Ben Brinkerhoff – Who Do You Say That I Am? – Class 4

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And good morning again, brothers
and sisters.

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I was a little bit lackluster,
brothers and sisters, instead of

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you.
A bit tired.

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Do we not get enough caffeine?
OK, I’m going to say it one more

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time.
You’re going to give me some

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enthusiasm.
You’re going to give me some

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energy.
Ready.

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Good morning, brothers and
sisters.

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Thank you very much.
I need it.

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I need a little.
I’m feeling a little bit tired

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myself, So maybe this study will
be a little bit more subdued

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than the last one.
But.

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But if you knew me, then you
probably think that’s not going

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to be the case.
So see what’s conveyed in this

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chapter, This section that we
just read is at this moment,

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this confession by Peter is very
meaningful to the Lord, but the

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question is why?
It’s one of the questions I want

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to consider in studying this
chapter.

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Why was this moment, why was
this confession so important to

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Jesus?
But beyond that, what inside

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does that give me concerning
faith confession and what Jesus

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considers as his true ecclesia?
But that’s only one of the

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questions I have by this
chapter.

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I have quite a few.
For example, we read about a

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rock on which Jesus is going to
build as ecclesia.

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What’s the rock?
We talk about Peter being given

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the keys to the Kingdom of
heaven.

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

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loosen?
And does that give Peter some

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sort of power over what God does
in heaven?

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Because you bind on earth and
then it’s bound in heaven.

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So is heaven sort of like just
doing what Peter wants in

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response to what Peter’s
deciding, or is this something

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different than that?
And what is the gate of Hades

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and why in particular does that
have no power over the equation?

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These are just some of the you,
you sort of see like this

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section of Scripture, it’s full
of these little riddles.

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And you look at this, you’re
like, what is that about?

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And actually, it’s profound.
What it, what it, what it is.

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The implications of that are
profound.

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So what’s clear is that
Christian expositors and

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Catholic expositors do not agree
about what this chapter is all

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about.
And then implications are large

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about what it means.
So these are the kind of

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questions that we’re going to
look at over this next two

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studies, God willing.
So this class is going to be

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about what these verses do mean.
And our first class Monday

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morning will be about what these
verses do not mean.

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OK.
So we’re going to kind of split

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it up that way.
And in this class, I’m going to

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make 15 points in total, 15
exactly 15.

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So, so that you don’t get lost.
And so I get lost because this

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is going to be, there’s going to
be a lot of I can’t answer all

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these questions without a lot of
information.

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We can maybe all appreciate
that.

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So I decided to split it up into
15 different little bite sized

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chunks.
And when we get to each of those

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15, I’ll pause, I’ll put a slide
up so you can understand what it

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what it is I’m trying, I’m
trying to say in that section.

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Hopefully that helps us from
getting lost in just the amount

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of things that we’re going to be
talking about this morning.

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OK, occasionally, brothers and
sisters, let’s just dive into

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this first.
Occasionally the Gospels give us

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some insight into how the Lord
Jesus Christ is feeling.

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Not often, by the way, not as
much as you’d think.

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We not as much as we certainly
want to know.

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Often we go to the Psalms to
understand how the Lord Jesus

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Christ is feeling in different
moments.

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His Psalms are very illustrative
of that.

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But occasionally in the Gospels
we get a sense of how the Lord

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Jesus Christ is feeling.
And one of the occasions that we

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see that is in Mark chapter 8,
verses 11 to 12 where we read

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the Pharisees came and began to
argue with him, seeking a sign

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from heaven to test him, and he
sighed deeply in his heart.

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Now the Greek there for side
deeply is it conveys like an

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intense inward groaning, like a
visceral emotional response to

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the question.
Now pause for a moment is

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considered.
When’s the last time you side

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like that?
Now maybe, maybe it’s when

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someone gave you some really,
really difficult news on the

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phone, maybe about someone that
you love being, being sick or

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being taken to hospital.
Or maybe it’s, it’s about a huge

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disappointment that you dealt
with.

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But we all know what it’s like
to sigh very deeply be to be

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frustrated, to be agitated, to
be almost at the breaking point.

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And you can kind of get a sense
of the Lord Jesus Christ, his,

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his emotions in this moment.
So he’s so frustrated.

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I would suggest to you because
he is so deeply misunderstood.

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So then he boards a ship having
sighed deeply in his spirit and

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giving them then answer about
the weather and and saying

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you’re not going to see any sign
of the sign of the prophet

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Jonah.
He boards a ship and then when

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he’s on the ship, guess what,
he’s misunderstood again, right,

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because we read having eyes see
ye not having ears hear ye not.

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And do you not remember that the
text goes on to say in verse 21

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of Mark chapter 8, how is it
that you don’t understand?

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Jesus says in verse 21, do do
you get a sense of what I’m

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trying to do is, is peel back a
layer of text?

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I want you to see if you
understand what the Lord Jesus

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Christ is feeling and thinking
in this time.

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I I want you to see, you need to
see that he’s frustrated.

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You need to see that this is
difficult for him.

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Can you see that?
Can you, can you, can you

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picture the Lord Jesus Christ in
this moment?

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Is are we getting the sense in
his exasperation here where he’s

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at?
And, and that leads us to our

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first point is that Jesus feels
the disappointment and pressure

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of being misunderstood.
It’s not until you realize that

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that what comes next is going to
be meaningful to you until you

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bring yourself into his position
of thought, until you can see

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where he’s at, until you can
understand the tension of, of

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his moment, that you can’t
appreciate what comes after.

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So I just want you to start by
by putting yourself in that, in

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that position of understand,
because Jesus is a man,

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understand him as a man and the
disappointment and pressure of

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being consistently misunderstood
now, but but that being true,

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and I think it is true.
Here’s where things get a little

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bit confusing.
And the confusing bit it is that

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although he’s deeply
misunderstood, he chooses not to

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reveal himself either publicly
or privately.

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In fact, he will go out of his
way to stop people from

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identifying him for who he is.
Let me give you an example.

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When Jesus gives miracles very
often after the even though the

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miracle, remember he had he
healed the man who’s who’s deaf,

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right?
What do you mean?

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He pulls him out of the crowd
and puts him aside and he’s

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going to heal the man’s blind
with you.

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He takes him out of Beth Maceda
and takes him out and just deals

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with them privately.
And oftentimes when Jesus heals

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someone, he’ll say things like
this.

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He’ll say, see that thou say
nothing to any man or he’ll say

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things like he charged them that
they should tell no man what was

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done.
Do you see that what we’re being

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told consistently in the Gospels
is that Jesus does not want

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anyone to reveal who he is.
And remember when there’s like a

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deranged and, and, and men that
are sick in the head and they

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and they identify, they know who
Jesus is.

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He says, I know who you are.
And Jesus commands the unclean

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spirit that he would not reveal
who he is.

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Do I?
I need you to see that all Joe,

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Jesus is deeply frustrated by by
by the faithlessness of men.

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And he’s deeply frustrated by
his disciples saying, how do you

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not understand that he has been
concealing who he is?

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Do you appreciate that?
Did ever notice that before?

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Now, does that feel like it’s a
contradiction to you?

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On one side, I’m deeply
frustrated people don’t know who

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I am.
Other side, I am very interested

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in not revealing who I am.
How could both those be true?

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But they are true.
In fact I can only find one

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example before this time where
Jesus clearly identified who he

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was.
One example and and he only does

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it in a one-on-one setting.
No one else was there.

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Does anyone know when that is
that Jesus clearly reveals who

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he is in one occasion on A1, on
one setting with no one else

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around.
When is that right?

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It’s the woman.
It’s the woman by the well in

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John Ford.
That’s it.

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You find me another instance
where he clearly Now sometimes

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people say I know who you are or
they’ll call him the son of

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David, but Jesus never says and
I am the son of David except

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with the woman by the well and
only then it was one-on-one with

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a Gentile.
That’s it.

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That’s it.
Now the the people come up to

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say I know you are but Andrew
Grapp Peter says we found the

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Messiah, but Jesus will never
confirm it.

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Do you see that?
Do you ever notice that before

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he’ll do.
He won’t confirm it except with

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this woman.
Now that makes this woman in the

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well in John 4 an exceptional so
we’re not going to study it, but

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I just want you when you go
there in the reading to go.

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That is an exceptional
circumstance.

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Why is Jesus revealing to this
woman who he is?

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Because he doesn’t do it
anywhere else.

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OK, so this is our second point
then Our second point is Jesus

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intentionally chooses to conceal
his true identity and mission.

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OK, so and he doesn’t, he
doesn’t just do it with the

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public.
He’s not telling his disciples

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who he is either because because
the issue is in this chapter,

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he’ll, he’ll tell them, right?
And that’s why it’s so shocking

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to them at the end of the
chapter when he does tell them

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who he is and they’re going, no,
they don’t want to hear it.

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So Jesus has withheld it from
the public.

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He’s also withheld it from his
disciples.

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And I’m going to suggest to you
that concealing who he was was

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actually a greater temptation
than you think it was.

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He did conceal who he was.
There’s the the scriptures, the

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Gospels, it’s unambiguous.
He concealed who he was.

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I’m just suggesting to you that
that was a temptation.

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How do we know it’s a
temptation?

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How we how do we know it’s
difficult for Jesus to conceal

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who he was because of the second
temptation of Matthew chapter 4

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verse 6 where it says if you are
the Son of God, right, which is

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the question, who is he?
If you are the Son of God, throw

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yourself down.
Now, if I’ve interpreted Brother

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Wayne Rittmeyer correctly, he
thinks that the pinnacle of the

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temple was on the southwestern
corner of the temple where they

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would blow the shofar every day,
which is why you can, this is

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Brother Rittmeyer’s drawing and
that, and that’s the blowing of

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the of the shofar.
And from there down to the

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street level is about 50 meters.
So certainly if you threw

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yourself off this and there’s a
50m drop, it would, it would be

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pretty clear through the,
through the spectacle of that

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kind of miracle, who you were.
And, and we know that that Jesus

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was tempted to do it.
If Jesus wasn’t tempted to do

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it, this, this temptation had no
power with him.

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But every one of the temptations
in the wilderness had power with

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him.
And we’re only told about 3 then

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this in particular, he wanted
people to know who he was.

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So now it look, this is even
getting more confusing.

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He’s frustrated that people
don’t know who he is.

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He he has intentionally
concealed who he is and he’s

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tempted.
He has a great desire for people

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to know who he is.
And of course he responds in

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this instance by saying it is
written.

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Do not put the Lord your God to
the test.

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That’s how we resist the
temptation.

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And the implication of this is
what?

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00:13:21,920 –> 00:13:24,000
What’s the implication of?
Do not put the Lord your God to

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00:13:24,000 –> 00:13:26,840
the test?
The implication is I’m going to

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00:13:26,840 –> 00:13:29,840
put in God’s hands.
Do you see that?

221
00:13:30,880 –> 00:13:36,080
His response to this temptation
was I will put it in God’s

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00:13:36,080 –> 00:13:38,320
hands.
I will not put him to the test.

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00:13:40,520 –> 00:13:46,280
It will be God’s decision when
He reveals who I am to who He

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00:13:46,280 –> 00:13:48,760
wants to reveal it to.
I will not do it.

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00:13:49,280 –> 00:13:53,440
I will not put God to the test.
I will not reveal myself with

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00:13:53,560 –> 00:13:57,560
spiritual spectacle so that
everyone knows who I am.

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00:13:57,600 –> 00:14:00,520
Although I want people to know
who I am, I’m desperate for

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00:14:00,520 –> 00:14:02,880
people to know who I am.
It’s a great temptation that

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00:14:02,880 –> 00:14:05,320
people know who I am.
I’m not going to put the Lord

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00:14:05,320 –> 00:14:12,960
God to the test.
OK, so, so point #3 then is

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00:14:14,000 –> 00:14:17,440
Jesus wanted to be known and
this was a real temptation for

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00:14:17,440 –> 00:14:19,760
him.
So I, I’m just kind of pointing

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00:14:19,760 –> 00:14:22,040
out some things that are all the
first three points should all

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00:14:22,040 –> 00:14:23,520
stand in contradiction to one
another.

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00:14:24,480 –> 00:14:30,120
I hope you see that.
So I only point these three

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00:14:30,120 –> 00:14:33,520
things out, these
contradictions, because Jesus

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00:14:33,520 –> 00:14:35,040
was living in this
contradiction.

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00:14:36,200 –> 00:14:38,800
So that you understand the
significance of Matthew 16.

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00:14:40,920 –> 00:14:45,200
This is this is the tension
that’s in the air as he walks

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00:14:45,200 –> 00:14:48,280
the Caesarea Philippi, a place
that is pretty significant in

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00:14:48,280 –> 00:14:50,720
itself.
And we’re going to touch on that

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00:14:50,720 –> 00:14:53,040
a little bit in this class, but
much more in the next class.

