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The Mysteries of Christ's Birth (Selected Scriptures) John MacArthur GTYtv · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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  Speaker 1: Today on Grace To You.
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  Speaker 2: Whether Jesus is a precious stone or a stumbling stone
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  Speaker 2: depends completely on how you respond to him. If you
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  Speaker 2: believe in him, he is a precious stone. If you
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  Speaker 2: reject him, he is a crushing stone. What in the
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  Speaker 2: world makes us so embarrassed about the Gospels? For I
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  Speaker 2: determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and
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  Speaker 2: Him crucified. If you would open your Bible to... The
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  Speaker 2: Gospel of Matthew and the 11th chapter. Matthew chapter 11,
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  Speaker 2: verses 1 through 6. When Jesus had finished giving instructions
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  Speaker 2: to his 12 disciples, he departed from there to teach
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  Speaker 2: and preach in their cities. Now when John, that's John
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  Speaker 2: the Baptist, while imprisoned, heard of the works of Christ
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  Speaker 2: and he sent word by his disciples and said to him,
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  Speaker 2: are you the expected one or shall we look for
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  Speaker 2: someone else? How could he possibly even ask that question? Well,
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  Speaker 2: he did. He wasn't sure. He was confused about the
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  Speaker 2: very one whom he had introduced as the Lamb of God,
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  Speaker 2: the very one about whom he said, He must increase
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  Speaker 2: and I must decrease. The Old Testament is a mosaic
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  Speaker 2: of prophecies about the Messiah. And they are diverse and
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  Speaker 2: they are enigmatic. They are paradoxical. They sometimes appear contradictory.
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  Speaker 2: So much so that even John the Baptist, the greatest
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  Speaker 2: again who ever lived, therefore the greatest prophet, struggle to
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  Speaker 2: understand whether Christ was, in fact, the Messiah. On the
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  Speaker 2: one hand, they allow us to wonder, like John did,
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  Speaker 2: just exactly, is Jesus the Messiah? But on the other hand,
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  Speaker 2: they give us absolute, unequivocal proof that he is, that
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  Speaker 2: he is. Now, let's pick up the story with John
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  Speaker 2: the Baptist in Luke 3. Luke 3 and see what
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  Speaker 2: was going on with John's confusion. Luke 3 begins in
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  Speaker 2: the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar when
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  Speaker 2: Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was tetrarch
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  Speaker 2: of Galilee and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the
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  Speaker 2: region of Iturria and Trachonitis and and Lysanias was tetrarch
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  Speaker 2: of Abilene, in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,
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  Speaker 2: the word of God came to John. That's very important
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  Speaker 2: because what John says was direct revelation from God. The
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  Speaker 2: word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias,
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  Speaker 2: in the wilderness, and he came into all the district
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  Speaker 2: around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the
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  Speaker 2: forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book
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  Speaker 2: of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of
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  Speaker 2: one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord, make his paths straight. Every ravine will be
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  Speaker 2: filled and every mountain and hill will be brought low.
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  Speaker 2: The crooked will become straight and the rough roads smooth
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  Speaker 2: and all flesh will see the salvation of God. So
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  Speaker 2: he began saying to the crowd who were going out
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  Speaker 2: to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers, who
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  Speaker 2: warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore,
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  Speaker 2: bear fruits in keeping with repentance and do not begin
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  Speaker 2: to say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father,
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  Speaker 2: for I say to you that from these stones God
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  Speaker 2: is able to raise up children to Abraham. Indeed, the
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  Speaker 2: axe is already laid at the root of the tree,
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  Speaker 2: so every tree that does not bear Good fruit is
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  Speaker 2: cut down and thrown into the fire. John preached the
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  Speaker 2: gospel of judgment. John was preaching the Messiah's arrival and
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  Speaker 2: unleashing fire in a fury of judgment. So it's not
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  Speaker 2: surprising that when Jesus came, He didn't do anything that
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  Speaker 2: even remotely looked like judgment. In fact, it was the
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  Speaker 2: very opposite. And that's why John sent some of his
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  Speaker 2: disciples to say, are you the Messiah or should we
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  Speaker 2: be looking for someone else? And Jesus sent the message back, well,
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  Speaker 2: judgment's not the only part of my ministry. I've also come,
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  Speaker 2: and Jesus quotes from Isaiah 35 and Isaiah 61, and
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  Speaker 2: says to show mercy, to heal people, to give the
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  Speaker 2: blind sight and the lame to enable them to walk
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  Speaker 2: and to raise the dead and to preach the good news. John,
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  Speaker 2: you didn't have the full picture. Now that takes us
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  Speaker 2: back to where we started, Matthew 11. Go back to it.
