1 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,920 And so because you're hearing, then God can speak to you at any 2 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,280 time. And as I was driving, it dropped 3 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:22,960 in my spirit. What to minister. 4 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,800 Amen. And so I always get excited 5 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:27,480 about that. In fact, I just jumped on my 6 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,080 phone and I started, you know, taking a few notes. 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:32,320 When I said, what are you doing? I said, the Lord just gave me 8 00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:34,880 what to preach and it's a couple weeks. 9 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:37,440 Amen. And so I'm like, wow, what a 10 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,000 great setup. Lord, He knows what he's doing, 11 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,840 you understand. So second Peter chapter 3, 12 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:47,720 verses one through 4, Let's talk about expected arrival. 13 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:49,760 Amen. Expected arrival. 14 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,560 And second Peter chapter again, 3 verses one through 4, it says 15 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,840 this now. This is now, beloved, the second 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:01,040 letter I'm writing to you, Peter says, in which I am stirring up 17 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,080 your sincere mind by way of reminder, aren't you? 18 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,000 Don't you know we need to be reminded? 19 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,280 That's why the Holy Ghost, his number, the number one thing 20 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,600 Jesus said about him, the very first thing that he announced 21 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,960 about the Holy Spirit in John, He said now when he comes, the 22 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:20,360 Spirit of truth, he's going to cause things to come to your 23 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:22,440 remembrance. Wow. 24 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,920 So one of the primary responsibilities of the Holy 25 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:30,440 Ghost is to cause you to remember something which tells 26 00:01:30,440 --> 00:01:35,280 us if God is responsible to remind you, then you cannot be 27 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,640 like your children, do you? Which is you tell them to take 28 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,760 out the trash, put their laundry in the you know, dirty clothes, 29 00:01:43,760 --> 00:01:46,720 make up their bed, whatever. And then you hear these words. 30 00:01:46,720 --> 00:01:54,560 Oh, I forgot. No, I've reminded you. 31 00:01:54,840 --> 00:02:00,320 You're choosing not to do it. Same in anyway so you understand 32 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,280 because we do not physically see the Holy Spirit nor does he is 33 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:06,840 he in front of us as we're having this conversation and 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:10,960 documented it with his phone so that he can play back the video. 35 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:15,480 Although he could play back the video, so to speak, take you 36 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:18,800 back in time and say no, this is when I've talked to you in your 37 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,120 heart said it very clear. You acknowledged it, but you 38 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:27,560 didn't do Hallelujah. So we're all with that excuse 39 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,160 because the Holy Ghost is talking to us. 40 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:34,840 Say he's talking to me and I'm listening and I'm doing it. 41 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:37,000 Hallelujah. That's the key. 42 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:41,440 And so he goes on to say, Peter talking about reminding us, He 43 00:02:41,440 --> 00:02:44,240 said that you should remember the word spoken beforehand by 44 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,880 the holy prophets and the commandments of the Lord and 45 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:53,280 Savior spoken by the apostles. Know this first of all that in 46 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:57,080 the last days, say last days, mockers will come with their 47 00:02:57,080 --> 00:03:02,400 mocking, following after their own lust and saying where is the 48 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:08,200 promise of his coming forever since the Father's fell asleep? 49 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:14,560 All continues just as it was from the beginning of creation. 50 00:03:15,160 --> 00:03:19,440 What a powerful statement here. Here is a group of individuals 51 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:26,760 that are not ignorant of a coming, but are so focused on 52 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:32,240 what's going on in the earth that when heaven invades it, 53 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:39,440 they miss it. That when heaven invades earth, 54 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:45,000 they miss it. And they say, well, you know, 55 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,080 everything's like it is. You know, they've said that for 56 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,640 years, decades. People have said decades. 57 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,160 People have said, you know, how many times people have said that 58 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,520 Jesus coming back, Jesus coming back. 59 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,880 I mean, it was 88 reasons why Jesus would come back in 1988, 60 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:03,200 the year I graduated, OK. I mean, people are always 61 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:04,880 talking about the return of Jesus. 62 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:07,040 And, you know, we can say, well, you know, they've been saying 63 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,080 this since, you know, the New Testament started. 64 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:11,720 Paul actually wrote about the return of Jesus. 65 00:04:12,440 --> 00:04:15,480 I mean, in fact, Paul was convinced that with the, you 66 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,200 know, what was going on in Jerusalem with Rome and all 67 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,320 this, that man, he's coming back now. 68 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,920 Well, Fast forward a couple thousand years later and we're 69 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,000 still here, which helps support this idea. 70 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:33,080 They've been promising about his coming for a But you know, I 71 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:35,560 mean, churches have rose up and went down. 72 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,880 Pastors have been in in the office, apostles, prophets, 73 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:41,280 teachers, evangelists. You know, we've had great 74 00:04:41,280 --> 00:04:43,440 revivals. We can document them. 75 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:47,000 But you know what, it's just like it is, they've come, they 76 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:48,440 sleep. That means they've died. 77 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:50,680 The next one comes and then they die. 78 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,120 Another generation comes and then they die. 79 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:59,280 You know what it's like. Always, all, always, always, 80 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:04,080 always. And we can get so focused on 81 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,440 what's going on here that we choose not to keep ourselves in 82 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:15,600 remembrance that a generation will see the return of the King. 83 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:22,560 Hallelujah, we'll see this. So we must keep an expected 84 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,040 arrival mentality. Are you hearing me? 85 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,600 Because in our society today, whoo man, you have to be 86 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,080 intentional, right? You have to be intentional. 87 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,920 Now, why does this happen? Why does a verse 4, where is the 88 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,240 promise of His coming? Ever since the Father's fell 89 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:44,000 asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of 90 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,440 creation. Well, that's really not a true 91 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,880 statement that everything has continued since the beginning of 92 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,000 creation. And we're going to talk about 93 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:57,160 this a little bit because things haven't always been the same 94 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:02,360 because the earth has changed quite a bit since the beginning 95 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:04,840 of creation. In fact it's since the when the 96 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:10,920 beginning of creation came, the earth was perfect and when the 97 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,480 1st man and woman that was put placed on the earth was created 98 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:17,920 in the image of God, there was no sin. 99 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:23,280 There was a time on this planet that sin, death, destruction, 100 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:29,600 malice, gossip, murder, robbery, thieving all the attributes that 101 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,280 we see today that are going on didn't even exist. 