David Bernard at 2023 Exodus Conference

Steven Avery

Steven Avery

Administrator

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amen it's a great pleasure to be able to introduce David Bernard to you all
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he's a very smart man he graduated from Rice University
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and my sister went to Rice University she was at the top of her class in high school went to Rice University she then
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got her PhD up at Carnegie Mellon and became a microbiologist and you know
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very successful and everything she said the toughest place she ever was was Rice University
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so but uh uh I think the main reason
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that uh I feel close to him it isn't what he's achieved along that
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line he's he's the the general superintendent of the upci
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but uh I'll tell you he's a man who loves the truth
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he loves the the word of God Amen and I
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believe that's I know that's what I feel in my heart as a connection to him and I
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want everybody to to be blessed you're gonna you're gonna get a fire hose of
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scriptures I have a hunch amen and uh and you'll get it amen so brother
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Bernard amen
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thank you well good afternoon everyone and so I've got the job of keeping you awake after
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lunch so maybe the air is going to help but I'm glad to be here thank you for the
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invitation all of you the elders brother Howard wheeler we've known for many many years brother Aussie Adams we got to
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make an acquaintance a couple years ago when I was here before and so I'm going
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to the word of God so what I have to say you might agree with it you might not but let's make a deal I will share what
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I believe and understand to be the word of God I'll give you scripture I'll for the sake of time some I'll quote or
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refer to so I'll take time to read and you pray about it you study it you think
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about it you talk to leaders about it I've got a couple of books or more than
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a couple but I've got a book called The Oneness of God another book called The Oneness view of Jesus Christ so you can
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do the research and if you come to conclude that what I have to say is not in the word of God well then that ends
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your responsibility but if what I have to say is in the word of God then regardless of what you might believe
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it's all always important for us to obey the word of God and so that's the authority second Timothy 3 16 says all
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scripture is given by inspiration of God it's profitable for Doctrine reprove
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correction instruction and righteousness so we're going to go by the Bible the
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word of God of course we also know that we need the illumination of the Holy Spirit to make the word come alive
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but the spirit doesn't change the word the spirit inspired the word and the spirit applies the word to our hearts
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today so we need a combination of the word and the spirit my subject today I'm going to be talking about the one true
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God but before I get into that let me just say a little bit about interpretation of the Bible or it's a
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subject called hermeneutics I think we're going to have a little question and intercession so some of the things I
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just rushed through and you want me to slow down and explain well we'll have some time for that but I do think I need
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to make a few remarks about interpretation before we go forward because there are many different ways of
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interpreting scripture but foundationally we believe in the importance of
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apostolic Authority and what I mean by that is one way to interpret scripture
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which is probably very common is to start with 21st century Modern English modern culture
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2000 years of theology fourth and fifth century Creeds councils popes all that
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accumulated and when you hear some theological term you have all that 2 000 years of development and so you
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naturally interpret it in Modern English according to that tradition and of
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course that tradition in the early centuries if you study it was shaped by Hellenism or Greek thought Greek
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philosophy a lot of the common terms of Christian theology that we use that are used today comes from that historical
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process of Greek philosophy being merged with Christian theology so that's a
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common way to view it but that's not the way the first church heard it
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so what I'm proposing instead of starting with the 21st century the accumulation of philosophy and Greek
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thought western civilization and read that back into the first century ancient New Testament we start with the New
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Testament as it was given now the apostles who the apostles and their
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Associates wrote the New Testament so we what we really want to find out is what
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did they think what did they mean what were they trying to communicate to Their
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audience because we believe we're part of that same church today we don't believe we're a different church we
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believe we're a continuation and a renewing and a Reviving and a restoration of the original Apostolic
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Church of the New Testament and what's interesting there is when Jesus taught
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his disciples and when the early Apostles preached the only Bible they had was the Old Testament which was
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written in Hebrew and so when they use terms like God or faith or salvation or
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repentance they couldn't have meant what 21st century theology means or 4th
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Century theology they had to mean what their only Bible meant the Hebrew text
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Now understand clearly what I'm talking about I do believe the New Testament is
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greater revelation than the Old Testament but it builds on the Old Testament so for example if you
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want to read Shakespeare that's elevated literature in the English language but you have to first know your
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ABCs you have to first be able to comprehend an elementary school reader
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so even though Shakespeare is much further but much more advanced you have to have the building blocks first
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so if you want to master calculus and algebra you have to study arithmetic and
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you'll find that even in calculus one plus one still is going to equal 2. and if you don't know that you're going to
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get messed up in calculus so although the Old Testament is the basic and
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there's greater Revelation in the New Testament the New Testament is built upon the Old Testament so you've got to
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master what who is God according to the Hebrew scriptures what is Faith
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according to the Hebrew scriptures what is repentance according to the Hebrew scriptures you have to understand that
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and then you're ready for the greater revelation of the New Testament but you shouldn't take a fourth Century or fifth
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century definition of what is God and import that back into the first century text
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and my simple reason for using this is when we use this method of what I call
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the apostolic method or privileging Apostolic Authority we're only doing
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what Jesus did if we accept Jesus Christ as Lord we'll
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accept his method of starting the church Jesus did not actually start any local churches Jesus did not actually write
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any books but he commissioned the 12 apostles and then he called the Apostle Paul especially as the Apostle to the
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Gentiles and he commissioned them to establish the church they and the associates whom they supervise such as
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Mark and Luke they wrote scripture and that's how Jesus gave the message to us
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so we need to receive the message the way Jesus gave it for example Matthew 28
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20 the Great Commission after saying to go into all the world to make disciples of all the nations to baptize your
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converts Matthew 28 20 he said teaching them teaching your converts to observe
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all things whatsoever I have commanded you so the pattern is Jesus teaches the
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apostles the apostles teach us and where do we find their teaching in the New
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Testament so we start with the Old Testament to get the building blocks and we read the New Testament with the
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lenses of the Old Testament and then we listen to the apostles and the New
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Testament writers to see what they say and then we follow as Acts 2 42 said in
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the early church they continued steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine and
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fellowship breaking a bread and prayers so we're not here trying to create a new doctrine we're not here trying to create
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some new revelation we're trying to go back and say what did Jesus give the
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apostles what did the apostles preach teach and practice what did they
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experience we want to continue steadfastly in the apostles Doctrine and
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fellowship so that's a basic approach to New Testament hermeneutics with that let's start with Deuteronomy 6 4. so
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here's one of the key building blocks and even today they're Jews of all kinds but any kind
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of professing Jew at minimum must accept this fundamental statement Deuteronomy 6
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4 I'm reading from the new King James version it says Hear o Israel the Lord
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Our God the Lord is one and verse 5 says you shall love the Lord your God with
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all your heart with all your soul with all your strength so here we start there's one God and only one God in the
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context other nations serve many different gods so God was not telling
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Israel well there's a council of gods there are a multitude of gods but the difference is they all get along and
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they all agree no he was saying other nations serve many gods You Shall Serve
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only one God and of course Lord in the King James new King James perhaps you
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know when you see it in all capitals it actually represents the original Hebrew word Yahweh which in many cases was
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interpreted in in English as Jehovah but the point is that is not just a generic
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word meaning Lord or ruler or Master if that's what you mean that's the Hebrew
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word Adonai which is represented in the English translations as Lord with a capital l but small or D but when when
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all the letters are capitalized it represents Yahweh the actual Hebrew word
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for God the unique Name by which the one true God distinguished himself from all
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other gods it's generally understood that word comes from the Hebrew word to be third
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person singular Yahweh meaning he is he exists the Eternal one the one who is
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and always will be the self-existent one not he is something or he is this or he
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is that but simply he is no other predicate he is his own source he he
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exists in and of himself of course when God spoke to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3 and Moses asks who shall I
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say is sending me kind of an indirect way I think Moses needed a little confidence himself but he didn't want to
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directly act like he didn't know what he was doing so instead of saying who are you God he said who shall I say is
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sending me and God said I am the god of your forefathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob but
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you just tell the people I am that I am I am has sent you well I am is the first
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person singular of the verb to be and so in a sense it's equivalent so when when
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God people speak of him him they say he is Yahweh Jehovah but when God speaks of
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himself he says I am and so it's the same word in other words it's the one
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true God of the Old Testament is identified by this unique name hear o
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Israel Yahweh is our God Yahweh is one so however you define God as Spirit as
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being some will use the term person but whatever human terminology you try to use God is one of that he's one Spirit
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he's one personal being he's one God that's fundamental you say well why are
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you just picking you're just cherry picking one of many scriptures well let's go to Matthew chapter 28.
