The Last Word

Amen I'm so grateful for what we feel here in this room this this morning I'm especially grateful to be with all of you what an honor it is to share this camp meeting with your great leaders the pastors the leaders the missionaries the evangelists all of those that lead this great great District what an honor it is to be with them and I must tell you that the kingdom of God while all of those offices are important the kingdom of God at the end of the day is not measured in Preachers or pastors or conference speakers the kingdom of God is measured in Saints and aren you glad to be a saint of the most high god oh thank you Jesus oh thank you Jesus I worship you God I do want to get right to the word of the Lord I have learned to recognize when the Lord nudges me in a certain direction even when I'm not sure why right it could have something to do with the fact that somebody said this is a Heritage day and maybe it's that I think probably more importantly it's to do with all of these wonderful young men and women that are part of your District that are here today because the Bible says that his truth endures to all generations and I'm very grateful to know his truth I'm so thankful for for those that have received the Holy Ghost over the last couple of days and those that have received a touch from the Lord could we just take a moment I want to get right to the word but what an opportunity we would miss if we didn't thank the Lord for all of his benefits for all of his blessings for all of his goodness to us I thank you Jesus I thank you God go ahead and be seated when you get there to throw the devil completely off his game would you clap your hands and Shout with a loud voice to the Lord yeah Hallelujah thank you Jesus I worship you God I am drawn to this very careful at home anymore not to say this is my favorite book or this is my favorite passage or this is my favorite verse because those people in Canada they persecute me I thought you said this was your favorite verse it changes from week to week but I've been drawn back to this strongly in recent months and I want to share it with you today my lesson for this Bible class this morning is simply in titled the last word and I invite you to open your Bible to the Gospel of John and put your thumb in there because we're going to spend a little bit of time there today it is entirely accurate to say that the Apostle John has the last word about Jesus in the New Testament for several reasons John is described six times as the disciple whom Jesus loved he's part of the Inner Circle that we know as Peter James and John he sits closest to Jesus at the Last Supper he's a first cousin to Jesus their mothers Mary and Salome were sisters he's the last one to leave the cross as Jesus is dying and he's the disciple entrusted by Jesus in his last moments with the care of his mother Mary so you could argue that John is the closest of all the disciples to the Lord and so he has the last word because he's the final Authority obviously on the life and death of Jesus but John has the last word for another very important reason his writing is incredibly powerful because the ministry and the words and the teachings of Jesus are burned into John's brain they are seared into his Spirit he writes decades after the fact but his memory is Keen he still remembers the very hour he met Jesus it was 4 p.m. p.m. in the afternoon he recalls little details that there were six water pots at the wedding in canaa and that the Samaritan woman left her water pot in her excitement to share her testimony he still remembers years after the fact that an anonymous at the pool of Bethesda had been sick for 38 years who remembers that he still remembers that the high priest servant was named Malchus and he still has little details out in instant recall John must have handled the financial end of the fishing business for his father Zebedee because there was enough accountant in him to remember what the feeding of the 5,000 would have cost he says it was two hundred pennyworth so John is a last word on Jesus because he was an eyewitness to Jesus ministry he reflects this in the first chapter of his first epistle first John chapter 1 that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the word of life that's amazing what an eyewitness he was he says for the life was manifested and we have seen it and we bear witness and we show unto you that eternal life which was with the father and was manifested unto us it's powerful but other disciples were eyewitnesses to so there must be more to John having the last word than just all of the above and there is you see John is the last surviving Elder of the first century and he writes five books for us he writes his gospel three Epistles that bear his name and the Book of Revelation and those five books brothers and sisters are the last final documents written by many of the Apostles in the first century now I'm aware like you that Revelation is placed last in the Bible but chronologically speaking all five of these books belong at the end of the scriptural record and there are many scholars who believe that the Gospel of John may actually have been the final book of the Bible as John puts his pen on that parchment it's more than 60 years after the day of Pentecost and he is the only original voice left Matthew and Mark and Luke they wrote gospels 30 years earlier but they're all gone his friend Peter is gone crucified head downward at his own request because he didn't feel worthy to die in the same manner as his master and the pen of the Apostle Paul has been silenced forever because he was brutally be be headed by the Pagan Roman Emperor Nero but every one of those martyrdoms are now three decades in the past so when John picks up his pen and he begins to write sometime after A90 he really does have the last word on Jesus and so the Gospel of John it's one of my favorite books you see what I did there that's why his gospel is so unique Because by the close of the first century much like it's happening right now in our Century false teaching is rearing its ugly head even in the church even among some who used to believe but no longer believe some who used to belong but no longer belong some who have dared to lift up their accusing voices against the apostolic church and so when John picks up his pen he's on a serious mission that's why the Gospel of John does more than any other gospel I would argue than any other book to tell us not just what Jesus did not just where Jesus went not just what Jesus said but John is on a mission to tell the a Apostolic Church one more time this is who Jesus