390: Roger Lewis – Exhortation: The Faces of the Cheribim

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Welcome to Good Christophian
Talks.

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Thank you for joining us this
week on this podcast.

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We select one talk a week to
help us get the Bible in our

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Daily News feed.
Each week.

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We post a talk.
That we previewed from

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suggestions sent in by listeners
from around the world.

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Then we record a short intro
beforehand as a personalized

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recommendation to you on why we
are sharing the talk.

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And now let’s talk.
More about this week’s talk.

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Hello, this is your brother
Chris for this week we are

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listening to an exhortation that
was given at the Idlewild Bible

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School back in 2006 by brother
Roger Lewis.

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The title of Brother Roger’s
exhortation is The Faces of the

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Caribbean and Why I.
Decided to share this.

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Exhortation was this is an
example that Brother Roger is.

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Very effective at.
He is pulling on a theme

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throughout the entire Bible by
looking at the character of the

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Caribbean and the the places
where it shows up.

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Weaving it all the way through
from Genesis 3 and then all the

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way through the rest of the
biblical record.

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And pulling out symbols and
ideas about the Caribbean that

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make them stand out and make it
a little bit more significant.

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And then dives into the way that
the Caribbean reflect in the New

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Testament and drawing examples
there that can have echoes of

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Christ all the way in the
Genesis 3 record when they’re

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talking about the Caribbean,
that we’re keeping Adam and Eve

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out of the Garden of Eden.
So I found this to be a really

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interesting expectation, one
that really kind of makes you

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think and have to do a fair bit
of keeping your fingers in

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different parts of the Bible as
you’re jumping around and

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listening to it.
But one that was very insightful

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and something that I enjoyed
greatly.

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I remember listening to this
expectation live when Brother

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Rodger gave it when he was
visiting Idyllwild back almost

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20 years ago.
So it was fun to be able to

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share this one and to be able to
hear it again.

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So I hope that this exhortation
encourages you and sparks some

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excitement about digging into a.
Less.

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Broad topic in the Scripture, so
I’ll turn it over now to Brother

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Roger Lewis for his exhortation
that he gave at the Idlewild

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Bible School in 2006 entitled
The Faces of the Caribbean.

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Well, good evening, my dear
brothers and sisters and the

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Lord Jesus Christ.
We’re privileged to come again

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to a Bible school together.
For many of us, the Bible

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schools are spiritual oases, are
they not?

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As we travel to the Kingdom, we
earnestly desire these times

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together that we might
spiritually refresh and renew

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one another to transport our
minds into spiritual things.

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So much so that we don’t even
notice the heat.

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By the way, if it makes you feel
better, I come from

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Christchurch, which currently is
sitting at about 0° overnight

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because it’s our winter time.
But in order to adjust, we’ve

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just come from Texas, which I
can assure you is slightly

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harder.
Mind you, the Texas Bible School

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does have one advantage over our
wild, and that is that although

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the outside ambient air is
considerably hotter, the air

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conditioned hall is considerably
cooler.

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But these trials
notwithstanding, I’m sure that

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we will all be able to hopefully
tonight, tired though we might

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be, focus for a few moments on
something to bring our minds to

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the emblems as a marvellous way
that we might begin our Bible

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school together.
So come now to Genesis chapter 3

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if you would, because do you
know at the end of Genesis

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chapter 3, where we’re given the
story of that occasion when man

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was driven forth from the Garden
of Eden?

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And we’re told this in Genesis
chapter 3 in the last two

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verses, it says there that the
Lord God sent man forth from the

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Garden of Eden to till the
ground from whence he was taken.

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So he drove out the man, and he
placed at the east of the Garden

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of Eden Kerubim and the flaming
sword, which turned every way to

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keep the way of the tree of
life.

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Do you know, Brother Thomas
translates verse 24 slightly

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differently, but I think
probably correctly according to

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the Hebrew when he says this.
So he drove out the man, and at

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the east of the Garden of Eden,
he caused to dwell in a

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Tabernacle, the Caribbean, even
a flaming sword, which termed

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every way to keep the way of the
tree of life.