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and we'll read starting in verse 12. one of the scribes came to Jesus I'll let the text speak for Excel Mark 12 28-31
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then one of the scribes came and having heard them reasoning together perceiving that he had answered them well asked him
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so ask Jesus which is the first commandment of all Jesus answered him
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the first of all the Commandments is hear o Israel the Lord Our God the Lord
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is one and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your
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strength this is the first commandment and the second is like it is this you
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shall love your neighbor as yourself there is no other commandment greater than these so on the authority of the
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Lord Jesus Christ himself I will say this is the foundation if you want to
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study God this is where you start if you're going to study any religious thought the first thing you want to know
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is what is their concept of God and I've already alluded to Exodus 3 at the
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foundation event that made Israel a nation the calling of Moses and of course subsequently the giving of the
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law of Mount Sinai at that climactic moment God gave a revelation I am who I
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am that's who I am likewise you could see in the New Testament one of the key moments Acts
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chapter 9 Saul of Tarsus a Jew who is persecuting the Christians God struck him with the light from Heaven as a Jew
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he knew there was only one God he believed Deuteronomy 6 4 one God one Lord and so when God struck him and
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spoke to him from Heaven he knew that was God but he thought he was obeying God he thought he was serving God by
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persecuting the Christians obviously God was not pleased obviously his thinking was wrong somewhere
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so what was the first question he asked who are you Lord I got to go back to the
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foundation I got to go back to the basic I think Moses didn't know God but when
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he was being called to do this impossible thing to confront the mightiest army in the
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world the mightiest King in the world he had to have a shirt so he goes back to the basics who are you God I need to
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know who shall I say is sending me so Saul of curses he's faced with this moment that's going to change his whole
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life he realizes something is dreadfully went wrong I've got to go back to the beginning who are you Lord
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and the Lord didn't say well you've known one of us up here but I need to introduce you to some new ones you don't
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know but basically the Lord accepted his
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question now when you answer a question if the fundamental premise is wrong you have to
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correct that before you answer the question so if somebody asks you have you stopped beating your wife yet
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don't say yes or no because either one is going to be wrong
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have you stopped beating your wife yes that implies you just stopped
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no it's even worse so you have to correct the premise
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so if Paul's premise hero is or the Lord our God is one Lord who are you Lord
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if that was wrong God should have said you know what you're starting from the wrong place actually there's several of us and if
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you're going to be saved you have to know a lot more but the Lord accepted the premise there is one Lord
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you just don't understand who he is and so the Lord said I am Jesus the very one
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you are persecuting is the one you're trying to serve now we're going to have to unpack that
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but the god of the Old Testament is revealed in Jesus Christ in the New Testament the one true and living God so
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here's the foundation we start with the Oneness of God now this is not just a a
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casual throwaway line in fact you see consistently throughout the Bible this
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emphasis that God is one you still see stated many times over 50 times the
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Bible speaks of God is the Holy One never associating holy two holy Three
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Holy four but always the Holy One I'll just give you a taste of this if you go
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to Isaiah chapter oh let's say we start with chapter 43 let me just
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um hastily share a few statements of scripture so that you can see get a flavor for yourself Isaiah 43 10 through
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11. you you're my Witnesses says the Lord that's Yahweh Jehovah and my
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servant whom I've chosen that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he
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before me there was no God formed nor shall there be after me I even I am the
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Lord and besides me there is no savior so go down to let's say that was 43
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let's go to Isaiah 44 verse 6. thus says the Lord the king of Israel his Redeemer
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the Lord of hosts I am the first I am the last besides me there is no God
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going down to Isaiah 44 8 do not fear nor be afraid have not I told you from
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that time and declared it you are my Witnesses is there a god besides me indeed there is no other Rock I know not
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one so God is making some absolute statements I'm the first I'm the last
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there's no one beside me there's no one before me there's no one after me so you can interpret it metaphorically or
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literally but if you're expecting to go to heaven and see here's God and here's another God beside sitting beside him no
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that's not going to happen he says I'm the only one if you claim to know another God you
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claim to know more than God knows in effect you're claiming to have um omniscience you're claiming to be God
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yourself in uh continuing on Isaiah 44 24 thus
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says the Lord your Redeemer and he who formed you from the womb notice our
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creator and Our Redeemer same God I am the Lord who makes all things who
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stretches out the heavens all alone who spreads abroad the Earth by myself
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so when God created us it wasn't a committee it wasn't an agent of God God said I did it all alone and I did it by
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myself Isaiah 40 let's see 45. verse five through six I am the Lord
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there is no other there is no God beside me I will gird you though you have not known me that they may know from the
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rising of the son to its City there's none beside me I am the Lord there is no other
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Isaiah 45 21-23 tell and bring forth your case yes
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let them take counsel together who has declared this from ancient time who has told it from that time have not I the lord and there is no other God besides
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me a just God and a savior there is none besides me look to me and be saved all
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you ends of the Earth for I am God there is no other I have sworn by myself the word has gone out of my mouth in
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righteousness and shall not return that to that to me every knee shall bow every
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tongue shall take an oath now if you know the New Testament Philippians 2 9-11 quotes that very
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statement and applies it to Jesus saying at the name of Jesus
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and the most uh perhaps the most widely used Greek
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Lexicon aren't Bauer Arnie gringrich says the implication says at the name of Jesus it says At The Mention of the name
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at the invocation of the name Jesus every knee will bow every tongue will
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confess and that will fulfill the prophecy that there's only one Lord who
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is Yahweh who is the savior now let's just follow me to this point
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I've got two points to make from these statements first of all notice the
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absolute numerical Oneness or Singularity of God many people will say well God is one
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sure but one it was an elastic term in Hebrew and in English it can mean metaphorically one like this whole room
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is one we're all listening to one person we all have the same Spirit the same heart with the same purpose we are one
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in the spirit is that all God really means now I could say We Are One
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I could say brother wheeler and I are one but I'm not going to say there's no one before me no one after me
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no one beside me that goes beyond
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Unity that goes beyond metaphorical Oneness that is absolute
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numerical Singularity or Oneness if God really wanted to say more than just
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Unity is there any stronger language you could have used he's using the strongest
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possible language to say if you think there are multiple personalities or Wills or beings or Spirits or persons
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that's not what I'm talking about I'm saying alone and by myself
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so all I could say we are one here I'm not going to say I'm alone and I'm by myself
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and actually Isaiah 46 if you go a little bit further verse 5
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to whom will you liken me and make me equal and compare me that we should be alike Isaiah 45 9 remember the former
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things of all for I am God there's no other I am God and there is none like me so he's excluding this idea of we could
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be similar we could be in agreement no there's nobody that's even like me I'm
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unique so that's my first point God is absolutely one in the strongest possible
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language that humans could think of and use the second point is when you fast
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forward to the New Testament you find that you've got to make a very important decision
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because the New Testament takes these very certain same terms that are usually
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uniquely of the god of the Old Testament Yahweh Jehovah and applies them directly
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to the Lord Jesus Christ so Yahweh says I'm the first I'm the last
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I'm the Creator I'm the Redeemer I'm the only savior
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the New Testament says Jesus is the first and the last Jesus is the creator Jesus is the Redeemer Jesus is the
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savior not only that but you can just go through the Old Testament Jehovah is the king the Lord the judge
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the Good Shepherd you can go on and on Jesus is the king
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the Lord the judge the Good Shepherd so what you'll find the only way to
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harmonize the two Testaments is this to say this the god of the Old Testament
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has been revealed in the flesh as the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament
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let me give you an illustration so let's say I think I'm pretty good friends with Howard wheeler end up he seems to be a
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fairly prosperous well-to-do sort of person so let's say I get really uh
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really envious and I steal a thousand dollars from him well then I come to church I feel really
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bad about that I Repent I confess and so I go to brother Aussie and say you know I really should have done that here's
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this thousand dollars it's not right for me to have it would you please take it and would you forgive me and of course brother Aussie is fine to take the money
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and forgive me
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right brother wheeler there's something wrong with that picture