is Young Minister Young saint of God new convert new believer we're so glad you are part of the apostolic church but among other things that may be more immediately noticeable let me tell you what sets us apart we have a revelation not a Doctrine not a church counsil agreement not some kind of statement or Creed we have a revelation that tells us who Jesus is he is not the dead founder of our religion his body does not rest in a tomb outside the North End of Jerusalem he is not just a figment of our imagination this Jesus is was and ever shall be almighty God you feel that when a preacher says it why because if we lose that Revelation no other Revelation actually matters very much if you get the author of The Bible wrong John's one of the original Oneness Pentecostals in the first century and he wants to Anchor the Next Generation to this truth there's a verse in his first epistle a couple of verses they're disputed by some Bible translations and I'll leave that to your pastor to straighten out but I like them there's no verse in the King James Bible that throws out any doctrine that the apostle taught for there are three that bear record in heaven the Father the word and the Holy Ghost and these three are one and there are three that bear witness in Earth in other words those three live in heaven but the next three they work on Earth the spirit and the water and the blood those three are not one but they agree together in one they work together that's your new birth right there in a nutshell the spirit the water and the blood I'm so grateful for the new birth experience but I'm equally grateful to know that God is one because that's the operative word in all of those verses not three but one John is not alluding to a trinity because at this point in church history there is no such thing can I tell you and at today's point in church history there's still no such thing I'm not trying to pick a fight I'm not trying to be offensive I'm trying to tell you the truth God did not set out for us to worship three people there are trinities in John's day they exist in rank paganism in the Far East India has her Trimurti that's Brahma and Vishnu and Shiva and Israel's ancient slave master Egypt has her Trinity Osiris Horus and Isis and Israel's Archen enemy Babylon they also have a trinity Nimrod and Tammuz and Semiramis and the Greeks have a trinity Zeus Apollo and Athena and the Romans have a Capitoline Triad that's their Trinity Jupiter and Juno and Minerva and every time Israel has backslid throughout the pages of the Old Testament they have also served a Canaanite Trinity Baal, Molech and Ashtoreth that's where the Trinity comes from originally that is not what John the Apostle John the Beloved John the Elder is talking about when he says these three are one he means for your mind to rock it back to this verse Deuteronomy 6:4 here o Israel the Lord our God is one Lord that's what John's talking about so from his very opening sentence John's on a mission he wants to prove to you that Jesus is exactly who he said he was the true and the only God in a body of Flesh and so 90% 90% of John's gospel is unique nowhere else in the Bible John is very selective about the Miracles he records some are unique only to him you would only know about the raising of Lazarus because John wrote his gospel and the Miracles that John does record he twins them with Jesus teaching in some way all four gospels record the feeding of the 5000 but only John records that Jesus also taught I am the bread of life immediately following that Miracle there are no parables in the Gospel of John but there are many sometimes lengthy conversations in this book everywhere Jesus is revealing his identity and his will to those who will listen and John's writing I love it has many unique features such as the 25 times that Jesus says verily verily or truly truly or amen amen when Jesus says that he's emphasizing a powerful point of Truth like when he says verily verily the things that I do greater things than these shall you do it's everywhere in the Gospel of John John always uses that double Amen to call attention to important Revelations it only occurs in his gospel why brothers and sisters especially my younger brothers and sisters that that are exposed to so much Christianity and so much Theology and so much preaching and teaching via YouTube and Facebook and every other kind of media today please hear me you are in the Apostolic Church we're not trying to be an average Church we're not wanting to be an average Church our heart's desire is to preach and teach believe and practice the doctrine of the Apostles have the experience of the Apostles and see the power of the Apostles so John is not just writing a biography of Jesus he's writing a Theology of Jesus and that's why there's so many unique things about this gospel it's the last word on Jesus there's no Christmas Story in John's gospel there's no baby in a Manger there's no Shepherds wise men star angels in the heavens none of that in John's gospel John knows that the birth of Jesus was well covered by Matthew and Luke when they wrote their gospels 30 years earlier and he also knows that the truth of the Incarnation the truth of the Mighty God in Christ has been believed and preached by the New Testament Church even longer than that for about 60 years so on that on the birth of Jesus and on many other doctrines John makes an assumption he assumes that his readers already know what Jesus and his church practiced and preached I would suggest to you this is Bible class back where I grew up I told you yesterday they used to say that you know a teacher if a man's a teacher he's a boring preacher here's something else they used to say bless his heart if we get too far out in the weeds you just say bless his heart Jesus and you'll be okay it is critically important to understand that the Gospel of John is the last word it is critically important to understand that John's writing comes after the gospels after the book of Acts and after the other New Testament Epistles why you got to remember something no preacher in the New Testament ever stood up and opened a Bible and took a text from John 316 I love John 3:16 it's a powerful beautiful verse but only in this context while no preacher in the New Testament ever preached John 3:16 because it wasn't written until they were all in the grave and only John survived they turned the world upside down with acts chap 2 and verse 38 so if you're going to preach to me how God so loved the world that he gave you got to tell me what to do with that message of Calvary there's got to be a way that I can apply Calvary