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And here in the book of Genesis,
we have the very first mention

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of the Caribbean in the Bible,
and they’re associated with a

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Tabernacle for worship.
They represent the Father

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manifested on the earth in some
way or shape or form, and

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they’re there to guard the way
of the tree, of the tree of

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life.
And do you know that those

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Caribbean we believe have faces
even now in the book of Genesis?

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Because do you notice in Genesis
chapter 4, we’re told that when

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Cain is driven out of the garden
that says this verse 13 of

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Genesis chapter 4, when he said
that his punishment was greater

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than he could bear, he says
verse 14, Behold, thou hast

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driven me up this day from the
face of the earth, and from thy

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face shall I be hid.
And the word face in the Hebrew

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is panim, which means faces.
It’s plural.

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Actually.
The word panim can mean either

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face or faces, but but I think
on this occasion that probably

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the faces that Cain had in mind
that he was going to be driven

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from were the faces of the
Caribbean, which betokened the

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divine presence on earth in the
Tabernacle of Genesis chapter 3

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and verse 24.
And Cain lamented that he would

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be driven forth from the faces
of the Caribbean, which

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manifested the Father, or as it
says in verse 16, Cain went out

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from the presence of Yahweh.
Mind you, we don’t know anything

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about the faces here in Genesis,
just that they’re there, the

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faces of the Caribbean.
But when we come to Ezekiel and

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chapter 1, as we had read
together tonight, Ezekiel of

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course is going to give us a
little more detail concerning

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the same faces when he says this
and Ezekiel chapter one, we know

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that the vision of Ezekiel that
he saw was a travelling in a

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direction that came from the
north.

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Ezekiel one verse 4 says that
whatever it was that he saw, it

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was travelling towards him from
the north.

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And the record says concerning
the four living creatures that

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he saw as Ezekiel one verse 5
says out of the midst thereof

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came the likeness of four living
creatures.

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And and he says this verse 6, he
said every one of them had why

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four faces?
Not just one face, but four

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faces.
Every Caribbean had four of

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them.
And the faces are different

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because verse 10 says, As for
the likeness of their faces,

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they 4 had the face of a man and
the face of a lion on the right

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side.
And they 4 had the face of an ox

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on the left side.
And they 4 also had the face of

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an eagle.
Thus were their faces, says

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Ezekiel.
And because they were travelling

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towards him from the north, and
there were four of them, the

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first face that he must have
seen was the South face of the

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Caribbean.
After all, if it’s coming

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towards them from the north,
it’s the South face that he’ll

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see first.
And so when it says in verse 10

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they forehead the face of a man,
we presume that the South face

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of the Caribbean is the face of
the man.

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And when it says the face of a
lion was on the right side, if

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Ezekiel is looking northwards,
well then the right must be E,

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mustn’t it?
And when he says that on the

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left side was the face of an ox
that must be looking to the

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West, And when he says last of
all, they 4 also have the face

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of an eagle, it’s the last face
he saw because it was the last

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one to arrive.
And so it’s the face that comes

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behind The North Face.
So you see, now we’ve got not

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just how many faces, but we’ve
got what the faces were, and

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we’ve got where the faces are.
There’s four of them and they’re

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in different positions, one to
the north, one to the east, one

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to the West, one to the South.
But they’re all the faces of the

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Caribbean, you see.
And now come to Numbers Chapter

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2, because in the Book of
Numbers and chapter 2, when the

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tribes of Israel were settled in
their encampment as they began

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to March through the wilderness,
we’re told this in Numbers 2 and

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verse one says, Yahweh spoke
unto Moses and unto Aaron,

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saying, Every man of the
children of Israel shall pitch

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by his own standard with the end
sign of their father’s house.