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if I am truly repentant I must make restoration
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and restitution and I must repent and apologize to the one against whom I've sinned
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so we humans sinned against our heavenly father our creator the one who gave the
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law to Moses on Mount Sinai we've all sinned against the one God
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so here we come in the New Testament up to Jesus and say Jesus please forgive me of my sins
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by what Authority can Jesus forgive us of our sins the only way he has that Authority if he
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is in fact the one true God of the Old Testament reveal In the Flesh then and
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only then does he have authority to take away my sins praise God
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all right so that leads us to a discussion well what about this Jesus and what about
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Father Son and Holy Spirit now these are scriptural terms they're not prominent
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in the Old Testament but they come to prominence in the New Testament especially the terms Father and Son but
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remember we can't look at those terms from the 21st century or even the 4th Century let's look at what they must
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have meant in the first century now in the Old Testament God Is Spoken of as a father it's not a prominent term
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but um Deuteronomy 32 6 he's spoken of as the father of the nation of Israel
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because he called him out and made them a nation Malachi 2 10 have we not all one father has not one God created us
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all so God is our father in creation Hebrews 12 9 is the father of spirits so
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in a general sense God is the father of the whole human race because he created us and gave us life we can also say in a
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special sense in the New Testament God is the father of the born who became Believers by the new birth he becomes Our Father into personal sins and of
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course uniquely and prominently God Is Spoken of as the father in relationship to Jesus Christ the child that was born
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of the Virgin Mary God is the father in that context of Father and Son father
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emphasizes the Transcendence of God and the authentic Humanity of Jesus Christ
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so that father son terminology is especially prominent in the New Testament to establish as I just said
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the Transcendence of the one God and the true authentic human identity of Jesus
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Christ the son of God but fundamentally father is a term of relationship
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so I've got three kids they're all grown and married they're serving God they're involved in Ministry thank God for that
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but 37 years ago when my first son was born
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I wasn't a father and then suddenly I became a father now I did not become a new person I did
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not split into two personalities I was the same person after he was born as I was before he was born
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so why did I suddenly become a father it's a term of relationship
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I entered a new relationship so when we say God the Father we are not speaking
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of a different person or being than Jehovah we are speaking of Yahweh himself in
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relationship to someone other than he now when we use the term Holy Spirit for
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fundamentally God is a spirit he's not a flesh and blood
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and if so if you look at his non-moral nature or his identity material versus spiritual he's
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Spirit when you look at his moral nature fundamentally God is Holy
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holy meaning other than us Transcendent perfect pure sinless
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well you might say well God is love well that's absolutely true but in a logical sense his Holiness is the foundation of
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his love not his love being the foundation of his Holiness he's both simultaneously but
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Holiness is the foundation why do I say that well does God love the devil does God
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love sin no God does not love sins because God is holy so you start with Holiness if you
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wanted to describe God both his moral and non-moral nature you would say he is the holy spirit
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indeed anybody or anyone that's going to be holy they're only holy in
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relationship to him he alone is Holy in and of himself in other words holy spirit is simply God
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and you find throughout the Old Testament spirit of God Holy Spirit King James
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will use Holy Ghost equivalent term spirit ghost translated English same Hebrew and
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Greek words no difference there well you might say well why do we even need that term if if that's just the one true God
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how come this term is used well look at the very first mention of God's spirit so you have Genesis 1 1 in the beginning
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God created the heavens and the Earth verse 2. and the Earth's form was void
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formless boy darkness is upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved
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on the face of the waters God in action the term Holy Spirit or spirit of God is
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used for God's spiritual presence and spiritual action so if I were to say God the father is
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here today while that's true you might look around say okay where is he
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but if I say the holy spirit is here today you immediately understand I'm not talking about some kind of visible
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appearance I'm talking about the Invisible Presence and action of God so
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that's why we talk about being filled with the spirit being baptized in the spirit anointed by the spirit Spirit
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poured out Spirit moving Spirit acting these are all God in action
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now what about the Son of God by the way the Bible never one time says God the son as if the term son were intrinsic to
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deity it never one time says the Eternal son as if the term son related to
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Eternal God but it's always the Son of God the only begotten or unique Son of God let's take a look Luke 1 35 gives us
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a scriptural definition once again we're not looking to the Creeds or the councils or to Modern theology for a
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definition let's look to the Bible itself for the definition so Luke 1 35
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and this is the Angel Gabriel is speaking to Mary the mother of Jesus
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before to to prophesy that Jesus would be conceived of her Luke 1 35 the angel
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answered and said to her the holy spirit will come upon you and the power of the
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highest will overshadow you therefore also that Holy one who is to be born will be
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called the son of God you know that old saying if you see the word therefore you always want to know
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what it's there for uh it's it's a term of causation
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so the spirit is going to overshadow you therefore
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that child would be called The Son of God so why is Jesus called the Son of God not because that's a name of an
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eternal second person called son but because Jesus was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit it was an invisible
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miracle but notice just just like my son is called my son because I cause conception
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and no other human male so Jesus is called God's son because Joseph did not
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cause the conception no human male caused the conception but a miracle by the invisible active presence of God
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caused Mary to conceive therefore he's the son of God it's not a term from
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eternity but it's a term of the Incarnation so let me explain when you see the term Son of God as used of Jesus
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Christ it's referring to the fact that he's begotten of the Virgin Mary by the
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power of God's spirit it always has reference to the Incarnation it always
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has reference to time rather than eternity so Galatians 4 4 says when the
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fullness of the time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under
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the law not an eternal son not an eternal mother not eternity past but made of the woman
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Mary during the time of the law now some may quickly jump to a conclusion which
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is erroneous that I'm saying well when you say father that's God as Spirit when you say son that's just the flesh I'm
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not saying that I'm saying the son is God as he is manifested in flesh
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the Son of God Jesus one person total person he's both God and me at the same time
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but that term son is always used in relationship to the Incarnation for example Mark chapter 2 there was a
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paralyzed man and people brought him to Jesus Jesus healed him and he he's you
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know the you know the Skeptics there were shocked that Jesus could take authority he said I forgive your sins
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and of course they're saying who who's he that he can have power to forgive sins it was a legitimate question because only God is the savior so if you
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follow the implications that Jesus is making a very radical claim but he says well so you'll know that the
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son of man has power on Earth to forgive sins take up your bed and walk and so he healed it that's the kind of authority I
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have the son of man has power on Earth to forgive sins am I saying because Jesus
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is a man he had power to forgive sense no I'm saying he's God but they weren't praying to God invisibly in heaven they
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were looking at Jesus standing before them and as a human being standing before him he said your sins are
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forgiven and I heal you so in other words it was God as he was manifested in
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the flesh standing before them that he exercised the authority to forgive sins
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so when Hebrews 1 says to the son your throne oh God is forever and ever we're
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not denying the deed of the son we're saying that's referring to God as manifested in the flesh not God apart
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from the Incarnation so to give a little summary when we say the father God the father is a perfectly
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scriptural term we're speaking of God in relationship to us and especially the man Christ
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Jesus when we say son we're saying God as he is manifesting the flesh when we say holy spirit we're speaking of God in
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spiritual action but we're not actually talking about three different personalities Wills Minds beings centers
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of consciousness we're talking about one God as Deuteronomy 6 4 says for example
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when Jesus prayed he said our father Who Art in Heaven speaking as a human
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being like us and teaching us and giving an example to us as a human he related to God
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and so he said our father relationship but when the Bible speaks of the conception of Jesus it doesn't say the
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father it says the Holy Spirit now if father and Spirit Well actually two different beings you would have a
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conundrum because the one who causes conception by definition of words is father so is the Holy Spirit the father
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of Jesus or is the Father the father of Jesus but when you realize it's talking about one God
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in relationship Jesus says our father in
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miraculous power in the life of Jesus the Holy Spirit but the same God
