The Baptism of Jesus and the Trinity

What was the purpose of the baptism of Christ? Was it to reveal a plurality of the Godhead (Trinitarianism? Was God "adopting Jesus as His Son (Adoptism)? Or was it to reveal Jesus Christ as the Messiah and for Him to be anointed by His Father for His ministry? In this article, you might find out that when you wish to have sound, Scripturally-based theology, church tradition is not always the place to go.

The synoptic Gospels and John all include different accounts of the baptism of Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew gives the most detailed account out of the three synoptic Gospels.

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered Him. And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."- Matthew 3:13-17

Now let's look at The Gospel of John. This is John the Baptist testifying of Jesus as the Lamb of God. "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of ...whom I said, After me cometh a Man which is preferred before me: for He was before me. And I knew Him not: but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore I am come baptizing with water. And John bared record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him. And I knew knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."- John 1:29-34

Now to a Trinitarian, during the baptism you are seeing the New Testament "revelation" of the Trinity. They see three distinct Persons of the one true God revealing Themselves: God the Father, God the Son (non-biblical term), and God the Holy Ghost (non-biblical term). Jesus, of course is the Son of God, the voice from Heaven is the Father, and the Holy Ghost is descending in bodily form as a dove.

Now, why did the voice from Heaven speak? God wasn't speaking to Jesus, but to John the Baptist and to the people that were there that day. Jesus was there to be revealed as the Messiah. Then, the Holy Ghost was there to anoint Jesus for the ministry. In Luke, the baptism of Jesus does include God saying, "Thou art my beloved Son..."

I am not a Trinitarian, but a Oneness (or Modalist). If you look at the biblical context, what you are seeing is the one true God functioning for different purposes in different modes at the same time (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are the same Person). The Oneness of God is not the purpose of my teaching here, but I wish to share a revelation with you about the anointing of Jesus Christ our Lord.

The terms "Christ" or "Messiah" are very important. "Christ" (translated from the Greek "Christos") is the Greek form of "Messiah" (translated from the Hebrew "Mashiyach"). Christ/Messiah means "anointed". This is very significant to the lesson.

All of the distinctions you see between the Father and Son are not distinctions between Persons (the grave error of weakening the strict monotheism of the Bible), the divine and human natures of Christ (thus making the mistake of dividing Christ into two Persons), and it is also not only distinctions between two different manifestations (though this is true too, but it runs much deeper than that). This is a distinction between God and Man (between Father and Son, between the incarnate Spirit, and the Spirit beyond the incarnation). The incarnation and humbled state of Christ are very important.

Paul writes in Philippians 2:6-8, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

John 1:1-3, 14 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Several verses in John speak of Jesus being glorified (John 7:39; John 17:5). John 1:14 speaks of us beholding Jesus' glory that He had as the only begotten Son of God. There seems to be a contradiction in these statements until you look at... the Resurrection and the Ascension. That is when mankind beheld the glory of Jesus Christ as the one true God made flesh. Jesus didn't come in the glory of God, He came in the glory of unfallen man (Son of man, the Last Adam).

Philippians 2:6-8 speaks of Jesus as not sacrificing His deity, but His glory. When God became incarnate, He didn't rely on His deity. Christ thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but He humbled Himself and became obedient! Jesus had to be God to save us, and He had to be a sinless and unfallen Man to be a worthy sacrifice for us. Jesus is the blessed Redeemer!

Now we've studied how Jesus is God in the flesh and how the incarnation effected Jesus' glory. If Jesus wasn't humble, He couldn't have died for our sins! Jesus didn't want to appear to men to be God, or else He wouldn't have been a Savior, but one looked upon in awe (as the Key-Word study Bible states).

Did Jesus do miracles by His own divine power? The answer to that is no. Jesus was anointed by His Father to do miracles. Jesus done miracles by the Holy Ghost. Jesus, reading from Isaiah said in 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 broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."

Jesus in Matthew 12:22-28, "Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: and if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against itself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God is come unto you."

 

This is a fascinating revelation! I haven't written anything on here in a while and I was thinking about this so I decided to share it. God bless and amen!

