Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000151A
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00:23 Hello, friends, welcome to A Sharper Focus,
00:26 the Wednesday Night Bible Study here 00:27 coming from the 3ABN Worship Center 00:30 in Thompsonville, Illinois. 00:31 We like to welcome all of you 00:33 who are tuning in with a hearty amen. 00:34 Can we say amen? Amen. 00:36 And we are ready with our Bibles, and our pens, 00:38 and our lessons, and we have prayed, 00:40 but we're going to pray with you in just a few moments 00:42 before we get into the lesson. 00:44 As you know, we are continuing on the topic, 00:46 the truth about Jesus and, 00:49 you know, a lot of times people think, 00:50 "Well, what more can we learn about Jesus?" 00:52 Well, the more we learn about Him, 00:54 the more we recognize our need of Him. 00:57 So in just a moment I'll tell you 00:58 where you get a copy of the lesson 00:59 and we will sing our theme song in just a moment. 01:01 But before we go any further, let's go ahead, and bow, 01:04 and ask the Lord to continue with us. 01:08 Loving Father in heaven, we thank You for the blessing 01:09 and the opportunity tonight 01:12 to open Your Word as we open our hearts. 01:15 Father, in the world where Jesus is being rejected 01:17 in so many ways and misunderstood, 01:20 we pray that tonight we can solidify 01:22 our committed hearts to following You 01:26 as we learn more about our Savior. 01:29 So come and be in our presence, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. 01:34 Now the lesson number is lesson 36. 01:37 Does everybody have lesson 36? Yes. 01:40 Lesson 36, and go to this following website, 01:43 ASF.3ABN.org 01:46 and download lesson number 36, "The Truth About Jesus." 01:50 It should have 27 questions. 01:52 And tonight, we're going to begin on question number 14. 01:55 And we'll continue. 01:57 This is an amazing lesson and what it does 01:59 and it doesn't just talk about Jesus, 02:01 but one of the ways I could introduce this lesson, 02:05 matter of fact, 02:06 what I'll do is I'll do the song first 02:08 and then I'll use my opener 02:09 so I don't have to go back and forth to that. 02:11 Tonight our song 02:13 that we sing is Victory in Jesus. 02:14 Let's sing that theme song together. 02:17 Are you ready? Here we go. 02:25 I heard an old, old story 02:29 How the Savior came from glory 02:33 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:36 To save a wretch like me 02:40 I heard about His groaning 02:44 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:48 Then I repented of my sins 02:52 And won the victory 02:55 O victory in Jesus 02:59 My Savior, forever 03:03 He sought me and bought me 03:07 With His redeeming blood 03:11 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:14 And all my love is due Him 03:18 He plunged me to victory 03:22 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:26 I heard about a mansion 03:29 He has built for me in glory 03:33 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:37 Beyond the crystal sea 03:41 About the angels singing 03:45 And the old redemption story 03:48 And some sweet day 03:50 I'll sing up there The song of victory 03:55 Key change. 03:56 O victory in Jesus 04:00 My Savior, forever 04:03 He sought me and bought me 04:07 With His redeeming blood 04:11 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:15 And all my love is due Him 04:19 He plunged me to victory 04:22 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:26 He plunged me to victory 04:30 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:37 Amen. 04:39 The topic is entitled, let's say this together, 04:41 "The Truth About Jesus." 04:45 Now our overall theme is how to know the truth 04:48 about the truth, and we've been covering 04:49 quite a bit of topics from the Sabbath 04:51 to what happens when you die, to health, 04:55 to God's financial plan, number of other topics, 04:58 revelation, righteousness by faith, 05:00 but this is the key topic of them all 05:02 because to know the truth about the truth, 05:05 to know the truth, small t about the truth, 05:08 Jesus is really what all these topics are all about. 05:11 And so when you talk about the truth about Jesus, 05:13 the entire focus of our study from the beginning till now 05:17 has always been about Jesus. 05:19 Can you say amen to that? 05:21 But all the topics like what happens when you die, 05:23 the Sabbath, the state of dead, 05:25 you know, health, financial, the change of the Sabbath, 05:29 all these go back to the central theme 05:32 of what Jesus said and how man has changed it. 05:36 But we're talking about, tonight, more statistics. 05:39 Now, the reason why this topic is important 05:41 is when you think about what are the chances 05:44 of all these prophecies about Jesus coming to pass? 05:49 Now for that to be a 100% fulfillment would mean 05:55 that He would have to in a great degree manipulate 06:00 all these prophecies. 06:02 But to show that He could not manipulate these prophecies, 06:04 we studied earlier that when Jesus came, 06:07 did He come as God or did He come as man? 06:09 Man. 06:11 He came clothed in human flesh. 06:13 He came as a babe. 06:15 Not knowledgeable of anything that existed prior to that. 06:19 He came to learn the will of the Father. 06:22 He came, as the Bible says, in the fullness of time. 06:25 So He couldn't manipulate as a baby, 06:27 He couldn't manipulate anything 06:28 because He was then in human flesh, very divine, 06:32 but very much human. 06:34 And so when you look at the prophecies 06:36 that some date back from the very beginning to... 06:39 In Genesis, thousands of years ago, 06:43 some 700 years ago, there's not a single person 06:46 that we know in history before they were born, 06:49 that all these things were said about them 06:52 that came to pass with starling accuracy 06:55 and not one mishap. 06:58 So only Jesus is the one. 06:59 So when you think about that, the Bible inspired by God 07:05 led by the Holy Spirit, 07:09 the content of it, as John 5:39 says, 07:11 it teaches us about Jesus. 07:13 All these things happened the way 07:15 that God ordained them to occur 07:18 but He did not manipulate anything. 07:20 And He gave each of the prophets, 07:22 each of the apostles, Old Testament, major prophets, 07:25 minor prophets, He gave them all the information 07:27 that they needed so that when it came to pass, 07:31 one of the things that you'll notice in the Bible 07:34 or the gospels particularly, you have this phrase 07:38 so that it can be fulfilled or fulfilled as Jeremiah 07:42 and other prophets that have fulfilled, 07:43 as Isaiah said, 07:45 you find that all through the Bible. 07:46 So the fulfillment in fact 07:48 is taking place in the New Testament 07:50 and the prognostication of prophecy 07:52 is taking place in the Old Testament. 