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It is a relief, my good brothers and sisters, to see you here again this evening. I was afraid I had worked you so hard last week that I should never see your faces again this side of glory. But my fears have been unsubstantial, and, uh, welcome back. This is our second study in a short series on the Blessed and Holy Trinity. Now, in our first study, we began to think about the Holy Trinity and observed that it is the most profound subject in the whole of Holy Scripture, because therein we are thinking not merely of what God has done from time to time. We are invited rather to look inside the deity, the divine persons, and to consider what God is in himself. And that is a topic to which we come as Moses before the burning bush, with the shoes off our feet, for the ground upon which we stand is holy ground. Let us pray that as we continue our studies, it may dawn on us progressively that we're not dealing with some dry principles of abstract theology. We are dealing with a glorious person, the person of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We are occupied with things rather with persons, than which there will never be anything higher throughout the whole of unending eternity. So then last time in our first study, we asked ourselves a simple practical question. The Trinity, or to name it better, the tri-unity, is a difficult subject. No one pretends it's going to be simple. Um, the very word Trinity or Triunity, and many of the technical terms that the theologians use about the Holy Trinity, are terms that are not found in Scripture itself. You will search from Genesis to Revelation and not find the word Trinity. So sometimes the reaction in our hearts is, why should we bother to engage in this difficult, hard, tough thinking? Why can't we just take the scriptures as they stand, and when they talk to us about the Lord Jesus being a man, accept it and believe it and thank God for it. And when they talk of him as Son of God, well, let us do the same, take it and believe it and understand it, without trying to come to grips with what that implies as to his relationship with God the Father and his relationship to God the Holy Spirit. The answer what we gave ourselves last week was simply this, that if we love the Lord Jesus, we shall of course listen to him and not get tired of anything that concerns him. Surely not. And secondly, and when we listen to the Lord Jesus and what he said when he was here on earth, we shall notice that he, not seldom, spoke of his pre-existence. How that he existed before he was born of the Virgin Mary and entered our world. He talks about the glories which he had with the Father before the world was. He startled his contemporaries in Nazareth and around by saying that he came down from heaven. Their reaction was to say, that sounds stupid to us. We know his mother, and we know, or thought they did, his father, that is his publicly assumed father, Joseph, his brothers and sisters. How does he now say he comes down from heaven? But that he did say, of course. Which raises the immediate question, well, what was he then? Before he came down from heaven. The same thing is said, of course, about the Holy Spirit, who came in the sense of coming, official coming, on the day of Pentecost. Of him too, it is said, he came down from heaven. Very good. What was he doing before he came down from heaven. And who was he? And what was his relation to God? Because these things pertain to our blessed Lord and Savior and to the Godhead. We who love him, surely, are going to follow as far as we can, listening as the Holy Spirit expounds these wonderful things about God and the Son of God and the Spirit of God in Holy Scripture. Was our Lord Sir then, before he came, an angel? Is that a possibility? Sometimes in the Old Testament, we read of someone called the angel of the Lord. And as we follow the story, it becomes evident that this angel of the Lord was God. So was our blessed Lord Jesus the angel of the Lord? And if so, is he just an angel? Well, you say, what is an angel to start with? Malach in Hebrew and angelos in Greek simply means a messenger. So in that sense, yes, our Lord brought a message from God, indeed he did. But let us at once perceive and learn again from Holy Scripture that our Lord was not merely an angel. To a Jew, perhaps when they first heard the Christian claim that Jesus is the Son of God, they might have been tempted to think, ah well, don't know the angels are called sons of God, are they not? The book of Job chapter one, it there came a time when the sons of God came and presented themselves before the Lord. Sons of God, bnei Elohim in Hebrew. Sons of God, angels. Well, when our Lord is called Son of God, does that mean that he is a super duper angel, maybe, but simply an angel? Let's get that right start cleared from the start, and you will remember how that the first epist- the first chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews faces this matter head on, because it is written to Jews who might be