And then Luke chapter 3 beginning verse number 1 the Bible reads now in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea and Herod being Tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip
Tetrarch of Eiturea and of the region of Traconitis and Lysanias the Tetrarch of Aveline Anas and Caiaphas being the high priest the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness and he came into all the country about Jordan
preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah will continue in a moment but I want to focus on verse number 3 where it says he came into all the country about Jordan preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins now keep your finger there in Luke chapter 3 let's go to Acts 19 because it's always important that we compare scripture with scripture to understand what the Bible is teaching
what does that mean he preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins what what did that preaching sound like what did he say in that preaching the Bible says in Acts chapter 19 verse number 4 then said Paul acts 19 4 then said Paul John Verily baptized with the baptism of repentance does that sound right it's exactly what we saw over in Luke chapter 3 right the baptism of repentance
what was he saying saying unto the people that they should believe on him which should come after him that is on Christ Jesus so when John the Baptist is preaching the baptism of repentance what he's actually preaching is that they should believe on him that should come after which is Christ Jesus at the beginning of the book of Matthew at the beginning of the book of Mark you'll find the term repent and believe the gospel
and the word repent is used throughout scripture and it means different things depending on the context sometimes it is telling someone to repent of doing something bad sometimes the Bible records someone repenting from doing something good
and when it comes to salvation the repentance involved in salvation is not turning over a new leaf it's not cleaning up your life it's not getting the sin out of your life when it comes to salvation it's just turning from whatever false god to the true god
it's just turning from whatever you were trusting in your own dead works or your false religion or whatever it is that you believed was getting you to heaven to putting your faith and trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ
John the Baptist preached a lot of things go to Luke chapter 3 again John the Baptist preached a lot of things that are not recorded in scripture look at verse 18 of Luke 3
in Luke 3 18 it says and many other things in his exhortation preached he unto the people so there's a lot of preaching that John did that's not recorded in the Bible
some of it's recorded some of it's just mentioned oh yeah he preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins but in Acts chapter 19 we see what it was that he said when he made that preaching
which was that they should believe on him which should come after that is on Christ Jesus which is consistent with Christ's preaching repent and believe the gospel
now notice what it does not say it does not say repent of your sins and believe the gospel
now we should repent of our sins of course but repenting of our sins is a daily thing
repentance of our sins is a continual thing whereas salvation is a one time thing of just believing on the Lord Jesus Christ being born again in a moment in a twinkling of an eye
being passed from death unto life and it's not about turning over a new leaf John the Baptist preached and he pointed to Jesus Christ and said behold the lamb of God
which taketh away the sin of the world he didn't say behold a 12 step program that you can quit drinking and quit smoking and quit all your sins that you might be saved
wrong but today churches have taken the emphasis off of believing on Christ for salvation which is the only thing that can save us
and they want to go on and on about turning from your sins and cleaning up your life and all it is is just a thinly veiled works based salvation
that's all it is they say well you don't have to do any works to be saved but you just have to quit doing certain things
but in Jonah chapter 3 verse 10 it says and God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way
and God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto them and he did it not
so turning from your evil way is works any way you slice it
keeping the commandments, getting this sin out of your life, getting that sin out of your life
now did John the Baptist preach that people should get sin out of their life?
of course because he also had a mission just to prepare people for Jesus Christ ministry
if you would just back up to chapter number 1 because in Luke chapter 1
when John the Baptist is prophesied the Bible says in verse 76
and thou child shall be called the prophet of the highest for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways
to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins
so one of the things that he was there to do was to give knowledge of salvation to the people by the remission of their sins
so he did preach things in regard to salvation
he preached that they should believe on him that should come after that is on Christ Jesus going to Acts 19-4
but that is not the only thing that he preached because remember his coming was prophesied back in Malachi chapter 4 as well
and it said that he would turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers
lest he come and smite the earth with a curse
so he's also making ready the people to be a people prepared to receive the Lord Jesus Christ
so that when Jesus came on the scene they would already be right with God as it were
not just saved but also that they would be right with God and have a lot of the sin out of their life
the Bible says in Luke chapter 1 verse 16
it says in many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God and he shall go before him verse 17
in the spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just to make ready a people prepared for the Lord
so he's not just preaching salvation he's also getting children to obey their parents
he's getting parents to love their children
and he wants disobedient people to be wise and to do justly
he's just trying to get people ready to serve God
you know if people are going to serve God and be used by God
they need to get the sin out of their life
getting saved gets you to heaven
but if you really want to do something for God
you need to continually grow and repent and clean up your life
and daily pick up the cross and follow Jesus
well who are some of these people that John the Baptist is preaching this hard preaching against sin to
and who is he baptizing?
well the apostles for one
and those apostles are going to be used greatly by God
they're going to follow Jesus Christ
they're going to preach and turn the world upside down
and John the Baptist is getting them ready for that
by preaching not just a salvation message
but also preaching on how they can clean up their lives
and get right with God and do right
hard preaching is what prepares servants of God to go out and win souls and do great works
because if our lives are filled with sin and iniquity
we're not going to be good at serving God
we're not going to accomplish as much as we will if we live a clean life
so go back to chapter 3
it says in verse 4
as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet saying
the voice of one crying in the wilderness
prepare ye the way of the Lord make his path straight
every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill shall be brought low
and the crooked shall be made straight
and the rough ways shall be made smooth
and all flesh shall see the salvation of God
and remember verse 6 there
is very similar to what we saw in chapter 2
when Simeon looked on the baby Jesus and said
mine eyes have seen thy salvation
and when John the Baptist looks at Jesus he said
behold which means look at the lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world
so when all eyes are all flesh shall see the salvation of God
that's saying they're all going to see Jesus
because seeing Jesus is seeing salvation
look to Jesus and live
it says in verse 7 then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him
oh generation of vipers who had warned you to flee from the wrath to come
now when you look at that in verse 7 it might seem a little harsh
here are a bunch of people coming to get baptized by him
so it seems like their hearts in the right place
so why would he just come at them right away with this thing of calling them a generation of vipers
well put your finger there in Luke 3 and flip back to Matthew 3
Matthew 3 let's compare scripture with scripture here
Matthew chapter 3 what prompted John the Baptist to just get angry
and make that statement
oh generation of vipers who had warned you to flee from the wrath to come
look at Matthew chapter number 3 the Bible says in verse 7
but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism
he said unto them oh generation of vipers who had warned you to flee from the wrath to come
so when you read and understand that it makes a little more sense
why in Luke chapter 3 he said that to the multitude
he said it because he saw the Pharisees and the Sadducees
and that's who he's primarily directing that at
and you know anyone else if the shoe fits wear it
but that's what got that on his mind when he saw them come to his baptism
he said to them bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance
and begin not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father
this is verse 8 of Luke 3 sorry we're back in Luke 3 verse 8
bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance
and begin not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father
for I say unto you that God is able these stones to raise up children unto Abraham
and now also the axe is laid under the root of the trees
every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down
and cast in the fire
there's so much in this chapter and so I don't have a long time to just park on these things
I have to just kind of quickly move through these points
but if we study the Bible especially in Matthew chapter 7
we know that the trees in the Bible represent prophets
so for example he says in Matthew 7 beware of false prophets
which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they're ravening wolves
you shall know them by their fruits
so who will you know by their fruits?