102 00:06:34,920 --> 00:06:41,720 It was non existent. Who? 103 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:50,040 But then something happened, and the Bible tells us that Adam ate 104 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,440 the of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 105 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,000 For the Lord told him, Son, you can eat from any tree of the 106 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:56,640 garment of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 107 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,840 You shall not eat, for the day you eat you will surely die. 108 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:04,400 And when he ate the fruit, death entered the world through his 109 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:07,280 transgression. And then the seed of man that 110 00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:12,000 was originally created in the image of God without sin became 111 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,720 sinful. But God, come on. 112 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,760 But God. But God in the 3rd chapter of 113 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:26,040 Genesis promises that he's going to set it back in its original 114 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:31,280 order. I am going to send my seed from 115 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:36,280 a woman independent of man, because man now has fallen. 116 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,160 He is of sin. He is not of my nature. 117 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:44,280 He has a different father. Who is the devil that anointed 118 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:48,080 cherub that I cast out of my realm when he rebelled against 119 00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:50,440 me? And my son Adam could have cast 120 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,800 out of his realm if he had only stayed with my word. 121 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:59,400 But because he yielded, he abdicated his throne, his 122 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,560 dominion, his rulership, according to Genesis 126. 123 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:04,920 Let us make man in our image according to our likeness, and 124 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:07,160 let them rule, let them have dominion. 125 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,280 He handed it over to the devil who becomes the God of this 126 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,040 world, the systems that function in the planet. 127 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:19,040 He did not. He did not acquire planet earth, 128 00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:24,360 just the way the planet was ran because the earth is still the 129 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:29,080 Lord's and the fullness thereof. In essence, the Lord says I'll 130 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:32,840 get my planet back and how it functions on the on the earth. 131 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,919 So he said I'm going to send my seed in a woman, which means man 132 00:08:37,919 --> 00:08:40,559 cannot participate. She'll have to be a virgin. 133 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:44,400 The Holy Spirit will have to come upon her and and impregnate 134 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:48,680 her with the Son of God. He is called the word of God. 135 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,120 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God in the 136 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,760 Word man, Hallelujah. And so since the beginning of 137 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:57,840 creation, some things have changed. 138 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,720 It's not the same. And then through different 139 00:09:01,720 --> 00:09:05,640 dispensations of the world's knowledge of God, He has done 140 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,240 some things totally different. And then Jesus shows up, which 141 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:17,760 was an expected arrival. It was an expected arrival. 142 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:21,480 So why could a person say where is the promise of his coming? 143 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:27,440 Well, Luke 1224 or 54 to 56 kind of gives us this insight. 144 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:30,200 Again, I've already kind of said it one sense, but let's the 145 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,200 scripture communicate it. Now look what it says Jesus says 146 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,200 and he was also saying to the crowds when you see a cloud 147 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:42,040 rising in the West, immediately you say a shower is coming. 148 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:50,360 And so it turns out, and when you see a S wind blowing, you 149 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:54,920 say it will be a hot day. And it turns out that way, you 150 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:57,720 hypocrites. You know how to analyze the 151 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:02,080 appearance of the earth and sky. But but why do you not analyze 152 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:10,480 this present time so man has the ability to notice signs. 153 00:10:12,160 --> 00:10:16,400 The question is, are we so focused on signs in the earth 154 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,240 that we are not focused on signs from heaven, so to speak? 155 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:28,520 The signs that are to fuel us to maintain an expected arrival? 156 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:35,600 Because if you do not keep your mind and your eyes set on things 157 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:41,960 above, then you will go through your whole birth existence 158 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:47,720 concluding that you'll die like everyone else and you are not of 159 00:10:47,720 --> 00:10:50,120 the generation that will be changed in the moment, in the 160 00:10:50,120 --> 00:10:56,360 twinkling of an eye. You'll be more focused on your 161 00:10:56,400 --> 00:11:06,320 timeline on the earth then you will be on an eternal timeline 162 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:10,640 that you've been born into. And I'm talking about an eternal 163 00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:14,760 a timeline of life because all are eternal. 164 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:18,800 Everyone in here is eternal. You're either eternally 165 00:11:18,800 --> 00:11:21,440 separated from God right now because you've never made Jesus 166 00:11:21,440 --> 00:11:24,480 Lord of your life. Your spirit man is not alive to 167 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,680 God. This is why you do not hear him, 168 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:29,800 you do not daily commune with Him. 169 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,520 You still have this sense of guilt, these issues that go on 170 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:36,400 in your heart. And you can, you can want God 171 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:40,280 and you can desire God, and you can even do a formula to try to 172 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:43,480 get to God, but you're always left with this emptiness. 173 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,120 Why? Cuz your spirit man is not born 174 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:48,920 of God. But when you confess Christ as 175 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:51,960 Lord, the Bible says you come alive. 176 00:11:52,080 --> 00:11:53,760 You become a new creature in Christ. 177 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,880 Your spirit man becomes alive to God, and you go from eternal 178 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,560 death experience to an eternal life experience. 179 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:04,080 Hallelujah, where you can hear from God. 180 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:08,320 God himself comes and moves in on the inside of you and bears 181 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:10,600 witness with your spirit. You are child of God. 182 00:12:10,760 --> 00:12:14,720 You have no doubt you're a child of the King. 183 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,520 None, No doubt. And I didn't do that. 184 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:23,520 But my yielding to His Word and His way of getting to the Father 185 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:25,840 has caused His Spirit to come live in me. 186 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:29,040 The third person of the God had the Holy Spirit Himself, and He 187 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:33,760 speaks to me on a daily basis. He'll speak to me as often as I 188 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:38,240 want to converse and I'm glad that sometimes He speaks to me 189 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:43,800 when I'm not because he loves me and cares for me and wants me to 190 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:48,040 do the things that will benefit my life. 191 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:52,080 So we can get so focused here in our day-to-day and you know as 192 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,000 well as I do, the things of life are are really kind of 193 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,280 repetitive. We can get called up in the day 194 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:04,400 in and day out and we don't have no thought of a return. 195 00:13:05,560 --> 00:13:07,880 Now my emphasis is not on the king is coming. 196 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:12,400 That's next week. My emphasis today is the king is 197 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:19,600 born and there was an expected arrival, but yet not everyone 198 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:26,080 experienced it when it occurred because they did not maintain 199 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:28,440 expectation. And I'm going to show you in 200 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:35,480 Scripture that if there are those who could expect the birth 201 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:41,160 of the king in their life and when it occurred, experienced 202 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:45,760 it, well, then there is a generation, if they will hold on 203 00:13:45,760 --> 00:13:51,400 to expectation, we'll be the ones that will experience the 204 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:54,600 return of the king. Hallelujah. 205 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,800 Because if the birth of the king can come into the planet 206 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:10,160 unnoticed, OK, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. 207 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:16,280 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. 208 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:18,960 Now I am not here to split hairs. 209 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,920 Say I have to ask myself, can I even say this right now? 210 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,560 Let me just go on a little bit and I'll just come back and see 211 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:32,160 if I can say this. Hallelujah, the Lord is good. 212 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:37,720 Hallelujah. They expected His arrival. 213 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:42,280 Jesus is coming was not without notice. 