Hello, friends, grab your
Bible and a friend and sit back
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as we explore
God's word together
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on this edition of House Calls.
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Hello, and
welcome to House Calls.
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My name is John
and so is his name.
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We are two and we are one.
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Brothers from a
different mother.
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Brothers from a
different mother.
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Thank you for
tuning into House Calls.
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Today we are so excited
whenever we get a chance
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to open the Word of
God and share with you.
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It is our privilege
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and so invite your
friends and family.
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If you are by
yourself, just get your Bibles
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and sit down and walk with us
through this thought provoking
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time of study in God's Word.
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John, you know,
whenever the Bible is opened,
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it's always a privilege.
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Absolutely and
you know the Lord,
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sometimes we like
to read it as a book
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that reads like a treatise.
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But it's not, it's
a story. That's right.
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It's God's story of who
He is and how He has changed
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the hearts of men
and it's a blessing
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to be able to just
unfold it and talk about it.
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That's right and
we're gonna learn
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let our viewers
and listeners know
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that there is no
greater joy than to read
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from the Word
of God and to share
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as we walk through it together.
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So before we do that,
let's ask for the power
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and the direction
of God's Holy Spirit.
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John, would you
pray for us? Yes.
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Father in heaven, again
we ask for You to empower us,
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both in thought and in
Word, may You make Your Word
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just come alive
today, may it be clear
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and may You speak to
our hearts in Jesus' name.
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Amen. Amen.
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As many of you know questions
is a very important part.
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A question, well, questions
are very important part
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of our program
today and all the time,
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and so if you have any questions
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that you would like
to send to us via email,
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send those questions
to housecalls@3abn.org.
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That's housecalls@3abn.org
and many times,
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John downloads the
ones from the internet
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and I get the snail mail.
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And so we thank you
for your participation,
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and your prayers, and
support of 3ABN's network.
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John, what question
do you have for us today?
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Well, I've got a question
that I won't read verbatim,
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Joe sends in his
question in regard to something
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that was said
previously on this program.
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A comment that was made
that the God of, the Christ,
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the God that Christians
pray to is the same God
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that Muslims pray to.
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Okay. Allah is God, same.
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And so they took
opposition to that
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and I would say
we need to be careful
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as to how we conclude
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or at least
coming to do a decision
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or conclusion
on that very issue.
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You see, one of the
things that Bible does say
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in regard to the Arab countries
and the Arab world is that
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the God of
Abraham blessed Ishmael
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and his descendents which is why
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they are blessed
and growing today.
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And in fact the
fastest growing people group,
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one of the fastest growing
people groups in the world
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is the Arab world.
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If it wasn't for the sake
if there was so much turmoil
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and bloodshed and wars
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that were
happening and everything,
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they would be
even growing faster.
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But I bring that up to
say that God had His hand,
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John, in very much the
growth of the Arab world
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that originated and began
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with Ishmael
and his descendents.
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If you want to know
where that scripture is,
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I'll just point to
it here real quick,
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it's Genesis 17:20.
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And as for
Ishmael, "I have heard you,
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and will behold
I have blessed him
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and will make him fruitful
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and will
multiple him exceedingly.
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He shall beget 12 princes
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and I will make
him a great nation."
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And we're seeing that,
there're many countries
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in the Arab world, nations
that have grown, of course,
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they've their
sects and disagreement.
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Sects, is in S-E-C-T-S
and disagreements overtime
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but yet that
blessing still is being seen
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that originated
with God himself.
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They would, in asking
them, they would point back
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to that verse and
not just that verse,
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they believe
that it wasn't Isaac
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on the mountain with Abraham,
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it was Ishmael
but they point back
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to this story at least,
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referring to God's hand
in blessing the Arab world.
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And so we can't say
definitively that the God
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that Christians pray
to is not the God Allah
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who Muslims pray to.
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What we can say is this
though, if we're praying to God
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and we act like the
devil, the God we're praying to
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isn't the correct
view of God anyway,
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wouldn't you agree?
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True.
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So same goes for Christianity,
same goes for the Muslim world,
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you have
radical extremists today
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that are doing things
that are an expression
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of who they believe God is.
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They pray to a God that is not
the true God, we can say that.
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But we can also say
there's some Christians
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who have had
images or views of God
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that are far different
than His true character...
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Right.
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Have also prayed to a
God that is not the true God.
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True.
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Look at the time of the crusades
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and the horrific things they did
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to some of the Arab
worlds in the name of God,
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the Church of Rome
were behind most of that.
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So we can't just make a
blanket statement to say
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the Christian
God is the true God,
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Muslim God is the false God.
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I think it,
John, it has more to do
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with who your God is.
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And we know
ultimately that's kind of like,
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that's the Sabbath
issue kind of as well, right?
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I think you've asked
this question in the past.
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The question isn't so much
which day is, who is your God?
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Right.
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And the Bible
says that in Exodus 20,
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"The seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord your God."
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So it all comes
down to who is your God.
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Yeah.
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So you could, I
think in history,
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in time with people
groups whoever it may be,
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when they're
praying, their recognition
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or who they are
praying to is more to do
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with in their
mind, in their heart,
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in their pursuits of
God who they are seeking,
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then it has to do with
simply a name, Allah, God.
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So that's all I'm
gonna say about that, John,
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I just don't want to
get too much into that,
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I just, I don't like
blanket sweeping statements.
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I think sweeping statements
can often get not only us
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into trouble but it
often paints the wrong picture.
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Okay, that's a good
one. Thank you, John.
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Truly,
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God is God but we know
that the word Allah and Jesus
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are not the same.
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This is an interesting
question sent from someone says,
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your sister in Christ
and I won't give her name,
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but she is our sister in Christ.
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She says, "Praise the Lord
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my brothers and
sister in the Lord first.
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I would like to say that I
enjoy your program on 3ABN.
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I feel blessed to have
found your television station
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on antenna, TV tuning,"
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and this person
watches and they say,
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"I had been Pentecostal
for 44 years and those 44 years
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I have become
acquainted with the dogmas
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of each of that
Christian denominations,
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you know, God and Christ,
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Pentecostals, Apostolic,
or Jesus only Pentecostals,
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or Adventist
Christians with respect
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to these Christian denominations
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as they all are
based on the Word of God.
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But the question that she asked
was very interesting, she says,
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"According to
Apostolic Pentecostals,
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if you baptize in Jesus
name, you don't have it right,
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that's missing out.
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According to
Adventist Christians,
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if you do not keep the Sabbath,
you don't have it right,
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that's missing out..."
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Now she's doing
some kind of comparisons
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and the questions she
asked was not so much,
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which one of us is right?
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But she asks this question.
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"I just wanted to
ask the Adventist,
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what would this
world be if everyone refuse
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to do any work on Saturday,
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like military, first responders,
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hospital personnel,
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since God is no
respecter of persons,
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are they excused?"
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And I thank you so
much for this question.
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John, look up the
passage where Jesus talked about
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if your ox falls into
the pit on the Sabbath,
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would you leave him there?
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Thank you so much sister
for bringing this question out.
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Now when the Bible says,
"Thou shall not do any work"
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speaking about
the Sabbath command.
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First part of that,
what will the world be
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if no one worked on the Sabbath
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like military, first responders,
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hospital personnel,
what would this world be?
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Perfect.
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Just to be very candid with you.
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It will be perfect
but since we don't have
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a perfect world, we have need
of these elements of society,
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military, police,
first responders, hospitals.
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If the world never had
sin, there would be no need
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of any of these things at all.
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Now when I use the
military in a lighter sense
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because military we
know on one side military,
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the purpose of
military is to keep peace,
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secure nations
as we're sleeping,
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there're submarines,
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there're planes
patrolling the skies,
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there are all kinds
of military operations
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securing the
borders of our nation
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for only one reason,
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those outside of our nation
that would want to do us harm
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and that's true in
all different governments,
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I think each government
that has a strong military
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or that has a military presence
has that kind of function.
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But what would happen,
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is it something that is excused?
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Let me read the
King James version here
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for a particular moment,
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then I'm gonna
make some emphasis.
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The word servile
work, when it talked about
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honoring the Sabbath,
what was excluded was,
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you shall do no
servile work on this day.
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And the word servile,
I'll give you an example,
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Numbers 28:25.
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"On the seventh day
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you shall have a
holy convocation,
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you shall do no servile work."
00:11:30.95\00:11:33.92
Physical labor when it came
to, not the needs of the hungry,
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not the needs of
those in medical,
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not the needs of those
who are in special cases,
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somebody had to respond
to an emergency in that home,
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that's not servile work,
00:11:48.94\00:11:51.24
those were all categorically put
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where the needs of the people
came above and by the way,
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Sabbath was made
for the good of man,
00:11:58.31\00:12:00.92
not for the injury of man.
00:12:00.95\00:12:02.98
And so Jesus faced
many of these issues
00:12:03.02\00:12:05.32
because the Jews misunderstood
the importance of the Sabbath.
00:12:05.35\00:12:08.39
They knew it was a holy
day, but they made extra laws
00:12:08.42\00:12:11.73
that made the Sabbath a burden,
00:12:11.76\00:12:13.40
such as if you
spat on the ground,
00:12:13.43\00:12:15.70
then you would be guilty of
what's it called irrigation.
00:12:15.73\00:12:19.60
Then you will be
guilty of wetting the ground
00:12:19.63\00:12:22.20
and what if the
plants starts to grow up
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then you would have irrigated
00:12:24.24\00:12:26.41
or watered the
ground on the Sabbath.
00:12:26.44\00:12:28.41
Now they also
mentioned a phrase like
00:12:28.44\00:12:29.91
the Sabbath days
journey, talked about that
00:12:29.94\00:12:31.75
in the Book of
Acts which was in fact
00:12:31.78\00:12:35.08
a particular
distance and you could only,
00:12:35.12\00:12:37.79
they made these
laws but they made ways
00:12:37.82\00:12:39.85
to break these laws by saying,
00:12:39.89\00:12:41.39
well, the only
way you can travel
00:12:41.42\00:12:43.12
more than this
distance on Sabbath is
00:12:43.16\00:12:46.63
if you took food
to that person's house
00:12:46.66\00:12:49.26
the day before
and on the Sabbath,
00:12:49.30\00:12:51.47
you wanted to go ahead
and partake of that food
00:12:51.50\00:12:53.10
or eat with them.