his death and burial and Resurrection to my life I've got good news for you that's what Peter told us on the day of Pentecost on the first day of church history I'm stuck here I'm sorry but I'm not sorry isn't that what they say Jesus died for our sins you've got to die to your sins by turning away from them in Repentance Jesus was buried in the grave for me how do I apply that to my life oh good good question I am buried in water in his name that applies his burial to my life Jesus death and Jesus burial were acts of men men nailed him to a cross men took his lifeless body down and sealed it in the Tomb that was an act of man when you repent that's your action when you're baptized that's your choice but when Jesus came out of the Grave on Easter Sunday morning that was not an act of man that was an act of God when you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues you don't do that for yourself I don't do that for you only Jesus can do that for you that's an act of God and that's what Peter preached to us so to put it very plainly John is given the last word in the Bible because he most clearly presents Jesus as the last word from God Jesus isn't just like God Jesus isn't just part of God Jesus doesn't just love God Jesus doesn't just follow God Jesus doesn't just talk to God Jesus is God in a body of Flesh that's why he says I am come in my father's name I and my father are one he that has seen me has seen the father that's it's really important this morning cuz when we were singing all those wonderful songs to the name of Jesus you weren't worshiping somebody that died 2,000 years ago you were worshiping somebody who's alive and in this building right this that's why Jesus can heal your body that's why Jesus can fill you with the Holy Ghost now God has always manifested himself in various ways but Jesus is the ultimate manifestation of God according to Hebrews God who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he hath appointed heir of All Things by whom also he made the world who being the brightness of his glory the express image literally a carbon copy of his person and upholding All Things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high you go all the way to John's other book Revelation 19 you'll read these words I saw heaven open and behold a white horse and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true and in righteousness he's going to judge and make war his eyes were as a flame of fire and on his head were many crowns and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself he was clothed with a vesture dipped in Blood and his name is called the word of God let me tell you the word is a person and that person is Jesus and that's why John has to start his gospel differently in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God you hear an echo it echoes back to Genesis 1 in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth verse 14 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 oh my goodness take a praise break for a minute lift up your voice hallelujah hallelujah oh my oh my my my my my you're not wasting your time when you're worshiping the name of Jesus there's still power in the name of Jesus he's not just some word we put in a song when we worship him we know who we are worshiping let me get back the Bible Lesson bless his heart so yes 90% of John's gospel is unique even in its structure the first half nobody else does this the first half of John's gospel covers three years of Jesus ministry and it includes seven signs that prove his divinity he turns water into wine he heals a noble man's son he heals a lame man he feeds 5,000 he walks on the water he heals a blind man and he raises his friend Lazarus from the dead seven miraculous signs that prove his divinity and John loves sevens in his gospel there are seven titles of Jesus there are seven sermons by Jesus there are seven witnesses to Jesus deity and if you compare all four gospels you'll even find that there were seven sayings of Jesus as he hung on the cross but there's far more in this book only in John's gospel does Jesus talk at such length about his identity who he is if Jesus thinks that's important I think we should think it's important John is the only gospel writer who intentionally records what the theologians call the seven I am statements of Jesus Jesus looks at people in John's gospel and States unequivocally I am the bread of life I am the light of the world you follow me you won't walk in darkness I am the door of the sheep I am the Good Shepherd I give my life for the Sheep I am the resurrection and the life no man comes to the father except by me I am the way the truth and the life Jesus says I am the True Vine everywhere Jesus is saying I am and it is invisible in the English version of the scriptures all we see when Jesus says I am is a pronoun and a verb but it's very obvious in the ancient languages in the Greek language is ego eimi, so here's a carpenter from Nazareth of questionable parentage a poverty-stricken birth and he's walking around using the ancient name of God revealed at Moses to The Burning Bush when God said I am that I am Moses when you go to Israel and when you go into Pharaoh here's what you tell them I am has sent me unto you there are even seven other times in John's gospel that Jesus uses I am in reference to himself I am the one that speaks to you I am so be not afraid if you believe not that I am you will die in your sins when you have lifted up the son of man you will know I am before Oh my favorite before abrah shouldn't have said that before Abraham was I am when this has come to pass you will believe that I am he says three times in chapter 18 I have told you that I am so here's how it goes brothers and sisters John spends the last half of his gospel chapters 12 to 21 summarizing just the last week of Jesus Earthly Ministry he spends half of his gospel on one week of Jesus life he spends five full chapters 13 to 17 detailing one conversation between Jesus and his disciples now early in the gospel Jesus says my hour has not yet come but when he gets to this conversation he says the hour is come and Jesus is a man on a mission so he eats the Passover meal and he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and he knows that his betrayer Jesus Judas is already at work coming to betray the master Jesus and so you can feel the pace of the narrative start to pick up John's moving quickly to something John 18 Jesus therefore knowing all things that should come upon him he went forth and he walks in to the Garden of Gethsemane and walks up to a battalion of soldiers and says