The Book of Acts | John The Baptist

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05:02

Well, hello and welcome to the apologetic dog where it's our heart's desire to guard the gospel of grace

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And so if you find the apologetic dog logo and you see first Timothy 6 verse 20 That verse is where Paul is telling

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Timothy and all Christians to guard the deposit that's been entrusted to you And if you continue to read the verse it says and avoid irreverent babble pagan philosophy that tries to rival the knowledge of God Especially the gospel of grace

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God must in his word Tell us what truth is Paul goes on to tell Timothy and avoid contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge

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Where do we get knowledge? Where do we get truth? Well, the God of truth reveals himself to man And so God has done this especially in his word

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God has especially done this in the incarnation of Jesus Christ So thank you so much for tuning in I bet you didn't expect a late

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Saturday night live stream I've really enjoyed studying the book of Acts and so I just want to be able to share with many of y 'all that have supported the apologetic dog and we just would like to be a part of This ministry and so thank you so much for all of your support.

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I will say I'm having a studio at home Occasionally the wifey likes to come in and leave me a little surprises.

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Thanks, babe ball babes So, thank you so much, I want to give everybody a little bit of time to tune in we got

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Adam Carmichael one of the mods here at the apologetic dog Said welcome everyone.

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I don't think so much for tuning in Before I dive in with some of the announcements here at the poly

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Jack dog I also serve as a pastor and elder at twelve five church. We're the only reformed Baptist in Jonesboro and We really try to partner with Evangelical churches those churches that preach the the gospel of grace and so we have

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Reformed brethren in our Presby circles. We love y 'all even though we're going to talk to you about the covenant of grace and covenant works

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We love y 'all and so if you're in the Northeast Arkansas area and you're looking for a reformed

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Baptist Church Please come check us out. Like I said, we're the only one in the area, but we don't want to be snooty we want to lock arms with other churches that preach the gospel and I'm looking forward to preaching at a church tomorrow in Lepanto So we get to just since we're a plurality we get to love on other churches and help out where we can

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And so Adam Carmichael and I he serves as a deacon at twelve five church. We just got back from Going to Main Street downtown

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Jonesboro where they're having a gay Pride festival and me and a group of men were able to just have some really good gospel centered conversations

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And it's no doubt that God has twelve five church in our downtown area where a lot of that stuff is prevalent

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So just keep us in purse We never want to win arguments for the sake of being right and looking down at people.

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No, we want to share with them truly What love is we see this the phrase love is love that don't tell us anything

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But the God of love the God of truth the God of peace He has sent his one and only son to die for us to die for those that would put their faith in him

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That is love. So anyway, it was a pleasure getting to do that And so we're kind of getting in a little bit late this evening, but thank you all for tuning in So my first announcement,

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I just want to kind of piggyback last time if you were able to catch this live stream I have a debate coming up.

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I believe it's August 23rd with the fishbone We're gonna be debating is water baptism necessary necessary for what?

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Well, if you go over to Marlon's channel at the gospel truth We're talking about is baptism necessary for all of your sins to be forgiven past present in the future

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You don't want to miss that debate coming up. It's gonna be it's gonna be a good one I'm sure it's gonna be lively. It's gonna be for people

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I too want to debate and so me and the fishbone get to team up on this one

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Marlon's channel So I wonder if I've been able to do a handful of debates on there And so I've lost count at this point how many that is but speaking of debates?

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I have another debate coming up in February where I get to be a part of this open air

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Theology conference in February at Tullahoma, Tennessee, and so last year I got to speak at this conference

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It was on why Calvinism I got to speak on the sovereignty of God and suffering and so Jeffrey Rice this time was like Jema How would you like to debate and I said

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I love debating So I'm looking forward to this Unfortunately, I have to tell you that I had a debate challenge a couple weeks ago with for Aaron Gallagher And he he didn't get back to me.

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He said he would But hey debating is not everyone's cup of tea. And so this

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Debate challenge is essentially rejected and that's okay because coming up in a couple days

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I'm gonna have Trey Fisher on the apologetic dog and we're gonna issue another debate challenge

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And so this conference is about a believer sanctification so you can kind of see here in the graphic.

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It's talking about war flesh Versus the spirit and so we kind of want the debate the last event of the conference to reflect on a believer sanctification

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So perhaps the debate will be something like can a blue believer Lose their sanctification or not.

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The answer is no if you're truly regenerated Then you will be sanctified by the Spirit to the day of redemption

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And then or we may we may phrase it a little bit differently where I could take the affirmative that God will

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Necessarily complete a believer sanctification something like that. So if you have any suggestions, yeah

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John says bummer. I'm taking that to mean a bummer that Aaron Gallagher Unfortunately said he's not interested.

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They didn't say that. He just didn't reach out to me at all Trust me tried messing messaging him a whole lot without like being annoying, but I just wanted some clarity.

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I get it We're not all debaters. Some of us are meant to just be podcasters and there's nothing wrong with them

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But yep bummer, but that's okay it wasn't meant to be and that just means that God has somebody else in store and I cannot wait to tell y 'all in a few days

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Maybe on Monday that me and Trey tell you who I'm going to be calling out next.

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Oh, we got Justin Stasny out there. Thank you for tuning in sir

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Bow wow. Whoa. That's what I'm talking about Justin Stasny is also a member at 12 five church.

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Thanks so much. Oh We have the man Wesley Watkins, how are you, sir?

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Wesley's a member at 12 five and he actually led our Evangelistic group at 12 five to go downtown to share the gospel with all the people a part of the the gay pride festival

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And so might have Wesley on one of these days to talk more about his heart of evangelism I've got to have a lot of really good talks just a couple hours ago and Another thing is we were able to have a big group go into downtown

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But we also had a group at the church praying for us as well. So pretty incredible Thanks so much for tuning in Wesley.

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Well else is out there Hello. Hello Thank you for joining us

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Yeah, if y 'all have Anything that you would like to add just please send it in the side chat

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Thank you for joining us, so yep be on the lookout for the conference coming up in February in Tennis, Tullahoma, Tennessee I plan on having a booth this time and I hope to have a couple of mics where I get to interview people

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And I'm really looking forward to that so you don't want to miss it and I'm back

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Let's see here Well, this kind of brings me next on my list

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I've been really enjoying Well, it's been about a week or so got to talk just the entry introductory verses to the book of Acts Let's see here.

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We didn't make it too far last time But the book of Acts I think in some ways is very neglected

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And it's so good It's the narrative of the acts of the Apostles that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit that God is sovereignly

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Guiding and building his church, and so that's exactly what Jesus told us in In Matthew's gospel that he would build his church and the gates of hell would not prevail

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All right Hello, thank you so much for tuning in appreciate it appreciate it

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So I do want to continue our studies through the book of Acts, but you must be warned I go at the pace of Anthony Rogers So that means a snail's pace, but my heart in the matter is

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I want us to glean as much as possible From God's Word and I want to give you all a chance in the side chat to ask questions

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And to challenge me and I let people know it's not stump the chump And what I mean by saying that is it's not hard to stump the apologetic dog

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We're all growing in our sanctification. We're all growing if we're in Christ and the grace and knowledge of our

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Lord and Savior Jesus Christ So I just want to be able to share with you all my findings how I see the

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Word of God coming together in such beautiful harmony and like I said, I just want to start in the book of Acts and so here in these opening verses is

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The prologue to the book of Acts last time we talked about the author so the opening words here in the first book

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Oh Theophilus we mentioned how Theophilus means friend of God and This is actually has a connection so this says the first book we we talked about how there is a strong connection to the gospel of Luke and how the early church always has seen

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Luke as the author of that gospel and then necessarily so the Book of Acts and so please go check that out

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We talked about the writer Luke in relation to Theophilus who's a friend of God But in all reality if you're in Christ, you are a friend of God like Abraham like Theophilus name means and so this is written for us for us to learn and learn truth and those opening verses of Luke's gospel talks about how he gave an orderly account so that we

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As Christians, you know, he's talking to Theophilus Theophilus that we might have certainty in the things that God has revealed to us

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So I want to review Kind of these opening verses in the book of Acts in the first book

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Oh Theophilus I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until The day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the

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Holy Spirit He goes on to say to the Apostles whom he had given He presented himself alive to them after his sufferings by many proofs appearing to them

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During 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God and while staying with them

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He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father which he said you heard from me for John Baptized with water, but you'll be baptized with the

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Holy Spirit not many days from now So this is like I said the kind of the opening prologue

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And there's so many points that I actually do want to take time to unpack But in kind of verse number two until the day when he was taken up this is alluding to Jesus's Ascension now if you're familiar with the tail end of the

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Gospel of Luke and Continuing in the narrative of the book of Acts, then you know

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There's a lot more details coming up about the Ascension And so I want to table that for this time because we're gonna get into that as we go more into Acts chapter 1

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And so when it says after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the

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Apostles whom he had chosen Well as we're gonna see later in Acts chapter 1 we're gonna see another

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Apostle was chosen to replace Matthias and so like I said, we're gonna circle back to a lot of these main points because Luke is setting up things here a number of points that have been touched on already in the the

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Gospel of Luke and he's gonna continue to expound upon In the rest of this book of Acts, so thanks so much for tuning in.

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Thanks so much Okay, we already have an off -topic question. So I'm gonna come back to that So verse 3, this is something that I will probably cover in next livestream when we

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Open up the book of Acts again because Jesus presented himself alive so think resurrection to them the

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Apostles and over 500 eyewitnesses after his Suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and this is the key

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I want you to be thinking about and speaking about the kingdom of God my goodness,

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I may do a two or three part series on the kingdom of God because this is kind of Crucial to understanding.

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This is a theme in Luke's writing And so I really do think next time we'll spend time unpacking the kingdom of God and we will firstly go back

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To Luke's gospel. He mentions it so many times and I believe Early in Jesus's ministry in Luke's gospel

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He says that this was the purpose in which he was sent to preach the kingdom of God And so kingdom of God we're gonna get into this but it's essentially talking about salvation and everything that that entails

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So I'm getting really excited about that so verse 4 While staying with them.

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He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the

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Father So this will integrate very well with the kingdom of God the

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Holy Spirit's work as we're gonna get into that and it's gonna tie in to the baptism of John the

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Baptist when Jesus was baptized and Christian baptism, so I want us to hang on to that phrase as well probably be an entire live stream in and of itself

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But he says to wait to the Apostles for the promise of the

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Father Which he said Jesus said you heard from me for John Baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the

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Holy Spirit not many days from now And so the more I was thinking about this about what to mainly focus on this live stream is it's

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John the Baptist John baptized with water and the reason why I want to take time to Unpack this is because John is alluded to very briefly later on in the book of Acts and John's ministry is so Foundational to understanding how he was paving the way for Messiah And so I want us to kind of spend some time and unpack this so I would like for us to do a deep dive

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In looking at John the Baptist and so this is also a good time to ask questions in the side chat

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And so I'm really excited about this and if you've not already subscribed to the apologetic dog ministry

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I just want to encourage you to do that that really helps Support me that allows YouTube to say hey this content is worth recommending to people

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So when you subscribe when you like when you share it's telling the system Hey, this this needs to be distributed

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And so if you don't mind, please do that if you've ever benefited from the apologetic dog ministry one day one day

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I talked about this with Adam Carmichael all the time is I would love to be able to do Apologetics full -time and just to serve as a pastor at 12 -5 church

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What's up, Jared? Thanks for joining us man Jared will be

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Helping me on a road trip tomorrow as I travel a few towns over to preach at a church that we are

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Partners with at 12 -5 and so keep us in prayers looking forward to traveling with Jared Thanks for tuning in burrata

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Okay. Now we got a little bit of an audience So like I said, if you're just tuning in John the

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Baptist is what I would like to spend the majority of our time this evening because he baptized and everyone knows acts 238 that you must repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and By doing so receive the gift of the

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Holy Spirit and I'm I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit but acts chapter 2 is where that is found and The context there is a

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Jewish audience and so some people maybe our

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Presbyterian brothers they see a strong connection and replacement if you will of baptism and Circumcision and we love as Reformed Baptists we love the doctrine of circumcision and all that entails but we differ and as Reformed Baptists, we differ with the

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Church of Christ thinking that baptism is the means or the instrumentation of how a person has their past sins washed away and What I want to contend for is in Acts chapter 2 that is a

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Jewish Covenantal Context and there is something that is the nearest antecedent to Christian baptism and it's not circumcision

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It's John's baptism. So this is really important to understand

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John in the New Testament Has such a developed theology about who Jesus is what the atonement looked like what the day of the wrath?