00:12:53.13\00:12:54.57
But what would the world
be, the world would be perfect
00:12:54.60\00:12:59.71
if everyone kept the Sabbath.
00:12:59.74\00:13:02.04
However, because of the
kind of world in which we live,
00:13:02.08\00:13:05.15
the Bible makes allowances
for the needy, for the sick,
00:13:05.18\00:13:11.22
we have
hospitals and by the way,
00:13:11.25\00:13:13.39
you may or may not know this
00:13:13.42\00:13:14.92
but the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:13:14.96\00:13:17.13
runs one of the largest
hospital systems in the world.
00:13:17.16\00:13:21.30
If in fact our hospital
is closed on the Sabbath,
00:13:21.33\00:13:24.33
this is a different
atmosphere on these hospitals
00:13:24.37\00:13:27.07
but if somebody has a trauma
they will go to emergency room,
00:13:27.10\00:13:30.41
these are for the
needs of the individuals.
00:13:30.44\00:13:32.57
People need
round the clock here.
00:13:32.61\00:13:35.21
There is somebody at the
bedside of that individual.
00:13:35.24\00:13:37.55
The Lord does not look at
this as violating the Sabbath,
00:13:37.58\00:13:40.02
once again, Mark 2:27-28,
00:13:40.05\00:13:43.75
"The Sabbath was
made for the good of man."
00:13:43.79\00:13:46.52
And do you have
that passage, John?
00:13:46.55\00:13:48.72
Yeah, this one is
from Matthew 12:11.
00:13:48.76\00:13:53.29
Jesus said, "What
man is there among you,
00:13:53.33\00:13:56.77
who has one sheep
00:13:56.80\00:13:58.60
and if it falls
into a pit on the Sabbath
00:13:58.63\00:14:00.74
will not lay hold
of it and lift it out,
00:14:00.77\00:14:03.84
or how much more
value is a man than a sheep,
00:14:03.87\00:14:07.68
therefore, it is lawful
to do good on the Sabbath."
00:14:07.71\00:14:11.51
So I think probably
what some of the imagery is
00:14:11.55\00:14:15.25
by those who
object to Sabbath keeping
00:14:15.28\00:14:18.32
by Adventist is this thought
that we're doing it rigidly
00:14:18.35\00:14:22.26
and as kind of
this works based system
00:14:22.29\00:14:27.70
with a set of laws in
front of us of can and cannot,
00:14:27.73\00:14:32.33
and I'll tell you as a pastor,
this is just a practical,
00:14:32.37\00:14:35.67
my practical response to that.
00:14:35.70\00:14:37.74
So, Pastor, if
anybody were ever to ask me
00:14:37.77\00:14:39.51
for a list of
things that's permissible
00:14:39.54\00:14:41.01
or not permissible
to do on the Sabbath,
00:14:41.04\00:14:42.51
I wouldn't do it.
00:14:42.54\00:14:46.15
Right.
00:14:46.18\00:14:47.52
Because I think list
are intuitively giving us
00:14:47.55\00:14:51.52
the wrong perspective.
00:14:51.55\00:14:52.89
I think that is pharisaical.
00:14:52.92\00:14:55.36
And it means not to
say there's some Adventists
00:14:55.39\00:14:57.43
keep the Sabbath
in a pharisaical way,
00:14:57.46\00:14:59.09
I believe that
happens to a great degree.
00:14:59.13\00:15:02.86
The Sabbath is made
for our time with God,
00:15:02.90\00:15:06.17
for us to spend quality
time with God in a relationship.
00:15:06.20\00:15:10.21
And anything that we do
that takes away from that,
00:15:10.24\00:15:13.58
that removes our
ability to spend that time,
00:15:13.61\00:15:15.91
the quality time with God,
00:15:15.94\00:15:17.51
I think we should
just throw it out,
00:15:17.55\00:15:19.95
we shouldn't plan it,
we shouldn't go and do it.
00:15:19.98\00:15:23.18
I can tell you a
story, John, right after
00:15:23.22\00:15:25.15
I was going through a
process of conversion,
00:15:25.19\00:15:30.23
the Lord was
really speaking to me.
00:15:30.26\00:15:32.29
I decided I was gonna go ahead
and try to play a tournament
00:15:32.33\00:15:36.77
that I used to,
had enjoyed playing
00:15:36.80\00:15:40.60
that went over a weekend period.
00:15:40.64\00:15:42.10
So I went down to the beach
and we had this tournament,
00:15:42.14\00:15:43.77
this is in Southern California.
00:15:43.81\00:15:45.57
And the first games
were on Friday and then,
00:15:45.61\00:15:51.21
no, no, first
games were on Saturday,
00:15:51.25\00:15:52.78
second schedule of
games were on Sunday
00:15:52.81\00:15:56.15
if you made it that far.
00:15:56.18\00:15:57.89
Anyways, so I reasoned
in my mind, I rationalize,
00:15:57.92\00:16:00.56
you know, you ever think
about something long enough,
00:16:00.59\00:16:02.02
you're gonna tuck
yourself in the way.
00:16:02.06\00:16:04.36
And so I rationalize
that I would witness.
00:16:04.39\00:16:09.36
I'll just play but I'll
witness while I'm playing.
00:16:09.40\00:16:13.03
That didn't happen.
00:16:13.07\00:16:14.87
In fact I was more
focused on winning the game
00:16:14.90\00:16:18.01
that I forgot all about
my commitment to witness.
00:16:18.04\00:16:21.04
So in a practical
sense, my playing that game
00:16:21.08\00:16:26.58
and
competition, the other things
00:16:26.61\00:16:27.95
that I was doing
on that day took away
00:16:27.98\00:16:29.55
from by time with God.
00:16:29.58\00:16:32.72
And so I kind of
learned a lesson from that,
00:16:32.75\00:16:34.52
if that what would
govern my activities
00:16:34.56\00:16:38.19
in the future with God?
00:16:38.23\00:16:40.80
Would be things
that are always conducive
00:16:40.83\00:16:42.93
to advancing and building
my relationship with Jesus.
00:16:42.96\00:16:47.67
And that's the
only measure that I put,
00:16:47.70\00:16:50.31
I rest from my work just to
provide for myself financially
00:16:50.34\00:16:55.14
and other ways and
I put my trust in God
00:16:55.18\00:16:58.71
and spent time with Him.
00:16:58.75\00:17:01.25
And so to me
that's the best thing
00:17:01.28\00:17:03.99
when it comes to
Sabbath as far as governing
00:17:04.02\00:17:06.89
what we should and should not do
00:17:06.92\00:17:08.29
rather than list.
00:17:08.32\00:17:09.86
Rather than list.
00:17:09.89\00:17:11.23
People tend to, we tend
to legalize the Sabbath.
00:17:11.26\00:17:16.80
Want to be very careful that
we don't legalize the Sabbath,
00:17:16.83\00:17:20.04
not in the
context of the comparison
00:17:20.07\00:17:21.87
to make the Sabbath illegal.
00:17:21.90\00:17:24.81
It's a legal
transaction only because
00:17:24.84\00:17:26.88
it's a commandment of God
00:17:26.91\00:17:28.64
but it's very
much a heart issue.
00:17:28.68\00:17:32.61
Who is your God?
00:17:32.65\00:17:34.38
When you realize that,
when you read the Bible,
00:17:34.42\00:17:36.32
the Bible puts the Sabbath
in a very heart centered place
00:17:36.35\00:17:40.62
in so many cases.
00:17:40.66\00:17:42.12
I'll give you an example.
00:17:42.16\00:17:44.03
Let's go back to the reference
about first responders,
00:17:44.06\00:17:48.70
the nurses,
doctors, hospitals, military,
00:17:48.73\00:17:52.07
this flies in
the face of reality.
00:17:52.10\00:17:55.07
Isaiah 58:13, "If you turn
away your foot from the Sabbath
00:17:55.10\00:18:00.28
from doing your
pleasure on my holy day."
00:18:00.31\00:18:03.35
These are not
pleasure positions,
00:18:03.38\00:18:05.41
these are not
positions of pleasure,
00:18:05.45\00:18:06.78
these are
positions of necessity.
00:18:06.82\00:18:09.52
I'll give you
another example, what if,
00:18:09.55\00:18:12.35
and we have a lot
of automation today,
00:18:12.39\00:18:14.49
even here at 3ABN
we have automation.
00:18:14.52\00:18:16.96
We may, we've
gone over to a system
00:18:16.99\00:18:18.39
where there was somebody that,
00:18:18.43\00:18:20.23
many in the past
would have to sit there
00:18:20.26\00:18:22.20
and make sure,
when 3ABN first started
00:18:22.23\00:18:24.47
there was somebody that had
to literally take out the VHS,
00:18:24.50\00:18:28.97
put in the next one,
and if they were not there,
00:18:29.00\00:18:33.01
you wouldn't be seeing 3ABN.
00:18:33.04\00:18:35.64
That wasn't
violating the Sabbath
00:18:35.68\00:18:38.21
by doing work on the Sabbath,
that was living of the...
00:18:38.25\00:18:42.18
That was working for the gospel,
00:18:42.22\00:18:44.12
living of the gospel.
00:18:44.15\00:18:45.75
So they physically did that.
00:18:45.79\00:18:47.12
Now we have
automation where the only time
00:18:47.16\00:18:49.26
the engineers and
many other guys live
00:18:49.29\00:18:50.93
in air shot here.
00:18:50.96\00:18:52.29
So if anything
happens automatically
00:18:52.33\00:18:54.40
machines will kick into
a either slate, you know,
00:18:54.43\00:18:57.30
we're having
technical difficulties,
00:18:57.33\00:18:58.67
while they are
clicking to some kind of video.
