Participants: Dr. David DeRose
Series Code: SSH
Program Code: SSH021615A
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00:00 (MUSIC)
00:35 >>GOOD MORNING, FRIENDS, AND WELCOME AGAIN TO SABBATH 00:36 SCHOOL STUDY HOUR. A VERY WARM WELCOME TO THE 00:39 MEMBERS HERE OF THE GRANITE BAY CHURCH AND THOSE WHO ARE 00:42 VISITING ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND SOME EVEN FROM SOME OTHER PLACES 00:45 AROUND THE WORLD, A VERY SPECIAL WELCOME TO ALL OF YOU. 00:48 WE'RE GLAD YOU'RE HERE TO STUDY WITH US AS WE TAKE A LOOK AT OUR 00:50 LESSON FOR THIS WEEK. FOR OUR FRIENDS JOINING US, WE 00:54 ALSO WANT TO WELCOME YOU IN A SPECIAL WAY. 00:56 I'LL LET YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE STUDYING THROUGH THE BOOK OF 00:58 MATTHEW. IF YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR LESSON 01:00 QUARTERLY DEALING WITH THE SUBJECT OF MATTHEW, YOU CAN GO 01:04 TO THE AMAZING FACTS WEBSITE - JUST AMAZINGFACTS.ORG . 01:07 YOU CAN DOWNLOAD TODAY'S LESSON - IT'S LESSON #2 ENTITLED THE 01:12 MINISTRY BEGINS - AND YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG WITH US AS WE STUDY 01:15 TOGETHER. WE ALSO HAVE A FREE OFFER CALLED 01:18 CHRIST'S HUMAN NATURE - A BOOK WRITTEN BY JOE CREWS. 01:21 THIS IS THE FREE OFFER FOR TODAY AND WE'LL BE HAPPY TO SEND THIS 01:24 TO ANYBODY (IN NORTH AMERICA) WHO CALLS AND ASKS. 01:26 THE NUMBER TO CALL IS 866-788-3966. 01:31 AGAIN, THAT NUMBER IS 866-788-3966 AND YOU CAN ASK FOR 01:36 OFFER #703 AND WE'LL BE HAPPY TO SEND THAT TO YOU. 01:41 IF YOU'RE OUTSIDE OF NORTH AMERICA AND YOU'D LIKE TO 01:43 PARTICIPATE IN OUR FREE OFFER, JUST GO TO THE WEBSITE 01:46 AMAZINGFACTS.ORG AND YOU CAN CLICK ON THE FREE LIBRARY AND 01:50 YOU CAN READ THE .PDF VERSION OF THE BOOK CALLED 01:52 CHRIST'S HUMAN NATURE AND FOLLOW RIGHT ALONG WITH US. 01:56 WELL, BEFORE WE GET TO OUR STUDY TODAY, AS USUAL, WE'D LIKE TO 01:59 BEGIN WITH A FEW SONGS OF PRAISE AND WE'D LIKE TO INVITE OUR 02:02 CHORISTERS TO COME FORWARD AND THEY'LL BE LEADING US IN SOME 02:05 PRAISE THIS MORNING. 02:13 >>THANK YOU, PASTOR ROSS, AND HELLO TO EVERYONE HERE AND THOSE 02:17 OF YOU JOINING US. IT'S TIME TO SING. 02:19 WE KNOW THAT YOU LOOK FORWARD TO SINGING YOUR FAVORITE HYMNS WITH 02:22 US EVERY WEEK AND SO TODAY WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE WITH THAT 02:25 TRADITION AND OUR FIRST ONE IS #620 - ON JORDAN'S STORMY BANKS 02:31 - JOIN WITH US, WE'RE GOING TO DO THE FIRST, THIRD, AND FOURTH 02:34 STANZAS - #620. (MUSIC) 02:45 >>ON JORDAN'S STORMY BANKS I STAND, AND CAST A WISHFUL EYE TO 02:54 CANAAN'S FAIR AND HAPPY LAND, WHERE MY POSSESSIONS LIE. 03:03 I AM BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND, I AM BOUND FOR THE 03:08 PROMISED LAND; O WHO WILL COME AND GO WITH ME? 03:15 I AM BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND. 03:20 WHEN SHALL I REACH THAT HAPPY PLACE, AND BE FOREVER BLEST? 03:28 WHEN SHALL I SEE MY FATHER'S FACE, AND IN HIS KINGDOM REST? 03:37 I AM BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND, I AM BOUND FOR THE 03:43 PROMISED LAND; O WHO WILL COME AND GO WITH ME? 03:50 I AM BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND. 03:54 FILLED WITH DELIGHT, MY RAPTURED SOUL WOULD HERE NO LONGER STAY; 04:03 THOUGH JORDAN'S WAVES AROUND ME ROLL, FEARLESS I'D LAUNCH AWAY. 04:12 I AM BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND, I AM BOUND FOR THE 04:18 PROMISED LAND; O WHO WILL COME AND GO WITH ME? 04:25 I AM BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND. 04:32 >>THAT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SONG AND SUCH AN UPBEAT, CHEERY SONG 04:35 - BOUND FOR THE PROMISED LAND - THAT YOU CAN'T FEEL DOWN WHEN 04:38 YOU'RE SINGING THAT SONG, CAN YOU? SOMETIMES WE SING 04:42 UNFAMILIAR, NEW SONGS, AND TODAY WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT. 04:46 WE LOVE LEARNING NEW SONGS WITH YOU, SO LET'S SING #232 04:51 AT THE NAME OF JESUS . (MUSIC) 05:02 >>AT THE NAME OF JESUS EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW, EVERY 05:10 TONGUE CONFESS HIM KING OF GLORY NOW; 'TIS THE FATHER'S PLEASURE 05:22 WE SHOULD CALL HIM LORD, WHO FROM THE BEGINNING WAS THE 05:30 MIGHTY WORD. AT HIS VOICE CREATION SPRANG AT 05:39 ONCE TO SIGHT, ALL THE ANGEL FACES, ALL THE HOSTS OF LIGHT, 05:51 THRONES AND DOMINATIONS, STARS UPON THEIR WAY, ALL THE HEAVENLY 06:01 ORDERS IN THEIR GREAT ARRAY. IN YOUR HEARTS ENTHRONE HIM: 06:12 THERE LET HIM SUBDUE ALL THAT IS NOT HOLY, ALL THAT IS NOT TRUE; 06:24 CROWN HIM AS YOUR CAPTAIN IN TEMPTATION'S HOUR, LET HIS WILL 06:33 ENFOLD YOU IN ITS LIGHT AND POWER. 06:41 SURELY, THIS LORD JESUS SHALL RETURN AGAIN, WITH HIS FATHER'S 06:51 GLORY, WITH HIS ANGEL TRAIN; FOR ALL WREATHS OF EMPIRE MEET UPON 07:02 HIS BROW, AND OUR HEARTS CONFESS HIM KING OF GLORY NOW. 07:17 >>PASTOR ROSS IS GOING TO COME OUT AND LEAD US IN PRAYER. 07:26 >>I'D LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO BOW YOUR HEADS AS WE BEGIN WITH A 07:28 WORD OF PRAYER. DEAR FATHER IN HEAVEN, WE ARE 07:30 INDEED GRATEFUL TO BE ABLE TO GATHER TOGETHER IN YOUR HOUSE ON 07:33 THIS BEAUTIFUL SABBATH, TO OPEN UP THE SCRIPTURES AND TO STUDY 07:36 ABOUT THE LIFE OF JESUS AND THE MINISTRY OF JESUS. 07:39 AND SO, LORD, WE INVITE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO COME AND GUIDE OUR 07:42 HEARTS AND OUR MINDS. LEAD US INTO A FULLER AND 07:45 CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF HIS GREAT SACRIFICE, HIS LIFE, HIS 07:49 MINISTRY - THAT WE WOULD BE DRAWN CLOSER TO HIM, FOR WE 07:52 ASK THIS IN JESUS' NAME, AMEN. OUR LESSON TODAY WILL BE 07:56 BROUGHT TO US BY DR. DEROSE. THANK YOU, DR. DEROSE. 08:06 >>WELL, IT'S GREAT TO BE STUDYING TOGETHER AGAIN. 08:08 WE'RE STUDYING FROM THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. 08:11 WE'RE ON LESSON #2 ENTITLED THE MINISTRY BEGINS - THE MINISTRY 08:17 BEGINS. IT WAS SOME 80 YEARS AGO AND A 08:25 STORY - A NARRATIVE - WAS BEING DISSEMINATED, AT LEAST 08:30 IT WAS IN GERMANY. THE NARRATIVE WAS THAT IF YOU 08:34 WERE NOT OF ARYAN BLOODLINES, YOU WERE OF AN INFERIOR 08:41 RACIAL BACKGROUND. IT WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE OF 08:45 CERTAIN RACES INCLUDING THOSE FROM THE AFRICAN NATIONS. 