07:55 You know the saying, are you ready? 07:57 "The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed 08:01 and the Old Testament 08:02 is the New Testament concealed." 08:05 So the Old Testament conceals the new 08:07 and the new reveals the old. 08:09 So tonight we're going to begin with question number 14 08:12 and we're going to go through these prophecies in particular. 08:15 There are many, many prophecies, 08:17 we're just going to cover some of the major ones 08:21 showing that in fact Jesus is who the Bible said He is. 08:25 Now if you downloaded the lesson, you might notice 08:27 Isaiah 7:4 but it's actually Isaiah 7:14, 08:30 which is correct on our slides in just a moment. 08:34 But let's begin with question number 14, 08:36 and here it is. 08:37 The Bible predicted the method of the birth of Jesus? 08:43 Let's go to Isaiah 7:14. 08:46 Now how many of you could predict 08:48 your method of birth? 08:52 None of us can. 08:54 We can't choose our mother, we can't choose our father, 08:58 we can't choose the hospital that we're born in 09:00 but amazingly enough, we'll see in a moment, 09:04 not just His method of birth, where He was born, 09:07 to whom He would be born, 09:09 the circumstances under which He was born, 09:11 all these things 09:13 were historical events unfolding, 09:14 non-manipulated by heaven. 09:17 But all because God knows, 09:19 well I'll show you the texts in a moment, 09:20 but let's just go ahead and answer question number 14. 09:24 Look at Isaiah 7:14, 09:26 here's what the Bible talks about 09:27 the prediction of the method of the birth of Jesus. 09:30 And it says, let's read the first one together, 09:33 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a," what? 09:37 A sign. "A sign, behold, the," what? 09:39 "The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, 09:44 and shall call His name," what? 09:45 Immanuel. "Immanuel." 09:47 Immanuel meaning interpreted what? 09:49 God with us. 09:52 So notice this. 09:55 One of the things that has pointed out 09:56 in biblical history, 09:58 some of the historians point this out, 09:59 Josephus, an historian, point this out 10:02 as he talked about, even in the Septuagint, 10:04 this is referred to. 10:06 The Septuagint is a book 10:07 that often referred to as the LXX, 10:10 LXX is the Septuagint. 10:12 It refers to the fact that one of the reasons 10:13 why male children was so valued 10:16 throughout Old Testament times 10:19 is because each of the mothers having a male child, 10:21 they thought that their child would be the deliverer, 10:26 the Messiah, 10:27 and this was forecast long before it occurred. 10:32 And so the attempt made 10:35 at the time of the birth of Jesus, 10:37 the attempt to kill children. 10:39 What category was the attempt to made on, male or female? 10:42 Male. 10:44 Male children, what age and under? 10:46 Two years. Two years old and under. 10:48 So even the evil leaders knew... 10:53 Wow, if we could find them anywhere, 10:56 we will find them among the male children. 10:59 The deliverer is the male child 11:01 and he at this time will be two years old and under, 11:04 which indicates from the time that his birth was forecast 11:09 to the time the wise men went and didn't come back, 11:14 a time period had to extend. 11:16 That was exact about two years 11:18 because they came looking for the born child, 11:20 the born Christ and didn't find Him. 11:23 And so the wise men were told 11:24 by the leaders of Rome, "Go find Him 11:26 and when you find out where He is, 11:28 come back and let me know so that I can do," what? 11:31 "So that I can worship Him." 11:33 And they didn't come back in... 11:35 He waited for a long time 11:36 because when the decree was given, 11:38 "Kill all the male children two years old and under." 11:41 But the Bible talked about this. 11:43 And so also showing the kind of birth He had, 11:47 His birth, and this is amazing, 11:49 His birth was not the result of a man planting the seed. 11:54 His birth was the result of who? 11:59 The Holy Spirit. 12:01 So from His birth, 12:02 the Holy Spirit was in charge of the process. 12:05 You remember there in the... 12:07 I think it's in the Book of Luke 2, go there with me. 12:10 We'll go ahead and let's do the prophecy, 12:11 let's do the fulfillment, 12:14 the second portion to this question. 12:17 Isaiah 7:14 was the prophecy. 12:19 Look at Matthew 1:22-23. 12:22 And then we'll go to Luke in a moment here. 12:24 But here's the second portion of it. 12:26 So the Bible says, "All this was done " 12:30 Matthew 1:22-23 appears on the screen, 12:33 "All this was done that it might be fulfilled 12:38 which was spoken by the Lord through the," what? 12:41 "Through the prophet, saying, 'Behold, 12:45 the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, 12:51 and they shall call His name," 'what? 12:53 "Immanuel,' which is translated together, 'God with us."' 12:57 So notice, it even said 12:58 which was spoken of by the prophet. 13:01 So Matthew is recognizing the words of the prophet. 13:06 He said, the prophet said this, 13:08 and it's coming to pass exactly as the prophet said. 13:12 And when you go to Luke where doctor... 13:15 You know, what's amazing about the Book of Luke? 13:17 Dr. Luke gives details 13:21 that a doctor would give. 13:24 He gives details that a doctor would give. 13:26 He approaches the birth of Jesus 13:28 in the sense that a physician would. 13:33 Let's go ahead 13:34 and look at Luke chapter 2, 13:39 chapter 1 actually, chapter 1. 13:42 Okay. 13:47 All right. 13:50 And let's see, we talked about Elizabeth 13:54 and the six month, 13:56 okay, let's go to verse 26. 14:00 Okay. 14:02 Now in the six month, Luke 1:26, 14:05 "Now in the sixth month, 14:06 the Angel Gabriel was sent by," who? 14:09 "By God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 14:13 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, 14:16 of the House of David. 14:18 The Virgin's name was Mary." 14:20 Now I want to make a point right here. 14:22 Mary was the one chosen by God 14:24 but Jesus is the one to be worshiped. 14:29 Did you get that? 14:30 Mary was not chosen as an object of worship, 14:33 she was chosen simply as the vessel 14:35 through whom the one to be worshiped 14:37 was to be born into the world. 14:40 He chose her as a virgin 14:42 and today they have the phrase Virgin Mary, 14:44 which in fact is true according to the context. 14:48 But Mary was not the one to be venerated. 14:51 She was simply the vessel 14:53 through which Jesus came into the world. 14:55 So those who are worshiping Mary, 14:56 they missed the whole point. 14:58 You don't worship any human being 15:00 and that was the same case with John, 15:02 and I'll show you this in Revelation when the... 15:06 Well, I don't want to go ahead of myself, 15:08 but let's just finish this first. 