male announcer: This
presentation is brought to you
00:00:02.16\00:00:03.67
by the friends of the
Amazing Facts ministry.
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Doug Batchelor: One of the most
important topics in scripture is
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the subject of "Family."
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From Genesis to Revelation,
family is explained and
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magnified as being both
a blessing and a necessity.
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There is a heavenly family
above, the Father, the Son, Holy
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Spirit and all the angels,
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and there are families on the
earth in every nation, tongue,
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tribe, and people.
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And there's also such a thing as
a church family, a collection of
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people coming together
for one specific purpose:
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to worship God.
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It's that unity in the
assembly, which is of particular
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importance to God.
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In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul
urges us "to keep the unity of
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the spirit in
the bond of peace."
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If you think about it, this
is what composes a home, people
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uniting to form a
family, creating a home.
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Friends, Jesus is
wanting to adopt you.
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He's inviting you
to join His family.
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He draws everyone unto Him
to Calvary with the intention to
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unite His people on earth and
prepare them for that journey to
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the heavenly home.
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It's my hope that today's
program will bring you closer to
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Jesus and inspire you with a
desire to be part of His family.
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And don't forget, stay tuned for
a very important free offer at
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the end of this presentation.
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Doug: The message today, as you
could tell from the scripture
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reading, is dealing
with the fullness of time.
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And when we think of the
fullness of time during this
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time of year, we're thinking,
of course, about Christ's
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First Coming.
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But Jesus actually
used that phrase twice.
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Not only does Paul say in
Galatians chapter 4, "But when
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the fullness of time was come,
God sent forth His Son, made of
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a woman," speaking
of the birth of Christ.
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But also when Jesus began His
ministry, that marked another
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time in Bible prophecy history.
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And it says there in Mark
chapter 1, verse 15, he began
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preaching and the first words
out of Jesus's mouth were, "The
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time is fulfilled, the
kingdom of God is at hand.
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Repent, and believe the gospel."
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So we're gonna be talking about
some of the prophecies in the
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Bible that prove that
Jesus was Who He says He was.
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You know, there are about 300
Old Testament prophecies that
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provide a number of precise
identifying characteristics
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regarding the Messiah.
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And by the way, the word Messiah
means "the anointed one."
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And it also, in Greek,
it's Christos, or we call Him
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the Christ.
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That's why when they christen a
ship, and when your parents put
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suntan lotion on you, they
are anointing you, they are
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christening you.
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That's what that means.
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It's the word Messiah.
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There would be one who would
be filled with all the fullness
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of God.
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He would be anointed with,
filled, saturated with the Holy
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Spirit when God would come to
the world in the form of a man.
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And that was Jesus.
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But we're gonna show you
from the Bible that, that is so.
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So can't talk about all 300
prophecies, but we're gonna take
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a number of them.
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And I hope that your
faith is strengthened through
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this presentation.
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From Genesis to Revelation, it
talks about this battle between
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three primary characters.
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You've got the seed of the
woman, the Messiah who would
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come, Christ.
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You've got the woman, and
that's a symbol for the church,
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the people of God.
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And you've got the
serpent or the dragon.
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First prophecy in the Bible you
find in Genesis chapter 3, verse
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15, where God said to Adam and
Eve there in the garden, "And
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I'll put enmity," there'd be
this animosity, this opposition,
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this war, "between you and
the woman," the serpent and the
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woman, "between your
seed," that's Babylon and her
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daughters, the serpent
in its seed, "and her seed.
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And he shall bruise your head
and you shall bruise his heel,"
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the heel of the church.
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That's, you know, when you walk,
if you're, I sprained my ankle
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a little this week and I was
limping for a couple of days,
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hurt the foot, and it affects
your walk, and the devil has
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been biting at the heel of the
believers all through history.
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But it says in the end, that the
seed of the woman would crush
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the head.
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If you get your head crushed,
that's a lot different than
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having your foot bit.
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There would be a mortal wound
that would finally be dealt to
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the serpent.
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And you trace the prophecies in
the Bible, you go to the end of
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the Bible, and you read
in Revelation chapter 9.
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Sorry, Revelation chapter 12,
verse 9, "So the great dragon
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was cast out, that serpent of
old, called the Devil and Satan,
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who deceives the whole world,"
and he tries to destroy the
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woman and the seed of the woman,
as you read in that chapter.
