THE LIVING WORD TRANSCRIPT

PROGRAM AIR DATE: 12-24-17

LESSON TITLE: “IN HIM DWELLS”

WELCOME

TODAY WE ARE BLESSED WITH A WONDERFUL GIFT FROM GOD, THE BIBLE. THIS BOOK IS GOD'S LIVING WORD. IN ITS PAGES, WE ARE TOLD “FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND POWERFUL AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO-EDGED SWORD.” IT IS IN THIS BOOK OF BOOKS THAT WE FIND THE ANSWERS TO ALL OF MAN'S QUESTIONS AND NEEDS. THIS MORNING YOUR AREA CHURCHES OF CHRIST WELCOME YOU TO A PROGRAM COMMITTED TO THAT PERFECT LAW OF LIBERTY AS WE PRESENT THE LIVING WORD. NOW HERE IS YOUR HOST, RAY SULLINS.

GOOD MORNING AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU AND YOURS! I HOPE YOU HAVE BEEN AND ARE ENJOYING SPECIAL TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. WHY NOT ALWAYS MAKE THE BEST OF THESE WONDROUS RELATIONSHIPS AND BLESSING FROM GOD. THANKS FOR CHOOSING TO BE WITH US TODAY FOR THE LIVING WORD PROGRAM. WE ARE EXCITED TO HAVE YOU WITH US FOR THIS TIME OF OFFERING AND ENCOURAGEMENT, AS WE PARTICIPATE IN THE THINGS OF GOD. WE ARE GLAD THAT YOU HAVE JOINED US FOR THIS WORSHIP TO OUR SAVIOR. OUR COMMITMENT THIS MORNING IS TO GIVE GLORY TO THE CREATOR THROUGH THE SINGING OF SONGS OF PRAISE AND THROUGH THE STUDY OF HIS WORD. I HOPE AND PRAY THAT EACH OF US WILL DO OUR PART TO MAKE THIS SERVICE ACCEPTABLE IN HIS SIGHT. NOW WILL YOU BOW WITH ME IN PRAYER.

PRAYER: OUR GOD AND FATHER IN HEAVEN, WE THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS DAY, THE MANY GREAT BLESSINGS OF LIFE, FATHER THE MANY SPIRITUAL AS WELL AS PHYSICAL BLESSINGS. FOR WE KNOW THAT ALL THINGS COME FROM YOU. AND FATHER, WE ASK THIS DAY AND EVERY DAY YOU'LL GIVE US THE ENCOURAGEMENT AND STRENGTH THAT WE NEED TO LIVE AND TO HAVE OUR BEING AND TO MOVE ABOUT THIS EARTH IN A WAY THAT IS PLEASING BEFORE YOU. AND FATHER, WE THANK YOU FOR THIS, THE LORD'S DAY, THAT WE DO EVERYTHING IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH AS YOU'VE COMMANDED THAT WE MIGHT ULTIMATELY NOT ONLY BE BLESSED TODAY BUT BLESSED ETERNALLY. WE THANK YOU FOR JESUS AND THE GREAT SACRIFICE HE GAVE THAT WE MIGHT LIVE FOREVER. IN JESUS NAME WE PRAY, AMEN.

THIS MORNING WE WANT TO BEGIN OUR SONGS OF PRAISE BY SINGING A SONG WHICH CONSIDERS AN IMPORTANT CHRISTIAN CHARACTERISTIC WE MUST ALL HAVE IN CHRIST JESUS. A CHARACTERISTIC WHICH ASKS US ALL TO CONSIDER WHETHER WE HAVE TRUE JOY AND HAPPINESS IN THIS LIFE. SO, AT THIS TIME, WON’T YOU JOIN IN WITH THE CONGREGATION AS WE SING TOGETHER, “THERE IS SUNSHINE IN MY SOUL.”

DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS

I THINK WE OFTEN FORGET THE MAGNIFICENCE OF GOD! HE HAS DONE SO MUCH FOR US AND GIVEN US SO MUCH IN THIS LIFE. HOWEVER, IF WE GO TO THE WRITERS OF THE BIBLE WE FIND THAT THESE FOLLOWERS OF GOD UNDERSTOOD EXACTLY WHO GOD IS. FOR EXAMPLE CONSIDER SOME OF DAVID’S THOUGHTS WHICH ARE FOUND IN PSALM 18:49-19:1. THERE HE SAID, “THEREFORE WILL I GIVE THANKS UNTO THEE, O LORD, AMONG THE HEATHEN, AND SING PRAISES UNTO THY NAME…THE HEAVENS DECLARE THE GLORY OF GOD; AND THE FIRMAMENT SHOW HIS HANDIWORK.” DAVID ACKNOWLEDGES GOD AS THE GIVER AND CREATOR OF ALL, JUST AS WE READ IN THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS.

NOTICE ALSO WHAT ISAIAH SAID IN ISAIAH 64:8, “BUT NOW, O LORD, YOU ARE OUR FATHER; WE ARE THE CLAY, AND YOU OUR POTTER; AND ALL WE ARE THE WORK OF YOUR HAND.” THIS GREAT PROPHET OF GOD HERE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT OUR GOD IS THE VERY GIVER OF LIFE. HE IS THE MAKER AND THE MOLDER OF ALL THAT WE ARE OR ALL THAT WE BECOME. AGAIN, I AM SURE THAT ISAIAH HAD GENESIS IN MIND, AS WE READ THAT GOD CREATED MAN AND BREATHED INTO HIS NOSTRILS THE BREATH OF LIFE. EVEN PAUL AND PETER IN THEIR BOOKS CONTINUALLY REFERRED TO THE MIGHTY POWER OR HAND OF GOD! AGAIN, CONFIRMING TO ALL WHO READ THAT THE GOD THEY SERVED WAS WORTHY OF ALL HOMAGE AND DEVOTION. EVERYONE WHO HEARD THEM, SAW THEM OR MET THEM COULD TRULY SEE THEIR BELIEF AND CONFIDENCE IN THE GOD WHICH THEY SERVED.

BUT WE MUST ASK, IS THIS ALSO WHAT PEOPLE SEE IN US AS SERVANTS OF THE ONE AND ONLY GOD OF THE UNIVERSE. UNTIL WE ALL COME TO A CLEARER UNDERSTANDING ABOUT THIS GREAT AND MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE, WE WILL NEVER BE MOTIVATED TO BE EVERYTHING HE ASKS US TO. THE QUESTION IS, HAVE YOU ACKNOWLEDGED THE AWESOME GOD WE SERVE THROUGH AN OBEDIENCE TO HIS WILL? IF NOT, WHY NOT? WON’T YOU CHOSE TO FOLLOW HIS WILL AND TO DO WHAT HE SAYS TODAY?

THIS MORNING, OUR SPECIFIC TOPIC WILL FOCUS ON THE STATEMENT, “IN HIM DWELLS.” THIS IS OUR NEXT LESSON IN OUR SERIES ENTITLED “COMPLETE IN HIM.” SO, PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US THIS MORNING, AND AFTER OUR NEXT SONG TOGETHER WE BE LED IN THIS STUDY FROM GOD’S WORD. AS FAR AS OUR GUEST SPEAKER, WE ARE HAPPY TO AGAIN HAVE BROTHER BRENT GREEN WITH US. BROTHER BRENT IS THE MINISTER FOR THE HWY 13 CHURCH OF CHRIST IN BOLIVAR AND HE IS ALSO A FULL TIME INSTRUCTOR AT THE BIBLE INSTITUTE OF MISSOURI. WE THANK HIM FOR JOINING US THIS DAY. NOW IT’S TIME TO RETURN TO OUR SONGS OF PRAISE, THE NAME OF OUR NEXT HYMN IS, “THERE IS POWER IN THE BLOOD!”