whom seek ye and they answered him they shouldn't have done that' Jesus of Nazareth Nazareth that's who we're looking for Jesus looked back at them and he says the word he is in italics it's not in the original Jesus says to that highly trained Battalion of soldiers I am and Judas also which betrayed him stood with him and as soon as Jesus said unto them I am they went backward and fell to the ground let me tell you when this Jesus that we worship when he used his name he could knock down an entire Battalion of soldiers just just by speaking his name what do you think it does when an Apostolic believer filled with the power of the Holy Ghost begins to speak the name of Jesus begins to glorify him as almighty God there is power in that name to do anything I wish somebody lift up your voice like a trumpet and give glory to the name of Jesus the name that is greater and higher than any other name talk about it last night he spoke his name at a well and an anonymous woman's life was changed forever and he speaks his name in a storm and a disciple named Peter is suddenly empowered to walk on the waves of the sea and now he speaks his name in a garden at midnight and knocks down a battalion of soldiers I understand that theologians and they're a dime a dozen theologians today may have totally missed what Jesus was saying but the Pharisees caught exactly what he was saying they knew that he wasn't claiming to be like God or from God or part of God you read John chapter 8 by the end of the chapter they are so incensed that they pick up stones to Stone Jesus but Jesus is not going to let them Stone him to death because that wouldn't account for the crucifixion blood has to be shed when the son of man is lifted up so he's not he just slips through their midst and goes on his way what incensed the Pharisees here's what did this is the chapter where he says before Abraham was I am that's bad grammar you should agree in your tenses Jesus you should either say before Abraham was I was or say before Abraham is I am unless you're not talking about grammar unless Jesus is actually using a name before Abraham ever left left Ur of the Chaldees and set out to follow a God that he couldn't see to a land that he'd never seen before Abraham set out on that journey I am I was there I gave your patriarch his directions this is the chapter where Jesus says if you believe not that I am you will die in your sins I'm not trying to be controversial in a Bible class this morning but I would suggest if you don't even have a sweet clue who Jesus is you're going to get the new birth message wrong every single time the only reason there's Authority in the waters of baptism is because of the name of Jesus and the only reason there's Authority in jesus' name is because Jesus is almighty God who robed himself in a body of Flesh this is the chapter where Jesus says when you have lifted up the son of man then you will know something's going to happen when you crucify me then you will know that I am everybody nudge your neighbor say this Bible class nudge your other neighbor say bless his heart I'm going to take a little detour here here's a little bit of Hebrew for you the name that Jesus was using using comes from four consonants in Hebrew Hebrew doesn't read the way we read in English it reads in Reverse so the consonants are yud he VAV he in Hebrew that is called the tetragrammaton four letters ancient Hebrew was written only in consonant and so those that would try to pronounce that name aloud they had to supply the vowel sounds there's no accurate full translation of that name in English all we would try to say is the Eternal that's what it means so the Jews would put in vowel sounds and y v became yve or Yahweh and later it's not that the Bible changed it's that the English language modified and later on letters were added to the alphabet and letters changed and so today you could take this you could say jhvh and you could put in vowel sounds and come up with this name that you might heard Jehovah all the same name all the same God but that name was holy now here's why they were so messed up with Jesus walking their streets because the Jews after they got home from the Babylonian captivity something entered into their culture into their religion they were terrified of blaspheming the name of God they knew that their idolatry had got them into trouble and God put them in captivity so around 450 BC this paranoia entered in to the Old Testament Oneness people and here's what they did this was their dumb solution they outlawed the very use of the name of God here's how we'll fix it not that we'll repent not that we'll consecrate Our Lives no we'll just stop saying his name out loud in case we would risk blaspheming his name dumb solution can you imagine how ridiculous it would be that the common people on the streets of Israel's cities and towns they could not speak the name of the god that they said they were serving it was the law first for the Common People later they thought well what if those priests if they mess up so they passed a law for the priests and the Levites and they couldn't say this holy name of God and finally when only the high priest was allowed to say the name of God he was only allowed to say it one day of the year behind the veil on the great day of atonement when he took the blood in and sprinkled it on the mercy seat so quite literally the name of God was only heard inside the holy of holies one day a year from one man nobody else dared to say it was the law and then in 270 BC Simon the high priest died and he's the last high priest of Israel that we know of in history who was allowed to speak the name Yahweh out loud they passed a law that said nobody not the common people not the Levites not the priests not even the high priest can say the name of God out loud 300 years before Jesus walked the streets of Israel 300 years nobody had said the name of God that was revealed to Moses nobody had said it out loud for three centuries can you imagine how it shook up everything when this Carpenter from Nazareth walks around and he starts using that name as if it's his own name and when he uses that name Miracles start to happen when he uses that name blind eyes pop open when he uses that name cripples start to walk when he lose uses that name de ears start to pop open when he uses is that name even the dead are raised to life don't stop using the name apostolics don't stop singing to the name Pastor don't stop preaching about the name of Jesus when people start to change theology they always have a substitute and the Jews had a substitute it was a Hebrew word Adonai it means