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Talking about.
CCC.
I've done that before.
And then?
Is it here at the What's in your honor?
Is this study group 7
of 1266?
We're live already.
Alright, let's flip this on a little
light here. All
right, everybody, we're in the New
Testament now. We've made it all the
way through the Old Testament. We last
time we gathered, we talked about the
dispensations and there is a transition
period of dispensations right here. Just
because we hit the New Testament doesn't
mean it's already. A new dispensation,
actually, what's gonna end this
dispensation is the cross of Calvary's
gonna in that dispensation. They they
can hear you.
Waiting for my Waco Pete Shelton. So
faithful. Y'all give us a shout out. Let
us know you're on starting in one moment.
Some water.
OK.
Hey Rob, hope you get to feeling better.
I got your message.
Alright, so.
Since Genesis chapter 3, verse
15, the whole world has
been looking for the Messiah,
the promised seed of Eve,
the final page of the
Old Testament.
Leaves us As we're leaving the
Old Testament, we're left with a
deep yearning and expectation for this
Messiah to come the Old Testament
gives us a beautiful story and
an A plan that has been
revealed, but it is much like
a magnificent. Frame lacking a picture
Much of the Old Testament gives us
just a wonderful frame, but we've not
yet seen the picture and the picture
we're going to see in the Messiah.
Old Testament prophets voice and
expectation for one who would solve
national problems and heal. Their wounds.
So we have the Old Testament
getting us to look for a
Messiah, looking for the One. And
who is the One? Jesus is
the One. The
new era, more magnificent than all
the hints and predictions of the
ancient prophets, finally arrives in the
Messiah. The Messiah was much more
glorious and wonderful in person than
any of the prophets visions could
ever describe. So God gave.
The Jews, the covenant. The Jews had
law. They had its customs and ceremonies
and its ordinances. The coming Christ was
going to open up a new book,
a new book of hope for all
mankind. His coming turned the page on
the Old Testament and opened a new
covenant. A New Testament for assault.
The New Testament is divided into
sections similar to the Old Testament.
We're going to be looking at
that. There are 27 books in
the New Testament, 39 in the
Old Testament. Together that makes 66
books the first section. Of the New
Testament is the Gospels. How many
gospels are there?Four. There
are 4 gospels. Anybody named the four
gospels? Matthew, Mark, Matthew, Mark,
Luke and John and Ringo, is that
right? It's a Beatles joke, correct? The
first four books are called the Gospels.
Gospel means the good news. It's about
the good news of Jesus, his death.
His burial, His resurrection and His
return. The story of Jesus, the
Son of God was recorded by
4 different writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John. While there is only
one Gospel of Christ, there are
4 presentations of this Gospel. Why?
4 The story is told
from 4 different viewpoints. Matthew
focuses on that he's a
king.
Uh, Mark focuses on that. He's a
servant.
Uh, Matthew focuses
on. Of sorry
the son of man is what
Luke focuses on, his humanity and
the son of God. That's what
John focuses on. The 1st 3
gospels are called synoptic gospels since
unlike John they give a synopsis
of Christ, life and the synoptic
gospels. Matthew, Mark and Luke, they all
kind of go hand in hand. And
John, he just gives us a different
format altogether. It's really
fascinating. John's Gospel stands alone
as he presents a deeper portrait of
Christ. John assured that God had come
to earth to live with men. We
read that in John chapter 1. Verse
14 It says that the Word
was made flesh and dwelled among
us, dwelt among us. Each gospel
has much in common with the
others as they deal with Christ's
earthly ministry, His death, his
resurrection, His teachings, and His
miracles. Yet the three
riders present unique pictures
of Jesus. These unique
pictures come from their
own experience with Jesus
Christ. Standing alone. Each
gospel is incomplete. There
may complete together.
Not every detail could be included
as John explained. Could you turn
in your Bibles to John chapter
21, verse 25?
The words of John here in his
Gospel about Jesus Christ, John chapter
21, verse 25. Come on Facebook, go
ahead and look it up.
Facebook watchers, if you could share
this or like it or comment it helps us
spread the news to more people. Go ahead
and do it. Anybody got John 2125? Read it
out loud, very loud for us.
The things that Jesus did and which, if
he should be, if they should be written,
everyone, I suppose that even the world,
world itself could not contain the books
that should be written. So by John's
words right here, Jesus did more than
what was recorded in the Gospels if we
wrote down everything he could do.
Everything that Jesus did, there's, you
couldn't contain it. With all the books
in the world, you couldn't do it.
Although the Gospels are included in the
New Testament, that. Was actually
governed by the previous dispensation.
What was the previous dispensation?
Great.
The flood, the law, they got it.
They didn't get it. Did you get
it fixed? But the law was the
previous dispensation, and Jesus Christ
lived in that dispensation under the law.
This was a transition period preparing
for a new dispensation that was launched
after the resurrection. And that's the
dispensation we're living in. Next after
the four Gospels is the book of
Acts, and it is a book of
history. It is the church's history,
recording the birth of the church, the
spread of the gospel. It includes the
beautiful plan of salvation. As well as
the Acts of the Apostles. That's where he
gets the name Acts from. Luke is the
writer. He's a Gentile companion of Paul.
He wrote this book. Luke is the only
Gentile writer of the Bible. He wrote the
book of Acts. He wrote one other book.
What was the other book that Luke wrote?
Who was buried in Grant's tomb?
Luke wrote the book of Luke and also the
book of Acts, and Grant is buried in
Grants. Tim. All right, there you go.
He's the only Gentile writer in the
Bible. That's really interesting
information. The book of Acts complements
and completes the preceding gospels. How
does it do that? Well, while the
Gospels reveal what Christ began to do,
the book of Acts show what he
continued to do. By the Holy
Spirit now living inside of his
disciples, Jesus Christ is in the Gospels
moving around flesh and blood. But Jesus
Christ is the Spirit inside the New
Testament believers doing the work in the
book of Acts. You understand that? Does
that make sense?Same God.
It's not like there's Jesus and then
there's the Holy Spirit. A totally
different thing, No. Alright, moving on.
There are 13 epistles of Paul after
the book of Acts. The epistles instruct
us how to live the Christian life.
These books or letters were written to
people who had already. Become Christians
they were living in different cities
Rome the book of Romans was
written to them Ephesians that was
written to the people of Ephesus.
You understand Corinthians written to the
people in Corinth all right most
were actually letters written to these
various. Churches. Paul had founded these
churches or visited these churches during
missionary campaigns. Some of them are
talked about in the book of
Acts, so there's some overlap here.
The letters offer advice, instruction,
exhortation, and encouragement to the
Saints while he is absent.
From them 13 Epistles
of Paul, perhaps 14.
Because there is one epistle that is a
mystery. Who wrote it? We're not sure who
wrote it. Some people think Paul wrote
it. Hebrews is that book, and we don't
know who the writer is. So it could
be a Pauline epistle making it 14, or
it could be one of the seven, or
is it 8?General epistles. There
are 7 general epistles that we
know who are written by James,
Peter, John and Jude. James, Peter,
John and Jude And then finally
there is one book of prophecy.
What's the book of prophecy in
the New Testament? Revelation. That's
right. Finally, Revelation is the only
book of prophecy in the New Testament.
Written by who? Who wrote Revelation?
John. That's why he's called John the
Revelator. We're not talking John the
Baptist. We're going to talk about in a
moment. We're talking about John that is
a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. John
wrote Revelation. He wrote it while he
was in prison and exiled on an island.
Called Patmos. It was not an easy time,
but he had this unbelievable revelation
where he saw Jesus Christ and he saw
things that were to come, and the things
he wrote about are still to come. They're
in front of us. So we should know
about this book. In fact, Revelation hits
the climax. The great
thing that was begun in Genesis is
finally completed, and it's completed as
our Lord Jesus Christ says these words.
