Major Ian Thomas emphasizes the importance of truly knowing Christ rather than just knowing the Scriptures, as the Pharisees did. He highlights that Jesus, though fully God, lived as a man to demonstrate what true humanity looks like, allowing God to work through Him. Thomas encourages believers to understand that the life of Christ within them is essential for living out their faith authentically. He asserts that Jesus is the truth about God and man, and that through Him, believers can be restored to their true humanity. The sermon calls for a new encounter with Jesus, urging Christians to let God be God in their lives.

You may remember that once the Lord Jesus turned to the scribes and the Pharisees, who were the theological bigwigs of his day and generation. He said, you search the scriptures, and indeed they did. This was their stock in trade. But they made one fundamental error that the Lord Jesus pointed out to them then. He said, you search the scriptures. In them, the scriptures, you think you have eternal life, but you will not come to me. You search the scriptures. In them, you think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me, and you will not come to me that you might have life. So they were folk who knew their Bibles, but didn't know Christ. So they had a Bible that didn't make sense. Now I trust that as we turn to this God's amazing word, we'll have open hearts to be led by the Holy Spirit into a new encounter with God's Son, the Lord Jesus. You know he was an astonishing preacher. Because every time he preached, people were astonished. That should make an astonishing preacher. Not because he preached from a different Bible. He had exactly the same Bible in his hands as that from which they were accustomed to hearing. I don't have to remind you folk that the Lord Jesus never preached from the New Testament. Not because he didn't like it. He didn't have it. The only Bible the Lord Jesus had was our Old Testament. The only Bible the apostles had was the Old Testament. Those who evangelized a then known world in one generation changed the face of nations, turned the world upside down in preaching the gospel. The only Bible they had was the Old Testament. So never allow anybody to rob you of that which was the only Bible the Lord Jesus ever had. The strange thing was this, that when he stood up and took that book and preached, everybody was astonished. Again and again you have this recorded for us in the Gospels. There's one instance that you'll find in the seventh chapter. If you care to turn to it, don't bother. We're only making passing reference. But in the seventh chapter of Gospel of Matthew in the twenty-eighth verse it says it came to pass that when the Lord Jesus had ended these things the people were astonished at his doctrine. And the one thing that struck them about the Lord Jesus perhaps more than anything else was this, as it goes on to say in the last, the twenty-ninth verse, he taught them as one having authority. He took this book and spoke as though he meant exactly what he said and said exactly what he meant. And he spoke as though he had absolute right to say. And that was astonishing. There was nothing apologetic about the Lord Jesus. And there was absolutely nothing unconvincing. He taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. When the professional preachers got up and they took this book and began to give their philosophical propositions they all nestled in the corner of the pew and had a little snooze hoping they'd wake up just in time for the benediction. And with any luck missed the offering. But when the Lord Jesus got up and took this book in his hands everybody was on the edge of their seat wondering what amazing thing he'd say next. So I thought we might do well to consider some of the astonishing doctrines of Jesus Christ. And one of the things that I have discovered as it's my privilege in many parts of the world to minister to many groups of true believers who can look back to the day of their conversion and about whose spiritual new birth who would be no doubt whatever, nor their sentimental attachment to the Lord Jesus and sincere desire to serve him. And yet one of the things I have discovered is that many of the doctrines of the Lord Jesus are as astonishing to them today as they were to the unregenerate then. Because by and large we've sidestepped many of the astonishing doctrines of Jesus Christ. You turn to another passage you'll find it in the same gospel but this time in the 13th chapter. Matthew the 13th chapter and the 54th verse. Came to pass that when Jesus had finished these parables he departed then. And when he was coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue in so much that they were astonished. And they said whence hath this man this wisdom? Whence hath this man these mighty words? And I'm sure that you recognize what was at the back of their mind in saying that. This man. This man. This wisdom. These mighty words. This man. You see they had known him as a little baby helpless in his mother's arms. They'd known him as a little kid clinging to his mother's skirt. They'd known him as a youngster romping with his friends down the village street. They'd seen him learning his trade at the apprentice bench. He was the man who came and fixed the