00:18:58.70\00:19:00.67
But then again, that's
more of the heart issue
00:19:00.70\00:19:03.41
rather than saying, well,
now we're keeping the Sabbath,
00:19:03.44\00:19:06.24
but in the past we were not.
00:19:06.27\00:19:08.34
The issue is these
are your own pleasures,
00:19:08.38\00:19:11.01
your own words that
the Lord was saying,
00:19:11.05\00:19:13.55
when that comes into the fray,
00:19:13.58\00:19:16.08
we're not having a relationship.
00:19:16.12\00:19:17.85
Right, yeah.
00:19:17.89\00:19:19.22
You know, and I go
back to the example,
00:19:19.25\00:19:23.83
the steel worker
on his anniversary,
00:19:23.86\00:19:28.23
if an emergency
arises that the steel
00:19:28.26\00:19:31.23
that he constructed
a building which falls
00:19:31.27\00:19:33.40
and there is this
catastrophic event,
00:19:33.44\00:19:35.40
he's not gonna say
"Well, honey, you know,
00:19:35.44\00:19:38.47
it is the Sabbath,
it is our anniversary,
00:19:38.51\00:19:41.24
I know there is a
major emergency downtown
00:19:41.28\00:19:44.15
and I did get a
call, I'm gonna ignore it,
00:19:44.18\00:19:47.72
because we just want to
enjoy our time together."
00:19:47.75\00:19:49.88
The needs of humanity
are what Jesus also built
00:19:49.92\00:19:53.86
into the
observance of the Sabbath.
00:19:53.89\00:19:57.06
And the question is,
00:19:57.09\00:19:58.99
is it lawful to do
good on the Sabbath?
00:19:59.03\00:20:01.63
Jesus said, "It is lawful
to do good on the Sabbath."
00:20:01.66\00:20:06.74
Well, you know,
John, it's interesting,
00:20:06.77\00:20:08.24
you don't have to go
very far back to realize
00:20:08.27\00:20:11.64
and to know that Sabbath keeping
00:20:11.67\00:20:14.71
was rigid among all groups,
00:20:14.74\00:20:17.75
especially with
regard to Sunday,
00:20:17.78\00:20:19.75
just a few decades
ago, today often, you know,
00:20:19.78\00:20:23.72
Adventists are
thought of as the ones
00:20:23.75\00:20:25.42
that are little more legalistic,
00:20:25.45\00:20:28.19
but if you go back a few
years, a few decades actually,
00:20:28.22\00:20:31.76
you'll find that
Sunday keeping was very rigid,
00:20:31.79\00:20:33.96
in fact to the
point were there are laws
00:20:34.00\00:20:37.13
against even opening
up your store on Sunday.
00:20:37.17\00:20:39.53
That's true.
00:20:39.57\00:20:40.90
So, you know, this
picture of the fact
00:20:40.94\00:20:43.00
they don't have any
sort of legalistic ones
00:20:43.04\00:20:44.94
and it's just not simply true,
00:20:44.97\00:20:46.94
it's affected all groups that
are sought to respond to God,
00:20:46.98\00:20:51.85
because they love Him,
00:20:51.88\00:20:53.21
they want to
give Him themselves,
00:20:53.25\00:20:54.58
they're all
prone, we're all prone
00:20:54.62\00:20:56.08
to a legalistic
approach to doing that.
00:20:56.12\00:21:00.02
You know,
Sabbath is not a bad day.
00:21:00.06\00:21:03.49
Understatement.
00:21:03.53\00:21:04.86
It's not a bad day,
this Sabbath has received
00:21:04.89\00:21:07.70
such bad rap, I'm
wondering, I'm not wondering,
00:21:07.73\00:21:11.33
I know what's behind it.
00:21:11.37\00:21:12.70
Yeah.
00:21:12.73\00:21:14.07
But it's amazing
when, even in Christianity
00:21:14.10\00:21:16.07
when you mention,
00:21:16.10\00:21:17.44
remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy,
00:21:17.47\00:21:19.47
it's like you just
pressed the atomic button
00:21:19.51\00:21:22.74
in some
denominations, it's jeered,
00:21:22.78\00:21:26.11
it's talked off
in a flipping way,
00:21:26.15\00:21:29.72
it's mocked, it's spoken off as,
00:21:29.75\00:21:33.46
"That's not the
only day I worship on."
00:21:33.49\00:21:35.39
Well, that was never said.
00:21:35.42\00:21:37.46
It says remember the Sabbath day
00:21:37.49\00:21:38.83
to keep it holy, keep it holy.
00:21:38.86\00:21:40.86
You can't keep
any other day holy,
00:21:40.90\00:21:42.50
'cause the Lord
never made any day holy,
00:21:42.53\00:21:44.57
any other day holy.
00:21:44.60\00:21:45.93
I remember growing up
00:21:45.97\00:21:47.30
when I was
dating my wife Angela,
00:21:47.34\00:21:51.44
I was at her house on a
Sunday and her mom asked me
00:21:51.47\00:21:54.18
to help cut the hedges.
00:21:54.21\00:21:56.14
So she gave me
these shears, you know.
00:21:56.18\00:22:00.02
So I went out
there cutting the hedges
00:22:00.05\00:22:02.25
and a lady walks by me,
00:22:02.28\00:22:03.82
well dressed, on her
way to church obviously,
00:22:03.85\00:22:07.12
because she said to me,
00:22:07.16\00:22:08.79
"Remember the
Sabbath day to keep it holy."
00:22:08.82\00:22:12.36
And she said this on a Sunday.
00:22:12.39\00:22:13.96
I was so caught off guard,
I was frozen like an ice tray
00:22:14.00\00:22:17.93
just in the
position with the hedges
00:22:17.97\00:22:20.47
like a deer
caught in the headlights
00:22:20.50\00:22:22.50
'cause she caught me off guard.
00:22:22.54\00:22:24.24
She said,
"Remember the Sabbath day
00:22:24.27\00:22:26.27
to keep it holy."
00:22:26.31\00:22:27.64
And she was referring
to Sunday as the Sabbath.
00:22:27.68\00:22:29.14
Yeah.
00:22:29.18\00:22:30.51
So I sat on the front of
the steps waiting for her
00:22:30.55\00:22:31.88
to come back to clear it
up but she never came back
00:22:31.91\00:22:33.62
or went home a different way.
00:22:33.65\00:22:35.72
In the minds of some individuals
00:22:35.75\00:22:37.09
Sunday is the
Sabbath, but in the mind of God
00:22:37.12\00:22:40.16
and in the Word of God,
00:22:40.19\00:22:43.02
Saturday from
sunset, Friday to sunset,
00:22:43.06\00:22:46.66
Sabbath is in
fact the Sabbath day.
00:22:46.70\00:22:51.33
From sunset
Friday to sunset Saturday
00:22:51.37\00:22:53.70
is the Sabbath day.
00:22:53.74\00:22:56.24
Another question about
setting up the kingdom of God,
00:22:56.27\00:23:03.68
Micah 4 and Isaiah
2 speaks of a kingdom,
00:23:03.71\00:23:06.95
all nations flowing
to the mountain of God.
00:23:06.98\00:23:12.49
Specifically and
they are talking about,
00:23:12.52\00:23:16.52
when is the kingdom
of God going to be set up
00:23:16.56\00:23:22.20
during the millennium
or before the millennium?
00:23:22.23\00:23:26.80
Now when you read
Daniel 2, the Bible says
00:23:26.84\00:23:30.81
speaking about the
four kingdoms of the world,
00:23:30.84\00:23:34.28
Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome,
00:23:34.31\00:23:36.28
and the Bible says in
the days of these kings
00:23:36.31\00:23:38.98
shall the God of
heaven set up another kingdom
00:23:39.01\00:23:41.48
which shall never be destroyed.
00:23:41.52\00:23:43.12
Now you got to remember,
in the days of those kings,
00:23:43.15\00:23:46.55
not after those kings but
in the days of these kings,
00:23:46.59\00:23:50.99
God has always had a kingdom.
00:23:51.03\00:23:53.93
But when the disciples
prayed, they pray their prayer,
00:23:53.96\00:23:58.20
"Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done on earth
00:23:58.23\00:24:02.20
as it is in heaven."
00:24:02.24\00:24:04.17
Matthew 6:10.
00:24:04.21\00:24:06.37
But you will notice also
Jesus made it very clear that,
00:24:06.41\00:24:10.88
"My kingdom is
not of this world.
00:24:10.91\00:24:13.31
If My kingdom
were of this world,
00:24:13.35\00:24:14.92
My disciples would fight."
00:24:14.95\00:24:17.29
But you may also point out
that when Jesus began to preach,
00:24:17.32\00:24:23.63
He said the kingdom is,
00:24:23.66\00:24:25.49
the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
00:24:25.53\00:24:27.70
So the kingdom
is established now,
00:24:27.73\00:24:30.63
we are in kingdom living now.
00:24:30.67\00:24:33.10
What's the
difference with the millennium
00:24:33.13\00:24:35.60
is that sinless
kingdom will come
00:24:35.64\00:24:39.17
at the end of the 1000 years.
00:24:39.21\00:24:42.04
Meaning, when sin
is all eradicated,
00:24:42.08\00:24:44.15
all done away with,
00:24:44.18\00:24:46.01
but the 1000 years those
who will be spending in heaven,
00:24:46.05\00:24:49.35
the saints will be a part of
that eternal kingdom already.
00:24:49.38\00:24:53.25
But is the kingdom
gonna be established?
00:24:53.29\00:24:56.06
Seek first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness.
00:24:56.09\00:25:00.53
How can you seek a kingdom
if the kingdom does not exist?
00:25:00.56\00:25:05.10
The kingdom life
is the relationship
00:25:05.13\00:25:06.97
that we
presently have with Christ,
00:25:07.00\00:25:09.54
but entering into the kingdom,
00:25:09.57\00:25:11.31
come ye blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom,
00:25:11.34\00:25:14.81
that's entering
into the New Jerusalem,
00:25:14.84\00:25:16.38
that's later on.