false prophets
and then he explains how a good tree brings forth good fruit
a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit
and he says almost the exact same thing as you see here in John the Baptist preaching
every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire
wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them
now where a lot of people will twist this
and this goes back to what I was saying earlier
where people teach a false gospel
they ignore the hundred and some clear scriptures
that say believe believe believe
we're saved by faith it's not by works
whosoever believeth in him
and all those clear scriptures they ignore that
and they want to teach a lordship salvation or a repent of your sins salvation
and so what they'll do is
they'll take this and say well hey if you don't bring forth fruit you're not saved
and to them they've redefined what fruit is
to them fruit means you stop sinning or get sin out of your life
or whatever the good works that they claim that fruit is
so they turn it into you gotta do works to be saved
or you have to stop sinning or turn from your sins
or be willing to turn from your sins to be saved
but in reality fruit is reproduction
you know when the bible said be fruitful and multiply
he's telling them to have children physically to have children
and spiritually when we bring forth fruit
we're also reproducing not physically but spiritually
Paul talked to people that he'd won to Christ
and he called them his son in the faith
he talked about begetting them in his bonds
and so the fruit that we bring forth is the people that we win to Christ
when we reproduce ourselves
the bible says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life
and he that winneth souls is wise
do you have to win someone to Christ in order to be saved?
no, no more so than you have to have a baby in order to be a human being
I mean if there were a lady that never had a child
we would not say she's not human because she didn't bring forth fruit
you didn't bring forth fruit therefore you were never even human to begin with
that wouldn't make any sense
but that's what people are saying
they're saying if you don't bring forth fruit you weren't even saved to begin with
but that's not what the bible is actually saying
if you actually read carefully in Matthew 7 and here in Luke chapter 3
you'll find that the false prophet brings forth evil fruit because he's evil
and everything brings forth after its own kind
so you don't have to have a baby to be a human
but if you have a baby and that baby's not human then you're not human
think about that
I mean look a dog doesn't have to have puppies in order to be a dog
but it's not going to have anything but puppies
if it has a kitten that wasn't a dog
if it gives birth to a goat it wasn't a dog
it's a goat that's been groomed to look like a dog perhaps
but the point is that everything brings forth after its own kind
the dog brings forth the dog, the cat brings forth the cat
the goat brings forth the goat
well here's the thing
the false prophet he brings forth other false prophets
when he compasses sea and land and makes one proselyte
he makes him twofold more the child of hell than himself
so he cannot, and listen to me carefully
an unsaved false prophet cannot win someone to Christ
he cannot win a soul
why? because that would be a corrupt tree bringing forth good fruit
it's impossible
any more so than a dog could give birth to a cat or vice versa
you cannot get saved from a false prophet
so if someone's not saved they can't win anyone to the Lord
you say well Judas went soul winning for three and a half years
but he never won anyone to the Lord
and you say well wouldn't people have noticed that?
well no because here's the thing
Judas is with people, he's preaching to people
people might have prayed a prayer
people might have made a profession of faith
or maybe him and his soul winning partner were double teaming it
and they were getting saved through the preaching of his soul winning partner
that he's with
but the fact of the matter is
I do not believe for one second that Judas Iscariot got one person saved
because he was corrupt
he was evil, he was a devil from the beginning
and a bad tree, the Bible's clear, cannot bring forth good fruit
a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit
so therefore I'm incapable of making someone into an evil false prophet or a reprobate
because I'm saved, I'm a Christian
now that doesn't mean that our church will never send someone out who turns out to be a phony
but I didn't make them that way
and if you're saved you're not the one who made them that way
someone else somewhere made them that way
they're of the wicked one
and look the Bible says they went out from us but they were not of us
for if they had been of us they would no doubt have continued with us
but they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us
you know when you see people apostatizing and turning to absolute heresy
and I'm not saying that they're just a little off on this or a little off on that
or you know they have a different view on Bible prophecy or politics
they're talking about where they're just completely apostate
they're preaching another gospel, another Jesus, another salvation, whatever
when you see that, that tells you that that person was not of us in the first place
they were never of us
they were with us, they were among us
but the Bible says that there are always going to be false prophets among us
but if they were with us, if they were of us, what would they have done? No doubt
no doubt they would have continued with us
but they went out, and these are talking about preachers again
because it says even now there are many antichrists
they went out from us but they were not of us
when you see people going out and preaching false doctrine from a Bible believing church
that person was never of us
although they went out from us
now thank God we've never sent someone out
who has been a Judas, close but we never have
so we've never sent out someone who was a Judas
but listen to me, it's going to happen
you say, well you need to make sure it doesn't happen, you need to have more discernment
well, you know, the eleven apostles didn't have the discernment
because they all thought Judas was fine after three and a half years of laboring side by side with them daily
so you know, you can't really fault us for not knowing if somebody is bad
we don't know
and all we can do is just take people's word for what they tell us
and so therefore there are going to be false prophets among us
there will be people who are sent out from us
that we have to eventually turn around and say hey, they were not of us
because look how they're not continuing with us
you know, look how they're not staying with biblical salvation
look how they're not staying with the biblical Jesus
you know, they're teaching lies and heresy
so we see here that the good tree brings forth good fruit
the bad tree brings forth bad fruit
because that's all it can bring forth
just like the orange tree can only bring forth oranges
now when you look at this scripture here
and when you realize who he's talking to
the Pharisees and the Sadducees
they are preachers
they are prophets
they are men who teach the word of God
and he's saying to them
that they are a generation of vipers
and that if they don't bring forth good fruit
they're going to be hewn down and cast in the fire
because here's the thing, if you're a teacher
if you're a preacher, if you're a prophet
you're bringing forth fruit, period
now every Christian doesn't bring forth fruit
every unsaved person doesn't bring forth fruit
but teachers, preachers, prophets
by the very nature of what they do
they're bringing forth fruit, why?
