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Summary

Now what's really interesting is that in order to be a Jew you can be a practicing Jewish person or you can be culturally Jew you don't have to be both anyone whose mother is Jewish is automatically in the tribe is is part of the Jewish people that being said and I cannot remember exactly when that switch occurred but during Jesus' day he was he found his lineage through Joseph because Joseph is descended so it used to be found through the father's line but now and for a long time now I can't remember I've looked this up before but now it is through the mother's line that that heritage is found and there are a lot of Jews today who are culturally Jewish but but not practicing their faith we have some key teachings that we are familiar with that they they turn to which the Torah is one Torah well write down some words Torah and this specifically we think think of it as law but really the the translation of Torah is arrow that hits the mark arrow that hits the mark and see it's a picture language it's a picture language so so the Torah itself is the Pentateuch it's the first five books in the Bible Genesis hot diggity dog that's awesome yes it's the first five books in the Bible and those all point to how one can hit the mark right the Jewish people if they follow what is in the first five books of the Bible they can hit the mark exactly the tonk is it is the whole of the old testament and that is and I will say the the Hebrew words are really fun to say so you're welcome to say any of them out loud I'm not gonna blame you but that takes both the Torah the Pentateuch and it takes the oral tradition because everything was handed down through oral tradition it takes that and it's compiled into the tonk and that is all all together so that is what we know as the old testament it is the writings it is the prophets it it goes off of the Torah and then within that we have 613 myths both yeah yeah 613 and this is these are the laws these are the commandments so 613 commandments within the tonk and tradition the oral tradition and tradition itself is very very important in the Jewish culture and religion it's all in there the Talmud is a combination so there are a lot of writings but remember that within Judaism there's a lot of a lot of discussion the debates that they have that we read about when Jesus is sitting there with religious leaders and they're debating that's called pillpool and so that is something that they engage in all the time so they take the pillpool they take the the teachings and they compile them and so the Talmud has it has a rabbinical commentary it has the oral tradition it has the written word together and it's all compiled and then it's it's read every week in synagogue so that's a very very very very basic overview of some of their writings some of their key teachings and this is this is where we start to find that with a lot of their key teachings and a lot of of their kind of values as a as a people we have a lot in common which can be a wonderful bridging point but it also has been historically a place of real contention and we're going to find how that is so one of their or their first key teaching is that they they believe in monotheism they believe that there is one god there is only one god and so so in the Jewish faith we as Christians who confess a triune god one god but three and one we are seen to be monothe or polytheistic we're seen as worshiping three gods where we know that that and it's I mean we are not going to get into the Trinity right now but not doing that but we know that we have one god um three persons in one god and um but they they have one god one god alone Yahweh which they do not say the name they have several different names but that is too holy to even speak um and we see that we see Yahweh like that um and that that is the name there is um the name that they use in place of this um is adonai which means gods which is very interesting because we have the triune god three and one and when they pray and use the name of god they say adonai which is plural um so it's kind of interesting but um what was I saying thank you okay so you will see um you'll see in the Bible when they when they in the Jewish Bible when it's this when it's Yahweh you will see capital L-O-R-D with O-R-D in lower case but when they would come across that they would not say it that's it adonai or Elohim um not not not the name no like an English uh speaking Jewish person may say Lord but not when reading scripture they're coming into contact with the the holy name and so they do not say that um and that is taking the do not use your Lord's name in vain that is taking that to a very severe degree they don't want to even risk saying it wrong so they don't say it at all yeah yep yep absolutely I was just gonna just gonna get there very cool um so they have a they do not want to cross the line at all um so they they stick with this now we will hear the word um Jehovah right and that is a mixing it's actually an accident that is a mixing of adonai with Yahweh or Elohim with Yahweh so it's mixing the holy and mixing um with the the word that they are allowed to speak the name that they are allowed to speak so Jehovah is actually a um uh an error in pronunciation so um but as a Christian people we we know when someone uses the word Jehovah we know what it means and um don't don't rebuke anyone um if they use Jehovah because we know that we know um the Messiah so the Jewish people did believe in a Messiah and they believed that the Messiah would bring about a certain rule and reign and power for the Jewish people there would be no more oppression for the Jewish people and through the years um that has kind of gone by the wayside they kind of say well there could be a Messiah there couldn't be it's not like they are waiting with anticipated breath for a Messiah because history has taught them kind of a dashed hope dashed dream they had other Messiah's prior to Jesus who um who died who were killed so then Jesus comes along and they put all their hopes into or you know a lot of the people put all their hopes into Jesus and then what happens they watch him die and so then when he is resurrected they deny or they reject his resurrection because he still died and Rome is still oppressing them so the Messiah has a lot of political um leaning in power and need and deliverance built into it in the Jewish uh into the Jewish people so there have been many Messiah's in history according to the Jewish understanding but um but through history with their hopes being dashed with them still being persecuted or oppressed um they kind of like modern day Judaism um thinks it's a cute cute story um yeah when they when you're here fighting the Messiah but didn't part of them looking for the Messiah as a blocker coming back you know the coming back in the summary you're using the Messiah is some like a flat against Rome back yeah they wanted a Messiah to fight against Rome and some of them but there's only you who released the Messiah as a spiritual the Messiah with Judaism the Messiah um had a spiritual component but it had a political component that um and that's where the political aspect um it didn't follow through they still were oppressed the whole call for the Jewish people as a tribe was to be separate to be a people unto themselves and that is why you don't have you know Jewish missionaries going out and and trying to convert people into Judaism because if you are if you are Jew a Jew then you would be so um by birth or if you married into it but they do not like like as a whole and this is this is a lot of generalizations so if you have Jewish neighbors or friends um and and you're sitting there going that's not my experience absolutely this is on a whole um generalizations um and and every you know every individual is going to be different um but they are to be a separate people and um yeah we'll go ahead and jump there right now so this is where the um the Holocaust and when speaking with our Jewish neighbors the Holocaust is so important to keep in mind because in the 1900s the Jews let down their guard and they got familiar with their neighbors with their people with their community and they did not expect the cruelty and the the just utter evil to happen to them because they were neighbors they had mingle they had intermingled and um and so the Holocaust is very very important to keep in mind and I think it's an important this is kind of an aside but I think it's important for us to keep in mind anyway because that is a a just evil outright evil in front of our faces our kids need to understand that evil exists in this world and um I just think that's a total aside but we need to understand that evil exists in the world and and how um we how we live um in opposition to that one of the things with the Holocaust that caused a lot of um of breaking between the Jewish people and their Christian neighbors is that Martin Luther's writings were used in defense of the Holocaust um now I think that it's important for us to know this and uh I I like how this author puts it um so so Luther was not inherently anti-Semitic um early in his career he has writings that are very loving um for the Jewish people calling Christians to be kind and loving to their Jewish neighbors so there was no question that he had entered into um into ministry loving his Jewish neighbors and and and supporting that um and then Luther had a writing that was against the lies of um oh it's on the Jews and their lies it was written in night in 1543 and and he argued that Jewish synagogues schools and prayer books should be burned that rabbis should be for forbidden to preach and homes property and money should be confiscated and the 1930s Germans um used that and so in the Holocaust museums you will very possibly find writings of this writing of Martin Luther as an excuse and that has damaged greatly the trust and the relationship between Christians and their Jewish neighbors now in a sermon three days before Luther died in um he again let me find this here he returned back to um back to the position that he had in 1523 so he again spoke of loving the Jewish neighbor um so it really stinks it's very unfortunate that his writing is preserved that was used in a very very bad way yes there was um uh did it did it did it did it did it hold on a second here let me find it yes I've read I've read all of this there's a lot of information in here so um okay so it was a religious dispute um so he had written he had written a treatise in 1523 that was entitled Jesus Christ was born a Jew and he wrote of the Jews as an honorable people who are the lineage of Christ advising a gentle approach for them and speaking against the very things he wrote in 1543 but um but in 1543 um as he had been having some success at witnessing to Jewish people in and around Vittenburg um he came under attack by local Jewish anti-missionaries who called Luther a false teacher and that Christ was a false Messiah and that Christianity was a false religion and so those are the lies that he was responding to um and Luther um for all the good and the the wonderful um direction that he put us as a Christian people on the path with scripture being scripture being scripture right the word alone faith alone grace alone um he was human and he sinned and um and he did did come back and um and again to return to the 1523 treatise um in in being kind and gentle with our Jewish neighbors um he was definitely one of those that was loud, brash and spoke possibly um just out of emotion we don't know fully what his intention was and i bring that up because when we speak with our Jewish neighbor this easily could be brought up that's been brought up to me when i was when i was in Lutheran seminary one of my family members who i did not grow up Lutheran one of my family members said Luther's the reason for the Holocaust how do you feel about that? I think of Christmas I mentioned that in my sermon today we took a look at a portion of the great great hymn joy to the world so it's not surprising that perhaps Christmas was on my mind as I came to prepare this class there are there are so many great hymns aren't there and remember great hymns are those hymns that preach one of the great hymns associated with Christmas is the hymn what child is this just a beautiful rich hymn lifting up the imagery of Mary and the infant Jesus it's so beautiful there's a tranquility and a peacefulness about it but one of the stanzas that you sing some of the words are nails spear shall pierce him through the cross be born for me for you hail hail the word made flesh the babe the son of Mary it can be almost a shock when one comes to those words you surrounding the services of Christmas Eve it's such a beauty and the and the scene of the birth of the long anticipated Messiah of the world seen Mary and Joseph and the baby and there's this beautiful beautiful tranquility that surrounds that service service ending with silent night and the candles reminding us that Jesus Christ is the light of the world and so when you have a hymn associated with Christmas and oftentimes sung on Christmas Eve that talks about nails and spear piercing him through the cross be born for me and you it is almost a shock isn't it but that hymn is so helpful for us because it reminds us of why Jesus Christ came why there was the incarnation why there was the inflection of the second member of the Trinity Jesus came he was born to go to the cross he was born to bear our sin upon the wood of the cross that tree towers above all other trees in Holy Scripture is one was through the seasons of the church here I think also not only of Christmas I think also of a particular week holy week and one of the services of holy week is good Friday such a contrast isn't it the service on Christmas Eve the gradual extinguishing of lights the removal of the linens and the paramins the draping in terms of the black cloth that goes upon the pulpit and upon the altar we leave in silence we leave in darkness having been reminded in a special way of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ that service called good Friday which begs the question what what's good about it it is just as an incredible event that happens it is so unfair to the Lord Jesus Jesus