of four great parallels between Himself and God the

Father that affirms His deity. I read this once in Robert Raymond's theology, it's very good.

In Matthew 11, 25 -27 we have a parallel set forth. And these parallels show both an association and equality between the persons of God the

Father and God the Son. And it was Gerhardus Voss a biblical scholar of a generation ago described this,

Matthew 11, as the culminating point of our Lord's self -disclosure in the synoptics.

In other words in Matthew, Mark, and Luke those are the synoptics because they are parallel with one another, different from John's Gospel in order and description of events.

But he says this is the highlight, this is the supreme expression of who

God is through Jesus' words in Matthew 11. At that time

Jesus answered and said, I thank you Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that you've hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes even so Father for so it seemed good in your sight.

All things have been delivered to me by my Father no one knows the Son except the Father nor does anyone know the

Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal

Him. And Gerhardus Voss pointed out four parallels between the

Son of God and His Father. The first parallel that Jesus draws between His Father and Himself is the mutual and exclusive knowledge that the

Father has of the Son and the Son has of the Father. The Father is infinite how can

Jesus know the Father fully unless He too is infinite? No one knows the

Son except the Father nor does anyone know the Father except the Son. Jesus emphasizes the exclusive nature of this knowledge.

No one knows the Father except the Son. And the Greek word is a heightened form for emphasis

He knows the Father, not just ginoske, in other words He knows but rather epiginoske, there's a preposition on the front epi,

E -P -I in the Greek and it emphasizes it's an accentuated form.

He really knows the Father. There's a mutual knowledge of one another and it speaks of the same kind of knowledge of the same degree as the

Father knows the Son, the Son knows the Father. It's exclusive knowledge. And so Voss described it this way, the essential rather than acquired knowledge is meant, follows from the correlation of the two clauses, the knowledge of God as of Jesus cannot be acquired knowledge, it must from the fact be

God's knowledge, be direct, intuitive, immediate, wrote Raymond the theologian, consequently the knowledge that Jesus has of God cannot be acquired knowledge either, it must be direct, intuitive, immediate, in a word divine, for these two are placed entirely on a line.

In other words if the one is different from human knowledge then the other must be so likewise.

That is an ironclad argument of the deity of Jesus Christ. And so the only conclusion to be drawn is that God has this exclusive and interpenetrating knowledge of the

Son because He is the Father of the Son. And that Jesus has this exclusive and interpenetrating knowledge of the

Father of God because He is the Son of the

Father. And thus we see the equality of the persons. We see the divinity of the Lord Jesus asserted by this parallel of mutual knowledge of the

Father and the Son. The second parallel that Jesus draws between His Father and Himself is the mutual necessity to reveal each other if people are going to know either one of them.

And so Jesus thanks the Father for having hidden truths of Him from some but revealed Him to others.

And then later Jesus declared, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son. And so the

Son has infinite knowledge of the Father, and He and He alone, and therefore He alone has the capability to reveal the

Father to people. This too affirms the deity of the Lord Jesus. Only God can reveal

God because only God can know God. Third, the third parallel that Jesus draws between His Father and Himself is a mutual authority that each possesses.

Jesus refers to the Father as the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Jesus also says with reference to Himself, all things have been delivered to me.

And of course in another place Jesus said, all authority is given to me in Heaven and Earth. That's a profound statement.

Each one, the Father and the Son, is all powerful. How could the Son have all power and the

Father have all power? It must be one and the same, God.

It can only be. And then the fourth parallel that Jesus draws between His Father and Himself is the mutual exercise of sovereign will that each exercises.

And so the third parallel spoke of the ability of both the Father and the Son to be equal. They are equal in power.

But this fourth parallel we're saying shows they are equal in sovereign exercise of that power to accomplish

His will. The Father is sovereign in His ability and selection of who will come to know

Him and His Son in salvation. And in the same way the Son is sovereign in His ability and selection of who will come to know the

Father and Him in salvation. B .B. Warfield wrote of this revelation of the

Father and the Son in this passage, "...in it our Lord asserts for Himself a relation of practical equality with the

Father, here described in most elevated terms as the Lord of Heaven and Earth, as the Father only can know the

Son, as the Son only can know the Father, and others may know the Father only as He is revealed by the

Son. That is, not merely is the Son the exclusive revealer of God, but the mutual knowledge of the

Father and the Son is put on what seems very much apar. The Son can be known only by the

Father in all that He is, as if His being were infinite and as such inscrutable to the finite intelligence, and His knowledge alone, again as if He were infinite in His attributes, is competent to compass the depths of the

Father's infinite being. He who holds this relation to the Father cannot conceivably be a creature."

Amen. Ironclad argument for the deity of Christ. Four parallels.

Eight or nine perhaps, the deity of Jesus Christ can be seen throughout Paul's epistles, and I cited a number of these.

We won't cite all the verses, but consider Paul prayed to Christ, indicating

He's God. Second, Paul showed forth the deity of Jesus in that the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ should be called upon in the church. Why would you do that unless He were

God? Third, Paul used the name of Jesus in conjunction with God the Father as the source of divine blessing, grace to you and peace from God the

Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are expressions of Jesus' deity. Fourth, in numerous places

Paul applied the title Lord to Jesus. This could be a whole message, a whole study.

Okay, in the Old Testament Hebrew was translated into Greek, the Septuagint. They translated one name of God by the

Greek word kurios, Lord. Well, Paul repeatedly uses kurios to apply to Jesus Christ.

He is the God of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ. Fifth, Paul applied to Jesus Christ Old Testament passages that were addressed to God.

You go into the Old Testament, it's addressed to God. Paul used it in the New Testament addressed to Jesus Christ, clearly showing that Jesus Christ is

God. And sixth, Paul taught or at least implied Christ's preexistence as God's Son, and is taught in a number of passages.

We won't recite them, but the fact that Jesus existed before the Incarnation would indicate that He's God.

And then lastly, Paul actually gave eight specific passages, so this might fly into the first somewhat.

Eight specific passages in which Jesus Christ is identified or declared to be God. I won't recite those.

And so here are a number of different ways, entirely separate from one another, in which the deity of the

Lord Jesus is set forth. The fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him bodily, is what

Paul declared in Colossians 2, verse 9. And this is substantiated everywhere.

This is an essential. You cannot believe otherwise and be a

Christian if you don't believe that Jesus is Eternal God who assumed a human nature and became fully man.