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so we find that these terms another example would be this I I've explained the Son of God in the literal sense we
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referred the conception but throughout scripture the term son of is often used
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in a metaphorical sense meaning to Bear the nature or likeness of sons of
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thunder sons of consolation or Comfort sons of the devil those are all medical
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metaphorical uses so we are Sons and Daughters of God not literally by conception but by our new nature
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so or we're creating the image of God so in a limited sense we're Sons and Daughters of God by creation in a
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greater sense hopefully we're Sons and Daughters of God by New Birth we bear his nature and likeness but none of us
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would say we are the perfect Son of God right but the Bible says Jesus is the only
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begotten Son of God in the Greek text it's the connotation is literally the
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unique One of a Kind nobody like him Son of God but wait a minute
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if Jesus is perfectly like God he displays the perfect character of God
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pure love of God he exercises the power of God over the forces of nature
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creative power to feed five thousand power over demons power over sickness
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power to raise the dead not by invoking another deity or another name but just
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by his own authority he exercised the very power and authority of God himself in an unlimited
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way in other words Jesus is exactly the same as God
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Jesus in flesh is identical to God in spirit
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but according to Isaiah 46 nobody is God's equal nobody is like God
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for someone to be the unique only begotten perfect one-of-a-kind Son of
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God God doesn't beget little gods that means he is God
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revealed in the flesh so the terms Father Son and Holy Spirit refer to the one God
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again you might ask why are they really necessary well not because there's a mysterious threeness in God's Essence
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from eternity past but for the Plan of Salvation for sinful humans
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you see in order to redeem us there had to be the Son of God perfect
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human who never sinned who died in our place so we couldn't be redeemed God is a
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spirit and so the uniqueness is this To Be Our Redeemer to be our savior
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that Redeemer had to be truly God because only God has authority to take away sins but the Redeemer had to be
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truly human because only a human being could be like us in every way take our place shed blood and die for us
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so the Redeemer had to be both God and human at the same time
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so Jesus had to come he had to be God manifested In the Flesh the son God had
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to come in flesh as the son of God in order to redeem us from our sins but in order
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for the son to be born no human could be the father of that son God had to be the father of the son
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and then that happened two thousand years ago but but for that Plan of Salvation to be applied personally to
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our lives today God has to come as the spirit so God is Father Son and Holy Spirit not
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because that represents an eternal threeness in the hidden nature of God but because God had to work in these
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three ways and manifest himself in these ways in order to save sinful humans from
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their sins now from that perspective I'm having to attack this from several angles at once
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but let's go to Colossians chapter 2. and verse 9. let's see if we can start
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putting this all together Colossians 2 9 well let's actually start with verse 8. Colossians 2 8-10
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beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to
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the tradition of men according to the basic principles of the world and not according to Christ for in him dwells
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all the fullness of the godhead bodily and you are completing him who is the head of all principality and Power so
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there's a warning King James says don't let anyone spoil you like spoiling a city New King James says cheat you well
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how could that happen philosophy and tradition and sad to say throughout much of church
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history the doctrine of God has been distorted by the imposition of Greek philosophy so
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instead of trying to explain the Oneness of God in Hebrew categories of the Old Testament if you try to explain the
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Oneness of God from Greek philosophical categories Greek philosophy go back to Plato God is
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remote inaccessible perfect hidden we humans our human world is imperfect
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the perfect world of ideas the imperfect world of matter God is at the apex of the world of ideas he can't be touched
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by us he can't condescend to us he can't feel anything he can't be changed he can't have emotions
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well if you start with that premise who's Jesus well Jesus can't be the supreme god
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because the supreme god could never go so low as to come in this evil world of matter the same supreme god couldn't
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have feelings couldn't suffer couldn't have emotions so it had to be an emanation from God
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well there is how you get off track through Greek philosophy that's a very rudimentary explanation I could give
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more later but that's what gets us off on the wrong track and then how do those kind of doctrines get perpetrated over
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the centuries tradition well this is what we're taught this is what our denomination teaches this is what the
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Creeds teaches what the councils teach is what the pope has said this is what my grandfather believed and so the
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combination of philosophy and tradition can easily lead us astray so if you want to go back to the
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unadulterated truth what is it verse 9 for in him him referring back to verse 6
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Christ Jesus the Lord for in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily
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bodily Jesus is a real human not just The Apparition or impression or
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temporary manifestation or theophany he's an actual human being Jesus was a
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true human in every way just like us except for sin which after all sin is a foreign element
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when God created Adam and Eve he did not create them in sin so Jesus is actually the perfect human he's actually the
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unflawed human he's he's more human than we are not less but everything that we have however you
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describe it mind soul Spirit body will all those terms are used about Jesus Christ
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because he had to be like us in every way except for sin in order to redeem us to take our place to pay the penalty for
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us which and there's a lot of things I don't have time to explain but if you wonder well
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why did Jesus talk to God and about God and say God was his father and all that doesn't that sound like he's another
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person actually it's saying he's a real human because Jesus had to be in our
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place so everything we could say to God and about God Jesus had to have that same capacity in order to be truly human
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the only thing he's he never sinned so he never needed to repent he never needed to be born again but as far as
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being able to talk to God and about God he had to have that same ability that we have to be fully human
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but he wasn't only human the godhead bodily notice the word godhead this
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particular Greek word is used here only in the New Testament the godhead means the sum total of who God is it's all of
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God's character nature attributes kind of like the the English word manhood
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being everything that makes a man so godhood or godhead everything that makes
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God who he is now if you think about it one of the qualities that we understand is essential to being God is he's
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perfect he's complete he needs nothing that means you can't add anything to God
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if you could he wouldn't be perfect it means you can't take away anything from God if you could he wouldn't be perfect
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so the godhead by definition is perfect indivisible can't be split up can't be
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subdivided so those two words there tell you who Jesus is the godhead bodily that means
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he can't be a secondary being he can't be an agent he can't be a an emanation
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he can't be a portion because God can't be split up he's the godhead bodily
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now if you go back to Greek philosophy the God has an abstract philosophical concept so multiple persons could be in
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the godhead but in the Hebrew text God is a personal being who feels loves acts hates sin
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relates to people as one-on-one and so the godhead is not an
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abstract and personal substance that persons could be in not an abstract and
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personal substance could be distributed among persons but the godhead is a personal being
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so is Jesus in the godhead is he one of multiple persons in an abstract philosophical construct or is the
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godhead in Jesus well actually the text says the godhead is in Jesus now if
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that's hard to understand notice this word fullness as I've explained it's really redundant because
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if you have the godhead that's completion Perfection but inspired by the Holy Spirit the Apostle Paul added
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the word fullness so if you do think of Jesus as somehow an agent a secondary
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being a second person a person that God had one of three or four multiple persons only perish the thought because
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in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead now
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but there's another word all well if you have fullness you have all that word is redundant
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but it's vital to understand the emphasis it's kind of like a carpenter
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pounding the nail and you just got to hit it one more time it's already in there but he's got to clench the nail
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I see the Apostle Paul in Jesus draws all Boom the fullness boom of the
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godhead boom it's there it won't come out it's beneath the wood
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I'm not a carpenter but I have a feeling somebody here is so I hope that worked
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so that's who Jesus is now people say well but Jesus prayed
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how could he pray If he if he's is he praying to himself no that's an improper
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way to say it because that's reducing him to us I think the simple answer is Jesus as a human prayed to God
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but at the same time remember God was in Christ well you say that's hard to understand well that is the mystery of the
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Incarnation First Timothy 3 16 great is the mystery of godliness God was manifest In the
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Flesh it's a mystery in the sense our finite human Minds will never fully comprehend how the infinite God could be
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a baby how could the infinite God be a child in the womb how could the
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infinite God be a baby in his mother's arm how could the infinite God be a child how could the infant God be a teenager
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how could the infinite God be our savior at the age of 33.