214 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:49,120 In essence, it really wasn't a surprise, although there were 215 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:55,000 many who were surprised. And I would submit to you the 216 00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:57,560 ones who were surprised when they heard He was here. 217 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:04,440 It was easier for them to reject Him later because they weren't 218 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:06,160 expecting Him in the first place. 219 00:15:07,240 --> 00:15:10,280 Oh my goodness, I'm preaching way better in your shouting. 220 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:11,320 Amen. But that's OK. 221 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,520 Isaiah 9, six and seven says this. 222 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:20,480 The prophet said, for a child will be born to us. 223 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,200 He's calling to his nation. Now a son will be given. 224 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,880 And notice the Son's not born because the Son always existed. 225 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:32,720 The Son's always been in existence. 226 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,320 He is eternal. He's the Son of God who became 227 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,960 the Son of man. And the reason why God has to 228 00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:42,000 become a man just stood at me because not everybody here has 229 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:43,960 ever heard this. And this is really important. 230 00:15:44,400 --> 00:15:48,280 When God gave man dominion in Genesis chapter one verse 26, 231 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,080 God always does what he says, which means he gave him that 232 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,920 rulership. And because Adam gave his 233 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:59,760 rulership to the devil by disobeying his Father's word, 234 00:16:00,280 --> 00:16:06,440 God himself could not take it back as God because he had given 235 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:10,920 it to man. In order for him to receive it 236 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:16,280 back and give it back to man, He had to come as a man, because 237 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:17,960 God does not violate His own word. 238 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:22,200 This is why God has to come in the form of a man, and that's 239 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,320 why he sent his son. So he said a child will be born. 240 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,200 That's the earth suit that will carry the sun. 241 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,440 That's always existed. And notice what it says and the 242 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:36,600 come on, say it with me. And I understand this is a 243 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:39,520 stirring you up by Ray reminder. But please do not get tired of 244 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,920 this word because most of the church world does not know this 245 00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:44,440 word when it comes to the church. 246 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:48,880 OK, and the government, notice it's not the religion of 247 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:51,800 Christianity, it is the government will rest on his 248 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:54,360 shoulders and his name will be called wonderful counselor, 249 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:56,680 mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 250 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,680 There will be no end to the increase of his government or of 251 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:03,560 peace on the throne of David. Thrones are in kingdoms, not in 252 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:06,240 religions. And over his Kingdom, Jesus 253 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:11,200 Christ came to restore the Kingdom of God back to man, not 254 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,200 give them a religion. It was never God's intention to 255 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:19,160 give us a religion, it was always God's intention to bring 256 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,440 us back into his government, which is His Kingdom, which 257 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:27,520 means King's dominion of which we would serve as his children 258 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,080 and we would have Co labor with him. 259 00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:34,960 Where Jesus is the King of Kings in his Kingdom we are not 260 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:38,160 subjects, we are reigning kings with the King. 261 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:44,000 Glory to God, Hallelujah, and so on. 262 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:46,240 The throne of David over his Kingdom, to establish it, to 263 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,320 uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and 264 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:52,680 forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts 265 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,160 will accomplish this. All of Israel knows the King's 266 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:59,880 coming, and in order for the king to come, he's going to have 267 00:17:59,880 --> 00:18:03,320 to be born. And so I'm just using this one 268 00:18:03,320 --> 00:18:04,440 example. I'm going to give you another 269 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,040 one. Another one is in Micah chapter 270 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,680 5 verse 2 and Micah chapter 5 verse 2. 271 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,640 It says this. It says As for you Bethlehem, 272 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:17,840 even though you remain least among the clans of Judah, 273 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:21,920 nevertheless the one who rules in Israel for me will emerge 274 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:26,120 from you. His existence has been from 275 00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:32,880 antiquity, meaning it's always been even from eternity. 276 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,680 So his existence did not start the day he was born in the 277 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:44,640 earth. So a King's coming out of 278 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:48,000 Bethlehem from the tribe of Judah? 279 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,640 Hallelujah. So Israel knows there is an 280 00:18:54,640 --> 00:19:00,920 expected arrival. There is an expected arrival. 281 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:04,360 And if you're going to have an expected arrival, you have to 282 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:08,920 have faith. Faith is a confident 283 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:14,240 expectation. Can we receive anything from the 284 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:22,760 Lord without faith? Faith is necessary in order to 285 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:26,640 be born again. You must have faith, right? 286 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:29,880 And I would submit to you, even with the gifts of the Spirit, 287 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,040 when we get into the working of miracles or the gifts of 288 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:40,520 healing, a person cannot be in faith nor know God, and he still 289 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:45,400 healed them. But that's because someone is 290 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:51,240 operating in faith. Jesus, when he healed the man at 291 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:55,080 the pool of Bethesda, was not because faith wasn't in 292 00:19:55,080 --> 00:19:57,960 operation. It wasn't in operation for the 293 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,920 man at the pool, but it was an operation for Jesus, for the 294 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:05,320 Father says go to the pool. Plenty of sick people are there. 295 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:07,400 I'm not going to heal any of those. 296 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:10,800 And I can't tell you why, because it is God's will to 297 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:14,640 heal. But he said there's one person I 298 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,840 want you to go to. And I want you to raise him up 299 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,120 off his bed. Amen. 300 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,840 And in faith Jesus went to that person, never meeting them 301 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:33,720 before, obviously had to know who they were by the Spirit, and 302 00:20:33,720 --> 00:20:36,920 in faith that God would direct him to that individual of which 303 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:40,000 he talked to him and asked him what he wanted. 304 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,120 The man didn't say he wanted healed. 305 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:45,480 He said he wanted somebody to put him in the pool because his 306 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,440 faith was in the stirring of the water of the pool that an Angel 307 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,200 did. And whoever went in first once a 308 00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:54,080 year would be healed. So he wanted to be healed, but 309 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,920 he thought the only way to be healed was to be put into the 310 00:20:57,920 --> 00:20:59,880 pool. But he has no one who can put 311 00:20:59,880 --> 00:21:05,600 him in because as he drug himself to the pool every year 312 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:10,320 for 38 years, someone got in first. 313 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,480 Someone got in first. But Jesus said get up and take 314 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:24,520 up your mat and he was healed because of the faith that you. 315 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,960 So nothing comes from God except by faith. 316 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:31,800 Do you believe that? I said, do you believe that? 317 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,600 Then why do we believe that when the trumpet blows, if we have no 318 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:52,280 expectation, we go? Could we get so caught up in 319 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:56,120 what's going on down here? Because you say, well, wait a 320 00:21:56,120 --> 00:21:57,960 minute, now that means we would go to heaven by works. 321 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,920 No, no, no, no. The tribulation period doesn't 322 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:03,720 mean that you are going to be separated from God eternally. 