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  Speaker 2: John's confusion was certainly enhanced You notice in verse 2
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  Speaker 2: of Matthew 11, it says he was in prison. But
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  Speaker 2: apparently he was allowed some visitors, and when he had
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  Speaker 2: the opportunity, he sent some who had visited him back
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  Speaker 2: to Jesus to ask Jesus to explain what is going on.
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  Speaker 2: He failed to see how to resolve the confusion of
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  Speaker 2: expecting the Messiah to come in prison and judge and
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  Speaker 2: reign and bring salvation. And instead of that, Jesus brings compassion.
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  Speaker 2: The nation turns on him. There's no act of judgment
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  Speaker 2: except on the prophet who announced that he was coming
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  Speaker 2: as the judge. Jesus sends back the message. That's not
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  Speaker 2: the only thing I'm coming to do. And he sends
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  Speaker 2: back the comments that I read you in verse 5. Compassion, healing,
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  Speaker 2: and preaching the gospel. And tells John and anyone else
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  Speaker 2: not to be scandalized by the fact that he doesn't
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  Speaker 2: appear to be who they expected. So many amazing prophecies
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  Speaker 2: about Jesus. Enough really to be Confusing. Let me give
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  Speaker 2: you some illustration. Turn to Isaiah chapter seven. Isaiah 7, 14,
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  Speaker 2: therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold,
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  Speaker 2: and that behold is there because what's about to be
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  Speaker 2: spoken is a shock. A virgin will be with child
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  Speaker 2: and bear a son. A virgin will be with child,
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  Speaker 2: that's not possible. and bear a son. And not only that,
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  Speaker 2: but that son will be named Immanuel. How am I
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  Speaker 2: to understand that? How could Isaiah understand that? A virgin
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  Speaker 2: who has a child, who at the same time is
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  Speaker 2: a given son, given by who? given by God Himself,
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  Speaker 2: that's John 1.14, begotten by the Father. A child who
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  Speaker 2: is human and yet divine, who is both a child
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  Speaker 2: of a virgin and God Himself, Emmanuel means God, with us,
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  Speaker 2: that's incomprehensible. Let me tell you a second mystery, the
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  Speaker 2: mystery of the line of Judah. In Genesis 49.10, you
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  Speaker 2: don't have to turn to it, it says that the
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  Speaker 2: Messiah will come from the tribe of Judah, from the
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  Speaker 2: tribe of Judah. The scepter, the right to rule, will
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  Speaker 2: not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. Shiloh is the
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  Speaker 2: one whose right it is. So the Messiah will come
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  Speaker 2: from the line of Judah. That's on its face simple enough.
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  Speaker 2: Through Judah will come the progeny that leads ultimately to
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  Speaker 2: the Messiah. But there are some issues there that have
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  Speaker 2: to be dealt with, and I want to show you these.
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  Speaker 2: Go back to Genesis 38. Genesis 38. This is a
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  Speaker 2: frightful story, honestly, but it's very enlightening. for us with
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  Speaker 2: regard to Christ as the Messiah we won't go through
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  Speaker 2: the whole story in Genesis 38 but Judah had some
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  Speaker 2: sons and he had a son who married a woman
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  Speaker 2: named Tamar Tamar married his first son, and the son died.
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  Speaker 2: And according to Leverite law, when a son dies, if
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  Speaker 2: there was another brother, the other brother would take her
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  Speaker 2: up and end her widowhood and take the place of
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  Speaker 2: his brother and marry her to keep the family line going.
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  Speaker 2: So a second brother married Tamar. We won't go into
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  Speaker 2: all the details of that, but he also died. So
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  Speaker 2: now Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah, has had two of
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  Speaker 2: Judah's sons marry her and both of them are gone.
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  Speaker 2: So Judah has another son, another son who should have
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  Speaker 2: been available named Shelah. I know that's not a good
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  Speaker 2: name for a son, but that's long ago. So the
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  Speaker 2: right thing for Judah to do would have been to
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  Speaker 2: give the third son to Tamar and pick up the
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  Speaker 2: Leverite law that allowed the family line to pass on
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  Speaker 2: by giving another son who had not married. But I
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  Speaker 2: can understand a little bit of hesitation in Judah's mind.