window when it jammed. This man. This wisdom. These mighty words. Whence hath this man? And they went on to say in the 55th verse is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary and his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters? Are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? You see they tried desperately to find some satisfactory explanation on their terms of reverence for the things that Jesus said and the things that Jesus did. They wanted to discover some grounds in his pedigree, his background, his family upbringing, his scholastic career, his financial standing. Some possible human explanation that made him the man he was and enabled him to say the things he did. And when they couldn't satisfactorily explain the quality of life that Jesus Christ lived, the things he did and the things he said on their terms of reference, they said he must be a phony. It says the next verse they were offended in him. Why do you think they were astonished at the Lord Jesus? The things he said, the things he did, and the kind of person that he was. The simplest explanation that we might offer and the one perhaps that would come most quickly to mind would be to say well of course they didn't know that he was God. But if you were tempted to say that and offer that as an explanation I think you'd be wrong. They weren't astonished at the Lord Jesus because they did not know that he was God. They were astonished because they did not know that he was man. Not man as they were, not man as you and I are, but man as he, as God, created man to be. You see they were now in the presence of a real man, a man on God's terms of reference, not on their terms of reference. And this is one of the most exciting, one of the most comforting, one of the most encouraging and instructive things that we can discover about the Lord Jesus. His sheer, absolute, perfect humanity. And we're going to talk a little bit about the humanity of the Lord Jesus. You see when you read of the Lord Jesus and the things he did and the things that he said, the astonishing life that he lived and the astonishing man that he was, the temptation on your part and mine is to shrug our shoulders and say it was all right for him, he was God. And we dismiss it with that. You can't expect me to live a life like that. He was God, I'm not. Well that's true. He was God. He is God. And he ever will be God. The Bible leaves us in absolutely no ambiguity about that fact. Nor does he himself, for he never once repudiated his total equality with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the triune Godhead. John's Gospel, the first chapter and the very first verse and on to the fourth verse tells us this, in the beginning was the Word, capital W. The Word was with God and the Word was God. By him all things were made and without him was not anything made that was made. In other words, he, Jesus, the Word, capital W, was the creative deity. In him was life and this life that is in him was the light of men. It's the life of Jesus Christ in a man that switches him on and gives him the moral competence to discharge that office that should declare God's glory. No doubt about that. The Lord Jesus said, I and my Father are one. But in spite of the fact that the Lord Jesus was God, is God and ever will be God, the amazing thing is this, that though never ever less than God, he stepped out of eternity and came at a time, left heaven and came to earth, deliberately and of his own free volition, though he need never so have done, to behave for 33 years as though he were never ever more than man. Being never ever less than God, he deliberately chose to come into this world and behave as though he were never ever more than man. And the fantastic thing is this, there is absolutely nothing that the Lord Jesus did as man, by virtue of his relationship to his Father as God, that you and I may not now do as men by virtue of our relationship to him as God. He made that emphatically clear. He said, the things that I do, you will do in greater works than this, because I go back to where I belong, to my Father. Well that should be wonderfully encouraging. Maybe you've never thought too much about it, but supposing the Lord Jesus Christ had come to be not only God, but to behave as God. Do you know what the Bible tells us about God? Well John, having told us without any ambiguity whatever, about the timeless deity of Jesus Christ, then goes on to say this in the same first chapter of John's gospel, verse 18, no man has seen God at any time. Well when did he write that? When did he write that? Before the Lord Jesus was born? Had John never seen the Lord Jesus? I mean supposing, and anybody would have the absolute right so to do, supposing somebody would see you leaving this church this afternoon, and as a casual passerby, to satisfy their curiosity, they would come up to you and say excuse me, do you believe in God? And you say yes, of course. Then they'd say, the Bible says that you can't see God, that no man has seen God at any time. You say yes, I remember reading that in the Bible. Well then they say, do you believe that Jesus Christ is God? You say indeed I do, almost indignantly. Well they say to you then, please explain, if you believe that Jesus Christ is God, and the Bible says