15:09 So when you say Holy Mary, Mother of God, 15:13 that's not the... 15:14 She is not the mother of God, okay? 15:18 Let's just make this very clear. 15:20 Jesus is born through her. 15:21 If she's the mother of God, then she precedes God. 15:25 But the amazing thing about this story is 15:27 how can you be before Jesus 15:31 and after Jesus? 15:33 Because Jesus created in the beginning all humanity, 15:38 and the vessel through which He was delivered into the world 15:40 was the very humanity He created. 15:42 How can you be before and after? 15:44 But it goes on in verse 28, 15:46 and the angel says, "And having come in, 15:48 the angel said to her, 'Rejoice highly favored one," 15:51 highly favored, not holy one, "the Lord is with you. 15:55 Blessed are you among women." 15:57 In other words, when God chooses you, 15:59 it is a blessing. 16:00 That's simply what it means. 16:01 It doesn't mean that now 16:03 you are elevated above everyone else. 16:06 No, God chose you, you are blessed. 16:09 "But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying 16:12 and considered what manner of greeting this was." 16:16 And then verse 30, "Then the angel said to her, 16:19 'Do not be afraid, Mary, 16:21 for you have found favor with God. 16:24 And behold, you will conceive in your womb, 16:27 and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus. 16:31 He will be great and will be called the Son of the highest 16:36 and the Lord God will give Him 16:38 the throne of His father, David, 16:40 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever 16:43 and of His kingdom, there will be no end."' 16:45 And to show you that 16:46 this was done by the Spirit of God, 16:48 it says in verse 34, "Mary said to the angel, 16:50 'How can this be since I do not know a man?'" 16:55 God doesn't need the aid of humanity 16:57 to accomplish a divine purpose. 16:59 That's simply what was being pointed out here. 17:01 And then notice in verse 35, 17:03 and we'll go on to the next question after verse 35, 17:05 "And the angel answered and said to her, 17:07 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, 17:10 and the power of the highest will overshadow you. 17:14 Therefore also that holy one who is to be born 17:17 will be called the Son of," what? 17:19 "Son of God.'" 17:21 So this was a united effort by heaven, the Holy Spirit 17:25 and God will come upon you, and that which was born in her, 17:28 in fact, was not only predicted, 17:30 and Isaiah predicted this 700 years 17:33 before it occurred. 17:34 Let's go to the very next one. 17:36 So the prediction of the method of the birth of Christ was... 17:40 What's the key connecting points 17:42 in these two verses? 17:44 Somebody tell me. 17:45 What's the...? 17:46 Huh? Conceived by a virgin. 17:48 Conceived by a virgin is one and what's another one? 17:51 Some key connecting points in these verses. 17:53 His name Immanuel, that's right, 17:55 showing clearly that Isaiah and Matthew 17:57 are talking about the same individual, 17:59 God with us in both instances. 18:01 Now let's look at question number 15. 18:05 Here it is. 18:07 The Bible also predicted that a Star 18:09 what arise out of Judah? 18:12 A star would arise out of Judah, 18:16 and we find the prediction now in Numbers 24:17. 18:19 Now the reason why this topic is also important 18:22 is because there are lots of religions in the world 18:25 that cannot trace the elemental steps 18:27 of their development. 18:29 The Bible, although it's a book 18:33 that contains the history of humanity 18:35 from the very creation of the world to the present 18:38 the Bible is not that old a book. 18:40 It was written over the period of 1500 years. 18:43 So it's not that old a book. 18:44 So when you look at the Bible, you can trace the cities, 18:46 the names of the prophets, the dates, the locations. 18:49 All of these things are still traceable today 18:51 in modern archeology. 18:54 So when it talks about this in Numbers 24:17, 18:58 look at the prophecy, here it is, 19:02 "I see Him, 19:04 but not now," meaning He hasn't appeared yet, 19:07 "I behold Him," but what else? 19:09 "But not near, 19:11 a Star shall come out of Jacob, 19:15 a Scepter shall rise out of, " where? 19:17 "Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, 19:21 and destroy all the sons of tumult." 19:25 So he's saying in a beautiful way, 19:27 he says, "I see Him but not now, 19:30 I behold Him but not near." 19:31 So as Moses writes, he says, 19:37 "This is a distant prophecy. 19:39 It is to be fulfilled. 19:41 I see Him but not now, I behold Him but not near." 19:44 So write that down in Numbers 24:17. 19:47 What you'd like to put there, "The Bible predicted that 19:50 a star would arise out of Judah." 19:52 One of the things I would put there is 19:54 Moses was looking forward 19:56 because he said, "I see Him but not now, 19:58 I behold Him but not near." 20:00 And the other thing that you can be sure 20:02 about prophecy is this, 20:03 when a prophecy is given, it will come to pass. 20:08 So he says, 20:09 "I see it happening, but not now. 20:12 I behold Him but not near." 20:14 Meaning it's still yet ahead of the time of the prediction. 20:17 And Moses, as you know, 20:19 did not live to see this prediction. 20:21 However, Matthew did. 20:23 Look at Matthew 2:1-2, for the fulfillment. 20:29 Here it is. 20:32 "Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of," where? 20:37 "Of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold," 20:41 what kind of men? 20:42 "Wise men from the east came to Jerusalem saying," 20:47 what did they say? 20:49 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? 20:53 For we have seen His," what? 20:56 "His star in the east and have come to worship Him."' 21:00 Now isn't it providential 21:02 that the star of the first birth of Jesus appeared where? 21:07 In what location? 21:08 In the east, and where would the appearance of Jesus, 21:11 His second coming be? 21:13 In the east. 21:14 So the east is a direction of godly activity, 21:18 the king of the east... 21:19 So when the Bible says that the way of the kings 21:21 of the east might be prepared, 21:23 it's referring to the divine appearance of Jesus, 21:26 it's referring to 21:28 when the River Euphrates dries up, 21:29 that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. 21:32 It's referring when Babylon has lost all of its power, 21:36 that makes the entrance for the coming of our Lord, 21:40 the kings of east. 21:41 And by the way, these were wise men, 21:43 they were also called Magi. 21:45 Another word you can get from that 21:46 is the ancient application of magicians 21:49 but they were not sleight of hand magicians, 21:51 these were very educated men, 21:54 men educated in prophecy and understanding, 21:56 and they studied the prophecies 21:58 even though they weren't out of the lineage of God. 22:03 These were not men that were even Jewish. 