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Far off about the Tabernacle of
the congregation shall they

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pitch.
Every man of the children of

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Israel shall pitch by his own
standard with the end sign of

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his father’s house.
There were going to be flags

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flying in signs.
But in fact, although verse 2

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says that each man would pitch
by the end sign of his father’s

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house, as chapter 2 of Numbers
unfold, we’ll find there were

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actually only four in signs
flying amidst the nation.

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And here they are first 3 on the
east side toward the rising of

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the sun shall be the standard of
the camp of Judah.

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So Judah is on the east, but
Ezekiel said that it was on the

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east was where the face of the
lion was.

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And you know, the rabbinical
writers tell us that the flag

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that flew on Judah’s encampment
to the east of the encampment of

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Israel had the face of a lion
upon it, that this Karabic face

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belonged to the tribe of Judah
on the eastern side.

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And then the Numbers, chapter 2
and verse 10, the record says on

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the South side shall be the
standard of the camp of Reuben

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according to their armies.
But Ezekiel chapter one said

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that the South face of the
Caribbean, the first one to

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arrive, was the face of a man.
And so flying on the face of the

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flag of Reuben on the South side
of the Tabernacle encampment,

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was the face of the man on the
flag betokening Reuben, as we

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shall see by and by in later
studies.

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And Numbers 2, verse 18 says on
the West side shall be the

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standard of the camp of Ephraim
according to their armies.

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But Ezekiel one had said that on
the West side was the face of an

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ox, and on the face of the flag
of the tribe of Ephraim on the

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West side of the encampment the
ox was shown on the flying of

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the flag.
And lastly, Numbers 2, verse 25

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says the standard of the camp of
Dan shall be on the north side

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of their armies.
And The North Face of the

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Kiriban in Ezekiel chapter 1 was
the face of the eagle, which we

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believe answers to the tribe of
Dan.

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So you see, the whole encampment
of Israel was enclosed by the

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faces of the Kiriban.
They flew his flags on all

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corners to show that all Israel
should be a dwelling place for

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the manifestation of the divine
glory, because after all, that’s

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what the Caribbean symbolize,
the manifestation of God’s glory

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on the face of the earth.
And these flags flying around

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the nation were to show that the
whole of Israel ought to be that

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dwelling place for God’s glory.
And you know, if you came from

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the outside of the encampment,
right into the very centre, into

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the Tabernacle, into the Most
Holy Place, into the Ark, there

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were the Caribbean.
The same four faces were right

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at the heart and soul of the
nation as well as on the four

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corners to show that the Spirit
should be throughout the whole

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of Israel’s encampment.
In Isaiah chapter 49, we’re told

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this in an interesting prophecy
concerning the suffering

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Servant.
You’ll probably know that in the

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book of Isaiah there are 4
prophecies that are known as the

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Servant prophecies, and they are
actually prophecies of our Lord

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Jesus Christ, but they’re woven
in the midst of references to

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the nation of God as a servant.
But this one in Isaiah 49 is

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individual.
It’s about the individual

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servant.
And in verse 3 of Isaiah 49, it

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says, he said unto me, thou art
my servant, O Israel, in whom I

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will be glorified.
And the Israel of Isaiah 49 and

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verse 3 is not the nation, it’s
one particular man.

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This is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you see what Isaiah 49 and

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verse 3 is telling us is that
God saw his Son as

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representative of Israel in whom
He would be manifested.

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In this one man would be seen
all that the four square

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encampment of Israel
foreshadowed.

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In this one man the glory of God
would be seen.

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And if that’s true, brothers and
sisters, then we wouldn’t be

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surprised to see the carobic
symbols encompassing our Lord,

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would we?
If he was to be that man, the

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00:14:46,480 –> 00:14:51,040
faces of the Caribbean, we
believe, will fly as standards

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00:14:51,040 –> 00:14:55,680
in the Gospels to show that he
was the one in which the Father

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00:14:55,680 –> 00:14:59,960
himself would be manifested.
But what the Gospels are going

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00:14:59,960 –> 00:15:02,000
to do is to supply what the
prophet doesn’t.

