Ben Brinkerhoff – Who Do You Say That I Am? – Class 1

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Thank you and and good morning
brothers and sisters feels like

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I was just here and it’s really
a pleasure to bring back.

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I bring with me the love of
Alyssa and the love of brother

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Ari, sister Ahava, sister Asha
and Petra as well.

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They they wish they could be
here with you.

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They have many wonderful friends
amongst this group of beautiful

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people over here and they would
have liked to have been with

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you, but unfortunately choosing
between you and Athens, you lost

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and understandably.
And they, they feel like they

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can hear dad’s talk another
time, which is also

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understandable.
I didn’t mean to confuse you

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about the title.
It’s just that when Dan asked

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for that title, I hadn’t written
any of the talks yet.

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So I was back and forth back and
forth to Dan on text going what

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should I call actually the first
title I suggested Dan Dan’s

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like, I don’t like that title.
I think he came up with the

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title.
And then and then as I as I

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began to do the study, I saw the
excitational arc of the study

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riddles in this chapter.
Now you may not appreciate right

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away with those riddles are
because we haven’t read chapter

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16 yet.
But as you read chapter 16, if

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you just read it with fresh
eyes, you come across lots of

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questions that you’d naturally
want to get answers for.

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Let me give you a few of them
because they help us form an

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outline for our study.
So our first study is a sign

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from heaven.
And the question that we’re

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going to be trying to answer is
why were the Jews asking for a

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sign?
OK, that’s set to the second

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study because the first and
second study are really

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combined.
Because it turns out when I

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accepted the invitation to
Pinjar, I had no idea there were

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six studies in exhortation.
And that’s a record, by the way.

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So congratulations for you. 7
studies in four days.

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So, so I, I basically took the
first study and I stretched it

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across 2 studies.
Right.

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So the second study is the sign
of the prophet Jonah.

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Why was this the only sign
they’d be given?

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OK, you, you see how you’re
start forming a question.

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The third the the leaven of the
scribes and Pharisees.

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Jesus says to beware it.
Well, what’s that leaven?

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And what does that have to do
with baskets and fragments?

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And, and why does Jesus say how
many baskets you took up among

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the 4000, the 5000, as if that’s
a conclusive answer to the

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question.
And he doesn’t actually give us

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the answer.
How about this, you know, what

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is the rock on which he builds
the ecclesia?

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What are the keys?
What does it mean to bind on

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earth and be bound in heaven or
loose on earth and be loose in

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heaven?
Because the misinterpretation of

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that passage is profound.
What are the gates of Hades?

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Why does he deliver this message
and says we of Philippi, how

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does the Catholic Church
understand and perhaps distort

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these passages?
And what should we as Christian

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Developians understand about
that?

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And lastly, what does it really
mean to believe that Jesus is

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the Messiah, the son of the
living God?

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And I just put forward to young
people, especially young

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brothers here sitting in the
first row amongst others that

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and when you begin good Bible
study, you ask questions.

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That’s it.
You, you open up the word and

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you look at that, you go, huh, I
wonder what that’s about.

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And you’re and you’re right down
the question.

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This is what Bible study is.
We can make it more complicated

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than that.
We can make it.

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We can make it more more
difficult perhaps, but but at

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its heart, it’s looking at
something, even looking at

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something you think you
understand and asking yourself a

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question and then going and
seeking for an answer.

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And this Bible study is going to
be very much one where we simply

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ask ourselves questions like the
ones on the on the screen behind

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you and we look for answers.
OK, so let’s look at Matthew

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chapter 16 and verses 1 to 4
where we are immediately

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confronted with our first
question.

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The Pharisees and the Sadducees
came and to test him and they

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asked him to show them a sign
from heaven.

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He answered and said when it’s
evening you say it will be fair

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weather for the skies red, and
in the morning it will be stormy

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weather for the skies red and
threatening.

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You know how to interpret the
appearance of the sky, says

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Jesus, but you cannot interpret
the signs of the times.

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An evil and adulterous
generation seeks for a sign, but

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no sign shall be given to it
except the sign of Jonah.

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OK, so why are they asking for a
sign from heaven?

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Now to answer this question, I
want to give us some background

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on Matthew 16 and it’s parallel
in Matthew 8 because what I want

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to do is to understand what was
on the mind of the Lord Jesus

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Christ right before this
encounter.

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Again, I don’t want to take this
encounter right out of context.

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So you don’t have you don’t have
in your working memory what was

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going on in the Lord Jesus
Christ’s mind and in the

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disciples mind just before he
gets asked this question in down

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the Nuthora Magdala right?
So, So what we’re going to do

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here is we’re going to 1st just
put it in context within Jesus

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entire ministry.
So what we have on the board

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behind us is we have the the
four passovers that the Lord

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we’re told about in scripture.
And amongst these 4 Passovers,

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of course, the last one is his
crucifixion and the third one is

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the feeding of the 5000 recorded
in Mark 6 and John 6.

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So, so feeding of the 4000,
Matthew 16, as you can see, it

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comes right in between the 3rd
and the 4th Passover.

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So what I’m suggesting to you is
it’s probably late summer if the

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Passover is in, well, listen,
the Passover would be like this

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weekend, you know, in, in, in
early April or something along

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those lines.
If that is when the Passover is,

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then by the time we’re at the
feeding of the 4000, I think

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we’re in late summer or
something along those lines.

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So maybe there’s as much as, but
maybe not quite six months of

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time between the feeding of the
5000 and the feeding of the

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4000.
And as we read in Mark Chapter 7

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and 8, the feeding of the 4000
happens immediately before he’s

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asked this question.
OK, So what I’m going to do now

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is I’m going to take just this
section and I’m going to blow

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that section out so that we can
see and fill in what’s happening

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in this little section of the
Lord’s ministry.