323 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:10,440 A born again believer could go through the tribulation, stay 324 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:13,880 loyal to God, never take the mark and go to heaven even 325 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:16,480 though they maybe could have exited earlier. 326 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,120 I'm just throwing out some plausibilities because I do not 327 00:22:23,120 --> 00:22:28,480 see how the catching away becomes independent of faith. 328 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,760 Yet. Many don't even think about it, 329 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,480 have no thoughts about it. In fact, most don't even think 330 00:22:39,480 --> 00:22:43,440 it actually would happen. So as a result of that, they 331 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:48,480 have more faith they'll die and go to heaven then he would come 332 00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:56,580 in their lifetime. We're going to talk about it 333 00:22:56,580 --> 00:23:00,620 next week just so you'll be OK. Hallelujah. 334 00:23:01,220 --> 00:23:04,640 Say I have faith. I have faith in Luke chapter 2, 335 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,120 verse 21 to 23, expected arrival. 336 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:10,240 The king is coming. We can see there are people who 337 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:14,080 experienced the birth of the king because they expected. 338 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,840 They were not thinking it would go beyond their lifetime. 339 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:24,000 During their lifetime they expected he could be born. 340 00:23:24,560 --> 00:23:28,680 They didn't know exactly when. They had no concept of when 341 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:32,120 other than what they had already heard. 342 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:39,120 So it says when 8 days had passed, this is the birth. 343 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,400 Jesus is born now. OK, Jesus is born Now. 344 00:23:43,400 --> 00:23:46,120 When Jesus was born, we know that there were angels that were 345 00:23:46,120 --> 00:23:50,760 watching their flock by night. And all of a sudden an Angel 346 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:56,240 pops out in the pasture where they're at and tells them in the 347 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,480 city of David, which is Bethlehem, you know, that you, a 348 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,200 child is born, the savior of the world. 349 00:24:03,120 --> 00:24:05,800 And all of a sudden a whole bunch of angels, a heavenly 350 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,160 host, start singing. I mean, that had to be a sight, 351 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,360 right? To a bunch of Israelites or 352 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,320 Jewish shepherds. And they were so blown away by 353 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,680 this presentation of an announcement that they had an 354 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,840 expectation or there was an expectation that he was to come. 355 00:24:25,040 --> 00:24:29,480 And they and this heavenly host let these shepherds know he's 356 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,680 here. And how do you know which one it 357 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,000 is? You're going to find him in a 358 00:24:34,000 --> 00:24:36,880 Manger wrapped in swaddling clothes, right? 359 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:40,520 And they had to go see and they went and saw. 360 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,280 Are you hearing me? So now he's born. 361 00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:49,080 We've had eight days pass where he is circumcised. 362 00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,760 They name him Jesus because the name was given by the Angel 363 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:54,200 before he was conceived in the womb. 364 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,840 Remember the Angel came to to Mary and says you've got the 365 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:00,240 Holy Ghost going to come on you, you're going to have the 366 00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:06,680 Messiah, the king, the one prophesied about all you're the 367 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:11,280 woman. Everybody knew you were God. 368 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:13,760 God was going to use a woman. Mary, you're it. 369 00:25:13,760 --> 00:25:17,640 You're the favored 1. I mean, you know how many 370 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,440 virgins prior to her that could have been used? 371 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:26,760 But God used Mary. So now she could say, can't be 372 00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,880 me. No, she had an expected 373 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,320 expectation of an arrival that had to come through a woman. 374 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,480 And when the Angel announces she said, why would I deny what we 375 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,560 know would come past? Be it unto me as the Lord says, 376 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,200 Oh my Mama. So she goes on and says, on the 377 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:51,800 8th day, call him Jesus. Verse 22 And when the days of 378 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,280 their perfect purification according to the law of Moses 379 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,240 was complete, because women had to go through a purification, 380 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:02,840 and for a male that was 33 days, for a female that was 66 days, 381 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:07,720 they brought him to Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord. 382 00:26:08,080 --> 00:26:13,400 Verse 23 as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male, 383 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,400 every first born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to 384 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,440 the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to what was 385 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:24,600 said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtle doves or two 386 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,320 young pigeons. So they came to do a sacrifice. 387 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,280 Now look at this verse 25. It's really powerful. 388 00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:34,880 Verse 25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. 389 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,120 And this man was what? Righteous and devout. 390 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:43,720 Look what he was doing. He was looking for the 391 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,800 constellation of Israel. Why? 392 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:53,280 For the Holy Spirit was upon him, and look what it says in 393 00:26:53,280 --> 00:26:55,800 verse 26. So the Holy Spirit tells Simeon, 394 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:00,120 and it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would 395 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:06,280 not see death before he has seen the Lord's cry. 396 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,800 So this guy, somewhere in his life, the Holy Ghost comes upon 397 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:15,760 it, says Simeon, you're not going to die until you see the 398 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:20,120 one that's expected to be born. Wow. 399 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:28,000 Which means this guy was expecting that I'm going to see 400 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,720 the king born. I'm going to see him. 401 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,200 I'm going to see the king born. I'm going to see the king born. 402 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:38,280 I'm going to see the king born. Now he could have picked up, you 403 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:39,920 know what? There are other devout righteous 404 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:41,480 men like me. There are plenty of people that 405 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:45,800 have been in the temple way more before me and my lifetime that 406 00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:47,560 believe they would see and didn't see it. 407 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:51,600 You understand? He had more evidence of of why 408 00:27:51,600 --> 00:28:01,080 he would not see, but he chose to believe the Spirit and stay 409 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:05,360 in a expectation of the arrival of the king being born. 410 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:11,880 So verse 27, it's not because he went to the temple every day. 411 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:19,240 OK, the day Jesus is born, angels did not show up at 412 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:27,440 Simeon's house and say, hey, if you'll go to Bethlehem, right? 413 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,680 Because his divine appointment with his expectation was not in 414 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:37,400 a Manger. Don't know what Simeon was going 415 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:40,640 to do that day when he woke up, but he came how? 416 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:45,640 In the Spirit, which means that day he woke up somewhere in the 417 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,640 course of that day, the Spirit of God says you need to go to 418 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:50,400 the temple. That's right. 419 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:58,760 Come on, come on. And because he was since because 420 00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:03,360 he was more sensitive to what God was doing, not just his 421 00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:07,440 daily routine, not just the past of everything else, but he was 422 00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:10,640 always trying to stay hooked up. Because I've been given a word 423 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:13,200 that I'm going to see the king. I have an expectation. 