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So this battle, the theme
of the Bible is consistent.
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You know, in the first
three chapters, you find man in
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a paradise and he's
surrounded with everything good.
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But then because of the serpent,
you have sin that comes in,
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and all the misery and pain.
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You get to the last three
chapters of the Bible, and
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you have the serpent
destroyed, and then you have
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the Garden of Eden restored.
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And once again, man is
eating from the tree of life.
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So the whole Bible is about
how to get back to the garden,
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from the first three chapters
to the last three chapters.
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And the key, of
course, is the Messiah.
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It's the Savior.
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God would come to earth as
our Savior and our substitute.
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So we're gonna ask a
number of questions here and let
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the prophecies answer.
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Now, most of the prophecies
we're looking at are in
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the Old Testament.
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Just wanna remind you, you
know, we have people at all
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different levels in
their walk with the Lord.
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So you got the New
Testament book of Matthew,
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the Old Testament.
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All of this was
written before Jesus was born.
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This talks about
the birth of Christ.
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Three quarters of the
Bible is Old Testament.
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Most of the New Testament was
written by people that only read
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the Old Testament.
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Did you catch?
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Talks about Jesus even after
the Resurrection, or talks about
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Paul and the apostles.
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And they're always proving that
Jesus was the Christ, pardon me,
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from the Old Testament.
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And so we're gonna look at those
scriptures today and I think
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you're gonna see why
they came to that conclusion.
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First of all, where
did Jesus come from?
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He made some
pretty bold statements.
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He says in John 6:36, or
6:38, "For I have come down
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from heaven."
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Not only does He say it there,
you can read in John 3, verse
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13, "No one has ascended into
heaven but He that came down
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from heaven, that is, the
Son of Man who is in heaven."
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He said he came from a
place that is out of this world.
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You can also read here in John
18, verse 36, "Jesus said, 'My
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kingdom,'" He told Pilate, "My
Kingdom is not of this world."
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So Jesus came from outside
of this world, into this world,
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and you and I will not
understand through eternity.
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We'll have a better idea when
we get to the kingdom, how much
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Jesus condescended to become
a human and come to our world.
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It'd be like you and I deciding
to be a worm in a city dump.
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To go from the glory that He had
and the adoration He had, and
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come down and be treated like He
was, it's just incomprehensible.
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What would bring Him to do that
other than the explanation that
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He loves us.
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Did Jesus claim divinity?
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Now, there have been some people
who've been debating this for
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years, but I don't see how you
can read the Bible and deny it.
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You can read in Mark 2, verse
10, "The Son of Man has power
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on earth to forgive sins."
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And even the Jews knew God
and God only can forgive sin.
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There is one God, Jehovah is our
only Savior, and yet Jesus said
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He is the Savior.
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The Bible tells us that all
the criteria that you would find
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about God, you find about Jesus.
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Only God knows the thoughts of
men's hearts, yet Jesus always
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knew what they were thinking.
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The Bible says you are to
worship God only, one of the
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Ten Commandments.
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But in Hebrews, it says
even the angels worship Him.
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And when He rose from the dead,
He said, "All Hail," and they
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worshiped Him.
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And so Jesus fills
all the criteria of God.
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You can look in John 8:58, Jesus
said to them, "Most assuredly,
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I say to you, before
Abraham was," what did He say?
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"I AM."
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That is the name that
God gave to Moses as the self
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existent one.
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Furthermore, you read in
John 10, verse 30 and verse 33,
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He said, "I and my
Father or are one."
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The leaders listening
understood what He was saying.
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The Jews answered and
said, You being a man are making
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Yourself God.
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Now, if I said that,
it would be blasphemy.
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But if Jesus said it, it's true.
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If I say that I'm a
great basketball player, that's
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bragging and lying.
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If Michael Jordan
says, I'm just not very good.
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That's not
humility, that's dishonesty.
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He has every right to
say I'm one of the best,
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because he was, you
know what I'm saying?
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So Jesus is stating a fact.
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He's not bragging or it's
not the visions of grandeur.
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Furthermore read in John 10,
verse 17, "Therefore, my Father
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loves me, because I lay
down my life, that I might take
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it again.
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No one takes it from me,
but I lay it down of myself.
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I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again."
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How could anyone have power
to lay down their life, be dead,
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and power to
take it back up again?
