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The Claims of the Christ Msg 11 12 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: After serving the Lord for over fifteen years in Pakistan,
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Speaker 1: missionary Warren Webster was invited to speak at the prominent
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Speaker 1: and respected Urbana Missions Conference.
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Speaker 2: During his talk, he shared.
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Speaker 1: These words, if I had my life to do over again,
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Speaker 1: I would live it to change the lives of people,
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Speaker 1: because you have not changed anything until you've changed the
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Speaker 1: lives of people. That's a very insightful perspective. He learned
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Speaker 1: after many years in ministry that to change the world,
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Speaker 1: you must be able to change people. Jesus lived only
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Speaker 1: a few years past his thirtieth birthday, yet the impact
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Speaker 1: on the lives of all the people he touched would
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Speaker 1: be impossible to measure. John in his Gospel not only
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Speaker 1: demonstrates how Jesus changed lives what he did, namely through
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Speaker 1: performing miraculous healings and signs, but by whom he claimed
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Speaker 1: to be. In fact, the centerpiece of the New Testament.
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Speaker 1: Christ's crucifixion was brought about primarily because of his claim
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Speaker 1: to be God's Son, God in the flesh. In this message,
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Speaker 1: I'd like to examine six claims Jesus made about his identity,
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Speaker 1: his purpose, and his mission on earth. Without question, these
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Speaker 1: six claims demand a response, either we reject them in unbelief,
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Speaker 1: or we accept them by faith. Jesus promised those who
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Speaker 1: believe in him will be changed, eternally changed. They will
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Speaker 1: never be condemned for their sins, but they have already
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Speaker 1: passed from death unto life. John five point twenty four.
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Speaker 1: I'd like to read for you chapter five of John's Gospel,
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Speaker 1: verses seventeen through thirty, as a backdrop for our time
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Speaker 1: together around God's Word today. So please join me there
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Speaker 1: as I read John's words chapter five, verses seventeen to thirty,
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Speaker 1: and I'll be reading from the New Living Translation. But
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Speaker 1: Jesus replied, my Father is always working, and so am I.
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Speaker 1: So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find
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Speaker 1: a way to kill him, for he not only broke
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Speaker 1: the Sabbath, he called God his father, thereby making himself
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Speaker 1: equal with God. So Jesus explained, I tell you the truth.
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Speaker 1: The son can do nothing by himself. He does only
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Speaker 1: what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the father does
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Speaker 1: also does, for the Father loves the son and shows
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Speaker 1: him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will
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Speaker 1: show him how to do even greater works than healing
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Speaker 1: this man. Then, you will truly be astonished. For just
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Speaker 1: as the Father gives life to those he raises from
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Speaker 1: the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants.
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Speaker 1: In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has
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Speaker 1: given the son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone
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Speaker 1: will honor the son, just as they honor the Father.
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Speaker 1: Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not
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Speaker 1: honoring the Father who sent him. I tell you the truth.
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Speaker 1: Those who listen to my message and believe in God
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Speaker 1: who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be
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Speaker 1: condemned for their sins, for they have already passed from
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Speaker 1: death unto life. And I assure you that the time
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Speaker 1: is coming. Indeed, it's here now, when the dead will
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Speaker 1: hear my voice, the voice of the Son of God,
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Speaker 1: and those who listen will live. The Father has life
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Speaker 1: in himself, and he is granted that same life giving
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Speaker 1: power to his son, and he has given him authority
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Speaker 1: to judge everyone, because he is the son of Man.
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Speaker 1: Don't be so surprised. Indeed, the time is coming when
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Speaker 1: all the dead in their graves will hear the voice
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Speaker 1: of God's Son, and they will rise again. Those who
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Speaker 1: have done good will rise to experience eternal life, and
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Speaker 1: those who have continued and evil will rise to experience judgment.
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Speaker 1: I can do no on my own I judge as
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Speaker 1: God tells me. Therefore my judgment is just because I
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Speaker 1: carry out the will of the one who sent me,
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Speaker 1: not my own will.
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Speaker 2: Larry Benton was away from his home on the evening
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Speaker 2: of April sixth, nineteen seventy. Early in the morning on
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Speaker 2: the seventh of April, his home was broken into, and
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Speaker 2: the criminal, after raping Beverly Benton, tied her up and
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Speaker 2: began to go through the home to find things of
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Speaker 2: precious value that he might steal. In the process of looking,
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Speaker 2: he went from one room to the next in sort
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Speaker 2: of a wild tirade against this earth, and he shouted
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Speaker 2: back to her in the bedroom these words, I'm going
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Speaker 2: to keep on committing crimes like this, one after another,
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Speaker 2: because the world is in such a mess. He raced
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Speaker 2: back into the bedroom and stopped suddenly and stared at
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Speaker 2: a picture that hung above their bed. It was an
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Speaker 2: artist's conception of Jesus of Nazareth. Surrounding this frame were
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Speaker 2: several of the claims of Jesus Christ in small, little
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Speaker 2: mottoes as we've all seen, framed and neatly arranged around
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Speaker 2: this picture. He stared and studied both picture and mottoes
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Speaker 2: as Beverly screwed up the courage to say to him,
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Speaker 2: crime is not the answer. Jesus Christ in the hearts
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Speaker 2: of men is the answer. The only answer for peace
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Speaker 2: in this world is Christ. He looked at her, looked
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Speaker 2: back at the wall, went back into his activity, and
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Speaker 2: came back to these once again and stared at him.
