The Doctrine of Christ no 07
“Jesus Came in His Father’s
Name”
Brian Kocourek, Pastor
August 14th, 2011
John
10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How
long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. 25 Jesus answered them, I told
you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear
witness of me. 26 But ye believe not, because ye
are not of my sheep, as I said unto you. 27 My
sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And
I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater
than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and my Father are one. 31 Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus
answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of
those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered
him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because
that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 34 Jesus
answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? 35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God
came, and the scripture cannot be broken; 36 Say
ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou
blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? 37 If
I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But
if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe,
that the Father is in me, and I in him. 39 Therefore
they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,
The seventh attribute we shall review this morning
concerning the Doctrine of Christ is that God is greater than His Son Jesus, and
thus if God is greater than His Son, and we already read the words of Jesus
saying that “God is greater than all”, then God would have to be greater than
Jesus as well, even though Jesus said I and my Father are one. And how can I
say this? Because Jesus Himself said it in:
John 14: 28 Ye
have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved
me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. 29 And now I
have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might
believe. 30 Hereafter I will not talk much with
you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as
the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Notice he said my Father
is greater than I . Now the Trinitarians believe that the Father, Son and Holy
Ghost are three individuals making up the Godhead, and they believe that all
three are co-equal and co-eternal. But when Jesus said “my Father is greater than I”, this
word “greater” was translated from a
Greek word which not only means greater but also it means elder. Therefore when
the Trinitarian tells you that Jesus was co-eternal and co-equal with the
Father, how can that be when the Son of God denies it Himself. All sons have
beginnings. Then how could the Son be the Eternal Father as they claim Isaiah
9:6 declares?
Now,
the next few Scriptures, I would like to show you how it is that God is greater
than His Son. For if the Father is greater which not only means Greater but
also elder, then there must be tell tale signs of this relationship with His
Son that shows the role of the Father as being greater than His son.
Number
one is: Headship, or Ruler-ship: The Father is the
head over the son if in fact the Father is greater than the son as Jesus said.
And we see this in I Corinthians 11:3 3 But I would have you know, that the head of
every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of
Christ is God. Notice Paul said, “The head of Christ is God”, Therefore we
can establish that Headship is the number One attribute showing that God is
greater than His Son.
Jesus
established well that he looked to God as indeed His Lord, master or ruler in
his prayer seen in Matthew 11:25 At
that time Jesus answered and said, I
thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these
things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Now, the Greek word for Lord here was
kurios which means: controller, as in the one who is in control, it also means
lord or master.
Notice in 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 the Apostle Paul speaks of
ownership as in ruler-ship, and he tells us that Christ belongs to God.
Ownership. 21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all
things are yours; 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or
Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come;
all are yours;23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
That
means if Christ is God’s or belongs to God, then he is not his own man. And if
you are Christ’s then you are not supposed to be your own man either. For no
man is an island unto Himself. That is why the son showed in his very life that
he was subject to the Father in all things.
Therefore,
number two is: subjection:
for if the Father is greater than his son, the son must be subject to His
Father in all things. So we will look at subjection for a few minutes as one of
the attributes of the Father being greater than His son. And to be subject to
the Father places the son in a subservient
role to the Father. The word subservient
means: Subordinate
in capacity or function. 2. servile
which means 1. Abjectly
submissive; a: servile as in servant:
b. Of or relating to servitude
or forced labor. 3. Useful as a
means or an instrument; serving to promote an end. The word
subservient comes from two words, Sub meaning: to place
lower than, and servant
meaning to do service for as
we see Jesus came to serve the will of His Father.
Gifts
callings without repentance 50-0300 P:8 And a man is just a man until
he's fully submitted to God, and then Deity dwells in that man, the Holy
Spirit. Not the man, but God in the man
does the work. So Jesus then, when He came, He was a Man born of a virgin
birth. His mother was Mary; His Father was Jehovah God. You believe that? And
then in that body God dwelled. God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.
Jesus said, "It's not Me that doeth the works; It's My Father that
dwelleth in Me; He doeth the work." And that was God speaking through
mortal lips, that could raise the dead, still the waters, and so forth. Then
when He ascended on high, He gave gifts to men. One man received a great gift
of healing, so the people that laid in his shadow and were healed. Not the man,
but their faith in God that was in the man. Do you understand?
We
see this relationship between Father and the servant son as prophesied in Zechariah 3:8 where God declares that He will
bring forth “My
servant the Branch”.
Again
in the New Testament we see in Matthew 12:18 that
Jesus was considered God’s servant. 9 And
when he was departed thence, he went into their synagogue: 10 And,
behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him,
saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there
be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the
sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out? 12 How
much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on
the sabbath days. 13 Then saith he to the man,
Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole,
like as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out,
and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. 15 But when Jesus knew it, he
withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed
them all; 16 And charged them that they should not
make him known: 17 That it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is
well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. 19 He
shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. 20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and
smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. 21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
And
again Jesus is called “servant”
in Philippians 2:1-17 “If
there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship
of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, 2 Fulfill
ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through strife or
vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. 4 Look not every man on his own things, but
every man also on the things of others. 5 Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who,
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a
man, he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in
earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do
all things without murmurings and disputings: 15 That
ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst
of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; 16 Holding
forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have
not run in vain, neither labored in vain.17 Yea,
and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and
rejoice with you all.