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00:14:55,200 –> 00:14:59,560
So Luke offers an important
detail that shows the

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00:14:59,560 –> 00:15:03,440
significance of this moment.
Now, now what I’m going to show

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00:15:03,440 –> 00:15:05,840
you a verses, one of the
funniest verses in the Gospel,

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00:15:05,840 –> 00:15:06,800
though it’s not meant to be
funny.

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00:15:08,840 –> 00:15:11,280
Maybe if you just have American
sense of humor, you find humor

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00:15:11,280 –> 00:15:14,120
in things that are not humorous
like Donald Trump, right?

249
00:15:14,680 –> 00:15:17,160
So you got to find humor in
things that are not intended to

250
00:15:17,160 –> 00:15:20,080
be humorous, right?
And this is a verse that is not

251
00:15:20,080 –> 00:15:21,920
intentionally humorous, but it’s
a little bit funny.

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00:15:23,480 –> 00:15:26,640
See, See, we’ve been focusing in
Matthew and Mark because they

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00:15:26,640 –> 00:15:30,000
have the fullest description of
this little section of the Lord

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00:15:30,000 –> 00:15:32,520
Jesus Christ of life.
Now Luke mentions it very

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00:15:32,520 –> 00:15:36,240
briefly, but Luke gives us a
detail that neither Mark or

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00:15:36,240 –> 00:15:40,760
Matthew give us about this time
in Jesus life.

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00:15:41,080 –> 00:15:44,480
And it’s this before Jesus
begins this discussion with

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00:15:44,480 –> 00:15:51,720
Peter, what’s he doing?
Well, Luke says now it happens

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00:15:52,360 –> 00:15:55,240
as he was praying alone, the
disciples were with him and he

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00:15:55,240 –> 00:15:57,600
asked who do the crowd say that
I am?

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00:15:58,400 –> 00:16:03,360
So what happens is just before
he asked this question to his

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00:16:03,360 –> 00:16:08,800
disciples, he’s praying.
Now, why is he praying?

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00:16:09,840 –> 00:16:12,800
Because this moment’s a big one.
Now in Luke, you can go through

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00:16:12,800 –> 00:16:14,600
all the examples of prayer in
Luke.

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00:16:14,760 –> 00:16:17,680
Every time Jesus is praying in
Luke, something important is

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00:16:17,680 –> 00:16:21,480
about to happen.
OK, so it shows the the

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00:16:21,480 –> 00:16:23,720
magnitude that Jesus was a man
of prayer.

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00:16:24,480 –> 00:16:27,600
And what does he use prayer do?
He uses prayer to conform his

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00:16:27,600 –> 00:16:32,640
will to his Father’s God.
Not my will, but yours be done.

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00:16:32,720 –> 00:16:37,480
He prays so that that God would
conform his will because he’s

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00:16:37,480 –> 00:16:40,000
about to have a discussion which
he knows is significant.

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00:16:40,160 –> 00:16:44,120
And of course, this discussion
over who he is is very, very

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00:16:44,120 –> 00:16:47,560
tempting for the Lord.
It was one of his temptations in

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00:16:47,560 –> 00:16:49,760
the wilderness.
He knows this is a significant

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00:16:49,760 –> 00:16:52,320
moment.
He does not want to put his own

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00:16:52,320 –> 00:16:54,920
humanness into the moment and
override God’s will.

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00:16:55,000 –> 00:16:58,640
So he’s praying for God to give
him strength and, and, and what

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00:16:58,640 –> 00:17:04,119
it says is he’s praying alone,
but the disciples are with him.

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00:17:05,839 –> 00:17:07,440
Now, no one’s laughing.
That’s OK.

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00:17:08,440 –> 00:17:11,240
Now you laugh, you ask.
That was a bit of a courtesy

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00:17:11,240 –> 00:17:18,240
laugh.
That was so, so ever, ever been

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00:17:18,240 –> 00:17:24,440
alone with people around you?
Now, I don’t think that that is

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00:17:24,960 –> 00:17:26,599
that’s he’s not saying that by
mistake.

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00:17:26,720 –> 00:17:30,120
I mean, Luke, Luke’s not Luke’s
not identifying a it is a

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00:17:30,120 –> 00:17:32,160
contradiction.
I’m alone and people are with

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00:17:32,160 –> 00:17:34,680
me.
But you have to understand that

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00:17:34,680 –> 00:17:36,840
that is exactly Jesus.
In this moment.

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00:17:37,440 –> 00:17:43,160
You see, Jesus feels very alone,
although people are around him.

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00:17:43,920 –> 00:17:46,840
Do you see that?
I’m just, I’m bringing you into

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00:17:46,840 –> 00:17:51,640
this moment that Jesus is in.
How is he feeling?

291
00:17:52,000 –> 00:17:55,720
He sighs deeply within himself.
He has been tempted.

292
00:17:55,920 –> 00:17:57,440
People are.
He’s misunderstood.

293
00:17:57,480 –> 00:17:59,240
Everywhere he go he’s
misunderstood.

294
00:17:59,360 –> 00:18:02,840
He desires to be known, but he
will not reveal himself.

295
00:18:03,360 –> 00:18:08,680
He feels alone although people
are around him.

296
00:18:11,200 –> 00:18:14,640
That’s Jesus in this exact
moment.

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00:18:15,600 –> 00:18:19,640
And that’s my 4th point.
Jesus was surrounded yet alone.

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00:18:22,000 –> 00:18:24,680
OK, this is his.
This is Jesus in this moment.

299
00:18:24,680 –> 00:18:29,800
He’s surrounded, yet he’s alone.
And he’s using prayer to align

300
00:18:30,680 –> 00:18:33,360
himself with God’s will, which
is what he does.

301
00:18:33,560 –> 00:18:38,080
He uses prayer to take his own
will and surrender it to God’s

302
00:18:38,080 –> 00:18:41,480
will that God would take this
moment and God would make from

303
00:18:41,480 –> 00:18:45,920
this moment what God wants him
to do in that in that moment

304
00:18:45,920 –> 00:18:50,080
because he felt the temptation
and the struggle with with

305
00:18:50,080 –> 00:18:52,880
revealing his identity to his
disciples.

306
00:18:53,000 –> 00:18:56,040
This moment is huge for the Lord
Jesus Christ.

307
00:19:00,960 –> 00:19:06,560
So now, after years of quiet
ministry, miraculous acts,

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00:19:06,560 –> 00:19:10,760
misunderstood teachings, and
mounting opposition, Jesus

309
00:19:10,760 –> 00:19:18,680
initiates the moment of truth.
And he says, who do people say

310
00:19:18,680 –> 00:19:25,840
that the Son of Man is?
And they respond, well, some say

311
00:19:25,840 –> 00:19:28,960
John the Baptist, others say
Elijah, and still others

312
00:19:28,960 –> 00:19:31,560
Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
Now, what does that response

313
00:19:31,560 –> 00:19:35,080
mean?
That means to the common man.

314
00:19:35,840 –> 00:19:39,120
To the common man, Jesus is a
worker of miracles like Elijah.

315
00:19:40,200 –> 00:19:43,880
Or he’s one of the prophets
deeply unpopular with the

316
00:19:43,880 –> 00:19:47,000
political religious leaders like
Jeremiah was.

317
00:19:48,520 –> 00:19:54,080
Or he’s a preacher of the
Kingdom of God, like John was to

318
00:19:54,080 –> 00:19:59,880
his hometown in Matthew 1355.
He’s a carpenter’s son.

319
00:20:00,840 –> 00:20:04,480
But one thing that seems to be
common about all these views

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00:20:04,480 –> 00:20:07,200
about Jesus, whether Elias or
Jeremiah’s or one of the

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00:20:07,200 –> 00:20:11,240
prophets, etcetera, is that he’s
not the Messiah.

322
00:20:13,880 –> 00:20:17,240
Everyone seems to agree on that.
What he is, they don’t know, but

323
00:20:17,240 –> 00:20:28,640
they seem to know what he’s not.
See, it’s so often that faith is

324
00:20:28,640 –> 00:20:31,960
in contradiction to popular
knowledge.

325
00:20:33,360 –> 00:20:35,600
Because if you even think about
this question, even on the

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00:20:35,600 –> 00:20:40,560
simplest level of brothers,
sisters, you ask who do the

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00:20:40,560 –> 00:20:42,440
people of our age to the Lord
Jesus Christ?

328
00:20:42,440 –> 00:20:46,320
If I ask these young people, if
I ask you the question, who I

329
00:20:46,320 –> 00:20:48,200
know, you’re terrified I will
and I won’t, right?

330
00:20:48,840 –> 00:20:50,360
Right.
I’m getting near to you and

331
00:20:50,360 –> 00:20:51,840
you’re getting a little bit
concerned about that.

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00:20:52,600 –> 00:20:56,880
If I ask you the question, who
do people of our age say the

333
00:20:56,880 –> 00:20:58,960
Lord Jesus Christ is?
One, I’m going to give you 4

334
00:20:58,960 –> 00:21:01,520
categories and there’s many
nuances of those categories.

335
00:21:02,280 –> 00:21:05,160
Well, a Jew might say he’s a
confused reformer.

336
00:21:05,160 –> 00:21:07,120
I know this.
I’ve spoken to a Jew choose

337
00:21:07,120 –> 00:21:09,280
about this.
I’ve asked them who do you think

338
00:21:09,280 –> 00:21:11,960
the Lord Jesus Christ is not
exactly in those words and they

339
00:21:11,960 –> 00:21:15,120
said he was, He was a reformer
who is confused and

340
00:21:15,120 –> 00:21:18,040
misunderstood.
A reformer.

341
00:21:18,760 –> 00:21:22,000
That’s their view of Jesus, at
least the the the ones I spoke

342
00:21:22,000 –> 00:21:25,920
with because I lived in Israel
when I was about your age for a

343
00:21:25,920 –> 00:21:29,840
year.
OK, if I’m an atheist, I think

344
00:21:29,840 –> 00:21:32,560
he’s a religious nut case,
right?

345
00:21:33,600 –> 00:21:36,000
I know that that’s that’s
obviously a harsh way to think

346
00:21:36,000 –> 00:21:38,200
about the Lord Jesus Christ, but
I think that’s an accurate

347
00:21:38,200 –> 00:21:40,400
version of what many atheists
think.

348
00:21:41,560 –> 00:21:44,320
Well, what about an agnostic?
An agnostic is someone who

349
00:21:44,320 –> 00:21:46,640
doesn’t know what they think
Jesus is.

350
00:21:46,960 –> 00:21:51,200
They agnostic means without
gnosis, without knowledge, I do

351
00:21:51,200 –> 00:21:53,240
not have knowledge.
I’m not sure.

352
00:21:54,040 –> 00:21:57,680
Well, many of them think he’s a
man who tried to teach a deeply

353
00:21:57,680 –> 00:22:00,720
flawed world to love.
That’s what agnostic might

354
00:22:00,720 –> 00:22:02,520
think.
They don’t look at Jesus and and

355
00:22:02,680 –> 00:22:05,840
have animosity towards him.
Often they can.

356
00:22:05,840 –> 00:22:08,360
They can see that he tried to
teach the world to be loving,

357
00:22:08,680 –> 00:22:11,080
but that the world didn’t want
that.

358
00:22:12,440 –> 00:22:17,720
And and of course we have beyond
those views, we have the views

359
00:22:17,720 –> 00:22:20,240
of most Christians and most
Christians think he’s God

360
00:22:20,240 –> 00:22:22,720
himself Co equal with his Father
in heaven.

361
00:22:24,160 –> 00:22:27,880
And and what I want to suggest
to you and observe this point is

362
00:22:27,880 –> 00:22:31,680
that in Jesus day, the common
man did not know who he was.

363
00:22:32,200 –> 00:22:36,160
They had an opinion.
He was well known and they

364
00:22:36,160 –> 00:22:39,480
thought they knew him.
They labeled him, but they were

365
00:22:39,480 –> 00:22:43,240
wrong.
Each one of the solutions of who

366
00:22:43,320 –> 00:22:48,400
Jesus was in his own day were
wrong, but Jesus did not correct

367
00:22:48,400 –> 00:22:53,560
their misunderstanding.
We have no record that there’s

368
00:22:53,560 –> 00:22:55,680
no one that comes to Jesus and
says, I think you’re this.

369
00:22:55,680 –> 00:22:58,240
And Jesus says no, you’re wrong.
Let me tell you exactly who I

370
00:22:58,240 –> 00:22:59,960
am.
He doesn’t do that.

371
00:23:00,520 –> 00:23:05,280
And I would just say that in our
age, Jesus is deeply

372
00:23:05,280 –> 00:23:10,320
misunderstood still.
Do you see that?

373
00:23:11,680 –> 00:23:16,880
Do you see that, young people?
He is still misunderstood.

374
00:23:16,880 –> 00:23:25,640
Do you see the irony of this?
Who knows who this man is?