never sinned and yet there he is receiving the death penalty on a cross between two guilty criminals looked at it from the human point of view one would have to say what is good about that how one how unjust is that that's why Friday has to be understood from the vantage point and the perspective of God because when we see it from God's perspective that's why we call that day good turn over please to the book of Hebrews the 12th chapter good way to find Hebrews is just a turn to the last book revelation start working your way slowly back towards Matthew you're going to cross over the Johns Peter James and then you come to the book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter 12 please verse 2 looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfector of our faith who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross disregarding its shame and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God the joy that was set before our Lord was the joy of winning salvation for us remember when the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross he took our sin upon him he took the wrath of God that should fall upon us he took it upon himself he paid the penalty he cried out to tell the story paid in full the sin death paid and the joy that was set before him was the end result then of the cross forgiveness reconciliation redemption turn please to Isaiah the 53rd chapter good good way to find Isaiah is open up to the middle of the Bible you'll find Psalms and then start moving right Psalms Proverbs ecclesiasties song of Solomon and then Isaiah Isaiah chapter 53 verse 10 Isaiah 53 verse 10 yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain I like how the N.A.S.V the new American standard version translates that it says but the Lord was pleased to crush him and so this verse here that looks ahead to the Messiah on the cross the Lord was pleased to crush him because it's pleasure that which is born of what would come about because of the cross this incredible incredible act of God born of grace turn it with me now please to Matthew chapter 26 because I'd like to explore this with you this the greatest tree the cross of the Lord Jesus let's go to Matthew chapter 26 the first book in the New Testament Matthew chapter 26 and picking up in verse 36 then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples sit here while I go over there and pray he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebede and began to be grieved and agitated then he said to them I am deeply grieved even to death remain here and stay awake with me and going a little farther he threw himself on the ground and prayed my father if it's possible let this cup pass from me yet not what I want but what you want then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and he said to Peter so you could not stay awake with me one hour stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak again he went away for the second time and prayed my father if this cannot pass unless I drink it your will be done again he came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy so leaving them again he went away and prayed for the third time saying the same words then he came to the disciples and said to them are you still sleeping and taking your rest see the hour is at hand and the son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners get up let us be going see my betrayer is at hand the very beginning of that reading is the reference to the place called Gethsemane to the garden Gasemani Gasemani had trees they were all of trees so here in a garden surrounded by trees there we find the Lord Jesus with that image in mind think back to what we studied in Genesis with the two trees in the garden for there in the garden our first parents Adam and Eve there they were surrounded by trees and it was there that all suffering began let's turn back there please to Genesis chapter 2 Genesis chapter 2 verse 16 Genesis 2 verse 16 and the Lord God commanded the man you may freely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall die then now please to Genesis 3 picking up in verse 16 to the woman he said I will greatly increase your pangs and childbearing in pain that you shall bring forth children yet your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you just a little to side on that this of course is after the fall the desire here your desire shall be for your husband that word there in the Hebrew it means a hungering intent upon in other words because of sinfulness the the woman will want to dominate the man but notice the the same sin here that dominates the man it says yet your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you so born out of sinfulness what can so often manifest is a husband and a wife trying to trying to dominate the other that's all the result of the fall that is it that's the opposite of submitting to one another as servants back then again please to Genesis 3 verse 17 to the man he said because you've listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you you shall not eat of it curse it is the ground because of you in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground for out of it you were taken your dust and to dust you shall return jumping out of verse 22 then the Lord God said see man has become like one of us knowing good and evil and now he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken he drove out the man and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life in the garden surrounded by trees there is Adam and Eve and there is the beginning of suffering born out of the fall into sin the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ came to undo what the first Adam did let's go to Romans chapter 5 Matthew Mark Luke John Acts and then Romans Romans chapter 5 verse 14 yet death exercised dominion from Adam to Moses even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam who is a type of the one who was to come so you've got the first Adam and you've got the second Adam the second Adam is the Lord Jesus the first Adam is considered a a type in other words he said a pattern that in some way would be followed by Christ let's examine that let's go to Luke the third chapter Matthew Mark and then Luke Luke chapter 3 verse 38 Luke 3 verse 38 here you have a long genealogy with regard to Jesus notice the last phrase son of enus son of Seth son of Adam son of God so you've got God and then by God's creative touch there is Adam now let's go to Luke the third chapter verse 22 and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove and a voice came from heaven you are my son the beloved with you I am well pleased so there's the reference to Adam son of God notice the small letter S there of course and then you have reference to the son of God my beloved the father says Adam was created as a son of God God is or Jesus is God's beloved son he's a type Adam was tempted by Satan back into Genesis the third chapter again Genesis chapter 3 verse 6 so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was a light to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate Adam was tempted by Satan a type pointing ahead to the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ is tempted by Satan let's go to Luke chapter 4 Matthew Mark and then Luke verse 1 Jesus followed the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan was led by the Spirit in the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil and remember with every temptation what Jesus did he kept saying it is written it is written it is written oh that is such a powerful word for us when we face temptation to say it is written in other words what is God's will for us Adam created as a son of God Christ is God's beloved son Adam was tempted by Satan the Lord Jesus was tempted by Satan Adam's response to the temptation was sin which led to death Jesus's response to the temptation obedience which leads to life through the cross let's go to Romans the fifth chapter Matthew Mark Luke John Acts and then Romans Romans chapter 5 verse 15 but the free gift is not like the trespass for if the many died through one man's trespass there's the first Adam much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man Jesus Christ abounded for the many and the free gift is not like the effect of one man's sin for the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification if because of the one man's trespass death exercised a minion through that one much more surely were those who received the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness exercised a minion in life through the one man Jesus Christ here's the point the second Adam began his greatest suffering in the garden surrounded by trees and in the garden of Gethsemane surrounded with trees there we find the Lord Jesus Christ who has come to deal with the sin and death and misery that is a result of the sin of humankind it's really Genesis 3 all over again isn't it but now the outcome has a joyous joyous ending turn please to Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 verse 7 he was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that before its shears is silent so he did not open his mouth oh the love of God for us in the Lord Jesus Christ Romans the 8th chapter verse 32 Matthew Mark Luke John Acts and then Romans he who did not withhold his own son but gave him up for all of us will he not with him also give us everything else it is the picture and the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ carrying on his back the very wood that his blood would soon stand to John 19 now please Matthew Mark Luke and then John John the 19th chapter picking up with verse 6 and halfway through that verse John 19 picking up in verse 6 all right let's just start right at the beginning when the chief priests and the police saw him they shouted crucify him crucify him Pilate said to them take him yourselves and crucify him I find no case against him and now to verse 16 then he handed him over to them to be crucified so they took Jesus and carrying the cross by himself he went out to what is called the place of the skull which in Hebrew is called golgotha there they crucified him and with him two others one on either side with Jesus between them Pilate also had an inscription written then put on the cross it read Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews golgotha golgotha typically is identified today because of this rocky outcropping near Jerusalem that resembles a skull interestingly tradition says that golgotha was so named because it was the place of Adam's skull or his grave now let me underscore that is not scripture that is tradition in the church so we can't say with any scriptural authority that that is the case but that is the tradition in the church therefore according then to this tradition the second Adam the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified over the grave of the first Adam Luther talked about it this way quote thus the center of paradise was where Jerusalem Bethlehem and Jericho were located later on the places where Christ and John spent the greater part of their life it is possible Luther says that later on Calvary where Christ offered himself for the sins of the world was located where the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had been while paradise was still standing thus so far as the place is concerned death and destruction through Satan would be matched by life and salvation one through Christ and when Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world on the cross paradise was regained go to John the third chapter please John chapter 3 verse 14 Matthew Mark Luke and then John John 3 will pick up in verse 14 and just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up that whoever believes in him may have eternal life remember we had studied about that wooden pole upon which that bronze serpent was placed Luther referred to the Lord Jesus Christ as the serpent of salvation what he was drawing on was was this verse that on good Friday a new serpent was lifted up Luther said it was the serpent of salvation the Lord Jesus Christ and we look unto him for salvation well of course the story does not end with Jesus dead on the cross does it look turn with me please to Luke the 24th chapter Matthew Mark and then Luke Luke chapter 24 picking up in verse 1 but on the first day of the week at early dawn they came to the tomb taking the spices that they had prepared they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and when they went in they did not find the body while they were perplexed about this suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground but the men said to them why do you look for the living among the dead he is not here but has risen remember how he told well he was still in ghettily that the son of man must be handed over to sinners and be crucified and on the third day rise again then they remembered his words and returning from the tomb they told all this to the 11 and to all the rest the resurrection is the validation that the sacrifice for sin had been accepted look with me please at 1 Corinthians the 15th chapter Matthew Mark Luke John, Acts and Romans 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians chapter 15 beginning with verse 12 now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead there is no resurrection of the dead than Christ has not been raised and if Christ has not been raised then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain we are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified of God that he raised Christ when he did not raise if it's true that the dead are not raised for if the dead are not raised then Christ has not been raised if Christ has not been raised your faith is futile and you're still in your sins and those also who have died in Christ have perished if for this life only we've hoped in Christ we are of all people most to be pitied but in fact Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have died for since death came through a human being the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being for as all die in Adam so all will be made alive in Christ the gospel what a glorious glorious word from the trees of Eden's garden to the burning bush on Sinai to a wood pole lifted up that had a bronze