SERMON: The power of the ano..

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com. terrified Jesus Christ. And my dear brother, my dear sister, the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught about this very serious reality extensively through his ministry. And out of the many questions that he was asked, out of the many questions that both the disciples and the people asked him about the faith and about the kingdom, there is one very important question that was asked of the Lord in Luke chapter 13, that at times we don't pay careful attention. In Luke chapter 13, we are told in verse 22, 23 and onwards, that as the Lord was walking and He was ministering from different towns and villages, and as He was going to Jerusalem, that someone asked Him a very important question.

And that question is, are there few who are saved? Verse 23. Someone says, not a disciple, perhaps another person. Are there few who are saved? Brethren, What I question, and not only I question, but to the person to whom this question was asked, are there few who will be saved or who are saved?

Speaking of quantity, few or many, are there few who are saved? And of course, the Lord Jesus Christ addressing a particular reality in that case, the rejection of the people of Israel, is going to answer that question in a profound, in a particular way. Not only addressing the situation of the people of Israel at that present time, but in a sense, my dear brother and sister, speaking to the generations of those who profess to be followers of the Lord Jesus Christ and to be members of the Kingdom of God. And let me tell you, my dear brother and sister, that if we open our eyes on this day, 2022, this day that the Lord has made, and if we were going to open our eyes and to see with our eyes that are limited the testimony of professing Christianity, One will think that the answer that the Lord gave back then 2,000 years ago will be somehow in alignment to what we currently see. We see that in nations and in different countries from different backgrounds there are many millions of Christians, professing Christians who on this very day are coming and gathering together in churches to open the Scriptures and to profess the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Millions upon millions of people, from the moment in which that answer was given, have professed the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, the prophetic answer that Christ gave back then 2,000 years ago, it is somehow a little bit different to what our eyes perceive and see in the present contemporary times of professing Christianity. Strive, he said. Strive to enter." Upon that question, are there few who are saved?

Strive to enter the narrow gate. For I tell you, the Lord says, strive to enter the narrow gate. For I'll tell you that many, not few, but many, the one person had asked about the quantity of those who were going to be saved, asking, are there few those who will be saved? And the answer of the Lord is, Be careful to what I'm going to be saying. There are many who strive to enter through the narrow gate because there will be many who on that day will come and knock and try to enter through the narrow gate.

And they will not be able to enter through that narrow gate. Oh brethren, that is a terrifying answer given by the mouth of the Lord. that many will come attempting, trying to enter through that narrow gate that gives an entrance into the kingdom of the Lord, and they will not be able. They will willingly come to try to enter through the narrow gate, and they will not be able. They will be received by the Master who has shut and has closed the door.

The ancient doors that once were open so that the Lord Jesus Christ will enter as a human and will be thrown and given the right as a King of humanity. The ancient doors that were lifted up for this Lord of Glory, whom entered conquering death. These ancient doors of the Kingdom of God will be shut and closed to many who will not be able to enter through those doors. They will be seeing from the outside of those doors how Abraham and Jacob and Isaac and all the prophets of the Old Testament are partaking of the table of God. And we're told even there in that passage that even people from the East and people from the West and people from the North and people from the South, that is the Gentiles, will be partakers of that kingdom in which many people who attempted and tried to enter and walk through that path will arrive to the narrow gate.

and the door will be closed. Depart from me. Where do you come from? Where do you come from? The Lord will ask the question.

Lord, didn't we eat and drink with you? Did you not minister and preach in our streets? Where is not your presence among us? They will say. Depart from me, you workers of inequity.

I never knew you. It says in Matthew chapter 7. I never knew you, brethren. Terrifying words that divide humanity into categories. Those who are recipients of grace, who on that day will arrive to these doors and gates of splendor, who on that day will arrive to this narrow gate, not by virtue of their abilities or their strength, but rather because it is the same Lord who saved them, who is taking them until the end, and the doors will be opened.

But the Master will tell to them, come and enter and enjoy this rest that has been prepared for you. Not because they know, not because they are powerful enough, not because they have sufficient information, but rather because they gave up self and they gave entirely themselves to the Lord. Many others, brethren, many, says the Lord Jesus Christ. Not a few, not equivalent, not a similar proportion, but the Lord says many will arrive to that door, to those gates, and will not be able to make it into. Brethren, this is a terrifying thought.

And many of those professing Christians, many of those professing kingdom members, many of those professing sons of God and daughters of God, will arrive up to this point fully convinced that they were walking through the narrow gate, or the broad way, or the narrow path. They were fully convinced that they were walking through the path of righteousness and salvation. They will arrive to that and knock and have a reason before the Lord of Lords. Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we cast out demons in your name?

Didn't we put your name in our mouths and profess to be following you? And brethren, many of those professing Christians and professing kingdom members will arrive to that point being led astray by many of the antichrists that the apostle was warning in 1 John chapter 2. The Apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 2 that many will follow the sensuality of the false teachers. And the Apostle John here is concerned with that reality, brethren. That these false teachers are trying to deceive the Church.