Lord they called him Lord but they didn't call his name my goodness so it was still in the scripture but when the reader in the synagogue would come to a place in the scripture everybody knew what he was doing when he'd see the name of God the tetragramaton yhvh yve Yahweh he wouldn't say it was against the law he would say Hashem which means the name and when he would say that that was a signal to the congregation to respond Hashem the name he would say Adonai they would say Hashem the name everybody knew this slight of hand that was going on with the Hebrew Scriptures it became the only way that Israel would refer to God adoni lord Master everybody would say the name we know the names there but we've made a little substitute because nobody can speak the name out loud and that's why John's gospel brothers and sisters is so amazing because Jesus walks around using a name that nobody has heard for 300 years to describe himself and when he says I am he's not just using a pronoun and a verb he's reaching back to the Great moment of Revelation in Israel's history when you worship Jesus name you are invoking all the power and I'm glad about this because I know some of us you know in the Old Testament there's all these Covenant names of God you got Jehovah sha and Jehovah J and Jehovah Roi and you know all these and they mean beautiful things the Lord my provider the Lord my banner the Lord my Miracle the Lord my shepherd the Lord my salvation they're all wonderful but I am so very grateful that I don't have to have a degree in Hebrew Theology and I don't even have to remember all those Old Testament Covenant names of God some of you would be an absolute disaster you're going down one of those Mountain Roads s in Northern California it's a little slick in the winter and your car starts skidding out of control and you're like Jehovah Jehovah roim my healer no that's later aren't you glad you don't have to remember all that stuff because there's only one revealed new Testament Covenant name of God it is the Lord Jesus Christ all you have to do when you get in trouble is shout Jesus and every Old Testament Covenant name comes to bear on your situation in one moment of time I wish youd lift up your voice and call the name of Jesus over yourself over your family over your pastor over your church over for this great District in Jesus name oh clap your hands all ye people and shout unto God with a voice of Triumph young believers young leaders young pastors young ministers we are not playing semantics with the rest of Christendom when we preach this we are preaching Revelation and it sets the Apostolic Church apart from everyone else there there's a Hebrew code in the Bible it's obscured in the English language and in other modern translations but it's very very obvious in the ancient languages of the Bible it's it's really quite amazing when I say the Bible Code I'm not talking about some bestseller from 15 years ago that prophesied that the Bible said that JFK was going to be assassinated I'm not talking about that if you believe that God bless you oh did I step in something I'm sorry Canadians we always say I'm sorry I know I know my accent you all say I'm sorry I know I know to my wonderful American friends when they say sorry I just say yeah you just keep talking about that dress that they wear in India I'm going to say it right I'm sorry I'm really messing with you this morning I'm sorry I'm sorry I asked for that didn't I are we having fun yet there's a Hebrew code literally in the Scripture it is beautiful and the Jews knew it and could see it when Jesus spoke that's why they got so messed up when he said ego eimi, I am he was using that ancient name yhvh he was saying yve and when he said that it sent them off the bend it was just unbelievable you see much of the Old Testament especially the poetic literature is written in coded form you can look at Psalm 19 19 in a classic King James Version Bible you'll see this in Psalm 119 Psalm 119 is divided into 22 sections each with eight letters and over top of each of those 22 sections is a little Hebrew letter alif over the first eight verses bate over the next gimo over the next and so every eight verses has a Hebrew letter over top of it why there are 22 sections why because there are 20 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet and if you could read Psalm 119 in Hebrew I've looked at it it's beautiful you would see that each section of eight verses the verses in that section begin with that letter of the Hebrew alphabet it's beautiful it's it's how the Jews taught their kids their little kids to memor memorize huge sections of scripture if you look at the book of Lamentations first chapter it has 22 verses the verses are begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order chapter 2 22 letters chapter 4 chapter five of the book of Lamentations 22 letters chapter 3 66 letters and it's in triplets the first three letters begin with alif the next three letters begin with bate the next three letters with giml and so on and it's the Hebrew alphabet it's everywhere if you go on Mother's Day next year pastor and if you preach that beautiful section from Proverbs about the virtue je woman that little paragraph of scripture contains 22 verses guess what those verses it's the Hebrew alphabet in order at the beginning of each of those verses so this is the Bible Code and the Jews studied it and they commanded their kids to memorize scripture and it was amazing they missed nothing about the arrangement of God's word and it is stunning to me that they knew that much about scripture and when the word came manifest Ed In the Flesh they totally Miss what God was doing let's not do the same thing let's not make the same error let's not know so much about the word but know nothing about how to move in the spirit because sometimes the word visits us in a service thank you our leaders thank you to brother Morgan thank you for our pastors and our evangelists thank you for the prophets and the apostles yeah that walk among us thank you for moving in the spirit and taking us along with you I'm not resistant to a move of the Holy Ghost I welcome Jesus to interrupt any sermon any talk any announcement any song any service this is his church I don't want to become expert on Doctrine and dumb as a fence post on demonstration you can do with that what you will so let's take a little detour here for just a moment there's this obscure little verse in the law buried in the Book of Leviticus Leviticus 21 And1 he that is the high priest among his Brethren upon whose head the anointing oil was poured that is consecrated