that no man has seen God at any time, how was it that the Lord Jesus walked this earth and people saw him? Have you ever thought that out? It's time you did, because anybody could come up to you and say, you believe that Jesus Christ is God, that the Bible says nobody can see God, please explain. And you see the Bible says, Peter's epistle, the first of his two epistles, the third chapter of the 15th verse, that you and I at all times have got to be always ready to give a logical response and explanation to every single person that would ever care to stop us and ask us for a reason of the hope that's within us. Therefore we should be able to talk intelligently and logically about the things that God has to say to us in his words. If you care to turn, don't bother to do so, but if you care to turn to the first of Paul's epistles to Timothy in the sixth chapter, he says there'll come a day when the Lord Jesus will reveal to us he who is the omnipotent potente, God himself, immortal, eternal, invisible, who no man hath seen nor can see. So it seems Paul was in agreement with the Apostle John, needs some explanation. And of course there's a fantastically logical explanation. Because you see the Lord Jesus, though never ever less than God, deliberately came to this world to behave as though he were never ever more than man. He came deliberately to assume your humanity and mine, and it behold him in all points to be like unto his brethren. He clothed himself as the Father presented him with that body, with our flesh and blood. And for a very good reason, as we shall discover. Do you know what the Bible says about God? It says God is immortal, he can never die. Did Jesus die? Well you say of course. That's how I know my sins are forgiven, he died in my place. But God can't die. God is eternal, immortal. Do you know what the Bible says about God, James chapter one? It says God neither tempts with evil, neither can he be tempted with evil. And yet the epistle to the Hebrews tells of the Lord Jesus was tempted in all points, like as you and I, and yet being tempted without sin. So what was he tempted to do? Sin. And didn't. But God can't be tempted, for he neither tempts with evil, neither can he be tempted with evil. Say, do you believe that God is omnipotent? That he's the creative deity? That he was pre-existent and self-existent and timelessly existent? That he's the one who threw the universe into space and the stars into the far corners of the night? Who upholds them now by the word of his power? Who not only created the vastness of space, the size of which staggers our imagination, but made the tiniest of insects, so that to detect him you have to look through a microscope and discover that they've got kneecaps just like you and me? God. Tell me this. Who does God obey? Who tells God what to do? Well, you say, don't be so stupid. Nobody tells God what to do, otherwise he wouldn't be God. Right. God doesn't obey. But we're told in the epistle to the Hebrews that the Lord Jesus learned obedience by the things which he suffered. We're told by the Apostle Paul in the second chapter of his epistle to the Philippians that the Lord Jesus was obedient unto death. Never ever less than God he came to this world to behave as though he were never ever more than man as man. He had to learn to do what he had never done as God. Obey. Because we shall discover that obedience is one of the characteristics of the man whom he, as God, created to be obedient to his creator. These are the astonishing doctrines of Jesus Christ. God the creator, deliberately stepping out of eternity into time and setting aside the prerogatives that make God God, and of his own free volition, never compelled, something he need never ever have done, submitting himself to the limitations that make man, man. He can be seen, he can be tempted, he can obey, and he can die. You see, the Lord Jesus is the truth. I don't mean by that he came to talk about the truth, or preach the truth, or philosophize about the truth. He is the truth. He came to be the truth he taught. There are two things about which the Lord is the truth. He is the truth about the way, and he is the truth about the life. Do you remember that from John's gospel, chapter 14, and verse 6, said the Lord Jesus, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. The way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I am the truth about the way, and I am truth about the life. In other words, I am the truth about how to become a Christian, the way. Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Handle me and see. Look, see the print of the nail. If you're a guilty sinner, and you don't know how to find forgiveness, if you want peace with God your maker, says the Lord Jesus, come to me, I am the way. I'm the way. There is no other way. No man comes to the Father but by me. I am the way. That is the truth. How to become a Christian. But he said not only I am the way, how to become a Christian, he says I am the life. I'm not only, in other words, the truth about how to become a Christian, I'm the truth about how to be the Christian that you have become. If having come to me as the way and you claim forgiveness and you know now because I died for you that your sins are forgiven, you say please tell me how to live the Christian life. I know that my sins are forgiven and I want to please God and I want to be different. I know the things that I've done in the past are wrong and I want to do the things that are right. How can I live the Christian life, said Jesus. I'm the life. I'm the life. There is no other. You can no more be the Christian you've become without me than you can become the Christian you're supposed to be without me. I'm imperative to you as the one who is the way and the one who is the life. It's only my life in you that gives you the power to be the Christian that my death for you has given you the right to become. I am the truth. That's why of course you can't detach your Christianity from Christ. If you do you've killed it and it will be incredibly boring to you. Incredibly boring. It'll be religion. It'll be meetings, services, procedures, doctrines, theologies. It'll be everything except life and it'll be everything except exciting. There's nothing more boring than being religious. Nothing more exciting than being a Christian. But Christianity isn't religion. Christianity is Christ. The way and the truth and the life. But he's not only the truth about the way how to become a Christian. He's not only the truth about the life, how to be the Christian you've become. He's the truth about God and he's the truth about man. He is the truth. He's the final exegesis of all truth. There is nothing that you could ever need to know that you don't find marvelously expounded in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Truth about God and truth about man. Said Philip, show us the father and it suffices us. Said the Lord Jesus turning to Philip, have I been so long time with you and hath thou not known me, Philip? He that has seen me, a man, has seen my father. Everything, Philip, you can know about God you'll see in me. He's the truth about God. If you, in other words, want to know what God is like look at Jesus Christ. But he's not only the truth about God he's the truth about man. In other words, if you look out into the world and you see a distorted, perverted, cheap imitation of the real thing in the humanity that you see around you. And when you look into your own heart you see reflected the greed and selfishness and pride and lust and disobedience and arrogance. And selfishness that is characteristic of the world that is fast coming to catastrophic conclusions. And you say, I wish I knew what a real man was like. Sadism, man's inhumanity to man, graft, corruption, alcoholism, drug addiction, cruelty, murder, greed. I wish I knew what man was supposed to be like. I'd like to see a real man, says the Lord Jesus. Like to see a real man? Just look in my direction. Then you'll know the truth about man. Because I'm the truth about man as I am the truth about God. Now listen to this very carefully. It isn't complicated. It's so obvious that it ceases to be obvious. That's the trouble about the obvious. It's so obvious it ceases to be obvious and the preacher by and large has to teach people the obvious. Because it ceases to be obvious. We're past masters at making the Christian life complicated. Because you see once you've made it complicated you can congratulate yourself if you've mastered it. It's the simplicity which is in Jesus which is the staggering thing to me about God's whole proposition. The sheer, utter, unadulterated logic of God's purpose towards man. Listen, the Lord Jesus when he was here for 33 years on earth was the truth about God because he was the truth about man. Did you know that? For 33 years he was the truth about God because he was the truth about man. Because the truth about man is that he as God created man to be the truth about God. Have you read that in the first chapter of Genesis? Do you know what it says? It's the most logical place to find it of course. The very first chapter, the very first book in the Bible you'd expect to find some kind of an explanation from God as to why he made man. What explanation did God give as to why he made man? Do you know what he said? Let us make man in our image and in our likeness and in the likeness of God made he him. And when God looked at the man who as creator he had made as his creature in his own absolute unblemished likeness, God said, good! Not only good, he said, very good. As God had looked at everything that he created and said, good, good, good, good. He looked at the man whom as creature he as creator had made to be in his own unblemished absolute likeness and said, very good. How good do you think a thing is that God makes good? It's as good as God himself. And when God made you and when God made me, when God made man, he as creator made man as creature to give a valid expression of his absolute likeness so that all creation could look at man and know what God is like. That's what the Bible says. Because the Bible says what God said. Let us make man in our image and in our likeness. All right, if God made man in his own image and in his own likeness and you were to see a man as God made man, what would you expect to see in the man whom God made? God's likeness. So if you wanted to know what God was like and God's invisible, but God made a man with a physical visible body so that in that physical visible body he could give a physical and a visible