375
00:23:30,080 –> 00:23:38,000
So few know who this man is.
Everyone thinks they know him,

376
00:23:40,840 –> 00:23:47,040
but so few know him.
So he pivots to his disciples,

377
00:23:47,080 –> 00:23:49,200
right?
This deeply, deeply

378
00:23:49,200 –> 00:23:55,360
misunderstood man who is
frustrated, who’s surrendered

379
00:23:55,360 –> 00:24:01,040
himself in prayer and asked God
to guide this very difficult

380
00:24:01,040 –> 00:24:06,200
discussion for him.
He pivots to his disciples and

381
00:24:06,200 –> 00:24:10,000
he says to them, but who do you
say that I am?

382
00:24:13,680 –> 00:24:18,000
And if I pause and I ask you the
question, who do you say that

383
00:24:18,040 –> 00:24:24,600
Jesus is?
Do you see that there’s a

384
00:24:25,760 –> 00:24:27,760
confronting power in that
discussion?

385
00:24:27,880 –> 00:24:31,480
If I go to you and I say, who is
Jesus Christ?

386
00:24:35,000 –> 00:24:41,560
There’s power in that question.
I dare say that at a baptismal

387
00:24:41,560 –> 00:24:45,720
interview, whatever technical
questions we’re asking you, on

388
00:24:45,720 –> 00:24:49,760
some level we are going to be
asking you, who do you think

389
00:24:49,760 –> 00:24:56,760
this man is?
You know, everyone in the world

390
00:24:56,760 –> 00:24:59,240
has to answer that question.
No one can seem to get away from

391
00:24:59,240 –> 00:25:00,720
it.
No matter who you are in the

392
00:25:00,720 –> 00:25:05,040
world, you’ve heard of this man.
And at some level you have to

393
00:25:05,040 –> 00:25:08,840
decide in your heart you can’t.
It’s it’s like an unavoidable

394
00:25:08,840 –> 00:25:10,920
question.
How do you avoid this question?

395
00:25:12,600 –> 00:25:23,580
Who is this man?
Who is the Lord Jesus Christ and

396
00:25:23,580 –> 00:25:27,700
what people in his own time
wanted is some sort of halfway

397
00:25:27,700 –> 00:25:31,100
house.
Here’s the halfway house Jesus

398
00:25:31,420 –> 00:25:34,900
clearly important.
He’s a miracle worker.

399
00:25:35,460 –> 00:25:40,880
He’s a prophet like John or, or,
or you know, maybe he’s even

400
00:25:40,880 –> 00:25:52,350
come back from the dead like the
John the Baptist resurrected

401
00:25:52,350 –> 00:25:54,270
from the dead.
Maybe he maybe that’s who he is.

402
00:25:56,990 –> 00:25:59,350
But the thing about the Lord
Jesus Christ is this.

403
00:26:03,950 –> 00:26:07,910
He is either either he’s
everything or he’s nothing.

404
00:26:10,840 –> 00:26:17,680
The thing is, he is either a
savior or he is a man that needs

405
00:26:17,680 –> 00:26:19,360
to be saved.
Now, I’m not talking about

406
00:26:19,720 –> 00:26:21,400
complicated ideas of the
atonement.

407
00:26:21,400 –> 00:26:23,320
I know the Lord Jesus Christ
need to be saved.

408
00:26:23,640 –> 00:26:30,560
But what I’m saying is this.
He is either a savior or he

409
00:26:30,560 –> 00:26:33,880
needs to be saved.
He’s one of the other.

410
00:26:36,120 –> 00:26:39,840
John need to be saved.
Jeremiah need to be saved.

411
00:26:40,560 –> 00:26:47,160
Elijah needed to be saved.
The thing is what people want in

412
00:26:47,160 –> 00:26:49,960
young people, I reckon, to say
that when I was your age, what I

413
00:26:49,960 –> 00:26:52,440
wanted was this.
What I wanted was a halfway

414
00:26:52,440 –> 00:26:55,280
house.
Do you understand what I mean by

415
00:26:55,280 –> 00:26:59,160
halfway house?
Jesus is really important, but

416
00:26:59,160 –> 00:27:03,080
he’s not everything.
Why?

417
00:27:04,200 –> 00:27:05,720
What’s the implication of he’s
everything?

418
00:27:09,480 –> 00:27:10,840
Then I better do something about
that.

419
00:27:13,840 –> 00:27:16,600
Don’t you see that that’s can
you see that in your heart?

420
00:27:17,280 –> 00:27:19,280
Can you see that you want him to
be something?

421
00:27:19,360 –> 00:27:22,840
You would definitely say he’s
not nothing, He’s something, but

422
00:27:22,840 –> 00:27:30,240
is he everything?
Do you see the power of this

423
00:27:30,240 –> 00:27:32,040
question?
If I was to ask you, who is the

424
00:27:32,040 –> 00:27:39,480
Lord Jesus Christ, does your
heart give you a halfway house

425
00:27:39,520 –> 00:27:45,200
answer?
Don’t condemn yourself if it

426
00:27:45,200 –> 00:27:46,840
does.
We all have to be.

427
00:27:47,120 –> 00:27:48,760
We have to all growing up into
this thing.

428
00:27:49,600 –> 00:27:52,240
I’m just identifying that when I
was your age, I had a halfway

429
00:27:52,240 –> 00:27:54,520
house answer.
He was important.

430
00:27:54,640 –> 00:27:58,800
He just wasn’t everything.
And that’s what the people of

431
00:27:58,800 –> 00:28:01,000
his own day wanted him to be.
He was important.

432
00:28:01,000 –> 00:28:04,440
He was a prophet.
God’s with him, but he’s not

433
00:28:04,440 –> 00:28:08,080
everything.
He’s not the Saviour.

434
00:28:13,920 –> 00:28:18,760
So our point #5 is this, people
think they know who Jesus is,

435
00:28:18,840 –> 00:28:23,600
but do not really.
Who Jesus is is the pivotal

436
00:28:23,600 –> 00:28:33,280
question even today.
And at that moment in Jesus

437
00:28:33,280 –> 00:28:38,400
ministry, who knew who he was?
Who will step forward?

438
00:28:40,440 –> 00:28:45,680
Was he alone?
And Peter does step forward.

439
00:28:46,800 –> 00:28:52,880
And Peter says you are the
Christ, the Son of the living

440
00:28:52,880 –> 00:28:57,600
God.
And there it was faith.

441
00:29:00,560 –> 00:29:02,480
Do you believe what Peter said
there is true?

442
00:29:05,120 –> 00:29:09,120
Of course you do.
I would just suggest that puts

443
00:29:09,120 –> 00:29:13,720
you, if you do, in pretty rare
company because this statement

444
00:29:13,720 –> 00:29:17,120
brings together 3 ideas that are
very rarely believed in

445
00:29:17,120 –> 00:29:21,880
combination.
Those three ideas are this.

446
00:29:23,480 –> 00:29:27,240
Jesus is the Jewish Messiah,
anointed to save his people,

447
00:29:27,240 –> 00:29:28,680
because that’s what Christos
means.

448
00:29:30,360 –> 00:29:39,400
Secondly, there is a living God
and Jesus is His Son and thus

449
00:29:39,400 –> 00:29:43,600
subordinate to Him.
Tell me who believed that today

450
00:29:45,320 –> 00:29:47,200
out of the billions of people on
this planet?

451
00:29:51,720 –> 00:29:56,600
But you believe it.
See what a statement that is?

452
00:29:58,440 –> 00:29:59,880
And that brings us to our sixth
point.

453
00:30:01,000 –> 00:30:05,600
Even to this day, very few know
and believe who Jesus really is.

454
00:30:07,880 –> 00:30:11,720
And if you think you know who he
is, it’s a privilege because

455
00:30:11,720 –> 00:30:16,880
there are very few, and it’s
very easy to take that for

456
00:30:16,880 –> 00:30:21,400
granted.
Here’s another question that

457
00:30:21,400 –> 00:30:24,080
seems obvious on the surface,
but there might be more to it.

458
00:30:24,880 –> 00:30:31,000
Who is the living God?
You know why they called

459
00:30:31,040 –> 00:30:36,400
Caesarea Popeye Caesarea?
Because it was a city that had

460
00:30:36,400 –> 00:30:38,600
been dedicated to a Roman
emperor.

461
00:30:39,000 –> 00:30:40,600
You would have heard of them
called Augustus.

462
00:30:41,360 –> 00:30:46,680
Now, this is a representation of
Augustus’s temple that was built

463
00:30:46,680 –> 00:30:48,920
in Caesarea Philippi.
It’s very difficult to know

464
00:30:48,920 –> 00:30:51,840
exactly how it looked, but they
reckon that this is probably how

465
00:30:51,840 –> 00:30:55,320
the temple of Augustus and
Caesarea Philippi looked.

466
00:30:55,760 –> 00:31:02,000
Right there it is.
OK, that was a temple to

467
00:31:02,000 –> 00:31:09,000
Augustus erected in that city
around the year 19 BCE by Herod

468
00:31:09,000 –> 00:31:13,120
the Great.
So in fact, I’m going to give

469
00:31:13,120 –> 00:31:14,920
you a picture of Caesarea
Philippi.

470
00:31:14,920 –> 00:31:16,800
This is a great picture.
You can find it on the Internet

471
00:31:16,800 –> 00:31:21,360
if you want to find it yourself,
and it really gives you insight

472
00:31:21,640 –> 00:31:25,560
about this area of the world.
This is Caesarea Philippi,

473
00:31:25,800 –> 00:31:27,720
during the time of the Lord
Jesus Christ.

474
00:31:29,480 –> 00:31:32,880
And what you can see there is
that’s the temple to Augustus,

475
00:31:34,920 –> 00:31:41,520
that’s the temple of Zeus.
That’s the grotto of Pan and the

476
00:31:41,520 –> 00:31:44,680
court of Pan.
And before they called Caesarea

477
00:31:44,680 –> 00:31:49,080
Philippi, Caesarea Philippi, its
name was Pannoneus.

478
00:31:50,040 –> 00:31:54,320
Now it was named after Pan
because Pan was a God of

479
00:31:54,480 –> 00:31:59,320
sensuality.
It was a God of human or

480
00:31:59,320 –> 00:32:03,440
animalistic instincts.
For example, you might have

481
00:32:03,440 –> 00:32:06,640
heard the word panic, right?
What’s panic?

482
00:32:06,760 –> 00:32:11,000
It’s when your feelings inside
are so overwhelming that they’re

483
00:32:11,000 –> 00:32:12,840
causing you to act in crazy
ways.

484
00:32:13,280 –> 00:32:17,400
That’s named after the God Pan.
Or how about pandemonium?

485
00:32:17,880 –> 00:32:20,360
That’s when whole crowds of
people are feeling that way,

486
00:32:20,800 –> 00:32:22,400
right?
And what’s what’s common in

487
00:32:22,400 –> 00:32:26,240
these words is that you are
feeling your human instincts

488
00:32:26,280 –> 00:32:31,120
totally overwhelm you.
So what is Pan, right?

489
00:32:31,320 –> 00:32:38,200
Pan is a God of sensuality.
Pan is a God of, of natural

490
00:32:38,200 –> 00:32:45,520
feelings, of, of raw senses.
And there’s something common

491
00:32:45,520 –> 00:32:49,000
about Pan and Mount Augustus and
about Zeus.

492
00:32:49,000 –> 00:32:52,120
And do you know what the common
thing is with all of them?

493
00:32:55,240 –> 00:33:02,440
They were dead.
Augustus was dead.

494
00:33:05,040 –> 00:33:09,680
Pan never lived, neither did
Zeus, neither would they have

495
00:33:09,720 –> 00:33:12,120
any life.
And this is a, this is so, this

496
00:33:12,120 –> 00:33:15,440
is so worth unpacking.
There’s so many, there’s so many

497
00:33:15,640 –> 00:33:17,360
insights here into Caesarea
Philippi.

498
00:33:17,600 –> 00:33:20,400
I’m going to save that to the
next study because I have a lot

499
00:33:20,400 –> 00:33:23,120
more to say about that.
But for the moment, I just want

500
00:33:23,120 –> 00:33:26,880
to point out, Caesarea Philippi
was a very significant place to

501
00:33:26,920 –> 00:33:31,720
acknowledge that Jesus was the
son of the living God because

502
00:33:31,720 –> 00:33:35,440
there’s a lot of contrasting
ideas about what that was in

503
00:33:35,440 –> 00:33:42,240
that place.
But God lives, Jesus is his son,

504
00:33:42,240 –> 00:33:45,160
and his Son is the Messiah.
Now, how did Peter know?

505
00:33:47,880 –> 00:33:49,080
Maybe you think that’s a silly
question.

506
00:33:49,080 –> 00:33:50,760
How did Peter know?
Well, how did Peter know?

507
00:33:51,000 –> 00:33:53,720
How did Peter know that Jesus
was the son of the living God?