That is what he says in verse 26. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. If the Apostle did not see a need to write these things, he will not write them. He has said that the Christian has the anointing of the Spirit. It's true.

The Apostle has said that the Christian does not have any need that someone will teach him or teach her. That is true. The Apostle has said, not only here, but also in John chapter 14, that the Spirit of God will instruct us and point us to Christ. It is true. The apostles have said that we will make it until the end, that He will preserve us and keep us.

That is true, but it's also true that many Christians will be deceived. And that's why, my dear brother and sister, that's why the apostles care so much for the church that they are giving these warnings. Warnings of false teachers and false antichrists, or antichrists better, that will come trying to confuse the message of Christ. And what is worse, my dear brother and sister, is that we are told in the scriptures that it's necessary that this thing will happen. It is necessary, not only because God has ordained that false teachers will be in the context of the church, but the purification process of the church, and the purifying process of the soul of believers happens through pain and separation.

That is, the faith of the Christian in 1 Peter 1, verses 6-9 is compared to gold. And this gold that is put through fire, It is not even compared to the faith of the believer that when he is put through fire, he is found at the revelation of the Son of God to be honored and praised and glory. Brethren, it is necessary that there will be false teachers. It is necessary that there will be false doctrines. Doctrines of demons, as the Apostle Paul mentions in 2 Timothy chapter 4.

It is necessary that these things will take place. And the thing is, my dear brother and sister, that these antichrists, that these false teachers that we have in 1 John chapter 2, are not the ones who leave the church openly criticizing the church and saying, you know, you're wrong, you're wrong. But these people leave the church thinking that they are right and that what they are leaving behind is actually wrong. So these people here, these antichrists, are not the ones who just leave the faith and become atheists, or change religion and just do something else. These are people who leave the church, have gone out into the world with a different Christ, with a different gospel, with a different spirit.

2 Corinthians 11, verse 4, you can read that. There are false teachers, false apostles, that have a different gospel, a different Christ, that they have a different gospel, a different spirit. They have gone out into the world, leaving behind something that they accuse as wrong. And they're leaving the church, it's not through excommunication. It's not that the church comes together and excommunicates these false teachers, these false prophets.

But rather, it's the will, or willingly, these false teachers have departed from the context of the church. They said you are wrong. The Christ that you are professing or the Jesus that you are preaching is wrong and is contrary. This is the new Christ or this is the Christ that is supposed to be preached. creating divisions among the church.

The Apostle Paul speaks about this, he was not supposed to say this, but 1 Corinthians chapter 11, go quickly there just to back up that point in what the things that I have just said now. It is necessary brethren, it is necessary that these separations, these divisions will take place in the context of the church. for the revealing of these that are wrong, but also for the purification of those who remain in the context of a genuine church. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Remember how the apostle was addressing the separations and divisions that many of them were doctrinal in nature, in the context of the church at Corinth, verse Corinthian chapter 11, in verse 17 it says, It is necessary that there will be divisions, separations, factions among you.

Many of those divisions and separations were happening because of doctrine. It was necessary that there will be these divisions, these factions, so that those who are approved, those who are recognized, may be clearly seen, they may clearly remain. Now brethren, you can see how 2000 years of church history and church practice can allow people to take those verses in 1 John chapter 2 to go and create their own cult. to say, you know, like, we're leaving you because you're not right, because you're preaching a different Christ, a different gospel. And how many people would just simply depart from Christianity to create their own gods, their own Christ, their own ways of doing things, just by simply saying that we are separating from error.

It is a very serious matter, brethren, that if the Lord does not give grace to a local church, That if the Lord does not grant us the Spirit of Christ, not only in the things that we believe, and not only in the doctrine that we hold, but more importantly, in the heart of Christ inside of us, to deal with truth, then we can easily deceive ourselves in ways that are crooked and not according to what it is written. That is why it is necessary and required that each individual will be submitted to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. And as a church, always be aware and humble before the presence of God, that apart from the anointing of the Spirit working mightily in us, we can easily take the ways and deviate into crooked ways of error, false teaching, false doctrine, and even ways that are damnable before the Lord. But praise be the Lord that we indeed have the anointing of the Holy One. Because that is what the Apostle says if you return to 1 John 2 in verse 20.

But you, Christians, but you have the anointing of the Holy One. And please brethren, bear with me as I try to explain an important matter here. It says, but you have been anointed by the Holy One. It says in verse 20. And as you pay attention to verse 26, it says, I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

Verse 27, but the anointing that you receive from Him abides in you. We are told by the apostles about this anointing. I have already explained to you that this anointing is the Holy Spirit that is in each one of the believers. If you think about being anointed, and if you have your Bible from the Old Testament, you will remember that the kings will be anointed with oil, right? When we think about being anointed, we have to think about this substance of this something that comes upon a person or on a person and rests upon a person to enable that person or to symbolize the enabling of that person to do a particular something.