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  Speaker 2: I gave her two and they're both dead. Maybe I'm
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  Speaker 2: not going to do this again. And that was his decision.
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  Speaker 2: So he really was disobedient. It was an act of
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  Speaker 2: unrighteousness on Judah's part not to provide a son. So
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  Speaker 2: she was going to get out of her widowhood one
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  Speaker 2: way or another. She was going to have children one
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  Speaker 2: way or another. So if you look at the middle
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  Speaker 2: of Genesis 38, verse 14, Tamar... Knows that Judah's going
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  Speaker 2: to be around. So she removes her widow's garments and
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  Speaker 2: covers herself with a veil and wraps herself. She sits
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  Speaker 2: in the gateway of the name on the road to
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  Speaker 2: Timnah for she saw that Sheila had grown up and
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  Speaker 2: she had not been given to him as a wife.
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  Speaker 2: When Judah saw her, he thought she was a harlot
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  Speaker 2: or she had covered her face. That's what she wanted
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  Speaker 2: him to think. So he turned aside to her by
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  Speaker 2: the road and said, Here now, let me come into you.
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  Speaker 2: And he didn't know that she was his daughter-in-law. And
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  Speaker 2: she said, What will you give me that you may
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  Speaker 2: come into me? There's a price for this. He said, Therefore,
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  Speaker 2: I will send you a young goat from the flock.
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  Speaker 2: She said, Moreover, will you give a pledge until you
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  Speaker 2: send it? Until you send the goat, will you give
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  Speaker 2: me something that will guarantee that I'm going to get
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  Speaker 2: the goat? What pledge shall I give you? Verse 18.
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  Speaker 2: She said, Your seal, your cord, and your staff that
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  Speaker 2: is in your hand. So he gave them to her
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  Speaker 2: and went into her. She conceived by him. She arose
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  Speaker 2: and departed, removed her veil and put on her widow's garments.
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  Speaker 2: She got what she wanted. She got pregnant and that
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  Speaker 2: family was going to have to take care of her
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  Speaker 2: because she was going to bear the children of Judah. Well,
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  Speaker 2: it all unfolds in an ugly way. Verse 24 says,
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  Speaker 2: About three months later, Judah was informed, your daughter-in-law, Tamar,
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  Speaker 2: has played the harlot, and behold, she's also with child
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  Speaker 2: by adultery, or harlotry. Then Judah said, bring her out
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  Speaker 2: and let us burn her. Bring her and we'll burn her.
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  Speaker 2: It was a while she was being brought out that
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  Speaker 2: she sent to her father-in-law saying, I'm with child by
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  Speaker 2: the man to whom these things belong. Examine and see
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  Speaker 2: whose signet ring, cords, and staff are these. Judah recognized
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  Speaker 2: them and said, she's more righteous than I. Inasmuch as
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  Speaker 2: I did not give her to my son, Sheila, she's
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  Speaker 2: more righteous than I. She's trying to force me to
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  Speaker 2: do what I should have done. I mean, she's not righteous,
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  Speaker 2: but she's more righteous than he was. He didn't have
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  Speaker 2: any relations with her again. Verse 27, she was giving
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  Speaker 2: birth and there were twins. Twins Perez and Zerah came forth.
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  Speaker 2: So now Judah's got two illegitimate children. How does that
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  Speaker 2: work for the Messianic line? How does that fit in?
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  Speaker 2: Listen to Deuteronomy 23, 2. This is the law of God.
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  Speaker 2: No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord. None of his descendants, even to the tenth generation,
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  Speaker 2: shall enter the assembly of the Lord. It took ten
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  Speaker 2: generations before... An illegitimate child would be considered legitimate to
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  Speaker 2: be put into the family line. The curse would be
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  Speaker 2: lifted only after 10 generations. Turn to Ruth chapter 4.