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Except you are divine.
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So how do we evaluate
these very big claims?
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Where do we go?
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We've got to look at the history
that we have, and most accounts
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about the life of
Jesus are in the Bible.
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Though we will
look at one or two that
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are extra-biblical today.
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"Search the scriptures, these
are they that testify of me."
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And if you look, for instance,
in Luke 24, when He rose from
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the dead in verse 27,
He's walking on the road with
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two disciples
following the Resurrection.
00:10:25.29\00:10:27.36
They don't know that He's
raised, and He says, "O, fools
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and slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken."
00:10:31.13\00:10:34.86
Notice He says, "'all
that the prophets have spoken.'
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Beginning at Moses and all of
the prophets, He expounded unto
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them in all of the scriptures
the things concerning Himself."
00:10:42.10\00:10:47.04
That means that the Old
Testament is filled from Moses
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to Malachi with prophecies
that talk about Jesus.
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Doesn't mean every word of the
Old Testament is talking about
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Jesus, but you can find the
theme of Jesus, the Messiah,
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the plan of salvation all
through the Old Testament.
00:10:59.75\00:11:03.79
Hebrews 10, verse 7, "Then
I said, behold, I come (In the
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volume of the book
it is written of me,)
00:11:07.96\00:11:10.73
To do your will, O God."
00:11:10.77\00:11:12.63
The volume of the book, it
is written of Christ, and He was
00:11:12.67\00:11:16.97
the living
expression of the will of God.
00:11:17.01\00:11:19.44
He lived out every aspect
of the will of God in His life.
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So let's begin to track down
how do we know that Jesus was
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the Messiah?
00:11:28.52\00:11:29.75
Well, the Bible gives us some
very specific understanding on
00:11:29.78\00:11:33.19
the family tree of the Messiah,
00:11:33.22\00:11:36.59
what people, tribe, and family
would the Messiah come from.
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Way back in Genesis chapter
12, God spoke to Abraham and He
00:11:40.46\00:11:44.83
said, "In you, all the families
of the earth would be blessed."
00:11:44.87\00:11:49.70
In fact, He repeats this promise
to Abraham three different times
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or slightly different, but He
made it very clear that I have
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called you out of Babylon to the
promised land, and through your
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descendants, the
Messiah would come.
00:12:01.15\00:12:04.09
But you know, Abraham was not
only the father of uh Isaac and
00:12:04.12\00:12:09.06
Ishmael from which you get,
you know, the whole Arab family.
00:12:09.09\00:12:14.30
Not every Arab is
a Muslim, you know?
00:12:14.30\00:12:17.27
There are Arab Christians and
a person can be born with Jewish
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blood and become a Muslim.
00:12:21.54\00:12:23.17
I know of Jews that
have become Buddhists.
00:12:23.20\00:12:25.94
But Islam did start from
the descendants of Abraham, but
00:12:25.97\00:12:33.35
Abraham also had a lot
of children with Keturah.
00:12:33.38\00:12:36.12
So which son was the
Messiah going to come through?
00:12:36.15\00:12:39.05
Well, the Bible spells it out.
00:12:39.09\00:12:40.96
He said to Isaac, I will give
your descendants all these lands
00:12:40.99\00:12:45.49
and He repeated the promise to
Isaac, and in your seed, through
00:12:45.53\00:12:49.80
your descendants, all
the nations would be blessed.
00:12:49.83\00:12:53.23
The Messiah would come through
the descendants of Isaac.
00:12:53.27\00:12:56.40
Now, Isaac was a type of Christ.
00:12:56.44\00:12:59.24
When Isaac went up the mountain
with His father, he was a
00:12:59.27\00:13:01.84
willing sacrifice there
in the prime of his life.
00:13:01.88\00:13:06.11
And he had the wood on his back
as Jesus had the cross on His
00:13:06.15\00:13:09.15
back as He went up Calvary.
00:13:09.18\00:13:11.65
And the Bible tells us that,
in the same way, it looked like
00:13:11.69\00:13:15.26
Isaac was doomed, but he came
down the mountain alive, Jesus,
00:13:15.29\00:13:20.20
also rose from the dead.
00:13:20.23\00:13:22.13
So He's a type of Christ,
but the Messiah was gonna come
00:13:22.16\00:13:25.57
through Isaac.
