1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,292 2 00:00:01,333 --> 00:00:08,333 ♪♪♪ 3 00:00:09,500 --> 00:00:10,708 Start with a weird question. 4 00:00:10,792 --> 00:00:12,500 Let's say you got your life back. 5 00:00:12,542 --> 00:00:16,125 Let's say you were, for example, in a coma for an extended period 6 00:00:16,167 --> 00:00:19,917 of time, and you got your life back. 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:21,208 You woke up. 8 00:00:21,292 --> 00:00:24,833 What would be the first thing you would do, 9 00:00:24,875 --> 00:00:26,417 first thing you would do? 10 00:00:26,500 --> 00:00:29,917 Whatever that is, that reveals to us your passions, 11 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:31,917 your pleasures, your priorities, right? 12 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:34,333 If you pick up the phone, call a pizza company, 13 00:00:34,375 --> 00:00:36,375 that tells us something about you. 14 00:00:36,458 --> 00:00:38,083 If you run and hug your mom, 15 00:00:38,167 --> 00:00:40,208 that tells us something about you. 16 00:00:40,292 --> 00:00:42,625 If you go back to work, that tells us something 17 00:00:42,667 --> 00:00:44,417 tragic about you, right? 18 00:00:44,500 --> 00:00:49,583 You, you, in that moment, reveal what your highest priority is. 19 00:00:49,667 --> 00:00:53,417 When you get your life back, what you give your life to first 20 00:00:53,500 --> 00:00:56,583 indicates, really, the priority of your heart, 21 00:00:56,667 --> 00:00:59,583 and that question for Jesus is answered today. 22 00:00:59,667 --> 00:01:01,167 We're in "Luke Part 99." 23 00:01:01,250 --> 00:01:03,333 Next week, we finish the Gospel of Luke. 24 00:01:03,375 --> 00:01:05,292 More than 2 years we've been in it. 25 00:01:05,333 --> 00:01:06,917 We're this close. 26 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,292 We have seen Jesus live without sin. 27 00:01:09,333 --> 00:01:10,833 We've seen him die. 28 00:01:10,875 --> 00:01:12,125 We've seen him buried. 29 00:01:12,167 --> 00:01:13,625 We've seen him rise. 30 00:01:13,667 --> 00:01:18,417 And today in "Luke Part 99," chapter 24, verses 13-35, 31 00:01:18,500 --> 00:01:20,125 we're going to look at how Jesus 32 00:01:20,167 --> 00:01:21,417 taught the Bible. 33 00:01:21,500 --> 00:01:23,625 We're going to see the first thing he did 34 00:01:23,667 --> 00:01:25,292 after he rose from death. 35 00:01:25,333 --> 00:01:26,708 What did he do? 36 00:01:26,792 --> 00:01:28,417 What did he not do? 37 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:31,500 We pick it up, Luke 24:13. 38 00:01:31,583 --> 00:01:34,167 "That very day," we are told. This is the day 39 00:01:34,250 --> 00:01:36,917 that Jesus rose from death. 40 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:38,625 So, he'd been dead for 3 days. 41 00:01:38,667 --> 00:01:40,500 He comes back to life. 42 00:01:40,542 --> 00:01:41,833 His life is returned. 43 00:01:41,875 --> 00:01:44,417 What's the first thing he's going to do? 44 00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:47,667 "...two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, 45 00:01:47,750 --> 00:01:50,500 "about seven miles from Jerusalem, 46 00:01:50,583 --> 00:01:52,667 "and they were talking with each other about all 47 00:01:52,750 --> 00:01:54,083 these things that had happened." 48 00:01:54,167 --> 00:01:56,000 So, there's two people going for a walk. 49 00:01:56,083 --> 00:01:59,417 We're going to learn the name of one of them in just a moment. 50 00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:02,125 They were potentially even relatives of Jesus, 51 00:02:02,167 --> 00:02:04,417 based upon related Scriptures. 52 00:02:04,500 --> 00:02:06,208 And as they're journeying, 53 00:02:06,292 --> 00:02:08,708 these people are having a conversation. 54 00:02:08,792 --> 00:02:10,417 "Boy, Jesus seemed like a great guy. 55 00:02:10,500 --> 00:02:12,000 It's too bad that he died." 56 00:02:12,083 --> 00:02:14,167 "Yeah, don't you wish that he was alive?" 57 00:02:14,250 --> 00:02:15,625 "Yeah, that would be awesome. 58 00:02:15,667 --> 00:02:18,000 I wish there was something like a resurrection." 59 00:02:18,042 --> 00:02:21,833 There's a lot of humor in here, at least I think, 60 00:02:21,875 --> 00:02:25,583 because Jesus is going to show up and have a conversation 61 00:02:25,667 --> 00:02:29,167 with them, sort of incognito, ninja-esque. 62 00:02:29,250 --> 00:02:31,500 They're not going to know that it's him. 63 00:02:31,542 --> 00:02:33,917 He's just going to come into the conversation. 64 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,417 And so we get to eavesdrop. 65 00:02:37,500 --> 00:02:39,417 "While they were talking and discussing together, 66 00:02:39,500 --> 00:02:42,917 "Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 67 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,333 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him." 68 00:02:45,375 --> 00:02:49,417 And this is that, that you can be physically alive 69 00:02:49,500 --> 00:02:52,125 and yet spiritually blind. 70 00:02:52,167 --> 00:02:54,833 And here they don't see Jesus for who he is, 71 00:02:54,875 --> 00:02:57,417 even though he's right there. 72 00:02:57,500 --> 00:03:01,917 And the sad truth is that that is the state of all people who 73 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:05,333 are apart from Christ and those of us who are in Christ 74 00:03:05,375 --> 00:03:09,125 that choose to close our eyes to the truth of Christ. 75 00:03:09,167 --> 00:03:10,792 God has to open our hearts. 76 00:03:10,833 --> 00:03:12,208 He has to open our minds. 77 00:03:12,292 --> 00:03:13,708 He has to open our eyes. 78 00:03:13,792 --> 00:03:15,208 He has to open our understanding. 79 00:03:15,292 --> 00:03:18,000 And this was my experience before I was a Christian. 80 00:03:18,083 --> 00:03:19,583 I'd heard some things about Jesus. 81 00:03:19,667 --> 00:03:23,208 I'd been to church, but I didn't see Jesus as God, 82 00:03:23,292 --> 00:03:25,333 and Savior, and King, and Lord. 83 00:03:25,375 --> 00:03:28,500 And then one day, God opened my eyes. 84 00:03:28,542 --> 00:03:29,917 And that's the truth. 85 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,500 And so for those of you who have non-Christian family, 86 00:03:32,542 --> 00:03:35,208 friends, coworkers, neighbors, they're not stupid. 87 00:03:35,292 --> 00:03:36,708 They're blind. 88 00:03:36,792 --> 00:03:41,125 It's not necessarily that they're opposing what they see; 89 00:03:41,167 --> 00:03:43,917 they don't see Jesus clearly. 90 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,083 And that's this great illustration here. 91 00:03:47,167 --> 00:03:50,833 Jesus is right there, and they don't see him. 92 00:03:50,875 --> 00:03:53,583 They don't see him for who he truly is. 93 00:03:53,667 --> 00:03:56,125 And so he has a conversation with them. 94 00:03:56,167 --> 00:03:59,417 Verse 17, "And he said to them, 'What is this conversation that 95 00:03:59,500 --> 00:04:02,917 you are holding with each other as you walk?'" 96 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:04,417 "What are you guys talking about?" 97 00:04:04,500 --> 00:04:07,417 You see the funny comedy here? 98 00:04:07,500 --> 00:04:10,083 I mean, two people are having a conversation about Jesus, 99 00:04:10,167 --> 00:04:11,792 who's asking them what they're talking about, 100 00:04:11,833 --> 00:04:14,417 and they don't see that it's him. 101 00:04:14,500 --> 00:04:17,625 "And they stood still, looking sad," very sad. 102 00:04:17,667 --> 00:04:19,708 They're talking about the funeral of Jesus 103 00:04:19,792 --> 00:04:21,833 just a few days prior. 104 00:04:21,875 --> 00:04:23,708 "Then one of them, named Cleopas," 105 00:04:23,792 --> 00:04:25,125 potentially a relative, "answered him, 106 00:04:25,167 --> 00:04:27,708 'Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know 107 00:04:27,792 --> 00:04:30,375 the things that have happened there in these days?'" 108 00:04:30,458 --> 00:04:31,708 "What are you, stupid? 109 00:04:31,792 --> 00:04:33,167 "Do you not know what's happened? 110 00:04:33,250 --> 00:04:34,917 "There was this guy named Jesus. 111 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:36,292 "Everybody knows he was here. 112 00:04:36,333 --> 00:04:38,208 "He was a great guy. They killed him. 113 00:04:38,292 --> 00:04:39,917 "We went to the funeral. He's dead. 114 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:42,125 "He's totally dead! We wish he was alive! 115 00:04:42,167 --> 00:04:43,917 He's not alive!" 116 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,833 How hard do you think it was in that moment for Jesus 117 00:04:46,875 --> 00:04:49,625 not to at least smirk? 118 00:04:49,667 --> 00:04:54,417 I'd, like, "Actually, this may shock you." 119 00:04:54,500 --> 00:04:57,625 Now, I think this is funny. 120 00:04:57,667 --> 00:05:00,917 It's a little moment. 121 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:02,208 He goes on. 122 00:05:02,292 --> 00:05:03,917 "And he said to them, 'What things?'" 123 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:05,292 I love Jesus. 124 00:05:05,333 --> 00:05:06,625 "Oh, really? 125 00:05:06,667 --> 00:05:08,083 "There was a guy named Jesus? 126 00:05:08,167 --> 00:05:10,000 Tell me more. I would love to learn." 127 00:05:10,083 --> 00:05:12,583 Jesus is playing along, which is awesome. 128 00:05:12,667 --> 00:05:13,917 "And they said to him, 129 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:15,500 'Concerning Jesus of Nazareth...'" 130 00:05:15,542 --> 00:05:17,417 At this point, he's probably got his hand 131 00:05:17,500 --> 00:05:19,583 over his nametag that says "Jesus of Nazareth." 132 00:05:19,667 --> 00:05:21,500 [congregation laughing] 133 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,833 "...a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before 134 00:05:25,875 --> 00:05:29,083 "God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers," 135 00:05:29,167 --> 00:05:31,000 the political and religious leaders, 136 00:05:31,042 --> 00:05:32,917 "delivered him up to be condemned to death, 137 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:34,833 and crucified him.'" 138 00:05:34,875 --> 00:05:36,667 "Really, he was crucified? 139 00:05:36,750 --> 00:05:40,083 "That must have been terrible. 140 00:05:40,167 --> 00:05:42,917 Oop, don't show my hand." 141 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,833 "But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." 142 00:05:45,875 --> 00:05:47,125 "We were hoping for more." 143 00:05:47,167 --> 00:05:49,833 "Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day 144 00:05:49,875 --> 00:05:51,417 "since these things happened. 145 00:05:51,500 --> 00:05:54,000 "Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. 146 00:05:54,042 --> 00:05:56,125 "They were at the tomb early in the morning, 147 00:05:56,167 --> 00:05:58,083 "and when they did not find his body, 148 00:05:58,167 --> 00:06:00,833 "they came back saying that they had even seen a vision 149 00:06:00,875 --> 00:06:02,833 of angels, who said he was alive." 150 00:06:02,875 --> 00:06:05,917 "Yeah, the women said he rose from death, 151 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:08,333 "and they saw an angel. 152 00:06:08,375 --> 00:06:13,208 "Charismatic women, you can't trust their testimony. 153 00:06:13,292 --> 00:06:15,667 "They're all emotional." 154 00:06:15,750 --> 00:06:17,000 [congregation laughing] 155 00:06:17,083 --> 00:06:19,917 "So obviously, this didn't happen." 156 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,292 "Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it 157 00:06:23,333 --> 00:06:25,917 just as the women had said, but him they did not see." 158 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:27,625 "Us men folk investigated it. 159 00:06:27,667 --> 00:06:30,833 We didn't see the body." 160 00:06:30,875 --> 00:06:32,792 "And he said to them," Jesus does, 161 00:06:32,833 --> 00:06:35,417 "'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe 162 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:37,125 all that the prophets have spoken!'" 163 00:06:37,167 --> 00:06:39,708 "Don't you believe the Bible?" 164 00:06:39,792 --> 00:06:41,500 "'Was it not necessary that the Christ 165 00:06:41,583 --> 00:06:44,333 [the Anointed One of God] should suffer these things 166 00:06:44,375 --> 00:06:46,833 'and enter into his glory?' And beginning with Moses 167 00:06:46,875 --> 00:06:49,500 and all the Prophets..." 168 00:06:49,542 --> 00:06:51,708 That's another way of saying the Old Testament Scriptures. 169 00:06:51,792 --> 00:06:53,083 At this point 170 00:06:53,167 --> 00:06:55,708 in history the New Testament had not yet been written. 171 00:06:55,792 --> 00:06:58,125 "...he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things 172 00:06:58,167 --> 00:06:59,417 concerning himself." 173 00:06:59,500 --> 00:07:01,667 Coolest Bible study ever. 174 00:07:01,750 --> 00:07:04,708 Jesus is like, "Let's start in Genesis. 175 00:07:04,792 --> 00:07:06,083 Here I am. 176 00:07:06,167 --> 00:07:07,833 Leviticus, more me. 177 00:07:07,875 --> 00:07:09,917 Exodus, ha, me, too." 178 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,833 He just kept going. 179 00:07:12,875 --> 00:07:15,167 He just kept going through the Old Testament, 180 00:07:15,250 --> 00:07:18,125 taking all of the Scriptures and connecting it to himself. 181 00:07:18,167 --> 00:07:20,083 "This is about me, this is about me, 182 00:07:20,167 --> 00:07:22,083 this is about me, this is about me." 183 00:07:22,167 --> 00:07:23,417 Here's what's really important. 184 00:07:23,500 --> 00:07:25,417 This is how Jesus taught the Bible. 185 00:07:25,500 --> 00:07:27,667 There's morality in there, but it's not primarily 186 00:07:27,750 --> 00:07:29,583 about morality. 187 00:07:29,667 --> 00:07:31,792 There's religion and tradition and history, 188 00:07:31,833 --> 00:07:34,000 and miracles and the supernatural in there, 189 00:07:34,083 --> 00:07:36,083 but it's not primarily about all of that. 190 00:07:36,167 --> 00:07:37,500 All of that is secondary. 191 00:07:37,542 --> 00:07:40,125 It's primarily about Jesus. 192 00:07:40,167 --> 00:07:44,417 And this is a driving, deep conviction of Mars Hill Church. 193 00:07:44,500 --> 00:07:46,917 By God's grace, it has been since the beginning; 194 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,333 and by God's grace, it will be 'til Jesus returns. 195 00:07:50,375 --> 00:07:54,625 This is a book that God wrote, and it's all about Jesus, 196 00:07:54,667 --> 00:07:58,208 and you can't make any sense of this book unless you connect it 197 00:07:58,292 --> 00:07:59,917 all to Jesus. 198 00:08:00,042 --> 00:08:02,125 And any time this book is taught, 199 00:08:02,167 --> 00:08:05,667 and it's not primarily, firstly about Jesus, 200 00:08:05,750 --> 00:08:08,500 this book has not been well taught. 201 00:08:08,542 --> 00:08:12,083 It's about Jesus, and that's been the heart cry 202 00:08:12,167 --> 00:08:14,625 of Mars Hill Church since the beginning. 203 00:08:14,667 --> 00:08:17,667 God wrote a book, and it's all about Jesus. 204 00:08:17,750 --> 00:08:22,625 And what that means is this book is not primarily about you. 205 00:08:22,667 --> 00:08:24,500 It's not primarily about me. 206 00:08:24,583 --> 00:08:26,625 It's not primarily about us. 207 00:08:26,667 --> 00:08:32,708 It's about him, and it's for us, but it's primarily, firstly, 208 00:08:32,792 --> 00:08:36,292 chiefly about Jesus, and that includes not just 209 00:08:36,333 --> 00:08:39,125 the New Testament, but the Old Testament, as well. 210 00:08:39,167 --> 00:08:41,583 And so Jesus goes to the Old Testament, 211 00:08:41,667 --> 00:08:44,708 and he opens it up, and he methodically teaches through it, 212 00:08:44,792 --> 00:08:48,917 connecting it all to him. 213 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,292 "So they drew near to the village 214 00:08:51,333 --> 00:08:52,625 "to which they were going. 215 00:08:52,667 --> 00:08:54,833 "And he acted as if he were going farther, 216 00:08:54,875 --> 00:08:57,083 "but they urged him strongly, saying, 217 00:08:57,167 --> 00:08:59,208 'Stay with us, for it is toward evening 218 00:08:59,292 --> 00:09:01,000 and the day is now far spent.' 219 00:09:01,083 --> 00:09:02,708 "So he went in to stay with them. 220 00:09:02,792 --> 00:09:04,417 When he was at table with them..." 221 00:09:04,500 --> 00:09:06,583 Starting a Community Group. 222 00:09:06,667 --> 00:09:10,000 Going to have dinner together, build their friendship, 223 00:09:10,042 --> 00:09:11,417 discuss the Scriptures. 224 00:09:11,500 --> 00:09:13,417 We call this Community Groups. 225 00:09:13,500 --> 00:09:16,583 What's the first thing Jesus does when he rises from death? 