Behold, I make all things new. And
if there was something that needed to
happen after man fell in the garden,
it was that we needed something.
Knew when man filled after every
dispensation we need something new in
Jesus Christ in Revelation says these
words. I make something new and
that's what the whole world is
looking for. He can already begin
that new work inside of us.
We can be born again. The
importance of the New Testament is
magnified by the fact that from
Genesis to Malachi, the Old Testament
that covers a period of 4000
years. That's how long it took
to ride it from Moses to
Malachi, while the New Testament. Is.
Written in a period of
100 years. So that is
a huge, huge difference.
Alright, so any questions about
anything we just covered? We
just covered the New Testament
layout, gospels, history, Pauline
epistles, general epistles, and a
book of prophecy.
John the Baptist, who we're going to
talk about next John the Baptist.
Although it had been 400 years since
people had heard from God remember how
Old Testament ends. The Old Testament
ends with 400 years of silence. It
had been 400 years since an anointed
prophets voice had been heard. Malachi's.
Final words had echoed across the
century. Malachi chapter 3, verse one
behold, I will send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way
before me. This is one of
the last things God says for
400 years behold, I will send
my messenger and. What will happen?
He shall prepare the way of the
Lord. A messenger that will prepare the
way of the Lord, John the Baptist.
Just as John the Baptist prepared the
way for Christ first coming, so
messengers are going around the world to
declare the good news of Christ.
Second coming. You see, that's our job.
That's our job to declare and prepare the
way of the Lord. The Bible says that the
Lord will not return until he is preached
unto all the world, all the four corners
of the world. We're preparing the way of
the Lord right now by sharing the Word of
God. Hey Chad Hayes, God bless you bro.
I hope everything's going good. I believe
in Kentucky. Hope everything's going good
there.
With the coming of John, God began to
deal with men in a different way. John's
purpose was to acquaint people with the
new covenant concept. You see, the law
and the prophets were coming to a close,
and the Kingdom of God was about to
gain. There was a big shift. Jesus
starts Speaking of new things. Luke 16
verse 16 says says the law and
the prophets were until John. That's what
Jesus says the law and the prophets
were until who? John the Baptist. Since
that time the Kingdom of God is
preached and every man. Presses into
the Kingdom. So what? What was
until the time of John's law
and the prophets? But since that
time, the Kingdom of God is
priest, the Kingdom of God. That's
what Jesus keeps talking about over
and over again, as does John
the Baptist. John's miraculous birth
declared that a special man had
been selected for a special mission.
His birth was announced by an
Angel. Can anybody name the Angel?
It was Gabriel. Gabriel went to
John the Baptist's father. He was
an aged priest ministering in the
temple. His name was Zacharias and
announced that his son would be
born of him and his wife
Elizabeth, who was Baron, never could
have. Children so tells Gabriel, tells
him that six months later, Gabriel
makes another visit to Earth to
talk to another woman about her
birth. Who was that? Mary who
was a virgin. And so this
is actually Elizabeth's cousin. God does
something really interesting here.
Gabriel appears six months later and
tells Mary in the city of Nazareth,
everyone says Nazareth. That tells her in
the city of Nazareth that she is
going to give birth to the Messiah.
So she is living in what city?
Nazareth, all right, although John was
born into. The priestly family of Aaron,
he preached in the wilderness rather than
the temple. God was making a step
away from the temple. The center of
religious worship would no longer be a
building. That's what God's setting up
here, all right? The center of our
worship should not be a building. The
center of our worship which should be
calling on the Lord. That should be the
center of our worship. Facebook can you
say Amen alright. At the age of 30.
The age of 30 is a special age
in the age of a Jewish male. The
age of 30 is the legal age for
admission into the temple. Service. So at
the age of 30, John the Baptist,
rather than in, rather than going into
the temple, went into the wilderness to
preach the coming of the Messiah. He
began preaching at the edge of the
wilderness around the River Jordan.
There's that river. It shows up. Often
remember the river Jordan was the
river that they crossed to go
into the promised land. Well, he
starts preaching at this river about
how to enter into God's Kingdom.
John's message heralded the coming King
and his new Covenant law with
us to receive the Messiah. Preparation
must be made in individual hearts.
His message was the Kingdom is
ready. Are you ready? In a
nutshell, that was John's message.
Unaccustomed to hearing from God, we
forget this. These people had not
heard from God in 400 years
and suddenly. There is this
wilderness crazy guy preaching.
And they're unaccustomed to this. They're
not accustomed from hearing from God.
They've been going to the temple for 400
years and not hearing from God.
So guess what? God needed to send
a forerunner. He needed to send someone
to prepare the way of the Lord,
to awaken them from their slumber and
get them ready to hear not just
another prophet, but the Lord Himself.
Somebody said Amen, Hallelujah.
The time had arrived. Christ
was in Nazareth with his
family. That's his home town,
unknown and and unrecognized. But
John at this moment is
boldly announcing the coming of
the Savior. John preached a
very simple message. He preached
repentance. And baptism one
way. Your Bible says he
preached baptism unto repentance.
Until this point, until this exact
moment, God had dealt with his
people through the law, through the
priesthood, and through the temple. Now
a strange new message was being
proclaimed. Guess who really hated this
message? The temple. The priesthood.
And the law keepers, they hated this
new message. The entire system of Judaism
was coming to a close. Soon the
law would be fulfilled in Messiah
himself. That's what Jesus says. He said
that I have come to fulfill all
the law, even the old covenant sign
of circumcision in the New Testament.
Would we? Would we? Replaced by
the new covenant sign? What's the
new covenant sign? Water baptism is
the new covenant sign in the
New Testament. To receive this new
system, the old must be abandoned.
Everyone must repent and confess.
The sins as they weighed into
this muddy Jordan River, to be
baptized, to state that sin would
no longer be remitted with blood
sacrifice was unthinkable before this
moment. When you started talking about
having your sins forgiven, they're like,
OK, where's the lamb?We gotta
kill the Lamb and there's blood
everywhere, and then the priest carries
it into the temple. That's how we do
this around here. But now he's saying no,
be forgiven of your sins, repent and be
baptized. And there's no land present.
There's no high priest present.
The time was approaching when
the method to rid oneself
of sins was not through
bringing a lamb, but was
through faith in the Lamb
that is the Messiah, Jesus
Christ. What
an amazing change the Lord is
bringing about John's immersion into
water. He would dip people into
water. It was preparatory to Christ
baptism of the Holy Spirit. If
you could turn to Luke chapter
3 verse 16 Facebook turned to.
Luke chapter 3 verse 16. Read what
John says about what he does, but
what the Messiah, the Christ will do.
So can somebody read that out loud?
Read it out loud real loud for
us Alex.
Even louder John answered, saying unto
them all, I indeed deputized you with
water but one mile, deer, then I come,
and then I come in the latch of
whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.
He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire. All right, so John says
that I baptized. With.
With water, but someone coming after me
is greater than I am. I'm not
even worthy to untie their shoes or
to tie their shoes. And he's going
to baptize you with what? The Holy
Ghost and the fire? Let me tell
you, I I recently baptized you in
water. But the one that baptizes
you with the Holy Spirit, that's not
me. It's not your pastor, it's not
a high priest somewhere. It is Jesus
Christ himself who submerges you, fills
you with his Holy Spirit and the
fiery power that is in the Holy
Spirit. So. He preaches
repentance. Let's talk about repentance
for a moment. You gotta understand
repentance. Repentance, it's a Greek word
for repentance, means to change your
mind, right? It's a woman's prerogative
to repent, to change her mind. You,
you get it, women, don't be mad
at me. I love y'all alright.