00:25:16.41\00:25:17.75
But we're in the
kingdom living now
00:25:17.78\00:25:19.28
and the relationship setting,
00:25:19.31\00:25:20.92
we're not waiting for a kingdom,
00:25:20.95\00:25:22.45
we're living in thy
kingdom relationship now.
00:25:22.48\00:25:24.75
But one day we will
enter into the kingdom.
00:25:24.79\00:25:27.62
Yeah.
00:25:27.66\00:25:28.99
The physical
kingdom. Pretty good.
00:25:29.02\00:25:30.39
Well, you know, a
lot of these questions
00:25:30.43\00:25:31.76
come out of the
dispensational view of things.
00:25:31.79\00:25:35.36
You know, the era
of law, era of grace.
00:25:35.40\00:25:38.40
You know, the era of,
you know, God's work of grace
00:25:38.43\00:25:42.34
in the New
Testament, and then, of course,
00:25:42.37\00:25:44.44
the era of God's kingdom
in the future that is set up
00:25:44.47\00:25:47.64
and most actually
believes set up on this earth.
00:25:47.68\00:25:50.25
Right, very good point.
00:25:50.28\00:25:51.65
But in fact the Bible says
in Revelation 20 very clearly
00:25:51.68\00:25:54.72
that the saints
are with Him in heaven.
00:25:54.75\00:25:57.19
That's right.
00:25:57.22\00:25:58.55
And so anyway, we
don't wanna believe
00:25:58.59\00:26:01.19
in that too much.
00:26:01.22\00:26:02.56
I have a question
that will segue us
00:26:02.59\00:26:03.93
into our topic today.
00:26:03.96\00:26:06.39
And it comes from Mark,
and he says that he knows
00:26:06.43\00:26:11.20
if the God had consists
of three distinct beings...
00:26:11.23\00:26:15.24
Oh, he doesn't know, he wants
to hear our comments on that.
00:26:19.24\00:26:22.11
So we are doing that a
bit here in these programs.
00:26:22.14\00:26:24.28
But he says as you
might know some who believe
00:26:24.31\00:26:26.61
in two distinct
persons with the Holy Spirit
00:26:26.65\00:26:29.35
simply God's spirit
and not the third person
00:26:29.38\00:26:31.65
of the Godhood.
00:26:31.69\00:26:33.02
I would like to know
what type of human nature
00:26:33.05\00:26:35.02
Jesus had as the Son of Man.
00:26:35.06\00:26:37.73
Okay.
00:26:37.76\00:26:39.09
And so these are
things that we're gonna be
00:26:39.13\00:26:40.96
covering today and
in the next program.
00:26:41.00\00:26:43.53
I think we're gonna
spend most of our time today
00:26:43.57\00:26:46.37
in regard to Jesus
as the second person
00:26:46.40\00:26:49.50
of the Godhead and
His eternal nature,
00:26:49.54\00:26:52.31
His deity, and even
maybe some of His nature
00:26:52.34\00:26:56.95
while He was here on this earth.
00:26:56.98\00:26:59.08
Although we know
there is some differences
00:26:59.11\00:27:00.58
of opinion in regard to
that as well, right, John?
00:27:00.62\00:27:04.52
The nature of Christ
is a very important topic,
00:27:04.55\00:27:08.56
because there are two
schools of thought on that,
00:27:08.59\00:27:10.59
one, well, let's
not go into it now,
00:27:10.63\00:27:12.76
Yeah, let's...
00:27:12.79\00:27:14.13
We're just going to cap this off
00:27:14.16\00:27:15.60
and then we'll go
into the nature of Christ,
00:27:15.63\00:27:19.20
it's a powerful
topic, very insightful
00:27:19.23\00:27:22.00
but very necessary to understand
00:27:22.04\00:27:23.44
in the proper context.
00:27:23.47\00:27:25.21
If you have any questions for
our future House Calls program,
00:27:25.24\00:27:27.84
you can send those questions
00:27:27.88\00:27:29.21
to this following email address,
00:27:29.24\00:27:31.25
housecalls@3abn.org.
00:27:31.28\00:27:33.85
That's housecalls@3abn.org.
00:27:33.88\00:27:36.65
And we surely will try our
best to answer those questions
00:27:36.69\00:27:39.65
when they do come.
00:27:39.69\00:27:41.59
John, let's
segue into our program.
00:27:41.62\00:27:44.03
The nature of
Christ, the nature of Christ.
00:27:44.06\00:27:47.96
Now, I think you,
we talked about Isaiah.
00:27:48.00\00:27:53.77
You want to go to Isaiah 9 now
00:27:53.80\00:27:55.84
or you want to
leave that for later?
00:27:55.87\00:27:57.41
All right.
00:27:57.44\00:27:58.77
No, let's go to Isaiah 9
because we are talking about
00:27:58.81\00:28:01.64
the evidence of
Christ throughout scripture
00:28:01.68\00:28:06.11
as the second
person of the Godhead.
00:28:06.15\00:28:08.05
Okay.
00:28:08.08\00:28:09.42
And Isaiah does speak
very clearly in regard to that,
00:28:09.45\00:28:13.32
and in fact I had it here.
00:28:13.36\00:28:17.89
Isaiah 9:6, right?
00:28:17.93\00:28:20.23
Yes, Isaiah 9:6.
00:28:20.26\00:28:22.66
And turn that, turn with
us to that particular passage.
00:28:22.70\00:28:25.90
If you have it,
you could go ahead
00:28:25.93\00:28:27.27
and read it or I have it.
00:28:27.30\00:28:28.64
Go ahead.
00:28:28.67\00:28:30.01
Isaiah 9:6 very
familiar passage,
00:28:30.04\00:28:33.24
"For unto us a child is born,
00:28:33.27\00:28:37.95
unto us a son is given,
00:28:37.98\00:28:42.12
and the government
will be upon His shoulders
00:28:42.15\00:28:45.39
and His name will
be called Wonderful,
00:28:45.42\00:28:49.46
Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father,
00:28:49.49\00:28:55.33
Prince of Peace."
00:28:55.36\00:28:56.70
Wow, make
reference to those names,
00:28:56.73\00:28:58.93
John, that Jesus is given.
00:28:58.97\00:29:02.60
Well, we can talk
about the different things.
00:29:02.64\00:29:04.91
Wonderful, we know
Jesus is wonderful.
00:29:04.94\00:29:08.84
He is our
counselor in many respects,
00:29:08.88\00:29:11.51
not only does
He counsel with us,
00:29:11.55\00:29:13.01
but He is our
advocate as in a legal counsel
00:29:13.05\00:29:16.45
in the courts of heaven.
00:29:16.48\00:29:18.19
He is Mighty God,
okay, so He is the mighty God
00:29:18.22\00:29:23.43
and here is the
interesting thing,
00:29:23.46\00:29:25.79
it refers to Him
as everlasting Father.
00:29:25.83\00:29:27.86
Right. What does that mean?
00:29:27.90\00:29:30.43
That means no beginning, no end.
00:29:30.47\00:29:31.80
I mean, does that
mean that He is the Father?
00:29:31.83\00:29:34.70
Or does that mean that
He represents the Father?
00:29:34.74\00:29:37.31
Or that the Father is in Him?
00:29:37.34\00:29:39.91
I know that there
is a passage in John 17
00:29:39.94\00:29:42.84
which is the prayer of Christ
00:29:42.88\00:29:46.08
showing that Christ
has His Father in Him
00:29:46.11\00:29:48.78
and He is in the Father.
00:29:48.82\00:29:50.79
So I think that helps to
explain everlasting Father.
00:29:50.82\00:29:53.99
But I like to focus on
the everlasting piece first,
00:29:54.02\00:29:57.96
because Jesus spoken of here
is referred to as everlasting.
00:29:57.99\00:30:04.03
That's right.
00:30:04.07\00:30:05.40
And everlasting
means no beginning, no end.
00:30:05.43\00:30:09.77
That's right.
00:30:09.80\00:30:11.14
He always has been in existence
00:30:11.17\00:30:13.94
and so that is
decrypted to me of deity.
00:30:13.98\00:30:18.21
One of the
significant, I guess challenges
00:30:18.25\00:30:23.18
probably of the church early
on back in even pioneer days,
00:30:23.22\00:30:26.45
and I'm speaking
00:30:26.49\00:30:27.82
of the
Seventh-day Adventist Church
00:30:27.86\00:30:29.19
was the deity of Christ.
00:30:29.22\00:30:31.16
How do we explain that?
00:30:31.19\00:30:34.10
I know, Uriah Smith
even for a period wrote that
00:30:34.13\00:30:37.47
he was created of the Father
00:30:37.50\00:30:39.70
and then he changed
His terminology later
00:30:39.73\00:30:41.67
and used the word begotten
'cause it was the biblical term
00:30:41.70\00:30:44.04
but also somewhere up in arms
00:30:44.07\00:30:46.34
by referring to
Christ as a created being.
00:30:46.37\00:30:49.98
But then later
on, you have around
00:30:50.01\00:30:51.35
the turn of the century
00:30:51.38\00:30:52.71
that is there
from 1800s to 1900s,
00:30:52.75\00:30:54.45
you have this discussion
of the deity of Christ.
00:30:54.48\00:30:59.09
And the statement
is made by Prescott,
00:30:59.12\00:31:02.26
more
significantly he says, you know,
00:31:02.29\00:31:04.06
he has been convinced
that you cannot have deity
00:31:04.09\00:31:07.00
without eternity.
00:31:07.03\00:31:08.70
You can't.
00:31:08.73\00:31:10.27
And so when the
Bible speaks of Christ
00:31:10.30\00:31:12.63
in the sense of everlasting,
00:31:12.67\00:31:14.30
it's speaking of
Him as deity, He is God.
00:31:14.34\00:31:17.61
So He is the Son
of God, He is God
00:31:17.64\00:31:20.04
and He is yet the Son of man.
00:31:20.08\00:31:21.58
We will talk about the
Son of man part later on.
00:31:21.61\00:31:25.25
But here we find an
answer to the Arian controversy,
00:31:25.28\00:31:31.59
which was settled way
back with Nicene Creed,
00:31:31.62\00:31:34.22
we have it addressing that.
