[00:00:08] Hey, everybody, this is Rick. Welcome back to the Nomad Pastor podcast.
[00:00:11] Hey, look, today I want to talk about.
[00:00:16] Well, I want to talk about Christ, of course, right? But what I want to talk about is, can you be a Christian and actually not follow or not believe what the scriptures say about Christ?
[00:00:28] I think it's a subject that is pretty relevant today. We've got a lot of different religions going around.
[00:00:35] We got this thing called progressive Christianity, and I've done a podcast about that and I've talked about mormonism, but I just really wanted to dig into what scripture says about Jesus, because it's important to think about. It's important to recognize what does scripture say, right. Because no matter what we do, we always have to go back to scripture. And so as we look at this, we're gonna look at Hebrews, we're gonna start with Hebrews, and we're gonna go through a bunch of scripture today. But Hebrews begins by laying the foundation of our faith in Christ, about what our image of Christ is and how essential it is to our faith. Right.
[00:01:17] And the bottom line is, if our view of Jesus is flawed, if we view Jesus as something other than what scripture says, it's a problem.
[00:01:28] We don't have a foundation to stand on. We don't have a foundation to build our faith on. If we view Jesus of any as anything other than what scripture says he is or what he says he is. Right. There's a lot of false religions that use the name of Jesus, but it's not the same Jesus as in the Bible.
[00:01:50] Right. A false Jesus can't give you salvation.
[00:01:55] And I think one of the biggest attacks on Christianity today, when you look at some of the progressive Christianity movements, is they're attacking the divinity of Christ or they're attacking the scripture itself, and they're changing how we view that.
[00:02:17] The question Jesus asked in the scripture is, who do you say that I am?
[00:02:22] That. Who do you say that I am? Statement that Jesus asks. That's like the measuring stick to test faith. If you can't answer that based on what scripture says, well, there's a huge problem.
[00:02:37] And so I want to talk a little bit about that today.
[00:02:39] You know, because the Bible teaches that anyone who says Jesus is not the Christ is not of God.
[00:02:49] That's pretty clear.
[00:02:51] And what confuses people is that these false teachers, they use the name of Jesus and then they change how he is. They redefine Jesus to fit their own doctrines, to fit what they want in the world today.
[00:03:13] Anyone, anyone who says that they profess. Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior needs to understand that they are saying that.
[00:03:31] And it means Christ defined by the Bible.
[00:03:36] That's the determining factor, right? Is the Christ that you talk about, is the Christ that you say is your savior that you say provides salvation?
[00:03:49] Is he the Christ that is divined by scripture?
[00:03:53] Because if he's not, I think there's a problem. I know there's a problem. I don't even think. Right? So Hebrews one, one through four says, and this is from the NIV, it says, in the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom also he made the universe. The sun is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the, of the majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
[00:04:40] So look, if you're worship, worshiping a false Christ, you're worshiping a false God, you're worshiping a false idol, you're committing idolatry.
[00:04:53] You're also violating the foundation of what God commands, right?
[00:05:00] The first commandment spelled out to us from God is, thou shall not have any other gods before me. So if we create or if we follow, a God created that does not represent God as he has revealed to us through scriptures, we don't have faith. We have a counterfeit religion, because the belief in Christ is of the utmost importance.
[00:05:29] But that belief in Christ has to be the belief in Christ as defined by scripture. And the book of Hebrews begins by explaining in unmistakable detail who Christ really is.
[00:05:46] The foundation has to be laid before faith can be built, right? I mean, Jesus warned us in Matthew that many false prophets would come. And, and there are several other places that warn us about false prophets and spiritual deception. You know, you can look at two Corinthians, eleven Galatians one six through nine, one Timothy four second Peter two, one John four. You can look at Jude three.
[00:06:14] We shouldn't be surprised if we are warned this many times about false prophets, that there's going to be false prophets in the world today.
[00:06:25] That's just how it works, right? He's warning us of this because it is going to happen. He recognizes that. And if we look at over the last 200 plus years, there have several people that have claimed to be religious prophets to get direct revelation from God, right? The founder of Jehovah Witness, Charles Russell.
[00:06:48] The founder of the Latter day Saints, Joseph Smith. The Mormons. That's just a couple. Both of them started organizations which claim to be the one true christian church. They each have unique teachings, and they each appeal to the Bible to some degree, as like, where their spiritual authority comes from. But they fail the test of being a prophet in deuteronomy. So when I say they failed the test, I'll talk about that. In deuteronomy 1821 through 22, it says you. You may say to yourselves, how can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?
[00:07:31] If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message. The Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
[00:07:46] So if we look at just this scripture in Old Testament, right, deuteronomy 18, God makes it very clear that a prophet of God speaking for God must be 100% accurate all of the time.
[00:08:02] Anything less is unacceptable. Anything less is the mark of a false prophet.