expression of an invisible God. And God being invisible, you want to know what God was like and God made man in his own likeness, what would you do? Look at man. And so long as that man was functional, what would you see? What God was like. Right? Would that be superman? No. Just normality. Normality. If God as creator creates a man, his creature in his absolute unblemished likeness, so that all creation can look at that man and know what God is like. Who in his physical visible body could actually give a valid expression of God's character, God's righteousness, God's glory. Then whatever would you expect to see if you looked at that man, if that man was normal, if that man was functional. Exactly what God was like. But you see there's been only one man since Adam fell into sin who performed that role. There's been only one man who walked this earth since Adam repudiated the relationship that lets God be God in a man's life. And perfectly discharged the office for which he as creator made man his creature. And his name was Jesus Christ. Because as creator he came into this world for 33 years to be the truth about the man whom as creator he made as his creature, you could look at him as man and know what God was like. You could see the father who sent him. Are you normal? Pardon me for asking the question. I mean are you functional? Quite frankly if I gave you the opportunity right here and now to stand up in the middle of this meeting and bear your testimony, would you be prepared to stand up and say ladies and gentlemen. Ever since I was born, ever since I came into this world, so long as I have been clothed with my humanity on this planet. By everything I've ever done, by everything I've ever said and by anything and everything I've ever been. I have given an absolute unblemished expression of God's total likeness. I have discharged that office for which he as creator made me his creature. Ladies and gentlemen if you really want to know what God is like, look at me. He made me in his absolute likeness and I have been perfectly functional. Would you be prepared to stand up and say that? Probably not if the family were around. Why not? For a very simple reason. You're subhuman. You're abnormal. You're a distortion. You're only a cheap imitation of the real thing. Pardon me for saying so. That's why there's a gospel. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ came back into this world. Because whom God did foreknow then he did predestinate to be conformed again to the image of his son. The whole purpose of God in salvation is to restore man to his true humanity. And it's my privilege for these few days in my own subhumanity and with you abnormal to minister to you in your abnormality. And tell you from the Bible the measures that God has introduced in the person of his son Jesus Christ. To restore those who are subhuman to their true humanity. Those who are abnormal to true normality. A process that won't find its glorious consummation until the day that we look into his face and see him as he is. For John in the first of his three epistles in the third chapter in the first two verses says this. Beloved what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the children of God. We do not yet know exactly what we will be in that day. But this at least he says we do know. When he comes Jesus we shall see him as he is. And seeing him we shall be what? Like him. What will have happened in that day that you look into the face of Jesus Christ. And seeing him as he is in the perfect absolute unblemished image of his father. And you now are in the absolute unblemished perfect image of the son. Where will you have come? Well you will have come back into Genesis chapter one. You will once more be functional. You will once more be normal. You will once more be discharging your true humanity. You will have been restored from created likeness to recreated likeness. And at last to God's holy satisfaction in your person he will have a real man again. Who if you were capable of living such a life now on earth on the way to heaven. Would be as astonishing now as Jesus Christ was astonishing then. Not because he was God though God he was. But because he was man. Man as he as God created man to be. Say if God as creator made man his creature in his own absolute unblemished unsullied image. What would you say were the minimal demands that God might reasonably make upon his creature thus created in his likeness. What would you say would be the reasonable minimal demands that God would have the right as creator to make of his creature. Man whom he made in his own absolute likeness. Well I would say his reasonable minimal demands would be absolute likeness. Would that be unjust would that be unreasonable. What are the ten commandments represent. Well they represent the minimal requirements that God makes as creator of man his creature. The ten commandments simply meant represent the character of God. So that when through the commandments God says thou shalt not bear false witness. In other words don't tell lies. What is God saying. It's very simple. He's saying this. As your creator. I made you my creature. In my absolute likeness. And I'm not a liar. When by the law God says thou shalt not steal. All that God is saying is this. As God your creator