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They’re going to give us an
explanation of what the faces

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mean, of what the faces
represent.

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Do you know that the Gospel of
Luke, which we shan’t turn up,

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but the Gospel of Luke, opens by
saying these words?

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For as much as many have taken
in hand to set forth an order, a

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00:15:22,600 –> 00:15:26,000
declaration of those things that
are most surely believed among

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00:15:26,040 –> 00:15:30,280
us, many have taken in hand,
says Luke at the beginning of

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his gospel.
Do you know what that means,

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00:15:31,960 –> 00:15:36,120
brothers and sisters?
It means there were many gospels

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written concerning our Lord,
many of them lots of gospels.

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But in the Providence of God,
only four were preserved in the

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Canon of Scripture.
And they four were preserved, we

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believe, for obvious reasons.
And so if we were to say, well,

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why are there only four gospels?
The answer is because there’s

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00:16:05,320 –> 00:16:10,520
only four faces of the
Caribbean, and all of these

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00:16:10,520 –> 00:16:14,680
faces will be revealed in the
life and story of our Lord Jesus

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00:16:14,680 –> 00:16:19,960
Christ in the four Gospels,
which alone in the Providence of

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00:16:19,960 –> 00:16:23,920
God, we’re preserved for our
reading.

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00:16:26,720 –> 00:16:34,640
And now come to Revelation
chapter 4 and to the vision of

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00:16:34,640 –> 00:16:39,480
the four living creatures that
the Book of Revelation all also

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00:16:39,480 –> 00:16:43,560
talks about.
You’ll remember that Ezekiel

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00:16:43,560 –> 00:16:48,640
mentioned 4 living creatures and
interestingly enough, in the

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00:16:48,640 –> 00:16:52,200
Book of Revelation there are two
different words for beasts.

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00:16:52,880 –> 00:16:56,880
When the great Dragons and
manifestation of of the power

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00:16:56,880 –> 00:16:59,720
hostile to the truth is is
fought against in the later

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00:16:59,720 –> 00:17:01,680
chapters of the Book of
Revelation, it is a beast

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00:17:01,680 –> 00:17:03,760
indeed.
And and there’s a word used in

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00:17:03,760 –> 00:17:07,119
the Book of Revelation to
betoken those beasts against

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00:17:07,119 –> 00:17:11,040
whom the Lord himself will come.
But in Revelation chapter 4, the

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00:17:11,040 –> 00:17:14,720
word beast is different.
It says in verse 6 of Revelation

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00:17:14,720 –> 00:17:20,280
4, before the throne there was a
sea of glass like on the

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00:17:20,280 –> 00:17:22,680
crystal, and in the midst of the
throne and round about the

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00:17:22,680 –> 00:17:26,280
throne were four beasts full of
eyes before and and behind.

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00:17:26,839 –> 00:17:30,440
And now the word beast is a word
that quite literally means in

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00:17:30,440 –> 00:17:38,280
the Greek why living creatures.
It’s the same idea as the

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00:17:38,280 –> 00:17:43,200
prophet Ezekiel.
You see, these are the

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00:17:43,200 –> 00:17:47,080
Caribbean.
They’re not the kiribem that

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00:17:47,080 –> 00:17:50,000
first appeared in the Tabernacle
of Eden.

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00:17:51,720 –> 00:17:56,000
This now is the spiritual
community of the Saints.

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00:17:57,000 –> 00:18:00,560
This is the gathering of the
whole household of faith at a

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00:18:00,560 –> 00:18:03,560
time yet to be revealed.
And yet for all of that, this

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00:18:03,560 –> 00:18:06,960
spiritual community of Israel,
not the nation of Israel, but

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00:18:06,960 –> 00:18:11,480
the spiritual community of
Israel, will be gathered

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00:18:11,480 –> 00:18:13,800
together under the banner, says
the record of four living

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00:18:13,800 –> 00:18:16,960
creatures.
And verse 7 says, now what

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00:18:16,960 –> 00:18:19,840
creatures might they be?
Well, it says verse 7.