08:52 THAT NARRATIVE - THAT STORY WAS BEING TOLD AND IN 1936 THE WORLD 08:57 TURNED THEIR ATTENTION ON BERLIN, GERMANY BECAUSE THAT WAS 09:01 THE SITE FOR THE OLYMPICS THAT YEAR. 09:06 AND MANY OF YOU KNOW THE STORY OF WHAT TRANSPIRED AT THAT 09:09 AMAZING OLYMPIC GAMES. THERE WAS ACTUALLY ONE 09:13 INDIVIDUAL AMONG A NUMBER FROM THOSE VERY AFRICAN BLOOD LINES 09:19 THAT WERE BEING DISPARAGED IN GERMANY. 09:21 AS HITLER WAS LEADING THE CEREMONIES THERE, ONE OF THE 09:27 AMERICANS WHO CAME TO BERLIN WAS JESSE OWENS, AN 09:32 AFRICAN-AMERICAN, JUST A COUPLE OF GENERATIONS REMOVED FROM 09:35 SLAVERY - HIS GRANDFATHER WAS A SLAVE. 09:38 AND MOST OF YOU KNOW THE STORY, HOW JESSE OWENS WON FOUR GOLD 09:43 MEDALS AT THOSE 1936 OLYMPICS AND, IN ESSENCE, REWROTE THE 09:48 NARRATIVE, AT LEAST FOR THOSE WHO WERE LISTENING. 09:52 AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE NOT AN INFERIOR RACE. 09:55 THE ARYANS WERE NOT THE DOMINANT RACE IN THE WORLD. 10:01 BUT AS INSPIRING AND AS REMARKABLE AS THE STORY OF JESSE 10:04 OWENS IS, TODAY WE'RE STUDYING THE STORY OF ANOTHER LIFE THAT 10:10 RE-WROTE HISTORY AND, IN FACT, IN A MUCH GREATER WAY THAN JESSE 10:15 OWENS EVER DID. IT'S THE LIFE OF JESUS, OUR SAVIOR. 10:21 AND AS WE LOOK AT THE BEGINNINGS OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, PASTOR 10:25 DOUG PROMISED US IN OUR PREVIOUS STUDY, THAT WE WOULD REVISIT 10:29 SOME OF THE THINGS IN THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS. 10:32 WE'LL DO THAT, AS WELL AS LOOKING THROUGH, REALLY, THE 10:34 FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. 10:37 THOSE FOUR CHAPTERS ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT, IN A VERY BROAD WAY, 10:42 HOW JESUS WAS RE-WRITING HISTORY. 10:45 TURN IN YOUR BIBLES TO, PERHAPS, A SURPRISING PLACE TO BEGIN. 10:49 I'M TURNING TO THE BOOK OF DANIEL - THE BOOK OF DANIEL 10:52 BECAUSE WE WANT TO GET A PERSPECTIVE ON THIS GOSPEL. 10:55 AS PASTOR DOUG MADE VERY CLEAR IN OUR LAST LESSON, MATTHEW WAS 10:59 ESPECIALLY WRITING FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE. 11:03 AND THE JEWISH NATION HAD A VERY SPECIAL PROPHECY THAT 11:09 WAS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 11:12 I'M TURNING IN DANIEL, CHAPTER 9, FOR WHAT IS COMMONLY REFERRED 11:17 TO AS THE SEVENTY-WEEKS PROPHECY - DANIEL 9 - AND I JUST WANT TO 11:23 READ THE FIRST VERSE OF THAT PROPHECY - DANIEL 9, BEGINNING 11:27 WITH VERSE 24 - DANIEL 9, VERSE 24, "SEVENTY WEEKS ARE 11:33 DETERMINED FOR YOUR PEOPLE AND FOR YOUR HOLY CITY, TO FINISH 11:38 THE TRANSGRESSION, TO MAKE AN END OF SINS, TO MAKE 11:43 RECONCILIATION FOR INIQUITY, TO BRING IN EVERLASTING 11:48 RIGHTEOUSNESS, TO SEAL UP VISION AND PROPHECY, AND TO ANOINT THE 11:54 MOST HOLY." FOR THOSE OF YOU STUDENTS OF 11:58 BIBLE PROPHECY, YOU REALIZE THAT THIS PROPHECY, HISTORIANS 12:02 AGREE, BEGAN IN 457 BC. AND IF YOU WERE TO TRACE DOWN 12:08 THROUGH THE STREAM OF TIME WHEN JESUS IS BEGINNING HIS MINISTRY 12:11 WE'RE ENTERING THE FINAL WEEK OF YEARS OF THAT PROPHECY. 12:15 SO THAT SEVENTY WEEKS TOOK IN SEVENTY WEEKS OF YEARS OR 490 12:19 YEARS. AND IF THAT'S A STRANGE CONCEPT 12:21 FOR YOU, YOU CAN GO TO THE AMAZING FACTS WEBSITE - THERE'S 12:25 A LOT OF RESOURCES THERE ON BIBLE PROPHECY. 12:28 BUT HERE'S THE INTERESTING THING IN THIS PROPHECY, IT WAS A 12:31 PROPHECY GIVEN TO WHO? DO YOU SEE IT THERE? 12:34 IN DANIEL 9, VERSE 24, AS IT BEGINS, SEVENTY WEEKS ARE 12:38 DETERMINED FOR WHO? "FOR YOUR PEOPLE AND YOUR HOLY CITY." 12:42 SO THIS IS A PROPHECY GIVEN TO THE JEWISH NATION. 12:46 AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE NARRATIVE THAT WAS BEING WRITTEN, THE 12:50 JEWISH NATION HAD NOT FULFILLED WHAT THEY WERE CALLED TO DO. 12:56 SOME FOUR HUNDRED AND WHAT - EIGHTY-THREE YEARS HAD PASSED. 13:02 I MEAN, IT'S THE CLOSING HOURS OF PROPHETIC HISTORY, ACCORDING 13:07 TO DANIEL 9, AND THE JEWISH NATION HAS TOTALLY FAILED TO 13:12 ACCOMPLISH WHAT GOD CALLED THEM TO DO. BUT NOW WHAT HAPPENS IN 13:17 THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW IS THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL THAT HISTORY 13:20 LOOKED FORWARD TO: JESUS IS COMING TO RE-WRITE THE HISTORY 13:25 OF THE JEWISH NATION - ACTUALLY, TO BRING FULFILLMENT TO ALL 13:29 THAT GOD CALLED HIS PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH. 13:32 SO LET'S LOOK AT THAT AS WE SPEAK ABOUT THIS TOPIC OF THE 13:34 MINISTRY BEGINS - AND I JUST WANT TO TRACE WITH YOU, VERY 13:38 BRIEFLY, HOW JESUS RE-WRITES THIS HISTORY. 13:43 LET'S LOOK FIRST AT MATTHEW CHAPTER 1 - WE'RE GOING TO TOUCH 13:46 ON A FEW THINGS THAT WERE TOUCHED ON LAST WEEK AND THEN 13:50 WE'LL TIE THAT IN WITH WHERE WE'RE GOING. 13:52 SO OUR FOCUS IS THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS OF MATTHEW AND WE WANT 13:55 TO SEE HOW JESUS CHANGES THE HISTORY - REALLY FULFILLS THE 14:01 PROMISE OF DANIEL CHAPTER 9. SO IN MATTHEW CHAPTER 1, VERSE 14:06 18, WE READ THIS OF JESUS' HUMAN ORIGINS. 14:12 IT SAYS, "NOW THE BIRTH OF JESUS WAS AS FOLLOWS: AFTER HIS MOTHER 14:16 MARY WAS BETROTHED TO JOSEPH, BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER, SHE 14:20 WAS FOUND WITH CHILD OF THE HOLY SPIRIT." 14:24 SO LUKE GIVES US A LITTLE MORE DETAIL BUT MATTHEW, HERE, IS 14:29 ALLUDING TO THE FACT OF THIS DIVINE VIRGIN BIRTH. 14:34 AND, OF COURSE, AS YOU READ THROUGH MATTHEW'S ACCOUNT IN 14:37 CHAPTER 1, JOSEPH IMMEDIATELY, IN VERSE 19, REALIZES THAT THIS 14:42 IS NOT THE WAY THAT THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, RIGHT? 14:46 AND SO HE IS GOING TO GRACIOUSLY JUST PUT MARY ASIDE. 14:52 HE'S NOT GOING TO MAKE A BIG ORDEAL. THEY'RE NOT YET MARRIED, 14:56 THEY'RE JUST ENGAGED OR BETROTHED, 14:58 BUT AN ANGEL APPEARS TO JOSEPH. WHAT I WANT YOU TO REALIZE HERE 15:03 IS, JUST LIKE THE JEWISH NATION BASICALLY HAD THEIR BIRTH IN A 15:12 SET OF MIRACLE BIRTHS, RIGHT? ABRAHAM IS GIVEN THIS PROMISE 15:16 OF BEING THE FATHER OF WHAT? A MULTITUDE. 15:20 AND YOU CAN IMAGINE ABRAHAM AS HE WAS FIRST CALLED ABRAM, THEN 15:25 ABRAHAM, THE FATHER OF A MULTITUDE - CAN YOU IMAGINE? 15:28 YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT - THERE'S A LOT TO BE SAID IN YOUR 15:30 NAME. I MEAN, CAN YOU IMAGINE 15:33 INTRODUCING YOURSELF? 'HELLO, WHAT'S YOUR NAME?' 15:35 'I'M FATHER OF A MULTITUDE.' 'WOW, FATHER OF A MULTITUDE, HOW 15:39 MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE?' 'NONE.' NONE. AND SO GOD 15:45 MIRACULOUSLY - IT WASN'T A VIRGIN BIRTH, BUT IN SARAH WHOSE 15:51 WOMB WAS DEAD, IN ESSENCE, IT'S A MIRACLE BIRTH JUST AS MUCH - 15:55 THE PROMISE OF A NATION OF AN OFFSPRING COMES THROUGH A 16:01 MIRACLE BIRTH AT ITS VERY BEGINNING. 