to put on the garments shall not uncover his head nor Rend his clothes so that's the law for the high priest of Israel he can uncover his head and he cannot tear his clothes and that brings us to the weekend that Jesus died God manifest in flesh Mark chapter 14 records it Jesus held his peace and answered nothing and again the high priest pressed to me asked him are you the Christ you have to tell me you're in a court of law you're under oath are you the Christ the son of the Blessed you got to get this Jesus looks back eyeball to eyeball with the high priest of Israel the high priest has never spoken the name of God out loud he's not allow his father also a high priest has never spoken the name of God out loud his grandfather also a high priest never spoke the name of God out loud nobody for 300 years has spoken the name of God out loud and Jesus looks back at the high priest of Israel and he says I am and you're going to see the son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the Clouds Of Heaven and the high priest got so aggravated in that moment he put up with this for three and a half years of Jesus Earthly Ministry they were frantic trying to figure out what to do to shut up the voice of the Nazarene and when Jesus said the ho holy name of God in the presence of the high priest look at him in the face he forgot who he was he got so angry he reached up and he ripped his clothes and at that moment the high priesthood of Israel lifted off of Caiaphas and that office that Authority that responsibility moved over to the prisoner of caiaphus when Jesus went to the Cross he wasn't just the sacrifice he was the high priest of Heaven taking the blood for our sin oh I don't have time to read all this but Hebrews chapter 4 says we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities because we've got such a high priest we can boldly go to the throne of grace and we can obtain Mercy to help in the time of need When you pray to Jesus it's a wonderful thing to know that he came and robed himself in flesh so he could be just like you but it's also wonderful to know that he's nothing like you he's God Almighty he's got the only name that is higher than any other name let me hasten Jes Jesus has enraged the Sanhedrin repeatedly but this time he did it in a court of law so they can't put him to death under their law because they're under Roman Dominion so they Rush him to Pontius Pilate and pilate's impressed with Jesus he doesn't know what to do with him John 18 records it pilate said take ye him judge him according to your law and the Jews said no no it's not lawful for us to put any man to death that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake signifying what death he should die you know why the Jews can't put him to death because their penalty of death is stoning for blasphemy Jesus can't be stoned he has to be lifted up and I and I if I be lifted up from the earth I will draw all men unto me he has to be lifted up and if you read the Gospel of John you can feel prophecy accelerating at this point and everything's coming to a head and pilot released is the robber barabus and he has Jesus scourged at a whipping post and he allows his soldiers to mock Jesus and he allows the bloodthirsty Jewish leaders to cry out crucify him crucify him and pilate keeps talking to Jesus he talks to him multiple times and he finds no fault in him he tries to set him free but to no avail and the high priests are trying to manipulate pilate here's what happens in John 19 from from then forth pilate sought to release Jesus but the Jews cried out saying if you let this man go you're not Caesar's friend they're trying to manipulate pilate he can't do anything to save this good man but maybe there's one thing pilate can do maybe he can at least recognize what this good man said about himself maybe that's why pilot we don't know what he was in his brain maybe that's why pilate over the Roars of the crowd keeps referring to Jesus as the king of the Jews every time he does that he aggravates and irritates them but he keeps doing it maybe that's why when he presents Jesus to the crowd that morning he says behold your king oh they erupt they're jeering and they're throwing hatred that he says behold your king do you know that pilot did that at the exact same moment that across town in the temple the Passover Lamb was being prepared for sacrifice that afternoon it's amazing let me skip a verse those of you that are running this they take Jesus to golgatha they take him to a place of execution the Bible says in John 19-1 17 he bearing his cross went forth for into a place called the place of the skull which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha and pilate we don't know what he knew but he's not finished yet his actions that afternoon are absolutely prophetic John 19 and pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews the Jews come by and read it because the place where Jesus was crucified was just outside the city wall and this title was written in three languages trilingual Hebrew and Greek and Latin Hebrew for the Jews Greek for the Greeks Latin for the Romans and nobody has a problem with it except for the Jews and they come scurrying into pilate saying don't write the king of the Jews write change it pilate add some words he said I am the king of the Jews and we don't know what pilate knew but he looks back at them and says what I have written I have written I'm not changing it one little bit and here's what was written over Jesus head in Hebrew it was Yeshua HaNotzri V'Melech HaYehudim remember that Hebrew reads from right to left not from left to right like we read Yeshua HaNotzri V'Melech HaYehudim, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews and nobody has a problem with that except for the chief priests because when the chief priests see Yeshua HaNotzri velik hayehudim these are the people that have memorize Psalm 119 these are the people that know about the pattern in Lamentations and the patterns in the poetical books and when they look at that they see something different than the Romans see something far different than what the Greeks see they see a condemning acrostic they see the first letter of each of those words they see yud he V hey written over the head of Jesus as he's dying on the cross God literally wrote his name over the top of the Cross of Calvary because that wasn't a prophet that died that day that wasn't a martyr that died that day God almighty had robed himself in a body of Flesh and when he shed his blood that was the blood of God Paul said in the book of Acts chap 20 and verse 28 that's why his blood