[00:08:08] Anything less in the Old Testament days would result in death.
[00:08:13] Now, we don't. That's not the result today, and it hasn't been for a very long time. And if it was, maybe we would have less false prophets, right? Maybe there would be less people teaching false things or coming up with their own doctrine or their own gospel if that was still the rule.
[00:08:31] So, for me personally, anything that someone says that is they claim to be prophetically from God must come true when he says it.
[00:08:42] If he says this is going to happen, it has to come true. If you're claiming to be a prophet from God, then it will come true because God says it would.
[00:08:52] Now, look, I've done several podcasts about the, the Mormon church, the LDS Church, the Church of Latter day Saints, whatever, however you want to refer to it. But I've never talked specifically about the prophecies of Joseph Smith. You know, he claimed to get direct revelation from God. But as I've done my research for this podcast, I think I've. I've read that like, 56 of his actual prophecies didn't come true.
[00:09:20] You know, in. In 1835, Joseph Smith said the Lord would come in a mere 56 years.
[00:09:27] Well, that didn't come true. 56 years already occurred. Right.
[00:09:31] He also said in May of 1843 that the us government would be overthrown in just a few years because of the wrongs they committed against the Mormons in Missouri. But it's now over 180 years later. And that didn't happen, right? In 1832, Joseph Smith prophesied that the present generation of Mormons would not pass away before the temple of the new Jerusalem would be built in Zion, Missouri. That's in their doctrine and covenant, section 84.
[00:10:00] But the Mormons were forced to flee Missouri. No temple was constructed there in Joseph Smith's lifetime or within the generation that witnessed that prophecy. So when he says, you know, the present generation of Mormons would not pass away, that didn't come true.
[00:10:19] And these are just a couple. But deuteronomy is clear, right? That if even one is wrong, it is not a prophecy from God, that it's a false teaching.
[00:10:31] I mean, Hebrews one one two tells us that God spoke and revealed his purpose through the prophets in times past.
[00:10:39] But now this has been delivered to Christ, who fulfilled all things, right? Modern prophets are not foretellers, but they are proclaimers of truth. Anyone who foretells takes scripture outside of its intended purpose. And anyone who introduces a new truth, it's a problem that has not been revealed in scripture, and it is not of goddess, right? He is the creator. I mean, in Genesis one one, he says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. So if you look at Hebrews one, one through two, that teaches us that Jesus the. That through Jesus the universe was made, and that all things are upheld by the word of, of his power, right? That the divinity of Christ is clearly expressed through his title as the creator.
[00:11:36] And throughout scripture, Jesus is called our creator, right? In one, Colossians 15, it says, the Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over creation 16 says, for in him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. Verse 17, he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
[00:12:11] So if you just look at some of the teachings of the Mormon church where they think about, you know, Jesus was the son of God, the spirit son of God, and Satan was the spirit son of God. And their brothers, like Lucifer was their brother, and he was a fallen angel.
[00:12:26] Well, they can't be brothers if all things have been created through him. And for him, he was the creator.
[00:12:37] And, you know, if we look at the gospel of John, chapter one, we're told that Jesus was with God in the beginning and all things were made through him. Nothing was made without Jesus, right? In one, John ten says, he was in the world. And though the world was made through him. The world did not recognize him. Verse eleven. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Verse twelve. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in him, who gave the right to become children of God, the Bible tells us that Jesus was from everlasting to everlasting. In revelations, Jesus calls himself the alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
[00:13:24] Jesus is God and was called God by God. So if that's not the christ that you follow, if you're not following the scripture of what Jesus said he was, what God said he was, then you're not following a true God, you're following a false teacher, you're following an idol, right? In Isaiah, it says, there were no gods before, no gods after. I'm the one and only true God. I think it's like Isaiah 43.
[00:13:58] None before, none after. I'm the one and only true God.
[00:14:03] And if you look at the whole entire lds religion, right, they believe that God was a man that walked this earth and earned his right to become God. And he is the God of this planet. And there are many other gods of many other, you know, planets and universes, and. And Jesus was exalted to godhood and he walked the earth. And that men can be based on what they do, the works that they complete can be exalted to godhood as well, and they will get their own planet.
[00:14:32] But that's not biblical. That's not. That's not in the scripture.
[00:14:38] You know, that's why the question that Jesus asked was so important when he asked his disciples who people said he was.
[00:14:47] You know, I've just been watching the chosen. I love it. But, you know, I just recently watched the episode in season four where he's standing there on the streets and he asks Peter, like, who do people, who do you say I am?
[00:15:01] You know, on the streets, they had tons of explanations for what he thought, right? He's a great teacher, one of the prophets. Some people said he was Elijah, you know, some people said he was, you know, somebody from the past, and we still hear that today, right?
