Greg Robinson – Now We Believe- John’s Guide to Growing Our Faith – Class 2 – Can Anything Good Come Out of Nazareth?

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This is day two of the 2025
Idlewild Bible School.

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Our first period teacher is
Brother Greg Robinson.

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This topic is Now we believe,
John’s Guide to Growing our

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Faith.
Today’s topic is can anything

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good come out of Nazareth with a
great all?

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Right.
Thanks, brother Jeff.

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Good morning, my dear brothers
and sisters.

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Very good energetic this
morning.

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Once again, I’ve gotten some
comments and scriptures and

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characters from you about people
that have really helped to build

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your faith.
So I’m still looking for more of

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those.
Build a list.

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And then tomorrow morning I’ll
share some of those with

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everybody from that list.
This morning, as you saw in our

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readings, we’re going to be
looking at 2 important stories

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from the Gospel of John that
begin to put together for us the

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picture of how we can develop
faith.

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We’re going to be looking at,
first of all, a conversation

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that Nathaniel has with Jesus.
And I really like that one

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because we get into the mind of
Nathaniel.

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It seems like this just this,
this quick, quick conversation.

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And yet all of a sudden
Nathaniel comes to belief.

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And then we’re going to look at
turning the water into wine,

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which is a miracle, which I
believe is, is a mission

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statement actually for the for
the disciples, especially of

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what Jesus is going to be doing
in his time and in his ministry.

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And as the first miracle that
Jesus does.

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I think that’s that’s pretty
fitting.

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So let’s jump in then to
Nathaniel.

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So open your Bibles to John
chapter 1, if you haven’t

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already done that.
And to introduce the

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conversation that he has.
We have this, this pattern of

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belief that’s it’s beginning to
take place.

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We started with John the
Baptist.

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John the Baptist becomes a
witness.

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We go through some of the
disciples.

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We come to John 1 and verse 43
it says the next day Jesus

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decided to go to Galilee and he
found Philip and he said to him,

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follow me.
Now Philip was from Bethsaida,

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the city of Andrew and Peter.
And Philip verse 45 found

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Nathaniel and said to him, we
have found him of whom Moses in

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the law and the prophets wrote.
So Philip goes to Nathaniel and

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he says, we found the Messiah.
So there’s one that believed

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right there.
There’s a there’s another man

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that believes, he says it’s
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of

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Joseph.
And Nathaniel says what can

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anything good come out of
Nazareth?

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He says, you’ve got the wrong
guy.

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This can’t be the Messiah.
Now it wasn’t that Nathaniel

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thought, you know, I really
think that that Nazareth is a is

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a terrible place and no one good
could come from Nazareth.

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It wasn’t because of that at
all.

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It was something more than that.
It’s because the people of

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Israel, we’re all looking for
the Messiah to be from where?

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From Bethlehem, right?
So they were all looking for him

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to come from Bethlehem.
Now this was an objection that

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the people had to Jesus right
from the start, but it was an

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objection that the people had to
Jesus that went on and on and on

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through his ministry.
Jesus of Nazareth.

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If you come over with me to John
Chapter 7, we see this this same

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misinformation, if you will,
about Jesus is already, it is

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still separating a lot of people
from believing, believing in

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Jesus and stopping them from
doing that.

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So this is about three years in
John 7 into the ministry of

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Jesus.
And at this time, most people

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have stopped following Jesus.
His popularity is, is is way,

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way down from what it was at the
start.

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And he’s at the Feast of the
Tabernacles.

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And the Jewish leaders are
actually looking to kill Jesus.

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We talked a little bit about
that last night.

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That’s still on their mind.
This is, I think it’s about a

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year and a half later, and
they’re still looking to kill

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Jesus.
And when Jesus came to the

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feast, people saw the miracles
that he did.

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They heard his words.
And many people said he’s got to

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be the Messiah.
This is the Messiah.

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But many people had come to a
different conclusion.

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Many people said, no, he’s
deceiving the people.

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This is not the Messiah.
So if we look at at John Chapter

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7 and verse 40, it says and when
they heard these words, that’s

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the words of Jesus because Jesus
was was really doing his first

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preaching in the temple.
At this point, some of the

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people said, this is really the
prophet.

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This is the prophet like Moses.
And some would connect that then

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with with the idea of the
Messiah.

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And others said, yeah, this is
the Christ.

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But some people said, hold on,
is the Christ to come out of

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Galilee?
Hasn’t the Scripture said that

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Christ comes from the offspring
of David and comes from

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Bethlehem, the village where
David was?

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And so verse 43 then says there
was a division among the people.

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So three years into the ministry
and people are still being LED

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astray by this piece of
misinformation.

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This piece of misinformation
that the Messiah came from

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Bethlehem and Jesus was not from
Bethlehem, but that he was from

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Nazareth.
And this misinformation is being

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supported, not corrected by the
Pharisees.

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Look at later in the chapter,
later in Chapter 7 of John when

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Nicodemus opposes the arrest of
Jesus, Nicodemus says shouldn’t

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we at least listen to Jesus and
what he has to say before we

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arrest him?
And what do they say in verse

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52?
Are you from Galilee too?

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Search and see that no prophet
arises from Galilee and the

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Jewish leaders keep this
misinformation about Jesus

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alive.
They keep it alive and they keep

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it alive and they keep it alive.
They call him Jesus of Nazareth,

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right?
They keep saying that, and

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that’s as if to say Jesus, not
of Bethlehem, and that’s as if

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to say Jesus, not the Messiah.
But John gives us the account of

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Jesus conversation with
Nathaniel, and that conversation

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helps us to understand how we
can get past misinformation like

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this.
We live in a world that that’s

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full of misinformation, so this
isn’t an important one.

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We think about the
misinformation that leads people

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astray today, and maybe our our
young people are faced with this

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more than we are.
But the example of evolution,

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much of the world, much of the
world believes that evolution is

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a proven fact, when in reality,
the theory of evolution has not

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been proven.
And of course, it never will be

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proven because it’s absolutely
not true.

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But most people believe in
evolution.

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Many people say there can’t be a
God.

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There can’t be a God because he
wouldn’t allow all of this

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suffering.
But we understand suffering.

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We understand the suffering that
role has, the role that

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suffering has.
We understand the freedom of

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choice.
Some people say, why isn’t he

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fixing the world?
If there was a God, he would be

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fixing the world.
But we understand, don’t we,

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that he actually is going
through the process of fixing

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the world.
And so misinformation about God

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is, is something that’s been
going on all the way back, you

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know, since the beginning.
And it’s something that everyone

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has faced.
It’s something that is probably

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never going to stop until until
the Kingdom age.

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So it’s something then that is a
massive problem for us and for

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our children.
But it’s not new.

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So let’s let’s go back to John
chapter 1 then and let’s see how

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Nathaniel deals with this piece
of misinformation.

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So John chapter 1 jumps right
into this idea, as we said of of

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people coming to believe John
the Baptist is first verse 34.

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He says, and I saw and bear
record that this is the son of

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God.
So that’s that’s the mission

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that the Gospel of John has,
isn’t it?

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Andrew and John come and they
say we have found the Messiah.

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Philip finds Nathaniel because
he’s found the Messiah, and then

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we’re back where we left off.
I should have clicked those

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through in verse 46.
And Nathaniel says, can anything

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good come from Nazareth?
Because Nathaniel doesn’t

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believe Philip.
He says, wait a second, Philip,

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he can’t be the Messiah.
He’s not from Bethlehem.

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And Nathaniel says, you know
what Micah says?

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Micah tells us that the Messiah
will come from Bethlehem.

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But Philip doesn’t give up, does
he?

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He says, no, just come and see,
come and see.