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Speaker 2: And then he hastened to make his way out of
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Speaker 2: the house. But just before he left, just before he
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Speaker 2: got the keys and stole their car and drove it off,
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Speaker 2: he said to her, you're a lucky woman. I had
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Speaker 2: planned to kill you, but you can thank your God
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Speaker 2: that I didn't. The intruder was found a few days later,
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Speaker 2: and they were called to come to the place where
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Speaker 2: he was captive to make an identification. Larry and Beverly
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Speaker 2: Benton showed up, and after pressing charges and making plans
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Speaker 2: toward his complete arrest in the trial, they asked for
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Speaker 2: an audience with the criminal. What would have been your reaction, husbands,
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Speaker 2: wives here this morning? You know what they did? They
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Speaker 2: set down nose to nose with that man, and having
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Speaker 2: taken this whole situation to God in the hours that
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Speaker 2: preceded this encounter, they began to tell this man about
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Speaker 2: the love of Jesus Christ, how God had given this
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Speaker 2: husband the grace to forgive this criminal, and how the
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Speaker 2: woman who had been assaulted and mistreated by this individual
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Speaker 2: forgave him and had the wonderful news of the claims
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Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ devatable if he would simply believe that
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Speaker 2: story in fact has a better ending than that which
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Speaker 2: I will wait to the close of this message to
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Speaker 2: share with you. It is a true account of an
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Speaker 2: incredible beginning of a whole new thing. I think, if
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Speaker 2: I learn nothing else from that amazing story, which boggles
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Speaker 2: my mind every time I call it to my attention,
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Speaker 2: I think, if I learn nothing else, I learn this
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Speaker 2: that the claims of Jesus Christ are not meant to
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Speaker 2: be framed and put on a wall. Only. They are
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Speaker 2: meant to be framed into a life and put into action.
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Speaker 2: They are designed to change our whole course of life,
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Speaker 2: not simply give us a rooted theology. In the Lord Jesus.
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Speaker 2: We're not going to be examining all of his claims today,
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Speaker 2: but we are going to be looking at six of
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Speaker 2: them in the fifth chapter of the Gospel of John.
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Speaker 2: And as you turn with me to this fifth chapter,
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Speaker 2: let me remind you again that these six claims are
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Speaker 2: designed not just to be learned, just to be believed.
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Speaker 2: They are designed to alter the way we live, to
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Speaker 2: change our whole course and direction of life. Now, the
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Speaker 2: background to the claims of Jesus as they are presented
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Speaker 2: here in verses seventeen through thirty of John five, calls
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Speaker 2: to mind the healing of a man who has been
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Speaker 2: sick for these thirty eight years. The man, after the
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Speaker 2: miraculous healing which we looked at last week in detail,
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Speaker 2: was brought nose to nose with the religious legalists of
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Speaker 2: his day, who never once rejoiced over his healing. But
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Speaker 2: they interrogated him. They told him to put down his
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Speaker 2: palate because he was not to carry it on the Sabbath.
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Speaker 2: They told him they wanted to know the identity of
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Speaker 2: the one that had broken their laws, not the law
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Speaker 2: of God, let me clarify, But he had broken their
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Speaker 2: traditional laws of carrying a burden on the sea. And
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Speaker 2: once he brought them in touch with the Lord Jesus,
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Speaker 2: they began their accusations at him, and for the first
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Speaker 2: time in the Gospel of John, we have a lengthy
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Speaker 2: discourse from the lips of Jesus as he presents himself
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Speaker 2: to the audience of unbelievers. This is the first in
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Speaker 2: a series of discourses through the Gospel of John. As
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Speaker 2: we read through it again, I want us to pick
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Speaker 2: up the major claims of Christ as they appear to
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Speaker 2: begin with notice a general statement upon which has built
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Speaker 2: the whole foundation of the discourse. It appears in verse seventeen,
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Speaker 2: where Jesus answers them, my father is working until now,
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Speaker 2: and I myself am working. This is not a claim necessarily,
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Speaker 2: it is a general statement that sets the stage for
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Speaker 2: the dramatic performance he is about to lay on them.
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Speaker 2: He tells them that God is engaged in works of mercy, compassion, wrath,
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Speaker 2: and judgment constantly in the heavens. He is engaged in
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Speaker 2: keeping the universe in place, calling, sending, shaping, changing lives.
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Speaker 2: And the Lord Jesus says, I am engaged in the
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Speaker 2: seine because it is my Father who is doing that work. Now.
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Speaker 2: These men, though they were legalists, were brilliant men they
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Speaker 2: were intelligent, and they got not only what he said,
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Speaker 2: they heard what he implied. He was saying, in effect,
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Speaker 2: I am equal with God. That is his first claim.