424 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,160 And when the king, the the Spirit of God said go to the 425 00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:21,360 temple, there's no indication that that conversation let him 426 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,520 know he would see the king that day. 427 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,600 But he was led to go and aren't you glad I know him? 428 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:36,680 He's glad he went. And when the parents brought in 429 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:42,600 the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, he 430 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,680 Simeon, took him into his arms and blessed him. 431 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:52,680 And then he realized by the Spirit, Oh my y'all, I mean, you 432 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:56,680 understand, this is what I, this is what is so problematic with 433 00:29:56,680 --> 00:29:59,320 the United States is because, you know, again, our 434 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:01,880 constitutional Republic and we vote our people in and vote them 435 00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:03,440 out. You know, we have no concept of 436 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:09,720 this kingship and we have no loyalty or devotion really. 437 00:30:09,720 --> 00:30:13,680 We just, we do not fully understand the magnitude of this 438 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,880 moment. Think about, I mean, try to 439 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:26,520 imagine here that Jesus walks in the room right now and walks 440 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:31,240 straight up to you and shows you the holes in his hands and in 441 00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:35,880 his feet and in his side and then embraces you. 442 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,120 I don't know what your emotional state's going to be, but mine is 443 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:48,520 going to be off the charts. I mean, I'm going to be so 444 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:54,840 overwhelmed at the magnitude of his glory, His Holiness, his 445 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:59,000 sacrifice. You know, I mean, I want to just 446 00:30:59,200 --> 00:31:05,120 collapse at his feet. So you got to Simeon holds this 447 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:11,440 child and realizes I'm holding the king. 448 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:25,960 Isaiah talked about this child, Micah prophesied about this 449 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,400 child, Jeremiah. Ezekiel. 450 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:34,560 Damn, I'm looking at him. He's here, He's in the earth. 451 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,440 This is the king. Oh my gosh. 452 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,680 And we go season after season in December and we look at our 453 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,680 little nativity scenes and we spend more time taking time to 454 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:51,240 make presents for other people and have no acknowledgement that 455 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:57,800 the king sits on the throne in a general sense because we're so 456 00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:06,120 desynthesized commercially. But there was such an 457 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,560 expectation here. He has got him in his arms. 458 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,320 He blessed him, Verse 29. And the Lord, he said, Now Lord, 459 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:26,280 notice the reason I'm here is just to see you are releasing 460 00:32:26,280 --> 00:32:30,160 your bondservant to depart in peace according to your word. 461 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:36,440 I don't know why the Lord allows Simeon to have that honor, but 462 00:32:36,440 --> 00:32:39,200 he did. I wonder who else he wanted them 463 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:44,920 to see, but they didn't listen. For my eyes have seen your 464 00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:48,920 salvation, for which you have prepared in the presence of all 465 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,560 the peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles. 466 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,200 Man, he's prophesying now he's Speaking of another prophet 467 00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:57,960 another time that this say this king I'm holding right now is 468 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:02,000 not just for our nation, but it's for the world and the glory 469 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:04,560 of your people. Israel and his father and mother 470 00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:07,200 were amazed at the things which were being said about him. 471 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:10,000 And sent me and blessed them, and said to Mary his mother. 472 00:33:10,000 --> 00:33:16,760 Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in 473 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,160 Israel, and for a sign to be opposed. 474 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:24,600 And a sword will Pierce even your own soul to the end that 475 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:27,720 thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. 476 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:36,040 Here is someone who had this expectation that there is going 477 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:40,600 to be an arrival of a king and his whole life once he heard 478 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:46,520 that word was I'm looking for him any day. 479 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:52,640 I'm looking for him and by faith according to the word he was in 480 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:54,880 faith. I will see the king. 481 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:59,760 I'll see the king in Matthew chapter 2 verse one through 7. 482 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,600 We always look at these contexts of Scripture around this time 483 00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,800 that says now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in 484 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:10,719 the days of Herod the King Magi, another translation calls them 485 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:14,800 wise men from the east, arrived in Jerusalem saying Where is he 486 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:18,600 who was born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the east 487 00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:22,320 and have come to worship him. When Herod the King heard this, 488 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:24,760 he was troubled and all Jerusalem with them, gathering 489 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:29,840 together all the chief priests and the scribes right of the 490 00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:32,480 people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be 491 00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,520 born. And they said to him in 492 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,040 Bethlehem of Judea, For this is what has been written by the 493 00:34:38,040 --> 00:34:40,440 prophets. And you, Bethlehem, land of 494 00:34:40,440 --> 00:34:46,159 Judah, we just read this Micah chapter 5, verse 2, right? 495 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,199 You are by no means the least among the leaders of Judah. 496 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:51,679 Out of you shall come forth a ruler who will shepherd my 497 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:54,040 people, Israel. Then Herod secretly called the 498 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:59,080 Magi or wise men and determine from them the exact time the 499 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:05,200 star appeared, the exact time the star appeared. 500 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,680 This word magi are wise men. If you break it down in the 501 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:12,880 original Greek, it means an astrology. 502 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,640 Astrology. So these were astrologist, which 503 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,280 means they were looking at the stars. 504 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,160 Now I look at the stars myself. I remember when I moved out to 505 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,120 the house that I'm in right now, there's no St. lights. 506 00:35:29,720 --> 00:35:32,680 I came from a neighborhood that had streetlights, moved to a 507 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,400 neighborhood that had no streetlights. 508 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,880 And in my mind I'm like, why do we have no streetlights, you 509 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:39,320 know? And so I thought I'll get on the 510 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:41,720 HOA and we get some streetlights up in here because it's pretty 511 00:35:41,720 --> 00:35:48,480 dark till I walked outside 1 clear night and I'm like, didn't 512 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:52,840 see that my last house. There's a lot of stars out 513 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:55,400 there. But I really know why we don't 514 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:58,680 have streetlights because I'm close enough to the ocean that 515 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:03,880 when the turtles give birth, there's no lights to draw them 516 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:07,600 away from the ocean. In fact, any St. lights that are 517 00:36:07,600 --> 00:36:13,560 down where I'm at during those seasons, they cut them off so 518 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:17,960 that when the little turtles are born, because we care a lot 519 00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:23,960 about turtles, they make it to the ocean and not to my house 520 00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,360 where other animals can eat them besides the ones that are 521 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:29,520 already going to eat them as they get in the ocean anyway. 522 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:36,840 Obviously some make it, some are hors d'oeuvres for season for 523 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:43,400 some marine animals say Amen, they don't all make it. 524 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:48,480 OK, don't be delusional. All right, but the stars are 525 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:52,720 amazing and I'll be honest with you, I don't know which one 526 00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:57,200 Venus is, although Venus sometimes shows up like a star 527 00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,720 based upon the way the sun hits it. 528 00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:01,680 It's not a star, it's actually a planet. 