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A Oneness Perspective On Incarnational Theology

Just wanted to clear up a prominent error that I've noticed in a lot of my fellow Oneness people. Most people understand that Jesus is both God and man (the God-Man). When Jesus prayed, was His human nature praying to His divine nature? I would like to clear up this error real quick in a way that will not lend itself to Trinitarianism, but the scripture. Through studying the Bible and letting the Word speak for itself, we will obtain a sound view of both Sonship theology (as it pertains to God's only begotten Son) and incarnational theology.

Let's go into a little lesson and go into the Person of our God. The Old Testament clearly testifies that God is one. Moses set this forth in Deuteronomy 6:4 by saying, "Hear O Israel: the LORD our God is one Lord." This is not Moses' only declaration of monotheism, but it is all throughout the Books he wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost! The prophet Isaiah also focused more on monotheism than a lot of the prophets. In Isaiah 40- 50, I'd say focuses more on monotheism than any other passage in the Bible. In Isaiah 45:5-6, "I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside Me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known Me. That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside Me. I am the Lord, and there is none else."

The Old Testament also testifies to the deity of the coming Messiah Jesus Christ. Isaiah 7:14 gives a strong case for the Messiah being God in the flesh, "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." The name Immanuel means "God with us". Isaiah 9:6 tells us this pretty explicit attestation to the deity of God's Christ, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

When the fullness of the time came, the Messiah arrived. The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give us accounts of the Messiah's life, ministry, death, and resurrection. The Messiah's name was JESUS. The name Jesus means "YHWH is salvation". The synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) give three similar accounts of the life of the Christ. In these Gospels, Jesus doesn't openly claim deity very much, but is more implied through His actions.

Jesus was accused of blasphemy for claiming the power to forgive sins, which was a power reserved for God alone (Matthew 9:2-6). In the accounts of Jesus' trial before Caiaphas, Jesus is asked whether or not He is the Messiah and Son of God, to which Jesus gives a yes and is accused of blaspheming (Mark 14:61-62).

In the Gospel of John, Jesus does make MANY open claims of deity. He never openly says, "I AM God," but He does make many obvious claims of deity. John's account of the life of Christ even starts of by speaking of Christ preexisting as the Word of God and being made flesh to dwell among men (John 1:1; 14). The Word is said to be God Himself and the Creator (John 1:3).

In John 5, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath day and begins to be persecuted by the Jewish authorities. During His persecution, John 5:17 says, "But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." The Jews then sought to kill Him because they Jesus claimed to be equal (the same as) God by claiming to be His Son. In simpler words: they understood Jesus to be claiming to be God Himself!

After claiming to be the Bread of Life, many disciples forsook Jesus. Jesus said to His disciples in John 6:62, "What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before?" This is obviously Jesus claiming to be God coming down from Heaven.

Let's read John 8:56-58. In this Jesus is teaching to some Jews in Jerusalem. "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? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I saw unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Notice that Jesus didn't say, "Before Abraham was, I was," He said, "I AM". This caused the Jews to try to stone Him for what they perceived to be blasphemy (John 8:59). This is one of Jesus' plainest claims of deity.

In John 10, Jesus is discussing God giving Him believers (or "sheep"). Jesus says in John 10:27-30, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one."

Notice how Jesus said that no man could pluck the sheep out of His hand. Then Jesus says that His Father gave them to Him, and that no man could pluck them out of the Father's hand. The Jews apparently noticed an apparent contradiction in these statements and the Lord Jesus knew it, and He clarified His meaning by saying, "I and My Father are one." The word used for "one" in this usually implies a oneness of unity, but I don't think the form of the word matters. If Jesus was claiming mere unity with the Father, I don't think the Jews would have reacted the way they did. Let's read on in John 10:31-36.

?"The the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from My Father; for which of those works do ye stone Me? 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. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If He called them gods, unto whom the word of God came and the scriptures cannot be broken; 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?"

The Jews knew perfectly what Christ meant by claiming to be one with the Father. He was claiming to be the same Person! If Jesus didn't mean that He could have corrected them and explained, but what did He do? He continued to back up His claim!

Jesus spoke to His disciples in the Upper Room before His arrest in John 14. In this speech, when questioned by one of His disciples Phillip, Jesus claimed deity quite openly. Let's read John 14:1-9.

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him. Phillip saith unto Him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?"