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what the day of wrath looked like as well and he was a preacher of Repentance and so since we already talked about How the writer of Luke and Acts are the the same human author, which is

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Luke I want us to consider Luke chapter 3 as our main text

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Talking about John the Baptist. So I'm gonna kind of start in verse 2 but before I do

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I want to take some time to maybe look at y 'all's questions in the side chat or Any comments you may have

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Dineen says off -topic question. I'll allow it this time Can someone who denies

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Jesus is our Sabbath rest and says we need to keep the Sabbath? Still be to be considered a brother in Christ Good question

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Dineen let me know. Are you talking specifically like about the seventh day?

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Adventists let me know if you have somebody else in mind, but I'm just gonna take this as maybe the seventh -day

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Adventist because I Believe well for one the seventh -day Adventist or a restorationist group

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They come out of the early 1800s along with the Church of Christ and the Mormons and I think one of the fatal flaw is the say the seventh -day

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Adventist with how they deal with the Sabbath is they add Works to the gospel of grace.

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I've actually I've had a few different conversations and they will they will demand Remember in the the fourth commandment

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Remember to keep the Sabbath. Holy you Protestants are forgetting the Sabbath and it's like, okay.

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Well the the Sabbath is Ceremonial in nature and points to Jesus That's why

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I'm Matthew chapter 11 the writer of Hebrews and chapters 3 and 4 talks about how Jesus is our

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Sabbath day rest it's not a day a yoke of bondage like the

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Pharisees twisted into and Force it on to Christians to observe and if you don't observe it, then you're not saved.

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And so unfortunately, I Do not see the seventh -day Adventist as brothers in the faith.

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I think they have crept in unawares I have an apologetic book Walter Martin and the kingdom of the cults

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The seventh -day Adventist slipped his radar and he did not necessarily list them as a cult he definitely listed all of the criteria to be on guard for Cults, and I believe it's

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Ellen G white as they're basically infallible Prophetess she had so many revelations from God and so forth

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But is that does that let's see here make sure I answered it Can someone who denies Jesus is our

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Sabbath rest and says we need to keep the Sabbath? yeah, it's just it it adds to the gospel of grace and they miss a fundamental teaching of The scripture as a whole that the

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Sabbath points to Jesus like you're talking about. So let me know Let me know if I answered that or if I did the whole

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Tap dance around it. It's not intentional. Let's see here. I Asked for more information, but he wouldn't answer so I don't know any more than what is in my question.

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Thanks for answering Welcome anybody else out there before we dip into Luke chapter 3

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Let's see, oh Okay, we do have question

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If I don't pronounce your name, it's because I'm scared that I'll miss pronounce it. Hello.

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I have a question about acts 15 Is there a possibility for questions on a chapter?

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Maybe not being studied today. Yes, it's possible It doesn't mean I'll get to it

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Something to be thinking about Scholarly is when I will be teaching on the kingdom of God soon here in Acts chapter 1

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That's alluded to twice right because as we look into the context you pull it up here.

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So you see this question So when they had come together, they asked Jesus Lord.

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Will you at this time restore the kingdom? To Israel, I Just want to let the cat out of the bag and let you know that I hold to what is called covenant theology

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And I grew up dispensational and I'm not saying that in like a mean condescending way I just do not hold that perspective anymore.

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And so I cannot wait to unpack the kingdom of God I don't think anything was put on hold.

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I actually think Jesus answers that question with the next verses and It actually ties in Acts 15 so thank you for your question

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But acts 15 will actually be a big talking point Probably the next live stream when

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I talk about the kingdom God But hey, if you do have any questions about any other verses in the book of Acts just send them my way

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Yes, Adam Carmichael says Yes, bro now, I'm old TT I believe

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Adam goes by the tatted theologians, let's see here Bob from Canada, maybe help me understand what you're saying.

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What's your bread -and -butter hustle dog? if you're asking me kind of what's the

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The thought of The idea and heart and mission behind the apologetic dog

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It's definitely embedded in 1st Timothy 20 is is defending guarding the gospel of grace and we do that by warring against pagan philosophy

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We do that by Exposing contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. Thank you for tuning in Now that okay that being said let's go.

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Oh, oh, oh, sorry My oh my my bread and butter

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Well, I serve as a pastor and elder at 12 -5 Church in Jonesboro, Arkansas And so currently that is part -time.

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The church is so gracious And doing that and they've made it known that well scripture teaches us that we as a church are to pay

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A laborer worth his wages, especially those of double honor those that labor and preaching and teaching

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And so my church's heart is to have me on full time But I serve in a plurality of elders and as I've communicated to the other leadership in the church is hey

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Let's wait and God's timing until until when that can actually take place We're a church plant.

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And so we're just three years old, but God has been so gracious With all of that and so my bread and butter

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Also, I'm a full -time Chaplain with a hospice agency and so that's why we get random

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Livestreams late on Saturday night because I'm trying to squeeze it in but Bob from Canada. Thanks so much for asking that that bread and butter

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Okay, thank y 'all Okay So yeah Let's let's dive in to Luke chapter 3 because I want us to talk about John the

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Baptist and the reason why we now will be Cross -referencing with all the synoptic Gospels because when you do a deep dive study into John the

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Baptist, he's actually everywhere Until the law and the prophets until John meaning he is the last

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Prophetic voice on the scene of kind of the old covenant paradigm paving the way for Jesus and so since we're gonna see a lot of continuity between Luke and Acts Luke chapter 3 look with me starting in verse 2 where the

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Word of God came to John the son of Zechariah That's important we need to keep in the back of my mind son of Zechariah in the wilderness and he went into all the region around the

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Jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins

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We got to stop now. I will I do plan on reading through at least verse 18

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But we got to take it in chunks Because already right here. There's so much that I want to unpack

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And feel free to ask questions along the way and I will I will post those so something that immediately grabs my attention is

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We read about John preached forgiveness of sins now, he also talks about a

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Repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And so I want us to talk about all this

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What does the forgiveness of sins entail what it looked like in the Old Testament? Hint -hint the forgiveness of sins has all always been by grace through faith in the in the promise of Jesus Christ So the

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Old Testament Saints were looking forward. I want us to look at that I want us to consider what the Old Testament says about the forgiveness sins

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But they were looking forward to the coming Messiah what he would accomplish at Calvary and all

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Christians today We are looking back putting our faith in Christ repenting truly from the heart, right?

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We're gonna get more into that as well, but we put our faith in all of what he did and accomplished so something else in the immediate context is

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Zechariah is is the father to John the Baptist And so with that being said in Luke chapter 1 there was a prophecy

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That Zechariah gave and it's really important because in this prophecy. It's so many

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Allusions to the Old Testament. He wasn't saying anything new Other than that, we're gonna see that the prophetic voice of Isaiah chapter 40 of a voice crying out in the wilderness to make the paths of the

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Straight for the Lord was going to be his son. So I do want us to consider this

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As we're talking about this concept of repentance for the forgiveness of sins

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Zechariah's prophecy in Luke chapter 1 says and his father John the Baptist father Zechariah was filled

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With the Holy Spirit and prophesied saying blessed be the Lord God of Israel for he has visited and redeemed

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So keyword redeemed this is talking about salvation. He has redeemed his people and raised up a horn of salvation a horn talking about being mighty in strength ready for battle for us in the house of his servant

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David as He spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old that we should be saved right?

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God was with his people saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us to show the mercy promised to our

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Fathers and to remember his holy covenant We see this covenantal language of the promised

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Covenant of grace the covenant of peace in which we'll have a perfect mediator the oath that he swore to our father

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Abraham to grant us that we Being delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness

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Before all of our days and it's interesting So this is kind of the new information that Zechariah is prophesying and you

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John the Baptist child Will be called the prophet of the Most High for you will go before the

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Lord to prepare his ways to give knowledge of salvation to his people and this is something else

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I want you to make note of in the Forgiveness of their sins because of the tender mercy of our

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God Whereby the Sun rise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death

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To guide our feet into the way of peace Okay, so you could probably hear a number of the

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Old Testament illusions from the Psalms from the prophets of old But I want you to see here

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Zechariah is talking about how his son will Prepare the way for the people to have salvation for their sins to ultimately be forgiven

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Is that fair? Is everybody trekking with me so far? just Justin Stasny, what are you saying up there?

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He's a beard old spokesman. Maybe. Oh, yeah, that's I wish that I wish that were my bread and butter

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Okay, so as we're talking about Zechariah's prophesying That John is about to prepare the way go before the

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Lord and prepare his ways And so when we're going back to Luke chapter 3, I want us to understand that John is not preaching

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Anything new he is just calling the people of Israel to get ready He's calling them to repentance which we're gonna kind of develop that word out what that looks

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Internally and what it looks like as repentance is bearing fruit and working out Something I want us to keep in mind is this idea for the forgiveness of sins

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This is rooted in the Old Testament and John the Baptist knows that so with that being said

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I Also want to mention this in Matthew's parallel account of the forgiveness of sins

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It actually says that the people as they were coming to be baptized by John. They were

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Confessing their sins and to me This is a beautiful connection because if you're looking at the the gospel writer

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Matthew and Luke, they're saying the same thing John is preaching Maybe we can go ahead and look at verse 18 the one that will kind of conclude with checks out

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So with many other exhortations John preached the gospel Good news to the people and so the gospel is all throughout the

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Old Testament And essentially at the core of the gospel is the good news that you can have Forgiveness of your sins and as we're gonna look at in the

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Old Testament, this would involve Confessing your sins to God Almighty Repenting meaning in your heart you are changing no longer trusting in yourself

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But you're trusting in God to make provision and for him to ultimately forgive your sins

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And so the forgiveness of sins understand that this is looking to God and this would involve

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Confessing your sins to him and as I was thinking about kind of giving you a backdrop

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To John the Baptist he would have in mind Moses the writings and the prophets and so when we say the writings we're talking about the kind of the prophetic literature some of the poetic things

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Psalm 32 is a psalm of King David Very famous psalm.

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In fact, I would say this psalm along with the psalm 51. These are psalms of repentance now remember

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Luke chapter 3 we're talking about repentance for the forgiveness of your sins

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Okay, and so psalm 32 is a good place to show what repentance looked like in the

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Old Testament And I don't have the verse in front of me. Actually. I want to I Want to tell you a really good verse the first time repent is mentioned in the

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Old Testament And I looked this up.