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Speaker 2: In verses nineteen twenty of this chapter, he is claiming,
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Speaker 2: I am equal with God. Look at verse nineteen. Jesus
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Speaker 2: therefore answered and was saying to them, truly, truly, I
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Speaker 2: say to you, the son can do nothing of himself
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Speaker 2: unless it is something he sees the Father doing. For
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Speaker 2: whatever the Father does, these things, the son also does
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Speaker 2: in like manner. He is claiming, I am equal with God,
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Speaker 2: the Father. What God does, I see? What God does
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Speaker 2: I do. I have the same power God has, And
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Speaker 2: God has put me on this earth to carry out
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Speaker 2: his plan. I am doing his work, and I do
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Speaker 2: it with equal power as if He personally were here
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Speaker 2: in flesh doing it. For in fact he is. Look
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Speaker 2: at the next verse, verse twenty. The Father loves the son.
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Speaker 2: The Father shows him all things that he himself is doing,
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Speaker 2: and greater works. Mark those words will be back to
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Speaker 2: them just as soon as we get to the second claim,
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Speaker 2: greater works than these will he show him that you
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Speaker 2: may marvel. Jesus Christ is claiming equality with God. Now Frankly,
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Speaker 2: that is a very hard one for us to put together.
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Speaker 2: We simply have great difficulty understanding the Trinity. And I
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Speaker 2: have some wonderful news for you. I don't understand it
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Speaker 2: much better than you do, Frankly, and I don't think
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Speaker 2: we ever will grasp it fully or even nearly. So
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Speaker 2: we know this that the Father, Son and Spirit have
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Speaker 2: equal attributes characteristics, though each one is a distinct personality
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Speaker 2: with distinct plans and purposes to be carried out. They
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Speaker 2: are not to be identified with one another in that
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Speaker 2: they are one and the same. But neither is it
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Speaker 2: right to refer to the trinity as they are them.
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Speaker 2: So having said that, I don't really know what to
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Speaker 2: say next. I don't know whether to call it them,
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Speaker 2: he or whatever. It's hard to do, so let me
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Speaker 2: illustrate it. Maybe that will help. I remember when one
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Speaker 2: of our children first discovered his shadow. You recall seeing
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Speaker 2: a child who has just found his shadow. It's the
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Speaker 2: cutest thing. You can imagine. They've just begun to walk, perhaps,
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Speaker 2: and they're walking along a sunlit afternoon, and they stop
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Speaker 2: and they notice a companion they did not ask to
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Speaker 2: come along with them, standing there in the dark and
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Speaker 2: they look at it, and they do this, and the
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Speaker 2: shadow does this. They do that, and the shadow does that.
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Speaker 2: They jump up and down, and so does the shadow.
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Speaker 2: But the shadow isn't the person. However, it is inseparably
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Speaker 2: linked with the child. So it is with Jesus. God
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Speaker 2: cast his shadow upon this earth for thirty three and
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Speaker 2: a half years. Wa Criswle, first Baptist of Dallas, describes it.
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Speaker 2: God pitched his tent on earth and tabernacled among men
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Speaker 2: for thirty three years. God put himself in human form,
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Speaker 2: and he said, oh, man, look at me. There I am.
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Speaker 2: He is inseparably linked with me, though he is not
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Speaker 2: to be identified with me as one and the same,
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Speaker 2: except in essence. You will never find Jesus referring to
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Speaker 2: the Lord God as our father in this section, because
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Speaker 2: he was not the father of these unbelieving legalists. Jesus
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Speaker 2: refers to him as my father and as the Father,
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Speaker 2: but not once does he say our father. We should
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Speaker 2: be careful about that. God, the Father is not the
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Speaker 2: father of humanity in that spiritual sense. He is the
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Speaker 2: father of the born again child of God, who has
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Speaker 2: placed his sheer faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 2: That gives us the fatherhood of God to claim, and
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Speaker 2: it goes no further than that. Jesus is very careful
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Speaker 2: in how he uses that reference to the Father. I
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Speaker 2: am equal with God, though not one and the same.
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Speaker 2: There's a second claim verse twenty one. I am the
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Speaker 2: giver of life. Look at the verse. Just as the
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Speaker 2: Father raises the dead, remember the words greater works. The
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Speaker 2: previous verse here is an example of greater works. Just
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Speaker 2: as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
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Speaker 2: even so, the Son gives life to whom he wishes.
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Speaker 2: Drop down to verse twenty six. Just as the Father
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Speaker 2: has life in himself, even so he gave to the
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Speaker 2: Son to have life in himself. Now, in order to
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Speaker 2: be able to give life, you must be the source
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Speaker 2: of life that is not claimed by anyone other than God,
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Speaker 2: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. I want you
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Speaker 2: to stop and think about the truth of that fact.
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Speaker 2: We are never more helpless than when one of our
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Speaker 2: loved ones dies. Now, if our loved one is sick,
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Speaker 2: we will bring medicine. If our loved one is weary,
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Speaker 2: we will give him rest. If he is discouraged, we
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Speaker 2: will bring encouragement. And consolation. If he needs financial aid,
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Speaker 2: we'll give him a loan or maybe a gift. But
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Speaker 2: what happens if he dies. The best we can do
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Speaker 2: is sympathize with those that are left or encouraged them
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Speaker 2: with the hope of tomorrow. In Christ, there is no
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Speaker 2: such thing as anyone in this room giving life to
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Speaker 2: those that are dead. It's true physically, it's true spiritually.
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Speaker 2: This was drilled home to my mind just this past week.