00:31:34.26\00:31:37.69
But this controversy
that said essentially
00:31:37.73\00:31:40.73
that Christ had a
beginning that He was created
00:31:40.76\00:31:42.93
by the Father Himself.
00:31:42.96\00:31:44.30
Right.
00:31:44.33\00:31:45.67
And we don't agree with
that, nor do we find scripture
00:31:45.70\00:31:47.04
agrees with that.
00:31:47.07\00:31:48.57
You find also in Hebrews 1,
00:31:48.60\00:31:49.94
if you have your
Bibles go to Hebrews 1.
00:31:49.97\00:31:51.34
Oh, that's
another good one, yeah.
00:31:51.37\00:31:52.71
Very, very important
point, Hebrews 1, God,
00:31:52.74\00:31:55.74
and I'm reading verse 1,
"God who at various times
00:31:55.78\00:31:59.61
and in different ways spoke
in time pass to the Fathers
00:31:59.65\00:32:04.42
by the Prophets
has in these last days
00:32:04.45\00:32:08.92
spoken to us by His son
00:32:08.96\00:32:13.16
whom He appointed
heir of all things,
00:32:13.19\00:32:16.10
through whom He
also made the worlds.
00:32:16.13\00:32:19.80
Who being the
brightness of His glory
00:32:19.83\00:32:22.57
and the expressed
image of his person
00:32:22.60\00:32:25.77
and appalling all things
by the word of His power,
00:32:25.81\00:32:30.31
all things by the
word of Christ power.
00:32:30.35\00:32:32.85
When He had by
himself purged our sins,
00:32:32.88\00:32:35.38
sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high."
00:32:35.42\00:32:40.22
And going further
down, you go down to verse 6,
00:32:40.26\00:32:45.09
notice how verse 6 puts
it together beautifully,
00:32:45.13\00:32:48.40
actually verse 8,
okay, actually verse 8.
00:32:48.43\00:32:51.97
But to the sun he
says, notice, "Your throne,
00:32:52.00\00:32:55.87
O God is forever and
ever, a scepter of righteousness
00:32:55.90\00:33:02.31
is the scepter of your kingdom."
00:33:02.34\00:33:06.11
So the scepter of
righteousness, you know,
00:33:06.15\00:33:08.25
as the king sits
with his scepter,
00:33:08.28\00:33:10.72
you've seen that
probably a many examples
00:33:10.75\00:33:13.72
of a royal throne.
00:33:13.76\00:33:15.32
And here you have
God's speaking to His son.
00:33:15.36\00:33:18.29
Calling Him God.
Referring to Him as God.
00:33:18.33\00:33:20.13
Exactly. Yeah.
00:33:20.16\00:33:21.50
And referring to
His throne as forever.
00:33:21.53\00:33:23.67
That's right.
00:33:23.70\00:33:25.03
Your throne is forever and ever.
00:33:25.07\00:33:28.17
So there is no
beginning, nor ending to Jesus
00:33:28.20\00:33:32.44
who is in fact
called God by His Father.
00:33:32.47\00:33:36.78
And look at verse 10. Okay.
00:33:36.81\00:33:39.15
Not only does it say
you, referring to Christ,
00:33:39.18\00:33:43.22
in the beginning laid
the foundations of the earth,
00:33:43.25\00:33:45.32
but also the heavens
are the work of His hands.
00:33:45.35\00:33:50.16
That's right. So what
are the heavens, John?
00:33:50.19\00:33:52.49
Where the Lord
exist, that God exist.
00:33:52.53\00:33:54.36
The universe. The universe.
00:33:54.40\00:33:56.70
So what is being spoken of here
is Christ having no beginning.
00:33:56.73\00:34:02.84
Right, none.
00:34:02.87\00:34:04.37
He was the
creator of all things,
00:34:04.41\00:34:07.51
which it says here very clearly,
00:34:07.54\00:34:09.88
at the beginning in verse 2.
00:34:09.91\00:34:12.85
So the picture that
the Bible is painting
00:34:12.88\00:34:15.55
here very
clearly by the apostles,
00:34:15.58\00:34:18.69
by those that wrote
the gospels is of Jesus
00:34:18.72\00:34:22.96
who is the second
person of the Godhead
00:34:22.99\00:34:24.56
yet is fully God,
00:34:24.59\00:34:26.39
yet separate in being
from the Father, just in being.
00:34:26.43\00:34:31.10
But yet are referred to as one.
00:34:31.13\00:34:33.60
And this, and we have to use,
we have to clarify really well,
00:34:33.64\00:34:37.94
when we say Jesus, in
His incarnation, He became,
00:34:37.97\00:34:43.85
He says, "I of My
own self can do nothing,
00:34:43.88\00:34:46.61
I do the will of the
Father that sent me."
00:34:46.65\00:34:49.82
How did He become in
that sense as man and God.
00:34:49.85\00:34:54.66
As the Son of
man, the Son of a...
00:34:54.69\00:34:56.86
He became subject to His Father,
00:34:56.89\00:35:00.23
and here is the key reason why,
00:35:00.26\00:35:01.96
Jesus came to
exemplify in His life,
00:35:02.00\00:35:05.00
the way that
victory can't be attained
00:35:05.03\00:35:07.67
if He used any of His
divinity above his humanity,
00:35:07.70\00:35:12.47
then He would have definitely
had an advantage over us
00:35:12.51\00:35:14.64
and we could never
say that He was tempted,
00:35:14.68\00:35:18.08
and the Bible says, He
was tempted in all points
00:35:18.11\00:35:19.78
just as we are, yet without sin.
00:35:19.81\00:35:22.75
Just as we are
would not have been a case
00:35:22.78\00:35:25.42
had Jesus infused His divinity
when He became the Son of man.
00:35:25.45\00:35:30.53
The other thing that
what needs to be pointed out
00:35:30.56\00:35:32.03
very carefully is that
until then this human flesh
00:35:32.06\00:35:37.70
that He... He had
flesh prior to this.
00:35:37.73\00:35:40.64
And let me tell
you how I know that
00:35:40.67\00:35:42.17
because in Genesis 3
00:35:42.20\00:35:43.64
when Adam and Eve
fell, the Bible says
00:35:43.67\00:35:45.87
and I heard the
voice of the Lord God,
00:35:45.91\00:35:49.28
that's Jesus right there,
but it was not called Jesus.
00:35:49.31\00:35:52.01
Lord God, I heard the
voice of the Lord God.
00:35:52.05\00:35:55.65
Hebrews 1 said,
"God, I heard His voice
00:35:55.68\00:35:59.15
walking in the garden
in the cool of the day."
00:35:59.19\00:36:02.32
Now how do we know
that, that was Him?
00:36:02.36\00:36:04.56
Let's go to John 1.
00:36:04.59\00:36:06.66
How do we know
that, that was Jesus?
00:36:06.70\00:36:09.00
It says, "All
things were made by Him
00:36:09.03\00:36:12.63
and without Him nothing was made
00:36:12.67\00:36:14.90
that was made, in Him was life,
00:36:14.94\00:36:17.87
and the life was
the light of man.
00:36:17.91\00:36:20.08
And so clearly, this
word that was with God
00:36:20.11\00:36:23.61
and the word that is God,
the word that became flesh
00:36:23.65\00:36:29.22
and dwelled among us
and we beheld as glory,
00:36:29.25\00:36:32.72
that word is the same
one who was in the garden
00:36:32.75\00:36:36.93
when Adam and Eve had sinned.
00:36:36.96\00:36:39.69
Why was he the
one that was there
00:36:39.73\00:36:41.83
and how do we know that
He is the one that was there?
00:36:41.86\00:36:44.87
Well, simply by as the
Bible describes His role,
00:36:44.90\00:36:48.10
the Bible
describes the role of God,
00:36:48.14\00:36:51.27
the Bible
describes the role of Jesus,
00:36:51.31\00:36:55.18
the same as the
plan of salvation.
00:36:55.21\00:36:59.45
Let me read it for
you very carefully here.
00:36:59.48\00:37:03.39
Well, Isaiah 44: 6, we
made reference to that,
00:37:03.42\00:37:06.45
but I want to go
ahead and make reference
00:37:06.49\00:37:09.16
to Isaiah 43:3,
"Why did Jesus show up?"
00:37:09.19\00:37:14.33
Isaiah 43:3, "I,
even I am the Lord
00:37:14.36\00:37:18.20
and beside me
there is no savior."
00:37:18.23\00:37:21.50
So what did He come to do?
00:37:21.54\00:37:23.37
He came to save.
00:37:23.41\00:37:26.47
Behold, Luke 19:10,
00:37:26.51\00:37:29.51
"The son of man has
come to seek and to save."
00:37:29.54\00:37:32.91
Did He just
begin that in the book,
00:37:32.95\00:37:35.05
in the New Testament?
00:37:35.08\00:37:36.42
No.
00:37:36.45\00:37:37.79
He showed up in
the Garden of Eden,
00:37:37.82\00:37:39.42
to come and save Adam and
Eve from their transgression.
00:37:39.45\00:37:41.99
Right, I would
even say that this plan
00:37:42.02\00:37:44.46
had been developed
in ages way before that.
00:37:44.49\00:37:46.93
Yes.
00:37:46.96\00:37:48.30
The plan of redemption,
the plan of salvation
00:37:48.33\00:37:50.87
for any of His
creation that fell into sin
00:37:50.90\00:37:56.20
was already prepared and laid
for even before its existence.
00:37:56.24\00:38:02.94
Yeah.
00:38:02.98\00:38:04.31
It's interesting too, you have
a bigger picture painted here
00:38:04.35\00:38:07.52
in Hebrews 1
00:38:07.55\00:38:09.12
which pictures
Christ is not just
00:38:09.15\00:38:10.49
the creator of
this earth but worlds.
00:38:10.52\00:38:12.75
Right.
00:38:12.79\00:38:14.16
And the word there
implies inhabited world.
00:38:14.19\00:38:17.66
Right, that are inhabited.
00:38:17.69\00:38:19.49
And so, you know,
being that He is the creator,
00:38:19.53\00:38:25.70
He also is the only one
that can be the redeemer.