in danger of, uh, confusing the title Son of God with sons of God referring to angels. So, if you care to look at it, and tonight I shall make you work. It makes it easier for me if you're working alongside me, you'll see. And anyway, you want to check on whether I'm saying is right. And thirdly, it's a method of keeping awake. With sometimes any help on an occasion like this to keep awake is a very good and welcome thing. This is the first letter, the first chapter of the letter to the Hebrews. Verse four: having become by so much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they. For under which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. Different from the angels in his relationship with the Father. Not this day I have created thee, this day I have begotten thee. Thou art my son. And you'll see, and similarly, uh, in verse eight— of s- verse seven, and of the angels he said, who maketh his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire, powerful but transient and insubstantial. But of the Son, he says, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of thy uprightness, of uprightness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Notice who it is that is talking. In the Psalm, it is God, whom we call God the Father. He is addressing our blessed Lord. He says, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. Words never spoken by the Father to any angel whatsoever. And to conclude the argument along that line, verse thirteen of chapter one: but of t- of which of the angels hath he said at any time, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet? Name any particular angel you can think of in any chapter of scripture. And the challenge remains, to which of those angels did God ever say, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet? The very position expressing equality with God. So then we clear up that little, uh, suggestion in his pre-incarnation, our blessed Lord was not an angel, not merely an angel in the normal sense of angel. I want to take us, therefore, through now, through a number of scriptures that refer to our blessed Lord in his pre-incarnate days and declare him to be God. I want to follow that with a succession of time events, not only in his pre-incarnation, but at his incarnation, then at his baptism, then in his ministry, then in his trial and execution, then in his resurrection from the dead and ascension at God's right hand, then at Pentecost, then at his second coming. And though these are all individually well known to you, let us see them again and read them again as a collection of verses that cover our Lord from his pre-incarnation now to his second coming, and see how the New Testament consistently addresses him as God. On our ne- in our next study, God willing, a fortnight from now, we shall have to study how scripture also affirms his true manhood, and how that can be, and how we can then rightly talk of him. That will be a matter for serious discussion. We'll see Christians normally believe that Jesus is both God and man, and then when they're confronted with certain diff- passages in the New Testament, they're a little bit hard put to for an explanation. We mentioned it last study, let's mention it again. In the Old Testament, it is said of God that he that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. It is said of Christ that in a boat at the end of a long, tiring day, he fell asleep. God neither summers nor sleep. How can Christ be God if he fell asleep? The scriptures tell us in the Old Testament that he that keepeth Israel is not weary, he fainteth not, is not weary. John chapter four tells us that after a long morning's walk through the hot sun, our Lord came to Samaria, and being tired out with his journey, he sat on a well. If God never gets weary, and you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, how will you explain to your inquisitive non-Christian friend how Jesus can nevertheless be regarded as God? A convenient way of so talking has appealed to many Christians, and they say, well, sometimes Jesus acted as God, and sometimes he acted as a man. We shall find in our study eventually that that isn't the very best way of talking about our blessed Lord, for he wasn't half God and half man. He was both God and man. But that is a study for another week. We begin by collecting the facts given us in Holy Scripture about our Lord. So then we start with the very well-known words in John's Gospel, chapter one and verse one. We shall not need to spend long time on them. We know them very, very well and have heard them from many preachers. In the beginning, says John chapter one and verse one, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Three great statements then about our Lord in his pre-incarnation time. In the beginning was the Word. We are told by those that know those things to notice that verb in particular. In the beginning was. As distinct from later on, it says of the Word that at one stage he became flesh. The Word became flesh, for he never was flesh before. But as distinct from that, in