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but that's true we the Bible teaches it we believe it we confess it but it is a matter of faith I freely admit but no
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matter what your doctrine of God whether you believe in one person three person whatever that's still the same issue of
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understanding how God could come in human identity but the fact is he did
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and without that there is no Christian faith but it's not a conundrum to say
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when God Came In the Flesh as a true human that as a human he could pray actually it should be shocking if he
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didn't pray because if I told you Jesus is a real human and of course he grew weary of
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course he grew hungry of course he grew thirsty that's what it means to be human if I said Jesus was a righteous and holy
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man of course he prayed of course he submitted to the will of God that's what it means to be righteous and holy so the
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shocking thing would have been if Jesus never prayed but the fact that he prayed doesn't prove multiple persons in the God if it
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does it proves too much because it proves one person is inferior and the other person is superior
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therefore one person isn't really God because if God needs help if God is weak if God has to get somebody else's help
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he's not God so that would prove too much but what it proves is he was an
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authentic human being and as a human he prayed
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so I'm saying Jesus is the son of God that is a powerful confession because only of Jesus Jesus the son of God can
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he be our savior can he be a true human who takes away our sins but you can also say Jesus is God
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now does that sound shocking can you say both at the same time can it has to be one of the other right can it be both
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what about the prophecy Isaiah 9 6 unto us a child is born unto us a son is
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given the government shall be upon his shoulder his name Shall be Called wonderful counselor the Mighty God
49:48
the Everlasting father the child and son is more than a child and son he's also
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the Mighty God the Everlasting father yes you can say both
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look at the plan of the Tabernacle is recorded in Hebrews so the high priest comes to offer the
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sacrifice in typology who's the high priest Jesus the high priest comes with
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the lamb as the sacrifice who's the lamb Jesus he comes into the holy place
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there's the table of the Holy bread who's the bread of life he comes to the the Candlestick or the
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lamb stand who's the light of the world Jesus he goes behind the veil Hebrews
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says the veil is the Flesh of Jesus he comes to the holy
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of holies he comes to The Mercy Seat who's The Mercy Seat Jesus he sprinkles the blood on the
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mercy seed whose blood is sprinkled for us Jesus he approaches the Throne of God
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that that that represents God's glory on Earth God she kind of the glory of God
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Hebrews excuse me second Corinthians 4 6 says the glory of God is revealed in the
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face of Jesus Christ so yes the whole Tabernacle
51:07
plan everywhere you turn is Jesus yes you can say Jesus is Lord and God
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I'll just give you scripture first Timothy 3 16 I mentioned God was manifesting the flesh Titus 2 13 we're
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looking for the appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ second
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Corinthians 4 4 Christ is the image of God and then I also mentioned 4 6 the
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glory of God is revealed in the face of Jesus Christ Colossians 1 15 he is the
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image of the invisible God so on and on the climactic moment John
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chapter 20 and really this is the climax of the entire Gospel of John all of John
51:52
is written with it's different from the other gospels it's telling different signs to show the identity of Jesus
51:58
Christ as you read it's kind of like the disciples you go through this day what kind of man could do this what kind of
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man could feed the 5 000 do a miracle like that and then say he's the bread of life what kind of man and he could raise
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Lazarus of the dead and so you're saying what kind of man could do this but then
52:17
he gets killed well whatever he was it's all over but then he appears to his disciples Thomas wasn't there so he
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didn't believe he says lest I touch him for myself unless I see those nail scars I'm not going to believe that so Jesus
52:30
appears again this time Thomas is present Jesus says okay Thomas come touch me come help me and see
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and what does Thomas say John 20 28 my Lord and my God
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he is a Jew hear o Israel the Lord our God is one Lord
52:51
Thomas makes the same Journey as the other Apostles and really the reader of the Gospel of John is supposed to make
52:56
the same Journey when you get to that point you're supposed to make the same confession now I see it's incredible it's
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impossible it can't be but if you could raise yourself from the dead
53:08
you're not just a human you are God and Jesus said Thomas you're blessed
53:15
because you see it and believe but blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe
53:21
that's us we've never seen Jesus in the flesh but we make the same confession you are my Lord and my God Amen or the
53:31
Greek construction the Lord of me the god of me not just a Lord and a God but
53:37
the Lord and the God and so John finishes out his letter there's a
53:42
chapter of epilogue but the climax he said I wrote all these things that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ
53:48
the Messiah the Son of God and here he means more than just a man
53:53
he means what I've already shared with you God manifested in that believing you might have life
54:00
through his name now I'm running close on time so I'll try to
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manage this carefully but first Timothy 2 5 there is one God that's the same
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teaching as the Old Testament and one mediator between God and man
54:17
the man Christ Jesus if you can understand this you could understand the New Testament teaching of God
54:24
the man Christ Jesus according to the flesh Jesus is our mediator go between
54:29
who can reconciles us not as if one person reconciling us to another person
54:36
but in the terms of Colossians 5 19 to wit that God was in Christ reconciling
54:44
the world unto himself so Jesus is literally God and human at
54:51
the same time so in his own person he reunites deity
54:56
and Humanity sinful humans were separated from the holy God it was a gulf that no one could Bridge
55:03
because God could not become sinful we could not become holy but what nobody could do God did by coming in the flesh
55:11
as Jesus Christ the son of God and as a holy sinless human he was able to
55:17
restore fellowship with God if we believe on him and obey his gospel then through Jesus we're restored to
55:23
fellowship with God not as another person but God was in Christ reconciling
55:29
the world unto himself let me give you a thought experiment to show what I'm talking about if you say this verse means here's God over here here's Jesus
55:35
over here they're two different persons and they're both equal they're both God they're both holy they're both Divine
55:42
well you got a problem we sinful humans are separated from the first person by our sins right
55:48
well the second person couldn't become the mediator we would be just as separated from the second person because he's just as holy
55:54
we'd need yet another mediator to restore us to the second person so that he could in turn resource of the first
56:00
person but that's not what's going on the mediator is not a second Divine person
56:05
the mediator as the text says the man Christ Jesus looking at Jesus as a human
56:13
he was the mediator for our sins okay let me hasten to summarize in John
56:19
14 shortly before Jesus was to die and rise again and Ascend to heaven
56:25
he talks to his disciples he's trying to help them put this all together you know they've seen so much but it's hard to
56:32
grasp it's hard to fully comprehend and so Jesus says in John 14 7 if you'd
56:38
know me you would have known my father also and from now on you know him you've seen him you've seen the father
56:45
well Philip I think he's speaking for the other disciples and for all of us he says Lord show us the father it's
56:52
sufficient for us Lord you're talking about we've seen the father we haven't seen the father if you'll actually show
56:58
us the father one time then we'll be satisfied so let's do another thought experiment let's say
57:04
today we all go up to heaven we all agree we're going to see Jesus right so we say praise the Lord good to see
57:11
you Jesus we love you thank you we appreciate you you're worshiping him and after a few hours somebody says well
57:17
Jesus has been really good to see you but can you take me to your father
57:22
what would Jesus have to tell you his word is forever settled in heaven he can't change what he says
57:29
here's what he told Philip verse 9 Jesus said to him have I been so long with you so long and yet you have
57:36
not known me Philip he who has seen me has seen the father so how can you say
57:43
show us the father do you not believe that I am in the Father the father and me the words that I speak to you I do not speak of my own authority but the
57:50
father who dwells in me does the works believe me that I'm in the father of the
57:55
father and me or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves so he's saying now Philip think about