Repentance is not an emotion that
we feel that's important to hear.
Repentance is not an emotional thing,
but it is a decision. When
we truly repent, we change our
mind, we change our attitude, we
change our purpose about sin, we
turn around. From the inside
out, Christ and all his
apostles commanded all men everywhere
to repent. It's a command
that everyone everywhere would repent,
change their mind. Once our
minds are changed, our life
becomes rearranged to repentance totally
changes us. Repentance is much more
than an emotional display of tears,
weeping or crying out loud, although the
emotions may be affected. Nothing wrong
with your emotions being affected, but
true repentance goes deeper than
emotions. We acknowledge that our actions
and attitudes have not only hurt others.
But that we have offended God.
As His truth unfolds, we are
deeply concerned about our relationship
with God. Sin appears ugly as
he sees it. When we see
our sin as Jesus sees our
sin, we know that we've really
messed up our wrongdoing. Has insulted
God's holiness and love.
It has put a barrier
between us and God's presence
because His presence is holy
and we are unholy. Every
person travelling to toward destruction
must stop. We're
travelling towards destruction. I think
it's a good idea to stop. And what
else? Turn around, around. Don't don't
even stay where you are. When you turn
around, when you, when you stop you. You
need to turn around and walk towards a
new direction. You need to face the
opposite direct direction from
destruction. And start walking towards
God. We as sinners are walking
towards the devil. We are talking
towards death. We are walking towards
a place called hell that is
destruction. We need to turn around
and walk away. Remember Lot's wife.
She turned around and went, ran
away from the city of destruction,
but she also stopped and went
back. We can't do that. It's
essential. It's an essential act in
the center's first moves. To
be in harmony with God. It's
called repentance. Why is repentance so
important? Repentance crumbles the
barrier that separates man from God.
That barrier is crumbled. It's destroyed.
When we repent, we must understand
exactly how to repent, and we're
going to give you. Or suggestions to
show you the way. Man always meets
with God at an altar. Repentance forms
an altar, and man has always met
with God at an altar. When they
messed up in the garden, they met
with God at an altar. When Noah
got out of the ark, he met
with God. At an altar. When
Abraham had this covenant relationship
with God for him, he met him
at an altar. So God still meets
with us at an altar. The altar
of repentance is traced to Israel's
brazen altar, where sacrifices were
offered to God. Do you remember the
brazen altar?It was the
first piece of furniture that you
would go to at the Tabernacle
or at the temple, and that's
where the Lamb would be killed
on that altar. So
repentance is like the brazen altar,
the blood of the sacrificial animals
providing A covering that would hide
sins from a holy God. However,
Christ blood doesn't just cover sin,
it doesn't just hide the sin,
it eradicates, it cleanses through.
And through and we appear to
have never been dirty after the
sin, after the blood of Jesus
is applied to our life at
the altar of repentance. It's justified.
You've been justified. That's a very
biblical word, say justified. What is
justified mean to be justified?Means
it's just if I'd never sin. That's
what it means to be justified when
you are forgiven and justified by God.
It's not that he just forgives you,
but he still knows about your sin.
No, he puts you in a state
of spirituality where it's just if I
died. Never sin. So when the devil
comes around you and telling you that
you've messed up and gives you that
whole laundry list of all your sins,
you've been justified. You don't have to
listen to that garbage at all. OK,
so. At the altar, we die.
A sacrifice has to die at the altar, and
we are crucified with the Lord. Now,
don't get worried, don't get nervous when
no one's going to kill you here, throw
you on a table. No one's going to do
that. Death awaits all who come to
Christ. But it's not a literal death. It
is a physical. Death. We die to
our flesh, we die to our carnal
nature, we die to our sin nature.
OK, Paul said that the old man
or the old body of sin must
die. Listen to this verse. It's in
Romans 66, knowing this, that our old
man is crucified. With him, with
Christ, that the body of
sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve
sin. So what happens? Our
old person, our old man,
our sinful nature is crucified.
It's crucified with who? With
Jesus Christ. OK, we don't get
in The Time Machine, but in a
spiritual way, who we are dies with
Jesus on the cross through repentance,
and when that happens, the old body
of sin. Is
done away with and you no longer
have to serve sin at the altar.
We lead Satan's family and rulership to
join a new family and Lord. One
of the like slap in the face
things that Jesus says is he says
this all the time. He says your
Father's not God. Your Father is the
devil. That's what he says. Because when
we're serving sin, we're serving the
author of sin. Who's the author of
sin? It's the devil. But when we
repent, we serve a new author. He's
the author and finisher of our faith.
We're serving Jesus Christ. We have. A
brand new everlasting Father, just like
Isaiah prophesied of in Isaiah Chapter
9 verse 6. His name shall
be called wonderful Counselor, the mighty
God, the Everlasting Father. And
the Prince of Peace, alright, our old man
is crucified with him on the cross at
the altar. We leave Satan's family and we
join a brand new family. So how do
you repent? Well, here's what you do. You
call on the Lord. Does anybody remember
us talking about calling on the Lord?
In the days of Seth, in the days of
the dispensation of human conscience, we,
we mentioned this Scripture. In those
days, men began to call upon the name of
the Lord. That never went away. In order
to come to the Lord. You call on the
Lord, you call on him. In repentance. You
start with God. Here I am. I'm
talking to you. What happens next?
You confess your sin. You even
name your sin. Name
the things that come up in front of you
that, that those are the things I've done
wrong. Go ahead and name them. Name them
to him. God, I did these things. If you,
if you have been doing drugs, that God,
I've been doing drugs, God, I've been
lying. God, I've been full of lust. God,
I've, I've been, I've hurt people. Name
those things to him. Confess them and
then truly turn from those things. You'll
be shocked when you confess those sins.
You're not going to want to do
those sins. You'll want to turn away
from those sins. And then finally, this
is the most simple step that people
forget. You need to believe that he
heard. You and that he forgave you and
one of the best ways to believe it is
to begin to worship him God, I thank you
for forgiving me of my sins I thank you
that all my sins are washed away in the
blood of the lamb. I have faith in you
God that you love me and that you forgave
me of my sins. That's. How? You repent,
and it's not hard. You don't have
to go one year's time without sinning
for the repentance to really take place.
No, once you pray those things, you
call on the Lord, you confess your
sins, you turn from your sins, you
believe God's forgiven you, and you're
forgiven forever. All right, salvation
begins at an altar, but it doesn't
end there. It doesn't end there in
the Tabernacle, and it doesn't end here
with repentance either. After
surrendering our self rule, confessing
our sins, and promising to love, serve
and obey Christ, we are to be
baptized. In the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospels teach
that restitution is a part of
repentance. Someone tell me what
restitution is.
Restitution is making
things right. A
part of repentance is restitution. So
you've made things right with God, but
God also wants you to make things
right with the people in your life.
Did you hurt some relationships?
Restitutions needed. You need to repair
those hurt feelings, those hurt family
members, those hurt business relations,
other people. If you stole from people,
make restitution. Give back what you
stole. What a radical thing, man. That's
what the world needs, isn't it? I
believe, my goodness, if you're an
atheist, you ought to believe that that's
what the world needs. The world needs the
kind of forgiveness that makes things
right. So #1
is that you need an altar
#2 you need to make restitution
#3 you need forsake sins. We
prove to God our intentions by
forsaking all sin. True repentance is
turning away from everything we know
displeases God. Lying displeases. God
lust displeases God witchcraft displeases
God Pagan beliefs that that
displeased God. So leave those
things. All former bad habits
need to be broken In
fact, we sense a genuine
hatred and disgust for the
things we once loved and. Telling
you to love to to hate people that
do those things. I'm telling you that in
your heart you dislike those things so
much that you actually hate those things.