22:05 These men were 22:07 from the same region as Solomon. 22:08 Solomon was the wisest man from the east. 22:12 And so these wise men studied the prophecies. 22:15 So when they saw the star... 22:18 Let me ask you the question, do you think 22:19 that that star was an astronomical appearance 22:23 or divine appearance? 22:24 Divine. 22:26 Divine appearance 22:27 because it showed up at the time 22:29 predicted by the prophet in Numbers. 22:32 And where it was seen was exactly as the Bible, 22:36 "A star shall come out of Jacob, out of Judah". 22:39 And so it showed itself at the timing 22:42 that the Bible predicted. 22:44 And by the way, they didn't just study one prophet, 22:47 they studied the prophets and they began to line it up. 22:50 So when they came to Jerusalem asking 22:51 where is He born King of the Jews, 22:53 they came to the people, 22:55 the people that God had called to embrace His message. 22:58 And they said to the people that should have known, 23:02 "Where is your king?" 23:03 And they referred to the chief priests 23:06 and they said, 23:09 "We heard the reason 23:12 why the star led them to Jerusalem first was," 23:15 and this is a very sad commentary, 23:17 "was to show that the people that should have known 23:20 were not aware of the birth of the Lord." 23:23 And so you have Isaiah also saying, 23:25 "The donkey knows its master, the ox knows its maker 23:31 but my people do not know." 23:33 Isn't that amazing? 23:35 Dumb animals, really, 23:38 the people didn't know but the animals knew. 23:40 The animals were present at the birth of their maker 23:43 but the people were absent. 23:44 So let's look at this. 23:46 So did we get verse 1 and 2? Yes. 23:49 So the key elements in both of these verses 23:52 would be the star from the east. 23:56 Now let me just make a point about this. 23:59 This is one of the reasons why the star appoints, 24:02 the star belongs to Jesus. 24:05 Let's say that together, the star is who? 24:07 Jesus. 24:08 So when earthly men say, 24:11 "You're a star, a movie star, a music star," 24:15 these are earthly attempts 24:16 to usurp a title that belongs only to Jesus. 24:21 We're not stars. 24:23 On the Hollywood walk of fame, you see stars. 24:26 That's not a star, Jesus is a star. 24:29 Can you say amen to that? 24:31 Let's go to the next one, number 16. 24:32 We're outlining all these prophecies 24:34 as it relates to the birth of Jesus. 24:37 The Bible also pointed out something very interesting, 24:41 His earthly family line. 24:43 Let's go to number 16. 24:44 "The earthly family line of Jesus was also revealed." 24:49 And we go to Genesis 24:50 49:8-10. 24:55 Genesis 49:8-10. 25:00 Let's look at this together. 25:04 Yes. 25:06 And by the way, in Genesis 49, one of the interesting studies 25:09 there is it points out the 12 tribes. 25:12 How many tribes? Twelve. 25:14 Okay, how many gates to the New Jerusalem? 25:16 Twelve. Twelve. 25:17 Each, you'll discover each of these tribes 25:20 in Genesis 49, a particular weakness 25:22 is mentioned in each of their lives. 25:24 And only those that overcame their weaknesses 25:28 were still mentioned in Revelation. 25:30 The one that wasn't mentioned is Dan. 25:33 Sorry, Dan. 25:35 Not Dan Peake but the tribe of Dan. 25:39 And this is not true about our Dan at all. 25:42 But Dan was... 25:44 The Bible talked about Dan in Genesis 49:7, 25:48 "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes. 25:51 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, 25:53 a viper in the path, that bite the horses heels 25:55 so that the rider shall fall backward." 25:57 And Genesis 49, verse, not 7, but verse 17. 26:02 So Dan was the one in the Bible that focused 26:04 on everybody else's weakness except his own, 26:07 and he was therefore not mentioned. 26:08 But if you go verse 8 to 10... 26:10 Let's look at this together. 26:12 Verse 8 to 10, here it is on the screen. 26:14 "Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall," what? 26:19 "Praise, your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, 26:24 your father's children shall bow before you. 26:29 Judah is a lion's whelp, from the prey, 26:34 my son, you have gone up. 26:37 He bows down, he lies down as a lion, 26:41 and as a lion, who shall rouse him?" 26:44 And then verse 10, 26:47 "The scepter shall not depart from," where? 26:50 "Judah, nor a lawgiver 26:53 from between his feet, until," who? 26:56 "Shiloh comes, 26:58 and to Him shall be the obedience of the people." 27:02 So Judah, and by the way, 27:05 when you look at the family line, 27:07 Jesus is called the lion of the tribe of Judah. 27:10 That family line, you find that 27:12 there were 10 tribes torn apart. 27:14 They went off into abject confusion 27:19 but Judah remained faithful, 27:22 and it was through Judah 27:23 that Jesus became the deliverer, 27:24 it was through Judah that Jesus came. 27:26 And when you look at Matthew 1, 27:29 we'll look at that in just a moment. 27:30 But let's look at the fulfillment. 27:32 Let's look at the fulfillment, 27:34 and we find this in Luke 27:35 1:30-32, 27:42 the scepter. 27:43 You know, by the way, 27:45 when the Bible talks about a scepter, 27:48 it's not the same as the staff of a shepherd. 27:52 A scepter is more of an object of a king, 27:57 an object of a ruler, 27:59 and you look at many of these kings, 28:01 their scepter is a very object that they... 28:03 Like if they said, "Yanick, come forth", 28:05 and they'll extend their scepter 28:06 and you'll touch their scepter. 28:08 You find that in the story of Esther, 28:09 the king extended his scepter. 28:11 That's an object of a royal king, 28:13 of a royal leader, 28:15 of one who is in fact the one upon whose shoulders 28:17 the laws of the people exist. 28:20 That's why Jesus is the one who has the scepter. 28:23 Let's look at Luke 1:30-32 for the fulfillment. 28:26 Here it is. 28:28 "Then the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, 28:33 for you have found favor with God. 28:35 And behold, you will conceive in your womb 28:38 and bring forth a Son"' all right, 28:42 "and shall call His name," together, "Jesus. 28:46 He will be great, and will be called," what? 28:51 "The Son of the Highest, and the Lord God will give Him 28:54 the throne of His father," what? 28:56 "David?"' Now what city is David? 29:01 Judah. 29:02 So you find clearly the connection, 29:05 the family lineage. 29:06 And by the way, let me show you something very quickly. 29:08 Go with me to Matthew 1. Matthew 1. 29:11 Let's look at this. 29:14 This is very interesting. 29:19 I believe that the reason 29:20 why this is located in Matthew 1 29:21 is because Matthew picks up as the first book 29:25 in the New Testament. 29:29 Matthew 1:17. 29:31 Matthew 1:17. Okay. 29:35 I want you to notice how the Bible and what's... 29:38 One of the books in the Bible that I wasn't really crazy 29:40 about reading was Chronicles, 1 Chronicles. 