508
00:33:58,080 –> 00:34:02,720
Did Jesus tell him you think
Jesus told him you’d find me the

509
00:34:02,720 –> 00:34:05,720
passage where did Jesus tell him
that he was the son of the

510
00:34:05,720 –> 00:34:09,520
living God?
Andrew thought it grabbed Peter,

511
00:34:09,800 –> 00:34:12,560
John one, but where did what did
Jesus tell him?

512
00:34:15,639 –> 00:34:17,920
And I think that’s the exact
point because that’s the only

513
00:34:17,920 –> 00:34:21,120
way to understand this next
verse, Matthew chapter 16, verse

514
00:34:21,120 –> 00:34:27,000
17, which says blessed are you
Simon Barjona for flesh and

515
00:34:27,000 –> 00:34:30,360
blood has not revealed this to
you.

516
00:34:31,480 –> 00:34:33,199
But my father, which is in
heaven.

517
00:34:33,199 –> 00:34:37,440
What does he mean that flesh and
blood has not revealed this to

518
00:34:37,440 –> 00:34:40,400
him.
Simply this Peter did not reach

519
00:34:40,400 –> 00:34:45,719
the conclusion because Jesus
talked him into it in any human

520
00:34:45,719 –> 00:34:49,679
way.
That’s what Jesus saying, my

521
00:34:49,679 –> 00:34:53,000
flesh and blood, because I,
Jesus, wanted to be known.

522
00:34:53,000 –> 00:34:54,639
That was the second temptation
in the wilderness.

523
00:34:54,719 –> 00:34:59,560
He wanted to be known.
Jesus is saying I did not talk

524
00:34:59,560 –> 00:35:03,160
you into this.
My flesh and blood did not

525
00:35:03,160 –> 00:35:09,840
reveal this to you, but God did.
God revealed it, flesh and

526
00:35:09,840 –> 00:35:12,960
blood, to simply represent the
way that people come to

527
00:35:12,960 –> 00:35:17,160
conclusions through natural
means, through logic, through

528
00:35:17,160 –> 00:35:19,600
cultural expectations, through
personal experience.

529
00:35:20,040 –> 00:35:22,760
None of those was enough.
You could not understand who

530
00:35:22,840 –> 00:35:31,480
Jesus was simply by human logic.
Jesus did not coerce belief.

531
00:35:31,880 –> 00:35:36,080
He did not manipulate belief.
He did not need Peter to affirm

532
00:35:36,080 –> 00:35:38,320
his identity to validate his
ego.

533
00:35:39,520 –> 00:35:41,960
If you read the Gospel of John,
you know one thing for certain.

534
00:35:42,040 –> 00:35:48,440
Jesus knew who he was.
Instead what Jesus does is he

535
00:35:48,440 –> 00:35:50,640
waits for his Father to reveal
it.

536
00:35:51,840 –> 00:35:56,000
And this is what gives Jesus so
much joy that finally someone

537
00:35:56,000 –> 00:35:58,760
sees.
Not because Jesus coerced it,

538
00:35:59,240 –> 00:36:02,480
not because Jesus manipulated
it, not because Jesus flesh and

539
00:36:02,480 –> 00:36:06,640
blood demanded it, because God
revealed it in his own time.

540
00:36:09,240 –> 00:36:10,840
So our next point is simply
this.

541
00:36:11,360 –> 00:36:15,240
Jesus waited on God to reveal
who he was in God’s time and

542
00:36:15,240 –> 00:36:17,480
doing that he denied his own
desires.

543
00:36:21,400 –> 00:36:24,320
And I reflected on this a little
bit because when I’m teaching

544
00:36:24,320 –> 00:36:28,000
first principles to young people
in Christchurch and other

545
00:36:28,000 –> 00:36:32,800
places, and I, and I’m trying to
teach you, Jesus is, I don’t do

546
00:36:32,800 –> 00:36:35,120
it this way.
I do it with flesh and blood,

547
00:36:35,240 –> 00:36:38,240
right?
I, I, I give them the answer,

548
00:36:38,560 –> 00:36:41,120
you know, and then I say, and
you never give someone an

549
00:36:41,120 –> 00:36:43,080
answer, then ask the question
and just want them to repeat

550
00:36:43,080 –> 00:36:44,440
back to you what you said,
right?

551
00:36:44,880 –> 00:36:46,160
And if they do, you give them a
lolly.

552
00:36:47,800 –> 00:36:51,240
That’s a little bit how I try to
teach people who Jesus is,

553
00:36:51,280 –> 00:36:53,200
right?
I mean, what if I did something

554
00:36:53,200 –> 00:36:59,280
on the lines of here you read
the Gospel of Matthew and then

555
00:36:59,280 –> 00:37:01,400
come back to me and tell me who
you think Jesus is.

556
00:37:05,480 –> 00:37:11,000
Because on some level, you don’t
get to have a faith that you get

557
00:37:11,000 –> 00:37:14,200
to keep because someone else
gave it to you.

558
00:37:16,880 –> 00:37:19,560
Maybe that’s going to work for a
little bit of time, but that’s

559
00:37:19,560 –> 00:37:23,280
never going to survive trial.
And people in this room know

560
00:37:23,280 –> 00:37:26,680
what trial is about.
They’ve been through trials.

561
00:37:27,040 –> 00:37:29,200
Some of you’ve been through
horrific trials.

562
00:37:29,320 –> 00:37:31,720
Much more difficult than I’ve
experienced myself, and I’ve had

563
00:37:31,720 –> 00:37:35,600
my fair share of trials.
You do not get to keep your

564
00:37:35,600 –> 00:37:38,760
faith because someone else’s
flesh and blood gave it to you.

565
00:37:41,040 –> 00:37:44,120
You only get to keep your faith
because it’s yours.

566
00:37:45,160 –> 00:37:48,240
And if it’s yours, it’s yours
because it’s been revealed to

567
00:37:48,240 –> 00:37:53,320
you by God, not because someone
coerced you, not because someone

568
00:37:53,320 –> 00:37:56,040
manipulated you, because it
becomes your own.

569
00:37:58,840 –> 00:38:02,240
And the word revealed itself is
made-up of of 2 words.

570
00:38:02,240 –> 00:38:07,040
And I think you know these words
Apocalypto, apocalypse.

571
00:38:09,400 –> 00:38:12,480
Jesus saying flesh and blood is
not apocalypse.

572
00:38:12,680 –> 00:38:15,040
This to you has not revealed.
You probably know the word

573
00:38:15,040 –> 00:38:18,000
apocalypse by it’s more common
English translation of

574
00:38:18,000 –> 00:38:21,560
revelation, right?
And what does revelation really

575
00:38:21,560 –> 00:38:24,200
mean?
Well, oppo means away and

576
00:38:24,200 –> 00:38:28,200
calypto means to cover or to
veil or to conceal, right?

577
00:38:28,560 –> 00:38:33,440
So it’s taking away something
that’s covered or veiled or

578
00:38:33,560 –> 00:38:38,120
concealed.
OK.

579
00:38:39,120 –> 00:38:43,200
The verb for learning by
instruction in Greek is

580
00:38:43,600 –> 00:38:46,880
manthano.
So if I learn by instruction,

581
00:38:46,880 –> 00:38:49,920
which is kind of what we do
mainly in classrooms, we learn

582
00:38:49,920 –> 00:38:52,040
by instruction.
That’s not this word revealed.

583
00:38:53,600 –> 00:38:58,000
Or if I discover something by
reason, that’s ganosco in Greek.

584
00:38:59,040 –> 00:39:04,240
And if I’m taught something with
facts, that’s didasco in Greek.

585
00:39:04,240 –> 00:39:08,280
Now there’s lots of room for
manthano or ganosco or didasco.

586
00:39:08,400 –> 00:39:09,960
Those are the ways that we
teach.

587
00:39:10,560 –> 00:39:13,480
We bring kids into Sunday school
and we didasco them and we

588
00:39:13,480 –> 00:39:15,840
genosco them and we went thano
them, right?

589
00:39:16,040 –> 00:39:19,520
And and that’s what we do.
And all those things have value

590
00:39:19,520 –> 00:39:23,040
and they’re actually used in
positive ways in scripture and

591
00:39:23,040 –> 00:39:26,440
in negative ways.
But apocalypse does not mean

592
00:39:26,440 –> 00:39:29,760
those things.
Apocalypse is something that

593
00:39:29,760 –> 00:39:31,840
cannot be perceived with human
effort.

594
00:39:33,120 –> 00:39:37,800
God has to act to reveal it.
In other words, Peter didn’t

595
00:39:37,800 –> 00:39:41,120
reason his way into
understanding who Jesus is.

596
00:39:42,320 –> 00:39:44,920
What this word implies is that
God pushed back the veil.

597
00:39:48,600 –> 00:39:52,160
OK, now if I look at this word
veil, this version of it, I can

598
00:39:52,160 –> 00:39:53,920
find that another place in the
New Testament.

599
00:39:53,920 –> 00:39:56,440
One of them is in First
Corinthians chapter 2 verses 9

600
00:39:56,440 –> 00:40:03,240
and 10 where it says
interestingly I has not seen nor

601
00:40:03,240 –> 00:40:06,160
ear heard.
You see, our eyes are going to

602
00:40:06,160 –> 00:40:07,280
let us down.
We’ve been, that’s what we

603
00:40:07,280 –> 00:40:10,600
covered in our last subject, and
our ears are going to let us

604
00:40:10,600 –> 00:40:14,800
down.
The things which God has

605
00:40:14,800 –> 00:40:18,960
prepared for them that love him,
but God has revealed it has

606
00:40:18,960 –> 00:40:27,760
revealed them unto us by spirit.
So spiritual truth is not

607
00:40:27,760 –> 00:40:31,000
inaccessible, Brothers, sisters
and young people.

608
00:40:31,000 –> 00:40:33,000
It’s not inaccessible because
it’s complicated.

609
00:40:35,240 –> 00:40:37,080
It’s just that there’s veils
over your eyes.

610
00:40:40,800 –> 00:40:45,560
See, the Greeks wanted wisdom,
and the wisdom veiled their

611
00:40:45,560 –> 00:40:50,720
eyes.
The Jews wanted signs, and the

612
00:40:50,720 –> 00:40:53,120
signs veiled their ability to
see the truth.

613
00:40:53,120 –> 00:40:58,280
In front of them.
There’s a veil and when you talk

614
00:40:58,280 –> 00:41:01,680
to someone about the truth and,
and I’m sure a lot of you had

615
00:41:01,680 –> 00:41:04,200
experiences of talking to people
about the truth, people that

616
00:41:04,600 –> 00:41:06,720
when they have a different faith
or a be of a different

617
00:41:06,720 –> 00:41:08,200
persuasion, are you talking to
them about the truth?

618
00:41:08,200 –> 00:41:11,120
What you can see is you can see
the veils over their eyes, can’t

619
00:41:11,120 –> 00:41:13,320
you?
You can see that they’re veiled.

620
00:41:13,440 –> 00:41:16,720
They can’t see.
And what has to happen is God’s

621
00:41:16,720 –> 00:41:19,440
got to push that veil away.
And you and what you realize

622
00:41:19,440 –> 00:41:22,000
when you start teaching people
the truth is that you can’t push

623
00:41:22,000 –> 00:41:26,040
that veil away.
You can’t, you can’t take that

624
00:41:26,040 –> 00:41:27,600
veil, the scales over their
eyes.

625
00:41:27,600 –> 00:41:29,080
You can’t take those things
away.

626
00:41:29,600 –> 00:41:32,160
And you might give the same
lesson to 1 and they get in,

627
00:41:32,160 –> 00:41:34,320
they grab hold of it and the
same lesson to another and they

628
00:41:34,320 –> 00:41:35,760
don’t.
And you’re like, well, I’m, I’m

629
00:41:35,760 –> 00:41:38,000
the same teacher teaching the
same lesson.

630
00:41:38,120 –> 00:41:40,800
And why is it this person gets
it and that person doesn’t.

631
00:41:40,840 –> 00:41:42,600
And God’s revealed it to that
one.

632
00:41:42,880 –> 00:41:45,120
He’s taking away the bail.
And this one, the bail’s still

633
00:41:45,120 –> 00:41:46,480
there.
They cannot see it.

634
00:41:47,520 –> 00:41:49,160
And you’re thinking, what, what
do I have to do?

635
00:41:49,160 –> 00:41:50,720
And you can’t do anything about
it.

636
00:41:51,200 –> 00:41:55,080
You can’t take away the veil.
God has to take away the veil.

637
00:41:56,120 –> 00:41:59,000
And you ask yourself the
question, well, how do you take

638
00:41:59,000 –> 00:42:02,560
away veils?
Well, we’re told this in Second

639
00:42:02,560 –> 00:42:04,560
Corinthians chapter 3, verses 15
and 16.