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  Speaker 2: You know the story of Ruth, of course, but it
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  Speaker 2: ends with this very interesting genealogy. And the genealogy, verse 18,
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  Speaker 2: are the generations of Perez, one of the twins born
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  Speaker 2: to Tamar from Judah. Here are the generations of Perez,
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  Speaker 2: starting with Judah, Perez. And if you go through the names,
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  Speaker 2: all the way down, there are 10 generations, and then
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  Speaker 2: the name of David. David is the first one in
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  Speaker 2: 10 generations who can be counted in that line. How
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  Speaker 2: precise is God in dealing with his own standard? The
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  Speaker 2: curse is lifted at the 10th generation. David is the
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  Speaker 2: 10th generation from Judah. Thus, David is free from any
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  Speaker 2: generational taint of the sin of Judah, free to enter
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  Speaker 2: the congregation of the Lord, free to reign as king,
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  Speaker 2: and free to be the ancestor of the Messiah. And
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  Speaker 2: Tamar shows up in Matthew 1 in the genealogy of Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: And God not only shows his grace, but he shows
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  Speaker 2: how he conforms to his own law. Ten generations exactly
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  Speaker 2: to David, and he is free from any curse. The
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  Speaker 2: mystery of of Judah. There's a third paradox, a third
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  Speaker 2: enigma to confront, and I'll just run this by you quickly.
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  Speaker 2: Micah 5.2 says Jesus will be born in Bethlehem. In Bethlehem.
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  Speaker 2: He'll be born in Bethlehem, plain and simple. But Hosea 11.1
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  Speaker 2: is a prophecy about Israel, but it is a prediction
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  Speaker 2: also of the Messiah, and it says he will be
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  Speaker 2: called out of Egypt. He will be born in Bethlehem
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  Speaker 2: and called out of Egypt. Isaiah 11.1 says that he
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  Speaker 2: will be a branch, Nezer, Nezer, suggesting the name of
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  Speaker 2: the town Nazareth. That is named after Nezer, which is
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  Speaker 2: the word for a shoot or a branch. How can
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  Speaker 2: all this be? How can the Messiah be from Bethlehem
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  Speaker 2: and from Egypt and from Nazareth? Turn to Matthew chapter 2,
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  Speaker 2: and we see it clearly, and it's marked for us
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  Speaker 2: in the text. Matthew 2, 1, Jesus was born in
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  Speaker 2: Bethlehem Verse five, in Bethlehem. Verse six, Bethlehem. Micah 5.2
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  Speaker 2: is quoted there. But if you drop down to verse 13,
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  Speaker 2: the angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a
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  Speaker 2: dream and said, get up, take the child and his
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  Speaker 2: mother and flee to Egypt and remain there until I
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  Speaker 2: tell you for Herod is going to search for the
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  Speaker 2: child to destroy him. So Joseph got up and took
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  Speaker 2: the child and his mother while it was still night
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  Speaker 2: and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death
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  Speaker 2: of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken
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  Speaker 2: by the Lord through the prophet out of Egypt. I
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  Speaker 2: called my son. It's the action of of Herod that
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  Speaker 2: precipitated the flight to Egypt to fulfill that prophecy. And
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  Speaker 2: then down in verse 21, Joseph got up, took the
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  Speaker 2: child and his mother, came back into the land of Israel,
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  Speaker 2: and when he heard that Archelaus had was reigning over
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  Speaker 2: Judea in place of his father Herod. He was afraid
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  Speaker 2: to go there to Judea. After being warned by God
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  Speaker 2: in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee
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  Speaker 2: and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. Well,
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  Speaker 2: at least two more quick. The paradox of his right
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  Speaker 2: to the throne. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 1.
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  Speaker 2: And this will be just quick, just to capture a name.
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  Speaker 2: In the flow of the genealogy of Jesus, starts from
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  Speaker 2: Matthew 1.1, the record of the genealogy of Jesus. You
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  Speaker 2: come down to verse 11, and you see the name Jeconiah,
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  Speaker 2: or Coniah, as he's sometimes called. In the line of
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  Speaker 2: Jesus is this Jeconiah. He is from David's line through Solomon. Okay?
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  Speaker 2: From David through Solomon, you come to Jeconiah. Now, is
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  Speaker 2: that a problem? It's a serious problem. Turn to Jeremiah 22.
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  Speaker 2: Jeremiah 22. Verse... Just look at verse 28. Here is
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  Speaker 2: a prophecy about Coniah or Jeconiah. Jeremiah 22, 28. Is
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  Speaker 2: this man, Coniah, a despised, shattered jar? Or is he
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  Speaker 2: an undesirable vessel? Why have he and his descendants been
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  Speaker 2: hurled out and cast into a land they had not known.
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  Speaker 2: That's the Babylonian captivity. Oh, land, land, land. Hear the
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  Speaker 2: word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord, write this
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  Speaker 2: man down childless, a man who will not prosper in
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  Speaker 2: his days, for no man of his descendants will prosper
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  Speaker 2: sitting on the throne of David, or ruling again in Judah.