LESSON

BRENT GREEN

WHAT A GREAT JOY IT IS AS ALWAYS TO BE ABLE TO OPEN OUR BIBLES AND STUDY FROM THE WORD OF GOD. AS WE CONTINUE OUR SERIES IN COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 2 LET US PICK UP THERE AND READ VERSES NINE AND 10 TOGETHER. THERE WE FIND THE APOSTLE PAUL'S AS HE WRITES THE BRETHERN HERE SAY, “THAT IN HIM (THAT IS IN CHRIST) DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY; YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, WHO IS THE HEAD OF ALL PRINCIPALITY AND POWER.” OF COURSE, WE WANT TO BE COMPLETE IN JESUS CHRIST. WE CANNOT BE COMPLETE IN ANY MAN BECAUSE MAN CANNOT DO WHAT CHRIST CAN DO OR WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE. BUT LET'S THINK ABOUT JESUS CHRIST FOR A MOMENT AND WHAT'S IS SAID THERE IN VERSE 9 THAT “IN CHRIST DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY.” THIS IS WHAT WOULD MAKE JESUS CHRIST DIFFERENT FROM JUST ANY ORDINARY MAN. THE FACT THAT HE IS GOD BECAUSE THAT'S REALLY WHAT THE VERSE IS STATING THERE ABOUT JESUS, THAT HE IS DEITY. THAT IN JESUS CHRIST WE HAVE THE DWELLING THERE, THE FULL POWER, AND ALSO THERE THE EXCELLENCY OF GOD HIMSELF. SO STATED VERY SHORTLY JESUS IS GOD NOW, NOT EVERYONE HAS ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD THAT OR BELIEVED THAT ABOUT JESUS CHRIST. EVEN IN THE DAYS OF PAUL OR THE DAYS OF THE OTHER APOSTLES IN THE FIRST CENTURY AND EARLY CHURCH THEY OFTEN FOUGHT AGAINST THE FALSE IDEAS THAT IN SOME WAY JESUS WAS NOT GOD. MAYBE THEY DENIED HIS FLESHLY EXISTENCE OR MAYBE THEY DENIED HIS VERY DEITY. BUT THE REALITY IS THAT AS HE CAME TO THIS EARTH AND LIVED AS A MAN HE WAS STILL GOD! THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US (JOHN CHAPTER 1). WELL, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND STILL TODAY THAT JESUS IS INDEED DEITY AND THAT HE'S NOT JUST A GOOD MAN, AS SOME WOULD SAY. THAT HE'S MORE THAN JUST BEING DIVINE, AS OTHERS MIGHT SAY. THAT HE TRULY IS GOD. THAT HE'S EQUAL TO THE FATHER, HE IS EQUAL TO THE HOLY SPIRIT, THAT HE IS GOD, HE IS DEITY. THAT WE MIGHT BETTER UNDERSTAND THE STATEMENT OF PAUL THE FACT THAT JESUS IS DEITY AND THAT IN HIM (THAT IS IN JESUS) DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY.