00:13:25.60\00:13:26.90
Now, Isaac had two sons.
00:13:26.94\00:13:28.27
What were their names?
00:13:28.30\00:13:30.07
Jacob and Esau.
00:13:30.11\00:13:32.64
They were very different, but it
tells us which of those two sons
00:13:32.67\00:13:36.88
that the Messiah
would come through.
00:13:36.91\00:13:38.48
God said to Jacob in Numbers 24,
verse 17, "A star shall come out
00:13:38.51\00:13:44.32
of Jacob, a sceptre
shall rise out of Israel."
00:13:44.35\00:13:48.09
And even the prophecies that
were given before their birth to
00:13:48.12\00:13:50.69
Rebekah, made it clear
that the older Esau would serve
00:13:50.73\00:13:54.20
the younger.
00:13:54.20\00:13:55.53
That it would be through the
younger, Jacob, who took hold
00:13:55.56\00:13:59.37
of his brother's heel, the one
who wrestled with God, his name
00:13:59.40\00:14:02.37
was Jacob, later changed to
Israel, meaning a prince with
00:14:02.40\00:14:05.71
God, because he wrestled with
God and would not let go until
00:14:05.74\00:14:09.41
he had that blessing.
00:14:09.44\00:14:11.75
But then Jacob had 12 sons.
00:14:11.78\00:14:14.12
So which one of them is
the Messiah gonna come through?
00:14:14.15\00:14:16.95
The Bible is so specific.
00:14:16.99\00:14:18.79
You read here in Genesis
49, when Jacob was blessing his
00:14:18.82\00:14:21.69
sons, it said, "The sceptre will
not depart from Judah, Nor a
00:14:21.72\00:14:26.36
lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh come; And unto him
00:14:26.39\00:14:31.33
shall be the
gathering of the people."
00:14:31.37\00:14:33.74
I always thought it was
interesting that Judah was
00:14:33.77\00:14:37.94
the one of the brothers
who suggested they sell Joseph
00:14:37.97\00:14:41.24
instead of killing him,
which was, you know, better,
00:14:41.28\00:14:45.38
of course.
00:14:45.41\00:14:47.22
But it was
Judas that sold Jesus.
00:14:47.25\00:14:49.88
But later Judah went through
a real conversion, and when he
00:14:49.92\00:14:52.55
went down to Egypt, he had
changed so much, that he told
00:14:52.59\00:14:56.22
Joseph, he didn't
know Joseph was Joseph.
00:14:56.26\00:14:57.69
He told this Prime
Minister, he said, "I will take
00:14:57.73\00:15:00.93
Benjamin's place.
00:15:00.96\00:15:02.73
I will be a slave."
00:15:02.76\00:15:04.23
He was willing to be
the great substitute.
00:15:04.27\00:15:06.13
He had changed.
00:15:06.17\00:15:07.50
Well, the Messiah was gonna
come through the tribe of Judah.
00:15:07.54\00:15:10.54
Well, Judah had at least
three sons, two of his sons died
00:15:10.57\00:15:14.38
before they we're
able to procreate.
00:15:14.41\00:15:17.71
And it tells us that the Messiah
was gonna come through the clan
00:15:17.75\00:15:23.28
of David.
00:15:23.32\00:15:24.75
You read about this in Isaiah
11, verse 1 and 2, "There shall
00:15:24.79\00:15:29.22
come a rod, a stem from Jesse,"
the house of Jesse, and Jesse
00:15:29.26\00:15:34.00
had several sons, but which son?
00:15:34.00\00:15:36.06
And it said, "A branch shall
grow from his roots: and the
00:15:36.10\00:15:39.10
Spirit of the Lord
shall rest upon him."
00:15:39.13\00:15:41.70
Later, the prophet Nathan
comes to David and says that
00:15:41.74\00:15:45.67
"your son will build me a
house that will last forever."
00:15:45.71\00:15:48.31
Speaking of the son of David,
not only did Solomon build
00:15:48.34\00:15:51.15
a temple, but the son of David
that would build a house that
00:15:51.18\00:15:54.12
would last forever is Jesus.
00:15:54.15\00:15:55.92
That's why Jesus said, destroy
this temple made with hands,
00:15:55.95\00:15:58.99
and in three days, I
will make one without hands.
