The Deity of Christ - His Claims (2)

Well, I hope you're not getting worn down with all of the proofs of the deity of Christ. If you are, I would question your spirituality for one thing, but just hope it's not too much material on the same topic. But it's such an important topic. When we talk about what the Bible teaches about Christ, there's nothing more important than to establish the deity of Christ. And what we're seeing is that it is not just a random verse here and there, a little proof text over here, one over there, it is part of the fabric of the whole New Testament. And so we're looking at, from a number of different perspectives, how we can see the deity of Christ. And it says, though we're seeing in the fabric, okay, here's a thread here. And oh, yeah, I see a thread there. No, there's another thread here. And pretty soon you begin to put it all together and realize that the fabric would not stand, it would not be able to have any integrity for all of those threads of the deity of Christ that hold it together. We've talked about his names. We've talked about his attributes. We've talked about his works. And last week we dipped our toe just a little bit in the claims of Christ. Talking about his claims, what he claimed to be and do also supports and proves his divine nature. So we started last night with his claims to authority. Jesus claimed to have authority in a number of different areas. We saw last week his authority over the law of Moses and the sermon on the Mount. He would say, you have heard that it has been said and he would quote from the Old Testament. And then he would say, but I say unto you and it is done in such a way that he's putting his word equal to the word of God. And he's explaining and giving its full intent and it's deeper meaning. And so he claims authority over the law of Moses. Then he claims authority over the temple. We saw that in Matthew 12 and verse 6 when he told the Pharisees one greater than the temple is here. And then also we saw in that same passage authority over the Sabbath when he said, I am the Lord of the Sabbath. I am the one who owns and controls and even created the Sabbath. So tonight we'll begin with this one. He is also Lord and has authority over the kingdom. Matthew chapter 16 and verse 19. It's that great passage of Peter's confession of Christ. We looked at it before. But last time we looked at this, we looked at Peter's declaration that Christ is the Messiah, the son of the living God in verse 17. Jesus said this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but from my father. And I tell you that you're Peter and on this rock I will build my church. We saw that's one of the works that proves his deity. I will build my church. Christ building his church on the confession that he is the son of God. Now verse 19 for tonight, here's another proof of his deity, the authority over the kingdom. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. The first part of the verse is really what we're interested in for our purposes tonight where Jesus says I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And that's not promised just to Peter. The word you is plural. Again, you can't tell that in English but you can tell it in Greek. There's a different form of the word when it's plural. You is the same in English whether it's plural or singular but it's plural. So he's looking at all the disciples. I'm going to give you the keys to the kingdom and you will open the door of gospel opportunity to other people around the world. So the keys of the kingdom of heaven, he has the authority over the kingdom because he holds the keys to the kingdom. And he has the authority to give them to whomever he will. You know, whoever has the keys has the authority. I remember reading about one company where the janitor felt like he ran everything because he had the keys and nobody could get anywhere or do anything without him. He had the authority to let people in or not. And so whoever has the keys has the authority. And Jesus says I have the keys. I have the keys of the kingdom. And I passed them out. I will allow you to open doors. And so that does indicate authority over the kingdom. All right. So he has claims in a number of different ways to authority which proves his deity. Comments, questions there before we move on. Yes? Yes? The case of the deity is just there. I guess it's like it is a big event and it's not so. Well, they, in answer to the question, yes, this, this, this, this, this is where the Roman Catholic Church gets their view of the papacy. And it is one of the passages and they, they basically limit it to Peter because he's been addressing Peter in the passage. And they say that Peter is given the authority to open the kingdom of heaven to whomever he wants, whomever he opens it to. And he is binding on earth, what's bound, whatever he binds on earth is bound in heaven. So yes, they, that's where they get the primacy of Peter and, and saying he was the first Pope and, and that authority has been passed down to other popes through the Roman Catholic Church. And this is, this is the main passage they get that from. You remember we saw in John 20 where Jesus said, whatever you forgive, she'll be forgiven in heaven. And we saw that it was a past, perfect tense in, in the Greek and it basically whatever you forgive has been forgiven in heaven. So basically you're just declaring what's already been done in heaven. The same thing here, whatever is bound here has already been bound in heaven. You're just announcing in on earth what's been done in