You would never want to go back and
do those things. We need to form a
strong, healthy hatred for the sins in
our life. No going back. You need to
burn the bridge. You need to cross the
about this one Red Sea. Do you remember
when God parted the Red Sea?
Remember we studied that in what? In the
law and in the Book of Exodus, actually
Book of Exodus, they go across that Red
Sea and guess what? That Red Sea comes
right back and there is no going back to
Egypt. We need that in repentance. We
need to forsake sin and not return to it.
And then 4th. We need to prepare
for baptism. If if we
repent and we haven't been baptized,
we haven't done everything that's called
for in repentance, prepare for water
baptism. This ceremonial act is for
the remission of sins. Baptism completely
renounces our life as a Sinner.
It is like saying I commit.
My whole life to Jesus Christ, I
mean to serve Him. He is my
new ruler and I take his name
and his authority in water baptism and
I want everybody to see it. Submitting
to water baptism after repentance was the
standard procedure for the early church,
sadly. The world today, the church world
today has gotten away from water baptism.
They say just say a sinners prayer
and that is you confessing your belief
that God has forgiven you. No, the
purpose was found in water baptism. Why
don't you do things the biblical way
and be baptized?Remember Paul told
us about the old man that's crucified
with Christ? Well, when the body is
killed on the altar or killed on
the cross, what needs to happen to
the body? What do you do with
dead bodies? You bury dead bodies. Guess
what baptism is likened unto The. Burial
of Jesus Christ and we are
buried with him in baptism, Romans
64 tells us and we rise
to walk in a brand new
life making Jesus our Lord and
master is the basis for entering
into covenant with them let's talk
about this the. Highest order of
a pint of repentance is not
weeping over past sins, but confessing
Jesus Christ is now your Lord.
We leave Satan's family of rulership
and we join the family and
Lordship of Jesus Christ as we
adopt Christ's new code of behavior.
And attitudes. Repentance continues to be
our way of life. Repentance is
not a one time thing for
a Christian.
Repentance is not a one time thing. It's
an attitude and a way of life. Our
initial repentance turns us from darkness
towards God, but it does not end there.
You can expect to make mistakes. You
listen to me. Just because you come to
Jesus doesn't mean that you're done
making mistakes. You can still expect to
make. Mistakes and to fill similar to
a child learning to walk. That baby
stands up. He might take a half
step. And he falls.
That those parents are ready to pick him
up, let him try again. That's how it
is with the Lord. Do not be discouraged.
Forgiveness is available every time you
confess your sins in repentance. All
right, we are going to touch one more
section, then we're going to take a
break. All right, we're going to turn
and. Talk about the birth of Jesus
Christ the Gospels One of the most
special places in the Gospels, it talks
about the birth of Jesus Christ. Six
months after the announcement of John's
birth, the Angel Gabriel was commissioned
to deliver a similar message in Nazareth
in this secluded village. Lived a young
virgin named Mary of the tribe of Judah.
She was espoused or engaged to a man
named Joseph, who was also of the House
of David, the tribe of Judah. This quiet
young girl was told that through the
operation of the Holy Spirit, she would
give birth to a son.
She must name the child.
Jesus, Jesus. Alright,
meaning y'all way saves Jehovah
Savior. That's what the name
Jesus means. Mary would be
highly honored to be the
mother of the Messiah. Imagine
Joseph's confusion when informed that
his wife to be was
expecting a child. You know,
the only way someone gets pregnant is
that they have sex and she's supposed to
be a virgin and now she's pregnant. What
is going on here? You know, Joseph was
a little bit alarmed and and engagement
was very serious among the Hebrews. You
can just break an engagement in our
culture. We see people do it all the time
and then they fight over the ring Does do
we give the ring back And what? All that
stuff. They go into Jerry Springer Show
and fight about it. Wrestle about Jerry
Springer show song Maury Povich one of
those shows, right. So a spousal among
the Hebrews was much more binding than
modern engagements because it was
considered to be the beginning. Of
marriage when you said I, I,
I will marry you as they
propose that was considered the beginning
of the marriage espousal being engaged
was legally binding and not easily
broken. While Joseph struggled with this
problem in fact, let's let's just
say. This Joseph could have had Mary
kill Stone under the Old Testament law.
He could have done it all right,
So he's wrestling with this. He actually
says, I'm going to just put her
away quietly because I do care about
her, but I won't marry her, obviously,
because you know, she's been. With
somebody, she's pregnant. Guess what
happens? An Angel appears to
Joseph. What's the name of
the Angel Gabriel? Gabriel appeared
to Zechariah, he appeared to
Mary, and now he's appeared
to Joseph. All announcing.
Worse. Joseph is
instructed by the Angel.
In a dream revealing the truth
of Mary's story, her child was
indeed conceived by God's divine spirit.
Joseph was instructed to continue his
marriage plans and name Mary's baby
Jesus. Her child would be a
savior, not a political savior. Not
a savior from political ******* but
from sin, which is man's most
dreadful *******. Centuries earlier,
Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah
would be God, manifest in the
flesh. Jesus would be the God
man promised to Adam and Eve
back in Genesis. Three
with meticulous care.
God, she. Did something
to make a prophecy occur? Remember they
are in the city of Nazareth, but
in Micah chapter 5 verse 2 it's
prophesied that the Messiah would be born
in what city?Not
Nazareth, but Bethlehem. Alright,
remember we read that not too long
ago. So it seemed inevitable that the
baby is going to be born in
Nazareth. Which means this prophecy can't
be true, which means he can't be
the Messiah. That's what what's coming
out, but with meticulous care, the
Almighty God. Arranged for the birthplace
to coincide precisely with Micah's
prediction. There's a heathen emperor of
Rome. Caesar Augustus heard of him. He
declared that every subject of the Roman
Empire must be taxed, and Israel is
under the control of Rome. So he
looks at Israel and says. Everybody in
Israel, yeah, you gotta, you gotta pay
your tax and we gotta do a
census. OK, guys. So all must register
according to their family lineage. So
their family lineage.
They they tied their family lineage all
the way back to David and his
town was. Bethlehem.
So they had to pack
up their donkey and travel
from Nazareth to their family
lineages hometown of Bethlehem. And
so God used a heathen
emperor to make sure his
prophecy came true. God had
this all figured. Out there, me.
Every citizen had to endure the hardship
of being fully enrolled to fulfill
prophecy. Joseph and Mary were forced to
travel from Nazareth to their ancestral
home in Bethlehem at the completion of
the 100 mile trip. Mary since it
was time to give birth to her
child. But they had. Come too late.
Every guest chamber had been filled with
capacity, and we see this unbelievable
picture that Earth's most important birth
ever didn't take place in a palace.
It didn't even take place in a
nice home, but it took place where?
In a barn. And the baby was.
Laid in a feed box, in a
trough where animals would eat from. That
is the story of our Savior. You
see, Jesus came to earth, but even
from his birth he didn't come like
we thought he would come.
We'll Fast forward a little bit. Jesus
was a normal, healthy child, but he never
once committed his sin. So that's pretty
abnormal for children. Come on, parents,
come on, parents, preach with me a little
bit. All right. Nor did he perform any
miracles in his younger years that we are
told about in our Bible. John describes
his first miracle to be that of
changing water into wine. At the age
of 12, Jesus made his second visit
to the temple. He goes to the
temple the first time he went to
the temple. He went to be circumcised
and dedicated to God this time.
He chose to come. 12 year old
boys were known to be sons of
the law, meaning that they were
personally obligated to observe the
ordinances. And so he made the decision
to observe the ordinance and law of
the Lord. After observing the feast, Mary
and Joseph they started. Ohh instead
of joining a.
