“Without Controversy” | Dr. Anthony

Praise the Lord everyone. And uh let me say first off what a tremendous honor it is to uh teach Bible study on Wednesday evening. and I not worthy uh and to have Bishop and Sister Mcool here. Bishop Mcool the greatest Bible teacher of of all time. They I think the term they say now is the goat. But let me explain what that means. It means the greatest of all time. So that's a that's a compliment, brother Chad, when you call somebody the goat. So uh greatest of all time and Bishop truly truly is that. He's laid the foundation uh for us. Uh give Pastor Whitley honor tonight. What a word we heard. And that rhymes Sunday. Absol absolute blessing. Uh reiterate, go back in the archives, get your notebook out and go comb through that. Pastor Mcool as well. Pastor uh Mcool is in Bristol, Tennessee, and they are uh ministering for a I believe an anniversary service or something like that for somebody in Bristol. So that's as much that's as much info as I have. So, but I'm here tonight and you're here and I'm looking forward to getting into God's word. If you have your Bibles, First Timothy chapter 3, and we're going to read verse 16. And we'll come back to a couple other verses preceding it as well. And I'll take my title from the first sentence, which we'll get to that in a second. But it states, "And without controversy." Everybody say without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Many of us could recite this. Justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up in to glory. I want to use that topic from uh that verse tonight entitled without controversy. That's almost laughable in 2026, isn't it? There are few things in life that are more reliable than controversy. The sun rises in the east. Coffee tastes Well, I better be careful. I I see Brother Dixon back there. Coffee tastes better than it smells. I should have edited that. I'm not a coffee person. Don't Don't run out of here. But somewhere at any given moment, two people, three people are passionately disagreeing about something that more than likely won't even matter in a week. We We live in a world where debate is as common as breathing. Turn on the television, scroll through your phone, sit at the dinner table, attend a ball game. Not at a Christian school ball game by any means. That would never happen. And you will quickly discover that controversy is not just present, it's thriving. One group of lyrical poets wrote that even to party, you've got to fight for your right to do so. In sports, a referee's call can divide a stadium into two opposing camps within seconds. And in politics, entire nations seem to stand perpetually at the edge of disagreement. Each side convinced of its own clarity. But even in the quiet corners of everyday life, controversy finds its way in. How to raise children, how you should manage your finances, how you should spend your money, how how to live well. Some people avoid controversy while others seem to chase it. Don't look at your neighbor. Some people even inject themselves into it. And somebody's made that >> I heard it. My uncle Don Mcool. This is Bishop's oldest brother who's gone on to be with the Lord. Well, we hope. He said he don't want to get cremated because he doesn't want to burn twice, but that's doesn't have anything to do with what I'm about to tell. But um this is dangerous even in and of itself. He uh he got a Facebook page probably a year before he ended up passing away. He got a Facebook page and my uncle Dawn on Facebook that is a that is some kind of u danger I would say. But his first post ever I'll never forget. I got that friend request and I'm like oh wow my uncle Don has Facebook. He said well I woke up above ground today. It's going to be a great day in true form. And I think my uncle Bob wrote right underneath it. He said, "Well, the day is not over yet, Don." So, no matter no matter what you post, no matter what you say, controversy controversy will find itself. And it's if you in the in human interaction, there's something almost irresistible about it. And controversy can sharpen our opinions and it it gives us something to talk about. And at times it even makes us feel alive. If if our team is slighted in any way. Oh, if there's an egregious call from the referee year 20 circa 2000, Jabar Gaffne, uh, Florida at Tennessee. If our team is slided in any way, the call-in shows, everybody's