that verse, first verse, in the beginning it says, but it doesn't say the Word became anything. It didn't say in the beginning he began. Doesn't say in the beginning he was created. Indeed not. In the beginning, the Word was. That is already was. Here the verb points us to his eternality. He had no beginning. He is God, you see, without beginning of life or end of days. In the beginning, the Word was, and the Word was with God. Notice two things about that phrase. It tells us that the Word can, logically at any rate, be distinguished from God. If the Word was with God, then you have two things, don't you? You have the Word and God, and the Word was with God. So we rightly make a distinction between the Word and God, here being God the Father. But notice again what the experts in Greek tell us, Josie. They point out that the language here, when it says with God, is such that in Greek idiom is used normally of a person to person, a relationship between people. It is appropriate here, therefore, because it says when the, that the Word was with God, it points to a fellowship between persons, a personal fellowship. You switch the switch on your wall, yes? And the light comes on. Well, you can say if you want to, the light is with us, but it's no good talking to the electricity, you know. You don't get much reply. Hello, electricity, how have you enjoyed the day? And all that. No answer. Electricity is a mere force, you see, mere power. But this word is talked of in personal terms, with the Father. And it is one of those things that early on makes our hearts rejoice. You'll see that phrase with the Father reoccurs, for instance, in one John chapter one, where John tells us about this blessed one, our Lord. He says, you know, this is that eternal life that was with the Father and was manifested to us, you will see. And bids us think as best we can of those uncharted eternities of divine fellowship within the Godhead, the Word with the Father. And then John adds, and what we write to you about our experience of the Word, for we saw him and touched him and handled him and contemplated him, and these things we write to you that you might have fellowship with us apostles. And John is thinking of how as apostles they saw the Lord when he became incarnate. They touched him, they held him. Must have been an extraordinary experience to wake up and suddenly get the idea that the man sailing in the boat with them was more than human. This was the Son of the Father. In our terms, God incarnate. They hadn't invented those terms then, but what an experience it was. And John haste his pen across the page to tell us their experience, that you might have fellowship with us in the wonders of Jesus Christ our Lord. And then he adds, and surely our fellowship is with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Do you know what eternal life is? You've got it, haven't you? I think you profess to have it, most of you. What is it now you've got it? Eternal life. You say it's going to, I'm going to last forever. Good old you. Mm-hmm. Last forever, you say, that's what it means. Oh God, anything more? This eternal life that you have, my brother, my sister, is that eternal life that was with the Father eternally, in that indescribably blessed and profound fellowship of the divine persons. They never did need us to complete the fellowship. God was never lonely, you know. God is a triunity. God is love, and if God is love, he must have someone or something to love. How can you be love if there's no one around to love? But then you see, God is love. For the triunity is not monolithic. It is a fellowship of persons. Would you like to try and imagine just now what that fellowship was like within the Godhead. Because it's not waste of time. That is the life you have. Invited to share. Our fellowship is with the Father and his Son. That's what it means to have eternal life. Triunity of fellowship. And the third thing that he said here is that the Word was God. Now, if you have to ever have to read that in public, do be careful where you put the emphasis. Some people read it as the Word was God, and that sounds a little bit as if you imply, well, he was in time past, but he isn't now or something. But that's not what the Greek is saying. If you want to put any emphasis there at all, you should put it on the last word, and the word was, and the word was God. So while there's a distinction, you may say, between the Word and the Father, yet the Word is God as the Father is God. You say, how can that be? Well, that is a thing we shall have to consider, God willing, in a later study, how that can be. Tonight we're just collecting the facts, the statements that are made about our Lord and his Godhood. Now, the Jehovah Witnesses that come troubling us at our doors... uh, will tell us all sorts of fun- marvelous things. They used to say that in Colossians chapter 1, that in him were all the other things made. So he was one of the things, and then he made the other things. But of course, there's no word in the Greek that Paul wrote for other. So