Tears and Preaching
- Personal anecdote about crying and preaching
- Preacher Billy Kelly: “I’m too big to care what you think about me crying.”
- Tears as an immediate result of the Holy Spirit
- Tears, snot, etc. as an excuse
John 14:11
- Philip’s request: “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.”
- Jesus’ response: “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.”
- “I am in the Father, and the Father in me.”
- “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”
- “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.”
Jesus Christ: The God-Man
- 100% God and 100% man
- Mathematicians would say this is an impossibility
- People do not believe that Jesus is God
- Pharisees upset when Jesus equated himself to God
- Reason for wanting to kill Jesus: He said he was the Son of God
- Old Testament scriptures: indication of a Son of God?
- Spirit mentioned often
- Son of God references: prophecies about the Messiah, Emmanuel (God with us)
- Problem of the human heart: believing that Jesus Christ is God
- The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
- Hard for the human mind to grasp
- Three are one and one are three
- Analogy: cherry pie with crust and filling
- God chose to reveal himself in three persons
- One no greater than the other, one no less than the other
- Importance of believing Jesus is God:
- Must bow to Christ to get to God
- One mediator between God and man: Jesus Christ
- Must be born again
- Reconciled unto the Father through the mediator (Jesus)
The Only Begotten Son of God
- People take great liberties with the word of God
- Translations changed: “only begotten Son” to “unique one,” “only son,” or something else
- If Jesus is the only son, what are we?
- 1 John: “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we have been called the sons of God.”
- Born-again believers are grafted in and adopted into the family of God
- Adopted in, not begotten in
- God’s only begotten son is Jesus Christ
- Trust must go into Christ
- Plan of God from the beginning:
- Recognized the way to present salvation to a sinner
- Had to send his only begotten son
- God had to become one of us for the supreme sacrifice
- Jesus had to take on flesh
- Jesus had to become what only Mary could be: a son conceived of the Holy Ghost
- Relevance of the birth of Jesus Christ:
- Virgin conceived of the Holy Ghost
- Not just another man born into the world
- The God-man was born
- Apart from Christ, you can’t be saved
- Must believe in Jesus and that he was virgin born
- Otherwise, he couldn’t have been God’s Son or the spotless Lamb
- God sent His Son, who became flesh and was God in the flesh
Believe for the Very Works’ Sake
- Jesus’ words in John 14: “Believe me for the very works’ sake.”
- Raised the dead
- Gave sight to the blind
- Caused the deaf to speak and hear
- These works can only be done by the power of God
- Question to Philip: How long will you stand on the outside of simply believing in Jesus Christ?
- Challenge: If you truly believe in Jesus Christ, why don’t you trust him, serve him, surrender to him, and seek salvation?
- Jesus wasn’t just a good man, he was the God-man
- Many believe Jesus was a prophet
- They believe that Jesus existed
- He was a good man, a prophet, but more than that
- If Jesus is not the God-man to you, you’ll miss who he really was
- He was the only begotten Son of God
Matthew 1:23
- Quoting Isaiah 7:14
- “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.”
- Somebody needs to believe in Jesus because of who He is
- If he had been like you or me, he would not have been spotless, perfect, and acceptable unto God the Father
- There had to be a body for the sacrifice
- God searched heaven, earth, and under the earth, and there was none worthy
- Jesus prayed in the garden: “Father, if it be any other way, let it pass from me. Nevertheless, thy will be done.”
- No other way to save us but to send His own Son
- In order to be sacrificed, there had to be a body born of man
- God made a way for a virgin to bear his son
- Jesus has always existed; he did not begin in Bethlehem
- God had to make a way for his son to become flesh in order for him to become a sacrifice
- Jesus could suffer in your place, die in your place, and offer up his blood unto God as the eternal atonement and sacrifice for sin
- Either God sent his son to die for you, or Jesus was a fake
- Either Jesus was a liar, or he is the Lord
- Jesus was either a liar or he is the king of glory today
- God’s plan from the beginning was to make his son one of us, except without sin
Wise Men and the Birth of Jesus
- Matthew 23: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.”
- Wise men came from afar, traveled a great distance, and bowed before the young child
- Kings from the Orient presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh
- They saw a star and concluded that a king had been born
- They weren’t coming to find an earthly king
- They went to Herod and asked, “Where is he that is born king of the Jews?”
- God made a way for mankind to be saved through Jesus Christ
- The only means of salvation still is Jesus Christ
John 1:14
- Matthew begins with the genealogy and birth of Jesus Christ
- Luke tells much about the birth of Jesus Christ
- John introduces him this way: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
- “In the beginning was God, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.”
