It's important to realize what you don't know and learn about what's important. Obviously, to a Christian, the Bible is important.
You should take the time because it's one of those things that is so easy to do, to read a little bit every day, and yet it has such a deep effect on our lives. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. As the church, we should be committed to helping people understand the Bible and to live the life God talks about. David McGee discusses this and more as he continues in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 12. But first, do you ever feel like God is cutting away parts of you, like a gardener pruning a tree?
Well, I hope you said yes to this question because it means God is shaping you so that you can bear even more fruit in your life. We want to help you embrace God's pruning in your life by sending you Pastor David McGee's three-part audio series, Abiding in Christ, Keys to a Fruitful Life. It's our way of saying thank you for your gift to help share the truth of Scripture with more people around the world through Cross the Bridge. So get your copy of Abiding in Christ when you give today at crossthebridge.com and discover how you can bear more fruit for God's kingdom. Now here's David McGee with part two of his teaching, Who is Jesus? So Paul is writing to the church at Corinth.
He's writing, let's understand, he's writing a response back to a letter that they had written with a lot of questions. So it makes the book of Corinthians a great book for any church to study, to go verse by verse, chapter by chapter. So 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 1 says, now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant. You know that you were Gentiles carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus a cursed and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus a cursed and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Saying that Jesus is Lord unites the people who really passionately mean that. We're going to have a clergy meeting here. We've got Baptist, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Assembly of God, non-denom, Arab Christians, Jewish Christians all coming to meet here to eat together and pray with one another.
Why? Because we all believe that Jesus is Lord. Now we could sit around argue about what we should wear and what kind of music we should worship to or we could just say, you know what? You believe Jesus is Lord?
Yep. Praise God. Let's fellowship.
Amen. Now in the New Living Translation this verse says, so I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. One of the rumors that was going around in the church of Corinth that actually still exists a little bit today and Paul's going to be talking about the very controversial issue of tongues in this chapter, chapter 13 and chapter 14 and we'll be talking about it and we're going to be looking at the Bible, have a see what it says.
But people were saying that if you prayed an unknown tongue that you were cursing Jesus and Paul in this verse is saying, no, no, no. And he's also saying that you can't say Jesus is Lord unless the Holy Spirit is leading you. Jesus is Lord.
Can you say that mean that today? Say it with me. Jesus is Lord. Let's do it again. Jesus is Lord. One more time.
Sounds good. Jesus is Lord. Amen.
Y'all sound good. Yeah. Now what does this mean that Jesus is Lord? Let's understand that the word Lord here is in the Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew.
I have some suspicions that the book of Revelation may have been written in Hebrew, but that's a rabbit trail. I'll say that for another time. It's because of the phrasing and stuff, but the word here for Lord in the Greek is kurios and what that means is supreme authority. That's kind of interesting. Especially when you consider some people that say, well, Jesus never said he was God and the Bible really doesn't say he was God.
Yes, it does. He was crucified for claiming to be God. They felt like he was being blasphemous.
So they crucified him. There was a Bible version called the Septuagint. The Septuagint was the Hebrew Old Testament. The first language it was really translated into was the Greek in Alexandria, Egypt. The word Yahweh, which is the Hebrew word, when we say Jehovah, that's really kind of a mistranslation through a German thing, but the word Yahweh, Hebrew, supreme God, the I am, is translated kurios in the Greek.
Why is that important? Because it's the same word used here. Jesus is God would be another way to say that. Jesus claimed to be God. Jesus is God. And to be able to say that is to be led, if you will, by the Holy Spirit. And let's understand too that early Christians during this time, they were not martyred because they said Jesus is God. They were murdered because they said Jesus is the God. The people at this time believed that the Roman emperors and the Caesars were deity and they would say Caesar is Lord. And when you said Jesus is Lord, you were messing with the government structure, if you will.
Treason. I think it's important for us to remember that because as much as I am open to fellowshipping with other people who believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and we can agree to disagree about a lot of other stuff, I cannot fellowship with people, whatever religion, I can't have true heart spiritual fellowship with people who reject the Bible and reject Jesus as Messiah. And I'll hang out with them. I'll be their friends. I'll help them out anytime I can. I will pray for them.