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Speaker 2: In fact, it was yesterday afternoon. I hurriedly ran to
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Speaker 2: the store over here on Harbor, this Ralph's Supermarket, to
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Speaker 2: get a couple or three things for the supper meal.
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Speaker 2: And I got in a short line because I only
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Speaker 2: had a few things, and the woman ahead of me
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Speaker 2: had a few items and her two children were with her.
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Speaker 2: She had come to the end of the checkout stand
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Speaker 2: and the cashier had wrung it up, and she looked
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Speaker 2: at the woman and said to her, that'll be four
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Speaker 2: dollars and forty four cents please, And the woman didn't register.
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Speaker 2: She reached down and got a little can of seven Up.
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Speaker 2: She had bought a little packet of the seven ups,
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Speaker 2: and she popped one open and took a drink, and
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Speaker 2: she changed her color a little into sort of an
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Speaker 2: ashen gray, and the cashier said again, ma'am, that will
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Speaker 2: be four dollars and forty four cents, please, And the
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Speaker 2: woman smiled at her, and the cashier said, are you
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Speaker 2: all right? Are you sick? And the woman responded, I
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Speaker 2: feel very sick. And she began to fall back, and
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Speaker 2: the cashier reached, and I reached, and the assistant manager
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Speaker 2: came and helped, and she was down on her back,
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Speaker 2: an ashen gray color. Someone ran to get some towels
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Speaker 2: to wash her wrists and her face, and we called
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Speaker 2: the emergency. And I'm happy to say that she was
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Speaker 2: at least sitting up, though she still had lost her color.
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Speaker 2: When I left the store, I thought in that moment,
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Speaker 2: if there had been a medical doctor, if death had come,
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Speaker 2: and said, now is the time a store full of
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Speaker 2: medical men could not have brought life. To bring life,
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Speaker 2: you must be the source of life. It's true, even
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Speaker 2: with a dog, isn't it never lost a dog that
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Speaker 2: you loved. The fourth of July weekend, we were with
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Speaker 2: some friends and they related how they had inadvertently sprinkled
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Speaker 2: some snail poisoning on their plants, and how their little
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Speaker 2: schnauzer didn't he realized what had been missing all of
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Speaker 2: his life, not lapping up some of that stuff that
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Speaker 2: tasted so different. And by and by he ate just
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Speaker 2: enough to where he began to writch and convulse, and
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Speaker 2: it looked as though death was certain. Whole family rallied
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Speaker 2: to the care of this little pup, but no one
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Speaker 2: could bring life. I'm happy to say it has recovered
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Speaker 2: and is doing well now, but there was no one
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Speaker 2: there that could do it if death had come. The
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Speaker 2: same is true in the spiritual realm. Not a person
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Speaker 2: in this world can say I can handle it myself.
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Speaker 2: I can give myself the life I need to handle
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Speaker 2: myself through eternity. This verse says verse twenty one, the
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Speaker 2: Son gives life to whom he wishes. It is the
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Speaker 2: sovereign act of the Son of God to give that
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Speaker 2: kind of life. It is his working. It is not
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Speaker 2: the working of man, and may we never ever forget it.
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Speaker 2: We may witness share the wonderful news of the Lord Jesus,
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Speaker 2: but it is absolutely impossible to reach in turn the
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Speaker 2: switch bring about faith that's from God. The Lord Jesus says,
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Speaker 2: I am equal with God. I am the giver of life,
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Speaker 2: he says in verse twenty two and verse twenty three,
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Speaker 2: I am the final judge. Verse twenty two says, not
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Speaker 2: even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all
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Speaker 2: judgment to the Son. I think if I had passed
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Speaker 2: out a questionnaire at the beginning of the service this
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Speaker 2: morning and ask you to answer one question, most of
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Speaker 2: you would have probably given the same answer, question who
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Speaker 2: is the final judge of man I'm sure most of
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Speaker 2: you would have said God is, meaning God the Father.
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Speaker 2: But you know it is not true. God the Father
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Speaker 2: has delegated all judgment to God the Son. You say,
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Speaker 2: why has he done that? God is certainly capable, having
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Speaker 2: planned and arranged and set into motion the beauty and
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Speaker 2: the wonders of this world, he can certainly judge man Ah.
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Speaker 2: The next verse tells you why why did he give
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Speaker 2: judgment to the son verse twenty three in order that
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Speaker 2: all may honor the son even as they honor the Father.
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Speaker 2: There's another reference to equality with God. He deserves equal honor.
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Speaker 2: What do you call someone in the courtroom who sits
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Speaker 2: as the judge? What is the colloquialism that you use
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Speaker 2: when referring to him. You don't call him Bruce or
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Speaker 2: Frank or Bill or Mary. You call the judge your honor,
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Speaker 2: and you treat that judge with great reverence and respect.
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Speaker 2: If you know what's good for you, you treat that
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Speaker 2: judge with great reverence and respect. That's what it's saying.
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Speaker 2: It's saying God gave to the Lord Jesus the right
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Speaker 2: to judge that man might say your honor and give
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Speaker 2: him that place. Now, the sad part of it all is,
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Speaker 2: at least from a human perspective, is that not all
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Speaker 2: men will recognize him with honor in life. Some await
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Speaker 2: eternity or after death. They must bow the need and
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Speaker 2: refer to him with honor, recognizing alas it is all
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Speaker 2: too late to alter my destiny, which brings us to
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Speaker 2: the fourth claim, verse twenty four. I determine man's destiny.
