Radio Show...
This program continues on various series of different topics on theology such as end times, prophecies, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.
The e-book on End times, Prophecies and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages.
Opening Narrative
Hello and welcome to another exciting radio program today on end times and prophecies and scriptures to live by... which is all about old-time gospel and worship music, praying for needs and preaching the Word of God....
And remember this radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched is broadcast every Sunday at 7 am and 7 pm pacific time... and if you unfortunately miss it for whatever reason at any time, you can hear the program any time after that for 4 weeks...at my web site TimingRevelation.com
So, we continue today in the new series started a few weeks ago, based on my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels”...
And I did mention to you before that with this series begins the start of the 8th year of these radio programs Virtual Church for the Spiritual Unchurched.
As you already know In this series we look at the four gospels in a new light as they are presented by chronological events taking place within the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which are presented separately in the Bible ...
It is all the same gospel.... but in chronological order of events taking place, which lets us hear or see side by side who reported and what each said on these events taking place in the gospels.
So, we continue today in the new series started a few weeks ago, based on my book “The Horizontal Chronology of the Four Gospels”...
As you already know In this series we look at the four gospels in a new light as they are presented by chronological events taking place within the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John which are presented separately in the Bible ...
It is all the same gospel.... but in chronological order of main events taking place, which lets us hear or see side by side who reported and what each said on these main events taking place in the gospels.
So as you will recall if you were with us in the last few weeks, there are 9 particular events that we are looking at – if you miss any program at any time, remember, they are replayed on my web site TimingRevelation.com for up to four weeks.
The 9 events we're looking at in this series are:
#1--Pre-human existence of Christ
#2--Pre-natal to Jesus's Incarnation
#3--Birth and Childhood of Christ
#4--Beginning of Jesus' ministry...
#5--Galilean ministry of Jesus,
which is where we are right now, as we continue in the Galilean ministry of Jesus.
Future events yet to come:
#6-- Judean and Perean ministry of Jesus
#7-- Jesus' last week
#8-- Jesus' last 6 hours
#9-- From the Resurrection to the Ascension
So we will pick up from here right after this opening music, prayer and worship...
Prayer
Praise God Doxology
Worship music
Narrative 1
Alright, so let's pick up from where we left off last week when Jesus again healed multitudes by the sea of Galilee and where He also fed the 4,000 people in the area of Decapolis...
Today we begin with Matthew 16, when the Pharisees and Sadducees are looking for a sign from heaven...
The location is still in the Galilee area, around Magdala and nearby Dalmanutha...
Magdala is located in northern Israel, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. It is now an archaeological park and, apparently, according to google, a Catholic center. It's location about 5 km (3 miles) north of Tiberias, Between Capernaum and Tiberias.
And Dalmanutha is also on the northwest coast of the Sea of Galilee, close to Magdala, about 500 feet.
So Matthew chapter 16, verses 1 to 4
Here we see the Pharisees and Sadducees coming over to see a sign from heaven...
And I will read from the New King James...
1, "Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.
,2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’;
3, and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening. Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
4, A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed."
So what Jesus is thinking is that miraculous signs from heaven alone don't save anyone... they only serve to authenticate and call attention to the message which must be believed to receive salvation.
So instead Jesus takes them to their ability to discern the sky with coming weather... but instead they should be able to discern the sign of His coming according to the prophets...
This reference to “adulterous generation” relates to their spiritual adultery.
And the sign of the prophet Jonah is interesting. Why would Jesus turn to that right now in the middle of this conversation. Well, you see they – the religious leaders – knew exactly what Jesus was talking about – Jonah who was a prophet who called for repentance and carried a message of divine judgment...
they knew well that story in the old testament of Ninaveh living in spiritual living degradation and how they were all saved by the call of God through the prophet Jonah... they knew.... Jesus always knew exactly what to say to all of them in all situations... amazing!
And you know what? Jesus does also today to each one of us....
And now let's read Mark's delivery on this event:
Mark chapter 8, verses 10 to 13
v. 10, " immediately (and this refers to after Jesus had fed the 4,000 and sent them away) immediately, He got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
11, Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.
12, But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”
13, And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.
And the comments apply likewise to both Matthew and Marks reports of this event.
And next, we will read about when Jesus warns the disciples of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees... right after this...
So now let's read about the warnings of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees...
Matthew chapter 16, verses 5 to 12...
v. 5, “Now when His disciples had come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.
6, Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
7, And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.”
8, But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread?
9, Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up?
10, Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up?
11, How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12, Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Now this is very interesting...
When Jesus talked about the leaven of the Pharasees, the disciples thought that Jesus was talking about bread as He had multiplied in the previous gatherings of the multitudes...
but Jesus immediately clarified that the leaven He was talking about was not the bread that people eat, but He was talking about the doctrine of the Pharasees that had become a multiplication of burdens upon the people ... leaven (or yeast) puffs up or gives rise to bread... it is also a symbol of sin in the bible.
And now Mark chapter 8, verses 14 to 21
...about that same situation...
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.
15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart [c]still hardened?
18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.”
20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.”
21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
As we can see Mark also reports this event as Matthew does... except that here Mark has a couple of extra small details.
Station ID...
Music Interlude...
Narrative # 2
So continuing on, now we move to the next stop over in Bethsaida, (bait-sy-da) and near Caesarea Philippi.