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And I think you’ll believe that
he is the Messiah.

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And so we could picture
Nathaniel and he’s going to see

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Jesus just because Philip
convinced him to do that.

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And he’s got his Bible.
Of course, he didn’t have his

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Bible, but he’s got his Bible
and he’s got his finger in Micah

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chapter 5 because that’s where
the Messiah coming from

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Bethlehem is found.
So let’s take a look at Micah 5

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and verse 2, because Nathaniel’s
convinced of this and he’s ready

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to go and he’s ready to talk to
Jesus about this.

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So Micah 5, verse 2, it says,
But you, O Bethlehem of Frata,

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who are too little to be among
the clans of Judah, from you

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shall come forth for me, one who
is to be ruler in Israel.

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So it’s a very clear prophecy.
Israel, the people of Israel

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would mostly have known about
this prophecy.

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Certainly the priests would have
known that the, the teachers,

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the Pharisees would have known.
We can think about the wise men

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when they came to Herod.
Remember that story when, when

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they came to Herod and they were
looking for, because of the star

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that they had seen, they were
looking for the Messiah.

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And what were they told?
Where were they told that the

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Messiah was going to be born?
They were told to go to

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Bethlehem, right?
Those people open their Bibles,

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Micah 5 and said, yeah, it’s
Bethlehem.

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And you’ll remember what Herod
does, right?

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Herod says, OK, we’ve got to get
rid of all the baby boys in

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Bethlehem.
And so he killed the baby boys

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in Bethlehem.
And we know that Bethlehem ends

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up being the place where Jesus
family from Nazareth, where

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Jesus, where they take Jesus and
Jesus is born.

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And by some strange coincidence,
not a coincidence really, we

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know there was a Roman
government recorded proof of the

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fact that Jesus family was from
Bethlehem, right?

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There was proof and and people
could have looked that up and

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found look at the whole family
line is from Bethlehem.

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They went there for the census,
they went there for the

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taxation.
So there was conclusive proof

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then that Jesus was from the
family that came from Bethlehem,

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and maybe proof that Jesus was
actually born there in

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Bethlehem.
But when Jesus began his

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ministry, there was a problem.
He came from Bethlehem, came

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from, sorry, Nazareth.
And most people, because of

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that, ignored Jesus and what he
had to say.

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So because then of the
persuasion of Philip, Nathaniel

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goes with Philip to see Jesus
and they approached Jesus and

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Nathaniel’s convinced he’s not
the Messiah.

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And what does Jesus say to him
in verse 47?

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He says, behold, an Israelite
indeed, in whom is no God.

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Kind of a funny thing to say,
don’t you think?

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Kind of a funny thing to say
that a person that you haven’t

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met.
And Nathaniel must have wondered

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what Jesus was talking about.
He says in verse 48, how do you

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know me?
We’ve never met.

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What are you saying?
Now?

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Put yourself in the shoes of
Nathaniel.

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Jesus might just be trying to
get on my good side, right?

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He might be trying to to
schmooze me here to to impress

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me, to open me up so that I’ll,
I’ll listen to him.

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Maybe that’s what this is about.
You know, when when you when you

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meet somebody they haven’t seen
for a long time and they’re

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trying to make you feel good,
what do they always say to you?

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Wow, you’re looking good.
I haven’t seen you for years,

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00:12:49,040 –> 00:12:50,560
but you’re sure looking good,
right?

218
00:12:50,800 –> 00:12:52,840
Or have you lost weight?
Those kind of things that

219
00:12:52,840 –> 00:12:56,120
they’ll say to you and you know
very well that you haven’t lost

220
00:12:56,120 –> 00:12:59,000
weight and you’re, you’re
looking a lot older than you did

221
00:12:59,000 –> 00:13:01,000
the last time.
But that might have been what

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00:13:01,000 –> 00:13:05,160
Nathaniel was thinking here.
Was that a miracle?

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00:13:05,320 –> 00:13:11,920
What Jesus says?
So Jesus says to him, before

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00:13:11,920 –> 00:13:15,800
Philip called you, when you were
under the fig tree, I saw you.

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00:13:16,800 –> 00:13:20,880
And then Nathaniel would have
been thinking, how does Jesus

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00:13:20,880 –> 00:13:23,640
know that?
How did he see me under the fig

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00:13:23,640 –> 00:13:27,240
tree?
And then, and this is the

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00:13:27,240 –> 00:13:31,160
amazing, amazing part of this,
Nathaniel gives, I think, one of

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00:13:31,160 –> 00:13:34,000
the most unexpected responses
ever.

230
00:13:34,880 –> 00:13:41,040
And he says, Rabbi, you are the
Son of God.

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00:13:42,040 –> 00:13:45,560
You are the king of Israel.
It’s it’s like a bolt of

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00:13:45,560 –> 00:13:48,360
lightning hits.
And Nathaniel’s got it.

233
00:13:48,360 –> 00:13:52,200
He understands.
He he completely believes what

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00:13:52,200 –> 00:13:56,840
he’s supposed to believe here.
Now He believes exactly what

235
00:13:56,840 –> 00:14:01,480
John said we were looking for in
in in the purpose of his of his

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00:14:01,480 –> 00:14:06,200
gospel back in John 20 verse 31.
These are written that you might

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00:14:06,200 –> 00:14:09,680
believe that Jesus is the Christ
that you’re the he’s the

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00:14:09,680 –> 00:14:13,440
anointed that he’s the king,
he’s the son of God and the

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00:14:13,440 –> 00:14:15,520
believing you might have life
through his name.

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00:14:16,320 –> 00:14:20,080
So as we’re reading it, we say
what just happened here.

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00:14:20,880 –> 00:14:25,040
Jesus calls Nathaniel an
Israelite indeed, which might

242
00:14:25,040 –> 00:14:29,320
just be empty words.
And he says, I saw you under the

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00:14:29,320 –> 00:14:34,480
fig tree a while ago.
And, and boom, Nathaniel knows

244
00:14:34,480 –> 00:14:37,200
three things about Jesus.
He’s he says three things about

245
00:14:37,240 –> 00:14:40,280
Jesus.
You’re the teacher Rabbi, he

246
00:14:40,280 –> 00:14:44,120
calls him, you’re the son of God
and you’re the king of Israel.

247
00:14:44,960 –> 00:14:47,960
He, he doesn’t even ask about
Nazareth.

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00:14:47,960 –> 00:14:49,560
He doesn’t say a word about
Nazareth.

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00:14:50,160 –> 00:14:53,040
He just says, wow, you’re that
you’re the Son of God, you’re

250
00:14:53,040 –> 00:14:56,200
the king of Israel.
It’s amazing.

251
00:14:58,920 –> 00:15:04,080
So I think here’s the question.
Is John telling us that

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00:15:04,080 –> 00:15:09,520
Nathaniel’s stunning belief came
because Jesus had just read his

253
00:15:09,520 –> 00:15:12,400
mind?
Is that what he’s telling us?

254
00:15:13,720 –> 00:15:15,880
We think about that.
Look at verse verse 50.

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00:15:15,880 –> 00:15:20,480
That’s actually the same
question that Jesus asks in

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00:15:20,480 –> 00:15:23,680
verse 50.
Jesus answered him because I

257
00:15:23,680 –> 00:15:26,440
said to you, I saw you under the
fig tree.

258
00:15:26,920 –> 00:15:28,240
Do you believe?
Is that why you believe?

259
00:15:28,240 –> 00:15:30,360
Because I told you that I saw
you under the fig tree.

260
00:15:32,040 –> 00:15:34,400
OK, so what’s really happening
here?

261
00:15:34,400 –> 00:15:36,800
What’s, what are we supposed to,
to be learning?