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00:18:19,920 –> 00:18:23,080
And the first living creature
was like a lion, and the second

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00:18:23,080 –> 00:18:26,680
beast like a calf or an ox.
And the third beast had a face,

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00:18:26,880 –> 00:18:30,760
a face as a man.
And the fourth beast was like a

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00:18:30,760 –> 00:18:36,080
flying eagle.
So this is the community now of

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00:18:36,080 –> 00:18:42,120
Christ and the time to come.
And yet the same four faces of

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00:18:42,120 –> 00:18:47,400
the Caribbean will be seen in
this community of Jesus when he

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00:18:47,400 –> 00:18:50,200
returns.
Do you notice what it says about

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00:18:50,200 –> 00:18:51,600
the four beasts?
Verse 6?

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00:18:51,920 –> 00:18:54,720
Before the throne there was a
sea of glass like unto crystal,

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00:18:54,840 –> 00:18:57,920
and in the midst of the throne
and round about the throne were

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00:18:57,920 –> 00:19:01,240
four living creatures.
So the four living creatures

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00:19:01,240 –> 00:19:06,080
were in the midst of the throne,
says Revelation 4, verse 6, in

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00:19:06,080 –> 00:19:10,080
the very midst of the throne.
But do you notice what chapter 5

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00:19:10,280 –> 00:19:16,440
and verse 6 says, says, and I
beheld and lo, in the midst of

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00:19:16,440 –> 00:19:18,600
the throne and of the four
beasts, and in the midst of the

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00:19:18,600 –> 00:19:22,240
oldest stood a Lamb.
So the Lamb is in the midst of

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00:19:22,240 –> 00:19:25,640
the throne, and yet so are the
four beasts.

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00:19:26,840 –> 00:19:29,040
And I think what we’re being
told, you see, is that these

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00:19:29,040 –> 00:19:33,520
four beasts manifest the
characteristics of the Lamb.

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00:19:34,440 –> 00:19:37,200
They’re like him.
They’re four living creatures,

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00:19:37,200 –> 00:19:40,000
and yet they’re somehow related
to the Lamb because they’re all

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00:19:40,080 –> 00:19:41,840
in the midst of the throne
together.

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00:19:42,240 –> 00:19:44,760
And I think what we’re being
told, therefore, is that

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00:19:44,760 –> 00:19:56,600
presumably this sequence of
faces in Revelation chapter 4 is

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00:19:56,600 –> 00:20:01,680
the order in which the Lamb
himself has been revealed to us.

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00:20:04,240 –> 00:20:09,640
This is the sequence of the
faces in which both the Lamb of

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00:20:09,640 –> 00:20:13,560
God.
And who was followed followers

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00:20:13,760 –> 00:20:16,400
will be seen.
See this order is different to

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00:20:16,400 –> 00:20:19,280
Ezekiel.
And so now this is the order of

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00:20:19,280 –> 00:20:21,360
the manifestation of Christ and
the Saints.

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00:20:21,360 –> 00:20:26,400
So here it is verse 7.
And the first beast was like a

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00:20:26,400 –> 00:20:31,160
lion.
That’s the Gospel of Matthew

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00:20:33,160 –> 00:20:34,720
that announces to the tribe of
Judah.

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00:20:34,720 –> 00:20:41,960
And the second beast was like an
ox, That’s the Gospel of Mark,

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00:20:43,640 –> 00:20:45,320
and it relates to the tribe of
Ephraim.

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00:20:46,520 –> 00:20:52,560
And the third beast had a face
like a man, that’s the Gospel of

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00:20:52,560 –> 00:20:56,960
Luke and relate to the tribe of
of Reuben.

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00:20:58,840 –> 00:21:02,040
And the fourth beast says the
record was like a flying eagle.