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So let’s do that, OK?
And what I’m doing here is I’m

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going to divide up the narrative
between when he’s in Gentile

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areas and when he’s in Jewish
areas, OK?

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And what we’re going to do is
we’re also going to try to

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follow that on the map here on
the screen, you can see that it

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begins with the feeding of the
5000.

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You guys know that was in
Beseda, right?

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And Beseda is sitting right
there on the border between

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Galilee and the tetrarchy of
Philip.

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But I think primarily a Jewish
area.

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So we’re going to we’re going to
mark that as being in the Jewish

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area down here.
OK.

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And So what we’re going to do is
we’re going to look at Mark to

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help us follow this narrative
because Mark has kind of a

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Workman like fashion in which he
describes the narrative between

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the feeding of the 5000 and the
feeding of the 4000.

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So we’re going to follow Mark’s
narrative, which is why I had

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that read as an introductory
reading.

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And we’re just going to follow
and see what’s going on in the

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Lord Jesus Christ.
And on a hint, it’s going to be

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pretty important what’s
happening when he gets in

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gentile areas and what’s
happening when he’s in Jewish

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areas.
Now firstly, as we begin this, I

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just want to begin with with
with something you all you

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already know, which is after the
feeding the 5000, what was the

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reaction of the Jews after he
talked about the bread from

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heaven in John chapter 6.
And we know the answer when we

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begin this period is that
there’s a mass rejection of the

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Lord between the disciples that
that found his words hard to

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bear and understand and didn’t
accept them.

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And Jesus even turned to his
disciples and said, are you

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going to go as well?
And Peter says who they

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encounter him.
I think it’s just that because

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look, look at this word and I
mean, we, we think the word and

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is not very important, but what
it is at its heart is a linking

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idea, right?
It just means that these two

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ideas are very closely
associated.

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And when chapter 16 begins with
the word and what do you really

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mean?
It comes hard on the heels of

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the end of chapter 15.
And, and, and, and what we

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really read because we don’t, we
don’t know anything that Jesus

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accomplished in Magdala.
What did he do there?

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We don’t know what he did there.
There’s nothing recorded.

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They, the only thing that’s
recorded for us that happened in

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Mount Dawa is this incident.
And I suggest to you the reason

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that is, it’s because nothing
else happened there.

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It’s, it’s like the boat comes
in the shore, Then then someone

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says that’s that, that that’s
Jesus of Nazareth.

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And then, oh, that’s Jesus.
And then suddenly the scribes

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and Pharisees are summoned to
the shore and then they’re, they

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confront Jesus right away.
That’s how the text reads that

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right when he gets there and the
Pharisees and Sadducees come to

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test him and ask for a sign from
heaven almost immediately.

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Now it’s worth remarketing by
the way, we see Pharisees and

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Sadducees.
You might just say ho ho,

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Pharisees and Sadducees.
Clearly these two people that

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oppose these two groups, I
should say that oppose Jesus

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Christ.
These groups didn’t like each

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other at all.
They did not have much time for

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each other, these two groups,
this is one of the few occasions

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before the last week of the Lord
Jesus Christ life where we see

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these two groups come together.
Now one of those occasions where

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you see the Pharisees, Zedges
come together is maybe just a

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couple, maybe in Mark 3 it’s
implied, but it’s not really.

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They’re cooperating.
This incident in Matthew 16 and

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the other only incident that
they seem to get together and

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work together before the last
week of the Lord Jesus Christ

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life is in John Chapter 7.
And I point that out because

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John Chapter 7 has an
interesting language which I

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want to look at now.
It’s hard to know when to put

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John chapters.
Well, we know when to put it.

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It’s but it we don’t know when
John Chapter 7 appears within

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the context of all the things
we’ve been looking at in Mark

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because Mark doesn’t record the
visit that John Chapter 7

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records when Jesus goes to
Jerusalem.

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So we don’t know exactly where
to put it right.

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But but interesting it’s talking
about much the same thing in

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John 7.
So this I’m just putting forward

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to you that John 7 happens at
the same time.

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All the things we’ve been
looking at where it happens, I’m

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not sure.
Could happen at the end, could

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happen somewhere in the middle
or towards the towards the end,

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could happen just before the
feeding of the 4000.

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I don’t think so, but perhaps we
just don’t know exactly.

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But the point is, is that
something is said in John 7

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which is relevant to the story
we’ve been looking at in Mark 7

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and it’s this.
In John 7, Jesus is in

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Jerusalem, and many of the
people believed in him.

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And they said, when the Christ
appears, will he do more signs

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than this man has done?
And the Pharisees heard the

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crowd thus muttering about him,
and the chief priests and

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Pharisees.
Now again, that is one of the

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few times we see these two
groups cooperating.

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The chief priests and the
Pharisees sent officers to

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arrest him, and you say to
yourself, why do they appear to

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be working together in this
instance when Jesus is in

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Jerusalem in John Chapter 7?
I suggest to you is that they’re

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both threatened and they appear
to be especially triggered by

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the idea that Jesus is doing
signs, don’t they?

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That seems to be the evidence
that people are looking at that

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this man actually might be the
Messiah.

216
00:12:34,160 –> 00:12:37,760
And so they come to Jesus.
And interestingly, Jesus says,

217
00:12:37,920 –> 00:12:40,800
are you going to seek for me and
not find me where I am?

218
00:12:40,800 –> 00:12:44,040
You cannot come.
And how do they respond?