58:01
this you know God is a spirit John 4 24. you know God is invisible John 1 18. you
58:07
know human eyes can never see the father as an invisible spirit you can only see the father if he works
58:15
in some way he manifests himself in some tangible visible way to human senses so
58:20
think about you saw me forgive sins and you know only God forgives sins you saw me raise
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the dead by my own authority you saw me calm the forces of nature by Moana you saw me multiply food for five thousand
58:31
you saw me turn water into wine you saw me rebuke evil spirits you see me do all these things that only
58:39
God could do so if you can't believe what I'm saying believe the works
58:46
when you see me you're seeing God in the only way human eyes could see God
58:53
because the father dwells in me now some people say again Union you know
59:00
John 10 30 Jesus said I and my father are one speaking to some Jewish leaders
59:05
he said I this man you're talking to and the father you Worship in heaven you think there too you see no connection
59:10
but I and the father not too I and the father are one in the same he's speaking more than Unity of persons
59:18
he's speaking of identity you've seen the father some people say well you know after all Genesis says
59:24
husband and wife were one flesh yes that's a metaphorical use but we know there's two persons prior to that
59:30
so I'm married I have a wife she wanted to be here but she couldn't be here today
59:36
so I'm one with her in spirit but I can't say if you've seen me you've seen my wife
59:42
no way and there's probably no husband here
59:49
although it might be more true than we like to admit but we will never say the words I speak to you I speak not about
59:56
my own authority but my wife who dwells in me she does the words [Applause]
1:00:04
it could be true but we will never confess it
1:00:13
he's speaking of more than Unity of another person he's speaking of identity
1:00:19
now if you want to carry it on verse 16 Jesus speaks somewhat metaphorically
1:00:26
somewhat you know parabolically I will pray the father he will give you another
1:00:31
helper King James comforter here in New King said another helper helper that he
1:00:37
may abide with you forever if you just stop there and say wait a minute okay now we have somebody different
1:00:43
in verse 17 the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot see receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you
1:00:51
know him for he dwells with you and shall be in you here we go again
1:00:57
you already know him well who did they know Jesus
1:01:03
so he's saying not another person but another form
1:01:09
he dwells with you in flesh the difference is he will be in you
1:01:15
in spirit but it's the same one you already know what the reason why he's used that
1:01:22
language he's trying to prepare them so when Peter's mother-in-law was sick what they do call Jesus he goes and
1:01:29
speaks to her heals her the disciples are arguing they go to Jesus he solves their quarrel
1:01:35
he's trying to say look in the future when you're sick you won't run to find where's Jesus is he in Jerusalem or is
1:01:41
he in Judea you know is he in Bethlehem where is he because the spirit will be in you so
1:01:48
wherever you go across the world you won't need to go find me in the flesh you will have me in the spirit within
1:01:55
you so another comforter another helper
1:02:00
who's really not another person but the same one you already know but a different form
1:02:05
in spirit not flesh a different relationship in you not merely with you
1:02:13
and to put all doubt to rest verse 18. now I'll read it first in the King James I will not leave you comfortless I will
1:02:21
come to you so now he's saying I'm the one and King James they use comfortless because they're trying to show the
1:02:26
connection between the proceeding the comforter and he's going to be the comforter but actually the Greek text here is
1:02:33
orphanos which the new King James translates rightly I will not leave you orphans
1:02:41
I will come to you so not only is Jesus plainly saying I am
1:02:46
that comforter that helper that I just told you about but if he's not going to leave us as orphans what does that mean
1:02:52
he is to us father son and spirit
1:02:59
when you receive the Holy Spirit you receive one Spirit not three
1:03:04
but you receive The Same Spirit that created the universe as our father
1:03:10
The Same Spirit that dwelt in Jesus and caused him to be humble and obedient
1:03:16
you receive the Holy Spirit but you don't identify three Spirits in your heart when we pray we feel God's presence we
1:03:22
don't say well the father is over here the son is in the middle of the holy spirit's over here or that was the father yesterday it's the son today in
1:03:29
the spirit tomorrow no it's one Spirit when you receive the Holy Spirit you have both father and son
1:03:36
at the same time now let's wrap it all up am I really saying Jesus is the visible image of the
1:03:43
invisible God when you go to Revelation chapter 22 the very last chapter of the Bible it's speaking of the Eternal state
1:03:51
and there's going to be one throne in heaven and there's going to be one on the throne revelation 22 3-4
1:03:58
it says it'll be the Throne of God and of the Lamb and his servants Shall Serve him so
1:04:07
somehow God and the lamb is one personal being who is The
1:04:13
Sovereign of the universe and the sacrifice for sin at the same time it can only be Jesus his servant Shall
1:04:20
Serve him and his they shall see his face I've already quoted several times
1:04:26
but who's the face of God who's the image of the invisible God Jesus and his
1:04:32
name shall be in their foreheads of all the names and titles of God what is the Supreme name I I said in the
1:04:39
Old Testament Yahweh but the name Jesus literally means Yahweh savior so it doesn't abolish the
1:04:48
name Yahweh it incorporates the name Yahweh but adds to it the greatest revelation of all the god of the Old
1:04:54
Testament has become my personal savior in Jesus Christ and that's why his name
1:05:01
is the name above all names Philippians 2 9-11 and neither is there salvation
1:05:08
any other acts 4 12 for there's none other name under Heaven given among men
1:05:13
whereby we must be saved when we go to heaven I'm convinced we
1:05:20
will see one Divine throne and one visible being on the Divine Throne will
1:05:25
recognize him as the Lord Jesus Christ even as Thomas did but will know him as our father
1:05:32
and will feel the same presence of the Holy Spirit we will identify and recognize the
1:05:39
father Son and Holy Spirit in the face of Jesus Christ
1:05:45
and if you're not sure you believe all that we'll study it out but I will tell you this Colossians 2 9 in him dwells
1:05:52
all the fullness of the godhead bodily 210 you are complete in him who is the head of all principality and
1:05:58
power if you didn't understand or agree with everything I said but one thing if all you know is Jesus
1:06:05
if you can say Jesus is Lord and Savior Son of God God manifests in flesh you
1:06:11
know what you know enough to repent of your sins you would know enough to get baptized in the name of Jesus Christ you would know
1:06:17
enough to open your heart and be filled with the Holy Spirit you would know enough to be healed
1:06:23
you would know enough to have demons cast out if all you know is Jesus you will know enough to receive what God
1:06:30
has for you today can we just give God the praise and glory right now amen
1:06:41
praise God praise God amen so let's take some questions some of us
1:06:48
have mics also so we might chime in with you but director question let's take let's start with maybe four questions
1:06:54
we'll see how that goes anybody want to ask a question I know there's a lot of comments uh hold your comments until
1:07:00
after we've had four questions go ahead please um my only question is uh and not as a
1:07:07
point of contention but thinking back to um don't worry about contention we're discussions awesome
1:07:15
um I'm just curious what it means then uh prior to Jesus's physical arriving on
1:07:20
the earth and I know that God exists outside of time yes
1:07:27
um but he says uh let us make him man in our image according to our likeness was
1:07:34
he referring to this relationship that had yet to happen in our timeline or is this uh simply referring to uh the host
1:07:42
with him in heaven sure well that's Genesis 1 26 let us make man in our
1:07:49
image after our likeness God's speaking so let's say what it doesn't mean and
1:07:54
then we'll try to figure out what it does mean it doesn't mean a council of co-creators because
1:07:59
Isaiah 44 24 I created everything alone and by myself
1:08:05
and in fact the very next verse Genesis 1 27 reverts to the singular so God
1:08:10
created man in his own image male and female he created them
1:08:17
so both the context and the broader Biblical context would exclude the idea
1:08:23
of multiple creators so we're left with this question well then why is God using
1:08:28
the plural for himself I asked this to a Jewish rabbi in Jerusalem one time he's the he was the president of a Yeshua you
1:08:36
know a school and of course the classic Jewish explanation is what you've alluded to that God was addressing to
1:08:41
angels we do know the Angels were present at creation according to job what is it 38 7 the sons of God shouted
1:08:49
clapped their hands for Joy at the creation and so not that the Angels were co-creators but God respecting them as
1:08:55
his servants shared his plans with them and they were
1:09:01
the angels are likewise moral beings with rationality Will intelligence that
1:09:07
they too would be likewise in the image of God in that regard so that's probably the simplest explanation another simple
1:09:14
explanation is Ephesians 1 11 says God works all things together after the
1:09:19
Council of his own will so think about it this way in English I
1:09:24
can sit down in the morning and say let's see what am I going to do today let's see let us see am I speaking to
1:09:32
another personality no I'm it's a deliberation so it could be that in creation God
1:09:38
bespoke the universe in existence he spoke the son he spoke the plants spoke when it comes to humans he slows down
1:09:46
and he Fashions them and he breathes into them so could it be let us as
1:09:52
deliberation saying the creation of humans is Not an Accident an afterthought just to throw away line it
1:09:59
shows God's Supreme intentionality and deliberation let us very intentionally thoughtfully
1:10:07
carefully with full implications this is what I'm going to do now there
1:10:13
is one final thing that I think perhaps you alluded to is that it could be
1:10:18
you know when God created us I think he knew the future he stands above and outside time he knew humans would sin so
1:10:24
there's a real question why would God even create humans knowing they're going to sin and they're going to break the
1:10:29
fellowship for which he created them because in First Peter 1 says the lamb was for
1:10:36
ordained from the foundation of the world from the very beginning God knew I'm going to have a Plan of Salvation I will
1:10:43
come in flesh as the Son of God to fulfill my purpose so could it be a prophetic utterance God looking down