I WANT US TO LOOK NOW BACK TO THE BOOK OF JOHN, JOHN CHAPTER 5, THAT WE MIGHT UNDERSTAND TRULY THAT JESUS IS GOD AND THAT HE IS EQUAL TO GOD. I WANT YOU TO LOOK WITH THERE WITH ME IN JOHN CHAPTER 5 AND WE'LL BEGIN IN VERSE 17. WE BEGIN TO SEE HERE THAT JESUS IS EQUAL TO GOD IN HIS VERY NATURE. JOHN 5:17 JESUS IS RESPONDING HERE TO THOSE WHO WOULD ALSO WE SEEK TO KILL HIM. THAT THEY WOULD PERSECUTE HIM EVEN UNTO DEATH. JESUS SAYS THERE IN JOHN 5:17, “‘MY FATHER HAS BEEN WORKING UNTIL NOW, AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING.’ THEREFORE, THE JEWS THOUGHT ALL THE MORE TO KILL HIM, BECAUSE HE NOT ONLY BROKE THE SABBATH WHICH HE BROKE THE SABBATH, (ACCORDING TO THEIR TRADITIONS) BUT ALSO SAID THAT GOD WAS HIS FATHER, MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD.” THOSE WHO WOULD PERSECUTE JESUS, THE JEWS HERE, UNDERSTOOD VERY CLEARLY THE STATEMENT THAT JESUS WAS MAKING WHEN HE SAID MY FATHER HAS BEEN WORKING AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING. JESUS WAS SAYING THAT HE WAS THE VERY SON OF GOD. AND BY SAYING THAT THEY UNDERSTOOD HE WAS MAKING HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD. WHAT DID THEY UNDERSTAND? THAT JESUS, BY MAKING THAT STATEMENT, WAS DECLARING HIMSELF TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD. NOW, THEY DIDN'T WANT TO BELIEVE IT AND THEY SURELY DID NOT WANT TO ACCEPT IT BECAUSE THEY DENIED THE VERY FACT AND THEY WOULD ULTIMATELY LEAD HIM TO THAT CROSS. BUT INDEED IT WAS TRUE! THEY UNDERSTOOD RIGHTLY WHAT HE WAS CLAIMING AND THAT HE IS TRULY GOD. JESUS IS EQUAL TO GOD'S NATURE BECAUSE HE IS GOD’S SON. HE IS THE SON OF HIS FATHER AND THAT'S ANOTHER WAY YOU COULD SAY THAT STATEMENT THERE MADE BY JOHN. BUT HE IS ALSO EQUAL WITH GOD IN NATURE BECAUSE HE HAS THE SAME FORM AND ESSENCE AS GOD.

LOOK WITH ME AT ANOTHER PASSAGE THAT WE FIND IN THE BOOK OF PHILIPPIANS - PHILIPPIANS CHAPTER 2. IF YOU'LL READ WITH ME THERE BEGINNING IN PHILIPPIANS CHAPTER 2, BEGINNING IN VERSE FIVE WE FIND THESE WORDS. THERE IT SAYS:

“LET THIS MIND BE IN YOU WHICH ALSO WAS IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO, BEING IN THE FORM OF GOD, DID NOT CONSIDER ROBBERY TO BE EQUAL WITH GOD, BUT MADE HIMSELF OF NO REPUTATION, TAKING THE FORM OF A BONDSERVANT, AND COMING IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN. AND BEING FOUND IN APPEARANCE AS A MAN, HE HUMBLED HIMSELF AND BECAME OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, EVEN THE DEATH OF THE CROSS. THEREFORE, GOD ALSO HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM AND GIVEN HIM THE NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME, THAT AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, AND OF THOSE IN HEAVEN, AND OF THOSE ON EARTH, AND OF THOSE UNDER THE EARTH, AND THAT EVERY TONGUE SHOULD CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, TO THE GLORY OF GOD, THE FATHER.”