heaven and the binding and losing does have to do with forgiveness because the same phrase is used in chapter 18 and, and indicates forgiveness of sin. But yeah, that's where the Roman Catholic Church gets their doctrine of the papacy and Peter being the, the Pope and the authority to forgive sins. Steve? Well, both. There are a lot of people in the Roman Catholic Church just like there are in Protestant churches that don't know the Greek and then there are some who do and skirt around it. Yeah, both. Okay. Good questions, any others? Okay, not only does he claim to have authority, he also claims equality with the Father, we're going to look at several passages. In fact, we're going to look at a lot of passages tonight. Again, that just reinforces the truth that this is not, the deity of Christ is not just found in a few little texts. It's found all through the New Testament. Jesus Christ claims equality with the Father, John chapter 5 and verses 17 and following. This is, remember, we saw this recently on Sunday morning. This is where Jesus has healed the man on the Sabbath day at the Pula Bethesda and the Pharisees are questioning his authority to do that. And verse 17 and his defense, Jesus said to them, my Father is always at work, at His work to this very day. And I too am working. Now, His calling God, my Father, they recognized He was claiming equality with God. He was calling God His Father in a special sense, not in the sense that we would, but in a very special sense. The Jews were taught to refer to God as our Father and that's why Jesus taught us to pray to our Father. But when He said, my Father, He was indicating a unique relationship between Him and the Father and the Jews interpreted it that way. Verse 18, for this reason they tried all the more to kill Him. Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Very clearly, that's the way they understood that claim. And so He was definitely making a claim to being equal with the Father. You go right on through the chapter and He talks about a lot of other ways that He's equal with the Father. There's given Him all judgment. Father's given Him the ability to give life. Other ways are seen there as well. Then chapter 10, verse 30, let's just flip through on through the book of John, chapter 10, verse 30. Again sparring with the Pharisees in this passage, conflict over His claims, who is, in chapter 10, verse 30, He says, I and the Father are one. That doesn't mean they're the same person. Obviously they're separate persons, but it does mean they are one in nature. They are one in actions. They are one in essence, not the same person, but they have the same nature. And so Christ is saying, I am equal to the Father. I have the same nature as the Father. I have the same deity as God the Father does. Very clear claim to equality with God. Same thing is found in John 14, verse 1, familiar verse, do not let your hearts be troubled. Do you believe in God? Believe also in me. And there's a subtle sense in which He's claiming equality with the Father here. Your hearts will not be troubled if you, I know you believe in God, believe also in me. You'll find the same peace. You'll find the same rest that you would by believing in God the Father. So He's equating faith in Himself with faith in the Father. And then one other passage here in John 17, 3, this is in Christ's high priestly prayer, the prayer He prays the evening before He dies, often called His high priestly prayer because He is praying on behalf of His people. He's praying on behalf of us and on behalf of His disciples. And so He's acting as a priest representing us before God. So in chapter 17, verse 3, it says, now this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. How do you get eternal life knowing God and Christ? So the two are equal by virtue of both, the knowledge of both brings eternal life. So Jesus claims equality with the Father and other places He does this as well, but that's a representative sample of verses. Okay, nothing could be clearer than that if He claims to be equal with God than He is claiming deity. One of the most familiar liberal arguments against the deity of Christ is that Jesus never once said He was God, never claimed to be God. And if you're looking for those exact words, you could make a case for that, but obviously in many ways He claims, claims equality with God, claims to be God. And we've seen four of them here. Okay, ready for the next claim? Have any questions? Okay, He claims also to being the object of faith. And this is a very strong proof of deity, Christ claims to be the object of faith. In other words, who are you supposed to trust? Who are you to come to? Who are you to follow? Jesus says it's me. That's pretty bold, but notice in Matthew 4.19, it's where Jesus calls some of the first disciples, come follow me. Jesus said, and I will send you out to fish for people. Come follow me. Now hang on to that phrase because we're going to see a comparison to that in just a moment, that Jesus just says, come follow me. Follow me. Okay, so He wants people to follow Him and then look at Matthew 11, verse 28, Jesus says, come to me. All you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy, my burden is light. So not only does He say, follow me, He says, come to me. In other words, I'm the object of faith. I'm the one to be followed. I'm the one you come to for spiritual rest and peace, and then very clear passages in John 3. You're familiar with John 3, 14 to 16. Jesus says, just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in Him, and then John