I will not be condescending. And yet there's not fellowship there. We need to understand that. And to embrace somebody else and say, oh, you guys are okay and y'all just believe another form of the truth and, you know, we call him God, you call him Allah, it's all good.
No, it's not. You know, we've heard this, all roads lead to God. I used to, you know, as a young zealot, used to disagree with that strong, wrong. You know what I realized?
That's a true statement. All roads do lead to God. What happens when you get there is a different story. If you believe in Jesus as your Messiah and you're meeting God again, that's going to be a great reunion in it.
If you're meeting him for the first time, not good, not good. So everybody, all roads do lead to God and everyone is going to meet Jesus, every person. But if that's the first meeting, after you take your last breath here, that's your first meeting with Jesus, friend, you're in trouble.
Don't wait. You meet him here and you see him again later. Now, everybody, the Bible clearly teaches in Philippians chapter 2 verse 9 says, therefore, God also has highly exalted him, speaking of Jesus, given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of those in heaven and those on earth and of those under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And you need to understand Jesus Christ, Jesus is not his first name and Christ is last name.
People were identified by their community. That's why he's called Jesus of Nazareth. But Jesus was actually a very common name. His Hebrew name wasn't Jesus. Jesus is more of a Greek derivative. His name in the Hebrew was Yeshua. We translate the Hebrew word Yeshua into Joshua.
But it was a very common name. What's the Christ? Christ is from the Greek Christos. It means anointed, the anointed one. Christos is from the Hebrew word, Christos is the Greek word for the Hebrew word Mashiach or Messiah. Now, this isn't just a trivial exercise in Hebrew or Greek. This is understanding the title of the one we say we follow.
It's important for us to understand. So you could say Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Messiah, the Prince, Jesus the Christ. Why is it important what his name is?
Because his name is very important. Acts 4-12 says, nor is there salvation in any other. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
No other way, no other name. John 14-5, Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going and how can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus did not say, I am a way, a truth, a life. He said, I am the way, the truth, the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.
So how can you know the way? Jesus. How can you know the truth? Jesus. How can you know the life? Jesus.
How can you know Jesus? You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be back with more powerful insight from God's Word in just a moment. But first, what does it mean when God prunes away at parts of your life? Is he angry at you? Have you done something wrong?
Far from it. Jesus teaches in John 15 that God lovingly removes things from your life so that you can grow into the person he created you to be and bear more fruit for Christ. We want to help you do that by sending you Abiding in Christ, Keys to a Fruitful Life, a three-part audio series from Pastor David McGee on what it means to be pruned by God and how you can embrace the process. This encouraging resource is our way of thanking you for your gift to help reach more people with the powerful truth of the gospel through your life. The powerful truth of the gospel through Cross the Bridge. So go to crossthebridge.com today and request your copy of this series.
Now back to today's message. Keep your finger at 1 Corinthians 12 and turn back with me to Matthew. I want to read a short passage.
It's very revealing. We're going to Matthew 16. Matthew chapter 16. We're going to pick it up with verse 13. It says, when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, there's two Caesareas in the Bible.
Caesarea Maritima, Caesarea Philippi, by the way. He asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I am? The Son of Man am. He said, first of all, Jesus says, what are other people saying? And so they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah are one of the prophets. Verse 15, and he said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ. Do you see how that little language exercise brings illumination and revelation to that verse? You are the Christ, the anointed one, the Mashiach, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, Simon son of John. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Now, let's understand something. Some people interpret that passage to say that Jesus is saying, you're Peter, and I'm going to build my church on you, Peter.
No, that's not what he's saying. This revelation that Jesus is the Christ is what the church is built on, not on any man. You know, we took our missions trip to Italy, and you know, you go into the Vatican, and there's a statue of Peter, and his big toe is just worn away where people rub it and kiss it. I mean, I respect Peter and all that he did, but no, Jesus says, I will build my church. He said, look at the pronouns.