can heal you that's why his blood can deliver you that's why there's power in the blood they sang about this morning that wasn't human blood that was blood that God Almighty put in that body am but it's even more beautiful I'm almost done I really am it's even more beautiful it's even more powerful when you consider and I've taken time in My Little Life to study some of this I'm sure not a scholar but I enjoy this so much every letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a numeric value and every letter of the Hebrew alphabet is also associated with an image think Hebrew think Egyptian hieroglyphics it's like that think Chinese characters it's like that every letter of the Hebrew alphabet is associated with an image so that little tiny letter yud It's associated with the word hand there's an image the word hey the letter hey it's associated with a window or they would say with the word behold like you were looking through a window so hey is associated with the word behold and then VAV that long skinny letter VAV is associated with a nail that's the image and then hey is repeated so when when it's yud he VAV he there's a meaning there in the pictograms that are in the ancient Hebrew this is amazing to me when God revealed his name to Moses at the burning bush hidden in the name of God from that moment was the message of Calvary because in the name yah in the name y in the tetragrammaton is this message behold the hand behold the nail that was always there in the name of God from the days of Moses can you imagine that they missed that can you imagine that they didn't see that can you imagine that they disregarded and discarded that Revelation what am I trying to say to you this morning let's not make any kind of the same error don't discard the revelation of who Jesus is for acceptance by somebody else somewhere else this is the Revelation that brought us in to this marvelous church and this wonderful truth oh could you take a praise break for two seconds just just lift lift it up to God oh my oh my oh my there's Revelation in this room and when the revelation of who Jesus is and when the revelation of the power of Jesus Jesus name when it ever gets loose in a room let me tell you what else gets loose healing gets loose and deliverance gets loose and the Holy Ghost gets loose and miracles get loose I'm sorry I need to quit but I need you to take somebody by the hand Propel that hand up with yours and worship the mighty name of Jesus worship the mighty name of Jesus send me a keyboard player send me a Minstrel that's all I need right now yes yes yes yes Jesus is in this room right now that means Jehovah is in this room right now that means Elohim is in this room right now that means God my healer is in this room God my banner my Miracle is in this room oh my hang on to that be seated for about 3 minutes even after their enemy was dead the chief priests are terrified they're nervous Matthew records that they come to pilate with a crazy request pilate we need you to go get some guards and secure this tomb because you know that dead guy that they put in the Tomb we're scared he's going to come out of the Tomb we don't know what pilot knew about Jesus or what he actually believed but here's what he said go your way make it as sure as you can I ain't giving you no guards why are they scared that a dead man's going to come out of a grave because they have a sneaking suspicion that The Miracle Worker the Blind Eye Opener if he could open the grave for Lazarus if if he could raise Jairus' daughter from the dead if he could Jesus ruined every funeral he ever went to he just said rise and there's no funeral you don't even get cookies go home and if that man said he's rising from the dead chances are brings us to the day that we celebrate now in our calendar every year as Easter Sunday morning it's beautiful I love of Easter John chapter 20 but Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping and as she wept she stooped down and she looked into the sepulchre been there many times and she sees on that flat stone slab instead of the body she's expecting wrapped in grave clothes she sees two angels in white sitting the one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had laid she sees two angels sitting at their post one at the head one at the feet where the body of Jesus had Lain on that first morning of the Resurrection Mary looked into that tomb and she saw the most familiar silhouette in all of Hebrew theology because there's only one other place brothers and sisters where we see two angels facing each other over a flat slab it's called The Mercy Seat it it'ss on top of the Ark of the Covenant why could Jesus come out of that grave under his own power it's because the Shekinah presence of almighty God dwelt in that body as he walked the seashores and the streets and The Villages of Israel thank you for your patience this morning what an honor to teach you John's Great gospel potentially probably the last document of the New Testament I know we've put Revelation last John's gospel culminates with a revelation because that's what he's been telling us about throughout all of his writing there's a guy named doubting Thomas there you remember him don't get that nickname by the way for all of you people that are still paranoid after sitting home watching online through COVID. Doubting Thomas got that moniker because he missed a church service I'm sorry Thomas misses the service where Jesus comes in and reveals himself to the disciples and they say Thomas he's living he's alive he's back and Thomas says guys come on you're delusional I love you but you're sorely sadly mistaken we saw him die remember we saw the nails and we saw the spear and we saw the lifeless body plucked from the cross I know we pretty it all up thrown to the ground wrapped in grave clothes and laid away to a tomb we saw him die guys let me tell you how this works only if Jesus were to appear to me and show me the nail prints in his hand and show me the spear print in his side only then would I believe and you know our Jesus is so merciful that there was another opportunity for Thomas and Jesus walked up to Thomas when he appeared the second time and said Thomas put your finger in the nail prints in my hand and put your hand in the spear wound in my side and when Thomas saw that a revelation overpowered him Thomas looks back at Jesus cuz he real realizes this wasn't just a Rabbi that I followed for three and a half years he looks back at Jesus in John 20 and he said my Lord am my God now Lord we use that to refer to God but Lord back then is just a title of respect it's my