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00:21:04,360 –> 00:21:08,800
And that must be the Gospel of
John and relate to the tribe of

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00:21:08,800 –> 00:21:12,760
Dan.
This is the order in which

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00:21:12,760 –> 00:21:19,440
Christ Himself will be revealed,
and in which the care of them of

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00:21:19,440 –> 00:21:22,920
the four living creatures, the
Saints themselves, will in turn

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00:21:24,240 –> 00:21:31,720
manifest their Lord.
Do you know, imagine if there

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00:21:31,720 –> 00:21:39,920
was a man, any man, who was a
family man, a man who at the

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00:21:39,920 –> 00:21:43,440
same time in his career was a
scientist, the chemist to be

312
00:21:43,440 –> 00:21:47,880
precise, A man who in his spare
time enjoyed walking in the

313
00:21:47,880 –> 00:21:53,960
mountains and at the same time
for release from the intensity

314
00:21:53,960 –> 00:21:58,040
of his task at work, enjoyed to
play the violin.

315
00:22:00,160 –> 00:22:04,320
And now we ask 4 painters of
portraits to paint portraits of

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00:22:04,320 –> 00:22:07,680
this man in the various
capacities of his life.

317
00:22:09,560 –> 00:22:12,680
And so in one portrait we might
see the man with a coil of rope

318
00:22:12,680 –> 00:22:16,840
and climbing boots and a certain
hat to scale the mountains.

319
00:22:18,000 –> 00:22:20,680
But we recognize the face of the
man because, well, we know who

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00:22:20,680 –> 00:22:22,880
he is.
And yet in another portrait of

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00:22:22,880 –> 00:22:26,240
the same man we will see, well,
we’ll see him with his white

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00:22:26,240 –> 00:22:29,640
coat on, surrounded by
laboratory equipment, with a

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00:22:29,640 –> 00:22:36,440
studious look on his face.
And then another painting with a

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00:22:36,440 –> 00:22:42,480
man surrounded with his children
and his wife and the home the

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00:22:42,480 –> 00:22:48,960
home scene about him.
And lastly, a man with a

326
00:22:48,960 –> 00:22:54,360
Grenieri under his chin and a
piece of Bach manuscript in the

327
00:22:54,360 –> 00:22:58,560
background and a music stand to
show that this man has a love of

328
00:22:58,560 –> 00:23:01,000
music.
And you see, what would be

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00:23:01,000 –> 00:23:03,880
interesting about those four
paintings is they’d all be true,

330
00:23:03,880 –> 00:23:06,840
but they’d all be focusing on a
different aspect of this man’s

331
00:23:06,840 –> 00:23:10,000
life.
Mountaineer, scientist, father,

332
00:23:10,840 –> 00:23:14,360
musician.
And yet, despite their

333
00:23:14,360 –> 00:23:16,040
differences, they’d all be true,
would they not?

334
00:23:17,080 –> 00:23:19,680
And if we looked at all four
paintings, we’d we’d recognize

335
00:23:19,680 –> 00:23:21,480
the man and the diversity of his
life.

336
00:23:24,760 –> 00:23:26,360
Well, you see, that’s what the
Gospels are about.

337
00:23:28,800 –> 00:23:34,600
And you see it’s the same Lord
in all the gospels, but each

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00:23:34,600 –> 00:23:38,880
writer is painting a portrait of
Christ that’s different to the

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00:23:38,880 –> 00:23:43,560
others because he’s going to
paint a particular portrait of

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00:23:43,560 –> 00:23:46,200
the karabic face that he was
asked to paint.

341
00:23:48,320 –> 00:23:51,720
And so if we ask ourselves, well
why do we have 4 gospels and not

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00:23:51,720 –> 00:23:54,760
one comprehensive how many of
the gospels?

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00:23:55,400 –> 00:23:58,360
Well, the answer would be that
if we just had a harmony of the

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00:23:58,360 –> 00:24:03,520
Gospels, brothers and sisters,
we wouldn’t see the faces.

345
00:24:05,280 –> 00:24:07,920
So in the Providence of God,
we’ve been given 4 gospels.