Instead of joining the pilgrims from
his hometown, Jesus lingered in the
temple. While they're travelling back
home to Nazareth, Jesus is still
in the temple. He's absorbing the
teachings and and talking to the
rabbis, and they're having conversation
after a day of. Travel Mary
and Joseph find out that Jesus is
nowhere in their traveling group. Can you
imagine the freak out moment? Ohh my
goodness, God has given us his only
son and we lost him.
Terrible. All right, so guess what? They
quickly, as quickly as they can, they
return back to Jerusalem and they
continued their search. After three days,
they found him at the temple for
three days. Jesus is at the temple.
He's reasoning with the learned scholars.
And when they ask him, Jesus, what are
you doing? You should have been with us.
What did he say? We've been looking for
you forever. What does he say in response
to that? In Luke 249 he says, why do
you seek? Why did you seek me? Didn't you
know that I must be about my Father's
business? The life of Jesus was always
about. His Father's business. Jesus was
aware of his future destiny, yet
He obediently returned to Nazareth with
his parents and was submissive to
them. That is a great lesson
for young people today. No reproach
could be found in his life,
His spirituality. Or physically. In
this one verse of Scripture we discover
4 areas of development for Jesus Christ.
It's in Luke 252. I'll read it
to you. And Jesus increased in wisdom
and stature and favor with God and
man. So this man, Christ Jesus, he
grew in. Wisdom mental grew growth and
he acquired knowledge as a man Second,
he grew in stature, he grew physically.
He wasn't always a little baby all
right, we don't pray to the little
baby Jesus. There was a Will Ferrell
movie where they kind of make fun
of this idea where they everyone. Bowser
head and praising the Lord baby little
Jesus looking really sweet in that
Manger. No, we don't pray to a little
baby. He grew up. He is not a baby
today. They did not crucify a baby. They
grew crucified a full grown man. He grew
in wisdom. He grew in stature. He grew
with favor with God, favor with God.
Spiritual growth in preparation for his
mission as the Son of Man and
he grew in favor with man's social
development and behavior. Jesus learned
how to get along well with others
and to communicate effectively and be a
leader of man. In fact, the greatest
leader that ever lived is Jesus Christ.
Would tell you that Jesus
Christ is baptized. Who baptizes
him?John the Baptist
John the Baptist had begun preaching
a message of repentance and baptism
about six months before Jesus entered
public ministry. As John was baptizing
in the Jordan River, Jesus came
with others to be baptized, the
legal age for a priest to
begin officiating. Was 30 years old,
and that's how old what Jesus was
when he came to be baptized and
start his ministry. Although John did not
immediately recognize his cousin,
remember their cousins, he felt the power
of a divine presence when he looked
at Jesus Christ, John's spirit witnessed.
That a sinless sacred person stood before
him. In fact, he says in Scripture, it's
written down that he says, behold the
Lamb of God who's come to take away
the sins of the world. He declares that
Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Lamb of
God who would take away the sins of
the world. Think about that that
statement because in the Old Testament 1
Lamb would take away the sins of one
family. And so 1
lamb would have to become come and
come. Everyone would have to bring a
lamb. But this one lamb, Jesus Christ,
would take away the sins of you
and your family, me and my family,
and whoever would come to faith in
him. Although John did not immediately
recognize Jesus. He felt the divine
power coming from him. Jesus was
waiting to be baptized. The baptism
of repentance was accompanied by
confession of sins. But did Jesus
have any sins to confess?
No, none. John instantly felt that
his own unworthiness in the presence
of the Savior, everyone that's in
his presence, feels unworthy. Since Jesus
had greater authority from God, the
roles of ministries should have been
reversed, and that's what John says.
John says I shouldn't be baptizing
you. I shouldn't be baptizing you, Jesus.
You should be baptizing me. That's what
he says. But guess what, John?
John was asked by Jesus to
baptize him. After
Jesus persuaded that this was God's plan,
John reluctantly cooperated. Go ahead and
turn to Matthew chapter 3, verse 15.
Go ahead and do that for me.
Can you turn to Matthew chapter 3,
verse 15? Why was Jesus baptized?
Christ answers this.
In Matthew chapter 3 verse 15. Can
somebody read it out good loud for us?
Answering said unto him, Suffer it to
be so now, for thus it becomes
us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he
suffered him. All right, listen, baptize
me, because we got to do this
to fulfill all righteousness. All right,
so let's play. This out here he
says I've got to be baptized. Jesus
said I have to be baptized to
fulfill all righteousness. Well, he
fulfills righteousness in several ways
here. He is our perfect example in
Scripture, and if we're to be baptized,
he is the example. He is baptized
before us. Deliberately, Jesus
established a pattern which He intended
all believer, all believing disciples to
follow. He was our perfect example.
Second, He was part of the human
race. Christ was made in the likeness
of sinful flesh. Baptism was not for
deity, but for flesh for mankind,
therefore. We know Jesus was man as
well as God. Why do you know? Because
he was baptized. Third, he was our high
priest. Remember the Old Testament the
the idea of a high priest? Jesus is
our high priest. The high priest was to
be washed and anointed prior to becoming
a high priest. Prior to serving
as at Jesus's baptism, he was
washed, annoying, and anointed with the
Holy Spirit. 4th He was the
spotless Lamb of God, and sacrificial
lambs were to be carefully inspected
for blemishes or defects. They were
supposed to be clean.
To be the spotless Lamb
of God that would be
on the altar of God
for our sins. Jesus was
washed, prepared, scrutinized and
accepted for sacrifice by the
Father. And then lastly 12345
he submitted to the initiating
right. Of the new covenant
at birth, Jesus was circumcised.
The initiating right of Abraham's
covenant when he assumed public
leadership, Christ introduced initiating
ordinance of the new covenant,
an inner circumcision of the
heart through water baptism Paul
talks about. In
Colossians, that baptism is
the sign of New
Testament circumcision. After being
immersed in water by
John, Jesus experiences the
most amazing thing. A
most amazing thing happens.
The heavens opened up and the Spirit
of God descended upon Jesus Jesus body
like a dove. A voice rang out
and everyone could hear it. The voice
said, This is my beloved son in
whom I am well pleased. Everyone could
hear it and everyone knew. That
God's Son was right in front of
them. Jesus is. Baptism in water and
anointing of the Holy Spirit is one
of the few pivotal moments of all
the Bible. His baptism introduced a new
messianic age and prepared the way for
the new covenant to be initiated and
John. The Baptist was right at the middle
of that happening, just like it was
prophesied. After he's baptized,
Jesus is tempted by the devil. He
has a face to face encounter with
the devil. He's anointed with Holy
Spirit, Jesus says, and he is led
by the Spirit into the wilderness for
a time of prayer, fasting and preparation
for his upcoming ministry and for 40
days. He fasts and he
prays, and Satan waits for an
opportunity, like an animal ready to
pounce. Ready to
tempt him to sin and he tempts
Jesus Christ in several ways the first
way Satan appealed to his strong natural
appetite and hunger he. Satan says this
if you really are the son of
God, why don't you turn these stones
into bread and. Well,
that sounded really good to the natural
flesh of the hungry man, but Jesus
Christ did not enter into agreement with
Satan. Instead he answered and said, It
is written. Can you say those words?
It is written. Man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every word
that proceeds. Out of the mouth of God,
the next thing that he does is he takes
him to the top of the temple. He is
standing at the top of the temple with
Jesus and he says this, if you be the
Son of God, cast yourself down. For it is
written, he shall give his angels charge
concerning thee, in other words. Nothing
bad's gonna happen. It'll prove that
you're really the Messiah when the angels
save you from certain death, from
falling. Well, this brilliant idea might
have appealed to the carnal mind of Jesus
Christ. Why not prove to everybody that I
am the most powerful man on the face
of the earth? But what does Jesus say?