00:38:25.73\00:38:31.07
In fact who knows
00:38:31.11\00:38:32.77
and who has the
closet relationship...
00:38:32.81\00:38:34.41
than the redeemer,
than the creator himself?
00:38:37.41\00:38:41.38
The one that tends
to create something
00:38:41.42\00:38:44.39
has the most investment
00:38:44.42\00:38:46.39
and the most
affection toward the thing
00:38:46.42\00:38:48.19
that's created.
00:38:48.22\00:38:49.56
Now even people that
create inanimate things.
00:38:49.59\00:38:52.29
That's right.
00:38:52.33\00:38:53.66
You know, building a
boat or carving a ship
00:38:53.70\00:38:55.03
or things like that, the
one that cares most about that
00:38:55.06\00:38:57.10
is the one that built it.
00:38:57.13\00:38:59.03
Right.
00:38:59.07\00:39:00.40
And what this is
saying is that the very one
00:39:00.44\00:39:02.87
that created this world
was the one that came in
00:39:02.90\00:39:04.77
to redeem this world and
you find Him in the garden,
00:39:04.81\00:39:08.28
first hand, boom, He is there,
00:39:08.31\00:39:10.48
seeking to extend a
hand of grace to Adam and Eve
00:39:10.51\00:39:13.88
and to save them.
00:39:13.92\00:39:15.25
Right, I want to read Psalms
90 and then I'm gonna go ahead
00:39:15.28\00:39:19.15
and read in the Book of John.
00:39:19.19\00:39:21.92
Psalms 90:1, "Lord..."
00:39:21.96\00:39:24.49
Once again referring to this,
00:39:24.53\00:39:27.13
referring to Jesus
in a very real way,
00:39:27.16\00:39:30.53
"You have been
our dwelling place
00:39:30.57\00:39:33.10
in all generations,
00:39:33.13\00:39:36.20
before the mountains
were brought forth or ever,
00:39:36.24\00:39:40.14
you form the
earth and the world."
00:39:40.18\00:39:42.58
Now who formed it?
00:39:42.61\00:39:45.78
By Him nothing was
made that was made,
00:39:45.81\00:39:50.09
all things were made by Him
00:39:50.12\00:39:52.22
and without Him
nothing was made,
00:39:52.25\00:39:53.96
so who is being referred to,
00:39:53.99\00:39:55.92
before the mountains
were brought forth or ever
00:39:55.96\00:39:59.39
you had formed the
earth and the world
00:39:59.43\00:40:02.66
even from everlasting to
everlasting, you are God.
00:40:02.70\00:40:09.70
Yeah. Who is that?
00:40:09.74\00:40:11.67
John, it made it very clear,
00:40:11.71\00:40:13.38
"Without Him nothing
was made that was made,
00:40:13.41\00:40:16.54
all that was made by
that we see was made by Him,
00:40:16.58\00:40:21.35
was made through Him."
00:40:21.38\00:40:23.39
So who is one that
formed the earth and the world?
00:40:23.42\00:40:27.09
We know Him in the
New Testament as Jesus.
00:40:27.12\00:40:30.99
And so when it says
00:40:31.03\00:40:32.36
from everlasting to everlasting,
00:40:32.39\00:40:33.96
John, how long, how
far back is everlasting?
00:40:34.00\00:40:38.07
Forever. Everlasting.
00:40:38.10\00:40:40.54
We often think of
eternity as future
00:40:40.57\00:40:42.80
but if there is
an eternity past.
00:40:42.84\00:40:44.67
There is an eternity past.
00:40:44.71\00:40:46.64
I didn't understand that until
I was, I got into astronomy.
00:40:46.68\00:40:50.35
Astronomy is a
fascinating topic.
00:40:50.38\00:40:53.11
Somebody once said,
well, I was reading a blog,
00:40:53.15\00:40:56.65
an astronomy blog and
I almost has brain freeze
00:40:56.69\00:41:01.32
when I was reading
the astronomy blog,
00:41:01.36\00:41:02.86
that means
psychological brain freeze
00:41:02.89\00:41:05.09
and they talked
about how far away
00:41:05.13\00:41:06.76
this light had to travel.
00:41:06.80\00:41:10.57
And they said that light
that we saw or that light
00:41:10.60\00:41:17.44
that constellation or that light
00:41:17.47\00:41:20.08
that came to us that was taken,
00:41:20.11\00:41:21.64
a picture was taken of it,
it is so many light years away
00:41:21.68\00:41:25.68
that it had to start traveling.
00:41:25.71\00:41:27.55
It blew me away.
00:41:30.75\00:41:32.09
Thousands of years ago, so
that we could see it where,
00:41:32.12\00:41:37.49
where we see it in the picture
00:41:37.53\00:41:39.63
is where it was
thousands of years ago,
00:41:39.66\00:41:43.43
but it's not in that
direction any longer,
00:41:43.47\00:41:45.33
because the earth has moved.
00:41:45.37\00:41:47.84
I mean, that is in
the sense of the rotation.
00:41:47.87\00:41:49.87
So if we look up and he says,
the reason why we were able to
00:41:49.90\00:41:53.14
take this picture
with our telescope,
00:41:53.17\00:41:54.91
this was the
light started traveling,
00:41:54.94\00:41:56.58
and it talked about how
fast and how far it traveled
00:41:56.61\00:41:58.81
and I thought, "Huh."
00:41:58.85\00:42:01.08
That's the dog was at moment,
your head lean to the side.
00:42:01.12\00:42:03.32
Yeah.
00:42:03.35\00:42:04.69
Jesus, from
everlasting to everlasting
00:42:04.72\00:42:07.29
and He made this statement.
00:42:07.32\00:42:08.72
You have a
passage, you gonna read?
00:42:08.76\00:42:10.46
Yeah, but it's a shifting gear,
so you better finish with it.
00:42:10.49\00:42:11.96
Okay, He made the
statement here in John 17:5
00:42:11.99\00:42:18.97
"And now O Father,
00:42:19.00\00:42:21.54
glorify me
together with Yourself,
00:42:21.57\00:42:24.67
with the glory
which I had with You
00:42:24.71\00:42:27.68
before the world was."
00:42:27.71\00:42:30.01
Before the world was.
00:42:30.05\00:42:32.21
He also says
verse 24 of John 17,
00:42:32.25\00:42:35.45
"Father I desire that
they also whom you gave me
00:42:35.48\00:42:40.02
may be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory
00:42:40.06\00:42:44.19
which You have
given me for You love me
00:42:44.23\00:42:47.86
before the
foundation of the world."
00:42:47.90\00:42:51.33
Wow.
00:42:51.37\00:42:52.70
So this glory that Jesus
is now reflecting in humanity,
00:42:52.73\00:42:56.40
that's the glory that
the Father gave to Him
00:42:56.44\00:43:00.01
as He is in fact on the earth,
00:43:00.04\00:43:02.71
He is reflecting
the glory of the Father
00:43:02.74\00:43:04.81
and why do we say
reflecting the glory,
00:43:04.85\00:43:06.61
why not say
reflect His own glory,
00:43:06.65\00:43:08.45
because now He
is in human flesh,
00:43:08.48\00:43:10.65
He became sin for us,
00:43:10.69\00:43:13.19
and sinful human nature
00:43:13.22\00:43:16.62
doesn't have
any glory of itself.
00:43:16.66\00:43:18.69
So when Jesus says, the
glory you've given to me,
00:43:18.73\00:43:23.16
He's talking about that
00:43:23.20\00:43:24.53
in the sense of His incarnation,
00:43:24.57\00:43:26.43
human flesh
revealing the glory of God.
00:43:26.47\00:43:29.20
The other example
you would find of that is
00:43:29.24\00:43:30.84
when Moses came
down from the mountain
00:43:30.87\00:43:33.58
and received the
commandments of God,
00:43:33.61\00:43:35.58
they had to put a
cover over his face,
00:43:35.61\00:43:38.28
because the glory of God shown
so brilliantly from his face.
00:43:38.31\00:43:43.49
Was it his glory?
00:43:43.52\00:43:45.72
No, it was the glory of
God that was seen there.
00:43:45.75\00:43:51.59
What I'd like to do is
head over to Colossians 1.
00:43:51.63\00:43:55.26
Oh, beautiful passage.
00:43:55.30\00:43:57.80
Paul, the apostle
is writing to Colossae,
00:43:57.83\00:44:01.27
the Christians in Colossae
and inserted in Chapter 1
00:44:01.30\00:44:06.54
is what is known by
many as the Christ Him.
00:44:06.57\00:44:11.65
And the Christ Him
begins in verse 15,
00:44:11.68\00:44:15.72
it's speaking of
Christ in His preeminence.
00:44:15.75\00:44:19.39
Some believe that Paul
could have used this Him
00:44:19.42\00:44:22.92
that was being sung in
the churches in those days
00:44:22.96\00:44:25.19
and put it in his letter.
00:44:25.23\00:44:26.56
Okay. Okay.
00:44:26.59\00:44:28.40
And so very
interesting, because I wish
00:44:28.43\00:44:31.97
we had more time to
spend on just this Christ Him,
00:44:32.00\00:44:34.04
but I think we need
to focus on what it says.
00:44:34.07\00:44:36.10
Okay.
00:44:36.14\00:44:37.47
And so let's
start with verse 15,
00:44:37.51\00:44:41.38
and we'll read through verse 18,
00:44:41.41\00:44:43.38
it says in verse 15
00:44:43.41\00:44:44.75
"He is the image
of the invisible God,
00:44:44.78\00:44:48.08
the first born
over all creation.
00:44:48.12\00:44:51.72
For by Him all
things were created
00:44:51.75\00:44:54.02
that are in heaven
and that are on earth,
00:44:54.06\00:44:56.22
visible and
invisible, whether thrones,
00:44:56.26\00:44:58.49
or dominions, or
principalities, or powers,
00:44:58.53\00:45:00.96
all things were created
through Him and for Him.
00:45:01.00\00:45:05.70
And He is before all things..."