So a king will be anointed with oil. The oil will not be like water that just simply drops, but rather the oil will remain on the the beard or the head of the king and then this represented or symbolized that he was now equipped to be a king of the people of Israel. This is what we are going to think when we think about being anointed. When we think now the anointing of the Holy Spirit is the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Christian of the new covenant that now transforms the life of that person and equips that person for a particular purpose. But my dear brother, my dear sister, we are here to pay careful attention, because as Reforms and Calvinists we are going to be tempted to reduce down the anointing of the Spirit only to a regenerational work, if you understand my word trying to say regeneration there, a regenerational work of the Holy Spirit.

And while it is true that the Spirit regenerates or gives life to the believer, the presence of the Holy Spirit under the New Testament is different and greater to the presence of the Holy Spirit under the Old Covenant. Saints under the Old Covenant were also regenerated. You know, true saints. The true saints under the Old Covenant were also regenerated because salvation has been always by grace through faith. So David, when he became a genuine son of God, the Spirit visited David, his heart was changed, he received regeneration, a new life, and now he became a son of God.

But David and those who were under the Old Covenant did not receive this presence of the Spirit in the same way that the members of the New Covenant have the anointing of the Holy Spirit. It's not that the genuine saints of the Old Testament were not genuinely saved. It is that the work of the Holy Spirit now for the members of the New Covenant in times of the New Covenant He is majestic, brethren. And He is very great. And He is very glorious.

And something was needed so that we will be anointed by the Holy Spirit. The first thing that I want you to pay attention to is by the One who has anointed us. Verse 20, who has anointed us, brethren? the Holy One. So it says, but you Christians have been anointed by the Holy One.

Now, I have said last time and try to repeat once again, that the anointing is the Holy Spirit. And we are told in verse 20 that we have been anointed with this Holy Spirit by the Holy One. So, whoever is the Holy One is the one who has anointed the Christian with the Spirit. Now, there is going to be one who testifies about who this Holy One is, and it happens to be a demon. Eidimon is the first one, at least from what I understand in the scriptures, that testifies about the identity of the Holy One.

If you come very quickly to Mark chapter 1, Eidimon is going to tell us about the identity of this Holy One. Now brethren, this is very important. I could have just simply said that this is Jesus, but I'm just going to build this so that we will understand the power of the anointing that we have as Christians. So let us come to Mark chapter 1. And whenever the temperature, brethren, is okay for you, just make faces so that I can ask Brother Jesus to turn there.

Verse 21, Mark chapter 1. It says, And they went to Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who has authority and not as the scribes. Of course, he was speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, right? And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.

And he cried out, What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God. We have a testimony now from a demon that tells us that the Holy One is the Lord Jesus Christ. John says in 1 John 2 verse 20 that the Christian has been anointed by the Holy One.

Of course, why are we going to believe a demon, right? So we need to confirm this from the Scriptures. If you come to Acts chapter 3, we will have now in the testimony of the apostles the same confirmation. In Acts chapter 3, we will have the confirmation that this Holy One is the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember after the healing of the beggar, And the ministry of John and Peter, the healing ministry at least, says in Acts 3, verse 11, it says, while he clung to Peter and John, that is the person who had been healed, all the people are utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon's.

And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people, Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? And why do you stare at us, though by our own power of piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One. and ask for a murderer to be granted to you.

And you kill the author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To these we are witnesses. And His name, by faith in His name, has made these men strong, whom you see and know. And the faith that is through Jesus has given the men this perfect health in the presence of you all." He says in verse 14, "...

but you deny the Holy and Righteous One." Brethren, So we have that the Christian is anointed by the Holy One who is Christ Jesus, the Son of God. Now this is very important because we don't see it in English, but the Apostle is just playing with certain words there. Christ is the Anointed One, if you remember from the translation. That is what it means to be the Christ.

The Christ is the Anointed One. And the Antichrist is the one that is in opposition to the Anointed One. And now the Apostle is saying, but you have been anointed by the Anointed One, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now brethren, this is very important. The fact that here now the apostle recognizes that the anointing with the Spirit is not from the Father, but is from the Son.

Why? Because in the New Testament, even though we read extensively that the Christian has the Spirit of God, The Scriptures speak interchangeably of the presence of the Spirit of God in us as being the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Quickly come to Romans chapter 8 just to prove that point, and then we can just move on to the following thing. The Spirit of God that is indwelling the believer is the Spirit of Christ.

Romans chapter 8. We will just simply read the verse where it says that, so that we will just simply see it from the Scriptures ourselves. Brethren, the Christian has been anointed by Christ. And Christ has anointed the Christian with His Spirit, the Spirit of the Son. We are told in verse 9 of chapter 8 of Romans.