serpent upon it to which the people were called to look from the tram family tree of the Lord Jesus all the way to the cross our heavenly Father uses trees and wood to bless his people and the tree of trees the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray these weeks of study have been a blessing to you the Lord be with you Good morning and welcome back to our study on Prophecy. We talked about how family idolatry and really all idols can come from two different directions we pulled the old testament text that talked about the gods of our ancestors we applied that to how sometimes in family systems parenting from grandparents or parents can be brought into the system poor parenting and that becomes then part of how that system how that family operates or the gods of the Amorites how sometimes that which comes from our culture can influence how a family operates and so family idolatry can result from two different directions it can result from within it can result from without we took a look of course at the gracious word that is the forgiving word of God for us through Jesus Christ if we are convicted of the idol becoming or the family becoming an idol we hear of God's gracious word to us through the cross that is a word to cling to that is the word that gives us to light that is that gracious word that embraces us today I'd like to take a look at the idol of religion the idol of religion it's important as we come to this topic for us to define some terms so let me define what we're talking about when we talk about religion religion is the belief of the world religion is the is the human heart in its natural state religion is the belief that human beings can make themselves right before God religion is human beings going to God to affect this righteousness it's about what we do it's about either being good or bad those are components of religion how different that is from the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ the good news that Jesus Christ has born our sin on the cross that the tomb is empty that the world has been reconciled that we are a forgiven people claimed in the waters of baptism given a wonderful today and a glorious tomorrow life abundant life eternal it's the good news of the gospel how different that is how different it is from religion is what are the components of the gospel the components of the gospel is we can't make ourselves right before God we can't do that that God descended to humanity see the direction change it's not us trying to affect our own righteousness before God know it is God descending to us it is God who makes human beings right it's about not what we do it's about what Jesus did it's the fact that we are born bad Jesus is good and because of Jesus we have a glorious glorious future so here the distinction is then between religion and Christianity between religion and the gospel important point to remember is this Christianity should not be classified as a religion let me say that again Christianity should not be classified as a religion in fact when Christianity first arose it was never recognized as a religion it was understood as a non religion so with those terms then as the backdrop let's explore how religion can become an idol and remember the distinction between religion and Christianity to explore this let's go to Luke the 15th chapter please Matthew Mark then Luke Luke the 15th chapter and this is a parable of our Lord remember parables were earthly stories with heavenly meanings and this is a just an incredibly rich parable perhaps you are familiar with it it's a little bit on the longer side but I think it's important for us to take a fresh look at this parable and so we're going to pick up in verse 11 and I'd like to read through verse 32 so picking up in verse 11 of chapter 15 of the gospel of Luke then Jesus said there was a man who had two sons the younger of them said to his father father give me the share of the property that belongs to me so he divided his property between them a few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country and there he squandered his property in disillute living when he had spent everything a severe famine took place throughout that country and he began to be in need so he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs he would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating and no one gave him anything but when he came to himself he said how many of my father's hired hands have bred enough and to spare but here I am dying of hunger I will get up and go to my father and I will say to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I am no longer worthy to be called your son treat me like one of your hired hands so he set off and went to his father but while he was still far off his father saw him and was filled with compassion he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him then the son said to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his slaves quickly bring out a robe the best one and put it on him put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet and get the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and his alive again he's lost and he's found and they began to celebrate it now his elder son was in the field and when he came and approached the house he heard music and dancing he called one of the slaves and asked what was going on he replied your brother has come out has come and your father has killed the fatted calf because he has got him back safe and sound then he became angry and refused to go in his father came out and began to plead with him but he answered his father listen for all these years I have been working like a slave for you and I've never disobeyed your command yet you've never given me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends but when this son of yours came back who has devoured your property with prostitutes you killed the fatted calf for him then the father said to him son you're always with me and all that is mine is yours but we had to celebrate and rejoice because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life he was lost and has been found this parable is historically understood as the parable of the prodigal son but notice back in verse 11 it says then Jesus said there was a man who had two sons I think really a better title for this parable would really be the parable of the two sons or perhaps the love of the father people will oftentimes define sin as immoral living they'll they'll define it in that category we're inclined to see the younger son here then as the only one who's guilty of sin but the older brother who was really highly moral was really far from a loving relationship with his father jump back into verse 1 of chapter 15 now all the text collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him and the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying this fellow welcomes sinners and eat with them so that's the occasion of this parable the Pharisees were just disgusted at Jesus welcoming sinners Pharisees were the most moral group around but their hearts were still far far from God Jesus was not seeking to make the Pharisees more moral now Jesus was seeking repentance by the Pharisees the older brother was just as far from the father as the younger brother the older brother was just as far from the father as the younger brother neither neither brother displayed that he actually loved the father or really cared about the father's happiness now they were both just using him to get the inheritance right the younger basically approaching it by saying I wish you were dead and the older was seeking to get the inheritance through being the upright upright son the one who did everything right but you see he's just trying to get the inheritance by his good behavior what's interesting is that at the end of the story the younger brother is at the feast and the older brother is outside with the Pharisees have understood that point would they have gotten what Jesus was trying to communicate you bet you bet they would the older brother the older brother had not come to the reality that the inheritance was by grace by grace look again with me please at verse 18 I'll get up and go to my father and I'll say to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son treat me like one of your hired hands this was a three-tiered plan then right from the younger a three-tiered plan he's going to go and say I've sinned against you I'm not worthy to be your son and now he's going to work his way back into his father's good graces work his way back into his father's life but what does his father do father cuts him off at the first two go on in to verse 21 then the son said to him father I've sinned against heaven and before you I'm no longer worthy to be called your son but the father said to his slaves quickly bring out a robe the best one and put it on him put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet get the fat of calf and kill it let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead and alive he's lost in his fawn and they began to celebrate the father refused to let the son attempt to work his way back in the read admittance into the family was absolutely entirely by grace ponder with me for a moment Jesus is the true older brother he's the true older brother Jesus finds us he gives us read admittance into the father's family through the cross Jesus is the brother who paid our way and who gives us access to the banquet of the father grace grace not one one does but grace grace let's go to Galatians the fourth chapter Matthew Mark Luke John Acts and Romans first and second Corinthians and then Galatians and we'll pick up in chapter four Galatians chapter four the Apostle Paul writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes this my point is this airs as long as they are miners are no better than slaves though they are the owners of all the property but they remain under guardians and trustees until the date set by the father so thus while we were miners we were enslaved to the elemental spirits of the world but when the fullness of time had come gods sent his son born of a woman born under the law in order to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as as children and because you are children god has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying abba father so you are no longer a slave but a child and if a child then also an air through god formally when you did not know god you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods now however that you have come to know god or rather to be known by god how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits how can you want to be enslaved to them again you were observing special days and months and seasons and years I'm afraid that my work for you may have been wasted note the words here in this section the words here that highlight that our right relationship with god is entirely by grace and not by works remember the distinction again between religion and Christianity between religion and the gospel religion is all about works Christianity is about god's action to redeem us gods grace look again at verse one notice these words here that give us this gracious gracious message my point is this airs as long as our minor are no better than slaves you see an air means that something is unearned you are given you don't earn it go on to verse five in order to redeem redeem means to to buy back it indicates that we can't save ourselves god has to act to save us going on again into verse five the last part so that we might receive adoption as children adoption is not something for which a child deserves credit air redeemed adopted wonderful wonderful words verse nine now whoever that you've come to know god are rather to be known by god how can you return back again to the weakened beggarly elemental spirits how can you want to be enslaved to them again you're observing special days and months and seasons and years the Galatians had become enslaved by old religious customs they had forgotten that they were saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that is not their own doing it is the gift of god they were assuming you see that it was Jesus plus something else it was Jesus plus adhering to religious rights it was Jesus plus works you hear it that's a slide that's a slide right into religion the idol of religion instead of Christianity so let me ask you a few questions today this can be questions that can test for the idol of religion in our lives here's the first do you ever feel uncertain about the status of your relationship with god how about this one are you often anxious worried and struggling with feelings of personal condemnation this one do you frequently condemn others especially on the basis of issues that are neither commended or condemned in scripture or forth do you feel like your life only has value when you're faithfully adhering to your religions moral codes and accomplishing its recommended activities see those are questions that can get at this whole issue for us about whether we are perhaps even in a subtle way sliding into the idolatry of religion what's the good news for us the good news is that through Jesus Christ we are forgiven that we're forgiven when we try and make Christianity into an idol of religion Christianity you see grace religion just a bunch of works but we can be tempted to slide and even in the subtlest of ways making Christianity into an idol of religion well as we've studied in these five weeks idolatry certainly continues to be an issue today that idolatry just wasn't that which occurred in ancient day no idolatry can take various forms we've talked in these weeks about how success can become an idol how technology can become an idol how the family can become an idol and how religion can become an idol but thanks be to God for the forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ because Jesus is so much more lovely he's so so much more beautiful than all the idols well I pray that this class has been a blessing to you next Sunday I'm going to start a new class it's going to take a look at biblical prophecy we're going to take a look at the wealth of prophecy in holy scripture and how do you understand it we're going to take a look at several different topics we're going to