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I thought this is actually a good functional way to understand how repentance always works first Kings chapter 8 says yet if they turn their heart in the land to which you have been carried captive and repent and Plead with you in the land of our

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Captors saying we have sinned and have acted Perversely and wickedly and so that's first Kings chapter 8 verse 47, but in that one verse

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Repentance is talking about a heart issue Okay So as we're getting into what the forgiveness of sins has always looked like Forgiveness of sins is always coupled with repentance.

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And so in the the New Testament Metanoia the changing of the mind we understand that this

39:40

Hebrew roots also entails a volitional Heart change and so changing your mind changing the disposition of your heart is no longer

39:50

Looking inward to yourself But looking to God looking to his promised

39:55

Savior in the Holy Covenant the covenant that is to come And so that's a little bit of the backdrop in the

40:02

Old Testament I do want to read Ezekiel 18 because what's under what's what's crucial to understand in repentance is a

40:10

Turning away from sin. Oh my goodness. I've seen people on the internet They they think that baptism is a work that you do and I think they're confusing

40:21

Repentance, which is a category of the heart with bearing fruits of repentance Which is talking about works and so when

40:27

Jesus says in Mark 115 repent and believe the gospel for the kingdom of God Salvation is a hand. It's talking about a heart that no longer is trusting in self, but trusting in the things of God Like I said, this matches

40:40

Ezekiel 18 that says therefore I would judge you all house of Israel every one of you according to his ways declares the

40:46

Lord repent and Turn from all your transgressions Lest your iniquity your sin be your ruin and I could

40:54

I could probably illustrate a number of other places even in the book of Acts that Repentance is a heart that no longer wants to pursue after sin and when your heart's changed when your heart is

41:05

Changed to looking to the Lord his provision in Jesus Christ Well, that is going to affect how you work out your salvation with fear and trembling

41:15

And so your life will look different because you live to the glory of God. And so we're talking about repentance in Connection with the forgiveness of your sins.

41:27

And so one of the best places to add here is Psalm 32.

41:33

Hello Rosemary, thank you for joining us So look with me at Psalm 32 psalm of David Blessed is the one whose transgression is

41:44

Forgiven whose sin is covered. So remember we're talking about the forgiveness of sins

41:50

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts. No iniquity in whose spirit there is no deceit okay, now

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We're gonna continue on but these two verses David is telling us how to have your sins forgiven

42:07

And so we will actually go back to that in a moment some of you in the side chat already know where I'm going with This I'm sure but David continues to express what repentance looks like that inward heart that is turning away from sin turning away from loving sin and living life for me and Turning and looking and trusting in the

42:28

Lord David says for when I kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long

42:35

Broken over sin for day and night your hand was heavy upon me My strength was dried up as by the heat of the summer.

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I Acknowledge my sin to you write a confessing of sin and I did not cover my iniquity

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I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin

42:58

Therefore let anyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found

43:03

Surely in the rush of the great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me

43:08

You preserve me from trouble you surround me with shouts of deliverance I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go

43:17

I will counsel you with my eye upon you be not like a horse or a mule without understanding which must be curved with a bit and bridle or Will not stay near you many are the sorrows of the wicked but steadfast love surrounds

43:33

Don't miss this the one who trusts in the Lord Okay, and I'll read verse 11 here be glad in Yahweh and rejoice.

43:43

Oh Righteous right those that are just in his sight shout for joy all you upright in heart

43:50

And so this psalm kind of going full circle though Dave is talking about the one who puts their trust in Yahweh the one who knows all things and sees all things and promised to send us a savior

44:04

Okay, so I want you to connect this because this is a this psalm shows us how

44:09

Individuals Old Testament had their sins forgiven and notice King David was

44:16

Confessing his sin. That's what happens when a heart is Convicted of their sin before God who is holy holy holy, right?

44:25

What did the Prophet Isaiah who was a prophet probably seen as the most? Holy man walking the earth at that time when he was in the presence of God in Isaiah chapter 6

44:34

He said I'm a man of unclean lips that dwells in a people of unclean lips

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So he he pronounced woes on himself because of the holiness of God And so when we are faced with our sin, and we confess that to God saying please forgive me knowing that you're holy

44:52

Righteous and good and you save to the uttermost and so I just want to say that the confessing of sin is an overflow of a repentant heart

45:04

Let me pause mainly to Hello out there mainly to take a drink.

45:11

All right, Dineen Dineen beat me to the punch here I'm okay with that.

45:17

She says Paul uses Psalm 32 and Romans 4 also I'm glad you said that because that's exactly where I wanted us to think about this what

45:25

David is telling us Blessed is the one whose whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered

45:32

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity and whose spirit there is no deceit this

45:39

This was true of the Old Testament and it is still true in the New Testament.

45:44

And so we notice in Romans chapter 4 that the forgiveness of sins is the same way whether you come before the law of Moses like with Abraham whether like King David in Psalm 32

45:57

Confesses his sin repents and puts his faith his trust in Yahweh and his promises salvation the forgiveness of sins is the same way and Romans 4 continues to tell us that all of those that come after the laws fulfillment in Christ Guess what?

46:13

Our sins are forgiven by faith apart from where our works no different than Abra Abraham or David that was under the law and the reason why

46:23

I say this is because Let me see here Paul says no unbelief made

46:33

Abraham Waiver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his not his works

46:39

But his faith his trust in God as he gave glory to God fully convinced that God was able

46:45

To do what he had promised. That is why Notice Paul is saying that he

46:50

Paul is identifying His salvation his forgiveness of sins his justification with Christians after the laws fulfillment

46:58

That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness

47:03

But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone

47:11

But for ours, so you see how Paul is identifying himself with Christians He says it would be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead

47:21

Jesus our Lord who was delivered up for our sins our trespasses and raised for our justification

47:29

Okay So my big point here is the forgiveness of sins. See here's the quotation from Psalm 32 and This is talking about a person having forgiveness of sins just as David Also speaks of the blessing the forgiveness of sin of the one to whom

47:52

God counts righteousness Justified just as if we never sinned apart from works

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Okay, isn't that awesome? So us kind of doing a deep dive here is to talk about this is what

48:08

John the Baptist his Baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins that this is what he was talking about He was preaching the good news that has always been the good news ever since Genesis 3 15 that God would raise up a an offspring he the offspring of the woman to crush the serpent's head the entire rest of the scripture is

48:31

Expounding on that verse. That's why it's called the Evangelion because it's the first gospel promise the proto gospel in seed form

48:42

Christ rescued me. Thank you for joining us Miss Leanne says the Old Testament Saints believed the gospel.

48:49

Amen sister Old Testament Saints They were putting their faith in Jesus Christ who was to come they didn't know his name was maybe

48:58

Jesus Christ but Abraham believed God and his promises of sending a

49:04

Savior and it was counted to him as Righteousness, and so as we get into the kingdom of God the citizens of the kingdom of God have always been and will be believers

49:15

Okay Yes, and Dineen makes another good point

49:22

She says as James White always says to Roman Catholics. Are you that blessed man?

49:27

And that's such a good question because If you can't say yes

49:32

Or if you say I hope to be Then you're not the blessed man is the one to whom the

49:38

Lord will not impute or count sin on your behalf The blessed man is the saint the

49:44

Christian the one that's looking to Christ alone in faith alone all to the glory of God Alone not adding their works to the already finished work of Jesus Christ.

49:54

So thank y 'all so much for Chiming in let me know your thoughts

50:02

Yeah, yeah, so like I said if you are tuning in we're talking about John the Baptist and I'm really wanting to paint that backdrop

50:09

Especially here in verse 3 when he went into all the region around the Jordan Proclaiming he's preaching.

50:17

Oh, but Jeremiah is talking about baptism. Yeah, we're gonna get into that. But what did that baptism signify?

50:24

Repentance for the forgiveness of sins Okay, and so that forgiveness of sins has always been by faith apart from works

50:35

So I want to tip my hand a little bit because it seems like all the times when

50:40

I get in debates People like to say Oh Jeremiah the works here is talking about the works of the

50:48

Mosaic Law When I hear this

50:53

I'm just It's so funny because I've talked to so many Church of Christ, especially but Main Roman Catholics like to latch on to that argument as well

51:04

And I like to firstly point out a number of things Well number one, it just says works

51:09

So don't get mad at me when I'm just letting the Bible speak where the Bible speaks and I'm just Be silent with the

51:16

Bible silent being facetious, but I get that we all have to interpret this but when we go back to verses four and five

51:26

Notice this principle this principle has been true Old Testament New Testament now to the one who works

51:34

If you're doing or God's my if you're working if you're working if you're laboring if you're reading a book called a muscle and a shovel

51:43

Then it's no longer grace. This this is you you are trying to earn

51:48

Favor with God by your works. I just want to throw that out there Now verse 5 and to the one who does not work and this right here is

51:59

One of the strongest forms of negation in the Greek the one who does not work but believes in Jesus Christ Who justifies the ungodly?

52:11

his pistis is counted as righteousness and it goes into that quotation of Psalm 32

52:20

And so when people say well Jeremiah, how do you know? What kind of works are being talked about talked about?

52:26

Well works in faith are being Contrasted with one another.

52:31

So if you have a definition of faith that also includes works Then you can't understand this passage.

52:37

And so usually the move is well, this is just talking about certain kinds of works

52:44

And what they're getting at is is it's not works of the Mosaic Law now

52:50

I Like to point out and remember we're touching on this because it's gonna relate to what

52:56

John the Baptist himself was proclaiming and preaching But the context in Romans 4 is about Abraham Abraham for if Abraham was justified by works

53:07

Then he would have something to boast about but not forensically Judicially before God Now I usually try to get

53:16

Church of Christ specifically, but it'd be the same conversation with Roman Catholics Did Abraham do any works before the

53:25

Mosaic Law? most people say yes, and you need to understand that the the work that Abraham did was circumcision

53:35

Okay, I don't have any of my notes here. So Paul says

53:41

Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of righteousness That he had by faith while he was uncircumcised now, that's the work in view

53:54

Abraham was justified if we back up and look at verse 10 He was justified before his circumcision

54:02

And the point is Abraham could not boast in what he did like leaving the land of Ur the

54:08

Chaldeans he could not boast in his works like getting circumcised and He was justified by faith before he was circumcised that the purpose was to make

54:20

Abraham the father of all who believe whether you were circumcised and or a

54:25

Jew or whether you weren't Circumcised and you're a Gentile. He is the father of us all

54:31

So that's that's one thing that I want to Inform people about the context is it's a context with Abraham before the

54:40

Mosaic Law and then people say Jeremiah You don't understand. Well, of course Abraham is a perfect example to the

54:47

Jews saying look Abraham was justified apart from the works of the

54:52

Mosaic Law Now here's something I've been thinking about and so definitely let me know your thoughts in the side chat

54:59

Yeah, but nothing we do escapes in principle of being

55:05

Mosaic Law What's what's the first and greatest commandment of the law of Moses?

55:12

It's love the Lord your God with all of your heart soul mind and strength. Well, the Mosaic Law is just a republication of that Transcendental law that has always been true for all eternity

55:25

God is a Trinity Father Son and Spirit and so they have perfectly shared in a love between one another from all eternity past to present now and always will in the future and so any obedience to a command is going to be either in love and reverence for God or is going to fall short of that standard and Break that command and so when people try to say well, he's not talking about baptism here

55:57

I'm like he doesn't have to be for us to know exactly what the application would be talking about what kind of works

56:05

Any works because all works relate to the heart. Does that make sense?