You, however, remember that the apostle is comparing those who walk according to the flesh and those who walk according to the Spirit, verse 9. You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If, in fact, the Spirit of God dwells in you, and now interchangeably is used, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. The Apostle uses interchangeably the presence of the Spirit of God inside of the believer as the presence of the Spirit of Jesus, brethren. No, the Spirit of Christ.

The Spirit of the Anointed One. The Spirit of the Anointed One is used here. Of course, it's the Spirit of Jesus, the Lord. But it's the Spirit of the Anointed One. Brethren, why is this important?

This is important because the Son of God, who is eternally begotten of the Father, and who was in glory with God the Father and God the Son before everything existed, and was one with the Father and with the Spirit, When He took on our human nature and He became in the appearance of man, as Paul says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 5 and onwards, when He became like one of us, He was also anointed for the role that the Father had given Him in fulfillment with a prophecy that had been given before in the old times about the Messiah that was going to come. Turn to Isaiah chapter 61 please. Isaiah chapter 61. Just bear with me, please, and let me just rebuild this. Isaiah chapter 61, and perhaps this is a prophecy, brethren.

This is a prophecy of the Messiah and of the Christ that was going to come, that is very well known, I think, among Christians, right, professing Christians. So we have in verse chapter 61 of Isaiah, you remember now this prophecy that is given about the Messiah that is to come. Now it says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, speaking of Psalm 45, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, which the author of Hebrews uses in Hebrews chapter 1. The garments of praise, he said, of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified."

And I'm not going to continue reading because my reading is very broken, and also I'm not going to refer to any of that there. But brethren, you see here from this prophecy now, from chapter 61, that the Messiah is going to be anointed with the Spirit of God. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, this is Christ speaking, Jesus speaking, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. The Spirit of the Lord is to anoint the Messiah so that the Messiah will go and proclaim the truth that He was called to proclaim of what we have just read. And you remember when this was fulfilled, right brethren?

When was this fulfilled? When was the coming of the Spirit of God upon the Son, brethren? Baptism. If we go to Matthew chapter 3, bear with me, and let's go to Matthew chapter 3. Because in Matthew chapter 3 now, we have the fulfillment of what we have just read there.

Matthew chapter 3, and bear with me. Matthew chapter 3. The Son of God, who is righteous. The Son of God, who has been in full communion with the Holy Spirit from eternity past. The Son of God, who is God Himself.

The Son of God, now in fulfillment of the prophecy of the coming Messiah, is going to be anointed by the Spirit of God. His anointing is going to be important for us to understand the power of the anointing that we receive from Him. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is being anointed here in the baptism in Mark, Matthew, chapter 3, verse 13. It says, then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him saying, I need to be baptized by you.

And do you come to me? Jesus answered him, Let it be so now, for that it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Now brethren, pay attention. Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, Immediately we went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming to rest on him.

Do you see that vocabulary? The Spirit of God came from heaven upon him and rest upon the Lord. This is the anointing of the servant of God. This is the anointing with the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the anointing of the Son of God, by the Spirit of God, by the Father.

The Father is anointing His Son with His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is coming to rest upon now the anointed Christ. This is now the first thing that the Father is going to do for, or on behalf, or for better, the anointed Son. It says there in verse 17, And behold, Well, let us just read from verse 16. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water.

And behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. A voice that comes from heaven Not to confirm to the Son the Sonship from the Father, because He already knew that He was the Son. But rather a voice that comes from heaven to confirm the Sonship of this Messiah from those who received and hear the message that was coming from above. A message comes and says, this is My Son, with whom I am well pleased.

Brethren, upon the anointing of the Lord Jesus Christ, something very important happens. The Lord is taken to be tested in the wilderness, we have in chapter 4. Then Jesus was led now by the Spirit, you see there in chapter 4 verse 1. And Jesus, now the anointed Son of God, by this Spirit that has come upon Him, sent from the Father, Now comes to this Son, Jesus Christ, and this Spirit is leading Him to be tested. Now there are many things that we could say about the testing, but of course it will not be the right time to say.

But now He's been tested. And upon His testing and His approval, you know, He was approved, He passed the test. in a very different way to what Adam did in the garden. Remember the garden? Now this Adam that comes to save us, he is tested after he has been anointed.

And we are told very clearly that after that, in verse 12, and also in Luke, he will start with his ministry. And even perhaps this is the title that you may have in verse 12 of chapter number 4. Jesus begins his ministry or something like that. We are told that now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee and leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea in the territory of Zebulon and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. And now speaking of the prophecy of Isaiah 9, I think, of Zebulon and Naphtali, the light that comes to those regions there.