He says it is written. Would you
say it? It is written, Thou shalt
not tempt the Lord thy God. That's
how Jesus replies. We tempt God by
placing ourselves in dangerous situations
to which we are not called to
go. Then the most difficult temptation
was reserved for last. The pinnacle of
the temple was not high enough. Satan
takes him to a much higher place. He
takes him to a loft mountain for a
view of the entire world.
Where Jesus is offered by Satan, this
he says, this Satan says, all these
things I'll give to you if you'll
fall down and worship me.
She she came to save the world. Here's an
easy way to save the world right now just
worship me. I don't understand how that
section tempting to Jesus Christ, the
person that created that one that the
first one. Well, maybe God, Jesus Satan
didn't understand that although Satan was
indeed Prince of this world, Christ had
no intention of gaining world except.
Through a deceptive scheme, scheme again.
Jesus defeated the enemy by saying
it is written. Why don't you
say it? Facebook say it.
It is written. Then Jesus said, get
out of here Satan, get thee hints.
That's how King James says it. For
it is written, You shall worship the
Lord your God, and him only shall
you. Sir, I'm not going to worship
you Satan, I only worship the true
God. It would be impossible to improve
on the Lord's method of dealing with the
devil. How do you deal with the devil?
You deal with the devil in three words
It is written. But guess what? If you're
going to deal with the Satan this way,
you have to know what is written. That's
why we. Need to look in the
Word of God. That's why this study
is so important right now. By becoming
acquainted with the Bible, your life will
be more rewarding, more fulfilling, and
more victorious over Satan. Satan had no
good response when Jesus said it is
written each time he had to abandon.
That attack and find another attack
if the devil is attacking you.
Perhaps you should bring the word of God
out to stop him, alright?
Um.
Jesus's entire
stake.
In life. He put
on 12 men.
See after he after this
time, prayer and temptation, he
selects his 12 disciples.
12 disciples and he puts the
importance. He rests his whole plan
on 12 men. Jesus wrote no
books. He didn't make a movie.
He established no school of
philosophy. He did not form
his own denomination. He didn't
create church government. He organized
no armies to carry his
banners. He merely gathered disciples.
Specifically 12 men mostly. Outdoorsmen,
men of the earth, men
who were farmers, fishermen, lowly
government officials. None were of
nobility, none of were aristocracy.
In simple faith, they heard
Jesus say Follow me and
they follow him. There was
the inner circle. Of the 12,
there were three in the inner circle,
Peter, and two brothers, James and John,
and they're in the inner circle. There
are times that Jesus meets just with
Peter, James and John.
Then there are the quiet workers, people
like Andrew, Phillip, Nathaniel, Thomas
and Matthew. Then there are those that
there are little known of James the
Less Thaddeus, also known as Jude and
Simon the Zealot. Finally,
there is the trader, and of
course his name is Judas Iscariot.
And that completes the dozen, the
12. At first the 12 were
sent forth two by two. In
this way they would be serviceable
to one another, providing companionship,
encouragement and strength. Some apostles
were not famous, nor their actions
celebrated or written about, but to
each was given a distinct call,
a Commission, and an obligation to
become fishers of men. We're going
to take a break here. Please
let us know your questions. We
are going to be posting Part 2
very quickly. You can find it at
our Redemption Facebook page. You can
find it at our event page. You
can find it on my personal page.
Our redemption page is/ My redemption and
my personal page is/ Chris Fluitt, CHRS.
FLUITT, we'll see you
in Part 2.
Hello, study group. This is study
group part 6 of 12 and
it's Part 2 of two. We
are at the halfway point of
our 12 week 12 lesson study
that will take us through the
entire Bible. Do you have any
questions?For me, anybody have any
questions about anything that we've
covered so far today or even other
questions we can make can address some
of those things? We've been talking about
John the Baptist, we've been talking
about Jesus. We've been talking about his
disciples. The next thing we're going
to be doing is talking about Jesus, his
ministry. What set his ministry apart?
Hello there, Shelton Mono. How you doing,
man? God bless you. Shelton Mono is our
worship leader at Redemption Church and
he rocked it this last Sunday. It was so
cool. Good job man.
All right, so the ministry of Jesus
is unlike the ministry of anyone else,
the ministry of Jesus. And I'm going
to point out some things that make
his ministry unlike anything else ever
seen before. His miracles. Let's start
there. No one, not even the Israelites.
Had an accurate concept of
God you realize that he
the nations had pictured him
as some kind of weird,
cruel, grotesque, immoral or impersonal
power hungry God never had
he been conceived of as
a. God of love as a
heavenly Father. That's how Jesus
describes God. That's also how he
reveals God to us as a
heavenly Father. When Jesus came to
earth as a man, he was
not like the proud, arrogant Pharisees,
nor was he like the great
philosopher philosophers. And religious
teachers, perceiving him Jesus, revealed
the Creator as a God
of love, a holy God.
Who could actually be approached? The
most sinful of men were attracted to
Jesus Christ. They weren't attracted to
the temple. They weren't attracted to the
Pharisees, but they were attracted to
Jesus Christ. Publicans and sinners felt
free to sit and eat with him.
They were unafraid. Of His Holiness
and drawn by his love. His mission
was not to condemn, but to save.
We're told that Jesus went into bars.
And guess what? He was
welcomed there. People liked him
to be there. They liked
to be around him. Crowds
followed him everywhere. Why? Because
they loved this guy. They
loved him. 2 main methods
were utilized by Christ. To
attract the audience, his teaching
and also his miracles. His
miracles were like nothing else
people had ever seen. Miracles
excited the greatest attention everywhere
he went. His miracles can
be classified into 3 categories.
Controlling demons, displaying power
over disease and death,
and three, controlling nature.
Let's talk about controlling
demons real quick. One
primary reason for Christ's
large following was his
practice of expelling evil
spirits. Throughout his ministry, a
clear, open conflict raged between
the spiritual Kingdom of God
and the spiritual Kingdom of
sin and death, the Kingdom
of Satan. A full 4th
of Christ's ministry is actually
devoted to casting out demons.
1/4 of his ministry.
Expelling evil spirits taught Jesus's
audience that Satan and demons were
real, but they were also subject
to the power of Jesus Christ.
Expelling evil spirits was everywhere he
went. Christ ministry began on a
Sabbath where he and his disciples
were worshipping at a synagogue in
Capernaum. A man with an unclean
spirit cried out in irreverent, unruly
manner, disturbing the service. Christ,
what did he do? He rebuked
the Spirit. He commanded it to
be quiet and come out. And
guess what the Spirit did. The
Spirit did it. The Spirit stopped.
It was quiet and it came
out. How did Jesus's first audience
react to the shocking demonstration? It
tells us in Mark chapter 127
and 28. They were all amazed.
Yeah, I would think so, yeah.
This guy's going crazy. Or like,
I think he's. Crazy. And Jesus
says Spirit, shut up, come
out. I'd be
and the man suddenly he's no longer
crazy. He's in his right man's mind, in
that spirit, he's gone. Yeah, I'd be
amazed too. And it continues. It said
immediately his fame spread throughout
all the region about Galilee. Galilee is
the area that he is ministering to 1st.
It is a very poor. Area it's
not filled with rich people
like Jerusalem is, which will
be the latter portion of
his ministry. All
right, Jesus explained his reason for
expelling evil spirits. It can
be found here Luke chapter 418 and 19.
He says, the spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because the Lord has sent me
to heal the broken hearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and the
recovering of sight to the blind, to set
at liberty those that are bruised, to
preach the acceptable. Year of the
Lord. So he did miracles. He
cast out demons. He also displayed
power over disease and death. He
would open blind eyes and he
would raise the dead. Much of
Jesus memory ministry was devoted to
physical needs. God anointed Jesus. Of
Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with
power, says Acts chapter 10 verse 38.