56:11

So all of the works are flowing out of a heart disposition. And so when we are given a command

56:18

Chris the when we are given a command to will to say be baptized. Well, are you doing it to love

56:25

God? Oh, well, that is in principle Mosaic Law because the Mosaic Law is just a republication of God's transcendent law that also is written on our hearts and so if we're making such a big deal of Romans 4 4 and 5 and 6 about what works are in question here

56:46

Well understand this the works of the Mosaic Law are holy righteous and good and if those works aren't getting the

56:54

Pharisees in and we all sin and fall short of that standard no work nothing that you're able to do in a

57:03

Obedience to a command all of those are going to be tainted with falling short of the divine standard

57:10

And so that's just me getting more into Explaining that justification

57:17

Salvation the forgiveness of sins has always been by faith apart from works apart from being obedient to commands before the law of Moses the entirety of the law of Moses or Commands that are even given in the

57:30

New Testament to Christians and as we're going to continue to develop this thought We have to understand.

57:36

Oh, I actually made these verses I want to encourage you to maybe make note of two verses that are

57:41

Old Testament grounded But it's just further explained in the New Testament. So a believer's justification has always been by faith apart from works

57:50

I don't know this Genesis 15 6 what's true of Abraham is true for Jews and Gentiles today

57:56

Abraham believed had faith firm trust look it up Hebrews 11 1 believed

58:04

Yahweh and He counted it his justification to him as righteousness.

58:10

That's the forgiveness of sins Okay, that is a believers justification Old Testament also tells us in Habakkuk 2 4 2 4 behold his soul is puffed up It is not upright within him

58:22

But here's the key the righteous the just shall live by his faith

58:29

What that means is the righteous the justified by faith then live out their faith in Sanctification, okay by our works and so we have to understand yes

58:43

Justification and sanctification are related, but they are distinct right the moment somebody puts their faith in Christ They are immediately sanctified and set apart from the world.

58:53

But now they live the rest of their life in progressive sanctification being molded into the image of God's Son Jesus Christ and we're being separated slowly over time

59:05

Warring against the flesh warring against the passions of the world But we're being less and less like the world and more and more like Christ.

59:13

So let me know what y 'all think about that Those two verses are quoted all the time in the

59:18

New Testament What do y 'all think out there so let's see here

59:27

Miss Leanne says the COC make the false distinction between the works of the law and works of Obedience even though obedience is a standard.

59:40

Yeah, so you see what Leanne is doing is saying look If you're going back to your obedience to commands in principle

59:46

You're going back to the Old Covenant and let me just tell you this I may make some Presbyterians mad saying this but trust me

59:54

This this is a beautiful message when you understand its entirety the Old Covenant never saved

01:00:00

I believe it is 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 that calls the

01:00:06

Old Covenant a ministry of death and that's why this

01:00:11

Old Covenant became obsolete the the writer of Hebrews What's up,

01:00:16

Adam Harkness? You may not still be out there. That was 54 minutes ago Adam Harkness was another brother that went with all of us to evangelize the

01:00:27

Gay pride parade in our hometown and got to have a number of really good gospel centered conversations with some people that Let us know they didn't appreciate us coming down there, but we also had some good interactions and hey, we trust

01:00:42

God with all that Okay, let's see here. So thank you Leanne that let's see

01:00:49

We have another comment That says people who believe water baptism saves have not read

01:00:55

Galatians chapter 1 Now you are right the Galatians 1 heresy is essentially adding works your participation which the best example of You know works not saving us is appealing to the law of Moses That's the best kind of obedience you could have to a list of commands problem is you fall short of that standard every time

01:01:19

Now you did say this the person that believes that water baptism saves I'm glad you qualified it that way because it will take this time.

01:01:28

I want to kind of encourage people to be thinking about How to word things especially when you're dealing with Church Christ Because if you say anything along the lines of water baptism doesn't save they're gonna say

01:01:41

Oh, but you haven't read first Peter 3 21 That says baptism dot dot dot now saves you now

01:01:51

I Like like your comment you just said you said water baptism doesn't save us

01:01:57

Okay, I'm glad because obviously they're just gonna assume that this is talking about the ceremonial, right?

01:02:03

Even though Peter goes on to say not as a removal of dirt from the body.

01:02:09

I'm like sounds like a ceremonial bath But what I like to say just just to kind of stop the

01:02:16

Church Christ Roman Well Roman Catholic said Roman Catholics Church Christ or Roman Catholic life they have they don't have a

01:02:23

Pope they have less sacraments, but it's the same Legalistic core, especially when you start talking with them

01:02:29

But something that no one can disagree with me on the surface is I say baptism cannot justify a person

01:02:40

Sorry, I had to check my phone But yeah, though I I can already hear the

01:02:45

Church Christ saying you you got to read Baptism now saves you. Well, what kind of baptism is it being talked about?

01:02:52

What is the saving being talked about and what is the immediate context? Yes, thank you so much for that Okay, okay, so let's go back to Luke chapter 1.

01:03:09

Nope chapter 3 Where we're talking about John the Baptist. We'll see how far we can get over during the next hour or so So back in verse 3

01:03:18

John the Baptist went into all the region around the Jordan proclaiming a baptism of Repentance for the forgiveness of your sins.

01:03:29

So we already know for Forgiveness of sins our justification is by faith apart from works.

01:03:37

How do we know that? Well, that's what David taught in Psalm 32 This is the same

01:03:42

Psalm that the Apostle Paul uses to make his case with Abraham in Romans chapter 4

01:03:48

I want us to also understand that repentance is Not a work

01:03:54

That we do now. I want to I think it's a verse 8 here So John even goes on here in a little bit to say bear fruit in keeping with repentance

01:04:05

So he is making a distinction with bearing fruit giving evidence demonstrating works of repentance with repentance itself

01:04:15

And that's because repentance leads to good works It produces good fruit

01:04:21

And so repentance once again means to change the mind the a volitional change of the heart

01:04:29

Okay, something else that we got to talk about is He was proclaiming a kind of baptism

01:04:38

So as we're studying through the book of Acts Baptism is gonna get brought up. Now.

01:04:45

There's a number of baptisms that I want us to be thinking about That's relevant to our conversation. We're gonna talk about John's baptism

01:04:53

Maybe not this time, but I want to talk about when Jesus was baptized by John I want us to talk about the

01:04:59

Christian baptism that Jesus commissions in Matthew 28 and then the book of Acts is gonna tell us about the baptism of the

01:05:08

Holy Spirit and All this is connected in a beautiful way. There's what we look for called continuity and discontinuity

01:05:17

So as we're talking about the book of Acts right some of the principles that I want us to reflect upon is

01:05:25

I want us to understand acts is a narrative book. That means it's telling us a story

01:05:31

It is descriptive prime It's descriptive and so when you have groups and I will even say like the cult of the

01:05:39

Church of Christ They are going to necessarily press Verses out the books of Acts as prescriptive for you and Already hermeneutically how we study scripture acts as a narrative the only way to glean

01:05:53

Principles that do apply to us is you have to interpret the book of Acts in light of the epistles written to the church

01:06:02

So I want us to understand two principles that which is descriptive like a story

01:06:07

Narrative and that which is prescriptive. What is a command given to the church?

01:06:14

Not only back in the book early Early church in the book of Acts and what is still relevant for us today because as we get into Acts chapter 2

01:06:22

We read about Pentecost this is describing what Pentecost was like 2 ,000 years ago and While we know we're not supposed to have a

01:06:32

Pentecostal experience when somebody gets baptized And so that's important because we're going to be developing context with that Which is descriptive and that which is prescriptive and then another principle.

01:06:43

I want us to talk about in hermeneutics is continuity and Discontinuity when we're looking at the

01:06:50

Old Testament and the New Testament There will be things that are the exact same like when we're talking about the forgiveness of sins

01:06:58

I should probably say like this the continuity is that salvation has always been by grace through faith and the discontinuity is that Old Testament Saints were looking for the

01:07:09

Messiah to come and Christians today we are looking back to what

01:07:14

Jesus did but the principle of continuity is that it's always by faith apart from works

01:07:21

And so these are these are hermeneutical principles that I want us to reflect upon as we're going through The book of Acts and then obviously since Luke wrote

01:07:31

Acts We're also looking how he would have understood John the Baptist ministry, but we're gonna cross -reference with the synoptic

01:07:37

Gospels So before I continue talking about baptism any thoughts out there

01:07:44

Okay, let's see let's let me back it on up good stuff Jeremiah, thank you

01:07:50

Dineen Let's see here Leanne says y 'all are so brave.

01:07:57

I will say Taking a group of people from our church to evangelize the

01:08:04

LGBTQ Community is hard. I mean your hearts broken. I mean you see a lot of things you don't want to see but hey

01:08:11

How can they hear unless someone preaches to them the gospel of peace? So just keep us in prayer

01:08:17

Leanne Thank you for saying that Don Rowe Said he's checking in Don Rowe, thank you for he was actually out evangelizing with us too.

01:08:27

Good to see you, brother See here I Believe we maybe have a question

01:08:38

Here we go from Dineen is it safe to say that people often conflate the word baptism as Always meaning something done in water.

01:08:51

Oh, this is such a good point I'm probably gonna hold off on deep diving punting

01:08:59

Into like acts 238, but we'll go ahead and talk about it. Now. Yeah, there is a rich history a

01:09:04

Debate on I can't remember the Latin but it's like X operato

01:09:10

It gets into do do we? Does the grace of God confer to a person with the thing being done?

01:09:20

Or by the one who has faith and so this is something that Roman Catholics Have have taught that it's it's the work working.

01:09:29

And so their understanding of sacramentology is not only Do you need someone baptizing you like you can't be saved unless there's someone else present like God's Word Isn't sufficient.

01:09:42

We already know that we are the ones They rightly understand this solo scripture God's God's Word is the soul infallible rule

01:09:50

But it's God's Word that is sufficient for life and godliness in the life of a believer So Roman Catholics believe in a sacerdotal meaning you got to have someone baptizing you and In the sacramentology that the the grace of the forgiveness of sins is actually done by the work working

01:10:11

Protestants have fundamentally denied that that it's it's the one of faith Working and so the other are disputes

01:10:20

Within all that but you used a good word Danine you say is it safe to say that people often conflate certain meanings and I've often said you cannot conflate

01:10:32

Justification with sanctification. Are they? inseparable Absolutely. Are they strongly related in a particular context?

01:10:40

Absolutely, but they must be Distinguished justification is vertical Justification is by faith apart from works.

01:10:48

God sees the heart So before you work a particular action before you do something in obedience to a command

01:10:54

God knows the heart We prove this for moments for we prove this from the Gospel Council. It's talked about in the

01:11:00

Old Testament We even demonstrate this out in James chapter 2 But I believe

01:11:05

Roman Catholics Church Christ they conflate justification with Sanctification and I believe same principle.

01:11:13

We must not conflate faith in works Does saving faith necessarily produce works?

01:11:20

Absolutely. That's one of the whole points of James chapter 2 what up cat?

01:11:26

We have an unapologetic cat in the building that's a self -appointed mod Yeah, so let me know if that helps

01:11:38

We're just kind of asking some questions about baptism before we do a deep dive with the

01:11:44

John's baptism Let's see here Okay, Bob from Canada Says even my

01:11:55

Baptist was Was denied by a local Baptist pastor because it was not performed by a qualified clergyman.

