Welcome back to our study
of the resurrection of our Lord
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and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Ranko, this was such
a vital historical event
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central to the New Testament.
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Glenn, when we are talking
about the resurrection of Jesus,
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we are talking
about one of the legends.
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The product of the imagination
of a certain group of people.
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Today we have a problem.
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People who are even educated
who doubt that the miraculous
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resurrection can even happen.
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The consequence is
Jesus did not resurrect.
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However, the early disciples,
and the followers of Jesus
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did not have any
problem with that. Yeah! Why?
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Actually, I would like,
Glenn, that we go to one of the
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Biblical texts. It's not
in the gospel of Matthew.
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It's about the apostle Paul.
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The apostle Paul, you know,
was not a follower of Jesus.
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He was not among those
early, early disciples.
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He actually joined the
group a little bit later.
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But for Paul there was not any
doubt that the crucified Jesus
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whom he preached
actually resurrected.
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And let's see what Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8.
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This is such a great
passage because it combines
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the importance and
the reality. Yes, yes.
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For I delivered to
you as of first importance
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what I also received,...
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And now we find really
the essence of New Testament
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preaching. This is
what the gospel is.
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This is what it is.
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...that Christ died
for our sins in accordance
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with the scriptures; (first
event), that He was buried,
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(and thirdly), that He
was raised on the third day
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in accordance
with the Scriptures,
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and that He appeared
to Cephas, and the twelve.
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Glenn, sorry for
interrupting you.
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I just have to
take a few moments.
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I'm taking advantage of that.
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What was the core
of the early gospel
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that the disciples preached?
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Death, burial, and
the resurrection of Jesus.
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Please, I'd like to turn the
attention of the viewers today.
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What is the core today
of the Christian's belief?
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What is it that we talk
the most and celebrate even
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for several weeks?
It's the birth of Jesus.
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Christmas.
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When Easter comes we just
mention it one weekend, etc.
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But we pay; somehow we
reverse the meaning of that.
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Of course, the birth
of Jesus is important.
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But actually it is the death
of Jesus, and the resurrection
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that provides the Christians
with the hope that our future
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is determined, that our future
is settled with God, because He
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paid the ransom for us
on the cross of Calvary.
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In the Scriptures those
two events are tied together.
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Those three events: the cross,
the burial, the resurrection,
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are all tired together.
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So let's see
how certain this is.
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And that he appeared to Cephas,
or Peter, then to the twelve,
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then he appeared to more
than five hundred brethren
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at one time; most of
whom are still alive,...
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Witnesses: over five hundred.
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...though some
have fallen asleep.
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Then he appeared to
James; then to all the apostles.
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Last of all, as to
one ultimately born,
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he appeared also to me.
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Why, why early Christians?
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Why did the early
Christians have any problem
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with the resurrection of Jesus?
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Come on, Glenn, you can
have two or three people;
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can they lie? Of course! Yeah.
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You can even have five
people and they can lie.
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You can have ten people
and they can bring something
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that never happened.
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But when you compare them
you can be sure that they lied.
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But if you have, he doesn't say
five hundred...It's more than.
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...more than five hundred,
plus twelve, plus a few others,
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plus women... Yes.
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...believe me that
testimony is trustworthy.
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There's not any doubt that
something like that happened.
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And we'll see a great testimony
is what they do about it.
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It changes their
lives completely.
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It changes their lives!
Now let's go back to Matthew.
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So the Christian's faith is
based on the firm foundation.
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Our Lord really is risen.
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And let's go back to
Matthew Chapter 28. Please.
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The women, who really
couldn't in the court of law be
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witnesses, so we need
some men to come along
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and help as witnesses.
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So who are the first
missionaries? The women.
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In the gospel they were women
of the gospel that Paul talks
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about in 1
Corinthians in Chapter 15.
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So they departed quickly from
the tomb with fear and great joy
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and ran to tell his disciples.
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Verse 9 of Matthew 28.
