[0:00] You know, when you're young, you don't know about some things. It's not as special or as enticing to go.
[0:14] But as you go through life and you experience loss and you experience pain and disease and debt and you have frustrations and you have problems and you grow older and things change around you and you can't keep things stable, then you can imagine meeting folks up there around the throne and how just all of that vanishes.
[0:42] And there's nothing else that matters. We can join the chorus and we can glorify Christ. If you have a Bible, please find John chapter 1, the Gospel of John, chapter number 1.
[0:55] And we've got a little while until we get to this place, but I'd like to set up something and then I'll try to go through quickly some things we see here in John's Gospel.
[1:08] But I'd like to kind of build a scene here. If you could think back to in Matthew 22, three groups of people came to Jesus Christ, the Herodians, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and they tried to attack him.
[1:25] They tried to question him. They tried to trip him up. They tried to find something they could use to take him down. And they came with their preordained thoughts and questions and he slapped them.
[1:41] He sent them packing, each one, with his wisdom. He was untouchable. They couldn't catch him in his words. And so he turns to them and asks them a question. And he said this, what think ye of Christ?
[1:55] And he went on to say, whose son is he? And he kind of had them to where they couldn't answer the question. It was kind of a two-edged sword to them. They didn't know what to do. But that thought, those words of Jesus Christ said, I want to put that forth to you today.
[2:12] What think ye of Christ? And I think that's a good question. It's a good question to ask when you're witnessing to somebody. Try to find out what they believe. But what's your response?
[2:23] How can you respond to that? What words, what description could you offer to explain what you think of Jesus Christ? Now, we just sang a hymn that was loaded with incredible descriptions of Jesus Christ.
[2:40] A savior and a friend, a help. I can't think of the rest of the verse all. It was loaded. Five verses of the Lord Jesus Christ.
[2:52] What a savior. That could help you if you don't have much to draw from. But let me ask the question. How well do you know him? And if you were to convey him to me and to others, what would come out of your mouth?
[3:06] To some people, he's just a mere prophet. He's a good man. But then some portray him as a hard teacher to follow. He's an extremist. You don't want to go too extreme.
[3:17] You need to stay balanced. And Jesus was one of those extremists. He ran people off in John chapter 6. Disciples that were following him. And he said some things and they said, this is a hard saying.
[3:30] Who can hear it? And they took off. They said, you're too extreme for us. To others, they put forth this gentle image. Aren't we all familiar with this?
[3:41] This non-judgmental man. So meek and lowly and soft and even weak and effeminate. And then others go so far as to blasphemously suggest that he was a sinner.
[3:55] They accused him of fornication with Mary Magdalene or one of them. They say that's the real relationship there. They accused him in his age of drunkenness, being a glutton.
[4:07] Some of a criminal. Some of being a revolutionist. But to others, he's more than a teacher. He's more than a prophet. He's more than some kind religious man.
[4:19] For others, they've forsook all and followed him. They surrendered their lives to him and to his leading. Some have accepted torture because they obeyed him.
[4:33] And they refused to deny him. Others gave their lives. Died horrific deaths. Because of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because they loved him.
[4:45] Now there are those that have introduced Jesus Christ to others just based on what they knew of him. And there's examples here even in John chapter 1. And there's a few of the disciples like Andrew and Philip who say, Hey, we've met the Messiah.
[5:02] Come and see. And they really didn't know anything about him. They couldn't talk about his character, his qualities, and what he's capable of. But they believed him to be the Messiah.
[5:13] And so they introduced their brothers or their friends to him. John the Baptist introduced others to Jesus Christ when he saw him. In verse 29, John seeth Jesus.
[5:25] And he said, Behold. He said, Everybody look. The Lamb of God. Which taketh away the sin of the world. Now John had some revelation on that. God gave him that.
[5:36] He didn't just learn that by meeting him and hanging out with him. But John had a way to introduce him or to describe him to others. In chapter 4, a woman met him by the well.