Jesus was clearly insulted by what Philip asked. The Father was with them all the time in physical form! This is a parallel statement to John 12:45, "And he that seeth Me seeth Him that sent Me." Jesus is speaking plainly to you here! The Father and Son are the same Person! Now, let me get to the main point of the lesson. Let's talk about how the incarnation effected the Person of God.

The best picture we have is painted in Philippians 2:5-8, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a Man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

This scripture is basically saying that the infinite God became flesh as Christ Jesus. Jesus was God living humbly by imposing limitations on Himself in order to accomplish the work He had as the Lamb of God. God became a genuine Man to die for us! God never ceased being God when He became flesh as Jesus, but Jesus merely set aside the glory He had as God.

In the incarnate state, God took upon a form of existence that He never had before. God became a Man. This Man was Jesus. Jesus was God made flesh, and therefore was fully God and Man. The purpose of the incarnation was to redeem Man. We had a debt to God that we couldn't pay, so God became flesh as Jesus the Messiah. The only one who could pay the debt was God, and the only way the sins of man could be forgiven is by God is by the shedding of blood. The only way God could shed His own blood was by becoming a Man. God shed His own precious blood and spread it upon the Mercy Seat in Heaven. The blood of Jesus purchased our redemption (Acts 20:28).

Now Jesus, being a Man (albeit God in the flesh), had a genuine human consciousness. Because Jesus was a Man, He could be tempted, get tired, experience emotions like us, and He also had to pray and have a relationship with God like we do. Jesus was sinless though and could not sin because He was God in the flesh! Jesus' Father was not a human father, but was God Himself.

Jesus came through Mary. God and Mary did not have sexual relations, but the Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary (Luke 1:35) and the Word was made flesh (John 1:14). I do not believe that Jesus got His humanity from Mary, but His humanity is a different humanity from our sinful humanity. God essentially implanted Himself in Mary's womb! What was born 9 months later was the Son of God!

Jesus is the Son of God for two main reasons! His conception and existence as a Man was caused by God, therefore making God His Father. Another reason He is the Son of God is because He is God in the flesh, therefore having all of the fullness of the Godhead in Him (Colossians 2:9). Now the Son is the same Person as the Father, but not the same manifestation. The term "Son" refers to God's existence within the incarnation in relation to beyond the incarnation, while the term "Father" refers to God's existence beyond the incarnation in relation to His incarnate existence.

Now the Son of God is one Person that is fully God and Man. Jesus is the God-Man. Because He is the God-Man, He is aware that He is God, but is conscious of Himself as a Man. Jesus prayed and even spoke of Himself as adhering to God's will. This does not disprove Jesus' deity, it proves His genuine humanity!

The main point I wanted to get to is now what I'm talking about! Many Oneness people say that the divine nature of Jesus is the Father, while the human nature is the Son. This is similar to a Gnostic heresy called Cerinthianism, which divides Christ up into two different Persons (one being God, and one being an average man). This is also not very different at all from Trinitarianism (which teaches a plurality of Persons within the Godhead). Jesus is clearly to affirmed to be one Person!

When Jesus prayed, it wasn't God the Son praying to God the Father, and neither was it the human nature of Jesus praying to the divine nature of Jesus! What this was was a Man praying to His God! Jesus spoke of Himself as having a God (John 20:17). Certainly this isn't the God of God! This is the God of a Man (albeit God in the flesh). Jesus is truly God and truly a Man.

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Scribes and Pharisees in the Christian Church: Confronting Hypocrisy

Does anybody ever have one of those Garden of Gethsemane days in which you feel like all the world is crashing down around you and you feel like a skyscraper is about to fall on top of you? I've had one of those days today. I've just been dealing with a lot of spiritual warfare. I just ask for your prayers that God will bring me out of this situation, because through Jesus Christ we are more than overcomers.

There's times when I feel like punching a hole in the wall because I get so frustrated. I'm not doubting God, I am doubting myself in certain areas. But I am glad to know that God is a deliverer that we can rely on. I thank God for the cross!

Many times I just feel so alone and to my own shame I will cry out, "Eli, eli, lama sabachthani?". My saying that is disgraceful and shows how foolish I can be. But I know that God calls the fools (like me) to be wise. I pray 100s of times per day (majority of the time they are very short prayers). I love my Lord Jesus Christ and the friends that He has placed in my life.