Who went about doing good and healing
all that were oppressed of the devil
for God was with him. Here's important
thing to know sometimes our physical
healing is an oppression of the devil.
Because Jesus circulated from village to
village, He was surrounded by sick and
dying. Everywhere he went people clamored
for restoration of their health. Matthew
15 and 30 says this. And great
multitudes came unto him, having with
them those that were lame, those that
were blind, those that were dumb. They
couldn't hear. Those that were maimed,
they they were injured in their body in
certain ways and many others and cast
them down at Jesus feet. They would just
carry these people there and just bring
them down at his feet. Hopefully they
wouldn't drop them like I just did. They
lay down these people and it says this
and Jesus. Killed them. That's what
he did. We're told one amazing
story where there's a man named
Lazarus who's been dead. He's dead
and he's already buried. And Jesus
goes up to the tomb. He
says roll away the stone, unbury
this dead, buried body. And Jesus
calls out to him, he says Lazarus come
forth and Lazarus comes jumping out of
the tomb. He's wrapped up in burial
clothes. That's how they would they would
wrap them kind of like a mummy
sarcophagus. You'll wrap them up. And so
Lazarus is jumping out of there and they
have to unwrap him or he'll. Suffocate.
But Jesus brought Lazarus back from
the dead in that very same
chapter. He quipped, declares this he
says I am the resurrection and
I am the life. Healing. Bringing
people back from the dead isn't
just something I do, it's who
I am 1. Made the same Jesus
will bring about a resurrection of the
dead. It's going to be an amazing day.
Moving on, he had power
over nature, he controlled nature.
He turned water to wine,
he took loads of bread
and divided them and multiplied
loaves of bread and fishes
to feed multitudes of people.
He also calmed the storm just by
simply talking to it. He also walked
on the water. Jesus did all these
things and when the disciples saw him
calm the storm, they said what manner
of man is this? Well, the answer
is very simple. He's more than just
a man, Jesus. Is the Christ. He
is the Lord himself. He is
God himself. All right, Jesus
did all these miracles. Jesus also
was known for this. He was
known for parables. Jesus went all
about Galilee, teaching in their
synagogues and preaching the gospel of
the Kingdom. And he had a
very specific, different, special way
where he would preach. The gospel of
the Kingdom, he did it through parables.
Parables are stories now, stories that
are made-up, but you make them up in
a certain way that they teach a point.
OK, so that's what a parable is. Jesus
skillful use of parables was much more
like a work of art. Art.
Most of his audiences were mixed. Some
were hostile, wanted to prove him out
to be a charlatan and a liar,
quick to accuse. Others were friendly,
eager to grasp every word. By using
parables, Christ could reveal gems of
truth to those that were receptive and
actually. Confuse his enemies.
Brilliant. It's amazing.
Often the story said one thing
but meant another. The lost sheep
that was sought and discovered by
a Good Shepherd represented a lost
man being found by the Savior.
That was a parable because of
the double meaning his followers readily
understood. But skeptics. They're like,
what's this story about a sheep?
What are we supposed to get
from that, guys? Crazy. It's crazy,
I say. These stories with hidden
meanings compared spiritual concepts to
familiar everyday objects so that they
could be understood. He didn't use
big theological terms. Well, you know,
it's exegetical information right there.
It's cross theological information.
That's what No, he didn't use big
theological terms that you're like, what
does that mean? I have to get a
theological dictionary to understand what
this guy saying. No, he is natural
things. He talked about fishing.
Good old country boys in Texas could
get a lot from Jesus. He talked
about fishing. He talked about farming.
He talked about seed and soil. He
talked about crops. He talk about wheat
trees. He talk about sheep and goats.
Since the Jews had long envisioned an
earthly Kingdom that would conquer. The
iron hand of oppression from Rome
he had to correct their misconceptions
and many of Jesus stories began
like this. The Kingdom of heaven
is like listen not the Kingdom
of Israel on earth is. That
bike. But the Kingdom of heaven, God's
Kingdom is a lot like this, to stress
the separation of sin from righteousness
in his Kingdom. He said the Kingdom of
heaven is like this, and he told the
parable of the tears and the wheat. To
emphasize the priceless value of his
Kingdom. A story was told. About a
buried piece of treasure, another
narrative described a merchant selling
1 priceless Pearl. To
show the importance of humble beginnings,
Christ's Kingdom was compared to a grain
of mustard seed that was very small
but ends up being a big large
plant. To explain how his Kingdom would
be set would would separate sinners from
the righteous, the parable was used of
the varied catch. Of fish while we
while we should commune with our Heavenly
Father. Was
emphasized in the Lord's Prayer. He
emphasized communing with the Heavenly
Father, followed by a parable of
a persistent friend at midnight. In
response to Peter's question about
forgiveness, A parable was told of
the unmerciful servant. So Jesus uses
parable, the parable of the lost.
The sheet The Parable of the Sower, The
parable of the Good Samaritan is perhaps
one of the greatest parables known.
In response to a question about
neighbors, Christ told the parable of the
Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10, verse
25 through 37. The critic who claims the
Bible is not relevant to our modern world
has never read this parable because it's
absolutely relevant. The ingredients
composing this familiar story are. Down
in the pages of our newspapers,
all the time the story talks
about violence, a current problem in
which we can all relate to,
right? It speaks of crime, it
speaks of racial discrimination, it
speaks of hatred. All in this
parable, it emphasizes. Neglect,
selfishness and a lack of
concern by people in religion.
Yet we also see love and
mercy in this store story. The
compassionate Samaritan came to the aid
of an injured victim who had
been stripped and ignored by the
religious travelers. They were too
involved in holy activities to render.
Aid we know of what the
parable. Hopefully you know what the
parable says. But what does it
mean? In response to the lawyer's
question, Who is my neighbor? Christ
used his query to teach a
most important truth. You cannot separate
your relationship with God from your
relationship. With your fellow man.
Your fellow man is your
neighbor, and you should love
your neighbor as yourself. All
right. Peter receives something very
special from Christ. He receives
keys to the Kingdom we're
going to talk about. This section
here as Christ retired one day with
his 12 to a secluded area for
the evening. They're settling down there.
Might imagine them around a campfire or
something like that. He began to talk
to them more intimately. He asked this
question in Matthew 1613. He says, who
do men say?That I am. What are the
people saying about me? Who do they say I
am? What do they believe about me?
OK, now.
They believed all kinds of things. Some
believed he was a resurrected John the
Baptist. Some supposed he was an Elijah.
Some suspected that he was Jeremiah or
another, some person in the Old
Testament, something like that. So he's
like a reincarnation of some other dude.
There's what?They're saying, having asked
this question not for his own
information, Christ sought to crystallize
their faith and their convictions.
Pondering their comments for a moment,
he then asked a more probing
question. What does he ask? Does
anybody know?He assists
Who do you say that I am?
Who do men say that I am?
And then he followed up with Who
do you say that I am? Although
asked of all the disciples, the man
who speaks up is Peter. Peter became
the mouthpiece that day for the 12.
That's something we'll see again in
the future, as the as again
in the future. Peter says this.
You are the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Can you
repeat that answer with me? You
are the Christ, the Son of
the living God. Peter
also explained in one breath that not
only was Jesus the Christ, the Messiah,
the seed of Eve that we've been
looking for since Genesis 3.
But he is also the Son of the
living God. He is sent the Son of
the living God. You take it to mean
this, that God. Is in
now in human form.
Son of the Living God means that
God is born as the Son of
man. And now
he is accompanying them, that
God has accompanied them for
three years in the person
of Jesus. Peter recognized the
deity through the human flesh
that passed. This human flesh
is the deity God. In
spirit, in the flesh,
divinity and humanity had
joined to become the
Savior of the world.