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And behold Jesus
met them and said, Hail.
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And they came up and took hold
of his feet and worshipped him.
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Ranko, you've lost your parents.
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I've lost my parents.
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There's a cemetery in
Berrien Springs where my mother
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and father are buried.
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The resurrection is not
a doctrine; it's our hope.
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It's a blessed hope, as
Paul says in Thessalonians.
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Can I say something
else? You say it's hope.
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I would just, Glenn,
add one more element.
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Resurrection is a
personal experience.
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If you have any doubt
about the resurrection of Jesus;
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that He is alive, please
surrender your life to Him.
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Establish a relationship with
Him, and you will have strong
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evidence that our
Lord is still alive.
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He is real.
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His promise is real, and
one day we will see Him at the
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Second Coming of Christ.
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You know you almost feel
like breaking out into that
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great gospel song,
He Lives. He lives.
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I serve a risen Savior.
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That's what we're finding
here in this wonderful story.
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Jesus says, Don't be afraid.
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They have worshipped Him;
but there is something more.
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The gospel isn't done.
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We have a risen Savior.
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And they're
worshipping that risen Lord,
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but there's
something else that's left.
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Ranko, they have a
task. They have a purpose.
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Actually for me, since I
was a child, Verse 10 left an
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impression on my mind.
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Can you imagine, the
disciples were sleeping
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in the garden of Gethsemane.
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When Jesus was arrested
they fled away leaving Jesus.
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Full of doubts;
boy what a bunch!
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Ha ha ha, just like us!
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But listen, the first thing;
this is the first message.
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These are actually
the first words of Jesus
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after His resurrection.
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He says, Do not be afraid.
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Go and tell my disciples,
my brethren, Jesus called them.
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Remember we talked
about "if your brother sins";
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what Jesus said. Go to Galilee.
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I will meet you there.
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He restores Peter.
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He commissions the disciples.
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What a loving Lord.
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And then how does the
gospel of Matthew end?
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Would you read Verses 16-20?
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Now the eleven disciples
went to Galilee, to the mountain
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to which Jesus
had directed them.
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And when they saw
him they worshipped him.
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Again, they worshipped Him...
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Worship always goes with
the fact that Jesus resurrected.
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Yes. ...but some doubted.
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And Jesus came and said to
them, All authority in heaven
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and on earth has
been given to me.
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Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them
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in the name of the
Father, and of the Son,
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and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching
them to observe all that
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I have commanded you:
and lo, I am with you always,
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to the end of the age.
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What a promise!
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This is according to
the gospel of Matthew.
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The last commission that
Jesus gave to His disciples.
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You know that I'm alive.
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You know that I resurrected.
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Take this message and
proclaim to others; to whom?
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to all nations.
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Dear viewers, to all nations;
to all people on the earth;
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you and me included.
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The promise is both
spatial and temporal.
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It's to all the earth, and it's
through all time. What more.
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So, go to preach to all
people, including me. Yes.
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But when that message reaches my
heart where am I supposed to go?
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Now the great commission
implies to me; let me now go
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and proclaim that gospel
that Jesus died, He resurrected,
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He ascended there
to the heavenly places.
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Yes.
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And His presence
is with us always.
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How long all of this?
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Until the very end of the age.
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We believe that we
live at the end of the age.
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So His promise is
still valid and of concern
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to each one of us.
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We're to become disciples and
then go and make disciples...
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Yes. of the one that we're
following: Jesus our Savior.
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Now Ranko, we've taken quite
a journey here, and we've only
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touched a few things.
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We certainly can't feel that
all of the gospel of Matthew
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has been explored.
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What should we think about now
as we come to these last verses?
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What should be next?
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We should continue to study.
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We should continue to pray.
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Friends, when we reflect
on what we have covered so far
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from the gospel of
Matthew, there is one thing
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that we understand.
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Jesus came to save His
people from their sins.
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He died for us.