[5:48] And she took off and told everybody what she knew about the man. She said, Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did. And that's really all she knew. But she told others about him.
[6:00] And that's what she thought of Christ. At least in that moment. He's offering me water. Water, not from a well, but water from himself. Now there's others.
[6:14] But I want to think here, perhaps as I dwelt on this, and I thought probably the best, maybe most thorough way that we could introduce Christ is from the words of a man that knew him better than any other man.
[6:30] From the Apostle John. The disciple whom Jesus loved. The one that was close, intimately close to that man that knew him, that walked with him, that laid his head upon his breast, that had a tightness to him.
[6:45] Where when Christ is dying, he said to him, Behold thy mother. Mother, behold thy son. I mean, he was in there with Jesus Christ. He had such a unique and deep knowledge of him because a very, very close relationship existed.
[7:02] And as such, he wrote of him like no one else has ever written of him. He reveals Jesus Christ in a way that none of the other gospel writers do. When you read Matthew's gospel, Matthew portrays Jesus Christ as the king of the Jews.
[7:17] He says that he's the son of David, the king, the son of Abraham, the father of the Jews. And that's where he starts with Jesus.
[7:29] He's, that's who he is. The king of the Jews. He reveals him as a historical, a prophetical, and a political figure. But it'd be unfortunate for us if that's all we knew of Jesus Christ.
[7:43] Mark reveals Jesus Christ as a suffering servant. The gospel of Mark shows he doesn't talk about his genealogy. He just starts him right off as a servant, serving meek and lowly.
[7:57] He's humble. He's a great role model from Mark's gospel. And from that concept is birthed this idea, what would Jesus do? Because people want to think like that lowly and humble character that's not going to be rash.
[8:10] He's going to be caring and do right. Luke's gospel portrays Jesus Christ as the son of man. He's one of us. But he was born to die for us, so he's our savior.
[8:22] And Luke shows him as paying for the sins of the world, and that's true. And for some, that's all they think of him. He's just, he's just a way for me to escape hell.
[8:34] But this morning, I want to point out and show you, he's so much more than a sacrifice for our sins, a way for us to escape paying for our sins. He's more than that.
[8:45] So how does John describe him? How does John reveal Jesus Christ to us? John, what do you think of Christ? Well, let's just start with the way he introduces him, unlike anyone else.
[8:59] In John chapter one, let's see in the very first few verses here, how John reveals, what John thinks of Christ. Look at verse one. I've got five things to point out here. I'm trying to do this quickly.
[9:10] It won't take long. In verse number one, John says, in the beginning was the word. In the beginning of what, John? The only thing I know to make sense there is time.
[9:23] That's the only thing I understand. In the beginning, if we called that time, before time even began, was, past tense, already existing, the word.
[9:37] Who is the word? The word is Jesus Christ. The word is Christ. John, what do you think of Christ? John reveals to us, first of all, the eternity of Christ.
[9:49] In the beginning was the word. That's not an action verb. That's a state of being. That's the existence. Remember, Matthew only took us back to Abraham, with Jesus Christ.
[10:03] He could only go that far back. That's as far as he was interested in going, connecting him to the Jewish realm. But John, he doesn't want to take him back to Adam. He doesn't want to take him back to creation.
[10:16] He wants to take him all the way back to eternity. And reveal to us, Jesus Christ is an eternal being. Look at chapter 8 of John. Jesus Christ existed before time, before creation, before matter.
[10:34] John chapter 8. John chapter 8. And in verse 56, he's speaking to these that want to kill him.
[10:48] And in verse 56, he says, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?
[10:59] Abraham. Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. They picked up stones in verse 59.
[11:14] They knew exactly what he was saying. They're going to kill him dead, right here and right now, for blasphemy. You're calling yourself God? You're saying you're the I am of the Old Testament?