1:10:49
through time and Romans 5 alludes to this Adam was created in the image of him who was to come could it be God's
1:10:57
looking down saying I'm going to create right now but it's not going to get finished right now
1:11:03
unfortunately however I see that baby to be born I see that
1:11:09
son to give his life I see that Messianic King who would defeat the Devil
1:11:15
let us make men so I think it very well could be a prophetic utterance so I've given you several options I'm not saying
1:11:22
that I have the absolute Authority on one of them but it would exclude the idea that there is a
1:11:29
co-creator as a different person absolutely thank you so just just to add
1:11:34
to that I love your answer but you look at Proverbs 8 and if if you look at it
1:11:40
in light of what he's just read from Isaiah 43 and 44 Proverbs 8
1:11:46
um many times in the scripture it's the Bible will use personal pronouns to
1:11:51
refer to attributes of God so in Proverbs 8 you have wisdom being spoken
1:11:57
of both as a he and a she but we don't actually infer that there are two
1:12:03
persons in heaven called a he and a she that refer to wisdom so wisdom it says
1:12:08
wisdom when wisdom is actually taking the first person narrative it's wisdom says I was a master Craftsman at his
1:12:16
right hand when he made the world so this doesn't you can't impute to this
1:12:22
another person but you have to allow that God can refer to God can use plural
1:12:28
prone nouns even to refer to himself and one of his attributes Paul uses this when he says no one knows
1:12:36
the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man that is in
1:12:41
him so you're one man but Paul suggests Paul uses language that says that your
1:12:47
spirit knows your thoughts if that doesn't require a duality of personality
1:12:54
personality or persons in you than in their view it wouldn't for God either what's the next question
1:13:01
yes we'll take this one right here ma'am
1:13:13
I must say that you just shattered all my theological understanding of the Trinity I'm an engineer not a theologian
1:13:20
I want to thank you I've got lots to do the question is this uh I think in
1:13:26
Colossians 1 he says Colossians 1 3 he said we always thank God the father of our Lord Jesus Christ
1:13:33
yes and then in Ephesians 3 1 he says uh seek the things that are above where
1:13:39
Christ is seated at the right hand of God so I'm just a little these are very
1:13:46
actually I would say there are two questions they're both very good and worthy of elaboration so let me give it
1:13:51
a shot see what I can do first of all in the Epistles the letters you commonly have a reference a Grace and peace from
1:13:58
God our father in the Lord Jesus Christ I don't think that's talking about persons if it were if you're going from
1:14:04
the fourth and fifth centuries Looking Backward you say where's the third person you mean you have to know two of
1:14:09
the three persons but not the third one you mean salvation comes from two of the three so I don't think that's the right
1:14:16
way to look at it but coming from the Old Testament the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles influenced by
1:14:22
Judaism they believed in one God but Paul wants to emphasize you're saved
1:14:28
because of the one true God obviously all salvation from God but just believing in the one true God is
1:14:34
necessary but not sufficient you must also specifically believe and you must
1:14:39
receive salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ so there's this emphasis on Grace
1:14:45
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
1:14:51
You Must Believe not only in the one true God you must believe in his Plan of
1:14:56
Salvation through Jesus Christ Our Lord that dual emphasis is very important and
1:15:01
actually it goes back to Numbers chapter six when the priests were to call if you
1:15:07
read it carefully around what verse 22 of number six the priests were to put
1:15:12
the name of Yahweh over the people and they would they would say may Yahweh
1:15:19
be with you may his grace be with you may his peace be with you may his face
1:15:24
shine upon you I think Paul is using a New Covenant reference
1:15:30
but now he's saying grace and peace the Old Testament your language you're expecting come from Yahweh but he says
1:15:37
in the New Testament Grace and peace come from God our father in the word Jesus Christ Yahweh as revealed in Jesus
1:15:45
and then when the Bible says of Jesus the father of our Lord Jesus Christ just like the Old Testament says the god of
1:15:52
Abraham that's to say the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob you're in Covenant you are the descendants of Abraham and Isaac and
1:15:58
Jacob you're you're in Covenant with the they're God and so therefore you have access to the same God well in the New
1:16:05
Testament more than the god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the god of Jesus Christ
1:16:10
you are in Covenant relationship with God through Jesus Christ so that's the first part of your
1:16:16
question the second one Jesus at the right hand of God now God is an invisible Spirit John 4 24
1:16:23
the spirit is omnipresent right Psalm 139 if you go to the highest Heaven God
1:16:28
is there if you go to the place of the Dead you make your bed in hell God is there where could you go
1:16:34
to flee the presence of the Lord if you go to Mars you could pray and God will still be
1:16:40
there you can't get outside the presence of God in the sense of God's on my present
1:16:46
Spirit okay so to speak of the right hand of God is
1:16:51
not a physical location it is speaking of relationship a
1:16:57
specific kind of metaphorical expression so in the Hebrew of the Old Testament as
1:17:03
well as the Greek of the New Testament even the English when we say I write that this person is
1:17:08
my right hand man that's the person of power and authority because ninety percent of humans are
1:17:14
right-handed and so we naturally for that 90 percent if you try to throw with
1:17:19
your right hand versus your left hand or right with your right hand versus your left hand and of course if you're left-handed just do the same thing
1:17:25
opposite it's a metaphor of power and authority so to say Jesus is the right hand of God
1:17:32
is not a physical positioning of two bodies but what it's saying is that human Jesus that you saw on Earth might
1:17:38
have looked like an ordinary man but he's now exalted to the highest heaven with the power and authority of God
1:17:45
so for example and there are many examples in the Old Testament um uh Exodus 15 6 when Miriam and the
1:17:54
Israelites are worshiping God because he delivered them through the Red Sea thy
1:17:59
right hand o God is glorious in power your right hand destroyed the enemy well
1:18:05
did a giant right hand come out and scoop up the Israelites and drown the Egyptians no it's metaphorical Matthew
1:18:12
26 64 Jesus is on trial before the Sanhedrin Court the high priest and
1:18:20
they're mocking him ridiculing him and he says you know you just see me now as
1:18:25
a man but Matthew 26 64 in the future you'll see the son of man coming in the
1:18:32
clouds at the right hand of power were they going to see two physical
1:18:37
bodies in the clouds and Jesus is on on the right hand well then depending on whether you're in America or Africa you
1:18:45
know which way he's facing is he on the right hand side or the left-hand side or the front or the back it's going to be
1:18:52
very confusing he's not talking about a physical position he's saying you're seeing me as a humble
1:18:57
man that you can shackle that you can beat you can kill but one day
1:19:03
you're going to see me at the right hand of power and then I'll give you another example and that's the stoning of see Stephen
1:19:10
because in if you read in Acts chapter 6 and 7 you know G Stephen is being stoned
1:19:19
and the Bible says he says I see the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of
1:19:25
God he didn't see well one question is if there are three up there why didn't you
1:19:30
see three but I don't think he saw two personal beings because he said the
1:19:36
glory of God the only being he saw was Jesus when he said Jesus standing at the
1:19:42
right hand of God I think he saw Jesus Christ in a position of greeting him but Jesus
1:19:47
Christ with all power and authority with the glory of God so it's like this while on Earth that
1:19:53
the Lord's Supper you know Jesus is saying one of you is going to betray me and John who is his close friend leaning
1:20:00
our ex leaning next to him so who is it who is it they just saw John as an ordinary man I mean Jesus is a normal
1:20:06
man but that same John who's his close friend who can lean up against his breasts and say who is it Lord tell me
1:20:12
and everybody else saying John you're his best friend you act you ask him but in Revelation when Jesus when John
1:20:20
saw the glorified Christ he fell down his feet as if he were dead what's the deal John you knew him for
1:20:26
three years he saw the glorified Christ in his power that's who he really is he
1:20:33
saw him at the right hand of God so I think Stephen said I see Jesus I see
1:20:38
Glory the glory of God and right in the middle of that Glory Cloud I see Jesus standing at the right
1:20:45
hand of God the glorified Christ with all power and authority is waiting to meet me
1:20:51
now if he saw two it's really strange because at the very end he says he
1:20:57
he ignored the other one he just says Lord Jesus receive my spirit he
1:21:02
obviously saw one and he prayed to that one the Lord Jesus Christ so the Bible
1:21:08
frequently says Jesus is at the right hand of God that's a way of reminding us he is our champion he is our King he is
1:21:15
human just like we he die he was humiliated he suffered he but he rose again and now he's taken all authority
1:21:22
God has given that Visible man Jesus your king your Champion he's given him
1:21:28
the highest position of Heaven at the right hand of God praise God
1:21:35
a place of inheritance place of inheritance yes yeah the ancient Kings would have their successor Kings sit at
1:21:43
their right hand and that was signifying that he was going to inherit all the
1:21:49
power of of the one who went before him so in his glorification
1:21:54
yes ma'am let's go with this sister right here hi uh I just wanted to ask so then how do we pray we do have the
1:22:01
Lord's Prayer and it's addressed to God our Father and we wrap it up with you know submitting everything in the name
1:22:07
of the Lord Jesus so then what would be the right way to pray then well let me
1:22:13
say the way I've just described it we do believe God is Father Son and Holy Spirit we just don't believe those are
1:22:18
three different persons I remember one time that I was there was a I was in the
1:22:23
audience in a well-known speaker was speaking and someone said uh how should we pray do we need to give
1:22:31
equal time to the father Son and Holy Spirit and so this respected theologians said
1:22:38
well there's no jealousy in the godhead so it doesn't matter you don't have to split your time equally
1:22:44
which I did not really think that was the best explanation uh
1:22:50
so here's what I think I think certainly Our Father Who Art in Heaven we can certainly pray heavenly father or
