1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,120 In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,840 Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:10,720 mercies which sent you to us, O Christ, the light of the world 4 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,480 and the life of all. Give us wisdom by your law and 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:16,480 enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge. 6 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:20,560 Sanctify our souls by Your truth and grant that we may be 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,040 obedient to Your words and may fulfil Your commandments at 8 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,320 every hour. O You who enlightens the 9 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:31,520 rational with the knowledge of Your greatness, do enlight, O my 10 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:35,360 Lord, our thoughts, that we may meditate upon Your holy and 11 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:39,720 divine Scriptures at all times. O Lord of all, Father and Son 12 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,320 and Holy Spirit, forever. Amen. 13 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,800 We're going to continue our studies of the Holy Scriptures 14 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:14,440 and we're and we're studying and expanding on Acts chapter 13 and 15 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,120 we're going to pick it up from verses 42 to 47. 16 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:25,320 Just a brief recap again, Saint Paul and Baraba are in Antioch 17 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:27,200 and they're preaching, they're in the synagogue. 18 00:01:27,960 --> 00:01:33,120 Saint Paul preaches that faith in Jesus Christ brings 19 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:37,000 justification which could not come from the law of Moses. 20 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,600 And why we learned that because the flesh was weak, prone to 21 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,560 sin. And if we say today, how is it 22 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,760 that today we can strengthen the flesh is to live by the Holy 23 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:49,640 Spirit, by the power of the Holy Spirit. 24 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,000 And he also warns them not to reject the Christ. 25 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:56,160 He's talking to the Jews is this is he's in the synagogue, He's 26 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:59,080 at the temple in the synagogue and he's preaching to them and 27 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:03,000 he marvels them not to reject the Christ by whom alone is 28 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,000 justification and salvation from the law. 29 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:10,440 And he quotes Habakkuk verses chapter one, verse 5. 30 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,400 Behold, scorners, those who make fun and marvel and be destroyed. 31 00:02:15,640 --> 00:02:19,640 For I will do a work in your days which you will not believe, 32 00:02:19,640 --> 00:02:23,080 even if a man reports it to you, and that is about Jesus Christ. 33 00:02:23,080 --> 00:02:26,400 This is the work and this is the word praise be to his name. 34 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,800 So let's continue verses 42 to 43 and we're going to learn how 35 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,760 how Paul is so wise when he preaches. 36 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:35,760 And let's learn a little bit because sometimes we think we 37 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:39,840 need to go all way out. We need to, you know, Bible 38 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,280 bash. We need to ramble down people's 39 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:44,200 throats and and thoughts and minds. 40 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,440 No, we don't. Let's learn from from Saint 41 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,400 Paul. And he quotes Habakkuk chapter 42 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,640 one, verse 5. Behold, scorners or mockers, 43 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:56,360 those who make fun and marvel and be destroyed. 44 00:02:56,560 --> 00:03:00,040 For I will do a work in your days which you will not believe, 45 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,640 even if a man reports it to you. And there's a prophecy in today, 46 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,320 Saint Paul is saying, be careful that you don't fall in this or 47 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,880 under this category because the Lord will destroy you. 48 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:17,200 And those who do not receive the Son of God as the Lord, the 49 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,800 Christ the Savior will be destroyed one day. 50 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:25,160 And how? By being separated from the 51 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:28,000 presence of God. So let's pick it up from verse 52 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:31,440 42. And as Paul and Barnabas were 53 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,960 leaving them, the people besought them to speak these 54 00:03:34,960 --> 00:03:37,840 things to them the next Sabbath. Meaning, come back next week, 55 00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:40,240 please. Now when the congregation was 56 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:45,360 dismissed, a great many Jews and also proselytes who feared God. 57 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:49,560 Now these weren't Jews, but they feared God followed Paul, and 58 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:53,600 Barnabas, Who's who's speaking to them, persuaded them to 59 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:59,480 continue in the grace of God. In the next Sabbath day, the 60 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,640 whole city gathered to hear the word of God. 61 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,920 But when the Jews here we go again ruffled feathers. 62 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:09,120 But when the Jews saw the great crowd, they were filled with 63 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:14,040 envy, and they bitterly opposed the words of Paul, and they 64 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:16,360 blasphemed. They would have been cussing at 65 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,320 them probably. Then Paul and Barnabas said to 66 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,160 them boldly, It was necessary that the word of God should 67 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,040 first be spoken to you, But because you rejected, you have 68 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,720 decided against yourselves, and you are unworthy of everlasting 69 00:04:30,720 --> 00:04:32,600 life. So behold, we turn to the 70 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:37,880 Gentiles, for so has our Lord commanded us as it is written. 