226 00:09:16,667 --> 00:09:20,292 He teaches the Bible and starts a Community Group. 227 00:09:20,333 --> 00:09:22,833 These are our first priorities at Mars Hill. 228 00:09:22,875 --> 00:09:24,208 The Bible is open. 229 00:09:24,292 --> 00:09:25,583 We learn about Jesus. 230 00:09:25,667 --> 00:09:28,208 We get together, break bread, have a meal, 231 00:09:28,292 --> 00:09:29,583 build a friendship. 232 00:09:29,667 --> 00:09:31,083 We call it a Community Group. 233 00:09:31,167 --> 00:09:32,792 There's 500. Get in one. 234 00:09:32,833 --> 00:09:34,917 Jesus did. Yay, Jesus. 235 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,208 Be like Jesus. 236 00:09:36,292 --> 00:09:41,292 Read your Bible, love Jesus, get in a Community Group. 237 00:09:41,333 --> 00:09:43,417 I was expecting more enthusiasm, but we will-- 238 00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:45,167 [congregation laughing] 239 00:09:45,250 --> 00:09:46,917 I'll sell it again at the end. 240 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:49,208 I'm going to sell it again at the end. 241 00:09:49,292 --> 00:09:51,208 Jesus loved his mom, but the first thing 242 00:09:51,292 --> 00:09:53,208 he did not do was hug his mom. 243 00:09:53,292 --> 00:09:55,833 Jesus had brothers, but the first thing he did not do 244 00:09:55,875 --> 00:09:58,708 is go to his brothers and say, "Ha ha, told you so!" 245 00:09:58,792 --> 00:10:00,917 That would all be later. Jesus had disciples. 246 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:03,583 He's going to show up to them and do the whole 247 00:10:03,667 --> 00:10:07,000 "Where's Waldo?" next week, but the first thing he did, 248 00:10:07,083 --> 00:10:09,625 he taught the Bible and joined a Community Group. 249 00:10:09,667 --> 00:10:12,417 So that's first priority. 250 00:10:12,500 --> 00:10:14,917 Where was I before I had such a good time? 251 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,208 [congregation laughing] 252 00:10:16,292 --> 00:10:17,583 Ah! 253 00:10:17,667 --> 00:10:21,167 Oh, verse 31, "And their eyes were opened, 254 00:10:21,250 --> 00:10:23,417 and they recognized him." 255 00:10:23,500 --> 00:10:25,417 So, this is what God needs to do. 256 00:10:25,500 --> 00:10:26,708 All right? 257 00:10:26,792 --> 00:10:28,083 [congregation laughing] 258 00:10:28,167 --> 00:10:29,417 We got a big "Yay!" 259 00:10:29,500 --> 00:10:30,708 Cute little girl voice. 260 00:10:30,792 --> 00:10:32,083 "Yay, they saw him." 261 00:10:32,167 --> 00:10:33,417 Okay, here's how it works. 262 00:10:33,500 --> 00:10:36,500 God opens our eyes so that we see Jesus as God, 263 00:10:36,542 --> 00:10:38,208 Lord, Savior, King, and Christ. 264 00:10:38,292 --> 00:10:39,917 So if you have family, friends, coworkers, 265 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:43,125 neighbors, enemies, they don't see Jesus for who he is, 266 00:10:43,167 --> 00:10:44,833 don't get mad at them. 267 00:10:44,875 --> 00:10:48,125 Pray for them, keep teaching, keep answering the questions, 268 00:10:48,167 --> 00:10:50,833 keep bringing the Scripture, and wait for the Holy Spirit 269 00:10:50,875 --> 00:10:53,000 to open their understanding. 270 00:10:53,083 --> 00:10:55,667 They're not stupid; they're blind. 271 00:10:55,750 --> 00:10:57,000 Okay? 272 00:10:57,083 --> 00:10:58,500 You don't yell at blind people, 273 00:10:58,542 --> 00:10:59,833 saying, "Don't you see it?!" 274 00:10:59,875 --> 00:11:02,125 That's mean. 275 00:11:02,167 --> 00:11:04,500 [congregation laughing] 276 00:11:05,167 --> 00:11:07,708 It's really mean. 277 00:11:07,792 --> 00:11:10,583 God's got to open their eyes, like God's opened your eyes 278 00:11:10,667 --> 00:11:13,000 and my eyes, if we are Christians. 279 00:11:13,042 --> 00:11:14,708 Then they said to each other--oh, 280 00:11:14,792 --> 00:11:16,417 "And then he vanished from their sight." 281 00:11:16,500 --> 00:11:17,917 I don't know how that happened. 282 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:19,583 "We got it! There he went. 283 00:11:19,667 --> 00:11:21,833 What?" 284 00:11:21,875 --> 00:11:23,708 "It was awesome for a second." 285 00:11:23,792 --> 00:11:26,125 "They said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn 286 00:11:26,167 --> 00:11:28,500 "within us while he talked to us on the road, 287 00:11:28,583 --> 00:11:30,417 and while he opened to us the Scriptures?'" 288 00:11:30,500 --> 00:11:32,208 It's all about opening the Scriptures 289 00:11:32,292 --> 00:11:33,917 and meeting Jesus. 290 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,500 "And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. 291 00:11:36,583 --> 00:11:39,000 And they found the eleven," those are the other disciples, 292 00:11:39,042 --> 00:11:40,917 "and those who were with them gathered together, 293 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:43,333 "saying, 'The Lord has risen indeed.'" 294 00:11:43,375 --> 00:11:45,333 "The charismatic ladies are right! 295 00:11:45,375 --> 00:11:48,000 "He's alive! There was an angel. 296 00:11:48,083 --> 00:11:49,500 "He conquered death. Good news! 297 00:11:49,542 --> 00:11:51,625 Jesus is alive." 298 00:11:51,667 --> 00:11:53,417 This is amazing. 299 00:11:53,500 --> 00:11:56,417 This is resurrection, not just revivification. 300 00:11:56,500 --> 00:12:00,083 Revivification is when someone is pronounced dead, 301 00:12:00,167 --> 00:12:02,500 or we perform CPR, they come back to life, 302 00:12:02,542 --> 00:12:04,083 and eventually they're going to die. 303 00:12:04,167 --> 00:12:06,500 Jesus died and he rose to never die again. 304 00:12:06,583 --> 00:12:08,625 That's resurrection. 305 00:12:08,667 --> 00:12:11,208 No one, no one is like Jesus. 306 00:12:11,292 --> 00:12:13,833 He alone conquers death. 307 00:12:13,875 --> 00:12:16,208 "'The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!'" 308 00:12:16,292 --> 00:12:17,708 Also known as Peter. 309 00:12:17,792 --> 00:12:19,917 "Then they told what had happened on the road, 310 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,333 "and how he was made known to them, 311 00:12:23,375 --> 00:12:25,083 "in the breaking of the bread." 312 00:12:25,167 --> 00:12:26,417 Three things we see here. 313 00:12:26,500 --> 00:12:30,167 Number one-- man, I'm so excited, I can't even breathe. 314 00:12:30,250 --> 00:12:33,083 Number one, Jesus rose from death bodily, 315 00:12:33,167 --> 00:12:34,417 physically, literally. 316 00:12:34,500 --> 00:12:37,500 Some say he rose from death spiritually in my heart. 317 00:12:37,583 --> 00:12:38,833 No, he didn't. 318 00:12:38,875 --> 00:12:40,167 He's really alive. 319 00:12:40,250 --> 00:12:42,167 Like the Jehovah's Witnesses, "He rose spiritually." 320 00:12:42,250 --> 00:12:43,625 No, he didn't. 321 00:12:43,667 --> 00:12:45,333 He's walking, talking, eating. 322 00:12:45,375 --> 00:12:47,125 Do you know what that is? 323 00:12:47,167 --> 00:12:52,583 A resurrected guy walking, talking, teaching, eating-- 324 00:12:52,667 --> 00:12:53,917 dead and alive. 325 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:55,708 That's exactly who Jesus is. 326 00:12:55,792 --> 00:13:01,000 Number two, we are spiritually blind until God opens our eyes, 327 00:13:01,083 --> 00:13:03,833 and it is through the teaching of the Word of God 328 00:13:03,875 --> 00:13:06,000 that blind eyes are opened. 329 00:13:06,083 --> 00:13:10,000 The first priority of Jesus is get people together 330 00:13:10,042 --> 00:13:13,833 and teach them the Scriptures, teach them the Word of God, 331 00:13:13,875 --> 00:13:17,917 teach them about the fact that God wrote a book, 332 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,708 and it's all about Jesus. 333 00:13:20,792 --> 00:13:25,417 So, what I'm going to do now is I'm going to teach you how Jesus 334 00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:26,917 taught the Bible. 335 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,917 I want you to see the Bible like Jesus did. 336 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,417 That's what I want for you, and I want you to be able to, 337 00:13:33,500 --> 00:13:37,500 as you read and study the Bible, to connect it all to the person 338 00:13:37,583 --> 00:13:39,708 and work of Jesus. 339 00:13:39,792 --> 00:13:42,417 And so I'm going to teach you some things that perhaps 340 00:13:42,500 --> 00:13:43,708 you've heard before. 341 00:13:43,792 --> 00:13:46,917 And if you've been at Mars Hill, these are the kind of things 342 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,083 that I tend to weave into the sermons often 343 00:13:49,167 --> 00:13:51,500 because they're important and they're significant. 344 00:13:51,583 --> 00:13:53,667 Paul in the New Testament does the same thing. 345 00:13:53,750 --> 00:13:55,708 He oftentimes tells various churches, 346 00:13:55,792 --> 00:13:57,083 "Let me remind you." 347 00:13:57,167 --> 00:13:59,500 So, for some of you, the rest of the sermon 348 00:13:59,542 --> 00:14:01,125 is going to be a reminder. 349 00:14:01,167 --> 00:14:03,583 For many of you, it'll be new. 350 00:14:03,667 --> 00:14:08,125 We have grown in the last few weeks by a few thousand people. 351 00:14:08,167 --> 00:14:09,917 So, praise God. 352 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,208 Welcome. Jesus loves you. 353 00:14:12,292 --> 00:14:13,625 We're glad to have you. 354 00:14:13,667 --> 00:14:16,125 God wrote a book; it's all about Jesus. 355 00:14:16,167 --> 00:14:19,708 And it's my great pleasure to teach you six ways-- 356 00:14:19,792 --> 00:14:22,500 we're going to do a whole year of Bible college 357 00:14:22,542 --> 00:14:26,333 in 1 hour, or more, 358 00:14:26,375 --> 00:14:29,083 and we're going to look at six different ways to take 359 00:14:29,167 --> 00:14:33,083 the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus taught was about him 360 00:14:33,167 --> 00:14:34,708 and connect it all to him. 361 00:14:34,792 --> 00:14:37,625 Are you ready?! 362 00:14:37,667 --> 00:14:40,333 All right, number one. 363 00:14:40,375 --> 00:14:43,500 Sometimes the Old Testament teaches about Jesus 364 00:14:43,542 --> 00:14:45,208 through events. 365 00:14:45,292 --> 00:14:47,625 I'll give you two major events. 366 00:14:47,667 --> 00:14:49,708 The first is called Passover. 367 00:14:49,792 --> 00:14:51,417 Passover was an occasion where, 368 00:14:51,500 --> 00:14:53,417 at the end of the book of Genesis, 369 00:14:53,500 --> 00:14:56,417 a family, a small family, 60-some people, 370 00:14:56,500 --> 00:14:59,208 was suffering from a massive famine, 371 00:14:59,292 --> 00:15:01,833 so they sought refuge in a country called Egypt. 372 00:15:01,875 --> 00:15:03,792 They relocated there. 373 00:15:03,833 --> 00:15:06,333 Over the course of more than 400 years-- 374 00:15:06,375 --> 00:15:08,583 this is Genesis and Exodus-- 375 00:15:08,667 --> 00:15:11,917 what happened was this little family grew 376 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,292 to be a nation, called Israel, of a few million people. 377 00:15:16,333 --> 00:15:18,000 And there was a new king. 378 00:15:18,083 --> 00:15:21,583 He was called a pharaoh, and he was worshiped like a god. 379 00:15:21,667 --> 00:15:23,833 He was worshiped as a god. 380 00:15:23,875 --> 00:15:27,083 And he was enslaving, mistreating, abusing, 381 00:15:27,167 --> 00:15:30,583 and harming God's people. 382 00:15:30,667 --> 00:15:35,417 And so what God said was that he wanted to deliver them. 383 00:15:35,500 --> 00:15:38,625 He wanted to redeem them so that they would be free 384 00:15:38,667 --> 00:15:40,667 to worship him. 385 00:15:40,750 --> 00:15:44,583 So God, the real God, showed up to the false god named Pharaoh, 386 00:15:44,667 --> 00:15:46,917 and he basically said, "These are my people. 387 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:48,583 "You're hurting and enslaving them. 388 00:15:48,667 --> 00:15:50,083 "You need to let them go, 389 00:15:50,167 --> 00:15:52,625 otherwise I'm going to punish you." 390 00:15:52,667 --> 00:15:56,208 Pharaoh hardened his heart, resisted the grace of God, 391 00:15:56,292 --> 00:16:00,292 kept fighting against God, and wanted to be god. 392 00:16:00,333 --> 00:16:04,917 So God sent an escalating succession of plagues, 393 00:16:05,000 --> 00:16:07,125 and he sent a messenger named Moses. 394 00:16:07,167 --> 00:16:08,625 "A plague is coming. 395 00:16:08,667 --> 00:16:10,083 "Please repent. 396 00:16:10,167 --> 00:16:11,583 "Obey God. 397 00:16:11,667 --> 00:16:12,917 "Let the people go. 398 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:14,208 "He loves them. 399 00:16:14,292 --> 00:16:15,708 "They're his people, not yours. 400 00:16:15,792 --> 00:16:17,417 If not, this horrible thing will happen." 401 00:16:17,500 --> 00:16:19,417 And it happened over and over and over. 402 00:16:19,500 --> 00:16:22,583 The plagues came just as God promised. 403 00:16:22,667 --> 00:16:26,417 What happened then was it escalated in the final plague, 404 00:16:26,500 --> 00:16:28,792 the killing of the firstborn. 405 00:16:28,833 --> 00:16:30,708 And God, through Moses, essentially said 406 00:16:30,792 --> 00:16:34,208 to the false god, Pharaoh, "This is it. We're done. 407 00:16:34,292 --> 00:16:36,417 "I've been real patient, loving, gracious, 408 00:16:36,500 --> 00:16:37,917 "merciful, and kind. 409 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:41,917 "The nicer I am to you, the harder your heart becomes. 410 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,792 "You let my people go, or I will kill the firstborn son 411 00:16:45,833 --> 00:16:48,125 "in every household in your nation, 412 00:16:48,167 --> 00:16:52,417 including your own household and your own son." 413 00:16:52,500 --> 00:16:55,917 Pharaoh did not repent and, as a result, 414 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,125 death came to every household and the firstborn son 415 00:16:59,167 --> 00:17:01,500 in every home, with one exception: 416 00:17:01,542 --> 00:17:05,417 those homes who, in faith, as an act of worship 417 00:17:05,500 --> 00:17:07,917 to the God of the Bible in acknowledgement 418 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:13,125 of their own sin, took an animal, sacrificed it-- 419 00:17:13,167 --> 00:17:17,083 because the wage for sin is death-- 420 00:17:17,167 --> 00:17:19,083 and that animal was a substitute, 421 00:17:19,167 --> 00:17:20,708 showing, "We're sinners. 422 00:17:20,792 --> 00:17:22,708 "We should have death come to our home, 423 00:17:22,792 --> 00:17:25,417 "but because of our faith in the God of the Bible, 424 00:17:25,500 --> 00:17:28,500 "his love for us, we'll sacrifice this animal. 425 00:17:28,583 --> 00:17:30,917 "We'll take the blood, we'll paint it over the doorpost 426 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,167 "of our home, and then literally death 427 00:17:33,250 --> 00:17:36,333 "will pass over our home, and we'll be spared 428 00:17:36,375 --> 00:17:38,708 from the wrath of God." 429 00:17:38,792 --> 00:17:42,583 So death came to every home, with the exception of those who, 430 00:17:42,667 --> 00:17:45,500 in faith, were covered by the blood, 431 00:17:45,542 --> 00:17:48,417 so that the wrath of God would pass over them. 432 00:17:48,500 --> 00:17:51,167 That's all about Jesus. 433 00:17:51,250 --> 00:17:54,667 Later, when Jesus comes-- many years later-- 434 00:17:54,750 --> 00:17:58,417 his cousin, John the Baptizer, looks at him and declares, 435 00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:01,792 "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins 436 00:18:01,833 --> 00:18:03,500 of the world!" 437 00:18:03,542 --> 00:18:06,333 Paul tells the Corinthians that Jesus Christ is, quote, 438 00:18:06,375 --> 00:18:10,125 "Our Passover Lamb, who has been slain." 439 00:18:10,167 --> 00:18:12,583 You know why we don't celebrate Passover? 440 00:18:12,667 --> 00:18:14,667 You know why we don't slaughter animals? 441 00:18:14,750 --> 00:18:16,333 We don't need to. 442 00:18:16,375 --> 00:18:18,833 Jesus fulfilled Passover. 443 00:18:18,875 --> 00:18:21,917 Jesus is our Passover sacrifice. 444 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:26,208 He shed his blood for our sin, so that the wrath of God 445 00:18:26,292 --> 00:18:29,708 and the death from sin might pass over us. 446 00:18:29,792 --> 00:18:32,333 So we don't just have celebrations 447 00:18:32,375 --> 00:18:34,625 and annual feasts and meals. 448 00:18:34,667 --> 00:18:36,917 We have Jesus, and we love him every day. 449 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:40,417 The second event that I want to connect to the person 450 00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:42,708 and work of Jesus, is called Yom Kippur, 451 00:18:42,792 --> 00:18:44,917 the Day of Atonement. 