00:15:59.02\00:16:01.32
So you notice how the focus
keeps getting a little sharper
00:16:01.36\00:16:04.79
as we're going through these
prophecies, who is gonna be
00:16:04.83\00:16:06.90
the Messiah.
00:16:06.93\00:16:08.20
By the way, I heard
somebody did--since there's 300
00:16:08.23\00:16:10.87
prophecies in the Old Testament
that help identify Jesus.
00:16:10.90\00:16:14.90
Someone did some math and they
said the statistical odds of
00:16:14.94\00:16:20.41
finding one person that meets
the criteria of only eight of
00:16:20.44\00:16:24.81
these prophecies is, what
is the word, a zillion beyond
00:16:24.85\00:16:29.02
a trillion?
00:16:29.05\00:16:30.39
What's the next?
00:16:30.42\00:16:33.02
A google?
00:16:33.05\00:16:35.19
Google is one of those.
00:16:35.22\00:16:36.62
Anyway, it's an astronomical
number just so far beyond
00:16:36.66\00:16:40.16
the possibility that it could
be coincidence that all of these
00:16:40.20\00:16:44.17
criteria would
line up in one person.
00:16:44.20\00:16:47.14
Someone said it's something
like taking the state of Texas,
00:16:47.17\00:16:51.87
covering it with quarters 2 feet
deep, and then telling you that
00:16:51.91\00:16:56.24
there is one quarter out
there that has been dipped in
00:16:56.28\00:17:00.12
gold, go find it.
00:17:00.15\00:17:02.95
You know how big Texas is?
00:17:02.98\00:17:05.19
So you cover the state of Texas
with quarters 2 feet deep, you
00:17:05.22\00:17:08.29
gotta find that one quarter.
00:17:08.32\00:17:09.79
It's just the
odds are astronomical.
00:17:09.82\00:17:13.93
So we know Jesus came,
of course, through the tribe
00:17:13.96\00:17:17.00
of David.
00:17:17.03\00:17:18.37
And let's look at
some verses to prove that
00:17:18.40\00:17:19.70
now from the New Testament.
00:17:19.73\00:17:21.10
You read in Luke
chapter 1, verse 26
00:17:21.14\00:17:23.34
and verse 27, "Now in the sixth
month the angel Gabriel was sent
00:17:23.37\00:17:28.98
by God to a city of
Galilee, named Nazareth."
00:17:29.01\00:17:32.88
Where was the angel sent?
00:17:32.91\00:17:35.45
Nazareth.
00:17:35.48\00:17:36.82
You know what
Nazareth means in Aramaic?
00:17:36.85\00:17:39.12
It's the word branch, that
comes up later for two reasons.
00:17:39.15\00:17:43.99
"To a virgin betrothed to a
man whose name was Joseph, of
00:17:44.03\00:17:48.66
the house of," who?
00:17:48.70\00:17:50.60
"The house of David."
00:17:50.63\00:17:52.47
Not only that, but said
he'd be born of a virgin.
00:17:52.50\00:17:55.47
That's a whole
separate prophecy that you find.
00:17:55.50\00:17:57.91
Look here in the book of Isaiah
chapter 7, verse 14, "Behold,
00:17:57.94\00:18:02.21
a virgin will conceive and bear
a Son, and you will call His
00:18:02.24\00:18:06.18
name Emmanuel," which is
being interpreted God with us.
00:18:06.21\00:18:09.55
And then you go to the New
Testament and we see that that
00:18:09.58\00:18:12.45
was fulfilled there.
00:18:12.49\00:18:14.06
Now the birth, this is Matthew
1:18, the birth of Jesus Christ
00:18:14.09\00:18:17.79
was as follows, "After His
mother Mary was betrothed to
00:18:17.83\00:18:21.13
Joseph," that means they
were engaged, "before they came
00:18:21.16\00:18:24.67
together, she was found to be
with child of the Holy Spirit."
00:18:24.70\00:18:29.30
And we heard where the angel
said, "The power of the Almighty
00:18:29.34\00:18:32.21
would come over you."
00:18:32.24\00:18:33.81
And that's why, you know, Jesus
is this supernatural, and that's
00:18:33.84\00:18:39.98
the correct word, supernatural
combination of human and divine.
00:18:40.02\00:18:47.06
The place of his birth
is spelled out in the Bible.