640
00:42:04,760 –> 00:42:08,320
But even to this day, when Moses
is read, the bail is upon their

641
00:42:08,320 –> 00:42:10,360
heart.
This is true of Jews.

642
00:42:11,440 –> 00:42:13,600
Try to teach them about Christ
and the bail is over their

643
00:42:13,600 –> 00:42:17,760
heart.
So what do you do?

644
00:42:17,760 –> 00:42:21,480
How do you take the bail away?
Well, I have no idea, because

645
00:42:21,480 –> 00:42:25,080
nevertheless, when it the heart,
when the heart shall turn to the

646
00:42:25,080 –> 00:42:26,720
Lord, the bail should be taken
away.

647
00:42:31,000 –> 00:42:35,880
And only you can decide when the
heart is turned to the Lord.

648
00:42:40,080 –> 00:42:44,560
You can only answer for yourself
when you care so deeply about

649
00:42:44,560 –> 00:42:51,240
this man that compels you to
follow him where he goes.

650
00:42:51,240 –> 00:42:56,480
You want to go where he stops.
You want to stop what he cares

651
00:42:56,480 –> 00:42:59,000
for.
You want to know more about why?

652
00:42:59,200 –> 00:43:01,360
Because your heart has turned to
him.

653
00:43:02,480 –> 00:43:04,880
Because God has taken away a
veil.

654
00:43:08,560 –> 00:43:10,400
And the truth is, we all have
veils.

655
00:43:11,760 –> 00:43:14,960
Peter had several veils and this
one was removed.

656
00:43:17,400 –> 00:43:19,960
But in this chapter we’re going
to see another veil still there

657
00:43:22,480 –> 00:43:32,000
and young people, you think to
yourself, what veils do I still

658
00:43:32,000 –> 00:43:38,680
have over my heart?
You know that word turned there.

659
00:43:39,720 –> 00:43:42,200
This word is often translated
converted.

660
00:43:42,720 –> 00:43:45,840
In fact it’s translated
converted here about Peter,

661
00:43:46,600 –> 00:43:48,080
Jesus says about Peter in Luke
22.

662
00:43:48,080 –> 00:43:52,320
I prayed for you, Peter, that
your faith failed not but when

663
00:43:52,320 –> 00:43:58,400
you are turned, when you are
converted, strengthen your

664
00:43:58,400 –> 00:44:05,920
brethren, and that’s when.
So clearly, whatever veils were

665
00:44:05,920 –> 00:44:09,760
pushed aside in Matthew 16,
guess what?

666
00:44:10,760 –> 00:44:17,600
He still had more veils.
Now the question is, what’s

667
00:44:17,600 –> 00:44:22,960
veiling your heart?
What veils are over your heart?

668
00:44:26,240 –> 00:44:33,480
What is stopping you from
following this man for knowing

669
00:44:33,480 –> 00:44:36,560
who he is?
For taking Jesus out of the

670
00:44:36,560 –> 00:44:42,640
halfway house and accepting who
he truly is?

671
00:44:43,640 –> 00:44:49,680
What is in the way?
And I don’t know how to take

672
00:44:49,680 –> 00:44:58,520
that thing away.
But whatever it is, if you

673
00:44:58,560 –> 00:45:02,400
identify it, you can ask God to
remove it.

674
00:45:05,520 –> 00:45:08,960
And when it is, there’s going to
be a blessing.

675
00:45:09,840 –> 00:45:15,280
So here’s our ninth point.
God must reveal to us who Jesus

676
00:45:15,280 –> 00:45:17,080
is.
We all have fails that obscure

677
00:45:17,080 –> 00:45:21,080
this truth.
We must pray God to help convert

678
00:45:21,080 –> 00:45:25,120
us that our faith fail not and
that we can be of service.

679
00:45:29,520 –> 00:45:31,920
And what that leads us is to our
next question.

680
00:45:34,640 –> 00:45:37,600
If that’s true, then what’s the
rock on which we must build our

681
00:45:37,600 –> 00:45:41,600
ecclesia?
We’re told in Matthew chapter

682
00:45:41,600 –> 00:45:46,280
16, verse 18.
And I say into thee that thou

683
00:45:46,280 –> 00:45:49,480
art Peter.
Upon this rock I will build my

684
00:45:49,480 –> 00:45:56,640
ecclesia, and the gates of Hades
shall not prevail against it.

685
00:45:57,880 –> 00:46:00,480
So my questions, several
questions arise here.

686
00:46:00,480 –> 00:46:02,160
A few.
What’s the rock on which he’s

687
00:46:02,160 –> 00:46:05,720
going to build the ecclesia?
Why will he build his ecclesia

688
00:46:05,720 –> 00:46:08,160
on this rock?
What are the gates of Hades?

689
00:46:09,200 –> 00:46:11,200
Why won’t they prevail against
the ecclesia?

690
00:46:12,680 –> 00:46:14,640
So let’s start by just looking
at some of the words here,

691
00:46:14,640 –> 00:46:19,360
because they matter.
OK, So this word for Peter, this

692
00:46:19,360 –> 00:46:23,880
is this word petros.
And this word rock is the word

693
00:46:23,880 –> 00:46:26,400
Petra.
Now these are different words,

694
00:46:26,400 –> 00:46:30,640
right?
So a petros is a piece of rock

695
00:46:30,720 –> 00:46:34,320
or stone.
It’s like a single stone.

696
00:46:34,320 –> 00:46:37,320
It’s like a movable stone.
I, I could have gone outside and

697
00:46:37,320 –> 00:46:39,720
grabbed 1.
And I, I, if I put a stone here

698
00:46:39,720 –> 00:46:43,400
on the ground and I could sort
of kick it and move it, right?

699
00:46:43,640 –> 00:46:47,400
And then that would be a petros.
I could, I could pick it up and

700
00:46:47,400 –> 00:46:50,640
stack it on something.
I could pick it up and throw it

701
00:46:50,640 –> 00:46:53,720
aside.
It’s a movable stone.

702
00:46:53,720 –> 00:46:57,320
It’s a, it’s a piece of stone
that it can have two purposes of

703
00:46:57,320 –> 00:46:59,800
Petros.
It can get in your way and

704
00:46:59,800 –> 00:47:02,800
therefore you Chuck it aside.
Or you can, you can use it to

705
00:47:02,800 –> 00:47:04,520
build on something and make it
useful.

706
00:47:05,560 –> 00:47:07,440
But either way, that’s what the
petros is.

707
00:47:09,000 –> 00:47:10,320
Now that’s very different than a
Petra.

708
00:47:10,320 –> 00:47:14,040
A Petra has a rock or a Cliff or
a projecting rock.

709
00:47:14,040 –> 00:47:17,560
It’s a mother rock.
It’s a huge mass, a solid

710
00:47:17,560 –> 00:47:19,520
formation.
It’s fixed.

711
00:47:20,080 –> 00:47:24,880
It’s enduring, it’s immovable.
So let me take you to a picture

712
00:47:24,960 –> 00:47:29,000
of the, of this cave.
This that, that, that they call

713
00:47:29,000 –> 00:47:31,560
the gates of hell, right?
And this there it is.

714
00:47:31,560 –> 00:47:34,640
And if you take a trip to
Caesarea Philippi, you can climb

715
00:47:34,640 –> 00:47:37,280
on this area.
And if you do, you can see all

716
00:47:37,280 –> 00:47:39,080
the ruins.
And that’s The Cave there,

717
00:47:40,040 –> 00:47:47,080
right?
And that is a Petros and that is

718
00:47:47,080 –> 00:47:50,000
a Petra.
Do you see that they’re

719
00:47:50,000 –> 00:48:03,560
different?
So what is the Petra on which

720
00:48:03,560 –> 00:48:05,120
Christ is going to build as
Ecclesia?

721
00:48:10,520 –> 00:48:17,520
I put forward to you that Petra
is Christ himself, and not only

722
00:48:17,520 –> 00:48:22,800
him, but the belief that he is
the Christ, the Son of the

723
00:48:22,800 –> 00:48:25,840
living God.
If we build and build on this

724
00:48:26,400 –> 00:48:29,520
and if we stumble, we stumble on
this and there’s never been a

725
00:48:29,520 –> 00:48:36,200
question maybe as dichotomous in
the in the history of humanity,

726
00:48:36,200 –> 00:48:40,520
this very question.
Now that Jesus is himself the

727
00:48:40,520 –> 00:48:46,160
rock is suggested by many New
Testament passages and I’ll just

728
00:48:46,160 –> 00:48:48,360
show you 3.
For example, in Ephesians

729
00:48:48,360 –> 00:48:50,520
chapter 2, verse 20.
And ye are built on the

730
00:48:50,520 –> 00:48:54,160
foundation of the apostles and
prophets, Jesus Christ being the

731
00:48:54,160 –> 00:48:56,720
chief cornerstone.
You might want to write that as

732
00:48:56,720 –> 00:48:58,960
a cross reference here in
Matthew chapter 16.

733
00:48:59,320 –> 00:49:00,960
But that’s not the only verse
you might want to write as a

734
00:49:00,960 –> 00:49:02,760
cross reference.
In fact, he’s probably in your

735
00:49:02,760 –> 00:49:06,280
margin already.
Acts chapter 4, verses 11 and

736
00:49:06,280 –> 00:49:08,000
12.
This is a stone which is set at

737
00:49:08,000 –> 00:49:10,920
not of you builders, which has
become the head of the corner.

738
00:49:11,280 –> 00:49:14,280
Neither is there salvation in
any other.

739
00:49:14,440 –> 00:49:17,320
If you build on any other stone
than this one, there’s no

740
00:49:17,320 –> 00:49:20,000
salvation.
The only rock on which you can

741
00:49:20,000 –> 00:49:25,840
build and have salvation is this
rock or first Peter chapter 2

742
00:49:25,840 –> 00:49:28,880
verse 7 unto you, therefore,
which believe he is precious,

743
00:49:29,040 –> 00:49:30,680
but under them which be
disobedient.

744
00:49:30,880 –> 00:49:33,880
The stone which the builders
disallowed the same as the maid,

745
00:49:34,040 –> 00:49:38,240
the head of the corner.
See the the the New Testament is

746
00:49:38,240 –> 00:49:43,280
that is that pains to establish
to us that Jesus is this rock.

747
00:49:43,280 –> 00:49:47,040
And so our 10th point is simply
this the rock is Christ.

748
00:49:51,000 –> 00:49:54,720
But we turn to first Peter
chapter 2 verses 4 to 8 that we

749
00:49:54,720 –> 00:49:59,240
just quoted from in small part.
I believe we see Peter

750
00:49:59,240 –> 00:50:02,600
commenting on Matthew 16.
So let’s take a deeper dive on

751
00:50:02,600 –> 00:50:07,400
that first Peter chapter 2
verses 4 to 8.

752
00:50:08,600 –> 00:50:11,080
We read there so long passage,
so bear with me.

753
00:50:11,800 –> 00:50:18,200
To whom coming as into a living
stone disallowed indeed of men,

754
00:50:18,800 –> 00:50:24,360
but chosen of God and precious,
ye are also lively stones.

755
00:50:24,360 –> 00:50:28,160
So what I want to see here is I
want to see the there’s two

756
00:50:28,160 –> 00:50:29,880
different types of stones in
this passage.

757
00:50:29,880 –> 00:50:35,600
Everyone follow that there’s a
living stone disallowed of men,

758
00:50:37,000 –> 00:50:41,600
and ye also are lively stones.
Do we see that there’s two

759
00:50:41,600 –> 00:50:44,480
different stone, two different
types of stones in this passage?

760
00:50:46,600 –> 00:50:48,800
Wherefore also it is contained
in the Scripture.

761
00:50:48,800 –> 00:50:54,280
Behold, I lay in Zine a chief
cornerstone elect precious, and

762
00:50:54,280 –> 00:50:56,640
he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded.

763
00:50:56,880 –> 00:51:01,560
Unto you therefore which
believeth, He is precious, but

764
00:51:01,560 –> 00:51:04,640
to him which is disobedient, the
stone which the builders

765
00:51:04,640 –> 00:51:07,000
disallowed, the same as made the
head of the cornerstone is

766
00:51:07,000 –> 00:51:10,160
stumbling a rock of a fence.
Even of them which stumble at

767
00:51:10,160 –> 00:51:14,000
the word being disobedient,
where unto they were appointed.

768
00:51:15,200 –> 00:51:16,480
So what’s this first saying?
Really?

769
00:51:16,480 –> 00:51:18,560
It’s saying that Jesus is a
living stone.