because when you get up and preach and teach and speak
people are listening to you
people are following you
and you are creating disciples
you're creating people who are following you
imitating you, being like you
so if you go to a church
and you start asking everybody in the church about salvation
and they're all giving you the wrong answer
then the guy behind the pulpit is probably a false prophet
because that seems to be the fruit of his ministry
whereas if you go to a church
and everybody's giving you the right answer on salvation
then there's a good chance that that guy is a good prophet
because the people that are in the church are good fruits
now it's possible that the guy could still be a bad prophet
if all the people in the church are people that were not reached by him
because sometimes you'll have a church filled with good Christians
and then a new pastor comes in and takes over and he's bad
the people he brings in, the people he reaches
end up being rotten
but he's inherited some good people
but this is a biblical principle that's pretty clear
you can't get around this
that an unsaved person can't win anyone to the Lord
and that examining the fruit is a good way to determine a false prophet
from a good prophet, a good preacher
so he says to these Pharisees, Sadducees, false teachers
verse 9, and now also the axe is laid under the root of the trees
and this is specifically talking about these teachers
how they're going to be cut down
and this is very similar to Matthew chapter 15
I think it's Matthew 15
but where the disciples come to him and say
hey you know Jesus did you know that you offended the Pharisees?
did you know that they were offended?
and he says hey every tree that my father has not planted is going to be cut down
what's he talking about?
these false teachers, blind leaders of the blind
who are taking themselves and those who follow them into a ditch
and he said you are compassing sea and land
making a proselyte and making him twofold more the child of hell
than yourselves
so we don't want to abuse this passage and say
oh well if you don't bring forth fruit you're not saved
no no he's saying preachers, teachers, Pharisees, Sadducees
those who are reaching people
if you don't bring forth good fruit
you're going to be hewn down and cast into fire
look if they're not bringing forth good fruit
they're bringing forth bad fruit
that doesn't mean that a person who brings forth no fruit is not saved
see there are three kinds of people in this world
good fruit, bad fruit, no fruit
okay the person who brings forth good fruit is for sure saved
amen? and they're doing a good job
they're serving God, they're winning souls, they're reproducing
the person who brings forth bad fruit is for sure not saved
because a good tree can't bring forth evil fruit
so the person who brings forth bad fruit is not saved
for sure the person who brings forth no fruit we don't know
we don't know what they are
they're not even a tree necessarily
because you know the tree represents those who are teaching, preaching, speaking God's word
so there are a lot of no fruit Christians
but these repent of your sins, lordship, salvation types
they'll point at the no fruit Christian and say
oh you're not saved
but that's not true they might just be a little sterile right now
they might just be not producing fruit
and you know what hopefully they'll produce fruit down the road
she which is barren today may be the joyful mother of children tomorrow
and so we need to be patient with people
preach to them, teach them and try to get them to produce fruit
so that other people could be saved
so anyway I just want to make sure you understand that passage
because salvation is the most important doctrine that there is
and so if we get salvation wrong we're doomed
I mean that's the way
you know I've had people say
oh Pastor Anderson I love your preaching
everything except salvation except once saved always saved
but I'm just thinking to myself you're going to hell
it doesn't matter what else you agree with
you're not even saved you're not even my brother in Christ
you're teaching work salvation
and that's all that is if you teach you can lose it
it's a work salvation
if you teach you have to keep the commandments to be saved
that's work salvation
if you teach that you have to turn from your sins turn or burn
that's work salvation
you can package it and wrap it up however you want
but the Bible says salvation is by faith
it's by grace
it's not of works lest any man should boast
so the Bible says here
every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down and cast into the fire
the people asked him saying
what shall we do then
what should we do
verse 11 he answerth and saith unto them
he that hath two coats let him impart to him that hath none
and he that hath meat let him do likewise
then came also publicans to be baptized
and said unto him master what shall we do
and he said unto them exact no more than that
which has appointed you
so he's giving these people life advice
because remember his mission is not just to preach salvation
but he's also trying to get ready people prepared for Jesus
to serve him to work for him
to receive his preaching
so he's telling people look if you have two coats
give one away to somebody who needs it
if you have extra food
split it with someone who has no food
he says to the publicans
and what is a publican
the tax collector right
public because they work for the government
is what that means
they're a government employee
then came also the publicans to be baptized
and said unto them master what shall we do
and he said unto them exact no more than that
which has appointed you
so a lot of the publicans at that time
they would actually cook the books
and not only would they tax the people
what they had to pay
but they would take a little more
and put it in their pocket
and they would tax people extra
he says to them exact no more than that
which has appointed you
and the soldiers likewise demanded of him saying
and what shall we do
and he said unto them do violence to no man
neither accuse any falsely
and be content with your wages
now why does he tell them to be content with their wages
because if you're a soldier
the tendency could be
that you go a little further
than just following your orders
and kind of just rob and pillage while you're there
and just take money
whatever you find just take it
from the enemy or whoever you're subjugating
and so what he's telling them is
that they should not do any violence to any man
that they should not accuse anybody falsely
lie about anybody or get anybody arrested
again maybe so they can get their hands on their property
as spoils
and to be content with their wages
to just take their paycheck
and that should be enough for them
they shouldn't have to steal and pillage
they should be there
now it's interesting here the word violence
because how can you be a soldier
without doing violence
because that's the modern view
of what the word violence means
today any kind of fighting
or any kind of killing
or anything like that
is considered a violence
but that's not the biblical definition of violence
the biblical definition of violence
has more to do with our word violate
and you can see that in the beginning
of the word violence violate
violence is harming someone wrongfully
so it's not a legitimate harming someone
so for example
if I were to engage in a consensual boxing match
for sport
that's not violence
no one's being violated
no one's being harmed in any way
it's just a sport it's just recreation
but people might look at that and say
oh that's violent right
also if I were to go to war
in a just war
and I'm defending myself
in a country
then that's not violence
because I'm actually fighting
in a legitimate battle
and I'm doing right
like David when he would go out
he would fight and fight against
the enemies of the Lord
he wasn't being violent
but where violence comes into play
is when you go out as a soldier
and you're killing women and children
or you're killing civilians
or you're killing people that are unarmed
and they're non-combatants
you're killing yourself
because you're not content with their wages
and you want to get their gear