00:18:47.09\00:18:50.89
You can read the prophecy here
in the book of Micah, chapter 5,
00:18:50.93\00:18:54.00
verse 2, "But you, Bethlehem
Ephratah," now, the reason he
00:18:54.00\00:18:57.43
says Bethlehem Ephratah
is there were two places
00:18:57.47\00:18:59.90
called Bethlehem.
00:18:59.93\00:19:01.30
You know, it's like in North
America, you got several cities
00:19:01.34\00:19:03.37
called Farmington,
it means Farming Town.
00:19:03.41\00:19:05.94
There's a couple of Portlands,
you got Portland, Maine, you got
00:19:05.97\00:19:09.01
Portland, Oregon.
00:19:09.04\00:19:10.71
But, so there was a--the word
Bethlehem means house of bread.
00:19:10.75\00:19:14.32
It was not an uncommon--anywhere
that had a big bakery.
00:19:14.35\00:19:16.89
It might be called a
house of bread, but this was the
00:19:16.92\00:19:18.85
Bethlehem Ephratah, and this is
where Rachel died, giving birth
00:19:18.89\00:19:23.63
to Benjamin.
00:19:23.66\00:19:25.23
And she was buried there and it
was just outside, or not too far
00:19:25.26\00:19:29.30
from Jerusalem.
00:19:29.33\00:19:31.20
"But you Bethlehem Ephratah,
though you are little among the
00:19:31.23\00:19:34.00
thousands of Judah," it's a
little Hamlet, "yet out of you
00:19:34.04\00:19:38.04
shall come forth to me the one
who's the ruler in Israel; whose
00:19:38.07\00:19:42.48
goings forth are from
old, even from everlasting."
00:19:42.51\00:19:45.55
Now, that prophecy is so clear,
it can't be misunderstood.
00:19:45.58\00:19:48.68
That prophecy is so clear that
when the wise men came looking
00:19:48.72\00:19:52.69
for the one who was born King
of the Jews, and Herod got all
00:19:52.72\00:19:56.96
upset and agitated that there
was gonna be someone to replace
00:19:56.99\00:20:00.30
him, I don't know why he
was worried about a baby king at
00:20:00.33\00:20:03.37
that point because he was
already a pretty old man, and
00:20:03.40\00:20:05.43
he had nothing to worry about
by the time the baby grew up.
00:20:05.47\00:20:08.04
He called in the scribes and
Pharisees and said, where does
00:20:08.07\00:20:10.81
the prophecy say that
the Messiah would be born?
00:20:10.84\00:20:14.18
They knew, they said Bethlehem.
00:20:14.21\00:20:16.88
So it was really
clear, it's clear from this,
00:20:16.91\00:20:20.15
was Jesus born in Bethlehem?
00:20:20.18\00:20:22.68
He was.
00:20:22.72\00:20:24.02
Now there's a problem, where
did the angel come and appear
00:20:24.05\00:20:27.22
to Mary?
00:20:27.26\00:20:29.12
Nazareth,
remember we just read that?
00:20:29.16\00:20:31.53
"An angel came to a virgin
that was in the city of Galilee
00:20:31.56\00:20:34.30
called Nazareth."
00:20:34.30\00:20:35.80
Nazareth is 70 miles north, and
she is found to be with child
00:20:35.83\00:20:41.17
70 miles north.
00:20:41.20\00:20:42.90
And 70 miles back then was more
than 70 miles today, because
00:20:42.94\00:20:48.18
70 miles today,
you conquer in an hour.
00:20:48.21\00:20:50.11
Some of you
conquer it in half an hour,
00:20:50.15\00:20:52.45
depends on how you drive.
00:20:52.48\00:20:54.85
But back then it was a
pretty serious journey.
00:20:54.88\00:20:58.29
So God has to somehow get Mary
down to Bethlehem before she
00:20:58.32\00:21:02.29
gives birth.
00:21:02.32\00:21:03.63
Enter Octavian Caesar,
also known as Augustus Caesar.
00:21:03.66\00:21:07.66
We've got a
month named after him.
00:21:07.66\00:21:09.50
He was one of the most
successful leaders in history.
00:21:09.53\00:21:12.07
He ruled Rome for about
40 years, and it was during
00:21:12.10\00:21:15.50
the time of what they
call the great "Pax Romana."