take a look at principles of prophecy we're going to take a look at prophecies that were fulfilled before Christ prophecies that were fulfilled by Christ prophecies that are being filled today and prophecies that will be fulfilled at Christ's return so we'll move into biblical prophecy next Sunday God bless you may you be used by him to boldly proclaim the gracious proclamation of Jesus Christ crucified and risen Good morning. He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate he ascended into heaven is seated at the right hand of the Father same thing he will come again with glory to judge the living and the dead his kingdom will have no end then moving over to the Athenation creed we read that the Father is one person the Son is another the Spirit is another but the deity of the Father Son and Holy Spirit is one equal in glory co-eternal and in majesty what the Father is the Son is and so is the Holy Spirit uncreated is the Son the Son is infinite eternal is the Son Almighty is the Son the Son is God the Son is Lord the Son was neither made nor created but was alone begotten of the Father he has taken humanity into himself he does not transform deity into humanity it's very important again that's holding those two full natures with one another as complete and whole truth those are from the creeds but those words that we hear from from that the the only Son we hear that in scripture and that's exactly where we're going to turn now let's go to John the the gospel of John that's the fourth gospel and we're just going right to that first chapter this first chapter when you really sit there and think and read through it and ponder and meditate on what it means and what is really being written and said here it can become overwhelming just the the heavy truth of it it's absolutely gorgeous so John the first chapter we're going to look first at verses one through three in the beginning was the word so in the beginning we have that in another place in scripture Genesis in the beginning in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God he was in the beginning with God all things came into being through him and without him not one thing came into being so here we have it set up that there's this word the word was not only with God but the word was God that is absolutely trinitarian in in its nature and it's in its patterns words that this word which in the Greek is logos or logos this is held up as as that that which is with God in the beginning and not only with God but was God this is where we get that from the Athenation Creed the Sun is infinite eternal is the Sun right we have this uncreated that he is with God continuing on with verses 14 through 18 the word became flesh and lived among us and we have seen his glory the glory as of a father's only son full of grace and truth John testified to him and cried out this was he of whom I said he who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me from his fullness we have all received grace upon grace the law indeed was given through Moses grace and truth came through Jesus Christ no one has ever seen God it is God the only son who is close to the father's heart who has made him known so we know God and God is revealed through the person of Jesus Christ Jesus himself tells us this which we will get to let's look at the birth of Christ we had this reading earlier today in service or we'll have it in a little bit in service Matthew 1 so go over you're going to flip backwards to the first gospel which is Matthew and this is about the birth of Jesus the Messiah bless you so skipping down into into verse the last verse in or last sentence in verse 18 she was found this Mary was found to be with child from the holy spirit then jumped down to verse 20 when Joseph had resolved to to dismiss Mary quietly an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said Joseph son of David do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife for the child conceived in her is from the holy spirit you are to name him Jesus for he will save his people from their sins and this is what fulfills the prophet the words of the prophet look the virgin shall conceive in baris son and they shall name him in manual which means God is with us so again we have that set up right from the beginning in this birth telling or retelling of Christ that he is conceived of the holy spirit that he will be named Jesus that he will be called Emmanuel which means God is with us let's go over to the gospel of Luke the first chapter that's the third so you're going to go through Matthew past mark and find yourself in Luke the first chapter and starting in verse 30 this is where the angel has come to Mary to tell her well we'll read it the angel said to her do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God and now you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus he will be great and will be called the son of the most high and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom there will be no end Mary said to the angel how can this be since I am a virgin the angel said to her the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you therefore the child to be born will be holy he will be called son of God again that birth story or the coming birth story the angel stating this is this is the son of God he will be called holy name him Jesus so we're getting before he's even born we're getting this set up by the angel through the holy spirit that that Christ will be conceived by the holy spirit and that he will be indeed the son of God here God with us in the solid declaration in the formula of concord so that's part of the book book of concord the confessions the Lutheran confessions it says it reads that he demonstrated his divine majesty in his mother's womb in that he was born of a virgin without violating her virginity I thought that was very poignant that even before birth Christ was proving himself to be God in that he was conceived within a virgin by the power of the holy spirit but she in her virginity was not violated right I think that's that's a really poignant poignant remark there so that was one demonstration of his divine nature he had humbled himself and he was found to be in human form but Jesus did reveal his divine nature in his earthly ministry let's go back oh you know what let's stick in Luke because we're here already and we're just going to go down to Luke 2 verses 41 or picking up in 41 and we're going to we're going to kind of skip ahead this is where Jesus was lost and I say that with air quotes they thought he was lost in Jerusalem so Mary and Joseph turned back to find him they found him on verse 46 after three days they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers when his parents saw him they were astonished and his mother said to him child why have you treated us like this look your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety he said to them why were you searching for me did you not know that I must be in my father's house but they did not understand what he said to them then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them his mother treasured all these things in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor so he knew he was in his father's house can you imagine a 12 year old speaking with such authority and such wisdom amongst these learned rabbis that there was even in his young age it he was already revealing his divinity just by his wisdom so now let's go over to John the second chapter where we have Jesus first miracle at the wedding at Cana John chapter 2 on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding when the wine gave out the mother of Jesus said to him they have no wine and Jesus said to her woman what concern is that to you and me my hour has not yet come his mother said to his servants do whatever he tells you now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rights of purification each holding 20 or 30 gallons Jesus said to them fill the jars with water and they filled them up to the brim he said to them now draw some out and take it to the chief steward so they took it when the steward tasted the water that had become wine and did not and did not know where it came from though the servants who had drawn the water new the steward called the bridegroom and said to him everyone serves the good wine first and then the inferior wine after their guests have become drunk but you have kept the good wine until now Jesus did this the first of his signs in Cana of Galilee and revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him so this is his first miracle that he performed he is revealing his glorified nature he's revealing his divine nature through that miracle if we go over to John 11 we see another incredible miracle in the raising of Lazarus we're going to start with verse 25 because I think this is a really important I don't think I just think but this is period a really important statement that Jesus makes about himself in verse 25 Jesus says to Lazarus's sister I am the resurrection and the life those who believe in me even though they die will live and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die he is declaring himself to be the resurrection let's go down to verses 38 through 44 Jesus again greatly disturbed came to the tomb it was a cave and a stone was lying against it Jesus said take away the stone Martha the sister of the dead man said to him Lord already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days Jesus said to her did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God so they took away the stone and Jesus looked upward and said Father I thank you for having heard me I knew that you always hear me but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here so that they may believe and that that you sent me when he said this he cried out with a loud voice Lazarus come out the dead man came out his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth Jesus said to them unbind him and let him go this only God could do the man had been dead and I know that that Paul does call someone back to life but this it's done in the name of Jesus right and here we have Jesus praying he's saying this is done to show his glory to show the Father's glory rather and it's it's very important to realize and this is something that I like to draw attention to when we're called into faith it is just as Christ called Lazarus right he said come out Lazarus didn't him and ha he didn't sit in the cave saying I don't know is this the choice I want to make right he just came he was called and he came and that is that is how we are called into faith we are dead in our sin we are dead in our trespasses we may as well be Lazarus physically dead we're dead and then Christ calls us into faith and we respond not because we make a choice but Christ has made that choice for us and has called us into faith by name we're about out of time I've got some more okay hold on okay I know I've got so in John 14 it tells us that Jesus is the revelation of the Father Philip Jesus is talking to Philip and Philip is saying where are you going and where are you going and and he says that Philip could believe because of all the works that Jesus had performed through his divine nature he was able to perform all of these works and that Philip could believe through those works by witnessing those works if not by the words alone but again those works always point to the word they always point to the truth that Christ is God in Philippians 2 6 through 11 it says though he was in the form of God he did not require a regard equality with God as something to be exploited but emptied himself taking the form of a slave being born in human likeness he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death even death on a cross therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name so at that name of Jesus every knee should bend in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father in collagens to verse 9 it says in him in Jesus the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily second Peter has more we're going to go into this more next next class period where we'll also look at the transfiguration where Jesus glory is shown and revealed before three of his disciples so if you have questions ha ha that's the there you go no time for questions today ha ha ha ha if you have questions email me and we will pick up here on the first of January so not next week but the following week in 2020 we will pick up with the divinity of Christ Heavenly Lord, we thank You so much for this morning, for calling us into gather, to hear Your Word, and to receive Your sacrament. The Eastern church rejected this they didn't like that they held to the Father holding all the deity really and truly and they were they were fine with saying the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Sun but they did not want to to say that the Spirit was from the Father and from the Sun so that's where that controversy lies that is part of the schism that was created between the Eastern and the Western churches but it's not the only reason and and truly the split came in in about 1054 when when those two churches finally the the patriarch of the Eastern church and the Pope of the Western church excommunicated one another so so that came a little bit later but this was part of it and this was in 381 when they started adding in that Holy Spirit article so moving on to what we're studying today that was just a brief overview of what we had last week with the creeds today we're going to talk about Jesus human nature okay Athanasius said for salvation the correct faith is necessary not only regarding the divine nature in Christ but also regarding the human and if we look at the creeds and take just what they state about the humanity of Christ we can see that it's built right into those creeds so the Apostles Creed says that Jesus was born of the Bible and Jesus was buried those are things that happen to all human beings we are all born we all not all of us are crucified clearly but we all have sufferings we all have pain we all die we will all be buried right so those are very human things that happened to him the Nicene Creed says incarnate of the Virgin Mary and was made man was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate he suffered died