16:04 ABRAHAM IS NOT THE FATHER OF ANY NATION UNTIL THERE'S A MIRACLE 16:08 BIRTH. WELL, YOU KNOW, AFTER A NUMBER 16:13 OF GENERATIONS, GOD'S PEOPLE, THE JEWISH NATION, FINDS 16:20 THEMSELVES IN EGYPT. AND AS WE COME TO MATTHEW 16:23 CHAPTER 2, WE SEE JESUS - HE'S ACTUALLY, IN ESSENCE, FULFILLING 16:29 OR REDEEMING THE WHOLE JEWISH HISTORY. 16:31 AS YOU LOOK THROUGH IT - SO IT BEGINS WITH THIS VIRGIN BIRTH - 16:34 WITH THIS MIRACULOUS BIRTH - AND WHEN WE'RE IN CHAPTER 2 OF 16:37 MATTHEW - YOU KNOW THE STORY, HOW IT UNFOLDS - THE MAGI, THESE 16:42 WISE MEN FROM THE EAST HAVE COME TO BE THERE AND TO SHOW THEIR 16:47 RESPECT FOR - WHO IS IT? THE KING OF THE JEWS. 16:53 SO IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL, THE INTRODUCTORY MESSAGE DOES NOT 16:59 COME THROUGH SHEPHERDS - IT DOES IN LUKE'S GOSPEL, AND IT DID 17:03 HAPPEN THAT WAY, OF COURSE, BUT MATTHEW IS HIGHLIGHTING THE 17:07 KINGSHIP OF JESUS. AS WE WALKED THROUGH IT IN OUR 17:10 LAST STUDY WITH PASTOR DOUG, WHAT DID WE SEE? 17:13 WE SAW JESUS OF THE KINGLY LINE - THE EMPHASIS - AND ON - IN ON 17:17 HIM BEING THE SON OF DAVID AND BEING OF THE LINE OF ABRAHAM. 17:23 SO AS LUKE SPEAKS ABOUT PEOPLE THAT, IN JEWISH CULTURE, WEREN'T 17:26 VERY SIGNIFICANT, LIKE SHEPHERDS AND WOMEN AND OLD WOMEN LIKE ANA 17:33 IN THE TEMPLE. IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL THE FOCUS IS ON THESE 17:39 WISE MEN WHO COME TO JESUS. BUT AFTER THE WISE MEN COME - GO 17:43 WITH ME TO MATTHEW CHAPTER 2 AND VERSE 13. 17:48 MATTHEW 2, VERSE 13 IT SAYS, "NOW WHEN THEY" - THE WISE MEN - 17:51 "HAD DEPARTED, BEHOLD, AN ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO JOSEPH 17:56 IN A DREAM, SAYING, 'ARISE, TAKE THE YOUNG CHILD AND HIS MOTHER, 18:00 FLEE TO EGYPT, AND STAY THERE UNTIL I BRING YOU WORD; FOR 18:04 HEROD WILL SEEK THE YOUNG CHILD TO DESTROY HIM.' WHEN HE AROSE, 18:10 HE TOOK THE YOUNG CHILD AND HIS MOTHER BY NIGHT AND DEPARTED FOR 18:14 EGYPT, AND WAS THERE UNTIL THE DEATH OF HEROD..." WHY? 18:19 WHY? DO YOU CATCH WHAT MATTHEW THEN SAYS? 18:21 HE SAYS HE WAS THERE SO "THAT IT MIGHT BE FULFILLED WHICH WAS 18:27 SPOKEN BY THE LORD THROUGH THE PROPHET, SAYING, 'OUT OF EGYPT I 18:31 CALLED MY SON.'" SO YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE? 18:35 JESUS, A MIRACLE BIRTH, A LINE THAT HAS PROMISED KINGSHIP - 18:42 JESUS IS LOOKED TO AS THE KING - AND THEN WHAT HAPPENS? 18:45 THE KING GOES - THE KINGLY LINE, IF YOU WILL, THE KING HIMSELF, 18:49 JESUS, GOES TO EGYPT. HE IS ACTUALLY RE-WRITING, IF 18:56 YOU WILL, HE'S RE-WRITING THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH NATION. 19:13 JESUS, AS HE WALKS ON EARTH, IS FULFILLING ALL THAT GOD'S PEOPLE 19:21 WERE CALLED TO FULFILL. AND SO NOT ONLY - NOT ONLY DOES 19:27 HE HAVE THIS HISTORY, WHAT HAPPENS NOW IS THAT WE GET 19:30 INTO THE SPECIAL FOCUS OF THIS LESSON. 19:34 WE COME TO MATTHEW CHAPTER 3 AND IN MATTHEW CHAPTER 3 WE'RE 19:39 INTRODUCED TO JOHN THE BAPTIST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IS 19:44 PREPARING THE WAY FOR WHO? FOR THE MESSIAH. 19:49 HE'S PREPARING THE WAY FOR THE KING. 19:52 AND SO WHAT HAPPENS TO JESUS WHEN HE COMES TO JOHN? 19:57 WHAT HAPPENS? WHEN JESUS COMES TO JOHN - 20:01 LISTEN CAREFULLY TO THE DIALOGUE THAT HAPPENS. I'M IN, NOW, 20:05 MATTHEW CHAPTER 3, VERSE 13 - MATTHEW 3, VERSE 13. IT SAYS, 20:12 "THEN JESUS CAME FROM GALILEE TO JOHN AT THE JORDAN TO BE 20:18 BAPTIZED BY HIM. AND JOHN TRIED TO PREVENT HIM, SAYING, 'I NEED 20:23 TO BE BAPTIZED BY YOU, AND ARE YOU COMING TO ME?' 20:28 BUT JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID TO HIM, 'PERMIT IT TO BE SO NOW, 20:33 FOR THUS IT IS FITTING FOR US TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS.' THEN 20:38 HE ALLOWED HIM." DO YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE? 20:43 JESUS GOES THROUGH - HE GOES TO EGYPT AND THEN AFTER HE'S COME 20:47 BACK FROM EGYPT HE GOES THROUGH A BAPTISM EXPERIENCE. 20:53 HOW MANY OF YOU ARE AWARE THAT IN THE JEWISH MINDSET THEY 20:59 UNDERSTOOD THAT THEY, AS A PEOPLE, HAD BEEN COLLECTIVELY 21:05 BAPTIZED. ARE YOU AWARE OF THIS? 21:08 IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THIS, TURN INTO 1 CORINTHIANS 21:12 CHAPTER 10 - 1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 10 AS WE HEAR THE 21:17 APOSTLE PAUL DESCRIBING SOMETHING THAT WAS PART OF THE 21:21 CULTURAL IDENTITY OF THE JEWISH NATION. WE KNOW THIS FOR A 21:24 NUMBER OF REASONS: BAPTISM WAS NOT INTRODUCED BY THE JOHN THE 21:27 BAPTIST. BAPTISM WAS A PRACTICE THAT WAS 21:31 ENGAGED IN FOR JEWISH CONVERTS. SO IF YOU WERE NOT OF THE SEED 21:36 OF ABRAHAM - IF YOU WERE NOT OF THE BIOLOGICAL LINEAGE OF 21:41 ABRAHAM, WHEN YOU BECAME A JEW, YOU WERE BAPTIZED. 21:45 AND THE REASON FOR IT WAS, IF YOU WERE BORN INTO A JEWISH 21:49 BLOODLINE, YOU DIDN'T NEED TO BE BAPTIZED BECAUSE OF WHAT PAUL 21:53 DESCRIBES HERE IN 1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 10. 21:56 LET'S LOOK AT IT - 1 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 10, BEGINNING WITH VERSE 21:59 1, "MOREOVER, BRETHREN, I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE UNAWARE THAT ALL 22:07 OUR FATHERS WERE UNDER THE CLOUD, ALL PASSED THROUGH THE 22:13 SEA, ALL WERE BAPTIZED INTO MOSES IN THE CLOUD AND IN THE 22:19 SEA, ALL ATE THE SAME SPIRITUAL FOOD, AND ALL DRANK THE SAME 22:23 SPIRITUAL DRINK. FOR THEY DRANK OF THAT SPIRITUAL 22:26 ROCK THAT FOLLOWED THEM, AND THAT ROCK WAS CHRIST." 22:30 DO YOU CATCH THE PICTURE? AS PAUL IS RETRACING SOMETHING 22:35 THAT THE JEWISH NATION KNEW - NOW HE'S WRITING, REMEMBER, 22:38 HERE TO A CHURCH IN CORINTH. SO THESE WERE NOT JEWS BY BIRTH. 22:44 HE'S WRITING TO A CHURCH THAT WE WOULD SAY WOULD BE IN MODERN-DAY 22:47 GREECE, AS WE DRAW LINES TODAY, AND SO THIS WAS A GENTILE CHURCH 22:54 AT ONE OF THE CROSSROADS OF THE - OF THE WORLD, DURING THE NEW 22:58 TESTAMENT TIMES. AND SO, AS PAUL IS WRITING 23:01 HE SAYS, 'I'M REMINDING YOU. I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE IGNORANT. 23:04 I WANT YOU - I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE UNAWARE OF WHAT WE IN JUDAISM 23:09 HAVE KNOWN AND THAT IS THAT THE JEWISH PEOPLE WENT THROUGH A 23:12 BAPTISM EXPERIENCE. AND SO, AS WE'RE READING THROUGH 23:17 THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS WE SEE JESUS, 23:21 BASICALLY, REDEEMING THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF GOD'S PEOPLE. 