529 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:06,120 OK, I do not have a telescope by which I do see the Big Dipper 530 00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,800 and the Little Dipper. I do not have the other ones 531 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:11,640 memorized on how they look. The big different Little Dipper 532 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:13,600 is pretty self-explanatory once you see it. 533 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:16,960 OK, outside of that, I do not see the other ones, although I'm 534 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:21,520 sure I'm staring at them, but I'm unaware I am because I'm not 535 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:25,000 putting the stars together in the pattern that it is in the 536 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,080 sky. But the question is, and again, 537 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:33,200 unlike the nativity you have at your house, the wise men were 538 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:34,680 not at the Manger. Amen. 539 00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:40,680 OK, so we're going to be commercially correct. 540 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:47,480 We need to do the the the Manger, Joseph and Mary with 541 00:37:47,480 --> 00:37:50,560 shepherds, camels, whatever here. 542 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:56,680 And then let's do a house with another Joseph and Mary and way 543 00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:02,960 more than three guys. It was a caravan of people who 544 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,320 they listed 3 gifts. They were not three people. 545 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:14,720 All right, and let's set that. And then, you know, have Jesus 546 00:38:14,720 --> 00:38:19,240 not laying in a Manger, but standing and holding Joseph or 547 00:38:19,240 --> 00:38:22,040 Mary's leg because he is a toddler at this time. 548 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:27,640 Are you hearing me now? This is very important because 549 00:38:27,640 --> 00:38:33,640 the wise men on the night Jesus was born saw the star. 550 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:40,080 How did it? Did they know it was his? 551 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:45,480 And why were they looking nightly? 552 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:52,280 There's an expectation, you understand. 553 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,480 When you have expectation, you'll do things routinely. 554 00:38:57,760 --> 00:39:01,040 When you actually have expectation about you will do 555 00:39:01,040 --> 00:39:04,240 things routinely because you don't want to miss. 556 00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:10,280 Now any of us could see something by happens chance 557 00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:13,240 right I get that had some of my grandkids over one night we were 558 00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:16,680 outside with a little fire and was going to do some smores and 559 00:39:16,680 --> 00:39:21,880 all of a sudden my wife saw this like flash of light in the sky 560 00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:24,720 and we're like what is that Mars like what is that and I'm 561 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:26,000 looking she goes is that a rocket? 562 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,440 I said it is a rocket. You are right. 563 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,160 And so our grandkids got to watch this rocket from Cape 564 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:36,080 Canaveral that SpaceX had, you know, put up that night. 565 00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:39,720 It was gorgeous. Now, if we we didn't know, we 566 00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:44,400 just happened to be outside and if we would have known the 567 00:39:44,400 --> 00:39:48,000 schedule, then we could have gone out to expect seeing it and 568 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,320 never would have missed it. But because we did not know it 569 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:54,560 was just by chance we saw. And many of my neighborhood did 570 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:58,240 not see it because they did not. They missed the event. 571 00:40:01,160 --> 00:40:06,720 Now, if I keep the SpaceX schedule, then I can make sure I 572 00:40:06,720 --> 00:40:20,230 never miss a launch. So why are they looking? 573 00:40:20,230 --> 00:40:23,630 Daniel? Chapter 2, verse 26 to 31 says 574 00:40:23,630 --> 00:40:27,670 this, and I'm in Daniel. Now we're going way back in 575 00:40:27,670 --> 00:40:33,880 history. The king said to Daniel, who had 576 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:36,640 given him another name. He said, Are you able to make 577 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,400 known to me the dream which I have seen and its 578 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:41,800 interpretation? Daniel answered before the king, 579 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:45,880 and said, As for the mystery about which the king has 580 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:49,600 inquired, this is King Nebuchadnezzar of the great 581 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:56,240 Kingdom Babylon. He said the king has inquired. 582 00:40:56,280 --> 00:41:01,400 Neither wise men, conjurers, magicians or diviners are able 583 00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:06,320 to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in 584 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:11,240 heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to the 585 00:41:11,240 --> 00:41:14,320 king Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. 586 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:18,640 This was your dream and the vision in your mind while on 587 00:41:18,640 --> 00:41:21,680 your bed. As for you, O King, while on 588 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,560 your bed, your thoughts turn to what would take place in the 589 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:28,320 future, and he who reveals mysteries has made known to you 590 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:32,000 what will take place. But As for me, this mystery has 591 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:36,960 not been revealed to me for any wisdom, residing in me more than 592 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:40,760 any other living man, but for the purpose of making the 593 00:41:40,760 --> 00:41:44,800 interpretation known to the King and that you may understand the 594 00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:49,240 thoughts of your mind. You, O king, were looking and 595 00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:51,440 behold, there was a single great statue. 596 00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:56,400 That statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was 597 00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,880 standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. 598 00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:02,040 Now you have to get context here. 599 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:06,400 King Nebuchadnezzar has already called in a group of his wise 600 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:10,280 men. He's troubled by a dream that he 601 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:14,960 has, and he declares to them as his advisors in his court, 602 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:18,280 Listen, I had a dream. I need you to interpret it for 603 00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:21,040 me. They said tell us the dream and 604 00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:22,880 we'll interpret. He says it's not going to happen 605 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:27,560 because I know your characters like mine, you bunch of mass 606 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:30,120 manipulators. This thing's bothering me so 607 00:42:30,120 --> 00:42:31,720 much. I can't get you coming together 608 00:42:31,720 --> 00:42:34,680 as a group and have a lying interpretation That's not 609 00:42:34,680 --> 00:42:37,440 reality. So for me to know the thing that 610 00:42:37,440 --> 00:42:41,240 troubles me so much that is accurate, you're going to have 611 00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:43,480 to tell me my dream and interpret it now. 612 00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:48,360 These guys were like, no way, Only God could do that. 613 00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:51,640 They openly admitted this. Only God could do that. 614 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:58,720 No king has ever asked his advisors to do this. 615 00:42:58,720 --> 00:43:02,360 It's impossible. Nebuchadnezzar got so angry at 616 00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:06,960 that statement that he did, he issued a decree and when a king 617 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:11,960 issues a decree, it becomes law, means it's irrevocable unless 618 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:18,200 the law was met. So the king says, fine, I know 619 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:20,480 you're delaying. So this is how it's going to be 620 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:25,720 if all of these wise men and and the list that Daniel put down of 621 00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:29,440 all these people within this category of his administration, 622 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:34,160 he says all of you are to be executed. 623 00:43:35,840 --> 00:43:40,600 Why do I have you anyway? If you can't do it, you are to 624 00:43:40,600 --> 00:43:45,200 be executed. Unless someone is able to come 625 00:43:45,200 --> 00:43:50,560 before me and tell me the dream and its interpretation, everyone 626 00:43:50,560 --> 00:43:54,560 is to be executed. But if one does come, then I'm 627 00:43:54,560 --> 00:43:57,160 going to bless them with all these things. 628 00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:00,160 Because he wanted them motivated by finance. 629 00:44:03,160 --> 00:44:08,080 However it required God, they couldn't do it. 630 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:13,840 So the king, whose law is irrevocable, started rounding up 631 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:20,720 the wise men, of which Daniel and his friends were some of 632 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:23,360 them. And when they came to the house 633 00:44:23,360 --> 00:44:26,400 to arrest them, Daniel's like, what's the rush? 634 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:30,440 Because Daniel wasn't in the first meeting, he said this is 635 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:34,040 the law I'm reading to you understand, they read the law of 636 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:36,560 why they have a right to arrest them from the king. 637 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:42,640 And Daniel says, go back and tell the king that we will have 638 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:46,200 it. I got it. 639 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:53,120 Now that was a faith statement. So then he goes to his three 640 00:44:53,120 --> 00:44:57,400 buddies and he's like, let's pray because we know there's 641 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,840 only one who can do this deal, right? 642 00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:04,200 And obviously God, we're in covenant with him. 643 00:45:04,720 --> 00:45:08,560 He's protecting us cannot see him eradicating us. 644 00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:11,680 We know that's in his word. And so we're going to yield, 645 00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:14,360 we're going to beseech him, we're going to we're going to 646 00:45:14,360 --> 00:45:16,160 make our request known to the father. 