I made you man my creature in my unblemished image. And I'm not a thief. When the law says thou shalt not commit adultery. All that God is saying is this. As your creator I made you man my creature in my perfect likeness. And I'm not an adulterer. Anything unreasonable about that. What is unreasonable. That God who is not a liar should create a man in his own image who tells lies. What is unreasonable. That God who is not a thief should create a man in his own image who steals. What is unreasonable. That God who is not an adulterer should make a man in his own image who commits adultery. That's unreasonable. And that's God's controversy with you and me. That's why the Bible says sin is the transgression of the law. And because we're all subhuman. And because we're all abnormal. Because we're all distortions of the truth. We're told very clearly in Romans chapter 3. That there is no difference. All have sinned and come short of what. The glory. All have sinned and come short of the glory. What glory. The glory. Of God. That man was created to share. By virtue of the presence of Jesus Christ. Whose life in a man. Is the light. Of man. And gives him what it takes. So we shall discover. That the Lord Jesus. And the perfection of his humanity. Allowed the Father through the Holy Spirit. To be to him. In reproducing through him. His own absolute unblemished life. What the Lord Jesus claims. The right now. As our once crucified. But risen Lord. Through the Holy Spirit. To be to you. The origin in man. Of his own unblemished image. Let's put it another way very simply. You and I as men. Were created by everything we do. And say and are. To tell the truth about God. God. Created you and me as men. To tell the truth about God. By everything we do and say and are. You mums and dads. How many lies have you been telling to your children about God. By the way you behave. Attitudes that you adopt. Things that you say. You young folks. Even though you may call yourself Christians. How many lies have you been telling to your school chums about God. Remember God created you. To tell the truth about him. So that all creation including your school chums. Could look at you and know what Christ was like. How many lies have you been telling about God. Say if you drive a car. When you drive down the road. Would you tell me please how many lies. You've been telling about God. To the other drivers on the road. Or the pedestrians whom you frighten off the street. I'm not interested in the theological discourse. I'm only interested in the nitty gritty. Of being Christians. 24 hours a day. That we profess to have become. Because if we're only prepared to become Christians. But have no interest whatever. In being the Christians we have become. We might just as well expose ourselves. For the phonies that we really are. Which Jesus wasn't. And I'm sad to say as I travel all over the world. In countless Christian churches. Of those who profess to be evangelicals. There are countless. Who've learned all the evangelical jargon. Who congratulate themselves. Upon being on their way to heaven. But God knows how many lies. They tell about him on the way. They went astonished. Because they did not know. That Jesus Christ was God. They were astonished. Because they did not know. That Jesus Christ was man. Never ever less than God. Who came to this world. To behave as though he were never ever more than man. A man who was prepared to let God. His Father. By the Holy Spirit. Be God in the man. As opposed to man. Created by him. Jesus Christ as God. Who though never ever. More than man. Struts proudly arrogantly. Across this planet. As though he were never ever less than God. That's the essential difference. Jesus Christ though God. Came to this world never ever less than God. To behave as though he were never ever more than man. Man created by him. Never ever to be more than man. Behaves as though he were never ever less than God. What's the characteristic. Of a man who is prepared to be man. As he Jesus Christ as God. Created man to be. The characteristic of a man who is prepared to be man. As God created man to be. Is that that man lets God. Be God in the man. So that there is no possible explanation. For anything he does. Says or is. But God. And this is our final look for this afternoon session. With the fantastic discovery. That Peter made. On the day of Pentecost. When as a redeemed sinner. In company with 119 others. At Christ's command. In the upper room. He waited to have given back to him. What it takes to be a man. God. Because that's what it takes to be a man. God. And on the day of Pentecost. In the fulfillment of the promise of the father. Father. For the son's sake. Who in the perfection of his humanity. Had paid the price of man's redemption. To those who would acclaim Christ. As redeemer. There was restored in the gift of God. The Holy Spirit. That quality of life that was lost in Adam. And for the first time. Peter and 119 others. Cleansed in the blood of Jesus. Now for the very first time. Indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Were men whose humanity. Clothed the divine activity. Of Jesus Christ once crucified. Now risen from the dead. Who henceforth was to clothe. Himself with their flesh and blood. And walk the streets. Of the city again. In