Jesus responds to what
Peter says in Matthew
1617 through 19. He
says this, Blessed are
you. Simon bar Jonah, Simon
Barjona, you see we call him Peter,
but before this moment he was called
Simon. That was his name. Jesus continues
for flesh and blood hasn't revealed this
to you, but my Father, which is
in heaven revealed this to you. And
I say. Also to you, that you are
Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church, and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. And I will give
you, Peter, the keys of the Kingdom of
heaven. And whatsoever you bind on earth
shall be bound in heaven, Whatsoever you
loose on earth shall be loosed in.
Heaven. Alright, he talks about a lot
of stuff here. Number 1, he changes
his name from Simon to Peter. He
gives him a calling of importance that
he's going to give him the keys
of the Kingdom. He also declares
something else, that he is going to
build his church on a rock, the
power of the revelation. Brought
the the name change to Peter. Let's
start there. You are the Christ, the
Son of the living God you're no
longer Simon. You're blessed you are
Peter. The power of this revelation of
who Jesus is changes you it changes
you and the power of the revelation
is the. Talk. There are some
people that believe the rock was Peter.
No, the rock is not Peter. The
rock is the revelation that Peter spoke
of. The rock is the revelation that
Peter that that Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of the living God and
Jesus. Gives Peter the
keys. All right, that's
and he uses these keys. We see
later we see that in the book
of Acts, Acts chapter 2, we see
him use these keys. All right, he
talks about the church here. This is
the first time the word church appears
in your Bible. The church
Jesus speaks of building a church on
the rock. The church is not meant
to merely be ohh, sorry. The church
is not merely built on confessions. Well,
I said the sinners prayer. That's the
church. No, it's not that it's actually
meant on people. It's built on people.
Who have made confessions?
It's built and by men inspired by
God to teach his great truths. That's
what it's built on. It is on
rock like men like Peter who acknowledged
the true deity of Jesus Christ, that
the Church of the living God is
built by Christ. Here in Christ
declaration we encounter the word church.
For the first time.
The word church is ecclesia. Can
you say ecclesia? It's a Greek
word and that word means the
called out ones, a group of
called out ones. That's what the
church is. Church connotes, connotes that
a new meaning from the synagogue
assemblies. The Jews met for worship, IE
the Temple. In our Lord's words to
Peter, special emphasis is placed on the
word to distinguish it from that of
the Jews. Thus the Christian community in
the midst of Israel would be called
the called out ones, the church they
would have. A different kind of
worship today, Christ True Church
represents a group of called out
ones, called out believers distinctively
set apart from the Word. Later,
Peter opens the door to salvation.
Remember, he was given the keys
to the Kingdom of heaven.
In Eastern custom, the key was a
symbol of authority. They would
actually wear a key as a
badge of office. To present a
key was equivalent to bestowing great
trust, distinction, and responsibility.
The authority given Peter was to
open the door of faith and
salvation to the entire world, a
door that would never. Again, be
closed or reserved for one elite
group of people. Because Peter understood
who Jesus was, he was qualified
to receive the key that would
open the door of salvation to
everyone. Can I tell you something
when you believe Jesus is who
he is?You also receive
that authority to open the door
of salvation to other people. On
the day of Pentecost, Peter opened
the door of salvation to the
Jews by explaining the strange phenomena
in the upper room. This was
the first sermon. With instructions
for obeying the Gospel. Later,
Peter was also responsible for
laying hands upon Samaritans to
receive the Holy Spirit. Finally,
Peter opened the door for
the despised Gentiles to be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.
As he preached to them in the
household of Cornelius and Cesaria in
Acts chapter 10. So get this Acts
chapter 2, he opens the door to
Israel to the Jews in Acts chapter
8 he opens the door to the
Samaritans in Acts chapter 10 he opens
the door to the. Gentiles.
Peter is present for all three
of these. On these three occasions,
Peter introduced each ethnic group to
the gospel by using the key
of authority that Jesus Christ gave
him. He admitted or gave direction
to those desiring salvation.
Peter's newfound authority was never
designed to allow him to
forgive sins. Understand. Well,
I'm Peter. I've got the key. So
if you want to be forgiven, confess
your sins to me. That's not what
it was about, for only God can
forgive sins, right?
The high priest didn't forgive the sins.
God forgave the sins, you follow me.
But Peter was inspired by the
Holy Spirit to proclaim the terms
whereby men could enter the Kingdom.
Using his newly acquired key and
anointed with the Holy Spirit in
Acts chapter 2, Peter held opened
the door for 3000 people. Who
heard his message on the day
of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2?
How many people were saved in
Acts chapter two? 3003 thousand people
were added to the church that
day. What a key, what a
door. In the same sermon, Peter
assured that. Every person has
rightful admission to salvation. Can
you turn to Acts chapter
2? Acts chapter 2? You
got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
Acts chapter 2 verse 38
through 39.
We're almost done. Hold on the last
few minutes here and if you got
questions, we need to hear about them.
Team, we haven't heard any questions,
right? Heavily. Does anyone ask
questions? All right, 28 yeah. Verse 28,
Verse 38 through 39. Who's reading for
us? Peter replied. Repent and be
baptized everyone of you, in the name
of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins, and you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Verse 39.
You got verse 39, We got 39. You
got it. No, it's only showing one verse.
No problem. Got it. No, I got it.
For the promises unto you and to your
children, and to all that are far off,
even as many as the Lord our God
shall call. There's several things
present here. Repentance is present here.
You see repentance, You see baptism in
the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission and forgiveness of your sins.
See that present? Do you see the Spirit,
the Holy Spirit's present? See that?
Here's what also is present, That it
doesn't matter what race you are, what
creed you are, what national. Origin
you're the key fits your door
because he says for the promises
unto you to your children, to
all that are far off, even
as many as the Lord our
God shall call. Guess what God
calls people that aren't born of
Jewish descent. God calls people
regardless of their race, regardless of
their national heritage. How thankful we
are that the promise still applies to
all that are afar off, even as
many as the Lord our God shall
call. Christ is the
head of the church, not Peter. Christ
is the head of the Church, not
a high priest. Christ is the head
of the Church, not a pastor. That
is something you need to understand.
Christ is the one that forgives our
sins and Christ. Is the one that
baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and
the fire. The next lesson will reveal
the beautiful new covenant Christ made
with his chosen 12 on the eve
before his death and the glorious
resurrection story. You want to join us
for #7 lesson of our study. Group,
it'll be 7 of 12. This concludes
lesson 6, Part 2 of 2 if
there are no questions in the room
or no questions on Facebook.
We will conclude with prayer. Any
questions?All right, Father, we
thank you. We are so glad for
this New Testament. We are so glad
for the life of Jesus. We're so
glad that he does miracles. We're so
glad that his teaching is anointed and
unlike anything else. We're so glad that
he reveals that God. He's the God
of love. We're so thankful for an altar
of repentance. We're so thankful that all
our sins are washed away. We're so
thankful that we're buried with him in
baptism. And we're so thankful that God,
Jesus Christ, is the one that baptizes us
with the Holy Spirit. Lord, I want you
to touch our hearts. Everyone in this
room and everyone watching this right
now, that you would be with them, that
you would bless their life, Lord,
whatever they're going through in life,
God, Lord, that you would fight their
battles. Lord, if they're fighting the
enemy, which is Satan, Lord, I pray,
Lord, that they get a hold of the word of
God and they declare it is written,
devil, you get out of here. Lord, we
pray. All of this in the name that
is above every name. Can you say that
name with me in Jesus name? Amen. God
bless you. We'll see you next Monday at
7:00 PM. Put the word of God in
your heart. God bless you. Bye.