and was buried very similar in those statements and then the Athanasian Creed says that our Lord Jesus became flesh he is man born in the world from the beginning of from the being of his mother existing fully as man with a rational soul and a human body he has taken humanity into himself he does not transform deity into humanity so he's not exchanging one for the other he is completely one in the unity of his person without confusing his natures for as the rational soul and body are one person so the one Christ is God and man he suffered death so that's getting a little more into the nitty-gritty that there are two natures there is a human nature it talks about his birth it talks about his death and that he is fully fully in the flesh fully man so there were some early claims against Jesus's Jesus humanity and and really no one in the very early church no one really denied his deity that seemed to be a given today it's a little bit different today more people deny his deity than his humanity but but it's interesting because the early church they couldn't quite believe that he was human that he had actually been a bit had actually been a human so they would say that Christ's body was not human that it had the appearance of a normal human it had it had the look of what a human has but it's actually a specter it's not a real true human being it looked real but it was more of a celestial substance this was taught by by several groups those who believed this then they also taught that Jesus actions all that he did and all that he suffered or went under or went through those were also fantasy they didn't actually happen so the sufferings that he underwent they only appeared to happen which we know is not true and we do not confess that we confess that he in true human form in his humanity suffered under Pontius Pilate so they taught that he was kind of a kind of a ghosty type thing right but let's open up to Matthew 14 this is the first gospel Matthew 14 so open up to the New Testament and we will see we're gonna look at 26 this is when Jesus is walking on the water chapter 14 verse 26 but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified saying it is a ghost right they they thought he was a ghost and they cried out in fear but immediately Jesus spoke to them and said take heart it is I do not be afraid he would not let them believe or claim that he's a ghost he's saying it's me I'm here in the flesh let's go over to Luke 24 so we're gonna go past Matthew past Mark go into Luke the third gospel this is after Christ had been killed this is after he had risen from the grave and he is appearing to his disciples we're gonna go to verse verses 36 through 39 so he's coming to his disciples and while they were talking about this Jesus himself stood among them and said to them peace be with you they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost so this is after he's been resurrected they're thinking again they're seeing this ghost and he said to them why are you frightened and why do doubts arise in your hearts look at my hands and my feet see that it is myself touch me and see for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have so even after the resurrection Christ is coming back when anyone could possibly say it's a ghost it's a ghost and he's saying no even now I am not a ghost I have flesh I have bones we see in the gospel of John where he's eating food post resurrection he was a human he is a human it was very interesting I came across an article from a what would be considered a reputable source or reputable reputable publication it's an article from 2014 right before Christmas it's amazing how many articles come out right before Christmas to say Jesus isn't real it's amazing uncanny just watch for it this year there will be articles that come out trying to deny Christ right before we celebrate his birth but this man the author of the article he wrote did a man called Jesus of Nazareth walk the earth discussions over whether the figure known as the historical Jesus actually existed primarily reflect disagreements among atheists believers who uphold the implausible and more easily dismissed Christ of faith the divine Jesus who walked on water ought not to get involved so to discuss Jesus the historical accuracy of Jesus the person of Jesus this writer is is telling his readers that anyone who believes in Jesus really shouldn't be involved in this discussion I want to invite you as believers in Jesus to be involved in the discussion for those of you who have not been to service yet that's what it is that that's our sermon that you'll hear today that we are a part of this discussion this is what we are called to bring and to be a part of is the discussion of God and who God is and so I thought that was really interesting so yes Jesus actually walked on this earth I have a host of and we're just gonna dive in because we have time and I and it's gonna seem a little like wow we have so many Bible verses but this is just a sampling of where we find Christ walking the earth where we find him as a true human that can support anytime someone questions whether Jesus really was real or not really a human you can go to any of these verses and say no no look here here here tell me when you get tired here here right so there's a lot of biblical proof here so we're gonna just start with John 1 so that's the gospel of John so if you flip over probably about one page from where you are in Luke and you find John the first chapter we're looking at verse 14 and the word who if you go to the very beginning of John we're told that the word was with God the word was God and we know that to be Jesus which we will get more into in a couple of weeks but the word verse 14 became flesh and lived among us the word became flesh and lived among us let's jump back to Luke chapter 2 we're gonna jump around in chapter 2 for a moment here so we're gonna start in verse 6 so the gospel of Luke chapter 2 starting in verse 6 while they were there that's Mary and Joseph while they were there the time came for her to deliver her child and she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in bands of cloth and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn she gave birth to an actual human being to a little boy so there is a man or a boy being born let's jump down to verse 21 after eight days had passed it was time to circumcise the child and he was called Jesus the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb so this little infant is taken in the ceremonial custom and he is circumcised and he is named humans well not all of them get circumcised but humans have bodies which things are done to right and we are given names that is a very human thing happening here then let's jump down to verse 40 we're just gonna read the first little bit here the child grew and became strong Christ had a childhood he didn't just appear as a man he was born of a woman he had a childhood and he grew in that childhood let's go back to or go over to Luke chapter 4 we're gonna look at those first two verses Luke chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 Jesus full of the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the spirit into the wilderness where for 40 days he was tempted by the devil he ate nothing at all during those days and when they were over he was famished if a human does not eat for 40 days he will be hungry God doesn't need food man does right so Jesus was in the desert constantly being tempted I don't know about about any of you if you if you know this too but humanity is tempted we get tempted as human beings so so we've got two things here he is physically physically famished hungry needing food wanting food right but he's also being tempted which the devil was trying to tempt him in his humanity now let's go over to John so we're just gonna go over one more book John 11 John 11 verse starting in verse 33 so Lazarus who was a good friend of Jesus Lazarus died and he went and he saw the sisters and picking up in verse 33 it says when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with him were also weeping he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved he said where have you laid him they said to him Lord come and see Jesus began to weep he mourned his friend he mourned he felt that he he wasn't this unemotional having no feeling man or being in his humanity he had feelings he had those feelings of love and he was mourning and weeping for his friend for his friends who were mourning so there's another human element to him let's jump over to mark so we're gonna go back a couple of gospels it's the second gospel mark two and we're gonna go to verse 16 mark 216 when the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he that is Jesus was eating with sinners and tax collectors they said to his disciples why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners Jesus as a man ate here he's eating with tax collectors and sinners he's eating he needed food again that's that humanity if we jump back into the Old Testament Isaiah so if you go to the middle of the Bible you'll find Psalms and if you flip to the right you will find the prophets after Proverbs and Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon you're gonna find Isaiah and we're going to Isaiah 53 verses 2 and 3 Isaiah 53 verses 2 and 3 and this is prophesying about Jesus for he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground he had no form or majesty that we should look at him nothing in his appearance that we should that we should desire him he was despised and rejected by others a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity as one from whom others hide their face he was despised and we held him of no account this is telling us that people around him he didn't have an appearance that that looked majestic he didn't have anything special about his look but this is also giving him an appearance we know that Jesus had flesh we know that he had a look he wasn't just this ghosty type being he wasn't celestial in in his form he was a man he had an appearance nothing nothing that that anyone should desire to look at him which I think is really interesting um okay so let's go over to Hebrews so this we're going back into the New Testament we're gonna pass the Gospels pass the letters of Paul and then we're gonna come to Hebrews and we're going to the second chapter Hebrews 2 verse 14 Hebrews 2 verse 14 since therefore the children share flesh and blood he himself likewise shared the same things Jesus shared with mankind the same things of flesh and blood he was a physical human being let's go over to Galatians or back to Galatians you're gonna go back through the letters of Paul if you've got Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians and then you've got Galatians uh Galatians chapter 4 verse 4 when the fullness of time had come God sent his son born of a woman born under the law we are all born of women and we are all born under the law we are all born into the same condition not house or family but we're born into the same condition as human beings as Christ was also born of a woman under the law and let's go back one more to Romans this is the last one but you'll see I mean do you see how there's it's just verse after verse after verse that is proving the humanity of Christ we're going to Romans chapter or verse yeah chapter 1 verse 1 Paul a servant of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures so he's promising God promised this gospel this good news through holy scriptures concerning his son who was descended from David according to the flesh he descended from David according to the flesh again just putting that humanity right there so this is a relatively long list that we've gone through but you'll see as you flip through scripture it is not hard to find proof from scripture from the Bible that Christ indeed was a flesh and blood man he needed to eat he needed to sleep oh we didn't even get to any of his sleeping right we he needed to function or he did function as a human did because he was a human he was a man so what about the people that say oh that's nice but you're just going to the Bible I don't I don't just go to the Bible that's not for me well there are historical historical accounts of Jesus also so we know that he was a human that walked the earth we have historical sources so the first one is from Tacitus or Cornelius Tacitus he he was a Roman senator and he was considered to be one of the best if not the best Roman historian so this was a history guy right and he studied he studied people he studied cultures he studied cultural phenomenon and and he wrote in this is in the context of a great fire of Rome it went for six days this fire burned it burned a lot of the city in 64 AD during the reign of Nero and he wrote this is Tacitus writing neither human effort nor the Emperor's generosity nor the placating of the gods ended the scandalous belief that the fire had been ordered by Nero therefore to put down the rumor so Nero there was a rumor that Nero started this fire or had this fire going so to put the the rumor down Nero substituted as culprits and punished in the most unusual ways those hated for their shameful acts whom the crowd called Christians the founder of this name Christ had been executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate suppressed for a time the deadly superstition erupted again not only in Judea the origin of this evil but also in the city Rome where all things horrible and shameful from everywhere come together and become popular so Tacitus in this is presenting four four pieces of accurate knowledge that we have about Jesus he said that well he called him Christus or Christ this was used by Tacitus to refer to Jesus he thought it was a name he didn't realize that it was a title but but he used it as a name but he called him Christ he talked about Christ being associated with the beginning of the movement of the Christians right for for the origin of this grouping that this man was executed by the Roman governor of Judea and that the time of his death was during Pontius Pilate's governorship during the reign of Tiberius so we have these four points of historical documentation that he's given us he is not a Christian he was a Roman senator a Roman historian and what he has