eventually their new translation has omitted the thing. Uh, congratulations to them for being honest with the text and omitting the t- the term other. In him were the all things made. Yes, that's right. And here they want to say that the word theos, God, is being used as an adjective, adjectivally. I won't worry you with the technicalities behind it. It is possible for nouns in Greek to be used as adjectives. We do it in English, don't we, when we think we will. Dog is a noun, you know. Oh, this is not, this bit is now free, this one. Dog is, is in English, is, is a noun, yes? And yet, you know, you can use it as an adjective and say this rose is a dog rose, in which now the word dog is an adjective to tell you the quality of this particular rose. And so the Jehovah Witnesses want to say that the word here is not, should not be translated the word was God, but that the word was godlike, or divine, or of divine quality. That is not true. There wa- is a word in Greek that means divine, of divine quality, like God, of the nature of God. That word is theos. But here, that is not the word Jo- John uses, and he doesn't use it because he didn't intend to use it. He uses the straight word for God, Theos, not Theos, and tells us the word was God. God over all. We bow the knee, as the hymn puts it, and own all fullness dwells in thee. We thought of what he was at, uh, uh, uh, in his inc- pre-incarnate days. But remember what he said about him at creation, that is the creation of our universe. Colossians now, chapter one, round about verse fifteen. Colossians one, um round about the verse fifteen. Verse fifteen, Colossians one says, who, that is Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. The first element in that verse, who is the image of the invisible God. God no man has seen at any time, nor can indeed see. But our blessed Lord is the full and complete expression of God. And because he is that, it follows he must be God, yes? How could he be the full expression of God if he were not God? So in relation to God, he is the full expression of the invisible God. In relation to the universe around us, he is the firstborn. Now, in English, our word firstborn would seem to indicate priority in time. You know, the firstborn in a family is the first child to be born, yes? And mama says, this is my firstborn, or dad does. It's the first child, one amongst many. But in the Old Testament, the word is used in a metaphorical sense, and therefore loses the time element in it. So God tells Moses he's got to go and tell Pharaoh in the name of God. Imagine Moses having to walk up to His Majesty Pharaoh one morning after breakfast and telling him, I tell you in the name of God, Israel, your slaves there in the brick kilns, Israel is my firstborn. Now, Israel wasn't the first nation that ever existed. It was a latecomer among the nations. But Israel was, in God's eyes, number one, of supreme significance, of unique significance. It's an honorific term, therefore, meaning, if you like, prince, ruler, commander. And you'll see why he is given the, the term firstborn of all creation. For in him were, now I shall have to be insistent on literal translation. Not simply in him were all things created, but in him were the all things. The all things is a group. We are inclined to use the word the universe of all that there is, and if there are some other universities outside, universes outside ours, well, them as well. The whole of creation, everything created was made by him. He's not in the all things. He's not even the best of that group. He wasn't created. Certainly didn't create himself. Take the whole of creation on the one side, Christ stands on the other. And through him were the all things created. And the lower verses tell us that in him everything stands together. I was in Kiev last year, one particular time, and was introduced to an elderly Jewish gentleman who had not long before that come to faith in Jesus Christ as Son of God and Messiah. It was delightful to talk to him. Professionally, he was a physicist, and so in the little time we had together, he told me about his interest. He's interested in dark matter or dark energy, as the astronomers call it. Now, I don't know if you're interested in dark matter or dark energy. If you're not, well, uh, I go to sleep. I it'll take me about a minute and a half, and then I'll wake you up again. But a dark, dark energy is one of the new things among the astronomers of this last ten or twenty years, you'll see. And they're trying to find it, and they're not exactly sure where to look for it, do you see, in the whole universe, because being dark, you can't see it anyway. There's a disadvantage. And, uh, how do you say, you say, how do they know it's there? Well, because the mathematicians, dear souls, um, their mathematics show that there must be some colossal force that's acting on the elements in the present universe. The very big question that's been going this last uh fifty or seventy years, is the universe expanding or is it eventually collapsing? You'll say, if it collapses, that's