647 00:45:16,720 --> 00:45:21,960 Well, the father answered which within 24 hours he was able to 648 00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:26,040 go back and says I have the answer, Tell the king not to 649 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:28,680 execute anybody. So you got to imagine when 650 00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:32,920 Daniel comes into the throne room that day, there is every 651 00:45:32,920 --> 00:45:40,920 wise man there. So when Daniel says now what? 652 00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:47,480 You saw only God. So he's like, now, no, what I'm 653 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:52,240 about to say is not because I am more wise than all of these. 654 00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:56,680 So when he say he's like pointing at all these people, 655 00:45:56,680 --> 00:46:00,800 which they're like, oh, you know, they praying to any God. 656 00:46:00,800 --> 00:46:04,480 I hope this man has it. You understand the intensity of 657 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:06,960 this moment. I mean, we just, we just fly 658 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:09,920 through scripture all the time and don't understand these 659 00:46:09,920 --> 00:46:13,400 people's lives are at stake. They're like Daniel. 660 00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:19,840 They I don't know which God they were God I I to God, he God, I 661 00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:25,880 hope he has this answer right. But now Daniel served the God, 662 00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:30,840 the only God, the only God, the creator of heaven and earth. 663 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:34,120 All right, so This is why it's very important. 664 00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:37,600 What when Daniel says only the God of heaven, the creator of 665 00:46:37,600 --> 00:46:42,200 heaven, the one whom I serve. Now he has everyone's attention 666 00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:48,000 in the room so much so that you understand a person can get 667 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:54,240 converted in this moment called Nebuchadnezzar had a moment 668 00:46:54,240 --> 00:46:59,080 concerning Daniels God when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego 669 00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:02,960 said not going into not going to bow down to your little idol. 670 00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:06,600 It's not going to happen. I just want you to know we had 671 00:47:06,600 --> 00:47:10,880 to want a true God period so we don't have to wait around and 672 00:47:10,960 --> 00:47:12,720 and discuss this answer with you. 673 00:47:13,000 --> 00:47:16,120 If you're going to throw us in the fiery furnace, go ahead 674 00:47:16,120 --> 00:47:18,960 because I just want you to know our God is well able to save us 675 00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:25,840 even from that bro right now again, Nebuchadnezzar gets 676 00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:28,000 really hot at some of these responses. 677 00:47:28,520 --> 00:47:32,280 It said he got so mad that he said turn up the furnace 7 times 678 00:47:32,280 --> 00:47:34,200 hotter than hot. The people who threw them in 679 00:47:34,200 --> 00:47:37,680 died. It was so hot, but what 680 00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:39,640 happened? God showed up. 681 00:47:40,800 --> 00:47:44,760 The Lord showed up in the fiery furnace, protected them, burned 682 00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:48,360 off their coverings, but kept them alive with no smoke. 683 00:47:48,480 --> 00:47:52,560 He'd come out and he goes, you. And he said if anybody comes 684 00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:58,280 against these boys, God, we will kill them, impale them, destroy 685 00:47:58,280 --> 00:48:00,680 their house. I mean, that's called 686 00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:03,440 conversion. Change his whole administration 687 00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:06,280 because God showed out who is the God? 688 00:48:06,360 --> 00:48:09,560 You little idols, is not it, right? 689 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:18,360 So Daniel has the attention of the court, verse 44 of chapter 690 00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:21,600 2, he says in the days of those kings, he's gone down and given 691 00:48:21,720 --> 00:48:27,000 Kingdom administrations and he lets him know, listen, your 692 00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:31,600 Kingdom is the gold part, great king, but another one's coming 693 00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:33,720 after you that's inferior, they're silver. 694 00:48:34,400 --> 00:48:36,480 There's another one even more inferior, they're bronze. 695 00:48:36,480 --> 00:48:39,680 There's another one coming that's iron OK there. 696 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:43,280 And that's a devastating force, these people here, this Kingdom 697 00:48:43,280 --> 00:48:44,800 here. But then there's another one 698 00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:49,040 when we get to the feet that's got clay and iron mixed 699 00:48:49,040 --> 00:48:51,760 together, although it's can't mix their side by side. 700 00:48:51,960 --> 00:48:55,080 And he says it's in verse 44 in the days of those kings. 701 00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:59,840 We're talking about the 10 toes. He said the God of heaven will 702 00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:05,240 set up a Kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that 703 00:49:05,240 --> 00:49:08,640 Kingdom will not be left to another people, but it will 704 00:49:08,640 --> 00:49:13,880 crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it itself 705 00:49:13,920 --> 00:49:17,160 endure forever. In so much as you saw that a 706 00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:20,400 stone was cut out of a mountain without hands, and that it 707 00:49:20,400 --> 00:49:23,440 crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the 708 00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:27,400 gold, the great God who has made known to the king what will take 709 00:49:27,400 --> 00:49:30,840 place in the future. So the dream is true and it's 710 00:49:30,840 --> 00:49:38,000 interpretation is trustworthy. It's trustworthy. 711 00:49:41,400 --> 00:49:49,680 Babylon is in the east, modern day Iran, that's east of Israel. 712 00:49:50,720 --> 00:49:56,400 Wise men from the east. These people came from what was 713 00:49:56,400 --> 00:50:02,920 formerly known as Babylon. It took them 18 months to two 714 00:50:02,920 --> 00:50:10,240 years to get there. Yet from this moment there were 715 00:50:10,240 --> 00:50:16,200 wise men that said the God of Daniel is the God of heaven and 716 00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:18,560 earth. Which means they probably 717 00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:22,640 attached themselves to Daniel in such a way that they said, how 718 00:50:22,640 --> 00:50:26,800 will we know when he comes? What you looking at? 719 00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:28,360 How do you know these things Daniel? 720 00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:29,720 How do you know about these things? 721 00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:31,200 How do we know your God's coming? 722 00:50:31,240 --> 00:50:35,800 How do we know when his Kingdom and I'm sure because Daniel had 723 00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:43,000 access to the law, he had access cause in Numbers there was a 724 00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:46,240 prophet who was trying to that was hired to prophecy against 725 00:50:46,240 --> 00:50:49,200 Israel, but God wouldn't let him prophecy against Israel. 726 00:50:49,400 --> 00:50:54,720 And this prophet Balaam says this in Numbers 2417. 727 00:50:54,880 --> 00:51:00,120 And I'm sure Daniel said, now it's been said that I see him, 728 00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:03,520 but not now, and behold him, but not near. 729 00:51:03,600 --> 00:51:10,400 A star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of 730 00:51:10,400 --> 00:51:14,200 Israel, and batter the brow of Moab, and destroy all the sons 731 00:51:14,200 --> 00:51:17,600 of Toma. So you understand, and I'm just 732 00:51:17,600 --> 00:51:21,520 giving you a couple scriptures here concerning these things 733 00:51:22,000 --> 00:51:23,400 that they could have referred to. 734 00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:29,920 Isaiah said in 60 and verse 3, And the Gentiles shall come to 735 00:51:29,920 --> 00:51:34,440 your light, and the kings to the brightness of your rising. 736 00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:39,000 Now you understand Scripture has literal context, but it also has 737 00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:42,640 figurative context and there are things that you can pull from it 738 00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,800 that allow you to recognize certain signs. 739 00:51:46,440 --> 00:51:51,640 There was obviously something with the stars, because if there 740 00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:56,760 was not a truth revealed from God through his prophets about 741 00:51:56,760 --> 00:52:00,360 the stars, then there'd have been no reason for the 742 00:52:00,360 --> 00:52:05,120 astrologers to be watching them. And they started watching from 743 00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:13,040 Daniel hundreds of years later. I wonder if there's any that 744 00:52:13,040 --> 00:52:14,880 came across say it's been promised. 745 00:52:16,600 --> 00:52:18,600 It's been promised about a king coming. 746 00:52:19,200 --> 00:52:21,080 It's been promised about a Kingdom coming. 747 00:52:21,360 --> 00:52:23,600 It's been promised about this Kingdom that would crush all 748 00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:26,480 other kingdoms. But yet there was a line of wise 749 00:52:26,480 --> 00:52:30,840 people that never let go of this expected arrival, and they pass 750 00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:33,280 it down from generation to generation to generation. 751 00:52:33,400 --> 00:52:35,440 You need to expect him to come. He's coming. 752 00:52:35,560 --> 00:52:38,000 The King's gonna be born. The King's gonna be born. 753 00:52:38,040 --> 00:52:42,280 There's a king coming. There is a star rising up out of 754 00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:44,640 Israel. You need to be looking for a 755 00:52:44,640 --> 00:52:46,240 scepter. That's coming. 756 00:52:46,360 --> 00:52:48,720 He's coming, son. He's coming, daughter. 757 00:52:48,800 --> 00:52:50,560 He's coming now. You expected. 758 00:52:50,600 --> 00:52:53,080 You expected that? Is he coming in our lifetime? 759 00:52:53,160 --> 00:52:55,280 I don't know. But I expect him to come in my 760 00:52:55,280 --> 00:52:57,120 lifetime. I expect him to come. 761 00:52:57,240 --> 00:52:59,960 And one generation passed and another generation passed. 