219
00:12:44,680 –> 00:12:47,040
Does he intend to go to the
dispersion among the Greeks and

220
00:12:47,040 –> 00:12:48,720
teach the Greeks?
Now, this is one of those

221
00:12:48,720 –> 00:12:50,320
undesigned Scripture
coincidences.

222
00:12:50,960 –> 00:12:55,000
John records nothing of Jesus
going up to Decapolis.

223
00:12:55,120 –> 00:12:59,520
He records nothing of Jesus
going to Tyre and Sidon, but

224
00:12:59,520 –> 00:13:01,680
clearly they know that’s where
he’s been.

225
00:13:05,400 –> 00:13:08,640
Even though Mark records it,
John doesn’t record.

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00:13:08,640 –> 00:13:12,280
I have a sniff of it because you
have John 6, you know, everyone

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00:13:12,280 –> 00:13:13,920
going away after defeating the
5000.

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00:13:13,920 –> 00:13:16,280
The next thing you read about
John 7, he goes to Jerusalem.

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00:13:16,400 –> 00:13:19,880
We have nothing about what what
Mark 7 records in John, yet

230
00:13:20,360 –> 00:13:23,400
clearly they know that he’s been
teaching among the Greeks.

231
00:13:24,320 –> 00:13:25,880
In fact, he’s now kind of famous
for it.

232
00:13:26,040 –> 00:13:28,680
And the other thing this tells
us is they won’t go there.

233
00:13:29,760 –> 00:13:31,920
So why does Jesus go among the
Greeks?

234
00:13:34,200 –> 00:13:36,720
In part, he goes among the
Greeks because that’s where they

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00:13:36,720 –> 00:13:39,680
cannot come and they know they
cannot come there.

236
00:13:39,720 –> 00:13:43,720
Why can’t they go there?
Because they think they’re

237
00:13:43,720 –> 00:13:45,720
defiled by things like unwashed
hands.

238
00:13:47,400 –> 00:13:49,800
So as soon as he has his
argument about unwashed hands,

239
00:13:50,360 –> 00:13:53,840
he’s like, you know what?
I’m going to go somewhere, you

240
00:13:53,840 –> 00:13:59,640
cannot come.
But what I want to point this

241
00:13:59,640 –> 00:14:01,480
out is not necessarily for that,
although that’s an interesting

242
00:14:01,480 –> 00:14:03,880
undesigned scripts or
coincidence, which is just worth

243
00:14:03,880 –> 00:14:06,040
pointing out.
It’s that the signs.

244
00:14:06,080 –> 00:14:10,840
It’s the signs, you see, the
signs appear to be evidence that

245
00:14:10,840 –> 00:14:13,680
he is who he is.
And so they’re getting together

246
00:14:13,680 –> 00:14:15,200
going.
We got to do something about

247
00:14:15,200 –> 00:14:18,080
these signs.
People are believing signs and

248
00:14:18,080 –> 00:14:20,440
and they don’t think they’re
really signs from heaven.

249
00:14:21,800 –> 00:14:25,000
So if we’re going to trap him,
we got to trap him concerning

250
00:14:25,000 –> 00:14:29,880
the signs.
Now, it’s just remarkable.

251
00:14:30,600 –> 00:14:33,600
It’s more remarkable than you
think that these two groups are

252
00:14:33,600 –> 00:14:36,400
working together.
It shows how threatened they are

253
00:14:36,560 –> 00:14:38,240
because they didn’t like each
other at all.

254
00:14:38,400 –> 00:14:40,480
They disagreed on many, many
levels.

255
00:14:40,480 –> 00:14:43,240
And it’s hard to get this in the
New Testament, but it’s a lot

256
00:14:43,240 –> 00:14:45,120
more clear when you go to
Josephus.

257
00:14:45,800 –> 00:14:49,640
If you go to Josephus’s writings
and he talks about Jewish

258
00:14:49,640 –> 00:14:53,280
society in his time and he talks
about these different groups,

259
00:14:53,280 –> 00:14:56,400
you understand that there’s real
animosity between these groups

260
00:14:56,400 –> 00:15:02,320
because they represent very
different demographics and they

261
00:15:02,480 –> 00:15:05,960
and, and, and stratas of society
and they have different beliefs.

262
00:15:05,960 –> 00:15:08,520
Like the Pharisees believe in
the oral law, but the Sadducees

263
00:15:08,520 –> 00:15:10,640
don’t.
The Pharisees believe in

264
00:15:10,640 –> 00:15:12,800
resurrection afterlife.
The Sadducees don’t.

265
00:15:13,440 –> 00:15:16,040
The Pharisees try to represent
the lower classes and middle

266
00:15:16,040 –> 00:15:18,440
classes.
The, the, the Sadducees don’t

267
00:15:18,440 –> 00:15:20,880
care at all about the middle
classes and lower classes.

268
00:15:20,880 –> 00:15:23,400
They represent the aristocracy
and the wealthy.

269
00:15:24,600 –> 00:15:26,880
The Pharisees were, were
teaching in synagogues.

270
00:15:26,880 –> 00:15:28,880
The Sadducees had nothing to do
with synagogues.

271
00:15:28,880 –> 00:15:30,200
It’s all about the temple for
them.

272
00:15:32,160 –> 00:15:35,800
The Pharisees were not very much
connected to the Romans, but the

273
00:15:35,800 –> 00:15:38,920
Sadducees very much were.
They did not agree on many

274
00:15:38,920 –> 00:15:41,080
things at all.
There.

275
00:15:41,160 –> 00:15:43,520
They had a real antagonism
towards one another.

276
00:15:43,520 –> 00:15:45,720
The fact that they’re
cooperating, as Jesus tells you

277
00:15:45,720 –> 00:15:49,080
this one fact overwhelmingly, is
that they’re both threatened

278
00:15:51,760 –> 00:15:56,440
because this man, well, people
think he might be the Messiah.