01:12:03

Okay, I Do have this conviction that every time we see baptism done now this that what

01:12:10

I'm about to tell you is different than the Presbyterians God love them. I believe a person must be baptized in an in an actual church by some professes the gospel of grace why well

01:12:26

That's what we see described in the book of Acts like when Philip as we're gonna see baptize the

01:12:32

Ethiopian eunuch well Philip preached the gospel of grace and so You know

01:12:41

There is something to be said that you can't have an atheist baptize a per someone that openly hates

01:12:48

God And so like I said what we see modeled in the book of Acts that is descriptive

01:12:54

But as we catch that with what's what's prescribed in the Great Commission and throughout the epistles is

01:13:01

I'm of the conviction Baptism is not only for the person being baptized, but it's also for the benefit of the entire ecclesia, so Bob tell me what you think about this if a

01:13:16

Mormon an ex -mormon was baptized by immersion In the

01:13:21

Mormon Church, and they will say in the Father Son the Holy Spirit think about this I think we should all agree that that is not a valid baptism

01:13:29

They believe in a different Jesus, and they believe in a different gospel cults do not have a

01:13:36

Baptism at all they went through some cultic ceremonial cleansing and and people say yeah

01:13:42

But can a person be trusting in Christ alone in that context absolutely they can they just weren't

01:13:49

Baptized and so like I said baptism is much more than the one being Immersed it involves that baptizer

01:13:56

That's important. What is the gospel that they proclaim? Is it the gospel of grace or is it something that is outside the pale of the whole counsel of God?

01:14:06

and is it being done in a context of a Ecclesia because this is a celebration of someone's faith going public, so What do you think

01:14:19

Bob Bob said I asked the godliness believer. I knew to baptize me in a river.

01:14:26

Oh, yeah Was it cold it was it cold? Oh someone said see nature.

01:14:37

Thank you for chiming in I literally had this conversation with the Church of Christ yesterday Yeah, you'll see that the

01:14:44

Church Christ Want to talk about one thing and I would submit to you. It's not Jesus Christ.

01:14:49

It's baptism Okay Anybody else out there? You know what stinks is

01:14:56

I'm almost out of coffee, and I'm sure we're about to strap in for about an hour or so Conscience clean

01:15:06

Thank You Bob for that Okay with that being said

01:15:14

Oh Question from the cat. Can you baptize in saltwater?

01:15:20

Absolutely. I'd If this is

01:15:26

I think this is probably a serious question Yeah, I think baptism. I believe convictionally it can be demonstrated from the text, but it's by immersion into water

01:15:34

And so preferably it would be clean water. I know the early church would be in Rivers and so it'd be flowing water, but can you baptize in saltwater?

01:15:45

I have no problem with that Except I wouldn't want to if I couldn't help it Thank you

01:15:53

Okay, so Let us continue, okay so John was proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins

01:16:08

I Want to encourage you? I don't have any of the graphics with me, but baptism I mean essentially all the different forms of baptism.

01:16:16

They all relate together Baptizo being dipped I would press a full dipping one of immersion and What you can demonstrate with even

01:16:28

John's ministry is they would go down into the water So it's by immersion and you see this even in the book of Acts I believe with the

01:16:36

UP you get the eunuch that he would go down into the water. So Sorry presby's

01:16:43

This is not a sprinkling or a pouring. This is an immersion and as I want to continue to develop this thought baptism was not just Absolutely new and on the scene with John now talking about the word

01:17:01

Baptizo meaning to dip immerse. There's always a Context in which you are dipped or immersed into it.

01:17:09

So you can just do a quick search, but you can be Baptized immersed into one's authority.

01:17:15

You can be immersed into suffering or it can be a wet Immersion it can be being immersed completely with water

01:17:23

And as you look at the gospel accounts with John Baptizing water when we see the

01:17:29

Great Commission going to all the world Baptizing them in the name of the Father Son the

01:17:34

Holy Spirit and that baptism that Jesus commissioned Throughout the book of Acts is done in water so Also something

01:17:43

I want to let you know of is Baptism means to signify

01:17:51

The forgiveness of sins or to signify a relationship with God and trust me when you look at all of what church history has to offer so much dispute as went down with Understanding what happens when you go down into baptism?

01:18:09

So even though this is a hotly debated topic Always want to remind people.

01:18:14

Well, we already know how to have Forgiveness of skin sins.

01:18:19

What does the scripture say? well, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness one second here and so well yet what you can't forget about is justification has always been by faith and Sanctification is that faith working out with what we do.

01:18:52

It's always like to remind people Scripture is so clear about them and you even see the early church

01:18:57

Talking about that very thing and trying to understand how baptism relates into them

01:19:04

So, let me regain my my train of thought So we're talking about baptism it signifies these realities and As I was thinking more about this,

01:19:15

I was listening to a lot of old Johnny Mac. I don't know if y 'all can see this But love

01:19:22

John MacArthur's commentaries, even though we don't agree on everything especially in the next upcoming live streams I will explain to you the difference of what

01:19:29

I believe the kingdom of God looks like As opposed to Johnny Mac who is pre -millennial

01:19:36

Dispensationalist, that's okay. Love him to pieces, but he something in his sermons on John's baptism and to me

01:19:43

I just chalked this up to a theory. He said before John's baptism. There were proselyte

01:19:51

Baptisms meaning Gentiles that wanted to become Jews during this intertestamental period. Well, you'd have to be baptized identifying with the

01:19:59

Jewish people and perhaps there's good support for that and It makes sense because as we continue to look now, we'll we'll skip over What John was saying here?

01:20:11

We'll go back But but think about this. This is a good theory because it would match the context.

01:20:19

Well Yeah John the Baptist is in a way rebuking the Scribes and Pharisees that are there wanting to be baptized by him

01:20:28

He rebukes them and says you brood of vipers you are snakes, right?

01:20:34

You heard about the message that I was preaching about repentance for the forgiveness of sins

01:20:39

But it's really the wrath to come That you you were thinking how can

01:20:46

I avoid the fire? Well, maybe if I run to this water this bad baptismal pool, then maybe

01:20:51

I can escape but they're vipers They're snakes that they don't have a changed heart They're not repenting from the heart

01:20:58

And so John begins to rebuke them saying do not begin to say to yourselves We have

01:21:04

Abraham as our father and then John says for I tell you God is able to raise up these stones to raise up children for Abraham now

01:21:15

The reason why this relates to John's baptism is because what's and what emerged out of Second Temple Judaism is a works righteousness meaning we can take the law of Moses and try really hard to earn righteousness before God as a

01:21:33

Religious relief and what also another doctrine that developed is we're physical sons of Abraham And that kind of became the predominant theory that if we're born a

01:21:45

Jew then we're good You know what? I mean and we still see that kind of prejudice at work today people think well, man if I've been born into a

01:21:55

Christian household a household of faith then man I have the promise of God right and that's not how it works because our

01:22:02

Justification our forgiveness of sin is by a repentant faith alone in Christ alone and so According to this theory is there were proselyte baptisms unclean

01:22:16

Gentiles Becoming ceremonially clean and becoming a

01:22:21

Jew Okay, I like this theory But as I learned in my past debate with Mike, I saw you gotta think the

01:22:29

Church of Christ they need Christian baptism to wash away your past sins.

01:22:34

So anything that fits the narrative of You know baptism picturing signifying the realities

01:22:42

Identifying with but not actually being the instrumentation of washing away sin they're going to just try to deny that at all costs, so why debated

01:22:51

Mike I saw and It got brought up that perhaps there were proselyte bad baptisms for Gentiles becoming

01:22:59

Jews during the Intertestinal period he chunked that over his shoulder as fast as he could

01:23:05

And so the more I thought about this is, you know, even though that's a good theory It isn't necessary for us to understand the nature of John's baptism

01:23:14

So not only is he preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins

01:23:21

Which people would come and confess their sins at his baptism but he is

01:23:27

He is preaching to the Jewish people That you were unclean

01:23:33

You were unclean and you need to repent and and forsake what has been taught to you that you by your very ethnic ethnicity and physical descent of Abraham that's not going to declare you righteous before God.

01:23:50

You need to repent You need to recognize in this baptism that you are ceremonially unclean and Identify with the one who is to come which is

01:24:02

Jesus Christ now I said a lot there and I want to kind of prove to you Why I believe that is undeniably the case so we know what the context

01:24:14

The the people of Israel, especially the the scribes and Pharisees They see themselves as being physical descendants of Abraham, which they are but that's not enough now

01:24:26

The reason why John's baptism is calling it signifies a

01:24:32

Repentance for truly how you must have your sins forgiven now. We referenced

01:24:38

Psalm 32 of David of how he is talking about confessing his sins and he's trusting in the

01:24:44

Lord Blessed is the man whom the Lord will not impute or count sin But then

01:24:50

I was thinking okay, we're in the Old Testament where we glean Ceremonial principles of becoming clean

01:24:58

And is there anywhere in the Old Testament where we see this principle in connection with the forgiveness of sins?

01:25:07

or confessing forgiveness of sins So before I tell anybody any any thoughts.

01:25:14

Oh I appreciate you saying this nature because me too. J Mac exposed me to reform theology

01:25:22

Yep, he was the bridge for sure Yeah, Dineen says that Johnny Mac Says that he's a leaky dispensationalist and you know what

01:25:36

I figured out that actually means I don't know if Johnny Mac actually knows this but there are kind of three dispensationalist you have traditional classical

01:25:45

Dispensationalism and it it is heretical. It says that there's two plans of God two peoples of God It's bonkers

01:25:52

But then you have a moderate Dispensationalist theology and I think this is what Johnny Mac is where?

01:26:00

Salvation has always been by grace alone through faith alone and Christ alone but there's a dispute between moderate dispensationalist and progressive dispensationalist that says where and When is the

01:26:13

Davidic throne? And so Johnny Mac being dispensational pre -millennial says the Davidic throne will be in a future thousand -year reign

01:26:21

And the progressive dispensationalists say no Jesus is ruling and reigning now at the

01:26:26

Davidic throne That's at the right hand of the father. So I believe when you look more into this

01:26:32

Johnny Mac would be a moderate Dispensationalist, but he definitely led me to reform theology

01:26:40

Thank y 'all for chiming in Okay, so I'm wanting to say

01:26:46

John's baptism We could look at it on one hand as His Baptism his prophetic ministry is very unique meaning one -of -a -kind, right?

01:26:59

He is paving the way for Messiah Making straight the paths for the

01:27:05

Lord. And so yeah, that's something that is unique with him, but ceremonial cleansing is not unique to John the

01:27:15

Baptist and so my point is when John was baptizing in a pool of water

01:27:21

The Jewish context is they would understand that he is telling them you are unclean you need to go through this purification right in order to be ceremonially clean and Before we go into the

01:27:38

Old Testament I want to further build this case that John is speaking to a Jewish audience So we know that they would recognize something with him and for the sake of argument.

01:27:46

We're just going to look past proselyte Baptism, which I believe there is good evidence for but as we see three times in the

01:27:54

New Testament Hopefully I got this where y 'all can see it in Luke chapter 2 we read about purification laws or Rights according to the law of Moses So that's mentioned one time in Luke's gospel in the

01:28:10

Gospel of John. It's mentioned twice. I believe in John chapter 2 There were six stones six stone water jars therefore

01:28:20

Jewish rights of Purification now you may be saying okay. What's the big deal about purification

01:28:26

Jeremiah? Well if you keep reading in the John chapter 3 very interesting dialogue with John's disciples and someone who is

01:28:39

Jewish and they were talking about baptism and Connecting it with the meaning of purification.