71 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:43,360 I have set you to be a light to the Gentiles that you should be 72 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,640 for salvation to the ends of the earth. 73 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:53,360 Praise me to Jesus Christ. So let's let's go back and see 74 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:59,360 how Paul is planting or he's so wise when you read the previous 75 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:02,600 verses. He planted the seed, he won 76 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:08,120 their admiration and he putting them a longing for more. 77 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,000 We want more and he didn't go out all out preaching. 78 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,760 He didn't, he didn't give him his, his dreams and his visions 79 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:20,560 and what I have done and what you need to do and how the Lord 80 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,960 is going to open your heart. And no, no, no, he just preached 81 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:28,680 Christ very simply. He said, listen, this Christ is 82 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:31,280 of the Old Testament. He is the fulfiller of the 83 00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,000 prophets. And this Christ you must accept 84 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:35,800 because only salvation is through him. 85 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:41,480 He didn't resolve the issues at hand and conclude you know that 86 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,760 it is that this is it. You need to now accept otherwise 87 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:48,640 you're going to hell and if not, you are the sons of damnation 88 00:05:48,640 --> 00:05:52,920 and you have no hope. No, he just very simply preach 89 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:57,520 Jesus Christ how why to get them used to him and not to make them 90 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:02,320 soft by by you know, throwing everything at their soul at 91 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:05,880 once. No, see this is an A lesson to 92 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:12,880 be learned, beloved. We need to introduce, present, 93 00:06:13,160 --> 00:06:17,640 preach, tell about Jesus Christ in a such a humble way. 94 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:24,600 Sometimes we don't even need to use words as Saint Augustine 95 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,400 claims. Sometimes we just need to leave 96 00:06:27,400 --> 00:06:28,800 the holy, leave the holy Scriptures. 97 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,320 We need to reflect Christ in our lives. 98 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:37,240 Let me give you an example. If a person has a foul mouth and 99 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,160 oh, there's so many people out there and you may be that may be 100 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,760 one of you. And I pray that I mean the Lord 101 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:44,480 Jesus Christ loves you. I love you. 102 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:47,760 And I only say this not to rebuke you, not for you to 103 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:52,280 switch off and and delete a double edged sword podcast from 104 00:06:52,280 --> 00:06:55,440 your phone. No, no, no, if you enjoy, if 105 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:59,200 you, if you busk in cussing, throwing the F bombs, the C 106 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:04,560 bombs, the every bomb out there because it's cool, because it's 107 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:10,200 manly, because the world, it's a pattern of the world, right? 108 00:07:10,320 --> 00:07:12,920 And we know that well, that could be the pattern of the 109 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:17,160 world, but that pattern will not be replicated in the Kingdom of 110 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:19,760 heaven because Saint Paul writes in one Corinthians, those who 111 00:07:19,760 --> 00:07:22,640 cast who have a foul mouth will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. 112 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:29,000 So before you applaud and you laugh and you encourage one who 113 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:34,960 is constantly using derogative words, swearing, cussing, don't 114 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,560 do that. You're paving the way to eternal 115 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:44,280 damnation for that person. Now if that person through this, 116 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:49,320 maybe this message, God works in mysterious ways and all glory 117 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:53,880 being to God alone. Maybe through this message right 118 00:07:53,880 --> 00:07:58,240 now, you're being convicted by the Spirit, by the words of 119 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:03,200 Jesus Christ and you want to begin a path of repentance. 120 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,240 And the next time you are with that crowd that are constantly 121 00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:12,800 using dirty words, let's you know, let's talk late terms. 122 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:17,560 We don't need to talk, you know, theological and ecclesiastical 123 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,120 and liturgical words and you're talking dirty words. 124 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:24,280 You're cussing constant. Every second word is AF word, 125 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:29,160 right? And then you change and the next 126 00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:32,600 time you're with that group and for an hour or so they don't 127 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,960 hear anything from your mouth and they say what's wrong with 128 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:39,120 you? There you go. 129 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:43,919 You don't need to go back and preach and and condemn everyone. 