279
00:15:56,960 –> 00:15:58,880
If he’s the Messiah, we’re both
losing out.

280
00:16:00,320 –> 00:16:04,120
So they put aside their
differences and they come

281
00:16:04,120 –> 00:16:08,200
together for this purpose.
Now the Pharisees says he’s knew

282
00:16:08,200 –> 00:16:10,120
something.
They knew that Jesus had

283
00:16:10,120 –> 00:16:14,000
performed miracle after miracle
and sign after sign.

284
00:16:14,000 –> 00:16:16,680
They could not gainsay it.
It was clear and obvious to

285
00:16:16,680 –> 00:16:19,120
everyone.
You can’t, we cannot feed 5000

286
00:16:19,120 –> 00:16:21,080
people and people not know about
it.

287
00:16:23,360 –> 00:16:28,000
You can’t heal the lame and and
the blind in the in the maimed

288
00:16:29,200 –> 00:16:31,280
and the deaf and it not be well
known.

289
00:16:31,360 –> 00:16:32,840
So what are they going to do
about this?

290
00:16:32,840 –> 00:16:34,400
What’s going to be their
strategy?

291
00:16:34,400 –> 00:16:37,800
How are they going to navigate
this issue that that clearly

292
00:16:37,800 –> 00:16:41,280
this man could perform many
signs and the signs appear to be

293
00:16:41,280 –> 00:16:43,720
evidence to the people that he
actually might be the Messiah.

294
00:16:43,720 –> 00:16:44,880
What are they going to do about
that?

295
00:16:45,000 –> 00:16:47,880
Aha.
They say they’re very clever.

296
00:16:49,800 –> 00:16:51,400
So they develop a line of
attack.

297
00:16:51,560 –> 00:16:54,440
Here’s the line of attack.
We’re going to go back and ask

298
00:16:54,440 –> 00:16:59,200
for a bigger, bolder, better
sign, a sign from heaven.

299
00:16:59,880 –> 00:17:04,160
Now, what do they mean by that?
Well, we’re going to ask for a

300
00:17:04,160 –> 00:17:10,079
sign as conclusively from
heaven, a sign which is so clear

301
00:17:10,720 –> 00:17:15,800
and so overwhelming that there’s
going to be no doubt whatsoever

302
00:17:15,920 –> 00:17:19,079
that this man not, we’re not,
we’re not talking about a casual

303
00:17:19,079 –> 00:17:22,839
sign like a man born blind sees
again.

304
00:17:23,040 –> 00:17:26,079
That’s just, well, that’s just
that’s just that’s just table

305
00:17:26,079 –> 00:17:29,040
stakes Messiah talk, right?
That’s not that’s not good

306
00:17:29,040 –> 00:17:31,800
enough, right?
We’re not talking about a man

307
00:17:31,880 –> 00:17:35,000
who is sick of a palsy and then
rising up again.

308
00:17:35,000 –> 00:17:36,680
That’s not good enough.
No, no, no, no.

309
00:17:37,320 –> 00:17:39,640
We’re talking about a big bold
sign.

310
00:17:41,000 –> 00:17:45,080
Now, the strategy is this.
Let’s say that Jesus fails to

311
00:17:45,080 –> 00:17:49,840
produce a sign.
Aha, they got him because he’s a

312
00:17:49,840 –> 00:17:52,520
fraud.
We asked for a sign, couldn’t

313
00:17:52,520 –> 00:17:55,120
produce it.
But then of course, they think

314
00:17:55,120 –> 00:17:57,800
to themselves, you know, this
man’s pretty good at signs.

315
00:17:59,800 –> 00:18:02,440
What are we going to do if he
actually gives us a sign?

316
00:18:04,960 –> 00:18:07,760
Because you can’t.
You know, I heard once about

317
00:18:07,760 –> 00:18:10,160
lawyers that when you’re in a
trial and you’re a lawyer and

318
00:18:10,160 –> 00:18:12,720
someone’s on the stand, you
never ask a question you don’t

319
00:18:12,720 –> 00:18:14,680
know the answer to.
Ever heard that?

320
00:18:16,400 –> 00:18:19,440
Well, if these men were nothing
if not lawyers.

321
00:18:21,960 –> 00:18:24,360
So they never ask a question
they don’t know the answer to.

322
00:18:24,480 –> 00:18:26,320
So what’s going to what’s, what
are they going to do?

323
00:18:26,320 –> 00:18:27,800
If Jesus actually produces a
sign?

324
00:18:27,800 –> 00:18:33,480
What are they going to do then?
Ha ha, well if he produces a

325
00:18:33,480 –> 00:18:35,680
sign, where’s he going to claim
this from?

326
00:18:35,680 –> 00:18:39,840
PLS above.
They can’t lose.

327
00:18:40,080 –> 00:18:43,360
You see, to them this is a no
lose question.

328
00:18:45,080 –> 00:18:48,760
No matter what Jesus does, they
have an answer.

329
00:18:50,800 –> 00:18:53,520
So, So what I want to suggest to
you is when they ask Jesus for a

330
00:18:53,520 –> 00:18:55,440
sign, this is not a genuine
question.

331
00:18:55,960 –> 00:18:59,000
You, you follow that.
It’s not like they’re actually,

332
00:18:59,240 –> 00:19:01,280
you know, young people.
They’re not asking for a sign

333
00:19:01,400 –> 00:19:04,120
thinking that if he actually
produced something, they might

334
00:19:04,120 –> 00:19:06,840
believe.
That’s not that’s not the

335
00:19:06,840 –> 00:19:11,600
exchange happening here in in
Matthew 16 verse one.