But brethren, After the anointing of the Son of God, and bear with me brother, after the anointing of the Son of God with the Holy Spirit, Now this Son of God is filled with the power of God to go and to fulfill the ministry that had been prophesied in Isaiah 61 of proclaiming the truth, the day of the Lord. If you quickly come to Luke chapter 3, we have now the proof there that this is indeed what actually took place. In Luke chapter 4, We have not only the confirmation that the Son of God has now received the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and that now He is being moved and led by the presence of this Holy Spirit, but also we have the confirmation by the mouth of the Lord that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 61. So in Luke chapter 4, brethren, in Luke chapter 4, we have the same narrative of the temptation as in Matthew chapter 3. And then we are told Luke speaks more of the Holy Spirit.

But then it says in verse 14, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. You know like what Matthew narrated there in verse 12, that he went to Galilee in his words. For Luke is, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. The spirit that led the anointed Son of God into the wilderness to be tempted is the same spirit now that is leading the Son into Galilee. And a report about Him went out throughout all the surrounding country.

And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all." This is glorified in the sense of praise, right? And then he says in verse 16, And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him.

He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim Good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Of course, He is not referring to what is happening there.

He is saying, I am the fulfillment of this promise. You are waiting and expecting this Messiah that is going to be anointed by the Spirit of the Lord. What you see today in me is now the fulfillment of this prophecy that was given to Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 61. I am the fulfillment of it. Something very interesting happens.

Because the response of these people is going to be rather positive. However, the outcome of the situation is going to be rather negative. Pay attention to verse 22. And all spoke well of him, and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, Is this not Joseph's son?

Verse 22 again, And all spoke well of him, and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth. And they said, Is this not Joseph's son? It was rather a positive response, right? They were marveled at the wisdom of this man that does not teach like the others. And they were also astonished that this was Joseph's son.

These gracious words that were coming from His mouth. However, the response of the Lord is going to be one of prophetic judgment. It says in verse 23, And He, then the Lord, said to them, Of course, the Lord knew everything, right? He was not responding according to that moment, but about everything that was going to take place. And He said to them, Doubtless you will quote to Me this proverb, Physician, heal yourself.

You remember in His sufferings? Physician, heal yourself. That has not taken place yet. He is speaking about what is going to take place. Physician, heal yourself.

What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well. And he said, truly I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth I tell you, pay attention to this. But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah. when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and the great famine came over all the land, and Elijah, that is the prophet, was sent to no one of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon.

In other words, he was not sent to anyone in Israel, but he was sent to a Gentile land. in the land of Sinan to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha. And none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman, the Syrian. In other words, no one of the Israelites was healed, but the Gentiles were when they heard those words.

After they had heard the prophets, they were responding graciously. But after they heard those words, that it was not for Israel, but for the Gentiles, we're told in verse 28. When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. And they rose up and drove him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But as our brother has explained to us, this was not the hour.

Right? That was not the hour. So powerfully and miraculously, passing through their midst, he went away. But a judgment had been proclaimed. The anointed Messiah had now come to speak and to open his mouth to proclaim the truth that God the Father had given him.

Initially to bring this judgment upon the generation of the people of Israel who will reject the cornerstone. Whose kingdom will be now given to people from the East, and people from the West, and people from the North, and people from the South. That the Gentiles now are going to be the recipients of the grace that the people of Israel thought that it was for them. Peter is going to tell us something very interesting about this. Come to Peter chapter 1 please.

Peter is going to tell us something very interesting about this spirit of Christ. This spirit of the anointed Christ. If you come to 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 10 and onwards, then the apostle is going to expound in this truth there, my dear brother and my dear sister. 1 Peter chapter 1. Now brethren, I don't know how I'm going to present to you actually what this is pointing to, so I'm just going to try to present it to you before I say anything, and then hoping that the Lord will help us to see from the Scriptures that I'm going to show you what it is, the power of being anointed by the Anointed One.

Brethren, the Scriptures say, may the Lord help me, the Scripture says in Hebrews chapter 1, remember? That in other times and in other ways, God spoke to the fathers through the prophets. That is that the fathers of Israel, those who had been anointed to be the rulers and to be the guides of the people of Israel, those who were separated from the common people of Israel, were the ones who were spoken by the Father. And the way that God, the Father, spoke to the people of Israel was through the prophets, through the fathers, and then the fathers will come and bring the words to the people of Israel. That is the old covenant.

The same verse in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 and 2 says, But in these last days the Father has spoken to us, namely the church, the new covenant church, through the Son. That is that God the Father communicates to us, His people, through the Lord Jesus Christ. The way in which God spoke in the Old Covenant was through the limited, anointed ones. So that the anointed ones, the Fathers, will communicate that to the rest of Israel. But in these last times, now the communication, the revelation of God to us happens through the Son, and there is no need of mediation between the people of God and the Son, because now we have been anointed by this Son of God Himself.

The Apostle is going to speak to us in a very similar way here in chapter 1 in verse 10. There's a very important element that distinguishes us in the New Covenant from them in the Old Covenant, and that is sonship. That is that the people of the New Covenant are the sons and daughters of the Father in union with Christ. And by virtue of the sonship that we have in union with Christ, now the Father speaks directly to us and He is the one that teaches us through His Holy Spirit. In the Old Covenant, the relationship of God was one of the Covenant holders, and then the Covenant person that had to submit to the Covenant.