452 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:48,125 And it was in Jewish calendar year the big day. 453 00:18:48,167 --> 00:18:52,083 They actually called it The Day, and it was the big day, 454 00:18:52,167 --> 00:18:57,083 and it was the day when the holy God and the sinful people 455 00:18:57,167 --> 00:19:00,417 would deal with the sin problem that separated them. 456 00:19:00,500 --> 00:19:03,792 And so the people would come, usually to Jerusalem. 457 00:19:03,833 --> 00:19:07,417 The priest, the high priest, as the intercessor, 458 00:19:07,500 --> 00:19:10,583 mediator, advocate between God and the people, 459 00:19:10,667 --> 00:19:12,208 would take two goats. 460 00:19:12,292 --> 00:19:15,083 One was the sacrificial goat, and the other was the scapegoat. 461 00:19:15,167 --> 00:19:16,917 This was an annual tradition, 462 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,208 and it was their big, high, holy holiday. 463 00:19:20,292 --> 00:19:23,500 And over the sacrificial goat, the sins of the people 464 00:19:23,583 --> 00:19:26,500 would be confessed, and then that priest 465 00:19:26,583 --> 00:19:28,417 would take and slaughter the animal 466 00:19:28,500 --> 00:19:30,292 as a substitute sacrifice, 467 00:19:30,333 --> 00:19:32,917 and the blood would be shed, and the wrath of God 468 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:35,917 would be poured out on that animal, in their place, 469 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:37,917 as a substitute. 470 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,333 Then the second goat was not the sacrificial goat. 471 00:19:40,375 --> 00:19:42,000 It was the scapegoat. 472 00:19:42,083 --> 00:19:43,500 If you've heard that nomenclature, 473 00:19:43,542 --> 00:19:45,333 it comes from the Bible. 474 00:19:45,375 --> 00:19:47,708 And, again, the sins of the people would be confessed 475 00:19:47,792 --> 00:19:50,417 over the animal, and rather than being slaughtered, 476 00:19:50,500 --> 00:19:54,208 it would be sent away, showing Jesus is coming. 477 00:19:54,292 --> 00:19:56,417 He is our Yom Kippur. 478 00:19:56,500 --> 00:19:58,417 He is our Day of Atonement. 479 00:19:58,500 --> 00:20:01,000 His cross will ultimately achieve this. 480 00:20:01,042 --> 00:20:03,000 He is our high priest who mediates. 481 00:20:03,083 --> 00:20:07,083 He is our sacrifice who forgives our sin, 482 00:20:07,167 --> 00:20:10,167 and he is our scapegoat who takes it away 483 00:20:10,250 --> 00:20:11,917 and makes us clean. 484 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:14,833 And we don't celebrate Yom Kippur. 485 00:20:14,875 --> 00:20:18,500 We celebrate Jesus because the whole point of Yom Kippur 486 00:20:18,583 --> 00:20:22,667 was preparation, anticipation, expectation 487 00:20:22,750 --> 00:20:25,625 for the crucifixion of Jesus. 488 00:20:25,667 --> 00:20:29,583 Number two, we learn about Jesus in the Old Testament 489 00:20:29,667 --> 00:20:31,333 through titles. 490 00:20:31,375 --> 00:20:34,667 There are a variety of titles in the Old Testament 491 00:20:34,750 --> 00:20:38,708 that were ultimately attributed to Jesus by Jesus. 492 00:20:38,792 --> 00:20:41,833 So if you read, for example, Isaiah— 493 00:20:41,875 --> 00:20:45,000 written 700 years before Jesus was born— 494 00:20:45,083 --> 00:20:47,583 beginning in roughly chapter 40 all the way through 495 00:20:47,667 --> 00:20:51,417 to chapter 66, the dominating theme is about 496 00:20:51,500 --> 00:20:54,833 someone called the suffering servant, 497 00:20:54,875 --> 00:20:58,708 that God would send a Savior, a Son, 498 00:20:58,792 --> 00:21:01,583 who would be a suffering servant. 499 00:21:01,667 --> 00:21:05,625 Jesus comes and says, "I have not come to be served 500 00:21:05,667 --> 00:21:10,583 but to serve by giving my life as a ransom for many." 501 00:21:10,667 --> 00:21:14,917 Jesus comes as the suffering servant. 502 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,125 Furthermore, in the Old Testament, 503 00:21:17,167 --> 00:21:19,625 God is referred to as the Alpha and the Omega, 504 00:21:19,667 --> 00:21:21,000 the Beginning and the End. 505 00:21:21,042 --> 00:21:23,417 This is in reference to the eternality of God. 506 00:21:23,500 --> 00:21:24,833 God is without beginning. 507 00:21:24,875 --> 00:21:26,167 God is without end. 508 00:21:26,250 --> 00:21:27,708 God is the uncaused cause. 509 00:21:27,792 --> 00:21:29,125 God is eternal. 510 00:21:29,167 --> 00:21:31,792 All that has been made has been made by God. 511 00:21:31,833 --> 00:21:36,417 And the New Testament takes that eternal Alpha and Omega 512 00:21:36,500 --> 00:21:40,292 nomenclature for God and attributes it to Jesus, 513 00:21:40,333 --> 00:21:44,917 who is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. 514 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:47,500 We've seen it in Luke, as we've been in Luke now 515 00:21:47,583 --> 00:21:49,417 for more than 2 years. 516 00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:51,917 Jesus' favorite title for himself is from 517 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,917 the Old Testament: the Son of Man. 518 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,292 He uses that language more than 80 times, 519 00:21:57,333 --> 00:21:59,708 roughly 80 times in your Bible, 520 00:21:59,792 --> 00:22:02,583 and it comes from Daniel 7:13-14, 521 00:22:02,667 --> 00:22:06,000 where the vision is of Jesus in eternal glory 522 00:22:06,083 --> 00:22:08,167 in heaven, ruling and reigning, 523 00:22:08,250 --> 00:22:11,708 coming into human history humbly as a man 524 00:22:11,792 --> 00:22:14,625 to set up a kingdom that'll never end. 525 00:22:14,667 --> 00:22:18,583 And Jesus says, "Though it was written hundreds of years before 526 00:22:18,667 --> 00:22:22,417 I was born of the Virgin Mary, I am the Son of Man." 527 00:22:22,500 --> 00:22:24,292 And people heard that, and they said, 528 00:22:24,333 --> 00:22:28,917 "He is claiming to be God," exactly, because he is God. 529 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,000 And he was crucified, put to death 530 00:22:32,042 --> 00:22:36,208 under the charge of blasphemy for declaring himself to be God! 531 00:22:36,292 --> 00:22:39,792 And he rose from death 3 days later to, in essence, 532 00:22:39,833 --> 00:22:42,917 say, "I told you so!" 533 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,292 And Jesus is alive, and he is the Son of Man. 534 00:22:47,333 --> 00:22:51,625 Furthermore, there is another title in the Old Testament 535 00:22:51,667 --> 00:22:53,208 used for God. 536 00:22:53,292 --> 00:22:55,917 It's around the burning bush with a guy named Moses. 537 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:58,000 So Moses is walking along in the wilderness. 538 00:22:58,042 --> 00:23:01,167 There's a bush that's on fire that does not get consumed. 539 00:23:01,250 --> 00:23:03,833 Again, I think God has a good sense of humor. 540 00:23:03,875 --> 00:23:07,167 God talks to Moses through the bush. 541 00:23:07,250 --> 00:23:09,792 Now, we tend to read this in a religious way. 542 00:23:09,833 --> 00:23:11,917 If you read this, you're like, "Yes, yes. 543 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,083 Moses had a conversation with the burning bush." 544 00:23:14,167 --> 00:23:16,833 Just think about it. 545 00:23:16,875 --> 00:23:20,583 If you saw a guy talking to a plant, 546 00:23:20,667 --> 00:23:22,333 you would call 9-1-1, right? 547 00:23:22,375 --> 00:23:24,708 You would not say, "It's a moment with the Lord. 548 00:23:24,792 --> 00:23:27,125 Leave him alone." 549 00:23:27,167 --> 00:23:28,417 Right? 550 00:23:28,500 --> 00:23:30,708 So Moses is having a conversation with a bush; 551 00:23:30,792 --> 00:23:35,083 not just a bush, but a bush that's on fire in Exodus 3. 552 00:23:35,167 --> 00:23:37,833 And the bush tells Moses, "Go to the Pharaoh. 553 00:23:37,875 --> 00:23:39,708 "Liberate my people. 554 00:23:39,792 --> 00:23:43,500 Lead a mass emancipation for millions!" 555 00:23:43,583 --> 00:23:45,792 Moses has a good question. 556 00:23:45,833 --> 00:23:49,917 "Who should I tell them is making this declaration? 557 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,708 "Because I don't feel altogether confident saying, 558 00:23:52,792 --> 00:23:54,500 'Thus saith the bush.'" 559 00:23:54,583 --> 00:23:57,500 [congregation laughing] 560 00:23:58,542 --> 00:24:01,833 It's a reasonable request. 561 00:24:01,875 --> 00:24:07,708 So through the bush--I think it's Exodus 3:14--God says, 562 00:24:07,792 --> 00:24:12,000 "Tell them 'I AM has sent you.'" 563 00:24:12,042 --> 00:24:15,333 "Okay, that's a lot better than the bush." 564 00:24:15,375 --> 00:24:16,917 "I AM says..." 565 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:20,333 Jesus comes along, I think it's John 8:58, 566 00:24:20,375 --> 00:24:24,083 and he says this: "Before Abraham was--" 567 00:24:24,167 --> 00:24:26,417 Abraham was thousands of years prior. 568 00:24:26,500 --> 00:24:31,083 "Before Abraham was, I am." 569 00:24:31,167 --> 00:24:34,000 "I'm eternal God, older than Abraham, 570 00:24:34,042 --> 00:24:37,417 "and I was the one who met with Moses in the burning bush 571 00:24:37,500 --> 00:24:40,917 and told him to go liberate my people." 572 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:43,833 The titles of the Old Testament point to Jesus, 573 00:24:43,875 --> 00:24:46,083 the events of the Old Testament point to Jesus, 574 00:24:46,167 --> 00:24:48,500 and the prophecies of the Old Testament point to Jesus-- 575 00:24:48,583 --> 00:24:50,333 category three. 576 00:24:50,375 --> 00:24:54,333 Now, prophecy shows us that God is omniscient; 577 00:24:54,375 --> 00:24:56,083 he knows all things. 578 00:24:56,167 --> 00:24:59,625 He's sovereign; he rules all things. 579 00:24:59,667 --> 00:25:02,292 Twenty-five percent of the Bible, roughly, 580 00:25:02,333 --> 00:25:05,125 at the time of its writing, was prophetic in nature, 581 00:25:05,167 --> 00:25:07,917 meaning it was God through human authors, 582 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:09,917 by the power of the Holy Spirit, 583 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,417 revealing future events in meticulous detail 584 00:25:13,500 --> 00:25:16,583 because God knows the future and he rules over the future, 585 00:25:16,667 --> 00:25:19,208 bringing it to pass, just as he promised. 586 00:25:19,292 --> 00:25:23,000 This makes Christianity different than other religions, 587 00:25:23,042 --> 00:25:26,083 and it makes the Bible altogether unique. 588 00:25:26,167 --> 00:25:29,083 People today would love to know the future. 589 00:25:29,167 --> 00:25:31,917 From investments, to sports competitions, 590 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,500 to who am I going to marry and how long am I going to live, 591 00:25:35,583 --> 00:25:39,292 so much of our life is dedicated to trying to discern 592 00:25:39,333 --> 00:25:41,917 and determine what the future might hold. 593 00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:46,000 And the truth is we don't know because we're not God. 594 00:25:46,083 --> 00:25:48,083 But God does know. 595 00:25:48,167 --> 00:25:53,917 And as he writes the Scriptures, he also reveals the future, 596 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:59,833 and he, through prophecy, tells us exactly how Jesus will come. 597 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,083 I can't give you all of the prophecies, 598 00:26:02,167 --> 00:26:05,208 there are hundreds, but I want to visit some 599 00:26:05,292 --> 00:26:08,000 of what I find to be the most compelling, 600 00:26:08,042 --> 00:26:10,083 and I do so for two reasons. 601 00:26:10,167 --> 00:26:12,917 Number one, for those of you who are not Christians, 602 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,333 I want you to consider Jesus. 603 00:26:15,375 --> 00:26:18,500 I want you to read the book that God wrote 604 00:26:18,583 --> 00:26:21,917 and I want you to see that it's all about Jesus 605 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:25,083 and I want you to wrestle with the fact that if God 606 00:26:25,167 --> 00:26:29,417 did not write this book, how can you potentially account 607 00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:32,583 for the magnificent detail around prophecy 608 00:26:32,667 --> 00:26:34,708 that I will share with you in a moment? 609 00:26:34,792 --> 00:26:36,917 Number two, for those of you who are Christians, 610 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,417 I want you to trust that this is the book that God wrote, 611 00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:45,125 and I want you to see that it is superior to and unlike 612 00:26:45,167 --> 00:26:47,583 anything else that has ever been written 613 00:26:47,667 --> 00:26:49,917 or taught in the history of the world. 614 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:52,083 And because it is the book that God wrote, 615 00:26:52,167 --> 00:26:54,917 it has authority over everyone and everything else. 616 00:26:55,000 --> 00:26:57,708 We'll start in Genesis 3:15. 617 00:26:57,792 --> 00:27:00,208 After our first parents' sin-- 618 00:27:00,292 --> 00:27:04,292 this is some 4,000 years before Jesus is even born 619 00:27:04,333 --> 00:27:06,417 of the Virgin Mary-- 620 00:27:06,500 --> 00:27:08,833 God comes and gives the first prophecy. 621 00:27:08,875 --> 00:27:13,083 He speaks to our enemy, his adversary Satan the serpent, 622 00:27:13,167 --> 00:27:14,625 in the Garden. 623 00:27:14,667 --> 00:27:17,208 Genesis 3:15, prophecy begins with God 624 00:27:17,292 --> 00:27:20,000 who says, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, 625 00:27:20,083 --> 00:27:22,083 "between your offspring and her offspring; 626 00:27:22,167 --> 00:27:25,333 he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." 627 00:27:25,375 --> 00:27:29,125 God comes and says, "Sin has now come into human history. 628 00:27:29,167 --> 00:27:32,417 I will send a Savior for sinners." 629 00:27:32,500 --> 00:27:37,500 He--so, we're looking for a male child--will be born of a woman. 630 00:27:37,583 --> 00:27:41,000 This is the first intimation at a virgin birth. 631 00:27:41,042 --> 00:27:46,583 As you read the rest of Genesis, there are, on a few occasions, 632 00:27:46,667 --> 00:27:49,083 family histories and chronologies. 633 00:27:49,167 --> 00:27:52,125 All of those are patriarchal, meaning it tells us who 634 00:27:52,167 --> 00:27:55,167 the father, the grandfather, the great-grandfather, was. 635 00:27:55,250 --> 00:27:57,333 They are not matriarchal. 636 00:27:57,375 --> 00:27:59,208 They do not list the mothers. 637 00:27:59,292 --> 00:28:01,208 They list the fathers. 638 00:28:01,292 --> 00:28:04,833 Here, there is no mention of an earthly father, 639 00:28:04,875 --> 00:28:07,917 only the mention of an earthly mother. 640 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:10,000 That is because Jesus would come, number one, 641 00:28:10,042 --> 00:28:12,917 born of a woman, that he would not have 642 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:17,500 a biological earthly father, that he would be conceived 643 00:28:17,583 --> 00:28:21,417 by a miracle of the Holy Spirit, that he's not a mere man. 644 00:28:21,500 --> 00:28:23,583 He's God become a man. 645 00:28:23,667 --> 00:28:26,208 And it was said that he would come and battle Satan 646 00:28:26,292 --> 00:28:28,667 and that Satan would harm and wound him, 647 00:28:28,750 --> 00:28:31,833 but he ultimately would defeat and crush Satan. 648 00:28:31,875 --> 00:28:35,125 And from that moment forward, there was an expectation 649 00:28:35,167 --> 00:28:37,417 that a women would give birth to a son, 650 00:28:37,500 --> 00:28:40,083 who would be the Savior of the world. 651 00:28:40,167 --> 00:28:44,125 Continuing the storyline of the Bible, Genesis 17, 652 00:28:44,167 --> 00:28:47,917 penned some 2,000 years before Jesus was born, 653 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,000 God shows up to an obscure man, at that time-- 654 00:28:51,083 --> 00:28:52,917 a famous man in our time-- 655 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:54,417 named Abraham. 656 00:28:54,500 --> 00:28:57,917 And this is one of the many things that God said to him 657 00:28:58,000 --> 00:28:59,792 in Genesis 17:19. 658 00:28:59,833 --> 00:29:01,667 "God said, 'No, but Sarah your wife 659 00:29:01,750 --> 00:29:03,417 "shall bear you [Abraham] a son. 660 00:29:03,500 --> 00:29:06,708 You shall call his name Isaac,'" which means laughter. 661 00:29:06,792 --> 00:29:08,708 They're a barren elderly couple. 662 00:29:08,792 --> 00:29:10,125 They've been laughing at God. 663 00:29:10,167 --> 00:29:12,208 God always gets the last laugh. 