130 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:47,120 You just can reply and say it was wrong. 131 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:53,200 I was convicted by the Holy Spirit and I was drawn near and 132 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,440 I was drawn to repentance. And I'm trying to cut out this 133 00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:00,080 evil demon that is within me. Simple as that. 134 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:03,920 You got people thinking and then there may be another person in 135 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,760 that, in that crowd, in that company that has the same 136 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,040 dilemma as you have, is in the same sin and you know as being 137 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,200 caught up in the same sin. That person may come, walk, run 138 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,000 after you and say, listen, how did you do it? 139 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,160 Do you see? Do you see what I'm getting at? 140 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:23,280 This is what Saint Paul did, just preached Jesus softly to 141 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,760 them and he didn't have to go into theology. 142 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,720 No, there will come time where Paul will go into some deep 143 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:36,120 theology where only the fathers of the church guided inspired by 144 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,520 the Holy Spirit who've comment commented not what I believe and 145 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,160 why I think what I how I feel. No, no, no, how the church has 146 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:46,520 received and interpreted the theology of Saint Paul. 147 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:51,960 Notice in verse 38, he said through this man that is Jesus 148 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,760 Christ, forgiveness of sin is proclaimed to you, but he didn't 149 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,640 say how. He didn't say how so when you 150 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,520 when someone says to you what's wrong with you, you don't need 151 00:10:02,520 --> 00:10:06,880 to say well, I was listening to double edged sword, for example, 152 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:11,000 for the glory of God and you know that that fully servant of 153 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,080 God Kasha Jennard was preaching about it touched my heart and he 154 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,120 convicted me. You don't say he convicted me. 155 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,480 No, the spirit convicted me and I'm now you don't need to say 156 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,160 that. You know what I was convicted by 157 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:27,080 the Holy Spirit. I'm drawn to repentance and I 158 00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:30,960 need to repent. Otherwise there is damnation or 159 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,720 punishment. Simply walk away and then people 160 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,480 will say, well, how what did you do? 161 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,960 People will run to you and say probably, what did you do? 162 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:40,680 You say, well, you know what? I started reading the 163 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:43,520 scriptures, I started fasting, I started praying, I started going 164 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,800 to church more regularly so that I don't miss out on all the 165 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:49,040 gifts and all the blessings. We spoke about that from the 166 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:52,120 church and thank God, you know, I'm not perfect, but I'm trying 167 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,640 my best every now and then. I still throw the F1 here and 168 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:56,560 there, right? But you know, I'm trying. 169 00:10:56,560 --> 00:11:00,640 I'm on a repentance path and the Lord is is pleased and and happy 170 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:04,560 happy with me. I can feel my, my, my confidence 171 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:06,840 now that conviction is now confidence. 172 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:13,480 Throw eagerness in these people. You see holding the same. 173 00:11:14,760 --> 00:11:18,840 He created an eagerness where they started to follow him. 174 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:22,720 They left the synagogue. People ran after him, went to 175 00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,320 him. Now this man was truly a 176 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,120 fisherman. Let's have a look at the 177 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,760 characteristics of a fisherman. So some of you who are listening 178 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:33,680 may love fishing. And when you go out to the ocean 179 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:37,560 or to the sea or to the beach or to the river or to the lake, you 180 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,440 don't just go and cast. You have to see what the 181 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:42,600 weather's like. Where the tide is, is at high 182 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:45,920 tide, low tide, is it too choppy? 183 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:48,320 The wings are too choppy. The sea's too choppy. 184 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,720 You, you, you usually go when when there's other fishermen 185 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,920 there, you'll go and ask them, you know, what are you using and 186 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,600 what's what's biting today? And they'll say to you, you 187 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,680 know, this type of fish like a black. 188 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,160 I'm going to mention some some fish that are in Australia, I 189 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:06,160 think Flathead. Do you have Steven, do you have 190 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:07,520 Flathead fish? Do you have you heard of the 191 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,080 Flathead? You have? 192 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:11,000 Oh, excellent. So let me tell you a little, 193 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:15,360 sorry, is it a, it looks like a shark, but it's not. 194 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:19,240 So flatheads lay right on the bottom of the seabed. 