I am honored to know many great men and women of the Most High God Jesus Christ. God manifests His glory through their works in their churches and I praise God for them. I desire to be used by God but I am battling with some sins that I have been stuck with ever since I have been saved. I am still not completely out of my flesh.

Sometimes I wonder if I have lost my salvation but then I ask myself why Satan is still attacking me so much if I am no longer a born-again Christian? I am just a struggling Christian. For a long time now I have been in and out of my own personal Hell, and during camp meetings and revivals I experience a great wave of peace but as soon as I leave I am immediately under attack again.

I spend a lot of time in a raging sea. But didn't Jesus calm a physical raging sea? What would stop Him from calming one in my mind? Nothing but myself. I feel like sometimes I delay the move of God in my own life involuntarily. He walked on a stormy sea too! I believe that soon my Jesus will come walking out to save me but I'm gonna have to walk back to shore with Him. Could I handle that any better than Peter? I certainly hope so!

As CS Lewis said, "I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun is risen." I love the Lord for what He has done in the past, what He has done for me, and also for what He's done TO me. I've felt His very presence and I know that it wasn't my imagination. The imagination is in the brain, but God is in my heart! During the Mercy Me concert, during the last song I felt just like heat was being released from me. I felt like chains were being broken off of me. I think I felt the very love of God!

But being the flesh that I am, I foolishly went home and sinned again. Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death? I am a man of struggles...I have gotten to know the devil well during my year as a Christian but I have also gotten pretty tight to the God who cast him out of Heaven!

Who am I? Who am I that the Lord of all the Earth would care to know my name? Who am I that He would care to feel my hurt? I am a flower quickly fading! I am here today, but I could be gone tomorrow. I long to go home. I hate this world, but I am not willing to kill myself to get to Hell! I am willing to live through this world of tribulation in order to make it to the very dwelling place of the Great I AM!

I want to works of God to be made manifest in me. James said that faith without works is dead! I want to work the works of Him that saved me! Jesus rescues me! I want Him to use me in miracles, in counseling in times of trouble, in casting out of demons, in prophecy, and most of all in the ministry. When I am judged, I want Jesus to tell me, "Welcome home, My child! Come and dine!"

What is greater than the praise of the Lord? The Pharisees desired the praise of man. They had not the love of God in their hearts. They were not the only ones to crucify the Messiah though, we all crucified the Son of God! We have His blood on our hands! We are all deserving of death for this travesty! We scourged the Lord, we beat Him, we spit on Him, we mocked Him, we rejected Him, we put the crown of thorns on His head, we put the nails in His hands, and we pierced His side but yet He still loved us! He prayed for us saying, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."

Jesus was not defeated on the cross, He won! One of His last words were this, "It is finished." Those in the crowd that day probably thought He was declaring defeat, but they couldn't be further from the truth. Jesus Christ of Nazareth was declaring victory! It is finished, the battle is over and won! No more sickness, no more death, no more sin for God's children! We were the prize the Lord God Almighty Jesus Christ won that day at Calvary!

Years I spent in vanity and pride knowing not my Lord was crucified. Knowing not it was for me He died at Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace was free. Pardon there was multiplied to me and then my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary. If the Son has set you free, then you are free indeed. Through Christ Jesus we may have life and have it more abundantly!

For 2,000 years human history has been fascinated with this man known by worldly history as Jesus of Nazareth, a preacher from Nazareth. But we, Christians, know who this "man" really was. He was not just a man, He was the Father incarnate! Truly, this righteous man was the Son of God!

Look at how we have demeaned the Lord. We have mocked Him in TV shows like South Park and Family Guy. We have tried to scandalize Him by saying He was married to Mary Magdalene! Why would any Christian watch that kind of stuff? You are partaking in the blasphemy yourself if you don't stop watching that crap.

We have done everything worthy of being destroyed as a race. We have killed children in the womb, we have allowed same-sex marriage and supported homosexuality, we have murdered each other, we have mocked one another for our beliefs, we have taught atheistic lies in school. What a great Christian nation the United States of America is!

We have polluted the church with false doctrine. We have ordained homosexual ministers, we have endorsed liberal politics, we have not stood up to persecution, we have taught people the Gospel just for money. We have taken the Father's house and made it a den of thieves!