762 00:52:59,960 --> 00:53:05,200 And another generation pass, but these men were the generation 763 00:53:05,280 --> 00:53:14,400 that the king came to the earth and they were 18 months to two 764 00:53:14,400 --> 00:53:24,080 years travel away. That not only did they see a 765 00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:30,880 star and believe he was born, they packed up and came to see 766 00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:39,080 the King, trusting that that light that night was testimony 767 00:53:40,880 --> 00:53:44,960 that the night before that light wasn't there, a week before that 768 00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:48,360 light wasn't there or whatever, that light showed up. 769 00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:53,720 And they were firmly persuaded because they had an expected 770 00:53:53,720 --> 00:53:55,600 arrival. The King's born. 771 00:53:55,760 --> 00:53:58,600 They didn't go a year and say, wow, man, it's taken us a long 772 00:53:58,600 --> 00:54:01,360 time to get there. You know, I wonder where he's 773 00:54:01,360 --> 00:54:03,080 going to be at. I wonder if we'll be at a 774 00:54:03,080 --> 00:54:07,240 finding. See, when you get an expected 775 00:54:07,240 --> 00:54:11,280 arrival, you'll keep the course. You won't turn to the left or to 776 00:54:11,280 --> 00:54:13,120 the right. You'll keep your eyes fixed on 777 00:54:13,120 --> 00:54:16,560 the prize because you're going to finish the course. 778 00:54:19,920 --> 00:54:21,400 You know what's pretty powerful about this? 779 00:54:22,000 --> 00:54:27,080 The shepherds represent the Jews, and the sign they saw was 780 00:54:27,080 --> 00:54:30,640 an Angel and a heaven and anginic host singing. 781 00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:39,440 That's a pretty obvious sign. But the wise men, they represent 782 00:54:39,440 --> 00:54:45,160 the Gentiles, and they got a star. 783 00:54:46,880 --> 00:54:52,800 No singing, no verbal announcement, just a light. 784 00:55:02,560 --> 00:55:05,960 So go back to Matthew chapter 2. We'll go on verse 9. 785 00:55:07,000 --> 00:55:10,000 It says after hearing the king, they went their way, and the 786 00:55:10,000 --> 00:55:14,000 star which that had seen in the east went on before them until 787 00:55:14,000 --> 00:55:16,640 it came and stood over the place where the child was. 788 00:55:16,640 --> 00:55:20,640 And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great 789 00:55:20,640 --> 00:55:24,040 joy after coming into the house not the Manger. 790 00:55:25,440 --> 00:55:29,040 They saw the child, not baby, with Mary his mother. 791 00:55:29,400 --> 00:55:34,160 And they fell to the ground and worshipped him. 792 00:55:36,320 --> 00:55:39,880 Then, opening their treasures, they presented to him gifts of 793 00:55:39,880 --> 00:55:45,760 gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Most scholars believe that it 794 00:55:45,760 --> 00:55:48,160 was more than that. That's just the ones mentioned 795 00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:52,080 because there are tributes that you give to the king. 796 00:55:52,360 --> 00:55:56,440 That is, in one sense, just commonly known as a custom. 797 00:55:56,640 --> 00:55:59,760 We don't know this because we vote our president in and out. 798 00:55:59,760 --> 00:56:03,320 We don't think about sending gifts to our president or our 799 00:56:03,320 --> 00:56:06,200 senators or our congressmen. There's nothing wrong with doing 800 00:56:06,200 --> 00:56:08,280 that. OK, You could do that and honor 801 00:56:08,280 --> 00:56:11,200 the position. However, that is not most people 802 00:56:11,200 --> 00:56:13,440 do it through, you know, bribery. 803 00:56:13,440 --> 00:56:18,800 Today, unfortunately, however, they came to bring gifts to the 804 00:56:18,800 --> 00:56:25,800 King and it says and having been warned by God in a dream not to 805 00:56:25,800 --> 00:56:30,200 return to Herod, the Magi left to their own country by another 806 00:56:30,200 --> 00:56:33,520 way. In essence, they came and bowed 807 00:56:33,520 --> 00:56:39,200 their their allegiance and communicated him as being their 808 00:56:39,200 --> 00:56:42,320 Lord. And in essence, these Gentiles 809 00:56:42,320 --> 00:56:45,840 are saying we submit to you and your Kingdom. 810 00:56:45,960 --> 00:56:48,440 You're our king, your Lord of our lives. 811 00:56:48,880 --> 00:56:50,920 This is before the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. 812 00:56:50,920 --> 00:56:56,880 Now this is very powerful. What I'm saying is, is that how 813 00:56:56,880 --> 00:57:01,360 many people in Jerusalem missed it? 814 00:57:03,360 --> 00:57:06,920 Well, Jesus said it in Luke chapter 19, starting in verse 815 00:57:06,920 --> 00:57:08,360 41. He said this. 816 00:57:09,360 --> 00:57:11,960 And when he approached Jerusalem, he saw the city and 817 00:57:11,960 --> 00:57:20,280 wept over it, saying, if you had known, if you had known in this 818 00:57:20,280 --> 00:57:22,760 day, even you, the things which make for peace. 819 00:57:23,720 --> 00:57:26,360 But now they have been hidden from your eyes. 820 00:57:27,000 --> 00:57:30,280 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up 821 00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:33,040 a barricade against you and surround you and hem you in on 822 00:57:33,040 --> 00:57:36,200 every side. And they will level you to the 823 00:57:36,200 --> 00:57:39,200 ground, and your children with you within you. 824 00:57:39,200 --> 00:57:44,800 And they will not leave you one stone upon another, because you 825 00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:49,320 did not recognize the time of your visitation. 826 00:57:53,200 --> 00:57:58,960 Visitation means this, the ACT by which God looks into and 827 00:57:58,960 --> 00:58:04,280 searches out the ways, deeds, character of men in order to 828 00:58:04,640 --> 00:58:07,920 adjure a judge. How do you pronounce this word? 829 00:58:08,040 --> 00:58:15,040 ADJUDGEA juror, adjure them their lot accordingly, whether 830 00:58:15,040 --> 00:58:21,240 joyous or sad. So all the manuscripts, and 831 00:58:21,240 --> 00:58:25,640 again, just to let you know, there are over 5000 manuscripts 832 00:58:25,640 --> 00:58:33,280 concerning the Bible. Concerning Homer's Iliad, there 833 00:58:33,520 --> 00:58:40,040 are close to 2000 manuscripts. There's less of the Odyssey and 834 00:58:40,040 --> 00:58:47,120 both of those writings are just two of an 8 piece set of a story 835 00:58:47,400 --> 00:58:49,080 that the others are lost forever. 836 00:58:49,880 --> 00:58:52,440 There's another historian by which there's only about 8 837 00:58:52,440 --> 00:58:57,360 copies that he has history of back of back all the way up to 838 00:58:57,360 --> 00:59:02,160 400 BC and the world does not question the authenticity of 839 00:59:02,160 --> 00:59:07,400 these documents. However, the Bible has five 840 00:59:07,400 --> 00:59:14,360 times more of the same type of documentation to validate its 841 00:59:14,360 --> 00:59:21,080 authenticity, and yet the world rejects the Bible as a 842 00:59:21,080 --> 00:59:28,920 historical source of truth of authenticity. 843 00:59:29,400 --> 00:59:33,560 Yet to the world's own standard of determining whether something 844 00:59:33,560 --> 00:59:39,480 is not a copy it originated that far back, the Bible has more. 845 00:59:43,200 --> 00:59:49,240 So these individuals have a documentation that the King will 846 00:59:49,240 --> 00:59:54,720 be born, there are signs associated with it, and when he 847 00:59:54,720 --> 01:00:00,120 arrived, although he demonstrated the signs he was 848 01:00:00,120 --> 01:00:14,520 the Messiah, they rejected him. But the wise men and Simeon did 849 01:00:14,520 --> 01:00:20,120 not. They were expecting, and I don't 850 01:00:20,120 --> 01:00:23,200 know, there were tons of generations before that were 851 01:00:23,200 --> 01:00:26,440 waiting for the birth of the king ever since he announced it 852 01:00:26,440 --> 01:00:30,760 in Genesis chapter 3. And the devil has been through 853 01:00:30,760 --> 01:00:35,280 all of those same centuries, have been trying to destroy that 854 01:00:35,280 --> 01:00:43,840 seed, tried to destroy that seed, but he came. 855 01:00:44,960 --> 01:00:56,640 And those that expected Saul, the question is, are we in a 856 01:00:56,640 --> 01:01:05,400 time that we could repeat because Jesus came to show his 857 01:01:05,400 --> 01:01:12,160 nation, I'm your savior, I am the king, I am the Son of God. 858 01:01:13,200 --> 01:01:15,200 And when he made that statement, I am. 859 01:01:15,600 --> 01:01:19,920 They said he was a he was blast blasphemed and all they wanted 860 01:01:19,920 --> 01:01:25,520 to do was crucify. They missed their day of 861 01:01:25,520 --> 01:01:28,440 visitation. They missed it. 862 01:01:30,120 --> 01:01:39,000 Could the Gentiles miss their day if we do not have an 863 01:01:39,000 --> 01:01:46,920 expected arrival? It's something to think on. 864 01:01:48,520 --> 01:01:51,480 It's something to stir ourselves up with during this season that 865 01:01:51,480 --> 01:01:57,080 when we celebrate his birth, to celebrate his birth is to 866 01:01:57,080 --> 01:02:00,320 acknowledge we needed him to come in order for us to have 867 01:02:00,320 --> 01:02:05,280 dominion back, to have sonship back. 868 01:02:06,000 --> 01:02:08,120 He did not come to take us to heaven. 869 01:02:09,800 --> 01:02:13,600 We'll go to heaven, Great. We'll spend some time there, 870 01:02:13,600 --> 01:02:16,600 sure, but that's not the purpose. 871 01:02:16,600 --> 01:02:19,600 The goal. The goal was to make us children 872 01:02:19,600 --> 01:02:23,240 of God now where we could walk back in the dominion God had 873 01:02:23,240 --> 01:02:26,640 given us. And many today on the earth 874 01:02:26,880 --> 01:02:32,760 right now, both Jew and Gentile, are missing this visitation of 875 01:02:32,760 --> 01:02:39,400 God by a spirit because they're not looking for him yet. 876 01:02:39,400 --> 01:02:41,560 He will return and tells us He will. 877 01:02:42,640 --> 01:02:46,440 But the question is, well, do we have an and to have an 878 01:02:46,440 --> 01:02:49,600 expectation means you have to order your life a little 879 01:02:49,600 --> 01:02:53,920 different. So if we're talking about his 880 01:02:53,920 --> 01:03:00,640 birth and we're excited He came so we could have life, how much 881 01:03:00,640 --> 01:03:04,760 more should we be excited close to 2000 years after the event 882 01:03:04,960 --> 01:03:13,840 that if any generation would change because I'll conclude 883 01:03:13,840 --> 01:03:17,800 today with this Luke 18 eight. The latter part of this 884 01:03:17,800 --> 01:03:22,920 scripture says, however, when the Son of Man comes, will he 885 01:03:22,920 --> 01:03:28,120 find, and I this translation is correct, the faith on the earth, 886 01:03:33,040 --> 01:03:37,960 will he find? The faith will Saints, The 887 01:03:37,960 --> 01:03:44,920 Gentiles get so caught up in the everyday that when a trumpet 888 01:03:44,920 --> 01:03:48,160 sounds, you don't hear it. It is sound like what everybody 889 01:03:48,160 --> 01:03:58,160 else thinks Thunder. Are we expecting the arrival of 890 01:03:58,160 --> 01:04:03,400 our King just as we celebrate his arrival at his birth? 891 01:04:04,200 --> 01:04:08,440 How much more should we be in constant expectation of his 892 01:04:08,440 --> 01:04:12,000 arrival? And then when he comes, there's 893 01:04:12,000 --> 01:04:14,440 a way. We need to be in the 894 01:04:14,440 --> 01:04:18,360 righteousness of God in Christ. There's a way, there's an 895 01:04:18,360 --> 01:04:20,480 expectation. We need to be believing. 896 01:04:20,560 --> 01:04:23,560 We need to be confessing. We need to be acknowledging. 897 01:04:23,640 --> 01:04:25,920 We need to realize our life's not our own. 898 01:04:27,200 --> 01:04:31,600 And I'm not going to be the one that misses that day. 899 01:04:31,840 --> 01:04:35,560 I'm going to be like Simeon by the Holy Ghost, hearing day in 900 01:04:35,560 --> 01:04:41,640 and day out, knowing the signs and expecting a sound.