WHY IS IT THAT IT WAS NOT ROBBERY FOR JESUS TO CONSIDER HIMSELF EQUAL WITH GOD? BECAUSE HE IS GOD, AND AS WE READ, HE CAME THERE IN VERSE SIX IN THE FORM OF GOD BY HIS VERY NATURE, BY HIS FORM, BY HIS ESSENCE, BY WHO HE IS: JESUS IS GOD. THERE IN SECOND CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 4 VERSE FOUR IT SAYS THERE THAT HE CAME IN THE IMAGE OF GOD THAT WE CAN SEE THE FATHER THROUGH THE IMAGE OF JESUS CHRIST THE SON. BECAUSE AS WE COULD LOOK UPON JESUS, AND OF COURSE WE LOOK UPON HIM AS WE READ FROM THE SCRIPTURES, BUT FOR THOSE WHO COULD LOOK UPON HIM WITH THEIR VERY EYES IN THE FIRST CENTURY, THEY CAN LOOK UPON THE FATHER IN HEAVEN AS THEY LOOK UPON THE SON, THEY CAN LOOK UPON GOD BECAUSE JESUS IS GOD. JESUS IS EQUAL WITH GOD'S NATURE ALSO BECAUSE AS WE SAID HE IS DEITY. THERE JOHN CHAPTER 1 VERSE ONE, JOHN RECORDED. HE SAYS, “IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD.” THE WORD TRANSLATED FOR GOD THERE DOESN'T MEAN DIVINE BECAUSE THERE'S ANOTHER WORD IN THE ORIGINAL THAT WOULD SIGNIFY SOMETHING BEING DIVINE. THOUGH THE WORD AS IT IS TRANSLATED PROPERLY DOES MEAN GOD, THE WORD WAS GOD. WELL, WHO IS THAT WORD? IT IS JESUS CHRIST. THE VERY WORD THE BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US. THE VERY WORD THAT EXPRESSED GOD TO MANKIND THAT WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND WHO GOD IS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST THE SON. NO, JESUS IS MORE THAN JUST BEING DIVINE. JESUS IS DEITY! AND HE IS EQUAL WITH GOD BECAUSE HE IS DEITY. THERE IN ROMANS CHAPTER 9 VERSE FIVE IT SPEAKS OF JESUS AS THE ETERNALLY BLESSED GOD. EQUATING ONCE AGAIN THE TERM GOD WITH JESUS. ALSO THERE COLOSSIANS 1:15, THAT JESUS IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD. YOU MIGHT ALSO REMEMBER THE WORDS OF THOMAS WHO WAS ONE OF THE APOSTLES OF JESUS. UPON SEEING THE RESURRECTED LORD FOR HIMSELF BEING ABLE TO SEE WITH HIS EYES AND TOUCH WITH HIS HANDS OF EVERYONE WHO STOOD BEFORE HIM, WHAT WAS THOMAS'S STATEMENT THERE IN JOHN CHAPTER 20 AND VERSE 28? THOMAS SAID, “‘MY LORD AND MY GOD.’” JESUS IS GOD AND BECAUSE OF SUCH HE IS EQUAL WITH GOD BY HIS VERY NATURE.

SOMETHING ELSE GOING BACK HERE TO THE WRITINGS AS RECORDED BY JOHN IN JOHN CHAPTER 5, WE TOO CAN LEARN THAT JESUS IS GOD BECAUSE HE'S EQUAL GOD IN HIS VERY POWER. READ WITH ME THERE IN JOHN CHAPTER 5 CONTINUING IN VERSE 19: “JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO THEM, ‘MOST ASSUREDLY I SAY TO YOU, THE SON CAN DO NOTHING OF HIMSELF, BUT WHAT HE SEES THE FATHER DO; FOR WHAT HE DOES, THE SON ALSO DOES IN LIKE MANNER. FOR THE FATHER LOVES THE SON, AND SHOWS HIMSELF IN ALL THINGS THAT HE HIMSELF DOES; AND HE WILL SHOW HIM GREATER WORKS THAN THESE, THAT YOU MAY MARVEL. FOR AS THE FATHER RAISES THE DEAD AND GIVES LIFE TO THEM, EVEN SO THE SON GIVES LIFE TO WHOM HE WILL.’”