unified over the disagreement. If they win, nobody's calling in and staying up and and they'll celebrate for a little bit. If if there's some kind of horrid call from the referee or there's some kind of horrible uh play call from a coach, I mean, we we we're united. We want to call in and band together over this controversy. It stirs emotion. It fuels conversation and uh certainly there are constructive confrontations that lead to truth. But I would I would say more often than not that it leaves us weary. It leaves us divided. leaves us longing for something more certain, something settled, something that does not shift with every new argument or flash pan moment in society or trend. It is into this world that we see the great Apostle Paul into this noisy, restless, controversialfilled world. This isn't something that manifested itself in the year 2000 or 2026, but it's existed from the very genesis of time. The Apostle Paul speaks to humanity and makes this remarkable phrase without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. And at first glance, it almost, you know, feels a bit out of place. But without controversy in a world like ours, surely if anything would spark debate, it would be matters of faith or doctrine or the identity of God himself. And yet Paul points to a profound and steady truth. While many things may be debated, while many things may be questioned, while many things may be argued over, there is a central reality that stands firm, unshaken, undeniable, and ultimately beyond dispute for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. The mystery of godliness is not rooted in confusion, but in revelation. It is not cons sustained by argument, but is revealed by truth. And while the world thrives on controversy, God offers clarity. While opinions rise and fall like waves, there is, the Apostle Paul says, a foundation that does not move. And at the very heart of this foundation is not an idea. It's not a philosophical thought generated by the popular thought process and logic and reasoning of the day. in it. But a person in a world where nearly everything is up for debate. And there's some things that you know between you and I shouldn't be up for debate, but that's another sermon for another time. There is one truth that stands without controversy and that is the identity of Jesus Christ. He's not merely a topic that you discuss. He's not a figure to be uh re-imagined according to preference. It's not something we just reminisce about and look through rosecoled glasses and have a revisionist history regarding him. He is the revealed son of God. God manifest in flesh the center of the mystery of godliness. So, as we navigate a world full of voices, certainly a world full of opinions, and indeed a world with endless disputes, we are invited to fix our eyes on the one who stands above it all. Because while controversy may fill our world, it does not and it cannot define the faith of a believer in 2026. And at the center of all of it is Jesus. And in him we find not confusion but clarity, not division but truth, and not confrontation but certainty. The preceding verses in First Timothy verse 14, these things I write uneop. But if I tar long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth, and without controversy, without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God was justified in the spirit. God was seen of angels. God preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, and he was received up into glory. If you were to cover the state of Texas kneedeep in silver dollars, all 268,597 square miles of it. If you marked one of those silver dollars with a Sharpie marker and asked a blindfolded man or a blindfolded woman to find that marked silver dollar on the first try, every single one of you would not wager any type of money. Not that it's appropriate to gamble, but the odds would not be in your FAVOR BECAUSE THE POSSIBILITY OF THAT happening would live just outside the gated neighborhood of impossible. But according to Peter Stoner, retired chairman of mathematics and astronomy at Pasadena City College, that outcome would be the probability of Jesus fulfilling just eight. Just eight of the Old Testament prophecies about himself by chance. a probability of one in 100 quadrillion. The number one with 177 zeros behind it. The prophets predicted Jesus would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem from the line of Abraham and from the tribe of Judah. He would be called Emmanuel, spend a season in Egypt, and follow a forerunner. OVER 200 MORE PROPHECIES predicted his incarnation, birth, life, death, and resurrection. If Jesus was just a man, those prophecies would have fallen unfulfilled. But he was not just a man. He was God in flesh. And he was on the throne even when he was in the manger. He was on the throne even when he was on THE CROSS. HE WAS ON THE THRONE EVEN WHEN HE was in the tomb. The Bible is not two disconnected book awkwardly stitched together of the Old Testament and the New Testament. They are one divine tapestry, ONE DIVINE STORY, ONE UNFOLDING REVELATION of God's redemptive plan to humanity. FROM GENER GENESIS ALL THE WAY TO REVELATION, scripture points and is centered around one central truth that God himself would come to save humanity. That's why the New Testament is saturated with the Old Testament. Matthew opens with a genealogy connecting Jesus to Abraham and David uh attesting to the Hebraic heritage of the scriptures. And then we get to Luke and he traces the genealogy back even further. Again and again the apostles reached into the ancient prophecies to declare that this is that what the ao prophets foretold Christ fulfilled. And Paul would say and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. Paul did not stutter when he wrote those words. He didn't say, you know, perhaps. He didn't say there are many opinions or he didn't say scholars are divided on this uh uh this potential TRUTH. HE HE DECLARED WITHOUT CONTROVERSY, without debate, without confusion, WITHOUT UNCERTAINTY, WITHOUT CONTRADICTION. The early church was absolutely convinced of one OVERWHELMING TRUTH THAT GOD was manifest in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. >> There was not controversy that existed in heaven. There was not controversy that existed regarding the nature of Jesus Christ among the apostles. The controversy came later when men tried to explain away what scripture had already made plain. Can you imagine the Apostle Paul who you could contribute onethird of the New Testament books to, letters, epistles, HOWEVER YOU WANT TO IDENTIFY THEM when he SAYS PLAINLY THAT without controversy and what do men do to it a few centuries later? They create controversy. Paul called it the mystery of godliness. But don't misinterpret what he's talking about. When the Bible uses the word mystery, it does not mean something unknowable. The Greek word mysterion refers to something once hidden, but it is now revealed. Paul was saying the mystery has now been uncovered. You talk to a lot of people and they get to a certain point ABOUT THAT HOW THEY TRY TO IDENTIFY GOD AND HOW HE MANIFEST himself in flesh. Well, well, we get to this point and it's oh, it's just a mystery. Certainly, I wouldn't be arrogant enough to say that I could understand everything there is to know about God and how he works and how he moves and how he deals with people and why people have to undergo certain situations and circumstances that they do. HEAVENS KNOW. BUT THERE'S ONE THING THAT HAS NO CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING IT. AND THAT IS THAT JESUS IS GOD AND HE WAS MANIFEST IN FLESH. THERE'S NO CONFUSION. HE WASN'T GOD JUNIOR. GOD DIDN'T SEND A REPLACEMENT IN HIS PLACE, BUT HE WAS GOD MANIFEST IN FLESH. The invisible became visible. The eternal inner time. THE CREATOR ROBED HIMSELF IN FLESH. NOT A DIFFERENT person without controversy. There's nothing to talk about. There's nothing to debate. Now, I'm not going around trying to cross theological swords with someone with a a horrible attitude and trying this. I didn't write it. I didn't do it. He said without controversy. God was manifest in the flesh. So why does so many still act as though the identifi the identity of Jesus is impossible to understand? Scripture does not hide the truth. It heralds it. The prophets saw him coming. The apostles touched him. The church proclaimed him AND HEAVEN ITSELF TESTIFIED to him. >> There's no mystery. There's no doubt. There's no confusion. There's no question mark. THERE'S NO THERE'S NO THERE'S NO SPACE TO MISINTERPRET. The central proclamation of Christianity is not merely that God sent help. What a I almost said damnable. I am not allowed to say that online. I don't know. UH GOD DIDN'T SEND HELP. It is NOT MERELY THAT GOD SENT A PROPHET. IT IS NOT MERELY