346
00:24:08,040 –> 00:24:10,760
Not that we might necessarily
harmonize them, although that’s

347
00:24:10,760 –> 00:24:13,720
helpful, but that we might
celebrate the diversity of the

348
00:24:13,720 –> 00:24:17,160
Gospels and to realise that in
the Providence of God, each

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00:24:17,160 –> 00:24:23,920
Gospel writer was selected to
paint a portrait of Christ with

350
00:24:23,920 –> 00:24:28,800
different colourings and
shadings on the canvas of his

351
00:24:28,800 –> 00:24:33,680
writing.
And the Spirit would help the

352
00:24:33,680 –> 00:24:41,240
man paint the portrait.
The man’s the same, but the

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00:24:41,240 –> 00:24:46,480
details are different.
And the burden of our studies in

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00:24:46,480 –> 00:24:53,200
the days to come will be to look
at the shadings, and not the

355
00:24:53,200 –> 00:25:02,200
things that are the same.
In the book of Corinthians, the

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00:25:02,200 –> 00:25:04,360
apostle Paul once said these
words.

357
00:25:05,320 –> 00:25:12,040
For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, hath

358
00:25:12,040 –> 00:25:19,960
shined in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the

359
00:25:19,960 –> 00:25:25,560
glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ.

360
00:25:28,720 –> 00:25:31,200
So we want to come and look at
the face of Christ, brothers and

361
00:25:31,200 –> 00:25:35,280
sisters, do we not?
That we might see God and that

362
00:25:35,280 –> 00:25:37,640
we might see all the faces of
the Caribbean?

363
00:25:38,560 –> 00:25:41,720
Now come and have a look at the
Second of Corinthians in chapter

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00:25:41,720 –> 00:25:53,000
3, the Second of Corinthians in
chapter 3, And here it is.

365
00:25:55,760 –> 00:26:03,160
What a comfort this is in the
second of Corinthians in chapter

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00:26:03,160 –> 00:26:06,840
3.
In the last two verses the

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00:26:06,840 –> 00:26:15,200
record says this.
Now the Lord is that Spirit, and

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00:26:15,200 –> 00:26:17,520
where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is liberty.

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00:26:18,480 –> 00:26:22,040
But we all with open face,
beholding as in a glass the

370
00:26:22,040 –> 00:26:27,160
glory of the Lord, a change to
into the same image from glory

371
00:26:27,320 –> 00:26:30,880
to glory, even as by the Spirit
of the Lord.

372
00:26:31,280 –> 00:26:34,960
And what the apostle Paul says
that is that unlike the veiled

373
00:26:34,960 –> 00:26:39,680
Israel of old, we are able to
look upon Christ with

374
00:26:39,760 –> 00:26:43,360
unobstructed gaze.
With open face, brothers and

375
00:26:43,360 –> 00:26:48,400
sisters, we might behold Him.
And the wonderful thing about

376
00:26:48,400 –> 00:26:51,560
looking in the Gospels and
seeing our Lord Jesus Christ,

377
00:26:51,680 –> 00:26:54,640
says the apostle Paul, who by
the way, is the Spirit, the

378
00:26:54,640 –> 00:26:58,320
manifestation of his Father.
The wonderful thing is that the

379
00:26:58,320 –> 00:27:04,400
more we look, says Paul, the
more we look on the face of

380
00:27:04,400 –> 00:27:12,440
Christ in the Gospels, the more
we will be changed to become

381
00:27:12,440 –> 00:27:19,720
like him, changed into the same
image so that we ourselves might

382
00:27:19,800 –> 00:27:24,360
manifest the face, or should we
say the faces of Christ in our

383
00:27:24,360 –> 00:27:27,560
own lives.
Do you know, brothers and

384
00:27:27,560 –> 00:27:32,440
sisters, we all need to look
into the Gospels more than we

385
00:27:32,440 –> 00:27:41,240
have so that we might see him.
We need to see His mercy, His

386
00:27:41,240 –> 00:27:49,240
compassion, His discernment, His
labour, His prayerfulness.