195 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:24,920 So you need to have your, your, your bait and your sinker on the 196 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,400 seabed. So it, and when it bites, it 197 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,000 just opens and closes. It doesn't bite. 198 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:33,600 It's not very aggressive, so you need to be careful and you know 199 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,520 when it's when the fish is on and you, you know, obviously tag 200 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:38,640 it and and start rolling, reeling it in. 201 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,240 Blackfish, Not sure if you have Blackfish here. 202 00:12:41,560 --> 00:12:45,000 Blackfish in Sydney. Blackfish only bite on algae. 203 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,440 What's on those rocks at the sea, right. 204 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,520 So what I'm saying is a fisherman must be clever. 205 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,840 That's why Jesus said I will make you fishers of man, not 206 00:12:55,840 --> 00:13:01,480 keepers of aquariums. Robert Gluler, Not keepers of 207 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:07,160 aquariums, fishers of men. Because a fisherman is quite 208 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:11,920 learned and very handy and skilled at his or her job. 209 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,920 Notice he didn't baptize them. He didn't say, oh, you've come 210 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:19,360 out, you're eager, you so you believe in just right now. 211 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,880 I want you to. I want you to do now repeat 212 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:23,920 after me. Come into my heart. 213 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:26,080 I accept you. You are my Lord and myself. 214 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:27,960 You know, he didn't do that. And then let's go. 215 00:13:27,960 --> 00:13:29,440 I'm going to baptize you. Why? 216 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:31,520 Because it wasn't the proper time. 217 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:34,960 There was need to persuade them even more so that they may 218 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:39,240 remain steadfast, to remain steadfast. 219 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,120 So we, if we have a Christian sister who wants to marry a non 220 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:52,240 Christian friend and approaches the church, and I'll speak on 221 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:55,560 behalf of the Assyrian Church of the East, that any gifts within 222 00:13:55,560 --> 00:13:59,880 the church are only provided and given to the Christian brothers 223 00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:01,960 and sisters, those who have been baptized. 224 00:14:02,560 --> 00:14:06,440 So just because the the, the partner, one of the partners, be 225 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,720 the male or the female wants to be baptized because they want to 226 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:11,960 be married. No, we say no, no, no, no, 227 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,720 you're not going to receive baptism just because you wanted 228 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,440 to be, you want to be married because baptism is a gift of the 229 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:23,040 Holy Spirit, a sacrament that is precious and was purchased by 230 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:27,440 the blood of Jesus Christ. And and he has he has entrusted 231 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:30,920 to the Church as a depository and that we must be careful as 232 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,720 he as Saint Paul commenced to one in to Timothy. 233 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:38,720 Do not be haste in laying your hand because it's the gift of 234 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:44,560 the Holy Spirit. So we must first be without 235 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:49,120 beyond the shadow of doubt that this person wants to receive the 236 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,320 gift of Holy Baptism. We're going to talk about why 237 00:14:51,560 --> 00:14:57,320 that person wants to be buried with Christ and to be born anew 238 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,480 or born from above. And that even if that marriage 239 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,720 does not work out, that person still wants to be baptized 240 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,720 because he wants to have that relationship with Jesus Christ 241 00:15:06,840 --> 00:15:09,920 and to stand steadfast. Meaning accept the Lord Jesus 242 00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:16,360 Christ and denounce all the other false and idle faiths and 243 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:19,880 religions. You see, baptism is not a mere 244 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:23,840 immersion in water, beloved. It's not a mere symbol as some 245 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,640 preach and claim. It's only a symbol according to 246 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:32,680 one Peter chapter 3 verse 21. Paul likens it to the flood. 247 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:38,200 Paul writes that baptism is an anti type assembly of the flood 248 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,280 which saves you. Let's have a talk about that. 249 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:46,800 You see, in the flood, during Noah's time and the ark, the 250 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:51,080 world gets cleansed. The evil is perched out of the 251 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:57,080 world, and only Noah and his family, eight members are saved 252 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,440 through that. Because if they were outside of 253 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:04,560 the ark, mark these words, if they were outside of the ark, 254 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,600 they would have been, they would have drowned. 255 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:16,600 But baptism, which is an anti type, is not just a mere bath 256 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,880 and washing yourself. I had a a friend from the 257 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:23,640 brothers from the Salvation Army. 258 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:27,400 This is going back a long time ago and we were debating baptism 259 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:31,400 and he said, well, you know, for us baptism is a symbol. 