770
00:51:18,560 –> 00:51:20,760
He’s chosen.
He’s the precious cornerstone

771
00:51:20,760 –> 00:51:23,520
which men rejected.
And along with Jesus we are

772
00:51:23,520 –> 00:51:25,280
stones.
But we’re a different type of

773
00:51:25,280 –> 00:51:28,600
stone.
He’s the foundation stone, He’s

774
00:51:28,600 –> 00:51:32,040
the Petra.
He and and we are the living

775
00:51:32,120 –> 00:51:34,560
building stones.
We’re built on the foundation to

776
00:51:34,560 –> 00:51:38,920
create a house for God, where
God lives and where God receives

777
00:51:38,920 –> 00:51:42,440
acceptable sacrifices.
And of course, this, this leads

778
00:51:42,440 –> 00:51:45,200
to the question, what is a
cornerstone?

779
00:51:45,440 –> 00:51:47,720
Now, if you knew anything about
me, and I don’t know that you

780
00:51:47,720 –> 00:51:50,040
know much about me, you know
that I know nothing at all

781
00:51:50,040 –> 00:51:52,840
whatsoever about building.
I’m useless.

782
00:51:54,000 –> 00:51:56,200
I mean, if you want, if you have
a question about financial

783
00:51:56,200 –> 00:51:59,080
advice, I might be your man, but
not about building.

784
00:51:59,080 –> 00:52:01,680
I know nothing about building.
So I have to look.

785
00:52:01,680 –> 00:52:03,600
Well, what is a chief
cornerstone?

786
00:52:03,600 –> 00:52:04,920
What is that all about?
Right.

787
00:52:05,240 –> 00:52:07,840
So how do we understand what a
cornerstone is?

788
00:52:07,840 –> 00:52:11,560
What it does?
OK, so a cornerstone is the

789
00:52:11,560 –> 00:52:15,120
first stone laid in creating a
foundation for a building.

790
00:52:16,080 –> 00:52:20,200
And being the first stone, it
needs 2 essential qualities,

791
00:52:20,200 –> 00:52:22,640
right?
And the first quality is that

792
00:52:22,640 –> 00:52:24,800
its sides must be perfectly
angled.

793
00:52:25,600 –> 00:52:28,760
Because if its sides are not
perfectly angled, the whole

794
00:52:28,760 –> 00:52:32,000
building will take a shape which
is structurally unsound.

795
00:52:33,280 –> 00:52:37,160
So if the if the edges must be
straight up and down, the top of

796
00:52:37,160 –> 00:52:43,080
it must be totally flat, it must
be a perfect stone in, in, in,

797
00:52:43,080 –> 00:52:47,640
in every regard, right?
So if the cornerstone’s not

798
00:52:47,640 –> 00:52:51,320
perfect and level, the building
won’t be square.

799
00:52:51,840 –> 00:52:55,000
So in ancient times, they used
instruments, right, in order to

800
00:52:55,000 –> 00:52:58,640
ensure that the stone was level.
One of those instruments is

801
00:52:58,640 –> 00:53:01,720
something looks like this.
This is a Plumb line and this is

802
00:53:01,720 –> 00:53:06,160
a perfect 90° angle.
So by by putting that perfect

803
00:53:06,160 –> 00:53:11,120
90° angle on a stone, you
measure that the gravity pulls

804
00:53:11,120 –> 00:53:14,160
that Plumb line straight down.
And what you’re looking for is,

805
00:53:14,240 –> 00:53:18,880
is there any angle such this,
this, this cornerstone is going

806
00:53:18,880 –> 00:53:22,360
to lead the building to not
being not being squared.

807
00:53:23,960 –> 00:53:27,200
So a lot of care was taken in
ancient times to ensure the

808
00:53:27,200 –> 00:53:31,720
foundation was a perfect shape.
So what’s the next quality of a

809
00:53:31,720 –> 00:53:34,160
cornerstone that you need?
Well, the next quality is it

810
00:53:34,160 –> 00:53:35,600
needs to bear exceptional
weight.

811
00:53:38,720 –> 00:53:41,080
The foundation stone must be
strong and durable.

812
00:53:41,440 –> 00:53:44,480
So when the builders reject a
stone, they’re essentially

813
00:53:44,480 –> 00:53:48,160
saying that isn’t straight
enough or it’s not strong enough

814
00:53:49,080 –> 00:53:52,440
for the building in question.
And of course, you would reject

815
00:53:52,440 –> 00:53:55,320
a stone because you don’t you
don’t put a cornerstone in a

816
00:53:55,320 –> 00:53:56,840
building going.
I hope this is good enough.

817
00:53:56,840 –> 00:54:00,800
This one, right?
Unless it’s perfect, you reject

818
00:54:00,800 –> 00:54:03,640
it.
It has to be perfect.

819
00:54:04,360 –> 00:54:07,080
So you’d see a lot of stones out
there that were they’re just not

820
00:54:07,080 –> 00:54:09,080
quite good enough for the
building, we’re going to reject

821
00:54:09,080 –> 00:54:12,240
that stone.
So it would be common for a

822
00:54:12,240 –> 00:54:15,360
builder to start to start making
a building and go, that

823
00:54:15,360 –> 00:54:18,960
cornerstone’s not good enough.
We cannot begin the building

824
00:54:18,960 –> 00:54:20,440
with that stone.
We’re going to reject that

825
00:54:20,440 –> 00:54:21,800
stone.
I need another one.

826
00:54:21,800 –> 00:54:23,760
I need one whose lines are
perfectly straight.

827
00:54:23,960 –> 00:54:25,600
I need one that can bear
exceptional weight.

828
00:54:25,600 –> 00:54:28,360
There can’t even cracks or
fissures in the in the stone

829
00:54:28,360 –> 00:54:30,840
because everything is going to
be built on that stone.

830
00:54:38,330 –> 00:54:40,530
So of course, the Jews in the
midst of building the Second

831
00:54:40,530 –> 00:54:44,330
Temple did reject Christ.
Christ wasn’t straight enough.

832
00:54:45,250 –> 00:54:46,570
How so?
Well, he didn’t keep their

833
00:54:46,570 –> 00:54:50,610
traditions.
He wasn’t strong enough.

834
00:54:50,840 –> 00:54:52,320
Why?
He lacked physical beauty.

835
00:54:52,320 –> 00:54:57,920
He was a Nazarite, essentially.
The Jesus wasn’t what they want

836
00:54:57,920 –> 00:55:02,280
him to be, so they rejected him.
So he became a stone over which

837
00:55:02,280 –> 00:55:04,720
they stumbled time and time
again.

838
00:55:06,840 –> 00:55:09,600
So what does it mean if Jesus is
a cornerstone for us?

839
00:55:11,320 –> 00:55:16,360
It means that his lines are
straight, without question.

840
00:55:17,160 –> 00:55:19,720
What that means is that when
Jesus says something is right,

841
00:55:21,880 –> 00:55:26,160
it’s right.
I, I, I just want to impress

842
00:55:26,160 –> 00:55:30,840
that upon you.
When Jesus says something is

843
00:55:30,840 –> 00:55:37,800
right, it is right.
It’s not for us to evaluate it

844
00:55:38,520 –> 00:55:44,440
and say, well, my interpretation
or I’m going to change it to

845
00:55:44,440 –> 00:55:48,000
make it more acceptable to me.
I’m going to change the

846
00:55:48,000 –> 00:55:51,800
cornerstone so that the Petros
is more comfortable.

847
00:55:53,880 –> 00:55:57,720
When Jesus says something is the
way it is, it is that way

848
00:56:00,160 –> 00:56:03,440
because his lines are perfectly
straight.

849
00:56:05,960 –> 00:56:08,880
It means that Jesus can bear
exceptional weight.

850
00:56:12,360 –> 00:56:14,480
It means that he’s the Son of
God.

851
00:56:16,440 –> 00:56:20,760
We do not conform him to our
shape.

852
00:56:21,120 –> 00:56:24,040
It’s not like we’re we’re, we’re
a lumpy rock with lots of

853
00:56:24,040 –> 00:56:26,800
imperfections in it.
And we think, Gee, how can I,

854
00:56:26,800 –> 00:56:29,560
how can I just chisel out the
cornerstone so that the lumpy

855
00:56:29,560 –> 00:56:36,720
rock, it sits more comfortably?
We had to be conformed to him.

856
00:56:39,320 –> 00:56:44,080
If our angles don’t match his,
ours need to change.

857
00:56:45,520 –> 00:56:52,760
We don’t change him if we build,
we build on him.

858
00:56:54,360 –> 00:56:56,480
We conform ourselves to his
shape.

859
00:56:56,480 –> 00:57:00,160
Romans chapter 8, verse 29 says
for those he foreknew, he

860
00:57:00,160 –> 00:57:04,760
predestined to be conformed to
the image of his son.

861
00:57:04,840 –> 00:57:06,760
And what I want you to do is get
this picture.

862
00:57:07,000 –> 00:57:09,880
And the picture is that I see a
Petros on the ground.

863
00:57:10,880 –> 00:57:13,080
It’s, it’s a, it’s, it’s a, it’s
a rock.

864
00:57:13,440 –> 00:57:15,800
It’s, it’s an imperfect rock
because it’s, you know, it’s,

865
00:57:16,080 –> 00:57:18,840
it’s, it’s fallen from the
mother rock and it’s just

866
00:57:18,840 –> 00:57:20,880
sitting on the ground.
I think myself, I want to build

867
00:57:20,880 –> 00:57:23,560
with this rock.
I want to make this rock useful.

868
00:57:24,240 –> 00:57:26,480
So what am I going to do?
Well, my cornerstone is sitting

869
00:57:26,480 –> 00:57:28,520
over there.
My cornerstone’s perfect.

870
00:57:29,880 –> 00:57:31,440
So what do I got to do with this
rock?

871
00:57:33,800 –> 00:57:42,120
I’ve got to chisel it to make
its lines match the cornerstone.

872
00:57:44,440 –> 00:57:46,960
I don’t take the rock and go.
It’s not really perfect, but

873
00:57:46,960 –> 00:57:49,200
what I can do is I can change
the cornerstone so this rock

874
00:57:49,200 –> 00:57:54,720
fits.
You see, there’s two different

875
00:57:54,720 –> 00:57:56,600
kinds of stones.
There’s a Petra and there’s a

876
00:57:56,600 –> 00:57:58,880
Petros.
They’re not the same.

877
00:57:59,000 –> 00:58:06,080
You don’t treat them the same.
And So what do I mean by that?

878
00:58:06,080 –> 00:58:14,720
I mean.
I mean that for us to be God’s

879
00:58:14,720 –> 00:58:20,680
children, we got to confess that
this man is God’s child.

880
00:58:21,920 –> 00:58:24,400
And in doing that we change to
be like him.

881
00:58:26,720 –> 00:58:29,920
And it’s hard.
Actually, I think that’s hard.

882
00:58:30,760 –> 00:58:32,480
I think getting chiseled is
hard.

883
00:58:33,000 –> 00:58:42,200
Ever felt a bit chiseled?
And I don’t, I don’t know how to

884
00:58:42,200 –> 00:58:45,080
take a heart that’s full of
imperfections and make it more

885
00:58:45,080 –> 00:58:48,840
like the Lord.
But I know a prayer you can say

886
00:58:51,480 –> 00:58:56,040
and and maybe you’re at bed at
night and you know, your mind’s

887
00:58:56,040 –> 00:58:58,640
going all sorts of funny places.
Does anyone’s head go funny

888
00:58:58,640 –> 00:59:00,400
places at night on bed?
Right.

889
00:59:01,000 –> 00:59:02,600
Just me and Caleb.
All right, cool.

890
00:59:05,040 –> 00:59:08,680
And because my mom, I have a
busy mind that probably doesn’t

891
00:59:08,680 –> 00:59:12,720
surprise you very much.
I have a busy mind, so.

892
00:59:13,280 –> 00:59:16,520
So maybe you want to meditate on
something while you’re in bed.

893
00:59:17,760 –> 00:59:22,200
Here’s 1:00.
What if you said on your bed as

894
00:59:22,200 –> 00:59:24,800
your mind is busy going also to
different directions.

895
00:59:25,640 –> 00:59:28,320
I believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of the living

896
00:59:28,320 –> 00:59:32,520
God.
What if you said that and then

897
00:59:32,520 –> 00:59:35,680
you say it again?
I believe that Jesus is the

898
00:59:35,680 –> 00:59:37,760
Messiah, the Son of the living
God.

899
00:59:39,000 –> 00:59:41,920
I believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, the Son of the living

900
00:59:41,920 –> 00:59:44,480
God.
I believe that Jesus is the

901
00:59:44,480 –> 00:59:46,720
Messiah, the Son of the living
God.

902
00:59:48,640 –> 00:59:53,880
What if you meditated on that?
What if you got that message so

903
00:59:54,000 –> 00:59:58,760
deep down in your heart?
What would that change?

904
01:00:00,960 –> 01:00:02,760
So our next point is simply
this.