29:42 Anybody read 1 Chronicles before? 29:45 What's 1 Chronicles? 29:47 Names, genealogies, 29:50 you could really get to the point where you say, 29:53 "What is the importance of all these names?" 29:56 But now you know why. Let's look at this. 29:58 And we read through 1 Chronicles together 29:59 and then early portions of 2 Chronicles like, 30:02 "Oh, do we have to put two books together 30:04 with all these names?" 30:05 But there's a reason for that. 30:06 Look at this. 30:08 Look at Matthew 1:17. 30:10 "Now all the generations 30:11 from Abraham to David are," what? 30:13 Fourteen. 30:14 "Fourteen generations, from David until the captivity 30:18 in Babylon are," what? 30:19 "Fourteen generations, 30:21 and from the captivity in Babylon 30:22 until the Christ are," what? 30:24 "Fourteen generations." 30:26 And if you want to have fun, that's 42 generations, 30:30 if you want to have fun, go to Matthew 1:1 30:33 and let's just peek at this very quickly. 30:35 Let's peek at this very quickly, 30:37 and you'll look at how this unfolds, 30:39 and you start saying, "Oh, 30:40 now I understand who's related to whom, 30:45 now I see why such and such 30:47 happened in the way that it did." 30:49 Look at Matthew 1, it says, 30:51 "The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, 30:54 the son of," who? 30:55 "David, and also the son of," who? 30:57 "Abraham." 30:58 In each category, these prophets, 31:01 these patriarchs are connected 31:03 in the family line of Jesus. 31:05 Now notice, "Abraham begot Isaac, 31:07 Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot," who? 31:10 "Judah." 31:12 What tribe did Jesus come through? 31:13 Judah. 31:15 And His brothers, "Judah begot Perez 31:18 and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, 31:21 Hezron begot Ram. 31:23 Ram begot," who? 31:25 "Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshon, 31:29 and Nahshon begot Salmon. 31:31 Salmon begot Boaz by," who? 31:35 By who? Rahab. 31:36 Who is Rahab? 31:41 Isn't that encouraging? 31:43 "Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse. 31:47 Jesse begot," who? 31:49 "David. 31:50 David the king begot Solomon by her 31:53 whom had been the wife of Uriah." 31:56 Find some courage, come on amen, somebody. 31:58 Amen. 32:00 "Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, 32:02 Abijah begot Asa. 32:04 Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, 32:06 and Joram begot Uzziah." 32:08 Do I need to keep going? 32:09 Do you get the point yet? 32:11 It's a beautiful genealogy to see 32:12 that the Lord traces 32:14 the footsteps of divinity from the beginning 32:18 all the way to the birth of Jesus. 32:19 So now here's the point, 32:21 when archeologists, and historians, 32:22 and genealogists begin to put together 32:24 the line of Jesus, they say, 32:27 "All these other lines are true, 32:30 all these other genealogies can be traced. 32:32 These names are part of biblical history, 32:35 are part of archaeological history." 32:37 So if these names 32:39 and these family lines did exist, 32:41 it is higher in possibility 32:45 for the existence of Jesus to be real. 32:48 And today, the proof of the fact 32:50 that Jesus was born is the fact that it's 2016. 32:55 We were just in England 32:56 and we saw on one of the buildings there A.D. 32:59 and they put the year below that. 33:01 And then they had the Latin, Anno Domini, 33:04 in the year of our Lord. 33:06 So no matter what the country is on earth, 33:08 they all recognize that it is 2016, 33:11 even though they may have their own derivatives 33:13 or their versions of that. 33:14 For example, in the Chinese dynasty, 33:17 they'll say, well, this is the 4,000th year 33:20 or this is the 6000th year, but when they do business, 33:22 it's 2016 in China, it's 2016 in Russia, 33:26 it's 2016 in India, it's 2016 in America 33:29 because they all acknowledge the fact that Jesus was born. 33:32 What do you say? 33:34 And look at verse 16. 33:35 Thank you. 33:37 It says, "And Jacob begot Joseph, 33:39 the husband of Mary, 33:41 of whom was born Jesus who is called," who? 33:45 "Christ." 33:47 And so you find that genealogy is true. 33:49 Another thing we call genealogy, 33:51 what's a modern term for genealogy? 33:55 You all know it. 33:56 You got it in you. Family tree. 33:59 There you go, family tree. 34:00 It's a common thing. 34:02 And how many of are so excited when we trace our family tree? 34:06 Okay, I was expecting a response. 34:12 It works in some places and in some cases you end up... 34:17 I remember one of my good friends, he said, 34:19 he said he was so discouraged when he traced his family tree. 34:23 He said, "Man, I ended up in a shack 34:25 somewhere in the south during slavery 34:26 and I was so discouraged. 34:28 I couldn't get past this shack 34:30 down in the south at the time of slavery." 34:32 He said, "I got so discouraged." 34:34 He said, "But I read and I opened my Bible," 34:36 he says, "who was the son of Adam? 34:38 Who was the son of God?" 34:39 And he said, "I traced my genealogy 34:41 all the way back to the beginning." 34:42 Amen? 34:43 So as the saying goes, 34:45 "If your relatives were not on the ark, 34:47 you're in trouble." 34:51 We all have our origin in Jesus Christ. 34:54 Praise the Lord for that. 34:56 Number 17. 34:58 Number 17. 35:01 What did the Bible teach concerning 35:03 the government of Jesus? 35:04 The government of Jesus. 35:07 Isaiah 9, let's go to Isaiah. 35:11 You know, this might seem like an act of futility 35:13 but what happens is you get to appreciate even more 35:16 when you begin to look 35:17 at all these different names in the Bible. 35:19 You begin to appreciate 35:20 with greater value and greater veracity 35:23 the fact that the Bible is not a book 35:24 that was just put together by men 35:26 but it has such a divine origin 35:28 and it's divine by an origin, it's like an arm broken string. 35:32 You know, like somebody once said... 35:34 We've been to a cave before. 35:36 We were down in a cave in Belize a number of years ago. 35:40 And the caves are dark, but what they did, they said, 35:44 "If you go deep into the cave, you can lose your way." 35:47 But what they did, is there, is along the wall in the cave, 35:51 ropes that no matter how far in you go, 35:54 if you could just find the rope, 35:56 you can find your way out. 35:59 Sometimes archeology seems dark, 36:01 but if you could hold on to the rope of genealogy 36:05 of the birth and the life 36:07 and the history of the birth of Jesus, 36:09 you can find your way out of darkness 36:12 into this marvelous light. 36:15 Question number 17, what did the Bible teach 36:17 concerning the government of Jesus? 36:19 Isaiah 9:6, let's look at that together. 