[00:15:16] But he was more than that, right?
[00:15:22] He was way more than that. When he asked Peter, who do you say that I am? And when Peter answered him, you are the Christ, the son of the living God, Jesus answered with the same truth that applies today. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but the Father who was in heaven, you see, you have to.
[00:15:49] We have to make sure that we're actually doing our own study of the Bible that we're not just listening to somebody else, right? That we're not just listening to them and just say, oh, yeah, that makes sense to me. Because if it counter, if it contradicts what the Bible says, then it's not from God, right?
[00:16:17] You know, one John two warns us, right? One, John 222 and 23, it says, who is the liar? Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the Antichrist, denying the father and the son. No one who denies the son has the father. Whoever acknowledges the son has the father also.
[00:16:41] See, this is, I think, where the problem begins, right? Many false teachers will claim the name of Jesus, right? If you go and ask a Muslim on the street, like, who is Jesus? They will tell you, oh, he's a good man. He was a prophet.
[00:16:58] But is that really what scripture says he was?
[00:17:03] The important part about this, right, is the principle of this, right? It's that Jesus is the Christ as defined by scripture. And just because you use the word Christ, it doesn't mean anything if you don't listen to what he said about himself, if you don't listen to what the Old Testament prophets said about him.
[00:17:28] You know, if you look at what Isaiah says in nine six, it says, for to us a child is born. To us a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders, and he will be called. Wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, and prince of peace.
[00:17:48] You know, I don't want to sound, I don't want to sound harsh, but I'm going to. Right. It's probably going to sound harsh, but I think it needs to be said. Right.
[00:17:56] But you need to hear it. If you're looking at Christ in any light other than what the Bible says, it's a problem.
[00:18:08] Anyone who says that Jesus is the Christ, to deny that he is God, by the Bible's definition, is wrong.
[00:18:18] To claim the name of Christ, you have to honor what that name means.
[00:18:24] For to us, a child is born.
[00:18:27] To us a son is given.
[00:18:30] See, the son has always been. Jesus made it clear that his birth was not his beginning. Right? In John 858, it says, very truly, I tell you, Jesus answered before Abraham was born, I am.
[00:18:44] And this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself slipping away in the temple grounds, right? And like I said, if you watch the chosen, you just saw this episode.
[00:18:54] Well, maybe, you know, if you just, maybe you saw it in the movie theaters before it came out to streaming, right? But they tried to stone him in the temple because he was saying look, I am. This is a direct reference to the time of Moses, right? When. When Moses, when God reveals himself to Moses, Moses asks him, well, who do I say? You sent me.
[00:19:16] And he says, I am. God identified him to him, to Moses himself, to Moses as the great I am. It's an identification that God is everlasting. He is not bound by time. He doesn't have a beginning or an end. The Jews knew this reference. They recognized it. And because of this reference, when Jesus says, before Abraham was born, I am, they wanted to stone him for identifying himself equal to God or being goddesse.
[00:19:49] So it's important to recognize the deity of Christ and to understand that Jesus and the father are distinct in personality.
[00:20:00] We've all heard the world's argument, right? Well, you know, who are you to say that Jesus is the only way?
[00:20:08] Well, to me the answer is pretty clear, because we're told what the answer is, right? Jesus is the creator.
[00:20:16] We were created by God for a purpose. And because we went outside of God's design, right. When. When Adam and Eve were in the, you know, in the garden and Eve ate from the tree that she wasn't supposed to, we went outside of God's design. Right? And because of that, we. We have indebted ourselves to sin. We don't have the power to restore holiness to ourselves or to, to humanity, right? But because God created us, he has the right to require holiness of us, which means works cannot produce holiness. Let's just be clear about that, right? So where the, the LDS or the Mormon church says, right, based on your works will define your, your place in, in one of the three kingdoms of heaven, right, based on your works, you can become a God. Works can't produce anything. Good deeds cannot erase your sin. The only way is through Christ.
[00:21:17] He willingly left his throne. He gave it up, right? And he took our place on the cross, he paid our debt, and then he returned to glory.
[00:21:29] That gift is the most loving thing that can be offered to every person in the world. It's the most loving thing that a loving God can do.
[00:21:42] I don't know how to be more clear than that. Right, in Philippians two, it says, in your relationship, one another. It's Philippians two, starts at five. And I'll go through verse eight. It says, in your relationship with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who, beginning in very nature goddess, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death. Even death on the cross.
[00:22:20] That is the most loving thing a God can do.
[00:22:25] He willingly left his throne, and he took up our place on that cross. He paid our debt in full.
[00:22:37] You know, Jesus, it's just amazing.
[00:22:44] I stumble because, you know, as I research these things and I think about this and I just think about how he humbled himself to pay my debt. To pay your debt? To pay everybody's debt on the cross, to give us a gift of grace.