905
01:00:03,520 –> 01:00:07,480
As living stones, we’re
conformed to and then built on

906
01:00:07,760 –> 01:00:14,400
the foundation stone.
So let’s talk about what is

907
01:00:14,400 –> 01:00:17,640
built on the rock.
What’s built on the rock, we’re

908
01:00:17,640 –> 01:00:21,920
told, is the ecclesia.
On this Petra, I’ll build my

909
01:00:21,920 –> 01:00:25,480
ecclesia, and the gates of Haiti
shall not prevail against it.

910
01:00:25,720 –> 01:00:29,360
Now you might want to write, and
I know it says in the King James

911
01:00:29,360 –> 01:00:32,400
Version it says church.
You might want to cross out

912
01:00:32,400 –> 01:00:35,120
Church and write Ecclesia
because this is the first use of

913
01:00:35,120 –> 01:00:37,560
the word ecclesia in the entire
New Testament.

914
01:00:43,600 –> 01:00:44,880
And the word ecclesia is
made-up.

915
01:00:45,520 –> 01:00:47,400
What happened there?
Let’s put you back.

916
01:00:47,400 –> 01:00:51,000
All right?
I was told this might happen.

917
01:00:51,000 –> 01:01:11,880
All
right, well, I’m going to let

918
01:01:11,880 –> 01:01:15,400
Dan you deal with that and I’m
going to move on because my

919
01:01:15,400 –> 01:01:19,720
slides aren’t very good anyways.
You guys know that the word

920
01:01:19,720 –> 01:01:23,600
ecclesia is made-up of 2 words,
right?

921
01:01:24,400 –> 01:01:31,400
The word EC means out of and the
word Cresia means a call.

922
01:01:32,680 –> 01:01:36,400
So we think of a church as a
building.

923
01:01:37,280 –> 01:01:41,840
Now calling ourselves a church
would be like the 1st century

924
01:01:42,240 –> 01:01:45,000
believers calling themselves a
synagogue, right?

925
01:01:45,320 –> 01:01:48,720
Jesus is not creating.
Now this is the important thing.

926
01:01:49,040 –> 01:01:53,160
Jesus is not creating a man made
building.

927
01:01:54,400 –> 01:01:57,120
The whole point is he’s not
building something man made.

928
01:01:57,240 –> 01:02:00,440
This is exactly Peter’s point in
first period chapter 2.

929
01:02:00,720 –> 01:02:04,840
You are being built up as a
living stones.

930
01:02:04,920 –> 01:02:09,360
We’re not building a building.
We are living stones.

931
01:02:09,480 –> 01:02:13,360
You know what is it that the
world, let’s say the world,

932
01:02:13,360 –> 01:02:16,040
destroyed every Christadelphian
hall in the world.

933
01:02:17,040 –> 01:02:20,600
They wouldn’t destroy us, would
they?

934
01:02:21,360 –> 01:02:25,000
We are not a building.
It does not matter that we do

935
01:02:25,000 –> 01:02:29,240
not have property.
We will meet in alleys, we will

936
01:02:29,240 –> 01:02:32,520
meet in homes, we will meet in
hired halls.

937
01:02:32,640 –> 01:02:35,920
It does not matter.
We are not tied to property.

938
01:02:37,120 –> 01:02:41,040
The ecclesia is not property.
The ecclesia is not something

939
01:02:41,040 –> 01:02:45,760
man made.
We are a spiritual house made

940
01:02:45,760 –> 01:02:55,280
from living stones.
If you build a stone onto a

941
01:02:55,280 –> 01:02:58,600
cornerstone, it’s useful.
Now.

942
01:02:58,880 –> 01:03:03,080
It’s not that a petros is
intrinsically useful, it’s

943
01:03:03,080 –> 01:03:06,000
useful because it’s part of
something larger than itself.

944
01:03:07,160 –> 01:03:10,440
If you take a Petro, if you
take, if you take a brick or a

945
01:03:10,440 –> 01:03:13,840
stone built on a house and you
throw it to the ground, it’s,

946
01:03:13,960 –> 01:03:17,600
it’s now useless.
The stone is not useful because

947
01:03:17,600 –> 01:03:21,000
it’s useful in and of itself.
It’s useful because you put it

948
01:03:21,000 –> 01:03:23,520
on a foundation and it becomes a
building.

949
01:03:24,200 –> 01:03:29,600
It’s not intrinsically useful.
All right, so there and then.

950
01:03:55,960 –> 01:04:04,600
OK, sorry for the interruption.
We’re not in ecclesia because we

951
01:04:07,920 –> 01:04:13,000
because we have buildings.
We’re ecclesia because we’re

952
01:04:13,000 –> 01:04:19,760
built on Christ.
It’s because brothers, sisters,

953
01:04:21,120 –> 01:04:23,800
it’s because we know a unique
truth about the Lord Jesus

954
01:04:23,800 –> 01:04:28,880
Christ.
We’re in an ecclesia because we

955
01:04:28,880 –> 01:04:33,840
know and believe that this man
is the son of the living God.

956
01:04:39,020 –> 01:04:43,420
And because of that, we are
built into a building that has

957
01:04:43,420 –> 01:04:47,780
not, that’s not made of material
things.

958
01:04:47,780 –> 01:04:50,660
It’s a spiritual building, you
see.

959
01:04:50,660 –> 01:04:54,900
You know Augustus Caesar, he
built a vast empire and it’s

960
01:04:54,900 –> 01:05:02,640
destroyed.
Our Ecclesia rejects man made

961
01:05:02,640 –> 01:05:06,440
monuments.
We reject temples.

962
01:05:07,000 –> 01:05:12,760
We have no temples.
The Ecclesia rejects man made

963
01:05:12,760 –> 01:05:18,040
religion.
It rejects Pagan understandings

964
01:05:18,200 –> 01:05:21,040
of things like God and pain that
have been rejected long ago.

965
01:05:21,200 –> 01:05:24,000
It rejects man made ideas about
God.

966
01:05:26,680 –> 01:05:31,560
Those things are dead, those
things can be burned, those

967
01:05:31,560 –> 01:05:35,080
things can be consumed and those
things can be destroyed.

968
01:05:36,880 –> 01:05:42,080
The true ecclesia is called out
to believe the truth about Jesus

969
01:05:42,080 –> 01:05:45,240
and His Kingdom and reject man
made objects that will be

970
01:05:45,240 –> 01:05:51,760
destroyed and burned.
So in our last few moments, I

971
01:05:51,760 –> 01:05:54,880
want to consider the much
debated words of Matthew 16,

972
01:05:54,880 –> 01:05:56,640
verse 18 and what they actually
mean.

973
01:05:57,200 –> 01:06:02,000
So Matthew chapter 16, verse 19
says this.

974
01:06:02,800 –> 01:06:05,600
And I will give unto thee, to
thee the keys of the Kingdom of

975
01:06:05,600 –> 01:06:07,200
heaven.
And whatsoever thou shalt bind

976
01:06:07,200 –> 01:06:08,480
on earth shall be bound in
heaven.

977
01:06:08,800 –> 01:06:11,800
And whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth shall be loosed in

978
01:06:11,800 –> 01:06:13,400
heaven.
Now it’s tempting to comment on

979
01:06:13,400 –> 01:06:16,680
what these words don’t mean, but
we’ll save that for our next

980
01:06:16,680 –> 01:06:20,760
class.
I want to stop and ask the

981
01:06:20,760 –> 01:06:23,040
question, what would the
disciples who have heard, who

982
01:06:23,040 –> 01:06:25,520
heard this, what would they have
understood Jesus to mean here?

983
01:06:25,920 –> 01:06:27,320
So we got to take it piece by
piece.

984
01:06:27,320 –> 01:06:29,520
First, the keys.
What are keys used for?

985
01:06:29,720 –> 01:06:33,000
Well, keys unlock things.
They grant access.

986
01:06:33,280 –> 01:06:36,360
So when Jesus giving Peter the
keys to the Kingdom, he’s saying

987
01:06:36,360 –> 01:06:39,440
that Peter is being given the
responsibility to open the door

988
01:06:39,440 –> 01:06:42,880
of the Kingdom based on the
faithful statement that he just

989
01:06:42,880 –> 01:06:45,840
uttered.
Now, how do we know that this is

990
01:06:45,840 –> 01:06:48,720
what Jesus understands when he
uses the word key?

991
01:06:49,000 –> 01:06:51,680
How do we know that Jesus is
using the word key about

992
01:06:51,680 –> 01:06:55,080
understanding things, about
understanding the kind of things

993
01:06:55,080 –> 01:06:59,080
that Peter had just said about
who Jesus really was?

994
01:06:59,080 –> 01:07:02,040
Because Jesus is going to use
the word key himself in Luke

995
01:07:02,040 –> 01:07:05,200
Chapter 11 verse 52, which is a
good cross reference to have in

996
01:07:05,200 –> 01:07:07,680
your margin if you haven’t
already, next to this verse

997
01:07:07,680 –> 01:07:10,840
where he says, why won’t you
lawyers for you’ve taken away

998
01:07:10,840 –> 01:07:14,960
the key of knowledge.
So the key is knowledge.

999
01:07:14,960 –> 01:07:19,040
What is knowledge do it unlocks
things and and the problem with

1000
01:07:19,040 –> 01:07:22,760
the lawyers is that you entered
not in yourselves and you’re

1001
01:07:22,760 –> 01:07:25,720
keeping keeping them that were
entering hindered.

1002
01:07:26,560 –> 01:07:31,440
So so having knowledge and
refusing to pass it on or

1003
01:07:31,440 –> 01:07:35,240
passing on the wrong knowledge
is refusing to open a door so

1004
01:07:35,240 –> 01:07:37,160
that people can come through.
It’s hindering them.

1005
01:07:37,760 –> 01:07:40,760
So this is how Jesus understood
and understands what a key is.

1006
01:07:41,960 –> 01:07:45,480
And in Acts chapter 2, what
happens is that Peter stands up

1007
01:07:45,480 –> 01:07:47,960
the day of Pentecost and he
preaches the gospel for the

1008
01:07:47,960 –> 01:07:51,560
first time and he gives them
knowledge about Jesus, about his

1009
01:07:51,560 –> 01:07:53,800
death and resurrection, and
about the hope of the Kingdom of

1010
01:07:53,800 –> 01:07:57,760
God.
It says there in in Acts chapter

1011
01:07:57,760 –> 01:08:00,400
2 verse 36.
Therefore, let all the House of

1012
01:08:00,400 –> 01:08:04,840
Israel know assuredly that God
have made that same Jesus whom

1013
01:08:04,840 –> 01:08:07,320
you crucified, both the Lord and
Christ.

1014
01:08:07,560 –> 01:08:10,600
And thousands of people respond
and repent and are baptized.

1015
01:08:10,760 –> 01:08:14,320
And Jesus, excuse me, Peter has
just unlocked the Kingdom for

1016
01:08:14,320 –> 01:08:17,960
them.
And then in Acts 10, Peter uses

1017
01:08:17,960 –> 01:08:20,080
the keys again, this time for
the Gentiles.

1018
01:08:20,080 –> 01:08:23,359
He goes to Cornelius and he
preaches the gospel and suddenly

1019
01:08:23,359 –> 01:08:25,800
the doors open for people that
aren’t Jews to come into the

1020
01:08:25,800 –> 01:08:28,359
Kingdom.
So when Jesus says Peter will

1021
01:08:28,359 –> 01:08:31,760
have the keys, disciples would
understand that if Peter has

1022
01:08:31,760 –> 01:08:35,359
been given the responsibility to
open the way for others to have

1023
01:08:35,399 –> 01:08:38,279
access to the Kingdom through
the gospel message, through the

1024
01:08:38,279 –> 01:08:42,080
knowledge of the gospel message
based on that same faithful

1025
01:08:42,080 –> 01:08:45,279
confession.
This is how John Thomas puts it

1026
01:08:45,279 –> 01:08:47,760
in Elpis Israel.
He says if a reader peruse the

1027
01:08:47,760 –> 01:08:51,600
second chapter of Acts, he
learned there how Peter used one

1028
01:08:51,600 –> 01:08:54,680
of the keys of the Kingdom given
to him by its king.

1029
01:08:55,560 –> 01:08:58,520
On that occasion, I say he used
one of the keys.

1030
01:08:58,800 –> 01:09:04,880
He revealed the mystery of the
gospel of God’s Kingdom to the

1031
01:09:04,880 –> 01:09:07,479
Jews.
So what’s the point there?

1032
01:09:08,080 –> 01:09:12,760
The point there is that the keys
represent knowledge of the

1033
01:09:12,760 –> 01:09:15,319
gospel and the authority to
proclaim it.

1034
01:09:17,000 –> 01:09:18,520
And that’s what Jesus was
granting.

1035
01:09:18,720 –> 01:09:20,279
But what about binding and
lucing?

1036
01:09:21,880 –> 01:09:24,640
Well, binding and lucing was
actually a common phrase in

1037
01:09:24,640 –> 01:09:28,600
Jewish culture and had to do
with making decisions about what

1038
01:09:28,600 –> 01:09:33,080
was allowed or not allowed.
So things that are bound are

1039
01:09:33,200 –> 01:09:36,960
forbidden and things that are
loose are permitted.

1040
01:09:38,160 –> 01:09:41,720
So what happened is the Jewish
rabbis would go look at the

1041
01:09:41,720 –> 01:09:44,560
scriptures and they’d they’d
look at the law of Moses.

1042
01:09:44,800 –> 01:09:48,319
And if I’m a rabbi and, and I
have disciples around me and

1043
01:09:48,319 –> 01:09:51,240
maybe they’re even sitting at my
feet and I’m discussing with

1044
01:09:51,240 –> 01:09:54,480
them a passage from the from the
law.

1045
01:09:54,640 –> 01:09:58,960
And I would look at that passage
and I would either bind them to

1046
01:09:58,960 –> 01:10:01,920
obey certain interpretations of
that.

1047
01:10:02,200 –> 01:10:06,440
So let me take an example.
Let’s say that that I look at

1048
01:10:06,440 –> 01:10:09,560
the at the passage that says you
shall not boil a kid in its

1049
01:10:09,560 –> 01:10:13,960
mother’s milk.
Now I might then interpret that

1050
01:10:13,960 –> 01:10:18,800
and say, not only are you not to
show cruelty to animals, but I

1051
01:10:18,800 –> 01:10:22,240
bind you to never eat milk and
meat together because you can

1052
01:10:22,240 –> 01:10:25,880
never tell when what’s the milk
from the mother or from the kid.

1053
01:10:26,720 –> 01:10:29,320
Now what I’ve done is that’s
very that’s my own

1054
01:10:29,320 –> 01:10:33,280
interpretation, of course, but
I’m binding my disciples that

1055
01:10:33,280 –> 01:10:37,160
they have to follow that.
And another rabbi might come and

1056
01:10:37,160 –> 01:10:38,640
say, well, that’s not necessary
at all.

1057
01:10:38,640 –> 01:10:41,000
It means this.
And so I’m loosening my

1058
01:10:41,000 –> 01:10:43,960
disciples from following the
interpretations of that one.

1059
01:10:45,160 –> 01:10:49,520
So this is now you will know
this because in Matthew chapter

1060
01:10:49,520 –> 01:10:54,120
23, and I think verse 4, Jesus
says to about to the Pharisees,

1061
01:10:54,240 –> 01:10:57,800
you bind burdens grievous to be
born.

1062
01:10:58,400 –> 01:11:01,600
Remember that passage, You bind
burdens grievous to be born.

1063
01:11:01,680 –> 01:11:05,080
And that’s the idea you look at
the law of Moses, you interpret

1064
01:11:05,080 –> 01:11:07,720
it more stringently than God
even intended.

1065
01:11:08,480 –> 01:11:11,720
And on that basis, you, you take
your interpretations and you

1066
01:11:11,720 –> 01:11:16,160
bind them on your disciples.
So they have to follow your

1067
01:11:16,160 –> 01:11:19,960
interpretation and of course
that makes you very important.

1068
01:11:21,120 –> 01:11:23,880
And so you bind these burdens
grievous to be born.

1069
01:11:23,960 –> 01:11:25,840
So what?
What exactly does that mean in

1070
01:11:25,840 –> 01:11:29,080
terms of Jesus saying what you
bind on earth shall be bound in

1071
01:11:29,080 –> 01:11:31,440
heaven, What you loosen earth
shall be loosed in heaven.

1072
01:11:31,520 –> 01:11:36,640
Well, first of all, Ettersheim
in his Life and Times of Jesus

1073
01:11:36,640 –> 01:11:39,840
the Messiah, book 2 chapter 5
says the same.

1074
01:11:40,080 –> 01:11:44,480
To bind and loose was simply to
forbid or to permit, and in the

1075
01:11:44,480 –> 01:11:49,720
rabbinic age usage of the words,
the binding or the loosening all

1076
01:11:49,720 –> 01:11:52,400
had had always ultimate
reference to the observance or

1077
01:11:52,400 –> 01:11:56,160
non observance of certain laws,
traditions or customs as

1078
01:11:56,160 –> 01:11:59,880
interpreted by the authority of
the rabbi’s.

1079
01:12:01,960 –> 01:12:04,040
So what’s Jesus saying?
He’s giving to Peter, and by

1080
01:12:04,040 –> 01:12:07,080
extension in Matthew 18, all the
apostles.

1081
01:12:07,240 –> 01:12:11,280
He’s giving them the authority
to make decisions, to forbid and

1082
01:12:11,280 –> 01:12:16,280
permit in how they interpret
Scripture, but he’s not giving

1083
01:12:16,280 –> 01:12:18,280
it to them this power in a
vacuum.

1084
01:12:19,040 –> 01:12:21,360
He’s not saying they can just
make things up as they go.

1085
01:12:21,480 –> 01:12:25,360
He’s saying that authority
derives and accords with heaven.

1086
01:12:26,000 –> 01:12:28,360
It’s about applying the
principles of the gospel in real

1087
01:12:28,360 –> 01:12:29,760
life situations.
Well, let me give you an

1088
01:12:29,760 –> 01:12:31,360
example.
Let’s look at the example of

1089
01:12:31,360 –> 01:12:34,160
Acts 15.
What happened in Acts 15?

1090
01:12:34,160 –> 01:12:36,960
We have the the issue of
circumcision and does every

1091
01:12:36,960 –> 01:12:39,400
believer in Christ have to be
circumcised?

1092
01:12:39,840 –> 01:12:43,320
And what the, what the, what
they, the apostles figured out

1093
01:12:43,320 –> 01:12:49,760
in Acts chapter 15 was that,
that they loosed the requirement

1094
01:12:49,760 –> 01:12:53,080
of circumcision for the
Gentiles, but they bound the,

1095
01:12:53,120 –> 01:12:56,520
the Gentiles to not commit
fornication or, or eat things

1096
01:12:56,520 –> 01:12:58,720
strangled or things with blood,
right?

1097
01:12:58,880 –> 01:13:00,720
So, or eat meat offered to
idols.

1098
01:13:01,080 –> 01:13:04,800
So they bound them with certain
things and they loosed other

1099
01:13:04,800 –> 01:13:06,640
things.
Now they didn’t do that in

1100
01:13:06,640 –> 01:13:09,360
contradiction to heaven.
They did that in accord with

1101
01:13:09,360 –> 01:13:11,520
heaven.
That was already heaven’s

1102
01:13:11,520 –> 01:13:15,640
decision and the disciples were
applying it now on earth.

1103
01:13:16,960 –> 01:13:21,520
So .14 is simply this binding
and loosening refers the

1104
01:13:21,520 –> 01:13:24,240
apostles authority to make
binding decisions about the

1105
01:13:24,240 –> 01:13:28,200
application of the gospel guided
by the Holy Spirit and aligned

1106
01:13:28,640 –> 01:13:31,640
with God’s will.
I have a lot more to say about

1107
01:13:31,640 –> 01:13:33,680
that, but we’ll leave that to
the next class.

1108
01:13:34,400 –> 01:13:38,840
So if you’re a disciple
listening to Jesus say this,

1109
01:13:38,840 –> 01:13:41,800
what you’re hearing is that
Peter’s being given authority to

1110
01:13:41,800 –> 01:13:46,040
preach the gospel and make
decisions about how to interpret

1111
01:13:46,040 –> 01:13:48,680
Scripture that accords with
heaven.

1112
01:13:49,960 –> 01:13:54,680
And that’s a big responsibility.
It’s not about personal power or

1113
01:13:54,680 –> 01:13:57,000
control.
It’s about being a faithful

1114
01:13:57,000 –> 01:13:59,400
steward to the message that
Jesus has entrusted to them.

1115
01:13:59,400 –> 01:14:02,080
And it’s not just Peter.
The authority in Matthew 18,

1116
01:14:02,080 –> 01:14:04,960
verse 18 is given to all the
apostles.

1117
01:14:07,320 –> 01:14:08,680
Well, how does that help us
today?

1118
01:14:10,320 –> 01:14:14,240
Well, firstly, the keys to the
Kingdom are still here because

1119
01:14:14,240 –> 01:14:16,200
the keys to the Kingdom are the
gospel message.

1120
01:14:16,440 –> 01:14:18,840
And every time we open our
Bibles and every time we share

1121
01:14:18,840 –> 01:14:22,320
the truth about God’s Kingdom
and the name of the Lord Jesus

1122
01:14:22,320 –> 01:14:26,040
Christ, we’re using the keys
because we’re showing someone

1123
01:14:26,040 –> 01:14:28,760
who’s outside of salvation the
way to salvation.

1124
01:14:29,480 –> 01:14:32,800
So the keys are still here.
And secondly, the idea of

1125
01:14:32,800 –> 01:14:36,480
binding and loosening reminds us
that the apostles did have the

1126
01:14:36,480 –> 01:14:38,080
authority to interpret
Scripture.

1127
01:14:38,560 –> 01:14:41,000
So if we look in the New
Testament young people and we

1128
01:14:41,000 –> 01:14:44,800
see the apostles interpret
Scripture, somehow they’re doing

1129
01:14:44,800 –> 01:14:51,000
that with heaven’s authority.
And so their interpretations are

1130
01:14:51,000 –> 01:14:57,000
still binding on us today.
We are still bound by how the

1131
01:14:57,000 –> 01:14:59,680
apostles interpreted the
Scriptures.

1132
01:14:59,840 –> 01:15:01,920
So we want to understand, how do
I understand the Scriptures?

1133
01:15:02,080 –> 01:15:04,160
Look at the New Testament well,
how do they understand them?

1134
01:15:05,880 –> 01:15:10,160
And if they bind us to certain
responsibilities, whether they

1135
01:15:10,160 –> 01:15:13,600
be moral laws or they be
cultural laws, we are still

1136
01:15:13,600 –> 01:15:21,480
bound by those things today.
So .15 is this.

1137
01:15:21,480 –> 01:15:25,280
This is our last point.
We have the key to unlock the

1138
01:15:25,280 –> 01:15:29,360
truth of Jesus identity and the
responsibility to live by what

1139
01:15:29,360 –> 01:15:32,560
the apostles have taught,
helping others to do the same.

1140
01:15:34,960 –> 01:15:40,760
But once the keys were used to
open the doors, the doors

1141
01:15:40,760 –> 01:15:45,760
remained open.
See, it wasn’t for Peter to open

1142
01:15:45,760 –> 01:15:48,040
the door and then shut the door
or open the door.

1143
01:15:48,040 –> 01:15:49,520
Then that’s what the Catholics
think.

1144
01:15:49,520 –> 01:15:51,960
He can open or shut it, Open or
shut it, open or shut it.

1145
01:15:52,640 –> 01:15:54,640
See what Peter does.
He opened and they stayed open.

1146
01:15:55,440 –> 01:15:59,040
This is what John Thomas says in
Elpis Israel, Part 1, chapter 3.

1147
01:15:59,720 –> 01:16:02,200
When he had accomplished this
work with the Gentiles through

1148
01:16:02,200 –> 01:16:05,480
Cornelius, Peter no longer
retained the power of the keys.

1149
01:16:06,280 –> 01:16:08,880
They were transferred to the
multitude of believing Jews and

1150
01:16:08,880 –> 01:16:11,400
Gentiles.
The keys became the common

1151
01:16:11,400 –> 01:16:17,360
property of all believers.
So Jesus was giving the apostles

1152
01:16:17,360 –> 01:16:21,560
the authority to lay the
foundation of the ecclesia, but

1153
01:16:21,560 –> 01:16:24,760
the work they started now
continues.

1154
01:16:27,640 –> 01:16:31,840
What I’m saying to you is this,
brothers and sisters, we have

1155
01:16:31,840 –> 01:16:35,680
the keys.
We’ve been entrusted with the

1156
01:16:35,680 –> 01:16:40,400
message, the message that Jesus
Christ is the Son of the living

1157
01:16:40,400 –> 01:16:43,720
God.
It’s only on that basis that God

1158
01:16:43,720 –> 01:16:47,640
builds his ecclesia.
And it’s our job, with heaven’s

1159
01:16:47,640 –> 01:16:52,840
help, to continue building that
ecclesia where God can dwell,

1160
01:16:53,960 –> 01:16:57,280
using the keys to unlock the way
of salvation to others.

1161
01:16:59,000 –> 01:17:05,040
And it’s a reminder to stay
faithful to what the apostles

1162
01:17:05,320 –> 01:17:12,560
have done in interpreting the
law and to share that with

1163
01:17:12,640 –> 01:17:15,840
others around us.
And that’s the accretation.

1164
01:17:16,400 –> 01:17:20,600
Take the keys, open the door and
help others to find the way to

1165
01:17:20,600 –> 01:17:23,240
the Kingdom.
And I’m a little bit over, so

1166
01:17:23,240 –> 01:17:24,280
I’ll stop there.
Thank you.