Bethsaida is located in the far northeastern corner of the Sea of Galilee, about 6km from Capernaum...
and Caesarea Philippi is about 40kms north of the Sea of Galilee, on the southwestern slope of Mount Hermonthis... this is apparently the furthest north Jesus took his disciples.
It is said that Caesarea Philippi stood in a lush area dominated by immoral activities and pagan worship.
So, here we read of the healing of a blind man...
Mark chapter 8, verses 22 to 26
22, “Then He came to Bethsaida; and they brought a blind man to Him, and begged Him to touch him.
23 So He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him if he saw anything.
24 And he looked up and said, “I see men like trees, walking.”
25 Then He put His hands on his eyes again and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly.
26 Then He sent him away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell anyone in the town.”
Again we see Jesus telling the people He heals to not say anything about it to anyone...
insert the more here....
Actually when you think of it, this would be pretty hard to keep it from being known... I mean all of a sudden when the man returns to his town, people will see that he now can also see...
but it what this says is that Jesus wanted to keep the issues at a minimum level, as we saw earlier, in order to not disrupt His mission activity plans as appointed by God.
Alright now let's read what we are told in the next event that took place near Caesarea Philippi...
and that is about the emotional confession of Peter, that Jesus is the Christ...
Matthew chapter 16, verses 13 to 20
13, “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
Again Jesus tells them to keep quiet about all of this stuff that they are hearing, about the healing and also this admission of who He truly is.
Again it was'nt the time yet that was appointed by God's plan.
So this passage reveals that most people took Jesus to be a prophet, but Jesus wanted to get at the real question of who He really was, i.e.: the promised Messiah.
Peter claims that Jesus is the “Christos” in the Greek, which points to the Hebrew word for Messiah – the “anointed one or the ”choosen one”, which in Judaism refers to the future King who is to come.
The religious people and leaders were well aware of that promise from the Old Testament or their Torah. And to the Romans of that time, the reference “Son of the living God had a particular implication especially to the Casesars who claimed to be not only Kings but also sons of god – small s and small g.
And another amazing coincidence is that Peter uttered these words in Caesarea Philippi where there was a temple to Emperor Augustus.
According to the “Jewish Voice Study Bible” this challenge to the claims of the emperor's divinity eventually led to the capture and killing of many of Jesus' followers, including Peter.
Music interlude...
Narrative #3
Alright, continuing on our reading in the same event and of Peter's confession of who Jesus is – the son of the Living god, let's read Mark's version of the report...
Mark chapter 8, verses 27 to 30
27, “Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”
28, So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
29, He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said to Him, “You are the Christ.”
30, Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.
So we see the same report but more brief than Matthew's.
Now let's read Luke's report on this... we haven't heard from Luke in a while on the other activities taking place at this time... the last one he wrote on was back when the feeding of the 5,000 took place... interesting it was in the nearby town of Bethsaida... so let's take a look at that. right now..
Luke chapter 9, verses 18 to 22
v. 18, And it came to pass, (and here Luke is referring to the pass being after the feeding of the 5,000)... as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
19, So they answered and said, “John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again.”
20, He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”
21, And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,
22, saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.”
Now this is very interesting... again remember Luke is the one who seems to pick on important details that the others don't cover... so he does it again right here... he is the only one who reports that Jesus here foretold of His death.
However, we will see in the next events reported by Matthew and Mark that Jesus dis around this time foretell of His death.
And this is one of those slight variations of the events that have been reported by the four gospel writers, that we see when we try and place the events chronologically that took place during Jesus' long preaching and healing tour throughout Galilee – howbeit very slight... 99% of the time, it is totally and astonishingly cohesive everywhere.
But in this particular event, we find Luke reporting under the same chronological events where Jesus asks the disciples who people say that He is...
but the other gospel writers, i.e.: Matthew and Mark report on Jesus' foretelling of his death, it seems at a different time... again, howbeit, just slightly variant but within the same location and time frame.
But we can still see the same details being reported in close proximity – which means that the writers are talking about the same subject matter of the foretelling of Jesus' death.
Now, coming up in the next program, we will cover the very next chronological events taking place mentioned just above where Jesus foretold of His coming death.
Music Interlude
Closing Narrative…
Oh how wonderful to appreciate what Jesus has done in our lives to save us from sin by Grace... and how He continues to keep us by His on-going and unlimited Grace...
...that wonderful Grace that comes into our life the moment that we receive Him as for who He is -- the Saviour of mankind and of every individual like you and me personally...
... and this Jesus the Son of God who came to give His life for you and me is the same Jesus who's life we've been reading about in these series of programs right now, and who's death on the cross we will see as we go through the gospel story to where He gave Himself as the sacrificial Lamb of God that took the sin of the world...
...but right now, the question is:
...do you know this Jesus that we're talking about? If you don't know the Lord...
...Just say this prayer, “Lord come into my heart, come into my life, I turn to you right now and ask for forgiveness, I repent of my sins and receive your work on the cross... I receive your gospel as it was delivered through your blood shed on the cross in my place, and I thank you, Amen...
The Blessing
Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:
“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."
I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.
I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...
...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.
Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.
/DMH
Click here to hear the song "Amen".
/DMH
click on the graphic just above to share your thoughts...
or
click on this graphic to go to Christianbook affiliate store products:
P.S.: For your information I am a participant of the Christianbook affiliate program and as such will receive a small commission on purchases made by my readers. I want to thank you for buying your Christian products through here... all of this helps me with the expenses of providing this important ministry and operating this web site.
Blessings,