master but Thomas says you're not just my master you're my Kyrios and my Theos you're my master my teacher but you're also almighty God in a body of Flesh brothers and sisters Western District that's the Revelation that's the Revelation that's the Revelation it makes everything else work Jesus turned to Thomas and he said Thomas because you've seen me you believed blessed are they that never have seen me blessed are they that never walked with me blessed are they that never sat at a campfire with me blessed are they that never had a face-to-face conversation with me blessed are they that have not seen me but they still believe he was looking ahead at people just like you in the Western District in the year 2024 and saying Thomas you saw me so you got the Revelation but someday there'll be another group of people that get the very same Revelation without ever walking with me on this Earth they'll get the Revelation in prayer they'll get the Revelation through preaching they'll get the Revelation through a song or through some kind of encounter with me and they will have the Revelation just as strong as you that's what John's writing about brothers and sisters would you stand with me right now at the end of this this Bible class today thank you for the extra couple of minutes would you lift both your hands as high as you can get them would you stretch yourself in the spirit would I don't mean a low dull murmur I mean stretch yourself in the spirit there gohost there it is there it comes the power of the name of Jesus the revelation of the person of Jesus is loose in this room right now the only way I know to say this to you is would you spin the volume dial on your praise right now lift it up Lift It Up Lift It Up that's a great song Let's Get the team ready Lift It Up Lift It Up Lift It Up they've already started to come to the altar I wish you'd join us I wish you'd pack into this place and we are going to lift up one great resounding praise lift up your face lift up your voice lift up your hands and most of all lift up your praise to the Lord everybody everybody everybody come on great church come on great District those of you that are already here would you take a couple of steps forward take a couple of steps forward there's people coming in behind you oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh everybody at this altar everybody back through the audience I want you to reach over take somebody by the hand and I want you to lift that hand with yours right now like a choir of uplifted hands right now like a great Mighty choir uplifted hands uplifted voices and begin to worship the name of Jesus it's the greatest name it's the highest name it's the anointed name it's the only name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved it's the name of Jesus yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes so now you've been praying you've been praying beside somebody I want you to turn around and lay your hand on somebody right now and I want you to speak the name of Jesus over them because they can be healed right now in the presence of the uplifted name of Jesus they can receive the Holy Ghost right now in Bible class because the name of Jesus is loose in this building yes yes in Jesus name pray Church shout Jesus from the mountain Jesus in the street Jesus in the darkness over every enemy Jesus for my I speak the Holy Name Jesus shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness over every Jesus I speak the Holy Name Jesus shout Jesus the mountain Jesus in the street Jesus in the darkness over every eny Jesus for my I speak the Holy Name Jesus shout Jesus the mountain Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness over every Jesus for my I speak the holy Jesus shout Jesus the mountain Jesus in the stre Jesus in the dark over every eny Jesus for my I speak the Holy Name Jesus Jesus the mountain Jesus in the streets Jesus in the dark for every Jesus my I speak the Holy Name jout Mountain Jesus in the streets Jesus save the darkness over every enemy Jesus for my I speak the Holy Name Jesus shout Jesus the Jesus in the street Jesus the darkness over every Jesus for my I speak the Holy Name Jesus your name is power your name is healing your name is high break every stold sh through the Shadows your name is power your name is healing your name is everyon shine through the Shadows your name is power your name is your name isus your name is break every stold shine through the shadow burn like a shout Jesus the mountain Jesus in the street Jesus is the dark over every eny Jes speak the jesuses shout Jesus yes shout Jesus Jesus Jesus in the Jesus in the darkus I speak the Jesus shout Jesus from the mou Jesus in thee Jesus in the darkness over every eny jusus my I speak the Holy Name Jesus your name is power your name is healing your name is r break every stold shine through the shadow if you are in this room anywhere front to back side to side and you're sick in your body maybe you're under a doctor's care maybe you're facing a surgery maybe you've been through one I want you to lift both your hands so somebody will know near you that it's you I speak to you this morning in the authority of the word of God in the power of the Holy Ghost the name of Jesus is higher than cancer it is greater than diabetes it is stronger than any condition or disease or syndrome if somebody standing near to you with both their hands raised that's a signal you're an Apostolic believer furthermore you're a Jesus name believer lay your hand on them right now and pray the name of Jesus over them take authority in Jesus name right now in Jesus name be healed in Jesus name receive in Jesus name yes God yes God in Jesus name in Jesus name receive it right now in Jesus name it's not about you it's about him shout Jesus the mountain Jesus in the stre Jesus in the darkness over every eny Jesus for my I speak the Holy Name Jesus shout Jesus the mountain Jesus in the streets Jesus in the dark every en Jesus for my I speak the holy Jesus shout Jesus the mountain Jesus in the in Jesus name in Jesus name Jesus for my I speak the name Jesus shout Jesus chist the mountain Jesus in the street Jesus in the darkness Jesus for my I speak the Jesus shout Jesus over sickness Jesus over disease peace Jesus over hell and every principality Jesus for Revival I speak the Holy Name Jesus ready over sickness oh s shout Jesus over sickness over disease Jesus or disease Jesus over hell and every princial Jesus for Revival I speak the Holy Name Jesus do that again oh sh Jesus the Jesus or disease Jesus over and every prince Shout Jesus for Revival I speak the Holy Name Jesus