Do You Honor the Son As You Honor the Father?

Tom:

We are going through the, as Gary said, we’re going through the continuing with the gospel of salvation, the Gospel of John which is what we are reading.We are in chapter 5 and we are picking up with—well let’s read verse 19 again.“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20) Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”Jesus is speaking to the religious leaders, the Jews and they want to kill him for healing on the Sabbath, for doing certain things and for making himself equal with God, because he called God his Father.

Dave:

Of course he didn’t make himself equal with God and you would know from the teaching of Jesus, the wisdom and the purity, and the biblical accuracy of everything he teaches that he wouldn’t be such a fool as to try to make himself God.He either is God or he is a fool.But they understand very clearly that he is declaring that he IS God.He’s not making himself God.He IS God.He said, before Abraham was, not I was, but I AM.Now Tom, there’s something else here in the scripture.The Father loveth the Son (verse 20 is where we are picking up), shows him all things and so forth.You see the Bible says God is love.Now Allah for example, or Yahweh of the Jews, their understanding of it, and they reject the Lord our God is…echad, one Lord (unity).They just resist everywhere there is a plurality in unity throughout the Old Testament.But they say that Jehovah is a singular entity.The Jehovah’s Witnesses would say the same thing.Everyone who denies the Trinity would say the same thing.The Pentecostal Oneness movement, Jesus Only people, would say no, no there’s just one.They would deny the Trinity.Now you have a problem, because how can a singular God be love?He’s incomplete.

Tom:

Sure, love needs an object.

Dave:

That’s right.He could not experience—yes, you say love needs an object.You can’t love a tree, in spite of our former Vice President Al Gore, hugging trees and they had the kids doing that here in Bend, do you remember?

Tom:

Sure.

Dave:

For the public schools.You can’t love a thing, an object.It must be a personal being capable of responding, of receiving and loving in return.Now how could God be love?The Allah, the singular entity is incomplete in itself.It can’t experience communion and fellowship and love and so forth.On the other end, you have the polytheism, many gods.There’s diversity, but no unity.On this end you have unity, but no diversity.

Tom:

Well you read the Greek myths, the Roman myths—they are all fighting each other, stealing each others wives, just on and on.

Dave:

No peace in heaven—can’t be any peace on earth; but the Bible presents God, who is one God.Echad, a unity, and yet Father, Son and Holy Spirit.The Father loves the Son.They counsel together, they commune together.Father, Son, and Holy Spirit didn’t need us in order to experience love and communion.They were perfect, complete in themselves.This one true God.So we get that also from here.The Father loveth the Son and showeth him all things that himself doeth.It’s difficult for us to understand.I don’t understand.We already said we don’t know what energy is, we don’t know what light is, we don’t know anything.

Tom:

Well we can’t comprehend it, but Dave everything that you said is reasonable, rational and it makes sense.

Dave:

Right, yes.“And he will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel,” not that the Son then, God the Son is going to be enlightened and become wiser.No, it that God through him (and this includes Father, Son and Holy Spirit) are going to show greater works than anything man has seen yet and of course what is the greatest work?I would say the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.But wait a minute, he’s God.He said no man takes my life from me, I lay it down of myself.I have the power to lay it down; I have the power to pick it up again.Then why would the resurrection of Jesus be the greatest miracle?Because he took our place.He died for us in our place.Well then if you can raise him, look when Jesus took my place and he was put to death—this is not just physical death, but a separation from God that he experienced.An eternal separation from the whole human race in those three hours of darkness on the cross, that God could reach down and could pay the penalty for man in such a way that it would be paid.It is finished, Jesus said.That this penalty is paid, then he can raise us, Paul says for example in Ephesians.“I am praying to God that he would grant you that the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened.That you would know the hope of his calling, called to his eternal glory and that you would begin to experience the greatness of his mighty power that he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and that we would begin to experience in our lives the resurrection power of God manifest in Christ.Resurrection life is only for dead people, so we have to be crucified, acknowledge that we deserve to die; this is our death, and that we would begin to experience—I mean Tom, sinful wretched creatures that we are—such pitiful creatures—and that he could restore us—

Tom:

His enemies.

Dave:

Yes, that he could take us and make us the children of God and of course the Bible says, “It doesn’t yet appear what we shall be.”That’s what John writes I John 3, but we know when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”And by the way, that’s not the appearance that Benny Hinn has been talking about.Benny Hinn has been claiming and certain prophetesses have been saying Jesus Christ is going to appear bodily at a Benny Hinn Crusade—physically going to be there.Now Paul writes, the time of my departure is at hand, I fought a good fight, I finished my course, I have kept the faith henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, not to me only, but also to all them who love his appearing (who love the appearing of Christ), Titus:2:13Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
See All..., “looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing.”At a Benny Hinn Crusade?When we see him we will be like him?No, no there is an appearing of Christ to his own, that is not going to happen at a Benny Hinn Crusade and for him even to imagine this shows the folly of the ideas that he must have—so unbiblical.But that people would imagine this—Paul and Jan Crouch said Amen, oh isn’t this wonderful, isn’t this exciting, we’re looking forward to this.Wait a minute, this is Jesus who is God and we need to recognize this.He died for our sins, he paid the penalty, he rose from the dead, we have been raised and seated, God says as far as he is concerned we are already seated in heaven in Christ and one day he is going to appear.Now, this is the greater thing, I believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were going to show through Jesus.Sorry I took too long on that, but—

Tom:

No, no that’s— you know, you think about these things.I know some people have said well greater works, it’s a little bit,—the scripture that deals with John the Baptist.Here’s a greater prophet—well how does that—

Dave:

No, man born of women, there hath not risen a greater prophet than John the Baptist.Yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.Because John the Baptist, although he was filled with the Spirit of God from his mother’s womb it says, but the Spirit of God could leave him and John the Baptist had doubts and so forth.But we have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit permanently.But look Tom, what I have been saying is verified in the next verse, Verse 21.What’s it talking about?“For as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth, maketh him alive, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.In other words, the Son of God, Jesus Christ has paid the penalty and made it possible so that in him, all those who believe in him can be made alive with eternal life never to die.Some people say well you could lose your salvation and so forth.Well it’s a strange kind of eternal life if I have it today and I don’t have it tomorrow.But it is in his hands.Everything I have is in Christ and this is what Jesus himself, is saying.

Tom:

Even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. That’s being born again.

Dave:

He says come unto me all ye that labor, I will give you rest.There’s a condition.In other words, Jesus can’t do this to someone who doesn’t believe in him.There are conditions, but this is what we have in Christ.Buddha didn’t offer that, Confucius didn’t offer that, Muhammad certainly didn’t offer that.The Qur’an acknowledges that Muhammad was a sinner and Jesus was sinless.Jesus Christ is the unique Son of God.That’s who he claimed to be—THE way, THE truth and THE life, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world and no one comes to the Father, but by Him.And Tom I just wish that every person out there that doesn’t know this investigates, ask him, look in his Word, face the facts and believe in him.And then those of us who do know Christ, that we would be more enthusiastic—Tom, what God has done for us!Then let us begin to tell others and win others to him.

Tom:

Dave as you know, because you wrote it, we have a little booklet called The Nonnegotiable Gospel.Anyone who would like that would like to have more information about what we are talking about write to us.Gary is going to give the address in a bit, and we’d be glad to send you—we want our listeners if they don’t know Christ and want to understand the gospel I think this booklet would be fine for them.The Nonnegotiable Gospel, write to us and we will send it to you free.