387
00:27:50,280 –> 00:27:55,640
We need to see his speech, His
sacrifice, his integrity.

388
00:27:56,200 –> 00:27:59,360
In short, we need to look in the
Gospels so that we might see all

389
00:27:59,360 –> 00:28:02,480
the faces of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and that in seeing those

390
00:28:02,480 –> 00:28:07,360
faces we might be so impressed
and so inspired and so enthused

391
00:28:08,640 –> 00:28:14,080
that almost without realizing
it, we begin to look like Him

392
00:28:16,880 –> 00:28:23,040
and to sound like Him.
And best of all, brothers and

393
00:28:23,040 –> 00:28:31,200
sisters, to think like Him.
Because when we have looked upon

394
00:28:31,200 –> 00:28:34,480
the Gospels enough to see the
faces of our Lord in that way

395
00:28:35,040 –> 00:28:41,880
and think like Him, then we also
will be a manifestation of the

396
00:28:41,880 –> 00:28:49,160
Father and part of the four
living creatures yet to be

397
00:28:49,160 –> 00:28:56,040
revealed when our Lord comes.
So let’s seize the day, shall we

398
00:28:56,040 –> 00:28:58,720
not?
And let’s take the opportunity

399
00:28:58,720 –> 00:29:02,400
now of this Bible school to
focus our hearts and minds and

400
00:29:02,440 –> 00:29:06,360
our attention on spiritual
things that will help to change

401
00:29:06,360 –> 00:29:11,000
us, to surrender ourselves to
the power of the truth, to

402
00:29:11,000 –> 00:29:15,000
change us, to make the Bible
school profitable in that

403
00:29:15,000 –> 00:29:17,000
regard.
You know, one of the things as

404
00:29:17,000 –> 00:29:19,720
you, as you look out upon a sea
of faces like this and you see

405
00:29:19,880 –> 00:29:26,960
old and familiar faces and some
new faces, is that Bible schools

406
00:29:27,120 –> 00:29:31,120
are continuums.
Father Dick Patterson was

407
00:29:31,120 –> 00:29:33,240
telling me this morning that
this Bible school has been in

408
00:29:33,240 –> 00:29:39,680
operation now for over 50 years.
Some of the grey headed brothers

409
00:29:39,680 –> 00:29:47,120
and sisters in the room tonight
we’re the young Hoydens of a few

410
00:29:47,120 –> 00:29:52,480
years ago and even 10 years ago.
Some of the ones that were the

411
00:29:52,480 –> 00:29:55,400
most difficult.
Teenagers are now enthusiastic

412
00:29:55,400 –> 00:29:57,320
young couples committed to the
work of the truth.

413
00:29:57,320 –> 00:30:01,120
And life moves on and another
cycle of teenagers arrives.

414
00:30:03,040 –> 00:30:06,880
But the Bible school has that
marvellous degree, that

415
00:30:06,880 –> 00:30:13,200
marvellous ability to keep
changing us, and that’s why we

416
00:30:13,200 –> 00:30:17,000
come.
So let’s treasure the

417
00:30:17,000 –> 00:30:19,000
opportunity that Almighty God
has given us.

418
00:30:20,320 –> 00:30:24,960
Air, our Lord returns.
And now, as we partake of bread

419
00:30:24,960 –> 00:30:34,560
and wine, let us focus our minds
and let us gaze upon the face of

420
00:30:34,560 –> 00:30:41,640
our Lord Jesus Christ, so that
in seeing Him in these emblems,

421
00:30:41,880 –> 00:30:49,600
brothers and sisters, we might
be changed into the same image.

422
00:31:04,160 –> 00:31:06,240
Thank you for listening to the
good Chris Adelphian Talks

423
00:31:06,240 –> 00:31:08,840
podcast.
We hope this talk helped you in

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00:31:08,840 –> 00:31:10,360
your walk.
And brightened your day.

425
00:31:11,520 –> 00:31:13,560
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