WE BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND AS WE READ THESE FEW VERSES THAT AGAIN JESUS IS EQUAL OF GOD BECAUSE HE IS GOD. BUT HERE IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE VERY POWER THAT HE POSSESSES, JESUS IS EQUAL IN POWER BECAUSE HE IS IN HARMONY WITH GOD. THERE IN VERSE 19 WE LEARN THAT OF COURSE THE SON DOES NOT ASK BY HIMSELF. HE DOES NOT DO WHAT HIS WILL IS BUT HE DOES WHAT THE WILL OF THE FATHER IS. AND IN DOING THAT, HE DOES THE VERY WORKS OF GOD. I THINK WE MIGHT ALSO BE ABLE TO LOOK AT JUST A FEW CHAPTERS LATER AND WHAT JOHN SAYS IN JOHN CHAPTER 8 AND IDENTIFY THERE AGAIN THAT JESUS WORKS IN HARMONY WITH THE FATHER. JOHN CHAPTER EIGHT THERE IN VERSE 28 AND 29, JESUS THERE SAYS, “‘WHEN YOU LIFT UP THE SON OF MAN, THEN YOU WILL KNOW THAT I AM HE, THAT I DO NOTHING OF MYSELF; BUT AS MY FATHER TAUGHT ME, I SPEAK THESE THINGS. AND HE WHO SENT ME IS WITH ME. THE FATHER HAS NOT LEFT ME ALONE, FOR I ALWAYS DO THOSE THINGS THAT PLEASE HIM.” JESUS DIDN'T PERFORM HIS OWN WILL, HE DIDN'T ACT IN ACCORDANCE TO A POWER OUTSIDE OF THE POWER OF GOD. NO, JESUS ACTED IN LINE WITH GOD THE FATHER. HE ACTED IN LINE WITH WHAT HE WAS INSTRUCTED TO DO. AND HE CARRIED OUT MARVELOUS WORKS DEMONSTRATING THE VERY POWER OF GOD. THE FATHER, THE SON, AS WELL AS HOLY SPIRIT. THEY HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF POWER. THEY HAVE THE SAME ABILITY TO PERFORM THE SAME WORKS. WHAT JESUS COULD DO, THE FATHER COULD DO. AND THAT'S WHAT WE LEARN FROM THE SCRIPTURES. THERE'S EQUALITY. ONCE AGAIN, THAT JESUS ISN'T SOMETHING LESS THAN GOD. NO, JESUS IS GOD! WE UNDERSTAND THAT HERE BY HIS POWER AND WE ALSO UNDERSTAND HERE THAT JESUS IS EQUAL WITH GOD IN POWER BECAUSE OF HIS ABILITY TO PERFORM MIRACLES TO THE EXTENT THAT HE HAD UNLIMITED POWER. NOW, THERE WERE OTHERS THAT WERE GRANTED SUCH POWER. THE APOSTLES AND DISCIPLES OF THEIR CHURCH HAD THE ABILITY TO PERFORM MIRACLES, A POWER GIVEN TO THEM THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. BUT THEIR POWER STILL WAS LIMITED, EVEN JESUS' OWN APOSTLES IN MATTHEW 17 COULD NOT HEAL THERE THE EPILEPTIC BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME POWER THAT JESUS HAD. THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE SAME POWER THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD IN TOTALITY. NO, THEY HAD SOMETHING LESS. INDEED, THEY HAD A MEASURE OF THAT