And then, you know, it's broken. So He spoke to the people through those who were appointed for the particular purpose of the revelation of God. But brethren, in the new covenant, God has not only saved us, but He has also revealed Himself unto and for us, so that the church, the people of God, as the sons and daughters of God the Father, in union with the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, will be the ones that receive the revelation from God to communicate it to the world. Pay attention to what it says here in 1 Peter 1, verse 10. It says, concerning this salvation, it says in verse 10, concerning this salvation, the salvation that we have by grace through faith, it says, concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, Gentiles, these prophets, searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them, It was the spirit of Christ that was in them, in these prophets of the old time.

inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. In other words, it was the Spirit of Christ in Isaiah 61 speaking of the coming of the Messiah to be anointed by the Father, the sufferings and the subsequent glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. But something very important was revealed to these prophets of the old time. It says there in verse 12, It was revealed to them, that is the prophets of the old time, that they were serving not themselves, but you. in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven."

Brethren, please, you can see it there. It says there in verse 11, "...it was revealed to them, the prophets of the old time, that they were serving not themselves, but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit." Acts chapter 2. that was sent from heaven.

Now it says, things, the things that are now being revealed and preached, things into which angels long to loot. Brethren, The revelation of God has been manifested, not through Israel, but through the Church. And that revelation happens in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the Anointed of the Father. He gives us of His Spirit. He makes us His sons and daughters.

And then we are the vessels that have the pure revelation of God Himself, even unto the heavenly principalities. Come with me please to Ephesians chapter 3, and you will see there clearly in the words of the Apostle Paul. Ephesians chapter 3. Brethren, these are very deep and powerful matters. So please pay attention to this.

Ephesians chapter 3. Did you pay attention to what Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 12? Things into which angels long to Look into the things that now the Spirit of God that has been sent from heaven now is being preached by the church. These are things into which the angels long to look. Now, my English is very limited, brethren, but if someone longs to look at something that speaks to me, at least, that there is a very strong desire to know something, right?

If you long to look at something, you really want to see something that you are not seeing, something that you cannot understand, something that you have not seen. You long to look. Angels long to look. The angels who were in the presence of the Lord, the angels that are so mighty and powerful, angels long or desire strongly to know the things that the church reveals of God. It says in chapter 3 of Ephesians something very important.

We're going to be told about a mystery. Remember, a mystery we're told. And that mystery, perhaps we can read. Let us read from verse 7. It says, Of this gospel, the apostle Paul is speaking, Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of His power.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things." Now brethren, when we read these words of the Apostle Paul, these adjectives and these nouns that are just so big, sometimes we don't even pay attention to what he says. We just simply, according to the good pleasure of his will, all of these big words that he uses sometimes just simply go over our heads. But pay attention to what he says in verse 9.

and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan, some of you have a different word there, but it's the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. You see? The mystery that was hidden for ages in or by God who created all things. A mystery that was hidden. Mystery that was hidden created all things.

This mystery, we are told, if you read in verse 4, pay careful attention to verse 4 of the same chapter, it says, When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, verse 5, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. The prophets of the old time, they did not know that they were serving themselves. They knew that they were serving someone else that was going to come, that is the Gentiles. And the mystery was hidden from them and it has now been revealed to the apostles and to the prophets. Verse 6, this mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

That is what Peter says in 1 Peter 1. But now, pay attention about that in verse 10. So that through the church, the mystery, brethren, of verse 9, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery, hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church, the many full wisdom of God. Remember what Peter said? Angels long to look.

Things into what the angels long to look. Chapter verse 10. So that through the church, the many full wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Brethren, that is through the church, that the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the angels who long to look into these things which is revealed to the sons of God who have been anointed by the Son of God who was anointed Himself by the Father. Brethren, you know sometimes, I don't know if this sounds very good, but sometimes I think that when the saints are gathered together, brethren, we don't see it.

But when we gather together and we expound the Scriptures, and when we speak things of Christ, if the Lord reveals to us through the Scriptures the things that are contained here, and we don't just simply come and carelessly approach the Scriptures, but rather we come before the presence of the Lord, and the Lord reveals something to us, brethren, that the angels long to look. that the heavenly places desire to know and desire to hear, brethren. The manifold wisdom of God that is revealed through the heavenly praises through the church. And this happens only, my dear brother and sister, because now we have been made sons of the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. He was anointed and a confirmation of His Sonship happened.

Come with me to Romans chapter 1. I see in your faces that you don't get the thing that I'm just saying there. Come to Romans chapter 1, please. Go to Romans chapter 1. You remember the vindication of the Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ according to Paul in Romans chapter 1?