1:22:58
sometimes you might say holy spirit move in this place or king of kings and Lord of lords
1:23:03
Jehovah Lord of hosts you know there we can wax eloquent with all kinds of prayers but the New Testament does say to pray
1:23:10
in the name of Jesus so no matter how we address God we realize our prayers are
1:23:16
predicated on the fact not just that God created us and we're children by creation but he redeemed us he purchased
1:23:23
our healing and our salvation by his stripes were healed by his shed blood we
1:23:28
have the Forgiveness of our sins so no matter how we address god with any of the names and titles of God in scripture
1:23:34
I think are appropriate but we we always predicate our prayers on the fact that through our Lord Jesus
1:23:42
Christ or in the name of Jesus Christ ants we can just simply say Jesus as you
1:23:48
saw Stephen and there are other examples in the New Testament where people just address Jesus directly so I think we
1:23:55
have freedom to use all the names of title and titles of God in scripture in our prayer and certainly a typical
1:24:01
prayer of our beginning with our father and ending in the name of Jesus Christ is perfectly in order the good news is
1:24:08
we don't have to worry about how to divide them up because there's one God and he's receiving all our prayers
1:24:17
and he did say whatever you ask the father in my name so that's how we address the father okay
1:24:23
okay we can't take all of these let's let's let me take this question right here and then I'll go to you go ahead do
1:24:31
we have a mic here okay my question is it has to do with
1:24:36
three scriptures and how they're conjoined together so Jesus said I came not to do my own
1:24:46
will but the will of him who sent me and then in the garden he said let this
1:24:53
cup pass or me but nevertheless thy will be done and then another scripture says yet
1:25:01
learned he obedience through the things which he suffered now when I'm speaking
1:25:06
to is as the son of man in his Oneness
1:25:12
with his father which he said he was one uh how is it then
1:25:18
there could be a a difference in the desire let's say behind that will
1:25:26
to the father if they are absolutely one then why would there have to be a
1:25:32
learning of obedience to the one who is already perfect in human nature that's a great question and the answer
1:25:39
has to do with the true authentic human identity of Jesus Christ now I'll make
1:25:45
this historical comment whether you come from a trinitarian perspective or not you still have the same conundrum
1:25:51
so sometimes I've heard people say well see there's the will of the father and there's the will of the son there are
1:25:56
two Divine persons again that proves too much because if the godhead has two different Wills
1:26:03
it's not one God by any meaning even classical trinitarianism deals with this
1:26:09
at the Council of Constantinople in 680 they said Jesus had two Wills but one
1:26:14
person so the TR the classic trinitarian definition is Father Son and
1:26:19
Holy Spirit are three persons but they all share the same will they have to say that because if God has
1:26:24
two Wills now you don't have one God in any meaningful sense you got at least in theory God could fight with God and that
1:26:32
would be polytheism so so even from a trinitarian perspective you have to say the will of God is one and what's going
1:26:40
on here is not two Divine Wills but the Divine will and the human will
1:26:46
and while that is again that's kind of hard for our mind to grasp but notice that is not a mystery of how many gods
1:26:53
there are or how many persons of God it's a mystery of how Jesus would be God and human at the same time and everybody
1:26:59
faces that same challenge to understand the Incarnation because it's
1:27:04
unprecedented in human history it goes beyond any of our experiences so when we try to compare our experiences to that
1:27:10
we fall short I would also say no so there's two Wills
1:27:15
the Divine will and the human will however I think it's important to note
1:27:21
this these three passages you mentioned never show a conflict but they show the
1:27:26
human will submitting to the Divine will so Jesus did not did not have an
1:27:33
internal conflict of two different Wills fighting but he was speaking to common human
1:27:38
experiences of course we learned from that because sometimes our will is different from God's will but we learn
1:27:44
to follow the example of Jesus submitting the human will to God's Will and so I would say that here we have a a
1:27:53
very powerful depiction of how genuine Jesus was as a human he was real
1:28:00
authentic and like I mentioned here before anything that we could say in relation to God Jesus had to have that
1:28:06
same capacity so you and I can certainly pray God I submit my will to your will
1:28:11
God not my will but your will so if we can do that we have to understand that
1:28:16
Jesus had that same capacity if he couldn't have that capacity then he wouldn't be human fully and he
1:28:23
couldn't take our place so he was not just God in a body he was God revealed in true authentic
1:28:30
human identity and so the Bible speak Jesus speaks of his soul with sorrowful unto death he submitted his will to God
1:28:38
he commends his Spirit to God I would hasten to add I don't see two spirits but one spirit
1:28:46
with both humanity and deity joined together as one so I do see two human
1:28:52
Wills I mean two Wills one Divine one human but it's the undivided will of God
1:28:58
and it's the human will of Jesus submitting to the will of God Amen
1:29:04
you know just uh I think what brother Bernard is saying is is that the impetus
1:29:11
to act counter to God's will does not compromise his Perfection only the
1:29:17
choice to follow through with that impetus or Temptation would have compromised his Perfection so the idea
1:29:23
that he had the temptation to do something else but did not in no way compromises either his human Perfection
1:29:30
or otherwise yes he was tempted but he didn't sin we also see that Jesus lived while on
1:29:37
the earth as heir to All God's divine power but he
1:29:43
lived in a state of kenosis which is to say he was a billionaire living on a
1:29:49
limited budget so he while he was on the earth he was not accessing all of his
1:29:55
divine power that he received at glorification so there is a critical
1:30:01
pivot in his identification with us that changes as he ascends in glory and he
1:30:08
comes to this place of inherited power so that's that can be some of the perception of weakness of Prayer of all
1:30:15
of that that was a temporary state in his during his Earthbound existence that's four questions or more should we
1:30:22
cut it off there or yes because he was not only our propitiation
1:30:28
he was also our example you know he showed us how to live
1:30:34
so he had to do those sort of things amen brother I'll give you one no problem no
1:30:40
problem um I just want to say so three years ago we made the mistake of coming here and it has screwed us up
1:30:48
for three straight years and this was the big one for us
1:30:53
um the Trinity obviously in that I mean we that's what I was indoctrinated with
1:30:59
my entire Christian walk but I want to say one thing there is there was two
1:31:05
scriptures that really trans transformed us and we've we've read the books the literature everything was so brilliantly
1:31:12
spoken of and researched but this was this simple and it was real simple it
1:31:17
was in Matthew two as you can present I forgot what it was but go therefore and Make Disciples
1:31:25
of all Nations baptizing them in the name of the father of the son the Holy Spirit
1:31:31
then right there in Acts 2 38 Peter and Peter said to them repent and be baptized Let each
1:31:39
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the Forgiveness of your sins
1:31:46
either Peter was completely wrong or he was not following at the
1:31:53
authority of God he was baptizing them in the name of all names that's the name of the father
1:32:01
Jesus name of the son Jesus and the name of the spirit and that's what spoke to
1:32:06
me right there I was transformed in that moment to the Oneness praise God Amen thank you
1:32:15
shall we wrap up is that what if you allow me just and thank you once again for the opportunity your kindness and
1:32:21
and hosting it and listening to me respectfully you and uh interacting I
1:32:28
really appreciate that but for if anybody is struggling over the word Trinity of course we know the word
1:32:33
Trinity is not in the Bible and we know the word three persons is not in the Bible so that shouldn't be a stumbling
1:32:39
block but if you we do understand that God has expressed himself in these three
1:32:45
Supreme ways but as I said it's for the purpose of our salvation so when I'm talking to someone who says well you're
1:32:51
just a heretic you know you're just a uh I will say well no you know actually you know trinitarian with a small tea I've
1:32:58
got a good friend in Academia he says you have the Oneness view of the trinity
1:33:05
he doesn't want a small teeth
1:33:12
so I'll say well I'm a pretty nice scene trinitarian or or to use the historical
1:33:18
an economic trinitarian in other words in the economy of our Salvation God is Father Son and Holy Spirit but just
1:33:25
because of working in our Salvation doesn't impute that to Eternity for example Jesus was human for our
1:33:32
salvation but Jesus was not eternally human in the past so if that helps you
1:33:38
with terminology but let me summarize this you know if let's say you have an
1:33:44
elementary school teacher who's trying to get a student to write oh say the letter T and so the teacher could say
1:33:50
well draw a vertical line and then the top draw horizontal line okay that's perfectly true but it would
1:33:56
really help if the teacher would say look here it is and but that little first grader may or
1:34:03
may not be able to copy that but if the teacher says well look here and comes to the desk puts their hand over the little
1:34:10
child and draws the letter T using their hand then they experientially know
1:34:17
I think our heavenly father told us how to live but then God came in flesh as the Lord
1:34:24
Jesus Christ lived a perfect example and showed us how to live but now he fills us with the Holy Spirit
1:34:31
and he enabled us enables us to live and bear the Fruit of the Spirit
1:34:37
I'm so glad I can think of it my Creator became my savior not someone else my
1:34:44
Creator loved me so much he didn't send someone else to help me out but he gave of himself and now he comes back to me
1:34:53
through the indwelling Holy Spirit and he enables me to have a personal relationship with him to me the whole
1:34:59
concept of the Oneness of God is bound up in my practical experience I'm in fellowship with the one true and living
1:35:07
God the God who created me The God Who made the Plan of Salvation for me that
1:35:13
same God is now in my life today God bless you thank you very much
1:35:28
if y'all don't mind I want to sing you one song y'all sing along with us
1:35:53
That Wonderful Name of Jesus
1:36:00
Bless That Wonderful Name of Jesus
1:36:06
Oh Bless That Wonderful Name
1:36:13
[Music] the name I know
 
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