told or what he has given to us is in line with what we have in scripture there was a Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and he was writing about James who is the brother of Jesus he's writing about his execution and he wrote let's see here there was a meeting of judges called and brought into it the brother of Jesus who is called Messiah James by name and some others he made the accusation that they had transgressed the law and he handed them over to be stone so Josephus had mentioned or mentions at least 12 other that are named Jesus because Jesus was a rather common name and so he's specifying which Jesus he was referring to as James brother so he used the one called or who is called Messiah Jesus who is called Messiah he also had a longer passage in a book that was called Jewish and equities and it refers to Jesus there was a Christian apologist who named Eusibius who added who some people think added some Christian claims in this text of Josephus Josephus wrote around this time there lived Jesus a wise man if indeed one ought to call him a man for he was one who did surprising deeds and a teacher of such people as except the truth gladly he won over many Jews and many of the Greeks he was the Messiah when Pilate upon hearing him accused by men of his highest standing among us had condemned him to be crucified those who in the first place came to love him did not give up their affection for him for on the third day he appeared to them restored to life the prophets of God had prophesied this and countless other marvelous things about him and the tribe of Christians so called after him have still to this day not died out now I don't know for certain if Eusibius added anything or not but all of the surviving manuscripts of this testimony or testament that are in Greek they contain the same version of this passage there are no significant differences which is very interesting that more than one source of this passage says the same thing Josephus also was not a Christian he was a Jewish historian the Celseus was a platenist philosopher he considered Jesus to be a magician who made exorbitant claims so he he didn't believe that Jesus was the Christ he didn't believe that Jesus was the son of man but he gives an account of a man named Jesus who did things that he thought were magical right Pliny the younger a Roman governor and friend of Tacitus wrote about early Christian worship of Christ as to a god little G god Soutenuse a Roman writer lawyer and historian wrote of riots in 49 that were among the Jews in Rome which might have been about Christus but which he thought were incited by the instigator of Christus whose identification with Jesus is not completely certain but this Roman writer is talking about these riots he thinks that at the very least it's linked to this group or this man Christ right um Mara Barcerapione Mara Barcerapione that's a fun name Mara Barcerapione a prisoner of war that was held by the Romans he wrote a letter to his son that described the Jewish the wise Jewish king in a way that seems to indicate Jesus but it doesn't specify his name but again we have that that non non-Christian source talking about a Jewish wise king so we see that there is a case to be made from scripture certainly for the humanity the flesh and bones of Christ but we also see that it's not just the biblical text we have outside sources we have historical sources that were also referring to Christ not Christians themselves but writing of a man who who had a group of followers a man who was crucified under Pontius Pilate so we have these historical these historical sources as well so what's the deal okay we can say yeah okay Jesus was a person he was a man that's great but why is it so important to hold this as absolute truth and to confess it in our creeds have it as a part of our common confession and that's what we're going to talk about next time we don't have class this next Sunday but the following Sunday we're going to dive into why the humanity of Christ actually matters in salvation or for salvation Today I want to examine with you the question of how do we know that we're going to heaven? Would you open your bios please to Matthew the 22nd chapter if you're using a Pew edition of God's Word you're going to find that on page 21 for our time of study today Matthew chapter 21 the trap the trap you ever noticed how many times when Jesus was asked a question it was a it was a trap question it wasn't a question that was generated out of wanting to know more or having something clarified or gaining more knowledge it was a question that was a trap for him for example take a look as we're in Matthew chapter 22 go down to verse 35 five please there we read this in one of them a lawyer asked him a question to test him teacher which commandment in the law is the greatest what was the motive test him was a trap or turn over please to chapter 19 of Matthew verse three Matthew 19 verse three some Pharisees came to him and to test him they asked is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause or back in Matthew chapter 22 picking up in verse 23 the same day some sadgesies came to him saying there is no resurrection and they asked him a question saying teacher Moses said if a man dies childless his brother shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother now there were seven brothers among us the first married and died childless leaving the widow to his brother the second did the same so also the third down to the seventh last of all the woman herself died in the resurrection then whose wife of seven will she be for all of them had married her let's a convoluted test question isn't it a trap question we see in Scripture that when we are in heaven we are not married and interestingly the question is coming from the sadgesies who didn't believe in the resurrection the trap questions trap questions soul also in our text for today the trap look please adverse 15 then the Pharisees went and plotted to and trap him in what he said so they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians so there's two groups here the Herodians was a group of Jews they had allegiance to wrong who is the people in power so the Herodians Jewish group they had their allegiance with wrong the Pharisees another Jewish group they hated wrong hated wrong they wrong rule over them so you've got the Pharisees and the Herodians interestingly in mark the third chapter it says the Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him that being Jesus how to destroy him but typically typically you don't see this this alliance between the Herodians and the Pharisees because they saw things differently going on the very next verse verse 16 so they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians saying teacher we know that you are sincere and teach the way of God in accordance with truth and show difference to know what for you do not regard people with parciality all of the things of the Herodians and the Pharisees were saying is absolutely true isn't it it is absolutely true that Jesus is sincere and teaches the way of God in accordance with the truth that he shows difference to no one that he didn't regard people with parciality but all of this flattery here for Jesus is absolutely laughable is there was no greater critics of the Lord Jesus than the Pharisees this is all simply a setup for the trap verse 17 tell us then what you think is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not the tax here that they're getting after it was called the whole tax it was the most hated tax of the Jews in ancient day it was literally a tax on every single head and the Jews they hated it just a little aside here remember when Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem because a census was taken the purpose of the census being taken was to get an accurate count of the heads for what purpose the poll tax the poll tax they hated it now if Jesus answers no to this question then the Herodians will say not he's being disloyal to Rome he wants to overthrow Rome if he answers yes to the question then the Pharisees will say he's in love with Rome how could he possibly be in love with Rome you see it's a trap it's a trap question of two different groups that already have their answer to the question it's a trap and Jesus sees right through it verse 18 but Jesus aware of their malice said why are you putting me to the test you hypocrites show me the coin used for the tax and they brought him a the Narius memorandonarius is equivalent to a day's worth of wages for a common labor so Jesus turns and says your bunch of hypocrites here show me the coin used for the tax they brought him a denarius the coin would have been silver on one side of the coin it would have had the image of the emperor tibirius Caesar and on the other side of the coin there would be an inscription and the inscription on the coin that was given to Jesus it read tibirius Caesar son of the divine Augustus pretty heavy stuff for the seizures of all to guard themselves as God and you understand here what tibirius Caesar is saying on the coin right that he is the son of God very next verse verse 20 then he Jesus said to them who's head or you translated image who's image is this and who's title they answered the empers everybody would know that then he said to them give therefore to the emperor the things that are the empers give there in the Greek it it's a word that means you owe something pay the debt Jesus says will who's those images on the coin well let's see's as well then pay the debt you have a debt you owe pay it pay the tax hold picks up on this in Romans 13 chapter Paul writing on the inspiration of the spirit writes this let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there's no authority except from God and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God he goes on to say therefore one must be subject not only because of wrath but also because of conscience for the same reason you also pay taxes for the authorities our gods servants busy with this very thing pay to all what's do them taxes to whom taxes are due revenue to whom revenue is due respect to whom respect is due honor to whom honor is due it's the same thought of Jesus isn't it okay then back in chapter 22 of Matthew verse 20 Jesus says he said to them who's head is this and whose title they answered the empers then he said to them give their fork to the emperor the things that are the empers you need to pay the Jesus says you need to pay the tax whose image is on the coin but notice where Jesus goes next in Colossians the very first chapter Paul writes that this speaking of Jesus he says he is the image of the invisible God you want to know what God is like you look at Jesus he is Paul says the image of the invisible God he goes on to say the first born of all creation that's a word that doesn't mean that Jesus was created it's a word that means preeminence for him all things in heaven and on earth were created that's the first chapter of the gospel of John right that through Christ everything was that is was made through Christ for in him all things in heaven on earth were created things visible and invisible with a thrones or dominions or rulers or powers all things have been created through him and for him he owns it all he himself is before all things and in him all things hold together what is Scripture tell us that all of God's promises have their yes in Jesus Paul saying everything holds together through Christ verse 18 he's the head the source the origin he's the origin of the body the church he's the beginning the first born from the dead Jesus was raised out of the tomb he is the cause for the resurrection so that he might come to have first place in everything for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things whether on earth or in heaven by making peace through the blood of his cross it is a glorious and rich section and how does it all begin he is the image of the invisible God the Pharisees and the Herodians they recognized the image on the coin but they didn't recognize the image of the one who was standing before them the son of God they recognized the image on the coin but not the image of the these son of God standing right before and the son of God says verse 21 give therefore to the emperor the things that are the empowers and that he sets and to God the things that are God's he turns to them and says pay the debt to Caesar pay the debt pay the taxes and the very one that tells them to do that the very one is the one who paid the debt of our sin all of those thoughts all of those words all of those deeds all of the things done and all of the things left undone he paid our debt of our sin on the cross to win for us the absolute the word of forgiveness Jesus said give therefore to the emperor the things that are the empowers and to God the things that are God's and the father sent his son the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross to win salvation and that victory of the cross and the empty tomb is put with the water and we are washed in the victory we are washed in the declaration we are washed in that promise and what does God say in the waters of baptism to us but your mind your mind for all of the turn it your mind give therefore to the emperor the things that are the empowers and to God the things that are God's and may we buy his grace yield absolutely everything in our life every area in our life may we yield it by his grace yield it all to the one to whom we belong first twenty two when they heard this they were amazed and they left him and went away there were amazed for the word means marveled see only time the only time in the entire new testament that this word for amazement is used it's the only time Jesus has schooled them he's schooled them it is concise it is clear it is absolute truth and they are marveling at what they have just heard but what did they do they walked away they walked away from the Lord Jesus Christ they walked away by God's grace let us continue to walk each and every day amazed and marveling at the love of God for us by his grace let us be amazed and marvel at the Lord Jesus Christ the image of the invisible God and by God's grace may we yield everything and free to the one who owns all to the one to whom we belong Let us pray.