THAT GOD SENT OH he was a righteous man who had beautiful and and good moral teachings. The scandal and the glory of the gospel is that God himself stepped into humanity. The eternal entered time. The invisible as I mentioned earlier. Let me reiterate, became visible. The creator clothed himself in creation. This is the mystery Paul called great. Not because it cannot be understood at all, but because it is so profound that human language can barely contain it. The incarnation is the revelation of the nature of God in Christ. Isaiah declared, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel." Matthew directly connected this prophecy to the birth of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 1:18, this prophecy itself contains layers of fulfillment. In Isaiah's immediate historical setting, there appears to have been a child born as a sign to Judah during the Sioramite crisis. Yet prophetic revelation in scripture frequently unfolds this uh typology where an immediate fulfillment anticipates a greater messianic fulfillment. The child in Isaiah's generation functioned as a temporal sign of God with us. But it was a prophetic vision to the future, a prophetic fulfillment because Christ became the ultimate and eternal fulfillment of Emmanuel, God here present with us. He quoted from Isaiah from the Septuagen, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. Remember the Old Testament was in ancient Aramaic and Hebrew and the New Testament was written in Greek and Matthew is quoting from Isaiah and in that translation he used the word parthonos which defined is virgin. And this term is deeply significant. The the word if you remember immediately recalls the the parthonon in Athens. That's the derivation for this term. The temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, the virgin goddess. The very name Parthonon derives from Parthonos meaning virgin. God shall come from a virgin. And linguist linguistically parthonos possesses one consistent meaning of virgin woman. This matters theologically because it establishes that Christ's BIRTH WAS NOT MERELY EXTRAORDINARY, but it was supernatural. It's the basis for every miracle that you can interpret and understand because YOU GET INTO A LOT OF different interpretations of the word of God. And obviously there's different genres. There's there's poetries, there's songs, there's narrative theology that is uh is intended to have uh meaning but not literal. And there's allegorical statements and metaphors and everything else. And yes, you have to have a an understanding and a a cultural competence and interpretation of what you're reading. But at the same time, there are supernatural events THAT TOOK PLACE AT THE HAND OF GOD BECAUSE THERE WERE PEOPLE THAT WERE FAITHFUL to him and believed in him. AND IF YOU CAN'T, if you believe in the supernatural virgin birth, then I present to you tonight that you can believe in anything else that's supernatural. If you believe in that, WHAT'S STOPPING YOU FROM A MIRACLE TAKING place today? >> There's no hierarchy of the supernatural. There's not, oh, this miracle is a little bit greater than that. Supernatural is supernatural. If you believe in a virgin birth, then you believe and can believe that GOD CAN HEAL YOUR BODY. YOU BELIEVE THAT HE CAN PROVIDE FOR YOU. YOU believe >> that he can make a way >> when there is no way. That's what the virgin birth means to us. Supernatural. That's the basis of our faith. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST WAS HEAVEN ENTERING humanity without inheriting Adam's corruption. The womb of Mary became the meeting place between eternity and time. What beautiful symbolism. What a beautiful way to present himself. Not on a white horse riding from a majestic kingdom with all the pomp and circumstance of a king but in the womb of a virgin girl to say that I came to become one of you all. I came to bear the weight of sin on this world for this world. Isaiah did not merely PROPHESY HOW CHRIST would come. He revealed who Christ would be. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. The distinction is theological. The child speaks of Christ's humanity. The son speaks of his eternal divine role and identification of the role that Jesus would fulfill on earth. The son was not created in Bethlehem. Rather, the eternal God assumed humanity in Bethlehem. He says he's wonderful because he transcends human categories. He's not merely admirable. He is miraculous and incomprehensible in how we can interpret and understand his majesty. AND HE'S WORTHY OF ALL OF our worship. HE'S THE COUNSELOR, THE MESSIAH, the revealer of divine wisdom through the spirit. Christ continues to guide and teach his church. He's the mighty God. Though in this title is unambiguous, he does not present the Messiah Messiah as merely empowered by God. He does not present the Messiah as oh a delegate by God going to speak on his behalf or a representative of God. No, no, no, no, no, no. HE'S NOT ANOTHER PERSON THAT can be distinct AND SEPARATE FROM GOD. HE IS GOD HIMSELF. HE CALLS HIM THE MIGHTY GOD. WHAT DOES HE MEAN by that? Hallelujah. >> Pray tell the child born in Bethlehem possesses the identity, the authority and the nature of Yahweh himself. The everlasting father this does not this does not collapse distinguish between father and son in terms of divine self-revelation but it reveals that the fullness of the father's divine nature dwells in Christ. Jesus declared I and my father are one. And again he said, "If you've seen me, you hath seen the father." What in the world does that mean? Christ is the visible revelation of the invisible God without controversy. The prince of peace. HUMAN KINGDOMS ESTABLISH priests through domination. We can only get on the news, watch the news, lead the read the read the latest report. And the strategy for every nation in this world is peace through strength. The stronger the the arms, the more peace we have. THE MORE PEOPLE ARE SCARED OF US, the more peace we can have. Human kingdoms established peace through domination, but Christ established peace through atonement. Through the cross, reconciliation between God and humanity became possible. The New Testament consistently presents Jesus Christ as the embodiment of the one God of Israel. John opens his gospel with the profound theological precision. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God. Somebody finish it for me and the word was God. Then he declares on down in verse 14, "And the word was made flesh and dwelt." I mean, what in the world is there controversy there? And you all want to debate and uh uh What does what did the Johannian scripture What was he really talking about here? Yeah, I don't I don't know. The the log ghost did not merely appear human. The logos became flesh. This directly confronted early Gnostic theology which denied that God truly came in material flesh. This was influenced by Plato and Platinism. And the Gnostics viewed matter as inherently corrupt and therefore rejected the bodily incarnation and resurrection of Christ. The apostles opposed this forcely because Christianity is not merely spiritual abstraction. It is divine embodiment. John purposefully placed in his text that Thomas physically touched Christ's wounds. He wasn't just SPIRITUALLY RESURRECTED. HIS WHOLE BODY WAS RESURRECTED. IT ALSO SAYS THAT JESUS ate with his disciples AFTER THE RESURRECTION. NOW, WHY WOULD A JESUS in a GLORIFIED BODY WHO DOESN'T NEED FOOD go eat with his disciples? First off, they realize they didn't recognize him at first. Maybe even after the wounds like, well, maybe that maybe that's Jesus. Thomas is touching him and he's the he's the doubter, you know. I guess THAT'S BUT THEY KNEW IT WAS JESUS when he said, "Do you have anything to eat?" Yeah. I mean, all of his miracles are centered around eating. When he was uh after Zakius, he said, "Hey, uh I've called you out and yeah, you're going to turn your life around, but let's go to your house and have something to eat." Uh they they're like, "Oh, this is Jesus. He's wanting to have something to eat." Not because he needed it, but because he wanted to fellowship with his apostles. And that's what he wants to do with you, even in the most intimate moments OF YOUR LIFE. THAT MIGHT NOT seem supernatural or spiritual on its surface. We serve a God who don't forget is Emmanuel, GOD WITH US, WHO MAN HIMSELF HIMSELF IN FLESH AND COMES TO YOU NOW in the Holy Spirit and he wants to commune with you. That's why he ate with his disciples after the resurrection and further like I said that's definitely Jesus. The incarnation and resurrection were tangible realities that touched his body. They ate and communed with him. God truly entered human existence. One of the most profound theological insights in John's gospel is found in the Greek word