00:21:15.54\00:21:19.04
That means the Roman peace.
00:21:19.07\00:21:21.51
See when Jesus came,
it was ideal in its timing
00:21:21.54\00:21:25.08
historically, and it
was ideal in its location.
00:21:25.11\00:21:29.68
Why was it ideal in its timing?
00:21:29.72\00:21:32.02
Because Augustus Caesar, he
was the one who really went and
00:21:32.05\00:21:36.69
stretched the Roman
roads farther than ever.
00:21:36.73\00:21:39.36
It was like the internet,
communication--Karen was in
00:21:39.39\00:21:42.30
Greece a little while ago, and
she was telling me about seeing
00:21:42.33\00:21:44.50
the ancient Roman roads, and
I told her, they looked a lot
00:21:44.53\00:21:47.00
better back then
than they do now.
00:21:47.04\00:21:50.37
And they used to go screaming
up and down those roads with
00:21:50.41\00:21:53.91
chariots, like the Pony
Express and they'd change
00:21:53.94\00:21:56.01
riders and messages went
flashing through the Empire.
00:21:56.04\00:21:59.48
For them, it
was lightning speed.
00:21:59.51\00:22:01.58
And so communications
happened very quickly.
00:22:01.62\00:22:04.62
Another reason the timing
was perfect is the Jews had been
00:22:04.65\00:22:08.29
scattered all over the
Roman Empire, and they were
00:22:08.32\00:22:10.63
in industries.
00:22:10.66\00:22:11.96
If you doubt that, read Acts
chapter 2, when the Holy Spirit
00:22:11.99\00:22:14.86
was poured out.
00:22:14.93\00:22:16.33
Says, "Now devout Jews from
out of every nation under heaven
00:22:16.36\00:22:21.70
came to
Jerusalem for Pentecost."
00:22:21.74\00:22:24.31
So when the Holy Spirit was
poured out and the news about
00:22:24.34\00:22:27.01
Jesus spread,
they were converted.
00:22:27.04\00:22:29.34
They then fanned out from
Jerusalem back to their homes
00:22:29.38\00:22:32.81
and the gospel spread on those
Roman roads like lightning.
00:22:32.85\00:22:36.12
So that Paul said in one
generation, the gospel has been
00:22:36.15\00:22:38.59
preached to every
creature under heaven.
00:22:38.62\00:22:40.16
Of course, that was a
little bit of hyperbole.
00:22:40.19\00:22:42.39
I'm not sure they had made it
to, you know, South America and
00:22:42.42\00:22:45.59
Australia, and
some of these places.
00:22:45.63\00:22:47.23
But the gospel had gone through
the known civilized world in
00:22:47.30\00:22:50.80
one generation.
00:22:50.83\00:22:52.13
The other reason it was an ideal
location is because the place
00:22:52.17\00:22:55.40
where Jesus was born, the
land of Israel was a land bridge
00:22:55.44\00:22:59.07
between three great continents
of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
00:22:59.11\00:23:04.98
So here Rome
owned that territory.
00:23:05.01\00:23:08.48
Christ was born.
00:23:08.52\00:23:09.85
The message then went fanning
out, it went into North Africa,
00:23:09.88\00:23:12.89
it was taken down to Ethiopia,
it went off into India with
00:23:12.92\00:23:15.82
Thomas, it went off through
Europe with Paul and Peter and
00:23:15.86\00:23:19.03
the others.
00:23:19.06\00:23:20.36
So the timing was perfect.
00:23:20.40\00:23:22.33
So when the Bible says,
"In the fullness of time,"
00:23:22.36\00:23:26.03
some people wonder, "Why
didn't Jesus come 1,000 years
00:23:26.07\00:23:29.07
after Adam sinned.
00:23:29.10\00:23:30.41
Why did he wait 4000 years?"
00:23:30.44\00:23:34.58
The ways of the Lord is
sometimes a mystery, but there's
00:23:34.61\00:23:36.61
good reason for it.
00:23:36.64\00:23:37.95
He waited for
the perfect timing.
00:23:37.98\00:23:39.38
He also waited for conditions
to be at their lowest in some
00:23:39.41\00:23:43.59
respects morally, when people
especially needed, a time of
00:23:43.62\00:23:48.06
darkness, this
light shone the brightest.