262
00:15:36,800 –> 00:15:42,280
Does does faith come like that?
What about faith coming from the

263
00:15:42,320 –> 00:15:44,840
hearing, the word of God that
that we’ve been, we’ve been

264
00:15:45,360 –> 00:15:47,800
programmed to believe that
that’s the source of faith.

265
00:15:48,720 –> 00:15:50,360
It really seems like we’re
missing something.

266
00:15:50,360 –> 00:15:54,040
So what I’d like to do now is
I’d like to go through it again,

267
00:15:54,880 –> 00:15:59,520
and let’s try to think about
what might have made Nathaniel

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00:15:59,600 –> 00:16:02,880
come to this conclusion.
So let’s go back to 46.

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00:16:02,880 –> 00:16:05,280
And I know it seems like we’re
retracing our steps, but it’s

270
00:16:05,280 –> 00:16:07,640
such a short conversation, I
think it’s worth doing.

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00:16:08,360 –> 00:16:11,600
So Nathaniel hears about this
man the people are calling the

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00:16:11,600 –> 00:16:16,080
Messiah, and he knows about
Micah 5, verse 2, that the

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00:16:16,080 –> 00:16:17,920
Messiah is going to come from
Bethlehem.

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00:16:18,600 –> 00:16:22,960
And so he doesn’t believe it,
but his friend Philip keeps

275
00:16:22,960 –> 00:16:26,120
pestering him.
And so he goes with Philip to

276
00:16:26,120 –> 00:16:29,120
see Jesus.
And as he comes to Jesus, he’s

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00:16:29,120 –> 00:16:31,600
thinking, yeah, this is not the
Messiah.

278
00:16:32,400 –> 00:16:37,000
And then Jesus says to him, and
he calls him an Israelite

279
00:16:37,000 –> 00:16:43,840
indeed, in whom is no deceit.
He’s 100% right about Nathaniel,

280
00:16:43,840 –> 00:16:46,600
as we’ll see.
Nathaniel is legitimately

281
00:16:46,600 –> 00:16:49,560
looking for the Messiah.
He’s the kind of person who

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00:16:49,560 –> 00:16:52,040
says, I’m going to figure this
out for myself and I really want

283
00:16:52,040 –> 00:16:56,360
to know.
But there’s more to it than just

284
00:16:56,560 –> 00:16:58,960
Nathaniel being a sincere
person.

285
00:16:59,800 –> 00:17:07,079
Jesus said to him, Behold, an
Israelite indeed, in whom is no

286
00:17:07,480 –> 00:17:11,040
deceit.
Now those few words are saying a

287
00:17:11,040 –> 00:17:13,880
lot.
Who’s he alluding to?

288
00:17:13,880 –> 00:17:16,800
What Old Testament, What
important Old Testament

289
00:17:16,800 –> 00:17:23,880
character is he alluding to when
he says that Jacob, He’s

290
00:17:23,880 –> 00:17:28,240
alluding to Jacob because Jacob
was an Israelite.

291
00:17:28,280 –> 00:17:34,080
Indeed, you remember Jacob had
his name changed to Israel and

292
00:17:34,080 –> 00:17:36,680
before Jacob had his name
changed to Israel.

293
00:17:36,680 –> 00:17:40,360
Would you say that he was a
deceiver?

294
00:17:42,040 –> 00:17:43,520
Definitely was a deceiver,
right?

295
00:17:43,520 –> 00:17:46,880
He deceived his brother.
That was that was his character.

296
00:17:46,880 –> 00:17:49,640
He he didn’t put his trust in
God to do things.

297
00:17:50,160 –> 00:17:52,440
He was going to accomplish
things on his own and he was

298
00:17:52,440 –> 00:17:56,920
going to use his his own brains
and his own deceit at times to

299
00:17:56,920 –> 00:18:00,360
do that.
So we look at verse 51, we find

300
00:18:00,360 –> 00:18:05,960
that that is indeed clearly who
Jesus wants him to be thinking

301
00:18:05,960 –> 00:18:10,520
about South John 151 says, and
he said to him, so these are the

302
00:18:10,520 –> 00:18:12,840
words that Jesus speaks to
Nathaniel.

303
00:18:13,320 –> 00:18:17,560
Truly, truly, I say to you, you
will see heaven opened and the

304
00:18:17,560 –> 00:18:21,280
angels of God ascending and
descending on the Son of man.

305
00:18:21,280 –> 00:18:24,880
So right, that’s the angels it
in, in Jesus, in Joseph.

306
00:18:24,880 –> 00:18:28,000
Sorry, Jacob’s dream.
So there’s no doubt here that

307
00:18:28,000 –> 00:18:31,320
this is Jacob that he wants him
to be thinking about.

308
00:18:32,200 –> 00:18:34,960
OK, but why Jacob?
Why does he want him to be

309
00:18:34,960 –> 00:18:38,760
thinking about Jacob?
Well, turn with me to Genesis

310
00:18:38,760 –> 00:18:43,040
32.
The story of Jacob having his

311
00:18:43,040 –> 00:18:47,400
name changed takes place, you’ll
remember, just before he meets

312
00:18:47,400 –> 00:18:50,440
with his brother Esau.
So this whole story then comes

313
00:18:50,440 –> 00:18:54,400
to the mind of Nathaniel in in
in a flash, I guess because it’s

314
00:18:54,400 –> 00:18:58,240
such a quick conversation.
He meets his brother Jacob meets

315
00:18:58,240 –> 00:19:02,000
his brother Esau or is about to,
and he’s absolutely terrified of

316
00:19:02,000 –> 00:19:04,720
this.
He thought that Esau would kill

317
00:19:04,720 –> 00:19:07,280
him.
And so he sends gifts ahead of

318
00:19:07,280 –> 00:19:11,360
him and he sends he divides up
his camp so that he’s at the

319
00:19:11,360 –> 00:19:13,600
very back in the in the safest
position.

320
00:19:13,880 –> 00:19:19,560
He does everything but putting
his trust in God, just like he

321
00:19:19,560 –> 00:19:24,480
had done to get the blessings.
And verse 24 of Genesis 32 says,

322
00:19:24,480 –> 00:19:29,560
and Jacob was left alone, and
there he wrestled a man with him

323
00:19:29,560 –> 00:19:33,240
until the breaking of day.
And so we have here a symbol of

324
00:19:33,240 –> 00:19:36,400
Jacob wrestling with this Angel.
It’s a symbol of Jacob’s

325
00:19:36,400 –> 00:19:41,880
resistance to God in his life.
The Angel representing God is,

326
00:19:41,880 –> 00:19:45,640
is trying to get Jacob to, to,
to mold his behavior and his

327
00:19:45,640 –> 00:19:47,520
thinking.
And he’s always trying to do

328
00:19:47,520 –> 00:19:49,200
that.
And Jacob is continuously

329
00:19:49,400 –> 00:19:52,880
resisting that.
And verse 25 says, and when he,

330
00:19:52,880 –> 00:19:56,800
that’s when the Angel saw that
he prevailed not against Jacob.

331
00:19:57,240 –> 00:20:00,800
He touched the hollow of his
thigh and the hollow of Jacob’s

332
00:20:00,800 –> 00:20:03,880
thigh was put out of joint as he
wrestled with him.

333
00:20:04,520 –> 00:20:07,960
So the Angel wasn’t prevailing
against Jacob, so.

334
00:20:09,440 –> 00:20:11,440
The Angel puts his thigh out of
joints.

335
00:20:11,640 –> 00:20:15,360
All right, I’m going to just
incapacitate you here and then

336
00:20:15,360 –> 00:20:17,520
you’ll have to put your trust in
God.