POWER IN THE FIRST CENTURY THAT WAS GRANTED TO THEM TO BE ABLE TO PERFORM MIGHTY WORKS THAT THE MESSAGE AND THEMSELVES AS MESSENGERS WOULD BE CONFIRMED AS BEING FROM GOD. NOW, THOSE THINGS CAME TO AN END BUT HERE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE POWER OF JESUS, AN UNLIMITED POWER. CONSIDER FOR JUST A MOMENT BRIEFLY THE POWER THAT JESUS HAD WORKING MIRACLES WHILE HE LIVED AND WALKED HERE ON THIS EARTH. JESUS HAD POWER OVER SICKNESS. IN MATTHEW NINE, HE HEALED THERE A MAN WHO IS PARALYTIC AND HE HEALED MANY OTHERS OF THEIR DIFFERENT SICKNESSES. JESUS HAD POWER OVER THE ELEMENTS. THERE IN MARK CHAPTER FOUR HE CALMED THE SEA. JESUS FURTHER HAD POWER OVER DEMONS LIKE IN LUKE CHAPTER 4. HE COULD AGAIN REMOVE THE DEMONS FROM THOSE THAT THEY POSSESSED. JESUS HAD THAT POWER, HE HAD POWER EVEN OVER TIME WHEN THERE IN JOHN SIX, THE BOAT HE WAS IN WAS IMMEDIATELY AT HIS DESTINATION ON THE SHORE BECAUSE JESUS HAD UNLIMITED POWER. HE HAD THE VERY POWER OF GOD BECAUSE HE WAS AND HE IS GOD! JESUS IS EQUAL TO GOD ALSO IN POWER BECAUSE HE RAISED THE DEAD. SPOKEN OF THERE IN JOHN FIVE VERSE 21 THAT WE READ IS SPOKE OF THE FACT THAT THE FATHER RAISES THE DEAD EVEN SO THE SON WOULD DO LIKEWISE. WELL, WHO DID GOD RAISE? THE FATHER THAT IS, FROM THE DEAD? WELL, I THINK YOU COULD GO LOOK AT A FEW FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT LIKE IN FIRST KINGS 17 WITH THE LORD JEHOVAH THROUGH THE PROPHET ELIJAH RAISED THE WIDOW'S SON BACK TO LIFE OR EVEN SECOND KINGS CHAPTER 4 WHERE THE LORD JEHOVAH THERE RAISED THE SHUNAMITE'S SON BACK TO LIFE THROUGH THE PROPHET ELIJAH. GOD HAD THE POWER TO RAISE THE DEAD AND DIDN'T JESUS CHRIST POSSESS THE VERY SAME POWER WHEN HE RAISED THE WIDOW'S SON FROM THE DEAD IN LUKE SEVEN? OR EVEN RAISE LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD IN JOHN CHAPTER 11. BUT REALLY THE VERSE HERE SPEAKS OF GREATER POWER THAN JUST RAISING THE PHYSICAL BODIES OF SOME BACK TO LIFE. NO, HE REALLY SPEAKS TO THE POWER OF GOD TO RAISE THOSE WHO ARE SPIRITUALLY DEAD. LIKE IN ROMANS CHAPTER 6 AND VERSE FOUR WHERE THOSE WHO WERE BURIED WITH CHRIST IN BAPTISM WOULD RISE TO WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE. THAT THOUGH THEY BE DEAD SPIRITUALLY THEY COULD BE MADE ALIVE AGAIN THROUGH JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS. BECAUSE JESUS HAS THE POWER OF GOD THE POWER TO RAISE THE DEAD.