or another thing that takes place a lot
is women that are being forced
carnally
and so that's something that soldiers
have done throughout history
unfortunately
they go into a war zone
and everything's so crazy
everything's so out of control
they feel like they can just get away
with raping and pillaging
and killing and whatever
but they're not harming people
violating people
and so that's what he's telling them
when he says do violence to no man
so when the Bible talks about people
who love violence
I mean these are very wicked people
they're very sick people
because you actually love to see people
harmed wrongfully
innocent people suffering
innocent people being violated
or harmed or killed
you're a sick person and God hates you
that's what the Bible says
people are in expectation
so they're kind of just on the edge of their seats
kind of like who is this guy
they're wondering who he is
it says the people are in expectation
and all men mused in their hearts of John
whether he were the Christ or not
they're so impressed by him
and the power of his preaching
they're wondering is this the Messiah
is this the Christ
John answered verse 16 saying unto them all
I indeed baptize you with water
but one mightier than I cometh
the latchet of whose shoes I'm not worthy to unloose
I will baptize you with the Holy Ghost
and with fire
now what does that mean to be baptized
with the Holy Ghost and with fire
you'll find the same thing in Matthew
book of John
Acts chapter 1
what is baptism
well baptism is immersion
that's what that word simply means
just immersion
when you are baptized you're what
immersed in the water
you're dunked under water
and so when the Bible says
you're baptized with the Holy Ghost
and with fire
the Bible says in Acts chapter 1
that this is what they were supposed to
wait in Jerusalem for
he said wait for the promise of the Father
which saith he you've heard of me
for John truly baptized with water
this is Acts chapter 1
but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost
not many days hence
now they'd already received the Holy Ghost
in John chapter 20
but in Acts 1 they're still waiting
for the baptism of the Holy Spirit
that is fulfilled in Acts chapter 2
and what that looks like in Acts chapter 2
is that there was a mighty rushing wind
and it filled all the house
where they were sitting
and there appeared on them
cloven tongues like as a fire
that rested and sat upon them
and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost
now what does that mean
what that means is
that they were immersed by
or surrounded by
the Holy Ghost
that's what that rushing wind was
that came into the room
that they were actually baptized
by the Holy Spirit
and the fire also surrounded them
now
a lot of people have this doctrine
that says hey the moment that you're saved
you're baptized by the Holy Spirit
I don't believe that
I don't think that's scriptural
I think baptism is immersion
and I believe that being baptized
the Holy Ghost filled the room
where they were all sitting
and that was the baptism of the Holy Spirit
and so it's kind of interesting too
if you think about the earth itself
the planet earth
is that at one point
it was baptized
right when was it baptized
the flood right
I mean it was it was immersed in water
it was completely surrounded by water right
so it was immersed at one point in water
and then eventually
it's going to be immersed in what
baptized in fire
so that's also symbolic there
of the same thing
first the water baptism
and then the spirit or fire baptism
so that's what that's referring to
when he gives that prophecy
that he that cometh after me
is mightier than I
and he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost
and with fire
verse 17 whose fan is in his hand
and he will thoroughly purge his floor
and will gather the wheat into his garner
and many other things in his exhortation
preached he unto the people
but Herod the teatric
being reproved by him
for Herodias his brother Philip's wife
and for all the evils which Herod had done
added yet this above all
that he shut up John
in prison
now keep your finger there in Luke 3
flip back to Mark chapter 6
Mark chapter 6
so why was it that Herod
was upset at John the Baptist
why was Herod reproved
by John the Baptist
because of Herodias his brother Philip's wife
so what did Herod do
in regard to his brother Philip's wife
that got John the Baptist
to preach that sermon against him
where John the Baptist
ended up getting thrown in prison
because of that sermon
well it says in Mark chapter number 6
verse 17 for Herod himself
had sent forth and laid hold upon John
and bound him in prison
for Herodias sake
his brother Philip's wife
had married her
he had married her
now a lot of preachers
go back to Luke chapter 3
will sort of gloss this over and say
well John the Baptist
is preaching against Herod
for sleeping with
his brother Philip's wife
so they say he's committing adultery
because he's physically
carnally lying with
his brother Philip's wife
but actually if you look at Mark chapter 6
you'll see that that's not exactly
he wasn't just
sleeping with his brother Philip's wife
the Bible says that he had married
his brother Philip's wife
now that's different isn't it
that means that
she's no longer married to his brother Philip
now she's married to him
this is more like divorce and remarriage
than just straight adultery
and you see that's not really emphasized
because churches are filled with people
who are divorced and remarried
if you're married tonight
I'm not here to condemn you
or to criticize you
about things in your past
but I am here to say
to those who are not in that situation
that if you marry her
which is divorced
you are committing adultery
and so by Herod marrying
his brother Philip's wife
he's committing adultery
by doing that
even though he's married
well we're married
if you have committed the sin
in the past of getting divorced and remarried
well there's nothing you can do
you can't get in your time machine and change that
but what you can do
is stay faithful to who you're married to right now
and it doesn't matter
if you're on your third spouse
or your fourth spouse
you need to decide
that divorce is not an option
for you going forward
nobody can change the past
but we can control the present and the future
and so we need to make sure
that it's the sin of wife swapping
or switching wives with someone else
even if you say
oh but we're married
we actually got legally married
yeah but that doesn't change the fact that it's wrong
and John the Baptist called it out as a sin
see John the Baptist preached against a lot of sin
violent people
people that are stingy
and they're not generous
and they don't care about people
he preached against people that are covetous
he's preaching against false teachers of religion
Luke chapter 3
so that's what's going on in Luke chapter 3 there
let's continue in Luke chapter 3
it says in verse number 21
now when all the people were baptized
it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized
and praying
the heaven was open
and the Holy Ghost descended in bodily shape
like a dove upon him
and a voice came from heaven
which said
thou art my beloved son
in thee I am well pleased
now the best book
is the Trinity
the book that really hammers the Trinity
more than any other
is obviously the Gospel of John
even from the first verse
those teachings are being laid down
but also the book of Luke
has been strongly teaching the Trinity
and we're only three chapters in
and we've already got a ton of evidence for the Trinity
like for example just last week in chapter 2
I didn't bring this up in my sermon
but in Luke chapter 2 in the same chapter
we have Jesus called
Christ the Lord
the Lord's Christ
now think about that
just like what we have in John 1-1
he's in the beginning with God
and he was God
but then in Luke chapter 2
we have Christ the Lord
but then we also have
the Lord's Christ
these things can only both be true
if the Trinity is true
because Jesus Christ
is both the Son of God
and also God himself
he's both
now the Bible spends a lot more time
talking about the fact that Jesus
is the Son of God
that's what's emphasized the most