the new body that the father. Presented to him on that day. The church. The fellowship. Of forgiven sinners. Reconciled to God. Indwelt. By the Spirit. To share the life of Christ. And in that fantastic discovery. That Peter made he discovered the character. Of a true man. What Peter discovered. On the day of Pentecost. Was not the deity of the Lord Jesus. What Peter discovered on the day of Pentecost. Was the humanity of the Lord Jesus. And it staggered him. Maybe you've never noticed it. Maybe you should turn to it. You'll find it in the second chapter. Of the book of the Acts. In verse 22. For there spelled out loud and clear. Are the characteristics. Of a man. Whom God as creator. Can approve. As he once approved his son. Speaking from heaven and saying this. Is my beloved son. In whom I am well pleased. Acts chapter 2. And verse 22. Ye men of Israel. This is his Pentecostal address. As he stands up a man. Who has just received. And is now being filled. With the Holy Spirit. Ye men of Israel hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth. A man. Isn't that surprising. I would have thought. That on the day of Pentecost. The one thing that Peter would have wanted to talk about. Would have been the deity of the Lord Jesus. Was his deity in doubt. So far as Peter was concerned. Not a bit of it. He was absolutely convinced now. That the Lord Jesus as God incarnate. Had walked this earth. In the form of a man. Accomplished their redemption. And had now returned to be with his father. To share again in deity. In equality with the father. And the Holy Spirit. That glory that had always been his. By right in the eternal ages of the past. And would continue to be his. By right. Into the eternal ages of the future. But the thing that overwhelmed Peter. The thing that absolutely staggered him. Was to discover on that day. The secret of his humanity. Ye men of Israel. Hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth. A man approved of God among you. And how is a man. Approved of God. Characterized. What is the stamp of that man. A God approved man. What it tells us. A man approved of God. Among you. By miracles and wonders. And signs which God did. Who did? God did. By him. By whom? Jesus. Our Lord. God's approved man. Approved as man. By the miracles. The signs and the wonders. Which by his disposition. Toward the father. The father as God. Could do by him. That's a God approved man. A man who is prepared to let God. Be God in the man. And in action. So that there would be no possible explanation. For anything that Jesus did, said or was. But the presence of his father within him. That's why the Lord Jesus bore testimony. In the 14th chapter of John's gospel. And the 10th verse. To which we shall refer several times. Over this weekend. Said the Lord Jesus. Believest thou not that I am in my father. And the father is in me. That there is a unique relationship. Whereby I enjoy spiritual union. As man. With my father God in heaven. Don't you believe that I am in him. And he is in me. Says the Lord Jesus. The words that I speak unto you. I speak not of myself. They don't have their origin in me. With my physical body. I make them articulate. The sounds that you hear. Come from my lips. But the words that I speak. Are not mine. I am the father. That dwelleth in me. He doeth the works. Everything I do. My father does. Everything I say. My father says. Everything I am. My father is. Because I came. Though God. To be man. And the role of man is to be. And the role of God is to act. And God's approved man. Is a man by whom God. Can get into business. And God can be God. And on the day of Pentecost. Peter said now I understand. What the Lord Jesus meant. I didn't grasp it then. It went right over my head. Just after telling us. That there was the father who dwelt in him. Who did the work. John 14 10. Recorded for us in John 14 12. Now. In so many words Peter would say. He said the things that. I do. You will do. And greater works than these. Because I. Though behaving now as man. Am going back to be with my father. Henceforth to behave as. God. And the moment you are prepared. The Lord Jesus might well have added. The moment you are prepared. To be to me as men. What I was prepared to be. To my father as man. I will be prepared to be. To you as God. What my father was then prepared. To be to me as God. And the things that he. As God by me as man. Did then I now. As God will do. By you as man. I see it says Peter. He. He was an approved man. Who let God be God. And he came to this world. That we might become. Cleansed in his blood indwelt by his spirit. Approved. Men. Prepared now to let him. In us. Be all that he. Then let the father be. In him. God. I see that now says Peter. It takes. God. To be a man. That's why it's going to take. Christ. Himself. To be a Christian. I see it now. Christ. In the Christian. Puts God. Back into the man. Now the sky is the limit. And Paul might well. Had he been listening. Have added yes. Isn't it fantastic. To me to live. Be alive. And stay alive. Is Christ. For is the secret of his life. Then as man was the indwelling father. The secret of our lives. Now as men. Is the indwelling. Son. Anything complicated about that. That's what the gospel is all about. The astonishing. Doctrine. Of Jesus Christ.