336
00:19:11,960 –> 00:19:14,800
They’re not asking a sign so
that if Jesus produced

337
00:19:14,800 –> 00:19:17,440
something, they go he’s he’s
done something.

338
00:19:17,560 –> 00:19:20,280
We’re actually going to believe.
That’s not what’s happening.

339
00:19:20,520 –> 00:19:23,320
No matter what Jesus does,
they’re not going to believe.

340
00:19:27,120 –> 00:19:28,760
So how is Jesus going to
respond?

341
00:19:31,120 –> 00:19:34,400
Well, he responds by asking them
to consider the sky.

342
00:19:35,120 –> 00:19:45,920
Now let’s look at this together.
Well, here we go.

343
00:19:47,120 –> 00:19:54,320
The point of these last quest
graphics were is that it’s just

344
00:19:54,320 –> 00:19:57,280
that if you look at Jewish
history, there’s a lot of

345
00:19:57,280 –> 00:19:59,360
context.
I’m going to, I’m trying to try

346
00:19:59,360 –> 00:20:01,600
to walk somewhere where Dan’s
camera can’t find me.

347
00:20:01,680 –> 00:20:03,800
Is that, am I going to achieve
that, Dan?

348
00:20:04,000 –> 00:20:04,920
Am I there?
Yet?

349
00:20:08,280 –> 00:20:11,880
There’s lots of context in
Jewish history where Jesus had

350
00:20:11,880 –> 00:20:14,920
asked for a sign.
Or the Jews had had been given a

351
00:20:14,920 –> 00:20:17,560
sign, a sign from heaven.
I’m just like to suggest to you

352
00:20:17,800 –> 00:20:20,720
when, when they’re at Mount
Sinai, there are plenty of signs

353
00:20:20,720 –> 00:20:24,800
from heaven.
But whilst those signs from

354
00:20:24,800 –> 00:20:29,640
heaven are being given by God
clearly in the in the, in the

355
00:20:29,640 –> 00:20:31,840
clouds and the thundering and
the lightning.

356
00:20:31,960 –> 00:20:37,000
So in so far as they’re so
scared that they don’t want to

357
00:20:37,000 –> 00:20:39,640
approach into the mountain
anymore or hear God’s voice,

358
00:20:40,720 –> 00:20:44,520
they’re doing this.
That lot of good that sign was

359
00:20:44,520 –> 00:20:51,000
doing, wasn’t it?
I mean, or, or how about, how

360
00:20:51,000 –> 00:20:53,920
about Elijah calling down fire
in heaven then seems to be a

361
00:20:53,920 –> 00:20:58,760
sign.
You know, I, it’s funny, when I

362
00:20:58,760 –> 00:21:02,000
want to talk locally, I kind of
do the southern accent a little

363
00:21:02,000 –> 00:21:03,200
bit.
I don’t know what about the

364
00:21:03,200 –> 00:21:06,000
southern accent makes me sound
like I just represent the

365
00:21:06,000 –> 00:21:08,720
people, right.
So you just got to forgive me.

366
00:21:09,320 –> 00:21:16,480
Sometimes I get some giddy up in
my voice, but calling down fire

367
00:21:16,480 –> 00:21:22,240
from heaven, right?
Did did that change the people?

368
00:21:24,800 –> 00:21:29,160
And I just want, did signs from
heaven do any good in the

369
00:21:29,160 –> 00:21:33,520
history of this people?
Kind of funny, they think the

370
00:21:33,520 –> 00:21:35,960
sign from heaven is going to do
some good now, right?

371
00:21:36,320 –> 00:21:42,120
It hadn’t done much good before.
So Jesus is going to to give

372
00:21:42,120 –> 00:21:45,200
them an an analogy of whether
now, of course, this I remember

373
00:21:45,400 –> 00:21:47,520
Jesus is being asked a no win
question.

374
00:21:47,640 –> 00:21:51,600
He cannot win this question.
No matter what he does, faith

375
00:21:51,600 –> 00:21:54,560
will not be resolved.
He couldn’t do a sign and then

376
00:21:54,560 –> 00:21:55,560
suddenly they’re going to have
faith.

377
00:21:55,720 –> 00:21:57,400
So this is not a genuine
question.

378
00:21:57,520 –> 00:22:00,120
So Jesus can’t answer it as if
it’s a genuine question.

379
00:22:00,280 –> 00:22:02,920
But of course, Jesus having the
Spirit knew this.

380
00:22:04,320 –> 00:22:09,960
So he says, he answered and said
unto them, when it’s evening,

381
00:22:09,960 –> 00:22:14,200
you say, it will be fair weather
for the sky is red, and in the

382
00:22:14,200 –> 00:22:17,360
morning it will be foul weather
today, for the sky is red.

383
00:22:17,360 –> 00:22:21,920
And lowering you hypocrites, you
can discern the face of the sky,

384
00:22:23,440 –> 00:22:26,880
but can you not discern the sign
of the times?

385
00:22:28,080 –> 00:22:32,120
So what does Jesus mean by this?
So in order to understand this,

386
00:22:32,120 –> 00:22:33,880
you don’t really need to
understand this, but this is one

387
00:22:33,880 –> 00:22:35,240
of those things you look at and
you’re like, what?

388
00:22:35,240 –> 00:22:38,000
What is up with the red skies
and the and the Jewish weather?

389
00:22:38,440 –> 00:22:40,280
So I just wanted to explain
this.