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  Speaker 1: What?
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  Speaker 2: No offspring of Coniah can ever rule, can ever sit
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  Speaker 2: on a throne. And yet, back to Matthew 1, Jeconiah
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  Speaker 2: is in the line from David to the Messiah. How
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  Speaker 2: is that possible? Well, while you're looking at the genealogy,
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  Speaker 2: notice this. The genealogy keeps saying the father of, the
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  Speaker 2: father of, the father of, the father of, the father of,
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  Speaker 2: the father of. The lines go through the father. And
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  Speaker 2: you come down to verse 16. Jacob was the father
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  Speaker 2: of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't say Jesus was born of Joseph because he wasn't.
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  Speaker 2: And that is precisely how The curse of Jeconiah is bypassed.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus was never a descendant of Jeconiah, never. He received
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  Speaker 2: the right to rule the kingly line, but not the
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  Speaker 2: DNA of Jeconiah. He was not begotten by Joseph. John 1.14
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  Speaker 2: says he was begotten by God. Mary was a descendant
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  Speaker 2: of David through the line of another one of David's sons, Nathan.
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  Speaker 2: Joseph came through the line of Solomon. But Jeconiah put
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  Speaker 2: a curse which was consistent with God's intention that Jesus
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  Speaker 2: has the right to rule, but no descendant of Jeconiah
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  Speaker 2: will ever sit on the throne. The perfection of God's
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  Speaker 2: providence in every detail. One final mystery. All throughout the
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  Speaker 2: Old Testament, Jesus is identified as a stone or a rock,
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  Speaker 2: a stone to strike a stumbling stone, a tested stone,
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  Speaker 2: a cornerstone, a choice stone, a stone builders reject, a stone,
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  Speaker 2: Daniel 2, cut out without hands, a smashing stone, a
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  Speaker 2: crushing stone. How can Messiah be all of that? Look
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  Speaker 2: at 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. Peter does all
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  Speaker 2: our homework for us. He sums it all up. 1
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  Speaker 2: Peter 2, verse 4. And coming to him, this is
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  Speaker 2: talking about salvation, as to a living stone, has been
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  Speaker 2: rejected by men, a rejected stone, but is choice and precious,
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  Speaker 2: a choice and precious stone, And you also as living
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  Speaker 2: stones are being built up as a spiritual house for
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  Speaker 2: a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to
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  Speaker 2: God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture.
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  Speaker 2: That is to say, all the ways in which Christ
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  Speaker 2: is a stone are laid out in Scripture and Peter
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  Speaker 2: lines them all up. Whether Jesus is a precious stone
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  Speaker 2: or a stumbling stone depends completely on how you respond
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  Speaker 2: to him. If you believe in him, he is a
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  Speaker 2: precious stone. If you reject him, he is a crushing stone.
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  Speaker 2: So we're not surprised that even John the Baptist couldn't
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  Speaker 2: sort out all the prophecies. So how blessed are we, right?
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  Speaker 2: We have all the answers. Let's validate that Jesus is
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  Speaker 2: the Savior of the world, the only one. Well, again,
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  Speaker 2: as we close out this year with the Grace to
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  Speaker 2: You ministry, it gives me the opportunity to say to
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  Speaker 2: all of you who have supported us this year, thank you,
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  Speaker 2: thank you, thank you. Especially those of you who kind
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  Speaker 2: of stood up in the months of November and December
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  Speaker 2: so that we received what will give us a great
• 27:30
  Speaker 2: beginning in the next year. You know, we have no
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  Speaker 2: other resources than those which the Lord provides through those
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  Speaker 2: who love this ministry. So if you're among those who
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  Speaker 2: have given generously to the ministry, we owe you a
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  Speaker 2: huge thanks. Just know this, we'll use those resources to
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: continue to do what we've always done, unleashing God's truth
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  Speaker 2: one verse at a time.
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  Speaker 1: The MacArthur Study Bible is now available in the Legacy
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  Speaker 1: Standard Bible Translation. Order your copy today as a gift
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: for someone or for your own personal Bible resource. Operators
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: are standing by at 888-57-GRACE. That's 888-57-GRACE to take your
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: call or visit us online at gty.org. Thank you for
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: joining us today in Unleashing God's Truth, one verse at
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  Speaker 1: a time.