23:27 JESUS IS THE ONE OF THAT PROMISED LINEAGE. 23:30 HE'S THE MIRACLE-BIRTH CHILD. HE ACTUALLY GOES TO EGYPT 23:34 FOR A PERIOD OF TIME. HE COMES OUT OF EGYPT AND AFTER 23:37 HE COMES OUT OF EGYPT, HE IS BAPTIZED. 23:41 WHERE WERE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL BAPTIZED? 23:45 IN THE RED SEA, YOU SEE? SO THEN WHAT HAPPENS TO THE 23:49 CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AFTER THE RED SEA EXPERIENCE? 23:54 WHAT DID THEY HAVE TO DEAL WITH? 23:57 THAT'S RIGHT, THEY HAD TO DEAL WITH 4O YEARS IN THE WILDERNESS. 24:02 AND SO, AS WE READ OF JESUS' BAPTISM - AND WHAT WE'RE DOING 24:06 IN THIS BEGINNING OF OUR STUDY TOGETHER, WE'RE TRYING TO GIVE 24:09 YOU THE BIG PICTURE OF THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS AND THEN, BY GOD'S 24:12 GRACE, WE'LL PICK UP SOME OF THESE DETAILS A LITTLE BIT MORE, 24:15 BUT WE'RE TRYING TO SEE WHAT THE NARRATIVE - WHAT MATTHEW WAS 24:19 TRYING TO DISPLAY - WHAT HE WAS WRITING AS HE WAS WRITING THIS 24:22 BOOK TO JEWISH BELIEVERS. AND SO WE SEE, NOW, AFTER JESUS 24:28 IS BAPTIZED - SO I'M BACK IN MATTHEW. 24:32 IN MATTHEW 3 WE READ OF THE BAPTISM AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO 24:36 FIND THAT JESUS FINDS HIMSELF, AGAIN, RELIVING OR REWRITING THE 24:44 HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE. MATTHEW CHAPTER 3 ENDS WITH THE 24:52 BAPTISM AND GOD SPEAKING THESE WORDS OF APPROVAL. 24:56 HE SAYS, 'THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.' BUT 25:04 THEN WE COME INTO CHAPTER 4 - JESUS JUST BAPTIZED - NOW SOME 25:09 OF YOU CAN PERHAPS RELATE TO THIS. 25:11 YOU REMEMBER YOUR BAPTISM VERY WELL. 25:14 AND PERHAPS SOME OF YOU, WHEN YOU WERE BAPTIZED YOU HAD AN 25:17 IDEA THAT WHEN YOU WENT UNDER THE WATERS OF BAPTISM, THAT WHEN 25:23 YOU CAME UP YOU WOULD BE A NEW PERSON. 25:25 NOW, THAT IS TRUE, BUT IN YOUR MIND A NEW PERSON MEANT THAT YOU 25:30 WOULD BE FREE OF ALL THOSE TEMPTATIONS THAT YOU HAD BEFORE 25:33 YOU WERE BAPTIZED. CAN ANY OF YOU RELATE TO THIS? THAT SOMEHOW 25:36 THAT BAPTISM - THERE'D BE AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION. 25:40 IT IS - IT'S AN AMAZING, AMAZING SERVICE THAT GOD HAS INSTITUTED. 25:45 BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, IF YOU'RE LIKE ME, WHEN YOU CAME OUT OF 25:48 THE BAPTISMAL WATERS, YOU STILL DEALT WITH THE SAME - SOME OF 25:52 THE SAME OLD STRUGGLES. ARE YOU RELATING TO THIS? 25:56 WE'RE NOT IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM TEMPTATION BY BAPTISM. 26:02 AND WITH JESUS, WHO NEVER SINNED, EVEN JESUS, AFTER HE 26:07 COMES OUT OF THE WATERS OF BAPTISM, WHAT DO WE SEE 26:09 HAPPENING NEXT IN MATTHEW CHAPTER 4? 26:13 MATTHEW 4, VERSE 1 SAYS, "THEN JESUS WAS LED UP BY THE SPIRIT 26:18 INTO THE WILDERNESS TO BE TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL." 26:22 AND AS MATTHEW IS WRITING HIS ACCOUNT OF THE GOSPEL - BY THE 26:27 WAY, IF YOU READ MARK'S ACCOUNT, JUST A VERY SUCCINCT REFERENCE 26:32 TO THIS PERIOD, BUT MATTHEW AND LUKE DESCRIBE WHAT HAPPENS IN 26:36 DETAIL. IT SAYS, IN VERSE 2, WHEN JESUS 26:40 "HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS, AFTERWARD HE WAS 26:46 HUNGRY." SO CATCH THE PICTURE HERE, THE 26:50 JEWISH NATION, THEY'RE BAPTIZED IN THE RED SEA AND THEN WHERE 26:54 DO THEY FIND THEMSELVES? THEY FIND THEMSELVES IN THE 26:57 WILDERNESS FOR HOW LONG? FOR FORTY YEARS. 27:00 SO JESUS HAS THIS FORTY-DAY EXPERIENCE IN THE WILDERNESS AND 27:06 WHAT IS HAPPENING TO JESUS THERE IN THE WILDERNESS? 27:10 THAT'S RIGHT, JUST WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. 27:14 THEY WERE TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. 27:16 HOW WELL DID THEY DO? >>NOT TOO WELL. 27:19 >>THAT'S RIGHT, THEY DIDN'T DO ALL SO WELL THERE IN THOSE 27:21 WILDERNESS TEMPTATIONS. IN FACT, ALL OF THE MEN - ALL OF 27:27 THE INDIVIDUALS OVER TWENTY DIED IN THE WILDERNESS, EXCEPT 27:30 FOR CALEB AND JOSHUA. NONE OF THEM ENTERED 27:33 THE PROMISED LAND. THEY ALL DIED. 27:36 THIS WAS NOT A SUCCESSFUL OVERCOMING OF SIN. 27:41 BUT WHAT DOES JESUS DO IN THE WILDERNESS? 27:45 JESUS OVERCOMES IN EVERY AREA. NOW REMEMBER, I'M STRUGGLING 27:50 BECAUSE WE'RE TRYING TO GIVE AN OVER - KIND OF A BROAD OVERVIEW. 27:53 I KNOW IT'S TAKING A LITTLE TIME TO GIVE A BROAD OVERVIEW AND I'M 27:56 STRUGGLING WITH THE TEMPTATION THAT MAYBE SOME OF YOU ARE 27:58 STRUGGLING WITH BECAUSE YOU WANT TO DIVE IN A LITTLE BIT MORE TO 28:01 SOME OF THESE STORIES. BUT THE POINT IS, WE'RE TRYING 28:04 TO SEE THIS BIG PICTURE THAT JESUS OVERCOMES IN THE 28:07 WILDERNESS IN THE AREA OF TEMPTATION. 28:10 AND THEN HE ENTERS, IF YOU WILL - JESUS DOES - AFTER THESE 28:15 TEMPTATIONS, WHAT? THE PROMISED LAND. 28:19 HE ENTERS INTO HIS MINISTRY. BY THE WAY, MAYBE I SHOULD 28:23 REMIND YOU OF THIS. LOOK IN YOUR BIBLES AT GENESIS - 28:28 I'M TURNING TO GENESIS CHAPTER 12 - GENESIS 12. 28:37 THIS PROMISE THAT GOD GAVE TO ABRAHAM - GENESIS CHAPTER 12, 28:43 BEGINNING WITH VERSE 1. "NOW THE LORD HAD SAID TO ABRAM: 28:48 'GET OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY, FROM YOUR FAMILY AND FROM YOUR 28:52 FATHER'S HOUSE, TO A LAND THAT I WILL SHOW YOU.'" BY THE WAY, 28:58 WHERE WAS THE HOUSE OF JESUS? OF WHAT LINEAGE WAS HE OF? 29:04 THAT'S RIGHT, HE WAS THE LINEAGE OF JUDAH AND HE WAS OF 29:08 BETHLEHEM, YOU KNOW, DAVID'S SEED. 29:11 HE WAS BORN IN BETHLEHEM, BUT WE FIND JESUS - HIS EARLY MINISTRY 29:17 IS ESPECIALLY FOCUSED, AS WE'LL LOOK AT IN THIS LESSON, IN 29:21 GALILEE. SO HE'S CALLED FROM - CALLED 29:23 FROM HIS HOME, IF YOU WILL - YOU MIGHT SAY WE'RE TAKING A LITTLE 29:28 BIT - MAKING A LITTLE BIT MORE TO THE PARALLELS THAN IS 29:32 WARRANTED, BUT FOLLOW ALONG. IN VERSE 2 OF THE PROMISE TO 29:35 ABRAM: "I WILL MAKE YOU A GREAT NATION; I WILL BLESS YOU AND 29:40 MAKE YOUR NAME GREAT; AND YOU SHALL BE A BLESSING. 29:43 I WILL BLESS THOSE WHO BLESS YOU, AND I WILL CURSE HIM WHO 29:47 CURSES YOU; AND IN YOU" - WHO SHALL BE BLESSED? 29:52 - "ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED." 29:57 SO HERE'S THE POINT: ALTHOUGH THE JEWISH NATION BEGAN TO THINK 30:03 IN NARROW TERMS OF JUST AN ISOLATED FOCUS ON THEMSELVES, 30:12 THE ORIGINAL CALL TO ABRAHAM WAS TO BLESS THE WHOLE WORLD. 30:16 AND SO JESUS, AS HE ENTERS INTO HIS MINISTRY, WE SEE JESUS 30:22 REALLY, REACHING IN A SENSE, THE WHOLE WORLD. 