390
00:22:40,280 –> 00:22:43,960
Maybe you’re curious like me.
So, but it’s not really critical

391
00:22:43,960 –> 00:22:50,560
that you get this bit.
So OK in Israel, where does rain

392
00:22:50,560 –> 00:22:51,960
come from?
Which direction?

393
00:22:54,480 –> 00:22:56,920
It comes from the West, right.
It comes from the Mediterranean

394
00:22:56,920 –> 00:22:58,280
Sea.
OK.

395
00:22:58,280 –> 00:23:01,520
So in fact, you know that
because we were an Elijah on

396
00:23:01,520 –> 00:23:03,800
Mount Carmel.
He asks as a cycle.

397
00:23:03,800 –> 00:23:08,800
Look out over the sea and and
see if you see anything, right?

398
00:23:08,800 –> 00:23:11,760
Don’t, don’t look towards the
South or the north, or certainly

399
00:23:12,040 –> 00:23:15,200
don’t look towards the east.
You’re never going to find rain

400
00:23:15,200 –> 00:23:21,760
from that direction ever, right?
Look towards the West and look

401
00:23:21,760 –> 00:23:23,680
for a cloud.
And of course that’s what he

402
00:23:23,680 –> 00:23:27,760
does now.
A red and lowering sky means

403
00:23:27,760 –> 00:23:32,600
that the sun is shining up from
the on the locales coming from

404
00:23:32,600 –> 00:23:34,480
the West.
So I want you to imagine clouds

405
00:23:34,480 –> 00:23:39,360
coming in from the West, the sun
rising in the east, the sun’s

406
00:23:39,360 –> 00:23:42,840
light, the first of the lights
of day shining up on those

407
00:23:42,840 –> 00:23:47,600
clouds, right?
And making a beautiful sunrise

408
00:23:48,480 –> 00:23:51,320
full of red and colors.
Why?

409
00:23:51,320 –> 00:23:53,520
Because you need the clouds to
do that, right?

410
00:23:53,920 –> 00:23:57,600
And, and So what you have is a
little bit of a scenario like

411
00:23:57,640 –> 00:23:59,600
this, right?
And when you see something like

412
00:23:59,600 –> 00:24:03,000
this now, I, I don’t, I don’t
expect any of you to be

413
00:24:03,000 –> 00:24:05,400
meteorologists in the room.
Are there any meteorologists in

414
00:24:05,400 –> 00:24:08,360
the room?
OK, My, my friend, brother Ezra

415
00:24:08,360 –> 00:24:11,280
11’s a meteorologist.
So if you know, there’s, there’s

416
00:24:11,280 –> 00:24:13,560
certainly, there certainly are
some in the brotherhood.

417
00:24:14,520 –> 00:24:19,720
OK, So, but if you saw that,
would, would you say, you say it

418
00:24:19,720 –> 00:24:24,240
rains on the horizon?
You got to be too smart to to

419
00:24:24,240 –> 00:24:27,440
know that pretty.
I just want to I want to put

420
00:24:27,440 –> 00:24:29,720
forward to this idea, as that’s
obvious.

421
00:24:32,040 –> 00:24:33,640
Now I’m going to show you
another red sky.

422
00:24:33,640 –> 00:24:36,360
I want you to tell me if when
you see that red sky, if you

423
00:24:36,360 –> 00:24:43,000
think rain’s on the horizon.
OK, what about this think it’s

424
00:24:43,000 –> 00:24:49,640
going to rain now.
Now, if I if I see a red sky at

425
00:24:49,720 –> 00:24:55,320
sunset, it doesn’t mean rain.
I see red side sunset.

426
00:24:55,320 –> 00:24:58,200
What that means is that we’ve
had an east wind that’s kicked

427
00:24:58,200 –> 00:25:02,200
up a lot of dust and the dust is
all throughout the atmosphere.

428
00:25:02,840 –> 00:25:05,280
And so I’m seeing a red sky at
sunset.

429
00:25:05,520 –> 00:25:08,480
What that means is that we’ve
had an east wind.

430
00:25:09,080 –> 00:25:11,720
Now you know enough of the
Bible, I’m sure to know that

431
00:25:11,720 –> 00:25:16,440
east winds mean there’s not
going to be any rain at all.

432
00:25:16,440 –> 00:25:17,800
In fact, the east wind is
famous.

433
00:25:17,800 –> 00:25:19,600
Think about Joseph’s dreams.
What?

434
00:25:19,720 –> 00:25:23,440
When Pharaoh’s crops get get
destroyed in his dream, Where,

435
00:25:23,480 –> 00:25:25,360
why did they get destroyed?
What happened?

436
00:25:25,680 –> 00:25:29,360
There was an east wind, right?
In fact, that’s what the east

437
00:25:29,360 –> 00:25:32,280
wind looks like
meteorologically.

438
00:25:33,520 –> 00:25:35,000
You see that?
You see all the dust in the

439
00:25:35,000 –> 00:25:39,640
atmosphere there.
So this wind picks up over the

440
00:25:39,640 –> 00:25:42,840
desert, grabs a lot of dust, and
you see it.

441
00:25:42,840 –> 00:25:49,560
You can see it just pours out
over over gallowing right now

442
00:25:49,560 –> 00:25:52,480
that’s going to make your sky
look very, very red at sun at

443
00:25:52,480 –> 00:25:56,480
sunset.
Now the point the point is the

444
00:25:56,480 –> 00:25:59,160
point is that these pictures are
obvious.

445
00:26:01,440 –> 00:26:03,720
They got to be too smart to know
what the weather’s going to be

446
00:26:03,720 –> 00:26:08,640
like.
So the point young people, the

447
00:26:08,640 –> 00:26:12,480
point brothers and sisters, and
this is a a quote about the east

448
00:26:12,480 –> 00:26:18,640
wind.
The point is this, that the

449
00:26:18,680 –> 00:26:25,480
Pharisees and Sadducees, Saul,
could see the sky and they

450
00:26:25,480 –> 00:26:29,760
didn’t just observe what was
it’s hot.