[11:28] The voice that spoke to Moses out of the bush that was aflame with fire, yet wasn't consumed? You're calling yourself our God? They picked up stones in their hand.
[11:40] And they were going to throw these things at him. Jesus is the I am. But now, that's one reaction to that statement. Could you imagine the other reaction of the disciples that were with him?
[11:55] Because they've never thought of this before in their life. They're following Jesus, believing what he says, believing he's the Messiah, believing he's the Son of God come. And he stands there in front of these Jews.
[12:07] Nobody's ever talked to them like this. And he said, before Abraham was, I am. And they're ready to kill him. And the disciples are like, that's right.
[12:22] You are the God from that burning bush. You are that God. They've never thought of that before. They've never conceived this.
[12:33] What revelation has just come upon them? What enlightenment their minds were blown in that moment. And I think they just had a grin on their face like, oh yeah. Oh, I didn't know that about you.
[12:46] But you are more than I ever thought of. He's not just a savior. He's not just a sacrifice to take your sins. He is the eternal God. The Lord Jesus Christ.
[12:58] Come back to chapter one. You know that every time you read a conversation in this book of Jesus Christ speaking, every time he's teaching someone, understand that he's an eternal being that's speaking through a body of flesh.
[13:16] He knows everything about everything. Here's an example. This is minor. But look at chapter one. And toward the end when Nathaniel shows up and meets him for the first time.
[13:31] I'll start in 45. Philip findeth Nathaniel, Nathanael saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses and the law and the prophets did right, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?
[13:45] He's not believing what he's been told by Philip. Philip saith unto him, Come and see. So he does. Jesus saw Nathaniel coming to him, probably a little skeptical, according to his response.
[14:01] And saith of him, Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile. Nathaniel saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Whence?
[14:11] Like, from where do you know me? Have we met before? How do you know that I'm devoted and sincere in this religion, this Jew's religion?
[14:22] How do you know that I've given myself to it, and that I worship God purely, and I'm holy and blameless before him? How do you know me? And Jesus responds like this.
[14:34] He says in verse 48, Jesus answered and said unto him, Well, before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw you. But that really doesn't answer my question, does it? He's like, Oh, I saw you over there.
[14:47] But how do you know me? How do you know anything about me? Because he's an eternal being. And when it comes out of him, sometimes, I'm not saying, I don't know, but it feels like sometimes things slip out of his mouth.
[15:00] Like, oh, they don't know that I know that. I don't want to say it like that. I believe he's purposeful with these things. But he's an eternal being, speaking through a body of flesh.
[15:11] He has eternity to draw from. He has literally seen it all. Now, let's let that sink in. Come back to chapter 1. In the beginning was the Word.
[15:24] It reveals the eternity of Christ. But also, we want to see that John reveals the deity, or the divinity of Christ. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[15:40] It's an interesting wording to say that the Word was with God, because he distinguishes one person of the Godhead from another, but then, yes, also reveals their unity.
[15:53] And that's something John speaks of later in his epistle, his first epistle in chapter 5, of the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one. But here he doesn't expound on it, but he does hint at it.
[16:06] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was God. Jesus Christ is God. In the beginning, before time, Jesus Christ was with God, but Jesus Christ was God himself.
[16:24] The Jehovah's Witnesses despise that statement. They can't let it stand in the Scripture. They have to change it. You pick up one of their New World translations, and it says the Word was a God, but not God.
[16:39] What right do they have to change the text? And it's an easy way to refute that. They say the article is assumed, but then the rest of their Bible does not assume articles every time.
[16:51] Just where they want to teach doctrine their way. Heresy, I should say. The Word was God. Jesus Christ, we've already said, was the I Am. He is the I Am of Exodus chapter 3.
[17:03] The same God that spake in Isaiah, saying, I am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. And then the angel speaks to the shepherds and the heavenly hosts, and he says, Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.