but there are also plenty of scriptures
that clearly teach the deity of Christ
that he is God
and the reason that these things are both true
is because there's only one God
composed of Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
and God the Father
the Father is God
the Son is God
and the Holy Ghost is God
they're all three equally God
they're all equally eternal
they're all equally God
and they collectively make up one God
made of three persons
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost
and so that's why these statements
make perfect sense to us
once we understand that
if you don't understand that
then you're going to have to choose
if you don't believe in the Trinity
then you have to choose
well is he God
or is he the Son of God only
then you're a Unitarian
or you end up being like
a Jehovah's Witness or a Mormon
that denies the deity of Christ
and you have a Unitarian doctrine
or if you just choose and say
well he's just God
the Father, the Son
that's just kind of a
it's just a figure of speech or something
then you walk away
with this oneness Pentecostal view
or the modalist view
the Trinity is the view
that actually lines up
with all these scriptures
and so in this passage
we also have both
so just as in chapter 2
we had both Christ the Lord
and the Lord's Christ
well in chapter 3 we have
both the deity of Christ taught
and the fact that he's the Son of God
both because in verse 22
it says thou are my beloved Son
that's the Father speaking
in thee I am well pleased
to be in the book of the words
of Isaiah the prophet saying
the voice of one crying in the wilderness
prepare you the way of the Lord
make his path straight
now the Lord there
can mean one of two things
the Lord can either be referring to God
or it can just be referring to
anyone who's a boss or a master
right because the word Lord
also just means your boss or your master
I mean even Sarah called Abraham Lord
she's not calling him God
she's referring to him as an authority
and so the word Lord
in the New Testament
100% of the time
it's the same word for Lord
every single time
and it can go either way
it can either mean a boss
a master or it can mean God himself
and what tells us which one it is
it's the context right
but in the Old Testament
we don't necessarily have to rely
on the context because
in the Old Testament
flip back if you would
if you were 40
in the Old Testament we have
the Lord spelled in all capital letters
okay
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D
and this is actually a name
this is the name Jehovah
this is what's called the tetragrammaton
which is just a fancy word
everybody knows what Tetris is
this isn't that hard is it
how many blocks are in a Tetris block
four right
four grammaton right
that has to do with a letter
all right
so tetragrammaton just means
it's a four letter word
okay so the tetragrammaton
or the capital L, capital O
capital R, capital D
is not the word boss
or master only
it's not just a simple word
meaning the boss
it can only be applied to God
you understand what I'm saying
because you know
because a godly wife
would call her husband sir or lord
but she's not going to call him Jehovah
right
she's not going to call him God
okay that's bizarre
and so here in Isaiah chapter 40
we see what the Bible says in verse 3
it says
the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness
prepare you the way of the Lord
and there's no question
there's no doubt
there's no wondering
okay is this the Lord as in God
or is it just somebody who has authority
no the Bible says
prepare you the way of the Lord
Jehovah himself God himself
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God
so who is John the Baptist
preparing the way for
for Jehovah
for God himself
so who is he preparing the way for
Jesus
so who is Jesus
Jesus is Jehovah
Jesus is God
so right in Luke chapter 3
we have the teaching that he's the son of God
and we also have the teaching that he's God himself
now the name Jehovah
in the Old Testament
is not just referring to God the Father
as some people would erroneously believe
the term Jehovah in the Old Testament
the term the Lord or God
all of those terms are referring to God
collectively
because in the Old Testament
the Trinity is not something that's revealed
I mean it's touched upon
you can see it alluded to
and once you know about the Trinity
you'll see it in a lot of places
obviously having the New Testament
teach us about the Trinity
over and over and over and over again
about the Father and the Son
and the Holy Ghost
we understand the Trinity
then when we go back to the Old Testament
yeah of course we're seeing
the Lord said unto my Lord
sit down on my right hand
I'll make thine enemies thy footstool
we're seeing let us make man in our image
we're seeing behold the man
it makes sense to us
understanding the Trinity
but the Old Testament doesn't talk a lot
about the Trinity
it doesn't reveal or explain the Trinity
like it does in the New Testament
you know you get that teaching
from the New Testament
the thing that God's hammering
in the Old Testament is that there's one God
he's trying to get them to understand
hey the Philistines don't have a different God
those are all false gods
because there's only one God
right the only true God
is the God of Jacob
we don't get into the teaching
on the Trinity in detail
until we get to the New Testament
look you don't get into the details
on a lot of things until you get to the New Testament
the New Testament really teaches
a lot more clear doctrine
in the Old Testament
they saw through a glass darkly
in the New Testament
things get a lot clearer
that doesn't really come as a surprise to us
so in the Old Testament
you just talk a lot about God
the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
collectively as God
and it doesn't usually differentiate
so when the Lord appeared to Abraham
capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D
appeared to Abraham in Genesis 18
we know that that was the Son
we know that that could not have been God the Father
why?
because no man has ever seen God the Father
and lived
no one can see his face and live
God the Father is a spirit
he's up in heaven
his glory surrounds him
nobody can even see his face
whereas the Son of God
appeared in the fiery furnace
with Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
the Son of God appeared to Abraham
in the heat of the day
see we can all look back
and hindsight's 20-20
we know that when it talks about Abraham
and his seed
we know that the seed is Christ
they didn't know that
they are thinking that it's the physical descendants
and then Paul sets them straight
in Galatians chapter 3
and he says that in the Old Testament
that term with the all caps there
is a name
not just a title
it's actually a name
so that name is only referring to
Jehovah, God
and so Jesus is God
Jehovah is God
Jesus is God in the flesh
Jesus is not God the Father
because the Father
the Son and the Holy Ghost
are three distinct persons
three distinct personalities even
in Galatians chapter 3
and let's finish up here with this
the Bible says that
in verse number 22
the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape
like a dove upon him
and a voice came from heaven
which said thou are my beloved Son
and in thee I am well pleased
now there's two different ways that you could read this
and I can't really dogmatically say
which one is right
although I'll tell you which one I believe to be right
the Bible says the Holy Ghost descended
in a bodily shape
right
so stop and let that sink in
the Holy Ghost descended on Jesus
in a bodily shape
now some people would look at this
and say that that bodily shape
was the shape of a dove
so you have a bird shaped
spirit coming down
and resting upon him
that's one way you could read this
you know you could read this and say
hey he descended in a bodily shape
like a dove upon him
but in a bodily shape
like a dove
the term like a dove is referring to
how he descended
a dove descends a certain way
that's how he descended
a gentle dove-like descent
and that the bodily shape
was the shape of a man's body
a human bodily shape
that's what I believe this is referring to
but I mean I couldn't really
