Jesus is the Word of God
(Sermon Notes) By Warren Zehrung 12/4/2021
Our country came under a great curse almost 50 years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court found abortion to be legal in America. We saw that this week that the Supreme Court is once again wrestling with the issue of abortion.
SPS: In today’s sermon we will look at how the U. S. Supreme Court has gotten itself into this present predicament, and what it has to do with us. And, we will be looking at how Jesus is the word of God, and what that has to do with us today.
Let me ask you a question, brethren, that you can be pondering as we go along: “Have you seen God the Father?” Think about that. Peter is explaining to the brethren, the elect saints, about the soon coming of Jesus Christ:
1Peter 1:5 [And how we]… are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Brethren, these are the last days – and things are starting to get pretty rough for God’s people.
1Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through many trials and adversities:
Trials and adversities are for the purpose of our building Godly character, and learning that righteousness leads to life, whereas sin leads to death.
1Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
We shall see Him as He is, in all of His radiant Glory – at His appearing – when He returns. As one of the 12 apostles, Peter had been with Jesus for 3½ years – in every possible situation. Peter had seen and known Jesus, but he was writing to the scattered Church brethren who had never seen Jesus in the flesh.
1John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the Children of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.
1Peter 1:8 [Speaking of Jesus] Whom having not seen [yet], ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
1Peter 1:9 Receiving the end, [the goal,] of your faith, even the salvation of your lives.
1Peter 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
Prophecy was given for us – today! Next, Peter is going to make it clear that it was Jesus, the God of the Old Testament who inspired the prophets to write their prophecies. When Peter was writing this epistle, the apostle John had not yet written his Gospel – where he wrote speaking of Jesus Christ:
John 1:1-2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
Peter knew full well that Jesus was the spokesman for the Father.
1Peter 1:11 [The prophets were] Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
The interesting thing is that Jesus did not reveal prophecy to the prophets of old for their own edification. Those prophecies were written for the Church brethren who would come later.
1Peter 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the Gospel unto you with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
In today’s sermon, we will be looking at what the Prophets had to prophesy about regarding what the U. S. Supreme Court is up against. Once again it has become necessary for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the matter of abortion.
Today’s headline reads, “Majority of court appears poised to roll back abortion rights.” That may sound hopeful to us on the surface, but has our nation sunk too low to be saved? Do not get your hopes up that our nation will return to Godliness as far as this terrible blight on our nation is concerned. The State of Mississippi has brought this challenge to the Court. They propose that there be no abortions after a heartbeat is detectable.
That is still murder!
Everyone has a unique identity from the instant of conception. Abortion is murder—the taking of a life.
Jeremiah 1:5 [God says] Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.
Our country came under a great curse almost 50 years ago when a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.
That was in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973).
As a result, it is estimated that today one in four American women will have an abortion. Though this abortion matter is being adjudicated once again, do not draw a false hope of our returning to righteousness based on what the Supreme Court will rule on abortion law.
How could the U.S. Supreme Court possibly rule in any meaningful way? Their ruling on this case will not be out until June or July of 2022. We have become a Godless and lawless nation.
America is not in the mood to humble itself and repent. As assuredly as the Kings of Israel were destroyed by God for the slaughter of babies (their national treasure), the U.S. Government’s involvement in the taking of innocent human life will shortly lead to the destruction of this entire country.
Ezekiel 6:5 I will lay the dead carcasses of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.
Ezekiel 6:6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.
Brethren, this is so serious — God is warning us! Notice what God has prophesied to our nation.
Ezekiel 6:7 And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Few people realize how closely we follow in Judah’s steps when a little fetus is murdered and disposed of in an incinerator. Infanticide was rampant in the days of Jeremiah just as it is in today’s America.
God’s judgment for this heinous crime declares that there will not be room enough to bury those people who perform such cruelties: God says:
Jeremiah 7:30 The children of Judah have done evil in my sight, says the LORD: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to pollute it.
Jeremiah 7:31 And they have built the high places of Tophet [a place of Pagan worship just outside of Jerusalem], which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom [Gehenna], to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.
Jeremiah 7:32 Therefore, behold, the days come, says the LORD, that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter: for they shall bury in Tophet, till there be no place.
The valley of Gehenna will be filled up with dead men’s bones. America is in for a great slaughter in the not too distant future—it is even at the door.
Jeremiah 7:33 And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away.
A few years ago, I was watching the evening news, and they were celebrating abortion in New York. They had the skyscrapers all lit up in pink because of limitless abortion freedoms. Those abortionists literally cheered and celebrated on Wall Street when they got a favorable ruling – and babies are slaughtered with impunity. God is serious! Life is precious:
Jeremiah 7:34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate.
It is very clear in the Word of God that abortion is an atrocious crime. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was meant to establish as law our freedom of religion:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
That clear and concise statement has been supplanted by the generally accepted understanding stated in the replacement phrase, “Separation of Church and State.” And, subsequently, the First Amendment has come to mean that there can be no mention of God at all.
Without God’s word on the matter, the Court can only build on the false premise of arbitrarily “drawing a line in the sand,” as to when life begins – after so many weeks, or viability, or which trimester, or when a heartbeat is detected – all indiscriminate points in the gestation age of a baby.