664 00:29:12,292 --> 00:29:14,792 He's going to impregnate Sarah at the retirement home. 665 00:29:14,833 --> 00:29:16,417 It's going to be hilarious. 666 00:29:16,500 --> 00:29:17,833 [congregation laughing] 667 00:29:17,875 --> 00:29:20,625 "I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting 668 00:29:20,667 --> 00:29:23,417 covenant for his offspring after him." 669 00:29:23,500 --> 00:29:25,792 He says, "Jesus is coming and, Abraham, he's coming 670 00:29:25,833 --> 00:29:27,667 "through your line. 671 00:29:27,750 --> 00:29:30,917 "He's going to be your descendant. 672 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,583 "And he's not coming from your girlfriend. 673 00:29:33,667 --> 00:29:35,625 He's coming from your wife." 674 00:29:35,667 --> 00:29:38,625 They had waited for God to provide a son. 675 00:29:38,667 --> 00:29:41,125 They had not become pregnant. 676 00:29:41,167 --> 00:29:43,917 Sarah cooked up this horrible idea for Abraham to, 677 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:47,000 in essence, commit adultery, to sleep with another woman. 678 00:29:47,042 --> 00:29:49,583 Gave birth to a son. 679 00:29:49,667 --> 00:29:51,500 The Muslims now look back and say, 680 00:29:51,542 --> 00:29:53,417 "Our son was born first. 681 00:29:53,500 --> 00:29:56,833 That is the seed and line of the promise." 682 00:29:56,875 --> 00:30:00,083 And the whole conflict between Islam, Christianity, 683 00:30:00,167 --> 00:30:03,708 and Judaism comes out of adultery. 684 00:30:03,792 --> 00:30:07,417 It's amazing what one illicit sexual act, 685 00:30:07,500 --> 00:30:10,917 given enough generations, can result in. 686 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,417 The fight between the religions is, to some degree, 687 00:30:13,500 --> 00:30:16,125 an ancient family feud. 688 00:30:16,167 --> 00:30:17,833 God came. 689 00:30:17,875 --> 00:30:19,917 He loved the other woman and her son, 690 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,208 but he said, "It will be through Sarah, 691 00:30:22,292 --> 00:30:24,417 "not the other woman, your son Isaac, 692 00:30:24,500 --> 00:30:28,208 not the other boy, that Jesus ultimately will come." 693 00:30:28,292 --> 00:30:31,292 So we're looking for one born of a woman without 694 00:30:31,333 --> 00:30:37,083 an earthly father from the line of Abraham, through Sarah, 695 00:30:37,167 --> 00:30:39,500 descendant of Isaac. 696 00:30:39,583 --> 00:30:43,000 God is telling us how Jesus is going to come, 697 00:30:43,042 --> 00:30:46,125 and then he narrows it even further, roughly 700 years 698 00:30:46,167 --> 00:30:48,208 before Jesus is born on the earth, 699 00:30:48,292 --> 00:30:52,417 Isaiah 7:14, we read this: "Therefore the Lord himself 700 00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:53,917 "will give you a sign. 701 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:56,333 "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, 702 00:30:56,375 --> 00:30:58,833 and shall call his name Immanuel." 703 00:30:58,875 --> 00:31:01,292 Number one, a virgin is going to have a baby. 704 00:31:01,333 --> 00:31:04,208 That really narrows it down, right? 705 00:31:04,292 --> 00:31:07,583 There's not a lot of pregnant virgins walking around 706 00:31:07,667 --> 00:31:12,333 the Middle East a few thousand years ago. 707 00:31:12,375 --> 00:31:15,583 This really narrows it down to one person, 708 00:31:15,667 --> 00:31:18,208 and she's going to give birth not just to a child, 709 00:31:18,292 --> 00:31:20,875 but a son, and we're going to give him a name, 710 00:31:20,958 --> 00:31:23,125 a title, which is Immanuel, which means what? 711 00:31:23,167 --> 00:31:25,292 "God is with us." 712 00:31:25,333 --> 00:31:27,917 God is coming to be with us. 713 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,833 You'll know it's him when the virgin gets pregnant. 714 00:31:32,875 --> 00:31:36,083 Her name is Mary; his name is Jesus. 715 00:31:36,167 --> 00:31:38,583 It's a miracle of God. 716 00:31:38,667 --> 00:31:43,000 It's once in all of human history. 717 00:31:43,083 --> 00:31:44,583 Where would he be born? 718 00:31:44,667 --> 00:31:47,083 God's going to narrow it down even further. 719 00:31:47,167 --> 00:31:50,917 So we read, roughly 700 years before Jesus is born, 720 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:55,333 in Micah 5:2: "But you, O Bethlehem--" that's a city-- 721 00:31:55,375 --> 00:31:58,917 "Ephrathah--" that's a region-- "who are too little to be among 722 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:01,917 the clans of Judah--" little town, dumpy town, 723 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,208 rural town, hick town, small town, 724 00:32:05,292 --> 00:32:07,708 not the kind of place you'd think God would 725 00:32:07,792 --> 00:32:14,125 come from, rural area--nothing big ever happened there-- 726 00:32:14,167 --> 00:32:18,500 that's where God's going to show up-- 727 00:32:18,583 --> 00:32:21,417 "from you shall come forth for me one who is to be 728 00:32:21,500 --> 00:32:24,208 ruler in Israel--" a king is coming-- 729 00:32:24,292 --> 00:32:29,583 "whose origin is from old, from ancient days [from eternity]." 730 00:32:29,667 --> 00:32:31,833 He'll be born where? 731 00:32:31,875 --> 00:32:33,625 Bethlehem. 732 00:32:33,667 --> 00:32:36,417 Question: Was Jesus from Bethlehem? 733 00:32:36,500 --> 00:32:39,583 No, he was from Nazareth. 734 00:32:39,667 --> 00:32:41,500 He grew up in Nazareth. 735 00:32:41,583 --> 00:32:45,333 I've traveled, and ventured, and journeyed in this region. 736 00:32:45,375 --> 00:32:49,000 It's a ways from Bethlehem to Nazareth. 737 00:32:49,042 --> 00:32:51,792 And what happened was Mary was the virgin. 738 00:32:51,833 --> 00:32:54,000 She conceived by a miracle of the Holy Spirit. 739 00:32:54,042 --> 00:32:56,500 She was probably a teenage girl. 740 00:32:56,583 --> 00:32:59,208 Joseph decides he's going to go ahead and marry her, 741 00:32:59,292 --> 00:33:00,833 and he's going to adopt Jesus. 742 00:33:00,875 --> 00:33:02,208 Yes, our God is adopted. 743 00:33:02,292 --> 00:33:04,333 It's a magnificent story. 744 00:33:04,375 --> 00:33:07,917 But before Jesus is born, a godless political leader 745 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:10,083 who's in it for the money and the power, 746 00:33:10,167 --> 00:33:11,583 says, "I want a census taken. 747 00:33:11,667 --> 00:33:13,708 "I want to know who all my people are 748 00:33:13,792 --> 00:33:15,667 "so I can get all my tax revenue. 749 00:33:15,750 --> 00:33:18,083 "So everybody needs to go to their hometown of origin, 750 00:33:18,167 --> 00:33:19,917 where their family is from." 751 00:33:20,000 --> 00:33:23,292 And in the providence of God, David--Jesus' adopted father, 752 00:33:23,333 --> 00:33:25,833 even though he's in the womb of Mary, 753 00:33:25,875 --> 00:33:30,417 that father, Joseph, is a long descendant of King David, 754 00:33:30,500 --> 00:33:32,292 who came from the town of Bethlehem. 755 00:33:32,333 --> 00:33:35,167 So they have to go to the city of Bethlehem to register 756 00:33:35,250 --> 00:33:36,667 for the census. 757 00:33:36,750 --> 00:33:39,917 And Mary is very pregnant, and once they get to Bethlehem 758 00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:41,333 Jesus is born. 759 00:33:41,375 --> 00:33:42,667 Where? 760 00:33:42,750 --> 00:33:44,000 Bethlehem. 761 00:33:44,083 --> 00:33:45,333 They didn't live there. 762 00:33:45,375 --> 00:33:47,000 They were visiting there. 763 00:33:47,083 --> 00:33:48,417 Why? 764 00:33:48,500 --> 00:33:51,083 Because this is the book that God wrote, 765 00:33:51,167 --> 00:33:54,292 and it's all about Jesus, all the way down to where 766 00:33:54,333 --> 00:33:57,208 he would be born. 767 00:33:57,292 --> 00:34:01,667 Furthermore, it tells us when he would be born. 768 00:34:01,750 --> 00:34:03,917 Four hundred years before Jesus was born, 769 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,417 Malachi 3:1, we read, "Behold, I send my messenger, 770 00:34:07,500 --> 00:34:09,333 "and he will prepare the way before me. 771 00:34:09,375 --> 00:34:12,708 Then suddenly the Lord," God's coming, "whom you seek," 772 00:34:12,792 --> 00:34:16,292 the one you've been waiting for, "will come to his temple; 773 00:34:16,333 --> 00:34:18,833 "and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, 774 00:34:18,875 --> 00:34:21,125 behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts." 775 00:34:21,167 --> 00:34:23,917 That's the God who rules over the angelic creatures. 776 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,083 Number one, a messenger is coming! 777 00:34:26,167 --> 00:34:27,417 You'll know it's him! 778 00:34:27,500 --> 00:34:28,875 He's going to prepare the way! 779 00:34:28,958 --> 00:34:31,083 Who was the messenger that prepared the way? 780 00:34:31,167 --> 00:34:34,500 John the Baptizer, Jesus' home-schooled cousin. 781 00:34:34,542 --> 00:34:35,833 He lived in the woods. 782 00:34:35,875 --> 00:34:38,417 He was a strange kid. 783 00:34:38,500 --> 00:34:43,792 Bugs, honey, strange diet; interesting kid. 784 00:34:43,833 --> 00:34:47,000 He prepares the way for the coming of Jesus, 785 00:34:47,042 --> 00:34:48,833 and then the Lord comes. 786 00:34:48,875 --> 00:34:51,708 And where did it say he would come to? 787 00:34:51,792 --> 00:34:53,208 Where? 788 00:34:53,292 --> 00:34:55,583 The temple. 789 00:34:55,667 --> 00:34:59,167 Now, if you've been to Jerusalem, you walk up, 790 00:34:59,250 --> 00:35:02,000 and you say, "Show me the temple," 791 00:35:02,042 --> 00:35:03,625 and they're like, "We'd love to, 792 00:35:03,667 --> 00:35:06,333 "but there is a slight problem. 793 00:35:06,375 --> 00:35:09,417 "It was destroyed in 70 AD. 794 00:35:09,500 --> 00:35:13,125 "All we have now is a flat piece of ground where the temple 795 00:35:13,167 --> 00:35:15,292 "used to be. 796 00:35:15,333 --> 00:35:17,833 For almost 2,000 years," they will tell you, 797 00:35:17,875 --> 00:35:22,625 "there's been no temple." 798 00:35:22,667 --> 00:35:25,125 So, here's a clue. 799 00:35:25,167 --> 00:35:28,917 Whoever this person is, this Savior, 800 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:31,208 he had to come by when? 801 00:35:31,292 --> 00:35:32,583 70 AD. 802 00:35:32,667 --> 00:35:34,500 If he's going to come to the temple, 803 00:35:34,583 --> 00:35:37,167 and the temple is destroyed in 70 AD--we've now had almost 804 00:35:37,250 --> 00:35:38,583 2,000 years without a temple. 805 00:35:38,667 --> 00:35:40,375 He had to come before 70 AD. 806 00:35:40,458 --> 00:35:43,500 So for those of you who are my Jewish friends--and I won't call 807 00:35:43,583 --> 00:35:46,417 you my brothers unless you're in Christ--but for those of you who 808 00:35:46,500 --> 00:35:50,667 are my Jewish friends, we love you. 809 00:35:50,750 --> 00:35:53,000 We believe the same Old Testament Scriptures 810 00:35:53,083 --> 00:35:56,417 that you do. 811 00:35:56,500 --> 00:36:00,792 Our disagreement is we believe they're all about Jesus, 812 00:36:00,833 --> 00:36:03,500 and we believe you missed the most important Jewish person 813 00:36:03,542 --> 00:36:06,625 who's ever lived: Jesus Christ. 814 00:36:06,667 --> 00:36:09,417 We believe he was Messiah, God among us, 815 00:36:09,500 --> 00:36:13,708 the fulfillment of prophecy, the Savior of the world, 816 00:36:13,792 --> 00:36:17,083 and we believe that God had the temple destroyed in 70 AD 817 00:36:17,167 --> 00:36:19,083 so that you could not have a priest 818 00:36:19,167 --> 00:36:21,708 because Jesus is your priest; so that you could not have 819 00:36:21,792 --> 00:36:23,667 a sacrifice because Jesus is your sacrifice; 820 00:36:23,750 --> 00:36:25,625 that you would not go to the temple 821 00:36:25,667 --> 00:36:27,417 because you need to come to Jesus. 822 00:36:27,500 --> 00:36:29,208 We love you. 823 00:36:29,292 --> 00:36:32,917 We read the Scriptures that your people wrote, 824 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,583 and we want you to worship the God they reveal. 825 00:36:36,667 --> 00:36:40,708 His name is Jesus and he came to the temple. 826 00:36:40,792 --> 00:36:42,583 And after that the temple was destroyed 827 00:36:42,667 --> 00:36:44,083 because we don't need the temple. 828 00:36:44,167 --> 00:36:45,417 We've got Jesus. 829 00:36:45,500 --> 00:36:47,333 We don't need the priest. We've got Jesus! 830 00:36:47,375 --> 00:36:50,917 We don't need the sacrifices. We've got Jesus! 831 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,875 And this is the book that God wrote, 832 00:36:52,958 --> 00:36:54,625 and it's all about Jesus. 833 00:36:54,667 --> 00:36:59,000 Furthermore, prophecy goes on to reveal what Jesus would do 834 00:36:59,042 --> 00:37:02,333 on the earth, a little bit of his resume and job description. 835 00:37:02,375 --> 00:37:04,333 How will we know it's the one? 836 00:37:04,375 --> 00:37:09,167 Isaiah 35:5-6, 700 years before Jesus was born, 837 00:37:09,250 --> 00:37:11,583 we read, "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, 838 00:37:11,667 --> 00:37:13,292 "and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 839 00:37:13,333 --> 00:37:15,000 "the lame shall leap like a deer, 840 00:37:15,083 --> 00:37:17,167 and the tongue of the mute sing for joy." 841 00:37:17,250 --> 00:37:18,625 How will you know it's him? 842 00:37:18,667 --> 00:37:20,583 Mute people are singing. Deaf people are hearing. 843 00:37:20,667 --> 00:37:23,417 Blind people are seeing and handicapped people are running. 844 00:37:23,500 --> 00:37:27,500 When you see that happening, note to self: 845 00:37:27,542 --> 00:37:30,083 This is the one we've been waiting for. 846 00:37:30,167 --> 00:37:33,625 Jesus did all of that. 847 00:37:33,667 --> 00:37:38,708 Additionally, we are told that Jesus would be betrayed, 848 00:37:38,792 --> 00:37:41,208 that the bounty on his head would be no less 849 00:37:41,292 --> 00:37:45,625 than 30 pieces of silver, not 29, not 31. 850 00:37:45,667 --> 00:37:49,083 We read this 500 years before Jesus was born on the earth 851 00:37:49,167 --> 00:37:51,208 in Zechariah 11:12-13. 852 00:37:51,292 --> 00:37:53,917 "And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 853 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,500 "Then the LORD said to me, 'Throw it to the potter'--" 854 00:37:56,583 --> 00:37:59,208 that's a portion of the temple that no longer exists, 855 00:37:59,292 --> 00:38:01,417 but did up until 70 AD. 856 00:38:01,500 --> 00:38:04,000 "--the lordly price at which I was priced by them. 857 00:38:04,042 --> 00:38:06,875 So I took the thirty pieces of silver," a few hundred bucks, 858 00:38:06,958 --> 00:38:09,000 "and threw them into the house of the LORD, 859 00:38:09,083 --> 00:38:10,375 to the potter." 860 00:38:10,458 --> 00:38:13,000 It is promised that the bounty on Jesus' head would be 861 00:38:13,083 --> 00:38:14,375 30 pieces of silver. 862 00:38:14,458 --> 00:38:16,625 Judas Iscariot betrayed him for how much? 863 00:38:16,667 --> 00:38:19,917 Thirty pieces of silver, and then in disgust, 864 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:21,875 threw it into that portion of the temple 865 00:38:21,958 --> 00:38:24,667 that no longer exists today. 866 00:38:24,750 --> 00:38:27,583 Some of you would say, "I don't think this is the book 867 00:38:27,667 --> 00:38:28,917 that God wrote." 868 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,583 My question to you is this: Then who wrote it? 869 00:38:32,667 --> 00:38:35,208 Who wrote this? Who knew the future? 870 00:38:35,292 --> 00:38:39,417 Multiple authors spanning hundreds and thousands of years 871 00:38:39,500 --> 00:38:43,792 in painstaking detail telling us how Jesus would come, 872 00:38:43,833 --> 00:38:46,792 and what would happen to him, and what would be accomplished 873 00:38:46,833 --> 00:38:48,333 through him. 874 00:38:48,375 --> 00:38:50,292 See, the burden of proof is on you. 875 00:38:50,333 --> 00:38:52,417 It was on me, as a non-Christian. 876 00:38:52,500 --> 00:38:54,833 As I started to read the book that God wrote, 877 00:38:54,875 --> 00:38:58,417 it was prophecy that helped to open my blind eyes. 878 00:38:58,500 --> 00:39:03,500 This the book that God wrote, and it's all about Jesus. 879 00:39:03,583 --> 00:39:06,792 Additionally, we read how Jesus would die. 880 00:39:06,833 --> 00:39:09,625 One thousand years before Jesus was even born, 881 00:39:09,667 --> 00:39:14,583 it was prophesied in Psalm 22:16 how he would be crucified. 882 00:39:14,667 --> 00:39:19,917 We read, "For dogs--" this is a slang term for horrible men. 883 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:23,167 It's like today calling someone a wolf in our culture. 884 00:39:23,250 --> 00:39:25,583 It's just a horrible denigrating term. 885 00:39:25,667 --> 00:39:28,333 Do you still use that term in the Middle East? 886 00:39:28,375 --> 00:39:31,708 Let me just submit to you, don't. 887 00:39:31,792 --> 00:39:35,708 Don't walk up in, say, a Muslim country and call somebody a dog. 888 00:39:35,792 --> 00:39:37,917 It's a highly negative term. 889 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:39,917 It's loaded. 890 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,708 "For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles 891 00:39:43,792 --> 00:39:46,500 me; they have pierced my--" What? 892 00:39:46,542 --> 00:39:48,833 "hands and feet," the most sensitive nerve centers 893 00:39:48,875 --> 00:39:50,417 on the human body. 894 00:39:50,500 --> 00:39:52,583 Jesus was crucified through what? 895 00:39:52,667 --> 00:39:54,167 The hands and the feet. 896 00:39:54,250 --> 00:39:56,417 Here it is prophesying, predicting, promising 897 00:39:56,500 --> 00:39:59,208 the crucifixion of Jesus 1,000 years 898 00:39:59,292 --> 00:40:02,708 before he was even born and, get this, hundreds of years 899 00:40:02,792 --> 00:40:06,208 before crucifixion even existed! 900 00:40:06,292 --> 00:40:10,667 God is not only promising, prophesying, predicting 901 00:40:10,750 --> 00:40:12,625 the crucifixion of Jesus; 902 00:40:12,667 --> 00:40:17,917 he's promising, prophesying, predicting crucifixion. 903 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:24,667 Lastly, it is prophesied in the Old Testament that Jesus 904 00:40:24,750 --> 00:40:29,500 would rise from death, that he would rise from death. 905 00:40:29,542 --> 00:40:31,417 So again, back to the story of Luke. 906 00:40:31,500 --> 00:40:33,000 He's walking along the road. 907 00:40:33,042 --> 00:40:34,333 "Oh, Jesus died. 908 00:40:34,375 --> 00:40:35,625 We were hoping he'd rise." 909 00:40:35,667 --> 00:40:37,000 "Don't you believe the Bible? 910 00:40:37,083 --> 00:40:39,083 "Don't you know what the Scriptures say? 911 00:40:39,167 --> 00:40:41,083 Have you not read Moses and the prophets?" 912 00:40:41,167 --> 00:40:43,333 And that's what I'm sharing with you. 913 00:40:43,375 --> 00:40:46,500 This is how Jesus taught the Bible. 914 00:40:46,542 --> 00:40:48,333 And I could unpack it. 915 00:40:48,375 --> 00:40:51,917 There's hundreds--I wish we had days to do this. 916 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,833 But it all sort of culminates, and I think the most packed 917 00:40:54,875 --> 00:40:58,083 prophetic section of Scripture is the second half of Isaiah 52 918 00:40:58,167 --> 00:40:59,667 through Isaiah 53. 919 00:40:59,750 --> 00:41:02,917 And I'll share with you verses 8-11. 920 00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,625 "By oppression and judgment--" 700 years before Jesus 921 00:41:05,667 --> 00:41:07,333 was even born on the earth. 922 00:41:07,375 --> 00:41:09,583 "By oppression and judgment he was taken away..." 923 00:41:09,667 --> 00:41:11,500 He'd be arrested, tried-- 924 00:41:11,583 --> 00:41:13,500 "...cut off from the land of the living..." 925 00:41:13,542 --> 00:41:15,000 What is that? 926 00:41:15,042 --> 00:41:17,917 Dead, killed, murdered. 927 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:20,167 "And they made his grave with the wicked--" 928 00:41:20,250 --> 00:41:23,708 Jesus was crucified between two guilty sinners-- 929 00:41:23,792 --> 00:41:25,833 "and with a rich man in his death--" 930 00:41:25,875 --> 00:41:27,417 Jesus was not a rich man. 931 00:41:27,500 --> 00:41:29,000 He was rich in heaven. 932 00:41:29,042 --> 00:41:31,083 He was poor on earth. 933 00:41:31,167 --> 00:41:34,083 So, the Bible says, "For our sake, though rich, 934 00:41:34,167 --> 00:41:35,917 he became poor." 935 00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:37,625 While on the earth, he was homeless. 936 00:41:37,667 --> 00:41:38,917 He was broke. 937 00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:40,500 He was destitute, poor. 938 00:41:40,542 --> 00:41:43,833 He could not have afforded a rich man's tomb; 939 00:41:43,875 --> 00:41:46,333 in fulfillment to prophecy— but after he died— 940 00:41:46,375 --> 00:41:49,083 there was one of his more quiet followers, 941 00:41:49,167 --> 00:41:53,083 a man named Joseph of Arimathea, who was an affluent rich man, 942 00:41:53,167 --> 00:41:56,583 and he gifted to the Lord Jesus, post mortem, 943 00:41:56,667 --> 00:42:01,083 his personal tomb, so that the prophecy of Isaiah was 944 00:42:01,167 --> 00:42:06,208 fulfilled, and Jesus was buried with the rich in his death-- 945 00:42:06,292 --> 00:42:07,708 "although he had done no violence, 946 00:42:07,792 --> 00:42:09,625 and there was no deceit in his mouth." 947 00:42:09,667 --> 00:42:12,792 What that is saying is Jesus had no sin in word or deed. 948 00:42:12,833 --> 00:42:18,583 Unlike you and I, he was flawless, perfect, and sinless. 949 00:42:18,667 --> 00:42:21,625 "Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him." 950 00:42:21,667 --> 00:42:23,625 He's not just a victim. 951 00:42:23,667 --> 00:42:26,500 This is a salvation plan that the Father and Son 952 00:42:26,542 --> 00:42:30,083 in eternity past had agreed to. 953 00:42:30,167 --> 00:42:32,333 "He has put him to grief--" and Jesus wept, 954 00:42:32,375 --> 00:42:36,292 and Jesus grieved, "when his soul makes an offering 955 00:42:36,333 --> 00:42:38,500 for guilt--" he suffered and died 956 00:42:38,542 --> 00:42:41,083 in our place for our sins. 957 00:42:41,167 --> 00:42:44,417 The cross is something that was done by us. 958 00:42:44,500 --> 00:42:45,833 We killed God. 959 00:42:45,875 --> 00:42:48,583 But it was something that was done for us. 960 00:42:48,667 --> 00:42:52,583 God used it to atone for our sin and guilt. 961 00:42:52,667 --> 00:42:56,208 "He shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; 962 00:42:56,292 --> 00:42:58,917 and the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand." 963 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:01,375 What he's saying is after he dies for your sin, 964 00:43:01,458 --> 00:43:04,292 he's going to come back and the sun is going to shine 965 00:43:04,333 --> 00:43:06,917 on his face and he's going to have an eternal forward 966 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:10,000 progress of days and he's going to delight in the salvation 967 00:43:10,042 --> 00:43:12,292 that he accomplishes and achieves. 968 00:43:12,333 --> 00:43:15,708 He's not going to stay dead because sin reigns, 969 00:43:15,792 --> 00:43:18,083 and death reigns where there is sin, 970 00:43:18,167 --> 00:43:20,208 but death could not reign over Jesus 971 00:43:20,292 --> 00:43:23,583 because he was without sin, and so he rose in victory 972 00:43:23,667 --> 00:43:25,708 over sin and death. 973 00:43:25,792 --> 00:43:30,083 "Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied." 974 00:43:30,167 --> 00:43:34,417 Once Jesus sees all the sinners and sins that he has saved, 975 00:43:34,500 --> 00:43:37,292 he'll be satisfied with his suffering. 976 00:43:37,333 --> 00:43:39,583 "By his knowledge shall the righteous one--" 977 00:43:39,667 --> 00:43:41,625 Jesus is the only righteous one. 978 00:43:41,667 --> 00:43:43,292 There's one who is righteous, 979 00:43:43,333 --> 00:43:45,333 and all the rest are unrighteous. 980 00:43:45,375 --> 00:43:48,708 That's where the Bible says that we're all unrighteous. 981 00:43:48,792 --> 00:43:51,292 Here it says that there is one who is righteous. 982 00:43:51,333 --> 00:43:53,417 His name is Jesus Christ. 983 00:43:53,500 --> 00:43:57,125 "My servant, make many to be accounted righteous, 984 00:43:57,167 --> 00:43:59,583 and he shall bear their iniquities." 985 00:43:59,667 --> 00:44:02,083 The question is: We who are unrighteous, 986 00:44:02,167 --> 00:44:04,708 how can we be declared righteous, 987 00:44:04,792 --> 00:44:07,917 justified in the sight of a holy and righteous God? 988 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:10,292 Answer: We cannot. 989 00:44:10,333 --> 00:44:12,917 We cannot stand before God with our religion, 990 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:16,125 our morality, our tradition, our efforts, 991 00:44:16,167 --> 00:44:19,083 our pride, our success, our achievement, 992 00:44:19,167 --> 00:44:21,917 our accomplishment and say, "God, I feel that I have 993 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:23,917 "performed adequately well. 994 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,083 "God, I believe that I am essentially a good person. 995 00:44:27,167 --> 00:44:29,833 "God, in comparison to others, I do believe that I have 996 00:44:29,875 --> 00:44:31,917 outperformed them." 997 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:35,417 God has two categories: righteous, unrighteous. 998 00:44:35,500 --> 00:44:37,833 Jesus is in the category of righteous; 999 00:44:37,875 --> 00:44:41,417 everyone else is in the category of unrighteous. 1000 00:44:41,500 --> 00:44:44,708 And Jesus comes and trades places. 1001 00:44:44,792 --> 00:44:49,000 He takes upon himself our sin, guilt, condemnation, 1002 00:44:49,083 --> 00:44:51,417 shame, filth, and unrighteousness, 1003 00:44:51,500 --> 00:44:54,083 and he gives to us, if we have faith in him, 1004 00:44:54,167 --> 00:44:57,625 his righteousness, his perfection, his salvation, 1005 00:44:57,667 --> 00:44:59,417 his forgiveness, his reconciliation 1006 00:44:59,500 --> 00:45:01,000 with the Father. 1007 00:45:01,083 --> 00:45:03,417 And that's exactly what he says. 1008 00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:08,000 "My servant will make many to be accounted righteous." 1009 00:45:08,083 --> 00:45:10,417 If you want to be righteous, the answer is not 1010 00:45:10,500 --> 00:45:12,917 do better, try harder! 1011 00:45:13,000 --> 00:45:15,292 The answer is: God wrote a book. 1012 00:45:15,333 --> 00:45:16,625 It's all about Jesus. 1013 00:45:16,667 --> 00:45:18,292 Trust him! 1014 00:45:18,333 --> 00:45:20,333 Trust him for your righteousness. 1015 00:45:20,375 --> 00:45:22,500 Trust him for your salvation. 1016 00:45:22,542 --> 00:45:26,333 Trust him for your eternal destination. 1017 00:45:26,375 --> 00:45:28,583 How come I'm the only one who's excited? 1018 00:45:28,667 --> 00:45:30,708 This is fantastic! 1019 00:45:30,792 --> 00:45:34,083 [congregation applauding] 1020 00:45:34,167 --> 00:45:36,917 We learn about Jesus through events, 1021 00:45:37,000 --> 00:45:40,208 titles, prophecies; number four, Christophanies. 1022 00:45:40,292 --> 00:45:44,083 This is where Jesus is eternally existing as the Son of God, 1023 00:45:44,167 --> 00:45:45,833 the second member of the Trinity, 1024 00:45:45,875 --> 00:45:47,583 and sometimes before he's born of Mary, 1025 00:45:47,667 --> 00:45:49,417 he makes a little cameo appearance, 1026 00:45:49,500 --> 00:45:51,583 shows up, plays a little "Where's Waldo?" 1027 00:45:51,667 --> 00:45:52,917 in the Old Testament. 1028 00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:54,375 I'll give you a few examples. 1029 00:45:54,458 --> 00:45:57,500 In Genesis 18, Abraham is having a conversation with somebody 1030 00:45:57,542 --> 00:45:59,125 who is God. 1031 00:45:59,167 --> 00:46:00,833 That's Jesus. 1032 00:46:00,875 --> 00:46:03,667 Jesus shows up and hangs out with Abraham. 1033 00:46:03,750 --> 00:46:07,000 Furthermore, there's a guy named Jacob in Exodus 32:30, 1034 00:46:07,042 --> 00:46:10,917 and he's got an all-night UFC cage fight wrestling match 1035 00:46:11,000 --> 00:46:14,417 with somebody, and it's Jesus who came down to wrestle 1036 00:46:14,500 --> 00:46:15,708 with him all night. 1037 00:46:15,792 --> 00:46:18,417 At the end of the fight, I think Jacob was thinking, 1038 00:46:18,500 --> 00:46:21,000 "I held in there all night. That was a long fight. 1039 00:46:21,083 --> 00:46:22,375 I'm pretty tough." 1040 00:46:22,458 --> 00:46:24,792 And Jesus says, "I could've taken you at any point." 1041 00:46:24,833 --> 00:46:27,333 Reaches out his finger, touches his hip, and cripples him. 1042 00:46:27,375 --> 00:46:34,167 "Oh, wow. I'm wrestling with God." 1043 00:46:34,250 --> 00:46:37,208 Additionally, I told you that Jesus showed up 1044 00:46:37,292 --> 00:46:39,500 to talk to Moses through the burning bush. 1045 00:46:39,542 --> 00:46:42,708 He also shows up in a fiery furnace with a guy named Daniel. 1046 00:46:42,792 --> 00:46:44,417 Right, if you're a "Veggie Tale" fan, 1047 00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:46,333 it's Rack, Shack, and Benny, right? 1048 00:46:46,375 --> 00:46:47,667 [congregation laughing] 1049 00:46:47,750 --> 00:46:49,125 If you're just old school Bible, 1050 00:46:49,167 --> 00:46:51,625 it's Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 1051 00:46:51,667 --> 00:46:54,417 And they take these three worshipers of God, 1052 00:46:54,500 --> 00:46:57,167 these young men, they throw them in a fiery furnace. 1053 00:46:57,250 --> 00:46:58,708 And then there's a fourth guy. 1054 00:46:58,792 --> 00:47:02,000 Like, who's the fourth guy? 1055 00:47:02,042 --> 00:47:03,583 Who is it? 1056 00:47:03,667 --> 00:47:08,000 It's Jesus, and he gets them out of that furnace. 1057 00:47:08,042 --> 00:47:10,208 And one of my favorites is in Isaiah 6, 1058 00:47:10,292 --> 00:47:13,708 and I've shared it many times in the history of Mars Hill. 1059 00:47:13,792 --> 00:47:16,083 A guy named Isaiah goes on to write, 1060 00:47:16,167 --> 00:47:18,333 over the course of more than 40 years, 1061 00:47:18,375 --> 00:47:20,708 the rule of many kings, the whole book of Isaiah. 1062 00:47:20,792 --> 00:47:23,417 They call it the fifth Gospel, because it's got so much 1063 00:47:23,500 --> 00:47:24,833 Jesus in it. 1064 00:47:24,875 --> 00:47:30,125 And his public ministry really commissions in Isaiah 6. 1065 00:47:30,167 --> 00:47:32,083 And he sees heaven open. 1066 00:47:32,167 --> 00:47:36,292 It's this majestic, glorious revelation. 1067 00:47:36,333 --> 00:47:41,000 And he says, "I saw the Lord high and exalted and seated 1068 00:47:41,042 --> 00:47:44,917 "on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 1069 00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:46,917 "And the angels surrounded him. 1070 00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:48,917 "And day and night they worship him, 1071 00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:53,208 "crying out: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty; 1072 00:47:53,292 --> 00:47:56,417 'heaven and earth are full of his glory!'" 1073 00:47:56,500 --> 00:48:00,208 And Isaiah says, "And I'm a man of unclean lips. 1074 00:48:00,292 --> 00:48:03,583 "I've said some things I shouldn't have said. 1075 00:48:03,667 --> 00:48:06,917 "And I come from a people of unclean lips. 1076 00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:08,917 "I'm a dead man. 1077 00:48:09,000 --> 00:48:12,208 I've seen the LORD." 1078 00:48:12,292 --> 00:48:16,167 Then an angel takes a hot coal and presses it to his lips. 1079 00:48:16,250 --> 00:48:18,833 "Your sin is atoned for; you're a new man now. 1080 00:48:18,875 --> 00:48:20,917 "Your mouth now belongs to me. 1081 00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:24,292 You're going to be a prophet and say what I tell you to say." 1082 00:48:24,333 --> 00:48:25,708 So Isaiah says, "All right, Lord. 1083 00:48:25,792 --> 00:48:27,667 "Tell me where you want me to go. 1084 00:48:27,750 --> 00:48:29,625 "Tell me what you want me to say. 1085 00:48:29,667 --> 00:48:32,583 I'm your man." 1086 00:48:32,667 --> 00:48:36,167 Who did he see? 1087 00:48:36,250 --> 00:48:43,167 John 12:41 says, quote, "Isaiah saw Jesus 1088 00:48:43,250 --> 00:48:45,417 and spoke of his glory." 1089 00:48:45,500 --> 00:48:47,625 It's the same picture that John has of Jesus 1090 00:48:47,667 --> 00:48:49,000 in the book of Revelation. 1091 00:48:49,042 --> 00:48:51,875 It's the same picture of Jesus that you and I will have 1092 00:48:51,958 --> 00:48:53,625 when we see him face to face. 1093 00:48:53,667 --> 00:48:56,000 No longer humble, marginalized, beaten, 1094 00:48:56,083 --> 00:49:01,000 poor Galilean peasant, but risen, ruling, reigning, 1095 00:49:01,083 --> 00:49:04,292 resurrected, glorious King of kings, 1096 00:49:04,333 --> 00:49:08,500 Lord of lords, high and exalted, worshiped by angels, 1097 00:49:08,583 --> 00:49:15,000 adored by nations: the Lord Jesus Christ. 1098 00:49:15,042 --> 00:49:19,583 [congregation applauding] 1099 00:49:19,667 --> 00:49:23,125 Number five--I have the best job in the world. 1100 00:49:23,167 --> 00:49:25,000 I really love my job! 1101 00:49:25,083 --> 00:49:27,583 Thank you for letting me teach the Bible. 1102 00:49:27,667 --> 00:49:30,833 Number five, we see Jesus in the Old Testament through types, 1103 00:49:30,875 --> 00:49:33,917 where somebody does something that's a little bit like Jesus, 1104 00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:38,292 but he comes along and does it bigger and better. 