Video citations

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• Isaiah: Lesson 13 — Holy and gracious God, we give you thanks for this day unique in all of history. We give you thanks, O Lord, for the faithfulness of your promises that carry us through each and every day that…
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• Isaiah: Lesson 9 — Gracious Heavenly Father, with thankfulness in our hearts, we come to your house. For you have gathered us here. We thank you, Lord, for word and for sacrament and for how you send us forth, as…
• Isaiah: Lesson 6 — The gracious Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the beauty of today and the beauty of your promises. We ask Father for your rich blessing upon our time and your word today. We thank You for the…
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• Heresies 5 — Races seven, they father, thank you for this time now in your word, your word is truth. Thank you for the privilege of delving in to your word and by your Holy Spirit, plumbing the depths of it, the…
• Heresies 7 — Gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for the beauty of this day. We thank you for your promises that continually surround us and for the privilege of joy and joy of being your people. Commissioned…
• Heresies 9 — Well, we pick up in our study on the heresies of old, last time that we were together, we studied about what is called a nosticism. Nosticism is the belief that God speaks to us apart from his word,…
• Heresies 10 — Well, we continue along in our study looking at some ancient heresies and how they apply today, where we see the expression of those. The purpose, of course, is so that when you hear these, you'll…
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• Education Witness Style 1 — I want to break this down a little bit as we study this. In verse 13, for it was you who formed my inward parts. All of our bodies are made by God with this intricate complexity to them. And the…
• Education Witness Style 3 — Well, we have been taking a look here at this little class entitled witnessing within your own personality style and just to review a little bit from whence we have come. Last time we talked about…
• Education Witness Style 4 — Well, welcome back from our little break last week. We were studying last time we got together two weeks ago about how Jesus witnessed to people. We noticed that sometimes Jesus was the one that…
• Education Witness Style 5 — Well, we have come to the last of our witnessing within your personality style classes. It's just a little bit of review where we were last time we got together. We talked about how God gives us…
• Justification 6 How Long Does It Take To Be Justified — O spirit, you alone have produced faith in us. The credit for us being believers is all yours. Help us now, O Lord, as we study to acknowledge your grace in giving us the gift of faith, in keeping…
• Dependency on God: "Handling Things" 4-19-26 — What you open your Bibles, please, with me, to the Gospel of Matthew the 18th chapter for our study today, you're using a Pew Bible in the rack in front of you or underneath you, that is on the New…
• "For You" 4-2-26 — There are many sweet, sweet words in Scripture. Off of the top of my head, I think of Psalm 23, and the beautiful beginning verse of the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. Or in the prophet…
• “Intentional” 3-8-26 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, the 16th chapter. If you're using a Pue edition of this Bible, you will find it on page 68 in the New Testament. We're in Luke, chapter…
• Obtaining Eternal Life- "The Test" 3-1-26 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me to the 10th chapter of the gospel of Luke. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you will find that in the New Testament page 62. Luke the 10th…
• Waiting - "Confidant Waiting" 2-8-26 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to mark the fourth chapter for our time and God's Word if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you'll find the fourth chapter of Mark on page 33…
• Restlessness - What Are You Looking For? 1-18-26 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, to John the first chapter for our time in God's Word today, if you're using a Pew Edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the New…
• "Fulfilled" 1-11-26 — Would you please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew the third chapter? If you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, this can be found on page 3 in the New Testament. We're in the Gospel of…
• "Good News" 1-4-26 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark the first chapter, if you're using a Pue edition of the Bible which can be found in the Pue and front of you or if you're in the front…
• Human and Divine: "No Crying He Makes" 12-24-25 — What you open your Bible's please for a time in God's Word to the second chapter of the gospel of Luke. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you'll find in the Pew rack in front of you…
• Chosen by God: "Elect" 12-14-25 — Would you open up your Bibles, please, with me to the 13th chapter of the gospel of Mark. Mark the 13th chapter for our time in God's Word. If you're using a Pew edition, you'll find in the Pew rack…
• God Hears Us - 11-23-25 — Job in your Bibles, please, for our time in God's Word to the 11th chapter of the gospel of John, John the 11th chapter if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture. You're going to find that in…
• Delight in God: "Favorite Things" 6-22-25 — Would you open your Bible's please for our time and God's Word to Proverbs 6, chapter 6, page 552, if you're using a Pue edition, 552 in the Old Testament. Reen drops on roses and whiskers on…
• Good Fear- When Fear is Good. 6-15-25 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to Proverbs 9th chapter for our time in God's Word today? Proverbs 9th chapter of using a Pew edition, you're going to find that on page 554 in the Old…
• "God's Personal Love" 4-20-25 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, to John the 20th chapter for our study this morning. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you'll see in the rack in front of you or…
• "Peace" Look Here 4-13-25 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me to second Corinthians the fifth chapter. If you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 159. Second Corinthians the…
• "For Him" 4-6-25 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me to second Corinthians the fifth chapter. If you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 159. Second Corinthians the…
• "Say What?" 3-30-25 — If you would please open your Bibles to the letter to the Romans, this is on page 133. If you are using a Pue edition of the Bible, page 133, we're in Romans chapter 1. While you're looking for…
• "Back to the Beginning" 3-23-25 — I want to share a story with you. There was a young girl who was in grade school and as they had show in tell one day, one of her friends stood up and showed a doll that was absolutely incredible…
• Ignorance/Bliss 3-9-25 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, for our time and God's Word to the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians. If you're using a Puedition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that page…
• Alone: "Fear of Being Alone" 2-9-25 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to Psalm 139? Psalm 139, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the Old Testament on page 540, Psalm 139. It was…
• Concern for Others: 10-13-24 — You open your Bible's please with me to the second chapter of the Book of Philippians. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, Philippians is in the New Testament page 174 for our time and…
• Disagreements: "Rift" 9-29-24 — What you open your Bibles, please, with me to the 15th chapter of the book of Acts for our study today. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 118. Acts…
• "Advocate" 9-8-24 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, to first Samuel the 19th chapter for our study today. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the Old Testament,…
• "Prayer" “Cause and Effect?” 5-12-24 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me to the 11th chapter of the Gospel of Mark, for our study today, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that New Testament…
• "Proof" 4-7-24 — A few years ago, there was a woman in Canada who was skydiving. She was 5,000 feet in the air and she jumped out of the airplane and she began plummeting to the earth. Her first parachute didn't…
• "1-2-3" 3-31-24 — Would you open please your Scriptures to the 28th chapter of the gospel of Matthew? You'll find a copy of Holy Scriptures in the Pew Rack in front of you or underneath you. The 28th chapter of the…
• "Expectations" 3-10-24 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Luke if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture in the Pew rack in front of you, you will find that page 76 in…
• "Prayer: Called to Pray" 2-25-24 — You open your Bibles, please, with me to Luke the 22nd chapter for our study this morning if you're using a Pew Edition of Holy Scripture that will be on page 75 in the New Testament. Luke the 22nd…
• Signs from God : The Ultimate Sign 1-28-24 — Would you open your by those please with me to the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark? If you're using a Puedition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the New Testament on page 37.…
• Spiritual Sight 1-21-24 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me for our study this morning to the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark. The eighth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy…
• “New Year” 1-7-24 — What you open your Bible's please with me to the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew for our study this morning. If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page…
• Who is Jesus? Expediency 12-17-23 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me to the 20th chapter of the Gospel of Luke? If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 72 in the New Testament, the…
• "Known by God" 11-19-23 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to the 14th chapter of the gospel of John, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 95 in the New Testament, the…
• The Most Important Family Relationship: "Family by Rebirth" 11-5-23 — You open your Bibles, please, with me to the 12th chapter of the gospel of Saint Matthew. If you're using a few edition, you'll find that page 12 in the New Testament. Matthew the 12th chapter for…
• "Image" 9-24-23 — Would you open your bios please to Matthew the 22nd chapter if you're using a Pew edition of God's Word you're going to find that on page 21 for our time of study today Matthew chapter 21 the trap…
• “Non-Judgement?” 7-23-23 — Let us pray. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. We praise you, gracious God, that as you gather us today in this your house, you gather us together as your…
• “Calming the Sea and Rocking the Boat” 7-16-23 — Let us pray together, please. Grace is Heavenly Father, we are indeed a people who buy your grace, sing the words that you are our Redeemer. Lord Jesus, we praise you for the cross and for the empty…
• "See the Place" 4-9-23 — What you open your Bibles, please, with me, to the gospel of St. Matthew 28th, chapter if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you'll find that on page 29 in the New Testament. Matthew…
• “Reactions” 3-26-23 — Do you open your Bibles, please, with me to the 12th chapter of the gospel of John. If you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, you'll find that on page 92 in the New Testament. The 12th…
• "Now I See" 3-5-23 — If you would please open your Bibles to Luke the 18th chapter, Luke the 18th chapter. If you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, you can find this on page 71 in the New Testament. We are in Luke…