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Speaker 2: Look at the twenty fourth verse. Truly, truly, I say
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Speaker 2: to you. It's another way of saying, listen, listen, hear ye,
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Speaker 2: hear ye. He who hears my word and believes him
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Speaker 2: who sent me has eternal life and does not come
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Speaker 2: into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
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Speaker 2: Look at that, you want to know how to pass
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Speaker 2: out of the realm of death into the realm of
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Speaker 2: life eternally. It must come through Jesus Christ. He is
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Speaker 2: the determining factor when it comes to destiny. You won't
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Speaker 2: read a word about works in verse twenty four. You
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Speaker 2: won't read a word about church attendants, about doing good,
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Speaker 2: keeping the law, trying your best, being moral, upright, and
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Speaker 2: paying your bills. Though these things are important facets of
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Speaker 2: the Christian faith, they are not the entrance into God's family.
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Speaker 2: God's family is entered by faith in God's son. Look
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Speaker 2: at the means in verse twenty four. A hearing ear,
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Speaker 2: he hears my word, a believing heart, he believes what
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Speaker 2: the Father says about me. Then he has eternal life.
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Speaker 2: There's the object. There's the result by hearing the word
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Speaker 2: of God, by believing the God of the Word, placing
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Speaker 2: your faith in the Lord, Jesus' eternal life is yours
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Speaker 2: with God. Look at the promise he does not come
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Speaker 2: into judgment. I don't know how many Christians today are
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Speaker 2: worried about some judgment. Listen, the non Christian's judgment is
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Speaker 2: ahead of him. The Christian's judgment is behind him. Jesus
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Speaker 2: Christ was judged on our behalf. The non Christian faces
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Speaker 2: an eternity where he will in fact be judged that,
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Speaker 2: without doubt, will be the most awesome trial that this
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Speaker 2: universe will ever observe, called the Great White Throne, judgment
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Speaker 2: for unbelievers by the millions will be raised and brought
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Speaker 2: before that great throne, and Jesus, God's son will sit
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Speaker 2: before humanity and without an exception, declare their dom. You see,
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Speaker 2: apart from Jesus Christ, this is God's record. There is
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Speaker 2: no eternity. With God the Father. There is eternity, but
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Speaker 2: not with the blessed. God has given to Jesus judgment,
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Speaker 2: and he has made him the determining factor when it
28:54
Speaker 2: comes to destiny. I don't know about what. There are
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Speaker 2: some that came the so this morning, sent from God
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Speaker 2: for the precise purpose of hearing just what you've heard
29:07
Speaker 2: thus far. I really believe God designs messages and congregations
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Speaker 2: to go together. I have a firm conviction that individuals
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Speaker 2: who come don't come out of happenstance. But in God's
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Speaker 2: great and marvelous working, he has you here to hear
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Speaker 2: about his son, his death, his great resurrection, and the
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Speaker 2: life he offers you. You see the Lord Jesus Christ
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Speaker 2: was not merely a man who came to be born,
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Speaker 2: to live a good life and to pass on a martyr.
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Speaker 2: Came as the shadow of God cast across man, and
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Speaker 2: he leaves you with a decision. Look at the next claim,
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Speaker 2: I will raise the dead. I am equal with the Father.
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Speaker 2: I am the giver of life. I am the final judge.
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Speaker 2: I determine man's destiny. I will raise the dead Verse
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Speaker 2: twenty five. Hear ye, hear ye, says Jesus. I say
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Speaker 2: to you, an hour is coming, and now is when
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Speaker 2: the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
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Speaker 2: and those who hear shall live. Verse twenty eight. Do
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Speaker 2: not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in
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Speaker 2: which all who are in the tombs shall hear his voice.
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Speaker 2: That he is a reference to Jesus Christ my voice,
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Speaker 2: and shall come forth, says Jesus. Those who did the
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Speaker 2: good to a resurrection of life, those who committed the
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Speaker 2: evil to a resurrection of judgment. This is one of
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Speaker 2: the most sweeping passages in all the Gospel of John
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Speaker 2: on resurrection truth. There are several things we could say
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Speaker 2: just by observing the passage. First of all, there will
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Speaker 2: definitely be life after death. Second, every person will be
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Speaker 2: affected by it. You notice where it says all who
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Speaker 2: are in the tombs shall hear his voice verse twenty eight,
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Speaker 2: I have all circled. That means not a soul will
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Speaker 2: mishearing the voice of God. And third mankind after death
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Speaker 2: will fall into one of two categories, the saved and
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Speaker 2: the lost, depending upon one's faith in Jesus Christ. Let
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Speaker 2: me clarify a couple of matters that could very easily
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Speaker 2: be misunderstood. Looking at these verses, you would get the idea,
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Speaker 2: perhaps that there will be one great resurrection. You get
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Speaker 2: the feeling of that when you read there will be
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Speaker 2: the voice of God, those in the tombs shall hear
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Speaker 2: his voice. There will be the resurrection to life, and
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Speaker 2: then the resurrection to judgment. Notice it never says resurrection
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Speaker 2: to death. Resurrection is never an entree to death. Resurrection
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Speaker 2: is an entree to eternal life. But in some cases
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Speaker 2: there will be a resurrection to life, implying life with
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Speaker 2: the Lord Jesus life in heaven. Then, on the other hand,
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Speaker 2: there is a resurrection to a judgment kind of future,
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Speaker 2: a resurrection unto hell itself. Now, let me clarify this
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Speaker 2: by saying, Jesus is not presenting chronology, he is presenting reality.