pericletos. Jesus used this word in John's gospel to describe the holy spirit. John 14:16 says, "And I will pray the father and he shall give you another comforter." The Greek word translated comforter is paricletos. And we know what this term means, advocate, helper, intercessor, one called alongside that that advocates on your behalf. What makes it extraordinary though is that John later uses this exact word to describe Jesus Christ himself. He's using that word in one sentence to describe Holy Spirit, advocate, comforter. And in another instance, he's using it to describe Jesus. I think that comes to the conclusion just might be the same person. We have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous. John applies the same divine mediatorial language to both Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit because the ministry of Christ continues through the spirit after ascension. It's the same person. Jesus said, "I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you." The spirit is not a replacement for Christ. The spirit is the continuing presence of Christ among his people. This is why Paul would say the Lord is that spirit. Theologically, the spirit mediates the presence of the ascended Christ of the church. Same God revealed in Jesus Christ now indwells in you believers through the Holy Ghost. That's why we say I've got Jesus inside of me, not distinct individual persons. Paul declared that Christ was justified in the spirit. The cross vindicated the righteousness of God. At Calvary, divine justice and divine mercy converge. Romans 3 explains that Christ became the propitiation for humanity's sins. The Greek term here used is helion. Helisterion. The same word the Septuagent uses for the mercy seat a top of the ark of the covenant. Again the fulfillment. This connection is profoundly theological. Under the old covenant, blood was sprinkled upon the mercy seat to signify atonement. And under the new covenant, Christ himself became the mercy seat. The judge bore judgment. God demonstrated his justice by condemning sin, yet demonstrated his mercy by bearing humanity's punishment himself. And Paul would tell us that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in a particular role of identification to humanity from Genesis to Revelation. No, which believeth in Jesus. The cross is therefore both revelation and reconciliation. Paul also declared that HE WAS SEEN OF ANGELS. Throughout redemptive history, angels function as agents and witnesses of divine activity. The angel Gabriel announced Christ's conception. Angic hosts worshiped at his birth. Angels ministered to him after temptation. And angels strengthened him in Gethsemane. Angels proclaimed his resurrections. Angels witnessed his ascension. The theological significance is immense. Time after time, the angels recognized that Jesus earthly ministry was the manifestation of God's eternal salvific plan. Heaven itself bore witness to Christ's identity. There was no confusion. There was no ounce of uh interpretation TO HE SAID WITHOUT CONTROVERSY. >> The apo apostolic message was profoundly listen to this term right here. You got to tighten your tie up to the apostolic message was profoundly christoentric means it's centered around Christ. We've been identified as that before. It wasn't chrisioentric, but oh, y'all are Jesus only. Is that a dig? Is it is that offensive? The church did not merely proclaim ethical reform. The church did not just come up with this religious philosophy that would help societies and humanity function, though the word of God is pragmatic and does that. It proclaimed Jesus. Acts records the expansion of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. Jewish believers received the spirit. Samaritans received the spirit. Gentiles received the spirit. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 established that Gentiles did not need to become ethnically Jewish to participate in salvation. Faith in Jesus Christ, not circumcision, became the defining marker of covenant inclusion. This fulfilled the universal scope of the incarnation. The God manifested in Christ came not merely for Israel but for all humanity. Our last number eight prophecy, our last proof from the Apostle Paul, he was received up into glory. Christ's ascension was not simply his departure. It was divine enthronement. Enoch and Elijah had previously been taken into heaven as signs of divine approval. Yet Christ's ascension surpassed both because his ascension signified the acceptance of his atoning work and the transfer of his mission to the spirit empowered church. Christ promised the power through the Holy Spirit that he would be with us. Thus, the ascension did not terminate Christ's ministry. It universalized it through the church. And the ministry of Jesus without a doubt continues through his body, through this church on earth in 2026. The prophets foretold him. The virgin conceived him. The apostles proclaimed him. The angels witnessed him. The nations believed him. Heaven received him. Jesus Christ is the visible revelation of the invisible God. He's the mighty God. He's the everlasting father. He's the prince of peace. He is God manifest in the flesh. And through the spirit, the divine paricletos as was used as interchangeable to describe THE HOLY SPIRIT AND ALSO JESUS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE SAME ONE. THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST STILL DWELLS AMONG HIS PEOPLE TODAY. And I deeply believe in all of us that preach and we read and we study. I believe deeply in application preaching. I believe the word of God speaks into every dimension of human life. I believe scripture teaches us how to steward our finances with wisdom. HOW TO DISCIPLINE OUR MIND AND BODIES. HOW TO RESTORE BROKEN RELATIONSHIPS. HOW TO WALK IN INTEGRITY, HUMILITY, and holiness before a watching world. Amen. We do it. We I I'll do it next time I preach. The gospel is not detached from real life. It transforms real life. The word of God is practable. Practical because God cares about people practically. Just as we went back to him communing with his disciples. But hear me tonight. Those things are not the foundation of our faith. They are the fruit of our faith. The foundation is Jesus Christ himself. Before Christianity was a system of ethics, it was a revelation of a person. Before it taught us how to live, it declared who he is. And if we lose the revelation of Jesus, WE MAY STILL HAVE RELIGION. WE MAY STILL HAVE PROGRAMS. WE MAY STILL HAVE MOTIVATIONAL SPEECHES CLOTHED IN BIBLE VERSES, BUT WE WILL HAVE LOST THE VERY CORNERSTONE UPON which the church was built. My faith IS STRENGTHENED WHEN I PERSONALLY UNDERSTAND who it is I'm praying to. MY WORSHIP DEEPENS WHEN I UNDERSTAND WHO truly sits ON THE THRONE. MY CONFIDENCE GROWS WHEN I REALIZE THAT THE ONE WHO FULFILLED PROPHECY, WHO CONQUERED DEATH, WHO SILENCED HELL AND WALKED OUT OF THE GRAVE IS NOT MERELY A HISTORICAL FIGURE BUT THE LIVING GOD REVEALED IN ALL FLESH. THIS IS THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. THIS IS THE FOUNDATION. PAUL SAID, "FOR OTHER FOUNDATION NO MAN CAN NO MAN lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." The church cannot survive on trends. The church CANNOT SURVIVE ON PERSONALITIES. THE CHURCH CANNOT SURVIVE on personal relevance. It survives upon the revelation THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. And we are living in a day filled with controversy. We live in a day filled with confusion. We live in a day where at every turn there is deception. Even more so, voices rising from every direction. new doctrines, new revelations, new ideologies dressed up in spiritual language, artificial intelligence, and now now we have extraterrestrials and and UFOs AND UAPS AND HOW DO WE RECONCILE OUR THEOLOGY WITH ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT POTENTIAL DISCOVERIES? AND IS WHAT EVEN WE'RE looking at, is it real? IS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE GOING TO TAKE OVER? AND THERE ARE OUR ROBOTS GOING TO UH MOVE TO COME INTO HUMANITY AND WHAT POWERFUL PERSON IS IS GOING TO BE THE ANTICHRIST? WHO'S GOING TO BE THE ONE THAT DECEIVES US? ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT METHODS TO DISTRACT AND DECEIVE. I'M REMINDED OF WHAT BROTHER OSBURN said at camp meeting a few years ago, and we love Brother Osborne and ARE PRAYING FOR HIM. BUT HIS WORD LIVES ON. HE STEPPED UP TO THE MIC ON THE FIRST NIGHT AND HE ASKED A QUESTION. WHO IN HERE IS READY TO CURSE AN ANGEL? And everybody kind of looked at him. Well, he said it like this, you know, uh who is there anybody here uh ready to curse an angel tonight? And everybody just kind of looked at him like, "What? Curse an angel?" We just preached about him uh we just preached about him being recognized and that was one of the proofs of Jesus. He he said, "Is there anybody ready to curse an angel?" And he pointed back to the words of Paul. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Here's a good filter for anything that comes before your eyes or into your ears. For there's anything that YOU GET CARRIED AWAY WITH AND YOU'RE TRYING TO RECONCILE WITH. IF THERE'S SOMETHING, YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE THE DETERMINATION AND THE MINDSET THAT DENIES THIS GOSPEL TRUTH AND THE ESSENCE AND THE NATURE OF WHO JESUS CHRIST IS, THAT HE IS GOD MANIFEST IN FLESH. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S GOT A WHITE ROBE WITH A GOLD HALO AND IT FLIES DOWN AND STANDS RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME EYE TO EYE FROM WHAT I PERCEIVE AS ANOTHER DIMENSION OR OR OR HEAVEN. If it denies THE ESSENCE OF JESUS CHRIST, LET HIM BE ACCURSED. >> Jesus has risen. He lives inside of me and he's coming back again. If you get a message other than that, let him be accursed. I don't care what it looks like. I don't care how heavenly you think it is. When I was in seminary, I was told in a nice way, though they were very nice about it. They said, "You know, Anthony, you're we love to have you here. You add a tremendous amount of diversity to our program. But your doctrine that's christoentric, some people refer to it as Jesus only is it's a bit heretical and it errors on the line of unitarian monarchianism. And uh there's a lot of errors from what a majority of the students here believe and we're but we're so blessed to have I go back to the accusation against me is being Jesus only. And to that accusation, I would just respond to guilty. Because if I'm guilty of believing that every prophecy points to him, that every miracle testifies of him, that salvation is in his name, that healing comes through his name, that demons tremble at his name, that one day every knee's going to bow and every tongue's going to confess to that name, Jesus Christ, and he's Lord, then I want you to know, stand with me, that I plead guilty. I DON'T PLEAD THE FIFTH. I'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY. I DON'T HAVE MUCH OF A DEFENSE, HONESTLY. UH, THIS IS MY DEFENSE. I I DON'T HAVE MUCH MORE TO SAY THAN I'M GUILTY. I'M REMINDED OF THE APOSTLE PETER IN ACTS 4. BE IT KNOWN UNTO YOU ALL THAT BY THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, DOES THIS MAN STAND HERE BEFORE YOU WHOLE? IF THAT'S YOUR ACCUSATION OF BEING Christian or Jesusentric, JESUS ONLY. I'M GUILTY. I'M GUILTY. I'M GUILTY. AND I JUST WONDER IF THERE'S ANYBODY ELSE ON A MIDWEEK that say would raise their hand and say, "I'm guilty. I'm guilty of believing there's power in that name. I'M GUILTY OF WORSHIPING. I'M GUILTY OF PREACHING ABOUT HIM. I'M GUILTY OF TRUSTING HIM WHEN ALL ELSE AROUND ME HAS UNCERTAINTY. I'M GUILTY I'M GUILTY OF LIFTING THE ONLY NAME GIVEN AMONG MEN WHEREBY WE MUST BE SAFE." WHAT IN THE WORLD DOES THAT MEAN? I'M GUILTY OF PROFESSING THE NAME OF JESUS. COULD WE LIFT our hands across THIS HOUSE AND WHATEVER YOU have need of, WHY DON'T YOU PRAY out to him right now? HEAVENLY FATHER, WE LIFT up the name of Jesus. LORD, WE KNOW THAT YOU'RE THE CORNERSTONE AND THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING in our life. Lord, WE ARE IN A CHURCH TONIGHT, A GROUP OF BELIEVERS who believe in the doctrine, WHO BELIEVE IN THE IDENTITY OF WHO YOU ARE. WE BELIEVE IN THE NATURE and the essence of Jesus that that you are that you became FLESH LIKE US. WE DON'T THINK THAT YOU SENT A REPLACEMENT. WE DON'T THINK THAT YOU SENT A SUBSTITUTE. BUT WE BELIEVE THAT YOU STEPPED DOWN FROM THE THRONE AND BECAME SICK LIKE WE ARE. We we we know that you felt hurt like we did. YOU HUNGERED LIKE WE DO. And you took on the weight of every one of our sins and then you rose. You died on a cross. to then you rose from the grave and we lift your name up tonight. IF THE CHARGE IS THAT OUR LIFE is centered around you, I PLEAD GUILTY TONIGHT UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF YOUR NAME. Would you give that name Jesus? A great big hand tonight. I'm grateful to be among a bunch of group of guilty people. Bunch of guilty people. You are dismissed in that great name Jesus. Introduce yourself to somebody you've never spoken to before. And brother Dixon, I apologize about the coffee remark. Love you, brother. You dismissed in Jesus name.