30:24 AND WE'LL CATCH THAT EARLY ON IN MATTHEW'S GOSPEL. 30:29 BUT AS JESUS ENTERS INTO MINISTRY LOOK AT HOW MATTHEW 30:33 SUMMARIZES HIS MINISTRY. MATTHEW CHAPTER 4 BEGINNING WITH 30:39 VERSE 23, "AND JESUS WENT ABOUT ALL GALILEE..." 30:48 NOW IT WAS JUST A LITTLE BIT EARLIER IN MATTHEW 4, IF YOU 30:54 WANT TO BE EXACT, VERSE 15, THAT THERE IS A PARTICULAR 30:59 DESCRIPTION OF GALILEE. IT'S NOT JUST CALLED GALILEE - 31:03 DO YOU SEE IT THERE IN VERSE 15, IT'S CALLED GALILEE WHAT? 31:07 GALILEE OF THE GENTILES. SO GALILEE IS IN A REGION OF THE 31:13 PROMISED LAND THAT FOR CENTURIES HAD NOT BEEN UNDER, IF 31:19 YOU WILL, JEWISH CONTROL. YOU KNOW THE HISTORY, BACK IN 31:26 THE DAYS OF SOLOMON THERE WAS A UNITED TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL. 31:32 AND SOLOMON, LIKE HIS FATHER DAVID, REIGNED OVER THOSE UNITED 31:37 TWELVE TRIBES. BUT WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE 31:41 REIGN OF REHOBOAM, SOLOMON'S SON? 31:44 THAT'S RIGHT, THE KINGDOM WAS DIVIDED AND THE TEN NORTHERN 31:48 TRIBES WERE SEPARATED FROM THE TWO SOUTHERN TRIBES OF JUDAH AND 31:53 BENJAMIN. THOSE TEN NORTHERN TRIBES, 31:57 CENTURIES AND CENTURIES BEFORE JESUS' BIRTH, HAD BEEN CONQUERED 32:04 BY ASSYRIA AND THEY HAD BECOME A GENTILE OR A HEATHEN REGION. 32:11 AND SO JESUS' EARLY MINISTRY AND, AS MATTHEW IS DESCRIBING 32:15 IT, IS TO GALILEE OF THE GENTILES. 32:19 JESUS IS GOING TO THE NON-JEWISH WORLD WITH THIS MESSAGE, EVEN 32:24 THOUGH THERE ARE MANY JEWS THERE. 32:25 AND, OF COURSE, HE'S PREACHING IN SYNAGOGUES AND MINISTERING TO 32:28 JEWS, PRIMARILY DURING HIS MINISTRY. 32:31 BUT, HOPEFULLY, YOU'RE CATCHING THIS IMAGERY THAT JESUS IS 32:35 RELIVING THE EXPERIENCE OF THE JEWISH NATION. 32:40 HE IS THE PROMISED ONE. 32:41 HE IS FULFILLING THE PROMISE OF DANIEL 9. 32:44 HE'S BRINGING TO FRUITION THE SEVENTY WEEKS' PROPHECY. 32:48 AND SO, LET'S READ ON THERE IN MATTHEW 4, VERSE 23 AND ONWARD. 32:52 IT SAYS, "AND JESUS WENT ABOUT ALL GALILEE, TEACHING IN THEIR 32:55 SYNAGOGUES, PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, AND HEALING ALL 32:59 KINDS OF SICKNESS AND ALL KINDS OF DISEASE AMONG THE PEOPLE. 33:04 THEN HIS FAME WENT OUT THROUGHOUT ALL SYRIA; AND THEY 33:09 BROUGHT TO HIM ALL SICK PEOPLE WHO WERE AFFLICTED WITH VARIOUS 33:12 DISEASES AND TORMENTS, AND THOSE WHO WERE DEMON-POSSESSED, 33:15 EPILEPTICS, AND PARALYTICS; AND HE HEALED THEM. 33:18 GREAT MULTITUDES FOLLOWED HIM - FROM GALILEE, AND FROM 33:21 DECAPOLIS, JERUSALEM, JUDEA, AND BEYOND THE JORDAN." 33:25 AND SO WHAT IT'S SAYING HERE - AS MATTHEW, IN THESE FIRST FOUR 33:28 CHAPTERS, IS DESCRIBING THE EARLY BACKGROUND OF JESUS. 33:33 HE'S PRESENTING, I WOULD SUGGEST TO YOU, A PICTURE OF SOMEONE WHO 33:36 HAS REDEEMED - WHO HAS REDEEMED THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH 33:41 NATION. HE'S REWRITTEN THE HISTORY. 33:43 THE JEWISH NATION, FOR 483 YEARS, COULDN'T FULFILL WHAT GOD 33:47 ASKED THEM TO DO AND JESUS COMES AND HE DOES THAT. 33:52 AND THE GOOD NEWS FOR ME AND FOR YOU IS THAT THAT HISTORY THAT 33:57 JESUS LIVED - THAT LIFE THAT HE LIVED - HE WANTS TO ACCOUNT IT - 34:01 NOT JUST FOR THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH NATION, BUT FOR EVERY ONE 34:04 OF US - EVERY ONE OF US. SO AS WE LOOK AT WHAT GOD CALLS 34:09 HIS PEOPLE TO BE - WE LOOK AND WE SAY, 'I DON'T MEASURE UP TO 34:15 THAT.' HAVE YOU ACTUALLY READ THE BIBLE AND LOOKED 34:17 AT ITS COUNSEL? AND YOU SAY, 'YOU KNOW, AS I 34:20 READ THROUGH THIS, I'M NOT LIVING THE KIND OF LIFE THAT GOD 34:24 CALLED ME TO LIVE.' WELL, JESUS HAS LIVED THAT LIFE. 34:29 ONE OF MY FAVORITE AUTHORS WROTE ABOUT THIS IN A LITTLE BOOK 34:32 CALLED FAITH AND WORKS - FAITH AND WORKS - THIS IS FROM PAGE 34:37 107 - LISTEN TO THIS: "PERFECTION THROUGH OUR OWN GOOD 34:44 WORKS WE CAN NEVER ATTAIN. THE SOUL WHO SEES JESUS BY 34:50 FAITH, REPUDIATES HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS." 34:55 SO, IN OTHER WORDS, IF I'M SEEING JESUS AND I'M SEEING WHAT 34:58 HE CALLS ME TO BE AND I LOOK AT MYSELF, HOW DO I LOOK? 35:04 I DON'T LOOK VERY GOOD. AND THAT'S PUTTING IT MILDLY, 35:07 ISN'T IT? SO WE REPUDIATE - WE SAY, 'MY - 35:12 I CAN'T DO IT.' "HE SEES HIMSELF AS INCOMPLETE." NOW, I KNOW 35:18 TODAY - THIS WAS WRITTEN MANY YEARS AGO. IF WE WERE WRITING 35:21 TODAY WE WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, HE OR SHE. BUT YOU UNDERSTAND WHEN 35:26 THEY WROTE IN THE MALE GENDER YEARS AGO. 35:30 "HE SEES HIMSELF" - OR IF I WERE TO PUT IT IN THE FIRST PERSON, 35:34 'I SEE MYSELF AS INCOMPLETE, MY REPENTANCE INSUFFICIENT, MY 35:45 STRONGEST FAITH BUT FEEBLENESS, MY MOST COSTLY SACRIFICE AS 35:53 MEAGER, AND I SINK IN HUMILITY AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS.' ARE 35:59 YOU FOLLOWING ALONG? CAN YOU RELATE TO THIS? 36:02 DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE YOU JUST HAVEN'T REPENTED ENOUGH? 36:05 HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE YOUR FAITH IS FEEBLE? 36:09 THIS IS A COMMON CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE. IF WE'RE SEEING WITH 36:13 GOD'S EYES, WE JUST DON'T - WE DON'T STAND UP. AND AS WE FALL 36:18 AT THE FEET OF JESUS AT THE CROSS, IT SAYS, 'A VOICE SPEAKS 36:24 TO US FROM THE ORACLES OF GOD'S WORD' AND THEN IT QUOTES A 36:28 PASSAGE FROM THE BOOK OF COLOSSIANS: "IN AMAZEMENT WE 36:32 HEAR THE MESSAGE 'YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM.'" SEE, I CAN 36:39 LOOK AT MY HISTORY AND MY HISTORY, HOW GOOD DOES IT LOOK? 36:44 DOESN'T LOOK VERY GOOD, OKAY? AND LIKE I TOLD YOU, I'M JUST 36:47 BEING GENTLE WITH MYSELF. IT DOESN'T LOOK VERY GOOD. 36:51 AND YOU CAN LOOK BACK AT YOUR HISTORY AND IT DOESN'T LOOK VERY 36:54 GOOD, DOES IT? BUT THE FOCUS IN JESUS IS 36:58 NOT TO LOOK AT MY HISTORY. WHOSE HISTORY SHOULD 37:01 I BE LOOKING AT? JESUS' HISTORY. 37:04 AND AS WE LOOK AT JESUS' HISTORY, WE HEAR THIS VOICE FROM 37:07 THE CROSS, 'YOU ARE COMPLETE IN' - WHO? 'IN HIM.' 37:13 NOW ALL IS AT REST IN YOUR SOUL. NO LONGER MUST YOU STRIVE TO 37:18 FIND SOME WORTHINESS IN YOURSELF - SOME MERITORIOUS DEED BY 37:24 WHICH TO GAIN THE FAVOR OF GOD. SO WHAT JESUS IS PLAYING OUT IN 37:29 MATTHEW 1 THROUGH 4, HE'S LIVING A PERFECT LIFE. 37:34 AND NOT ONLY DOES THAT PERFECT LIFE STAND IN PLACE OF THE 37:38 FAILURES OF GOD'S PEOPLE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT, IT STANDS IN 37:42 PLACE OF MY LIFE WHEN I ACCEPT JESUS AS MY SAVIOR. 37:46 SO THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS OF MATTHEW SPEAK ABOUT HOW JESUS 37:50 OFFERS A PERFECT LIFE TO US. AND AS WE GET TO THE LAST FOUR 37:56 CHAPTERS OF MATTHEW, IT SHOWS US THAT JESUS OFFERS A 37:59 PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR US. HE DIES IN OUR PLACE. 38:05 AND SO, THIS IS THIS GRAND PICTURE THAT WE SEE IN MATTHEW'S 38:08 GOSPEL. BUT LET'S GO BACK AND LOOK, NOW, 38:12 AT SOME OF THOSE DIMENSIONS THAT WE ONLY HASTENED OVER. 38:16 AND THERE IS SO MUCH WE COULD TALK ABOUT, BUT WHY DON'T WE 38:20 LOOK AT ONE THING THAT I WAS JUST REALLY STRUGGLING TO JUST 38:24 BRUSH BY AND THAT'S JOHN THE BAPTIST'S MINISTRY. 38:27 GO THERE, BACK WITH MATTHEW 3 - FROM THIS CONTEXT, NOW, LET'S 38:31 LOOK AT THIS GOSPEL THAT WAS ESPECIALLY WRITTEN TO JEWISH 38:36 BELIEVERS - MATTHEW'S GOSPEL - AND IN MATTHEW 3 WE WANT TO 38:41 NOTICE SOMETHING INTERESTING. JOHN THE BAPTIST IS GIVING 38:45 A PROPHETIC MESSAGE. IT'S INTERESTING TO ME THAT 38:50 MATTHEW, AS HE'S SPEAKING OF THE MINISTRY OF JOHN, IN VERSE 3 OF 38:54 MATTHEW 3, HE QUOTES FROM ISAIAH THE PROPHET, THESE WORDS: "THE 39:02 VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: 'PREPARE THE WAY 39:06 OF THE LORD; MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'" NOW ONE EXERCISE 39:12 THAT I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU TO ENGAGE IN AS YOU'RE STUDYING 39:14 THROUGH THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW IS COMPARING 39:17 THE DIFFERENT GOSPELS, AND WE'RE GOING TO DO THAT RIGHT NOW. 39:20 I WANT TO JUST CHALLENGE YOU TO TURN IN YOUR BIBLES TO THE 39:23 GOSPEL OF MARK. NOW, ALTHOUGH MATTHEW BEGINS 39:26 WITH THE EARLY LIFE STORY OF JESUS, MARK DOES NOT HAVE 39:30 ANYTHING THAT CORRESPONDS TO MATTHEW CHAPTER 1 OR 2, BUT IN 39:36 THE SECOND GOSPEL, WHICH YOU REMEMBER FROM OUR LAST STUDY, 39:39 WAS ACTUALLY WRITTEN FIRST. MARK'S GOSPEL WAS WRITTEN FIRST. 39:44 MARK ACTUALLY CONNECTS HIS GOSPEL AT THE VERY BEGINNING 39:47 MORE SEAMLESSLY WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT. 39:51 SO LOOK WITH ME AT MARK CHAPTER 1, PICKING UP RIGHT WHERE 39:54 MATTHEW 3 STARTS, DID YOU NOTICE WHO MATTHEW QUOTED FROM? 40:01 WHAT OLD TESTAMENT WRITER DID HE QUOTE FROM? 40:04 ISAIAH, THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT. LOOK AT WHAT MARK DOES. 40:10 MARK SAYS, IN MARK 1, VERSE 2, "AS IT IS WRITTEN IN THE 40:14 PROPHETS: 'BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER BEFORE YOUR FACE, WHO 40:20 WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU. 40:23 THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS: 'PREPARE THE WAY OF 40:26 THE LORD; MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT.'" SO MARK IS QUOTING 40:30 FROM ISAIAH, BUT HE'S ALSO QUOTING FROM WHO? 40:33 DO ANY OF YOU KNOW? 40:34 THAT'S RIGHT, HE'S QUOTING FROM MALACHI. 40:37 THOSE OF YOU WHO KNOW THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE BIBLE, WHERE 40:42 DOES THE BOOK OF MALACHI FALL IN THE OLD TESTAMENT? 40:46 THAT'S RIGHT, IT'S THE VERY LAST BOOK OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 40:49 SO I'M TURNING THERE TO MALACHI, JUST TO CATCH THIS HERE, JUST TO 40:53 CATCH THE IMPACT A LITTLE BIT MORE. 40:55 SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE ENJOYED THE STORY THAT CONCLUDED OUR LESSON. 41:00 AND, BY THE WAY, AGAIN, IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS LESSON 41:03 QUARTERLY, YOU CAN GO TO THE AMAZINGFACTS.ORG WEBSITE AND YOU 41:08 CAN ACCESS THE LESSON STUDIES. BUT THE CLOSING ILLUSTRATION 41:13 WAS OF A PASTOR. DID YOU LIKE THAT? 41:16 THE PASTOR WHO PROMISED THAT IF YOU CAME TO HIS EVANGELISTIC 41:19 MEETINGS HE WOULD TEAR A PAGE OUT OF THE BIBLE. 41:24 NOW HOW MANY OF YOU TREAT THE BIBLE AS A SACRED BOOK? 41:28 I MEAN, I DO. I MEAN, DOESN'T - THIS SOUNDS 41:31 LIKE SOMETHING YOU MAY NOT WANT TO GO TO. 41:33 IN FACT, IF YOU'RE A PARENT, A WATCHFUL PARENT, AND YOU HEARD 41:36 ABOUT AN EVANGELIST WHO WOULD BE TEARING PAGES OUT OF THE BIBLE, 41:39 WOULD YOU ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN TO GO TO THE MEETING? 41:43 YOU MIGHT SAY, 'NO WAY, I'M NOT GOING TO ALLOW MY KIDS TO GO 41:46 THERE.' BUT THE STORY IS THAT HE WOULD HAVE PEOPLE COME AND HE 41:50 WOULD SAY, 'I'M GOING TO TEAR A PAGE OUT OF THE BIBLE' AND I'M 41:53 LOOKING AT THE VERY PAGE HE TORE OUT. 41:55 NOW, DON'T WORRY, I'M NOT PLANNING TO TEAR MY PAGE OUT, 41:58 BUT HE WOULD TEAR THIS PAGE OUT RIGHT HERE. 42:04 AND SOME OF YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEE, IF YOU'RE UP FRONT, WHAT 42:07 THE PAGE SAYS. IT'S ACTUALLY A BLANK PAGE. 42:11 THERE'S NOTHING ON IT. IT JUST SAYS THE NEW TESTAMENT 42:13 AND HE, SUPPOSEDLY, WOULD TEAR THAT PAGE OUT. 42:16 AND HIS POINT WAS THAT THE REVELATION OF GOD IS SEAMLESS. 42:22 THERE'S NO DIVISION BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW. 42:26 AND SO IT IS, AS WE'RE IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, MATTHEW 42:31 DIDN'T QUOTE FROM MALACHI, BUT MARK DID. 42:35 AND YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING THERE IN MALACHI? 42:39 IN MALACHI, HE'S GIVING THAT PROPHET OF A MESSENGER THAT WAS 42:42 TO COME. AND THAT MESSENGER - THAT 42:46 MESSENGER WAS JOHN THE BAPTIST. SO WHY I'M TURNING HERE IS 42:53 BECAUSE THERE'S A PROMISE HERE THAT I THINK YOU WANT TO CATCH. 43:00 IN MALACHI 3 IT NOT ONLY - LET'S JUST READ IT TOGETHER - MALACHI 43:04 3, BEGINNING WITH VERSE 1, "'BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER, 43:12 AND HE WILL PREPARE THE WAY BEFORE ME. 43:14 AND THE LORD, WHOM YOU SEEK, WILL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS 43:18 TEMPLE, EVEN THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT, IN WHOM YOU 43:22 DELIGHT. BEHOLD, HE IS COMING,' SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS. 43:26 BUT WHO CAN ENDURE THE DAY OF HIS COMING? 43:28 AND WHO CAN STAND WHEN HE APPEARS? 43:30 FOR HE IS LIKE A REFINER'S FIRE AND LIKE LAUNDERERS' SOAP. 43:34 HE WILL SIT AS A REFINER AND A PURIFIER OF SILVER; HE WILL 43:39 PURIFY THE SONS OF LEVI AND PURGE THEM AS GOLD AND SILVER, 43:44 THAT THEY MAY OFFER TO THE LORD AN OFFERING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS." 43:48 WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE? THIS MESSENGER - THERE'S TWO 43:53 MESSENGERS, BY THE WAY, IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY AT MALACHI 1. 