00:45:05.73\00:45:08.07
That's right.
00:45:08.10\00:45:09.44
Not some things,
He's before everything.
00:45:09.47\00:45:11.67
All things.
00:45:11.71\00:45:13.04
"And in Him all things consist.
00:45:13.07\00:45:16.14
And He is the head
of the body, the church,
00:45:16.18\00:45:18.18
who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead
00:45:18.21\00:45:21.08
that in all
things He may be made..."
00:45:21.12\00:45:23.22
It mean, "He may
have the preeminence."
00:45:23.25\00:45:25.89
Right.
00:45:25.92\00:45:27.26
The emphasis here clearly is
Christ as the preeminent one.
00:45:27.29\00:45:32.59
That's right.
00:45:32.63\00:45:34.06
And the term firstborn there,
00:45:34.10\00:45:37.10
some have been
confused in the past.
00:45:37.13\00:45:39.20
Arians were
confused by this term,
00:45:39.23\00:45:41.94
they connected it
with the word begotten...
00:45:41.97\00:45:44.37
Right.
00:45:44.41\00:45:45.74
And referred the
firstborn as if it was literally
00:45:45.77\00:45:47.94
a firstborn child.
00:45:47.98\00:45:49.34
Like a first birth, right.
00:45:49.38\00:45:51.08
But it's not at all.
00:45:51.11\00:45:52.71
In fact this firstborn
refers to first in preeminence,
00:45:52.75\00:45:58.95
first in
status, first of a kind.
00:45:58.99\00:46:03.39
That's right.
00:46:03.43\00:46:04.76
And in fact He is the
first and only of this kind
00:46:04.79\00:46:07.20
but has now redeemed the earth
00:46:07.23\00:46:09.80
and we look to
Him as our savior.
00:46:09.83\00:46:13.97
So He is preeminent,
00:46:14.00\00:46:15.70
He is the
firstborn over all creation,
00:46:15.74\00:46:18.07
but He's also,
interesting words here
00:46:18.11\00:46:19.91
firstborn from
the dead, verse 18.
00:46:19.94\00:46:26.31
And so firstborn
is referring there
00:46:26.35\00:46:28.42
to the first one who has,
00:46:28.45\00:46:30.49
now was He the first
one to have been raised
00:46:30.52\00:46:32.75
from the dead?
00:46:32.79\00:46:34.12
No.
00:46:34.16\00:46:35.49
No, but He is
firstborn of the dead
00:46:35.52\00:46:36.99
because through Him
00:46:37.03\00:46:38.66
and His act of the resurrection
following His crucifixion,
00:46:38.69\00:46:42.86
He then He has the right
to raise all who follow Him.
00:46:42.90\00:46:45.53
Right.
00:46:45.57\00:46:46.90
So He is
preeminent as the firstborn
00:46:46.94\00:46:49.04
over the dead as well,
those who have died in Him.
00:46:49.07\00:46:53.98
And so you have
Christ here as preeminent,
00:46:54.01\00:46:56.24
He is in a
position of authority.
00:46:56.28\00:46:59.85
But He is not
greater than His Father,
00:46:59.88\00:47:03.62
He is not less than His Father.
00:47:03.65\00:47:06.05
And when we talk about
in the terms of the Godhead
00:47:06.09\00:47:09.06
or the trinity,
what we are talking about
00:47:09.09\00:47:11.06
is those who are
three co-eternal persons
00:47:11.09\00:47:14.03
who are equal, yet
are of one purpose.
00:47:14.06\00:47:18.23
And this is
painting Christ in His role
00:47:18.27\00:47:20.84
as Creator and Redeemer.
00:47:20.87\00:47:25.67
So fantastic passage here
00:47:25.71\00:47:27.81
that Paul
inserts into his letter
00:47:27.84\00:47:30.25
that I think really
paints a powerful picture
00:47:30.28\00:47:32.68
of not only who Christ is,
00:47:32.71\00:47:36.52
but of His
position within the Godhead.
00:47:36.55\00:47:41.12
The firstborn is...
00:47:41.16\00:47:42.82
Paul uses language
that the Jew would know.
00:47:42.86\00:47:47.46
When the Jew heard
the word firstborn,
00:47:47.50\00:47:50.33
we have to keep in mind
00:47:50.37\00:47:51.70
where their mind went instantly.
00:47:51.73\00:47:53.50
Their minds went right
back to the sacrificial system.
00:47:53.54\00:47:57.84
I want to give you a
piece of this firstborn
00:47:57.87\00:48:00.64
that sometimes we overlook.
00:48:00.68\00:48:02.98
You could not
bring any offering to God
00:48:03.01\00:48:06.35
except the first
fruits, if it was grain
00:48:06.38\00:48:11.22
or the firstborn
if it were an animal.
00:48:11.25\00:48:14.49
And it had to be a clean animal
00:48:14.52\00:48:15.86
without blemish
and without spot.
00:48:15.89\00:48:18.26
So when the Bible
speaks about the firstborn,
00:48:18.29\00:48:21.43
it's not talking about
00:48:21.46\00:48:23.10
in the sense of
preeminence alone
00:48:23.13\00:48:27.80
or in the sense
of first birth only,
00:48:27.84\00:48:33.68
in the sense of an animal,
but it's referring to the one
00:48:33.71\00:48:37.05
who is
expectable in his sacrifice.
00:48:37.08\00:48:40.55
So when John uses the
word behold the Lamb of God
00:48:40.58\00:48:46.59
that taketh away
the sin of the world.
00:48:46.62\00:48:48.89
The word firstborn and
lamb link right together,
00:48:48.92\00:48:53.29
because they knew that
in order for the sacrifice,
00:48:53.33\00:48:56.36
in order for their
redeemer and the sacrifice
00:48:56.40\00:48:59.27
that He would
give to be acceptable,
00:48:59.30\00:49:03.07
he had to be in
the preeminent one.
00:49:03.10\00:49:06.61
Firstborn of the dead,
firstborn over all creation,
00:49:06.64\00:49:10.88
and firstborn
only to be sufficient
00:49:10.91\00:49:14.05
for the sacrifice.
00:49:14.08\00:49:15.65
This is a preeminent
position, and thus so it's be,
00:49:15.68\00:49:18.39
that word firstborn is used not
in the sense to describe that,
00:49:18.42\00:49:21.56
okay, Jesus is born
and then everything else
00:49:21.59\00:49:23.93
is born after Him,
00:49:23.96\00:49:25.59
but Jesus is
the sacrificial lamb
00:49:25.63\00:49:28.63
and now His
sacrifice can be acceptable,
00:49:28.66\00:49:30.77
'cause you couldn't
bring a second born,
00:49:30.80\00:49:32.93
you couldn't
bring, so the pre-eminence
00:49:32.97\00:49:34.67
is what's being
referred to here,
00:49:34.70\00:49:36.10
not the order of birth.
00:49:36.14\00:49:37.67
Well, and here is the text
to establish this, Psalm 89:27.
00:49:37.71\00:49:41.31
Okay.
00:49:41.34\00:49:42.94
Referring to David
now, King David, it says,
00:49:42.98\00:49:46.51
"Also I will make Him
mine," this is God speaking,
00:49:46.55\00:49:49.75
"My first born."
00:49:49.78\00:49:51.12
Right.
00:49:51.15\00:49:52.52
"The highest of the
kings of the earth."
00:49:52.55\00:49:55.29
Was David
firstborn in his family?
00:49:55.32\00:49:56.79
No. No.
00:49:56.83\00:49:58.16
Was he the first king?
00:49:58.19\00:49:59.53
No. No.
00:49:59.56\00:50:00.90
So God is talking
in regard to firstborn,
00:50:00.93\00:50:03.40
He is speaking of
David as preeminent,
00:50:03.43\00:50:06.13
the preeminent king.
00:50:06.17\00:50:07.50
Right, the
position I have put him in.
00:50:07.54\00:50:08.87
A position of power
and authority as king.
00:50:08.90\00:50:11.41
So the Bible doesn't use
00:50:11.44\00:50:14.74
the word
firstborn always in terms
00:50:14.78\00:50:16.71
of the first one
coming out of the womb.
00:50:16.75\00:50:18.28
No.
00:50:18.31\00:50:19.65
Or even one coming
out of the womb at all.
00:50:19.68\00:50:21.02
That's right.
00:50:21.05\00:50:22.38
But the point I think could
be made very clear here is that,
00:50:22.42\00:50:27.79
Christ is firstborn not in
that He was a created being.
00:50:27.82\00:50:31.53
That's right.
00:50:31.56\00:50:32.89
But He was firstborn in that
He was preeminent in authority
00:50:32.93\00:50:35.16
and status, and by
the way He is unique.
00:50:35.20\00:50:38.23
Some people say "Well, you know,
00:50:38.27\00:50:39.97
He came in the
likeness of sinful flesh,
00:50:40.00\00:50:41.60
so He is like us.
00:50:41.64\00:50:42.97
So He came to fully
prove that we can overcome
00:50:43.00\00:50:45.11
just like He did.
00:50:45.14\00:50:47.54
Yes and no,
likeness is not sameness,
00:50:47.58\00:50:52.41
there is a difference.
00:50:52.45\00:50:53.78
Right, very good
point. He is not.
00:50:53.82\00:50:55.55
We are not just like Him.
00:50:55.58\00:50:57.39
He is not just like us. No.
00:50:57.42\00:50:59.55
Okay, He came in the
likeness of sinful flesh.
00:50:59.59\00:51:03.93
Okay, our likeness but
He was not just like us.
00:51:03.96\00:51:07.56
Right.
00:51:07.60\00:51:08.93
He is unique,
uniquely our savior,
00:51:08.96\00:51:11.70
the only one who
created the world,
00:51:11.73\00:51:13.64
and the only one
who's condensated
00:51:13.67\00:51:15.50
to save the world
from the position of man.
00:51:15.54\00:51:18.31
Right.
00:51:18.34\00:51:19.67
He is the Son of
God, He is the Son of man.
00:51:19.71\00:51:22.04
Right, and He...