adds this explanation for God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jesus says, I'm just like the Old Testament story of Moses lifting up that serpent on a pole, and all the people of Israel had to do was look to Him, look to that serpent, look to that serpent on a pole, and they would be healed. Well just like that, in that same way, if you believe in me, you have eternal life. I'm going to be lifted up on a pole just like that serpent was, and if you believe in me, you have eternal life, and John makes it clear that's talking about Christ's claim to having eternal life through faith in Him, and then down to verse 36, whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on them. And there are lots of other verses like this too. Again, Representative Sample, John 524, many other passages would indicate the same thing that Jesus claims to being the object of faith. If you want to have eternal life, who do you believe in? Christ, you believe in me, He says, you come to me, you follow me. Now I want to compare with that Paul's statement in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 1, and we'll put the verse on the screen for you, because that's a stretch to get all the way to 1 Corinthians from the gospels that it is for me. Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. You see what Paul's saying? He says, follow me, follow my example, but only as I followed the example of Christ. So notice the contrast. Paul says, you follow me, follow my example, but only as long as I'm following Christ, then you can follow me and you'll be headed to right direction. Jesus never qualified His statement that way, did He? He never said, follow me as I follow the Father. No, He just said, follow me. Come to me, believe in me. And so He's obviously equating Himself with God because there's no qualifier there. There's no indication that I'm below the Father. So if you're going to follow God, you only follow me as long as I'm following God. Now Paul had to say that, but not Jesus, because Paul's not equal to Christ. Paul's not equal to the Father, but Jesus is equal to God. He is just as much God as the Father is. So He claims to be the object of faith. Follow me, come to me, believe in me, He says. All right, comments, questions about that? Let me clear that one up for me. Paul's saying, look at me, follow me. Look at me as He's saying that. He's pretty bold. It is. He's been talking about the issue of Christian liberty and freedom that we have in Christ. So in the context, it's basically, if you'll follow my example, I've set you a good example in this. So you can follow me, but He qualifies that very carefully. I'm not asking just to follow me. I'm not the ultimate example, but you can follow me as long as I'm following Christ. And there's a sense of which any of us could say that. It might mean with most of us that people wouldn't follow very far, but at least to the extent that we're following Christ, we should be an example that anybody could follow. And that's the way Paul meant it, I think. I'm certain it was not a boastful type of statement. Okay, good question. Anything else? Yes, Walt? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Anybody have the King James? What does the King James say? Nobody here has the King James? Wow. That's a little surprising. Okay, I was thinking the King James said it more directly, be followers of me, even as I am of Christ. The NIV smooths it out a little bit, be follow my example. But again, I'd like to check the original. I don't know how clear. Sometimes the NIV and other translations will try to smooth it out in English. I'd like to see whether or not it really says follow me specifically. But it's obvious what he's talking about following my example, but it could be that he literally said follow me. So he may have literally said follow me. Anybody's got a Greek text? Can you look it up? Darryl, you got a Greek text? imitate me. Okay. All right. So he may have been a little more direct than what the NIV implies and it's its rendition. Anybody have the ESV? Surely somebody has the ESV? Be imitate of me and the ESV? Okay. So I think it is a little more direct than what the NIV is. Translating. It's really smoothed out a little bit. The other translations are all follow me, the imitators of me. But again, that's only to the extent that he's following Christ. Obviously, that's the key qualifier. And the key difference again is that Jesus never made that qualifier. He never had to. Okay. Because there was no. Because there was no. Yeah. He's the example of this is the way we see the story. Yes. That's exactly right, Jean. He's saying, basically, I've given you an example and I'm showing you the way you can follow me. And as long as I'm following Christ, I'll lead you in the right way. But yeah, that's the point. Yeah. Okay. Very good. But Jesus claims to be the object of faith just as much as God the Father is the object of faith. Okay. Here's one that is kind of a side door inference into proving the deity of Christ and that is his claims to the highest devotion. Jesus calls for the highest possible devotion, be given to him in Luke chapter 14, verse 26. Large crowds, verse 25, were traveling with Jesus. And turning to them, he said, if anyone comes to me and does not hate Father and Mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even their own life, such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. And then he talks about counting the cost and those well-known examples there. But that is the highest level of devotion. Jesus calls