337
00:20:18,000 –> 00:20:20,640
He made it impossible for Jacob
to do it on his own.

338
00:20:21,400 –> 00:20:25,640
And then verse 26, the Angel
said, let me go for the day

339
00:20:25,640 –> 00:20:28,600
breaketh.
And Jacob said, I won’t let you

340
00:20:28,600 –> 00:20:33,880
go unless you bless me.
You see, Jacob had such a strong

341
00:20:33,880 –> 00:20:36,720
desire for the blessing, for the
promises.

342
00:20:37,120 –> 00:20:39,080
He wanted that more than
anything.

343
00:20:39,520 –> 00:20:43,160
And so the Angel says to him,
What is thy name?

344
00:20:43,360 –> 00:20:45,440
He said Jacob.
He said, Thy name shall be

345
00:20:45,440 –> 00:20:48,000
called no more, Jacob, but
Israel.

346
00:20:48,560 –> 00:20:52,600
For as a Prince has thou power
with God and with men, and has

347
00:20:52,600 –> 00:20:55,440
prevailed.
And so God changed His name here

348
00:20:55,440 –> 00:20:59,720
to Israel.
He was an Israelite indeed in

349
00:20:59,720 –> 00:21:05,000
whom was no Jacob any longer.
And Nathaniel’s mind would have

350
00:21:05,000 –> 00:21:09,040
putting those things together.
But that doesn’t totally answer

351
00:21:09,040 –> 00:21:13,520
our question yet, does it?
But what we find is that Micah

352
00:21:13,520 –> 00:21:17,400
chapters four and five, which
we’re already thinking about

353
00:21:17,400 –> 00:21:21,840
because that’s already what
Nathaniel comes to Jesus on his

354
00:21:21,840 –> 00:21:25,280
mind with on his mind.
And Micah, chapters four and

355
00:21:25,280 –> 00:21:29,800
five really help us to to
understand in those chapters,

356
00:21:29,800 –> 00:21:35,000
God is trying to get Judah to be
like their father Jacob.

357
00:21:35,440 –> 00:21:39,400
He’s trying to get them to have
the same love for the promises

358
00:21:39,800 –> 00:21:42,160
that Jacob had.
He’s trying to get them away

359
00:21:42,160 –> 00:21:46,360
from their idols, like if Jacob
went away from his idols.

360
00:21:46,640 –> 00:21:49,680
So come with me to Micah chapter
4 and verse 6.

361
00:21:50,000 –> 00:21:53,600
And there’s a series of verses
here that just show us this what

362
00:21:53,600 –> 00:21:58,400
we just saw with with with the
name of Jacob being changed and

363
00:21:58,400 –> 00:22:02,440
the progression of Jacob and how
God wants Israel to follow that

364
00:22:02,440 –> 00:22:06,480
same progression.
And to go from a man that’s had

365
00:22:06,480 –> 00:22:11,480
his hip put out of joint right
to a man that is serving God

366
00:22:11,480 –> 00:22:12,920
because he puts his trust in
him.

367
00:22:13,480 –> 00:22:16,760
He wants to show us how Israel
is going to go through that same

368
00:22:16,760 –> 00:22:20,160
process.
So Micah chapter 4, verse 6, it

369
00:22:20,160 –> 00:22:25,640
says in that day saith the Lord,
will I assemble her that

370
00:22:25,640 –> 00:22:29,960
halteth.
Who’s the one that halted?

371
00:22:31,080 –> 00:22:33,040
What does it mean to halt?
I guess is maybe the first

372
00:22:33,040 –> 00:22:34,440
question.
Does anybody have another word?

373
00:22:34,600 –> 00:22:37,440
Limp, right?
Who’s the one that limped?

374
00:22:38,040 –> 00:22:40,920
Of course it’s Jacob, isn’t it,
when his thigh was put out of

375
00:22:40,920 –> 00:22:42,960
joint?
And it’s talking not about

376
00:22:42,960 –> 00:22:44,520
Jacob.
It says her that halteth because

377
00:22:44,520 –> 00:22:46,040
it’s talking about the nation of
Israel.

378
00:22:46,400 –> 00:22:49,960
So God says in that day, I’ll
assemble her that halteth and I

379
00:22:49,960 –> 00:22:54,640
will gather her that is driven
out and her that is afflicted.

380
00:22:54,640 –> 00:22:56,600
So Israel’s going to be gathered
together.

381
00:22:56,960 –> 00:22:59,040
They were scattered.
They’re now going to be gathered

382
00:22:59,040 –> 00:23:00,680
together.
And he tells them that they’re

383
00:23:00,680 –> 00:23:03,680
going to follow this pattern.
They’re going to actually put

384
00:23:03,680 –> 00:23:06,520
their trust in God and they will
no longer limp.

385
00:23:07,240 –> 00:23:09,720
He continues in verse 7.
He says, and I will make her

386
00:23:09,720 –> 00:23:14,240
that halted A remnant.
So the nation of Israel is going

387
00:23:14,240 –> 00:23:17,040
to follow the pattern of Jacob.
They’re going to become a group

388
00:23:17,040 –> 00:23:22,000
of small, sorry, a small group
of believers that are faithful

389
00:23:22,000 –> 00:23:24,320
to God.
And then it says in her that was

390
00:23:24,320 –> 00:23:28,640
cast off, I’m going to make a
strong nation that’s Israel

391
00:23:28,640 –> 00:23:30,920
again.
And then it says, and the Lord

392
00:23:30,920 –> 00:23:34,880
shall reign over them in Mount
Zion from henceforth, even

393
00:23:34,880 –> 00:23:37,480
forever.
So God is going to reign.

394
00:23:37,480 –> 00:23:39,560
And we know that that’s talking
about this.

395
00:23:39,680 –> 00:23:41,760
God’s house is going to be
established.

396
00:23:42,000 –> 00:23:45,920
God is going to reign.
God is going to have his Son

397
00:23:46,600 –> 00:23:53,640
reigning and his son ruling over
his house in Zion henceforth,

398
00:23:53,640 –> 00:23:56,960
even forever.
And then in verse 8, he tells us

399
00:23:56,960 –> 00:23:59,160
that Israel would become the
first dominion.

400
00:23:59,400 –> 00:24:01,080
And we look forward to that
happening, don’t we?

401
00:24:01,080 –> 00:24:04,080
In in the Kingdom when the
nation of Israel becomes the

402
00:24:04,360 –> 00:24:08,560
mortal nation that actually does
the work of Christ and goes to

403
00:24:08,560 –> 00:24:10,960
the world and and helps to
convert the world.

404
00:24:11,440 –> 00:24:14,480
So this is what is on
Nathaniel’s mind.

405
00:24:15,440 –> 00:24:19,160
He’s thinking about the Kingdom.
He’s thinking about Israel.

406
00:24:19,880 –> 00:24:22,040
Now let’s go back to the
beginning of Micah chapter 4,

407
00:24:22,040 –> 00:24:25,440
because these are these are
verses that we use all the time.

408
00:24:25,440 –> 00:24:28,800
Probably not from Micah,
probably we go to Isaiah chapter

409
00:24:28,800 –> 00:24:32,080
2 when we read these verses.
But these are verses about the

410
00:24:32,080 –> 00:24:34,680
Kingdom.
And this is on Nathaniel’s mind,

411
00:24:34,680 –> 00:24:38,360
I believe, as he as he’s
listening to Jesus, probably

412
00:24:38,360 –> 00:24:41,640
because he’d been thinking about
that the whole time.

413
00:24:42,000 –> 00:24:45,560
He’d been trying to figure out
about the Messiah and about the

414
00:24:45,560 –> 00:24:47,600
Kingdom, and here’s what he’s
thinking about.