But God is love and life. The devil is hate and death. Most of the world is unwittingly (sometimes consciously) following the god of this world Satan. Turn your hearts to Jesus Christ and He will renew a right spirit within you, even the Holy Spirit!

Why do so many Christians support pro-choice? It is unconstitutional (each man is endowed by his Creator with certain unalienable rights: LIFE, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness). I know a few of you are going to hate me for this but repent! Stop electing any politician that supports this! Whether or not the child is born, it still has life. Life is God's to take away, not man's!

Remember Jesus' preaching to the Scribes and Pharisees? I will give some quotes that make me think of the state of the Lord's church and America, which is supposed to be a Christian nation. "But woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of Heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation...Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel... Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whitened sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleaness. (Matthew 23)"

I am not chastising only the people reading this. I, who am writing this, am chastising myself for the sin that I am battling with. My basic point is to stop making the Father's house a house of merchandise! We have earned a reputation of being intolerant. We hate people who disagree with us instead of witnessing to them and praying for them. What kind of Christians are we? We can sometimes be as much of hypocrites as the scribes and Pharisees! Woe unto us! We have taken the Father's house and have made it a den of thieves!

Why do we suppress the Holy Ghost's power in our church's? Why have we left our first love? God will judge us for this when He returns! Jesus, our great God and Savior is coming back soon and the majority of us have failed Him! I am a failure myself in many areas! I am not bold enough, I am not as good as I should be, I could never hold as much of a paper cup to the face of the Lord Jesus! I am not worthy to set foot on the ground He walked on! I am not worthy to set foot in His church or to claim His name!

I am not sure if what I am doing is actual preaching or not. I don't know if I am called to preach. I am only doing what I feel led to do! I am surprised at the words I have wrote tonight but I am not ashamed of them, nor do I repent of them. Hate me if you want, I'm going on with Jesus even if I have to go alone! I intend to follow Him until He takes me home! Here in the love of Christ I stand!

God loves us all. He loves us all so much! He humbled Himself even to death on the cross for our redemption! He chooses unlikely people to carry out His work on Earth. Abraham had a lack of faith, Noah was a drunk, Peter denied Him three times, and Paul persecuted the church. Jesus still chooses unlikely people to do the work of Christ, He calls drug-addicts, drunks, murderers even to do spread the Gospel! What a mighty God we serve!

I can't believe that there are so many people in my own area that believe that Jesus Christ is just man, which is blatantly contrary to the scriptures. Jesus didn't claim to be just a prophet, He claimed to be God the Father in the flesh. He was crucified for what the Jews thought was blasphemy. But even on the cross, He received the glory that the only begotten Son of the Father deserves. Jesus is the only begotten of the Father, Jesus is the Son of God, in being the Son of God Jesus is the one true God incarnated in the flesh.

I can't believe that the Muslims think that Mohammad, a bandit, rapist, misogynist, wife-stealing murderer is a better person that Jesus. Jesus committed no sin and He is the one who judged this false prophet. Jesus Christ of Nazareth was not the first son of Joseph, He was only the Son of God.

Isn't it a wonder though? God manifested Himself in the flesh as Jesus Christ. He emptied Himself and made Himself of no reputation, He took on the form of a servant. That One that looked like a servant was actually a king! What a wonder is this!

Jesus endured the following sufferings: denial by His own hometown and brothers and sisters, denial by the Jews He had come for, He was mocked, He was betrayed by one of His disciples, He was whipped and crucified for crimes He didn't do. But yet Jesus still won. There in the ground, His body lain. Light of the world by darkness slain. Then bursting forth in glorious day, out from the grave He rose again. And as He stands in victory sin's curse has lost it's grip on me. For I am His, and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ!

Can't nobody do me like Jesus! I've used lyrics from countless songs in this LOL. The praise of God is a great way to show His glory. Thank you, Jesus for Your word and your great sacrifice! There is none greater than You, Father! Our hope is in Jesus.