43:58 THERE'S TWO MESSENGERS - ONE MESSENGER IS REFERRING TO JOHN 44:03 THE BAPTIST, IN ITS FIRST APPLICATION THERE. BUT THEN 44:07 THERE'S A SECOND MESSENGER, THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT. 44:12 SOME TRANSLATIONS CAPITALIZE THAT MESSENGER BECAUSE IT'S 44:16 REFERRING TO WHO? IT'S REFERRING TO JESUS. 44:19 AND THEN IT SPEAKS OF JESUS REFINING WITH WHAT? 44:24 WHAT DO YOU USE TO REFINE METALS? 44:26 THAT'S RIGHT, REFINING WITH FIRE. 44:29 SO, NOW, LOOK BACK AT MATTHEW 3. 44:33 MATTHEW 3, JOHN THE BAPTIST IS LIVING THIS FULFILLMENT OF THE 44:40 PROPHECIES OF ISAIAH AND OF MALACHI. 44:46 SO MATTHEW'S WRITING ABOUT IT; JOHN IS FULFILLING IT. 44:49 AND JOHN GIVES THIS CALL TO REPENTANCE. 44:55 AND DO YOU SEE WHAT JOHN PROMISES IN VERSE 11? 44:59 HE'S BAPTIZING WITH WATER, BUT WHAT DOES HE SAY THE MESSENGER 45:05 OF THE COVENANT, JESUS, WILL BAPTIZE WITH? 45:08 FIRE. SO DO YOU SEE THIS CONNECTION? 45:10 SO THE OLD TESTAMENT SEAMLESSLY MERGING INTO THE NEW. 45:16 NOW, I'M ACTUALLY PREACHING, IT JUST SO HAPPENS, 45:21 FROM THE ANDREWS UNIVERSITY STUDY BIBLE. 45:25 AND I WANT TO READ YOU AN INTERESTING FOOTNOTE - A VERY 45:27 ACCURATE FOOTNOTE - SPEAKING ABOUT JOHN THE BAPTIST. 45:32 AS WE READ ABOUT JOHN THERE, IT HAS SOME INTERESTING DETAILS - 45:38 ONE THAT HAS CAPTURED PEOPLE'S ATTENTION IS IN VERSE 4. 45:42 IT SAYS, "NOW JOHN HIMSELF WAS CLOTHED IN CAMEL'S HAIR, WITH A 45:47 LEATHER BELT AROUND HIS WAIST;" - AND WHAT WAS HIS FOOD? 45:54 - "LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY." 45:56 LET ME READ YOU A FOOTNOTE HERE: 'THERE'S A LONG HISTORY OF 46:02 SCHOLARLY DEBATE OVER WHETHER THIS TERM REFERS TO AN INSECT, 46:09 LISTED AS A CLEAN FOOD IN LEVITICUS 11:21-22, OR TO THE 46:17 CAROB BEAN.' HAVE YOU HEARD THAT BEFORE? 46:22 NOW LISTEN TO THIS: COUNSELS ON DIET AND FOODS , PAGES 70 AND 71, 46:27 "JOHN SEPARATED HIMSELF FROM FRIENDS, AND FROM THE LUXURIES 46:32 OF LIFE...HIS DIET PURELY VEGETABLE, OF LOCUSTS AND WILD 46:41 HONEY, WAS A REBUKE TO THE INDULGENCE OF APPETITE, AND THE 46:46 GLUTTONY THAT EVERYWHERE PREVAILED." 46:51 INTERESTING, ISN'T IT? MAKES YOU WONDER, IF SOMEONE WAS 46:55 WEIGHING IN ON THIS QUESTION OF WHAT THE LOCUSTS WERE. 47:00 BUT WHETHER THEY WERE BEANS OR WHETHER THEY WERE GRASSHOPPERS, 47:04 IT SOUNDS LIKE A FAR SPARSER DIET THAN I'M PLANNING TO ENJOY 47:09 AT LUNCH TODAY. HOW ABOUT YOU? YOU CAN RELATE, RIGHT? 47:15 SO WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? IT MEANS THAT JOHN, FOCUSED ON A 47:24 MESSAGE, IS LIVING A LIFE THAT IS SAYING 'NO' TO THE 47:32 TEMPTATIONS OF APPETITE SURROUNDING HIM. 47:36 AND I THINK IT'S INTERESTING THAT AFTER JOHN BAPTIZES JESUS 47:41 HE REALIZES HE IS UNWORTHY, BUT JESUS SAYS, 'ALLOW IT. 47:45 SUFFER IT.' DO YOU REMEMBER THESE WORDS? 47:48 VERSE 15, ALLOW IT, OR "PERMIT IT TO BE SO NOW, FOR THUS IT IS 47:54 FITTING FOR US TO FULFILL ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS." 47:58 AND SO JOHN ALLOWED HIM AND HE BAPTIZES JESUS. 48:02 AND THEN THERE'S THIS HEAVENLY PROCLAMATION WHERE GOD SAYS, 48:06 'THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.' AND HE SAYS 48:11 THAT TO YOU TOO, YOU KNOW? WHEN YOU'RE BAPTIZED - WHEN YOU 48:15 COMMIT YOURSELF TO A LIFE OF MINISTRY. 48:17 THIS IS REALLY JESUS' ORDINATION - HIS CHRISTENING, IF YOU WILL - 48:21 HIS SETTING APART - HIS ANOINTING FOR MINISTRY. 48:29 WHAT HAPPENS RIGHT AFTER? WE LOOKED AT IT ALREADY. 48:32 JESUS IS IN THE WILDERNESS AND WHAT IS THE FIRST TEMPTATION 48:37 THAT HE ENCOUNTERS? IT IS THE TEMPTATION ON APPETITE. 48:42 NOW, IF YOU'VE EVER READ ANYTHING ABOUT THE FASTING 48:45 LITERATURE IN MEDICINE - I'VE READ SOME OF THAT LITERATURE. 48:49 AS A PHYSICIAN, I'VE PUT PATIENTS ON MEDICALLY SUPERVISED 48:52 FASTS BEFORE, AND SO I'VE BEEN INTERESTED IN THIS TOPIC. 48:56 AND WHEN YOU READ THE MEDICAL LITERATURE, WHAT YOU READ 48:58 MAY BE SOMETHING THAT YOU'VE LEARNED. 49:01 AFTER A RELATIVELY SHORT WHILE ON A FAST, USUALLY WITHIN A FEW 49:05 DAYS, YOUR BODY IS IN A PHASE OF WHAT WE CALL KETOSIS - YOUR BODY 49:11 IS BURNING FAT AND IT'S MAKING THESE COMPOUNDS CALLED KETONES. 49:16 AND WHEN THOSE KETONES RISE IN THE BODY, YOUR HUNGER IS 49:20 ACTUALLY SUPPRESSED. AND MANY PEOPLE, AFTER SEVERAL 49:25 DAYS OF FASTING, REALLY ARE NOT HUNGRY. 49:28 SO WITH THAT IN MIND, READ WITH ME WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT JESUS' 49:34 40 DAYS OF FASTING. LOOK AT VERSE 2 IN MATTHEW 4. 49:38 IT SAYS, "WHEN HE HAD FASTED FORTY DAYS AND FORTY NIGHTS, 49:43 AFTERWARD HE WAS HUNGRY." WHAT THEY TELL US IN THE 49:50 RESEARCH IS, ALTHOUGH INITIALLY THOSE KETONES SUPPRESS THE 49:56 DESIRE TO EAT, AS YOU APPROACH DEATH, HUNGER RETURNS. 50:03 SO THE INDICATION HERE IS THAT JESUS HAD BEEN FASTING SO LONG 50:08 THAT HE'S NOW AT ABOUT THE POINT OF DEATH. NOW I WILL REMIND YOU, 50:14 WE'RE SPEAKING ABOUT JESUS RELIVING A HISTORY. 50:18 EARLY IN THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL THERE WAS SOMEONE ELSE WHO 50:22 THOUGHT THEY WERE ABOUT AT THE POINT TO DIE BECAUSE THEY HADN'T 50:26 EATEN IN SUCH A LONG TIME. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM REFERING TO? 50:31 ESAU, THAT'S RIGHT. ESAU HAD BEEN HUNTING ALL 50:34 DAY - WAS HE ABOUT TO DIE? >>NO. 50:36 >>NO, BUT HE MADE A DECISION BASED AS IF HE WERE GOING TO 50:42 DIE, RIGHT? I MEAN, IF YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, WHAT DOES YOUR 50:45 BIRTHRIGHT MATTER TO YOU? BUT HE WASN'T GOING TO DIE. 50:50 IT'S VERY INTERESTING - WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO FULLY EXPLORE IT, 50:54 BUT YOU KNOW, WHAT YOU TELL YOURSELF IN YOUR MIND SETS 50:57 YOURSELF UP EITHER FOR SUCCESS OR FAILURE. 51:00 IF YOU TELL YOURSELF, 'I AM - THIS TEMPTATION IS JUST TOO MUCH 51:03 FOR ME' WHAT ARE YOU SETTING YOURSELF UP TO DO? 51:07 YOU'RE SETTING YOURSELF UP TO FAIL. 51:08 BUT JESUS DID NOT MAKE EXCUSES IN THE WILDERNESS. 51:11 WHAT DID HE DO? HE RELIED ON HIS FATHER - HIS 51:15 FATHER'S ASSURANCE OF HIS ACCEPTANCE - AND HE 51:18 RELIED ON THE WORD OF GOD. DID YOU CATCH THAT? 51:23 AT EVERY TEMPTATION JESUS SAYS WHAT? 51:26 'IT IS WRITTEN.' JESUS ACTUALLY LIVED A PERFECT LIFE TO SHOW US 51:37 THAT SIN HAS NO POWER OVER THE ONE CONNECTED TO THE SAVIOR. 51:43 JESUS DIED IN OUR PLACE TO SHOW US THAT THERE IS NO PENALTY FOR 51:48 SIN THAT HAS NOT BEEN PAID FOR BY JESUS. 