36:22 Isaiah 9:7, 36:24 "Of the increase of His government and peace, 36:29 there will be no," what? 36:31 "No end." Isn't that wonderful to know? 36:32 One day there'll be no end to peace. 36:35 "Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, 36:38 to order it and," what else? 36:41 "Establish it with," two things, with what? 36:44 "Judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever," 36:49 and I like this, 36:51 "the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." 36:55 Now when you read the end of that passage, 36:56 you know, what's wonderful about 36:58 the way Isaiah is saying this, 36:59 he describes the kingdom and its characteristics 37:02 and he said, "God is so driven 37:06 by the reality of His government 37:09 that His zeal will make sure that this stands." 37:12 So if somebody establishes government, 37:14 if they have no passion about their government, 37:16 it doesn't have any existence, it doesn't have any power, 37:18 it doesn't have any longevity. 37:20 But he is saying, "God, the zeal of the Lord of hosts 37:22 will perform this." 37:24 How long will His government last? 37:26 No end. 37:27 There'll be no end. Now let's go. 37:30 It'll be no end, write that down. 37:31 What does the Bible teach about the government of Jesus? 37:33 It'll be no end. Wow. 37:36 And I'll give you another text to add 37:38 to that in just a moment. 37:39 There'll be no end to His government. 37:41 Now let's look at Luke 1:32-33 37:45 for the fulfillment. 37:47 Luke 1: 32-33 for the fulfillment. 37:50 Beautiful in its context. 37:53 Okay, I'm on my way there. Wait for me. 37:58 For those who are joining by following the study, 38:01 I hope you are enjoying this as much as we are, 38:05 studying about Jesus. 38:06 Here it is, verse 32 and 33. 38:10 Okay, and the reason 38:13 I didn't go to these passages earlier 38:15 because I knew that it will come up early. 38:17 I stopped at 31 38:18 when I talked about Mary and the birth of Jesus. 38:21 Here it is. 38:24 "He will be," the angel said to Mary, "He will be," what? 38:28 "Great, and will be called the Son of the "Highest, 38:33 and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 38:37 And He will reign over the house of," what? 38:40 "Jacob," together, "forever, 38:43 and of His kingdom there will be no," what? 38:45 "End." 38:47 Now when you put that in there, we write the same thing, 38:50 when you put that in there, 38:51 you'll discover something very interesting. 38:53 After you do that, go with me to Revelation 11. 38:55 Because somewhere between 38:57 the establishment of the kingdom of God 38:59 and the reestablishment of the kingdom of God, 39:03 there's been somewhat of an interruption, 39:05 earthly kingdoms, you had Babylon, 39:08 if you know this, Babylon, 39:10 Medo-Persia, Greece, and what else? 39:12 Rome. 39:13 Then you had interspersed in there, 39:15 then you had United States, which is not a kingdom, 39:17 it's a republic. 39:18 Then you have all these other monarchies 39:21 around the world, like Great Britain, and France, 39:25 and some of the empires that are around the world. 39:29 So between the establishment of the kingdom of God 39:34 and the reestablishment 39:35 of the permanent kingdom of God... 39:37 I like the way that Revelation 11 brings this in. 39:39 Let's look at this, Revelation 11. 39:43 Okay. 39:52 Exactly. 39:54 So you will see that 39:56 the sequence of the unfolding of prophecy, 39:59 the Lord has a timetable 40:01 when His kingdom shall be firmly 40:03 and permanently established again. 40:05 And all these earthly kingdoms that seemed to be in power, 40:08 oh, no, don't get distracted by that 40:11 because only His kingdom will be no end, right? 40:14 Look at verse 15. 40:15 The Bible says, "Then the seventh angel sounded 40:18 and there were loud voices," where? 40:21 "In heaven. 40:22 That's the zeal of God saying," let's read this together, 40:25 "The kingdoms of this world have," what? 40:28 "Become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, 40:32 and He shall reign," how long? 40:34 "Forever and ever." 40:37 So you see, Nori, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, 40:41 all the other kingdoms, 40:42 they have their place in history, 40:44 but don't get sidetracked, 40:45 as great as America is, it's on a timetable, 40:48 only God's kingdom will have no end. 40:50 The prophet said it, God's Word confirms it, 40:53 and the history beckons the very call 40:56 that heaven has established, 40:58 only God's kingdom will be permanent. 41:00 Oh, even the royal family. 41:02 We went and we were dazzled by the gold, and silver, 41:04 and the endless ubulance, 41:09 I don't even know if that's a word 41:11 but that sounds pretty good. 41:12 The opulence, the pomp, 41:15 the how many sets of dishes 41:20 do you need? 41:22 They said the queen has over 41:25 a thousand sets of dishes given, 41:28 gifted her from all these kingdoms and monarchs 41:31 from around the world 41:33 and some of them, the sets have a thousand pieces 41:36 and it's all gold, and marble, and silver, and china. 41:41 And I thought man. 41:44 And when they set the royal table, 41:46 it's set with everything on that table is measured. 41:49 They measure the distance between 41:50 the forks, and the knives, 41:51 and the spoons, and the napkins. 41:53 They measure the distance between 41:54 the end of the table and the chair 41:56 so that when people of other governments 41:58 walk into that room, 42:00 the queen has to approve the final setting. 42:03 If she's not pleased with it, they got to fix it. 42:06 The chair backs can't be out of line 42:08 like one here and one there, the other where, 42:10 now you see according to man's measurements. 42:13 Now that's why God said, "Let all things be done," how? 42:17 "Decently and," how? "In order." 42:21 God is not the author of confusion. 42:23 Can you imagine walking into the hall of the queen 42:26 and the napkins are everywhere 42:28 and she says to the dignitaries, 42:29 "Grab a fork when you get to your place." 42:32 "Grab a fork? 42:33 Go and sit wherever you want to sit." 42:35 No, I believe that God has outlined 42:37 a place for each of us to sit. 42:39 If they do that in earthly dynasties, 42:41 surely God's got to be more organized 42:44 than any earthly kingdom. 42:46 Praise the Lord for that. 42:48 What a day is going to be 42:49 because everything in heaven is an order. 42:51 Nothing is out of place. 42:53 Those constellations, Orion and the Horsehead Nebula, 42:58 all those things are in the same rotating belt 43:00 that they'd been in for 43:02 thousands and thousands of years 43:04 and who holds them in place? 43:06 The heavens declare the glory of God. 43:09 Wow. 43:10 John 18:36, question number 18, let's look at that. 43:13 Question number 18. 43:20 Let me go there, 43:23 and the question is how did Jesus confirm 43:26 the reality of His heavenly kingdom? 