01:28:46

So I do want to read this to you before we go into the Old Testament After this Jesus and his disciples went into the

01:28:51

Judean countryside and he remained there with them and was Baptizing John was also baptizing at Enon near Salem because water

01:29:01

So this so John's baptism is a water baptism It was plentiful there and people were coming and being baptized for John had not yet been put in prison now this is important part now a

01:29:16

Discussion some translations say a dispute right? There was a debate which I could have been there

01:29:22

Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification

01:29:31

So The idea is John's baptism was pricking

01:29:38

Jews to the heart why they were physical sons of Abraham and John is saying y 'all are ceremonially unclean

01:29:47

That's why you You need to listen to the message that I'm preaching About a repentance for the forgiveness of sins meaning you need to confess this repentance

01:29:57

It requires you confessing that you have been wrong and you've not been trusting in Messiah You've been trusting in your own lineage and your works righteousness.

01:30:06

So I want to make a connection once again to John's baptism in Saying this has old

01:30:14

Testament principles and so I'm wanting to talk about a principle of Continuity with John's baptism and also in the

01:30:23

Old Covenant See what y 'all are saying out there Yeah Dineen says see here

01:30:33

Me too. I live in Southern, California. We used to go to J Max Church about an hour away Believe it or not.

01:30:39

I went to the Shepherds Conference one year So I was about an hour away from your house found a good church closer to home, but still love

01:30:46

J. Mac BAM and I love my wifey Yes, yes, we love the

01:30:54

J Mac Okay so as I was studying more about okay, what principles of continuity?

01:31:03

Would teach us more about why Jews would be so convicted over John's baptism and How it relates to purification

01:31:14

Rights. Well to my delight when we go to Yom Kippur the

01:31:20

Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16 I was very pleased to find a lot of context

01:31:27

Let me turn there in my Bible to because I got some notes that y 'all can't see That's very important for us understanding how there's principles of ceremonial purification rights that no doubt

01:31:43

John the Baptist was preaching when it says a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins

01:31:50

Remember he is calling the the Jewish people that have perverted the the law and the writings as a mean of Self -righteousness and they are resting in their physical lineage.

01:32:02

He is saying y 'all are unclean Okay, and so there's a few verse.

01:32:08

I'm gonna maybe skip around a little bit here but if we look at Let's see here

01:32:14

If you're familiar with the Day of Atonement this was a day where Israel would typically fast and The high priest the the

01:32:27

Levitical priest would offer up Sacrifices they would sacrifice a lamb and they would sacrifice a goat send a sick escape goat into the wilderness to Signify the forgiveness of sins.

01:32:41

And so I want us to look at a few things here so if we look at verse 4, there's something else that The Levitical priest would engage in during this

01:32:55

Day of Atonement. Now. I want you to think about a key principle Everything that they did on the

01:33:00

Day of Atonement Signified Represented the forgiveness of sins.

01:33:06

It did not actually forgive their sin How do we know that Hebrews chapter 10 says the forgiveness of sin was never accomplished by Sacrificing the blood of Goats and bulls and so but we're gonna see that's exactly what verse 15 says so I'll go ahead and skip down So on this day that he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull sprinkling it over the mercy

01:33:42

Seat and in front of the mercy seat So they would kill an animal right they are making atonement for their sins and so one other verse

01:33:54

I want us to consider verse 21 and Aaron so he's the high priest right one of the

01:34:01

Levitical priest shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat now checks out and confess

01:34:09

Over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions and all their sin

01:34:14

Now this is important Because Psalm 32 we see what salvation looks like on an individual basis right a repentant heart confesses their sin to the

01:34:26

Lord Trusting in Yahweh. It's always been by faith apart from what we do But when we're trusting in Christ when we have a repentant heart

01:34:33

Then of course we're going to confess our sins call upon the name of the Lord in our lives We'll look differently as a result of a change heart to give

01:34:41

God glory but notice John's baptism was of repentance

01:34:47

For the forgiveness of sins and in Matthew's parallel account people were confessing their sin

01:34:52

And so at Yom Kippur, we see that this was a day where? It signified pictured the forgiveness of sins the high priest would confess the sins of the people on to the scapegoat and on to The lamb and the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat.

01:35:09

What is also very important in this context is verse 24 now remember this is a day that represents being going from being unclean to being ceremonially clean and The high priest shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and offer

01:35:31

Burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people

01:35:38

So This is the backdrop to John the Baptist is being fully bathed in a pool of water signified being ceremonially clean

01:35:50

And so I want you to see to me This is a slam -dunk case of even if we you know skip over the fact that there were more than likely proselyte

01:36:00

Gentile baptisms identifying with the Jewish people We still have this principle embedded in the

01:36:07

Old Testament and it fits the exact context of John the Baptist His baptism in order for a

01:36:14

Jew to be baptized by John. They were admitting Yes, I need to get right with God.

01:36:21

I don't have the forgiveness of sins John's baptism as we're gonna look back is saying

01:36:27

Messiah's coming and you need to be ready because You have been trusting in the wrong things.

01:36:34

You are unclean before God So we all think about that To me that is such a huge point because that is the same

01:36:44

Context in the future when we talk about Acts chapter 2 Lord willing that that is a

01:36:49

Jewish context in the word baptizo Always carried the the ceremonial cleansing aspect and what's amazing is that Yom Kippur?

01:37:01

All of these things did not forgive their sin it Pictured their sin think about how strongly this connects with John the

01:37:10

Baptist, right? So the the high priest is confessing the sins of the people on to the scapegoat that's gonna go into the wilderness

01:37:19

We know that that did not actually forgive sin. It was John the Baptist. I believe it's

01:37:24

John 129 where when Jesus approaches John the Baptist he says behold

01:37:30

The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Oh my goodness

01:37:36

John the Baptist has a wonderful atonement theology recognizing that the repeated

01:37:42

Ceremony after ceremony after ceremony that the Jewish people Underwent never forgave sin

01:37:50

That's the whole apologetic or a huge a part of the apologetic of the writer of Hebrews none of those sacrifices

01:37:56

Truly forgave sin it pictured them in type in shadow. Oh Shane Fisher, thank you for joining us, sir

01:38:10

Yeah, if you got any questions Shane Fire them at me Shane is

01:38:16

Always welcome to chime in to our live streams Shane is someone I believe is very kind and respectful

01:38:24

He is Church of Christ. So we have those ongoing debates about acts 238 acts 22 16

01:38:32

But I appreciate our friendship from afar. And so let's see if we can tackle one of these questions.

01:38:39

Hi, Jeremiah What's up, Shane? In Matthew 21 and following those tax collectors and harlots who believe him

01:38:48

John How do we know they believed him John? Let me let me ask a question of clarification because something

01:38:57

I know with the Church of Christ as you know Shane the five -step formula, right? So when

01:39:02

Church of Christ say you have to you have to hear the gospel You have to believe you have to repent you have to confess and you have to be baptized

01:39:10

When you say believe my understanding is that Church Christ typically whether it's believe or the word faith

01:39:17

It means to assent to facts to know facts in some context. I believe the word believe means that To me the best way to illustrate that is in James 2 19 where the demons believe they did not have saving faith

01:39:33

So I need to look up those verses because I don't know them off the top of my head Oh is no

01:39:38

I was thinking Matthew 21 is the parable of the two sons Which I thought about bringing up during this live stream because that parable is about repentance wonderful parable but the context would tell us if they are believing only knowing facts and it doesn't engage the heart or I would contend there are certain contexts like Hebrews 11 1 now faith is

01:40:03

Is the assurance of things hoped for I would say in that context and many other contexts in which faith or belief is

01:40:13

Talking about a heart that trust and the finished work of the Savior or the promises of God And so yeah, if you don't mind just to clarify what you mean by those words

01:40:26

I tell you what I don't mind Oh, how we doing on time? Oh, okay. We'll see in the next 20 or 30 minutes

01:40:33

We'll probably start winding down. But let's see. I'll take a moment to kind of give this my best shot

01:40:39

Matthew 21 Looking at verses 31 and 32.

01:40:51

Oh That's not gonna do it Okay, what'd you say 31 and 32?

01:41:04

Oh This is I knew it. This is the parable of the two sons Okay.

01:41:10

Yeah. Yeah, I can actually answer this. So I'll tell you what Shane Let's just back up and look at this parable after I take maybe my last drink coffee.

01:41:22

Oh, that was cold. Yeah. All right Shane since you ask this question, I actually do I will talk about this this parable a little bit

01:41:29

What do you think Jesus said a man had two sons and he went to the first and said son

01:41:34

Go and work in the vineyard today and he answered I will not but afterward he changed his mind and went

01:41:42

He went to the other son and said the same and he answered I go sir, but did not go

01:41:48

Which of the two did the will of his father? They said the first Jesus said to them now this gets into your question

01:41:55

Shane Truly I say to you the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you for John Came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitute

01:42:09

Okay, I see your question prostitutes believed him and even when you saw it you did not afterward change your minds and believe him

01:42:17

So I'm gonna answer your question first Shane. I'm gonna tell you why this parable is so good and understanding

01:42:23

Repentance well along with what John the Baptist will continue to preach in Luke chapter 3 so when it says that they believed in John the

01:42:31

Baptist that means they Trusted in the message that he proclaimed remember the the substance of what

01:42:38

John the Baptist preached was behold The lame of God who takes away the sins of the world.

01:42:43

Oh, they believed that they trusted in The one who came after John that he pointed to So yeah

01:42:52

I would say the whole point of this is they trusted in the one whom

01:42:57

John was paving the way for The forgiveness of your sins and so how would these tax collectors and prostitutes

01:43:05

Respond to John the Baptist. We're actually gonna get into that here in a moment, but they would confess their sins They would put their faith alone in the promise coming

01:43:14

Messiah So I'm sure you will disagree with me on that point, but that's okay

01:43:19

I do want to talk about the nature of repentance because this will actually tie well in Luke chapter 3 so notice

01:43:27

Repentance is not merely saying words It's just like faith in James chapter 2.

01:43:33

You can't just say I have a faith and The entire trajectory of your life proves opposite.

01:43:38

Well, that's just a mere said faith That's just a mere said repentance that is dead and useless and not profitable for men and you better believe it's not profitable before God So notice the first son he said

01:43:52

That he would not go in work, but he changed his mind

01:43:59

Okay now biblical godly repentance is a change of the mind a

01:44:08

Disposition of the heart that God sees the moment that it happens, but this is for our benefit

01:44:14

He went so he did something remember back to our fundamental principles that we never let go of I don't think

01:44:22

I have remember Genesis 15 6 tells us that we are justified by faith apart from what we do Apart from our works, but the just have acted too far.

01:44:30

My righteous one shall live by faith And so this changing of the mind

01:44:36

God knows right? That's something of the heart But there is an effect there are works in a believers sanctification.

01:44:43

And so you just have the inverse this is Essentially the Pharisees right? They're the ones that say we we do the works of God We we obey the works of the

01:44:53

Mosaic Law and then if you watch to my debate that is what the Pharisees do This is what the

01:44:59

Church of Christ the Roman Catholics the cults those that cloak themselves as Christianity They say the right things they profess to know

01:45:08

God with their lips But their heart is far from me and no matter what they say their life

01:45:16

Will demonstrate where their heart is at, right? So great parable relates strongly

01:45:22

Thanks for the question Shane relates very strongly back to our discussion

01:45:28

Lee Ann says She might have said this earlier. She says thank you for the exegesis

01:45:35

Jeremiah. You're welcome. I'm working on it trying to Refine that down. Okay having to check on little boy.

01:45:46

He's mean rock to sleep How y 'all doing out there in Facebook world We have we have a little we have a little bit of an audience out there

01:45:55

If you have any questions out in Facebook world, y 'all just let me know and We shall continue onward here

01:46:03

Thank y 'all so much for tuning in I just want to encourage you at this moment To please like and subscribe and if you don't want to miss these random live streams

01:46:13

Then you have to actually hit the notification bill So you'll hear the ding or however it works and you're back.