With God securely off limits (in their misguided un-Constitutional minds) and in their deliberations and reasoning, the court has sought, not to establish the right of life for the unborn, but at what point in their gestational development the right to life be guaranteed by the Constitution.
Who on the U.S. Supreme Court would dare mention that the First Amendment and God be reestablished as law – before taking up the matter of abortion – which the U.S. Constitution does not mention at all.
To the Godly men who wrote the Constitution – it was not necessary to establish the rights of the unborn – it was more than understood that they be not exempted! What does God say? Jesus is the spokesman for God. He has spoken. Our Lord could not imagine that mankind could be so cruel and heartless as to kill their own beautiful children.
Jeremiah 19:5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into my mind:
How can we know what God says? The answer is that God spoke through Jesus. We must go by the words of Jesus – which are in fact, the very words of God the Father.
John 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Jesus came to reveal the Father and His judgment on every matter of importance. Jesus said:
Matthew 11:27 All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knows the Son, but the Father; neither knows any man the Father, except the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him.
Jesus said:
John 10:14 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not my own; I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who does the works.
Jesus said: “He that has seen me has seen the Father.”
My friend, John Androwski used to say, “I see.” He said it a lot. The trouble is, John was as blind as a bat from birth – he never could see. He was not saying, “I see,” as in an eye exam, but I see, as in, I understand, I know, I hear you, I can picture that.
Brethren, I want to tell you about one of the strangest things I have ever encountered on this earth. But, let me give you a little background. December 7, 2021 marks the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor and America’s entrance into WWII. My mom and dad were dating at the time. Immediately, my dad knew that he would be recalled by the Navy and pressed into the War effort – it would be called WWII.
He and Mom got married right away – as did my aunt and uncle. They wondered, “What if we do not make it back from the war?” We would have no descendant. It is a terrible thing to see your spouse go off to war on the other side of the world.
My mom and my aunt decided to get pregnant right away – as soon as possible. Then our dads left for years of overseas duty. My cousin Sidney and I were born and raised together for the duration of the war. Though we were cousins, we were closer than brothers in those formative years. We were more like twins during those war years when our dads were fighting the war. Sidney moved with his parents to Lafayette, LA – and I stayed in Alexandria.
Let me fast forward about 18 years to the time when I was dating Sharon. I worked out of town for a surveying company. One day the company hired a new man – and we introduced ourselves to one another.
He said, my name is Henry Brown – and haven’t we met before? I said, I don’t think so – you do not look familiar to me. He said, give me a minute – I’m sure I will be able to place you.
All week long I would catch Henry Brown pensively staring at me – trying to remember where he had met me. At the end of the week – we were all about ready to head home, Henry Brown asked me, “Warren, what are you going to do this weekend?
I replied, I think I’ll go fishing… Euless Thibodeaux, an acquaintance of mine from New Iberia knows where the fish are biting.
Henry Brown excitedly replied, I know Euless Thibodeaux from New Iberia!
How do you know him Warren, Henry Brown asked? I replied, Oh, Euless is a friend of my cousin, Sidney in Lafayette, LA. Henry Brown exclaimed, That’s it, That’s it Warren, “You look exactly like Sidney!”
Henry Brown was so relieved that he had finally figured out why I looked so familiar to him. It was like I’d lifted a ton off his shoulders.
Brethren, here is the strange thing. Sidney and I do not look anything alike.
I’m blond and Sidney is a brunette. I weighed nearly 190#, while Sidney weighed about 150 pounds. I’m over 6’-1” tall – where Sidney is about 5’-10.” Sidney looked like his dad, and I looked like my dad. We were not similar at all – we didn’t even look related.
What Henry Brown was seeing were the attributes, the characteristics, the gestures and mannerisms that we had formed when we were yet very, very small children together. Henry Brown and I were both surprised by that experience – and I learned from it.
Jesus said, He that has seen me has seen the Father.
John 3:34 For He whom God hath sent [Jesus], speaks the words of God: for God gives not the Spirit by measure unto Him.
Jesus is saying, “If you see me, you are also seeing the Father, because we are in complete agreement, we have the same nature and the same spirit.” Jesus and his Father are one. They are one in heart, mind, purpose and spirit. They are separate beings, but working together in complete harmony and cooperation of Spirit.
1Peter 3:22 [Jesus] is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
Jesus is in total subjection to his Father. Jesus only spoke what His Father told him to speak.
John 5:19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do: for what things so ever He does, these also doeth the Son likewise.
How did Jesus know when and where the Father was involved? The answer is, the Father revealed everything to Son, Jesus.
John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He, Himself does: and He will show Him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.
The Father sent Jesus into the world to speak for Him (John 5:23). Jesus discloses the mind of God. He exposes the thoughts of God. He too, is the Spirit of God.
John 5:30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father who hath sent me.
John 12:49 [Jesus said,] For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father who sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
John 12:50 And I know that His commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
Jesus is the Logos – the Word of God. Over and over this concept is made clear:
John 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
Jesus perfectly reflects the Father’s character:
Hebrews 1:3 says of Jesus, He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact representation of His very being,
They are two different beings, but like they say, like father, like son. That is the case here.
