WEBVTT

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and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us

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the hardest proposition the infidel has ever

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gotten up against is to account for jesus christ

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and i believe that the only thing they can say

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is we don't understand it. Pause just a moment.

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Because you can't understand it is no sign that

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it is not true. There are lots of things you

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can't understand and yet you must acknowledge

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that you believe them or else acknowledge that

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you are a fool. You say it's unthinkable. What

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is unthinkable? The alleged result of such a

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birth. Who do you mean? You say, the union of

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a divine and human nature in one person. Well,

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now, let's see. Because that's not just exactly

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what the incarnation is. The union of two natures

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in one person, a combination of the divine and

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human in Christ Jesus. If you do just a little

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bit of real hard thinking, it may not be as unthinkable

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as you now think it is. But if it's unthinkable

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to the best human thinker that operates, that

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steal no sign that it's untrue. Can you understand

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the mechanical union of oxygen and nitrogen that

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makes air? Do you understand hydrogen and oxygen

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that makes water? Or the union of body and soul

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that makes yourself? You are a person. And if

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you can't understand this simpler union, don't

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growl about divinity and humanity uniting in

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one person. For it's no more incompatible than

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the union of matter and spirit that makes one

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person out of you. If you can't understand what

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makes you, you, then don't growl about not being

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able to understand the divinity and the human

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part of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You say,

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if the divine in Jesus was truly divine and the

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human, truly human, then there must have been

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both a divine consciousness and a human consciousness

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in him. You say it can't be? One or the other

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of them must be sacrificed on the order of reason.

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But hold on just a minute. I know it's hard to

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understand. But here is something else. If Christ

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was divine, and united with the Father in the

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function of creating and sustaining the universe,

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how could he produce a storm on the Sea of Galilee

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and then stop it at the same time? His divine

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will could not act in two opposing directions

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at the same time, could it? You saying no? But

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I don't believe he ever calmed the storm. I get

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any miracle, but hold on. That still doesn't

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help Yard. You've got God to deal with. How could

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God make the iron axe head to swim? Could he

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will, as he apparently does, that iron should

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sink? in water and at the same time will that

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it should not, as he apparently did, without

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at least seeming to have a double consciousness

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in him at that particular moment. You say I don't

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believe God about it? In fact, I don't believe

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in miracles. But hold on. That still doesn't

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help you out any. Ruining the Bible out of court

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doesn't get rid of the laws of nature. These

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are always operating against each other. Life

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and death, growth and decay, and the two opposing

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forces, e .g. gravitation. We claim that these

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and all the laws are expressions of the divine

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will. But whether they are or not, how are you

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going to explain? I do know that this mysterious

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thing of a double consciousness in Christ Jesus

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is not any more mysterious than the fact of a

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spiritual union between God and man, as a result

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of which the man acts sometimes under God's impulse

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and sometimes under his own and sometimes under

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both at the same time without being able to tell

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just which one begins and the other ends or how

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they operate together at one and the same second.

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I'm not telling you. that i fully understand

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it the greatest saint that ever lived including

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paul himself would not dare say that he fully

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understood it but to avoid it shall we be wheedled

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into accepting Some of the weak substitutes for

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it. God forbid. The word was made flesh. And

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it was the essence of God himself that came into

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man and gave us the God -man. And not only a

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God -like. man. That were God in the flesh that

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walked this earth. Not a God -like man. Well,

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but you say, this doctrine of the burdened birth

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seems utterly unnecessary. When the word was

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made flesh, Whatever of God came into the man,

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Jesus, could have done so without the method

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of conception involved in the doctrine of the

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virgin birth. Surely there could have been some

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other way. The skeptic says the virgin birth,

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as recorded in the Bible, was... absolutely unnecessary.

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Well, in the first place, it takes an infinite

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amount of conceit for a little mortal like you

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to say what was or what was not necessary in

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such a stupendous thing as the bringing into

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the world of the only begotten Son of God. all

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the conceit of some mortals when that mortal

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is dependent on the mercy of god for every beat

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of his heart who am i to say who are you to say

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That it was not necessary in such a stupendous

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thing as the bringing in the world of the only

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begotten Son of God. Saying it was useless. Unnecessary.

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It's a pity God didn't wait till you were born.

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Graduated from high school before he undertook

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to do it. It's just too bad he didn't wait. until

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you could have given him some assistance. Watch.

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In the next place, it's in the Bible. And that

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ought to be enough for any human being. Because

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it is God's Word. Because it is in the Bible.

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Ought to be enough. Matthew's and Luke's account

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are genuine. The account of the virgin birth

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is found in every manuscript and version of the

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Gospels that has ever existed. And so you can't

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cut them out. They're there. That's what I don't

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understand about some of these ministers who

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stand behind their pulpit and would dare to do

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away. with the virgin birth of the Son of God,

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who will dare to do away with the divinity and

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deity of the Son of God. Because it's found in

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every version of the Gospels that has ever existed.

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portion of God's Word? Who gave you the authority

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to cut out any portion of the Bible? It's there.

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You've got to have respect for the Bible. You

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don't dare take out your penknife and your scissors

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and cut out that which you do not agree with.

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then in the next place, it would seem necessary.