FINALLY IN JOHN CHAPTER 5 WE LEARN THE EQUALITY OF JESUS WITH GOD THROUGH THE FACT THAT JESUS IS EQUAL WITH GOD BY HIS VERY AUTHORITY. IN JOHN CHAPTER 5 THERE IN VERSE 22, IT SAYS, “‘THE FATHER JUDGES NO ONE, BUT HAS COMMITTED ALL JUDGMENT TO THE SON, THAT ALL SHOULD HONOR THE SON JUST AS THEY HONOR THE FATHER. HE WHO DOES NOT HONOR THE SON DOES NOT HONOR THE FATHER WHO SENT HIM.’” GOD THE FATHER EXPRESSING HERE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST THAT HE HAD GIVEN HIS SON THIS AUTHORITY, THE AUTHORITY THERE TO PASS JUDGMENT. THAT ALL AUTHORITY WAS GIVEN TO HIM, THAT ALL JUDGMENT WOULD BE DONE ULTIMATELY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST THE SON. LIKE IN JOHN 12:48 JESUS SAID THAT ALL WILL BE JUDGED BY THE WORDS THAT HE SPOKE BECAUSE THE FATHER HAS COMMITTED SUCH INTO THE HANDS OF THE SON. JUST A FEW VERSES LATER IN JOHN CHAPTER 5 AND VERSE 30 WE FURTHER READ THIS: JESUS SAID THAT, “‘I CAN DO BY MYSELF NOTHING. AS I HEAR, I JUDGE; AND MY JUDGMENT IS RIGHTEOUS BECAUSE I DO NOT SEEK MY OWN WILL BUT THE (WILL OF MY FATHER OR) THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHO SENT ME.’” AND BY THE POWER AND AUTHORITY GIVEN TO JESUS AS GOD TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THIS AUTHORITY AND PASS HIS JUDGMENT. BY THAT AUTHORITY, JESUS WILL HAVE THE RIGHT TO GIVE SOME EVERLASTING LIFE AND THOSE WHO DO NOT LIVE RIGHTEOUSLY, HE WILL GIVE THEM EVERLASTING DEATH. BUT AGAIN, WHERE TO GET THIS AUTHORITY? FROM THE FATHER, BECAUSE HE CAME TO NOT ONLY LIVE ACCORDING TO THE FATHER'SS WILL BUT WHEN JUDGMENT COMES ONE DAY HE WILL PASS JUDGMENT, ACCORDING THE WILL OF FATHER ALSO, JESUS IS EQUAL TO GOD'S AUTHORITY BECAUSE OF HIS TEACHINGS. WE FIND THERE IN VERSE 24 OF JOHN CHAPTER 5 THAT THE WORDS THAT JESUS SPOKE ALSO WERE THE WORDS GIVEN TO HIM BY THE FATHER, THAT AGAIN HE DIDN'T SPEAK OF HIS OWN AUTHORITY BUT AS MATTHEW 7:29 SAYS, HE TAUGHT AS ONE HAVING AUTHORITY; JOHN 7:46, NEVER A MAN SPOKE LIKE THIS MAN. NOW WHY IS THAT? BECAUSE WHEN JESUS SPOKE HE TAUGHT LIKE NO MAN HAD EVER TAUGHT BEFORE AND HE TAUGHT LIKE NO MAN EVER WILL TEACH EVER AGAIN. BECAUSE HE TAUGHT BEING EQUAL IN AUTHORITY WITH GOD. JESUS WAS GIVEN AUTHORITY AND DOMINION OVER ALL THINGS. AS A SON OF MAN, JOHN 5:27 THE ONE WHO HAS DOMINION OVER LIFE AND DEATH. THE ONE WHO HAS THE POWER TO GIVE LIFE, THE ONE WHO HAS THE POWER TO RAISE FROM THE DEAD, THE ONE WHO HAS THE POWER AND EVERLASTING DOMINION. JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS! WHEN WE READ IN COLOSSIANS CHAPTER 2 THAT IN JESUS CHRIST WAS ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY, WE CAN UNDERSTAND FROM THE WRITINGS OF PAUL THAT HE WAS STATING THAT JESUS IS GOD! HE IS DEITY! CONFIRMED FOR US IN MUCH GREATER DETAIL FROM JOHN AND JOHN CHAPTER 5 SHOWING US THAT BY HIS NATURE, BY HIS POWER, BY HIS AUTHORITY, JESUS IS GOD! LET US LIVE AND SUBMIT OURSELVES TO THAT WILL UNDERSTANDING TRULY WHO JESUS IS.

CLOSING COMMENTS

AGAIN, LET ME THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING TO BE WITH US THIS MORNING. I HOPE WE ALL HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGED THROUGH OUR TIME SPENT TOGETHER. PLEASE REMEMBER, YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN US EVERY SUNDAY MORNING AT 7:30, AS WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO THIS SERVICE OF GOD.

NOW LET ME ASK IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ABOUT TODAY’S LESSON? MAYBE, YOU WOULD LIKE A FREE TRANSCRIPT OR A FREE CASSETTE TAPE OF THIS PROGRAM? POSSIBLY, WE COULD ASSIST YOU WITH FREE BIBLE MATERIALS OR FREE BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSES? NO MATTER WHAT YOUR NEED IS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:

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MAY WE ALL UNDERSTAND THAT OUR SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST REFLECTS THE FULLNESS OF ALL THE GODHEAD IN EVERY WAY. ISN’T IT WONDERFUL TO HAVE A GOD LIKE JESUS, THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT? THE QUESTION IS, “ARE YOU A FOLLOWER AND PROFESSOR OF THIS TRUE GOD OF ALL!” IF NOT, WHY NOT FULLY SUBMIT TO GOD AND HIS WILL THIS DAY!