We talked about this recently. Jesus said, I, first of all, he's going to build it, and whose church is it going to be? Is it going to be, what is it? Is it the Lutheran Church, Presbyterian Church, Baptist Church, Calvary Chapel Church, non-denominational?
What is it? It's his church. Well, who are you grouped with?
Him. And who's going to build it? Well, not us. We're going to do what we're supposed to do. We're going to tell people about the good news. We're going to invite people. We're going to pray for people, but ultimately, God gives the increase. If we build on the truth that he is the Christ, he will build his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Now, let me help you with something. A lot of people, for some silly reason, look at that passage and think, okay, that means we're protected against the gates of hell. They won't be able to invade our quiet enclosure.
No, friend. A gate is not an offensive weapon. You ever seen anybody going out in a battle carrying a gate?
I'm going to fight. I've got a gate. You ever seen that in a movie?
I've never seen that in a movie. No, a gate is a defensive weapon. What's that mean? That we are on the attack, and the gate won't be able to withstand our attack. Amen.
Oh, yeah. They'll fuss. They'll squeal. They'll say things. They'll write articles. They'll do this. They'll do that. You know, whatever. We'll keep proclaiming the truth, and people will keep getting saved. Why? Because the gates of hell can't prevail against our attack because we're attacking in his name with his truth, with his power, for his glory.
Hmm. I'm going to start preaching here in a minute. So we call him Lord, but yet Jesus in Luke chapter six, he spoke to the religious people in Luke chapter six verse 46, and he says, but why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do the things which I say? Now, a lot of us look at that passage, and we beat ourselves up and go, oh my goodness, there's so much that I'm doing that he told me to do, and he told me not to do, and I'm not doing it. And he asked Jesus, what is the most important part of the law?
Remember what he said? Love God, love people. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul.
That's from the Shema. And then he said, love your neighbor as yourself. So if you call him Lord, Lord, love God, love people. I know a lot of people that are calling him Lord that don't love people.
First John talks about that. But let's understand, Jesus is not yet another option on our spiritual cosmic salad bar. It doesn't work like that.
The Bible doesn't say that. And I know people say, well, Christianity is very narrow-minded. What do you mean narrow-minded? Well, it's exclusive. Exclusive, whoever will can come. How's that exclusive? I know exclusive groups. There's groups where maybe you've got a certain ethnic background and only those people can join it.
Maybe there's certain groups where you have to make a certain amount of money per year to join that group, or maybe a certain group of people who work at a certain place. But Christianity exclusive? No. Whoever will. Whoever wants to.
Anybody. Anybody can get saved, ask Jesus to forgive them other sins. It doesn't matter what their denomination is. It doesn't matter if they're Jewish, if they're Islamic, if they're gay. It doesn't matter. Anybody can come and ask Jesus to forgive them other sins. Anybody.
How can it be labeled exclusive? Maybe on the fact that there's an absolute truth here, that Jesus is the only way to heaven. He is, friend. Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. He said, Father, if there's another way, then take this cup from me. But not what I want, but what you want. Not what I will, but what you will. If you believe there's many ways to heaven, you need to understand how you are characterizing the personality of God.
That God the Father heard that prayer of His Son and allowed Him to be crucified to provide yet another way to heaven. It's an absolute truth. There are certain things in life that are absolute truths. Two plus two is four. If I'm sitting in a room and, you know, it's two plus two and somebody says four, okay, that's right. And somebody says five, let me say, I'm sorry, that's wrong. Oh, don't be so narrow-minded. You're just being exclusive. No, the truth is two plus two is four. Professing themselves to be wise, they become as fools.
Here's the life lesson. Jesus is the only Messiah, the only Savior of mankind. The only one. He's the only one.
And what you do with Him and what you do with that makes all the difference. A lot of people will intellectually acquiesce or mentally agree with the statement that Jesus is a Savior. Yeah, that's not what He said. He said He's the Savior. He said there's no other way.
And so you either have to call Jesus a liar in order to be politically correct or you have to say, no, Jesus is the way. Friend, if I go to the doctor and the doctor says, well, I've got some bad news and some good news, I'd say, okay. Well, the bad news is you're terminal and you're going to die in a few months. So, okay, what's the good news? He said, what good news is we have a cure. As soon as you take this medication, a few weeks, you'll be all better.
Won't be any issues. I'm not going to look at Him and go, we only got one cure. It's kind of narrow-minded, isn't it, doctor? Now I'm going to say, praise God, there's a cure. I'm not looking for multiple ways to heaven. I'm grateful there's one. I'm not looking for multiple ways to have my sins forgiven. I'm grateful that there's one. I'm not looking for all sorts of messiahs or saviors, spiritually or politically speaking.
I'm grateful for there's one. Jesus came to die for the sins of the world. But you have to answer a question very personally. Is He your savior?
Is He your savior? And when I ask that question, please understand why I ask first because I care. I've dedicated my life so that people can answer that simple question.
A lot of energy, finances are directed towards asking people that simple question. You see, you're savior. And when I ask that question, please understand, when you're talking about forgiveness, you're talking about only by grace, only by faith. Is He the only thing you are trusting to get to heaven? See, the only thing you are trusting to get to heaven. See, because if you believe, yeah, I believe in Jesus, I'm going to heaven. And yet you ask some people, do you think you're going to heaven? Yes. Why do you think that? Well, because I'm basically a good person. Wrong answer.
That two-question test is very revealing. You think you're going to heaven? Yeah. Why? Well, because you know, I've kept most of the Ten Commandments. No, you haven't. We'll save that whole thing for another time.
But you haven't. You're going to heaven? Yeah, yeah. Why do you think that? I go to church. Not enough. Well, I think I'm going to heaven. Why is that? Because, you know, I believe that Jesus is the Messiah.
Not enough. The demons believed and trembled. The Bible clearly says you have to confess and believe. So just having a belief that He is the Messiah up here is a lot different than in your heart asking Him to be your Savior and to forgive you. I know a lot of people that know a lot of stuff about the Bible and would even agree with a statement that Jesus is the Savior, but they don't know Him. It's bizarre that churches are filled with people who don't know Him. That there's people even in this one right now who don't know Him.
And we know that later on, Jesus says, people are going to come to me and they're going to say, Lord, Lord, let me in. He's going to say, I didn't know you. He's not going to say you didn't do enough. He's not going to say you belong to the wrong group. You didn't look right or dress right or your hair was too long.
You had too much ink or whatever. No, no, no, no. He's, I didn't know you. You never stopped to introduce yourself to me and ask me personally, verbally, to be your Messiah.
That's what it all comes down to. Who is Jesus to you? Who is Jesus to you? You can know today that Jesus is your Messiah. Maybe you've been in church for years and that's great.
You can learn a lot of good stuff in churches, but that's not really the question. The question is, do you know Him personally as your savior? Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?
You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you. Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me that I could be forgiven and I believe you were raised from the dead that I could have a new life and I've done wrong things. I have sinned and I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name.
Amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.
You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we'd love to hear from you. You can call us toll free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. Do you feel like you're bearing fruit for Christ, yet God keeps pruning away at your life and you're not sure why? If so, we'd love to send you Pastor David McGee's series, Abiding in Christ, Keys to a Fruitful Life.
This encouraging resource shares from Jesus' own words as found in John 15, where he teaches that God's pruning is a sign that he is pleased with you and wants to prepare you to bear even more fruit for his kingdom. This series is our way of thanking you for your gift today to help share the gospel with thousands around the world who need to hear God's word in clear, straightforward language. So visit crossthebridge.com today to request your copy of Abiding in Christ when you give. You know each day comes with its share of stresses, so what better way to wake up than with an encouraging word from the Lord? Visit crossthebridge.com and sign up now for David McGee's email devotionals. Each devotion includes scripture and a message from the heart of David McGee. It's easy and it's free. Sign up today at crossthebridge.com. And be sure to join us next time on Cross the Bridge with David McGee to hear more from the book of First Corinthians. We'll see you then.