[00:23:03] It's free.
[00:23:05] It's given to anybody who's going to surrender their lives to Christ.
[00:23:10] Like that is amazing.
[00:23:16] The Bible tells us to repent.
[00:23:21] To repent and be baptized.
[00:23:25] And baptism doesn't save you. Let me be clear about that, right? But baptism is identification with Christ. It's like an outward thing saying, look, I'm being obedient, but it doesn't save you. Right?
[00:23:40] If we're ashamed to be publicly identified with Jesus, and because of that shame, we try to change who Jesus is, we're committing the worst sin ever.
[00:24:03] If you're ashamed to publicly identify with the Christ of the Bible, with the Jesus that you learn about in the Bible, you have not surrendered your life to Christ. You have not given it all up.
[00:24:19] And to surrender to Christ is a commitment to make Jesus lord of your life.
[00:24:25] And it means you are willing to submit to his authority based on what the Bible teaches.
[00:24:34] You can't be a Christian and not follow what he says. You can't call yourself a Christian and not follow Jesus. You can't call yourself a Christian when it's convenient for you. You can't call yourself a Christian and put it in this little box, right? We, you know, the sermon I was listening to this week at church by Pastor Gary talked about how people say that, you know, I've got this life and I'm going to be a Christian here, and then I've got my work life, and I'm going to do this, and then I got my personal life, and I'm going to do this, and then I got my secret life.
[00:25:07] Well, you know, at the end of the day, all of God sees all of those lives.
[00:25:12] And if you don't listen to the teachings in the Bible about who Christ is and follow the teachings in the Bible about who Christ is, and you want to run around and do whatever you want to do, but claim to still be a Christian, you haven't surrendered your life to Christ.
[00:25:31] Because if you have fully surrendered, you're making a commitment that Jesus is the Lord of your life and you are submitting to his authority. Now, look, that doesn't. When I say that, that doesn't mean you're perfect, because nobody is except for Christ. He was the one person that was perfect and he, he went to the cross for you. He went to the cross for me. Nobody else is perfect. This is a daily walk for me. I struggle with this and I, and I know a lot of people that do and that are open about it. But don't be ashamed to publicly identify Jesus, that you are a follower of Jesus, because if you are publicly identifying it and you're following what he says in the Bible as best as you can, and when you fail, you repent. That's what he wants.
[00:26:19] Look, if you're listening to this and you have never received Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, as your personal savior, and you're willing to receive that free gift of salvation, just pray the words aren't important.
[00:26:34] What's important is your heart.
[00:26:38] You can make it simple, right? Dear Lord, Lord God, I know that I'm a sinner. Forgive me of my sins.
[00:26:47] By faith, I give you my sins.
[00:26:50] I open the door of my heart and I invite you in. I surrender my life to you.
[00:26:55] Be the Lord of my life.
[00:26:58] Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for coming into my heart. Just say that prayer. Say some version of that prayer. Like I said, the words are less important. The heart is what is important.
[00:27:12] Open your heart to Christ, but open your heart to the Christ of the Bible, not the Christ that makes you warm and fuzzy.
[00:27:23] Hey, this is Rick with the nomad Pastor podcast. Look, I hope you enjoyed it. This is. I know it's not an easy topic, right? But at the same time, it shouldn't be, right? You've heard me say this before. This is the hardest easy decision I've ever made because it's easy to say I'm going to follow.
[00:27:43] But we all go through trials and at times it's hard and at times we question, and at times we wonder why. At times we wonder, like God, why are you putting me through this? Why do I have to go through this? Why are you putting my family through this? I got stuff going on in our family and I'm not going to talk about that. But there have been times recently that I've said, God, why?
[00:28:04] And what I recognize is God didn't create it. God didn't make that bad scenario that's going on.
[00:28:14] But maybe he can use it.
[00:28:16] Maybe he can use it. And the only way he's going to use it, if I allow him to use it.
[00:28:21] But if I'm angry about it, then it's not going to help. I've got to surrender my life to Jesus, and it has to be the Jesus of the Bible, not the Jesus I want it to be. Well, I mean, I personally wanted to be the Jesus of the Bible, but I think there's a lot of worldly people that want to put Jesus in this little box that fits their needs, and that's not how, that's not who he was.
[00:28:53] So look, if you want to, you know, talk, send me an
[email protected]. you know, hopefully next time Batman will be back. We've been going through a lot of stuff this last couple weeks with ministry and work and everything, and I just wanted to jump on here and have this quick conversation.
[00:29:08] If you need prayer, send us an
[email protected]. dot and if you can think of a topic, go ahead and send us a message and we'll be happy to have that conversation again. I want you to have a blessed day. Hopefully this message sits well with you. And if you have questions, feel free to reach out, make sure you like and subscribe. And you share this podcast with your friends. It would mean a lot to us.