• “Kyrie Eleison” 2-22-23 — On this holy night, the church gathers. Ash Wednesday is one of the most somber of services. Good Friday, Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday begins that walk for the church of the 40 days leading to Holy…
• "Submit to One Another" 2-5-23 — Would you open your Bibles please with me to the book of Ephesians the 5th chapter for our study today page 172 Ephesians the 5th chapter? It is called the rule of three, the rule of three. The rule…
• “Fellowship With One Another” 1-8-23 — Put your open your Bibles, please, with me, to the book of 1 John in the New Testament. That is on page 211, if you're using a Pew edition this morning of Holy Scripture. 1 John, the very first…
• "Pray for One Another" 1-29-23 — Which opens your Bibles, please, with me to the fifth chapter of the Book of James. James is in the New Testament, if you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, it's found on page 204. James the…
• “Longsuffering” 9-4-22 — If you would please open your Bibles to second Peter, the third chapter, second Peter, the third chapter. Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. It's such a big, long part of life. We wait and we wait…
• "The Ending" 4-17-22 — Would you open up your Bibles, please with me today to mark the 16th chapter, Mark chapter 16 for our study on this Easter day. Easter Sunday, it's good for the soul, isn't it? The soul is such an…
• "Fingerprints" 4-15-22 — Would you open your Bible's please to this portion of Scripture on this holy night? Mark the 15th chapter. Page 47, if you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, Mark the 15th chapter.…
• "Confident" 4-14-22 — Get up, shoulders back, look me square in the eye and tell me the truth. Have you ever denied Christ? It was Passover. Jesus and His disciples had gathered together to share this celebration, this…
• “Glory From the East” 4-10-22 — Would you open your Bibles please with me to the Gospel of Mark the 11th chapter? If you're using a Pew edition you'll find that on page 41, Mark the 11th chapter for our study today. Details.…
• “Impressed” 4-3-22 — If you would open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark 13, chapter, it's on page 43 in the Pew edition of the Bible that is Mark 13 on page 43. The Taj Mahal. It took 21 years to build. It was…
• “Law or Gospel?” 3-27-22 — Would you open up your Scriptures, please, to this portion of God's holy word, Mark the 12th chapter, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 42, Mark the…
• "Receive the Kingdom" 3-20-22 — We are going to remain in Mark chapter 10. So if you have your Bibles open, that's wonderful. It's page 40 in the New Testament of the Pue edition of the Bible. As people, we value a lot of…
• "Significance" 3-13-22 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me this morning to this portion of God's Word from Mark 9th chapter? You'll find that if you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture on page 39, Mark 9th…
• "Only Jesus" 3-6-22 — Please be seated. If you already have your Bibles open to the Gospel of Mark, you are right where you should be. If you need to open and you're using a Pue edition, you can find Mark the ninth…
• "Mercy on Us" 3-2-22 — Would you open your Bibles please with me this evening? To mark the eighth chapter for our study, if you're using a few addition, you'll find that on page 38. Mark the eighth chapter. The liturgy…
• “Inside Out” 2-27-22 — What's your open your Bible's please with me this morning to mark the 7th chapter. You'll find that on page 36 if you're using an edition of Holy Scripture, you'll find in the purest in front of…
• “Resting for a Purpose” 2-20-22 — Do you open your Bibles, please? With me, too, the Gospel of Mark the sixth chapter for our study today. Mark chapter six, as we continue to look at the action gospel, the gospel of Saint Mark. When…
• “More Grace to Bestow” 2-13-22 — Welcome to your Bible's Please with me, too. The Gospel of Mark the 5th chapter, if you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that on page 34 for our study today, Mark the…
• “Abundant Mercy” 2-6-22 — If you would, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark the 5th chapter. If you are using a Pew edition of the Bible, you will find this on page 34 in the New Testament. We are studying today, a…
• "Boat Trip" 1-30-22 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, to the Gospel of Mark the 4th chapter. If you're using a few edition of Holy Scripture, you're going to find that in the New Testament on page 33, Mark…
• “Family” 1-23-22 — You're open your Bibles, please, with me, to mark the third chapter for our study today, page 32, if you're using a copy of the Scriptures in the Pew. Mark the third chapter for our study this…
• “A New Way” 1-16-22 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark the 2nd chapter, we will be in the Gospel of Mark the 2nd chapter. Have any of you ever tried to learn a new language or a 2nd language or…
• "The Need" 1-9-22 — Would you open your Bible's please with me this morning to the gospel of Mark chapter 2, if you're using a few addition, you're going to find that on page 31 in the New Testament, mark the second…
• “Immediate Rest” 1-2-22 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark the first chapter, the Gospel of Mark the first chapter. We are beginning a new sermon series today on Mark, an highlighting what is the…
• “Serve” 12-19-21 — Would you open your Bibles please with me this morning to first Peter the fourth chapter for our study? If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, please find that on page 207. Page 207. First…
• "Pray" 12-5-21 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, too? First Thessalonians, the fifth chapter for our study today. If you're using a Pew Bible, you're going to find first Thessalonians, chapter 5, page…
• "Repent" 11-28-21 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Prophet of Hosea, the Prophet Hosea, the 14th chapter. I love traveling. I love going on a trip. And there are always so many preparations and planning…
• “Today ” 11-14-21 — Would you open your Bible's please with me this morning to Psalm 118. An easy way of course to find the book of Psalms is simply to go to the very center of Scripture open it up. You're going to…
• "Did Jesus Conceal Something?" 7-18-21 — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, to the letter to the Church at Philippi? Philippians, the second chapter of using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture this morning, you're going to find that…
• "What are We Saved From?" - 1 John 2:1-2 — Would you open your Bibles please with me today to first John the second chapter for our study, first John chapter two. The late R.C. Sproul, a theologian, a told story of when he was walking along…
• "How Do I Know I am filled with the Spirit?" 5-30-21 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of John 14th chapter, we're opening to the Gospel of John 14th chapter. I want to share a story with you of a Christian who grew up in a church in…
• "New Body" 5-16-21 — Would you open your Bibles, please? With me to first Corinthians, the 15th chapter, for our study today, first Corinthians, chapter 15. Jack the Lane, who is an interesting fellow. He is regarded as…
• "Uzziah" — What you open your Bibles, please, with me, to the book of second chronicles in the Old Testament, second chronicles the 26th chapter for our study this morning. 20 and 20. In the period of time,…
• "Salome" — The other morning when I woke up, I looked at my pedometer watch and it had a nice little message of motivation for me. It said, grab the glory, grab the glory. I'm going to go ahead and grab that…
• "Bartimaeus" — Let's open our Bibles, please, this morning for our study to the 10th chapter of the gospel of Mark, Mark the 10th chapter for our study this morning. As one moves through the various gospels of…
• "Enoch" — Today we are going to talk about Enoc. Enoc is probably a very familiar name. You know you've heard it or read it somewhere in Scripture. You know it's probably Old Testament. And if you're thinking…
• Rufus — Would you open your Bible with me this morning to the book of Romans? Please, the 16th chapter for our study this morning, Romans the 16th chapter. When you're watching a movie, there are some…
• Living Peace — If you would please open up your Bibles to the Gospel of John, the 20th chapter, that's the Gospel of John, the 20th chapter. Today we begin a sermon series, a new series entitled Encouragement and…
• "Conditional vs. Unconditional Love" — Would you open your Bible's place with me this morning to the 11th chapter of the gospel of Mark for our study this morning? Throughout the season of Lent, we have been focusing on the theme of the…
• A Cleansing Love — Our text for this evening is one of my, and I go back and forth, because I have a lot of favorites. But, but this I think I can really boil it down to this is my favorite, just don't quote me on…
• "Awestruck" — Would you open your Bibles, please, with me, to the 19th chapter of the Book of Acts? The seven sons of Skiva. Those band of boys were bad news. They were exorcists that went around, traveling…
• "Driven to the Knees" — It is my favorite math problem. Take whatever number you want, whatever number you want. Double it, then add 10 to it. Divide it in half, and then take the original number, and subtract it, and you…
• Rejoice Reaction — reactions. Reactions. We all have them. Don't we? That's sometimes the best thing is just not to react, right? But if you want to press the point, even not reacting is a reaction, right? Reaction…
• "Liberated" — Have any of you heard any modern day prophecies or any modern day prophets? I've heard some where there's a foretelling of political future or a foretelling of a certain healing that is just sure to…
• "Who Was Right?" — Don Driesdale, he was a fantastic pitcher with the LA Dodgers a few decades ago. He ran a consecutive scoreless innings of 58 consecutive scoreless innings he pitched. Now when you ponder that, a…
• "The Greater Healing" 8-4-19 — There are a host of healings recorded in Holy Scripture. And as you read the account of these healings, they are tremendously moving, aren't they? Does the Lord Jesus Christ still heal this side of…
• "Herzpunkt" June 9, 2019 — Hearspunked. Hearspunked. It's a German word. And it means the heart point, the central point. With Luther would preach, Luther would always look for the hearspunked. As he would study a portion of…
• "Unexpected Surprise" June 2, 2019 — We are smack dab in the middle of a really exciting story of rescue and deliverance out of a miracle of God And as I was studying this text and I was trying to think of a great way to open this…
• The Gathering 3-24-19 — The gathering, the gathering. We see various gatherings throughout Holy Scripture. I think for example in numbers, when people are complaining against Moses and their thirsty, and so God grants them…
• Verboten 3-17-19 — So we're going to do a quick review of last week because where we're picking up today is right in the middle of a really really important and key story within all of Scripture. Last week in the…
• "Server" Nov 11, 2018 — Would you open your Bible, please, with me to the 10th chapter of the Gospel of Mark for our study today? These past several weeks, we have been studying in the sermon series entitled The Mission.…
• Sermon 5-6-18 — Would you open your Bible's please with me to the fourth chapter of the book of Acts as we continue our study in this great chapter and this great book of God's infelible, holy word. If you had to…
• Need Effect Basis — Would you open your Bible, please, with me this morning to the third chapter of the Book of Acts. Repent. Repent. So often when we hear those words, we get an image of someone standing on the street…