451
00:26:30,680 –> 00:26:33,400
It’s not hot, it’s rainy.
They didn’t observe what was.

452
00:26:33,600 –> 00:26:35,000
They could observe what’s
coming.

453
00:26:36,680 –> 00:26:41,160
They could look at the sky and
they knew what it meant.

454
00:26:44,160 –> 00:26:46,960
Anyone could know what it is at
the moment.

455
00:26:48,560 –> 00:26:51,200
That’s not the point.
The point is to know what’s

456
00:26:51,200 –> 00:26:59,480
coming based on what you see.
Only a fool wouldn’t be able to

457
00:26:59,480 –> 00:27:02,640
interpret such obvious signs in
the sky.

458
00:27:03,200 –> 00:27:07,200
They knew looking at the sign in
the sky, it’d be obvious what

459
00:27:07,320 –> 00:27:09,560
the future was regarding the
weather.

460
00:27:11,800 –> 00:27:16,280
So the Pharisees, as Sadducees,
they saw Jesus miracles, they

461
00:27:16,280 –> 00:27:19,560
saw the withered hand restored,
the lame man walk, the leper

462
00:27:19,560 –> 00:27:22,880
restored clean.
The difference was that they

463
00:27:22,880 –> 00:27:24,160
didn’t know what those things
meant.

464
00:27:24,720 –> 00:27:30,000
But do you know who did?
The Gentiles knew.

465
00:27:31,680 –> 00:27:33,320
The Gentiles knew what they
meant.

466
00:27:33,680 –> 00:27:37,000
The Gentiles knew what the signs
meant.

467
00:27:37,200 –> 00:27:43,200
This man’s from God, the
Pharisees saw the same signs.

468
00:27:43,280 –> 00:27:46,200
This man’s not from God.
These signs are from another

469
00:27:46,200 –> 00:27:52,720
source.
So let me just drop draw this

470
00:27:52,720 –> 00:27:55,320
class to a close because this
class is is really setting up

471
00:27:55,320 –> 00:28:01,640
our next study.
Now I don’t know what signs God

472
00:28:01,640 –> 00:28:04,640
is giving you some some people
see signs in different things.

473
00:28:05,600 –> 00:28:11,160
Some people see signs perhaps in
in Israel restored to the land,

474
00:28:11,720 –> 00:28:14,840
and they see that the miracle of
that as being a sign.

475
00:28:16,080 –> 00:28:19,960
Some people would would look at
the stars of the heaven and

476
00:28:19,960 –> 00:28:24,480
they’d see the the manifold
wonders of God and they’d see

477
00:28:24,480 –> 00:28:27,800
that this is a sign of an
intelligent and creator God.

478
00:28:27,800 –> 00:28:30,880
Some, some people would look at
the mathematical precision of

479
00:28:30,880 –> 00:28:34,080
the universe.
The fact that universe can’t be

480
00:28:34,080 –> 00:28:38,000
described with mathematics means
that there’s intelligence behind

481
00:28:38,000 –> 00:28:41,680
it, and in fact the finite
nature of the balance between

482
00:28:41,680 –> 00:28:46,360
all the forces of nature what
itself suggests that there must

483
00:28:46,360 –> 00:28:49,800
be intelligence behind what’s
happening in nature.

484
00:28:53,040 –> 00:28:57,200
Maybe you see signs personally,
circumstances that have happened

485
00:28:57,200 –> 00:29:01,720
in your life, or the lives of
those you love and care for, and

486
00:29:01,720 –> 00:29:09,240
you see those signs.
You see signs, brothers and

487
00:29:09,240 –> 00:29:13,000
sisters, but the question is not
whether you see the sign.

488
00:29:14,200 –> 00:29:17,280
Even the Pharisees and the
Sadducees solve the sign.

489
00:29:20,360 –> 00:29:27,520
What do the signs mean?
What power do you attribute the

490
00:29:27,520 –> 00:29:31,280
signs to?
Is it?

491
00:29:35,160 –> 00:29:38,680
Is it God?
Is it something baser?

492
00:29:46,600 –> 00:29:48,720
Perhaps?
Maybe you even challenge God?

493
00:29:49,720 –> 00:29:51,800
I need a bigger, bolder, better
sign.

494
00:29:51,800 –> 00:29:53,240
God.
You see the signs you’ve given

495
00:29:53,240 –> 00:29:59,560
me, the scriptures and nature
and and prophecy fulfilled,

496
00:29:59,840 –> 00:30:03,120
Those aren’t good enough?
No, no, no, God.

497
00:30:05,680 –> 00:30:10,480
I need a sign from heaven.
I need something more.

498
00:30:10,680 –> 00:30:14,080
I need something greater,
something more definite.

499
00:30:14,840 –> 00:30:17,160
So the problem isn’t observing a
sign, brothers and sisters.

500
00:30:17,320 –> 00:30:19,120
The problem is knowing what the
sign means.

501
00:30:21,200 –> 00:30:24,120
And if you know what the sign
means, do you know what you

502
00:30:24,120 –> 00:30:29,640
know?
You know what comes next because

503
00:30:29,640 –> 00:30:37,660
a sign gives you information.
You see, the Lord Jesus Christ

504
00:30:37,660 –> 00:30:43,420
is the Messiah, and if he’s the
Messiah, then what comes next is

505
00:30:43,420 –> 00:30:47,440
that he returns to the earth and
you and I are accountable

506
00:30:47,520 –> 00:30:49,840
whether or not we believe that
we did something about it.