00:23:48.09\00:23:51.53
So she went down to Bethlehem,
and Luke chapter 2, verse 6,
00:23:51.56\00:23:57.40
"And so it was, while
they were there, the days were
00:23:57.43\00:24:00.60
accomplished that
she should be delivered.
00:24:00.64\00:24:03.34
And she brought forth her
firstborn Son, and wrapped him
00:24:03.37\00:24:07.14
in swaddling clothes," swaddling
clothes is strips of cloth,
00:24:07.18\00:24:12.38
the early Pampers, "and laid him
in the manger; because there was
00:24:12.41\00:24:16.85
no room for them in the inn."
00:24:16.89\00:24:18.45
Isn't that something?
00:24:18.49\00:24:19.72
You've heard it before, but it's
still staggering when you think
00:24:19.75\00:24:22.86
that God Almighty of the cosmos
comes to the world in the form
00:24:22.89\00:24:26.06
of a man, and there's no room
for Him, and He comes to His own
00:24:26.09\00:24:29.70
people that had all the
prophecies, and they do not
00:24:29.73\00:24:31.70
know Him.
00:24:31.73\00:24:33.23
And it's--the religious
leaders totally miss it.
00:24:33.27\00:24:36.47
And yet it's revealed to a
shepherd, and later to some
00:24:36.50\00:24:40.51
foreign wise men or Magi.
00:24:40.54\00:24:44.31
He's laid in a manger.
00:24:44.35\00:24:45.71
A manger is a place where
you put grain for the beasts.
00:24:45.75\00:24:49.75
And I think it's interesting
that here in a town called
00:24:49.78\00:24:53.76
"The House of Bread," the
bread of life is put in a vessel
00:24:53.79\00:24:58.39
for bread.
00:24:58.43\00:24:59.76
So everything about that
is telling us that Jesus is
00:24:59.79\00:25:02.20
the bread that came
down from heaven, amen?
00:25:02.23\00:25:04.20
Doug: Amazing Facts
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00:25:08.20\00:25:11.01
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Through various
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00:25:15.04\00:25:18.25
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00:25:18.28\00:25:21.28
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With radio programs such as our
00:25:23.22\00:25:25.05
"Bible Answers" live broadcasts,
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this one, and through full
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00:25:32.69\00:25:35.96
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00:25:36.00\00:25:39.20
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00:25:39.23\00:25:41.60
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00:25:42.27\00:25:45.37
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¤¤¤
00:25:57.55\00:26:05.89
Doug: The Bible tells us that
salvation, of course, emanates
00:26:07.50\00:26:10.53
from God.
00:26:10.57\00:26:11.87
So we need to know something
about God to rightly understand
00:26:11.90\00:26:14.70
and embrace salvation.
00:26:14.74\00:26:16.27
Yet, in the church
today, there's a great deal of
00:26:16.30\00:26:18.21
confusion about
the nature of God.
00:26:18.24\00:26:20.84
The Bible says, God is one
God, but is he three persons?
00:26:20.88\00:26:24.51
Is Jesus also eternal God?
00:26:24.55\00:26:26.98
Because Jesus is the Son of God,
does that mean there was a time
00:26:27.02\00:26:30.19
when he did not exist or
he was brought into existence?
00:26:30.22\00:26:33.36
Is the Holy Spirit a person,
or is he just the force and the
00:26:33.39\00:26:37.39
energy that God
uses to communicate?
00:26:37.43\00:26:39.93
You know, I thought this was so
important, I really felt led of
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the Lord to write a
book on the subject called
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"Exploring the
Trinity: One God or Three."
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In this book, we answer
those very important questions.
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We talk about the history
of the Holy Spirit in the Old
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Testament, as well as the
history of the Holy Spirit in
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the church and how it
has been much debated.
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This is something we really
need to understand, because
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Jesus said eternal
life comes from knowing God.
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announcer: You can become a
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These 24 easy to read lessons
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what the Bible actually
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the Rapture, the AntiChrist,
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You'll also get the truth about
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announcer: Don't
forget to request today's free
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offer, it's sure
to be a blessing.
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And thank you for
your continued support
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as we take the
gospel of Jesus Christ
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to the world.
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We hope you'll join
us next week as we delve
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deep into the Word
of God to explore more
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Amazing Facts.
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announcer: This presentation
was brought to you by
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the Friends of the
Amazing Facts ministry.
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