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And I'll tell you exactly why. If Christ was

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the very Son of God made flesh, a miracle in

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His birth is the very thing that one would expect.

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And it is just this miracle in His earthly origin

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that... furnishes us the necessary explanation

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of his supernatural person and all that goes

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with it. So what's the use of taking issue with

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it? There's nothing to gain. In the next place,

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it was necessary. It had to be for two reasons.

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First, that the scripture might be fulfilled.

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Isaiah prophesied and said, Behold, a virgin

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shall conceive and bear a son and call his name

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Emmanuel. That's one reason why the virgin birth

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was necessary. The second reason, that he might

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be a man and yet escape. the moral kink that

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comes to everyone born in the human race by natural

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means. This he had to do in order to be sinless.

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And sinless he had to be in order to offer himself

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a sacrifice for our sins. A sacrifice for sin

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had to be pure and unblemished. If just any sacrifice

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could have paid the price, Abraham could have

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died. If just any blood could have paid the price,

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I am sure, beloved, Moses would have gladly have

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sacrificed his life. I am sure that Elijah, anyone

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of the prophets, The prophet Isaiah himself would

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have been glad to have given his life on the

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cross. And Jesus never would have had to have

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come. But watch. Jesus, the sinless one, the

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very son of the living God, had to come because

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he... was the only one who was sinless. A sacrifice

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for sin had to be pure, had to be unblemished.

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If not John the Baptist or any other good man

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would have done. If Jesus had inherited the moral

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taint of ordinary generation, he would have needed

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a savior himself. If sin had ever touched his

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life, if he had sinned just once, he would have

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needed a savior to forgive his sin. The fellow

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who denies the virgin birth usually ends up by

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denying the virgin or sinless life of Christ.

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A virgin life. is just as much of a miracle anyhow

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in the moral world as a virgin birth is in the

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physical world. Oh, you say Mary was sinful and

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Christ would have gotten the moral taint from

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her as well as from Joseph. Well, what does the

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record say? It says Jesus was born of a virgin

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mother. But it says more than that. It says he

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was conceived by the Holy Ghost. It doesn't say

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a new person was created. It was an already existing

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divine person. Entering by this method into the

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human race and the divine, creative miracle wrought

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by the Holy Ghost precluded the possibility of

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any taint of sin from the earliest moment of

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conception. And so, Mr. Critic, Mrs. Unbeliever,

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if you'll just make the proper adjustment of

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your mental bearings, you'll see that your objections

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vanish into thin air. Now comes the most important

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question of all. Why was Jesus incarnated? What

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was the purpose of the incarnation of Jesus?

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Well, It was more than one purpose. Let's see

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what the Word of God says. In 1 John, the third

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chapter, the eighth verse, to this end was the

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Son of God manifested that he might destroy the

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works of the devil. Isn't that a piece of the

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most glorious news this whole world has ever

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heard? The Bible says the devil is a murderer.

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It says he's a liar and the father of lies. The

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Bible calls him the lawless one. And sin is a

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transgression of God's law, and the devil is

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a fountainhead of lawlessness and sin. And so,

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you know what the works of the devil are. Murder,

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lying, lust, dishonesty. Everything that is bad

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is born in hell. Say, do you know the only thing

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I'm afraid of? In God's big world, it's sin.

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No man ever played with sin. That sin didn't

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get the better of him. Don't you try to play

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with sin. If you do so, I'll tell you something.

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You're going to get into trouble as sure as can

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be. Don't try to play with sin. If you must do

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it, go out in the field. Pick up a rattler. Let

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it play in your bosom. Go down to the electric

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railroad. Play with the third rail. Reach up

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in disguise and play with the forked lightning.

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But for God's sake, don't play with sin. Whatever

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you do, don't play with sin. For the wages of

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sin is death. Spiritual death. God says so. And

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I believe God's word. Two little Italian boys

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in New York City were returning from a swim and

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wherever you find two little boys with time on

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their hands, you'll always find trouble. They

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were each about 15 years old. Tony had picked

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up a piece of copper wire, thought he'd have

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a little fun with the third rail of the New York

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Central track along which they were walking.

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And he poked away around the wooden covering

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of the rail. Nothing happened. That's funny,

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he said. I guess I didn't. touch the right spot.

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Then he pushed the point of his wire down underneath

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the covering. There was a flash of blue flame

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and a shriek of pain as 11 ,000 volts of electricity

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shot through the wire. In a moment and even less.

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His clothing was on fire, his hair, his eyebrows

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were burned off. He tried to drop the wires.

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It hissed and sputtered at a white heat, but

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it wouldn't let go. He tried to pull away, but

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it stuck to the rail. He did everything humanly

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possible, and yet it stuck to the rail. A little

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friend tried to pull him away, but was hurled

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to the ground with a terrific shock. And the

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brave little lad then threw his rubber coat around

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Tony and pulled him loose. And Tony started to

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run but fainted and fell. They took him to the

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hospital and the doctor said, one chance in a

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thousand to recover. The two boys said it. They

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knew there was something dangerous about that

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rail. They'd heard older people say so. But they

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didn't think it would hurt any to play with it

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a little. And so, beloved, sin scorches and burns

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and kills like a live... third rail