[17:23] So wait a minute. Jehovah God, I thought you said beside you there was no Savior. How can this Christ the Lord be a Savior?
[17:33] So said the angel to the shepherds. How come when you're going to be born, your name's going to be called Jesus, for he shall save, he shall save his people from their sins.
[17:49] Either Jehovah's lying, and there is another Savior, or that Savior and that Savior are the same. The Word was God.
[18:01] It reveals the deity of Jesus Christ. What think ye of Christ John? Right away he's going to let us know he's God. That's what I think of him. He knows he's God. Do I believe that Jesus Christ is God?
[18:15] Absolutely. Why would I ever believe that? Where would I come? From the Word of God. Because this book tells me that. That's the only reason. Keep your place, but let's read two verses here.
[18:25] Come back to 1 John 5. And then Hebrews chapter 1. These two are pretty powerful. There's a lot of scripture on the deity of Christ.
[18:36] I hope you know your Bible well enough that if you needed to prove to somebody from the scriptures that Jesus is God, you could turn to a few verses. If you don't, maybe you want to write these two down right beside John chapter 1 and verse 1.
[18:50] 1 John 5 verse 20. 1 John 5 verse 20. And we know that the Son of God has come and hath given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true and we are in Him that is true even in His Son, Jesus Christ.
[19:11] This is the true God and eternal life. Some want to say, well, the true God is God. Not the Son, but God.
[19:23] You know, and it's His Son, but He's eternal life. This is the true God and eternal life. Jesus Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. That's the statement of Jesus Christ.
[19:35] He is the true God. And there's a verse back in Jeremiah, chapter 10 and verse 10, that is a good cross reference if you have time. All right, Hebrews chapter 1 and verse number 8.
[19:49] In this passage, He's comparing the angels to the Son of God and showing that the Son of God is higher than the angels because He didn't say to any of the angels, Thou art my Son.
[20:02] But in verse 6, He bringeth the first begotten into the world. He saith, let all the angels of God worship Him. And of the angels He saith, who maketh His angels spirits, His ministers a frame of fire. But watch verse 8, But unto the Son He saith, the Father He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
[20:20] God the Father calls the Son God. If God the Father is okay with calling Jesus Christ God, I have no problem with it either.
[20:33] Jesus Christ is God. John reveals that to us right away. The deity of Jesus Christ. As far as I'm concerned, from those scriptures alone, case closed, you bunch of unbelieving, unrighteous, Bible-rejecting cults that exist, get your nose in the Word of God.
[20:53] It'll straighten you out. Now some will say, well, I don't understand how Jesus can be God. Okay, I don't either. I'll let that go. I'll believe it because the Bible says so.
[21:04] But I don't understand how there can exist an eternal, infinite, almighty God either. Before time. I can't get that. But if I can believe that He exists, why can't I believe this?
[21:18] This is a lot lower on the scale. I can't believe that Jesus is God. That's an easy one actually. Come back to John chapter 1. He's revealed the eternity of Christ. John reveals the deity of Christ.
[21:30] He also reveals the ability of Christ. In verse number 2, it says, the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
[21:41] And without Him was not anything made that was made. I grew up believing Genesis 1 verse 1, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
[21:53] I really, I don't know where it was. It was some years, years down the road to where I fully got into the Bible and understood the Creator isn't generic God, but the creation is assigned to one person of the Godhead.
[22:11] And it's Jesus Christ. It's the Word. In chapter 1, verse 3, all things were made by Him. If you want to say, well that's a reference to God, like God the Father, even though the context is the Word.
[22:25] Well, I'm not going to turn you around here and run the verses, but I can tell you this, Ephesians 3 verse 9 tells us Jesus Christ is the Creator. Colossians 1 and verse 15 tells us Jesus Christ is the Creator.
[22:39] All things were made by Him, the Son. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2 tells us that by whom He made the worlds, by Christ He made the worlds.