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Speaker 2: Remember that later on he presents a chronology of resurrections.
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Speaker 2: In fact, the apostle Paul does a magnificent job of
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Speaker 2: it in his letter to the Corinthians, as well as
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Speaker 2: the letter to the Thessalonians, the first letter to each
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Speaker 2: one of those groups. But the Lord jesus desire before
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Speaker 2: these men is not to develop a chronology of eschatological significance.
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Speaker 2: His desire is to present a reality that resurrection is certain.
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Speaker 2: Let me illustrate it. Let's say that you and your
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Speaker 2: family are having some financial troubles and you're doing your
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Speaker 2: best dad's to get the family through. But you realize
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Speaker 2: after doing the books on Saturday afternoon that you don't
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Speaker 2: make enough money to pay all the bills. So you
34:00
Speaker 2: call the family together, your wife and four children, and
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Speaker 2: you say, listen, all of us will have to work.
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Speaker 2: I'm not able to make it. One of you will
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Speaker 2: have to wash windows, one of you will have to babysit,
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Speaker 2: one of you will have to work at the shop,
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Speaker 2: one of you will have to lifeguard, one of you
34:30
Speaker 2: will be a secretary, but all of us will have
34:34
Speaker 2: to go to work. And your children are ages four, seven, eleven,
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Speaker 2: and sixteen. You're declaring a reality when it takes place.
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Speaker 2: You know a four year old can't work. He thinks
34:52
Speaker 2: he can, but you know that he can't, or an
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Speaker 2: eight year old cannot work. It's a reality. It's a
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Speaker 2: fact that as soon as it is possible, well, everybody
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Speaker 2: is going to be employed. That's what Jesus is saying.
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Speaker 2: All of you will hear my voice. I'm not saying
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Speaker 2: all of you will hear it at the same time,
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Speaker 2: but I'm saying there's a general fact. That's true. You
35:13
Speaker 2: will be hearing the voice of the judge. Now, the
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Speaker 2: second misconception is you could get the idea that eternal
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Speaker 2: destiny is based on doing good or doing evil. Doesn't
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Speaker 2: that bother you a little when you see in verse
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Speaker 2: twenty nine, wouldn't you like to corner me after the
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Speaker 2: message and ask me to explain that verse twenty nine
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Speaker 2: those that do the good deeds and those that do
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Speaker 2: the evil deeds. Well, I'm going to run very fast
35:39
Speaker 2: after the message, so you won't be able to catch
35:41
Speaker 2: me ask me about that. I'm just joking. In the Gospels,
35:45
Speaker 2: you will frequently find a reference to salvation on the
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Speaker 2: basis of doing good deeds or doing the evil deeds
35:56
Speaker 2: for some reason. In the vernacular in the terminology of
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Speaker 2: the Gospels, the Lord Jesus, when he presents truth, often
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Speaker 2: presents it as a resultant fact. Good deeds come because
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Speaker 2: of one's right relationship to Jesus Christ. Evil deeds come
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Speaker 2: because one is not rightly related to the Lord Jesus.
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Speaker 2: He doesn't always clarify the means toward the good are
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Speaker 2: the evil. The epistles are very distinct in doing so,
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Speaker 2: But the Lord Jesus, viewing the whole broad picture, looks
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Speaker 2: at the scene from the result standpoint. A good example
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Speaker 2: would be Matthew twenty five, Verses forty and forty five.
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Speaker 2: Inasmuch as you have done it unto these, the least
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Speaker 2: you have done it unto me. In as much you
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Speaker 2: have done evil, you have done evil unto me. Those
36:53
Speaker 2: are references that say your evil is simply a reference
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Speaker 2: of being evil or unbelieving toward me, and the good
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Speaker 2: the same. So, without being too literalistic about these terms,
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Speaker 2: let's understand Jesus has reference to the good deeds being
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Speaker 2: those who have initially found goodness in him, and the
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Speaker 2: evil deeds being a reference to those who have yet
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Speaker 2: to come to that decision, and those who may never.
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Speaker 2: Before I go any further, I hope we have not
37:28
Speaker 2: missed the simple fact that when Jesus says I will
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Speaker 2: raise the dead, that includes you, that includes me, we
37:41
Speaker 2: will not miss life after death. There is a true
37:48
Speaker 2: account of three men who were very adept with a rifle,
37:53
Speaker 2: who had a rendezvous point in northern India. Their goal
37:58
Speaker 2: together was to find the fame Bengal tiger and finish
38:03
Speaker 2: went off and bring it back as a corporate effort.
38:05
Speaker 2: They loved hunting. The true story goes that one of
38:09
Speaker 2: the three men was born again and he wanted very
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Speaker 2: much to share his faith with the other two during
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Speaker 2: this safari. During this hunt, around the orange glow of
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Speaker 2: that early morning fire in India, the subject came up
38:25
Speaker 2: the most exciting moment of their lives, and so they
38:28
Speaker 2: sort of took turns, and our Christian friend was last.
38:32
Speaker 2: The first man told his most exciting moment was when
38:34
Speaker 2: he bagged of a rare black panther just about to
38:39
Speaker 2: make its leap upon him. The second man told of
38:43
Speaker 2: shooting in south central Africa a great bull elephant. The
38:50
Speaker 2: Christian waited his turn and said, when he sensed this
38:54
Speaker 2: was his one moment, My most exciting moment is going
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Speaker 2: to be in the future. One second after I die.
39:07
Speaker 2: Where will you be? You will hear his voice, Some
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Speaker 2: to a resurrection of life, some to judgment. Jesus says
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Speaker 2: in verse thirty. There is one final claim. I always
39:28
Speaker 2: do the will of God. Look at the thirtieth verse.
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Speaker 2: I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear,
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Speaker 2: I judge. My judgment is just because I do not
39:45
Speaker 2: seek my own will, how different from man. I do
39:51
Speaker 2: not seek my own will, but the will of him
39:55
Speaker 2: who sent me. There is implied in verse verse thirty,
40:00
Speaker 2: a consistent seeking and carrying out of the will of God.
40:06
Speaker 2: It is stated in another chapter, and I'll want you
40:08
Speaker 2: to see it John, chapter eight, verse twenty eight. Just
40:15
Speaker 2: turn over a few pages to the eighth of John.
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Speaker 2: The twenty eighth verse. Jesus therefore said, when you lift
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Speaker 2: up the son of Man, then you will know that
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Speaker 2: I am he and I do nothing on my own initiative.
40:30
Speaker 2: But I speak these things as the Father taught me.
40:33
Speaker 2: Now the verse. And he who sent me is with me.
40:38
Speaker 2: He that is God the Father, has not left me
40:41
Speaker 2: God the Son alone, for I always do the things
40:45
Speaker 2: that are pleasing to him. There's a direct statement, I
40:49
Speaker 2: am always doing the will of God. What a remarkable statement.
40:54
Speaker 2: Back in John five, verse thirty, Jesus is declaring my
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Speaker 2: dependence is all ways in his direction. I've never known,
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Speaker 2: nor will I ever know, a time in which I
41:05
Speaker 2: go out on a lark and run things my own way.
41:08
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, my whole design is to
41:11
Speaker 2: habitually carry out his will. Stop and meditate on these
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Speaker 2: six claims. I want you to think of one person.
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Speaker 2: Think of the best person you can think of in
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Speaker 2: all of history or your life, who could claim one
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Speaker 2: of these six you ready, I am equal with God
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Speaker 2: the Father. I am the giver of life. I am
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Speaker 2: the final judge over man. I determine man's destiny. I
41:49
Speaker 2: will raise the dead. I constantly do the will of God.
42:00
Speaker 2: Not one is there, which brings me to a very
42:03
Speaker 2: important point. These six claims demand the response. That's the
42:11
Speaker 2: first application. The claims of Christ demand a response. Look
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Speaker 2: at the possible conclusions. Borrowed an idea from Josh McDowell
42:22
Speaker 2: and his fine book evidence that demands a verdict, and
42:26
Speaker 2: I've just amplified it to complete the picture. Perhaps he
42:30
Speaker 2: didn't have the room in his book to include we
42:33
Speaker 2: begin with the declarations of Jesus. We've looked at six
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Speaker 2: of them. Now that calls for a response. You only
42:39
Speaker 2: have two alternatives. Either his claims were false or his
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Speaker 2: claims were true. Let us say that you choose the former.
42:54
Speaker 2: Then you have two alternatives. First, he knew they were false. Second,
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Speaker 2: he did not know they were false. If you go
43:06
Speaker 2: the first route, he deliberately misrepresented himself. He was a
43:13
Speaker 2: liar and a hypocrite. That's the logical conclusion, and that
43:18
Speaker 2: is the accurate conclusion. If you are right, but you
43:23
Speaker 2: know that's not true. Let's go to the other side.
43:27
Speaker 2: He didn't know they were false. Then he unknowingly misrepresented himself,
43:33
Speaker 2: which leads to two alternatives. Either he was deluded and
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Speaker 2: insane that's preposterous. Or as the great majority of man today,
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Speaker 2: he was a sincere, great teacher. But when pressed to
43:52
Speaker 2: the wall, they will never avow he was the Lord
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Speaker 2: God is. He's no better to say he was a great,
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Speaker 2: sincere teacher than to say outright he was a liar.
44:08
Speaker 2: Both go back to the fact his claims were false.
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Speaker 2: Now look at the right hand side, his claims were true.
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Speaker 2: There is only one conclusion. He is the Lord. You're
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Speaker 2: left with a decision. I accept that. I reject that.
44:35
Speaker 2: Look at C. S. Lewis's worries. You can shut him
44:39
Speaker 2: up for a fool. You can spit at him and
44:41
Speaker 2: kill him as a demon. You can fall at his
44:44
Speaker 2: feet and call him Lord and God. But let us
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Speaker 2: not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being
44:51
Speaker 2: a great human teacher. He has not left that open
44:54
Speaker 2: to us. He did not intend to. I love that quote.