just be dogmatic on that
you know if somebody said
hey I think it was a dove shape coming down
I really would change anything
because you know we see Jesus
is represented as a lamb
and there are other representations
and that's okay to call Jesus
the lion of the tribe of Judah
or the lamb of God
or to refer to the Holy Spirit
like unto a dove
the problem though is
where we start making an image of a dove
an image of a lamb
or an image of a lion
and we say hey this represents God
let's worship this
you can verbally say
hey Jesus is the lamb
Jesus is the lion
Jesus is the you know
but you don't start making an image
because you don't want to take
the glory of the uncorruptible God
and make it like to the glory of
of man or of a four-footed beast
right we don't want to drag God
down the level of a four-footed beast
he's like those animals
in that he shares their attributes
the lion's the king of the jungle
and Jesus is the king of kings
but we just want to make sure
that we don't cross that line
but I personally believe that
the bodily shape was that of a man
and that the descent was in a man
or like a dove
but that's neither here nor there
verse 23 and Jesus himself began
to be about 30 years of age
so he's not exactly 30 years of age
when he's baptized
but he's about 30 years of age
and he has just recently turned 30
because it says he began to be
about 30 years of age
so that's genealogy
and this genealogy finishes out the chapter
it says being parenthesis
as was supposed the son of Joseph
so Jesus was not the son of Joseph
but he was looked at
by the people around him
as the son of Joseph
that's why they said hey behold
is not this the carpenter's son
so that's who people supposed
or thought that he was
now this genealogy is pretty interesting
because it says that Joseph
was the son of Heli
so let's go back over here
and go to Matthew chapter 1
Matthew chapter number 1
and we'll find that Matthew chapter 1
has a different genealogy
and here's what we need to understand
about genealogies in the Bible
genealogies are in the Bible
for a reason
everything in the Bible is there
for a reason
God's not just trying to fill up space
or hey I'm going to make this hard
because I want people to have to work hard
to read this thing
with the boys and see who really
wants to read this book
and in fact we're going to open
the New Testament with the genealogy
just so that the lazy
you know unintelligent people
just won't even try
that's not what he's doing
he's not just trying to make it hard is he
every genealogy
is in the Bible for a reason
every word
every jot every tittle has a point
it has a purpose
God's word isn't just void
so if we have a genealogy
it means something
now how many genealogies do we have
in the New Testament two
only two
and they both have to do with Jesus
after Jesus nobody needs a genealogy
because it's just neither Jew nor Gentile
just are you in Christ
now in the Old Testament you have
a lot of genealogies
and every genealogy is there
for a reason
a certain point is being made
and pay close attention
every genealogy is making a point
everybody got that
there's a point being made
ok so in Matthew chapter 1
the point that's being made here
and the point that's made
throughout the book of Matthew
is that Jesus is the king of the Jews
and that's what I preached about
a while back maybe a month ago
that Jesus is the king of the Jews
that's the point
so because that's the point
it says in verse 1
the book of the generation of Jesus Christ
is the son of David
the son of Abraham
now that makes him the king of the Jews
king because he's the son of David
and of the Jews
because he's of Abraham
so that's the point
so then it takes us through this genealogy
from Abraham down to David
and then it shows us
that he's not just the son of David
but that he actually follows the succession
of all the kings of Judah
because if you look at this list of names
these are the names of the kings of Judah
all the way down to the end of verse 12
where we have Zerubbabel
all the way down to Zerubbabel
these are guys that we have
Old Testament evidence of
these guys are kings
this is the kingly succession
so the point being made
is that he's the king of the Jews
has everybody got that?
now listen, in this genealogy
there are people's names
who are left out
this genealogy is not complete
there are names
of kings that are skipped
now when you're reading it
you normally wouldn't notice that
simply because of the fact
that those people
are not important people
they're not people that we look to
as being great bible characters
and that we would tell stories about
they're more obscure guys
they were men that were wicked
in the sight of the Lord
and so for whatever reason
God decided to just leave them out
of this list
so in verse 17 he talks about how
hey, from Abraham to David
fourteen generations
from David to the carrying away
into Babylon are fourteen generations
from the carrying away into Babylon
I'm sorry, I think I mixed that up
Abraham to David are fourteen
David to the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen
carrying away into Babylon
unto Christ are fourteen
so this is what's called a mnemonic
something to help you memorize something
or to make sure that
you have something right
okay I learned these fourteen
from here to here
these fourteen take me from here to here
so perhaps also a few names of unimportant
wicked people are left out
just because, just to round it out
to make it easier to remember
the fourteen, fourteen and fourteen
but what we need to understand is that
leaving people's names out of a genealogy
does not take away from the truth
of that genealogy
and it doesn't take away from the point
that's being made
and I could show you a ton of genealogies
in the Old Testament
that leave people's names out
because it's not relevant
what their names were
because God's trying to make a certain point
so in this particular genealogy
there are people's names left out
but the word begat is still used
even though there's a gap
even though that person did not directly
beget the next person in line
the word begat is used
now what does the word begat mean?
To bring into existence
to generate or to cause to be
that's what begat means
so if I were to father a child
then I am basically generating a new life
by means of my seed
and an egg from my wife
a new life is being generated
and we have the word genes there
of my DNA is coming into that person
so the word begat is not going to be an adopted son
right?
because I didn't bring that
an adopted son could be my son
but I didn't bring him into existence
I did not generate him
I did not cause him to exist
does everybody understand that?
the word begat means that
now the word son does not mean that
because you can be a son
without being begotten
or brought into existence by that father
for example if you're adopted you're a son
also the bible calls a son-in-law a son
so you can be a son-in-law and your son
you can be adopted and you're a son
but that's not begotten
because to beget is to generate
bring into existence cause to exist
now why is Jesus
begotten of the father
when he had no beginning
God the father did not cause Jesus to come into existence in eternity past
because Jesus has always existed
because Jesus was in the beginning with God
he was already there
without him was not anything made that was made
he was in the beginning with God and he was God
and so Jesus has no beginning
no ending
so how has he begotten?
well the answer to that question is
in the bible of course
but in Acts chapter 13
it talks about the resurrection of Jesus Christ
and it says as it is written
thou art my son
this day have I begotten thee
so the day when Jesus was begotten
you say when was that? oh a long long time ago
no no no wrong
cause Jesus already existed eternally in the past
Jesus was begotten on the day that he rose from the dead
because the bible says
that Jesus in Revelation 1 is the first begotten of the dead
so there's no mystery
he's the first begotten of the dead
he was raised from the dead as it is written
thou art my son this day have I begotten thee
Acts 13 Revelation 1 very clear
how does that mean he was begotten?
here's why
because he was dead
and God the father caused him to be alive
so he brought him into existence
he brought him into life again
God the father raised up Jesus from the dead
so that is a begetting
and by the way
when we get saved our spirit is dead
and our spirit is resurrected or regenerated
and that's him begetting us
we are begotten of God
because he regenerated us
just as he regenerated Jesus Christ
and brought him back from the dead
which is called the father begetting Jesus
so the father did not beget Jesus in time past
the father begat Jesus at his resurrection
when he brought, when he regenerated him
brought him into existence from death
and of course Jesus Christ was raised by all three
the father, the son and the holy ghost
they all participated in his resurrection
he was resurrected by all three
so
and you say this is too deep for me
okay well go on and watch some cartoons when you're done
if you can't handle this kind of intellectual exercise
but this might be good for you
and I want to make sure that I touch on this
because I don't want people someday to say
hey I'm mixed up about Luke 3
and you didn't explain it to me
well I'm gonna say hey I did explain it
back in my sermon on Luke 3
so does everybody understand everything that I've taught so far
so the son of is not as strong as begat
because begat is a physical bringing into existence
it's a generation
whereas the son of could be adopted
it could be by marriage
it could be other things
also skipping someone does not stop us from using the word begat
because the grandfather is still responsible for bringing the grandson into this world
it's through his seed that that grandson was generated
or came into existence
so when the Bible skips someone
you could still say that this person begat this person
okay go to Luke 3
and we're gonna look at Luke 3 and Genesis 11
Luke 3 and Genesis 11
I just want to leave no stone unturned tonight
so we're gonna look at Genesis 11 and Luke 3
so examples of this are
when we look at genealogies of Moses and Aaron
it does not give us a complete genealogy
Moses and Aaron you know it tells us
hey Levi begat this guy begat this guy
it's only like it's like three or four generations
and you're like what in the world
you've been here 100 years
you go into first chronicles
you'll find some genealogies
that have to do with the stay in Egypt
and you'll find as many as 10 or 11 generations there
why because it's giving a more complete genealogy
whereas Moses and Aaron
what's the point that's being made
the point that's being made is just simply
that they're of Levi
and which branch of Levi they come from
the point being made in a lot of these genealogies
is just look are these guys Levites or not
are they sons of Aaron or not
are they the Malites or are they the Mushites
are they the Mararites are they the Kohathites
and those that have read the Bible know
that there's a big difference
between being a Kohathite and a Mararite
those of you who don't know what I'm talking about
shame on you for not reading your Bible
but the Mararites and the Kohathites
had two totally different jobs
in the tabernacle
and so it mattered whether they're of Kohath
or of Mararite
but you know what it didn't matter
necessarily all the people in between
sometimes give an abbreviated genealogy
of hey this guy begat this guy begat this guy
what's the point is what you have to ask yourself
and understand that God will skip people
if they're not relevant
why do you just wish that he included everybody
so you could just read even more names
you know I mean how many names do you want to read
thank God he skipped some people in Chronicles
or that first Chronicles would be a real bear to read
thank God for the skipping
he's a merciful God
you know what I mean we have enough names
they're there for a reason
okay now when we get to Luke chapter 3
we find a different genealogy
than the one in Matthew
David begat Solomon
in the Matthew genealogy
that's the kingly line right
David begat Solomon
Solomon begat Reboam
Reboam begat Abiah
and we go down through that list
that's not in Jesus' genealogy
but it's a different son of David
look at verse 31
which was the son of Malia
which was the son of Menan
which was the son of Metatha
which was the son of Nathan
which was the son of David
isn't that nice that David named one of his children
after that prophet that preached against him
Nathan the prophet
so his son Nathan is the one here
not Solomon
it's a different branch
so Jesus is the son of David on both sides
now if we go back to verse number 23
it says the son of Joseph
which was the son of Heli
Joseph was not the physical son of Heli
because we know from Matthew chapter 1
that Joseph was literally begotten
which is the stronger word
the physical word
Joseph was begotten by a guy named Jacob
just like the Old Testament Joseph
was begotten by a guy named Jacob interestingly
so in this passage though
we see he's the son of Heli
not the physical son
but the son-in-law
and this genealogy is the genealogy of Mary
why? because what's the point of this genealogy
the point of this genealogy
is not to show that Jesus is the king of the Jews
the point of this genealogy
is to show that Jesus Christ
is a literal human being
descended from Adam
that's why it doesn't stop at Abraham
and say okay that's all that matters
no it goes all the way back to Adam
showing the physical unbroken descent
no one's being skipped here
there's no skipping
this is a physical all the way back to Adam
that's the point right here
the point that's being made is the human side here
so we're seeing Mary's genealogy
and it just brings up Joseph
because genealogies have men's names
men's names
so we're going to take Mary's dad
his dad, his dad, his dad, his dad
we're not talking about the women
it's all the dads
so we have Mary's dad
so it just says Joseph the son of Heli
it's actually Mary's literal father
does everybody understand that?
now we're going to get into the hard stuff
that was all the easy stuff
now let's get into that which is a sticking point
this is something that a lot of people choke on
or struggle with
so let's talk about genealogy and Luke
how many of you know where I'm going with this already?
a couple people, wow, very few people
maybe I shouldn't have even covered this tonight
okay, well, I'm going to cover it anyway
so, for you five, no, I'm just kidding
but anyway, there's a name here
that's in the book of Luke that's not in Genesis
and it's like, where is this name coming from?
okay, the name is found in verse number 36
it says, which was the son of Cainan
which was the son of Arphaxad
which was the son of Shem
which was the son of Noah
which was the son of Lamech
so this guy Cainan
who comes between Selah and Arphaxad
this guy is in Luke
but if we go back to Genesis
he's not there
if we go back to 1 Chronicles
he's not there
now why is that?
well, if we just take what we've been talking about
for the last 10 minutes
okay, this makes sense
because if God really wants to show
the humanity of Christ all the way to Adam
he's going to make sure
he doesn't skip anybody
whereas in Genesis
because the guy that he skipped was irrelevant
he just skipped the guy
I mean, that's pretty easy to understand
he skipped a guy just like he skips people
in tons of genealogies
if they're irrelevant, if they don't matter
if they're not important to the story
what's the purpose of the genealogy
back in Genesis 11?
so it's like this guy, this guy, this guy
and those people all had descendants
and then we can figure out
the 70 nations of the world
that existed back then
70 groups of people
that the world was divided into
in those days
so we have a list of a whole bunch of names
and they might not mean that much to us today
but back then it's like
okay, that's where all these different tribes
and nations came from
these guys
well, if a guy might have died young
and he had other kids
he only had that one kid
so he doesn't really matter
from an, you know, ethnological perspective
or maybe you just want to keep
the number round at 70
because those are the 70 main nation groups
then you're going to skip that guy
but in a genealogy about Jesus
you're not going to skip him
because you want to show the humanity
all the way back to Adam
pretty easy to understand, right?