the end of everything. If it expands, then of course there will be heat death. Goes on expanding forever. Our little planet will die of cold. These are big practical questions. Of course, they involve eons of time, I know. But the question is, is the universe expanding? Is there this dark force, energy, matter, whatever it is, there, that is having an effect on the universe, all the other things in the universe, regarding either expansion or, uh, contraction. So being one of this world's innocents, I ask him, so what have you got to do, sir? I said, you see, uh, you don't know what it is. Um, no, how do you go about finding it anyway, you see? And he said, well, really it's up to the mathematicians. And I suppose when the new thing happens at CERN, this colossal great cyclotron, and they find out all kinds of new things about tiny particles of matter. Who knows, they might come up with a secret to this dark energy. The scripture says, now you can wake up now, um, uh, scripture says, um, how does it all hang together? In him all things stand together. This vast universe. He holds it together. It was made in him, he's the planner. It was made through him, he's the agent. It was made for him. Often wondered whether Mary and Martha quite realized that, as they put on a dinner for him in their home, when they discover who he really is and see his glory, how they will worship him that he deigned to come and eat at their table. At the incarnation, the Word became flesh. John one fourteen. I only need to remind you of that. Notice what it says, however. Notice it exactly. That will serve us in good stead in later studies if we do. It doesn't say the Word became a man. It says the Word became flesh. That is, the Word became human. And one of our tasks will be in sub- subsequent studies to put that together. For the Word, we've just been told, was God. The Word, who was God, became human. Who was it that became human? You say the Word became human. Yes, amen. Did you see it say that the Word ceased to be the Word or something? No, indeed not. The Word became human without ceasing to be the Word. And John uses a lovely evocative passage phrase, evoking the Old Testament, when he says the Word became flesh and pitched its tabernacle among us. Lovely illustration, you'll see, because the tabernacle in the Old Testament, in Greek, the skene, was the building, movable tent it was, and yet at its completion, the glory of God came down and filled that tabernacle. So the Word became flesh without ceasing to be the Word, and it became flesh, and we saw his glory, says John. Glory as of an only begotten from the Father. But says somebody, isn't there a scripture that says somewhere that when the Word became flesh, he emptied himself of his divine powers? Isn't there such a scripture? No, of course there isn't. This is a scripture that might sound like it if you weren't paying close attention, and of course it's the famous scripture in Philippians chapter two. There, perhaps you better turn to it. This is Philippians chapter two. Beginning in verse five. Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, counted it not a prize to be on equal terms with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and so forth. And the crucial point to decide is, what does that phrase mean, he emptied himself. The Greek word is the verb kenoo, means to empty, and therefore there arose, particularly in, uh, the beginnings of the last century and before, what was called the kenotic theory. That is that when the Word became human in the person of our Lord Jesus, he put aside the glories of his Godhead and the nature of the Godhead, and lived simply as a man. He emptied himself of his divine attributes. But no, he didn't. That is not what the verse is saying. Doesn't begin to say he emptied himself of his deity or of his divine, uh, uh, powers. It says, being in the form of God, he counted it not a price to be on equal terms with God. Now, consider, uh, my brothers and sisters. I don't know if you have a holiday occupation going around stately homes. Now and again I do, to see that they're behaving well and properly as they should and, and making the best of what they've inherited and all that, do you see, whether they're keeping it up well. But you see, um, sometimes when you go, you'll meet somebody at the gate far off the, um, uh, stately home itself, and he's a young gentleman, you see, and he collects your money from you. But when he says good morning, he says it in such a voice that you think, hello, who on earth is this? This isn't the ordinary farm laborer. No, it's uh, uh, the young uh s- uh son of the Lord himself, you see. Now see him in that uh little keeper's lodge, all bare and with his sandwich. You will immediately see he's not on same terms, on the same terms as his father. His father is rolling around in the Cadillac or whatever you see, uh, and in the, uh, uh, beautiful, uh, stately home. This lad's in, well, it's not much better than a dog kennel, do you see, collecting s- f- fares off people, do you see, acting as a servant. That hasn't changed the fact that he's a prince, son of a duke. He remains that, but has taken on the form of a servant. And the first evidence of emptying himself is not that he became human. You'll notice that, won't you? It's not the first thing that said he was in the form of God and became human. No, no, no. The first step down was that he became a servant. From being God Creator, whom everything in the universe is meant to serve. He became a servant. There are lots of men that are not servants. He not only became a man, he became first a servant. And you know the rest of the wonderful story. That he became obedient unto death, the death of the cross. What does it mean, therefore, he emptied himself? I suggest it means what a sim- what the Hebrew word means in Isaiah fifty three. He poured out his soul unto death. That he poured out his very self. Without ceasing to be God. Poured himself out in service. Even washing the feet of his unworthy disciples. In the end, dying for us. He poured himself out for me. And it wouldn't be so wonderful, would it, if by this time he had been bereft of his deity. But he was God incarnate. And he took on the form of a servant and poured himself out, even unto death. The death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him and given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and upon earth. You should, of course, as you think of that, remember what it is said in Isaiah, when God says, by myself have I sworn, that to me every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that there is no salvation beside me, says God Almighty. Every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue confess that I alone am Savior. Now listen to what Philippians two is saying. God has decreed it that in the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that not God is Jehovah merely, God is Lord, but Jesus is the name that is above every name. It made him both Lord and Christ. We think then of his incarnation. We think of his, uh, baptism, of course. As the gospel writers tell us, and John the Baptist reminds us, that John, as he baptized him, saw the Holy Spirit coming like a dove, and it abode on him. Remarkable that, because it was in the middle of much splashing of water and multitudes of people all around, yet the dove remained. Sign between for from God to John of who was the one who should baptize in the Holy Spirit. Do you see? This is Jesus. And a voice from heaven cried, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at the baptism of our Lord, affirming his deity. In his ministry... Well, of course, he startled his contemporaries, did he not, saying to the paralytic, your sins have been forgiven. And the Pharisees in particular picked it up and said, and what is he saying now? Who can forgive sins except God? Well, that's exactly so. Who can forgive sins except God? But our Lord did. He was God incarnate. And the Father judges no man, you know, has given all judgment to the Son. The Son will be the final judge. Forgiveness is in the hands of Christ. He is God incarnate. In Isaiah, such as chapter forty three and verse ten, God constantly reaffirms to Israel and to the nations, look, I am God. There is no one else. Is there any other God? I don't know of any, says God. I am God. There is not a second. From everlasting to everlasting, I am he. And that's the best our English translations can do with the Hebrew phrase. I am he. It's a statement in the Old Testament, in Isaiah particularly, of God's utter uniqueness. He is the one true God. There's no other God but he. And the Greek, uh, when they translated it into Greek, that phrase I am he, translated it by two Greek words, ego eimi. I am. It's interesting, therefore, when we find our Lord in John chapter eight talking to the crowds, says he to them, you know, if you don't believe that I am, you should die in your sins. They said, what do you mean? You are, you are who, they said. No, no, says Christ, not a question, uh, you are who, unless you believe that I am. This is the repetition of the word in Isaiah. He's claiming to be the I am. When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall you know that I am. Then he added, before Abram was, I am. Claiming God to be God in the very terms that the Old Testament had used. At his trial, of course, I need only remind you of it. When the high priest said to him, are you the Christ then? He said, you shall see me seated at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven. But coming in the clouds of heaven, if you read your Daniel well, is a thing that God Almighty does. And when our Lord made that reply to the high priests, they said, this is utter blasphemy, this. But they understood his claim, and they condemned him to death for it. What in resurrection? John's gospel begins by saying that the word was God, and in chapter twenty, as it comes to its end, he repeats that glorious claim, this time in the mouth of one of the apostles, hitherto doubting Thomas, who, faced with the risen Lord, saying, Thomas, you asked for evidence, didn't you? Well, here it is, Thomas. Put your finger now into the nail print, Tom, and put your hand in my side. You asked for it, didn't you? You asked for evidence. You can't believe without evidence. All right, here's the evidence, Thomas. And Thomas was so overcome that he knelt before the Lord and said, my Lord and my God. And Jesus didn't rebuke him. That is significant. When John in the Revelation was given visions of heaven, he had a vision of an angel at one stage, and that was so bright and overpowering, he's not used to seeing angels, he fell down at his feet to worship him. And the angel said, get up, John, get up. You don't worship angels around here. I'm a one of your fellow servants, you know. You mustn't worship me. When Thomas knelt at the feet of Christ and said, my Lord, my God, Christ did not rebuke him, did he? It was Thomas as Lord and God. And the day of Pentecost, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, it wasn't simply that the Holy Spirit came some days after Jesus ascended. Wasn't just that. Peter makes it very clear what happened. Christ Jesus, being ascended, received from the Father the promise of the Father, that is the gift of the Holy Spirit, and it is Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified, that has poured out the Spirit. I just ask you to ponder who you think the Spirit is. Not just a force, is he? Like electricity or something. The Holy Spirit, as you shall find in another stu- study, is likewise God. If Jesus Christ can pour out the Holy Spirit, who is Jesus? The conclusion that Paul, uh, Peter bids the crowd come to is this. God hath made him whom you crucified both Lord and Christ, in the higher sense of that term, Lord. Two other brief scriptures I, I give to you, for my time is gone, but for your possible consideration. And the one of them comes in Romans chapter nine. Romans chapter nine. Paul is wrestling with the problem. Why are Israel not saved? Why are so few of them saved? And at the beginning of chapter nine, he rehearses their appointment by God and the glorious and unique service given to them by God in Old Testament times. And in verse four, he says, who are the Israelites, whose is the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises? Whose are the fathers and of whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, Christ who is over all, God blessed forever more. Amen. That's the apostle writing that, who once did his best to eliminate the name of Jesus from the earth because he thought Jesus' claim to be God incarnate was blasphemy. He got converted through a vision of the Shekinah glory of God on the Damascus Road, and the Lord who replied to him said, I am Jesus. Jesus is Lord. And now he writes, Christ who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. Writing in Colossians two and verse nine, he says, all the fullness of deity dwells in him bodily. Finally, I leave with you a scripture from 1, uh, Titus chapter two. Titus chapter two. And the verse is verses ten, twelve— uh, sorry, verse, verse eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. For the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope. But now notice the translation that I give you following. Of course, if you have an authorized version, you will find it a little bit different. But this is, as I judge it, the right translation, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Not the glory of our great God and the glory of our Savior. The true Greek reading has it differently. We don't normally speak of the appearing of God anyway, or the appearing of the Father. In the New Testament, it's always the appearing, the coming appearing of Christ. That's what we're looking for. The blessed hope and the appearing of our Lord in power and great glory. Notice how that appearing is described. It's the appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. What a motivation. One day we have to meet him. Our great God and Savior, because to remember he gave himself for us, that we might be his peculiar treasure, full of good works, in his name. One day we shall meet him in such splendor as we can only begin in a little way to imagine, and see the marks in hand and side, and wonder for the rest of eternity how our great God and Savior could even conceive of becoming our Savior, if that was the cost of it. How should we not serve him and wear our fingers to the bone in the process? Shall we pray? And so, Father, we have read thy word and tried to think about it this evening as it touches thy dear Son. We thank thee for thy word, concepts going far beyond us into eternity and into infinity, and yet this same Jesus who gave himself for us. Come now by thy Holy Spirit, we pray. And in the rest of our days of journey home to thee, draw near by thy spirit to show us his glory, that our hearts may fall in love with him again and again and again, and our minds and emotions be brought under his control, and our hands and feet be found ever ready to run his errands and to do his works. Bless us now, we pray, as we depart for his name's sake.