Let's begin with a word of prayer. Our great God and Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege of assembling together. Father, we thank you for your son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and how he has opened up to us the truth of who you are, who we are, what our needs are. Father, how those needs are all met in him, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, we ask that as we continue to study that you would increase our understanding, Father, that from that understanding and knowledge would come wisdom as we're able to, by your Spirit and by your grace and power, apply the principles of your Word in our lives. So we commit this time to what you desire to work in us. In Jesus' name, amen. We have been looking for a long time now at a greater understanding of who Jesus Christ is. There's an assurance that comes from understanding. That's one of our goals is to have a greater understanding of who the Lord Jesus Christ is and therefore have a greater assurance of the things of the word and the truths that we come to grips with. And having looked at many, many categories concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing that much of the church has a diminished view of him, unfortunately, and the world has almost no view of him whatsoever as far as who he truly is. We've been looking at him of late as the one who reveals God's love to us. Let's start where we started in this, just a quick review of the fact that the Father's plan, or part of the Father's plan in sending the Son, was that the father would be revealed through the son. We know that scripture says that God is spirit, that he's invisible, that he dwells in unapproachable light who no man has seen or can see. The seeable aspect, the understandable aspect of who God is, is revealed in the Word of God, and by that I mean the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, is revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So as you see Him, you see the Father. And so my point is this, that as you see the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, you also have to recognize that in that love, you're seeing the love of the Father also. Well, let's start in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3. These great passages that remind us of this truth of the Lord Jesus Christ as the revealer of God. Hebrews 1, 3. Let me read from verse 1. I just love this passage. God, after he spoke long ago, Old Testament, to the fathers In the prophets, in many portions and in many ways, all those different ways that God spoke in the Old Testament, audible voice, visions, dreams, angels sent, all kinds of things that God did to reveal his will. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers, in the prophets, in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his son. That's why he's called the Word of God, because he speaks God's truths to us. Jesus Christ now in view, whom he appointed heir of all things. He is the one who receives the inheritance, through whom also he made the world. He's the creator of all things. Nothing, John tells us, nothing is that you find, nothing that is, there's nothing that wasn't created by him. visible and invisible. All things have been created by Him and for Him. Then it says this, verse 3, and He, Jesus Christ, is the radiance, the shining forth of His glory, the Father's glory, and the exact representation of His nature. What you see in Jesus Christ is the Father being exactly, perfectly represented. And the way I like to think of it is that if you were to see, if God the Father were to come in the flesh, he would look exactly like Jesus Christ in the flesh. You couldn't tell the difference. All right. Then John chapter 1, verse 14, and it says this, and the word, Jesus Christ, became flesh and dwelt among us. And then John says this, and we beheld his glory. Glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. Verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. No man has seen that God. The explanation of that God is always found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then John chapter 14, verse 4, the Lord is preparing the disciples, the fact that he's soon going to go to the cross and that there is a way to the Father. And he says this, and you know the way where I'm going. Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going. How do we know the way? I love that. We don't even know where you're going. So how could we ever know the way to where you're going if we don't we don't have an address? Notice, Jesus said to him, I am the way and the truth and the light. No one, so important, no one comes to the Father but through me. My heart just drops when somebody says to me, well, I just, I love God and I just, I have a good relationship with God. And I said, well, what about Jesus Christ? In fact, this happened to a laser plant. And I get talking to this guy and he starts talking about the Father. The Father told me this morning that... So you're a believer in Jesus Christ? Well, no. He said, I believe in the Father, so I believe in the Father. You know, but he who honors the Father honors the Son, and he who dishonors the Son dishonors the Father. Well, you know, he went askew from there. But so many people are comfortable with a God of their imagination, a God that doesn't have the confines or the boundaries of Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. What you see there is God. And you have to come to reckon with who God is. And that's the only God we have. And there's no other way. And the world hates that. And sadly, sometimes in the church, there are people that are shying away from that because they say it's too narrow. But it's the truth. We live in a day where the truth is uncomfortable. It's not spoken. That's what politically correct is. You can't ever deal with what's real. You can't get to the bottom of problems because you can't even mention the problems. What a tragedy that is. Well, so the Lord says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but through me. If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you know him and have seen him. Philip said to him, I think it's so fascinating. After three years of being with the Lord Jesus Christ, this is what Philip said. And really, I'm so glad Philip said it because of the great truths that are revealed here. Lord, show us the Father, and it's enough for us. In other words, I think he's thinking, along with the rest of the disciples, we can wait to see the Father first. Is there a picture? Could you bring him down? Just show us. And then the Lord Jesus says, Jesus said to him, I've been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip. He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, show us the Father? But the Lord would say, I don't get it. I am the exact representation of who the Father is. You can't know me. You can't see me without knowing the Father, without seeing the Father. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative. What an incredible truth that the words that Christ spoke were the words of the Father through the Spirit. He didn't speak on his own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does his work. Let's go from there to Revelation chapter one, looking at the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, recognizing that it is a representation and reveals the truth that not only the son loves us, but the father does also. Revelation chapter one, verse four, John to the seven churches that are in Asia. Grace to you and peace. Now, notice the Trinity is revealed here in in these two verses. Always understand this. The absolute perfect harmony in the Godhead concerning everything that any one of them is doing. The absolute perfect harmony and agreement and support. And you know, it's so hard because if we get three people together, we've got a disagreement. In fact, if we get two people together, we've got a disagreement so often. And this is what makes it hard. And so sometimes it's hard for us to recognize the wonder of what is in the Godhead with this absolute perfect harmony. So here we have it. John to the seventh church is, Grace to you and peace. From him, now we deal with the Father first, who is and who was and who is to come. The one that goes through all of time and out into eternity past and eternity future, forever and ever. The one who is and who was and who is to come. And then this interesting revelation concerning the Holy Spirit. It says this, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne. And this is something that is developed mostly in the book of Revelation. So we're looking now at this great truth of the son revealing the father, doing nothing on his own initiative. Just think with me for a second. We won't go there. But in Philippians chapter 2, where he laid aside the prerogatives of deity, and took the form of a man, and took the form of a bondservant, and was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. That's my strong conviction. That the Lord Jesus Christ never did a miracle in his own strength. That he constantly relied on the power of the Holy Spirit. He had laid aside his use of deity. And that's why he can say, Scripture can say to us, you walk as he walked. Because if he did those things as God, then I'm out of the picture. You see, if he performed miracles, if he lived his life in the power of his own deity, I don't have deity. I'm not God. But he sent the Holy Spirit to indwell me and to indwell you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to give us the power. And that's why I said the one who believes in him ought to walk as he walks. Makes sense. Such an important truth. And if you start seeing that, you'll see little statements by the Holy Spirit and scripture about that. There's one where it says in the Lord Jesus, I don't have the exact words, but understanding that the power was with him to heal, something like that. If he's relying on his own power, it's always there. This is the power of the Holy Spirit working through him. OK, so here we have the Holy Spirit mentioned as the seven spirits who are before his throne. Go from there to Revelation chapter four, verse five. John has been invited up into the throne room of heaven and he comes in there and he's describing the things that are there and the things that are going on. And he says this. And from the throne, verse five, proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. What do you think that was like? You think it was just tuned way down? I mean, John was told to write what he sees, and so he's writing. And he says, there's lightning coming out of the throne, and there's fields of thunder. I tell you, I get so excited just thinking of what's it like to be in the presence of God. I'll tell you something. None of us can imagine what it is. None of us. It's not going to be some dumbed down thing that because we'll be in new bodies, able to handle whatever that is, probably most certainly would kill us in this body. All right. And then he says this. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. Notice the number seven again, which are the seven spirits of God. So John, like I said, John develops this. Now let's go over to Revelation chapter 5, verse 6. And I saw between the throne, this is when the Lord Jesus Christ goes up to take the seven sealed scroll from the hand of the Father and unleash all of those things of God's wrath on the earth. But it says this, and I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders, A lamb standing, as if slain, Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Having seven horns, now think about this, a horn is where an animal exerts its power. They were much more agricultural, maybe, than we've been. And everybody understood, if you want to get the full power of a bull, you need to be on the end of his horn. That's where the power is focused in an animal. And so the horn in scripture, you'll see it again and again, represents power. But then it goes on and it says this, having seven horns and seven eyes. There's another picture that we have in scripture of having eyes all around. And that represents omniscience. always knowing, all knowing, eyes all around, you can't speak up on, from every aspect there is knowledge of what's going on. So, eyes all around or having the seven eyes is an understanding of omniscience or knowing all things. And then it says this, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth? And you see, that's what we need. We need power. And we need to know, okay, and the Holy Spirit is the one who gives us those things. Go with me now back to Zechariah chapter four. Zerubbabel has been rebuilding the temple after Nebuchadnezzar came in and destroyed the temple. And if you've studied Nehemiah, the return from the captivity, you know, the tremendous difficulty that they encountered in the rebuilding of the Temple of Solomon. And the Lord sends this word to Zerubbabel in verse six. It says this, Then he answered and said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, Not by might, in other words, not by human might, nor by power, but by my spirit. Says the Lord of Hosts. What do we need to understand that? You know, as soon as we see the power that the human power that we think we have and that we rely on dissolving and draining away, we get extremely uncomfortable. And the Lord says right from the start, it's not by that power anyway. The Lord talks about how a horse never saves anybody. You know that the legs of a man may impress men, but they don't impress God. The battle is the Lord's. And we always look and we say, well, that guy's going to beat that guy. And then you look at David and Goliath and say the battle's the Lord's. That's what David said as he was approaching Goliath. All right. So here in Zechariah, we read this. Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of Hosts. What are you, O great mountain? All the problems that Zerubbabel and the Jews faced in the rebuilding of the temple. All their enemies attacking or trying to attack and dismay them and so forth. It said, what are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you will become a plain, level ground, OK, and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of grace, grace to it. In other words, it's going to be by God's grace that this thing is that this thing is accomplished. Come down to verse 10. For who has despised the day of small things? Do you remember what happened when? So amazing. When they rebuilt the temple, in other words, when they brought its replacement, and they laid out the foundations. The people that were old enough to have seen the original temple let out this tremendous wail because this temple was smaller. At the same time, the young people who had never seen a temple let out this tremendous acclamation of shouting and joy And the Bible talks about it. You couldn't tell what it was. It was just this huge amount of noise. All the old people weeping. The young people just rejoicing. We've got a temple begun. The foundation's laid out. And I think it's a reference to that because it says, for who has despised the day of small things? But these seven, remember the Lord just said in the context, but by my spirit. But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These, just like Revelation, these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth. Again, very definitely a reference to the work of the Holy Spirit. Okay. But then let's finish up this little section in Isaiah, chapter 11, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, revelation and these other passages have referred to these seven spirits of God. If you count them all up, you have seven listed here. And I believe these are the functions of the Holy Spirit. As he goes out into the whole earth, I'm not going to be dogmatic about this, but I do believe I'm convinced myself that these are a reference to what the seven spirits are. OK, so then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. OK, so that's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ coming out of Jesse, who is David's father, line of David, tribe of Judah. He says this, and first off, the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. Well, the Spirit of the Lord, in the sense, I believe, that he's the Spirit that reveals to the Son everything that the Father would have him do. He's the Spirit of the Lord. What does the Spirit of the Lord do for us? We count on Him for power and for understanding of His Word so that we can be obedient And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. First off, he's the Spirit of the Lord. Secondly, the Spirit of wisdom. You can't have wisdom without the Holy Spirit. You can't have wisdom without being born again. But once you are born again, you're relying on the Holy Spirit to take the Word of God, make it real to you so that you can actually live out the Word of God in your life. Application of the Word of God to life is what wisdom is. The spirit of wisdom, next thing, and the spirit, we could say, and the spirit of understanding. So the third thing is the spirit of understanding. To understand is to comprehend, and to comprehend with breadth. You know what I mean? I think of where it talks about Solomon, his understanding was like the breadth of the seashore. Huge! You know, Some of us know a lot about one thing. And then there's once I come across a person that can hardly bring up a subject, and they don't know more about it than you do. That's breadth, OK, in everyday life. What about understanding the word? What we're looking for is breadth. We're looking to put this together and say, OK, I see how that relates to this and how this goes. Understanding. Wonderful, wonderful thing. Again, by the Holy Spirit. Next thing, the spirit of counsel. When we need to know what we're supposed to do. When we need to counsel somebody else. We desperately need the Holy Spirit to give us the right words and the right even subject matter. All right. So we have the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and then the next one, the spirit of strength, the power that the Holy Spirit brings to the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish the things that God would have us to accomplish. All right. The spirit of power, I'm sorry, or strength, then the spirit of knowledge to know the word of God. desperately need the Holy Spirit to teach us and enable us so that we know the Word of God. And the last one is, and the fear of the Lord. Romans 3 tells us, and there is no fear of God before their eyes. Who brings that fear? The Holy Spirit. And without it, a person can just happily go through their life in sin with no fear whatsoever. Just done. And no fear of being lost eternally, forever in the lake of fire. No fear of just comfortable, just having their own little mind and going that way. And anyone who knows the Lord Jesus Christ is terrified on their behalf. And they don't understand that terror. Why do they keep talking to me about that? I remember a while back I was talking to this gentleman, and I'd talk again and again to this person about these things, and it was quite clear to me, I know where you're coming from. I know where you're going, as a person. But no fear of God. Oh, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me. I'm reading a compilation of Benjamin Franklin's writings. He writes in there about the letters that he sent to his sister, and I believe his parents, because they were concerned about his salvation. So he wrote back, and he can read what he wrote. No fear of God. You know, just, I know the route I've taken. This is fine. You don't need to worry about me. And my heart just, even though they've long been with the Lord, uh, the parents and the sister, you know, my heart went out to him because we've all been in that situation of, oh, will you please listen? Will you please at least look at God's word? Will you please pay attention to this? Your eternal destiny is at stake. And so the last one is the fear of the Lord and, uh, Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, he speaks about how the fear of the Lord is his treasure. Again, the Holy Spirit is the one that works that treasure of the fear of the Lord. OK, now let's go switch out of that. You understand the Holy Spirit is at work here to do the same thing that the Father wants done. And but the Holy Spirit does it so quietly behind the scenes, always drawing attention to the Lord Jesus Christ and through the Lord Jesus Christ revealing the Father. Let's go back to John chapter 13. Notice what it says about this love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that his hour had come, that he should depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. And the thing that's so interesting is, you know, I've said before, love takes action. It may include emotion. That's not the end of the road for love. Love, you look at God's love and God always takes his love and puts it into action. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Not just sending angels with little notes that say, I love you. Even that would be action, if you understand what I mean. But to me, this is so huge, because love takes action. When it says, husbands, love your wives, then you and I ought to be able to put down in writing the action we took based on that. You see what I mean? There's more than, well, I just love her. No, that doesn't get it. It's action taken that is the revealing of the true love that you have. And if you rely, and I say this to the kids that I counsel, you know, that want me to marry them, I tell these kids, you know, they come in and they're all goo-goo-eyed toward each other and they're, you know, it's so hard to even bring them down to some kind of reality. But I say to them, you know, this wonderful fuzzy feeling that you have right now is not always going to be there. You're going to wake up some morning and look at her or look at him and it's not going to be like it is right now sitting here contemplating your wonderful, wonderful life together. It's not going to always be that. And this is where it comes into play That love is a choice. It's a decision to act constantly toward this person according to God's will and God's word. And it's an act. That's why we say, I will do this till death do us part. And there's no unless there. And so that's what we're doing. We're saying, I am making a commitment. And we live in a day when, well, the feeling's gone. Very bluntly, I would say, who cares? This is an issue of you loving the way God loves through Christ. He loves you to the end. And it says this, And during the supper, the devil, having already put on verse two now, having put into the heart of Judas the carrot, the son of Simon, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the father had given all things into his hand and that he had come forth from God and was going back to God. You get the immensity of that? Have you ever been under such incredible pressure? Here's Jesus Christ. not very long separated from his soon arrest and all of that. And then his crucifixion as the father pours out our sins on him and judges him for those sins. And he endures the wrath of God that saves me from an eternity in hell. How bad could that have been? And that's what he's facing. I think we could miss what's here. And so I say, have you ever been under real pressure? And you've been just so totally focused on this huge thing that's in your path. And somebody said something like, you didn't say hi to me. I had that happen once. You just snubbed me. And at that point, you just want to go berserk. and say, I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I really... I don't tell you to even know you're in the room. You know? But I think of Jesus Christ, as He knows what He's coming to, and then it's just hours away before it begins, if that. And He says this, rose from supper, laid aside His garments, and taking a towel, girded himself about. Then he poured water into the basin and began to wash the disciples' feet. In the midst of this, the greatest, I don't even know a word for it, the greatest suffering that anyone has ever endured, the greatest difficulty that anyone has ever faced. Those words fall so far short. Shout out. And he concerned himself about the dust on the feet of the disciples, who had not had the foresight nor the love, any one of them, to get up and say, you know, all our feet are dirty. Let me wash your feet. And you know, it's revealed in, I think it's in Matthew, that when the Lord Jesus Christ began to talk about the fact that someone at the table, this is right here, someone at the table was going to betray him. You know where that discussion went? It went from among the disciples, it went from, I wonder who would do that, to who was the greatest among them. You ever see that? So here at this time, when the disciples were They're in the presence of the Lord. He shortly is going to be on the cross for them. Their mind is all about me. And certainly, I must be the greatest here. They're arguing that. And they're doing it, as far as I can tell, after he laid aside his garments and washed their feet. And so he says, He poured water into the basin, began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. And we'll skip what Peter said and so forth. Verse 12, And so when he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and reclined at table again, he said to them, Do you know what I have done to you? You call me teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord, and the teacher washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I gave you an example that you should do as I did to you. Now, we know that there are certain groups of believers who wash feet, and I don't have any problem with that. I shouldn't say that. My problem is this, that somehow you think that you accomplished what he asked for here by washing somebody's feet. And you understand that the lesson so overreaches and extends beyond washing feet. You get what I'm saying? What was this a call for? We started off. He loved his own to the end. He proved that love. He got up. He washed their feet. And he said, you should watch each other's feet. You should do as I did to you. If he, as the Lord and master, did that, then certainly we, as reflecting his love, should put that love into action, which is what this is all about. OK, we will stop here and continue this next time. Father, we thank you for our magnificent Lord. who was willing to lay aside the use of his attributes of deity and father to take on the form of a bond servant. And to demonstrate his own love and your love through the power of the Holy Spirit to us, Father. So we might know you better and we might know you through him. We thank you for these things. We thank you for a perfect salvation found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for the fear of the Lord and those things that drove us to come terrified to the cross, Father, seeking grace and forgiveness and new life in Christ. We thank you for these things in Jesus' name. Amen.