260 00:16:31,800 --> 00:16:34,960 Every day I take a shower, that's baptizing. 261 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:41,720 Well, no. See, baptism cuts us off from 262 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,360 the world, hence we are not of the world. 263 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,720 It cleanses our conscience through a shower. 264 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,080 Your conscience, your heart, your motive is not cleansed. 265 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,280 When you have a shower in the morning, you do not clothe, 266 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:01,200 You're not clothed with Jesus Christ. 267 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:05,440 You actually close yourself with normal clothes when you have a 268 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,160 shower in the morning. You're not dying with Christ. 269 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:16,359 You're not being crucified with him in the shower, No, but 270 00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,640 through baptism. It's the cleansing of 271 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:23,160 conscience. This is the cleansing that is 272 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:25,839 received in baptism, along with many other powers. 273 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:28,760 Again, I mentioned some of them. Those that you cannot receive in 274 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:32,600 in a normal shower you can receive in baptism as a gracious 275 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:34,920 gift provisions of the Holy Spirit. 276 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:39,680 One of the Church Fathers, Saint Andrew of Caesarea writes the 277 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:44,040 water of the water of the flood is a type of baptism because it 278 00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,680 both punished evil people and saved good. 279 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:51,920 Just as baptism expels evil spirits and saves those who turn 280 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,280 to Christ. This shows the great power of 281 00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:00,000 baptism and how much we need it. St. 282 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,280 Cyprian of Carthage writes Peter showed in One Peter. 283 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:11,400 Peter showed and vindicated the unity of the Church by 284 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:16,720 commanding and warning that we can be saved through and only 285 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:19,240 through the baptism of the one Church. 286 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:25,000 How, you may say, keep listening intently through the one church. 287 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:29,280 He goes on to say, just as in that baptism of the world, the 288 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,120 flood by which the ancient inequity was purged, the one who 289 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:39,120 was not in the ark could not be saved through water, so now 290 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:43,520 anyone who has not been baptized in the church cannot be saved. 291 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,880 You can't just take people to a river and, and and baptize them 292 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,320 in the name of the Trinity. I don't want to go into the 293 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,720 sacrament of the priesthood. Let's let's just continue. 294 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,640 They cannot be baptized in whoever is not baptized in the 295 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,520 church cannot be saved. He goes on for the church has 296 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:02,400 been founded. Listen to this. 297 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:06,560 Oh, bless your souls, the fathers of the Church. 298 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,920 For the church has not been founded in the unity of the 299 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:11,240 Lord. Sorry. 300 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,560 For the church has been founded in the unity of the Lord as the 301 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:20,160 sacrament of the one ark. So the ark is an anti type of 302 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,960 the church. Without the ark, people die. 303 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,560 Without the ark, those who were baptized would have been dead. 304 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:31,320 Without the church and no baptism within the church, you 305 00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,400 will die. You are not saved. 306 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:42,760 Again going on to verses 44 to 4046, then we see the Jews envy. 307 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:46,160 They always envy. They're always in envy, you 308 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:51,920 know, each time Christ was being glorified and adhered to and 309 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:56,400 followed the Jews God angered, it was envy that caused them to 310 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:58,240 do what they did to Jesus Christ. 311 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:03,160 It was envy. The envy, however, extends the 312 00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:09,960 preaching of the Word, like in chapter 8 of the book of Acts. 313 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:14,800 When the church was scattered from Jerusalem to Samaria, the 314 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,360 Gentiles began to hear the word and became to began to accept 315 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,840 Jesus Christ and were believers and was saved. 316 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:23,400 You know, we spoke about one's man. 317 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,560 One man's loss is another man's gain. 318 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,520 Joseph says this to his brothers in Genesis chapter 50 verse 20. 319 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,920 You counseled evil against me and God counseled good. 320 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:42,120 Beloved, whenever evil comes upon us, not as a result of our 321 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:47,360 own false sin and foolishness, wait for God's goodness. 