415
00:24:47,600 –> 00:24:49,400
Verse one.
It should come to pass in the

416
00:24:49,400 –> 00:24:52,280
latter day.
So Micah 41 that the mountain of

417
00:24:52,280 –> 00:24:55,560
the House of the Lord shall be
established as the highest of

418
00:24:55,560 –> 00:24:58,000
the mountains.
It shall be lifted up above the

419
00:24:58,000 –> 00:25:00,360
hills, and people shall flow to
it.

420
00:25:01,440 –> 00:25:04,720
Many nations shall come and say,
come, let’s go to the mountain

421
00:25:04,720 –> 00:25:09,160
of the Lord and to the House of
Jacob.

422
00:25:10,520 –> 00:25:14,720
The House of Jacob, remember
Jacob was the one that saw the

423
00:25:14,760 –> 00:25:18,200
angels in his dream and they
were ascending and descending.

424
00:25:18,200 –> 00:25:22,600
And what did he say?
He said this is none other but

425
00:25:22,600 –> 00:25:26,920
the House of God.
What did he mean by the House of

426
00:25:26,920 –> 00:25:28,760
God?
He he wasn’t in a house.

427
00:25:28,760 –> 00:25:30,320
He was, he was out in the middle
of nowhere.

428
00:25:30,520 –> 00:25:32,920
He wasn’t thinking of a house as
as we think of a house.

429
00:25:33,280 –> 00:25:37,200
He was put out in the open.
And in the context, the word

430
00:25:37,200 –> 00:25:39,520
house then has a a different
meaning.

431
00:25:40,040 –> 00:25:43,400
The word house is a place where
God is.

432
00:25:44,080 –> 00:25:49,440
And so Jacob says surely the
Lord is in this place.

433
00:25:49,440 –> 00:25:51,080
That’s what the house was all
about.

434
00:25:51,240 –> 00:25:54,360
And so God is going to be in
Jerusalem.

435
00:25:54,640 –> 00:25:57,920
His presence is going to be
there through His Son.

436
00:25:58,880 –> 00:26:01,080
So Micah’s saying that people
are going to come up to

437
00:26:01,080 –> 00:26:05,680
Jerusalem because God is in that
place.

438
00:26:06,520 –> 00:26:10,040
We can go and we can see his
Son, the Father ruling through

439
00:26:10,040 –> 00:26:13,240
his Son and the Son of God in
that place.

440
00:26:14,320 –> 00:26:19,040
And then it says, and he’ll
teach us of his ways and we’ll

441
00:26:19,040 –> 00:26:22,560
walk in his pants.
So he’s not only the Son of God,

442
00:26:23,400 –> 00:26:26,640
but he’s a ruler.
He’s not only a ruler, but he’s

443
00:26:26,640 –> 00:26:30,600
a teacher.
Micah’s telling us that Christ

444
00:26:30,600 –> 00:26:36,360
is going to be the Messiah, is
going to be the teacher, the

445
00:26:36,360 –> 00:26:40,280
ruler or the king, and he’s
going to be the manifestation of

446
00:26:40,280 –> 00:26:42,720
God.
He’s going to be the Son of God.

447
00:26:42,720 –> 00:26:45,880
And then what does he say in
verse 4?

448
00:26:48,600 –> 00:26:50,680
I’d like you to to remember the
first part of this verse

449
00:26:50,680 –> 00:26:53,040
especially.
He says, but they shall sit

450
00:26:53,040 –> 00:26:58,760
every man under his vine and
under his fig tree, and no one

451
00:26:58,760 –> 00:27:02,800
shall make them afraid, for the
mouth of the Lord of hosts has

452
00:27:02,800 –> 00:27:06,680
spoken.
That’s a picture that Nathaniel

453
00:27:06,680 –> 00:27:10,560
had on his mind of the Kingdom,
because that was the Kingdom

454
00:27:10,560 –> 00:27:14,760
that he had learned about back
in Micah chapters four and five.

455
00:27:15,600 –> 00:27:17,640
All right, so let’s go back to
John chapter 1 now.

456
00:27:18,720 –> 00:27:21,840
So Nathaniel says, can anything
good come from Nazareth, which

457
00:27:21,840 –> 00:27:25,520
is Micah 5?
Jesus says he’s an Israelite

458
00:27:25,520 –> 00:27:29,040
indeed, in whom is no guile,
which is actually just like

459
00:27:29,040 –> 00:27:32,120
Micah 4.
Nathaniel says, how do you know

460
00:27:32,120 –> 00:27:34,560
me?
And of course, what does Jesus

461
00:27:34,560 –> 00:27:37,560
do?
He goes right back to Micah

462
00:27:37,560 –> 00:27:42,520
again, and he ties a great big
bow around this.

463
00:27:42,800 –> 00:27:49,240
And he says to him, when you
were under the fig tree, I saw

464
00:27:49,240 –> 00:27:53,480
you.
And Nathaniel’s astonished,

465
00:27:55,280 –> 00:28:00,440
because in just a few words
Jesus has gone through the whole

466
00:28:00,440 –> 00:28:05,080
thing.
And so Nathaniel says, Rabbi,

467
00:28:06,760 –> 00:28:10,360
you are the Son of God, you are
the king of Israel.

468
00:28:11,040 –> 00:28:13,720
You’re exactly what Micah was
talking about.

469
00:28:14,040 –> 00:28:17,480
Micah’s telling us.
Micah told us that Christ would

470
00:28:17,480 –> 00:28:25,000
be Rabbi, the Teacher, the Son
of God, and the king of Israel.

471
00:28:27,120 –> 00:28:30,640
So how was Nathaniel able to
believe?

472
00:28:31,160 –> 00:28:34,320
What did it take to make
Nathaniel believe?

473
00:28:34,520 –> 00:28:38,120
What did it take to get him past
the misinformation?

474
00:28:39,000 –> 00:28:41,800
Was it a bolt of lightning of
belief that came from God?

475
00:28:41,800 –> 00:28:43,960
Was it a miracle that Jesus had
done?

476
00:28:45,200 –> 00:28:48,760
What was it?
He knew the scriptures, didn’t

477
00:28:48,760 –> 00:28:51,680
he?
He went back, he researched it,

478
00:28:51,680 –> 00:28:54,480
he checked it out.
He knew exactly what to expect.

479
00:28:54,640 –> 00:28:57,600
And when Jesus said the right
words, he said you’re the

480
00:28:57,600 –> 00:29:03,040
Messiah, you’re the Son of God.
The lesson I think, is for us

481
00:29:03,240 –> 00:29:07,120
the same.
How did Nathaniel believe?

482
00:29:08,440 –> 00:29:13,400
Nathaniel believed because 1.
He was genuinely trying to find

483
00:29:13,400 –> 00:29:17,840
the truth about the Messiah.
So when misinformation comes for

484
00:29:17,840 –> 00:29:23,480
us, if we genuinely try to
figure it out, God will help us

485
00:29:23,480 –> 00:29:27,040
to figure it out.
Number two, when that happened,

486
00:29:27,040 –> 00:29:31,680
his mind was in the Word.
So when Jesus talked with him,

487
00:29:31,720 –> 00:29:35,040
there was no doubt that Jesus
was the Messiah.

488
00:29:35,400 –> 00:29:39,400
Almost instantly, no doubt in
his mind, he gets exactly what

489
00:29:39,400 –> 00:29:42,160
Jesus wanted him to get.
And what happened to

490
00:29:42,160 –> 00:29:45,880
misinformation in that process?
It was completely defeated,

491
00:29:46,320 –> 00:29:48,680
completely removed, completely
gone.