for the highest devotion to be given to him. And even says, if you don't hate your Father and Mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, even your own life, you cannot be my disciple, my follower. Now that sounds really, really tough, doesn't it? It sounds as though Jesus is calling upon us to do something that is humanly impossible to do and maybe even unethical to hate other people. That's why I've put the other verse in there. Matthew 10.37 is the same statement. Jesus says a little differently in Matthew 10. Anyone who loves their Father or Mother more than me is not worthy of me. Anyone who loves their Son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. You have to understand in the Jewish way of thinking, this is a Hebrew idiom. An idiom is a manner of speaking that's kind of unique to a culture. And in the Jewish idiom or the Jewish cultural way of speaking, they would use the terms of love and hate as comparative terms. In other words, to hate someone basically meant that you do not love them to the extent you love someone else. It didn't literally mean, as we would think of it, that you would have feelings of hatred to where you would want to do them harm. Jesus is not saying that. Jesus is using that typical Hebrew manner of speaking to describe that your love for me must be greater, more, higher, deeper. It must be on a different level than your love for anybody else, including yourself. That's a call for the highest of devotion, for the greatest of devotion. And it clearly establishes a spiritual priority that Christ is to come first. He calls for the highest of devotion. He is our greatest love, our highest love. Above anyone else, it must be Christ. And that claim is the height of arrogance unless he is God. For any mere man to call for that kind of devotion, that's just on call for unless he truly is God. And then he has the right to call for that kind of devotion. So you see, he doesn't literally say, I'm God. If you're looking for that, it's not in those passages. But if you understand the level of devotion that he's calling for, it would be absurd for anyone to call for that devotion unless they were God. And so it is a claim to deity, this claim to the highest devotion. Okay? Comments or questions before we look at 11 passages that say the same thing, kind of, the same thing. Any comment or question about claims to the highest devotion? Walt. God has that same level of love for us. I think I would say it this way. I think I can see where you're headed with that. I think what I would say, and Walt's asking if you didn't hear in the back, can we say that God has that same level of love for us, a love that's higher than any other love? And I think what I would say is that it is the strongest kind of love. It's the Greek word agape, which is the highest of the four kinds of love or four different Greek words that are translated love. It's the highest. And it means that you're willing to sacrifice yourself for the good of another. So in that sense, yes, he has the highest love. But I would want to be a little careful to imply that God loves us more than he loves. Who? Unsafe people, his son. I'd be a little careful about that. There is a sense in which there is a special love relationship between God and his children, those of us who know him. We are called his beloved, and that's not true of unsafe people. So in a sense, yes, in a sense, yes, you have to be a little careful with that indicating levels of love from God. All of God's love is perfect. In one sense, it's all the same, but he does have a special relationship with us in love, for sure. As I reason my way through that, I thoroughly confuse everybody. Almost confuse myself a little bit on that one. Is that clear to everybody? Good. You explained it to me afterwards then. I'm not sure I got it. Okay. Any other questions? All right. Let's look at his claims to meeting man's deepest spiritual needs. Now think about this one. Jesus claims to be the one who can meet the deepest spiritual needs of people. And he claims that in numerous ways, we're going to look at 11 verses, all of which have to do with different areas of spiritual need. He says he will meet and he can meet. So let's begin in Matthew 11, verse 27. All things have been committed to me by my father. No one knows the son except the father and no one knows the father except the son. And those to whom the son chooses to reveal him. So here's a spiritual need that Jesus claims to meet. And that is I can meet your need for knowledge of the father. I can give you knowledge of the father. And that is a tremendous statement. But then another spiritual need he indicates he can give is in the next two verses, verses 28 and 29. We've already seen them. But think of them in terms of meeting a spiritual need. To be all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me where I'm gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. What spiritual need does he meet there? It's obvious, isn't it? Rest. Yes. Rest. And the rest is a rest for the soul. You know, he was talking to people who were harassed by all of the burdensome works and expectations placed on them by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. You've got to do all these things in order to please God. And Jesus says, come to me and I will give you rest for your souls. My burden is light and my yoke is easy. So he can give us rest for our soul. And then let's move to John's Gospel. The rest of these are found in John's Gospel in a lot of these I am statements. Jesus claims to meet our deepest spiritual needs. John 6, verses 35 and 51. We saw this just a couple of weeks ago. We could so go on Sunday. 635, Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. And in 10 verse 51, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. So he is spiritual bread, spiritual food that gives life and sustenance. He can meet that need and the need of eternal life. So he provides that. He's the living bread that provides spiritual life and sustenance. And then John 7, 37. On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. And verse 39 tells us he is talking about giving the spirit. So he is able to give us the water of life, which is the Holy Spirit, so that we will never thirst. This is an amazing, amazing scene. I don't want to give it away because we will get to it not this week, but in a couple of three weeks as we go through John's gospel. And when you understand the setting and the context in which Jesus said this, it will just jump out at you what he was saying. But he was talking about the fact that everything that the Old Testament promised with water from the rock in the wilderness, I can give you. I can give you, quench your spiritual thirst and I can give you spiritual sustenance, the water of life. I can give that. I can meet your deepest spiritual need. Okay, or John 812. The next one, John 812, Jesus spoke again to the people who said, I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. So he dispels darkness. What kind of darkness? Spiritual darkness, the darkness of sin, unbelief, hopelessness, despair, fill in the blank, whatever the darkness is, Jesus dispels it with his light. And particularly the darkness of sin and the guilt that comes from sin. You'll never walk in that again. You'll have the light of life. Jesus promises to give light and the spell darkness. Steve? The darkness of sin and the guilt that comes from sin and the guilt that comes from sin. Yeah, don't go too far. You're going to take my sermon away. You're going to take my sermon away. Don't do that. You're on the exactly the right track. He is, even if it's not at the festival of booths, the feast of tabernacles, most commentators, scholars believe that chapter 7 and 8 go together. They happen in close proximity. And even if it's not still during the feast, it is close enough to people who would still make the connection with something that happens at that feast that has to do with light. And I want to save a little bit of that. Don't take all my thunder. You're exactly right. When Jesus says I'm the light of the world, he was referring to something they'd just seen in the temple. Same thing with the water. So he dispels the darkness of sin. Okay. All right, chapter 10 verses 7 through 9. Therefore Jesus said again, very truly, I tell you, I am. Here's another one of those I am statements. I am the gate or the door for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. In other words, I am the doorway or the gate to salvation. I'm the one that allows you the gateway into the sheep pin where the sheep are kept safe and protected. So he offers to meet that deep spiritual need. And then in verse 11, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Repeats it in verse 14. I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. So he offers to provide what? That a shepherd provides. What else does a shepherd provide? Food, water, guidance, sheep don't know which way to go. They wander off. Don't think the shepherd leads them into the right pastures. And so all of those things come under that illustration of the shepherd. So he's offering to provide all of our spiritual needs. Food and shelter and guidance and protection, all those things. And then even more, down in verses 28 to 30, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. No one will snatch him out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one can snatch him out of my father's hand. I and the father are one. A tremendous statement of eternal security. And so he promises to meet our deepest needs in terms of when you get saved, he promises that we have eternal life and no one can snatch us out of his hand. No one can snatch out of the father's hand either. So there's double protection there, security. In chapter 11, verses 25 and 26, here's more. Jesus said to her, this is speaking to Martha at Lazarus graveside, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this? So he offers to meet the need for life, eternal life, resurrection life, resurrection. Victory over death. He will meet that deep spiritual need as well. And then just a couple more. Chapter 14, verse 6, another I am statement. I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. In other words, he promises to be the way to God and the truth and the life, all of that he promises to provide for us. So he's meeting our deepest spiritual needs. And then one more, 15, 5, I am, you go again, I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I am you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. So he provides us with fruit bearing energy, the ability to bear fruit. Now that probably is speaking in the context more about the fruit of character, like the fruit of the spirit, character qualities, then it is winning other people to Christ. The fruit is the evidence of life within. And he's the vine that we get our life from and we produce the evidence of that life in Christ-like character. There are other places that talk about influencing others for the kingdom and the gospel. But this probably is talking about character qualities that he develops through us because