322 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,440 Wait for God to change that evil to good. 323 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,000 Notice the gentleness of Saint Paul again. 324 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:00,440 He says, listen, listen. It is necessary that you should 325 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:03,960 be preached. He showed that it was necessary 326 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,240 to preach to them as well. You need to learn this. 327 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,760 You need to hear this just because you're a Jew, just 328 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,720 because the the Savior was from within you, but you did not 329 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:16,320 accept him. You need to save our Lord, the 330 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:20,640 Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Everyone beloved, you need to 331 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:24,040 hear this. And by saying first you need to 332 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:28,640 hear it first because you are the the branch that has been cut 333 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,720 off. But God can one more time prune 334 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,880 one more time as he pruned the Gentiles. 335 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:39,800 You can also be pruned if you stop from your unbelief. 336 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:43,560 He showed that. He showed this to them and that 337 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:46,600 as well as it is your duty to preach. 338 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,640 We preach to you first. You need to know first so you 339 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:54,680 can go and preach this truth and then if you're not going to 340 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,840 receive it, if you want to go, if you're going to deny it, 341 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:00,120 great, we're going to go preach to the Gentiles. 342 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:05,280 And again, this proves that God's desire is all to be saved. 343 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:10,400 Even the Jews and the Muslim brothers and sisters and the 344 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:17,080 Buddhist brothers and sisters and the and the, yeah, all those 345 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:23,240 non Christian, the, the, the, the, the Jewish friends, the 346 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,400 Muslim friends, the, the, the, the, the Buddhist friends, the 347 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:33,520 the Hindu friends need to be saved only through Jesus Christ, 348 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:38,080 to turn to Jesus Christ. Through this he is declaring 349 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:44,000 that God in the eye of God, nothing is unworthy of salvation 350 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:51,120 or to enter into the Kingdom of heaven, nor that God excludes 351 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:56,400 any humankind from damnation. No, if you don't receive, you 352 00:22:56,400 --> 00:23:00,840 will die, simple as that. God's will is that all people 353 00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:04,520 shall have life and shall be converted to the knowledge of 354 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:07,520 the truth. One Timothy 24 and he's talking 355 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,000 to the Jews. Mr. Netanyahu and if there's any 356 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:13,680 alarms, you know, they say when you mention some names, you 357 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:15,760 know, Mossad gets all these alarms. 358 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:17,800 Well, I, I want these alarms to go off. 359 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,880 Alarms start ringing. Mr. Ben, what is it, Benny? 360 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:24,240 What does he call him? BB? 361 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,560 Miss Netanyahu, you know you come out Christmas time and you 362 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,080 invite all your Christian friends to come and see the 363 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:34,800 birth place of Jesus. Please mention Jesus Christ. 364 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,640 Why are you just calling our Lord, our Savior, the Lord, the 365 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,760 Savior, the Christ Jesus? You invite me to come and see 366 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:44,120 his birthplace. Why don't you also invite me to 367 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:50,520 come and see his empty tomb? Why don't you refer to him as 368 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:54,440 Jesus the Christ? Because then everything has to 369 00:23:54,440 --> 00:24:00,800 be changed. Then it's going to be a turmoil. 370 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,880 But believe me, Bibi, it won't be a turmoil. 371 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:11,840 You will be saved because remember, Bibi, you are going to 372 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:16,000 face the Lord Jesus Christ. You are going to face the Lord 373 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,880 Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ whom your forefathers 374 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,680 crucified. And it had to be done. 375 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:27,520 We now, today understand. We understand and we know that 376 00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:31,200 the Lord loves you and wants you to return one more time so that 377 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:36,280 maybe He can prune you one more time into the vine so that you 378 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:38,720 will have life with Jesus Christ. 379 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:47,120 Every person on earth, beloved God, wants to save, but not 380 00:24:47,120 --> 00:24:50,640 every person will be saved. Why? 381 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:55,920 Because of free will, we bring it upon ourselves through our 382 00:24:56,000 --> 00:25:00,200 liberty, our freedom of speech, freedom of choice, freedom of 383 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:05,640 walk, freedom of whatever. We make ourselves to be unworthy 384 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:11,360 of eternal life and worthy of eternal damnation by rejecting 385 00:25:11,360 --> 00:25:16,880 the Lord Jesus Christ. And then verse 47, Paul refers 386 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:21,120 to himself as light for the Gentiles. 