43:28 How did He confirm the reality of His heavenly kingdom? 43:34 I liked the way He said it. 43:36 That's why let me just make a point here. 43:37 That's why don't get 43:38 sidetracked too much by politics. 43:41 Amen. 43:42 Thank you for the two amens. 43:44 For those of you that are shouting 43:46 on the other side of the camera, 43:47 I could hear you. 43:48 Don't get sidetracked by politics. 43:52 Because of this statement that Jesus made, 43:55 the Roman Government tried so much 43:58 to distract the mission of the disciples of Jesus. 44:02 They kept saying, "You are under our rule." 44:05 Even the Jews that rejected Jesus 44:07 acknowledged the rule of Rome. 44:09 They appeal to Rome to accomplish their design. 44:13 But I like what Jesus said, and this is something that 44:15 we must never forget as those 44:18 who are connected to a divine kingdom. 44:20 Here's what the Bible says. 44:22 How did Jesus confirmed 44:23 the reality of His heavenly kingdom? 44:25 Here it is. 44:26 "Jesus answered," let's read this together, 44:27 "My kingdom is not of this world. 44:31 If My kingdom were of this world," this is huge, 44:34 "My servants would fight, 44:37 so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, 44:40 but now My kingdom is not from here."' 44:45 The point I want to pull out of that 44:46 is there should be no political strife among Christians. 44:55 Amen. Amen. 44:56 Just want to hear, I know I didn't hear it 44:58 but I was just making sure. 45:00 Christians should not be infighting about politics 45:04 because our kingdom is not of this world. 45:09 And you know what happens, every four years, 45:12 whoever comes to be in the next seat, 45:14 fight over who's going to be the next president, 45:16 who's going to be in the White House, 45:19 it doesn't matter. 45:20 Because what matters is 45:22 our kingdom is not of this world. 45:25 Matter of fact, Paul the Apostle says, 45:26 "Our citizenship is in heaven 45:30 from whence we look for our savior. 45:33 Our citizenship is in heaven." 45:36 Now we may be citizens of the United States 45:38 and some of you as citizens of other countries, 45:40 but don't forget, Abraham said it well, 45:44 "I'm looking for a city who has foundations, 45:48 whose builder and maker is," what? 45:49 "God." 45:50 That's why he said, "I'm a pilgrim. 45:53 I'm going to keep on traveling until I find that city." 45:57 So don't get locked down with all this jargon 46:00 because I'll be very honest with you. 46:02 No matter what promise any politician makes, 46:05 he or she ain't going to keep it. 46:09 Only God's promises are sure, right? 46:12 He honors His word above His name. 46:14 But people tell you things 46:15 and then they argue with who said what, 46:17 and who said it to whom, and what was said on what date, 46:20 and who said it again, and it doesn't matter. 46:23 Let your life be focused on the Lord 46:25 whose kingdom is not of this world. 46:30 Wow. 46:32 I hope everybody heard that. 46:36 I should have been on CNN to say that, 46:38 or Fox News, or MSNBC, or whatever, HLN, whatever. 46:42 Let's go to number 19, moving right along, number 19. 46:46 So what did you put down for number 18? 46:48 What did Jesus say? 46:50 "My kingdom is not of this world." 46:52 So when you get all bent out of shape, 46:55 you know, the only election 46:56 the Bible talks about is making your calling 46:58 and your election for salvation, sure, 47:01 all the other elections don't matter. 47:05 Matters to some degree 47:06 because you're citizens of the government, 47:07 you want to make sure that things are in place, 47:09 but don't get bent out of shape 47:10 because when you make an election 47:11 on the side of Jesus, He will take care of you. 47:16 He sets them up, brings them down. 47:18 Number 19, here we go. 47:19 How does the Bible describe the preparation 47:23 for the ministry of Jesus? 47:25 How does the Bible describe, question 19, 47:28 the preparation for the ministry of Jesus? 47:31 How does it describe that? 47:34 Let's start with Malachi 3, 47:36 the last book of the Old Testament, 47:37 Malachi 3:1. 47:41 Okay. 47:43 It's the great silence between the voice of God, 47:46 and the Old Testament, 47:48 and the appearing of Christ in the new, 47:51 Malachi 3:1, here's what the Bible says, 47:55 "Behold, I send My messenger, 47:59 and He will," do what? 48:01 "Prepare the way before Me. 48:03 And the Lord, whom you seek," 48:05 I like this, "will," what? 48:07 "Suddenly come to His temple, 48:11 even the Messenger of the covenant, 48:15 in whom you delight. 48:18 Behold, He is coming,' says the Lord of hosts.'" 48:22 Now I want you to notice something very significant 48:23 about this prophecy. 48:26 You find the word "messenger" in small caps 48:29 and then messenger in large caps. 48:31 Did you notice that? 48:33 The first one refers to who? John the Baptist. 48:37 The next one refers to who? Jesus. 48:40 So when you see those changes... 48:42 Right here on the screen it says, 48:44 "Even the Messenger of the covenant," 48:46 Jesus is the Messenger of the covenant, 48:48 but the messenger that prepares the way is John the Baptist. 48:51 And by the way, this is strange, 48:53 John the Baptist is the cousin of Jesus 48:55 who is older than the one who is before him. 48:59 Put that together. 49:01 See, John, six months older than Jesus, 49:04 who in fact has no beginning, has no end, 49:06 that will really mess your mind up. 49:09 So the answer, how does the Bible describe 49:10 the preparation for the ministry of Jesus? 49:12 John the Baptist, the messenger, the messenger, 49:16 he sends forth the messenger. 49:19 Now let's look at the fulfillment in Luke 7. 49:25 Here it is. 49:28 "When the messengers of John had departed," 49:33 Luke 7:24, "had departed. 49:36 He began to speak 49:37 to the multitudes concerning John," 49:40 and this is beautiful, 49:43 "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? 49:46 A reed shaken by the wind?" 49:51 And the answer was, no. 49:52 "This is he of whom it is written, 49:55 'Behold, I send My," what? 49:57 "My what? 49:59 "Messenger, behold, I send My messenger," 50:03 verse 27, "before Your face, 50:05 who will prepare Your way before You."' 50:10 So when the preaching of John, 50:12 which was a fire and brimstone preacher, 50:16 he was a man of such conviction. 50:18 His purpose was to prepare the way for Jesus. 50:22 That's why when John was placed in prison, 50:25 Jesus didn't go to see him. 50:28 Now a lot of people have said, 50:30 I'm going to make a contemporary now, 50:33 a lot of people say, 50:35 "You know, you know who is in prison? 50:36 Pastor never went to see him." 50:42 Can you imagine they said that about Jesus? 50:45 They said, "Didn't he work for Him? 50:50 And He never went to see him." Now why didn't He? 50:54 This doesn't apply to me, this applies... 