- The Word refers to Jesus Christ himself
- Jesus is the word of God, the bread of life, the sustenance
- Jesus was the manna and the water that kept the children of Israel alive
- God recognized that Jesus had to be born
- John concluded that the Word was made flesh
- No man was involved in the birth of Jesus Christ
- Mary asked, “How can this be, since I know not a man?”
- The angel Gabriel explained: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”
- Thank God for the son given that day to become the sacrifice for my soul
- God-man born in the lowliest of conditions
- All John knew to say was, “The Word was made flesh.”
- Relevancy of who Jesus really is
- He’s the God of it
- John said the word he said it was made flesh he said and he dwelt among us he was trying to put this down he said we beheld his glory beheld his glory he said yes We beheld His glory as of the only begotten Son of God.
- Salvation is 100% dependent upon His Son
- God made no other way of salvation but through His Son
- Everything that we have concerning Jesus is of necessity
John 10:28
- Jesus said, “And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”
- No man or priest can give you eternal life
- The only way to get saved is through Jesus
- Jesus Christ is the giver of life
- “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me.”
- He is the God-man, the King of glory incarnate
- “My Father, which is greater than I, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
- “I and my Father are one.”
- Eternal life that Jesus gives is able to keep you to everlasting
- Jesus made a clear statement concerning his position in God
- This declaration fired up the Pharisees to the point they wanted to stone him
- Jesus is God today
- He’s the God-man, sent to become our sacrifice
1 John 5:7
- The Holy Ghost moving through the Apostle John to clarify the position of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
- “For there are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one.”
- The record needs to make the difference for you
- Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.”
- John concludes that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one
- If Jesus was just a man, he couldn’t save you
- God had to send his son because there was no other way to be saved
- We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ because God sent his son
- He was born of the virgin, having conceived of the Holy Spirit of God
- What was born that day was God in the flesh, the second part of Godhead, the God of man
- You’re believing in God, not just another man
- The only way to get reconciled with God is to believe in Jesus Christ, His Son
Distinctions in the God-Man
- On his mother’s side, he’s the Son of Man
- On his father’s side, he’s the Son of God
- On his mother’s side, his name is Jesus
- On his father’s side, his name is Emmanuel, God with us
- On his mother’s side, he was a carpenter
- On his father’s side, he’s the creator of all heaven and earth
- On his mother’s side, he was born in a manger
- On his father’s side, he’s sitting on a throne today
- On his mother’s side, he was visited by shepherds and worshiped by wise men
- On his father’s side, he’s worshipped by the entire host of heaven
- On his mother’s side, he had no place to lay his head
- On his father’s side, he has a throne that’s sitting beside the holy and sovereign Lord of all
- On his mother’s side, they pierced him in his side and nailed him to his hands, and he bled out and died for us
- On his father’s side, he lives forever and still bears the scars of the man
- Jesus is the only mediator between God and man
- On his mother’s side, he had no keys to anything of his own
- On his father’s side, he has the keys of hell and death
- On his mother’s side, he had a birth date and a death date
- On his father’s side, he’s Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last
- “I am he that liveth and was dead and am alive forevermore.”
- On his mother’s side, he was baptized of John in the waters of the Jordan River
- On his father’s side, he baptizes all the believers with the Holy Spirit
- On his mother’s side, he was the healer of men
- On his father’s side, he’s the healer of our soul
- On his mother’s side, he calmed the raging sea
- On his father’s side, he created the sea itself
- On his mother’s side, he thirsted on the cross
- On his father’s side, he’s the fountain of living water for all that will believe him
- On his mother’s side, he was falsely condemned by the high priest
- On his father’s side, he sits as my high priest and ever makes intercession for me
- On his mother’s side, he shed his own blood for our sins
- On his father’s side, he took all that blood back and carried it up unto the Father as the payment for my sin
- On his mother’s side, he died on the cross
- On his father’s side, he had power to raise from the dead
- On his mother’s side, he was judged and condemned by sinful men
- On his father’s side, he is a judge and will judge rightly in that day
Invitation
- “No man can come to the Father but by me.”
- God made a way for you to be saved
- All He’s asking you today is to come, trust Him, believe in yourself, confess your sin, and call upon the one that can forgive you of it
- Jesus Christ will do the very thing that he died to do for you today
- We can make this your birthday spiritually if you’ll trust Christ and believe him
- Consider in your heart today where you’re going to spend eternity
- If you’re not ready right now, read
- If you know right now that Jesus is not your Savior and you have never bowed to Christ, then you need to come, obey God, believe Him, trust Him, and call upon Him
- If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his
- You cannot claim to be going to heaven today unless you have the Holy Spirit living in you, that Jesus Christ is your Lord, that you have made Him your Savior
- You’ve received Christ as your own and you know that God is your Father today
- These three are one
- You cannot separate them but to distinguish the power of their work in all of our lives
