WEBVTT

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So, welcome back to The Seminarian and the series

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on the gospel according to Matthew. In this episode,

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we take a look at the first five books of the

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gospel according to Matthew and discover the

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claims that Matthew has to make about who Jesus

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is. I hope you enjoy this episode and we'll keep

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coming back. So, let's get started. This week

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we are actually jumping into the gospel according

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to Matthew. And last week we discussed the story

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of the Bible. We had understood that one of the

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big problems a lot of people have when it comes

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to their biblical literacy or their biblical

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knowledge is the fact that many of us were taught

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the Bible as children or we were introduced to

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the Bible as adults who were taught the bible

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as children and often our level of biblical knowledge

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doesn't really get beyond that level and as we

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get older and life happens we often our faith

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often gets tested and we should be able to rely

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on scripture to help us during those tough times

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But due to a lot of Christians' lack of understanding

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of what the Bible is and how that plays into

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the stories in the Bible, sometimes we can be

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left wanting, and that can cause people to walk

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away from their faith because of just a simple

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lack of understanding. I've really been debating

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today about how I wanted to open tonight's teaching.

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You know those puzzles where you have several

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ways to start, and then you've got to get to

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the end, and there might be four or five ways

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to start the puzzle, but only one of them actually

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gets you all the way to the center? That's what

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I've been dealing with today, and I've been trying

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to decide which starting point will get me all

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the way through to the end of where I want to

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go. I'm not sure if I've picked the wrong rabbit

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hole or not. We're just going to have to play

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this thing out and see how it works out. tonight

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just by asking, what's the story? What is the

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story of the Bible? In other words, what is the

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argument that the Bible makes? Now, before I

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ask you to answer, if you have an answer, if

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I talk too quickly or if I rattle things off,

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if I go across something that you might not understand,

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please just raise your hand and slow me down.

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And I'll go back over it. That was one of the

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things I have heard from people with the podcast

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from episode one was things went really, really

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fast. So there's no reason why we can't make

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sure everybody has an understanding of what we're

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talking about. So if I don't explain something

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fully or I go too fast over a subject, please

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stop me and let me know. I also want to let you

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know for those of you that missed last week,

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if you go to the semi seminarian dot com. semiseminarian

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.com you can click on the listen to podcast link

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and you can catch last week's last week's episode

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and each one of these will be uploaded within

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the next day or two from their teaching so if

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you'd like to go back and listen to it you can

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take your scripture reference home with you and

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kind of if you like to feel like maybe there

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was something you'd like to listen to again you'll

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be able to do that if you go to that go to that

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website So, the Bible, the Bible that we all

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believe in, the Bible that we profess faith in,

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what is ultimately, what's the argument? What's

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the Bible say to the world we believe? Huh? Okay,

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it's about accepting Jesus, right? That's absolutely

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a part of it. I'm going to throw out, I tried

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to think of something in very general, as broad

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as I can terms, to try to include everybody's

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own personal vision of it. And I think I've got

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it. If this doesn't make sense to you, it doesn't

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mean that I'm right at all. It doesn't mean that

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you're wrong. It just means that maybe there's

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something there I didn't consider. But here's

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my argument. My argument is that what the Bible

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is trying to say to the world is that God created

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the world. Right? And that God loves His creation.

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Right? And everything within the Bible explains

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how either God created the world. Here's our

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scripture references that we'll be looking at.

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Or how God loves the world. Right? Are we cool

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with that? If you think about from beginning

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to end, what the Bible is basically arguing is

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that there was a being that created the whole

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of the universe, that we are a part of that creation,

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and that God loves us as that creation and wants

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an active relationship with us. And the story

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of Jesus and all of that, the story of Noah,

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the story of Abraham, all of those things go

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into how that relationship works. I think another

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thing that the Bible does is it explains how,

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how God created the universe and how he wants

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to have a relationship with us. And one of the

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things I think that we can notice. In the Bible

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is God does something. I think that it speaks

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to the nature of God. And that is God creates

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order out of chaos. Sorry about that. Order out

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of chaos, right? We know this from the very,

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very first page of our Bibles. Genesis one says

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in the beginning, God created the heavens, the

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earth. Now the earth was formless and empty.

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Darkness was over the surface of the deep and

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the spirit of God hovered over the waters, right?

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And that is the spark of creation. In this instance,

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God is taking chaos or he's also taking nothing

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and creating something, right? Either order out

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of chaos or creating something where there was

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nothing, right? Does anybody, Matthew chapter

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1, verse 1, this is the genealogy. Does anybody

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have a different word there? This is the something.

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Family tree. That's one of them. Ancestry. Anybody

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else? This is funny. You're going to see it right

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off the bat. That word there in Greek is? Genesis.

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It's actually Genesis is how it would be translated

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in Greek. This word means origin. It also means

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the birth or the creation point. So that word

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in Matthew's gospel, whenever it was translated

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into Greek, historians believe that. The gospel

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according to Matthew was originally written in

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Hebrew and then later translated into Greek.

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Does anybody know why that is? We talked about

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it just very briefly last week. Because Matthew's

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writing his gospel account to a very, very specific

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group of people. Jews, right? They are religious

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Jews, and Matthew is writing this account, and

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this is very, very important as we look through

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tonight. Matthew is writing his account to Jewish

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people to make some very specific claims about

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who Jesus is. Namely, that the Messiah that was

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foretold in prophecy in Hebrew Scripture has

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been fulfilled. All of the conditions have been

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met through the life of Jesus Christ. That is

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first and foremost. The number one argument that

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Matthew is making, he's making this argument

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to a very specific group of people, to Jews in

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Judea at the time. And his gospel would have

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originally been written either in Greek or Aramaic,

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which is a dialect. It's a Semitic language.

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It's a dialect of the Jewish language. That by

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the 7th century, in that region at least, was

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overtaken by Arabic. And so this is the genealogy,

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right? Or the birth narrative or the family tree

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of Jesus. But this word is genesis. That word

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in Greek means origin. And we see that we're

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talking about the family of origin of Jesus.

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That includes David. And Abraham. Now why would

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it be important for Matthew to tie Jesus to David,

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King David, and then Abraham? Because the Messiah

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was going to come from that line, right? That

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was the promise as foretold. And we're not going

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to go through all of the so -and -so was so -and

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-so's dad and all of that. But we're going to

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go down, and I want to skip down to verse 18.

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This is how the birth of Jesus came about. And

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that word there also happens to be the word Genesis.

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So he's using this word again here. Matthew is

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in Greek. So this is the origin of Jesus' birth.

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His mother Mary was pledged to be married to

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Joseph. But before they came together, she was

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found to be pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Now,

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that's interesting because we just look back

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to Genesis chapter one, where we found God's

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spirit hovering over the chaotic waters. And

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we talked about one of the patterns of God is

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that you'll see things kind of repeat. And so

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where there was nothing, the spirit hovered over

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that nothingness. And here we have Mary, the

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virgin. Right. And the spirit interacts with

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Mary and there's a creation where there was nothing.

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Right. Here's another example of God's work being

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repeated from Hebrew scripture into Christian

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scripture. OK, but after and then skipping down

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to verse 20. But after he had considered this,

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this is Joseph having second thoughts about whether

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he should go through with this marriage to Mary.

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An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.

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and said, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid

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to take Mary home as your wife, because what

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is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

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She will give birth to a son, and you are to

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give him the name Jesus, because he will save

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his people from their sins. Now, this name, Jesus,

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is actually, in English, we use the name Joshua,

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right? In Hebrew, that name is Yeshua. And then

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this name gets changed into Greek as Yesos or

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Yesus. And then somewhere along the line, this

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Y, which is a horrible Y. I'm not a teacher,

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but the Y turns into a J. And the O goes away

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and becomes a U, and we get Jesus, right? So

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Yeshua, that name, all of these Hebrew names,

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they mean something, right? Not like Jim. Jim

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doesn't mean the eagle in the sky, right, or

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whatever, right? But in Hebrew it does. And Yeshua,

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it actually, this is the Yahuwah. That, Yahweh,

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that is a derivation of the name Yahweh. And

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so this name, Yeshua, actually means Yahweh saves.

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And we're going to find right here, right off

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the bat, Matthew making one of his important

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claims about who Jesus is. Because the angel

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of the Lord says to name him Jesus, right, which

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in Hebrew would be Yeshua, which means what?

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Yahweh saves. So you're to give him the name

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Yahweh saves because he will save people from

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their sins. He's who? He's Yahweh? Or he's Jesus?

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Right? And you're to give him, the son, Jesus,

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the name Jesus. Right? Which means Yahweh saves

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and he will save his people from their sins.

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And it sounds like I'm kind of just talking in

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a circle. But Matthew is not. Matthew here is

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saying, yes, to answer your question, both, yes.

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One, that Yahweh is going to be the one that's

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going to do the saving. That's why he's called

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Yahshua, right? And the angel of the Lord says,

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and he, this young child that you're going to

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name that, he's going to grow up and save people

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from their sins. Who? Yahweh? Yes. Meaning, Matthew

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is saying here, right? That Jesus is God among

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us. Emmanuel. This is not some, and we've talked

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about this in other settings, but you may or

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may not, if you've been here, we talked about

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the Gospel of John where the Greeks looked at

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the Gospel of John and they looked at God. The

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Gospel of John is making an argument against

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this. That the Greeks, these Gentiles that were,

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they followed Plato and Socrates. Whenever they

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tried to conceptualize Christianity, they saw

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God as being wholly righteous and humankind being

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fatally flawed, and they could not see how God

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could actually enter into a fatally flawed world

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if he was indeed 100 % righteous. And so what

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they believe is, over time, God created copies

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of himself. Like, did you guys ever, like, I'm

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going to really date myself, but I think everybody

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here is going to know what I'm talking about.

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Like, you know, like Casey Kasem on the radio

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and you'd record the Michael Jackson song, right?

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And then you might, like, take that cassette

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tape and bump it up against another bean boom

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box and record it onto another tape, right? You

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know exactly what I'm talking about. Well, we

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know that with each recording that the recording,

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the quality degrades, right? Well, their argument

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is that with each emanation of creation, God

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becomes a little less God until finally there

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was a creation that was a little less God enough

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that that creation could enter into the earth.