50:55 Why did He not go? 51:01 He said... 51:04 Okay, come on. 51:05 I must, He must... 51:09 Exactly. 51:10 John had to decrease so that Jesus could what? 51:14 Increase, and what many people don't know is 51:17 that when Jesus began His ministry, 51:20 there was a lot of confusion among the religious leaders. 51:23 They said, "Who is baptizing? 51:26 What baptism are you of? John's baptism. 51:29 What baptism are you of? Jesus' baptism." 51:34 That's why later on, 51:35 there were those who were baptized 51:37 who never even heard of the Holy Spirit. 51:39 That's why in the Book of Acts 19, 51:41 he said, "Of what baptism are you from? 51:44 John's baptism? Have you heard of that? 51:46 We haven't even heard of the Holy Spirit." 51:49 They were baptized by water. 51:51 But John said, "There's one that's coming after me 51:53 that would baptize you with," what? 51:55 "Fire. 51:57 Whose shoes, 51:58 I'm not even worthy to loose the latchet on His shoes." 52:02 So John had to... 52:03 His ministry was just the lead up 52:05 to the coming of the Messiah. 52:06 His ministry was to come to an end, 52:09 and to be fulfilled, 52:11 and to lead right into the Messiah, 52:12 "the Messenger of the covenant," 52:15 the messenger preparing the way 52:17 was to lead to the Messenger of the covenant, 52:20 who is in fact Jesus. 52:21 Wow. 52:22 So John was the fore... 52:27 John was the forerunner. 52:29 That's right. 52:31 Forerunner, he prepared the way. 52:34 So you want to write that down. 52:35 How does the Bible describe 52:37 the preparation of the ministry of Jesus? 52:38 John was the messenger. 52:42 John was the forerunner, 52:44 Jesus is the Messenger of the covenant. 52:46 Wow. 52:52 Now, also the Bible talks about the way 52:55 that Jesus communicates. 52:57 Let's look at question number 20. 52:59 Number 20. 53:02 What does the Bible teach concerning the method 53:04 of Jesus' communication? 53:06 How does Jesus communicate? 53:09 We're going to start with Psalm 78:2-4. 53:11 Now this by the way, this passage, 53:14 we're going to look at in just a moment here, 53:16 talks about a method of communication 53:18 that really wasn't put into strong impact 53:21 or if put into strong exercise until the ministry Jesus. 53:25 That's what makes it so significant. 53:27 When you look at the word parable, 53:29 you find the Old Testament prophets talk about the way 53:31 that Jesus is going to communicate. 53:33 And then when Jesus comes, 53:34 He begins to communicate this way. 53:36 Let's look at Psalms 78:2-4. Here it is. 53:42 The Bible says, 53:43 "I will open my mouth in a," what? 53:45 Parable. "A parable. 53:47 I will utter dark sayings of old, 53:50 which we have heard and known, 53:53 and our fathers have told us. 53:56 We will not hide them from their children, 54:00 telling to the generation to come 54:02 the praises of the Lord, 54:04 and His strength and His wonderful works 54:08 that He has done." 54:09 But He hid them, He hid them in... 54:12 Parables. Thank you. 54:14 He hid them in parables. 54:16 You know, for example, 54:18 we use symbolic language today. 54:22 You know, one of the ones we might use, 54:24 you may have heard this growing up, 54:26 a stitch in time saves nine. 54:29 What does that mean? 54:31 If you would fix your button when it starts to fall off, 54:35 you wouldn't have to use many more stitches 54:37 to put it back on. 54:38 What's another one you can think of? 54:40 That's parabolic. 54:41 You may have heard among your parents. 54:46 You guys know, don't count your chickens 54:49 before they hatch. 54:51 And how many of you had chickens to count? 54:53 Well, I did. 54:55 When I lived in Brooklyn, 54:56 we had like 23 chickens in our hallway... 55:00 in Brooklyn. 55:02 But what does that mean? 55:03 What does, don't count your chickens before...? 55:05 What does that mean? 55:09 Yeah, wait till you get it and then count it. 55:13 And a wise man keeps the thing until it comes to pass 55:16 but a foolish man utters his mind. 55:18 What does that mean? 55:20 Don't blab until it really happens 55:21 'cause some people say, 55:23 "I'm going to get this two days." 55:25 And all of a sudden it falls through, 55:26 "Whatever happened to that thing 55:28 you were talking about?" 55:29 "Well, it didn't work out." 55:30 Wait until it happens, then talk about it. 55:33 And there's so many wise sayings 55:35 in the Book of proverbs. 55:37 But sometimes, 55:40 the message needs to be hidden. 55:41 And that's what a parable is. 55:43 A parable is not just a saying, 55:44 but a parable is a hidden message. 55:46 Let's look at this. 55:48 Let's go to... 55:49 This is... 55:51 We just saw... 55:52 Okay, let me go back here. 55:55 Now Matthew... 55:56 I'm going to apologize for our graphic, guys. 55:58 I didn't give them this slide but we can look at it. 56:01 Matthew 13. 56:03 So would not appear on the screen, 56:04 but we can look at it together. 56:06 Let's go to Matthew 13. 56:11 And let's look at verse 34 and 35. 56:14 Matthew 13:34-35. 56:19 All right. 56:21 And the Bible says, 56:22 "All these things Jesus spoke to the multitude in," what? 56:26 "In parables. 56:28 And without a parable, He did not speak to them, 56:32 that it might be together fulfilled, 56:35 which was spoken by the prophet saying," 56:38 here we are now quoting the very verse, 56:40 "I will open my mouth in parables. 56:42 I will utter things which have been kept secret 56:46 from the foundation of the world." 56:49 What's amazing about that whole prophecy 56:51 is the reason why Jesus spoke in parables to the multitude. 56:56 I'll just tell you very quickly in the interest of time, 56:59 if the people that were against Him 57:01 knew His plan, 57:03 they would have done everything to interrupt it. 57:05 So we spoke to the multitudes in parables. 57:08 But one of the things you'll find in Matthew 24, 57:09 and we're not going to turn there, 57:11 it says, "After He sent the multitudes away, 57:14 after He sent the multitudes away, 57:16 He revealed to His disciples, 57:18 the things that He spoke in parables to the multitudes." 57:22 So today, another way that God communicates 57:25 is not just in parables 57:27 but He also communicates in prophecy. 57:30 Prophecy has symbols unfolded by scripture. 57:33 Parables are given so that those 57:35 who may intend to do harm 57:37 to the one carrying out the work, like Jesus was, 57:40 the message is hidden to them. 57:42 So they did not understand it. 57:44 He did that so His sayings would be dark to those 57:47 who had ill intent 57:48 but He always made it known to those 57:51 who are part of the movement of light. 57:53 And so, friends, 57:55 as you continue studying this passage, remember, 57:57 if it doesn't make sense, continue studying 57:59 because one day we know 58:00 it will come into a sharper focus. 58:03 God bless you. |
Revised 2018-08-20