51:53 SO TODAY, AS WE'VE LOOKED AT THESE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS OF 51:58 MATTHEW - TOUCHED ON SOME OF THEIR HIGH POINTS, I HOPE WE'VE 52:01 GRASPED, A LITTLE MORE FIRMLY, JESUS AS GIVING US - GIVING US A 52:09 - NOT JUST A PERFECT EXAMPLE, BUT BEING OUR PERFECT 52:12 SUBSTITUTE. NOW, WHEN WE COME TO OUR STUDY 52:16 NEXT TIME, WE'LL BE STUDYING FROM WHAT HAPPENED FROM A 52:22 MOUNTAIN - A PROCLAMATION OF GOD FROM A MOUNTAIN - SOUNDS A 52:26 LOT LIKE SINAI, DOESN'T IT? THE NEW SINAI, IF YOU WILL, 52:30 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. THAT'S WHAT WE'LL BE STUDYING, 52:32 BY GOD'S GRACE, IN OUR NEXT TIME TOGETHER. 52:35 WELL, AS WE'RE WINDING UP, I WANT TO REMIND YOU THAT WE DO 52:38 HAVE A SPECIAL OFFER THAT CONTINUES TODAY'S MESSAGE. 52:42 IT IS CALLED CHRIST'S HUMAN NATURE . 52:46 IT'S FREE BOOK OFFER #703 AND YOU CAN GET IT BY WRITING - 52:52 ACTUALLY, GOING ON LINE IF YOU'RE ANYWHERE OUTSIDE OF NORTH 52:55 AMERICA AND CANADA - TO AMAZINGFACTS.ORG . 52:58 IF YOU'RE IN THE U.S. OR CANADA, YOU CAN CALL 53:02 866-STUDY-MORE - THAT'S 866-788-3966. 53:09 UNTIL NEXT TIME, MAY GOD BLESS YOU WHETHER YOU'RE HERE OR 53:12 WHETHER YOU'RE JOINING US FROM AROUND THE WORLD, AS WE CONTINUE 53:15 TO LIVE BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS FROM THE MOUTH OF GOD. 53:21 >>CAN'T GET ENOUGH AMAZING FACTS BIBLE STUDY? 53:24 YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT WEEK TO ENJOY MORE 53:26 TRUTH-FILLED PROGRAMMING, VISIT THE AMAZING FACTS MEDIA LIBRARY 53:30 AT 'AFTV.ORG'. AT 'AFTV.ORG' YOU CAN ENJOY 53:36 VIDEO AND AUDIO PRESENTATIONS AS WELL AS PRINTED MATERIAL ALL 53:40 FREE OF CHARGE, 24 HOURS A DAY 7 DAYS A WEEK, RIGHT FROM YOUR 53:44 COMPUTER OR MOBILE DEVICE. VISIT 'AFTV.ORG'. (MUSIC) 53:59 >>HELLO FRIENDS, WE ALL KNOW A MARATHON IS ONE OF THE 54:02 LONGEST AND HARDEST RACES A PERSON COULD RUN. 54:04 BUT DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE ULTRA MARATHON THEY USED TO HAVE 54:08 IN AUSTRALIA? IT WAS 544 MILES FROM MELBOURNE TO SYDNEY. 54:13 IT ATTRACTED AS MANY AS 150 WORLD-CLASS ATHLETES. 54:17 BUT THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT NO ONE WOULD EVER FORGET. 54:19 IN 1983 A 61-YEAR-OLD POTATO FARMER NAMED CLIFF YOUNG DECIDED 54:24 TO ENTER THE RACE. NOW PEOPLE WERE VERY AMUSED 54:27 BECAUSE HE HAD ON RUBBER GALOSHES OVER HIS BOOTS AND 54:30 WHEN THE RACE BEGAN AND ALL THE RUNNERS TOOK OFF, SURE ENOUGH 54:34 OLD CLIFF WAS LEFT BEHIND SHUFFLING ALONG VERY SLOWLY 54:38 - BUT HE WAS SHUFFLING VERY PERSISTENTLY. 54:40 NORMALLY, DURING THIS 7-DAY RACE, THE RUNNERS WOULD GO ABOUT 54:44 18 HOURS RUNNING AND THEN THEY'D SLEEP FOR 6 HOURS, BUT NOBODY 54:47 EVER TOLD CLIFF THAT. WHEN THE OTHER RUNNERS STOPPED 54:51 TO REST DURING THE NIGHT, CLIFF JUST KEPT ON RUNNING. 54:54 SOME PEOPLE WERE AFRAID OLD CLIFF WAS GOING TO HAVE A HEART 54:56 ATTACK AND THEY WERE ASKING THE RACE ORGANIZERS TO SHOW MERCY 54:59 AND STOP THE CRAZY OLD MAN. BUT HE WOULD HAVE NONE OF IT. 55:03 EACH DAY HE WAS GAINING ON THE PACK BECAUSE WHEN THEY WERE 55:06 SLEEPING HE WAS PLODDING ALONG. DURING THE LAST NIGHT OF THE 55:10 RACE CLIFF PASSED ALL OF THESE WORLD-CLASS ATHLETES. 55:14 NOT ONLY WAS CLIFF ABLE TO RUN THAT 544-MILE RACE WITHOUT 55:18 DYING, HE WON - BEATING ALL THE OTHER RACERS BY 9 HOURS, 55:22 BREAKING THE RECORD AND BECOMING A NATIONAL HERO IN THE PROCESS. 55:27 WHAT'S REALLY AMAZING IS THAT WHEN THEY TOLD HIM HE HAD WON 55:28 THE $10,000.00 PRIZE, HE LOOKED CONFUSED AND SAID HE DIDN'T KNOW 55:32 THERE WAS A PRIZE AND HE DECIDED TO SHARE IT WITH THE OTHER 55:35 RUNNERS. WHEN ASKED HOW HE WAS ABLE 55:37 TO RUN ALL NIGHT LONG, CLIFF RESPONDED THAT HE GREW UP ON A 55:40 FARM WHERE THEY HAD ABOUT 2,000 HEAD OF CATTLE AND, BECAUSE THEY 55:43 COULDN'T AFFORD HORSES, HE USED TO HAVE TO ROUND THEM UP ON 55:46 FOOT, SOMETIMES RUNNING TWO AND THREE DAYS NON-STOP. 55:49 SO, THROUGHOUT THE RACE, HE JUST IMAGINED THAT HE WAS CHASING 55:52 AFTER THE COWS AND TRYING TO OUTRUN A STORM. 55:55 OLD CLIFF'S SECRET WAS TO KEEP ON RUNNING WHILE OTHERS WERE 55:58 SLEEPING. YOU KNOW, THE BIBLE TELLS US 56:00 THAT THE RACE IS NOT NECESSARILY TO THE SWIFT. 56:04 SOMETHING LIKE AESOP'S FABLE OF THE TORTOISE AND THE HARE - THE 56:07 TORTOISE JUST KEPT ON PLODDING ALONG. 56:10 THAT'S WHY JESUS TELLS US IN MATTHEW 24:13, 'HE THAT ENDURES 56:14 UNTO THE END, THE SAME WILL BE SAVED. 56:16 NOW YOU MIGHT SLIP AND FALL DURING THE RACE. 56:19 YOU MIGHT EVEN GET OFF TO A BAD START. 56:21 BUT IN THE CHRISTIAN RACE THAT WE RUN, THE MAIN THING IS YOU 56:24 WANT TO FINISH WELL. KEEP ON RUNNING, FRIENDS, 56:26 AND DON'T GIVE UP. (MUSIC) 56:37 >>AMAZING FACTS HAS IMPACTED MY LIFE. 56:39 >>AND I JUST PRAISE GOD FOR AMAZING FACTS. 56:41 >>AMAZING FACTS ACTUALLY DID HAVE AN IMPACT ON MY LIFE. 56:44 >>THIS WHOLE PROCESS - GETTING WHERE I AM TODAY - I FELT GOOD 56:46 ABOUT THAT. I DIDN'T FEEL CONDEMNED. 56:49 >>I BEGAN READING THE BIBLE AND - 56:51 >>I GOT BAPTIZED INTO A SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST - 56:53 >>I REALIZED THAT THERE HAD TO BE MORE TO LIFE. 56:55 >>GOD IS REALLY DOING THIS. >>THE LIFE THAT HE'S GIVEN ME. 56:58 >>THIS MESSAGE WAS SO POWERFUL. >>I'LL FOLLOW CHRIST WHEREVER HE 57:00 GOES. >>AMAZING FACTS. MORE THAN 45 57:05 YEARS OF PROCLAIMING GOD'S MESSAGE AROUND THE WORLD. 57:08 >>AND THEN THE LOGO POPS ACROSS AMAZING FACTS PRESENTS . 57:13 I'VE LISTENED TO A LOT OF DIFFERENT MINISTERS, BUT THIS 57:15 WAS THE FIRST TIME THAT HE'S ACTUALLY SAYING SOMETHING WHERE 57:18 I HAD TO GRAB MY BIBLE AND ACTUALLY PICK IT UP AND I'VE 57:22 NEVER HEARD THIS BEFORE. LET ME - LET ME LOOK THROUGH AND 57:24 FIND THIS. >>THAT I JUST COULDN'T GET 57:25 ENOUGH. >>AND SO I STARTED DOING BIBLE 57:27 STUDIES. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE GUYS 57:30 STARTED BEING CHANGED, INCLUDING MYSELF. 57:33 >>MY QUESTION WAS, 'WHY DID THAT HAPPEN TO ME, GOD?' 57:37 THE LORD WAS ABLE TO REACH OUT AND - AND I ACTUALLY SAW HIM AS 57:40 A FATHER. >>I LOST EVERYTHING AND THAT WAS 57:43 WHEN I REALIZED THAT IT WAS GOD MISSING IN MY LIFE. 57:46 >>I WENT TO A PROPHECY SEMINAR, WHICH KNOCKED ME OUT. 57:50 THIS MESSAGE WAS SO POWERFUL AND SO IRREFUTABLE, I JUST WENT, 57:54 'THIS IS REAL. THIS IS - THIS IS AMAZING.' 57:59 >>FOR LIFE-CHANGING CHRISTIAN RESOURCES, VISIT AFBOOKSTORE.COM 58:04 OR CALL 1-800-538-7275. (MUSIC) |
Revised 2016-04-14