[22:50] In Hebrews 11 verse 3, there's four verses with John chapter 1. There's five scriptures that all declare the Creator of Genesis 1 verse 1 is Jesus Christ. John reveals the ability of Christ.
[23:04] Not just the ability to create, not just the things that we've seen, but so much more that we can't comprehend. We even were getting on some of that in the study in Sunday school from Ephesians of the principalities and powers.
[23:18] Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things. The ability of Christ, the ability to create, also John shows us He has the ability to quicken in verse number 4, in Him was life.
[23:32] And if you're not sure about that, look at verse number 11 through 13 of this passage. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He.
[23:44] He gave. He has the ability. He gave power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on His name which were born not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor the will of man but of God.
[23:57] And that was given by Jesus Christ. The power to become the sons of God. He has the ability to quicken, to give life. And we'll read something else about that here in a short minute here.
[24:09] But the ability of Jesus Christ, if He can create all things, and He can give life as we'll see to who He wants to give it to, is there anything that escapes the ability of Christ?
[24:27] Is there anything? Stop thinking He's some meek and lowly. Bring the children unto me. Shepherd with the little sheep in His arms. He is almighty God.
[24:38] His ability knows no bounds. Later in this book you can see that He knows all men at the end of chapter 2. He knows what's in man.
[24:50] He knows their thoughts. He heals by just speaking the word. He's not even in town. And He just speaks the word and has them healed. There's nothing that Jesus Christ cannot do.
[25:01] But there's more to that statement in chapter 1 in verse 4 that says in Him was life. I believe this also reveals something else. and John does this. He reveals the authority of Jesus Christ.
[25:13] In Him was life. Now that's matching chapter 1 with the was. Verse 1 In the beginning was the word and back at the beginning in Him was life.
[25:25] Now come to chapter 5. John chapter 5. And let's notice this.
[25:40] Jesus Christ has authority. And it has to do with this word life. Verse 21 says, As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them even so the Son quickeneth whom He will.
[25:55] For the Father judgeth no man but hath committed all judgment unto the Son. God committed the Father committed all judgment unto Jesus Christ. All of it.
[26:05] He has the authority. Now come a little bit lower. Look at verse 25. Verily, verily, I say unto you the hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they that hear shall live.
[26:20] Now watch these two things. For as the Father has life in Himself even, or I'm sorry, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself in Him was life and hath given Him authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of Man.
[26:38] He has two things here. He has life in Himself and the ability to quicken whomsoever He will with that life. And He also has authority to execute judgment.
[26:49] And those two things have to do with the resurrection and where you go. Watch verse 28. Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which that all that are in the grave shall hear His voice and shall come forth they that have done good unto the resurrection of life.
[27:06] Because He decides He does that. And they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. That's Him executing judgment. That's God committing all judgment unto the Son.
[27:19] You want to talk about a judge. In the Bible He's called the righteous judge. He's the judge of the world the earth. Jesus Christ is the one. He has the authority. John reveals that to us.
[27:31] Don't think that He's a lesser God or created being. No you better fear Him. Nobody gets around Jesus Christ. Nobody. Nobody. He said no man cometh unto the Father but by me.
[27:47] You want to get up there? Now we think of that as you know He's the way the truth and the life. Amen. But know this that He's promoting and describing His authority by saying I'll make that choice.
[28:01] I'll let Him I'll let you in or not. He spoke with a power and authority in Matthew chapter 7. He spoke with boldness. They said never man spake like this man.
[28:12] He spoke with such authority. Now come back to John chapter 1. John reveals the authority of Christ. And then there's one more thing that I want us to realize John reveals to us in verse 14.
[28:26] He reveals the humanity of Christ. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word was made flesh.
[28:39] There's other scriptures to point that out. 1 Timothy 3 verse 16 God was manifest in the flesh. The Word was God. Jesus Christ is God and He was manifest.
[28:50] He manifested Himself. An eternal being. An almighty being. Manifested Himself in human flesh. How is it possible for an eternal all powerful being to relate and to communicate with man who is nothing like that?
[29:09] He's finite. He's very limited. He's sinful. How can that being communicate and relate to man? Well, look at chapter 3.
[29:21] Here's a statement of Christ to Nicodemus and understand the gap here. Christ is trying to convey spiritual, heavenly truths to Nicodemus and He makes a comment saying I'm trying to talk to you on a level you can understand and you won't even believe me.
[29:43] So He says in verse 12, if I have told you earthly things and you believe not, how shall you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? I'm trying to relate things to you on your level and you're not believing me.
[29:56] You're not exercising faith in my words. I can't tell you about things that are beyond this realm that you can't see or touch or feel. You'll never understand them until you believe me, my words, and take me at my word.
[30:11] Now, how can He do this? How can He reveal and relate to us, the humanity of Christ here? The answer is He'll strip Himself of what man cannot relate to, of His eternal glory.
[30:23] He'll strip Himself of His immortality and subject Himself to such a form low enough that man can comprehend Him. In John chapter 1 and verse 36, they looked upon Jesus as He walked.
[30:40] You know why? Because He just blended it with the crowd. And John, perhaps in that bustling environment there would be men and women or children playing or somebody herding their goats or sheep and a stray dog and it's just an environment of activity and there goes the Lamb of God walking through the crowd and John sees Him and He says, Hey!
[31:03] Look over there. There He is, the Lamb of God. He didn't look like anybody different than anybody else on the street. He didn't glow like the glory of God upon His visage.
[31:17] John had to point Him out. He had to tell people, That's the one right there. Do you see Him? He's over there. The humanity of Christ. In John chapter 4, He sat upon the well, it says, being wearied from His journey.
[31:31] But in the Old Testament, God says, Will ye weary me? So how can God be wearied? Well, Jesus Christ took on flesh, the humanity.
[31:43] John reveals the humanity of Christ. Elsewhere, when He was tempted of the devil, He was unhungered. On the cross, He cried out, I thirst. On the, in the, in the water, on the ship, He was asleep on a pillow.
[31:57] In John 11, 35, Jesus wept. Elsewhere, His spirit was grieved. Elsewhere, He was exceeding sorrowful. I'd say Jesus Christ experienced it all as a human.
[32:11] And what's, what's so interesting is that He could tell you everything about everything. There was nothing He could not expound upon. Time past, time present, time future.
[32:24] How, how is it possible for you to restrict yourself from not always explaining things and always expounding to everybody everywhere about everything? Why, we do it all the time.
[32:37] If you know something and someone else that you're speaking with doesn't know it, what do you do? When they reveal to you that they don't know it, you right away fill them in.
[32:48] If they tell you a story about something that happened to them, right away you're like, oh, that happened to me. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you want to just fill them in with what you know.
[33:00] When God gave King Solomon wisdom and understanding and knowledge, He was bursting at the seams with it. He couldn't keep it in. He wrote songs and poems and poems, a thousand.
[33:13] He talked of the trees and of everything in nature because He had understanding of it and no one else knew this stuff. So it just had to come out. Yet, what restraint for the Lord Jesus Christ to be in a body of flesh and not everywhere we go tell you about everything that exists along the way because He knows about it.
[33:39] He created it. He fashioned it. The humanity of Christ. John gives us a little different picture than some.
[33:52] To some, He was that historical, political, or role model, or just a way to escape hell. But this morning, what think ye of Christ? How well do you know Jesus Christ?
[34:04] I'll submit to you that the words of this book and a walk and a fellowship with Jesus Christ will enhance what you think of Christ. It'll change what you think of Christ.
[34:17] It'll develop and blossom into something true and fruitful. And when what you think of Christ gets somewhere, it'll change you.