1105 00:49:38,333 --> 00:49:40,833 So history starts with the first Adam, 1106 00:49:40,875 --> 00:49:43,583 and Jesus is called the last Adam in places like 1107 00:49:43,667 --> 00:49:48,917 1 Corinthians 15:45 and Romans 5:12-21. 1108 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:54,083 And the first Adam sinned and this last Adam atoned for sin. 1109 00:49:54,167 --> 00:49:56,833 And through the first Adam, the human race fell; 1110 00:49:56,875 --> 00:50:01,083 and through the last Adam, members of that race 1111 00:50:01,167 --> 00:50:02,917 can be saved. 1112 00:50:03,000 --> 00:50:05,333 Through the first Adam, there was condemnation; 1113 00:50:05,375 --> 00:50:07,500 through the last Adam, there can salvation. 1114 00:50:07,583 --> 00:50:09,792 Through the first Adam, we inherit a sin nature; 1115 00:50:09,833 --> 00:50:12,208 and through the last Adam, we receive a new nature. 1116 00:50:12,292 --> 00:50:14,917 Through the first Adam, we're born sinners; 1117 00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:19,500 and through the last Adam, we're born again, saints. 1118 00:50:19,583 --> 00:50:22,792 And the first Adam turned from God in a garden; 1119 00:50:22,833 --> 00:50:26,625 and the last Adam turned to God in a garden, 1120 00:50:26,667 --> 00:50:29,083 the Garden of Gethsemane. 1121 00:50:29,167 --> 00:50:34,083 And the first Adam was a sinner; and the last Adam 1122 00:50:34,167 --> 00:50:36,917 is a Savior of sinners. 1123 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:41,917 And the first Adam yielded to Satan; 1124 00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:45,708 and the last Adam defeated Satan. 1125 00:50:45,792 --> 00:50:51,125 And the first Adam, he sinned at a tree; 1126 00:50:51,167 --> 00:50:55,417 and the last Adam, he atoned for sin on a tree. 1127 00:50:55,500 --> 00:50:57,917 And the first Adam brought thorns; 1128 00:50:58,000 --> 00:51:01,333 and the last Adam wore a crown of thorns. 1129 00:51:01,375 --> 00:51:04,167 And the first Adam was naked and unashamed; 1130 00:51:04,250 --> 00:51:09,500 and the last Adam was stripped naked and bore our shame. 1131 00:51:09,542 --> 00:51:13,083 And everybody is born in Adam. 1132 00:51:13,167 --> 00:51:17,000 My hope is that you would be born again in the last Adam, 1133 00:51:17,042 --> 00:51:19,833 Jesus Christ. 1134 00:51:19,875 --> 00:51:23,917 See, Jesus is the better, greater Adam. 1135 00:51:24,000 --> 00:51:25,625 As well, we read the Old Testament, 1136 00:51:25,667 --> 00:51:29,083 and there's priests, and they mediate between people and God. 1137 00:51:29,167 --> 00:51:31,083 Jesus is our great High Priest. 1138 00:51:31,167 --> 00:51:34,417 God became a man to mediate between men and women and God. 1139 00:51:34,500 --> 00:51:36,625 That's why Paul tells Timothy, "There's only one mediator 1140 00:51:36,667 --> 00:51:37,917 between us and God." 1141 00:51:38,000 --> 00:51:39,625 It's not religion. It's not the church. 1142 00:51:39,667 --> 00:51:41,292 It's not morality. 1143 00:51:41,333 --> 00:51:45,083 It's the man Christ Jesus, and he is our priest 1144 00:51:45,167 --> 00:51:47,500 who brings us to God and brings God to us. 1145 00:51:47,583 --> 00:51:49,417 In the Old Testament, as well, there's prophets 1146 00:51:49,500 --> 00:51:52,625 who speak for God, and Jesus is the Word of God, 1147 00:51:52,667 --> 00:51:56,208 and he is a preacher and teacher of the Word of God. 1148 00:51:56,292 --> 00:51:58,417 Furthermore, we see kings who rule and reign, 1149 00:51:58,500 --> 00:52:01,083 and it reminds us that Jesus is a greater King. 1150 00:52:01,167 --> 00:52:02,583 He's the King of kings! 1151 00:52:02,667 --> 00:52:04,500 He has a kingdom that will never end, 1152 00:52:04,583 --> 00:52:07,333 that has perfect justice and provision for all. 1153 00:52:07,375 --> 00:52:09,708 In the Old Testament, as well, we read about shepherds 1154 00:52:09,792 --> 00:52:11,625 who care for wayward sheep. 1155 00:52:11,667 --> 00:52:14,000 We're the sheep; he's the Good Shepherd 1156 00:52:14,042 --> 00:52:16,292 who laid down his life for the sheep. 1157 00:52:16,333 --> 00:52:19,000 We read of judges who bring justice; 1158 00:52:19,042 --> 00:52:22,708 and Jesus tells us in John 5 that the Father judges no one, 1159 00:52:22,792 --> 00:52:25,125 but he's entrusted all judgment to the Son, 1160 00:52:25,167 --> 00:52:27,708 that Jesus is our Judge. 1161 00:52:27,792 --> 00:52:30,167 We see in the Old Testament sacrifices, 1162 00:52:30,250 --> 00:52:33,167 revealing to us that Jesus would come as our sacrifice 1163 00:52:33,250 --> 00:52:35,000 to give himself for our sins. 1164 00:52:35,083 --> 00:52:37,167 We see the temple, which is the meeting place 1165 00:52:37,250 --> 00:52:39,208 between men and God. 1166 00:52:39,292 --> 00:52:42,500 It's that connection point, that holy place, 1167 00:52:42,542 --> 00:52:47,167 and Jesus is the greater temple, and Jesus is God among us, 1168 00:52:47,250 --> 00:52:49,583 and now we don't go to a place to worship. 1169 00:52:49,667 --> 00:52:51,833 We go to a person to worship. 1170 00:52:51,875 --> 00:52:55,083 His name is Jesus Christ, and he comes to be with us 1171 00:52:55,167 --> 00:52:59,208 and to make our bodies a temple in which God is glorified, 1172 00:52:59,292 --> 00:53:03,583 and the presence of God dwells, so that we live a new life, 1173 00:53:03,667 --> 00:53:06,000 not just a better life, but a new life, 1174 00:53:06,083 --> 00:53:08,667 not a life so that God would be pleased with us, 1175 00:53:08,750 --> 00:53:10,792 but because in Christ, he already is, 1176 00:53:10,833 --> 00:53:13,083 and through Christ in us, we can, 1177 00:53:13,167 --> 00:53:15,708 by the power of the Holy Spirit, be new people, 1178 00:53:15,792 --> 00:53:18,167 living new lives by the presence of God, 1179 00:53:18,250 --> 00:53:20,583 as the temple of God, to the glory of God, 1180 00:53:20,667 --> 00:53:23,083 because we're the people of God. 1181 00:53:23,167 --> 00:53:25,833 And all of it is about Jesus. 1182 00:53:25,875 --> 00:53:28,500 So again, Jesus is walking along the road, 1183 00:53:28,583 --> 00:53:30,667 and he asks them, "Don't you know the Bible? 1184 00:53:30,750 --> 00:53:32,500 It's all about me." 1185 00:53:32,583 --> 00:53:35,583 And he starts unpacking in succession various ways. 1186 00:53:35,667 --> 00:53:39,667 I wish I could've been there; best Bible study ever. 1187 00:53:39,750 --> 00:53:42,333 Lastly, number six, there is like service, 1188 00:53:42,375 --> 00:53:44,083 where someone does something 1189 00:53:44,167 --> 00:53:46,083 that Jesus does greater and better. 1190 00:53:46,167 --> 00:53:48,208 So early in the Bible, the first two brothers 1191 00:53:48,292 --> 00:53:49,625 are Cain and Abel. 1192 00:53:49,667 --> 00:53:51,500 Like many brothers, they're competitive 1193 00:53:51,542 --> 00:53:54,000 and they fight. 1194 00:53:54,042 --> 00:53:58,583 And they come to worship God, and Abel is a righteous man, 1195 00:53:58,667 --> 00:54:00,417 and Cain is a jealous man. 1196 00:54:00,500 --> 00:54:02,417 He's jealous of his brother. 1197 00:54:02,500 --> 00:54:06,125 And what Cain does is he kills the innocent Abel. 1198 00:54:06,167 --> 00:54:10,833 Jesus is a better Abel; we're a worse Cain. 1199 00:54:10,875 --> 00:54:13,125 God comes to earth, and we kill him, 1200 00:54:13,167 --> 00:54:15,917 though he's the righteous one. 1201 00:54:16,000 --> 00:54:20,125 And Jesus is a better Abel, in that he did not remain dead 1202 00:54:20,167 --> 00:54:21,833 like Abel did. 1203 00:54:21,875 --> 00:54:24,167 He rose from death. 1204 00:54:24,250 --> 00:54:25,917 That makes him a better Abel. 1205 00:54:26,000 --> 00:54:29,917 As well, when Abraham was living in the land of his father, 1206 00:54:30,000 --> 00:54:33,000 and God came to him and said, "I'm sending you on a mission 1207 00:54:33,083 --> 00:54:36,000 "to a new place to start a new people, 1208 00:54:36,083 --> 00:54:40,417 a new humanity," Jesus is the greater Abraham. 1209 00:54:40,500 --> 00:54:42,708 He left his Father's house. 1210 00:54:42,792 --> 00:54:45,292 He came to this forsaken earth. 1211 00:54:45,333 --> 00:54:49,625 He came to set up a new humanity through faith in him. 1212 00:54:49,667 --> 00:54:53,125 Abraham's descendants are many, physically speaking; 1213 00:54:53,167 --> 00:54:56,792 Jesus' descendants are more, spiritually speaking. 1214 00:54:56,833 --> 00:55:01,417 A few billion of us on the earth today are descendants of his 1215 00:55:01,500 --> 00:55:05,417 mission to leave his Father's house and to come here 1216 00:55:05,500 --> 00:55:08,667 and to seek us to be his people. 1217 00:55:08,750 --> 00:55:12,500 Furthermore, we meet then a guy named Isaac. 1218 00:55:12,583 --> 00:55:14,708 He was a promised son. 1219 00:55:14,792 --> 00:55:16,708 He was a beloved son. 1220 00:55:16,792 --> 00:55:18,417 He was a firstborn son. 1221 00:55:18,500 --> 00:55:20,333 He was an anticipated son. 1222 00:55:20,375 --> 00:55:22,500 He was a miraculous son. 1223 00:55:22,542 --> 00:55:24,333 He was born to Abraham and Sarah, 1224 00:55:24,375 --> 00:55:26,583 though they were elderly and barren. 1225 00:55:26,667 --> 00:55:29,917 And once they got that boy, they loved that boy, 1226 00:55:30,000 --> 00:55:34,083 and God came to him and asked him to do something to his son 1227 00:55:34,167 --> 00:55:37,417 that was unthinkable: to offer him as a sacrifice, 1228 00:55:37,500 --> 00:55:40,792 to murder his own boy, the boy he had waited 1229 00:55:40,833 --> 00:55:44,708 his whole lifetime for. 1230 00:55:44,792 --> 00:55:48,167 That's the kind of thing that the false gods of Chemosh 1231 00:55:48,250 --> 00:55:53,333 and Molech and even abortion and murder in our own day worship. 1232 00:55:53,375 --> 00:55:58,792 "Murder your child," the God of the Bible never says that. 1233 00:55:58,833 --> 00:56:02,333 And Abraham, by faith, I'm sure, though confused, 1234 00:56:02,375 --> 00:56:03,625 sought to obey God. 1235 00:56:03,667 --> 00:56:06,625 Hebrews 11 says, "He believed that even if Isaac died, 1236 00:56:06,667 --> 00:56:08,667 God could bring him back from death." 1237 00:56:08,750 --> 00:56:12,208 So even Abraham believed in the hope of resurrection. 1238 00:56:12,292 --> 00:56:19,292 And what happens then is Isaac is an adult boy, son. 1239 00:56:20,292 --> 00:56:24,417 He carries his own wood on his back to the place that God 1240 00:56:24,500 --> 00:56:28,333 had designated for his death. 1241 00:56:28,375 --> 00:56:31,417 He, though a younger, stronger man, 1242 00:56:31,500 --> 00:56:36,417 willingly lays himself down to die at the hand 1243 00:56:36,500 --> 00:56:39,083 of his own father. 1244 00:56:39,167 --> 00:56:42,000 And as Abraham takes the knife and is about to plunge it 1245 00:56:42,042 --> 00:56:48,792 into his firstborn, beloved, promised covenantal son, 1246 00:56:48,833 --> 00:56:52,792 a messenger of the Lord, perhaps Jesus, cries out, 1247 00:56:52,833 --> 00:56:56,417 "Abraham, there's no need to murder Isaac. 1248 00:56:56,500 --> 00:56:59,417 "There'll be another day when a greater Father 1249 00:56:59,500 --> 00:57:02,417 offers a greater Son." 1250 00:57:02,500 --> 00:57:05,292 And Jesus comes as the greater Isaac. 1251 00:57:05,333 --> 00:57:10,125 He, too, carries his own wood on his back to his place where 1252 00:57:10,167 --> 00:57:14,708 he would willingly lay down his life and that the Father 1253 00:57:14,792 --> 00:57:21,792 would agree to the death of the Son. 1254 00:57:23,000 --> 00:57:27,083 And all of this happened in roughly the same region 1255 00:57:27,167 --> 00:57:32,500 and area very close by where Jesus was crucified, 1256 00:57:32,542 --> 00:57:34,917 because there's a greater Father than Abraham, 1257 00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:39,125 God the Father; there's a greater Son than Isaac, Jesus. 1258 00:57:39,167 --> 00:57:45,000 And all of that was to show us how God would save us. 1259 00:57:45,083 --> 00:57:48,625 Additionally, there then comes along a man named Joseph. 1260 00:57:48,667 --> 00:57:51,417 He is betrayed by his brothers. 1261 00:57:51,500 --> 00:57:54,625 He is reckoned for dead, put in a hole, 1262 00:57:54,667 --> 00:57:57,708 and he comes forth to ultimately rise up 1263 00:57:57,792 --> 00:58:01,833 to be a leader who saves many lives! 1264 00:58:01,875 --> 00:58:04,917 Jesus comes along as the greater Joseph; 1265 00:58:05,000 --> 00:58:08,000 disowned, abandoned, betrayed by his own brothers, 1266 00:58:08,042 --> 00:58:11,917 put in a hole and left for dead, but came forth to save 1267 00:58:12,000 --> 00:58:16,500 a multitude that is even greater than the multitude that Joseph 1268 00:58:16,583 --> 00:58:20,417 saved physically, Jesus saves spiritually. 1269 00:58:20,500 --> 00:58:23,208 He's the greater Joseph. 1270 00:58:23,292 --> 00:58:25,333 Along comes a man named Moses. 1271 00:58:25,375 --> 00:58:27,917 He was an unexpected man to be a prophet and leader 1272 00:58:28,000 --> 00:58:30,833 of God's people, but God raised him up 1273 00:58:30,875 --> 00:58:33,708 to proclaim deliverance for the people of God 1274 00:58:33,792 --> 00:58:36,125 and to mightily proclaim the Word of God. 1275 00:58:36,167 --> 00:58:39,208 He prophesied about the coming of Jesus in places 1276 00:58:39,292 --> 00:58:42,667 like Deuteronomy 13:18, the great prophet Jesus 1277 00:58:42,750 --> 00:58:44,000 who would come. 1278 00:58:44,083 --> 00:58:46,667 Jesus comes as the greatest prophet ever. 1279 00:58:46,750 --> 00:58:51,792 He comes in the lineage, ministry speaking, of Moses. 1280 00:58:51,833 --> 00:58:53,708 He proclaims the Word of God. 1281 00:58:53,792 --> 00:58:55,917 He calls people to repent of sin. 1282 00:58:56,000 --> 00:59:00,083 He comes to also deliver us from slavery. 1283 00:59:00,167 --> 00:59:02,417 And when we tend to think of slavery, 1284 00:59:02,500 --> 00:59:05,125 we tend to think of American slavery where someone 1285 00:59:05,167 --> 00:59:07,333 or something you hate enslaves you. 1286 00:59:07,375 --> 00:59:09,125 When the Bible speaks of slavery, 1287 00:59:09,167 --> 00:59:12,792 it also includes self-selected pharaohs and rulers. 1288 00:59:12,833 --> 00:59:15,292 We choose food, alcohol, people, sex, 1289 00:59:15,333 --> 00:59:18,417 fear of man, pleasure, comfort, religion. 1290 00:59:18,500 --> 00:59:20,125 We choose our own gods. 1291 00:59:20,167 --> 00:59:22,583 We put our hands through the shackles. 1292 00:59:22,667 --> 00:59:26,083 We accept our own fate, and we destroy our own lives, 1293 00:59:26,167 --> 00:59:29,000 and Jesus comes as the greater Moses. 1294 00:59:29,083 --> 00:59:31,792 He comes to defeat bigger pharaohs. 1295 00:59:31,833 --> 00:59:34,917 He comes to liberate more slaves 1296 00:59:35,000 --> 00:59:37,500 so that they might become free worshipers. 1297 00:59:37,583 --> 00:59:40,125 Jesus is the greater Moses. 1298 00:59:40,167 --> 00:59:42,333 Job comes along as an innocent man. 1299 00:59:42,375 --> 00:59:45,583 Satan opposes him and harms him. 1300 00:59:45,667 --> 00:59:49,583 His friends are of no help, but God ultimately vindicates him. 1301 00:59:49,667 --> 00:59:52,000 Jesus comes along as the greater Job. 1302 00:59:52,042 --> 00:59:54,292 He, too, is opposed by Satan. 1303 00:59:54,333 --> 00:59:56,208 He does suffer. 1304 00:59:56,292 --> 01:00:00,333 His friends are of no help, but God ultimately vindicates him 1305 01:00:00,375 --> 01:00:03,125 and blesses him, as he did Job, 1306 01:00:03,167 --> 01:00:05,792 because Jesus is the greater Job. 1307 01:00:05,833 --> 01:00:07,917 There's a king named David who comes along. 1308 01:00:08,000 --> 01:00:09,792 He's an unexpected king. 1309 01:00:09,833 --> 01:00:12,917 He's a little boy from a poor family in a rural area, 1310 01:00:13,000 --> 01:00:15,833 and he rises up to be the greatest king in the history 1311 01:00:15,875 --> 01:00:17,500 of the nation. 1312 01:00:17,542 --> 01:00:19,792 And Jesus comes from the lineage of David, 1313 01:00:19,833 --> 01:00:23,917 and he's a greater David, and he is an unexpected leader. 1314 01:00:24,000 --> 01:00:27,208 He comes from a teenage girl in a small town, 1315 01:00:27,292 --> 01:00:28,708 from a rural family. 1316 01:00:28,792 --> 01:00:30,667 And he is the King of kings. 1317 01:00:30,750 --> 01:00:32,333 He is the greatest King. 1318 01:00:32,375 --> 01:00:34,125 He is God among us! 1319 01:00:34,167 --> 01:00:36,000 He's the greater David. 1320 01:00:36,083 --> 01:00:40,083 Furthermore, there's a guy named Jonah. 1321 01:00:40,167 --> 01:00:42,708 Make sure when you read the Bible stories to your kids: 1322 01:00:42,792 --> 01:00:44,000 It's not about Jonah. 1323 01:00:44,083 --> 01:00:45,375 It's not about David. 1324 01:00:45,458 --> 01:00:46,708 It's not about Moses. 1325 01:00:46,792 --> 01:00:48,000 It's not about Abraham. 1326 01:00:48,083 --> 01:00:50,000 It's always about Jesus. 1327 01:00:50,083 --> 01:00:53,708 Jonah comes along, and he rebels against God's call 1328 01:00:53,792 --> 01:00:57,417 to communicate the truth of God to a pagan, lost nation 1329 01:00:57,500 --> 01:00:59,000 that he doesn't like. 1330 01:00:59,042 --> 01:01:03,292 He's got racism, classism, all kinds of -ism issues; 1331 01:01:03,333 --> 01:01:06,292 so ultimately, he gets thrown overboard off a boat. 1332 01:01:06,333 --> 01:01:08,167 A fish swallows him. 1333 01:01:08,250 --> 01:01:12,125 The fish then gives him a last-class ticket to Nineveh, 1334 01:01:12,167 --> 01:01:15,292 pukes him up on the beach. 1335 01:01:15,333 --> 01:01:18,667 Stinking, frustrated-- weird 3 days. 1336 01:01:18,750 --> 01:01:21,833 Jonah, the reluctant prophet, walks into Nineveh, 1337 01:01:21,875 --> 01:01:24,000 says a few words, basically, "God hates you, 1338 01:01:24,083 --> 01:01:26,125 it's gonna go bad, goodbye," 1339 01:01:26,167 --> 01:01:30,625 walks away, and like half a million people get saved 1340 01:01:30,667 --> 01:01:32,833 because the power is in the Word of God, 1341 01:01:32,875 --> 01:01:35,917 not necessarily the messenger. 1342 01:01:36,000 --> 01:01:38,333 And some of you say, "I don't think that happened." 1343 01:01:38,375 --> 01:01:39,625 Jesus did. 1344 01:01:39,667 --> 01:01:42,292 Jesus comes along and says, "As Jonah was in the belly 1345 01:01:42,333 --> 01:01:44,208 "of the whale three days and three nights, 1346 01:01:44,292 --> 01:01:47,125 "I'm going to go into the earth three days and three nights. 1347 01:01:47,167 --> 01:01:49,292 "As he came out alive, I'm coming out alive. 1348 01:01:49,333 --> 01:01:51,625 "As he was used to save a multitude, 1349 01:01:51,667 --> 01:01:55,083 I'm going to save even more people." 1350 01:01:55,167 --> 01:01:57,583 Jesus is the greater Jonah. 1351 01:01:57,667 --> 01:02:00,292 There's also a guy in the Bible named Boaz--greatest love story, 1352 01:02:00,333 --> 01:02:02,417 after Jesus and the church, in the whole Bible. 1353 01:02:02,500 --> 01:02:04,125 Boaz is a good guy, godly man. 1354 01:02:04,167 --> 01:02:06,083 The Bible calls him a worthy man. 1355 01:02:06,167 --> 01:02:08,792 He's holy, righteous, older, single, got a job. 1356 01:02:08,833 --> 01:02:10,417 Total Mars Hill guy. 1357 01:02:10,500 --> 01:02:12,167 He's what we're looking for. 1358 01:02:12,250 --> 01:02:13,917 He's not a boy who could shave. 1359 01:02:14,000 --> 01:02:16,833 He's a guy with a job and a Bible and a clue. 1360 01:02:16,875 --> 01:02:19,333 He's a good guy and he's looking for a girl, 1361 01:02:19,375 --> 01:02:20,708 wants to get married. 1362 01:02:20,792 --> 01:02:22,833 He's got his own business. 1363 01:02:22,875 --> 01:02:29,208 He ends up picking as his wife, the most unexpected woman. 1364 01:02:29,292 --> 01:02:31,208 There's not a guy here that your 1365 01:02:31,292 --> 01:02:33,083 here's-what-I'm-seeking- in-a-wife list 1366 01:02:33,167 --> 01:02:35,208 looks anything like Ruth. 1367 01:02:35,292 --> 01:02:37,000 Let's just go through her resume. 1368 01:02:37,083 --> 01:02:40,333 Okay, Moabite race, cursed of God, 1369 01:02:40,375 --> 01:02:42,333 product of incest. 1370 01:02:42,375 --> 01:02:43,833 Here we go. 1371 01:02:43,875 --> 01:02:46,125 All right, not a virgin. 1372 01:02:46,167 --> 01:02:49,417 She'd been previously married to an idiot who died, 1373 01:02:49,500 --> 01:02:51,583 and it kind of looks like God whacked him, 1374 01:02:51,667 --> 01:02:52,917 if you read the story. 1375 01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:55,208 [congregation laughing] 1376 01:02:55,292 --> 01:02:59,208 She's from a foreign country, so she's not one of your kind. 1377 01:02:59,292 --> 01:03:01,417 You're supposed to marry with your kind. 1378 01:03:01,500 --> 01:03:03,583 There was some racial issues in that day. 1379 01:03:03,667 --> 01:03:06,333 Furthermore, she may not be a believer. 1380 01:03:06,375 --> 01:03:10,208 She says she is, but she's brand new to her faith. 1381 01:03:10,292 --> 01:03:12,917 Oh, and she's broke and homeless. 1382 01:03:13,000 --> 01:03:15,000 She's gleaning in the fields, which is basically 1383 01:03:15,042 --> 01:03:17,917 dumpster diving. 1384 01:03:18,000 --> 01:03:21,625 And if you choose her, it's like a Groupon. 1385 01:03:21,667 --> 01:03:23,208 Buy one, get one free. 1386 01:03:23,292 --> 01:03:25,000 She also comes with a mother-in-law. 1387 01:03:25,083 --> 01:03:27,500 [congregation laughing] 1388 01:03:27,583 --> 01:03:30,708 Now, it's not even her mother. 1389 01:03:30,792 --> 01:03:34,583 It's her dead loser husband's mother, 1390 01:03:34,667 --> 01:03:38,583 whose name was Naomi, which means "sweetheart." 1391 01:03:38,667 --> 01:03:42,000 She was so frustrated, she legally changed her name 1392 01:03:42,083 --> 01:03:43,917 to Bitter. 1393 01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:46,833 "Hi, my name is Bitter." 1394 01:03:46,875 --> 01:03:50,708 "Wow, is that what it says on your driver's license?" 1395 01:03:50,792 --> 01:03:53,417 "Yes, I'm with Ruth." 1396 01:03:53,500 --> 01:03:56,667 "Oh, what a deal." 1397 01:03:56,750 --> 01:03:59,250 [congregation laughing] 1398 01:04:01,250 --> 01:04:04,292 This is who Boaz picks. 1399 01:04:04,333 --> 01:04:06,583 "I'll take Ruth and Bitter." 1400 01:04:06,667 --> 01:04:10,125 That's who I'll take." 1401 01:04:10,167 --> 01:04:13,208 And they ultimately are used of God to give birth to a guy 1402 01:04:13,292 --> 01:04:16,583 named Jesus. 1403 01:04:16,667 --> 01:04:21,333 Jesus is from that crazy family line, 1404 01:04:21,375 --> 01:04:24,417 and Jesus is the greater Boaz. 1405 01:04:24,500 --> 01:04:30,500 And he takes us, people who are worse than Ruth and Naomi, 1406 01:04:30,542 --> 01:04:32,625 and he marries us, and he loves us, 1407 01:04:32,667 --> 01:04:35,583 and he calls us his bride, the church. 1408 01:04:35,667 --> 01:04:38,292 And Jesus is a greater Boaz. 1409 01:04:38,333 --> 01:04:39,917 This guy named Nehemiah, 1410 01:04:40,000 --> 01:04:41,500 he rebuilds a city called Jerusalem 1411 01:04:41,583 --> 01:04:43,500 so that God's people could have a home. 1412 01:04:43,542 --> 01:04:45,083 Jesus is a greater Nehemiah. 1413 01:04:45,167 --> 01:04:47,708 He's creating a New Jerusalem, Revelation says, 1414 01:04:47,792 --> 01:04:50,125 for an eternal home for God's people. 1415 01:04:50,167 --> 01:04:54,583 We could go on and on and on, and I'd love to. 1416 01:04:54,667 --> 01:04:59,417 But God wrote a book, and it's all about Jesus. 1417 01:04:59,500 --> 01:05:01,792 And as he's walking along the road, 1418 01:05:01,833 --> 01:05:05,417 his first priority after rising from death, 1419 01:05:05,500 --> 01:05:07,333 "We need to get a Community Group together, 1420 01:05:07,375 --> 01:05:09,000 "sit down and have dinner. 1421 01:05:09,083 --> 01:05:10,708 "We need to talk about the Scriptures 1422 01:05:10,792 --> 01:05:12,708 so that people know the Bible." 1423 01:05:12,792 --> 01:05:14,333 That's Jesus' first priority. 1424 01:05:14,375 --> 01:05:17,417 At Mars Hill Church, these are our first priorities. 1425 01:05:17,500 --> 01:05:20,083 The Bible is open, talking about Jesus, 1426 01:05:20,167 --> 01:05:22,917 get you to have meals together, build friendships. 1427 01:05:23,000 --> 01:05:24,500 We call them Community Groups. 1428 01:05:24,542 --> 01:05:25,833 Yes, I'm selling it again. 1429 01:05:25,875 --> 01:05:27,208 There's about 500 of them. 1430 01:05:27,292 --> 01:05:28,917 Please get in one. 1431 01:05:29,000 --> 01:05:31,500 You say, "I got in one, and I didn't like it." 1432 01:05:31,583 --> 01:05:33,500 Well, it's God's way of sanctifying you. 1433 01:05:33,583 --> 01:05:36,500 You're welcome. Go back. 1434 01:05:36,542 --> 01:05:41,208 Go back or find another one, but please be in community 1435 01:05:41,292 --> 01:05:42,708 with God's people. 1436 01:05:42,792 --> 01:05:46,167 Be in God's Word and look for Jesus. 1437 01:05:46,250 --> 01:05:48,583 If you don't have a Bible, we give them away. 1438 01:05:48,667 --> 01:05:49,917 Take one with you. 1439 01:05:50,000 --> 01:05:52,167 If you want to buy a good study Bible, 1440 01:05:52,250 --> 01:05:54,375 the ESV Study Bible, in my opinion, 1441 01:05:54,458 --> 01:05:56,417 the best that's ever been written; it's fantastic. 1442 01:05:56,500 --> 01:05:58,167 Read the book that God wrote. 1443 01:05:58,250 --> 01:06:00,417 See Jesus in every page. 1444 01:06:00,500 --> 01:06:01,708 Get in a Community Group. 1445 01:06:01,792 --> 01:06:03,083 Talk with people. 1446 01:06:03,167 --> 01:06:04,417 Do life. 1447 01:06:04,500 --> 01:06:07,917 Have Jesus' priorities be your priorities. 1448 01:06:08,000 --> 01:06:12,375 And, additionally, if you're a person who's been taught, 1449 01:06:12,458 --> 01:06:13,833 do me a favor this week. 1450 01:06:13,875 --> 01:06:15,500 Say thanks. 1451 01:06:15,542 --> 01:06:17,500 Maybe this was your parents, your grandparents, 1452 01:06:17,583 --> 01:06:19,708 your Community Group leader, your Redemption Group leader, 1453 01:06:19,792 --> 01:06:21,708 an old pastor, a Young Life leader, 1454 01:06:21,792 --> 01:06:24,208 a Campus Crusade for Christ leader, whomever. 1455 01:06:24,292 --> 01:06:26,625 And I'm not talking send me a "Thank you, Mark." 1456 01:06:26,667 --> 01:06:28,000 I'm the most encouraged guy. 1457 01:06:28,042 --> 01:06:29,333 I'm fine. 1458 01:06:29,375 --> 01:06:33,917 I'm talking, who has really done for you what this experience 1459 01:06:34,000 --> 01:06:36,500 was for these people, how Jesus taught them. 1460 01:06:36,542 --> 01:06:38,667 Who's kind of done that for you? 1461 01:06:38,750 --> 01:06:40,333 Tell them thanks. 1462 01:06:40,375 --> 01:06:41,667 Say, "You know what? 1463 01:06:41,750 --> 01:06:44,917 "This week we were in Luke and I'm so thankful 1464 01:06:45,000 --> 01:06:48,292 "because what Jesus did for them, you did for me. 1465 01:06:48,333 --> 01:06:50,333 "You opened the book that God wrote 1466 01:06:50,375 --> 01:06:53,625 and you told me about Jesus, and I'm so thankful for that." 1467 01:06:53,667 --> 01:06:55,625 And then be that person to someone else 1468 01:06:55,667 --> 01:06:57,125 in the grace of God. 1469 01:06:57,167 --> 01:06:59,125 Answer their questions. Lead a Community Group. 1470 01:06:59,167 --> 01:07:00,917 Lead a Redemption Group. Teach your kids. 1471 01:07:01,000 --> 01:07:03,083 And some of you say, "I've talked to them 1472 01:07:03,167 --> 01:07:05,000 "and their eyes are closed and they're blind 1473 01:07:05,083 --> 01:07:06,333 and they don't see it." 1474 01:07:06,375 --> 01:07:08,000 That's how it started for these people, 1475 01:07:08,083 --> 01:07:10,417 and Jesus kept talking to them until their eyes opened. 1476 01:07:10,500 --> 01:07:12,333 So don't stop talking to people. 1477 01:07:12,375 --> 01:07:14,083 Don't stop praying for people. 1478 01:07:14,167 --> 01:07:15,917 Don't stop pursuing people. 1479 01:07:16,000 --> 01:07:17,917 And I'll tell you what, Mars Hill. 1480 01:07:18,000 --> 01:07:21,125 This is--this, to me, is humbling. 1481 01:07:21,167 --> 01:07:24,000 It's overwhelming, it's amazing, it's encouraging, 1482 01:07:24,042 --> 01:07:26,417 because I get to do what Jesus did. 1483 01:07:26,500 --> 01:07:28,125 I get to teach the Bible. 1484 01:07:28,167 --> 01:07:29,833 So I want to publicly say thanks. 1485 01:07:29,875 --> 01:07:31,708 Thanks for letting me teach the Bible. 1486 01:07:31,792 --> 01:07:33,875 I rant and rave. I go way too long. 1487 01:07:33,958 --> 01:07:35,583 I mean, what we call a sermon, 1488 01:07:35,667 --> 01:07:38,500 most people call a service, right? 1489 01:07:38,542 --> 01:07:42,708 But it's amazing because the power is in the Word of God, 1490 01:07:42,792 --> 01:07:44,625 and God has blessed his Word. 1491 01:07:44,667 --> 01:07:46,917 I just want to explain this to you. 1492 01:07:47,000 --> 01:07:51,000 We started as a little Bible study like Jesus started with. 1493 01:07:51,042 --> 01:07:53,625 Fifteen years later, do you know where we're at recently? 1494 01:07:53,667 --> 01:07:56,917 Recently, in the last few weeks, we got over 12,000 people 1495 01:07:57,000 --> 01:07:59,833 at Mars Hill Church, over 12,000 people. 1496 01:07:59,875 --> 01:08:01,917 That's thousands more than last year. 1497 01:08:02,000 --> 01:08:05,625 That's thousands more than last month. 1498 01:08:05,667 --> 01:08:07,417 Don't get excited, whatever you do. 1499 01:08:07,500 --> 01:08:11,417 [congregation applauding] 1500 01:08:11,500 --> 01:08:13,375 And many of these people are becoming Christians. 1501 01:08:13,458 --> 01:08:16,292 Do you know how many people have made a profession of faith 1502 01:08:16,333 --> 01:08:18,917 in Jesus and gotten baptized so far this year? 1503 01:08:19,000 --> 01:08:22,167 Over 1,200 people, over 1,200 people. 1504 01:08:22,250 --> 01:08:25,583 [congregation applauding] 1505 01:08:25,667 --> 01:08:30,417 And here's what's really crazy. 1506 01:08:30,500 --> 01:08:32,833 We give it away, on this thing called the Internet, 1507 01:08:32,917 --> 01:08:34,667 like we've been doing since the '90s, 1508 01:08:34,708 --> 01:08:38,625 and we're on pace for 10 million sermon downloads this year. 1509 01:08:38,667 --> 01:08:40,792 That means above and beyond Mars Hill, 1510 01:08:40,833 --> 01:08:42,917 there's about 10 million people who are listening 1511 01:08:43,000 --> 01:08:44,667 to the teaching of God's Word. 1512 01:08:44,750 --> 01:08:48,208 This week, again, we hit number one on iTunes 1513 01:08:48,292 --> 01:08:50,917 with an hour-long sermon on, "You Killed God." 1514 01:08:51,000 --> 01:08:54,125 [congregation laughing] 1515 01:08:54,167 --> 01:08:57,208 We're just like, that's amazing. 1516 01:08:57,292 --> 01:09:01,583 [congregation applauding] 1517 01:09:01,667 --> 01:09:03,708 And so let me tell you where we're at. 1518 01:09:03,792 --> 01:09:06,375 I mean, all this has happened while we're going through Luke. 1519 01:09:06,458 --> 01:09:07,833 Now we're on "Luke Part 99." 1520 01:09:07,875 --> 01:09:10,000 You know. I mean, it's kind of comical, right? 1521 01:09:10,083 --> 01:09:11,417 It's like, "What's the trick?" 1522 01:09:11,500 --> 01:09:13,417 "God wrote a book. Jesus is alive. 1523 01:09:13,500 --> 01:09:14,708 Yay." 1524 01:09:14,792 --> 01:09:16,667 I mean, that's kind of our thing, right? 1525 01:09:16,750 --> 01:09:19,083 That's all we've got. We're a band with one song. 1526 01:09:19,167 --> 01:09:21,083 We play it loud. That's it. 1527 01:09:21,167 --> 01:09:22,917 That's all we've got. 1528 01:09:23,000 --> 01:09:24,208 "Play it again." 1529 01:09:24,292 --> 01:09:26,917 "All right, we're glad to do it." 1530 01:09:27,000 --> 01:09:30,333 And so let me tell you, as we're going to wrap up 1531 01:09:30,375 --> 01:09:33,083 Luke next week, let me tell you what's coming next, okay? 1532 01:09:33,167 --> 01:09:35,208 We're going to do, then, a 5-week series called, 1533 01:09:35,292 --> 01:09:37,375 "God's Work, Our Witness." And here's what happens. 1534 01:09:37,458 --> 01:09:39,333 There's so much going on at Mars Hill. 1535 01:09:39,375 --> 01:09:41,000 I mean, you see your Community Group 1536 01:09:41,083 --> 01:09:43,167 or you see your church, you see your service. 1537 01:09:43,250 --> 01:09:45,833 I want you to see everything that I can show you 1538 01:09:45,875 --> 01:09:47,125 that God is doing. 1539 01:09:47,167 --> 01:09:48,917 So over the course of 5 weeks, 1540 01:09:49,000 --> 01:09:51,083 I'm going to take you around and show you 1541 01:09:51,167 --> 01:09:52,417 all 14 Mars Hill Churches, 1542 01:09:52,500 --> 01:09:54,583 including the 4 that haven't even been planted yet. 1543 01:09:54,667 --> 01:09:55,917 They're in core-group phase. 1544 01:09:56,000 --> 01:09:57,208 So we're doing something crazy. 1545 01:09:57,292 --> 01:09:59,125 January 15th, it's all sort of culminating. 1546 01:09:59,167 --> 01:10:01,583 Grace and I have got a book coming out called, 1547 01:10:01,667 --> 01:10:02,917 "Real Marriage." 1548 01:10:03,000 --> 01:10:05,083 We're going to do a Real Marriage sermon series. 1549 01:10:05,167 --> 01:10:07,000 We're going to also-- we've got 2,000 churches 1550 01:10:07,083 --> 01:10:09,667 that have signed up to go through that series with us. 1551 01:10:09,750 --> 01:10:12,417 In addition to that, we're going to open on January 15th 1552 01:10:12,500 --> 01:10:15,917 4 churches in 3 states, for 2 reasons: 1553 01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:19,083 we love God and people-- on 1 day, January 15th. 1554 01:10:19,167 --> 01:10:20,583 So we'll do Mars Hill Sammamish. 1555 01:10:20,667 --> 01:10:21,917 Great church, great people. 1556 01:10:22,000 --> 01:10:23,417 They've got 20 acres. 1557 01:10:23,500 --> 01:10:25,125 They just decided to become Mars Hill. 1558 01:10:25,167 --> 01:10:26,417 They built brand new buildings. 