without him we can't do that. You can't grow in character without Christ, but he promises to provide it through you because it is his life that is flowing through us. He's the vine and we're the branches. So all of those passages we looked at, I think there are 11 of them, he claims to meet people's deepest spiritual needs. I will give you this. I am this without me, you can't. And over and over and over and over again, he claims to meet the deepest spiritual needs. Now in conclusion, here are two things that are very important when you think of the claims of Christ. And we've looked at five different claims that Christ makes and many different ways that he makes them. So there's a lot here, but here's what you come up with. Christ preached Himself. He preached Himself. He made all of these claims about Himself that I want the highest devotion. I can meet your deepest spiritual needs. Believe in me, come to me, rest in me, trust in me. I'm equal with the Father. I have authority that God has. I mean, He preached Himself for anyone else to do that would be the height of arrogance to preach Himself. So He can only do that truthfully, honestly, with integrity if He is indeed worthy of that. If He is indeed God. And of course, we know that there are other supporting witnesses to that. The Holy Spirit's ministry is to glorify Christ in John 16. It says that. So Christ preached Himself. Think about that. Think about the height of arrogance if He really wasn't God for Him to make all of those claims. Would be absolute insanity and arrogance. So that leads me to a second statement. The liberals have a real dilemma here. Because liberal and neo-orthodox who kind of followed the liberals in the thirties and forties and dressed up liberal terminology to make it sound better, but basically taught the same thing. Liberals in neo-orthodox theologians, none of them believe in the deity of Christ as a general rule. They don't believe in the deity of Christ, particularly liberals. But here's what they say. They say Jesus was a good man. He was a great example. He was a wonderful teacher. And they'll talk a lot about that. And they'll preach all about Jesus and how you should follow His example and listen to His teachings and try to live by them. That's the liberal and I'm talking about religious liberals. That's what they teach about Jesus. But they will not go so far as to say that He claimed to be God or that He was God. They will not admit that He was God. Now, here's the dilemma that the liberals have. Either because of all these claims, either He was truly God or He was the biggest religious huckster in a liar that ever lived. There's no middle ground. You can't be a good man, a good example and a good teacher and make all these claims to being equal with God. If you're not really equal with God then you're the biggest liar to ever come down the pike religiously. You're not a good man. You're not a good example. You're not a good teacher. You're the biggest religious huckster of all unless He is God. That's the only way these claims make any sense. So that's the dilemma the liberals have. They can talk with great eloquence about following the sermon on the mount and listening to the teachings of Jesus and what a great example He is for us. I'm going to read you Sunday morning, I've been studying this morning in John 7 where we'll be Sunday morning and I'm going to read you a quote from a liberal preacher about Christ. When you first hear it you're going to think that sounds pretty good but basically what he's saying is Jesus is a great example even to the point that his death should have been a tremendous example of dying for a cause you believe in and there's something in us that ought to respond to that. That is far short of what the Bible teaches about Christ's death and Christ's person but that's the way liberals teach about Christ. But there is no middle ground. He either was God or he was the biggest religious liar ever to come along because of all these claims. Now obviously you know where I am and you know where the Bible is. He was God and so all of his claims were true. I think Treaver had his hand up and then we'll go to Walt Real Quick because the kids are running loose already. If he were a charlatan when they drove that first nail he would have recanted everything he said yeah you're exactly right. You're exactly right that would have probably wouldn't have gone that far before he recanted. Walt? Yes he did. If you don't believe my words believe the works that was one of the testimonies about him from John 5 that he quoted or called. Pardon me? Yes, hard to refute both. Both are powerful testimonies. So Jesus made clear claims to being God over and over and over and over again in at least these five ways and many different ways of saying those. So his claims were clear. He clearly claimed to be God. Either he was or he was he was a charlatan to use the word that Treaver used. And certainly we believe he was true and he was God. All right we better stop. Let's pray. Father thank you for your word. It is so clear and so powerful. The testimony is so overwhelming. If this were testimony that we've seen in the last few weeks. If this were testimony in a court of law the prosecuting attorney would be crying please let up quit. I've heard enough. But Lord we can never hear enough of your word and we thank you for for this overwhelming testimony of the deity of Christ. We pray, Father, that we will grow in our wonder of Him and our love for Him and our desire to truly follow Him. It's in His name we pray. Amen.