01:46:19

Oh, man, I gotta get on there So I can grill the apologetic dog Someone says let's see here.

01:46:28

I Come out of the Church of Christ born and raised 30 plus years in it in the

01:46:34

Midwest Oh, man, my wife got me listening to John MacArthur about a year ago And at that time

01:46:39

I started watching you and apologia and it changed my life praise the Lord You know, that's one reason why

01:46:45

I do this ministry is I feel your pain even though I didn't grow up in the Church of Christ here in Jonesboro, there's a ton of Church Christ and Just like Shane.

01:46:55

I'm in the side chat. He knows my love for him And so Shane thank you for putting up with me and constantly telling you hey look to Christ alone in faith alone

01:47:03

It's coming from a place of love and you you've let me know that you you respect my convictions

01:47:08

And so thank you Shane for being kind towards me and knowing where my heart is towards you but The the commenter here just thank you so much for that encouragement and praise

01:47:20

God I believe that someone can only come out of a Legalistic cult -like group by the grace of God if it wasn't for God's grace in our life

01:47:30

Then I mean we're no different than the pagan We're no different than kind of the Pharisees even the modern -day

01:47:36

Pharisees It's only by the grace and mercy of God And so thanks so much for sharing with us what

01:47:42

God has done in your life Thanks Shane Shane says

01:47:50

Thanks. Love you. Let us keep standing. Love you to me. I do appreciate Appreciate that.

01:47:56

All right, let us move onward. Okay, we're about to Probably, you know keep going for about 10 -15 more minutes

01:48:04

I did say I wanted to read all the way until I think verse 18 in Luke chapter 3 I hope it under I hope it makes sense what

01:48:12

I was trying to lay out There's so many more things we could say with John the Baptist you got to think he came in the spirit and power of Elijah and so when you go back to John chapter 1 people were saying are you the

01:48:27

Christ? Are you Elijah and he said no and the point is he's not he wasn't the reincarnated version of John the

01:48:36

Baptist But he did come in the spirit and power of Elijah and Malachi prophesied that that would happen and I may tie this into the kingdom of God because What would come before?

01:48:50

The great and awesome day of the Lord was Elijah when you go back to to Malachi chapter 4

01:48:57

I think I'm saying the right right chapter in verse And I believe Jesus said Elijah did come

01:49:03

When he was at the Mount of Transfiguration, I think there was John the Baptist There at the

01:49:09

Mount of Transfiguration was Elijah and Moses and Peter James and John saw that and you got to think they're questioning, okay are you about to set up the kingdom because Elijah was there and Jesus said actually

01:49:24

Elijah had already came and he was talking about John the Baptist. You gotta think the disciples are just like Not getting it

01:49:30

But in Luke chapter 1 we learned that John the Baptist came in the spirit and spirit and power of Elijah and I believe in part the great and awesome day of the

01:49:41

Lord Was in their midst. I think this day of the Lord is kind of understood in two parts

01:49:47

I mean two comings and so a part of the great and awesome day the Lord interrupted our

01:49:53

Present age with the first coming of Christ and he is building his kingdom now that's for next time but that's why

01:50:01

I wanted to spend so long talking about John the Baptist because His ministry is so important for the kingdom of God.

01:50:09

I believe in Matthew's account maybe mark But he is essentially preaching repent for the kingdom of God is now is that hand is near and he is paving the way for that so And verse 3 so important John went into all the region around the

01:50:24

Jordan proclaiming he's a preacher Proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

01:50:32

I would submit to you. This is in Essence the same thing that's being talked about in Acts 2 38

01:50:39

Jewish context. They would understand that baptism signifies doesn't actually

01:50:45

Wash away past sins but it signifies going from being unclean to clean and it signifies someone who has

01:50:53

Truly repented from the heart and has received forgiveness of sins Verse 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet

01:51:02

So this is going to be a quotation from Isaiah chapter 40 The voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the

01:51:10

Lord make his path straight Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be made low and the crooked shall become straight in the rough places

01:51:20

Places shall become level ways. This is important and all flesh

01:51:26

Shall see the salvation of God and so that kind of ties in earlier

01:51:32

He's preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. We know that this is

01:51:39

Repenting putting your faith in the coming Messiah Genesis 15 6 and if you do that, the just shall live by faith and What's incredible here?

01:51:51

And think about how this is gonna tie into the next context here all flesh Not just Jews not just those that are born of their father

01:51:58

Abraham But even the Gentiles they will see the same salvation of God John the

01:52:08

Baptist said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him and Man, John was just an in -your -face preacher.

01:52:18

You've you brood of vipers. Can you imagine that I get? Get accused of being mean, you know calling the

01:52:25

Church Christ to repentance Roman Catholics to repentance Full preterist to repentance and I get accused of being mean

01:52:33

I'm like y 'all need to go Look at John the Baptist and what he said, I'm trying to do this in love and grace and trying to meet people where they're at and speak in ways they can understand and here's the beauty so is

01:52:46

John so is John he's using very intense language because of the gravity of Souls being lost and and so this was kind of the

01:52:56

I would say the real religious elite scribes and Pharisees They've heard of the wrath that is to come and he is saying y 'all are snakes

01:53:06

There there's no genius and I would say there is it doesn't matter if you step into these waters.

01:53:12

There is no genuine repentance There's no change of heart You are just as much snakes if you get into this water and then come out

01:53:20

Remember in John chapter 8 Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and said that you are of your father

01:53:25

The devil right that that serpent that snake of old now

01:53:32

Also want to touch on this He says who warned you to flee from the wrath to come

01:53:40

Now, this is very important with understanding the gospel If you've listened to the apologetic dog for any amount of time

01:53:47

I believe that there's a distinction between law and gospel law and grace

01:53:53

And so law is the Old Covenant Really gonna get into this throughout the book of Acts, but the

01:54:00

Old Covenant Was signified in Circumcision when and you we might can point to other things that signify the entirety of the law

01:54:12

But circumcision was a ceremonial ceremonial, right? That showed the inability of one to circumcise their own hearts.

01:54:22

They needed God to do that And so Deuteronomy 30 God says look I will be the one to circumcise and change and regenerate your heart but the

01:54:32

Old Covenant Said Do this and you shall live obey the law and all of that's required in it and you shall live

01:54:42

What's the problem with that? We all fall short of God's perfect standard and what does the law promise us?

01:54:48

Cursings to those who don't obey that's that's the entirety of all of mankind that is dead in Adam dead in their sins and trespasses a son and daughter of Adam and so the wrath to come

01:55:02

I Definitely thinks I definitely think shows us what the Old Testament Predicted and prophesied that some will be raised to everlasting life and some will be raised to everlasting contempt the last verses of Isaiah chapter 66 talks about a

01:55:21

Gehenna where the their worm is not quenched and it's the place of a fiery judgment and so think about This Jewish people they are understanding that.

01:55:33

Oh, man, we are unclean We deserve the cursings of Deuteronomy chapter 28.

01:55:39

I know that they didn't have book chapter and verse They had book they didn't have chapter and verse in the

01:55:45

Old Covenant but right here is an absolute rebuke that y 'all have been disobedient in the

01:55:53

Covenant the Covenant of works the the the Mosaic Covenant and what's gonna happen in light of What's gonna happen to your disobedience well the wrath that is to come

01:56:06

Now if we if we were to go back and look at Deuteronomy chapter 28 It talks about to disobey if you're if you disobey disobedience

01:56:15

It results in cursing and you deserve to be absolutely destroyed this is the ultimate wrath that is to come and As we develop the context.

01:56:27

I do think there is some impending judgment That's going to happen with the ethnic

01:56:33

Jewish nation with the destruction of the temple But I think ultimately this is talking about the wrath that is to come in its totality.

01:56:42

Okay, so verse 8 bear fruits in keeping with repentance now, let me see what y 'all saying in the side chat.

01:56:52

Oh We have standing for truth The building what's up, Donnie? Thanks for tuning in I just want to give a plug for Donnie at standing for truth.

01:57:04

Thank you brother for Hosting so many awesome. So many awesome debates at standing for truth and having good interviews contending for the gospel of grace and Letting people know that we serve a triune

01:57:19

God who is holy. Holy. Holy Oh Jared Thanks, man for the encouragement

01:57:27

He says keep it coming Trying to man We're coming up on the two -hour mark tell me what y 'all think

01:57:38

Like I said y 'all ask some questions if y 'all do if y 'all have any but what stinks is

01:57:44

I ran out of coffee Okay, so we're talking about bearing fruits and keeping with repentance remember earlier in verse 3 we're talking about how

01:57:59

Kind of the core of John's ministry here he went to all the region around the

01:58:04

Jordan proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and so repentance is that change of mind that that volitional change of the heart and then it's going to Demonstrate itself out and I just love how

01:58:22

John makes that absolutely clear of saying, okay if you are going to Embrace what

01:58:31

I'm I'm telling you that I am the prophetic voice of Isaiah 40 Which by the way go look at chapters

01:58:37

Isaiah 40 through 48. That's the trial of the false gods and just showing how

01:58:42

Yahweh crushes all false gods and Embedded at the first part of Isaiah 40 is predicting that John the

01:58:50

Baptist would one day come on the scene And so what John is saying that if you truly want to repent for the forgiveness of sins

01:58:59

Then there has to be evidence of that. Now. This is where going back to Genesis 15 6 and Habakkuk 2 4 remembering the difference between justification and sanctification

01:59:10

Justification before God is by faith. He knows the moment of faith when when your trust is in King Jesus But before John the

01:59:19

Baptist before mankind James chapter 2 that faith needs to Demonstrate itself out when

01:59:26

I say that faith needs to demonstrate itself out that repentance needs to demonstrate itself out

01:59:32

I would say namely Number one with the baptism that signifies the forgiveness of sins

01:59:38

It's not it's never the the the instrumentation that washes away sin, but it signifies that reality

01:59:45

That's what it would have meant to Jews in the Old Covenant with ceremonial washings

01:59:50

That's what it means with John the Baptist and that's what we're gonna see. It means with Christian baptism so What he is saying is consistent with the the gospel of grace that was even revealed in the

02:00:06

Old Testament that there must be fruit there must be a Demonstration of that repentance that I would say that happened in works

02:00:15

And do not begin to say to yourselves We have Abraham as our father for I tell you God is able from these stones to raise up children

02:00:23

For Abraham his whole point is it doesn't matter if you're a physical child offspring of Abraham what matters is if you are a spiritual child of Abraham by Faith, okay.

02:00:37

Now verse 9 goes back to Judgment language. So remember earlier who warned you of the wrath to come he's echoing this thought even now

02:00:45

The axe is laid to the root of the trees every tree Therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and throw into and thrown into the fire

02:00:56

Okay now Think about this This Jewish audience is being cut to the heart by John saying y 'all and y 'all need to be baptized

02:01:08

Y 'all are ceremonially unclean. It does not matter that you are physical children of Abraham and He's saying if you don't bear good fruits

02:01:17

Remember the just shall live by faith then I'm telling you right now Then you will embrace the full wrath that is to come

02:01:26

And so I'm wanting to say there's continuity There are a lot of similarities between this context and acts 238

02:01:34

He is John the Baptist is preaching the gospel as verse 18 will will end with verse 18 says and He's telling them that you're ceremonially unclean that matters to you being

02:01:47

Jews understanding purification rites and ceremonies and If you don't make your heart right before God if you don't repent and put your faith in the coming

02:01:57

Messiah Then there's only judgment this kind of judgment You know, you know the

02:02:03

Torah, you know as we would see Deuteronomy 39 You deserve the full cursings of God to be destroyed altogether

02:02:11

So we can assume here that they were pricked cut to the heart

02:02:16

Verse 10 the crowds asked him what then shall we do? I Want you to understand he just is telling them to flee from the wrath to come that there's going to be

02:02:29

Judgment on you. And so once again, this is not them being happy and skippy saying oh, man

02:02:36

You just gave us such a loving heart warm heart warming message What can we do now?