492
00:29:52,280 –> 00:29:54,840
So Romans 10 verse 17 is right,
isn’t it?

493
00:29:56,200 –> 00:30:01,280
Faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God.

494
00:30:02,240 –> 00:30:06,480
We’ve seen it in action.
Nathaniel could could see

495
00:30:06,520 –> 00:30:11,680
something that was not visible
to the senses and so he believed

496
00:30:12,640 –> 00:30:16,600
and he developed a faith.
Now I’d like to share with you

497
00:30:16,600 –> 00:30:21,720
some some stats that I came
across about church membership

498
00:30:21,720 –> 00:30:24,360
and I don’t know if you can you
can read them from from too far

499
00:30:24,360 –> 00:30:29,400
back, but what this chart shows
us is the decline in Christian

500
00:30:29,400 –> 00:30:33,200
Church membership.
So all the way up to the year

501
00:30:33,200 –> 00:30:38,080
2000, participation in churches,
this is just Christian churches

502
00:30:38,080 –> 00:30:43,200
of course is about 70%.
And then there’s a decline that

503
00:30:43,200 –> 00:30:45,720
starts to take place in about
2000.

504
00:30:46,640 –> 00:30:49,040
And then the decline seems to
accelerate.

505
00:30:50,080 –> 00:30:55,520
Now, there’s a factor that’s
really come to bear on the

506
00:30:55,520 –> 00:31:00,160
membership of churches,
Christian churches that has

507
00:31:00,160 –> 00:31:03,840
drastically reduced their
participation, people’s

508
00:31:03,840 –> 00:31:06,640
participation.
And what do you think that that

509
00:31:06,640 –> 00:31:08,880
is?
That starts to happen around

510
00:31:08,880 –> 00:31:11,480
2000 and accelerates beyond
that.

511
00:31:13,080 –> 00:31:14,080
Internet.
Thank you.

512
00:31:14,360 –> 00:31:16,560
And then Internet becomes the
phone, right?

513
00:31:16,560 –> 00:31:18,280
I don’t have my phone with me.
Probably that’s good.

514
00:31:18,480 –> 00:31:21,600
But the phone takes that and
makes it even easier.

515
00:31:21,600 –> 00:31:27,160
We have, we have constantly with
us, convenient, portable,

516
00:31:27,240 –> 00:31:34,000
addictive entertainment that
gets in the way of our time in

517
00:31:34,000 –> 00:31:37,480
the Word of God.
And it’s addictive for us.

518
00:31:37,880 –> 00:31:42,200
It’s addictive for our children,
not just because we’re weak.

519
00:31:43,160 –> 00:31:48,200
It’s addictive because it’s been
engineered to be addictive.

520
00:31:48,560 –> 00:31:51,840
And that engineered
addictiveness is getting better

521
00:31:52,120 –> 00:31:56,000
and better and better.
We think of AI and the, and the

522
00:31:56,000 –> 00:31:57,680
impact that AI is going to have
on it.

523
00:31:57,680 –> 00:32:01,280
So in the past, when, when you
had a proclivity for something,

524
00:32:01,560 –> 00:32:05,120
the, the algorithms would figure
out your proclivity and they

525
00:32:05,120 –> 00:32:08,600
would find something that met
the needs of that or met that

526
00:32:08,600 –> 00:32:11,400
your, your desires and show it
to you.

527
00:32:12,240 –> 00:32:14,400
But they would have to find it
in order to show it to you.

528
00:32:14,920 –> 00:32:18,640
Now, what’s AI doing next?
What is got I is going to do

529
00:32:18,640 –> 00:32:22,480
next is it’s going to actually
say, well, we know exactly what

530
00:32:22,480 –> 00:32:25,840
you want and it’s going to
create it and it’s going to

531
00:32:25,840 –> 00:32:29,200
create it instantly and it’s
going to present it to you and

532
00:32:29,320 –> 00:32:32,560
it’s going to be able to
constantly present exactly what

533
00:32:32,560 –> 00:32:35,600
you’re looking for.
So we’ve only begun to see the

534
00:32:35,600 –> 00:32:40,360
dangers then of the phone that
we take with us that has this

535
00:32:40,360 –> 00:32:41,720
entertainment that takes our
time.

536
00:32:42,520 –> 00:32:46,040
We’ve got to figure out a way,
brothers and sisters, to take to

537
00:32:46,240 –> 00:32:51,920
somehow reduce that exposure and
get our time back into the word

538
00:32:51,920 –> 00:32:55,600
of God.
And I think if we don’t that

539
00:32:55,600 –> 00:32:59,680
what will happen to us is when
someone comes along and says,

540
00:32:59,680 –> 00:33:04,400
can anything good come from
Nazareth, that we might say,

541
00:33:05,400 –> 00:33:10,080
yeah, probably not and go on and
miss the Messiah.

542
00:33:11,040 –> 00:33:13,560
We definitely don’t want our
children being in a place where

543
00:33:13,560 –> 00:33:18,000
they say can anything good come
from Nazareth and completely

544
00:33:18,000 –> 00:33:20,560
miss the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ.

545
00:33:22,080 –> 00:33:24,720
All right, so that was the the
story of of Nathaniel and his

546
00:33:24,720 –> 00:33:27,320
conversation with Jesus.
Let’s go on now in the minutes

547
00:33:27,320 –> 00:33:29,920
that we have to the water to
wind the second part.

548
00:33:29,920 –> 00:33:35,040
So John chapter 2.
Now we noticed with Nathaniel

549
00:33:35,040 –> 00:33:38,360
then that his knowledge of the
scriptures made the difference.

550
00:33:38,360 –> 00:33:41,000
Him going back, doing the
research, figuring it out,

551
00:33:41,240 –> 00:33:45,560
understanding set him apart from
other people and and the the

552
00:33:45,560 –> 00:33:48,080
misinformation, as we said,
carried on all the way through

553
00:33:48,080 –> 00:33:51,560
the ministry of Christ and
people wanted to believe it and

554
00:33:51,560 –> 00:33:54,520
so they believed it and they
ended up not finding the

555
00:33:54,520 –> 00:34:00,400
Messiah.
But knowing the word of God does

556
00:34:00,400 –> 00:34:05,000
not equal belief.
It’s possible for us to be

557
00:34:05,000 –> 00:34:08,719
exposed to the word of God and
not to develop faith.

558
00:34:08,719 –> 00:34:12,199
And I think that’s what this
next section that John presents

559
00:34:12,199 –> 00:34:15,679
to us with the first miracle.
I think that’s the idea behind

560
00:34:15,679 –> 00:34:17,760
that.
So we see a great example of the

561
00:34:17,760 –> 00:34:20,760
importance of knowing the
Scriptures in order to build our

562
00:34:20,760 –> 00:34:22,400
faith.
And now we see some of the

563
00:34:22,400 –> 00:34:25,199
dangers of of of doing that in
the wrong way.

564
00:34:25,840 –> 00:34:29,760
So most people in Israel knew
about the prophecies of the

565
00:34:29,760 –> 00:34:31,440
Messiah.
They knew about the promises to

566
00:34:31,440 –> 00:34:33,840
David, but most of them rejected
them.

567
00:34:34,520 –> 00:34:40,320
The nation of Israel is proof
for us that it’s possible for

568
00:34:40,320 –> 00:34:45,040
people to do their readings
every day, to spend a day each

569
00:34:45,040 –> 00:34:48,760
week around the Word of God, and
to even spend significant time

570
00:34:48,920 –> 00:34:50,960
listening to instruction of the
word of God.

571
00:34:51,480 –> 00:34:55,880
And yet not to develop faith,
not to develop a faith that

572
00:34:55,880 –> 00:34:58,000
saves.
That’s the the example that

573
00:34:58,000 –> 00:35:01,400
we’re being presented here of
Israel, very, very familiar with

574
00:35:01,400 –> 00:35:03,120
the word of God and yet not
believing.

575
00:35:03,520 –> 00:35:06,520
So let’s take a quick look at
the miracle John 2 verse one.

576
00:35:06,520 –> 00:35:11,040
It says on the third day there
was a wedding at in Cana and the

577
00:35:11,040 –> 00:35:14,720
mother of Jesus was there.
So the first sign is going to be

578
00:35:14,720 –> 00:35:18,280
done at a wedding.
And weddings are where new

579
00:35:18,320 –> 00:35:26,200
families are created in Israel.
God’s bride, his people form the

580
00:35:26,200 –> 00:35:29,600
couple, right?
So God has a bride, which is his

581
00:35:29,600 –> 00:35:32,280
people, which are the believers.
And we think about the ecclesia

582
00:35:32,520 –> 00:35:34,840
that’s married to Christ, a
family that’s there.

583
00:35:35,400 –> 00:35:38,520
And what we have here is a type
of a of a man leaving his

584
00:35:38,520 –> 00:35:44,720
parents to start a new family.
And that new family goes forward

585
00:35:44,720 –> 00:35:48,800
to, to to make even more.
So this is a good picture of why

586
00:35:48,800 –> 00:35:53,880
God created the nation of Israel
to get people to join his family

587
00:35:54,240 –> 00:36:00,720
and to become his family.
So verse 3 says when the wine

588
00:36:00,720 –> 00:36:06,480
ran out, the mother of Jesus
said to him, they have no wine.

589
00:36:07,120 –> 00:36:10,640
So everybody’s together for this
wedding and they’ve run out of

590
00:36:10,640 –> 00:36:14,360
wine.
So we have God as the husband,

591
00:36:14,760 –> 00:36:18,080
we have his people, Israel, and
they’ve run out of wine.

592
00:36:18,080 –> 00:36:20,160
Now, what do you think that
might mean?

593
00:36:20,160 –> 00:36:23,240
What does that represent for us,
running out of wine?

594
00:36:23,840 –> 00:36:28,240
How would Israel do you think
have run out of wine?

595
00:36:29,200 –> 00:36:35,680
Well, wine is a symbol of blood,
and blood represents the life of

596
00:36:35,680 –> 00:36:39,480
a person.
And a life can be used either in

597
00:36:39,480 –> 00:36:44,000
the service of God or it could
be used in the services of our

598
00:36:44,000 –> 00:36:47,480
own desires.
And so a life in the service of

599
00:36:47,480 –> 00:36:49,120
God would be what we’re looking
for here.

600
00:36:49,480 –> 00:36:53,800
God was looking for people to to
see His promises and to dedicate

601
00:36:53,800 –> 00:36:56,640
their lives to Him and to become
His bride.

602
00:36:59,000 –> 00:37:02,200
If we’re to put it another way,
what was happening in Israel was

603
00:37:02,200 –> 00:37:05,480
not very many people were
actually developing faith.

604
00:37:06,280 –> 00:37:09,960
Jesus had come into Israel and
when he got to Israel, he found

605
00:37:09,960 –> 00:37:13,360
that there wasn’t much wine.
He found that there wasn’t much

606
00:37:13,360 –> 00:37:15,240
faith.
Now Hebrews 11, I think helps us

607
00:37:15,240 –> 00:37:19,280
to understand this.
Hebrews 11, verse 24, it says by

608
00:37:19,280 –> 00:37:22,800
faith Moses, when he was grown
up, refused to be called the

609
00:37:22,800 –> 00:37:27,120
Son, the Pharaoh’s daughter,
choosing rather to be mistreated

610
00:37:27,120 –> 00:37:31,280
with the people of God than to
enjoy the fleeting pleasures of

611
00:37:31,280 –> 00:37:34,800
sin.
So he chose to give his life in

612
00:37:34,800 –> 00:37:38,120
the service of God.
Moses did, rather than serving

613
00:37:38,400 –> 00:37:41,720
his own desires.
He considered verse 26 the

614
00:37:41,720 –> 00:37:44,760
reproach of Christ, greater
wealth than the treasures of

615
00:37:44,760 –> 00:37:48,120
Egypt, for he was looking to the
reward.

616
00:37:49,080 –> 00:37:52,760
So Israel had run out of wine,
they didn’t believe, they

617
00:37:52,760 –> 00:37:57,120
weren’t doing what Moses did.
They didn’t have hope or

618
00:37:57,120 –> 00:38:02,880
expectation of eternal life.
The word then was not having the

619
00:38:02,880 –> 00:38:05,960
desired effect on them.
It didn’t have the effect that

620
00:38:05,960 –> 00:38:09,480
it had on on Moses.
So let’s go back John 2 verse 6

621
00:38:10,680 –> 00:38:12,840
and let’s look at this details
of this a little bit.

622
00:38:13,480 –> 00:38:17,520
It says there were 6 stone water
jar, water jars there for the

623
00:38:17,520 –> 00:38:23,920
Jewish rites of purification and
each one held 20 or 30 gallons.

624
00:38:24,920 –> 00:38:27,760
So the water, we talked about
this last night pretty

625
00:38:27,760 –> 00:38:29,840
extensively.
The water represents the word of

626
00:38:29,840 –> 00:38:32,720
God.
And this goes also back to John

627
00:38:32,760 –> 00:38:36,600
chapter 1.
God shined his word into the

628
00:38:36,600 –> 00:38:38,880
world, but people didn’t grab
hold of it.

629
00:38:39,280 –> 00:38:43,920
It wasn’t used to make people
the sons of God is what we read

630
00:38:43,920 –> 00:38:46,960
about yesterday.
It was all around the people,

631
00:38:46,960 –> 00:38:50,840
this, this water, but it had no
effect on their hearts.

632
00:38:51,920 –> 00:38:55,880
It’s possible for us, like
Israel, to do the readings each

633
00:38:55,880 –> 00:39:00,440
day, to attend all the meetings
of the ecclesia and yet not to

634
00:39:00,440 –> 00:39:06,320
have our faith strengthened.
Have you ever done the readings

635
00:39:06,960 –> 00:39:08,880
and got to the end of the
readings and not been able to

636
00:39:08,880 –> 00:39:17,280
remember what you read?
Yeah, we need to make a find out

637
00:39:17,280 –> 00:39:20,720
a way so that we don’t run out
of wine.

638
00:39:20,720 –> 00:39:24,560
And what we need to do is we
need to find a way to engage our

639
00:39:24,560 –> 00:39:29,520
brains while we’re in the Word.
We need to find ways to make the

640
00:39:29,520 –> 00:39:34,640
word of God stick, maybe taking
notes in a class, maybe taking

641
00:39:34,640 –> 00:39:36,520
notes in the readings, maybe
underlining.

642
00:39:37,080 –> 00:39:42,080
And at any age, do something
that helps to get us engaged in

643
00:39:42,080 –> 00:39:45,160
the Word so that it’s not just
our mind working through it

644
00:39:45,240 –> 00:39:48,640
without us.
So Jesus gets to work in this

645
00:39:48,640 –> 00:39:54,000
case in the parable and in the
miracle, and the first step in

646
00:39:54,000 –> 00:39:58,120
showing Israel that Jesus was
the Son of God.

647
00:39:58,560 –> 00:40:01,720
So we go down to verse 7.
And so Jesus says to his

648
00:40:01,720 –> 00:40:05,520
servants, fill the jars with
water and they fill them to the

649
00:40:05,520 –> 00:40:08,040
brim.
So the first thing we have to do

650
00:40:08,040 –> 00:40:10,880
then is we have to fill the jars
with water.

651
00:40:10,880 –> 00:40:13,640
We have to fill our minds with
the Word of God.

652
00:40:13,640 –> 00:40:16,120
That’s the first step.
We’ve got to take that.

653
00:40:16,200 –> 00:40:18,880
We’ve got to not be selective in
what we do.

654
00:40:19,120 –> 00:40:22,520
We have to hear the whole word
of God and apply it in our

655
00:40:22,520 –> 00:40:27,800
lives.
And then he says, now draw some

656
00:40:27,800 –> 00:40:30,120
out and take it to the master of
the feast.

657
00:40:30,640 –> 00:40:32,400
And so they took it.
And so after they filled the

658
00:40:32,400 –> 00:40:35,600
pots up with water, they took
the water, they took the word of

659
00:40:35,600 –> 00:40:39,520
God, which at this point had
become wine, and they gave it to

660
00:40:39,520 –> 00:40:42,760
the ruler of the feast.
And we have this wine which

661
00:40:42,760 –> 00:40:45,800
represents people giving their
lives in the service of God.

662
00:40:46,280 –> 00:40:49,160
So what had happened here
through the the hands of the

663
00:40:49,160 –> 00:40:51,880
disciples, through the hands of
the servants, through the hands

664
00:40:51,880 –> 00:40:55,920
of Jesus, was that the word of
God, which was having no effect

665
00:40:55,920 –> 00:40:59,240
on the people, which had only
been used by the people to this

666
00:40:59,240 –> 00:41:02,240
point for what?
They’d use that water for

667
00:41:02,240 –> 00:41:05,040
purifying.
And that water, the word of God

668
00:41:05,040 –> 00:41:07,760
is actually converted to
something that’s much more

669
00:41:07,760 –> 00:41:11,600
powerful, something that’s going
to actually bring us to

670
00:41:11,600 –> 00:41:15,320
sacrifice for God, something
that could bring us to faith,

671
00:41:15,320 –> 00:41:16,840
which is what we talked about
yesterday.

672
00:41:17,520 –> 00:41:21,000
And then in verse verse 9, when
the master of the feast tasted

673
00:41:21,000 –> 00:41:24,360
the water, which had now become
wine, and he didn’t know where

674
00:41:24,360 –> 00:41:27,200
it came from, though the
servants who had drawn the water

675
00:41:27,200 –> 00:41:30,840
knew the master of the feast
called the bridegroom.

676
00:41:30,840 –> 00:41:35,160
So the master now has has seen
this, he’s tasted this new wine

677
00:41:35,440 –> 00:41:37,960
and he says this is far, far
better.

678
00:41:38,720 –> 00:41:41,360
We can imagine an experience
where where we go through the

679
00:41:41,360 –> 00:41:43,600
word and we don’t get anything
out of it at all.

680
00:41:44,080 –> 00:41:46,840
And in a different situation
where we go through the word and

681
00:41:46,840 –> 00:41:51,360
our faith is, is built up by the
power of the word and it’s much,

682
00:41:51,360 –> 00:41:53,600
much better.
It makes everything else

683
00:41:53,600 –> 00:41:56,440
unimportant to us.
Verse 10 it says, and he said to

684
00:41:56,440 –> 00:42:00,320
him, everyone serves the good
wine 1st and when people have

685
00:42:00,320 –> 00:42:02,240
drunk freely, then the poor
wine.

686
00:42:02,920 –> 00:42:07,200
But you’ve kept the good wine
until now, of course.

687
00:42:07,200 –> 00:42:09,640
That’s what the Lord Jesus
Christ had come to do.

688
00:42:10,080 –> 00:42:13,720
He’d come to take the the Word
of God, which was being used by

689
00:42:13,720 –> 00:42:17,080
Israel at this point, just as as
something to purify the outside.

690
00:42:17,560 –> 00:42:20,040
He’d come to take the Word of
God and convert it into

691
00:42:20,040 –> 00:42:24,040
something that would change
their faith and build that faith

692
00:42:24,040 –> 00:42:27,720
in them because that was better
than anything else that they

693
00:42:27,720 –> 00:42:30,320
had.
What was the result of all of

694
00:42:30,320 –> 00:42:33,000
that?
What was the result?

695
00:42:33,920 –> 00:42:36,200
I hope you’ve got your little
Bible marking pencil out to to

696
00:42:36,200 –> 00:42:42,240
mark it there in verse 11.
And his disciples believed on

697
00:42:42,240 –> 00:42:45,160
him.
It doesn’t say everyone

698
00:42:45,160 –> 00:42:48,120
believed.
I believe that the disciples

699
00:42:48,120 –> 00:42:50,840
believed, yes, because it was a
miracle.

700
00:42:51,600 –> 00:42:54,000
But I also believe that the
disciples believed because they

701
00:42:54,000 –> 00:42:59,160
understood that this was a
picture of the mission statement

702
00:42:59,160 –> 00:43:02,280
that Jesus was giving to them.
Jesus was showing them, this is

703
00:43:02,280 –> 00:43:05,040
what we’re going to do.
This is the whole purpose of my

704
00:43:05,040 –> 00:43:08,040
mission is to take people that
are that are using the word of

705
00:43:08,040 –> 00:43:11,680
God to to wash the outside and
to make themselves look good and

706
00:43:11,680 –> 00:43:15,240
to actually make it change
people’s hearts so that they can

707
00:43:15,240 –> 00:43:18,640
have faith so that they can be
in the Kingdom of God.

708
00:43:19,880 –> 00:43:22,560
All right, So what are the
lessons from hearing the word

709
00:43:23,560 –> 00:43:27,360
that we come up with today?
So the first one is spending

710
00:43:27,360 –> 00:43:33,280
real, consistent, quality time
in the word is required if we

711
00:43:33,280 –> 00:43:36,320
want to build faith.
There’s Nathaniel, right?

712
00:43:36,320 –> 00:43:40,320
He, he did exactly that.
The second one, cheap

713
00:43:40,440 –> 00:43:43,920
entertainment, easily attained
entertainment of the digital

714
00:43:43,920 –> 00:43:48,520
world is the enemy of faith.
It’s going to get in the way of

715
00:43:48,520 –> 00:43:51,720
our faith because we’re going to
spend our time on it when we

716
00:43:51,720 –> 00:43:54,400
should be doing what Nathaniel
was doing, which was trying to

717
00:43:54,400 –> 00:43:58,760
figure out what God was saying
and to try to understand if

718
00:43:58,760 –> 00:44:01,520
something was misinformation or
if it was true.

719
00:44:03,080 –> 00:44:06,760
And then thirdly, it’s possible
to spend time in the word

720
00:44:07,360 –> 00:44:10,640
without developing faith.
And I think that one’s

721
00:44:10,640 –> 00:44:13,840
particularly relevant for us
because we all spend time in the

722
00:44:13,840 –> 00:44:17,680
word.
It’s up to us to go from just

723
00:44:17,680 –> 00:44:23,640
doing it, to be seen of others
and to to clean the outside, to

724
00:44:23,640 –> 00:44:27,320
go from that to actually
changing and to developing our

725
00:44:27,320 –> 00:44:30,480
faith.
All right, we’ll stop there

726
00:44:30,480 –> 00:44:34,240
today.
A reminder if you have people or

727
00:44:34,240 –> 00:44:36,280
passages of the Scripture that
have helped you develop your

728
00:44:36,280 –> 00:44:38,560
faith, I’d love to to hear about
those.

729
00:44:38,960 –> 00:44:39,600
All right.
Thank you.