I am telling you the truth, God is a miracle-worker. He still works as great miracles as He worked in the biblical times. If it be the will of the Lord Jesus, this nation will turn from it's wicked ways but right now I think the Tribulation is coming and we must be ready. Contrary to the popular belief, I believe we will not be hoisted out of here and miss the Antichrist's reign. I think we are going to be here until the end. This will be the ultimate test of faith. Can you handle it? With the Holy Spirit dwelling within you, you can overcome. Jesus said to His disciples, "These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)" and John wrote later, "Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. (I John 4:4)"

I think Paul gives us a good idea of how the end of life should be for a Christian in II Timothy 4:6-7, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith..." This was Paul's last letter before being beheaded under Nero. Paul was ready meet Jesus again! We should be ready also. For me, the pain of my own death is worth the peace I will feel Heaven!

Gosh, I'm not done yet. I hope you all don't think I'm evil for some of the things I've said in here but at the same time I don't really give a crap. I beat myself up too sometimes. I was told by a friend that the book of Proverbs tells us that stripes are for a fools back, and he said that he didn't take me for a fool so I should stop hitting myself LOL. I feel like a fool, I am not a man fool of wisdom. I'm just an instrument of God. I am an unworthy vessel. I am just a sinner saved by grace.

Jesus didn't come to start a religion. He came here to become the world's Savior. We have all failed Him in more ways than are countable. But I know you love the Lord Jesus. Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15)" Do you love Jesus? Well, we must obey Him in order to show our love for Him. Just try to obey His commandments and the Lord will appreciate that. But you can't just give a little, you have to give your whole being to Jesus Christ.

 I feel like this is the most important thing I've spoken on here. The church needs to get away from religion. The veil that was torn was religion. Now we can enter into the Holy of Holies. All you all must to do is submit. Jesus made an open door for us who are saved and for us who are not saved, He is knocking on your door and waiting to sup with you and you with Him.

I am not finished with my message yet. I am going to continue with the adulterous woman in John 8:1-11: "Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto Him; and He sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting Him, that they might have to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground, as though He heard them not. So when they continued asking Him, he lifted up Himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again He stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even to unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up Himself, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, Woman where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more."

This event seems to connect with another saying of Jesus that is recorded in Matthew 7:1-5: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

What makes us think we're so holy? Well, we are called to be holy. Be ye holy, for Jesus is holy. It is written, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)" But to be like Jesus and to truly be holy, we must also be humble. For Christ Jesus was also humble. You must be compassionate, not cold-hearted. Christ has a warm and empathetic heart, be the same way. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5-6, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God..."

I think I have inherited a long-winded gene from my father. Wow! I just think this is awesome. I'm enjoying this, aren't you? I am only speaking some hard sayings because it must be said. Believe me, if there was any other way for me to articulate it, I would. But I must speak the Word of God. Did Jesus not also have hard sayings? When Jesus claimed to be the bread of life and that whoever did not eat His flesh or drink His blood would not have eternal life, they thought He was teaching cannibalism. They had no understanding or revelation. But you all have the revelation to understand the sayings of Christ and His servants. Hearken unto the words that proceed from the Bible

The basic points of this speech of mine are this:

1. Are model must be Jesus Christ and not our pastor, or fellow church goers. Don't allow another Christian to be a distraction, but only compare yourself to Jesus. Become as Christ-like as possible.

2. Get religion out of the church of Jesus Christ. Christianity should not be viewed as a religion, but as a relationship between you and God. Christianity is a lifestyle, a journey, in which you get to know your Heavenly Father.

3. Stop treating church as a social club, it is the house of God.

4. Stop voting for deeds that are sinful in your politics. Stop voting in favor of politicians that support gay marriage and abortion. Both are sins and abominations in the sight of the Lord and they should also be seen the same way be His people.

5. Don't be a hypocrite. Don't criticize someone for committing a sin that you are engaging in, yourself. If you are trying to stop the sin, I understand but I say to have compassion and don't act like the Pharisees. Don't have that "holier than thou" attitude. Jesus was humble, be ye humble also.

6. Don't limit the power of the Holy Spirit in your life. You will need it during the Great Tribulation that is to befall the world in the very near future.

7. Stand tall for Jesus, no matter what.

8. Don't give up on the Lord, because He will never give up on you. Where else will you go? Jesus is the Holy One that has the words which give eternal life.

I don't mean to sound arrogant but I feel like more people need to be looking at this than the TD Jakes quote ["I hear you knocking, devil. But I'm not letting you in!"] ! That is a good quote but I think this is better!

http://www.bible-geeks.com/