Colossians 1:15 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature.”
Jesus, during the course of His public ministry said many things that were counter intuitive—they just did not seem to make sense—even to His yet unconverted disciples.
John 5:37 The Father Himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape.
Many times, Jesus said, “No man has seen the Father, but, then He said, “You have seen the Father.” Which is it? Jesus was telling His disciples, “It is the Father’s voice you are hearing… It is the Father you are seeing.” Jesus said, “I have come to represent my Father.” Do we see the Father when Jesus speaks? Do we hear the will of the Father in the words of Jesus?
This occasion in John 14 took place just after Jesus’ final Passover and Footwashing. Jesus is the way to the Father:
John 14:6 Jesus said unto [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, except by me.
**Brethren, we are told in the Bible that it is possible – more than possible – obligatory – mandatory – that we see God the Father!
**John 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know Him, and have seen Him. [Greek Horao – in depth discernment, clearly – seen with the eyes]
Jesus’ whole entire life expressed who and what the Father is to His disciples and to us:
John 14:9 Jesus said unto [Philip], Have I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known me, Philip? He that has seen me has seen the Father; and how say you then, Shew us the Father? [Horao – in depth discernment, clearly – seen with the eyes]
John 10:14 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not my own; I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who does the works.
John 14:24 He that loves me not keeps not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s word – who sent me.
It is obvious that the disciples had seen Jesus bodily with their eyes. Jesus is telling them that since that is the case – He so represents the Father – by extension they have seen/perceived the Father as well.
Speaking of the hatred in the world, Jesus said:
John 15:24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
Those hateful worldly people saw enough of Jesus that He could say they had seen the Father also. [Horao – in depth discernment, clearly – seen with the eyes]
Brethren, for most of my lifetime, the Supreme Court of the United States has been slowly eroding our Constitution and the recognition of God as the great guarantor of our rights.
From the beginning of the United States of America, religious liberty has been a foundational element of American life. God graciously gave us our founding fathers who believed in a moral order to the universe that is governed by God.
In 1776, Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence that “we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights.” [that means, not capable of being taken away or denied]
America was founded on the rule of law – God’s law, to a great extent. Our Constitution paved the way for blessings to rain down on America. God has also not forgotten His promises to Abraham.
God spoke of a time period of punishment for 2,520 years, wherein His birthright promises would be withheld from the Israelitish peoples, before they would finally be restored, fulfilled, and come to fruition beginning in 1803.
Thomas Jefferson understood perfectly that God must receive the credit from the people of this nation. In 1781, when this young modern Israelitish nation of America was on the verge of being the recipient of great national blessings, Thomas Jefferson again wrote:
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are of the gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
It was America’s freedom of religious faith that set our country apart from Europe and the world—it is what made America a great and unique nation.
Brethren, please be deeply concerned about the direction in which our country is headed. These prophesies are dual in nature. It is like looking at tomorrow’s headlines today. These are God’s forewarnings to us—it is coming and is already here.
Isaiah 1:2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken [That is Jesus the Logos—the spokesman for the Father], I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isaiah 1:3 The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Israel, and as a nation, America, has forgotten her God.
Isaiah 1:4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isaiah 1:5 …the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Remember the last couple of summers…?
Isaiah 1:7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. [sound familiar?]
Isaiah 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.
Isaiah 1:20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
The Justices of our Supreme Court have capitulated in their judgment and succumbed to the to the perverted LBGQ and Planned Parenthood depraved ideology. They will not return to the Lord. They are desperately looking for the elusive place to draw a “line in the sand,” so as to save Roe v. Wade for a lawless people.
Brethren, we in God’s Church are held to a much higher standard than that of the Supreme Court Justices. They are sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States. God commands you and me, as a moral voice – never as a political voice to: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” (Isaiah 58:1)
America has turned its collective back on our Creator God. Dreadful and appalling curses are now in store for the United States of America.
Deuteronomy 28:20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou set thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
Brethren, please pray that God quickly intervenes to help the United States of America. Our nation was founded on God’s Law and the rule of law. We were blessed because of it. We quickly became the greatest nation this world has ever seen.
God blessed America immensely in power and wealth, but now, America is going through fundamental changes – we are losing our freedom and our morals. But, remember this: In God’s eyes it is never too late, because God has promised:
2Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Pray that the Justices have the courage to return to the basics this country was founded on. The Supreme Court knows that if they return to the true meaning of the First Amendment, it will bring a revolution. But, our nation could be saved!
It is God alone who grants each of us rights that cannot be taken away by any human authority. If the government can trample on our God given constitutional rights with impunity, how much longer will we be able to observe the Sabbath and the Holy Days; and before our religious broadcast is banned, and before our internet services are suspended by “law?”
John 9:4 Night is coming, when no one can work.
Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:
John 16:2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while he is near:
These are fearful prophecies for all of America – because in the same way we are slaughtering infants – we will be slaughtered.
One of the first values to disappear from society in a false religious system is the sanctity of life.
End: Jesus is the Word of God