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And He is offering to
us that great salvation,
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and that salvation, what Jesus
did for us, is understandable,
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expensive, very expensive.
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It cost the death
of the Son of God.
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But at the same time it is free.
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It's not cheap;
it's very expensive.
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But it is freely offered to us.
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As we went through the gospel
of Matthew we could just touch
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here and there some texts.
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We could not cover
all the Biblical texts.
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And the purpose of this
series was not to instruct us,
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and to tell us everything,
that we can know about Jesus
00:10:03.84\00:10:07.26
from the gospel of Matthew.
00:10:07.29\00:10:08.68
It's simply to stimulate us;
to move us for further study.
00:10:08.71\00:10:12.70
Am I correct, Glenn?
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We've really been just on the
edges of an ocean of truth. Yes.
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And we're humbled
by this experience.
00:10:18.87\00:10:21.06
I want to encourage you, viewer.
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Spend some time in
God's Word; dig deeper.
00:10:22.87\00:10:25.53
That's the whole purpose of
this Books of the Book series;
00:10:25.56\00:10:28.75
to have us go
deeper into God's Word.
00:10:28.78\00:10:30.73
There's so much more to explore.
00:10:30.76\00:10:32.73
But, Ranko, if I may, we talked
about the close of the age.
00:10:32.76\00:10:38.08
Now Matthew doesn't go
into that close of the age,
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but we've got to go to
Revelation for a little bit.
00:10:41.18\00:10:44.62
How does this story end?
00:10:44.65\00:10:47.36
You see, during this
series we try to have a glimpse
00:10:47.39\00:10:51.79
into the face of Jesus.
00:10:51.82\00:10:54.69
I wonder how the disciples
felt, you know, watching that
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face of Jesus from day
to day, from day to day.
00:10:59.00\00:11:02.75
There is one
special song that I cherish.
00:11:02.78\00:11:06.66
I like to listen to that song.
00:11:06.69\00:11:08.21
I was not there in that
multitude watching people
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ascending there to
the heavenly places.
00:11:13.52\00:11:15.71
I wonder how the disciples felt
when Jesus was ascending there
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to the heavenly places.
00:11:19.07\00:11:20.44
But certainly I want to be
in that multitude who see Jesus
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when He comes down from
heaven for the second time.
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As you mentioned in the book
of Revelation, in Chapter 21
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and in Chapter 22, we read that
one day we will have that great
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opportunity and privilege
to watch and to see the face of
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Jesus and to watch that
face through all eternity.
00:11:45.94\00:11:48.31
What a privilege!
00:11:48.34\00:11:49.91
I want to be sure to be there.
00:11:49.94\00:11:52.00
There's nothing in this
world that would make me want to
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miss that experience of
seeing my Savior face to face.
00:11:56.52\00:12:00.03
And, Glenn, we will not have
a need of the gospel of Matthew,
00:12:00.06\00:12:06.01
or Luke, or Mark,
or John any longer.
00:12:06.04\00:12:09.67
We don't need that any
longer because we will see Him
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face to face.
00:12:13.27\00:12:14.64
We've been looking, as Paul
says, through the glass darkly.
00:12:14.67\00:12:19.46
But there will come a day when
that, the sickness, the disease,
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all those things that Revelation
21 and 22 talks about;
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it'll be a new day, a new
world, but the same Savior.
00:12:29.50\00:12:33.84
We see here how the Holy Spirit
used one person who had a very,
00:12:33.87\00:12:39.77
very problematic
past: a tax collector
00:12:39.80\00:12:41.69
by the name of Matthew.
00:12:41.72\00:12:43.27
He used his talents, inspired
him, motivated him, to write
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that account of
the life of Jesus.
00:12:49.11\00:12:51.35
Please take this gospel and
study for yourself to get much
00:12:51.38\00:12:56.83
deeper insight into the life
of Jesus, until He comes again,
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and we'll be with
Him through all eternity.
00:13:01.26\00:13:03.62