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And that was Jesus. And John says that's nope,

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nope, nope. That none of that's true. Whenever

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we say that Jesus is God, we mean God, God. And

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the reason why is because if God loves us as

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much as John believes that God loves us, then

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he has to be the very sacrifice himself. Anything

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less. As a sacrifice from God, then himself on

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that cross means that God doesn't love us as

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much as he says he does. It has to be God, John

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says. And so whenever we talk about who Jesus

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was and his divinity, Emmanuel, Matthew's making

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the argument, it's God himself in bodily form

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with us. So what we see here in chapter 1, this

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is not just about Jesus' birth. It's not just

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about the first Christmas. What we're seeing

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here is actually Matthew doing something very

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skillfully because he's including his whole family

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tree here. He's talking about Jesus' family of

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origin. And that's important. That's a language

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that sometimes we use in modern society today

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when we talk about our family of origin. And

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often that's like in therapeutics scenarios where

00:17:35.819 --> 00:17:38.059
we might be with a counselor or someone and you

00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:40.140
kind of talk about your family of origin and

00:17:40.140 --> 00:17:43.980
you talk about maybe what your parents were like

00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:46.059
and what your home life was like and what your

00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:48.559
grandparents were like. Because that history,

00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:54.160
right, it informs who you are today. All of your

00:17:54.160 --> 00:17:58.339
family of origin, it makes up who you are today.

00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.359
And Matthew's trying to explain that this stuff

00:18:02.359 --> 00:18:05.099
that took place in the Old Testament, it's very

00:18:05.099 --> 00:18:09.380
important to who Jesus is in Matthew's words,

00:18:09.539 --> 00:18:14.680
who Jesus is today. It's the whole package of

00:18:14.680 --> 00:18:18.880
things that make us up who we are. And so Matthew

00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:22.039
is showing us right off the bat. He's tying,

00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:27.000
explaining the origins of Jesus to the Hebrew

00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:31.160
scriptures. This is the bridge between the Old

00:18:31.160 --> 00:18:34.500
Testament and the New Testament. And Matthew

00:18:34.500 --> 00:18:37.359
is directly tying on page one of his gospel,

00:18:37.500 --> 00:18:41.440
Jesus to King David as foretold in Old Testament

00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:46.240
prophecy. Okay. So when we turn the page and

00:18:46.240 --> 00:18:49.579
we go to chapter two. This is the story of the

00:18:49.579 --> 00:18:52.359
three wise men. You'll notice that there's no

00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:55.819
story of three wise men there. It's the story

00:18:55.819 --> 00:18:57.599
of the Magi. It certainly would have been many

00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:02.500
more than three people. There would have been

00:19:02.500 --> 00:19:05.359
three presents mentioned, but there's not three

00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.140
wise men because the whole of Jerusalem was afraid.

00:19:08.420 --> 00:19:11.319
King Herod himself afraid as well. It would have

00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:13.740
been a caravan of people from Persia that would

00:19:13.740 --> 00:19:15.700
have showed up there in Jerusalem with the star

00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:18.619
looking for the young child. And it didn't happen

00:19:18.619 --> 00:19:22.839
despite what our nativity scenes show. It didn't

00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:24.619
happen when Jesus would have been an infinite.

00:19:24.720 --> 00:19:26.440
It wouldn't have been in the manger. It would

00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:31.130
have taken probably. historians surmise that

00:19:31.130 --> 00:19:34.450
it probably would have taken a minimum of 70

00:19:34.450 --> 00:19:38.549
weeks for that caravan to make it from Persia

00:19:38.549 --> 00:19:41.329
to Jerusalem. So you're looking at a child that's

00:19:41.329 --> 00:19:45.710
at least a year and a half, but scholarship seems

00:19:45.710 --> 00:19:48.190
to believe that Jesus probably would have been

00:19:48.190 --> 00:19:50.109
somewhere between two and three years of age

00:19:50.109 --> 00:19:55.640
when these wise men show up. And so... So we

00:19:55.640 --> 00:20:01.319
have a young child, Jesus, but not in the traditional

00:20:01.319 --> 00:20:06.500
nativity sense. And the wise men leave by a different

00:20:06.500 --> 00:20:09.579
route and go back home. And Herod is looking

00:20:09.579 --> 00:20:13.460
for, come on in, have a seat. How are you? It's

00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:16.480
okay, Anthony, have a seat. And Herod is now

00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:19.650
looking for this young child. He doesn't know

00:20:19.650 --> 00:20:22.970
who he is, but he knows where he is. And all

00:20:22.970 --> 00:20:26.750
of those children in Bethlehem and the surrounding

00:20:26.750 --> 00:20:30.710
area of that age are killed. Young boys are killed.

00:20:31.650 --> 00:20:37.329
And we know that an angel appears to Joseph and

00:20:37.329 --> 00:20:41.759
says, flee to Egypt. Joseph and Mary and Jesus

00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:45.140
go to Egypt for a period of time until King Herod

00:20:45.140 --> 00:20:50.180
dies and his son comes into power. When they

00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:53.660
had gone, I'm picking up here in chapter 2, verse

00:20:53.660 --> 00:20:58.819
13. This is Magi. Whenever they had gone, an

00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:00.759
angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

00:21:01.180 --> 00:21:03.359
Get up, he said, take the child and his mother,

00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:06.460
escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you,

00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:08.019
for Herod is going to search for the child to

00:21:08.019 --> 00:21:10.279
kill him. So he got up, took the child and his

00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:11.900
mother during the night, and left for Egypt,

00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:14.640
where he stayed until the death of Herod. And

00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:16.819
so fulfilled what the Lord had said to the prophet,

00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.799
out of Egypt I call my son. Does anybody have

00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.339
a little footnote there or asterisk there after

00:21:23.339 --> 00:21:28.720
that? Out of Egypt I call my son. You do? Is

00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:32.500
it reference? Hosea. That's right. And if you

00:21:32.500 --> 00:21:36.579
look, you'll see if you have red letter Bible

00:21:36.579 --> 00:21:38.779
where Jesus, when he speaks, it's in red and

00:21:38.779 --> 00:21:41.960
often it's offset. It'll be like tabbed over

00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:46.240
when Jesus speaks often. That's the same way

00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:49.299
whenever Old Testament or Hebrew scripture is

00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:51.680
quoted in the New Testament. It won't be in red,

00:21:51.779 --> 00:21:55.099
but it will be often offset or tabbed over. So

00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:57.839
it's kind of set aside. And you'll look through

00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:00.339
Matthew, and in the times when that isn't read,

00:22:00.539 --> 00:22:03.819
sometimes it's read and it's Jesus quoting Old

00:22:03.819 --> 00:22:07.059
Testament prophecy. But if you look just at the

00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:09.519
typography of your Bible, you're going to see

00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:14.380
a lot of pieces of Matthew that are offset and

00:22:14.380 --> 00:22:17.599
tabbed over because, again, Matthew is tying

00:22:17.599 --> 00:22:21.339
his story of Jesus. back to the Old Testament.

00:22:21.420 --> 00:22:24.099
And every time he does, he's going to quote Old

00:22:24.099 --> 00:22:27.240
Testament prophets like Hosea or Micah or Jeremiah

00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:30.980
or Isaiah. And whenever he does, you're going

00:22:30.980 --> 00:22:33.819
to see those prophecies set to the side. And

00:22:33.819 --> 00:22:36.940
right there is one of them. When Herod realized

00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:39.660
that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was

00:22:39.660 --> 00:22:43.039
furious. In order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem

00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.519
in their vicinity who were two years and under,

00:22:45.640 --> 00:22:48.660
according to the time with which with the time

00:22:48.660 --> 00:22:51.539
he had learned from the Magi, right? And then

00:22:51.539 --> 00:22:53.960
that's what was said through the prophet Jeremiah,

00:22:54.099 --> 00:22:56.279
which was fulfilled. And here is another prophecy

00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:59.559
from the Old Testament. After this, after Herod

00:22:59.559 --> 00:23:05.559
dies, Jesus returns back to Judea. After Herod

00:23:05.559 --> 00:23:07.500
died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream

00:23:07.500 --> 00:23:10.019
to Joseph in Egypt and said, get up, take the

00:23:10.019 --> 00:23:12.859
child and his mother and go to the land of Israel

00:23:12.859 --> 00:23:14.660
for those who are trying to take the child's

00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:18.589
life are dead. So he got up, took the child and

00:23:18.589 --> 00:23:20.509
his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But

00:23:20.509 --> 00:23:23.789
when he had heard that Archelaus was reigning

00:23:23.789 --> 00:23:26.630
in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was

00:23:26.630 --> 00:23:28.690
afraid to go. Having been warned in a dream,

00:23:28.769 --> 00:23:31.230
he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he

00:23:31.230 --> 00:23:34.029
went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So

00:23:34.029 --> 00:23:36.950
it was fulfilled what was said through the prophets

00:23:36.950 --> 00:23:41.210
that he would be called a Nazarene. And just

00:23:41.210 --> 00:23:45.890
real quickly, is there another story? in the

00:23:45.890 --> 00:23:48.349
Bible about fleeing Egypt? Can anybody think

00:23:48.349 --> 00:23:53.710
of one? About people fleeing Egypt? Is there

00:23:53.710 --> 00:23:57.430
another story? That's right, Exodus 14. If you

00:23:57.430 --> 00:24:00.349
want to put your finger there in the Bible. This

00:24:00.349 --> 00:24:04.609
is important because we're seeing Matthew make

00:24:04.609 --> 00:24:09.049
an argument of who Jesus is. Exodus 14, that's

00:24:09.049 --> 00:24:12.119
the second book of the Bible. All right, so on

00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:14.500
the very left -hand side of your Bible there,

00:24:15.079 --> 00:24:19.680
Exodus 14, and what I'm going to do is I'm going

00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:21.240
to go ahead and start reading, and then you can

00:24:21.240 --> 00:24:22.839
catch up as we go, because I'm going to read

00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:26.980
a chunk of it here. Then the angel of God had

00:24:26.980 --> 00:24:29.660
been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew

00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:31.579
and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also

00:24:31.579 --> 00:24:34.480
moved from in front and stood behind them, coming

00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:37.460
between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout

00:24:37.460 --> 00:24:39.900
the night, the cloud brought darkness to the...