why a guy is added here
well, there's more though
Christians will say to this
that it's an error
I looked up some creation
you know, one of these creation
I don't know if it was Ken Ham
or, you know, hopefully I'm not slandering anybody here
but it's for sure
if you Google this
one of the first thing that comes up
is one of these creation defense places
and they're like, oh yeah, this is a mistake
we believe the Bible's perfect in the original
that nobody's ever seen
but unfortunately every single copy of Luke
on the planet's wrong
and they go on and on
and they explain how they made a mistake
and wrote this guy's name
you know, I believe God puts stuff in the Bible like this
just to test people's faith
and you know, these creation defense people
are some of the least faithful people in the world
because they have to constantly prove to themselves
that God's real by finding fossils
I just believe God's real
I don't even need to go to the Grand Canyon
to figure that out
I just read the Bible and I believe in the Lord
you know, hey, blessed are they
that have not seen and yet have believed
in the creation ministries
they can't believe that Luke got it right
look, the fact that there are things
like this in the Bible show us
that the Bible is not a cunningly devised
fable trying to trick us
you know, if Luke wanted to trick us
if Luke was just making stuff up
and a liar
if he was writing from his own heart
he wouldn't have put this guy's name in
you'd think a guy who wrote a book
if supposedly the Bible's written by man
right, according to people who dispute this
if the Bible's written by man
then you, Mark, Luke and John
must be the greatest writers of all time
since they wrote the most popular books of all time
the greatest literature of all time
but they were so dumb
they can't even copy a genealogy
without making a mistake
they can't even mindlessly copy one thing to another
that's so dumb, it doesn't even make sense
no, but Luke is not the author
the author is God
the author is the Holy Ghost
no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation
holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost
it revealed a name to Luke
that he would have had no way of knowing
unless the Holy Ghost revealed that to him
just like the quote from Enoch that's in the book of Jude
it didn't come from some book of Enoch
with 450 foot tall giants and stupidity
it came from the Holy Ghost saying
hey, here's something that Enoch preached before the flood
there's no written record of it
the Holy Ghost revealed that to Jude
in order to be 100% accurate
on this genealogy
Luke received from the Holy Ghost
that this other name needed to be there
and so he wasn't copying anything
he was writing as he was moved by the Holy Ghost
to include that name
to include this guy Kainin
you say, well, he got it from the Septuagint
yeah, from the Septuagint
that dates back to 300 or 400 A.D.
that manuscript that was written after this
because they got, they're basically
they took that fake so-called Septuagint
and conformed it to the New Testament retroactively
but that's a whole other sermon
so anyway, I want everybody to follow this
so this is leaving no stone unturned
every single physical person
from Adam to Jesus is mentioned
even this guy Kainin
who was insignificant enough
to be left out of the Old Testament
we don't have to make up some story about how
well, you know, it's a mistake in the Bible
but the original was right
too bad we lost it
heaven and earth will pass away
God's word will never pass away
this is the part that's the sticking point
go back to Genesis 11
because that's pretty easy to swallow, right?
piece of cake
what's the hang up?
what's wrong with this Creation Institute?
why do they lack faith in God's word?
get a King James, amen
so
but here's the part where people struggle
and I'm going to explain to you why it's not a struggle
because when I first saw this
as a teenager when I was reading through my Bible
I was kind of hashing all this stuff out for myself
you know, thank God there was no Google available
because, you know, who knows what kind of stupid stuff I would have read
instead I just read the Bible and studied
and went to the Holy Ghost
but when I was hashing this out
I had the thought process that I just explained to you
but then I went back to Genesis 11
and I was like, oh, wait a minute
wait a minute, how does that work?
here's why
look down at your Bible and it says
it says in verse number 13
I'm sorry, look at verse number 12
it says, and our facts ad
lived five and thirty years
and begat Salah
and then it talks about Salah, Begedi, Eber, and so forth
so the key number here is 35 years
our facts ad lived five and thirty years
and begat Salah
but we know, based on what we just got from Luke chapter 3
that this is not really his son
it's his what?
it's his grandson
I first read this as a teenager
and I thought, it's the grandson
wait a minute, that's a little far-fetched
that his grandson's being born
when he's only 35 years old
so I thought there must be another explanation
and I came up with all kinds of elaborate explanations
for how Luke 3 and Genesis 11 could be true
both
and there are other more elaborate explanations
that make a lot more sense than just saying
oh, the Bible's wrong
oh, Luke got it wrong
there are other explanations
for you with them tonight
because they're complicated
but as I studied the Bible more
I came back to my original thought
and I realized that this is his grandson
and he did have a grandson at age 35
and that might seem weird
until you stop and actually realize
when this happened
look what the Bible says in verse 10
these are the generations of Shem
Shem was 100 years old and begat Arphaxad
when?
two years after the flood
he was born two years after the flood
now stop and think about this
if Arphaxad was born two years after the flood
it's not hard to believe
that he's becoming a grandfather
at age 35 at all
because when there's only eight people on earth
and God tells you to be fruitful and multiply
that becomes pretty high priority
and we know that the Tower of Babel
happened 100 years later
so from Noah's Ark to the Tower of Babel
is 100 years
and we know it's a great multitude
by the time the Tower of Babel comes
so they multiplied like crazy
for those first 100 years
so when there's only eight people on the planet
and God's telling you to be fruitful and multiply
there's nothing else to do folks
you know people who live in small towns
are always saying there's nothing to do here
you know I wish I lived in a big city
there's nothing to do out here man
there's nothing to do
well you know when the whole earth's been flooded
there's nothing to do
now eventually they built a big city
but for a while they didn't have a lot to do
and look they had
it's like you had one job
what's your one job
your one job is to repopulate this thing
so then it would make perfect sense
that somebody who's 16
17
their parents aren't you know
you know 16 year old now
we're telling them hey you need to wait till you're 18
right
so here's the thing
you know when you get off the arc
there's no reason to wait till you're 18
you know when you're 16 17 years old
it's like okay you know
yeah get married
it's time to reproduce buddy
we want these grandkids now
so it you know
and if he's 35 years old
35 years of age
which means that he could be 35 years
and 11 months
you know he the guy becomes a dad
when he's 18
I became a dad when I was 19
right I mean that well my son was actually born when I was 20
but I got married when I was 19
my son was born 13 months after I got married
you know despite all the people who lie
and say I got married because my wife was pregnant or something
people love to make up stories about me
anyway no unless that was a 13 month pregnancy
that's not the case
so the thing about that is
that you know if I was 20 years old
when my child was born
isn't that crazy to think
that some dude is 18
now I don't know
should I ask for a raise of hands
is there anybody here who sired a child
when you were 17 or 18 years old
you know don't answer that
but I'm sure that there are probably some hands
that would go up
of people maybe not here tonight
but I'm sure out on the internet
there'll be the YouTube comments
hey I sired a child when I was 15
when I was 16 when I was 17
when I was 18
the answer's off the arc
numero uno priority
is multiplication
makes sense
let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer