214 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
214 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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Jesus Christ The Son of God
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Christianity differs from all religions, because it is more than a religion --
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it is the life of the Son of God made living in man. He is the supreme subject
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of each book of the New Testament, and fulfills all the promises of God in the
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Old Testament, from His incarnation to His Second Coming as "Lord of lords and
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King of kings."
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[Revelation 17:12-14 NT] "And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings,
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who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings
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with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose and they give their
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power and authority to the beast. These will wage war against the Lamb,
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and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of
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kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful."
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He is the God-man Christ Jesus in glory, exalted above all creatures. Jesus
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said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth" [Matthew 28:18
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NT].
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During His earthly ministry, He claimed to be God incarnate (in human flesh).
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He is all that He claimed to be, or He is less than the least.
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[Revelation 1:4-8 NT] John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to
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you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come; and from the
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seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ, the
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faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of
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the earth. To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His
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blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father;
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to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is
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coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced
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Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen.
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"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and
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who is to come, the Almighty."
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Before His claim can be denied, there are some things that must be accounted
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for:
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His virgin birth;
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His holy, sinless life;
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His many miracles;
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His vicarious death and His bodily resurrection.
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THE DEITY OF JESUS CHRIST
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[John 1:1-5 NT] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
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the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being
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by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In
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Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the
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darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."
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The deity of Jesus Christ, or His God nature, is well established in the New
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Testament. Some of the facts are:
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(1) He is called God by the Apostle John (above verse 1).
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(2) He is called God by the Apostle Thomas.
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[John 20:28 NT] "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock,
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among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the
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church of God which He purchased with His own blood."
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(3) He is called God by God the Father.
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[Hebrews 1:1-8 NT] God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the
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prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has
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spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,
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through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His
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glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all
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things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of
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sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; having
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become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more
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excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever
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say, "THOU ART MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN THEE"? And again, "I
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WILL BE A FATHER TO HIM, AND HE SHALL BE A SON TO ME" ? And when He
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again brings the firstborn into the world, He says, "AND LET ALL THE
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ANGELS OF GOD WORSHIP HIM." And of the angels He says, "WHO MAKES
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HIS ANGELS WINDS, AND HIS MINISTERS A FLAME OF FIRE." But of the Son
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He says, "THY THRONE, O GOD, IS FOREVER AND EVER, AND THE RIGHTEOUS
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SCEPTER IS THE SCEPTER OF HIS KINGDOM."
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(4) He claimed to be God in that He was with the Father before creation.
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[John 17:1-5 NT] These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to
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heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that
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the Son may glorify Thee, even as Thou gavest Him authority over all
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mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal
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life. And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only
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true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent. I glorified Thee on
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the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou has given Me to
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do. And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the
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glory which I had with Thee before the world was."
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(5) He claimed to be God in that He was before Abraham.
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[John 8:51-59 NT] "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My
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word he shall never see death." The Jews said to Him, "Now we know
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that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You
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say, 'If anyone keeps Me word, he shall never taste of death.'
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Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The
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prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?" Jesus
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answered, "If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father
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who glorifies Me, of whom you say, 'He is our God'; and you have not
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come to know Him, but I know Him; and If I say that I do not know
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Him, I shall be a liar like you, but I do know Him, and keep His
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word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and
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was glad." The Jews therefore said to Him, "You are not yet fifty
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years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly,
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truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Therefore they
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picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out
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of the temple.
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(6) He received worship, and only God is to be worshiped.
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[Matthew 14:33 NT] And those who were in the boat worshiped Him,
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saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"
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Angels refused worship.
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[Revelation 22:8,9 NT] And I, John, am the one who heard and saw
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these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at
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the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me,
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"Do no do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren
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the prophets and of those who heed the words of this book; worship
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God."
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Man refused worship.
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[Acts 10:25,26 NT] And when it came about that Peter entered,
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Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter
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raised him up, saying, "Stand up; I too am just a man."
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(7) He forgives sin. Only God can forgive sin.
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[Mark 2:1-12 NT] And when He had come back to Capernaum several days
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afterward, it was heard that He was at home. And many were gathered
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together, so that there was no longer room, even near the door; and
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He was speaking the word to them. And they came, bringing to Him a
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paralytic, carried by four men. And being unable to get to Him
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because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Him; and when they
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had dug an opening, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic
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was lying. And Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, "My
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son, your sins are forgiven." But there were some of the scribes
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sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, "Why does this man speak
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that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive sins but God alone?"
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And immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that they were reasoning
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that way within themselves, said to them, "Why are you reasoning
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about these things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the
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paralytic, `Your sins are forgiven'; or to say, `Arise, and take up
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your pallet and walk'? But in order that you may know that the Son
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of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" -- He said to the
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paralytic -- "I say to you, rise, take up your pallet, and go home."
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And he rose and immediately took up the pallet and went out in the
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sight of all; so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God,
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saying, "We have never seen anything like this."
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(8) He is creator and maker of all things.
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[Colossians 1:13-17 NT] For He delivered us from the domain of
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darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in
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whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. And He is the
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image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by
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Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth,
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visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
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authorities -- all things have been created by Him and for Him. And
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He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
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(9) He is sustainer of all things. Only God can control the universe.
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[Hebrews 1:1-3 NT] God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the
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prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has
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spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things,
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through whom also He made the world. And He is the radiance of His
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glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all
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things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of
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sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;
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(10) He claimed to have "all authority ... in heaven and on earth." God
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has all authority.
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[Matthew 28:18-20 NT] And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying,
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"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
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therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
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the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them
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to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
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even to the end of the age."
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(11) He walked upon the blue waters of Galilee. The winds and the waves
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obeyed His command. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He gave
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sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He cast out demons and
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made the lame to walk. He turned water to wine, and fed five thousand
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with the lunch of a lad.
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d he saw it and
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was glad." The Jews therefore said to Him, "You are not yet fifty
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years old, and have You seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly,
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truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am." Therefore they
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picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out
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of the temple.
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(6) He received worship, and only God is to be worshiped.
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[Matthew 14:33 NT] And those who were in the boat worshiped Him,
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saying, "You are certainly God's Son!"
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Angels refused worship.
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[Revelation 22:8,9 NT] And I, John, am the one who heard and saw
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these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship at
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the feet of the angel who showed me these things. And he said to me,
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"Do no do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brethren
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the prophets and of those who heed the words of this
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