02:02:43

No, they're hardest pricked They realize that they are not in a saving covenant with God Almighty And so they're asking the right question

02:02:54

And I want to perhaps Point to in a very important verse that relates to repentance and how it will result with bearing fruit of Repentance, let's see here.

02:03:12

So in 2nd Corinthians 7 verse 10 Paul says there's a lot of good translations around this verse for godly grief or godly sorrow

02:03:21

Produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret whereas worldly grief produces death.

02:03:30

I But when someone is pricked to the heart When the Holy Spirit has convicted them of sin righteousness and the judgment to come as Jesus says and John's Gospel this heart change when

02:03:44

God is taking out that heart of stone and and as as Gifted given by grace a new living heart a heart of flesh that trusts alone and the

02:03:53

Savior This produces a repentance that can only be granted by God That is that and only that is what leads a person to salvation

02:04:04

Now there is a type of quote -unquote repentance. That's worldly.

02:04:10

That's fake and produces death It's like a it's like a repentance of being sorry that you got caught

02:04:17

Now this is important. I'm just saying like Paul's not telling us anything new as we quoted that one verse from 2nd

02:04:22

Kings chapter 8 Repentance is a heart issue before God and as Shane brought up the parable of the two sons

02:04:30

It's not just what you say but it's someone that truly repents truly has a change of change of mind a heart disposition and then we see results happening from that and this is

02:04:44

The this is the heart behind what then shall we do because it sounds like We deserve the the curses and wrath of God if you don't believe me

02:04:56

We're probably over the two -hour mark. That's okay. Y 'all can go back and listen to it on times to speed What's funny is

02:05:04

I have to preach in the morning, but I just need to get that coffee and I will be okay

02:05:13

Deuteronomy 28 So when I keep talking about a covenantal context

02:05:18

It's so important that we understand John is speaking to a Jewish audience

02:05:23

Peter at Pentecost is speaking to a Jewish audience and when when when a baptism a ceremonial

02:05:30

Right is telling people you're unclean What they hear is saying?

02:05:36

Oh, we don't get the blessings for obedience. We are unclean I Really thought

02:05:44

I was yeah. Yeah, we deserve the curses for disobedience

02:05:49

We are unclean before God and so I don't know if I can find the verses here that just say they

02:05:58

Absolutely deserve to be destroyed. Yeah verse 20 the Lord will send on you curses confusion and frustration and all that you all that you undertake to do until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the

02:06:16

Evil deeds. Oh, yeah, that's all of mankind including those who are born Physical descendants of Abraham because you have forsaken me.

02:06:26

Yeah, I think it's almost Double curses on those Jews that have the oracles of God that are physical sons of Abraham under the

02:06:35

Covenant of the of the Old Old Testament and They are looking to themselves they're looking to their lineage and so Like I said so much is bound up in this

02:06:46

Jewish context What shall we do because we deserve the curses of God?

02:06:51

What does John say credible answer? Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none and whoever has food do likewise, right?

02:07:01

So he mentions clothing Tunics and he mentions food What is he telling those that are

02:07:09

Repenting and entrusting in the promises of God and the coming Savior You've been forgiven of such a great debt, right?

02:07:17

You have forgiveness of sins will show love to your neighbor if you love God from the heart Love neighbor, right?

02:07:24

this was during a time where a Lot of people were poor and in poverty and opportunities abound

02:07:33

I want to briefly Mention a verse I love talking about James 1 27 religion that is pure and undefiled before God The father is this to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world

02:07:57

Everything's before God right someone who is justified by faith before God They demonstrate that that faith before God in the watching world

02:08:06

But think about this this whole verse is not talking about cold

02:08:12

Religion that is legalistic trying to obey a list of commands and if not, then you're gonna burn

02:08:19

That's not Christianity true religion is one that is of the heart.

02:08:25

It's pure It's undefiled before God Almighty and what is that pure and undefiled? Religion that has relationships by faith and knows the

02:08:33

Creator Oh, well, they live a life that shows a love to people that can't give you anything in return

02:08:42

Verse 12 the tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to John the

02:08:48

Baptist teacher What shall we do? I? Love this because the tax collectors were notorious for cheating people collect no more than you are authorized to do

02:08:58

He's just saying do your job faithfully as unto the Lord Soldiers also asked him and we what shall we do?

02:09:08

And he says do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusations and be content with your wages

02:09:16

Now notice the phrase that was repeated over and over and over again.

02:09:21

It says What then shall we do? This is important phrase because remember there's a there's strong continuity between the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts And so I just want to briefly like we'll continue to unpack this point as we go through the

02:09:42

Book of Luke's the book of Luke. It's getting late Acts 238

02:09:52

Actually acts 237 remember Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart

02:09:58

Right. It's gonna be similar member John the Baptist who wanted you to flee from the wrath to come the the axe is laid at the root fiery judgment, right

02:10:07

Peter just preached to a Jewish audience and said you killed the Messiah the the

02:10:12

Son of Glory and Many of those people that were there probably were the one were many of the ones that were yelling crucify him

02:10:21

They were cut to the heart. They were Convicted the Holy Spirit was working in their hearts and this is a

02:10:28

Jewish term a Delphi's brothers Jews What shall we do?

02:10:34

Because we deserve the curses of God and so Peter is pointing them to the only one who can save them of their sins

02:10:45

Jesus Christ, that's how you're gonna have your sins forgiven. Look to him. They would have understand the the pool of water that signifies someone being

02:10:57

Ceremonially previously unclean now being ceremonially clean not that it actually forgives sins, but it pictures represents those realities

02:11:08

So we are beginning to wind down. I got a man from Donnie.

02:11:13

Thank you for that, brother Get this man another coffee. I wish man. It's too late for that We are winding down Let's see here

02:11:25

Okay, yeah picking back up Yep verse 15 as The people were in expectation and all who were questioning in their hearts concerning John whether he might be the

02:11:42

Christ John answered them all saying I Baptize you with water, but there's a greater baptism to come just wait

02:11:50

He says but he the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world Jesus Christ who is mightier than I is coming the strap of whose sandals

02:12:00

I am not worthy to untie he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire

02:12:08

Now that brings us right back to Acts chapter 1 verse 5.

02:12:14

Y 'all remember that for John baptized with water Jesus says but you will be baptized with the

02:12:21

Holy Spirit not many days from now So do you see why so Important going back to John's baptism.

02:12:29

He is making the path straight Paving the way for Messiah to come and so he kind of repeats judgment language here

02:12:38

His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn

02:12:45

But the chaff those that do not produce fruit of repentance will burn with Unquenchable fire and I was trying to mention this earlier

02:12:56

When we talk about the good news, right remember right here in verse 18 with many other exhortations

02:13:02

He preached the good news the gospel to the people But what did what did

02:13:09

John the Baptist do? We talked about the bad news that those that do not produce

02:13:15

Good fruit those that do not have forgiveness of sins by repentant faith in Christ alone

02:13:21

There's judgment. So my point is when we talk about When we talk about the good news, we have to explain to people what the bad news is that God is holy holy holy and we have we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and Since God is love

02:13:38

God must necessarily be just he is holy and what what is what is the most?

02:13:47

Loving thing what is God the God of love? What is his response to sin since he is just it is wrath and so we have to let the whole

02:13:57

Council of God speak to the fact that God puts all of his attributes on display and That he will be glorified in his creation.

02:14:05

He will be either glorified in salvation that person looks to Jesus in faith apart from their works or God will be glorified by exercising his justice and his wrath with Unquenchable fire against those that shake their fist at God and say

02:14:23

I do not need your saving work or those that say Yeah, Jesus died on the cross and said it is finished

02:14:29

But I believe in my my own Participation that I have to get up and do something until I do that until I contribute my part

02:14:38

Then I can be made right with God that's what the Pharisees of old did that that is what those that twisted

02:14:45

The law and instead of not not seeing it as the law being a mirror showing us our sinfulness in the need of a perfect Savior, but the principle of the

02:14:54

Pharisees is they look at the law and so we can do that and my point is

02:15:00

That results in God's justice that results in God's wrath. So with many other exhortations you got to think

02:15:10

John the Baptist was a boss he ate locusts and wild honey and He exhorted the people he

02:15:21

Challenged the people we need more preachers like John the Baptist. Don't we a man that would speak?

02:15:27

Boldly and flat -footed the truths of God and be the prophetic voice of our time

02:15:33

But he preached the good news. He preached that people can have their sins forgiven

02:15:39

And with that Maybe maybe another live stream. I do want to talk about Jesus's baptism

02:15:47

But I wanted us to definitely get into the foundation of acts with John's baptism with water

02:15:56

What do y 'all think for those that are still here? Appreciate y 'all staying with me this long

02:16:06

It says that there's a handful of viewers out there so Appreciate y 'all for tuning in.

02:16:14

Let's see. Oh Thank you Leanne for bringing this up Jeremiah.

02:16:23

Will you be going live as a guest Monday night on that one Channel? It may be

02:16:29

Tuesday night Leanne and I don't know if it's gonna be a recorded zoom, but be on the lookout for this

02:16:36

I will I doubt that I will post this on my channel But there I'll let her by know kind of if you look on the community tab,

02:16:44

I send out messages and whatnot but There's a channel That is ran by a lady who is

02:16:52

Church of Christ Very kind very respectful actually had Lee and on her channel to just talk about Certain scriptures, but has invited me on to talk about baptism and I want to show this lady

02:17:06

Kindness, I want to show her grace I want to let her know that we are coming to the question of baptism

02:17:12

With totally different worldviews a different understanding of who God is a different understanding who man is and we look at baptism fundamentally different Than one another even though we're we're both reading the same

02:17:27

Bible and so keep me in prayer. Thank you Leanne for Making that point. I think it'll be Tuesday.

02:17:32

Keep me in prayer. I just want to show this lady Kindness, I'm gonna show her grace, but I want to speak the truth in love.

02:17:40

And so just pray for me. Thanks so much Liam All right

02:17:47

We got to wind it down We are we went two hours and 17 minutes It's late and Like I said,

02:17:55

I'm preaching tomorrow morning, but I'm looking forward to it Thank y 'all so much for tuning in to the apologetic dog.

02:18:01

If you haven't done it Subscribe, please like this video if you've made it this long

02:18:07

Thank you so much for all of your engagement. Oh Yeah, Dineen I'm saying your name.

02:18:15

Oh, it went right over my eyes. I like that Still trying to work out the kinks to eat cam live

02:18:20

She said Ezekiel 36 25 through 27 one of my favorite Old Testament verses Oh beautiful passage promising

02:18:28

The New Covenant how it is God that will take out the heart of flesh give us

02:18:35

Take out the heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh and it is God that will cleanse us wash us in His spirit and cause us to obey his statutes beautiful Beautiful passage.

02:18:50

Thank you for that And thank you so much all for tuning in Hit the notification bell if you want to be if you want to hear a ding of saying

02:18:59

Oh, no, Jeremiah Jeremiah's going live. He didn't even tell us Yeah, these I just try to fit in when I can