00:24:40.509 --> 00:24:42.730
to the one side and light to the other side,

00:24:42.809 --> 00:24:45.250
so neither went near the other all night long.

00:24:45.670 --> 00:24:48.230
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea,

00:24:48.410 --> 00:24:51.230
and all that night the Lord drove the sea back

00:24:51.230 --> 00:24:53.910
with a strong east wind and turned it into dry

00:24:53.910 --> 00:24:57.049
land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites

00:24:57.049 --> 00:25:01.869
went through the sea on dry ground with a wall

00:25:01.869 --> 00:25:04.180
of water on their right and on their left. The

00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:06.359
Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses

00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:08.420
and chariots and horsemen followed them into

00:25:08.420 --> 00:25:10.480
the sea. During the last watch of the night,

00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:12.799
the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire

00:25:12.799 --> 00:25:14.640
and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into

00:25:14.640 --> 00:25:17.279
confusion. He jammed the wheels of the chariots

00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:19.160
so that they had difficulty driving, and the

00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:22.039
Egyptians said, Let's get away from the Israelites.

00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:24.640
The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.

00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:28.140
Then the Lord said to Moses, Stretch out your

00:25:28.140 --> 00:25:30.119
hand over the sea so that the waters may flow

00:25:30.119 --> 00:25:32.440
back over the Egyptians and the chariots and

00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:35.309
horsemen. Moses stretched out his hand over the

00:25:35.309 --> 00:25:37.190
sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its

00:25:37.190 --> 00:25:40.369
place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it,

00:25:40.390 --> 00:25:42.809
and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water

00:25:42.809 --> 00:25:44.930
flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen.

00:25:45.069 --> 00:25:47.710
The entire army of Pharaoh that had followed

00:25:47.710 --> 00:25:50.329
the Israelites into the sea, not one of them

00:25:50.329 --> 00:25:53.690
survived. But the Israelites went through the

00:25:53.690 --> 00:25:56.150
sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their

00:25:56.150 --> 00:25:58.750
right and on their left. That day the Lord saved

00:25:58.750 --> 00:26:01.450
Israel from the hands of the Egyptians. And Israel

00:26:01.450 --> 00:26:04.130
saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And

00:26:04.130 --> 00:26:06.329
when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the

00:26:06.329 --> 00:26:08.730
Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people

00:26:08.730 --> 00:26:13.930
feared the Lord and put their trust in him, Yahweh,

00:26:14.069 --> 00:26:18.710
and in Moses, his servant. Here we see a pattern

00:26:18.710 --> 00:26:21.910
begin to develop in the gospel according to Matthew

00:26:21.910 --> 00:26:24.549
that will become much more clear to us as we

00:26:24.549 --> 00:26:27.369
press on this evening. But we're going to see...

00:26:28.329 --> 00:26:32.589
As Jesus, as Matthew begins to reflect Jesus

00:26:32.589 --> 00:26:39.549
as a new Moses. And I hope that how and why will

00:26:39.549 --> 00:26:43.009
become apparent. So let's move to chapter 3.

00:26:43.210 --> 00:26:45.289
Flip back over to the right hand side of your

00:26:45.289 --> 00:26:49.750
Bible. Chapter 3, this is the portion of Matthew's

00:26:49.750 --> 00:26:52.829
gospel account where he explains John the Baptist.

00:26:53.829 --> 00:26:56.410
In those days, John the Baptist beginning verse

00:26:56.410 --> 00:26:59.730
1. came preaching in the wilderness of Judea

00:26:59.730 --> 00:27:02.769
and saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven

00:27:02.769 --> 00:27:06.289
has come near. This is he who was spoken of through

00:27:06.289 --> 00:27:10.390
the prophet Isaiah, a voice of one calling in

00:27:10.390 --> 00:27:12.049
the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord,

00:27:12.109 --> 00:27:15.890
make straight the paths for him. John's clothes

00:27:15.890 --> 00:27:18.549
were made of camel's hair. He had a leather belt

00:27:18.549 --> 00:27:21.109
around his waist. His food was locusts and wild

00:27:21.109 --> 00:27:23.549
honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem

00:27:23.549 --> 00:27:25.630
and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan,

00:27:25.690 --> 00:27:28.390
confessing their sins. and they were baptized

00:27:28.390 --> 00:27:31.250
by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many

00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:33.750
of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where

00:27:33.750 --> 00:27:35.789
he was baptizing, he said to them, You brood

00:27:35.789 --> 00:27:39.390
of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming

00:27:39.390 --> 00:27:41.630
wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

00:27:42.349 --> 00:27:44.869
Do not think you can say to yourselves, We have

00:27:44.869 --> 00:27:48.069
Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of

00:27:48.069 --> 00:27:50.569
these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

00:27:50.970 --> 00:27:53.849
The axe is already at the root of the trees,

00:27:53.910 --> 00:27:56.329
and every tree that does not produce good fruit

00:27:56.329 --> 00:27:59.309
will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I

00:27:59.309 --> 00:28:02.329
baptize you with water for repentance, but after

00:28:02.329 --> 00:28:05.089
me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose

00:28:05.089 --> 00:28:08.170
sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize

00:28:08.170 --> 00:28:11.029
you with the Holy Spirit and fire, his winnowing

00:28:11.029 --> 00:28:14.289
fork in hand, and he will clear his threshing

00:28:14.289 --> 00:28:17.190
floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and

00:28:17.190 --> 00:28:20.470
burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:26.000
John the Baptist was not a very chill dude. Jesus

00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:29.319
came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized

00:28:29.319 --> 00:28:32.539
by John. But John tried to deter him, saying,

00:28:32.660 --> 00:28:35.380
I need to be baptized by you. And do you come

00:28:35.380 --> 00:28:39.559
to me? Jesus replied, let it be so now. It's

00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.839
proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.

00:28:42.920 --> 00:28:47.309
Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized,

00:28:47.589 --> 00:28:49.529
he went up out of the water. At that moment,

00:28:49.650 --> 00:28:52.390
heaven was opened. And he saw the Son of God

00:28:52.390 --> 00:28:54.210
descending like a dove and alighting on him.

00:28:54.230 --> 00:28:56.670
And a voice from heaven said, This is my Son,

00:28:56.829 --> 00:29:01.890
whom I love, with whom I am well pleased. So,

00:29:01.890 --> 00:29:05.329
here we see a couple of patterns beginning to

00:29:05.329 --> 00:29:13.170
develop. We've got this out of Egypt thing. And

00:29:13.170 --> 00:29:20.420
we also have this. Water thing. Now, let's do

00:29:20.420 --> 00:29:24.559
water baptism. And so I want to talk just a bit,

00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:27.660
though. So we see a couple of things paralleling

00:29:27.660 --> 00:29:30.660
Old Testament, New Testament, Jesus, Moses, right?

00:29:30.720 --> 00:29:33.839
They're both going to come out of Egypt. We've

00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:37.420
got this crossing through the water. And let's

00:29:37.420 --> 00:29:41.400
talk about baptism. In the first century, is

00:29:41.400 --> 00:29:45.049
there a... Does anybody know? Is there a ritual,

00:29:45.230 --> 00:29:52.490
a Jewish ritual of baptism? There's not. The

00:29:52.490 --> 00:29:55.589
ritual might be cleaning, right? Washing yourself,

00:29:55.910 --> 00:29:58.450
making yourself ceremonially clean. And that's

00:29:58.450 --> 00:30:00.170
what you're doing. Whenever they would have those

00:30:00.170 --> 00:30:03.289
big pots of water that like at the wedding feast

00:30:03.289 --> 00:30:05.410
in Cana that Jesus turned in the hell, like...

00:30:05.690 --> 00:30:07.970
50 gallons or whatever a piece, and he turned

00:30:07.970 --> 00:30:10.869
the water into wine. Those big pots, those were

00:30:10.869 --> 00:30:13.609
pots that were used by the people to make themselves

00:30:13.609 --> 00:30:16.730
ceremonially clean. And whenever they would use

00:30:16.730 --> 00:30:20.529
that water and wash themselves off, do you know

00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:23.809
what they were recreating? The crossing of the

00:30:23.809 --> 00:30:27.470
Jordan River from the wilderness, as the Israelite

00:30:27.470 --> 00:30:31.990
people, into the promised land. Whenever Joshua,

00:30:32.529 --> 00:30:38.059
right? Joshua, Yeshua. The same guy, same name,

00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:42.339
Joshua from the Old Testament, Yeshua, took them

00:30:42.339 --> 00:30:45.720
across the Jordan River and into the promised

00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:51.039
land. It's in that moment, from one bank to the

00:30:51.039 --> 00:30:55.819
other, that the Israelite people changed their

00:30:55.819 --> 00:31:00.359
identity. On this side, if you will, whatever,

00:31:00.619 --> 00:31:03.849
on this side of the Jordan River, out of the

00:31:03.849 --> 00:31:06.009
wilderness, out of Egypt, out of the wilderness,

00:31:06.250 --> 00:31:10.650
they're still slaves on the run, right? They're

00:31:10.650 --> 00:31:17.089
still bondsmen and women, right? They're shackled

00:31:17.089 --> 00:31:20.289
culturally because they're just escaping. Slaves

00:31:20.289 --> 00:31:23.250
is all they are. But whenever they cross the

00:31:23.250 --> 00:31:26.029
Jordan River, when they actually are led by Joshua,

00:31:26.230 --> 00:31:29.490
through the water into the promised land, and

00:31:29.490 --> 00:31:32.440
actually get to the place God said, I'm going

00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:35.259
to make you a special people. I'm going to make

00:31:35.259 --> 00:31:38.980
you a people set apart. And I have a land that

00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:42.440
I am definitely promising you. When? When did

00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:47.400
he make that promise to that land? Abraham, right?