The vindication of the Sonship of Christ in Romans chapter 1. The vindication, not of who Christ is, but the vindication of the sonship of Christ. It says in Romans chapter 1, Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which He, God, promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures. Brethren, you see a little bit of something of what I've said? The apostles, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son.

the Son of the Father, who was descended from David according to the flesh, all of that was prophesied, and was declared or vindicated to be the Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Oh, my dear brother and sister. Simply, before I do anything or say anything, come to 1 John chapter 2. Come to John chapter 2 before I finish this and I do or say anything. Apostle says something very important.

1 John chapter 2. It says, Who is the liar? Okay? It says, Who is the liar? But he who denies that Jesus is the Christ, this is the Antichrist.

He who denies the Father and the Son. Now it says something very important. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Brethren, No one who denies the Son has the Father. I hope you remember something of what I said about the word deny last time.

The opposite of deny is confess. That is that everyone who confesses the Son, brethren, has the Father. Brethren, Everyone who confesses by the Spirit with which we have been anointed, that Christ is the Son, has now the Father. Life, the life that we have, eternal life, is the life of God in Jesus Christ in communion and union with all the persons of the Trinity. We have been anointed by the Holy Spirit.

We have been united to Christ and we have the Father because of that. That is the concern of the Apostle in 2 John. If you go to 2 John, before I say anything else, come to 2 John. Perhaps in the very first times that I was reading the Bible, brethren, 2011, May, June, 2011, the very first times that I was reading the Bible, I was reading through these verses here. I did not know anything about, you know, doctrines or names of doctrines.

And I remember in my Bible, in Spanish, in verse 9, putting an asterisk there, and then writing something in Spanish there at the top saying, this teaches me that if I am a Christian, I will always remain with the Lord. I had no idea about Calvinism or any other things. But this teaches me that if I'm with the Lord, or if I'm a Christian, I will always be with the Lord. It says in verse 9, everyone who transgresses or goes ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. And it says, Whoever abides in the teaching has bought the Father and the Son, my dear brother and my dear sister.

that the Christian who abides in the teaching and confesses the Son has the triune God. And then he says in verse 1 of 2 John, I'm sorry that I'm just reading so much, but this is just to clarify. There's in verse 1 of 2 John, pay attention to these words, brethren. The elder to the elect lady and her children whom I love in truth. And not only I, but also all those who know the truth.

Those who know the truth, because of the truth, and that truth should be with a capital T because that is the Spirit, that abides in us because of the truth, that abides in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son. And that relationship between the Father and the Son is, in truth, and in love. Now, brethren, my dear soul, my dear beloved, my dear brother and sister, when a person comes to the realization by the work of the Holy Spirit that he or she is dead in his or her trespasses, when this person receives the goodness of the gospel, And the eyes of this person, the eyes of the heart are open to see the condemnation that they genuinely deserved. And when the Holy Spirit comes and visits that person, and the heart of that person is completely changed, that person does not only make a profession of faith that justifies that person, But that person, my dear brother and sister, now enters into a relationship of sons and daughters of God by virtue of the presence of the Spirit of the Anointed Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm about to start to speak, but please come with me to Galatians chapter number 4. There's something here important in Galatians chapter 4 that you should see and consider. Come to Galatians chapter 4 and you will see here something very important. Galatians chapter 4. Before I say anything.

Galatians chapter 4. And perhaps we will read together this with Romans chapter 8. But pay attention to this. Chapter 4 verse 4. Please pay attention to this wording.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent for His Son, born of a woman, born under the law. Verse 5, pay attention. To redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Right? 6.

And because you are sons, now distinguishing here brethren, because you are sons already, it says, God has sent His Spirit, brethren? No. God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. If a son, then an heir through God.

Oh, brethren, there are like five passages now that I want to take you, but then this sermon will not be a sermon, but rather a Scripture reading from the pulpit. Brethren, go to Hebrews chapter 6. He learned obedience as a son. Right? Go to Romans chapter 8.

We have received the Spirit by whom we cry, Abba, Father. Brethren, brethren, now pay attention to this Colombian person speaking here. Brethren, when we receive Life, you know, life where we're saved as Christians. Yes, we receive eternal life. But the more glorious thing about that is not that we receive eternal life.

It's that we receive the life of Christ. But brethren, there's something more glorious than that. Because it's not that we receive the life of Christ. It's that we receive the life of the victorious Lord Jesus Christ, who died and was resurrected. And the resurrected life of the Lord Jesus Christ, Romans 6, verse 623, the life of the resurrected Jesus Christ is the life that now we receive.

Now, when we call the Father, Father, is not because your intellect has been illuminated into the fact that the Creator of heavens and earth is your Father, but rather, the Spirit of the Son of God who cried out to the Father in Gethsemane, the Spirit of the Son of God who suffered and communed with the Father through His time, the Spirit of the Son of God is the one that has been given to you, the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we cry, Abba Father. Not as sons who are just simply adopted in this cold and separated way that there is no affection there, but rather an adoption that happens with the spirit of His Son Himself. That is that each one of you, if by grace through faith you have been saved, and you are genuine believers, you are genuine Christians, my dear brother and sister, you have the Spirit of the Son of God in you, with whom you cry, Abba Father, in the same groanings of the Son of God in Gethsemane, when He was praying to the Father. In the same spirit, in the same power, brethren, you don't have the ability to call or to distinguish God the Father as your Father just simply with your intellect. But when you have been anointed by the Spirit of God, but when you have been anointed by the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, then your relationship to the Father is that of the relationship of the Son with the Father.

So we are sons in union with the Son of God. And in these last days, God had spoken to His sons and daughters through His Son. That's why it is ensured and it's guaranteed that by the anointing of the Holy Spirit that is in us, that is the same anointing that was in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He will teach us all things. We cannot love, brethren. We need to be instructed by Him that He teaches us to love.

And when He teaches us to love, we end up loving like the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot obey in and of ourselves. It is not about putting ideas in our minds that make us obey. No, when we really learn to obey, it is Jesus Christ in us that makes us genuinely obey according to the desire of the Father, because salvation is conformity to Jesus Christ. Brethren, that means that we are sons and daughters, of course, in distinction from whom the Son of God is the eternally begotten of the Father, and He is set apart as the Son.

But there is a reason why He is called in the Scriptures called him our brother. Because we have now been not simply adopted in this cold and separated relationship, my dear brother and sister, but rather, we have been adopted by the Spirit of adoption, that is, the Spirit of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then we know, brethren, that we will be instructed and taught by Him. And come very quickly, please, and I conclude with that. The Apostle says something very interesting there in 1 John 2.

Return to that and I will finish with that. Wow, it says, verse 24, Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. What you heard from the beginning abides in you. then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father." And this is the promise that He made to us.

Eternal life. You know what the Gospel of the Apostle John is? It's just as simple as this. He died for you. He gave His life for you.

In other words, He loved you so much that He gave His begotten Son to die for you. This love, this propitiation. He loved you so much. Now you are to love one another, just as He loved you. And as you love one another, wait for the coming of the Savior that is to come.

And the Apostle repeats and repeats and repeats, Let abide in you that which you heard from the beginning. Chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4, 2 John. Let that which you heard from the beginning abide in you. Brethren, because there is no more glorious, because there is no more powerful reality, that thou of being son of God, there is no greater reality, there is no more powerful truth, that thou to be called son or daughter of God. There is nothing more powerful that is going to move us in ways of sanctification, or change in our lives, than to be a son of God.

And if we are sons, then it says Paul in chapter 8 of Romans, and in Galatians chapter 4, we are heirs. If we are sons with Christ, then we are heirs with Christ. And then we receive all things in Him. And then, you know, the verses that He who began a good work in us will bring into completion, make complete sense, because it's not about us, but it's about our belonging to the Father, our union to the Father in the person of Jesus Christ, that He has loved us in such a way, not only to forgive us, brethren, but also to make us His sons and daughters, in the same way that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father. This is the glorious reality of the Gospel, brethren.

Where are we going to go? How are we going to strive to enter into the narrow gate other than looking to the Lord Jesus Christ? How are we going to strive to enter into this narrow, difficult way of salvation other than dying to self and putting our eyes in the Lord Jesus Christ who is absolutely everything that the Christian needs? How are we going to live our Christian life other, brethren, than surrendering ourselves entirely to the voice of the shepherd, because the Father speaks to us through the Son? How are we going to neglect hearing the voice of the Savior through the Scripture, and giving ourselves to other words of other shepherds and other people, How are we going to neglect hearing and communing with the Lord other than giving ourselves to this book and to treasure up the words in our hearts that we will see the Lord Jesus Christ not only enthroned but also as this condescending Savior, this condescending Redeemer who gave His life for us brethren to give us this glorious privilege.

That independently of the feebleness of our ways, that independently of the limitations of our minds, that independently of the category of our sins, that independently of the blackness of the things that we have done, said, and the places that we have visited, that independently of all of those things, The love of God was so great that He gave His only begotten Son to rescue us, to redeem us, to complete our work in us, to call us sons and daughters, and to adopt us to Himself by Jesus Christ according to the great riches of His grace. And in His day, brethren, and that day, in that day, the day of the Lord, according to Ephesians chapter 1 and Ephesians chapter 2, it will be for the praise of His glorious grace. For the grace of His glorious grace. No other reason. For the praise of His glorious grace.

If grace was not sufficient, then the scripture says, His glorious grace. For the praise that every person from every tribe and every tongue will praise this God. Some people will confess Lordship over Lord Jesus Christ out of the grace that has been given to them. Some other people will confess the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ because the rod of iron of this King of Kings will break their knees and will make them bow before this Lord. to confess that He is Lord and that He has rescued a people unto Himself for the praise of His glorious grace.

Amen? Amen.