387 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,000 If you're not going to accept it, well, we're going to go to 388 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,360 the Gentiles. You know, our friends, the Jews. 389 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:33,600 If you didn't accept it, you know where it came to the 390 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:37,480 Assyrians. Oh, there's so many alarms going 391 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:42,480 off now, Steven, to the Assyrians and the Assyrians. 392 00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:51,160 While you were, what's the word? While you were preparing, 393 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:56,200 there's another word to capture and to crucify King Abga 394 00:25:56,200 --> 00:26:00,760 Inadeessa Odehay, the Assyrian accepted him as Lord and as God. 395 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,280 So that's what happened. See, it's from the Scriptures. 396 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:05,840 This is not a political statement. 397 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:08,680 This is not hatred. I love Bibi, I love everyone. 398 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,400 I have to love. I, it's not have to. 399 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:14,600 I love because my Lord is love. I love. 400 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:18,840 But this is a fact, right? Paul calls himself the Lord of 401 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,640 Gentiles, and yes, he is my light because I was a Gentile. 402 00:26:22,760 --> 00:26:25,760 But I'm a Christian now in the Christendom. 403 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:27,480 In Christendom I'm not a Gentile. 404 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:31,040 I'm actually Israel. In Christendom I'm Israel. 405 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:33,960 I am the church. You know who the Gentiles are? 406 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,520 The Jews are the Gentiles in Christendom and we must go and 407 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:43,480 preach to the Gentiles, not just be politically correct. 408 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:46,800 Let's stop this politically correctness. 409 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:51,560 O leaders of the church. I cannot stand in a prayer where 410 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:54,480 the prayer is none in the name of Jesus Christ. 411 00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,640 No, it has to be in the name of Jesus Christ, not because I'm a 412 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:03,040 Christian, but because He is the Christ and only God is pleased 413 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:05,360 with the Christ. Praise and glory be to his name 414 00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:12,480 type, Amen. The light of the Gentiles. 415 00:27:13,280 --> 00:27:17,840 What was said with specific reference to Jesus Christ the 416 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:22,120 Lord in Luke chapter 2 verse 32 by Simon the Righteous. 417 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:25,400 He said to him, he referred to Jesus Christ the light for the 418 00:27:25,400 --> 00:27:29,800 revelation of the Gentiles and the glory of your people Israel. 419 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:35,120 He is now Paul is taking it for himself, referring it to 420 00:27:35,120 --> 00:27:37,720 himself. Why? 421 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:43,520 Because He is calling to mind. Matthew 1040, Whosoever receives 422 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:47,280 you receives me. So if you received, you received 423 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,400 me as a light, you're receiving Jesus Christ. 424 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:57,840 John 2021 Jesus said, just as my Father has sent me, I also am 425 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:01,240 sending you. Of course He is the light. 426 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,520 The apostles are the light of the world. 427 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:07,160 Christ said you are the light of the world. 428 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:10,400 You cannot be hidden. It just cannot be. 429 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:12,560 A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 430 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:16,360 Yeah, there's magicians trying to, you know, get, you know, 431 00:28:16,360 --> 00:28:20,720 make make the, the Eiffel Tower disappear and the Harbour 432 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,000 Bridge. This this is all evil. 433 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,280 This is all magic. But this is not magic. 434 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:25,880 Jesus is not talking about magic. 435 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:28,720 A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 436 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,160 So too, Saint Paul and all the apostles and we the Christians 437 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:34,960 that not them. Let's not hide ourselves. 438 00:28:35,440 --> 00:28:39,640 Let's say it as it is. You know why not to only rebuke 439 00:28:39,640 --> 00:28:44,240 and to show off and to be proud. I mean, we are we have pride in 440 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,400 Jesus Christ. But so that they also know the 441 00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:52,800 the the seriousness, the urgency of receiving the Lord and Savior 442 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:56,200 Jesus Christ, who is the only forgiver. 443 00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,000 Praise and glory be to His name, now and at all times and 444 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:26,920 forever. We hope you enjoyed this week's 445 00:29:26,920 --> 00:29:29,240 message. Please don't forget to rate and 446 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:31,960 review this podcast and share with your friends and family. 447 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:35,720 For any future topic suggestions or to give us detailed feedback, 448 00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:38,280 please visit our link in the show notes. 449 00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:42,960 Linktr dot EE forward slash double edged sword. 450 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:45,160 Until next time, God bless you all.