00:31:48.099 --> 00:31:52.440
Hundreds of years before, right? God's saying,

00:31:52.539 --> 00:31:55.380
I'm making that promise fulfilled now. And when

00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:58.720
you cross the Jordan River, you stop being a

00:31:58.720 --> 00:32:03.940
slave and you start being my people. So whenever

00:32:03.940 --> 00:32:08.259
we baptize and you go under and you come up,

00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:12.039
you're reborn from a different person. Before

00:32:12.039 --> 00:32:14.319
you go under the water, you're still a slave.

00:32:14.359 --> 00:32:16.839
We're still a slave to sin. We're still a slave

00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:20.910
to the depraved human condition. Right? We may

00:32:20.910 --> 00:32:25.589
have run away from Pharaoh, figuratively, but

00:32:25.589 --> 00:32:28.630
because we're human, we're still sinners. We

00:32:28.630 --> 00:32:32.029
go under the water, we come up a new creation.

00:32:32.930 --> 00:32:37.309
Right? A child of God. We are recreating that

00:32:37.309 --> 00:32:40.930
Jordan River experience as Joshua led the people

00:32:40.930 --> 00:32:45.490
out of the wilderness and into the promised land.

00:32:46.130 --> 00:32:50.000
Right? And so this is another... The baptism

00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.319
of Jesus, right? This is another example where

00:32:54.319 --> 00:32:57.099
Matthew's saying you have a new Moses authority

00:32:57.099 --> 00:33:02.759
on the ground here. Okay, so the next is chapter

00:33:02.759 --> 00:33:05.980
4. We're going to slow, I'm going to try to slow

00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:08.819
this down a little bit because I want to go through

00:33:08.819 --> 00:33:12.440
this story a little slower because I think this

00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:16.289
is one of the stories in the Bible. There's no

00:33:16.289 --> 00:33:19.049
other story in the Bible, in the gospel accounts

00:33:19.049 --> 00:33:22.549
rather, like this story. This story is mentioned

00:33:22.549 --> 00:33:25.509
in three of the four gospel accounts, but there's

00:33:25.509 --> 00:33:29.009
no other story like this one. I think this is

00:33:29.009 --> 00:33:31.190
a story that really kind of weirds people out

00:33:31.190 --> 00:33:34.990
sometimes. So let's just kind of, let's walk

00:33:34.990 --> 00:33:37.230
through it together and see if we can come out

00:33:37.230 --> 00:33:38.710
on the other side with a better understanding.

00:33:41.609 --> 00:33:45.150
been baptized, and the Spirit of God has descended

00:33:45.150 --> 00:33:50.150
upon him as a dove, and then the Spirit does

00:33:50.150 --> 00:33:55.450
something, leads him into the wilderness to be,

00:33:55.589 --> 00:34:01.430
and what does your Bible say? Tempted? Anybody

00:34:01.430 --> 00:34:05.369
else have anything different? Tested. That's

00:34:05.369 --> 00:34:08.750
right. Tested is actually a better translation

00:34:08.750 --> 00:34:13.679
there. And I'll explain why I think that is.

00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:17.039
Tempted, at least in our language, at least today

00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:21.139
for sure, tempted typically means trying to convince

00:34:21.139 --> 00:34:24.880
someone to do something bad, right? We don't

00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:29.760
tempt people to go for a 5K run, right? But we

00:34:29.760 --> 00:34:33.059
will tempt you with chocolate cake. You see what

00:34:33.059 --> 00:34:38.300
I mean? Right? And that word is actually, it

00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:42.690
can be tempted, but... It can also mean tested.

00:34:43.550 --> 00:34:46.989
Tested is a better word here because when we

00:34:46.989 --> 00:34:49.670
take a test, if I was to give you a test, well,

00:34:49.710 --> 00:34:52.349
I wouldn't because I think I'm probably not doing

00:34:52.349 --> 00:34:54.449
such a great job of explaining this, but if I

00:34:54.449 --> 00:34:55.849
was to give you a test on what we discovered

00:34:55.849 --> 00:34:59.869
tonight, what would that test do? It would tell

00:34:59.869 --> 00:35:02.469
you, tell us all a little bit about something

00:35:02.469 --> 00:35:06.550
about you. In this instance, it would tell us.

00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:09.960
a little bit about what you know about what we

00:35:09.960 --> 00:35:14.440
just talked about, right? Testing tells us something

00:35:14.440 --> 00:35:18.320
about ourselves, okay? That's why I think the

00:35:18.320 --> 00:35:20.840
word tested here might be better than tempted

00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:25.139
because this testing in the wilderness is going

00:35:25.139 --> 00:35:30.940
to tell us more about who Jesus is, okay? So,

00:35:30.940 --> 00:35:33.519
chapter 4, then Jesus led by the Spirit into

00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:36.420
the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After

00:35:36.420 --> 00:35:40.099
fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry.

00:35:40.380 --> 00:35:43.019
Real quick, how long was Israel in the wilderness?

00:35:44.079 --> 00:35:48.719
40 years, and here's Jesus in 40 days, the number

00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:52.780
40, right? Pattern, again, coming back. The tempter

00:35:52.780 --> 00:35:54.980
came to him and said, if you are the Son of God,

00:35:55.159 --> 00:35:59.389
tell these stones to become bread. Jesus answered,

00:35:59.550 --> 00:36:02.889
it is written, man shall not live on bread alone,

00:36:03.050 --> 00:36:06.289
but on every word that comes from the mouth of

00:36:06.289 --> 00:36:09.329
God. Now, I think some people read that sometimes

00:36:09.329 --> 00:36:12.389
and go, we don't need bread to live. We need

00:36:12.389 --> 00:36:15.389
God's word as our bread. But that's actually

00:36:15.389 --> 00:36:17.670
not, that's just silly to even think, right?

00:36:17.769 --> 00:36:21.650
Do we need bread to live? Yes, right? Jesus isn't

00:36:21.650 --> 00:36:25.340
saying you don't need food. And in this instance,

00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:28.119
we're talking about not just food, but you don't

00:36:28.119 --> 00:36:32.179
need the world. You just need the Word of God.

00:36:32.860 --> 00:36:36.980
And what Jesus here is even saying, look, there

00:36:36.980 --> 00:36:40.719
are still human physical aspects, physical needs

00:36:40.719 --> 00:36:43.840
need to be met. But understand, that's not what

00:36:43.840 --> 00:36:48.230
gives you real life. Right? Bread, the world,

00:36:48.309 --> 00:36:51.409
might keep your heart pumping, might keep your

00:36:51.409 --> 00:36:54.070
lungs expanding and contracting, but it's the

00:36:54.070 --> 00:36:58.429
word of God that gives you real life. Okay? Now,

00:36:58.449 --> 00:37:02.050
he's quoting Old Testament scripture here. He's

00:37:02.050 --> 00:37:05.809
quoting Deuteronomy chapter 8. And I'm just going

00:37:05.809 --> 00:37:08.429
to read beginning with verse 1. Deuteronomy chapter

00:37:08.429 --> 00:37:12.230
8, verse 1. This is Moses speaking, right? Moses

00:37:12.230 --> 00:37:15.389
writes the first five books of the Bible. The

00:37:15.389 --> 00:37:18.269
Deuteronomy is one of those. Be careful to follow

00:37:18.269 --> 00:37:20.510
every command I'm giving you today so that you

00:37:20.510 --> 00:37:23.130
may live and increase and may enter and possess

00:37:23.130 --> 00:37:26.489
the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.

00:37:27.250 --> 00:37:30.309
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the

00:37:30.309 --> 00:37:34.010
way in the wilderness these 40 years to humbly

00:37:34.010 --> 00:37:37.409
and test you in order to know what was in your

00:37:37.409 --> 00:37:39.909
heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.

00:37:40.230 --> 00:37:44.090
He humbled you, causing you to hunger. and then

00:37:44.090 --> 00:37:48.030
feeding you with manna, which neither you nor

00:37:48.030 --> 00:37:51.929
your ancestors had known, to teach you that man

00:37:51.929 --> 00:37:55.309
does not live on bread alone, but on every word

00:37:55.309 --> 00:37:57.690
that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Okay?

00:37:57.750 --> 00:38:01.750
So, the devil's doing the tempting, and Jesus

00:38:01.750 --> 00:38:06.150
says, we've already covered this. My ancestors

00:38:06.150 --> 00:38:09.010
already covered this. I'll read you some scripture

00:38:09.010 --> 00:38:12.409
to tell you why it's not important that I'm able

00:38:12.409 --> 00:38:16.440
to turn. these stones into bread so back to matthew

00:38:16.440 --> 00:38:19.699
right so here's the next temptation then the

00:38:19.699 --> 00:38:23.199
devil took him to the holy city and had him stand

00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:26.179
on the highest point of the temple so so the

00:38:26.179 --> 00:38:29.699
devil has learned a trick right so oh jesus we're

00:38:29.699 --> 00:38:32.800
going to play this quoting scripture game well

00:38:32.800 --> 00:38:36.739
i can do that too he says if you are the son

00:38:36.739 --> 00:38:41.260
of god he said throw yourself down for it is

00:38:41.260 --> 00:38:45.519
written where In Hebrew scripture, he will command

00:38:45.519 --> 00:38:48.239
his angels concerning you and they will lift

00:38:48.239 --> 00:38:51.159
you up in their hands so that you will not strike

00:38:51.159 --> 00:38:55.000
your foot against a stone. We have a footnote.

00:38:55.619 --> 00:39:02.280
Psalm 91, 91, 11 and 12. Psalm 91 is a beautiful

00:39:02.280 --> 00:39:06.300
poem. And what that Psalm 91 is about is about

00:39:06.300 --> 00:39:11.349
trusting, learning to trust God. And the tempter

00:39:11.349 --> 00:39:16.010
is using that Psalm 91 about trusting God, and

00:39:16.010 --> 00:39:18.929
he's kind of twisting that scripture. But Jesus,

00:39:19.030 --> 00:39:22.349
he's not having any of it. Jesus answered, oh,

00:39:22.809 --> 00:39:25.250
you want to quote scripture with me? He says,

00:39:25.269 --> 00:39:27.789
it's also written, do not put the Lord your God

00:39:27.789 --> 00:39:30.469
to the test. And we go right back to Deuteronomy

00:39:30.469 --> 00:39:33.900
again in 6. When the Lord your God brings you

00:39:33.900 --> 00:39:36.159
into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham,

00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:39.780
Isaac, and Jacob, to give you a land with large

00:39:39.780 --> 00:39:43.059
flourishing cities you did not build, houses

00:39:43.059 --> 00:39:47.619
filled with all good things you did not provide,

00:39:47.920 --> 00:39:50.300
wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive

00:39:50.300 --> 00:39:53.179
groves you did not plant, then when you eat and

00:39:53.179 --> 00:39:56.239
are satisfied, be careful that you do not forget

00:39:56.239 --> 00:39:58.780
the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, out of

00:39:58.780 --> 00:40:01.969
the land of slavery. Fear the Lord your God.

00:40:02.110 --> 00:40:05.309
Serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.

00:40:05.530 --> 00:40:08.389
Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples

00:40:08.389 --> 00:40:11.150
around you. For the Lord your God who is among

00:40:11.150 --> 00:40:13.329
you is a jealous God and His anger will burn

00:40:13.329 --> 00:40:15.909
against you and He will destroy you from the

00:40:15.909 --> 00:40:19.409
face of the land. Do not put the Lord your God

00:40:19.409 --> 00:40:25.289
to the test as you did at Massa. Right? Remember

00:40:25.289 --> 00:40:28.150
that? Does any Old Testament scholars in here

00:40:28.150 --> 00:40:31.320
know what happened at Massa? The thirsty, did

00:40:31.320 --> 00:40:34.179
you bring us out of Egypt to die of thirst out

00:40:34.179 --> 00:40:37.539
here in the desert? God is so powerful and God

00:40:37.539 --> 00:40:40.099
can't even provide water for us to drink. And

00:40:40.099 --> 00:40:43.400
Moses uses the staff to create the spring and

00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:46.780
they get water. Don't put God to the test like

00:40:46.780 --> 00:40:49.920
you guys did out of Massa. By the way, Massa

00:40:49.920 --> 00:40:54.119
in Hebrew, that translates as the place of testing.

00:40:54.679 --> 00:40:59.489
So another correlation. Exodus 17, the whole

00:40:59.489 --> 00:41:02.070
Israelite community set out from the desert of

00:41:02.070 --> 00:41:04.849
sin, traveling from one place to places the Lord

00:41:04.849 --> 00:41:08.230
commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there

00:41:08.230 --> 00:41:10.030
was no water for the people to drink. So they

00:41:10.030 --> 00:41:12.110
quarreled with Moses and said, give us water

00:41:12.110 --> 00:41:15.730
to drink. That's that story there in Masa. And

00:41:15.730 --> 00:41:19.630
ultimately, what is that telling us? All of this

00:41:19.630 --> 00:41:23.030
story, all of these times. where Scripture is

00:41:23.030 --> 00:41:26.730
quoted back to the Israelites in the wilderness

00:41:26.730 --> 00:41:29.989
and having trouble meeting tests of their own.

00:41:30.070 --> 00:41:32.690
And are they succeeding at these tests or are

00:41:32.690 --> 00:41:36.389
they failing? They're failing every single time.

00:41:36.829 --> 00:41:39.670
Every time you turn around, the Israelites...

00:41:40.110 --> 00:41:43.289
are failing to trust in God. Why did you bring

00:41:43.289 --> 00:41:45.969
us out of Egypt? We are so tired of this free

00:41:45.969 --> 00:41:49.769
bread you give us miraculously every day, and

00:41:49.769 --> 00:41:52.010
we'd rather go back to Egypt where we had all

00:41:52.010 --> 00:41:55.349
that good food to eat, right? And Jesus goes,

00:41:55.469 --> 00:41:58.369
oh, you want some meat? I'll give you so much

00:41:58.369 --> 00:42:00.409
meat, I'll make your stomachs burst from it,

00:42:00.489 --> 00:42:03.409
right? And it's not the point of making stomachs

00:42:03.409 --> 00:42:05.750
burst. It's like, why are you, do you not see

00:42:05.750 --> 00:42:08.090
that I'm providing you literally with daily bread?

00:42:08.710 --> 00:42:12.630
And you can't trust me? And every time, every

00:42:12.630 --> 00:42:18.250
time the people of Israel try to trust God, using

00:42:18.250 --> 00:42:22.369
the laws of Moses, right, the man -made laws,

00:42:22.769 --> 00:42:27.530
they fail. When Jesus comes along as a new Moses

00:42:27.530 --> 00:42:30.929
figure, what we're going to see is because Jesus

00:42:30.929 --> 00:42:34.090
is in control of things now, the people of Israel

00:42:34.090 --> 00:42:37.900
won't fail, right? People won't fail anymore

00:42:37.900 --> 00:42:41.000
because Jesus is going to perfect these things.

00:42:41.139 --> 00:42:43.659
In these instances, what's happening here with

00:42:43.659 --> 00:42:46.360
the devil, right? What's happening here with

00:42:46.360 --> 00:42:49.659
the devil is Jesus is starving. 40 days he has

00:42:49.659 --> 00:42:53.159
been fasting. He is starving. And the devil comes

00:42:53.159 --> 00:42:55.619
along and says, I know how you can get food.

00:42:56.559 --> 00:43:00.099
I know how you don't have to be so filthy dirty.

00:43:00.380 --> 00:43:04.019
I know how you can be made a king. And Jesus,

00:43:04.179 --> 00:43:07.900
despite his present circumstance, a lesson for

00:43:07.900 --> 00:43:11.760
us all, says, no, no, no, no. I'm going to put

00:43:11.760 --> 00:43:17.139
my trust in God because I know that I'm doing

00:43:17.139 --> 00:43:21.059
God's will and I'm following God's plan despite

00:43:21.059 --> 00:43:25.340
my present circumstance. That's where the thing

00:43:25.340 --> 00:43:28.880
departs from the Israelites. Oh, no, we know

00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:33.050
the power of God in the past. But given our present

00:43:33.050 --> 00:43:36.070
circumstance, we don't think we can trust God

00:43:36.070 --> 00:43:39.590
now. And Jesus, in this instance of testing,

00:43:39.829 --> 00:43:43.030
is replicating those same events that I just

00:43:43.030 --> 00:43:46.489
read from Exodus 17. He's being tested whether

00:43:46.489 --> 00:43:50.570
he can trust in God to provide or not. And in

00:43:50.570 --> 00:43:54.070
each instance, Jesus says, I'm going to trust

00:43:54.070 --> 00:43:58.130
in God despite my present circumstance. So let's

00:43:58.130 --> 00:44:01.699
move from... Exodus 17, back to Matthew again.

00:44:03.719 --> 00:44:06.119
And we finish this story. Again, the devil took

00:44:06.119 --> 00:44:08.199
him to a very high mountain and showed him all

00:44:08.199 --> 00:44:09.880
the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

00:44:09.880 --> 00:44:12.219
And this I will give you, he said, if you bow

00:44:12.219 --> 00:44:16.059
down and worship me. Jesus said to him, away

00:44:16.059 --> 00:44:20.440
from me, Satan. For it is written, worship the

00:44:20.440 --> 00:44:23.559
Lord your God and serve him only. Then the devil

00:44:23.559 --> 00:44:28.280
left him and the angels came to attend him. So

00:44:28.280 --> 00:44:31.820
what's this story about? Just like I mentioned,

00:44:32.099 --> 00:44:37.039
present circumstances can be trumped by God's

00:44:37.039 --> 00:44:40.039
trusting in God's will. Performing the will of

00:44:40.039 --> 00:44:44.019
God, submitting to his direction, provides for

00:44:44.019 --> 00:44:49.659
us true, real, and full life. The things of the

00:44:49.659 --> 00:44:52.840
world, the bread that the devil might coerce

00:44:52.840 --> 00:44:55.480
us into making out of stones given our power,

00:44:57.679 --> 00:45:01.820
Again, cause us to continue to live. But without

00:45:01.820 --> 00:45:05.159
God's direction and our desire to meet his will,

00:45:05.280 --> 00:45:11.840
we are denied real, true and full life. So here

00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:14.139
we are at the end of chapter four. We've got

00:45:14.139 --> 00:45:16.300
one more chapter to go through real quickly tonight.

00:45:16.920 --> 00:45:19.880
And what the end of chapter four, we see Matthew.

00:45:20.500 --> 00:45:24.400
It shows Matthew shows Jesus preaching and teaching

00:45:24.400 --> 00:45:28.739
and healing. And what is He preaching? I think

00:45:28.739 --> 00:45:30.980
I mentioned this earlier, right? That the kingdom

00:45:30.980 --> 00:45:36.539
of God is near. Right? That God has lowered Himself

00:45:36.539 --> 00:45:40.780
close to the earth. The kingdom of God is near,

00:45:40.900 --> 00:45:45.400
but that is going to look very differently than

00:45:45.400 --> 00:45:50.159
you expect. The kingdom of God is not going to

00:45:50.159 --> 00:45:55.619
look like you think. Okay, Jesus. How's it going

00:45:55.619 --> 00:46:00.360
to look? Well, so Jesus is with his disciples,

00:46:00.420 --> 00:46:05.320
and he sees crowds that have begun following

00:46:05.320 --> 00:46:09.739
him around, following his teaching. Is there

00:46:09.739 --> 00:46:12.599
another part of the Bible that uses a mountain

00:46:12.599 --> 00:46:15.440
and instructions on how to live life and please

00:46:15.440 --> 00:46:18.860
God? Moses and the Ten Commandments in Mount

00:46:18.860 --> 00:46:23.079
Sinai, right? The mountain experience here. Another

00:46:23.079 --> 00:46:28.179
parallel between here and Exodus, right? Here

00:46:28.179 --> 00:46:31.280
is another example of Matthew going, new Moses

00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:34.340
figure, but things look a little bit different.

00:46:34.619 --> 00:46:36.960
Yes, he's going to be on a mountaintop, but it's

00:46:36.960 --> 00:46:38.960
not really a mountain, right? It's like a really

00:46:38.960 --> 00:46:42.280
large hill. There's no mountains in this region.

00:46:42.480 --> 00:46:46.360
But Mount Sinai is a really big hill, okay? So

00:46:46.360 --> 00:46:49.579
he goes up on this mountain, and he's going to

00:46:49.579 --> 00:46:54.250
instruct people. on what the kingdom of God looks

00:46:54.250 --> 00:46:59.909
like, and on what right conduct should be if

00:46:59.909 --> 00:47:04.570
you desire to please God. That same thing happened

00:47:04.570 --> 00:47:09.130
to Moses, only God gave that to Moses. Jesus,

00:47:09.250 --> 00:47:12.130
who is Emmanuel, who is God with us, gives it

00:47:12.130 --> 00:47:14.710
to the people that have come to hear him teach.

00:47:14.949 --> 00:47:18.329
It's the same process, but it looks a little

00:47:18.329 --> 00:47:22.750
bit different this time. On the first day of

00:47:22.750 --> 00:47:25.130
the third month after the Israelites left Egypt,

00:47:25.150 --> 00:47:27.110
on that very day, I'm reading from Exodus 19,

00:47:27.489 --> 00:47:30.829
they came to the desert of Sinai. After they

00:47:30.829 --> 00:47:33.190
set out from Rephidim, they entered the desert

00:47:33.190 --> 00:47:35.590
of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert

00:47:35.590 --> 00:47:37.269
in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up

00:47:37.269 --> 00:47:39.289
to God, and the Lord called him from the mountain

00:47:39.289 --> 00:47:41.690
and said, This is what you are to say to the

00:47:41.690 --> 00:47:43.710
descendants of Jacob, what you are to tell the

00:47:43.710 --> 00:47:46.250
people of Israel. You yourselves have seen what

00:47:46.250 --> 00:47:53.340
I did. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant,

00:47:53.480 --> 00:47:55.619
then out of the nations you will be my treasured

00:47:55.619 --> 00:47:58.380
possession. Although the whole earth is mine,

00:47:58.539 --> 00:48:01.920
you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a

00:48:01.920 --> 00:48:04.599
holy nation. These are the words you are to speak

00:48:04.599 --> 00:48:07.460
to the Israelites. Then we get the Ten Commandments.

00:48:08.139 --> 00:48:11.699
Matthew 5, verse 1. Now when Jesus saw the crowds,

00:48:11.860 --> 00:48:15.130
he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His

00:48:15.130 --> 00:48:17.269
disciples came to him, and he began to teach

00:48:17.269 --> 00:48:19.789
them. He said, Blessed are the poor in spirit,

00:48:20.070 --> 00:48:23.570
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed

00:48:23.570 --> 00:48:25.710
are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

00:48:26.250 --> 00:48:28.070
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the

00:48:28.070 --> 00:48:30.670
earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst

00:48:30.670 --> 00:48:33.469
for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed

00:48:33.469 --> 00:48:35.510
are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

00:48:36.190 --> 00:48:37.809
Blessed are the pure at heart, for they will

00:48:37.809 --> 00:48:42.010
see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they

00:48:42.010 --> 00:48:44.599
will be called children of God. Blessed are those

00:48:44.599 --> 00:48:46.260
who are persecuted because of righteousness,

00:48:46.519 --> 00:48:51.480
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, how

00:48:51.480 --> 00:48:54.380
revolutionary would this have been to be spoken

00:48:54.380 --> 00:48:57.320
in the first century in Judea? A little or a

00:48:57.320 --> 00:49:00.920
lot? Anybody want to take a guess? A lot, right?

00:49:01.019 --> 00:49:05.280
And why is that? Because not only religiously,

00:49:05.280 --> 00:49:10.980
but culturally too. They're living eye for an

00:49:10.980 --> 00:49:14.820
eye, tooth for a tooth. They're living in such

00:49:14.820 --> 00:49:22.000
a way that says if God or the gods prefer you

00:49:22.000 --> 00:49:25.780
or bless you, or if God wants to show that he

00:49:25.780 --> 00:49:28.340
thinks that you're in a right relationship with

00:49:28.340 --> 00:49:31.639
him, then you are going to be powerful. You're

00:49:31.639 --> 00:49:34.440
going to be rich. You're going to be important.

00:49:34.699 --> 00:49:38.949
You're going to... Not be one of the people that

00:49:38.949 --> 00:49:41.469
are currently listening to Jesus, the people

00:49:41.469 --> 00:49:43.730
that he's healed from being sick. You're not

00:49:43.730 --> 00:49:46.230
going to be lame. You're not going to be blind.

00:49:46.329 --> 00:49:49.269
If you're blind, that means that either you sinned

00:49:49.269 --> 00:49:52.349
against God or your family has sinned against

00:49:52.349 --> 00:49:55.969
God. Your good fortune on earth is reflective

00:49:55.969 --> 00:49:59.869
of your right relationship with God. And that's

00:49:59.869 --> 00:50:02.670
the way the world was in the first century in

00:50:02.670 --> 00:50:07.699
Judea. Not just Judea. Everywhere. That's, I

00:50:07.699 --> 00:50:11.480
mean, and that's not such a foreign concept if

00:50:11.480 --> 00:50:13.340
we think about it today. I think that there are

00:50:13.340 --> 00:50:17.420
a lot of people that think, well, I'm a good

00:50:17.420 --> 00:50:20.159
Christian and that's why I feel good about being

00:50:20.159 --> 00:50:22.860
able to drive a nice car with heated seats and

00:50:22.860 --> 00:50:25.739
massagers in the back seat and all of that stuff,

00:50:25.800 --> 00:50:27.239
right? It's because I'm such a good Christian.

00:50:28.260 --> 00:50:33.139
If God didn't want me to have these things, he

00:50:33.139 --> 00:50:37.690
wouldn't let me have them. Right? So this first

00:50:37.690 --> 00:50:42.590
century idea here is still alive and kicking

00:50:42.590 --> 00:50:45.969
today. And Jesus says, no, no, no, no. That's

00:50:45.969 --> 00:50:49.449
not how any of this actually works. Right? And

00:50:49.449 --> 00:50:51.909
he goes, I'm actually, but we'll see when we

00:50:51.909 --> 00:50:54.170
get to the end of the story. I'm actually going

00:50:54.170 --> 00:50:58.949
to show you how it works. Because the new world

00:50:58.949 --> 00:51:02.619
order says that those that are weak. those that

00:51:02.619 --> 00:51:05.860
are meek, those that are poor in spirit, those

00:51:05.860 --> 00:51:09.519
who decide to be courageous enough to be a peacemaker,

00:51:09.699 --> 00:51:13.280
right? You will be a child of God. Peacemaker

00:51:13.280 --> 00:51:15.980
is kind of a funny one I think of because if

00:51:15.980 --> 00:51:18.239
you get in between two people fighting and you

00:51:18.239 --> 00:51:21.039
don't take a side, most times what happens is

00:51:21.039 --> 00:51:23.460
you get ended up hated by two people, right?

00:51:23.579 --> 00:51:25.840
Because you don't take one side or the other.

00:51:25.920 --> 00:51:29.360
But if you're courageous enough... to see peace

00:51:29.360 --> 00:51:33.340
and tranquility and harmony exist amongst other

00:51:33.340 --> 00:51:36.219
people, that's what it means to be a child of

00:51:36.219 --> 00:51:39.320
God. And that's what Jesus is saying here. And

00:51:39.320 --> 00:51:41.400
then he looks at all of these other things that

00:51:41.400 --> 00:51:45.059
Moses talks about or that God talks about to

00:51:45.059 --> 00:51:48.539
Moses on Mount Sinai, right? The fulfillment

00:51:48.539 --> 00:51:52.099
of the law, those things. And he says, oh man,

00:51:52.320 --> 00:51:54.760
let me give you an example. I know Moses talked

00:51:54.760 --> 00:51:59.489
about don't commit adultery. New rule, if you

00:51:59.489 --> 00:52:04.530
even think about it, you're guilty. And he kind

00:52:04.530 --> 00:52:08.889
of lists those off, divorce, oaths, and every

00:52:08.889 --> 00:52:12.409
one of them, it's not the act, it's the heart.

00:52:13.420 --> 00:52:16.820
And that's what Jesus is trying to teach us about

00:52:16.820 --> 00:52:19.699
the new kingdom. It's not about the external

00:52:19.699 --> 00:52:23.000
appearance. It's not about the acts. It's not

00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:25.579
about the way I look. It's not about the way

00:52:25.579 --> 00:52:29.980
I talk. It's about the way I feel in my heart.

00:52:30.300 --> 00:52:33.340
And this is the part that says, look, if you're

00:52:33.340 --> 00:52:35.639
trying to be a good Christian or you're trying

00:52:35.639 --> 00:52:38.280
to be a good Jew and you've got a problem with

00:52:38.280 --> 00:52:40.559
your brother and you're still trying to go to

00:52:40.559 --> 00:52:43.500
the altar to do your sacrifices, Put it down.

00:52:44.059 --> 00:52:46.880
Go make it right with your brother. Then come

00:52:46.880 --> 00:52:50.119
back and make the offering. If you make that

00:52:50.119 --> 00:52:53.380
offering and have evil on your heart, that's

00:52:53.380 --> 00:52:56.500
offensive to God. If you think that you're covering

00:52:56.500 --> 00:53:00.219
that up by doing the right thing, you're wrong,

00:53:00.420 --> 00:53:05.199
Jesus says. And that's what this new world order

00:53:05.199 --> 00:53:09.599
is going to be all about. This is the new law.

00:53:10.019 --> 00:53:14.559
So here, just in the first five, chapters of

00:53:14.559 --> 00:53:18.820
Matthew, we see three things that Matthew is

00:53:18.820 --> 00:53:23.400
asserting about the identity of Jesus. One, that

00:53:23.400 --> 00:53:28.500
Jesus is of the messianic line of David, which

00:53:28.500 --> 00:53:32.659
was promised to us in Hebrew scripture. That

00:53:32.659 --> 00:53:39.820
two, he is indeed God with us, or Emmanuel. But

00:53:39.820 --> 00:53:44.820
also, He is a new Moses figure for the people.

00:53:45.400 --> 00:53:50.519
But this time, a better one. A perfected one.

00:53:51.519 --> 00:53:54.440
Because despite all that was given to Moses,

00:53:54.780 --> 00:53:58.039
the people, no matter how hard they tried, and

00:53:58.039 --> 00:53:59.579
to be quite honest, there were times where they

00:53:59.579 --> 00:54:02.460
didn't even try that hard, they couldn't fulfill

00:54:02.460 --> 00:54:07.940
the law. Right? And then be able to be justified

00:54:07.940 --> 00:54:11.289
or made righteous with God. And Jesus, through

00:54:11.289 --> 00:54:14.570
his sacrifice, is going to make all of that possible.

00:54:15.190 --> 00:54:18.590
And so that's the first part of what Matthew

00:54:18.590 --> 00:54:22.889
is trying to tell us. Now, we conclude tonight

00:54:22.889 --> 00:54:26.989
looking at how Jesus begins to tell people what

00:54:26.989 --> 00:54:29.909
the new kingdom of God is going to look like.

00:54:30.730 --> 00:54:34.099
And unfortunately... What we're going to see

00:54:34.099 --> 00:54:37.079
next time is it's not that everybody just stops

00:54:37.079 --> 00:54:38.739
what they're doing and believes what he says.

00:54:38.860 --> 00:54:43.320
Next time, we're going to dive into people's

00:54:43.320 --> 00:54:47.420
reaction to his teaching, and we're going to

00:54:47.420 --> 00:54:51.420
see that it's not always positive. And we're

00:54:51.420 --> 00:54:52.960
going to see that we're going to find people

00:54:52.960 --> 00:54:55.980
that are going to say, Jesus is the Messiah.

00:54:56.840 --> 00:54:59.860
We're going to find people that say, is Jesus

00:54:59.860 --> 00:55:02.789
the Messiah? And we're going to find people that

00:55:02.789 --> 00:55:06.869
say Jesus is not the Messiah. And each one of

00:55:06.869 --> 00:55:09.869
those groups of people tell us a little bit something

00:55:09.869 --> 00:55:13.230
about ourselves and about the reality of Jesus.

00:55:13.630 --> 00:55:16.789
So I hope that you'll come back on the 30th and

00:55:16.789 --> 00:55:25.110
we'll continue our series. Well, thanks for taking

00:55:25.110 --> 00:55:27.750
this journey with me as we discover more about

00:55:27.750 --> 00:55:30.889
what the Bible has to say about Jesus and what

00:55:30.889 --> 00:55:34.130
that means for us in our lives. I'd ask for you

00:55:34.130 --> 00:55:37.409
to do me a favor on whatever platform you're

00:55:37.409 --> 00:55:40.110
listening. I'd ask you to subscribe so you'll

00:55:40.110 --> 00:55:42.469
know when there's a new upload and to make sure

00:55:42.469 --> 00:55:45.769
and review and rate this podcast. Rating and

00:55:45.769 --> 00:55:49.250
reviews help us be seen by more folks. Be blessed.

00:55:49.900 --> 00:55:53.179
Hope to see you next time right here at the Semi

00:55:53.179 --> 00:56:20.519
-Seminarian. Let me ask you guys a question.

00:56:20.659 --> 00:56:24.059
How many people know some weird people, right?

00:56:24.159 --> 00:56:26.739
But they're not weird in the right kind of way,

00:56:26.800 --> 00:56:29.000
right? They're probably weird in the bad kind

00:56:29.000 --> 00:56:32.059
of way. Everybody is weird in a certain extent.

00:56:32.139 --> 00:56:34.320
But that's well, and there's also people that

00:56:34.320 --> 00:56:37.019
are weird in a good kind of way, right? Tonight

00:56:37.019 --> 00:56:40.039
I want to talk about being weird in a God kind

00:56:40.039 --> 00:56:44.440
of way. So here's what Jesus said. Our opening

00:56:44.440 --> 00:56:46.199
scripture tonight comes to us from the gospel

00:56:46.199 --> 00:56:50.889
according to Matthew. next Wednesday night for

00:56:50.889 --> 00:56:53.789
our Bible study series on Matthew. We'll talk

00:56:53.789 --> 00:56:56.650
more in depth about chapter 7. But in chapter

00:56:56.650 --> 00:57:01.570
7, we read verses 13 and 14. Jesus said, Enter

00:57:01.570 --> 00:57:05.650
through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate,

00:57:05.809 --> 00:57:08.289
and broad is the road that leads to destruction,

00:57:08.630 --> 00:57:13.590
and many enter through it. Think about this.

00:57:14.170 --> 00:57:18.570
Broad and wide is the road and the gate. which

00:57:18.570 --> 00:57:23.289
the majority of people travel. Unfortunately,

00:57:23.389 --> 00:57:27.929
it's in that crowd. That's where we often find

00:57:27.929 --> 00:57:31.550
our comfort, saying, look at all of the people

00:57:31.550 --> 00:57:35.530
doing the same things we're doing, going where

00:57:35.530 --> 00:57:40.250
we're going, living how we're living. We're normal.

00:57:41.389 --> 00:57:45.530
We must be okay, because this is the majority,

00:57:45.809 --> 00:57:50.070
we're the majority of people. It's going. Fortunately,

00:57:50.150 --> 00:57:54.969
though, Jesus said many, the crowd, we could

00:57:54.969 --> 00:57:58.489
say normal people are on the road that leads

00:57:58.489 --> 00:58:02.389
to destruction. And then he said this. He said,

00:58:02.429 --> 00:58:06.909
but small is the gate and narrow is the road

00:58:06.909 --> 00:58:14.219
that leads to life. And only a few find it. If

00:58:14.219 --> 00:58:17.300
you're on the broad road, let me just say as

00:58:17.300 --> 00:58:21.179
soberly as I can, if your life seems to look

00:58:21.179 --> 00:58:24.780
like everybody else's life, if you look at your

00:58:24.780 --> 00:58:27.920
life and see yourself doing the things that everyone

00:58:27.920 --> 00:58:31.239
else is doing, if you feel like you're pretty

00:58:31.239 --> 00:58:34.420
normal, it could be that you're on the broad

00:58:34.420 --> 00:58:38.059
road that leads to destruction. Because when

00:58:38.059 --> 00:58:41.420
you leave the normal road, and you get on that

00:58:41.420 --> 00:58:47.820
smaller one where few are, the normal people

00:58:47.820 --> 00:58:50.800
will think that you're weird, that you're different.

00:58:51.079 --> 00:58:54.099
Your life just doesn't look the same as theirs

00:58:54.099 --> 00:58:58.699
does. So I want us to follow the teachings of

00:58:58.699 --> 00:59:01.719
Jesus, and we're going to lead a weird life.

00:59:01.900 --> 00:59:05.199
Because even if we just take the Bible and put

00:59:05.199 --> 00:59:08.199
it aside, and we just look at this practically,

00:59:08.460 --> 00:59:12.179
wouldn't you agree? In our world today, that

00:59:12.179 --> 00:59:16.460
living with the quotes, living normal, just isn't

00:59:16.460 --> 00:59:19.900
working. Think about it. What's normal in our

00:59:19.900 --> 00:59:22.860
schedules today? Overwhelmed, rushed, stressed,

00:59:23.199 --> 00:59:25.900
panicked, never enough time for what's truly

00:59:25.900 --> 00:59:28.880
important because we're overwhelmed with the

00:59:28.880 --> 00:59:31.679
urgent and we're missing out on the quality.

00:59:32.980 --> 00:59:36.550
What's normal when it comes to money today? I

00:59:36.550 --> 00:59:39.130
mean, let's just be real honest. Normal is the

00:59:39.130 --> 00:59:41.829
pursuit of material things, which we all know

00:59:41.829 --> 00:59:45.989
never makes us happy. Normal is broke, right?

00:59:46.250 --> 00:59:51.710
Normal is debt. Normal is financial fear. Normal

00:59:51.710 --> 00:59:55.929
is fighting with our spouses about money. Think

00:59:55.929 --> 00:59:58.929
about our professional lives. What's normal today?

00:59:59.409 --> 01:00:03.150
Just working for a paycheck. Doing something

01:00:03.150 --> 01:00:07.210
that you really don't like just to get by. Normal

01:00:07.210 --> 01:00:10.070
is feeling like there's got to be something more,

01:00:10.210 --> 01:00:13.190
but you just can't quite find out what it is.

01:00:13.789 --> 01:00:17.269
What's normal in relationships? Hopping from

01:00:17.269 --> 01:00:19.789
bed to bed to bed with different people until

01:00:19.789 --> 01:00:22.429
you finally get married, and then seven years

01:00:22.429 --> 01:00:24.610
into marriage, since things aren't going all

01:00:24.610 --> 01:00:28.269
that well, normal is for half of us to end up

01:00:28.269 --> 01:00:33.539
in divorce. Normal is not working. Here's the

01:00:33.539 --> 01:00:37.780
truth about normal. If you want what normal people

01:00:37.780 --> 01:00:43.420
have, do what normal people do. But if you want

01:00:43.420 --> 01:00:47.380
what few people have, you have to decide to do

01:00:47.380 --> 01:00:51.639
what few people will do. Think about it. If you

01:00:51.639 --> 01:00:55.679
want a normal life, then live like normal people

01:00:55.679 --> 01:01:00.440
live. If though. If you want something better,

01:01:00.579 --> 01:01:04.900
if you really believe that there is something

01:01:04.900 --> 01:01:08.019
different and better than the normal life where

01:01:08.019 --> 01:01:10.820
the majority of people are traveling, you'll

01:01:10.820 --> 01:01:14.880
need to leave that broad road and get on to that

01:01:14.880 --> 01:01:18.340
narrow path where people will begin calling you

01:01:18.340 --> 01:01:22.659
weird. And if you want what few people have,

01:01:22.960 --> 01:01:28.150
things like peace, or joy, or security, a sense

01:01:28.150 --> 01:01:32.570
of fulfillment, an eternal destiny. If you want

01:01:32.570 --> 01:01:35.210
what few people will have, you're going to have

01:01:35.210 --> 01:01:40.070
to decide to do what few people will do. Think

01:01:40.070 --> 01:01:44.349
about the teachings of Jesus, right? Mega weird.

01:01:45.090 --> 01:01:48.230
Think about how weird His teaching is compared

01:01:48.230 --> 01:01:53.110
to the world's normal. Normal says, don't commit

01:01:53.110 --> 01:01:57.409
adultery. Jesus says, you've heard it said don't

01:01:57.409 --> 01:02:00.090
commit adultery, but I say unto you, don't even

01:02:00.090 --> 01:02:04.989
look lustfully at a woman. Whoever looks lustfully

01:02:04.989 --> 01:02:08.250
at a woman has already committed adultery in

01:02:08.250 --> 01:02:12.269
his heart. That's weird. Jesus said, if you want

01:02:12.269 --> 01:02:15.349
to be first, you need to be last. If you're already

01:02:15.349 --> 01:02:19.650
last, then you can be first. That's weird. Jesus

01:02:19.650 --> 01:02:22.809
said, when you give, it will be given to you.

01:02:23.119 --> 01:02:26.300
That's weird because normal says if you take

01:02:26.300 --> 01:02:30.320
it, it will be given to you. The teachings of

01:02:30.320 --> 01:02:34.079
Jesus, the teachings of scripture lead us off

01:02:34.079 --> 01:02:38.420
of that normal broad path and onto a narrow and

01:02:38.420 --> 01:02:41.440
different path. And if you want what normal people

01:02:41.440 --> 01:02:45.340
have, just keep on doing what normal people are

01:02:45.340 --> 01:02:47.900
doing and you just go right on with the flow

01:02:47.900 --> 01:02:51.599
of the world. If you want what few people have,

01:02:51.780 --> 01:02:54.840
you're going to have to do what few people do.

01:02:55.380 --> 01:02:59.739
And take scripture seriously. And you can have

01:02:59.739 --> 01:03:04.900
something way, way, way better than normal. So

01:03:04.900 --> 01:03:07.940
I want to give us just two simple thoughts. They're

01:03:07.940 --> 01:03:09.960
things that I don't feel like I really probably

01:03:09.960 --> 01:03:12.340
need to tell you. They're things you already

01:03:12.340 --> 01:03:16.139
know anyway because they're pretty obvious. Two

01:03:16.139 --> 01:03:18.380
thoughts. The first one, it's in your notes there

01:03:18.380 --> 01:03:21.699
I've given you. My first thought for this evening

01:03:21.699 --> 01:03:24.980
is this. Weird people don't think like normal

01:03:24.980 --> 01:03:28.739
people think. Here's what scripture says in the

01:03:28.739 --> 01:03:31.380
12th chapter, second verse of the letter to the

01:03:31.380 --> 01:03:35.500
Romans. Do not live any longer the way this world

01:03:35.500 --> 01:03:39.059
lives. Don't live like normal people. The apostle

01:03:39.059 --> 01:03:42.940
Paul would say, that's stupid. Let your way of

01:03:42.940 --> 01:03:46.340
thinking be completely changed. Then you'll be

01:03:46.340 --> 01:03:49.400
able to test out what God wants for you. Not

01:03:49.400 --> 01:03:52.699
what the crowd, not what everybody else, not

01:03:52.699 --> 01:03:55.940
what the normal people want for you, but what

01:03:55.940 --> 01:04:00.780
God wants for you. And we'll all agree, I hope,

01:04:00.780 --> 01:04:04.760
that what he wants for us is what? Right? Is

01:04:04.760 --> 01:04:09.000
right. I love the way the message, it's kind

01:04:09.000 --> 01:04:12.599
of a devotional style translation or version

01:04:12.599 --> 01:04:15.059
of the Bible. I love the way that the message

01:04:15.059 --> 01:04:19.119
translates this. It says it like this. Don't

01:04:19.119 --> 01:04:22.099
become so well adjusted to your culture that

01:04:22.099 --> 01:04:27.320
you fit into it without even thinking. Wouldn't

01:04:27.320 --> 01:04:31.869
you agree that there are people today Many people

01:04:31.869 --> 01:04:35.550
that just seem to fit into the worldly culture

01:04:35.550 --> 01:04:41.789
without even thinking. The Bible says instead,

01:04:42.010 --> 01:04:46.949
fix your attention on God. Not on everybody else.

01:04:46.969 --> 01:04:50.610
Not what's normal, but on God. And you'll be

01:04:50.610 --> 01:04:55.949
changed from the inside out. Weird people don't

01:04:55.949 --> 01:05:00.019
think like normal people think. If you want what

01:05:00.019 --> 01:05:02.579
normal people have, do what normal people do.

01:05:03.199 --> 01:05:06.639
If you want what few people have, do what few

01:05:06.639 --> 01:05:09.420
people do. It's time for us to get a little bit

01:05:09.420 --> 01:05:13.019
weird. Weird people don't think like normal people

01:05:13.019 --> 01:05:16.139
think. Second thought for our little discussion

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this evening is this. Weird people don't live

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like normal people live. When you take Scripture

01:05:23.420 --> 01:05:27.019
seriously and you pursue God diligently, you

01:05:27.019 --> 01:05:30.340
will be different from the world. And if you're

01:05:30.340 --> 01:05:34.059
not different, if you seem to look like everybody

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else and act like everybody else and live like

01:05:37.320 --> 01:05:40.159
everybody else, I would submit to you that you

01:05:40.159 --> 01:05:44.139
may not truly know the God of the Bible. Because

01:05:44.139 --> 01:05:47.719
the more you pursue after Him, the more different

01:05:47.719 --> 01:05:51.369
your world will be. Your values will change.

01:05:51.570 --> 01:05:54.570
Your motivations will change. And the way that

01:05:54.570 --> 01:05:59.630
we live will change. Apostle Peter says this

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in 1 Peter 2, verses 11 and 12. Peter says this,

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Dear friends, I urge you, and I love the way

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he says this, as aliens and strangers. In other

01:06:14.010 --> 01:06:19.880
words, this world isn't even your home. This

01:06:19.880 --> 01:06:23.639
place is kind of weird to you. Why do people

01:06:23.639 --> 01:06:27.699
live according to this world? He said, as aliens

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and as strangers in this world, I urge you to

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abstain from sinful desires which rage war against

01:06:36.280 --> 01:06:39.480
your soul. In other words, you know, if this

01:06:39.480 --> 01:06:43.219
world is your home, then you go right on and

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do whatever in the world you want. Whatever you

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feel like. That's normal. But you, you're not

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going to be normal. Verse 12, he says, live such

01:06:57.550 --> 01:07:01.730
good lives among the pagans, among those who

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don't understand, amongst those who are non -believers.

01:07:06.010 --> 01:07:09.610
Live such good lives amongst them that though

01:07:09.610 --> 01:07:13.710
they accuse you of doing wrong, in other words,

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the world, The normal say, hey, hey, don't leave

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us. Hey, stay on the normal path with us. Where

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are you going? Hey, don't go. This is normal.

01:07:26.820 --> 01:07:31.860
This is better. That's stupid. Because you're

01:07:31.860 --> 01:07:35.300
going to be weird. Though they accuse you of

01:07:35.300 --> 01:07:38.900
doing wrong, in the end they may see your good

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deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

01:07:43.400 --> 01:07:46.679
When you seek the God of the Bible, He will lead

01:07:46.679 --> 01:07:50.039
you to a life that is very different. And He

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doesn't have a cookie cutter weird for all of

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us. He has for you a custom weird that He wants

01:07:56.860 --> 01:08:00.139
to give specifically to you if you seek Him.

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And I don't know what that is for you, but I

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invite you, I beg you, join me and other committed

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followers of Christ of leaving that normal road.

01:08:11.340 --> 01:08:16.100
Because you have to admit, normal isn't working.

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It's broke. It's overwhelmed. It's miserable.

01:08:21.020 --> 01:08:25.579
It's fear. It's shame. It's regret. And it doesn't

01:08:25.579 --> 01:08:29.489
have to be that way. It can be full of peace

01:08:29.489 --> 01:08:33.529
and joy and purpose and momentum and a deep sense

01:08:33.529 --> 01:08:36.949
of fulfillment and knowing that our lives are

01:08:36.949 --> 01:08:41.449
making an eternal difference. When I read scripture,

01:08:41.649 --> 01:08:45.149
Jesus said, if you want to find your life, you

01:08:45.149 --> 01:08:50.670
lose it. That's weird. And I'm telling you, right,

01:08:50.770 --> 01:08:54.470
you can go to church all day long. And that's

01:08:54.470 --> 01:08:57.170
still, at least in our part of the world, that's

01:08:57.170 --> 01:09:01.170
normal, right? To worship one day a week in church.

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That's normal. But friends, when worship for

01:09:04.149 --> 01:09:09.449
you becomes a seven days a week passion, when

01:09:09.449 --> 01:09:14.210
worship of God becomes something that you are

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and not just something that you do for one hour

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a week, one hour a day on one day a week, That's

01:09:22.000 --> 01:09:25.979
when you become that God kind of weird. We're

01:09:25.979 --> 01:09:29.640
not talking about a shallow, me -centered Christianity.

01:09:29.659 --> 01:09:33.039
We're talking about a wholehearted, full surrender

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to the God of the Bible that will take us off

01:09:36.180 --> 01:09:40.479
that normal path and onto one in which the world

01:09:40.479 --> 01:09:44.460
will not understand, but God will empower and

01:09:44.460 --> 01:09:49.859
direct. You can settle for normal. Or you can

01:09:49.859 --> 01:09:53.380
choose something better than normal. If you want

01:09:53.380 --> 01:09:57.199
what normal people have, friends, do what normal

01:09:57.199 --> 01:10:00.819
people do. If you want what few have, leave that

01:10:00.819 --> 01:10:05.800
normal path. And I invite you to a journey with

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the God kind of weird. So, as always, you are

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a part of the sermon. So if you will flip your

01:10:15.119 --> 01:10:17.500
little notes over there, you will find.