So we see
the message Paul was trying to get across to us, that Jesus set aside his own
desires, and took on the role of a servant and was obedient to the Father in
all things, even when it came to dying on the cross in obedience to the Fathers
request of Him. And this Paul says is the very mind or attitude that God
desires of us, and we can not possibly enter into this kind of role unless the
Father is working in us to will and to do that which H ehas willed.
And
therefore in this role as a willingly obedient servant Jesus willingly became
subject to the Father in all things as we see in 1
Corinthians 15:24-28 23 But
every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are
Christ's at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end,
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he
shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For
he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 27 For
he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put
under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under
him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto
him, then shall the Son also himself be
subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
We also see
this willingness to please His Father in being subject in doing and saying all
that the Father had instructed him to do and say as we see in his Prayer to the
Father in John
17:1 These words spake Jesus, and
lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as
many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the
earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 5 And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had
with thee before the world was. 6 I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were,
and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. 7 Now
they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. 8 For I have given unto them the words which thou
gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out
from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
Number Three is obedience: for
if the son if subject to His Father then it means He must be obedient to the
Father in all things as well.
Matthew 20:23 And he saith unto them, Ye
shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am
baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be
given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.
What
visions are 56-0421 P:44 But now, when God wanted to use His gift,
Christ. And He picked up Christ and said, "Now, wait, You leave this home,
and you go away and be gone four days. And they're going to send for You, but
don't You go, because Lazarus going to die. And on the fourth day You return
back; You're going to find a stone laying over the grave. I'm going to get
glory to Myself, and I want You have them to take away the stone, and then You
speak. And when You speak Lazarus' name, he's coming forth." Jesus obedient to the Father, does nothing,
He said, till the Father showed Him
first in a vision. Does the Bible say that? How many read it this week
since we've been talking about it?
Not only
was Jesus Obedient to the Father in things which He knew was not in His role as
a son to do, but He was obedient in everything the Father expected Him to do.
Matthew 26: 36-42 Then cometh Jesus with them
unto a place called
So Jesus was not even allowed to show favoritism in
his passing out position because he would not go beyond the limits his Father
had constrained him to.
The
Apostle Paul spoke of this attribute of obedience in Romans 5:19 19 For
as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Hebrews 5:7-8
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong
crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was
heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; Notice in Jesus prayer to the Father in Gethsemane, it
was not silent prayer at all. It was in Tears and in fear of the cross he went
to His Father. But in all this, he had learned obedience during his short life
by the things that he suffered. And in all of this he did not put his own
desire first, but submitted his own life into the hands of His Father.
Philippians
2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death
of the cross. Now, the key to this
obedience in such a drastic hour was that he had a prayer life that would put
any to shame. We are told in Scripture that he often prayed all night to His
Father, so when it came time for the ultimate test, he was ready and yet even
still through all this preparation he was still tested mightily.
Notice what Luke’s testimony was concerning the prayer
life of Christ Jesus. Luke 6:12 And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a
mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
So you see, Hebrews 5:8 tells us that he learned this kind of obedience
through the testings he had gone through.
Communion
57-0418 P:14 Now, if God did not spare His Own Son from
the cruel testing, then He will not spare you or I from the cruel testing. And
Jesus was here confronting the greatest test that He had ever had. Gethsemane
laid just before Him, where that once and final all-sufficient test must come,
when the burdens of the entire world laid upon His blessed shoulder. There was
no one in all heavens or earth could ever stood it but Him. And to know that
all of the sins, of past sins, and present sins, and future sins, rested upon
this decision. And it was one of the most greatest victories that Christ ever
won or proved His great Messiahship, as when He said to God, "Not My will;
Thine be done." That was the greatest victory He had ever won. All the
demons of torment was around to tempt Him and try Him. And when we get right
with God, when our hearts become pure and the Holy Spirit has taken Its place
in our heart, it's the most glorious thing to have testing. The Bible tells us
that our testing and trials are more precious to us than silver and gold of
this world. So we are--should be thankful.
The Apostle Paul tells us the chief role of a servant is to be obedient
to those who have the rule over us.
Hebrews
13: 17 Obey them that have the rule
over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for
your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and
not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Ephesians
6:5 Servants, be obedient to them
that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness
of your heart, as unto Christ;
And our obedience must follow the same pattern that was established in
Christ Jesus as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bringing into
captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
Finally we have a fourth attribute showing that
God is greater than His Son Jesus in that God anointed Jesus for the role he
was to play on earth and then God instructed him in his role..
Hebrews 1:9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated
iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
We see this
prophesied also in Psalms 45:7 Thou
lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Acts 10:38
How God anointed Jesus of
Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;
he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are
bruised,
John
5:19 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 For the Father loveth the Son, and
sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works
than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the
Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth
whom he will. 22 For the Father judgeth no man, but
hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
So we
see the manifestation of this subjection and obedience of the son to His Father
who he upholds as His Lord and Master, His controller as we see the fulfillment
in the next few Scriptures.
John 5:30 I
can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just;
because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent
me.
John 5:37 And
the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have
neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
John 7:16
Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that
sent me. 17 If any man will do his will, he shall
know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
John 14:10
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?
the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that
dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
John 12:49
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he
gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his
commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the
Father said unto me, so I speak.
John 8:38
I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which
ye have seen with your father.
John 15:10
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I
have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John 14:31
But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the
Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
John 10:18 No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it
down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my
Father.