507
00:30:50,480 –> 00:30:53,160
So the difficulty for us, I
think is very similar to the

508
00:30:53,160 –> 00:30:55,680
difficulty of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.

509
00:30:55,920 –> 00:30:58,360
See, they’re in positions of
power and influence.

510
00:30:58,960 –> 00:31:02,320
If Jesus is the Messiah, the
problem with that is that they

511
00:31:02,320 –> 00:31:05,600
lose something.
And I find when I speak to young

512
00:31:05,600 –> 00:31:09,080
people, or I find the people
that are resisting baptism, the

513
00:31:09,080 –> 00:31:13,320
problem with baptism isn’t
really a lack of signs.

514
00:31:13,480 –> 00:31:16,640
The problem with baptism is
often what it means, the

515
00:31:16,640 –> 00:31:17,840
implication.
It means.

516
00:31:19,560 –> 00:31:23,360
It means there’s a choice.
I got to let go of something.

517
00:31:24,880 –> 00:31:30,560
Maybe I have to let go of
relationship choices.

518
00:31:30,760 –> 00:31:33,280
Maybe I have to let go of, of
career opportunities.

519
00:31:33,520 –> 00:31:36,880
Maybe, maybe I have to let go
of, of freedom to, to live and

520
00:31:36,880 –> 00:31:40,200
pursue the things that in, in my
life, my heart feels to be

521
00:31:40,400 –> 00:31:42,040
things like it’s calling me to
pursue.

522
00:31:43,400 –> 00:31:46,600
Maybe I have to put down some of
my treasures, whether I hold

523
00:31:46,600 –> 00:31:48,440
those treasures secretly or
openly.

524
00:31:48,840 –> 00:31:51,080
You know, there’s, there’s a
cost of believing it.

525
00:31:51,200 –> 00:31:53,760
And sometimes those of us that
are a little bit older than the

526
00:31:53,760 –> 00:31:56,080
truth and we’ve made we’ve made
some of those sacrifices.

527
00:31:56,200 –> 00:31:58,760
And then in retrospect, we go,
that wasn’t any cost at all.

528
00:32:00,320 –> 00:32:02,800
We look back at those things and
we look back at them and we go,

529
00:32:02,800 –> 00:32:06,880
well, that was dung compared to
what I the benefits are received

530
00:32:06,880 –> 00:32:08,480
in the truth.
But that’s us.

531
00:32:09,520 –> 00:32:12,240
We almost can’t relate to the
person who has to and be at the

532
00:32:12,240 –> 00:32:14,200
initial point of making that
decisions.

533
00:32:15,760 –> 00:32:18,360
I just point forward to you.
Two people can see the same sign

534
00:32:18,360 –> 00:32:23,160
and have different responses. 1
believes, 1 doesn’t.

535
00:32:23,560 –> 00:32:27,200
Two people can look at the stars
at night. 1 believes and one

536
00:32:27,200 –> 00:32:29,080
doesn’t.
Two people could look at the

537
00:32:29,080 –> 00:32:32,000
same gospel and read the same
gospel. 1 believes and one

538
00:32:32,000 –> 00:32:34,160
doesn’t.
Two people could see Israel

539
00:32:34,160 –> 00:32:36,560
restored. 1 believes and one
doesn’t.

540
00:32:36,600 –> 00:32:40,360
Is the difference the sign?
Is the difference of scripture?

541
00:32:40,360 –> 00:32:42,800
Is the difference of stars?
Is it different the the the

542
00:32:42,800 –> 00:32:44,120
restoration of the state of
Israel?

543
00:32:44,200 –> 00:32:46,520
Are those things different?
Is the difference the sign?

544
00:32:46,520 –> 00:32:48,680
No, the difference is not the
sign.

545
00:32:49,440 –> 00:32:54,920
The sign is the same.
The difference is the treasure

546
00:32:54,920 –> 00:33:00,560
in the heart of the one that
observes the sign, which is why

547
00:33:00,560 –> 00:33:04,600
the poor loved Christ, because
there’s so little to lose.

548
00:33:07,400 –> 00:33:11,200
That’s why the powerful and the
rich hated him, because belief

549
00:33:11,200 –> 00:33:14,480
costs too much.
It’s not the sign, it’s the

550
00:33:14,480 –> 00:33:15,960
heart of the one that sees the
sign.

551
00:33:17,640 –> 00:33:20,360
So what sign are you looking
for?

552
00:33:24,600 –> 00:33:27,480
Maybe we simply need to ask God
to help us accept the truth

553
00:33:27,600 –> 00:33:33,040
right in front of us, not asking
for something more than we’ve

554
00:33:33,040 –> 00:33:37,720
been given to lay down our
treasures, which, as this

555
00:33:37,720 –> 00:33:41,080
chapter will tell us later,
cannot be traded.

556
00:33:41,480 –> 00:33:45,160
None of them.
For there’s no profit that you

557
00:33:45,160 –> 00:33:47,640
could ever gain and trade for
your life.

558
00:33:49,920 –> 00:33:52,280
In our next study, then, we’re
going to build on these travels

559
00:33:52,280 –> 00:33:54,360
in the Gentile lands.
And we’re going to see the

560
00:33:54,360 –> 00:33:57,960
Gentile’s faithful response.
And we’re going to see how Jesus

561
00:33:57,960 –> 00:34:00,320
will respond to the trap they’ve
laid for him.

562
00:34:01,320 –> 00:34:05,000
And to do that, we’re going to
look at what is the sign of the

563
00:34:05,000 –> 00:34:05,640
prophet Jonah.