00:51:22.08\00:51:23.48
This is the other thing,
and this is very delicate topic
00:51:23.51\00:51:25.65
because, when you deal
with the nature of Christ,
00:51:25.68\00:51:28.55
it's a topic that
will inevitably remind you
00:51:28.58\00:51:31.92
that there is a
deep, deep ocean here.
00:51:31.95\00:51:33.96
Yeah, it is.
00:51:33.99\00:51:35.32
This ocean is very, very deep
00:51:35.36\00:51:36.83
and if you don't
tread carefully in it,
00:51:36.86\00:51:39.63
you could end up in a shark tank
00:51:39.66\00:51:41.30
if I could use that
phrase and do injustice.
00:51:41.33\00:51:44.63
Thus people can overemphasize
something to the nth degree
00:51:44.67\00:51:47.64
and come out wrong.
00:51:47.67\00:51:49.20
Yeah, and you could injustice
to the divinity of Christ.
00:51:49.24\00:51:52.04
Yeah, yeah.
00:51:52.07\00:51:53.71
But what was
mentioned so beautifully here
00:51:53.74\00:51:57.18
as you were talking
about the statement,
00:51:57.21\00:51:59.18
make that statement again,
00:51:59.21\00:52:00.55
so my thought
will come back to me,
00:52:00.58\00:52:02.08
the preeminence of
Christ, the glory of Christ.
00:52:02.12\00:52:04.05
Yeah, just the position,
00:52:04.09\00:52:05.42
He is positioned as savior here,
00:52:05.45\00:52:08.66
He is unique to
anyone, He is the only one
00:52:08.69\00:52:11.19
that could be our redeemer.
00:52:11.23\00:52:12.56
Here, okay, here I am.
00:52:12.59\00:52:14.16
Jesus had that He
took on the nature,
00:52:14.20\00:52:17.60
our nature but He did
not take on our bend to sin.
00:52:17.63\00:52:22.00
That's right.
00:52:22.04\00:52:23.37
See, when you go to...
00:52:23.41\00:52:24.74
That's why it's a
likeness not sameness.
00:52:24.77\00:52:26.68
Right, so go to
1 Corinthians 15,
00:52:26.71\00:52:29.71
he did not take
on our bend to sin.
00:52:29.74\00:52:32.28
And I'll show you
one difference here,
00:52:32.31\00:52:36.32
we're gonna go
to 1 Corinthians 15.
00:52:36.35\00:52:41.02
Okay, and we gonna talk
about, okay, let's go here.
00:52:41.06\00:52:46.49
Well, it tell you what...
00:52:46.53\00:52:48.36
Here it is.
00:52:48.40\00:52:50.23
And speaking about
being raised from the dead...
00:52:50.27\00:52:53.64
we will start with verse 22,
and then we gonna scroll down
00:52:57.71\00:53:04.75
and look at the
comparisons, verse 22,
00:53:04.78\00:53:08.12
"For as in Adam all die,
00:53:08.15\00:53:10.59
even so in Christ
all shall be made alive."
00:53:10.62\00:53:13.56
Now right away that
shows the similarity
00:53:13.59\00:53:16.52
but the difference.
00:53:16.56\00:53:17.89
Yes, absolutely.
00:53:17.93\00:53:19.26
And the reason why I
say the similarity, John,
00:53:19.29\00:53:21.23
read verse 45.
00:53:21.26\00:53:29.20
"And so it is
written: "The first man Adam
00:53:29.24\00:53:31.74
became a living being,
00:53:31.77\00:53:33.78
the last Adam became
a life giving spirit."
00:53:33.81\00:53:36.48
Notice same name Adam, Adam.
00:53:36.51\00:53:39.38
But the second Adam is
Christ who in Him we live,
00:53:39.41\00:53:44.92
in the first Adam we
die, in the second Adam
00:53:44.95\00:53:48.49
which is Christ or the last Adam
00:53:48.52\00:53:50.33
which is Christ, we live.
00:53:50.36\00:53:52.79
Similarly Adam, Adam,
were Adam failed Christ,
00:53:52.83\00:53:57.47
the last Adam succeeded.
00:53:57.50\00:53:59.93
If He had the
same, and this is huge,
00:53:59.97\00:54:06.07
if He did not
overcome that Adam nature
00:54:06.11\00:54:10.51
because He became sin for us.
00:54:10.55\00:54:13.92
Why?
00:54:13.95\00:54:15.28
So He could take upon
himself the failing nature
00:54:15.32\00:54:19.09
that Adam imparted
to every one of us.
00:54:19.12\00:54:22.02
He became sin for us.
00:54:22.06\00:54:25.56
But did He
conquer that? Yes, He did.
00:54:25.59\00:54:28.73
He was tempted in all
points just as we are,
00:54:28.76\00:54:30.87
yet without sin, He
took on the nature of sin
00:54:30.90\00:54:34.37
but He never
sinned, yet without sin.
00:54:34.40\00:54:38.24
In fact, His temptation
was greater than ours.
00:54:38.27\00:54:41.44
Far greater.
00:54:41.48\00:54:42.81
At every point He was
tempted like we are tempted
00:54:42.84\00:54:44.61
but to a greater extent.
00:54:44.65\00:54:46.38
I mean, we don't have the power,
00:54:46.41\00:54:48.12
we don't have the
power to snap our fingers
00:54:48.15\00:54:49.72
and have something happened.
00:54:49.75\00:54:51.09
He could have gone
the route of divinity
00:54:51.12\00:54:53.59
and just made something happen
but He did not and He resisted,
00:54:53.62\00:54:57.83
and we don't have a power
like that to have to resist.
00:54:57.86\00:55:01.96
No. But Christ did that for us.
00:55:02.00\00:55:04.87
And He imparted to
Christ, He imparted to the son
00:55:04.90\00:55:07.67
at that moment just
exactly what He needed
00:55:07.70\00:55:09.50
and what did he do?
00:55:09.54\00:55:10.87
He stuck to the, it is written,
stuck to the, it is written.
00:55:10.91\00:55:13.07
Now I want to
emphasis this one more time.
00:55:13.11\00:55:14.71
He became sin for us.
00:55:14.74\00:55:16.85
He became sin for
us but He never sinned.
00:55:16.88\00:55:21.25
He took on the nature
but He never had the act.
00:55:21.28\00:55:24.65
So when the Bible
says that taketh away
00:55:24.69\00:55:26.62
the sin of the
world, that's the nature.
00:55:26.65\00:55:30.33
If we confess our
sins, that's the actions.
00:55:30.36\00:55:34.60
He had the nature that
could have produced the actions
00:55:34.63\00:55:37.37
but He never yielded.
00:55:37.40\00:55:40.04
That's why He said the
prince of this world has come
00:55:40.07\00:55:42.64
and He has nothing in me.
00:55:42.67\00:55:44.71
But what did Paul
say about what's in Him?
00:55:44.74\00:55:47.31
He said "I know that
in me that is in my flesh,
00:55:47.34\00:55:50.51
nothing good dwells."
00:55:50.55\00:55:52.31
See, to will His presence
with me but how to perform it,
00:55:52.35\00:55:55.92
I do not find.
00:55:55.95\00:55:58.25
So it is in this
unique position of preeminence
00:55:58.29\00:56:03.02
that God sends, the Father sends
00:56:03.06\00:56:05.03
the Son into this world.
00:56:05.06\00:56:07.76
He begots him into
the likeness of mankind
00:56:07.80\00:56:13.80
and any discussion
with relation to the Godhead
00:56:13.84\00:56:18.37
and the second
person being Christ Himself
00:56:18.41\00:56:20.98
in the context of begotten
is never regarding origin,
00:56:21.01\00:56:26.72
it's always
regarding the manifestation
00:56:26.75\00:56:32.35
although I used
the word carefully,
00:56:32.39\00:56:34.22
but He's coming
into the world as man
00:56:34.26\00:56:38.26
because He had to be
begotten of God into this world
00:56:38.29\00:56:42.46
to be our Savior as well.
00:56:42.50\00:56:44.37
And so that's when
you find the word begotten
00:56:44.40\00:56:46.57
used quite often,
00:56:46.60\00:56:48.27
that's the context in
which the word begotten is used
00:56:48.30\00:56:51.27
throughout scripture.
00:56:51.31\00:56:52.64
That's right.
00:56:52.67\00:56:54.01
So we don't stumble on
the nature of Christ to say,
00:56:54.04\00:56:56.91
"Well, He had
advantages over us,
00:56:56.95\00:56:59.68
well, we had
advantages over Him."
00:56:59.71\00:57:02.28
Well, some
people even believe that
00:57:02.32\00:57:05.09
Jesus did not exist
until He was born through Mary
00:57:05.12\00:57:10.29
and He had this
temporary existence,
00:57:10.33\00:57:13.16
but I ask people
today, where did He come from?
00:57:13.19\00:57:15.80
He even said, "I
come from my Father,
00:57:15.83\00:57:18.37
I goeth back to my Father."
00:57:18.40\00:57:20.30
But He went back
after He conquered death
00:57:20.34\00:57:22.87
and after He defeated sin.
00:57:22.90\00:57:26.24
Deep things that are tough
for us to understand, I mean,
00:57:26.27\00:57:29.24
it's been even a challenge
putting some of this together
00:57:29.28\00:57:32.41
and as you can tell
me be in this program
00:57:32.45\00:57:34.32
we're using our words
even more carefully...
00:57:34.35\00:57:35.68
Yes.
00:57:35.72\00:57:37.05
Than we would
in another programs
00:57:37.09\00:57:38.42
but we pray that somehow
it has touched your heart
00:57:38.45\00:57:41.26
and drawn you closer to
who Christ is today to you.
00:57:41.29\00:57:45.73
Job 11:7, "Can you search
out the deep things of God,
00:57:45.76\00:57:48.96
can you find out the
limits of the almighty
00:57:49.00\00:57:51.53
and the answer is no."
00:57:51.57\00:57:53.64
Until we see you
again, may the Lord bless you
00:57:53.67\00:57:55.54
as you continue
studying in His almighty Word.
00:57:55.57\00:57:59.74