[34:28] I assure you it'll change you. I want to conclude with a little short list. I was just sitting the other day thinking on this. And I put together a little list here. Predominantly from the scriptures of what I think of Christ.
[34:44] And I got this from this book. I didn't go take a walk in the park and see Jesus on every step of the way. But this book reveals, as we've seen, that He's the eternal God.
[34:58] He is forever existing. He is everywhere present. He is infinite. He is immeasurable. He is almighty. He is all-knowing.
[35:09] He is the ancient of days. Jesus Christ is the first and Jesus Christ is the last. The Bible says that He is the beginning and He is the end.
[35:23] Jesus Christ is the creator. He's the engineer of everything. He's the architect of all. all. The Lord Jesus Christ is a detailed designer and He's a distinguished decorator.
[35:38] Have you seen His work? Have you seen what He can do? Isn't it marvelous? The Bible reveals Him as the righteous judge, having all authority and all power made higher than the heavens.
[35:56] The Lord Jesus Christ said, all power is given unto me. He's the mighty God. He's the everlasting Father. He's the King of kings.
[36:09] And He's the Lord of lords. Jesus Christ is the head of the corner to whom every knee shall bow.
[36:20] Of things in heaven, of things in earth, and of things under the earth. and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
[36:33] Nobody's getting around Him. Not one. He is the beginning of the creation of God. The first begotten of the dead and the final sacrifice for sins.
[36:47] He's the good shepherd and He's the Lamb of God. He's the author and finisher of our faith. He's the redeemer of the human race. He's the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world.
[37:03] He's the Savior and the advocate of sinners. He's the light of the world. He's the way, the truth, and the life.
[37:15] He's the resurrection and the life. He's the water of life. He's the word of life. Jesus Christ is the true vine, the faithful witness.
[37:26] He's our blessed hope. Like David said, He's my shield. He's my strength. He's my horn. He's my helper. He's my buckler. He's my defender and He's my deliverer.
[37:40] The Bible calls Him the rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley, the balm of Gilead, the root and offspring of David and the bright and morning star.
[37:53] He is holy, He's harmless, and He's undefiled. And to summarize it all, the Scripture says He is altogether lovely. What think ye of Christ?
[38:08] That's what I think of Christ. That's what John thinks of Christ this morning. What think ye of Christ? What does your life say you think of Christ? Let's bow together.
[38:21] Let's bow our heads and our hearts before Christ and consider that all of these statements and all of these words are truth from the Word of God.
[38:34] When I asked you at the beginning, what think ye of Christ and introduced my subject, did you think of that? Or did you just think He died for me? Please don't limit your knowledge of Jesus Christ.
[38:48] Don't limit your fellowship with Him to just Calvary. Oh, what a blessing Calvary is. But isn't that just the beginning for us? Isn't that just where we get to know Him?
[39:00] But now, after Calvary, now what think ye of Christ? I wonder if your relationship with Him is what it ought to be. I'm sure it's not what it could be.
[39:12] I'm sure we're all guilty there. I'm sure we all fall short. But this morning, answer the question, what think ye of Christ? And does your life show it?
[39:24] And does your choices show it? And does the time you spend with Him show it? Of course it does. It absolutely does. I want you to know Him this morning.
[39:37] I want you to know Him as your Savior. as your friend, but as your God and as your judge. Father, this morning, I pray that I was able to exalt your Son.
[39:52] I pray that in our hearts we would lift Him up higher. He is worthy. that I pray that I would be with you. And oh my God, one day we'll behold you face to face in your presence.
[40:07] We'll see you lifted up. We'll know you to be what you are. I pray you give us a stronger glimpse of that, one that would change the way we live, one that would turn our hearts to worshiping you in spirit, in truth, according to the word of God.
[40:30] Father, draw us to your Son. Draw us to fellowship. Reveal yourself to us. May we not be shallow. May we not neglect who the Son of God is.
[40:42] I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing a song. Looks like it's...