1559 01:10:26,500 --> 01:10:28,625 The place is already going to two services, 1560 01:10:28,667 --> 01:10:30,417 and we're still in core-group phase, 1561 01:10:30,500 --> 01:10:32,583 and we've only been there a couple of weeks. 1562 01:10:32,667 --> 01:10:35,000 In addition, we're launching Mars Hill Rainier Valley, 1563 01:10:35,083 --> 01:10:38,625 most diverse zip code in America, which is great. 1564 01:10:38,667 --> 01:10:42,208 In addition, we're launching Mars Hill Portland. 1565 01:10:42,292 --> 01:10:44,208 We're launching Mars Hill Orange County, 1566 01:10:44,292 --> 01:10:45,583 and they're all blowing up. 1567 01:10:45,667 --> 01:10:48,000 I was just in Orange County a few weeks ago. 1568 01:10:48,083 --> 01:10:50,500 We had a Sunday morning core gathering for the church 1569 01:10:50,542 --> 01:10:52,500 that's going to start in January, 500 seats, 1570 01:10:52,583 --> 01:10:54,083 1,000 people. 1571 01:10:54,167 --> 01:10:56,000 It was like ants on an ant hill. 1572 01:10:56,083 --> 01:10:57,708 That thing is going to go crazy. 1573 01:10:57,792 --> 01:11:00,292 So everything is growing at the same time. 1574 01:11:00,333 --> 01:11:02,500 We praise God. We rejoice. 1575 01:11:02,583 --> 01:11:04,917 We're riding a wave of God's grace that I think 1576 01:11:05,000 --> 01:11:06,583 is sort of once-in-a-lifetime, 1577 01:11:06,667 --> 01:11:08,708 the kind of thing you tell your grandkids about. 1578 01:11:08,792 --> 01:11:10,500 Really encouraged, really excited. 1579 01:11:10,583 --> 01:11:13,667 So we're going to show you that over the course of 5 weeks. 1580 01:11:13,750 --> 01:11:15,000 And here's the big ask. 1581 01:11:15,083 --> 01:11:19,625 We want you to pray, serve, give. 1582 01:11:19,667 --> 01:11:22,667 And I'm just going to boldly ask for more money. 1583 01:11:22,750 --> 01:11:25,667 I know the last thing to get saved is your wallet. 1584 01:11:25,750 --> 01:11:27,583 I know that. 1585 01:11:27,667 --> 01:11:31,333 Sanctification concludes in your wallet. 1586 01:11:31,375 --> 01:11:37,125 And we want to open up room for 9,000 more people in 2012. 1587 01:11:37,167 --> 01:11:40,167 That's what we're going for, the biggest year we've ever had. 1588 01:11:40,250 --> 01:11:43,583 We figure if this book is true, if this guy is alive, 1589 01:11:43,667 --> 01:11:46,333 if people don't know it and they're going to hell, 1590 01:11:46,375 --> 01:11:48,500 and we know it, we want to help them. 1591 01:11:48,542 --> 01:11:50,167 We want to tell them about Jesus. 1592 01:11:50,250 --> 01:11:52,583 We want to plant churches. We want to make disciples. 1593 01:11:52,667 --> 01:11:53,917 We want to open opportunities. 1594 01:11:54,000 --> 01:11:56,833 And so in the next few weeks I'm going to ask you, 1595 01:11:56,875 --> 01:12:00,208 give big, give generous, let's beat budget. 1596 01:12:00,292 --> 01:12:01,917 Let's open the new churches. 1597 01:12:02,000 --> 01:12:03,625 What else are you going to do? 1598 01:12:03,667 --> 01:12:05,583 This is a wonderful opportunity. 1599 01:12:05,667 --> 01:12:07,500 God's in it. Things are going great. 1600 01:12:07,583 --> 01:12:08,833 Let's keep it going. 1601 01:12:08,875 --> 01:12:11,083 And in conclusion, you know what a preacher means 1602 01:12:11,167 --> 01:12:12,500 when he says that? 1603 01:12:12,583 --> 01:12:15,500 Nothing, I just want you to keep paying attention. 1604 01:12:15,583 --> 01:12:17,333 [congregation laughing] 1605 01:12:17,375 --> 01:12:21,208 Two final things when it comes to giving. 1606 01:12:21,292 --> 01:12:24,375 Okay, number one, I want to introduce you to one of our most 1607 01:12:24,458 --> 01:12:28,125 faithful, generous, consistent givers at Mars Hill. 1608 01:12:28,167 --> 01:12:30,333 His name is Gideon Joseph. 1609 01:12:30,375 --> 01:12:32,417 He is my 5-year-old son. 1610 01:12:32,500 --> 01:12:34,125 That is us at Disneyland last week 1611 01:12:34,167 --> 01:12:36,000 and he put on the Mickey Mouse hands. 1612 01:12:36,083 --> 01:12:38,000 Let me tell you a story about Gideon. 1613 01:12:38,042 --> 01:12:39,917 Gideon is a generous giver. 1614 01:12:40,000 --> 01:12:41,208 We had the coolest thing. 1615 01:12:41,292 --> 01:12:42,708 We recently launched Mars Hill Bellevue 1616 01:12:42,792 --> 01:12:44,208 into their new location. 1617 01:12:44,292 --> 01:12:45,917 It was nuts. Thousands showed up. 1618 01:12:46,000 --> 01:12:47,292 It was crazy. 1619 01:12:47,333 --> 01:12:50,500 And after the service I was trying to leave with my family, 1620 01:12:50,583 --> 01:12:52,417 and Gideon, who's 5 and usually really happy 1621 01:12:52,500 --> 01:12:53,917 and compliant, he was fighting me. 1622 01:12:54,000 --> 01:12:56,083 He was like, "No, I don't want to go. 1623 01:12:56,167 --> 01:12:57,792 I want to go in the foyer." 1624 01:12:57,833 --> 01:12:59,708 "I don't want to go in the foyer. 1625 01:12:59,792 --> 01:13:02,417 "People are going to want to argue about theology with me. 1626 01:13:02,500 --> 01:13:04,833 I want to go eat something. We need to go." 1627 01:13:04,875 --> 01:13:06,708 "No, I want to go back to the--" 1628 01:13:06,792 --> 01:13:08,083 I finally said, "Okay, Gideon. 1629 01:13:08,167 --> 01:13:09,583 "I don't know what you want. 1630 01:13:09,667 --> 01:13:11,083 I'll take you in the foyer." 1631 01:13:11,167 --> 01:13:13,500 So I take his hand, we go into the foyer. 1632 01:13:13,542 --> 01:13:15,625 My 5-year-old son walked up to the offering box 1633 01:13:15,667 --> 01:13:18,292 and pulled out of his pocket 5 bucks, and he said, 1634 01:13:18,333 --> 01:13:20,792 "Dad, we've gotta pay for this building." 1635 01:13:20,833 --> 01:13:22,708 [congregation laughing] 1636 01:13:22,792 --> 01:13:27,833 And he put his offering in. Because Gideon, amazingly, 1637 01:13:27,875 --> 01:13:30,500 he realizes we're opening a new church, 1638 01:13:30,583 --> 01:13:32,417 we've gotta pay for this! 1639 01:13:32,500 --> 01:13:37,917 So, he, at 5, came ready to give. 1640 01:13:38,000 --> 01:13:40,917 He's on pace to give about 50 bucks this year. 1641 01:13:41,000 --> 01:13:43,500 And I know some of you will say, "Well, you know, 1642 01:13:43,583 --> 01:13:45,000 my income stream is minimal." 1643 01:13:45,042 --> 01:13:46,625 His is not great. 1644 01:13:46,667 --> 01:13:50,208 [congregation laughing] 1645 01:13:50,292 --> 01:13:52,500 He usually gets paid in suckers. 1646 01:13:52,583 --> 01:13:56,708 I mean, he does not have a huge income stream. 1647 01:13:56,792 --> 01:14:01,500 So let me compare Gideon's generous giving to yours. 1648 01:14:01,583 --> 01:14:02,917 Okay? 1649 01:14:03,000 --> 01:14:04,833 Here's a chart. 1650 01:14:04,875 --> 01:14:08,208 All right, you know it's going bad when I pull out a chart! 1651 01:14:08,292 --> 01:14:09,583 You just know that. 1652 01:14:09,667 --> 01:14:11,833 "Oh, Mark's got a chart. It must be bad." 1653 01:14:11,875 --> 01:14:13,583 It is, it's bad. Here's the chart. 1654 01:14:13,667 --> 01:14:16,208 Okay, so 24% of people at Mars Hill this year, 1655 01:14:16,292 --> 01:14:18,917 this year, a whole year-- a year is a long time. 1656 01:14:19,000 --> 01:14:21,833 If you just make it through one, we give you a cake. 1657 01:14:21,875 --> 01:14:23,500 It's that big of a deal, right? 1658 01:14:23,583 --> 01:14:27,917 So this year, 24% of people gave nothing, 1659 01:14:28,000 --> 01:14:32,000 and 41% of people gave between $1 and $500. 1660 01:14:32,042 --> 01:14:34,583 Gideon. 1661 01:14:34,667 --> 01:14:37,333 14% of people gave $500 to $1,500. 1662 01:14:37,375 --> 01:14:40,708 11% gave $1,500 to $4,000. 1663 01:14:40,792 --> 01:14:42,417 Only 10% gave $4,000. 1664 01:14:42,500 --> 01:14:44,583 I know some of you immediately will be like, 1665 01:14:44,667 --> 01:14:46,708 "Um, I'm a single mom. I don't have money." 1666 01:14:46,792 --> 01:14:48,083 Great, okay, cool. We understand. 1667 01:14:48,167 --> 01:14:50,917 "I'm at Bellevue, and we just paid off a huge building, 1668 01:14:51,000 --> 01:14:52,375 and, man, we're all tapped out." 1669 01:14:52,458 --> 01:14:53,833 Okay, I get it. I understand. 1670 01:14:53,875 --> 01:14:55,500 "I'm unemployed. I've got nothing coming in." 1671 01:14:55,583 --> 01:14:57,708 I get it, I get it, I get it. 1672 01:14:57,792 --> 01:15:00,417 But what I don't get is 65% of people doing nothing 1673 01:15:00,500 --> 01:15:01,792 or close to it? 1674 01:15:01,833 --> 01:15:03,125 That can't be 65% unemployment. 1675 01:15:03,167 --> 01:15:04,417 It can't be 65% poverty. 1676 01:15:04,500 --> 01:15:06,125 Here's what I'm asking you to do. 1677 01:15:06,167 --> 01:15:07,542 Care. 1678 01:15:08,000 --> 01:15:09,208 Care. 1679 01:15:09,292 --> 01:15:11,417 You are part of something that God is doing. 1680 01:15:11,500 --> 01:15:13,583 We are part of something that God is doing. 1681 01:15:13,667 --> 01:15:15,292 We get to tell people about Jesus, 1682 01:15:15,333 --> 01:15:17,417 and people are getting saved and churches are getting 1683 01:15:17,500 --> 01:15:19,375 planted and the upgrade from hell to heaven 1684 01:15:19,458 --> 01:15:21,583 is pretty fantastic, and we want to have that 1685 01:15:21,667 --> 01:15:23,000 for as many people as possible. 1686 01:15:23,083 --> 01:15:25,125 So we want to end the year strong, 1687 01:15:25,167 --> 01:15:29,375 we want to end it generous, we want to end it real big, 1688 01:15:29,458 --> 01:15:31,792 so we're going to ask you to give generously, okay? 1689 01:15:31,833 --> 01:15:34,500 So I'm going to have folks take the offering right now. 1690 01:15:34,542 --> 01:15:36,875 If you didn't come prepared to give, we love you. 1691 01:15:36,958 --> 01:15:38,208 I'm not guilting you. 1692 01:15:38,292 --> 01:15:39,625 We don't teach 10%. 1693 01:15:39,667 --> 01:15:42,583 We say generous, regular, cheerful, sacrificial. 1694 01:15:42,667 --> 01:15:43,917 That's what the Bible says. 1695 01:15:44,000 --> 01:15:46,833 We want you to give whatever God has told you to give. 1696 01:15:46,875 --> 01:15:48,125 And here's my question. 1697 01:15:48,167 --> 01:15:49,792 Which category are you in? 1698 01:15:49,833 --> 01:15:52,208 Which category, end of the year, will you be in? 1699 01:15:52,292 --> 01:15:54,417 And we want to see more people meet Jesus. 1700 01:15:54,500 --> 01:15:55,708 Amen? 1701 01:15:55,792 --> 01:15:59,333 If we believe--if we believe this is the book that God wrote, 1702 01:15:59,375 --> 01:16:03,083 if we believe it's about Jesus, if we believe that people need 1703 01:16:03,167 --> 01:16:08,208 to know him, we should be enthusiastic to do all we can, 1704 01:16:08,292 --> 01:16:10,792 pray, give, serve, make that happen. 1705 01:16:10,833 --> 01:16:12,417 So as they're taking the offering, 1706 01:16:12,500 --> 01:16:14,625 we're going to show you a little preview video 1707 01:16:14,667 --> 01:16:16,625 for the "God's Work, Our Witness," 1708 01:16:16,667 --> 01:16:19,000 the 5-week series that'll start after we follow-- 1709 01:16:19,042 --> 01:16:20,417 finish, rather, Luke next week. 1710 01:16:20,500 --> 01:16:22,083 Amen? 1711 01:16:22,167 --> 01:16:23,417 Yay! 1712 01:16:23,500 --> 01:16:25,208 All right, let's show it to you. 1713 01:16:25,292 --> 01:16:26,792 [congregation applauding] 1714 01:16:30,375 --> 01:16:34,417 ♪♪♪ 1715 01:16:34,500 --> 01:16:37,625 So when we went to launch Mars Hill, 1716 01:16:37,667 --> 01:16:39,625 we started a Bible study in the house. 1717 01:16:39,667 --> 01:16:41,208 It outgrew the house. 1718 01:16:41,292 --> 01:16:43,917 And since we had a little bit of a relationship here, 1719 01:16:44,000 --> 01:16:47,417 and the pastor at the time was a good guy, 1720 01:16:47,500 --> 01:16:49,417 he allowed us to use the building 1721 01:16:49,500 --> 01:16:55,125 and so we started using the youth room upstairs, 1722 01:16:55,167 --> 01:16:58,167 mainly because it was free. 1723 01:16:58,250 --> 01:17:03,833 We're going up to what is a third-floor, basically, attic. 1724 01:17:03,875 --> 01:17:06,833 It was used, I think, at the time, 1725 01:17:06,875 --> 01:17:09,292 as kind of a youth room. 1726 01:17:09,333 --> 01:17:11,667 So we started meeting, actually, in this room. 1727 01:17:11,750 --> 01:17:15,083 I think it was January 1996. 1728 01:17:15,167 --> 01:17:17,167 We'd outgrown our home. 1729 01:17:17,250 --> 01:17:20,333 Had, I don't know, maybe 15, 20 people in our house, 1730 01:17:20,375 --> 01:17:23,000 and it got too big for our small rental home. 1731 01:17:23,042 --> 01:17:26,125 And so we launched the evening service here, 1732 01:17:26,167 --> 01:17:28,500 5 or 6 o'clock. 1733 01:17:28,583 --> 01:17:29,917 And it was really simple. 1734 01:17:30,000 --> 01:17:31,833 So I would get up in the morning, 1735 01:17:31,875 --> 01:17:33,167 put my sermon together, 1736 01:17:33,250 --> 01:17:35,333 and then I would write out the sermon notes, 1737 01:17:35,375 --> 01:17:36,667 type them out. 1738 01:17:36,750 --> 01:17:39,583 I would take them to Kinko's and photocopy all the sermon notes, 1739 01:17:39,667 --> 01:17:42,708 and then I would get the Bibles and the books we were going 1740 01:17:42,792 --> 01:17:46,333 to give out, load them into my Toyota pickup truck. 1741 01:17:46,375 --> 01:17:49,292 We had two speakers that were actually home speakers 1742 01:17:49,333 --> 01:17:52,917 that some rocker brought, and jerry-rigged them. 1743 01:17:53,000 --> 01:17:55,833 We had a sound board that we stole from Antioch Bible Church, 1744 01:17:55,875 --> 01:17:58,208 and I want to publicly apologize to them for stealing 1745 01:17:58,292 --> 01:17:59,500 their sound board. 1746 01:17:59,583 --> 01:18:00,917 Our first technology-- 1747 01:18:01,000 --> 01:18:02,292 What does that mean? 1748 01:18:02,333 --> 01:18:05,417 Well, they--I was a college pastor at Antioch, 1749 01:18:05,500 --> 01:18:08,417 and they had some extra gear in a closet, 1750 01:18:08,500 --> 01:18:11,417 and so I took it because we needed a sound board, 1751 01:18:11,500 --> 01:18:14,000 and I put it in my truck and drove it over. 1752 01:18:14,083 --> 01:18:18,417 As well, we had a little pulpit that somebody built for me. 1753 01:18:18,500 --> 01:18:19,708 We've actually still got that. 1754 01:18:19,792 --> 01:18:23,417 I saw it at the downtown Mars Hill location. 1755 01:18:23,500 --> 01:18:25,417 And we had an overhead projector 1756 01:18:25,500 --> 01:18:29,167 because we had to do song slides. 1757 01:18:29,250 --> 01:18:31,417 So it was literally just a light bulb, 1758 01:18:31,500 --> 01:18:33,208 and then tear-down was me. 1759 01:18:33,292 --> 01:18:36,000 So then I'd put the cords away, put the overhead away, 1760 01:18:36,042 --> 01:18:38,583 and put the chairs away, and put the tables away, 1761 01:18:38,667 --> 01:18:40,708 and so we got home really, really late, 1762 01:18:40,792 --> 01:18:42,917 and we were still working jobs at the time. 1763 01:18:43,000 --> 01:18:45,333 And we actually met in this room from January 1764 01:18:45,375 --> 01:18:48,125 until probably about September. 1765 01:18:48,167 --> 01:18:50,708 We officially went public with the church in October. 1766 01:18:50,792 --> 01:18:53,833 So it actually took us that long to fill this room up, 1767 01:18:53,875 --> 01:18:55,917 January to September. 1768 01:18:56,000 --> 01:18:59,083 And once we got to 30-40 people, then it started feeling 1769 01:18:59,167 --> 01:19:01,417 like a really big deal. 1770 01:19:01,500 --> 01:19:04,833 And so then we had to move into their main sanctuary, 1771 01:19:04,875 --> 01:19:07,000 and that was $1,000 a month. 1772 01:19:07,083 --> 01:19:10,417 There were some times that were really brutal, 1773 01:19:10,500 --> 01:19:12,583 where we didn't even have the rent money. 1774 01:19:12,667 --> 01:19:15,000 So Grace had an old Subaru that she drove, 1775 01:19:15,083 --> 01:19:17,000 and I had a Toyota pickup truck. 1776 01:19:17,083 --> 01:19:19,292 Between the two vehicles, we literally had almost 1777 01:19:19,333 --> 01:19:22,333 half a million miles on the two vehicles. 1778 01:19:22,375 --> 01:19:25,417 And Grace's Subaru, she'd leave it parked out on the street 1779 01:19:25,500 --> 01:19:27,833 in Wallingford in front of our rental home. 1780 01:19:27,875 --> 01:19:30,417 And on multiple occasions, because the streets are narrow, 1781 01:19:30,500 --> 01:19:33,583 people would hit and sideswipe that Subaru. 1782 01:19:33,667 --> 01:19:35,917 And I think it was at least three times. 1783 01:19:36,000 --> 01:19:38,333 People came and knocked on the door and told her, 1784 01:19:38,375 --> 01:19:40,417 "I'm sorry, I just hit your car. 1785 01:19:40,500 --> 01:19:43,333 Let me give you a couple of hundred bucks to cover it." 1786 01:19:43,375 --> 01:19:46,167 And so there were multiple months that we actually 1787 01:19:46,250 --> 01:19:48,917 paid our rent and kept the church afloat 1788 01:19:49,000 --> 01:19:50,708 because people kept hitting the Subaru. 1789 01:19:50,792 --> 01:19:52,833 By the end, it was pretty battered, 1790 01:19:52,875 --> 01:19:54,500 but it paid the bills. 1791 01:19:54,583 --> 01:20:04,583 ♪♪♪