45:00
Speaker 2: Come up with a nice sounding humanism that relieves your conscience.
45:05
Speaker 2: Either say it is not true, or it is true
45:09
Speaker 2: and deserves my faith. I give him my life. The
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Speaker 2: claims of Christ demand a response, and that response must
45:20
Speaker 2: be intelligent. That means it must be supported by fact.
45:25
Speaker 2: The second application is our response determines the direction of
45:29
Speaker 2: our life. You hear that you mean, pastor that if
45:35
Speaker 2: I really respond positively to the Lord Jesus and I've
45:38
Speaker 2: got to go into the ministry. Well, not as you're
45:40
Speaker 2: thinking of it. All in God's family are in the ministry.
45:45
Speaker 2: But when you give your heart to Jesus Christ, it
45:47
Speaker 2: alters the whole sway of your inward man, your drives,
45:52
Speaker 2: your motives, your purpose, your gold, your reason for living.
45:57
Speaker 2: As is true of Beverly and Larry Bent. As a
46:02
Speaker 2: result of this interesting and incredible encounter with the intruder
46:05
Speaker 2: that came into their home, they were led, by God's
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Speaker 2: wonderful hand into the first beginning of a new ministry
46:15
Speaker 2: for campus crusade for Christ in prisons across the country.
46:23
Speaker 2: And as a matter of fact, because of their forgiving
46:26
Speaker 2: spirit and their willing heart to put into action the
46:29
Speaker 2: claims of Jesus Christ, they have led literally hundreds of
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Speaker 2: men to a knowledge of the Savior. One man has
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Speaker 2: personally worked with six hundred and forty one inmates who
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Speaker 2: have responded positively to Jesus Christ. And that's only one
46:50
Speaker 2: of hundreds. You see, when you take seriously the claims
46:55
Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ, you're not satisfied simply to assent. So yeah,
47:01
Speaker 2: that's good. Yeah, that will change a criminal to a
47:05
Speaker 2: man of law. That'll change a woman who has been
47:08
Speaker 2: abused to a forgiving individual. That'll even change the heart
47:12
Speaker 2: of her of her husband. You're forced to say, God,
47:18
Speaker 2: I want that to change my life, and I wanted
47:22
Speaker 2: to start right now, right now, Maybe bow together? Please?
47:33
Speaker 2: Nothing wrong with the claims of Christ hanging on your
47:35
Speaker 2: wall or placed in your wallet as a reminder little notes.
47:41
Speaker 2: Nothing even wrong with pictures that reminds you of Christ,
47:45
Speaker 2: though they may not be actual representations. But pictures and
47:50
Speaker 2: mottoes are never the ultimate gold of Jesus. Christ claims
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Speaker 2: he claimed these things that he might capture your heart.
48:00
Speaker 2: All right, Our one purpose for being on this piece
48:05
Speaker 2: of real estate is to declare and exalt the name
48:11
Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ. We have done that this morning to
48:18
Speaker 2: the best of our ability and time. And you're left
48:20
Speaker 2: with a decision which I do not think needs to
48:22
Speaker 2: be prolonged or turned into a pleading, even harassment. You're
48:29
Speaker 2: intelligent enough to read the facts to determine whether you
48:34
Speaker 2: and your past have ever given Jesus Christ your heart.
48:39
Speaker 2: Right where you're sitting, say yes to Christ a simple prayer. Lord.
48:46
Speaker 2: Though I don't understand everything I've heard today, I know
48:48
Speaker 2: that I'm lost. If I were to breathe my last today,
48:52
Speaker 2: I'd be lost. I'd be in hell. I certainly wouldn't
48:57
Speaker 2: be with you and Lord God. Today I accept Jesus
49:03
Speaker 2: Christ not on my merits I have none, but on
49:10
Speaker 2: his come into my life. Lord Jesus, I receive you now.
49:20
Speaker 2: I believe you died and rose again from the dead
49:22
Speaker 2: for me. I give you my allegiance this morning. Heavenly Father,
49:31
Speaker 2: please forever deliver us from a religious response to such magnanimous,
49:37
Speaker 2: magnificent claims as we have heard today. May be be moved,
49:43
Speaker 2: our Lord, like the Bentans removed to say, if Jesus
49:49
Speaker 2: Christ deserves that kind of place, he has my whole heart.
49:56
Speaker 2: He changes my attitude is my response. He turns me
50:04
Speaker 2: from an hateful and stubborn and ugly person to one
50:10
Speaker 2: of love and grace and forgiveness and tolerance. He gives
50:14
Speaker 2: me discernment where I've been foolishly open to every wind
50:17
Speaker 2: of doctrine. He has the right to control and direct
50:23
Speaker 2: my whole future, my career, my home, my health, my life.
50:32
Speaker 2: Oh Father, give us that kind of faith, that kind
50:36
Speaker 2: of response. I pray it through Jesus Christ.
50:43
Speaker 3: The preceding message, The Claims of the Christ, was copyrighted
50:47
Speaker 3: in nineteen seventy five nineteen eighty seven, two thousand and
50:51
Speaker 3: twenty eighteen, and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty
51:02
Speaker 3: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited